Mutsuki liked shoujo manga. She liked the way it made her heart flutter whenever the heroine got the guy in the end or whenever the guy was sweet with her. In fact, as loathe as she was to admit it, Mutsuki just loved how cliché and absurd her shoujo mangas were.
But that didn't mean that she wanted her life to be similar to a shoujo manga.
In fact, she'd rather not have it that way. Mutsuki just wanted a peaceful high school life and maybe hopefully graduate from Totsuki in three years.
So when she found herself cornered by Takumi's self-proclaimed fan club, she wasn't entirely sure on what to feel.
On one hand, she was morbidly curious on what it was like to actually be in a fan club. What did they even do during their club meetings? Discuss Takumi's hair? Gush over Takumi's pretty face? On the other hand, Mutsuki wanted to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of it. She was being cornered like the heroines in her shoujo manga.
She would've actually laughed out loud, except oh shit, Mutsuki had read enough shoujo manga to know where this was going.
She was going to get bullied wasn't she? Harassed into promising not to talk to their beloved Takumi-sama (Mutsuki resisted a snort at this.). And if she didn't comply with their demands; they would make her life a living hell starting with putting thumb tacks on her indoor shoes and leaving hate mail on her shoe locker.
"Um," The ring leader, Mutsuki assumed, began. "Are you still listening?"
"Please don't put thumb tacks on my indoor shoes." Mutsuki replied in one breath. "Those look painful. Or hide my gym clothes. I have Iwasaki-sensei for gym class and he's merciless to students who forget their uniform."
"What." A member deadpanned.
Mutsuki frowned. "Isn't this the part where you start threatening me with bodily harm if I don't stop talking to Takumicchi?"
"Why would you think that?!"
The whole fan club looked genuinely appalled at the insinuation.
Huh.
Well, that was…weird.
"Five girls call me out alone to a secluded area to 'talk' .I hope you can see why I'm not really expecting something peaceful to go down here." Mutsuki replied.
The one Mutsuki assumed to be a ring leader gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry. We're all just really shy. We thought that talking to you together would make us feel less awkward. We didn't mean to make you feel intimidated."
Oh.
"What do you need then?" They may have seemed a little less harmless now, but Mutsuki wasn't going to let her guard down. If there was one important life lesson she learned from reading shoujo manga; it would be that bad stuff happened when the heroine least expected it to.
The girl on the left shifted, a red flush creeping on her face. "We wanted to ask you for, uh, pictures of Takumi-sama?"
"Yeah, we just wanted to see if you would happen to have good pictures of him, seeing how the two of you are pretty close." Another girl from the right piped in, her face burning another shade of red.
Wow. These girls weren't lying when they said they were all shy.
"I'm honestly confused right now. Shouldn't you guys be threatening me to stay away from Takumicchi?" Mutsuki frowned.
"What? No, of course not! We like looking and fawning over Takumi-sama but that doesn't mean we want to bully his friends!" A girl from behind said. "He's got really few friends as it is and driving them away would just be cruel!"
The fan club erupted in squeals, gushing over how they were the Takumi defense squad.
Mutsuki was still confused. Her shoujo manga knowledge had never failed her. (Except of course, it wasn't like she actually had any chance to apply said knowledge.)
With a sigh, she leaned her weight on the fence behind her and crossed her arms. She patiently waited for the fan club to finish their gushing before turning them down. While she did have pictures of Takumi (some embarrassing, courtesy of one angel called Isami), she wasn't comfortable just giving them to some girls she just met.
Even if they were well meaning.
A few minutes passed and the fan club had finally settled down, a sheepish look on their faces. "Sorry about that, Kusanagi-san. So, your answer?"
Mutsuki made to move away from the fence she was leaning on but realized that something was tugging at her head. She blindly groped at it and found out that her hair had tangled on the wired fence. Damn. This would be a pain to remove.
The fan club, who were quick to notice her predicament had helpfully tried to unknot her hair from the fence but only succeeded in making it worse.
This is getting nowhere, Mutsuki thought to herself.
Lunch break was about to end and there was really only one way to fix this.
"Just cut my hair."
"Wha-?! Are you crazy? It'd be such a waste!"
