Prologue

Standing in front of the gate of the notorious Tootsuki academy, the ordinary-looking red-haired boy couldn't help but be awed by the sight in front of him. At tremendous height, the campus ground towered into the sky intimidatingly, giving a sense of superiority that would impress anyone fortunate enough to witness it. With that magnificent first impression, his expectation from the supposedly prestigious academy increased. With that, he could help but smirk in excitement.

"Now… What great challenges await me next?" He pondered as he took the first step inside.

Not unexpectedly, he saw a lot of fancy-dressed people on his way in. It looked like they were also transfer applicant like himself. As most of them only showed him condescending looks, he didn't bother to try to hold a conversation with them. He prefers to let his cooking talk rather than his mouth anyway when it comes to his skills as a chef.

As he entered the exam room, he tried his best to wipe his feeling of euphoria. After all, to perform at his best, he must act professionally. But he found it difficult to do so. Even after a few weeks, he couldn't wash completely his sense of fulfillment as the goal that he had fought for years was finally achieved.

/

*Flashback*

"Enjoy." A middle aged man known as Yukihira Jouichirou beckoned.

"Oagari yo!" Souma cheerfully said next.

In front of them were two plates of Chinese fried rice, made by each of them respectively. On the opposite end of the table, Kurase Mayumi smiled in bliss with a duck spoon in hand as she ogled the two captivating dishes in front of her. After admiring the looks and savoring the smell, she proceeded to took a bite from the older man's dish. As she did so, she felt amazing that she tried to restrain a violent reaction and toned it down to mild fidgeting and a cute moan instead. Even in one bite, she was reminded how great Shokujidokoro Yukihira really was. It was on a whole other level than the other restaurants she had ever been. Even when she went to a fancy restaurant that one time, it still couldn't beat Yukihira's food. And the price is also affordable. That's why she never bothered to go to fancy restaurants ever again.

After savoring the deliciousness of the single bite, Mayu turned her eyes to the next dish. From both the appearance and smell, it wasn't behind the first one. But the taste was ultimately the deciding factor. With that, she took a spoonful and tasted it delicately. As she took the young boy's cooking into her mouth, she gasped and then froze in silence for about three seconds before she remembered to chew her food and swallowed.

After she tasted both sides, it was time to make her decision. As she put her hand on her chin and posed like a historical philosopher contemplating on the meaning of life, excitement was rising from the crowd behind her.

"Hey, do you think that this is the day whe-" A boy asked excitedly.

"Shh, Kurase-san is thinking!" His friend reprimanded him.

The tension that Souma felt was comparable to that from every single person in the crowd. Jouichirou, whose skills was considered legendary, could tell easily between Yukihira-level disgusting food, really bad food, bad food, average food, good food, extremely good food, Tootsuki-level food, and finally elite-ten-level food. He was proud to say that he never held back or went easy on his son. His own Chinese fried rice in front of him was easily elite-ten-level. And so, when the girl took a first bite of his son's cooking, Jouichirou knew instantly that he had lost.

Jouichirou smiled slightly. To be honest, he was extremely proud of his son. Since he was three, Souma already started holding the knife. It was incredible to see a child who couldn't even speak fluently yet had such a passion for cooking. And that was it, the very thing that allowed his son to defeat him that day, the one thing that even Jouichirou himself didn't have. That passion of cooking.

Most people would cook with many motives. To earn money, to be famous, to be recognized, to make people happy with their food, to express themselves, to challenge themselves, to develop their already innate talent, and many more. But Souma was different. He loves to cook for the sake of cooking. Of course he cared about the people who eat his food, but when he started cooking, he tuned out the outside world and focused primarily on his cooking.

Souma is always happiest when he's cooking. It was heartwarming to see Souma cook. He would smile gently throughout the whole process while never faltering even one second. He would handle each of his ingredients with love. That's right, love. No one would understand until they see it for themselves. There's no other literate way to describe how Souma cared for his ingredients. And after he do every preparations and every processes acutely, he would plate his food with a huge smile. He would carefully measure the portion and if there're garnishes, he would arrange them exquisitely with a satisfied look. And when he finally finish, he would serve the food proudly. Souma never took his own cooking lightly. To him, every single dish that he had made is a masterpiece. Even including the midnight snacks that he cooked drowsily.

