Kyandi: Boy, I really am having too much fun. Hi, hi!
Ariadne: Three chapters in three days? Yeah, I would say so.
Kyandi: And you get a little mean in this chapter.
Ariadne: It's all the other person's fault. He's so…disagreeable.
Kyandi: You can say shitty.
Ariadne: I'd rather not.
Kyandi: You're choice. Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and drop this chapter.
Ariadne: She might take a break from writing tomorrow.
Kyandi: Maybe. Everyone, enjoy and review.
Ariadne: Kyandi-sama does not own Shokugeki no Souma.
Chapter 18 Autumn Leaf Viewing
Two weeks and two strange kitchens later saw the end of the Stagiaire program. Souma was the first to return to the dorm, Fumio greeting him as he walked in through the front door.
"I'm back." he called upon entering.
"Yukihira? You're the first one, huh." Fumio replied.
"Oh, Fumio-san! It's been a while."
Fumio's eyes scanned Souma, a grin curling her mouth. "Hmph…they say boys change after just three days, but, I like the look on your face now. Oh, right! Take a look at your mailbox."
Curious as to what Fumio was talking about, Souma went to check his mailbox. He found the box to be packed full of letters. "Who-aaaa? What's that!?"
"It seems all of them are Food War challenges." Fumio told him.
"Oh? Why so many?" Souma asked, pulling a few out to shift through them.
Before Fumio could reply, the door flew open, a second-year storming through them with a cheerful yell of, "Oh! You're back, huh, Yukihira Souma!"
"Look, one more came." Fumio snickered.
The second year gave a mighty thump of his chest as he introduced himself. "I'm a high school division second year, Kabutoyama Tetsuji! I saw you at the finals of the Autumn Election. I hoped we could face each other directly. Have a Food War with me!"
"Why don't you try not blocking the doorway to our dorm, first." Kabutoyama jumped to the side when a voice sounded right behind him. His eyes traveled down to the person standing there, a bag with a blue devil printed on its side, sitting at their feet.
"Oh! Welcome back, Sinclair!" Fumio greeted. "I like the change to your hair."
"Yeah, well…my roots were starting to show and I figured it was time for a little change." There, standing in the doorway, hands on her hips, was Ariadne. In the two weeks since Souma had last seen her, the girl had gone and dyed her hair. Now, her hair tumbled down from black roots, fading and changing color until they ended in the usual aqua blue at the tips. The ombre looked good on her while still leaving her with her signature blue. "I think it has a good edginess to it." Ariadne's eyes traveled up to look at the second year standing next to her. "What trouble are you getting into now, Souma?"
Kabutoyama's back went straight when Ariadne gave him a wink and blew him a kiss as she grabbed her bag and moved past him, a blush tinting the second year's cheeks. "He's here to challenge Yukihira." Fumio told her. "They call him the "Iron Skewer"! Beef, chicken, seafood…he can cook any ingredient in a great variety of ways! He's a tough guy whose Food War winning rate is over eighty precent! Almost every single second year who survived this far is like that. It's a swarm of warlike beasts who seek to polish themselves by battling, and all of those beasts who were waiting for Yukihira to come back…they're a bunch who recognize Yukihira Souma as someone strong!"
"That's right! Now that you've survived the stagiaire period, the time for you first years to fight each other is over." Kabutoyama declared. "All of you first years are now standing on the same field as your upperclassmen!"
"Oh, so now it's time for you upperclassmen to haze us?" Kabutoyama stumbled over himself when he looked up to find tears pooling in Ariadne's eyes, the girl looking down at the floor in a shy, harassed way. "So mean!"
"Th-that's not what I meant at all!" Kabutoyama stumbled over himself trying to calm her.
"Sinclair don't tease him. He's not use to it like your classmates." Fumio told Ariadne, Kabutoyama looking from Fumio to Ariadne in confusion.
A sigh left Ariadne as she flicked away a tear, revealing the tears for the charade that they were. She glanced over at Fumio, a pout falling on her lips. "Do you know how little I've been able to tease people the last two weeks? You couldn't give me five minutes?" Fumio laughed as Kabutoyama deflated. Ariadne reached out and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "My apologies. I haven't been able to tease anyone for a while and you were the perfect person. Ignore me and focus on Souma."
