A Spice in Life (Shokugeki no Soma x Fem!Reader)

Chapter 61 - It's All Ogre Now; Down with the Empire

(Name)'s POV

We boarded the train after that and spent the rest of the day relaxing. They told us to prepare ourselves (whether it be physically or mentally) because the next few weeks would be nothing but taxing as we trained for the final battle. Erina went to bed early, no doubt drained after standing up to her father, and the rest of my friends went about their own business.

I was alone in my sleeper car, lounging on the bed. I busied myself with checking on my friends, texting the Yanagawas, Yuki, and even Nikumi to check how they were doing. The response was generally the same—they were hopeful for the upcoming battle, but I could tell in their short replies how dispirited they felt.

I thought back to Dojima and Joichiro's interactions. They seemed close, but neither mentioned my father much. Joichiro brought up my dad the first time we met, though I was unsure if Dojima knew of his identity. I wouldn't be surprised if he figured it out—he was a sharp man (just look at his eyebrows)—but I wasn't exactly the spitting image of my father.

But it made me wonder about my dad's academy days. He promised he'd tell me about it anytime, but what little I knew I'd learned mostly from Jun. And it has been a while since I called home... Alright, I'm calling. I decided and dialed my father's number.

"(Name)," my father answered. "Is something wrong?"

"Hello to you too, Dad," I teased. "Does something have to be wrong for me to call home?"

"Of course not. Forgive me. I admit I've been on edge ever since I heard about Nakamura's takeover of the academy." He sounded tired from the thought alone. Did it trouble him that much?

"Dad, can you tell me about your days at the academy?" I asked, hoping to distract from his stress.

"My academy days...?" he asked, surprised. "Sure. But there's not much to tell. I experienced only half of what you have, I'm sure."

Only half of what I've experienced? Did he get expelled or something?

He chuckled when I voiced this thought. "No, I did graduate. I just... avoided the spotlight. I think I've told you this before." It was still crazy to me that all these years, I'd mistaken my father's shyness for indifference.

And as for avoiding the spotlight—from day one with the entrance speech, then Soma's match against Nikumi, and more recently our match with Eizan—it seems supporting Soma warranted at least some public attention (if 'some' meant the entirety of the academy).

"Yeah... that's pretty much impossible for me with Soma-kun by my side." I half-laughed, half-sighed at the realization.

"'Soma'?" My dad repeated, unfamiliar with the name. I rarely mentioned my friends around my family; the only person whom I confided in about my social life back home was Hibiki.

"Yukihira Soma. He's Joichiro-san's son," I explained, hoping he might tell me more about their history together.

"Joichiro?!" I didn't expect my father to raise his voice, a feat in itself. "Ah, that maniac again. Be careful around his dishes, you hear me? I only ever tolerated them for Shiomi-san's sake." I remembered Jun's stories about how he often endured Joichiro's disgusting dishes for her sake. It was no wonder he was upset.

Then again, I'd sampled some of his experiments myself. The Yukihira family certainly had a gift for it.

"What do you mean? I tried them, and they weren't that bad." In comparison to some of my experiments, Soma's peanut-butter-squid was harmless. "Not nearly as bad as the time I mixed sauerkraut and coconut milk. Perhaps I should've boiled it longer?"