Chapter 3
"Where were you three?!" asked Erina, irritation slowly starting to bubble within her as she saw her Danish cousin casually strolling into the arena with Ryo right by her side and followed by Akira.
"Oh, what's wrong dear cousin? Did I miss another meeting?" Alice asked casually, as if it was no big deal.
"Yes! Yes you did! Honestly, between you and Yukihira-Kun, I'm surprised I'm even here with all the extra work I had to do. For god's sake, even Yukihira-kun came to the last meeting!" she shouted. Alice simply smiled away, as if she didn't hear a word Erina had just said. Ryo just stared ahead with his usual blank expression while Hayama had his eyes closed, as if he was deep in thought. Their ignorance began to push Erina's buttons even further.
"What's your excuse?!" shouted Erina, waiting for an answer.
"Oh, I was visiting mother and father!" exclaimed Alice as she took out her phone and began swiping through all the pictures. Despite Erina's annoyance, she couldn't just ignore the pictures of Uncle and her Aunt.
"I was conducting some research on some rarer spices within Hoikaido" said Hayama. Erina couldn't exactly argue with him since he had informed her of this expedition (though he didn't really wait that long for her answer). Erina let out a sigh and glared at Ryo, raising an eyebrow.
"And what about you?"
"I was just following Ms. Alice around" Ryo said nonchalantly, making Erina sigh even more.
"Anyway! Aren't you excited about this Shokugeki?! I can't wait to see Megumi wipe the floor with this old creep!" exclaimed Alice as she made her way over to where the rest of the Elite 10 council was sitting, followed by Ryo and Hayama.
"I told you we should have fired that Howitt guy. He always gave off a rather suspicious stench" said Hayama. "Besides, are you even sure that Tadokoro-Chan can win this?" Hayama continued. Though he personally didn't have anything against Megumi, he always had small doubts when it came to how she upheld her image as a chef.
"She's strong…" started Ryo as he leaned forwards, surprising everyone with his interest.
"She wouldn't let some small fry like that old guy take her down…she's way stronger than that" he continued, making the rest of the council and Erina herself smile. Suddenly, they turned to see a heavily breathing Hisako, holding Soma by the ear and dragging him by his hair.
"Hishoko, I really don't want to hurt you!" he shouted, trying to free himself from her grip without hurting her or getting his ear and hair torn off.
"Erina-chan, I've brought him here like you asked!" she shouted, gasping for air and taking in a breath between each word before letting him go. Soma simply sat on the floor and rubbed his head, trying to leviate the lingering pain.
"Where were you?!" shouted Erina, annoyed that once again, it was Soma who everyone was waiting on.
"I was trying to get some stuff done at the dorm!" shouted Soma, who stood up and walked over to Megumi, who was writing the strange symbol on her hand repeatedly, something she tends to do whenever she's nervous.
"How're you feeling?" he asked with a smile. Megumi turned around and gave the redhead a worried smile.
"Really, really nervous but…I feel like this is something I have to do! I haven't really proven that I deserve this seat, so I feel like I must win! Of course I have to win anyway but you know…how do I-" Megumi couldn't help but rant whenever she was like this; it was just who she was. To her surprise, a soft but understanding laugh escaped Soma's mouth. He patted her head and smiled reassuringly, looking straight ahead.
"Oh yeah, I definitely get it…" he said with such softness and tenderness. Erina's eyes widened as the same look from a few days ago appeared on his face. But this time, it vanished just as fast as it appeared.
"Anyway, sorry to say but I won't be sticking around!" laughed Soma as horror and even more anxiety appeared on her face.
"W-what?! Why not?!" shouted Megumi, as if the only way she could possibly win was if Soma was around.
"Don't sweat it, you got this! I know you'll win, Megumi. Believe in yourself a little more, we all believe in you, ya know" he said, catching her off guard. A confident smile appeared on her face as she nodded. She made her way towards the exit and just before she walked out of their personal booth, she turned around and gave the rest of her classmates a shaky, but confident. They all nodded and smiled right back at her in reassurance before she made her way out.
They watched confidently as the announcer, the very well-known, much to the dismay of many females within the academy, Urara Kawashima. She began to bounce up and down with excitement before speaking into the mic.
