A:N/ Nothing much to say other than I cut a few scenes from the original. I made it so that I didn't have to explain the whole thing about Sōma and Hisako's date, but I'll be sure to add in the important details that happen so that's just a head's up for you old and new readers.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Soma

Enticing

Numerous days have passed since Sōma and Hisako's little 'hang out'. Both of them were smiling like a bunch of kids before they parted. It felt weird to Sōma their little 'hangout' brought more joy out of him that anything that recently happened. It wasn't overly complicated, but nonetheless the two had a great time in each other's company. Lately however, the young man was spacing out from time to time. Sōma would often stare out into the open and ponder back to that day whenever he would be left to his own devices. Something irked him inside and it kept him thinking.

"Sōma! The stir-fry noodles are burning!" hissed out Joichirou, snapping his son on his reverie. Sōma quickly put out the fire by putting it under the sink and turning on the faucet to remove the flames. The noodles were burnt to a crisp and had caused a small mess on their kitchen island. No one got burned, but Joichirou was annoyed at his son's lack of focus around the kitchen lately.

"Alright, maybe you should let off a little bit of steam, Sōma. Handle the prep work for now while I fix the orders up, you can do it?" Joichirou asked, a little bit worried about Sōma spacing out. The young man smirked at his dad and asked for him to slap his hands like he would use to.

"Pops, gimme the old 'motivation slap' on the hands." He grinned as Joichirou complied slapping his son's clasped hands to snap him out of his thoughts.

"Better now?" Joichirou raised an eyebrow at his wincing son, seeing the redness of his hands.

"Yeah… Though you could've toned it down a little bit…" Sōma mumbled much to his father's delight as he laughed at his son's antics.

"Let's talk later, do you work properly until then." rung the older Yukihira who worked double time to rush up on the orders that were falling behind. Sōma nodded and kept pace with his father. He picked up his slack and shook away his thoughts, a grin plastered on his face indicating that he was back and ready.

'I really need to talk with Hisako again…' he thought back, forgetting the fact that he hadn't called her back after they hung out days ago.

Joichirou looked over to his shoulder and saw that Sōma was doing fine again, not to mention that he was slowly doing more work until he helped with cooking the main dishes; they both exchanged glances and smirked at each other, father and son silently challenging each other to see who could out-pace the other.

"Now that's what I'm talking about! Come on! There's still a few orders left." said the older Yukihira. Joichirou had just finished up plating their special of the day and served it to the customer with a smile on his face.

"You think I'll lose to you again Pops?" Sōma grinned, serving another customer with their order and giving his father a smirk back. He was all over the place, slicing and dicing, plating and serving dishes that had just finished cooking. The crowd of people who were watching the two men were awestruck by the two's performance and skill in cooking.

"Careful now kiddo, don't want you burnin' up yerself." teased Yohan who sat near their kitchen island and eyed the young man and his father.

'You remind me so much about yer mother when you're lookin' at your old man with that smirk on your face, kiddo…' Yohan smiled to himself, watching the young man cook along with his dad. It brought a tiny smile onto the bearded face of the old man, seeing Joichiro's look of passion in cooking reminded him of the times he and Meiko, Joichiro's late wife, would team up in order to finish the orders of the day.

"It'll be finished in a sec, Uncle Yohan! Just wait a little bit more. I got something special for you!" he laughed back, looking over to his shoulder to give the elderly man a thumbs-up. He finished up the prep-work for Yohan's lunch ramen, the elderly man eyeing at him with curiosity when he put in some odd looking pieces of meat. He finished up the whole bowl with a topping of chili flakes and some seaweed before serving it to the older man.

"Order up!" Sōma announced. Joichirou glanced over to his son's work admiring the fire in his eyes. It reminded him of himself when he was at that age, that was the time when he got back the fire and passion for cooking. He saw Sōma's handiwork and he couldn't help being proud at the world-class looking bowl of ramen that he made. Yohan took a sip from the bowl and immediately the old man let out a content sigh, he relaxed and ate some more.

"This is really light on the stomach kiddo, watchu put in it?" he asked with curiosity. Yohan eyed the soy based ramen that tasted just right, not too sweet and not too salty. It had the perfect balance of being something that you just had to finish while not being something that is heavy and makes you stop eating after a few sips.

"Well, a friend taught me how to make the soup lighter on the stomach by letting it simmer a little bit more and adding a few more spices to it. The chili flakes help balance out the flavor so you have a little kick in the tongue when you take a sip." he explained to the older man, Yohan took no longer to finish his meal. He let out a contented burp and laughed heartily at his nephew.

