Chapter One (Shokugeki no Soma)
The delicious smell of boar waffled its way through my nostrils as I exhaled, letting the pleasant smell water my mouth. Takumi Aldini's father must have been an excellent chef, judging by the pleased expressions of everyone seated inside the Trattoria. I patiently waited for my order while sipping water from the bottle. A Planeswalker didn't need to eat and drink, but it didn't mean that food would all taste the same.
Hunger was a thing of the past, but good food? Good food was always good food.
Tagliatelle alla Cacciatora was the current Trattoria's First Course. The main difference between a restaurant and a Trattoria was that the menu was whatever the cook decided, and you just had to suck it up and eat it. Since it was done by more down to earth people, there wasn't a strict portion-level, and you could luckily end up with enough food to feed a whole family in your plate, or enough to feed a tiny bird.
The wine-braised boar meat was coming soon after as the main dish, served with Chianti Wine inside wicker wine bottles, and beans in tomato sauce as a side dish. The dessert was a chestnut cake, with chocolate syrup poured generously upon it.
"Here you go," the waitress was an old matron, with wrinkles on her face and salt and pepper long hair that ended in a ponytail behind her back. She had the stocky build of grandmothers, and as she smiled warmly, I grinned back.
"Thank you," I said with a smile of my own.
"Think nothing of it," she replied just as quickly before moving to serve the other customers. Being polite to waiters and waitresses was how you avoided spit in your food, and thanking the chefs and being regulars was how you earned yourself bigger portions. Admittedly, whenever I wanted to eat something good, I usually ended up going into a dimension where cooking was important, just to taste the deliciousness of food too good to be true.
My eyes widened as the first mouthful of pasta entered my mouth with the deliciousness of a thundering boar stampede, and as my eyes watered from the sheer nostalgia of handmade pasta, I swallowed and kept on eating until the plate was so clean I could see my reflection into it. The arrival of the wine-braised boar was accompanied with a chorus of awing from those who were served it first, and the moans of pleasure from the tender meat and the delicious sauce that I scooped up with the freshly baked bread.
By the time I was done, I rested my back against the chair and sighed in bliss, awaiting the dessert.
The chestnut cake arrived with sprinkled sugar atop it, and as I licked my lips and twitched my fingers in anticipation, two hot slices were left by my table. I ate them with a bit of whipper cream on the side, and felt myself like Oberon, running naked in the forest of chestnut oaks. Though the pleasant feeling that burst into my stomach made it all worthwhile, I was soon brought away from that glade of fae-like desires by the gentle querying of coffee from the kind old matron, which I accepted without fault.
The coffee was delicious too, the finest grains poured into a most delicious espresso, and after that, the Ammazzacaffé came next, a Limoncello liquor that hit the spot with the gentleness and firmness that would have cleared the heaviest of stomachs.
I exhaled in bliss, at peace with myself as I stood up and moved to pay, money a trifling thing as I left a good tip for the waitress, and grinned as I pocketed the receipt. Honestly, whereas perhaps Toriko might have more exotic and tasty culinary wonders, it was slightly more complicated to get to taste those delights.
The line of people waiting to be served outside the Trattoria moved up by a few numbers, as people left satisfied and hungry ones instead rushed in. One couldn't get a table reserved for them, one had to do the line, and if they were lucky, they'd get to eat before the kitchen closed. It was the way of Italy, of its Trattorie, and it suited me just fine since I could simply plop myself into whatever spot in line I decided was worthy, without having the rest bothered by my sudden appearance.
I was a quick eater anyway, and didn't dally in chatting.
I felt the Spark before I even saw the figure appear. There was a soft thud, a hiss of fire and steam, and a figure belatedly materialized out of thin air to land face first on the ground by my side. The street wasn't deserted, but as nobody seemed to bother about the human, I simply outstretched a hand to recall the creature that was coiled around her petite frame. The young woman carefully stood up, her arms embracing herself as she shivered and hiccuped, tears rolling down her cheeks copiously.
The people kept ignoring us, and began to move around, as if we had suddenly become invisible to them -and we were, in fact, utterly invisible to them. "He died?" I asked.
She nodded, her teeth biting down on her lips. "Did you have children?" I asked next, and she nodded again, her entire frame shuddering. "They died too?" she closed her eyes, the tears rolling out of the corner of her eyes an answer enough.
Sparks weren't something you could just gift, or could be transmitted through genetics. I extended a hand in her direction. "Then, Fuuka Akitsuki, what do you want to do now?"
"Bring them back," she whispered. "Please bring them back."
I raised an eyebrow, and closed my offered hand, bringing it behind my back. "I could do that," I acquiesced. "But we would once more stand at this crossroad, perhaps eighty, or ninety years from now. You asked to be left alone, and I did so," I extended my hand and gingerly began to rub the tiny slithering creature that rested upon my other arm, brought in front of my chest once more. The creature's sleek appearance was midway between inky darkness and normal, dark brownish skin. "You could go experiment on your powers, travel the whole Multiverse and see Supernovas be born, witness suns expand, the hearts of volcanoes erupt-"
"I want Yuu," she said, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. "I-I made so many mistakes, I forgot an anniversary once, bought the wrong size of clothes-I-" she was trembling vividly, her fingers moving to grasp my elbows. "J-Just please bring them back!"
I took a deep breath, and then calmly freed myself from her grip. "If you want them, just go get them. Close your eyes and jump, go to where they are, but one day, you'll regret it. You're still young." I sighed, shaking my head. "But they won't be yours," I continued. "They will be those of another Fuuka, who will cry just as you are doing right now," I let the creature in my arms disappear in my shadow. "What you need is something good to drink, and some quiet time." I extended my hand again. "Come on, I know of a place that makes a really divine coffee."
She turned her back to me, and disappeared.
I blinked once, and then took a deep breath. This time, I wasn't going to follow her. She'd come around. By the fifth time she stole the place that belonged to another Fuuka, she would realize just how much of a folly it was to continuously hurt oneself in such ways. If not the fifth, then the tenth, or perhaps the one hundredth. Perhaps when the child born would not be the same as the one before, or perhaps when a slight difference would lead down a different path, then she would understand.
I was tempted to just leave her to herself, but if the burst of power of her awakening was of any indication, leaving her alone would mean seeing a world charred to death.
It really is none of your business. The voice of wisdom inside my head spoke quite clearly and wisely. I knew the voice was right. At the same time, I couldn't just leave her be.
If push came to shove, I could perhaps forcefully relocate her into a lifeless plane to let her get her kicks out of her system.
Or just make her sleep for a few days, and wake her up in a completely foreign plane with no possibility of returning home.
Yet...it really wasn't my problem, or my business. If she wanted to rage against the injustice of the circle of life, she was free to burn to cinders and crispy bacon every single living being of her hometown, her nation and perhaps even her world. It didn't concern me.
It shouldn't concern me.
...
I jumped all the same.