39The moment that Erina Nakiri entered the prestigious grounds of Totsuki Academy, she knew that this place was built only for those whose cooking skills were far beyond "exemplary". The sun shone brightly, casting a warm, golden glow over the academy grounds. The walkways were completely void of any dirt or grime; the buildings loomed tall over Erina, exerting a grand and pristine essence.
Truly, this was the ultimate culinary school in the entire world. Erina knew that this was where her destiny laid, which would lead her to becoming the C.E.O. of her very own restaurant chain. After all, she was a Nakiri. Anything short of her goals would be labeled as "inadequate" in her family's eyes.
"Erina-sama!" a girl shouted from behind. Erina turned her head, and her lush purple eyes fell upon her dear secretary, Hisako Arato. Erina's mouth formed a slight smile as Hisako ran to catch up with her. Once the pinkette had reached her, she looked up towards Erina, a confused look upon her face.
"Erina-sama, shouldn't you be preparing for the transfer applicants' judging in the main hall? It's to begin in half an hour, after all." Erina rolled her eyes, and pat Hisako on the head.
"Let's be honest, Hisako. None of those would-be chefs even have a snowball's chance in hell of making it anyway. Why should I waste my precious time with those pathetic wannabes?" Hisako sighed lightly, as if she was a little exasperated.
"Well, Erina-sama, you do know that Senzaemon-dono would be very disappointed if he catches wind that you abandoned your duties, right?" Erina sighed inwardly. 'She really knows what to say to motivate me, doesn't she?' she thought to herself. 'If there was one man in the world I'd never let down, it would be Grandfather.'
"Fine." Erina sighed. "I guess it'll only take less than five minutes to clear them out, anyway." She turned towards the direction of the main hall and began walking there, closely accompanied by a sweat-dropping Hisako.
As the duo approached the hall, the bustling of the dozens of eager transfer applicants grew louder and louder. Erina's face changed into one of deviousness. 'They're so sure they'll get in, it's hilarious. I can't wait to see their faces when I scare them into running.' Hisako, who noticed the look on Erina's face, felt a twinge of pity towards the poor amateurs inside the hall.
Then, with a dramatic flair, Erina pushed the doors open. Silence swept through the ranks of the many applicants as the doors all but slammed into the walls they were connected to. Unfazed by all the eyes that rested upon her, Erina confidently walked forward towards the far end of the room, followed by a slightly nervous Hisako, who constantly muttered "Sorry." and "Excuse me." as she did her best to keep up with Erina.
Once the pair reached their places, Erina turned to face them, flinging her golden hair into the air just for good measure.
"Welcome to Totsuki Academy." she began, making sure to look and sound as neutral as possible. 'Wait for it...' she thought devilishly.
"I am Erina Nakiri, also known as the God Tongue. I hope you're ready for your tests. I'm pleased to be able to personally inform you all of your challenge." She smirked as she heard undercurrents of excitement ripple through the crowd. 'You have no idea what you all just got yourselves into.' she inwardly purred.
Suddenly, an aura of power surrounded her, seemingly sweeping throughout the room, making most of the newcomers shiver. Some even began to panic, and edge themselves slowly towards the doors. Seeing all this greatly pleased Erina, although Hisako sweatdropped, wondering why Erina always tried to scare others into submission.
"Your test is to create a dish that can please my palate. Anything less will result in your immediate failure." she announced, her voice now as sharp as a kitchen knife. Her smile grew into one of satisfaction as shouts of protest began to fill the air as many in the crowd began to erupt into chaos.
"However!" Erina shouted, quieting down the panicking group of people. "I shall overlook this if all of you amateurs vacate this school before this minute expires." There was a brief silence, until the sound of stampeding broke out as the dozens of once eager chefs now ran like hell towards the gates of Totsuki Academy, screaming in absolute terror.
Erina had turned away before the crowd had even dispersed, certain that she had scared off every single one of those 'worthless amateurs'.
"Well, Hisako? I believe I have completed this boring chore, am I wrong?" Hisako merely sighed, knowing better than to argue over what the actual terms should've been. Instead, she simply replied with "Yes ma'am."
Erina smiled warmly towards her secretary and beloved friend. She knew that Hisako probably felt a little uneasy by her actions, and decided she should make up for that. She pat Hisako's head once more, and smiled at her.
"Alright Hisako. What do you say we go somewhere quiet and I whip up something good, just for the both of us? Does that sound good to you?" As she expected, Hisako quickly looked up at her, her mouth slightly watering.
"Really, Erina-sama?!" Erina's smile grew brighter. "Of course, Hisako." She cupped Hisako's face into her palm. Hisako let out a surprised little squeal, which made Erina giggle.
