Thank you for the wait! Here's a next chapter.

Once again, the usual disclaimers are applied.

Thank you for everyone who has read this story! You're awesome!

"Hey, Pops…" Soma suddenly piped out, his eyes intently gazing at the litter of stars up above the clear, dark sky.

"Yeah?"

It was quite late at night and the students residing in the Polar Star Dormitory went to bed hours ago after arriving back from the whole ordeal that was namely the training camp.

Joichiro had followed Edelweiss's suggestion from their dinner many nights ago and had decidedly jumped on a plane going back to Japan to visit his son. The dorm was unsurprisingly empty when he'd arrived, already knowing beforehand that the kids were still on their way back after the gruesome training camp.

He spent the rest of the day cooking and catching up with Fumio, and then chatting some more with the students when they arrived, Fumio once again spilling some facts about him and the former residents and the dorm itself.

Joichiro thought the whole event was very nostalgic when Fumio started her story. After all, he hadn't been back even once after abruptly dropping out of school and leaving everything behind him, not even bothering to reach back to people even with the invention of faster emails and topnotch phones. He understood that his son must be feeling fairly confused about everything he had learned today and Joichiro couldn't blame him. He hadn't exactly been forthcoming with any details regarding about his past other than the fact that he did cooking for a living.

Also, he had to be honest here. Soma might be one of the hardworking people he knew but he was also painfully oblivious and dense when it came to other things that didn't involve cooking and the diner so explaining it would probably just go straight out of the other ear.

The day overall, had been all about merrymaking and just chilling out, which also led to Soma singling him in the kitchen asking questions that just went on and on.

Which also led to now, the both of them sitting just by the stairs on the front door of the dormitory, enjoying the cold, fresh breeze that came in when the sun went down and the moon came up.

Soma turned to look at him, "It's not something weird or anything but you've been to a lot of places..."

"Yeah, and?"

"And I know you love mom and all that, and I just thought about it but it's been a few years so I was wondering if you've been interested in someone during one of your travels," Soma arbitrarily voiced out, his expression intrigued and just plain curious.

Edelweiss immediately came out of his preoccupied mind and Joichiro fought the urge to give away hints and schooled his expression. Because Soma might be dense but there were impeccable times when his son became strangely perceptive.

"What do you mean?" Joichiro warily asked, assessing if this was a bait or a test or something.

Soma tousled his hair, suddenly feeling bashful, "What I'm trying to say is that mom's been gone for a while now and if you're feeling lonely then I wouldn't put up a fight or throw a tantrum if you find someone again."

Joichiro narrowed his eyes, simultaneously feeling hope crawling up his heart but still also feeling cautious, before saying, "What happened to you and when did you get mature?"

Soma scowled at him and shot back, "I've always been mature, stupid dad, and don't think I didn't notice you deflecting in giving me an answer."

"Well, did you ask a question somewhere in there?" Joichiro answered back with a smirk.

Soma glared at him and demanded, "Well, did you have a girlfriend after mom died? Do you have a girlfriend now? Or a boyfriend? I wouldn't mind if you want a boyfriend."

Joichiro barked out a laugh as he roughly ruffled his son's hair. Soma's glare became even more intense but Joichiro didn't feel cowed.

Joichiro pulled back his hand and ran it through his own hair instead, thinking about Edelweiss and the terrific time they had shared when they retreated into her townhouse. It was true that he had found something with the dark-haired woman and he might've made his intentions very clear that night but it was still fairly early to say that something concrete might come out if it. A lot of things could happen even within a few days, after all.

But it didn't hurt to know that by the end of the night they were on the same page, he fondly thought.

His lips curved upwards, feeling happy and wistful when he answered, "Can't say I had one. I concentrated on learning and working all the time I was wandering around. I went to small towns and big cities, met new people to learn from and stayed in contact to some of the people I've met before. I've managed to retraced my steps from before I married your mom but I also went out of my way to visit new places."

"So you're saying you've been single all this time?"

"Yeah, why is that so difficult to believe?" Joichiro remarked, feeling offended, "It wasn't a priority and when you have every bit of different and interesting place waiting for you to explore, it won't even get stuck inside your head for you to thoroughly think about when you have the chance."

"You don't plan on remarrying then?"

Joichiro hummed as he spread his hands behind him and straightened his arms, leaning his weight into it as he peered at the night sky above, "That depends on whether I'll find the right woman again. But if I do," he angled his head towards his son and gave him a reassuring smile, "I'll tell you about it."

"Sure, dad. No problem."

Joichiro raised an inquisitive eyebrow at his son, his eyes assessing and probing, "You know, this someone might become a stepparent for you. Are you sure it wouldn't bother you even just a smidge?"

Soma shrugged offhandedly as if it really didn't, but Joichiro could see the small crease of his eyebrows as he thought more about it and Joichiro felt that he had to reassure him so he said, "I'm just not going to get some rich person on the side of the street from the other side of the world, you know. I have way more class than that."

Soma gave him a skeptical look.

"I can't believe you would think so lowly of me, Soma-chan. I'm feeling very hurt, just so you know."

Soma scoffed at him, "I didn't even say anything."

Joichiro replied with an exaggerated pout, "Your so easy to read your face did all the talking for you. But anyway," he smiled and earnestly said, "Rest assured that I'm not just going to pick anyone. I have you and the diner to think about after all."

"Well, that's good to know."

"Can't believe you just gave me the green signal though. Did something strange happen to you at the training camp?"

Soma stared at his dad, uncomprehending, and parroted back, "Strange?"

Joichiro made a nonfigurative motion with a hand as he elucidated, "The Totsuki training camp is always strange and and a bit extreme, but you know, stranger than usual?"

Soma recalled the time when he almost got expelled as well as the impromptu and confidential Shokugeki with Shinomiya Kojiro and shook his head, "Nope, not at all. It was brutal but it was nothing I couldn't handle."

Joichiro continued to scrutinize his son but eventually drawling out, "Alright. If you say so."

Soma consciously crossed his legs in front of him and leaned an elbow on one of his knees, his eyes defiant as he looked at his dad, "This school is good and all, dad, but I still want you to give me the diner."

Joichiro laughed out loud, "Is that what this is all about? You have a sneaky way of doing it tonight but I'm not going to give you the diner. Not today, brat! You haven't earned your keep yet!"

Soma glowered at him, greatly annoyed that he was being denied again, "You've been very busy travelling around anyway so you don't even have time handling the diner. Why are you being difficult?"

Joichiro gave his son a sharp smirk, his eyes heavily taunting and his voice outright dripping with challenge, "You haven't won a single cooking match from me, Soma, and I won't give you the diner until you do."

Soma looked back at him, his yellow eyes dark with intensity and full of promise.

=o=

"Hello, Joichiro-san."

