-TADOKORO MEGUMI-
AUGUST 29
It's so fucked up how many times you can get your heart broken if you're open.
That was all Megumi could think as she stared at the jumbotron displaying the judges' final votes. Her knees buckled. It was hard not to feel the tidal waves of embarrassment washing over her. Why did she fool herself into believing she could ever beat her? The category made the judgment even harder to swallow. The school term's most anticipated Shokugeki theme was:
A Date for Valentine's Day.
It had been an officially-verified, random draw that she, Tadokoro Megumi—the girl with the worst luck imaginable—pulled. The second she read it, her vision blurred. She snapped into her spiritually-anxious ritual to write and swallow the character strength she needed most. She must've eaten at least a hundred scribbles of "confidence" before the battle began.
And she'd really convinced herself that it would be fine. That she could win…would win. All she had to do to prove she was the right girl for Sōma was cook her ass off. She could do that. She'd cooked so many dishes with and for him. She knew what his tastebuds liked and avoided. She knew Yukihira Sōma better than he knew himself. At least, that's what he always told her.
How foolish.
The terms of the battle were simple enough. A four-course dinner and a tie-breaking dessert course— only if needed. Four rounds, best three-out-of-five wins. The judges had been announced in TōhSpo.
Yukihira Soma. (His participation was a mandatory requirement for the challenge.)
Issihiki Satoshi. (He insisted because he "cares so much about everyone involved.")
Anne, a First Class Bookman from the World Gourmet Organization.
Then, the morning of the Shokugeki, Erina amended the terms—the match is over if a round ends in a unanimous vote. She accepted the change, confident in her culinary skills.
It ended in a unanimous vote in the first round.
As she walked out of the Celestial Room's arena, head held as high as she could manage, she coached herself not to cry before returning to her dressing room. She tried to reassure herself against Erina's last words before the battle gong rang.
"Don't you crack here, Meg. You are not broken," she told herself. Still, all she could hear was the jeering crowd clucking at her. In between each cluck, they would clap. In a sea of a thousand claps, they didn't sound like cracking eggs, as was the intended sound. They sounded like thunder striking down her confidence with each boom.
Over and over. Cluck. Clap. Cluck. Clap. Cluck. Clap. Cluck. Clap.
Sleep fled from her eyes as she wiped her forehead, drenched with sweat. She'd had the same recurring nightmare she'd been having for months, making her heart break a little more each time. Megumi sat up, put her bedroom slippers on, and went to work in her kitchenette.
-8-
Tadokoro Megumi was having a shitty month, and that morning had only added to it. With the Autumn Selection starting in two days and the wedding events of her sensei that upcoming weekend, she feared it would only worsen into September. At least she no longer had to fight for a higher seat on the Ten. She fought back tears about that one, though. Two months of anticipation and preparation went down the drain. So she decided to work away from Tōtsuki for the rest of the day, considering the gut-wrenching meeting she'd just left. She needed to get far away from the mini-city that ate up her days and gave her too many sleepless nights to count. But, now that she was getting increasingly recognized for being a member of the Elite Ten—even if the lowliest—here were few places outside of Tōtsuki, but still in Tokyo, where she could hide in peace. It was odd; hospitality was her gift, her purest expression of love, but the more she grew as a chef, the less she wanted to be around others outside the kitchen. With a few exceptions, of course.
On her way to find solitude outside of Tōtsuki's grounds and influence, Megumi ran into Hojo Miyoko. She was standing on her tiptoes to hug her Amazonian friend tightly. She sank into her chest, melting into the oxytocin a good hug brings. was exactly
"Miyoko-san! How are you?" She really was happy to see her. Since Hojo left Tōtsuki to take over her family's restaurant, it'd been hard for them to spend time like before. She was Megumi's friend from Tōtsuki, but now Tōtsuki was the last thing either wanted to talk about, and that was precisely what she needed.
"I'm fine, babe," Hojo said. She was startled by Megumi's excitement; Megumi knew. She pulled Hojo forward as the tall girl staggered back. They shared a look.
"Oh, spit it out already, Meg!" Hojo snapped. "I can see it written all over your face. You know I can't stand you looking so damn timid. Plus, you look like shit."
Damn. Timid? Megumi thought she was doing a good job concealing her sadness. "O-oh! I-I...I just got into a fight with Nakiri-san about…" She bit her lip. Better not to expose Elite Ten matters to a non-member. It would be ill-advised, especially against the school's director—even if Megumi knew Miyoko could be trusted. She had proven to be such a loyal friend over the years.
"…Sōma-kun," she whispered. Quietly, Megumi was ashamed to have this conversation again with her. Better to keep this conversation on her personal life, anyway.
But Miyoko surprised Megumi by wrapping her toned arms around Megumi's neck. She turned around, dragging Megumi along by the hand. Megumi looked down to see their fingers laced as Hojo firmly gripped her tiny fingers. Hojo's grip was possessive and protective, like a mother running to her child's defense, filling an unknown void in Megumi. Until Hojo's affirming touch, she didn't realize just how unprotected she felt at Tōtsuki.
"C'mon. Hōjōrō isn't too far from here. Let me cook for you."
-SŌMA YUKIHIRA-
AUGUST 29
The rain hit the pavement so hard it sounded like a paintball attack. Sōma peeked out the hotel kitchen's window. This must be the rain Erina flew through. His shoulders shook, thinking about how scared his girlfriend must've been. She flew around the continent—the world, really—in a month more times than he'd even been on an aircraft in real life. But rarely in the rain. Hisako usually made sure of it. The storm clouds rolling in were thick and charcoal black; this storm had been brewing for a while. He wondered what changed. Because, for some reason, Soma felt like something was wrong.
