Chapter Two: Cat's Out the Hat

Two Years Later: a text conversation between Shinomiya and Yukihira


Dunce, can you please stop sending flowers to my house? I don't want them

-Shinomiya [Received 13:21]


I'm trying to court you though =^-^=

-Yukihira [Sent 13:22]


idiot.

-Shinomiya [Received 13:22]

By the way, I'm dropping by Tootsuki today to give a speech. I'm telling you so that you leave me alone.

-Shinomiya [Received 13:23]


I'll meet you by the stage =)

-Yukihira [Sent 13:23]


I'm on an Android, dunce. I can't see those stupid iPhone faces

-Shinomiya [Received 13:23]


Faces? They're called emojis xD

-Yukihira [Sent 13:24]


Same thing. Now STOP USING THEM

-Shinomiya [Received 13:24]

Also, if you're going to come and bother me when I arrive, at least bring me a coffee. I'm parched.

-Shinomiya [Received 13:24]


Two sugars, right?

-Yukihira [Sent 13:24]


No sugar. I'm not trying to lose my teeth, dunce.

-Shinomiya [Received 13:25]


Okay, okay. See you, shishou.

-Yukihira [Sent 13:25]


For the last time, CUT THAT SHISHOU THING OUT

-Shinomiya [Received 13:25]

Just because I taught you a couple of things about French cuisine doesn't mean that I'm your 'shishou'

-Shinomiya [Received 13:26]


Keep telling yourself that, shishou.

-Yukihira [Sent 13:26]

BTW, you can use as many capital letters as you want.

-Yukihira [Sent 13:26]

I'm not scared of you

-Yukihira [Sent 13:27]

('̀-'́)

-Yukihira [Sent 13:27]


"You're talking to him, aren't you?"

Yukihira looked up from his phone to regard Takumi, who was sulking to himself in the corner of the kitchen. The two had been preparing to cook something fairly simple with Erina and Hisako — beef stew — but upon discovering that they were missing some vegetables for their stew, Erina and Hisako had hurried off to go and grab the vegetables that they needed.

"What d'ya mean? I'm just scrolling through some memes," Yukihira responded in an innocent tone, clicking his phone off and settling it on his lap. He could feel his phone buzzing with more texts from Shinomiya, and although he was trying to fight it, he couldn't get rid of the smile which had begun to stretch out from cheek to cheek. He was pretty sure he looked like a Cheshire Cat.

"No, you're not! You're smiling so hard I'm surprised your face hasn't broken in half," Takumi retorted, arms folded as he began to step out of the corner. "You know, you might as well just come out and say you like him or whatever."

"I don't! He's just my shishou," Yukihira replied. "Nothing more."

"Oh, so you assumed that I was talking about Shinomiya?" Takumi smirked. "You just proved my point, Yukihira. Always thinking about him, aren't you?"

"Wait, I wasn't even thinking about him!"

"Mm-hmm, sure," Takumi hummed, raising a quizzical eyebrow in Yukihira's direction. "You suck at lying, by the way."

Yukihira opened his mouth to argue against Takumi's point, but before he could, Erina and Hisako re-entered the room with their ingredients in hand. Takumi held Yukihira's gaze until Yukihira reluctantly shut his mouth, sighing as he looked down at the phone in his lap. He unlocked it with his finger before reading through the texts, a smile dancing on his lips as he continued to read through each and every word.


Seriously, I'm going to assume you've got a shishou kink or something if you call me that one last time

-Shinomiya [Received 13:27]

Got a kink for 'help' by any chance? Because you need it

-Shinomiya [Received 13:27]

Ooh. That was a good one

-Shinomiya [Received 13:27]

But yeah, all jokes aside, I'll see you in a bit. We can go for a snack afterwards if you want

-Shinomiya [Received 13:28]


Sure =^-^=

-Yukihira [Sent 19:30]

How about ramen?

