author's suggestion: re-read ch. 14, "The Birthday Paradox," first as a refresher.

Soma never asked for her help.

It never occurred to him to do so with Megumi because it seemed he never had to. She always beat him to it. Either they were assigned as partners, or she volunteered to support him before he could even fix his lips to ask. After everything they'd been through together in the few months they'd become friends, their bond grew into something that felt like telepathy, but with only Megumi able to read Soma's mind. If not for her constantly telling him how much she appreciated him for keeping her at Tohtsuki, Soma would've felt he was taking advantage of her kind heart by asking her for anything else.

But Soma's seventeenth birthday was just a week away when he got the idea, and he had been running his ideas by her since the Fall Selection.

"You want to have a WHAT for your birthday?!" Megumi couldn't help but shriek.

"A tournament-style Food War. Seventeen Food Wars. All against me." He said it so casually that his best friend was sure he'd lost all his marbles.

"SEVENTEEN?! S-Soma-kun? Don't you think t-that's a bit much?"

"What? No way! This is the perfect opportunity to showcase how much I've improved since the Moon Festival! I'm not going to snag a Seat on the Ten or get Erina—" Soma never noticed the deflated sigh Megumi inwardly took when he mentioned her name. "-to acknowledge my food by wasting any opportunities to battle my opponents. Isn't that what being at Tohtsuki is all about?"

Megumi's bottom lip quivered in apprehension. You always have a way of putting the thrill of cooking into perspective, Soma-kun. It wasn't that hard of a challenge, right? At least not for Soma.

"Y-yeah…"

Soma smiled wide and confidently as if there wasn't a single fear in the world that he couldn't overcome. Megumi's eyes melted, making Soma tilt his head and furrow his brows, questioning her new expression.

"What's up with that face, Todokoro?"

"Mmm...why not ask Mito-san?"

"Huh? Why would I do that? Oh, my bad! You're busy. I should've asked if you were free first. I can ask someone else."

"N-NO! I'm not busy at all! It...it just seems like you go to her for help with these kinds of things. Like with the Kaarage War in your hometown and the semi-final beef stew for the Fall Selection? I just figured you'd ask her first."

"Hm? What do you mean, Megumi? You're my best friend! Of course, I had to ask you for help." But come to think of it... It occurred to him that it'd been weeks since he'd spent time with Meat-Meat or even seen her around. "Maybe I will hit her up-OOP!"

Megumi clenched her fists over his and pulled their hands to her chest.

"THEN LET'S GET TO PLANNING THE BEST BIRTHDAY TOURNAMENT EVER," the meek chef said, beaming with a new determination to help her best friend plan the most complicated seventeenth birthday party ever. After he told Megumi his plan, he sent out his first Food Wars invitation.

To Erina Nakiri.

-8-

He'd been dreaming of the thrill of the marathon Food Wars all week. Since Halloween fell in the middle of the week, his dorm mates convinced* him to do the showdown on his actual birthday, Sunday morning—after they threw him a Mundane Halloween party Saturday night.

[*narrator note: Actually, Yuki Yoshino threatened him with her hunting rifle, a terrifying smile, and a guarantee that it would be the time of his life.]

So, it was Saturday evening, and Soma was forced to bide the night before the battle with revelry.

He sat criss-crossed on the long table in the Polar Star dining room dressed as Miles Morales's Spider-Man, rapping at the top of his lungs the hip-hop song blasting out the speakers and drinking Polar Star Express—Ryoko's specialty soju for the entire ninety-second generation.

"Soma, why are you dressed like a superhero? Did you not understand the theme?" An indignant Yuki asked, smacking him upside his head. She was dressed as an old lady who lived in a shoe and had so many children that she didn't know what to do—basically, Miss Fumio. The dorm mother had cursed her out for stealing her clothes.

"Ow!" He yanked his mask to his forehead and rubbed the throbbing sore spot.

"Because Miles feels more like himself in this costume, and hey! Isn't this party for me?"

"Yes…but with a theme! You always have to go out of your way to be a rebel, don't you?"

"I can't save the day any other way," he winked, pulling his mask back down. He'd been sitting in the same spot since the party began, partly to conserve his energy but mainly to keep an eye on the front door. Takumi rushed him.

