Author's Note: Greetings and welcome to my story! This chapter has been rewritten so for those who haven't read this before this doesn't apply to you. But to those who have read my story before I didn't change to much. I made it third person and that's about it. All the main ideas are still here. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1: The sharp Tongue

"Alright! This is perfect! I can practically taste the care that went into this!" A silver haired boy yelled to himself as he ran to his home.

"I am back!" A voice yelled out through the restaurant.

"Oh back so soon? I thought that the test would have taken longer." A woman came out of the kitchen stating.

"Nah it was no problem! I even stopped by for some food! Anyways I am going to get setup for our customers!" The boy ran into the kitchen and began preparing for busy day. It was Friday and the rush always made it impossible to get any free time.

"Be careful bro!" Another voice yelled from upstairs.

"Don't worry about it Sis!" The boy yelled back.

This was Michael Xion and he was 15 years old. Originally from America despite his last name. He had taken cooking classes there ever since he was 5 years of age. It was overall a really great experience. His older sister is Emma Xion and she is 18 years old. She doesn't really have the knack for cooking. Rather she is trying to get into college right now for Physical Therapy. His mom Leah Xion and Michael support her all the way. That however didn't stop them from making fun of her from time to time about being the only one not able to cook in the house. Michael's parents were both chefs. And they even ran their own restaurant in New York. However they both felt that they weren't giving enough attention to their children.. Eventually it lead them to fighting, stress, and they got a divorce. Leah, Emma, and Michael moved to New York. While Michael's father stayed in America and had his older brother and my oldest sister in New York. Although over the years their relationship softened, they knew that being divorced was not only better for themselves, but for the whole family. Now Leah and Michael ran a restaurant near a busy part of Japan. It was hard work but Michael thoroughly enjoyed it. They served pretty much everything. From Sushi to burgers, from American to German. Those classes Michael took for 10 years wasn't all for nothing.

"Hey Michael? I need to talk to you." Leah said with a serious face.

"Eh? Okay..." Michael nervously complied. "Mom was usually not serious about anything except when it came to her children and cooking. Besides that she was usually a happy and a go with the flow person." Michael thought,

"Have you ever heard of Totsuki academy? She asked.

"No I haven't. Why are you asking?" Michael replied.

"Well it is a famous school cooking school that your father and I graduated from." She explained.

"Wow that sounds intense." Michael said. She laughed and Michael wondered why she looked at me with a devilish grin. "Wait why are you telling me this now?"

"Well honey, I want you to go to that school." She said plainly.

"...EHHHH?" Michael was confused and shocked to say the least. "But what about the restaurant? What about Emma? What about-"

"Okay that's enough out of you!" Emma slapped Michael across the head.

"OW! That really hurt Emma!" Michael exclaimed.

"Well I can't help it! You are being such a baby right now! Mom can manage the restaurant and I will be going off to college soon! Come on! This is what you have wanted your whole life." Emma said with a glow in her eyes.

Although Michael didn't want to admit it he knew they were right. "I wanted something challenging and something to keep my passion for food alive. Perhaps this academy is exactly what I needed at this point." As Michael was about to speak my mind he started hearing a tremor not too far away from them.

"Here they come!" Emma warned us.

"Michael you ready for the rush?" Leah teased.

"Of course I am! Bring on the challenge!" Michael roared as customers flew into there restaurant.

A few hours later…

"Thank you! Please come again!" Michael stated as the last person left. "Phewww! I am exhausted. Mom I was thinking about that academy and I think-"

"Hey mom, you okay?" Michael asked.

THUD!

"HEY MOM! EMMA CALL AN AMBULANCE!"

At the hospital…

"No way…. Ischemic Heart Disease?" Michael barely was able to get the words out of his mouth.

"Unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it. The blood vessels in your mother heart has been greatly damaged. I am sorry to say she doesn't have long." The doctor stated.

Emma at this point was crying her eyes out and Michael tried to comfort her to the best of his ability.

Later on he walked into the room where his mom was staying. She was breathing but her eyes were shut tight.

"Damn it… Why did it end up this way?" Michael thought to himself. His mom didn't deserve this. She was the most caring person he knew. She had done so much for him and Emma, he didn't know what he could do without her.

"Michael.." Leah whispered out to her child.

Michael ran over to his mom's bed and held her hand.

"Mom! Don't worry you are going to be okay!" Although Michael knew he was lying to himself he wanted to believe it to be true.

