Hi everyone! Welcome to my first Shokugeki story. This crazy idea came to me one night, and I just couldn't stop thinking about it, so I decided to write it down.

Let me know what you guys think! :)

Prologue

"Ahhh, love." Alice sighed, clasping her hands together. She seemed to be in a dreamy state in the middle of class.

Ryo and Alice had known each other since they were children. By now, he had memorized the meaning of every single sigh and gesture that she made. He wasn't really into starting up a conversation about it. But as her assistant, he knew he'd be in trouble if he didn't react. "What about it, Miss Alice?" he asked out of consideration. Though, he already knew that behind this spunky, white haired, second year was a dastardly plan.

That's the way Nakiri Alice was and always has been. She thinks of the most bizarre ideas and she doesn't take any prisoners. Unpredictable yet predictable, he thought. But before she could answer him, he already noticed whom she was referring to.

Hideyuki Kaori, a fellow second year was assigned to the counter next to theirs. She had pretty much blended in the background for their entire first year. If it wasn't for the friendliness of Tadokoro Megumi, their circle of friends wouldn't really know her. As compared to his friends, Hideyuki was pretty much an ordinary-looking girl. Long, brown hair, chocolate colored eyes that were sometimes hidden behind gold, round framed lenses. Despite that, she wasn't totally invisible. Ryo must have passed by her in the hallways a few times. He remembered her as the "girl with the side braid".

"A girl," Alice started, placing one hand over her chest. "Who is hot for teacher." she added, wickedly slamming her hand on their counter.

The class went silent, and the teacher stopped talking.

"Nakiri Alice," Tsukasa Eishi called nervously from the front of the room. "Eto…is there something wrong?" he started becoming nervous.

She noticed that she was probably becoming too passionate again about her observations. "N-nothing, Tsukasa-Kyoju!" she said embarrassingly. "Carry on!"

The year after he graduated, Tsukasa Eishi was prompted by the Elite Ten to teach in the school. It took a few weeks of begging and likewise, bribing for him to say yes. It was perfect, afterall. He was competing for BLUE, and a the same time, his restaurant in the Uptown Area had been constantly raved and reviewed by the best in the industry. He was on to targeting a 2 star rating from the WGO and everyone was waiting in anticipation until he would get the 3 stars. He has a lot of projects coming his way, and he was gaining constant support from Totsuki. In return, Nakiri Erina and first seat, Yukihira Soma decided it would be great to keep him around.

The class continued with the task of the day: complete the recipe of the French dish, Coq Au Vin (Red Wine Braised Chicken) within an hour. It was a simple recipe, but what Tsukasa encouraged his students to do today is to experiment with their different styles of cooking the dish. After his infamous defeat in the Regiment du Cuisine, Tsukasa Eishi, who is usually a follower of systems and processes, started to understand and appreciate unique cooking styles. Although he can't say that it applies to him, it didn't stop him from encouraging others to do it.

Various aromas filled the room. The class was engrossed in the activity as Tsukasa moved around to observe.

"Megumi-san, what do you think?" Hideyuki asked her partner, as she finished sauteeing the ingredients.

The blue haired girl nodded her head in agreement. "It looks good. Demo…shouldn't we adding thyme now?"

"Hold it first," Hideyuki replied, as she started to work on a bowl of spices.

As the class stirred, sauteed and some even fried, Tsukasa stopped to notice that Tadokoro's group still hasn't really gone into half of the recipe. To him, it seemed that they were falling behind. "That's interesting, Hideyuki-san," he started as he watched her grind and fuse together a variety of spices. He then looked over to her partner who was watching the pan. "But I'm afraid you two are falling behind as compared to your other classmates."

By this time, Ryo and Alice have already finished. They were already at the plating. As Tadokoro and Hideyuki looked around, almost everyone was getting ready to do the same thing. Hideyuki smirked and grabbed the spices. Without even looking at the stove, she sprinkled it all over their dish before saying. "Almost done, Tsukasa-Kyoju."

The smell of the spices she had just placed in the pan filled the room. With that, Eishi went back to his station to start grading. As the grades were handed out, less and less people remained in the room until Megumi and Kaori were the last pair.

Megumi held the dish as they both walked up to Eishi. He gazed at the wall clock, then back at them. "Right on time," he commented before grabbing a fork and trying out their dish.

The two girls smiled at each other and waited in anticipation for their grade.

"Pass," he simply said, and the two giggled and gave each other high fives.

Hideyuki took the plate and set it aside. "Arigatou, Tsukasa-Kyoju." Said Megumi, as she bowed in respect.

"There's something different about it…" he replied, as he stood up and ran his fingers through his hair. "Cardamom?"

"Hai," Megumi answered. "Kaori-san thought it would just tie the dish together."

"Because of the strength of the wine and spices like black pepper and thyme, I just thought that it would be too bold to leave it like that." Kaori began stating as-a-matter-of-factly. "Cardamom tones it down instead of using sweet wine." She continued.

