Nakiri Mansion
"Take a seat, I'll start cooking."
"Thank you, but would you allow me to watch you cook?"
"Very well, let's go to the kitchen."
As they approach the kitchen, they hear loud footsteps coming from the stairs, the girl goes to the two and asks, "Why did you come here so late, cous? Everyone already had dinner."
"I had to check today's documents, that is all, now if you will excuse us, I'm making dinner for Hisako."
Alice jumped like a puppy and clapped like a sea lion in her excitement and intrigue. She closes the gap in a few skips and started continuously hitting her back like what she does to Ryo, "Me too, me too, me tooooo."
Erina sighed as she felt frustration at her cousin, "Fine." She looked at Alice with a stern, intimidation expression that even Alice found scary, "But you better not distract me, I NEED to concentrate."
She heads to the kitchen without saying a word and without taking another glance at both of them. Alice, stopped at her tracks, looks to Hisako asking why her cousin is fired up all of a sudden, but she shrugs her shoulders as she too does not know why.
Erina stands at the cooking station, the only noise heard are from the metal equipment being set in their places. Alice and Hisako look at the behind of Erina, a firm grip on the knife, the sound of her breathing, they know they are in for a treat.
She closes her eyes, recalling a certain someone's face. She begins smiling without knowing.
She recalls the last dish he made, each component and each individual flavour. She asks herself why did she cry.
She remembers the imaginary world she was sent to, the pain and the joy.
She opens her eyes, she sees the determined look that she is showing on a reflection from the metal equipment. She puts a hand on her chest as she is reminded of him, of who he was. Her heart ached at the memories of the past few days. Why?
Hoping to seek answers and understand her heart, she challenges herself to recreate his dish.
With no hesitation, she began.
The two look at their friend in awe as she cooks. The usual elegance cannot be felt from her. Her movements scream of a warrior heading to a battlefield with eyes filled of bloodlust. The effort she is putting cannot be described by the two-woman audience. As the fire rises from the pan, her amethyst eyes reflect the color of yellow and red. They look at her and are reminded of Soma. The sweat began to form as her energy is slowly being drained.
There must be a reason why she is doing this, right?
She puts her hands on her knees, breathing heavily, visibly tired from cooking.
Hisako lends a hand for Erina to stand up but she dismisses her, "I'm fine. I just need to catch my breath."
Hisako remembers her encounter with Soma a day ago, like Soma, Erina is covered in sweat, and her hands are shaking, she smells the dish she made and it is has a similar fragrance to what he made.
Erina stands up and grabs the two plates, Alice eyes the dish and is marvelled by its appearance.
"Dig in."
Upon hearing the familiar words coming out of Erina, the two dug their spoons and began eating.
Erina looks at the two, as they shove a spoonful after a spoonful in their mouths.
Silence fills the kitchen as the two finish eating.
Alice raises her head and looks at Erina, she inhales as she shouts
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"DISGUSTING!"
"Wha-what do you mean disgusting? Erina-sama's creations are always delicious"
Alice closes her eyes as she picks her spoon and twirls it around playfully.
"It is what she most likely said when he first made this dish. Right, Erina?", she looks at Erina with a sadistic smile.
Erina is now getting nervous as she puts her hands on her sides arguing, "What do you mean, I did not say anything about this being his dish!", she tries to argue but Alice knows her cousin really well.
She continues playing with the spoon and gives an answer without looking, "It's obviously HIS recipe, or at the very least a recipe influenced by him. This isn't something you would come up with."
Hisako puts her hand on her chin, "So my hunch was correct, it was his recipe."
"YOU TOO, HISAKO?"
"Yes, Erina-sama. Your style of cooking a while ago was like that of Yukihira's. Not just that, how looked, your determination, even his catchphrase, you were like him."
"So, why did you make this?", Alice asked.
"I will not answer that. Give me your opinions of this dish.", Erina responded, trying to calm down and ignore Alice's question.
