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satendou · 4 years

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⟼ a little home

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⇢ pairing: sawamura daichi/f!reader/azumane asahi

⇢ au: aged up!au, poly!au, officer!daichi, fashion designer!asahi

⇢ summary: you have had a terrible day and daichi would be remiss if he didn’t help you feel better. if asahi happens to arrive home just in time to join in the fun, well, who are you to complain?

⇥ masterlist

⇥ requests are open! | rules

⇢ warnings: established relationship, polyamory, smut, comfort, fingering, praise, double vaginal penetration

⇢ word count: 3.3k

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⇢ a/n: this was written for a friend of mine when they were going through a bit of a hard time, so the plot point is specific to that. still, i liked this fic so i asked if i could post it.

You slammed the door of your apartment shut behind you, nearly screaming in aggravation as you kicked your shoes off hard enough that they bounced off the wall.

Thinking you were alone, you nearly jumped out of your skin when Daichi’s voice reached your ears. “Long day?”

Whipping around, you scanned the room, but he was nowhere in sight. The deep anger in your chest ebbed away at the sound, but it was replaced with an irrational anxiety when you couldn’t find him. “Dai? Where are you?”

“The bedroom, love.”

You followed his voice and found him just shedding his uniform, hanging his utility belt on the hook next to his jacket in the closet. “You’re home. I thought you were supposed to be working all night on that new case.”

“The suspect turned himself in, so they let us off at the normal time,” he said, turning to you with a smile which fell when he caught sight of the dark circles and the frown. There was a sparkle to your eyes that wasn’t happiness at seeing him, though that was there too. No, you were ready to cry and that could only mean one thing. “Oh, baby, come here.”

It was the final straw.

The tears spilled over and fell down your cheeks before you could fight it, the sympathetic, warm glow in his eyes an instant comfort even if he looked ready to go out and pick a fight. And he would, if you gave him permission. But you both knew you wouldn’t. Even if she hurt you time and again, she was still your mother and you didn’t want her and your partner going at each other.

But that didn’t mean the things she did and the things she said stung or aggravated you any less. You wondered for the hundredth time what you had done to make her treat you like that as your tears soaked his undershirt.

Daichi could already tell what you were thinking. No matter how many times him and Asahi had told you that none of it was your fault, you always fell back on feeling guilty, thinking you were overreacting or that it was something you had done. Only time and distance would give you perspective, but you couldn’t give yourself either. Or rather, she wouldn’t give you either.

But he wasn’t going to push you. You would have to figure it out for yourself, and in the meantime, he would be there to support you.

While he rubbed your back, his lips pressing to your hair in soothing kisses, he fished his phone out of your pocket and sent a quick text to Asahi. It was a familiar one, and one he would no doubt understand.

“Let me get finished and then we can go relax and you can tell me all about it. Asahi will be home soon, too,” he said, pulling back enough to press a quick kiss to your forehead.

You moved to sit at the edge of the bed, watching him slowly undress, his issued pants unzipped and hanging low on his hips, revealing his boxers underneath. He pulled his shirt over his head, his back muscles rippling with the movements. Even years after he’d quit playing volleyball competitively, he kept up his physique playing with the community teams. He was good at teaching children and well liked, and made a solid foundation as captain of your neighborhood team. It also had other benefits, such as making good eye candy.

His shoulders shook and you caught his eye in the mirror, shrugging. “I like what I see.”

His pants slid down his toned legs and were followed by your eyes, just drinking him in. They were replaced with a pair of basketball shorts, and then he came to stand in front of you and you parted your legs willingly. He slotted himself between your thighs, pushing you back until you were laying flat on the bed.

“I know I said we’d relax, but your staring has distracted me. I think I should return the favor,” he said, his voice husky and amused. His fingers danced up your inner thighs, covered by your jeans until they landed on the button. When he heard no disputes, he flicked it open and pulled the zipper down, tugging your jeans halfway down your thighs followed by pushing your shirt up to your neck, displaying your bra.