"Are you alllll ready?! It's me, official Shokugeki emcee of Totsuki Culinary Academy, Urara Kawashima!" shouted the black haired girl as she threw up a V sign next to her face, causing almost all the guys to scream in excitement.
"That's right, we're here with another Shokugeki, but this one is a special one alright! On the left, we have the magnificent and intimidating Professor Howitt-San, one of our esteemed meat specialists!" shouted the emcee, prompting the professor to walk up to the stage in his white chef's outfit. The crowd was filled with boos and no's, irritating the professor.
"On the right side, it's the newest member of our Elite 10 council, one of the top 10 students in our entire academy! Please give it up for Megumi Tadokoro, rising second year and 10th seat!" she shouted as Megumi nervously walked up on the stage, waving. Everyone cheered her on, giving her words of encouragement. Megumi look at them nervously as she heard the emcee swear under her breath, but unable to make out what she said. To Megumi's surprise, she saw the rest of the students from Polar Star and her other friends as well! In order, sat Ryoko Sakaki, Yuki Yoshino, Zenji Marui, Shub Ibusaki, Daigo Aoki, Shoji Sato, Fumio-San, Ikumi Mito, and Kanichi Konishi. A fewer rows up she saw Miyoko Hojo, clapping and giving her a nod of encouragement. Besides Fumio-San, all the students had decided to go back home for the summer, but here they were! They came back just to cheer her on, making Megumi tear up. She then looked up and saw Soma's reassuring smile, but was then surprised when he shook his head.
"No tears now, you gotta fight!" Megumi nodded back in response and wiped away her tears and faced the professor with a powerful, unwavering gaze, catching him off-guard.
"Well, I'm off. Tell me how it goes, will ya?" said Soma as he turned on his heel shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away towards the exit.
"Uh, excuse me? Where do you think you're going?" Erina asked, pulling him back by his elbow, making Soma nearly lose his balance.
"I just told you guys I can't stick around and watch!" pouted Soma as he repeated for the third time already.
"And why is that exactly?" Erina continued as she inched closer to him with a face of disbelief and lack of faith.
"I have to pack! I'm gonna be heading out of campus for a bit" he said as he turned back away again and walked towards the door once more.
"P-pack?! What the hell Yukihira-Kun, at least Hayama-Kun gave me a 3 days' notice before heading off!" she shouted in confusion.
"Yet she still yelled at me about where I was" thought Hayama.
"Yeah, yeah whatever. Don't worry about it, I already know Megumi's gonna win. And besides, I brought someone else over to watch in my place. Took a few missed calls and other peoples' numbers but hey, he's here" Soma said before pointing out the window of the booth, straight ahead. Erina turned around and her eyes widened as she saw just who was in the booth across from theirs.
The corral-haired male twiddled his silver cross necklace in his fingers as he lounged on the couch, one arm swung over the top and one leg crossed over the other. He watched the blue-haired teen closely and smiled as he began to reminisce. The very girl that he had almost fired and expelled made him a dish that brought him back to the real world; a dish that wasn't perfect in terms of taste or perfect in terms of depth, but perfect in terms of how…serene it was. Tasting that Rainbow Terrine brought him back to why he became a chef, to who inspired him and made him realize his love for cooking.
"It's been quite some time since your defeat during that Régiment de Cuisine…I know you've been feeling the pressure. I know you've been feeling that doubt eat away at your consciousness. But a true chef…a true chef is someone who's able to emerge victorious no matter what. Someone who'll stare defeat in the face and challenge it again and again until they get that victory they've been longing for…this is your starting line, Megumi Tadokoro. Let's see just how far you've come" thought the French specialist as an excited smile spread throughout his face. He pushed up his glasses and watched closely, as the emcee shouted…
"Shokugeki, begin!"
Soma kneeled over the balcony railing and stared into the starry night sky. The stars were shinning brilliantly, each star trying to outshine its neighbor. The night sky was lit beautifully with a variety of colors. Despite the beauty, Soma found himself closing his eyes. His mind was filled with so many thoughts, so many different scenarios playing through his head. They always started out happy but no matter what the scenario was, he was left with nothing but…a feeling of emptiness.
"Man, this really sucks…" Soma thought as he heaved out a heavy sigh.
"Soma Yukihira out here actually thinking about something. What has this world come to?" said a very familiar voice. A smile crawled onto his face as he opened his eyes and stared back at the sky.
