Nakiri Mansion

"Okayyyy, my turn!" Haru said, making his way over to the judges.

Alice motioned for Erina to come closer.

"Listen Erina, I don't care how good this guy is, if he thinks he can win us over, he's wrong, we'll all vote in your favor anyway." She whispered to Erina.

While she was against cheating, Erina knew that it was possibly the only way to beat Haru at this point, so she simply nodded in understanding.

"Buen provecho." Haru said as he laid the plates out in front of the judges,

As soon as the smell hit Ryo's nostrils he knew that it had also hit Alice and Hisako's, and considering the intensity of this smell, he could only brace himself…

Erina suddenly felt a cold rush of air hit her skin. At first she thought a gust of air had blown in from outside, but after looking down she realized her clothes were completely gone, she was left in merely her underwear. The same was with Ryo, Alice, and Hisako. It was the Nakiri ability of "blessing" people within the vicinity whenever the food was stellar in quality.

"KYAAAAA!" Hisako and Erina screamed in embarrassment as they ducked and tried to cover themselves.

Meanwhile Ryo could only marvel at what Haru brought in. It appeared to be a sort of jelly, yet somehow resembled a pastry.

As Erina and Hisako scrambled to get their clothes back on, they noticed Alice, who was now slumped over the table, drool leaving her mouth, plate finished, as she had a hand reached out that clearly said she was asking for more.

"Sorry, I only made enough for three." Haru said innocently.

"What is this?" Hisako asked as she finally managed.

"Phew, I'm glad someone asked. It's Dulce de Batata, a Paraguayan dish who's main ingredient is sweet potatoes." Haru said.

"What the fu-" Ryo said as he bit into the Batata.

Instantly he was enveloped in a golden light and was transported to a lake.

Most comparisons he had heard of related to the main ingredient of the dish turning into some kind of adjective-enhanced animal that completely mesmerized whoever ate it. But this was different, the lake was glazed over with the beautiful orange glow of a sunset in the distance, blending the two in with no flaw whatsoever.

He was being overloaded with information, and it threatened to completely shut him off.

After barely regaining control over himself, Ryo tried to think about just how this dish was in comparison to Erina's.

Damn, so much information… Okay lets see, the beginning bite has a firm texture, but once you reach the inner layers, it gets softer by about… Ugh focus… By 10 fold? No, 100 fold.. Probably more...

As if it was bound to get better, Ryo started to hear sounds, no, music, in the distance, he recognized it as being classical immediately, and while he wasn't a fan of the genre, it somehow- calmed him.

After a while, Ryo finally took notice of the source of the sound, it was a cello, and in the distance was a figure who was playing the instrument. It was Haru playing the cello! And he wasn't just playing, he was articulating a masterpiece with flawless skills.

It was like the music was trying to lull Ryo to sleep, and it was working.

While Ryo was arrogant, loud, and berating, he was also impartial. Erina's dish was certainly one to go in the books as the definition of what a mastered Tortoni should look like.

However, Haru's Batata was something that could only be recreated by himself; a legend that only surfaced once a generation, perhaps even longer.

It was the pinnacle of talent, hard work, and cleverness. A god's hands, perhaps even beyond.

"Oi, you in there?"

Ryo woke up to an annoyed Haru snapping his fingers in front of his face trying to get his attention. How long had it been? It felt like an eternity in that lake, yet only a couple of seconds had passed by in the real world.

He looked around to see Hisako in a similar position Alice was in just a few moments ago.

Speaking of Alice, she had completely passed out, a stupid smile on her face.

Erina was still dumbfounded. Just what happened with those three?

Was the dish really so good that it made Alice and Hisako pass out in pleasure? Kurokiba is the only one who seemed to be able to handle the intensity of the dish, even though he seemed on the verge of losing consciousness too. Just who is this man? She thought to herself as she took a wary look at Haru Tadokoro, who only winked back.

"What- What will the verdict be, Kurokiba?" Erina asked.

"Well- seeing as those two have gone and passed out, I'll just go ahead and assume they think the same thing, Haru wins." He said flatly, taking off his bandana and carrying Alice bridal-style out of the kitchen.

"I lost- again?" Erina said, holding a hand to her chest.

"Oh don't pout Little Nakiri, you got lots to look forward to! For now, let's start with tomorrow. You'll have time to say your goodbye's and gather your belongings." Haru said as he began towards the door.

"What do you mean, gather my belongings?! Where are we going?" Erina demanded, following him as well as motioning for a butler to help Hisako back on her feet.

"We're going on a trip across the world of course." Haru said as if it was the most obvious thing, which it wasn't.

"WHAT! What do you mean, "trip across the world,"?!"

"Well yeah, we're gonna go sightseeing, I think you've been holed up here for too long!"

"Well- what about the school? The students- who will manage everything?!"

"Oh, Senzaemon will take care of that. Don't worry about the responsibilities. We're only gonna worry about you and how you're gonna prevent turning into Saiba Joichiro when he was your age."

"How do you know of Saiba-sama?!"

"Oh please, who wouldn't know about the Asura?" He replied.

Erina had so many questions and reprimands, but she found herself unable to say anything as Haru began closing the door.

