A:N/ We're officially back into the present timeline bois! Anyway from here on out, I think the story would take a further dip into another setting. So please keep that in mind as the story progresses!

P.S: Sorry in advance if I cut out the parts that you loved about the older beta-versions of the chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Soma

Second Chances

Four years have passed since Sōma came back from Saint Gallen. The young man grew and matured, but akin to that is that there was something missing from the person that came back after the trip. He felt something was oddly out of order in his mind. He couldn't quite figure it out for a while, but Sōma diverted all of his attention into being a Dad for Etsuko before all things.

"Papa, wakey wakey! First day of school!" a high pitched voice from a bubbly girl erupted Sōma's quiet Monday morning. Etsuko had grown over the years, her hair grew and its beautiful rose gold color had shone brightly under the sunlight. Her eyes were as purple as Erina's and her unfathomable spirit reminded Sōma of himself when he was younger.

"Mhmmm, five more minutes Etsuko…" he mumbled on his pillow. Etsuko huffed and pouted cutely, grabbing a nearby pillow to slam it over her sleeping Dad.

Etsuko's stomach grumbled loudly, causing the little girl to be red in embarrassment. Sōma peered up from his pillow and saw his daughter smiling awkwardly at him while trying to not cause much of a bother.

"Let's get the day started then, Honey!" He rose to his feet and kissed his daughter in the forehead, grabbing Etsuko's hand and leading her to the bathroom so that she could be bathed to get ready for school.

"Papa, I love you!" she mumbled, hugging him before running downstairs for breakfast.

"Oh jeez, what the heck did I do to deserve a kid like you." He patted Etsuko's head, grabbing his necklace made of his and Erina's wedding rings before going downstairs himself.

"Kiddo, where's Pops?" he asked his daughter who was sitting on a booth waiting for her breakfast.

"Over there! Grandpa!" she called out to the older man.

"Just a few more seconds Etsuko!"

Sōma walked over to their kitchen and grabbed a lunch box, fixing up Etsuko's favorites for her lunch later on. Joichirou chuckled, watching over his son proudly while Sōma explained Etsuko why penguins can't fly.

"What!? Penguins can't fly but they can tap dance!" argued Etsuko over to Dad while she finished her breakfast.

"Kiddo, that's Happy Feet." Sōma deadpanned at her, eating his breakfast with his Dad on the countertop.

"You know, Etsuko reminds me of you when I took you on your first day to kindergarten." Joichirou mumbled, taking in another spoonful of rice. Sōma himself couldn't forget that day as well, being late was something that he'd grown accustomed to when Joichirou was always busy.

"Oh I do remember us being late that time! The headmaster was so confused why a nineteen year old looking guy brought in his son." Sōma teased to Joichirou, nudging his Dad on the shoulders.

"Hey, that nineteen year old happened to have been making more than what they make for a whole year in a single month. You can't blame me for being busy!" Joichirou argued, laughing along Etsuko.

"Let's get going kiddo!"

Etsuko giggled, jumping out of her seat and running towards the coat hanger upstairs to grab her yellow hat and small sling bag.

"Hey! Don't forget Etsuko's raincoat and your umbrella!" Joichirou reminded, passing the father-daughter pair a spare umbrella. Sōma went upstairs to get Etsuko's raincoat, slipping in onto his little daughter as she giggled and twirled around, delighted by the cute raincoat she was wearing which was a bright shade of yellow.

"Papa! Let's go!" she beamed, taking Sōma's hand.

"Alright! Pops we'll be going now, I'll be back in a little bit."

On their way to school they passed by a new store that had just opened up. 'Mochi-Mochi!' is what it said on the huge sign it had. Sōma was handed out a flier by a woman with dark-pink hair, quickly glancing up on from the flier to the woman.

'Wait…' there was a skip in his heartbeat that rippled across his chest after a second when he glanced up to see Atra staring at him. The dark-pink haired woman was also wide in shock herself. He nearly dropped the umbrella he was holding when he saw her holding a familiar looking yellow umbrella that he forgot.

"It's nice to see you again, Yukihira-san…" she croaked, her voice sounding hoarse and nervous. Sōma couldn't help but gape a little when he saw how much she'd changed over the years. Her hair was a lot longer now and she also wore glasses.

"What brings you over here in Japan?" there was a momentary pause between the two of them. Etsuko kept quiet while trying to shyly hide away behind his leg, the young girl was dressed in her raincoat when it had started to drizzle earlier.

