"I'm not wearing this," Erina stated as she stared at the costume Alice had left on the bed for her.
"Meanie, why not?" Alice pouted as she walked over to the bed where the costume lay.
"It's inappropriate!" Erina retorted, causing her cousin to roll her eyes.
"It's Halloween! Everyone dresses inappropriately. It's the one time of year no one can judge you for dressing immodestly."
The blonde scoffed, "Not everyone is the headmaster of a school. No, Alice, I'm not wearing this."
Alice huffed in annoyance and took the sexy witch costume off the bed and threw it into the pile of rejections.
Halloween was tomorrow and Erina had rejected every single costume Alice had bought from the party store! "Well, that was the last one. What are you going to wear to the festival?"
Erina shrugged indifferently, "Probably my uniform since I'll be coming straight from my meeting."
Alice's face contorted with horror and Erina groaned quite unladylike. "Fine, I'll also wear this hat?" She reluctantly picked up the witch hat from the bed and plopped it on her head.
Alice sighed. "I suppose that will have to do. I can't wait for you to see Ryo and me in our couples costume!" She giggled and
Erina smirked, "Does it count as a couples costume if you're not actually a couple?"
Alice merely winked, "Oh we are. He just doesn't know it yet."
The following afternoon, the campus was buzzing with excitement over the festival. Every year, Tōtsuki put on a Halloween festival, complete with a haunted house, costume contests, free candy, and more. This was open not only to students, but anyone who wanted to come by and celebrate the spooky occasion.
At sunset, Erina made her way through the crowd to find Hisako, Alice and Ryo by the entrance. Hisako, who claimed she was a doctor (although the costume was called "Naughty Nurse"), was not surprised at Erina's lack of costume. "So festive, Erina," she grinned, as her friend rolled her eyes playfully. "I promised Alice I'd have some semblance of a costume." She tipped her hat dramatically, much to Hisako's amusement and Alice's irritation.
Alice, a sexy cat, crossed her arms and sighed, "I knew I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. At least now I won't have competition for the costume contest! Ryo and I are going to wipe the floor with everyone! Isn't that right?"
Ryo nodded dully, his collar tinkling. The sly girl had made him dress as the dog to her cat. He hated it. She had begged him to wear it though, and Ryo found that even after all these years of being her aide, he couldn't say no to her. She lovingly adjusted his costume and he stood dutifully.
"Yo," Ryo called out as he saw Akira Hayama approaching. "What are you supposed to be?" It looked like he was wearing a plain t shirt covered with fake blood.
Akira replied nonchalantly, "Jun poured this on me as I was leaving. I wasn't planning on dressing up." He recalled how his mentor had buzzed around maternally trying to find something he could wear as he went off to participate in an event with friends with own age! She'd rushed to the store in an effort to find a costume for him, but the party store was completely sold out. All she could find was a bottle of fake blood, and as fate would have it, she arrived home at exactly the moment her protege had been walking out the door.
Akira greeted the girls politely and managed to sneak a glance at Hisako from the corner of his eyes. It was weird seeing her dressed like this. Not that she looks bad… He thought.
As they discussed what to do first, Takumi and Isami Aldini approached the group dressed as two other Italian brothers: Mario and Luigi. Everyone loved their costumes, and Takumi exclaimed passionately, "So we're a shoo-in to win the costume contest!"
Alice cried out in protest, "No fair, that's for couples only! You can't join this thing; Ryo and I are supposed to win!"
"You don't have to be a couple, it's just a couples costume! And wait a minute, you two aren't a couple either!"
Alice growled at this personal attack, and Ryo had to hold her back. As they squabbled, the rest of the group continued making plans for where to go first.
"Should we check out the haunted house?" Hisako suggested, looking around at her friends. At this, Takumi stopped fighting with Alice and interjected, "No, we have to wait for Yukihira. I want to see who's the least scared!"
Everyone snickered, as they all knew this 'intense competition' between them was very one-sided. "Why does everything have to be a competition, bro?" Isami laughed quietly as Takumi glanced confusedly at everyone's smiling faces.
"Speak of the devil," Akira said as Soma Yukihira and his Polar Star friends walked through the entrance.
