Chapter 7 - Dinner, Speeches and Headaches
A/N: I had this one lying around already, but wanted to give the previous chapter some time to cool down. The same goes for chapter 8, which is also pre-written (my weekend was very productive, in a way) Enjoy!
They had split up at the entrance gates of Totsuki, with the Aldini brothers heading to their hotel nearby, Ryoko carrying a large cat basket towards her assigned temporary dormitory and Soma and Erina heading for the Nakiri mansion for the evening dinner. Erina and Soma had thanked their three companions for the day for their help at the event, which was slightly undercut by both the Aldini brothers finally recognizing alongside whom they had been cooking, and her position at Totsuki. Now though, King and Queen were walking alongside each other, both carrying cases filled with the cooking utensils they had brought along to the event and both texting different persons while they were walking. Erina was sending a message to Ryoko to ask the girl to meet with Soma, Hisako and herself in the evening, while Soma was explaining more of his situation to Yasaka over the phone.
Soon however they arrived at the entrance to the garden of the Nakiri mansion, upon which Soma put his phone away and extended his hand. "I can take the cases to the kitchen, and you can go ahead to your room to get changed."
Erina nodded, handing over her cooking gear to her Queen with a quick thanks before they too split up.
The dining room was already quite busy as he entered. Old man Senzaemon was there with Soma's new roommates, which was to be expected seeing as they were his new Pawns. Erina and Hisako were conversing with a white-haired girl who was simultaneously hugging a blank-faced black-haired boy about Soma's own age, who himself was talking to the similarly blank-faced Eishi Tsukasa. Both of them looked to Soma as if they'd rather be somewhere else entirely. Next to Hisako two seats were left open, which Soma figured were probably for him and probably Fumio, seeing as she wasn't here yet. As he walked towards the empty chairs, it was Senzaemon who noticed him first.
"Ah, Soma, good evening. Did you have time to freshen up after today's event?"
Soma nodded before he replied. "Yeah, I managed to dip into one of the guest rooms for a quick shower."
"Wonderful, wonderful." The old man started, before seemingly blinking across the room to reappear behind the white-haired girl. "Have you met my other granddaughter yet?"
Said other granddaughter raised one of her hands. "Heya! I'm Alice, you're Soma, right?"
Soma gave a quick wave in response as he studied his King's cousin a bit more. "Yes, that's me. I believe we met long ago, when my parents were doing their tour through the Low Countries and Scandinavia. We stayed at your place in Denmark, if I recall correctly. I was five back then though, so I might misremember events there."
At this, Alice's eyes lit up. "Oh, I believe I remember that. You were with Uncle Joichi and Auntie Tamako right?"
"Yeah, those are my parents." Soma replied, a smile still on his face, even as he saw Alice in front of him frown briefly before an apologetic look covered her face. Pre-empting her, he shook his head. "How is Denmark these days? You guys were building up an outpost there, right?"
As she observed her Queen conversing with Alice next to her, Erina turned to Hisako, passing back some of the documents her Bishop had brought to the table. "So, there are no issues with getting her into the peerage, are there?"
Hisako shook her head as she took the documents and placed them back in her bag. "Not that I could find, as long as she agrees there shouldn't be any issues at all. And if Soma agrees as well, of course."
"Yeah, we spoke about it at the event and on the way back. She should be a good fit, and we both agree that speed would aid us in this case." She nodded her head towards Alice, which went unnoticed by her cousin. Hisako did get what she meant though.
"I figured as much; shall I invite her for after the dinner then?" The secretary asked, as Erina nodded affirmatively before both turned their attention to the rest of the table again.
The dinner was an interesting experience, in the best sense of the way. While many meetings of the Elite Ten were rather formal, Rindou felt right at home in her current company. Their conversation with Soma during the day's breakfast had been very enlightening, and during dinner she had finally gotten a date for the start of their actual training as a devil in the Headmaster's peerage. Given that it would be split between training with their dormitory warden -and hadn't that been a surprise when they had discovered that she was a devil- and little Erina's peerage. The food had been simply divine as well, a matter not wholly unimportant when you're having dinner. This had not been much of a surprise, given that most of the staff working the mansion's kitchens were Totsuki alumni themselves, but very much a pleasant experience. Rindou had spent most of the dinner talking with Hisako, who had been seated across from her, as well as Isshiki next to her. As they were being served dessert, a delicious looking combination of sugar covered fruits, a purple-coloured ball of ice and a collection of thinly sliced cakes, her King addressed the whole table.
