The morning after was awkward for everyone.

After Erina's crack-of-dawn declaration that she was committed to preparing the Polar Star kids for the advancement exams, and the residents went back to sleep through their Saturday morning a little longer, she instructed Hisako and her second sous chef, Julio Rossi Saotome, to prepare the entire dorm a breakfast fit for warriors.

She sat down at the banquet-style table and waited.

One by one, the sleepy-eyed residents walked into the dining room.

"Oh! Erina! H-Hi! I almost didn't see you there and had a heart attack."

"Hello, Marui-kun. I'm glad you did not."

Shun entered behind him with a silent bow and wave. She returned his greeting in kind.

"Woah, Nakiri, babe!" Daigo said through a mouthful of apple meat. "I could get used to waking up to this!"

"I told you not to call me that, Aoki-kun! And in your wildest dreams."

"Woah, is the Tenth Seat actually waiting for us?!"

"Hello, Satō-kun. Yes, I am waiting for everyone to come down for breakfast."

The two assistants began placing the food on the table.

"G-Good morning, Erina." Megumi yawned, rubbing her eyes. "Oh! that's So-"

Yuki bounced in, interjecting, "Erinacchi! You doll! Is this all for us?"

"Good morning, Yuki-chan. Yes."

"Good morning, Miss Erina! I hope you slept well," Ryoko yawned, catching it from Megumi.

Sōma walked in.

His eyes immediately locked on Erina. He was surprised to see her already staring at him.

"Good morning, Sōma."

"Nakiri…hey." His face felt hot, and his heart raced in his chest. He could sense the energy in the room thickening with electricity. He knew his friends were in the room, but all he could feel and see was her.

Yuki, Ryoko, and Megumi shot excited, knowing, and uncomfortable glances at each other.

"Uh…Nakiricchi, you're in Sōma's seat," Diago cautiously said.

It was true. Erina Nakiri was poised as sleek red polish in Sōma's usual seat at the long, oval table: the center chair directly between both windows and facing the doorway.

"You should be sitting at the head of the table, anyway, Miss Erina," Hisako said as she brought in the last extravagant dish.

"Nah, it's cool," Sōma waved them off. "Nakiri can sit there. I'll take Isshiki's chair." He walked around and sat at the head of the table, never taking his eyes off the golden angel showered in the early sunlight.

"Speaking of the devil…

"Nakiri! To what do we owe this lovely surprise?" Isshiki walked in from the garden carrying a wicker basket full of spring cabbages."

"Good morning, Isshiki. My gratitude has been overdue to this dorm's residents."

"Nakiri, you don't have to thank us…" Sōma gently reminded her. His eyes softened at the corners to match his tone. Nine heads swiveled to look at him.

"No, I do. Please, everyone, enjoy the spread my sous chefs have prepared in your honor. This is only the beginning."

"Isshiki, do you want your seat back?"

"Oh, no. It's fine, young Sōma. Please sit there. After all, you saved Polar Star from demolition."

"Ah, it was nothing. Stop mentioning it!" He waved his senior off but still got up. He rounded the table's left side and pushed Diago.

"Aoki, get up."

"Huh, Yukihira? What d'you say, bro? Get up?!"

"Yeah, go sit in the empty chair between Ibusaki and Satō."

"Uh, uh! No way, bro! You go sit in the empty chair between Ibusaki and Satō! Because there's no chance in hell I'm passing up the chance to sit by Nackers-babe and share a meal!" The boy was on the floor, gaping at his chair in the air. "NACKERS! What gives, sweetcakes?!"

She slapped his cheek. "I told you never to call me those obscene names, you cretin!" Her eyes were on fire.

Sōma carefully pried the chair from Erina's tight grip and placed it back down.

"Damn, bro. You okay? I told you to get up." He shrugged and took his seat on Erina's right.

Just as Erina took hers.

The rest of the table, sous chefs included, gawked at them. Erina sat prim and poised and looked at her aides. She cleared her throat. Julio hopped to attention and draped a cloth napkin over her lap.

"My apologies, Donna Erina," he said nervously. Hisako poured a piping cup of tea from an ornate teapot on her right, sliding the saucer under her mistress's nose, then placed a small plate of food before her. The table's long runner was dotted with decadent breakfast dishes from the Erina Nakiri cookbook.

