Taking place after the Central Arc.

{^^}

Erina Nakiri was not used to be troubled with the lack of assertiveness she ought to have unburdened over the past few weeks. She has always been so 'queen-like' and bossy, allowing the prodigy to feel quite bold.

... Yet that man showed up, and had to overturn everything.

Sōma Yukihira.

That petty commoner who's been pushing her buttons since his first day here. If she recalled correctly, it happened a little more than six months ago, when she was being apprised of the first years' discomposure towards her. She was aiming to be the entrance exams examiner : howbeit those cowards got the hell out when they understood it wasn't a pushover, much to the latter's exasperation.

Everyone fled away from the ice queen's fangs, deciding hardship wasn't an immediate priority at this stage.

Everyone except him.

He, arrogantly patted her shoulder and delivered talk to her as though she were his closest pal. How dare this freak even consider facing her like that ? He didn't seem shook up either, unlike Hisako's words would imply. Shortly after, that imbecile dished an awful snack out, almost unhealthy for her precious tongue. 'I can't stand him !' she thought. "It's disgusting !" she shouted, as she banged her fist on the table.

Thenceforth, determined to tough it out in order to make her have second thoughts on that pretty harsh statement, Sōma chose to go one major step further in the culinary world.. That however, didn't seem to please the lady.

But then again, she never thought of Saiba Joichiro also known as 'Asura', and that red haired-boy sometimes mistaken for a dimwit, being related. She was deeply astounded by that 'unanticipated revelation'. Heck, she had never been feeling so crummy before, plus, she also felt like crap after becoming concious of the wickedness she had done, all with a view to expel her comrade.

Yup, comrade.

After all that had happened with Azami Nakiri and his new organization, 'Central', involving Alice, Hisako and most of her friends, Erina actually began discovering a new side of the so-called pervert... And she was starting to worry about all of this. After teaming up with Sōma and his father alongside Megumi and Takumi, to take them down .. her deep inner self gained the upper hand over her tsunder-ish, churlish personality, leading to the surrender of her tenth seat.

She put her head in her hands, then rubbed her eyes as she kept pondering.

As expected, she got back in the in-crowd real quick and even hit 3rd seat. With Megishima and Isshiki occupying first, and second seat. She sure wasn't satisfied with that, but she remained one step above Sōma (4th seat), Takumi (6th seat) and Megumi (9th seat). So it wasn't much of a snag right ? (at least for the moment).

Nevertheless, partnering up with her 'best friend' cost her her beloved seat, something she would've never thrown off for anything in the world.. That guy was definitely threatening.

And as if that wasn't enough, Erina just caught herself looking him directly in the eye, for a couple of seconds longer than she normally would. They were at the moment attending a course, the japanese history one at that, and Sōma came up to the blackboard, forced by Nobuyuki-sensei to recite the newest lesson. "I'm still waiting Yukihira.." she noted, crossing her arms across her chest as she looked on at him. The latter began to stutter, obviously looking foolish, and trying to mouth a few words Megumi managed to mutter on the quiet. "Well well, the Tokugawa shogunate.. Imposed .. a strict ... class system ?" he spoke, rubbing the back of his head as always.

The look on his face made it obvious : that moron had no idea what he was talking about.

"Am I going to have to embarrass you more than you just embarrassed yourself ?". Nobuyuki-sensei's voice was poison. "Hehe.. Gomen.. sensei" he answered, disconcerted. "Excuse me but what's the difference between you and I !?" she articulately shouted, as she jumped from her chair. Indeed, he was acting as if he was just hanging out with his group of friends. There was one important detail about that teacher ... She was strikingly lanky !

"About twenty inches.." he mumbled, hoping nobody actually heard him. However they did. Even the sensei did.

Needless to say, the whole class burst into laughter.

Besides Erina, who regrettably didn't get it. "Hmph" was the only 'word' that came out of her mouth.

On the other hand, Sōma never understood why they were laughing. Truth to be told, the spiky-headed fellow was sincere. Well, before Nobuyuki-sensei could answer, the school bell rang. And a rest she gave to her feet, fuming mad with this unexpected comment. "I'll give you extra homework, to catch up, Yukihira. And the lesson'd better be assimilated tomorrow." she placed unneeded stretching into that word. "Understood sensei !" Sōma claimed, wearing his trademark grin.

