In Good Time
If you asked Alice and Soma what they had in common both would tell you they're kindred spirits.
No one other than the pair of them though, ever really knew how that could be the case.
They were born in two different countries. One the heiress of a multi-national conglomerate at the centre of research and development in the cooking world. The other raised in a small diner in Tokyo, run by a father who had long abandoned the fortune and fame that had accompanied him.
The notion that the two of them could be similar was absurd, but you could have put either of them where the other began and they'd be exactly the same.
One had spent her childhood trying to match up to her cousin, the God Tongue. A prodigy expected to set the culinary world on fire from the tender age of four. The other spent his chasing his father, the Wandering Chef who had guided him on his way until Totsuki had come calling.
Giants such as the ones both of them faced could not be taken down in a single day. It was a war of attrition. You had to be insatiable, ready to claim any and all opportunities to improve your skills if you were to have any hope of attaining victory.
Alice and Soma had spent their life chasing, and it was something only the two of them had been able to recognise in each other.
It was that recognition that led to a deal.
Restaurant Yukihira was open once more. A turbulent year at Totsuki had ended and Soma was far from resting on his laurels as he served his latest creation to the customers in front of him.
"Eat up!" He told them, his voice full of excitement. "It's a new Yukihira special."
His middle school friends Mayumi and Aki were the customers in question. Mayumi glanced at the dish, eyeing it as if it was an enemy. A lifetime of torment at the hands of the man in front of her meant she could never look at any of Soma's dishes without a degree of suspicion. No matter how much Soma looked at her with that dashing grin of his.
"What is it Soma?" She asked, hesitant to take a bite.
"Mapo Dofu, Soma style." He answered. "I'm looking at taking Kuga-Senpai's seat next year and you're going to be the guinea pigs that help me along!"
"W-well… anything to lend a hand!" Mayumi stuttered, squeaking at the last second. Her cheeks flamed red and she shot a pleading look towards Aki begging for her help.
Her plea however, went unanswered as Aki had been completely ignoring the two. Instead taking her time to scrutinise every section of the bowl before she gave a begrudging nod of approval. "Thank god there's no squid." She muttered to herself before both of them took a bite.
The first bite was Nirvana to Mayumi's senses. "Delicious!" Mayumi Exclaimed.
"It's so spicy, but I just want to keep eating!" She told him as she took a spoonful of rice to compliment the dish. "It's just wave after wave of flavour."
"It's not bad." Aki added, probably the closest thing to praise that she'd ever given him.
As both of them tore into the food though, they missed the evil grin adorned on Soma's face.
It was the third bite where the heat managed to reach unbearable. It was the fourth where Mayumi's cheeks were no longer red because she was blushing.
It was the fifth where Aki grabbed Mayumi's hand and dragged her from the store, shooting Soma a glare that promised death, before the sheer heat of whatever he'd put in the dish had the two of them running for their lives from Yukihira's.
Soma laughed as the door closed behind them, placing their dishes next to the sink as he set about ensuring everything would be prepared for his opening tomorrow as well.
As he did though, he couldn't stop some nagging doubts from entering his mind.
With his father gone and the amount of capable hands reduced, his skills were being pushed to their limits to keep Yukihira running. It was a test of everything he had learned under Jouichirou and also in the past year at Totsuki. It was a challenge of his speed and his precision, and it was a challenge which promised to keep his senses sharp for the oncoming summer.
Yukihira's though, was the last place he needed to be right now if he wanted to take that next step forward in his cooking. He might have taken a seat on the Elite Ten Council but those funds wouldn't be available to him until the start of the next school year. His hopes of travelling, accumulating just some of the experiences his father waxed lyrical about had been stolen from him for a summer where every other chef at Totsuki that wanted his crown would be sharpening their blades. From the hunter to the hunted was always a startling experience, especially after a year where he fought for whatever scrap anyone would foolishly leave on the table.
But even now he could feel the roots he'd so carefully tried to free his body from after his Stagiaire growing again, threatening to overwhelm him.
Dojima had likened cooking to a desert, Jouichiro had called it a storm, but right now Yukihira's felt like a jungle. Its vines tethering themselves to his body, endeavouring to keep him from moving forward as Soma looked for new beginnings.
The sound of a bell ringing broke his train of thought, followed by the sound of footsteps as someone made their way into the building.
"Sorry, but we're closed for the-" Soma began as he turned around and the rest of his words died in his mouth as one of the few people he never expected to show up at Yukihira's stood in front of him.
"My, my Soma-kun." Alice Nakiri said, shaking with mirth as she looked outside at the still fleeing figures of Mayumi and Aki. "I come to see you and all I get are two girls running for their lives from your restaurant. Doesn't fill a girl with confidence you know?"
His surprise faded and he smiled at her. "That probably made you more interested in coming in though." He replied, well used to Alice's quirks.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She pouted, and he couldn't help but laugh as he waved to one of the seats and moved into the Kitchen.
