Disclaimer: It's a work of fiction and just having fun with my favorite SNS pairing

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And so, we begin the second arc of the story!

It took a four hour ride from Oarai Station that cut through Tokyo city that offered the landscape transition from the low density town of Oarai, to a series of mid density urban stations, through the heart of Tokyo high density metropolis, then back to urban, and finally, our destination: Sumire Town, far west of Tokyo, at the end of the JR East line.

And down the road, a short distance away from the station, within the shopping district, is the fabled Restaurant Yukihira. It was a stand alone hole-in-the-wall shophouse. From the amount of weathering on its façade, it showed its age. Nonetheless, the awning was well maintained with the Yukihira Family Restaurant brand written boldly in black on red background. A latticed sliding door, typical of restaurants, showed heavy wear and discoloration at the handhold from frequent use; likely left there as a proud battle scar for a restaurant.

It was a contrast from the typical high-classed primped and polished restaurants I would accompany Erina-sama to. Nonetheless, it had a certain charm to it that seemed honest, inviting,

...and homey.

"It's been awhile since I'm back," Soma remarked while unlocking the door, "Grandpa should have popped by every now and then to keep it clean." With a slide, he added, "Tadaima."

As expected, no response came from the empty restaurant. Nonetheless, he is home. "Okaerinasai." it seemed right to respond to him on behalf of the home; to which he responded with a grateful smile.

We crossed the threshold into the small restaurant, greeted by a hint of lingering smells a well seasoned restaurant would have: an olfactive testament of the many dishes served over its years, illustrated by strips of laminated paper lined along the walls, displaying the restaurant's many offerings. Most are typical home cooking menu staples but there was one that caught my eye: right next to the "Liver & Onions Plate 600" were the words "Chef's Special" without a price.

Soma grinned when I enquired about it, it was the sort of grin that he had before he made his weird dishes, "You'll see soon!" Uh oh, my tongue and stomach reflexively twitched in protest of my curiosity. "For now, let's get settled in."

Similar to the beach shack, the residence is on the second floor above the restaurant. With a larger footprint, the three room apartment seemed roomier with more amenities and appliances. It also seemed lived-in with its comforting signs of wear and habitation.

After opening the windows for ventilation, Soma excused himself to head to a corner of the floor where he got to his knees and respectfully opened the doors of an altar before going through the motions of paying respects, "Mom, I'm home." He then fell into quiet prayer.

Believing it to be only appropriate to pay respects to the mother of my host, I took a spot, kneeling next to him. Besides, how can I ignore the fact that he opened up and talked about his mother; not doing so would have made it insincere. "Yukihira Oba-san, I'm Arato Hisako, a schoolmate and friend of your son… I will be here for a while, helping him in your restaurant, so please look after us."

"Thank you." Soma said sincerely as he got up, to which I responded with a light smile. With a look around, "Well then, so this is it: my home. I got to spruce the place up a little, so why don't you go out for a walk while I tidy up?"

I sort of expected Soma to say that. Especially since he asked me if I was sure that I wanted to help him in his restaurant, then asked me if I was going to travel back home everyday, and how would my family think about it.

Well, Soma:

Yes, I'm sure.

I could just stay over: it is no different than staying in that shack and save me the travel going back and forth daily.

My family does not even know about, or cared for, my part time work at the beach; so, it is not a concern.

"You don't have to be polite about this," I picked up the duster sitting at a corner, "Come on, it will be faster with both of us working on it."

It was quick work to clean, being that it has been maintained while vacant, and the fact that Yukihira's home is cozy, admittingly smaller than Erina-sama's bedroom. In exchange, each room seems to hold memories and marks of his family: seasoned cooking books, mangas, knick knacks… and of course, photos. Of which I came upon one that was taken when he was younger. Flanked by his parents, his right hand was held by his mom's, while dad patted his head; their closeness as a family was clear to see. "This is a nice picture." I remarked.

"Yeh. Mom's hair is usually longer and messy like mine." he smiled nostalgically as he picked it up. "We took this when Mom just came back from a hairstylist and got her hair straightened for parent visitation day..." There was a slight pause as he looked down to the photo, then up to me, and down again, before holding up beside me, "I just noticed: that hairstyle is pretty similar to yours."

