Author's Note:

Thank you everyone for the continued support ^^ It really means a lot!

Hope you'll enjoy today's chapter as well.

Kimiko thought that convincing Hiraku to help her friend out would be the hardest part of her endeavor. But now that she stood in front of the so-called Elite 10 Council Building she feared that merely finding Hiraku would be much of a challenge as well.

Looking up to the giant glass-window skyscraper, that even blocked the light of the afternoon sun that was setting behind it, nearly broke Kimiko's neck. Why was a student council consisting of ten highschoolers, one of them her disorganized brother, in need for such an imposing office building that could very well compete with the homes of big name brands? Kimiko would never fully understand this school, she was sure of that. Nevertheless, this edifice looked like hell to navigate.

She took a deep breath to push her upcoming frustration somewhere into the back of her mind. Then she made her first step towards the glassy maze.

—

The Nineteenth Plate - The Benevolence of the 5th Seat

—

The lobby was large and wide; and of course it was also very noble-looking with it's marble floor that reflected the light of the modern-looking chandelier and the fine leather seats that stood in the waiting area alongside an assortment of various books. At the very end of the hall, Kimiko could make out another glass door that seemed to lead to a terrace and a garden. But the one thing that was truly of her interest was to her right and that was the reception, as well as the floorplan.

The receptionist was a woman in her fifties. She wore her mouse-brown hair in a tight bun and had a pair of horn-rimmed glasses sitting on her nose. Only when Kimiko came closer, she looked up from her computer. Though her fingers kept on typing at an impressive speed as if they were machines on autopilot, while her sharp gaze studied the girl in front of her. "Can I help you?" She asked after finishing her little scan.

"Yeah…" Kimiko nodded slightly. "…Where can I find the fourth seat?" The frown on the woman's face intensified. "The fourth seat?" She repeated, her voice dripping with skepticism. "Do you happen to have an appointment?" 'Do I even need an appointment now to talk to my brother?' Was the reply that burned on Kimiko's tongue and it required her a lot of willpower to not let it go past her lips. She reminded herself that this woman couldn't know that she was Hiraku's sister and then just said. "…No, I don't. Is that a requirement?"

It looked like the woman was repressing a sigh when she shifted on her swivel chair in order to fully face Kimiko. "It depends. However, in the specific case of Yukihira Hiraku we've been having one too many young girls wanting to go up to him lately." She couldn't hide the snippy undertone when continuing. "Usually they come with the endeavor to bring him food and ask if he's free later on which, well, isn't an endeavor of very high importance."

"Oh…Oh no, it isn't anything like that!" Kimiko violently shook her head. "Not in a million years. You see, Hiraku is my older brother." "Your older brother?" The receptionist questioned. "My name is Yukihira Kimiko." She answered with a nod. A little pause ensued and half-way through it Kimiko decided to pull out her student ID to prove that she does indeed share the same surname as the fourth seat.

"Well…Would you look at that." The receptionist mused while studying the card. She returned the student ID and turned back to her laptop. After a few clicks she announced. "You're lucky, lass. He seems to be free right now."

—

The doors of the elevator opened to the penultimate floor and as they did they revealed the face of Akio Hayama to Kimiko. He made a slight bow and said. "Your brother send me to lead you to his office, Kimiko-sama."

Instantly Kimiko raised both of her hands in an almost defensive manner. "Please…don't call me that, Hayama-senpai." Akio however just stepped to the side in order to clear the way for her. "Watanabe-san", Kimiko assumed that was the name of the receptionist, "said you would be coming. I put on some raspberry leaf tea as well. Based on what your brother told me I thought that out of all the tea blends I have in office right now this one would be most to your liking." "Oh….thank you", Kimiko heard the elevator's doors closing behind her after she took the step out of it, "That does sound pretty good actually." She saw how the ends of Akio's mouth subtly lifted, noticeably enough for her to tell that he was glad about getting the tea-choice right. "Please follow me."

Akio lead her through a bunch of lengthy corridors until they stood in front of a door that had an extra sign underneath the one that listed the room-number. The extra one read: "Office of the 4th Seat". Akio announced their arrival through a knock and then held the door open for Kimiko to enter.

The first thing Kimiko saw was a desk where multiple stacks, or rather, towers of papers had been piling up. On second look she could then catch the flaming red hair and the amethyst eyes of her brother lurking in-between the second and third paper tower. Kimiko couldn't say that she was surprised, knowing what Hiraku's room looked like at home.

