Chapter 3 - The Yukihira Diner
In the Nakiri mansion, the young director of Totsuki academy lay on top of her bed, hoping to finally get some rest. Finally finished with work, her thoughts drifted to her upcoming visit to the Yukihira diner the next day. Mixed feelings were coming up. I'm excited, but I'm also a little anxious… it's just Yukihira-kun, and it's been really comfortable the last few times I've seen him, so there's nothing to worry about.
She remembered denying that was a date, without any prompting. Ah… the D word. I'm thinking of it like that now. Would that be a bad thing? I don't even like him like that though, do I.
She thought about the sincere smile he had when she agreed to visit, and felt her heart beat a little faster. She remembered how comfortable she'd felt around him recently as well, like she didn't have to hide, and she could just be herself.
Ok maybe I do like him a little. So if it's a date, what do we do? Can I ask Hisako? No… that's far too embarrassing. Will we… hold hands? If it goes well, will we k-kiss?
She felt a rush of excitement and embarrassment.
Nope! Let's not think about that right now. But what if it isn't a date? We didn't agree that it was a date. Will he be shocked if I indicate that I like him, or if I look at him differently? Have I been looking at him differently already? Maybe he noticed already, and that's why he invited me! But no, this is Yukihira Soma, he's completely oblivious! Ugh… he probably just wants to use me for the god tongue to perfect one of his silly Yukihira diner recipes. No, why would he be interested in someone like me… someone who treated him like that. No, he probably doesn't like me… but why would he hang out with me like that? Was that a ploy just to get me to come round? Like father… ugh, not this again.
Lying on her bed, she cycled through her thoughts, realising it was going to be another sleepless night.
Soma thought back to last Saturday, after Erina had just left the gathering in Marui's room. His gaze must have lingered a little longer than he thought.
"Soma-kun?". Noticing the vacant look on his face and where it was directed, he let out a hearty laugh. "Ah the joys of youth!"
"Huh? Ah sorry! Was just lost in thought" he said, slightly embarrassed.
"In thought eh?". Isshiki stepped forward into his space, "and what are you thinking about there, Soma-kun?"
"Uhh well..." Soma looked at a loss for words.
"It must be another of your recipe ideas I'm sure!". Thanks Isshiki! "Yes, yes. Something fit for the god tongue of course!". He made a loud emphasis on the phrase 'god tongue' and looked at him knowingly, in a way that others started paying more attention. I'm taking back my gratitude, Isshiki.
Soma had been anxiously preparing for Erina's arrival. He was starting to feel conscious of any imperfections in his setup. Did he have the ingredients ready? Pots pans cleaned? Restaurant completely cleared? A good spacious area for Erina to cook? After obsessing over all these details, he decided to stay up to test some flavour combinations that might finally be enough to have her say those words.
By the time he had finished, it was 4am, and his mind continued to whirr, keeping him awake until it started getting light outside.
I don't normally obsess over things like this. But Erina must have high standards! I want to make sure she's comfortable when she arrives here. And... I guess there's also the fact that I like her...
Erina's driver took her to the entrance of the Sumiredori shopping district. She walked the rest of the way to the diner, marvelling at the activity around her. She was tired, having managed to convince herself that Soma wasn't actually interested in her during the night, and was feeling anger towards him and his imagined offenses.
I agreed to this. It's just for research! So why am I feeling used in advance of this… I suppose I am looking for something more out of this, not just the cooking.
Walking a little further, she saw Yukihira was out at the front, sweeping the area in front of the shop like a man possessed. Upon seeing him, she felt excitement swept away her anger, before a pre-emptive sense of rejection kept that feeling in check.
"Yukihira-kun!" she called out.
He jumped up. "Ah, Nakiri-san! Welcome to the Yukihira diner! I hope it's everything you dreamed of and more.", he gave a nervous smile. He seemed a little preoccupied, and wasn't focussing on his surroundings. "I'm so glad you're here"
"Likewise Yukihira-kun" she said, pleased to see him. She struggled to stifle a yawn.
"Are you ok Nakiri? Didn't get much sleep?"
"No. I was thinking about..." it's your fault Yukihira-kun! "... about work."
"Ah of course. I can see how that would keep you up. Is it getting any better for you?" he said, and followed up with a yawn. "Sorry!" She saw that he wasn't looking particularly well rested either.
