Chapter 25 - Food for Thought


Takumi gripped his phone tightly in his palm and pressed it close to his ear.

"So up first is Hayama and Tadokoro-san huh…" he said.

"Si, the first match will be held in the Shokugeki Hall, Block A stadium" said his brother on the other side.

Takumi clucked his tongue. He'd just finished doing some cooking practice in one of the study kitchens. It looked like pairs were being notified their themes at random, so no one literally knew what was coming up until the day before. He continued to wipe down the bench, listening keenly to whatever else Isami had to say.

"I've just left Polar Star Dorm now, and Tadokoro-chan's told me that the theme for tomorrow is High Tea"

"Ah, that will certainly be interesting!" Takumi grinned widely.

He had to admit that he possessed a certain bias for some of his classmates. Personally, he was cheering for Tadokoro Megumi because Cristo bless her, she had worked so hard and strived for so long in the face of great adversity. Adversity that came in the form of bullying and an overabundance of self-doubt. She was probably the hardest working girl in Tootsuki he ever knew. She'd been knocked down so many times and she would always get right back up, after a good cry of course, and face forward and try again. If anything, that girl deserved success and Takumi was all for it. Himself, Isami, Yukihira and all the Polar Star citizens were behind her every step of the way, offering her as much encouragement as they could muster. Hayama on the other hand was gifted and incredibly skilled. No matter what, he was going to succeed in life anyway as long as he stood beside Shiomi-sensei, his guardian. He lived on her support and didn't need anyone else's. When it came to a theme such as High Tea, Takumi couldn't imagine Hayama pulling off such a delicate and elegant three–tiered platter… but unexpected things always happened in Tootsuki Culinary Academy.

"Anyway Fratello, I think we should head off home now. I'll meet you at the front gates?"

"Si, see you soon Isami"

Takumi hung up and threw back his head releasing a sigh. He neatly placed the dish cloth in the washing hamper near the front of the kitchen doors and proceeded to pack away his bits and pieces in his knife case. As he was doing so, he gently caressed the indent which once housed his Mezzaluna. He tried not to grit his teeth, he'd been doing that so much lately whenever his mind wandered over to that bastardo Mimasaka. Fortunately, he hadn't seen a single hair on that hulk's head for the past week and was eternally grateful for that. Ayame would often try to calm him down and give him weak shoulder massages and tell him about how his teeth would wear themselves down if he kept doing that when he was stressed. His shoulders would continue to ache for a good hour after her little massage session but he didn't have the heart to tell her that her that they weren't really effective. Perhaps he could slip her a handout of tips for shoulder massages from the masseuse clinic into her bedroom when she wasn't looking…

Speaking of Ayame…

She hadn't been picking up his calls or his text messages for four days. None at all. She'd mentioned that she'd be very busy with upcoming exams and would be studying her guts out now that the alarm clock competition was over. He took a photo of her submitting her entry into Tokyo University. She was brimming with excitement and he couldn't resist taking capturing that into a memory. Now that she resumed study mode, he stocked up her fridge with ready-made meals filled with his love and care, so she wouldn't have to worry about cooking. Similarly, he'd been so busy with school and preparing for his awaited match in the Elite Ten competition that he hadn't gotten around to visiting her or checking up on her at all during the last week. They both needed time with themselves to work hard, he understood that but he still missed their interactions. He'd normally finish practice late into the afternoon and late in the night back at the apartment with Isami also. Even so, they regularly messaged each other in the morning before school and then at night before they went to bed. Suddenly it all stopped on her end just four days ago. She no longer responded back or picked up his calls! He called and texted even more just to see if she even saw the texts and missed calls and still nothing.

'Was I texting her too often? Was I disturbing her study too much? CRISTO! DOES SHE STILL LOVE ME?!'

Despair gnawed at him from the horrible thought that he was being a nuisance to her. He stopped in the middle of his cleaning up and doubled over the metal counter top, holding his body up just barely above the cold surface, heaving and trembling. It was possible, wasn't it! No, no. He was being silly, his panic mode was getting the best of him and he was overacting like an idiota. Ayame was just studying very hard. He straightened up and tugged his crisp chef's uniform down. He breathed out a sigh and counted to ten in his head until he calmed down and levelled himself. He was embarrassed such a thought crossed his mind. He loved Ayame and he was sure she still loved him too.

The blonde Italian proceeded to go about his business with a stronger mentality. He entered the change rooms and stripped out of his Trattoria Aldini uniform and donned his school uniform again. The kitchen halls were closing early today for maintenance and so he decided it would be a good idea to pay his amore a much overdue visit instead. Maybe then, he'd find out how she'd been going. He fished out his phone and called Isami again.

Brrrr… Brrrr… Brrrr… Brrrr… Click.

"Fratello?"

"Ah, Isami, actually you go on ahead. I want to visit Ayame for a bit" said Takumi.

He walked at a brisk pace through the almost empty corridors. He raked his hair back, pushing his fringe out of his eyes.

"Oh okay, nessun problema! Tell her I said hello" said Isami cheerfully.

"I will" Takumi hung up again.

As soon as he stepped out into the courtyard, he was hit in the face with a scene overflowing with banners, streamers, posters and handouts all over the buildings and the ground. It was a kaleidoscopic nightmare. He didn't know what on earth Isshiki-senpai was doing but this wasn't the best way to advertise the Elite Ten competition to the whole school! Takumi groaned and ploughed on through, trying to ignore the 'FIRST EVER ELITE 10 SHOKUGEKI' and 'WHO WILL WIN? WHO'S CUISINE WILL REIGN SUPREME?!' coloured boldly in the school colours of blue, red and yellow on said banners and posters. He thought he would be used to it by now, but the tasteless sparkles commonly found in those purikura photo-booths dotting the handouts made him cringe. Of course this was a huge event and Takumi loved the enthusiasm the student body was investing in this once-in-a-life-time opportunity and yes, Takumi knew he could get quite theatrical and flamboyant at times. It was due to his il sangue italiano. However he reckoned all this advertising for the event could've been a lot classier and tasteful like himself!

