"...I owe it to you."
Following their shocking defeat during the class activity, Rena Koboko and Yuuta Sarito were alone on Sekai-Ryouri's rooftop, with the former incensed with the result she received. Yuuta offered his arm, and braced himself, preparing for the strike she'd deliver after requesting to punch him.
…though as she raised her fist, she made a swift realization, "...no, I'll break your arm. Too strong."
After her brief reasoning, she screamed angrily, and slammed her fist into the rooftop's concrete again… And both of them were left a little shocked to see a large crater left over. Even a sledgehammer would struggle to dent the ceiling in the same fashion that she just did.
After the strike, she stood upright and her arm twitched. Her anger had subsided for the most part, but both of them were just about certain that it was traded away in favor of her fingers, hand, wrist, and maybe even her forearm all getting shattered in the process. Neither of them could tell at this very moment, but it felt… numb, and began bleeding out like hell.
",,,dumbass." Yuuta muttered under his breath, shaking his head after such an unsightly display of pointlessly stupid strength. It was completely unnecessary, and didn't cause any purpose, but he knew that if he didn't value his own hands so much, he'd've done the exact same. Maybe even thrown out his back in the process. He leaned his head back, looking up at the cloudless, orange colored sky,
"...guess we're kind of fucked now, hm?,,,"
"Don't talk to me like I'm supposed to like you." Rena still wasn't exactly keen on Yuuta's very existence, taking a seat and refusing to look at her aching hand, or Yuuta for that matter, "Ugh, the Director is going to put me through hell for this goddamnit.. And I was doing such a good job of avoiding him too… But once this gets out, its fucking over for my freedom once again…"
After another moment, she sighed, and for the first time since -probably- shattering it, she glanced towards her hand, "Actually, I wish I punched you. I think my hand is broken."
"Can you like, shut up for a minute?" Yuuta finally asked, scratching at the back of his head, annoyed by all of her rambling. It may have been easy to forget, but he was as just as - if not more involved in the reason why they ended up being defeated in the competition. Rena looked fairly offended after his words, but bit her tongue for once, raising an eyebrow when Yuuta turned to her and began to speak again,
"Take everything into account. There are no advantages in a kitchen - only disadvantages. Everyone was at a disadvantage when it comes to American food, but it was an extreme disadvantage because *he* of all people was raised there." Yuuta explained, his eyes now looking towards the floor after acknowledging that much,
"Given his skill, the match was surely set up in a way that would handicap anyone who wasn't with him. If he were to team up with you, even though you may not have cooperated, it was likely a given that you two would've won. Obviously speaking, the same could've been said if he and I were a team. So then, to balance the teams, one had to put the two strongest chefs together, against the upstart with familiar material, and a fourth competitor who could certainly hold his own in a competition."
He watched as Rena stood up, and started to approach him, though his expression was the exact same, and for the first time, he noticed that they were level in height, "And that, is why we lost."
Rena raised her injured fist, and for the second time, brought it down.. Though instead of casting another crater, she punched him in the shoulder… though it gained no reaction from the male, who looked her in the eyes while she opened her mouth to speak to him again,
"I'm not supposed to lose."
That was all she told him, before turning around, returning to the door that led to the rooftop, and taking the handle, "There are reasons why I'm a 'lone wolf' and this is one of them. I can't work with people. It's just not me."
"It's a scary place at the top. Just be glad that you had someone to take the fall with you. Having someone to blame for shortcomings is not a luxury that all of us have."
Rena whipped around, but what she saw, was that for a singular moment, Yuuta Sarito's normally dull, black eyes were a vivid, vibrant purple. HIs words were uncharacteristically heavy from him, and potentially even symbolic to some extent… Though once he was finished speaking, his eyes reverted to the floor, and the color returned to the same empty black that he came in with.
"If I wanted to blame it on you, then I probably would've killed you." Rena openly admitted, blinking a time or two, "I blame myself for not being able to work with people… Well, on the *surface* I blame you, but, I know it's me. So regardless of whatever the Director says or asks of me, I won't, nor was I ever, going to bring you up."
