Dimwit || Shinomiya Kojiro

onze

(Ishikawa Juno POV)

Half of the year went by quickly. I frequently flew over to France to visit Shinomiya and help out a little with managerial tasks. It was also nice to see Abel, who was currently the sous chef, Wei, and Lucie. I heard that he was planning to open up a restaurant in Tokyo, which piqued my interest.

As for my own sake, I've been slowly getting back into cooking. I can manage to do other prepping tasks that don't require knife work. I usually just have pre-prepped ingredients to work with, but one day, I hope to be able to fully cook again.

I also took Megumi as my next student. Although I was only going to stay for the rest of the year, I thought it would be a good experience for her. I was really proud of her growth. She placed top 8 in the Autumn Elections and her cooking really prioritized and cared for each of the customers' needs. In the future, she and Soma are going to make it to the top for sure.

Come to think of it, they're probably meeting the current Elite Ten now. I glanced at my watch. Eishi told me he wanted to cook for me again, so I decided to head down to where the meeting place was.

When I got to the venue, I saw Eishi with his signature white-hair and jacket slung over his shoulder. I waved at him, "Yo, my amazing student!"

"Ah, Sensei!" Eishi glanced at his watch and widened his eyes. "Ah, I'm so so sorry to have kept you waiting! Uwaa..."

"Oh, no problem, I only arrived five minutes ago." I reassured him.

Then, I saw Soma and the rest of the first-years walk out. "Oh, sensei, what brings you here?" Soma asked.

"Just seeing one of my good students," I smiled and glanced at Eishi. "I was his mentor from when he was a first year."

"Whoa, you taught the First Seat himself?!" Soma exclaimed. "Can you mentor me too??"

I let out a chuckle. "I'm already your teacher and besides, I think you're amazing just as you are now." 'Not everyone can have the courage to stand up to Shinomiya like the way he did.' "Well, then, I'll see you guys back at the dorm. Let's go?"

Eishi led me to the usual kitchen and began cooking. "Sensei...I actually wanted to talk to you."

"Hmm? About what?"

"I've received an interesting proposal. Do you know Nakiri Azami? He wants to lead a force called Central and overtake the cooking world. He wants to bring everyone: all students and all restaurants to the elite level, and I was wondering what your thoughts were."

I thought about it for a moment. "Hm, the concept of helping everyone sounds nice, but I feel it's too monarchistic. There's no room for freedom for one's own cooking."

"Ah, I see." Eishi began. "Then, I guess I should think about it more."

I sipped my tea quietly. 'I've heard that Nakiri Azami was plotting his return, but I didn't know it was this soon.'

Soon after, we both ate and talked about lighter topics.

"Thanks for the food again Eishi! It was magnificent as always." I ruffled his hair lightly.

"Anytime sensei. See you around," he waved.

About another two weeks passed by and the first-year students began receiving their Stagiare assignments where they would get first hand experience on the frontlines.

As for me, I headed downtown to where Shinomiya was going to open his new branch, SHINO's Tokyo. I opened the door gleefully. "Hello!"

"Ah, Jun-san!" Lucie greeted me. "Just in time, Chef Shinomiya has gotten prickly since this morning and he needs his woman."

I burst out in laughter. "Haha, I got you. Is he in the kitchen?"

"Yep, just for some context, he's struggling with funding for hands-on workers to set up."

"But I thought he had a ton of sponsors."

"You should know, his pride got in the way." Wei chimed in. "How have you been Jun?"

"I've been well." I smiled. "It's nice that you guys are closer now. I guess I should check on him huh."

I opened the kitchen door and found Abel and Shinomiya setting up, their backs facing me. Shinomiya heaved a sigh, "Abel, can you get the boxes of cookware outside?"

"Oui chef." Abel turned around and was about to greet me but I put my finger to my lip. He smiled, noting that he got the hint and went out.

I decided to surprise Shinomiya a little and silently approached him. I wrapped my arms around his torso warmly and he tensed up by reflex but relaxed when he realized who I was.

"Need a hand?" I asked with a smile.

"I'd appreciate it." Shinomiya turned around and gently kissed me. "I love you."

"I love you too." I smiled widely. "So what can I help with?"

Over the past two days, I helped clean the new cookware and put everything into place. Everything was about done and ready for the pre-open that would occur in two days. Surprisingly, the next day, Soma knocked on the door for his second Stagiare assignment.

"Oh, sensei, you're here too?" Soma asked.

"Mhm, just helping out, but I won't be here after today." I responded.

The day went by quickly and soon the sun set. Everything was ready for the first day of pre-open tomorrow. I was about to take my leave back to Totsuki when Shinomiya pulled me aside into the kitchen alone.

"How's your progress been?" Shinomiya asked, referring to my cooking.

"I can manage cooking all but using a kitchen knife." I paused. "I still have flashbacks when using a knife."

"Understandable, can you show me?" Shinomiya asked taking his knife from its case.

I hesitated, but trusted that he would be there in case anything happened. I took the knife from him and started to cut a piece of asparagus. At first, everything was normal, but as usual, the environment around me began to morph. My breath hitched and hands began to tremble.

I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate but to no avail. "Shinomiya, I-" I felt larger warm hands wrap around mine which calmed my racing heart.

"Just calm down." Shinomiya gently stated. "Focus on the food and motion, not the pressure, not the environment. Know that you're safe here. Always."

I opened my eyes again and was brought back to the regular kitchen. My hands stopped shaking and was able to cut the rest of the vegetable.

 I immediately smiled and looked at the knife. "Can you always cook with me?" I joked.

"Hmp, you wish." Shinomiya retaliated but smiled. "Keep practicing and you'll get it back."

I put back the knife in its case. "Thank you for everything. For keeping me safe, for being my lover."

Shinomiya's eyes widened and face flushed for a bit when he heard that, but gently relaxed. "Are you free at the end of the week on Friday?"

"Mmm yea, why?"

"It's the last day of pre-open and I'm ending a little early to invite the rest of our friends and my mother and was wondering if you would be free to come."

"Of course I'll come."

"Chef Shinomiya, where do these go?" Lucie barged into the kitchen.

"Well, I guess I'll take my leave. See you Friday" I kissed him gently on the cheek and left.

"Ohhhhhoooo must be nice to have a lady~" Lucie fangirled.

"Yea, it is." Shinomiya acknowledged.