You guys are gonna hate me for this chapter, I'm just stirring up drama and boy does Erina have very unconventional thinking. But hey, she is just insecure and I promise she will end up with Soma because I feel the wrath of fellow sorina shippers hehe. Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter and the fast update. I stayed up to write this!

It was hard walking away from him. It really was. No matter how effortless she made it seem when she ordered him to leave as an attempt to sever their ties, she couldn't help but let her tears tumble down her cheek as she walked towards her bedroom; her legs barely made it as she dropped onto her bed.

She sobbed softly into her pillows, blaming her child for her exaggerated emotions. Exaggerated or not, they were real and they hurt.

She hated when she couldn't keep her mouth in check. She hated when she said rash things, rash and stupid no matter how much she hated to admit. Just like she did 3 years ago. She drove him away once again. She really was a crazy bitch, maybe it was the Azami in her blood or worse the long line of Nakiri's making her too prideful and unworthy of love.

She was being unfair. She was.

She was being unfair to him, and even though he had left her, she had been the one who drove him away. She had been the one who said they weren't meant to be. It was never him. The way his topaz eyes looked at her then, was the exact same wounded ones that searched for her across the crowded hall of the airport before he disappeared behind the gates.

She was being unfair to her unborn child. She knew it and she hated herself for it. She was denying him a chance to know his father, she was denying him a real family. He would've been a good father. She could almost see her child sitting on his shoulder as he darted them across a field with wild flowers in full bloom. She could almost hear the laugh of her son as he gleamed in happiness, his hands reaching for the sun for he knew he was loved and his father will always be there to catch him if he fell. But she robbed him of that. She was going to be a terrible mother and perhaps Hisako was wrong after all.

What could she do?

What could she do?

Her hands fisted in her hair as she pulled hard. The pain, her testimony for this shitty reality. She can't break. She had to fix this.

Could she find a suitable candidate to marry? Not out of love of course. Just a simple political marriage, someone who can help shine Totsuki and the Nakiri name and just be a hollow figure for her son. She didn't want her son to be laughed at. No Nakiri should be, even if they are a bastard child.

Isn't life cruel? She escaped her guided path only to force herself back onto that road. She scoffed at the thought, perhaps her father would have a better idea of how he could fix her disgraceful situation. But he would probably take the easiest way out and she wasn't about to give up on her little devil.

Her thoughts eventually drowned her. She made a note to ring Hisako tomorrow to discuss this, despite knowing all too well the disapproving look she would gain from the pink-haired girl. Her tiredness and emotional breakdown eventually made her drowsy and when she peeked behind the curtains of her luscious lashes the following morning, the world seemed alive yet again and she had found herself on her own two legs.

"Hisako," she called on her phone, "would you mind coming over right now and cancelling my appointments for today?"

"What's wrong Erina?" Hisako asked worriedly, her hands moving fast across her key board as she typed emails to inform her clients of Erina's unavailability, "is the baby alright?"

"Nevermind the devil's spawn," chuckled Erina despite her anxiousness, "I'm fine but I need your help. I'm so sorry for the last minute cancellation."

"You never need to say that to me," huffed Hisako writing the last of her emails before she dialled another number with her other phones, "we're a team remember?"

"I'll see you in a few then." Erina replied smiling before she cancelled her call.

It felt good to know there will be someone there for her. Damn her father and damn him. She was Erina Nakiri and she had to stand on her own two feet not matter how hard it may seem.

Before long, the pink haired girl was entering the room she was all too familiar with.

"What's wrong?" panted Hisako as she hunched over catching her breath.

"You didn't need to run," chuckled Erina amused by her best-friend's state, "you're always in such a rush."

"I was worried," grumbled Hisako, her cheeks puffed out in protest and red from her run, "fine next time I'll make sure to take my time, perhaps you could even file a formal appointment with me."

"Hisako," whined Erina affectionately, "I was only joking."

"I know," she giggled before she jumped onto Erina's bed, her eyes expectant.