"Hey! Sweet costumes!" Soma greeted everyone cheerfully. Erina tried her hardest to avoid eye contact but he walked right up to her and smiled warmly. "Nakiri, what are you supposed to be?"
She pointed to her hat and responded unemotionally, "I'm a witch." Shoji and Daigo whispered between themselves, "I'll say…"
"That's it? This is your costume? C'mon, I expected more from you," Soma shook his head at her and she crossed her arms haughtily.
"And what are you supposed to be exactly?" She looked him up and down but all he had on was a cape. Soma picked something out from his pocket and put it in his mouth. "I'm a vampire!" He grinned, showing off the pointy teeth and pointing to two small red dots on his neck.
Erina stared for a few seconds, then asked in confusion, "Why are the bite marks on your own neck? Did you bite yourself?"
She laughed as she watched realization come over his face. She was so busy making fun of him, she hardly noticed when he pulled out the red marker from his cape pocket to draw two little dots on her neck.
"Hey!" She exclaimed, as he pulled away laughing. "There! Now we're kind of like a couples costume!" Erina blushed at his words and muttered insults under her breath.
"I was just gonna wear my regular Yukihira shirt and 'pretend' I was the sole chef at the restaurant, but everyone made me dress up. This was all they had at the party store on such short notice."
Erina smirked, "You as the head chef at Saiba-sama's restaurant would be truly terrifying. You should have gone with that," and she promptly turned back to the group to rejoin the conversation before he could argue.
"So, haunted house?" Everyone nodded in agreement. Only Megumi, who was dressed as an angel, and Erina were hesitant to go. Soma sensed their reluctance and suggested they wait outside for them, and just as Megumi was about to accept, Erina shook her head defiantly and insisted they go. She was not going to be a damsel in distress anymore.
"How dare you imply we're scared! I'm not afraid and neither is Megumi! Let's go!" She announced much more boldly than she felt, and she marched right up to the entrance of the haunted house, dragging the poor angel behind her.
The man at the entrance made them break up into smaller groups as they entered. Alice, Ryo, Akira, and Hisako entered first, then Megumi and the Aldini brothers (who swore to protect her). The third group was Ryoko, Yuki, Ishiki, and Marui, and finally, the bouncer let Erina, Soma, Shoji, and Daigo pass.
As soon as they entered the musky dark hallway, Erina felt her heart beat faster in suspense. Every corner they turned caused her gut to twist nervously as she anticipated the horrors on the other side waiting to jump out. Suddenly, she felt hands roughly grabbing her shoulders and a voice beside her ear shout, "BOO!"
She shrieked in terror and jumped in surprise as Shoji and Daigo fell to the floor laughing. "Idiots! How dare you scare me like that?! That was not funny!" She clutched her chest, barely able to breathe. Her body had broken into a cold sweat now and she was anxious to get out of there.
The boys were still laughing from their prank as Soma pulled them up by their collars and said, "Alright, you guys should go ahead of us." They started to protest, "It was just a joke! Nakiri knows we were just messing around!"
Soma nodded knowingly, "Yeah, you guys really got her!" He laughed and paused to fist bump them, "But I think she's had enough. Just go and we'll meet you guys at the end!" He smiled encouragingly, and his friends shrugged and left the pair in the dark hallway.
"Thanks," Erina muttered as she wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt. Soma smiled kindly, "No problem. Do you want to keep going?"
Since when was Soma Yukihira mature? She had fully expected him to pull that kind of prank on her, not stop it. She nodded in response, wanting to just push through and get it over with. They slowly made their way to the first room.
In the corner, a disgusting zombie had been hiding and waiting for its next prey. He came up close to Erina and let out a low guttural moan next to her ear. Erina yelped and gripped Soma's arm out of instinct and fear, and he grinned but didn't shake her off. They continued making their way through the frightening passageways and rooms, and with every new terror, Erina moved unconsciously closer to the boy next to her. They were only a few rooms in when she suddenly refused to move forward, and she had her eyes fully shut.
"Nakiri, you need to open your eyes! How else are we gonna get out of here?" He tried his best not to laugh at her, but she looked so cute when she was scared.
"Figure it out!" She yelled, keeping her hands firmly clamped over her eyes.