Joichiro was sitting by the ledge of his open window when he involuntarily smiled at the breathless and wonderful voice coming from the other line, "Ahh, Edelweiss-chan. It's always nice to hear your voice after a hard day's work."

"Still in Australia then, Joichiro-san? It's pretty late at night for you to call."

A gentle gust of wind passed by, swaying strands of willful hair as Joichiro answered back, "You know I'm still in Australia. I told you about it yesterday."

He could hear the sarcasm dripping out from the woman's voice as she intoned, "For all I know you might've changed your mind and you're now in Thailand."

Joichiro amiably laughed, "Are you holding a grudge against Thailand?"

"Aside from the fact that I was supposed to go there, no, of course not."

"Don't worry too much. One of these days you will have your grand Asian tour and Malfoy-san won't be able to stop you."

Edelweiss grumbled back, her voice glum, "Wonder when that will be. If I didn't know better, you're intentionally making me jealous with just how well your trip's going so far. After all, you haven't missed a single day in sending me messages of your daily escapades. You should be careful or I might get used to you and then you'll have to take responsibility."

"I'd gladly assume responsibility of you, Edelweiss-chan," he huskily replied, perfectly knowing what it does to her. He suddenly wished he could see her, remembering the blood rushing up from her delicate neck and up to her soft cheeks and all the way to tips of her ears.

Edelweiss was enchanting to look at but seeing her with a rosy blush on her cheeks made it more exquisite, especially knowing it was him making her react like that and not anybody else.

With these thoughts, Joichiro thought back how he couldn't believe his luck on getting to know Edelweiss, even though they didn't see each other most of the time. The calls and texts mostly made up for it though and Joichiro wasn't going to complain.

He wasn't at all disappointed when he heard her exclaim, "Y-You can't just blurt out things like that!"

Joichiro smirked and cooed, "You know I don't lie, Edelweiss-chan. We've been talking for so long I'm surprised you're still not used to it."

Somewhat true, he cheekily thought. Ever since she gave him her email and phone number, he's been sending her messages of interesting things he could see and think about. He's gone to calling her most of the times too and she's been receptive of his attention it was so profound. She doesn't reply or answer back when she's busy of course, but she manages to reply back when she gets the time. It should've been a bother, because that was what he was doing—bothering—but Joichiro has yet to receive a text or call from her saying that she was and that he should stop his nonsense.

It made Joichiro feel giddy with happiness and tremendously warm and fervently hoping for more.

Edelweiss let out scoff and crabbily replied, "You'll have to excuse me, Joichiro-san, since you undoubtedly know the type of people I deal with most of the day when I'm not travelling."

Joichiro pointedly voiced out, "Sounds like someone didn't have her breakfast and cup of tea today," and then recalled her answer and added, "Vietnam officially cancelled for now then?"

"Fucking accurate. Draco's preoccupied with some of his own stuff so he can't handle the issue I'm currently dealing with. If I, by some miracle, finish this within a week, I'm flying straight to fucking Japan and never set foot in England for a month."

"Language. Think about the blood pressure and the wrinkles," Joichiro halfheartedly chastised, unfazed and already acquainted with this part of Edelweiss, "You know what, I think it's time for a lunch break. You should get some food before tackling more paperwork."

"Hermione's coming in this afternoon so she's bringing me food, don't worry. Wait just a minute, Joichiro-san..." There was a moment of muffled noise before he heard her voice clearly again, "Alright, that's somewhat taken care of. Now, how are you faring in the Land Down Under?"

He ran a hand through his messy hair as he casually answered, "Same old, same old. Freaked out when I found a spider inside my briefcase, didn't even know how it got there. Other than that, everything went fine, especially at work."

"Hmm, I did hear that some of Australia's cities are full of creeping and crawling creatures so the local people are kind of used to seeing them even inside their houses. Just make sure to double check your case when you leave the country. You might bring something nasty on your next trip to Papua New Guinea."

Joichiro let out a chuckle, "Noted, Edelweiss-chan. Apart from cancelling your trip and missing your breakfast, how are you doing?"

Edelweiss promptly answered, "Oh, I'm fine. Being inside the office made me remember how much I despise paperwork, especially when there's so many of them. Oh, and my godson's going to be free next week so I'm really trying to make that Japan trip happen."

"Why Japan though?"

"Dunno. It just popped into my mind when you called. Been wondering what the country's like ever since we met so why not, right?"

"Hope you'll finish that paperwork in due time then. By the way, you might want to drop by Shinomiya-kun's new place in Tokyo if that trip's going to happen. Kid ran away from France and decided to open up a restaurant in Japan. He's still freshening up and finalizing his plans and will be doing a test run on how the place will generally work but if you want I can give him a call," Joichiro smoothly offered as he moved from the window and into his bed, fluffing up his pillows.

"Hold that thought for at least four days please. I'm not even sure if I can make that trip to Japan happen but if I do, I'll give you a call. Why'd he run away from Paris though? I thought he was doing very well with how popular he is," she remarked.

He was patting on the entirety of his bed when he replied, remembering what Gin said when he went and called on his friend one day, "Kid turned into a new leaf and said he's going for the Michelin stars this time."

"Oh, wow. Really?" Edelweiss voiced out, surprise and wonder evident from her voice, "That's amazing. I hope he'll get it. You should wish him luck, Joichiro-san."

Joichiro scoffed, "Why should I? He knows how good he is already."

"There's nothing wrong with giving your verbal support to your junior."

"He doesn't need them. He's talented enough to know he'll get the stars. The only question there is when that will be," he candidly answered as he stared at his rumpled bed in satisfaction.

"Ohh, such faith you've got there. I'll tell Chef Shinomiya you're rooting for him as well when I get to Tokyo. Yes, I've officially decided I'll go to Japan no matter what," she sassily incited.

Joichiro huffed out loud and glared at the bedside lamp as if it was the woman herself, "Do it and I won't call Shinomiya-kun for you."

"Ha! I can call Chef Shinomiya myself if I want to!"

"Stop right there! That's invasion of privacy if you make one of your lackeys dig in for information!"

"It's just a phone number! It's not like I'm going to unearth all his secr—Why are you here, Draco? And why can't you learn how to knock for Merlin's sake? Excuse me for a minute, Joichiro-san. This will be quick," and then came the muffling sound again.

Joichiro let out another huff as he tried to organize his bed once again and just when he finished, there was a sounding click and Edelweiss on the other line spoke up, her voice softer but a bit irritated, "Sorry about that. Draco just showed up carrying more work for me to do."

"I heard. Sounds like a battlefield in there. I'll let you get back to work then," he voiced out, wanting to talk to her more but was mature enough to know when to back down.

For now, he dauntingly promised inside his head.

