Hello guys!

Just a Christmas one-shot I wanted to write ^^ Hope you'll enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Shokugeki no Sōma.

Under the Mistletoe

A snow flake slowly became its descent towards the ground, fully expecting to meet his numerous companions already there when it got caught in a swirl of blond hair and dragged along by its definitely in a hurry owner. If it was alive, it probably would have wondered where it was being taken but as it was, it only stayed put and stuck to a honey blond strand of hair.

Puffs of white breath escaped the blonde's mouth as she half ran under the falling snow until she finally reached her destination. Stopping on the threshold, she took a moment to catch her breath before bringing her hand up to rasp her muffled knuckles against the door.

She waited for a while before she heard footsteps coming her way and she closed her eyes and braced herself for what was to come. She hadn't seen her cousin for some time now and knowing her, she would probably tease her endlessly or maybe tackle her in a bear hug since she knew that it never failed to irritate her.

Soon, she heard the click of the door being opened and opened her eyes to greet the familiar sight of her hyperactive cousin. The only problem being that it wasn't her cousin that opened the door.

Her amethyst eyes widened as they slowly took in the features of the person standing in front of her. Spiky red hair, scarred eyebrow, golden eyes and this infuriating grin that she hadn't seen in so long. There was just no mistaking it, it was "Yukihira-kun...!"

The man only grinned even more in response and she didn't know if she imagined it but it seemed that his eyes grew a bit softer at that moment. "Yo Nakiri. It's been a while." he greeted before stepping aside to let her come in and began to make his way back to the kitchen.

Behind him, the woman still had to take a single step inside. She was standing there, completely frozen in place (and this had nothing to do with the cold) as her eyes followed the familiar form of her high school crush.

Just what is going on here...?

Four hours earlier, Erina's office

Brrr brrr brrr

Erina absently reached out for her phone before sliding her thumb across the screen and bringing it to her ear.

"What is it Alice?" she asked without even looking at the name of the caller as her eyes roamed over another file.

"Erina! Just where are you? I thought we had agreed to meet up ten minutes ago to pick you a dress for tonight! " the whining voice of her cousin resounded into the room and Erina decided to put her on speaker and settled the phone onto her desk.

"I know but I'm busy Alice. Something came up when I was about to leave and it could turn into a problem if I don't do something about it now." she calmly explained in a tone that you'd use with a little child throwing a tantrum.

"Mou...you promised, Erina! " Alice complained and Erina could almost hear the pout that was most definitely on her lips right now.

"I know and I'm sorry. I'll come to help to set the house for the party instead, okay?" Erina proposed, trying to appease her sulking cousin. If she didn't do at least this much, she was sure she'd never let her get away with it.

There was a pause on the other line soon followed by a sigh. "You work too much Erina." Alice scolded but it lacked the usual venom.

Ever since Yukihira had up and disappeared after graduation, her cousin had thrown herself into work, desperately trying to forget about the feelings that she never worked on when she had a chance to. It had been almost two years now and Alice had taken upon herself to see that Erina still went out from time to times for something other than work, dragging her to the pool or the mall for some shopping and Erina was really grateful but today, she really couldn't free herself. She'd make it up to her some other time.

Another sigh resounded in the room before Alice spoke again. "It's Christmas Eve Erina. You shouldn't have gone to work today." and Erina couldn't counter that.

She had actually planned to take the day off but then the thought of seeing all of those couples all around her had made her change her mind. It was painful to look at them when she knew that she probably blew her chance. She had had many opportunities but she always refused to take them and now, it's been such a long time already and she hadn't really heard much about the redhead except through some clients or friends. She had never tried to call him, even once. She almost had lots of times only to lose her nerve and just throw herself into more work. It had paid since the Nakiri estate was now more famous than ever but she couldn't really bring herself to be happy about it.

Finally letting go of the documents she was holding, Erina brought her hands to her face as she tried to divert her thoughts from that particular subject.

"I know..." she whispered listlessly and yet another sigh could be heard.

The silence lasted for a while longer before Alice suddenly changed the subject.

"Well, okay! I have to confirm something and I'll tell you the time via message. Don't forget that you said you'd help! I'll be expecting you!" Alice exclaimed into the phone, only hanging up after having heard Erina agree.

A little later, Erina had received a mail which said 'We'll start at 5 p.m. Be there on time! We have a lot to do! ' and she had allowed a fond smile to make its way to her face before she shook her head at her cousin's usual behavior and took a small break before resuming her work.