Ariadne gave the older boy a wink as she turned to walk away, Fumio picking up where the conversation had left off. "Well…you're free to accept it or not." she told Souma.
"Ermm…well then…maybe I should accept that Food War." Souma replied, making Kabutoyama's day.
"Great! I'm happy you accepted!" Kabutoyama exclaimed, Ariadne rolling her eyes because she knew he wouldn't be so happy by the end of it.
"Well, if you're okay facing someone like me…hehe." Souma replied, rubbing the back of his head.
"Hahaha! Don't be modest. As for the date…I know, in one week-"
"Let's do it now." Kabutoyama turned serious when Souma cut him off. "Ah, Fumio-san, all those letters in the mailbox, I'm accepting all those challenges, so don't throw them away."
"That's our Souma for you." Ariadne remarked from beside a grinning Fumio.
"You know, there are plenty of things I wanted to test for real, so I feel really lucky. Oh right, what about the theme? I'm okay with anything you want, senpai." When Kabutoyama didn't reply, Souma continued. "Hmm? What are you spacing out for? Hey, senpai. Hey, hurry up. Let's do it, the Food War."
Ariadne didn't blame Kabutoyama for balking in the face of Souma. Even she could see the difference in Souma now. Every single second year that had decided to challenge Souma would find out soon enough that they had chosen the wrong person to challenge. "Best of luck, senpai…you'll need it." Ariadne gave Kabutoyama a pat on the shoulder before she turned to Fumio. "I'm going to drop my bag in my room and talk a walk. I've missed campus."
Ariadne left it at that, heading upstairs to drop her bag in her bedroom. She had no doubt that Souma would win any challenge the second years threw at him. It was Souma, after all. Humming to herself, she made it to the third floor, making her way down the hall to her bedroom. When she opened the door, though, she was presented with a surprise she hadn't been expecting. Ariadne came to a stop in her doorway, blinking in surprise.
"Oh! Hello…Headmaster."
Sitting there at the table in the middle of her room, hands folded into the long length of his sleeves, was Sanzaemon. "It is good to see you back, Sinclair Ariadne."
Ariadne closed the door behind her. "I was not aware you were here waiting for me. Give me just a moment to put this bag away and I'll get you some tea."
"I appreciate it." Ariadne placed her bag in her closet for the time being and moved to her little kitchenette, pulling out a jar of her own tealeaf mix. As she got the water boiling, she pulled out her tea set. "I trust you learned quite a bit during your stagiaire."
"Very much so. It was an interesting experience after only ever being in my family's facilities. I even came up with some new recipes that I need to fine tune." Water boiled, Ariadne added her tealeaves, placing the teapot on a tray with cups, sugar and cream, which she then carried to the table. Carefully lowering herself down on the pillow across from Sanzaemon, she placed a cup before him, pouring him some tea before offering him cream and sugar and pouring her own cup. "I found it entertaining ending up in a French kitchen alongside Souma."
"Is that so?" Sanzaemon picked up his cup, taking a drink. A content sigh left the man. "You still make the most relaxing tea mixtures."
"Merci! This one is actually one I made with my mother. Lotus petals, jasmine and coconut." Ariadne took a sip of her own tea. "I can never drink it without remembering my childhood, in the kitchen with my mother."
"Your mother truly was a brilliant chef among chefs." Sanzaemon agreed.
"That she was." Ariadne set down her teacup then, looking up at the man across the table from her. "I assume you didn't come here just to talk to me about my mother, Headmaster. What can I do for you?"
Sanzaemon took another drink of his tea before turned his eyes to Ariadne. "I do have a favor to ask of you."
"Oh? A favor for the Headmaster? Color me intrigued." Ariadne's said, her eyes lighting up in interest.
Sanzaemon chuckled upon seeing that look in her eyes. Whenever Ariadne got that twinkle in her eyes, he knew he could count on her to do as he asked and to give the people around her a little hell while she was at it. "I am glad. Here is what I wish for you to do."
Sanzaemon pulled a piece of paper from his sleeve, opening it and sliding it across the table towards Ariadne. Curious and excited, Ariadne pulled the paper towards her, reading over the contents quickly. As she read, a grin curled her lips. "Interesting, but what does this have to do with me, Headmaster?"
