They had reached the mansion just in time for the desperately-needed study session. Although Kuga and Rindo were the only other members in fear of getting kicked off the council due to their grades, the rest of the members had shown up after Erina's incessant pestering that this was mandatory. Alice began giving an overview of chemistry, teaching it better than their professor. She went into depth on the different kinds of atomic bonds and the periodic table, drilling them until they knew the basics. Once she felt convinced they had a general understanding, she emphasized how chemistry could change the flavor profile of every single food, barely glancing at her textbook as she spouted off a multitude of facts.

The members frantically took notes as she sped through the topics, feeling more overwhelmed from one of her sessions than their entire semester with their professor!

Hisako had just begun their biology lesson, when Erina excused herself to answer a phone call. They could hear the low murmur of conversation from the other room when suddenly she yelled out an expletive none of them had been aware she knew. Hisako stood up anxiously to go check on her friend when Soma told her to continue tutoring. She nodded, figuring he knew her well enough to handle her at this point.

Soma knocked on the door before entering. "Everything okay in here?" He asked after poking his head in, concern evident on his face. "This doesn't concern you, Yukihira. Go back to the study session," she seethed. Her arms were crossed over her large chest and she was fuming. Soma ignored her demand and walked up to her. "What's wrong? Who was that on the phone?"

Erina's eyes locked onto his and Soma could see the fury and distress swirling around in her. "What's wrong?" She asked in a mocking innocent tone. He had opened the floodgates. "What's wrong is that three of my Elite Ten members are about to get kicked off the council for their grades, I have 4 separate tastings to do tomorrow, and that phone call was the family that was supposed to donate their items for the auction we're hosting in two days. They just backed out and took half their items off the list to sell to a museum instead! So now I have to figure out how to balance all these things on top of finding a new way to make up the difference at the auction." She laughed loudly and bitterly. "And for the cherry on top of this shit show, this whole thing-" she gestured wildly at him and the space between them, "is so fucking confusing!" Oops.

Soma's face had remained blank as he had listened to her rant but couldn't stop the look of hurt from flickering across his face when she had mentioned him.

He spun her around and began gently massaging her shoulders, saying, "You need to relax." Erina tried to shrug him off; she wanted to be angry, and the perfect sponge to absorb all her anger had just walked in and offered himself to her. His hands were firm though and didn't let her out of his strong grip. "Listen to me," he said, after she stopped trying to wriggle out of his grip. "No one is getting kicked out of the council. That's why we're doing this study session, okay? Alice and Hisako are awesome teachers, I'm sure they'll be able to help Kuga and Rindo." He leaned in closer from behind and purred into her ear, "You're still going to teach me cooking theory, right? One on one lessons?" He smiled as he felt her muscles tense up under his hands and he laughed, moving back to where he'd been before. "I'm joking, Nakiri. Anyways, we'll all be fine so don't worry about that. As for your tastings tomorrow, I'll work with Hisako about rearranging your schedule. Four tastings in one day is excessive, I'm sure they'll understand you can't overwork that God Tongue of yours." Her eyes involuntarily closed as he worked his way down her back, pressing his thumbs along the sides of her spine. She let out a small sigh of contentment as he worked a particularly tough knot with his strong fingers. "I understand why you're freaking out about the auction. That's a tricky problem to solve, but I'll work with Alice to figure out a new plan. We'll come up with a fundraising idea together. After all, this is for her RS." His hands were down by her waist now, digging into the small of her back. She could barely stand and had to let her body lean against his for support. "As for me…. I'm sorry. I hate the idea that I'm causing you all this extra stress." His hands had stopped moving.

He turned her around to face him.

"I never told you about what happened with my dad right? Why he ended up leaving right before graduation?" Erina shook her head, not sure where he was going with this. "He was on a roll, just constantly progressing and becoming this amazing chef, until one day he just couldn't. He lost sight of why he was even doing it in the first place. Cooking had become like a chore he had to do, instead of this amazing art he wanted to create. He became burnt out when he was our age all because of the high expectations everyone had put on him to be the greatest." Erina could relate. Soma continued, "But when he was at his weakest point, he met my mom. He said she was the reason he started to love to cook again. She was his motivation to do better and that was when he finally became himself again."

Soma took her hands in his. "Right before I came here, my old man said the secret to becoming a great chef is finding a woman you want to cook for. I honestly thought he was crazy," Soma laughed at the memory. "But then I met you at my entrance exam. And of course, I wasn't, like, in love with you or anything," he assured her quickly after seeing her stunned face. "I just knew that it wasn't going to be the other students, teachers or even the director that I would struggle to impress. I knew it would be you from the beginning. That was why I made you that promise to make you say my food was delicious."

Erina smirked, recalling that day. Soma kept going, "And now that I've gotten to know you, and we've become friends, that feeling's grown into something stronger. You've become my motivation for everything-not just cooking. You inspire me to be better in every way." Erina's face was bright red. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "…but I guess it never occurred to me that not everyone thinks the way I do. Like the way my feelings for you encourage me, your feelings for me distract you…" He dropped his gaze. "So if that's really how you feel, then I'll leave you alone. I'd never want to be the reason you didn't reach your goals."