"If I may have your attention for a quick moment, I promise to be done before your ice melts. The last week saw several very exciting expansions to the Nakiri family. We have our first, second and seventh seat of the Elite Ten join my peerage, for which I am very grateful. And Erina's peerage was expanded with her Queen, Soma Yukihira. As you've all heard by now, we will start with your training as a devil in the Nakiri peerages tomorrow, after the entrance ceremonies that come with the start of the new school year at Totsuki. As my Queen will be busy with the new members to her dormitory, and I myself have a lot of ceremonies all throughout the day, Erina and Hisako will lead this first training. Being a devil will take some time getting used to. But I have every bit of trust that this is offset by the many benefits that come with both being a devil and -maybe more importantly- being a Nakiri. Everyone here is part of our family, and I am proud to have you be here."
"So, what do you think?" The words were asked to her at the end of the rather long conversation they had in the office adjacent to the dining room. Although it looked rather informal for an office. Soma was lounging on the large couch on one side of the room, while Hisako had her laptop interchangeably on her lap and the armrest of the comfortable chair. Ryoko had already been convinced however, and with a quick call to her father had gotten his permission to do what she wished for in this regard.
"I believe it would be stupid of me to refuse, even aside from the fact that I am rather enthusiastic about joining up with you and your peerage. No, I'd happily become part of your peerage, Lady Nakiri." Ryoko replied, sounding as enthusiastic as she said she was. Across from her, and the only one dressed in rather formal office wear, Erina nodded.
"Very good, in that case I'd happily welcome you into my peerage, Bishop of the Nakiri."
"Thank you, my King." She spoke, nodding her head forward almost into a bow even as next to her Soma -her Queen now, she supposed- let out a whoop.
"Heuj! Welcome to the group, Ryoko!" Soma stated while her fellow Bishop smiled and set aside her laptop before standing up.
"Indeed, welcome, fellow Bishop of the Nakiri. I am looking forward to working with you."
Her smile grew wider as Ryoko replied. "Indeed, I too am looking forward to working with all of you."
Erina mirrored Ryoko's happy expression as she picked up her agenda. "Well, I see we have no other things planned this evening, unless any of you guys have something else? Otherwise, we can go ahead with the reincarnation itself." Watching as all her peerage members shook their heads, Erina continued. "Great, because I'll probably be too tired to do anything afterwards, but let's get to it then!"
They had split up as they approached the central park section of the Totsuki grounds. Rindou, Isshiki and Eishi had gone to join up with their fellow Elite Ten members to prepare for their parts of the ceremony, while Soma had planned to meet up with his King and now two Bishops. As he was walking over to the Nakiri mansion entrance Soma let his mind wander over all that had happened in the past two days. Thus far being part of a peerage was all it had been chalked up to be and more, which showed in both the casual yet quick growing friendship between him and his fellow peerage members and the growth he felt in his demonic powers. He couldn't wait to be able to cut loose in the training session planned for the afternoon, both to test and show off his growth in powers in front of his fellow devils.
As he passed by the entrance gates to the Totsuki Academy Soma observed the continued trickle of both new and returning students, all dressed in a uniform like his own. Spotting two familiar faces passing through the gates, Soma briefly slowed down his pace as he waved at the Aldini twins that had helped them out yesterday. Receiving a wave and a respectful nod from Isami and Takumi respectively, Soma picked up his previous speed for a few more minutes before he spotted Erina talking to her fellow Nakiri King.
"Hey Alice, Erina, hope you guys woke up alright?" He started as he approached the talking girls. Before they could respond however, Hisako spoke up first.
"Ah, Soma, you're here! Here is your speech, you're expected at the front stage in ten minutes!" She spoke the words hurriedly, in contrast to the several long seconds it took before Soma fully realised what she had said.
"Huh? Speech? What do you mean?" He started even as Hisako was physically pushing him back towards the crowd and the now visible raised stage.
"Didn't you read the messages? As the only so-called 'transfer' student that got through the enrolment, you're supposed to address the crowd." She shook her head, while behind her the two Nakiri girls were smiling at Soma's expense.
Hisako continued, uncaring of the protests from the Queen of the Nakiri. "You're lucky I expected this somewhat and prepared a small speech for you. You'll have about three minutes to practise before you need to take the stage, so that should be fine. Now stop dragging your feet and come with us."
Knowing it was best to capitulate on this matter, Soma studied the speech in front of him. It was rather tame overall, and he could clearly see the formal writing style of their Bishop in this. Slowly a plan started to form in his mind, mirrored just as slow with an evil smirk on his face. Vengeance for this would be his much sooner than Hisako Arato would ever see coming.
"I'll keep this short and sweet, as I am sure you all need the time to study. My name is Soma Yukihira. It is an honour to attend this school, as a steppingstone in my career. You may not have heard of me before, but I do not plan on losing to a bunch of wannabes who never stood in front of a customer before. I mean, come on, am I right? Anyway, since I'm here and everything, I might as well take the top spot. I am looking forward to seeing a few of you at graduation!"
