The girl woke up and it had been a while. Her surrounding were new, and dark. She was caged like some wild animal. She didn't question where she was. She gave in to Starjun and submit to his kidnapping. Exactly where in the world she was however remained a mystery. She still felt total sadness from leaving her partner behind, but she knew that these raw emotions wouldn't get her out of this place. She had to be strong so she could survive. The girl finally mustered up the energy to sit up with her head held high. "You're finally up? Welcome Éclair to the soon to be defunct of the Bishokukai." The girl turned around "Ootake?" The man started to collapse and she caught her former friend. "What is up with you?" She sat him up against the wall and fanned him. He grunted, "This happens all the time in the general public. I'm sure the same thing happened to the IGO." "What are you talking about?" He sighed, "I'll make this easy for you to grasp. We've been headhunted by an even bigger shop. I never imagined it would happen to a shop as big as the Bishokukai. A stronger and more capable talent poached another is all. We barely have any personnel left. Only the loyal people and some of the kidnapped chefs." As he was going to continue he grabbed his stomach and groaned.
She shook her head, "Let me get you some food okay." "How did you know~" She rolled her eyes, "Still don't know by now huh? The ingredients sing to me." She brought back a generic bowl of soup and drink. "Sorry, this is it I suppose. Why are you so weak right now huh? You were the one who made a rival out of me. You can't beat me if you're all weak and out of energy Ootake." He'd not acknowledge the bowl at first but just stare at the girl. "I'm surprised you haven't slapped me yet." She shook her head, "I don't regret raising my hand to you then, but on that note, I don't plan on doing it again. I don't make a habit of kicking dogs while they're down. ~Hey why didn't you go, by the way? If you wanted to be bigger and better I would have expected you to leave the Bishokukai as well." "I still haven't absorbed everything from here. I still haven't gained anything important." A chuckle escaped her throat, and that chuckled turned into an all-out laugh. "Wow! Nostalgic isn't it? You said the same thing when we were all still in our training days. ~In fact, I remember you said, and I quote 'Delicious, from every last customer's mouth I want to hear that word of happiness well up from the pit of their stomachs."
The boy frowned, "Did I say something like that? ~You know ~My goal I talked about was really nice." She nodded, "It's what made me fall in love with you in the first place. That fire, ambition, and kindness. ~But that relationship is where it should be, in the past." The boy looked down, "My ambition. That never went away. Ever since our training days I've been a mass of it. I intended to make everything a stepping stone. I made it my strength. Even my own past as an orphan. I was only facing and forward and never trying to curry the public's flavor. Never turning back and constantly rushing forward. Before long the incident happened." "Ahh, the mass food poisoning." "Even before the sadness hit, what surprised me were the cheap ingredients they had. They didn't have the skill to cook that poison. That was the first time I came back since living there. I'd always hated my past. I was always ashamed of it. ~Even though I considered that place a stepping stone being this cold-hearted senpai of theirs, they actually took pride in me. The kids actually put my one and only article on the wall. After that I opened the Fairy Tale Castle restaurant. I stopped caring about what I had to do to get there. I wanted that room to be filled with articles of me. Good news. I wanted them to hold their heads high in heaven. I wanted them to have a senpai they could be proud of. I'm still growing and I've got a long way to go, but now I don't have any more stepping stones. ~You want to know my dream? To have an orphanage where you can eat God. Such a beautiful place. ~But until then I don't have time to turn around. I've still gotta absorb what I can from the Bishokukai."
He set the bowl aside, "The soup wasn't bad Éclair. But to be honest I could make it even tastier." The girl rolled her eyes and laughed, "As a not so wise Bishokuya once told me, don't get cocky. ~Much like your old dream all I want is for people to tell me that my food is delicious." "That's a word that I've never heard from the Bishokukai's boss Midora-sama." He looked over and listened, "Looks like he's back too." The girl began to laugh as she thought. "What?" Éclair shook her head, "I was just thinking about how devastated I was when you broke up with me. You just cut off contact with me all together. Then the last time we spoke we ended on bad terms." "And that's~ funny?" She shook her head, "Of course not. ~What made me laugh is thinking of how I intended on decking you right in the face next I saw you. ~Show you what this artificial hand can really do. ~But seeing you here today, right now, I don't want to do that at all. My mood may come off as strange to you, I do realize that. It's not that I'm happy or anything, but I find that in times of despair it's nice to laugh. If you can laugh at the lowest point in your life, then you can do anything." She nudged the boy, "Now come on, I can hear them rallying the chef's already. Let's go."
