Erina was jealous.
As much as she wanted to deny it, she was obviously spending her days in a sour, jealous mood, boiling over intensely with envy.
Her maidservants felt it. Her employees felt it. Her colleagues, students, friends, aide—everyone did. Well… everyone except the cause of her jealousy.
Yes, the cause was indeed a person. A point that was both novel and surprising. The Princess of Cuisine, who had talent, beauty, and wealth beyond comprehension, jealous? It would have been unthinkable for the general public, who saw her as a literal goddess amongst men.
Well… that's how the general public saw her. Everyone who knew her, however, knew that she was a surprisingly sweet, caring, and impassioned woman. They knew she had a strong drive to seize her ambitions, and they were all privy as to who was causing this mental mayhem within their headmistress.
See, Souma had just returned from a half-year absence from Erina's life. A period of time wherein Erina experienced firsthand the aphorism, "Absence makes the heart grow fond."
Erina had been bombarded with novel feelings of bubbly familial belonging courtesy of a reunited family, along with equally pleasant emotions of companionship and camaraderie with her friends. Hence, it had now become more palatable for Erina to recognize and accept her feelings for the redhead—romantic feelings for the readhead.
Well… that and the incessance of her meddlesome cousin, Alice.
Souma had just returned from God-knows-where a few weeks ago. He'd said it was, "somewhere in the Mediterranean," and added concerningly that he wasn't even sure exactly where. Frankly, it didn't seem that he even remembered that country's name; typical Souma attitude.
Before that, news of his planned return home prompted the planning of a welcoming party at his diner that devolved into a talk for a whimsical reunion, with the gems of the 92nd generation finally being able to be in the same building once again.
Upon Hisako's suspicious insistence, Souma made it a point to invite Erina first once the talks for the reunion-welcoming party were concrete.
Their correspondence went as comedic as all their friends thought it would be, but that's what made their connection so special. Friends meddling on both sides found it insanely entertaining, too.
The call went something like this:
"Nakiri, ya free?"
"What is this again, Souma—Yukihira-kun? Do you even know what time it is? If you're going to ask me if and when I'm free, then I'm going to ask you, once again, when you are coming back."
"I'm surprised ya even picked up the call at this hour. Overworking again, Nakiri? That's so typical of you, ya know? In fact, I heard (from Hisako) that you almost got sick last week!"
"W-why do you know that? And you're one to talk! Don't think that I don't know how often you go on graveyard shifts on those restaurants, Yukihira-kun. Anyway, answer my question!"
"Which one?"
"Ugh. Insufferable as usual—"
"Kidding. I'm going home. Thought I'd cook for ya all when I get back. So I called you first."
"…Text Hisako the details. I'm going. And you better keep your word! I'll be expecting you home."
"All right, all right. You're the boss. Anyway, that sounds great! See ya."
And so they all had a huge party afterwards, obviously with the all-essential rice "juice" courtesy of Ryoko and Souma's newest iterations of his squid abominations.
Erina noted that some things remained the same and were simply refined: the essential rice juice and squid abominations. Other things where changed: longer haircuts, new seasons in life, new relationships, experiences, and whatnot. And yet one thing was constant and certain: Souma was at the center of it all, and they were all having a blast.
Souma noted that while Erina was always well-dressed, even on casual occasions, it seemed she went a little bit extra that night. She had cut her hair and wore a wonderful, shapely pencil skirt along with a sleeveless blouse. The outfit was completed by modest heels and jewelry that he couldn't be bothered to name—she was much more alluring than them anyway. The new aesthetic, shifting from "princess" to more "career woman" blew him away, and he had to try everything in his power to remain stoic for the hours and hours that they talked.
With these thoughts in their minds, Erina and Souma gravitated toward each other the entire night. Out of courtesy and a prior commitment to silence, the entire group neglected to comment on it. It was one big conspiracy formulated in hopes that the two finally get something going, and Lord have mercy on the drunken fool who dares break the rosy atmosphere.