He shifted his shoulder bag slightly and made his way to the bus stop. His mind drifted again. He wondered what his amore was up to. Was she studying hard? Was she eating? Was she keeping herself hydrated? Was she taking regular breaks? Did she still love him? Cristo... he was doing it again. Doubting. He knew what Ayame was like when she was so focused on her studying. She sometimes needed someone to pull her 'out of the rabbit hole' so to speak. Maybe that was it, she fell into that endless pit of exam-madness.

Takumi hopped onto the bus and relaxed into the seat, not too far back and not too close to the front. He sighed and propped his elbow onto the window and rested his chin in his palm. He continued to stare out into the scenery and watched it blur by.

Once he arrived in busy Karakura honchou, he walked his way towards Kitakawase ward, Ayame's neighbourhood. Ayame lived in a nice area. It was peaceful, quite and calm. It was just an ordinary Japanese ward in Western Tokyo. There was hardly any traffic, mostly just bicycles, totally a suburban area. Takumi clasped his fingers together and placed it behind his head, the niggling sensation of worry was still buzzing in his mind. He quickened his pace, but not too fast as to panic himself. As he turned the corner and walked down her street, he saw two figures approaching from the opposite direction. He squinted his eyes and could just make it out to be a tall person and short person. He pulled his arms down and stuffed them into his school pants pockets and the two people opposite him quickened their pace too.

'Is that...Namikaze and Kuchiyose?'

"Oh hey! It's Dante! What are you going here?"

It was really was them, coming to visit Ayame too. Namikaze also gasped loudly as if it was such a strange thing for him to be walking around this area, so close to Ayame's home. He felt his eyes twitch already in annoyance. Why was that so unusual? He was her boyfriend, he had every right to be on the pavement outside of his amore's house!

"I'm visiting Ayame of course. And it's Takumi! Get it right!" he said in utter exasperation.

"Us too. We're kinda worried, she hadn't been turned up to school for the last few days. Also she hasn't been answering my messages or picking up my calls. We wanted to check if everything's alright" said Namikaze, waving her smartphone around. Kuchiyose nodded solemnly.

'Che?'

Now that he thought about it, both Namikaze and Kuchiyose had pretty concerned and dejected looks on their faces. So it wasn't just him. Why did Ayame disappear off the radar? This was starting to sound pretty serious. Takumi pursed his lips and dipped his eyebrows in a frown. Anxiety bubbled up within him and his distress kept on mounting.

"She hasn't been answering mine either..." he murmured, unfolding his arms and tapping his finger on his chin. He couldn't think of a reason for her to be physically incapable of picking up her phone and checking her messages. Takumi straightened his posture and straightened his shoulder bag. Without a second to lose, he opened her gate and her friend's following closely behind, striding right up to the door.

Knock, Knock, Knock

He stepped back and waited.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Maybe you should knock a little harder"

"I-I was going t-to do that!" Takumi huffed loudly at Namikaze smart-arsary. A blush broomed across his face at the little troll trying to tell him what to do and how to do it! He got this! He totally got this!

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Ayame?" Takumi tried calling through the door for good measure.

"Hmm, maybe she isn't home..." Namikaze pulled out her phone and tapped quickly onto it and placed it over her ear. "She still ain't picking up... where is that girl...?" she said, as she chewed on the nail of her thumb.

Takumi pulled out his phone and checked for new messages from her. There were none. Instead, he stared forlornly at the list of texts he sent to her with no replies. Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up in surprise and saw it was the giant Kuchiyose staring down at him with half lidded eyes. He pointed up with his long arms towards the upstairs window on the far right.

"What is it?" asked Takumi, blinking up at Kuchiyose.

The silent boy stepped out from the porch and onto the driveway. Takumi followed him to get a better look. He saw Namikaze following from the side too, also curious to see what Kuchiyose was pointing to. She still had her phone to her ear and the three of them stood just below the window the Kuchiyose indicated at and staring up.

It was Ayame's window.

He could see the pastel yellow curtains were drawn together, thinking of what cryptic message Kuchiyose was trying to deliver.

'Uno momento per favore... I can hear something...'

Vorp! Vorp! Vorp!

"Eh? That's her ringtone! She's actually home? Why isn't she answering the door!" whined Namikaze.

The three of them realised they could actually hear Ayame's unique and weird ringtone, softly flowing out from her bedroom window. She had to be home because she never went anywhere without her phone.

"Ayame! It's me! Takumi, Namikaze-san and Kuchiyose-san!" Takumi hollered up at the window with her hands cupped around his mouth. "Are you alright! We haven't heard from you in a while and are very worried! Will you let us in!" Takumi continued to yell, urgency lacing his voice.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Again. No answer.

"That's it. Kuchiyose-kun. You know what to do" said Namikaze with chilling conviction.

He nodded immediately.

Takumi stumbled sideways as Kuchiyose brushed past him and walked with heavy, long strides back to the porch and crouched until he was eye level the doorknob. He dumped his sports bag by his feet and unbuckled his standard issue Japanese school bag and procured a rolled up piece of cloth.

Dio mio, he even carried his lock-picking equipment to school!?

