Caution! Manga/Anime spoilers for the Autumn Election arc are in this fic!

Italics are for flashbacks.

"Good afternoon, Nakiri-sama."

"Good day," Erina replied curtly, quickly passing whoever greeted her, an old butler, probably.

She finished her duties early and had nothing else planned for today and yet she couldn't slow her swift pace. Erina threw open the door to her bedroom, as if ready to announce an earth shattering discovery to some of the world's greatest leaders. Not that she hasn't before.

She sighed.

Empty.

"Why was I in such a hurry to come here?" she asked herself as she slowly made her way to the middle of her bedroom.

She looked around her room. Read? She has already read everything on her bookshelf at least twice. Sleep? Afternoon naps aren't for people like her. Computer? Everything on it reminded her of work and made her irritated.

She placed a hand on her hip and began tapping her foot. "What do normal girls do …"

"Ah … wasn't there a time where …" she thought. She closed her eyes and surrendered herself to a recent memory that felt like ages ago.

.

Hisako averted her attention from her seemingly endless pile of documents and spreadsheets and looked at Erina with a bemused expression. "'Normal girls,' you say? Erina-sama, you attend an elite culinary school and yet still wonder about things like that."

Erina huffed.

"Hah, Erina-sama, are you asking me what normal high school girls do because I'm just another normal girl?" Hisako played off.

.

"Of course not. You go to Tootsuki too, don't you, Hisako …" Erina mumbled, looking at the bare desk in the corner of her room. The memory left an unpleasant taste in her mouth. Hisako always readily put herself down just for, what she thought was, Erina's benefit.

How long has it been since Hisako asked for a leave?

On the day Hisako lost against Hayama Akira in the Autumn Elections, she cleared out her personal desk and packed all of her things—not that there was much in the first place. Erina wanted to go after Hisako immediately after the match to reassure her and hopefully alleviate her of some of her self-inflicted guilt and shame.

But she didn't.

Two questions swirled over and over again in Erina's mind since Hisako's departure: What if I went to her right after the results? Would she still be here?

"I wanted to give you some space. I know how you think, that's why …"

Erina crossed her arms and began shifting her weight from one foot to the other as she stood in the middle of her spacious bedroom. Was her room always this large? She dismissed the thought.

That time, when Erina decided that Hisako had enough time to mull over her defeat by herself—barely two hours had passed—she made her way to Hisako's room in the servant wing of the Nakiri Manor. Bare, clean. It looked like a hotel room. She went back to her own room, hoping to see Hisako working at her desk.

.

"Hisako, there you are. I went to your room but—why do you have a suitcase?"

Hisako was indeed at her desk, but it was nothing like Erina had expected. One hand held the handle of a rolling suitcase while the other was clutching a laptop. She wasn't in her school uniform, rather she was dressed in traditional robes.

When Erina called out to her Hisako immediately put her head down so her face was completely hidden. "Erina-sama …" her voice sounded incredibly strained.

"Aren't those your family's robes? Are you going back home? When will you be back?" With each successive question Erina took a large step forward.

Hisako simply nodded and handed her a note before walking past Erina to leave.

It didn't even take her a second to read the neatly-written note before she called out to Hisako once more. "Hisako! Aren't you being too rash? Hayama Akira has been a favorite to win the entire tournament from the very beginning, you fought amicably! I-"

Hisako closed the door on her way out.

.

Erina clenched her fists, marched over to her bed, and took a seat.

"That Hisako … she didn't even listen to me! Even if I stopped her at the door instead of approaching her, she wouldn't have listened …!"

She kicked her legs in the air until her heel accidentally collided with the hard frame at the bottom of her bed. She yelped in pain and was reduced to a teary-eyed mess huddled in the fetus position. She laid there until the pain subsided and rolled onto her back, reminding herself to stop having tiny tantrums. Her bed was softer than she remembered.

"Maybe I'm just tired," she mumbled. It would explain her childish actions as of late. Whenever she thought back to Hisako she would just get frustrated or angry. And nothing has changed because of her little fits. If anything, it just created more work for her other servants and even some of her clients. Erina took a deep breath, stood up, and began pacing back and forth.