Pressing open mouthed kisses all over your stomach elicited a giggle, and he chuckled against your skin, his fingers kneading the soft flesh of your hips. He paved a trail up your ribs with his lips and hands, nudging you to arch so he could unclasp your bra. The way your breathing deepened as his fingers cupped just under your breasts, bouncing them and listening to your giggles, made him smirk. The noises changed right to gasps as his mouth found your nipple, flicking his tongue over the bud. Your back arched and a small moan escaped as he sucked, your fingers finding his hair and tugging him closer, as if he was planning to go anywhere.

Letting his fingers wander down further, they ghosted over your clit, gathering the slick already there and circling it with two fingers. When he switched to your other, neglected nipple, they slid further down, splitting your folds and prodding one finger into your wet, needy hole. Your hips rolled, fingers pulling at his hair while he curled that finger inside of you. Sparks of pleasure flooded through you, the moans growing louder and more garbled.

“Daichi, please, more,” you begged, trying to throw your legs over his shoulders, forgetting you were still wrapped up in your jeans. You whined when Daichi pulled away, laughing at the angry tug at his hair and wrapping his fingers around your insistent wrist.

“Wait, baby, give me a second.”

Your pants were off and thrown over his shoulder, landing with a muffled whump somewhere near the closet, but you were too preoccupied to notice as Daichi had thrown your legs over his shoulders and dived back in. Your voice cracked around the noise you made, your thighs clenching around his head as his tongue flicked across your clit so fast you were seeing stars. His fingers slid back into your tight heat and he groaned around your clit as he watched you cup your own tit, tweaking your nipple while you tugged at your hair. Your pussy made the most delicious noises, so wet for him and he worked a third finger into you for your trouble. Curling his finger just right, your hips jerked in his hold, nonsensical pleading leaving your lips as you hurtled toward the edge.

Your stupor broke at the sound of a door clicking shut, and you opened your eyes to find Asahi staring at you with an amused grin.

“Well, what do we have here?” he asked, loosening his tie as he set his bag down on the dresser.

“Dessert,” Daichi responded, barely moving away from your still sensitive clit as he said it, and the movement of his lips against it sent little shocks of pleasure. With his fingers still buried in your pussy, you weren’t sure if you were in heaven or hell.

“Before dinner? Dai, you ought to know better,” Asahi said, flicking the buttons on his shirt open.

Your eyes rolled as Daichi returned his attention to your clit, taking it a little slower now, giving Asahi a show without your permission. The pleasure built up quicker than you were expecting and you shook with your orgasm, clamping down tight around Daichi’s head. You kept your eyes on Asahi as long as you could, enjoying the slight flush on his cheeks until the pleasure forced your eyes to shut.

“Damn, _____, you really are beautiful, you know that?” Asahi whispered, pushing strands of hair out of your face and smiling when you grinned up at him. “Think you have the energy for some more?”

“Always,” you whispered, tugging on his hand.

Instead of coming down to you, he pulled you up, cupping the back of your head and capturing your lips with his. Delving his tongue into your mouth, you tasted coffee just the way he liked and a hint of strawberries-- probably from the strawberry mochi he always bought at lunch. His fingers threaded in your hair and yours followed suit, tugging his hair from it’s high bun and sighed at the softness.

“Don’t hog her, Asahi,” Daichi said, setting your legs down. But he didn’t move back from you.

Instead, you felt the bed dip where he put his weight down and, when Asahi pulled back, you saw that Daichi had braced himself on one arm over you. You had a sudden flash of overwhelming, unadulterated love for him as he stared down at you with gentle, if not mischievous, eyes. He never judged you, never pushed you about certain sensitive topics, but always offered an ear no matter how much he disliked what he heard. But it was only ever because he hated what it did to you.

Thinking like that, you turned to look at Asahi, who was stripping himself of his pants and flushed pink when he caught you looking. A smile still spread across his lips, as quick as ever and the gentle glint in his eye told you that Daichi had told him about your day already.

