The Lilac Sage | Shokugeki no Soma

Deep Red

Riese Hayashi's P.O.V

The aura of the kitchen grew serious and gloomy, only the competitive stares of the two gave light to the room when Eishi put on a calmer face.

"Alright then," he cleared his throat and slightly backed away from Soma-kun who was still confronting him if he would really give up his seat. "What's the theme going be?"

They thought silently for awhile when something in one of the freezers caught my eye, "Hey." Both their eyes settled upon me, "What about Venison?" I suggested while looking at the meat that was carefully contained in the storage area.

"Ah," Eishi-kun acknowledged the meat and did a look over, "It seems like these were originally planned to be used in the class just now. So various cuts have been carefully prepared."

"All that's left is to decide the cooking genre and any ingredient limitations," He looked over at me after saying that, "Do you have anything else in mind?" I shook my head no and looked over at Soma-kun. He looked like he had something in mind. "Soma-kun?" I called out to him.

"Let's go with French." Eishi-kun looked at him with an unreadable expression.

"Fine by me." He began to loosen his tie. Why did I find myself going red? I slightly coughed and turned my eyes downwards. "Then let us begin."

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As Soma-kun was still thinking, his opponent began with his preparations. My ears twitched a bit at the slight shuffling I heard from behind the window. I stood up from my seat and peaked over.

"Erina-chan, Hisako-san? Why don't you two come in?" The two screamed and ended up falling on their behinds. I looked at them with an amused expression. They both looked at each other and began to make their way inside the classroom.

"Oi! Nakiri~ No wonder why I felt someone was on to us."

"What are you saying, Yukihira! Stay focused on your cooking!" She fumed and sat down on one of the unoccupied seats along with her assistant. I remained standing to get a proper look at what was happening.

Eishi-kun was skillfully tearing apart the meat of the venison's back with his kitchen knife handling skills. It was as if he was caressing the meat with his fingers and seductively speaking to it.

What if he was...

I felt my face burning up at what I had thought and coughed once again. I felt his stare as he stopped what he was doing, "Riese-chan? Are you alright? You've been coughing and turning red a lot today." Despite his concerns being innocent, I couldn't help but turn even more into Riese Tomato.

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"I'm fine." I waved my two hands in front of me, "Don't let me get in your way." He shrugged and continued what he was doing. Deciding that my mind was being too perverted today, I turned to Kagura-kun who was busy watching.

"Milady, are you feeling unwell?" He repeated the question that the First seat had asked earlier causing me to shake my head in denial. "I'm fine, Kagura-kun." I saw both Hisako-san and Erina-chan looking at me and Kagura.

"Ah, by the way, Kagura-kun, this is Nakiri Erina and Hisako Arato. Erina-chan, Hisako-san, meet Kagura-kun. He was my friend in Reuder."

"Ah, nice to meet you." Hisako stuck out her hand and Kagura-kun politely took it in, the same for Erina-chan.

I was taken aback that Erina-chan had managed to humble herself. I looked over at Soma-kun, 'Probably his doing.'

The time came when Soma was the first to finish his dish. "Alright, Hayashi. Food is served." He placed a plate in front of me. The savory fragance of my dish flowed freely through out the air affecting those in the area. Including Erina-chan and Hisako-san. I simply just looked at it and assessed it with my eyes.