Disclaimer ~ I do not own Shokugeki No Soma or Kuroshitsuji
A month passed in the blink of an eye. Tomorrow morning, Soma would be getting on a plane to Japan. As of right now, she was making sure she had everything packed and ready to go. Her time as a Phantomhive gave her the habit of always being prepared...mostly since the trio always caused chaos and either her or Sebastian would have to fix things. It was better for her to be packed now instead of having to rush (and risk forgetting something) in the morning.
This past month has been interesting, to say the least. Ciel was kidnapped by some rats and Sebastian had to get him. If Sebastain hadn't called ahead and informed her that they would be a little late, she would have gutted him. It was an insult to a chef to waste food and it was a bigger insult for her not to have food ready when their master returned. But since Sebastian called ahead (Soma believed she heard people dying in the background but she wasn't entirely sure), she was able to adjust dinnertime accordingly.
After that...it wasn't pretty. Sebastian, Soma, and Ciel had went to the townhouse since Ciel had been given a new mission from the queen. Catch Jack The Ripper. Ciel was there to do the actual investigating, Sebastian as his butler/bodyguard (as always), and Soma as the chef. Soma shuddered at the memories of what followed. First, when they arrived at the townhouse they discovered some unexpected guests. Madame Red, her butler Grell, Lao, and Lao's companion Ran-Mao. That wouldn't have been so bad, except Grell was worse than the trio on a bad day combined. She pitied Sebastian, who was ordered by Ciel to teach Grell to be a better butler, but she was grateful to be able to stay far away from that madness. This was supposed to be her vacation.
'And some vacation it turned out to be,' Soma thought sarcastically. She was used as bait, though that wasn't all that bad. No. What sucked was that she had to wear a dress. No, that's wrong. Soma didn't mind dresses and skirts. She actually like wearing them occasionally. It was the design of the dress that Soma hated. Frilly, pink, and lacey. Which was everything Soma hated about women's fashion. She was a tomboy through and through. Then they learned that the guy wasn't even the right culprit. Count Druit merely did human trafficking. He wasn't Jack the Ripper. So Soma wore that pink monstrosity for nothing.
She'd wear it every day for the rest of her life if things could have been different.
They found Jack The Ripper. Both of them. Madame Red and Grell Stutcliff. Soma didn't know the exact details of what happened when Ciel and Sebastian confronted them, but it had obviously shaken Ciel. So much that the boy had 'ordered' Soma to stay with him that night. Soma was all too willing to oblige. Ciel has always been like a little brother to her, ever since they had met when they were kids. Ever since the incident, it was rare to see him act like a kid but Soma was alright with that. She didn't necessarily like that he had to grow up so fast or had so many hardships but she understood. No matter what, Soma would always be there for Ciel. Even if it was something simple like chasing nightmares away.
After that, the rest of the month passed by quickly. Soma divided her time between her normal duties, researching the school, starting the plans for the Funtom Restaurant, making sure Sebastian would be able to cook while she was gone, and writing down every recipe she could think of for them. That's what she was currently doing now actually. Soma had been writing down recipes on and off for the last month. Anything and everything that she could think of, from breakfast to dessert, was added to her checklist. Once she finished writing the recipe she would mark it off the list. Everytime she thought of a dish, she added it to her list and when she had free time, she'd work on it. Soma was even entertaining the idea of making several cookbooks with the recipes she was typing up, though she would need to talk to her dad first. Most of the recipes she knew were taught to her by her dad. If he didn't mind sharing them she might just do it. A cookbook might be a good idea for when she opened her restaurant.
A knock at the door snapped Soma out of her musings.
"Just a second," Soma called, putting down her pen and closing her notebook. She walked over to the door and opened it, smiling at the person on the other side. "Hey Tanaka! Need something?" Soma asked curiously. She hadn't seen any of the other servants all day since she's been in her room since lunch.
"Ho Ho Ho," Tanaka replied nodding. Soma laughed, having expected that response.
