I do not own Shokugeki no Soma, the only thing owned by me is this fanfic's story and any new characters introduced
Totsuki Culinary Academy, the number #1 cooking school in all of Japan, has just lost the star of the 92nd Jewel Generation, Soma Yukihira. However, a new face has appeared just a month after Soma's disappearance…
Erina Nakiri looked past a window within her room of the Nakiri mansion. It had been a month since Soma left Totsuki without warning, without telling her. It wasn't until after his disappearance that she understood how much of a jerk she had been to him over their years at Totsuki.
"How could I have avoided this…" Erina thought to herself as she looked past the window, still in disbelief of him leaving. She could never admit it out loud, but she had feelings for Soma ever since she tried his Transforming Furikake Gohan. His form of cooking brought her bliss and happiness, something she originally thought only her idol(and Soma's father as well), Joichiro could create.
Throughout their war with Central, Soma was the core of the Rebels' victory, giving them all the confidence and resolve necessary to take on the chefs within the faction. Erina's father, Azami, had always forced her to only eat what he thought was the perfect dish, and that everything else was below trash. Soma was the one who helped her look past that and evolve her skills as a chef for herself, not for her father, and for that, she'd be eternally grateful to him.
Suddenly a knock came at the door, snapping Erina out of her thoughts. "Yes?" Erina called out.
"Erina-sama, the Elite 10 meeting will begin soon, the car is waiting outside!"
Her loyal assistant, Hisako Arato was not only that, but one of Erina's closest friends. However, Erina could never bring herself to tell Hisako about her feelings for Soma, as a matter of fact, she hadn't told anyone at all.
"I'll be right there Hisako!" Erina replied.
She didn't want to be right there, she wanted to lie in bed and think about Soma all day, but she knew that as the new headmistress, it was her duty to attend at least most, no, all, of the Elite 10 meetings, even if the only reason she went before was to see him, and now he was gone.
After getting dressed, she left the mansion and headed towards the Elite 10 council meeting center. While in the car, Hisako noticed that Erina had a look of longing on her face, as if she had just lost someone important. It was obvious to Hisako that this person was Yukihira, she herself missed that annoying smirk of his. Erina might not have noticed, but her feelings for Soma were very apparent to everyone, made evident by how she acted around him.
"Erina-sama, are you feeling okay?" Hisako asked.
"I'm okay Hisako, thank you for your concern. However my needs must be put aside for now in place for the needs of this academy." Erina said somewhat briskly.
"Of course," Replied Hisako.
After arriving, Erina and Hisako entered the council room, where the meeting was about to begin.
"You're here! What took you so long? They took forever right Ryo?" Alice Nakiri, the 6th seat of the Elite 10 exclaimed from one end of the table.
"Yes, miss," Ryo Kurokiba, the 5th seat of the Elite 10 replied in his usual monotone voice.
"You've really outdone yourself this time Nakiri! On time instead of early? That's new!" Terunori Kuga, 3rd seat of the Elite 10, shouted from the other end of the table.
"Leave her be Kuga. On time is still perfectly acceptable. Wouldn't you agree, Nene?" Said Satoshi Isshiki with a lighthearted laugh. The 2nd seat was a somewhat more than eccentric young man, but that didn't stop the other members from looking up to him.
"I guess so," Replied Nene Kinokuni, the 9th seat, with a slight tint of red on her face.
"I'm telling you tomatoes are superior to cucumbers! Who even uses cucumbers in a dish anymore?!" Takumi Aldini, the 7th seat, was arguing over tomatoes and cucumbers with the 8th seat, Etsuya Eizan.
"Maybe if you paid attention to the world outside your precious little Italian bubble, you would know that cucumbers are clearly the supreme vegetable!" Screamed the 8th seat.
"Guys, uhm... can we please calm down, the headmistress is here… oh they're not listening to me."
Megumi Tadokoro, the 10th seat, looked frightened at the sight of 8 people soon screeching at each other.
Finally, Erina composed herself, and let her presence be known.
"Quiet all of you! You are all setting the example for students at Totsuki! Do you think that tomatoes vs cucumbers should be settled with arguing, a savage form of rivalry?! A shokugeki is a much more fine way of expressing one's views on the two vegetables. Now then let's begin today's meeting without any more interruptions. On the subject of the upcoming Autumn Elections…"
The meeting began, and all Erina could think about was how Soma's seat was empty.
