Deals in the Dark

I do not own any rights to Food Wars Shokugeki no Soma, all rights belong to Yuto Tsukuda.

It had been a year since Azami Nakiri took over Totsuki Saryo Culinary Institute, Sōma Yukihira was busy in his family restaurant. Even though things had gone wonky he and the other Polar stars found ways to survives his rein, Currently though it was time for one of their long breaks and he chose to take care of his family restaurant. As he was busy frying up some rice he failed to hear one of the stairs creaking, soon the rich tanned arms of Ikumi Mito wrapped themselves around Sōma's neck from behind. "What in the hell do you think you are doing down here, I woke up this morning only to find you gone." Ikumi said in a slightly sweet tone, she then pressed herself against his back. With a smile on his face turned to Ikumi while he continued to cook his rice, he still smiled at her even though they became a couple through one of the toughest moments in Totsuki Institutes history. "I'm sorry Nikumi, I just figured that you would want to have something delicious to eat as soon as you woke up." Sōma said as he used the pan to help him stir up his rice, the sheer smell hit Ikumi's nose like a ton of bricks making her knee's cave in. Blushing in embarrassment she soon collected herself in front of her boyfriend who at this time was smirking knowing his cooking could do this to her, Sōma then went on to finish his rice up. Moving to the cabinet he pulled out two plates where he served up his rice for both of them, even more so he then went and began to cook up some eggs to go with the rice. Upon finishing up he served them both his creation, Ikumi then sat down at his table where they began to eat. To Sōma it was no big deal since he was used to eating his own food but for his girlfriend, each bite made her go through a foodgasm hitting major pleasure points as it courses through her taste buds eventually settling in her stomach. "I don't know how you do it Sōma but no matter how many times I eat your food, it always seems to make me feel this way all the time." Ikumi said before she took a fifth spoonful of a mixture of his eggs and rice, hearing the compliment Sōma smiled at her before he took another spoonful of food.

Several minutes later as Sōma took both of their dishes to the sink where he soon began to clean up his mess, just as he was drying his hands Ikumi brought in his newspaper surprising him since he had no memory of even signing up for a newspaper. Still he sat down with Ikumi to read the paper while she was sharpening her butchers' cleaver, taking a sip of his coffee he was soon surprised to find a small article stating that the search for Ms. Yaeko Minegasaki had been called to an end after two years. He even read that it is theorized that she was possibly dead, reading this left Sōma curious and wondering what happened yet at the same time her name was slightly familiar. It wasn't until he saw the photo of her that he remembered who she is, it was the urban planner who tried to buy their restaurant and sabotage them. Setting down his paper he walked over to Ikumi where he wrapped his arms around her waist, it surprised her but in the end she leaned into him and soon smiled at him. "Something on your mind Sōma, or are you trying to earn some more points with me. Either way I like it, it reminds me of how we finally hooked up. You were so strange back then but still you were adorable, then again I loved Erina Nakiri's reaction when she saw who your father was." Ikumi said as she put her butchers' cleaver back in the holster on her right thigh, she then turned around and began to kiss Sōma. Suddenly a knock came from the front door that surprised them both to the point they parted, collecting themselves Sōma answered the door only to find Alice Nakiri and her boyfriend Ryō Kurokiba. Alice with her usual smile soon asked to come in while Ryō just had his usual empty face, looking around they were fascinated that such a talented chef could come from such a low class restaurant. "Hello Sōma it's a pleasure to see you and all though it still surprises me that you come from such a common class restaurant, seriously though this place is so common that it's like someone's kitchen in an apartment building." Alice said while she looked around until she soon pushed Ryō into a chair where she then sat on his lap, he remained blank while she wrapped her left arm around his neck.