"Kimiko." Hiraku walked around the desk. "I didn't expect you to show up anytime. What gives me the honor?" Kimiko's eyes rolled upwards before she even realized it. "Is this how we greet us now?" "I'm going to get you a cup of tea, Kimiko-sama!" Akio suddenly interjected and after getting an approving nod of Hiraku he practically stormed out of the room. "So?" Hiraku redirected his unreadable gaze to his sister.

Kimiko bit the inside of her cheek, internally reminding herself that she was here for Hiroshi. Bringing up her lingering frustration with Hiraku's new personality would not help her cause. "I've come because I need your help with something…" She finally said. "Oh?" Hiraku tilted his head. "For real?" When Kimiko responded with a slow nod, Hiraku gestured towards the chair standing in front of his messy desk. "Why don't you sit down?"

"You see, the thing is…" Kimiko had just sat down when she heard the door behind her open. She turned her head and saw Akio coming back in, a silver tablet with three steaming teacups on it in his hands. "Hiraku-sama's new office is luckily very close to one of the many, many kitchens in this building." He smiled before handing Kimiko one of the three cups. They were snow-white with a gold rim. After she had inspected it enough, Kimiko met Akio's glowing green eyes. "Thank you." "You're welcome!"

Kimiko took a sip from the hot beverage and let out a satisfied hum. Akio had dropped a few red raspberries into the tea as well and if the actual raspberry leaf swimming on the surface was any indication they were freshly-picked. When realizing how much care went into the tea, she just had to voice her praise for it. "It tastes great, Hayama-senpai!"

But in the end Kimiko wasn't here to drink tea. So after Akio had responded with a "I'm glad you like it", she shifted her gaze back to Hiraku who was now holding a cup of tea as well. "So you know how I am part of the Polar Star Dormitory?" She began.

"Aunt Alice told me so, yeah." Hiraku answered monotonously. Kimiko had heard people say that Hiraku's constant neutral expression made him come across as distant and cold. She'd always wave it off, saying that Hiraku was just stuck in his own dimension once in a while. But now, for the first time in forever, Kimiko couldn't help but to feel that they might be right. "One of the members- my friend wasn't chosen for this Autumn Election-thing." She paused to search Hiraku's face for a reaction but was only hit by the realisation that she should have known better. "Anyway, since I heard that you Elite-guys are responsible for the planning I've come to ask if there is perhaps anything we can do about it?"

Neither Hiraku nor Akio did reply. However, to Akio's credit he actually appeared to be pondering over Kimiko's plead judging by how he tilted his head and rubbed his chin. Hiraku meanwhile just kept on staring at his sister. "We all feel that he got sorted out wrongfully." Kimiko sighed. "So please, if there's a way for him to still get in, then-" "And why should I help you?"

Hiraku's interruption had caught Kimiko coldly off guard. She lifted her head, that she didn't even knew to have been hanging low, to look at him wide-eyed. Her puzzled expressions was meet with an all too familiar calm, apathetic one. "Why should I help you?" Hiraku merely repeated. "I don't know this person." "He's my friend!" Kimiko insisted, her brows having sunken downwards at Hiraku's words. "And I am your brother. And when I asked for your help in my plan all you did was yell about how you don't like Kaviar." "That's something entirely different!" Kimiko shot back, her voice bordering a rather shrill tone. "This isn't about us, this is about my friend! Who needs help!"

Hiraku shut down for nearly a minute then, only continuing to give Kimiko his unfazed look. After a silent little stare down between the siblings, he sighed. "Kimiko, Totsuki is not a place to make friends." These words dripped so effortlessly out of his mouth like oil would out of a bottle...oil dripping right into fire.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Kimiko flared up. She began gesturing to Akio, who had been looking back and forth between the two siblings during the last few minutes. "You'd help him too if he was in a pinch, no?!" A rhetoric question, as she didn't give Hiraku any time to answer. "That's what we were taught to do!" "This isn't Sumiredori." Hiraku shot back, a very subtle hint of irritation swinging in his voice.

Now it was Kimiko who remained quiet for a moment. Then she abruptly brought her tea cup to her mouth, chugging it down in one go. Once finished, she sharply replied. "I've noticed!" She stood up and placed the cup back on the tablet, which Akio had set on the last free space of the little tea-table that stood in the room. "I really thought that…" Kimiko muttered before turning around. "I really thought that you'd have some of your sincerity from back there in you." She paused and took a deep breath. Then she threw Hiraku a scowl and snarled. "My mistake!"

