Okay, so being a student at Tohtsuki was torture. Did the administration really believe what they put their students through wasn't a violation of human rights? Surely some child labor laws existed to save all thousand first-years from this inhuman, demonic realm in hell.
And Soma wouldn't have had it any other way.
Sure, it felt like he was finding his way through the woods at night without a flashlight, but he was tenacious, so there was no way he'd quit. Besides, the training camp-from-hell was actually fun as hell. So much fun, in fact, Soma couldn't stand it. The rat race to serve the best dish was more exciting than grueling. Apart from leaving Restaurant Yukihira, he'd never experienced anything more challenging. And he wasn't as oblivious as he allowed his peers to believe. He just came with a singular focus: get back to Restaurant Yukihira. And that one-track mind had really been paying off in his first two months at Tohtsuki. He knew a few of his peers at Tohtsuki didn't quite care for his devil-may-care attitude. Okay, sure, he was willfully ignorant to many social cues that got him plenty of side-eyes and glares from others, but years as the sous chef of the best family diner in Japan meant he knew how to read people well enough to give them what they didn't even know they wanted. Here, he could feel that part of him growing. That fiery competitive urge to best his opponent in the kitchen was being fanned in him. The last two months had been the most fun he'd ever had. Maybe even more than when he watched his parents cook together in the restaurant with their regulars as a little boy.
He prided himself on being his parent's child—a great friend, a personable diner owner, and a fierce competitor. So, did it really matter if the competition hated him? Yeah, he often spoke or acted before his brain caught up, but that was just his mother's spunk coming out of him. He appreciated how much he trusted his gut and moved off of instincts. That's badass, no? And yeah, he may not have much of a filter because of that, but he only spoke about what he knows or wants to learn and what he believes in, and that's gotta be the whole point of life, right? And so what if food was the only thing ever on his mind? Food feeds the world, and he was a chef, dammit! Just like his dad and everyone else enrolled in this pompous school. But, damn, was he emotionally exhausted. Soma wasn't worried about the culinary challenges; he knew that he'd rise to the occasion and put his signature Soma Yukihira spin on each dish he presented, but for the first time, cooking wasn't the only thought in his mind. He had genuine friendships and rivals…and even his first crush to think about constantly.
After deciding on his dish, and just as he determined his "Eggs before Dawn" challenge recipe was finished, Soma was surprised by how much of a good time he was having at school. Soma never thought about anything else but food and cooking, so school was never his top priority until he came to Tohtsuki. Still, if he were honest, he wasn't really thrilled or excelling at his academic lectures here, either. But he was never bored. Soma was a tactile learner, so he took every culinary lesson seriously. He studied his craft a lot because there was always something to prepare, cook, or do. It reminded him of the busyness of being back home, learning from his dad. After all, returning to Yukihira Diner was the purpose of all of this training. When he realized he was the first among his friends to finish up and he had plenty of time to himself before they would join him, Soma happily skipped to the baths. He heard someone softly humming somewhere, but so was he. Nothing mattered from now until he was finished taking his bath. He needed a nice steaming soak.
Soma never expected to run into her.
He marched forward until suddenly, his arm was pushing into her chest. Next thing he knew, Soma was gaping at a fallen Erina Nakiri. The challenges forced him not to think of her—not to remember the rumors of her dating life or who she was rumored to be dating—so the sight of her was a welcomed, if not jarring, surprise. She was glowing. Her skin was effervescently clean and looked soft enough to melt into the palm of his dry hands, like freshly churned butter. She was saying something to him, but he was too stunned seeing her in her bathrobe to hear it.
Then Soma realized his grave mistake. Technically, he had just hit her, and now she was sitting on the hotel floor in pain.
"Nakiri!" He moved to help her up, but she swatted him away.
"Do not touch me!" She barked. "I can stand up on my own, okay!" She scooted away from him, waving her outstretched arm to keep him at bay. Soma couldn't deny that it stung a little, but the situation was already awkward. He didn't know any other way to make her feel comfortable but to compliment her.
"So, that was you I heard humming. You must be in good spirits today." She snapped at him again. He'd kind of forgotten how short of a fuse she had. He was remembering that much now.
"You have a nice voice," he cut her off. Erina staggered back a little, stunned into a quick blush. He grinned. "I knew there was a way to disarm you." He winked and took her hand to help her up. She swatted it away again, this time making contact, and stood up. Soma watched her fussily brush the invisible dust off her bathrobe.
"I can understand why you'd be in a festive mood. This is the most expensive hotel I've ever stayed at—"
"Clearly," she scoffed. Soma stopped to look at her and turned to the side. He had an idea.
"Y'know…" he smirked sheepishly. "I brought some cards for playing hanafuda and poker tonight—" It was now or never. Be cool, Soma. "That is, if you wanna join us." He didn't have to wait long for her to screech her rejection and throw in a classist jab for bonus points. Well, it was worth a try, right?
"Remember that while this training camp might be hell for you, this is just a useless technicality for me. Can't wait to laugh at you when you fail."
"Well, that's not nice for someone humming and singing," Soma laughed. Erina's personality was grating and condescending, like an unstoppable elite athlete. He gently picked up her chin, and they made eye contact. Her mouth was open, but no words came out. Soma would enjoy her first real competition.
"Miss Erina!" Hisako cried down the hall. Seeing her sprinting down the hall surprised Soma. He both forgot she existed but, come to think of it. It was odd that she hadn't been right by Erina's side like always. "I'm so sorry I'm late! Prep took longer than—" She stopped in her tracks. Her face fell in horror. "S-Soma Yukihira?" She screamed. (These girls really did love to scream.)
"What in God's name are you doing here? Why are you touching her? Why are you near her at all?"
"Oh, uh…" he innocently jutted his thumb at the heiress. "I just laid Erina out on the floor." He didn't understand why Erina's secretary burst into tears, but both uptight girls lost their shit over it.
"I know what you're doing! Don't say things like that! Unlike you, I have a reputation to maintain."
"Don't be like that. You sounded like you enjoyed it!" Soma made a bouncy sound with his mouth. He knew he was childish saying "boing!" but he did it anyway, reaching out to squeeze the air. Hisako's face nearly popped a blood vessel. His work here was done. Erina had to beg her not to believe a word he said before turning back to chastise him.
"What are you still doing here? Go take your bath and leave me alone!"
"Yeah! Leave us alone!" Hisako echoed from behind her.
"Okay, okay! See ya!" He said, waving her off. "I'm gonna get myself all squeaky clean! Splish, splash!" He sang, strolling away.
Soma walked the rest of the way to the men's bathhouse sour over his run-in with Erina. But he was still feeling mighty proud of himself. He had been on a high from the training day, but how he handled that tense few minutes in the hall with his biggest rival at Tohtsuki (and quite possibly the girl of his dreams) shot him up to cloud nine. No matter how prickly she was at him, that moment revealed something significant to him:
He riled her up.
And that was everything.