"Let's just say, I wanted to return to you your handy yellow umbrella that you left in Licht-san's cab." She gestured towards her umbrella with a small smile on her face.

"Papa?" Etsuko held his hand tighter, feeling shy around Atra. There was a pause in her stare when Sōma racked through his brain for something that he forgot to tell Atra back then.

"Wait… You have a daughter?!" Atra asked with much surprise, looking at Etsuko and then back at Sōma. His daughter hid behind him, a bit surprised by Atra's sudden outburst.

"I forgot to tell you about her back then…"

"I-I see…"

There was an awkward silence between the two of them.

"Well, it was nice catching up with you, Iwatani-san. We'll be sure to come back later!" we waved off to the woman, taking Etsuko's hand as they continued on their way to Etsuko's school.

'Of course he'd be married and has a kid by now…' Atra sighed in defeat, trudging back into her store with her head hung low.

The trip to Etsuko's elementary school was a little bit too quiet for Sōma's comfort. He worriedly glanced down at Etsuko and saw her frowning a little.

"Honey? Hey what's wrong?" He knelt down on his daughter, inspecting her if she had gotten hurt or anything.

"The lady earlier… Who is she?" Etsuko asked, tilting her head in confusion. Sōma smiled and reassured her with a pat on the head.

"She's Papa's friend. We met years ago when you were still a baby." He explained, telling her the adventures that he and Atra share a while back. The more Sōma told to her about Atra, the more curious Etsuko was getting. He could already tell from the growing smile on her face that something was brewing up in Etsuko's little mind.

"Oh! Is she my Momma then?!" Etsuko stopped and looked up at Sōma with hopeful eyes. There were still plenty of things that he hadn't told to Etsuko yet, Erina's death, what had happened to him years ago when she died. She was still kept in the dark from his personal life after everything that happened in his younger years. He felt that it was still too soon for his daughter to find out about the things that happened in those dark years.

"Honey, that's not how it works…" he knelt down to her and hugged her, letting her go to the school after the teachers were gathering the children.

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to your Papa?" asked one of Etsuko's teachers there. The little girl nodded and ran towards her Dad, wanting to hug him before the school bell rings.

"Papa!" Etsuko yelled out, running briskly through the rain. Her hoodie flung back from the wind that rushed in front of her face, she jump towards Sōma who luckily turned around it time to catch his daughter.

"Papa! I love you! See you later!" she chirped, nuzzling her head onto the crook of Sōma neck, kissing him on the cheek before put her down. He tried to hide the growing blush on his face, feeling overjoyed from Etsuko's cute moments.

Sumire Elementary School…

"Okay class! Today we'll be introducing you all to each other!" One of the teachers inside Etsuko's room smiled towards the group of children. Etsuko was quiet, looking around the classroom to see numerous kids feeling shy. Her eyes fell upon a boy with white hair and yellow cat-like eyes than seemed to give off a mischievous aura on them.

"Would anyone like to start to introduce themselves?" the teacher asked the group of children, hoping to break the ice so that they could all start being friends.

"Yes, please!" the white haired boy from earlier shot up his arm with a huge toothy grin on his face. He stood up from his desk and in front of the class.

"My name is Tsukasa Haru! And I'll be a great chef one day like my Momma and Papa!" the little boy proudly declared. Etsuko saw his confidence and admired him for his dream. She then joined in on the group of children who clapped for Haru's introduction.

"Would anyone else like to volunteer?" asked again the teacher. Etsuko took a deep breath before raising her hand. Haru, who was a few desks away from Etsuko, encouraged the girl to do her best.

"You can do it!" the little boy whispered to her, Etsuko shyly nodded, thanking him for his words of encouragement.

"M-My name is Y-Yukihira Etsuko… And uhm… I'd like to see penguins one day in the Antarctic!" she shouted the last part. The group of kids immediately made fun of her and teased her, causing Etsuko to back away and hide from the teacher's leg. Haru on the other hand, was trying to defend Etsuko, not wanting her to feel embarrassed any further.

"W-Why are they teasing me?" she looked up at the teacher, tears brimming on her face. The teacher patted her head before turning back to the other children with a small frown on her face.

"Class… I'm very disappointed in you, please apologize to Etsuko-chan." She scolded the kids, all of them gave Etsuko a passing glance, giving the little girl half-hearted apologies as Etsuko made her way back to her desk.