"Kimiko-" Hiraku began, after a few seconds had passed. But by then, the door to his office had already fell shut with a loud bang that echoed through the hallway.

—

Once outside of that room, Kimiko took another long breath in hope it would calm her down from the outburst she just had.

What now?

The one opportunity for Hiroshi to still get into these Elections had just slipped through her hands. Or at least it was what Yasu had made out to be the only opportunity.

Wasn't there any other way?

She began walking away from Hiraku's office as she started to think: Weren't there other Elite 10 members that she knew about? Others she could ask?

The first one to come to her mind was Akio Hayama. But as friendly and nice the impression she had of him was, he seemed to hold this unshakeable loyalty to Hiraku. Kimiko was sure that, now that Hiraku was against helping, he'd refuse as well, albeit probably a lot more regretfully. But still. After some more thinking, the only other Elite name that her brain provided her with was that of Shigeo Eizan. She remembered Umino saying that 'the Boss can grant you any sort of wish'. But based on all other things Kimiko has heard about Shigeo, as well as her own impression of him, he didn't exactly strike her as the gracious kind. Shigeo's help would probably not come for free and something told Kimiko that the price for it might be her soul.

Lost in thought, Kimiko kept on walking until she eventually reached the elevators. She'd have possibly walk right into the doors if they hadn't drawn open at the last second. And so she walked into a large figure instead.

"Oh, sorry." Kimiko stammered once she realized that she had just bumped into what was in fact a person. She stumbled backwards and looked up, trying to meet the person's eyes. When all she saw was chest, she craned her head further upwards in confusion.

"It's fine. We all get lost in thought once in a while." A gentle, warm voice reached her ear and right then Kimiko met the face of Ran Mimasaka.

"You're Yukihira Kimiko right?" Ran smiled. "The little sister of our new fourth seat?" "Y...Yes." Kimiko answered while walking further backwards, to make way for the fifth seat. "I am. And you're..." It then dawned on Kimiko that the first and only time she ever saw Ran was when she stepped into the arena as contender in a Shokugeki between her and Kimiko's big brother, the new fourth seat. As Kimiko remembered the details on how Hiraku acquired that fourth seat that was when a feeling of awkwardness overcame her. "You're…Mimasaka Ran." She gulped while lowering her head.

"I hope you don't mind me asking but what brings you here?" Kimiko lifted her head back up. She looked right into a friendly face, completely devoid of any form of bitterness or spite. "I wanted to talk to my brother...", Kimiko answered then, as she felt herself easing down a little, "...I needed his help with something."

"I see." Ran replied and finally stepped out of the elevator. She halted right in front of Kimiko, which meant that Kimiko had to crane her head upwards again - This woman was an actual giant! "I also heard about how you helped out my younger brother in this year's Trainings Camp." Ran bend forwards a little, noticing Kimiko's efforts to meet her eyes better. "Kazuo is speaking very highly of you and I have to say, I'd love to get to know you a little better myself. Could I interest you in a little cup of tea at my office?"

Kimiko did not have to think for very long. An Elite 10 member offering her a talk was another door opening for Hiroshi. And so, she gave a smile. "Why not?"

—

Ran's office looked pretty different to Hiraku's. The biggest difference was that there was order. The things on her dark wooden desk were neatly assorted and there was not a single loose paper on it in sight. Instead there were multiple cupboards with a great ton of drawers. But Ran had also neatly decorate her little tea table with a little embroidery doily. Larger ones could be seen on her couches alongside a collection of what seemed to be hand-made dolls. It all looked very inviting and homey.

"I've only moved into the fifth seat's office recently, so I'm not fully done with the interior yet. I hope you don't mind." Ran said as she walked to the tea maker she had standing on her sideboard. "The dolls are made by my little sister by the way. I taught her how to sew only two years ago, but she's already excellent at it." Kimiko let her gaze sweep over the assortment of dolls with their little "u"-smiles and button-eyes. "They look adorable!" She praised earnestly. Ran gave an appreciative nod. She gestured towards the coach. "Please take a seat." Kimiko didn't have to be told twice.

A couple minutes later, Ran came back with a tray that had a painted teapot, a couple porcelain cups with flower motives on them, a little jug with milk, a glass of honey along with a honey dipper and a small plate with a variant of pastries that Kimiko heard were called 'scones'. "The second seat made lemon-honey scones for all of us this morning. They go wonderfully with Earl Grey tea." She sat down the tray before pulling herself a chair to the tea table.