I inspected the photo and I saw what he meant. His mother had brown hair, straightened, and neatly cut. Her motherly demeanor was a contrast to the stories of her younger days Soma told about her.

With a wistful smile, Soma replaced the photo in its spot, "I like it."

With the upstairs being done, the restaurant was next. It was simply furnished, no frills but it has what a restaurant would typically need. Of course, with a stark empty pantry, it obviously needed to be restocked.

However, there was a bigger issue: "Huh… it's not cold." It was an old commercial refrigerator which showed its age, clearly past its service life. "Now this is a pickle…"

"Well, I guess it means we would need a new fridge." I peeked in to find the manufacturing information in the empty fridge, "I'm pretty sure this is past its warranty."

"Yeh, that's a problem." Soma muttered.

I nodded understandably. "With its age, it doesn't seem like a simple repair will do… I think it would be better if you got a new one."

"Well then," he grinned, "let's go shopping!"

Sumire shopping district seemed like the typical shopping street, with a variety of shops, though not as crowded as the ones in the city centre.

There was a strong sense of community as Soma was treated like a celebrity by almost everyone he came across, many asking him if the shop was already open for business.

He would reply with, "Come by tomorrow and I'll make something good!"

I also noticed that many of them had acknowledged my presence next to him but were probably too polite to pry. Though I would not be surprised if my existence is known within town within the day.

A trip to the bank was our first stop. Though it was cut short as he bulked at the balance and immediately rang up his father. "Yo dad, where are ya?"

His dad replied something.

"Yeh, ok...that's good for ya. Anyway, ya forget ta top up the bank account agin'."

A hearty chuckle came over the line.

"What'd ya mean ya forgot yer banking tokens? C'mon ya old geezer, I told ya I'm gonna open the shop when I return!" hearing Soma speech switching to a more casual tone in this situation was amusing. "I know about credit with our suppliers. It's not about them: The fridge's broken and we need at least a deposit for a new one."

There was a pause as if they were stuck on the problem. That was when I decided to jump in, "I can help."

A shorter stunned silence, "Oh?! Who's that with you?! Is that a girl?!" His father's voice came over the line, presumably his excitement had him exclaiming so loudly that Soma had to pull the phone away from his ear.

"I'm putting you on speaker… Dad, this is Arato Hisako, my classmate whom I did my first stagiaire with."

"Yo, Arato! Soma mentioned you before."

"He did?"

I looked up to find Yukihira eyes widened, the look that was anticipating his dad saying something to embarrass him.

"Yeh, good work on the stagiaire. I hear you're good with accounting and that you rallied the group!"

"Soma came up with the solution though."

"It's an achievement both of you made happen." A voice in Soma's father's background came through of someone asking if the President's order was ready. "Hey, I got to go. Regarding the fridge matter: you'll assist in it, Arato?"

"Don't worry, we'll sort it out. Pleased to speak with you, Yukihira-san."

"Arato, with you there I'm confident that both of you will be able to handle this. Thanks for offering to help out!" He then added, "And Soma, feel free to use the stuff in my drawer."

"Stuff?" Soma asked, confused.

"You'll see." The call in the background sounded more hurried, "Got to go. I'll be back in a few weeks. Have a good one." short dial tone, the call ended.

"Ahem, yeh, so, that's…my dad. Always disappearing for stretches of time."

Empathy rose within me.

After all, my parents are the same.

"Now that the supplies are settled, let's see the state of your books."

"...Books?"

"What's with that look? Your sales and costs record." his blank look had me adding: "we just had a book-keeping exam before the summer holidays!"

"Oh… we don't really use those." Soma smirked, "We just put all our receipts in The Drawer."

"The… Drawer?"

"Yeh, here," He pulled up a drawer and it was filled with old receipts and used order chits. My need to get things in order tingled at that sight.

"Uh huh...Then how do you know your ins and outs?"

"We just look in our till and use what we need from there"

"...what?"

"Yeh, it's been like that all this time. When we closed the shop, we just put everything in the bank...what? Dad says we're fine to estimate our earnings while we just focus on cooking."

I gaped, hearing such information sort of explains his casualness to a lot of things. "I...I see." Must...resist...strong urge to facepalm.

Flipping through the only booklet within the drawer, I found they actually had a ledger. Keyword: had. The records were quite well kept. At the last entries, though, the handwriting switched to another for a few days before abruptly stopping.

