Well.. Would you look at that, I'm alive and didn't die because of a forest fire, earthquake, or Covid. Haha. But in all seriousness, I was seduced over to AO3. I post my Miraculous Ladybug fanfiction over there as well as Metamorphosis. I was debating on moving this one over there too and only posting over there... And I also have the distractions of writing my own novel (shameless self-plug: It's a story called Dark Starling feel free to check it out on AO3 under felicitylanding, on Wattpad under MaryBoogaard5, or WebNovel under Mary_Boogaard).

The disclaimer still stands. Alerts and reviews are love! Speaking of reviews!

snowlikestardust: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you're enjoying this!

Kreceir: I'm pretty sure it'll be Akashi. That or she'll pull it out to demand a favor. ;]

AugustMoon259: Yay, Mahoko deserves some loving too! I always felt like the characters that would play opposite of Akashi would give up too soon and never win against him. I wanted to turn the tables on him so to speak. LOL, Yes poor poor boys. Hozumi has her reasons though. I actually played with the idea of putting Hozumi in different fandoms, I'm curious if Hozumi would be considered a Sky. Little Hozumi would rather grind her competition herself than end people's careers.

: Here's an update date! I'm super sorry that I've basically put this story on backburner XD

Now, onto the long-awaited story!

When Hozumi made it over to her brigade, she was joined by the shyest member of her brigade. Mahoko, Tanaka Haruto, and Ishii Benjiro were fairly outgoing members. With enough training and discipline, Hozumi was sure they would be fierce competition in their personal specializations. Hozumi linked arms with Chiba Sana, "Otsukare-sama desu."

"Ah! O-otsukare-sama desu."

"Sana-kun was amazing with the vegetables and fruits as per usual. The rose as decorations for the plating was a nice touch! What were they made from?"

"Apple and daikon, Chef."

"Mou, Sana-kun, you can call me Hozumi-chan! We're friends, too!"

"Ahh, right… Chef," the taller boy said quietly. Hozumi giggled and shrugged. She could not force the boy to call her anything he did not want to. She wanted her brigade to be close while they could. She knew that everyone had different plans when they were to go up to high school. Sana was going to go to a public school closer to the Buddhist temple he was raised at, Haruto and Benjiro were to go to school in Kyoto, and Mahoko had told her that she was going to move in with her uncle and aunt to avoid moving to America for high school.

"Sato-san."

"Akashi-san," Hozumi called cheerfully. "How was your basketball game? Living up to the school motto? I wonder though, did you play as dispassionately as you usually do?"

Mahoko and the boys of her brigade stiffened. Hozumi was not the firstborn in her family. She had older brothers and watched them play different sports from soccer to American Football. Basketball was one of those sports that she knew in and off the courts.

Akashi and his first-string basketball team were a disgrace to anything that stands up for teamwork and sportsmanship. She saw the basketball team beat other teams. The media might praise them as the Generation of Miracles, but Hozumi saw them as a Generation of Brats. "Careful, Sato-san, you're toying a dangerous line," Akashi growled out.

"Am I? I did not know the son of Akashi Hiroshi would be so threatening to a female in public," Hozumi said casually. Everyone, around the two, was tense, waiting for the moment when they would need to try and pull the other alpha predator from attacking. The basketball team has never met someone who could match Akashi in their basketball realm, let alone someone from the school. Their captain was a force to be reckoned with on his own. They were glad for the girl that he did not have any sharp objects in his hands.

The fact was that they thought Hozumi was a mouthy female with too much personal clout. Hozumi knew this, and it worked in her favor. Akashi Seijuro knew who she was and that was enough for Hozumi to use as a threat against the boy. She knew he would not dare to do anything that would get back to his father, let alone her father, brothers, or grandfather.

Hozumi's brigade was trying to subtly check if the small chef had any cooking utensils on her person that could be used as a weapon. Unlike the basketball team, the brigade knew exactly Hozumi's skill with the cooking utensils and how she could possibly use them as a threatening weapon against another person. They were not going to underestimate the shorter girl because she was cute and cuddly when she wanted to be.

Mahoko knew firsthand how skilled her friend was with tools of her trade. Hozumi took it upon herself to educate and train Mahoko in the basics of all parts of cooking. She even made sure that Mahoko owned all the tools that they used in their kitchens at her own house, along with the proper cleaning and upkeep of all the tools.