"You know the funniest thing happened yesterday, I went to visit Erina at her new home with Hisako Arato. I have to say she did a marvelous job with it and even more so I was surprised to hear that your father paid to have all the stuff to alter Erina's appearance, still it's all necessary to hide her from uncle Azami otherwise he will further his plans and completely turn her into his little puppet to conquer the culinary world making everyone just the same." Alice then went on to continue to look around the store until she decided to with a devilish smirk to go upstairs, from his chair Ryō saw her as she sneaked up stairs to Sōma's housing area above the restaurant. Ryō sighed from his girlfriends' antics but he kept silent knowing she would try again and again if he stopped her, instead he looked to Yukihira who at the time was just listening to Ikumi as she went on and on about possible dishes she wanted to make while they were on break. Eventually Sōma chose to quiet her down by placing a kiss upon her lips which worked and soon made her moan a little as their tongues intertwined within their mouths, it was then that Ikumi found that Alice was gone. "Hey Kurokiba-san where the hell did your master go, I mean I know she's a sneaky little shit but come on. Wait she better not have gone upstairs, I haven't cleaned up the room yet!" Ikumi said before she pushed away from Sōma and ran upstairs. To her shock she fund Alice was in Sōma's room where she was holding a pair of Ikumi's panties, her face turned as red as the deepest shade of crimson. "Wow, Ikumi I had no idea you moved this fast. I mean sure I'm one to talk but still, I figured that you would at least contain yourself." Alice said as she messed with the panties in her hands, Ikumi Mito was embarrassed at the sight but she soon found her voice when Alice stated that she should contain herself. "Hey what do you expect the guy's cooking pretty much makes me cum from just one bite, sure I should be more refined but seriously he is very well prepared. On top of that it was a very unique night, Yukihira-san was in a very good mood I mean seriously he made me a juicy steak dinner using grade A5 meat."

While both Alice and Ikumi were busy arguing upstairs Sōma and Ryō began to talk, at first they just looked around until Ryō finally broke the silence surprising Sōma to the point he lightly jumped. "Telling from Alice's tones and from what she's saying I guess you and Ikumi made the next step in your relationship, I have to say I thought Ikumi would have made you worker harder for it than that and longer too." Sōma smirked at Ryō and soon stood up where he went to the kitchen and brought two glasses of water, he handed on to Ryō while the other rested next to him. "Well to be straight up she did make me work for it but last night I wasn't trying, in all honesty I was just trying to be a good boyfriend to her. I made a steak dinner and I surprised her by buying two A5 class pieces of which cost me a good portion of my pay check here, still it was worth it since eat bite she nearly fainted and to top it off her hand kept squeezing the napkin I placed next to the plate. By the end of dinner and after I cleaned up she was already in heading upstairs, when I got to my bed I laid down and just stared at my ceiling thinking over the next day when she came in. From that point I you can guess since Alice is practically yelling it to rile Ikumi up, I mean she was the one to break first so yeah." Sōma then began to drink his water while Ryō just stared blankly at Sōma until he eventually got to work thinking, he then took a drink of his water before he got down to telling his part. "Well I know that Alice is one to heckle Ikumi since we were caught by her uncle, still though our time was not really a surprise since we had been dating for over a month. We were busy calming down from yet another cooking challenge of which I won, she came in as I was working out and making sure to keep my strength. She surprised me when she came up to me as doing chin ups, she then pulled me down gently since she isn't that strong. Alice then told me that we were going to go on a date with no argument, later that night we both got spiffed up and went on the usual stuff until it came down to the walk near the sea. It was there where my emotions made an appearance, I was taken by the beauty and the vast of the sea to the point that I took advantage of the timing and moved faster than Alice did. By morning light her Uncle went to find her thinking that she went to Erina's for the night, imagine his surprise when he found us on the beach with only my jacket and her jacket as coverage." Upon finishing his regaling of their first time Ryō drained his glass, it was then that the girls came down stair. Alice held her usual sneaky face until she was close to Ryō, from that point she just wrapped her arm around his and lead him away. "So I'll see you at that restaurant later, either way we need to head out." Alice called out before approaching her limo, Ikumi gave an uneasy smirk yet she still agreed to meet her. "So mind telling me what's going on or do I have to remain clueless on this one?" Sōma asked his girlfriend, she on the other hand acted cute as she led him back into the restaurant.