"Well lead the way. So long as it doesn't involve writing I'll be happy to help. My hand was starting to cramp," Soma joked, shaking her hand for emphasis. She followed Tanaka through the manor halls, wondering what the other butler needed her for. She received her answer when they arrived at the entrance hall.
"SURPRISE!"
Soma jumped, caught off guard at the sudden yell. However she couldn't help the smile that appeared immediately after. The entrance hall was covered in various colored streamers and decorations. A table full of food was set up on one side of the room while a smaller one held an assortment of presents. In the middle of the room, the other occupants of the manor stood, along with a few guests. Ciel, Sebastian, Finny, Mey-Rin, Bard, Lizzie, Paula, Lao, and Ran-Mao all greeted Soma with a smile as she made her way down the stairs to join them.
"You really didn't have to do this guys," Soma told them. Despite her words, a wide grin stretched across her lips. She was touched everyone would throw a party for her.
"Of course we did silly!" Lizzie exclaimed. "We won't get to see you as often now so we needed to give you an extra special goodbye! Don't you agree Ciel?"
"I do," Ciel said indulgently to Lizzie.
"We're gonna miss you! That's why we decided to throw a party," Finny chimed in.
"I love you guys," Soma told them, laughing slightly. "I have no idea how I'm going to survive without all the chaos around here," she said.
"I'm sure you'll manage just fine. You are a Phantomhive after all," Sebastian said. Soma had nothing to say against that so she smiled instead.
"Well then, let's get this party started," Soma declared, earning cheers from the more excitable members of the group and smiles from the rest. Music was turned on, playing Soma's favorites, and everyone immediately dragged Soma to the various games they had set up. Ran-Mao won their game of twister. Mey-Rin won their game of dizzy darts. Tanaka won the museum game. Never have I ever was played while eating from the snack buffet Sebastian had made. Finny ended up the overall victor of that game, but everyone was enjoying themselves. Then Lizzie declared it was present time.
"You guys really didn't have to get me anything. This party is more than enough," Soma told them as she was led to a chair and made to sit down.
"Well we did so you're just gonna have to accept them," Mey-Rin told her, leaving no room for arguing. Soma sighed, but the wide smile she wore gave her away.
"We will draw numbers to give Soma her presents," Sebastian told them, holding out a bowl. Inside were a bunch of folded pieces of paper. One by one, everyone except Soma reached into the bowl and drew a paper.
"Oh goodie. I get to be first," Lao said, holding up his paper with the number 1 on it. Lizzie pouted, saying she wanted to be first. The Chaos Trio were nodding along with her.
"Everyone wished to be the first to give their gift to Soma. This was the only way we could make it fair," Sebastian explain for what Soma guessed was probably the tenth time that night.
Lao knelt down in front of Soma and placed a medium sized box in her lap. The wrapping paper was bright red, with golden dragons on it. Soma almost didn't want to destroy the paper but all the eager eyes surrounding her said it was better to hurry. So Soma tore into the paper, revealing a wooden box. The top had sakura petals engraved into the wood, surrounding her name. Soma opened the box to reveal many little bottles inside. Each bottle was labeled with the name of the spice inside it.
"I figured since you were going to a cooking school, it would come in handy at some point," Lao said.
"Its wonderful. Thank you Lao. I'll definitely be using this," Soma told him. She set the box aside and took the gift Mey-Rin handed her. It was significantly smaller than Lao's and was wrapped with dark green paper. Soma opened it with little prompting, and her eyes lit up at what was inside. It was a necklace. A locket to be more specific. Silver, with the Phantomhive crest engraved on the front and back. Soma clicked it open to see a picture of her and Ciel from when they were kids inside. Ciel was standing in front of her while she had her arms wrapped around him from behind in a hug.
"We took this picture on Ciel's birthday. About two years before I moved to the manor permanently," Soma said, getting up to give Mey-Rin a hug.