Just as expected, Kuchiyose calmly and silently went about his way and started picking the lock. Soon Takumi heard a small series of clicks and Kuchiyose turned the handle and gently pushed it open. Namikaze was the first one in, beating Takumi to it. He stepped in behind them with extreme trepidation. He had never tresspassed anything in his life! This felt severely disrespectful. But he was so worried for Ayame right now, so he pushed those feelings to the back of his mind. Whatever consequences cropped up, he will deal with it later. Once they deposited their shoes at the door, both he and Namikaze bolted up the stairs, as if to race for who would get to Ayame the fastest, whilst Kuchiyose lagged behind.

Takumi and Namikaze huffed and puffed on the landing outside Ayame's door. He will never again underestimate the speed of the little vermin. They both looked up to see Ayame's door was closed.

Namikaze recovered first "Ayame-chan, I know you're in there... fuck, I'm so unfit... I'm coming in no—"

The door creaked open.

Takumi held his breath, ready to throw her questions all about her physical and mental well being, but it all got stuck into the back of his throat. Through the dark and dismal gap. Ayame stood there like a ghost. She looked terrible. Her face was deathly pale, her cheeks were sallow. Her hair was all frazzled and limp looking. Her once bright and vibrant eyes eyes looked incredibly miserable, all bloodshot as if she had been crying for days! Takumi's heart clenched with crushing pain to see his amore like this.

"Ayame! Bella, what's wrong? What happened?" he pushed the door open further and clutched her shoulders in his warm grip. Her head dipped down and her shoulders slumped as if all the energy was zapped from her. Her room smelt really stuffy and was very dark. He tried to rub her shoulders up and down and tried to pull her into him but she remained motionless. She smelt like her salty tears.

"Oh no..." whispered Namikaze. She bent down to the floor and picked something up

"What?"

"This letter..."

While Takumi continued to rub Ayame's back, trying his best to comfort her, Namikaze showed him a crumpled piece of paper and an equally crumpled envelope. Through the dim lighting, he could make out something that said 'Faculty of Engineering: University of Tokyo' or something like that as the letter head.

"It says umm... Dear Kanda Ayame-san... yada, yada, yada... We have finalised the selection process and reviewed your application and design... blah, blah, blah... We regret to inform you that your design for the University of Tokyo Middle-school and High-school Innovation Program did not make the finals. The program received an overwhelming number of applications in a very competitive year. It was a difficult decision considering your experiences..." recited Namikaze in a monotone voice.

Merda. Ayame had worked incredible hard on that alarm clock. Takumi had watched her sweat over that project. For a high-schooler to have such skill in building an alarm clock from scratch, complete with programing, designing, soldering, three dimensional printing and the works, he could feel her heart broken to pieces. She had talked non-stop about it to him about the background research she had to do, and the processes and steps she had to take to begin designing and building. He even had to help manage her eating otherwise she would work herself to starvation! This meant so much to her. It was her way of paving her future into the engineering industry. She told him once that engineering was an incredibly male dominated career and he guessed as she was a girl, she needed to work extra hard to get in and stay in. But she had chosen to persevere because it was her passion. Suddenly he felt quaking on his chest. Takumi jolted and looked down to see his amore starting to sob and he clutched her tighter, resting his chin on her head and rubbing her back up and down.

"... We appreciate the time you took to apply and we were excited to receive... More bullshit after that" Namikaze promptly tore the letter to shreds and threw it behind her.

"It's alright Ayame. You did very well. We are all very proud of you. There is always next time, right?" Takumi tried to lift her head so that he could look into her eyes, but she wouldn't budge.

"Okay Dante. Let me handle this. This is a job for the best-friend" Namikaze placed her hand on Ayame's shoulder.

"What on Earth are you talking about? I'm her boyfriend, not chopped liver" Takumi narrowed his eyes at her.

"I'm saying there are things only boyfriend's can do and then there are things only best friend's can do, and right now Ayame's just had a meltdown and needs me. You feel me?" Namikaze was really putting her foot down, but Takumi wasn't appreciating this take-charge thing she had going on.

"Hey, Ayame clearly—"

Tap, tap.

Someone was tapping his shoulder again. Takumi turned his head around to see Kuchiyose standing by the door directly behind him, with one hand in his pocket and the other on Takumi's shoulder. He suddenly had an unnerving presence as he stared at him with half-lidded eyes. He didn't even hear him come up the stairs! The lilac-haired boy shook his head and gripped his fingers gently on his shoulder and tugged him. It didn't take a genius to know Kuchiyose agreed that he should leave. Takumi looked down at Ayame with mounting concern. Ayame still seemed like she wasn't reacting to anything while in his arms. She remained limp as a doll. He gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the stinging in his eyes as he continued to feel the sadness and misery from her. Slowly he felt Namikaze peeling Ayame away from his hold and coaxing her the other way very easily.

Takumi was stunned.

Kuchiyose stepped forward and gently turned Takumi away, slowly pulling him out of the room and closed the door behind him.

"Wait—"

Kuchiyose shoved him down the stairs.

"Okay! Okay! I'm going!" Takumi angrily stomped down the stairs towards the living room with the now pushy lilac-haired boy hot on his heels. His blood started to boil. Once he was there, he turned to Kuchiyose angrily and jabbed his finger at his expressionless face. He wasn't going to let this go!

"Ayame's upset! and I should be—"

"Chizuru has known Ayame longer than you have"

Takumi faltered, stumbling back and knocking the back of his knees against the coffee table. What did he just say? Even after all this time, he was still caught off-guard by the deep sound of the selectively mute boy's voice. What was Kuchiyose trying to say and why was he still looking at him with such a blank and unfeeling face? It pissed him off. However... Kuchiyose never said anything wasteful. He never spoke unless absolutely necessary. Takumi dipped his brows in confusion before screwing them up together. He threw his hands up into the air with an Italian curse and rubbed his head in frustration, and released an aggravated sigh.