I guess the reason why that book was set aside… nonetheless, "We will need to get the business side of the restaurant organised. I'll sort through all these while you select the new fridge."

"Yes, Ma'am." Soma replied with a grin.

Feeling the receipts under my fingers as I sort through them is a familiar comforting feeling. Erina-sama and, admittingly, Soma can take the reins when it comes to cooking but I'm pretty sure when it comes to the tedious tasks of managing a restaurant, I was more suited for it.

Going through the materials, restaurant Yukihira's numbers are… interesting to say the least. Their margins are surprisingly small but they make up for volume. I noticed, though, the "Chef's Special" was requested sporadically, and was complimentary. Whatever it is, it piqued my curiosity.

"Hey, Hisako, I've found a few options," Soma approached from behind, presenting his phone for my viewing while resting the other hand on my chair's back.

He's close...

"This one looks good, and it's same day delivery," I said after swiping through the picks. "Place the order then."

A minute of fiddling later, "Okay. I'm at the payment page now."

"Alright, here," I took his phone and entered my debit card's information. With the confirmation, "it's done."

Soma took a long look at the receipt on the screen before saying a deep, heartfelt, "Thank you." he really meant it as his relieved grin shows. Afterall, this kitchen is his life and it needed that fridge. "I'll repay you for it, as promised."

"I'm happy to help, really. Don't worry about it." I returned to the receipts, "I want to ask about this 'Chef's Special'. I notice it's complimentary."

"Oh that, it was started by mom who wanted to try her hand in cooking. Most of it would end in failures." Soma chuckled, "Dad and I offer that item for our more experimental dishes."

"So… your customers are willing guinea pigs?"

"Yeh, pretty much so. Though, in exchange, we don't charge for it."

Hoo boy, Restaurant Yukihira gets more interesting with every new fact. "Okay. Well, I think it will be good to put your books in order. I'll be borrowing your laptop."

A short time later while I was busy with data entry and Soma was cleaning the kitchen, the restaurant door slid open. "Yukihira Soma! Why didn't you tell us you're back?!" A group of youths around our age filed into the restaurant. From the familiar way they carried themselves, I would guess these were his childhood friends.

There were four of them: two girls and two boys. The one who spoke was a stylishly dressed light haired boy who stopped the moment our eyes met, "oh, hi." The other three looked past him and lightly greeted me.

"Hey guys! How are ya?" Soma came from behind the kitchen counter to receive them. "It has been awhile."

"Heard from Tomita-san you have returned so we thought to pop by to see you." The tall, light brunette replied, hooking her shoulder length hair behind her ear while keeping her eyes on me. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

Soma looked over to me while I stood up, as per custom, "Guys, allow me to introduce Arato Hisako, herbal chef extraordinaire and my school mate. She will be helping me with the restaurant with me this summer."

"The.. whole summer?" the shorter black haired girl asked meekly.

"Ah, yeh, Kurase. Hisako is great with the business side of running a restaurant."

The group looked among each other, very likely curious about him using my given name. And of course, the one who said it was oblivious about it. I should jump in, "Hi everyone. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am new in this town of yours so please look after me." I added a small bow. A little humility goes a long way.

"Don't have to be too formal, Hisako, we're all friends here!" Soma grinned, "Let me introduce my middle school friends." He threw an arm around the last member of the group, a well-kempt black haired boy, "This is Moriyama Toshiaki. With his grades, he's voted most likely to be a politician by our class. Hey, by the way, are you still thinking about solving that population issue?"

"It's not so simple!" Moriyama said. "There are many factors that-"

"Sorry buddy, it sounds like it's going to be a long one. Perhaps let's save it for now?" Moriyama caught himself and nodded in agreement before smiling and giving me a slight bow.

Next to Moriyama, "The stylish one is Okuma Kichirou. His luck is legendary."

"You're exaggerating."

"Hey, no one has ever beaten you on rock-paper-scissors!" That elicited a laugh from the group.

"Or that time during the school trip, you were the only one who didn't get caught." The taller girl added and the laughter got more hearty.

"We'll have a rematch again." Soma concluded before moving on to the girl who just spoke, "Koganei Aki, our town's ojou-sama. Her father owns the jewelry shop further down the road." Koganei's mirth from less than a minute ago evaporated as she looked me in the eye and gave me a curt nod. If I had to guess, she is being territorial about Soma? Hmm.

