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

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After the dance ended, we excuse ourselves from the post activities, considering we have a restaurant to open the next day.

The others nodded understandably; Some, knowing of our new relationship status, suggestively bounced their eyebrows at us even giving Soma pats on the back when they thought I was not looking.

And I swore I saw Okuma palming an item into Soma's hand.

"It's always good to… be prepared." the stylish blonde said with a wide grin, tapping my boyfriend's shoulder.

Not exactly trying to be subtle.

"What did you get?" I asked as Soma got to the scooter while I put on the hoodie that belonged to him.

Soma looked puzzled, "Dunno," holding up to me, "judging from the packaging, it should be candy."

Resting in the middle of his palm, was a single packet of something that made me blush. How could he not know what that is?

Then again, we are talking about a young man who has dedicated his life to cooking here, so that may explain his obliviousness.

Or he may have simply missed the birds and the bees talk in school…

No points for guessing what it is.

"Maybe." I replied. Oh Soma, you're too innocent. "Perhaps I should hang on to it while you ride."

"Sure, thanks," he handed it over and got in position.

I deftly slipped it into the hoodie's pocket.

As we rode through the winding roads back to our residence, my mind wandered:

Soooo…

What do couples do?

Even before we got official, we had more or less ticked everything in the list:

Sharing food,

Sharing interests,

Spending time together,

Discussing future plans,

Heading towards common goals…

I believe there was one thing that we have not done yet

The question I am asking:

Was it something that was expected?

The object in my pocket was not really helping by keeping my mind on that topic.

Looking for a distraction, I wrapped my arms around him as we rode home, a little tighter than before, leaning a little closer; enjoying his presence.

After all, he is my boyfriend.

Back in our residence, I barely took off the hoodie when I was pulled into a hug around the waist from behind. It came as a surprise, but a welcome one as I relaxed into his embrace, hands on his.

"Mmm, so that's how it feels." Soma muttered, resting his chin on my shoulder, taking a deep breath which tickled, "I've been wanting to do this.."

I hummed contentedly, brought back to the moment of the campfire dance when we were in the same position.

"I love your faint herbal scent." Soma grinned, "I've been holding that comment for a while."

Curious, "Why?"

"Complex, earthy, and a little… exotic." He breathed onto my neck, making me swoon, "I didn't know how you'd take it if I said that out of the blue."

I giggled at his confession, "Well," I dropped to a whisper,

"you don't have to hold back now."

I had a good sleep.

To be precise: it was the best I ever had.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that there was an arm draped over my midriff. This was a first for me, yet the weight of it was not uncomfortable. Rather, it provided a sense of security and belonging that I never realized was what I had been longing for.

Besides, last night was a new experience.

It was amusing too: despite us returning late, fatigue seems like the last thing on our minds while we…

*Ahem*

I turned over to my bedfellow, and a smile crept onto my lips. He's usually an early riser, but I would like to think he was too comfortable to wake up yet.

Nonetheless, we have a restaurant to open, and as much as I am reluctant, it is time to get up.

I ran a hand through his red hair, stroking it gingerly till his eyelids fluttered open for his golden yellow eyes to meet mine.

"Good morning." I greeted softly.

"Mornin'." He smiled, pulling me closer to him, taking a deep breath. "I could get used to waking up like this."

"There will be more chances." I chuckled, giving him a peck on the cheek, "But it's time to get up."

As our relationship changed, so did our habits as we had begun brushing our teeth together and preparing for the day. Though it all, it felt liberating to be able to be myself when around him.

Thinking about it: while I pride myself with being hyper vigilant in the presence of Erina-sama, I feel that having such time to relax would bring a nice balance. Soma plays a major role in such a time.

While wiping my freshly washed face, I felt Soma's hands circling around my waist, and placed his lips on my neck. It was ticklish and made me burst out in laughter. "Hey! Stop!"

Of course he didn't comply, instead doubling his efforts by nuzzling deeper.

I squealed in delight, unable to help myself.

"Alright, alright, we have to head down to start the kitchen." I reminded him when I calmed down a little.

"I love to hear your laugh," He pulled back, revealing his boyish grin, "Ok, let's go."

Despite his words, he was still being playful, hardly able to keep his hands off me, as we ready for work.

A little later, his antics made me dash down the stairs to the restaurant, giggling like a little girl while he chased me closely.

"Yo, good morning." a greeting stopped us in our tracks.

