"Nakata, your balance is off. Start from the beginning." You ordered, tapping the pen on your clipboard as the student did as you said, repeating his balancing of plates. "Remember, you break one plate on your tray, you pay for it."

"YES! Empress!" They exclaimed, returning to training.

The stagiaire was over and none of your first years dropped off, unlike back in the camp. Well, you've had Mitsue and Hano train them for this task, and they all passed. You really couldn't afford to have a reduction on your staff, especially with the upcoming event.

Moon Banquet Festival.

Yeah, that thing. You've always come up on the top three, two years ago you got first place, which was nice, but last year the first seat decided to go to the Central area and set up shop there. Well, you didn't lose, you got second place, but still, you wanted that first place.

It's still two weeks away, but you already got so many of the requests flooding your mailbox. Ingredients, items, assistance, etc, etc. All those things. Well, you've already taken care of them, well, you dumped the work to Eizan.

"Now, now, Shime-chan, you should always remember to watch your sugar or it'll buun." Atsue said sweetly, inspecting the first year's works. And as usual, they are falling for him hard. 'Honestly. Do you damn job. We're gonna be losing money thanks to you.'

Hano was on a corner, reviewing the menu to one group of students. Everyone had a role in this time. Everyone has something to do, they have their groups, specialities and breaks. Basically, setting them up for real work.

'Hm... Today's the Autumn Leaf viewing...' You thought, writing down on the clipboard. 'I wonder how long it'll take...' Just as you were about to ask Terunori, your phone received a message. 'Grandpa?'

Grandpa:

(Y/N)!! I sent a car to you! Come join me in watching the leaves fall! I sent it already. I think it's there now.

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"My angel (Y/N)~" Your grandpa sang as he ran up to you, taking you on a hug the moment you got out of the car. "I'm so glad you decided to accept my request!"

"You didn't give me time to reply. The car was already there." You replied, pushing his itchy beard away and wiggling out of his grasp. "Anyway, is-"

"(Y/N)!!!" Another cheerful voice chimed and another person came running to you. You braced for impact as Terunori came and took you in another hug. "You made it!"

"Well, I had no choice." You said with a straight face, trying to get away from his death grip. Like really, these two have bear for arms. "Anyway, why are you here, aren't you supposed to be with the other elite ten members by now?"

"Well, how could I not spend time with my girlfriend before doing some boring leaf watching!" He exclaimed, linking your arm with his as you three made your way to the path of golden leaves. "Plus, I'd like it better if you were there."

"Do you want to go leaf viewing?" You asked, turning your head over to him. And just like a little button was clicked inside him, he immediately beamed and gave you a big smile. 'Fuck that's cute.'

"Let's go! Let's go! When do you want to go?!" He asked with a grin, your grandpa on the front listening intently. "How about after the moon banquet!? Let's go to Nara!!"

"Sure, sure, whatever you want, Teru."

After finally arriving at the long sas trail of leaves, you three made your way into a group of people, you recognized all of them. Hell, you were here in this place last year as well.

"Woah!! It's the empress!! Hello!!" Kobayashi called from a distance giving you a little wave. "And look, lover boy is also here!"

"Ah, what's with the nickname?!" Terunori exclaimed with a pout.

"Well then, sorry to cut the greetings short, but my granddaughter and I will be on our way." Your grandpa said with a plain tone, leading you further on the path. "We shall be on our way, elite ten."

"See ya' later, (Y/N)!" Terunori said. You turned around and gave him a wave before following your grandpa. "Ah... so cute... unlike this bunch of people."

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"Ah, it's the dean." You said, entering the tower. Your grandpa led you to a tower, saying it was where you two will be watching from, you expected it to be a quiet time, but to your surprise, the headmaster was also here. 'Well, they are somewhat besties. Or something like that. Can't remember.'

"Ah, it's the young miss of the (L/N) family. I see that you brought her with her, Masafumi." The headmaster said as he handed your grandpa binoculars. Your grandpa then handed you the other one. "It's good to see you again."

