-NAKIRI ERINA-
December 24
They decided to split the winter holiday into three trips. The winter holiday season was always full of magical tension between them. Since meeting, they'd spent it chasing each other across snowy mountains, rooftops, and long-distance calls. But this was their first Christmas as an official couple, making Erina anxious with excitement. She couldn't wait!
She wanted everything to be just right, so she planned everything to the letter, coordinating what was slated to be the most wonderful time of her year. She'd make sure of it.
First, they were off to a cabin weekend in the mountains on the outskirts of Osaka to spend Christmas Day and night with Sōma's grandfather. When she'd relayed the news to her grandfather, Senzaemon grumbled in protest over not having her home on Christmas. Yet, even the great demon of gourmet could be a softie, at least to his granddaughters, and after a bit of assuaging him by agreeing to make Christmas Eve dinner, he relented, agreeing that she deserved a break away from Totsuki altogether.
Erina spent the first half of Christmas Eve trying to pack the world into her many suitcases. It didn't matter that they would only be gone for a little over a week and staying at Grandpa Kazuto's for less than forty-eight hours; she would rather be safe than sorry. Plus, she didn't know how commoners dressed for the holidays and didn't want to appear foolish to her guests by wearing the wrong breakfast gown.
Sōma stopped her with an endearing look into the phone screen. "Babe, it's just my dad and grandpa. You've met them—it won't be a big to-do. Just pack cozy clothes to chill around the couch and fireplace, snuggle with me, drink spiced hot beverages, and eat sickly sweet desserts. Grandpa loves his sweets. Now that he will make a big deal over," he laughed. "If you're concerned about packing anything, make sure you've got stretchy pants."
Erina frowned. Stretchy pants? What on earth were those?
While Sōma's reassurance made sense, it didn't calm her nerves. He was picking her up before the sun shined on Christmas, and she still had an entire Christmas Eve dinner to cook. Time was of the essence! Over the years—mainly this one—Erina's lifestyle had meant bringing her boyfriend along as a date for business and Nakiri-exclusive lunches, dinners, industry and society events, and even quiet family moments with her parents in attendance. So, he'd spent his fair share of time with her family.
Even before they were officially in a relationship, Sōma's was always a crowd favorite between the pair. She was breathtaking and brilliant and paid millions in yen and dollars by her hosts. Yes, but Sōma never failed to make a cheerful scene with his charming smile and charismatic personality. Even in the toughest crowd, he was an excellent guest. She especially liked how easily his social intelligence navigated her dysfunctional yet devoted family dynamics.
Once, when she asked him how he did it, how he managed to hold her mother's flighty attention while fending off her father's petty attacks and keeping her brother's smug attitude in check, all Sōma said was:
"I dunno—I talk to them like I like them. We have good banter."
Heh, good banter. Yeah right. Erina knew the Nakiri family as well as she knew her God Tongue. They only threw knives when they spoke to each other, and if one knife were to cross another, the clash was instantly bloody and brutal. Their Christmases together as a family growing up was full of fancy gifts and endless tears. However, Sōma was too pure-hearted to pick up on their insults. She loved that about him.
It was her turn to return the favor and enter his modest world. It had been a long time since she'd been around Sōma's tiny family, and so much of their dynamic had changed since then. They weren't together last New Year's Eve, nor as close as they currently were. She wondered if his father and grandfather could see how much they'd grown as a couple.
She lifted her chin over her phone screen. "Babe, do they know we broke up?" Sōma's eyes grew wild with some fear that made her nostrils flare. She knew to ask. "Sōma...?"
He blinked a few times into the camera, his hair fresh and fluffy from a new haircut. "Would that be…a bad thing?" he asked, surprised.
"I'll take that as a yes," Erina said flatly.
He shrugged his bare shoulders as if none of that mattered—"Well, hold on, not quite. Pop knows, yes..."—but it all mattered.
"Aw, no! Not Chef Saiba," she whimpered. Erina crumbled onto her cloud-soft duvet beside her folded clothes. If this trip was to go off without a hitch, his father's support was crucial.
"Let me finish, boo—but not the old man. Not that it would matter anyway; he still raves about meeting you last New Year's Eve. He'll love you even more now." The last time was when Sōma's grandfather and the entire block of Sumiredori's business owners offered Erina so much free food for her commentary that Sōma had to shoo them all away on her behalf.
But this Christmas was nothing like her arriving at their New Year's Eve party. That was a whole block event, and she had decided to take Sōma up on his offer to come through at the very last minute. She'd grown bored of smiling in so many fake faces at the donor gala. That was public introductions. This would be intimate time with Sōma's only living relatives…his family, and—maybe in the wildest dreams and imaginings of their future together—hers, too.
