Megumi sat in her room, hugging her knees as she stared listlessly at the far wall. She felt guilty for running out and leaving Erina at the hall, but she just couldn't take it. She couldn't handle seeing what Sōma had become. What he'd turned into.

She pulled out her cellphone, opening the screen and scrolling to a familiar message thread. It was archived, the number no longer in service, but she'd kept the contents and, after Sōma had left, she'd looked at it almost every day.

Tadokoro…you may have heard by the time you read this, but I'm leaving. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but I'll be back, don't worry. I've asked the rest of the guys to help look after Nakiri, and I'd like you to pitch in with her too. Get her used to being something other than a sheltered noble, ok? Make her work for it! Show her what it means to be a real member of the Polar Star Dorm. I wish I could say goodbye in person. You were…you meant a lot to me.

It was that message that had sent Megumi off in tears what felt like forever ago. The message she'd received after the abrupt departure of her treasured friend. She'd sent a response, struggling to read her phone screen through her teary vision, as she ignored the plaintive calls of Ryoko and Yuki at her door.

Sōma-kun…why are you doing this? What's going on? Why did you hit the director?

She waited, watching her phone, hopping it would buzz and light up, but it stayed dark, and she continued to cry, until she found that she wasn't alone in her room anymore. Isshiki had appeared, as if by magic, and his arms were open and inviting. She hadn't hesitated, throwing her arms around him and crying tearfully into his chest as he stroked her back. She'd asked him to tell her that this wasn't happening, that this wasn't real, but he'd had nothing to say. He refused to do her the disservice of lying.

Megumi's text went unanswered and she later found that the rest of her classmates had met with similar results, so she had resigned herself to the same treatment. But, two days afterwards, she got a call while she was on her way to class. The number was unfamiliar but she picked it up, unfailingly polite.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Tadokoro Megumi speaking."

"Tadokoro-chan."

Megumi gasped, the voice on the line unmistakable.

"Sōma-kun! Where are you, how are you doing? We've all been so-"

"Tadokoro-chan."

She paused, her curiosity stemmed by both the interruption and the tone of her friend's voice. She'd never heard him sound so…defeated. She knew her friend could be a sore loser at times, but even at his lowest point, he was still always ready for a rematch. Even his loss to Hayama had only made him want to work even harder. He saw each day as an opportunity to surpass the Sōma of yesterday, to push his cooking to unexpectedly new heights.

But this…there was none of the usual defiance in Sōma's tone. He simply sounded weary and resigned, as if he'd finally found something he couldn't beat with sheer tenacity and willpower. The thought was unthinkable to Megumi. To her, there wasn't anything in this world that could keep Sōma down for long. He'd just come back twice as fierce and three times as inventive and find a way to win. This was something she'd started to believe ever since her first class with the Yukihira chef, and her conviction had only grown stronger with time.

Now…she found herself doubting that belief. And it terrified her.

"Listen…I…."

He sighed, the noise breaking her heart just a little bit.

"I can't explain everything. Not now. Maybe…maybe someday. But I needed to talk to you. I just needed to tell you some things, at least. I know it wouldn't make up for what happened, but…"

"No, Sōma-kun! No need to apologize." She hurriedly assured him. "You haven't done anything wrong."

Sōma laughed, the sound a shell of what it used to be.

"Not yet, maybe. I wonder if you'll say that in the future."

The dry tone of his voice made the cryptic statement all the more ominous, and Megumi felt like she was missing something. Something very important. But she didn't have the heart to pressure her friend. Not when she had only just gotten him back into her life.

"So, Sōma-kun, is this your new cell number then?"

"Eh?"

The boy paused, before laughing. A sound of genuine warmth that made Megumi miss him all the more, even as it lightened her heart. She was glad to know that some things didn't change.

"No, no. There'd be no point saving this number, Tadokoro-chan. I'm not supposed to be on it as it is. I'm sure I'll pay for this call later."

Tadokoro blinked, nonplussed.

"Oh…are you wasting someone else's minutes or something?"

Sōma sighed again, the noise causing the earpiece to crackle.

"Not exactly. Anyway, it's not important. I don't know how much time I'll have on the phone, and there's some things I need to tell you. Things are gonna be quiet at Tōtsuki for a while. I can't get into the details, but there's going to be a calm period. Central's gonna ease up and go silent for…I'm not sure, maybe a month? But after that, things are going to be…different."

Megumi found herself hanging onto her friend's every word. She'd never heard him sound so serious.

"I don't know what form things will take, but the Azami administration's going to come out swinging twice as hard for anyone who's not willing to bend. I need you to-"

"Hey, what're you doing?"

A third voice came on the line, startling Megumi. It was the gruff voice of a man, who seemed none too pleased.

"Ah, gomenasai Tadokoro-chan. My time's up it seems. And I didn't even really get to explain anything. Well, it was good speaking to you, you were always-"

The line went dead, and Megumi looked at her phone frantically.