In the kitchen chopping vegetables, stood a middle aged man with long brown hair tied in a ponytail save for a group of bangs falling in front of his sharp facial features with a slight beard on his chin. The photo of Soma's family came to mind and I connected who this man was.

Soma's father.

"Just in time for morning prep." he nodded approvingly, not skipping a beat as he continued chopping with skilled ease.

"Old man! You didn't tell me you're coming back!" Soma was genuinely surprised.

"Well, I am now." the older Yukihira turned to me, "You must be Arato?"

Wanting to make a good impression, and to cover up my embarrassment, I stood up straight, hands together for a formal deep bow. "Yes, Yukihira-ojisan, I am Arato Hisako. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise." He then smirked, "I have to admit, though, I was surprised to hear a girl's voice when I entered the restaurant this morning. Don't worry, I stayed on the first floor." With a twinkle in his eyes similar to a teasing Soma, he added, "Our son has taken steps into adulthood... What am I to do, Tamako?"

My face immediately burned with embarrassment at his words.

How much had he heard?

"We have-" a similarly red faced Soma started.

"Not that I've any issues, I'm quite an open minded person." His father laughed heartily. "Well, don't just stand there. We need to wash the rice and scale the fish."

We did not argue against changing the subject.

Any initial awkwardness was quickly overcome as working with Yukihira's father was an enlightening experience. Professional and mentoring, he shared with us tips and tricks that he has gathered during his travels, all the while being warm and welcoming to any queries that we had.

"Well done, Arato; those are very good chopper skills." the older Yukihira beamed with pride, "you picked up that up quickly." He turned over to his son, "Almost there, Soma, use lighter strokes; keep going."

Hearing praise like that made me stand up straighter, "Thank you. Admittingly, I had some training from a culinary school in China."

"You trained in China?" Both of them looked over to me.

"Whenever I visit the Nanjing Traditional Chinese Medicine University… My parents have research tenure there," I explained, "I would join the culinary section for the dietitian modules."

"TCM? That's very interesting stuff with many things to explore. Soma, I hope you've been learning some things from her."

"Of course, she's amazing!" Soma did not hold back on his praises, "Not just in cooking, she also took responsibility for our books. And just last week she helped fix Koganei's ankle." I appreciated his efforts to give a good impression of me.

"Oh? What happened?"

We shared our experiences in the camp while we finished up on the preparations. Naturally, the conversation moved towards my background, family, and their expectations. My family was not typically a topic I talked about, but I guess it was only appropriate to speak about them with my boyfriend's parent.

The topic was cut short when some regulars knocked on the door and were pleasantly surprised to see Soma's father back, making the place more lively as they took out their phones to spread the news, rallying more to arrive.

And so, we started service to an eager crowd.

"Hey Joichiro, your kid has brought his girl back, congrats!" Some patrons raised their glasses approvingly upon hearing the words of the local auto shop owner.

"Yep, Soma couldn't have done better." Soma's father smiled with pride, "Arato is a great girl; Treat her well, son."

"I will!" Soma declared at the other end of the counter, to the cheers of everyone.

The combination of compliment, declaration, and the familial liveliness made me blush even deeper if possible.

It felt great to be accepted so openly and unconditionally.

A stark contrast to the intrigues, conditional acceptances, and secret agendas I dealt with as Erina-sama's secretary.

During the afternoon service, someone had suggested the father-son have their usual cooking competition. It was an interesting battle. Soma had put up a good fight. The flames of his determination were clear in his eyes.

Unfortunately, experience still triumphs in the art of cooking.

"And that's, what? 496 Wins to your zero?" both of them had taken out their notebooks and had begun writing in them.

"Don't be smug; I'll get you next time, old man!"

"But it was really close though." Shopping district chairman Tomita-san remarked, "You seemed to have started making your own style different from your father." There was a chorus of agreement. "It really feels like a dish that I can have every day."

"I had help. The balances of nutrition, flavors and benefits of the dish are all thanks to Hisako's feedback from our experiments." Soma glanced appreciatively at me.

I beamed in return.

"I'm proud of your improvement, Soma. Listen well," his father said, "The secret to becoming a great chef is: meeting a woman that will make you want to give all the food you make to her." He looked at both of us and broke into a grin,

"Perhaps, you're on the right path."

Soma's father had not plan to stay long: his main intention in returning home was to pick up his banking tokens.

Before he left, he had a look into his drawer, followed by a shooting look to a clueless Soma who was busy reviewing his notebook, raising his eyebrows in a flash of curiosity, and sliding the drawer close.