"You never fail to surprise me kiddo!" he praised the young man, patting Sōma in the back before leaving his tab with a few extra as tip.

The rest of the lunch rush was smooth sailing after that. Customers came in hungry and they weren't disappointed when they left feeling full and satisfied. Yukihira had turn into a desirable place, many significant chefs and critiques would dine in from time to time. The two Yukihira's were gladly laughing to themselves as they wiped the tables and counter tops, Joichirou gave Sōma a slap on the back after that tossing the dirty towels aside and finally loafing around at some tables to relax.

"So tell me, what's bothering you?" Joichirou interjected to his son who was sleeping, Sōma groaned awake leered over to his dad. He shrugged and tried to go back to sleep, only to get pestered by him more.

"Oh come on! I know it has something to do with you and Hisako after you guys hung out. Something happened! I knew it!" He teased, poking Sōma to annoy him further.

"Shut up Pops... Nothing happened…" Sōma groaned out, Joichirou kept teasing him until he would fess up. It took a hardhead like him to break down his son's walls when it needed to. They went back and forth until Sōma eventually told him what happened.

"Alright I give! We haven't contacted each other ever since we hung out alright? I just don't know what to say. I might make it awkward for her and all that stuff." he heard light chuckling and got punched lightly on the shoulder.

"You are such a drama queen, seriously Sōma what the hell happened to you? Man up kid! Just call her for Pete's sake!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms up and letting out a sigh in exasperation.

"It's not that easy Pops, she isn't exactly dying to hear from me either..." he muttered, Joichirou got up from his seat to finish doing the dishes after that. He looked over to his shoulder and saw Sōma fiddling with his phone, contemplating if he would call Hisako.

"Just call her, trust me. She'll even scold you for not calling her sooner." he said simply, putting away the dishes and wiping his hands with a washcloth. Sōma decided get on with it and call Hisako. He ran his thumb over to her contact number and finally called the pink-haired chef.

"Ahh screw it, I hate you Pops..." he mumbled under his breath while anxiously waiting for her to pick up. He held to phone close to his ear and chewed on his bottom lip. Joichirou laughed out heartily and slapped him on the back before going upstairs to check up on Etsuko.

'What the fuck am I even going to say..." Sōma's heart skipped as he heard her pick up. He cleared his voice, and steeled himself.

'Here goes nothing…'

Hisako paced around their office on the radio station, she was in a sour mood that day. She was little bit annoyed by the fact that Sōma seems to have ignored her after they hung out.

'Why am I acting like a middle-schooler…' She groaned in frustration and plopped back down to her work desk, burying her head in her arms and sighing.

"Arato-san, don't get too worked up on the guy that you went out with. He'll call soon! I'm sure of it!" assured her co-worker, Miyo Akiyama. She glared over to her co-worker and let out a sigh, slamming her hand down on the table with a thud.

"Dammit Miyo, for the last time, we did not 'go out' like it being a date! It was just us hanging out by the movies and fooling around." she whined, Hisako sniffed into her sleeve, having contacted a cold earlier and shrugged her shoulders. Miyo giggled and walked over to her friend, lightly patting her on the shoulder.

"There, there, I'm sure that he might've just been busy or unsure on what he would say after that." she reassured Hisako with a chuckle. Hisako leered towards to her friend and then pouted.

"I really don't know why I'm acting like this myself you know? Maybe it's just hormones or mood swings, but I don't know any more Miyo!" she exclaimed with a frown, still lightly banging her head on her table. Miyo huffed and crossed her arms.

"Arato-san, you're phone has been buzzing like crazy since earlier and you haven't noticed it yet?" she pointed out, arching an eyebrow over to her friend. Hisako flushed and checked her phone, seeing that she already had around two missed calls from Sōma. She sighed and waited for him to call again.

"Oh! Miyo! He's calling! What should I do!?" she asked while panicking.

"Honey, you're being dramatic. Just answer it." Miyo patted her head and urged her to just pick up her phone and get on with it. Hisako cleared her voice before answering, keeping a straight face in an attempt to not sound too desperate or weird.

[Hello Hisako? Are you there?] She heard him on the other line, Sōma's voice sounding like he was embarrassed as well. She saw Miyo laughing her head off when she couldn't answer yet. She coughed and composed herself before uttering a reply back.

"I'm here. What took you so long?" she asked, flushed in embarrassment when she let that slip out of her tongue. She winced and heard him laughing to himself at the end of the line.