"Well after I got done yelling at Alice, she wanted to have a double date at this very interesting restaurant on the opposite district of this one." Ikumi then awaited his reaction, to her utter surprise he just sighed and asked if he needed to dress formally. That night Neither Sōma or Ikumi dressed for the evening for their date yet Alice and Ryō dressed very formal, the restaurant itself wasn't anything fancy but it didn't feel right. Sōma could only describe the feeling as a cold chill going down his back, it was as if the place screamed disturbing. They were seated by a strange looking woman who helped people to their seats, she was strange to all four of them as she held a creepy gaze in her eyes as if she was hollow inside. Soon they were approached by a young woman wearing a tight dress thus accentuating her figure, she explained that she would be their waitress for the night. Upon looking at her Sōma felt like he knew her from somewhere yet he couldn't place her, after telling her their orders he chose to drop the subject to keep from angering Ikumi. Several minutes later she returned with their food serving them, upon first bite they were experiencing a Foodgasm that was only equaled by one person. Turning to Sōma they all agreed that the food was on par with Sōma's level, he on the other hand wasn't that surprised yet he was intrigued. Calling over the woman who seated them he asked her who the chef was, with an empty tone she stated that the chef was her brother Tatsumi Hyouda. Hearing the name Alice immediately spat out her food in surprise, she knew that name and was more shocked to it. "Guys I think we should be careful, a couple years ago around the same year as Sōma's transfer a student applied to Totsuki Saryo Culinary Institute. He held the same promise as him and even passed on his first day, he remained in that school until the day of the Moon Banquet Festival where he was expelled by my grandfather himself. It turns out that in all his cooking contained hidden ingredient that was highly illegal, its tasteless and scentless but grandfather only found out because he found an empty vile of the stuff in his dorm room. After he was kicked out no one knew where he went, a rumor went around that he travelled around cooking for many restaurants. I guess the rumors were wrong since he's working in this place, though I do wonder how he got this place?" Alice said looking around until she rested her eyes at the kitchen window, inside she saw Tatsumi Hyouda cooking with the ferocity as Ryō when he cooks.

"You don't think he would put whatever it was in our food do you, I mean it could be highly addictive." Ikumi said with fear about taking her next bite, suddenly the woman who led them to their seats was behind her. "You have nothing to worry about on that matter, my brother stopped using that stuff to honor our parents. They bought this place for us to show us responsibility, but then again would you expect anything less from the Hyouda family." The young woman then left and walked back to the front where she managed the register and led people to their seats, looking around Sōma noticed as the woman who served their food continued to remind him of someone yet he still couldn't place where he saw her. Around the end of the evening as they were paying the bill Sōma managed to look into the kitchen to see that Tatsumi Hyouda had an assistant working with him, looking around he counted that the restaurant had only four workers yet they acted with precision. On the way back to his place he talked to Ikumi about what he thought on the restaurant but mostly how it tasted, soon he went silent just before they entered his restaurant. Upon seeing her boyfriend go silent she went over and asked him what could be the issue or even what was on his mind, Sōma soon told her that he had a weird feeling about the woman who served them yet he couldn't place her. As the two laid in bed Sōma's mind began to wonder a bit, mentally he was remembering the events that lead to just before he attended Totsuki Saryo Culinary Institute. Suddenly the face of the waitress popped into his mind yet at the same time he saw the face of The Urban Life Planner Yaeko Minegasaki, it then dawned on him where he knew the waitress. Opening his eyes Sōma tried to rise from his bed but found he couldn't, turning to his side he found Ikumi had her arms around his chest while her legs wrapped around his hip. With a smile on her face he could see that she was having a very good dream, as he slowly drifted back to sleep he was soon jolted when she began to spoon him. By morning Ikumi sat um from bed looking around only to find the usual, the only thing that was different was that her boyfriend was holding her closely. Managing to get out of his grasp she walked over to the desk where she set her bra for the day, she then put on her shirt and went down stairs where she made fresh coffee for them.

Around noon Sōma began to wake up, he noticed that his girlfriend was coming up the stairs with a cup of coffee for both of them. Taking his cup he smiled at her with care, he then went on to tell her his realization he came to last night. "Sōma if that waitress really is that missing woman then maybe there was a reason she vanished, like maybe she wanted a new start or her life was getting complicated and she needed a way out. If you want to find out then we can always go back to the restaurant and question her, but in truth I have my doubts on the matter and worse is what if that chef bans us from the restaurant." Ikumi said as she took a drink of her coffee, she didn't fully understand why it mattered to her boyfriend yet she was willing to help him just to get things over with. "The tonight we can head over and question her, hopefully she won't try to deny anything." Sōma said when he finished his coffee and soon went down to the kitchen where he cleaned the dishes, the rest of the day went by with no issues except for Ikumi making the men drool when she was chopping up some meat. Around five fifteen both Sōma & Ikumi went out and headed straight to the restaurant, they were again greeted by the woman who soon revealed her name to be Akeno Hyouda. She seated them close to the kitchen where they soon waited for the waitress to come and take their orders, to their surprise it was the assistant that was working in the kitchen last time they were there. "Hello, my name is Miroku Nakasuna and I will be your waiter for tonight. How may I start you both off, May I suggest tonight's special of which is an oven roasted duck?" The man then awaited for their orders of which Sōma ordered the duck while Ikumi ordered a slice of pork, before the waiter left Sōma asked where the waitress from last night was. Miroku just told him that tonight was her night off and that she will return when she will return, he then walked to other tables getting their orders. Their meal was silent between the two of them but Sōma continued to look around the restaurant do to his feeling, he paid their bill and once more tried to see into the kitchen where he saw Tatsumi Hyouda cooking. It was then the two made eye contact and for the first time in Sōma's life he felt fear in his heart, it wasn't like the fear you get from a phobia or even from something scary. No the type of fear was that of emptiness, it was like just looking into Tatsumi Hyouda's eyes would rob him of his soul. Ikumi had to shake him to finally snap him out of his stare, she apologized for his rudeness before she dragged him out the door.

