Title: Peerless
Author: sllebswap
Characters/Pairing: Kobayashi Rindou and Tsukasa Eishi
Type: OneShot/Drabble Collection (InComplete)
Genre: Romance/General/Humor
Word Count: 4525
Rating: T (Contains content not suitable for children)
Disclaimer: Shokugeki no Souma belongs to Tsukuda-san.
Summary: To be peerless is to be unrivalled. Standing at the highest peak, unchallenged and without equal. To be peerless is to endure; the pressure of the world clamoring at your feet, the stark bite of loneliness clawing at your back. …Or is it always?
Loosely interconnected one-shots/drabbles exploring the curious relationship between Tsukasa Eishi and Kobayashi Rindou. Updates may not be in chronological order.
Verse: Canon Divergent AU
Chapter Last Revised on: 17/06/17
Catch me if you can
Bravery is not the absence of fear, but the action in the face of fear.
- Mark Messier
"Remind me why I'm doing this again?" Rindou asked with a pronounced frown on her face as she surveyed her reflection in the bedroom mirror.
The twenty-four year old was dressed really nicely in a laced sleeved, navy blue dress with a v-neck front and a cinched, empire waistline, the flowing skirt falling elegantly to her bare knees, the satin material draping gently over that slight bump of her protruding stomach, showing off her status as an expectant mother. It was getting almost impossible to hide this bun in the oven now that she was almost five months along - a couple of weeks back she could still pull off that blissfully well fed look, but now it was obvious that she was just plain preggo no matter what outfit she chose to wear. Rindou was still undecided whether if she actually enjoyed the attention that her belly was getting these days. It seemed that people said hello to her middle more than they did to her lately, and she was going to have another four plus months of random strangers spontaneously turning into cooing idiots to look forward to…
The man responsible for her current condition looked up from where he was standing before the wardrobe. For someone who did not enjoy wearing ties, he had a massive collection of them, mostly in due to his exasperating partner who seemed to find it extremely funny to get one for him every time she so much as travelled for work. Since her work brought her everywhere, that translated to a lot of ties. Many were eye searingly colorful and flashy and some even had prints like polka dots and dancing sushi and cartoon mascots that he would not be caught dead buying…so of course she did. At last, Eishi instinctively picked a plain one (boring, was what she would call it) that most closely matched Rindou's dress color, pulling the silk piece free from its hanger and looping it around his neck, over the flipped up shirt collar. Like her, he was also dressed rather formally; crisply pressed white dress shirt and charcoal slacks that accentuates his wiry, whipcord lean appearance. His dinner jacket was already laid out on the bed, ready to be worn.
"Because my parents want to meet the mother of their unborn grandchild. Stop sulking," he muttered, walking up to her side to share the mirror so that he could see how he was doing. It was almost funny how hassled and stressed out he looked over something so simple as a dinner meeting, and he wasn't even responsible for hosting the appointment in the first place. Just to further aggravate him, she puffed out her cheeks and poked out her lower lip a hair more, mainly because she, too, wasn't exactly very thrilled about the impending encounter. She clipped on her ear studs and briskly dabbed a bit of perfume on the insides of her wrists and the back of her neck, the only accessories that she would wear on her person this evening. She had never been too much of a trinket person in the first place.
"Oh, please. Your parents hate me," she replied as she turned to him, slapping his hands away and stepping up to fix his tie for him. He wouldn't dare leave it flapping loosely over his shoulder the way he often did back during their Tootsuki days. Not this time. Not when his father would be present. Everything had to look meticulously perfect or Eishi would be bothered and fidgeting the entire night. "According to them, I'm that two-bit, no-name piece of skirt who seduced their perfect son and led him down the path of sin and depravity. I'm surprised that they didn't have a collective aneurysm right there and then when they found out that I'm carrying our baby."
Like what she had always done over the years, she created a graceful Windsor knot out of the tie and adjusted the loop, finally tugging at the inner tongue and sliding the intricate design perfectly in place against the base of his throat. She tucked his collar back down, smoothed everything in place, and took a step back.
"Rindou…" he sighed, just looking at her. She was beautiful, her crimson hair streaming down her back in loose artful waves, the catlike tilt of her glowing eyes and dense lashes further emphasized by the subtle application of smoky eyeliner and mascara, full pouting lips tinted with transparent lip gloss. "They don't hate you. They just…don't understand you." In their defense, Eishi didn't completely understand Rindou either, and he had known her for over half of his life.
