souma is out of his depth [hints of ryoali, eishirin, isshinene]
Many would say that Souma always acted before thinking. But that wasnāt right at all. Sure, he could be impulsive, and he was often more a man of action. If it got into his head to do something, then heād do it. But he could get lost in his thoughts like the rest of them.
Itās been a couple of days since Nakiri beat him at BLUE. He canāt say he regrets any of his actions, but in the aftermath, he finds himself restless. Heās not in any sort of slump - in fact thereās an undercurrent of energy pushing him to do something. If only he knew what that something was. So no, itās not for a lack of inspiration or motivation, but until he gets to the bottom of it, he canāt set his direction. No mater the circumstance, heād have been pushing forward anyway, but why is it that after BLUE, the expanse suddenly seemed so vast that he could go anywhere, and yet at the same time he felt that everything at this point had only been wandering. Only now heās itching to go somewhere?
What his old man and Asahi said keeping ping-ponging at the back of his mind. Heād be cooking like normal, but then itād creep up on him, so much so that he was getting annoyed.
Well as he said, heās a man of action. If thereās something that niggled at his curiosity, then heād satisfy it
Though Souma doesnāt get rankled easily (preferring to do the teasing actually), it grates on him to remember Asahi treating him as if he was such a child. ItĀ wasnāt like he was that much older than Souma.Ā
He decides to ask Hayama first.
āAnd why exactly have you come to me about this Yukihira?ā
āWell,ā Souma drawls,Ā āI figured youād be an expert since you have Shiomi-senpai and all.ā
He gets treated to the rare sight of a flustered Hayama. He canāt tell if the other chef is blushing due to his dark skin, but heās sure he doesnāt imagine him coughing after inhaling too much of the spices he was mixing.
This is only the second time heās seen Hayama like this. The first, as if he could ever forget, was when the other boy won the Autumn Elections. The sheer relief he had on his face as he hugged the petite professor stuck with Souma for some reason. And the lack of that same professor during their own battle was probably a large factor in the other boyās loss. People could say what they wanted but Souma wasnāt as blind as they thought he was. (He waves an image of a jeering Suzuki-sensei, no Asahi, sayingĀ āhow denseā away in irritation.)Ā
āSorry,ā Hayama coughs,Ā āI guess I was just surprised, and coming from you.ā He shakes his head, and Souma tries not to feel offended.
āI always thought there must have been a reason why Kurokiba and I lost to you. We were missing something back then.ā
Before, Hayama would have said it was because he was better than them, but thatās isnāt so true now. For a while, he actually thinks about what Yukihira is saying.Ā
āI guess youāre right. Ever since I could remember - when I started to actually want to remember when life was suddenly worth living - Jun was there. She gave me purpose, and I just wanted to make her proud of me. More than anything, i wanted to see her happy eating my dishes.āĀ
Yukihira snorts.Ā āEvery time I feed her a dish that I thinkĀ āthis is gonna be itā, she only ends up crying.ā
"So what brought this on-ā But Hayama does a double-take.Ā āWait, who exactly are you talking about Yukihira-oi!ā
But with a wave and aĀ āthanks Hayamaā, Yukihira is gone.Ā
āHow long have you and Nakiri known each other?ā
Kurokiba is in his off mode and so only raises an eyebrow lazily, as if asking.Ā
Souma thinks itās pretty obvious which Nakiri he means.Ā āYour Nakiri.ā He can almost fool himself into thinking there are no implications in that statement whatsoever.Ā
āOujo? I donāt really know how long. Weāve been battling each other since we were kids.ā
āAnd what, you just decided to follow a random girl halfway across the world for some cooking battles?ā
Kurokiba raises his brow again as if askingĀ āyour point?ā or maybe itās along the lines ofĀ ālike you can talkā. Whichever it is, he has to shrug in agreement.
āIām just curious why someone like you who hates being ordered around ended up pledging lifelong service to a girl your age you even call āmy ladyā unironically.ā
Kurokiba looks at him like heās grown a second head, and maybe he has. Even he has to admit that itās out-of-character for him to be pushing the issue. In fact this whole venture has been something heās been second-guessing, suddenly talking about feelings of all things.Ā
Kurokiba shrugs.Ā āYou wouldnāt get it,ā He then stares at him like his boring holes into Souma that Souma just might actually end up fidgeting,Ā āOr maybe you would.ā
āI thought I was some big hot-shot, the alpha of the pack. But then she made me realize that I was just a frog in a pond. I wouldāve stayed like that, thinking my cooking was the best it could be, not even knowing I could still push my limits, if I hadnāt met her. She decided to take me with her to see the world. She put me in my place, when I thought I already knew it, and then I put her in hers, and thatās what weāve been doing ever since. She cries and whines when she loses, but Iāve been the one staying by her side all this time so Iāve seen her at her loneliest.ā
Itās the longest Souma has ever heard Kurokiba speak in his off mode. He sounds a bit angry at the last part, a bit like when he has his bandana on and Souma realizes he must be thinking of Azami separating the two cousins.Ā
It should surprise him, but it doesnāt, that he feels the same. Itās the same as the cool anger that sometimes gripped him towards Asahi in BLUE.
