Chapter 01. School Year About To Start
Complete Summary: It's the start of the new school year at Tōtsuki Saryō Ryōri Gakuen with Nakiri Erina as the new Headmaster and the second year student diner boy Yukihira Souma as the First Seat of the Elite Ten Council. It has been only been two weeks since they overthrew Nakamura Azami's Administration and they are heading to change the school for the better. But a new school year means new challenges, competitions, shokugekis, and of course new students! Let's find out on how the majority of Elite Ten manage the academy while at the same time managing their own love stories and honing their skills! Can they do it all at the same time? Add the fact that they have a line of exceptional freshmen students on the way!
This fanfiction has TakumixOC as its main pairing with the others as side pairings.
Takumi's POV
I could feel the exhaustion of my body as I walked out of the airport with Isami with our luggage. It's been two weeks since the Regimental Shokugeki and the graduation of our senpais of Batch 90th, and our first semester of the school year as junior students is about to start in three weeks.
Isami and I went to Italy for a ten-day vacation to visit our family, and we just landed back in Tokyo. I wanted to go straight to our apartment and rest because of jetlag, but Yukihira called a meeting of the Elite Ten. When Yukihira took the First Seat of the Council, Megishima-senpai was the Second Seat, followed by Isshiki-senpai, Kuga-senpai, me, and Tadokoro-san. Kinokuni-senpai, Eizan-senpai, Nakiri Alice, Hayama, and Kurokiba joined the ranks after the graduation of our seniors. I was actually the Fifth Seat, but I lost to Hayama shortly after. I was degraded to the Seventh Seat, but I didn't care much since it's enough that we are able to revoke our friends' expulsions.
When I first entered Tōtsuki, I always thought I'm way better than them. It's because I was already a professional chef who is on the front line, always working my best to make our trattoria rise. But when I met Yukihira, I finally thought this school is fun. And then a lot happened after that, I lost to Mimasaka, I had trouble with my stagiaire sights, and finally, there's Central and Nakiri Azami. When Isami and our friends got expelled, I was out for blood because of my anger. Of course, that was until Azami accepted our regimental shokugeki challenge with the help of Joichiro-san. After all that happened, my top priority is now protecting the freedom to cook, regardless of class, of every student of our school. I can always do that since I have the authority as long as I am a member of the Elite Ten. With that as fact, I no longer care about the specific seat number even if I get downgraded to the lowest one. And I can always challenge Yukihira whenever I wanted.
I was still privileged as I was still a member of the council so I used it to establish my own Research Society in the academy: Italian Diner Cuisine RS. I was collaborating with Mizuhara-senpai and Gotoda-senpai to expand our reach and influence. Isami is my co-head, along with Shiratsu-senpai who has been handling things since we went to Italy. Since Yukihira happened, almost everybody dropped the idea that food have hierarchy and how one cuisine or dish is more of a "true gourmet" than another. Food is food, nothing else should matter as long as it satisfies the customers. The students are now more open in researching and studying about food for the masses, and some are even planning to study diners. That's what inspire me in establishing a diner research society, based on Italian cuisine.
"Oh, it's the Aldini brothers!" Isami and I turned around to see who called out to us. "It's been a while, you two."
"Chef Dojima!" we greeted him and our attention went to the one behind him.
"Ah, this is my nephew, Bryle," the older guy introduced. "He aced the transfer exams of our sister's school in the USA and the Headmaster just approved of his transfer. He's an incoming first year. Bryle, this is Takumi and Isami Aldini. They are juniors, basically your senpais."
"Nice to meet you, senpais," we offered our hands for a handshake which he gladly accepted. "Do you live in Polar Star dorm, too?"
"We don't, but we're always there," Isami responded to him. "We're good friends with the people in the dorm. Do you plan on moving in there?"
"I'll look into it," the younger guy sheepishly replied.
"We'll see you around," I welcomed the guy. "Welcome to Tōtsuki, and welcome to Japan."
They bid their see-you-laters as the chauffeur I called arrived. We climbed in, and I instructed the driver to go by the school first so I could get off. It was already nine in the morning, and our meeting was set at ten. I still have some things to do in my office before attending the meeting.
