Yukihira Soma is so screwed.

And he only has himself to blame for it. Which is what he's doing the last 18 minutes, cursing himself for his own stupidity as he ran towards the ceremony grounds, with his phone showing 7:51 AM.

There would be hell to pay once Hisako finds him. But on the bright side, Yukihira Soma would no longer need to worry about not graduating Totsuki. Not anymore.

Arato Hisako would have buried him long before that.

'Positive thoughts Soma, maybe she won't kill you immediately. Maybe she will understand that oversleeping is a common thing to happen. If anyone is to blame, it's whoever thought it's a great idea to allow someone to infinitely press on the snooze button.' He sprinted his way up the road past a sign that said:

Totsuki Ceremonial Grounds, 1 KM.

His phone now read 7:53 AM

*20 minutes ago*

Yukihira Soma yawned and reached over to his phone to press on the snooze button for what felt like the umpteenth time. He groaned and opened his eyes blearily, glancing at the time. 'Why does my alarm only have 5 minute intervals.'

7:33 AM.

'Oh...Shit.'

He can see a flurry of unread messages under his notifications. Three from Pops, telling him of a new disgusting combination he wants to try, one from Mayumi asking him how his examination went and five from Hisako. There were also four missed calls from the pinkette.

With a sense of foreboding, Soma read through Hisako's messages:

Hisako Arato [ 6:54 AM ] : Good morning! Time to wake up!

Hisako Arato [ 7:05 AM ] : Hey, are you awake yet?

Hisako Arato [ 7:11 AM ] : You better not be asleep still.

4 missed calls from Hisako, at 7:12, 7:14, 7:15, 7:17.

Hisako Arato [ 7:19 AM ] : PICK UP THE PHONE YUKIHIRA SOMA!

Hisako Arato [ 7:21 AM ] : K.

Soma shuddered as he read that last message.

'How is it possible that girls can sound so deadly with just one word. Nothing is ever okay when they say ok. Maybe if they type Okay or Ok!, but if it's just k...'

He jumped out of bed, quickly changing into his Yukihira uniform before grabbing his black coat hanging on his chair.

After quickly tying his headband to his wrist and almost falling over while putting on his socks, he slid on his sneakers and was out the door.

Running out of the visitor's building, Soma paused to look at the signs, hoping to get a bearing on where he is supposed to go. An arrow pointed him in the right direction reading:

Totsuki Ceremony Grounds - 2 KM.

'2 KM!?'

He looked at his phone, the time read 7:43 AM.

To add fuel to the fire, his phone vibrated with an incoming call. He winced when he saw the caller's name.

Hisako Arato.

Breaking into a jog, he tapped on his phone, connecting the call, and spoke in a cheerful voice, hoping she wasn't too mad at him. "Yo, Hisako!"

Hisako gritted her teeth on the other side of the phone. "Yukihira Soma," she said, her tone cold. "Where are you?"

'Okay, she's definitely mad.'

"I am almost there, just a short distance away," he said, picking up the pace.

"And how long is this short distance?" she asked.

"2 kilometres."

Hisako coughed and shouted over the phone, "2 kilometres! Are you kidding me, Yukihira?"

"Don't worry," Soma said, in between breaths, "I should be able to make it on time."

"It's 7:45 right now!"

"Right," he said, "and I'll be there right at 7:59, no biggie!"

"How can you let this happen, I told you to set an alarm! I even called and texted you."

"Now is not the time for negative energy, Hisako! There's plenty of time at a later date to assign blame to all parties responsible for this problem, but at the moment, can we just focus on positive thoughts only?"

"All parties responsible?" Hisako asked incredulously. "It's just you, Yukihira Soma!"

"Gotta go," Soma said, removing the phone from his ear. "I'll catch up with you later!"

"You better make it here on time, Yukihira," she yelled over the phone, and promptly disconnected the call.

An attendant stood outside the ceremony entrance, clipboard in hand as he glanced at his watch. His earpiece buzzed to life, "Urara Kawashima is to be on stage at 8 AM sharp, followed by the headmaster and the transfer student. No screw-ups today. Understood?"

