Alice and Ryo are expelled from Totsuki.

Alice Nakiri. Kurokiba Ryo. You are both expelled from Totsuki Academy effective as of now. Your return flight to Tokyo will be tomorrow morning.

Alice just stood there for a few good seconds, frozen in shock, as if she thought she had been dreaming, and that the words were not real. When everything finally sank in, she managed to walk out of the exam kitchen, her feet trying to take her back to their assigned hotel room. She thought she heard a loud thud, and she knew enough to guess that it was Ryo, taking out his anger on something.

She barely made it halfway through before she started bawling her eyes out, and slumping down on the floor like a child.

She'd never once dreamed she would be expelled from Totsuki.

She'd never dreamed she would be expelled from her own family's school.

"...Miss." Alice heard a familiar voice at her side. She didn't know how long she'd been sitting down God-knows-where of the hotel, but it had been enough time for Ryo to seem to calm down and find her. He didn't say a word-Ryo was never one for words-and instead just carried her up in his arms, taking her back to their assigned hotel room.

He was careful with carrying her, but there was a force in his grip that told Alice that he was still very much upset. There was a smudge of blood on his fist. Alice wondered if he punched the wall or countertop.

When they reached the hotel room, he lay her down on the bed, and Alice mumbled a thanks. It did not take long for Alice to start crying again soon after.

She had been so confident that she would pass this trial, and meet up with the rest of the rebels at the end of it. She imagined meeting Soma and Akira, and giving the latter an earful about joining Central.

She imagined facing her uncle again, and telling her she hated him again to his face, and prove to him that they could overcome whatever dirty trials he had set.

None of that was going to come true now.

"Ryo," Alice called out, between tears. She knew he was probably in a corner of the room now, sitting quietly by himself. She knew he would be just as upset as her, but right now, she just needed to get through this. "I'm sorry, Ryo. But... Could you just hold me for a bit?"

He said no words, and only lay beside her in bed, holding her tightly as she cried.

Alice let it all out, occasionally clenching Ryo's shirt in her fists, or pounding them on his broad chest. He didn't flinch, and instead just held her tighter. Ryo had seen Alice cry many, many times-far too many, in his opinion-but the last time she needed to be held and consoled like this was when they were still kids, and she'd reached her breaking point, writing for years to an Erina that never responded.

That was Azami's doing back then too. Ryo's hand unconsciously tightened around Alice's shoulder. He wanted to strangle Azami Nakiri.

Alice Nakiri. Kurokiba Ryo. You are both expelled from Totsuki Academy effective as of now. Your return flight to Tokyo will be tomorrow morning.

Ryo's first reaction was to slam his hands onto the kitchen countertop, and glare up at the Elite ten member that defeated him and Alice. They sent them the First Seat himself-Alice's uncle wasn't joking around. It seemed he really wanted the both of them gone.

Tsukasa even offered to take on both of them at the same time. Ryo wanted to fight him one on one, but Alice dissuaded him. They had to be smart and help each other out if they were going to make it through this. They were pitted against the first seat, after all. Ryo and Alice stayed up all the days they'd been given to prepare for the match, repeatedly coming up with a dish and trying, adjusting. They've worked together in the kitchen plenty of times before, and there were always one or two hiccups, as their cooking styles clashed, and as Alice could be stubborn as a rock.

This time, she wasn't. She was open and graceful to any opinions he had. If there was a suggestion-any suggestion-she tested it without question, without resistance. Ryo hasn't seen her work as hard in a long while, and he matched it with his own effort.

Tsukasa still beat them, and the gap in their skill level was still huge and obvious.

Ryo was pissed off at the loss, but at the same time, he knew he also couldn't complain. Tsukasa won fair and square. He was just better than the two of them, and Ryo couldn't complain about that.

Ryo would probably never say it out loud, but he was upset because a part of him also looked forward to seeing the rest of the rebels at the end of this entire thing. He looked forward to knocking Akira to his senses and giving Alice's uncle the finger.

He cursed under his breath and then punched the wall, with little care for the damage he made on it, or on his hand. This was a Nakiri-owned hotel, anyway. Alice would talk them out of the damages, as she often did.

Alice...

He lift his head up, and scanned the room for her. She was gone, managing to leave without him noticing.

He took a breath to calm down, pulling out the headband from his hair. Switching to his calmer persona when he was still so upset was difficult, but at this point, taking care of her mattered first.

He knew how badly she had wanted to win this.

Alice cycled through loud sobs, and quiet crying, and moments where Ryo thought she may have fallen asleep from exhaustion only to cry again. Ryo didn't know how much time passed. There had been light in the room earlier, but now it was dark, the sun clearly setting sometime ago. They hadn't bothered to turn on the lights.

"...I'm worried about everyone else."

The moment Alice stopped crying, those were the first words out of her mouth.

"The truth is, you and I, we both still have Nakiri International behind us," Alice said, staring up the ceiling. "This is embarrassing, but we'll muddle through somehow. It's not like dad is gonna disown us. But I wonder about everyone else."

Ryo thought on Alice's words. She was right-regardless if they graduated from Totsuki or not, they had the backing of Soe and Leonora Nakiri. Nakiri International was Soe's own, free from the influence of Azami Nakiri. The rest of the rebels were neither as powerful or rich, and the restaurants or businesses they had at home could easily be trampled on by Azami's "culinary goals".

"...It's so like you to be worried for everyone else, Miss," Ryo told her. "Think about them later. Cry some more if you want to." That, and Ryo himself was plenty pissed off. If he thought about what happened to the others-about how much worse off they'd be than him if they lost to the Elite-he was only going to get angrier.

