Akira sat at the counter of a small, lively restaurant, lazily stirring his glass of juice with a straw. His father, Ryuji, sat beside him, arms crossed, observing his son with quiet curiosity. The place was lively, filled with chatter and the clatter of cookware, the air thick with the scent of sizzling meat and freshly steamed rice.
Akira, however, was deep in thought. His purple eyes flickered as he absentmindedly tapped his fingers against the counter.
His father finally spoke. "What's on your mind?"
Akira didn't answer right away. His thoughts were tangled, his mind replaying a certain scene, a little girl on a swing, crying. Erika's new friend, Yuki Haruna.
Ryuji smirked. "Heh, you're sulking."
Akira blinked, turning to his father. "No, I'm not."
"It's because Erika is spending a lot of time with the new girl instead of you, right?" Ryuji said with a smug smile.
Erika had a new friend now. That wasn't what bothered him. What did was the fact that he already knew how that story was going to end.
She was from the same story as Erika, a heroine and the childhood friend of the main character. Akira didn't know much about her since he never read the original visual novel, but he knew how Erika and Haruna's friendship would end.
In the anime flashback, Haruna got into an accident, and Erika used her vampire powers to save her. But since Haruna saw Erika use her powers, Erika had to erase her memories. However, she would regain them and become friends with Erika again in the main story. A happy ending, right?
As long as he didn't interfere, everything would end well. But was it the right thing to do? What if he interfered and things went badly? And how was he even supposed to stop that event from happening? Akira couldn't be around them all the time, after all.
But then again, could he really just stand by? Erika had to erase Haruna's memories herself, and because of her inexperience, she accidentally erased an entire year's worth. It wasn't just Haruna who would suffer, Erika, too, would bear the weight of that mistake. Wouldn't it be better if he could prevent that from happening altogether?
In the first place, can he even expect the story to play out like the anime? This world is far from the same, and with his presence, he doesn't even know if that accident will ever happen.
So for the last few days, Akira had been thinking about how to solve this situation. His family had never seen him like this before, so they were a bit worried.
Akira snorted. "No, I'm happy she made a normal human friend. I'm thinking about something else."
Ryuji raised an eyebrow. "Then, what is it?"
"To be or not to be, that is the question," Akira said to his father with a serious expression.
"Was that Hamlet? I didn't know you knew that. I thought you only cared about anime," Ryuji said, astonished that his son knew something outside of anime. After all, that was the only thing he cared about these days, aside from magic.
"Of course, I know other things besides anime. Sigh... It's nothing. I'm just thinking about a lot of things, and I still can't use stellar radiance, so I'm just a bit confused," Akira said, trying to divert the conversation. Stellar radiance was also something he had been thinking about, so he wasn't lying.
"Oh, that. Don't worry too much. You're still young, after all. Emotions and memories are things you gain as you live. And since we mostly kept you locked up for a long time, it's not surprising you can't use that magic yet. You'll be able to use it when you grow up," Ryuji said with a smile.
Before Akira could respond, a plate was placed in front of him.
The aroma hit first, rich, savoury, with just the right amount of smokiness. His sharp eyes took in the details immediately. Every grain of fried rice glistened under the light, cooked to perfection. The eggs were fluffy, the vegetables finely chopped, and the thin slices of pork belly looked crisp yet juicy. Akira glanced up, his eyes following the hands that had placed the plate in front of him. He looked up to see the person who delivered it, Saiba, no, Yukihira Joichiro himself, standing there with his usual confident grin.
Yukihira Joichiro approached them, setting down two plates of freshly made fried rice. "Yo, kid. You're looking gloomy today. Something on your mind?"
Yep, this place was Restaurant Yukihira. After eating Joichiro's food two years ago, Akira's family, who loved his cooking, tried their best to find his restaurant. With the connections they had, it didn't take long. Ever since then, Akira and his family had become regular customers.
"Oh, it's nothing, just a school project not going well. Though I'm sure I'll cheer up after eating your food, Uncle Joichiro," Akira said with a smile. He couldn't wait to eat.
"Then I'll leave you guys to it," Joichiro said with a grin, leaving them to enjoy their meal.
Akira wasted no time, taking a bite. The moment the rice hit his tongue, his body relaxed. Delicious. The flavors were deep, layered perfectly, hitting every taste bud in the right way.
Around them, the restaurant guests were reacting in way more exaggerated way than his, with moans of delight, gasps of shock, and even the occasional foodgasm.
Yeah, definitely Yukihira-level food.
Just as Akira was about to take another bite, someone slammed a hand on the counter beside him.
"AKIRA! LET'S GO AGAIN!" screamed the boy who had just slammed the table.
Akira sighed, already knowing who it was.
Yukihira Soma. The red-haired boy leaned forward, eyes burning with determination.
"You're not getting out of this one. We will finally settle it today!" Soma declared confidently.
"Again?" Akira groaned.
"What, you scared?" Soma smirked.
Akira shot him a deadpan look. "Dude, you've literally never won against me. Where do you even get that confidence?"
"THAT'S WHY I WON'T STOP UNTIL I BEAT YOU!" Soma said stubbornly, as if he would never give up.
"Alright, alright. If you two are gonna fight, let's do this properly. What's the theme?" Joichiro chuckled.
"Fried rice!" Soma didn't hesitate.
"We literally just ate fried rice," Akira groaned, but he didn't bother changing it in the end. He couldn't help but think about how everything had ended up like this.
It all began two years ago when Akira participated in a prestigious cooking competition, the Totsuki Master Chef. It wasn't something he had planned, his family had been staying at Tōtsuki Resort, and the prize was Perfect Grade Gundam models. Through some connections, he ended up competing and won overwhelmingly.
At the time, Soma wasn't there, but his father, Joichiro, had been watching. And after he returned home, Joichiro made an offhand comment to Soma:
"That kid's got talent. If you ever meet him, you should try battling him."
Soma took that personally.
Ever since they met at Yukihira Diner, Soma had been throwing challenges at Akira nonstop. It wasn't just about proving himself, it was about surpassing someone his father had acknowledged.
But no matter how many times they fought, Akira always won.
And now, once again, Soma was ready to challenge him.
"Well then, let's begin," Soma said, removing his trademark white headband from his wrist and tying it around his forehead, preparing for battle.