"Sōma-kun? Sōma-kun?!"

'Call Disconnected' blared at her in bright red text. She tried calling the number back, but the call refused to go through, claiming that the number was invalid.

That oddly cryptic, three minute phone call was the last time she'd spoken to Sōma. Until today, that is.

A knock on her door roused Megumi from her thoughts. She rubbed at her eyes, furiously scrubbing away any stray tears before getting up and opening the door.

She was met by the disgruntled face of the former tenth seat. She had her arms folded and was biting her lip in that way that Megumi had come to learn meant that she was annoyed, but couldn't decide if she was the one at fault or misunderstanding something.

"You left me."

Megumi averted her eyes, shifting behind the door frame a bit.

"I…I know. Sorry, Erina-chan. I just…I couldn't stay."

What she left unsaid was that it had more to do with how she felt towards Erina than the previously absent red head.

Erina looked at her friend questioningly, trying to catch her gaze but even she was able to tell when someone was purposely avoiding meeting her eyes. She resisted the urge to snap at the girl for her avoidance, fighting against her tempestuous nature. She'd learnt restraint, among other things, during her time among the 'commoners' of Polar Star.

Here, she wasn't Erina Nakiri, God's Tongue and heiress to the most prominent family of the culinary world.

Well, that wasn't completely true. She certainly still WAS all of those things (She had only to think of what had become known as "Tasting Tuesdays" to be uncomfortably aware of that fact)

It was more that here, in these walls, those things didn't matter. Here, she was treated as simply Erina, for better or worse. And Erina the Polar Star Dormitory resident wasn't above anyone. And she certainly wasn't going to snap at a friend who'd done nothing wrong just because she was feeling insecure.

Instead, she smiled, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder, causing her to start.

"It's alright, Megumi-chan. I know seeing Yukihira-kun like that must have been difficult. It definitely caught me off guard."

Erina thought back to how he'd appeared on the stage. All calm and collected, yet devoid of all of the life that had made him so frustratingly…him.

"I wish we had more information. I really don't know why Yukihira-kun would just switch sides like that. It doesn't seem like the type of thing he'd do at all. Right?"

She looked to her friend for confirmation, who nodded, still keeping her eyes on the floor.

"I can only assume it's part of some agenda Father has. Maybe through some deal to keep Sōma in Tōtsuki after what happened three months ago? But that still doesn't make sense. Sōma seemed like the type of guy who'd rather leave Tōtsuki before ever lining up with someone like my father."

Erina grasped her chin, looking to the sky as she closed her eyes.

"Yukihira...just what leverage does my father have over you?"

Distracted as she was, Erina was not prepared for the shove she received. It wasn't very forceful, barely more than a push, but it was still rather abrupt and it caused her to stumble backwards out of the doorway with a small yelp as she tried to not lose her footing. She looked up, only in time to catch the barest glimpse of Megumi's ponytails as she shut the door.

"Sorry Erina-chan. I really need to start working on Isane-sensei's homework. We'll talk more later, ok?"

The words were a bit muffled, as they came through the door, and Erina found herself more startled than anything else. She'd never seen Megumi push her away like this before, and the shift in behavior was more than a little concerning (and hurtful, though she'd never admit it). She reached out, knocking softly on the door.

"Megumi-chan, are you alright?"

"I'm…I'm fine, Erina-chan. I just really need to get a jump on this assignment. Thank you."

Erina tried to convince herself that her friend's voice sounded patchy because of the thick wood in between them.

"Well…okay. If you need anything, you know you can-"

"Just go."

The interruption wasn't very loud but it was forceful and snappish, two words that weren't often used to describe Tadokoro Megumi. Erina felt the guilt gnaw at her again, the raw tone in her friend's voice concerning her. She'd been hoping to talk to Megumi further about Sōma, and what they could do, but she could see that Megumi was in no mood for it.

She was desperate to question her further, to see if her suspicions were correct about whether Megumi did indeed blame her for what Sōma had become. But she couldn't bring herself to and so, with a muttered farewell, she left.

Heading towards the kitchen, lost in thought, Erina was almost bowled over by her cousin as she rounded a corner.

"Alice!" she cried, steadying the other Nakiri. She frowned, releasing her cousin's shoulders.

"You should really watch where you're going. If-"

"No time cousin!" Alice sang, grabbing Erina and dragging her. She ignored the blonde's protests and Erina found she could do little but follow along. When Alice got in a mood, it was best to just ride it out.

"What's the meaning of this?" she asked as she relented to being led like a child by her exuberant relative.

"It seems Sōma-kun is about to show whether he can actually back up all that talking he did today."

Erina found her interest peaked, and she snatched her sleeve from her cousin's grip, accelerating her pace to walk beside her, their steps taking them towards the main foyer.

"What do you mean Alice? What's going on?"

Alice turned to her cousin, a mixture of excitement and mirth in her eyes.

"Why, what else?"

