Profile
nakamura atsuji
About
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A young chef and part-time waiter at the bar Clover (クローバー), owned by his lover En. A dropout of the reowned Tootsuki High due to bullying and personal circumstances. Unknownst to him, he's hailed as a legendary alumni by his peers and certain juniors.
Currently, his concern is how to get En's ring size.
Skills
"You're cut, buster."
Atsuji's flat stare is Bar Clover's secret weapon to getting any rowdy drunk to shut up, pay the bill and leave in quick succession. It is quite intimidating, especially when intentionally trained upon someone from the back of the kitchen as he's sharpening a knife. He doesn't use it often outside of work, but En has divulged between afterwork drinks that it comes out unconsciously when Atsuji is jealous.
Hachiko
A disparaging nickname given to Atsuji during his time in Tootsuki, making fun of his speciality in braised and stewed dishes that often require a long waiting time to cook. Still, it speaks to his patience, and his ability to wait for an outcome (of which he believes will turn out in his favor, no matter the evidence that points otherwise).
Kiss Tobacco Goodbye, Say Hello to Life!
To cope with his sudden withdrawal from Tootsuki, Atsuji picked up smoking. For a while, he attempted to incorporate nicotine into food in some sick fascination of culinary experimentation, but quickly gave it up upon tasting his first attempt. However, since his employment at Bar Clover, Atsuji rarely smokes. He still enjoys a cigarette once in a while, but it is no longer a coping mechanism. Nowadays, he likes to light one up when he knows that a stew he has just set over a low flame to cook will turn out perfect, thanks to the cooking sense he has honed since childhood.
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Story
With both his parents' work situated in Tokyo, Atsuji was raised by his grandparents in Aomori. As such, the boy grew up immensely spoiled with love and fruit, mainly that from his grandfather's beloved apple farm. It might have been small and insignificant compared to the prize winning acres across the city, but the pride that his grandfather harboured for each and every fruit left a lasting impression on young Atsuji, eventually leading him to declare that he will become a farmer and take over his grandfather's land.
Funnily enough, it is those same apples that changed his worldview and lead him to his true passion - cooking. In another funny coincidence, it is the other half of his grandparents that once again inspired him. "To live well is to eat well," his grandmother tells him, setting before him a dish of stewed apples. The moment he takes a mouthful, the warmth of the piping hot cinnamon coated apples chases away the bone-chilling cold of Aomori, melting away even the pain of missing Tokyo and his parents. With another bite, Atsuji thinks, "I want to live well.", and so begins his endless quest into the culinary world.
Despite hearing of his budding interest in cooking through letters and calls, Atsuji's parents did not understand their son's true talent and interests until they saw the full osechi spread Atsuji had single-handedly prepared for the family one New Years at only 14 years old. "Talent must be nurtured," Atsuji's grandfather told his son and daughter-in-law, voice low to not wake the sleeping Atsuji, "Even if it pains to see them leave the nest so early." The tremble in his voice is not out of worry then, and his children hug him tightly as he weeps.
Thus, when they visit again the next year for Atsuji's middle school graduation, they came with an application into Tootsuki High.
Unfortunately, things were not smooth sailing for Atsuji in the prestigious school. Looked down upon for not being a Tootsuki Middle graduate and for coming from the countryside, Atsuji was bullied terribly throughout his school days. His unaffected demeanor that treated their torment like water off a duck's back did not help. Eventually, it all boiled to a head when Atsuji was challenged to a Shokugeki by the 9th Seat - and won.
Fed up with the incessant bullying and disadvantages leveraged against an outsider to Tootsuki's unique workings, Atsuji had asked for the Seat if he won, not fully expecting the senior to keep to his word. But a Shokugeki is tantmount to law in Tootsuki, and his prize was far too heavy a consequence, something the young and sheltered teen had no way of knowing until it had fallen into his hands.
