Disclaimer: I don't own Shokugeki no Soma
Author's Note:
To all my dear readers, I apologize for not posting any new chapters for Tootsuki Trinity. I am afraid I have some block with this one for now and if anyone knows effective ways to break through it, please give me your advice.
For now, I think I wll write some more of these Nao x Soma and Love Recipe oneshots!
For this oneshot I blame the latest chapter!
PARTNERS
Dojima Gin still can remember when it all changed.
He knew how but still couldn't understand why.
Almost fourty years ago, when he himself was only a teen, the strange anomaly washed their the entire world in the wave of blue energy. What was that? Everyone wondered at that time.
A meteorological anomaly caused by pollution? A secret weapon test? One of the first signs of aliens coming to the Earth?
Many ridiculous theories filled the Internet that year. Slowly but surely, the rumors went dead. People had the amazing talent to forget and dismiss things when they didn't have immediate results.
Soon, people all but forgot about that strange flash of blue and white light.
It would take the decades for the first real effect to appear
Ten years ago, the first one of them emerged, causing havoc in Tokyo with a mere snap of his finger. Soon, the same incidents started taking place all over the globe with people waking up one day and possessing some weird power.
The global community called them "Tracers" since the powers were somehow linked to the traces of unknown energy spread by that anomaly. Some of the tracers were pretty harmless. The others?
The others were the reason the UNO created this organization.
The "Seekers" were the group of people assembled with one single goal: stop the tracers by all means necessary.
"Boss, with all due respect, but this is a complete bullshit!"
Dojima Gin, the current head of the agency, only rubbed his temples in frustration. Why was he even trying to convince him? The damn brat took after his dad in everything! With stubbornness being even worse in the son than in the father!
"Yukihira, I think you are overlooking the obvious advantage she would bring with her." Gin started off, hoping to appeal to Yukihira's tactical side.
"She is a wanted criminal with numerous mob bosses and crime lords wanting her either by their side on dead!" That was another failure. It has been almost an hour but they made no progress at all. "Not to mention that she resisted the arrest and attempted an escape during the transportation here! She is clearly not willing to cooperate!"
As Yukihira stared at his boss and his legal guardian, Gin looked over the files of these two.
[Yukihira Soma]
Age: 25
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 60 kg
Eye color: Yellow
Hair color: Red
Rank: B-1
Tracer DNA: Dormant
Special Ability: None
Danger Level: Red (Black)
Personality overview:
"Yukihira Soma has displayed strong sense of moral all throughout his training course in Tootsuki Academy. During the courses, Yukihira Soma has been numerously reported to have serious authority issues."
"His tendency to disregard orders of his superior officers during the training sessions nearly cost him his place in the Academy. Majority of the aforementioned acts of disobedience were committed for the sake of other people and none of those actions seemed to benefit Yukihira Soma."
"Despite his rough relationships with instructors and the majority of the student body, Yukihira Soma seems to be an outgoing and cheerful young man, whose main talent centers around the ability to gain trust and form "relationships" with former rivals."
"The subject showed the extremely high intelligence albeit in quite untraditional ways. His intelligence doesn't suit logistics or R&D team, but rather it is perfectly suited for combat and field operations as well as (potentially) covert missions. Most instructors pointed out his instinctive ability to learn on his feet and always extract new information from every failure he experienced."
"During one of our sessions, I formed the hypothesis that Yukihira suffered from an emotional trauma at certain point in time. The nature of the trauma is not fully explored but seems to be related to his strong sense of justice. The same trauma seems to be one of the possible reason for the subject's reckless behavior in certain situations and inability to accept defeat." - Dr. Marui Zenji.
Gin couldn't help but smile sadly at how close Marui-san was close to the truth.
If only...
"Dojima-san, are you even listening?" Gin looked up at Soma, who seemed to be waiting for his answer. "Do you still believe I absolutely have to work with her?"
Gin looked at her file (or whatever scraps of information they could get their hands on) and put all his will into his words as he looked into Soma's eyes.
"Yes." He said, his voice steel and eyes cold.
That cold and strict look, not accepting any excuses, was more than enough for Soma to know that he had no way to talk his way out of this anymore.
"Polar Star Dormitory" was the name that shined for "normies" and gave them hope while instilling fear into the hearts of criminals of all kinds!
Whatever twisted sadist called this place a "dorm" sure had a nice sense of humor though.
Located God knows where, to criminals at least, this place was Japan's own version of Bermuda Triangle. None of the prisoners even knew how their jail looked outside! All they knew and had now were their not so comfortable cells created specifically for them. Locked inside the indestructible walls of the unknown material, surveillance cameras watching every single breath of theirs and guards ready to kill you right inside your "house" the moment you looked suspicious.
Sometimes, even the sheer amount of psychological pressure was enough to mentally break even the most cold-blooded and deranged crooks and maniacs.
Being not the case, Rindo simply relaxed, enjoying the cold floor of her cell. She was actually enjoying the cold and wet floor after spending an entire day under that freaking sun! And, of course, she was oblivious or simply didn't care about the death glares her not so friendly dormmates were sending her the moment she was led into her cell.
What was their deal?
So what if she double-crossed every single one of them at some point?
Or stole whatever they had?
Or set them up and backstabbed them for agents to find and capture?
They, herself included, were criminals, for Kami's sake!
"Tell me~ Tell me~ Little birdie on a tree!" she sang in mocking voice, making fun of feathered criminal a few meters away from her. She knew that they were recorded and listened to. But as long as their talk was quiet, no guards would stop her from having some fun. "What are you in here for?"
"Like you don't know!" He spat, gritting his sharp teeth and clawing at the wall. His eyes were burning with long-time hatred. "You fucking promised to work fairly! But you set me up and took my half of the money! The seekers got me because of you!"
