Damn, it's been a while since I've last published a chapter. Sorry about that, I've taken a ton of other fanfics, in regards to Attack on Titan, as well as a Genshin one, but the good news is, I'm working on becoming a good writer. Sorry if the story has really spaced out releases, but I want to make sure it's good. Rereading my previous chapters, I hadn't done as good as I could have, so I took a huge break. Now, I'm ready, for the date between Ikumi and Soma… and a watchful eye over them. Also, this might exceed 3k words, but I'll hope that'll be good.
Hisako POV
I quietly looked over the redhead, from the corner of the pillar, looking at Yukihira and Mito meeting up in the mall. Quickly, before they noticed me, I hid behind the pillar, my heart rate beating 2 times a second, then looked back at them, when they were not able to see me.
Mito was wearing something more casual, and Yukihira just wore his casual shirt, with the polar star dormitory outfit that he usually wore. His hair was still held up by that white bandana, which made him look years older than he was.
'Why did I decide to spy on the two of them?' I was annoyed at myself, but I still followed them far behind where they would reasonably see me. My legs and body propelled me to follow them, even though my mind was always on the hook for what I was doing, stalking them.
I could barely make out their conversations, despite attempts to close the distance to hear them, so it was just me trying desperately to avoid being seen by them. But what I did see is Yukihira smiling, and both of them laughing alongside one another, happy.
'What if it turns out they're dating now, hence why they are doing this outside of school?' I sadly thought that while avoiding their sight on me, through the mall they were in.
I was nervous the entire time, looking over my back every time, even if what was just behind me was a stone pillar I had chosen to hide behind.
Eventually, I saw the two of them enter a restaurant, one that I recognized.
'Of course. Ikumi's father and his business supplies the best meat to that restaurant.' My eyes widened at that. 'Wait, this could actually be a date, and I'm doing this without Nakiri's permission!'
I covered my eyes, realizing my mistake.
'What happens if Nakiri finds out that he's dating other girls?'
I shook my head.
'Calm down, Hisako. You have to be calm.'
My 2 beats per second heart moved back to 1, with my breath normalizing.
'I need to see what's happening without making misunderstandings!'
I ran to the front of the restaurant, now that Yukihira and Mito had disappeared into the restaurant, and quickly asked,
"Can I have a seat please?"
The server in front had his hands up, saying, "Oh, I'm sorry, we don't allow walk-ins."
"Is that so?" I hated to do this, but my curiosity was something that was killing me to know.
"I'm the secretary of Erina Nakiri. Do you know who that is?"
The server's eyes opened. Even among non chefs, the Nakiri bloodline was well known, as no person could possibly handle feeding them, with their souls not being able to handle the embarrassment the Nakiris would force them to go through.
"So, would you like to set me up a table, or would you rather have me bring Erina Nakiri to-"
"Yes, I understand, right this way!" The server squeaked. "I'll get you a table right away!"
'I'm sorry, but I have to know what is happening.' I promised myself to find a way to pay him back someday. No one deserved to feel the fear of the Nakiris.
He brought me inside the restaurant, which, despite the prestige of the inside, with a massive chandelier, golden colored napkins on top of gold lined plates, and even fabric that was lined with gold on the perimeter, the restaurant was filled with people of all walks of life, from the richest billionaire in japan, to the poorest man on the streets.
But, I looked around, and found neither Yukihira nor Mito.
"Anywhere you'd like to sit?" The server nervously asked me.
"Where was the Red headed man and blonde woman? They were here beforehand."
"Huh? I sat them upstairs, in the private part of the restaurant. That's only for our donors-"
'I'm sorry, Nakiri.'
"Do you not believe that the Nakiri family hasn't contributed to this industry, to this restaurant, to even the land this is on?"
His fear came back, and I saw him sweat with fear, in front of me.
"Right away, I'll give you a table!"
I was brought upstairs, then I wore my hat and glasses, to keep low.
"Now, here's your table, young lady!" I sat on the edge of the second floor, just enough for me to hear Yukihira and Mito speaking.
