"There she is! Holy shit I've actually never seen her in person!"
"If she's the 'Devil', then why is her face so angelic?"
"Forget that. I'd crawl over broken glass to get a plate from her… There's not a better chef in Sekai-Ryouri's history!"
Sekai-Ryouri Academy was synonymous for producing famous, world class chefs. The school specialized in bringing in youth full of potential and releasing cultivated professionals out into the culinary world. It was an absolute honor to attend, and the school prided itself on the talent that sharpened their skills enough to become amazing individuals, both inside and out of the kitchen.
Among all of the students were the Top 10, very best that the school had to offer, and at the pinnacle of that ranking was the woman stepping through the hallways with a passion. Whispers flooded the hallway while she passed through, but she was quick to offer a sharp, golden-eyed glare to those who ran their mouths, easily shutting them up.
Her name was Rena Koboko. She was the first-placed student and pinnacle of Sekai-Ryouri Academy by a landslide.
The woman suddenly stopped in her tracks, noticing just how crowded the hallway was, and the sight only made her glare grow colder.
"If you don't hurry up and stop staring like a bunch of idiots," she began, causing the hallway to grow silent at the sound of her voice, "you'll be late to class. And if you're late to class…"
Her fists clenched tightly, and with a subtle rage, she glared ahead of herself, not eyeing any particular student.
"I'll kill you."
Her tone was as cold as her demeanor, but that was in her favor as far as making demands went.
Without any protests, the hallway grew less and less dense, and before long, everyone had rushed to their asses to their classrooms. It was easy for her to boss people around though, considering that she never showed up to her own classes, and spent most of her time alone. Despite, or maybe even due to her ranking, class wasn't something that interested her, and though many people respected her, they also knew that she was borderline impossible to work with.
Still, the experience of just getting to *see* her was worth its own weight. Sure, if she actually acted like a decent student and actually showed up to her classes, the rarity of her appearances would've dwindled, but that wasn't something Rena was concerned about anyway. In any case, the bell rang moments after everyone was shoo'd off, thus leaving her by her lonesome… save for a single, brunette student who had been missing a tie from his uniform.
'The hell?!' Rena cocked an eyebrow at the sight, not understanding why he was still there.
With one eye covered by her bangs, the other narrowed slightly at the sight of him. She dug her hands into the pockets of her jacket and approached him, making eye contact with the confusing student. "You," She spoke brashly, "The hell are you doing? Get to class."
The young man couldn't help but tilt his own head a little, his calm brown eyes serving as a nice contrast to her bright golden ones. Within his hand was a small slip of paper, though before she could acknowledge it, he spoke to her,
"You look really young for a security guard, lady! Is the whole staff like that?" His playful execution made his question come off as sarcastic, but in truth, he was being genuine.
Either way, his question was completely ignored by Rena, who actually seemed to be giving off an even colder expression than prior. A small vein appeared on her forehead as she spoke to him for a second time,
"Why are you late? What are you, lost?" Her voice was stern, and she balled her fist. She threatened to kill anyone who was late, and he was no exception.
Finally though, he darted his eyes away from hers, ending their minor staring contest and doing it with a small, awkward chuckle. "Right…" He mumbled sheepishly, clearing his throat before continuing,
"I thought I could find my way around this huge school, but I guess I gave myself too much credit…"
He offered the paper to Rena who snatched it with a small huff. With a roll of the eye, she began unfolding the sheet, raising an eyebrow when she saw what it was.
"Hm." She blankly muttered.
"Hm?" He followed, stepping towards her, though stopped in his tracks when she glared at him yet again.
"Follow." She ordered, turning her back to him and beginning to step away, "But don't walk close. I don't need people with their dumb assumptions. "
The sheet of paper was a schedule, and Rena knew the school inside and out, meaning that getting lost wasn't an option for her. Of course, having to babysit annoyed her a bit, but it didn't show in her expression. She gave a second glance to the paper in her hands, rolling her eyes as she reread the information,
'Arthur Roma, Class 1-A… Tch, of course he's in the class I'm supposed to be in. Talk about shitty luck.'
As she mentally fumed over the realization that she'd have to attend class, she didn't notice that 'Roma' had ended up walking side-by-side with her, causing what few students that were around the water fountains to start mumbling amongst themselves.
"You don't listen, do you?" She asked flatly, re-folding the paper and placing it in one of the inner-pockets of her jacket. His continuing to hum as he walked was an annoyingly fitting response to her question.
He didn't know who she was, or the weight that her words carried. He just knew that he was getting personally escorted to class by a pretty woman, and that was something he had absolutely no complaints about. As airheaded as he came across, he did at least make sure to keep an eye out for which turns to make and the like as they walked. It was important that he knew which way to go without any assistance.
Luckily, the route wasn't all that complicated, and before long, they reached the classroom. Rena took a deep breath before sliding the door open, and as expected, all attention and gazes were fixated on her. After a moment of silent shock, a male sprung to his feet, running a hand through his silky blonde hair and pointing towards the girl in the doorway.