"For someone who doesn't live here anymore, you sure do show up a lot. You sure you don't just miss me?" teased Soma.
"Pfft, the others, sure. You, I could definitely live without for the tens of hundreds of lives" retorted Erina as she walked over and leaned over the railing next to Soma.
"Man, the train of insults never stops, does it?" laughed Soma as he nudged the blonde, a little too hard causing her to slightly lose her balance. Despite that, she remained rather calm and simply continued with their friendly banter.
"I'm pretty sure with all the idiotic antics you have stored up, this train won't ever need to make a stop" she replied, returning his nudge. Normally, she wouldn't allow Soma to act so leisurely around her. After all, she is royalty. But when it was just the two of them, after a long day, it was Erina's personal way to unwind. Though not to Soma's conscious knowledge, they've made it a habit to just talk at the end of every other day. After everything they've been through, though not aware of it, they end up drawn to each other. Whether it started ever since Soma first entered the restaurant that stunk of tension offering a Black Pepper Bun, or when they had their first night-time chat on the train, or during their final tag-team Shokugeki against Eishi Tsukasa and Rindo Koboyashi – neither of them could really figure it out.
"Salmon roe" Soma muttered, confusing Erina.
"Eh? What are you talking about?"
"The stars look like salmon roe again and it's making me hungry" said Soma, who seemed annoyed. Erina was caught off guard and didn't' know how to respond, but soon let out a soft giggle.
"You're such an idiot. Is there ever a time where you don't think about food?" laughed Erina. Soma let out a laugh but didn't respond any further. Erina was unsure of how to continue the conversation, the silence between them made her wonder if she said anything wrong.
"Why do I even care?! If he doesn't want to talk, that's all him. Why am I even out her-" Erina wondered before Soma cut her thought off.
"Aww, did you leave the party just for me? When did you become so caring?" mocked Soma with a sarcastic and deceiving smile.
"Of course."
"There's only so much partying that I can handle. Besides, I'm the headmaster; it's not good for someone with so much responsibility to party that much. I doubt you'd know anything about that-Oh wait. You should if you actually took your responsibilities seriously" responded Erina with disdain in her voice, clearly irritated by the extra work she had to handle before coming over to Polar Star to celebrate Megumi's victory.
"Hey, I finished that one paper!"
"Writing 'Just challenge them to a Shokugeki and win the property lols' on a proprietary offer is not how you finish a paper" Soma simply looked away and waved his hand and muttered under his breath.
"Whatever you say boss…wait since you're the headmaster shouldn't you be making sure they don't do anything against the rules down there?" asked Soma, catching Erina off guard with his rather logical response.
"W-well, I have faith that they won-"
"Wooow, so you only keep a leash on me? I dunno Nakiri, this special treatment is awfully suspicious" Soma continued to tease as Erina flipped her hair; an art that she has mastered to the fullest.
"I would hardly consider having to babysit my problem student and classmate 'special treatment'" Soma simply ignored her and went on with the idea of getting special treatment, making Erina roll her eyes.
"How'd the Shokugeki go anyway?"
"Well, Megumi obviously won. The theme was meat, go figure. Though Tadokoro-chan did have this one odd mishap…" said Erina, getting Soma's interest as he raised an eyebrow.
"I believe she poured a little too much of some seasoning on the meat at one point and had to start from scratch. She had this brilliant idea, however, of using honey to speed up the time it took to tenderize the meat. Honestly, she's a brillia- h-hey?! What are you laughing about?!" shouted Erina as Soma began to clearly laugh at her, pointing and mocking Erina as he tried his best to not lose his cool.
"I-it's just that…!" started Soma before he busted into a laughing fit., irritating Erina even further.
"Spit it out, peasant!" she demanded, her anger fuming more and more as the seconds pass.
"It's just that she got that 'brilliant' idea from me! That's what I did when some students tried to sabotage our dish during our first class together!" shouted Soma as he was practically rolling on the floor all the while pointing at her. Erina's face was colored a bright shade crimson as she had just realized that her compliment towards Megumi was actually a compliment towards Soma.
