Summer had come and gone in an instant, and it was full of relaxation and reflection for Erina Nakiri. She had spent the entire break traveling alone. With no headmistress duties, no Elite Ten to oversee, and no drama with her father, she finally had the time she desperately needed to focus on herself.
As she roamed from country to country trying new foods and battling with the locals, she was surprised to realize how much she actually missed her friends. How much she missed him the transfer student who had promised to make her say his food was delicious at the beginning of their first year. As much as she hated to admit it, she couldn't find talent like his anywhere she went. It was infuriating.
Ever since the fight between the rebels and Central a few months ago, the ice in her heart had started to melt. Erina had to face the fact that Soma had saved her from her father, and he really was one of the most talented chefs at their school. He had fully earned the right to the first seat on the Elite Ten. Of course, she hadn't admitted this to him yet. She probably never would.
Erina had also noticed the odd butterfly sensation in her stomach every time she saw the boy after they defeated Central. It was like a switch had flipped in her brain, and now that she was free from the looming threat of her father, she was finally able to think for herself. Her brain apparently decided to suffer from some sort of aneurysm, as she now found Soma kind of attractive? It was so confusing and repulsive that she hadn't even said goodbye when the second term ended, and she hopped on her private jet and decided to take a spontaneous trip for a few days, which turned into weeks.
Erina had just been picked up from the airport. The flight back from Germany had been obscenely long and she was ready to take a hot bath and pass out until the next day. As they drove home, she stared out the window and let her thoughts wander again. Back to him, as they had all summer.
She didn't understand the confusing feelings she felt every time she pictured his annoying cackling or his constant begging to try his food. During the school year she had found him incredibly annoying, so why was she constantly comparing other people to him? Not just in cooking ability, but in personality! Perhaps it was because he acted so casually around her, unlike the rest of the cooking world. Perhaps it was because he had helped her defeat her father.
She had done her best to meet new people over the summer, even boys, but every conversation was lacking. They were never as fun as the ones she had shared on those late nights looking at the stars with Soma.
The car was now pulling up to her mansion. Home sweet home, she thought happily. The driver helped her with her luggage and she sluggishly made her way through the lavish halls to her room. One of her maids had already anticipated her needs and prepared her bath, much to Erina's contentment.
After her quick but much-needed soak, she changed into pajamas and climbed into bed, even though it was 4 in the afternoon. Now that they weren't enemies, what were they? Certainly not friends, and yet, she felt like he knew her better than most people. At least she had a few more days until school started to figure it out.
The next morning, an extremely jet lagged Erina made her way downstairs, only to run into Alice. "Erina!" Alice cried, throwing her arms over her cousin, "I missed you so much! How could you leave without saying goodbye! I had to find out from Hishoko!"
Erina did feel guilty over this; the only people she had given even the slightest heads up about her plans were Hisako and her grandfather. "I'm sorry, I just needed a break. It was all so sudden, I didn't have time to tell anyone." Erina hugged her back. "But I'm here now!"
Alice's pout turned into a smile as she cheered. "Perfect timing too. We were planning a little beach trip since it's the end of summer. Are you in?"
Erina groaned internally. She was so tired! But looking at Alice's expectant face and her own guilt over abandoning her cousin made it harder to say no. "I suppose…who is we?"
"We" was the majority of the Tōtsuki, apparently. The Back-to-School Beach Bash was in full swing. The music was lively, the food was delicious, the sun was hot, and the water was cool. It was the perfect way to welcome back the second term after such an eventful vacation.
Erina and Alice passed by their swimsuit-clad classmates and waved hellos to the stunned faces. No one had expected the ice princess to come to this, as they had all heard she had been traveling all summer. Granted, they all heard different versions of the truth.
"I heard she opened up her own restaurant in New York!"
"No, I heard she was in Dubai with the prince! They're getting married!"
Rumors continued to swirl as the students spotted her, and Alice smirked, "My my, it appears everyone knows what you did this summer."
Erina rolled her eyes, "Yes, it seems I was very busy. Didn't you hear? I killed a crocodile with my bare hands and served it to a whole village."
Alice giggled, "Are you going to set the record straight?"
