Port Town Girl in Italy

People tend to notice the bad in people more than the good...to call them out on it just to look good. Or worse, bully them because they could because they're better than you.

Tadokoro Megumi was one such victim.

A clumsy, timid girl who quickly breaks under pressure and has stage fright.

That was how everyone knows her...

...thus her good qualities are buried by her cruel classmates and peers.

But upon meeting a certain boy...she blossomed into confidence, and finally shone...to the point that she was now the 10th Seat of the Elite Ten Council come 2nd year. A confident, but still shy young woman who specializes in Hospitality Cuisine.

However...Megumi still holds back.

Why?

When Joichiro visited the dorm last year that autumn, she asked him a question before he left.

'Yukihira-san...'

'Ou? What is it jou-chan?' he asked her with a cheerful grin.

'...what does it mean to be a great chef?' Megumi asked him. 'What's it like to be one? And what it could mean for someone like me who'll inherit ma's Ryokan one day...'

'A great chef eh? That depends on your passion, seriousness and what fuels those two, is what motivates you to cook.' Joichiro told her. 'The answers to those three, is up to you.' he said, hands on her shoulders. 'I can already tell by one look that you'll go far, when something significant happens in your life that finally set you on fire.'

'Oh...'

But then Joichiro looked rather sombre.

'But there are times that when you try to fly too high in the sky, clouds will gather and smother you to the point you get lost until you fall down. Be careful of that.' he warned her. 'It can happen to anyone...even to me.' now he looked rather sad in his forced smile. 'Greed destroys. Either you destroy yourself, be smothered till you're snuffed out by those who feel threatened by your star, or as a chef, people who demand more and more from you will make you bend till you snap like a twig. So as long as you know what to and not to do, you'll be fine. Only show who you truly are to those who truly cares for you. Superficial outsiders are not worth you.'

That was why Megumi held back since.

Because she understood.

'Does Soma-kun know?'

'Haha, he's seen tons of people in our diner he learned by working! He knows how the world works that way!'

'Oh...'

So Megumi resolved.

For her ma and the family Ryokan, she decided to shine. But she didn't shine enough to earn a high placing in the Elections...but at least she was noticed.

But when the Azami Administration happened...

...holding back is no longer an option. That despite how simple her dish looked, she was able to defeat Akanegakubo-senpai.

Her inner fire awakened when she and her friends are threatened after all, even if her team won most of the battles.

Winning against a 3rd seat lit up her fire even more.

That come second year, she blossomed into a confident elite chef who absorbed what the school can offer using Tootsuki's Resources, absorbing and learning what she could when she could, never stopping.

However, in just four months after the Regimental Battles...

She blossomed into a beauty. But still petite.

But...hardened by her experiences of course...

With good reason...

'Haa...I can't believe this country...' Megumi gasped out. 'To think Takumi-kun and Isami-kun said Italy's a nice place...it's SCARY!'

She had done Stagiare in many restaurants to learn from them, but has the misfortune of having scary guests.

The Mafia.

'HEY! WHO COOKED THIS STEAK?!' a man's rough demanding voice boomed in the restaurant that got the kitchen gulping.

'H-hey! Who cooked for table 10?! Hurry!' a waiter cried, barging into the kitchens. 'His smile is scary!'

'Megumi that's you!' the Head Chef choked. 'Hurry! That guy's bad news when he doesn't get what he wants quickly!'

'Uwaaa! Why am I so unlucky?!' Megumi wailed before deciding to face the wolves...after doing stress relief.

Drawing kanji of person on her palm and eating it.

'U-uhm...is there anything wrong sir?' Megumi squeaked nervously, facing a table where seven people sat.

Seven, scary people.

Or rather, six people and one baby?

'You cooked this eh? Who are you?' the scarred, but rogue-ishly handsome man grinned ferally.

'Uhm, I'm Megumi Tadokoro sir.' Megumi choked out. 'Because of how my school works if we earn certain privileges, we're free to use resources as long as its for becoming a better chef so I'm stagiareing in restaurants all over the place.'

'School?'

'Tootsuki Saryo Ryori Gakuen sir!'

'Heee...privileges, eh?' the boy with the crown grinned. 'What're those?'