[Well... Let's just say I didn't know what to say after that? Are you free today?] he then asked, Hisako glanced towards her co-worker, who gave her a thumbs-up and was now lightly hitting her on the shoulder. Miyo was gushing at her friend, trying to hide her squealing and wide-grin.

"I-I'm free today... Are you going to pick me up or should we meet somewhere?" she asked. She then heard him letting out a sigh of relief before replying.

[I'll pick you up at your office. Megumi already told me where you work at.] he chuckled on the other end. Hisako felt her ears feeling all hot to its tips and cursed Megumi from under her breath.

"Wait! Y-You're really coming here?!" Hisako exclaimed, holding the phone away from her ear and mouthing something to Miyo.

"He's coming here!" Hisako said in a low whisper. The blonde woman raised an eyebrow towards her friend and cocked her head to the side.

[Hello? Hisako? How about we just meet up at the park square?] He then suggested,

"That's fine…" Hisako hummed in response and shut off her phone.

'What's gotten into me now…' she sighed, trying to calm down her fast-beating heart.

"What was that?! He was so excited to see you!" Miyo groaned at her friend, rubbing her temples and scolding Hisako some more. She looked over to her friend with a pout.

"Oh don't give me that, it's embarrassing to let him see where I work! Plus I look so haggard, I'll need to freshen up before I got out again…" she whined, Hisako rested her head in her arms, yawning in exhaustion. Miyo chuckled at her misfortune, giving her some time to freshen up in the bathroom before Hisako would leave.

"I really want to meet this Sōma person one day, just to see what kind of person he is." she giggled out loud towards Hisako who just came out of the bathroom. Hisako shyly nodded and turned her heel before bowing towards Miyo.

"S-See you tomorrow then..." she mumbled before leaving their office. Miyo gave her a one-finger salute and grinned at her friend, wishing her all the best.

"Don't forget to bring protection! You never know when Mr. Right becomes frisky!" Miyo hollered out, throwing out a condom to Hisako. She blushed beet-red and threw it back to Miyo hitting the blonde woman in the nose. Hisako then made her way towards the door while trying to shake off what Miyo just did.

'That woman is just so bold…'

"Honey, are you sure you don't want to bring one?" Miyo teased her again on her way out.

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" She yelled before slamming the door close.

They met at the park square not soon after. Hisako saw Sōma playing with a bunch of kids before their eyes met. They stared at each other for a few seconds, both not knowing what to say.

"I missed you-" they said in unison. Both were flushed and turned away from looking at the other. Sōma was the first one to break the tension of awkwardness by laughing it out Hisako had a small smile herself as she sat down with him on the bench.

"So what's up with you lately? I haven't heard from you after we hung out, were you too confused on how to handle Etsuko?" teased Hisako with a sly grin playing on her lips. Sōma scratched the back of his head and chuckled, embarrassed to admit that she was right.

"Sorry for that. I really didn't know what to say then after that. Me and Etsuko are doing fine, thank you very much. I happen to be improving in the whole 'parenting' department if I do say so myself." He stuck out his tongue at her and teased back.

"So… How's the radio talk-show thing going for you?" Sōma asked, trying to lighten up the mood around them.

"Well… Apart from my nagging co-worker and friend, it's going pretty good!" Hisako chirped, telling him stories about the time that she and Miyo went out for drinks and that she had to call Miyo's boyfriend to pick her up after the blonde woman was passed out drunk.

"By the way, who's watching Etsuko?" it was Hisako's turn to ask, wondering why Sōma would often leave without having anyone to take care of his daughter.

"Don't worry, Pops is watching her. You know… I've been thinking…" Sōma pondered for a while, contemplating if he should say his next words or not.

"Thinking about what?" Hisako asked in curiosity, eyeing at his awkward body language.

"Well, you remember the movie that we watched a couple of days ago?" Sōma brought up the cheesy chick-flick that they watched, earning him a distasteful look from Hisako.

"And what about it?"

"Well, you remember that part of the movie where the guy and the girl didn't end up being together like those cliché moments?" Hisako looked at Sōma with much curiosity and stifled a laugh, earning her a deadpan look from the young man.

"I'm sorry… It's just not like you to ask silly things like that." Hisako admitted, lightly chuckling at Sōma. The young man scratched the back of his head in embarrassment and laughed along with her.

"Anyway, I was wondering about that. Later in the movie we found out that they wound up being together in the end, right?" he smiled, a weird one Hisako thought.

"I'm not sure where this is going, but yeah... What about it?" Hisako then saw the different look in Sōma's eyes and immediately she backed up.

