I do not own Shokugeki no Soma. I only own this fanfic's story, and any new characters introduced within it.
7:35 PM Nakiri Mansion
"Erina! Where are you?!" Alice called from the first floor.
"I'm in my room!" Erina called back.
"Ok!" She said as she began running up the stairs.
As she walked in the room, she noticed Erina was sitting on the floor with her head up against the bed.
"Erina? What's wrong?" She asked.
"Oh, it's nothing Alice. I'm just feeling a little sick is all." She responded rather blandly.
"You might be able to fool Hishoko, but not me Erina! I know that somethings on your mind, you've been acting all weird since Yukihira-kun left." She said, with a hint of playful snarkiness in her voice.
"No! Of course not, I'm glad he left! That uncultured feline doesn't deserve to be a chef!" Just saying that made Erina's heart hurt, but she knew she had to keep up the act.
However, Alice could see that Erina didn't mean what she had said.
"Look, Erina, I know that you miss Yukihira-kun, I do too, we all do-"
"That's not it!" She shouted, burying her face in her hands.
"Then what is Erina?" Alice asked in a more soothing voice.
"I- Ok I'll tell you, but don't you dare mention this to anyone! Ok?"
"Ok, ok, I won't, I swear."
"I- I- *sigh* I like Yukihira-kun..."
"WHAT?!" She screamed.
"SHHHH, I just said don't tell anyone!"
"Sorry, sorry, my bad. Sooo, you like Yukihira-kun huh?" Alice asked with a slightly sultry voice.
"Yeah..." Erina responded, twirling her hair.
"Since when?"
"Ever since I tried his dish when I was accepting applicants into Totsuki..."
"Woah, that long ago? You must really feel bad, calling every one of his meals disgusting!" Alice snickered.
"Hey! My pride got the best of me okay? I was more concerned with keeping a gap between myself and my father at the time, my feelings for him manifested in a tiny way, seeing as I had other things to worry about!" Erina snarled.
"Okay, okay, jeez." She replied.
...
"-But, why do you like him, it couldn't have been just the cooking right?"
"No, it wasn't. It was Yukihira-kun who helped the Rebel's defeat Central... It was Yukihira-kun who helped me get over the fear of my father and become a somewhat normal girl again... It was Yukihira-kun who helped me realize there's more to cooking than just satisfaction and perfection... It was Yukihira-kun who made me a better person. At first, I was grateful to be called his friend... why is it that I hate that word now?"
"...Because, he made you the best version of yourself." Alice said, looking seriously, but comforting.
"I guess..." Erina responded.
"You know what? You need a break, a fun break that'll release all that tension from fawning over Yukihira-kun!"
"I- fine. This better be worth it Alice!" Erina called as Alice walked out of the room to go change.
...
8:00 PM
"Where are we even going Alice?" Erina asked briskly as the cousins exited the mansion and entered the limo.
"We are going to the Sumiredōri Shopping District!" Alice exclaimed.
"Wait isn't that-" Erina started as Alice cut her off
"Yes! That is where Yukihira Diner is, but we're not going there for that, we're going there for a festival that's going on right now!"
8:40 PM, Sumiredōri Shopping District
...
As Alice and Erina exited the limo, Erina felt weird being in Soma's hometown where he grew up, where most of his memories were made.
"..."
"Aw, c'mon, Erina! Don't be such a buzzkill!" Alice said as she gave Erina's hip a playful squeeze
"Hey! Stop that-"
"Forget about it, let's go!" Alice squealed as they both came upon the lights of the festival.
There were so many food booths, Erina and Alice lost count, but it didn't matter, as the atmosphere felt wholesome. Everyone was one big family and enjoyed themselves throughout the night and didn't seem to let anything bother them, Erina noticed.
The Nakiri cousins were in the middle of trying out a ramen booth when Erina gave her "judgement" of the shoyu ramen she was eating.
"Hm, for a commoner's site to congregate, this food isn't bad at all..." Erina pointed out
"I'm sorry, what?" The owner asked.
"Hahahaha! You must forgive my cousin sir! She has no restraint when it comes to judging people's food! She means no offense I assure you!" Alice laughed warily as she paid for the dish and dragged Erina out of the booth.
"Hey! This isn't some meeting of high class chef's! No one here wants to know about your opinion on their food, especially given how hard you tend to conclude with most dishes!" Alice hissed at Erina while walking to the next booth.
"Honestly, Alice, I was expecting a luxurious spa bath where we could truly relax but I'm not used to this kind of place-" Erina was cut off when she bumped into a young girl with brown bangs that cut off at her eyes.
"OW! What was that for!" Erina snarled.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry, so sorry, so sorry, sorry!" The young girl immediately got up and started bowing up and down quickly.
"Relax! It's okay! My dumb cousin here knows no bounds, if anything, she should be the one apologizing!" Alice said snarkily as she stopped the girl from bowing frantically.
"Hmph!" Erina scoffed and turned her head away.
"Anyway... My name's Alice, and this is Erina, what's your name?" Alice asked.
"I- uh- I- um- uh- My name is Mayumi Kurase, pleased to meet you!" She said as she bowed again.
"Well, Mayumi, me and Erina don't live around here, so we would appreciate it if you could show us around! As a favor, we'll buy you dinner!" Alice said
"Of course, I'd be glad to show you around!" Mayumi replied, smiling.
...
"So, Alice, where exactly are you two from?" Mayumi asked shyly as the trio walked through the crowd
"Oh us? We're from Totsuki Culinary Academy!" Alice responded.
"Totsuki? That's where Soma-kun goes to..."