She arched a brow at him. "They don't understand what you see in me, of all people, you mean."
His lavender gaze lingered on her.
"They don't have to. I know what I see in you," he quietly replied.
"…Please do this for me. I know that you are going to detest every minute of it, but please."
She glowered, not liking that he was giving her that look again.
"I hate it more when you guilt trip me," she muttered, turning away to grab her purse. "Let's just get this over and done with."
He picked up his jacket and put it on, buttoning up absently as he followed her out of the bedroom. He also switched off the lights and other appliances along the way.
"You know, your parents wouldn't even have to find out about the pregnancy in the first place if you didn't make me move in with you," she pointed out as they headed towards the entryway.
He huffed. She was still complaining about their new living arrangement a few weeks later, though at this point she was probably just dragging it out to rile him.
"They were going to know sooner or later – I can't keep it from them forever. And you're a celebrity; there's no such thing as keeping a secret. You can thank your busybody paparazzi buddies for printing out that headline, by the way." He also hadn't been willing to tolerate all that rampant speculation buzzing around her and pairing her up willy nilly with various other male celebrities whom the tabloids believed could have possibly fathered her child. They couldn't be anymore wrong. The paternity of the baby nestled in her belly was his and he wouldn't give it up for anything.
Which brought him to his second point, since they were on this topic.
"You know, this whole situation would go over a lot smoother if you'll just agree to marry m-"
She came to a sudden stop then, looking down at herself.
"Ah, I'm spilling out of this dress. Hang on, lemme fix this before we leave."
He stopped as well.
"…What?"
"My boobs are falling out." She stuck one hand into her plunging neckline and readjusted herself not-too-shyly right there and then. It wasn't anything he hadn't seen before, anyway. He still watched, of course. As her pregnancy progressed, her breasts swelled as well. She was also more tender and sensitive to his stimuli, as he had quickly found out in the bedroom…
"Your boobs look fine," he muttered. They looked more than fine, actually, but he kept the thought to himself since it wasn't as if he could do anything about that observation right now. He eyed her warily and wondered if she had just done that on purpose. "Stop trying to distract me."
"I'm not! Do you want me to flash your parents by accident later? Because that's going to make an interesting dinner conversation topic, I'm sure."
"…Maybe you should bring a shawl." He suddenly remembered what happened the last time they went out and she had looked like that. He had spent half the date glaring icily at men ogling her chest. It really was a problem when the other half was so ridiculously attractive… He didn't doubt her fidelity, but sometimes she made him feel so possessive of her, like she was something precious he wanted to keep only for himself.
"What? Why? It's still summer!"
"You're going to get cold at the restaurant later," he warned her calmly. He knew her too well.
"Crud, you're right. 'Kay, I need a shawl." She started to turn to go back towards the bedroom but he stopped her.
"No, just wait here. I'll go get it for you."
He returned to find her looking a bit frustrated as she was trying to figure out how to close the straps of her kitten heels without having to bend down. He took one glance at her predicament and wordlessly handed her the shawl. Then, he went down on one knee to help her wear her shoes. She looked down at his bent head in visible bemusement.
"You sure are pretty handy to have around," she remarked as he secured the intricate fastenings around her slender ankles.
"Maybe you should start getting comfortable footwear that are easier to put on and take off instead," he told her as he straightened once the task was completed. It took him a considerably lesser amount of effort to don his own socks and shoes.
She sent him an innocuous look. "…Why would I do that when I have you to help me put them on and take them off?" He had been spoiling her thoroughly and she wondered if he was aiming for some boyfriend of the year award that she wasn't privy to.
"…" He just stretched out his hand towards her for her to take, and she accepted it naturally. Their fingers tangled together, palms finding each other, and he led her out the door.
"Hey, do you think that your parents still remember and resent me for trying to eat those prized carps of theirs that very first time I visited your home all those years back? How was I supposed to know that the pond was not for fishing in?"
"…I don't know if they remember, but please try not to bring that up later."