She was dressed in a simple pair of jeans, a black shirt with what looked to be a star etched across it. He noticed that her hair was longer than when he'd last seen her. Thoughts of how irritating it would be to deal with before she cooked flared in his mind for a brief second before he snuffed it out and tried to focus on his latest visitor.
"Make yourself at home." He said as he opened a cabinet. "Did you want anything to eat?"
She shook her head in the negative as she pulled up a stool and sat down, resting her head on her hand as she watched him turn back to her. "I already ate with Grandfather before I came over."
"How is the old man?" He asked as he grabbed the two bowls leftover by his friends and put them near the sink.
"He's doing well, loving that he's back at Totsuki of course."
"Good to hear." He said before he gestured to the mass of dishes that were lined up beside him. "I just have to clean these up and I'm all yours."
A coy smile graced her lips. "You should be more careful how you word things."
"Eh?" Soma asked, looking back at her but Alice didn't respond, instead taking the chance to stare him down.
Her eyes were alight with something that Soma couldn't quite figure out. It was a rare occurrence, because at one time it had felt like no matter how many times he talked with her those crimson orbs would forever gleam with mischief. As if he, or anyone she looked at was just a momentary distraction from whatever maniacal scheme she was dreaming up in her head.
There were very few times that you ever really felt like you had her full attention. Tonight was one of those nights, and he noticed that she seemed remarkably more serious than he'd seen her in a long time.
"Do you want some help?"
The question threw him for a loop. Partly because he never expected her to offer. The other part because he'd been too busy trying to figure out exactly why she was here that the fact she was talking completely skipped his notice until the word 'help' echoed through his head.
"Two pairs of hands are always better than one."
The sounds of clinking plates and silverware took over the conversation. Soma had always found something relaxing in washing dishes. It took him back to the days of his childhood where his parents would let him into the kitchen. The warmth of the water was a welcome relief, one which to him signalled the end of the day and a reward for his restaurant's success. A companionable silence fell over the pair of them as they focused on their work. They moved in sync, careful not to get in the others way. While they stood there he glanced her way occasionally, waiting for whatever she has to say and patient enough for her to find her own words.
"I'm heading home in a few days." Alice said, as she dried the dish with her towel before placing it on the rack.
"You don't sound excited." He noted as he kept scrubbing away at a piece of rice which almost seems fused to the plate in front of him.
"It'll be wonderful to see Mother of course, and Bertha and Cilla, they're quite enamoured with you after your match with Hayama." She teased him nudging him softly in the side.
"But?" He prompted, ignoring her jab as he opened the drawer and began to pack the now dry dishes away grabbing them from her as she passed them to him.
"Ryo's not coming with me."
That surprised him. For as long as he'd known the pair Alice and her aide had been as close as siblings and nigh on inseparable.
Another one who's gone to polish his fangs. He thought, beaming at the knowledge. "Did he tell you where he's going?"
"He's gone to study at Totsuki Resort for a few weeks, invited by Dojima Gin no less."
He stiffened for a second, enough for Alice to notice before he resumed packing. "I'm sure he'll flourish there." He said at last. "Dojima-san is a very effective teacher."
They finished packing the rest of the dishes away, eventually Yukihira was sparkling and the two of them sat down at closest table. It was there that Alice put her cards on the table.
"Don't you feel like you're getting left behind?"
As long as they'd known each other they'd been nothing but candid.
"I do." Soma said. "There's so much I want to do, need to learn and everyone's going to come back stronger and I'm as jealous as I'm thrilled."
"Then what if I told you to come with me and leave Yukihira's behind for the summer?"
Tempting.
He looked down at the white headband which now hung from his wrist. Churning her offer over in his mind, carefully he weighed the benefits compared to his current situation.
Would this help him beat his father?
"I'm not asking, just because you're my friend." And at her words his thoughts broke, now curious to see what she'd say next. "There's something in my cooking that's lacking, I don't want to admit it but Uncle Senzaemon was not the first to ever tell me that at the end of our match."
"All you have is techniques, you won't beat me like that."
At the time it had been a simple provocation from her cousin Erina, but now she was starting to see the truth behind the words. She was starting to see the truth behind what everyone had been telling her, loath as she was to admit it.
"I don't know what this 'cooking with heart' idea is, but if there was anyone that could show me it'd probably be you. That's why I'm inviting you to come with me." She told him. "You come with me to Europe, show me what I'm missing and in return you can work under my mother at the Institute or do whatever you want to improve. So long as both of us come away with something, then surely it's better than staying how we are."
He could feel those roots which had been coiling around him, trying to ground him slacken for the briefest moment as her offer played with his mind.
He didn't give them a chance to keep him to the ground.
"When do we leave?"
A/N: Saw the Series Cancellation Notice and I always had this lying around, seeing how SnS is ending made me want to give some tribute to the series and I never liked the way Year 2 on went so this is my way of giving back to a manga I loved and some characters whose arcs are never going to fully be finished.
In regards to the story to explain, assume the Regimental Shokugeki went ahead, Azami was booted from the series but after that I'll be putting my own spin on what happened in the months ahead. Soma won't be the first seat for example among other changes I have mapped out.