"I want you to take part in this. I believe we are both aware of the unique brand of…excitement that you bring to events. I believe having you participate will increase the tensions that will already be high, and if you wish to bring some of your talents to table, then it would make it all the more interesting."
Ariadne picked up the flyer he had laid before her. "The Moon Banquet Festival, huh. I had heard about it from Isshiki-senpai, but I originally had no plans of participating outside of a dorm wide booth that Isshiki-senpai is planning. Running my own booth just seems…laborious. It also means that I will have to actually take the cooking serious to avoid falling in the red and getting expelled."
"I am not asking you to run your own booth. Merely stir things up for the upperclassmen. In preparation for such a thing, I have another favor to ask."
"Two favors in one go. You must really want me to take part." Ariadne remarked, letting the flyer fall to the tabletop while she picked up her teacup to take another drink.
"I do. This is the second favor." The next sheet of paper to be slid towards her, had Ariadne putting her teacup down, her attention snagged. She took the paper from Sanzaemon to look it over. "Can I trust you with this?"
Ariadne read over the information on the paper before she looked up, a devilish grin curling her lips. He knew then that he had her snagged. "Why, yes, sir, I do believe you can. This should prove to be quite…fun."
With the help of the Headmaster, the school's resident devil officially had her next target.
-0-0-0-0-
A few days after the headmaster's sudden visit with Ariadne, the school hosted the Autumn Leaf Viewing for those eight first years who had made it into the main tournament of the Autumn Election and the members of the Elite Ten. Souma found himself sitting on one side of two rows of trays sat out on tatami mats under the trees of a secluded area of the school grounds. With him sat the other seven members of the main tournament and Erina.
"Yukihira…what's with your hair!" Souma turned to Takumi, who sat to his right. "You let it grow in a really half-hearted way. That's slovenly! A cook must take care of his hair."
"You're right, I'll cut it soon. Takumi, you trimmed your hair quite a bit." Souma replied. "You know, after I was a stagiaire at Master Shinomiya's place, I was just really absorbed in cooking."
"Chef Shinomiya!? It can't be, you were at Shino's Tokyo!?" Takumi gasped.
"Yeah, me and Ari both." Souma confirmed.
"Sinclair, too!?" Takumi couldn't believe it. "You always overcome my expectations! To think you'd go to a restaurant owned by a former first seat!"
"Eh? Ah, no, I just happened to train there. I was pretty lucky. Ari actually did a lot better than me." Souma told him, not that Takumi was listening.
"Interesting…! I'm all fried up, Yukihira!"
Down the line of first years, Erina watched as Souma tried to deal with an over excited Takumi. Hisako, who sat to her left, caught her staring at Souma. "Erina-sama, you won't say thanks for the shojo manga he lent you? For this kind of thing, it's better to do it soon instead of postponing it."
Erina went red in the face. "T-to begin with! That manga was compensation for the time I tasted his dish. There should be need for me to say thanks! Am I wrong, Yukihira-kun!?"
Souma turned to look around Megumi at Erina when she suddenly spoke to him. "Well yeah, you're right. Come to think of it, you're seated on our side, huh, Nakiri. Even though you're part of the Elite Ten."
"The goal is to deepen the relationship between the first-year students and the upperclassmen, so I belong on this side." Erina explained.
Souma nodded before leaning around Erina and Megumi to look at Hisako. "Arato, it's been a while since we last met, too. You look like you're doing fine."
"Yes…all thanks to you." Hisako replied with a smile that surprised Erina and Megumi, the two having no idea when Hisako and Souma had become so close.
It was then that a gong sound, announcing the approach of the upperclassmen. Looking up, they were confronted with a mismatched group approaching them. Isshiki and Eizan were among them, along with three girls and four other guys. Only two out of the nine had smiles on their faces, one being Isshiki and the other a red-haired girl who strolled at the front of the group with a confident stride that almost matched Ariadne's strut, but not quite. All the others had either bored or solemn looks on their faces. One guy, the tallest of the group, had a striped hat on his head, another wore his hair in a mohawk and carried a large sword braced on one shoulder. There was a short boy who looked like he still belonged in the middle school division, his hair done up in two different colors. One girl wore glasses and her hair in braided pigtails and the other looked small enough to be in elementary. The last guy of the group strolled along in the middle of the group like he was the center of the world, his pale hair and eyes blinding in the afternoon light.