He then carelessly waved his hand at her, and exited the class. And all, before her very eyes.

He suddently cringed at the same time as he walked through the shōji. In fact, Erina hasn't only been staring at him all the time : she was completely ogling him. And he has just been feeling all of it..

"Hey.. Nakiri.. Why are you staring at me like a fish on a hook ?" he shivered, as he turned to her.

She jumped and blushed like a little girl caught in the act of stealing cakes from the cupboard. It was cute. "I-I wasn't staring at you, you blockhead ! Mind who you're talking to !" she weakly scolded him. "Yes you were Nakiri ! And you were making that weird face too !" he shouted, without hesitating to point fingers at her. "Weird face ?!" she gave him the most astounded glare ever.

And then Megumi joined in. "Sōma-kun.. Nakiri-san.. What is going on here..?" she said, while struggling to know where to look...

Erina simply sighed, walking towards the exit. She needed some breathing space, especially after conversing with Sōma, which consequently caused her heart to beat faster. And this was hardly new. In contrast, it has gotten worse these past few days. "Unbelievable." Erina grumbled, assuming that the look she had been giving to him wasn't particularly proper, coming as it does from her.

"Is everything fine Nakiri-san ? You look upset.." Megumi cocked her head. "Not important. Be at ease." she sassed her.

She then finally turned her back on them, and closed the shōji on her way.

"What's with her." Sōma asked, half puzzled, half annoyed.

"She sure is in a bad mood today.." Megumi added, trying to understand what it was.

{^^}

Working as an Elite member was a very demanding occupation though. Erina was on a tight schedule and often took advantage of her free periods to fulfill her duties, unlike the rest of the members, who'd wait until the very last moment (she wasn't very fond of the cafeteria's food either, so she'd rather have a meal at her mansion).

In any event, the office felt silent.

Erina leaned back in her chair, and let out a sigh of relief.

Thus, she remained in the same position..

For 30 seconds ...

For three minutes ...

For five minutes ...

"Argh ! What's wrong with me !" she yelled, as she buried her head in her hands.

Actually she perharps knew what was going on (thanks to her experience as a shoujo reader), but that'd be quite out of character for her to admit it...

And someone suddently smashed through the door and burst into the room, which almost made her tip over. "Heyy !" she shouted.

It was her dear cousin, Alice.

"Why are you screaming !"

" Duh.. I don't know ! Maybe because you shamelessly burst into my office dummy !" she burnt up. "Oh... sorry about that !" Alice playfully waved her hand back and forth. "You shouldn't come in here without knocking !" Erina continued, knowing that her cousin'd change the subject. "Anyway.. I came here to give you a few documents to sign, third !" Well... here we are.

"I think they're a bunch of random assignments or something like that.." Her nonchalance was irritating. "Is that so." Erina frowned, as she shot her a dirty look. "I should like to remind you of Hisako. You must go through her before submitting any document to me." she raised a brow. "I expected you to say that ..! I've been looking for her everywhere but she was nowhere to be found ! Meh Erina, it's not like I'm unknown to you baka." Alice complained as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Whatever." Erina rolled her eyes at her. She was quick to snatch these out of her hands.

"H-Hold on !" she stuttered, to which Erina slightly startled.

"What ?"

"Y-You need to give it back."

"... Why ?" she narrowed her eyes.

"Erina ..!" Alice turned red.

Leaving the latter and her nonsense behind, Erina began leafing through the documents very quickly, hence, coming upon a noteworthy 'document'. It read 'To Ryō Kurokiba' accompanied with a heart.

But before she could find out more, Alice took it off her hand, somewhat angry. "Little snarky there don't you think !" she pouted. "I'm outta here !"

"Hey wait a minute ! Back up ! Was that a love letter ?" Erina blushed.

"Not at all !" Alice froze. "I-It's not your business !"

She just stared at her. Eyes wide.

"Stop staring at my face so hard !"

Her eyes were still locked on her. "Alice." she gave her that stare. In fact, Erina was one of the few people among the Nakiris, capable of making somebody weak with one glare.