The rest of the attendants connected to the earpiece muttered their affirmatives.

"Uh...we have a problem. The transfer student isn't backstage."

"What do you mean he's not back there?"

"Exactly what I said. He's not here, and I can't find him anywhere!"

"For the love of God, almost everyone here has the same hair colour. How hard is it to find a redhead?"

"What should we do? Should we delay?"

"Senzaemon is asking for an update!"

"Have Urara entertain the students when she gets on stage! Find the transfer, now!"

"Everyone, scan your area, radio if you see him."

Shaking his head at what just happened, the attendant scanned the crowd of students, noting a few of the more colourful hair colours amongst the sea of students.

'Silver, white, blue, blonde...Not a single red head in here,' he thought and radioed in.

"Courtyard, nothing."

"Garden, nothing."

"VIP area, nothing."

"Park area, no one."

"Docks, nothing."

The attendant turned back towards the road, and stopped as he saw a redhead running towards him. 'Could it be?', he thought and stepped forward. 'He looks like he's about to collapse!'

"You there, are you okay?" the attendant asked as he got closer.

"Two kilometres...fifteen minutes", the redhead panted, "Hey...you mind.. if I... borrow...your shoulder... for a bit..?" as he leaned on the attendant for support, gasping for air between words.

"What? Oh, yes, of course. Who are you and what are you doing here?" he asked as he scanned the redhead. 'No uniform, drenched in sweat, did he get lost?'

"Transfer...overslept...Gramps...Hisako going...to kill me...stupid...alarm..clocks," Soma managed to say between breaths.

The attendant's eyes widened. "Yukihira Soma?"

"That's me," Soma said, collapsing on one knee as he felt his legs give out from under him and was promptly grabbed by the attendant.

'Found him.' The attendant breathed as he radioed in. "Target has been located. Ceremony entrance. Target appears to be dehydrated and will require assistance. Requesting backup, over.'

"Acknowledged, Unit 1, move to the entrance to assist. We will need him backstage in the meeting area, give him water as needed. Remember to take him the long way, avoid going through the courtyard where the other students are, Senzaemon's orders... Urara Kawashima is aware of the delay, she will buy us as much time as we need."

"Hang on, Yukihira Soma. We will get you to the back, use me as support for now. Try and catch your breath" the attendant said, as he heard running footsteps.

Soma looked up to see three more attendants rushing to him, one of which gave him a water bottle. Nodding his head gratefully at the attendant, he drank deeply, feeling some strength return to him.

The other two newcomers supported Soma on each side as they half carried, half dragged him backstage.

Another attendant grabbed a chair once the group came in, sliding it under Soma and handed him another bottle of water, along with some notes. "Here, you are to enter after the headmaster's introduction, just keep it short and to the point. If you don't know what to say, just read off these notes. Understood?"

"Yeah…sure. Thanks for everything," Soma said to the group of attendants with a small grin, who all nodded and left the waiting room.

'Man...my legs are burning...but at least I made it,' Soma thought as he massaged his leg muscles, wincing slightly as pain shot through him.

Taking out his phone, he quickly sent Hisako a message.

Soma Yukihira [ 8:06 AM ] : Made it! Should've trusted me!

Almost immediately Hisako responded.

Arato Hisako [ 8:07 AM ] : Don't think you're getting off the hook that easily! We are going to have a little chat about responsibilities and time management after this. Meet me backstage. The headmaster is with me so be respectful!

'...And to think that she would've let me get away with it. I guess I can't really blame her for me being an idio-"

"Yu-Yukihira Soma?"

'That voice…'

Soma looked up and froze in shock as he stared at the girl standing in front of him. He would recognize that long blond hair and those amethyst eyes anywhere.

"Nakiri."

"Yu-Yukihira! What are you doing here?" the heiress stuttered as the redhead stared at her, his expression hardening instantly.

"Nakiri," he said coldly, his golden orbs flashing.

"I- I said what are you doing here," she faltered, looking away from his steely gaze. 'Is this what it's going to be like from now on everytime we meet?'' She can feel her heart twist at that very thought.