"You know Soma!?" Erina exclaimed bringing herself face to face with Mayumi
"I- um- um- uh- Yes I do!" Mayumi replied, shaking.
"She kinda reminds me of poor Tadokoro, hehe..." Alice thought to herself, remembering Megumi getting scolded at by the teachers or Erina, trembling at the mere sight of them.
"Me and Soma-kun went to the same school before he moved to Totsuki," Mayumi said.
Alice could see the curiosity in Erina's eyes, almost begging to know more.
"Well then, Mayumi, if you could, we would like to know more about Soma, he happens to be a close friend of ours too," Alice said, sitting down at a table.
"Sure, any friend of Soma's is a friend of mine!" She said, smiling again
...
"So what was Yukihira-kun like before moving? Erina asked before taking a sip of some tea.
"Well, um, Soma-kun was a very outgoing person, he wasn't afraid about trying new things to make his cooking better, although it did make him falter in his other classes," Mayumi said, giggling.
"Was Yukihira-kun always hell-bent on beating his dad?" Alice asked.
"Yeah, he was, they would hold cooking matches in the diner, I would even act as a judge sometimes!" She responded gleefully, as if the memory made her feel good somehow.
"Well it does seem like you all made good memories there..." Erina responded, sulking somewhat.
"Did something happen to Soma-kun?" Mayumi asked, seemingly catching on that something was wrong.
"Well, Soma-kun left Totsuki a little over a month ago, no one's seen him since." Alice answered.
"Oh, Soma-kun left? Do you know why?" Mayumi asked, curious.
"Well, we don't really know why, other than he needed to perfect his skills abroad,"
"Well, I'm sure Soma-kun left for a reason, he always does. Cooking is one of the only things that's made Soma genuinely happy," Mayumi said.
"What do you mean?" Erina asked.
"Well, when Soma-kun was twelve, his mom died of heart disease..."
It hit Erina. This was why he never talked about his mom, she had no idea, while she had both parents to take care of her, Soma suffered the loss of a mother. She couldn't imagine how he must have felt.
"Woah, that must've been terrible..." Alice said
"Well see that's the thing, even after she died, Soma-kun still came to school, he wasn't as exuberant as he normally was but he still came." Mayumi said.
"Really?"
"Yeah... But then there was this time where Soma-kun got what he called 'chefs block' and didn't come to school for 2 weeks!"
"What, really?" Erina asked.
"Yeah, apparently, he was having trouble coming up with a dish to compete with his dad's, and ended up in some sort of phase where he just spaced out whenever I saw him. Soon after he just stopped coming to school."
"Hm well that seems like Yukihira," Erina pondered out loud.
"Can I ask though, what happened before he left? There had to have been something, he wouldn't just disappear if it wasn't important." Mayumi asked.
"Well, Erina beat him at the BLUE finals, it's basically this big competition for young chefs and Soma came in second." Alice pointed out
"Hm, still, losing to anyone wouldn't make Soma do something so rash..." Mayumi replied.
"I called his dish disgusting-" Erina blurted out.
"Even then, if someone called his dish disgusting he would probably rise to the challenge and make that person say it was delicious eventually," Mayumi said, tilting her head.
"I had called his dish disgusting countless times before, and that time, he had put his all into that dish, it was literally his entire essence... And I still called it disgusting." Erina said, tearing up.
"Oh... That might do the trick..." Mayumi replied bleakly.
"I think I need to use the restroom." Erina said, standing up.
"It's okay Erina, we'll wait here." Alice responded comfortingly.
...
"Sooo, you like Yukihira-kun don't you, Mayumi-chan?" Alice asked playfully as Erina walked away.
...
"I need to go after him, and tell him how I feel." Erina thought as she cleaned up in the restroom.
She knew that she had genuinely hurt Soma's feelings during BLUE, and as soon as she worked up the courage to apologize and explain her feelings, he left.
...
"I need to get my social life together..." Erina sighed to herself when suddenly she was stopped by three men with shady clothing.
"Hey little lady, what's a pretty girl like you doing so far from home?" One of the men said
"I don't know what you mongrels want, so stay away from me!"
"Ooh, a feisty one, aren't ya?"
Erina knew she couldn't run away from them, the way to the restroom was like an alley with a dead end, she had no way to escape.
"Aw, c'mon little girl, let us help you then," Another man said as he brushed past Erina, feeling her hair as he walked past.
*SLAP*
"OW! What the fu**! She slapped me, that bi***!" The man yelled as he pushed Erina up against a wall.
"Don't even think about yelling for help!" The third man said as he pulled out a knife.
"Maybe, this is what I deserve... Maybe this is how I pay for my sins, after all it wasn't just Soma who I've wronged..." She thought as she teared up.
"Oh man, you're about to have a good time-" The first man started when he was cut off.
"Maybe, but I can't say the same about you perverts," A young man said at the end of the path.
He was wearing black slacks and a navy blue long sleeve polo that matched his wavy hair.
"Who the hell are you?" The second man growled
"Doesn't matter." The young man replied.
"Well, from what I see you're outnumbered three to one!" The man yelled, turning to the boy as Erina looked on in desperation.
...
"Oh yeah? Well... You should've brought more guys then."
Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry for the late update, I wasn't sure what to make this chapter about, but I got it. I was also busy with some stuff at home so sorry about that; the regular upload schedule should continue from now on(next chapter should be out on Friday). I was kinda hoping for some more buildup for when Haru and Erina finally met, but I think now was as good a time as any. Anyway, thank you again for reading and understanding, as always, I will see you in the next chapter, bye now!
-Kano