Chapter 25 - The Aggressors
"You put your middle finger on this key, and your pinky right over there. That's it".
Erina did as she was instructed and found that the cool slide of the pads of her fingers rested over the set of ebony and ivories. Next, she prodded the foot-pedal with her toes. Most children of noble houses were taught a musical instrument, but Erina never got around to it. In terms of musical education, all she had were a handful of memorable nights listening to the best Japan had to offer of high-class performances in state-of-the art concert halls and opera houses to further enhance her 'culture'. Mitsunaga's hand skated over her knuckles, satisfied that she had the correct wrist posture before resuming its place, tapping on the edge of the baby grand piano as he stood over her. Erina pressed down and a sonorous chord rang out in the large space. She allowed a brief smile to flutter over her lips. From her periphery, she saw the imperceptible dart of his vivid blue eyes towards her mouth and she guessed that the boy she was courting triggered himself into having other things on his mind. Erina postured herself. She pretended not to notice and proceeded to try out the next chord and the collection of soft notes filled the air between them again.
In front of her were three sheets of music-lined paper with lead pencil etchings of musical notes, Italian phrases peppered here and there. Mitsunaga had been transcribing sheet music earlier and his handwriting was much more refined and neater with his musical notations compared to his normal scrawl in his class notebooks. It was an aggressive piece by the looks of it. There were plenty of notes stacked and piled on top of each other, chords, he called them like triple and quadripple ice-cream scoops on a skinny cone. They scattered all over the place in their dips and waves connected by tight lines, like little soldiers marching up and down different sized hills. She admired the proportions and the beautiful swooshes of his hand-drawn treble clef and bass clef. It was a secret code exclusive to musicians. It was almost finished and right now, she was trying to play a barfull of the chords by his insistence.
It was titled as Track 20.
"You're pretty good at this", he clapped his hands together.
"Of course, I'm a Nakiri", she enunciated. Erina at least looked up at him with her best conceited smile.
Mitsunaga chuckled and sauntered around the large musical instrument to sit beside her on the piano chair and Erina scooted over, feeling the slight dip of the leather seat and the orbital pool of his warm body coasting hers.
"Okay, so you wanna raise your wrist up like this, and relax your fingers so that it doesn't claw at the keys".
"Mhmm".
Erina copied his movements which she did somewhat well. His fingers were long and graceful and if she scrutinised them, she could still see slight marks over his knuckles, a reminder of when he punched her horrid harasser in the jaw a mere couple of months ago. It was a quirky memory of a time they had together and not one she would soon forget. He proceeded to perform a complicated scale, up and down the keys with swift elegance and precision that took her breath away. Urgh. Now he was just showing off.
"Are you paying attention?".
A hot puff caressed her ears and Erina felt a shiver cascade down her spine. She always paid attention to him whether she liked it or not. Her heartbeat quickened as the slow drag of Mitsunaga's inhale tantalised her cheeks, siphoning her scent. Erina felt the urge to clench her thighs together as his nose dipped in and nuzzled against the back of her sensitive ear, making her gasp and shiver. His hair tickled her skin. She inched her head towards him and his lips brushed past her lobes to land on her cheek. Her breath shook as her mind slowed down with dizziness and her cheeks flushed under the heavy gaze of Mitsunaga. Suddenly, a soft tune oozed from the piano and it registered to her that he was playing something steady and deliberate in the minor-key with only his left hand, as his lips peppered light kisses against her jawline, his eyes never straying from her. He was really showing off his multi-tasking now and it made her fidget. Erina's hand moved on their own to grip the rumpled hem of his school Oxford seeking an anchor and to disrupt his impish game. The tell-tale musk of him, the sweet tang of his citrus shampoo and the fresh grass he napped on teased her senses as his butterfly-light and yet searing pecks reached the junction of her clavicle, forcing her neck to arc away, allowing him to do more as he pleased.
"Mitsunaga…", she sighed.
"Too much?".
"N-No".
His fingers left the piano to cup her waist where he palmed her flesh in rhythm with his kisses, which were becoming firmer to her delirious delight. His long fingers spanned around her curves and he peeled his lips from her skin. He took the short reprieve to re-position himself so that he straddled the piano seat and brought himself closer, pressing right against her and his thigh rested beside hers as intimately as the chair allowed. Pools of molten cobalt sought her beautiful countenence and his cheeks dusted with dark pink the longer he took her in. He was so near that his breath mingled with hers as they revelled in each other's presence. Her sensitive skin still tingled from the trails of coal embers scorched by his lips that had his fill. She moistened her lips and elapsed the short distance betwee them to press them against his. She wanted to test. She wanted to taste. As soon as they connected, Mitsunaga responded in a fevered kind and the feel of them eagerly kissing her back sent Erina's mind into a sensual state of intoxication. He elicited a soft moan from her and she leaned in further, her fingers this time finding purchase on his shirt collar. Mitsunaga's hands glided up her side, to her shoulders until they cradled the back of her head. His fingers carefully dug into her hair, keeping her still and making it abundantly clear that he had her where he wanted her, and that she couldn't turn away from his ardour. His low groan sounded out his mounting desire for her and a shot of sparks ignited in her lower belly from the knowledge that she could make his normally unflappable affect cave into a rare desperation in him that only she had the privilege of experiencing.
The problem was, Erina had no idea what to do with all this amorous attention bestowed upon her by this version of Mitsunaga Yozora.
She grappled with the recent understanding that he was very singular in his wants.
How does one handle that?
Maybe it was too much for the moment…
Erina forced herself to sober up and pressed a hand to his cheek to release her lips, making him blink. The rare event of his eyes momentarily closing further proved to her the gravity of her effect on him and it made her feel slightly emboldened that she wasn't the only person in this courtship whose mind could easily be addled by the rush of intense affection and slip of control.
She licked her puckered lips and turned away, the unique taste of Mitsunaga was still present on her palate. She felt the burning blue of his eyes boring holes into the side of her head, almost beseeching and Mitsunaga's hands eased its way out of her locks, albeit reluctantly but still keeping her close. He continue to nose the fine hair near her temple, refusing to fully disconnect from her. Erina's glazed amethyst eyes slid back into focus when she looked back at him and she sank into those dark, intense orbs that were trying to coax her with silent promises of something sensual and inescapable.
Erina felt her resolve faltering again. Tension saturated the air and she scrambled for something to say.
"I-I still find it utterly deplorable that you were able to bring in a musical instrument as large as this into the RS building", she commented before anything else started.
Her cheeks still warmed in his presence.
Mitsunaga released an amused snort. He relinquished her completely with a quick shake of his messy head of hair and his undivided attention indeed split itself back to the piano. It looked like he took the hint and Erina was relieved he was keeping that side of himself for now.
The heavy and delectable atmosphere dissolved.
"Yeah well, when you have a member of the Elite Ten as one of your NPCs, you get a few more perks like approval for my Blüthner to come here, as well as getting a brand new, state of the art RS building". He swept his arms over the cavernous space.
Of course he was referring to Isshiki-senpai, much to her chargrin.
