Rebellion
Chapter Two
Two weeks have passed since their battle, and the school was back to functioning like normal. Well, as normal as the top culinary school in the world could be.
At least everyone he cared about made it past the promotion exams. Now was finally the time for summer relaxat-
"No. You're not getting a break Yukihira-san." Soe Nakiri spoke up from his office desk, his eyes briefly looking up from his important paperwork to meet Soma's before diligently returning.
"What? Why? I passed, didn't I? Why do I need summer school?" Soma asked, his usual uncaring demeanor shown as his hand lazily waved away his director's command.
'This is so lame, why does only the council not get to have fun over the summer?' Soma grumbled internally.
"Because S-soma-kun, w-we need to assist with rebuilding the bridges that Azami Nakiri-sama destroyed," a cute bluenette wearing her hair in long twin braids stuttered out.
"Tadokoro-san is correct," Soe Nakiri calmly spoke, giving a small smile to the girl who spoke up, "my brother-in-law has caused quite the issue for this school, and I'm going to have to rely on my Elite Ten to help me if this school is to return to its former glory before the students return next year."
Soma bit back a retort, he was just going to go home and cook anyways, so it didn't really matter to him one way or the other, he just hoped it wouldn't be boring.
"Alright, well if that's settled, lets begin with your first assignment. Megumi Tadokoro, Takumi Aldini please step forward."
The two got up from their chairs and approached the director's desk, one of them a fidgeting ball of nerves, and the other exuding confidence with a delicate smile.
Once they arrived, the director handed them each an envelope.
"You two are being sent to the Kinki region and will attempt to reconnect with our food suppliers there. You will find more specific information about your assignment in the instructions I've handed to you. I'm afraid that you don't have time to read it now, as you need to pack and make it to the train station for a departure in two hours. This will be a three day affair, if you fail I still need you to return because I will have more assignments by then that will take presence."
The duo looked at each other and then returned their gaze to the director. Both promptly nodded before walking out the door, eager to live up to their school's reputation. There was no way they were going to come back empty handed.
The rest of the Elite Ten were paired up and sent out, leaving only two.
The pairings were; Satoshi Isshiki and Nene Kinokuni, Terunori Kuga and Akira Hayama, and Ryo Kurokiba and Alice Nakiri, leaving…
"No." Erina stubbornly stated, crossing her arms over her ample chest.
"Yes." The director retorted, once again trying to hand his niece the envelope.
Soma, meanwhile, was sniggering to himself.
'Hehehe, plenty of chances to make her eat my food and make her say it's delicious. Or, maybe I should get payback for almost throwing me out and make her eat something truly disgusting.' Soma thought to himself, a demonic aura replacing his normally charismatic and chaotic one.
"Why uncle? I can handle this himself. You know I can talk to these kinds of people, I've been to many of these discussions before and it will be no problem. I just don't see why he has to tag along, can't he be sent somewhere else? Somewhere less bothersome?" Erina Nakiri complained, frantically waving her hands in her uncle's face, desperate to not have her tormentor tagging along.
"You're precisely right, Erina-chan," the director began, Erina's smile returning to her face, while Soma's smirk fell.
"Yukihira-san is not there to assist you," at the sight of their raised eyebrows, Soe Nakiri smiled, savoring the tension from these two teens, "you are there to assist him."
"Come again?" The two questioned before turning and glaring at each other.
Well, Erina was glaring, Soma was smirking with his trademark hand rubbing the back of his head gesture.
"Yukihira-san, while a great chef, and an experienced restaurant worker, is still lacking in experience in the high-class culinary world."
The director continued, ignoring Erina's satisfied smirk and Soma's twitching eyebrow.
"And that's where you come in, my dear. The truth is, I can't really send Yukihira-san off on any of the current assignments I have left because they all require the utmost tact and carefulness."
Seeing the disappointed look on the young man's face, the director continued, wanting to make sure his point was clearly stated.
"That's not to say that there are certain assignments where you wouldn't shine in, young man. Just think of this as a learning experience for both of you. Yukihira-san, you will be able to learn a bit more of the political landscape we Nakiris are forced to endure everyday, and Erina-chan, you will be able to understand what it's like to cooperate with people you don't see eye to eye with. Remember, this mission is less about cooking, per say, and more about the securing of trade routes part of being a chef."
Seeing determination and… resignation on the two young faces, he finally was able to hand Erina the envelope and bid the two a safe journey.
Once the two were outside, Soe Nakiri looked towards the balcony.
"Are you sure this is a good plan, father? She looked like she would rather be anywhere else than with that young boy." The director spoke, walking over and joining the ex-director on the balcony.