'Uhm...' she has to explain the Elite Ten Council system and what said privileges are allowed to them. That the newcomers were flying all over the place to absorb culture and styles to become better than yesterday to maintain their standing as getting demoted, would be social suicide for newly appointees. 'S-so that's pretty much it...'

'Then! Cook me ten steaks five times better than this one! You can do it, right?' the scarred man demanded challengingly.

'Yessir! Right away sir! Rare, Medium or Well-Done?'

'Well-done, but with a sauce that's outta this world or I'll tan your hide!'

'Hiiii!' Megumi zoomed back into the kitchen in panicky tears. 'Scaryyyy!'

'Make sure its really her who does the job. Mammon.' the man ordered gruffly. 'Elite Ten Council and Tenth Seat, eh? Sounds interesting that that slip of a wreck is actually an elite chef.'

'Umu.'

xxx

The kitchen...

Megumi knew her life is on the line.

She wasn't stupid.

She failed to notice that as she cooked with her dying will because she definitely WILL die if she failed, failed to notice that she has a faint, erratic glow of orange about her that an invisible Mammon saw.

"This girl..." he frowned as he saw it that got his interest.

She cooked steaks in style, and with sauces with aromas that made everyone in the kitchen weak in their knees.

'Here you are sir!' Megumi cried, back outside with waiters carrying the steaks she made with elegant plating of sauces and garnishes.

'She indeed, made it all.' Mammon told them. 'She's skilled with blades despite how she looks and acts. And its all good.'

Megumi's customer savagely ate the food but the more he eats, the more his expression changes...

'Girl!'

'Y-yes?!' Megumi went ten-hut! ramrod still.

'If this is the work of a tenth seat, I can't wait to taste higher fare.' the man grinned. 'Who are you, really?'

'I just said who am I two hours ago...' Megumi whimpered nervously. The man laughed.

'You! Stay in my mansion for a month, and your mission is to satisfy the entire mansion! You'll be quality or DIE trying! Leave this place and you're coming with us!'

'Eep...' "Should I write my last will now?"

xxx

'So, about that girl?' Xanxus di Vongola asked Mammon.

While Lussuria distracted the girl by giving her a tour of Varia Castle, Xanxus and his other officers talked.

'Umu. Facts checked out.' said Mammon. 'But that girl...when she cooked in the kitchen for boss while a nervous wreck, was brimming with faint, but erratic Sky Flames.' he said.

'Voi?!' Squalo squawked. 'She's near active by cooking for shitty boss?!'

'Umu. A bit more push, and that civilian will be active. Or is she really a civilian?'

'What do you mean by that, Mammy?' Belphegor asked, interested.

'I checked her family records. She was adopted by a widowed Ryokan Okami and she was a runaway from her original home. And fate works in funny ways...'

'What do you mean?' Levi frowned.

'We just met the idiota's missing daughter.'

'WHAT?!' everyone yelled.

'But the colors are all wrong!' Levi sputtered before pausing. 'Wait...hair dye and contacts...'

'Umu.' Mammon nodded, taking out two childhood photos. That has similar faces and shape, but different hair and eye color. 'What now, boss? Vongola's still headless chickens looking for her.'

'Bring the squeaky trash over.' Xanxus ordered. Squalo took out his phone.

'Oi Luss! Bring Megumi to the office now! Something's up!'

/Eh? We just barely started out tour~/

'THAT CAN WAIT AND BRING HER SKINNY ASS HERE NOW!'

xxx

Squalo was so loud that even without loudspeaker, Megumi heard it and was stabbed hard by comical arrows.

'...h-he's so mean...' Megumi sniffled. 'I know I'm not as busty and curvy like my dormmates...' she whimpered in a corner of gloom. Lussuria sweatdropped.

'Now now sweetheart, Squalo's always a potty mouth, we're long used to it~' Lussuria reassured her kindly. 'But we'd best hurry, boss doesn't like to be kept waiting for long~'

'Uhm, OK...' Lussuria picked her up, and ran in incredible speeds! 'Kyaa!'