"Yukihira!" A severe voice yelled out. Sōma's head snapped back to the rectangle opening that separated the front of house and the kitchen.
"H-huh?"
"Focus, Chef. Tables two and eight are still waiting on their entrees. What's the holdup?" Dojima Gin bore a hole in his forehead. He'd flown into Singapore as a last-minute favor to his father on behalf of Dojima. Why the former First Seat didn't just ask him by himself, he didn't know.
"S-sorry, Chef!" Sōma scrambled back to work. He sprinted to the overhead tablets displaying the line orders. Table two and table eight ordered the evening's special: braised oxtail. He shuffled to the oven to check the meat.
"Hot oven!" He shouted.
"Hot oven!" The rest of the staff echoed as he opened the industrial broiler. He let out the quickest sigh of relief to discover the luscious cylinders of meat on the bone not burnt. There would've been no one else to blame but himself for the fury unleashed if he were to pass Chef Dojima charred oxtails. He quickly handled the hot skillets and plated the farm-fresh roasted vegetables.
"Order up!" He mashed the bell, punched a few buttons on the tablet to clear the tickets, and rushed back Takumi's side to the grill.
"Sōma Yukihira! I will beat you!" He replied. Sōma cocked his head at the boy, flipped four Wagyu steaks on the grill with one flick of his wrist, and grinned. Takumi's eyes widened. Sōma would've bet money that his stomach flipped just like the steaks.
"You're falling behind," Takumi grumbled and returned to chargrilling a rack of spatchcocked quail meat.
"Hey, Takumi?"
"Yes?" The stuffy boy huffed.
"Wanna have a Shokugeki for the rest of our shift? We can play for table-based commendations to the chef. Loser has to drum up customers for the other's restaurant." Takumi eyed Sōma suspiciously, making it difficult to keep a straight face. Sōma knew Takumi would never turn a challenge from him down, but he knew they were both remembering the last time he'd made a similar wager. This is how you set a trap.
"I'm not letting you be head chef in my Trattoria, Yukihira! Not again." He turned his nose up and crossed his arms. Sōma chuckled at how easy it was to trigger Takumi's competitive side.
"Don't worry. I won't embarrass you at your family restaurant…"
"Okay, good." He shot out his hand for a handshake.
"This time."
"Hey, wait a minute—"
Sōma cut Takumi off and grabbed his hand. "So…how about for a bite to eat? I can't eat any more of this fancy food."
"You're on!"
-8-
"Two cheeseburgers and a large basket of parmesan fries, please." Sōma watched Takumi grumble as he took out his wallet to pay for their burger and fries from this hole-in-the-wall burger shop across from the hotel.
"Um, what about my drink, Aldini?" Sōma smugly leaned back in a chair. I'm pretty thirsty, you know?"
"Don't push it, Yukihira."
Of course, Sōma could've made his own burger and fries, no problem. But this was his first time seeing Takumi since the summer began; he needed to see how much better he'd gotten as Dojima's seasonal sous chef. And, truth be told—the reason he made the bet in the first place—he needed to talk to his friend. Takumi shook and threw him a can of soda, then looked on expectantly after Sōma caught it.
"How dumb do you think I am?" he laughed. He couldn't remember the last time they'd hung out by themselves. Usually, it was their friend group, or at least Isami was present. But Isami was home nursing a black eye from breaking up yet another fight between Kurokiba and Hayama, and they both had their own relationship fires to put out, so the two friends sat and ate their food in silence for a few minutes.
"So, what's up?"
Sōma looked up from his burger—it was juicy and well-seasoned for its price. "Huh? What do you mean?" Sōma wouldn't say that he and Takumi spent much time together outside their Totsuki obligations and Shokugekis. Still, he enjoyed their friendship dynamic and felt he could trust Takumi.
"Well, I'm not usually your first choice for some late-night grub. What's on your mind, Sōma Yukihira?" Takumi took a final swig of his Coke can and tried to swallow a belch. Sōma awkwardly scratched the nape of his neck and looked away.
"Ah…"
"You're missing Nakiri-san, huh?" Sōma's head shot up at Takumi's knowing expression.
"Is it that obvious?" He nervously laughed.
"Uh, yeah. You two's love is palpable. Surprisingly more when you're apart."
Sōma felt so exposed by that observation. He'd never considered how others viewed his relationship with Erina. He knew they were talked given how visible they both were in the culinary world, but he never thought about the fact that people had thoughts about them.
"Don't get me wrong!" Takumi stumbled over his words, "You're an adorable couple. As a romantic myself, I admire your dedication to your amoré. Just let the rest of us have a chance." He winked.
"Over my dead body." They laughed and shared the fry bits at the bottom of the large basket. "But, I…I might have to choose between my relationship with Nakiri and my friendship with Tadokoro."
Takumi gagged. "W-w-what?!"
"And I hate to admit it because I love our friendship more than life." Sōma took a long breath. "But I love Nakiri more. And if I have to choose, I'm choosing Nakiri. Over everything." Sōma didn't see Takumi nearly choke on the thick wad of potato lodged in his throat, but he looked on in fascinated concern as Takumi grabbed his unopened soda can in haste to push the lump down.
The can exploded in his face.
a/n: hi, i hope you enjoyed the double feature...Barbenheimer inspo, if you will. to all who have waited six months for this new chapter, i sincerely thank you for your patience. sometimes, you have to live (your) life to create more art, and i'll say this: life has been an inspired screenwriter. so rest assured, i have not abandoned this story. i was still writing during the hiatus, and more chapters are coming soon.
please review, like, and share with someone you think would enjoy reading!
-My pleasure! Hope you enjoyed!-
8.20withlove