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You know sometimes you just can't really stand someone for no reason? It's just irrational as the "no reason" part already makes you unreasonable along with the fact that humans are supposedly social creatures. Which is why people put on fake smiles and used flattery words so that they are well liked and depended upon.

Right?

So it's not unfair to say I'm being irrational now at the girl sitting across me with her manicured fingers and boisterous personality.

I mean irrationality is not my usual trait so I don't know why this person's giggle seemed so grating while the mussy red head hanging onto hang onto her every single word as she pattered on.

Then again, it may be due to the fact that it was her turn to draw a card from Yukihira's hand. Instead, she was taking her time just to flirt and play with her puppy.

And that puppy reciprocated.

"I believe I've got the card you need, Soma." oh how those words grate.

"I have the cards you need too, Yumiko." self proclaimed prodigy chef Yukihira Soma was practically wagging his tail at this moment.

"We're playing Old Maid; of course we'll have the cards the other player needs." I muttered under my breath.

Old Maid: A game for any amount of people where the objective is to create pairs of cards to empty your hand while not ending up with the Old Maid card, typically a joker card. I've had my fair share of playing this game with Erina-sama and without bragging, I'd say I'm quite good at it.

After all, I was simply following her instructions to not to go easy on her.

And one thing about this game is that you tend to learn how to read people's tells and the cards they would be holding at which position. That allows me to pretty much manipulate the flow of the game, especially useful when I sense Erina-sama could use a win… I mean, after awhile, simply winning makes the game stale.

So how did I end up having a game with the blonde on my right?

Yukihira had suggested this when he spotted me about to make myself scarce after dinner with her appearing at the shop again for the third night in a row after meeting Yukihira.

Don't her parents care where she goes in the evening?

On the plus side, I can't help but feel amused to see the look on her face every time Yukihira calls my given name. How would I put it? You know that feeling upon seeing a person you dislike make a face when they suck a lemon?

Ah right, schadenfreude.

"Oh you," the blonde slapped his arm playfully after FINALLY drawing a card from Yukihira's hand, laughing heartily and in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, leaned forward to brush her ample bosom against the aforementioned arm. That was followed up with a sideways look towards me like a tigress marking her territory while outwardly throwing a toothy grin that didn't reach her eyes.

'Stay away from what is mine' clearly expressed in that look..

Yukihira was too caught up in his own merriment to notice.

I rolled my eyes and didn't bite her obvious challenge bait.

She than presented the back of her cards to me. Not really caring much for playing with her and bothering to take it seriously, I drew one at random: 3 of Clubs. With nothing to pair it with, it was my turn to present my hand to Yukihira.

Psychologically speaking, your opponent will always avoid the ends of the hand, usually heading for the middle.

I know the 3 Clubs is one of the cards he needs (being that Fujiwara Yumiko and I did not form pairs with it, Yukihira definitely needs it). I made a show of shuffling my hand and set the 3 Clubs card at the rightmost side of my hand, the furthest card from him.

Yukihira smirked lightly and reached out without hesitation. "Nice try but I can read you, Hisako." He lifted the card of my hand and placed the pair into the table.

Fujiwara observed our exchange and held her tongue. That is, until Yukihira's next turn when he made a point to look at me straight in the eye with his mischievous look, still picked it out without trouble… This was despite my rough shuffle and sticking the card randomly in the deck.

"Hey, no card feeding..." Fujiwara had steel hidden under her airy tone.

What? Did she just accuse me of arranging cards in favor of Yukihira? Of course, I dismissed the accusation. "Yukihira is just good at this."

Fujiwara's eyes narrowed before switching attention to the ref head, "I'm sure Soma is great at a lot of things." She actually purred, smoldering at him, "But let's not make things too easy, don't you think?"l

The hairs on my neck pricked as I stifled a gag.

There were many things I'd like to say to her at this point, one of which was to tell them to get a room. I held my tongue; After all, the thought of her going up to the residential floor to fool around with Yukihira did not seem appealing at all.

"We should mind the cards in our hands, perhaps let someone else have a chance?"

My ears pricked and eyebrows raised; Being in many high level meetings had me used to pick up on doublespeak: deliberately euphemistic, ambiguous, or obscure language. It's the tool of politicians and business people and Fujiwara was wielding it so naturally.

'Keep to yourself, it's now my turn.' was what she actually meant.

The subject in question just sat there between us, slightly smiling and blissfully oblivious of the speech.

Two can play that game.

"In the end, cards were picked by choice, neither of us can direct, Besides, It's also possible that the game may end without everyone having a chance to play." Fujiwara's eyes widened, perhaps not expecting my shot at her. A side of her lip twitched as she fought to maintain her smile, dumbfounded for a moment, evidently aware of my meaning: 'Yukira's is the one picking and you may not even have a chance with him.'

But she soon found her voice. "Even so, putting out to win is a cheap and is done by EASY difficulty people. I doubt you're EASY person, are you, Arato-san?" she insinuated with a suggestive raise of her eyebrows.

Easy?... EASY?

I'd like to think I'm a level headed person but those words... those words had managed to get a rise out of me. Fujiwara was the one who was acting all flirtatious, she's the one coming on to guys she just met and now she just insinuated that I was promiscuous. Was I supposed to simply take that? It was hypocrisy and an insult to me.

I haven't even went out with anyone before.

