A/N: I really wish Sōma and Alice had more contact with each other in the manga. So to make things a bit more interesting, I will be diverging a bit more from here on out. Just a heads-up.
Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Sōma. And every time I read this manga, I get hungry.
Alice hummed cheerfully as she made her way to class. This time she made sure to check Yukihira Sōma's schedule in order to "accidently" run into him more often. It was dreadfully easy to do so, actually. It wasn't just because she was the Academy's director's granddaughter, but also because of all the technological knowledge she had picked up at Nakiri International in Denmark during her spare time. Thanks to both of those factors, she had managed to get most of her classes to line up with Yukihira Sōma's.
"Are you ok, ojou-sama?" Ryo questioned quietly.
"What?" Alice glanced back in confusion. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Ryo glanced around slowly. All around them, the other students would look over before nervously shifting away. Usually, Alice would be a bit put out by this. It wouldn't show, but one could see it if they looked close enough. It had been like this ever since the middle school section. And it was only amplified after she had beaten the leader of the Cutting-Edge Cooking Research Society. Now, however, Alice wasn't paying them any mind at all. She seemed to be focused on something. But for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what it could be.
"No reason…" Ryō mumbled.
"Come on, Ryo-kun!" Alice whined. "We're going to be late for class."
"But ojou-sama, you were the one who insisted on taking forever to get ready." Ryo said.
"Don't blame your master for wanting to look good." Alice pouted.
"Ok ojou-sama." Ryō said. He picked up his pace.
"Ah! Don't walk in front of me either." Alice complained. "You have to be behind me like a good aide in order to watch my back."
"Ok ojou-sama…" Ryō grumbled. He moved back behind her.
"Hmph." Alice pouted. "Well, it looks like we're here."
'Finally.' Ryō thought gratefully.
Most of the other students in the room looked at the two in shock. Two, on the other hand, seemed to be preoccupied. One was a girl with long bluish hair tied in pigtails, Tadokoro Megumi, if Alice remembered correctly. And the other one was Yukihira Sōma. Alice smiled predatorily.
Ryō noticed Sōma right away. He glanced at Alice out of the corner of his eye and noted her expression. 'Him again, huh? Interesting.' He decided not to say anything and just walked over to the last empty station left in the back of the room.
'Damn,' Alice thought as she made her way to follow Ryō, not even realizing that he had once again stepped in front of her. 'I should've gotten here sooner. Oh well, I can still get a decent look at his cooking from here.'
Sōma didn't pay her, or anyone, any mind though. He was too focused on tossing an onion up and down.
"Man, I can't believe we're cooking on the first day of school. It already beats my last class. The last time I cooked in school was like in my home economics class. So dull." Sōma talked out loud to himself cheerfully.
All around him though, the other students glared. Sōma didn't appear to notice though. Alice, on the other hand, did.
'So many enemies,' Alice thought gleefully. 'How are you going to deal with all of them?'
"Oh," Sōma looked over, finally noticing that someone else was at his station. "You're… Tadokoro-san, right? What's up? Is there a reason you're eating the kanji for "person" like that?"
"Oh!" Megumi looked over in shock at being addressed by him. "Th-this is just so I don't get nervous… Or, something like that… You see, if I get another E, I'll be expelled."
"An E?" Sōma asked.
"The quality of your cooking is graded from A to E." Megumi explained. "Although it differs from class to class really."
"Huh…" Sōma nodded at the easy to understand explanation. "That's interesting. I didn't realize this elite school would have people like you here too."
Megumi grabbed her chest as though she were just stabbed.
'Uwah… I can't believe this. Just when I was trying to survive quietly and steadily, to think I'd be paired with the transfer student of all people.' Megumi thought glumly.
"Well, it's nice to meet you regardless Tadokoro-san." Sōma said cheerfully. "I'm Yukihira Sōma. You can call me Sōma though."
"Uh, ok then." Megumi replied timidly. She was acutely away of all the glares Sōma, and by extension her, was getting from all over the room.
"Attention." A voice said loudly from the front of the room, garnering everyone's attention instantly. "Good morning, young apprentis."
An elderly gentleman walked stood in front of all of them. He had a stern face with piercing blue eyes that seemed to be constantly set in "glare to death" mode and swept back blonde hair. His outfit was a standard chef's uniform though with a red neckerchief on. All of the students that recognized him and knew his reputation immediately gulped in fear.
'Oh yay,' Alice thought. 'This will make things even more interesting today.' She discreetly watched Sōma out of the corner of her eye as the man started to talk.
"You are all responsible for making delicacies from the moment you stand in a kitchen. For that, neither your experience nor your position matter. In my classes, if you cannot get an "A", you will receive an "E". Be sure to remember that." Chapelle-sensei said sternly.
Megumi wilted as if he had just said that she failed.
"Now then," Chapelle-sensei looked towards his notebook in disinterest. "Today's menu is Boeuf Bourguignon. A standard French dish. Although just in case, I shall write down the recipe on the white board. The time limit is 2 hours. Submit your dishes as soon as you are finished. Now start, commencez à cuire."
"Bouef… bour-wha?" Sōma asked.
"Sōma-kun, have you never cooked this dish before?" Megumi asked incredulously.
"Nope. It's sort of like a cow stew, right?" Sōma asked. "Well, we'll manage it somehow I guess. I'll go check out the recipe."
Megumi grabbed her head in despair. 'This is hopeless…'
"Ojou-sama, I've finished the prep." Ryō said casually from her side.
"Oh?" Alice checked the table and saw that Ryō had managed to finish everything while she was preoccupied with observing Sōma. "Good job. Well, let's get started."