I was dropped off inside the campus, at the House of Executives: a two-storey mansion with a basement mainly for the Elite Ten. The first floor has the wide lobby, a huge kitchen with full equipment, ten exclusive pantries for each of us, and a comfort room with three stalls for each gender. The second floor has all of our offices, as well as a bedroom behind them if we wanted to spend the night over, bathrooms for each gender, and the meeting room. The basement has an entertainment room, storage room, bathroom for each gender, and underground hotsprings.
As I entered, I saw Tadokoro-san who smiled at me when she saw me, too. She was with Nakiri Alice and Kurokiba.
"Welcome back, Takumi-kun," she greeted me as I approached them.
I greeted them as they asked about my trip back home. It turns out both Nakiri Alice and Kurokiba also just arrived in the country as they went for one week trip to Denmark. The three of us are obviously looking tired because we just landed in the country. Nakiri Alice even want to not attend the meeting, but Yukihira told us it was urgent that's why we needed a complete attendance today.
"I made you guys oatmeal and herbal tea for your jetlag," Tadokoro-san cheered for us. "Let's go to the kitchen."
My paperwork was set aside as we all accepted Tadokoro-san's offer for breakfast. It was filling, and it instantly made us feel at home. She is always thoughtful, and I'm so grateful I have a friend like her. After eating, we went to the meeting room together and saw our seniors already on their seats, along with Hayama. We went on our respected seats and waited for Yukihira who arrived three minutes after ten with Arato-san.
"So, what's up for today?" Hayama asked Yukihira. "You were forced to be here, weren't you?"
I sweatdropped as he scoffed at Hayama. I knew it. Yukihira hates formal proceedings like this one, and this is the first time he called us for one.
"You have no idea," Arato-san shook her head. "Erina-sama actually challenged him on a shokugeki. If she won, he would need to work his duties as the First Seat at least six hours a day. So here he is, trying to head a meeting."
"Tch, whatever, anyway, we should get to the point," Yukihira cleared his throat. "The Headmistress is asking us to facilitate the upcoming transferee admission exam. Does anyone want to volunteer? Nakiri said anyone but me, since I'll end up accepting everybody."
"Well," I shrugged at him. "She's not wrong."
He glared at me but I ignored it because everybody agreed with me. Since he's the most open guy when it comes to food, he'll probably accept them all.
"When is it?" Kinokuni-senpai asked but Isshiki-senpai laughed.
"You will end up not accepting anyone, Kinokuni-kun," Isshiki-senpai teased that gained him a hit on the head.
"Erina-sama scheduled it to be this Friday," Arato-san informed us.
It was just Monday.
"Let's just get straws and draw one," Kurokiba suggested. "The one who got the shortest straw will do it."
"Just one?" Kuga-senpai asked and all of us nodded.
To be honest, I heard a little number of students who aced the promotional exam from our middle school. I can't seem to be interested on the transferees, as our freshmen will be interesting to be with. Except for Dojima-senpai's nephew, maybe. Drawing straws are what we decided to do so no one could complain. Arato-san just shook her head on us but did not complain. It was all good, until I draw the shortest one. Fuck.
"That settles it, then," Yukihira conculed with a shrug. "Takumi will be facilitating the transferee admission exam."
After the meeting, Kinokuni-senpai was in the mood to cook us lunch so we extended our stay. Some of them left after eating but I stayed since I have paperwork to do. I wanted to finish them early so I could rest but it was too many that I spent my entire afternoon at my office. It was already 4:30 when I got things done. I left the mansion and went back to our apartment which is outside the campus. I texted Isami to just cook whatever was available or order takeouts for dinner.
The next day, Shiratsu-senpai, Isami and I went to overlook the construction of the building our research society would occupy. It was almost finish and I couldn't help but to feel excited. Thanks to our connection with Ristorante F and Tesoro, we are able to find suppliers for our ingredients and equipment. Among the three of us, we decided to divide the work in order to develop our newly-established group. Shiratsu-senpai will handle every external affairs, while Isami will be in charge of the internal affairs. I will focus on representation and try to gain more sponsors and connections, as well as for the financial aspect of the team.