"This one" Kurase Mayumi said as she pointed to her left.

For one second, the room was completely silent. And then, a huge roar of cheers erupted from the crowd. It was so hyped that their neighbors from the nearby shops came rushing and started ask what was going on. After they were informed of young Souma's victory, they would join the crowd and contribute their own cheers.

The crowd that was mainly Souma's friends from school, their neighboring shop owners, and regulars of Shokujidokoro Yukihira. They all shared one thing, they all had eaten in the restaurant more times than they could count. To them, Souma's journey to defeat his father was a heartfelt goal. They could feel it. Souma's passion, Souma's effort, and Souma's improvements. They had tasted firsthand how Souma's cooking evolved little by little and empathize on his arduous journey as if it was their own. And eventually, it led to that very moment. Of course they felt joy, and of course they would cheer for the young boy, knowing that all his tremendous effort had finally bore fruit and all of his work was not in vain.

Meanwhile, Souma could only gape and stared dumbly at the crowd in front of him. He had been so accustomed to losing against his old man that winning simply didn't cross his mind. Unconsciously, tears starting to flow from his eyes. While the cheering continued in the background, his father turned his gaze upon his son. Then he smiled and silently mouthed "Good job." to him, snapping Souma out of his stupor. Quickly, Souma wiped his eyes with his sleeve and tried to hide the fact that he had been crying.

"Yosh, to celebrate Souma's first victory after 488 defeats, let's party! Dinner is on the house!" Jouichirou shouted suddenly.

The cheering got louder at the announcement. Throughout the night, Souma got more congratulations than he could remember. He happily helped his father cook for his friends and Yukihira's regular customers. The party went until late night, but the students' parent didn't scold their children and understood immediately after their children explained why they were so late. After all, they were regulars of Yukihira themselves. Overall, it was one of the happiest moment in Souma's life.

After the party, when everyone had already gone home and the shop was closed, Jouichirou beckoned his son over to him as he sat on a chair. Souma sat on the chair next to his dad and knew immediately that he was going to say something serious. So, he decided to say his piece before his father's.

"Pops… You know, I'm really grateful for all your teachings and guidance all these years. What I can do now… It's all thanks to you. So thank you very much!" He bowed sincerely.

"It's my pleasure, Souma. As your father, I'm proud of you. But remember this always! Even though you have incredible skill, never get arrogant! Arrogance will ultimately be a chef's downfall no matter how great he/she is."

"I understand. I love cooking anyway. So no matter who it is, if they share the same passion for cooking as I do, I will respect them no matter how good or how bad their skills are. And if I can do something to help them to improve, I will gladly do so." Souma declared as he raised his head.

Jouichirou smiled satisfactorily at his son's ready response.

"Just keep being that way and you'll be fine."

Souma offered a smile of his own at that before moving onward. He started to wear a serious face and prepared himself. His old man rarely does talk about something seriously with him. But when he does, it's usually something pretty big. Like 'We're moving to Paris tomorrow" kind of big. He knew his father after all. So he was familiar with how impulsive he could be sometimes. A trait that was passed down to him, regrettably.

"I'm going to close the restaurant for two to three years."

'Yappari…' Souma thought inwardly.

"A friend of mine asked me some favors, so I'm going abroad tomorrow."

Souma sighed deeply. He would be lying if he says that he was fine with his father always pulling these kind of stuffs. But it wasn't totally unexpected, so he guessed he could forgive his father. From the timing, he could already guess that it was going to be something like that. It was almost time anyway… For him to enter high school.

"So it's my time, isn't it?" Souma asked although he already knew the answer.

"Indeed. Go to Tootsuki, Souma! Claim the first seat that I never had!"