Eggs Benedict

Scotch Bonnet Poached Eggs

Fiddlehead and Pancetta Risotto Omelette

Fresh Lox, Caviar, and Cream Cheese Bites

Build-Your-Own Breakfast Pizza

Honey and Almond 'Almost-French Toast' Parfait

Lemon Blueberry Scones

German Apple Pancake

Halloumi and Zucchini Frittata

And that did not even include traditional Japanese breakfast staples.

Once the ceremonious setup was complete, Erina settled into her perfect posture. She looked around.

"What are you all doing? Everyone, eat!" She ordered.

The residents all clapped their hands in apprehension. "Thanks for the food!" they said in unison, then got to work on the elaborate buffet—everyone except Sōma. All he could do was marvel at the gorgeous, gorgeous girl who sat beside him. The clanging of utensils and plates silenced around him until the only sound was an echo of a fleeting thought.

Erina's the same way, you know?
Not anymore. I can see her changing.

She did a double take. "What is it, Yukihira? Why are you smiling at me like that?"

Sōma shook his head. "Nothing. Thanks for the food," he said, clasping her shoulder and giving it a massaging squeeze. Nine faces gagged and gaped at the public display. Erina blushed.

"Whatever, baka," she teased, grabbing her chopsticks. She took a bite of Julio's tamagoyaki and melted.

"Rossi-kun! Excellent whipping technique on the eggs."

"Oh! Thank you, Bella Donna Nakiri!" Julio exclaimed with gushing pride.

"But remember to roll before the eggs solidify. The asiago you grated in didn't melt smoothly, and it tastes the way tonsil stones smell. I will need you to perfect this by noon tomorrow."

"Sì, Milady!" He lowered his head in shame but lifted his chin and sucked it up.

Hisako removed the plate and placed an egg cup with a cracked egg on Erina's placemat.

"Milady, a perfectly poached egg from Yoshino's Polar Star coup, topped with fresh salmon roe. Enjoy."

As Erina savored and judged the poached salmon egg, the rugged summer camp teens could barely chew the food. On the other hand, Sōma was chowing down on white rice, Julio's tamagoyaki, Hisako's tsukemono, and grilled fish. As he drank his miso soup, he realized he was the only one eating.

"What's the matter with you guys? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"S-Sōma? Y-You're eating off of Erina-sama's p-plate," Hisako gasped. Sōma looked around and at the plates spread between them.

"Oh…this wasn't for me?"

"NO!" The entire table, minus a simperingly amused Isshiki, shouted.

"Don't worry, Milady! I will get you a new plate of food-" Julio hurried to clear her table setting. She calmly raised her hand.

"It's fine." Then, she took a bite from the deconstructed grilled fish.

Miss Fumio walked through the dining room to get some pickled daikon and heard a pin drop on her way to the kitchen pantry. However, the veteran dorm mother decided not to ask questions and to mind her business. Good adults learned it was best when a group of teenagers were together.

"Did I miss something?" Isshiki leaned over to a paling Megumi. She looked at him, then Sōma, before frantically shaking her head. Sōma glanced at them and gave a suspicious grin.

"What are you two whispering about?"

"Achoo!"

His head swung to his left. "Bless you," he greeted Erina, pulling a strand of hair from her face.

"Th-Thank you."

"Alright!" Yuki shouted. "What's going on, you two?"

Sōma and Erina shot each other looks and then faced their accuser.

"What do you mean, Yuki?"

"Don't act all innocent with me! Why are you two acting all chummy with one another all of a sudden?"

"Yuki, stop it!" Ryoko scolded in a hushed tone, pulling her the girl's right arm.

"Yeah, what's with all the flirting, Yukihira?" Diago asked from the seat between Zenji and Shoji, his arms folded in jealousy.

"We are not flirting!" Erina sputtered. Various mouth noises of disagreement met her declaration. Embarrassed, she shot out of her chair. Sōma could see how hard she was fighting not to snap all their heads off. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have study material to prepare for your Hokkaido lectures. Report to this room an hour before dinner for the first drill lesson."

She stormed out.

Sōma's eyes were glued to her back until she and Hisako turned the corner and were out of sight. He looked around the table at his friends. A few tried to hide in shame, while others held ghostly stares.

"Really, guys?"

No one said a word. He stood and rushed to the threshold.

"Sōma, wait!" Yuki called out.

"What?"

"Tell Nakiri-poo we're sorry. But! You two were flirting pretty heavy, though," Yuki pouted like a small forest animal on his shoulder.

"Okay? So what?" He shrugged her off and ran down Erina's tracks. Everyone gaped at his question, unsure of what to do with the rare sight of an agitated Sōma Yukihira.