"W-well! It was brilliant for Megumi to come up with it so quickly! Not the method itself! Of course, the method would come from such a backwards and outrageous fool from you!" shouted Erina, trying to take back the words she had uttered moments before, but they both knew it was too late. Soma continued to laugh, wiping away a tear from his eye. He soon stopped, ignoring the enraged blonde who was still trying to spout nonsense to cover up her indirect compliment.
"Whatever you say, Nakiri" laughed Soma as he waved his hand, further frustrating Erina. "So what's gonna happen to that Professor Howard guy?" continued Soma.
"Well, first of all, it's Howitt. And I fired him" said Erina, so calm that it frightened Soma.
"Wow Erina, you really are one cold Ice Queen" Soma said, with a look that basically yelled "wow, a little much?" Erina simply scoffed and looked away accompanied with her trademark hair flip.
"Well, it became very much evident that he was still a loyal faithful of my father's ways. Totsuki has no need for someone like him" explained Erina. Soma looked back at her only to see her first confident and merciless expression change to one of sadness and disappointment. One that he recognized easily.
"It's been two months, but my father's evil influences are still clutching onto the academy" sighed Erina as she looked back up to the sky, in search of some kind of answer or way to change the academy back.
"It's gonna take time, Nakiri. I wouldn't sweat it, look at how far we've come and it's all thanks to you!" Soma said, surprising Erina. She didn't expect words of encouragement from Soma. But then she realized, of course Soma would. That's just who Soma is; his charisma, his charm, his incredibly ironic ability to know just what to say when the time calls for it. It's all a part of what makes Soma a truly special jewel among the 92nd generation.
"Besides, look at today! After today's Shokugeki, I'm sure Megumi was able to change the attitude of all the students!" Soma was beaming with confidence, which made Erina smile and let out a small laugh.
"Maybe you're right" said Erina as she stared back up at the sky before her smile faded. She began to bite her lower lip and didn't know how to exactly phrase what she was thinking.
"H-hey, Yukihira-Kun?"
"'Sup?" Soma's eyes were fixated on the sky, as well as Erina's, However, Erina's fixation was more a result of embarrassment to look at him after she asked this next question.
"Y-you seem to call Tadokoro-chan by her…first name a lot. W-why is that?" Inside, Erina was a chaotic mess.
"What kind of questions is that? Why does it matter? Why should I, of all people, care about how that peasant addresses his acquaintances? Though…could they be more than just acquaintances…?" wondered Erina. Her face was ablaze in embarrassment from the thought.
"Oh Megumi? Oh, I just call her by her first name because I'm pretty close to her. She's like a little sister to me" Soma answered with ridiculous ease, compared to how much of a struggle it was for Erina to even ask to question.
"I have a nickname for a lot of the people in our year. There's Nikumi and Hishoko" said Soma as he counted on his fingers. "Why? You want me to start calling you by a nickname too?" asked Soma in a mocking tone as a matching smile grew on his face. Erina huffed and looked away.
"You will address me as Erina Nakiri and only that. I am still your superior, so I refuse to treated like some dog" said Erina with pride as she straightened her posture to look even more high-class.
"Oh, that's fine. I'll probably just call you Erina from now on so I don't have to call Alice Nakiri 2 anymore, she's been pretty uptight about that. Besides…" started Soma, as he turned to Erina and met with her gaze.
"I really like the name Erina" Soma said with a smile. Erina's face was burning red at his sudden statement and their lock-on to each other was nothing helping whatsoever. But to her surprise, Soma didn't disengage at all. He was staring directly at her, right into her bright purple eyes that reflected that stars. Soma found himself frozen, unable to move his gaze. His eyes traveled from her eyes down to her rosy cheeks and to her supple lips before the red hue creeped onto his own face. In an instant, the two looked away simultaneously, staring right back at the sky.
"I-if that's what you feel c-comfortable with, E-Erina is fine…" stuttered Erina, trying to calm down after that intense moment. Then, she took a peek at Soma who let out a small laugh. His face, although not as obviously red, still had a tinge of crimson lingering on his cheeks. His eyes were closed as he gave Erina a bright smile.
"Yeah, Erina's just fine" he said. Erina couldn't help but let out a soft laugh as they both looked back at the starts, reflecting in both of their eyes. However, every now and then, they stole quick glances at each other, both unaware of just how long they had been out.
"So it is…" Erina said softly.