The restaurant that they were going to for dinner was one of the finest in Tokyo, with three Michelin stars to show for the amazing quality and standard of the meals that the establishment was widely famous for. It specialized in traditional Kaiseki cuisine and when the young couple arrived at the discreetly elegant ryotei for their reservation, they were politely greeted and then led by the okami-san towards a private room…where Eishi's parents were already seated and waiting for them.
The low table was occupied on one side by the two elders, which left the other side for Eishi and Rindou.
Eishi's father was as impassive and stoic as always. Dressed austerely in a black three piece suit, the lean, aquiline featured and sharp-eyed man was as unreadable as whenever he was presiding over a session in the Supreme Court. Beside her, Rindou could feel Eishi start to tense, straightening automatically beneath his father's silently heavy regard. Seated tranquilly next to the older man was Eishi's mother, and even now, the woman still remained the most ethereally beautiful being whom Rindou had ever met. Eishi had taken after his delicate-looking mother in both her coloring and her elegant features. The first time Rindou saw his mother some ten years ago, she had thought that the latter was a real life Yuki-onna – there was a distant, icy beauty that she possessed, effortlessly keeping people in thrall of her pristine perfection, yet also keeping them away at the same time.
The Tsukasa family had always been small but prominent. They had an affinity with law and legality, and had produced generations of the finest lawyers and judges in service to Japan. Eishi had been the only child of the current patriarch of the family, and had been expected to carry on the proud family tradition dedicated to the judicial system of their country…but he had chosen to become a chef instead. To say that his parents had been disappointed would be an understatement, but no matter what they did, they failed to convince him otherwise. Eishi had known what he wanted to do since the age of eight – there was simply no shaking that conviction however hard they tried.
Becoming a mere chef when he had every potential to be the next future Chief of Justice instead was a hard pill for his parents to swallow, no matter if he was amongst the best and the brightest in his field. It was almost like a slap to the face, and his parents always seemed to view it like a personal insult to them…which really had not helped with their son's anxiety and pessimism growing up. Now was no different, and even though he was long since independent of them, there always would exist an instinctual part of him that was still seeking for their approval and understanding. Knowing that he would have better luck convincing the sky to turn green and the grass blue only made his stress grow even more.
And then there was Rindou.
The younger couple bowed before their elders as manners dictated to show their respect.
"Otou-san, Okaa-san," Eishi greeted quietly.
"Tsukasa-san," Rindou reflected as well, addressing Eishi's parents as one unit, keeping her expression impassive. She really hated this heaviness and formality.
Tsukasa Seigi stirred, and Rindou promptly found herself being subjected to a dark, penetrating stare from the older man, as if her thoughts had been heard. Instead of flinching and looking away, she held his stare. At last, the dark haired man spoke, his deep baritone resounding richly across the private room.
"You may be seated."
The two younger adults nodded in acknowledgement of the elder's grace, and settled onto their zabuton cushions. Eishi helped Rindou down before he took his place beside her. She was starting to get a bit too ungainly to be sitting on floors…
Beside her intimidating husband, Suzuran eyed her female counterpart with faint, undisguised curiosity. Her lavender gaze lingered on the young woman's swelling belly especially, but she kept her thoughts to herself. And then the Tsukasa patriarch spoke once more, and he did not beat around the bush.
"Kobayashi-san, how many weeks along are you now?"
"I'm about nineteen weeks along, Tsukasa-san."
"I see. And is everything alright with the prenatal checks?"
Rindou nodded her head. "Yep. My obstetrician says that I'm healthy."
"What about the gender of the child? Have you found out?"
It was like déjà vu again. Maybe it was the man's occupation, but it always felt that the Justice was well, always judging and interrogating her whenever they spoke. She glanced askance at Eishi. The man was no help whatsoever, and he served her tea instead. Very useful, he was.
"…No. We haven't found out yet."
Eishi's mother finally interjected, and her voice was clear and melodious.
"Are you taking good care of yourself, Rindou-san?"
Rindou nodded.
"Yes. I've been doing the same things I usually do…but Tsukasa- Eishi, I mean – has been taking good care of us."
Seigi objected to her commentary.
"You two are not even married. I cannot believe that Eishi has been taking care of you at all if he's being so slipshod with your reputation and good name."
Oh, here it comes.
Her lover flinched quietly at his father's blunt response. His features remained perfectly schooled though, but she could tell that he was starting to get upset by the accusation…which began to rile her as well.