"And I have Iwasaki-sensei in twenty minutes."
This seemed to effectively coerce the girls into agreeing but before the scissors could even meet its intended destination, a loud voice startled them.
"What the hell are you guys doing?!"
A boy with bright red hair was glaring at them. Mutsuki felt like she should know him but she had more pressing issues to think about; such as being late for Iwasaki-sensei's class and seriously someone, anyone, just please cut her hair already! No need to get over dramatic over a chunk of dead cells.
The fan girls eeped! before stuttering apologies as they made a dash for it.
"Are you alright? Did they do anything to you?" The boy frowned.
Had this been a shoujo manga, this would be the part where the potential love interest would swoop in and save the heroine from the bullying fan club. The heroine would blush a pretty red and her curiosity in love interest-kun would increase. And as the days passed, she would notice him more and gradually fall in love with him.
Unfortunately, this was real life and there was neither a bullying fan club nor a reason for a potential love interest to save Mutsuki.
With trepidation, Mutsuki realized that the boy had gotten the wrong idea. He thought that he had saved her from the clutches of some bullying fan girls.
Mutsuki didn't know what to say. The boy looked so damn proud of himself for being brave enough to save her from bullies as he inspected her for any visible sign of injuries. She was thankful of course, even if there was no reason to be thankful, but Mutsuki still thought it wise for her to clear up any misunderstandings the redhead had.
After all, she didn't want to paint Takumi's fan club in a bad light.
And so she explained that no, she wasn't in need of any saving and that the poor girls were really just trying to help her out by cutting her hair from the stupid fence. And had he even heard of Iwasaki's terror gym class? It was going to start in fifteen minutes and being a second late would earn her a punishment of fifty push-ups.
The boy blinked at her. "You know, some victims try to hide what their bullies do to them. The teachers here may be harsh but I don't think they'd turn a blind eye if you told them about this."
Mutsuki wanted to sob. Did this boy even listen to a word she said?
A hand reached out to her tangled locks and Mutsuki yelped. His hands were uncomfortably damp!
She hoped it wasn't sweat.
"Sorry." He smiled. "I'd just washed my hands so they're still a bit damp. I can try to untangle your hair if you want?"
Mutsuki nodded, desperate. She didn't care anymore as long as she got her hair free. Sweat or water, it didn't matter much at this point.
Nothing did when it came to Iwasaki-sensei's class.
To her surprise however, the redhead was unexpectedly good with his hands and unknotted her hair within a minute. She gawked at him in awe. "Whoa. Thanks!"
He grinned at her as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "No problem! I can't just leave someone to get bullied y'know? Plus Tadokoro told me that hair is important to girls so it'd be a waste to cut yours."
She nodded absentmindedly, too focused on the fact that she had only ten minutes left to return to the classroom and get changed before Iwasaki-sensei came in. She contemplated just making a run for it but she had unfortunately been raised with better manners.
Fifty pushups it was then.
"And if you'd been listening to a word I said earlier, those girls were just asking something from me." Mutsuki huffed.
"Right." An amused grin tugged at the corner of the boy's mouth. "I'm Yukihira Soma by the way."
"Kusanagi Mutsuki." Mutsuki introduced.
A beat, then, "Wait. What?!" Mutsuki's eyes widened. This was the new kid? She squinted at him, inching her face closer to his. Ah. It was definitely him. There was no mistaking that red hair and scar.
Soma recoiled in surprise, giving her shoulder a gentle nudge to put some distance between them and Mutsuki begrudgingly allowed it.
"I suppose you've heard about me because of the Shokugeki huh?" He laughed as he scratched the back of his head. "Man, I've been getting a lot more popular lately!"
More like notorious, Mutsuki wanted to retort but held her tongue.
Now that Mutsuki was face to face with the very boy she had been resolutely searching for, she was at a complete loss. She had initially planned on making him back down but the Aldini brothers had persuaded her not to.
But a little advice never hurt, right?
"I did hear about it." She admitted as he shot her a toothy grin.
She wanted to ask him if he was really that eager to leave Totsuki or if he was trying to prove something. She also wanted to ask if he genuinely believed that he actually stood a chance against Ikumi.
