Erina pressed her forehead against the cool car window. She was on her way to Polar Star Dormitory with aching feet and the kind of pain behind her eyes that preceded a bad migraine. It had been a trying evening. A fancy dinner of an evening with tight dresses and uncomfortable shoes and awkward conversation with the only other teenager on the table while their parents discussed something supposedly crucial to the fundamental culture of their country. Whenever the conversation drifted to a culinary topic, Erina had been charming, clever, brilliant- interjecting with her own anecdotes and opinions, but the couple they had dined with owned some sort of a clothing company, so a lot of her insights were lost on them. As the evening progressed, her headache had gotten worse and worse. Erina sighed. She knew her family had friends in high places, and that wasn't something that happened without effort, but night after night of networking and forced laughter grew old quickly. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back. As soon as their company had left, Erina had popped two Ibuprofen tablets into her mouth and washed it down with half a glass of wine one of her family members had left unattended.

She was glad to soon be losing herself in the more mundane world of Polar Star Dormitory. It had been slow progress but Erina had gradually managed to build a sense of familiarity with the residents, especially with a certain redhead. Erina felt her the corners of her mouth turn up as she recollected that night in the kitchen a little over a month ago. At first, it had been a little awkward to navigate around what had happened, but they decided to just let things unfold naturally. They were both so young and both such driven people- their personal ambitions would always trump any romantic relationship, so they had kept things casual. Plus, with graduation just around the corner, neither of them had wanted something that would tie them down. Conversation had flowed again, only now interspersed with a little more intimacy behind closed doors. It was a pretty good system they'd established, Erina thought.

She sauntered from her car to the main door and rang the doorbell. Her feet were bare, heels in her hand, her red dress tight around her chest and flaring around her hips. She winced a little when the door open and the light from inside assaulted her eyes.

"Erina?"It was Ryoko Sakaki. "Hi! What are you doing here? I thought you had some fancy dinner tonight."

Erina gestured at her dress with her heels and sighed. Man, she was exhausted. "Yeah, that's where I'm coming from."

"Well, come in! Yukihira is in his room," Sakaki said with a knowing look.

Erina just smiled in response and headed inside and upstairs. She was too tired to put up too much of a fight about the reason for her visit. The real reason why she had actually come was to borrow some of Megumi's manga, but upon hearing Yukihira's name she couldn't help but want to see him.

She knocked on his door and went in, walking in on a towel-clad Soma. "Yo! What's up, Nakiri?"

Erina desperately hoped he couldn't see the blood rising to her face. "I- sorry, I didn't mean to- You should lock your door!" She dragged her eyes from him and faced the other way.

"Nothing you haven't seen before," he chuckled behind her. "Although, you know most people wait for a response after a knock, princess."

"Yeah, sorry," she mumbled. She winced a little as the pressure in her head increased.

"Wow, no snappy comeback. You good, Erina?" Soma asked. She could hear the frown in his voice. The switch to her first name didn't elude her either. She'd noticed it more and more lately- when he was concerned, or overly stressed, or during sex, it seemed that he intrinsically thought of her as Erina, and not Nakiri. She was a little glad. In her own tiny, subtle ways she was breaking away from her family name

She sighed. "I just have a headache, I took some ibuprofen earlier but it takes a while for it to work," she said. "Also my feet hurt," she added as an afterthought and plopped herself down on Soma's bed. She drew her feet up and started massaging them slightly. "Man, I hate heels."

Soma was fully clothed now. He sat down behind her, and she leaned into him, her back against his chest. She could smell the scent of his soap- something sharp and citrusy- and took a deep breath. He ran his hands up her arms and started kneading her shoulders. "You're tense," he murmured. They sat in companionable silence for a bit before Yukihira spoke again. "Hey Nakiri? Are you not wearing a bra?"

The question caught her off guard and she blinked for a second. And then laughed. "I'm wearing pasties," she explained. "You can't really wear a bra with a strappy dress like this."