Tears burned your eyes again, but for an entirely different reason. Overwhelming love flowed through you and, as if Asahi could read it on your face, he rushed over. Daichi must have seen it too because your lips were suddenly occupied and your mouth filled with his tongue, tasting everything.

You moaned into his mouth while he shuffled around, leaving the space between your legs unoccupied. As you were about to complain-- or try to, you weren’t sure how yet-- fingers were prodding at your still wet slit, one and two and then three fingers sliding in so easily it was almost embarrassing.

Muffled moans left your lips as you realized that both of them had filled you, and it was probably Asahi’s gentle touch against your clit. The thought was enough to drive you right to the edge and a sharp pulse of pleasure shooting from your cunt through the rest of you had your back arching and your hips rolling. They scissored and flexed inside you, stretching your pussy out to prepare you for what was to come. A fourth finger prodded gently, questioning just as Daichi pulled away from your lips.

“Please, I want it, want you,” you babbled as soon as you were free. The fingers of one hand curled into Asahi’s and he took the hint, winding his fingers between yours as he smiled. There was the most delicious stretching sensation and the dam broke, pulses of pleasure flowing through you and moans leaving your lips as you soaked their fingers.

“You’ll have us, baby, just wait,” Asahi said, lifting your ragdoll body up easily so that he could slide underneath you, your trembling legs settled on the outside of his, leaving you spread open to them. Like Daichi, he kept his physique up even after leaving competitive volleyball, helping the community teams. You were already so tired from two mind blowing orgasms in as many minutes, but still you reached up, threading your fingers through his hair. You tilted your head to the side at his nudging and felt his lips on your neck followed by his teeth nibbling. Giggling, you turned and pressed your lips to his, feeling his curl up against yours.

He knew you had had a rough day thanks to Daichi, but he had already known before that that you would. It always ended rough when you went to hang out with your mom. Either you hadn’t done something right, or you didn’t come see her enough, or your relationship was immoral and wrong, or any other number of things she could come up with to make you feel guilty and insecure. There was no reason for her to do those things to you that he could see. You may not be perfect, but you were you and more than enough for him and Daichi.

He reached up to cup the back of your head, holding you to him just a little longer while Daichi settled between your legs.

It was about then you realized you could feel both of them settled against your slit and another thrill of pleasure coursed through you. You weren’t even sure how you could still want more after but the way your pussy clenched around nothing at the idea of both their thick cocks filling your tight hole out told you that you did.

Daichi rooted around for a moment in the nightstand for the bottle of lube you kept on hand for just such occasions as this. He started with his own, slicking it all over his cock, which throbbed at the thought of sliding into your hot cunt. Then he moved onto Asahi’s, watching his partner’s eyes close tight and his forehead come to rest on your shoulder. Your eyes were locked on the way Daichi’s hand wrapped around Asahi’s cock, pumping it slowly and watching the precum bead at the tip.

When he was sure they were both lubed up good, he slid his slicked fingers back into your pussy, making sure you were nice and wet and loose, and smirked when you clenched around him. Nodding to Asahi, he watched as his partner lined up with your slit, prodding and sliding slowly into you and the way your lips stretched taut around him. Your shaky breath reached his ears and his smirk widened.

“Sure you can take us, love?” he asked, tapping the head of his cock against your clit and you trembled.

As if I haven’t taken both of you a hundred times before, you thought, letting your head fall back on Asahi’s shoulder. His chest rose and fell unevenly against your back, his breath puffs of hot air against your ear as he chuckled. “Yes, Dai, please, I can take it. I need it, both of you, inside me please.”

He listened to your whiny babbling, almost slurring in your desperation for Daichi, and took pity on you.

“Stop teasing her, love. She sounds so desperate and she’s asked so nicely,” he said, kissing your shoulder.

Daichi laughed and began to press slowly in, and all three of you moaned at the tightness, the stretching, the rub of their cocks inside you and against one another.