-Yukihira [Sent 13:30]


"I'm surprised you don't have his number saved as 'shishou'," Erina commented from over Yukihira's shoulder. Yukihira flushed bright red and locked his phone screen again, his head whipping around to regard Erina's grumpy face. Hisako was also stood there with an inquisitive look on her face, although she didn't seem as amused by the texts as Erina.

"Seriously," Erina grumbled. "If you're going to date a guy thirteen years your senior, at least be more subtle about it."

"I'm not dating him!"

"Hmph. Whatever. I really couldn't care either way," Erina replied, folding her arms haughtily as she took a step back. "Just stop staring at your phone like a lovesick puppy and start helping us with this beef stew! It's not going to make itself, is it?"

"I know, I know," Yukihira said, placing his buzzing phone to one side before hopping up to his feet. "Sorry."

"Hmph. It's beyond me how you got the first seat when you spend more time off-campus than you do on-campus," Erina muttered, walking over to the prep counter with Hisako in tow. Upon reaching the prep counter, Hisako turned to face Yukihira, her lips poised to ask a question.

"You know, if you're not dating him, then why are you wearing a hoodie which clearly isn't yours?"

"Because I like it," Yukihira cheerily replied, snuggling into the oversized hoodie. "It smells like him."

"But, you're not dating him."

"Nope. He's my shishou," Yukihira responded.

He'd swiped this hoodie during one of his many visits to Shinomiya's house. He'd started wearing it periodically to the point that it had become his hoodie rather than Shinomiya's, and Shinomiya himself didn't even seem to mind all that much.

"Hisako, leave it," Erina said, a sigh lingering on her lips as she regarded Yukihira and that lovesick expression of his. "He'll figure it out himself. Right now, we just need to get this stew over and done with before the graduation ceremony starts."

"Understood, Erina-sama!"


"Hey, son," Jouichirou commented, raising an eyebrow at Yukihira. "You've sure been doing a lot of staring at that Shinomiya guy…"

Jouichirou had followed Yukihira's gaze over to Shinomiya, who was currently standing on the Tootsuki stage. Shinomiya's pink hair was fluttering in the wind while the sun was glinting off his lenses and the small piercing in his left ear. In his left hand he was holding a microphone while in his right, he had a freshly made coffee with no sugar. The same coffee Yukihira had been holding just a couple of minutes ago prior to Shinomiya's entrance.

"Because he's speaking," Yukihira replied, his eyes not even daring to shift an inch from Shinomiya's face.

"Hmph," Jouichirou said, his gaze lingering on Shinomiya a while longer. He could've sworn that Shinomiya's eyes were flicking over to Yukihira on a regular basis. Not to the point that it was creepy, but it was happening too often for it to be an accident.

"There has to be something here that I'm not seeing," Jouichirou muttered, eyes narrowed in suspicion as he continued to regard Shinomiya.


"Y—Yukihira-kun," Nikumi said, cheeks flushed as she regarded Yukihira with a shy expression on her face. "There's something I wanted to ask you."

Yukihira had been about to go and meet Shinomiya at the side of the stage now that he'd finished giving his speech, but Nikumi had stepped into his path with a request. So, Yukihira being Yukihira, he was going to take the time to oblige. Shinomiya could wait, right?

"Shoot."

"Well… I was wondering if you wanted to go to a movie this Saturday," she murmured while fiddling with her hair. "Just the two of us."

"Sure! Two's a bit lonely though, don't you think? I'll bring Shinomiya-shishou with me," Yukihira said, a grin on his face. "I'll invite the others as well! It'll be a great opportunity for me to introduce him to the others!"

Nikumi seemed a little shocked. "Wait, what do you mean?"

"He's my shishou," Yukihira replied.

As if on cue, Shinomiya appeared from behind Yukihira, placing a hand on Yukihira's shoulder. "Are you really making me wait right now, Yukihira?"

"Sorry, sorry," Yukihira sang, wheeling around to face Shinomiya with an apologetic smile on his face. "Just talking to Nikumi. You wanna come along to a movie on Saturday?"

