Hello guys!

So, I clearly underestimated the tiredness that comes with interning… Though it's not as bad as last time lol. Still, sorry for the wait.

Thanks for reading, following, favoriting and reviewing! ^^

And special thanks to my beta Kishoto :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Shokugeki no Soma.

Chapter 10 : Ignition of the purple fire

Somewhere in Tōtsuki academy, Sunday afternoon

This is perfect.

A wicked smile spread on glossy lips as their owner relaxed in their chair, behind a computer desk.

Everything was going according to plan. She would pay, that Nakiri Erina would pay. She had made her first real friend suffer, now it was her turn to suffer like he did...

Despite their constant efforts in trying to make their relationship seem real, she had managed to see through them. Those two weren't really dating...and Nakiri Erina actually hated Yukihira Sōma's guts from what she had heard. However, she wondered about that last part. The blonde appeared to be totally smitten with the red head even if she herself didn't seem to realize it yet. Which was actually perfect. If she was aware of her growing feelings, there was a chance that her schemes wouldn't have affected her at all... And that would have been a pain in the ass because she would have had to put in a lot more effort to get a reaction.

It actually hadn't been that hard to get under the girl's skin. All it took were a few pictures showing her in compromising positions with her nemesis and she had the most influential girl on Tōtsuki's academy after her head.

She was no fool. She knew that there was no way that the princess actually wouldn't have her head if she could and would get her expelled the first chance she got.

She just didn't care. If she got her revenge, then nothing else mattered.

Now you're probably wondering why she'd go this far just to get her revenge. After all, everyone knew what had happened to the last person who had dared to publish trash about the princess. The poor Isato was still in that psychiatric institute...with apparently no possibility of leaving anytime soon. The guy had been traumatized for life... And from what she had heard, it was all Yukihira Sōma's fault. She sure as hell didn't want to cross paths with the lad. Who would want to be subjected to his hellish torture? Not her. Certainly not her.

But then again, even if she pitied the guy, she was actually grateful to him. After all, it was thanks to him that she had first thought about this plan. Not that she hadn't wanted to get revenge on the princess before, but before then, she just hadn't been able to find any of the girl's weak points. But now, thanks to that incident with Isato, she had. The blonde had one. A big one. And it was found in the person of Yukihira Sōma. For some reason, the blonde just couldn't stand the guy. This was even stranger since he appeared to be extremely sociable, even her cousin got along with the guy. So there really was no apparent reason as to why she wouldn't. Gut feeling? Hate at first sight? If love at first sight exists, then its opposite should as well.

Not that she could speak from personal experience. No, her desire for revenge was born from something deeper than that, from a long, long time ago...

It all started when she was still a middle school student.

She had just entered Tōtsuki and was having trouble finding her place since she didn't come from a rich family like the rest of her classmates. They treated her like trash and it hurt. It really did. When it happened, she would feel unwanted, unimportant, like everything about her was exactly what they said it was. Unneeded trash which just needed to be thrown away. They treated her whole existence as if it were nothing and barely acknowledged her, unless you were counting the insults they threw at her if they were forced to partner up with her in class.

You'd think this kind of thing wouldn't happen in such a prestigious school but it did. And she could attest to that.

When it happened, she would run away. Run away from the cold stares, run away from the cold glares, run away from their insults, run away from their disgusted attitude, run away from everything. She would run, run until her legs couldn't take her any farther, until she tripped and collapsed somewhere. And then she'd cry. Cry until tears wouldn't fall anymore, until she was just too tired to cry anymore.

On a particularly hot day, her classmates were complaining about the heat and she was in a corner of the classroom, as usual, trying to go unnoticed. She couldn't stand their scornful behaviors and tried to stay away from them as much as she could. Sometimes it would work, and sometimes it wouldn't.

That day, it hadn't.

*Flashback*

A young girl was sitting in a corner of a lively classroom. She had dark violet hair and deep blue eyes that seemed empty. But it wasn't typical emptiness. This one seemed to have been caused by excessive sadness as her deformed facial traits seemed to recount.

Her name? Katsuna Yami.

She was a little above average in terms of beauty and at first, you wouldn't think that she'd be subjected to bullying but she was. Why? Because her family wasn't as rich as the others'. Maybe somewhere else it wouldn't have mattered, but here it did. Not for the institution itself but for her classmates, it certainly did. It really did.

