The Missing Piece

Chapter 3: The two transfer students.

Koyuki Shinomiya POV

It was too early.

Way too early to be getting a heart attack.

I, for one, am definitely NOT a morning person. So, one would know how it felt when my friend, Yukihira Soma, literally burst open my bedroom door and forcefully dragged me out of bed to get ready for school. Why did we have to reach Totsuki by 7A.M? Well, apparently it was because of some "speech".

I closed my eyes and let out a huge yawn, still half-asleep even though it had been almost 2 hours after I had woken up. I stretched my arms above my head as I felt the morning sun already soaking my entire body with warmth.

"Yukihira, how are you not tired at all? Or rather, how are you always so energetic?" I asked, unscrewing the bottle cap off of the bottle of mineral water Soma had handed me awhile ago. Taking a few big gulps from the plastic bottle, I wiped my mouth with a hand before screwing the cap back on, looking at the person in question.

"Hm? Oh, this is a completely normal thing. Ever since I was young, I would wake up at about 6A.M. just to help my old man prepare ingredients for the restaurant and stuff. I guess I'm now immune to exhaustion!" Yukihira exclaimed with a fiery look in his eyes.

"Well, that explains why you're like, always high." I noted dryly, sending a glare in his direction. Yes, call me petty, but I was still mad at him over the situation this morning, but at the same time, I was grateful for him too. If not, I wouldn't even be here right now for the first day of Totsuki.

"You two are Yukihira Soma and Koyuki Shinomiya, right?" A woman with a pair of glasses and a clipboard in her hand walked up to us, pushing up her pair of spectacles that was resting on the bridge of her nose, sending us a questioning look. We nodded, confirming her words. She proceeded on to speak, "later, we will be introducing the two of you who passed the transfer exam to the whole school, when I call for your name, you will come up onto the stage." She said in a monotonous voice. With that, she turned walked away without giving us a chance to respond.

And that's how we arrived at this sitaution-- me hyperventilating as Yukihira patted my back, trying to calm me down. His attempts proved to be futile as it only made me panic even more.

Yukihira let out a huge sigh, mouthing to himself, "this is what I have to go through with almost every day.."
~

"We will next present the new students with their class badge. Incoming valedictorian, Nakiri Erina." The Emcee for the morning orientation announced cheerily.

Just like every other school, there was always an opening speech/mini orientation at the start of every new school semester. In ordinary schools, the speech would always be announced by either the Headmaster of the school, or the President of the Student Council. However, this was Totsuki, the most Elite Culinary Academy in Japan, so who knows what kind of shenanigans they do at the start of every semester. While the two transfer students were at the back of the open-air stage, the entirety of Totsuki Academy was standing in neat rows in front of the stage. All of them dressed smartly in the prestigious Totsuki Acadeny's full uniform.

The standard Totsuki school uniform consists of a navy blue blazer that has white borders on its pockets and lapels, and a white collared shirt that is generally worn underneath. The plaid short skirt worn by the females are dark and light brown with white outlines, while the pants worn by the males are navy blue. They wear a diagonally striated red violet and blue bow and tie, respectively. Finally, most of the students also wore black loafers with socks or tights.

"Here!" Nakiri responded coolly, strutting onto the stage with her head held high as her name was called. An elegant air hanging around her as she put on a confident, gorgeous and confident smile. Nakiri and the teacher-in-charge of handing out the badge gave a curt bow to one another as the teacher placed the badge right over her heart.