However, before she could continue, a voice rang throughout the hall. "Excuse me, but I really don't have the time, nor the taste, for watching you two make out with each other."
Squeaking with embarrassment, Erina quickly moved away from Hisako and turned around to face the speaker. What she found,however, was not what she was expecting. At all.
A single boy stood in her view, gazing at her with such an intense look that for a second she forgot that she was the one in charge. Quickly regaining control of herself, she shook off her feeling of uneasiness and closely inspected the remaining contender. Her eyes moved from his bright red hair, to his crisp black track jacket and t-shirt, to his well-toned body figure, then to his golden eyes.
'Golden eyes...so his eyes are rare like mine, huh?' Erina almost lost herself, staring into the depths of this newcomer's eyes. Fortunately, Hisako's voice managed to shake her out the trance his eyes seemed to send her into.
"Erina-sama? Are you alright?" Hisako asked again, and Erina turned to look at her. "I'm fine, just a little...dizzy." Hisako looked at her with concern. "Should I call for a nurse?" Erina waved her hand. "No, I'm fine. More importantly..."
She turned back around to look at the boy, who's stare still unnerved her a tiny bit. Refusing to let him dominate her, she took a deep breath to steady herself.
Then, she turned to look at him head-on. "I think you didn't hear me correctly. I said tha-" She was sharply cut off by the boy, who never lowered his stare, nor the intensity it carried.
"I heard you loud and clear, Erina Nakiri. I accept your terms." Erina just stared, speechless. 'This guy thinks he can actually impress my palate? He either has balls of steel, or he's just plain stupid if he thinks he stands a chance...' she thought to herself.
She looked over him, now with more curiosity than contempt. "What's your name?" The boy's eyes narrowed, causing Erina's body to slightly tremble from the force his presence seemed to create.
"Soma. Soma Yoshida." was his simplistic reply. 'Soma Yoshida?' Erina thought. 'He looks fine, but I wonder if he has any actual talent.'
"Erina-sama, here's his profile that was submitted to us." Hisako presented a folder containing Soma's basic information, which Erina opened to search for any credentials he might've been given.
However, his bio was surprisingly...bleak. He held no recommendations, nor did he have any connections to any prestigious chef. In fact, the only information that was relevant to cooking that he had put into this folder was that he helped run a family restaurant called "Yukihira's".
'This plebeian dared to show his face here, and even had the nerve to mock me?!' Erina boiled with anger towards Soma, who either didn't realize her rage, or simply didn't care. Instead, he remained firm, meeting Erina's furious glare with his apathetic gaze.
Hisako, who was merely watching this, could swear that lightning shot forth from their eyes, and engaged the other in a deadly dance of power. Then, the redhead, Soma Yoshida, sighed loudly in exasperation.
"Are we going to begin my test soon, Erina-san? Or should I just go report this to your higher-ups?" Erina scoffed, her displeasment finally overflowing. 'That was the absolute wrong thing to say to me.' She fumed to herself.
She glared at the newcomer, her eyes blazing with fury. "Watch your mouth, Mr. Yoshida. You'd be wise to know your place. If you can't grasp that, I shall remind you of it." With that, Erina walked forward towards the boy, who still did nothing but remain still, the only part of his body moving being his eyes.
However, before she could reach him, Soma finally broke eye contact to glance at a door nearby that was slightly ajar. "Alright old man, I'm getting tired of her futile hostility. Why don't you just come out already so I can hold a conversation with someone worthy enough?"
Erina's gaze shot towards the door as it slowly swung open, revealing the one and only Senzaemon Nakiri, who walked into the room while chuckling softly. Well, to him it was soft. For everyone else, a low rumbling could be heard, and Hisako gulped as he closed the distance between them.
Erina quickly bowed respectfully, and was swiftly accompanied by Hisako, although she was still trembling. However, Soma still remained standing tall, though now a certain gleam in his eyes began to shine.
"Well old man, it seems you're even more wrinkly than when I last saw you. And here I thought that you couldn't even get any worse for wear than you were then. Man, color me impressed."
Erina felt as though she had suddenly gained the rage of thousands of Yakuza hitmen.
"Don't you dare talk like that to-" Erina began to growl towards Soma, but Senzaemon merely raised his hand to quiet her, his face entirely covered in shadows. Grinning in sick anticipation, Erina backed off, and waited for this newcomer's ultimate demise by her beloved Grandfather.
So imagine her surprise when instead of beating Soma senseless, Senzaemon's face was revealed to be one of amusement as he laughed loudly. He wasn't even faking it to lower Soma's guard, Erina would know if he was merely acting. No, he was legitimately laughing.
