Disclaimer (Since I forgot last chapter): I don't own Shokugeki no Sōma, just this story.
Some might wonder how Sōma and Erina are able to talk to each other so often. They are almost always in different time zones, unless Sōma is in a place with little time difference, such as in China, or in Vietnam. So how do they do it?
Using video chat.
Yes, the couple know each other's schedule very well. Erina's schedule is very stable, work from noon to 10, get home at 11, sleep from midnight to 8, then start all over. Sōma gives Erina his schedules during the days that he's helping someone out. Thus, they plan times so that they are able to talk to each other, not enough to burn them out, but enough to catch up on stuff that happened to them over the few days they don't chat.
When they see each other on that screen, both their days instantly become better. They both say that those few hours are the best times of their lives.
It was the middle of April. The couple enjoyed a small celebration for the Princess on her 25th birthday about a month ago, the two of them making a fancy dinner for themselves while Sōma was in Madrid for a week. They had a glass or 2 of champagne, and like usual, shared stories about what they were doing in the last couple of days.
Those memories were on Erina's mind while La Belle Vie was on break, as she was setting up for their dinner shift, along with her staff.
"You're blushing again, Erina." She heard from her left, breaking her from her thoughts.
"Huh? O-oh! Hisako, a-am I?" She asked her friend, who laughed softly.
"Yes, yes you are. It's just nice to see you so in love, Erina. With Sōma-kun, no less!" She explained. Hisako dropped the -sama suffix on Erina's name near the end of their first year, Sōma was the force behind it. The words he told her during the stagiaire affected her greatly, much to the knowledge of… nobody else. From then on, she started to try and make herself as her own person, not just her then called master's secretary. After the fall of Central, Hisako saw it as a chance to start fresh, and started being more casual with Erina. She was also grateful to Sōma, not just for his words of encouragement, but for saving her friend, and making her the happiest she's ever been.
"It's been 5 years, Hisako. How have you not gotten that fact out of your mind yet?" Erina asked, a small blush on her cheeks.
Hisako smirked. "Well, look a bit further back, and I remember a girl who only knew about love from mangas. A certain girl who also didn't take a liking to- "
"Alright, alright, alright! So, maybe I didn't know about love. I hated my eventual boyfriend. But, my love just so happened to turn out like those mangas, so ha!" The blonde said, as proudly as she could with a heavy blush on her face.
Since Hisako and Erina's relationship changed from the master-servant dynamic, they started to act more and more like real friends, teasing each other and helping each other out, especially after graduation, with Hisako deciding to work with Erina at her restaurant as her sous-chef.
"Besides, don't tell me you don't do the same when thinking about- "Erina started to retort.
"Okay, okay, you got me." The pinkette said, a small blush now on her face. Hisako was in a relationship with one of their friends/rivals, Akira Hayama. After their initial confrontation at the Autumn Election, the two showed no hard feelings towards each other. A year, some classes and assignments together later, they were dating by the end of second year.
"Anyways…" Hisako said, coughing while trying to lose her blush, "What's Sōma-kun doing today?"
"Well… He's done working in America, and he got his schedule pretty early, so he told me he's headed to Turkey. Very interesting choice from him, I do not have much knowledge in Turkish cuisine." Erina replied, very interested to hear what her boyfriend would tell her about it when he finished up.
"Very nice indeed. He must be happy, travelling around the world, spreading his influence. Kinda like a blonde I know…"
"Indeed, I am very proud of him."
"Well, the crew and myself can handle the rest of the work, go and talk to him!" the sous chef said, smiling towards the head chef.
"Thank you very much Hisako, I appreciate the gesture." Erina said, bowing towards her friend, before walking into her office.
Her office was large, almost the size of one of the rooms in the Nakiri Manor. It was decorated rather plainly, awards, plates and chefs' coats were hanging on the wall or in a cabinet. It had a nice view of the Tokyo streets, and had a table in the center.
The table had a laptop, tablet and some other things on it, but to the blonde, 2 things always stood out to her.
One was a collection of postcard from all of her friends from Tōtsuki. They were from all places around the world: Italy, India, Denmark, and so on. She thought it was a great representation of her friends, and where their skills lie.