"We should move the opening to Monday," I told them. "I know we initially agreed to do it on Friday, but I was assign to facilitate the transferee admission exam."
"Oh, wow, what do you plan on doing?" Isami asked me.
"To be honest, I don't have any idea as of yet," I responded with shrug. "I was told to do what I want, though."
"Who did it last year?" Shiratsu-senpai asked but he paused and continue. "Yukihira was the only one who passed last year, right? Why don't you ask him how was it?"
It seems like a good idea, if it weren't for the fact that I already knew what happened then. To be honest, I was always curious unto why Yukihira would look up to Nakiri-san. He was always obsessed on impressing her, and he always want to be involve with her. It turns out she was the one who conducted the transferee admission exam last year, and she actually rejected Yukihira claiming his cooking was disgusting. According to him, it was the first time that someone couldn't be moved with his cooking and struck him shocked. He almost didn't make it if Nakiri Senzaemon-sama did not revoke his rejection. It's a good thing because Central would not be dethroned if it weren't for him.
I got to know the story of Yukihira's admission when we were training for the Regimental Shokugeki. Nakiri-san stood by her decision the first time, and told us it was actually disgusting. Yukihira didn't get insulted, though. In fact, it made him more motivated to cook for her, just to overturn her judgement about his cooking.
"That's a good idea," I stated in agreement. "Speaking of, I am supposed to go by his office to get the applications for the exam. I better be going."
With that, the three of us separated. Isami told me he was going to the Polar Star dorm to hangout, while Shiratsu-senpai got invited to Tesoro for taste-testing so he had to leave as well. I arrived at Yukihira's office some time after and saw Tadokoro-san there. It wasn't weird, but she was sitting on the couch, looking down while holding an envelop.
"Takumi!" Yukihira greeted me. "Just in time! We need to talk."
"Is there a problem?" I asked as I sat down beside Tadokoro-san. "Did something happen, Tadokoro-san?"
"It's gossip time," Yukihira grinned as he sat down on one of the love seats across us. "Tadokoro was challenged by Kurokiba to a shokugeki."
"Why? Did you get the Fourth Seat while I'm away?" I turned to her.
Kurokiba is really competitive, but I think he's around the Fifth Seat at the moment. On the other hand, Tadokoro-san wanted the least attention when we won so she asked for the lowest seat. It was so no one would challenge her for it, but did she happen to change her mind about competing when I went to Italy?
"No, I'm still on the Tenth Seat," she responded but she didn't look up. "He challenged me in a shokugeki, but the context is different."
I raised an eyebrow at her but all she did was hand me the envelop she was holding. I got the letter out and read it. My lips parted in shock and disbelief as I re-read the text a lot of times. Is this real? I looked at her again, but she was still looking down.
"Did... he talk to you regarding this?" I asked the girl.
"Well, we talked a bit yesterday after our meeting. He asked if I was free for a shokugeki, and of course, it was weird since he's currently the Fourth Seat since he beat Hayama-kun before going to Denmark. But I did say yes," she explained to us. "And then I asked him why me and not Kuga-senpai, Isshiki-senpai or even Souma-kun. He didn't answer me and just told me that he'll send in a request today. I didn't mind much of it since I was up for the challenge once in a while. Well, that was until I received the letter in my office."
Dang, Kurokiba. Why didn't I see this coming?
"And then she came to hide in mine since she didn't know what to do. To be honest, I didn't see this coming," Yukihira commented and I agreed. "What's your plan now? He's waiting for a response, you know."
"Well, you shouldn't think too much of it if you win so why not just accept his terms, tell them your own, and win?" I pointed out.
"I wanted to feel confident, too, in fact, I was actually looking forward to win," she admitted to us. "But I lost my courage after I read the terms."
I was about to respond when someone suddenly came in without knocking, so I rushed to hide the letter in my pocket. The three of us froze when we saw the guy who we were just talking about entered the room with Hayama.
"Are you guys having a meeting without us?" Hayama raised an eyebrow at us that made Yukihira flinched and Tadokoro-san look down.
