Disclaimer ~ I do not own Kuroshitsuji or Shokugeki No Soma
It was rare for Soma not to be found in the kitchens. It was even rarer for her to not be doing anything cooking related at all. But that's exactly what was happening now, as Soma was in her room reading a manga.
"Awww! Hibari is so sweet to Roll!" Soma exclaimed, having a minor fangirling moment as she reread the scene for the tenth time. It was such a shame that a knock on her door prevented her from reading it an eleventh time. Soma placed the manga to the side and opened the door to reveal Sebastian.
"I apologize for bothering you but the Young Master wishes to see you in his office," Sebastian didn't sound all that apologetic but he never did so Soma wasn't bothered.
"It's fine. Do you know what Bocchan wants?" Soma asked curiously. Seeing as how Sebastian ignored her question, she figured he did know but wasn't going to tell. Sadistic demon. The remainder of the walk was spent with Soma pestering Sebastian for details while he ignored her.
Upon arriving at Ciel's office, Sebastian knocked on the door and waited for Ciel's 'enter' before opening it. Soma stepped through first, Sebastian following and closing the door after them.
"You wanted to see me Bocchan?" Soma asked, taking notice of the man inside the room. He was sitting in a chair in front of Ciel's desk and looked official. Suit, tie, and looking like someone shoved a stick up his ass. They got quite a few of those types of officials here so seeing this man having a meeting with Ciel wasn't really out of the ordinary.
"Yes. I want you to prepare a meal for this man," Ciel told her in his 'business voice' as Soma tended to call it. THAT got her attention. Questions swirled in Soma's mind but she held herself back from asking them. Barely. She could ask Ciel about it once the man was gone. As it was, he was currently counted as a guest of the Phantomhive Manor and needed to be treated as such. That meant Soma needed to stay professional for the time being.
"Of course Bocchan. Do you have any preferences sir?" Soma directed the question towards the man, who stood at her words.
"The main ingredient is egg. That is the only requirement," he said. Soma studied him for a second, making a note of his wording. He seemed like a hardass. The type of person who believes in the pedigree rather than the quality.
"I believe I have the perfect dish in mind. Is there anything else Bocchan?" Soma asked. Ciel stood.
"I've decided to watch you cook this time," Ciel told her. Soma nodded and allowed Sebastian to lead them all towards her kitchen. If Ciel wanted to watch her cook then there was either an important reason for it or it was another whim of his. Seeing as how the man was apart of the group and wasn't asked to leave, Soma was willing to bet it was the former and that the unknown man had something to do with it.
Arriving in the kitchen, Soma and Sebastian wasted no time to prepare a seat and table for Ciel and, after a second of consideration, one for the man as well. He was a guest while he was here after all.
Soma untied the headband from her wrist and retied it around her forehead, pulling her hair back in the process. Following that, she tied her apron around her waist. With that done, she began cooking.
Soma was in her element now, preparing a dish she knew by heart. First she heated sesame oil in a frying pan and sauté the chicken wings until golden brown on both sides. Next she put some grated ginger, bonito broth, sake, mirin, sugar, and light soy sauce into a pot to boil. After skimming the scum off the top, she reduced the heat to low to simmer. Once the broth was reduced by half, she poured it into a container to cool. While it cooled, she began to debone the chicken. She paused for a moment to place the container of the broth into the fridge once it had cooled enough. Then she went back to deboning and cut the chicken into strips. After that was finished, she began making the egg portion of the dish. She cracked four eggs into a bowl, added sugar and a pinch of salt, and whisked them together. She moved the mixture into a frying pan set to low heat, and stirred rapidly to make curds. Soma moved over to the fridge and checked on the aspic. It was ready so she set it on the container and cut it into 1cm squares.
"Yukihira Secret Menu Item Number 8," she announced, setting the simplistic looking dish in front of Ciel and the man.
"Is this a joke?" he asked in disdain. "This isn't a dish to be served an Earl. This looks like something commoners would eat," he huffed. Ciel discreetly rolled his eye and Soma barely refrained from scoffing.
"Yeah yeah. Keep your pants on. The dish isn't finished yet," Soma declared. With that, she poured the bowl of egg and aspic over a bowl of white rice. The heat from the rice melted the aspic cubes, causing them to coat the eggs and rice.