*Flashback Ends*

/

Wiping the smirk of his face, Souma concentrated on getting his euphoria down. It was nearly the time for his transfer exam. Like his father had imprinted into him, he should never be arrogant. He was going to put his best effort on this test. Although he was quite confident that he would pass, he was also aware that being overconfident was never good. He must not flunk the test. After all, there's somebody he needed to surprise at Tootsuki. He smirked as he thought of that person.

Suddenly, the back door of the room opened and the other applicants around him quietened immediately as the person who would be the examiner walked in. A girl with a long blonde hair along with another girl with short bubblegum hair entered. With just one look, Souma could tell who the examiner was. Erina Nakiri. God's Tounge. Her name was already quite legendary in the culinary world, that there was no need to explain it any further. And it appeared that the other people in the room were also aware of that.

"Hisako, what is the transfer exam protocol?" She asked haughtily.

"Hai, Erina-sama. The transfer applicant is required to have an interview in a group of tens before proceeding into three cooking practicum where they-"

"How boring…" She dismissed the whole test.

She let her eyes wander over the pantry. And after randomly deciding, she casually picked up an egg and showed it into the entire room.

"Make me one dish with egg as the main ingredient. If it pleases my palate, you will pass. On that note, I'll graciously give you one minute to rescind your transfer." She declared simply.

After that, the crowd of transfer applicant reacted violently. They all stampeded into the exit as a mob as if they were scrambling for their life. Well, in a sense, that's not entirely incorrect. After all, if Nakiri Erina was to reject their cooking, their culinary career would be as good as dead.

Looking around him, Souma whistled in awe as it seemed that he was the only examinee left. Meanwhile, Nakiri Erina was about to go back to her room when she heard a whistling. Her head turned immediately upon the only applicant left in the room. Red hair, low-class restaurant chef uniform, casual posture. Definitely a plebian with no chance of passing. Why did he even bother to stay? But before Erina could comment to further intimidate him, he beat her to it.

"So, may I start cooking, examiner-san?"

However, different than his previous aura, he stared at her right at the eyes and spoke with a clear, professional tone. If he was to make some stupid comment or act impolitely, she would definitely be angered. However, when faced with a professional attitude, although she knew it was for naught as he couldn't possibly pass, but she had the obligation to return the professional attitude and do her job professionally as well.

"You may. Your time is 30 minutes."

Usually, a cooking practicum would be given at least 60 minute as the time limit. However, she wanted to get it over with. And on the impossibly miniscule off-chance that he actually had some talent, it was still enough to whip up a decent dish. So she wasn't being unfair, albeit not exactly being fair either.

As the boy began to prepare his ingredients, Erina observed him skeptically. Her attendant, Arato Hisako, had an equally low expectation of the boy. The boy seemed to think for a moment and started to choose his ingredients. He was slow. It took him almost five minutes to fully choose out his ingredients and to think of what he was going to make. That's one sixth of his whole time. If it was Erina, she could do it in just a few seconds. Well, what could she expect of a plebian diner brat?

But when he started cooking… The two girls were entranced. They were captivated immediately. In her entire life, she had never, EVER, EVEN ONCE, witnessed such cooking. It didn't seem like he was cooking at all. It resembled more of making love to be exact. Although that comparison seemed absurd, but if one witnesses his cooking by oneself, one will certainly understand. There was no other word except 'love' to describe how intimate he seemed to interact with his own cooking.

Too caught up on watching him. Erina didn't really pay attention to what he was cooking. For instance, she was too hypnotized with how he cut his vegetables swiftly but also with much love that she didn't even notice what the vegetables actually were. Although she noticed that he seemed to grab a lot of spices as ingredients. So when he finally plated his dish and presented it in front of her, it was a surprise that snapped her out of her stupor.

Except that he didn't place only one plate. He made three identical plates and put it in front of her. But before she decided to ask on the reasoning for the abundant number of plates, she was even more shocked to see that he had served omelets. That's right, PLAIN omelets in front of her. If it wasn't because of the earlier performance, she would smash the plates unto the ground. But she could tell that he was not kidding around or joking with her.

"Yukihira-style curry omelets. Oagari yo!" He smirked confidently.

"Curry you said… Wait, before that, please explain why there are three plates!"