"I came by to actually ask Yukihira what happen last year's transferee admission exam so I can have an idea on what to do on Friday," I told them the reason I was actually here to cover up the fact that we were gossiping before they arrive. "I happen to bump into Tadokoro-san in the entrance and decided to ask her some ideas, too."
"What are you guys here for?" Tadokoro-san asked them, trying hard to act normal.
"Did you not go to your office, yet?" Kurokiba straight up asked her but she acted innocent that I wanted to applaud her.
"No, I haven't, why?" Tadokoro-san responded, and then paused.
"N-nothing," he hissed and looked away. "I'm leaving. I came to challenge Yukihira for a shokugeki, but since you're all busy, I'll come back another day."
The black-haired guy just walked out on us, and the three of us felt instant relief while Hayama was confused. I handed the letter back to Tadokoro-san and apologized for crumpling it, but she didn't mind.
"What's going on?" the confused guy asked.
"Hayama, why haven't you challenge Kurokiba for his seat yet? You're currently the Fifth Seat, right?" Yukihira asked the guy.
"I'm planning to," Hayama responded with a shrug. "But not for now, I'm busy with our research lab. A lot of students wants to join and Jun assigned me to screen them. So, can anyone tell me what's going on?"
I turned to Tadokoro-san and asked, "Do you want to tell him?"
"K-kurokiba-kun challenged me for a shokugeki," Tadokoro explained but that made Hayama raised an eyebrow.
"But why? You're the Tenth Seat. If anything, you challenging him, would make a lot more sense," Hayama wondered but then he paused when he saw the girl's cheeks start to redden. "Heh, you're going on a date with him if he wins, are his terms something like that?"
Tadokoro-san glared at him, but she looked down after one moment and responded, "His terms were if that he win, we'll go on a date once a week and that I have to cook him breakfast everyday. But why me? He doesn't even like me!"
"Don't be stupid, there's no way he would have made such terms without liking you," Hayama scolded and then turn to Yukihira. "I actually saw this coming. I remember asking him what dish stood up for him the whole Autumn Elections, his answer is your ramen."
"What do I do? I can't avoid it forever," she asked with worry. "If I decline, it'll forever be awkward between us."
"You just need to win," Yukihira advised. "But if you lose, at least give him a chance. He's a pretty decent guy."
"But dang, Kurokiba. He works fast, doesn't he?" Hayama commented. "I'll go now. I'll tell you if ever he stuck around, waiting for Tadokoro in her office. Just think about your terms, and respond to the challenge. It'll be fine. You can think about what you want to happen between the both of you if he won."
With that, Hayama left the room. After a while, Tadokoro-san received a text saying Kurokiba was waiting by the door of her office but Hayama made him leave. When she finally decided what she wanted to do, she left Yukihira's office to go back to hers. She had a letter to send.
I was left with Yukihira but my mind isn't even on the transferee admission exam anymore.
"When will you make your move?" I asked him directly as I got an envelope on his desk that is labeled 'transferee applicants'. "You like Nakiri-san."
I am not a dense guy. Tadokoro-san and Kurokiba was not on my radar, but it's because I'm barely with Kurokiba. Tadokoro-san actually admitted to me that she once liked Yukihira, however, it started fading when Nakiri-san went to Polar Star Dorm to hide. She noticed then how different was he treating her, unlike the other girls in the dorm. But she didn't dwell on it, and wished them well. I've been around the Polar Star dorms for a while that even I picked up almost all of the infatuations inside our circle of friends. Yukihira likes the Headmaster, Mito-san likes Yukihira, Ibusaki likes Sakaki-san, and even my brother likes Yoshino-san. During the Regimental Shokugeki, Isshiki-senpai's feelings towards Kinokuni-senpai was obvious, and I even took a notice how Saito-senpai and Momo-senpai treat each other.
"She's not dense, she knows about it," Yukihira responded with a shrug. "I will only do it when she accepts my cooking. That's what I'll be doing, probably for the rest of my life."
At least he's dedicated.