{^^}

"Hand me the salt please." Takumi motioned for Sōma to do so. It was nearing 12:45 when the former rebels were having (some shepherd's pie) lunch. "Sure." he replied as he gave him a nod.

They were sitting at the back of the room, close to the back wall.

"I heard your blunt statement's rattled Nobuyuki-sensei." Takumi commented with the intention to mock his friend's attitude. "Blunt statement ?" Sōma blinked.

He wanted to smack him. How could he forget that he was completely stupid ? Megumi smiled shyly at that.

"I'm talking about what happened just before !" the blond cook shouted out.

Sōma just blinked again, confused. It took him, about 15 seconds to figure it out. "Hey !" he blurted back. "It wasn't meant to start a rumor !". (people weren't supposed to hear that in the first place)

"Don't get the wrong idea moron, she told me." Takumi pointed fingers at Megumi to which she stuck her tongue out at Sōma. He merely looked at those two before sighing. "Please yourselves." he leaned back on his chair, resting his head against the palm of his hands joined together.

As he continued to ignore them, a light blue-haired girl joined them, with a slow walk, keeping her head down. She seemed to stop for a little while, before straightening herself. She then took a step forward, and smiled weakly at them ... Especially at Takumi.

"H-Hi !" she forcefully spoke, stiffening her posture a bit as she blushed in shame.

The Aldini brothers briefly looked at each other, and smiled back at that girl, whereas Megumi and Sōma had absolutely no idea what was currently going on. As she struggled with the words, the blond pretended he didn't notice.

"Um... T-Takumi-san, I mean Aldini-san !.."

"Is everything alright ?" Takumi eyed the latter, a bit amused. "Um.. Well.. How do I put this ... It's hard for me to say this in public but.." she shot a glance at the other three 'interlopers' ".. but I think you're very impressive.. no.. y-you're great !" she pratically shouted.

While Megumi seemed to have understood the matter now, Sōma's expression was hard to classify as a realization. "Huh ? What the-" he spoke, only to be interrupted by Megumi's hand over his mouth. Anyway, even Takumi didn't see that one coming. "Erm... thanks.. I guess.." he replied.

The lass suddently turned and looked behind her, before turning back towards the blond, all red in the face. Her friends were probably encouraging the latter, behind-the-scenes. And Takumi merely thought it was priceless. "... I mean it.. I saw you during the autumn elections, and during that central thing too ! All I know is you got to fight for what you want, a-and I.. I find it truly gripping.." she lowered the pitch of her voice. "I just.. Admire you a lot Takumi-san ! And your courage intensifies your h-handsomeness !"

The cooks smiled (bar Sōma), surprised about the utterance. She breathed deeply and stepped back. "T-Thanks for your listening !" she shouted, and promptly left, without giving him time to retort. "That was cute." Megumi stated, finally removing her hand from Sōma's lips.

"A-And Takumi-san ! I've heard that you have a girlfriend !" His eyes widened as she said those words, feeling a bit annoyed now. It was not the first time he had been asked this question. ".. Too busy for a girlfriend right now." he replied, having grown tired of that. He then sighed and watched her walking away, joining her friends again at the far end of the room. They were most likely giving her a round of applause and jumping up and down like most of the girls would do. He just sighed again.

"Can someone calmy tell me what in the world is happening ?" that was Sōma.

"She's the third one this week bro" Isami elbowed him.

"I can see you're sought-after, Aldini-san..." that was Megumi.

"Can you guys stop ?!" Takumi shouted out in embarrassment. "Come on don't be so modest ! Not your fault if you're succeeding with women." Isami smirked as he rested his elbow on his brother's shoulder. "Why did she ask him if he had a girlfriend ? Is that true man ?" Sōma cut in, sounding as clueless as a moment ago.

Takumi pinched the bridge of his nose, at that. "Well maybe if you guys were as dense as Yukihira, I would've got a bit of peace here." he spoke, which made his brother chuckle.

"What ?"

"And maybe he would've been succeeding with women too, if he wasn't." Isami added in a joking tone. "They're talking about that love confession just now Sōma-kun..." Sweet Megumi was kind enough to answer.

"Love confession ?!"

