Notes:
Hey Everyone! Zancrowe Here!
I legit love all of you. To think a little drabble collection, I began at the spur of the moment and it took me only one fifteen-minute sitting to write, would end up getting such a warm reception. You guys are the best. If I manage to push myself beyond the abyss and deliver on that third part to the Nouvelle / Classique storyline (the Nouvelle-Verse… NouVerse?), know I did it for you guys first and foremost!
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Disclaimer: Don't own Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma.
Drabble #5 / 101: "Why choose me?"
Pairing: Asahi / Dove
"Why choose me?"
Dove had to stifle a laugh when she saw and heard her precious baby girl, little three-year-old Ruthie, slowly turn her head towards Asahi and ask him that question, in a tone of total indignation, about why he had chosen to steal a Star from her in Mario Party. One, it was the most adorable thing she had ever seen. Two, it reminded her so much of something Loren would totally say. And three, the look in her eyes were like seeing a reflection of herself, overinflated pride and all.
"Why did you choose me is what you meant to say sweetheart," Asahi told the little girl, who just pouted harder at being corrected rather than answered to, "…And, as your ever-loving new dad, and… well, dad period, there are a few things I need to teach you baby girl… which is life is unfair and never hold back in Mario Party."
"You vile villain!" Ruthie cried out, making Asahi laugh, since he knew she had picked that from a superhero TV show they had just watched a few nights ago. She sounded so endearing.
"Sorry Ruthie, them the breaks."
"Oh, come on!" Dove blurted out, an exasperated laugh accompanying her complaint, "She's three. Cut her some slack."
"See…?" Asahi noted, signaling to Dove, "Mommy disagrees because she sucks at this game."
"That's it!" Dove shot back, glaring at him. He had to bite his lip not to laugh, since now mother and toddler were both glaring at him equally. They were too stupidly cute, "Don't worry Ruthie, mommy will do what mommy always does and put daddy in his place."
"Hey, remember the age rating of this game."
"Do not!"
Ruthie just turned her pout to the screen, not really understanding what they were saying, but she wasn't going to let Princess Peach lose this game to Waluigi of all people, so she needed to step up.
As they played, Dove was relentless, making sure to win every minigame she could, and took aim not to get any Stars herself, but to hinder Asahi as much as she could, both in-game and out, as when he was about to win one minigame she resorted to tickling his sides, and when he persevered still, she just sat in his lap and obscured his vision completely with her hair. In the end, after way too much effort, by just a few coins, Baby Ruth was indeed the winner of the round, which made the girl utterly delighted.
"I win! Yesh!" Baby Ruth cheered, her little fists pumped to the air in victory, control tossed upwards as well, which made a panicked Asahi scurry to catch it before in bonked her in the head or something.
Dove, utterly mentally and physically exhausted, as if she had just been through a grueling Shokugeki rather than a family-friendly video game, got up, and took Ruthie onto her arms, pressing the little girl onto her chest. "You won sweetie, now… do what a Dillinger should always do to a Nakiri… rub the win in his face!"
"H-Hey!" Asahi tried, but Dove merely pressed a giggling Ruthie onto him, and soon he was laughing along, taking the little girl into his own arms, and filling her with cuddles and kisses, "Oh… curses, foiled again. I will get you next time, you hear me!"
"Nope! I'm invincibleble!" Ruthie declared… a bit incorrectly, but it was the intent that mattered. Asahi simply laughed some more, and after more cuddles for the winner, he got up with her and proceeded to follow up on the bet between him and Dove, which was whoever scored lower would in turn bathe and prepare Ruthie for bed.
He did so without needing the reminder, and as Dove watched every now and then, as the house from three years ago, that at one point had been filled with uncertainty, fear and anguish, was now filled with laughter, pranks and kisses, and she couldn't help but smile every time she even heard Asahi and Ruthie interacting. By the end of it all, as Asahi headed to his room (because Milka allowed a lot, but they were sleeping in different rooms until they decided where they were going to move to), Dove made him stop for a moment.
