Chapter 85: Down with the King

- Lost Identity (or Blood and Scars)

The eerie silence that enveloped the venue hall was telling. Never before had anyone heard the third seat utter something as chillingly dark as that before, and such was the shock it left his fellow members of the Ten gaping in surprise and horror at him.

"Kenny..." Rindō stuttered alarmed, as she bolted forwards and grabbed the third seat by his hand as well she gently shaking him by the shoulders. "What's gotten into you?"

On the other side of him, Tsukasa suddenly appeared and too grabbed the third seat before starting to drag him off the sidelines and away backstage. "Rindō! Let's get Ken backstage". Yet just as they were about to leave, they found their path was blocked by both Megumi and Kuga.

"Answer Isshiki's question!" The former eighth seat growled at Kensuke. "Why? Why would you say that! He's your friend! He's been supporting you far longer than you've known Tsukasa and Rindō".

Sidestepping the first seat, Megumi moved forwards and placed both her hands either side of her brothers face and looked deep into his eyes. "Cloudy…" she murmured. "Why are your eyes cloudy? They should be hazel".

Intrigued, and further alarmed, by the first year girl's statement, Rindō moved forwards and looked into Ken's eyes as well. "I wouldn't say cloudy…" she replied curiously, "their more like glossed over. It's almost as if he's not seeing things properly…"

Despite his earlier surprised anger, a sudden abrupt feeling of déjà vu manifested within Isshiki making him race forwards and grab at Kensuke's right arm.

"I've seen him like this before…" he stated frantically. "But only when he's feeling extremely conflicted or confused. Sometimes whenever facing hardships does he… become this blunt and cold".

"His lack of emotional vitality combined with being too deeply focused on something that he either wanted or something he wants to protect…" Isshiki continued sorrowfully.

Rolling up her brothers sleeve Megumi saw loads of fresh horizontal scars on his lower arm with several older scars on his upper arm.

"How could you let this happen!" She yelled rounding on the first and second seats, sheer fury and pain evident on her face. "And you call yourselves his friends".

Flinching under the combined downright tempestuous glares levelled at them by Isshiki, Kuga and Megumi, the first and second seats at least had the decency to appear shameful as they lowered their heads and held onto Kensuke tightly.

Meanwhile, distracted from her cooking by the news of Kensuke's self harm; Nene rushed forwards and threw her arms around the despondent looking third seat.

Sōma too also rushed forwards and stood beside Megumi, re-evaluating his future brother-in-law's standing.

"Ken… why didn't you say anything?" both he and Isshiki murmured desperately.

Gloss eyed the third seat simply stared back at the people before him, as if he was stuck in a trance - broken and merely seeing rather than looking.

Grasping her brother's hands tightly, as if trying to keep him from fleeing this moment, Megumi again looked down at his arms and saw that a few of the horizontal scars had opened up and were bleeding - staining his sleeves red.

"Stop this right now!" The voice of emcee yelled nastily. "The third seat will be partaking in the cooking regardless of his current state…"

Almost immediately upon hearing those words Isshiki gnashed his teeth and angrily rounded on Urara. "For fucks sake, shut up! Why are you letting this continue? Ken shouldn't be here or even be thinking about cooking…"

Trailing off from his rant, a horrid realisation flashed through the former seventh seat's mind and he subsequently spun around and rounded on the VIP boxes. Glowering up in the direction of Director Azami, Isshiki grabbed the first thing that he saw: a pressure cooker, and hurled it upwards into the executive viewing gallery where the Director was seated.

"You sick bastard!"

Grabbing ahold of each of the blonde second year's arms Nene and Kuga quickly held Isshiki back, managing to successfully prevent him from running up towards the stairs that lead to the upper VIP boxes - filled with smirking and chuckling Central benefactors. As well as the Director.

However, another furious outburst, they'd thought would have again come from him, came instead from an irate and teary-eyed Rindō who lunged herself forwards and grabbed an empty frying pan and hurled it through their air up towards where the director was seated.

With a howl of pain Azami rubbed his forearm and glowered done at the second seat, however, he was again confronted her her rage.

"You fucking knew!" Rindō growled. "So this is why you sent him away!" Wiping tears from her eyes as she clenched her fists at her side, the second seat looked less like her epithet now and more like a petulant child.

"I didn't want to believe it but Isshiki was right… you made Ken the Tōtsuki international envoy to deliberately overload him with work so that he would break!" Spinning around on her feet, the second seat moved back towards Kensuke and wrapped her arms around him, tears flowing down her face.