"You already spend every weekday bothering me," Shinomiya dryly responded. "Why would I give up my Saturday for you?"

"Because you're my shishou," Yukihira stated as if it were obvious.

"For the last time, I'm not your shishou!"

"Are too," Yukihira insisted.

As the two began to bicker with each other, Nikumi backed away, realising that she had no chance whatsoever at scoring Yukihira. It didn't matter if Yukihira hadn't said those three magic words about Shinomiya; it didn't matter if Yukihira spent every day trying to convince his classmates that Shinomiya was just his 'shishou' — Yukihira's demeanour alone was more than enough to tell her that he was head-over-heels for Shinomiya.


"You know, I'm surprised no-one's arrested you as a suspected child molester—"

"Shut up, Mizuhara! I haven't touched him," Shinomiya snapped.

"Bet you want to though," Hinako commented, snickering to herself as she cast a knowing gaze in Shinomiya's direction. She paused to look over at Yukihira, who was standing in a circle with the rest of the Elite Ten members. "First seat, huh? You're pretty good at predicting."

"Both of you, just… shut up," Shinomiya groaned, letting out a sigh as he cast a brief look in Yukihira's direction. "It's not like I've been asking him to talk to me, have I? He's just… persistent. I mean, I've got a soft spot for him but…"

"You've got more than that. You've got feelings," Hinako sang, doing twinkle hands to go along with her vocalisation. "Fe-fe-feelings! It's okay, he's eighteen now."

"Fe-fe-fuck off," Shinomiya retorted, swiping a hand at Hinako in an attempt to shut her up. Hinako was agile enough to dodge Shinomiya's hand with ease. She was also annoying enough to keep singing 'feelings' over and over again in Shinomiya's earhole.

"He's about to give his speech," Mizuhara casually mentioned. "Ooo, maybe he'll call Shinomiya 'shishou' again. I bet you a vanilla milkshake that he'll say 'shishou' at least five times in his speech."

"Add a strawberry milkshake to the mix and we got a deal," Hinako replied. "Shinomiya-senpai, you really shouldn't take so much pride in being called 'shishou'—"

"I didn't tell him to call me that, damnit! He started doing it by himself!"

"Mmm, sure," the two said in sync.

"It's true! You know what, get over here," Shinomiya roared, reaching out to try and karate chop both women on top of their heads. Unfortunately enough for Shinomiya, they were able to anticipate it and dash out of the way before Shinomiya's hands could make contact with their heads.

"Keep your hands to yourself," Mizuhara lectured. "We're not Yukihira, are we?"

"Shut up! I don't want to touch anyone, damnit!"

Shinomiya went bright red with embarrassment as he averted his gaze from Yukihira — who had begun to look over in his direction — and turned his attention to the half-empty coffee cup in his hand before downing it in one go. By the time he finished drinking his coffee, the two women had moved to stand alongside each other, snickering to themselves as they watched Yukihira mount the stage with a cheerful grin on his face.

Shinomiya paused when he felt a familiar heart-shaped treat on his tongue. He reached for it and looked at it, his breath catching in his throat when he saw the message emblazoned across the candy in bright red letters:

I LOVE YOU

"This idiot," Shinomiya muttered, staring down at the piece of candy for a few moments longer. His gaze slowly rose back up to Yukihira, back up to Yukihira's face. The scar on his right eyebrow, his blazing red hair, his stupid smiling lips. And, his golden eyes.

The same golden eyes which were looking back at him.

"I haven't got much to say," Yukihira began. "I've never been much of a speech guy. But… a lot of people helped me on my journey to the top. Takumi was my rival for three entire years—"

"I'm still your rival, Yukihira! I won't stop until I establish my dominance!"

"—and Tadokoro supported me a lot of times in the kitchen," Yukihira continued, unfazed by Takumi's interruption. "Everyone in Tootsuki contributed to my growth in one way or another, so… thanks to all of you."

There was a warm round of applause, but Yukihira didn't seem to be done speaking.