"What's up babe?"
And she just paused, her bright blue eyes on him for a few seconds, before a memory from the months prior flashed before her eyes, and a soft smile found itself across her face…
"Asahi! I-I, please…!" Dove had outright sobbed. And then, she spoke something she knew Asahi had never thought he'd ever hear her say, "…I just want to finally hold my little girl!"
…Asahi just tilted his head a bit at her sudden silence, but before he could voice it, she finally asked. Or rather, whispered, so much so he couldn't quite catch it…
"…why did you choose me?"
"Huh? What was that Dove?"
"…nothing, never mind," she assured, and before he could protest, she simply leaned in and gave him the softest kiss, making him freeze up and widening his eyes by the sudden tenderness at display. "Just… thank you, you vile villain you."
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Drabble #6 / 101: Do you like me? Check yes or no.
Pairing: Mitsuru / Cilla
Raymond knew, just knew something was up the instant Berta would leave her shared desk with Cilla and head to his. The naughty little smirk on her face just confirmed things, and that in itself was a red flag as was, but not only had Berta moved herself over, but so had Loren, of all people, and now he was seating in between these two blondes clearly plotting something.
"…The heck did you two do now?!" Raymond barked.
"Shush you," Berta quickly said, her eyes outright sparkling.
"You know her," Loren offered, smirking not at them, but his eyes focused on Cilla, who had remained at her desk, "Always plotting something."
"Oh, like you're not into it," Berta shot back, eyes on Loren for a moment, as the Trojan Horse just shrugged, before she turned to Raymond, "This is important, I swear! So, pretty please with Momo-senpai's branded sugar on top don't rat us out."
"Ray-Ray can't rat us out when he has no clue what we're doing," Loren offered.
"Can it Frechette! I don't want to hear you fake your disinterest when you're clearly just as excited as she is!" Raymond shot back, and Loren turned and glared at him, "Save it, if it's not about cooking, I don't care. And you can't evade me forever. At the Autumn Elections, you and me!"
"…the odds of us specifically ending up in a duel there are astronomically low…" Loren noted, which made Raymond glare at him in turn, but both boys were shut up when Berta tugged excitedly at Raymond's jacket and almost made him smack into Loren.
"Look!"
Cilla, doing her best to pretend she had not at all seen her older twin try to sneak something into her backpack, because of course, decided to entertain the idea a bit and proceeded to act as if she just so happened to reach down for her things and ended up grabbing whatever it was Berta had left there. It was a little note, of all things, and Cilla sighed, before, for added effect, added a soft "what is this?" as she pulled it out and opened the little note. It predictably read:
Do you like me? Check yes or no.
She inwardly scoffed, finding this so childish and, honestly, poorly made, since her mastermind of a sister had not even added a fake name to sell the damn thing. So, she pushed it aside…
…Just as Mitsuru walked by and took hold of the little note.
Cilla's eyes went as the plates they use to serve their meals, and her face turned pale the moment Mitsuru just opened the note up to read it. What?! How?! Why?!
"…Is this the note Loren said you wanted to give me?" Mitsuru asked, utterly oblivious, but the moment he saw the note and read what it said, his face turned crimson and he just short-circuited in place. Cilla was now equally red in the tip of her ears, and in a flustered scream, turned her chair towards the ones responsible.
"Damn it Loren!" she repeated the phrase the First Years heard the most in this classroom, "You are getting way too close to my sister!"
As Berta and Loren just laughed, Raymond rolled his eyes, and half the class laughed along while the other just gossiped, Cilla, blushing and pouting, turned back to Mitsuru.
"…please ignore that, it's just my dumb sister and your dumb bestie playing pranks… again," she said in utter monotone.