What was best for Ayame?

Maybe those two were right. They've been friends for along time and their friendship ran deep. Namikaze would know the best way to calm Ayame down after what looked like a big meltdown. Afterall, this was probably not the first time this sort of thing that happened as Namikaze sounded so confident and sure of herself. But it pained him to see Ayame looking like that and he was right there ready to provide her the warm and encouraging comfort he could give. But she said there were only things boyfriends could do, and that there were things only best friends could do. So was this one of those things? What made him any different? Ayame was his girlfriend and he had a responsibility!

Takumi decided he would be mature about this and not treat Ayame like a tug-of-war rope with that little troll. He dumped himself onto the sofa and Kuchiyose sat next to him calmly, pulling out his phone.

"Why are you the only one not worried?" he asked spitefully.

"..."

'Figures, nothing gets to him'

An hour passed and every time Takumi tried to get up and race back upstairs, Kuchiyose would stick his long leg out onto the coffee table and block him. Other times, he would yank him back down with his incredibly strong arm without so much as sound. He was still busy texting someone on his phone too, that cold unfeeling bastard. Takumi continued to stew in his seat. Suddenly the distant sound of an opening and closing door grabbed is attention.

'Ayame'

Takumi once again sprung up, catching sight of Ayame's feet as she slowly padded down the stairs with Namikaze's right beside her. Ayame was leaning against her shoulder with a thin cardigan wrapped around her shoulder and this time her hair was braided instead of falling over messily her shoulders. Takumi tracked her with his eyes like a hawk, his heart already jumping into his throat. He wanted to reach out to her and hold her in his arms, but he resisted and clenched them by his side.

'Give her time'

She slowly looked up at him. Her eyes were still bloodshot, swollen and sad, but at least some of that green colour he adored returned. Namikaze continued to hold her arms and guided her over to the sofa where Takumi was standing by. She slowly sat down with shaking knees and Takumi joined her immediately, his hands hovered around her, trying to touch her and at the same time, giving her some space. Namikaze plonked herself in the arm chair on the other side.

"U-Umm. I'm s-sorry T-Takumi-kun..." her voice was raspy. "I-I just... Oh I d-don't know, I couldn't get in to the finals again... I didn't... I've worked so hard on it... and I couldn't surpass myself. This isn't the first time too... a-and you did so much f-for me, you cooked for me, made sure I was eating... you visited me and... we sacrificed time with each other so I could concentrate on it and you could focus on your own competition. I'm so s-sorry! I'm such a failure again! I c-couldn't even make your efforts worth it-"

"Shhhhh" Takumi gently tilted her head against his shoulder and wrapped his arm around his shoulder.

He knew. He knew she was working extremely hard on this completely voluntary project on top of her normal school work, to prove her worth as a future engineer in the Japanese society. He also knew about the previous competitions of the same program she had entered in since middle school. She had entered in them and he remembered the bitter smile she had on her face when she told him she never made it to the finals in the previous years. She had shown him her previous entries, which were prototypes for technological gadgets that she herself designed and created by her own hands and let him play with them. She showed him her files of designs on her autocad program on her computer as well and he thought they were really cunning and absolutely clever! He didn't know squat about mechanical and robotica engineering, but for a high-schooler, her designs surely deserved to be considered in the finals too! It meant so much to her that she even kept the rejections letters from every year she entered, including the finalist names which apparently was published in the newspapers, tucked away in her drawers of her messy desk.

"Ayame. You have nothing to apologise for. You do this for yourself, si? Don't worry about me, I only do those things because I want to"

"B-But it all amounted to nothing! And I-I've been scared to tell you... to disappoint you... because you really believed in me. You went out of-of your way to take care of m-me and everything, and I stil—"

"This isn't about me"

"Then why do you look upset too?"

Takumi widened his eyes in shock. Nothing got passed his Ayame... He sighed.

"I... I'm upset because for the last four days... you kept it all in. You stopped replying to my texts and taking my calls. We weren't communicating anymore. I was worried sick that something had happened. Ayame, I want to be there to support you in everything you do. Whether you win or lose, succeed or fail, there is nothing in the world that could make me any less proud. I will always believe in you. I know about this competition and I did some internet research on it after you told me. This competition is prestigious and highly competitive. Not to mention highly conservative. I noticed that the online list of finalists for the past ten years all had male names.

"Y-You looked it up? The competition?" she brushed away the stray tears slowly rolling down her face.

"Si. Because I like to know about your interests and understand the things you do. You had chosen to pursue a field that's dominated by men" said Takumi, staring down at her hands. He reached forward and grasped one of them lightly in his palm and stroke his thumb over her small knuckles.

"The point is, you chose the hard and ambitious path and I find that so admirable. But you aren't all alone in this. You have great friends and family who are around you who are are proud of whatever you do. I want you to know that you lean can on me whenever your are feeling down, sad, anxious or angry. I'm not here just for the happy times, you know that right? And don't worry about being a nuisance or other silly thoughts like that because I want to support you in everything and I love you"

He gripped the back of her head again and pressed her to his chest. She clutched his school blazer for dear life and shuddered against him, releasing yet another bout of tears. He listened to her quite sniffles and suddenly they started turning into soft chuckles. He blinked rapidly. He didn't think he said anything funny, but he was glad her sobs were taking a different turn.

"Funny... Chizuru-chan said you w-would say something like this"

"What?" Takumi looked up in Namikaze's direction.

"Idon'tknowwhatshe'stalkingabout" She said quickly and leapt up and walked briskly to the kitchen and occupied herself with opening the fridge.

