CHAPTER 19

Let's rewind.

Yuji and I, in an attempt to satisfy our hunger after escaping the source of all my nightmares, Suzuki-sensei, joined Hiro here in his classroom to share his extravagant lunch.

And just as I discovered the identity of the one responsible for creating said big-ass lunches, here the girl was, towering over me with the mention that Hiro was her cousin.

What?

"Raku!" Hiro was as white as snow as he released his hold on Yuji's collar. "What are you doing here?"

'Raku' pivoted on her foot and turned towards Hiro, her long brown hair flowing after her. I picked up my head from against the chair, rubbing my neck to rid it from its crick as I properly faced the girl. She had her own entourage behind her consisting of three girls with matching wariness. Then there was the girl herself, smiling as sweetly as could be.

"I've gained intel that you were sharing my lunch with other people and came to see," she said, her elegant speech pattern giving off her status. Her eyes shifted to Yuji and she bobbed her head. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Sato-san."

"Pleasure's mine, Raku. Doing well?" He craned his neck and grinned at her followers. "Are 'Himawari Raku's eternal minionettes until death #1, 2 and 3' doing well also?"

My eyebrows remained high on my face. Minions until what?

Catching onto my disbelief, Yuji discreetly leaned over to me and whispered, "It's what they call themselves—gladly. There's about ten of them in all, and they even have an organized schedule to decide who'll be following her around."

Hold up, was he being serious? They gladly called themselves her minions, or 'minionettes?' My mind automatically turned its gears and behind this big and haughty girl I envisioned ten yellow, one to two-eyed minions waddling after her around campus. I lost all colour to my face at once. It wasn't exactly a pretty image.

"Still the tease as always, aren't you, Sato-san?" She'd heard our exchange. And wow did her saying his last name remind me so much of the antagonist in Ajin. Standing tall, Raku still returned Yuji's friendliness. "We're all doing well, thank you. How are you?"

"Hungry," he admitted, gesturing to the lunchbox. "Do you seriously mind that I took some? Hiro never finishes his lunch anyway."

Raku breathed a heavy sigh, "As aggravating as it is that he can't finish his lunch despite being in high school—"

"It's not just me!" Hiro interjected in disbelief. "I always tell you no human can eat that much food!"

She easily brushed him aside, "—I'd happily allow you to take as much of it as you'd like, Sato-san. Though."

"Though," piped in minionette #1.

"Though," sang #2 in a louder pitch.

"Though," lead #3 until all of them were sharing a high note.

I jerked my head back and forth, fluttering my eyelashes when they all swivelled to me with vivid scorn scrunching their countenances. Their index fingers were all up in my personal space and Raku who stood ahead of them, bent over to glare at me right in the eyes.

"I do not approve of you sharing with a hussy like her."

Simultaneous gasps resounded within the room, more specifically from the students in the back, and even the teacher of this class who'd stopped by the doorway with an exaggerated hand over her mouth.

"Hussy?" Yuji gripped my shoulders as I carefully rose to my feet. He tilted his head to the side. "Raku, she—aka Miyuki—is very much admirable in her own way."

The lividness from Raku hadn't wavered at all.

"I care the least what name this ignoramus goes by," she snapped. "It is simply mortifying that a girl must share a lunch with my dear cousin—a boy—when she can very much be cooking her own."

"Is this why you came here?" Hiro demanded. "Because I was giving a portion of that mountain to a girl? You always used to snap whenever Saki ate your food, too."

"Don't you dare mention another woman in front of me, Hiro!"

Yuji and I stiffened, more so when the girl appeared very much on the verge of tearing up.

"Are they..." I started, holding out my pointer finger between them.

    Yuji who'd unhanded me earlier extended out an onigiri for me to eat and we both simultaneously took a bite of the food. The girl seriously must've had hands of a god because damn was it delicious for mere rice and bean paste. "It's a little complicated," Yuji notified me as we continued watching this all unfold. "You know; the cliched 'they made a promise to marry when they were kids' plot twist."

I produced a rocky whistle, which was a bad thing on my part because that instantaneously drew all attention to me.

Raku resumed colouring as red as an erupting volcano at our eye contact before shouting at Hiro once more, "I am merely offended that you invited another woman for lunch when you constantly turn me down! And what's worse? It's a lunch I made for you—full of my love and hope that you'll finally grow taller if I supplied you with the appropriate diet—"

        "Hey!"