Soma's face also morphed from an expression of apathy into one of slight humor as a small smirk formed itself into his face. He even chuckled a little as well. Then, to Erina's complete bewilderment, the two men shook hands, not as teacher and student, but as equals.
"I'm guessing from that childish rant of yours that you've missed me while you were away, haven't you Soma-kun?" Senzaemon inquired. Soma merely raised his eyebrows at that question. "Maybe that's just your old brain wishing away, Senzaemon-dono." Senzaemon simply laughed even harder that comeback.
"I see your father hasn't been going easy on you with the insulting, huh?" Soma's facial features instantly hardened. "Old man, we've established a good mood at record speed. Let's try not to crash it down over our heads." His golden eyes were once again narrowed.
"Fine, fine. I shall not pry any further." Senzaemon sighed. Soma's features relaxed to his normal indifferent face after that. Meanwhile, Erina had been paralyzed the entire time. The movements she made were her head as it swiveled back and forth between the two, who seemed to be old friends, judging from their banter.
'Huh? Am I the only one who doesn't know what the (the following word of choice has been censored by the paranoid author of this fanfic) is going on here?' Erina's head was buzzing with questions, but her body could only stare in awe.
"Um, Erina-sama? Do you know what's happening right now?" an extremely timid voice questioned from behind her. She turned around to meet Hisako's hesitant eyes. She smiled gently in an effort to calm her friend down. "Don't worry, I'll get to the bottom of this, and then I'll tell you all about it, okay? In the meantime, go outside and complete the rest of your duties today, got it?"
Hisako nodded, and she then excused herself and exited the building. Once she was gone, Erina turned to face the two men, who now were also completely silent. Erina's arms folded in front of her as she stared at the duo. "So, where should we even begin...Yoshida-kun?" Both men turned to face her, and she narrowed her gaze at Soma.
"How exactly do you and Grandfather know each other?" Erina blurted out inelegantly, prompting a raised eyebrow from each male. Soma scratched his head and Erina semi consciously backed away from him, hoping that this commoner had brought a plague of fleas or some other horrendous catastrophe with him.
Soma didn't really seem to care, although Erina noticed his shoulders droop a little as she slowly backed away. Senmaezon gazed amusingly at Soma, and spoke in his unique tone of voice that always bore undertones of power and danger. "Well, Soma-kun? Aren't you going to tell miss Erina here of our wonderful travels around the world?" Erina's gaze shot towards Senmaezon, who merely was sipping tea from a cup that seemed to have materialize into his hand.
'No way! Traveling around the world with Grandfather?!' She didn't have a chance to accompany him on his many trips, and even the most accomplished never receive such an honor. Now, she discovered someone who had, and it was a teenager?!
She whipped her eyes back towards Soma Yoshida, whose eyes gleamed with slight excitement. "Sure thing, old man." Erina had no doubt in her mind that she was unconsciously leaning forward (much to her embarrassment, of course) awaiting his tale.
Instead, Soma began to walk towards the kitchen, with Senzaemon in tow. Erina just stared at the backs of the two retreating men for a while in confusion, then grew impatient. "Hey!" she shouted. "Aren't you going to tell me your stories?! Get back here!"
Soma stopped, then turned around. "Are you stupid?" he asked bluntly. Although Erina's temper skyrocketed to new heights, she didn't speak, knowing that the information she'd lose because of it was more valuable. However, she didn't need to struggle to control herself, because the words that left Soma's mouth next left her breathless.
She watched as he grabbed a black cloth that was tied around his wrist, and wrapped it around his forehead. As he gazed at her, his face and body posture gave off vibes of pure confidence.
"Why waste time telling you with words," he began, his mouth grinning slyly. "When I can show you with food?" Erina lightly gasped. 'I can see the results of such an honorable trip? He'll actually show me?!' She could barely contain her own excitement, and could even feel a genuine smile lighting up her face and melting the 'ice queen' act she usually hid behind.
Senzaemon Nakiri watched from the shadows, and smiled in great delight. 'The diamonds in the rough of the 92nd generation.' he thought as an aura of extreme power surrounded the duo. 'I know they'll change the world when they graduate. After all, this is their time.'
Soma Yoshida extended a hand, his golden eyes burning with knowledge and power that Erina couldn't begin to fathom. "Do you want to see it, Erina Nakiri? The dish that will make you say 'delicious'?"
Erina Nakiri accepted his hand, her purple eyes shining with interest, and a slight hint of anticipation. "Many have claimed that. Let's see if yours will be the first to truly satisfy me… Soma Yoshida."