Title: baiting a tiger
Author: sllebswap
Characters/Pairing: Kinokuni Nene and Kuga Terunori
Type: OneShot (Complete)
Genre: Romance/General/Humor
Word Count: 1858
Rating: T (Contains content not suitable for children)
Disclaimer: Shokugeki no Souma belongs to Tsukuda-san.
Summary: …was probably not the smartest thing to do, but she had to admit that it was kind of…thrilling.
Verse: Canon Divergent AU/Post Canon/Passive Aggressive verse
Chapter Last Revised on: 31/05/19
The first time she put on a cheongsam, his eyes lit up as she slowly stepped out of the room.
Smoothing her hands against the luxurious silk, Nene was trying her best not to appear overly self-conscious of the way the disconcertingly thin, sleek material hugged her willowy figure, the deceptively modest looking, floor length dress revealing a thigh high slit at the side that teased the viewer with pale flashes of her slender legs.
Twin gilded phoenixes soared up the length of the rich, midnight blue cheongsam; glittering ruby eyes, arching pearline necks, gleaming, iridescent wings outspread across her bodice in exquisite splendor. The delicate, detailed embroidery was beautifully stitched by hand, textured gold and silver threads skillfully intertwined in an impossibly sophisticated technique that had been refined and perfected centuries ago by the royal embroiderers of the Forbidden City. The resulting outcome was a work of art so lifelike, it was as if the mythical birds were about to glide out of the silk they were born in and take straight to the skies.
And perhaps unsurprisingly, Nene wore the vivid cheongsam incredibly well. Her noble, classic features and serene, reserved demeanor complemented the stylistic artistry of the traditional dress, bringing out an untouchable, aristocratic quality to the outfit. The celadon-haired woman stood in the middle of the hall and eyed her companion placidly.
"Are you happy, now?" she asked.
Terunori rose from the couch and went closer, circling her once in proper appreciation and inspection. It was Chinese New Year and they were back in Sichuan to partake in the annual festivities with his humongous extended family; some blood related, others bound to his matriarchal clan by ties and vows that ran even thicker than blood.
His cognac eyes finally lifted to meet her calm red ones, a faint smirk playing on his lips.
"Yes, very," he drawled.
It had taken ages to convince her to put on a cheongsam for the gathering. She had been resistant to the idea at first, though mainly because the very dress she had on was part of a priceless heirloom passed for generations down the line of the maternal side of his family. Yes, the vintage qipao might have been carefully restored and updated to suit modern styles and tailored to fit her properly, but still, it was a piece of tangible history that was intimately precious to all the females in his bloodline who had come and gone before him.
Terunori himself saw no issue at all. In the first place, since he was the only child, all these extravagant, invaluable inheritance steeped in tradition and stories would eventually be handed over as dowry to his bride anyway, until there was a blood daughter born into the family again to hold onto them once more.
Only problem here was, Nene was neither a blood daughter of the dangerously influential Bai Hu clan, nor was she a bride of the famous Kuga family.
It was a bit of an awkward…thing.
His parents absolutely adored her and never failed to dote on her like she was an actual child of their family. Their fondness of her was so great that oftentimes Terunori muttered that she was being treated way better than they did him. It wasn't difficult to become mesmerized by all that boundless familial warmth and glow, to just immerse herself in the sincere care and tenderness of an incredibly large and fiercely loyal family, who though not biologically her own, had still welcomed her into its generous bosom and loved her like she was one of theirs.
If there existed a thing to be jealous of Terunori, then it would be this; the purely coincidental accident of his birth to such an openly supportive, boundlessly affectionate clan.
And that was why, even though every Chinese New Year gathering of the Bai Family practically ensured that Nene would be barraged by endless queries of 'when are you both going to get married?,' 'how many children do you two want to have, you should start planning now,' and 'why are you still so skinny, is Teru not feeding you properly, I'll scold him, you need to eat more,' amongst other chattering commentaries from all directions, she would still turn up for the celebrations so long as Bai-mama and Bai-papa continued to request her attendance.
Terunori, on the other hand, had no such luxury of option. Attendance was mandatory for him whenever it came to this sort of things and it was endlessly amusing to see how lovingly Bai-mama would behave towards her before the small and feisty, childlike head of the clan turned around to Terunori, performed an abrupt one-eighty change in temperament, and practically threaten her unruly son with excruciating pain and eternal embarrassment before his peers should he dare to weasel out of the gatherings.
A tiger mother, indeed.
Most fitting for her rule over the huge triad that ran their covert business under the sigil of the 'White Tiger.'
"I gotta say, you sure do clean up well," he remarked drolly…as if she wasn't always impeccably dressed at all times.
She wanted to sigh at his teasing, but her deadpan stare was enough to convey her subtle exasperation.
"Is this okay?" she asked instead. "Am I wearing it properly?" She frowned down thoughtfully at the cheongsam. The last thing she wanted was to do a disservice to this exquisite, timeless outfit and disgrace the Bai clan. She started to bite her lip, an old, familiar feeling of restless anxiety starting to well in her at the mere thought of possibly becoming a disappointment again-
His clear, dark gold gaze centered steadily on her, silent until she raised her head and met his regard anew. In the face of her self-doubt, he slowly lifted a sardonic brow, and just like her, there was no need to speak even a single word to convey his feelings about the matter.
And just like that, she was promptly suffused with vague irritation at his mild mocking.
