Notes: Originally posted on AO3 on 15/6/2015
When more information is found out, a remake will be made.

Start.

Souma had long ago stopped thinking about how he got into these types of situations. The ones where he bites off more than he can chew but ends up getting by anyway.

Somehow.

But he definitely didn't know if this was the type of situation he could survive without some permanent gashes to the soul.

He had long accepted the fact that his impulsiveness was definitely a magnet for trouble so anything else was pretty much unimportant in the greater scheme of things. Souma just had to find a way to be creative about it.

This was really strange though.

As of this moment, he was staring at a boy who looked to be around his age or maybe a year older. His black hair was swept back and went past his ears. He looked laid back but there was something in his eyes that made Souma alert.

And although he does have the ability to block out the rest of the world whenever he was cooking, Souma was still a little bit observant. He could pick up a few things here and there.

He was pretty sure he recognized the teen in front of him. There was no denying that signature long bang and the eyes. Despite the sharpness in them, they were much more relaxed and carefree than what Souma was used to.

It still creeped Souma out though.

"You're cooking." He said out loud, watching his da – the boy – cook in front of him. It sounded stupid but Souma couldn't help but be amazed by the sight before him.

"Obviously," The other scowled, looking up from the cutting board. That expression wasn't something he usually saw on him."How'd you even get in here?"

Oh right, Souma was currently in the store where his family restaurant would be set up in the next decade. It had obviously been renovated then but there were just a few things that the boy before him had kept even when he chose to start his own restaurant.

"I went through the door." Souma replied. "There's that weird hinge where if you kick it properly, it'll open without using the key."

Now the teen was obviously wondering just how Souma knew that.

But hey, ignorance was bliss.

"I'm Yukihira." He opted to introduce himself before the other thought of hitting him with a frying pan.

The teen narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously but suddenly relaxed his shoulders and turned back to his cooking. "Saiba."

"Hey, Saiba. I'm going to watch you cook." Souma said.

"Whatever."

Sometime later, Souma woke up to the sound of Isshiki's annoying morning greetings through the pipe-in at the Polar Star dormitory.

He blinked to himself in surprise and pinched his cheeks.

What a strange dream.

"Why are you here?" Saiba sighed and raised a brow at the red head who was watching him very intently. He looked curious rather than annoyed at having Souma around again.

"I learn a lot from watching others cook." Souma replied. It was weird referring to his dad as 'Saiba'. Why did he change his name to Yukihira? The red head frowned in confusion.

The black haired teen was saying something but Souma had been too busy thinking about his father's mysterious past. His eyebrows furrowed and Souma shifted to his thinking position without losing his balance.

"Hm…" Souma's brows furrowed while his companion grumbled at being ignored.

"Oi," Saiba flicked his nose, causing Souma to stumble off his seat. "Instead of just sitting around looking pretty, you might as well help me with this."

"Huh?"

"You obviously know how to cook. I've seen you handling some of the knives and other ingredients without a second thought whenever you think I'm not looking. If you're going to be eating any of my cooking, you should at least help in prepping it."

"Oh." Souma blinked before suddenly grinning. Saiba raised a brow at the challenging look on his face. "Okay."

Souma couldn't help but feel proud whenever he caught a glimpse of Saiba's impressed look while he had helped him with today's dish.

But that didn't stop them from bantering all day about nonsensical things.

It's been a really long time since he's been able to talk to his father like this.

Souma did not wake up.

Instead, he found himself being dragged from the store with Saiba.

"You're obviously not homeless." The teen mused.

"Hey, what's your problem?! Let go of me!" Souma yelled, as he struggled to get the other's arm off of him.

"I don't know how you learned to do all of that. You're obviously not a student from Tootsuki." Saiba hummed to himself, his grip on the shorter boy not loosening. "I would have seen you before. Your bright hair's too easy to spot."

"Where are you taking me?!" Souma was mentally screaming. He knew just where his crazy father was taking him.

"To my dorm at school. There's more interesting stuff there." Saiba ignored the struggling teen and continued to walk on. "Some of my dorm mates are pretty cool too. They'll have fun with your stupid talking."

"I feel like I'm being taken to war."

"Good comparison. My school's pretty much a warzone actually. For cooking."

'Oh crap.' Souma thought, panicking in his head. 'I'm going to Tootsuki.'

But hey, it's not like anybody knows him. Yet.

Souma couldn't help but stare at Doujima's spiky hair.

Wow. The real thing was much more impressive than its pictured version.

"Joichirou," Doujima frowned.