Shokugeki.

The two Nakiris entered the dining room, where the other residents had already pulled up chairs before the large TV. Most of their circle of friends had also shown up, drawn to the dorm by a desire for news on their erstwhile colleague in arms. Ikumi Mito was discussing something heatedly with Aldini Takumi, gesticulating at the screen, where the stock preliminary footage for Tōtsuki Shokugekis was playing.

Erina and Alice shuffled into the seats their respective aides had pulled up for them just in time for the footage to cut to a view of Urara Kawashima. The school idol smiled and waved, to cheers from the crowd and her adoring fans. She greeted them enthusiastically before diving straight into a recap of the events that led to why they were all here today.

It seemed Central was wasting no time, and had started processing the backlog of Shokugeki requests days ago, scheduling bouts in preparation for their 'awakening'. The first one up was the French Cuisine RS, one of Tōtsuki's more popular societies. French cuisine was renowned the world over, Tōtsuki being no exception, and it showed in the robust membership and activities of the research society.

The captain, a short girl with buns in her dark brown hair and a determined expression was Morino Naru. She hailed from Paris, and was considered one of the leading experts in French cuisine at Tōtsuki. While she had never been a part of the Elite Ten council, she had been a contender in the Autumn Elections of her own year, placing into the tournament itself before losing in the first round to Terunori Kuga. She was certainly a force to be reckoned with.

Sōma stared at her from across the floor, his golden gaze inscrutable. His arms were folded and he didn't react when the school idol had introduced him, ignoring the smattering of applause he'd received in contrast to Naru's round of cheering. It was clear who the crowd favorite was here today.

The boy wore a crisp, black chef's uniform that looked like it had never seen the light of day, let alone the inside of a kitchen. His hair was free in its usual mass of disheveled spikes, left unfettered with his white cooking head cloth conspicuously absent. With his polished shoes and straight posture completing the look, he was the picture of a professional chef. The only abnormality was the silver chain that hung in three snug loops around his left wrist.

Urura reminded the audience of the stakes; if the French Cuisine Research Society emerged victorious, they would remain on as a Central approved organization, with a greatly increased budget and additional land allocated to them. If they lost, they would be disbanded and their assets would all be surrendered to Yukihira Sōma.

"Sōma would keep the seized assets himself?" Hisako questioned. The purple haired girl was perplexed. "I assumed Azami-sama would choose to simply retain the spoils for himself and Central. Why would he let Sōma-kun keep them?"

Erina shrugged at her close friend. Even when he'd been a more…driving influence in her life, she couldn't claim to ever truly understand most of the things her father did.

"Maybe it's like a reward? Something to dangle in front of Yukihira-kun, to keep him satisfied with his position?"

This, and a few other theories circulated briefly amongst the spectating dorm as the contestants returned to their stations. Urara proclaimed that the theme was native French cuisine and suddenly, the match was underway as she shouted for both of them to start cooking.

The stage was silent, but tense as pots clanged, stoves were switched on and cutting boards were placed. Each chef was completely focused on their appointed task. The onlookers watched in awe at the precision with which they displayed, even towards something as mundane as laying out their prepared ingredients, or assembling their utensils. Each movement was smooth, evidence of the long hours these cooks had spent honing their skills.

Seventeen minutes in to the challenge, Sōma lowered the heat on his pot, turned to Naru and spoke, projecting his toneless voice so that all watching could hear.

"Morino. What say you to raising the stakes?"

Naru's knife was a blur of silver, moving through the assembled vegetables. She paused, setting her knife down and glancing at the black clothed chef.

"What dishonest trick have you prepared now, Central dog?"

Sōma's lips quirked.

"I assure you there are no tricks. Merely a simple offer. I wager my seat on the Elite Ten. In exchange for you wagering your continued tenure at Tōtsuki."

If Naru had been a less experienced chef, her surprise would've cost her a batch of mushrooms. As it were, she merely continued chopping, sliding the quartered pieces to the side, calmly grouping them with the other ingredients she'd prepared.

The spectators' reactions were nowhere near as controlled. The crowd got roused again, shouting a combination of encouragement for Naru and abuse at Sōma. The seats manned by the other representatives were among the loudest, pushing their leader to accept and show the upstart his place. Not to mention the massive boon it would be to have an Elite Ten member for a leader.

Those watching from the Polar Star Dormitory were in varied states of disbelief. A seat on the Elite Ten, even the lowest, wasn't worth a single student's expulsion, even if that student was the president of one of Tōtsuki's more prominent research societies.

Naru turned to her pot, checking the contents before sliding in a portion of the ingredients inside of it and stirring. As she continued to stir, she turned her head, barely catching Sōma's eye.

"You would really seek to lose your seat after less than a day in it?"

"I have no intentions of losing my seat. But if you beat me, you are more than welcome to it."

"I accept your terms, Yukihira. Now leave me to my cooking."

Sōma nodded, bowing slightly, before turning to their host.

