A/N: A secret santa gift for that-girl-at-the-corner. An interlude of the canon universe. Merry Christmas to all of you!
-MA
"I tried to read between the lines
I tried to look in your eyes
I want a simple explanation
Of what I'm feeling inside"
To Nakiri Erina, having Yukihira Soma walked into her office right after an important board video conference was nothing new- well, without Hisako guiding the door, he would have just barged in like an intruder he is.
"Yo! Whatcha up to, Nakiri?"
"Not expecting you since you didn't fill in my appointment sheet, obviously." Erina shut off her laptop. "Do you need anything, Yukihira-kun?"
"What're ya on about? Everyone's waiting."
"Waiting for what?"
Soma lifted an eyebrow in disbelief, "Uh… Elite Ten lunch meeting?"
Crap. Should've checked her schedule at the start of the day. "Oh, r-right. Give me a moment to get my things."
Amid the franticness of her trying to find the Elite Ten papers below a pile of documents, he shot her a question she'd never thought his stupidly dense self would ask.
"Hey uh, are those red roses over there from that Professor Suzuki?"
When he pointed to a large glass vase on her desk, Erina nods, "It is."
"What about that one on the corner?" The redhead referred to a bigger transparent one next to the door.
"He gave it to me as well."
"Also those lilies by the window?"
"Yes."
"So… basically, the flowers in this room are all from that guy?"
Erina paused for a second. "I've never really thought about that, but it appears like so."
"Wow." He seemed taken aback by said fact. "So uh… you like him or somethin'? Yknow, because of this?"
"G-Geez, what is this, Yukihira-kun? 20 questions?" She reflectively avoided eye contact at the question. "I just think he's nice. Nothing more beneath that."
"Just nice, eh?" He chuckled, almost scoffing, "Well if it was me giving ya all these flowers, you'd pretty much be thinking a lot more of me, don't ya?"
"Hmpf, wouldn't you like to know." Erina slapped his delusional self with her file as she passed him by, "Let's just go. You are wasting my time already."
She wasn't sure what he was saying after that, but it was only given since they were rushing to the lunch meeting two buildings away, which drained her even more than the board meeting- it turned out that there were so much more to evaluate and prepare before the next Moon Festival.
Should've listened to herself back then before she decided to take the director position: Don't do it. It's not going to be an easy ride.
It might be caused by the display of her restless face, but when Soma asked her if she'd want him to walk her back to the office, she didn't say no.
He matched her steady pace as they were walking through one of the greenhouses at Totsuki where middle schoolers grew a wide range of plants and flowers for home economics. Quite empty in an afternoon like this that they were all back in their classes.
She thought she heard Soma talking about a new cooking method he'd learned from some idiot on the internet along the way, but when her mind was left in the meeting room, it just seemed like another voice in her head.
"Uh… Nakiri?" She felt a hand on her shoulder, and it snapped her out of her endless thoughts.
"What?"
He chuckled at her absent-minded reply, "You alright over there?"
"O-Of course I am! The director of this academy has to be prepared at all times. What makes you think I am anything but alright?"
"Sure, sure." He said.
They took a few more steps just glancing around the flower sections of the greenhouse in silence.
"Y'know," Soma spoke again, "If I were your boyfriend, I could offer you a hug when you're all stressed out like this."
At this point, she rolled her eyes, "Would you stop? I thought we've dropped this conversation already."
"I know. Just wanna point out that you're the worst liar I've ever known. And you can't clap back because this first seat ain't the worst cook you've ever known."
Okay, he might be kind of right about that. So of course in response to that, all she could do was to avoid his golden eyes.
"Aight, I can do somethin' to cheer you up." Soma offered.
"And that is by?"
"Music: A world so far away from cooking, yet closer than you think."
As Soma plugged his earphones in, she complained, "Music never cheers me up, Yukihira-kun."
"It's 'cause you don't sing along. Trust me."
When he stopped his track in front of her and placed a bud on her left ear, a song she couldn't identify already played.
"Look, I don't even know who sings this." Erina raised a hand in confusion.
"It's Do I Wanna Know by Arctic Monkeys." He told her.