"Well, if you wanna get technical here," Rindo snickered, waving her finger like she was an adult explaining simplest things to a stupid kid, which was ironic of her. "I promised that you wouldn't get caught with stolen money, right? And since I took your half, you weren't caught with the money! See? I kept my end of bargain!"
She smiled victoriously, enjoying the mad look this guy gave her. Oh she was gonna love this!
"You backstabbing bit-AAARGH!
The collar on his long neck sent the shock all over his body, making the man scream and cry in agony. And Rindo got to laugh at the poor guy's pain! Sweet!
"Fuck! I am sorry! I am sorry!"
"Wow, who knew it would be so much fun in here?" Rindo smirked. Now that she was here, she had to look for something to kill time with. Her powers were fun but this stupid collar kept her powerless as long as she wore one. Not that she had no idea what to do without them though. "What to do~ What to- Hm?"
The door inside the room opened, meaning one of the two things. Either there was a new dormmate they were going to have here. Or it was some bigshot who wanted to see where the taxpayers' money went.
"She is here." One of the guards said in quiet voice, filled with doubt and slight disgust. Heh, must have been the guy whose nose she broke while trying to escape. "Are you really sure, sir?"
"Nope. In fact, I am one hundred per cent against the idea." This man... He looked not much older than her. Wait a minute... Wasn't it...
"My redheaded seeker!" Rindo exclaimed with the mixture of mockery and childish excitement in her voice. Soma, despite being one of the friendliest people in the organization, couldn't help but sigh in frustration. This was going to be one long mission... "How are you doing? Still hearing from that Nakiri heiress, I suppose?"
Soma ignored the obvious attempt to provoke him and concentrated on his assignment to recruit her.
"I came here with an offer, Kobayashi-san." He watched every single imprisoned one here look at him curiously. Fun fact about humanity: Offer something good to one person and all the people nearby will try to get it too. The same applied for the tracers as it looked. "As you know, Polar Star is known as the place where criminals like you disappear once and forever. No pardon. No pleading insanity. Nothing."
"Yeah-yeah, I know it all. The old hag behind you is the living proof of it." As the old woman hissed at her, showing off her blade-sharp claws, Rindo simply smiled at her and said in honey-soaked voice. "I love you too, granny. So what's the offer, red?"
'Is she trying to get a rise out of me?' Soma thought, watching Kobayashi-san fake an innocent face. That trick wouldn't work on him again. "I know that for the last few months you have been working with Eizan Etsuya. You have been stealing from and blackmailing his competitors on the market."
"And why do you think I know anything?" Rindo feigned confusion and innocence, enjoying the role. "I am but a mere muscle for hire! I have no idea what Eizan-kun could be planning! Honest scout's word!"
"Good acting but terrible script." Soma chuckled at the charade Kobayashi-san was pulling off. Any rookie would fall for that but he wasn't one. "Tell me, Kobayashi-san-"
"Didn't we skip last names and formalities?" Rindo grinned, enjoying the frown on Soma's face. "Just call me Rindo, Soma-chan."
"... So, Kobayashi-san," Rindo noted to herself that the boy definitely knew how to keep grudges. "do you know why you are wanted not only by the law enforcement but also some people on your side of the law?"
"Well, my looks, my charm, I also know a few tri-"
"Because of how talented you are." Soma finished for her, not wishing to listen to whatever innuendo she was preparing for. "You can inflitrate whatever facility you are told. You can steal any item or information no matter how well-protected or rare it is. you are indeed talented, Kobayashi-san."
Rindo smirked, loving the praise. Especially since she deserved all of it.
"Too talented in some cases, I would say." Soma tossed the bunch of printed messages. They all were from her previous employers. All with rewards promised to different mercenaries who brought her head to them. "You are the wild card, Kobayashi-san. You are a risky investment. And why?"
"Indeed, why?" Rindo echoed in mocking dramatic fashion even though she knew the answer well enough.
"You follow nobody." Soma said simply, looking straight into her eyes. Back then, when they met, Rindo wondered how much their eyes looked alike when they both didn't know about each other much enough. And now...
"You are loyal only to one person. Yourself. And that's why you can't help but look into whatever piece of information you are hired to steal. You simply can't allow yourself to be in the dark. And that's why there is just no way you wouldn't know something about what Eizan is planning."
The slow clap echoed throughout the place. Soma looked at the amused face of Rin- Kobayashi-san.
"Alright, you got me! So what is the offer? I help you take little old yakuza reject and what do I get?" She grinned, enjoying the looks of the other prisoners. She hasn't been in here for even a weel and now she could demand whatever she wanted! Guess her powers weren't gone absolutely. "Bigger and softer bed? Better meals? Oh-oh! I know! How about-"
"Freedom." Soma said the magic word, which turned every silent prisoner into the rapid screamer. Heck, they hated seekers who put them in here in the first place. But working for them and actually going out to breath some fresh air? They were ready to sell their souls and hearts (provided they had those in the first place) to the Devil! "Not absolute of course. Let's call it a test run of the new program people in our HQ are working on."
"Huh, so I am just a tool and an test run subject?" Rindo pouted in fake sadness. With no reaction or response from Soma, Rindo decided to simply drop the act and just grinned at him with approval and sick excitement. "You actually learnt something from me, Soma-kun! I am so proud of you!"
Jumping back with a cat-like grace, Rindo landed on both feet and smirked at Soma, who looked unimpressed.
"So when do I get out?"
Soma rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Somewhere out there the God was laughing at him, he was sure.
So here is my small wrap!
You know, I decided to try and make the chapter without insta-love type of interaction. Rindo and Soma had something in the past, which might be revelaed if you like the idea enough and want it explored more.
Among other things, any suggestions for pairs?
Read and Review! Bye!