āSo you have it backwards Yukihira, she was the one who did me a favor, and calling herĀ āojouā is the least I can do for her. The rest is always staying by her side and continuing to push each other to our limits.āĀ
Kurokiba suddenly smirks and itās such a rare sight on his normally droll face that it surprises Souma.Ā āAnyway, youāre one to talk. You call your Nakiri-ojou a jouou.āĀ
There is absolutely no way Souma is suddenly feeling hot under the collar.
There is absolutely no way Souma is desperate.
But somehow, he even ends up phoning Tsukasa-senpai for advice.
āRindou? Well she is a gourmand. Sheās always eating interesting dishes, so if I donāt step up, she might grow bored of me.ā
Tsukasa-senpai laughs and it is plain to Souma that he is as confident in his skills as ever. Clearly his senpai doesnāt imagine a situation where Rindou-senpai could ever grow bored of his cooking, and from what he knows of the brave barbarian, Tsukasa-senpai obviously hasĀ nothing to worry about on that front. How lucky.Ā
āIf I didnāt see this world like she did I wouldnāt have even discovered all these tastes sheās tasted. After the regiment, I realized Iāve actually been really selfish when it comes to her. She always took care to experience my world, and I want to do that for her this time around.ā His senpai chuckles warmly, sounding a completely different person from that nervous and self-centered elite heād battled with what seems a lifetime ago.Ā āIt was actually seeing you and Nakiri-san together that made me realize that. So, thank you Yukihira-kun.ā
For a moment their situations are reversed, and itās Souma who ends up stuttering aĀ āyouāre welcomeā before the older boy hangs up.Ā
For some reason, Souma is exhausted, but he might have a masochistic streak in him (someone who constantly throws his dishes at the god tongue to get verbal tongue-lashings must have) because he also asks Isshiki-senpai.Ā
āWerenāt you I donāt know, a bit ticked off when Kinokuni-senpai was so sure you couldnāt win against Tsukasa-senpai?ā
Isshiki-senpai is slicing eel at the Polar Star Dorm, and a lesser chef might have messed up on the cut with the sudden inquiry, but the slice is as straight as a ruler. His smile when he turns to Souma though is more enigmatic than usual to make up for his surprise. Souma has only ever seen him like this once, when Tsukasa-senpai interrupted the conversation he was having with Kinokuni-senpai. It had seemed important.Ā
āWhat brought this on Souma-kun?Ā
Isshiki-senpai to his credit doesnāt deflect in the many ways Souma knows he could have. He wonders if this is what Tadokoro feels like, playing ping-pong with him.Ā
Isshiki-senpai hums as if he knows more than he lets on, which of course he does. Souma ends up spilling since itās not as if it was a secret.Ā
āOh, so thatās what Jouichiro-san said.Ā āA woman you want to give all your cooking to.ā If thatās the case, then Kinokuni is probably that person for me. She is the reason I started to enjoy cooking after all.āĀ
Souma feels second-hand embarrassment at how his senpai can say such things so casually.
āYou actually reminded me of her Souma-kun. Kinokuni Nene gives her all to her passions. She doesnāt let anything distract her. That Kinokuni was always beautiful to me. When it seemed like she was lost, I just wanted to show her how fun cooking could be again, like she did for me. Little did I know I was the main cause of her despair. She was my life-saver and thatās how I repaid her,ā he says rueful and with regret.Ā
āSo it doesnāt bother you that she rejects you time and time again?ā Souma asks genuinely curious and without admitting to himself (thereās been a lot of that going on lately) that heās invested.Ā
āHow harsh Souma-kun! Even Iām starting to get a little hurt. But, yes even then. At first I thought not giving my all would make her happy-ā
āSenpai, no one would have been happy with that.ā
Isshiki senpai seems to be, dare Souma say it, embarrassed.Ā āYes, well I know more than I did before. Now, I hold nothing back and itās a bit like old times. She just gets this adorable furrow in her brow and pout when she loses.ā
As Isshiki-senpai laughs, Souma starts to sympathize with Kinokuni-senpai a bit more. He means he always knew it, but his senpai really did have a sadistic streak huh? And though with everyone else, the soba master is as cutting as ice, with the heir of the West, she fumes in indignation. His senpai, brilliant though he may be, has his quirks, and seems to relish being treated differently than the rest, even if it is with more vitriol.Ā
Souma has to stop fooling himself.Ā
āSo after all that, what now Souma-kun?ā
He may still not fully understand his fatherās and Asahiās words (or he does but he isnāt ready to admit it yet), but he does know what he has to do.Ā
His world is still far too small for a girl who has tasted everything from every corner of it.Ā
He knows what he has to do, but he still expects the tongue-lashing.Ā
part 3 of snapshots in the life of an ice-queen and a demon king
erina hates when people leave