"And, well, there's another person I should mention. Technically he's not a student anymore, but he single-handedly taught me French cooking techniques and put me on this stage, so… yeah."

A warm smile crossed Yukihira's lips as he made direct eye contact with Shinomiya, almost as if he were trying to communicate with his gaze rather than his lips. Shinomiya wasn't the best at reading eyes, but he knew that Yukihira was telling him to listen. So, Shinomiya did. He raised an eyebrow at Yukihira in response, leading Yukihira to smile a little bit harder to himself before continuing to speak. Shinomiya could feel an identical smile on his lips, and even though he could hear Hinako and Mizuhara taking the piss out of him, he didn't care. For once, he just didn't care. He just wanted to listen to Yukihira.

"He thrashed my ass time and time again in Shokugekis, but… it was fun," Yukihira admitted, looking down at his headband before looking back out at the crowd of teachers and various students in front of him. "I've never had as much fun in my time here as I did in those Shokugekis. So, shoutout to my shishou! I never once won a Shokugeki against him, but I'm gonna be living with him so I'll learn his Shokugeki secrets soon enough—"

"Wait, wait, wait," Shinomiya interjected, holding his hands up to grab Yukihira's attention. "Who said we're living together?"

"This key," Yukihira replied, holding up a silver key which was identical to Shinomiya's spare key. "Anyways, thanks guys! I'm glad we all made it through the year, so… yeah! Give it up for my buddies, and give it up for my shishou!"

"For God's sake, why does this idiot never consult me on anything?"

Amidst the rabid applause, all Shinomiya could do was shake his head in resignation as Yukihira trotted off the stage and towards him. Shinomiya could hear Mizuhara and Hinako snickering in the background, but he wasn't about to turn around to tell them to shut up. Over the past few months, he'd learnt that telling those two to "shut up" created more problems than it solved.

"Hey, housemate," Yukihira said, grinning once he was stood a metre away from Shinomiya. "I see you're still holding my message in your hand."

"You realise I'm still your mentor, right?"

"Not anymore," Yukihira responded, gesturing to the black graduation cap on his head. "I graduated. You're my ex-shishou."

"I was never your shishou in the first place!"

Yukihira continued to stare at Shinomiya without responding, those eyes of his just as vibrant as they had been when they'd first met.

"Damnit, Yukihira," Shinomiya grumbled, reaching out to flick Yukihira's forehead. "You're not living with me, you know that? Even if I wanted to let you live with me, I can't. I'm returning to France tonight. You probably won't see me again for a year or two."

Yukihira's smile froze on his face. "Huh?"

"I do have a restaurant over there, you know. I can't let my sous chef handle everything forever, can I?"

Over these past three years, Shinomiya had been flying over to France for weekend trips every so often to make sure that everything was in order down at his original SHINO's. He'd been doing all of the paperwork and handling his staff's wages from Japan, getting his sous chef to act as the 'face' of SHINO's while he spent the majority of his time in Japan working down at his SHINO's Tokyo and keeping an eye on this persistent little dunce.

But, now that three years had passed, SHINO's Tokyo was more than stable enough to function without him. He needed to return to France to develop his cooking even further.

"Hey," Shinomiya murmured, poking Yukihira's lip with his finger. "Open your mouth."

Yukihira seemed a little confused, but he did as told.

While holding the gaze of those warm golden eyes, Shinomiya placed the Love Heart down on Yukihira's lower lip, pressing it down for a few seconds before easing his finger off.

"There you go, dunce," Shinomiya murmured, sliding his finger up so that he could flick Yukihira's forehead. "You've got my number. I don't know how the hell you got it, but you've got it. You know where I work. You know where I live. Become a successful chef, and maybe we'll cross paths again someday."

Tears began to roll down Yukihira's cheeks as he swallowed the Love Heart, his gaze still intent on Shinomiya's. A brief silence passed between the two of them, Yukihira swallowing the Love Heart down while Shinomiya's hand floated in the air, stuck between trying to wipe Yukihira's tears away or flicking his forehead again for getting emotional.

