Professionals (Food Wars X Male Reader) 2.0

The Toxic Wasteland

~2012~

I was coming home from school today and the first thing my mom said to me was,

Mom: Where the hell were you, boy!

Y/N: I was just working for a sushi restaurant nearby thanks to Gin's connections with an old classmate.

Mom: Oh, Y/N! I'm so happy for you!

She was excited when I told her I got a job. I started as busboy and worked my way up. To me, it was an answer to my mother's prayers.

Thing is, we were in debt, mostly because we were still new in this country and we had to learn the economy of Japan. We had to learn the difference between the Japanese yen and the American dollar and whatnot, but it doesn't matter, we managed to learn new stuff.

Over at the sushi restaurant: I was treated like a grownup. I belonged. I was treated with respect and I was considered a part of their family. I was being paid ¥10,000, which is almost $87 USD, an hour, After six months, it was a total of ¥120,000 and that's $1,050 USD, which I thought was pretty solid before it became ¥12,000 an hour, which equals to $105 USD an hour, after two months making it ¥960,000 meaning $8,395 USD and that would be altogether, checks notes, 9,445 USD.

Yes, it was a lot of math, but hey, I felt like I was the luckiest kid in the world at the time. I was living the good life, thinking that it would dig my mom and I out of a hole that we got ourselves into, which she was so grateful for.

After getting enough money from my job, mom thought we had enough money to move out of Gin's mansion and moved us into an apartment that was a pretty decent place to live. Of course I still stayed in school, but I would go back to the sushi restaurant to keep working part time.

Ever since moving out of Gin's mansion, she was determined to have me be successful as a sushi restaurant busboy and live in a decent apartment.

After making so much money and making sure that we have the funds to get new clothes and live the life we wanted to live, we went to Gin's mansion for a party. We dressed the best we could and after a couple minutes of driving, we were there.

It was a glorious time. There were chefs everywhere. Gin was there, because it was his party of course, I met Erina's grandfather for the second time. Joichiro Saiba, more about him and his son later on, do not worry, my child. Speaking of Erina Nakiri, I saw her there.

She was wearing a long beautiful black dress with white gloves that reached her elbows, and black high heels. I assumed she was told by Gin that I was coming and I was improving my work as a busboy.

Unbelievably, surprisingly, she started walking towards me. She still had the same expressionless look on her face, but she said something that I thought wouldn't happen.

Erina: 私は今あなたを尊重しますが、私はあなたに簡単に行くだとは思わない。 (I respect you now, but do not think I'll go easy on you.)

She extended her hand and I had to shake it. Erina then walked away, but I thought I heard her giggle.

Y/N: すみません？ (Excuse me?)

She looked back with as I had a confused face.

Y/N: あなたはただ笑いましたか？ (Did you just giggle?)

She tried to deny it, but she couldn't keep it in since she had a red tint on her cheeks.

Erina: 大丈夫、私はそれを認めます。 混乱しているときはかわいいです。 とにかく、いつかの戸棚でお会いしましょう！ (Alright, I'll admit it. You look cute when you're confused. Anyway, hope to see you at Totsuki someday!)

She walked away after that, but Totsuki? Am I going to that school someday? Guess we'll have to see, but I couldn't believe it. Erina actually talked to me and I was so excited that I wanted to keep it in, but no, people might see me as pathetic, so I kept it to myself.

The next day, I was working at the restaurant, cleaning dishes. All of a sudden, I heard a loud crash! It came from inside the kitchen. I ran over and I see one of our sous-chefs had a heart attack! An ambulance was on its way and there was no time. I stopped what I was doing and helped the guy while the ambulance was on its way.

Thanks to learning some Japanese, I made sure I talked to the guy, making sure that he's still awake and he doesn't die on me. Listen, I have no experience in medical stuff, but I know that talking to the guy is the only way to make sure he's still alive.

I really felt bad for him because I didn't know how something like this would happen, but in the restaurant industry, I learned that anything could happen.

Once the ambulance arrived, it took the guy away and he went to the hospital. I was a bit upset that the guy was hurting, but I couldn't let it get to me because I volunteered to help out with the sushi and how to prepare it for people to eat.

How did I know how? Let's say whenever I'm doing dishes, I'll take a moment to look at what they were doing and I would memorize it in my head.

After all of that, Gin, the chefs, and myself visited the guy at the hospital to check on him. Turned out, it wasn't a heart attack. It was a STROKE, which meant after working as a sous-chef for over 25 years, he had to retire.

It was a shame, because his hand was so numb he couldn't turn it into a fist and couldn't talk much, but the smile on his face was directed to me.

He told me that if it wasn't for me, he'd still be alive, but I had to respond...

Y/N: 私はそれによって光栄に思いますが、私は私がしたかったので私が助けただけだとあなたに理解してほしい。 私は英雄ではありません、私は一日の終わりには普通の子供です。 私はあなたが私に知らせて、SIRに感謝します。 また会いたいです。 (I'm honored by that, but I want you to understand that I only helped because I wanted to. I'm no hero, I'm just a regular kid at the end of the day. I appreciate you letting me know, sir. Hope to see you again.)

Soon after that statement, Gin's friend promoted me to sous-chef to take the guy's place. It was an opportunity. It wasn't something I wanted, but it was an opportunity.

The sous-chef is a subordinate to the main cook, which means you have to supply and support the chef who's cooking. Let's say he/she needs asparagus prepared, I find asparagus, rinse it, snap the ends off, and give it to the chef I'm working with. It was an amazing experience. It was like getting a front row seat at a baseball game and I was really excited! But the number one rule when being a sous-chef is NEVER, and I mean NEVER eat off the cutting board. You know why? Because you can lose any finger from your left or right hand at any time. You might have learned that when you were a kid because I sure did.

Much later, I learned how to use the stove and what I should use and what temperature to use while cooking a meat, a fish, or anything. I had fun with it because soon enough, I had gotten pretty good at it, now I have to see if I can try to pass an exam at Totsuki and look how to try different ingredients and whatnot.

If there's one thing I learned about being a chef, it's you never know what you're in for. The world of cooking is known as The Toxic Wasteland. We should remember that no matter what.

(A/N: So, what do you guys think! Is this looking to be a pretty good remake? Let me know!)