"Earl Grey is my favorite." Ran said, once she had been sitting down. She took the teapot and directed it towards Kimiko's cup. "I like to have it with honey and milk. But how do you feel? Do you want milk with it as well?" "Milk and honey does sound good actually." Kimiko nodded.

When both cups were filled, Kimiko took a sip and couldn't suppress the satisfied hum leaving her lips as the sweet warmth flooded through her. She hadn't realized how much she had needed it after all the frustration Hiraku had caused. "It tastes great!" Kimiko smiled and met Ran's eyes.

Ran looked a lot like the living example of a juxtaposition, with her flowery, fragile porcelain cup that was a dramatic contract to her rebellious side-cut and the piercings in her ear. She looked like someone who Kimiko would expect touring the country, singing Punk-Rock-Songs covers in the city's roughest bars. But here she was having a tea party.

"May I ask what you needed your brother's help for?" Ran asked after she had taken her first sip.

"Well.." Kimiko began, quick to grab her chance. "I am part of a dorm, the Polar Star dormitory to be exact, and one of my dormmates, a friend of mine to be exact, he…well, he wasn't chosen for the Autumn Elections. The members at the dorm are all in agreement that he didn't deserve to be sorted out, so I got here to ask-" "…ask if the Elite 10 is able to still get him in somehow?"

"Yes!" Kimiko exclaimed. After the moment of surprise had passed she asked. "…Is there?"

Ran leaned back in her chair, taking a sip of her tea before she answered. A thoughtful expression wandered on her face. "That member you're talking about…Is Aldini-Tadokoro Hiroshi right?" Kimiko's jaw hung low then. "How did you…?"

The end of Ran's mouth twitched slightly and she placed her tea cup back on the tray. "I expected one of the Polar Star members to show up today, being perfectly honest." She stood up then and walked towards one of the cupboards with the drawers. "When we discussed the matter of Aldini-Tadokoro Hiroshi at the Elite 10 meeting his case stroke me as rather strange." When she returned to the table she held a file in her hands.

"I took it upon myself to look through some of his older documents…", she began, "…and I noticed something. There is a significant shift in his performance between his first year of middle school and the second." Her red eyes scanned the the papers in her head. "It seems like this shift occurred closely after his cousin transferred into Totsuki."

Knowing that this aligned exactly with what Satoshi had told Kimiko, her jaw hung low once again.

"You see, Aldini-Tadokoro comes from a rather notable background and his cousin usually talks to highly about him as well, so something about his resume at the Elite 10 meeting wasn't adding up to me." Ran explained. "That's why I just couldn't help but to look further into it." She gazed through the side, which Kimiko thought looked almost shy.

A moment of silence ensued. Then Kimiko finally closed her still low-hanging jaw. Just to open it right after. "As I said, the students of Polar Star are all in agreement that Hiroshi is deserving enough to participate in the Elections…"

Ran closed the file and laid it aside, a sigh escaping her as she did so. "It sound like this is a big matter for you." While Kimiko already felt her heart sinking, Ran suddenly flashed her a small smile. "And if there's anything I can do to help, I'd love to."

"Really?" Kimiko would have almost jumped off her seat if she hadn't remembered the tea cup in her hands at the last second. Ran replied with a faint chuckle. "I can't promise anything but I will see what I can do." She gave Kimiko a look then, filled with nothing but genuine honesty and benevolence. "I know that a lot of people describe Totsuki as this battleground where it's survival of the fittest but, well, I guess I always had my troubles conforming to that. I don't mind reaching out a hand once in a while."

Kimiko returned the smile. "Thank you. It'll mean the world to Hiroshi-kun…and his friends as well!" "Ah, don't mention it!" Ran waved off, looking to the side once again. "There's an idea in my head already. I will call you in a couple or days or so to tell you if it worked or not."

She reached out for her tea cup and turned her head back to Kimiko, an appreciative look on her face. "May I tell you though…That you're a really good friend." Her smile only grew when she saw how Kimiko was now the one looked down on her tea cup instead. "I mean it."

Ran took a sip of her tea and redirected her gaze towards the window. "To be honest with you, I'd have expected Mika Aldini to be the one showing up here…"

—

The night had come over Totsuki Culinary Academy. However it needed more than darkness and the moon to bring this school to a standstill. While most of the normal students had gone home already, the building of the Elite 10 was brightly lightened with some of the members still being avidly at work.