"I-I, yeah… I figured," Mitsuru voiced, and Cilla gave a pause, since his tone had shifted a bit, and he had sounded a bit…weird. Before she even caught herself, she added…
"N-Not that I don't not… I mean… I…" she malfunctioned, blush evident once more, as what was she about to say?! About to admit?! The growing blush on Mitsuru's face made it clear he understood it regardless, and that just made her embarrassment worse.
Which is why, when Jun Shiomi returned to her class, she was surprised to see a very flustered Cilla and an equally flustered Mitsuru, both seated and very, very quiet… which she hoped didn't make it weird when she put the two together for the class project. Why?
…because Berta had asked her to do so as a little favor, of course, mastermind as she was.
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Drabble #7 / 101: "I'm sorry, run that by me again."
Pairing: Isshiki / Nene
"Nene, we're having kids!"
Isshiki's sudden announcement made Nene spit out the tea she had been drinking, as she turned with an incredulous look at her boyfriend as he announced to her that he was with child, and therefore, they were now expecting…
'…wait…'
Nene had to take a little breath, before she tried to voice, "I'm sorry, run that by me again."
"Hmm?" Isshiki noted, his head tilted a bit, "Oh? That we're having the kids of the DEF Kitchen over! Aren't you thrilled?! You promised to offer them some classes next time they visited!"
Nene wanted to strangle him, only she was worried he'd like it. He had totally said it in that way on purpose.
"…I still have moments I utterly, utterly hate you; you are aware, correct?"
"Yes, you have made that quite vividly clear at almost every single instance I make you angry about one thing or the other."
Still, much to her annoyance, Nene relented and accompanied Isshiki in receiving the squadron of little kids, most of which she had trouble remembering their names, and more trouble watching them make quite the scene, as no sooner had they set foot in the little classroom Isshiki had reserved in advanced (really flexing that Second Seat status), than they had turned that whole place upside down (really flexing that Elite Ten status meant nothing to children).
"It's Nene!" little Ai said with utter glee, and looking at the adorable little black-haired girl made Nene smile because it was simply too cute to be annoyed at.
"Yes sweetie, I did promise you all I'd teach you a few very yummy recipes," Nene replied, "Is everyone here?"
"Yeah," Shota, one of the most vocal of the boys, noted, "Well, except Kanon. She's still visiting her boyfriend in Nigeria."
"That little Kanon is rarely ever with us anymore," Isshiki noted with a sigh, "Alas, she is the eldest, and is turning into a young lady now, so even if it hurts, we have to let her spread her wings and fly."
"…She's ten," Nene noted with her eyes narrowed, "At that age the most "exploring" I did was in my backyard. Meanwhile she's hanging out with her literal Nigerian Prince from those scam emails except hers turned out to be true!"
"You sound jealous."
"I am!" Nene cried out, before she sighed, "Anyways, her aside, let's focus the ones here," she added, and to Isshiki's surprise, one sharp whistle later, Nene got all the kids' attention within seconds, "Alright, settle down, we can play all you guys want later, but first, I promised you all some very, very delicious Soba today, and in order for me to deliver, you all must pay the utmost attention to everything I say, alright?"
The way the kids all nodded, said an adorable "yes Miss Nene" in unison, and proceeded to do just that, sit down and watch intently as she explained a very simple dish and prepared a ton of it to feed them all, with Isshiki assisting in her prep and in serving it to the kids so they could "taste-test" (in reality it was their lunch).
Still, for as much as he loved teasing her, and he did, the way Nene commanded authority in a genuine way, not loud nor mean, just herself, was a sight he never quite got tired of. He had known her since they were just as young as these kids, and had known her glare just about as long. But her grace, the way she demanded attention and respect without even voicing it, the way she caried herself and especially the way she cooked with everything she had, every time, it was still the most beautiful sight he had yet to see, and he was certain, it would remain unchallenged.
"Hey, focus," she heard him say just as he had gotten lost in her eyes again, "Are you here with me?"
And he couldn't help but smile in earnest, "…Always."