While he was speaking, Hisako's expression grew sourer and angrier with every word, starting from the moment that she realised he was not using her prepared speech. Next to her, her King had a smirk on her face matching the one worn by the pompous chef on the stage in front of all of them. Alice too looked intrigued by the chaos caused by Soma's words and his subsequent exit from the stage. The shouts coming from their fellow first years had yet to abate, even swelling in intensity regarding their volume and the vulgarity of the words shouted towards the stage. Hisako had half a mind to join in the cacophony of noise and insults as her King stepped up to her side.
"You certainly cannot deny the effect of his words, can you, Hisako? He certainly lit a metaphorical flame underneath every single one of them." Erina looked over the crowd in front of them and reassessed her statement. "At least underneath everyone who will achieve something during their time here. Do you see it, Hisako? There is already a split happening between those who are angry and shout vulgarities in helplessness, and those who heard Soma's words and are already planning and scheming to prove him wrong."
As the first Bishop of Erina Nakiri studied the crowds again she could do nothing but agree to her King's statement. Almost like in the comics or anime they both liked to watch, it was possible to determine at a glance all those among them who would matter and achieve great feats at the academy, and all those who served only as backdrop to the first group's success.
The moment that she went back into her thoughts was also the moment that Alice Nakiri placed an arm on her shoulder. "Also, you've got to admit, he played you pretty well here, Hisako."
As Hisako sputtered in protest, Erina nodded in approval at her Queen's performance. She could not have done it much better herself. As she thought this however, she felt another devil coming closer. Looking over her shoulder she saw the current First Seat of the Elite Ten, Eishi Tsukasa, approach her group. As he was closing in, he beckoned Erina to come closer.
"Lady Nakiri, if you have the time, it would be much appreciated if you could follow me towards the stage in a moment." Eishi started, drawing the attention from Hisako and Alice in the process.
Erina had, silently of course, expected and looked forward to what she expected was going to happen now. Her cooking was something she was truly proud of, a result of years of practice filled with sweat, blood, and tears, and if she now gained the expected Tenth Seat, it would be the first step on her perceived career outside of the supernatural world. As she followed Eishi onto the stage, her anticipation grew as almost all other members of the Elite Ten were joining their first seat and her. Now stood in front of the crowds, whose volume had by now slunk back down to the level of some soft angry mumblings towards her Queen, Erina locked eyes with her peerage members, both old -Hisako-, new -Soma Yukihira-, and newest -in the form of Ryoko Sakaki-, feeling pride at both her cooking accomplishments and what she was starting to build up around her. So caught up in the moment as she was, Erina almost missed the announcement from Eishi and Rindou that she would be the Tenth Seat, raising her hand just in time to match with the swelling volume of the crowd. Not that any of them mattered much to her, however, as she kept the lion share of her attention on her small group of peerage members and friends, happy to see as they joined their applause with the masses between them. As Eishi stepped back, he handed her a small wireless microphone while giving her a small smile, showing the new devil's unease at dealing with large crowds.
"I will start by thanking the current council for their trust and evaluation of my skills." Erina started her speech, aiming to keep it just as succinct as her Queen had moments before. "I am looking forward to joining them in keeping Totsuki the superior cooking academy of the culinary world. Secondly, let me echo the words spoken by our transfer student just moments ago. 'I do not plan on losing!' I too will aim for the top seat, as should we all. Over the next few years, the greatest among us all will serve to carry both our Academy and the culinary world to never before seen heights! And I, Erina Nakiri, swear to you all that nothing will stop me in achieving that goal!"
"Don't you think it's ironic?" Soma stated to both of the Bishops in his peerage as they observed the crowd's response to Erina's words.
Ryoko replied first, in part because Hisako was still very busy ignoring him. "What do you mean?"
"She basically says the exact same thing as I did." Soma started, struggling to talk over the current volume of the crowd. "But while I get honed and insulted, Erina there gets praise and adoration."
"Hmm," Ryoko started. "Then again, she is a cute girl, while you are not." There was a certain tease in her voice, but the argument was easily accepted by Soma.
"True, I cannot argue with that. And I suppose she has already proven herself in the eyes of many of the unthinking masses over there." Soma scoffed. "As lacking in ambition as they all are, something as low as the Tenth seat must seem like the very pinnacle they can even think of reaching."
Both Bishops nodded at this, Hisako still looking as if she had to force herself to agree with anything Soma said right now, regardless of how true said statements might be.
Behind the three of them, Alice spoke up to draw their attention. "Look, Grandfather is about to speak."
All four of them turned their eyes towards the stage again, where they saw Erina take up a position next to the other members of the Elite Ten at the same time as Senzaemon Nakiri was stepping forward.