So she had opted for shutting herself away completely and enduring it while doing her best in her studies and putting up a cheerful front for her parents who were working hard for her to be able to attend this school.

Tōtsuki Tea Ceremony and Cooking Academy.

The most famous and prestigious cooking school in all of Japan, and maybe even the whole world. All the leaders of the cooking world were Tōtsuki alumni. If you graduated from here, your future was assured. Just saying that you were enrolled here added to your value as a chef.

And her parents had chosen to send her there when she had expressed the wish to study cooking. They wanted her to have the best chances to succeed and had taken it upon themselves to work even harder to be able to pay the tuition fees despite their already heavy workloads.

Under those circumstances, just how could she just up and complain about this to her parents? She couldn't. She was doing well in her studies, after all. The problem was the atmosphere of her class. They wouldn't be able to change it, and they would just worry about her, even more than they already were.

So she sucked it up and endured it all. But she wasn't that strong. That's why sometimes she'd run far away and cry in the middle of the forest.

This day, everyone had ignored her so far. She was relieved about it and let her guard down a little.

She shouldn't have.

If she hadn't, maybe, just maybe she would have seen it happen. And then, maybe she could have avoided it.

But she hadn't. And so had no way of knowing what was about to happen.

After class, she stood up and rapidly made her way to the door. She was eager to finally leave this classroom and so she wasn't really paying attention to her surroundings and failed to notice the cold stares and vicious smirks her classmates were directing towards her.

As she slid the door to exit, it happened.

Sticky liquid poured down on her as a fallen bucket now adorned her head, hiding half of it in the process. She recognized it as honey by the smell and taste. It started to drip on the floor as she stood there, frozen on the spot.

There was a heavy silence for a long moment before it was broken apart by cold, derisive and mocking laughter.

That brought her out of her frozen state.

Yami could feel blood rushing to her face as it heated up. Shame and embarrassment overwhelmed her before both were overpowered by despair and despondency.

Without any conscious thought, her legs started to take her away from this place, from them, from their coldness and she ran.

When she stopped to catch her breath, she realized that she was already in the forest.

She was finally alone. With this awareness, her legs gave away and she fell to the ground. There, on her knees, she slowly started to cry before sending the bucket - which she hadn't bothered to take off before - flying some meters away from her and curling up in a ball.

Some time passed and before long, she could feel something crawling up her unmoving form. She slowly lifted her head to see what it was and promptly let out a loud scream filled with fear and horror.

There, crawling up her skin were ants. Hundreds of ants, probably attracted by the sweet smell of honey.

Her eyes widened and she could do nothing but stare in horror for a while until she felt bites all over her exposed skin.

That made her shoot up and she started to run away, desperately looking for something to get rid of them as tears started flowing down her cheeks once again. She was completely panicked and couldn't think straight. The pain was dulling her senses.

She would have run like that for a long time if someone hadn't taken it upon themselves to throw a bucket of water over her head. She felt hands guide her towards what looked to be a nearby locker room door before taking her to the bath, which was already filled with warm water.

She plunged in and scrubbed at herself desperately before deciding to just get rid of her uniform altogether, only keeping her underwear on.

Once she felt that all the honey and ants had been scrubbed off, she stepped out of the bath and saw that a bucket had been placed by the tub. She took the offered bucket and threw the water over herself, before feeling someone drape a towel over her shoulders.

"Are you okay now?" a deep voice from behind her asked.

She froze and slowly turned around to discover her savior.

They were wearing geta and a dark kimono. When she reached the top of this tall person, she discovered the gentle and slightly round face of a boy who didn't seem all that older than her. Maybe one year or two. No more. He was looking away from her, giving her some privacy.

Then it occurred to her that the boy was still waiting for an answer as his expression grew even more concerned and worried. So she slowly nodded and murmured her thanks as she took the offered towel and dried herself a little before wrapping it around her petite body.

He finally turned his head to face her and smiled gently, before offering her a large robe from a nearby hook.

Then he proposed to take her to the infirmary and as they walked he presented himself as Gōdabayashi Kiyoshi and started telling her about his dream. He wanted to be a part of the Chanko Nabe RS later and contribute to it.

