-NAKIRI ERINA-

AUGUST 21

Nakiri Erina finally made her way out of the bathroom, thoroughly brushed, deeply moisturized, and utterly exhausted. She never kept track of how long her nighttime skincare routine took (it made it more relaxing just to get lost in the rituals), but that didn't mean it didn't take a lot out of her. Oh, how much went into maintaining her otherworldly beauty.

Sliding open the frosted door that leads to her bedroom, Erina looked back at the safety hazard she made in her bathroom, pitying the housekeeper and the work she would have ahead of them. Endless glimmering strands of golden locks from a hundred brushes scattered around the marble tub and floor with two heaps of damp towels at her feet. She stepped into her room and saw her phone screen lit, and she forgot all about the mess she had left behind.

She raced to her nightstand with hair and body bundled in the warmest towels and was not disappointed.

At first.

Sōma called! And he'd sent a very Yukihira reply to her snippy texts.

My pleasure!

Anything for you, princess - but one day, very soon, you'll say my peasant cooking is delicious ;)

I love you, Erina

It always cuts right to the point. Always from the center of the romantic chef's heart. So honest and so straightforward. So…

Sōma.

Erina began to blush and melt beneath her wrapped skin at how tender he made her insides feel when she caught sight of the timestamps. He'd called and sent those messages almost an hour ago, and it was already quarter-past midnight. How long had she spent zoned out in that bath?

After everything they did, he'd done to make her day; she was sure he was knocked out in bed by now. Did she miss their nightly goodnight call? If so, ooo! She would chew his head off the next time they spoke! He should have kept calling until he was too annoyed to be disturbed.

At least, that's how old Erina would have tried to pass the blame off on him when she was furious at herself. She just hated whenever he wasn't the last voice she heard before falling asleep.

So she decided to call him back, anyway. After all, people in relationships can call their boyfriend anytime or night, right?

Right?

It rang for too long for comfort. So she finally hung up, annoyed and tempted to do the unimaginable, because the Nakiri Erina never called anyone twice, let alone an idiot boy like Yukihira Sōma. It didn't even cross her mind to leave a voicemail. Like, that was totally out of the question, and so late at night, no less.

But… she nibbled on her bottom lip apprehensively. Should I at least text him goodnight one last time? Erina's gut was cramped with butterflies—she never really knew the "proper girlfriend" thing to do when it came to Yukihira. He was so ardent but patient that it was difficult to understand how to be good enough for him sometimes—the exact opposite of Tsukasa's temperamental chaos.

She wanted an honest conversation about her new epiphany with him tonight, but she supposed it wasn't meant to be. Which is probably for the best; a cutthroat entrepreneur since she was five months, Erina was always better at addressing things directly.

But Nakiri Erina (the only student at Tōtsuki Fine Dining Academy with the harrowing and enviable reputation for leaving grown men sniveling and crying in her apathetic wake) began panicking, just imagining how that would go.

Which was totally unlike her— at least when it came to confrontation. Still, as she scrolled through her contact list, her hands uncontrollably trembled as she searched for the source of her emotional dissonance.

Erina took a deep breath to steel her resolve, and without another thought, she made a phone call.

Yukihira Sōma stepped out of the bath feeling refreshed. His muscles were worn, but his spirit felt light. An incredible day had slowly wound into a good night, and he knew even better sleep was just ahead. He was ready to slip under the covers and tell his amethyst princess he loved her one last time on their special day before he caught up on some much-needed Z's.

The only problem was that the bath had left him too refreshed. It was so relaxing— sinking into the steaming hot water and melting into replaying the memories made with Erina that day that he'd caught his second wind by the time he was practically pruning. Soma had enough energy to battle in another Regimental Food War against all former First Seats by himself. If this buzzing feeling were how six months of being in love felt, he would be complete mush by the time their anniversary rolled around. And his heart couldn't even take his brain fast-forwarding six years into the future (though it still managed to flutter at the fleeting thought of sixty years from now with Nakiri Erina cooking by his side. Look at him, wanting for them what neither of their parents nor their grandparents ever had.) His eyes flared with excitement at the challenge, but he also tempered that flame because he knew his temperamental girlfriend very well.

Take it easy, Yukihira. One dish at a time.

As he flossed and brushed his teeth, Sōma's mind drifted back to his unusually awkward conversation with Tadokoro. It wasn't like them to have tension, especially not over the friendship jokes. Even though she shut him down when he tried to address it, he'd bring it back up the next time he ran into her. He couldn't let any misunderstandings fester with his Day One. He gargled mouthwash and spat it out frantically. He left his clothes in his room! Miss Fumio would have his head if another exposed incident happened, like his first night living in the dorm. Sweat dripped down his brow. Sōma wrapped his towel tightly around his waist and quietly opened the door to peek down the hall.

Phew. Coast clear, he sprinted to room 303.

(and stole a glance at a darkened room 302.)

Obscene incident avoided, Sōma threw his pajamas onto his bed. His twin-sized bed was nothing to write home about, but it felt good to be back in it at that very moment. He sighed in satisfaction and grabbed his phone. There was another reason to smile, waiting for him. She was always on the sharpest edge.

