Author's Note:

So… A couple of days ago, my family and I drove to Hungary. I have family there and were always over for Christmas because of that! However, there were a bit of troubles on the road and the car stood still for nearly two hours- at a spot with very bad internet connection too. Sooo…In order to pass the time, I decided to write a little something up!

I decided to connect it to a Shokugeki Christmas Prompt list over on tumblr! The prompts for the 24th of December being "Ship" and "Ice Skating"….so here we are.

It was a simple fun idea, that I just spontaneously rolled with.

Disclaimer: I do not own "Shokugeki no Soma" or its characters.

"Grace on Ice"

Verse: Applicable to both Manga Canon & SnKimiko Verse [takes place during Central]

Rating: K

The Elites, or rather what was left of them ever since Azami Nakiri's takeover, had arrived at Sapporo. They'd have about three days for themselves before the 92nd Generation, and with it the Rebels; would arrive here as well.

So of course that meant the three days would have to be well-spent.

The moment they were out of the hotel, Rindou pushed Eishi westwards, eagerly blabbering about a "food tour".

The next ones gone were Momo and Somei. Unsurprising that a patisserie like Momo was magically drawn to the Ishiya Chocolate Factory, and Somei just loyally followed along.

Shouko excused herself to check the Sapporo Beer museum and Julio ran off the moment he spotted a girl in a café, who looked "meraviglioso", to put it into his words.

This ultimately left only Nene and Etsuya, silently strolling down the streets, side by side.

But eventually, their aimless tracks lead them to an ice rink. A sight that suddenly got Nene to stop in her walk.

Once Etsuya took note of his companion missing beside him, he stopped and turned just to see Nene gazing at the rink almost like a child eyeing a cute plushie in the store window.

After working up enough of the courage, Etsuya approached her and curiously asked: "You…wanna go ice-skating, Kinokuni?" Nene, once she had blinked herself out of her little trance, looked up at him and said. "I just…thought that it's been a little while."

A brief moment of silence followed, in which Etsuya frantically wondered if he really could ask that question. 'Do you want to go ice skating, with me?' Brr, how schmaltzy that sounds! Wouldn't this be…almost like…..a date?! What if she would interpret it as such? Heck, she might cook him alive if she did-

"I think I'm going to give this rink a try." Nene suddenly interrupted all of his imaginary worst-case scenarios. And to his utter surprise, she then asked. "Do you want to come too?"

—

Nene glided onto the ice first. Etsuya followed but did not make it all too far.

When he saw Nene starting to skate her circles, he couldn't help but freeze in his own tracks. She maintained every bit of her usual elegance, despite the unfamiliar ground. Her graceful movements seemed almost effortless. But a look into her eyes gave away just how focused she truly was. It was that same stoic, but deeply concentrated look he has so often seen on her. It seemed like no matter the activity, Nene Kinokuni just had to give it her all. And no matter the activity….she looked undoubtedly beautiful.

The end of Etsuya's mouth twitched in an urge to smile.

However just then, that ethereal sight got disrupted by a loud yell: "Hey old man, are you planning to get going and skate or what?!" It made half the ice rink, including Nene, stop in their tracks and turn their heads in the direction the yell had come from.

Etsuya, just having been snapped out of the trance he had been in, registered in horror that all those eyes had landed on none other than him.

"Old man, are you even listening?" The very same voice that had disrupted the rink's peace in the first place emerged right behind Etsuya.

At that, Etsuya saw how a certain sense of…amused delight found its way into Nene's red eyes and she brought her hand to her lips- as he knew, she usually did when trying to cover a giggle.

Growing red with either anger or embarrassment, sometimes he didn't know himself, Etsuya swung around to the culprit and directed his death glare right onto a young boy, whose initial bratty expression was quick to fade when confronted with so much fiery rage at once. "What was that, you shrimp?!"

The boy gulped before stammering. "So..sorry, Sir."

Etsuya huffed. But before he could say anything more, Nene suddenly stopped close beside him.

She bit back the little grin that was still burning in her cheeks, before lifting her finger at the little boy. "That's no way to talk to strangers, young man." Despite her amusement at this entire situation, she was still able to put enough strictness into her voice for the boy to look down in shame. "Yes, Miss…."

"And you", she directed her gaze to Etsuya, "you should move away from the entrance old man." One of the faintest of smirks emerged on her lips at that, not able to be contained anymore. Then, Nene turned to elegantly skate away again.

And Etsuya hated how he couldn't even be mad at her for this. Too rare, and precious, was the sight of a smile on her.

Rather, he simply followed her. And when she asked: "What were you standing there for, anyway?", he merely grumbled. "It's nothing."

2nd Author's Note:

I am not happy with how little we got from the Elite's side during Promotion exams dgfgfgg. However, at the very least it allows me to fill some of those blanks myself. I really want to do more of this and imagine what they were up to during the whole train journey - next time with a bit more detail and plan hopefully dgfdffdsgh.

Thanks for reading & Happy Holidays!