She silently listened to him as he exposed his projects as tears slowly started to roll down her cheeks.

When he noticed her crying, he started flailing his arms around as panic came over him. He turned left and right as he wondered what to do before settling for leaning towards her and asking.

"Wh-why are you crying?" his voice held a panicky edge and a nervousness that he was unable to hide completely.

She quickly wiped away her tears and answered shakily "It's nothing, it's just that you're the first to be so kind to me here."

Tears started flowing down once again and she tried to wipe them away once again but fresh ones replaced the ones she managed to wipe and she ended with her face in her hands, trying to hide them as she could.

"Here."

Surprised, Yami looked up to see a handkerchief being presented to her by a slightly blushing Kiyoshi who was facing away from her.

"A maiden's face is no place for tears. Please use this...if you want."

Yami gratefully took it as she thanked him.

"And...maybe we could be friends too?" he asked, still looking away as the pitch of his voice went higher towards the end.

Yami sniffed once or twice before nodding. Then it occurred to her that he couldn't really see her nod since he was looking away so she shyly voiced her agreement.

"I-I'd love to."

"Really?" he asked as he quickly went back to facing her - almost whiplashing his neck in the process - as a big smile made its way to his face.

She nodded once more and let out a small laugh. Then, extending her hand towards him, she spoke up.

"I'm Katsuna Yami. Nice to meet you Kiyoshi-senpai." she smiled warmly and added, "You can call me Yacchan."

Kiyoshi's face brightened up as he took her hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you Yacchan! Let's get along." he finished with a grin.

*End of flashback*

After that Kiyoshi had taken her to the infirmary and since then, they had been good friends. She had wanted to join the Chan RS too but he had been uncomfortable with the idea - there were only boys in there - until she had said that she'd join as a photographer.

From that day onwards, things were much better. She refused to let her classmates step on her anymore and she proudly stood her ground. Her friendship with Kiyoshi had changed her and she was really happy about that. She would never be able to thank him enough for what he had done, heck, she couldn't even begin to express how much he had saved her. She wanted to be useful to him and support his dreams too.

But one day, everything came to an end.

That day, Nakiri Erina had challenged the Chan RS to a Shokugeki and as the head of the RS, Kiyoshi had gone to confront her and try to save it. But he had lost.

After the destruction, he just wasn't the same. He felt as if it was all his fault and his eyes had lost their spark.

But it wasn't. If it was someone's fault, then it was Nakiri Erina's. Everything was her fault. She had destroyed their RS and with it, a part of her friend was gone. She wouldn't let her get away with that. She'd get revenge for her friend, her first friend. She wouldn't let her be unpunished for this evil deed.

Ever since then, Yami had been looking for a way to get revenge on the girl, but to no avail. Nothing seemed to reach her.

She had been growing frustrated until she had heard her snap at someone who had asked her if she really was in love with Yukihira Sōma. This was the first time she had ever seen the girl so angry and affronted about something. That's when it clicked. She could use that to reach her goal! The transfer student would be her bait.

She had immediately started her plan and then Tuesday, she saw them enter the director's office hand in hand and exit fifteen minutes later. She hadn't lost any time and had immediately begun to spread the rumor about her being intimate with Yukihira in hopes of upsetting her.

And she hadn't been disappointed.

The next day, the girl had been even more enraged and hadn't failed to visit the poor journalist who had published that article. Knowing that she was the one behind his being taken away, she hadn't missed the chance to witness the results herself at lunch the next day and, to her greatest pleasure, the blonde had been totally furious and exhausted.

Yami didn't regret her actions in the least and had been careful to avoid being linked to those rumors at all.

But then, on Friday, she had heard that the two were going out.

This had seemed really weird. For the princess to change from not standing him to dating him in just a few short nights was a bit too much. And then, she had heard them bicker on their way to lunch and the lad had said something about her asking him out and then, comprehension had dawned on her. The prideful Nakiri Erina asking her nemesis out? She had done her homework and this screamed fake. Plus, she actually let him kiss her without saying a word earlier that same day? Right.

And so Yami had come to the only plausible conclusion. They were pretending. The guy seemed to have fun so she guessed he had gone along with it because he thought it'd be interesting or something like that. He DID seem to be the type to do something like that. Though she wasn't sure he'd do it with any girl...