"Kawashima-san. Please announce the stakes revision and confirm it with the judges."

The dark haired girl nodded perkily, announcing to the crowd what had just occurred, even though most of them had been more than capable of hearing the exchange itself. She bounced over to the judges, who confirmed the revision, and approved it, more as a formality than anything else.

Sōma then walked back to his own station, adjusting the heat of the burner he'd lowered. He said nothing else for the remainder of the cooking time, chopping, heating and stirring in complete silence. Even his motions were almost silent, no extra noise being made. No clangs from clashing silverware or rough knocks from the knife hitting the cutting board.

If you closed your eyes, and ignored the smell, you would almost believe there was no one in the kitchen at Sōma's station.

After a while of intense but silent competition, Urara declared that time was up. Not that she really needed to. Both chefs had already plated and brought their food forward on carts before the judges, the very picture of punctuality. There was no mad scramble to add a last minute garnish or desperate attempt to simmer the sauce just a tad bit more. Such amateurish behavior had no place at Tōtsuki.

"First up, we have Sōma Yukihira's dish. Would you mind telling the crowd what it is, Sōma-kun?"

Sōma looked down at the girl who was all smiles as she held the mic before him. He spoke softly, his words clear.

"Cassoulet au Canard. A casserole prominently featuring duck and baked white beans."

He stared at Urara who stared back, nonplussed. After a few decidedly awkward seconds, she retracted the mic, realizing that it was all the Central enforcer had to say. She recovered quickly and turned to the judges, who'd already had covered plates set in front of them.

The first judge removed the covering, gently wafting the aroma towards his face. Almost immediately, he was thrown back in his seat by the heavenly flavors that assaulted his nose. He wasted no time and picked up a spoon, dipping it into the casserole and taking a bite.

Soon, the second and third judges followed his lead, removing their own coverings and starting to eat.

After a few bites each though, it was clear something was…off. The judges all ate only a few spoonfuls apiece before stopping, pushing their plates to the side. They all wore decidedly negative expressions.

"Morino Naru. Present your dish."

The first judge's voice had lost all warmth. He almost sounded angry. It was clear that Sōma's dish was responsible for the sudden shift in mood.

The crowd picked up on this and the excitement started to build again. Clearly, the arrogant first year had bitten off more than he could chew, and had made some error in his dish. No one could fault his process, it had seemed technically perfect from where they were sitting, but it didn't take much to ruin a dish. Not at the level of cooking that was the Tōtsuki Shokugeki.

Sōma's face still sat expressionless, his gaze unflinching as he watched Naru wheel her cart forward, setting the plates down before the judges. Urara walked over to the second year, with the mic held out to her.

Luckily the girl was clearly in a more generous mood than her opponent, especially as she saw her win just on the horizon.

"The dish I prepared is Coq au Vin. Simply put, chicken in wine sauce. The wine used was a premium vintage Bordeaux, aged twenty two years, imported directly from my family's personal vineyard on the outskirts of the city itself. Our vineyard is considered one of the premier wine producers in the region, and a bottle can easily go for over forty thousand yen."

Naru pushed up her glasses, her calm abandoned in the face of her excitement.

"I marinated the chicken with the wine and diced onions overnight, to both tenderize the meat and add flavor. I used garlic and seasoning salt to give it an extra kick that blends perfectly with the wine's mellow undertones. Coq au Vin, Aigu."

The judges had removed the coverings and they looked down at the plates with frowns on their faces. They picked up their utensils and slowly started to eat, but their pace increased with each forkful. Smiles had broken out among them and they extolled the dish before them.

"What is this? The sharp tang of the seasoning is indeed offset perfectly by the wine!"

"And the mushrooms! Oh the mushrooms! They're so tender, I could eat a meal made up of the mushrooms alone!"

The judges continued eating, cutlery scraping forcefully against the plates, until nothing outside of a few sauce stains were left between all three of them. They patted their faces with napkins, happily discussing the wonderful meal they'd just been served. Urara smiled brightly, almost twirling as she approached the table.

"Are our judges ready to make their decision?"

The three judges smiled happily, nodding. Naru smirked, looking over at the soon to be former tenth seat. She wondered how soon she could get her name placard made and hung in the Nakiri family mansion.

With a click, each judge pressed a button, locking in their vote. The numbers flashed bright and yellow on the display screen. The score was three to zero. A unanimous decision.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen! The results are in. In a stunning 3-0 knockout, the winner of this Shokugeki is Morino Naru!"

A few members of the crowd cheered, but they were drowned out by the confused conversations taking place. Everyone in the audience seemed at a loss for words, trying to figure out just what exactly they were seeing. Urara looked out across the crowd, hiding her frustration as she continued to beam happily. What were they doing? They were supposed to cheer for her. She didn't spend an hour in the mirror teasing her hair for this sort of treatment!

"Excuse me, young miss."