Sana knew that Hozumi was as dangerous as she was kind. The Buddhist temple that he grew up on was a poor one in a bad neighborhood. Hozumi was elected to deliver his missed classwork and homework when he was sick one week, during their second year. The local delinquents wanted to make a name for themselves as they harassed both monks and patrons alike. They had made the mistake of attempting to harass an elder patron in front of Hozumi.

With three phone calls and one disarming move to a knife-wielding thug, Sato Hozumi had all of the delinquents out of the neighborhood and five influential families giving donations to the temple. Of the five families, two were scheduling wedding ceremonies at the temple and one wanted to know if they could donate their in-laws' construction company to do business on the temple grounds. The tiny blonde girl had helped herself to his living space to explain the homework as well as ask if she could cook them a meal.

He wanted to train under her the moment he saw her cook. It was like watching a goddess work. Her movements were smooth and confident, nothing she did was hindered by the people watching. It was like the world outside of the kitchen melted away and all that was left was just Hozumi and her cooking utensils.

Sana registered for the Culinary Arts club the day he returned to school.

"Satocchi?" Kise was surprised that the normally angelic girl would act the way she did. Hozumi's blue eyes never wavered from Akashi. Kise slumped. He wanted to be praised for doing so well in his last match by Satocchi. "D-did you see the game yesterday?"

"That was a game?" Hozumi asked. There was a wave of anger there in her voice that Kise could not understand. "I thought that was a bunch of brats who think they're too good for teamwork and have dispassion for basketball playing against a hard-working team. What was the score you dished out? 111-11?"

"Wait? That was planned? Like you guys planned that? How fucked up are you guys?!" Mahoko shouted. Now, she understood Hozumi's hostility. The older Sato boys had once played for the basketball team for Teiko. As annoying as Hozumi's older brothers were, she understood that they did not do anything half-assed in any of the sports. Mahoko would bet that the motto of the Sato household was 'Everything was in the Details'. "What's the point of playing a sport that's built around teamwork and hard work if you're just going to mess with your opponents like that? Did you ever think that maybe you're going to work with them in high school or college?"

"Then they shouldn't have been as pathetic." Akashi Seijuro had sealed his fate with those words in Hozumi's book. She was going to make sure that the boy understood teamwork in the near future. "I was going to offer to host you in celebration of your win-"

"I would rather starve than eat with you, Akashi Seijuro," Hozumi interrupted. She watched the red-haired boy's fist clench, it was just a few weeks ago that Hozumi stopped him from interrupting her from her speech. Hozumi knew she was being rude. "My brigade and I have always celebrated with our families and those who supported us after competitions. It's a tradition when dealing with a Sato-trained brigade.

"Besides, my ani-tachi will be joining us. They would massacre you for your insults to their beloved sport. They were all captains of Teiko's basketball team once," Hozumi tilted her head in deep thought and continued. "On the other hand, it would save me the embarrassment of having to say I go to Teiko if they did massacre you all."

Haruto and Benjiro snickered. They have all seen Hozumi's older brothers rant about the 'Generation of Miracles'. It would be a blood bath if any of the basketball team showed up at the dinner that was awaiting them. Mahoko was the only one who was ready to breathe fire if any of these five idiots dared to try and tag along. "Don't even think about it. None of you five baka-tachi are invited."

Hozumi had a deep look on her face, and mumbled the word, "Five…"

Hozumi arrived dragging along a light blue-haired boy with her. His hair was styled to the left and he had blue eyes with a blank sorrowful gaze. While standing next to Hozumi, the boy was as pale as a ghost. "Mina-san, this is Kuroko Tetsuya. He's going to be the newest member of my brigade. Tetsuya-kun, these are the other members of our brigade.

"That's Suzuki Mahoko, our sous chef. In competitions, Mahoko-chan usually handles sauces and the stocks we use as well as making sure our inventory is always set. Over there is Tanaka Haruto. Haruto-kun is our master rotisseur. He handles all of the roasting, frying, and grilling of our brigade. It's a bit much, but Haruto-kun is really good with meats.

"And next to him is Ishii Benjiro. Benjiro-kun is our poissonnier. He cooks and prepares all of the fish and seafood dishes. This is Chiba Sana. Sana-kun is our entremetier. He is a vegan and knows his way around everything that is not meat or fish the best in our brigade.

"Mina-san, Tetsuya-kun is my newest apprentice and friend."

"Did you just adopt someone from the basketball club without their permission, Hozumi?" Mahoko said deadpanned.

Bunnies and flowers surrounded the blonde girl ushering the poor boy into a seat. "Ara ara, is that what I did?"

The poor boy probably isn't aware of the fact that he's now in the most dangerous person's clutches now.