Rumor had it that the infamous Asura of the 69th Generation had been sighted on school grounds not so long ago. Some had said he was visiting the Polar Star Dormitory, too. This came as a surprise to Erina, as she could have sworn that she saw the man on her way back to the academy. Now fully sure that she wasn't just seeing things, she made it her mission to try and seek him out once more. Her first step was to snoop around Polar Star's territory and try to find the information she needed.

"Hey, hey, don't you think it's weird that your first crush is on some thirty-something guy?"

"Alice?!" Erina turned quickly, trying to hide her treasured photograph. However, Alice had already taken a good eyeful of it. The damage had been done, as Erina could sense in the way her cousin leered at her.

"Don't mind me! I think it's nice that we're finally seeing some emotion in that cold heart of yours. At least I can rest easy knowing that you can love."

"Be quiet, you." The blonde muttered. She took one last look at the photo before tucking it away in her pocket. "And I do not have a crush on him!"

"Oh? I beg to differ," Alice drawled. "You can only look at a picture so much before someone can call you out on being obsessive. I'm surprised you haven't stared a hole through it yet..."

"Tch. What do you know? Besides, the only reason I'm seeking him out is because I want to taste his food one last time. You would understand if you were there to taste it." The look in Erina's eyes was wistful, and it was clear that she seriously longed for that one morsel of culinary perfection. Alice could only sigh at her cousin's near-impossible goal, but stopped herself from saying anything more on the matter.

"Do what you will. Although, you could always settle for Asura Jr." The silver haired girl shrugged. The mere mention of her redhead rival was enough to pop Erina out of her trance, and much to Alice's amusement, it also flipped a switch in her. The dreamy, far-off look in those amethyst eyes melted into one of pure, aggressive ire.

"If you even believe that I can be satisfied by that second-rate chef, then you are sorely mistaken!" she huffed, crossing her arms. "His skills aren't even near Asura's."

Once again, Alice was relegated to sigh at her cousin's outburst. "There you go again with that nonsense. I don't see why you can't even give him the time of the day. Even I will admit that he is a quite formidable opponent. Nice guy, too. He sure makes things interesting around here."

"Disruptive, more like it." Erina interjected.

"See what I mean? It's a wonder how you haven't been able to scare him off yet." Alice continued. "Hmph. I worry about you sometimes."

Erina eyed her strangely. "And why is that?" She watched as Alice feigned checking her nails.

"At this rate, you won't be able to find a proper boyfriend by graduation."

"Idiot!" The blonde stammered, her face noticeably warm. "I told you so many times already; I don't have the time to indulge in stupid flings!"

"Flings? I never knew you were that type of person, Erina." Her cousin mocked. The God Tongue pinched the bridge of her nose, sending a nasty glower to the other girl. "Okay, okay! I'll stop. But seriously, it wouldn't hurt to be nice to that Yukihira wild-child at least once."

"Just leave already. I have things to do." Groaned the blonde. Once she was by herself again, she let out a heavy breath and closed her eyes, planning out her visit to the Polar Stars.

"Milady, are you sure you'll be fine on your own?"

"Hisako, it's only a quick outing. I'll be fine." Erina assured her closest friend for the third time that day. "Besides, it shouldn't keep me too long from completing today's other duties."

"If you're sure... Oh, we're here."

The seemingly deserted building loomed over them, but the two teens knew that this was the place that housed some of Totsuki's up and coming competitors. Not letting this phase her, Erina proceeded to get out of the car. She looked back at her loyal secretary one last time.

"I won't be long. Call if you need anything."

Hisako nodded. "Will do, Erina-sama." The car drove off and she was left standing alone on the road. Mentally preparing herself, she walked through the front doors. She was greeted by Fumio, who was idly sweeping the foyer. The older woman looked up with a mildly bored expression.

"Ah, it's you. Here for business?" She asked, continuing her cleaning.

"More or less. I just need to talk to some of the students here for some information." Erina replied calmly. Fumio raised a thin brow and shrugged.

"Go ahead, then. Just don't stir trouble; I just finished most of the cleaning 'round here, and I don't want to have to make another round with this old broom!"

"Yes ma'am." The blonde figured her best bet would be to talk to Isshiki, but with her luck she ended up bumping heads with Souma.

"Yo, Nakiri! Never expected seeing you in these parts. Did the council finally loosen your leash?" he joked, raising a hand in greeting.

