The sun was just peeking over the horizon when Yukihira Souma sneakily entered the room that was located beside his own – room 304.
The inside of the room was dimly lit, the only source of light being the fresh rays of sunlight seeping through the curtains. His eyes darted across the darkroom until they rested on a lump of blanket that was lying in the bed.
He slowly walked towards the bed, and upon reaching there he put his hands on the body and started shaking them vigorously.
Souma stopped when he heard a groan coming from inside, and only after stopping his movements did he realized that both of his palms were resting on something soft, round, and squishy.
His face instantly heated up when he tried to figure out what he could be holding.
'Is this what I think it is?' His eyes further widened in surprise.
'No. I must be wrong. I mean it's (Y/n)-chan of all people. We have grown up together, I never thought that she was different, but...females have boobs, and (Y/n)-chan is a female. So, does that mean (Y/n)-chan also has boobs?"
Souma let out a small gasp of surprise when he connected all the dots inside his head.
'Is this what they call a lucky perv accident?' Souma thought to himself as he glanced at his hands.
He was brought out of his trance when the blankets shuffled lightly and a mesh of (h/c) color hair followed by (e/c) eyes. The orbs wandered around the room before eventually settling on the redhead. And at that moment, he realized that he is doomed.
"HAAA...I'LL KILL YOU – YOU PERVERT!"
That was the last thing he heard before he was punched in the face and roughly thrown out of the room.
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Souma stood outside of (Y/n)'s room – waiting for her to come out after getting dressed.
The door finally opened after a while and walked out an angry and scowling Nakamura (Y/n). She huffed in anger while walking past him, and he rushed to keep up with her pace.
(N/n)-chan! Wait up! Don't ignore me, please. I already apologized. I had something really important to tell you but you were sleeping."
(Y/n)'s head whipped in his direction when he said that.
"Well, that still doesn't explain your wandering hands over my body!" She snapped at him.
After giving him a piece of her mind, she immediately started walking again – not waiting for Souma to catch up with her. Her fast pace came to a halt when she heard a small 'thud' – coming from just behind her.
She turned around and saw a very flustered Souma – kneeling on the floor with his head lowered and his palms resting on his thighs.
"I'M SORRY (N/n)-chan. PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"
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"Good morning everyone!"
The old residents of Polar Star Dormitory greeted each other as they made their way to the dining room.
"Looks like (Y/n)-chan and Souma-kun are still asleep," Ryoko pointed out the absence of the two newcomers.
Isshiki, who was leading the group, suddenly came to a halt when he saw something unusual.
"Huh? Souma-kun, (Y/n)-chan. What are you two doing here?" Isshiki asked out in surprise from the front of the pack when he saw a very energetic Souma and an equally tired and pissed off (Y/n), standing behind Souma who was sitting on a chair.
Souma smirked at Isshiki as he spoke up, "you told me it was postponed yesterday. So now, with the seventh seat on the line, I challenge you Isshiki-senpai."
A pregnant silence engulfed them as Isshiki only stared at a smiling Souma. The older boy finally decided to break the silence.
"Sorry, Souma-kun, it was my fault for not explaining the rules of Totsuki."
Souma looked quite puzzled when he heard Isshiki, and (Y/n) on the other hand, had a look on her face that can literally be translated to 'told you.'
Isshiki started explaining the procedures of these challenges as soon as they sat down for breakfast.
"This system was originally established by the academy to settle arguments between students. There are some factors to it. If you want to challenge me for the seventh seat, you must offer a compensation of equal value."
"Equal value to the seventh seat?" Souma was perplexed by this. "Even if you were to get expelled that would be still not enough."
"Really?" Souma let out in surprise.
"Well, that was kind of expected since how prestigious the elite 10 is," (Y/n) coolly replied.
"Yes, the elite 10 is worth that much," Fumio-san added.
"After all, they are the highest decision-making council. Even the lecturers all have to follow the decisions made by the elite 10."
Fumio-san to have entered into a world of pure bliss when she talked about the history of their dorm.
"In the past, this dorm produced members of the elite 10 every year. It was Polar Star's golden age."
"In contrast, you're all pathetic!" her dream-like state instantly disappeared when she addressed the current residents.
"Fumio-san, you're going to start that again?" Yuki teased the woman.
'So that's what Yuki means when she said that once Fumio-san starts talking about elite 10 – it's never-ending.' (Y/n) thought while quietly devouring her breakfast. It was so delicious.
"Anyways," Isshiki started, "a battle is possible only if you agree to it, but naturally, I don't want you to leave the school. So naturally, there will be no battle."
"Seriously?" Souma sighed in defeat.
"I woke up at five this morning to get ready and even got punched in the face," Souma admitted while pointing towards the slight swelling on his left cheek.
"Got punched in the face?" Megumi let out worriedly.
"Oh. Now that you said it – your face does appear a little red and swollen. What happened?" Yuki questioned.
At their constant questions, Souma's eyes momentarily shifted towards (Y/n), who seemed to avoid looking at him directly. 'Is she, perhaps, feeling guilty?'
Suma just shrugged casually as if nothing had happened and said, "I just walked into a door."
Everyone just laughed at Souma's silliness. Truth to be told, no one was buying his lies, but they just decided to just let it go and not make a fuss about it.
"Moving on," Isshiki continued with his explanation. "There are three necessary conditions. First, someone needs to certify it as an official battle. Next, an odd number of judges. Third, an agreement from each competitor regarding the terms. Only then it is established as an official battle."
"It sounds too much work," (Y/n) commented while leaning on her chair.
"But in other words, as long as those conditions are met, everything in this academy can be fought for," Isshiki added.
"Any opposition shall surrender through cooking."
"The traditional cooking battle is called – Shokugeki."
"Shoku –" (Y/n) started.
" – geki?" Souma finished for her.
(Y/n)'s attention was diverted from the discussion when she heard her phone go off in her pocket. She quickly fished it out and saw that it was a text from an unknown number.
It read, "Good morning Nakamura-san. This is Arato Hisako, Erina-sama's secretary. I'm texting you to inform this that Erina-sama has invited you to come and see her Shokugeki. It's taking place in the central arena at 11 am."
(Y/n) read the entire message with a smile on her face and quickly shot up a text to Hisako saying that she will be there on time.
After breakfast, she went straight to her room and changed into her school uniform. She walked out and saw an excited Souma and shy Megumi eagerly waiting for her – causing the (h/c)ette to furrow her brows in confusion.
"Souma, Megumi-chan, what are you two doing here?"
"Ano...(Y/n)-san, Souma-kun wanted to explore the Academy, so I agreed to be his guide for today. He said that he wanted you to join too, but is too scared to ask," Megumi timidly answered.
(Y/n) glanced at the redhead for a moment before averting her eyes to glance at Megumi.
"Aww... Megumi-chan, I would've loved to join you guys too, but I have some prior engagements to attend," she answered while gently patting her hair – causing the timid girl to get all flustered.
The (h/c)ette then walked up to her childhood friend and cupped his cheek – bringing him closer to her and said, "And Souma, I forgive you, but don't let it happen next time though."
She beamed at him before quickly pecking him on the cheeks – causing Souma to malfunction and Megumi to shy away from the PDA.
Isshiki, who was observing this scene from far away, stared fondly at the three students.
'I believe that Souma-kun and (Y/n)-chan will make the flower of Shokugeki bloom again!'