-0-
Drabble #8 / 101: "It's not nearly as bad as it looks, Darling."
Pairing: Soma / Erina
Erina Nakiri wanted to run away, flee in utter terror. But she still had her pride, damn it. No matter how much of a bruising she had taken to it during her strenuous and grueling performance during the Intercontinental Shokugeki, she was still the God's Tongue, Tootsuki's best (well, one of them), and, soon, the next Winner of the BLUE, but…
The moment Soma and Nao offered her some of their latest creation, a boiled dish that she was sure they had even thrown bleach in there, she couldn't help but flinch.
"I-I'm not eating that!" Erina cried out.
"Huh? Hey, come on, you promised," Soma noted, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed, and she wanted to smack him.
"He is correct my goddess," Nao added, and why? Why were these two now effectively siblings? This couldn't be worse for her… Oh, wait, yes it could, because…
"You were the only one not to get a single win during our practice rounds Nakiri," Rindou, through face-time, told the heiress, and she flinched, "So… as a total official and in no way illegal Shokugeki, you do owe us the taste testing we deserve."
"That's not fair!" Erina said almost in tears, "I was sick! And we didn't bet anything!"
"Come on now Erina," Soma just filled a small bowl, then took a spoonful on the… stuff and motioned towards her, "We didn't make it purposely horrible; we swear. Our intent is using super nasty ingredients but making it taste amazing. The exotic ingredients Rindou-senpai sent us, little Nao's boiling techniques and my prep with peanut butter, caviar and cow tongue should produce a stellar dish… in theory."
"That's an actual biohazard!" Erina cried out, already feeling queasy, "Like, chemical warfare!"
"That's mean," Soma just said, "Nao even toned down the smell incredibly on this one."
"It takes away some of the wow factor," Nao lamented, "But for you, my Queen, I am willing to make any sacrifices."
"See…?"
"See nothing! Don't make me slap you!" Erina warned.
"Oh please mommy ~"
"What?"
"What?"
Erina just glared at Nao, as the little witch just turned her eyes to the side, a sheepish grin on her face. Erina, on the other hand, "…I'm telling Loren."
"Oh, please, he knows what he signed up for," Nao confidently said, even puffing out her chest in a display of pride, which made Erina roll her eyes.
"Hurry up, if it gets any colder I know you'll deduct points from it," Soma told her, "Trust us… It's not nearly as bad as it looks, Darling."
Erina flinched, since she knew he knew she was weak to those sudden pet names, and, despite herself, she relented, and motioned for him to feed a bit of their concoction to her (after she made him empty most of the spoon, because she was only tasting a fraction of it damn it), and as Soma and Nao sported identical grins, while Rindou gave out a soft smile at the sight of the former little Ice Queen now being playful and just having fun with them (even if she certainly protested at every turn), Erina gave the thing a taste…
"…Well…?" Soma, Nao and Rindou all voiced in unison, all thrilled to hear if this was going to be the dish that put the talents of all three on the map. If it was, it could conquer Tootsuki! No, it could conquer The Seven! Heck… it could conquer BLUE!
"I-It's…" Erina began, stammering. That was a good sign!
"Yes…?!" the trio asked, their breath held in sheer delight for her to finally say…
"DISGUSTING!"
Erina, in response, just kicked her legs, managing to smack Soma on the chin with her foot, sending him back, and making the bowl fly from his hands and land upside down on Nao's head, drenching her in the (thankfully) lukewarm liquid. Erina argued about twenty different things, before she realized she had accidentally kicked Soma and quickly panicked and apologized, all the while Soma just laughed it off and tried to help Nao get the pieces of cow tongue out of her hair, while Nao and Rindou just laughed at the scene. Soon all four were laughing for one reason or another; another failure, another mistake, another excuse to go back and try again…
…as the invitation to ever famed and illustrious BLUE sat on the edge of the desk, forgotten for the moment.
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