"I said. WHY. DID. YOU. MAKE. THIS?", Alice asked and squinted her eyes, she emphasized each word and leaned towards her cousin, as if interrogating a captured criminal.
Erina hesitated answering but her intense glare made her answer, "To…. understand something."
They looked at each other then back at Erina, visibly confused at her answer.
"When I tasted this dish, I for some reason cried. I felt something unfamiliar. There was a heavy feeling that I couldn't explain. I hoped that by having you two taste it, I could get some answers. I hoped to understand something."
Alice chimed in, "If that is your reason, then you don't need help from us."
Erina curled her hands into fists and puts them at her side, getting angry at her cousin's answer, "I just said I needed YOUR HELP to—
She was cut off by Hisako, "What I think Miss Alice meant was that only you could answer that properly. He made this dish FOR YOU, thinking OF YOU. So…"
"How was the dish?", Alice finished what Hisako was saying.
Erina answered with silence.
"Then let me change the question, what is he to you?"
Erina was caught off-guard at the unexpected question by Alice.
Erina's face became as red as a tomato and tried to argue, "What I view him as is not necessary in this conversation, I just need to understand something."
"Pitiful, Erina. Very very pitiful. How do you hope to answer your questions like that? How do you hope to understand yourself if you are not honest with yourself? The Almighty God's Tongue can point give others the cold harsh truth about their cooking but can't be honest with herself. For Hisako and I, this dish was delicious. Cut. That's it."
Alice stood up from her seat seemingly frustrated and turned her back from her cousin and her assistant, "For you, there is something more about the taste. You're looking for what he wanted to say through this dish? You're hoping to understand something? Maybe you want to know him better? Maybe you want to know yourself better? You need to figure it out yourself."
Alice turns her head to her and smiles, "Just be honest with yourself." She gives Erina a wink.
And with that, she left both Erina and Hisako.
"Erina-sama, are you okay?"
"I'm fine just, confused."
"It's okay, just take your time and sort everything out."
"Thank you for your concern."
"No problem."
Erina goes to her bedroom and lies down on her bed. A hundred thoughts came to her mind, and all concerning about him. She ponders on Alice's question a while ago.
"Why did she ask such a silly question? I only wanted their opinions about the dish. And 'just be honest', really? When have I ever lied about something. I am probably the only person who can say the cold harsh truth in this school."
She stands up from her bed and goes to the balcony. She gazes upon the night sky and is reminded of their conversation from the party.
"Not by the moon, you promised. I know you will keep that promise because for nearly 2 years that I've known you, not once have you broken a promise. You always keep your word. Please keep trying again and again, and someday make me regret saying your food is disgusting. Don't let me down, Yukihira."
She takes in the cold silent breeze before going to sleep.
"Where am I?"
Confusion at the location she is in.
Sound of footsteps echo through the void she is in.
"What is that?"
Confusion turns to fear as the resonating footsteps become louder and louder.
She falls down.
She puts her hands on her ears.
She closes her eyes.
Frozen in place as fear continues to grow.
She doesn't want this.
She wants this to stop.
She wants this to stop.
SHE WANTS THIS TO STOP.
"PLEASE MAKE THIS STOP!"
She screams but the footsteps don't stop.
Her hands no longer able to block the sound she fears.
She braces herself for the worst but
She is met with a feeling of warmth.
She opens her eyes and is met with the sight of a starry night.
The sound of footsteps doesn't stop.
She looks around to look for its origin.
"Who is that?"
As she squints her eyes to better identify the walking figure.
"Yu-Yukihira-kun?"
The boy now stands in front of her and as she was to speak.
She is met with an embrace.
Calming yet confusing.
What is this sensation?
Why does it feel so…
Right?
He talks to her but she can't hear him properly.
She is enjoying this moment.
He lets go.
He smiles at her.
She wipes her teary eyes.
And in a few seconds she is back to where it started.
An endless void of darkness but she doesn't care.
"As long as he's with m…."
Her train of thought comes to a sudden end when she realizes even he is gone.
