When Erina was young, her father had advised her—commanded her, in truth—to avoid food festivals at all costs. He had said that they were cesspools of culinary vulgarity, filled with commoners eating mindlessly, without any concept of what true gourmet was.

And now, after she stepped out of what must have been her twentieth ramen stall with Yukihira, she had confirmed that her father had been right about the crowds and nothing else. She'd be damned before she'd admit it, but she was having a lot of fun.

"That place would be number seven," she said, checking it off on her map.

"Really?" he asked, skeptical. "You'd put it above the place with the shiro miso?"

Erina thought on it for a moment, comparing the flavor and mouthfeel of the two bowls, before nodding solemnly. "While the broth at the other stall was of a higher quality, this one had a better selection of toppings, and a more harmonious combination of flavors overall."

Yukihira grinned at her, and then made an annotation on his own map. "Leave it to the god tongue."

Erina huffed a bit and rolled her eyes. "I cannot believe you brought me all the way out here to help you rank ramen stalls."

"Why not?" he asked with a casual shrug. "Isn't this what you do in your consulting, anyway?"

"Absolutely not!" Erina crossed her arms over her chest. "My consulting is to push world gastronomy forward, not for—" She paused for a moment. "What are we doing this for, anyway?"

"Just for fun," the second seat said, all smiles as usual. "I'll probably post the list online or something."

"I should have known," Erina said, reaching up to flip her hair, which was inching over her shoulders again. "Honestly, we probably should have stayed at school. Those budget allotments need to be handled before any plans can be made for next year."

"Knowing Hayama, everything's gonna be taken care of before we get back," Yukihira told her. "Especially with Arato still around."

Erina gave a conceding sigh. If she were being honest, the two of them were more reliable than she and Yukihira by far. But she still couldn't help but worry. "I'll give Hisako a call and find out how it's going."

"You do that, Nakiri. I'll go get us some snacks."

"Snacks? We just tried twenty types of ramen!"

"Yeah, but they have other stuff for sale too. You've gotta love these types of festivals."

Erina sighed deeply, unwilling to part with the brain cells she'd lose arguing with him, and smiled despite herself as she watched him go. She then took a seat on a nearby bench and called Hisako. The phone rang five times—she must've been busy, as Hisako usually answered after two—and then went to voicemail.

Hello. You have reached Arato Hisako. If you are calling in reference to a scheduled consultation with Nakiri Erina, please—

Erina hung up then and stared at her phone as though it were about to detonate. Hisako always picked up when she called. The last time she hadn't had been during the promotion exams in Hokkaido, when her father had sent the Elite Ten to hunt everyone down.

By the time Yukihira returned, bearing dango, taiyaki, and a number of other treats, Erina had convinced herself of the worst case scenario.

"We have to go back," she said at once.

"Did something happen with the report?"

"No, but Hisako's not answering, which means something happened to her! It must be that someone targeted her, trying to get to the god tongue. I should have been there and—"

"Nakiri, relax," Yukihira said, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Arato is like a black belt. There's no way someone could just carry her off. She's probably in the shower or something."

"She showers in the morning," Erina grumbled, though she'd be lying if she said she didn't see his point.

"If you're really scared something happened, why don't you just call Alice?"

Glowering, Erina took her phone back out and did just that. "Alice," she said once her cousin answered.

"Erina, you little sneak," her cousin drawled. "Are you enjoying your date?"

"It's not a date!"

Alice giggled a little at this. "No, I suppose it's more of a romantic getaway, isn't it?"

"Alice!"

"What are you calling for anyway?" Alice asked. "I'm about to watch a movie with Ryo-kun."

"I was just wondering if Hisako is in the house. I called her just now and she wasn't answering."

"No." Alice paused for a moment, as though she were thinking. "She's still at the Elite Ten offices, working on that budget thing you and Yukihira blew off—"

"Well, it's not like you were offering to help—"

"Anyway, she's still there...with Hayama, I think. But I'll tell her to call you when she gets home."

"Thanks. That was actually kind of helpful."

"Well, you just helped me build my case, so I don't really mind," Alice said with another little laugh.

"Wait, what case—"

"Enjoy the rest of your trip, and tell Yukihira I said hi. I know you're both hopeless, but try to be brave and make a move for me, kay?"

Then Alice hung up on her, and Erina looked back at Yukihira, hoping she wasn't blushing too hard. "You were right," she said. "She's at Parliament with Hayama-kun."

He smirked at her. "See, you've gotta stop worrying so much, Nakiri. Just relax and enjoy the moment."

He handed her a stick of dango, and Erina took it, shaking her head at him all the while. "Has it ever occurred to you that it isn't me that worries too much? Maybe you just care to little."

"You think so?" Yukihira tilted his head to the side, looking genuinely curious, and Erina didn't know if she wanted to laugh or punch him in the face.

"Oh, I know so." Erina took a bite of dango that was perhaps more aggressive than it needed to be. "You take off whenever you want, without a second thought. You never let anyone know where you're going or when you're coming back."

He looked at her closely then, his golden eyes warm in the light of the lanterns the vendors started to put outside. "Sorry. I didn't think it would bother you."

"Well, it does, so try to have a little more consideration," Erina huffed.

"Alright. I won't leave without telling you again. It's a promise," he told her.

Erina bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from grinning. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Yukihira-kun."

Author's Notes: Thanks for reading, everyone! Feedback is greatly appreciated! At this point I think the ball is squarely in Souma's court when it comes to making moves.