Just Like Magnets
Author: jaymack33
Chapter 3: Saiba vs Soma!
Summary: After Joichiro Saiba swooped in at the last second to save Erina from telling Soma how she really felt about his latest dish, we now find Erina and Hisako waiting for what Saiba and Soma will be preparing in their food battle. Normally the winner between these two would be obvious especially with Erina as one of the two judges but this is a cooking contest with a twist!
Author notes: One thing I forgot to mention in my previous chapter is part of the reason for chapter 2 and the way I wrote it was because one of the things I really wish they had shown on the show but didn't was when Soma unleashed the fragrance bomb they saved Erina's reaction for later, I really wanted to see it, but they cut it off just showing her just looking defiant before the fragrance fully hit her, so that was why I wrote chapter 2 the way I did. As for this next chapter, well when I first started becoming a fan of the series I started thinking of various ideas for stories and I thought this might be a nice one-shot, but I didn't think it had enough back story to make it work, but I think it fit in nicely right here and it's the twist that makes it work as the missing ingredient. I hope you think so too. If you like this, any encouragement and feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.
Yukihira Diner:
Soma once again made his slow walk back to Nakiri's table to finally deliver the dish that Hisako had actually ordered for herself, his head down defeated he didn't even want to...he just wasn't going to give her the satisfaction...
Erina watched Soma making his familiar walk, this time he was definitely heading straight for their table after saying his familiar order up! She was curious to see Soma's defeated face, after all she hadn't given in to his dish after all, but as soon as he got close, he completely turned away making sure to focus on delivering his dish directly to Hisako, appearing to...that was a brush off! Erina's thoughts were darkening about to spark with her usual anger at YUKIHIRA...and than she smelled that stupid, intoxicating, furiously, wonderful fragrance again...ahhhhhh!
Hisako just breathes in the familiar fragrance once again, practically drooling with anticipation, she thanked Soma once again for making the dish over for her, with his familiar your welcome his parting words to her as he slowly walks back to the kitchen without nary a glance at Nakiri, grumbling all the way back at another missed opportunity all because of his stupid father...
Hisako is about to eat her dish finally looking she notices Erina absentmindedly staring at her plate longingly, just like last time! "Don't even think about it you don't get seconds until I get firsts, Erina...Sama!"
"I wasn't, why would I even want to eat his food, Hisako, it's disgust..."
"Yeah, right," she interrupted! "Look Erina-sama, if you want to keep that up with him it's fine, I get it, well I mean I don't get it, but you know that I know, right!"
"You know what, Hisako?"
"Oh, please I have never seen you eat that much of someone else's food in my life, not even from an Elite..."
"I do eat food...sometimes, Hisako!"
"Yes, your food, not other people's!" "The most I have ever heard you say is...it's OK...or it meets the standard, but with Soma, you don't even do that, because your busy eating all of his food, the whole thing, I think the real reason you don't even give him the OK, is because your..."
"His girlfriend!"...chimed in the annoying old snooping lady again! "Obviously chef Soma won you over with his cooking it's about time, he found someone who..."
Erina's face turned bright red as she nearly blew her top, as she shouted to the heavens and to that poor old lady! "He is not my boyfriend!" "He's not!" "I swear if one more person says...Hisako, please tell the lady, tell her..."
Hisako was having none of it as she took another bite of Soma's amazing curry dish floating into yummy heaven in her bikini far away from a sputtering, stammering, blushing and flustered Erina Nakiri still denying the obvious...
Meanwhile in the Kitchen:
A furious Soma Yukihira was cooking more dishes for the growing customers oblivious to his stupid father who had started cooking to share the work-load.
"Eh, Soma!" "I can't wait to beat you this time in our cooking competition!" "How many times have I defeated you, eh?"
Absolute silence! You could hear a pin drop as Soma fumed & continued ignoring his stupid father always having to show up unannounced out of nowhere ruining everything!
Joichiro noticed his sons mood change, decided to change the subject, usually talking about their contests always worked with Soma, but for some reason it wasn't working this time! "Soma, that dish you prepared for Hisako, that smelled amazing, I see you have been improving, just like I knew you would and..."
Listening to his father go on and on about his stupid contest was just so annoying and than he had to bring up the dish, just digging wide open his fresh wound just blew the angry silence right out of Soma right to his boiling point! "Shut up, dad!" "Just shut the hell up, he shouted!" "You know I had her, right?"
"Had, who son, what are you talking about?" And than he took a slight peek at their guests from the Totsuki Academy and an all the sudden very flustered & angry Erina Nakiri for some reason yelling at a customer, but still wasn't completely putting 2 and 2 together yet.