Meanwhile, Tsukasa stared at the central badge on his lapel as if he was going to rip it from him but instead he walked across the stage past the irate Megumi and Isshiki; ignoring the looks of surprise from his fellow members of the Ten and embraced his two closest friends.

Turning back to his cooking, Sōma decided to turn off the stove, oven and all appliances he was using as there was more serious events going on. Moving away from his workstation, Sōma watched intently, as everyone else was doing, as the sheer anticipation and exhilaration of the venue hall was overtaken by soul crushing moroseness.

The goal: to 'repeal and replace' the Azami Doctrine as well as disbanding Central and preventing his friend's expulsions was still the ultimate impetus for the rebels but now with Kensuke on the verge of a complete mental breakdown, as well as Tsukasa and Rindō venting their rage and regret, the Team Food war seemed to have temporarily stalled.

Breaking off from her furious glare up at Director Azami, Megumi reached out and grasped Sōma's hand - squeezing it tightly. Nodding his head firmly, the boy in question reassured her that he was equally worried and seething.

Glaring at the other members of the Ten who hadn't moved from where they stood, seemingly unfazed, Megumi bit the inside of her cheek to force her rage to subside.

But then a barley audible voice spoke.

"I can't do this anymore…"

The manner of which those five words were spoken, quieted and tearful, was all it took for the entire hall to immediately realise the depths of the third seats despair and his resentment of other peoples expectations.

"Just let me go… I don't want to feel anything anymore".

Instantly, Megumi bolted forwards and tackled her brother in an almost bone crushingly tight embrace. "Please… please don't say that! Ken, you're my brother. I may not know how hard you struggle with anxiety and work socialising but there are people who love you!"

Remembering her own struggles, and how despondent she'd felt at being last in the ranking of all first years, the blue-haired girl buried her face in the crook of her brothers neck. "I've been where you are… maybe not at the same level of cooking, but I've dealt with the same audacious and quasi-sentimental chefs and critics who want exactly as they've ordered. So I know how you feel".

However, as earnestly and honestly as she could muster, Megumi found that she still could not fully get through the fog of doubt, depression and suicidal thought that were still clearly plaguing her brother.

With tears now readily flowing down her face, the girl simply held onto her brother and tried desperately to impart her familial love for him by way of an embrace.

Simultaneously, Tsukasa and Rindō swiftly moved either side of Kensuke and bowed their heads on his shoulder, desperately trying to hide their own tears from everyone else about their inability to having seen any signs of depression in their friend or his self harming.

Making a beeline straight towards her chef-partner, Kensuke's sous chef, and fellow rebel chef, Chise Nakata bolted forwards and shoved both the first and second seats away.

Glowering at them both.

"Get away from him! You don't deserve to even stand next to him!" Then grabbing something off Nene's workstation - following in both Rindō and Isshiki's example - she hurled something up towards the booth where Azami was sitting.

"You petty, vindictive sadist!"

'Smash'.

The sight, followed by the sound, of a wine bottle breaking on the back of Director Azami's chair, and then a loud hiss as the Director winced as glass sliced across his face.

Placing a hand over his bleeding face, which had the result of making the entire auditorium hitch their breath in shock and awe that someone would dare injure the Director, and a Nakiri, with his white shirt stained with red wine he held a bloodied hand against his cheek and still managed to raise a quizzical eyebrow at the angry rebels.

Lowering his head in shame even more, Tsukasa looked meekly at his shoes whilst Rindō simply dropped to her knees and wept. Both of them completely ignoring the way that Urara began to slander them as "rebel loving sympathisers" and "false elites" whom were now "dead to central".

As the cheering crowd in the venue hall roused again in another wave of support of the emcees declaration, Megumi finally snapped.

Clenching her fists, fury running through her veins and butterflies churning up her stomach, the blue haired girl pushed herself forwards and punched Urara in the face knocking the emcee flat on her behind.

"Shut. Your. Lying. Mouth!" She growled as she yanked the microphone from the other girls hands, silencing Urara from emceeing duty. "You don't have a right to comment about something -or anything - you clearly don't understand!"

Every word gritted out from behind clenched teeth, and said so ferociously, made the entire hall fall even more to silence as they all involuntarily shuddered in fear at the enraged blue haired girl.

Stamping down on the microphone; muting the humiliated emcee, Megumi scowled down at the girl before her with utter contempt. This being the first time she had ever felt such an emotion for anybody.

She was just about to break into another angry retort when she noticed the three persons descending the flights of stairs down from an above booth to the cooking stage.