Way up in the office of the 8th Seat, a dimly lid room with a through and through monochrome interior, Shigeo Eizan was having his eighteenth Espresso of the day.

"You truly must be desperate." He mused after taking his first sip. "Or what else could lead such a righteous person as you are into my office?"

"I have to say I feel like turning right the fuck around again." Mika Aldini snarled without hesitation, her arms crossed in absolute defiance. Shigeo however remained unimpressed by Mika's hostile tone. He raised an eyebrow. "Is that how you regularly approach the people you ask for help?" "Normally..", Mika hissed, "…I wouldn't even come close to you and your sickening attitude that is as greasy as your hair!"

Shigeo leaned back in his chair, the Espresso-cup still in his hands. "If all you came here for was to insult me", he nodded into the direction of Umino and Yamada, "I could have you be thrown out instantly." One of his infamous smirks found it's way on his face then. "But that's not the case, isn't it? You want my help." Mika gritted her teeth as a reply.

"Your wish to help out your cousin has you betraying your principles." Shigeo observed with a slightly amused sounding tone. "That's what is happening here, isn't it?"

"Hiroshi is deserving to be in the Autumn election." Mika promptly insisted. "Yes, yes…of course he is." Shigeo waved off. If he had sounded a bit entertained just a second ago, his voice suddenly swung into a slightly bored tone instead. "I mean…There must be something about this kid for you to be willing to go this far."

He took another sip of his coffee. Once having done so, he positioned his fingers on a sheet of paper beside him and slid it over into the center of his desk. "Okay Aldini, I'll make you an offer." Shigeo then said in his serious business-voice. Mika felt a shudder crawl down her spine as she watched Shigeo pull out a shiny, black ink pen with a golden rim.

As the feather began scratching the paper, Shigeo started to elaborate. "I will get your beloved cousin into the Elections. But in return…" Mika tensed up even more as this was the part she had been most worried over. "In return you will, " Shigeo looked up from his paper, "owe me a favor." He watched the hint of confusion wandering over Mika's face and the end of his mouth twitched a little upwards.

"I owe you a favor?!" Mika repeated in disbelief. "What sort off favor?" "We'll see about that." Shigeo smirked. "On the day when I will cash in that favor." He began writing again. "On this, undetermined, day you will be doing my bidding. Whatever I ask."

For a moment silence prevailed. Then Mika asked. "And…that's it? Just one favor? Nothing more?"

"I think I am having one of my gracious days." Shigeo purred and lifted his head back up again. He finished writing and pushed the paper forward to Mika. "Is that an actual contract?" She called out once her blue eyes had overflown the sheet. "Just so you won't forget about our little agreement." Shigeo hummed.

For the first time ever since she had entered the office, Mika opened up her crossed arms and grabbed the sheet. "Wait!" Her finger pointed at one of the latter sentences. "This reads that should I fail to complete this favor, I'll have to be part of your network!"

"Ah yes, that." Shigeo brought his hands together with only his fingertips touching. "This is just as an insurance for me. You see, I can't risk having anyone be, how do I say, demotivated when completing my favors. So this is just to assure that you'll complete your task, whatever it is, faithfully." He leaned back and gave Mika one of his sugar sweet smiles. "But with a talented person as you are, I'm certain that I don't have anything to worry about. No?"

Mika looked back at the contract, reading over it again. She knew it was wrong to be here. It was common knowledge within Polar Star to not get mixed up with Shigeo. But all of Shigeo's ridiculously formal phrasings written in admittedly elegant calligraphy blurred before her eyes into a whirlwind of black and white when Hiroshi's face from yesterday appeared in her head. It felt like several lassos were thrown around her heart and pulled at from several directions. And before she knew it, four fatal words left her lips.

"I will sign it."

—

"That was easier than I thought." Shigeo hummed once Mika had left the room, her signature properly down on the end of Shigeo's contract.

He redirected his gaze towards the computer screen but before he could open up any text document he noticed the alert for a new E-Mail. Since Shigeo Eizan was a man that detested a crammed E-Mail box he went to open it right away.

It was an E-mail send to all members of the Elite 10 and the sender read Ran Mimasaka's name. After having speed-read the text, a crooked smile found it's way on Shigeo's face.

He glanced towards the door Mika had just rushed through and chuckled. "Talk about bad timing."