"That doesn't make me feel better in the least, Sōma," Erina groaned. "What if you get tipsy off of eggnog and let it slip? You know how you get off of rice wine."
She was nervous and confused about what to pack.
Sōma laughed, "You have nothing to worry about. I'll be there. And if he does find out, trust me, he'll just blame me."
"Well..." she said, singsong, making Sōma's face drop. After their moment in the garden on his birthday, Erina never asked him if he had taken full responsibility for being in the eye of the storm; she didn't need to. Their time apart was not a season she enjoyed going through. Therefore, Erina committed to doing her part to not repeat the same old mistakes as him, which meant having the maturity to acknowledge her active role in their relationship's breakdown. All this self-accountability outside of her professional life felt foreign to her.
But, with Yammy's help, she was beginning to see just how much she'd genuinely grown.
"Ouch, okay," he cracked up. "So can you."
December 25
They arrived early Christmas morning. Under the dawning sunlight, the snow-capped small cabin in the woods was alight. Sōma's grandfather had decorated a magical scene like a setting straight out of a cheesy Christmas movie you can't help but love by the end with its soft red, green, and white winter lights inside and out. The pine garland streaming the wooden window perches and two tall Christmas trees flanking both sides of the doorpost.
Erina closed her eyes. Even from the cute doorstep decorated like the North Pole, her highly sensitive nose picked up the strong scents of warm winter spices, well-seasoned meats, and savory dumplings wafting from inside. Her sensory vision immediately took her to a place she'd never been when tasting food. She let out a deep sigh, holding that image a little longer than she usually would.
Erina squeaked, not expecting Sōma's eyes to be set on her and irritated to have let go of the dream behind her eyelids. "W-What is it?" she nervously asked. She watched her boyfriend wrap his arm around her shoulder, and she leaned into his chest when he squeezed her close. They were bundled in wool and cashmere and still shivering.
"Are you good?" he affectionately asked.
"I'm fine; why?"
Sōma's gaze softened, and he gave her a light kiss behind her ear. "Just remember—I am here. Don't be nervous. Just be yourself, Nakiri Erina, the girl I love just as she is."
Could a heart melt from love?
Erina didn't know how to respond, so she slowly nodded and let her body melt into his instead.
"Merry Christmas, baby," Sōma stepped back and opened the front door, ushering a heavenly drift of pork belly and sugar cookies up their nostrils, one of her favorite food pairings since she started dating Sōma inviting her inside—a sweet and a meat.
"You're welcome," Sōma said, his inner child shining through. But it wasn't in his usual obnoxious way this time. It was warm and inviting, like there was nowhere else in the world she belonged more than right here, right now.
Well, she simpered to herself, there's nowhere else I'd rather be.
Returning her affectionate gaze, Sōma took her hand and led her inside the quaint wooden house.
-8-
They were greeted into the cozy cabin with cheer by Yukihira Kazuto and Joichiro. It was clear that Sōma's grandfather lived there year-round. It wasn't cluttered like a forgotten shack or clean like a woodsy aesthetic season rental.
The clusters of various-sized planters overflowing with plants were stacked on top of books, and antique railroad and trainsets tracked their paths along the floor and walls, chugging and choo-chooing through their legs. The lack of updated appliances, tons of tools and half-made gadgets, and hand-knit blankets made the home feel lived in. Across that homey scene, another sharp blend of wintry aromas lingered beneath her nose—she took a deep, analytical breath.
Freshly chopped wood, mulled cider, molasses, stale tobacco, and vanilla bean…
Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, allspice, coriander, cardamom, star anise, nutmeg, and mace.
She inhaled every holiday spice into her lungs and let them settle like embers in a warm fire. Sōma's grandfather's home felt like home, and knowing she was safe there was comforting.
Sōma provided her with the fastest tour of her life. As they walked clockwise through the meager ranch cabin, Erina noticed a theme.
"Your mother was so beautiful," she whispered in awe. "Your grandfather must have really cherished her." Watching Sōma's face soften as he considered her observation made her nerves prickle.
"Mm, yeah, she was his only child, and this was her favorite holiday, after all," he shyly replied. Had she touched a sore subject? They had discussed Yukihira Tamako numerous times, but Erina understood that Christmas held greater significance for Sōma because of her.