You asked for it, he thought as he put his hands on her shoulders and gently guided her through the intricate hallway. He felt her tense under his hands every time one of the monsters approached her and made scary noises near her face.
After a particularly persistent axe-murderer kept breathing heavily on Erina and following her through the hall, she finally turned around to face Soma and hugged him tightly. "I can't," she said defeatedly, her voice muffled from being buried in his shirt. Soma froze; he knew the hug wasn't out of affection or anything even remotely related to it, but it was still shocking. His protective instincts won over eventually, and he chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her comfortingly. He did his best not to step on her feet as he led them both through the remainder of the rooms. Every time one of the actors approached her, she hugged him tighter until Soma was certain she was cutting off his air supply. Finally, they had reached the exit.
"You did it!" Soma laughed as they walked back out onto the dark street. Erina stuttered, "S-see, told you I wasn't scared…" Suddenly very aware of his arms around her, she pushed him off hastily. Soma grinned at her blushing face.
"I don't know why anyone would pay to be scared on purpose. As if my life isn't filled with enough worry and anxiety, I'm really going to PAY to be terrified. What a stupid concept!"
Soma laughed as he couldn't really disagree with her. "People just like the adrenaline rush I guess."
She snapped back, "People are idiots!"
The vampire just smiled good-naturedly and spotted something over her shoulder. "Come on, I know what'll make you feel better," he said as he walked past her. Erina wavered for a few seconds, but as she didn't exactly want to be left alone by the haunted house, she begrudgingly followed him.
They joined a crowd of people gathered around a stage with roughly a dozen little kids all in different costumes. The costume contest for kids aged 2-5 was just starting. Erina's heart melted as she watched them get excited whenever the crowd cheered for them, and she particularly fell in love with a 3-year old dressed as a bumblebee.
Soma watched her as she cheered for the kids and clapped loudly along with the crowd. He thought aloud, "Wow, who knew Erina Nakiri had such a soft spot for kids." Erina frowned at the comment but couldn't take her eyes off them.
"Children are special. They're so innocent and pure; they haven't been burdened by the troubles of the world yet." Her face hardened. "They should be protected." Soma knew what had happened to Erina as a child. His heart ached at the thought of a small Erina crying, not knowing what she did wrong, as her father locked her in a dark room alone for hours.
He started to grab her hand but thought better of it. They weren't that close yet, even if he did consider her one of his better friends.
"Do you want kids one day?" Soma asked, genuinely curious after viewing her reaction to the kids on the stage. Normally Erina would have slapped him for asking such a private question, but the haunted house had really taken most of her energy from her.
"I don't know," she replied honestly. "I have so many other plans for myself. I want to open a restaurant. I want to earn my Michelin stars. I want to stand at the pinnacle of the cooking world. I don't know how I'd be able to balance all that with children."
Soma nodded understandingly. She continued, "Even if I decided I did want to, I don't think I'd know how to be a mother. Without my own…" she faltered, unsure of how much she wanted to reveal. His earnest look pushed her forward and she admitted, "You know my mother wasn't around for my childhood. How am I supposed to know what a mother says or does when I can't even remember my own?"
Soma shrugged, "No new parent ever knows what they're doing. Do you think my dad knew anything about raising a kid?" He laughed whole-heartedly thinking about all the things his dad definitely shouldn't have let him do. "And when my mom passed away, he had to take on both roles."
Erina's eyes widened instantly at this; she had never heard him mention his mother before. However, Soma didn't notice Erina's shocked expression and he continued, "And hey, here I am! Pretty good for one parent, right?" He winked cheekily, and she rolled her eyes. "But for what it's worth, I think you'd be good at it."
She eyed him critically, searching for any hint of sarcasm or teasing. Soma explained, "You already kind of act like a mom towards the girls. You're more maternal than you think, Nakiri." There had been a few instances where Soma had walked by Megumi's cracked door and heard Erina's soothing voice consoling her or giving career advice. He had also seen her scary parental side reprimand Alice several times, often acting stricter than Alice's own mother.
"I can totally picture you teaching your daughter how to make the best chocolate chip cookies on a rainy Sunday, but at the same time, you'd totally be the badass PTA mom that beats up the other moms if their kids bullied yours."