As the evening wound down and the weak of constitution succumbed to the rice alcohol, Souma and Erina found themselves at the counter of the diner, chatting away the fog of the half-year separation.
Erina was on cloud nine, her heart daringly thumping within her, screaming at Souma to hear its call, her pride the only thing silencing the beats. Their conversation was funny and lackadaisical yet serious and deep. It was long, and the minutes bled into hours as the night turned into dawn.
"So, I was like, 'I'll show ya I'm worthy of working at your restaurant. Just taste my dish!' And he was all cranky about it, so I just shoved the spoon up his mouth! And he cried and I was his sous chef the next day!"
"Sigh. You're such a clown, Yukihira-kun, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Fufufu..."
"Ahahaha, yeah…"
Souma was chatting away as he internally palpitated. He could not pinpoint why, but her light, airy giggles and softly-blushing face were signaling the alarms in his head. Not just a few times did he expect a camera crew to crawl from behind the bushes and congratulate him for participating in their newest prank show. Alas, that never happened, and he resigned to himself that Erina had become pretty damn cute.
Now Souma knew she was attractive. In a purely conventional sense, he understood that Erina was a truly peak woman. However, as they conversed more, he felt something radiating towards him that, frankly, he never felt before. A closeness, a gravity emanating from her, demanding that he get close and find out what it is.
The ever-oblivious Souma was now hyper-aware of the way she leaned toward him while listening. Of the way her right leg and foot, dangling from the height of the stool, was hooked around his, and his left around hers. Of the way their shoulders stuck together. And he realized that they've been pretty much that close together since the latter part of the party.
Erina, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to her actions. In a cruel twist of fate, Souma's obliviousness seems to have jumped ship, and Erina started hooking her right arm around his left every time he made a comedic remark. Emboldened by either alcohol or separation anxiety, she'd always made it a point to touch his face: pinches of annoyance and, to Souma's chagrin, caresses of understanding were delivered throughout the night.
Souma didn't know how he survived that night. All he knew was that Erina eventually succumbed to sleep, albeit his shoulder was her chosen resting place, and that he was able to somehow deliver her to Hisako, who promptly summoned their driver and got them home, but not before sending a cryptic, knowing smirk his way. After that, he remembered lying on his bed, surrounded by his friends who stayed over, contemplating what on earth just happened that night.
His friends remained silent, choosing to honor their commitment. It helped that it was deeply amusing to see the clueless Souma bumbling about with Erina's subconscious advances.
The next morning, after all that mulling over, Souma had finally reached his personal conclusion.
Erina was just pretty damn cute.
The thing is, Souma had a problem dealing with pretty damn cute girls, since the grand total of the pretty damn cute girls he ever saw in his life was one: Erina, and Erina alone.
Now, Souma was no stranger to attractive women. He was surrounded by them every day. But a woman's attractiveness never fazed him as he treated everyone equally, like a friend. Souma did see the beauty of other girls, but in his mind, they always just registered as "cute," along with "friend." Now marks the very first occasion where he was truly at a loss.
It probably did not help that Erina was naturally somewhat overbearing. She also happened to be both his direct superior and his headmistress. Souma felt like she had so much power over him, and for the first time in his life, he didn't seem to mind.
In short, Souma was having a very overdue primary school character development moment. He was getting all shy and embarrassed. He was having trouble figuring out how to deal with Erina, a pretty damn cute girl who also happened to be a person close to him.
Unknowingly, he had started avoiding her. Perhaps it was a Souma defense mechanism, lest he get absolutely consumed by her unlocked charm. He didn't even know that he had exclusive access to that charm of hers in the first place.
He was subtle at first, and Erina let it pass, thinking that maybe his globetrotting had finally caught up with him and that he needed a break. However, as the days passed, it started becoming apparent that he was avoiding her and only her.
So Erina, with the consultation of her personal female friend council, decided to give him space, operating under the assumption that he felt awkward around her for some forsaken reason.