Right now, it was bareboned and had a few boxes lying around. Erina surmised that they wouldn't be able to completely fill this space with the only RS possessions they had in their old dinky RS room, crammed somewhere in the deep underbellies of Tootsuki where they seldom got fresh air and sunlight. They had six newly installed kitchen stations, spread out with plenty of room to move. There were tall double door fridges lining the back wall, humming, empty and cold waiting to be stocked. The linoleum flooring still gleamed from being freshly put down and the bright LED lights came down on them like beams of white holiness. One long row of marble graced the front of the room, which was where the taste-testing and any judging would normally be conducted. Rivers of grey and green snaked along it in a captivating pattern. The bright shine of the unmarred stainless-steel sinks for Erina was equivalent to the new car smell for most people and she appreciated the angular, plain but sleek design Isshiki-senpai had chosen for this new RS building. She wondered if The Guild members had any input into the design considering it was supposedly built for their benefit. The pantry and storage cupboards to the right were already packed with the four members' boxes of recipes albums, and their current appliances, cleaning products, towels, equipment, utensils, cutlery, and crockery which were peaking out from the gap left by the door left slightly ajar.
"This seems too big for just four members, don't you think?". She raised a brow at him.
"We've got more things in our inventory bag and extra equip slots that will soon come as well. Don't worry, we'll definitely make full use of this amazing RS building".
Erina visualised herself cramming a bar of soap down his throat to wash the dirty gaming vocabulary out. Mitsunaga was actually improving in not getting all gamery around her and she liked that a lot. Now he ruined it by devolving back into the original video-game otaku weirdo she had first heard about. She was about to turn around to berate him into speaking like a civilised human, and annihilate the stupid habit of spewing those infuriating and asinine video-game terminology in conversation, which was unnecessary and absolutely cringeworthy. However the tell-tale curve on the corner of his mouth and the merciless twinkling in his eyes signalled to her that he knew how to get right under her skin and was deliberately doing this to annoy her.
She wasn't going to fall for it.
She refused to stoop to that level.
"This RS of yours has a few allowances that don't make sense and go against most of the rules for running an RS. Like having this NPC Network for starters", said Erina suspiciously.
Mitsunaga shrugged. "Kasai-senpai was the one who created and set up the RS from the beginning, so maybe he cut some deals with the RS board".
"I doubt he's that influential".
He shrugged again.
"Still, aren't you worried that the piano will over time accumulate with the oil and grease in the air from all the cooking being done here? Not to mention the humidity as well".
"It won't get damaged, not if I clean and maintain it properly. I know how to take care of my own things, Nakiri". He narrowed his eyes at her playfully. At least, she thought it was meant to be playful.
"Now that I already told you about my mother and well… why I developed an affinity for music, how about your turn?".
Erina grimaced. She should've expected this. When Mitsunaga had followed her to her own private kitchen on the day he got back, his cheery mood from returning from the stagiare shifted as soon as they crossed the threshold. She had been mildly concerned, and it had become a full-blown worry when his lovely azure eyes had morphed into one of sorrow and bittersweetness. The first words that had left his mouth were: "My mother died when I was six" which had caught Erina in paralysing surprise. He had walked right past her and had proceeded to scrounge around for her cooking items and ingredients in her extensive pantries. She could only stand to the side gaping at the sudden bomb-shell as she had watched him work in her kitchen, manipulating and handling her kitchen knives with practiced ease and nimbleness that was synonymous to his piano-playing expertise. Aside from his cooking style, she had always been fascinated with his ambidextrity in the kitchen. What had shocked her the most was that all the while Mitsunaga was cooking, he never stopped talking to her. Phone away and earpieces out of sight. He had told her sentence by sentence the story of his happy childhood filled with his mother's love, until her untimely death, everything that he had felt and everything he had done since then, everything he had understood and had not understood as a little boy about the horrific event that ripped her out of his life. It had felt surreal, and he was very deliberate and careful with his words. As he had told her his story, simple and plain, she remained hooked and captivated at the outpouring of words and feelings. She'd never seen him this vulnerable. There was a power to it that she didn't understand. Strength born from weakness? So, when she finally tasted his dish, she tasted all that. The innocent happiness, then the pain, the guilt, the despair, the anger, the confusion until finally the determination to overcome his hurdles, the fight and finally the flicker of something new and… not yet there, but soon. His dish was all a melody a music that was solely him and nothing else. And when she looked up at him, the spoon teasing her lips as she savoured his unique tastes lingering on her God's Tongue, she knew she was in utter and complete trouble.
His cooking transcended all she knew about the art of cuisine.
His dish was still... heading somewhere.
Like an hour glass where one couldn't see the amount of sand left at the top.
She wasn't sure if that was a bad thing, or a good thing. Or just somewhere in between.
But it was undeniably beautiful.
All she could think about, hear and see was him. She consumed him just as he had declared to her and he burned her from the inside out. That was when she realised the sensory taste of his dish didn't matter to her as much as what he was communicating to her through his creation. It was private, intimate and something only he caged and buried and brought to light just for her. She couldn't pretend to understand everything she was tasting because Mitsunaga was still a frustrating mystery to her, but the revelation of a sliver of his story finally quenched her barely manageable fixation of where it all began for him. She hadn't unlocked that unattainable quest he murmured to her the first time they sat at a piano together. She hadn't done anything. He unlocked it himself. Then as she had continued to eat everything that he laid in front of her, he, a servant of the divine baring all he was worth to his masters, she tasted something else unidentifiable that tuned with her, like an emotional key into something much calmer. It had been clear in his expression as he watched her ravenously as she ate. A ghoulish, but magnetic voyeur to her ritual of eating. Something from the stagiare restored a part of him and Erina couldn't help but to believe that the music, video-game or otherwise, could ever be erased from him even though he claimed to not needing to listen to music while he cooked again, and it showed through his culinary art.
She'd never felt or tasted anything like it, and she doubted she ever would with anyone but him.
She couldn't judge him the way she did to others.
Her God's Tongue was humbled.
Erina blinked back into the present.
"I never knew my mother. Oji-sama said that she is ill and is looking for a cure for her sickness before returning home. I don't know any more than that. Nobody else speaks of her. My Father… he's no longer in my life. He… H-He is not a good man".
Mitsunaga hummed. He reached over and rubbed soft circles on her back. She let him.
"If your mother's death was what gave you your perfect pitch, then it was my Father who made me my God's Tongue". She dared to elaborate.
"I thought you were born with it".
"Yes, but he moulded it. Everything I taste is to his own sense of perfection… not mine".
Just like he'd said before at the conclusion of Alice's Autumn Election round against Yukihira: perfection had already killed her from the inside. The ease of which she shared this part of herself rattled even her and made her bitter. She was expecting some sort of choked sob to scramble out of her throat, that would truly reflect the anguish she felt about Father. She had never formed words around this excruciating and emotionally violent part of her life before, not even to her own family. What stupefied her the most was the eerie calmness of her tone, as if she was not part of her own body and it was just telling an ordinary tale accompanied by a disembodied voice, when really this was far from it. Then her hands started twitching and her tongue locked in her throat.
Mitsunaga furrowed his brows and lightly touched her hand. She could tell that he sensed something not right about it. Erina didn't move and she grew listless. She momentarily retreated into her mind and the perceptions of her surroundings became foreign and blurred. She thought about the man who made… no, manufactured her. His lack of eye-contact and the absence of any forms of tender touch should have warned her. It was unnatural to avert one's gaze from one's love, right? It put a cruel distance from her heart and soul, enough for all the power trips he craved. She had felt dehumanised, just another part of her life to be controlled, to perform a function required of her for that… that man… It hurt. It had hurt more than any physical pain she endured from his own hands which he deemed as an appropriate measure for his training.
He was supposed to be her father, her protector.
She'd rather have no father, than be a prisoner of his sickly love.
A quick and tight hug brought her hurtling back into reality and she ground her teeth together to keep the building emotions at bay. Such a weakness taunted and ate at her and spawned from it was a childish resentment of how easily Mitsunaga could pull this grievous and shameful story from her. It made her struggle out of his arms. He liberated her and she sighed loudly before standing up from their seat, flushed and suffocated. His eyes were falcons' as he tracked her every movement and his scrutiny brought back a sense of discomfort which she was quickly finding intolerable.