"Sōma… Whatever it is that you're feeling you should stop." She bit the bottom of her lip when she saw Sōma visibly wince. She saw his down casted look and she felt guilty, seeing his frown.

'Why am I so dumb…' Sōma had a tight line on his lips before curling it up into a small smile.

"Hey it's fine! Don't worry about it, I'll be fine!" he feigned cheerfulness, only to get a pitying look across from Hisako.

"Sōma…" Hisako reached out to him, the young man immediately backed away. Sōma groaned out and scolded himself after that. Hisako tried to reach out to him, only for Sōma to move back when she tried to explain or get near him.

"Look, I'm sorry for bringing that stupid stuff up. I guess I was just fogged up you know?" Sōma said with a defeated look on his face. Hisako didn't know what to say, but instead of letting her close friend walk away feeling sad, the young woman embraced him.

"I know that circumstances won't really allow us being together… But you know… I kinda wish we could've made it work…" she finished and felt him stiffening under her. Sōma breathed in her scent and embraced Hisako back, giving into his worries.

The two of them were silent then, opting for casual conversations after that instead of dabbling into personal matters.

'It's better this way…' Hisako reminded herself. Sōma needed to heal, but she couldn't give him that if she would already give into her feelings with him.

'Maybe this was how she felt back then when I chose Erina…' Sōma reminisced the times where his time cooking with Hisako was lessened as Erina and him grew closer. The two were hurting inside, not all people with chemistry end up being together.

Eventually they reached to a stop that Hisako let them both to. Sōma awed at the orange skies that signaled for night time to come soon. Hisako's bright pink hair was further accentuated by the soft sunlight that danced across the spacious viewpoint. She rested her elbows onto the railings and sighed out in content.

"Sōma, I want you to be honest with me…" Hisako faced him with a small smile gracing her features. Sōma was taken aback by her beauty.

"W-What is it?" the young man asked back with curiosity and feeling the tension in the air.

"If we were to try things out… Do you think that we could make it work?"

"It's not a question of whether or not things would work out… It's about if we're both willing to make it work together." He said wisely, earning him a pat on the head from her and another embrace.

"You really are my best friend…" she smiled, happy that she finally got her answer. It didn't mean that they would try it out, but it was to show that Sōma was mature enough to understand her point earlier.

"I have something left I need to do." He said out of the blue, earning him a confused look from Hisako.

"What is it?"

"I want to go to that Christmas village in Europe that Erina and I wanted to take Etsuko to…" he fondly smiled, remembering the promise that he made with Erina that they would take a quiet vacation there when he got home from America. It was a painful reminder that he didn't get to do with his wife.

"Do you plan on taking Etsuko or is this just something that you need to do for yourself?" Hisako asked, somewhat already knowing the answer.

"I need to say goodbye for real. I don't think that Etsuko should come with me since it's so far and I don't want her getting irritated in a suddenly new environment." Sōma cried out, sobbing into her shoulder. He poured out all the pain that he felt. All the anguish that built up while he was busy trying to ignore the pressure that built up inside him.

Sōma broke down and realized that he still wasn't healing. The wounds that were left from his late wife were still fresh in his mind. It constantly pained him that he was living each day without her.

A dim light hung over the bar of 7th Heaven. Yohan was cleaning various glasses and constantly refilling platelets of nuts for the customers that night. He frowned upon seeing his nephew, troubled and clearly needing some advice. Sōma was hunched over the counter, hands over his heads and sighing deeply, in a trance-like state that seemed to give off the vibe that he needed someone to tell him to cool off. Yohan gave another worried glance at his nephew before hovering over to the young man in deep thought.

"What's eatin' ya kiddo?" he asked silently, Sōma turned to him and gave a bitter dark chuckle. He looked back at his uncle with softened eyes and looked back at the counter in an attempt to hide.

'Ye looked just like your father when he lost Meiko…' Yohan frowned, reminiscing the days wherein Joichirou would drink himself into oblivion while in deep pain from his wife's death. The older man huff a sigh and waited for his nephew to continue.

"Do you ever get the feeling that you're so lost, Uncle?" he promptly asked.

"W-Well... Can't say I haven't been there..."

"How do you let go of someone that you love so much…" Sōma wiped away his stray tears, clutching his heart and feeling the rending that was going on inside. Yohan hadn't replied yet, waiting for him to finish before he could give out advice of his own.

"It was going so well… But then I was so stupid that I still went through with going on my trip overseas for the Goddamn competition…" Sōma downed his glass of whiskey and shrugged.