"And finally: Kurase Mayumi." Soma paused for a moment, before adding, "How are you Kurase? Tomita-san has nothing but praise for you for your part time work. I'm glad to see Sumire's Karaage is as popular as the day I left it. Knowing a trustworthy person like you there puts me at ease!" He beamed at Kurase, to which she blushed deeply, avoiding his eyes.

"Yeh, it'll be great for both of you to make something together again!" Koganei said, which surprised me. Perhaps I read her apprehension to me incorrectly?

"Hey, so, are we just going to stand here and talk, or are you going to cook us something?" Okuma grinned.

"Of course! I just bought some groceries, I'll whip up something" He switched his bandana into cooking mode and started to cook up a storm. Naturally, since I'm there to assist him in the kitchen I moved to help-

"Mayu, why don't you help Yukihira in the kitchen?" Koganei spoke to Kurase while shifting subtly to block my way, before turning towards me with a smile, "We can take some time to get to know Arato-san."

Kurase looked a little uncertain for a few seconds but stepped up upon an assuring nod by Koganei. "What would you like me to do, Yukihira-kun?"

While both of them are busy in the kitchen, I settled in for a chat with the others. It started with a few pleasantries as we warmed up but I knew Koganei had something she wanted to ask. Moriyama was the one who started the line of inquiry instead, "So, Arato-san, what made you choose to work here? From what I hear you could have brought your talents anywhere."

"The opportunity was there and I figured I could gain more experience working in a restaurant as compared to pure course work."

Okuma laughed, "I think you'll get lots of experience here with the type of creations Yukihira makes."

"Are you referring to the Chef's Special menu item?" I guessed as much.

"That's the one! Most of it may fail but there are some interesting combinations."

"I kind of like the chocolate and cheese squares." Moriyama added, "I actually started making them at home."

"I prefer the scrambled eggs and jam."

"The first time we met, he made an egg Furikake that transformed by adding some chicken stock jelly." I recalled, "It was very unique the way he used chicken wing tips to make the jelly." I looked towards the kitchen, finding Yukihira busy guiding Kurase to chop some vegetables to his requirement. He gazed up once he was done and our eyes met, breaking into a wide smile.

Hope they are treating you well! He conveyed it over with a quick eyebrow raise. I simply responded with a glance directing him to focus in the kitchen, to which he grinned and got back to cooking.

When I brought my attention back to the table, the others were eyeing me.

"What's the relationship between you and Yukihira-kun?" Koganei, who had been quiet all this time, finally blurted. The two boys were surprised at her statement too, perhaps not expecting such a question to be asked directly.

After dealing with Fujiwara, I thought this kind of thing would be behind me, that I would just be here to focus on getting experience and to while away my summer. "We're school mates," I paused before deciding to add, "and friends; I'm helping a friend by working here."

"Is that so? Last time was a girl who was a meat supplier or something that came to help here. Your school really builds connections, doesn't it?"

I knew that she was probing but I diverted it by responding with a general affirmative reply.

Koganei narrowed her eyes, "What's up with that bandana on your wrist? It looks like Yukihira-kun's. Is that a thing in your school?"

"It's not a school thing." I had Yukihira's bandana on, perhaps out of force of habit. If it was not on, I wouldn't be asked this question; perhaps it would be easier to leave it off, won't it? However, "It's my choice to have it on." I am not about to tell them what Yukihira told me in confidence. My answer was met with the two guys looking at each other.

Meanwhile, Koganei stared at me, keeping her face neutral. Naturally, I responded in kind. I got a feeling she sees me in a less-than-friendly way.

"Oh yes, Arato-san, tell us more about your herbal cooking…" Moriyama cut into the tension, defusing the situation. Figuring it was a way out of the situation, I obliged. Meanwhile, Koganei held back from pressing on her questions.

A few, thankfully short, minutes later, the food was ready and served. As expected of Soma, his dishes were well received… at least the standard ones were. A simple oyakodon with a portion of shredded lettuce.

He took the available seat next to me, while Koganei got Kurase to sit next to him.

Hmm, I am starting to catch the dynamics here.