"Don't tell me you're that imbecilic !" Takumi barked at him. "Didn't hear any word related to 'love'!" Sōma barked back.

They all facepalmed.

"You have to read between the lines though.." Megumi softly stated. "Anyway can we go back to eating lunch now ? This alien tends to lead us into nonsensical conversations." Takumi decided it was best to ignore him, as he held his fork. Isami and Megumi simply followed suit without a word.

"Well it's not like I don't know what that is.." Sōma muttered, to which Megumi gave him a perplexed glare. As a matter of fact, he often caught his parents kissing as a kid. Deep kissing. And a person who'd see the long time they took to do so could not say that those two chefs weren't sharing that genuine bond called, 'love'. He sighed.

None of them added a word afterwards.

{^^}

"Y-You like Kurokib-?"

"Shh, keep your voice down !" Alice pressed her finger against her cousin's lips.

Both of them were sitting cross-legged on the floor, chatting just as two teens having a sleepover. After all, they didn't take advantage of the fact that they were actually cousins of the same age, and closer than they thought.

"I must say I'm not surprised.." Erina regained the intonation she always used as she crossed her arms. "It's ridiculous.. I know." she stated, as she squeezed up the letter tighter.

"It is." Erina replied seconds later before sitting again in the office chair. And Alice stared, with wide eyes ...

"Following your dad all the way to Denmark in order to learn the field of molecular gastronomy... And withal ending up by falling for your aide, is ridiculous." The tone she used sounded cold, and quarrelsome. "But ..." she stopped, to point the right side of her forehead. She tiredly closed her eyes. "Are you okay ?" Alice asked concerned.

"It's nothing." she rolled her eyes at her. "...just a little headache. Anyhow, you're not ridiculous to my eyes.." she looked at her right in the eye, to which Alice straightened her back. "If I can speak my mind, I.. think it's surprisingly cute and bold from you Alice.."

For the first time in a while, Erina was being real to the white-haired prodigy.

"Erina ..." she mumbled stunned.

"So just go and give him that letter... Even though your approach is kind of childish." Erina smiled.

Alice could not believe her ears. Was Erina giving her personal advice on her 'babyish" inclination, plus smiling at her ? Maybe she had a fever.. (which was not completely ironic..). The latter focused on Erina without voicing a word, and without making any move either. She didn't know what to say. Erina felt the pang and decided to direct her attention to these assignments. "You can go now, Ali-"

"Never thought you'd be so straightforward..." she whispered, still keeping her eyes locked on her.

"Could you stop joking around Alice ! Just go !" ... She turned back to typical Erina.

But maybe she was experiencing it too. Could it be that Erina had a secret crush on someone ?

Alice widened her eyes, blushed and then smirked. He was the first person that came into her mind.

"You know Erina, as gabby as I might be, you were not supposed to know about that letter." she stood up. "I unwillingly slipped it into the stack because I intend to.. confess today." she cheerfully admitted it. Erina slightly flushed at that. "But thanks to that little mistake of mine, now I know that you have a crush on someone too !" she winked at her.

"What !" she finally reacted. Besides, Alice was back to tricky Alice in the meantime. She mischievously walked toward Erina and then immodestly sat on her desk. (Almost laying down on it)

"You can tell me anything." she sneered. The blond's face was already as red as a beet. "Shut up ! I'm not like you ! Go and tease someone else !" she yelled. "Oh really.. Then why are you getting all red ?" Alice came closer.

She was going to use the exact same trick Erina used a few minutes ago.

"There's no need to lie, you know."

"Get off my desk." she threatened her. "Told you I've got a headache Alice !"

"That's why I suggest that you stop yelling like that for a good 10 minutes."

Suddently, there was a silence. A complete silence.

"... Is it Yukihira ?" she whispered into her ear, causing a quickening in Erina's heart. "Cut it out Alice ! A-And no ! Not in a million years !" she was not expecting that question.

Alice cocked her eyebrow at her, and then dissolved into laughter. "Ha ! I knew it !"

"Why are you jumping onto conclusions so quickly !"

" 'Cause it's obvious ! So tell me, how exactly are you planning on sharing your feelings about him ?" she came even closer with stars in her eyes. "I-I don't see Yukihira-kun that way !" she shouted, exhausted.