"Soma Yukihira! I will defeat you in a Food War!"

"Oh yeah? So you're coming tomorrow then?" Soma asked distractedly.

Isami snickered. "Hey, big bro, Soma's barely paying attention to you."

"Aw, shut up! Oh, and happy birthday. Here," he said, shoving a box in Soma's face.

"Aw, a gift for me? You shouldn't have! It's not even my birthday yet."

"Yeah, whatever. I just didn't want to carry it around til midnight," the blond boy blushed.

"It's from us and Ikumi," Isami tenderly explained.

Soma felt a tinge of guilt thinking about Ikumi. She had declined his tournament invitation, so he was sure she wasn't coming tonight.

"Who are you two supposed to be?" Takumi fanned down their costumes like it was supposed to be obvious.

"Bert and Ernie!"

"Wait…" Zenji crawled out of the hole that was his room, looking like an overworked accountant zombie.

"But-" Megumi peeped as she approached them dressed like a mother with three young children.

"Aren't they gay?" Soma spat out.

Takumi spat out his punch all over his blue-green-red vertically striped shirt. "What?! No, they aren't! They are brothers!" Isami erupted.

"I tried to tell him, but he wouldn't listen."

"Good thing y'all are twins. It still works," Megumi cajoled in her endearing manner.

"Does it? Wouldn't that be incest?" Soma innocently inquired.

"They're best friends!" Takumi's face flushed as sweat dropped and stormed away, but not before shouting, "I hate you, Soma!"

-8-

Thirty minutes into the party, enough people arrived to really give it a good vibe. Costumes ranged from absolutely ridiculous to so spot-on that it needed to be clarified if they were in the right place, or entirely off the mark. Yuki was seething at the latter group of partygoers.

An hour into the festivities, the place was packed. Isshiki had already turned into his loincloth to the giddy squeal of the girls and gays and the comparing shame of peeking boys. He led a group of his underclassmen in a rousing and drunken rendition of the school song. Soma still had yet to learn that thing and didn't want to start tonight, so he continued scanning the door, looking for Erina Nakiri in costume to come through.

Two hours in, the party's numbers had grown beyond their class. Second and third-years were rushing to get in and have fun with what had been deemed the hottest Halloween party on campus. Soma had parked it on the dining table for so long, refusing to leave his post even for the bathroom or more refreshments, that all the guests entering the dorm house simply approached it as their first stop towards the kitchen just to wish him a 'Happy Hallo-birthday,' and Megumi became his unrequested waitress.

Diago and Shoji declared three hours in, "Alright, let's get the real party started!"

Still, no long blonde-haired, purple-eyed heiress was in sight. Then, Soma saw a familiar pair of intense eyes beneath a mask approaching him.

"Happy early birthday, Yukihira!"

"Nakiri Number Two! Thanks!"

"Don't call me that! I was born first!"

"And Ryo." "Oh, my bad, man! I didn't recognize you in that…tight-ass costume." Soma studied the leering boy from head to toe, covered in black latex. "...What exactly are you supposed to be?"

Alice cut in, "Thanks! It's Mugler, and Ryo's my sub!" She proudly smiled and cracked a leather whip. The swift sound and motion made Soma jump as Alice, in a leather illusion catsuit and very spiky patent leather platform boots, sashayed around her scowling aide.

"Stop it, Miss Alice!" Ryo barked at the unruly girl, who was sticking her tongue out in defiance. Even with half his face covered, Soma could tell the guy was sweating bullets of embarrassment. He stiffly turned to Soma.

Soma raised an eyebrow and flashed his fang. "Ohhhh…so that's what you two are into, huh? Can you even move in that bodycon?"

"I'm Batman." His flat tone sounded like he felt like a dork, y'know, since he certainly looked like one.

"And I'm Cat Woman! Purrrr!"

"Okay, I see it now! Yeah, your mug looks exactly like Bat Man, Ryo!"

Yuki ran up to the trio. "Noooo! Not you two, too?! Gah! Does nobody know what mundane means? A house full of arguably the next three generations of top chefs in the world, and nobody knows how to follow instructions?! What is wrong with you people?!"