Yeah, breakfast was awkward.

-8-

He knocked on her room door. It swung open.

"Yukihira…"

"Arato, is Nakiri okay?"

"Miss Erina is preparing for the evening's lecture. I doubt she wants to be disturbed."

"Let him in, Hisako."

Sōma had never seen Hisako's shocked look before, not even when she lost her Fall Selection match to Akira.

"O-Okay, madame. But…are you certain? It is Yukihira, after all."

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?"

Hisako blushed. "No offense, Sōma. You're just a distraction, is all."

"Okay, wow. I was just checking on the princess."

Erina slid into view. "Don't go, Yukihira. I need your assistance understanding the dorm residents' learning styles. Hisako was just leaving herself. Isn't that right, Hisako?" She gave her friend a tight smile.

"Uh, yes, milady," the loyal-to-a-fault girl stuttered before reluctantly taking her leave. "I'll finish compiling your lecture notes in one of the studies."

Sōma closed the door. "Wanna go for a walk?"

"Yukihira, do you ever listen to a word I say?" She groaned.

"I do. But I came to see you, remember? So what I want takes precedence."

"Says who? I genuinely needed the information I inquired about."

"You genuinely need a break, Erina."

They stared at each other.

"Tch. You really think you know me, don't you?"

Sōma shrugged. "I don't know about all of that, but you stormed out of breakfast. It looked like you were having a good time at first."

"I was, but…"

"Nakiri? What's up?"

"I feel like they know too much of my business."

"Ah…I don't understand."

"You all are very close."

"We are!"

"Right…and I'm an only child."

"So am I!"

"But Sōma, I live alone in a mansion. You live in a group home with nine other teens."

"Don't Alice and Ryo live with you, too?"

"You get my point! I'm a very private person. I'm not used to living under the same roof as the people gossiping about me."

"So, walk or no walk?"

"No walk. I'd feel more comfortable if we didn't give them anything else to poke their noses in."

"Is that what this is about?"

"Yes, Sōma. I think our newfound friendship is being mistaken for flirting."

His head was knocked off its swivel.

"Are…we…not?"

Erina stared blankly. "Have I been flirting with you, Sōma Yukihira?"

"I thought so!"

"Sōma, I thought we had been building a friendship this whole time. Don't you agree?" She asked so innocently, looked so aloof, the static of rejection itched in his chest.

"But...you kissed me last night. You kissed me first, Nakiri. I don't just go around kissing my friends." His voice deflated in his breath. "Not how I kissed you."

"Yes, about that. I apologize; it was highly out of character for me. So please pretend like it never happened."

"Huh?" He couldn't have possibly heard the princess correctly.

Erina flipped her hair and returned to the desk with annotated notes and flashcards. "Forget it ever happened, and we can continue working on our platonic friendship."

A shadow covered his face. "You want me to forget our first kiss?" He asked in a hollow tone.

"That wasn't my first kiss, Yukihira," she retorted. Was she mocking him?

"It was mine! It was ours together! Are you trying to play with me right now, Nakiri? Is this a prank?"

"A prank? Sōma, are you delusional? I am not a child."

"I must be because I was silly to think we were more than friends..." He had to laugh to keep from crying right in front of her. He wasn't angry, but he sure felt foolish.

"No! Sōma, please understand. Now that I have it, I realize your friendship means too much to me to lose. I don't want to experience another breakup. I know it's selfish, but I don't want to complicate the friendship we've been building."

He folded his arms and averted his gaze. "If the kiss was that bad, you can just say that." He was man enough to admit he was a bit embarrassed.

"That's not it at all! Sōma, remember, I just got out of a relationship. It didn't end well, and I'm still very fragile from it. It wouldn't be wise of me to get into another relationship so soon."

He bore a hole through the weathered wallpaper and shook his head into a bright smile. (What else could he do? Force her?)

"I hear ya', Nakiri. No sweat! I'll catch you later, okay?"

Door open. He fanned a wave over his shoulder as he slipped through. Door shut.

Sōma had no idea what Erina Nakiri was doing on the other side of that door. He had no clue that her back was leaning against the door, tearful, as he slid down the other side, at a total loss over what had just happened.

Yeah, that conversation was awkward.

-8-

Dinner was lively as usual but not as awkward as breakfast. Sōma ate his food in silence. Erina ate hers in her room.

"Zenji. Can we swap dish duty?"

