The Resurgence of Excellence

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own neither SnS nor the cover image. I also own no considerable amount of money and/or possessions. Don't sue me, pretty please?

"Intent, cooking is all about intent, Soma," said a bombshell of a woman as she passionately gazed at a pan filled with sautéed vegetables.

The woman had silky black hair and gorgeous blue eyes. Her immaculate, milky skin belied her advanced age. The same can be said about her body, as she has retained a very shapely and sultry, albeit petite, figure.

The woman, Anne-Sophie Pic, was renowned as one of, if not the greatest female chef in all of culinary history. And you would not deduce from her appearance and countenance that she was 50 years old with children who are already adults.

Countless chefs and chefs-in-training have come to her kitchen, named Restaurant Anne-Sophie, in Valence, France, to train with the superwoman of cooking.

Nearly all of them, regardless of gender and sexual orientation, have been bewitched by her beauty and charm. She was renowned for being an extremely passionate chef, and she is very vocal about her belief of intent being the secret recipe to success for any aspiring cook and restaurateur out there. As such, Anne-Sophie is very touchy-feely, and is not afraid to have a little bit of skin-ship with her trainees.

Souma, however, was completely unfazed. At first Anne-Sophie was surprised. She had never seen a man with this much determination and will in quite a while, apart from maybe her upperclassman, Puck, or even her master, Robuchon. She asked her employees to help her out and call out her clinginess when it was making her trainee uncomfortable, but it's been three days and Souma has not been flustered, not even once.

So Anne-Sophie took this as both a compliment and a challenge. Seeing this young man's drive, she decided that she will give him his time's worth of training.

Suffice to say, Souma was excellent. In just 3 hours he was completely in sync with her as a sous chef. In 14 hours he was already helping out in her kitchen. By the third day, he was basically 3rd in command in her kitchen, behind only the head chef, Rosie, and herself, the head consultant.

Even more impressive than that, even, is what he had done to poor Rosie. Rosie had always been the militaristic, prudish type. In great contrast to Anne-Sophie's alluring charm, Rosie had always been an immovable block of steel. Hence, it was incredibly impressive for such a woman as Rosie to have become fond of Souma.

Anne-Sophie was amused. However, she felt and knew that Souma was about to leave soon. He had gotten what he came for, which was training, and he was becoming restless. She knew she couldn't keep him there forever, and so she called him in to her office and decided to bestow him with her best advice.

"What do you see in this pan, Souma?" She lifted the pan near the redhead's face and asked.

"I see sautéed garlic, shallots, green pepper, thyme, and some rosemary. Avocado oil and whole fat Swiss butter as the sautéing catalyst." Souma replied tersely.

Anne-Sophie smiled. Perfect as usual.

"Yes, that is correct, but that is not the point of this question. If anything, it's more figurative. Let me ask again: What do you see in this pan?"

Souma squinted. Figuratively?

"I guess I see the beginning of something absolutely delicious." Souma answered.

Anne-Sophie replied. "We're getting there. What else?"

"I see this delicious meal putting a smile on the face of whoever it's served to."

"Bingo." Sharp. Way too sharp. Anne-Sophie thought.

"To reiterate, my point is that intent is the foundation of cooking." Anne-Sophie continued to cook.

"Why am I cooking? To whom am I cooking for? What do I want them to feel when they eat this? The answers to all those questions point to your intent."

Souma nodded.

Anne-Sophie reached out her hand, and by reflex Souma handed her a wooden spoon.

She then used the spoon to expertly toss around the vegetables thoroughly for a few moments, and afterwards she poured white wine into the pot to deglaze the contents. She then covered it up with a lid and turned the stove to low heat.

She continued. "It can be to impress. It can be to cheer someone up. It can even be to show someone that you're better than they are. It all depends on the person and the situation. My point is, cook with intent."

"I think I understand." Souma washed his hands. He brought out some de-shelled shrimp from the cooler and brought it to the woman.

"Such a great student, Rosie took months to understand this, you know? During that time she always just cooked for the sake of cooking. It was like she was just performing some predetermined actions over and over, much too robotic for me." She mentioned.

Anne-Sophie gazed into Souma's eyes. It was a deep, sincere gaze. From an outsider's point of view, this staring contest was incredibly intimate, signified by the fact that there were less than 8 inches between the faces of the two chefs. But, there was absolutely nothing erotic or sensual about this stare. It was motherly—it was full of intent.

