The price of knowledge

If Erina Nakiri calls mr. Yukihira by his given name in a crisis-situation it will prove my hypothesis 'Erina likes Sōma romantically'

Even after reading the list for the 20th time, the queen of Tōtsuki couldn't believe her own eyes. The points written down were all valid in terms of logical reasoning, but had she really done all of them? She felt her heart sink, each point seeming more like a criminal charge than a general observation.

Despite still being uncertain of her own emotions she managed to ask "Is it really that obvious?" it was only when she heard the question from her own voice she realized the dejected tone in it.

It reaction it solicited was almost as surprising as the revelation itself. Benjamin smiled at it; a genuine, kind smile to calm Erina down. "No of course it isn't. Each of the observations on that list would be hard to spot, and to the untrained eye it would be impossible to spot them all…"

Ben was cut short by the blonde girl "But you found out. So there's a possibility that others would as well."

This stranger, who paradoxically knew more about her than her actual friends, began talking again. His voice was firm when he inquired the million-yen question. "Would it really be bad if people found out? Do you think it's embarrassing, to like the 1st seat?"

Once again he was interrupted by the newly-appointed headmistress. "Of course it would. I spent the first year of high school treating him like dirt, hell I treated him worse than dirt. He'd probably laugh in my face, if I confessed."

Benjamin made a loud inhale before making his retort. The strain on his nerves was beginning to show. "Listen, Nakiri-san. What you do with your little romance drama is your choice. All I ever wanted was for you to accept my proposition… So do we have an agreement?"

There was still a figurative ocean of doubt in making this deal for Erina, but he had proven his skills more than enough to satisfy her curiosities and his talent could prove useful. So she reluctantly accepted.

The Dane then proceeded to pull out a contract regarding this arrangement. For what felt like an eternity of torment, the director thought she'd have to sign the deal with the detective in blood, but the next instant Ben procured her a blue-inked pen. There was no thunder or smoke when she wrote her signature either.

She knew it was too late to change the deal, but still felt the urgency to ask. "You won't use what I tell you against me right?"

Benjamin was businesslike in his demeanor when he answered. "I won't, unless you do something illegal, and it has to be severe. As an example your grandfather came to me, pleading the case regarding your father's abuse when Azami returned; sadly it was not a big enough case for me to deal with. And no, before you ask, I won't tell Yukihira Sōma about your 'crush'… Is that what people use in the vernacular?"

Erina stared at him in disbelief. Partially because he didn't think her father's treatment was bad enough to get involved in, but also because she found it hard to believe he would tell. "But you told me, that I have a crushon Yukihira-kun."

Ben tried desperately not to sound frustrated now. "Yes… But there is a big difference telling between you and him: You already had a thing for him; I simply pointed it out. Mr. Yukihira on the other hand is uncertain of any romantic interest in a girl, and telling him about it could sway him in his decision - and that is not any of my business."


When Yukihira came back, Erina was glaring silently at Benjamin. She'd been pushing all sorts of questions until he finally had enough. The Dane had just stopped responding after the 50th question and lay back on the couch.

The tray he was carrying had a single bowl on it. The headmistress couldn't help stealing glimpses of the red-head. Did Benjamin really have to reveal that secret. Yukihira- kun used his usual catchphrase as he handed Ben the tray. "It's really good Yukihira-san" admitted the patient.

Erina eyed the contents of the bowl. It was a simple congee, but it did smell heavenly. Yukihira-kun smiled broadly at the compliment, but the blonde noticed a twinge of sadness in his golden orbs "thanks, but I can't take any of the praise. The recipe is my mother's, she would always make it when I was sick."

Benjamin apparently had enough human decency not to pry. Instead he simple wolfed the rice porridge, as if he hadn't eaten all day; which was true, to be fair.

Yukihira-kun looked at him, but Erina couldn't tell what was going on in the red-head's mind. When he spoke the air froze "Ben, please make your most impressive dish for dinner, as repayment… You can use anything we have, and I'll make Fumio buy the rest of the ingredients."

For a moment there was a challenging, callous glare in the Dane's eyes, but it vanished instantly for a slightly mischievous glint. "ok… But first you need to get me to my room 'cus I need a gum."

Erina looked at him incredulously. He had more or less been challenged by the 1st seat of Tōtsuki, and Benjamin's only reaction was a want for a piece of chewing gum. "I think, I have some peppermint gum in my pocket." She said.

"Sadly that won't do Nakiri-san." Why did it have to be a special kind of gum, or was it some variant of germ phobia? Again Benjamin seemed to be able to read her mind. "Because I need a nicotine gum… smoking in Japan really is a hassle."


When they reached the room Benjamin had borrowed, they were greeted with a breathtaking, but equally horrifying view. The room's giant pin board was filled to the brim with scraps of paper, different colored strings and general notes. He clearly hadn't been idling the entire night, but had systematically sorted through the information he had gained.

