A/N: Hello everyone. I received a lot of support and kind words after posting the very first chapter, so I'm very happy that it was well received. Thank you all kindly for liking/subscribing/reviewing. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well. For those who left me reviews, I want to respond to everyone but unfortunately there are many reviews and if I replied to every single one of them in this author's note, it would be a huge chunk. I hope you understand if I don't reply to them, but I assure you that I've read each and every one of them and they make me tremendously happy. Thank you!

As always please read and review! It will let me know your thoughts and what direction to take the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Soma or any of its characters

"There ain't no way you can hold on to something that wants to go, you understand? You can only love what you got while you got it."

― Kate DiCamillo, Because of Winn-Dixie

Anyone who knew the name Tsukasa Eishi also knew the name Kobayashi Rindō. The pair had been joined together at the hip since their first year as Tōtsuki students. Ever since they made their "pact" to be the first and second seats of the Elite Ten, they had been inseparable and it was almost impossible to find one without the other near them.

They had disagreements, as friends do, but Rindō was carefree and Eishi was forgiving so they always made up almost immediately after each argument. So when they hadn't talked or seen each other for two whole years after a particularly nasty spat, Rindō knew that at least one of them messed up very, very badly.

Despite being being stubbornly ambitious about his cooking and career-driven, Tsukasa Eishi was a kind and caring, and was attentive not only to himself, but also to other people who were important him. Rindō knew that side of him well. That was why she was livid when Eishi told her that he was going to start letting certain people back into his life.

"They're only going to hurt you," she had warned him. "You're going to be used!"

"I've grown up. Stop trying to hold me back, Rindō," he had replied. She had heard the annoyance in his voice.

Rindō was pissed when she heard that. She had never held him back. In the matter of fact, she had let him do whatever he wanted against her better judgment on numerous occasions (ahem, the Azami administration and Central!), and those had turned out to be utter disasters. She just wanted him to be happy. She wanted to see him smile in the carefree way he used to do before they had to deal with Elite Ten business, fame, and societal pressures.

"Well, so-rry for holding you back then! Go do whatever the hell you want, Tsukasa, see if I care! You're an adult now, so go take care of yourself! Don't bother me when the flowers are too red and the napkins are placed one degree off, because I'm not helping you again!"

"I- well, fine. I won't then."

That was the last time she heard from him, and two years passed without a single word exchanged between them. There were dozens of times when she wanted to call him again and tell him that they should work things out, but Rindō was too proud for that.

But no matter how much pride she had or how much fun she sought out, Rindō still felt empty when she returned home and realized that she couldn't call Eishi up to tell him what mischief she had been up to. So when she decided to open a pop-up restaurant in Japan, she sent him an invitation.

He would come… right?

Despite being only 27 years old, Eishi was already the owner and head chef of La Sérénade, a Michelin 3-star restaurant based in Lyon, France. He had already been well known since he was a student at Tōtsuki, but his reputation had skyrocketed since the opening of his flagship restaurant. He was as famous as Nakiri Erina was infamous; there was not a single aspiring chef who didn't know the name of the White Knight of the Table.

But no matter how delicious his cooking was, a strange phenomena had been occuring at his restaurant for the past few months. Many of his patrons had been leaving the restaurant in tears. Despite praising the exquisite taste of their carefully cooked meals, the diners wordlessly paid for their meals and left his restaurant with somber eyes. After the first case of waterworks at the dinner table, Eishi took pains to ensure that it would not occur again. He changed the lighting and the colors of the tablecloths. He ordered new cutlery and glassware, and renovated the establishment overnight. He changed the seasonal menus and the flowers decorating the tables. He personally overlooked his staff, from the chefs in the kitchen to the hosts at the front.

Unfortunately, the diners continued to cry night after night. The problem became so severe that the Michelin board did a re-evaluation of his restaurant.

Though he expected to lose his stars, the Michelin reviewer held his hands and assured him that no, everything was fine (while crying as well).

Then what was the problem? Eishi couldn't understand. Fortunately, his connections at Tōtsuki were always willing to help. After consulting the problem personally with Senzaemon over the phone, the former Tōtsuki headmaster sent one of his trusted food critics to help him identify the problem.

