Chapter 1:
Start of the story:
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"…"
Doing his best to focus on following the recipe set for that day's class in an effort to ignore the pair of green eyes evidently trying to burn a whole through his back, Leon suppressed a shiver, trying to keep his own pair of green eyes trained on the whiteboard at the front of the lecture room in an attempt to keep them from wandering.
So far, despite the fact that they had been made to pair up for the cooking practical, neither he nor his partner had exchanged a word other than a few mutual delegations of jobs ('you tenderize the meat and I'll get started on the bouquet garni') or requests ('pass me that knife over there') yet…
The lack of communication wouldn't have bothered him so much – seeing as he was itching to get out of there anyway – but there was just the one thing.
Just why was he staring so much?!
Admittedly, with the exception of the male sharing his kitchen counter, the rest of the students seemed more interested in the red-haired male a few aisles down, but even having one relentless gaze piercing through him was more than enough to make him take notice.
Usually when he drew stares on the streets, it was because of his appearance – white hair and green eyes were a rarity in Japan it seemed – but that couldn't be it; this guy had white hair and green eyes as well; if anything, his tan skin made him even more of a rarity than he was in Leon's opinion. Leon usually didn't mind being stared at because he could easily tune them out, but he didn't like the way this guy seemed to be analyzing him from head to toe.
In this case, it couldn't be his hair or eye color, so it had something else, right…?
Glancing over to his cooking partner, Leon noted the height difference between them; his companion easily had 9 or 10 inches on him, and it didn't seem to be just him either…
Redirecting his gaze to the rest of his classmates, Leon noted that he was one of the shortest students in the class. At 5'1, he was shorter than all the males and even most of the females, yet… that wasn't a sound reason to stare at him for a majority of class time was it…?
If it was, he couldn't blame him.
With his height and physique, he certainly looked out of place in this class.
He was out of place; and it wasn't just his appearance either.
Tootsuki Academy.
An institution dedicated to the culinary arts.
A training grounds where anything relating to cooking could be found.
A school where all fights were resolved through what each party could put on a plate.
In short; a haven for young, aspiring chefs hoping to hone their skills.
…Too bad Leon was no aspiring chef.
Someone as unworthy as a non-chef daring to set foot on the sacred grounds of Tootsuki?
Scandalous and boy did he know it.
Resisting the urge to tell his partner to stop staring as he crushed an unpeeled clove of garlic under his knife and tossed it into the sizzling pan, Leon gave an uncomfortable shudder before wiping his hands off and setting the timer to ring at 5 minute intervals.
…How had he gotten into this mess again…?
~Flashback to the day before~
"Thank you for the curry ingredients Leon-kun; the delivery was ahead of schedule and the quality is outstanding as usual!"
Giving the two women a wide, close-eyed grin before climbing back into his limo with his chauffeur and leaving the ingredient laden trucks behind, the boy called Leon immediately reached for his ringing phone, snowy white locks bouncing as he shifted into a more comfortable position. Not even bothering to glance at the caller ID before swiping a finger across the screen and picking up, the teen reclined back into his seat and beamed despite knowing that the caller wouldn't be able to see it "Hey Eizan! I just finished the delivery for Miss Natsume and Miss Orie so–" but that was all he managed to get out before 9th seat's voice cut smoothly across his.
"Nice as that is to know, that wasn't why I called."
"…Oh?" Letting a small frown mar his youthful features as he propped an elbow up on an arm rest, the younger male pouted for exactly 5 seconds before immediately recovering "So why'd you call?! Do you have another client already? xDDD"
"…!" Barely resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, the blonde on the other side of the line settled for simple breathing exercises instead "…No… Nothing like that–" but, seemingly thinking better of it, he paused his paperwork signing and corrected himself "Well, actually, yes. Not so much a client but another delivery I need you to make."
Precariously balancing his phone between his ear and shoulder as he set his pen down and shoved his current stack of paperwork away from him, the 2nd year student grabbed his organizer and rifled through it for a few tense moments before finally managing to flick to the right page and find what he was looking for, the tip of his index finger tracing the neatly penned entry as he relayed the information "Tomorrow at 900 hours sharp, a delivery of ingredients to Chapelle-sensei's classroom is required. Usually I'd ask someone else, but I've got a note here saying Senzaemon-dono specifically requested it to be you."
"…'Specifically' huh…?" Leaning against the plush interior of the limo as he idly watched the scenery outside the window, the petite male flashed his tiny canines in a dimpled grin "Did he say why?"