"Well, I took the courtesy of cooking for secretary-san as well." He eyed at Hisako, making her blush a little at the unfamiliarity of getting attention.

"As for the third plate, it's for the curious-looking ojii-san over there." He said, pointing behind him at the slightly ajar door.

Suddenly, a voice that Erina knew well boomed in laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

An intimidating-looking bulky old man appeared from the door, wearing a traditional Japanese wear. He was smiling widely and it was clear that he was impressed.

"ojii-sama? What are you doing here?" Erina was clearly startled. And judging by her expression, Hisako was also unaware that the director of Tootsuki had been watching.

Unlike the two of them, Souma had already noticed the old man's presence pretty much from the start. Shortly after the mob evacuated the room, he started to notice the Food Demon Lord's presence. It didn't deter him in the slightest. If anything, it only made the challenge more interesting. Meanwhile, ignoring Erina's inquiry, the mighty director walked toward the dishes calmly and stared at Souma with unabashed interest.

"I just had a gut feeling, Erina. Now, Yukihira Souma, is it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Let us have a taste then?" Senzaemon took his place in front one of the plates.

Erina and Hisako were unable to act accordingly for a few seconds until the surprise factor from the director's presence finally receded. Senzaemon let the two girls compose themselves in silence. Specifically, he let Erina took the first action. It took them a few seconds, but eventually, they were able to resume a professional attitude.

Erina brought her spoon upon the insultingly plain looking omelet, intending to cut a small piece. But then she remembered something. 'Curry omelet he said? Does that mean…' With that thought, she decided to slice the omelets right at the middle in two with her spoon. When she made that sharp gesture, a phenomenon that cannot be described by anything but amazing happened. The most appropriate term to describe it would be what you call an aroma bomb.

Abruptly and mind-blowingly, the strong scent filled the room explosively. It was so powerful that Erina unknowingly took a small step back. Erina was by no mean a stranger to curry. She had tasted lots of different foods from different regions of the world, and curry was not excluded. Thus, she was forced to admit that the smell of the curry in front of her was on par with the best ones that she had before.

Gulping, she filled took a spoonful of the curry-doused egg and brought it closer to her mouth. The closer it gets, the more overpowering the aroma becomes. She would never admit it a lot. But she was nervous… For the first time in forever, Nakiri Erina was nervous. She had tasted numerous of high quality food from the finest chefs around the globe. But it was the first time she was that nervous, in front of a low-class plebian no less. She couldn't explain it, but there's a sense of familiarity in the red-haired commoner. It was as if… She had met him before? But it was impossible. She would certainly remember if she had.

Erina put the spoonful into her mouth. Unprepared for what's to come, she nearly jumped as she was immediately assaulted by the taste. With great effort, she managed to tone it down to a subtle squirm. Trying her best to appear nonchalant, she savored the taste for a few seconds before chewing and swallowing.

The usually sharp-tongued critic was speechless. She suddenly found the pattern of the kitchen floor very interesting and refused to meet the calm golden eyes of the red-haired chef. As if contemplating, she stood motionless for a full minute.

Naturally, the director didn't even react. The examinee was also surprisingly calm, waiting patiently for her to say something without signifying impatience or anxiety. Perhaps it was Hisako who was most concerned. Even with years of serving Erina in her belt, she had never seen Erina act like that. She didn't know what to make of that, and grew more anxious by the passing tens of second. Unable to bear the tense silence, she warily addressed Erina.

"Erina-sama? Are you alright?"

But Erina didn't react. For one second, Hisako grew scared, thinking that she had overstepped her boundary and said something unnecessarily. But Erina finally moved a few seconds after that. She calmly walked in front of Souma and looked at him grudgingly. She was clenching her fist very hard, visibly trembling badly. Then, with great difficulty, she managed to force herself to bow down humbly to the chef in front of her.

"ERINA-SAMA!" It was Hisako who reacted most violently.