"Back your bags, say your goodbyes, do whatever, but meet me at the school cafe tomorrow at sunset, we'll discuss everything in detail there." He said as he began closing the door.

"But-"

Haru stopped.

"Look... you're a Nakiri. You guys are known for being control seeking narcissists. I also know that if you're really as high class as you brag about, then you'll live up to the terms we agreed upon, especially since you lost a Shokugeki."

"I DIDN'T AGREE TO ANYTHING!" Erina yelled, but the door had already shut.

...

The Headmasters Office

*COUGH COUGH COUGH*

Haru was showering when a hacking fit of coughing took hold.

More blood.

"Man- this has to be the worst one yet- RGHHH!" He let out a groan as he clutched his shoulder, there was a massive bruise near his shoulder blade.

"Just love internal bleeding..." Haru grunted as he leaned against the wall of the shower for support.

*flashback*

"Haru, you need to reconsider the meds. This disease is one where it's almost impossible to manage if you don't treat your body with care.

"..."

"Look Haru, as your doctor, I can't force you to do anything you don't want to, but as your friend, please, I'm begging you, don't do this to yourself."

"What's gonna happen if I let it be?" Haru insisted.

"Well-worst case scenario-you die, and that's not including all the agony that comes before hand, it can range from internal bleeding to blindness to irreparable nerve damage. "

"So- I'm dead anyway?"

"Well it depends-"

"That's bull, am I going to live or not?"

"No you won't, not if you keep pushing your body. The only difference here is that you'll have more time depending on what you choose to do."

"Listen, Yuta. We're friends, and we've been friends since middle school. Now if you really know me as well as you think you do, you'd know that I'm not letting a sickness like this take over my life. The last thing I want is to be bedridden on a crap ton of meds!"

"Haru, you're 20 years old, of course no one should have to go through an illness like this, especially not when they have their whole life ahead of them. But that doesn't mean you can just waste the rest of your life-"

"I'm not wasting my life! I'm doing what I love! You think I'd rather lounge around in bed all day even if it meant I got another couple of months? No, of course not- RGHHH!"

Yuta looked at Haru and noticed that he was gripping his upper arm, which had a purple splotch tainting the skin. The young doctor immediately got up from his chair and grabbed an instant ice pack.

After breaking it and feeling it get cold he went back to Haru and pressed it on top of the bruised area.

"Keep pressure on it, it'll slow down the bleeding."

Haru looked up at Yuta with desperation in his eyes.

"Yuta... Is there really nothing else I can do?.." Haru said, breathing heavily.

*end flashback*

After managing to make it out of the shower, Haru went over to the bed and layed down, while his bout of coughing was over, the pain in his chest and arm weren't.

"Oh Senzaemon, I oughta slap you over the head... How the hell do you expect me to just cure your brat... I can't even cure myself…" He said as he opened a bottle of painkillers and swallowed two.

"Then there's the other problem... The 'high class' students at that school are just as egotistic as the ones here. Damn kids just can't acknowledge their wealth… I should really put them in their place… No, no, no... I need to focus on Little Nakiri first, otherwise Senzaemon won't help Megumi."

…

"Of course, there's Saiba's kid. I swear, that damn extrovert just can't stay in one place. I already know Little Nakiri has the hots for him… the question is if he feels the same way… No, no, what the hell am I saying... Of course he does, he went on his little world tour because Little Nakiri rejected him, maybe not his feelings but everyone here's so avid about pouring their soul into the dishes they come up with, it may as well be their emotions..."

…

He sighed.

Haru felt guilty for leaving his mom, family and friends at Totsuki behind after being diagnosed. But he had a good reason for all of them. He was dying, plain and simple. He wanted to make the most of whatever time he had left.

His mom would have broken down and begged him to take the meds, which he would have eventually agreed to. His friends at Totsuki, like Taki and Sonoka, they all would've done the same. Haru saw no point in telling them if that was all they were going to do, especially if it was out of pity.

Then there was Megumi. Haru knew that she probably hated him by now, and he didn't blame her. But regardless, there was absolutely no way he could've told her at first. Growing up, Haru saw Megumi as an angel who cared for everyone and tried her best for everything, as a result he felt that as the older brother he had to care and nurture his sister, especially after their father left them.

"Damn you, cheating bastard. You left and your 6 year old daughter was forced to help us when she could barely lift up a koi…" Haru said, clenching his fists.

Megumi was 12 years old when Haru found out about his condition. If he had told her then, she probably would've broken down, considering how close they were at the time, and if she did there was no way in hell he wouldn't.

Still, if she ever found out, and asked Haru to go back home, he would do it without hesitation, that's how strong a pull Megumi had over him, but he wasn't ready to tell her yet.

*sigh* "Man, so many things to do, what a pain. I guess I'll start with Little Nakiri." He said as he got up to make himself some tea.

A/n:

Hey guys, there's Chapter 7! Hopefully I get Chapters 8-10 completed by Sunday and we can finish the Second Tier by next week. After that I'll start working on the Third Tier. Thank you for reading and as always I will see you in the next chapter!

-Kano(I keep forgetting to add that ToT)