"Michael.. go..to..the..Academy." Leah whispered as she closed her eyes for the last time.

A few days later…

After the funeral was over and telling dad about our mother's passing, it was time for Michael to set out on his mom's final wish. To go to Totsuki academy. Michael had informed all his customers that the shop would be closing while he was away. Most understood and wished him look on his journey. He was ready to leave the house when he saw his father calling him.

"Hello?" He asked in a dull tone. Michael didn't hate his father however the passing of his mother made him not really care too much about anything.

"Michael… Are you going to Totsuki?" His father asked his child.

"Wait… How did you know?" Michael asked surprised.

"Your mother discussed it with me on the day she passed away." Michael did his best not to cringe and tried not to cry when he heard him say that. "Listen Michael, Totsuki is the toughest academy for food there is out there. I know that you may hate me for everything, but I want you to do your best. I believe it is what your mother would have wanted."

"... Thank you." That's all Michael really could say after all that. As he began to close the shop he knew that he had to make sure he said goodbye to his sister. He grabbed his forms and left the house.

"Take care of yourself around the house."Michael said.

"Now who is acting like the older sibling? It is going to get lonley around here." Emma stated.

"I know. But I have to go. Not only for myself, but for mom." Michael told her.

"She would be proud. Go get them Michael. Show the world your talent." She said.

We gave each other a soft hug and Michael ventured off towards Totsuki. Michael saw his sister as he left and he couldn't help but feel a little guilty. However next to his sister he saw a figure. A silhouette of Leah waving off to him as well I fought the tears as he only looked forward.

"Mom… You just watch. I will be the greatest chef ever!"

Entrance of Totsuki Academy

"This place is huge!" Michael exclaimed almost dropping my phone out of my hand. Michael looked towards the building that basically touched the sky and how tall everything was. Michael saw also a lot of fancy limos and a lot of rich families around. Although… They were all crying for some reason.

"Well this place is suppose to be the top I guess but still…"

As Michael walked towards the entrance he saw a guy with red hair staring off into the distance. He wondered what he was doing but chose to ignore it. He entered to what seemed to be the main hall. However when he entered he saw no one there. He checked his forms and saw that he was very late. In fact almost an hour late!

"Crap… Well there isn't much I can do about that. And here I was going to be mom for once and make something that she loved." Michael thought to himself.

"You there! What are you doing?" The figure stated boldly. Michael looked behind him to see that there was a blond figure and a purple haired figure holding to what looked like a schedule.

"Ummm. I am here to take the entrance exam. But it seems I am a bit late haha." Michael tried to see if he could play innocent but it didn't work.

"Do you realise how late you are!?" The figure now shouting. "Ugh Hisako! How much time until my next meeting?"

"Well you don't have to be present at the ball for another 2 hours." The figure named Hisako stated.

"Fine! Give me your paperwork and follow me." The figured groaned.

Michael complied and handed her the paperwork as we went into the kitchen.

"Michael Xion? What an odd name. And with silver hair it doesn't matter. A dinner? Hmph. You should give up now." The figure simply stated.

"Excuse me?" Michael had been taken back. Give up? He hadn't even made anything yet.

"The people here at this school are the most elite of the elite. They have been here for their entire middle school lives. They learned far more than your dinner knowledge would know."

Michael was beyond furious. But out of the corner of his eye he saw something. A dish with chopsticks next to it. He saw a bowl of rice coated in a mysterious liquid.

"Hey were you even listening to me?" The blond figure stated but her voice quickly died down as she had seen the silver haired figure been entranced by a dish she hated.

Michael took a bit out of it and his mouth exploded with flavor.

"Chicken, aspic, sake, bonito stock, soy sauce… egg?" Michael spoke out loud and the blond figure and Hisako looked at him with a shocked face.

"Don't tell me? That analyzing couldn't be anything of the normal! He was able to figure out what that new student made!" Hisako thought to herself.

"If you are telling me to still leave then please let me know. But I think my analyzing of that dish speaks for me. I am no ordinary chef."

Although the blond didn't want to admit it, she had to admit that this man was skilled. She had even needed an explanation on what had happened in that dish. Yet this man figured it out all in one shot. "Michael are you ready for your theme for the dish you are going to be making?" The figure stated. It looked like she had to do this a lot.

"Sure.. But who are you?" He asked bluntly. This caused the two figures to stagger backwards as if they just had the same person say that towards them.