Edelweiss groaned and replied, "You're not wrong. It'll take me a while to finish half of these. I've wanted to hear how your day went. In detail."

Joichiro let out an affectionate smile and said, "We can still talk again tomorrow, Edelweiss-chan. I just caught you in a bad time today."

"You did but I was willing to procrastinate for a bit to talk to you more. You should get some sleep too anyway. If you're not going to work tomorrow, you should roam around the city and get me some souvenirs."

Joichiro snapped his fingers and deliberately wondered out loud, "Would you look at that? It's actually a day off tomorrow. I shall heed your advice then."

"Stop goading me and get some rest. And don't forget my souvenirs. I'll send you a message later when I'm free. Take care."

"Don't forget to eat your meals, Edelweiss-chan," he cheerily sang out.

"I won't. I'll talk to you later," then hung up.

Joichiro let out an amused chuckle as he replied to himself, "Talk to you later."

Dropping his phone on his bed, he prepared his clothes and went to the bathroom to take a shower, feeling high and immensely content after his short yet fond conversation with Edelweiss.

=o=

When Edelweiss sent him a message approximately four days later, it was about her confirmed and hard-won month-long trip to Japan with a note that he should continue to take care of himself wherever he currently was, which was still in Australia for kami's sake.

He thought Edelweiss was just messing with him with her quips. She's probably slowly losing her mind with all the paperwork she had to do. The poor woman's going to be so changed when he sees her next time.

The text also came with the obvious hint for Shinomiya's brand new place. Joichiro ignored the waxing coat of jealousy that slithered his entire being with how particular she was about his cute, grumpy junior, as well as making a mental note about seriously blowing the woman's mind when he finally has the chance to cook for her.

But for now, with his phone in hand, he was going to have to give Shinomiya a friendly call.

The phone rang a few times before the man picked up and grumbled out, "What is it again, Saiba-senpai?"

"Yo, Shinomiya-kun! How's it going with the new restaurant Tokyo?" he answered back, completely ignoring the man's question.

"How did you even know about that? Ugh, don't tell me. I'm sure Dojima-senpai told you about it when he caught the news," came another grumpy reply.

Joichiro grinned and replied, "Hate to burst your bubble, Shinomiya-kun, but don't you read or watch any news? You're the recent topic almost everybody's talking about."

"Fuck, I forgot I did that one interview for a talk show. I've been so busy finalizing my plans and making sure that the place I got in Tokyo was well-secured I haven't caught on anything new," Shinomiya muttered, clearly irritated, and then snapped, "So? Why are you calling again?"

"Just wanted to ask about your new place. You're still doing a soft opening, right?"

"Of course I am. How else am I supposed to determine what works well with the new restaurant if I don't do a test run?" he paused for a moment and then groaned, "Please don't tell me you're coming there too?"

Joichiro's grin got wider as he answered, "My hands are currently tied with my own work so I can't be there, but my lady friend and her godson will be."

"Are you serious?"

"Very."

"Wait, let me check if we've already finalized the guest list for the soft opening. We've already began inviting a few people but you're out of luck if there aren't any spots left," Shinomiya replied, his voice still clear and loud amongst the ruffling of paper.

"It's alright. If you don't have any slots left during the soft opening, you can put down a reservation for her when you officially open your restaurant. She'll be in Japan for a month anyway so she'll have plenty of time."

"Which will be?"

"She'll be in Japan starting next week."

Shinomiya cursed and tetchily questioned, "And why should I honestly make a reservation for her on the soft opening, Senpai?"

Joichiro turned around and crouched forward, gazing down at the bustling metropolis in front of him. It was fairly late at night in Australia but there were still a few stragglers dawdling around the streets, most probably the young ones trying to find a place to persistently waste the rest of the night.

Joichiro silently sent his heartfelt gratitude to the gods above for Soma's obsession with cooking.

Joichiro continued to stare at the dawdlers as he casually answered, "Did you know Edelweiss-chan caught on that issue you had months ago?"

A short pause before a cool reply, "What issue?"

Joichiro placed an elbow on the window sill, resting his chin atop his palm as he replied, "Eh, you know what I'm talking about, Shinomiya-kun. Also heard that you're out of it and you're now aiming for the Michelin stars. Good for you, by the way."

The man on the other line grated back, "And your point?"

Joichiro let out a smirk as he responded, "If you want to determine how far you've progressed from there, then I've got the right woman for that."

"I believe the chefs I've invited on the final day of the soft opening will be enough for that, senpai."

Joichiro tauntingly pressed further, "Ahh, but you know you can't always rely on the critics of the chefs, Shinomiya-kun. You know it's not them you're really cooking for." He paused just for the effect of it before adding, "And no offense but it's just dull when people say your dishes taste delicious when you know that it's really not."

Shinomiya didn't make any sound for a moment before he heaved out a deep sigh and said, "Damn it, Senpai… Fine, I'll take the bait. What did she say exactly?"

Bingo, he triumphantly thought as he answered, "I'm sure you've heard of it already so I don't think I should further bruise your delicate feelings."

"Senpai…"

Joichiro let out an audible sigh and said, "Fine, fine... You're a persistent one, aren't you? She actually discerned it at first on the starters, you know. Thought I had to give you a thrashing for serving us crappy food when she kept frowning at her canapés—"

"For your information, I do not and would never serve shitty food in my restaurant, Saiba-senpai."

"Well, I didn't know that, did I? For all I knew your sensibilities might've deplorably gone down the drain without the hopes of ever going back up again," he huffed, "But anyway, Edelweiss didn't comment on it at first, thought it was a fluke. But she was still frowning at her entrée and I knew she must've caught on. She honestly said there was a hint on lack of progress, discontent and just terrible, terrible restlessness coming from your chicken."

Which sounds so awful now that he said it, he thought with a grimace. Poor Edelweiss.

There was silence on the other end of the line, Joichiro almost seeing Shinomiya's thinking and ill-tempered expression at the back of his eyes. He honestly didn't know why it would still surprise him. Surely, he must've heard all of this from Gin?

Shinomiya then spoke, his tone suspicious and warily resigned, "Are you sure your friend isn't well-versed with culinary education? Because it sounded like she was... spot on with her deductions."

Joichiro's eyebrows raised in awe, "Dang... Really?"

"Senpai, please don't make me say it again."

Joichiro sniffed as he conceded, "Fine. But, wow… Now that I think about it, I asked her how she knew but she didn't give me an answer. I think it's magic, Shinomiya-kun!"

Shinomiya exhaled another breath, gritting out, "I severely doubt it was because of magic. Well? Does she have any culinary experience whatsoever?"

