Food Feelings

Chapter 4

A month has passed since the entrance exam and it's now April. You and all the other first years in the Totsuki Academy high school section are currently at the first-year opening ceremony. "We'll proceed to give the award to the best of the year. Representative of the new first years, Erina Nakiri" the announcer said through the microphone. You would have been up there too representing the first years but you prefer to stay on the down-low. That's why you being a part of the council is a secret, you didn't want people swarming you or dissing you. You're proud that Erina is up there, she's worked so much for this position. From your spot off stage to the right, you could hear the guys fawning over Erina only to become quiet and scared once Senzaemon gets on stage. It is reasonable for them to be scared, after all, he is Erina's grandfather, the don of the food mafia, and Totsuki Academy's Director.

Senzaemon then starts his speech by congratulating the first years on entering the high school section and talking about their middle school experiences. Then he gets to the interesting part which made the first years nervous "99% of you are sacrificial stones in order to polish the remaining 1% gems. Out of the 812 new first years from last year, the number of students that advanced to the second year is 76. We'll mercilessly cast away incompetent and ordinary people. To count the number of people that will graduate one hand will be enough. You, you will become one of that handful of chefs!! Devote to your studies." Senzaemon's speech brought out so many reactions from people, some being excited, nervous, determined, or calm. His speech brought fire to your eyes and made you even more determined to try your best to make your cooking skills even better over the next three years. "That's all!" Senzaemon said walking off the stage to where you are.

Once Senzaemon gets over to where you are, you two speak. "Have you seen Soma here yet?" You ask Senzaemon. You've been waiting in the waiting area for a while and haven't seen Soma here yet. The letter of admittance said to go here so you wonder why he isn't here.

"No I haven't" Senzaemon replies, you nod ok in response and he leaves after saying goodbye. You get a bit nervous considering the transfer student introductions are coming up pretty soon. 'Maybe he decided that Totsuki wasn't for him' You think with a small frown. Erina gets off stage and walks to the waiting area where you're at and sits down. You two sit in a comfortable silence listening to the announcer.

"Eeh, to finish, we'll introduce the students who were admitted to the high school section," the announcer says and you stand up then straighten your skirt. You feel someone grab your hand and you turn around to see that Erina is now standing holding your hand.

"Good luck out there, not that you need it. You got this," Erina says with a small confident smile on her face. You smile say thanks before she lets go and head to the stage entrance.

As you're about to walk up on stage you hear another voice on the microphone, "Well... Like, I'm sorry for being in this high place, hehe..." You look up on stage and see Soma. You then realize why you didn't see him, the dunce was waiting on the wrong side of the stage. You shake your head sighing, it bugged you because 1) you're a bit of a perfectionist wanting things to go as planned and 2) you had put the effort in to set up this event and laid out all the instructions only for them to not get followed.

Soma continues, "I have to express my intentions, right? I'm beaten, do I really have to do this? Saying them on a stage is embarrassing," 'Just hurry up Soma do a short and sweet introduction, something that will earn you some friends.' You think wanting the event to stay on schedule because there were still classes to attend today. "Then, I'll keep it short, I'll say two or three things..." Erina walks over to you to see why you aren't going on stage and her eyes widen at who she sees on stage. "Ermm... I'm Soma Yukihira, truth be told I didn't expect to be admitted to this academy, but I don't plan to lose to some bunch that has never stood in front of clients. Now that I'm here I'll take the top. Best regards for the next three years." 'Soma you did keep it short I'll say that, but that was not sweet and did not earn you friends. Actually, in fact, it made you enemies.' You think while sweat dropping at all the people yelling at him.

Soma walks off stage to the right where you and Erina are. You two pass each other at the curtain area and you place your hand that's closest to him on his shoulder that's closer to you, "We'll talk later," you whisper with a sharp look on your face then continue going on stage. Soma shivers a bit catching a glimpse of you that he hasn't seen before. You walk to the microphone 'I'll have to improvise a bit to apologize for him and calm things down, such a bother' you sigh.

"Hello and sorry about the previous transfer student. I guess he was determined and aiming for the top just like the rest of us are. My name is (Y/n) (L/n) and I'm excited to become a great chef with you all. Please take care of me," You finish your introduction with a smile and a bow. While walking to the waiting room you could hear people in the crowd talking in the crowd about "how cute you are" or "how cool you are", you smile knowing that you had made a good introduction.

You enter the waiting room and hear Soma and Erina ending a conversation, "It's a mistake, a mistake! You came to Totsuki because of a mistake!!" You stay off in an area where they can't see you so that they can continue the conversation without an awkward (Y/n) standing between them. You listen in on them, "You say you'll take the top...? Don't make me laugh!! All of the students here have received an excellent middle school education! Rookie from the outside won't be able to beat them...". You wonder if you should step in knowing that Erina can be a bit harsh, but you decide against it thinking it's better for them to get their thoughts out into the air.

"Twelve years. That's the time I've been living in the kitchen. Wait for it. I'll make you clearly say "It's good" with that mouth of yours!". You hear a noise behind you and you see Senzaemon also looking at the two in the waiting room.

You turn to look back at the two, "The future of Totsuki, huh?" you say to Senzaemon with a smile having a good feeling about those two. Senzaemon nods in response. Erina leaves then you walk up to Soma. "Hey, what class do you have right now?" You ask him.

"French cuisine with Roland Chapelle, you?" Soma says.

"Same here, let's walk there together," you say and Soma nods.

You two walk together through the academy making a bit of conversation. "You know, you really made some introduction and I can't quite say it was a good one. You made some enemies today Soma, are you ready for that?" You ask Soma with a blank face.

"Ahaha, I guess I got nervous, things like that weren't really important ever since I was a kid. I'm ready for those enemies and I'll be sure to have the top spot" He says with a grin. 'So you're going for the top, you'll have to beat me to do that' You confidently smirk at the challenge that's going to come.

You two arrived at the classroom a few minutes before it started. Chapelle soon started the class, "We have an odd amount of people in the classroom, does anyone volunteer to be by themselves during this cooking assignment. It's already a difficult assignment with two people, so only volunteer if you're confident in you're cooking skills" You raise your hand to volunteer after he finishes talking.

"I volunteer Chapelle," You say unfazed looking at your nails on the hand that's not raised and he nods. You grin knowing it's not really going to be a challenge. The rest of the class then draws lots to see who they will be paired with, you look to Soma to see he's paired with a blue-haired girl who's looking quite scared.

Everyone in the room looks at you and whispers to each other, "Man the cutie just transferred here and she's already going to fail", "I feel bad for her", "She doesn't know what she's going against", "I can't wait to see the cocky look on her face disappear". You smirk knowing that you're going to prove all of these people wrong and show your skills.