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N I J Y U
N I Little Competition
(￣³￣)つ🥚⊂(—ω—)
"I REFUSE. SORRY."
A moment of silence fell on all of them.
"Wait, wait, wait —" Alice held her hands up in front of her as she looked at Ikki in disbelief. Not gonna lie, she was beyond confused and a bit disappointed with what's happening at the moment. "Eight years ago, it was you who challenged us to beat you. And now we are trying to do that, so why are you refusing?"
Ikki sighed, running a hand through his hair, and resting it on his nape. "I was seven when I made that challenge. It's been eight years. A lot has changed since then."
"Like what?" Ryō inquired, curiosity seeping through his tone.
Ikki smiled at them, catching them off guard at the hint of sadness on his face. "LIKE ME."
Alice took a step forward, and was about to say something that'll hopefully knock some sense into Ikki but she was cut off by a loud voice, making her grimace when she felt a sense of déjà vu.
Why must someone or something interrupt her each time she's going to talk to Ikki about something important? Does fate hate her? Well, she hates fate more.
"Ikki-chaaaaaaaan!" Soma yelled as he practically skipped towards their direction while holding a tray full of ingredients. "I'm back — oh," his gaze fell on Alice and Ryō before turning to Ikki. "Who are they?"
"Old friends," Ikki simply answered, since that's all they were anyways, then gestured to the two. "Soma, this is Alice and Ryō. And, guys this is — "
"Yukihira Soma," Alice interrupted. "Who could not know the boy who left quite an impression back at the entrance ceremony?" she said, her crimson orbs trailing down on the tray of ingredients Soma's holding. "It looks like you're putting together a pretty yummy dish there."
Soma blinked once, then twice. He was a bit taken aback by what she said. "Uh, thanks?"
Alice suddenly grinned, and twirled around. "Ah, just taking a sneak peek at everyone's dishes makes me so excited! I can hardly wait until morni — ooof!" she yelped when her face collided with Ryō's chest. "Gawd! Why were you standing there?! Are you a statue or something? Like, move!"
She jumped into Ikki's arms, buried her head in his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Kiki-chaaaaan, comfort meeeee!"
Ikki owlishly blinked, and could only pat the girl's head to somehow comfort her. "There, there...?"
'Oi, oi. I get that you're old friends, but stop hogging Ikki-chan all to yourself!' Soma thought with a scowl on his face, and an unpleasant aura surrounded his form as he glared daggers at the back of the girl. 'I know I've said this before, but just how many people are in the list of competition ─ I mean, have you met when you were traveling the world, Ikki-chan?!'