"My reputation and my good name are my own responsibility, Tsukasa-san," she replied firmly. "Eishi has been taking good care of us in all the ways that matter."
But the man was persistent.
"Are you even intending to get married at all? This child should not be born out of wedlock just because its parents are playing fast and loose with each other."
Beside her, Eishi started to stiffen. Rindou's gold slit eyes flashed, though before she could say anything else, he grabbed her hand under the table. He held her so tightly, warningly, that she was able to stop herself from lashing out. She bit her tongue though.
"…Otou-san," he spoke on her behalf, and his calm, languid tone belied the way he was gripping her hand out of his parents' sight. "We'll marry when we're ready."
Judge Tsukasa was openly skeptical.
"In that case, you shouldn't have gotten your friend pregnant." His tone was crisp and faintly scathing now. "Eishi, I thought that we raised you better than to let yourself be led around the nose like this. This entire farce would never have happened if you didn't insist on attending that silly culinary school to learn how to cook, of all things. Look at this utter mess that you're making out of your life. You're destined to achieve great things but you're throwing them all away, and for what? You disappoint me."
Rindou dug her nails into his hand, not understanding why he was just silently taking this, sitting there in seiza with his spine ramrod straight and his face as blank and expressionless as a doll's. Her chest ached for him. She had come prepared with the expectation that his parents would come down hard on her, not him. She could not take it anymore.
"Stop." The redhead's voice was akin to the sharp crack of a whip in the ensuing silence, her gaze turning steely as she met the impassive gaze of the judge. "Please, stop. I do not understand at all, Tsukasa-san. How you can just sit there and talk of your own son like this. With all due respect, you may be an important figure in the courtroom, but to me, you're also a lousy father. Then again, maybe we should thank you instead, for showing Eishi what not to do when our precious child is born so that he won't suck like you!"
The way the man was looking at her in response to her cutting words was supposed to give her chills, but she plowed forward recklessly all the same, temper too far gone to care about tact and delicacy. "I won't sit here and listen to you talk badly of the man I love. He deserves better. I appreciate your invitation to share your concern with us, but we're not staying to hear the rest of it."
She drank the tea, though. It was only polite to do so. She took the cup and guzzled its contents down determinedly before she slammed it onto the table loud enough to snap the white-haired man beside her out of his stupor. Then, she reached over and drank Eishi's share too, since he still seemed too stunned to do anything.
"Thanks for the tea. Eishi and I are leaving now."
Her exit could have been more dramatic, but she was a pregnant woman trying to climb onto her feet with grace and dignity and she considered the whole thing a job well done since she hadn't pitched right unto her face on the way up. She also wasted no time hauling Eishi up with her, and she started to turn before she swiveled sharply back and remembered to bow stiffly towards his parents. He did the same automatically too, and her hand clutched his tightly the entire while, so much so that her knuckles were white.
"Please excuse us."
She did not look back as she sailed angrily out of the room, and then stomped down the wooden hallway, and marched right out the garden.
"Rindou."
Tsukasa was finally saying something, and he also tugged at her, trying to halt her forward rampage. She was finally forced to stop when he refused to move a single step more, and she whipped around to glower at him, her fiery hair flying tempestuously around her shoulders, her golden eyes burning with pique.
"Why didn't you say a thing just now?" she demanded immediately, poking him in the chest with one sharp, slender finger. "Why did you just keep quiet and let your father talk down to you like that, Tsukasa? Don't tell me that you actually think that he's right; because he's not! You're not like that – he's wrong to think of you like that- he shouldn't act like you're worthless or- or a d-disappointment-"
She was trembling visibly in her anger and frustrated emotional state, seemingly to have momentarily lost that previously magnificent ability to articulate with such sharp, furiously biting iciness, at least until he reeled her in and pulled her into his arms. Her hands clutched the front of his jacket even as he engulfed her in his embrace, holding her so tightly that he was squeezing all the air right out of her, even as he buried his face into her hair and shakily, desperately, breathed her in.
She could feel the tension thrumming through him, the way he was strung so utterly taut it felt like any more and he would break. He held her for the longest time, in that quiet, still garden.
Her hand came up and she combed her fingers through his hair.
"You're not a disappointment," she mumbled fiercely into the side of his neck. "You're not."
"Marry me."