"*He'll* bring me up, Rena Koboko-san." He told her stoutly before sighing, "I'm not saying that you have me to blame for our failure today, but.." He lifted his eyes from the concrete below, and crossed his arms, again locking eye-contact with the woman while a gentle wind picked up, moving both of their bangs into their faces,
"I'm telling you, you have me to blame if you want to escape with your ass in-tact."
Rena crossed her own arms while her hair gently danced in the wind, again raising an eyebrow and giving Yuuta a questionable look, "I hate you. But not that much. He scares the shit out of me, a few males do, but I'm not going to bring you up, even if it means he'll beat the crap out of me…"
She didn't wait to see if Yuuta had yet another rebuttal before turning her back to him, taking the door handle and swinging it open… though she did have a few parting words for him that came in a mumble.
"...I'm used to that."
Yuuta was standing several feet away… though even despite both that and the breeze that passed through, he heard her words, if only faintly, and watched as she made her swift exit from the rooftop. Then, he approached the high fencing, and placed his fingers through some of the links, looking out at the bustling courtyard down below.
"You aren't the only one…"
~
"TWO RIVALS! ONE STONE! LETS FUCKING GO. I'M TOTALLY TOP 10 NOW- HELL I'M NUMBER ONE!"
Arthur Roma was jumping for joy back in his dorm room. Literally speaking. He leaped around his bed, feeling a sense of joy that he hadn't experienced since he first transferred into the school, though he glanced towards the ground at Itsuki who he also invited for a small celebration, "Oh yeah, you can be number 3."
"Oh *please*." The blonde rolled his eyes, flipping some of his hair back out of his face, "If anything, *I'm* number 1. You can be number 2." Itsuki replied, smirking smugly as he spoke.
"Remma's number 2. I gave you 3 to be nice, but you'd be lucky to be 6." Roma changed his tune quickly, stopping all his jumping and landing on his bum on the bed instead, still chuckling to himself, but the smile slowly faded as he recalled something back in class.
'You don't understand how honored I feel to have 2 of the Top 10 students in this school standing before me.'
"For me and Sarito to go back and forth so much in class… where the hell is he in the Top 10… Better yet, *why* the hell is he in the Top 10, and why aren't I in there?!" He asked rhetorically, letting the question saunter in the air for a bit, while Itsuki also looked towards him in confusion for a bit.
That is, until the door was swung wide open. Rena came stomping in and slammed it shut behind her, going straight to her bed and ignoring both of their existences.Her blood was starting to boil again, and she had no qualms about going over to beat both of them to death, but both her head and hand were in pain, and she was feeling a mixture of emotions at the moment anyway.
"Remma,Remma!" Roma called out excitedly, his eyes sparkling while he called out to her, before putting a finger under his chin, "Who are the Top 10 students?? Well, who are the ones you know, and what is it you guys do??"
Rena wasn't exactly in the mood though, still refusing to look at him, or even in his direction, "You do not want to talk to me right now." She went ahead and warned him in a very calm.. Almost scary tone. Itsuki listened… but honestly, didn't care all too much, coming to his feet and putting his hands onto his hips, smirking afterwards.
"Hey, hey, that's no way to talk to your superiors, is it?!" He declared, raising his nose in a cocky fashion. And Rena? Rena could hear something snap, crack, sizzle, and then blow up entirely within her head as she suddenly shot to her feet.
She felt the same way that she did when she was a street kid - constantly angry and super aggressive. Shooting him a glare with those golden eyes, she approached the blonde, and it was only when Roma jumped up and stood in front of Itsuki that Rena made a momentary pause.
"Now, now. He has a point. Let him have his fun."
A voice came from behind both of the boys, and there on the bed sat Yuuta, yet again finding a way inside of the room without anyone noticing.
"Sarito…" Roma looked shocked to see him here, while Yuuta just offered a smirk, crossing one leg over the other, "Long time no see, Arthur Roma-san, Itsuki Saito-san."