"Probably should've put it in a recipe," Soma teased, swaying his drink and facing the dominatrix-styled duo.

"So…where's the other Nakiri?" He looked casually looked around them. Alice narrowed her eyes.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Alice cooed.

"I believe that's why he asked, Milady."

"Oh, shush, you!" She snapped at Ryo, swiping his bulky, costumed arm with her whip. "Anyway, I don't know where my sweet baby cousin is. I didn't see her when we left the mansion, but I'm sure she's on her way," Alice purred with a wink before dragging her submissive partner away.

Isshiki walked up to Soma, sweating and ever-jovial, with a baking dish of baked goods.

"Enjoying your party, my young Soma?"

"Isshiki! Bro! I knew you knew how to party, but I didn't know you were this much of a party animal."

"Every so often, I like to let loose," he sagely noted with a warm smile. Soma noticed that his senior looked very happy, almost too happy, even for him.

"Yeah, we can tell!" Yuki again popped up out of nowhere, with a baby chipmunk riding atop her tangerine-colored head and a disapproving eye on Isshiki's waist cloth.

"Put that thing away! There are middle schoolers sneaking around here! I can't believe you came as your birthday suit," She shooed him and rushed after the escaping chipmunk.

"That's what she said!" Daigo and Shoji yelled in unison from across the room, dressed as Phineas and Ferb. Yuki ran past the Aldini brothers, criticizing, "That's what you two should've come as," much to Takumi's ire.

Soma tried not to look but couldn't help but laugh at Isshiki.

"Yeah, man. You might wanna do what she says. I think I saw Mitsuru creeping around here with his camera lens pointed at the ready."

Isshiki dropped a bead of sweat but laughed it off. "Oh no, we mustn't have a seated member of the Ten caught in a scandal on the school newspaper's front cover! Here, take a brookie." He winked, pushing the glass dish Soma's way. Soma eyed it.

"A brookie?"

"Yeah…while baking your cake, I couldn't decide which to make, cookies or brownies, so I made them both!"

"So…it's a hybrid?" Soma eyed the thickly baked mounds with fascination. They did look moist and delicious.

"Precisely!" Isshiki beamed.

"Satoshi, my man! That's the kind of thinking that honors me on my birthday."

"I figured you'd see the vision. It's a white chocolate snickerdoodle blondie with a limoncello iced drizzle. I call it 'Isshiki's Delight!' Just…don't eat the whole thing," he whispered with a wink.

Soma squinted in utter confusion but took one and did not listen.

"Oh!" Isshiki's eyes widened. "Okay, then. How fun, young Yukihira! But don't say I didn't warn you," he sweetly warned as he twitched his bare buns away from Soma and back into the center of the fun.

-8-

It was already four hours into his kinda-sorta birthday party. All that was left to do was give Soma a shrill serenade of the 'Happy Birthday Song' at the stroke of midnight and eat a special birthday cake prepared by Megumi as Isshiki and Yuki corralled the spaced-out crowd to surround him. Soma felt conflicted as friends, couples, and school crushes were warm and fuzzy enough not to care who did what with whom or where paired off. He smiled in their faces but not with his eyes.

Soma's eyes were hazy red, his brain felt like liquid gold, and his head was lifted and lost somewhere in the clouds or the cosmos, thinking about...

Erina Nakiri stepped through the Polar Star Dormitory's front door.

The way the world stopped for him was like a scene out of one of those cheesy old-school American romcoms. She looked the same as always—drop-dead gorgeous—but like she was in the wrong place, or at least dropping by on business and not attending a Halloween party.

Erina Nakiri arrived at Soma Yukihira's Hallo-birthday-ween party right at the stroke of midnight in what looked to be her school uniform. The sight shouldn't have gagged him; he'd seen her in that outfit almost every day for the past eight months. But she looked too sexy for words, the makings of a naughty schoolgirl fantasy, but also no different than when she was walking through campus.

He saw her first.

His brain wanted to spring from its lull, but his body was stuck, practically glued to the table. At this point, Soma Yukihira understood what an out-of-body experience was. His body wanted to run toward her, but his brain wasn't sending the right signals to his legs. So he stayed right where he was, watching her stand in the center as the parting sea of gobsmacked students cleared her path, watching her moving through Polar Star's foyer—his home!—like she was riding on a flying nimbus cloud. The crowd's furtive looks and whispers began. She looked nervous and a bit overwhelmed.