But instead, Mutsuki said, "Good luck."
Soma's eyes widened in surprise. Well, this was a first. For the past day, he'd been getting a lot of sneers and discouraging remarks (Which he paid no mind of course) from people who found out that he'd taken over the Donburi RS's Shokugeki.
It was a welcome change for someone to wish him luck.
"Thanks!" Soma beamed at her. "You know, lunch break's about to end."
Mutsuki cursed before excusing herself. "Sorry Yukihira I really need to go!"
"Ah. Wait! I'm heading for the same direction too so we might as well make a run for it together." He suggested as he jogged to catch up to her.
Mutsuki noted with annoyance that it only took him five strides to catch up with her run.
She cursed her short legs.
"Alright Yukihira." She huffed. "Just don't slow me down."
"I won't!"
And this was the start of their friendship.
With great dismay, Mutsuki realized that all her efforts had been for naught. Iwasaki-sensei was absent that day so gym class became a self-study period and everyone was free to do whatever the hell they wanted. Most of the students had left for the kitchen and Mutsuki was not surprised.
"Looks like you made it!" Soma remarked as he reached out to give her shoulder a pat. "Oh. Hey. You okay? You don't look so good."
It was embarrassing but Mutsuki was huffing and panting like there was no tomorrow. Admittedly, she had gotten out of shape, so sudden bursts of physical activity usually left her a panting mess.
"I'm alright." She wheezed in between pants. "Just gimme a sec to catch my breath."
The door to the classroom slid open and Takumi blinked as he saw Mutsuki panting with a concerned Soma hovering near her.
"Kusanagi, you alright?" Takumi frowned.
"It's Mutsuki dammit!" Mutsuki twisted her head to give the older Aldini a glare. "And yes, I'm just absolutely peachy!"
"Oh looks like your friend's here to check on you!" Soma said. "I've still got some errands to run so see ya later Kusanagi! And come watch my Shokugeki too okay?"
Takumi yelled out that no they were not friends and he definitely did not come to check on her and what even gave Soma that idea? But the boy was too far away to hear and so Takumi was left fuming. As per usual.
Takumi turned to face Mutsuki and was about to nag at her but a voice suddenly cut in."Nii-chan, you okay? I heard shouting. What happened?"
"Yukihira Souma." Mutsuki and Takumi both deadpanned.
Isami just blinked in confusion.
"Ikumicchi, you look happy."
"Is it that obvious?" Ikumi gave Mutsuki a feral grin. "I get to crush someone's hopes and dreams today. Wish me luck, though I probably won't need it."
Mutsuki loved Ikumi. She really did. But it was at times like this that she genuinely did get scared of the girl.
The Shokugeki had gone a lot better than Mutsuki thought it would. Soma had won and the worst that Ikumi had was a bruised pride and a monstrous crush for the Soma boy. (Which Mutsuki would later on mercilessly tease her for.) All in all, Mutsuki had to admit that she was glad with the outcome; Soma was still in Totsuki and it seemed like Ikumi wasn't that concerned about her loss.
However, Mutsuki got a little upset when she found out that Erina had retracted Ikumi's personal kitchen; but such were the rules and even she was aware that Erina had let Ikumi off lightly.
Nevertheless, Mutsuki still strived to be the best 'best friend' in the entire world so she invited (read: kidnapped) Ikumi over at her dorm for some quality girl time with the promise of lending Ikumi her collection of shoujo manga and rom com movies.
And so after four hours, a liter of soda and a bag of chips later; Ikumi and Mutsuki were sprawled over the floor of the latter's dorm, giggling about the movies they just watched.
"It was so bad!" Ikumi guffawed. "That it was so good!"
"Finally cheered you up huh?" Mutsuki rolled to her side, facing Ikumi.
"Don't get cheeky with me Tsukki." Ikumi snorted. "But…thanks."
Mutsuki smiled. "You're welcome."
"You know, today kinda made me think about a lot of things. "Ikumi suddenly said, earning Mutsuki's undivided attention. "It's just…I always have to be so strong y'know? But sometimes, I just want to be me. Sometimes, I just want to sit back, relax and not have to put up so many fronts. But my dad, he's just, ugh, sorry to spoil the mood like this."