It was just infuriating to Soma! Bad enough what he did to me, but he still doesn't even know he even did it! He came all this way just to do it to me! "I had her cornered!" "Nakiri!" "All those other times she said my food was dis...not good...!" "She was finally going to tell me my food was delicious!" "She wasn't going to be able to deny it!" "I had her," Soma whined full of frustration!
Soma took a peek at the object of his thoughts and feelings and felt the heat of a pretty girl staring daggers with her amethyst eyes right back at him at that very moment and than he had to look away from her flowing heat back to his annoying father again... "And than you showed up, what do you even care anyway, you just show up when you want just to flaunt beating me in these contests and you just go off like you always do!"
...Cold shoulder...Soma aimed his cold shoulder deliberately and directly at Joichiro like a snowy blizzard full of ironic fire and flames heading straight for him! Soma had fully turned away from his dad again he was about to turn and give him hell one more time and than thought the better of it just exasperated...he's not even worth it he sighed.
Joichiro saw the exchanged glances between Erina-chan and Soma just now, and than he thought back to Tamako his wife. He looked back to his son, he is starting to get older, they grow up so fast. Soon all the customers had left and Hisako and Erina were sitting closer to the kitchen opening waiting, just waiting...
Kitchen Counter:
Erina smiled from ear to ear with anticipation as she watched her idol working his magic in the back obviously cooking something like nobody else could possibly even imagine. She hadn't eaten something made by Joichiro in so long, all the mingling of amazing flavors woven together in a way she had never experienced before or since not even from...she took a slight little ironic glance at Soma cooking his own futile dish giggling slightly, as if? Why even bother? All those insurmountable odds you've faced, Yukihira-Kun, you've never beaten him in a cooking contest, your definitely not even undefeated in cooking battles in our school. They were just ordinary mortal cooks, but he, he is known as the Demon! You know I've never lost myself but even I would be...
Erina's thoughts are interrupted by Hisako... "Wow, Erina-sama you look really happy..."
Erina hummed along, "I am happy, I'm about to taste something that even my divine tongue has only experienced one other time before in my lifetime!" "All these inferior dishes I have to eat all the time, it's just work, but right here, & right now I get to actually eat something I actually want to eat!" "I'm going to actually enjoy something special, of course I'm happy, I mean even if that means, unfortunately..." She glanced at Soma, "unfortunately I have to eat his...food too..."
Hisako snickered..."heheheheh."...practically mimicking Soma's sinister giggling that if they were to listen really closely wasn't that far off...
"What's so funny Hisako, don't you even dare bring up what you said to me about Soma's dish, I get that you liked it, I understand, you are entitled to your opinion, of course and obviously you finished the whole thing..."
"You did too, Erina-sama," she interrupted...with a big insolent smile on her face...
"I-I-I...look it wasn't bad, but it just it was so...so...Soma...just like something he would make, you know..." Erina tried to play it off, like she had won some argument, while Hisako blasted her with a look that Erina had seen before, but couldn't completely quite place it, what was that look...?
Humor her, just nod, yes, Erina-sama is always right when it come to cooking except when Yukihira Soma is involved. Hisako repeated like a mantra over and over again and repeat! Still laughing slightly how Erina-sama never quite picks up on any of my sarcastic looks!
Back in the Kitchen:
Joichiro was in full battle mode making sure his dish was just right, but occasionally still looking at Soma to see if his mood was about to change, he was almost finished himself and than as he noticed Soma was winding down, he finally heard the familiar sound coming from Soma...heh...heh...heh...heh!
Soma just poured himself into his dish full of concentration, his anger fading like a memory as his competitive juices took over! Of course there was one more thing! One more thing, the Queen isn't going to be ready for this special dish I have prepared, just for her...heh...heh...heh...heh!
Soma vs Saiba:
Erina was just smiling happily, she was giddy with anticipation as she watched Joichiro practically in slow motion approaching them with a tray with two covered dishes just waiting to display his usual culinary magic to the both of them, this is a privilege and honor that very few people get to partake of, I'm so glad I came today, even if I originally just came for and than she saw him. Soma who had been in a foul mood for some mysterious reason to her, now had his usual fool hardy annoyingly smug face, back! I can't wait for Master Saiba to wipe that smug look off his face, when he defeats him easily with one of his many masterful creations! Heh, heh, heh, heh, I can laugh too, Soma, yes I'm laughing at you...Erina's thoughts were a whirlwind of nothing but happiness!