But things had dragged on a bit and by the time she finished to settle everything, it had been 4:30 p.m already. Her eyes widened as she rapidly calculated the time she'd need to get there. That would barely be enough and so she left her office in a hurry and made her way to her red car. No, there was no hidden meaning behind that choice of color. It just was a warm color and she really liked it. It had nothing to do with how it had struck her as the exact color of a certain man's hair. Nothing at all.

It was already 5 o'clock when she parked her car, not too far from her cousin's villa. After graduating, she had taken one as her own and was currently living there with her fiancé, Ryō-kun. It had been slightly unexpected for her but Alice was happy and that was all that mattered.

For the time being, she had to hurry. Alice wouldn't be happy if she was late again.

With that thought, Erina took off towards the villa's main entrance into the slowly falling snow and stopped at the door before knocking.

Which led us to now, Erina standing completely frozen on the threshold as her long time crush moved into the house as if he owned it with no sign of Alice whatsoever.

...what's going on?

As if to answer her thoughts, her phone vibrated at the moment, signaling an incoming text. Carefully unfreezing her hand, she fetched her phone and unlocked it to read said text. Unsurprisingly, it was Alice.

'Yukihira-kun told me he was coming too so I decided to have him help out since he didn't come last Christmas. I'll be there in two hours or so. Enjoy your time together~ (^_−)− ヽ(´▽｀)/ '

...

Aliiiiiiiiiice...!

"You're not coming in Nakiri?"

The deep voice of the redhead reached her ears and brought her out of her murdering thoughts and slowly refocused on her immediate surroundings. It took her two more seconds to actually understand his question before she flushed a little and entered the house, closing the door behind her.

"Pardon the intrusion." she murmured as she did before her eyes fell back to the chef only to find air in his place. If the sizzling sound was any indication, he was probably preparing some dishes and Erina decided to make her way to the kitchen as well to see if she could be of any help.

"What are you doing?" she asked upon entering the cooking area.

Sōma only gave her a confused glance and as he tilted his head a bit to the side before unsurely answering "Cooking?" in an 'Isn't it obvious' tone.

That made a vein pulse against Erina's temple. "I can see that, stupid!" she exclaimed with a light glare to which Sōma answered, still equally confused.

"Then why are you asking?"

And at the moment, Erina wanted nothing more but to make him disappear or cure his stupidity but it seemed like neither would be possible and she wasn't sure that she really wanted the former to happen once again.

Taking some deep breaths to calm down, she closed her eyes before reopening them and trying again. "That's obviously not what I'm asking, idiot."

"Oh." Sōma simply said before resuming with his cooking. "Then what is it?"

"I'm asking what is it that you're cooking and why you're doing it."

"Oh that. Nakiri forced me to, saying that it was my punishment for not coming to last year's party. It would have been hard since I was in the middle of the Alps at that moment though..." Sōma explained as he sweat dropped at the memory. At some point, he had kinda lost himself in the middle of white expense while looking for some rare ingredient he had decided to put his hand on.

"Oh. Makes sense..." Erina murmured. She could totally imagine Alice cornering the guy into doing everything himself.

She was still thinking about it when a whiff of delicious aroma suddenly attacked her senses and made her feel weak in the legs and a flush overcame her face. It had been a while since a mere smell had made her react that way...

After regaining some of her senses, Erina managed to ask "Wha-what are you making?" her voice still a bit weak after the sensations she just went through.

Sōma only glanced at her from over his shoulder before saying "You'll see~" and Erina could just hear the grin that came with it.

She stared at his back for a moment before closing her eyes and sighing. "Fine. Don't tell me." in a half frustrated half curious tone.

Then, turning around, she exited the kitchen and made her way to the closet. Alice had told her that every decorations she had planned to install were in there and seeing as things were going, it looked like she would have to do it alone. She guessed Alice still was a little mad at her for cancelling on her like that...that or she was enjoying playing matchmaker. Either way, those weren't going to set themselves so better get started.

Erina opened the closet door and promptly proceeded to freeze as her eyes fell on the sheer amount of decorations in there. Alice had said that she had planned a lot of them but...seriously...? This thing was completely packed with them! She needed to learn the definition of the word moderation...or the existence of the word itself for that matter.

This was going to be fun...

Almost done, if I could just reach this nail... Erina thought as she stretched her arm a bit more to hang the last garland on the upper wall.

