The noon hour Elite Ten meetings were always the worst ones because they coincided with the academy-wide lunch hour. This meant that after hustling from their classes to Totsuki's Parliament — the Elite Ten's administrative building — they'd then have to rush back to the academic buildings for afternoon classes.
It was generally understood that no one would get to eat lunch on these days unless they packed something ahead of time. And of course, just as his 10:30 practicum ended for the day, Souma received a one word text message from Nakiri.
Hungry.
It was 11:46. If he took her up on this — and naturally he would — he'd have only fourteen minutes to cook her something and then haul ass to Parliament. She always did have a habit of asking for the near-impossible. He shook his head at the phone as he typed his reply.
Don't complain if I'm late.
Her response came almost instantly, as though she were waiting for his text. But that would never happen with a girl like Nakiri.
Less complaining, more cooking. I'll see you in 12 minutes.
He sighed, taking his uniform jacket back off and glancing around the classroom's ingredient shelf. Beef shank, noodles, cabbage—easy.
Nine minutes later, he had two servings of beef yakiudon packed in a to-go container. He had just stepped out into the winter air, calculating how fast he'd have to sprint in order to make it by noon, when a black towncar pulled up in front of the academic building.
The window rolled down slowly, and Nakiri shot him an impatient look. "Wipe the grin off your face and get in."
He slid into the seat next to her without a second thought, but was unable to manage a neutral facial expression. "I thought you were gonna leave me to the wolves."
"I considered it," she quipped, crossing her arms. "But if we couldn't start on time, Alice would just find a way to get everyone off task. Plus it's freezing out, and you never have the sense to dress properly."
He smirked at her then. "It's nice to know you care, Nakiri."
"It's a professional courtesy, and nothing more," she said. "Now what have you prepared for me today?"
His smirk broadened as he watched her eye the takeout box with interest. "Can't wait to try it, can you?"
"Don't flatter yourself, Yukihira-kun," she said, though her growling stomach gave her away. She regarded him with a murderous scowl even as her cheeks turned red.
"Betrayed by her own stomach."
"S-shut up! It's just that I've been busy all day and haven't gotten a chance to eat yet. It has nothing to do with you or your cooking!"
"Whatever you say, Nakiri," he told her, leaning back on the leather seats.
They reached the conference room at 12 on the dot and promptly received death stares from all their lunchless colleagues.
Unperturbed, Nakiri took her seat at the head of the table, chopsticks in hand. "Let's begin."
The meeting started with a review of the budget allotments for new seminars in the coming fiscal year. Arato and Hayama distributed the budget plans for the eight new seminars they'd approved, and the rest of the council voted in favor of their plan—mostly because no one could be bothered to read the whole document.
Next they discussed the logistics of upcoming events, including the first year promotion exams in Hokkaido and the alumni banquet. Souma had almost forgotten how much work running the academy could be.
Towards the end of the meeting, Alice — who was now chair of the campus life committee — made a proposal of her own.
"So your plan is...a party?" Hayama asked in a skeptical tone after she described it.
"I'm proposing a semi-formal dance for Valentine's Day," she explained. "The Elite Ten will commission the chocolate and candy research societies to produce candy grams that students will use to ask each other to the dance."
"It seems frivolous," Arato pointed out. "A cooking event I would understand, but what would be the point of a dance?"
"Excellent question, Hishoko," Alice said. She turned to the next slide in her presentation. "The event will boost morale on campus before finals start up, and all the proceeds will go to Totsuki's philanthropic branch. There's no downside."
"This is Japan's top culinary academy, Alice," Nakiri said with a dismissive wave. "There's no time for something like a school dance."
"And that's exactly why the student body needs to cut loose," the other Nakri heiress said. "No one's gonna cook their best if they're all uptight, Erina. It's bad for creativity. So who's in favor? Ryo-kun obviously supports me."
"Sure," said Kurokiba, who most-likely wasn't even paying attention.
"I'll support it," Takumi added. "I haven't been to a semi-formal since I left Italy."
"Um..." Megumi began. "I really like the idea of all the proceeds going to charity, so I'm in favor as well."
And once Tadokoro was on board no one really had the heart to oppose the event anymore.
"So it's settled," Alice said with a broad smile once the vote was won. "Totsuki Academy is going to hold its first ever Valentine's Day dance!"
A week later, Souma walked into the copy room in Parliament, holding a flyer for the dance and a prototype of the candy gram. It was a small, heart shaped box of chocolates with a card attached to it. Sakaki and Yoshino had gone crazy over the design when he showed it to them earlier.
"Hey Nakiri, can I ask you something?" he asked once he saw her scanning a document.
"If you must." She turned around with her usual pre-annoyed expression, and then flushed suddenly. "Wait, you mean here?" Nakiri cast a meaningful glance at Takumi, who had just come in to print something.
"Yeah, why not? It's not like it's a secret."
If it were possible, the flush on her cheeks deepened, and she started fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. "W-well, if that's how you feel about it, Yukihira-kun, I suppose I can't really object, so..."
"Great!" Souma held out the candy gram to her and she took it tentatively, her fingers brushing against his as she did. She gave one of those fleeting Nakiri smiles and it unwound all of his thoughts the way they always did. Why was he even there again?
"Get on with it, will you?" she asked with a giggle.
"Right." Souma ran a hand through his hair, embarrassed to have been caught staring. "So what do you think of the design?"
Her expression darkened then. "I'm sorry, what?"
"You know, for the fundraiser and stuff. The president of the Chocolate RS wanted to run it by the Elite Ten before we start selling them. So do you like it?"
"Oh...it's fine, I guess," she said with a sigh. Then Nakiri sidestepped him and walked right out of the room.
Souma watched her go, perplexed. What was that all about?
"That was painful," Takumi said to him after a moment.
"What? You think she really didn't like it?"
"It's not a matter of the design, Yukihira!" the blond shouted. Souma had almost forgotten how intense that guy could be. "That wasn't the question she was expecting just now."
"But how would she know what I was going to ask?"
With a beleaguered sigh, Takumi pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a moment. "Repeat after me. Ask."
"Ask."
"Her."
"Her."
"To the dance."
Souma pondered this for a moment before responding. "What's the point of asking one person if we're all gonna end up hanging out, anyway? It makes more sense for everyone to go as one big group."
"Yes, but you should still ask her specifically to express that you're interested."
"Who said I was—"
"Oh please. You're only slightly less obsessed with her and her god tongue than you are with cooking itself, and it's about as subtle as a herd of elephants."
"You know elephants can actually be pretty—"
"Off topic! The point is, you need to ask her out and soon, or lose your honor as a chef and as a man!"
After this grand proclamation, Souma looked at his friend curiously. "So who are you asking, Takumi?"
And with that, he sent his second blond of the day storming out of the copy room.
Authors Notes: Alice has engineered the circumstances. Now the question is will he ever manage to ask her out properly lol? Thanks for reading everyone! Please let me know what you think and if you have any requests!