Hisako stared at Erina-sama, unlike her I have never eaten one of Joichiro Saiba's dishes before, but unlike her undoubtedly biased opinion of Soma's dishes, she looks like she loves his food. All she talks about is how great his food, is. If even the God Tongue can't deny how great Joichiro Saiba's food is, could it possibly be even better than the magical dish Soma just made me? I mean to be honest I'm kind of full, I'm not even sure how much I could even eat, but just one bite, I need to know just how great he really is!
Erina was smiling!
Hisako was smiling!
Saiba was really smiling!
And Soma was really, really, smiling as they placed their dishes down by the counter and than they lifted up their covers to reveal...!
Erina and Hisako weren't smiling anymore!
The smell was intense and absolutely hideously nasty as the smokey green & purple smell of literal hell on Earth was wafting out of both Soma's and Joichiro's dishes!
The stench of the dishes was so intense it was literally like being punched in the face by the unrelenting grossness of it all!
Meanwhile off in the distance outside of Yukihira's:
Mayumi Kurase, one of Soma's old class mates at his previous school was walking by and finally noticed! Oh, wow the lights are back on at Yukihira's! Soma finally came back and...than she sniffed the air...the stench of red death and pure unadulterated evil...brought back a familiar lingering memory of the single worst thing she'd eaten in her entire life!
She ran as fast and as far away as she could! Not, again, not ever in her life time would she ever eat that again! She ran as fast and as far away as possible almost like a Demon Soma would come out of the shadows with his latest Devil concoction he called food coming for her...NOOOOOOOO! She ran away as fast and far away as her legs would take her!
Meanwhile back at Yukihira's:
Both Erina and Hisako were almost in a complete state of shock staring at the hideous outliers on their plates! The rumors were not true, because they were in fact worst...much...much worst!
Soma and Saiba like two peas in a pod were oblivious for a couple seconds that, their disgustingly, nausea inducing creations were anything other than the funniest things in the entire world! They were both giggling, giddily like kids, just waiting for one of the two girls to break their spell and try it, just try it!
Soma was about to say something as he stared at his two classmates shocked and disgusted faces, scared that he and his dad may have broken them...when Hisako, finally broke the spell!
"It...it...th-they...m-m-moved...!" She stated in total horror pointing at both of their dishes!
Soma smiled happy to explain it, "yeah, that's because after I prepared, my Licorice, peanut butter squid with ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise, the final ingredient, see that, Hisako that isn't gravy on top...it's goo!" "Heh, heh, heh, heh, the goo is unsteady and makes my squid look like it's moving in the bowl...heh...heh..heh, why don't you try it and see for yourself Hisako?" He secured a small amount of dripping squid on his chopsticks about to lift it up...but Joichiro interrupted him...
"Wait, before you do that Soma, my dish is special too, you see mine is moving also, it's the way I prepared my snake with my special egg foo yung vinaigrette it makes the snake, move, see, Hisako, you will want to try mine first, the winning dish and than you can try Soma's afterwards, right?"
"But, but, but why?" Hisako was in shock not understanding why these two were trying to poison them, all of the sudden!
Joichiro proudly stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world! "Because we want you to tell us which one is, better!" "This is still a cooking contest, right Soma?"
"Right, and Nakiri...you asked for this unless...you'd rather tell me how much you liked my other dish instead?" Soma just stared at her haughty face with a smug look on his own, daring her, no matter what her answer was, I still win, and you lose, princess!
Erina was grimacing, slowly breaking free of the shock of going from anticipating the best dish ever to the worst two dishes of her possibly soon to be shortened life, but staring at Soma's obnoxious smug annoying, face, I'm not going to give him the satisfaction, at the very least I'll try Saiba's food, and than...Ugghhhh!
Hisako, took a peek at Erina and saw she, was slowly coming out of her catatonic state, she nodded slightly to Hisako, letting her know she was going to go through with it. Stubborn as ever, she'd rather make us eat...that...than admit Soma's food was..."mmmpphhhhh...gurkkkk!"
Saiba put a small piece of vinaigrette snake between Hisako's lips and than Erina's and both girls wanted to wretch from the horror as a giant Saiba snake was practically squeezing the life out of the both of them..."AHHHHHHHRRRRHHHHHH!" They were practically choking and retching, holding onto the table top keeping them from falling at the horribly, devastatingly, nasty concoction Joichiro called a dish..
Soma tried some too like he always, did..."dad this is really, really horrible...hah...hah..urkkk...so disgusting and you made Hisako and Nakiri eat that too, the look on their faces...heh...heh...heh...heh!" Soma couldn't stop laughing at the pained, horrified faces of both Hisako, and especially Nakiri's face and the best part, it's my turn...and than he said the next most horrifying thing to the two of them..."Order up!"