"Who is she!? You have never heard of Erina Nakiri before?" Hisako asked.

"Well… I am sorry but I lived in America for about 14 and a half years so is it that strange?" Michael asked.
They looked as if they were going to say something but they decided against it.

"Alright Michael the main ingredient of this test will be egg. Use whatever you want in this kitchen to make this dish. Begin!" Erina plainly explained.

Michael wasted no time to look around for what he wanted. "Eggs as the main. Would that work? What would she do… That sounds nice and warm! Sure let's try Mexican!" Michael whispered to myself as he began cooking process.

Erina saw Michael whispering to myself and at first she was surprised. "She? Who is she? And Mexican? I thought this boy said he was from America. And here he is trying to come up with a Mexican dish."She thought to herself.

"Alright yeah that would work!" Michael began cooking bacon, mincing cheese and chopping onions. As he was working on his dish Michael noticed that he was working much faster than he had thought. He finally finished the dish and set his knife down.

Erina looked at the dish and saw that it was indeed Mexican Cuisine. She saw four tortillas stacked almost on top of each as it got smaller as it was towards the top. She also saw eggs, bacon, tomato, red onion, brown rice, and the cheese.

"Here enjoy! My mom's special! It's a Mexican tower!" Michael exclaimed.

"It's not bad. But to me it looks average at best. Honestly it maybe could pass." Hisako thought to herself. "Hopefully Erina isn't too harsh with her words." Unfortunately that is the exact opposite of what happened.

"Michael it says here that you worked at a restaurant with your mom. Frankly I think you should give up here before I ruin your career of cooking." Michael saw Hisako gasp. "A restaurant's food that I have never heard of shouldn't be able to touch my tongue." Michael was furious at this point.

"She knows nothing about me and she is acting all high and mighty. And she hasn't even taken a bit yet!" He thought.

"It's hard to imagine this tasting any should go back to work with your family's restaurant with your mother-"

"My mom is dead."

This caused Erina to stop talking and Hisako to have a shocked face.

"She died only a few days ago. You think because you are so famous you can stomp on those below you huh? Guess what? Those below you are those who make you famous. They are the ones you give you a place to stay and all the fame and money you want. You can insult me all you want but never ever insult my mother!" Michael screamed very loudly and his eyes from his original black had a light silver to them like his hair.

"Here." Michael had set a bottle of hot sauce down and then began exiting the kitchen. "Add that to the dish once you take a bite." And with that Michael had stormed.

Back in the kitchen Erina fought to not show any weakness. But… her pride was the one thing keeping her from any sign of not for that she would have asked for that silver boy's forgiveness. However she chose to ignore it. She did however feel some sympathy. Especially after the loss of his mom he still came here. Hisako at this point was trying to fight tears flowing out of her loved her mother dearly and for someone to lose someone so important to them not only after a few days... They both looked at each other and saw they both felt the same way. Then they looked towards the dish. They knew both had to try. It was the least they can do for him.

As both tired the dish they had felt a presence there waiting for them. A warm embrace by the dish. The dish was so powerful yet comforting at the same time. It absorbed them in a way a dish has never touched them before. It was almost as if the dish itself was trying to help them. A pure radiance shined and soothed them. They both looked at the hot sauce they poured some on and tried again. The presence was even furthered and they had felt a person hugging them.

"It's almost like… A mother's love… Wait a minute.. When Michael said "She" when he was deciding a dish he couldn't have meant.." Hisako and Erina both thought. They had felt somewhat bad but knew that the boy would be long gone by now. Both of them left the dish behind and went back to their normal days. Wishing that they could try and get him back. What they didn't notice was an old man watching them, coming into inspect the dish laid before them.

Totsuki Entrance Gate sometime later

"Well for now, I guess I will have to do something else with my time. I yelled at my proctor and stormed off without a grade." Michael had grabbed his things and began to leave before an old man stopped him.

"Young man, what is your name?" He asked Michael. The old man had a very rugged robe on and he hard a scar around his eye.

"Michael… Michael Xion." Michael replied. "Who was this guy? He probably is here to teach me a lesson about respect." What he didn't expect is a somewhat shocked face followed by a smile.

"Michael. You are accepted into Totsuki academy. Here is your letter for acceptance." He said with a smile. Michael took the letter from him and saw the old man smile a little."Your dish, it was very well executed. It had a lot of love into that dish. I am looking forward to your growth." And with that the man walked off into the academy.