"This is my Transforming Furikake Gohan. A dish from my family's diner," Soma said proudly. The man still looked sour while Ciel grabbed his chopsticks and took a bite. He nodded in approval and continued eating. This would be an early lunch for him so Soma would have to adjust tea time to account for that.
"Forgive me, sir, but might I say something?" Sebastian interjected. He didn't wait for the man to give an answer as he continued. "Soma has been a chef at the Phantomhive manor for three years, two of which she has been the Head Chef. As the head butler, I would not allow my Master to be served something subpar. My master can be quite picky as well, so it further shows Soma's skills that she can satisfy him," Sebastian said. Ciel raised a hand, cutting off the man before he could raise a fuss like he seemed prepared to do.
"If you are not even going to do your job and sample her food then we have no business with you," Ciel said simply. The man looked like he swallowed a lemon but picked up the chopsticks regardless. Soma couldn't help the smile on her face. She could have handled that man's rudeness easily but it was still nice for Sebastian and Ciel to stick up for her.
"Fine," the man huffed but picked up his chopsticks. All three of them enjoyed his expression upon tasting Soma's food. It wasn't quite what Soma would call a foodgasm, though it was close. The man immediately began wolfing down his food. The way he was eating was similar to a starving man having his first meal in days. Ravenous.
"Well? How was it?" Soma asked with a smirk once he had finished every last bite. She could sense the amusement rolling off Ciel and Sebastian as well. The man immediately colored, and coughed into his hand to regain some semblance of composure. He stood up and faced Soma.
"You pass," he said simply. "If I may be excused Earl Phantomhive? I have to fill out the paperwork for her enrollment," the man said, turning to Ciel and bowing. Ciel nodded and waved his hand dismissively.
"Sebastian will show you the way out," Ciel said. Sebastian gave a small bow of his own in acknowledgment before following Ciel's order. Soma waited until the man was out of sight before allowing her confusion to show.
"I pass? What'd I pass? And enrollment into what?" Soma asked curiously.
"I've been thinking about starting a restaurant for Funtom. It is only natural that the one overseeing this development has graduated from the most prodigious cooking school there is," Ciel said calmly, taking another bite from his meal. Soma took a second to decipher what he had said before her eyes went wide. There was only one culinary school that held the title of the best (and with the highest expulsion rate as well) and that was Totsuki. Ciel wanted her to attend that school and graduate, then oversee the new restaurant.
"WHAT?!" she exclaimed in shock. "You want ME to oversee the creation of a Funtom restaurant?!"
"But of course. There is no one more suited to the position than you," Ciel told her. "You are my head chef after all."
"But Bocchan...who will cook for you while I'm at school?" Soma asked worriedly. Bard, while getting better, was still far from being able to serve anyone his cooking. Especially not their master.
"Sebastian will handle it," Ciel said calmly. Soma pursed her lips.
"Still...if I went to Totsuki then I'd be gone three years. Even with me visiting during all my breaks, that's still a long time. Will Sebastian be able to handle everything by himself? Does Sebastian even know how to cook? I know he can make tea but actually cooking? I've never seen him do it. I should probably start writing down all my recipes just in case. Anybody can read and follow the directions right? And with a little practice Sebastian can easily become a decent chef," Soma was muttering to herself, already planning everything she would need to finish before leaving. Ciel coughed, snapping her out of her muttering to look at him sheepishly.
"School will start in one month. You have until then to prepare anything you need to," Ciel said. With his meal now finished, he stood up and headed towards the door. Before he opened it however, he turned back to her.
"Bocchan?" Soma asked, tilting her head slightly. Ciel shook his head.
"It's nothing Soma. I'll be in my study. Send Sebastian up when you see him." With that, Ciel left, leaving Soma to begin cleaning the utensils from the meal.
"Hmmm. Looks like I need to start making a list of the recipes I'll need to write down. Of course, I'll need to make sure Sebby is able to cook as well," Soma muttered. She had a lot to prepare and such little time to do it. Such was the life of a Phantomhive servant afterall.
Here's the second chapter! Still didn't have anything that needed changing beyond spelling. Now, fair warning, before I can truly make this fic I will need to rewatch the series, since it's been forever. I'm almost done with chapter 3, but beyond that I will need to study before I can start chapter 4. I'll try to update this when I can but right now my focus is rewriting the old fics. Once that's finished I'll come back to this fic and try to update more regularly. This is one of my favorite ideas and I'm excited to see how it turns out.
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Please Review, Follow, and Favorite! Have a good day/morning/night!