Your eyes rolled into the back of your skull, your back arching and you were sure you stopped breathing but it was worth it when Daichi settled to the hilt inside of you. You were trembling in their arms, your back still bowed and Asahi beat him to cupping your heaving tits, tweaking the already hard nubs, rolling them between his fingers. He enjoyed just watching though, and the way you gasped and dug your nails into the bedcover when he pulled out and slid back in slowly, testing if he could move without hurting you.

When you only moaned and moved your hand to wrap around Asahi’s wrist, he groaned and let loose. Underneath you, Asahi rocked his hips, not moving much but rubbing every sweet spot inside your pussy, leaving you a drooling, whited out mess. He could feel your legs trying to close, thighs clenching with every thrust while an endless stream of noises left your lips. Daichi’s pace was rougher, faster, providing friction against Asahi’s cock and he moaned Daichi’s name into your hair.

Fingers threaded through your hair and your eyes fluttered open, locking onto Daichi’s intense gaze and your lips parted. The pressure let up and he cupped your chin instead, his thumb sliding between those spread lips, his eyes narrowing.

“Suck.”

Obediently, your lips wrapped around his thumb, your tongue laving the pad of his thumb as you stared up at him.

“Good girl. You’re so beautiful, _____, you know that?” Asahi whispered, pinching your nipples and tugging, feeling you spasm around them. The slick squelching coming from your pussy combined with the praise of the two enormous men towering over you, stretching you out and stuffing you full, was sending you into a stupor.

The glide and pull of their cocks inside of you, sliding over every overstimulated sweet spot inside of you and the grind of Daichi’s coarse curls against your clit was forcing loud moans and cries of their names from your lips as you hurtled toward the edge for the third time that evening. Your toes curled as the pleasure expanded, your nails digging into Asahi’s wrist as he began to roll your nipples again, almost screaming his name as Daichi forced himself so deep into you that you could feel his head kiss your cervix and you came, clenching down around them so hard they both gasped, twitching inside of you.

You twitched with little aftershocks as Daichi continued to thrust, seeking his own pleasure while Asahi continued to roll gently into you. Both their pleasures mounted at the way you fluttered around them, so tight it was almost choking their cocks, your moans quieted now and intermingled with gasps and panting.

“Cum, please, Dai, Asa, please,” you cried as Daichi’s thrusts became rough and sloppy, his cock pulsing as his thumb forced its way between your lips again. The feel of your tongue wrapped around it, sucking on it like you would his cock, so good and tight and warm--

“Fuck,” he snarled, hilting himself deep as he came, covering Asahi’s cock with his hot cum while he filled you to the brim.

The sight of your lips wrapped around Daichi’s thumb and the squeal that left them as Daichi filled you up spiked Asahi’s own pleasure, but what sent him over the edge was when Daichi pulled out of you, a trail of his cum dripping out of you and covering his cock. His hips jumped up, thrusting a few more times as he used your tight pussy to milk himself off, his cum mixing with Daichi’s inside you. He could feel you trembling around him every time he struck your clit and felt a little guilty when he came down from his high.

“Sorry, love,” he said, leaving a trail of kisses up and down your neck and shoulders to make up for it. You had just cum three times, you needed a break.

While Asahi took care of settling you on the bed, Daichi fetched a warm cloth to clean the three of you up. Afterwards, once you were all dressed-- it took you a few minutes to regain feeling in your legs-- you moved to the kitchen, reheating the takeout Asahi had brought home at Daichi’s request.

“So, what happened today anyway that had you so upset?” Asahi asked, leaning against the counter beside you.

Daichi, at the microwave, turned to look at you from the corner of his eye. But, even though your face fell, you shrugged and smiled.

“The usual. You aren’t good enough, you should be doing this or that or-- whatever. You know, it doesn’t really matter, because I get to come home to the two of you, and that will always make me feel better,” you said, taking Asahi’s hand. Your other came up and curled a strand of his hair around your finger, smiling up at him and receiving his signature gentle smile in return.