She tried to be careful since she was on a ladder and it wouldn't do if she lost her balance now since she'd probably fall and there was no one with her in the room. How she wished Hisako could have been there with her...she had had to go back to her family mansion for a while to see her sick mother but she'd try to come by later that evening.

A soft sigh escaped her lips before she tried again.

Almost...there...! Just a little bit more... she thought as she stretched her arm even more.

"Need help with that?"

Erina hadn't been expecting the deep voice of her crush to ring from the base of her ladder at that very moment and she made a wrong move, losing her balance and falling towards the ground.

She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impact that was sure to come and soon enough, she collided against a solid surface but contrarily to the ground, it wasn't cold and hard but warm and firm. She instantly knew that it wasn't the ground that she was lying against but the only person present in the room, who coincidentally was the cause of her downfall...in every sense possible.

"Ouch..." Sōma murmured in pain. His back had taken most of the impact when he had caught the falling blonde and been tackled to the ground under the added weight. "Are you alright?" he asked after recovering a little from the sudden motion.

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't called out to me so suddenly..." Erina muttered back as she slowly lifted from the redhead's toned body.

A chuckle escaped Sōma's throat despite the pain as he took support on his elbows and let his gaze rest on the blonde now hovering over him. "I'll take that as a yes." he simply said, ignoring the intending bite of her words.

Noticing him flinching when he moved, Erina suddenly felt a little bad for being kind of responsible for his predicament even if he was the one who shouldn't have called out to her so suddenly in the first place. After a minute of silence, she murmured "Sorry...and thanks." as she looked down at his chest.

Another chuckle escaped Sōma's lips as he looked at the blonde in slight surprise. "Wow, who would have thought this day would come?"

"Shut up..." Erina instantly said in response but it lacked the usual venom and was definitely less efficient with the growing blush that was slowly engulfing her face.

"How cute." Sōma teased as a large grin stretched his lips.

The blush only kept growing in response, even as Erina tried (and failed) to appear offended as she stuttered "Wh-who are you calling cute...?!"

Sōma's grin grew even wider if that was possible as his eyes took in the sight of the red-faced princess. "You obviously." he easily answered in a husky voice as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and watched her face grow even redder. By now, it was almost crimson...

A long moment passed during which neither of them said a word, Sōma too busy staring at the heiress with an unreadable expression on his face which went totally unnoticed by said heiress since she herself was too busy trying to will her face not to instantly combust in embarrassment. Neither of them seemed to notice that they were still lying on the floor either.

"So," Sōma started, breaking the silence, "what did you want to tell me?" and Erina could only stare, blush completely forgotten as the sudden and unexpected question claimed all of her attention.

The silence stretched until a single word dropped from Erina's lips, fully managing to express the bewilderment she was currently going through. "...what?"

Sōma's head slightly tilted to the side in minor confusion before he elaborated "Nakiri told me you had something to tell me when I got there."

Comprehension dawned onto the blonde as she cursed under her breath. This girl...really... Not that it was surprising, coming from her, she should have at least expected that much. It was a wonder she hadn't even considered it before...

Refocusing on the man lying under her, she straightened up a bit, coming to a sitting position and practically straddling him (not that this fact actually registered into her mind at the moment) before she spoke up. "Alice said that on her own." she simply said as she crossed her arms under her chest and let her eyes wander to the side.

Sōma lifted a bit more from the ground as well, as much as he could at least while still supporting his weight on his elbows, as his piercing eyes rested on the woman sitting on him. "Then you have nothing to say to me?" he asked straightforwardly and when the heiress let the question hang in the air, still refusing to meet his eyes, he added "Even after not talking to me for almost two years?"

That seemed to do it as Erina's purple eyes widened in surprise, finally meeting his golden ones, before she frowned in indignation. "You are one to talk." she retorted, the accusation clear into her words.

"What are you talking about?" Sōma asked, now frowning as well in genuine puzzlement, "I sent you cards every once in a while but you never responded." he retaliated, countering the false accusation.

Erina was about to riposte that she had never received any cards when the memory of an attendant telling her that she had received some letters and such during her absence came back to her memory and she closed her mouth in realization. She remembered vaguely dismissing them and telling them to put it on her room's desk for her to read later but it had nothing to do with work and she had never taken the time to do so. At that time, she had been desperately throwing herself into work to try and forget her feelings for the redhead, if only for a moment and had often just gone to sleep when she went home. She was pretty sure the letters were still on her desk, laying untouched.