He asked her quietly a couple hours or so later, as they were sitting in one of her favorite izakaya and she was happily inhaling the comfort food that surrounded her. Adorned in formal wear, they stuck out like a pair of overly dressed sore thumbs compared to the other more casually attired patrons in the bar setting, but neither seemed to care.
Rindou was hungrily devouring the plate of tori karaage set in front of her, and was also looking at the platter of sizzling gyoza with undisguised interest. His question gave her momentary pause, and she glanced at him. He looked so determinedly earnest, too, in that intense, focused way that he usually only got when he was cooking.
As such, her response was swift and certain.
"No."
"...What do you mean, 'no?'" He sounded dumbfounded by her refusal. Even though this wasn't exactly the first time he had asked…and she had turned him down then, too.
She looked at him and shrugged. Shrugged!
"What do you mean, 'what do I mean, 'no?'' 'No' means 'I don't feel like saying yes today, so ask me again some other time~'"
She was so flippant about the whole thing he just stared at her. There were a lot of times when he didn't understand her at all, and this was one of those many times.
"…You stood in front of my parents and declared that you love me."
He hadn't heard wrongly, right? That moment had been so extremely stressful for him that it had almost turned him catatonic- his father's stern, oppressive presence had always had that effect on him- no matter what he said or did, it would be pointless- because the older man would never listen.
But even then he didn't think he had ever seen anyone talk back to Tsukasa Seigi the way Rindou had so boldly and angrily. He didn't think he would ever forget how magnificent she was when she had risen so fiercely and ferociously to his defense. He didn't think he would ever forget this moment when she had made him fall for her, all over again. He had been so surprised by her passionate pronouncement that it had snapped him out of his inertia.
It was the first time he had actually heard her say those words, in all of their years together.
She was licking her sauce-coated fingers like a cat and being really distracting at the moment. She flicked him a glance beneath those thick lashes of hers.
"…I was more sitting down actually, and I didn't exactly declare any such thing!"
…He could not believe that they were arguing over the technicalities of whether she had actually said the words or not, implied or otherwise. He continued to stare at her, silently exasperated. She was like a sphinx; enigmatic, bewildering and always making him work to figure her out. Maybe his father was right. Maybe he let her lead him around by the nose too easily.
"…Do you mean it, at least?"
A-ha. He was starting to ask the right questions. Smart guy. He was learning.
She watched him, her eyes glimmering with what looked like faint amusement. Now that she was being properly fed, her previously dragon-like fury was abetting, and she was returning to her usual playful, happy go lucky self. Hm! This could be fun! She could answer his question with a question of her own!
He always made it too easy for her to run circles around him…but then again, this gentleness of his was also one of the many things that she loved the most about this man called Tsukasa Eishi.
What do you think?
Have I ever said things that I don't mean?
Do you trust me enough to put your blind faith in me?
Will you love me enough to put up with me for the rest of your life?
…She already knew what all those replies would be, and so here and now, she would not tease when he needed to hear her truth.
"Yes."
His pale lavender gaze lingered on hers for the longest time, just staring, watching, silently memorizing that content look on her beautiful face, that tranquility and calm, happy sureness.
"…But you won't say it."
She wanted to laugh, all of a sudden. There was a light, joyful effervescence bubbling in her chest, like she had drank too much champagne and was being drunk-silly…which was strange because she hadn't had even a sip of alcohol for months! And it was also strange in light of that sobering event with his parents that had just gone down earlier that evening.
But she did not mind being his distraction. She did not mind it at all.
"Nope~"
He groaned. And rubbed his temple. Why was she always so difficult. She wouldn't say it and she wouldn't marry him.
...But she would gladly have his child, and she would defend him with all the ferocity of a dragoness protecting her mate when need be.
Would he be so taken by her if she wasn't like this?
He dragged his hand down his face and glowered at her, his lavender eyes glinting with a quiet, dogged ire and stubbornness. He was already committed to this grim understanding that she was going to turn him into a crazy man with the way she always played him.
"I'm not giving up," he told her, as much a blatant declaration of intent as any.
I'm not letting go.
She decided that she liked that fired up, persistent look on his face. It was far better than that emotionless automaton that his father had wanted to mold him into.
She popped the rest of the gyoza that she had been nibbling into her mouth, her cat slit eyes twinkling with mirth and affection.
"Alright."
Catch me.
