Hello readers! For those of you who read my previous fanfiction stories, I will once again be inserting my original character, though there will be no Jedi or any magic involved this time (or maybe…that will be for you to eventually analyze on your own).
Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Soma (Food Wars). This story is a work of pure fiction, and is for fun and entertainment purposes only.
As he was walking through the cobblestone streets of the seaside city, Daniel Horowitz couldn't help but think about, for the umpteenth time, how his life was soon to change dramatically. At the young age of eleven years old, his family was about to make an extraordinary and life-changing move from his hometown in the United States to Tokyo, Japan.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, he was a typical boy in many ways – he was a big sports fan, had a small, but seemingly solid group of friends that he liked to spend time with, and came from what would generally be considered a typical and happy middle-class family. Both of his parents were educators – his dad was a law professor, and his mom taught advanced social studies courses to high school students. He also had a younger sister (by two years) who sometimes drove him crazy, but whom he still loved. Daniel himself was 5'0 and of a generally average body build with brown eyes and light brown wavy hair.
It started a few months before the end of his fifth-grade year, when his father had received the phone call that would change their lives. American University law school was looking to expand its footprint in international legal studies, and was about to set up an international intellectual property law program in Tokyo. Daniel's father had been developing a good reputation as an expert in this field of law, and the university made him an offer to head the new program in Tokyo. To sweeten the deal, the university also provided a good-sized house and found Daniel's mother a teaching job at the local K-12 school for English-speaking expats. Seeing this as an opportunity to significantly advance his career while still being a family man, Daniel's father accepted the job.
However, Daniel's father knew that the move would still be difficult on the rest of his family, so as a show of thanks for supporting his decision to take the job, he decided to take the family on a vacation to Ireland during the summer before they made the move. This is where Daniel was now, walking the cobbled streets of Galway on the west coast of the Emerald Isle. It had been a good vacation so far, starting in the capital of Dublin before making their way west to Cork, and even stopping at Blarney Castle to kiss the stone. Now Daniel was enjoying some free time with a map, marked with the meetup point his parents had designated.
As he browsed the windows of the various shops and turned onto a side street, he saw an older man outside one of the shops – likely in his 60s – struggling with carrying something. Having time on his hands, he walked quickly towards him and offered to help him out. Grateful for the offer, the old man accepted and directed Daniel on carrying a couple of heavier items into a rustic looking antique shop. When they were finished, the old man turned to Daniel smiled, and said, "Thank you, young lad. Those things were quite heavy!" Daniel nodded with a smile and replied, "No problem. You looked like you needed the help there."
"Indeed, I did," the old man stated. "It seems like your parents raised you quite well." After thanking him for the compliment, Daniel was about to leave the store when the old man asked him to hold up for a minute. He then looked at Daniel, as though he was examining him, or even peering into his soul. He then gave another big smile and said, "There's something very special about you, lad. I think I have something that can be very helpful, as long as you remain a good person." He then went behind the counter and unlocked one of the drawers before pulling out a small object and handing it to Daniel.
It was a gold-colored coin – the metal shining in the light coming through the window. On one side was an engraved image of the Brian Boru harp while the other side had a shamrock-shaped insert made of a green-tinted marble – a stone Daniel knew was only found in Ireland. It was a beautiful coin, and Daniel knew that at the very least, it would be as unique a souvenir as he would find here. When he asked how much, the old man just shook his head with a smile on his face and said, "It's yours, lad. It's time for it to be passed on to someone else, and I think you're the one to have it." Not thinking that he would actually just give him the coin if it were made of actual gold, Daniel thanked him profusely for the terrific gift, and went off to meet up with the rest of his family.
One of the first things Daniel took care of after the family moved to Tokyo was to enroll in the school for expats, which included an assessment exam to determine placement. Not only did Daniel score incredibly high, he was considered to be a genius and immediately offered the opportunity to skip several grade levels and begin at the high school level – 9th grade. Still being somewhat naïve about the ways of the world, particularly about teenagers, he accepted this opportunity. However, he quickly came to realize that this had probably been a mistake, as he had a hard time socializing with his new "peers." He was considered a curiosity at best and was generally an outcast amongst the rest of the high schoolers. Not being one to quit after starting a challenge, he plowed through and successfully finished the school year. As the school was on the same calendar as the Japanese school system, his 10th grade year started about a month after the previous school year ended.
