The food tasted just as wonderful as it looked and Megumi enjoyed every bite. It was no wonder that Ryo came here often, the food was amazing and the staff was super nice. They discussed the flavor profiles and textures as they ate, and Megumi even sampled some of Ryo's favorites. He seemed to be doing much better now that he had eaten and sat down for a while.

Ryo was on his third cup of coffee when Megumi decided to ask about their plans for the rest of their day. She hoped he hadn't gone overboard. They had already been to the fish market and eaten breakfast together, so she was content to call it a day.

"Well, I had planned out the entire day, but you seem like you would rather have some down time," he glanced at her, "and I could honestly use a nap." Megumi felt a little stir in her chest, relieved that he knew her well enough to know her needs and happy that he was honest about what he needed. She hadn't expected him to straight up tell her that he needed a nap, but it made it easier to spend time with him that he didn't hide his discomfort.

"Are you sure? You went through the trouble of planning so much…" Megumi let the words hang in the air, but Ryo just nodded. "It's fine. We can go another time."

"Alright then." They sat in silence for a few minutes, finishing up their respective drinks.

Megumi's phone let out a ping at the same time as Ryo's phone vibrated across the table. It was most likely a coincidence, but when she saw that it was a new video from one of the food bloggers she followed, a thought occurred to her. She looked up at Ryo, wondering, and he calmly held her gaze, the rest of his face expressionless. Interesting.

Her sneaking suspicion was confirmed as another notification appeared on her phone, when their respective phones pinged and vibrated simultaneously. Ryo looked like a deer caught in headlights and Megumi felt a smile light up her face at the sight. She knew he had liked all the videos she sent him yesterday and now she had proof.

"Is that-"

"Not a word," Ryo grumbled. Megumi felt victorious.

Once they were done eating, the two chefs went back to the fish market while they waited to be picked up by one of the Nakiri cars. After some discussion, Ryo and Megumi had decided that they would head to the dorm to relax before heading to the Nakiri mansion later on. Their course of action was to sneak in through the side entrance and stealthily make their way to Megumi's room. Her friends would no doubt interrogate them about their morning, but it was still pretty early so it would be fairly easy to get in undetected.

"Say, why are we sneaking in? Isn't it natural for us to be seen together at your place." Ryo asked as the car sped along, quickly approaching the dorm.

"…I guess it is." Megumi hadn't really considered that. Her plan had been to sneak Ryo in and let him sleep in her room, but he had a point. Their relationship was no secret, so there was probably no need to sneak around. Fumio-san did, however, have very strict rules for couples and Megumi did not have the nerve to tell him about them. "It's just a little embarrassing to be bringing a boy home." She replied instead, her cheeks heating up.

"Better get used to it," Ryo smirked. Megumi tried to ignore the dread that crept up her spine.

Moments later the car came to a stop outside the dorm gates and the two of them grabbed their things before making their way to the front door. Megumi prayed to the gods that no one would intercept them on the way up and was immensely relieved when she opened the door and found the entrance hall to be unusually quiet.

She swiftly climbed the stairs to the third floor, hyperaware of Ryo keeping pace with her. She was really letting a boy sleep in her bed. God, what would her mother think? Still, Ryo had been so nice as to plan a date and he had insisted on paying for the food as well as her purchases. The least she could do was to let him sleep when he had been up all night. He had almost dozed off twice during their car ride. Taking a deep breath, Megumi unlocked her door and led him inside, once again grateful for her habit of keeping her room tidy.

"Ryo-kun, you can sleep in here as long as you want. I'll be downstairs, but you can call me if you need anything." In the blink of an eye, Ryo had discarded his jacket and slippers and fell into her bed before she even had the chance to change the sheets.

"Thanks," he mumbled, already half asleep. Much to her amazement, his breathing was already slowing and evening out.

Megumi quietly hung up her own jacket, before she moved to draw the curtains. Careful not to make too much sound she draped a large blanket over him, grabbed the cooler they had brought up with them and stealthily left the room.

The dorm was very quiet for a Saturday morning and Megumi idly wondered where all her dorm mates had gone, before she remembered that some of them had Shokugekis scheduled and likely wouldn't be back for a while. Even months after the new Elite 10 council was formed, the new trend of challenging others left and right still hadn't died down, and the Polar Star residents were frequently involved in showdowns.

As she made her way down to the kitchen, Megumi decided that it was a rare chance to get some training in, now that she had the entire kitchen for herself. She and Ryo had found some great looking tiger-prawn and she couldn't wait to try them. Perhaps she could use them for lunch today, but that led to the question of what to make. Lately she had been on a Mediterranean food kick and she already had an idea of a dish forming in the back of her mind that would put the prawns to good use.