He laughed under his breath, holding her hand a little tighter than a second before. "She loved playing with me. She hated it when I said I was bored. So, she was always looking for fun things for us to do outside the kitchen. But she still had to work, and in those moments, I would play alone or preoccupy myself until she was done." They were in the short hallway leading to the cabin's three bedrooms.
Erina listened to her boyfriend talk about his beloved late mother and watched him stare into the fiery eyes of the woman in photographs she'd never get the honor of meeting; she fell deeper in love with the Yukihira family. Now, this was a loving family. "
Anyway, after a while, I would stop playing or reading my dad's recipes to marvel at her stunning, spunky face while she did whatever she wanted for so long I'd fall asleep," he chuckled. "It was almost as if deep down I knew I wouldn't have her for long, so I wanted to remember every inch of her face." He glanced at her. "Y'know that happens, right? Once someone dies, eventually their young children forget what they looked like."
"Yes," Erina said, hollow with vicarious sadness.
"That'll never be me," he said. His voice was suddenly full of firm conviction. The same one he used when he became determined to win. "I'll remember her even after I draw my final breath."
"I don't blame you." Erina wiped a tear from her cheek. "I wish I'd had the chance to meet her," she wistfully said. Sōma kissed the tearstain on her cheek.
"You can if you'd like." Erina's face melted in confused horror. Sōma pinched her cheek, amused. At least her silly expression made him smile. "My grandfather's altar for her is in the next room—the room my dad sleeps in whenever we visit."
Relieved and deeply touched, Nakiri Erina agreed to meet Yukihira Tamako for the very first time.
-8-
"Baby, I had no idea your grandfather cooked this well. My god," Erina said through a stifled yawn, her eyes drooping. She was stuffed—her "food baby" was evidence of how good she ate, but...
A lady mustn't ever show she's sleepy.
So, she patted her swollen belly and pressed her sleepy head into her boyfriend's sleeve. They'd just finished eating a Christmas dinner that put her six-course Christmas Eve experience to shame. All that was left was to settle in before dessert.
The couch was oversized and comforting in all the right spots, and in its warm embrace, she felt a food coma creeping in. It was a wonderful day—the happiest and most relaxed she'd been since August—and Erina was pleased to experience it all with the love of her life.
"I know, right? Wait until you have his rhubarb pie with fresh rhubarb preserves he jars himself," Sōma said. He yawned, languidly rubbing his stomach. "Not gonna lie, after the snowball fight, I've left just enough room for a slice or two."
The three Yukihira men treated her to a full day of Christmas cooking and cheer. They had a snowball fight in the fresh snowfall and warmed up after with giant mugs of hot cocoa with fluffy homemade marshmallows. They baked and decorated gingerbread houses, sugar cookies, and homemade ornaments to hang on the Christmas tree as they engaged in playfully petty arguments over which Yukihira was the better chef of the three or what cuisine was the toughest to master.
They pulled out stocking gifts from the four older Yuhikira men lined across the fireplace—when Erina saw hers hanging beside Sōma's, she had to squeeze his hand to keep from crying—and exchanged gag gifts alongside thoughtful presents. Sōma gifted Erina matching red and black flannel pajamas, which they both wore after warming up from the cold. At the same time, Erina surprised Sōma with a new bottle of expensive cologne that his grandfather had tried to coax away from him.
And the food. There was so much food!
All day, she was surrounded by joy, laughter, and an intergenerational brotherly love that did not run in her family. It couldn't. Her grandfather and uncle, yes, but her father and brother were a total mess—and neither cared for her grandfather or uncle. Like she said, the bonds were cut long ago. But the Yukihira men enjoyed each other and had fun together.
As holiday movies and music played softly in the background, Erina wished she could remain in this moment forever. Sitting by the fire in matching flannel, wrapped in the arms of the boy who ignited her heart two Christmases ago and calmed her restless mind all the time, was precisely what she needed this holiday season.
She silently prayed it would be their first of many.
What a different, beautiful life.
"Oh, I don't think I can take another bite."
"What'd'ya mean, cute missy? The pies are the main course," a short old man with hunched shoulders and muscular arms gruffed. He walked into the sitting area holding a tray of said pies. The crust was a buttery golden brown lattice envelope filled with a deep jeweled reddish-purple-blue fruit puree that oozed down the plate. Each triangular pie slice was topped with a heaping scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and a cute dollop of the rhubarb preserve on top.
"Uh, no, old man. Let's let those bad boys cool down for another thirty minutes. You'll burn our tongues off if you don't," Joichiro advised. He'd walked in with a tray of piping hot drinks and a floppy Santa hat. The eldest Yukihira man grumbled and walked the pie slices back to the kitchen. The tall, handsome man had grown a short, scruffy beard and let his hair grow out since the last holiday they spent together.