"Strangely enough, he did. Let's see…" Finger running down the wordy slab of text, the Yankee-like male gave a pinched frown before giving his own, shortened summary "…In a nutshell, skipping over the usual 'there is much for you to learn at Tootsuki and he plus a handful of other lecturers would love to see you there' parts, he says 'there is a new transfer student and I think you'll find him an interesting young man'…" Metal framed glasses glinting as he adjusted them, the blond gave a rare smirk "…and if you must know, I quite agree with his evaluation."
Swiftly putting his organizer back in its usual place and resuming his paperwork, the Elite Ten Council member leaned back in his chair before getting ready to end the call "I'll email you the list of ingredients and a map with the details as soon as I hang up; any last questions?"
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"…Hello…?"
"…The grunting sounds you made when you were leafing through your books were really funny ^~^"
"…"
Giving a hearty laugh at the resulting beep that signaled the severed call, Leon stretched himself out, barely managing to suppress what felt like an endless stream of giggles as he tried to mentally picture the look on his business partner's face "…A delivery to Tootsuki huh…?"
Blatantly ignoring the 'No feet on the seats' sign a mere 2 feet away from him, the tiny 5'1 male grinned, kneeling in front of a window as he drank in the view outside "…Well~ If it's a request from that person, I can't really say no…"
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"…Chapelle-sensei… Chapelle-sensei…" Continuously muttering the name like a mantra as he stared hard at the printed map balanced on top of his delivery boxes, Leon abruptly rounded a corner and, admittedly not paying close attention to his surroundings, nearly ran into a female teacher.
"!"
Barely managing to swerve out of harm's way at the last second, the slightly shaken teen breathed a small sigh of relief before spinning around to face his near collision victim and giving an awkward laugh "Sorry Miss! Please excuse me; would you happen to know where Chapelle-sensei's lecture is?"
Not being a student of Tootsuki and thus not being familiar with the layout of the enormous school campus, having already spent the good part of 3 hours wandering its halls, the white-haired teen decided to just cut his losses and ask for help. If he failed his delivery, he knew he would never hear the end of it from Eizan so he sincerely hoped that this officious looking lady had her wits about her.
"…? 'Chapelle-sensei' as in Roland Chapelle?" Not noticing the slightly affronted look on her face which quickly faded into a neutral smile, the teacher nodded and gestured for the geographically challenged teen to follow "I do and it's not far from here; if you'd like I can take you there."
"Wow really?! Thanks!" Giving another quick sigh of relief before letting a grin spread over his face, Leon eagerly fell in step alongside the older woman (whose name tag identified her as 'Ishikawa-sensei'), letting her guide him to his destination.
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"Alright… Looks like Chapelle-sensei himself isn't here yet so I guess I'll leave these here in the back…"
Setting the boxes down on the counter at the back of the lecture room, Leon made to leave only to find his exit barred by his escort "…I-Ishikawa-sensei…?"
"Class is just about to start so leaving the classroom is strictly forbidden." Giving a frown as she opened her mouth to begin what seemed to be a verbal tirade, she was – fortunately for Leon – cut off by the arrival of her fellow lecturer before she could get a single word out.
"Ishikawa-sensei; not that your presence is unwelcome but don't you have your own class to teach?"
"Chapelle-sensei, just in time." Turning to face her colleague as she grabbed Leon by the shoulders and forcefully pulled him between them, Ishikawa-sensei gave a frown "I caught one of your students trying to skip your class."
"…!" Tilting his face up to meet the gaze of Chapelle-sensei, Leon gave a sheepish grin and an equally sheepish wave. Roland Chapelle was one of Tootsuki's longest employed staff, so even whilst a vast majority of the school's newly hired teachers didn't know of him, Leon was confident that having been a personal acquaintance of the man for a fair few years, Chapelle-sensei would recognize him – and by extension, the fact that he was no student – and let him go on his merry way.
Sadly it seemed, judging from the way the blond lecturer thanked his colleague before clamping onto his shoulder with a vice-like grip, that even though there had been a hint of recognition flickering past the older man's otherwise impassive expression, Chapelle-sensei was not bailing him out of this situation anytime soon.
No, of course he wasn't.
Who was he kidding?
Chapelle-sensei had always been one of the more vocal of the Tootsuki staff who had voiced their protest at his steadfast refusal to attend the school as a student.
Too bad that Leon had somehow conveniently forgotten that fact until that moment where he found himself being marched to a kitchen counter where a tanned boy with silvery hair similar to his own was already waiting.