Altogether, the group made a very intimidating presence.
Then the short boy plopped down across from Souma, bright grin on his face. "Hey, hey, hey, you know! Why don't we end this here today? And let's abolish this meeting for the next year! It's a total bother and isn't it like, meaningless? Don't you all think so? Ah! You, the braids girl! Hey, what do you think?" He turned his gaze on Megumi, who wasn't quite sure how to respond to his sudden comments. It was the girl with the braids on their side that answered him, instead.
"It's a direct invitation from the director. We can't just not participate…forget about abolishing it." she told him.
"I'm not asking the braids girl from our side, you know!? Can you not get in the way? I'm chatting with the underclassmen." the boy, Kuga Terunori, retorted.
The girl, Kinokuni Nene, adjusted her glasses. "You're really noisy."
"Aren't you, like, a lot more mad than usual? Is it your perioooood!?" Kuga demanded.
"Die." was the only retort he got from Nene.
"That thoughtless bastard with the horrible voice is here again. We can get as much of a budget as we want from Totsuki thanks to that grandpa, so let's go along with Sanzaemon-dono's whim." Eizan butted in.
"Ahah, Eizan, you're always thinking about money, you're totally boring! Just hurry and get out of Totsuki, like today, right now. I'm counting, three, two, one…"
"Shut up, midget." Eizan replied with a grin when Kuga started counting down.
Kuga went from annoyingly pleasant to raving mad in a split second. "What the fuuuuuuck!?"
Souma had a pretty good idea that if Ariadne had been there, she would have started teasing the both of them just to get tempers rising higher. Isshiki, still smiling brightly, tried to step in only to have both Eizan and Kuga breathing down his neck like dragons. Needless to say…Megumi was terrified. Looking at just the four second years, was awful. Nene looked off to the side in annoyance, Kuga and Eizan were glaring at a smiling Isshiki…she couldn't help but think that their relationship was eight hundred times worse than that of the first years. Only the raising of a single hand got the second years to focus on someone else.
Souma.
"Um, I want to enter the Elite Ten right now, can any of you senpai have a Food War with me?"
Horrified, intrigued silence fell over the group as a whole, all eyes turning to Souma. The seconds years answered with a resounding "no". Kuga was the one that went on to explain. "People in the Elite Ten don't have time to be facing freshmen at this point. Seriously, like, sorry." It wasn't a comment that went over well with the different first years. "Hey, don't get mad, I'll totally apologize! I mean, we second years, are like really busy trying to defeat the guys above us." Kuga's eyes shifted to the third years present, one of which decided to change the subject.
"Well, then, for now...let's have them bring us some tea." This came from a pale haired boy sitting in the dead center of the line of Elite Ten. He was obviously the leader of the group, making him the first seat, Eishi Tsukasa.
"I suppose that would be my cue, then." came a new voice as someone stepped up their mat, a tray loaded down with cups, a teapot, and snacks balanced on each hand.
"Ari!"
Cheers of greeting and surprise, rose from the first years as they all swung their eyes towards the familiar voice. Standing there, smiling back at them, was Ariadne, the girl still completely rocking her modified school uniform. She had chosen to wear stockings that day with lace trimmed bands and frilly bows situated at the side of each thigh. The jingle of bells attached to those bows attracted attention to the girl's thighs with her shorter than standard skirt. Something, her friends were sure, Ariadne had specifically intended to be the case. That aside, she tossed her head back to flip her aqua-to-black hair over her shoulder, strutting forward like she owned the space. She was either oblivious or indifferent to the fact that she stood in the presence of the school's elite.
Souma was sure that with it being Ariadne, who rocked every scene she entered with the confidence of a queen, she just didn't care.
"Ari, what are you doing here?!" Megumi asked as Ariadne slipped off her shoes to step onto the tatami mats laid out for them to sit on.