"You're wearing what?"

"They're like stickers that you stick on your nipples."

"Ah! Right, of course." Yukihira cleared his throat. "Well it's a pretty dress," he said, fully blushing now. "Very…" he struggled for the word, "tight," he finished and cleared his throat.

Erina realised that the way she was leaning back into him allowed him a perfect view down her cleavage. Well, might as well take advantage of the dress. She arched her back and stretched her hands above her head with an exaggerated moan. Then, she flipped around so that she was lying across Soma's bed on her front with hands under her chin. Her elbows squeezed her breasts together till they practically spilled over the top of her dress. She looked up at Soma through her lashes. "Will you give me a massage, Soma-kun?" Her tone was falsely innocent. Erina could see the struggle on his face as he dragged his eyes up from her chest to meet hers.

"God, Nakiri. You're so- hey are you okay?" Soma's voice turned confused as Erina's face contorted in pain. Her head suddenly felt on fire. She shouldn't have fallen onto the bed like that, it had jarred her head too much. Fitting. Karma is a bitch.

"Migraine," she choked. "Hey, can you turn off the light?"

"Uh, sure." The lights switched off. "Here, lie down," Soma said, arranging the pillows on his bed. Erina gladly relaxed into the soft mattress. It smelled like Soma, the same clean, citrusy smell. "I'll get you some water." And suddenly, Erina was alone in Soma's room. She knew there wasn't much she could do, the pain faded in it's own time. This isn't even that bad, she thought. I've dealt with worse. This is nothing! It'll pass. It'll pass. Erina focussed on taking in deep breaths. Five minutes passed. Then ten. Slowly, the pain subsided, till it felt more like discomfort than a pounding pain. She groaned and sat up. Soma still wasn't back. What is he doing? Erina shook her head and slowly took stock of her surroundings. Soma's room was small, but clean, and sparse. A closet, a desk, a bed. There wasn't much furniture, and barely anything personalised. She was about to get up and search for him, when she saw the door knob turn. Soma walked in carrying a tray and some cups.

"Where were you? Way to leave a damsel in distress," she joked.

Soma raised his eyes "You may be a spoiled princess—" Erina narrowed her eyes at those words— "but you're no distressed damsel," he said. "I was getting you water, but I ran into Hisako and she said this would help." He thrust one of the tea cups at her. "She also told me to turn off all the lights and get you to take 'deep relaxing breaths.'"

"Hisako is here?" Erina asked, sitting up cross-legged on Soma's bed.

"Yeah, she practically lives here now," he laughed.

Erina sipped at the tea. It was the mixture that Hisako made for her sometimes when her headaches got really bad- chamomile, peppermint, feverfew, and lemon- her tongue instinctively picked apart the flavours. Her brow furrowed a little as she detected some new tastes. Ginger and nutmeg, she realised. And something else… cayenne pepper! She supposed that made sense. Ginger was a natural anti-inflammatory ingredient and cayenne pepper dulled the neurotransmitters responsible for pain. Why nutmeg though? Also Hisako has never added these spices before…

"Is Akira here too?" she asked.

"Yeah," Soma said, surprised. "How did you know?"

"Well I tasted ginger and nutmeg and cayenne pepper, but Hisako has never really added those spices before. I figured that was probably Akira's doing. Wasn't the biggest leap to make," she shrugged.

Soma was looking at her strange. "What?" She asked.

"You're just-" he paused- "incredible," he finished simply. "You deserve every bit of it, you know. Your reputation, the Headmaster position, all of it."

Erina stared at the sudden softness in his voice, embarrassed at the compliments. Picking apart those flavours hadn't been that hard. "Don't get all soft on me, now. I'm already half in love with you, as is."

"Just half? Because I am fully head over heels." Soma fell onto the bed and lay down, his head in her lap.

"Soma, we've had this conversation before." Erina murmured against the rim of her cup.