"This… this thing we have between us right now. What do you want from it?".
She strode across the floor leaving him behind as she braced her hands against one of the kitchen stations. Her pleading question hung in the air. She stared straight ahead at one of the empty clear, double-door fridges and saw from its faint reflection that Mitsunaga had already swung his leg around and was now raising himself up. She heard the soft creak of the leather seat and the soft padding of his sneakers behind her.
"Nothing more than what you're willing to share with me".
Vague. Vague.
The solemn earnest in his voice made her lips tremble. The affection in his tone snapped more and more pieces of stones from her walls until chunks tumbled down the face of it into useless rubble at the bottom of her deep moat. Her stomach squeezed and she felt like she wanted to throw up. She turned around to face him determining that this might be the last brave act she could muster for today and looked at him unflinchingly into his eyes.
"Why me, Mitsunaga-kun? Why did you choose me?" she asked again.
"Does there have to be a specific reason?" he asked back.
"Yes, there has to be, there is always a reason", her voice raised.
'Everybody wants me for something… IT'S ALWAYS SOMETHING'.
"No other fact than the fact that I like you and I think we're the same".
"We are nothing alike".
"On the surface, sure".
He stepped a little closer while she crossed her arms beneath her bust and squared him seriously, feeling defensive.
"I know what you're thinking. But you are more than just your sought-after God's Tongue, Nakiri. You are worth so much more than that".
"Am I?" she scoffed.
He was close enough now to lift her chin with his finger and held one of her hands gingerly in his. He looked at her as if the exact amount of her worth was painted on her face, but she couldn't tell how much. He touched her cheek, cool and smooth. She sagged against the kitchen station, too drained and tired to fight anything except the fearful churn in her stomach. Fear that he'd let go of her and never look back, that he'd made a mistake in being with her, and fear that he'd found a taste for making her show more of her condemned self to his examination. She didn't know how much more she could take of this foreign tenderness. He saw fragments of her pain, she was sure of it as much as she tried and failed to hide it when it came to him. Yet, she effortlessly blasted holes into other people's hearts like an ice-cold bullet and that mask of emotional indifference she wore was her mark of superiority. But with him, they were just glancing blows and he never held it over her head. She figured because he didn't need to, for he had his own brand of acuity and confidence in his skills. But he too was also hiding behind his own thick fortress, he hid behind his headphones choosing oblivion to the world. In that regard, then perhaps they weren't too dissimilar… But that was his old self. So, when he kicked down his own walls to let her inside and revealed to her his own pain and weakness… she wondered… might she do the same and come out looking just as okay as he did?
Mitsunaga smiled gently.
"But it's not for me to say what your worth is, it's up to you and you, only. But know this Nakiri, it's a damn sight better than what your bastard of a Father made you think. And what I want is for you to break free".
He kissed her knuckles.
The chime of the study period bell echoed in the distance signalling the change in class. It was enough to jolt the two students to remember they were indeed still at school and therefore duties and responsibilities still had to be carried out before the day was over. Erina gave his hand a small squeeze, let go and then made her way to the door, her hair swaying behind her before she could puzzle over his words. She opened it and checked the hallways before leaving.
"S-See you in class later".
"Yeah".
.
.
.
.
.
.
'I want more'.
Yozora exhaled loudly as the door snapped close and Nakiri's sillouette disappeared like a ghost. He rolled his neck around, feeling the pops burst bits of tension out from the joints and he returned to the piano. His lips twitched in frustration. He could've handled it better, he thought, but he expected just as much too. Nakiri was still too flighty for his liking, but he had to respect she still needed space and adjustment to this new relationship they were exploring. He knew trauma when he saw it. Hayato-kun, himself he guessed, and Nakiri were no strangers to some form of familial dysfunction. He'd have to be dumb and blind not to see that everything she did was all an act to cover up the turmoil and the fear hurricane inside of her everyday, downplaying it, not allowing anyone to come close lest the violent winds tear them to pieces. He might need to have a stern word with Arato and see if she could up her game as an aide, and if she was ready to come back to Nakiri's side. She'd disappeared for quite a while, now that he thought about it. He didn't know what was up between them ever since the Autumn Elections. Nakiri could become stronger, if she allowed herself to be, or if she had the help. She was already stronger than she gave herself credit for. He didn't mean skill because that was unquestionable. He meant her emotional strength. Putting on a façade day in and day out was slowly chipping away at her and Yozora could see it. He knew from experience and so did Hayato-kun. Maybe that was why his best-friend was starting to soften towards her.
He wanted that to all change and his heartstrings plucked furiously in his chest making him aggravated too. He tunnelled his focus and will into the one thing that was most important to him. He gritted his teeth and huffed. He didn't like Nakiri being hurt more than she was already. Actually, he didn't like Nakiri being hurt, period. He needed to do something more about it. The cogs in his brain turned.
'I take care of what's mine'.
"Hey Yo-kun".
He glanced up. "'Sup".
He quickly switched gears.
The rattle of the sliding door signalled his best friend entering their brand-new RS building. His low B-flat whistle piercing through the air further signalled his deep appreciation for the grandeur of their new cooking space. Isshiki-senpai could sure put his money where his mouth was. He finally pulled through as their newest acquisition into the NPC Network and made the final approvals of their new cooking-home while he and Hayato-kun had been away for their stagiare. The Seventh-seater was effective when he wanted to be. There wasn't a remote chance The Guild could ever be upgraded in resources like this if they didn't have a foot in the door with an Elite Ten member. Even though he was dating Nakiri, he was pretty sure she wouldn't acquiesce to any of his requests for The Guild purely on principle of having such a fucking weird RS. She was funny like that, and it made him smile. Such a hime-dere. So, thank fuck they had Isshiki-senpai now to champion them to the higher-ups.
"Did you hear about Yukihira?".
"What, is he up to his next shokugeki for this afternoon? I totally wanna see that".
"Heck yeah".
His mood started to fire up at the prospect of seeing another one of Yukihira's shokugeki. They were the bomb and it had as much entertainment value as it did education wise, because as far as he could tell, all those challengers got schooled. That guy whole-heartedly deserved the title of 'Maverick Chef' or any other apt monikor that described how insane he was as a cook. Yukihira had received dozens of challenge letters while he'd been gone. He'd shown it to Yozora and Hayato-kun and their eyes almost fell out of their sockets. Yukihira had a never-before-seen sheen to his eyes the moment Yozora and Hayato-kun caught up with him at Polar Star Dorm the day after Yozora's return. He was one of the pupils that got back first from Polar Star Dorm. He was brand new and shiny, and that excited Yozora, as he too recognised the same new look reflected in his own mirror.
All those challenge notes had been stuffed into a paperbag which their dorm mother diligently saved for him, as it had been practically choking his personal mail-slot. However, it was also super obvious that she opened a few for a sneaky look to sate her curiosity.