"Stop being so cranky, Shinomiya-kun," he crooned out but gave him a proper answer nonetheless, "Hmm, I think Edelweiss-chan's pretty skilled with almost everything. She bakes and cooks when she's not busy too but I don't think she had prior education about cooking. A home cook and personally taught by trials and errors, I could say, but I also think she's just sensitive like that. Or maybe it's like those innate abilities some people have, like Senzaemon-dono's granddaughter."

Shinomiya only hummed in reply.

"So," Joichiro expectantly drawled out, "Can I tell Edelweiss-chan that she's going to have an illustrious dinner at your new place now?"

"… Fine. I'll be expecting her on the final day for dinner. I'll name the reservation after her. Potter Edelweiss-san, was it?"

"Excellent, Shinomiya-kun!" Joichiro giddily answered back, "And yeah, Potter Edelweiss. She'll be there, don't worry. Don't you dare serve crappy food, you brat. I will know about it if you did."

The man on the other line huffed, affronted, "For the last time, Senpai, I don't serve crappy food!"

"Eh, I'll ask Edelweiss-chan all about it after anyway. Thanks again, Shinomiya-kun! Talk to you later!" and then he hung up, all the while snickering as he made his way towards his bed.

=o=

Edelweiss did not expect she'd develop feelings for Joichiro, but the bubbling giddiness and affection she always felt when she thought about him was undeniable.

That was what she thought as she took a careful sip of her wine while looking over the luminous and thriving city of Tokyo.

The war with Voldemort had ended many years ago and it brought the loss of her innocence and her rosy outlook of life with it. The war had forced her to grow up quickly and Edelweiss was confronted with the stark responsibilities of an adult woman. Her friends would say that nothing much had really changed about her—that she was still the same stupidly brave, selfless and kind woman they'd grew up with—but she knew that she had become a hardened and relatively jaded woman who was seeing the various shades of grey of an ever changing world.

She had taken care of everything she could within the first few years—formed surprising friendships with people, took care and organized her vaults with the help of the goblins and a few people and got the proper people to handle the flourishing business that came with it.

When everything had settled down, Edelweiss took the free time to do what she had always wanted to do—travel.

And travel she did.

She'd relished the wonders of the places she'd been, leisurely taking her time as she eagerly inhaled and experienced everything that she could. She was utterly delighted, with both Muggle and Wizarding community, and Yukihira Joichiro hadn't been an exception.

Edelweiss knew that the man was much older than she was, but that itself didn't discourage her. She didn't want a fumbling and nervous boy, she wanted an experienced and mature man who would know how to interact with her.

Of course, it didn't hurt that said man was also very easy on the eyes.

Joichiro was a charming and attractive man—she'd blabbed that specific detail to Ginny and Hermione, who in return, gushed and cooed and acutely explained herself to Teddy and Ron—oh, alright. And Draco—when both men heard a vague summary from said women.

The brown-haired man had an intense and striking presence on him; confident, knowing that he was exceptional at what he does, was borderline arrogant—like Draco, she suddenly thought, a bit grumpy, but wasn't too overbearing and pompous—also unlike Draco, she gleefully supplied, feeling a sense of triumph wash over her over that simple fact. The brown-haired man also had a good sense of humor and wasn't a bit afraid to make banter with her.

A flirt, she amusedly thought, but wasn't she the same? It also helped that the man didn't know who she really was other than a nice and wealthy businesswoman. Joichiro was aware she was keeping something back though—she could see that he was—but Edelweiss decided not to make it a problem until it's time for her to cross that particular bridge.

With that thought, she could almost hear Hermione screeching at her already. She winced as she tried to vanish a mental image of a shrieking Hermione, replacing it with a much more pleasing picture of the aforementioned man.

Noticing that her glass was now empty, she stood up, made her way towards the fridge and pulled out the bottle of wine. She deserved it after the day she'd had after all. She fought tooth and nail for this trip from Draco of all people, with the concession of overseeing some distant business they had in Muggle Tokyo.

The distant business being a spice manufacturing company. Apparently, some prominent culinary school was sending their student to work in their company for a week and she had to make haste to Wizarding Tokyo to attend a meeting with her bank manager and the appointed supervisor of the spice company to officially approve the week-long internship. She could understand why her manager—a sweet yet stern Muggleborn witch named Akayama Ichika—hesitated to give her approval though. A fifteen or sixteen-year-old student taking on a heavy workload for just a week was a serious matter and could either make things better or worse for the company.

She would've denied the request if she wanted to be done with it as quickly as possible but on the other hand, she thought it was kind of fulfilling to help some unknown student for this complicated obstacle. All that mush about growth and experience and technical lessons... She wouldn't be there to supervise though, so she had to leave the rest of the decisions to the capable hands of Akayama. All she did was read the presented documents and sign the paper.

She didn't even know she owned a spice company until earlier today. She made a mental note to visit Gringotts to check all her accounts and businesses, likewise thinking about the last time she'd been there...

Her wine glass was halfway through her lips when someone knocked on her hotel door. Putting down her glass on a side table, she made her way to open the door and wasn't at all surprised to see her godson, sporting a look that was so identical to hers one would mistake him to be her son.

He cheekily grinned at her, his currently green eyes twinkling at her with undisguised humor as he held up a paper bag and swayed it back and forth, "Want some late night snack to go with your wine, Aunt Vee?"

Edelweiss gave him an amused look before gesturing him inside, "What's inside the bag? And how did you know I was draining down a bottle?"

Teddy gave her a wink as he passed her by, taking a seat on one of the vacant chairs near the large windows, "Just a hunch. It's something chocolate, of course."

Edelweiss let out a hum and followed. She took the seat across him, picked up her wine and downed a large gulp before chiding her godson, even though she knew the young man wouldn't listen anyway, "You really shouldn't eat too much chocolate, Teddy. Hermione will scold you if she knew you were munching on too much sweets. Your father had an addiction to it but you just..."

He laid down the box and opened it, revealing a bunch of dark and sticky-looking confections, "What can I say, Aunt Vee? I'm passionate about anything chocolate. And Aunt Hermione's not going to know if someone doesn't tell her about it."

Edelweiss reached across the table and pinched a cheek with her free hand, "You're lucky you're cute, brat." She looked down at what he got and asked, "Now care to tell your old godmother what this is?"

Teddy scrunched his nose as he handed her a fork that went together with his package, "You're not old. You're in the prime of your life and this, my darling godmother, is a chocolate mochi. It's a Japanese rice cake and they all come with different flavors but I just can't choose anything else other than chocolate."

"Where'd you get these?" she asked as she cut through the glutinous dessert and ate half of it, her eyes widening in delight as she tasted the sweetness, a hint of bitterness from the chocolate and the stickiness of the rice cake.

Teddy gave her a grin when he answered, getting a whole ball of rice cake for himself, "Very good, right? I went down and strolled around for a bit when I saw the shop selling these just around the corner. They looked so neat when I saw them piled up in different colors that I decided to try them."

