Title: Peerless

Author: sllebswap

Characters/Pairing: Kobayashi Rindou and Tsukasa Eishi

Type: OneShot/Drabble Collection (InComplete)

Genre: Romance/General/Humor

Word Count: 2115

Rating: T (Contains content not suitable for children)

Disclaimer: Shokugeki no Souma belongs to Tsukuda-san.

Summary: To be peerless is to be unrivalled. Standing at the highest peak, unchallenged and without equal. To be peerless is to endure; the pressure of the world clamoring at your feet, the stark bite of loneliness clawing at your back. …Or is it always?

Loosely interconnected one-shots/drabbles exploring the curious relationship between Tsukasa Eishi and Kobayashi Rindou. Updates may not be in chronological order.

Verse: Canon Divergent AU

Chapter Last Revised on: 11/05/17

What sharp teeth you have

There was this curious quality about him that gave off the impression of something unfathomably, unearthly, different.

Maybe it was that near leucistic coloring of his; whipcord lean alabaster coupled with pristine, lavender pale eyes and moonshine white hair that made him appear ethereal - otherworldly - in nature, or perhaps it was that distant, unconsciously aloof air that enveloped him in moments of focused contemplation, like a mysterious, invisible veil that automatically kept people from venturing too close. But whatever it was, that unapproachable demeanor and noble, almost regal, bearing of his never failed to attract attention wherever he went, even if he had never asked for it in the first place.

How did that saying go, again?

Nothing truly beautiful ever asks for attention.

Yeah, that. He probably could serve as the physical embodiment for that adage, because eyes on him were always going to be a stressful experience as far as he was concerned. He had never wanted it, never sought it, yearned for it. Fact was, it had taken him awhile to accept all that attention and adulation from his fans with the grace and dignity that he did now, and even sometimes, it was still all too much to bear. But bear it he would, for the endless pursuit of perfection in his craft that had so thoroughly ensnared and mesmerized him. His greatest love. His all-consuming obsession. He would endure anything for the sake of his cooking.

This was all nothing new to her.

They had practically grown up together; the fairytale-like allure of his princely appearance was something banal by now, and she had always detested dull, boring things with a passion. Truth to be told, pretty face notwithstanding, he was as dull and boring as anyone could get, once one got past that quietly enigmatic demeanor as well as that godly affinity for the culinary arts.

Yet, here she was, always close by.

Always revolving around him somehow, bonded together by a rash, youthful promise made to each other one spring day under a wide blue sky, swearing allegiance to each other in the name of what had seemed back then an impossible, farfetched dream. She had always been a free spirit even back when she was younger; carefree, reckless, doing as she pleased whenever she liked. Sometimes, she wondered what made her offer up that brash, impulsive promise to him all those years ago, to tie their fates together as closely as they had agreed upon. Sometimes, she wondered why he had accepted.

I'll go too if you do. Together. Together. It's a promise. Let's go together!

Swallows pair for life too, right?

They were only fledglings back then, though. Too young to know any better, wings outstretched, flight feathers barely fletched in, just about ready to taste the dizzying, exhilarating joy of flight.

Unparalleled freedom.

So they achieved that dream, against all odds. Their shared vision coming to fruition through no small amount of blood, tears, and sweat. Endless frustration finely balanced out by an incredible drive to succeed. Superhuman effort sacrificed to surmount their own breaking limits end over end. Consecutive back-to-back challenges fending off vicious attacks from others threatening to swallow them whole. Dragging each other up bit by painstaking bit even on the worst of days. And then, finally, transcending that ultimate pinnacle that highlighted some of their most ferocious struggles in this brutal, unforgivingly fast-paced culinary academy that had honed their talents to a razor edge. A baptism by fire, hell and brimstone, this harsh, cruel crucible was.

He became the undisputed First in the entirety of Tootsuki, and she, his overwhelmingly strong Second. Two of the finest crown jewels that glittered with brilliance and luster amongst their entire generation. She still kept close to him, even though they pretty much each had their own things to work on these days, still tirelessly improving on their individual specialties and outpacing their peers, absorbing as much as they could, endlessly hungry, devouring whatever knowledge that those who had come and gone before them had left behind. And it was still not enough. This world was their precious oyster. Learning was limitless. For the sake of understanding, going above and beyond was only the bare minimum of what they had to do.

