Waifu Wars: A Food Wars Fanfic

Ch. 107 The Way of the Sloth

            It was after 8pm when Ryoko Sakaki wandered into the Polaris kitchens, in search of a snack. She could hear someone cooking before she stepped foot inside; no surprises there. Aside from during class time, the kitchen was hardly ever empty.

"Hey...what are you making?" she asks Soma, hard at work on god knows what.

"You'll see," he replies, with an evil grin.

"Ugh, sorry I asked. Kinda expected to see Torrey in here, too," says Ryoko, revealing the second reason for her visit.

"Oh yeah...maybe he's still doing secretary stuff."

"Secretary stuff?"

"Yup. Nakiri called us into her office today cuz she needed help covering for Hisako. I can't believe how much that girl has on her plate! I was organizing files, optimizing schedules, brewing tea..."

"Sounds rough," says Ryoko. "When I heard the announcement, I thought you were definitely going to get busted for that illegal Shokugeki."

"Me too! I guess serving as Nakiri's secretary was enough of a punishment, though. Imagine that, the first seat of Totsuki doing secretary work!"

"Since when did your ego get so big? But more importantly, what happened to Hisako? She's as reliable as it gets," asks Ryoko, frowning.

"Apparently she's been working too hard or something. Nakiri had no choice but to give her the day off."

"Yeah, I could see that..."

"We searched for her after school, and then Waldy found her in the cafeteria. Said he was gonna walk her home. She looked like she'd been hit by a truck.

"Oh my! Why didn't he take her to the hospital?!"

"Well she didn't actually get hit by a truck. At least, I don't think she did..."

"Soma! Wait, he really walked her home?"

"She could barely even stand."

"He's never walked me home before..."

"Still, I would have expected him to be back by now," says Soma.

It was hard to tell if he was ignoring the previous comment, or if he just wasn't listening. Probably the latter; his hands never stopped moving during the entire conversation. He turns to set a finished plate in front of Ryoko.

"Happy to-" starts Soma, hoping to guilt Ryoko into trying his latest mashup. She was already gone, however. "Damn, guess I'll have to be my own guinea pig."

Soma dips a finger into the strange, purplish jelly mixture and tastes it. He cringes.

"Maybe if I added...nah, there's no way to make this edible."

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The Next Morning at Nakiri Manor

Hisako Arato wakens from a deep slumber, after the longest night of sleep she'd had in recent memory. She stretches her arms out and yawns, content. As she opens her eyes slowly, a figure on the floor comes into focus...

"ACK! Torrey?!" she exclaims.

"Hmm?" says Torrey, rubbing his eyes. He suddenly sits up, confused as to why he wasn't in his own bed.