However, it had now been weeks since Souma had come home, and despite no longer being a thousand miles away from her physically, he might as well have been with how he was avoiding her.
Erina was irate. With every passing failed encounter with a fleeing Souma her mood deteriorated. Her irritation compounded every time she saw his face, said "Hi," and he gave an incoherent response and walked away. In fact, just this morning, he literally ran, ran, from her when they crossed paths near the Elite Ten building.
Now, Erina was a much better person than she was back then. She was willing to be more patient and understanding; however, she also ought to push her weight around her academy. She was, after all, the headmistress. So, after two weeks of holding back her divine wrath, she reckoned it was time to put the hammer down.
But to the flock of girls, especially those sycophantic, hyperventilating, fan-girling juniors of his all gaggling to have a piece of him, a hammer might not be enough. Upon her ruminations, a vivid flashback came to her of one of these incidents.
It was approximately a week or so after Souma had returned home. As expected, his rivals wasted no time and immediately started challenging him to shokugekis left and right. This particular one had been a pretty popular event, as the top student of the first years had decided to challenge him; complete with his own entourage of raging fangirls.
Souma won 3-0, as expected, and the deranged fangirls immediately jumped on the new Souma Express and started crowding him the moment he stepped off the arena. Such was the commotion that Erina herself had to call in security just to give Souma some space to breathe.
Even then, some stragglers were able to reach him and pester him. Their attempts to get lucky with him were blatantly obvious, and the redhead was having surprising trouble with shaking them off. Souma was used to people being against him after all, not with people acting like rabid fans.
Obviously with all this commotion around him, Erina had not managed to get any decent quality time with him at all.
In a fit of impulsive rage, Erina promptly sent the first years away on a trip to the Totsuki Resort Rapport Camp after that.
Such was the reason behind the percolating, scintillating fury in her heart. A fury born out of her now-acknowledged feelings for the redhead, and the fact that said redhead had the gall to ignore her for over two weeks.
Of course, there was the six months he was away. But that was time wherein he has physically away. These two weeks were time that he was literally within her grasp, and yet he crawled away every time.
And now to think some serpents dared to even think of snatching what was hers.
"If it weren't for Hisako's soothing tea, I'd have expelled all those… distractions already."
Understandably, Erina started getting concerned about how… passionate she was becoming. She even took up the courage to mention it at one of their regular Nakiri family dinners.
She was expecting herself to be berated and told off, but instead she got a hearty laugh from her mother and even chuckles from her father, grandfather, uncle and aunt.
Her mother, Mana, staring at her father Azami with a smoldering side eye, said, "That just proves you're a Nakiri woman, Erina. We are a family of takers, not waiters. I know it feels alien to you, since you've been bottling up your emotions your entire life—which is our fault—but I swear, every female in our lineage has always been a bit… predatory. I mean, look at Alice here! I'd be more surprised if she hasn't pushed herself onto Ryo at this point!" Her statement earned a chuckle from Erina's aunt, Leonora.
Her grandfather chimed in as all the Nakiri males shuddered, "That's true, even your grandmother had me on a string, and it was frankly frightening. The Nakiri family is well-known for its powerful matriarchs, you know? Even I just inherited my wife's position as head of the family when she passed away."
The rest of the family congratulated her for some weird reason, and her mother patted her on the back, saying, "Go get him, girl. Do you want some tips?" And from the side of her vision, she could see her father wince.
"Thanks… mother, but I think I want to handle this myself."
"Atta girl! Now you're talking Erina! Need me to chime in?" Alice exclaimed.
"Actually…"
Erina was currently in her room in the Nakiri manor. She was not alone, instead flanked by her cousin and aide, her two most trusted confidants. Though in Alice's case, she'd never admit that.
Ever since that peculiar Nakiri family dinner the other night, Erina has had a shift in attitude. After all, her family had a point. She was a proud Nakiri. Perhaps not as pompous and overbearing as before, but she would be besmirching the Nakiri name if she were to be so unassertive towards her desires.