"Yukihira, I—"

Erina's sentence was cut off by knocking at the door. She took her hands back and crossed her arms just as Kuga had poked his head in. "Hey, Nakiri, you're up! We're about to start covering cooking theory!" She responded quietly, "I'll be right there."

Soma didn't give her a chance to answer, not really wanting to hear what she might say. He walked out of the study and avoided her gaze for the rest of the night.

The ride to school the next morning was awkward, to say the least. Erina still hadn't had a chance to say all the things she'd wanted to. She couldn't exactly yell it out in the back of his motorcycle! He hadn't even walked her to class after they had arrived on campus, stating he needed to meet up with Alice to finalize their plans for the next day's event. She was miserable.

Around lunch time, she received a text in their Elite Ten group chat saying there would be an emergency meeting after school. She wondered what they had finally come up with and was overwhelmed with sadness once again thinking of how much he had done for her these past few weeks.

At the end of the day, she met the rest of her members in their council room and began calling the meeting to order. "First item on the agenda: Yukihira and Alice's brilliant plan for saving our auction tomorrow." She ceded the floor and Alice stood.

"Thank you for that wonderful and confidence-inspiring introduction, cousin. Well, as you all know by now, the family that was donating items to our silent auction decided to withdraw half the items, claiming some museum was going to pay for them instead. So, we've decided to utilize the students' talents here to the fullest by asking the heads of each RS to serve a giant dinner. Tickets will be quite expensive, as it's a buffet style dinner of some of the finest up-and-coming chefs. This works out just as well in terms of profit," she explained. "Usually one person per family would participate in the auction, and since there were limited items, not everyone would end up buying something. But this way, each person per family has to buy a ticket for dinner. In addition to the dinner which will provide the bulk of our profit," she clapped her hands delightedly, "we came up with another auction of sorts!"

Everyone glanced around speculatively and asked what items they even had that were valuable enough to auction. "Not what, my fellow councilmembers…but who," she grinned flirtatiously.

Oh no.

Erina grimaced, eyes shut closed. "You can't possibly mean…"

"We're auctioning off the 'Men of the Elite Ten'! It even rhymes!" Alice laughed gleefully.

Everyone was in shock. Erina glared at Soma, "Explain."

Soma smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck characteristically. "Well, we started off with just auctioning off our cooking skills, like someone could pay for us to create a meal for them. But Alice thought it would be more fun if it was more of a date? And we figured the girls probably wouldn't want to do it in case some creepy guy bought you." He finished, shrugging his hands.

Erina growled, "The 'Men of the Elite Ten' are not for sale! You should not be prostituting yourselves out for some kitchen supplies!"

At this dramatic statement, everyone burst out laughing. Most of the guys, like Isshiki, Kuga, and Takumi, assured her it wasn't a big deal and they were fine with participating if it meant raising money. Kurokiba and Hayama shrugged indifferently.

"So, we're all agreed then? Do we even need to put it to a vote?" Alice asked, ready to move on. Everyone except Erina raised their hands for the 'ayes'. "Wonderful! Then everyone, please remember this is a black-tie optional event so dress appropriately. Be there tomorrow at 7 for the dinner, and the auction starts at 9." They quickly went over the following items on the agenda and brought the meeting to a close.

Erina cornered Soma as everyone walked out of the council room. "I can't believe you agreed to this."

Soma snickered, "Why not? It's for a good cause, and it'll be fun to see how much we all go for!"

"You're totally fine with going on a date with a random girl just because she paid for you?" Erina inquired harshly, unable to keep the possessiveness from seeping into her voice.

"it's not a date, no matter what Alice says. It's just about cooking a meal for someone. We're just getting another chance to practice our skills! And if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were jealous," he grinned cockily. He was pleased to see her acting this way, since he still hadn't had a chance to talk to her about his sudden confession yesterday.

Erina huffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "In your dreams, Yukihira. I'll see you tomorrow night. Try to look nice, you're representing our school."

The day of the auction had finally arrived. Erina had been filled with nerves all day. Her classmates could sense something was up and they did their best to avoid her gaze out of fear of being turned to stone.

Erina walked into the ballroom of her mansion wearing an off the shoulder, tight dress that hugged her curves in all the right places, falling just above the knee. The deep purple jewel tone of the dress brought out her eyes, along with the smoky eye makeup Alice had helped her apply. Her hair was in a slight messy updo, displaying her bare shoulders and milky collarbone. Her high heels clicked on the floor as she marched through the crowd; her looks could literally kill. Her fellow male classmates didn't even bother to pretend they weren't checking her out.

She spotted Alice backstage prepping the items for the auction. Alice was wearing a floor length, strapless black dress with a high slit on the side. Her sleek white hair and pale skin provided an alluring contrast to the dark dress. As soon as she saw Erina, she assured her that she had everything under control and that she should go back to the ballroom as dinner would start soon. Frustrated that she had nothing to do, she left the stage feeling anxious.