From then, the pressure both from the duties as a Seat and the continued (worsened) bullying only continued to suffocate Atsuji until he finally cracked in a Shokugeki. His opponent had deliberately and maliciously broken an earthenware pot he had brought with him from Aomori - a pot that his grandmother had gifted him for his 8th birthday, a year after the bite of stewed apples that he had so loved. Immediately, Atsuji forfeited the match, and in the same breath, publically asked the judge and principal of Tootsuki, Nakiri Sanzaemon, to allow him to withdraw from Tootsuki. When rejected on the premise of not having a valid reason to allow such a young, unblossomed talent to leave, Atsuji slid his hand into a blender, and threatened to shred the very appendage that his talent relied on if Sanzaemon denied his request once more.
With that, Atsuji left Tootsuki, never looking back. At age 17, he thought that he had left the culinary world then and there too. But at 23, Atsuji re-enters the world - not as a professional, but as a last minute Hail Mary for his middle school classmate whose newly hired chef for his bar had been a no-show.
For Mori En, aspiring mixologist and owner of the just-opened bar Clover, finding his despodent classmate from Aomori Middle sitting on empty crates in the back alley of his bar in the rain had been shocking. Still, he isn't one to pry. Without asking, he'd whisked the soaked man into the bar, and offered him a warm drink and a towel. Atsuji, recognising En from middle school, had accepted, then made an offer in return after hearing the commotion in the kitchen. To act as a temporary cook for the night, in payment for En's kindness.
However, the original cook never returns. As such, over the years, Atsuji's role slides from temporary to permanent. It had not been a conscious choice, but a slow chip away at his fears and hesitancy, aided by the rowdiness of the bar crowd that quietens at first bite, his workers that tuck into their staff meals and ask for seconds. By the time he is Clover Bar's official chef, Atsuji is a cook in everything but in his mind. The turning point finally comes one night after closing at the bar, when it is just him and En and a bowl of stewed apples.
"Oh, this is what I want to live for." En sighs, immediately going back for a second bite.
At that moment, a thought crosses Atsuji's mind. "I want to cook." It says, then pauses, waits for the skip of his heart to catch up to the rationality of his mind.
"I want to cook for him."
Since then, Atsuji has once more dedicated himself to cooking, and has never deviated from his path since. High school is simply a time of the past now, one he never has to revisit.
So Atsuji thinks, until Tadokoro Megumi appears on the dootstep of Bar Clover for her last Stagiaire assignment. To say he is surprised is an understatement. At first, Atsuji is adverse to having anything to do with Tootsuki, but finds himself unable to pull the plug on the assignment when he learns that it will result in an immediate failure for the innocent student. As he spends more time with Megumi, Atsuji begins recognising himself in the young girl, from their roots in Tohoku to their struggles in the prestigious academy. Realising he is no longer the helpless teen from his youth and is now an adult with the power to change things for the better, he swiftly takes her under her wing and ensures she passes the Stagiaire with flying colours. Through his time with Megumi and hearing her speak of her generation, Atsuji feels a new wind of change blowing through Tootsuki, taking away not just the school's antiqued traditions, but also the longheld resentment in his heart.
When Megumi leaves, Atsuji finds himself promising to visit her and her dormitory. No pain follows, not like thoughts of Tootsuki used to bring with it. The winds of change are blowing, and Atsuji finds himself, for once, excited for the future of Tootsuki.
Still, his life is now with Bar Clover, his future with his grandfather's farm -
Perhaps, also with someone else he wishes to cook for until the end of time, if En will allow him the privilege.
Personality
Since young, Atsuji has been a calm and non-temperamental child. He is not easily excitable, and tends to treat things and people with little difference. But that is not to say that he holds no affection for those items or people - he simply treats the things he loves in equal measures, be it his favourite spoon to his grandparents. Under Atsuji's watchful eye, all are well-cared for, and well-loved. Even if he is a little shyer in showing the affection outwardly, often preferring to show his care through actions instead of words. Atsuji's grandparents have many a tale of their little grandson toddling after them, anxiously waiting for them to go to sleep and rest when it is a mere minute after their supposed bedtime.