The other thing of importance was a picture, and some recipes. The picture was of Erina and Sōma, on their graduation day. Sōma had his arm wrapped around the girl, with his signature grin on his face. Erina, who at that time, was still a bit shy about romantic interactions, had a large blush on her face, but tried to smile so she would look nice for the picture.
The recipes were something that Sōma did every time before his flight to another country. The promise that he made to her, while intended for when he came back, was always something he tried to make true, no matter where he was. He had a dish that he thought of, using influences from his travels, and wrote down the recipe so he could give it to Erina, hoping that she would cave and say it was delicious. As always, the princess never said it, but told him what was wrong with the dish.
In all honesty, Erina found a few dishes from the redhead that she would consider good, or even great. But they both knew that a simple great wouldn't be enough to make him satisfied. He had to create the "perfect" dish, a dish that Erina found no flaws in, so she would say that magic word.
Erina thought to herself, shaking her head, 'Who knew that would be one of the driving forces of our relationship.' She picked up her tablet and started to call Sōma.
*Ring…Ring…Ring…*
"What's up Nakiri?" said the redhead, a smile on his face.
"Hey there Sōma-kun!" She replied excitedly, smile on hers as well.
"Aren't you working right now?" Sōma asked, knowing that his girlfriend was very focused when it came to her work.
"Well, Hisako said that her and the team can handle it, and let me talk to you." She answered. "Do you not want to talk to me?" She asked, faking a hurt expression.
"No, no, no! Of course I want to talk to you, Erina!" Sōma worriedly said, waving his arms around, making the blonde giggle.
"Jeez, I'm kidding! You know, either you're losing your touch, or I'm getting better at teasing you." She said, still laughing.
He sighed. "Well, when I'm awake for about an hour, even I can let some stuff get to me." He huffed, but then let a yawn come out.
"Yeah, I can tell, you've looked better." She said flatly, him rolling his eyes. "Well anyways, you ready to go to Turkey?"
"Yup! Stuff's packed, and I'm leaving in an hour or two." He said, excitement visible on his face.
"Well, you better tell me what the food is like there. I do not have a lot of knowledge on Turkish cuisine, and would love to find some new things for the restaurant." She warned him.
"Hm, maybe." He said.
"WHAT! Sōma-kun, you always tell me about the food you eat! Don't be like- "
"Kidding." He said, the grin on his face now annoying the blonde.
"Hmpf!" she huffed, turning away from him, not because she was actually angry at her boyfriend, but because she had a big blush on her face that she didn't want him to see.
"Oh, don't be like that Nakiri! You can take a joke, right?" He asked, some genuine concern on his face.
"U-u-uh-um…" she stammered, trying to fight the blush down. "O-of course I can, you idiot!"
She facepalmed.
'Why did I say that?!'
Sōma however, was smart enough to know why his princess said that, and laughed. "Oh thank god, you're so cute when you get all flustered!" He said, still trying to tease the girl.
"S-s-shut up!" she snapped back, but after a few seconds, started to giggle.
"What is it Erina?" He asked.
"It's just so funny, how we talk to each other. It's like high school, but we're successful now, and I'm somehow still in love with you." She answered, thinking about how they acted in their first year.
The answer, however, caused her boyfriend to blush. "U-uh, yeah, I guess so."
They talked for a little longer, until Hisako came into the room.
"Erina, everything's ready, just need the go ahead from you. Hey there Sōma-kun." She greeted the boy.
"What's up, Hishoko?" Sōma replied, knowing full well what was about to happen next.
"It's Hisako, Sōma-kun! Get it right!" She yelled at the screen, causing both of her friends to laugh.
"I know, I know. How you doing, Hi-sa-ko?" Sōma said, enunciating each syllable.
She sighed. "Well, besides yelling at you…" she said, a blush on her face, while her friends were looking at each other and smirking, "I'm doing well."
"That's nice. How about Hayama?" he questioned.
"He is doing fineas well. He's coming back from Indonesia in a few days, I can't wait to see him again!" She said happily, dreamily staring off.