That was when she suddenly saw Soma come in. He looked as casually handsome as always with his black jacket accentuating his broad shoulders, and the informal way he'd left the top buttons open made him seem cool and relaxed. His wild hair was starkly juxtaposed with the other guys' slicked back styles. His eyes widened when he saw her making her way towards him, mouth slightly agape. He cleared his throat a little, but his voice still came out husky. "Wow. You look amazing, Nakiri." His eyes wouldn't stop running up and down the length of her body and she swore she could feel his gaze on her skin. She got goosebumps thinking of all the places his hands had been before. "You clean up nicely, I suppose," returning the compliment, straight-faced. He beamed at her. "Can we sit together for the dinner?" He asked her hopefully.

"I think I have to sit with my grandfather…" She stated apologetically. They were both disappointed. She really had wanted to spend time with him. She needed to clear the air between them.

Dinner began promptly at 7. As expected, every dish was incredible. The heads of each RS have pulled out all the stops for this auction, she thought, pleasantly surprised. She spared a glance over to Soma's table and saw that he was laughing with all his friends. She smiled, unable to deny how infectious his happiness was to her. She glanced at her phone and saw that it was almost time for the auction to start. Her stomach fluttered with butterflies as she thought of someone else getting to lay claim to him other than her. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a flicker of red walk through the ballroom and step out onto the balcony.

She followed, her legs acting almost automatically.

Soma heard the door open behind him and knew without turning who it was. "Can I ask you something?"

Erina nodded, forgetting he couldn't see her behind him. "Y-yes, go ahead." She said a little later.

He was almost hesitant to ask; part of him didn't really want to know the answer. "Do you feel like your cooking suffered because of me?" He held his breath.

Erina paused, wanting to make sure she phrased her next words correctly. "I think I was more affected by the thought of you affecting me, than you actually affecting me. Does that make sense?" She walked up towards the edge of the balcony next to him, peering off into the distance. "If anything, I think my cooking may have improved," she admitted. She thought about all the dishes she had created in her recent classes, always thinking What would that idiot do? or I wonder if he would like it better this way. She found that by thinking of him when she was cooking she had surpassed even her own skills.

He turned towards her, unable to hide the joy in his voice, "That's great, Nakiri. I'm really glad you said that. I feel like I should admit that this whole week I was trying to get you more comfortable with the idea of us dating. Taking you to school, walking you to your classes, talking to you more and more about non-council related things." He listed, blushing. "I just wanted you, and all our classmates, to get used to seeing us together with no pressure on either of us. I tried to keep it as "just friends" as possible, but it was hard," he confessed, laughing.

"Ah, that makes sense now." Erina chuckled too. "I noticed you were less 'hands on' than usual. I thought you just didn't... uh, like me anymore…" She trailed off, embarrassed. She began to look down when she felt his hand on her chin, forcing her eyes back up to meet his.

Soma's amber eyes pierced hers as he leaned in and said, "That is the furthest thing from the truth." He whispered seductively, "Keeping my hands off of you was the hardest part about my little plan." Chills ran down her spine. He straightened up, speaking normally, "I just didn't want to scare you off by doing anything like that in front of our classmates. But Nakiri, now I have to ask: do you feel any differently from how you did two weeks ago?" His gaze was hopeful and pure.

After this whole week of having him by her side, publicly as well as privately, she really didn't think she could go back to life before it. He had been right about everything. No one had treated her differently, even as the whole school saw her come and go on his motorcycle and walk through the halls with him. Her cooking had even improved when she had used him as competition and a guide. Professors had praised her latest creations, commending her for her imaginative use of ingredients she never would have used before. Her heart-to-heart talk with her girlfriends had also helped sort out the turmoil inside of her. If her best friend could be in a healthy relationship and still be a kickass professional, why couldn't she?

Erina was about to respond, when she heard someone tapping the microphone on the stage from inside.

Urara Kawashima began speaking, "Hello everyone, and welcome to our fundraiser for the Cutting-Edge Cooking RS! On behalf of our school I'd like to thank you all for coming! Tonight will be a little different than we had initially planned, but trust me when I say you are in for a treat! The first half of the silent auction will proceed as planned with the items in the revised brochure you received. But for the second half of this not-so-silent auction, each of you will have the chance to bid on some special one-on-one time with our very own…Men of the Elite Ten!"

The crowd murmured with interest, especially the females.

"That's right, you can each bid on an evening with one of our Elite Ten Council members who will prepare their best meal just for you!" The crowd was buzzing with excitement at the thought of getting to eat this incredible food. They had been gushing over the dinner they had just been served, and these chefs weren't even close to the level of the Elite Ten!

Erina gave Soma's hands warm squeezes and smiled at him, "You should probably get backstage. We can talk later." He seemed disappointed but nodded, returning her squeeze.

She watched him disappear back into the ballroom. She decided to stay out in the fresh air for a little while longer as her mind wandered to how she was going to answer his question. Erina had never been good at expressing her feelings. She didn't know how Soma continued being so open and blunt with her after all the times she had put him down. She sighed as she thought about what a genuinely good guy he was, and her resolve strengthened as she decided what she needed to do. It wasn't going to be easy though.