"I didn't kidnap him." Saiba defended himself immediately as he raised his hand up innocently. "I didn't even feed him any of my special food. He came here willingly."

"Actually, he dragged me here through sheer force." Souma corrected, earning him a jab to the rib from Saiba. Souma retaliated by stomping on the other's foot.

"You need to work out more." Saiba remarked critically. He looked towards the red head and continued, "Your hair's also getting pretty long. You're not even trying to fix it."

"Don't mind him. He likes criticizing everyone." Doujima huffed at Saiba who huffed back before offering his hand in greeting to Souma. "I'm Doujima Gin."

"Yukihira." Souma accepted the other's hand and shook it firmly. "Your dorm's… pretty interesting."

A lot of buildings that would be standing a good 13 years from now were gone. There were a lot of trees and gardens instead. Souma had been pretty impressed with the sceneries.

"It's pretty much secluded from the rest of the school. It's relatively quiet here." Doujima said.

Saiba snorted. "Not in the morning. When that old hag comes through the tubes – "

"Eh?" Suddenly, another familiar face appeared before Souma. "What did you say?"

"Ow!" The elderly woman pinched Saiba's ear and pulled the taller teen down to her height. She stared at the other with fierce eyes.

"You don't speak to the Maria of the Polar Star like that, boy!"

"GAAAH! Let go!"

"Fumio-san, let him go. We have a visitor tonight." Doujima tried to settle the screaming match between the two. Fumio abruptly let go of Saiba, causing him to fall on his butt with a loud grunt. She turned towards Souma and gazed at him with a strange expression.

"Ah, hello. I'm Yukihira." Souma said as he waved at Fumio awkwardly. "I should probably be going now so yeah – "

"Nonsense!" Fumio's expression did a 360 and she patted the red head with a welcoming smile. "Joichirou always infuriates everyone in the rest of the campus – "

"I don't!" Saiba barked.

"You do." Doujima immediately replied. The two shared a short glaring contest.

" – so you must be really special." Fumio nodded to herself with a sure expression. "What year are you? A firstie? You look a little too mature for a middle schooler."

"I don't study here." Souma lied. Well it wasn't really a lie. He wasn't studying here yet. Not at this year. "I just happened to meet Saiba while he was cooking."

Fumio stilled all of a sudden. She sent a straight look at Saiba who was whistling and looking the other way.

"You brought a stray? Do you expect us to feed it?"

"Actually, I wanted him to feed you guys. I'll take him to the kitchen." Saiba then grabbed Souma's arm. "You won't be cooking tonight, Fumio-san."

"Are you sure you're not just trying to kill all of us with this new friend of yours?" Doujima smiled jokingly. There was curious light in his eyes. He wanted to know just what kind of cooking Souma did that made Saiba bring him to Tootsuki.

"He would have just fed you his strawberry jam squid if he wanted to." Souma snorted before smiling conspiringly. "But I still say that my grilled peanut butter one was worse."

"You wish. If you think that's bad, there's still that other time with the squid and you were barely able to stop yourself from barfing!" Saiba grinned competitively.

"I'm the one who showed you how to make solid miso soup. You can't outdo that – "

The two bantered while they walked to the dorm's kitchen, leaving Fumio and Doujima to themselves.

"I thought Jouchirou was bad enough." Fumio pinched her nose in frustration but she was smiling fondly. "This one's like his long lost brother."

Doujima hummed thoughtfully, "I wonder what we're having for dinner. We only have a few ingredients tonight. I don't think it'll be enough to feed the whole dorm."

"Have faith in the boy, Gin. It was Joichirou who brought him here after all."

A few hours later, Saiba was eating his roasted pork proudly in front of the shocked faces of Doujima and Fumio. He was pretty quick in finishing his portion so he picked up his fork and was about to steal some from Souma's plate.

"Nope." Souma raised his hand and pushed Saiba's face away without looking away from his food. "Make another batch if you want more."

"You used up all the potatoes, you ass." Souma surprisingly didn't find it strange to hear his father calling him that. "Unless you want to try the squid with bacon – "

"Do you have an endless supply of squid?" Souma asked.

"You never know when you might need it!" Saiba laughed. The red head was stunned by how open his father was as a youth. He still had the same snarky attitude but he looked less tense and so young. "Hey, Jun!"

"No." A young girl from the other table squeaked and turned away immediately. "I don't want to try your stupid dishes again, Saiba-senpai!"

"Ha? I was just going to ask if you liked Yukihira's cooking!" Saiba tried to look innocent but there was this mischievous aura around him that was screaming just how devious his intentions towards the pitiful girl were.