'Ohoho! To live here you must be quality darling!' Lussuria cackled. 'Ordinary, boring people are not allowed in here~'

'But running at this speed is impossible!' Megumi wailed. 'Are you some secret winner of the olympics?!'

'Oh dear, I'm much better than some boring sportsmen!' Lussuria huffed snootily. 'But that's a tale...for another time!' he jumped off the stairs freaking Megumi out.

'And here we are!' after a few more strides, they're at the office.

'...that's one loud squeal.' said Squalo as in Lussuria's arm, is a passed-out...runaway heiress they've been looking for.

'Ohoho, she's not used to how we work Squ-chan! She even thought I'm an olympic gold medalist for track when I ran here, but I'm not such a boring person!' Lussuria pouted childishly. 'So, why is our tour canceled?'

'Shut the door.' Squalo ordered the okama who kicked the doors closed. 'Luss. Mammon's just found the last Vongola heir and you're holding her right now.'

'Huuuuh?!'

'Wake her up and make her talk.'

Mammon did so using his abilities and Megumi woke up, find herself on the couch. 'Huh?'

'Chef trash. We need to talk.' said Xanxus seriously.

'Uhm, what about?' Megumi asked sleepily, just waking up.

'Tadokoro Megumi...or should I say Sawada Mizora?' Megumi stiffened horribly.

Background check so quick?!

'Uhm, boss, I'd never thought you'd do a background check so soon when that stuff normally takes a week or so if you'd stack up on coffee, but I'd rather that identity stays dead. Please.' Megumi pinched her nose hard. 'I'd rather just be Tadokoro Megumi the Chef.'

'There's a story behind that.'

'...I died once.' said Megumi gloomily. 'As a child...I had trouble learning. And I was so clumsy its not even funny...learning things was like being underwater you can't hear a thing or see properly but when school's over, things are back to normal. I was bullied for it oh-so-much out of superiority. My own mother can cheerfully say I'm useless with no future and doted on my younger brother who lorded it all over me. One day somebody pushed me down the stairs...I really thought I'll die with no one and nothing. I was fine with dying...until I met a foreign man.'

'Foreign man?'

'Maybe ghost would be appropriate.' Megumi shook her head. 'Spiky blonde hair, handsome with a flaming forehead and wearing a pinstripe suit with a cloak.' she noted the men's expressions but refused to comment on it. 'He looked really sad and patted my head while saying words I can't understand while I was lying on my blood on the floor...and when I woke up again, I was in hospital and got to talk with a Social Worker...and told that person what I'm enduring because I'm a near-murder victim in school after all...and a few days after that, a bunch of Social Workers and doctors took care of me and I went to the Tadokoro Family.'

'Ma was a young widow...her husband died in a plane accident so she moved back to her family again and they ran a Ryokan...she adopted me and compared to my own mother...she accepted the no-good me...that I really worked hard. Because of my learning issues, I was so afraid that she'd just be the same and she proved me wrong...she taught me things by communication and home-schooled me on the Social Workers' advice. I became a good cook at home that she sent me to Tootsuki to try again and maybe, have a future as a Chef...but given my history, I fought hard...but suddenly, learning was so easy again. I can finally read and hear lessons...its no longer an underwater haze...and I'm no longer clumsy...but I still hated school...until I got used to my dormmates who showed me kindness for once. I started dying my hair then and wearing contacts when I saved up enough. I've been wearing ma's hair color for years.'

'And during my adoption, it was peaceful too and the neighbors are kind to me for once. Maybe they never told them what family they sent me to. And I'm happier that way. To me, my old self died after being pushed down the stairs. I don't want to go back...'

'When did you start being clumsy?' Mammon asked her.

'...that was around when I was seven...that man brought home a foreign grandpa.' Megumi told him and again, there's those expressions... 'He stayed with us for a few days...and my life turned for the worse.'

'Mm. Fine, we'll not say a word, Chef Trash.' Xanxus nodded. 'In the month you're Stagiareing in this castle, you will mostly stay in the basement where the kitchen is and staff rooms are. You are not allowed to go past that point on weekdays, but on weekends, you can go to town or something. You can use the internet and shit, we have computers per bedroom.'

'Yes sir.'