"No, it's okay Ikumi, I understand. You can be yourself around me, you know that right? You're my best friend and that means I'll always stick by your side. Even if you can be such a tsundere at times." Mutsuki teased as she reached for Ikumi's hand and grasped it tightly.
A laugh bubbled out of Ikumi and Mutsuki noticed how her eyes were getting a bit wet but decided not to comment on it.
Silence reigned between the two before Ikumi finally spoke up. "He said I was cute you know. Yukihira did. Well, not me exactly, but he said that Nikumi sounded cute." A blush tinged Ikumi's cheeks and she moved to cover her face.
Ikumi could be so adorable without even being aware of it and Mutsuki resisted the urge to hug her.
"You are cute Ikumicchi! You're just too shy to actually show it!"
"I am not!" Ikumi was now sporting a deeper shade of red.
The debate had continued for another hour and only ended when the dorm manager had barged in Mutsuki's room, complaining about the amount of noise and trouble they were causing. She had sent Ikumi away but Ikumi never went down without a fight so after a verbal spar that ended in the dorm manager spluttering at being called a hag; Ikumi finally went home.
Of course, Ikumi's little show of insolence had earned Mutsuki another lecture from the dormitory mother since according to her, she was guilty by association. Mutsuki didn't really mind but the dorm mother had threatened to revoke her kitchen rights for a month if she caused more trouble.
Mutsuki had a feeling that whether or not she caused trouble, the dorm mother would still revoke her kitchen rights.
True to her word, she revoked Mutsuki's kitchen rights when she realized that the girl was spacing out during her lecture.
Mutsuki was unrepentant.
Mutsuki went to bed that night, thinking that her situation wasn't really that bad. She could just sneak into school and use the kitchen to make her own meals and practice cooking during the month of her kitchen ban.
Mentally patting herself for being so clever, Mutsuki curled up in her blanket and was about to finally fall asleep when she felt something cold and wet hit her cheek.
Her eyes shot open as she hastily ran out of her bed to hit the light's switch on.
Drip
Drip
Drip
The ceiling above her bed was leaking. Drops of water pooled and fell from one specific corner of her ceiling. With a loud creak, the wood that made her ceiling suddenly gave out and water gushed out of the new crevice, effectively soaking her bed and floor
"Cripes," She groaned.
This day was definitely not going in her favor.
"Look, Kusanagi, there's nothing I can do about your room this late." The dorm mother, Mikoto-san, irately grumbled. "Go bunk with one of your friends or sleep on the couch for the night."
"But Mikoto-san," Mutsuki frowned. "This is a dormitory of a prestigious academy and I assume that most of the students here pay a lot of money that should be spent on the facilities. I'm just wondering why that happened."
"Do I look like a plumber to you? Shoddy craftsmanship, embezzling of funds or bad materials. It can be one or none of those reasons. I'm just a dorm manager Kusanagi, such things are beyond my pay." Mikoto scowled, eager to get back to sleep. "And it's late. Just go bunk with someone and bother me tomorrow. I'll call for a carpenter and plumber first thing in the morning if that'll satisfy you."
Mutsuki opened her mouth to retort that no that was not enough to satisfy her but Mikoto had already slammed the door in her face.
Bunking with a friend it was then.
The only problem was that it was already way past midnight and she doubted that any of the girls on her floor would still be awake. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure if she was close enough with any of them to the point that they would warmly accept her intrusion on their doorstep at two in the morning.
With a sigh, Mutsuki supposed that it wouldn't be too bad if she slept on the dorm lobby's couch. It was soft but old and creaky. She was certain that she would wake up with a crick in her neck. However it was better than nothing at all.
"Mutsuki-san?" A hand touched her shoulder.
Mutsuki whirled a little too fast to face the person who had addressed her, resulting in a fleeting dizziness. "I-Isamicchi?"
"What are you doing out here so late?" He asked, tilting his head to the side.
Even if Mutsuki was dead tired and pissed at her new sleeping arrangements for the night, she still found the energy to gush over Isami's adorable head tilt."D'awwww, Isamicchiii, you're such an angel!"She reached a hand to pinch at his cheeks.