Hisako was beyond scandalized. To think that the great Nakiri Erina would bow down to a diner brat is beyond absurd. Yet, there she was. Hisako was at lost. For many years, she had succeeded in serving Erina-sama the best she could and she prided herself in her ability to act accordingly to any situation to any problem that she may face. But felt that she failed badly that day. Even though it may seem unrelated to Hisako if you look at the event objectively, she couldn't help but feel that she royally screwed up. But Erina acted as if she didn't hear Hisako's exclamation.

"Yukihira Souma… I apologize. I have mistakenly judged your value as a chef with prejudice."

It took a lot out of Erina to do just that. Even when she forced the words out, she was trembling. Maybe it was because she was not accustomed with apologizing. She had lived a sheltered life after all. And even when she was in custody of… that man… She was never required to apologize. That man didn't care whether she was sorry or not for her mistakes. As long as she never repeats it again and receive her punishment obediently. After learning that, she never bothered to say sorry anymore. She would keep her silence and make a careful self-note of her mistake every time it happens.

"Nakiri-san. Please, raise your head. You don't need to bow or apologize to me."

Erina stood up waveringly and he was quick to grab her hand and steady her. Unknowingly to her, tears had started to flow from her eyes. After all, it was a very humbling experience for her. All along, she had unconsciously let her talent go to her head. Somewhere along the way, she had stagnated, a term usually used for veteran chefs with years of experience. But it seemed, all her amazing advances had also brought her to stagnation faster. She was humbled with that simple curry omelet. As she looked up to the person supporting her with red puffy eyes, she was greeted by a brilliant smile, one that she wouldn't forget in her entire life. For a second, she swore she could see the visage of her idol's smile over the boy's. 'Could it be that this boy is…'

Meanwhile, Hisako was in a shock. To see Erina-sama react so strongly, she didn't have any choice left for her next action. So naturally, she also tasted the innocent looking omelet on her own plate. Incidentally, the intimidating-looking old man also happened to taste his share. When she tasted it, her knees suddenly felt weak and she buckled into a kneeling position on the floor. At the same time, Nakiri Senzaemon let out a powerful exclaim and his clothes were stripped completely save for his underwear, showing the bulging muscles of his entire body, followed by a booming laughter that seemingly shook the entire building.

Hisako looked forward at the gently smiling boy who was consoling her crying mistress tenderly. The innocent looking boy who she had dismissed as some unworthy commoner half an hour ago. And Hisako felt fear… It was mixed with unparalleled awe. But the fear was still predominant. With wide eyes and violent shivering, she was paralyzed kneeling on the floor.

'Yukihira Souma… Just who in the world are you?'

*Flashback Ends*

/

Few things you might want to know about the story :

1. Souma is OP (while the manga focuses on his development together with the people around here, the Souma in this story is already quite developed and will bring more changes to Tootsuki with his existance).
2. The pairing will be Souma/Alice. Secondary pairings... undecided, but not out of question.
3. This is minor, but i should mention that any 'ō' will written as 'ou' (e.g. Souma) and any 'ū' will be written as 'uu' (e.g. Yuuki). This is mainly because of my laziness, it's quite a pain to use those characters.
4. Another minor thing, I will be using the Japanese naming system with family name before the first name.
5. This story will not follow canon that closely. After the autumn election, it will stray. But I'm not sure yet how much.
6. This story is inspired by chapter 199 of the manga. And yes,I keep up with the manga. So I might unintentionally reveal some spoilers.
7. Originally, i use '/' as the line break. Due to some bugs, fanfiction could only read the '/' after I upload it. And due to my laziness yet again, it will stay that way probably for the rest of the story.

Few things you might want to know about the author :

1. I'm a male university student.
2. I won't update consistently. It might be fast or slow depending on circumstances.
3. I'm the type that writes for my own enjoyment. If you can enjoy my writing as well, that's great. But if you don't, you're free to flame or criticize, or do anything really. Like I said, I mainly write for myself.
4. I'm not a huge fan of lengthy author note. So don't worry, you probably won't find any in the next chapters. Unless something unexpected happens.
5. Oh yeah, by the way, English is not my first or native language. So of course I will appreciate anyone pointing out my mistakes.