Soma watched as Yuki rushed toward her with Ryoko in tow, pushing people out of her way. She was delighted to see the most popular girl on campus in her dorm house. Soma could hear his dorm mate's bright voice even over the blasting music and whispering chatter.

"Finally! Someone nailed the mundane theme to a T! Miss Erina! Welcome to Kyokusei Dorm! I'm digging the low pigtails, girl!"

Ryoko, dressed as a store cashier forced to wear some sort of stupid cosplay for every holiday, shook her head at her cheeky friend and gave a soft bow. "Miss Erina, I love your costume. A nod to Britney Spears' iconic debut music video."

He zeroed in on Erina's smile at Ryoko's astute perception. Her teeth gleamed under the incandescent hallway lights. "Hello, you two. You've made the best guess yet, Sakaki-san, but I'm afraid I was going for Mary Jane Watson from Spider-Man Homecoming, but I suppose it's been lost in translation. I've never seen it, but Alice said it would be appropriate."

The two best friends gagged at the clueless heiress.

"No, not at all! Y-you nailed it! I just didn't connect the dots, is all…" Ryoko simpered.

"What dots?" Erina's chibi expression took over her face.

"Ohhh, nothing! I really like that you chose against our pleated uniform skirt, though. We all need a day out of that drab brown," Yuki giggled, and Erina joined in, though she wasn't quite sure what the joke was.

Soma watched Erina's youthful smile fill her face as she spoke to the two girls. He noted that she looked relieved to be talking to people and not just being gawked at like the rest of the crowd…and him. Suddenly, he saw two flashes speeding past him.

"Erina!" Alice exclaimed. "Finally! You came! I was worried you got lost on the way." She teasingly smacked her cousin's rear with her whip. "Ooh! A sexy schoolgirl! I love it, you sex kitten!"

"What? Like you?" Soma could hear Erina's sneer like it was in his head. "And put that thing away!"

"You first!" Alice meowed and pouted, slapping the tops of Erina's exposed breasts with the whip. "But I must say, you showing off those glorious melons and so much midriff is a risk for you. But you look good, cuzzo! Looks like you took a page from your little lackey, Mito's book. Where is she anyway?" Alice pranced around.

"Alice, I look like Britney Spears, and you know it!" Erina fumed. "I thought you said I was Zendaya as Mary Jane!"

"Oh no, you look nothing like her. Have you not seen the movie?"

"You know I have not seen that movie, Alice!"

"Oops!" Alice stopped and made an innocent face. "I did it again! Mou~My bad!"

"Wrong song reference, Miss," Ryo again corrected.

"Oh, shoo, you bat!"

Soma watched the entire exchange like a hawk. Then, time slowed down in his eyes. He caught Alice briefly glancing his way. She flashed him a wicked red-eyed wink through her mask and turned back to Erina.

"Oh! By the way, Erina…"

He studied Alice's moves, like cooking techniques to master. As she leaned to whisper in her cousin's ear, he leaned over in his seat like he could hear their conversation. But even with his spidey senses tingling from being cross-faded...of course, he couldn't!

So, why?

Why wouldn't his legs move on command? He needed to get to her. Erina's body tensed at Alice, and her head darted to the dining room, where Soma was sealed in the same spot he'd been waiting for her for the past four hours.

"Gather 'round the birthday boy, everyone! It's time to sing 'Happy Birthday'!" Yuki and Isshiki co-announced to the crowd.

"And for caaaaake!" Megumi called out behind them, slowly walking and balancing the tallest birthday cake Soma had ever had. She was dressed as an inn hostess. Fitting.

Two pairs of eyes locked.

For a split second, it looked like Erina was flustered at finally noticing him, and he felt like flames had just engulfed his body. But he wasn't sure he could trust his vision right now. Her focus quickly shifted back to her cousin, and she whispered something, her eyes holding an expression Soma could not place. He was too out of his body to think so hard.