Rena however didn't seem to give the slightest fuck about what was going on, shoving Roma out of the way, and following it by spinning and roundhouse kicking Itsuki dead in his jaw, following *that* by reaching back, and kicking him in the groin after.
Itsuki screeched loudly, and then lied still, most likely dead or something, but Rena glared at Roma after. She balled up her first, and rose it, getting ready to lash out at the brunette as well… but instead reached out to the side of herself, punching the wall instead with her already fucked hand, and ended her tantrum by kicking a chair into a wall, shattering it into splinters.
"Oh, you must really like him.." Yuuta couldn't help but stir some shit, smirking at how she just so happened to spare Roma, though that was immediately met by a glare from Rena as well,
"Why the fuck are you even here?! I didn't murder him because he saved my life and I'm not about to kill someone who does that." She told him stoutly, but finally turned away and held her wrist, letting out a lengthy string of curses while the pain finally started to travel through her wrist.
"And to answer *your* question," Yuuta turned to Roma, practically ignoring Rena's explanation, "I'm the 4th best cook in this school, meaning I'm two behind Rena Koboko-san who's currently leading the pack."
Roma blinked at Yuuta's response, but ended up tilting his head again, "Since we always go head-to-head in class though, why aren't I in the Top 10?? I mean, a little over 70% of the time, your dish ends up ranking below mine." He explained, to which Yuuta ended up snickering.
"That is a good argument, isn't it? But to every contract, there is fine print, and though I'll admit, what I've seen of you does warrant *consideration* for a Top 10 placement, if you were given the task to go track down the other 8, I don't really like your chances."
Roma paused. That… made sense. Yuuta was right - out of the Top 10, the only two people he knew about were sitting just before him, and one of them he didn't even know had a *placement* within the company until a few hours prior.
But, that was also when his eyes began to narrow, and Roma took on more of a serious expression, "That's fine. I don't need to know who, or where the others are. I'll chalk up today's win as an 'off day' for the two of you- but you Sarito, you I've beaten several times, so I know I have what it takes to be in that 4th seat."
That's when the brunette grit his teeth and pointed towards Yuuta, wearing a determined expression on his face,
"For that reason, I'm challenging you! I'm challenging you for your Fourth Seat position, Yuuta Sarito!"
There was suddenly a knock at the door. Rena froze, and then glanced at Yuuta, before closing her eyes and approaching the door, clearly quite hesitant to open or even answer it. Yuuta himself let out a sigh, but also rose from the mattress he sat on, slowly wandering to Rena's side, also just before the door.
'I'd be moved, or in the least bit shocked, had your challenge not have been so juvenile and predictable. You had only two choices in order to join the top, and of course you wouldn't try to kick Koboko out of her spot, would you? Hah, what would be in it for me, anyway?
His friends? One's a bitch, and the others a lowlife, I'm not interested. Family? I don't know or particularly care whether he has one or not. Secrets? Pointless. In fact, the only thing that would carry a *mild* amount of worth to me would be his expulsion… but what good would that do for me? If it were Itsuki Saito-san, then I'd consider it, but if it's just Arthur Roma-san, then I couldn't care less.. Therefore…'
"There is absolutely no reason for me to accept your challenge. I decline."
Yuuta walked right past Arthur, joining Rena in front of the door.
Rena slowly reached out and twisted the handle, opening the door, with her expression and eyes dull while she awaited what was behind it. And to no one's surprise, behind it was the very Director of the school, glaring down at her, and then Yuuta next to her.
"Before you look at him, I'm just going to let you know that this wasn't his fault." Rena stated very clearly, almost flinching when his eyes returned to her. He then rose his pale colored hand, and opened his palm. Rena's eyes widened, and she swiftly shoved Yuuta out of the way, before the Director brought it down and slapped her across her face.
The strike was harder than any punch she had ever felt, and she could practically feel her brain bouncing around her skull as she immediately collapsed… Blacking out momentarily…