He remembered sorting all those crumpled letters out with Yukihira and Hayato-kun on his bedroom floor over an assortment of tea and snacks courtesy of their dorm mother after school finished. While he and Yukihira sorted out which RS they all belonged, Hayato-kun helped to sub-categorise them further by their year-grades. There was a total of sixteen actual shokugeki challenges and twelve normal cook-off challenges. It was quite the chore, but utterly fascinating to see which RS or individual student was hungry to give the famed diner chef Yukihira Souma a beat down. Each note sent Yukihira into a frightening and unsettling state of mental ascension tinged with hellish excitement. Yukihira had been ambivalent with who he wanted to start off with first, so all three decided it should be first-come, first-serve. Thus, they worked again to re-categorise and re-ordered them which was extra work. Yozora smirked at the memory. Trust Yukihira to relish the idea of facing head-on all his challenges and milk his opponents for all their worth of their knowledge and skills. That was exactly what Yukihira negotiated as a stake for all his shokugeki. Get them all to teach him their secret techniques. If he remembered correctly, Yukihira made his Dungeons and Dragons character a fighter in Hayato-kun's campaign which he ran for everyone in the Polar Star Dorm once a month ever since he introduced it to them in the Rapport Building Training Camp. He loved over-whelming his opponents with action-surges, much like his cooking prowess packing lots of hits of flavour. Perhaps he would also multi-class into a wizard who hoarded spells just as how he was now collecting as much culinary skill as he could.
Yozora felt a twinge of envy that he didn't get any challenge notes.
He bounced out of his piano seat and strode over to the door and pulled at the latch.
"If we leave now, we can catch a snack with Polar Star Dorm then –".
He smashed his face against the hard planes of someone's enormous chest. Stars danced in his vision. He screwed his nose and looked up to see the amused grin of Tsurugi-senpai blockading the door and the eye-rolls of Kasai-senpai behind him. His gladiator physique quickly backed Yozora into the room like a rhinoceros that meant business, and he stumbled over Hayato-kun's feet who leapt back with the ire of a hissing cat. His upperclassman took up his usual sitting position which was backwards on a chair. Yozora quickly shot him a glare while he pinned him with a shit-eating grin.
"Going somewhere?".
"Now before the both of you run off to spectate Yukihira-kun's umpteenth shokugeki", ordered Kasai-senpai as he pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "I first need to run through the Autumn Leaf Viewing event, as your senpai".
Yozora's and Hayato-kun's ears pricked up. Another event?
It'd only been a week since they've finished their stagiares, but everything still felt like go-go-go to him and waiting for the lull. So, it was a surprise that there was something up again so soon. They returned to classes in a blink of an eye and suddenly, all the theoretical work made utter sense. It was as if being out on the field had unlocked that tucked part of the brain that all students stared stupidly at before filing it away as 'meh dunno'. They had been expected to get back to classes immediately, and so the adjustment period was left wanting.
Tsurugi-senpai flicked a folded paper airplane towards him and it smacked him in the forehead. He was their club President for fuck's sake! With an annoyed tut, Yozora grabbed the sheet and unfurled it, noting the glossy sheen and texture beneath his fingertips. It revealed a rudimentary illustration of a maple-leaf, an ungendered person in a chef's hat… and an inushiba in a chef's costume. Ew, who designed this poster?
"The Autumn Leaf Viewing is a venerable occasion where students from different class years can meet and mingle. It's also where the top first year students will have their first opportunity to meet the entire current Elite Ten Council".
Now we're talking. Yozora passed the flier to Hayato-kun who read it at his own pace. The prospect of meeting the complete set of Elite Ten got him salivating. His pumping blood woke up his brain more and his smile grew at their own accord. He could either let the maniacal turning of his gears grind together and see what it ignited or hide it. Either way, this Autumn Leaf Viewing Event was going to be the next best interesting thing.
"So when you mean 'top' first year students, you mean…" Hayato-kun started.
"I mean Yozora-kun. Sorry Hayato-kun, you didn't make it".
"Not that much love lost there. It's disappointing that I'm not the cream of the crop, but more-so I don't want to be within firing shot of Kobayashi Rindou and Tsukasa Eishi, so that's one silver lining". Hayato whistled lowly.
Yozora's chest swelled with pride for Hayato-kun's newfound resilience for a few seconds before his face twitched at the names of those other senpais.
Kobayashi Rindou.
Tsukasa Eishi.
Members of the Elite Ten Council.
"You don't have to worry about Tsukasa. He's a pussy. Kobayashi on the other hand… I wouldn't fuck with her, and I've fucked ple-", grunted Tsurugi-senpai.
"But why a special meet-and-greet, Kasai-senpai?", Yozora cut in.
"Is it going to be another event like the Rapport Building Camp or the stagiare challenges where if we screw up, we'll be kicked out?", added Hayato-kun.
"Goodness no, it's nothing like that", chided Kasai-senpai. "The intent is for you to have a chance to meet the upperclassmen and for all of you to get to know each other while enjoying the lovely colours of the Autumn scenery". Yozora knew that Kasai-senpai always liked a good Momiji-gari.
"That doesn't sound too hectic", nodded Hayato-kun.
"Wipe that look off your mug, Yozora", growled Tsurugi.
He rolled his eyes. Seriously, where was the respect for their Club President? But did he look pleased? He hoped he looked pleased. He was coming up with fun ways to embarrass Kobayashi Rindou and Tsukasa Eishi in front of everyone without revealing the reason behind it. He hungered to watch them writhe against their inability to lash out at him in front of all their other co-members and their top kohais. Because he knew for a fact… the rest of them had no bloody idea… But it'd probably be too dangerous and piss-off Kasai-senpai and Tsurugi-senpai at the same time. They'd deserve it anyway… those two current first and second seaters would've deserved it…
"Yozora-kun… whatever you do, do not, and I stress. Do. Not. antagonise back Kobayashi-san, no matter what she says to you", commanded Kasai-senpai.
"Yeah I get it", he grumbled.
Kasai-senpai gave him a sceptical look from behind his glasses, but let it slide. He crossed his arms.
"That's all I have to announce, so you may go catch Yukihira-kun's shokugeki now. I have on good authority that it'll be a good one". He gestured his hand towards the door.
Yozora nodded and himself and Hayato-kun bade their senpais goodbye before leaving the room and out into the corridor. Their new RS building was also much closer to the stadium so they didn't run the risk of running late, however he was irked that he didn't get a chance to meet up with the Polar Star Dorm for a quick hangout before getting to the stadium. Yozora caught glimpses of students, both young and older with their aides filing into the building. So, Yukihira's match hadn't started yet. He wondered if these people were other challengers as well, or just spectators like himself and Hayato-kun. The gamer-pair picked up the pace, wanting to see who else was in the stadium to watch Yukihira smack bitches up. His blonde friend was the first to spot Tadokoro, Yoshino and Sakaki in the front seats. The trio of differently coloured hair huddled together conspiratorially, making a fuss out of Yukihira's penchant for trouble-making and abrupt changes to the status quo. Hayato-kun called out and waved at them enthusiastically, then rushed to them while Yozora gave them a salute and followed at a more leisurely pace. The gaggle of girls and Hayato-kun immediately dived into a rapid-fire conversation about what was happening, what's new and their stagiares as they waited for the shokugeki administrator to get his affairs in order and commence the match. Meanwhile, he observed his surroundings and found there was a decent enough crowd but nothing too crazy. Most of the people were from the junior high program with some smatterings of better-known second year students sitting with their aides behind them. Down in the middle of the stadium were the familiar set of two cooking stations and the tall figures of Yukihira Souma and his opponent sizing each other up. The red-headed pistol had his bandana already wrapped around his head to keep his hair out and the determined sparkle in his aureate eyes told him he was here to have his fill of fun.
Yozora smiled and felt giddy for the match to start. He leaned against the banister, looking up into the huge screen suspended over the stadium to see who the opponent was.
幸平 創真 vs. 甲山 鉄次
Yukihira Souma vs. Kabutoyama Tetsuji
食戟
Shokugeki
'Holy crap, he's going against Kabutoyama Tetsuji?'.
