Hello everyone!

Well here's the obligatory author's note. It's an absolute pleasure and a whirlwind of an adventure. I spent some time to read over every single review I've received in the past 2 years and I'm so happy and proud to say that I've gained over 250 reviews and over 200 followers and 200 favourites! I'd never imagine I'd received this much love from you guys. I've had my reservations for writing a long Takumi/OC story considering that Takumi isn't a very popular character, and there are very few Takumi fanfics in this fandom. OC fanfics are not particularly popular to read either considering they're OC… so enough said. But so far 278/280 reviews were all positive so I guess that means I've gained a 99.3% approval rating!

I felt this story was my best gamble in the fanfiction world because I didn't know well the Takumi/OC would be received, and I'm so pleased with how the story played out until the end! I can give myself a pat on the back for doing the best I could for a non-Souma/Erina fanfic

When I started this A Touch of Saffron, I wanted it to be a simple high school romance, but then through the planning stages, I didn't find that satisfying enough. I wanted more meat in the story later. I wanted to be more ambitious and voila! My romance story turned in a murder mystery! I did a year of crime-fiction writing back in high school for my three-unit English module and I guess my subconscious didn't want all that hard work in crime fiction writing to go to waste haha! Therefore, I'm also glad and relieved that you guys enjoyed how I constructed the murder case the students had solve in the second half of the story! The biggest worry was keeping Takumi's and Ayame's romance alive during this, but I think their romance was settled about this time so I was confident they would stay strong without my help really haha.

I'm also very happy you guys enjoyed the sub-plots regarding Alice and Kuchiyose, and Chizuru and Kuga! I know there were ships for Kuga/Chizu or Akira/Chizu from a few readers, it was a lot of fun to write their interactions! I honestly didn't know myself who she would end up with until the very end I realised that Hayama was too busy with Azami and then working at Zesar, getting his post-school life sorted to fit romance into his plans. Meanwhile, Kuga was way ahead of him in getting his foot through the door by hanging out with Chizuru regularly. So, it made sense based on interaction that Chizuru would fall for Kuga, and her latent feelings for Hayama subsided over time.

Just so you guys know, Daisuke from Medica Materia is now officially in the polls on my profile page because he's made his proper appearance in the epilogue XD I had a blast writing the accompanying story and I hope it wasn't too hard to follow! I was so excited to fit him into the cast who would get happy endings in the epilogue because he's been through the emotional wringer in Medica Materia with Hisako and Erina. When looking in hindsight, Daisuke was the main driver of The Rebel Alliance trying to prove Azami murdered Erina's mum as part of his elaborate plan to takeover Tootsuki… without him being in A Touch of Saffron at all until he shows his ass at the end, when after all the hard work is done! Lazy genius…

Like I said before, I've got a few side stories and brand new stories planned for the Food Wars! Fandom :D I've only made rough plans and the summaries for now. Here they are!


Breaking Locks

Alice/OC

Rated M

Prequel to A Touch of Saffron. His soul was like the tiger. He was a solitary creature. His voice was a deep and silent rumble which started deep within his body. His eyes were polished hazel gemstones burned with a fierce passion and fearlessness that left her wanting. Alice had never been enthralled by anyone but Kuchiyose Byakko. But when he called her "stupid" in their first encounter, it was only natural that she prove him wrong.


Hortus Herbicus

(Hisako/OC)

Rated M

Sequel to Medica Materia. Talent hits a target no one else can reach. Genius hits a target no one else can see. It's a race against time as Daisuke, Hisako and Riza do everything they can to make everyone else see the deadly plant-based disease which threatens to decimate over half of Japan's agricultural produce before it's too late.


Monochrome

(Kuga/OC)

Rated M

Side story to A Touch of Saffron. If one asked Namikaze Chizuru how she became Terunori Kuga's girlfriend, she would say she had no idea. He just rocked up in her life and grew on her like a colony of E coli on room-temperature raw beef. If one asked Terunori Kuga the same question, he would say he charmed and stunned her with his magnificent cooking prowess until she fell inevitably and helplessly in love with him.


The Guild

(Erina/OC)

Rated M

"Since when are students allowed to listen to music during Shokugekis?!" screeched Erina, pointing at the chef down below wearing wireless headphones. He was bopping his head to a beat as he walked onto the stadium. "Since now! That's Kinomoto Shuuhei, president of the Gamers' RS, otherwise known as 'The Guild'. His specialty is creating videogame music inspired dishes!" chirped Alice. Erina thought craziness stopped at Yukihira. Apparently not!


Sadistic Palate (x-over DRRR!)

(Rindou/Izaya)

Rated M

Prequel to A Touch of Saffron. Kobayashi Rindou's stagiare as a first year in Ikebukuro was a time she wished she could erase from her past. All because of an obsessive information broker, her life was constantly on the edge of a blade, waiting for him to push her off and catch her, only for him to do it again and again until all she could see and feel was him.


Please let me know which story you would like to read first, and I will plan it thoroughly!

In the previous chapter, I said I would have a special treat for you! My friend and I came up with an idea. I had been receiving various questions about the characters throughout the two years and I've answered them promptly... But… What would have it been like if the characters themselves answered the question instead of me? So here is my gift to you, I will post a Q&A drabble as a separate story about A Touch of Saffron for anyone who has any burning questions they want answered about specific characters (e.g. what's their favourite this or that, what their opinions are on things throughout the story, if you want to know more about their personality, characteristics and so forth). I will write drabbles where the characters answer your questions in a way you would least expect, within the normal story-telling format! :D That way it doesn't actually break any of the site's rules. We can give that a try!

Okay, so we have the summaries for future stories there, also an experimental Q&A Drabble for A Touch of Saffron Please let me know which Food wars! Story you would like to see next, and if there are any questions you have the characters!

Signing off for the last time

-TripWire-dono