But she was getting sidetracked.

The fact was that this situation was only to her advantage.

That said, coming across them on Saturday at the aquarium had been pure luck. She just had the urge to go that day and now she was really thankful that she had. If not, she never would have been able to take those pictures. Actually, she had taken more than four but she only used the most compromising ones.

Now, all she had to do was wait until the princess came to her to seek revenge not knowing that she herself was seeking it as well.

This was perfect. It really was.

She had prepared for that day and she was ready to confront her. An evil smirk spread on her lips as she opened her deep blue eyes.

Come, Nakiri Erina. Come at me with all you've got...!

She thought as she caressed a picture of the Chan RS members that she had taken before.

Soon, very soon, you'll all be avenged.

Erina sneezed.

She carefully blew her nose into a handkerchief before putting it away and resuming reading the file that Hisako had brought that morning. It contained all the information she could want about her stalker and the infamous photographer who had dared to spread those pictures around.

As she looked at the picture which was adjoined, she read through the girl's details.

Katsuna Yami was a cute girl with shoulder length dark violet hair and deep blue eyes. If she hadn't known for a fact that she was the one behind the pictures' rapid spread, she never would have thought it possible for such an innocent girl to be behind it all. She seemed rather sweet on this picture as a small smile adorned her lips... You really can't judge a book by its cover.

As she went over her information, one detail caught her attention.

This...!

She could use this! She had been wondering how to punish her. She couldn't really just give her the same punishment she had given Kosori Isato so she had been pondering over it for some time now. But now she knew just how she'd make the girl regret her affront.

A contented smile stretched her rosy lips as she turned around to face the window giving view to the outside of the manor.

Now, all she needed to do was challenge her to a Shokugeki and everything would be set into motion.

Polar Star dorm, Sunday evening

Golden eyes slowly opened and focused on the ceiling as their owner finally came out of his slumber.

Sōma had been sleeping ever since the blonde had left him. ...well, not exactly actually. He had eaten porridge that she had made for him before that. To the surprise of absolutely no one, it had been delicious even if it had just been a simple 'plebeian' dish as she would have said. The mere fact that she had cooked it was something already.

He let out a breath before slowly sitting up. Now he was feeling much better. Having someone taking care of you was really great. He didn't get sick often so it rarely happened. Last time was when -

Sōma shook his head as he dismissed the thought. Thinking about it would only make him melancholic.

Anyway, he'd better get down now. His dorm mates must have been worried not to see him for all of the afternoon. He had left them at ten and then he had just stayed in his room until it was starting to darken outside...

Speaking about that, what time was it?

Golden eyes scanned the room for his phone and he found it lying on his nightstand. He reached for it and lit the screen. It showed 18:00.

Hmm... I slept for like eight hours.

Putting his phone back down, he slowly stood up and made his way for the door. As soon as he had passed the threshold, voices made their way to his ears. He followed them and ended up in Marui's room. Apparently, they were having a mini party once again and chatting happily.

As he entered, Sakaki spotted him and greeted him.

"Hey Yukihira-kun. Slept well?"

At his name, Megumi tensed and focused her attention on the half empty glass resting next to her. She had seen Nakiri-san in the dorm kitchen and she had easily guessed who it was she was visiting since Isshiki-senpai had been lightly chatting - or rather teasing her - by her side in his uniform, which was unusual for him. Never would she have thought that he would have the decency to put it on so as to not shock their guest... He must have been in an indulgent mood.

Sōma's voice brought her out of his musings.

"Yeah. I feel much better now. Is there any rice juice left?"

Sakaki smirked conspiratorially as she lifted a half empty bottle and a glass to him.

"Of course! I kept some for you." she added with a wink.

"Really? Thanks!" Sōma said with a grin as he accepted the offered glass.

As he sat down next to Ibusaki, Daigo turned towards him and asked "So, how's it going with your girl Yukihira?"

The redhead stared blankly at him for a few seconds as he wondered just who he was referring to before he blinked as understanding dawned on him.

"Oh, Nakiri? It's okay I guess." he couldn't really say much since they weren't supposed to know that they were just pretending and all. Plus, it really was going fine so he wasn't even lying there.

Megumi flinched as the air seemed to gain in density.