"The headmaster asked I be the one to serve the tea and snacks today." Ariadne replied, gracefully lowering herself and the tray down so she could start serving the tea and snacks. "Though, I don't know why. I'm not Japanese, so this seems like a little bit of an ill fit, but he came to the dorm and asked me, himself. I couldn't turn him down now, could I? Especially since he gave me such enticing incentive."
Knowing Ariadne, there was no telling what that incentive was and she didn't seem inclined to share.
Starting at the people closest to her, that being Mimasaka and Eizan, Ariadne worked her way down the line, serving snacks and tea. Several of the upperclassmen watched as she worked, but Ariadne didn't bother to return their looks until she reached a red-haired third year girl, in which case she looked up, giving her a wink, causing a grin to spread across the other girl's face. Being met with an amused reaction to her flirting for the first time since she had come to the school, Ariadne would have pushed the flirting if it wasn't for one of her friends picking then to speak up.
"You're not here to flirt with the upperclassmen." came the somewhat surly remark from Ryou, making Ariadne turn to look at him as all eyes fixed in on her.
Ariadne's nose wrinkled up at him in a playful pout. "Spoil sport. You're no fun. Just because I have charm and you're a sour puss, doesn't mean you have to ruin my good time." Heaving a sigh, Ariadne turned back around, gave the red head another wink and continued on down the line while Ryou frowned at her back. When she came to Kuga and looked up at him, she paused once more, just blinking at the boy. Noticing she had come to a stop, Kuga looked up at her. When his eyes met hers, a smile unlike any her friends had seen up to that point, curled her lips. If her friends weren't mistaken, they would almost agree that her smile seemed a little…shy. But then Ariadne gave him an extra snack cake and wink, moving on past him. When she was at the opposite end of the line, Kuga turned his eyes to Souma, lowering his voice as he leaned forward.
"Is she...you know?" Kuga asked, jerking a thumb towards Ariadne.
"No one knows, and don't ask. You'll be opening yourself to a world of trouble if you do." Takumi warned him quickly. "She's a little demon with her constant teasing and flirting!"
"I heard that, Ta-ku-mi~!"
Takumi tensed as Ariadne turned on him after serving the last cup of tea, a grin curling her lips. He knew he was in for it now, his eyes going wide and his shoulders starting to hunch in a defensive gesture that had the upperclassmen wondering what Ariadne had done to the poor boy to make him act that way. Ariadne got to her feet, tucking the trays under her arm as she rounded behind the first years. Takumi knew what was coming and tensed up further in his seat as Ariadne approached him, the boy's hands going up in front of himself in defense.
"Ariadne, I-I merely meant...!"
"I know what you meant, Takumi. You really should work on not talking behind a lady's back. It's not gentlemanly and here I thought Italian men were all supposed to be gentlemen." Ariadne said, leaning down to speak into his ear when she reached him. "Remember...I know what gets to you."
Takumi nearly jumped out of his skin when Ariadne suddenly blew on his ear. Ariadne's grin only grew when he clamped a hand over his ear and turned a teary-eyed, red-faced glare on her. Takumi only tensed up further when Ariadne reached to run a finger under his chin, making him tilt his head back as he tried not to respond to her teasing. If anything, he only responded even more, amping up Ariadne's urge to tease all the more. It was becoming painfully clear that she was having too much fun to stop any time soon, her grin reaching devilish levels. Something that was angering one person of the group over anyone else.
"Enough! Just do your job and get out of here!" Eizan suddenly snapped from his seat, drawing Ariadne's attention to him.
Every first year there could have told him that was a big mistake, several of them groaning while Isshiki shook his head.
It would have been more effective just to ignore the girl. After a while she would have gotten bored with it and moved on. By addressing the situation, Eizan had just thrown fuel on the fire and the way Ariadne's eyes narrowed as her grin grew, only cemented the thought in her friends' heads. Eizan's spot on the Ten would do nothing to save him from Hurricane Ariadne and her crash course now.
"You know, jealousy is an ugly look for anyone," Ariadne purred, still rubbing a fingertip on the underside of Takumi's chin, making the boy twitch and whine like a puppy, while her grin only grew at the growl Eizan let out. She gave Eizan a waggle of her eyebrows. "Don't worry, senpai, I'm an equal opportunist, just in case you're wondering."
"I'm not wondering!" Eizan snapped, obviously getting just about as flustered as Takumi.