"Of course, you have to practice it. Before you can cook with intent, you have to first develop the skill of displaying your intent."

Anne-Sophie tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

"Stare into their eyes. Gaze into their soul. Connect with them, heart to heart, by any means. If there's no visual contact, relay the intent through your tone and speech," said Anne-Sophie as she dumped the shrimp into her now deglazed pan.

"Uh-huh." Souma replied, absorbing the chef's advice.

"This 'sincerity technique,' as Rosie likes to call it, is the first step to learning how to channel your intent into your cooking. And it's possibly the greatest lesson I can leave you with." Anne-Sophie smiled as she broke eye contact.

"I promise to practice it a lot." Souma said.

"I believe you will." Anne-Sophie replied as she finished her dish.

"Here, share this with Rosie. You'll be leaving soon, right? She's going to miss you." She added.

"Sure thing, your cooking is incredibly delicious anyways. Though I doubt Rosie will miss me an' all that, chef."

Anne-Sophie noticed Souma reverting back to casual speech. It seems that her serious mood likely made him tense up.

I don't know if that counts as flustering him, but if it does, then I finally got him! She thought. Her ability to fluster trainees had been put in question the past few days, but she was happy she finally managed to shake this hunkering boulder of a man.

I suppose it serves him well, though. He's never been flustered even when my piping hot celebrity patrons all flocked over him. And, Rosie's quite the looker too, and yet he's completely unfazed, truly an interesting young man.

The door to the office opened as a ponytailed brunette walked into the room. The woman was in her early 20s, and had a very stoic expression on her otherwise goddess-like face. She had dazzling green eyes, and pearl white skin. It was Rosie, head chef of Restaurant Anne-Sophie. However, the moment the stern brunette saw Souma, her face comically blushed.

"Ah! Yo, Rosie, good timing. I was just about to look for ya. Come on, Chef here prepared us a snack! Let's have it with that really tasty apple cider in the fridge. Do we still have some of that?" Souma energetically waltzed to her direction, carrying Anne-Sophie's dish on his right hand as he put his left hand on Rosie's shoulder, earning a yelp from the prudish woman.

Rosie, unable to resist, resorted to plead to her teacher for help, but to no avail. Anne-Sophie was simply smiling at the whole situation, and allowed her head chef to be swept away into la la land as they both exited her office.

Polar Star Dormitory during lunchtime was always a lovely place. As you would expect from students from a culinary institution, the necessity of preparing and eating food during the noon hours of day was a good time to sneak in some training. Sometimes, it was also a good time to experiment, goof off, or have fun.

The dormitory's large kitchen was brimming full with numerous students, and those who were not in the main kitchen were making do with the small built-in kitchens in their rooms.

The variety of dishes being prepared and cooking techniques being displayed was impressive. To the untrained eye, it would seem as if this were a cultural exchange fair. To the gourmet critic's eye, this was heaven, paradise.

In one such dorm room, atop its relatively rudimentary built-in kitchen, the sound of chopping could be heard. It was Takumi Aldini, who had taken the liberty of preparing a lunch dish that he and his brother, Isami, could partake in.

The two Italians decided to lodge in the dormitory for their third year to save up expenses. It was, after all, much cheaper to stay in this dorm than to rent an apartment in the expensive area around Totsuki. Another reason was that this place allowed them to constantly sharpen their knives against fellow Totsuki students on the daily, which was a big plus for them.

As Takumi was cooking, he also made sure to make enough so that he could share (and compare) his dish, and by extension, his cooking skills, to the other denizens of the dorm.

He was a lot more animated than usual, his brother Isami observed. These past few months his brother was erratic, to say the least. However, Takumi had stabilized these past few days and is cooking with much excitement today.

The reason is because today will be the day that they get to meet Souma.

They heard of the news of his arrival to the Nakiri manor, and all the shenanigans that followed. They are aware of his current situation, wherein he will stay there for a week, and they accepted it.

The residents of the dorm all then agreed to visit Souma, but during different days so that they will not overwhelm the tired chef.

And today just so happens to be the day that Takumi and Isami visit.

After taking the lengthy hike down from Polar Star to the closest Totsuki gate, the two brothers then called for a cab.