Colour him surprised. Yozora was taken aback. This opponent's name wasn't on any of the challenge letters they had sorted. Yukihira must have been pounced on for a last minute shokugeki just this morning. This guy was a beast. People called him Kushi Uchi no Tetsu – The Iron Skewer. Now the tall stature and the spikey hair was recognisable. Chicken, beef or fish, he could cook and season anything under the sun in ways no-one has ever seen. He was a shokugeki warrior that had won over eighty percent of all his matches to date. Given by the amount of Second Years' names Yozora remembered seeing on those challenge notes, anyone who made it past first year were aggressive monsters, every one of them, and direct confrontation was how they communicated and the only way they knew how to improve themselves. Kasai-senpai and Tsurugi-senpai had warned him that the end of the stagiare would mark the end of the first years battling amongst themselves and now all his cohort that remained would now stand on the same field with him as the rest of their upperclassmen. The pebbles were gone and only the rough diamonds remained now.
So where were his fricken' challenge notes?! A whole pack of them had waited breathlessly for Yukihira Souma to get back because they recognised him as one of the best.
But not him.
'Damn, he got all the clout'.
Yozora watched with unwavering devotion at Yukihira's shokugeki. The difference between pre- and post- stagiare was crystal clear and in no time at all, he over-powered Kabutoyama-senpai and shut him out with a score of five-to-zero. His ears pricked up and caught a few low murmurs now that the stadium was mostly empty so that sound did travel better. He tuned his hearing as best as he could. Most of the comments were disparaging of Yukihira's cooking style even though he won and how they reckoned they could still take him on. Yozora pasted a lazy smirk on his face as he watched Yukihira heartily shake Kabutoyama-senpai's hand. The senpai looked defeated but satisfied at the same time, such a gracious loser and that was something refreshing to see, he noted. It looked like the diner-chef unlocked another skill.
"Any of you here also send me a challenge letter?", Yukihira's voice suddenly echoed throughout the arena, instantly silencing the chatter.
"I did!", replied a chipper young lady.
"So did I", replied a guy with a severely gaunt face.
"Oh? Two of you? Great!". Yukihira faced forward to address them directly.
"So I was thinking, why wait days for a shokugeki? How about we do it right now? You two don't mind… RIGHT?".
Yozora peered to the side and saw the corner of Hayato-kun's bright blue eyes twitched in dismay. The flaxen blonde had sequentially ordered those challenge letters by date from ascending order himself for and now Yukihira blew his efforts out of the water. Poor thing. The red headed chef had a deliberately smug smile on his face that exuded a mischievous dare for those upperclassmen to back-pedal on his impromptu suggestion. Such bolstered confidence could almost be scary and Yozora figured he should also probably watch out. Meanwhile, it didn't escape Yozora's notice that the Shokugeki administrator face-palmed, clearly wanting to be done with this shit and get some lunch or something.
"What?! Another one? Now?!", yelled Yoshino.
"Yukihira!", gasped Sakaki.
Yozora shook his head. Quite the 'Maverick Diner Chef'. Round after round, it was the same result as Yukihira proceeded to give those two Second Years an arse-kicking as well as a reality check.
"Is it me, or is he different…?", commented Yoshino, who was normally the female, orange, equivalent of Hayato-kun but was now reduced to contemplation.
"There's something that feels more energetic about him…", supplied Sakaki.
"Yeah, there is", said Tadokoro. "He looks like he's having a lot of fun!".
That was true. It was nice to see Yukihira really coming into his own enjoying the fruits of his labours without the pressure or expectation to punch down. Yozora admired the wild abandoned and the flourishes of Yukihira's knife skills. It could almost rival his own ambidextrous knife-handling. That guy was like an white-blood cell and just ate and digested everything that came his way. While Yozora's stagiare was about his road to self-recovery, Yukihira's had been about self-discovery. The three boys had stayed up 3AM into the night after they were done with those challenge letters and had real-guy talk. Yukihira had taken in as much new knowledge and as many new techniques as he could from his stagiare so that when he got back to Tootsuki Institute, he was going to test himself against as many of the best students there as possible. Yozora and Hayato-kun couldn't agree more. That was the best way to push his strength as far as he could go. Tootsuki was abundant with sparring partners of all sorts.
Two defeats later, Yukihira stood triumphant and whipped his bandana off his sweaty forehead. His face was the picture of sublime satisfaction. But he wasn't quite done.
"Hey, uh folks? I just wanna let you know… that I'll gladly take on any one of you any time, day or night. You don't have to bother with any round-about stuff like challenge letters. Come at me whenever you want. I'll be ready".
Woah, that riled up the arena even more. Yoshino and Tadokoro promptly screeched and Hayato-kun whooped and cheered as if watching his favourite E-sports match highlights. The yammer crescendoed into shouting and soon everyone was on their feet and Yukihira just basked in all the limelight.
"Augh! Stupid Yukihira! Did he have to taunt the whole freakin' school body again?!", yelled Yoshino. "He just got done surviving one massive trial, did he have to give himself another one?!".
"We're boys, that's what we do!", defended Hayato-kun. "We stir up shit!".
"But look at Mitsunaga-kun", countered Sakaki "He's a boy and he's composed, calm and certainly not instigating fights all over the place".
"Yeah, but he's stirring up someone els—"
Yozora checked-out of that conversation and walked away. He neared the stairs once he was out of earshot, not interested in what Hayato-kun was about to say, nor about the responses he would've been bombarded with by the trio of girls if he stuck around. Every time he walked back up the stairs, he would habitually glance up the large viewing box, usually because Nakiri was usually up there during the Autumn Elections and he had always wanted to catch a sight of her. Instead, he saw Isshiki-senpai standing there with a proud grin and folded arms over his pristine uniform. Huh. He didn't know he was here. He narrowed his eyes and saw there were two other shadowed figures behind him. As far as he knew, Nakiri and Isshiki-senpai were the only two he'd ever seen in it, so he assumed this viewing box was specifically for the Elite Ten.
'So are they Elite Ten too…?'.
.
.
.
.
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One Week Later – Autumn Leaf Viewing
'This is all so daunting'.
Megumi straightened out her skirt, making sure no creases could be out of place.
They were in the thick of Autumn now. It came like a gospel choir, harmonised in such a way that it celebrated each hue and showed how they belonged together. The chattering leaves of gold and scarlet in the wind were buoyant fluttered from their branches, caught in the delicate breeze racing through the grove where the spacious and short sitting platform layered with expensive tatami mats. On top, they were dotted with two rows opposite each other with dark brown hazoken and fine zabutons. This all felt very formal and fancy as this set up was reminiscent of kaiseki-ryori. Isshiki-senpai made it sound so much more casual and fun and now Megumi couldn't be too sure she could muster enough courage to chat and make proper small talk with people she'd never met. More golds and reds carpeted the drying grass and every breath she took had this feeling of nature flowing back and forth, crisp and cold. She could let her eyes soak in those scarlet maple-hands and the golden leaves that created more beauty than she ever dared asked for. She always felt Autumn was the season of inner calm and a kindly stoicism etched in memories of joy.
Megumi sat nervously in seiza trying her best not to break out in a sweat. She was sandwiched between Kurokiba-kun and Hayama-kun, who just sat down beside her. The tension was palpable. Takumi-kun was brooding about something when he got here and Arato-san and Alice-san were on the verge of an outright bickering as the beautiful Nakiri said something passive aggressive. Nakiri Erina sat in seiza on her own with her eyes closed and expression stony and firm. She diligently ignored everything around her.
"What, you managed to survive the stagiare too?", Kurokiba-kun muttered over her head.