"Perhaps I didn't approach her correctly. I probably shouldn't have mentioned the very chef she lost against … ahh, what was I thinking!" She quickly looked around her room once more, despite knowing she was the only one around. Erina rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment of her volume and resumed pacing.

"I knew what she was thinking. I knew she would beat herself up. We, we're similar in that aspect. And yet, when I finally went to talk to her all I did was make excuses that … really, anybody who doesn't even know her could say. I, I didn't just let her leave, I -ow!"

She was so engrossed in her thoughts she didn't notice she walked herself into a wall, bumping into it with the top of her head. Turning on her heel, she wanted to head back to her soft bed but found she suddenly had no energy or will to make the short trip back.

Without much resistance to her current state she simply slid down the wall and wrapped her arms around her knees as the gravity of her own musings finally came at her full force.

"... I made her leave."

She wanted to comfort her friend. Instead, her comforting words came out as a clumsy, accidental confirmation to Hisako's worst worries: that she was bound to lose to Hayama. That even Erina knew she would lose. This late realization made Erina want to sink into the floor.

"And yet I still call myself her friend. Even though she was always there for me," she drifted off, finally burying her face into her arms.

"Hisako … I ... "

Erina thought back on all of the times she felt down in the dumps and realized Hisako was always there to bring her back up. It was actually pretty similar to the stuff she read in shoujo manga. The heroine, caught in the rain after a horrible day with a ripped dress and messy hair, called out to her love interest that always somehow appeared. With an umbrella. And a shoulder to cry on. Funny how Erina couldn't even realize how lucky she was until now.

Hisako won't come.

How many times has she already called out her name?

She let out an empty laugh. "Who would want to come back, really."

She thought back on the most recent time, of many, where Hisako showed up just when she needed her most. It was in her office, after an incredibly stressful meeting that irritated Erina from beginning till end.

.

She leaned against the large window in her study and laid her forehead on the cool glass, hoping the cold would numb her thoughts, if only for a moment.

The business panel she had to deal with today was one of the worst yet. The demands they made of Erina and the entire Nakiri name were borderline insane. But still, each member's influence made it impossible for Erina to submit them to her own, much more reasonable terms. She did in anger however slip out a sharp comment, which led them to completely disregard her power and prestige. They nitpicked on her age and gender, but that was nothing new to Erina. It wasn't until they began separating Erina from what she truly was, a high school girl, that she wanted to simply get up and leave immediately.

In the end, she didn't. She sat quietly until the men got tired of their own game and ultimately finished the business meeting with some semblance of professionalism.

She looked at the view of the court from her large window. It was a chilly autumn day, but that didn't keep students from enjoying a late lunch on the lush grass. She had no little picnics to attend, just meetings in stuffy rooms that smelled as old as her business partners. Everything felt far away.

Everybody felt far away.

"Erina-sama."

Erina didn't move, but she did see a very familiar face in the window's reflection. Hisako's expression and tone were mostly professional and highly serious. She must have realized something was amiss though, as she usually did, as both her expression and tone seemed much softer and warm.

Hisako placed her tablet down on Erina's desk before walking back to Erina. She mustered up a small smile as if to invite her. Her voice was uncertain, but her words held small promises that tempted Erina to no end.

"Erina."

In one swift motion and without another word, Erina turned around and hid her face in the space between Hisako's neck and shoulder. She smelled nice and was warm.

.

Looking back, it was pleasant but somehow not completely satisfying.

She racked her head trying to figure out why.

Erina clenched her fists at the vivid memory. Even then, when she was showing Hisako an incredibly vulnerable side of herself that nobody else has seen, she still felt distance. Even when she felt Hisako's pulse from her neck against her cold cheeks, it wasn't complete.

She wanted Hisako to close the distance. If Hisako had hugged her then, maybe she wouldn't have felt so cold, so disconnected, so ... far.

"Hah," she tucked her face into the crook of her arm, "what am I even thinking. Why should Hisako? Why didn't I just hug her?"

Hisako drew a line between herself and Erina and would never dare to cross it. Erina knew this very well—it existed even when they were kids. What Hisako did to comfort Erina that time lay at the very edge of the line. If it ever should be crossed, it would be by Erina. She wanted to cross it, badly.

"It's too late now, huh …" she droned. She wondered why she was even voicing out her comments to this large, empty room void of any other person.

