"HWUUUH!" A gasp ripped suddenly from the man's throat, causing him to doubled over and practically cough his lungs out as he attempted to recover from the recoil.
(Y/N)'s day had been going splendidly, emphasis on the had. They were enjoying the sights of the first village outside of the city, a lovely little home for a tight knit community.
The simple things like the wells and creek were all fascinating, and even if this weren't the first time they've seen things like these, they were still therapeutic to enjoy these items within the tranquil setting.
Unfortunately for them, that atmosphere would be shattered as rounding the corner and coming face to face with them was none other than their arch-nemesis.
"IT'S YOU! PIGEON!" Arataki Itto shouted while jabbing his finger in their direction, his long white hair swaying in the breeze that decided to interrupt their stand still to make it more intense.
'Maybe if I pretend I don't know him he'll leave me alone.' (Y/N) thought with a deadpan expression, dread filling them up as they could find no other way out of this.
Tilting their head innocently, (Y/N) blinked owlishly over at Itto, who's eyebrow shot up wondering what type of display they were putting on. They made effort to look around them and even over their shoulder, hand moving upwards as they sheepishly scratched their cheek.
"Ah... sorry, you've got the wrong person." (Y/N) apologized while looking off to the side and tried to act casual and confused. Slowly and cautiously, their foot began to pivot as they began to back up slowly to try and create some distance in case they needed to run.
Itto noticed the way they were subtly backing away, his lip curling upwards in irritation making the lines on his face stretch. He punched a clenched fist into his open palm making (Y/N) flinch, the aura Itto was emitting already telling them that he wasn't having any of it.
"OH, don't give me that whole amnesia shtick! I'm not that dense!" He shouted while closing the distance that they had made between the two and stomping forward.
Feeling their anger bubble up, (Y/N) maintained a calm composure as they discarded the idea of pretending not to know him to say,
"You just admitted you're dense, meathead." (Y/N) pointed out— to which Itto decided to ignore them as his mind clouded with pure revenge.
"I challenge you!" He declared while wrapping his hands around his waist to stand in a confident pose.
"I don't have my beyblade on me, sorry man."
"—To a competition!"
Knowing that they weren't interested, (Y/N) was readying to run and call for help— hell they would even call out for the Tenryou commission if need be. They regret coming out here to find a place to eat, but they were extremely hungry after all the stolen rations they had were defiled by those birds.
A thought then passed just as they were about to turn away and dash off, their eyebrow raising as they looked over at Itto in sudden interest which made him smirk seeing it as an accepted challenge.
"Is there a prize?" They asked, wanting to know what would be the result of their efforts. Even though they liked to claim Itto had a one sided rivalry against them, they secretly wanted to be better than him at everything and prove him wrong. Not only for what he did in jail and how they constantly bickered, but how he almost got them thrown in jail once again a few days earlier.
Itto shut his eyes as he hummed loudly, obviously not thinking this far and coming up with something on the spot. He wanted to make sure his rival was as invested in this as he was, so he began to spout the first things that appeared off the top of his head.
"Whoever wins is better and cooler— aaaand, they must do whatever the other has to say!" He declared, and without missing a beat, (Y/N)'s competitive side flared as they narrowed their eyes over at the tall man.
"Prepare to lose, meathead!"
——————♡——————
"RAMEN EATING?!" (Y/N) stared both incredulously and happily at the large wooden stand with a carved picture of ramen at the top of it, a tantalizing and teasing smell wafting from out of the front as Itto pushed the curtain out of the way so they could both walk in.
Much more excited and pumped up than when they first got here, (Y/N) followed Itto into the establishment as the warm honey glow of the lamps welcomed them in.
The inside behind the curtains was lavishly decorated— almost home-y as pictures of frequent customers were pinned up against the walls and letters from guests were beside them. The personalization made them already know this ramen was going to be the most delicious bowl in the area, and what was even more exciting was when they saw the chef place a piping bowl in front of a customer who clapped his hands together and thanked him before breaking his chopsticks and digging in.
Seeing Itto beckoning them over, (Y/N) hopped onto the stool just beside him with a stone face, serious and determined to win this competition with a conviction that contradicted their attitude of wanting to get as far away as possible from him earlier.
The sizzling of a pan and sound of something being deep fried made both of their stomachs growl simultaneously, though neither pointed it out as Itto aggressively circled the type of ramen they would be competing with and slid it along the counter towards the area where the ramen guy was standing.
He smiled at the familiar customer which just so happened to be one of his best, already knowing what was about to go down, so he wasn't startled or confused in the slightest at his forward-ness having seen this many times before.
"Whoever eats the most bowls win. Keep count and keep em' coming for us, pops!"
"You've got it!"
The two stared down silently at the steaming bowl of noodles that was decorated with chopped green onions and a singular boiled egg.
The silence between the two was so intense, it had gathered a crowd as passerby's stopped to watch and those who were eating paused to witness the altercation. (Y/N) and Itto simultaneously snapped their chopsticks apart and held them within their hands, each side eyeing the other's movements as the smell of the freshly made ramen wafted around the stall and into their nose.
(Y/N) waited for the signal, and just as they were about to get a head start while Itto was seemingly mesmerized with his bowl, it seemed he was already two steps ahead of them in that area.
"READYSETSTART!"
"—HUH!? DAMNIT WAIT!"
Everyone began to avoid the stall as broth from the meals flew everywhere and bowls were harshly slammed down, loud "More's" being shouted every time they finished one as the stall owner struggled to keep up.
They were even the whole time, currently at six bowls eaten while finishing up their seventh.
Both were feeling sick with how fast they were pouring boiling liquid into their mouth and how much noodles they were shoveling down their throats, swallowing becoming hard as they were both becoming nauseas.
Suddenly, before either could react and not hearing anything in the slightest since they were too absorbed in the competition, they were attacked.
CRASH
Itto went flying out of his seat and a loud impact was heard as someone had tackled him to the ground, and another was about to do the same to (Y/N) but when they heard Itto fall, they stood up and dodged while staring at the scene in shock.
A noodle hung out from their mouth as they pathetically slurped it up, watching as Itto had roughly hit the floor after slamming into the counter because these commission members didn't hold back.
Once he hit the floor directly on his stomach, he felt a nasty burp rise up and he felt like hurling. He slapped a hand over his mouth as his face began to turn an sickly shade of green, desperately and pathetically kicking and punching as he tried to get the man off from him.
"GET THE OTHER ONE TOO!"
"O-oH sHiT—" Taking that as their cue to get the hell out of there, they similarly clamped a hand over their mouth as they ignored the angered shouting of the soldiers and the ramen stall owner to stumble out the back entrance as quickly as they could.
"CoME BaCk, wE'rE NoT DOnE— BLURGH— yet."