         "—and yet you are letting some lowly girl I've never seen in my life eat it for you?"

         Yikes. Yikes. Yikes.

         This was insanely tense.

         And godawfully entertaining.

         I reached for another onigiri before I could help myself and melted inwardly yet again. "Wow this is really good food."

         Raku rotated towards me, a furious scowl in place. She swiped the rice ball from my hands quicker than my reflexes could kick in and balled her fists, crushing and scattering the rice and its gooey insides across the floor. I swiftly held up my hands in defence—she was seriously ready to charge.

           "We come from an exceptional family and yet you are wasting time with another girl... A plain-looking girl like her!" Her animosity made me flinch. "You! What is your name?"

         As my mouth was still full from the bite I hadn't finished, I held up my finger to tell her to wait. Once swallowed, I spoke, "Miyuki."

         "Miyuki." She spat as if my name were the embodiment of disgust.

        Her minions then proceeded to do the same.

         I deadpanned and begrudgingly wiped at the remnants that had splattered across my face. "What are you people? Sprinklers? It's just a name."

          They halted at once and Raku moved too close into my personal bubble I got to see every portion of her reddened complexion. "You think you're better than me don't you? You think you belong by Hiro's side?"

           "You need to take a chill pill, sister. If you want this dork, have him, marry him, I don't care," I responded, even going so far as to push him to her. "Just please leave the food."

           Hiro pried himself free and glowered at me. "Hoshino!"

          "What?" I said. "Priorities."

         Yuji nodded in agreement. "There you go, Raku. Hiro's yours. Food, ours."

         "No!" the girl hissed, sprinkling her intentions all over my face again. "You and me. Sunday. We're having a cooking duel. Winner gets to have Hiro."

         I wiped the spit off my fluttering eyelids. "Um, did I not just say—"

         "Hiro's never stared at a girl in that manner—ever!"

          "What manner?" I demanded in disbelief, looking back at him. "You mean his disapproval? I find that hard to believe because the guy's hella grumpy for a fifteen-year-old."

           I ignored Hiro's renewed hostility, and Raku who'd seen it raged even further. "If you wish to remain by his side you must win, and if not you are to stop concerning yourself with him for as long as you live!"

           "You have the wrong idea!" Hiro shouted. "We're only—"

           "—less than acquaintances," I finished for him with a nod. After pausing, I added, "Apart of the same club."

           Hiro stopped to glare at me. "Seriously?"

          I rose my shoulders. "I don't want her getting the idea that we're friends."

          "Because that's totally the point."

          Raku was seeping more anger at our interaction. "You," she started.

           "A cooking duel?" I cut her off, meeting her gaze. "As in, Food Wars?"

          Raku noticed my change in intensity and cracked a smirk. "If that is what you would like to classify it as, war seems fitting enough."

          "And winner gets to stay by Hiro's side..." I reiterated and frowned. "How about the winner also has to receive a daily lunch from the loser? That's more tempting."

           She sneered but didn't disagree to my addition. "Fine. Though, your confidence will come back to bite you in the butt. Sato-san?"

           He was still nonchalantly stuffing his face. "Yesh?"

          "All of these students in this room shall be the witnesses to our duel," she declared by the wave her hand, "so have the Humanity Club as well as my minionettes gather professional judges and a place for the battle. And of course, none of the aforementioned should already have an established relationship with any of you."

           "Sure," he muffled out. "Kazu could easily manage that."

            She smirked and extended out her hand. "Then it is on, Miyuki."

           I reached to shake it (free food!) but was stopped by the forceful yank of my arm. "Woah, woah, wait!"

            Hiro stepped in between us, forcing Raku back.

            "You can't just come stomping in here and making all these decisions!"

            "This is a matter between women fighting for your affection, Hiro," Raku responded with knitted brows.

            "Free food," I corrected.

           Hiro brushed me aside. "I've told you since we were kids, but I do not need your affection, Raku! We were playing pretend house that one time; stop taking those words to heart!"

          "You swore loyalty to me."

          "In a game!" he defended. "When I was four!"

          Raku clenched her fists. "Are you choosing her over me?"

           "I'm not choosing anyone! Stop making such a loud scene and leave me alone!"