Guess he found the condoms…

Still unopened.

Wonder what was running through his head at that.

Casually announcing that he had a flight to catch, he then bid us a good evening and left.

"Yeh, he does that." Soma said when I asked him about it a few hours later as we settled for the evening "always getting called overseas and leaving at the drop of a hat."

"Have you ever followed him overseas?"

"Nope… not yet at least. But I would like to. The old man has been bragging about his travels, visiting restaurants like Noma, Don Juilo, Nahm, and Wolfgat."

"Was he talking about the restaurants in Denmark, Argentina, Thailand, and South Africa respectively? Those are big names."

"Yeh, I saw the pictures of their menu. I'd love to visit them some day. But not just those, though, dad has always said not to be misled by big name restaurants, but instead to let your nose guide you to the best restaurants. Some of his best dishes were inspired by eating at some hole-in-the-wall."

"Sounds exciting." I filled up Soma's tea, "I'd love to come along."

"Of course," he grinned, "we won't have it any other way."

"Hang on, I will have to get my passport from home,"

"Well, mine's up for renewal anyway."

We shared a laugh at our light banter.

"Hey, I'm heading to the convenience store." I told Soma, as I put on his hoodie.

"What do you need? I'll come with you."

"No, it's alright. Just some small items." Despite us being a couple, I was not ready to openly tell him I was getting some feminine necessities. "Want anything?"

"Yeh," he stood up to join me, looking into my eyes as he took my hand and pulled me closer, "I want you."

My heart fluttered at his words that I bit my lower lip to hold back a little. I leaned forward to give a peck on his lips, "We can continue when I return."

"I've been waiting for that the whole day." His grin was infectious. "You got what you need?"

"Wallet… handphone…keys, and carrier, yep."

"Hurry back!"

The convenience store was a good walk away. Being in a shopping district, the street was empty at night. Despite that, it was a familiar route that I have already taken by myself when I wanted something at night.

Guess we were so used to independence that both of us did not think much about walking alone at night on safe Japan streets.

My mind wandered as I made my way to my destination, wondering what impression Soma's father had of me.

He was clearly pleased by the state of organization brought to the restaurant, giving praise for how responsible I was. He even remarked about the bandana on our wrist, saying that it really suits us.

I do hope that it made up for the first impression when he heard us in the morning…

As for me, I think that Soma has a great father. Even though they are usually apart, they maintained a good relationship. Soma clearly takes his passion for cooking from his father; I can fully understand his pride in the Yukihira brand, because I, too, feel something for it.

Thinking back on our stagiaire, applying Soma's question if the restaurant I was at was where I wanted to be: Yes, Yukihira Family Restaurant is.

Authentic, welcoming, cozy; I guess I have found somewhere I can belong to.

As I entered a particular stretch of road, my senses pricked, pulling me back into the present.

It could have been the broken lighting in a deserted non-residential street, or the feeling that someone was walking up from behind me, in time with a decelerating car. I know I said Japan's streets are safe, but something was off.

A person coordinated with a car to approach me... that is a textbook snatch kidnapping where the walker holds me long enough for the few moments the car needed to get into position and I get pushed into it.

My guard was immediately up and I tried to increase my pace without looking back to avoid showing that I noticed them.

They, however, sped up until I felt the person behind me was close enough for a take down before I sprinted away. It was the best course of action I could think of as I scanned for an alleyway I could slip into to escape a car chase.

I decided that if I was wrong, I would apologize due to my paranoia rather than to risk harm in this situation.

Their outstretched hand was the cue for me to act, and I let my self defense training take over:

Tuck in the neck

Drop pivoting shoulder

Shift pivoting shoulder foot back

Lower center of gravity

Grab the wrist

Pull

The person was slightly larger than me, so they didn't arc over my shoulder. Nonetheless, they were slammed bodily onto the ground. Thankfully, my instinct that they were unarmed was right.

My follow through motion naturally had me facing back to the car, just the few split seconds I needed to catch the license plate.

…

Oh.

A/N: And so we end the 2nd arc of the story! Thank you for sticking with me till now.

This also serves to move the story into the 3rd Arc!

Feel free to share with me your thoughts on the story and where it will go! Let me know if I should add more or reduce some scenes to make it a better reading experience. While the storyline is already planned, your feedback helps me tune the pacing and length of each chapter.

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!

Oh, and I want to announce that there will be chapters at the end of the series! They are more for reading pleasure that i thought may break the pace or seem like fillers.

Cheers!