"Tanaka helped me find the picture. You and the Young Master were adorable together," Mey-Rin told her, returning the hug. Soma thanked her and slipped the locket over her head.
The rest of the gifts were given in a similar manner as the first two. From Bard she received three aprons. The first was styled like the one she'd wear at Yukihira's, but with an additional pocket on the front. The Phantomhive crest was embroidered onto it. The second apron was the more traditional American style apron, minus it being bright yellow. It looked like cheese. Upon closer inspection, Soma saw it was a cheese pattern, for on the front there was a pun. "A little cheesy but still grate!" Soma snorted at the joke. She loved puns and had a whole collection of punny aprons. With this one, she was now up to thirteen of them. The third apron was in the same style as the second, but was white. This one had the blowing a kiss emoji underneath the classic "kiss the cook" phrase. Soma loved it and thanked Bard for his gift.
Her next gift came from Paula. A flute. Soma smiled. Cooking was her main passion in life but she did enjoy music as a hobby. For the last couple of years, she had been taking piano lessons from Sebastian but would have to leave her piano at the manor while she attended Totsuki. Soma hoped Totsuki had a piano she could use so her skills didn't go rusty, but if not then she would probably invest in an electric keyboard. It's not the same as a proper grand piano, but she would still be able to practice all the same. Soma could work on teaching herself the flute Paula gave her in the meantime. A Phantomhive shall not limit themselves to only one skill after all.
Soma thanked Paula for her gift and waited for the next person to step forward. Sebastian did so calmly, depositing the present on Soma's lap. The girl couldn't contain her excitement when she ripped off the paper and saw what was inside.
"You may change the design later if you so wish, but as a proper chef I felt you needed a proper uniform to represent your status and the Phantomhive family," Sebastian explained when Soma didn't say anything. She was staring at the contents of the box in wonder, for inside was a chef uniform.
"I love it!" Soma exclaimed. She sat the box aside and ran at Sebastian to wrap her arms tightly around his middle. "It's absolutely perfect! Thank you!"
Sebastian only hesitated for a second before patting her head lightly.
"You're welcome," Sebastian said calmly. To anyone else, it wouldn't have sounded any different than how he usually spoke. However both Soma and Ciel could hear the underlying warmth in his tone. Soma gave one last squeeze before stepping back and returning to her seat. She couldn't wait to wear her new uniform, but wait she would. A uniform is a chef's pride and a uniform as wonderful as this one deserved to be debuted at the perfect moment.
Soma had barely sat down before Lizzie was bouncing over, box in hand. In true Lizzie fashion, she rambled in her excitement and told Soma what the gift was before she had a chance to open it fully. But that was fine with Soma because she was still surprised at the contents of the box. Plushies. And not just any plushies but characters from one of her favorite anime. Ace, Sabo, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Robin, Brook, Franky, Marco, and Koala. All of her favorite One Piece characters in plush form. Soma could only hope she didn't deafen anyone with how loud she squealed before she tackled Lizzie in a hug. She wasn't ashamed to admit it took Soma several seconds to regain her composure. She absolutely loved One Piece. She's been watching it ever since she was a kid and would continue to watch it for many more years to come. She's even managed to get Ciel to watch it with her a few times.
After thanking Lizzie one last time and setting the box of plushies with the rest of her gifts, Soma turned to look at the people who have yet to give her their gifts. Tanaka was the next one to step forward, shifting to his adult form as he went.
"I started this shortly after you first visited the manor," Tanaka told her. "It is my greatest pleasure to give it to you as a way to remember us."
Confused by his words, Soma opened the simple box and gasped softly. A photo album. The cover had a picture of her and Ciel, both fast asleep. Soma remembered that day. They had been playing with Ciel's Noah's Ark toy with Lizzie. Soma was teaching them the Japanese names of the animals. Lizzie had to go home after a couple hours, but since Soma and her dad were staying there a few days, the two of them continued to play. They fell asleep on the rug, curled up around each other amongst the scattered animals.