An uncharacteristic frown crossed Isami's face and he gently tugged Mutsuki's hand away from his cheeks. Mutsuki was momentarily stunned as Isami had rarely rebuffed her displays of platonic affection.
"Mutsuki-san," The frown was gone in an instant and was instead replaced with his usual amiable smile. "Are you alright? I don't think you should be out this late."
"What about you?" She shot back, still a little wounded about being denied a chance to pinch his cheeks.
"I'm just worried about you Mutsuki-san."
"…I'm okay. My room's got some pipe troubles so everything's wet now. I was planning on sleeping on the lobby's couch tonight." She shrugged.
"Have you told Mikoto-san?" Isami asked in concern.
"I have. She'll be calling whoever needs to be called first thing in the morning. Hopefully."
The frown was there on Isami's face again.
If Mutsuki was feeling particularly honest, she would admit that seeing Isami frown so much in the span of a few minutes was terribly unsettling. She'd been so used to seeing him smile that any other expression just looked so foreign on the younger Aldini's face.
"You can have my bed then." Isami suddenly said, snapping Mutsuki out of her thoughts. "I'll just sleep on nii-chan's bed. I'm sure he wouldn't mind.
"But Isamicchi, I don't really mind taking the couch. I'd feel bad for kicking you out of your own room." Mutsuki protested even though she was glad that Isami had bothered to offer. The boy was honestly too good and pure for this world.
Isami was such a dear angel. Unlike other certain blonde Aldinis who would not be named for anonymity's sake.
"It's alright. I insist." Two hands were suddenly placed on Mutsuki's shoulder and she belatedly realized that Isami had begun dragging her to the boy's dormitory.
Isami's room was messier than Mutsuki thought it would be. Post-its littered with reminders were stuck all over his mirror that Mutsuki couldn't even see her own reflection anymore. Text books and other school materials were haphazardly spread on his desk , which made her remember about the math homework due in two days that she hadn't even started on. Oh well, she supposed that she could delay the work for another more day. On his bed were culinary magazines with post-its sticking out from different pages. Isami good-naturedly apologized for the mess as he hurried to shove the piles of clutter away.
Mutsuki just awkwardly stood at the side, unsure if she should offer a hand to the boy. She was worried that she would come across something he didn't want her to see. After all, boys were entitled to their own secrets.
A magazine dropped from the pile that Isami had in his arms and Mutsuki, being the helpful guest she was, picked it up. "Oh, Isamicchi, you dropped your…porn mag." As if on cue, the closet that he had been shoving his stuff into had burst open and revealed a very colorful amount of graphic materials.
The dreaded event happened. She had seen the porn stash of one of her closest friends.
Mutsuki would be lying if she said that she didn't feel the least bit flustered at seeing scantily clad women on the cover. She was still a teenage girl and such things were really not her areas of expertise. However, it wasn't like she didn't expect Isami to be interested in those kind of things. It was a normal part of puberty and she wouldn't shame him for his interests.
Isami turned a beet red (Mutsuki was suddenly reminded of Takumi) and attempted to snatch the magazine from her hands but she deftly dodged him. "It's n-not mine! It's um, nii-chan's , yeah! He just placed it here for safe keeping!"
Mutsuki honestly doubted that Takumi had an interest in porn. The boy was dedicated to his cooking for god's sake! He would probably marry his mezzaluna if he could.
A mental image of Takumi marrying his mezzaluna dressed in a veil made her snicker.
Mutsuki raised a brow at Isami's blatant lie."Riiiiight. You know , I don't think Takumi's the type to share porn with his younger brother." She sneaked a glance at the lecherous material in her hands. "Much less read this Naughty maids in—"
A hand snatched the offending material away before she could finish reading the title.
"This did not happen." Isami averted his eyes, red still dusting his cheeks.
"But-"
"Never."
"Even if-?"
"Nope."
Mutsuki would've teased him some more but since Isami had kindly offered her his bed that night, she let it slide. "Alright." She relented, despite her wishes.
She would just bring it up later on when it was a good time to tease him about it. And maybe Takumi too, if she was feeling particularly sadistic.
