Passion || Shokugeki no Soma

Before We Fall

"C'mon, I'll teach you how to cook better! Then we can beat Shiro together!"

"Hah?! I don't need your help brat-" Ryo saw her father nearby, "I mean milady."

The older man gave a small nod and a menacing glare before he turned away. She innocently smiled, oblivious to the watchful and protective eyes of her father, and held his hand tightly.

"W-What are you doing!?" Ryo tried to fling her off, but instead, she held tighter and even bit his hand.

"You idiot! You can't get better by yourself! All you do is put a bunch of ingredients together and then beat them up!" Ryo gritted his teeth as the albino put her hands on her hips.

"You may have won once against me, but you always lost to Shiro because you can't balance the flavours, you stupid blockhead! And she knows way more than you because she likes to read!"

"Who are you calling blockhead!?" She stuck out her tongue and then lend a hand to him. It was a memorable moment for him because it was probably one of the precious moments in his competitive and depressing life where someone reached out to him.

"Just believe in me and we can get better together!"

_______________________________________________________________________________

"Alice is a really good person, try to get along with her Ryo!"

Ryo remembers her last words before she entered the car and left the Nakiri mansion. He remembered all the screaming and ugly sobbing beside him while they sent Shiro off.

While his lady bawled her eyes out, Ryo found it difficult to believe what she said. The childish, obnoxious, and stupid personality that his lady has...sometimes he just couldn't handle it.

Yet, he can't find himself angry with her, because miraculously, she was the only one who can pull off his bandana and call it a day. She was the only one that could tame his fiery personality, and drag him around like some ragdoll.

Nakiri Alice was the only one that could easily put out his fire.

Perhaps it was because they've known each other since childhood. Maybe that was because they were able to deal with each other's bullshits every day.

"Glad you liked it!" Ryo tied his bandana onto his wrist and saw his lady bicker with Yukihira Soma.

They passed their first exam.

With salmon as the theme, Ryo thought that the first exam was like a breeze. Furthermore, with the document that "Nine" sent a few days earlier, they were able to prepare beforehand.

He thought the sabotages were mediocre at best, and he had the tiniest expectation that Central would at least try to hide their attempts.

Oh, how wrong he was.

It almost made him laugh at how obvious they made their attempts. Luckily, this made it easier for them to collect evidence of blatant favoritism and discrimination.

How?

To be honest, Ryo has no idea, but apparently, Nakiri Erina and Arato Hisako managed to get a third party involved.

However, they decided not to disclose any information about them, besides the fact that they were trustworthy and reputable.

In Ryo's opinion, it was completely suspicious, however, they trusted Nakiri Erina and Arato Hisako.

In such a predicament, they have no choice but to put their trust on their friends.

"Yosh! That's one down! We have to pass all of these exams and soon we can catch up with Shiro!"