Soma flipped through the book and felt herself tearing up. She gently placed the album with the rest of her gifts and stood up. Unlike with the others, the huh she gave Tanaka was gentle, but no less tight.
"Thank you," Soma whispered to the man she considered a grandfather. Tanaka hugged her back just as tenderly. As much as Soma wanted to stay in this moment forever, she knew she couldn't. She would have to leave in a few hours to catch her plane and she wanted to spend that time with everyone.
Reluctantly, Soma pulled away from the hug. She exchanged a final smile with Tanaka, then watched as he deflated into his smaller form. With a quiet "Ho Ho Ho", Tanaka trotted over to the group that had already given Soma gifts. Ran-Mao stepped forward, taking his place. She handed Soma a scroll, held closed with a simple red ribbon. She slipped it off and unrolled the scroll.
"It's beautiful," Soma said softly. Inside the scroll was a painting. Everyone at the party was in it. They were under a sakura tree having a picnic. The style of Chinese watercolor added a whole new level to the beauty of it.
"Ran-Mao painted it herself," Lao said. To anyone else, he would have sounded smug or condescending but the Phantomhive residents only heard his pride for Ran-Mao.
"It's amazing," Soma said, smiling at Ran-Mao. "Thank you. I love it," she said. Ran-Mao nodded, giving Soma a small smile in return, before moving to Lao's side. She just narrowly avoided being run over by Finny, who had bounded over eagerly.
"Me next! Me next!" Finny shouted happily, reminding Soma of an excitable puppy. He shoved a medium sided box in her hands, bouncing in place as he waited for her to unwrap it. Soma almost considered taking her time, just to see if it would cause Finny to vibrate out of his skin, but she decided to be nice. This time.
Soma tore the paper off, revealing a simple white case. Opening it, she found it to be full of little charms. Flowers, animals, even cartoon foods. Soma laughed as she realized what the charms were for. There were from a certain beauty brand that made hair clips. All the charms were interchangeable with the base clip, allowing you to find something for any outfit.
"We match now!" Finny shouted happily, unable to hold back any longer. "You're always pushing your hair out of your eyes and you like the clip I gave you before so I thought I'd get you a whole bunch to use!" he explained. Soma ruffled his hair, earning a wide smile from Finny. She reached into the box, pulling out a black clip and a sun charm. She wasted no time in attaching the charm and clipping her bangs to the side.
"This is perfect Finny," Soma told him. Finny's smile got even brighter than before, and he bounced over to the rest of the group. Soma thought she saw Bard covering his eyes like he was being blinded when Finny approached. Understandable.
Now there was only one person left. Ciel. The young Earl had been watching everyone silently, looking almost fond as he did so. Soma liked to think she knew him better than anyone else. Even Sebastian, who could sense his emotions as a part of their contract. Ciel was and forever would be her little brother. That's why she knew she was the only one who truly noticed just how nervous Ciel actually was, despite the mask of indifference that he wore as he approached her. In his hand was a silver briefcase, the Phantomhive crest on the side.
"Soma," Ciel said, not one for many words. Soma understood his message anyway.
"Don't worry Bocchan. I'll be back before you know it. You can't keep me away," Soma told him, smiling gently. He nodded once, then held out the briefcase to her.
Soma took it with careful hands. She loved her family and everything they had gotten her, but she knew Ciel's gift would undoubtedly be her favorite of the bunch. Ciel doesn't show his affections outwardly. Not since the fire. But if you watch his actions, you'll see just how much Ciel cares about you. Part of that is how much thought is put into any gift he gives you. Soma and the other servants had talked about it before and all of them agreed that the item they treasured most was given to them by Ciel.
Soma opened the briefcase and froze. No way. There was absolutely no way she was seeing this correctly.