People believed that everything she had was automatically given to her, as per her pedigree. That was an incomplete view of her situation. Her pedigree only gave her resources and opportunities. At the end of the day, it was her that seized them all. Her excellence, while obviously aided by her family, was something she had to work for and claim herself.
She took pride in that as well. In spite of the challenges of having the God's Tongue, she had excelled not only as a chef, but also as a Nakiri in all facets: business, management, etiquette, and more.
As such, the pride that had been barring her feelings for the redhead at first started to fuel it instead. The tables had turned once more. Now, she felt more determined than ever to claim the redhead. It was simply the Erina thing to do.
Her impromptu meeting in her room was for the purpose of creating a plan to get her and Souma some alone time. Alone time which she planned to capitalize on, and hopefully get something out of.
The first challenge was all the unwitting underclassmen of his who do not understand the relationship between him and her. Anyone in her batch and beyond knew of her, and of Souma. And they knew not to get between the two.
The second challenge was Souma himself, although Erina weirdly felt as if she could solve that challenge without much trouble.
Unbeknownst to her, she had started licking her lips upon that thought. Alice and Hisako simply opted to glance at her peculiar gesture.
"How about singling him out after his class with you?" Alice suggested.
Erina crossed her arms and replied with a huff, "Oh, please. He doesn't even attend my classes! He just shows up to take the exams, which he aces, as expected, and then disappears!"
"Woah, the parallels between how he is in your class and his life in general."
"It's not funny, Alice."
"Teehee, my bad. My bad. After all, this is the first time you've resolved to go on the offensive here, Erina-chan!" Alice clapped her hands together as she gave that noncommittal apology. Erina knew she was enjoying this. Perhaps a bit too much, even.
With a deep sigh, Erina closed her eyes and replied, "Well… I just feel restless. I… I want him, and the way he's avoiding me feels like he's not giving me a fair chance to see what we can be."
Alice's eyes widened in genuine surprise. "Hooh! Oh my gosh! Did you just confess your feelings for him, again? You've really gone soft on me, dear Headmistress! Hasn't she, Hisako?"
Hisako merely gave a polite nod of the head. Polite, but in no way did it alleviate Erina's irritation.
"We've gone through this before, Alice! Don't go stringing Hisako along! And… no way. There's no way I'm confessing to him." She sighed.
Alice narrowed her eyes and pouted. "Eeeeeh? You and that pesky pride of yours. You do know he likes you, right?"
"Even I know that much. I may be unfamiliar with these things, but I'm not dumb. That said, I just can't imagine myself confessing to him, you know?"
"Then why are we even having this meeting? Wasn't this supposed to be about how you can get some alone time with him?"
"My pride would never allow me to confess… but I don't have to. I'll just have to take him."
Upon her bold declaration, she was met with silence.
"…" "…"
"W-what?"
"So this is what Erina-chan becomes when she's in love huh, a tiger woman."
"What are you even talking about, Alice?!"
"I'm afraid I agree with her, Erina-sama. You are indeed a tiger woman."
"Huh?!"
Alice and Hisako shared a giggle at her reaction.
Erina pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation.
"Enough about that, do you have any ideas?"
Alice placed her pointer finger on her chin and commented. "What if you call for an Elite 10 meeting at the Headmistress's office? Even Souma would know not to skip that one out."
"We only have meetings in my office for very important matters, I can't call an entire meeting just to single him out after. Besides, the school's been running well, so there won't be anything to even meet about." Erina argued.
Alice gave a sly grin and nudged Hisako with her elbow. The aide simply gave her a nod of understanding, as if she were privy to what Alice was planning. Erina shot them both a look of confusion.
"I didn't say it had to be a real meeting. Just have Hisako here send him a meeting announcement. However, you're going to need the Elite 10 to cooperate with your conspiracy here. If Souma asks if there's a meeting; there is."
"Sigh. Alright, fine. It's not like I have any better ideas. What comes after then?"