His quiet demeanor continues even as a teenager, translating into much unhappiness being bottled until it could hold no more. As an adult, Atsuji knows the merits of speaking his mind and does it freely, regardless of consequence. He has always been a little too free-spirited and fearless in that manner, as one raised surrounded by love often is. Still, Atsuji never offers an opinion unless asked for, and often it is as tactful as it is honest. Honesty does not equate to malice, after all. In fact, Atsuji rather dislikes those that are purposefully cruel under the guise of being truthful, and finds such individuals vile. "The truth should heal, not hurt", Atsuji believes.
In that way, perhaps Atsuji still retains the naivete of his youth. But that is not to say that he turns away from the hard realities of the world - his time in Tootsuki has taught him that no matter how sheltered a child, harsh reality will always catch up to them. Atsuji simply wants to believe that no matter far one falls because of the painful reality of truth, there is always a way to climb back up and be better than ever before. Through that, can you not say that the truth was what lead you on this path to improvement? That is what Atsuji wants to believe, anyway.
En tells him that you shouldn't always have to be hurt in order to grow, that bettering and hurting are not always synonymous with each other. Atsuji is still learning how to believe in those words, but he is trying.
He is a little too cautious in that regard, but that gentle deprecation seems to soften others up to the seemingly aloof man. "Like a cat that isn't quite sure where it stands with you", a staff member describes Atsuji. "But once he does, you'll know. Especially since he'll never let you question it!"
Relationships
• Mori En • Lover •
A middle school classmate and acquaintance from Aomori whose selflessness and zeal has always fascinated Atsuji. As someone who is used to treating everything and everyone impartially, Atsuji doesn't try for many things. En is the first that Atsuji struggles for more of. It is not an unpleasant struggle, as he delights in every new thing that he discovers about En, small as it may be. Being with En is comfortable and warm, like a bite of cinnamon-covered stewed apples.
When he tells En so, En always laughs, saying, "You love me too much, you dunce!"
• Shinohara Sumire • Friend •
A wallflower classmate that Atsuji never took much notice of until his last day in Tootsuki when she tearfully came up to him and pleaded with him not to stop cooking. They were practice partners in a few classes and got along with each other, even trading recipes once, but Atsuji never knew she thought so highly of him, or that she considered him such an important friend.
Their friendship deepens as they keep in contact through the years, and she keeps Atsuji connected to the culinary world through discussions about the industry disguised as simple conversations about optimizing the bar's kitchen.
• Watanabe Katsuo• Best Friend •
The only classmate that reached out to Atsuji in Tootsuki High. Funnily enough, Katsuo only did because he found Atsuji's cool attitude to other classmate's botched attempts at ruining his dishes during class hilarious, and Atsuji in turn found Katsuo's positive spin on things quite endearing. It is Katsuo's relentless positivity and extremely vocal support for Atsuji (in class and to administration) that helped Atsuji last as long as he did in Tootsuki before ultimately leaving. Atsuji regrets withdrawing only because he'd have liked to graduate with Katsuo.
After his sudden graduation, Katsuo is the one who kept him afloat with a job at one of his dad's hotels, and regularly visited Atsuji at his apartment to keep his spirits up.
References
Color Palette
Design Notes
• Colour palette refer to images in gallery
• Take note of charm points in the reference sheet
• Fluffy hair is the most important! Ponytail sways like a smoke trail
(cigarette smoke)
• Ribbon that ties his hair has a long thin bow. No set color.
• Default face is usually :<
• TBA
• TBA
Credits
• credits
• Design by aoikasaaa
• About Page Art by aoiksaaa
• Relationship Icon One by aoikasaaa
• Reference Page Art by aoikasaa
• Code by rimucode
Permissions
• permissions
• Not for trade or sale
• No commercial usage by anyone but aoikasaa
• Fanart OK! Fanfic ask first (twt/tmblr mutuals and friends OK without asking)!
• Only G rated fanart with no sensitive content.
•