But then, he watched as Alice rolled her blood-red eyes at Erina, pushed her in his direction, and sprung away. His heart rate spiked. He watched as Erina drifted closer to him. He didn't know if Erina was moving slowly or if his brain was because the other guests were crowding around him, too, but she closed the distance between them with every blink he took.

Blink. Erina was at the edge of the foyer.

Blink. She was at the threshold of the dining room.

Blink. She was standing right in front of him.

Suddenly, Soma realized he still had that stupid Spider-Man mask covering his face. He pulled it up above his forehead, a tuft of spiky red hair flopping between his brows. He blinked at her again—too many times—then smiled—at least he thought he did—but his mouth slacked into the same dopey grin he'd been sporting since she walked in. He spoke first—or at least tried to; his tongue felt like a fish out of water.

"H-Hey," he called out, stealing her attention from the onlookers. "Nakiri…you came!" He was mystified by her up close. "...It's November sixth."

He knew it was silly to say, but it was all his inebriated yet enamored brain could muster. His spirit knocked him over the head with a sledgehammer. What the fuck kind of comment is that, Soma?! You're telling her the date?! Where's all that rizz you were hyped to show her all night?!

Erina stood in front of him, shifting in place. She looked around apprehensively at all the nosy eyes on them, but that could just be the weed misperceiving things.

"Uh... I mean, nice costume!" His mouth was on autopilot. She blushed a coy thank-you, tucking a loose lock of goldenrod hair behind her ear, her full bangs swaying over her deep purple eyes as she looked away. His spidey senses were tingling again; Soma could feel her nerves.

He pulled her in closer but kept a small gap between them. He inhaled the sultry, buttery notes of her perfume but couldn't take his eyes off her. They instinctively linked pinkies.

"Okay, in 3!" Isshiki began counting.

"Hey," he repeated softly.

"2!"

"Hey," Erina whispered back. She rolled her eyes (at herself? at him?) and released an annoyed sigh that made him grin.

"1!"

"Happy birthday, Yukihira," she said in the sexiest voice Soma had ever heard, leaving her hyperglossed lips.

The singing commenced.

a/n: i wish y'all knew just how excited i've been to release this chapter. i started writing it during my fall hiatus from posting when i realized what works for my writing praxis. this chapter happens immediately after ch. 14; funny enough, ch. 14 wouldn't have existed without it. my goal was to post this one-shot to celebrate the story's one-year anniversary on nov. 6, but it wasn't "good enough"/ready for posting on soma's birthday. still, i wanted to have a new chapter for y'all to read—bc i'm sentimental like that. so ch. 14 "The Birthday Paradox" was born! (both as the only chapter in our story to be a time-jump and not be told from soma's pov [reminder: it's from erina's perspective].) so, it's been a while since it dropped, so if you still need a refresher about how we got here, go read it! (it's been tightened up.)

but now, we're finally at soma's birthday in the story's timeline, and i couldn't be happier! how cute are they?! soma's miles morales spider-man costume, erina failing to understand the assignment, the buildup to that tender moment...and in public?! ughhhh! so good! alice and ryo are fun! and is it just me, or does megumi's sense of duty in friendship often have her moving like she's down bad just like ryo? also, where the heck is ikumi?! this kind of party feels right up her alley.

anyway, i can't help but *idris elba scoff* at how funny story creation can be. bc if i had posted this on nov. 6 like intended, it wouldn't have had the same emotional payoff for sorina (imo). and after that fierce interlude (which was its own burst of inspired necessity), it feels good to start our final arc this way. so I hope you've enjoyed reading from "The Kindling" to "Tinder," bc it only goes up...and blazes to an end from here!

p.s.: I absolutely love this chapter's title and how it calls back to the very first. also, "The Sun Sets on the Moon Interlude" just might be my favorite of the 23 chapter titles. i'd love to know which chapter title has been your fave(s)!

p.p.s.: and as always, i love reading your comments, so pls leave a review, follow, favorite, and share this one-shot series with someone in the fandom you think would enjoy reading it, too! you can also support my other writings by subscribing to my shonen 'n spirituality substack, Sol no Shonen! the substack link is in my profile.

-You're Welcome!- 8.20withlove

-i do not own the rights to Shokugeki no Sōma, i know-

\_(ツ)_/