Erina tried fruitlessly to cover the uppermost right corner, where the note on her and Yukihira-kun hung. Luckily said chef was preoccupied with the rest of the board to notice, and Ben was sifting through his luggage to find the nicotine gum.

"This is really impressive, Ben." Was all Yukihira-kun could muster saying.

"Glad you like it, but it's nothing compared to when I work on a case." Said Dane had only raised his head for a moment, before returning to the bag. He mumbled something along the line of 'got you' just as the red-head made his second comment "What is it, exactly?"

"It's a mind-map of relations, naturally. I gathered some knowledge yesterday this is the results."

Yukihira-kun looked positively impressed.

"So this is the extent of what you learned. I wish I could do something similar."

The blonde girl looked at the red-head for a second, the slightest blush tingeing her cheeks. She quickly landed her eyes on the Dane again. To Erina' surprise there was no arrogance in Benjamin's gaze, only bitterness… and sorrow?

"Careful what you wish for, mate. To be able to do what I do, means no can hide anything from you. Yes, you'll know the good parts; but you will also know when people are too polite to say they don't like you." His eyes fell on Erina for a moment too long to be a coincidence, before continuing "You'd be able to figure out who liked you before they'd know. Being forced to stay silent, or to preempt their confession. Most likely you would be able to see it isn't going to work out for you, and take the heartbreak sooner than later."

Both Yukihira and Nakiri were stunned by the choices Ben had had to make. It was her who broke the silence "Did you have a crush on the person." She didn't know what sexual orientation he had, but she knew now was definitely not the time to find out. His lips twisted in to a grimace infinitely more horrible than the day before, when he heard the word 'crush'.

"Yeah… the feelings were mutual… Sadly I knew it wasn't going to work."

With that somber note they left Benjamin alone...


The evening came quick, as usual in the winter. Whatever gloom Erina and Yukihira-kun had seen Ben in was melted away. He had been in the kitchen for a couple of hours already, and he didn't seem to let up. She thought to herself, that maybe he was more passionate about cooking than he lead on.

This notion quickly faded when she heard him whistle a marching melody, from the British grenadier's by her limited music knowledge. Nonetheless she gathered with the small crowd forming at his workstation.

The rumor that he had accepted Yukihira-kun's challenge had spread through the dorm like a wildfire. He was currently making a dish which could easily match Yukihira's most disgusting dish, to the untrained eye: There was a homemade stock, whipping cream, sherry, frozen peas, a lemon, and a bottle of dry, sparkling wine. It seemed the only people to have any resemblance of hope for the dish was, Alice, Kurokiba-kun, and surprisingly, Erina herself.

To all the dorm members of the Polar Star it looked as though Ben had suffered a stroke, when he mixed the whipped cream with what seemed like a perfectly acceptable pea soup. Then he added the sparkling wine and the mixture began to foam up. "Voila, Crème Ninon, mademoiselles et messieurs"* He quickly ladled up the soup and served with a glass of sparkling wine.

All the onlookers had to try out this dish. Not only had he used peas from the garden, he had also made the chicken stock from one of their chickens. The consensus was unanimous: It tasted fine. Yukihira couldn't help sound a bit dejected "Was that really your best tasting dish?"

Benjamin raised his right eyebrow "Best tasting? Whatever do you mean, Yukihira-san? The brief clearly said my most impressive dish, not the tastiest." Once again he'd managed to turn everything upside down with his mind-games.

Erina had a clear felling that he had shared more than he wanted when they visited his room. Maybe this was a way to keep them second-guess themselves. She heard Yukihira-kun laughing when he answered "You win this round, Ben. Not because of cooking-prowess, but because of semantics."


It took them quite some time to notice Benjamin had left. Since he had 'slept in' the night before, they assumed it was a habit. So it was first when Tadokoro went up to announce lunch was ready, that they found his room empty.

They searched high and low, but he was nowhere to be found. He wasn't surveying any of their facilities, nor on the balcony. They gave up after more than an hour of searching, still with no luck.

"I thought he would stay until Erina-cchi answered him" Yūki exclaimed.

The Nakiri queen facepalmed. "I did yesterday, but I forgot about it completely because of… other things" she had been less than a second from revealing her crush on Yukihira-kun.

"To leave without a warning, before any of us awoke, such is youth." What Isshiki-senpai said rang incredibly true. For them not to have seen him, he would have had to leave before their favorite senpai woke up… In other words: ungodly early.

They decided to return for lunch when Erina got a text from an unknown number:

I'll be keeping you informed, Nakiri-san

BW


This concludes the 4th chapter of ATaste of Knowledge. The next couple of chapters or so will follow some of the same events with another POV… I haven't really decided after that, so please feel free to send some prompts.

*Tada, Crème Ninon ladies and gentlemen (if the translation is wrong, my bad. Neither English nor French is my native language, so translation between them is a bit of a hurdle)

- One-of-Stone out