The host looked away, turning to look towards the second judge, who'd been the one to address her. The happiness he'd displayed at Naru's dish was all gone and he'd instead reverted to the moderate frown he'd worn after two bites of Sōma's. She saw Naru standing off to the side, looking rather devastated for someone who'd just won a seat on the Elite Ten, which set off a few warning bells in the school idol's head.

"You need to actually look at the board, instead of announcing things based on your assumptions."

Urara wondered briefly what he meant, before two obvious thoughts connected, and she gasped, turning and staring up at the board that she'd neglected to examine further. She'd just gotten a brief glimpse of the score before she'd turned away to make her final announcement, trying to capitalize on the hype of the recently delivered votes. She'd thought that Morino Naru was the winner. It had seemed obvious. The judges had nothing but glowing praise for her dish, where they had surly silence for Sōma's.

But no. There displayed clearly on the board was the result of the match.

Yukihira Sōma – 3

Morino Naru – 0

The crowd was still in the midst of its confusion, which was probably the only reason things hadn't gotten much more raucous, so Urara decided to try and hurriedly correct her error:

"Gomen, gomen! It seems Urara-chan misspoke. The winner of the Shokugeki is in fact Yukihira Sōma! Per the agreements set forth, the French Cuisine RS will be immediately disbanded and all its resources allocated to Sōma's possession!"

The crowd was none too pleased at the reversal, and they showed as much, shouting down at the stage. They would've probably thrown things if such a reaction wasn't expressly forbidden at official Shokugeki matches, on threat of expulsion.

"Kawashima-san. Don't neglect to announce the results brought about by the revisions as well." Sōma said mildly, looking over at his opponent, who'd taken off her glasses and tucked them into her pocket, attempting to gain some measure of control over her expression. Her face seemed frozen in the stunned expression of someone who'd just had the rug pulled out from under them.

Urara looked uncomfortable at Sōma's directive. She'd officiated more than one Shokugeki that had ended in a student being expelled. It was common practice to simply announce the winner in those cases, letting the loser leave the stage with a modicum of dignity. It was simply good manners.

She lowered the mic, leaning towards him.

"Sōma-kun. Is that…really necessary? No one is disputing the claim, it's just that…"

Sōma looked down at the girl, his previously blank eyes now filled with steel. In a calm voice that didn't seem to have changed, but felt much more dangerous, he spoke.

"Announce the results. Properly."

Urara looked away, unwilling to hold his gaze. She raised the mic to her lips.

"In…in addition, in accordance with the revision to the stakes accepted by both parties, Morino Naru is immediately expelled from Tōtsuki Culinary Academy."

The crowd emanated an almost palpable air of disgust. They booed at both the transfer student's victory and the unnecessary humiliation he was forcing the former president to undergo.

Naru stood straight, head held high as she started to cross the stage and head for the back exit. As she passed by Urara, the girl gave her an apologetic glance. But as she passed by her opponent, he called out to her.

"Morino."

She stopped. Unwilling to turn back to look at the man who'd forced her from her place at the most prestigious cooking school in the world.

"As of this moment, you are no longer a Tōtsuki student. Please turn over your school issued blazer and tie."

Naru gritted her teeth, as discontented grumbling spread throughout the crowd. As if she wasn't ashamed enough.

"If you are dressed immodestly beneath it, then-"

Sōma didn't get to finish whatever he was going to say, as Naru practically threw the garments in his direction. The blazer and tie fluttered to the ground at Sōma's feet. He made no move to pick them up.

Beneath, Naru was clad in the standard, white collared shirt that most students wore beneath their uniforms. She spun on her heel with as much dignity as she could muster, disappearing into the back of the stage.

Sōma looked at where she'd disappeared for a moment, before walking towards the doors as well.

"No way in hell!"

The voice was one from the crowd, a particularly loud heckler.

"Yea! There's no way you beat Morino-senpai at French cuisine, it's impossible!"

"Did you see how the judges were looking at his dish? No way they chose the winner impartially! Central's probably fixing matches again!"

"Yea, this is bullshit!"

The complaints started to increase in volume and Urara waved her hands anxiously, trying to calm the crowd down and make herself heard. Her efforts were in vain, as everyone ignored the cute idol in favor of getting their points across.

Sōma stared out at the growing tide of angry students. He waited, letting their tempers flare up in indignant self-righteousness, before gesturing to Urara. The girl looked between him and the audience hesitantly before walking over to where he stood on the stage, standing over the remains of his fallen opponent like some vengeful battle spirit.

He took the mic from her unresisting grip, and the crowd quieted, their anger down to a simmer as they restrained themselves, waiting to see what Central's newest puppet had to say for itself.

"I am nothing like my associate, Eizan-san. I have no need nor desire to trick anyone. If I won, it's because my cooking was superior. Plain and simple."

He walked over to one of the carts, where the remainder of Naru's Coq au Vin, Aigu sat in the pot. He picked up a spoon, stirring the mixture lightly before scooping out a small sample. He eyed the spoon carefully before raising it to his lips. He put it in his mouth, closing his eyes as he chewed.