It seemed that that day's cooking practical was to be done in pairs, so it was with a somewhat nervous smile (which his cooking partner returned with an unreadable stare) that Leon gave in and turned to face the front where Chapelle-sensei was already beginning his class.
"Good morning, my young apprentis."
~End of Flash back~
Flipping the beef over at the five minute mark, occasionally lowering his fingers into the pan and feeling the firmness, Leon pulled it off the heat just as the timer rang a second time, wordlessly handing the still sizzling meat over to the other white-haired male who unceremoniously dumped it into the pot of gravy he had prepared.
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Staring the simmering pot down alongside his cooking partner who (for once) was not eying him, Leon made to get up, moving to the counter at the back where all the cutlery was kept, throwing a casual "I'll go get a serving dish" over his shoulder. It was going to be a l-o-o-o-o-n-g 40 minutes waiting for the meat to get braised so he may as well.
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"Grade A"
Giving a quick nod before ducking his head and trying to get out of the class before the other students finished and Chapelle-sensei was free to chase him down, Leon was stopped by a hand grabbing his wrist with a grip that threatened to break bone.
"…?!"
Glancing back over his shoulder, Leon gave a noticeable wince; the hand belonged to his cooking partner.
What did he want now?
Making a half-hearted attempt to extract his wrist and giving a resigned smile when it refused to budge, Leon tilted his head back to meet his cooking partner's gaze, jade clashing with emerald s they stared each other down "…Uhhh… 'Sup?"
"…" Giving an unamused frown, the taller male finally let go, watching Leon's arm fall as he crossed his arms across his chest "…For all the steps on the recipe you followed and all the good quality ingredients you picked from among the ones of worse quality… The fact that you looked at, felt or listened to the ingredients to determine when they were ready rather than taste it like most people…"
Emerald green eyes narrowing, the tanned male deliberately stood in Leon's way, resolutely refusing to budge "I've never seen you around, you're not a chef and you don't even look like you're a high school student. How old are you? Or, better yet; who are you?"
"…" Giving a wide close-eyed grin in an attempt to mask his anxiety under indifference before leaning back against the wall, Leon tilted his head back in an attempt to meet the much taller male's gaze "If it's not tasting the dish that you want to talk about, you smelled the ingredients, sure, but you never tasted them either. So how about before getting to me; who are you?"
"…" Eyebrow twitching in annoyance as he muttered out something that sounded vaguely along the lines of 'I asked you first', the tanned male sighed before lazily extending a hand "Hayama Akira, Tootsuki High School Division 1st Year and an assistant in the Shiomi Seminar."
Not expecting the other male to give in so quickly, Leon stared at the offered hand for a full 5 seconds before giving a far more genuine smile and taking it, giving it a firm shake and a squeeze "...Nakiri Leon, a staff member in Tootsuki's Ingredient Manufacture and Distribution Division. You're right, I'm not a student but if I was, I'd be part of the 94th Generation; a 2nd Year in the Middle School division."
~End of Chapter 1/ Intro Chapter~
Author's Note:
Hey y'all, I'm Kooliez! xDDD I noticed the recent boom in Shokugeki no Soma fanfiction so I decided it was a nice time to jump on the band wagon :D
Subtlety was never my strong point so I'll be blunt and cut to the chase in putting out a few disclaimers xDDD First; I do not own Shokugeki no Soma and secondly (Probably more importantly ^^; ) I have zero experience in the kitchen. I'll try to keep the recipes/food-related facts as accurate as possible, but to keep your reading experience as pleasant and enjoyable as possible, please let me know either in the reviews or PM if I've made a mistake somewhere! xD
I'll be the first to admit I'm no culinary genius or some kind of superstar chef, so I'll be counting on the rest of you more food-savvy folk to either leave behind constructive criticism or straight up flame. Yep. You read that right xD Don't worry; I've got pretty thick skin and an even thicker skull, so if you find something flameable and (like me) lack the delicacy to mince your words then please; by all means flame away – anything is better than silence so if you have something you wanna say, say it out loud and proud! :D
Oh! I almost forgot to mention but won't let me reply to Guest reviews, so while I take everything you have to say into account, I won't be able to reply until the next update OTL (Sorry about that! (9#A)9 )
This story is also a tentative experiment (Later chapters will be much longer I promise OTL) and like I said before, I have absolutely ZERO prior experience writing in this fandom so please fave/follow/tell me where I went wrong or what you liked in the reviews! xPPP