"I know, I know I'm a distraction to the great Erina-sama," Soma joked, nuzzling against her stomach.

She played with his hair absentmindedly. She knew that Soma was joking; they had had this conversation before, but her voice was still serious when she said "And I would be a distraction to you. We're graduating in less than three weeks and I know you want to travel, Soma. And I'm now Totsuki headmistress, there's so muchwe want to do, that we can do. A relationship right now would just hold us both back." Erina's voice was quiet.

"I know," Soma said. "But I also know that I would throw all those plans to the wind to be with you." He turned his head and looked up at her. "Which is terrifying, because I never thought there would be something in my life more important than beating my dad and taking over Yukihira one day. But here you are, still in that beautiful dress with your crazy, wonderful mind."

"I feel the same way. Ever since I've met you, my priorities are all skewed. I have a responsibility to my family name, to this academy, but I'd fuck all that for a life with you."

"But we can't do that."

"No, we can't. We'd never forgive ourselves." Erina's voice took on a slightly bitter tinge as she said, "Here's to big dreams." She raised her tea cup in a mock toast.

"Dreams we can't give up on even for love." He picked up and clinked his glass of water against her teacup. "No matter how beautiful." He kissed her stomach. "Or clever." He drew up and kissed her neck. "Or charming." Her jaw "Or overwhelming." Her cheek.

"Or infuriating."

"Hey!" The exclamation was a laugh against Erina's skin. She set the half empty tea cup down and turned to face Soma. The pain in her head had more or less cleared, and there was something about being in his room alone with him, and the heat of the tea, that was doing delicious things to her.

"Or perfect," she murmured. And gently pressed her lips against his. The kiss started soft, mellow. Erina felt warmth spread all over her body, and lost herself in the feeling of Soma's lips. Then Soma wrapped his hands in her hair, and it very quickly devolved into something more frantic. Teeth-clashing, hands buried in hair or clothing, grabbing at skin and fabric alike, a current ran through them, along with a desire to be closer and closer. It was the talks of travel and responsibility, Erina presumed. Suddenly it felt a little like time was running out.

Soma's hands found the zipper on the back of Erina's dress and dragged it down painstakingly slow. She knew he was giving her ample opportunity to protest, but stopping was the last thing Erina wanted to do. She shivered, goosebumps rising on her skin, as his hands trailed over the skin of her back. "Soma," she moaned his name, making him dig his nails into her bare skin. Before he could slip the dress off her shoulders, Erina slid her hands under his t-shirt and motioned to take it off. Soma kindly obliged, and for a second the breath caught in her throat. She didn't think she would ever get tired of the sight before her. Soma's lips were plump and red, a flush obvious on his face, his hair all messed up. He looked so adorably rumpled. Her eyes trailed over his neck, his adam's apple, the muscles of his arms and chest and stomach, the line of hair that disappeared into his shorts. There was something viscerally satisfying about making Soma lose his composure; he was almost always perfectly calm, taking whatever the world dealt to him and rolling with it. But here he was before her, eyes dark with desire, hands pressing against her like his life depended on it.

Erina brought her shaking hands up to his skin and they were both still for a second: a tableau of desire and desperation, his hands flat against her back, hers against his chest, both kneeling up on his bed. And then her hands seemed to move seemingly of their own accord. She traced the muscles in his chest, savouring the sensation of his ragged breath and heartbeat against her palms. Her hands travelled up to his neck, over his adam's apple which moved under fingers as he visibly swallowed. They trailed down his shoulders, tracing the veins of his forearms, till she took his hands in hers and kissed the inside of his wrists, loving the sound of his sharp inhale. "Erina," he murmured, his voice hoarse, wretched.

"You're beautiful," she whispered. And then an evil smile spread across her face as she slid her hands back up his arms and dug her nails into his back. Hard. Erina revelled in the surprised hiss that fell from his lips. "And mine," she finished, eyes flashing up at him devilishly. She hoped her nails would leave marks.