The moment that Senzaemon, Dōjima and Jōichirō all stepped onto the stage the whole hall went pin-drop silent, even Central supporters still begrudgingly possessed a high level of respect for the former director and the Tōtsuki executive chef.

Walking speedily over to the third seat Gin Dōjima pulled his a phone and immediately dialled the emergency number for Rebun island hospital.

Placing a hand on Megumi and Sōma's shoulders, Jōichirō gave a weak smile before turning his head back towards the executive chef whom had pulled out his mobile phone and was now frantically speaking over the line.

"Hello! We need a helicopter at the Rebun island Tōtsuki exam Hall immediately! One of our students needs to be taken to the Sendai psychiatric institute…"

However, at that same moment the line began to crackle as interference cancelled the call. Taking the phone from his ear and glancing at the screen Dōjima quickly tapped away, attempting to redial the emergency number. He was just about to query this lack of phone signal to Senzaemon when suddenly peels of a cackling laughter rained down from the above executive VIP booths - occupied by culinary industry figures all of whom were supportive of Central.

Everyone single one of Azami's international allies seemingly taking immense amusement from witnessing the third seat's mental suffering, whilst also decrying the rebels sympathy as weaknesses to culinary prowess.

And then the man himself spoke.

"You will do no such thing, Gin".

The smugness on Azami's face as he too appeared and stepped onto the cooking stage resulted in the enraged forms of Megumi, Chise and Rindō having it be physically restrained by Sōma, Isshiki, Nene and Tsukasa.

"This team food war shall continue as is… Kensuke Tadokoro is the current third seat of the Ten, and shall partake in our showdown regardless of the state of his mind. The rules that we set out are clear… and binding".

"You can't do that! Kensuke is clearly not in the right mindset to cook, let alone be around knives", Ryōko and Alice screamed grabbing ahold of the bars of the 'special seating area', eager to voice their own anger and frustration.

Despite her rage, and the grief tears in her eyes, Megumi managed to offer her friends a smile as thanks for her angry remark towards Azami.

Meanwhile, struggling to hold back an enraged and distraught Chise whilst also fighting against his own rage filled desire to actually murder the man whom had ensnared and then psychologically broken his best friend, Isshiki felt a hand on his shoulder by a new tear-eyed Nene.

Blinking, curious at his childhood friend's behaviour, the former seventh seat was about to ask what she was planning on doing when she moved past him and embraced the other girl comforting her and apologising for not seeing Ken's struggles sooner.

"The food war shall continue..." Azami continued brusquely. "The rules we agreed upon", he held up the written document, and gestured between himself and Erina, "stipulates that all of the Ten whom support Central shall face the rebels until either side has achieved a total culinary victory".

With the large smirk on his face growing ever larger as he spoke, the Director mentally praised himself for planning out these events so thoroughly. "So…" he falsely extolled, "won't you please return to your places. The cooking isn't done yet".

"Aargh! Central for the win!"

Joining in the yelled exclamation, without anyone knowing whom uttered it, the audience erupted into thunderous applause.

And then it all happened in a flash.

Before anyone: rebel or central supporting chef, knew what was happening, the emcee Urara Kawashima charged past them grabbed a knife up from a nearby workstation and rushed at Sōma.

However in that moment, as if some portion of sentience had returned to him, Kensuke managed to push himself out of Chise and Megumi's arms and intercept the angry brainwashed emcee, shoving the redhead boy out of harms way. However, as he was now in directly between emcees and Sōma, Urara diverted her furious blind rage to attack to the third seat; resulting in her managing to slice along the third seat's arm lower left arm.

Dropping to his knees, gripping his left arm tightly as blood stained his jacked, Kensuke blinked in astonishment staring at the wound he now bore as if he hadn't even felt a thing.

Looking up at the people around him: Sōma, Isshiki and Megumi all saw the frightened expression in Kensuke's eyes, behind his black rimmed glasses, as he stared at the blood staining his chef's whites.

Hazel eyes appeared once again staring up from the third seat back as he - in the present moment - albeit confused, seemed almost as free from Central's control over him.

"What happened...?" Kensuke uttered weakly, as he stared up at the people hurrying forwards before he collapsed on the floor.


R.I.P -

Issey Miyake. Fashion Designer.

Roger E Mosley. Actor from Magnum P.I.

Lamont Dozier. Singer, Songwriter and Motown producer.

Josephine Tewson. Actress from Last of the Summer Wine and Keeping up Appearances.

Tim Page. War Photographer.