"-Yukihira, what happened? You've… changed."
'Calm down. Listen.'
The server, almost too afraid to talk with me, walked downstairs, and I ordered a small Persian black coffee to keep me from looking suspicious in this restaurant.
Yukihira chuckled, almost like he was being told a joke he was told to laugh at.
"I… was burned out. I wanted to just not even come here, to this school, after losing so badly to Nakiri. I guess you could call me a sore loser…"
He chuckled, but Mito stayed stern.
"Then what pushed you to go back?"
"A… lot of things." I heard him visibly swallow, with that.
He moved his hand to his neck, slowly rubbing it, warding off stress off his mind.
"You… were one of them."
My eyes widened, but I stayed quiet. The coffee came, eventually, and it just sat in front of me, cooling down.
"Me?" Mito spoke, almost… confused.
"Yeah… I love you, Hisako, Megumi, Erina, and Mayumi. All of you."
My heart rate went through the roof, hearing my name. 1 beats second became 2, then I lost count of my heart rate, with the slightest thing setting me off to either faint or break down.
Mito gasped, slightly, before settling down, crossing her arms under her chest, with a small blush on her face.
"You… romantically think of all of us that way?"
I couldn't focus on anything, with my head being so filled with the fact that he said my own name, not just casually, but in a romantic context. I was elated, disappointed, angry, and so many different emotions in one.
"Yeah, I'm pretty shitty for thinking that way, aren't-"
She interrupted him, putting her lips on his.
I wasn't sure what the hell was happening, but I was so confused, and so frustrated, with everything he revealed in a short amount of time.
'He loves me, Nakiri, Tadokoro, Mito, and me, and-'
My brain was almost fried with everything, but I was shaken out of it by Mito releasing his lips from hers.
"If you do like us all, I'll be fine to be with you and everyone else you love."
I didn't know what the hell was happening, and while picking up my coffee, I accidentally dropped it, and while it didn't shatter, it made a small clank sound, against the floor.
Yukihira then noticed me, embarrassed and all trying to clean up my mess, and spoke out.
"Hey, Hisako!"
Mito let out a quick "Huh?!" with her finding me here, but Yukihira looked at me, with a smile on his face.
"Umm… um…"
I tried using one of the napkins to clean up, but it didn't work.
'Damn it. Why did this have to happen…'
Mito sighed, looking at me pathetically trying to clean the stain out of the patterned carpet.
"Let it be. They'll clean it up. Don't worry about it."
Soma stepped out of the booth that they were in, and held my hand, softly, which almost forced me to look up, with a huge blush on my face.
"You want to come sit with us?" He energetically spoke, in my face.
He looked wide eyed, his hands rough against my own, and as close as I saw him, the more I saw how he got skinnier from what I remembered him to be, and I actually saw his abs through the shirt.
"Um…"
My brain had been so fried, that the only thing I could say was yes or no at that point.
"... yes"
"Okay, Hisako!"
He held my hand, bringing me over to their table at the end.
"Excuse me…"
Mito looked slightly annoyed, but then she looked smug when she realized something.
"Nakiri didn't ask you to spy on us, did she? This is all on your own, isn't it?"
"Eh? How did you know?!"
She smiled, smugly.
"I didn't, till you just admitted it!"
Mito teased me, and with my guard all but lowered, it was very effective at making me feel embarrassed.
"Hisako." Yukihira said my name quietly, and even Mito became quiet.
He looked at me, sincerely, as if he wanted an honest answer for the question he'd next ask me.
"Do you share feelings for me?"
He held my hand up with both of his own, and I saw Mito in the corner of my eye, also curious about what I'd say.
"Um, I…" I thought of all the times we got together, and how he helped me out, how he motivated me to seek Erina as a friend, rather than just as a leader to follow, to help me feel like I could make friends, and even handle myself during Stagiaire.
I wonder when I fell for him. Maybe when he motivated me to see myself as not a lesser person. Maybe it's when I saw him challenging himself to cook, and he kept pushing forward to achieve his goals, to beat his father. Or maybe it's even earlier, when he got erina to step back, with that simple dish he made to enter the exam.