Whatever Alice had told her earlier had burned to ashes right in front of her eyes. Not that she was considering him anyways, but she wanted to rub it in her face that she was right from the start.

As usual, she looked down on him with a cold gaze. "I'm here on my own accord, for your information. Speaking about information, I might as well ask you since you're here anyways." She pulled out her picture, making sure to obscure the side containing her younger self. "This man was here not too long ago, correct?"

Souma took a good look, recognition flashing in his golden eyes. "Oh, Pops? Yeah, he was here. What about it?"

"I'll be frank. I need to know when he plans on coming back to visit next time." Erina said, putting away the photo.

"I wouldn't know..." Souma shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. "He sort of just comes and goes, y'know? I swear, I never know what that guy's thinking." For a moment, the redhead could've sworn he saw some disappointment in the girl's eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. "Anyways, how do you even know about him?" He asked.

If something seemed off about her before, it was really apparent now, with the way she suddenly went quiet and turned a bit red at the cheeks. Putting two and two together, he figured out what her impromptu visit was all about. He offered her an amused smile, one that only made her blush intensify from sheer embarrassment.

"I knew he's pretty big around here, but you too Erina? I guess the God's Tongue has more to her than just extreme taste buds after all!"

"S-shut up!" Erina protested. "You know as well as I do how excellent of a chef he is. Unlike you, I can appreciate his work as a masterpiece. Even if I only had one chance to taste his food, it was enough to leave me with a good memory. I don't see you doing that with your dishes!"

"Great. So now I have even more of a reason to beat the old man." He groaned. Once again, the smile on his face appeared. "If that's the case, I'll have to work even harder to wow you. I'm still aiming to get a 'Delicious!' out of you."

Her irritation already festering, she couldn't comprehend how in the world this guy could remain so persistent. 'Like a fly.' She added in her mind. A fly that wouldn't stop buzzing in her ears and driving her mad.

She flipped her hair haughtily and gave him a sideways glance. "Keep spouting these false hopes all you want. In the end, you'll only ever be the second best." With a growing dread, Erina immediately regret those final two words. Souma's eyes gleamed once more with excitement. It was odd how she found it nearly contagious...

"'Second best?' So I have a chance! I'll be sure to take first place in that stubborn heart of yours then!"

Yep. Regret was the right word for what Erina felt at that moment. Regret, and an odd feeling of embarrassment coupled with a light fluttering in her stomach. She could've sworn she read those lines in one of the shoujo volumes she had recently taken up on reading, and it wasn't helping that it just so happened to be one of her favorite phrases. For a split second, her mind replaced the smooth protagonist in the story with a charming-looking Souma.

'No! Absolutely not! What am I thinking?!'

"Enough of this! The point is, send word the next time he's here." Her blush had lessened, but she wasn't able to fully suppress it. "It would be nice to meet him one more time."

"Sure. Just don't get all red like that when you see him!" He laughed and stepped out of the way when she lunged at him. "Kidding, kidding. But seriously, Nakiri, I'm not giving up on what I said, whether you like it or not." She was taken aback by the change in his demeanor, suddenly looking more mature and thoughtful than he did five seconds ago.

Maybe- just maybe- she had room for one more person to be at the top of her list. But if she was to go by anything her cousin had told her, she'd have to wait for this "nice guy" side of him to reveal itself to her.

END

A/N: I'm surprised I managed to go over the 1k goal. Who would've thought? I'm surprised by the amount of follows and favorites. Thank you all very much!

Concerning some questions I received:

1)Will you ever make a full story?

Eventually, I'd like to. For now though, I'd like to stick with these oneshots as sort of warm-up for my writing. I think I would probably need some time to think of a plot I could commit to.

2) I wanted to laugh a bit, because it seems like some of you are sticklers for the "Completed" sign! I'd much rather leave it at "In Progress" because technically I haven't even gotten close to finishing this. I'll probably mark it as completed once I feel like I'm just about ready to wrap things up with these oneshots. So maybe once I reach a certain amount of chapters? We'll see eventually.

Also, thank you, a.k.a Kusabi for catching those small errors previously. Keep in mind, I have a bad habit of uploading late at night so I'm sorry if there are some mistakes here and there!

I really encourage you all to leave some reviews! I'd like to know what can be improved/changed and what you'd like to see in future oneshots. See you all again in the next one!