What Eishi did not expect was for Nakiri Erina to arrive at his restaurant in Lyon herself, with her usual haughty scowl on her lips.

"N… Nakiri-san, I welcome you on behalf of La Sérénade ," Eishi stammered out his greetings. He hadn't seen her since they both participated in the BLUE contest together, and even then he had not been able to face her properly after she and Sōma defeated him and Rindō during their Régiment de Cuisine. Apart from the defeat, it wasn't a particularly easy task to avoid hostility from the person whose life he nearly ruined again with her father.

"It's been a while, Tsukasa-senpai," Erina replied with her usual grace. Much to his surprise, she didn't address him with disdain, but rather with respect and proper formality. "I hear that you've been having some difficulties lately." She stepped into the empty restaurant and gave entrance a once-over before glancing at the dining area. "I don't believe that the interior design is the cause."

Eishi closed the front door behind her and locked it in case somebody else wandered into the restaurant. "I wish the cause was the interior design," he sighed. "At least it would be easier to figure things out."

Erina smiled reassuringly. "Regardless of the problem, I will definitely help you identify it by the end of today," the Nakiri heiress declared without a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

Eishi couldn't help but look at her in awe. He had always admired that quality she possessed; he was insecure when cooking wasn't involved and he couldn't help but appreciate the confidence that other people exhibited when he himself could not.

He led her to the kitchen where the delicious scent of roasting duck wafted from one of the ovens. "Unfortunately there are far too many dishes that have been served over the past few weeks for me to be able to cook them all for you, but the duck confit has been in high demand so I figured that it would be the best representative of my cooking right now," he explained. "It will be done cooking soon so would you like a drink to go with the food?"

"I saw a bottle of Maridan earlier when we passed by the bar," Erina said, looking at the immaculately clean kitchen with keen eyes. Eishi was about to leave the kitchen to retrieve it himself, but Erina held up her hand to stop him. "I'll get it. A good chef should not leave the kitchen while food is still in the oven."

Eishi hesitated but the timer he had set started blaring, pushing aside any thoughts of assisting Erina. He figured that the God's Tongue shouldn't have any trouble picking out the best wine to go with her meal.

When Erina returned from the bar with the bottle of wine she had carefully picked out, the duck confit Eishi had prepared rested atop the counter. The duck drumstick glistened with fat from next to a salad made from green soybean sprouts and sliced orange cherry tomatoes. It rested atop a series of circles drawn with a sauce with a mild citrus scent.

Eishi pulled out a chair for Erina and retrieved a wine glass. "It's been a while since I cooked anything for you," he said, absentmindedly thinking back to their days at Tōtsuki. He still remembered approaching Erina after an Elite Ten meeting and asking her to taste his next recipe. That day she had pointed out 26 different flaws in his recipe, which had made him cower in the corner for a good half hour before Rindō found him and laughed hysterically when he told her how the God Tongue had picked out every single little detail of his dish.

Rindō… Eishi remembered the mirth in her amber eyes, but the last time he had saw her there was nothing but anger. Was she still cheerfully laughing now?

"You're going to spill the wine," Erina said, pulling Eishi out of his thoughts. Eishi quickly tilted the wine bottle up, narrowly escaping an accident.

"Sorry," Eishi blushed. "I just-"

Erina frowned. "You will be ruined if you are always this careless in the kitchen, Tsukasa-senpai." She picked up the fork and knife he had laid out next to the dish and began to cut into it. The duck skin let out a satisfying crunch as the blade sank through it. Though her sense of smell was not as polished as Hayama Akira's, she could make out the scent of lemon and thyme.

The moment the duck touched her tongue, she felt herself transported onto a picnic blanket next to a crystal clear lake.

Small, cute, plump ducks played in the water as she admired them from her seat.

"The weather is lovely," Erina sighed, raising her hand over her eyes to block them from the sunlight.

There was a shuffle next to her, and a head full of red hair entered her peripheral vision. "See? I told you that it's a great day to go out!" A certain golden-eyed male grinned cheekily at her. "This definitely beats cooping yourself up inside and reading shōjo manga all day long!"