Apparently, the Nakiri manor was in a gated community, and public utility vehicles are not allowed inside, barring special exceptions. The Aldinis would have to walk from the gate of the area to the gate of the manor itself, however, they did not mind.

The taxi made sure to avoid heavy traffic in order to save time, which was valuable to the Aldinis, but more so to the taxi driver. The faster he can pick up and drop off passengers, the more he earns.

In a little over 20 minutes the Aldinis found themselves at the gate of the community, and after a brisk 10-minute walk, they were right at the main gate of the Nakiri manor.

After a bout of rock-paper-scissors, Isami unfortunately had to be the one to press that imposing doorbell.

Ting. And the doorbell rang.

After a few moments, an electronic voice answered them, "Welcome to the Nakiri manor, please state your identity and business."

"U-um, I-Isami Aldini and Takumi Aldini here," Isami said, clearly indicating his nervousness with his voice.

"And your business is?"

"To visit Yukihira Souma."

"Yukihira… Souma…" The electronic voice paused. Sounds of shuffling could be heard as the person behind the voice was likely perusing some documents.

"Ah! Souma-san! He's the honorary guest staying in the manor right now. I see. Well then, excuse us for being so inhospitable, but according to security protocol we need to do a baggage check on you, as well do a pat-down."

Isami replied. "That's understandable. It's alright."

"Thank you. Please wait a few minutes, security is headed there now."

Isami and Aldini sighed. Security was tight, and that was understandable, since this is the first time they've ever visited the manor, and that they aren't well acquainted with neither the homeowners nor the staff. Still, for all this security, the thought that one Yukihira Souma was allowed free reign in these grounds made them doubt if the Nakiri family was truly safe.

The Italians shuddered in fear of the scenario of Souma feeding the delicate Nakiri palates with his dangerous experiments.

After a few minutes, tall, muscular men dressed in sharp-looking black suits came over to the gate.

The Aldinis' expected the huge metal gate to open, but upon realizing that they had no vehicles with them, they realized that only the metal door at the side will be unlocked.

The security personnel unlocked the metal door using some high-tech apparatus, and the heavy solid metal door hinged with surprising grace and ease on its sturdy bolts.

As announced by the electronic voice, the guards performed a pat-down and luggage check on the two Aldinis, making sure to be very thorough. Once the security measures were complete, they saw Hisako Arato heading their way.

"Aldini-kun—ah, I suppose you are both Aldini-kun. Then, is it alright if I call you Takumi-kun and Isami-kun?

Takumi replied. "That's fine. Arato-san."

The Aldini brothers and Hisako were on good terms, however since they do not really hang out with each other much, they weren't that close, and so there was almost a business-like friendliness between them. However, this wasn't a façade for the sake of pleasantries, but they genuinely respected each other.

Both parties acknowledged mentally that getting to know the other party more wouldn't be a bad deal at all. After all, they were all usually very composed and polite people. It was just that one cheeky redhead has a talent for riling up people like them.

"I suppose you are here to visit Yukihira-kun?" Isami swore he felt his brother twitch beside him as Hisako mentioned the redhead's name.

"Y-yes. I suppose he needs to hear our… numerous complaints." Takumi replied sheepishly.

Hisako flashed a knowing smile. "Okay then, follow me this way. He is currently staying in a detached guest house, in the main suite. Senzaemon-sama was considerate enough to provide it to him."

The trio started walking.

"It's a good thing Senzaemon-sama is always coolheaded. If he was hot-tempered, Souma wouldn't last a day here," chided Takumi.

"Well, Erina-sama— Erina, excuse me, is the one whipping him into shape." Hisako added.

The trio laughed. "I can only imagine how pissed she must have been when they met." Takumi said.

"She pinched the idiot's face so hard he had to be sent to the clinic."

"I don't exactly see Nakiri-san as someone who would do that, but then again I understand her frustration. As headmaster she must have been under a lot of stress, so it's perfectly understandable."

Hisako was about to mention her mistress's and the redhead's shenanigans in the clinic the other day, and the fact that the two kept arguing like an old married couple, but then she surmised that that information ought to remain hidden.

Isami took a gamble. "I bet that—even if Nakiri-san would never admit it—that she missed him."

Then, silence followed. Isami was afraid he said that joke in bad taste, but soon thought otherwise as the silence was broken by the pinkette, who started giggling.

"I can't really say much, since I have to maintain Erina-sama— Erina's dignity, but yes. She most definitely did."

