She stared down at the plates that arranged the food items so perfectly and yet they appeared nearly delicate to the touch; it was another one of those nervous little things that left her mind abuzz with worry.

Shiemi turned her attention back towards the judges as one by one they sampled her dish and expressed both their good and bad opinions over it; she hadn't felt like she'd done all that well, not with it being a dish involving meat which she wasn't very practiced in.

She stared at the next contestant who came up; there was something almost charming about the yellow apron wrapped around his waist.

His dark hair also nearly glimmered in the far too bright, overhead lighting.

He was determined as evidenced by his grin and may be a little proud of his dish too.

With just a lean forward, she could see the dish that he now described; interestingly enough, he'd chosen a more traditional Japanese dish, and she felt her breath catch as she listened to the judges provide both positive and negative criticisms for his dish.

He'd mostly received praise and so he was granted immunity again for what felt like the millionth time for his competition that watched with bated breath as he came back towards them with another of his happy grins.

Shiemi watched him take his spot by her side with the look of one who longed to do far better than him and the look of one that possibly admired him just a little bit.

She did feel immense waves of relief when she'd avoided being eliminated today despite her dish being a bit on the bland side and a tiny bit overcooked as she wasn't used to cooking meat just yet.

The blond fell in step beside the victor of the night as he talked to her; she could easily remember that his name was Rin and could remember the mentions of him living rather close to her though they'd never met before this competition.

Shiemi could also recall hearing the emotional story of how he'd began to cook under the support of his adoptive father before he passed on.

This competition was him trying to make the old man proud much to Shiemi's astonishment and almost pride of what this impressive cook had set aside to do.

She felt her mind drift far too alertly away for her to sleep; he'd invaded her thoughts yet again though they weren't far away from the end of the competition now, and she should have still felt that rabid desire to defeat her competition, but now, that desire was minute as she focused on staying in as long as possible to remain close to Rin who reminded her of a spitfire at times yet also gave her immediate hope for the future.

He reminded her of her old attitude to her hopes and dreams that she'd almost grown out of and reminded her again of why she was here.

Rin had become so much to her in so little time.

Ten weeks, had it been?

It felt much too short as she felt nerves eat away at her being at just the thought of him.

She knew that you weren't supposed to fall in love with your competition on this show as you weren't on a dating show, but she really did like him more than she should.

Some nights, her dreams swayed to bringing him home to meet her mother and to growing her garden even further with Rin by her side even though she knew that they were nowhere near dating.

Shiemi stared at the ceiling as she heard the only other person in her room shift on her bed, they were down to only five contestants though one had long since given hope on making it to the end while the others still tried to remain strong.

She knew that they'd probably reach forward to get the guy off of the show that lost enthusiasm for the sport and that she may lost her roommate eventually.

Shiemi doubted that anyone could defeat Rin at this point; he was the kind of cook that everyone aspired to be and even Shiemi who mainly cooked vegetarian styled meals and made herbal teas was in awe of him.

She wished that she could cook as well as Rin could which became an added aspect to her inspiration as a chef.

Shiemi followed the planes on the ceiling as she willed herself to fall back asleep under the nagging thoughts of the one person in her life that made her feel absolutely beautiful and quite talented despite his own much more impressive skill level in her eyes.

They'd both worked incredibly hard to get here after all.

Shiemi'd been surprised to make it here as she watched Rin with her very own eyes receive his award and nearly just gave her friend that she'd met through this show a big hug despite knowing how that would appear to them.

The host had long ago while off air began to tease them about secretly dating despite her and Rin's still platonic relationship.

She moved closer to the man as slowly the cameras stilled and the lights dimmed after the show had finished its run.

Shiemi moved closer to possibly hug him despite her sudden onslaught of nerves before he asked her to open his restaurant with him; when had she even began to be good enough to do so with him?
She softly managed to agree despite how nervous she felt and thrilled over those arms looping tightly around her and holding her close as if to protect her from those pesky nerves.

Shiemi looped her arms gently around Rin as she listened to the gentle beat of his heart that raced underneath her ear as she focused on how things may be from now on.

She hoped for the best and perhaps for a chance to let these feelings bloom into something more than this crush.