Hi Guys!
Sorry for the prolonged wait with a chapter update. Life has been hectic, going into Uni and what not. Again fair warning, english is not my first language so please enjoy the story and would appreciate so much if you guys let me know what sort of one shots you would like and I will try my best. This piece was inspired by a tumble fanart and go ahead and enjoy!
It was mid-autumn when a black limousine pulled up infront of the famous Yukihira diner. Inside the car, Erina took a deep breath as she admired the hues of reds and yellows which surrounded the diner. Calming her nerves, she waited until the driver opened her door before she exited the car, her blonde hair gliding with the cold gush of autumn breeze with every prideful stride.
She pushed open the closed doors of the diner, ignoring the 'closed' sign. The bell attached to the door rang momentarily before a man with long maroon hair tied back into a pony tail emerged from the back kitchen.
"Ah Erina," chuckled the man, "nice to see you so prompt and early as always."
Bowing her head slightly she replied eagerly, "I will be in your care for the next three weeks Mr Yukihira"
"No need to go formal on me," laughed Jouichirou before walking towards the blonde headed girl and patting her on the head, "Saiba is just fine."
"Ye…" nodded Erina but just before she could finish her sentence, a voice from second floor accompanied by a series of loud foot steps stopped the pair mid conversation.
"Dad," yelled the red hair, "I had a dream last night that I beat you today with my newly created dish…let's have a showdown right now."
"Nakiri?" questioned a mildly shocked Soma when he finally made it to the first floor, "Why are you here?"
"I could ask you the same question," replied Erina hurriedly, walking towards him, she gave him 'the eye' to remind him what they had agreed on.
"It's my home," replied Soma as-a-matter-of-factly.
"It's experience week!" replied an exasperated Erina, "you know, the week where you told the school which restaurant you wanted to intern at, with no grading involved, providing you with a pure and unique opportunity to immerse yourself in another environment."
"Oh…I don't remember sensei saying this," chuckled Soma.
"Of course, you wouldn't," huffed Erina, "But I guess learning from your dad is an experience in itself."
"I'll let you kids fight it out," laughed Jouichirou, "but make sure you are ready to start the food prep in 2 hours."
"of course," replied Erina respectfully as she watched him walk upstairs.
As soon as the tall figure disappeared from full sight, Erina turned towards the red head with her hands on her hips.
"I can't believe you didn't listen in class again," scolded Erina pointing her finger to his forehead.
"It is called selectively listening," replied Soma, grabbing her delicate hand in his, "I knew you would pick here for your training so I didn't see a point in appointing another restaurant."
"That's beyond the point," stuttered a blushed Erina, "plus I thought we agreed on keeping this," motioned the space between the pair, "a secret."
"Dad won't suspect a thing," laughed Soma leaning forward.
"hmmm," replied Erina, "fine. But no touching during the whole three weeks that I'm here interning." She stepped back and smirked at the disappointed look on the red head's face.
"He is upstairs," argued Soma, taking a stride forward, only to be met with a step back from Erina.
"Play by the rules," giggled Erina, "Soma kun~"
"Hey kids," Jouichirou called from upstairs, "want to come to the market with me now? we can figure out today's menu."
"Yes of course!" replied Erina smiling widely at the proposal.
"I'll tag along too," grunted Soma as he treaded behind Erina.
"So, kids," Jouichirou said seriously, "I want you both to pick one ingredient and integrate it onto tonight's' menu. I don't care what ingredient you want as long as it tastes good. We can split off here and meet at the front entrance in an hour."
Soma could've sworn he saw a wink from his father as he walked away.
"So, what are you going to buy?" asked Soma running slightly to catch up to the blonde.
"I haven't even had a look," replied a distracted Erina. If she were honest this is one of the first times she had personally come to a traditional market to find a main ingredient for a dish. Of course, being the prodigy that she is, she could easily tell which ingredients were the freshest and of high quality, however, being a 'sheltered' chef, she did not have experience dealing with vendors in the market.
"May I please have a look at these apples?" asked Erina, her posture poised and expectant.
The vendor looked towards the odd girl and continued with his work, glancing up every so often at the odd pair of teenagers.
"Erina, you can just grab it and look at it," Soma replied, picking one up for her, "these are gorgeous apples."
Erina hesitated slightly before picking up an apple and examined it with care. She felt the firmness of the apple and looked at its appearance. The outer layer had an extremely red glow with only slight tinges of yellow. She placed the fruit close to her nose and was met with a sweet fragrance.
