AHHHHHHHH! A better oneshot to make up for the *horrible* last one. I'm sorryyyyyy! *cries*
{Misunderstandings}
Word Count: 1,150
Pairing: Sōma x Erina, hinted Alice x Ryō
Summary: Some things just aren't about cooking.
"So?"
"So what?" Ryō asked, looking at Sōma with a confused expression.
"How'd ya do it?"
"How'd I do what?"
"You know..." Sōma trailed off awkwardly.
"I don't!" Ryō growled impatiently and poor Sōma almost *burst into tears.*
"How did you propose to Alice?"
"Oh."
"What on earth are they whispering about?" Erina hissed at Hisako as they hid behind the large glass window of Délicieux, Sōma's new restaurant in France which Erina was sure that he had named just to spite her.
"Is he...cheating on Erina-sama?" Hisako muttered to herself in disbelief.
"What was that, Hisako?"
"Nothing...Um, Erina-sama, have you had a fight recently?"
"A fight? I never fight. It's always him being annoying, and he just has to bring that squid every - wait, are you implying that he's cheating on me!?"
"They're coming out of the restaurant now!" Hisako exclaimed, and Erina was taken aback for a moment at how... assertive Hisako had become
"Well..." They both looked at each other, thinking exactly the same thing.
"You think he's cheating on you? Let's follow them, then!"
"Where did you come from, Alice!?"
"Do you feel like someone's following us?" Ryō asked Sōma casually. He could faintly hear hushed voices and girlish giggles, one that sounded suspiciously like Alice.
"Nah, you're probably hearing things." Sōma dismissed.
When Ryō heard an indistinct "Erinaaaa! Stop being so boring for once!" he concealed a smile at the blatant stalking.
"Oh, hey Megumi!" The bluenette was riding on her bike just like in Tōtsuki, and they both felt a wave of nostalgia from the years before.
"I'm here to get some tips from Shinomiya-san," Megumi was noticeably more confident in both her cooking and her everyday actions.
"Cool! Wait, you're a girl, Megumi...could you...?"
"What is he doing now?" Erina asked as they saw Sōma continue walking with Megumi.
"Huh, that's weird, is Ryō there?" Alice craned her neck.
"No-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" All of them jumped as a hand grasped Alice's shoulder from behind.
"Oh, it's just you, Ryō." Alice laughed shakily as he grinned.
"Caught you in the act. So, what're you doing, stalking Sōma?"
"Erina-sama thinks-" Hisako began, but Alice clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Girl talk is for girlsssss." she sang. "We'll tell you if you tell us what they're doing." she pointed at the faraway outlines of Sōma and Megumi, characterised only by their unusual hair.
Ryō just smiled mysteriously and left.
"So...uh, what are we going to do if we catch them cheating?" Erina asked with a confused look. "It's hardly illegal. He's not my husband after all."
Hisako and Alice looked at each other with cunning grins.
"Oh, say, Erina... do you have enough influence around these parts to get Sōma banned from every restaurant in the world?"
"Of course I - wait what!?"
"You were mumbling something or other about it when he set up a cooking club with your stalker." Alice encouraged.
"That was not a club!" Erina protested. Actually, it was more than one, since they'd just made new names every time she'd found a reason to prohibit them from using Tōtsuki's kitchens.
"So, if you don't want to, does that mean you admit his cooking is delicious?" Alice instigated cheerfully.
"No - what!?"
"I'm so going to tell him!" Alice hummed, running off in Sōma and Megumi's direction.
"Aliiiiiiiice! You traitor!"
"So, will she like flowers?" Sōma asked Megumi nervously at the florist's.
She stared back, wide-eyed. "Sōma, these are flowers for a funeral! And they're fake!"
"Uh..."
"I think you're supposed to give a ring when you propose, anyway."
"Uh, okay, what d'ya think I should get then?"
"Let's go to the jewellers," Megumi sighed.
"They look like a couple." Hisako stated as they watched Sōma pass Megumi some flowers. "Wow - they're even looking into each other's eyes now!"
Alice had disappeared out of sight, and if she wasn't going to Sōma as she had said she would, she would certainly be cuddling up with Ryō.
"I wish he gave me those flowers," Erina sighed, watching them chat to each other. "They look so beautiful."
"You want to confront them yet?" Hisako asked.
"Not yet. I don't want to believe that..." her face contorted with sadness, and Hisako was reminded of the vulnerable, disorientated girl she'd once met.
They hugged, Erina slightly startled at her childhood friend's sudden contact, but neither pulling away.
"Boys." Erina huffed bitterly.
"Is this fine, now?" Sōma was half dead from the hours of ring searching that Megumi had dragged him through. You wouldn't know it at first, but the girl had a strong resolve and an overpowering stubborness.
"The ring needs to be perfect!" Megumi pulled him on through the next shop.
"Wait, is that-?"
They both looked at the simple pearl ring in front of them.
"Do you think that it's too...plain?" Sōma wondered as he stared at it in front of him. Sure, he thought it was great, but he wasn't a girl. "Huh? Megumi?"
She was crying buckets of tears. "It's p-perfect! Y-you should definitely give it!"
Sōma sweatdropped.
"Okay, so he's going to the beach with Megumi-san? Signs of possible cheating and-or breakup? Hundred percent." Hisako ascertained firmly. If anything, this made Erina more curious about what they were doing.
"He's going with her! Without me?" she said, affronted.
"That's the last straw, isn't it." Hisako muttered, but Erina had already dragged her by the hand towards a Nakiri private car.
"I'll break up with him for once and for all." Erina declared.
"You do you!" Alice appeared with a winning grin.
They screamed, Erina's eyes widening with shock. "Aliiiiiiiiice! Stop that at once!"
"I have to see this." Alice trilled. "Ryō told me everything!"
"Everything?"
"You think this is a good place to propose?" Sōma asked uncertainly.
"Yes, every girl likes aesthetically beautiful things, don't they?"
"Huh, now that you mention it, the sunset does look really pretty at this angle. Maybe I'll come back later." Sōma decided thoughtfully.
"Is that... Erina-san?" Megumi asked uncertainly.
"Yeah...wait, should I do it now?"
"Go for it!" Megumi cheered.
The same angry, demanding voice. "Sōma Yukihira!"
"Yeah, Erina...?"
"I know you've been-"
"Oh, you know I've been finding a ring to propose to you? Great!"
At Erina's shocked expression and bewildered face which could only mean that she was totally in love, Megumi cried.
"Sōma Yukihira, get back here and propose to me properly!"
That was pretty fun to write!
I know it was a pretty cliché idea, just wanted to use it again in my style of writing.
lovehearts,
Mint-chan