Chapter 60: The Distance Obtained
After dealing with Saiba Asahi and Nakiri Azami, I safely returned to Japan.
It was past noon. Having just gotten off the plane, a heavy drowsiness washed over me. I suppressed the yawn that tried to escape and used my phone to call for the car that was picking me up.
"…Time to head back. To Totsuki."
I had considered stopping by the family home, but I went straight from the airport to Totsuki Academy. My father had said a report by email was fine, so I decided to return to the academy as quickly as possible.
Passing through the school buildings and campus scenery that already felt nostalgic, I placed my luggage in my room. The king-size bed that took up a quarter of the room—I hadn't used it in a while. The thought of resuming my peaceful, lust-filled school life made my heart race. This was exactly what I had thrown myself into those troublesome battles for.
With the defeat of the Azami regime in the Regimental Shokugeki, the Central Gastronomy Agency had been dismantled.
The academy was currently on a one-week break to prepare for returning to its original state. Today, the day I returned, was still within that preparation period, so there were no classes. The students I saw were all spending their free time as they pleased.
It was only natural that restoring everything after he had altered the school so freely would take time. He had tampered with everything from classes to instructors.
After finishing unpacking, I left my room for the first time in a while and headed to the Polar Star Dorm, where I had been summoned.
"—Oh! Shogo! You're back!"
The one who immediately came out to greet me was Soma.
He was the one who had called me here, and a comrade who had fought alongside me. From what I had heard, he had teamed up with Erina in the final bout just like in the original story and played a decisive role. As expected of the protagonist—he never fails to meet expectations.
"Yeah, I'm back. Good work out there."
"Good work, good work. Hehe, now everyone's here. All right, you guys! Let the party begin!!"
He led me from the entrance to the large common room, where many people were already seated with excited expressions. The tables were lined with a massive amount of food, a lavish spread worthy of the term "Soma's party."
"Ahh! Shogo-chin is here~!"
"Welcome back!"
"I-I'm so glad… You made it back safely."
Yoshino Yuuki called out first, followed by Ryoko and Tadokoro. Along with the usual Polar Star members, the Aldini brothers, Mito Ikumi, Miyoko, Alice, Kurokiba, Hayama Akira, and pretty much everyone connected to us was gathered.
Perhaps out of consideration for the underclassmen, the upperclassmen besides Isshiki-senpai were nowhere to be seen.
"Shogo-kun! Welcome back!"
"Hmph, you sure took your time coming back. …Well, welcome home."
"Yeah. Alice-san, Hojo-san. I'm back. …Still, that's an incredible amount of food."
They had probably all made it together. There was koji cuisine, game dishes, tempura, smoked foods, Italian, Japanese, cutting-edge cuisine, seafood, curry, Chinese—everything was there. It was less a party and more like an all-you-can-eat buffet. I had no complaints; this was fun in its own way.
"Are Erina-san and Hisako not here?"
"Well, I invited them, but they said they were busy and turned me down."
"Can't be helped, Soma-kun. Nakiri-san has only just become the new headmaster, so she has a lot to deal with. Hisako-san is probably supporting her."
"I see. That makes sense."
I understood why the two were absent from Tadokoro's explanation. It felt wrong to be noisily celebrating while they were probably working, but I knew they would just tell us not to mind them. I planned to see their faces later anyway, so for now I would enjoy the party I had been invited to.
"All right! Since Shogo's here too, let's have a toast! To celebrate our victory in the Regimental Shokugeki… Cheers!!"
At Soma's signal, the party began in earnest. Everyone chatted happily while savoring the superb dishes.
Many had been branded with expulsion, even if only temporarily, so quite a few were shedding tears of relief at having safely returned to the academy. I had technically been expelled too, but I hadn't tasted despair deep enough to cry. I had known we would win, after all.
After downing a mug of cola and catching my breath, Soma sat down in the chair next to me.
"Shogo~! We won, just like I said!"
"Yeah, I know. You teamed up with Erina-san for the final bout, right? A course meal showdown."
"Yup! Man, it was rough. Nakiri wouldn't match my pace at all. The menu wasn't even decided until the last minute—I was seriously sweating."
"You were probably the one throwing a tantrum, weren't you? I told you to listen to her properly."
"Hehe, you really thought I would?"
"Nah, not at all."
After that, the party continued to heat up, becoming a space where we forgot about time. Everyone was savoring the peace they had regained, laughing together—it was truly a page from youth.
I kept it subtle enough not to be noticed by those around me, flirting a little with Alice and the others, admiring the naked-apron Isshiki-senpai like a tourist attraction, and chuckling at Soma's obligatory bizarre dish. It was an ordinary, enjoyable party.
Before I knew it, the time was 4 PM. Since we had toasted around 1:30, two and a half hours had already passed. It was about time to move for today's main objective.
"There's still more~? My special new bizarre dish~! Tadokoro… you'll eat it, right?"
"N-Nooo!!!"
Soma and Tadokoro were making a big fuss in the center, so there was no need for me to say anything before slipping out. Everyone was laughing at their comedy routine, so there was no point in spoiling the mood.
I pretended to go get another drink, left Polar Star Dorm, and contacted Hisako on my phone. Teasing her for picking up after only a few rings, I started walking toward the academy building where the headmaster's office was located.
***
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