"What happened to you Sōma, you just froze up there when you looked into the kitchen. It was like you were mesmerized at something in there, you weren't looking at another woman now were you?" Ikumi asked before she slowly began to reach for the meat cleaver attached to her thigh, with a smirk Sōma pulled her arm closure to him where he then moved to making out with her thus catching her off guard. At first she was surprised but soon gave in and returned the kiss, by the time they parted Sōma had yet another wicked smile on his face. "Come now Nikumi you know my eyes will always return to you, I may let them wonder but they will always reach you." He said without letting his arms unwrap from her, Ikumi merely tried to hide her smile and blush but was failing miserably. The couple soon walked back to the train station where they soon returned to the Yukihira restaurant, unknown to either of them they were being followed by Akeno Hyouda. She had chosen to follow the two out of suspicion since they were asking questions on their waitress, it furthered her suspicion when she heard them as they were walking to the train about the Urban Life Planner Yaeko Minegasaki. As the couple entered the restaurant she slowly began to back off them, she took note that they could be a rival in the business. Akeno soon ran a good majority of the way back to her restaurant where she found Miroku cleaning tables, he nodded to her before she walked to the kitchen where she found her brother soaking several large birds in different flavors. "My dear brother I may have found a very nosy patron though before we take action I wanted to confront you, what should we do about this patron I mean if we are lucky enough he could join the many we have experimented on." Akeno said to her brother Tatsumi who showed no sign that he was listening, after placing the last bird in its soak he looked to his Sister. "As surprising as it sounds dear sister I feel we should let it pass, so long as they do not further the investigation then we won't trap them and experiment on them like the others." Tatsumi said as he then washed his hands from dealing with the birds, the two smiled at one another before they called out to Miroku to tell him that they were closing shop, they both said their good-bye's and headed home. The twins shared the apartment right next to the restaurant on the bottom floor, it was roomy for them and allowed them to get to work at their own pace yet they also had a hidden reason for wanting the bottom floor.

Walking through their home Akeno went out and grabbed their mail while Tatsumi went through a special log book on their past experiments, it surprised him at the results but truthfully a good majority of their experiments were failures. He then went to the only test subject that was a success and read the statistics both his sister and he made from it, more so they had photo's of said subject within the book. Walking to the kitchen he got a couple of wine glasses and poured a bottle of Juice made from rice, walking back into the room he handed a glass to his sister who at the time was looking over the bills and adds. "I have to say dear brother that the bills are so annoying, still mother and father were specific on the matter so we have to use our profits to pay the bills here. Luckily for us though they stated that the restaurants billing will be taken care of by them, more so the one successful experiment is tied to the restaurants bills." Akeno said as she took a drink from her glass and soon sat on the couch with her brother joining her, Tatsumi agreed with his sister but soon looks to her saying that maybe he should discuss with her on the matter of their experiment. "You know my dear sister we have yet to discuss what to do about celebrating our two year anniversary of the success of one of our experiments, what would you recommend for that occasion?" Tatsumi then got up from his spot and went to the kitchen only to return with some rice crackers and the bottle of rice juice, setting them down on the coffee table he looked to Akeno who soon took a rice cracker.