"Now, I suddenly feel out of place," I half-joked. "Among the freshmen trio, I'm the only one without a lovelife. I feel like crying."
"Oh, please, you'll be fine," Yukihira smirked at me. "If you will have someone you like, what do you plan on doing first? Are you going to confess out of the blue like Kurokiba did?"
"If I know her for a while, probably," I replied. "But if I just met her, that'll be creepy. I will probably try to earn her trust first."
"Well, should we look for someone for you?" Yukihira teased but I glared at him. "Anyway, are you and Isami free for dinner? Come over, we're having a party in the dorms later. Of course, only the usual people are invited."
After some minutes, I went to my office with the envelop of the applicants since I finally knew what I want to do with the exams entrusted to me. I asked Arato-san if I can get someone to help me and she told me as long as they are affiliated with the school, there shouldn't be a problem. I was getting ready to leave when a letter got delivered last minute.
It was a shokugeki challenge from a Hanashoubu Eisuke.
No One's POV
The party in the Polar Star Dorm was a Welcome Party for Bryle who just passed Fumio's judgement to be a tenant. Most of their usual people was present, including Nakiri Erina and Hayama Akira. They were having fun and all, to welcome the American boy in their circle. As of now, Bryle was the only freshman tenant but they are open to think about additional body in the Polar Star dorms in the future.
Takumi approached Ikumi and Shun to talk about the assistance he needed next Friday. He didn't disclose much because it was still a party, but he told them to meet him in his office tomorrow. He was about to go to the veranda but paused when he heard two people there so he decided to hide.
It was Megumi and Ryou.
"I already sent the reply to the committee," Megumi told him. "Let's just talk after, if you win."
"I will," the guy scoffed. "And even if I don't, don't think I'll leave you alone any time soon."
Takumi's conscience was bugging him so he left them to talk. They do need it. He fetched out his phone and went to the committee's website and saw that they already released the news with regards to the shokugeki between the two members of the Elite Ten. It was scheduled tomorrow at five in the afternoon with "chili" as theme, and his eyes widened at the terms on question.
If Ryou wins, he gets to take her on a date once a week and Megumi will have cook him breakfast for six months. If Megumi wins, she gets his seat, currently the Fourth, and Ryou will cook her lunch for six months.
"Either way, they get to stay around each other for at least six months?" Takumi lips parted in disbelief as it hit him. "Tadokoro-san actually gave him a chance? Dang, Kurokiba, there's no losing in this terms. Don't fuck up this chance."
Though, they are completely different, Ryou and Megumi as a couple would make sense. They balance each other out: one's aggressive, and the other one is overly hospitable. But their differences ends on that since there are more things that they have in common. Takumi is sure that the shokugeki news will blow up in a moment and was excited for tomorrow. True to this, a lot of their alumni saw the news and was baffled. They knew they had to watch tomorrow.
The next morning, Shun and Ikumi were in Takumi's office for what they had wanted to discuss for the transferee admission exam.
"I already thought of what to do in Friday. The exams will have two phases: a written exam and cooking. First, for the written exam, I'm planning on grouping the sixty applicants into three," Takumi began explaining. "Then, we get them to eat a dish and they have to identify the ingredients present in there. It's not necessary for them to get them all, but if they wrote down an ingredient that was not use, they are out. The top five applicants from each group who identified the most ingredients will proceed to the cooking part. I wanted to ask you two to take care of one group each."
"That's all? Sure," Ibusaki responded with a shrug, but he paused when a question came to mind. "Will you be cooking all of the food, or are you going to let us serve our own groups."
"Let's do the cooking for our own group, it's no big deal," Ikumi pointed out. "And what are the rules of the cooking part?"
"The remaining applicants will draw their key ingredient from a box that I will prepare, and they will have to serve us a meal out of it," Takumi smirked at them.
"Well, aren't you ruthless," Ibusaki shook his head.
"That sounds fun, though," Ikumi smirked at them. "Anyway, Megumi asked my assistance for later. Can I go?"
Takumi dismissed their meeting and went out. He accepted a shokugeki challenge for today and he's on his way to the venue.