The brief hesitation from before melted away like swirling fog in the face of the bright, taunting sun.
He continued to smirk catlike, as if aware of her thoughts.
Terunori lightly tugged at one of her plaited pigtails. "Are you gonna put these up? 'Coz I'm sure 'bespectacled Asian girl in sexy cheongsam and pigtails' is probably a legit kink somewhere."
She was terribly unamused by his ribald sense of humor, as evidenced by her sharpening glare.
"Your kink, you mean," she uttered, annoyed, and he was surprised enough by her tart response that he rocked back on his heels for a moment, lips twitching.
"Perhaps," he did not disagree. "Though to be fair, I'd rather help you out of that cheongsam."
She shot him a wary, disconcerted stare at his unhesitating forthrightness, but which only served to amuse him further. She was so prim and proper, as usual, her refined sensibilities in sharp contrast with his own blunt and straightforward character. They made for some interesting friction, that was for sure.
She turned and walked back to the bedroom, taking a seat before the dresser, at the same time making sure not to wrinkle the delicate silk of her dress. She quietly started to undo the ties of her hair, guided by the ease of familiarity. It did not take long before her pale green locks were falling around her shoulders in loose, straight lines, making her look even younger and unguarded.
Terunori strolled in as well and watched as she picked up a hairbrush and ran the soft bristles through the strands to tidy them. There was something about her movements that were obviously economical, yet unspeakably sublime at the same time.
Perhaps it was all that etiquette training that she had to sit through for her entire childhood; the woman did damn near everything with deft, practical grace, it was completely ridiculous. It was also probably why his eyes were drawn to her often; she was pleasing to watch.
…Well, she was pleasing to watch when they weren't deliberately annoying the cookie out of each other, at the very least.
Once satisfied that her hair was as neat as she could possibly make it, Nene gathered them together with her hands and swiftly put the soft, wispy mass up in a sleek bun at the back of her head. A quick application of bobby pins ensured that her hair would stay in place. Terunori came up soundlessly behind her then, pulling out from his suit pocket the final piece of accessory that accompanied the dress.
It was a necklace in the form of a double string of pearls, each and every one of precious, perfectly round spheres glistening with its own luster and iridescent glow, like twin rows of little moons.
Nene's red eyes widened imperceptibly at the sight of the expensive jewelry. Before she could protest the extravagance, Terunori met her gaze through the mirror and remarked.
"It was either this or a horribly ostentatious sapphire choker; trust me, I saved you on this one," he commented dryly.
She shut her mouth. Terunori had been dragged off by his mother earlier to 'run errands,' and she could see now what that trip had entailed.
"I can't possibly accept this," she uttered, even as he slipped the necklace over her head and left the pearls draped over her shoulders. The elegant piece complemented the cheongsam seamlessly.
Staring at her flawless reflection, Nene briefly entertained a whimsical fancy; was this what a Chinese princess would look like, if the Imperial family still existed in this time and age?
"Yeah, well. You may address your grievances to my mother over dinner later," he drawled. It had been a pain to be dragged off to the secret family vaults first thing in the morning and be made to sit through the parade of all the jewelry that all the women ancestors in his clan had ever worn, so he hoped that she appreciated his sacrifice. He placed his hands on her shoulders to quell her uneasiness, surveying her completed assembled through the dressing mirror.
She was resplendent.
"…You better stick close to me tonight," he continued to comment casually. If she got carried off 'accidentally' by some besotted ally of the family, he was going to be very annoyed.
He did not sing praises of her beauty or offer a spontaneous glib line of poetry or two, but her cheeks warmed softly at his meaning, all the same.
Lately, he was starting to give her more and more of these unexplained…fluttery feelings, completely out of nowhere. She still found them confusing, and she was still struggling to decide if they were acceptable.
Nene scoffed, doing her best to recover and effect placid disinterest. "Are you sure? I'll be in heels."
As expected, he started to look irritated at her teasing. Much to her quiet amusement.
"I'm sure," he responded flatly. "I wouldn't offer otherwise."
"Also. Nene?"
"Yes?"
His eyes locked intently with hers across the mirror.
"If you keep poking a tiger, you're gonna be eaten sooner or later. You know that, right?"
::owari::
Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:
Disclaimer: Terunori's a pocket tiger, but a tiger all the same! (lmao)
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Started writing this one randomly because I wanted to picture Nene in a cheongsam. Sigh. I think she would absolutely rock it!
For those not in the know, the cheongsam (or the qipao) is the dress equivalent of the changshan (the traditional Chinese outfit that Terunori wears sometimes in canon)!
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By the by, this little piece belongs to Passive Aggressive verse. If you require more context, please go read that fic!
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Next, for further clarity, my headcanon for Terunori's family (in Passive Aggressive!verse) is as follows:
Terunori is half Japanese (the father's side), half Chinese (the mother's side).
The maternal branch of the family is based in Sichuan, China, and also (not so coincidentally) is the head of one of the triad factions there, the (fictional) Bai Hu (White Tiger) clan.
The paternal branch of the family hails from Osaka, Japan (hence Terunori's distinctive kansai-ben), and is renowned for their successful enterprise of Chinese restaurant chain interspersed throughout the country.
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Characters' ages in this installment:
Kuga Terunori: 25 y.o.
Kinokuni Nene: 25 y.o.
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Your reviews make me update faster; so please leave a comment if you like this fic!
-sllebswap