Food Wars: Gourmet King

"Where am I?" He asked as he felt himself laying on something soft. Quickly looking around, he found himself in a decently sized but messy room.

The last thing he remembered was laying on the rough and harsh ground as his frail body screamed in pain. The empty but painful feeing of hunger he endured for many years stuck to his mind so hard that he could almost feel it returning.

"What happened? What's wrong with my voice?" He wondered aloud, panicking a bit at the unfamiliar feeling in his body.

Just as he attempted to get off the bed, stumbled as a train wreck of memories slammed into his head. He grit his teeth in pain as the memories violently filtered into his brain.

'What? What the hell is happening!?' He thought in confusion as he quickly stood from the bed. From the corner of his eyes, he found himself looking into the small mirror in the corner of the room.

He found himself staring at an unfamiliar face. Unlike what he remembered himself to be, he saw medium length red hair with two long and thin bangs of hair at the sides of his face dropping down to his neck. Golden eyes accompanied the strange hair color as a young and pale face stared back at him.

Just then, the bank of memories that barged into his mind just moments earlier answered his questions.

"Damn." That was all he was able to say as he looked at himself in the mirror.

'Yukihira Soran…younger twin of Yukihira Soma…' His look of wonder turned into realization.

'I guess I can't exactly call it reincarnation since it's more of transmigration. This is so messed up.' He thought, shaking his head as he looked through the memories to comprehend his situation better.

Yukihira Soran alongside his twin, Soma, was born with a talent for cooking. They would sneak into the kitchen to attempt to cook what they had seen their parents cook earlier only to be caught numerous times by said parents who supported their children.

Soma and Soran were a childish duo unlike any of their pairs when it came to cooking with both of them being neck in neck in skill. While Soma was brash and outgoing, Soran was silent and shy.

Sadly it all came crashing down when their mother, Yukihira Tamako, died due to a heart defect.

Soma and their father, Joichiro were able to recover and continue pushing forward but the same couldn't be said for Sora. Soran, crushed by his mother's death, never again set his hand to cook.

Despite their disappointment, Joichiro and surprisingly Soma understood, not forcing him to do anything.

'It's been four years since Tamako died…four years since Soran stepped into the kitchen as a chef.' He recapped before furrowing his brows for a moment.

He vaguely recalled getting the opportunity to watch the food wars series. With nothing else to brighten up his life during those times, he paid full attention, unconsciously taking note of some key things.

Key things such as the fact that Tamako originally died when Soma was twelve but this time it happened when he was ten. Himself aside, the outcome was still the same with Soma and Joichiro using their cooking bouts to remember her by.

'Could this be an alternate timeline? After all, Soma didn't have a twin brother.' He wondered before sighing.

'Forget that. I'm here, aren't I?' He thought, remembering the suffering of hunger, poverty and solitude he endured.

With a second chance now in front of him, he knew what he would do. This world was a world of food and competition, both of which he enjoyed in earnest.

'To live life to the fullest, you need to be at the top of the food chain. That is where my goal is.'

'To stand at the pinnacle of this world and enjoy its benefits. To stand at the top, you need to win. To win, you need to be the better than your opponent. I will be better than anyone who stands in my way…I will win the game of life.' He declared to himself with pride.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Despite his grand declaration earlier, he had no actual game plan to achieve it. Not yet at least. For now, he would start small by going over the basics and marching on from there.

Before anything else, he had cleaned up the room. It was too messy for his liking with books and clothes lying around everywhere.

As he folded the last piece of clothing to put in his wardrobe, he almost stumbled in shock as…something… appeared in front of him.

[Welcome Host]

He almost tossed the item in his hand away in excitement. He obviously knew what was in front of him, the key to achieving his goal.

Unfortunately, it didn't come with a tutorial but that was quite alright for Soran. Something was better than nothing.

'Status.' He thought as another prompt appeared.

[Name: Yukihira Soran]

[HP:100%/100%]

[Skills]:

[None]

He only chuckled at the lackluster appearance of the system. He wasn't so greedy to complain about it. As long as it allowed him to achieve his goal, he would put in the necessary work.

'Still, if I remember correctly, there's only one year left until Joichiro sends Soma to Totsuki. I only have a one year to learn. That's more than enough.' He thought as a grin surfaced on his face.

Finishing up with the cleaning of his room, he exited the room in search for someone.

'It's the weekend so they should be home.' He thought as he got to the diner area of the building. They lived there so it wasn't more than a few seconds walk there.

Upon making his way into the kitchen area, he found Soma and Joichiro preparing to open up for the day.

"Oh! Soran, you're awake. Help me open up the shutters real quick." Joichiro said Soma prepared his knifes.

"Sure thing. By the way Dad, can I borrow some of your books on cooking?" Soran asked as he made his way out of the kitchen.

*Clang!*

Other than the sound of a kitchen utensil falling, silence reigned in the diner for a few moments.

"W-what did you just say?" Joichiro asked in shock and disbelief, his voice low but audible. Soma was also in a similar state of shocked silence.

"I want to borrow some of your books on cooking." Soran continued, unperturbed by their shock.

"What for? I recall you saying that you wanted nothing to do with cooking anymore." Joichiro asked, composing himself.

He had been heartbroken when Soran made that decision but he respected and accepted it.

"I did, but…" Soran said, not trying to deny it at all as his voice went low.

"…I can't keep living like this. Wallowing in the past and unable to do anything. That's why I've decided to continue cooking. It's what she would've wanted." He added the last part solemnly but confidently.

The father and son pair in front of him stood in silence before it was quickly broken.

"Soran…it's been four years. Soma has gone far ahead of you and you're no doubt more than a bit rusty. You realize that you can never get that time back?"

"For all you know, you might never catch up. You're aware of that, aren't you?" Joichiro asked with an unusually serious face.

"That's a possibility. Though, don't underestimate me." Soran said confidently as a smirk came unto his face.

"I'll surpass you both sooner than either of you can imagine!" He declared with pride.