"I'm worried about you too, you know." Alice sat up and looked down at him, and gave him a sheepish little smile. Her cheeks were red and her eyes were still puffy from all that crying.

"I'm fine."

She reached down to his hand, balled tightly into a fist. "You're pissed off, aren't you? More than usual."

"...I don't think I'll be getting much sleep," was what Ryo said. She understood. He barely slept when he was upset, with nowhere to release this pent up anger on. The urge to destroy something was quite strong.

She tried to unfurl it his fist and force it open, by lacing her fingers between his. "...We'll be fine, Ryo."

He squeezed on her hand tightly, but held back enough to not hurt her. "Don't tell me that, miss. You were still crying a minute ago."

"And you were the one punching through a wall a few hours ago," Alice said. "Go on, let it out on me. I can take it."

Usually, at times like this, he would have challenged her to a food battle, such as the time he tied with Akira at the Autumn Elections that now seems like forever ago. He would let it all out by taking sadistic pleasure in taking her down, and cooking with more fervor. Alice relented to this, putting up a good fight regardless, even if she knew there was something sort of anger and bloodlust in his cooking, and that she stood no chance when he was like that. She knew he wouldn't have had it any other way, and he would be way more upset if she took it easy.

But something about fighting her now wasn't appealing. She had been just as defeated as him, and for now, neither of them wanted the taste of defeat.

Alice hit him with a pillow from the hotel bed. Ryo looked at her, confused. He wondered if she had been asking him something.

She hit him again with the pillow. "How about a pillow fight, then? We can take it out on each other safely this way."

"Miss, I might hurt you," Ryo warned her. This might be a playful game to her, but he was much stronger than her, and he was struggling to hold onto that tiny bit of restraint right now. He still badly wanted to punch something or someone.

"I can take it, Ryo. Come on." There was the tiniest bit of a smirk on her face.

Ryo sighed. Alice would always be the first to cry, but was always the first who would get up as well, and try to comfort everyone else around her. She really was something else. "Don't say I didn't warn you, miss."

They started a pillow fight, one that was first a rhythmic back and forth between pillows, until Alice completely changed tactics, diving towards Ryo and tickling his sides. It was a secret between the two of them, that he was quite ticklish. Alice was just the same, and Ryo knew where her weak spots were. They wrestled on the bed, and ran around the room, laughing like they were little kids in Alice's bedroom some ten years ago.

They ended up on the bed, Alice laughing heartily, Ryo with a more subtle smile on his face. He turned to her, seeing her panting and with tears on her face, but for an entirely different reason now. Laughing was a temporary respite, but it had been a good one all the same.

"...Miss." Ryo called out to her, as he rolled over onto his side to face her. Alice looked up at him, and to her surprise, he reached out to cup her chin in his hand, and then kiss her.

Alice was confused, but none too much. They hadn't put any words to the relationship, but knew deep down that at this point, they were more than childhood friends, or a mistress and aide. Ryo's kiss was warm and sweet after the cold, bitter taste of defeat, and Alice did not resist it. She kissed him back.

A hand reached down to Alice's side, pulling her in closer. They were still in their cooking uniforms, drenched in sweat and tears. The clothes felt stifling as Ryo deepened the kiss, earning a delicious moan from Alice's mouth.

He pulled away from her, eventually, but only to whisper in her ear.

"Alice," a serious question, since he called her by name, "Should I stop?"

Alice smiled softly and shook her head, as she wrapped her arms around Ryo's neck.

"I told you to take it out on me," she said. "I can take it."

Hours later, a very sore and naked Alice moaned and demanded for some dinner. Ryo groaned, but separated himself from her anyway, fumbling around on the floor for his boxers. The dark room was suddenly illuminated with light and a shrill beeping sound, and Alice sat up when she realized it was her phone.

It was Yukihira Soma, calling her.

Ryo put on some clothes to be decent enough to get some food from the hotel, but he still listened in as Alice talked to Soma.

"Oh my God, Yukihira! You're insane!" Alice exclaimed, to the phone, sounding every bit surprised. "Challenging Central to a Regiment de Cuisine?! Absolutely nuts! In fact, it's so nuts, I wish I thought of it! I wish I was there! Can Ryo and I join?! ...No? Why not?! Expelled students can't... Goddammit! Why?! I want to be there! I want to shove it to Uncle Azami, okay?!"

Ryo was surprised. So Soma had won his match, and furthermore had challenged Central to a Regiment. He cursed under his breath and pounded a fist on the wall. Not because he was mad, but because like Alice, he wanted to join the fight too. Badly.

The call ended soon enough, and Ryo and Alice locked eyes. "You heard it, Ryo? Soma is challenging Central to a Regiment battle, the venue here in Hokkaido has been decided as well. All the seats of the Elite Ten are on the line… He's doing it to reverse our expulsions and give uncle the boot."

"...That Yukihira," Ryo grumbled under his breath, his voice a mix of disbelief and gratefulness.

Alice got up from bed, looking around the pile on the floor for her own clothes. "Goddammit, Ryo. I need to talk to some people. We're going to show Yukihira our support! We are NOT boarding that plane back to Tokyo tomorrow okay?! Or my name isn't Alice Nakiri!"

a/n: a little personal prompt, about how Alice and Ryo react to getting expelled. They frack coz what better way to release all that stress and tension?! Right?! Also I'm always amazed by how quickly Alice pulled herself together then, even if she's a massive crybaby, to arrange things and look after the rest of the rebels. Thanks for reading!