"Kiddo, your father was in the same exact spot back then when he left for some time for himself overseas…" Yohan patted his nephew's shoulder and took back the glass of whiskey from Sōma's hand. He gently pried it away from the young man and sat down with him.

"How about you take a li'l trip? You know, keep yer mind offa' things?" the older man suggested.

Back then, Yohan was the one to console Joichirou when Meiko, Sōma's mother, had just died. He was so shattered at the time, that Joichirou overworked himself to the point of exhaustion to keep his mind off of his late wife. Yohan felt that it was his duty to steer his nephew and guide him while he could.

"That reminds me, do you know where the Christmas Village is, Uncle?" Sōma asked, wanting to remember the place in Europe that he and Erina dreamed of visiting after he left for overseas.

"Hmmm, I can't say I remember Kiddo… How 'bout you ask yer o'l Pop? Maybe he knows about it?"

It then dawned to Sōma that it was already getting late. He quickly glanced at the time and nearly had a heart attack when he checked his phone.

'Yikes… Ten missed calls and seven texts from Takumi and Megumi…' he then chuckled inwardly and texted back a quick 'sorry' to the two.

"I'll be going now, Uncle! Thanks for the talk!" Sōma billed out his tab and left a few extra hugging his surrogate uncle before leaving in a light jog back home.

After reaching Yukihira at around nine o' clock, Sōma went inside to see Joichirou finishing up the dishes after eating his dinner. The older man raised an eyebrow towards his son and sighed, pulling up a seat to invite Sōma to talk.

"Listen up kid, I already know what happened. Hisako told me." Joichirou saw the slight cross of hurt in the look on Sōma's face.

"T-Then… Do you know the place I'm looking for?" Sōma asked, his resolve faltering when he reconsidered Etsuko. It would be bad for infants to leave out of the country he was simply not able to take care of Etsuko while he left.

"It's in Switzerland. Saint Gallen, I went there back then when your Mom passed away." Joichirou revealed, feeling a mild headache from the time. Sōma had an 'o' forming in his mouth along with a sad smile with his father.

"You too, huh? You know, I was a lot like you when I couldn't get over your Mom passing away. I wanted to keep my mind off of things back then. I searched far and wide for a quiet place somewhere that I could escape to. Luckily your Mom was an avid fan of travel magazines and that was when I saw Saint Gallen." Joichirou quipped, getting an embarrassed smile and shrug from his son.

"It's something I wanted to do for Erina… Maybe in a way… This is finally saying goodbye?" Sōma admitted. In going there he felt that he could finally let go of his burdens. Even if he couldn't fully let go of Erina, she was someone that he would go to the ends of the earth with. She was the girl that made him feel complete. Without her, he felt like a lost boy who had just lost his mother and guide.

"Then I'm with you. Take the time off, I can easily manage Yukihira while you're out. Plus, Gin owes me one so I'll get help running the orders while you're out." Joichirou encouraged his son with a huge grin. Sōma was elated and hugged his dad, thanking him over and over again as he felt the surge of happiness bubbling inside.

"But how about Etsuko… I can't bring her, Hisako and the gang would kill me if I stress my baby out." He immediately wanted to reconsider, fearing that he wouldn't be there again for his daughter when she needed him. Joichirou smacked his son in the back of the head and reassured him again.

"Hisako already called, she told every one of your friends. They're supporting you, Sōma. They want you to find peace for yourself." Joichirou mentioned the pink haired young woman again.

'Jeez, I'm still being babied around by your best friend, huh Erina?' he chuckled to himself, wanting to already thank his close friend for understanding him even though he felt like he didn't deserve to be.

"Be sure to thank her, alright? Oh and by the way, let's stop over your Mom's grave. You gotta come with me and Etsuko so don't plan anything for tomorrow."

"Alright, Pops! Thanks again!"

That night, Sōma felt the surge of support from his family and friends. All of them were so willing to help him that he couldn't think of a way to repay them. He wanted to, and he planned on to once he got back from his trip. He pulled out his laptop from up his room and went to see the ticket prices as well as hotel bookings.

"Hey there Etsuko… Papa's going on a trip!" he muttered towards the sleeping infant in her little cot. He kissed his baby daughter before going back to work on his flight bookings, texting his friends and thanking them along the way after he received calls and texts from them.

~ End

A:N/ Hey there! So I've been lately dabbling about Joichirou and Sōma's mom lately, haven't I? So because of that, I might do a series of mini-fic chapters about them after I'm done with this story. Be sure to check it out when it comes! Don't forget to leave a review and favorite/follow me and my story! Thanks again.