I do not own Shokugeki no Soma. I only own this fanfic's story, and any new characters introduced within it.
6:10 AM, Polar Star Dormitory
"Still the same Polar Star huh? Welp, you got this far, may as well just go in already…" Haru thought to himself as he came upon the doorstep of the dorm. As he knocked, he was met with the door opening rather quickly as if someone was being expected.
A rather old woman wearing a ragged yellow shirt with a black apron on top, stepped out onto the door mat and met Haru's gaze.
"So it's you again… What made you think, after what you did, that you could just waltz back in here?"
"Good to see you too, Fumio. I figured if I made you a dish, you would at least hear me out."
"There's nothing to hear. Get out before I call security."
"Aw c'mon Fumio, don't be like that."
"Nothing you could do would make me even want to consider letting you in."
As Fumio started to close the door, Haru put his foot in to stop it.
"Not even if I made your favorite ceviche?" Haru pondered out loud.
Fumio hesitated. She knew the sheer level of skill Haru possessed, but she couldn't do it, not after what he had done to her, to her dorm.
Haru could tell what she was thinking, but knew that what he had to do could not wait.
"I'm serious Fumio, you think I would come back here if it wasn't important? Don't make me beg." Haru said as he peered into Fumio's soul with his intense cyber yellow eyes.
Fumio finally gave in.
"Fine. You have until the kids wake up."
...
Fumio could smell the dish from the other end of the kitchen and began to fidget. She recognized that the skills Haru possessed alone surpassed those of many chefs who graduated from Totsuki. However…
"So, last time I heard from you, you were cooking for the President of Ecuador. That true?"
"Yeah, but I got bored, Ecuador's not the only place with great food." He smirked as he said this.
"What about you? Last I heard, Azami's kid was going around, stealing everyone's knife. Then all of a sudden this Soma kid turns up and solos him at the BLUE. Sounds like sorcery to me." Haru remarked as he squeezed a lemon over his finished product.
"It wasn't sorcery. It was a talent developed over countless wins and losses throughout shokugeki." Fumio retorted as Haru served his dish in front of her.
"Buen provecho." Haru said as he gave Fumio a fork.
Fumio couldn't resist. As soon as she brought a piece of the fish to her mouth, she could not stop eating until the whole plate was finished. What madness! This feeling that coursed through her, the bitterness of the lemon, the tang of the sweet potato, the softness of the fish, it was like a bitter yet relaxing bath at the peak of a lemon mountain. The fact that everything but the maize was served raw and cold made it even harder to believe that this dish was among the best dishes she's ever had.
"Talk." She uttered as she finally brought herself back to reality.
Haru explained how he had originally intended to visit Megumi. However he came across the situation with Erina, and how Senzaemon requested that he help Erina go back to her old self now that Soma was gone.
"I see... And there wasn't any other way of settling this?"
"Nope. Erina's going through a phase, not sure what kind, but it's definitely a phase. She's been acting colder than usual, just like that failure of a father named Azami. All she needs is a little reminder of why she cooks."
"You're going to challenge her to a shokugeki, aren't you?"
"Of course."
They both heard rustling from the rooms above. That was Haru's que to leave.
"Don't tell Megumi I was here, ok?" Haru asked Fumio calmly as he began walking towards the door.
"Out of respect for your cooking, not as a person, I will comply."
"Still gotta earn that trust back somehow huh…" Haru thought out loud to himself as he opened the door.
As Haru began walking out the door Fumio stomped her foot to get his attention.
"Haru."
"Yeah?"
"Take it easy on her okay? She's a fragile girl, as stubborn as she is."
"I know." He grinned. "Nice seeing you again Fumio." He waved his hand and walked away.
"That boy…" Fumio knew that Haru could easily defeat the young Nakiri. The question was, how badly would he do it?
As Fumio closed the door she thought she heard something from the stairwell. She creeped towards and peered over... nothing.
As she walked away, a young man with orange peel colored hair peered from the ceiling.
"Interesting..." Satoshi thought to himself.
2:30 PM, Nakiri Mansion
"Hishoko! Would you mind fetching me my phone? It's on the kitchen counter!" Alice called from Erina's room.
"Don't you already have a servant Alice-sama? And for the last time, it's Hisako!" Arato retorted indignantly.
"Hey, he's not my servant anymore, he's my loyal boyfriend, I don't make him perform tasks of a servant, right Ryo?" Alice pouted as she ruffled Ryo's hair.
"Yes, Alice." Ryo responded with his usual lack of intonation.
"Hisako, did you receive any more emails from Yukihira?" Erina asked somewhat impatiently.
"I'm sorry Erina-sama, I haven't..." Hisako replied gloomily, following that, the entire room fell silent as well. Everyone, not just Erina, missed Soma. Even Ryo, who had a heated rivalry between Soma and Akira, missed the confidence and fire that was Soma.
Finally Alice spoke up
"Well, how about we play a game of poker? We can bet our clothes," Alice asked as she got up from the floor.
"I really don't think that's appropriate, Alice-sama." Hisako remarked with a questionable giggle.
"I think I'll pass." Said Erina. "I'm going out to get some fresh air."
"Oh... ok. Come back as soon as you're done though!" Alice shouted as Erina slid the door to the balcony closed.
Erina walked out onto the balcony and stared at the stars. It reminded her of when she and Soma were riding on the train to the final arena during their war with Central. She could see his eyes, brimming with sparks of excitement but also with calm confidence.
Then she remembered how she called his dish during the BLUE finals disgusting, and how the spark in his eyes suddenly vanished.
She went further ahead when Soma left without warning.
*flashback*
"I'm going to train, probably overseas or something. It'll be a couple of months." She recalled feeling so frustrated and angry reading the note, when she didn't even consider how she made him feel.
"Well I did notice that after the BLUE finals, he was acting a little strange." Megumi explained.
"After a week or so he started spacing out a lot, and seemed really unfocused. Then a couple of days later it seemed like everything had gone back to normal. At the end of the month though, that's when he suddenly vanished." Megumi finished.
It was then that Erina had the realization that, every single dish Soma prepared for her, every second he spent fixing a dish to her liking, she called "disgusting." Calling it a force of habit was an understatement, as this was something her father drilled into her mind. However it was Soma who removed that idea, the idea that anything less than perfect was disgusting. A dish was meant to fill you with joy and happiness, not perfection and satisfaction. Yet, somehow, she could never bring herself to say the word "delicious."
Maybe because she wanted him to continue making dishes for her... Whatever the reason may have been, it still made her selfish.
*flashback end*
"How... After everything he's done for me, after healing the wounds my father inflicted on me, after showing me what it means to cook, how could I still treat him like that!" Erina cried out, sobbing. She knew that dish was Soma's entire essence, he had put his all into that dish, and she still called it "disgusting."
After calming herself a little, she looked to the sky, eyes still brimming with tears
"I'm sorry Soma... I'm so sorry... I just wish you were here to hear me say it..."
Authors Note: Hey guys, so I do have a somewhat of a schedule planned now, I'll upload one chapter at least once every 2-3 days, it may change when school starts up again so yeah. Again, I'm new here so if you guys have a review, leave one, and I'll gladly look through it. As always, I will see you in the next chapter, bye now!
-Kano