Erina's smile could have frozen the whole ocean as she said coolly, "No. I like keeping them guessing. They fear me more this way." And fear her they did. Everyone except-
"Oi, Nakiri!" Erina's heart lurched as she saw Soma's familiar flaming red hair coming towards her. It's longer now, she noted. She had forgotten how cute he was, and she hated it. It was shocking to see him in his swimsuit, and Erina blushed as she noticed he was quite well-built. His bright grin could have rivaled the sun as he clapped a hand on her shoulder in greeting. "Where have you been?! You've missed all the action around here!"
Why is this peasant so comfortable around me?! She threw his arm off her shoulder but couldn't help returning his smile. "You know, just traveling here and there. Lots of exploring and trying new dishes you'd never see outside of Japan." Soma looked like a kid in a candy store as Erina described all the foreign ingredients she'd become familiar with while studying the local cuisines.
"Wow, that sounds amazing! You've gotta show me later so I can practice!" Soma encouraged her, obviously impressed with her summer travels. "I'll bet you're happy to be home though."
Erina nodded, "It does feel amazing to sleep in my own bed. And I guess I missed the people here," she mumbled as an afterthought.
Soma laughed, "Why is it so hard for you to admit you missed your friends? Although for someone who says that, you didn't care enough to keep in touch!" He stuck out his tongue jokingly and she snapped back, "Well, I never received anything from you guys either!"
It had been radio-silence since she had left, and she had begun to feel like her friends had forgotten about her. She even believed they had been mad at her for leaving so suddenly without warning.
Soma gave her a confused look, "That's impossible. We all texted multiple times. Let me see your phone?" He played around with the settings after she reluctantly handed it to him and he chuckled, "Nakiri, you're still on airplane mode." Oh.
As soon as she had gotten on the plane at the beginning of the trip, she had turned off data roaming as she didn't know which countries her plan worked in. Hisako usually prepared the logistical things for her and she was too embarrassed to ask! She should have gotten messages as soon as she came back to Japan, but as Soma had pointed out, she'd never taken her phone off airplane mode.
Sure enough, dozens of messages from over the summer poured in as soon as she switched the setting. Messages from Alice complaining that she'd left without her, messages from Hisako warning her not to do anything dangerous or go anywhere with strangers, messages from the Polar Star Dorm teens wishing her well on her travels. There were at least 10 messages from Soma as he had said, mainly sending her photos of his cooking with captions like "Don't you wish you were here instead?!" and "I'll save you some for when you get back!" Erina laughed as his texts continued to pour in and Soma smiled back as he watched her read. "See, we all missed you!"
She read the final text that popped up from him about going to see a movie. "What movie were you talking about?" She was caught off guard by this, since they almost never talked about anything that wasn't school or cooking related.
"Oh, all the girls went to see some chick-flick and I thought you'd want to watch it."
Erina blushed, Like a date? "With you?" She asked nervously, and Soma let out (in her opinion) an unnecessarily long laugh.
"No! Definitely not, I could never watch that. I just felt like you should be kept up to date!" He smiled cheerfully and Erina glared.
The idea of watching a movie with her was that fucking hysterical? She recovered from the embarrassment and thanked him for the update, a little too sarcastically.
He added offhandedly, "Oh, but I did make us reservations at that new restaurant downtown," and Erina's jaw dropped.
"You did what?"
Soma continued, "Yeah, I thought we could check it out since it's supposed to be the hottest new place in town! Then we can pick our favorite dishes and recreate them and see whose is better!" He grinned challengingly, and before Erina could protest, he said, "Well, I gotta go help Takumi with the grilling! It was great seeing you, let's keep catching up later!" He bounced off towards the other side of the beach, leaving Erina speechless.
After a few moments of wandering alone, Erina had finally met up with the rest of her friends. She instantly ran towards Hisako when she saw her and embraced her in a hug, truly missing this girl more than anyone else. Hisako was like her sister and it had felt wrong to go anywhere without her. After catching up with her, Erina chatted with the rest of her former dormmates about their respective breaks. She really was having a great time, and she silently thanked Alice for inviting her.