Or rather, what he strove to do. She was just partnering him and going along for the ride, eager to enjoy the view at the very top that nobody else had seen before, that she knew he would surely one day present to her in all of its breathtaking, exquisite glory.

Maybe that was why.

She studied him critically for the longest while, as if trying to figure out one of the greatest mysteries in this world, but to no avail. It was vexing. Perplexing. Tedious and persnickety as he could be sometimes, he was also made up of all sorts of paradoxical dualities. Which, of course, implied that he really wasn't as dull and as boring as he made himself out to be, after all. A living, breathing study in endless contradiction. Geh.

He noticed her squinting at him then, and silently raised one bemused brow in question. After all these years, her quirky nature was no longer something completely incomprehensible to him. It was somewhat comforting, even. He liked logical, familiar things. He liked things to be methodical, neat and orderly, for everything to be in their rightful place in his world. And while she was not exactly the neatest or most orderly person there was (never mind logical), her place had always been, unquestionably, beside him.

"You look like a pansy ass vampire," she commented randomly out of the blue, and he started to sputter, surprised.

"W-What?" Where did that came from?

In response, she unfurled lazily from her spot on the couch; stretched, reached out, snagged his tie, and reeled him in. Planted a firm kiss on his faintly gaping mouth. Random. Spontaneous. There was no meaning to the act other than she just suddenly felt like it. His world lurched alarmingly. The glint of her fang brushed tantalizingly against the flesh of his lower lip in unconscious sensuality, followed by the curious, catlike lick of her deft little tongue. She tasted faintly citrusy; the tart remnants of the sweet mikan which she had happily tore into sometime earlier. He shuddered, startled. Just as quickly as she had leaned in, she took advantage of his momentary distraction to pull away, ducked her head towards that long, pale neck of his…and chomped down.

"Ow!" He pushed away from her hurriedly then, slapping one hand over his abused body part, looking at her like she had gone crazy. She was unaffected by his comically betrayed stare, clicking her tongue at his exaggerated demeanor and reached out once more, this time to pry his hand off his stinging neck, to survey her handiwork.

"What on earth was that for?" he asked incredulously.

"You looked like a pansy ass vampire," she repeated again, as if that had just explained it all. Really, she gave him anxiety sometimes, just trying to figure out what she was up to. People called him a genius behind his back (and also to his face, actually), but she could make him feel like an idiot half the time, and she didn't even have to try very hard. Those wide, cat-slit eyes of hers regarded him with a bold, probing inquisitiveness that sometimes made him think that she could see right through him. His ambition, his hopes and dreams, everything that which drove him to ascend higher and higher, racking up that endless list of achievements that made him worthy of his moniker as 'The White Knight of the Table,' they were laid bare before her and she was intricately familiar with them all, with an intensely intimate understanding that was almost…lover-like.

His usually pallid complexion was faintly flushed with color now thanks to her unexpected, er, attention. So did the blatant, throbbing mark which she had just left flowering unceremoniously on the side of his throat, angry red and visible to just about anyone who so much as looked at him. Geeze, that's going to be a pain to conceal too-

She started to smirk, a smug, feline satisfaction curling through her at a mischief well managed.

"Better," she drawled approvingly. "You don't look as half dead now."

She was just plain ludicrous. He should have given up trying to make sense of her long ago. Her logic always gave him a headache…if her frequently abandoned, unfinished responsibilities hadn't already.

"I wouldn't look half dead at all if you didn't just decide to dump all of your paperwork on me to run off and play," he uttered peevishly. His exhausted pallor was starting to creep back at the thought of the towering workload waiting for him back in his office. She tsked again at that distressed look on his face, before leaning in and planting another spontaneous, vigorous smooch on him. Once again, it was all over as quickly as it had begun, and he was left with the faintest impression of her warm breath, the softness of her full lips, and that tantalizing hint of mikan… It was all he could do not to lick his lips for another taste.