Oblivious to the sudden tense mood, Shoji snickered and elbowed the golden-eyed boy.

"Just okay? You were all alone in your room for at least two hours man." he said suggestively.

Megumi flinched once again. She really didn't want to think about the possible implications of the two being alone in a room for that much time...

Noticing her change of behavior, Yūki intervened and stopped them from teasing the guy any further.

"Hey boys! Don't talk about things like that here!" she exclaimed.

"Why?" the two asked in unison before Daigo added "Weren't you curious about it as well?"

Yūki's expression shifted to a more uncomfortable one as she tried to evade the question "Well... That is... We shouldn't pry into Yukihira's privacy." she said, unconvincingly.

They had been right. She was curious about it. Especially after seeing those ambiguous pictures... He hadn't even said anything about them except that they were really good ones... What was that supposed to mean? Did he really kiss her in that aquarium they had went to? Who wouldn't want to know about that?

But talking about that kind of thing with Megumi around would only hurt the girl. So she bit down her curiosity for the sake of her friend.

"Did you kiss?" Shoji asked discreetly, or rather tried to. He was speaking loud enough to be heard by the girls around them...

"Guys...!" Yūki reprimanded before Sōma cut her off.

"Hmm... I'm not sure Nakiri would appreciate me telling other people about that kind of thing." the redhead said as he took a pensive stance. He could still remember her snapping at him about the pictures where they could be seen 'kissing'... Not that he really minded. If anything, he had been impressed by the photographer's skills while the blonde hadn't been that pleased with them...

But the fact was that he hadn't denied it.

At the implication of this, blushes rose on Yūki, Shoji and Daigo's faces as their eyes widened.

They were still trying to regain their ability to speak when Megumi abruptly rose from where she had been sitting.

After some moments of silence passed, she spoke up "I'm a little tired. I'm going back to my room."

Yūki could only stare after her retreating figure before she turned towards the two idiots and hit the back of both their heads.

"Hey! What was that for?!" they shouted in unison.

Yūki just harrumphed, ignoring their question as she resumed sipping her rice juice. The two guys started pestering her for an answer and Sōma was left in peace for a moment.

I wonder what Nakiri's got in mind... She did say that she would have a Shokugeki with them. That must mean that she found the identity of this mystery photographer.

He sipped at his juice once again before refocusing on his bickering dorm mates.

No use thinking about that now, I'll found out sooner or later.

And with that last thought, he stood up to go grab something from the kitchenette. A party wasn't a party without something to eat after all.

Some doors away, Megumi was sitting on her bed in the darkness of her room. She had known that it wouldn't work out but...she didn't want to hear about those things.

Lifting her head up, she saw light filtering through the window. Standing up, she made her way to it and lifted the curtain to peek at the moon.

It was full. It was really beautiful to look at but she soon let the curtain fall back once again hiding it from view once again.

Maybe that's what she should do regarding her feelings towards the boy. Maybe she should just let the curtain fall and hide it from view. That way she might be able to forget about him.

With that last thought she made her way to the door and exited the room before closing it behind her leaving a seemingly dark room in her wake. As soon as she closed the door, a moon ray found its way into the room, gently bathing it in its light as if wanting to tell her that there'll always be light to tear darkness apart.

And cut! Hope you enjoyed :)

Answers to guest reviews :

Sorina: Sorry for the long wait… Life got in the way… But glad that you enjoyed it ^^ Oh? Are you able to see through me already? Lol XD You're super welcome x3 ;) I can't believe it either XD It just seems that I posted the first chapter yesterday lol. Huh? I wanna read it! Title please :D And it's fine :) I talk a lot myself lol XD Thank you :) and thanks for reviewing ;D

JeGosu: Glad to know you liked it :) And here is the new chapter! :D Hope you enjoyed this one too :) They probably will at some point ;) Thanks for the review :)

Thanks to the registered reviewers : raydark182, Hypocrisy|, haha77, Kishoto, evolvelove, xMIgBlaze, Justinj5, Aris0114, Erasels, Exercariver, SsinofRoses, Eramis8, Inku Majo, Fusion0104, MatchaWave, Light Sunshine, TheBaka14 and TheDeadOne28 :D (hope I didn't miss anyone)

…Don't know when next chapter will be up. Hopefully next week… Till then :)

Ja ne