Takumi refocused his attention on Ayame. "It's alright to be sad, angry and cry when you don't succeed, and I'll be there to dry your tears. When you fall down, you must brush your knees and get right back up. Don't look back and keep moving forward. Success is in front of you, not behind. Si?" said Takumi.

"Yeah…"

Ayame breathed a huge sigh and straightened up. Takumi leaned over again and smoothed her midnight black fringe from her face and pecked her on the forehead. She smiled and his heart bloomed.

"I'm... going to get myself cleaned up now. I must look terribly wasted"

"You are always beautiful in my eyes. Even if you face is covered in hives and blotc–"

Out of the corner of his eyes somewhere behind Ayame, he saw Namikaze step back into the living and threw up her hands into a frantic 'X' shape.

'Merda!'

"I-I-I mean, it's not that I wish for you to h-have hives or anything! What… What I m-meant was, you're beautiful no m-matter what! I'm also t-talking about the inside! Si! Not just physical ap-pearance and I—"

He was instantly silenced by Ayame's pair of warm lips.

"I know what you mean, Takumi-kun" she pulled away and smiled serenely. "… and umm… thank you for everything. I promise I won't bottle it all up again. I uh… I'll make sure to count on you when I'm in a dark place or anything" her smile became tentative.

Takumi felt his face flush with no shame. He stared at his fidgeting hands "I uh… I'll make some dinner now…" he scratched the back of his head and twisted this way and that, not knowing which side of the coffee table to go around to make his way to the kitchen.

He peeked from the corner of his eyes, watching closely as Ayame ran upstairs. Once he lost sight of her, he made his way to the kitchen. Namikaze was still standing at the threshold. He glared at her and she stared back just as hard. Deep down he knew that Namikaze was the best person to comfort Ayame at that moment, but she needed to understand that Takumi was in the picture now. He didn't appreciate being chucked out of the bedroom when his girlfriend was in that state. Also not to mention being stopped in his tracks from comforting her when she was most vulnerable. Being Ayame's boyfriend meant that he was going use the best of his abilities to be one of her pillars of support too. Amazingly enough, he was breathing calmly right now, trying his best to reign in his ire. Namikaze and Kuchiyose needed to back off at times. He tried to think of a way to convey this in the most diplomatic way possible. If Ayame was right in that Namikaze was too clever for her own good, then she should have no problems with understanding his words.

"Was that true? That you said those things about me to her?" asked Takumi.

"Ayame-chan thinks the world of you. She was upset for not making into the finals of the competition like five times in a row. But she was more upset for disappointing you, and that you'd start thinking differently of her. You're like, I don't know… go to a really good prestigious school, dripping with talent and success, you've got your future all lined up for you and stuff. She was scared she won't be able to measure up to that. Hence she spazzed ot"

Takumi had certainly realised that by now too. She was a smart and hard working girl. But being smart and hard-working did not come without failures. He had been there himself. People often saw the success, but not the blood, sweat and tears that paved that road. The only reason he was skilled in his cuisine today was because he had failed more times than he could count in the past in the family trattoria too. Each failure was branded into him and it make him stronger, it got him to get to where he was. Of course that was silly! His feelings for her was so strong that nothing in the world could sway it.

He suddenly felt guilty for not making that clear in the beginning, not showing enough of his love and care, resulting her having that meltdown. He should have been more vigilant and visited her sooner, rather than wait for four days. Ah! What a terrible boyfriend he was for making her feel this way and doubting his feelings for her! So terrible that Namikaze had to take the reins off him in this relationship bandwagon before he could even do anything! It looked that she did a good job bringing Ayame out of her shell and right back into his arms.

"That over-achieving girl didn't know how you'd react if you found out. I'm like the last person who'd say nice things about you… but I know you ain't some douche bag and you care more for her well-being than superficial stuff like that. So, I just said things I knew you'd say, because that's what she needed to hear"

Takumi nodded shyly. Namikaze held higher regard for him than he thought. He thought she wouldn't be caught dead saying nice things about him.

"Grazie, for what you did for Ayame. She trusts you a lot, so I get it that it was better coming from you first... to give her back her confidence before she could come to me. But I can take care of her now and I don't want anyone to doubt that, even Ayame"

She smirked. "She's all yours, Dante"

He sighed. That went well enough.

"What's for dinner?" she walked past him without so much as a glance.

"Uh! Ah… I'll think of something…" he mumbled "And my name is Taku- ah, forget it!" he threw his hands in the air.


This was the most awkward walk Takumi had ever had. He was walking side-by-side with Kuchiyose down Ayame's street on their way to the bus station. The silence was doing bad things to his heart. All four of them had dinner and he whipped up a quick pasta which got Ayame smiling again. Takumi and Kuchiyose couldn't stay for longer and as they needed to get home after dinner. Namikaze volunteered herself for a 'girls sleepover'. Isami was waiting for him too.

"Umm… So I know that all three of you agreed to t-take the half-day off school tomorrow and come and watch the first shokegeki of the Elite Ten tournament with me. I just want you to know you don't have to come if you don't want to. Ayame can be a bit pushy…" said Takumi.

He glanced nervously at the lilac-haired giant, trying to read his expression. During dinner, Takumi had invited Ayame to spectate the Elite Ten competition to give herself a break before resuming her studies again. He thought it'd be good for her. Then he extended the invitation to her friends also as a thank you. Of course Ayame wanted her friends to come. Kuchiyose was dressed in his school uniform but this time, his grey school jacket was un-buttoned showing off a black singlet underneath. His hair was in its usual style, which was a man bun. Kuchiyose always gave off an air of nonchalance and always seemed like no trouble of the world could touch him. But that couldn't be true.