After a few seconds, he swallowed but his eyes remained close. The atmosphere was tense. No one knew just exactly what Sōma was attempting to prove. He'd already won, after all.

His eyes snapped open, causing those near enough to see his expression to flinch. The intensity in them was something different. Something that his earlier flat, dispassionate stares couldn't compare to. As he spoke, his previous cold manner of address and flat tone was overridden by one that seemed much more precise and regal. Sharp and biting in its condemnation.

"This dish has fourteen flaws. Six negligible, five minor, and three major. The onions aren't fresh, the sharpness they deliver to the meal is too acute, much the way they would taste if they were substituted for dried onion powder. The heat should've been lowered by at least twenty more degrees after the wine was added; as it stands, the heat broke down the alcohol much too quickly for its properties to properly embed itself in the chicken, leaving the flavor of the wine more hit-and-miss throughout the food where it should've been evenly distributed."

Sōma put the spoon down where he'd found it, clearly not interested in taking a second bite.

"In short, the dish is more than adequate as a meal for consumption. But it pales before my cooking, and is less than trash to someone with a palate as refined as mine."

The familiar phrasing and manner of speech was jarring. Everyone stared, shocked as the red head's expression faded, resuming its past blank neutrality. Despite this, the specter of a haughty woman with long, honey blonde hair and deep purple eyes was practically visible behind the Yukihira, glaring out at them. Everyone was more than familiar with the God Tongue's ridiculous high level of both precision and accuracy, and to see it parroted so effectively was eerie. The parallel was only made that much stronger by the fact that the boy in front of them had taken the seat of the true God's Tongue not twenty four hours ago.

At the dorm, the expressions varied between shock, indignation and amusement, as everyone turned to look at the girl Sōma was clearly emulating. Erina was staring at the screen, at a loss for words. She wasn't there in the arena, so she couldn't confirm or deny any of the judgements Sōma had just made, but he'd certainly sounded like she did after a tasting. Right down to her derisive, upper class tone.

Satoshi smiled, unruffled by the events.

"Well, it seems like Sōma has progressed quite far in the months he's been gone."

His cheerful words broke the silence, and Ikumi Mito rounded on him snappishly.

"Is that really the best you can come up with after seeing…seeing…"

The busty ganguro struggled, waving her arm vaguely at the television where Sōma still stood, looking out at the crowd as people murmured, much more quietly than they had before, in an odd mix of awe and fear.

Satoshi's smile remained beatific.

"It's certainly more than a bit surprising, Ikumi-san."

"I'm impressed at Sōma's talents with mimicry." Noted Marui, adjusting his glasses uncomfortably. He was just as unhappy with the change in their friend, but his studious side couldn't help but make the clinical observation. "Imitating the God's Tongue, even in mere appearance, isn't something to take lightly."

"That was no simple imitation."

The speaker was Alice, who stared at the screen, intensely staring at the retreating back of the Yukihira chef as he exited the stage amidst wary silence, the discarded uniform held in a bundle under his arm as he left the arena before the camera panned out and away.

She picked up the remote, thumbing the buttons. The channel shifted to a large animated kangaroo hopping up and down on a trampoline, and she squeaked before rapidly pressing even more buttons.

Ryo looked at his mistress, whose cheeks were red as she continued pressing buttons on the remote, seemingly at random, causing the TV to have what seemed to be an electronic panic attack. With a sigh, he leaned over and took the remote from her hands, pressing two keys that brought it back to the previous Tōtsuki channel.

Alice coughed, pointedly ignoring the snickering she heard coming from behind her.

"Much thanks, Ryo-kun. Now, if you would be so kind, can you rewind the channel to see Sōma's evaluation of the dish?"

"Ojou…cable TV doesn't work quite in that manner."

Alice's cheeks puffed up, before she turned from her aide, as if he was to blame for her misstep.

Proceeding onwards, despite her lack of visual aid, Alice said

"Sōma-kun's face, when he opened his eyes after tasting the dish, looked quite familiar. The way he placed the spoon in his mouth, the way his tongue darted around inside his cheeks, clearly attacking the sample of food from all angles. The way his eyes were set, as if staring into the distance at something no one else could see. "

Any humor that had been on Alice's face drained away, as she looked at her cousin, who was looking down at her hands, silent.

"I've only seen one other person taste food like that. I can't say what Sōma is doing, or how he's doing it. But he's not just critiquing the dish like any regular chef or food critic. That was…something else."

The other residents of the dorm were nowhere near as familiar with Erina's palate as her cousin, but they could easily see what she alluding to. What Sōma had done was more than just your average food tasting. But there was also only one wielder of the God's Tongue. Both of these were facts, yet they seemed so contradictory.

"Anyway." Ibusaki Shun interjected, in his quiet direct manner. "We should focus on what's important here. We can ask Sōma all the questions we want once we get him back."