Hanashoubu Eisuke is an upcoming freshman who scored perfect in the high school promotional exams. It's no doubt that he is the top student of batch 93rd as of now, and Takumi is actually excited to know how he's like. The terms he wanted is actually simple, if the freshman beats him, then Hanashoubu Eisuke will automatically be accepted to Italian Diner Cuisine RS as the Freshman Representative. If Takumi wins, he would enjoy a 25% discount whenever he's flying forever, as the Hanashoubu clan owns an airline.
"Aldini-senpai," a guy approached him as he arrived on the venue. "Thank you so much for accepting my challenge, I'm Hanashoubu Eisuke."
Takumi stared at the younger guy in front of him. He has gold-colored medium length hair which slightly covers his forehead, and runs down to his nape and his eyes are onyx. He's slightly taller than Takumi, and is wearing their middle school uniform.
"You can call me Takumi," he greeted him back. "I'm looking forward to this match."
Their theme was comfort food, with mushroom as main ingredient. Their match ended up with a 4-1 score, in favor of Takumi. It wasn't a surprise because he is a member of the Elite Ten, but Takumi was shocked at the freshman's cooking style.
"Here you go, Senpai," Eisuke handed him a card. "You can present this card whenever you're buying our airline's tickets for your discount."
"T-hanks, but can you come to my office tomorrow?" Takumi asked him. "I want to discuss something with you."
"About what?" Eisuke blinked at him in confusion.
Takumi smiled at him and responded, "About your position as the Freshman Representative of the Italian Diner Cuisine RS."
"R-really? But I lost," the younger guy questioned.
"I like your cooking," Takumi praised Eisuke. "Surely, you'll contribute to our RS. In fact, are you busy? If you're free, come with me to the Chandra room. Let's go watch the scheduled shokugeki of the Elite Ten. Shiratsu-senpai and Isami are attending, so it's a great chance for you to meet."
The Chandra room is an exclusive place intended for shokugekis between two members of the Elite Ten. Only students and personnel with the approval of the said council could enter to watch, so most of the matches are watched by normal students through the livestream. Another group of people who can enter the room are those who used to be in Elite Ten.
"I really would like to accept your offer, Senpai, but I'm meeting a friend after this. I promised him we will watch the live stream together," Eisuke shyly declined but Takumi was persistent.
"Oh, we can just invite him to the Chandra Room as well," he responded with a shrug. "You'll be seated in there, live. That'll be better than watching it through the livestream, don't you think?"
Eisuke couldn't deny the offer so he called his friend. Few minutes later, a guy with raven-colored medium length hair which slightly covers his forehead and shamrock orbs approached them and introduced himself to the Seventh Seat. The freshman's name is Katasaki Hanzo, the one who ended up in the Top 3 for the promotional exams and Eisuke's childhood friend.
Takumi greeted him, and they made their way to the Chandra room. A car was waiting for them as Takumi called for a chauffeur earlier. Takumi got to know more about the two and he actually found chatting with them fun. Katasaki Hanzo specializes on the healthy diet of Greek, Spanish, and Italian cuisines, while Eisuke wanted to be an expert in Indian, Turkish, French, and Italian cuisines. Both of their families are not in the food industry, but they developed passion for food because of their wealthy backgrounds. The three of them just chatted on their way to Chandra room, getting to know each other since Takumi was also opened to their questions. When the car came to stop, the two freshmen were nervous as they stepped out of the vehicle because they saw the current First Seat, Fifth Seat, the Headmaster, and her secretary in front of the building.
"Oh, Takumi! Who would have thought you'll be the last one to arrive?" Soma greeted the Seventh Seat and paused as he saw he was with two other students. "Oh, who are they?"
The freshman are about to introduce themselves when Erina spoke up. She knew them since she met them at the promotional exams.
"Hanashoubu-kun, Katasaki-kun, it's been a while," Erina greeted them. "I'm surprised to see you both here."
The two of them shyly greeted back and introduced themselves to the group.
"You know them?" Takumi asked and the Headmaster nodded.
"I met them in the promotional exams," Erina explained. "They are two of the three students who aced the exams. The fourth placer didn't come close to their scores. The other one is Tsukasa Hanabi, Tsukasa Eishi-senpai's little sister."