The sound of footsteps return but instead of it getting louder
It becomes weaker by the second until it disappears.
She once again screams at the void.
She wants the sound to return.
The stars to return.
For him to return.
"YUKIHIRA-KUN"
She is really where it all started.
All alone with confusion turning to fear as she screams once again.
"YUKIHIRA-KUN!"
She wakes up and immediately sits. With heavy breaths, with a clouded mind, she felt scared.
"What was that?"
She covers her face with her hands trying to find the meaning of her dream, sweat coming down from her face as she breathes heavily. The situation she had in her dream never happened to her yet she felt something familiar. She tried to find meaning to her nightmare but she couldn't come to any conclusion, especially when she recalls the last part.
Even in her dreams, she calls out his name. Even in her dreams, her heart hurts. The only good thing she could think of was that it was only a dream, right? It's just a dream. She repeats it over and over again convincing herself.
She lies back on her bed, looks at the ceiling, and raises her arm.
"Please keep your promise."
As she said that, she recalls the promises he made starting from day one. She remembers the past and starts imagining the future. She finds it strange why it is so difficult to think of her future, but once a certain someone crosses her mind, she can give countless scenarios of her future so easily, all involving being with him.
"Why do I keep seeing him when I dream of my future?"
There must be a reason why she is dreaming like this, right?
She places her arm on her eyes as she lets the darkness lead her to slumber.
A few hours ago at the Polar Star Dorm
"He's still not coming down?"
"Is there something wrong?"
"Maybe he's cooking something in there?"
"Maybe"
"Maybe he's doing his homework?"
"Marui, be realistic and take this seriously."
"Sorry"
"Maybe he's just taking a break. After all he's got tons of stuff to do at the Elite Ten and he is always busy with shokugekis."
"You really think so, senpai?"
"Ahaha. I don't know. Maybe probably."
"I think it would be best to leave him be. Soma-kun came home the other day late and he looked exhausted. We should let him rest."
"You really know him best, Megumi."
The blue-haired girl lets out a little laugh.
"Tadokoro-san is right, we should let Soma-kun rest. And knowing him, he'll bounce back shoving delicious food down our throats in no time."
"Except for Megumi, senpai, who knows what squid dish he's making for Megumi to taste."
"I don't mind, Soma-kun is my best friend after all."
"Not much we can do, let's eat, everyone."
In Soma's room
The lights are turned off yet the room is not completely devoid of light because of the open window. Soma sits on his chair, one hand on his forehead and the other holding a pen. Deep in thought as he turns around to look at his opened case containing his knives.
"Should I? He said it would help me, and I really need it right now, but at the same time, I don't want to."
He drops his pen, puts his hands behind his head, and sighs.
"We'll see."
3 days later
"That concludes our meeting for the day, Elite Ten dismissed."
One after another, the members of the Elite Ten exit the meeting room until the only ones left are Erina, Hisako, Alice, and Ryo.
"Erina, don't be so gloom and doom just because you didn't get to see him again today."
Erina falls back on one of the chairs and closes her eyes, "For the nth time Alice, I don't care about Yukihira."
Alice smirks at her cousin, "I didn't say his name though."
"Whatever, Alice. So the vacation, are you sure this will help me relax?"
"Of course, like I said", Alice moves closer to Erina and looks at her eyes, "I know what will help you relax."
Erina had doubts about Alice's vacation plans, but she didn't have the energy to try and argue since she had other responsibilities, and if she wasn't doing any of those, she's just thinking about a particular someone.
"Be sure about this. Let's go Hisako."
Signalling Hisako with a wave of her hand, both went out of the room.
Alice presses a button on her phone, calling someone.
SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE . Kind of expected classes to be over by christmas but surprise. NOPE. :(
This chapter took me a long time to write for plot reasons. XD
I will do my best to update again next month. And also i plan on finishing this fanfic
Is it ending? Or will more problems occur? Tune in next time on the next episode of Dragon BallZ
AND HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, HAVE A GREAT DAY!