Erina pouted. "I wanted to see if Akira would realize her feelings for Makoto!" She brought her hand down to properly face him. "Also, didn't you- huh?" Her eyes widened as she realized that the person she had been talking to was gone. "Where are you?"

The blonde looked around, but the redhead was nowhere to be found.

Oh.

"Nakiri-san?" Eishi called gently. Erina had frozen up in her seat after she had taken the first bite, and her amethyst eyes gazed blankly into the distance. The Nakiri blinked.

It had been a month since she last saw him; she should be over him by now but her chest ached when she looked at Eishi and saw that it wasn't him.

Eishi smiled nervously. "You seem… thoughtful."

"I get it," Erina said.

Eishi tilted his head to the side. "Get… what?"

"The cause of the waterworks in your restaurant," Erina scowled. "Have you ever heard of the book Because of Winn-Dixie?"

Eishi thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "That book about the dog? It was a touching book but what does that have to do with anything?"

"When the characters in the book eat the candy- the Littmus Lozenges- they taste sorrow and think of their own sadness," Erina explained. "The person who created that candy used his sorrow as a key ingredient." She held up a finger when Eishi opened his mouth to protest. "It's true that the book and candy is fictional, but I don't think this theory is impossible since chefs can convey their feelings through their cooking. For example, they say that mother's cooking tastes the best because of the love they convey through their cooking. I don't think you should outrule your emotions as the cause right off the bat."

"So you're saying… I'm transferring my sadness into my cooking?" Eishi asked skeptically.

Erina nodded, her golden tresses bouncing with the motion. "Assuming that this is the case, we should be able to identify the cause of this dilemma. Is there any particular reason you are upset?"

Eishi furrowed his brows. "No… none that I can think of."

"Maybe something is unconsciously bothering you," Erina said, crossing her arms over her chest. "If I remember correctly, this problem arose two months ago. Did anything happen back then?"

There was a moment of silence as Eishi struggled to recall anything that could have been particularly upsetting. Cooking, attending conferences, catering, and…

"Well… I did receive an invitation, but…" he mumbled.

"Invitation?" Erina asked.

Eishi let out a sigh. "Rindō is returning to Japan for the opening of her pop-up restaurant, and I received an invitation for the Elite Ten reunion dinner she's hosting there on the final night," he explained.

"I received an invitation for that as well," Erina realized. "But why would that be upsetting for you? I recall that you and Kobayashi-senpai were on good terms."

Eishi awkwardly shifted his gaze to the floor. "Well… we had a falling out a few years ago and I've been debating on whether I should go to see her or not. The reunion is only two weeks away and I still haven't decided anything." He sighed again. "I want to go back to how we used to be, but at the same time it's hard for me to just see her again after what happened."

"Tsukasa-senpai, do you still have the invitation?" Erina asked. When he nodded, she extended out her hand to him. "Give it to me please," she commanded.

Confused, Eishi took his phone from his pocket and unlocked it. He dug through his email for the invitation and handed it to her. Erina quickly scanned through the email before pressing on something.

"There. I've confirmed that you're going," the blonde said, tossing the phone back into Eishi's hands.

Eishi's face paled. "W-w-what?" He stammered. "Why did you do that?"

"You're obviously upset about not seeing Kobayashi-senpai," Erina replied. "And I am not one to leave things half done, so I'll attend the reunion dinner with you to see things through. If you have complaints, think of it as petty revenge for trying to help my father back in the days." She smirked, a wicked glint in her eyes.

Eishi shuddered. "A-alright..." he mumbled, his shoulders slacking in defeat.

"Well, my business here is done for today," Erina said, rising from her seat. "I will contact you later regarding the reunion dinner."

Eishi escorted her to the front of the restaurant. "Nakiri-san?"

"Hm?" Erina replied as she fiddled with her coat zipper.

"When you ate the confit... did you feel any sadness?" Eishi asked.

Erina's lips pressed into a thin line. "I don't let emotions interfere with work," she replied coldly before throwing open the front door and leaving.

Eishi stared after her, even as the door shut itself with a muted click. "But that doesn't answer anything, Nakiri-san..."