"I needed to talk to you," Erina suddenly continued, the playful atmosphere suddenly dispersed into one of seriousness, "it was important and it bugging me."

"What's wrong?"

"Ineedtofindsomeonetomarry," Erina said in one breath, her eyes barely meeting Hisako's.

"Come again?" Hisako prompted, she barely caught what Erina said, but from her expression, she knew it was very serious.

"I need someone to marry," sighed Erina before raking her fingers through her golden locks.

"What?" Hisako asked again in disbelief. This time she heard Erina just fine, but her human brain seemed incompetent at processing what Erina had just implied.

"I need someone to marry," Erina repeated for the third time, this time she found herself calmer than she had, accepting her own demand it seems. She looked at the pink-haired girl unsure how she would react.

"Why?" she asked again, her eyes concerned as she looked at her best friend.

"I want a father for him," Erina replied simply, placing her hand on her small abdomen, "even if it is just a fake figure."

"You basically want a marriage as a public stunt for your child," Hisako replied with a sigh, she tried her best to keep her tone neutral, "why don't you just ask Soma. He is real father?"

"I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?" Hisako groaned in desperation, "You can! You're Erina."

"I can't," Erina replied shaking her head before she tucked her head between her knees.

"I just can't ok?" she mumbled, "I thought you'd help me no matter what."

"Yeah," Hisako replied before she wrapped her arms around her best friend, "I…I'm just biased because I want you to be happy and I know no other man will ever replace him for you." Hisako gently pried her best friend from her own defensive state before she looked her in the eyes, "I just don't want you to go back into another cage, I don't want to ever see you suffocate in a loveless marriage even if it was for your son," she continued, "and what happens if you ever have a son with your husband? What becomes of the child growing inside you now?"

"I won't have any other children," Erina grumbled stubbornly, "I just won't."

"And if you do?" Hisako challenged, "You have to think this through. And if you do, he still becomes an illegitimate, and even if he is your first born child, what becomes of him? Is he still an heir to the family's name and fortune?"

"Of course he would be," Erina replied fiercely, her hands wrapped protectively around her small bump.

"What will your husband say?" asked Hisako, "and even if he does get the name and inherit the fortune, he would still be less loved than his other siblings."

"I said I wouldn't have any more children," Erina replied sternly, "I won't."

"No one can tell the future Erina," Hisako whispered, "not even you…and I just want you to make sure you realise this before you dive into what you think would be the best solution."

"It is the best and only way," Erina retorted, her eyes ablaze as she continued, "that's why I need you to help me find someone suitable. Even if I'm marrying someone I don't love, it can't be some hag."

"Erina," Hisako said seriously, her hands gripping onto her best friend's, "why don't you try telling Soma first?"

"Risk it all for what?" she replied, her eyes now distinguished as her thoughts wondered to the damaged golden eyes that seemed to bore into her soul, "I said Nakiris don't beg. I'm not going to beg for him to stay."

"Telling him you are pregnant with his child is hardly begging!"

"It is basically forcing him he has to stay," replied Erina, "He will stay not out of love but merely by duty. If that's the case, what is the point of me marrying him if the outcome is entirely the same if I just had a political marriage? Perhaps the candidate will be an even more suitable choice, someone whose name is of value in the culinary world."

Hisako didn't reply. The last words her best friend uttered hung in the hair as silence eloped them both. Each deep in thought, each, digesting the words said by the other. And when their eyes finally did meet again, they were once again fighting for a common goal and it was no longer a debate. Hisako had stepped down from her stance. She had said everything she could say and her friend had made her choice. She was her best friend and she promised she would stay by her side no matter what, didn't she? She had watched too many turn their backs on her seemly unbreakable friend when she knew just how much each departure damaged her friend. She wasn't and will never be one of them.

"Ok," she began, "I guess we need to begin somewhere."

Hisako grabbed her ipad from her handbag which was laying all the way across the room. Once she sat herself on the bed again the pair began looking through suitable candidates.

