Passion || Shokugeki no Soma

Not One, But Two Traitors

"Hayama Akira, you are now expelled!"

He looked up at the pink haired girl who peered down at him with a hand on her hip. She knelt down to him and whispered into his ear.

"Sorry." 

How? How did it turn out like this? 

"Hayama Akira," The loser looked at the newcomer, and widened his eyes at the tall, lean, and ominous figure. The mastermind of this entire plot. His opponent stood up and stepped aside.

"Would you like to make a deal? You have talent and although you lost, I am willing to oversee this verdict."

"What do you want?" He replied weakly, pathetically. Sweat rolled down the side of his head. 

"Crush everyone else, and join the Elite Ten. That...or you can say goodbye to Shiomi Jun and Totsuki Academy."

________________________________________________________________________________

Hayama Akira did not expect this.

Sure, he won against a bunch of other students during the Shokugeki match to become the Ninth Seat. Sure, he expected Central to target Shiomi's lab one day. which is why he acted quickly to protect it. Hell, he expected that with this duty, he needed to take responsibility. After all, he was now a part of the organization he always hated and never wanted to be involved in.

It was a weird feeling. After all, he strived to be in this Elite position just a while back...but here he is now...and at what cost?

Hayama Akira didn't know how exactly he should feel anymore. Should he feel arrogant? Feel prideful for winning against all odds and defeating even third years? Or should he feel shameful? Traitorous and felt like utter shit? 

Everything is for Jun.

Of course, nothing else mattered. Everything was for her. His life was saved by her, the least he could do was to protect her lab. He will do anything to protect her lab, her smile.

So he fought. He lost to Central. Now he compromised. And he won again to claim this seat. 

.

.

.

Why did it turn out this way?

Hayama Akira did not expect this.

How the two would meet in enemy territory. Actually, it was him who avoided her with the best of his abilities. After all, he can't see her like this. She can't see him like this.

Ashamed. Lost. Felt like utter shit.

But no. The world loved to play games with him, kick him when he's already down.

This time, he made a mistake. He let down his guard. He was too caught up in his own thoughts and shame. Who knew they walked down the same hallway? One was on her phone, texting, the other in deep thought. The two didn't notice each other until they passed each other. Almost as if lightning struck him, he jolted out of his thoughts once he saw the unmistakable red hair.

Run. Escape. Don't let her see you-

"Akira?" He just froze. Utterly shocked that he let down his guard. Completely unsure as to what to do, confront her? Run away from her? But no, he froze. He felt like he was split in half.

One side told him to talk to her, because he really needed some social comfort, someone to talk to. The other was to be a fucking coward and run because he doesn't want to lose face nor deal with more emotional conflict or regret.