Eishi crossed his arms over his chest. "But you're not supposed to use sweet wine, anyway. It should be dry."

Megumi started grabbing their stuff from their workstation. Kaori shrugged her shoulders and smiled at him. "We can all use a little sweetness in our life, ne, Kyoju?" she said with a wink.

Tsukasa chuckled. "Ja, see you two in the next class."

As Eishi left the room, Kaori took her bag from Megumi and gestured a 'thank you' for thinking about her. The door slammed shut, but not long after, it opened for Nakiri Alice and Ryo to appear.

"My, my, my, Kaori-chan." Alice teased, placing a finger on her lip. She then looked at her assistant and said, "Didn't I tell you, Ryo-kun? Somebody's hot for teacher!"

"Eto…it isn't really a secret Alice-san." Megumi pointed out.

Kaori shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, I'm not trying to hide it. In fact…" she clasped her hands together and her eyes went into a dreamy like state. "It would be the best thing ever if he notices me."

"But he does!" Megumi assured.

"As a chef, yes, but not like that," she pointed out.

Alice propped herself up on one of the counters. "Poor Tsukasa-senpai has been heartbroken ever since Rindou-senpai left the country last week. Isn't this the perfect opportunity to just pounce on him?"

Ryo cocked an eyebrow at his mistress' words. She was acting extra hyperactive today. But then again, when he thought about it, she has been commenting about this exact situation for weeks now. Perhaps she was just waiting for the proper build-up.

"P-p-pounce?!" Megumi questioned in shock.

Alice nodded her head. "Hai, Tadokoro-san. Because Rindou-senpai is out of the picture, Hideyuki-san here can finally take her demure flirtation to the next level!"

"Demure flirtation?!" Kaori demanded as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"It's a little obvious to everyone that you're into him. But not enough for him to notice." Ryo reacted stoically.

"This is exactly why it's the perfect time to take it up a notch!" Alice declared.

Kaori pushed up her glasses. "Even if I were to 'take it up a notch' as what you say…I want Eishi to fall in love with me, Nakiri-san. I don't want to be a rebound."

Alice went to the board and began writing numbers. "It is scientifically proven that in the 4-8 weeks of flirtation - men just stay there for casual purposes. Anything beyond that is proven to result to love. It's a 99.9% success rate!" she beamed.

Ryo, Megumi and Kaori just looked at each other awkwardly. Kaori then broke the ice and chuckled. "I don't think that really proves anything."

Alice clenched her fists in frustration. "I just said it's a 99.9% success rate, weren't you listening?!"

"I still don't get what you want me to do," Kaori shook her head and turned to Megumi. "Do you, Megumi-san?"

"N-not a clue." She stammered in the uneasiness of the topic.

"It's easy…" Alice began. "4-8 weeks is a total of...let's say, 62 days."

"We know how to do the math, Nakiri-san." Kaori pointed out.

"If you keep yourself visible to Tsukasa-senpai at that time, and go beyond that, by the 100th day that you see him, he'll realize he's in love with you." She answered.

The room was silent. Ryo started to question the sanity of his mistress. A scientific formula for falling in love just seemed too bizarre to believe in. The odd thing about Alice's theories though...is that he knew they almost always come true.

"Why 100 days?" Kaori fidgeted with her fingers in thought.

Alice shrugged. "It's just a safe estimate. It could be shorter, it could be longer."

Longer, Kaori thought. She was in love with him, but she didn't want to wait forever for him to feel the same. How long would it take?

"But personally, Kaori-san, I would move on to another guy if my effort reaches more than 100 days." She pointed to herself. "A girl has to give herself more credit."

The last few words she said resonated in Kaori's head. She then looked back at the very first time she saw Tsukasa. She remembered how it felt. It had been more than a year since then, and try as she might to hide her emotions…she knew deep in her heart that it only became more intense as time passed by. Even more so when he graduated. It was a lot more difficult to see him and talk to him since he was rarely on campus. But whenever she helps out the Elite Ten, there were occassions that she would see him. And in those tiny moments, her heart just ached to be with him.

Kaori chuckled. "Your theory is insane, Nakiri-san."

Alice huffed and crossed her arms over her chest again. "I bet you that in 100 days, he'll fall in love with you."

"It's not really a bet if you don't offer anything in return…" Ryo pointed out.

"Very well, then," Alice smiled. "I'll wager Ryo-kun if it doesn't play out. He can be your assistant for 100 days after that."

"Alice-san, why would you bet Ryo-kun?" Megumi asked in disbelief.

She indignantly pointed at us. "Because I know I'm right."

Something in Alice's confidence triggered Kaori to say yes. She wasn't sure if it was her desire to make her stop pushing the issue or maybe, just maybe, she was hoping that Alice's crazy theory would work.

"100 days, ne?" Kaori clarified.

Alice nodded her head.

She extended her hand, "Okay."

"Day 1 starts tomorrow. Brace yourself, Hideyuki-san." Alice warned.

As Kaori let go of her hand, there was a slight feeling of regret that creeped on her. "For what?" she asked.