Waifu Wars: A Food Wars Fanfic

Ch. 49 Samurai Before Sunrise

After the walk back to his apartment, which felt a lot longer than usual, Torrey was surprised to see Rindo Kobayashi waiting for him on the front porch. A chill had already settled over the complex, and temperatures promised to drop below freezing later in the night.

She was leaning against the wooden balcony, hands tucked warmly into the pockets of her Totsuki coat. It wasn't like her to be out in such cold weather.

"There he is," said Rindo, cracking a smile once she noticed Torrey walking up the stairs. "The star of tonight's show."

"Speaking of that, I owe you my thanks," said Torrey. "Without your..."

"Oh no; you don't owe me anything, at least not for the reasons you think. All I did was give an informed opinion on your dish. It really was better than Saito's," said Rindo, putting her hands up.

Torrey raised an eyebrow at her.

"But you're saying that I DO owe you something?"

"Well..." Rindo paused as she considered this. "It's probably unfair of me to demand anything in return. I just thought, you know, maybe you'd have some kind of reaction to what I said earlier."

Now it was Torrey's turn to pause and think. Oh, she's referring to THAT.

"So you did notice," said Rindo. "Interesting."

"I just thought you were joking around, like you always do."

"Like I always do? Kohai, I was dead serious when I said 'I love you' in front of an entire arena. That wasn't just another bit from the Rindo Kobayashi Show."

"In my defense, the programming schedule isn't always clear. I catch your drift, though; you've made your feelings clear in the past."

"Hahaha. You really haven't changed much since I met you. You always seem to know more than you let on."

"Maybe so, but there's something that I really haven't been able to figure out."

"Oh? What's that?"

"This is a cooking school, right? Where the culinary arts take top priority?"

"Well duh!"

"Then how come you and all the other girls are so focused on getting my attention?"

"Wait...are you playing hard to get because you don't want to distract us from reaching our goals or something? You don't want to hold us back, right?"

"That's a really nice way to put it. It's mostly because I've been focused on reaching my own goals."

"Ohhh that makes sense. You're too self-absorbed to realize that playing hard to get is actually making things WORSE. Personally, it's driving me all kinds of crazy."

"I see," said Torrey.

First Erina called him selfish, and then Rindo called him self-absorbed. Never in a million years would Torrey have thought to describe himself this way, but now he was starting to trust their opinions.

"Haha, that response is so you. You're crazy, Kohai."

"You're the one who's been standing out here in the freezing cold!"

"Then we're both crazy! Doesn't that make us a good match? Romantically speaking."

"Some say that like attracts like, while others say that opposites attract."