Choosing What to Follow

A/N Hey everyone, sorry for the delay, I've been really caught up in school lately and have had next to no time to write. However, here I am ready to present another chapter! One thing I really want you guys' opinion on is quotes. I really want to start incorporating quotations from my favourite books and songs into my writing, but I don't know if it will disrupt the flow of the story, so let me know what you guys think about it in a review or PM's. I do my best to reply to reviews/messages as quickly and in as much detail in possible. There'll be more notes at the end, so for now I hope you guys enjoy the next chapter!

It was cold.

Stepping out of the private jet, she immediately noticed the chilly breeze passing over her skin, and she pulled the long fur jacket she was wearing even closer to her pale skin.

I'm already so damn nervous, and it's so cold here too. This trip really couldn't get any worse. Walking down the stairs and onto the runway, the young woman was glad to feel solid ground beneath her feet as she did a once-over of her surroundings. After all her travelling, the girl had never once visited America, and she was really annoyed that her promise of never visiting the country needed to be broken.

Heading towards the car that was waiting for her, she pulled out her phone after hearing a slight vibration. Bringing the phone to her ear, she was startled by an all too familiar voice screaming down the other end.

"ERINA-SAMA! Are you okay? Was the flight service suitable? Did you get all your luggage? Is your car there yet?"

The pink-haired girl's questions continued on endlessly, as the blonde chuckled slightly to herself. She was glad her friend cared for her so much, and the voice which was still screaming through the phone had greatly helped the blonde calm her nerves, even if only slightly. After Hisako had finished her rant, there was one question she had left. Speaking with a much softer voice, she asked her friend,

"Erina-sama, why did you break your promise?"

Erina knew the question was coming, and she had no right to avoid answering the question. Hisako was her best friend after all, and there weren't many things the blonde could keep hidden from the clever pinkette. However, this question was something she couldn't answer, at least not for now.

"Hisako, I'm afraid I can't tell you just yet. Everything will be explained to you, Alice and grandfather when I return. As for all of your worries, I assure you everything is fine here, the journey was comfortable as always and the car is already here. I shall look forward to my return to Japan which, if everything goes as planned, should be in the next few days. See you soon, Hisako."

Not wanting to show any signs of weakness or nervousness, the princess cut the phone swiftly after finishing her sentence as she steeled herself for the days to come. She knew this would be difficult, and without any friends or family with her she really didn't know how she would get through this. But, there were things she needed to know. Conversations about topics and people that hadn't been brought up in years needed to be surfaced so they could be concluded once and for all. And she, Nakiri Erina, was determined to achieve her goals.

"Hey dad, why'd you guys call me Sõma?" The father and son pair had cried all the tears they had pent up over the years, and with the moon shining brightly among the stars above the Totsuki grounds, Sõma decided now was the time he discussed his feelings with his old man.

"Eh, where'd that come from? But, if you have to know, it was your mum's choice. We had been sitting on the restaurant roof, I think she was around 7 months in with you. The wind was blowing, and she thought it would be a nice name. Ya know, I don't think she'd ever looked as beautiful as she did that day, hair swaying and her hand on her belly. She really loved you, even before you were born, she knew you'd be something special. Look where you are now, eh?" Looking down at his son with nothing but pride in his eyes, Sõma smiled with happiness Joichiro hadn't seen in a long time.

"I just wish we had more time with her, you know? She was only around for 5 years of my life, but it feels like she's been here the whole time." Reaching up to the scar on his eyebrow, the young chef chuckled slightly. "Remember how I got this, old man? Mum was so annoyed at me, she didn't talk to me for the next few days!"

"That knife had been so special to her, but you just had to go and stab yourself with it. Honestly, you were such a clutz back then me and your mum didn't think you had any hope at becoming a chef." Thinking back to memories the family had made, Joichiro felt at peace. Like all the stress that had built up since her death was going away, even if slowly. He had been told by Senzaemon and Dojima that keeping in the sorrow he had felt over her death was bad, but he had never listened to them. Realising now that his son had felt just as sad, he wanted to share all the happy memories he had made with her with Sõma.

"Ya know, your mum was probably one of the worst chefs I've ever seen. When I had been travelling, I stumbled upon the Yukihira diner which her and her family ran. There hadn't been many customers inside, but the smell coming from the kitchen was so nice I had to go and try some of the food. I walked inside, and I saw her for the first time. She had her Yukihira apron on, but instead of cooking she had been serving the customers. Her mum had been shouting at her, and Akiko had the most deadpan look on her face. She had seen me entering the restaurant, and I swear to you when she came to take my order, I didn't say anything for at least half a minute!"

Hearing his dad talk so carefreely about his mother after not even mentioning her for so long made Sõma happy beyond words. For years now, him and Joichiro had avoided the topic of Akiko in fear of raising emotions and thoughts that they thought were better kept to themselves. But now that they both knew it had been almost 10 years since she had passed, both men knew they should talk about her. It felt like they had been betraying her memory, and talking about the memories the two had made with the woman felt like breaking a dam neither chef knew had built up in the first place.

The father and son pair talked about trips to different countries with Akiko, of creating new dishes for the restaurant after Akiko and Joichiro inherited the family diner following their marriage, and of how much both men missed the woman. How she had become something so essential to them that both Sõma and Joichiro had felt lost after her passing. And now, with the time drawing closer to midnight and the start of a new day, Sõma thought he should bring up what had really been plaguing his mind over the last year.

