Chapter 5: Meeting of the leaders

Soma and crew enjoyed the time away from Totsuki even knowing that soon they would be meeting the head of the underworld and what was to come nobody knew. They knew one thing and one thing only that they would go through any trial together and nothing would change that for they were family and they all loved each other. They sat well into the night playing games, laughing, and cooking as they enjoyed the warmth that they all gave knowing that soon they would be once again fighting to protect the food world they love.

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Underworld: I am here now I figured you would want to meet me before I met with the group around you.

Soma: Is it true Yukihira Tamako is still alive?

Underworld: Yes, and she is with me she asked to see you again.

Soma: Fine once everyone falls asleep meet me at her grave site I will come alone

Underworld: Understood

He slowly got up heading upstairs as the girls followed him worried seeing how his expression went from joy with everyone to that of despair. He moved from the room to the bathroom relaxing in the shower doing everything he could just to stop himself from shouting that everyone wanted to get involved when this was his battle for his stupid mistake when he decided to travel to different countries and now felt like he needed to protect everyone so he planned it tonight he would do a 100 vs 1 team battle Shokugeki because even the underworld was one to do challenges like that. Finally, feeling relief from his thoughts he got out with a clear mind and soon he would see his mother again. He moved to his bed seeing the two women laying there looking even more beautiful with the moonlight perfectly hitting their skin to make them glow like the goddesses they were how he managed to get both of them in his life he did not know but he was sure he did not care this sight here was all he needed to see to remember that what he was going to do was the right path to protect these two and everyone else smiling as he took in the sight before he almost got in bed with them but turned around to go to the kitchen instead to cook and clear his mind as he made his way down he noticed everyone there was passed out with a smile and before even thinking he went to his dad's room to grab a piece of paper and a pen as he wrote a note.

Everyone,

If you are reading this I left last night and I know each one of you will be mad or hate me but you have to understand I wanted to do it with all of you until I saw all your smiles and how beautiful Erina and Alice looked as they slept and I could not risk any of you so I have left to take care of these matters on my own and all I ask is that none of you look for me and pop's he said he was going to bring mom tonight when I meet him and once we finish all the negotiations I plan to do a 100 v 1 Team Shokugeki.

Erina first and foremost I love you and never forget that and I could not risk what happened with your dad happening to you again you mean way too much to me to let you be put back in a cage and I know that even if I never see you again Hisako and Alice will take care of you. I will never forget meeting you when I did at the entrance exam for Totsuki when you told me my food was disgusting but I still have not heard you call my food delicious, so my job is not done yet I promise to come back and get you to say my food is delicious. I do not regret the journey I have taken since I met you and thank you for allowing me to have been in your life, I left a dish for you and everyone in the fridge I hope to see you soon I love you princess.

Alice well I can say I never expected to fall in love with you but I did and I do not regret that because between you and Erina my life has been the best but knowing my mom is alive I could not help but run to save her and I did not want to risk your freedom just like I refuse to risk Erina's I don't want either of you to end up caged and I know that even if I am gone and we never meet again that you both will be well taken care of by everyone but I do plan on returning to all of you but I cannot risk the people I love and those who helped me get to where I am today so for now I love you my sunshine and see you later.

Pops well there are so many things to say but none of them seem quiet right and I know you will be hurt and mad probably but I love you even with how much we argue I could never ask for a better father and I know you are disappointed I left this way after we all agreed to work together but I could not risk you losing your cooking again and so I am going on my own I hope you take care of Erina and Alice for me as you would be their father-in-law but don't show them the baby pictures please I know it is something you would do and if I comeback and find out you did I will make sure to skin you alive but the reason I am leaving now is because they have mom and I plan to bring her back to you I refuse to let our family remain broken anymore also I made lunch for everyone its Soma-style love sushi. Please take care of yourself and everyone else until I return and until I do this is goodbye and see ya later.

Love,

Soma

He slowly walked back downstair to make them sushi to eat for lunch before he left being a quiet as possible as he could not afford to wake anyone up he had to do this and seeing them before he disappears would make everything even harder. Finally, finishing the sushi he divided it all and made each dish in the shape of a heart and in the middle he put a homemade ginger and wasabi mix with each persons name except on Erina's and Alice's dish he put his name with a heart between them as he wrapped the dishes to put them in the fridge and made his way quietly up stair he put his key in Erina's hand as he gently kissed both girls on the forehead before he walked back downstair and left out the back door quietly making his was to the gravesite this was his fight and his alone. Finally, arriving after walking in a roundabout way just to make sure nobody was following him, he saw him the man who almost destroyed his cooking career before Don Julio.

"Welcome Soma it has been a while since I last saw you" Julio said as he chuckled.

"Where is my mother" Soma whispered as if he was already defeated not knowing if he could do this anymore, but he had gone this far, and he'd be damned if he turned back now but just as he finished he saw a woman walking out that looked exactly like his mother and he questioned her asking for his grandfather's name, birthdate, and anything else he could think of just to make sure and the woman had passed with not a single incorrect answer as he just stood there speechless knowing full well it was his mother before but all the answers and the voice it was definitely her.