I took a breath and was prepared to retaliate, "Whoa there, take it easy, Hisako,"

It was a cumulation of different factors that made me react the way I did; and Yukihira's words had stung more than hers: Yukihira spoke up in defense of her! I dropped my cards, pushed myself off the table and stormed off, deciding to hold my tongue in deference to the fact that she was Yukihira's guest.

Sand kicked out behind me as I stomped my way through the beach, willing her face to be under my foot with every step I took.. Despite the late evening's cool summer air, it barely registered as I was still heated from the incident. First she accuses me of cheating in a card game, then she insinuated I was an easy woman, and Yukihira actually told me to "take it easy"? What kind of twisted logic is that?

Beeline out the door at an angle, I soon found myself at the water's edge, the restaurant away from view, and picked up a random pebble at my feet, flinging it as hard as I can;

And then another, and another… until I lost count.

They sailed through the air, entering the water with an unceremonious but satisfying ploop. It was an outlet for my foul mood while I imagined a certain floozy stood at where my missiles were thrown at.

Soon enough, I had my fill of rock throwing and found myself slightly panting, facing the churning sea and its rolling waves. Light sea spray caressed the exposed skin of my arms like a supportive mother, patient and understanding, responding to my earlier ferocity with comfort.

It was refreshing.

The moment had passed. I straightened up and walked further away from the water and sat on the sand. Breathing deep to clear my mind, I finally took in my surroundings.

Unlike the crowds in the day, it was now dotted with couples, enjoying each other's company and the atmosphere. If it as any assurance, none of them were looking at me: the crazy girl who took out her temper by throwing rocks into the sea. Seeing the displays of affection around me had me feeling like I was the odd one out. Along with the cold air, it made me feel… lonely, I drew up my legs and hugged it, looking into the distance while appreciating the gentle sea spray.

The moon shone over the sea: a silver arc in the sea of stars. It was a moon phase that came before the new moon that would coincide with the fireworks festival. I believe it's called a waning crescent if I recall reading a mention of it in light novels I've read.

Now that I have calmed down, I guess I may have went too far by storming off…What I did may have made it awkward between Yukihira and I. With slightly more than a week to go...

Yukihira, what am I to do with you?

Well, perhaps I'll just sneak back in when I'm sure that he's asleep. Whatever time that may be.

I stared off into the distance and allowed them to tick by as my mind wandered, enjoying the gentle lapping of waves slowly but surely lulled away the rest the dark clouds hanging over me.

I was not sure how much time passed but i heard the crunch of sand of someone walking up and a hoodie wearing figure sat a short distance away from me in the sand before I could react. Startled, I pulled to the side, away from them while looking over.

Yukihira.

Of course.

…

…

…

I was expecting him to say something so I looked forward as I hugged my knees tighter, bracing for what he had all rights to criticize me for.

Instead, we just sat there, a short distance from each other with a curious absence of awkwardness that I had expected.

Sigh.

"Why are you here?" I kept my eyes at the moon, "Shouldn't you be with a certain someone." I did not bother masking bitterness but the thought of him jumping in to defend her came back to me and began to sting again. If he had considered us friends, why did he not back me up?

"Yumiko has gone back."

Silence fell between us again.

A cool land breeze blew. Since I stormed off, I was ill prepared and shivered slightly.

Yukihira looked over, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I know there's a "Fine" fine and there's a 'there's something bothering me but I don't want to talk about it' fine."

I snorted: unsure if I was to be impressed or indignant of him supposedly figuring out woman speak. "I can't stand her, alright?"

"Can't sta- what do you mean?"

"I can't stand the way she looks, I can't stand the way she talks, and I totally can't stand the fact that she insinuated I'm an easy woman."

"I do agree, though, she went a little too far there."

"Then why did you stop me?"

"I don't know…" He scratched the back of his head and turned away to face the horizon, "I guess I was trying to make things work out with her?"

Ah, so that's why: Yukihira is considering making a commitment with her. Guess there was nothing else to say and return to staring off into the horizon...I felt a lump in my chest.

The cold air blew again, causing me to shiver. I wasn't sure if it had to do with a feeling of emptiness at his words...

A sudden warmth with light sandalwood scent was placed over my shoulder and I looked over to find that Yukihira had placed his hoodie onto me. "It's cold and you've been out here for awhile." he said, preempting any protests I may have as he sat down again, a little closer than before.

We fell back into silence admiring the spectacle of moon rising up on an awesome backdrop of uncountable stars twinkling brightly. I pulled the hoodie tighter around me, snuggling in its warmth, and losing myself in its lingering musky fragrance

"But no matter what it is," Yukihiira broke the silence after a while, "Your happiness is important to me."

… What?

Hearing those words without context might be very misleading. He's not doing it on purpose, is he?

I couldn't read it from his impassive face .

Nonetheless, it was actually comforting to hear those words from him.

"It's getting late, shall we return?" No protests from me.

We got up to our feet to head back. Brushing off the sand and, taking a few steps forward, I noticed Yukihia was not moving. "What's the matter?' I tried looking through his line of sight.

"Naw," his attention was drawn away from the other couples on the beach, "just wondering what we looked like earlier," he said with a playful grin and walking past me.

... I was too dumbfounded to react to that.

A/n: Third evening and Hisako makes it known that she can't stand Fujiwara! how does that affect the friendship between Soma and herself?

It's also the end of the actual Shokugeki no Soma series. I thought Hisako was looking fine after the time skip! I hope that you, dear reader, would continue supporting this series of how I hoped Hisako's and Soma's relationship would evolve!

Thank you for reading and the reviews! it keeps this story going!