All this time, she had been thinking that he didn't care about her anymore and was completely engrossed in traveling all around the world. She still remembered the enthusiastic way he had talked about it when they had yet to graduate and she hadn't really wanted to be on his way, she felt like she had no place in his future and honestly, she didn't even know if she had the right to claim one after everything she did...

She slowly lifted her eyes to look at Sōma, not daring to believe it just yet. If she did, that meant exposing her heart to potential heartbreak. Again. And all the effort she had spent building a wall around it to protect it would have been in vain.

The silence seemed to last for an eternity or two until Sōma let himself completely lie on the wooden floor and covered his eyes with his right forearm, sighing.

"You know, it's not that I don't like this position and all but...I think you should move." he said with a hint of resignation in his voice and Erina's eyes turned confused until she slowly looked down and finally realized just where she was seating. Just a little lower and she would have been just above his -

A furious blush set her whole face on fire as she hastily got up only to trip over nothing and fall on him once again. Her hands shot up to prevent her to completely crash into him and she ended up trapping Yukihira between her arms.

Sōma peeked up at the woman hovering above him from under his arm, his eyes now darker with an emotion that Erina wasn't sure she wanted to identify before his tongue poked out to slide over his lower lip in a way that surely shouldn't be legal and Erina didn't even know when her eyes had traveled downwards.

She forced her gaze up to meet his own and she could have sworn that the room had grown hotter in the few seconds that it had taken her to look down then up again. Sōma's eyes had turned into twin pools of molten gold and Erina just knew that she wouldn't be able to free herself from them on her own.

"Can't keep your hands off me anymore?" Sōma asked in an equally teasing and...seductive?...tone making Erina's face turn an even darker shade of red which brought apples to shame.

Even after some time had passed, Erina made no move to get up, seemingly frozen in position and staring at the man under her without batting a single eyelash as her blush slowly regressed. Sōma then closed his eyes and broke the silence.

"If you don't move soon, I'm not sure what I'll do." he grumbled in a tone that was begging her to just get off him but it seemed like Erina's curiosity was stronger than her self-preservation because instead of moving, she asked in a small voice.

"And what would you do...?"

And Sōma could almost hear...hope in her voice. He wasn't sure he had heard that right so he cracked his eyes open to see that the blonde had yet to move and had expectant eyes set on him. Sōma could feel most of his self-control leave his being as he extended his arm to bring her face closer to his own. He watched her eyes widen a bit in surprise but he stopped a inch away from her lips and looked deep into her eyes as the last bit of control he still had reminded him that he shouldn't do such things without clear consent of the other person involved.

His aureate eyes searched her eyes for signs of horror, disgust, alarm or anything that could mean that she was against this turn of events but all he found was wonder, anticipation, and slight disbelief. No negative emotions were present and behind the haze that had engulfed him, he could feel surprise take over a corner of his mind.

It...didn't make sense. She hadn't contacted him for almost two years but that look she was giving her right now, it was as if she... "Do you like me?"

The question had been so blunt and unexpected that it actually took Erina several seconds to process it. When it finally sank in, her blush came back full force. She had half the mind to deny it but as she opened her mouth to do just that, the intensity of the gaze that was resting upon her seemed to deny her that right, demanding honesty and her mouth closed soundlessly. Her eyes became unsure as she pondered over her next course of action. Was it really a good idea to confess now...? She didn't know but she had the feeling that if she let this chance pass, it may never come again. This man might be annoying sometimes but if he put his mind into it, she was sure he could make any woman fall for him, even the coldest ones. She was a living proof of that fact.

Taking her decision, she pulled away from him and he let her, watching her get off him and joining her in a sitting position, never letting his gaze stray off her. She wasn't looking at him anymore, apparently preferring to stare at something only she could see on the wooden floor but he kept silent, patiently waiting for her to speak.

After collecting her thoughts, she met his eyes once more and quietly murmured "I do." in a tone that couldn't be described as anything but sincere before she let her eyes fall back on the floor, missing the stupefaction that overtook Sōma's features. He had somehow felt it but sensing it and hearing it were two different things.

Sōma opened his mouth to speak but Erina beat him to it, obviously not done yet.