            Raku was silent. Her minions behind her paled and nervously began nibbling on their nails, which allowed even Hiro to become stricken.

            She picked up her chin and met his eyes, newfound conviction reflecting within them. "If you want to protect this pathetic club member of yours so badly, you take her place."

           Hiro went jaw-slack, as did I. Murmurs started up around the classroom as Hiro stood dumbfounded.

            "I'm saying cook instead of her," Raku went on, a hand to her hip. "If you cook in her stead and win, I'll stop bothering you so you can eat or spend your lunches whatever and however way you'd like."

            "And if you win?"

           Raku didn't even hesitate, "Miyuki must leave your club and never show her face in front of you, or me, ever again."

          Hiro gasped, "What—"

          "Holy glob yes," I squealed form behind him, latching onto his arm. "Hiro, please. Say yes—"

            "You keep out of this!" Hiro nudged me aside and faced his cousin, tentatively. "I have no obligation of going along with this."

            "You're the one that disagreed to Miyuki doing it. Besides, that Humanity Club is nothing but trouble for someone of your status so it losing a member and disbanding will technically be killing two birds with one stone," Raku pointed out and placed a hand to her hip. "But if you're truly serious and are such a 'hiro' you'll protect your precious clubmate won't you?"

          I expected Hiro to refute to whatever she was saying. Hell, I expected him to tell her to get lost from his life since her one-sided deal was something none of us had to agree to.

           But he only did the exact opposite.

           "I never want to hear you bring up this foolish issue again," Hiro stated and extended out his finger. "And get it through your head that I don't want to eat your huge-ass lunches anyway! I'm beating your butt on Sunday just you wait!"

           With an aggravated huff, Raku and her minions spun on their heels and scampered out of the room. Silence returned to the room and Yuji sucked in a breath.

            "You sure you can be talking to her like that?"

           "What can my father do to me anyway?" Hiro responded, shoulders slouched. "It's been like this since we were born; I'm sick of it."

           "Father?" I snorted. So stiff. "She also brought up you have an exceptional family. You rich or something?"

           "Mine, Saki's and Hiro's families are longtime business partners," Yuji explained in his stead. "But more importantly... dude, you can't cook."

            Hiro blanched. "I know! I'm so screwed!"

            Yuji patted his shoulder. "And yet you covered for Miyuki and made the stakes only worse for our club? Great going, genius."

            "That's because—"

            I went and patted his other shoulder also. "It's honestly okay if you do lose, Hiro. I want to leave the club anyway."

            "No," he snapped, his conviction suffice to knock the wind out of me. "I'm not losing another club member!"

            My heartbeat picked up irregularly in my chest, and for once in my life, I was momentarily speechless for a whole other reason entirely. "Wow, Hiro said something nice to me," I finally said, eyes as wide as saucers.

            He promptly blushed, hard. "What's with that reaction?"

            "Aww, in truth, he cares about you," teased Yuji.

           Hiro rounded, fist raised. "No I don't! I only said what's obvious!"

            "Maybe for you." Yuji had a hand over his mouth. "My, oh my, is there a reason why Big Bad Hiro doesn't want to lose Miyuki—"

             "I'm literally gonna—"

             "Well," Yuji said, stopping his fists and holler with an easygoing smile. They'd been around each other too long he'd gotten the hang of Hiro's violent tendencies. "Even with just Miyuki gone the HC will disband."

              "There's that too. You need five members to keep a club instated," Hiro sighed, retreating from him and towering over me with a frown. "Hear that? We're not losing you and the club."

            I stifled a sigh of my own and coughed, "Okay, okay, I get it."

            Yuji and Hiro stared at me, patiently, and their hidden plea eventually allowed me to submit.

            "Since it's kinda my fault, and seeing as I'm the best at cooking and baking in they club, be grateful Hiro because the Hoshino Miyuki shall teach you all her secrets." Resting my hand at my hip, I smirked. "I don't care about Rack or whatever her name is! Bring on the Food Wars!"

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I've been writing up these last few chapters relatively quick lately. At least, quicker than I used to. It's really satisfying. But I also really want to thank you all for reading this far/supporting this story! Seriously, if it weren't for you awesome peeps this story probably wouldn't have gotten this far along so I'm extremely grateful :) That said, I really do hope you're all enjoying the story so far! <3

-Misty