Edelweiss raised an eyebrow and pointed out, "They're all chocolate-flavored, Teddy. This doesn't look like an assortment of flavors."

Teddy casually shrugged and said, "I wanted the chocolate ones. We can drop by tomorrow if you want to taste the other ones."

Edelweiss hummed in assent as she took a sip of her wine, "Sure, I don't have anything else to do tomorrow so we can go there after lunch. I just want to relax in the morning first before we start wandering around. Do you want some wine, by the way?"

Teddy nodded as he swallowed down his mochi, "Please, Aunt Vee."

Edelweiss stood up and went back to the fridge to pour him some, "Just half a glass for you tonight, alright?"

"Sure. We'll dining in that restaurant tomorrow anyway so I can wait for a bit."

"Here you go," Edelweiss handed him his glass and sat back down, picking up another half a ball of the rice cake, "Where do you want to go after? Seeing as we'll be in Tokyo for another four days, I assume you've already thought about the places you wanted see."

Teddy took a sip of his wine first before answering, "Well, I did make a list of the places I wanted to go but I had it tucked somewhere inside my bag. I'll look for it when I get back there later."

"Okay," Edelweiss simply replied as she continued to eat the dessert.

"Just to clarify but are you sure you're really free to gallivant around Japan now, Aunt Vee? Didn't Draco give you something to do today?" her godson asked.

Edelweiss grumbled, "I've already done it, of course. Stupid ferret just scheduled the whole meeting earlier than I would've liked. He could've scheduled it tomorrow to give us some time to settle down but no, it had to be today. He probably did it out of spite since I basically harangued him into giving me this trip."

Teddy munched on his mochi and pointedly replied after, "You know, I keep on telling you but Draco isn't really that bad. Aunt Hermione had even done the impossible and married him."

Edelweiss made an arrogant sound before vehemently stuffing a whole ball of mochi inside her mouth, "You don't even know how bloody volatile their arguments get behind closed doors, Teddy, and it's better if it stays that way. Don't be fooled by how sweet they are when you see them."

Teddy inattentively chewed on his mochi as he remembered that one time he had decided to drop by the Manor to ask Draco about something, only to hear banging and breaking and shattering of a lot of things that were probably very expensive and expendable. It sounded like one big of a mess and he went out of the warzone as quickly as he had arrived.

Teddy swallowed down his food and chose not to further comment on the matter, asking another one instead, "Say, Aunt Vee, what's the name of the restaurant we're going to dine in again?"

"I think it's called Shino's Tokyo. The chef owns it and this is him branching out. He has his main restaurant in Paris." She gave her godson a look and dourly supplied, "You should've heard about it since you've been spending way too much time with Draco than I would've liked. He kept on raving on about it every chance he got."

Teddy ignored her quip, arched both eyebrows and asked, his green eyes curious and expectant, "And was it good?"

Edelweiss sank further into her chair as she made a frivolous motion with her hand, "It was more than good, though unsurprising since the chef won a prominent award that all chefs would apparently want." There was a crease on her forehead when she muttered, "I should've brought you with me but then again, it was a date and you were busy so the schedule wouldn't have worked out."

"Oh?" Teddy drawled out, unnervingly sounding like his bloody cousin—he must've learned it from him—and wiggled his eyebrows, "Are you still communicating with that Japanese chef then?"

"You know I still am," Edelweiss shot back and raised a condescending eyebrow, "Are you going to accuse me of fraternizing with the Muggles now?"

Teddy let out a snort and casually made a waving motion with his fork, the tip speared with a ball of mochi and not at all caring if he was going to stain the furniture and the carpet, "Of course not. Unlike Uncle Ron, I do not have the emotional range of a teaspoon, though I am going to once again make a comment on your peculiar choices for your beaus, Aunt Vee. Didn't even know you were interested in Muggles."

"I know, I know…" Edelweiss said after gulping down her wine, "I didn't even know I wanted to go down that particular route but well, here we are. There are a lot of ways for me to fuck this up—"

"Language, dear Aunt Vee," Teddy coughed up.

"—and intimately associating with Muggles will be such a messy affair in the long run. Believe me, I've heard all of it from Hermione," she heavily sighed and speared another ball of mochi, "But he's just so fascinating, Teddy! And I've only tasted his cooking once but I remembered it was so delicious I kept thinking about it. He's very charismatic and I can't really help it when he was the one who made that first move in England.

And his eyes, Teddy," she dreamily remarked, her eyes clouded with fond memories, "They were such a pleasant shade of yellow that it was just so… so stunning."

"Woah... It sounds like you're falling in love," Teddy teasingly surmised as he finished the last piece of rice cake.

Edelweiss groaned in despair, the deduction sounded far better and less factual when she'd just thought about it earlier, safely confined inside her head.

Teddy could only reach out and give her a consoling pat on the head.

=o=

"It looks very classy," Teddy idly commented as he observed the restaurant in front of him.

Edelweiss looked up at her godson and distractedly tried to smooth down his hair as she gave her answer, "What did you expect from an award-winning chef, Teddy? Of course it's going to be classy."

Teddy gently slapped his godmother's fussing hand and looped it on his arm instead, giving her a low murmur, "You know my hair's basically transformed to match yours so you're just fighting a losing battle." He peered at her own mess of hair and jabbed, "You didn't even do any maximal effort to yours."

"It's a lost cause," she answered with a shrug, huffing when a wisp of hair fell down on her line of sight.

Teddy opened the door and Edelweiss went in, her eyes studying the new place and noting the significant similarities it held like the restaurant in Paris. Teddy moved beside her and they were welcomed by the maître d' as she asked for the name of their reservation. Once they were both assisted to their table, a waitress—who introduced herself as Mikan—handed them the menus and left them to give them time to make their choices after inquiring the choice of their wine that would go well with their courses.

Teddy contemplatively hummed as he remarked, "Well, godmother, everything printed here seems delicious so we could at least guarantee that we'll have a splendid dinner."

Edelweiss huffed and gave him an admonishing look, "Don't be such a snob, Teddy. I am so close to not letting you spend any more time with Draco if you continue to emulate such... ferrety attitude from him."

Her godson roguishly grinned at her, "Can't help it, Aunt Vee. It's in our blood."

He managed to say it like a snotty Slytherin that she was very tempted to toss etiquette to the nearest bin and smack him hard across the table, but she was not an excessively impulsive Gryffindor anymore (cue on the word excessively), so she was content to ignore the subtle provocation. Her godson was sending her a smirk, of course, most probably knowing what she was currently thinking.

Edelweiss could give him a glare.

Their waitress—Mikan—came back with their wine and promptly left after much deliberation with their meal courses.