Before Shinomiya could decide on an action, Yukihira wiped his own tears away, his white headband fluttering on his wrist as he did so. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but at the last minute, shut his mouth and continued to gaze up at Shinomiya.

"You know, your silence is pretty weird," Shinomiya commented, raising an eyebrow at Yukihira. "I was expecting you to be like 'don't go'. Or, even better, 'please don't leave me'."

"Shinomiya, you're a sadist," Mizuhara called out.

"Shut up! No-one was talking to you," Shinomiya snapped, turning his head to shoot a glare in Mizuhara's direction. Mizuhara seemed satisfied with herself for managing to irritate Shinomiya while Hinako was giggling at the expression on Shinomiya's face. While Shinomiya's initial reaction was to start yelling at the two, he paused when he realised that their smirks had melted into mutual expressions of shock.

Shinomiya turned back to Yukihira, his jaw dropping when he realised that Yukihira had pulled his headband off his wrist and was staring up at him defiantly, his face devoid of any tears. The headband was fluttering in the wind and Yukihira's stance was strong, oh-so-strong. Shinomiya could sense what was coming, and even so, he still couldn't wait to hear it.

"Shokugeki," Yukihira declared, his tone serious as he regarded Shinomiya with that timeless, golden gaze. His eyebrows were set in a firm line; his jaw was stiff; his lips were straight. His stance was screaming 'serious', but his eyes were screaming 'don't go'. Over these past three years, Shinomiya had learnt one important fact: eyes never lied. He and Yukihira had gotten into a pattern of skirting around their feelings for each other, pretending that they didn't really exist. But, every time they made eye contact… the truth always seemed to come out.

At the sound of the word 'Shokugeki', people began to form a crowd around them, bubbling over the idea of the first seat battling against another former first seat. Shinomiya was only vaguely aware of their presence. Yukihira, on the other hand, didn't seem to care about their presence at all.

"Battle against me in a Shokugeki," Yukihira demanded, oblivious to the crowd which had formed around him and Shinomiya. Shinomiya was aware of the crowd, but only vaguely. He was much more focused on hearing what Yukihira had to say.

"If you lose, you stay. But, if—if I lose, then you go," Yukihira concluded. "So… just battle against me. One more time."

"I literally spend all of my time calling you a dunce," Shinomiya pointed out. "Why would you even want me to stay?"

Yukihira didn't answer the question. Instead, he took a step forwards while maintaining eye contact with Shinomiya. "Battle me, Shinomiya."

Shinomiya sighed. He was having flashbacks to the time when he'd graduated and Hinako had done the exact same thing when he'd announced that he was leaving for Paris. She'd challenged him, she'd lost and then he'd gone on his merry way. Couldn't he just skip the whole 'exert energy on Shokugekis rather than packing suitcases' stage and focus on getting his transport sorted out? More importantly, how hard was it for Hinako and Yukihira to let Shinomiya fly off to Paris without a hitch?

"You're still an annoying dunce," Shinomiya said, eyes rolling of their own volition. "But, fine. I'll hand you another loss if you're so thirsty."

At that declaration, the volume of the voices increased tenfold, becoming so loud that Shinomiya could barely think. Yukihira had a competitive fire in his eyes, one which had only seemed to become stronger and stronger over the years despite his innumerable losses to Shinomiya.

"Go ahead, Shinomiya," Yukihira said, his grip tightening on his headband as he continued to stare up at Shinomiya. "Because I'm not letting you go."


For the first time in three years, Shinomiya didn't win his Shokugeki.

Yukihira didn't win either. They were teetering on the line between 'loss' and 'victory', the line otherwise known as a draw. The Shokugeki had ended in a 2-2 draw despite there being a fifth judge who should've been able to push both chefs onto their individual sides — loss and victory. However, since that judge had been unable to reach a conclusion, both chefs were stuck on the line between loss and victory.