But regardless… I did.
"Yes. I do love you… Soma."
He sighed, for once, looking down, still holding my hand, this time, closing the distance between the two of us.
He put my hand on his heart, and I felt his heartbeat, against my hand. He really truly loved me too.
How? Maybe I'd ask him.
"You, Erina, Megumi, you'll all be fine… being with me?"
I looked down, and then looked at Mito.
"Mito… what do you think?"
"Hmm… I'd be fine sharing him, if that's what you're asking. He's not mine alone, and I do care for him. But that doesn't mean I'd give him up to just anyone."
She held a blush on her face, which made me feel more comfortable speaking. I perked up.
"Well, I believe we may agree, in that regard."
I looked straight at Yukihira.
"Though, maybe you should ask all of them." I suggested.
"Oh, I already contacted them..." Mito raised her phone, with the contacts of Tadokoro and Nakiri being the most recent ones, as well as another girl Soma mentioned.
I heard the footsteps behind me, with the blonde haired violet eyed and the blue haired yellow eyed girls showing up to see me.
"Eh? Hisako? What are you doing here?"
"Um… Um…"
I had no idea what to say, with my brain just recovering.
"I invited her! She came earlier, though, then you guys did." Yukihira casually spoke out for me, telling a half lie for me to save face.
"Oh, I see." Erina understood.
"This restaurant is so nice, Soma, Mito!" Tadokoro was already able to call him by name.
"Well, my father's business only supplies the best restaurants with our meat! Though I wonder if the God tongue will enjoy it here."
"Hmm. I doubt I would. But let me try before I judge this restaurant." She sat down, with Tadokoro, inside the booth seating, and I sat at the edge, across from Mito.
Soon enough, another girl, brown haired, shy girl, came into the restaurant on the second floor, and the booth was still open enough to have space for one more person.
"So. Soma." Erina spoke his name.
"You'd like to enter a relationship with all 5 of us, correct?"
Soma nodded, without a trace of hesitation.
"You do realize how idiotic the request you've made not to just me, but to all of us, correct?"
"I… don't mind, if Soma wants to be with me…" Mayumi looked down.
"That's not the point, Kurase. Soma, you do realize what would happen if you'd have this released to the public, right?"
'She's… right.' I reluctantly agreed. 'I couldn't be with him, no matter how much I wanted to. If it gets out, Erina could be seen negatively, with her being able to dedicate herself to a man who's got many different girls around him. In most countries, including japan, polygamy isn't legal, so even if he wanted to date all of us… eventually, he'd have to choose one girl to be with to marry, not mentioning the fact that the more we spend with him, the more hard it'll be for us to part our relationship with him…'
I got caught up with my own thoughts.
'Wait, I'm already thinking of marriage? Calm down… there's nothing to worry about yet.'
Still, I couldn't shake the idea of seeing myself in a wedding dress, with all of the girls around me in such attire, all holding out flowers for the rest of the world to catch. The thought filled me with an inexplicable bittersweet feeling.
"Yeah… I know." Soma nodded.
"Even still, you want to pursue it?"
"Yes." He said seriously.
Erina sighed, but she had a smirk on her face.
"Well, I never thought I'd enter a relationship with a commoner. Much less one who'd have feelings for so many other women."
I almost lit up, with her words.
"I'll be your main girlfriend, then, with everyone else being secondary in name, and held secretively. You'll be fine with that role, all of you?"
I heard her smug expression all throughout that, but I couldn't care less.
"Yes, I'll gladly do that, Erina." I spoke.
"What about you, Mito?"
"Of course, I'll be fine with it. Soma is someone I love." She shrugged, though I could tell with the blush on her face that she was happy.
"I'd be fine with it too!" Kurase spoke.
"I'd do it." Tadokoro spoke.
"Then, I guess we've figured it out."
"Now, let's eat! I'm starving…" Soma admitted, to which we all looked at him.
"What?"