"It took longer than we had wanted, but they were finished a few days ago. Just in time," Sebastian said, coming to stand by Ciel. Soma looked between them and the case, at a loss for words.
"You. But. They were. How?" she sputtered out, for inside the briefcase was culinary knives. Very specific culinary knives. Her mother's. They had been damaged in the car accident that killed her, yet these knives looked exactly like they did when Soma was a child.
"We called your father and explained the plan to him. He sent over the knives. They were not in the best condition, so I had them repaired," Ciel explained. Soma felt herself tearing up, a lump of emotion lodged in her throat. Not in the best condition was an understatement. The knives had been scratched, chipped, snapped in half, and completely unusable after the accident. They had been her mother's pride and joy. To see them in such a state had been painful for both Soma and her dad. Yet neither could bring themselves to get rid of them. Instead, they were put back in their case and kept with her mother's memorial.
"I-I don't know what to say," Soma whispered, running a finger across one of the knives gently. The metal was cold against her skin.
"When receiving a gift, people tend to say Thank You," Ciel told her. Soma laughed, her tears finally falling. She placed the briefcase to the side gently. Then she pulled Ciel into a tight hug, burying her face into his hair.
"Thank you. Thank you so much," Soma whispered. She felt Ciel's hand come to rest on her back.
"I expect you to put them to good use while at Totsuki," Ciel said. Soma pulled back, wiping her tears as she did so.
"I promise," she said, smiling wide.
"Good," Ciel said in return. Soma decided not to comment on the small, barely noticeable smile on his face. Honestly, it didn't really classify as a smile, as his lips had barely moved, but it was there. Ciel liked to say that he didn't know how to smile anymore, but Soma knew better. He just hadn't found the right reasons to smile. But he would. Someday. She'd make sure of it.
Now that the last gift had been given, the party took off. Food prepared by Bard (with Sebastian's help and supervision) was eaten. Then the party games began. Lao destroyed everyone at Twister, only Ran-Mao being able to keep up with him. Unfortunately she was taken out of the game when Finny fell on top of her, making her out as well.
Mey-Rin was the winner of Pin The Tail On The Cat, which was kind of surprising to Soma. She expected Sebastian to win, simply because it was a cat themed game. Admittedly, Mey-Rin's victory was mostly due to luck. She tripped and happened to pin the tail in the right spot when catching herself on the wall. It was such a Mey-Rin thing to do that Soma had to laugh.
The next game they played ended up being Pass The Parcel. They played three rounds in total. The first round ended with Paula the winner, her prize being a case of bubbles. Bard won a bright green rubber duck in round two. The funniest victor was Ciel in round three. The look of disgust on his face when he peeled back the wrapping paper to discover flower shaped sticky notes had Soma dying of laughter. She wasn't the only one either. Even Sebastian had chuckled. Ciel ended up giving his prize to Lizzie. There were two more wrapped up parcels for the game, but everyone decided they wanted to move onto the next game. The prizes went to Soma by default, since she was the person of honor at the party, but she decided not to open them until later.
Their next game got a bit…out of hand. And messy. It was supposed to be a simple egg toss game, but Finny got too excited and accidentally threw the egg too hard. Bard retaliated by grabbing Lao's egg and launching it at Finny. From there it turned into an all out egg war. Soma did the smart thing and hid behind Sebastian, who was guarding Ciel from the eggs. It proves to be the correct move, as the egg war ended when Sebastian had to catch an egg that would have hit him in the face otherwise. Even Soma felt unsettled by the look he gave everyone, and she wasn't even participating!
They decided to move onto a safer game. Limbo. It was marginally harder for that game to turn into an all out war like the previous game. Tanaka ended up taking first place, due to being able to walk under most of the bars. By the time Tanaka actually had to bend backwards to play, the bar was too low for anyone else to get under it. Ran-Mao claimed second place and Soma was proud to say that she came in third.