"Of course, easily". Hayama-kun upturned his nose. "I'm not like you losers who only got third and second place in the Autumn Elections".
"I thought that was still up for dispute".
The slight drawl of Mitsunaga Yozora made Megumi whip her head up as he walked up behind the three of them towards his own seat, not before shooting a lazy grin at both Hayama-kun and Kurokiba-kun. They glowered hotly at him and Megumi had to fight off their scorching fighting auras blistering her from both sides. She trembled. Why did she have to pick this seat?
"Don't forget, we still have a three-way between us to settle the rankings for real", he called back at them, letting the wind carry his teasing reminder.
And with that, Mitsunaga-kun breezed past them to settle beside Nakiri-san. Souma-kun had mentioned that The Spice Prince and the Mad-Dog of Tootsuki had both roped Mitsunaga-kun into accepting a three-way match just before the stagiare as they were dissatisfied with how the Autumn Election rounds lined up and all the extra potholes along the way that hampered the creative gamer-chef to truly display his skills to them. Megumi almost fainted when she had heard that from Souma-kun's mouth because she had just gotten over the Autumn Elections and was just looking forward to a relaxing and more stable few months with her lovely classmates. Those two alphas fell silent and sat stewing in their seat and Megumi craned her neck over to see Alice-san slyly riling up Arato-san again who was seconds away from exploding.
'Never mind getting along and making nice, joyful memories with our senpais… we don't even get along with each other'.
Megumi next turned her eyes to Nakiri-san who sat straight, poised and patient with Mitsunaga-kun seated beside her, cross-legged and posture slumped. Both weren't speaking but there was some sort of telepathic understanding between those two that Megumi suspected was something a little deeper than friendship. She twirled a lock of dark blue between her fingers as she mulled over the way Nakiri gracefully blushed and pursed her lips beside the handsome boy and the way he had a crooked smile on his lips as he leaned over and said something close to her ear. Nakiri-san's unshakable demeanour has softened as of late, especially when in the presence of Mitsunaga-kun. She tried to ask Souma-kun one time if there was something going on between those two, but her red-headed friend just shook his head and said there was nothing to worry about at all. It was cryptic and it hadn't answered her question verbally, but it answered her question all the same as Megumi took notice not only details, but the absense of details and what that meant too. She surmised Nakiri and Mitsunaga were in a relationship, or trying one out at the least. For the life of her, she couldn't rationalise why. They were so different from each other. She didn't know why Souma-kun wouldn't confirm or deny anything, but that was him sometimes. A complete paradox. What-you-see-is-what-you-get and at the same time unpredictable. He could be mercilessly direct on one day, then say outrageous and confusing things the next. So Megumi just let it go since it had a positive change to Nakiri-san's approachability. With Mitsunaga-kun on the other hand, it was just relieving not to see him eye-balling The Heiress in class anymore, because it just made everyone feel awkward and uncomfortable. Mitsunaga-kun fitted his set of silver headphones over his ears and leaned back on his hands. He closed his eyes. She was used to seeing him wear his headphones around his neck during classes, but they disappeared for a while. She was glad he had them back, as it didn't suit him to be without them. That was when she spotted Nakiri-kun swivelling her head slightly towards him with a coy look.
Seeing enough, Megumi continued to rove her eyes over to the next pair. Takumi-kun and Souma-kun. Well, Souma-kun was certainly loud enough for everyone to hear what on earth was going on.
"C'mon, I'm gonna try asking, that's all. I'm sure nothing big will come of it".
"I can see how it can get really big, really fast!", shouted Takumi-kun. "One does not simply ask an Elite Ten for a shokugeki, stupido". He pinched his fingers together and shook them at Souma-kun. "Furthermore, what's with that mop of hair you have? It's getting much too long. You look like a slob. A true chef takes care of his appearance".
"Yeah, I should probably so something about that. Maybe make it like yours. That's a real sharp cut you got their Takumi. Ever since my stint at Shinomiya-sama's I've been totally absorbed in my cooking, you know? I kinda forgot about everything else".
"Chef Shinomiya?! Wait, you got to go to 'Shino's Tokyo?!'".
'-sama?'
"Heh… you always find ways to outdo even my expectations of you. To volunteer to go to a restaurant of a former First Seat!".
"Huh? Oh, no I just kinda got assigned there one week. It was a lucky break".
"Okay! Now I'm getting more fired up Yukihira!".
Megumi sighed nervously. Takumi-kun was a firecracker always waiting to be set off by Souma-kun. Indeed, he had a fresh new haircut and it made him look all the more comely for the female student population of Tootsuki. His sleek blonde hair and his sky-blue eyes made them swoon. But it was really his formidable cooking prowess gained from cooking in his family's Trattoria that outshone everything else.
The bluenette's attention was caught by Arato-san leaning over to Nakiri-san's other side.
"Umm… Erina-sama aren't you going to thank Yukihira-kun for lending that shoujou manga to you? It's better to get this out of the way, sooner or later".
Oh, so that was where Yuuki-chan's manga had been! Both were inquisitive as to why Souma-kun had been asking for shoujou manga. Nakiri Erina's reaction was almost instaneous. There was a split-second delay as realisation dawned upon The Heiress. She tore her attention from Mitsunaga-kun and gaped at Arato-san. Then she flapped her arms from her thighs and clenched them in front her, those majestic violet eyes were rife with indignation and her cheeks stained a deep red.
"H-He only lent manga to me as repayment for me tasting his Autumn Election dish! The one against Aldini-san! Thus I have absolutely no obligation to thank him at all! Right Yukihira-kun!?".
He turned noncommitally around from his banter with Takumi-kun at the mention of his name.
"Huh? Uh sure".
"Hmm? What's this? Something you wanna share with me, Yukihira?". Mitsunaga-kun's eyelids suddenly cracked open and stared from under thick raven lashes at Souma-kun dead in the eyes, as cold as winter. His hand had already lshift one end of his headphones off his ear.
"Chill Mitsunaga. It was just manga". Souma-kun raised an appeasing hand and chuckled good humouredly but that only made Mitsunaga-kun narrow his eyes into an Arctic blizzard at him, then he turned to the otherside and shot a long, indecipherable look towards Nakiri-san who began to squirm in her seat, all flustered and on edge.
"Anyway, why are you sitting with us, Nakiri? You're part of The Elite Ten…", said Souma-kun.
'Good move, Souma-kun. I would've changed topics too', thought Megumi.
"The point of this gathering is for the first years to meet the upperclassmen. That means I must sit with you".
"Ah alright then. Oh hey Arato! It's been a while. It looks like you're doing better". Souma-kun escaped Mitsunaga-kun's twin blue lasers again by dipping backwards and addressed Arato Hisako on Nakiri-san's other side.
"Yes I am, thank you", Arato-san replied with a soft smile.
Arato Hisako also had a change in her and Megumi also observed a softening around her outer edges. She had become a lot more calm. It made Megumi smile to see her classmates becoming less volatile and at each other's throats. It equally shocked her to see Arato-san being on friendly terms with Souma-kun whom only a short time ago considered him to be beneath her shoes.
'Here we are. We're about to meet our senpais. Oh geez, now I'm getting nervous again. I wonder what they're like. I hope some of them are nice'.
She conjured up a mental picture of what her upperclassmen could be like to soothe her nerves. She imagined them to be lively, chatting and utterly welcome. She imagined them to be nurturing, caring and excellent mentors to help her on her journey to be the best chef she could be. She imagined bright eyes and sharp intelligence and a kind disposition that would—
DUN. DUN. DU-DUN!