The introduction of other kids went by quickly, it was now their recess time when the bell rang.

"Where is she…" Haru muttered to himself, looking around for Etsuko to try and cheer her up. He gasped when he saw her being pushed around by a group of kids. The little boy ran as fast as he could to save her.

"Hey! Stop that!" he yelled to one kid, shoving him off of Etsuko when he was pushing her around. The other boy grabbed Haru's collar and shoved him onto the floor.

"Come on let's go… These two are a bunch of weirdos…" another kid muttered, taking their friends along with them to leave Etsuko and Haru.

'That was so uncool…' Haru winced from the scratch that he received from the kid when he was shoved on the floor.

"H-Here, take my hand." Etsuko said, taking Haru's hand to pull him up to his feet. Haru dusted off some of the dirt that got onto his shirt, checking himself around if there were any more scratches.

"Thanks…" Haru muttered. The two of them were sitting idly, watching the kids playing tag. A part of Etsuko was confused and wanted to cry, but she tried to hold back her tears because Haru was with her.

"A-Aren't you going to play with them?"

"Nah, they're a bunch of stupid jerks."

"O-Okay then…" Etsuko replied, looking around for anything that could pass the time for the two of them.

"Do you think I'm silly?" Etsuko asked to Haru, she was looking like she was about to try when Haru patted her head.

"No." he said simply, taking her hand and leading them both to the small garden beside the school. Etsuko was really happy when she saw the numerous pretty flowers that grew there, Haru grinned when he picked one of the flowers there, handing it over to Etsuko with a smile on his face.

"You're not weird, Etsuko-chan, I think that you're really cute!" he said, putting the small camellia flower that he picked on Etsuko's hair. The little girl was flabbergasted, being complimented by a boy was something that she never experience before. Shy meekly nodded, fiddling with her thumbs and trying to avoid Haru's growing smile.

"We should probably head back now, I think the bell already rang." He quipped, taking Etsuko's hand and leading them back to the classroom.

Atra had been busy tending to her store for the whole day. It was now afternoon time when the busy rush of customers finally lessened. The young woman sighed after a long day of work, rubbing her sore muscles while drinking tea. The bell rang on her door and she saw the father-daughter pair walking in with smiles on their faces.

"O-Oh! Yukihira-san, it's nice to see you again." She greeted the two of them happily.

Sōma looked around the store, admiring the rustic charm that it had. It reminded him a little bit of the Crusader's pub back in Saint Gallen, it had a cozy feeling to it and just gave off a feeling of warmth when you came inside.

"Papa? What're those?" Etsuko pointed at the numerous mochi that was available. Atra couldn't help but chuckle towards Etsuko's curiosity, wanting to help the young girl, Atra brought out her favorite baby seal mochi and gave it to Etsuko with a smile.

"Here, try it! It's called mochi." Etsuko giggled, thanking Atra before taking her first bite off the tasty treat.

"So… What brings you all the way here?" Sōma broke the silence between him and Atra. The woman sat down with him and invited the two of them for tea.

"Well… It was all thanks to you that I could be here right now…"

"What do you mean?" he asked, a little bit unsure on her vague explanation.

"It was because you cooked that dinner for my Dad and his colleague… If it weren't for you the dinner would've been canceled, my Dad found out then that I was having a tough time around him from my boss." Then it all made sense to Sōma. Right before he left and thanked Atra's father, he saw the two of them reconciling.

There was a feeling of giddiness in Sōma that reminded him of another thing from that night. He couldn't help but smile towards Atra.

"That was probably the best night I had in Saint Gallen." He admitted, wanting to relive the time when he and Atra went sledding with the huskies, the time when he and her eating at the weird diner that had just the perfect song for them, it all came back to Sōma in one huge ball of nostalgia.

"What's your name, miss?" Etsuko asked to Atra, snapping the absent-minded Sōma out of his thoughts.

"I'm Atra Iwatani, what's your name little girl? By the way, I like your flower. You look so cute!" Atra said with her friendliest smile. Thankfully for the woman, Etsuko was starting to warm up to her, she wasn't as shy anymore.

"I'm Etsuko Yukihira! My friend Haru gave me this flower earlier! He said I looked cute!" Etsuko gushed.

'I feel a strange disturbance in the force…' Sōma wondered who the little boy was that Etsuko was talking about. There was a few more exchanges of giggling and laughing amongst the two, Atra was tending to the other customers as she and Etsuko exchanged stories about their day.

