Fire and Ice

Moon Festival

"No, please, I'm sorry." A faint, familiar cry was heard down the hall.

"W-who was that?" a younger Erina thought as she moved faster down the hall to where the voice was coming from.

"See Mister, I did what you asked me to do. Please... don't bring Nacchan into this!" There was something familiar about the girl's cries, but the voice was a bit faint.

"How can I trust you? You just insulted me ten minutes ago. You thought the gourmet dish I made was worse than the faulty one. You need a punishment for being a bad girl, this is why Saiba-senpai left all those years ago. To have such a disgusting creature like you, I didn't think Saiba-senpai's daughter would be such a disgrace. This is why he left you in our care, to train and raise to be someone worthy to go through that endless wasteland of cooking for him. You are nothing but a sacrifice for me."

The young Erina paused for a moment...that was a voice she recognized. Panic rushed through her veins and she began to run.

"Mister....please... I'm so hungry... you only let me eat a bite of that one meal... I want Papa..." Sweat started to pour down Erina's face as she heard childish pleas coming down the hall. Finally, she saw a room with its door slightly open; the source of the noise. Foolishly, she entered inside the room and saw a sight that made her heart sink.

"Kii-chan!" Erina screamed. In front of her was the form of a young girl, who was beaten and chained to the table. In front of her, was a small table with a pitcher of water, a few broken plates, and a trash can filled with food. The young Erina covered her mouth, resisting the urge to puke.

"Nacchan...is that you?" the girl asked in a weak and rough voice. She turned to Erina before she coughed a bit, some blood flying out her mouth and staining the floor and bit of Erina's left shoe.

"Kii-chan...what happened?" Erina said as tears started to form, which caused her to wipe them away immediately.

"Nacchan, leave." the girl quietly said, "I-I... I don't want you to get hurt, so I don't mind getting hurt for you. If it'll keep you safe." Erina's heart stopped beating momentarily at the girl's confession.

"It's nice to see you, my precious daughter." Erina slowly turned, shaking as she faced her father.

"Father..." Erina mumbled.

"You really shouldn't be here, your friend here is a bad girl, so Father is teaching her a lesson." Azami said with an evil smirk. "To be as beautiful as her father's cooking... everything I deem unworthy to be food is trash... nothing more than scum, the dirt beneath your shoe."

"But...why? Kii-chan isn't a bad girl! She's nice to me and Grandfather!" Erina pleaded. She couldn't stand the condition her friend was in. "Let her go!"

"That's true...but her cooking is the problem." Azami stated, "Everything about her is useless, as well as her cooking. All trash. Yet she insists on cooking the way she does for you. She's nothing like Saiba-senpai's cooking, perfection upon gourmets. You're a failure of a daughter, as well as a chef."

"All I need... are her eyes." Azami smiled, reaching out a hand to touch the girl's cheek, brushing a thumb under a pair of dull, lifeless eyes. "Once I perfect what the meaning of gourmet is to her... everything will be complete. Saiba-senpai will appreciate everything I've done for him... starting with his daughter. Isn't that right 'Kii-chan'?

"Yes..." the girl meekly said. "I'm disgusting, my cooking is disgusting, everything Mister approves of... is what my cooking should've been..."