"...sure..." You muttered, not really knowing when exactly you've met him. Maybe in the past? Like you knew. "Thanks for inviting me."

"Well, it would be a waste for you to miss this scenery." Senzaimon said, turning his glance on the vast trees below. "You could've joined the elite ten today, it's a shame, you have such great talents."

"I was busy, but thanks for the offer." You replied without much care. Like, the only reason you declined the position is because you were busy doing paperwork that you missed during the elections.

"You and your grandfather are very much the same." He muttered, turning his head to your grandpa and began discussing school stuff. He wasn't wrong. You and your grandpa have the same stoic and cold face.

'Hmm... let's see who's gonna be on the future seats...' You looked through your binoculars and saw some pretty familiar faces. 'Ah- they're arguing. It's basically the current elite ten but younger. Hahaha.'

You continued watching the students from the tower, imagining just what exactly they were talking about. Now you wished you were there to listen to what they were talking about, looks like it was interesting. Even Nakiri Erina was joining the conversation.

And then, the drums echoed, signaling the entrance of the elite ten. Front heir point of view, they probably looked hella intimidating, but from where you were, they looked tiny. Terunori looked smaller than usual.

You could see something happened that caused them to shut their mouths and turn to Yukihira in utter shock. You could guess what happened. This same shit happened last year.

'I'm guessing he asked for a Shokugeki.' You hit the nail on the coffin there. 'Well, not like they would agree to it.' And no one did agree to it. They were shaking their heads in disagreement.

"Please excuse me, there's something for (L/N)(Y/N)-sama." At the mention of your name, you turned around and saw one of the staff members that were below. She held a tray, with a plate of what smelled like dessert.

"Maple cake? And green tea?" You asked, surprising the girl. She nodded and placed the tray right besides you and took off the lid. And indeed you were right. A tea cake, to be exact. "...of course..." You groaned, shaking your head at the cute little letter on the place. The two adults went and inspected the letter, asking what it was. You picked it up and read over it. "It's a love letter from the fourth seat."

"A what?" They asked in confusion.

"It's just another one of her recruitment attempts." You said, closing the placing the letter on your vest. Time to add this to the growing collection of letters from the fourth seat.

"What? So you didn't even accept the fourth seat?" Senzaimon asked in confusion. Anyone would kill to have the elite ten's favour. Maybe you were an alien from outer space or someshit. Heck, maybe all of your family were. Like, even your grandpa was like this in his days in Totsuki.

"I'm busy." You repeated, with a hint of salt this time. 'Thanks for the food.'

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"(Y/N)-myan. Did you like what Momo made?" Momo said, standing in front of you, giving you her puppy dog eyes. "Did you read Momo's letter too?"

"I did." You replied. "Momo-senpai's cake is amazing as always." You said, giving her a smile, keeping shit professional. "But I'm afraid I'll have to decline your offer." There was a visible wall of glass shatter behind the petit third year. "But thank you for the kind offer."

"Momo... Momo won't give up..." She sulked and walked away, followed by the third seat and fifth, giving you a silent greeting on the way.

"And another day the girl was rejected by her crush..." Kobayashi narrated, like she was the narrator of an anime or something. "So, anyway," She began as she placed her shoulders around yours, taking you to the side and whispered, "Did you know that Kuga's going to challenge Tsukasa to another Shokugeki?"

"Eh? Again?" You asked, for real shocked at the news. You thought that it was only the first year that challenged the elite ten, but who knew Terunori was going to give it another go. "What's on the table?"

"Oh, they still haven't figured that out. But... I'm just going to tell you what the condition is for Kuga to have this shokugeki granted to him, since it is you we're talking about." She said, giving you her usual grin. "The Moon Banquet Festival."

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"Ah... that was boring!!" Terunori whined as he sat down on his chair, with you right behind him. "They should just stop doing that!! It's a waste of time! Alright, everyone! Do the exercises I said!"

