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

Chapter 45 - Revenge of the Cursed Mascots!

(Name)'s POV

"That looks delicious!" I exclaimed upon seeing Megumi's lunchbox. I scooted closer, seated across from her, whereas Ryou tried and failed to sneak a peek from his spot between us. Soma, who sat between me and Megumi, lowered his water bottle to take a look as well.

The four of us were currently eating lunch on the rooftop of the school building. I'd never actually eaten lunch up here before, usually dining in the cafeteria or the courtyard instead, but Ryou had proposed the idea during first period. It was odd that he asked to join our trio—he obviously liked Megumi, but he'd always claimed Soma and I together was 'too much for him to handle at once'—and in turn I questioned where Kiyoko was. On the days I didn't eat with the Yanagawas, I ate with Megumi and Soma.

I was unsurprised to hear Kiyoko was eating with Hayato since he'd join our group on occasion, but it made sense the couple would want to be alone sometimes. Though I also knew better than to think Kiyoko ditched her cousin. In fact, I'd bet that Ryou encouraged her to eat with her boyfriend seeing how he calmly sipped his drink. He was getting better at handling his jealousy

"Thank you, (Name)-chan. Would you like some?" Megumi offered a piece of her tamagoyaki out to me, and I stupidly felt a shred of kindness flow through me.

"No thanks, but Ryou-kun seems awfully hungry." I giggled and gestured to the boy who flushed under Megumi's gaze. He looked ready to pass out as she herself fed him the slice of egg with her chopsticks, uncaring of the way Soma and I snickered at his uncharacteristic nervousness.

I was seeing less and less of my friends outside of classes due to the upcoming festival. Whenever the school day ended, Soma and Megumi would rush off to work on their menu, whereas Ryou would join the rest of our friends to continue the Polar Star booth. And I, of course, would make the long trek to Shiomi RS to help my group and take care of other club duties.

So we took advantage of moments like these to catch up with one another. Soma and Megumi were still debating on the best dish to counter Kuga's spicy mapo tofu, and according to Ryou, Isshiki has spent more time on decorating than cooking.

"Is Isshiki-senpai making y'all wear matching uniforms?"

My question earned a scoff from Ryou. "What do you think? I'm at least grateful we don't have to be nude like him."

"That's Isshiki-senpai for you," said Megumi.

When they asked about my festival team, I couldn't help but shudder. "Oh, it's been..." I remembered the hour-long argument between Alice and Hayama just two days before, "eventful."

"Heh. Seems you've met your match, Homura." Ryou mused at my tired state. But he failed to hide the furrow in his brows when I didn't answer.

"I'm sure Hayama's cookin' all sorts of curry, eh?" Soma spoke through a mouthful of rice, ignoring the way Megumi and Ryou frowned at his poor manners. "I bet it's not better than our booth's." Megumi and I smiled wryly at his passive-aggressiveness. He was still bitter over losing the Elections after all; it didn't help that Kurokiba was also on my team.

"You should worry less about the Shiomi RS' booth and more about your sales if you're intent on beating that Kugel." I reminded him, poking my chopsticks into his sides.

"'Kugel?' Do ya' mean Kuga?" Soma jerked away from me, and I was reminded of his reaction when I pinched his sides during our scooter ride. Was he ticklish? I'd have to remember that for later.

"But y'know," I continued, leaning back so Soma could relax, "Hayama-san's actually pretty fun!" I laughed as I remembered the incident with the ice cream man. That grocery-run was a lot more enjoyable than I'd expected. The others exchanged doubtful looks at this but said nothing.