6 months post grad

It had been one hell of a half year for Tadokoro Megumi. She had originally intended to stay in Tokyo over the summer and then fly out to NYC come fall to start the job she'd been offered by Saveur, but thanks to a caffeine addiction and Souma's crippling lack of work ethic, she was now head chef at the Gritti Palace in Venice.

Currently, Megumi was on her pre-dinner service break, dead tired and ready for a vacation. She undid the top buttons of her whites, tied her hair into a couldn't-care-less bun that probably resembled a porcupine more than a hairdo, and threw herself down at the bar with a heavy sigh, unaware of the amused blonde watching her over the rim of a Manhattan.

"Tadokoro-san," greeted a certain fair-haired Italian, and Megumi fell off her stool.

"T-takumi-kun!" She gasped once she was right side up again. "W-what are you doing here? I am not in a presentable state! Please excuse me!"

Flustered, Megumi fumbled to rebutton her coat and fix her hair, but Takumi reached out and gently took hold of her wrist before she could do much. "You look amazing, Tadokoro-san. Amazing as always."

Coming from someone perpetually dressed to the nines, that was high praise indeed, and the blush intensified on Megumi's cheeks.

They were sitting next to each other in the boardroom at Legislation and the hands of the clock had just slid past 4 AM. For them and the stacks of Souma's paperwork, the army of espresso double shots, and the scouting gala ahead of them, the night had only just begun.

And then the call from Venice.

Eager to snatch up some Totsuki alumni before the gala opened all of them to prospective recruiters, the Gritti manager called twelve hours in advance, knowing but not knowing that it was past four in the damn morning in Tokyo.

Takumi instantly deferred the offer to the wide-eyed girl on the verge of hyperventilation next to him. He put his hand over the phone's mic and said, "You deserve this one."

Just like that, Tadokoro Megumi was the first chef of the 92nd generation to officially accept a position in the professional sphere.

And it was, at least in part, thanks to him.

"How've you been, Takumi-kun?" Megumi asked once she felt her hair was somewhat under control.

Takumi ran a hand down his face. "A little tired but I'm doing great. I have to run Yukihira's Fountainhead for the next week but I thought I would stop by here before I go."

It seemed the Aldini-Yukihira bromance was still as ardent as it had been back in high school.

"I'm betting Souma-kun is at the trattoria?"

Takumi grinned, nodded.

"Didn't he get his first Michelin star last week?" They'd all seen his post on Instagram.

If it was possible, Takumi's smile got even wider. "Yes, he did! We're having another match at the trattoria to celebrate when I get back from Finland. Our schedules overlap for a few days or so."

The Mezzaluna Matches had become a public spectacle the day they started. The flash of the double-handed blade swinging between Souma and the Aldini brothers enthralled all audiences, from elite gourmands to common people who couldn't tell a potato from a sweet potato if they tried. The matches had originally started off as pseudo shokugekis between the three, but as time passed the number of dishes actually being produced dwindled to one.

"Wait, so why are you in Venice?" Megumi asked.

At this point Takumi turned redder than cayenne peppers and boy did he feel the heat. "I just thought I'd… I don't know." He finished in a rush as if he'd been holding his breath for a few hours, "Would you want to go to Finland with me in a few hours? Then we can head to Tuscany together as well."

Megumi blinked rapidly. "H-huh?"

"I-I mean, it was presumptuous of me to think you'd be available! So sorry!"

"No, that's not it at all!" Megumi waved her hands, sensing an incessant cycle of apologies fast approaching.

Cringing at his inability to form coherent sentences, Takumi managed to get out, "You see… I might have… ah… told the Gritti manager? That you were offered a better position in Berlin and would accept if he didn't let you take more vacations…? Kind of?"

Megumi looked at him with a curious expression. Then before he could tell the ceiling from the floor she was beet red and making that nervously ecstatic face he'd long since fallen for. She grinned, "Yes, Takumi-kun, I would love to go to Finland with you."

Takumi let out a breath he had no idea he'd been holding.

When she emerged from her suite looking completely refreshed and toting two massive suitcases — even after two years of overseas projects he'd undertaken with her during their Elite Ten days, Megumi's need to overpack never ceased to amaze him — Takumi took her bags and held out his hand with a shy, inviting smile.

She took it and felt the sparks fly in her heart.

And it was all thanks to him.

thanks for reading and have a great rest of your week!