Hours passed, and the sun began to set, but that didn't mean the party was stopping yet. Suddenly, unfamiliar faces showed up in the crowd. A few guys from other schools had seen how fun their beach bash had looked and they'd wanted to join. "Of course," everyone had said, "The more the merrier!"
But soon, the strangers began circling the girls predatorily. "Hey baby, what's your name?" One of the men asked Erina, as his friend approached Alice. Erina scowled terrifyingly, which normally would have worked on anyone who knew her influence or identity, but it didn't have the same effect on strangers. If anything, this only seemed to motivate them.
"Ooh, she's feisty! I like that in a woman. Why don't you come back to our side of the beach and we'll show you what a real party looks like?" The stranger stretched out his hand in offering and Erina and Alice both crossed their arms over their chests in disgust.
"Why don't you go crawl back into the hole you came out of?" Erina retorted mockingly, and she and her cousin turned to walk away but strong hands caught their wrists.
"What did you just say?" The once-charming voice turned poisonous, and Erina felt her pulse racing beneath his grip. At once, Ryo appeared by Alice's side. "Let go of them." His usual bored tone was laced with something deadly as he stared down the man who held Alice's wrist. After a few moments of indecision, the stranger let go and muttered to his friend that they should leave. The other man was not as easily discouraged however.
"Alright buddy, you can have her. I get this one." He motioned towards Erina. "Don't be selfish, you can't have more than one. Sharing is caring." He gave them a chilling smile and Erina felt nauseous.
All of a sudden, they heard shouting on the other side of the party. Soma stood between three other men and Ryoko, Yuki, and Megumi. The men, obviously enraged this kid had stopped them from hitting on these girls, were shouting at an expressionless Soma.
The entire beach had gone silent as they watched the scene play out. Soma waited until they finished shouting, and calmly stated, "We let you hang out here because we thought you were cool, but you're scaring the girls. You guys need to leave."
The men immediately started laughing, asking how Soma alone was going to force the three of them to leave. Akira Hayama walked up next to Soma. He towered over the intruders and warned, "He's not alone." His green eyes pierced theirs and they gulped. Takumi approached as well with a fierce expression on his face. It was now three against two. Ryo took the opportunity to push the men back towards their friends, growling the whole time.
"You can't just make us leave, this is a public beach!" One of the guys stated defiantly, not wanting to admit defeat just yet.
"Then how about we fight for it?" Soma's eyes gleamed with hunger; he hadn't challenged anyone all summer since everyone had been gone. He was itching to get a good fight in. The men responded threateningly, "Bring it!"
Soma immediately turned to the grill and began firing it up, while the rest of the Tōtsuki team prepared their ingredients. The intruders glanced around at each other in confusion.
"Uh, what are you guys doing?"
Soma turned towards them, "We're getting ready for the Shokugeki!"
The other team just gave him a dumbfounded look, and Soma finally remembered not everyone was a master chef at a world-class cooking school. "Oh…right. What else is there to even challenge someone in?"
He looked around at his team and they all shrugged, looking a little lost as they stopped prepping their ingredients. One of the strangers stepped forward and put his fists up, ready to engage in an actual fight.
"Step back, this isn't Karate Kid," Ryo instructed emotionlessly. He was no longer as interested now that this wasn't a cooking battle.
Soma glanced around for a net of some sort to play volleyball, but this beach didn't have one. "Does anyone have anything we can use to challenge these guys?" He asked, laughing at how pathetic this fight had become. A kid in the back of the crowd held up his soccer ball he had brought and tossed it over to Soma. "Soccer?" He asked the teams, and they both nodded in acceptance.
"Shit, we need a fifth. Who knows how to play soccer?" Soma asked his peers, and Satoshi Isshiki volunteered enthusiastically. "Of course, I'll help defend my juniors!" He jogged up to the rest of them, and despite most of the guys' objections, refused to change out of his speedo.
The crowd helped move the beach chairs and towels to set up the makeshift field. Unopened umbrellas were pushed in the ground on opposite ends of the beach, serving as the goal posts. "First team to score ten points wins. Loser leaves the beach." Soma declared with finality.