"Huh?"
"Just sing it! Do I wanna know~ if this feeling flows both ways~"
Seriously, this guy had never ceased to baffle her. "Yukihira, I just found out about this song. How would I know the lyrics?"
"You're thinkin' way too much. Just bob your head along with the beat, would ya?"
So with Soma walking backward to face her, she started mirroring his subtle head bobs- not that she was less puzzled, by the way. Especially with the hilariously thick Japanese accent covering his pitchy voice.
But… it was strange how the movement of her head that matched the beat of the song got her to feel a newfound satisfaction feeling within her. It was as if she controlled how the music flow. It was addicting. And she didn't want to stop.
"That's right. Enjoy the beat." He said and started air-drumming. "It gets better if you close your eyes."
So she did for a few seconds, just to let her body levitate with the music. Occasionally feeling Soma's index finger drumstick on her shoulder that triggered it to subtly dance along. Her head bob was getting more pronounced, and she hated to admit it, but she enjoyed this way more than she should.
The great Nakiri Erina, before this greenhouse fiesta, was someone who thought music was just a classical back sound in gala dinners or other glamorous events she had attended. She liked them, but it was never the main attraction in her life for entertainment purpose.
And now that her eyes were opened, in front of her was a boy. Who was smiling cheekily, but it was almost like he didn't realize he'd managed to break open another wall to a bigger world for her to see and embrace.
Really- where had he been all her life?
"Bet you wanna sing now, eh?"
The chorus that came after Soma's assumption was enough to make her timidly sing the catchier lyric along with him. Of course, he'd sung as if he'd never sing again, and of course, she had to reflectively laugh at that.
And he stopped right when Erina was trying to contain her giggle.
And what stunned her was the look he gave her.
"W-What?" She asked plainly.
"Nah, it's just-" He paused, "I don't think I'd ever get used to seeing you all… laughing and smiling like this."
Oh no, her cheek better not get any color. "Wh-What do you mean?"
"I mean y'know, you're always so serious, grumpy, and all business every time." Now, Soma was scratching his head. "But I feel like when you're smiling, it's almost like I…"
If it was up to her uptight self, she would really like to make a comment on the grumpy thing (she was most definitely not a dwarf, thank you very much), though it was impossible when he stopped his track and offered her his perplexed features.
If only she had known what he was thinking, it'd have been easier. If only this song on his earphone would have stopped playing, maybe she would have been able to figure why he fidgeted the inside of his lip while occasionally throwing his glance to his tiptoe.
Or the very least, she could've figured out why her heart was racing like a freight train in this very moment, but she was sure that her dilating pupils had something to do with him. Enclosing their distance.
But then he froze and said, "Y'know what? Doesn't matter."
She didn't expect to have that sinking, unsatisfied feeling when he turned away, but Erina couldn't really afford to have the thoughts linger on too long, so she tried to shrug the feeling off when they were walking side by side silently to the front of her office.
"Thank you for walking me back, Yukihira-kun," Erina said. "I will see you on tomorrow's meeting."
"Wait, Nakiri." He stopped her from opening her door. "Here."
She couldn't believe her eyes; Yukihira Soma was handing her a flower- a white carnation.
"Eh?"
"Just accept it."
If it was up to her haughty, hair-flipping, Totsuki director self, she would've told him that he wasn't supposed to pick anything from that greenhouse. Unfortunately, it was the reddened cheek, shoujo-geek version of herself that showed.
"B-But why?"
"No need to have reasons, eh?" Soma explained. "Just thought it kinda looks like you when you're smiling."
And she thought she was stunned before. This was another level- warmed her heart, weakened her legs kind of stunned.
"Well, see ya tomorrow, then."
It only clicked when Soma was leaving. She looked at the white bloomed flower smelled so heavenly and realized why she looked at him differently. Why it never felt like that with any other guys who'd been trying to woo her.
And why every time she thought of the future, she thought of him.
"Y- Yukihira-kun!"
His eyes immediately turned to her.
"T-Thank you."
And with that smile fetched to her by the redhead, she knew those ten roses on her desk could easily be replaced with one single carnation.
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