His quiet certainty changed the mood of the room almost instantly, and Ryoko grinned at the stoic Smoking specialist.

"I like the way you think, Shun-kun."

"We can't leave Sōma as he is. He's one of us, for better or worse." chimed in Yuki, determination lighting her eyes from within.

The warmth spread as the other students in the room went back and forth, exchanging promises to help their friend. Even Ryo, stoic as he was, agreed to lend his assistance, claiming that beating Yukihira as he was now would hold no meaning to the berserk chef.

A select few notably refrained from saying anything, finding themselves unaffected by the changed air.

"I'm afraid it won't be that easy."

The one who'd spoken was, to almost everyone's shock, Megumi. She sat at the edge of the crowd, and had stayed noticeably silent throughout the majority of the broadcast. Her eyes were hidden by her hair as she stared into her lap.

"Sōma-kun…he's…he's different, everyone. I don't think we can just invite him back for a party."

She sounded despondent, hopeless. The girl who'd been one of Sōma's staunchest supporters, even after he'd left with nothing but a few insubstantial text messages in his wake. Satoshi eyed the girl, wondering just what had changed. He hadn't missed the notable dip her demeanor seemed to have taken that evening, compared to how she was in the morning while they were tending to the yard.

Satoshi's gaze shifted to Erina, who was staring at the blue haired girl in concern. She noticed Satoshi's stare and looked away, but not before the second year caught a glimpse of…something. He couldn't be certain what.

"Erina-chan. Did something happen today?"

His words cut all the conversations in the room short, as the focus shifted to the blonde. She fidgeted, uncomfortable under so many eyes, even if they were her friends.

"That's right cousin!" Alice exclaimed, clapping her hands together in surprise. "We've all been so caught up with Sōma-kun's antics, that we haven't even addressed the issue of your seat!"

Yuki clapped her hands together, smiling.

"Oh, that's right! Erina-chii! What seat are you on the Elite Ten now? Ninth? Eighth?"

Erina looked back questioningly, before understanding dawned on her.

"Yuki-san, I've…as of this afternoon, I've been officially dismissed from the Elite Ten."

This time, the reaction in the room was almost unanimously one of shock and confusion. As they probed for details, Erina gave them a brief overview of what had occurred. She was forced to backtrack several times as people kept asking questions, and she found herself turning red as she learnt that, outside of Ryo and Alice, everyone had indeed known that Sōma's father was one Yukihira (née Saiba) Joichiro.

She lashed out immediately, waving her fists at Daigo and Shoji as they laughed at her confusion. Alice traitorously asked Erina if this was the chef that "made her heart flutter", setting off an entirely new round of laughter at the heiress' expense that ended with Erina angrily yelling at Alice for exposing sacred Nakiri family business.

After all was said and done, it took almost an hour for Erina to finish her tale, and Satoshi turned to Megumi, who'd been content to let Erina do most of the talking.

"So you spoke to Sōma-kun earlier today then, Megumi-chan?"

Megumi nodded, hands folded in her lap. Her expression hadn't changed, still as unhappy as it had been previously, uninfected by the trademark joviality that was the bread and butter of the Polar Star Dorm.

"What did he say?"

Megumi hesitated, looking around at her friends.

"Megumi-chan, if you don't want to tell us, that's fine." Satoshi said gently.

Megumi sighed, looking down into her lap. She released her hands, choosing to stroke at her skirt instead, smoothing out imaginary wrinkles.

"No, it's fine Isshiki-senpai. It wasn't a very long conversation, regardless. I tried to ask Sōma-kun about how he was, and where he'd been, but he wasn't very responsive. He just kept telling me that he was fine, and that he thanked me for my concern. He also thanked me for…"

At this, Megumi's hands clenched, rumpling the material they sat on. She didn't continue, but her breathing was heavy and hitched. Yuki leaned over, rubbing her back soothingly.

"It's fine, Megumi-chan. We're here for you. We can fix this."

Megumi took some small comfort in the bun haired girl's words, and her shoulders grew noticeably less tense. She continued on, as if she'd never stopped speaking.

"He thanked me for all of the help I'd given him over the past year. And he wanted me to convey his thanks to all of you. And to tell you that he was sorry. He was sorry for burdening all of us with his…his natural lack of skill and talent."

Before Nakiri-sama found me, I didn't deserve to be at this school. I was a substandard chef that coasted on the coat tails of those I would have called my friends. For that, you have my sincerest apologies, Tadokoro-san.

"There's no way…"

Takumi looked at the blue haired girl, trying to see if she was attempting to deceive them, or perhaps playing some cruel joke.

"If any of our generation deserved to be at Tōtsuki, it was Yukihira. Why would he say something so blatantly untrue?"

"And what was that story him and Azami-sama spun for everyone at the main hall a little while ago?" Ikumi piped up, arms folded below her chest. She looked incensed, an angry blush across her dusky cheeks.