Once more, the trio giggled.

After a few more minutes of friendly small talk, they finally arrived at the guest house were Souma was staying.

They all expected the redhead to be holed up inside, but surprisingly, and almost fittingly, they saw the supposed-to-be-exhausted redhead doing calisthenics in the guest house's garden.

Even more surprising than the redhead, however, was the presence of the master of the manor, Nakiri Senzaemon. The patriarch seemed to have a pleasant time as he appeared to be doing the same calisthenics exercises as the redhead was, albeit with much more expertise and vigor.

The two men seemed to be enjoying each other's company, as they were having a pleasant workout on the cool, shaded garden.

Sensing that the two Aldini's were at a loss for what to say, the pinkette took charge of the situation. She cleared her throat to notify the two men of their presence.

"Ehem, Senzaemon-sama, Yukihira-kun, it seems you are having fun."

"Oh! Hisako-kun, indeed, we are having a good time." Senzaemon said.

"Yah, gramps right here is amazing. How can you do all of this stuff at your age? You're awesome, gramps!"

"Hoho, why thank you for the compliments."

Gramps.Hisako flinched. Souma always had a talent for being rude and not getting in trouble for it. In fact, it even seemed that Senzaemon-sama liked Souma's casualness around him.

"Forgive me for interrupting you, Senzaemon-sama, but Yukihira-kun has guests over." Hisako continued.

Senzaemon and Souma noticed the Aldinis as they made their presence known.

"Pay it no heed, Hisako-kun, in fact, we were just about to finish. Go on, Souma, entertain you guests. They must have missed you." Senzaemon said as he wiped his sweat and proceeded to clean up.

The old man then smiled at the younglings. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to continue my workout at the basement gym. Just call for me if needed, Hisako-kun."

"Darn, I don't think he gets tired, even at that age." Souma remarked.

Hisako sighed. "Don't be so rude, Yukihira-kun. Senzaemon-sama is a hardworking individual, that's why. Well, I shall also take my leave now. I take it that you know the way back, Takumi-kun and Isami-kun?"

"Yes." Isami replied.

"Okay, have a nice day, Hishoko!" Souma said teasingly, earning a glare from the pinkette.

"Haha. I swear those two are so alike despite not being blood-related. Nakiri's rubbing off on her pretty bad eh." Souma murmured, referring to the pinkette and her mistress.

Then, turning to the Italians, Souma showed his familiar grin, and said, "So, Takumi and Isami, how'd ya been?"

Isami was about to answer on behalf of them both, but his brother beat him to the chase.

"You… you…" Takumi started.

"Yes, it's me." Upon hearing Souma's sarcastic reply, Takumi burst.

"You imbecile! Where the hell have you been?!" Takumi said as he shook Souma frantically by the shoulders.

Souma was bobbing forward and backward with surprising velocity, and Isami couldn't help but worry that the redhead might get a whiplash injury.

Souma's hair was waving back and forth dramatically as if they were reeds being swept by typhoon-scale winds, and on his face was an expression of amusement, and slight hints of dizziness.

Souma grabbed Takumi's arms and pushed them apart, removing the enraged Italian's grip from him.

"Calm down, Aldini. Why don't you chill like Isami over there, yeah? As for where I've been, well, I've been to too many places so I can't say. But, you're supposed to know that already, I texted you."

"Yeah, you texted me the continent you were in, but never the place! What is wrong with you?! How reassuring would a text of 'I'm in America right now' be?!" Takumi said, almost hysterically.

"Awh, you missed me?" Isami froze. This was bad. This was his brother's trigger word. He needed to step in before Takumi stabbed Souma with a fork or something.

But, the violent bought he expected never came, only to be replaced by haughty puff. "No, not really."

Isami's gut lurched. That's a lie, aniki. We both know that's a lie.

"I was just worried about our mezzaluna. We can't have you damaging or losing it now, we haven't even settled the score!"

Souma smirked. It was the same smirk, but somehow, it felt different. Before, the smirk was infuriating, as if mocking the person seeing it. But now, it was intimidating. His smirk exerted a pressure that no one would have expected from him. It was filled with an aura that wanted you to challenge him, but at the same time made you fear a defeat that seemed to be imminent.

"Heh. I don't think ya'll ever settle the score with me, Aldini. At least not as you are now." Souma said in a playful tone.