Kuchiyose kept walking as normal.

"There'd be a good chance you'd bump into Alice-san again and I don't want you or her to be uncomfortable or anything…" he went further on. "I mean, it wouldn't be an issue if everything is resolved between you two, right?"

Kuchiyose stopped.

'Merda, I really put my foot in my mouth this time…'

Kuchiyose turned around and pointed to an empty bench. He walked off the pavement towards the park bench and Takumi followed him still confused. Once the both of them sat down there was more silence. What's happening?

"Nothing is resolved" he drawled.

Takumi gulped. It was still a sore subject then... but if anyone had learnt anything today, it would be that it was good to talk about one's problems than to bottle it up.

"If it's okay to ask… how did it all start?" said Takumi nervously.

Kuchiyose sighed and continued to stare distantly into the dipping sun. The park lamps were already lit, casting a soft glow around them. Kuchiyose's deep hazel eyes seemed so faded.

He opened his mouth to speak.


Erina sighed for the umpteenth time. For goodness sakes! Why couldn't her cousin keep up with her paperwork as the president of the Cutting-Edge Cooking RS? This was absolutely preposterous and disgraceful. Alice was supposed to be a Nakiri and be organised and prepared for everything and anything. Nakiris didn't slack. The fact that Erina decided to raid Alice's private chambers for those sordid papers was absolutely demeaning. Alice kept spewing things like she didn't receive them, nobody told her, she didn't know anything about it. They were all lame excuses to shirk her duties. Of course Erina understood that she'd been busy with preparations for her shokugeki with Rindou-senpai but that was no reason to be such a lazy person. Erina brushed her golden hair to the side and continued to rummage through Alice's closet. She'd find those missing folders and papers and prove to Alice that they have been given to her. Hiding them and lying about it was something cunning and mischievous that Alice would pull.

"Hmm… not here" Erina grumbled.

She moved onto the bookcase beside Alice's bed. A particular green folder caught her eye.

"Aha, this is the last quarterly RS budget for the Cutting-edge RS. I knew she had it all along"

One success so far, but there a few more documents she had to find. Erina continued to snoop around Alice's room. Where else could overdue paperwork be hiding? Erina got down on her knees and peeked under the bed. She was so glad nobody was here to see her on the floor in such a humiliating position, doing such a humiliating task. She would ask Hisako to do this but she went off on a journey to practice for her own upcoming match. Thus if she had to get everything done herself. Erina felt more irritated than usual. There was something there. She reached her hand in and met the cool surface of cardboard. It was a cardboard box. A document storage box.

'Bingo'

Erina carefully shuffled it out of its hiding spot and lifted onto the queen-sized plush bed. It wasn't too heavy. She smirked and lifted the dusty lid off and couldn't wait to find—"

"Huh?"

Erina rubbed her eyes. This was unexpected.

The box was full of photos!

Erina lifted one of them up. What an unorthodox place to store photos. It was of Alice and another boy. A boy with lilac hair and hazel eyes. She was pressing her face against his with pouting lips almost as if about to kiss him on the cheeks. What were these! They both looked into the camera as the shot was being taken. Erina dropped it back into the box and shuffled her hands through them. There were more of Alice and that boy. These pictures were taken at lots of places with just the two of them like parks, the street, Karakura honcho, the zoo, the aquarium, soccer-field, out in the wilderness, the seaside, restaurants, amusement parks and even cafes. They looked pretty recent too, her hairstyle looked the same. The boy was pretty good-looking and very tall much to Erina's chagrin. Alice and he looked like they matched really well together.

Alice looked so happy there. So at peace.

She realised that this was Alice's ex-boyfriend.

"Erina?"

"HA! I wasn't doing anything!" Erina jumped up and swung around. In her fright, she knocked the box onto the floor, spilling out all the photos. She looked up into the shocked eyes of her cousin Alice.

"What are you doing in my—" she stopped dead as some photos slid right to her feet. She bent down and picked them up, barely glancing at them while her facial expression was set into stone.

"It's n-not what it looks like. I was l-looking for all your o-overdue RS documents" stuttered Erina. This was so scandalous, to be caught red-handed. There was a special place in hell for people who did those things!

"… Right" Alice wordlessly picked up the box and threw all the photos back in. Her voice was icy cold.

"I-Is that, who I think it is?" asked Erina.

Alice plopped onto the bed with an exaggerated groan "Yep. Just my ex-boyfriend" she said nonchalantly and flicked the dust off her shoulders.

"I remember you telling me to swear not to tell anyone" said Erina. She never actually met the guy, Alice just vaguely talked about him from time to time. She looked over to her cousin was caught off-guard by the sorrow swimming in her eyes. Uh oh. Erina wanted nothing more than to jet out of the room and back into the safety of her office and just forget the whole thing. Her grandfather's pearls of wisdom started fogging up her brain. He had said that she needed to learn how to empathise with other people when he came back from his business abroad. She really wished she didn't have to. It was so much easier to disregard people's feelings. After all, she had trouble understanding her own as it was.

"So uh… do you… do you want t-to talk about it?" she shuffled uncomfortably on the bed. She internally begged for Alice to say no.

"Oh what's this? Nakiri Erina coming down from her ivory tower and offering a bit of compassion? My, that's certainly new!" Alice smirked at her chittering form behind her perfectly manicured hand.

Erina blew up "FINE! I don't want to know anything. I-I don't care! Who wants to know?! N-Not me! I-It's your choice anyway!" She got up and stomped her way to the door.