Yukihira. You didn't even call or text to check on me?! What if I were in danger? ヽ(ಠ_ಠ)ノ

Also… I will not repeat this, but…

(thank you for tonight)

You…always know just what to do xx

He called his lady immediately. When his call went to voicemail, he pouted and hung up. She must've been asleep. He immediately pulled up their iMessage thread. I'll text her something sweet to wake up to, he said to himself, more naughtily than anything else.

As he began to type his response with an unconsciously wide and in-love smile plastered across his face, a light knock sounded at his door. His head snapped up, his fingers still typing away.

Had he been spotted for indecent exposure? Or did they send Miss Fumio on their behalf? These questions flew through his mind, but he remembered the most important thing.

Well, only one way to find out.

"It's open!"

Upon a second more rational, perhaps more sobering thought, the heiress—who was accustomed to everyone being at her beck and call at a moment's notice (minus her parents, her inner child added in weep)—probably should have sent a text first.

Such a bitchy move to be calling so late, Erina.

And for once, that was the exact opposite way she wanted to come across right now. Her heart started pounding in her eardrums as her phone call rang once…twice…thrice-

"Yo, Nakiri! You're still up?!"

Erina ripped her phone away from her ear and stared at the screen incredulously. Did she call the wrong number?

"…Nakiri?" Hearing the voice again made a vein pop in her temple. But Erina steeled herself to regain her composure to speak calmly.

"…Yukihira…?" Her voice clipped. Her tone couldn't settle on sounding surprised, confused, and irritated, but she felt her heart turning into ice.

Because, in all honesty, she wanted to pop his head clean the fuck off.

"Hey, yeah! How'd you know where to find me? Well, I guess you did call—

She stopped listening. The more Sōma rambled on in his typical devil-may-care tone, the more she saw red and heard nothing. Until—

"—I'll call you back in a bit. Let me say goodnight to Tado-"

"Yukihira?" A chill ran through her voice at the mention of Sōma's surname.

"Jeez, Erina, I thought we were past the honorifics-"Erina lost it. It was half-past midnight, and she had no more patience for the previous day.

"Shut up, you baka! Why did you not answer your phone?" Erina was sure by the tenor of her voice that the implied question was apparent, even to someone as daft as Sōma.

"Yeah, I figured that's why you called Megumi-"Erina felt a vein pop at his indifferent laugh. "But it's still in my dorm room, on the charger."

"Then where the hell are you right now?!"

"Awwww!" Sōma laughed from his gut. "You're worried about me? I'm on the veranda with Tadokoro right now."

"It's…just you and Tadokoro?"

"Yah."

How could he say that and sound so carefree about being in such an intimate place at such a scandalous time of night with another girl and to the girl he just confessed he loved? Even if the other girl was his girl-best friend and indeed the most innocent person Erina had ever known to exist. Megumi was utterly harmless, and there was a time when she and Sōma were practically inseparable, and everyone on campus knew that Sōma and Erina were boyfriend-girlfriend.

But still…

"Yukihira."

"Uh… yes?"

"You have three minutes."

"Yes, ma'am."

The longest second of deep silence passed between the three of them.

"Erina?"

"Yes?"

"What's wrong?" Erina's heart and mind played tug-of-war within her. She could hear the thin layer of genuine concern slip through his obtuse mask, and she sincerely wanted to respond to it in equal measure. She tried to tell Sōma that she actually called to speak to Megumi and why, but knowing that the girl was standing right beside him, she chose against it.

"N-nothing…look," Erina took a slow, exhausted breath, the kind she takes when she could really use the emotional release a good argument brings, but she's trying not to explode on him indiscriminately. She was more irritated by how relieved she felt that he was so happy to hear from her and do as she commanded. "- don't keep me waiting. A-also give Tadokoro-san back her phone because I-"

Sōma cut her off, and she immediately knew he did not hear her. "Okay, on it!" She could see him in her mind's eye playfully saluting her the way he did as he hung up in her face lightning fast, further pissing her off.

It annoyed her to bits just how much Sōma could make her angry and please her with the same action. Was this what love did to people?

Erina sighed like it was her final breath. There was no point in questioning an irrelevant question; how in love with Yukihira Sōma Erina was, and the ungovernable ways her love manifested, defied logic.

She plopped her blacked-out phone in her lap and impatiently waited. At least, she tried. She really did. She pushed for the most mature way— how her grandfather mentored her to handle discordance in professional relationships— to maintain control and nip it in the bud. But her baka of a boyfriend screwed that up, and twice in one night.

A disgruntled Erina rolled her eyes and released a low growl. On to plan B.

"Hisako? Sorry, dear. I know it's late, and you're still at your parents'- oh, you are too kind, Hisako. Please find and block off thirty minutes for a last-minute meeting on my schedule within the next thirty-one business days. I will follow up. Thank you. Have a good night."

A/N: Three was a shorter chapter, I know, but it's with the main trio, so it was a thrill to write and still just the beginning. But tbh, there's more I want to say about the writing process for this chapter, but it will have to wait. Thanks to everyone who has left a review, read, viewed, or visited this story. It means so much to see the engagement, and I hope you're enjoying reading it as much as I've been enjoying writing it. Chapter Four will post in mid-September, so until then, please review, like, and share with someone you think would enjoy reading!

-My pleasure! Hope you enjoyed!-

8.20withlove