Daichi came up behind you, his arms curling around your waist and his head resting on top of yours, gazing softly at Asahi across from him, and then that gentle smile met his own lips.

“We’re always here for you too, _____. Always.”

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taglist: @lyovochkaa

#daichi sawamura x reader #asahi azumane x reader #daichi sawamura x reader x asahi azumane #daichi x reader #asahi x reader #haikyuu x reader #hqfic

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shadowonaqua · 6 years

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The Power of Mackerel (Free! Dive to the Future - Episode 9 )

Yo, I’m back! So I know the title of this post may seem odd, but I have a reason for this! Before we jump in, however...We have some new people to meet! Let’s go! Time for my rambling all of my inner thoughts on the latest piece of the story.

(A little note, however. There is more in this episode with Asahi, Ikuya, Hiyori, and Makoto (Makoto’s sweetness is amplified at least a million times here. If he doesn’t become the #1 choice for imaginary husband for y’all, I don’t know who else can), but what I’m about to touch on is content that made even a transition episode such as this one that much more powerful for me.)

(Also, I’m in love with the image below. My heart cried in happiness.)

Now I’m ready.

So at the start of the episode, we finally get to meet two unknown characters who showed up in the intro song to every episode and whose identities we did not know at all until today. But, the first character gave me some heartwarming feels (and brought back some comical nostalgia too).

Meet the newest Mikoshiba member, Isuzu Mikoshiba!

She is not only a female swimmer, but also a passionate gamer and a leader. I did not see this coming, but I am glad that they placed a seemingly strong-willed female character into the series. After seeing her, I wish that they introduced her earlier in the series (especially because she is the first female swimmer that we have been personally introduced to during the entire franchise), but I am excited to see just how good she is. Plus, she noticed Haru’s triceps as well! Perhaps... she’ll be Gou’s new best friend? I won’t be surprised if that happens... After all, both of her brothers like the young lady!

(And Haru’s imagining all three Mikoshiba siblings laughing in their usual Mikoshiba manner... I feel you, Haru).

I do look forward to seeing what role she plays in the rest of this season, especially because we do not really see her do much aside from ask Haru whether he can compete with her (and I bet Isuzu and Momo bond over their older brother locking them with his arm and most (probably) putting them through a hell-of-a swimming training, haha).

However, the first time we meet Isuzu is also the first time we meet this super blonde, purple-eyed tall guy: Albert Wahlander.

This gigantic foreigner creams Isuzu in gaming, which at first didn’t leave much of an impact on me until he is in the water. On that topic, during this entire episode, I loved that there were multiple clues floating around that suggested his prowess. Some were explained to us through the other characters in the series, and others seemed more symbolic. So, let’s list the ones that weren’t blatantly mentioned by the rest of the cast, because why not?

1) He goes for mackerel as his meal.

Alright, so now you see where my title came from, eh? Well, Haru, being the now smiley version of himself, helps out a lost Albert when it comes to ordering food. More specifically, mackerel, since the tall guy seems to want to eat it. And, this new character is so darn cute with his usage of chopsticks that I was wondering for a moment what his role was in the episode/series. But, back to this topic at hand, he and Haru begin to form a bond through their both eating mackerel (despite their massive language barrier, which really wasn’t a barrier since they oddly understood each other. This made me smile, so much.)

2) He is good with his hands.

He not only uses his finger dexterity to beat Isuzu in gaming, but also learns how to handle chopsticks in seconds after first not knowing how to pick things up with them. And Haru, being the sweet boy/young man he is, goes to get a spoon and fork for the guy, but then is amazed that the tall, blonde foreigner dude would master chopsticks in one go? This makes me think back to when Haru was carving a massive amount of Iwatobi-chans in high school, haha.

3) He floats around in the water like Haru does, but he is ahead of Haru.