"Relax, Erina. I was joking. But yeah, I will tell you about him. It's about time I properly 'fessed up anyway…" she chuckled mirthlessly before resuming her more subdued self. Erina paused and regarded her cousin, staring down from her nose. She sighed exasperatedly and returned to her spot beside her. She waited for Alice's response.

"It all started in middle school. I wanted Ryou-kun to take me to Karakura honcho and explore because it was our second time back to Japan after Danmark and we haven't gone shopping there yet. Anyway Ryou and I got separated as it was pretty crowded and I found myself in a pretty shady looking part of Karakura town's parking lot" said Alice.

Erina could never imagine herself going down-town, but she reserved her judgement this time.

"Well, I bumped into some of the ugly local middle school ruffians. There were about five or six of them loitering there. They were inevitably charmed by my cute looks. They wanted to sexually harass me of course. Things weren't looking good until one of them grabbed me and I screamed bloody murder and scratched his face!"

Erina was horrified! Those primates!

"That's when out of nowhere a soccer came flying and knocked him in the side of the head. He was out cold on the ground! Well, that was Kuchiyose Byakko. He coincidentally came upon us and saw that I was trouble. They all started to attack him. He fought most of them off because of his height advantage. Oh! He plays soccer by the way!" said Alice.

Erina was a bit confused as to why Alice was treating this as a happy story when it was obvious it had an unhappy ending, but she continued to listen.

"Then he grabbed my hand and we ran for it. He runs pretty fast too. We rounded a corner and hid behind a smelly old bin until those dumb buffoons passed us. Yeah that was our first meeting! I still remembered his first words to me he called me a-"


"— stupid girl"

Takumi choked on his saliva.

"S-Stupid? You called A-Alice-san stupid?" stuttered Takumi.

Kuchiyose nodded like it was totally fine to call someone he met for the first time stupid. He went out of his way to save Alice from a horrible demise and insulted her straight after, which Takumi didn't think was right. He should be asking if she was okay or if she was hurt. Maybe it was a good thing that Kuchiyose didn't speak much because he had a razor sharp tongue.

So according to what Kuchiyose said, the back of the parking lot was where he normally traveled between soccer practice and his home, the tofu shop. It was a lucky thing that he came upon Alice that he did. He was on his usual walk home from soccer practice. Every now and again he would see some delinquents hanging around there.

"A-and what happened after that?" Takumi settled back onto the park bench.

"I took her back to the main area. There she found her companion Kurokiba. I could tell she was from a rich and wealthy family, given that she didn't know a single street in Karakura town. Then I went home. I thought I dusted my hands off of her when the next day she was at the same spot. That stupid girl…"

Takumi cringed at the annoyance lacing his voice.

"She was a persistent one. Saying that she wanted to show me gratitude and gave me some food she made. It's not really gratitude to return to the place she was attacked and hoped for the best that I would turn up. If I didn't and those fucktards returned, then she would be fucked. Literally" said Kuchiyose.

Takumi shuddered at the thought. But it was incredibly brave, and agreed stupid, of Alice to go back after such an ordeal.

"She wouldn't leave me alone. It became a routine that we'd meet there and she decided to join my walks back to Karakura honchou. Eventually we started hanging out after school. She didn't bring her companion anymore because she wanted to go alone. She told me a bit about herself and I did the same. I guess things developed from there"

Takumi thought this story couldn't be delivered in a more blasé and monotonous way.

"She was… really something. She was different from the other girls I've met. She was bright for her age. She had goals and dreams and was very ambitious. She wasn't bad-looking either. Anyway, we—"


"—ended up dating" said Alice.

Erina nodded.

"He was just amazing. He tall, handsome and athletic. He wasn't so much book-smart, more like street-smart. He took me to lots of places both awesome and really dank. I even went to all his soccer games and cheered for him. You know, he really showed me the world beyond the Nakiri fortress. Byakko's family wasn't exactly poor, but they did struggle financially at times. His family owns a little tofu shop and he has two older brothers and an older sister. It really opened my eyes to the people and the community. I've never had a customer who paid less than three-hundred thousand yen for a three-course meal, and his family just gives away free tofu they didn't sell at the end of the day to the homeless! How crazy is our world Erina!"

How crazy indeed. Giving away food out of pure generosity was unheard of for Erina. If she cooked something for someone out of her free time and at no monetary cost, it was to prove how much better she was than everyone else. To intimidate and assert her own superiority. If Alice's ex-boyfriend's family was struggling, why did they give out perfectly good tofu? They could've kept it to sell the next day! Alice grabbed a handful of the photos fanned them out onto the bed, showing all their little date spots. There was a particular one with her dangling off of her ex-boyfriend's neck in front of his family tofu shop. Erina noticed she and he was smiling. A real smile.

"Here look at this one. We went on a hiking trip. Just the two of us. I can't tell you how many times I fell over and got cuts and bruises. But Byakko told me to get up because it wasn't like I died or anything. He made me realise that I've lived an incredibly sheltered life. He was… good for me" said Alice.

She fell back onto the bed and spread out her arms.

"Things escalated from there. I invited him over to the manor to hangout, but I made him go through the back entrance and climb up my balcony so that no-one except me and Ryou would know. Gud forbyde the rest of the Nakiri family found out about us. At the end of the day, he would leave the same way he came in, completely unnoticed. Whenever we held hands it was warm. Whenever he touched my face it was electrifying. And when Byakko kissed me…" Alice closed her eyes and nibbled her bottom lip.

Erina had no idea what was going on.

"Hell Erina, we even went to home-base"

"H-HOME B-BASE!? That f-far?!" She slammed her hands onto the sheets. Alice and that. That. That. That. BOY, had coitus!? It was unbelievable! She heard the term before, she had read enough shoujou manga to understand the connotations of that sports metaphor.