"No way?! Is it really you, Koboko-chan?!~ I cannot believe you're here, it's like I hit the lottery!~" He spoke in a gaudy tone, and his self-assuredness was incredibly off putting for the other students. He gracefully approached her with a devious smirk etched upon his face, reaching out and slinging his arm around her shoulder, "How about today?~ Shall today be the day I strip you nude of your title?~"
Rena closed her eyes and began to sigh a bit. With her hands still dug into her jacket pockets, it only took one swift moment for her to whip around and slam her knee directly into his gut, making him double over and drop to the floor.
"Why you-"
"Touch me with your disgusting hands again, and I'll make sure to break a rib next time." She cut off his rebuttal, staring down at him with nothing short of complete disgust and absolute disappointment. With that finished, she stepped past him, not bothering to make sure that she didn't accidentally cause any permanent damage. Rena's seat was in the very back corner of the classroom, and though the students mumbled amongst themselves on her way back there, she didn't really care enough to shut them up. Not this time.
The teacher had practically lost all control of the classroom, and sighed after the altercation, but he wasn't the only one left at a loss. He glanced towards the doorway where he saw an unfamiliar face taken aback by the scene. Finding a foothold back into authoritative duties, he spoke loudly, or at least loud enough that the class acknowledged his words, "And who are you, young chap? Are you lost?"
The male blinked a few times when his existence was re-acknowledged, and he entered the classroom, shaking his head in response to the instructor's question. Then, he faced the class of 20 student's or so.
"My name is Arthur Roma, I'm a transfer and today's my first day."
Roma began to bow his head before everyone, showing his respect to what were his brand new classmates, "It's nice to meet you all!... oh, and please don't cook my food for me."
After his introduction, the class fell as silent as it was prior to his and Rena's appearance, and Roma turned to the teacher, excited to hear what his next steps were. The instructor lacked his energy though, lazily pointing towards the back corner of the room, "I guess… You can sit next to Koboko-san. It'll be alright, she's a frequent flyer, so you won't have to worry much."
There were a few gasps about the assignment he was given, but Roma hardly made much note of it, giving a small nod and smiling in response, "Alrighty!"
"I hope they don't become partners…"
"That'd be so inconvenient for him…"
"Yeah, they don't call her the Devil of Sekai-Ryouri for nothing. She's impossible!"
"You're right, yet she's number one in the school… Hah, I bet she 'stayed after class' to get there."
"Bro, be quiet before she hears you…"
Those were a few of the whispers that Roma walked past and was within earshot of, while thankfully, none of them reached Rena's corner position. Once he finally made it to his seat, he pat her shoulder twice, plopping down into his chair and grinning like a fool, "Hope we get along, classmate!"
Rena cringed at his touch. Before he retracted his arm away, she grabbed him by the wrist, twisting it until the entirety of his upper body hunched over, which was accompanied by a pained and slightly shocked grunt from him.
"Unfortunately, that will not be the case, classmate." She stated defiantly, shoving his arm away and watching as it slammed into the side of his desk. The noise caused all eyes in the classroom to look back at the two of them, but Rena was used to unwanted attention. Roma didn't really mind it either, though his focus was more on his injured arm than anything else at this very moment.
'This girl…' He thought to himself, holding his bicep as he glanced over towards her, 'She must be one of those shy types, someone afraid of the spotlight…' Almost as to reassure his theory to himself, he nodded twice, facing forwards, 'It's alright Remma, I won't overexpose you like that again!'
"Ahem." The teacher redirected everyone's attention back to himself. "Today, you will be working in pairs to create a perfect Italian dish. I don't care what it is, just make sure it's good."
Following the statement, his eyes immediately locked onto Rena, "Koboko-san, will you cooperat-"
"No. I will not." Rena immediately cut him off, tapping her fingers on the table with relative annoyance, "And here I thought you'd get that through your pea sized brain."
Wishing to get a headstart, she rose to her feet, tying her long, raven black hair back and out of the way… though as she did, she felt something, or someone poke at her side.
"Oi, Instead of making a scene, it'd be smarter to brainstorm a dish ya know… Plus, Italian cuisine is something I want to be able to get better at…" Below her sat Roma, glancing up towards her as he spoke… Though her silence drew another poke, "Oiiiiii, you listenin'?"
Rena finally did respond to him… though it was hardly in a fashion that he expected or wanted. Without warning, Rena swiftly kicked Roma in his side, pushing him and his desk a little ways away from her, finishing her hair by braiding it and putting it into a bun.
"I work with no one."
Her statement was blunt, and she stared a hole through Roma before removing her jacket. After casting it aside, she began scavenging the cabinets for items to use for her dish, leaving her 'partner' with a revelation. It took a moment for him to recover, but when he did, his mental image of her changed quite dramatically.
She was no longer a damsel in distress in need of saving… no, she was nothing more than a straight bitch. In fact, the only redeeming quality she had to her was that she helped him to class without a fuss, and was admittedly quite attractive, but he certainly wasn't one to allow himself to get disrespected.
Roma rose to his feet from the desk, walking to a separate area within the room, and grabbing the ingredients he needed in order to make fresh pasta. With one final glance towards his newfound rival, he came to terms with the fact with this:
If she wouldn't respect his attitude, then he had no choice but to make her respect his ability in the kitchen.