"I'll handle it, Erina-sama. I'll make sure to redirect any traffic in the area and put any requests on hold. I'll be able to buy you a few hours."
"Hours? What would we even do? What if… he really doesn't want to interact with me?"
"Oh, geez. You're so fickle, Erina. One minute you're a tigress, the other you're shrinking away. Here's what you do… you remember his dish at Blue?"
"Yeah?"
"Do something like that. Make him a statement dish, a challenge dish. Your strengths are both in cooking, so use it. As a chef, Souma will not be able to resist meeting you sincerely if you present him a dish." Alice commented.
Erina nodded her head. It was a reasonable proposal. After all, her and Souma's relationship started because of food—of dishes.
Erina's pride smoldered at the thought. She knew that regardless of whatever weird mood Souma was in, he would never pass up an opportunity to duke it out with her in the kitchen. And deny it she may, but she loved his brazen challenges to her.
That was the Souma she wanted to face. She wanted to beat him at his best and then claim him as hers. This was their intimate ground; their rivalry. A hallowed connection borne through pride and the pursuit of cooking.
And so she got to cooking.
Urgent Elite 10 Meeting. All Elite 10 Members, please proceed to the Headmistress's Office immediately.
Souma gulped. He knew the day would come when he would have to face Erina. To be honest, he was apprehensive about going on this meeting. As far as he was concerned, there wasn't anything in Totsuki urgent enough to warrant such a formal meeting.
However, he supposed he wasn't the most well-informed individual about Totsuki matters. If they say there is something urgent, then there probably is something urgent.
Souma decided that whatever awkwardness he felt around her would have to take a back seat for this meeting. Even though he seemed to be a lax and sometimes irresponsible individual, he was actually quite professional. He always made sure to deliver, even if in peculiar ways. Additionally, he owed Erina a lot for picking up his slack and managing the school this well with her First Seat on leave.
Souma heaved a sigh and started walking toward the Academic Affairs building. He still had a fleeting, lingering suspicion, but squashed in as he took in the architecture. Eventually he climbed a small flight of stairs onto a roofed walking path amidst a beautiful botanical garden. Unbeknownst to him, some Nakiri employees were hidden behind the bushes, relaying his position to a certain pink-haired aide.
Souma turned the corner to a spacious hallway. At the end of the hallway was a grand double-door entrance. The doors were made of sturdy wood, beautifully carved by master artisans. The architecture of space created a feeling of power and control from this grand entrance—it was, after all, the Headmistress's room.
As Souma's shoes tapped on the tiled floor, Nakiri employees monitoring the security system once more relayed his location and estimated time of arrival on the door.
Within the grand room, Erina was waiting.
Souma knocked thrice on the grand doors. Erina gave a small huff before beckoning him to enter.
Oh, now he decides to knock, when I've given up on reminding him. Erina thought.
Souma pushed one of the double doors open and stepped inside. He noticed that he was the first to arrive to the meeting, aside from the Headmistress herself. He glanced at Erina and saw her dressed in her chef's attire, which confused him. His Headmistress was always appropriately dressed, so it was strange for her to call for a meeting of this magnitude and show up in mismatched clothing.
"Please take a seat, Yukihira-kun." Souma shuddered. Her voice was the same as he remembered, but there was an evenness and calmness to it that felt alien on the usually animated Erina. It felt like she was addressing him not as Souma, but as her student and direct subordinate.
As he stepped forward and sat on one of the sofas, the door he had pushed open abruptly closed and locked. He was alarmed at the occurrence, but he couldn't peel his eyes off of the blonde in front of him. Somehow, it felt like staring into a tiger. He had a bizarre intuition that if he turned his head, she might pounce on him.
He shook his head upon those absurd thoughts and decided to question the situation.
"So, um, where's everybody else?"
"There is no one else that will attend this meeting." Erina replied as she stood up. The way the room is designed gave the illusion of Erina being taller and more imposing than she was, and Souma's sweat dropped at the sight.