"Erina." Alice spoke up, narrowing her eyes at her. "I've been honest with you, then why won't you do the same ? Or maybe you don't trust me ?"

"Definitely not."

"Come on, Erinaaa ! Stop being so stubborn !" she borrowed her children-like's voice. "Gramps has always taught us to listen to our deepest feelings !". And so the blondie tensed up with these words. Indeed, Senzaemon Nakiri often soaked his granddaughters with his says, and it appeared that Alice hadn't forgotten this one in particular.

But all of this was pointless if Erina kept avoiding her cousin's glance, acting laughably pigheaded.

"Alright, well, I tried." she sighed, ready to leave the office.

"Maybe I like him.. a little." Erina voiced under her breath.

Thus Alice realized that the god's tongue may have matured a bit. "See ? I told you." she smirked. "But the only girls he's hanging out with are Tadakoro and Ikumi. I don't think I stand much of a chance." she blushed, only to be hugged by her cousin. She had creepy hearts in her eyes too, much to her discomfort. "Oh you sweet little thing don't be so shy ! Let's hug it out !" she rubbed her cheeks against Erina's. The last mentionned was so disgusted by her softening that she wanted to mentally slap herself (and physically slap the one responsible for it). "Hands off Alice ! Stop it !" she barked at her, as she tried to push her away. She wouldn't let go so Erina stood up from her chair, but as she struggled, she got seized by dizziness and fell.

"Ouch !" they both blurted out. "Hey you don't look so okay !" Alice continued. "Get off of me !" Erina cut in.

"I've got an idea." she stated a few seconds later. 'Oh no..' Erina thought. "Why don't we confess together ?" she continued. "You're out of your mind ! Get yourself another game and please I've got some work to do !" the blond yelled, almost out of breath. "You can do that later. Well well, fingers crossed !" she eventually got up. She carelessly waved before closing the door behind her.

'Idiot, Kurokiba clearly reciprocates your interest..' Erina sighed. And there she remained, cursing herself for letting Alice in either way.

A few minutes later, when things had calmed down, Erina frowned, but then burst out laughing... for no reason whatsoever. 'I think I get that twenty inches joke now !'

Well, it was therefore fair to say that she was shutting the stable door after the horse had bolted..

When she understood that she was being so ridiculous, even pathetic, laughing while alone in her office like that, she immediatly cleared her throat and got back to work. She blushed, ashamed of herself, just thinking of how Hisako or anyone could have entered, and seen her right in the middle of her mad attitude.

{^^}

Erina wasted thirty, out of the forty minutes break they were given to have lunch. Given that the amount of time it takes to drive her back to school lasted at least ten minutes, she was forced to leave it aside for later. 'I can hold on until the end of classes.' she pondered. And so she left.

{^^}

When the princess arrived in the school halls, the bell had already rang and students were about to start class. There were hardly any students left in the halls except two or three, that she could barely recognize.

Her headache had gotten worse, and she was trying to keep away an overwhelming feeling of nausea. She could barely walk as she used the wall for random support.

That's when she spotted a red head standing in front of a door, uncommonly holding his schoolbag, probably waiting for something. 'Is it..?" she thought, before losing consciousness.

{^^}

"It's nothing serious miss. Just heavy fatigue." the nurse smiled at Hisako.

"No way ! I-I am to keep an eye on her ! Just how could I not notice that ! It's my fault, always inundating her with loads of new documents, every single day !" she moved all over the place.

"She has not been well, but I'm sure it is nothing that needs to trouble you."

"Of course it does ! And to think that it happened the day I decided not to have lunch with her ... because I'm pretty busy too.." she sighed as she grabbed a chair, and sat next to the bed. "I'm sorry milady.. Such attitude was irresponsible, and I know apologies may not be enough but..." she held her hand.

The half-asleep and weakened Nakiri couldn't help but roll her eyes, at that. "Quit it Hisako. You don't have to apologize." she said softly but drained.

"Milady..." Hisako paused. "You're awake !" she shouted. "Shh, not so loud." the nurse spoke.