That's how she felt, empty.
9:30 PM, Narita International Airport, Tokyo
"Welcome to Tokyo, Japan. Thank you for choosing Chitose Airlines as your way to the land of the rising sun. We hope to fly with you again!"
"That's ironic, the moon's the one that just rose." A young man in gray slacks, long sleeve black polo, with navy blue, somewhat wavy hair, stepped out from the plane onto the catwalk with a slight skip in his step. Once outside the airport he felt a drop of water on his nose, then two, then three. Soon it began pouring.
...
"Are you sure you don't require a ride to Totsuki, Haru-sama? Any accomodation is necessary for every alumni of Totsuki, especially a former Elite 10 member," A limousine driver asked the young man.
"No, that's fine, I need to walk anyway, holed up in that airplane seat for 16 hours did a number on me ya know? Thanks for offering though."
As the limo drove away, Haru glanced at the lights of Tokyo and recognized the familiar hill Totsuki was on.
He sighed to himself, knowing full well that he was taking a big risk coming here, but he had to do it. Suddenly he felt his pocket buzz.
"Hello? Oh Senzaemon it's you! What's up?
"Again?"
...
"But how!? I thought since Azami had left, she was feeling better..."
...
"Soma Yukihira? Who's that?"
...
"HAHAHA, so, he's Joichiro's kid huh? What a small world man…"
...
"Sounds like she needs to be put in her place if she's acting like that."
...
"Oh calm down it's not as bad as it sounds. She just needs a good old shokugeki, then lose the match."
...
"How? Obviously by me beating her."
...
"Ok then, I'll see you there."
*beep*
Haru sighed again, now he had two things to do while at Totsuki. Just as he put his phone in his pocket, it rang again.
"Hello?" He asked, somewhat annoyed.
"Son! Did you arrive? How was your flight? I hope it wasn't too cramped for you, you're a tall young man, and tall, young men need their space-"
"Mom, it's fine, I'm here in Tokyo, the flight was good. Yea I'm pretty tall but c'mon, it's a commercial airliner, what were you expecting?"
"Oh ok, that's good, so are you going to do it?"
"Yeah, I have to check up on Megumi at least once in a while. Their break is coming up pretty fast so I can send her to Tohoku.'
"What about you? I thought you'd be visiting."
"I'm gonna be delayed a little, I have some things to take care of at Totsuki first."
"Ok then son, well you be careful, okay? Tokyo isn't crime free, there's plenty of accidents and the pollution can get to you-"
"Mom. It's ok, I'm fine, I know how to fight, I know people here can't drive, and you're too used to the smell of fish. The air here is amazing."
"Son, you know that's not what I mean, you need to be careful. The doctor said-"
"I know what the doctor said, mom. I know what I'm doing, I won't push myself okay?"
"Okay..."
"Okay then, I love you mom, I'll see you when I see you. Bye."
*beep*
Haru sighed once again, his mother was worried, he didn't blame her. That didn't matter now though, he had a mission, well two missions now but still.
As he began walking towards Totsuki he chuckled to himself thinking what Carlos called him when he found out Haru was doing this.
...
"Cabron! What're you doing? You have an amazing restaurant here already! Why are you going with those 'chinos'?"
"Relax, Carlos, I'll always miss Peru, and I'll always come back to visit. By the way, they aren't 'chinos' they're Japanese just like me. Besides, I have to go visit my sister anyway. Ok?"
"Ya, salgate de aqui, pendejo."
Carlos was Haru's translator when he first arrived in Peru, however the two soon became close friends. Carlos happened to be a chef himself and Haru helped him perfect his skills, and eventually put him as head chef of his restaurant, Puro Sabor when Haru left for Tokyo.
Carlos would always snap him back to reality whenever he felt a chefs block with a lighthearted insult to keep his spirits going. Carlos just knew how to make Haru a better chef, and a better person.
...
Haru stopped and looked at Totsuki again within the shining jewels of Tokyo and, with a new spark in his eyes said,
"Alright Totsuki, let's see what you've got."
Authors note: Hey guys, that was the first chapter, I'm not entirely sure what the schedule will be for this fanfic, but I'm hoping to have a more solid one by chapter two or three. I'm also not sure how long this particular fanfic will last but hopefully a while cause I've wanted to do something like this for a while now. Anyway, thank you guys for reading, as always, feedback is accepted, and I will see you in the next chapter, bye now!
-Kano