She dug her palms into her eyes. Her voice cracked.

"Why did it take me this long to realize?" she hissed, her broken question barely audible to even herself.

Ding! Dong!

Her head shot up. She managed to get back onto her feet before she began to question herself again. The last time she hastily ran to answer the door she was met with the very man who irritated her to no end: Yukihira Soma. That situation shall not repeat itself. The curiosity itched at her, but she decided to just let one of the servants answer it.

Erina let out a loud sigh, as if expelling her gloomy thoughts. Or try to expel them, at least. She went out into the hall, planning to go into the kitchen and have a little snack to lift her spirits.

Continue on, as usual.

Soon enough she reached a point where the hall branched off into two paths. All she had to do was turn right to make it into the main dining hall and kitchen. If she kept straight, on the other hand, she'd be at the foyer.

Erina stopped. Try as she might, her chronic gloomy mood was difficult to shake off. It made her feel unconfident in her actions, something she learned long ago to throw away if she wanted to not only survive as a chef, but come out as the top. It made her doubt.

Her voice was barely a whisper, fearful of jinxing herself if she spoke too loudly. "What if it is Hisako after all?"

A sudden panic enveloped her. If whoever was at the door really wanted to come in, they'd ring the doorbell a second time. But no second ring came.

Erina began making her way straight down the hall, the kitchen and her snack completely out of her mind. It started as a brisk walking pace, then jogging, until Erina began flat out running as she made her way to the foyer and door.

She swung the door open and, without looking at who it was, shouted, "Wait!"

She was met by astonished pink eyes.

"E-Erina-sama …"

.

.

Everything seemed much easier in her head. Return to the Nakiri manor, hand over the manga, and apologize to Erina. Maybe Erina would forgive her and let her go back to being a secretary. Or, at least, a completely different person wouldn't answer and say, "Why hello, I'm the new secretary."

She took in a deep breath and decided to run through her apology a few times in her head while she waited for the large door to open. She was able to get through it a couple of times but soon enough a couple turned into a dozen and Hisako began to wonder if anybody would open the door at all.

There was always a group of servants in the building; having an empty mansion at any time was not tolerated. Besides, considering the manner with which the manor's gatekeepers greeted her, she assumed Erina was at home.

"What if …" Hisako whispered. She tensed up for a second then quietly set down the bag of manga Soma entrusted to her next to the door. Ideally, she wanted to write a short letter in the bag just to explain herself but all of her energy seemed to be sapped from her.

The silence hurt.

She turned around and took a step away from the door.

A small burst of wind hit her back and a shrill, almost unfamiliar voice struck her ears.

"Wait!"

Hisako turned around and saw the girl who she called emperor out of breath and a little dazed.

The two simply stood there for what felt like minutes, staring at each other. Confirming that their eyes weren't fooling them, thinking of what to say, wondering what to do. Hisako, after realizing that the apology that she rehearsed so many times was completely eradicated from her memory, leaned over to grab the paper bag on the floor. However, Erina's hand shot out to grab the hem of her blazer before Hisako could even reach the handle.

"Don't go," Erina breathed out.

Hisako looked up and, thanks to the proximity between them, realized just how different Erina looked. The bags under her eyes were more prominent than usual and she looked a little pale. Completely forgetting about the bag, Hisako used one hand to ease the death grip Erina had on her blazer and the other to swipe Erina's bangs to the side.

She rested her palm against Erina's forehead. "... Are you alright, Erina-sama?"

"I …" she sputtered, completely taken aback by how suddenly Hisako closed the distance between them, all out of concern for her well-being. Hisako's voice oozed concern and worry. Erina wanted to laugh. And since there was never any reason to hold back in front of Hisako, she did. She laughed giddily, making sure to not jerk her head around too much so Hisako's hand would remain, and showed off her first smile in a long time.

"I was waiting for you."

A/N: I wish the mangaka dedicated at least a chapter to Hisako returning to Erina. At least all the Hishoeri moping scenes were nice, though.

I know Hisako just showed up, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless. I have a second chapter in mind but it might take a while to write because of life getting in the way! Or maybe not since I'm so thirsty for these two cuties, haha.

Thanks for reading!