Edelweiss and Teddy were both quite for a moment, both of them content on appreciating the flavor of the wine, eyes imperceptibly observing the vicinity and the fellow customers around them.

Then Teddy put down his glass and began staring at her for so long that Edelweiss had to ask what he was thinking when he didn't make any hint of speaking anytime soon.

"I was just remembering something you told me before, something that also connects with the chef who's cooking our dinner..." he trailed off, his eyes squinting as he thought hard about it for another minute, his green eyes marginally widening when he finally remembered, "You picked on something... odd from his food that didn't really make sense to me, but I probably wasn't paying attention too much that's why it's been all very vague."

Edelweiss was sipping her wine when her own eyes lightened up in comprehension. After discreetly casting a quick Muffliato around their table, she answered, "It was just some notion of feeling I got from his food, is all. You remember what I told you about the stories from the grandmothers in some town I had visited while I was on Italy? About food tasting the same emotions with what you're currently feeling when you made them? Well, it was kind of like that. Joichiro had told me that Chef Shinomiya Kojiro, that's the name of the chef, was experiencing some problems and it had affected his cooking. It wasn't detrimental to his skills and talent as a renowned chef but if a person would know where to look, they'd easily notice it underneath the perfect layers of flavors."

Teddy picked up his glass of wine and lightly swirled it between his fingers, "That's interesting. How'd you notice something like that?"

Edelweiss made another casual motion with her shoulders but there was a crooked grin on her lips, "I'm the Chosen One. I notice everything."

The young man across her rolled his eyes and stated, smugness bleeding out of his voice, "See? It's certainly in our blood. Draco would be so proud."

"Don't be foolish, Teddy."

Teddy only scoffed in reply and chose to take a measured sip on his wine instead. Edelweiss, exasperated, decided to follow his example.

"How are you doing in Gringotts so far, by the way? You didn't tell me about that last stint they gave you before I whisked you all the way here."

Teddy's face contorted as he laid down his glass on the table, "It was barely bearable. Did I tell you the goblins sent us to Peru that time? No? Really? Well, now you know, Aunt Vee. The goblins sent me and four others to Peru for another excavation, one guy and I were the trainees and the rest were experienced Curse Breakers. It was another horde of buried treasures, of course, but what made it all so irksome was that the place was laden with tons of traps."

"Did you get hurt? You didn't tell me you got hurt on that assignment, Teddy," Edelweiss hissed lowly.

"I didn't! We got home with just a few bruises and scratches, is all," Teddy quickly reassured, "It just took a lot of bloody time to take down the traps rather than obtaining the treasures themselves."

"Was Bill one of the people on your team?"

"Nah, he was back in Egypt again during that time. They had to secure and unearth a tomb they'd recently found."

"Another tomb?" Edelweiss muttered as she visibly shuddered, thinking about underground tunnels that could bury a person alive, "Sounds very dangerous. Are you sure you really, really, really want to become a Curse Breaker?"

Teddy tried really hard not to roll his eyes at the same old question she'd started years ago and answered with practiced reassurance, "Still haven't changed my mind in the slightest. Besides, it's really too late for you to ask me that again, not when I'm finishing my training period in a few months."

She grimaced and clarified, "I support your decisions in life, but I just think that you're basically putting your life on the line whenever you go out and do your job in some nook in another country. It sounds very adventurous and challenging but I just can't help worrying over you."

Teddy gave her a smile as he relatively replied with ease, "I'll be fine. Don't worry about it. You know I can take care of myself."

Edelweiss let out a sniff, "Of course you do. You're so independent now you don't even need your godmother anymore."

Teddy rolled his eyes on that one, "Don't be so dramatic. You're only allowed to say things like that when you're a hundred and fifty-year-old witch."

"Not a hundred and fifty-one?"

Teddy huffed and replied, "Stop being difficult. Look, Mikan-san's coming over here with our starters. Heads up, Aunt Vee."

Edelweiss took down the spell with a wave of her hand—she'd become quite adept with wandless magic, thank you very much—and Mikan reached their table with a smile, setting down the plates in front of them accordingly. She left them once again and both godmother and godson stared at the beautifully arranged appetizer for a minute before taking a bite.

By the time they were finished and their waitress took out their empty plates, Edelweiss could already recognize the difference and she let out a small smile at the improvement that was also certainly there. Teddy voiced out pleasant remarks about his appetizer and Edelweiss voiced out the same as she contentedly sipped her wine.

She was, without a doubt, definitely looking forward to tasting the rest of her meal.

Oh, yes, indeed.

=o=

"How's your day been, Edelweiss-chan?" Joichiro started as he picked up her call.

Edelweiss indulgently sank further into her chair as she crossed one leg over the other, picking up a ball of mochi from the box that was conveniently placed on top of the table next to her, "Hmm, conventional but dinner was much better, of course. You were right, by the way. Chef Shinomiya only needed a nudge towards another goal to get him out of his… disposition."

Joichiro chortled, his amusement contagious even through the phone that it made her curl her lips upwards, "Right? Shinomiya-kun just had all the kinds of stubbornness in him that he was in an unpleasant zone for a while."

Edelweiss let out a peal of laugh, "The man was just confused, Joichiro-san. Allow him some respite at least." She sipped her wine and added when her mouth was vacant of food and drink, "Your son was there too, by the way. Or at least, I thought that was your son. Kind of shaggy and spiky, dark red hair? And one of his eyebrows having a small nick of a scar?"

"That's Soma alright. But what was he doing at Shinomiya-kun's new place?"

Edelweiss raised an eyebrow that almost hid underneath the fringes of her hair, a bit baffled, "You didn't know? His school was apparently doing week-long internships in collaboration with some businesses. I connected the dots of course, because I had to sign some similar documents from a school named Totsuki Tea Ceremony and Cooking Academy. Stagiaire, it was called. I texted you about it last night."

Joichiro whistled on the other line and replied, sounding impressed, "Ahh, yes. The Stagiaire. Almost forgot about that. Yeah, the academy does something like that after the Autumn Elections, which, by the way, is also a cooking competition between the students. The Stagiaire, on the other hand, is when the academy sends the first year high school students to all kinds of businesses on the food industry, like restaurants and your spice company for example. It's good exposure." He paused, "But it also weeds out students that doesn't really quite make the cut for the academy, which is usually mostly half of the student's population."

"Scary," Edelweiss commented as she thoughtfully chewed on a rice cake before saying, "And what's the criteria for passing besides what was printed on the documents?"

But then there was a lot of shuffling on the other side of the call that Edelweiss couldn't help but ask, "Are you alright in there, Joichiro-san?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine. I was just moving something where it's more convenient for me to…"

Edelweiss bit her lip and hesitantly asked, "Are you busy tonight? We can talk tomorrow if you are. I don't want to bother you too much."