"Miss Atra, how do you make mochi?" Etsuko asked. Looking around for any signs of other customers, Atra then grinned when she saw that the three of them were alone now. She then walked towards the small sign on her door, flipping it around so that it would say that they were already closed.

"Yukihira-kun, want to help me make that mochi that we ate a few years ago?" Atra winked at Sōma, teasing him and Etsuko.

'Well that's the first time that she called me that…' Sōma noted, nodding along as he tied a spare apron that Atra had. Etsuko watched the two adults work together, something inside her mind was wondering why the two of them looked good together. The little girl went over to Atra and tugged on her apron.

"Miss Atra? Do you know who my Momma is?"

"Eh?"

Sōma dropped the empty bowl he was holding and looked at Etsuko with his eyes wide in shock.

"Y-Yukihira-kun?" Atra worriedly glanced at Sōma.

"Etsuko, wait here Honey."

He then sighed and took Atra's hand, pulling the two of them away from Etsuko so that he could tell her the truth. Once the two of them were left alone, Sōma rubbed his temples and apologized.

"Yukihira-kun? What's going on?" Atra asked. Sōma had his back on the wall, sliding further down onto the floor. He put his arms onto his face to bury them, not knowing where to start.

"I haven't told Etsuko yet…" he croaked.

"Haven't told her what?" Atra sat beside him, waiting for him to explain it to her. Sōma smiled sadly, pulling out his necklace and showing it to Atra.

"My wife passed away when Etsuko was born… I haven't told her yet because I was so afraid that she would think that Erina left her…" it was a sensitive matter that Sōma danced around for years. He never gave Etsuko an answer whenever she would ask him where her mother was.

"I'm sorry to hear…" Atra leaned a little bit closer to Sōma so that she could comfort him. Tears fell on Sōma's face as he broke down, the walls that he'd long brought up since he came back from his trip was being torn down once again. He felt so vulnerable again.

"I was so stupid…" he whispered, leaning his head onto Atra's shoulder. Atra patted his head and hummed to him, wanting to do more for Sōma.

"Hey… Want to finish making the mochi?" Sōma pulled away from Atra and saw her gentle smile. Rain had once again started to pour outside. Petrichor had already permeated in the air around them bringing to Sōma a comfortable and nostalgic smell.

"Yeah… I'd like that."

The two of them came back after their short 'talk'. Etsuko ran up to Sōma and hugged him, crying whilst repeatedly apologizing to her father.

"Papa… I'm so sorry for making you upset…" the little girl murmured, her face still buried on the apron that Sōma was wearing. He knelt down and hugged Etsuko, reassuring her that she did nothing wrong.

"Etsuko-chan ~ " Atra called out to the little girl, presenting to her the matcha-flavored mochi that she and Sōma were making.

"I added in my secret ingredient just for you." Atra winked, patting Etsuko's hair and looking at Sōma with a smile of her own.

"What's the secret ingredient?" Sōma asked, taking one of the mochis and inspecting it closely. Atra turned around with a small smile on her face.

"It wouldn't be a secret then if I told you, now wouldn't it?" she teased, seeing Sōma popping the mochi into his mouth.

'It's surprisingly more delicious than last time…' he noted, seeing Etsuko's bright smile when she kept on eating the rest of the mochi.

The three of them had a great time. Etsuko was getting drowsy when Sōma noticed the time, the rain outside had thankfully lessen, only being a light downpour than earlier. He cradled Etsuko and lifted the little girl up, resting her tired head onto his shoulder.

"I had a great time, Iwatani-san… Thanks for everything." He bowed. Atra couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

"Please come by anytime you feel so. I also had a wonderful time today!" Atra replied a little too loudly, waking up the sleeping Etsuko. The drowsy little girl smiled towards her and thanked her.

"Miss Atra… Thank you for today…" Etsuko smiled before passing out again. Sōma and Atra melted at Etsuko's cuteness, the two adults seemingly lost at the little girl's kindness.

~ End

A:N/ I hoped you guys liked the timeskip! I decided to add a little more on Etsuko's perspective when I wrote this chapter, since I didn't want to make this all about Sōma and Atra. Plus, there's also a bit more to this story in the coming parts, Rindō and Eishi being introduced as a couple (Haru is just an adorable cinnamon roll, ain't he? xD)

Hoped you guys would review! Thanks again for the 16k viewer count!