"Yes, chief!" His RS members all said, going to their places and started practicing.

"Ah, right- (Y/N), what are you doing here? I thought you were busy?" He asked, glancing over to you with a frown. It was so easy to tell that he was bothered by something. He never looks at you with a frown. "Sanda-chin! Get the pudding I made and give it to (Y/N), please!"

"Yes, chief!" Some one exclaimed, running into the kitchen and returning with exactly what Terunori had ordered. Hell, he even got you a chair.

"So you're starting to learn how to make sweet things?" You asked. He nodded meekly, leaning his head on your shoulder.

"You don't like spicy food, so I'm starting to learn to make sweets." He said with a pout. "I want you to eat my food too, but it's not like I can force you.... Hm... but still... (Y/N), come and visit on the banquet, I'll be my treat."

"Hm... speaking of which..." You muttered, taking a bite of the pudding. 'It's overcooked...' You thought to yourself, but you still found yourself eating more. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Hm?" He hummed, still looking bothered and stressed.

"About the festival." You said, finishing up the pudding. You really didn't want to finish it, but it might hurt his feelings.

"...you heard it from Rindo-senpai, right?" He asked with a sigh, standing up from his chair and you followed him outside. He sat on the stairs and you sat besides him. "Well... yeah... I'm going to challenge Tsukassan on another Shokugeki. And he'll agree if I won the overall ranking sales during the festival."

"And I'm sure you already, Teru. My-"

"Your RS is always on the top. I know." He cut you off, the usual smile gone and replaced with a smug look. "But doesn't that mean I'll just have to do better than you?"

"Oh, so you think you can do better than me?" You asked as you stood up, leaning down on him and placing one foot beside him. "But, do you have any idea how to run a real establishment? Do you know how to handle customers? Do you know how to price your dishes? Do you know what a single wrong decoration can make? Do you, Kuga Terunori, how to climb to the top where I, (L/N)(Y/N), stands as the best manager there is?"

"..." Terunori smirked nervously as he heard every single thing you listed off. It's not like he's a complete noob at it, he's pretty great at class, so he knows how to handle a restaurant on a theoretical level. But practical? Well... "I know how to do it... I took management classes..."

You shook your head, offering him a hand and helping him up. "There's two weeks until the festival, if you need help, give me a call and I'll help you out."

"But... aren't you basically helping an enemy?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. God he looked so adorable you could just want to keep him in your pocket forever. "And also, I don't want you to help me." He said, his tone serious. "I'll win this with my own talent and power, you just focus on your own RS and work, I don't want to burden you more."

"..." You were utterly out of words. This boy just makes you feel all kinds of things, making your heart flutter just by words. "Ah... I just love you so much..." You muttered, placing your arms around him and resting your head on his neck.

"Aha, Love is a pretty big word you know." He said, cuddling with you. "You shouldn't be saying those words to just anyone so easily."

"I'm not just saying it to anyone." You said, raising your head to meet with his eyes. "I'm saying it to you." You leaned down, letting your lips fall on his. "Why do you always taste so spicy?"

"Well, I like eating spicy things, and you are one of them." He said with a cheeky grin, giving you a kiss on your cheeks. "So, wanna eat something spicy?"

"What? You know I don't-"

"GREAT!! Make (Y/N) our special menu!!" He exclaimed, ignoring you and dragging you inside.

"W-wait!! No! Teru!!" You protested, trying to let him go of your hand, but it was no use. He was physically stronger than, despite him being smaller than you.

Once inside, he made you sit down on a chair, and before you could try to leave, a table and everything was prepared in front of you. You were about to speak again, but Terunori beat you to it.

"Baby, let me feed you~" He whispered, holding your chin in his hand while the other took a spoonful of the spicy treat on the table. "Now, say ah~"

R.I.P (Y/N), today, a dear friend, leader, girlfriend, granddaughter has passed away. Anyway, y'all want something, I'm driving by Mcdonalds.