"Have you been burning the midnight oil as well?"
"Yeah... I was worrying about you coming here today. I really wanted to impress you, since I've been hyping this place up to you for so long! I hope it's all ok" he said anxiously. "Come on inside!"
Yukihira-kun, bless you and your lack of a filter, she thought. His honesty had helped banish some of her doubts.
She followed him through the entrance and into the diner. She looked around, admiring the homely decor, the cosy feel, and the well prepared kitchen and serving area. "You can relax a little Soma, my first impressions are good! You must've been working hard" she said, trying to calm him down. Soma nervously brought her over to a table, with a neatly folded piece of blue fabric.
"This is yours - only if you want it though". She took it into her hands, unfolding it, and realising it was a Yukihira diner t-shirt.
"Well… I suppose there's no harm in trying it on", trying to hide her excitement. She went into the back room to try it on. It seemed to fit her a little too perfectly. She opened the door to speak with him.
"Yukihira-kun, this fits me perfectly. How did you know…?". He looked at her, dumbfounded at how good she looked wearing it. Trying not to stare, he remembered that she had just asked him a question.
"Ah, I asked Arato for your measurements." He scratched his head. "She wouldn't tell me that of course, but she offered to put in the order for the t-shirt if I sent over the design. Well, what do you think of it?"
"It's a good fit. I… suppose I can wear it" she said, trying to conceal her happiness. Surely he wouldn't go to so much effort if he didn't care! "But on one condition - you don't get to treat me like an employee when I'm wearing this!" she said firmly.
"Of course, I wouldn't dream of it!"
They spent a few minutes going over recipes. As he'd expected, Erina understood them with little explanation needed, and was already making small suggestions of her own. They started on prep work, when the door opened, and someone walked into the diner. "Good day to you Soma-kun!". It was Suzuki-san, one of the regulars, who'd arrived only minutes after them having opened the doors. He was an older man, who'd been coming to the Yukihira for many years. Even though they'd opened the restaurant about an hour earlier than usual, some kind of sixth sense seemed to have informed him that the diner was open.
"Ah Suzuki-san! Good to see you, please take a seat. What can I get you?"
"I'll go for the fried rice please good sir!"
"Nakiri-san, one fried rice please!"
"Soma-kun, who's the beautiful girl that you have cooking with you today? Is that your girlfriend?" he said loudly. Though age had slowed his movement, it hadn't dulled his wits, and he loved to create chaos whenever given the opportunity.
She felt her face redden, and turned around pretending to cook.
"Keep it in your pants Suzuki-san" he reprimanded jokingly. So coarse! she thought. "She's my friend from Totsuki academy, Nakiri Erina. We're going to be working together today. And she's not just pretty, she's an amazing cook! She's going to knock your socks off".
She reddened further, and ducked down, pretending to look for something.
"I'm looking forward to it Nakiri-san!" Suzuki-san called out to her.
She plated up the fried rice, and took it over to Suzuki-san.
"Please enjoy your meal"
"Woooooow this smells amazing! I can't wait." He relished the aroma for a few more seconds - what was it? There was a phenomenal depth to this simple looking dish. He suspected the creator of the dish had a depth of character to match. "Would you care to join me, Nakiri-san? I'd really appreciate the company."
"I bet you would you dirty old man" called out Soma jokingly.
"I am no such thing! You should have a little more respect for your elders Soma-kun" he said with a cheeky grin. "Up to you Nakiri-san"
She was a little hesitant. Normally, interactions with others were typically in her domain, the world of fine dining, a safe space for her. She was feeling uncomfortable at the prospect of conversing with a stranger without a purpose, and without a predesignated topic in which she was knowledgeable.
"Ok… erm, sure, I'd be happy to". She sat down self-consciously, facing him.
"Fantastic! Good food, and good company, who could wish for more!"
"Tell me then Nakiri-san, how did you come by the misfortune of meeting this young gentleman?"
"Well sir, we both go to the Totsuki academy, a cooking school. I've known him since he joined, though it's only recently that I've got to know him better", she responded quite formally.
"No need to be so polite with me! I see, I see, well I'm glad to see you're taking good care of him." Noticing her formality and mannerisms, he began to ascertain she was perhaps from a somewhat sheltered background, and decided that this would be a fun opportunity. But first his attention was being drawn to the dish he had been presented with, the smell invigorating his senses once more. He took a mouthful, chewed and swallowed. His mind went blank, the flavour overwhelming his senses entirely.