As expected the kitchen was blissfully empty and Megumi got to work straight away. She grabbed onions, tomatoes, fish and clams from around the kitchen and left the prawns inside the cooler. Instantly she got lost in the process of washing, prepping and chopping the things needed to make her recipe work.

It had been a strange couple of weeks, she thought as she chopped onions and heated oil up in a wide frying pan. Never in her wildest dreams would she have thought that she would let Kurokiba Ryo sleep in her bed, let it alone become his girlfriend. She had gotten to know her classmate a little better this week and already she felt like he was someone she was going to appreciate getting closer to. Ryo was very caring and incredibly observant, and he was witty even if he didn't always show it. To her frying pan she added minced garlic and chili that she stirred a few times, until it became fragrant. She then left it alone for five minutes before adding in tomatoes and some tomato puré.

Megumi got to work on the halibut that was going to be the star of the show, and swiftly filleted it, putting it to the side in a large bowl. Her base was already simmering nicely and she was waiting to add in white wine. She could smell the fresh parsley still on her cutting board, just waiting to be chopped and sprinkled on top of the fish stew, though that was further down in the proces.

Finally she added the wine and inhaled deeply, the intermingling scents taking her back to her trip to Europe earlier in the spring. Becoming the 10th seat meant that Megumi was free to travel often, but she also had classes and administrative work to do, so she had limited her traveling to the breaks for now. Still, the scent of her dish as she stirred in fish stock and orange zest made her itch to travel to someplace far away and learn more about cooking in other cultures. She definitely wanted to go to India soon, but she was also tempted to visit the remaining countries on her Europe tour. Megumi slowly added the chunks of halibut and carefully covered them in sauce as she got lost in her thoughts once more.

Megumi had been on her first date and she had quite liked it. Granted, it had been with someone she was starting to consider her friend, but she had still enjoyed herself. She was surprised at how easily she and Ryo had interacted all day and hoped it wouldn't wear off anytime soon. If she was going to survive a movie marathon with Alice and the others, she needed Ryo and his quiet, comforting presence. As long as they didn't watch anything scary she would be fine.

A particularly loud popping sound from her pan brought her attention back to her current task, and Megumi decided to leave that particular thought to the side for now. Luckily, nothing had stuck to the bottom or been burnt while she was distracted. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, added clams and prawns to the pot and waited patiently for the clams to start opening. After another five minutes she took it off the heat and grabbed a dish.

Megumi plated up and snapped a few pictures before digging in. She easily cleared a bowl and savored the heat from the spices that lingered on her tongue. Her stew smelled great and the flavors had paired well together, though there was room for improvement.

Ryo could probably think of ways to make the dish shine, she thought. It had been more than an hour since she left him upstairs, maybe she should check on him. If he slept for too long it would completely disrupt his sleep pattern, which would only make things worse for him the next few days.

Once she was done cleaning up, she steeled her resolve and prepared another bowl, intent on bringing it upstairs and have Ryo taste it. She hoped he would like her stew.

Back upstairs Megumi hesitated a little before cracking open the door and peering inside. From where she was standing, it looked like he was still asleep, but she wasn't sure and had to take a closer look. She hadn't even stepped fully into the room when Ryo stirred. He turned to his side, blinking blearily in the semi-darkness and regarded her with some confusion.

"Hi there." Megumi spoke softly and placed the tray down on her small table. "Hey." His voice was slightly gruff from sleep. He inhaled deeply and stretched out on her bed, before turning his gaze back to her as she opened the curtains and let in some more light.

"Sorry I woke you, but it's been almost two hours," Megumi gestured to the table next to the bed, " and I brought you something to eat."

"Hmm." Ryo slowly got up into a sitting position and massaged his shoulder. "Thanks for waking me. Any longer and I wouldn't have been able to sleep tonight."

"Are you feeling better?" She asked tentatively.

"Loads. Headache's gone." Ryo joined her on the floor and accepted the bowl she handed him with a muttered thanks.

"Maybe you wouldn't have had a headache, if you didn't use your phone all night." Megumi suggested innocently and took great joy in how Ryo's spoon stopped halfway up to his mouth. He sent her a withering glare that would have sent her running months ago, but now she knew him well enough to spot the underlying embarrassment.