We all laughed, simultaneously, with his admission.
"Hey, what's so funny?!"
We didn't know, but we eventually settled down our laughter, and got ready to order our food.
"Can I order what I want, Nikumi?
Mito sighed, and held her hand up, as if she was offering.
"Fine, fine. Eat what you want."
"Just make sure you don't end up getting fat, Soma! You need to make sure you keep healthy!" Erina lectured Soma with a smile on both of their faces.
"Also, Soma, why don't you order this?" Megumi pointed to a dish, I didn't see what it was, but she said, "It's supposedly really healthy, so we can share all of it!"
"Hey, can we order this too?" Mayumi looked at Soma, pointing to a new dish that had been added.
I could only smile.
'Regardless of where this goes…'
I looked at Soma, reading through the menu like a young kid, inside a toy shop.
'I hope we can stay together, for as long as possible.'
I felt that we all thought that simultaneously.
Unknown POV
"Hey, Karchara! Come on out! I've got something for you!"
I saw a man with a knife, and I could tell this wasn't for cooking.
The man held bloodlust in his eyes, a twisted smile on his face, like he was willing to kill someone in the most agonizing way possible.
And I knew who that someone was.
"Bua?"
The woman I knew, who took care of this entire household by herself till this point, had looked at me with sadness.
She was going to die that day, if I did nothing. And she knew that.
"Please… take care of my children. You've been with them, you recognize their talent. Please, take them with you, away from these slums, away from here."
I was genuinely shaking, but she gave no indication that she was joking, as she walked past me, the rain falling hard onto the now fixed roof.
The stairs creaked, under her feet, and so did the floor. But the feeling I had to her accepting whatever was happening outside… I couldn't accept it.
"Bua!"
She stepped out of the house, her arms wide open, knocking over the phone I installed in her house.
The house was redone, because of me, and she was willing to give up that so her family could live without this man threatening them.
'I… will do that for your children…' I looked to my side, knives next to me.
The man ran, faster than I could think, and somehow, my body ran fast enough to remove the blade from his hands, with two of my own kitchen blades. The other blade went flying, and I quickly kicked him.
'I've had enough of being beaten in these slums. I've fought and defended myself all this time. I'll defend you too, Bua.'
"HEY! Who are you?!" He harshly spoke out, his anger now focused on me.
"I'm Yukihira Soma! And I won't let you touch a finger on this woman!"
Something almost possessed me, a beast that kept me from shrinking back from his horrifying force.
"What do you have with Karchara?" He looked deadly angry, even more than I saw him.
I might not have learned everything about hindi, but I sure knew that wasn't something positive he was saying about her name.
"I'm protecting her. That's what. From shitbags like you."
"What… Did you call me, Videshi?!"
The man, eyes angry, ran towards me, trying to slice me with his unsharpened nails.
He slashed, and almost like a swordsman, I fought him off, with two of my kitchen knives.
It felt like some kind of brawl, and people started looking at me and him fighting, but in reality, I could end this in seconds.
I uppercutted his head with my fist, blade still in hand, making his brain squish against the back of his head, and kicked him on his temple for safe measure. He'd be fine, but he remained knocked out, and I would hold the blades in front of him.
People weren't sure how to react to me beating him, so I yelled.
"GET AWAY FROM HER, AND ALL OF THIS FAMILY, YOU BASTARDS!"
Something primal was awakened in me that day, something I didn't know about.
I'd defend them with my life.
Them… and the girls I loved.
They'd never have to go through this, for as long as I was with them.
I might say things that might hurt them, but nowhere would they ever go through what this woman and this family did here.
Soma POV
I couldn't help but think that, as I looked at all the girls around me, happily talking about things, and how good the food was here.
'As long as you all are with me, and even after, I'll care for you. I promise.'
I dug into the kebabs, and chewed on them, those thoughts in my head.
'Wonder if they'll believe the stuff I've been through in those months.'
Quite the chapter, I know. But I've given very little of the story so far, so I wanted to show more of this, and it'll become a bit important later.