"I want these," she turned to Soma, "how much should I buy for the night?"
"Hmm," contemplated Soma, "it really depends what you want to make tonight."
"I was thinking apple puff but with a Japanese twist to better fit the style of the diner," replied Erina.
"I think you can buy around 40 apples for tonight," said Soma thoughtfully, "it should be enough for a busy night."
"Alright," smile Erina before turning to the vendor and asking for 40 apples.
"That'd be 7000 yen," replied the vendor as he packed the apples in a bag.
Erina reached insider her purse and took out a card only to be stopped by Soma.
"Hey, we are buying 40, can't we get a discount?" smiled Soma.
"Fine, little man, I will let them go for 6500, how's that?" chuckled the Old man
"Just fine," replied Soma before grabbing a 10000 yen note and handing it to the man.
After collecting the change, he grabbed the heavy bag from the man and turned towards Erina before continuing, "At these markets you should try and bargain so that we can sell the food at a cheaper price at the diner and therefore more customers can enjoy your dihs. Oh, also they generally don't accept credit cards."
"Is that so…" blushed an embarrassed Erina, "I'll remember that for next time…and what will you be buying for tonight?"
"Oh, don't worry about me," replied Soma, "I've got all the ingredients I need back at the diner."
Erina had skinned all the apples perfectly and kept the skin on the side. She diced the apples quickly in fine pieces then split the apples into two bowls. She placed one group into a grinder and made a fine puree with it and then added that to a cream mixture she had prepared previously. She mixture the mixture thoroughly before placing it into the fridge. She then turned to the side and started rolling the prepared mochi into extremely tiny balls as opposed to the traditional size of mochi. Inside the mochi she injected, using a fine syringe, a sake reduced sauce and then let the mochi cool in the fridge. Turning to the skin she cut them into even finer strands and fried them slightly in vegetable oil before placing them on the side. Preparing the pastry for the puff was the last step and when she finished the prep, she finally had some time to rest before the busy night began.
"Hey Nakiri," smiled Soma as he approached the tired blonde from behind, "finally done?"
"Yeah," huffed Erina wiping her sweat, "I haven't had to mass produce in a long time."
"It'll be rewarding when you see their smiles," replied Soma stroking her cheeks, "alright now close your eyes."
"Why?" questioned Erina with her eyebrows slightly raised, "what are you hiding."
"Don't you want to try my dish?" chuckled Soma, "and dad went out to get some extra rice for tonight, don't worry."
"But why do I have to close my eyes?" asked Erina genuinely confused.
"I made a special dish and the concept behind it is so everyone who tastes it only experience it with their taste senses," replied Soma convincingly.
"Fine," replied Erina, caving in and closing her eyes.
"Alright," cooed Soma, "say Ahhhh"
"ah…" mumbled Erina before her lips were intertwined with his.
Placing his hands on her waist he lifted her onto his lap without breaking contact. Before long, her hands were tangled in his red hair. The taste of apple invaded Soma's mouth, all the tasting Erina had done earlier refining her dish were being transferred to his tongue. The perfect mixture of sweetness, creaminess and a tinge of citrus Intoxicated him. By the time the two pulled apart, they were both red and out of breath.
"Never…do that again," said Erina after a prolonged pause where she was attempting to regained her breath.
"You seemed like you enjoyed it though," chuckled Soma giving her a quick peck on her lips, savouring her sweet taste.
"That doesn't mean we can do this with the risk of your dad walking in," replied Erina stubbornly, biting her lips slightly.
"Fine," laughed Soma, "now, seriously, have a taste of this."
He picked up a piece of the rolled egg omelette he had made and placed it in her mouth.
Keeping a straight face, she chewed on the Tamagoyaki. The texture of the tamagoyaki was top notch, she could tell the dashi used to create this dish was the element which made it special. There was also a contrasting texture inside the egg which made her crave more. The dish was like a warm hug on a winter night, exploding with love and caress.
"How is it? Delicious, right?" asked Soma proud and expectantly.
"It is decent," lied Erina, "but far from delicious…"
Soma chuckled at her response and blushed red cheeks. He knew however, that no matter what her response was …it would be alright because they had their whole lives to make each other submit to each other's cooking. An eternity of food wars, but they are the sweetest and best kind.