"Cheeky." Ryo grumbled under his breath and finally took a bite, though his expression revealed a hint of approval. He chewed thoughtfully and analyzed all the flavors carefully. Megumi could almost see the gears in his head turning and forgot all about teasing him.

"How is it?" She asked almost shyly, awaiting his assessment. Ryo was, after all, a chef Megumi held in high esteem and some part of her wanted to impress him.

"It's very cohesive. I think you could have used a little more orange, but it's still good." He took a few more bites and made another suggestion, but spent the rest of the time silently eating. Megumi felt pride well up in her after hearing his words and looked away to hide her smile.

As a distraction she pulled out her phone and went through the pictures she had taken of her breakfast and her fish stew, checking to see if she wanted to post them on her social media

"We should at least have taken a picture to commemorate our first date." Ryo remarked out of the blue as he ate another spoonful of stew. Megumi looked bewildered for a moment, before replying in a tiny voice. "Oh, I didn't think of that."

"Neither did I," he shrugged. "We can try again next time." His words made Megumi feel better about their missed opportunity and she slowly resumed browsing her pictures.

"You are actually in some of these." Megumi held out her phone to him and he leaned closer. It hadn't been intentional, but she had caught Ryo casually sipping his coffee and later staring out of the window with a thoughtful look on his face. A part of Megumi envied how good he looked in the candid shots. She somehow always managed to look awkward or blink when a photo was taken of her.

"Huh." Ryo finished his stew and leaned back on his hands. "We should probably use pictures of each other for our lockscreens, but it can wait until we take some more." He suggested reasonably. It was a good idea, Megumi thought, even if it still felt a little embarrassing.

"Okay." She agreed timidly. At least he hadn't suggested posting photos together. Now that would have made it hard for her to be onboard with. Although she was technically dating Ryo, she still valued her privacy and was very selective about what she posted on any of her accounts.

Ryo checked the time on his phone and sighed wearily. "We should probably get going, before Miss starts calling us up." He informed Megumi and put the phone to his ear to arrange for another car to come and pick them up. She felt bad about having the Nakiri drivers driving back and forth, but Ryo had already finished his phone call before she could suggest walking.

Arriving at the Nakiri mansion made Megumi's nerves shoot up. Everything from the tall gates to the massive courtyard made it feel like entering a castle, and she felt like a peasant. Ryo opened the heavy front door and waited for Megumi to enter before he followed and took her hand to lead the way. They went up a giant staircase and down a long hallway without speaking.

Megumi did her best to stay calm, but the realization that she was about to enter a boy's room was making her feel fidgety. Was it really alright for her to be there? Before she had a chance to ask, he stopped in front of a door and ushered her inside.

Ryo's room was very spacious, but also very simple. He had a king sized four-poster bed against the wall on Megumi's left, and under the large windows opposite her, a wide desk made from dark wood and a comfortable looking chair. To her right she spotted a small sofa and a coffee table with some magazines on it.

"Make yourself comfortable," Ryo instructed and disappeared into the adjourning bathroom through a door not far from his bed. She spotted another door that was most likely his closet. His room could easily fit two or three of hers, she estimated.

Looking around once more, Megumi took in the color palette and wooden textures used for furnishing. Most of it was darker colors, but the carpet was a deep red and very plush. All the furniture and the few paintings he had hanging here and there looked very expensive, and she hoped she wouldn't trip and break something.

Megumi wandered over to his desk where she saw a framed picture of Ryo and Alice and gently picked it up. They were both much younger with Alice smiling widely into the camera and Ryo scowling in her direction. It almost made Megumi laugh how years later they still looked exactly the same. She put the frame back down and went to take a seat on the sofa, when a painting above it caught her eye.

A beautiful, white boat was docked in front of a long row of brightly colored buildings. It was set at night and all the buildings were lit up by street lamps. White parasols lined their fronts, but people could be seen walking between them, talking and laughing happily.

"It's called Nyhavn." Ryo's voice startled Megumi out of her thoughts. She hadn't even heard him approaching and had to breathe deeply before she regained her composure.

"Is that where you grew up?" She asked. He nodded and pointed to one of the square buildings on the right. "I was the head chef of this place for a long time." Megumi peered at him and saw what she could probably describe as a fond expression. She wanted to know if he missed it and ever wanted to return there, but she didn't dare ask.

A moment later the door to Ryo's bedroom was flung open and Alice all but marched inside. "Ryo-kun, Megumi, there you are! I've been looking all over for you!" She declared and grabbed both hers and Ryo's hands before pulling them out of the room. "Come along now, we have much to do!" Megumi wondered not for the first time what she had gotten herself into.