So this is where things became interesting for me. During the episode, we find out that Haru is one of three Hidaka University Swim Team members to enter the strengthening camp in preparation for the All-Japan Meet (in addition to the older Mikoshiba and Isana Kiryuu). In the middle of swimming, Haru sees Albert swimming next to him, and then we flash to the two of them floating underwater like Haru did for the last three seasons.

But, Albert is ahead of Haru the entire time.

Why does this mean anything? For the entire franchise, we have never seen anyone swim ahead of Haru. This makes sense, because Haru was known for his affinity and love for the water, unclouded from the influences of competitions, friendly rivalries, and societal expectations. More commonly, we saw Haru’s friends follow behind and try their darnedest to reach his level. Haru is the hero that his friends needed during troublesome, lonesome, and confusing times, and Haru is also a source of strength for young men like Rin, Ikuya, and Makoto to strive for their goals. To do this, Haru has to be ahead of them in the water.

Now that we see this difference with Albert’s appearance, even if you haven’t watched the episode and read this post first instead, you may be able to infer what happens when Albert, Haru, and other swimmers at the camp have a friendly 200m freestyle race against each other.

And this is where our latest cliffhanger begins.

We don’t know how Haru reacts to this loss, as it is the first time that someone out swam him by so many bodies that I won’t even try to count. I mean, the guy was out of the water by the time Haru reached the wall . Knowing Haru, he might react in one of two ways.

One, he may be devastated. After all, freestyle is his forte, and for his entire life he has been known as a prodigy in this specific stroke. It is okay if Haru lost the IM in the last episode; after all, he does not regularly compete in backstroke, breaststroke, or butterfly, and Ikuya has more experience in this specific event than Haru does anyway. But, when it comes to freestyle, the only characters we have seen who are on-par with Haru are Rin, Ikuya, and maybe Asahi, but nobody has surpassed Haru to this degree. As such, no wonder everyone in the pool is shocked by this revelation, including Makoto, who ran in just as this scene unfolded. Losing to this extent for the first time his life can be upsetting and frustrating at the same time, and I wonder whether Haru will express such a natural human response.

Two, if Haru is as positive as Asahi is, then Haru may see Albert as someone to look up to and strive for. Although this is less likely, purely because the human psyche does not always work this way, I sincerely hope that this is the way he reacts to his loss. For all of Haru’s life, he has had companions, rivals, and supporters who have been by his side, but never has he had someone to directly look up to. In particular with swimming, Haru has been in his own world this entire time. Why? He is the only one of his friends who has an innately keen relationship with water, and it is Haru’s affinity with water that Albert picks up on immediately after swimming/floating together.

Haru has never had anyone float so freely with him in the water until now (we could potentially count the pool scene with Makoto in the High Speed! movie, but that was part of their reconciliation. This scene, however, is purely one of connection). Also, the fact that Albert sees swimming as fun is refreshing and an epiphany, both for Haru and for us as viewers. It not only implies that Albert may have just as strong as an affinity with water as Haru does, but also that Albert’s love for water may surpass that of Haru. Should this be the case, then Haru may be forced once again to confront his own beliefs with regards to his love for swimming, his skills, and his ability to swim on the global stage.

I wish the best for Haru. After all, Ryuuji (who we find out is an Iwatobi High School Swim Team alum, thanks to Gou’s amazing muscle-identifying skills) has mentioned before the Haru still a ways to go with regards to improving, and Albert may be the key to unlocking that potential. Plus, Albert honestly seems like a nice person, so I hope that he and Haru can get along. The fact that Haru still has that much room for growth, maturity, and progression, both literally in his swimming and figuratively in his own life, is what truly kept my attention with the latest episode of “Free!” and is allowing me look past some of the other flaws with this season. And, I hope that this tidbit is enough to keep you guys interested in the series and in the boys’ story as well.

(Albert, despite his size, reminds me of a little boy. Perhaps his personality truly is that of one, since he seems to be drawn to old arcade games and finds everything fun. He even whines like a boy when the waitress rips the meal ticket >.<, which is just so endearing and makes me want to hug him)

So, now that this ramble has finished, I’ll add these cute little GIFs because I internally squeal whenever I see a baby, and my heart beats faster every time I see a man playing with one:

(And Nitori... way to give us a total plot-twister this episode! Rin was thrown for a shock there, I’m sure.)