As the boys started playing, all the girls couldn't help but swoon at how romantic it was. They were defending the girls' honor! Even Erina felt caught up in the drama as she frantically watched the ball pass between the boys, gasping with everyone whenever the opposing team stole the ball or cheering when her team took it back. The other team was playing dirty, taking any opportunity to knock their opponents down savagely. Bam! Soma was forced to the ground as the man who had harassed Erina body checked him and stole the ball.
Soma's teammates were obviously stunned, and the man took the opportunity to quickly run past and score! The crowd booed loudly and yelled at the obvious foul play. Megumi covered her eyes and buried her face in Yuki's shoulder, unable to look anymore. Erina growled and prepared to march onto the field to give that man a piece of her mind but Alice physically held her back. Soma rose to his feet and indicated he was fine and ready to keep playing.
They continued stealing and passing, as the nerves from the audience grew steadily. The score was 5-2 in the other team's favor. "Time out!" Ryo called, and the boys huddled up. "We're gonna have to start playing dirty like they are if we want to beat them. It's the only way." He stated empathically. Satoshi shook his head, "We can't stoop to their level. Just because that's the way they want to win, doesn't mean we need to resort to those underhanded tactics. We're the better team; we just need to show them that!"
From the sides of the field, nobody could hear what the boys were discussing. All Erina could see was how discouraged they looked.
Suddenly, Soma's head abruptly popped up and he began searching the crowd. She watched as his eyes drifted over the crowd until they finally froze on hers. He stared for a long time, and Erina somehow inherently knew what he was thinking. He needed motivation, and for some reason, she was the only one who was able to provide that. Her face held a vicious expression and she flipped her hair over her shoulder, as if to say, Don't embarrass me by losing! The nervousness on his face was replaced by determination as he smiled back cockily, I promise not to! and lowered his face back down into the group huddle.
Soma refocused his efforts on his team and said, "Listen guys, we're faster than them, and we should play to our strengths." A few more seconds of inaudible whispering came from the huddle before the crowd heard them revving up to start playing again.
The second half of the game went by much better, as the Tōtsuki team managed to avoid being slammed to the ground by passing the ball much more frequently. The other team had no idea where to go or who to attack, since the ball was constantly being kicked in the opposite direction. Ryo and Akira played excellent offense, scoring goal after goal, while Soma and Takumi played strong defense. Satoshi even managed to block a few attempts, diving dramatically when necessary as his tiny speedo left him unhindered.
The crowd screamed and jumped whenever a near goal occurred and Erina could feel her heart race faster as both scores grew closer to 10. It was 9-8, in favor of Tōtsuki. The boys were dripping with sweat, exhausted from the hot sun and running up and down the beach. Yuki, Ryoko and Megumi cheered loudly for their friends and soon, others joined in. A steady chant began and the boys seemed to draw strength from the crowd. One more point was all they needed. They took off again and the ball was mercilessly kicked in every direction; Ryo and Akira did their best to take the fight to the other side of the field, but the opposing team was relentless. They wanted to win.
Soma suddenly stole the ball mid-pass and quickly scanned the beach to see who was open, but no one was! Akira and Ryo were both being blocked and elbowed ferociously, and Takumi was too far back. Soma took a chance and started sprinting towards the other side. He could hear the other team not far behind him as they chased him down the field. Out of the corner of his eye, Soma saw his teammate's blonde hair and he passed the ball swiftly to the right. Takumi had dashed alongside Soma and now had possession of the ball. The intruders changed direction to attack as they saw Takumi kick towards the goal. The first to arrive lunged and body checked him hard to the ground while the others dove to stop the ball from going past the unofficial goal. But the ball wasn't gliding forward, it was hurdling through the air to the left, straight towards Soma, and he immediately headed the ball right past the goalie.
The crowd screamed and rushed the beach! They had won! Alice jumped into Ryo's arms straight away before shrieking, "Ah, you're so sweaty! Go wash off!" He obliged but not before mischievously dragging her into the ocean with him as she yelled playfully.
Ryoko, Yuki, and Megumi were thanking Soma and Satoshi profusely, claiming they would make dinner for the next few weeks as a reward. Erina watched as Soma just laughed and shrugged off their thanks, claiming it was just the right thing to do.
