Food Wars: Welcome to Culinary World

Chapter 40: The Ten

(Kaya's POV)

"Here, Yukihira-Kun, Eguchi-Kun" the girl with the long hair said, offering us a drink. "Thanks" we thanked as she poured Soma's cup first. The red head then stared nervously at the weird drink; the girl sensed his curiosity.

"It's just rice juice. Hehe" the girl giggled with a smirk. "U-...Uh-huh" he muttered. "Still, are you sure we're not going to get in trouble for partying this late at night?".

"It's fine. The dorm's in the middle of a forest" she reassured, then scooted closer to me so she can pour me the drink. "Thanks, um...your name?" I asked her, raising a brow.

"Ah, I'm Sakaki Ryoko. The girl sitting on the bed is Yoshino Yuki, and the owner of this room is Marui Zenji. That boy over there is Ibusaki Shun, and those two are Sato Shoji and Aoki Daigo" Ryoko said, introducing everyone.

"Hmmm...Shun, huh?" I thought, gazing at him for a moment. I looked back at Ryoko, "It's nice to meet you all. Since you already know my name, just call me Kaya, or Kay, or whatever you want as long as I like it. Hehe" I said, chuckling nervously.

"Then, can I call you Kaya-chi?!" Yuki asked, I nodded, taking a sip of the rice juice before quickly spitting it out as soon as I heard Fumio-San yell through the mic.

"HEY, YOU ALL! THERE'RE 'STEWED AMBERJACK AND DAIKON' DOWN HERE! SOMEBODY COME AND GET IT!".

"Alright!", "Love ya, grandma!" Daigo and Shoji cheered as they went to bring the food.

I wiped my mouth with my sleeve, "Jeez, that almost gave me a heart attack". Apparently, they'll be a lot of screaming in the future.

"They'll be back before Fumio-San starts talking about the ten" Yuki suddenly mentioned.

"The ten?" Soma asked, then looked at me. I merely shrugged, "Y'know, the top ten students in school. I'm not surprised though. Every school has their own top ten students".

"Ehhh?! Are you freaking kidding, Kaya-chi?? If you just knew about them, you WILL be surprised!" Yuki stated, loudly.

Marui fixed his glasses, "Her parents were elite ten members, Yoshino-Kun".

Ryoko's eyes sparkled in amazement, "That's so expected from the Eguchi family!". "What seats were they??" Yuki asked excitedly, her face was too close to mine as she stared at me.

I sweat dropped, my heart feels like it's about to stop any minute now. "U-Uh...My mom was the 5th seat, and my dad was the 4th seat. Plus, they used to live here in the 'Polar Star' dormitory" I stuttered, blushing insanely.

"Woah! That's awesome! This definitely motivated me to be an elite ten member!" Soma beamed, getting all fierce. Yuki was still a few inches away from my face, it was starting to annoy me, so I had to do something.

"Um, Yuki?" I began, she hummed in response. "Unless you wanna make out, could you please give me some personal space?" I glared at her. I heard Soma snort, trying to hold in his laughter. Yuki's face was bright red, but soon her flustered face turned into a mischievous smirk.

"I don't mind~" she sang.

"Give her some space, Yoshino-Kun" Shun blurted while sipping his drink. Yuki sighed and backed away. "Kay, since your parents were former elite ten members, you must know how to be one!" Soma asked, eagerly.

"Kind of. But it's not as easy as you think. Apparently, you gotta be super talented in cooking or something. I only have a few backgrounds about the academy's trainings, so I'm not completely blind by all of this" I clarified.

"Well, Kaya-chi already knows her stuff. But Yukihira-chi came to Totsuki not knowing anything at all, right? Marui-Kun, tell him!" Yuki demanded.

"Why me?!" Marui groaned in annoyance.

"It's fine, we'll get the info from Fumio-San later" I said. "It's better to hear it from Marui-Kun than Fumio-San. She won't stop talking about them if you ask her" Ryoko stated, sweat dropping.

"Marui-Kun!" Yuki called the glasses boy again. He then let out a sigh of defeat.

"Alright then. The Totsuki Council of Ten is a committee that's made up of the ten highest-ranked students in the academy. Those students are allowed to decide many of the academy's affairs, so a wide variety of issues are settled by the Council. They are, in effect, the academy's highest decision-making body. In terms of the academy's organization, they're right below the principal. And not even the instructors can disobey their decisions".

"Decades ago, when the dorm was consistently at maximum capacity, a bunch of elite ten were from the 'Polar Star' dormitory" Yuki added.

"There were even years when all of the ten were from the 'Polar Star'" Ryoko stated. "Once Fumio-San gets going about those times, it turns into a long story".

"In other words, they're like student councils, but better because they're not just responsible of the school activities and service projects. Since they're right below the principal, there's no doubt that they can replace teachers or expel students who dares to go against them" I remarked.

"That's right. That's why you don't take the elite ten too lightly" Marui confirmed. Soma hummed with anticipation as he put his index finger on his chin.

"Is Nakiri Erina a part of the ten?" he asked. "Yes, she's the 10th seat" Marui answered.

As they continued their conversation, I thought about this subject for a little while. Mom and dad were former elite members from the 'Polar Star' dormitory, and since this whole elite ten thing is better than any regular student council, that must be a lot of pressure on students. They're practically taking responsibilities of things that are bigger than them all. Although, it does sound intriguing to have that kind of power, but I know for a fact that if I did become an elite ten, I'd complain of the mass amount of work.

Come to think of it, I don't think I ever asked my parents about the merits of being an elite ten. I mean, doing all that exhausting work all day, then what? What do you get in return? Not to mention that I still have to focus on my academic studies and work on my cooking skills, when do I get to do all those things when I'm stacked up with academy affairs.

"Hold on..." I mused, taking out my phone and typed on Google for a moment before I got the results I needed. "So, Nakiri Erina is the academy principal's granddaughter. Yeah, I don't know if she got into the elite ten because of her grandpa or not, I don't wanna assume things. But I'm sure that she's still a good cook...I think".

I let out a hum of disinterest before shoving my phone back in my jacket's pocket, taking a sip of the rice juice that's somehow tasting good right now.

"Well, all that does sound cool. But still, I'm not interested...".

-

Chapter End.