Erina couldn't help but smile in response to this image. She fully agreed, adding, "And my husband has to make a sizeable donation to the school to repair the damage I caused."
Soma chuckled, "Exactly. We all know you're gonna end up with some James Bond debonair guy anyways, so he can afford it."
Erina thought about her future life the way her friend had painted it. Perfect children, perfect husband, perfect life, right? But something was off. It was too…perfect. Boring, even. "I suppose I wouldn't mind one or two well-behaved children then. What about you? Do you want kids?"
"For sure," Soma responded without hesitation. "After I get settled in my career and stuff, I want a huge family! At least 3 or 4." Erina giggled as she pictured a litter of mini Somas running around with knives and lit matches while tugging on adult Soma's clothes and hair.
"They're gonna be champions. The best chefs of their time," he stated matter-of-factly.
Erina replied coolly, "Hmm, let's hope Saiba-sama's genius skips a generation then." She laughed at his unamused expression and continued, "But the chaos suits you. I think you'd be a great father, Yukihira. Your poor wife though," she teased. "She's going to have to have a lot of patience."
Erina imagined he would end up with someone sweet and serene, who didn't mind tidying up the whirl storm their kids had left.
Soma shook his head, "Nah, my wife is gonna have to be the one who keeps us all alive so she's gonna be tough as hell. I just hope she can cook too!"
Erina casually flipped her hair over her shoulder and remarked, "She won't be better than me, will she?"
Was she flirting with him? He was a little thrown off and none of his usual witty remarks came to mind. He answered simply, "No one's better than you, Nakiri."
Soma mused, "You know, I bet we would have been friends as kids," trying to change the subject after seeing the blush on her face.
Erina just laughed dryly, "No, we definitely would not have been friends."
Soma gaped at her, "What? Can't you picture mini me and you competing in little Shokugekis with our easy bake ovens?"
She giggled over this image and shook her head, "No way. I still would have crushed you, and you were probably the most annoying child ever. I know this for a fact, since you're basically still a child," she stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed as he pointed at her tongue, "Oh, I'm the childish one?"
They found a spot on a bench away from the contest and pulled out the bags of free candy they'd received for participating in the haunted house.
"But yeah, I know I can be kinda reckless. That's why I told you my wife is gonna have to be the responsible one! Complementary strengths and whatnot," he reasoned. "That's like how my parents were. My dad was just like me apparently and my mom was the one who kept the house and diner running."
Erina shook her head in disbelief, "No, I refuse to believe that Saiba-sama wasn't the responsible one! That goes against everything I've ever thought about him."
Soma merely laughed, "Oh Nakiri, the things I could tell you. From what he's told me, he was just as wild. Then he met my mom, and she whipped him into shape."
Erina watched him sift through his candy bag and she took the opportunity to picture an older Soma. He still had the visible-from-space hair and amber eyes, but he was taller and more muscular (at least in Erina's vision of the future). She imagined how much knowledge of the cooking world he'd acquire in just a few more years and how incredibly unstoppable he would become. His future self reminded her so much of her old crush.
How had she never seen this before? The stunning similarities between the two were obvious. Soma was a diamond in the rough just waiting to be polished, the way his mother had done with his father. It made her blush thinking of how much potential her former enemy had to become someone so…enticing.
"I feel like that's what you do for me," Soma said, breaking Erina out of her trance. "Ever since I met you, my cooking's only improved!" He smiled warmly at her.
She teased, "That's not saying much, Yukihira."
Soma grinned, "Don't you worry, I'll be coming up with something real soon to make you say my food's delicious! I already have a few dozen recipes I need you to try this week!"
Erina groaned, "No! I can't possibly do that, and besides, what makes you think I want to help you?!"
"Because we're friends now." Soma said, as if it was obvious.
Erina quipped, "If I had known this is what friends do, we would've stayed rivals."
Soma just laughed, "Why can't we be both?"
"Idiot, that's basically an oxymoron. You can't be rivals and friends at the same time."
Soma looked confused, "Why not? All of my closest friends here are my biggest rivals. I told you from day one I was here to take the top spot. My goal hasn't changed just because I like you guys. It just so happened that my biggest threats were really cool people!" He laughed carelessly as he continued picking through his candy. How he managed to turn something so unnatural into something so casual was beyond her.