She reached back and slapped his back heartily while he was still inwardly reeling from her latest display of affection, nearly sending him faceplanting onto the floor. Unlike him who was always pale and beleaguered from one thing or another, she was incredibly robust and so very full of life. She was almost too much for him, really.

"There; payment for yer excellent paper pushin' services!" she crowed, winking roguishly at him as she went along. He gawked faintly at her. "Lemme know if that's not enough; I've got more where that came from!"

He was starting to redden in chagrin again, not for the first time silently cursing his pale complexion for its inability to mask even the smallest amount of fluster on his end. Damn it. Damn her for knowing where all of his buttons were hidden and always, unfailingly, pushing down on them so gleefully and unrestrainedly. She waved her hand cheerily in front of his face.

"Hey, ya alright? Maybe I should whip up somethin' for yer anemia; don't 'cha faint on me now, Tsukasa!"

He batted her away before she could do something worse and reduce him into a stuttering moron. What 'White Knight of the Table?' He might as well be 'the Walking Doormat' as far as she was concerned.

"I'm not anemic, and if I'm going to faint, it's because you're draining all the life out of me, Rindou! Don't try to distract me; you're coming back with me to do your paperwork!"

Now, he had a good grip on the back of her collar and looked entirely ready to tow her back to the office himself if he had to. She flailed, and neither looked like proper, respectable eighteen year olds who also happened to be the top leaders of their field at the moment.

"Eh?! But I'm still hungry, Tsukasaaaa!"

His temple twitched, once, at her obnoxious whining. This woman-

"Get your work done first," he insisted, taking care not to look at her wide, wobbly eyes, suddenly all puppy-like and irresistibly pleading. He had fallen headfirst into that pit hole more often than he cared to admit. "…I'll make you something later, so-"

She brightened immediately, beaming like the sun.

"Really? Sankyuu, Tsukasa!" she chirped without even waiting for him to finish the rest of his sentence. His brow twitched again. Was he just a human food dispenser to her? "Gee, I'd kiss you again right now but I reeaaallllyyyy don't wanna be the cause of ya passing out, ya know! Ohohoho! It ain't yer fault; the great Rindou-sama is just too irresistible for the likes of mere mortal men!"

"…Who's going to pass out because of your kiss?" he grumbled under his breath, exasperated by her antics once more. "Stop joking around and-"

"But who says that I'm joking~?" she sing-songed, her lips twitching with mirth at his visibly vexed appearance. He glowered at her, unamused. "Okay, okay! I'll be good, promise. I'll be a suuuperrrr good girl just for ya, Tsukasa~" Her suggestive purr carried all sorts of undertones but he schooled his expression and narrowed his eyes at her. She grinned lopsidedly at him with good humor – he was going to feed her well, after all.

"I'll believe that after I see all your work done."

"Huh? All my work? D'ya wanna see pigs fly too while yer at it, Tsukasa?"

"…"

::owari::

Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:

So. Guess who i) got the bright idea to reread the entire series of Shokugeki no Souma these last couple of days, ii) proceeded to fall straight into a new pit of despair (not to be confused with the other previous pits) AKA fall for an unpopular ship with NO fandom presence whatsoever, and so iii) decided to further compound this mistake by writing for said hopeless ship?

Oui. C'est moi! C'est d'la merde!

But seriously. I could not help myself; that little two page SnS Betsubara special featuring these two in middle school just stole my heart away, so that's that.

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…Anyway, while I'm not new to writing, this is my first time actively venturing into this fandom, so I'm still in the process of getting the various characterizations and personalities down. There is distressingly little content when it comes to the pairing of Eishi/Rindou, so I felt obligated to contribute somehow. A little. Somewhat. You know, just do my civic duty as an eternal fangirl and spread the merde around a bit and hopefully get some of it stuck on other unwitting people also. Viva la merde!

Okay, excuse my (inner gay) French as well as the grossly inappropriate scatological humor. Also pardoning the puns. I'm stopping now.

As always, feedback will be much appreciated. Merci beaucoup. Muchas gracias. Domo arrigato. Kamsahamnida. Terima kasih. Xie xie ni!

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Your reviews make me update faster; so please leave a comment if you like this fic!

-sllebswap