"The nurse's office ?.. All I remember is that I got hit by a searing headache.. And then nothing." she stared at the ceiling.

"Oh that's because..." Hisako glared at the nurse, as the latter smiled and gave her a nod. "A young boy named Yukihira hurriedly brought you here, even though classes had already started a quarter before that."

As opposed to what Hisako had thought, Erina didn't yell and make a fuss over it. She simply yawned and rubbed her eyes. But Hisako was certain that it made her cringe a bit. "Yukihira-kun huh ..." she spoke, still feeling her face heating up. Perharps he was waiting for someone to let him in when she saw him. (he was always late) "Aren't you lucky to have such a nice boyfriend." the nurse smiled while crossing her arms against her chest.

Hisako winced, as she motioned for her to shush, lest having to endure Erina's storm.

"What ? He isn't ?"

"He's not." she managed to place a pinch of irritation in her reply. "How long have I been here anyway ?"

"Five hours.. more or less." Hisako retorted.

"I see.. So you finished classes."

"Speaking of the end of classes, he said that he was going to come visit you." the nurse added, smirking. "What ! He doesn't need-"

"Speak of the devil." she interrupted the flustered teen.

And here he was standing, at the door, waiting for someone to allow him to enter. "You're coming with me miss." she grabbed Hisako's hand as she dragged her out of the room. "Hey !" Hisako yelled. "Limit one person per visit." she gave Erina a sideways glance. "W-Where are you going ! I've never heard of that rule before !" Erina spoke up as she tried to get out of bed. The blow of dizziness she felt after several seconds, hence calmed her down in a flash. "Excuse me young boy, you can go in now." the nurse smiled at Sōma, as Hisako just didn't get it. "Erm.. thanks.." he rubbed the back of his head as he watched the two of them going away.

He was honestly surprised to see Erina Nakiri, always so wise and eye-catching, lying forceless in bed, because of overtiredness. "Looks like you overdid it again Nakiri. And I'm not talking about your cockiness this time." he threw his schoolbag off on a stool, as he sat down on the chair Hisako was sitting on earlier. And the blond who was trying to avoid eye contact with him by hiding herself behind the sheets suddently hopped out, showing a somehow discourteous face. "I'm not in the mood to talk Yukihira-kun ! And second of all, why are you here !?" she pouted.

"That's no way to talk to the man who helped you." he casually grinned, as she narrowed her eyes at him. Why was his smile so charming, now that he was flashing it out a few inches from her ? At any rate, she blushed and frowned. "Thank you then. I assume thanking you is the least I can do..." she answered honestly. Sōma didn't react in time, frozen. Hearing a 'thank you' from her was not a dream after all ! But he had to hear it again. Just to make sure. "Can you repeat that ?" his eyes widened. "Be quiet." she quickly interrupted the latter as she covered herself up again, which made him chuckle.

"Tadakoro's not with you ?" she commented, unsure why she wanted to know where she was. "Ah Tadakoro.. I didn't inform her. Cause ya know, she was going to concern herself about all of this and she's got a test tomorrow, so it'd be better if I she stayed relaxed today." he admitted.

For some reason, she started to feel frustrated and bitter about the way he watched over her. But she was his friend... And how could one despise Megumi ? She was so nice.

"I see that you care about her.." she felt a bit nervous.

"... Y-You like her ?"

As soon as she asked him how it was, the room fell silence. Actually, she surprised herself, considering the seriousness of her tone. She wasn't one to ask such misplaced questions, therefore lightening the mood was an obligation. "What am I saying... It's obvious. I mean who wouldn't end up liking someone like her." she faked a smile under her sheets.

As for Sōma, the truth behind his silence was pure confusion. "Yeah, of course !" he sniggered. "She's like a sister to me."

'A sister ?! Yeah, who am I kidding.. It's Yukihira-kun after all.'

And that's when she recalled every word and look from her sly cousin. 'So tell me, how exactly are you planning on sharing your feelings about him ?', 'Why don't we confess together ?' She felt herself going red furiously as she knew she was alone with him, and in the mood to confess... Thus she peeked out from under her sheets. "You alright ? You're all red in the face. Maybe I should call the n-"

"Can I tell you something Yukihira-kun ?" she stared intensely at him. "Huh ?" he gulped. She had never done that before much to her crimsoning. And Sōma had never been in this kind of situation either.