"I've never heard such bullshit. Yukihira was in the Autumn Elections for goodness' sake! Does he think we're all gonna just buy some trumped up slander like that?"

"No." Erina spoke, inserting her opinion into the discussion.

"Father would never be so naïve. Yukihira-kun's accomplishments are…notable. There's no way the incompetent hack my father presented in that fiction would've made it past the first week, let alone through the gauntlet of events that our freshman class has been through."

"Which begs the question as to why Azami-oji even bothered to try and sell it to us." Alice said, her red eyes narrowed as she shared a glance with her cousin.

"The director wasn't trying to sell that story."

Everyone turned to the figure of Isshiki Satoshi, who'd long changed into his fundoshi. He sat, reclining against the window sill, staring out into the forest that made up the outskirts of the Polar Star Dorm's grounds.

"Sōma-kun has accomplished far too much in his time here. There's simply no way a man like Azami Nakiri expected to convince any of us that one of the top contenders of the Jewels generation was a fraud, through and through."

"Then why bother with the story at all?" queried Takumi, glancing over at Erina, as if to find some insight.

"Power."

Erina's gaze was downcast. She hid her hand behind her back, a familiar twitch arising for the first time in months. She cursed mentally as she felt the ice start to creep into her brain, helped along by the guilt that had been weighing on her mind all afternoon. She felt her chest start to shrink, as her heart seemed to thump in her ears, beginning to overpower all other sounds.

Suddenly, Erina found a warm hand in hers, and she looked up, to lock eyes with Megumi, who'd gotten up from her chair and crossed the room faster than she would've believed. She held Erina's hand in hers, squeezing it firmly, conveying the support and warmth that was inherently Tadokoro Megumi.

Her face was still conflicted, but her eyes were strong. Displaying the inner strength and conviction that had let her go head to head against the Mad Dog in his own specialty. She clearly hadn't fully gotten over what had happened today, and Erina still had no idea if she blamed her for what happened to Yukihira, but she was there, and her eyes said what her mouth didn't.

You are stronger than this. I am here for you. You are my friend.

She gently pried open Erina's right hand, tracing a character into the slightly curled palm. A familiar one. Erina smiled, the ice beat back by a warm feeling she hadn't realized she'd been missing. She raised her hand to her lips, 'eating' the character her friend had drawn, before tracing it again herself. She smiled at her hands, which remained still and calm, before smiling up at her friend, who smiled back, albeit a little sadly.

She gave Megumi's hand one final squeeze, before releasing it to turn back to the rest of their friends, who tried (and failed) to appear as if they hadn't been watching the exchange curiously.

"As I said, it's about power. And control. Yukihira-kun was one of the top students in our grade, as Isshiki-senpai mentioned."

The brunette quirked an eyebrow, a small smile on his lips.

"Do you not agree, Erina-chan?" he asked teasingly.

Erina blushed, looking away and folding her arms, before continuing on nonetheless.

"Irrelevant! Regardless of what I think, that is how he was perceived. He then went on to beat one of the Elite Ten in a Shokugeki that succeeded in partially overturning one of the first rulings my father had made as director of Tōtsuki. He singlehandedly made the Azami administration appear weak."

Erina touched her wrist idly.

"Azami Nakiri doesn't appreciate weakness. In any form. He would take any steps needed to correct such a problem."

"And Sōma-kun's impulsiveness gave him the opportunity to do just that." Ikumi muttered, eyes wide as she thought back to the night when he'd left. She hadn't been in the dorm at the time, but she'd received her own farewell text from the Yukihira chef, and had been mightily furious, seeking him out the very next day only to find that he hadn't been playing some sick joke on her.

"Sōma-kun was set to be one of the leaders of your generation in the fight against Central. Despite the bad blood he'd generated at orientation with his careless words, he was well liked, and his influence would only grow as he continued to make new friends and triumph over adversity."

Satoshi looked at the stars, twinkling so high above the Earth. Far and away from the petty problems of those stuck walking on the ground.

"In one fell swoop, Azami-sama gained a powerful pawn and the Jewels Generation lost one of its best. He got the man who'd sworn to use even the first seat of the Elite Ten as a stepping stone to admit before the world that he was nothing but a nameless cook, leeching off of the success of others."

Satoshi's face was stone.

"That inconsistent farce of a story showed the entire academy that he owns Sōma. That he took the most willfully defiant student in the entire school and broke him."

A/N: Hello there readers! As you can see, due to both my love for Shokugeki no Soma and the VERY positive feedback I've received on the first chapter, I've decided to continue this fic! I've officially set the story to In Progress now and I hope you all enjoy. Let me know what you think of the story.

Also, I recently learnt that I was misspelling my own story's name this whole time! It should be Nisegami, not Nisekami. So I've changed it, I hope this isn't too confusing for anyone! Anyway, hope you all enjoyed chapter two, and are looking forward to the next one!