Now, if the Egg Toss was just a little competitive, the next game they played was a fight to the death. Everybody was ready to fight their way to victory, no matter the cost. The less Soma said about that game the better. That being said, Musical Chairs is now banned at the manor.
It didn't take them long to clean up most of the carnage from that game, but it did mean that it was time for Soma to leave in order to catch her flight. Soma wanted to cry again as everyone surrounded her for one last group hug. Even Ciel and Sebastian were dragged into it. God damn it. Soma was going to miss them.
"I'll come visit whenever I can," Soma promised.
"You'd better," Bard said.
"Yeah! Or we'll have to come visit you in Japan!" Finny chimed in. Soma laughed.
"Japan wouldn't survive," she teased, ruffling Finny's hair. To Bard she said, "Don't burn down my kitchen." The other chef refused to meet her eyes, whistling innocently. Soma chuckled at his response, although inwardly she mourned. Her kitchen would no doubt be destroyed by the end of the week.
Sebastian cleared his throat from the doorway, telling them to wrap it up. Soma gave one final hug to everyone, excluding Lao, Ciel, and Sebastian. Lao was only ever affectionate with Ran-Mao. The two of them exchanged a nod instead. Ciel and Sebastian were taking Soma to the airport, so she would wait to give them their goodbyes.
All the gifts were placed into an empty suitcase and the luggage loaded into the car. It was time to go. For real this time.
"It feels like I'm dreaming," Soma said to Ciel as they watched the manor shrink in the distance. "Like any moment I'm going to wake up in my room wondering how I could dream up something so crazy."
"I agree. It is going to be odd not having you at the manor," Ciel said. Soma knew that was his way of saying he would miss her. It made sense. Other than Tanaka, who didn't really count due to his circumstances, Soma was the only person Ciel had left from before the fire. And sure he had Sebastian, who knew what Ciel wanted and needed at any time, but Soma knew Ciel. The little boy who was always happy and eager to learn. Who followed her around and called her Nee-Chan after Soma taught him what it meant. She knew the old Ciel from before the fire that took everything away from him. Everything except for her, because Soma had been visiting her dad when the incident happened.
"It's not too late. Just say the word and we can go back. It'll be harder, but I can make the Funtum restaurant without Totsuki," Soma told him quietly. Ciel looked to be seriously considering her words before he shook his head.
"Totsuki has the best resources to accomplish our goals. We only need to wait three years for you to graduate, then we can make the Funtum Restaurant a reality. It will also do better having a graduate from Totsuki as the head chef," Ciel said. Soma nodded in understanding. And she truly understood. Totsuki was the BEST culinary school. Its reputation was in a league of its own. Just becoming a student there meant you were a better chef than most, and those that survived until graduation proved to be the best.
"I won't let you down, Bocchan. I promise I will graduate Totsuki as the first seat and make you proud," she declared. Ciel hummed and closed his eye.
"I expect no less from a member of my staff. You are a Phantomhive after all," he said simply. Soma smiled. It would be hard, being away from her family for so long, but it will be worth it in the end. Soma will take the first seat. Ciel was counting on her and she refused to let him down. Her pride as a Phantomhive wouldn't let her.
Holy crap I'm finally finished. I have been working on this chapter FOREVER. I swear the last three days I kept saying "I'm so close. The end is in sight" but then I kept adding more and more to it. But I'm happy how it turned out. This story isn't one I work on very often, but it is one of my favorites. I do feel bad about how slow the updates are on this story, but for now it's probably not going to change. I have a lot of other fics that are taking priority over this one. But fear not! I will NOT abandon this story. Or any of my stories. I may not update them very often but I will never abandon them.
So I know that Soma's mom actually died because of complications with her heart, but for the story's sake, it was a car accident. I'm totally not saying this because I had already written the scene before I looked it up. Nope. That's not what happened at all. (That's exactly what happened)
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Thank you so much for sticking with it, even though it only updates once an eternity! Please Review, Follow, and Favorite! I'll see you all on the next update!