"No, no… I'm almost finished… Just a little bit. There. Sorry, Edelweiss-chan, what was your question again?"

Edelweiss's eyebrows were furrowed when she clarified, "Are you sure?"

"Of course I am. I haven't properly talked to you in ages!"

Edelweiss was feeling dubious but felt heat rise up to her cheeks, "We just had a proper conversation the other night, Joichiro-san. How deprived can you get?"

Joichiro groaned and petulantly intoned, "But, Edelweiss-chan, I've missed hearing the sound of your voice and the tinkling sound of your melodious laugh. I've been feeling awful!"

"Stop," Edelweiss croaked out, deeply inhaling as her face fully heated up, "I get your point, so you can stop right there."

"Do you really?" the man purred back.

With ears ringing and heart thudding loudly, she gulped down a significant amount of wine to help settle down her poor self and slowly said, "I'm not going to end the call so yes, I do get your point."

Joichiro—the infuriating, cheeky, gorgeous man, she resignedly thought—let out a laugh that sent her maddening senses into another wild tumble, "You're so precious, Edelweiss-chan. Now tell me what your question was again so we can talk some more."

Edelweiss bemoaned after chewing on another piece of mochi with a little more force than needed, "Gods, why are you honest and blatant about your motives? It's seriously…"

The man on the other line chuckled and supplied, "I like making you fluster. You've been playing business talk with people for so long, I think you forgot how to handle people that are being bold and direct."

That… was quite a blow to her Gryffindor sensibilities, she desolately admitted. This was what she got for spending way too much time with Slytherins.

Edelweiss intensely scowled as she muttered, "Yes, I am so appalled at myself for not anticipating you, Joichiro-san."

Joichiro let out another chuckle, low and inviting, "Keeps you on your toes, doesn't it?"

She ignored the clambering heat of her body and what it was asking for and impulsively drowned the rest of her wine. She cleared her throat and reiterated her question as if nothing happened.

Joichiro huffed, probably noticing the obvious evasion, and light-heartedly replied, "Evading my question, aren't you? Fine, I'll let you off this time." He hummed, musing, and then answered, "The Stagiaire provides the students some practical experience so they must do their jobs accordingly and not make any bad actions that could reflect back to the academy since it is, after all, the name and reputation of the school the students are carrying when they're let out to the real world. But the students are also monitored to see if the brats are just being too cautious and dull for blindly doing their supposed jobs. The whole point of the Stagiaire is to not only do their job properly, but to leave a visible mark during your stay at wherever place you've been assigned."

Edelweiss was pouring herself another glass of wine when she curiously asked, "Visible mark?"

"Yup! A visible mark depends on what the place needs so it can be a range of anything. It could be a new filing system in an office setting, the planning of a new event, an internal enlightenment, a new recipe, or even another contest. If the student does that successfully within the seven-day limit then they're secured to pass. If they didn't, then they fail. It's as simple as that."

"That academy sounds very competitive."

"Oh, yeah. If you want to pick a fight, then you have to do it by cooking and winning. That's the main rule of the school. It also keeps the school updated about the skills of the students as a budding chef in the making."

She chewed on the strawberry-flavored mochi before wondering aloud, "Hmm, I wonder how that student's doing in our company. I'm going to give Akayama-san a call tomorrow to know if they passed or not."

"Don't they give you updates about that especially when it's from your own company?"

She casually answered, shrugging despite being by herself, "Well, they do but the representatives usually just talk to my bank manager. I also gave the responsibility of the internship to Akayama-san, so she's in charge of making the decisions as she sees fit. I hope that student made it."

"The Stagiaire might be tough but I'm sure your intern's fine."

Edelweiss frowned and murmured, "That doesn't sound reassuring at all."

"It is if you belong to the fortunate half. Now tell me, how was Soma? Is he still a brat?" Joichiro asked, trying not to sound eager foraging for some news about his son.

"I haven't really spoken to him, you know. I only knew because I happened to glance at him and Chef Shinomiya mentioned about it when he went out of the kitchen to speak to me for a bit. He must've felt like he needed to inform me about it since we were together that one time in France and you were the one who called the reservation for me," Edelweiss remarked as she swirled her wine glass.

"Did you tell Shinomiya-kun about his little improvement then? You shouldn't have," Joichiro, sounding grumpy as if someone took away his toy and entertainment.

Edelweiss responded, "The man personally asked me about it, Joichiro-san, I can't just say nothing."

"Technically, you can."

"That would be considered rude."

Joichiro only gave a disgruntled grunt as his reply.

"Stop terrorizing your juniors," she mildly reproached.

"I wasn't. It's just fun to tease uptight people sometimes," Joichiro replied, feigning feeling slighted.

Edelweiss scoffed out loud and said, "I don't have any further comment on that." She took a sip of her wine and added, "You should try and call your son too, just for some updates and all that parenting stuff. You probably haven't talked to him for weeks."

Joichiro hummed and answered, "Oh, I got to talk to him after the Autumn Elections but I haven't talked to him after that. I'll give him a call tomorrow and see how his Stagiaire went."

"Chef Shinomiya looks really fastidious. Are you confident Soma will pass this one? From what you've told me about him, he's quite ingenious and hardworking but just lacks certain individuality to his work. Do you think, from what he had experienced so far in his culinary education, that it will be enough for him?" Edelweiss asked, hoping that the man on the other line won't see it as a slight to his son's talent but rather just genuine and pure curiosity.

She didn't have to worry about that little thing though, because Joichiro's answer was confident and upfront, as if it was already a given, "Of course, he will. The kid has probably soaked up a lot of French stuff ever since he started in that restaurant. He will have a lot challenges up ahead of him if he wants to pursue on being the best chef and I don't think that'll put him off either. Soma likes challenges a lot."

"Just like his dad," Edelweiss replied with a nod.

"Nah, he'll go farther than me. That's just how he is."

Edelweiss frowned and disputed, "You're an excellent chef. I might've only tasted your cooking once but I know you're brilliant at what you do."

Joichiro paused for barely a minute before prodding, "Better than Shinomiya-kun?"

Edelweiss let out a hum, eyeing the white-colored mochi as she purposefully thought about it.

It had been quite some time since she'd tasted his cooking in that town back in Italy but Edelweiss couldn't forget how wonderful it had been. Such a distant memory now, but the meal she had had was still persistently vivid, as if that alone outshone everything else.

Well, it most likely had but she wasn't exactly going to tell him that, was she?

She cleared her throat and in a voice that was partly teasing, she said, "You might change my mind if you let me taste one of your creations again, Joichiro-san."

"So you're saying that Shinomiya-kun's really better than me?" Joichiro asked, incredulous.

She munched on her mochi and answered after swallowing, "I didn't say that."