Soma began comparing his candy with hers. Erina grimaced at all of it. None of this artificial crap could satisfy her God Tongue. Soma mused, "It must be really hard being so sensitive to food. You really are like a princess."
Erina cocked her eyebrow, "How so?"
Soma continued, "You know, like that story about the princess and the pea? The real princess could feel the pea underneath a bunch of mattresses and was super sensitive to even the slightest discomfort. Just like you!" He winked teasingly. Suddenly, he spotted something in the street. "You know what, I'll be right back!" Soma sprinted away, leaving Erina alone on the bench. What the hell? Where is he going? She thought, as she tried to find something edible in her bag of candy.
A minute later, Soma came back with a plastic tiara in his hand. "Voila!" He tossed the witch hat off her head and put the tiara gently in its place. "I think this suits you better."
Erina stared at him for a few moments before uttering, "Where did you even get this?"
The redhead shrugged, "I saw a girl pass by with it and I thought it would look better on you. I gave her some of my candy but what she really wanted was my fake teeth. It was super weird." He laughed it off and Erina shuddered at the thought of what one of his fans was going to do with something like that. Things that belonged to the first seat usually went for a lot of money online.
"Now you don't have a costume though. How are we going to be a couples costume?" She added only half-mockingly.
"Hmm," he thought for a moment. "I guess now we can be like the princess and the pauper!" He suggested excitedly. "It fits us so well! Get it?"
Without thinking, Erina stated flatly, "Don't say that."
Soma crinkled his brows, "Say what? That you're a princess?"
She responded, "That you're a pauper. Only I can say that! I don't want you to ever say that about yourself again."
The severity of her tone made Soma gulp and he nodded in confusion. "Okay, I promise."
Something within her had snapped at hearing him call himself a commoner. He had proved himself a million times over of being worthy to be at this school. He had fought for her and all their classmates. God, it was embarrassing, but she had even given him the first seat.
Erina had an idea, and she mumbled, "Stay here." Soma watched as she approached a group of third years. She came back shortly with a plastic crown in hand. "You've been promoted from pauper to prince," she stated as she unceremoniously let the crown fall lopsided on his head.
Soma's face broke into a giant smile and Erina couldn't deny it made her heart beat a little faster.
"Did you give them candy?" Soma joked, and Erina shook her head, "I threatened to expel them." Soma's jaw dropped and Erina smirked, "I'm joking. They just gave it to me when I asked. Expulsion would have been Plan B."
Soma grinned, "Wow, thanks, Nakiri. This means a lot! Now I know for a fact you like my cooking!"
Erina rolled her eyes, "This means nothing. These are completely unrelated events and we shall never speak of this again."
Soma just smiled back at her, "Sure thing, princess. Did you wanna meet up with the rest of the guys? I think they're watching the movie."
She nodded back, a little disappointed their time alone together would come to an end.
They walked to the area of the campus where the school was showing Hocus Pocus using an outdoor projector. The pair finally found their friends in the sea of costumes and settled onto the blankets Hisako had come prepared with. During the movie, Soma couldn't help but let his mind wander with respect to the blonde next to him. His mother had been the one to push his father, the way Erina pushed him. Weird, he chuckled to himself. He wondered if his mother had hated his father the way Erina had initially hated him. His mind couldn't help but conflate the two relationships. Scenario after scenario ran through his head.
Him, his father, his mother, Erina.
His father and mother. Married. Him and Erina. Married. Wait, what? Where did that come from? No way would that ever happen, he thought firmly.
He stole a glance at the princess next to him. She was thoroughly enthralled by the movie and he grinned as she jumped a little during the scary scene playing out in front of them. She was so…cute. He thought about their fun conversations and impromptu Shokugekis. He thought going out on dates and opening up their restaurants together. He thought about their fictitious future children and how they would all cook and eat their meals together as a family. He thought about getting yelled at every day for the rest of his life by none other than the crown jewel of the cooking world, Erina Nakiri.
Finally, he thought about how it had taken her over a year to even admit they were friends.
No way would that ever happen.