"Well, I have to go Sōma-kun. Talk to you soon, right?" Erina asked.
"Don't worry, we will." He assured, with a thumbs up.
"Good. I'll see you soon." She said, blowing a kiss towards Sōma.
"I will too… Oh! I sent my recipe to you. I think that this time, it'll get you to cave in, I swear it!" he said, pointing a finger up to the roof of his hotel.
"You say that every time, Sōma-kun, what makes you think it'll be different this time?" She asked, giggling. She was hoping for a great dish like always, despite never saying it to her boyfriend's face.
"Well, you'll see when you get it." He said, smirking again.
"We will see. Goodbye Sōma-kun." She said.
"Later Erina. See you Hishoko!" He said, breaking the girl out of her dream.
"Yeah, yeah. I swear, you better get my name right soon." The pinkette said threateningly, despite the smile on her face betraying her façade. "Bye Sōma-kun."
The screen went back to Erina's wallpaper, the cover of one her mangas.
"Alright!" Erina said, "It's time to go!"
It was midnight when Erina got back to her home, the Nakiri Manor. When she graduated, her grandfather proposed the idea of her living on her own, in a house near the restaurant. She declined however, as she wanted to look at the prospects from Tōtsuki. So she stayed in the manor, and sometimes goes back to Tōtsuki to critique dishes or new students.
Feeling dead tired after the usual grueling shift at work, she went up to her room, changed into her sleepwear (a nightgown) and fell asleep.
Apr 21, 20XX: 1:15 PM EST, 2:15 AM JST
Sōma was on his flight, headed to Istanbul, Turkey, in first class. He always bought first class tickets, by the urging of his girlfriend.
He was eating a simple meal for lunch, a turkey club with some water.
'Man, I am so proud of Erina, 5 years of dominance in Japan, she must feel great.' He thought to himself.
'...This club is could use some work though, wish I had something to make it better.' He continued, looking at the sandwich. 'I might pick up a job at an airport, I can probably find a way to improve it.' He decided, jotting the idea down into his phone.
"ATTENTION. WILL ALL PASSENGERS GET BACK INTO THEIR SEAT AND BUCKLE UP. WE SEEM TO BE EXPERIENCING SOME RAIN UP AHEAD." Sōma heard over the PA system.
'Rain huh? Thought it would be good weather today," the redhead wondered. 'Oh well, guess it's just how the weather is.' He shrugged it off, and put his seat belt on.
A minute or two later, he opened the cover on the window, looked outside, and was in mild shock.
"Uh, stewardess?" He called for one of the attendants.
"Yes, what do you need?" She asked sweetly.
"I though it was just some rain, but… the clouds are black." He told her, making her gasp.
"Really?" She asked, looking through the boy's window. "Crap, it wasn't this bad. O-ok, let me let the pilot know, thank you very much sir." She said with a bow.
"Don't worry about it." He waved it off, letting her go to the cockpit to warn the pilots.
'I need to call Erina, right now!' Sōma decided, and took out the tablet he kept in his bag, and called Erina.
*Ring...Ring...Ring...*
AN: Hey all you people, hey all you people, hey all you people won't you listen to meeee... (if you get the reference, props to you)
But, in all seriousness, this will start to pick up next chapter. This chapter, as I was writing it, turned out to be more exposition (again, *sigh*, didn't mean for it to end up like this, but...), focusing on Erina and Hisako's more friendly relationship, as well as how the couple interact with each other over their many video calls. I think the next chapter might be shorter, probably less than this one, but it will be important. Not that these first two weren't, but they were set up chapters in comparison to what I have planned for the next few chapters.
And yes, next few chapters! I quickly realized that this story will definitely be more than 3 chapters now! I mean, if it was 3 chapters in how it's going right now, well...
Now I can see it going about 6-9 chapters, give or take.
Please leave reviews about this chapter! I made it a point to respond to every single (non-guest, sorry!) review I get, and I have with all reviews so far! If you would like to discuss things further with me, just say so, and I can strike up a PM! I'm actually writing up this AN while studying for my last exam for the year, so I will be free for a good while!
Thank you so much for reading, and I hope to see you again soon!