"Did you enjoy the ham, little Erina?" his father asked, calling her the nickname he'd done her entire life, and she hoped he'd never stop. He offered her a hot mug. Erina couldn't help but see the family resemblance when she looked at Sōma and his father.
"Yes, Chef Saiba. It was delicious," she blushed. Sōma grumbled beside her.
"Aw, what? Ya' jealous, Sōma?" his father taunted. They looked at the pouting guy in matching flannel pajamas and laughed. "And Erina, please, it's been ages. You're practically family, so you can drop the Saiba already," he said, sounding like a cool uncle. "Jou is just fine. Anyway, I'm sure it's uncomfortable to say with your brother keeping it as his surname."
"I, uh, apologize. I'll do better," Erina said, embarrassed. Asahi had chosen to keep Saiba, much to their father's chagrin. She knew that's what her brother had intended but didn't understand why. Asahi hated Sōma.
Just like her father.
"Don't apologize to that geezer. He's not the one to care what people call him. Hell, I've been calling him a fool for twen'y 'ears," Grandpa Yukihira said. "But you can call me Pops if you're taking orders," he smiled wide. Sōma leaned his head back.
"Why's Pops a fool, Old Man?"
"Because I took your mother's family name," Joichiro said irreverently as he sat between the two lovebirds.
"My family name," the elderly man corrected, his short body hooked over the couch like a candy cane. He peered through steel-cut eyes at his son-in-law. "You couldn't possibly be offended by that," Erina gasped.
"He was until Sōma came."
"Ya' damn right! Sōma's my heir," the old man proudly huffed, handing her a small bowl. He'd retrieved the pies, and his scowl dared his son-in-law to confront him about it.
"But after my mom passed—"
Joichiro finished his son's thought, "He said I was a fool for not moving on with my life." He glanced down at his wedding band fondly. It was the first time Erina had seen Chef Sai—she meant Jou—show such tender emotion. In that one short look, it seemed to Erina that Sōma's parents had a love that had even conquered death.
"Yeah! Ya' still got your life way ahead of ya,' kid. Live it! The dead will be waiting for us in the end."
Erina took a bite of the spiced rhubarb pie and nearly let the Nakiri endowment break loose. She fought so hard against it that Sōma eyed her suggestively to see if she was okay.
"Are you getting wet from rhubarb pie and homemade vanilla ice cream right now, Nakiri?" He teasingly whispered in her ear so that neither older man could hear their progeny's filthy mouth."Don't worry," his voice hummed lustfully low against her eardrum."I'll fix that for you tonight."She pouted in response, but he knew her better than she gave him credit for.
But the dessert was that good. She moaned after swallowing the first forkful and immediately winced. She couldn't stop the faint lilt from slipping out her syrupy lips. Kazuto yipped in delight and slapped his hands together.
"Yehee! I still got it with the ladies, Sōma and Jojo. I still got it! Hehe," he winked at her. She covered her mouth to giggle, pushing down her embarrassment. The younger two family members groaned and rolled their eyes. "You're welcome, pretty lady!"
"Watch yourself, you old coot," Sōma playfully warned.
"Right, you wouldn't want to run Little Miss Erina away. Oh, shoot!" Joichiro blushed like a fine man who knew he had multiple tricks up his sleeve. She'd remember to ask Sōma if his father was dating again. "I should probably take my advice and just call you Erina, huh?"
She jumped to speak. "No!" Embarrassed by her sudden outburst, her face flushed Christmas red. "I-I mean, any variation of the nickname will suffice, Chef...Jou." Sōma could not help but stifle a laugh. She wanted to bite him in frustrated cuteness.
After spending the entire holiday together, Erina began to glimpse the same bright spark in Grandpa Kazuto that she saw in Sōma as well. She could get used to the cozy feeling settling in her belly whenever she looked at their three cheeky faces.
Maybe...
It was silly to think, but—
Maybe...
For every Christmas for the rest of her wonderful life.
a/n: in the last Christmas-themed chapter at the start of our epic tale (ch. 8) Erina took centerstage with her love and longing not to be lonely on Christmas. So, it was only right for her to come full circle and experience the Christmas of her dreams as we close out this love story. her life's so different now it makes me cry with pride.
also, good news! I lied a few chapters ago. 'tis the season for abundance like an (unexpected) extra chapter. so we are in this for a little longer. i hope you don't mind. and many thanks for the readership numbers on ch. 33, wowzers!
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! and to all, a goodnight ^_^