"Yeah… But not to worry, it was at his place, not here" she chuckled "We continued our relationship all the way into our first year high school. Fader and Moder, didn't know anything about it. Only you and Ryou-kun did" said Alice.

"Th-Then what h-happened?" asked Erina, completely flustered.

Alice's face fell. "Then Fader all the way in Danmark found out"


"Something happened" said Kuchiyose.

This was the part Takumi was almost dreading to hear. It was how the relationship ended.

"It was around Christmas. I got a call from her saying something really weird. It was unlike her at all. She told me she wanted to break up"

"Just like that?" said Takumi.

"Like all that time had been nothing"


"I… got summoned into Ojii-sama's office when Ojii-sama wasn't there. My Fader was already there. I mean, he was there on the laptop screen because it was actually a video call from Danmark. He had sent one of his associates or something to set it up. Well, he found out about Byakko and I. I don't know how, he didn't tell me. He ordered me to end it completely. He had done some background checks on Byakko and his family too. He said that the Nakiri name didn't need to be mixed in with… someone who came from a poor and uneducated family…"

Erina watched as Alice fisted her hands against the sheets and her body trembled.

"I fought and argued, screamed and c-cried. I begged my Fader to let me choose the person I want to be with as I pleased, because I had a right to. Byakko wasn't rich, doesn't have a fancy car, pedigree name, or a prestigious up-bringing! But he was a decent person and that was all that mattered to me… He and I didn't care about all this social class elitism that came with our name. He loved me as I loved him" Alice unleashed her tears and fully wept. She covered her eyes with the back of her hands, rivers of tears cascading down her ivory cheeks and dripping shamelessly on her clothes.

Her sadness and anguish was almost tangible to Erina. She did nothing but watch Alice weep. For the first time, Erina wouldn't judge her for it.

"And then…" she sniffed and tried to recompose herself "I threatened… that I would leave the family to be with Byakko and start up my own gourmet kingdom. My Fader already had other plans up his sleeve. He introduced me to the man who had set up the video call. The one that was standing right there. He was smiling the whole time, really creepy looking you know? I still remember the exact words my Fader said to me..."


"She said she didn't love me the same way she thought she did. She was just looking for a fling. That our worlds were too different and she had realised it only now. She had enough and wanted to end it and return to reality, to return to the world meant for her. She said she deserved better. She didn't want to spend her life with a poor and uneducated guy" said Kuchiyose.

Takumi was sure the ground would melt under Kuchiyose's acidic gaze.


"... He said 'If you don't end this foolish, silly infatuation right now. This man right here will break both his legs and he will never have a career in his beloved soccer again"

Erina's stomach dropped and churned.

"My Fader didn't make it to his position by being the nice guy. I could tell he was committed to his threat. That vile man who was my father's associate gave me the phone and told me to call Byakko up do it in front of my Fader to see. And I did what had to be done. For the sake of Byakko, I said awful things with all my strength. I couldn't bare if anything were to happen to him because of me. I wanted to make sure that Byakko will hate me forever, so that he could be spared"

Alice choked out another sob.


"I reckoned she was spewing total bullshit. But I had to see her anyway, to hear it from her lips and see it in her eyes that she meant every word. I broke into the property and I made it just under her balcony, but the fucking secret service was already onto me. She was right there, at the bedroom window but she turned away..."


"...When I saw him outside, he was calling my name so loudly like his life depended on it. I've never seen him looked so angry and so hurt. He had been beaten and bruised, sent to hospital after a few soccer games, but he always smiled and said he barely felt it. But when I saw him, the pain was real. I was unbearably happy that he still came for me. Selfish, I know. I don't deserve to still be chased after, after I broke Byakko's heart. Then security dragged him away like a he was a feral beast… it took six men. Six! To haul him off the grounds… åh gud Erina... I refused to look back"

Alice closed her eyes again.

"If... um—" began Erina.

"I don't regret what I did, Erina. Not one bit. It was the best for both of us. It was best for Byakko"


"Surely that can't be the whole truth!" Takumi stood up in front of Kuchiyose.

"What's done is done" said the lilac-haired giant with such finality.

"But obviously you and Alice were deeply in love. I think there was some sort of foul play! I mean, the way she looked at you when she saw you again. She still loves you. You two could have banded together and-"

"Alice and I come from two different social classes. Don't forget that you and Ayame come from two different worlds too. Literally. When you graduate from Tootsuki, you'll be going back to Italy right? Your parents want you to take over the family business and it's always been your dream right? Ayame needs to continue to study and go to university for mechanical and mechatronics engineering and follow her dreams in becoming an engineer. She won't find that in Italy. She has to stay in Japan to make her dreams come true. You two will be separated by half a world apart in a one year's time. How far do you see your relationship going?"

Takumi faltered. What?

"Alice and I live in the same fucking town and we couldn't be together because of something as simple as class. Think very carefully about what you and Ayame are going to do when it's your time to return to Italy, your world" said Kuchiyose.


Wow Kuchiyose... Switching the conversation from his past to Takumi's and Ayame's business was a dick move :/ But anyway, I decided to experiment with parallel story-telling so that both Kuchiyose and Alice get a chance to tell their story. That's about as talkative he's going to get.

Oh Ayame, we've all been there, crying and feeling down because we failed at something. At least she has such good friends and a supportive boyfriend. Takumi seems to have pretty traditional and straight-cut views about relationships huh? Chizuru and Takumi is still having a tug-of-war over Ayame haha!

Thanks again for reading and I hope you liked the longer chapter. Megumi's and Hayama's theme will be High Tea. Oolala! Let me know what you think of this chapter, and I'll see you soon!

Signing off

-TripWire-dono