"It's mazing!" Jun squealed and nearly knocked her glasses off when she turned towards Souma with eyes filled with awe.

Souma was pretty sure she was a middle school student but she looked a lot younger than she should.

To think that this girl would become the youngest lecturer of Tootsuki. Obviously she was a very hard working student. Souma could still see some of the spices stained on the sleeves of her uniform. He could faintly smell it from where he was sitting.

"It was nothing much." Souma said, feeling very uncomfortable.

"Is this your dish for Fumio-san's entrance exam?" Jun asked, excited all of a sudden. "I haven't seen you around before. Are you from the high school department?"

"Nah, I was just dragged here by Saiba over there and was forced to cook." Souma rolled his eyes at the thumbs up sent by Saiba. "I don't go to school here."

"Really?" Jun's eyes widened in surprise. "I really wanted to ask you a lot of things! I know most of these came from the kitchen but you were able to make enough for everyone."

"That's her basically saying that she wants more food." Saiba said while Jun blushed brightly.

"Maybe I'll make more when I see you again."

Later that night, Fumio welcomed him to the dorm and said that he could come over anytime he wanted.

Doujima kept complimenting about his cooking and was trying to convince him to go to the director of the school and try to enroll him. "You'll definitely pass!"

"Haha, I'm not interested." Souma waved him off. "I just want to go home and continue my family's diner, Doujima."

"You can do more than that." The spiky haired teen said seriously. "And call me Gin. You don't need to be so formal."

"I'd rather not." Souma gave a cryptic smile. "And besides, my family restaurant is really important to me."

"Really?" Saiba came into the room in his loose dark pajamas. He yawned a bit. "I haven't seen a 'Yukihira' restaurant around and I always look through all the restaurants of the area."

"It's not here yet." Souma looked out the window. "You'd know when it's there. Trust me on that."

"Oh," Saiba looked unsure but let the topic slide. "Are you still going out? It's pretty late."

"I have to." Souma got up. "I need to go home."

"Come and visit again. I'll tell you about Saiba's deep, dark secrets." Doujima whispered to him.

Souma laughed.

He woke up early on a Saturday morning in his own bed.

A thought came to him.

He silently got up, made Roast Pork, and went to Shiomi Seminar.

Jun cried when she saw him.

He didn't ask why but he had been pretty damn curious. Souma had expected her to be happy if she remembered.

Or be completely surprised. Proving that all of his strange dreams had been simply vivid hallucinations of his mind.

"I can't talk to you about it yet." She sobbed.

Souma didn't say anything.

"Come inside." Jun wiped her nose with the sleeve of shirt. "It's just... I'll tell you. I promise. Just not now."

Later that day he found Doujima's number through the school records and texted him.

'Can you still tell me about Saiba's deep, dark secrets?'

A reply came only seconds later.

'Patience. The time will come.'

Another text came.

'I can't say anything until then.'

"Ah, Saiba-senpai! Could we please try some of your food again?" A blonde girl whimpered. One of her other friends were also begging to try some of his food.

"Hm?" Saiba tilted his head while sitting on the couch. He was only wearing a tank top and loose pants. It was lunch break and it was just too hot so he had stripped out of his uniform the moment he reached the dorm.

This was a really normal occurrence. A lot of girls (and boys –wink, wink-) would go to the dorm to ask for food.

It was a group of friends who came this time.

And Yukihira.

Saiba had seen his stupidly bright red hair from the corner of his eye. The boy had been grinning and trying to hold his laughter.

Was he homeschooled or something?

He cooked the girls something quick but delicious of course. Just like always, they writhed on the floor in pleasure while Saiba escaped to find Yukihira.

He found the teen lurking around in the garden. There were a variety of fruits and vegetables. Saiba himself had planted some tomatoes and few seasonings that would come in handy once summer came.

Almost half of these were Gin's while a few of the more foreign ingredients belonged to Jun for her spices.

Strangely enough, Yukihira looked like he belonged here.

"Oi!" Saiba called out, causing the red head jump in surprise and turn around. "What are you doing here?"

The teen regained his composure and easily went through the plants without stomping on them.

"My pops was out." Yukihira looked a bit amused by his own words. "I felt like walking around."

"Does he teach you or something?" Saiba asked.

"Yeah." The other answered. "He pretty much taught me everything about cooking until recently. I was left to my own devices to learn stuff on my own."

"Homeschooled?"

"Something like that." Yukihira smiled. "My dad believes in the Laissez Faire kind of thing. He helps me out every so often though. But it's more like he provokes me."