Which was only making the situation worse. The more people who responded to her teasing, regardless of how they responded, the longer Ariadne would keep it up. Ultimately, it was what got Ariadne all riled up in the best of ways. Isshiki knew this little quirk of hers, could see her revving up in the way her eyes shined and the way she bit her bottom lip, and knew that it was best to stop her while she was ahead.
She would make the whole thing a nightmare for everyone present if they really let her get some wind in her sails.
"Now, now, Ari," Isshiki said, calling Ariadne's attention to him. "It's not nice to tease your upperclassmen. Not all of them are as good of sports as your fellow year mates. It might be best, just for today, to leave it at this, don't you think so?"
For a long moment, Ariadne merely met Isshiki's gaze, not saying or doing anything. It made her friends wonder if she was going to deny Isshiki's request to drop it for the time being. She normally didn't deny Isshiki when he asked her nicely and didn't try to force her to stop, but none of them knew when she might turn the script on them. Especially since she had a whole new group of people she could try out her flirting and teasing on. Finally, she smiled, removing her hand from Takumi's chin, the boy heaving a grateful but silent sigh.
"Alright, Isshiki-senpai. Since you asked so nicely. See, Takumi, that's being a gentleman." Ariadne said, booping Takumi on the nose before standing up straight and turning to head towards the edge of the tatami mats, where her shoes awaited her.
"Wait a moment," Ariadne came to a stop, turning a questioning look around on Tsukasa when the boy suddenly spoke. In one hand he held one of the single-serving teacakes that Ariadne had placed out along with the tea and in the other, he held his teacup. There was a bite already missing, and Tsukasa was staring at the pastry in hand before turning his eyes to the tea in the other. In fact, many of the upperclassmen were doing the same thing. "Who made these pastries and tea?"
All eyes turned to Ariadne, who was a little surprised by the sudden question, but then, just like it always did when there was something Ariadne would rather keep to herself, a grin curled her lips. Grin in place, she leaned back, the sly grin turning her expression coy, holding one finger in front of her lips. "Who, you ask. I wonder. How about you take a guess, and then I will not tell you if you're right." Tsukasa blinked back at Ariadne, surprised by her denial of an answer. Ariadne gave him a wink before turning on her heel to leave, waving a hand over her shoulder. "Just give me a shout if you need more tea or snacks."
Slipping her shoes back on, the girl walked away, humming something under her breath as she went, her head and hips swaying slightly along with the beat. Souma grinned as they all watched her leave. Leave it to Ariadne to draw all attention to her even when she wasn't the main attraction.
The rest of the event passed without any further incident from Ariadne, the girl remaining silent even though there was a huge grin on her face. A grin that only grew when she was confronted with the true, mulishly insecure personality of Tsukasa. Hearing him whine one and sulk about the extra work he had to do just because of the Food Wars Souma, Takumi and Mimasaka had done during the Autumn Election, had Ariadne fighting back the urge to laugh from where she stayed perched off to the side unless they needed something. It really gave her an itch to tease the third year. Something that Isshiki could see from his seat. He gave Ariadne a pointed look, the girl drawing still in her seat.
When the subject went back to Souma wanting to battle the members of the Elite Ten, Tsukasa and Kuga went on a spile about all the responsibilities and authority that went with being members of the Ten. At their school, only one person stood over the Ten and it wasn't any of the teachers. If the Ten wanted to expel a student and the director agreed, then that student would be done for. It was an amount of pressure and responsibility that made Ariadne positive that she didn't want any part in it. She had enough pressure on her plate without having to deal with all of that, too. It didn't mean that she wanted to mess with the Elite Ten members any less.
"Yeah! Well, that's about it! I think you get the overall nuance by now, but you guys really, really, reaaaaaly aren't even worth considering as opponents." Kuga told Souma. "So, why don't all you small fry just, like, battle each other? Well, let's see, for example…if there's any kind of cooking you're better at than me, then I'll accept your Food War. Ahah! Well, not like that'll ever happen."
"Height."
"I said "cooking" you bitch!" Kuga snapped at Nene when she said that single word. A giggle came from Ariadne's direction then, making Kuga turn on her. "You have something to add!?"
