Chapter 1: Loneliness has Emerged

PopNina250: Hello everyone! This will be the first fanfiction I have ever published, so…YAY!!!! I hope you enjoy my writing, and I hope to receive suggestions for any future writings to come. Well, let's begin our journey!

Anime Show: Shokugeki no Soma (Food Wars)

Genre: Romance/Drama

Pairing: Shun Ibusaki and Ryoko Sakaki

Overview: In this alternate universe, members of the Polar Star Dormitory have been expelled, not because of Central, but because they have lost too many Shokugeki challenges or received failing grades in their classes. Ryoko Sakaki has lost those closest to her, and now, she feels an emptiness in her heart and believes that she will never be able to graduate from Totsuki Culinary Academy. If only there was someone who could comfort her and restore her hope.

One Week Ago:

"GRANDFATHER!", a young girl's voice was heard as the headmaster's door burst open. The head master glanced up from his desk full of paper work to meet eyes with his beloved granddaughter, Erina Nakiri, the current number two seat of the Council of Ten.

"Erina, what in the world are you doing here? Don't you have a lot of paperwork to take care of for the upcoming events?", the headmaster, deemed the Demon of Cooking, had a look of confusion and frustration on his face towards his granddaughter.

"Why are you doing this?! You know they don't deserve this sudden letdown!", Erina screeched at him, with anger in her eyes.

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, and please, lower your voice! My coworkers are trying to get some work done around here, and they won't be able to focus with your sudden interruption!"

Despite her grandfather's attempts to calm her down, Erina's fiery anger only grew stronger. She marched towards her grandfather's desk and slammed a piece of paper she'd been holding right in front of him. Without a word, he glanced at the document she had given him and had suddenly become aware of the circumstances that led to her outburst.

"...Oh...Erina, I'm sorry. There is no way for me to prevent this. As headmaster, I am only doing my part by upholding Totsuki's rules. If students do not obey the rules, they must face the consequences of their actions."

"But these students have done so much for me. They gave me a place to stay, when my father took over the school. They may be rough around the edges, but they have so much talent they've shown me countless times." Erina tried her best to keep her composure and hold back her tears.

"That is no excuse for their poor grades and class attendance status. They made those poor choices, and I'm afraid they have gone too far with these setbacks."

Erina couldn't bear to hear another word from him. She ran out of the room in despair. She thought to herself, 'I'm sorry, Polar Star Dormitory! I wasn't able to stop this! I've failed you all!'

Looking back at the document, the headmaster let out a loud sigh and looked back towards the door Erina had run through.

He whispered to himself, "Erina, please forgive me. Yuki, Daigo, and Shoji have failed to meet the school's requirements. The consequence of their actions is their expulsion."

Present Day:

The alarm was beeping again, and another day had come. Mornings in the Polar Star Dorms were usually filled with the joyous early risers on the first floor, but due to the unfortunate events that occurred last week, no joy could be heard in the halls, outside the magenta-haired girl's room.

Being the only one on her floor, Ryoko looked up at the ceiling, feeling overwhelming emotions coursing through her body. She fixated on how the ceiling appeared worn down. Cracks in the ceiling were beginning to chip away. The shape of the tiles, which used to be where Isshiki would pop his head through, had become increasingly unstable and crooked.

In an attempt to finally rise from her bed, she stretched her legs, only to have them fall back again. She knew she had work in her fermentation lab and classes to attend, but something was holding her back.In other words, perhaps something was missing. A missing piece of her life that gave her her will and determination. The part that made her laugh, smile, and allowed her to express her emotions freely. No resistance, no worry about saying the wrong things, just comfortable conversations.

She turned her head to the side and stared at her wall. The wall used to be the barrier between her room and her closest friend. The energetic, bubbly girl who was always by her side and could always understand her. Yes, her friend was a bit of a mess and sometimes a blabbermouth, but there had been times when they had had full-on heart-to-heart talks with each other.

"Yuki Yoshino," Ryoko repeated the sweet girl's name many times in the past, but never had she said it in such a serious tone. Like the tone you would use when attending a funeral or having just lost a loved one.

She recalled something else about her friend. Yuki never stopped trying, and she would never quit any job she got, whether it was cleaning the toilets in the dorms or washing the dishes at her internship. She wondered how she managed to keep going, how she was able to stand her ground at this school for so long.

Her muscles finally tensed up; her eyes, which had been droopy with tiredness, widened, and now she was sitting up, ready to start her day.

Before she could even get a step in, someone knocked on her door.

"Ryoko, it's already 9:00 o'clock! Girl, you better get your behind to the dining hall before your breakfast is made into trash scraps!" Her dorm mother, Fumio, sounded furious. From experience, Ryoko knew how picky she was about wasting the food.

"I'll be down as soon as possible, Ms. Fumio! Sorry!" She got dressed in her Totsuki uniform, made her bed, made some final touch-ups to her face and hair, and finally got out the door.

"Another day without seeing you."

Concluding Statements: Sorry, there hasn't been any romance yet, but trust me, there's so much more to come. You'll be able to hear from the Prince of Smoke himself, in the next chapter.I'm thinking the next chapter will come out on August 10th, or sooner, so be on the lookout for updates! :)