'Oh, and list down things you'll need in your stay here dearie.' said Lussuria. 'Things you need in the kitchen, and I'll list down everyone's eating habits you absolutely must not break or there's hell to pay for.'

'Yes sir.'

'Good. Now get back to that tour.' said Xanxus. 'Background check's done, shitty okama.'

'Yes yes! Let's go out again dearie~!' Lussuria jovially dragged her out.

'No flying this time, please!' Megumi squeaked as they went back out.

'...well, that went well.' said Mammon. 'Nono and Sawada clearly did something at that time.'

'Just a few days after Massimo's death too.' Xanxus said gruffly. 'What do you think, shitty brat?'

'...she was sealed as a child.' said Mammon. 'And Sky is Harmony...take that away and you get her.'

'...'

'Sealing flames is never done with a reason.' said Mammon. 'For a Sky, Mizora is the result. If its a Rain, Squalo's gonna get worse than he is. If a Storm, I can't imagine Bel being all serene...gets?'

'Sooo what do we do about her?' Levi asked Xanxus who just grinned.

'Let's keep them running like headless chickens for a while longer.' he said. 'Its their fault they're so damn lax in the first place. But when things go to shit, only then we'll drag her back in whether she likes it or not.'

xxx

'Humm...this is a pretty long list, Megumi-chan~'

A long list of ingredients aside, there's also her own personal toiletry needs.

'But seriously, a Head Chef?' Megumi croaked out.

'For a month. We're sending our Head Chef out on vay-cay~' Lussuria beamed. 'Aaaand here's the do's and don'ts for everyone's food. Treat that as sacred and you'll live.'

'Uhm, OK but some of it is unhealthy...' Megumi frowned disapprovingly at the list she just got.

'Nah, that's what I'm for...I'm the resident doctor~' Lussuria told her. 'Any issue you can come to me too!'

'Oh...so despite these choices they have maintenance?'

'Yup. Well, you want to enjoy after all but with such an annoying setback, we took steps~!' Lussuria giggled. 'Well, everyone here swears a lot but hey, boss says competence and quality work is what he cares for more, who cares what we do in our spare time and stuff, and we're free to be who and what we are here as long as we do our jobs right and with quality. We don't accept anything less here. Just follow the few rules we gave you and you'll pass your Stagiaire with a good pay.'

'OK, but what do I tell the school in where I worked at this month? Nakiri-san would want reports on how we did in where and how long just to make sure the school's resources are used well.' Megumi piped up. 'Even I can tell that we're not in a normal company.'

'Humm, boss will take care of that.'

Days later, Erina got a report that Megumi ended up working for a 'Security Group', and Megumi satisfied without incident.

xxx

'So how has Chef Trash been?' Xanxus asked her. 'If that's the ability of a Tenth Seat, I'd like to see how the First can impress me.' he grinned.

'Ah, impressed you did she?' Lussuria chuckled. 'Well, she stuck to the rules as she has a gut feeling on what we are, but kept quiet. I asked her some things about her school, about what were the highlights of her time there. She also asked me for ahem, a little feminine help. She heard Squalo say 'get her skinny ass here' and she got self-conscious. Well, she consulted a schoolmate home who specializes in medicinal food, and I help her out to get a little shape using my flames when she's sleeping.'

'Heh, I'd seen more shape on a runway model.'

'Hoho! Well, she'll grow soon boss. So has Mammon determined why CEDEF failed to find her all these years?'

'Well, Social Services clammed up real good on her request. No records available for public perusal but records are hidden elsewhere and on paper, not on computer. It helps that they gave her ex-mom an alias meaning CEDEF is looking for someone who doesn't exist and the company's playing dumb.' Xanxus chuckled. 'Let's enjoy the show till its time to bring back Mizora whether she likes it or not.'

'And Sawada?'

'Well got divorced ages ago and still looking for her. Well, his son was a Lightning, wrong element to take headship and Mizora's a Sky...heheh. They're not even sure she's still alive so Nono and that guy are increasingly rising in BP and I could care less. For now, keep an eye on her.'

'She flew to France not long ago after booking tickets last night. She apparently has had the misfortune of working in scary places since landing in Naples and we're the scariest yet.'

'Hah!'