"You're awfully cute. I like your personality." Ariadne's straightforward reply had Kuga deflating from his anger in confusion. He had never had someone reply to his anger with something like that before, but Ariadne just smiled back at him, unfazed.
"Are you serious, Kuga-senpai?" Souma asked, drawing Kuga's attention back to him.
"Sure, sure, suuure! You better believe me! I guess that's about it! Well then, let's finish this!"
The rest of the even went by without any further hitches. Now and then, Ariadne would cast a look in Eizan's direction, her lips quirking just a little more. The mere twitch of her lips suggesting she was laughing at him had Eizan silent fuming, but, thankfully, he didn't call her out on it during the ceremony. When it was done, the first years were sent back and the upperclassmen, minus Eizan who needed to cool his head, left in a group. For the first part of the conversation that started, they discussed the first years that had made it to the tournament, but inevitably the conversation turned to their less than traditional server. It had Isshiki chuckling as the others agreed that Ariadne was "quirky".
"Ari isn't a bad kid. She merely has her own way of doing things." Isshiki told them. "She's a splendid chef, a good student and loyal friend. I won't deny that she is…different, though." Something he wouldn't say to Ariadne's face. He knew better than to give Ariadne a reason to turn her teasing on him.
Kobayashi let out a laugh at that. "Different is putting it mildly! She seems interesting though. The way she drove Eizan up the wall so quickly was freaking hilarious!"
"Ari has a way with knowing how to weasel her way under a person's skin. She normally only does so to those she either has a particular fondness for or those she really dislikes." Isshiki replied.
"How can you tell the difference?" Nene asked, though her tone suggested she didn't really care to know the answer.
Isshiki chuckled once more. "Trust me, if you are on the receiving end of her displeasure, she makes it abundantly clear. She will go out of her way to be horrible in the politest of ways."
"How the hell does someone do that?" Nene demanded.
Isshiki smiled, a commotion in the distant catching his ears. "You will see."
Fixing in the on the yelling coming from further along their path, they continued forward, eventually coming across Eizan and none other than Ariadne herself as the former yelled at the latter. "…mockery of the whole thing!"
There was a smile on Ariadne's face as she stood before her upperclassman, her hands clasped behind her back. While there was a pleasant enough smile on her face, her eyes were narrowed in a look of dislike that only Isshiki could pick up on. Seeing the venom just on the tip of the girl's tongue, ready to be lashed in Eizan's direction, Isshiki started forward, a smile on his face. "What's going on?"
Ariadne's expression changed as she turned to look at Isshiki, a genuine smile falling on her pretty face. "Oh! Isshiki-senpai! It's nothing much, really. It just seems that Eizan-senpai has certain…opinions about me. He doesn't think I need to be here because I am making a "mockery" of the ceremony."
"I meant you being the school!" Eizan snapped.
"Excuse me, a mockery of the school." Ariadne wrinkled her nose, making Eizan bristle all the more at her refusal to take the matter seriously. "To-may-to, to-mah-to."
"You little…!"
Isshiki heaved a silent sigh as the other upperclassmen joined them. Eizan was as oblivious as always to the fact that reacting the way he did only made Ariadne worse. Ariadne merely stood there, grin on her face, as Eizan had a small mental break down, his hands clutching like he wanted to strangle the girl. "Honestly, senpai, you might want to calm down before you give yourself a stroke."
Eizan gritted his teeth. "Do you ever take anything seriously!? You even purposely lost at the Autumn Election! You're just making a joke of cooking as a whole!"
"And your point?" Ariadne looked bored as Eizan threw her actions up in her face. "I take plenty of things serious, but I'm not going to take it serious if I have no intention of showing all my cards in the first place. If the Autumn Election is your issue with me, then I'll apologize."
"Ari, you purposely failed at the Autumn Election?" Isshiki asked.
Ariadne shrugged her shoulders. "I had no intention of going up against my friends. I got a lot more work done in those weeks not having to bother with it." This got another round of yelling from Eizan, Ariadne taking it all with a grin on her face. "Aw, senpai. I didn't know you cared so much as to focus on me so much. Sorry, but I'm not interested in you like that."