"What do you want from me" Soma looked at him with anger that was unbecoming of the man and anyone who knew him would have never guessed him to have such hatred and anger in him.

"You are what I want with you I can change the cooking world to bend to my whims and in return I will release your mother" Julio chuckled he finally had him cornered all because he so happened to have found his mother dying in the hospital and was able to give her food that put her in a state of death while it cured her body the ultimate form of cooking involving complete darkness.

"If I say no" he stared at the man as he held his mother firmly in place.

"Then I take her back with me and we never met but next time we battle I would completely destroy you" the man chuckled as he saw Soma look at him as if his world had been destroyed.

"I challenge you to a Shokugeki all 100 of you and your men against me" he growled out as his fear evaporated into the night glaring at the man so intensely it caused him to step back without even realizing it.

"Why would I there is nothing you have that I want" the man laughed as he looked at Soma thinking he finally had the upper hand against the boy.

"We will do it at Totsuki and if you win not only would you control me who is the first seat but you would have complete control of Totsuki and I would give up my way of cooking forever including the family diner" Soma said with vigor renewed.

"You can't give me Totsuki you're not the heir to it" the man chuckled.

"You are right, but I am engaged to her and if I lose I will break the engagement off and you can have both Erina and Alice" Soma was now feeling full control of the situation and as much as it pained him to do this it was the only way he would gain advantage on the man.

"Fine you have a deal we will commence in a month" He turned to leave before Soma grabbed him.

"One more thing my mother stays with me until we finish all the matches or I lose" he looked at the man expecting him to fight him more but he simply nodded and walked away leaving him with his mother at her grave as she fell to her knees crying after having her son save her from the vile man and they turned to walk away and Soma stared at his mom taking her to the diner before he left again to train even further and he had already booked his flight to New England. Finally, at the diner doors he opened them and told her right where he slept so she could curl back up with the love of her life before leaving he gave her one last hug and kiss and walked away throwing everything away so that he could destroy the man that threatened everything he loved.

The next morning

Everyone slept peacefully until they all heard two girls screaming as if someone had just died. Everyone shot ups as the two scream running downstairs seeing as Soma was not next to them and he was the one who always slept in and yet there was no Soma in sight. Curling up into the embrace of their parents Joichiro got up and went to look for his son when he noticed the woman next to him even if she was bruised and cut all over he would never mistake this woman he slowly kissed her forehead as he got to searching for his son but he was no were to be found so he was going to make everyone a late breakfast even though it was nearing lunch time when he noticed in the fridge was way to much sushi and in front there was a note and he sighed knowing full well what this meant and called the two girls over to let them read the note first as he grabbed the sushi only to notice not only did his son prepare the sushi but each one had a name on it as if it was specially made for that person and slowly he set down each plate as everyone looked at him confused when they all heard "SOMA I HATE YOU BAKA HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US" the two shouted in unison before they stormed out thrusting the paper into pop's hand and just sat down as he walked to the back to read the note after finishing taking the sushi out to everyone he asked for a minute before they ate and he walked away to read the note his son had left only to feel pain going deeper and deeper into his heart he saw his son taking the path he had taken before but the only difference was that Soma is willingly taken it and he had no idea that he was going to the path that would destroy him.

Ring ring ring

Hey this is Soma leave a message I will call back when I get it.

They just sat there quietly eating the sushi each of them feeling the love that he had put into the dish when finally, she woke up as Joichiro sat there chuckling seeing as she slept through everything as usual.

"What happened to our son" he asked knowing if anyone here knew it was her and she just looked at him quizzically.

"He should be here he said I would stay with him un till the Shokugeki took place" she said as tears formed in her eyes she saw a demonic presence in her son that was far scarier than the one she saw in her lover and even worse than the men who beat her relentlessly.

"Shokugeki" they all said in unison not liking where this was going now they all looked at her as he made his way over to here to hold her and soothe her pain "What did he wager my love" he asked in a hush tone just barely loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Everything our son wagered everything his life, Totsuki academy, two girls named Erina and Alice, our diner just so that I could come home to see you but the worst part is he looked worse than when I met you and you were fighting your demons you know when you put out food that was out of this world but it was filled with rage and hatred and because of me he is going to lose everything" she was now crying unable to control her emotions when Soma had called Erina.

"Hey you called" Soma asked knowing full well he was about to get yelled at or so he thought.

"How could you do this to us don't you know how much you mean to everyone here you always risk everything to save everyone but yet you never let anyone walk next to you to help you why I thought you loved us Soma" Alice and Erina cried out tears flowing harder and harder with each passing second.

"You feel like your not next to me that is because I am still behind you I will always travel behind you only walking in front of you when something comes to hit you other than that my cooking will never catch you but that does not mean I am giving up on having you call my food delicious Erina and Alice you should not be crying I will be back in three weeks to see everyone also you both need to set the school up for a team Shokugeki" Soma said chuckling even if he sank into darkness he knew he would not let himself sink so deep as to let the two woman he loves more than anything be hurt even if his demon killed his heart he knew that his demon felt the same as he did for the girls and that is the reason he finally decided to show the world why he was the only true son of Saiba.