The entire assembly kidnapped chef's stood in a crowd before the great leader Midora. The girl looked at the man 'Whoa, check out that glorious hair. So that's the man in charge huh? ~I'm not getting Stockholm Syndrome or anything, but he's got a great chest.' She began to pay attention as he spoke to the crowd, "I'm hungry, so listen up. All of these chef's are a part of my combo. It is your job to make me food. Regarding ingredients, we have provided delicious things from the Gourmet World like you have never seen. So go ahead and get started. Make dishes that can satisfy me in every way." Éclair put a hand over her face, 'This guy is rough to be in a combo with. Of course we want to make good food, but why does he have to say it like that?' The crowd surrounding her began to rally and yell at the man. They were less than happy to make him food. None of them were budging one bit. As Alfaro walked up he shook his head, "You all had best start cooking~ If you don't want to die that is." Midora looked out at the crowd, "Allow me to propose something. Any chef that makes me say the word delicious will be sent home. You guys are chefs, so go ahead and satisfy your customer." Éclair shrugged her shoulders as she walked forward, "You hungry big fella? You may have a track record of never being pleased, but I have a record that never disappoints." "That's a good sport."
Ootake looked at the man, "Midora-sama it would be quite difficult to make something that satisfies you. There aren't many ingredients left in the storage shed." Éclair laughed, "Is that really your attitude Ootake? What, when you see a starving child do you tell them 'oh sorry all I have is rice?' ~No, you cook it to the best of your ability and serve it to them." She looked back at Midora, "I'll be back with your meal shortly."
It wasn't too long before Éclair was back out of the kitchen ready to serve the man called Midora. Everyone seemed surprised by how quickly the meal was prepared, but she took it as no big deal. Even though she was kidnapped and taken away from everyone she loved, she actually enjoyed herself when she got into the kitchen. It was as if for a solid moment she was only thinking about the food. It was fun in a twisted sort of way that she was racing against the clock. It was like she challenged herself to finish before the faulty equipment failed. She wiped her hands on her shirt, "So anyway, might I suggest trying the~" Before her sentence could even finish the food was already gone.
She'd been around when the Four Heavenly Kings ate at the same table and it was still nowhere as fast as Midora ate. There was no way he could enjoy the food at all when he'd eaten it that fast. The man just sat there a moment before everyone felt themselves going down. Going down like the Titanic, they were. The headquarters was beginning to collapse. Éclair held onto the table though it was really no use. They both scooted back as everything else did. Before things got too crazy, the leaning stopped. Everyone looked back at Midora and he did something that no one had ever seen. The room began to get disorderly as an actual smile was on his face. The man then started to laugh as if someone told him the funniest joke in the world.
He looked back at the blond girl, "What's your name?" "Éclair Bleu Fire Reinbou! Most just call me Éclair, and on very rare occasions some call me Bleu Fire." She rubbed her chin as she looked at the empty table, "Listen big fella, can I say something without you taking it the completely wrong way? ~We should eat together sometime. Everyone. Don't get me wrong, a good meal is a good meal, but it's better when you share. Trust me." She gave him a thumbs up and he just looked at the girl for a moment. "Bleu Fire huh? Éclair? You can go home if you want." The girl's mind couldn't even wrap around what he just said. Did she actually satisfy his hunger? Was that laughter really caused by her? She shook her head, "Thank you for the offer, but I'll have to decline. I am going to stay right here. I'm waiting on someone." "Who is that?" Her eyes lit up as she spoke, "The greatest Bishokuya in the world of course! Toriko!"
Hey guys, it's Rex! I just wanted to take the time to say thank you to all of my readers! I hope that you are enjoying the story because I am having so much fun writing it! Thank you for all of the support and sweet messages! I'll do my best to update as much as I can. Winter vacation is coming up soon! Woo! That means I'll have more time to write! Yay! Thank you again and goodbye loves!