I'll be docile only for you, but you have to catch me first, okay?
::owari::
Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:
Okay, so this week seems to be quite a good week for me writing-wise. This chapter came out really easily, so I was able to push out the whole chunk within the last couple of days (geeze I sound seriously constipated ahaha). Let's see if I can squeeze out another update this weekend. Maybe I will be able to put up another chapter for Dragon Heart as well even though I also already updated that one a few days ago, we'll see!
xXxXxXxXxX
New headcanon: Eishi has a huge collection of ties, mainly because Rindou finds it hilarious to get one for him every time she goes traveling. He keeps them all long sufferingly at first, but then becomes less so after they figured out that these accessories can make things really fun in the bedroom too…
…Why. Why is my brain always like this.
xXxXxXxXxX
Tsukasa Seigi and Tsukasa Suzuran are my OCs.
Seigi's name (正義) literally translates to 'justice.' He is a member of Japan's Ministry of Justice, and is an illustrious judge serving Japan's Supreme Court. His character is well - he is very strict and honorable/traditional, and he has extremely high expectations when it comes to his son.
Suzuran's name (百合) is derived from the Japanese name for the 'Lily of the Valley' flower. Eishi's mother is very, very beautiful, and looks very much like a Yuki-onna. (Image search Yuki-onna and you will see!) I chose the name Suzuran because the Lily of the Valley is a plant that is very resilient and is known to thrive even during the harsh winter. I also wanted to keep to the floral theme because you know, Rindou's name was also derived from a flower...
The Tsukasa!papa and mama loves their son, in their own way. They do really want the best for him, but the big problem is that they don't understand their child's passion for what he does. There is a very distinct disconnect between parents and son, and the parents' distant, rigid personalities combined with the son's own anxious, at times seemingly absentminded temperament makes it difficult for the two sides to see eye to eye.
It's like a pair of Harpy Eagles trying to teach their chick how to become a successful bird of prey only to find out that their oddball chick has decided that he'd rather become a duck instead. And then this Harpy Eaglet-turned-champion-swimming-duck has suddenly announced that he's brooding an egg with a fiery bird of paradise. Papa!Eagle and Mama!Eagle are very confused and not happy, ahaha. (Eagle, eagle, legal eagles, geddit? XD)
Seigi kind of dominated this encounter since he's so forceful and domineering in personality, but who knows? Maybe I will have another opportunity to write a scene where Suzuran will have a better positioning.
This is the demon-king!Tsukasa!bloodline, lol. All that ability for dealing with bureaucracy and paperwork that Eishi has are inherited traits, who knew? XD
Still not decided whether if I will write Rindou's parents; only know that these two sets of parents should probably maybe never ever ever meet, hahah.
xXxXxXxXxX
So about the 'marry me' thing, expect that Eishi's gonna have a lot of NGs before Rindou will consider it game, set and match. For those who are wondering about his spontaneous proposal, this wasn't the first one by the way. She still shot him down no matter how well planned/thought out it was. Some of you may have already figured it out, but there's a method to Rindou's madness, trust me!
xXxXxXxXxX
Main leads' ages in this chapter: 24 y.o.
This installment actually happens a few weeks before chapter five's 'If you persevere, you'll have stew,' for those who are interested in keeping track of the timeline/continuity for this series.
xXxXxXxXxX
Okay, about last chapter's omake, I was pleasantly surprised to read that it was quite well received. As I already shared with one amused reader, this extra bit was actually supposed to be for a chapter, but I discarded the idea in the end. I headcanon-ed that Rindou and Kuga had such a hoot teasing Souma about the secret love child thing that for one period of time Rindou managed to convince toddler!Hi'en that he has two dads, haha.
Hi'en: Tou-chan! *points at Eishi*
Rindou: *beaming* Yes, Tou-chan!
Hi'en: *cocks head* ...Touuu-chaann? *points at Souma*
Rindou: *trying not to laugh* Yes, Tou-chan!
Souma: NO, Tou-chan!
Eishi: ...
xXxXxXxXxX
As always! Thanks for reading and sharing all your wonderfully thoughtful and funny comments. I smile so hard when I read them all, so thank you for that! Happy TGIF, y'all!
xXxXxXxXxX
Your reviews make me update faster; so please leave a comment if you like this fic!
-sllebswap