BiTTER (Shokugeki no Souma Fanfic)

18. Sending Off and Scouting Out

"Here you go, Sekimori-senpai," Eda put a small pouch into Sekimori's hands.

The five first-year High-schoolers had their bags and their utensils in hand, ready to leave for the training camp from hell. A few of the other dormmates have woken up early to see them off on the way.

"What's this?" Sekimori asked, "it smells nice."

"Ah, no fair! Sekimori gets a present from Eda-chan?!" the other lunged at him.

"Chan?!" Eda squeaked, dashing behind Shinomiya, "ah-- there, there's enough for everyone! Just... just share..."

The other senior bonked his pal on the head, "stop bullying him!"

"Cookies!" one of them realized, "organic cookies! I saw him making those last night!"

"What?? Eda-chan's cookies!"

"Cooookies!"

Sekimori pulled it away immediately. "Not until we're on the bus!" he warned, "oh god, you made the right choice in giving this to me. These guys would finish it before we even leave."

"Good luck!" Eda said.

And they waved their seniors a hopefully temporary goodbye.

-

"Eda-chan, I found what you were looking for!"

Shiomi's covered in some brown dust and there's a crease on her cheek that means she fell asleep on her desk again. But her eyes are bright and her entire demeanor radiates energy that shouldn't be there for five in the morning.

The two youngest were in the field, and some of the seniors were coaching them through the dos and don'ts of caring for the vegetable farm.

Upon Shiomi's interference, though, Eda jumped in surprise. Shinomiya barely caught the flying watering can before it landed on a particularly beautiful head of cabbage.

"You found something?"

Eda made his way past the farm with an excited smile on his face, pawing off his gloves clumsily. The sun hat sits awkwardly oversized on his head, and he pushes it to rest on the back of his head as he nears the senior.

"Yeah!" Shiomi raised a tablet in her hands. "This much is a cinch for me!"

"Thank you, Shiomi-senpai!" Eda beamed.

"Ah yes, praise me!" Shiomi huffed, hands on her hips in a show of status.

"Stop making a ruckus and show us the information already," Shionimya groaned at them, snatching the tablet away (to the whine and chagrin of their senior) and setting it at eye level so he and Eda could look through it together.

It's a display of all culinary research societies.

Shinomiya scrolled through it curiously, Eda leaning over his shoulder to get a closer look. It was arranged by membership, with Chinese, Italian, and French sitting near the top of the rankings.

There's a filter for the genre, and Shinomiya let Eda select the dessert option. There weren't many, but there's a handful-- from chocolate, to Candy Appreciation, to Japanese Sweets.

"There aren't many, huh?" Eda said, slightly disappointed.

"They're all small clubs too, except chocolate," Shinomiya observed, "I guess dessert just isn't popular compared to the other cuisines. Let me check the French one, c'mon."