"...suzuki-san… Suzuki-san!". Erina was shouting, concerned. He had appeared to have gone catatonic for the last twenty seconds. "Are you ok?"
He composed himself and focussed on the girl in front of him, and solemnly said "Nakiri-san, this is incredible!"
She smiled confidently, and said "I know. Would you expect any less from the Yukihira diner?"
"To cook something like that... you've been doing this for much of your life I presume?"
"Yes, all my life. Cooking is very important to my family."
"What about you Suzuki-san, what do you do?"
He thought for a second, while a barely perceptible devilish smile appeared. Let's see what I get away with. "Well, I'm retired now, but when I was working, I used to pick fruit and vegetables for a living."
"Really? How interesting!"
"Yes, good old manual labour. Oh these bones have suffered for it! Though the difficult part is, we weren't allowed to use our hands - supposedly handling them impacted the flavour and the texture. So we had to use chopsticks to gather the produce." he said, testing her gullibility.
"Wow, really?" This conversation was eye opening for Erina. She had never really been exposed to this side of the food industry, and was readily listening to Suzuki-san's tales.
"Yes well it was particularly difficult with vegetables. Imagine trying to pick up a cabbage with chopsticks!". He moved his hands dramatically, to indicate how one might do such a thing. "And with potatoes, we couldn't use shovels. Instead, we would have to dig into the earth... only with our chopsticks, sometimes taking hours to pick a single potato...". Erina looked at him, fascinated, hardly able to believe the hardship. Suzuki-san could barely keep himself from laughing. "And if you broke your chopsticks, well… for your punishment, you would have to use the 'Sticks Of Shame', two enormous chopsticks the size of broom handles to pick the smallest of the berries..."
Soma interjected. "Come on, stop taking advantage of her good nature" he said sternly. "Tell her what you really did."
"Here he comes to ruin my story!" he said, annoyed. "My apologies Nakiri-san, I was just having a little fun. I… I was actually a salaryman". He smiled meekly.
"Oh… right. I see" she said, embarrassed that she'd been taken in by his ridiculous story. "That was mean", she said quietly, feeling a little irritated. As she re-centered herself, she decided wasn't just going to let this go, and would see if she could get him back.
They continued talking for a little while, until they came back to the topic of the Totsuki academy. She decided she would have a little fun in return, and would embellish some of her own stories. Soma was hearing fragments of the conversation.
"...right, to correctly make a souffle, a straw is necessary, and you must blow steadily for over 5 minutes. Circular breathing is a must. But in some of the finer restaurants, they have teams of up to ten people whose sole responsibility is to aerate the souffles with specially designed straws!"
"Yukihira kun's dormitory is actually partially built from dehydrated potatoes which were grown on site"
"Yes Suzuki-san! It's true, we do have someone who manages the number of stones in use for the gravel pathways in the Totsuki resort. How many? 300 stones per square metre."
"Yukihira-kun recently won a cook-off, using bear meat!"
Soma was creased over, stifling his laughter from a distance. He'd seen signs of this side of her, but hadn't seen her embrace it so freely before. Man, she really is amazing. Suzuki-san finally clocked on. "Haha! Payback is a fine thing. Though some of your stories are getting a little far-fetched now" he laughed.
"Some of those were true" she winked at him. "Though I don't deny that I might have been a little creative with some of my other stories though" she giggled.
Finishing his meal, Suzuki-san said "Thank you for humouring an old man Nakiri-san, this has been wonderful. Before you go though, I have a question for you…". He paused. "Are you single?" he said slowly. He took a deep breath, and not waiting for an answer, he started speaking rather intensely - "Are you doing anything tonight? You should come by, and meet my grandson! He's a very eligible bachelor. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he has a wonderful heart. He owns a small apartment near here, a small plot of land, and has a clean driving license..."
"Um… I…" She was looking a little lost for words, and was looking around the room as if there were an answer written somewhere. Soma, seeing her obvious discomfort, decided to give her an escape route.
"Nakiri-san, do you have a minute? Just wondering if you want to prep the rest of the vegetables?" he called over to her.