As the school year progressed into June, Daniel continued to push forward, doing well grade-wise, but not so well socially. One day he was called into the guidance counselor's office who sat him down. "First off, you're not in trouble, so you can relax," she started. One he had done, so, the guidance counselor started in on the meat of the conversation. "While we're glad to see that you're able to handle the schoolwork of a high school student, we also understand that you're having some issues socializing with your classmates. Mainly due to your age difference, I'm guessing?" When Daniel nodded, the guidance counselor replied, "To that end, I think we've come across an opportunity that you may be interested in."
She then handed Daniel a scribbled note describing an advertisement to tutor someone who was in middle school – and his own age to boot. While it was someone in the Japanese school system, Daniel had become fluent in the language, having done everything he could to learn it in the time since his dad announced their move. Seeing this as an opportunity to perhaps make a friend his own age, he decided to give it a try. The guidance counselor then gave the time and place to meet the person – the next afternoon at a restaurant called "Yukihira" in the Sumiredori Shopping District.
After school the next day, Daniel made his way to the shopping district and quickly found the restaurant, as it seemed to be a pretty popular spot. As he walked inside, Daniel called out that he was there about the tutoring job. A man in his mid to late 30s with flowing, shoulder-length red hair turned to him and smiled before addressing him. "Sorry, I'm a bit swamped at the moment," he said. "If you have a seat, I'll sit down with you if you give me just a few minutes." Daniel nodded and found a small, empty table to sit down at.
A short time later, then man came to the table, sat down across from Daniel, and introduced himself as Joichiro Yukihira. It would be this man's son, Soma, whom Daniel would be tutoring if he took the job. As they began to talk to each other, with Daniel telling Joichiro about himself and his unique standing in school, Joichiro was a bit surprised to see that Daniel was fluent in Japanese, as Daniel was clearly a foreigner. However, Joichiro could tell that having someone Soma's age tutor him would most likely be the best way to get him to learn. When Daniel finished, Joichiro chuckled and exclaimed, "Kid, I think you're exactly what my son needs!" He then turned towards the kitchen and shouted, "Hey, Soma! When you have a couple minutes, come over here and meet your new tutor!" Joichiro then asked Daniel if he wanted something to eat. Daniel looked at the menu board and saw they had grilled eel over rice as a special that day and asked for that. Joichiro then shouted the order to Soma.
A little while later, after the crowd had died down a bit before the dinner rush, and Daniel had been starting his homework, Soma came to the table with the grilled eel over rice and sat down across from him in an effort to get to know him a bit before their tutoring began. Although they had very different backgrounds, they took a liking to each other, with Soma finding it neat that Daniel was smart enough to be in high school already, and Daniel found it really cool that he was such a skilled cook at such a young age – with the eel serving as the proof of how skilled Soma was.
As they were laughing together, Joichiro came over again to finalize the terms of the tutoring arrangement. "Listen, Daniel," he stated, "I can't pay you very much, but I'll tell you what. If you agree to become Soma's tutor, I'll also throw in dinner each time you come by for tutoring, and if you want, my son and I will even teach you how to cook. What do you say?"
If Daniel was being honest, he was very interested in that deal. The food at this place was terrific! And learning how to cook Japanese food was intriguing. He had been streaming a lot of Food Network online since the move, and he wanted to learn more about how to cook beyond the basics that his parents could teach him. If he could learn to cook like Soma and Joichiro, then all the better! He then held out his hand to Joichiro and stated, "You have yourself a deal." Joichiro beamed at getting what he thought would be the perfect person to tutor his son, while Soma was excited to have a new friend be the one to tutor him instead of some old guy who reminded him of the teachers at school. Little did they know that this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Almost three years passed after that, and both Daniel and Soma were nearing graduation – Daniel from high school and Soma from middle school. The two had developed a close friendship – like brothers – they had their differences, but they fed off each other's personalities to become the people they were. In that time, Daniel tutored Soma in history, literature, and English language (Soma was already pretty good at math and the sciences – useful for cooking and the restaurant business). In turn, Soma not only taught Daniel how to cook like a pro, but also encouraged Daniel to assert himself more and not just take the crap he was given for being younger than everyone else at school. While Daniel didn't break any rules, he did make it clear that he wasn't going to be a doormat anymore, after which his schoolmates were at least courteous to him.