Joichiro huffed, sounding slighted, "You basically implied it. I'm hurt and I honestly can't accept that answer."

Edelweiss let out a smirk as she taunted further, "What are you going to do about it then?"

Joichiro was silent for a moment before blurting out, his voice giddy at the wonderful thought he just had, "I'm going to invade your house and give you a fantastic meal you won't ever forget!"

Edelweiss blinked a few times before warily asking, "What? What do you mean?"

"Exactly that!" Joichiro happily chirped, as if inviting himself over to her house was a normal occurrence, "I'm going to cook you a main course and make you a dessert so it'll settle the score. So, where is your house located?"

"W-What? W-Wait a minute… You can't just do that!" Edelweiss cried out as she straightened up from her seat, hastily putting down her glass of wine on the table, feeling thoroughly befuddled, "You have work a-and I have work and you already made plans! Plans that doesn't involve going to England! You can't just drop them!"

Joichiro casually answered, "Well, it's not like I can't postpone them all for a little bit. You make it sound like I had grand plans. It'll be just like taking a detour to your house. And you make it sound like you don't go home after you work. What? Do you just sleep in your office everyday then?"

Her heart beating loudly inside her chest, Edelweiss spluttered out, "Well, no. But why can't we just do it on the restaurant where you're currently working at? That seems reasonable enough."

Joichiro loudly sighed and reasoned out, his voice petulant, "That won't be good for me, you know. I wouldn't be working in my own restaurant, unlike Shinomiya-kun who can control all the food he wants to make, and I can't really go all out because that'll be rude to the owner and the current head chef. I'll impress you more with my cooking and then you'll say it's definitely better than Shinomiya-kun's."

With her thoughts flying around inside her head like a cursed Firebolt, Edelweiss breathed out, a bit strained too, "There's going to be more?"

"Of course, there is! You haven't fully tried anything yet," his voice then turned low and provocative and Edelweiss could picture him with a smirk planted on his face, "Or are you too chicken to take on such a challenge, Edelweiss-chan? Which doesn't make sense since you were the one who suggested it in the first place."

Her fingers twitched and her lips twisted into a scowl, her inner Gryffindor bristling at his insinuation. She didn't really have any problems with his idea, aside from the big fact that the refurbished Potter Manor—which she had discovered years ago and where she'd been currently residing with Teddy—was mostly run by magic and well-maintained by the House Elves.

No matter, she unwaveringly thought as she tried to recall other properties she had that was at least Muggle-friendly.

She was jolted out of her thoughts when the man spoke up again, "Edelweiss-chan? Are you still there? Don't tell me you just fell asleep on me after imbibing another bottle of wine, because I know you are. Guzzling down wine, that is."

Edelweiss scowled nonetheless downed the remaining wine left on her glass before giving an answer, "Fine, Joichiro-san. I'll send you the location to my house. Or hmm… I could meet you at the airport instead since you won't really know where it is and you're more likely to get lost if ever."

"I can read maps or ask directions, you know," he drily pointed out.

"Yeah, well… That'll take too much time and we wouldn't really want that, would we?"

Joichiro laughed and teased, "Eager, aren't we? Sure, I don't mind. That's only if you're not actually busy that day."

"What an awful host I will be if I leave you off to fend for yourself," she ribbed back, slouching back into her seat, "Don't worry. Just inform me what time you'll be arriving and I'll be there."

"And what if I plan to arrive very early in the morning?" he pressed.

"I'll still be there but I'll gut you out the moment I see you," she solemnly answered.

Joichiro made an appalling sound and intoned, "I think you've had enough wine for tonight. You've suddenly become morbid."

"Oh, yeah. Don't worry. I just finished my last glass for tonight. We'll probably start touring Tokyo tomorrow afternoon since Teddy and I indulged quite a bit of wine tonight," she said as she closed the box of mochi and set it aside for a much later consumption and belatedly added, "And I won't demand you shouldn't but I highly advise you don't get a flight that will make you arrive in England on a very early morning as in the time which the sun doesn't shine yet. You don't have to rent a hotel too… if you like. I have enough rooms in my house and you could have one for the duration of your stay."

"Oh? How bold of you to secure me all alone to yourself," Joichiro drawled, his voice sounding rough and low making her heart pick up its beat again.

Edelweiss tried to save face, even as she felt her face flush, and griped, "If you don't want to, then just say so. It's a simple yes or no, really."

Joichiro chuckled smoothly and sinfully, as if he was personally sharing some dirty, dirty secret with her and was just waiting for her to combust, "But it's never too simple for you, Edelweiss-chan, and you just don't want simple."

Enthralled and beguiled and was literally drunk with both the wine and the heat encompassing her body, Edelweiss asked, "And you do know what I want, don't you, Joichiro?"

She heard his breath hitch and Edelweiss wickedly smirked on her end, feeling very pleased that she could give this man a taste of his own naughty concoction.

"You, Edelweiss," he said, suggestive and with a hint of fondness, "Are a naughty, naughty woman. And I like it."

Edelweiss felt something scampering inside her stomach and she was positively sure they weren't just some delicate butterflies. Her heart beating madly, she asked him once again, "So what do you want, Joichiro? Is it the complex yes or the simple no?"

"I think you know exactly what I want."

"Your words. I won't want to assume now, would I?"

Joichiro let out another soft chuckle and conceded, "It's a yes for me, you tempting woman."

Edelweiss tried to stifle a squeal—because she wasn't some horny schoolgirl anymore, for Merlin's sake! —and tried even harder to not show how zealous she currently was when she replied, "Excellent, Joichiro-san. I'll prepare a room for you the moment I return."

Joichiro groused, "What happened to just being 'Joichiro'?"

Edelweiss coyly answered, "That would largely depend on the meal you're going to feed me with," then she paused and added, "Joichiro-san."

"You're such a tease."

"And yet you still like me."

The man faintly laughed and admitted, "Still true. Hmm, it's getting late. You should get some sleep if you want something done tomorrow. Tokyo's quite a large place with countless of people. It'll do you no good if you walk around with a splitting headache."

Not true, because she brought enough vials of Hangover Potion for her and Teddy just for this trip, she impishly thought, not that she'd become alcoholic. But she relented because, unlike her, the man still has to work tomorrow and Edelweiss Potter certainly knew how to care and be concerned for other people.

"Alright. Talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight, Joichiro-san."

Joichiro let out an audible yawn and said, "Send me pictures of you and the places you're planning on going, Edelweiss-chan. I want to know how your day goes tomorrow. I'll call tomorrow night if everything goes well by my end too."

Feeling warm with his fond reply, Edelweiss smiled and affectionately replied, "I will. Sleep well."

"Goodnight, Edelweiss. Pleasant dreams."