(I can’t wait for the next episode! But honestly, the event I’m looking forward to the most is the 100m free at the All-Japan Meet since it’s going to have so many of the characters we love in it. Anyone else with me on this one?)

#free! dive to the future #free dive to the future #haruka nanase #nanase haruka #albert wahlander #Isuzu mikoshiba #mikoshiba siblings #swimming anime #haru loves mackerel and so do i #now I'm getting hungry #free! dttf #episode 9 analysis #I recently started swimming again and my whole body is sore #thank you free! for giving me the motivation to start exercising again haha #will eating more mackerel help me swim faster?

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squisherific · 6 years

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Shokugeki No Soma Chapter 275

I really wanted to review this chapter because I’ve been seeing an awful lot of hate for it, which I think is absolutely hilarious. Now, just a disclaimer, I’m not saying this current plot line is fabulous writing by any means. However, I honestly don’t understand the hate for this specific chapter. After the events in the two previous chapters, I felt like what happened in this chapter was an obvious conclusion?

Of course Souma lost. I would have been really shocked if he had beat the guy who beat his dad. It’s clear Asahi was being set up as a new goalpost for Souma. Souma is the first seat. He clearly is in a very comfortable position. But in that position, there is little, to no tension. They needed to bring in someone who could challenge him.

What I do have a problem with, is a teacher-figure being that challenger, rather than a new student, or a foreign student, or a student from a different prestigious school in a different setting outside Tootsuki, which would have been more believable than this current setup. Because the biggest problem with this entire storyline is that it completely undermined Souma’s original (and what people assumed was his ultimate) goal of beating Jou.

Asahi should never have beat what was arguably the final boss in the series, and certainly not so decisively (5-0). By all means, introduce a character who has been Jou’s apprentice. That scenario is actually not unbelievable IMO. Jou is a really secretive guy, who travels a lot, so I can totally see him having taken a kid under his wing. And by all means, have the kid want to challenge Jou’s true son. All of that could have been done without Jou being defeated. That was the major mistake in this plot thread. But I’m hoping Jou’s defeat was not what it seems to be. I’m hoping he let himself be beat for whatever reason. We’ll see, though. Otherwise, it totally minimizes Jou’s place in the story, and that’s a shame.

That being said, I do understand what the author was going for. He wanted to really break Souma, and one way to do that, was to have Asahi defeat his dad, setting him up as not only this HUGE threat, but also, give him something important to fight for, which in this case, is his dad’s knife. He needs to get it back. I got that. That’s fine. But I also think it was unnecessary.

This situation, though, also gives Souma the opportunity to finally develop as a character. I’ve been dying to see him really upset and struggle. We never see that side of Souma. He’s too carefree and he shrugs things off too easily. He needs something to really devastate him, so he can build his way back from that, and grow as a character. Were there better ways to do that than this? Oh God yeah, but it is what it is.

The other problem with this arc isn’t necessarily a “problem” at all. It’s just cliche writing, that’s all. Actually, not just cliche writing. It’s a shoujo plot. Now, being a shoujo fan, and also being someone who’s been waiting quite patiently for the romance portion of this series to kick in, I think this current plot line is, as I said, hilarious, because Shokugeki is just not that kind of manga. So, the tone shift with this development is so striking that it’s funny. Asahi is essentially a giant plot device created to bring romantic feelings to the surface. Not Souma’s. That’s why his dad’s knife is involved. Souma is going to have other things to fight for besides Erina.