"I...don't know when I fell for you but before I even realized it, you had become such an important part of my life that I simply couldn't imagine a future without you." she said as if lost in thought before the air around her changed, now a little heavier than before and almost...sad. "But then, you said you wanted to travel all around the world, like your father did before and...I couldn't stop you. Who was I to ask you to stay when all you wanted was to leave...? Who was I to rob you of your dream...?" she paused again to breathe and the atmosphere turned...darker, ...depressed. "Then you left, left Japan behind, left...me. Those feelings were...suffocating, they had nowhere to go so I tried to forget, buried myself with work to the point that I was too tired to even think when I was home. I only ate and went to sleep before it all started again." she confessed and when she spoke up again, the atmosphere was just a bit lighter. "I honestly didn't know about your cards until a few minutes ago. They probably ended up on a corner of my desk with the other letters I receive from time to times. I was too busy trying not to think at home to take the time to go through my mail."

Erina let this last sentence hang in the air as she lifted her eyes from the ground and met with his own. "All this time, I actually thought...that you had forgotten all about me and that you didn't care about me anymore..."

After a short silence, a short empty laugh escaped her lips and a bitter smile made its way to her face. "What am I even saying..." she whispered more to herself than to him before closing her eyes and falling silent.

Sōma didn't immediately try to fill it as her words slowly sank in and carefully got processed. Not a sound could be heard for a long time before his eyes drifted to the ceiling and his lips parted to let a light breath go through which broke the stillness of the air. He took the time to think about his next words before he allowed himself to speak up.

"You know, once I heard Tadokoro saying that your dishes will become much tastier if you think about the people important to you while cooking. When I evoked the subject with my dad at some point, he actually laughed."

A deep chuckle shook Sōma at the memory of that particular conversation before he resumed talking.

"When I asked why he was laughing he said 'I tried to tell you something like that when you first entered Tōtsuki but you hung up on me'. So I asked him what he had wanted to tell me and he said that it was that 'The secret to become a good chief is meeting a woman that will make you want to give all the food you make to her.'"

At this point, Sōma let his eyes fall back to the heiress and rest on her as he allowed his words to sink in.

"I went all over the world already but during my trip, I couldn't meet someone like that. Then, I realized that it was because I had already met her almost five years ago at that entrance exam for Tōtsuki."

A loving smile made its way to his lips as he watched hope shimmer in her wide eyes as she slowly connected the dots.

"That's you, Erina." he declared as he gently cupped her face and she leaned into his hand. His whole expression softened as he watched her face slowly begin to light up in happiness.

"...really?" Erina asked breathlessly, confirming it one last time before allowing herself to completely believe it.

"Yeah, really." Sōma replied with an easy smile, pulling her against him with his free hand.

For a long moment, they simply stared into each other's eyes, content with the unexpected revelations of the night before Sōma spoke again.

"You know, we're sitting right under a mistletoe right now." he whispered huskily and his warm breath ghosted over Erina's cheeks.

Erina's eyes momentarily detached from his own to gaze up and she indeed found a red and green plant hanging just above their head. She briefly remembered setting it up earlier that night before she turned her slightly confused eyes to Sōma only to find that his face was much more closer than she last remembered it to be.

She didn't know if it was the sudden proximity or the scents that were completely engulfing her senses but she soon found herself unable to think straight and before she knew it, her lips were pressed against Sōma's.

His arms crept around her waist, bringing her even closer to him and her hands found their way to his soft hair as the kiss deepened. It was sweet and slow as they took the time to taste each other, letting their years of suppressed feelings express themselves, pouring them all into this kiss.

Meanwhile, just behind the doors, a white-haired woman let a puff of white smoke escape her delicate lips as she shifted closer to her dark-haired fiancé. Then, glancing at him in impatience, she pouted.

"It's cold." she complained in a whiny voice, "When will we be able to go in?"

They had arrived five minutes earlier and walked in on the two young adults talking while sitting on the floor and Alice had been about to make her way to them when Ryō had dragged her out again and they had been waiting in front of the door ever since.

Ryō engulfed the pouting girl into his arms before quietly saying "Just give them five more minutes." and looking down into her eyes as she sighed and returned his embrace.

Then Alice looked up above their head and grinned before standing on her toes and placing a firm kiss on Ryō's lips.

When they separated, Ryō absently noted that they were standing under a branch of mistletoe just as Alice whispered "Merry Christmas, Ryō." with a small grin and letting his forehead rest on hers, he quietly whispered back "Merry Christmas."

Merry Christmas! :D