This encouragement came back to bite Soma a bit though, as he tried to make Daniel a guinea pig for some of his "food experiments." After a couple of instances of this, Daniel began to retaliate by taking the container with Soma's latest concoction and immediately shoving it into Soma's face as payback – with Joichiro laughing his head off as he watched it unfold. After a couple of rounds of this, Soma stopped trying to feed his experiments to Daniel. While Daniel's presence also made Soma a bit less impulsive in his actions, Soma could still cause Daniel to facepalm with a certain amount of regularity.
Despite this, Daniel was glad to have Soma as a friend. Soma had accepted him for who he is immediately and without question, and Daniel would always be grateful for that. During that time, thanks to the duo, Daniel's cooking skills had improved quite a bit – even to the point where Daniel had been asked once or twice in emergency situations to help Soma hold down the fort at the restaurant. In fact, the Yukihiras had become like a second family to him, with Soma and Joichiro presenting him with a brand-new chef's knife as a combination birthday and graduation gift. While it wasn't the most expensive knife in the world (Daniel knew they wouldn't be able to afford that), Joichiro assured him that it was solid and would serve him well, which was enough for Daniel.
One night, Daniel was lying in bed wondering what he was going to do with himself after graduating high school. He didn't want to go to college immediately, as he didn't want to be the youngest person in the school by several years again. As he was now older and wiser (and taller - by this point he had grown to 5'9), he knew that he needed to be around more people his own age. While he could continue to tutor Soma a bit, he knew that Soma may end up needing his tutoring less and less, as he was starting to follow the lessons far better than when he started. As he was lost in thought, his parents knocked and came into his room for a chat.
Apparently, they had spoken to Joichiro a few days ago (don't forget that Joichiro speaks English), who told them that he would be closing the restaurant for a few years while he took jobs around the world. In the meantime, he was sending Soma to a world renowned cooking school for high schoolers called Totsuki Academy – and it was located right there in Tokyo. In addition, Joichiro had suggested that Daniel would enjoy going there with his son, as he knew that Daniel didn't want to go to college right away and needed something to do with himself.
His parents handed him a pamphlet for the academy and Daniel looked at it with interest. When he pointed out that he had just graduated from high school, his parents told him that it wouldn't be an issue. Joichiro had checked – because Daniel was the regular high school age, and Totsuki was private and had a far different curriculum than any regular high school, Daniel would be eligible to enroll if he passed the entrance exam.
Seeing this as an opportunity to do something that was potentially a lot of fun (to him, at least) with his best friend, and feeling that he had nothing to lose by at least trying, Daniel submitted the paperwork to take the entrance exam with Soma. The morning of the exam, he gathered up his chef's knife, and also saw the coin he had been gifted in Ireland sitting on his desk. By this time, it had become a prized possession of sorts and Daniel had got it encased in hard plastic. He took the coin and put it in his pocket for luck, figuring to himself 'why not?' As he was about to leave the house to meet up with Soma on exam day, his parents gave him words of encouragement, telling him to just do his best, and that they would support him in his endeavors. Feeling better about things already, he headed off towards Yukihira restaurant to meet up with Soma before heading to the academy.
I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter! I know there was a lot of background information to take in, but that's kinda what an introduction chapter is for, right? Anyway, I hope I've piqued your interest enough so that you will continue to follow along as I post. I promise that I won't be like those authors that get off to a fast start, but then go months or years without finishing or posting anything new.
If you want to comment, constructive criticism is always welcome, but NO FLAMES, please! If you don't like it, don't read further.