"Alice is going to be mad when she hears of this," Hisako laughed as she looked through potential list and sorting out those who maybe worthy for her bestfriend's hand in marriage.

"Let's not say a word until I ask both of you to be my maid of honour," chuckled Erina, fully aware of the wrath her little cousin could bring about.

"I have drawn up a list," Hisako replied tiredly before leaning down on Erina's plump pillow causing a thud, "but I just want to make sure you really want and is ready to do this. I want you to be sure. You are essentially going to be cuffed missy."

"I mean," she started, "I will never be ready or sure, I'm gambling here, and I hope we somehow hit jackpot."

"You are crazy," laughed Hisako, "I never thought I'd be your partner in crime, honestly I expected me to be beside you while you ruled your kingdom but always as a law enforcer, not a rule breaker."

"We aren't really breaking the rules," replied Erina, her eyes looking mischievously at her best friend, "Before I rebelled my father, I was bound to marry someone I didn't know anyways. Political marriage is the norm in our world, that's how the high class keeps it in the high class. I guess destiny has it that I will re-embark on the path I should've walked the moment I was born."

"Isn't that the reason why you rebelled though," sighed Hisako scanning through her list one more, her power point almost complete.

"Yeah," replied Erina, "but that was before I had him. I have someone else to protect now. Someone more important than me." It didn't matter if she was walking into another cage as long as she could secure his happiness.

"Fine," Hisako replied her hand reaching for the remote beside the bed, turning on the monitor that began descending from the ceiling of Erina's room. Swiftly, the projector turned on and was connected to Hisako's ipad.

"This reminds me of this English novel," Erina laughed at the absurdity of the situation, hey, at least she could still find humour despite her circumstances, "you know the book Selection?"

"yeah," Hisako giggled equally giddy, "except reverse harem style I guess, you don't fight for a prince. They fight for you."

They went through the list one by one, the giddiness lost quickly as they both understood the seriousness of the situation. Every candidate was examined with care and scrutiny, from their looks to their names, their family to their far-extended family, from their friends to their reputation. The girls put everything to test, finding out as much detail as they could before marking those who are potential candidates with a big yellow star.

"I'm actually so tired," groaned Erina before she shoved her face directly onto her pillow, "I need food."

"Same," laughed Hisako patting her friend on the back, "at least we have some names now."

"That list was way too long Hisako," grumbled Erina softly, it wasn't a real complaint of course, "109 candidates narrowed to 4."

"I wanted to make sure we gave everyone a fair chance," chuckled Hisako, her own tiredness seeping through her voice.

"What are you a judicator," teased Erina before she hugged her best friend side on, "thank you Hisako… I don't know where I'd be now if it weren't for you."

"I told you," Hisako said in all honesty, "I'll always be here when you need."

"Yeah," Erina sighed contentedly before she sat up and started shoving Hisako off her bed, "now come on, you spent the whole day here and I'm sure Hayama misses you. He cooked curry for you and it'll be cold if you don't leave soon."

"How'd you know?" blushed Hisako before she eventually willed herself off the Erina's comfortable bed.

"Oh please," laughed Erina amusedly, "why are you even blushing when you two have been hitting off since high school, oh and… your imessage is connected to your ipad, and I may or may not have seen him send you a few detailedmessages of just how much he missed you."

"Erina-sama!" yelled Hisako springing to her feet before she threw a pillow at the devilish girl whose smirk was painfully obvious, "stop smirking." Hisako groaned before she made a dash for the door.

"I love you too!" yelled Erina behind her just as the large door swung shut.

Now it was just her alone again and the silence was deafening. Once again her mind begun to cloud with too many thoughts she wished would just disappear and once again a certain red-head fought his way into her consciousness.

Oh, how she was going to marry another man; she didn't know.

But she'll get through it all. Through the storm and pain.

She was Erina Nakiri and she held her head high.

Don't cry, don't lower your face because that jewelled crown of yours would fall and there would be nothing left to savour for.