The thunderous thump of the taiko arrested everyone's attention and their conversations died. Everyone faced the front and emerging from the curtain of beautiful maple leaves emerged nine figures. There they were. Those were the chefs that stood at the pinnacle of this institute. Megumi quaked, while her classmates stared with blooming interest.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Tootsuki Institute's The Elite Ten Council has arrived!".
As they came into focus, Megumi likened it to be a dream. Leading the charge was the Cheshire grin of a red-headed beauty full marching comically like a tin soldier, all playful and deadly as her feline eyes raked over everyone making Megumi gulp. Beside her was a little girl holding a plush bear close to her heart, but her eyes were much more mature and stoic as they looked with utter disinterest beneath heavy lashes. Two tall and filled-out students, who must be third years trailed behind both with bored masks on their faces. One was dressed for the cold season complete with a hoodie under his uniform and a striped cable knit ear-flap hat. The other one toted a a remarkable, huge sheathed blade over his broad shoulders, sported an unconventional haircut and an alarming scar over the bridge of his nose. She allowed herself a slight reprieve when she saw Isshiki-senpai's benign smile aimed towards them and she was utterly glad to see the familiar and friendly face to break all this anxious and nervous energy she was projecting. Beside him was a severe looking bespectacled young lady with twin braids and on Isshiki-senpai's other side was a stunning silver-haired boy who had a serene and distant look in his lilac eyes. He carried his blazer over his shoulder with his tie windswept over the other. Then there was Eizan-senpai whom Megumi was already familiar with, and the unpleasantness of his personality left a sour taste in her mouth. Finally, the remaining student was shorter and had wildly dyed blonde and brown hair styled outrageously in wind-tousled spikes scattered with trendy bobby pins. His condescending glare spoke volumes of how much he didn't want to be here.
As they finally approached the tatami, that particular student plopped right in front of Souma-kun.
"Hey so uh… Let's say we call it a day on this stupid event and all go home now? Or we could flat-out abolish it so we don't have to do it again next year either?", He beamed a million-watt smile.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"I mean, don't you think this is the dumbest and most pointless waste of time ever? Hey you! Pigtails-chin! You agree right? Well? Huh? Don't you?".
Megumi's brain stuttered for a moment and her eyes flew to his large and friendly brown ones. Was he referring to her?! Her hand shot up to her braid. Chin?! They were bright and child-like, disarming her with his flouncing hands, except it was his sharp and careless words that betrayed the friendly smile and open expression he carried. She shook between Hayama-kun and Kurokiba-kun who were non-plussed. She was at a loss for words and her thoughts jumbled trying to think of something proper and decent to say and at the same time trying to process the enormity of another Elite Ten member taking notice and belting out questions at her.
"This is an invitation from The Director himself", spoke up a measured and rational voice. It belonged to the reserved young bespectacled lady with braids too who seated herself properly at the nearest hakozen. "It is practically required that we attend. Abolishing it is out of the question".
"Oi, you weren't the pigtails I was asking. So how about you mind your own business? I'm trying to talk to these cute, little first years over here", he spat back at her.
"Honestly, such an irritation". She muttered.
"Oho, you're snippier than usual. You surfing the crimson tide?".
"Drop dead".
"Sheesh, nothing but squeaking and squawking from the brainless one again today", slandered Eizan-senpai. "That old man let's us pull all the funding we want out of the institute's coffers for whatever we desire. For that, I can put up with an event or two for old Senzaemon-dono".
"Ahaha! Eizan prostituting himself? And this surprises absolutely nobody. And who wants a money-grubber like you around anyway? Not me, so leave. Get out of Tootsuki. Like now. Ready… set –"
"Button it, Frodo".
"WHAT WAS THAT?!".
Megumi turned her head away and closed her eyes, just to give herself a break from the confusing back and forth. The loud ranting and raving assaulted her ears. Her imagination and hope for a pleasant and lively chat shattered into a million pieces. While Isshiki-senpai attempted to placate the two, they turned on him like pit-vipers. Forget her fellow first years. The Elite Ten got along eight hundred time worse than they did!
"Hey 'scuse me". Souma-kun raised his hand.
'Oh no, oh no, oh no! Souma-kun don't!'. Megumi silently begged.
"I wanna join The Elite Ten right now. Any of you senpai up for a shokegeki with me?".
Megumi silently screamed while the others stared wide-eyed at Souma-kun's latest antic. Three answers were blurted out without further thought. A straight 'No'. While the shorter student commenced another back and forth with Souma-kun on the insanty and impossibility of his request. Megumi noticed a frosty glare from Mitsunaga-kun towards the silver-haired upperclassman, and the smirking red-headed beauty currently cupping her face with her knitted sleeve pulled through her blazer sleeves grinning at him nastily in return. None of them had spoken at all, but if their warring stares were what she thought it was, then there was a mutual dislike simmering below the surface. Oh dear… what was going on? The silver-haired upperclassman in return raked his own lilac gaze over Mitsunaga-kun in pure examination, and nothing betrayed his expression, making Megumi even more confused.
It seemed like she wasn't the only one who noticed either.
"Mitsunaga and you two seem to know each other if this death-glare battle is anything to go by", Hayama-kun spoke up. "What's the deal?".
"Ask them, they started it", alleged Mitsunaga-kun.
"The impudent boy thinks he's being clever, doesn't he Eishi-kun?". Venom coated every word from that Cheshire mouth.
Finally Souma-kun and the other two upperclassmen settled down and turned their attention to Mitsunaga-kun and the other two Elite Ten seaters. Hostile tension filled the air, ruining the most beautiful and majestic Autumn atmosphere Tootsuki had to offer. If Megumi got her facts straight, then she believed the silver-haired and serene senpai was the First-Seater, even though she had never met him directly.
His name was Tsukasa Eishi.
"You don't have beef with me. So stop looking at me like that", deadpanned Mitsunaga-kun who jerked his chin at them with thinly veiled distaste. His headphones now hung around his neck like a mantle.
He spoke with them so roughly! How familiar were they with each other? The red-headed senpai clucked her tongue and then Tsukasa-senpai, dropped his beautiful lashes demurely, but opened them again to oppose Mitsunaga-kun's demand, two-fold. The red-headed-senpai leaned back on her haunches with a huff while Tsukasa-senpai calmly poured himself a cup of tea. He appeared to now be ignoring Mitsunaga-kun who leaned his elbow onto one of his knees and rested his jaw on an open palm. His head tilted to the side so that his coal-black fringe fell boyishly across his forehead. The blue eyes turned sharply to the upperclassman. They cut like a steel knife, almost unnoticable the first second, before the tingle of pain became searing.
"And how's Ishikagaku and Yuujou? Hmm?", she sneered, flicking off his demand too.
"They're your classmates, you should know", answered Mitsunaga-kun.
The rising edge in his tone inflicted a wincing cut into Megumi as she scarcely heard him speak that way to anyone before. The only person from memory was Mimasaka Subaru only because she and the rest of Polar Star Dorm were eavesdropping on them from Souma-kun's room using Isshiki-senpai's announcement-trumpet system. She forgave herself for that… He was normally neutral, calm, quiet and occasionally mirthful and rowdy when he chatted with the other boys. If Megumi didn't know better, Mitsunaga was trying his best not to rise to the taunt with the way his other hand was bunched into a fist on his knee. This could be bad. This could be super bad. What were the upperclassmen trying to achieve? Megumi's big gold eyes flitted back and forth seeing if Tsukasa-senpai would say anything, except he didn't at all and continued sipping his tea. But the barely noticeable twitch of his jaw meant he was invested in this verbal tete-a-tete and something about it bothered him.