Everyone cheered as the strangers packed up their things and left, grumbling profanities the whole time. It seemed like this win brought the party back to life tenfold, and the music and grill started back up.
Soma scanned the adoring crowd as he had before, once again stopping when he spotted her. He shot her a wide grin from across the beach and she blushed, turning away. It wasn't like he did this for her! Why was he acting so self-satisfied?
The moon was out now, and a few students had started a large bonfire. Erina sat on a log as she stared distractedly into the flames. She hadn't even noticed when Soma sat right next to her, and he leaned in to whisper, "Hello? Earth to Nakiri?" She jumped at the disturbance before calming down once she realized it was just him.
"I bet you're feeling rather proud of yourself now," she sniffed. The wind was picking up and although she was by the fire, she was still cold in her thin sundress.
Soma laughed, "How so?" He noticed the goosebumps on her arms and without thinking, he took off his jacket and wrapped it around her.
Erina, who was incredibly startled at this, replied, "You just love any excuse to show off, don't you?"
Soma gave her a cocky grin, "It's only showing off if you were impressed."
She blushed and quipped, "I wasn't! You should have just stayed out of it!"
He raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Why? They were making you girls uncomfortable. I wasn't just going to stand by and let them talk to you like that."
Erina was tired of always being the damsel in distress whenever it came to this guy. She lied hastily, "I wasn't uncomfortable! I was fine on my own!"
Soma played along, "So you liked those guys? The way they stared at you like a piece of meat?" She could be so goddamn stubborn sometimes.
Her sense of propriety got the best of her as she objected loudly, "Of course not! They were disgusting and vulgar!" He laughed at her sudden change and confirmed, "So you should be happy I got involved! Besides, Kurokiba got in their faces too, why aren't you mad at him?"
She hastily replied, "Because he was doing it for Alice!"
Soma shot back, "And? I was doing it for my friends!" He gestured over to his female dormmates who were chatting happily now that the drama was over. Erina couldn't help but feel slightly jealous.
She remarked, "You do a lot for your friends, don't you, Yukihira?" in a tone he didn't recognize.
"Well, yeah… they're like my family. And I would've done the same for you too." His golden eyes were too much for her. She looked down and mumbled under her breath, "Yet you didn't."
She hadn't meant for him to hear her and she was mortified when he replied, "Ah, so that's what you're mad about?" He gave her a playful grin and rolled his eyes when she didn't respond. "Nakiri, seriously? First of all, I was watching the whole time and you didn't look scared, you just looked pissed. I figured you could probably handle yourself better than the other girls. Second of all, by the time that guy had touched you, Kurokiba had already moved in to threaten the guy. I thought I'd be more useful to the other girls."
"What do you mean you were watching the whole time?" Erina's ears had perked up when Soma had let this slip. He had been on the other side of the beach, why would he have been watching her?
Her heart began to race a little faster as she watched him fumble with his words. "I heard them say they were gonna go talk to you guys, so I just wanted to keep an eye on them," he admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Erina said nothing for a few moments and then began hitting him. "Idiot! Why didn't you stop them?!"
Soma laughed and exclaimed between punches, "How was I supposed to know they were going to try something like that?!"
Erina huffed in annoyance and crossed her arms, "It doesn't matter! You should have stopped them regardless." Her purple eyes flashed with irritation, and Soma gave her an incredulous look.
"Damn, Nakiri, I can't just fight everyone that wants to hit on you! I'd have to fight the whole school!"
He watched as she chuckled softly, realizing how unreasonable she was being. Her smile, coupled with the soft glow from the bonfire, made Soma suddenly realize how absurdly pretty this girl was. He began thinking of guys lining up one by one to challenge him for Erina Nakiri. Oddly enough, the idea excited him.
"On second thought…" Soma began slowly, "…send them my way. Whoever wants to date you, tell him to challenge me." Soma's eyes steeled, and she could see he was serious. It sent a shiver down her spine as she thought of him fighting her potential suitors. He pushed himself up off the log and turned to rejoin his friends. "I've got your back, Nakiri!" He reminded her as he walked away.
You always do…