He had chop sticks in his two hands with the squirming, slimy squid jiggling around, with Hisako, and Nakiri's names written on the both of them! "Come on, it's my turn, you already tried my father's disgustingly, nasty, dish, you two, and now it's my turn!" "Heh, heh, heh, heh!"
Erina practically moved her face away from Soma's poking chop stick, like a baby not wanting to eat anything, with a defiant but completely horrified, and disgusted face, definitely not eating it first, she looked to Hisako!
Hisako gulped, "Uhhh, l-let me try it first Soma-kun?" She said it, with the least enthusiastic inflection possible, looking back to her stupid, stubborn friend making her do this just because she was too, proud to admit..."mmmmmmphhh...gurkkkk...urkkkkkk...UHHHHHHHHHHHH...DISGUSTINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!"
Hisako wanted to wretch and vomit like she was in an Exorcist movie, just the smallest tiny bite of Soma's squid out of his cauldron of evil and she wanted to hurl chunks of the actual good dish she ate earlier as giant Squid tentacles wrapped around Hisako squeezing...and squeezing the life out of her because she just ate..."the most Disgusting thing I have ever eaten in my entire life...SOMA...YUKIHIRA?..." "How, could you...gurrkkk...hack...urkkkkkk...DIS-GUSTINGGGGGGGGGGG!
Hisako was so furious she wanted to beat the S out of him, and the worst part was Soma was laughing furiously, while Joichiro, looked sad for some reason?
"Heh, heh, heh, now just one more taste tester, Nakiri?" "It's your turn, you owe me, you don't even have to pay for your dinner, I just need you to try this dish for me and tell me this time if it's Disgusting, or really, really, really disgusting...heh...heh...heh...heh!"
The more defiantly she stared at him the more he laughed, even as he noticed her bottom, cute, pretty pink lip slightly quivering in fear! She stared at his chop sticks moving her face away every time, like a belligerent stubborn child that refused to eat dinner, just staring at Yukihira-kun's evil, stupid face! She didn't want to eat...that...she wanted so badly to punch him instead...for being such a stupid Yokihira Soma but...
Frustrated that this annoyingly pretty girl refused to open her mouth to try his dish too and kept moving it away, Soma finally put his foot down! "That's it, Nakiri, it is official, now or never, either eat it or tell me how much you really liked my other dish instead, well, I'm waiting..."
Erina stared at Soma's stupid, stupid, face, with that obnoxious smile, and those perfect...ly...annoying golden eyes of his daring...her...him of all people, I will never tell him any of his food is anything else than...she grabbed the chopsticks out of Soma's hand sending a slight spark from her touch as it brushed his skin and she plunged the horrid tasting squid between her lips and Soma's outlier finally met Erina's God tongue!
Gurkkk...urrrhhhkkkkkk...gack...A Giant Soma squid with Golden eyes grabbed Nakiri in his embrace squeezing the life out of her as her amethyst eyes rolled back in her head...the taste it was sooooooooooooooooo...and everything closed in on Erina Nakiri spinning away as she fainted away going completely limp, her legs going out from under her she was far away from everything as everything went dark, she was falling towards the ground...
But at the last second, Soma leaped over the counter and used his juggler skills desperately to catch Erina in his arms and save her at the last second, tightly, holding her tightly in his arms, he saw her peaceful gentle, beautiful face, as he held her small limp frame in his arms, I guess I'm just going to have to wait for her to wake up to actually find out...
To be continued ...in chapter 4 where we actually find out who won the food contest as well as a lot more Sorina to come!
Author end notes: So, how was that twist? I hinted at it in the last chapter, as why would Saiba want to get back at Soma when he wins all the time? So, in my head canon I figured they've been having disgusting food contests for years and those contests were much closer. Part of the idea for this also came to me during the episode when Soma was going to give her a taste of Yukihira food to help her remember her feelings about food, their friends speculated what would happen to Erina if she ate one of Soma's disgusting creations. I knew I was going here since chapter 1, if you noticed I even had Erina mention it. I hope you liked this chapter. If you did please let me know as it encourages me to keep writing. I get very happy from comments and even fave or follows lets me know at least some people are digging my story too.
Author preview for chapter 4: Since I've managed a cliffhanger in every chapter so far, I decided to save the final result for the next chapter as well as a lot more Sorina in this one, I mean not enough to change my rating in my story yet, but it is much more Sorina concentrated. Hope you like it!