His wildcard side dish of reconstituted dried jellyfish dressed with matcha vinaigrette was met with apprehension by his old school mates. While Soma was enthusiastically offering his creation to everyone at the table, their faces had that thousand yard stare, clearly well experienced on this and afflicted with some form of PTSD.

After all, they grew up with him.

But I trust this dish isn't as bad as it sounds. I took a potion with my chopsticks… and ate it.

"What do you think?" he asked me, excitement written on his face.

"Bitterness from the matcha goes with the tang of the vinegar, tempered by the honey you added; Those go well together, but it lacks some depth and body…"

Soma got to his analytical mode, both of us were having our own conversation to make it better: change the vinegar, matcha ratio, the mouthfeel… the kind of conversations that we had during experimenting sessions ever since the creation of our drink where we sampled each other's creations and discussed about them. "How about avocado?" I suggested.

He instantly brightened and grinned, "I love it when you come up with these suggestions!"

Yeh, he said the word "love", something that caused Kurase to cough into her drink. Moriyama, in response, tactfully brought a more general topic for the table to talk about, bringing life back to conversation at the table.

It was, however, short lived.

"Hey Yukihira, you mentioned that you were at the beach before you returned, anything interesting happened there?" Okuma asked, to which Moriyama scratched the back of his head and blew a long and slow breath, masking a sigh.

Soma glanced over to me for a second, then said, "I had a girlfriend."

"WHAT?" his classmates exclaimed simultaneously before feeling their eyes fall on me immediately.

I simply shook my head lightly, 'nope, not me.' I mouthed.

"Well, it didn't last more than my time there. I would say that it was an experience… but hey: With her help, we won a beach volleyball tournament!"

"Wait, back up, how did you get a girlfriend there?" Koganei asked the question the rest wanted to know.

"She just told me she liked and wanted to know me better, so I thought why not?"

"Could it be? Have Yukihira Soma climbed the steps of adulthood before us?" Okuma was being dramatic, but I never really knew how far Soma went with Fujiwara too.

"Steps of adulthood? What does that mean?" There's his usual clueless tone.

There was a pause as the rest of the table exchanged looks. Moriyama stepped up, "You know, the thing boyfriends and girlfriends do?"

Soma took a moment to grasp the words, then pounded a fist into his other hand . "Oh, yeh, we did."

…

WHAT?

"Why are ya'll so surprised? I didn't see it as a big deal."

"What do you mean it's not a big deal?!" Koganei exclaimed,

Soma looked confused, "It's common for couples to do it. I mean, we didn't do it publicly though."

I… I did not know what to feel.

"Of course not! That would be lewd." Moriyama was exasperated. Kurase was almost tearing at this point.

"It would? But your parents do it all the time." I noticed Soma was pursing his lips and driving his index finger nail into his thumb.

Ah…

"But not publicly!" Moriyama countered.

"Really? Anyway, I don't know why all of you are so amazed by that news. I mean, Kurase and I did it before."

"Mayu?!" Koganei looked at the other girl in astonishment.

"No! No! We didn't." Kurase was beet red with embarrassment but was waving her hands, gesturing.

"Sure we did, remember the school camp during middle school?" Soma was now trying to hold himself together.

"Middle School?!" Okuma exclaimed.

"Yeh, If I recall correctly, you did it with Koganei."

"We did not! Eww." Koganei immediately responded, as if that thought was preposterous.

"Ouch, harsh." Okuma muttered, asidely.

"Guys guys, it's nothing to get worked up over," and the dam of laughs Soma kept up broke, "all we did was hand holding."

...

An uproar of protest erupted at the table for leading them on. Soma, in turn, was heartily laughing over his joke.

Once the clamour died down, "Why didn't it go further? Was she holding back?" Koganei shot Okuma a 'seriously?' look at his words.

"Well, it was me actually." Soma confessed, to the few raised eyebrows, "I guess," his gaze went around the table to look everyone in the eye, finally ending at me who was beside him, "I was looking for something else." He turned back to Okuma, "It didn't seem fair to lead her on."

A/N: The second arc begins! This chapter is mainly focused on setting the stage for what is to be Hisako's time at Restaurant Yukihira!

Once again, thank you for your reviews! They do let me know if I still got your attention and it keeps me writing; as long as there's a healthy amount of interest, I'll continue writing!