"What? No! I have a huge Central exam to prepare for! On top of that, did you forget about all the reading Nakiri-san just assigned to us?"

"He wasn't at the first lesson, remember?" Yuki chimed in. She walked past them, balancing a stack of dishes, and glanced at Sōma. "Forget about Zenji. I'll switch chores with you. I owe you one."

"Thanks, Yoshino! Wait. What's your chore for the night?"

"Cleaning the chicken coop!"

"Are the hens brooding?"

"Mmm…well, yes!"

"I'll…pass."

"But you should be fine. It's only Isshiki they don't like."

"That is not true! They love me! Just not when you're around," Isshiki interjected in passing with a wink.

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes. "Hey, Sōma, if they try to attack, just say Isshiki's name. That'll strike the fear of God into them."

"It better not!" Isshiki yelled from the kitchen.

Sōma did not want to disturb sleeping chickens, but he did not want to be in the dormitory. His mind refused to stop replaying Erina's friend-zoning him. He wouldn't have minded being just friends if they hadn't kissed and talked until they fell asleep in each other's arms. She was gone by the time he woke up, but the last thing he remembered was that he had fallen asleep with a smile from them, laughing through sleep delirium. He thought that was the start of something new.

Girl, was he wrong!

He opened the coop, and the hens cooed and stirred from the draft, but they didn't attack. Good. Now, to just make this a quick chore. He reached for the broom, surveyed the extensive damage of chicken poop, and locked the hatch. He'd just have to accept Yuki's lashings. His legs took him deep into the forest's edge of the dorm's land.

As he walked, he thought about how much fun it had been witnessing Erina adjust to dorm life at Polar Star. The past two weeks felt like a fever dream of fantasies and glimpses into what living with her could be like. Simply put, domestic life suited the rich girl poorly! Soma chuckled to himself. He enjoyed passing by the laundry room and catching her staring at the washing machine like a UFO and wrestling against the clotheslines to hang clothes. He found it endearing when she turned down his help setting up the vacuum and, when he came back down to check on her, found that she'd been pushing the appliance around the foyer's carpet for thirty minutes before realizing she had to plug it in. It tickled him to see how flustered she became at how little his friends listened to her culinary advice after judging their cooking but how hard she'd blush when receiving their praises for every dish she'd made them with incomparable reviews. He almost confessed his crush when the entire dorm had to go to the communal bathhouse because Beevis and Butthead broke the bath fighting. Instead of going to some ritzy spa, she joined them in the humble public baths (with Alice and Hisako, of course). There was something about seeing her willingly "roughin' it" with his chosen family that made her so fucking attractive to him that day; they were all miserably stinky, and she still decided to stick it out. It excited him to smell the rich scent of her shampoo waft through the hallway and seep into his room first thing in the morning and how a timid knock on the adjoining wall would lead to hours of texts into the late night.

So, the sudden switch-up from the tsundere was unsettling. He'll admit that it shouldn't have caught him so off guard. (This is Erina Nakiri, after all.) But damn, did it not still sting to be shot down like that! Worst of all, Sōma hadn't even realized he had an ego to bruise until she did it. Sōma heard footsteps rustling and crunching fallen leaves thirty minutes into his aimless walk through the woods. His head spun on its swivel in the dark.

"Hi…Yukihira."

Her voice was shy and uncertain as if it held a truth yet unspoken.

"...Nakiri?"

a/n: i bet i almost had you there in the middle, huh? lol well, full disclosure: i almost threw myself for a loop, too! but i couldn't pass up a few more emotional twists and turns. but the breakfast scene was so fun to write ( ˘▽˘)っ like, stop flirting and jus kith already- oop, i mean, again!

overall, capturing their time together in the dorms without speeding up their love story was a feat bc after ch. 26, there's excitement to just get "there" already innit? but there's still quite a bit of story to tell in the final arc, so if you're really feeling that way, Comfort Food will satisfy your cravings {might i suggest ch.1-28?} bc we must end this love story properly, yes?!

p.s.: as always, i love reading your comments, so pls leave a review, follow, favorite, and share this novel with someone in the fandom you think would enjoy reading it, too! while you're at it, i have 2 new my hero academia ffs up and show my shonen 'n spirituality substack some love while you're at it [all 3 links are in my profile!]

(p.p.s.: no, idk how many more chapters are left in the final arc. not a single clue.)

-You're Welcome!-

8.20withlove

-i don't own the rights to Shokugeki no Sōma, wah wah wah

\_(ツ)/