"Oh, wow! You guys are awesome!" both of them were dumbstruck when the First Seat himself praised them. "Would you like to do a shokugeki with me? You'll be the First Seat if you beat me."
Takumi shook his head and sigh as he responded for the two, "Leave them alone, Yukihira. They are here because I invited them to watch the upcoming shokugeki. Hanashoubu challenged me on a shokugeki earlier because he wants to be a part of my RS. He lost, but I liked his cooking so I offered him the position anyways. I took him here so he could meet Isami and Shiratsu-senpai. It turns out he got plans to watch the match with Katasaki through the livestream so I just invited them as well. Anyway, who's judging today?"
Soma's face suddenly turned into a grin and responded, "We've got a crowd inside, to be honest. A lot of our senpais who likes Tadokoro or Kurokiba showed up. But as for the official judges, it's Nakiri Alice's parents, Inui-senpai, Shinomiya-senpai, and Dojima-senpai."
"Is everyone around?" Takumi blinked as he asked.
"Even the owner of the inn where Tadokoro had her stagiere is here," Akira stated as he shook his head. "The Elite Ten is also complete in attendance. You came here last, but we knew you'd show up since there was no way you'd miss this match."
"Are all shokugekis between Elite Ten members this grand?" Eisuke asked the juniors but they all shook their head.
"The exclusive deal between the two is what made this shokugeki controversial," Akira answered him. "It's not everyday a member of Elite Ten challenge another member to a shokugeki just to date."
"It's quite romantic, if you ask me," Soma commented. "Kurokiba, that guy is always been the person with the least patience. He acted quickly, hats off to him."
All of them entered the building, and what Eisuke saw took his breath away. The Chandra room is a dream destination for the freshman students like him. The only time they got to supposedly enter the building is when they managed to pass the Autumn Selection Eliminations and move to the main tournament, like how their senpais did. It was months before that, and they can't believe they got to enter the room this early when the school hasn't even started yet. Above the benches, however, are seats intended for the Elite Ten Members like they are thrones. But even if they had designated seats, Eisuke and Hanzo saw the members of the Elite Ten sitting on the benches with their friends.
"Nii-chan!" Isami waved to his brother as he was sitting with Yuki, and everyone from the Polar Star Dorm.
"Takumi Aldini!" the Seventh Seat blinked as he saw Hinako and Gotoda approaching him with foul mood.
"I trusted you and Yukihira-kun, how could this happen when both of you are around?" Hinako scolded him, but he was confused for a moment. "My precious Megumi-chan is about to be owned by a wolf! I thought the both of you will protect her!"
'It sounds like Inui-senpai will automatically vote for Tadokoro-san,' Takumi sweat dropped at his thoughts.
Both Hinako and Gotoda are still scolding him for letting it happen until Fuyumi saved his ass by hitting them in the head. He didn't mind much, but his two companions were bewildered by the scene so he felt the need to explain. Eisuke and Hanzo are actually surprise on how close their upperclassmen are with the alumni. Takumi took this as a chance to introduce the freshmen to them. After which, both of them met Takumi's brother, too, and the rest of their friends. The last group they got introduced to were the senior students, where Jurio was.
The freshmen also befriended Bryle who was brought along by Soma. The three upcoming freshmen got along as they started to get to know each other. All of the audience were chatting about random things, until the clock strike five, and Elite Ten members that are about to compete entered the arena.
"It's finally starting," Takumi stated as he was sitting beside Eisuke.
"Who would you like to win, Takumi-senpai?" Eisuke asked.
"Normally, I would take Tadokoro-san's side because I'm always with her and Yukihira," Takumi explained. "But this is more than a competition for Kurokiba. I know that they will stick with each other win or lose, but I'm really nervous for some reason."
"It's definitely nerve wrecking," Yuki agreed at what Takumi explained. "The first and only time they had faced each other was in the Autumn Election, and both have change and grew so much since then. But rather than cooking, this time is a competition of feelings. I can't believe I'm saying this but I do want Kurokiba to win."