But Erina’s feelings towards Souma need to grow from the friendship levels they currently are, to blatant romantic ones. There is a hint of romance there already. The way she thought of Souma in the last arc felt very much like a girl on the cusp of falling for a guy. But they weren’t there quite yet, and that’s ok. Considering how very slow burning the Souma x Erina ship has been over the course of the series, it was actually a positive thing that Erina didn’t just fall hard and fast for him after just becoming friends. But now there’s been a 4 month time skip, and they are second years. They have likely been interacting far more often now, since she’s headmistress and he’s the first seat (who barges in on her whenever he wants, apparently lmao). So there’s a foundation there to build off of in a natural way… but that’s the issue.

Everything that is happening now, is not natural. That’s why it’s funny. It’s as if the author got impatient with his own story, and wanted to inject that romance element into it at last, and he wanted to do it IMMEDIATELY. So that’s why we just got an EXPLOSION of shoujo cliches in the form of Asahi lmao. I’m not mad at it, because it only helps my preferred ship. But it’s not ideal, to say the least.

I think the author did things this way, because he was really trying to do a lot of things at once, which include really bringing Souma to a very low point, rile him up, tear him down, take away everything he wanted: beating his dad, his pride as the first seat, pleasing Erina’s god tongue. And he wanted to do this, because giving Souma the first seat at the end of his first year, was a very tall pedestal to put him on, which is very dangerous for storytelling, because you trap your main character into a tiny box. You need to give him room to grow, but there’s no higher position to take him when the story’s setting is a school, and he gave him the highest position in that school.

So, in comes Asahi in all his overdramatic glory to strip everything away from Souma, and give him a new, more immediate goal to strive for. But the author also wanted to (thankfully, IMO) keep Erina involved too, and, again, get that romance plot finally moving. Hence, the shoujo cliche of a guy coming in out of nowhere, and declaring his romantic intentions for the hero’s likely love interest.

There’s also the possibility that the author might be trying to tie in Souma’s backstory through this connection to Jou and Asahi. That is something I’m not sure about at all. I still feel like Souma, and whatever happened to his mom, is still being saved for later, but maybe not. Maybe it’ll be introduced here, too, through all this drama. But, if so, that’s an awful lot of things going on in just one arc IMO.

Now, again, this chapter did not make me mad at all. This was very in keeping with what should logically have followed the last chapters. Souma lost badly. The trashcan thing was over the top though IMO. Wow. ^^’ But the princess carry portion at the end made so much sense in shoujo terms. Of course that happened hahaha. Now, this isn’t a shoujo though, so I’m not sure what will happen next. I don’t know how Erina will react to any of this. She’s never been put into the position before of having someone trying to romance her. So, whatever happens, I personally think it’ll be fun, because as I said, this will likely lead to Erina having romantic feelings for Souma, instead of Asahi, and it’s going to be interesting to see how and why things develop that way.

I do also think it’s intriguing that the author kept Erina very conveniently unconscious throughout the actual food match. He obviously does not want her tasting/judging their food yet. I don’t know if he’s saving it for a final confrontation where Souma comes out on top (probably), or he wanted Erina to taste Asahi’s food on it’s own, away from Souma, because this isn’t supposed to be about pushing Souma’s feelings forward, but about pushing Erina’s to the surface. But I honestly don’t know, and that’s good. I like surprises haha.

So yeah, this chapter just set up what we all assumed would happen, which is that Souma now has to beat Asahi to get his pride (and his dad’s knife) back. And Erina has to deal with this dude wanting to marry her.

I’m having a good time. It’s not great writing. Not by a long shot, but I do see the logic there. Asahi not being foreshadowed ages ago as a character waiting in the wings to take on Souma is not anything I have a problem with. Shounens do this type of thing all the time, where they produce new villains out of nowhere. And as I said, it makes sense that secretive Jou had an apprentice he didn’t mention to Souma. My only other issue, is what the whole midnight chefs plot thread has to do with Asahi’s current actions at Tootsuki. That I don’t get at all. And that’s kind of annoying. And again, the undermining of Jou. DO NOT LIKE.

But the overdramatic shoujo stuff is great. Much amused. 10/10 for the lols alone. xD

#shokugeki no soma #souma yukihira #erina nakiri #sorina #soueri

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