The brothers were instantly riled up. As usual, Takumi was filled with an intense passion to cook and to prove him wrong. However, an uncanny invisible force told him that what Souma said is true.

Just what did this imbecile learn out there? Takumi thought.

Isami saw the situation start heading to a possible shokugeki, and out of consideration for the tired redhead, as well as to enjoy this time reuniting with him, he decided to steer the conversation.

"Now, now, aniki, Souma-kun is still quite tired, you know? I know he didn't exactly leave with the best manners, but he's back. We ought to just have a nice chat over the food that we prepared, right?"

"Yah, Aldini. You always act like you have a worm in your butt." Souma teased.

"How disgusting! But, well, fine. Here." Takumi handed to Souma the tray containing the Aldini's welcome-home dish.

"Woah, some fancy pasta you have here. Thanks a bunch guys! I was just starting to get hungry."

Souma partly opened the package and inspected the contents with his senses.

"This will do well with… some good ol' apple cider! I got a whole bunch from France, wanna try some?" Souma said as he invited the brothers into the guest house that was lent to him.

"I swear it's going to blow your socks off!"

"We'll see about that, Yukihira." Takumi said as he and Isami entered the house.

We'll see about that indeed. Takumi repeated to himself.

"Well, I miss you." Souma carelessly blurted out.

Immediately upon hearing the redhead's unlikely admittance, Erina's face flushed all the way up to her ears with a brilliant red.

The blonde was turned away from Souma, so Souma couldn't see her frantic expression, save for her warm red ears. Her arms situated under her bosom flinched, and were desperately covering her embarrassment from the redhead's scrutinizing gaze.

It almost seemed as of Souma was investigating Erina, and it did not help out in cooling off her blush.

"You're acting weird Nakiri." Souma said with furrowed brows as he bit his lower lip.

Erina frowned at his statement, and replied, "I-I don't need to hear that from you, Yukihira-kun."

I-idiot. After saying something like that so carelessly, you then act like it's my fault?!

"Hmm. Well, whatever. Just let me check the paperwork. I promise I won't overdo myself this time." Souma said after he closed his eyes.

Erina hesitated. She knew Souma well enough to know that the redhead doesn't know when to stop, so she didn't trust him with his own wellbeing. However, seeing Souma's insistence with helping out with the paperwork, she decided to consider.

There was just one thing she had to ascertain before that.

"Why are you so fixated on doing paperwork? I thought you disliked it? You barely did any of this back when you will still here." Erina asked with genuine confusion.

Souma did not answer immediately. He stared off into the wall behind Erina as a look of contemplation graced his face.

He then smiled a gentle smile and shook his head lightly, as if he were an old man reminiscing of his good old days.

"Well, it's something like an apology. I mean, even I know it would be a pain in the ass to pick up after someone else's slack, so yeah. It may just be pride or something, but I wanna make it up to ya."

Erina's eyes widened at Souma's newfound maturity. That unfamiliar, warm feeling started spreading within her chest all over again, and she had to resist the urge to smile uncontrollably.

The redhead that had influenced her to come out of her posh, princess-like shell and truly grow and flourish as a person is growing and flourishing himself. Erina felt a surge of pride within her, not the usual selfish pride she always held as a Nakiri, but rather the kind of pride a mother would hold over her son.

But even that was a bit off. It was more like the kind of pride a princess would feel at her bravest knight being victorious in battle, or a lover's pride at their partner becoming a better person.

Erina pushed those thoughts to the back of her head. She allowed a fraction of a sweet smile to show on her face, and then abruptly tried to put on a serious façade.

"H-hmph. If that's what you desire, then so be it. However, I forbid you to do any paperwork without my supervision. I need to make sure the quality of your work is befitting of Totsuki Academy, and also to…" Erina trailed off.

Souma couldn't quite get the last part, so he asked. "What?"

Erina gathered her remaining dignity and forced her words to come through. "T-to, to make sure you don't push yourself too hard! I, I don't trust your ability to manage yourself, so if you're going to do work, I will have to supervise you."

"Aren't you busy though?" Souma asked with a coy expression.

Erina huffed. "Of course I am. That's why I will be working at the same time. You will have to do your work quietly and quickly, without interrupting me with my own work."

"Alright. Does that mean I'll have to go with you when you do your taste-testings?"