"Mitsunaga-kun…" Nakiri-san touched his shoulder hesitantly, indicating that she also didn't like where this was going and wanted him to cease and desist.
"Mitsunaga-kun, relax. Are you trying to pick a fight too?", Takumi-kun worriedly got up onto his knees to look over at the gamer chef who reacted to nothing else. It appeared he was also uncomfortable to see Mitsunaga-kun becoming uncharacteristically hostile.
His body was a tense crouching tiger, coiled and still and ready to strike at any given moment. He had a sudden air of danger to him that made Megumi wait with baited breath. All that was needed was the right trigger and Megumi couldn't count on the upperclassmen to be reasonable enough to refrain from prodding him futher. While the red-headed senpai's beautiful lips curled into a haughty smirk, Tsukasa-senpai remained still and unburdened.
"Well, it's just we haven't had time to catch up with them, seeing as we're so busy in The Elite Ten Council, enjoying all the privileges, money and power it brings. When you do see them, please send our kindest regards, from Kobayashi Rindou" she pointed to herself. "… and Tsukasa Eishi". She jabbed her thumb at her co-member.
"Privileges that you picked up on the side of the road, right?", Mitsunaga-kun bit back.
"Watch your mouth, boy", she hissed.
'What did he mean by that?', wondered Megumi.
She transformed from a sultry vixen to a sea-witch. Her scarlet locks danced threateningly behind her. Her hackles were instantly raised. The air crackled with static electricity as her fury came forward in suffocating waves. Under the sun, her pupils sharpened into slits. She was a wily cat and he was her quarry. She gnashed her sharp teeth at him while he glared back and a mean smile marred his handsome face. Megumi started shaking again. This was yet another facial expression nobody has ever seen on Mitsunaga-kun and he had a limited number to begin with. Tsukasa-senpai placed his cup down onto the table and stood up.
"I'm done here. Let's go", Tsukasa-senpai smoothly got up and turned to walk away without so much as a goodbye. His clear voice was soft, his command needing no yell or threat to follow.
"Yeah. I'm tired of this. Let's bounce", Kobayashi-senpai switched gears and she yawned dramatically with stretched out arms like a cat arching its back. She gave Mitsunaga-kun another disdainful once over before following the First-Seater.
"Dunno what just happened but count me in~!". The shorter one sang.
Isshiki-senpai gave her an apologetic look and soon, one by one all the members of The Elite Ten on that other side got up and climbed off the seating area. They turned their backs on the first years as if they meant nothing. Not even a small blip on their radar. The last of the Autumn leaves rained down on them, scattered across the tatami, even landing in their cold and abandoned tea. Megumi released the stale air she held in her lungs, the long sought-fore exhale made her head swim. Her heart was a snare drum the whole time, it couldn't slow down with all the adrenaline pumping through her blood, instigating her fight-or-flight response as she watched one torrid exchange after another, out of her mind, that Souma-kun was going to have a throwdown with The Elite Ten Council and instead it was Mitsunaga-kun who fanned the flames.
"The fuck was that all about, Mitsunaga?", scoffed Hayama-kun.
He got up and prowled towards the gamer chef with Kurokiba-kun stalking behind. Megumi watched them surround the gamer-chef. She hurriedly got up and smoothed down her skirt, stumbling after them so that she didn't miss out on anything. Nakiri Alice chuckled darkly from her seat before getting up and joining her aide. She leaned a hand against his shoulder smiling at Mitsunaga-kun as if he was something she wanted to cut open and examine, a scientist's fascination dancing in those ruby-red eyes. Arato-san stuck close to her mistress. Everybody else started expressing similar sentiments towards him but he seemed not to hear them, his eyes locked on to The Elite Ten's retreating backs.
"That's First-Seater Tsukasa Eishi and Second-Seater Kobayashi Rindou. They hate Kasai-senpai's and Tsurugi-senpai's guts' with a passion. Ishikagaku Kasai and Yuujou Tsurugi are my seniors from The Guild", he said finally, getting up and stretching out his knees.
Megumi didn't recall seeing them, except perhaps one of them who shouted at Mitsunaga-kun from the stands during his gut-churning match with Hayama-kun. That senpai was a tribal monolith bellowing at Mitsunaga-kun. She never got a chance to speak to him personally either. But she had heard them mentioned by name on occasion by the two gamer-chefs when listening in on their conversations.
"Did you say they were classmates?", asked Arato-san.
"Yeah. Third years".
"But what has that hatred got to do with you, Mitsunaga?", asked Souma-kun.
"Absolutely nothing, that's the point. Kobayashi-senpai didn't need to come at me like that. I mean they know that my Guild senpais are also my mentors ever since I came on board, so maybe I was just an easier target".
"To be fair, your face kind of naturally sets people off, so maybe it was just you by default", commented Nakiri Alice offhandedly.
"No, it's about my senpais. They can't stand them".
"And why is that, pray tell?", she asked.
Mitsunaga-kun laughed hollowly. He opened his mouth about to say something and then closed his mouth. Something changed his mind. His eyes briefly grazed over Nakiri Erina before it flickered up to the sky.
"Ah fuck, I'm gonna be in trouble anyway, once my senpais hear about this. Kobayashi will surely bitch about me to them. I can't dig my grave any deeper, so here goes".
He shook his head and braced himself.
"My senpais are the reason why Kobayashi-senpai and Tsukasa-senpai have their First and Second seats. They were originally awarded to Kasai-senpai as First and Tsurugi-senpai as Second, but they… turned it down".
"WHAT?!".
Megumi slapped her hand to her mouth. Mitsunaga-kun's senpais rejected the title of First Seat and Second Seat! Who in their right mind would do that?! It took a while for it to catch up with everyone else, but when it finally did, the shock ripped through them like a cyclone, and their outburst strangled the air as they talked over one another.
"Woah! Woah! Woah!" Takumi-kun cut his hand through the middle to stop the din. "So what you're saying is that… those two are technically Third and Fourth seaters. Which means everybody else gets bumped down the rankings by two places and… and Nakiri-san, in reality, would've been unranked?!".
Mitsunaga fingered his headphones nervously, dodging Nakiri Erina's horrified expression.
"… yep".
"And actually… the top two students in the whole school are actually from The Guild?!".
"…y…e…a…h…".
.
.
.
Bombshell time! Once again, there's a lot more than meets the eye with The Guild RS. First the NPC Network and now this… I expect the SnS cast will be demanding answers. Erina is already suspicious about how The RS was allowed to be set up like this in the first place and now she finds out that it secretely sequesters the ACTUAL top 2 students who nobody had the faintest idea... Hmmm... I first mentioned that there was something fishy about Kasai-senpai and Tsurugi-senpai in 'Chapter 7 - Timed Quest Theme' right at the conclusion when Eizan was grumping about not being able to 'touch' The Guild because of Kasai-senpai and Tsurugi-senpai. So far, they have just been background characters not doing much except behind-the-scenes mentor-type stuff at the most. Dialogue here and there. NOW I THROW THEM TO THE FOREGROUND.
Erina and Yozora had some more private time, which is lovely (and angsty) and they're beginning to open themselves a bit more to each other even if they're both clumsy at it. Ah young love... they have so much to learn. There's no way in hell Erina will agree to learn to play videogames with Yozora, so piano it is! Piano feels more romantic and I'm sure Yozora would want her to feel comfortable bonding with him. I miss writing intimate things like that (and sexy times. I love writing sexy times).
That's all from me! Until next time, keep well and keep safe.
Signing-off
TripWire-dono