"Your dad must be a really good cook." Saiba found himself admitting.

Yukihira was really talented. He'd probably do even better if he enrolled in Tootsuki. There were so many opportunities and tasks that would inevitably make one grow as a cook.

The shorter teen's eyes were wide for a moment before they relaxed. "The best."

Yukihira then walked towards the dorm again and added something so softly that Saiba almost didn't hear it.

"But I'll be even better than him."

Saiba felt strange that night. His whole body was tingling.

When Doujima woke up that morning, he was forced to finish all the cooking his friend had made during his all-nighter.

The next time Souma saw Saiba was through the sidelines of one of the buildings where shokugekis were held.

Originally, Souma had simply wanted to go to the dorm. He easily slipped through the security but Doujima spotted him in an instant. He dragged the younger boy here to watch Saiba's shokugeki.

Saiba was losing. The dish he was cooking was obviously something that wasn't going to win.

He didn't look serious about it.

Even his opponent was pissed at how casual Saiba was about it.

"Pops is a jerk." Souma said all of a sudden as he watched Saiba play around with the food.

"Pops?" Doujima asked.

"He reminds me of my dad." The red head felt like slapping himself for the slip of tongue. "Just without the drive. My dad's much more passionate."

"They're both very frustrating." Souma finished as he crossed his arms.

"He does it on purpose." Doujima explained as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Joichirou likes getting on your nerves."

"Eh?" Souma raised a brow.

The spiky haired teen pointed towards the topic of their discussion. Souma followed the direction Doujima was pointing at and saw Saiba smirking at him vindictively before he started taking out ingredients one after the other the started prepping them really quickly but carefully.

'He knew I was here?' Souma thought in surprise as he watched the other work.

The dish he had been making was actually just a decoy of sorts. No one noticed that he had secretly brought in other ingredients to add.

It wasn't much of a surprise Saiba ended up winning at the end.

Everyone had been so shocked. People were well aware of the teen's ability but he was never actually serious with most of his shokugekis. He didn't even bargain anything. He just accepted them like they were nothing.

He only won them if he really wanted to something from his opponent.

Or if someone worth his notice was watching the shokugeki.

"Your face looked funny from the stage." Saiba commented as he jogged towards Souma. He looked so proud of himself. It was probably from all the cheering that was still echoing around. "You looked like you ate a lemon or something."

"You annoy me." Souma glared mockingly but deep inside, he was glad his dad won.

"I like frustrating you every once in a while." Saiba then directed Souma to the exit while they exchanged insults.

The two walked out of the campus to wherever, leaving an ignored Doujima to his own thoughts.

"Joichirou isn't a very honest guy." The future 1st seat of the Elite Ten muttered to himself in amusement.

Sometimes Souma wanted to call his dad and demand the answers from him.

He never did.

He was more concentrated with playing with his hair. He could tie his hair into a mini pony tail now if he wanted to.

Hayama Akira gave him a roll of bandages. He looked just as confused as Souma did. He said something about Jun telling him that Souma would need it.

Later, he and Saiba got into an accident and he ended up with a slightly deep cut on his left arm.

It was still there when he woke up the next day. The bandages came in handy.

"What kind of restaurant does your family run?" Saiba asked one time.

Souma was pretty sure that it had only been a few days since he last met the other teen but for some reason, Saiba looked a lot older.

More tense.

"A special-of-the-day restaurant." Souma said as massaged his wound.

"Sounds pretty simple."

"Actually, the food is anything but simple." The red head tried to ignore the accusing look Saiba sent to his injured arm. "And my dad… was a really good teacher so I learned a lot before he let me discover things on my own."

"He must be an interesting guy."

"Very. But he would appear out of nowhere just to mess with me."

Doujima sent a picture.

There had been a stolen pic of him and Saiba having their very first cook-off at the kitchen.

It had ended in a tie.

Souma couldn't remember what either of them had cooked but what stuck to him was the reflection of his father in Saiba. The dark malevolent aura that would have freaked anyone else off but to Souma, it reminded him of the future.

Saiba had a very competitive nature yet something else came out of this cooking duel. There was a sudden drive from Saiba that Souma felt as he cooked.

It had made him even more determined to beat his father.

He had tasted most of Saiba's cooking (they even traded their experiments together) but there was something different about this one.

There was usually something absolutely intense with all of the teen's cooking.

But this one –

This one had been cooked with kindness.

"I can't believe I tied with this stupid dish!" Saiba had grumbled but was still munching on what Souma cooked.

The whole dorm was filled with laughter. Doujima was smiling widely while Jun was profusely protesting to the results. She still thought that Souma should have won.

