𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 ⤿ 𝘵. 𝘦𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪

・Chapter 4・

~ When reading, please keep your screen at a distance to avoid eye strain ~

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

"We'll proceed to give the award to the best of the year." The voice of the announcer could be heard as they spoke through the mic, grabbing the attention of the first years who neatly stood in a straight line.

"Representative of the new first years, Nakiri Erina."

As her name was said, chattering ensued with the first years.

"Ahh, Erina-sama looks beautiful, today."

"I could die happy if I had a date with her."

"Idiot, if you say something reckless like that you'll be erased from here."

Praises from the students turned into white noise as soon as another voice was heard.

"Ladies and gentlemen..."

The students chatting looked up at the stage and immediately stopped, their eyes landing on none other than the don of the food mafia.

Nakiri Senzaemon

He started his speech, earning the attention of all the students.

You could care less though, deep down you were kind of glad you failed the entrance exam. But some things lead to another and here you are standing at the back of the stage, waiting to be called by the announcer. Standing beside Soma, you yawned and just crossed you arms. You didn't exactly get enough sleep because your father kept you up, wanting to spar with you. This lead to you and him losing track of time, making you both stay up until 12 am.

Soma noticed your yawn and chuckled. "Did you sleep well?" You stared at him with a dead panned look. "Yeah, slept like a log." The sarcasm in your voice was so on point that Soma almost believed you. "Don't worry, once we get to the dorms I'll let you sleep." He chuckled, ruffling your hair. "Bold of you to assume we'll even be able to have dorms by the end of the day." You rubbed your eyes as Soma gave you a confused look. "What do you even mean by that." You simply shrugged at him as some parts of Senzaemon's speech caught your attention.

"99 percent of you are sacrificial stones, in order to polish the remaining 1 percent gems."

"Did he seriously just call them sacrifices?" You thought as you began to nod off, getting more tired by the minute.

"Uhh, to finish..." The announcer started. "We'll introduce the two students who were admitted to the high school section."

"Guess it's our time to shine eh?" Soma smirked as he confidently went up the stage, with you groggily following him close behind.

Now standing up on the stage, you were able to catch a glimpse of some familiar faces. Specifically the ones you noticed on the day of the entrance exam.

"Well, like..." Soma sheepishly smiled, "I'm sorry for being in this high place." He chuckled nonchalantly. Soma looked to your direction "I have to express my intentions, right?" He asked you, making the students shift their attention to you. You sighed and continued to cross your arms. "I'm beaten, do we really have to do this?" Your response earned some laughs from the crowd. Soma chuckled at your tiredness and continued. "Saying my intentions on stage is a little bit embarrassing."