"Hm, well, I don't know everything. Everyone can clearly see that Erina-chan gets angry around him, his rebellious nature and uncaring disposition to rules clearly stirring up her emotions."
The younger of the two narrowed his eyebrows, concerned that he subjected his niece to four days of punishment then.
"But," the older man continued, a small smile appearing on his face as he watched the two teens bicker below him in the courtyard before they stormed off to their respective dorms to pack, "he also causes her to smile the brightest doesn't he?"
The younger man didn't respond, clearly lost in thought, memories of a hollow looking Erina Nakiri resurfacing. He hoped beyond anything that never would a child have to go through the torment that his niece had experienced growing up under the abusive care of her father.
'Soma Yukihira, perhaps your rough and abrasive attitude, combined with your obvious protective nature for your friends, will continue to crack my little niece's hard exterior. Hopefully, out of everyone who has tried to help her throughout her life, you will be the one to remind her to enjoy cooking and to enjoy life.'
The two men stood silently for a while, a gentle breeze assisting them in their war with the warm late-spring sun.
It had been a few hours, but the two had finally arrived at the train station, their train leaving at a later time than Megumi and Takumi's train.
'For the last time, why didn't we just travel by car,' Erina mentally grumbled, confused at why she was being forced to rely on… normal transportation. She was an elite after all! Why did the assignment specifically say to use public transportation!?
"Yo, Nakiri, you ok? You look like you're really grumpy over something, your eyebrows are all twitchy and you keep glaring at those people over there." Soma nonchalantly asked, his laid back appearance matching those around him.
Erina turned and regarded her… traveling companion… with a look of superiority.
"I am not grumpy. This is just my normal face, do you have a problem with it, diner boy?" Erina retorted, her embarrassment at being treated like a child magnifying her anger ten-fold.
Soma took her insult in stride, already well aware that his friend was no doubt feeling the pressure of traveling with him.
See, Soma wasn't dumb by any means, in fact he was rather intelligent in most regards, and was really aware of the people around him. It was what made Yukihira's diner so good after all, the Yukihira family truly cared about their customers' needs, and that has caused Soma to grow up being acutely aware of the facial expressions people made, and what they meant.
'She must be more nervous then she let on, could this be her first?'
"Yo, Nakiri, don't tell me this is your first public train ride?" Soma asked, once again breaking Erina out from her inner monologues.
"Cause if it is," Soma continued, his teasing side rearing its head, "that's pretty embarrassing, ya know?"
Erina's face erupted in a blush, tick marks appearing all over her head.
"First train ride!? Ha! You think this is my first train ride? No way. I'll have you know that I, Erina Nakiri, of the Nak-" Erina trailed off in her rant, seeing that Soma's attention had turned elsewhere.
"Yo Nakiri, I think our train is here."
"Were you even listening to me!? How dare you ignore me when I'm talking to you-" The rest of her sentence was drowned out as a train arrived, its brakes masking the second half of her sentence.
The doors opened, and a huge throng of people came barrelling out. Suddenly, a hand gripped her own, and she was pulled to her left. A small eep escaped from her mouth as she softly crashed bodies with her assailant.
Before she could react, she was immediately subjected to pushes and shoves from both the sides and behind. Unable to react, she began to stumble forward, only for her assailant to pull her back and keep her upright.
"Hold on tight. Here we go," and before she knew it, Soma was leading her onto the train, battling it out with all manner of folks.
Erina looked down, finally realizing that she wasn't under attack by some assailant, but instead Soma had grabbed her hand and had protected her from the crowd.
Blushing in embarrassment and… something else… Erina ripped her hand away from Soma's. The two now safely holding on to railings that would prevent them from toppling over when the train started moving.
"W-w-what do you think you're doing!? Grabbing someone of my status like that! I-I-It's unheard of! Don't ever do that again! I can't have someone of your status touching me like that in public!" Erina barely managed to stammer out, her heart beating a mile a minute due to all sorts of stimulus she was experiencing.
Soma's smile fell slightly, but returned immediately, hopefully fast enough as not to be noticed.
But noticed it was.
Erina felt the pangs of hurt and sadness in her stomach, and realized she went too far with that last comment. It was clear that he had done it out of kindness, and was not trying to make her feel inferior or take advantage of her in any way.
"Hey, Yukihira, I'm so-" Erina began, but was cut off as Soma turned his gaze to the window, and coolly replied.
"Don't worry about it, Nakiri-san, won't happen again."
'Not a good start' they both thought, silently watching the scenery fly by as the train traversed the countryside towards their destination.