"I'll defeat you next time!" Saiba had promised when Souma mentioned that he was about to leave.

And he did.

But not after at least another decade.

Souma considered texting his father that they should update their list of winnings for their cooking duels. He should consider that one tie.

"I still think you should have won." Jun told him when he happened to pass by her during one of his free periods. "Senpai didn't deserve it at all."

Saiba grew older.

With age, he grew taller and even managed to become the same height as Gin.

There was an obvious difference in height between him and Yukihira now.

The boy actually didn't look like he was aging at all. He still looked fifteen years old. Although it wasn't all that surprising to Saiba because Jun Shiomi had been suffering from her baby face for years.

He worked out more. A little more strength, speed and stamina would definitely help in working in a fast paced kitchen.

His cooking got better and better.

But there was always something still missing.

Saiba would never have known if he hadn't been watching Yukihira eat his food. He had these expressions that reflected all his feelings. His curiosity about the food, how good it was and how it could do better.

Eventually, he was nicknamed Asura. Recently, his style cooking held a dark aura that would pull everyone into it.

Instead of pulling Yukihira along, it challenged him.

Their cooking duels were something he always looked forward to.

It always ended in a tie but the time would come when he'd beat that annoying brat.

Saiba silently ate the strawberry dessert Yukihira had made during their 56th cooking duel.

He was absently watching Yukihira smile as he ate the salted chocolate cake he made.

"It reminds me of something my dad would make." The red head had said.

Saiba couldn't help but also want to achieve the same goal Yukihira had.

To beat Yukihira Sr.

Saiba was his own person. He was different.

He was someone who would definitely fill a unique place in Yukihira other than being a friend or reminding him of his dad.

His cooking was going to be even greater.

One day, Souma had been excused from class by some of the school teachers. Apparently there was a visitor waiting for him.

They forced him into a fancy looking car and took him into one of the farther buildings in the campus. This was where most of the more high classes people would stay in whenever they visited Tootsuki.

He was taken to one of the meeting rooms.

There was a long table with a lot of seats but at the very end was just Doujima who was smiling welcomingly.

Souma had a bad feeling all of a sudden.

Things happened.

Saiba didn't graduate from Tootsuki.

Souma didn't know why.

But he knew that this would be the last time he'd be coming around.

Saiba wouldn't see him again until he was around 23 years old.

Souma suddenly felt guilty.

"Where are you going?" Saiba had asked when Souma had told him that he wasn't going to be visiting anymore.

"Home." Souma answered. "My dad... Wants me back."

"I'll find that restaurant of yours." Saiba declared, determination flashing in his eyes. "What's your name? I mean, your full name. You only ever gave your surname."

Souma was conflicted. He didn't want to give the other hope that he would be able to find him in the future. There was no Yukihira restaurant that he would find because Saiba would be the one to start it.

This… this was just sad.

"Souma Yukihira."

He felt a pang in his heart and he faced Saiba's determined eyes. "….I won't forget it."

Then some stuff occurred.

Souma would never speak of what happened after that particular conversation.

Only two others knew.

Jun and Doujima.

He trusted them.

Later on, Saiba had met someone special.

A young woman who looked awfully familiar.

He asked her if she knew a boy named Souma.

She said no but she liked the name a lot.

The name meant true creation.

It made Saiba think.

Souma kind of learned to see Joichirou Saiba and Joichirou Yukihira as two different entities. The same person but totally different in Souma's eyes.

So no, he never called his father to consider all those 89 tied cooking duels. He wanted to beat his father.

His father was not Saiba.

Doujima knew he had heard the name Yukihira before.

He didn't know what to feel when he learned that Joichirou had changed his surname to that one in particular.

Or when he realized just who Souma really was and had received a surprising text message from him.

The whole thing was strange.

To think that Souma would push Joichirou to challenge his own future self in cooking.

He wondered just how long it took for his best friend to realize it.

The last time he saw Souma Yukihira was just two days ago.

Doujima had then received a text at around 3 in the morning that was asking if he knew where his Joichirou was.

And he just so happened to know this time.

He didn't question Souma's sudden use of his father's first name.

Doujima was there when Joichirou and Souma saw each other.

Both looked relaxed and casual but he had been around long enough to be able to read the both of them.

"Don't kill each other." Doujima said.

Joichirou rolled his eyes.

Souma grinned.

End.

Reviews are greatly appreciated! If you happen to have time, you can also find me on AO3. My other Shokugeki fics are posted under ObsidianAbyss there too. I'll move them here eventually.