Isshiki had to step between Ariadne and Eizan when the boy made like he was about to grab her. Ariadne poked her head out from behind Isshiki, wide grin on her face. Eizan losing it only had Kuga bursting out in laughter at him. Seeing Kuga laughing at Eizan's annoyance, Ariadne's grin grew to one of pure joy. "I think that is enough teasing of Eizan, Ari." Isshiki said suddenly.
"It's not my fault he seems to have such a problem with me. So, I helped foil a few of his plans, so what. It no reason to get so…uptight." Ariadne replied.
"I'll show you uptight!" Ariadne leaned back just out of reason of Eizan's hands when the boy tried to get past Isshiki. She gave him a waggle of her eyebrows, watching as his eyebrow went into full on twitching mode.
"Ari…" Isshiki glanced back at her over his shoulder, his tone begging her to stop.
Ariadne's hands went up into the air. "I honest didn't start it this time, Isshiki-senpai. He's the one that came up to me, yelling. I was trying to politely ask him to leave."
"How is calling me a Yankee polite!?" Eizan demanded.
"Believe me, that's considerably polite compared to some of the other things I could have called you, senpai…and it's accurate! Or have you not seen the way you dress?"
"Ari!" Isshiki was starting to sweat, trying to keep Eizan back.
"Amende…fine. I'll be nice." Ariadne said, heaving a sigh, her eyes then turning to the other upperclassmen. "Besides…there are others here I would much rather converse with anyway."
"We aren't done here!" Eizan snapped.
"Really? I believe we are." Ariadne said mildly. "Sorry, but pretty girls trump you, Eizan-senpai. Like, every time. When you make faces like that, you have a face only a mother could love, and your personality isn't so great, either." With that, Ariadne completely turned her attention from Eizan, leaving Isshiki to try to calm him while she greeted the others. "I'm Sinclair Ariadne, obviously a first year. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"There is nothing pleasurable about you, brat!" Eizan snapped.
"Oh, there is plenty pleasurable about me, senpai. You're just so disagreeable that you will never find out." Ariadne retorted, her tone still perfectly polite even when her words weren't. They now understood what Isshiki had meant about her being horrible in the most polite of ways. "No worries, Eizan-senpai. I'll soon have another target to focus my attention on. You can relax for now."
"What are you talking about, Ari?" Isshiki asked, curious.
"Oh, it's nothing. You'll see soon enough. Speaking of…" Ariadne pulled her phone out of her pocket to look at the time. "I have a meeting. I best get going. It was a pleasure to meet most of you." Ariadne gave the upperclassmen a nod before she turned to walk away, typing something into her phone.
"I know that was a dig at me, brat!" Eizan called after her.
"Good, then I don't have to tell you." Ariadne replied back.
"Grr…You're going to regret this someday." Eizan told her.
Ariadne came to a stop, turning just enough to look over her shoulder at him with blinking eyes. "Oh? I thought I had already told you, Eizan-senpai…I haven't even begun my upstart yet. Trust me…I'll exceed your expectations soon enough. Now if you'll excuse me."
Ariadne turned to walk away. "Be nice, Ari!" Isshiki called after her.
"You do realize that the first definition of nice was a foolish or stupid person, right? Don't count on it." Ariadne called back.
"Then pleasant!" Isshiki chuckled.
"No promises!" Ariadne waved a hand over her shoulder as she put her phone to her ear.
As far as first impressions went, Ariadne had given her upperclassmen the impression of someone chaotic and laid back. While some of them, Kobayashi and Kuga among them, could roll with that kind of person, others, like Eizan, couldn't. Ariadne didn't care what they thought of her. Soon, she would start showing just how high she could climb.
First target…Kuga Terunori.
Ariadne giggled at the thought, biting down on her bottom lip. She was going to have fun with this, one way or another.
END
Kyandi: You know, I have to agree…I don't like Eizan.
Ariadne: Does anyone?
Kyandi: Oh, I'm sure there are people out there who like him, just not us.
Ariadne: Yep. And with an incident you have planned later, I like him even less.
Kyandi: Well, it's going to be understandable.
Ariadne: The jerk…
Kyandi: Calm down, it hasn't happened yet. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed and will leave a review!
Ariadne; We'll be back as soon as possible.
Kyandi: Bye-bye!