"Hm" Ryō grunted.
The both of them started to work. Neither of them said a word to the other as they quickly and efficiently made the dish. Within a short period of time, they got to the point where all they had to do was wait for the meat to become tender before boiling it with the sauce. Of course, they managed to get to that step before everyone else, even with Ryō lagging behind due to boredom.
"Oi Tadokoro! Check it out! They have so many seasonings here. It's amazing." Sōma's voice sounded out over the noise of the kitchen. It wasn't that loud, but it was loud enough to get Megumi's and Alice's attention. Alice glanced over subtly as she leaned against the counter. Megumi made her way over but just picked up a plate for the dish as Sōma continued to look over the available seasonings. Alice had to smile as she watched his enthusiasm. It was plain to see just how much he enjoyed cooking.
Ryō, on the other hand, checked out Sōma's station. They had finished reasonably fast, all things considered. Yet as he checked over the station, he noticed two other students walk over and subtly toss a bunch of salt into the pot. He checked to see if Sōma or Megumi noticed. Unfortunately for them, they did not. 'You shouldn't leave your station unattended. That's your fault.' He thought harshly.
"Ojo…" Ryō's voice trailed off as he checked on Alice. She was staring idly at the seasoning rack. At the same place Ryō had noticed Sōma standing not so long ago. She clearly wasn't paying any attention to anything around her. "Never mind."
Meanwhile, Sōma and Megumi finally made it back to their station. Sōma checked on the pot and noticed that the lid was slightly off. "Huh? Did you leave the lid open, Tadokoro?"
"Eh?" Megumi looked over in disbelief. "N-no. There's still 20 minutes left, after all."
Sōma looked around and noticed a couple other students chuckling while glancing over. 'Wait…' Sōma opened the lid and checked inside. The beef was covered with a lot of white powder.
"What?" Megumi stared at the contents of the pot with shock. "What is that stuff?"
Sōma placed a finger in to poke the powder and brought it to his tongue. "It's salt."
"W-why?!" Megumi cried out. "Wh-what are we going to do now?!"
Her cry brought the attention of Chapelle-sensei and Alice towards her. Though neither moved.
"Hm?" Alice looked over to see Sōma and Megumi looking down at their open pot. "Why would they open their pot now? There's no way that it's done."
"Two students threw salt into their pot." Ryō answered.
"What?!" Alice looked back at Ryō. "When? How?"
"It happened when they were away from their station," Ryō said blandly, uncaring at their turmoil. "They should have been paying more attention."
"Oh?" Alice looked around the room to find the culprits. "And who exactly did it?"
Ryō looked around before casually nodding in the direction of the students responsible. "Them."
'I'll take care of them later then.' Alice thought severely. She wasn't sure why she was so mad. It was most likely just because they had just messed with someone she had plans to mess with. That had to be it. She looked back at Sōma's station. It seemed like they, or most likely just Sōma, had an idea. They had all the ingredients ready to make a new Beef Bourguignon. She checked the clock. There was only 30 minutes left. There was no way they would finish in time. Then she noticed that there was an extra ingredient at their station. 'Honey? That has preteolytic enzymes in it. Those will cut through the bonds that hold the amino acids together so the meat will tenderize faster. Not even Tōtsuki students learned that in the middle school section. How did you know that?'
"Well then, all that's left is the sauce for us," Ryō said as he brought it over the mushrooms and onions he'd been sautéing. "It's time to simmer it all together."
"Right." Alice said. She started to help Ryō out. Before long they had both finished and walked up to turn it in.
"A." Chapelle-sensei said simply to the two of them.
"As expected." Alice said somewhat smugly as they walked back to their station.
"Hn." Ryō grunted in agreement.
After a few minutes, Sōma and Megumi walked in to turn in their dish. Alice observed them up until it was apparent that they had passed. They had even gotten a better reaction than her and Ryō. Although if she and Ryō had actually went all out in making the dish, it wouldn't have even been close. Still, it would have been almost impossible to get Ryō to get serious in a standard class such as this. She sighed softly. Honestly, he was just so much trouble.
Ryō glanced over, recognizing the tone of that sigh before snorting softly and turning away.
"Class dismissed!" Chapelle-sensei announced before collecting his papers and walking out.
Alice glanced over to see Sōma and Megumi talking. She frowned momentarily before turning away in a huff. "Let's go, Ryō-kun."
"Very well ojou-sama." Ryō followed dutifully behind her.
"By the way… I would like you to go and check on something for me in the records office." Alice sung out cheerfully.
"Yes ojou-sama…" Ryō replied with noticeably less enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, in another part of the building, an unfortunate Tadokoro Megumi was introduced to one of the items on Yukihira Sōma's top 10 worst foods list.
OMAKE
"Well, it looks like we'll be partners today Yukihira-kun." Alice said cheerfully as she stood expectantly next to Sōma as they waited for Chapelle-sensei to arrive.
"Ah," Sōma nodded. "I'm looking forward to working with you."
'For me, you mean…' Alice thought nefariously.
Meanwhile, in the back of the room, a fearful looking Megumi and a bored looking Ryō stood by their assigned station.
'Oh no, to think I'm paired with Alice-sama's aide of all people.' Megumi thought worriedly. 'How did this happen?'
'Ah, freedom…' Ryo thought blissfully, though his bored expression remained on his face as he gazed out of the window. 'It sure is a bright day today.'
A/N: I hope that you liked this change. After this comes the Maria of the Polar Star chapter. I'm debating on how exactly to add Alice into it. I'm also wondering how fast I should have their relationship develop. I think, most likely, I'll have them become more aware of each other during the training camp. Then… Well, you'll see.