Waifu Wars: A Food Wars Fanfic

Ch. 112 A Night At Nakiri Manor, Part One

"Fine...ask away," said Soma, conceding defeat.

It had only been a practice match, though its intensity would have led any spectators to question if that were true. This was practically a daily occurrence for Soma and Torrey, and while both competitors had enjoyed a fair share of victories over the course of the school year, each loss still left a painful mark on their egos.

"Thanks for judging, Ibusaki," said Torrey, nodding toward the other person in the room. It was only right that he acknowledged Ibusaki for his help, though he was also drawing this out in an effort to annoy Soma. This effort was a success.

Shun Ibusaki's curly red mop of hair obscured his eyes, as usual. Along with Torrey and Soma, Ibusaki was a member of the going home club, so his afternoons were usually free. Unless he was also competing in a Shokugeki, of course.

"Anytime. Thanks for the food," said Ibusaki, offering a wave on his way out of the room. He never spoke for any longer than the situation dictated.

"Just ask already! Claim the spoils of victory!" said Soma, his irritation clearly peaking. Torrey was enjoying this, perhaps too much.

"Hmm...sure you don't want to debrief about the match? You might learn something that could help you in the next one," said Torrey, grinning smugly.

"No, I don't," said Soma, straight-faced. "It wasn't even official, anyways. But mark my words, Waldenpond. Someday soon, we'll have a real Shokugeki. And it'll be the talk of the school!"

"All right, settle down and I'll ask the question. It's pretty serious," said Torrey, finally ready to cash in on his wager.

"Phew...go ahead," said Soma, after taking a deep breath. Torrey looked him right in the eye, with a gaze intense enough to make even the first seat uncomfortable.

"If you were in my situation, who would you pick?"

"Are you still worried about being dodgeball captain in PE tomorrow? Obviously you should take Hojo with your first pick. I can't believe you beat me in a Shokugeki just to ask such an easy question. If you're picking second, though...there's no way she'll still be available. I don't really know anyone else in your class worth taking. Yuki's pretty athletic though..."

"Wait, that's not what I meant at all!"

"It's not? Hmm, you'll have to explain it better then," said Soma, shrugging. Now it was his turn to mess with Torrey.

"You're really going to make me spell it out, huh? Okay, so it's like this. There's all these girls, and they've been causing problems for me all year long. Well, I'm not going to pretend that it isn't awesome to have them fighting over me and stuff...but...aw c'mon, you see what I'm getting at, right?"

"Nope. You'll need to elaborate."

"Ugh...so for whatever reason, they're all really into me or whatever. Eww, gross. See, this sounds weird."

"It's too late to get embarrassed now! Explain to me EXACTLY what the problem is," said Soma, with a smug grin of his own.

"Get over yourself! We're even now. Just tell me who you would pick. If you were in my shoes," said Torrey, finally losing his patience.

"Ohoho, so that's what you meant," said Soma, who clearly already knew. "Sorry, bud. I can't help you with this one. Besides, I thought the whole point was to decide things with a Shokugeki. That's the beauty of the whole setup. No one can argue with the results after it's all been decided."