Brightest Star Above

Chapter 2

Italics are thoughts.

Tootsuki Tea Ceremony and Cooking Academy. An internationally acclaimed culinary academy notorious for only having 1% graduates out of their original population of the academy. Graduates of the said Academy are assured eternal fame and a lot of sponsorship. 

People simply judged it as a school for the snobs and the elite. Not that they really know of the harsh realities the students face just to be part of that one percent. Besides the harsh critiquing of instructors everyday, in order to become the top of the top of the academy, students have to face ono another in cooking showdown called "shokugeki." 

And as they leave their beloved alma mater, they must become masters of their own specialties.

Or so they say

The students of Tootsuki Academy had just arrived at the hotel they were staying in. They were ushered to the great banquet hall of the hotel. There stood about a thousand students nervously waiting for their fates for the next few days. It was simply a matter of being expelled or thriving to become part of that one percent of graduates. 

Near the entrance of the banquet hall, the residents of the Polar Star Dorm stood waiting for their own fates except one. Yukihira Soma was scanning the room catching the head of a certain blonde in the room. 

"Oh, isn't it Nikumi?" He says breaking the tension in the air. The members of the look at him with disbelief. Meanwhile, the said blonde blushed and looks over to Yukuhira. "It's been a while! How are you?" He asks grinning as if it was just any other normal day.

Yoshino looks at Yukihira and asks, "Hey Yukihira why are you calling her a nickname?" She certainly remembered that not too long ago he was hell-bent on defeating her in shokugeki.  Now, here he was acting as if they have become the steadfast friends. 

"Eh?" He says with a complaining tone. "But she gave me her consent, right?"

"No, you did not!" Ikumi said while trying to calm her racing heart. She didn't understand why she was like that around him. Ever since that shokugeki, she always had butterflies in her stomach and her heart started to beat louder and faster when he was around. 

The blonde's happy thoughts were short-lived as she felt the menacing stares of the other students aimed at Yukihira.  "I want to murder him.", " I wish he would get expelled.", and "I hope he doesn't survive the training camp."

"Hey, Yukihira. Watch your back alright?" Ikumi says while the red head just looked clueless.

Everyone hears someone clear their throat. They look at the stage and  Chapelle-sensei who had his hand on a microphone. Everyone compressed to the center of the room and listen to his instructions. 

"My last announcement" Chapelle-sensei says. "Before we begin the training camp, I would like to officially welcome back Miyako Suzuki-san, who has represented  Tootsuki and won the the BLUE competition in France last week." 

A girl with raven black hair and hyacinth like blue eyes gracefully walks on the stage. On her neck hung a gold medal. She looked at the audience with a blank face. Her eyes were searching for certain people. She continued to scan the room until she saw them , he beloved dorm mates. They were at the further back of the the hall smiling at her with a grin. 

"She would have a few words to say to you all." Chapelle-sensei said as he handed the microphone to her.  He walked behind the curtain and prepared it. He was certain that the girl did have potential but not to this extent. He never thought that a girl who was unknown for the past two and a half years in Tootsuki would suddenly become the best of her class.