"Well, neither of us won," Shinomiya began, breaking the silence at last. "What happens now?"

Shinomiya and Yukihira were stood behind the scenes, Yukihira unravelling his headband and placing it back on his wrist while Shinomiya proceeded to unravel his own neckerchief so that he could place it to one side.

"You're still not allowed to leave," Yukihira insisted. "I don't want you to."

"So," Shinomiya murmured, setting his neckerchief to one side before turning to face Yukihira, "you'd rather me go bankrupt after neglecting my restaurant a couple weeks too long?"

"No. But…"

"But?"

"I like you," Yukihira mumbled, his face turning bright red with embarrassment. "You happy?"

"Not really," Shinomiya said, traversing the short distance between them so that he could touch a hand to Yukihira's chin and turn it so that Yukihira was looking directly at him. "I mean, I'm still your mentor."

"No, you're not," Yukihira groaned, his lips settling into a stubborn pout as he looked up at Shinomiya.

"Do you know how to do flambé without setting the kitchen on fire? Have you perfected your poele method? Can you tell me the difference between a mirepoix and a julienne?"

Yukihira didn't respond.

"See? I'm nowhere near done with teaching you, idiot," Shinomiya said, releasing Yukihira's chin as he took a step back. "You've got a long way to go. Thankfully, you've got me to mentor you. After all this time… I would've been pretty offended if you didn't take the first seat. If you'd have failed, it would've been nothing more than stupidity on your part. That's nothing new though."

"Mmm. Usually when you insult me that much, it's because you've got something on your mind," Yukihira pointed out. "Let me guess, you're feeling all sentimental and you're trying to hide it with insults."

Shinomiya shrugged, but didn't open his mouth to correct Yukihira.

"You're not the only mentor standing here, you know," Yukihira continued, his tone softening as he took a step towards Shinomiya. "You were cold and stoic when I first met you. Hard to understand. Now, you're smiling, but you're trying to hide it. You're always laughing. And, in that Shokugeki, when I ate your dish… there was human emotion behind it. It tasted like love. And… I want to think that it's because of me. I want to think that I was the one to teach you about love."

It was Shinomiya's turn to blush.

"Shut up, idiot. What would you know about love? You're just a dunce," Shinomiya gruffly insisted. "You've never even been in a relationship."

"Have you?"

Shinomiya flushed even deeper. "What kind of question is that?"

"So, no?" Yukihira smirked.

"Shut up!"

"Make me," Yukihira shot back, teasingly flicking Shinomiya's chin.

Yukihira had been half-kidding with that statement — he hadn't been expecting Shinomiya to actually do anything — but when he leaned away after some moments of silence passed between them, Shinomiya's hand slipped onto the nape of Yukihira's neck. There was a second or two where it felt like Shinomiya was hesitating, but Shinomiya made his move anyway, quickly pressing his lips against Yukihira's. The kiss couldn't have lasted more than a couple of seconds, but it didn't stop the two of them from blushing when the kiss came to an end.

Shinomiya was looking a little surprised at himself while Yukihira was in a daze, his heartbeat having decided to speed up all of a sudden.

"S—Shinomiya…"

"I did what you said, didn't I?" Shinomiya had a small smile tugging at his lips, although it seemed a little nervous to Yukihira. "I shut you up. Seriously, I wish I'd done that sooner…"

Yukihira stared at Shinomiya for a while longer as he pressed a hand to his lips, verifying that Shinomiya had kissed him. His lips were definitely warm. Definitely not a result of the room they were standing in. And… his lips definitely felt lonely without Shinomiya's lips on them.

"You look like a weirdo," Shinomiya said, flicking Yukihira's forehead as a playful smile appeared on his face. "No wonder you've never been in a relationship."

"I'd tell you to shut up, but I still don't know what to say," Yukihira admitted, slapping both palms over his cheeks to hide the fact that he was blushing. The tips of his ears were bright red, however, so it didn't help too much. "You scattered my mind with that…"

"You're not the only one," Shinomiya admitted, shoving his hands in his pockets as he continued to regard Yukihira's dreamy expression. "I was pretty nervous about having my first kiss and all… so, yeah. Uh… yeah. I—I'd like to do that again."