"What does it matter to you, Nakiri?" he said. His words felt like sharp knives, each word cutting into her, as she felt her chest tighten.

Soma felt his body run cold as he clenched his fists. The emotions he had so carefully guarded from that day came flaring up again as he stared at her. He had tried so hard to play it off to Hisako like it didn't affect him, but the heiress's words had scarred him. Deeply. And now she's in front of him again, ready to break him for the second time.

"This is an area for Totsuki students only," she said shakily. The redhead glared at her response as she felt numb, realizing her mistake 'N-No! That's not what I m-meant!'

"And who made sure that I won't be a part of that, Nakiri? Are you kidding me?" growled Soma, as he stood up. Anger was building inside him as he glared at the heiress, and her words from that day came back to haunt him once more.

'Know what? I know that you think — that I'm nothing!'

"It just so happens that I have the headmaster's approval," Soma said harshly, "because he approved of my cooking. Something that you couldn't even bother yourself with even trying!"

Erina gasped. 'Grandfather? The transfer student he approved is...him?'

The redhead's eyes narrowed at her reaction.

'She still thinks I don't belong here.'

He can feel himself shaking, and he fought to keep his emotions from spiraling out of control.

"That's right. The headmaster decided to test my dish, and he seemed to like it. Apparently, not everyone with the Nakiri name will just judge a book by its cover, isn't that right, princess," the redhead spat, emphasizing that last word. His eyes flashed dangerously, and the heiress flinched from the acidity of his voice.

"You don't understand," she said. "I j-just need to t-tell you th-that-that..." Erina struggled to speak, tears began well up in her eyes, and she looked away—trying to force them back.

"Tell me what, Nakiri? Tell me that my food is disgusting? That I will never live up to your expectations? That you will never say my food is delicious? You don't need to say it, I already understood that!" Soma shouted. He can't stand how this girl is causing him to behave like this, how he loses all sense of control at the thought of what she had said. What she had done to him.

"That's not what I want to s-say, p-please I j-just-" Erina took a deep breath. 'You are important to me, Yukihira.' She continued, "Y-You a-are-"

"Enough!" Soma said.

Erina flinched back; the force of the word from the redhead hit her like a tidal wave, and she was rendered speechless. A memory came crashing into her as she tried to breathe and suddenly...she was back at that examination hall.

"Well then, if you want me to prove myself, I will be pleased to serve you a specialty from our shop, Miss Nakiri, I will just need a minu-" the redhead walked toward her

"Enough. You are not worthy of my time, Yukihira Soma."

Erina stood still, her eyes remaining downcast as her resolve disappeared just as quickly as it came. A tear finally escaped her, and she can feel more wanting to leave the safety of her eyes. Her chest tightened even further as she understood. She understood now how much she had hurt him that day; how those words have affected him. She understood how her behaviour caused something in him to break. The urgency grew within her as she tried to collect her thoughts to speak.

Her mouth opened to respond, but the redhead beat her to it.

"Enough, Nakiri. You and I are like opposite sides of a coin. We have our own opinions on what defines a chef, but one thing is for certain. We will never see eye to eye. Let's just leave it at that," he said. He walked towards her and spoke softly, "Anyways, I'm not worthy of your time, remember?"

The heiress felt the redhead move past her, his footsteps fading, as he walked further and further away. No longer able to control her emotions, she allowed her feelings to take over at last. Tears flowed freely, staining her blazer and blouse as she felt her insides tighten.

She yearned for the boy to return back to her. To let her explain how she felt. To let him know she's not the person he thinks she is.

She no longer heard his footsteps, and the silence was the final cut needed as her heart shattered.

Nakiri Erina had never felt so alone.

She stood there.

Broken.

Hi again! Thank you, everyone, for leaving your reviews, favorites, and feedback from the last chapter! As always, your support is what motivates me to keep writing. Looking forward to hearing from all of you, as well as providing an update soon!

A very special thanks to user 'iamyourloverboi' for taking the time to beta/edit my newest chapter. I cannot express how grateful I am for your recommendations/critique!

Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Soma