"I..." she stopped. "I..." she shivered. "I feel something for you." she swallowed her pride. "And I've never felt this way before.. you know.. about anybody..". Her heart was beating wildly, as she waited for a response.

"Nakiri .." he voiced as oblivious as ever. "Well does that mean that you've acknowledged my skills to the point that you now feel alarmed by it ? Take it easy Nakiri ! I'm not trying to steal your seat, Isshiki-senpai's my target for the moment." he stretched a smile on his face.

Once again, an eerie silence fell between them, making things much weirder than they already were. She closed her eyes and pondered whether she could allow herself to scream or give him a hard slap accross the face. She chose none. She had to rephrase it in a clearer way, since there was no going back now.

"Yukihira-kun." she sighed, trying not to show her fury. "I think of you as more than a friend, I have feelings for you baka !" she shouted out, ready to withdraw all of what she just said. 'I'm definitely going insane.'

"Na.. Nakiri ?"

"You don't get it ! I mean I used to despise you, I used to make fun of you, and your ridiculous confidence. But then things happened and I found myself in your dorm and people were so friendly there even though I'm a terrible person-"

"Nak-"

"Even you treated me amiably, after what I've said to you.. the way I acted. Everything went too fast. I found out that you were Saiba Joichiro's son .. And you guys have helped me alot when I was having serious problems with father-"

"Hey relax Na-"

"Now I'm in my second year and you have no idea how fast my heart races when I see you. You annoy the hell out of me but I still.. appreciate being around you." then she stopped, her lips forming a cute smile. "I know.. You don't get this do you. Um, sorry. None of this was anticipated.."

If she could bounce out of bed right now, she'd do it without hesitation. The situation (the silence) was quite unbearable right now, and Sōma's answer should've better been pertinent this time.

'Wow..' he thought while he stared at the blond cook who looked tired as she spoke. He simply remained quiet for a moment. As dense as he may be, Erina has just been direct and clear, unlike that girl who had confessed to Takumi in the cafeteria.

For once, he had been left dumbstruck.

He never really cared about love and stuff like that, and when he did, it wasn't relevant to him. 'I guess I must've missed something. Nakiri ? Into me ?'

But he wasn't dreaming ; moreover, he couldn't deny the fact that she was genuinely gorgeous while embarrassed. Anyway, he had to say something ... Maybe he could do the same as Takumi, since he was often present during the latter's 'gallantry'. "Um.. Nakiri.." he began. "It sure was unexpected coming from you.." he rubbed the back of his head. "But thanks ! It's good to know that you appreciate my presence now. But I'm interested in being your friend and nothing more, including romantically. Sorry I didn't get that earlier." his tone was surprisingly serious. And Erina's eyes were closed in contemplation. "I hope you okay with that." he found nothing else to say.

She didn't answer.

While he thought he may have caused her to feel down and heartbroken, she surprised him with a quick giggle. "W-What's so funny ?" he stuttered. "Your flustered face is hilarious !" she tried to suppress her laughter.

Yup, Sōma blushing was outstandingly awesome. "Anyway I'm leaving now." he stood up as he got his bag. "Can't forget I've got extra homework tonight. Take car-"

"Wait."

He turned back to her.

"In answer to your question, no, I'm obviously not okay with that." she stated, as he merely looked on. "But thanks to you, I've become a much more positive person. And that means that I'm not giving up yet." she genuinely smiled, plus slightly flushed at that.

Raising an eyebrow, he smirked gently.

"I got a chance with you and it's not a question." she turned back to dauntless Erina again, as she crossed her arms accross her chest. "

"I don't know, who knows." he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, opening the door, his smile still in place. "There's one more thing Nakiri." he paused. She then looked up at him, confused.

"You're not a terrible person."

He closed the door after that, leaving a sweaty (bewitched ?) Erina behind.

It sounded like a signal.

That's it people ! Hope you have enjoyed reading this ! So how was it ? All reviews are welcome.

Thankks for reading.

- Sashalase. (heart) yeah, small problem with my emojikeyboard. (smiling face and cold sweat)