"You promise to stay safe and to not do anything that could hurt you because your mom said you looked and gave off an extremely dark and dangerous feeling Soma" his father said over the crying girls.

"I might have lost my way to be honest I could not tell you anymore but until I stop the underworld, I don't want to find the path again" Soma said as everyone could hear his voice cracking and faltering, they knew that he was genuinely scared of losing himself.

"So, what are the rules" Erina blurted out.

"It is a 100 v 1 Team Shokugeki with 20 of them going against me each day starting Monday a month from now so I am travelling enjoying everything that I may not be able once everything is all said and done even though I know I will win I think I might lose who I am in the process and that is why I am doing this alone I don't want anyone on the path I am taking on" He stated in the annoying Soma tone.

"Send me pictures of everywhere you go we need to know you are at least safe" Alice chirped in as she finally was finishing her tears, she truly could not believe she fell in love with this idiot.

Soma then hung up without saying another word knowing how much it killed him he went to the cabin he rented and stored all the food as he started to focus before, he let it take over his dad was the Asura, but Soma knew once he started everyone would be know as el diablo as the devil within him took over and they started to cook well past Soma's limits and showed no signs of letting up.

The days passed by in a blur Soma refused to go out in the day only to have food delivered to the cabin so that he could continue deepening his trance with his inner devil accepting this was the only way to save the people who meant everything to him. He finally checked his phone to see if it had been 3 or 5 days only to realize that he had to get a ticket it was the Thursday before the battle not knowing how so much time had passed, he got the ticket and went to bed that night knowing this was almost certainly his last day of his humanity sinking lower and lower into the suffocating darkness that surrounded him.

Everyone sat at the diner everything had been set but they decided they did not care and his mother called him "Hi kitten you ready to comeback and we can fix things with your son" the man said grinning knowing he had so much power over the mother and soon she would give up everything to him.

"No, we want to alter the rules I am joining my son in the battle, and we are too so you can add Joichiro, Alice, and Erina. Don't forget to add Asahi and Azami. Isami and Takumi also. I am helping my son also Tamako Yukihira is going against you" They all said as the man gasped.

"Fine it won't change the outcome just makes everything take longer by the way call me Don Julio" the man said grinning knowing that a few of them should back out as the Aldini brothers almost lost everything to him before and Asahi and Azami know full well how evil the underworld is.

"Thanks bye" Erina spat as she hung up the phone seeing fear in everyone's eyes, but Alice and she did not know why. "What is wrong?" Alice asked noticing the same thing that Erina did.

"Don Julio is the most ruthless man alive that we have see there are worse, but they stay hidden more so than him and he is the reason Tamako was bruised so badly and had cut everywhere." Mana told the girls as tears formed in her eyes knowing full well that they may just lose everything to this man and there was nothing she could do about it.

Sunday

Soma finally was back in his room in the dorm where his journey started but the only difference was his room was completely dark as if to let everything consume him until he broke and went on a complete rampage and destroyed everything and everyone in his path and soon he was ready as he went to bed after just soaking in the darkness and letting his anger and rage boil more and more so much so that nobody even came near his room except for Erina and Alice who would slide notes under his door and tape them to his door so that he would know that they love him and would never let him get hurt.

They all stayed at the Nakiri mansion and tomorrow was the day that they would be entering after many messages they could not join unless Soma lost, or he had beaten the first 80 members of the underworld when they tried to protest, he let them know he didn't have to let them in the team Shokugeki, and they just sat there quietly accepting the terms that he had set. Silently each of them crying as once again Soma went to take on everyone's burdens and did not even think about his own well being when she walked up to the two girls.

"Here I want you both to take this and after the match challenge Soma to a Shokugeki because this might be the only way to save him I know he will be able to take all 100 of them he is a Yukihira after all but he will be extremely weak after and it is the best time to pull him back out" she said as she handed each girl one of her knives she used to use when she cooked with Soma and Joichiro as she handed Erina the knife she used when teaching Soma and handed Alice the knife she used when Soma would watch her cook with Joichiro.

The two girls just stared at her and nodded as the mother cried when the rest of the family entered, and he ran to his wife's side holding her and trying to soothe so that she would be able to see how much their son had grown since she last saw him. Mana and everyone else so came over all exchanging stories of Soma and how he always prevailed without giving up who he was as a person but still nobody could shake the unsettling feeling that they all had deep down. Erina eventually spoke up telling everyone how she originally tried to get rid of Soma so many times and yet now she was engaged to him and it was proof to her that he would be ok and that Soma would never let himself become something so un-Soma like as she chuckled even though she felt the fear of losing him more than anyone else after all he had saved her from each and every peril and now she would do the same for the me she loved more than anything and afterwards she would give him a piece of her mind she was smirking at the idea and how she would punish him once again for all this pain as she saw everyone staring at her with horror in their eyes knowing that she was going to verbally murder the poor kid for trying to save them all and not telling her about his plan before he did it and silently they were all praying for him before they all silently went to sleep before tomorrow so that they were all prepared for the Shokugeki.