Soma growled low in his throat and claimed her lips for his own. Another heated, passionate kiss followed as Soma's tongue leisurely explored Erina's mouth. She moaned, which only caused Soma to pull her tighter into him. Everywhere he touched her felt like fire, Erina didn't think it was possible for a touch on the back of her neck to be felt down to her toes, but here was Soma proving otherwise. She felt his hands on the straps of her dress. She felt the straps fall off her shoulders. She felt the dress slide down her body and pool around her hips. The cold air on her exposed skin made her shiver.

"Oh I see," Soma said.

"Huh?" Erina's thoughts came muddled.

"Pasties."

"Oh. Right. Yeah." Erina laughed, "They're actually really fun to play with."

"I bet," Soma said, staring right at her chest.

"I meant the pasties."

"Oh yeah, me too, definitely."

"Not the sexiest lingerie, huh?" Erina said. Soma looked very much like he couldn't care less what she was wearing as long as it would soon be off. "But here, feel." She peeled off one of the silicon pasties and brought Soma's fingers to it. His face changed as he stroked the strange material.

"Woah what the- that has got to be the weirdest thing I've ever felt." Soma looked slightly horrified. "It's like slime. But solid. What the fuck Nakiri where do you even buy stuff like that."

"Hey now, I own a lot of strapless dresses."

"Does it hurt to take off?" Soma asked.

"Not really." She took his fingers to her other breast. He slowly peeled off the silicon pasty, and Erina howled in pain.

"Oh my god are you okay? I thought you said it didn't hurt." Soma's voice had risen two octaves.

Erina burst out laughing. "The look on your face!" She said in between laughter. "Priceless."

"You little-" Soma lunged at her, pushing her backwards into the bed. Erina squealed as she fell backwards and Soma swallowed the sound with a kiss. He rested on top of her and Erina wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him closer into her. "You'll pay for that." He pushed her hands up over her head and pinned them there.

"Will I now?" Erina dug her feet into the small of Soma's back and ground her hips up into him. Clothes ended up strewn on the floor soon enough, till they were both completely naked. They kissed, savouring the feeling of bare skin on skin. If not now, then one day. The thought slipped into Erina's head. After Tosuki, after graduation, after all this. I'll find you again.

Later into the night, after they'd both spent the better part of it fully exploring each other with fingers and lips alike, Erina could feel her eyes growing heavier with sleep. She curled up into Soma as he traced circles into her hip.

"Hey Erina?" Soma's voice was soft in the quiet night.

"Hmm?"

"How come you didn't tell me you get migraines?"

Erina blinked against his skin. "They'd more or less faded away, honestly. I get them pretty rarely now." She shrugged. "I just didn't think it was a big deal."

"But Hisako knew."

Erina looked up and met his eyes. "Yukihira Soma! Are you jealous?" her voice was teasing.

He laughed. The sound rumbled through his chest. "I just want to be able to take care of you, princess." He pressed a kiss against her head. "Maybe I should learn how to make that special tea from Hisako."

"Mmm, if you want." Erina could feel her eyes get heavy with sleep. There was a thought at the back of her mind, though, something about Hisako's tea and something about the properties of nutmeg… she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

The answer came just as she was about to fall asleep. "It's an aphrodisiac!"She cried out.

"What?" Soma's voice was sleepy.

"Nutmeg. And cayenne pepper too actually. They're natural aphrodisiacs." She groaned and buried her face against Soma's chest. She could feel her cheeks grow hot. "God, does everyone in this dorm know about us?"

"Well, we didn't really try to hide it," he said. "Also, you're not exactly—" he cleared his throat— "quiet."

Erina groaned again and covered her face with her hands. "I'm going to murder them tomorrow."

"Sure, after I get the recipe." Soma chuckled as Erina hit him lightly in response. He just pulled her in closer. Eventually, Erina did fall asleep, with the sound of his laugh still in her ears and the scent of his skin still overwhelming her senses. One day.