"What?" Souma said. Erina inwardly giggled, maybe Alice and Hisako had a point; maybe her family had a point. She was enjoying this.
"I'm sorry I had to ask this way, but please understand that you left me with few choices. Yukihira-kun, today we'll be having a shokugeki. It's about time I assessed personally if that little trip of yours has done anything to improve your plebeian cooking."
Erina knew that what she said was cheap provocation. Souma also knew that all of that was cheap provocation. She wanted him to get riled up and to challenge her. She was inviting him to a slugfest in the kitchen.
Despite them both knowing that, it still worked all the same. At the words "shokugeki" and "plebeian," all other worries in Souma's heart vanished. His awkwardness and fear the past weeks dissolved as he gave a wry grin.
"So the dear Headmistress has done all this just to single me out for a shokugeki? It seems I can't refuse. Fine, time to blow your socks off, Nakiri."
Erina was bubbling inside. This is the Souma she wanted to face. She didn't want the awkward, bumbling mess he had been around her. She wanted him to face her head on and to learn firsthand everything she felt about him and wanted from him.
She couldn't possibly confess to him with her words. But her actions, and her cooking will do it for her. Souma may be obtuse, but his sense as a chef would allow him to feel the message in her dish.
Erina gave a challenging glare as Souma stood up and tied his bandana on his head. "Lead the way, Nakiri."
"Excited to lose, Yukihira-kun?" She half-snarled back at him.
"More like excited to finally make you say the magic words." He challenged.
Erina simply huffed and headed toward her kitchen, twirling her sideburns with her finger as if to remind Souma that she was a proud Nakiri.
Inwardly, however, she was jumping with excitement. The plan worked. Their deepest connection; their rivalry, had brought them face to face once more. The hallowed battleground of the kitchen, and the ability to express themselves with their dishes, it was all a perfect setting for a change of relationship. And Erina would be besmirching the Nakiri name if she failed to capitalize on this opportunity.
Erina bit her lip and powerfully strode to the kitchen. It was now phase 2 of the plan; to make this idiotic, obtuse redhead understand not to test a Nakiri woman.
She couldn't help but quake in excitement.
"Oh my God, she's doing it." Alice exclaimed.
Unbeknownst to Erina, her nosy cousin had "accidentally" let it slip to her family that she was undergoing Operation Souma. The curious Nakiris were all possessed by her nosiness and started to pester Hisako to let them view the security cam footage of the plan in action.
Hisako, dutiful as ever, tried to reject them, but there was only so much you could do with the Nakiris pestering you.
So now here they are, in one of the Nakiri movie rooms all nosily watching it all unfold.
"That's my daughter! Perfect execution of the plan! Lured him right in." Mana cheered at the screen as Senzaemon chuckled.
"Aren't they the cutest thing? They're like middle schoolers facing their feelings for each other in a standoff." Leonora commented.
"That kid is impressive too, to be able to flip that switch like that and not back down from a challenge." Soe stated. "Though I suppose we've all experienced that firsthand."
The Nakiris all laughed at the realization. Souma did have a habit of challenging the Nakiris head on.
Senzaemon crossed his arms and grinned proudly. "My granddaughter is also impressive, isn't she? To be able to be this commanding at her young age. I am excited, if not a bit terrified, at what the future holds for them."
"True, she's a lot more like mom, isn't she?" Mana remarked.
Senzaemon simply nodded in agreement, inwardly shivering from the memories.
"They're so extra though, it really had to be like this, eh? Those two are always so stubborn." Alice commented as she leaned back on her recliner.
Hisako could only sigh in exasperation, but she was cheering for her ward as well. She had seen, perhaps more than anyone else, the feelings that the redhead evoked with Erina. She supposed she could be forgiven for feeling satisfaction at how her mistress had turned the tables. Now, they were facing each other head on, and much like the nosy Nakiris beside her, she couldn't wait to see what came next.
A/N: I'm back. This story should be around 2 chapters, just to warm up to rewrite my other fic, "The Resurgence of Excellence."