"I feel that to celebrate we just do nothing, remember that our experiments are highly illegal and we were under surveillance by the police for a while. None of the test subjects died but we kept them too long, then again if we let them go to early then we would have never gotten the useful data we have now." Soon a knock came to the door taking their attention, Akeno answered it finding Miroku there. It turned out that he came to have a discussion with them where he needed to get some time off, he stated that he needs to go apply for a test that would allow him into medical school. Both the Hyouda twins agreed and signed the paperwork allowing him to get a few weeks off, with a smile he thanked them and also agreed that their experiments will remain a secret with him especially since he helped them with the experiments with his intense knowledge of the human brain. He stayed and chatted over small matters before he left for the night, both the twins were happy he spoke to them before leaving but soon Tatsumi went to the kitchen where he made a small dish with a bottle of water. His sister Akeno followed him to a secret door hidden in their room under a fake refrigerator, going down stairs they had a secret room with a small amount of medical equipment and at the very back was a large clear room where they had the only person to be a successful experiment. Sitting on the bed reading was their waitress who acted with a happy smile at their arrival, coming to a small doggy door Tatsumi pushed the food he brought though on a plastic tray to her. "I hope your day was sufficient Masters, I did as you requested and remained in my quarters all day." The waitress said before she began to eat, both the twin smiled at her words before they approached several machines checking them. "All the monitors say she is fine and that the chip we installed is still functioning at one hundred percent, should we make any changes to what we already have installed or what?" Akeno asked her brother, he was at the time asking their waitress to lay down on the medical table on the other side of the room. Tatsumi soon took a sample of her blood for later study, looking to his sister he said that everything is fine as it is so no need to change anything." He then led the waitress back to the clear room telling her that until she heals she can't leave the room. The twins soon left the entire room locking it up, just before they went to sleep the log book fell open on the floor reveal a picture of Yaeko Minegasaki with the label below it saying "Experiment number thirty seven, Urban Life Planner: Yaeko Minegasaki- Successful."

Back at the Yukihira restaurant both Sōma and Ikumi were sleeping heavily to hear as Sōma's father had return, he soon walked up stairs to his room where he saw that for once he found that Sōma hadn't shut his door. "I have to say Sōma, now that you have a girlfriend you are starting to slack on some things." Jōichirō Yukihira said as he shut the door though before fully shutting the door he couldn't help but look at the floor, since there on the ground were a pair of Ikumi's shorts of which he couldn't help but laugh at. "Son you better be appreciating this woman like she were a freaking queen, because if you aren't then you better expect one hell of an ass kicking when you wake up." He then went to his room where he set down his bag and got ready for bed, he soon went to bed looking at an old photo of when Sōma was little and his mother was around. By morning both Sōma and Ikumi were waking up to the aroma of cooking filling their noses, getting out of bed and getting dressed the two of them soon walked down stairs where they found none other than Jōichirō Yukihira. He greeted them before he returned his attention to what he was making, telling from the smell it was rich with seasonings and even broths. When it came time to serve it they were both treated to a combination of exotic flavors, just one drop on Ikumi's tongue made her entire body tingle like she were being electrocuted by an electric eel. By the time the feeling finally left her body she was on the floor panting and trying to gather herself, Sōma stood by her side with an eyebrow raised to her but once she had gotten up he was just smiling. "Hey dad, when did you get back? I mean I'm glad to see you and all but I'm just curious, mostly it's because I didn't get to clean up the mess in my room." Sōma then took a bite of some bread that was with his meal, soon his father explained that he came late at night and he did find that Sōma had been slacking in some of his responsibilities. The day came and went but along the way Sōma asked if he ever met someone under the last name Hyouda, Surprisingly it turns out that back in the day Jōichirō knew a young woman who was expelled when he was in his third year at Totsuki Saryo Culinary Institute. She was caught growing a large amount of Brugmansia Plants on her dorm roof, he stated that he just thought they were just worthless weeds until he heard that the plants were the number one source of Benzodiazepines a drug that was heavily filled with Scopolamine (a Psychoactive chemical). When properly concentrated and mixed it makes a drug known only as Benzodiazepine, a drug that makes people more susceptible to suggestions. The side effects of the drug were memory loss and stiff muscles, the drug is only illegal because it is a sort of mind control of which the one using it would be able to manipulate the person under the drug's effects.

Both Sōma and Ikumi then told him that they found a restaurant that is run by a pair of twins under the name of Hyouda, the information intrigued him yet at the same time concerned him. All three of them ate food there but like Sōma, Jōichirō had a bad feeling about the restaurant down his spine. By the time they finally left all three were preparing for Jōichirō's trip, he said he would be heading to Canada where he then head to through America until he reached south America and just move on to go around the world again cooking. Leaving Ikumi and Sōma alone in the restaurant he smiled at her, when they were heading back upstairs Ikumi reminded them that were going to head back to school in a week so they needed to prepare for the fresh hell that Azami Nakiri was going to put them through.

Hope you like it, this was a one shot. If anyone wants to find out how the Hyouda twins got Yaeko Minegasaki, then please ask and I will show you all but it's rated M for mature.