"Everyone, if I could have your attention for a few moments, my name is Senzaemon Nakiri, and as the headmaster of this place, I would like to formally welcome you all to Totsuki Academy. The next three years will be tough and long, but from the moment you were all selected to join us here at this wonderful academy, you became part of something greater than each of our own. So, I welcome you all and look forward to seeing what you can all achieve here. To help with that, I am very pleased to announce the start of a new collaboration that will see the Totsuki reputation spread further and wider than ever before. Starting this year, we will have an exchange programme with several other academies, universities, and other education institutions throughout Japan. This project will replace part of the traditional elements of your first year, but it still adheres to our strict grading standards. More information regarding this will be given during your first classes tomorrow, but the project as a whole will start in two weeks already. Your teachers will select which students will be sent where, if you all make it that far, that is." The headmaster let those final words sink in for a moment before he spoke up to finish his speech. "One last thing before I go! To truly celebrate the start of the new academic year with you all, there will be a large gathering this evening, starting at around Nine o'clock. This is for all three years and will give you an opportunity to relax one last time before we all must turn overly serious. That is all for now. Once again, I wish you all a warm welcome and good luck to your stay at Totsuki!"
While he did not show it as blatantly as Rindou did, Satoshi Isshiki was most definitely excited about their afternoon plans. They had been reincarnated as devils for a week now, and after getting some time to 'get used to the changes in your body' it was finally time to get started on training. It had been quite a surprise at first, to discover that there was a whole world hidden away from their eyes, but it spoke to his nature as a talented young chef that his immediate thoughts related to this was a desire to discover all that this new world had to offer, and to make it part of his own skill set. It was those words that Rindou had used to describe it, and they fit in well with the feelings that had swirled inside him back then.
After they had dealt with the paperwork regarding the upcoming Exchange-project, all three of them -Eishi, Rindou and himself- were following Erina and heading for one of the lesser used buildings on the Nakiri complex. Heading down two flights of stairs they spotted both Alice Nakiri and the boy that was always being dragged around by her -Ryo Something, if Satoshi recalled at least his first name correctly- waiting together with another first year girl dressed in sports gear. Just as they arrived and were preparing to introduce themselves to the people already waiting, Soma's head popped out from behind the door.
"Ah, you're all here. Good, come on in, and we can get started!"
A few hundred kilometres away, a black-haired girl sat behind her desk, looking through the documents she was supposed to sign. As daughter to one of the families that owned the school she was empowered to sign off on its policies, both internally and externally. Her classmate and peer had left the day-to-day business to her and her peerage, while putting herself in charge of the area's security. It had been like that for two years now, and the Kuoh Education Complex had become a project that Sona Sitri felt a lot of pride for. Sona was fine with letting Rias hunt down any passing strays and claim the potential bounties on their heads. Let her bloody her hands, Sona thought, while she as the Sitri heiress would truly develop her powerbase. One slight oversight regarding this agreement had become clear to both High-Class devils however, much to the delight of Rias. While dealing with the internal security of the Kuoh-area, Rias had accidentally stumbled across the probable host of the Red Dragon Emperor. Given it was Rias who had discovered him, there was little Sona could bring in against the redhead's claim on Issei Hyoudou as a peerage member. As such, Sona had agreed without much argument in return for future favours and had set it aside as a lost cause.
Not fully paying attention to the documents in front of her as her mind went over the events of the last few weeks, she almost missed it. There, among all the standard inventory signoffs and minutes from boring meetings, one document jumped out to her. Its contents were rather standard, an official connection between the Kuoh Highschool and University and the highly specialised Totsuki Cooking Academy, to allow for the easier exchange of students for individual classes, minors, or semesters. Kuoh had connections of this sort with most of the universities in Japan, and several others worldwide. As such, it wasn't the request itself that drew her attention, but rather one of the signatories. The rather long list of ten signatories was capped off with the tenth name, which was a name that any devil that was aware of their own history would know. Following a certain Julio Shiratsu and Terunori Kuga, the words Erina Nakiri were written in a neatly flowing pen strike. Sona let out a groan, she would have to talk to her sister about this…
A/N: And so as the lines get slowly drawn, the story slowly catches up to the start of both series. The Transfer/Exchange Program allows me as writer to send the peerages of either side both ways, and -if nothing else happens before- it allows a point to force a collision between all characters involved. Sona has some headaches, Soma starts the training, which will be the start of the next chapter. The Senior/Junior relationship between all of them as Devils & as Students is something I'd like to explore in particular, but let me know what you think of that and how you all think the dynamic should be.
At the time of writing this, this story has passed the 3K views in record time, much faster than I expected a story in such a small collection (only 2 stories for this combination, and only 1 before I published mine (quick maffs)), and simultaneously steadily growing in terms of Follows and Favourites. Thank you all for this, as well as for the reviews, and I'll see you in a few days when I publish the eighth chapter!
~Alsodef