An awkward silence fell between the two as Isami began shoving his goods in his closet once more.
"Um," Isami clumsily began once he was done. "I just changed the sheets today so it won't smell funny or anything. Not that it would have any reason to smell weird! I mean, uh I, uh, I-I'll go to nii-chan's room now. Goodnight!"
Mutsuki grabbed Isami's wrist. "Isamicchi wait!"
Isami paused midstride but didn't face Mutsuki.
Mutsuki smiled as she noted that Isami's ears were pretty red. "I don't know what you were doing out at the hall so late but thank you. Really."
An unintelligible grumble came from Isami.
"Huh?"
"I said I was going for a midnight snack." He replied. "And, you're welcome…It's no problem at all."
With that, Isami finally left the room.
Mutsuki curled up in Isami's bed that night and was pleased to note that his sheets smelled a lot like the laundry detergent her household used to wash their beddings. It made her feel warm and nostalgic.
And with those feelings bubbling in her chest, Mutsuki was lulled into a deep dreamless sleep.
Meanwhile in another room, Takumi was pacing back and forth. "So let me get this straight. You smuggled Kusanagi into the boy's dormitory and gave her your bed for the night?"
"Well, if you put it that way nii-chan, you make it sound like we did a bad thing. I was just helping her out you know. I couldn't let her sleep on that old moldy couch."
"Y-You idiot! Ugh! Do you even realize the implications of what you just did? What if the dorm mother finds out?!" Takumi scowled, shaking his brother's shoulders for emphasis. Oh god. He was going to go bald early at this rate. Kusanagi was just so bad for his nerves. She didn't even have the decency to spare him her shenanigans during his sleep.
"To be fair, she did tell Mutsuki-san to bunk with a friend. And I'm confident that Mutsuki-san considers me as her friend." Isami, the ever loving idiot of a brother, helpfully replied.
Takumi wanted to bash his head at the nearest wall.
"That's not the point! She's a girl sleeping in the boy's section. The dorm was split up into sections for a reason."
Isami shrugged, uncaring. "Mutsuki-san didn't seem that bothered about those details."
"Of course she wouldn't be. That monkey's denser than a pine forest." Takumi glowered.
"Relax, nii-chan. Mutsuki-san's been our friend for a long time, it'll be just like the sleepovers we threw when we were younger." Isami tried to placate his brother.
"Except we're not in the same room and she's surrounded by a number of unknown boys on all sides." Takumi deadpanned.
Isami paused , and turned a horrified look at his brother , who nearly wept for joy. He finally got it.
Takumi, honestly, had no issues about sleeping in the same room with Mutsuki as she was just Mutsuki. She had been a friend to the brothers for a long time now and so he wasn't that overly conscious in her presence and vice versa. However ,it was a different matter altogether when she was sleeping in a dormitory full of unknown boys whose intentions he couldn't ascertain.
She could be irritating as hell but he did have a measure of protectiveness for her. However he would rather die than admit that to anyone.
Isami groaned as he finally relented. "Fine. I'll wake her up early tomorrow and bring her back to her room unseen. Happy now?"
"Yeah." Takumi nodded , slumping on his bed. Ah, sweet bliss. He never knew that lying down could be this blissful. A few minutes passed and Takumi had finally fallen asleep, soft snores escaping him.
With a sigh, Isami plopped next to his brother, wanting to get as much as sleep as he could in the limited time he had.
Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
Hi guys! Here's chapter 2 of When Pigs Fly! Sorry if it seems a little slow to start but I just really want to develop my characters alongside the ships. At this point in time, Mutsuki does not have romantic feelings for Isami. She may have some feelings but she's too dense to realize it at this point. So all her affection for Isami is purely platonic (or so she likes to tell herself.)
I'm only at around 50 chapters or so in the manga so if I get anything wrong, please don't hesitate to correct me or point it out. Just be nice about it okay?
Also, this fic won't be a retelling of all the chronological events in Shokugeki no Soma. I'll be glossing over on a lot of parts and diverge a bit from the events in order to develop the relationships between the characters.
I'll try to update at least twice or thrice a week.
And please do leave a review! Your reviews motivate me into writing more of When Pigs Fly!