"Hey dad, there's something I want to ask you." His voice had started quiet, almost hesitant at first. But Sõma composed himself mentally, knowing this had to be discussed here and now. "What did you mean when you told me the secret to becoming a good chef? I've been thinking about it ever since you said it to me last year, but I can't for the life of me figure out what you meant. Every day since I joined Totsuki I worked on getting better at a chef, at getting closer to beating you, but I need to know what you meant last year. Please, dad."

"It's really that time, eh? Well Akiko, I think we've left him in suspense for long enough. Alright Sõma, I'll tell you. I'll tell you everything, starting from the beginning."

The car came to a halt. Quite abruptly, she had to admit. The ride had been quite pleasant actually, considering how nervous the Nakiri heiress had been for its duration. Quickly thanking the driver and stepping out of the vehicle, Erina took her time to look over the building that loomed over her.

To say she was scared was an understatement, for while on every occasion before this he had come to look for her, Erina was here seeking him out.

Him, being her father.

Erina had never been a particularly curious child, always preferring to go with what she was told and not really ask too many questions. After all, Nakiri business was incredibly confidential, and having a four year old know about business plans was hardly a good decision. This nature had stuck with the princess long after childhood, and even now that she was halfway into her teenage years, the girl tried not to pry too much into any situation. However, something had been on her mind a lot. Especially after her father's return to Japan.

What happened to her mother?

The Nakiri family was so prestigious after all. How was it possible for her mother, who had been a Nakiri by blood, to seemingly disappear into thin air, almost as if she never existed. Erina's last memory of her mother was barely even a memory, more like traces of voices and a faint blur of a purple dress, but except that she had nothing to go off. No pictures, no conversations with her grandfather about the woman or with any close business partners who often came to visit the Nakiri mansion. While the young blonde had thought no better of it when she was younger, the issue had been on the chef's mind for a while now, and she knew she had to talk to her father about it.

So here she was, standing outside the building that her father, the man who had made her childhood miserable and had threatened to ruin the live's of her best friends, was residing in. She tried to compose herself, calm the nerves that had been building ever since she called for her pilot to fly her to America, and began thinking of some sort of plan of action. What should she say to him, what could she ask him without letting the man know too much about her. Erina had tried to keep a distance from her father since the Regiment de Cuisine, and this small question did not give any reason for Erina to let the man into her private life.

Walking into the building with a confident look on her face, she was met with shocked faces, all the staff recognizing the young girl. Smiling slightly to herself, she requested to see the man and was immediately lead towards the elevator by one of the staff. After reaching the top floor of the building, Erina almost froze. All the composure she had managed to attain before exiting the lift was gone, as she slowly moved her eyes from one corner of the room to the other. All along the hallway leading towards a grand set of double doors were photos, which had been exquisitely framed.

As the young blonde observed each photo, her shock seemed to multiply. There were family photos with Erina, her father and who she assumed was her mother happily smiling at the camera; photos of her father with Joichiro and Dojima back at the Polar Star dorm in what she could only assume were Shokugekis; and as she walked further towards the door, she saw something which shook her to the core. Her father and her mother were sitting at a table with none other than Joichiro and a woman she could only assume as his wife, with two babies sitting on either mother's laps. Moving closer to the photo, she recognized the blonde as herself, sitting happily in the brunette's lap while a baby with spiky red hair sat in her mother's arms playing with what looked like squid.

Erina's brain was in overdrive, thoughts running absolutely everywhere. First and most importantly, there were indeed photos of her mother, they were just all in Azami's possession. The second thing she noted, was that her and Sõma seemed to have met each other in their very early childhood, and by the looks of things the two families were very close. This confused the God's Tongue holder, as when she had seen Sõma at the start of their first year in Totsuki High, she had very faintly recognized his red hair. She also thought back to when she had been staying at the Polar Star dorm, and the number of times she thought she had recognized his actions during his cooking. While the blonde had pegged those pangs of recognition on Sõma's heritage as her idol's son, she now thought there could've been more to those moments than her memory had let on.

Erina was brought back out of her thoughts by the sound of the door opening, and the man Erina thought she would never see again was standing in the doorway, his hair still held in the same style as when she had last seen him a few weeks ago. He looked exactly the same as he had then, except Erina noted the small bags under the man's eyes, perhaps from fatigue after his plans to take over the Culinary World had been foiled by the Rebels. The man looked up towards Erina, and his look seemed to soften slightly as he said to her:

"I assume you've seen the photos already?"

"I... I have father. And I need to know. I need you to explain what happened to me father, please."

"Come inside then, Erina. It seems we indeed have much to discuss."

A/N Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, cut. Christ that took a while, I've rewritten this chapter at least 3 times over from scratch trying to keep an ample balance between both Erina and Sõma and between thoughts and speech. I know the story is now officially going off canon, but I've always wanted to explore the depths of Erina and Sõma's families and I thought what better way to do that than have both teens discuss the issue with their fathers, and at the same time no less! Anyways, I'm really fucking tired so I'm going to upload this and try and get what rest I can before school resumes tomorrow. Again, sorry for the longish wait but I think you guys would've been more annoyed at the quality of the chapter if I uploaded one of the earlier versions. Leave any feedback below, and I hope to see you guys next time!