I've already done that Yukihira-kun… oh I get it. "Ah yes… I'll go and do the rest of the prep… on the vegetables. It was a pleasure talking to you Suzuki-san!" she said quickly, and darted away.
"Ah so it goes… the pleasure was mine!" he said jovially.
She stood up, mouthed the words "thank you" to Soma with a grateful look, and headed back behind the counter. He gave her a wide smile. Soma headed over to the table. "Time for me to tag in. Not gonna propose to me as well are you?" he grinned.
"So then Soma-kun…do you like her?" said Suzuki-san, this time talking more discreetly with the boy sat opposite to him.
"You're such a gossip Suzuki-san" he groaned.
"Ha. You'll be the same when you get to my age." His face took on a more serious expression. "But really, you like her don't you? I can see the way you look at her."
He thought for a second, exhaled and said "Yeah… I do. She's amazing. She's beautiful, she's so fun to be around, she works so hard...". Soma reddened, having said all that without really thinking. "Why am I telling you all this?!"
"Hehe, I'm a master of information, young Soma-kun. Then why don't you ask her?"
"Well… I'm waiting for the right time. It's been strained between us in the past, and I don't want to ruin this at the moment."
Suzuki-san pondered with his hands together, elbows perched on the table. He leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands "Well, I can't say I know much about your situation. But she seems grown up enough to handle it either way. And she must really like you, someone of her calibre coming all the way out here, just to hang out with you". He leaned back. "Anyway, I'll tone it down with the jokes. And to make up for that, I'll put in a good word for you!". He smiled innocently.
"Ah Suzuki-san… that really isn't necessary..."
"Don't worry, don't worry. It's the least I can do for a fine fellow such as yourself!".
Soma smiled with uncertainty. "Thanks..."
"Nakiri-san!" he called out. "Would you mind coming over here for a minute? Don't worry I'm not going to try to set you up with any of my grandsons!"
"Sure… I'll be with you in a minute Suzuki-san." Soma watched anxiously from a distance, as he saw an animated Suzuki-san rambling away, frequently pointing in his direction. Ugh, I'd better ignore him for now, I'll see what the damage is later.
Suzuki-san finished talking to Erina, settled the bill, and took his leave. "See you Soma-kun! And lovely to meet you Nakiri-san, I hope we meet again!"
"Suzuki-san is... a real character isn't he?" she said, smiling roguishly as she waved at Suzuki-san.
"That's one word for it..." Soma said suspiciously. "Thanks for spending some time with him, he will have really appreciated that. He can be a real handful!"
"Not at all, it was surprisingly fun talking to him. He was saying some really kind things about you, you know"
"Ah, really...?" said Soma, feeling uneasy.
"Yeah. A LOT of really nice things. It sounds like you've done some wonderful things for the area." She paused. "Did you pay him or something?". She laughed.
"I'll see if I can pay him to stay quiet in future." he responded wearily with a smile.
"Right then, shall we get ready for the rest of the day?"
"Already covered Yukihira-kun" she said positively, with a confident gesture towards the kitchen counter. He looked over, and saw indeed that everything was prepared, even with all of Suzuki-san's distractions.
"You're the best" he smiled at her.
"I know", she said with a light glow.
"Well, it looks like we might have a little time to ourselves", Soma said happily.
"It does". She was pleased she would finally have a minute to talk with him alone. She had something she wanted to ask. She took a deep breath, and said "Now… now that we know each other better… please call me Erina. If you want to...". She looked away.
"Ah…" he reddened. "Sure thing, Naki… Erina!" he paused, enjoying how he felt as he said it. "Feel free to call me Soma - come to think of it, it feels kind of formal having you refer to me as Yukihira-kun" he grinned, scratching his head.
"Um… ok!" They stood for a moment in silence, both excited and a little embarrassed at their acceptance of this small piece of intimacy.
"Erina… there's something I wanted to talk to you about". He looked at her with a serious expression.
At that moment, the doors flung open, revealing a horde of customers outside.
"Yes Yuki… Soma?"
Bad timing, typical… "Nevermind, I'll tell you once we're done here!"
They nodded at one another and got to work, excited for the rest of their day together.
Author notes
Thanks for reading along this far! This is my first story I've written on here, so I'm very happy if anyone has made it to here. I've tried cleaning up my formatting - I hope this is a little easier to read. I'll aim to have the following chapter ready for next Friday. Cheers!