"You're so awkward," Yukihira murmured, a smile tugging at his lips as he continued to look up at Shinomiya. "That's… that's new. I don't think I've ever heard you stutter."

"You're being awkward too, idiot," Shinomiya muttered, his cheeks reddening even further. "And I didn't stutter. I just… I forgot what I was saying."

"So, you stuttered."

"You stuttered too! Don't single me out," Shinomiya complained.

"Okay, okay. Sorry," Yukihira murmured, moving his hands away from his cheeks so that he could reach out to touch a hand to Shinomiya's burning cheek. It had already been warm when Yukihira touched it, but now, it seemed to be getting even hotter. "Can I kiss you again?"

"Uh… I guess. If you want."

Yukihira chuckled a little to himself before leaning up on his tippy-toes, gently touching his lips to Shinomiya's. This kiss lasted longer than their previous one, but it came to an abrupt stop when the two heard the sound of the backroom door opening. Yukihira stumbled away, his head whipping around to face none other than Jouichirou, who was accompanied by various members of the Polar Star Dorm. A few seconds of silence passed in which the members exchanged looks of 'I knew this was going to happen' while Yukihira and Shinomiya avoided looking anyone directly in the eye.

Finally, the silence was broken by Jouichirou yelling "I knew something was weird!"

From that point onwards, the other members began to swarm Yukihira with their teasing remarks while Jouichirou began to interrogate Shinomiya about his intentions with Yukihira. They were both too embarrassed to reply, but that didn't stop the others from shooting questions in their direction. The PSD members soon drew their own conclusions and ran out to spread the news while Jouichirou remained, eyebrow cocked as he regarded Shinomiya. His face was serious, serious to the point that Shinomiya could feel himself becoming somewhat fearful. However, seconds before he opened his mouth to speak, a silly Yukihira-like expression appeared on Jouichirou's face.

"You'd better marry him before you deflower him."

Before Shinomiya could insist that he had no interest in 'deflowering' Yukihira and that he only wanted to continue improving as a chef with Yukihira, Jouichirou was already well out of the room and out into the open with everyone else. However, he poked his head back in to say one last thing.

"By the way, it was really obvious that you two had feelings for each other," Jouichirou filled in. "You guys really don't know the art of subtlety, huh?"

Again, before Shinomiya could defend his point, Jouichirou disappeared off into nowhere. According to one of the many conversations Shinomiya had shared with Yukihira in the kitchen, Jouichirou had a tendency for disappearing and appearing out of nowhere. Kind of like a phantom.

With a swivel of the head, Shinomiya turned to face Yukihira. Yukihira's blushing had calmed down, and now he had a soft smile lingering on his lips as he looked up at Shinomiya with sheer admiration in his eyes. Shinomiya could feel his heart beginning to beat much, much quicker than was necessitated.

"Well…"

"Well," Yukihira filled in, his smile stretching out even more.

"Well… it looks like the cat's out of the hat," Shinomiya concluded.

"I thought cat puns were 'lame'," Yukihira pointed out.

"They are. But, hey. I'm willing to be lame for once," Shinomiya replied, letting out a snort of laughter as he looked around himself. "Anyway… I'm hungry. You wanna go grab some ramen?"

Yukihira rolled his eyes, but nodded as he bounded over to Shinomiya's side. The two of them bumped shoulders as they began to stroll out of the room and into the open, basking in the fading sunlight as all eyes fell upon them. With their identical smiles and their general closeness to one another as they walked, it was clear that they liked each other in a way that was more than friendly. They knew that people were probably going to talk — hell, they'd been talking ever since Yukihira had started calling Shinomiya 'shishou'.

But, who cared?

After all, there was one more fact that Shinomiya had learnt over these past three years: the cat always ended up jumping out of the hat sooner or later.