Erina wanted to reprimand Souma for that absurd question. The obvious answer was: "of course not." But, the more she dwelled on it, the more appealing it appeared to a certain corner of her mind.

Erina's taste testing sessions were always very mundane and boring. She knew there was a risk associated with bringing along this ticking time bomb of a boy, but it would bring about a great change of pace.

Erina's mind was divided into two. One part, the vast majority, said that Souma would obviously be a detriment to her taste-testings. The other, more minor part absolutely screamed at her to take this chance.

Obviously, the majority won out and Erina reluctantly rejected his notion.

"N-no." She said.

Souma's reaction did not change in the slightest, his face betrayed no disappointment and he made a snort, as if to say that her answer was to be expected.

Erina frowned within her heart. She could not fully reject him, after all.

"Well, maybe sometimes I c-could invite you. Even though you are a t-third-rate chef, you at least still have a tongue. It might not be so b-bad. But now is a bad time! Okay!" Erina said, with each sentence becoming more and more senseless and frantic.

Souma gave a calm reply. "Sure sure. I don't know why you're so worked up over this, but sure." He then glanced at Erina's laptop. "So, need help with that?"

Erina, seeing Souma's attention focused on her computer, shook her head.

"Not exactly, however I do plan to delegate this to you, once you're okay."

Souma tried to scoot over, but he was surprised as his fatigued body refused to listen to him. Erina immediately noticed this and stood up to walk to his side, clutching her laptop under her left arm, as her right arm landed on Souma's shoulder.

She didn't know what spurred her actions on, but at that moment it felt exactly like the right thing to do.

"Ouch. I guess I can't move that well, eh."

Erina narrowed her eyes at the boy. "Of course you can't. This is what I meant by you not knowing your limits."

She was surprised at how gentle she was as she nudged Souma to lie back down on the slightly elevated backrest of his bed.

After massaging her forehead with her right hand, she heaved a considerable sigh. "I presume you wanted to see what I was working on?"

Souma affirmed her. "Yeah, if I'm gonna be continuing that, might as well see what you're doing with it."

"Fine. But don't move. I'll be the one to get closer." Erina's blubbering, embarrassed self has completely vanished as her assertive, all-business demeanor took over.

This was just how Erina is when work is involved. It just goes to show the blonde's innate leadership capabilities as a Nakiri.

Without thinking too deeply about it, Nakiri sat on the edge of his bed, and placed her laptop on its namesake: the top of her lap.

Souma did not have the strength to stand tall, but he could at least scoot closer to Erina.

"Nakiri, I still can't see it, ya know? Your back is in the way."

Erina felt a vein pop. "I'm doing all this for you and all you do is complain, that's so you, Yukihira-kun."

Souma simply laughed at her. "Heh, feisty as ever, aren't ya? I'll try get even closer, so don't tell me I didn't warn you."

And, true to his word, Souma did scoot even closer to Erina. It was at this point that Erina started to become self-conscious again as she felt her cheeks and the tips of her ears become warm.

However, clinging onto the excuse that this was for work, she allowed that nagging portion of her mind to enjoy this moment.

"Yosh, I can see it now. So, mind explaining it to me?" Souma suddenly said to her ear.

Erina had to force herself to resist the urge to scream. She knew Souma was close, but she didn't know he would be that close.

Erina sat on the edge of Souma's bed, facing away from him, with her laptop on her lap. Souma scooted over so that he could see her laptop, and they somehow ended up in that position.

This is for work, for work! Was the excuse Erina was giving herself in case someone saw what they were doing.

It felt as if she was doing something illegal with the redhead, although she knew perfectly well that it wasn't so.

However, she had a feeling that she would permit no other male to get this close to her, so at the very least, this moment was special.

For the sake of "productivity" she decided to push on with the explanation.

The rest of their conversation proceeded surprisingly well. When the initial embarrassment (mostly from Erina's side) subsided, the two found it eerily comfortable to be with each other, let alone to be that close.

Souma was close enough to the crook of her neck that if he lowered his head, he would be resting his chin on her shoulder. Erina was close enough that if she were to lean her head back, it would rest on Souma's sturdy chest.

Gradually, however, these thoughts were drowned out by the task that they had to do in hand.

Erina noticed that she had started to speak very softly. Souma was very attentive and gave words of understanding beside her ear, almost as if he was whispering lullabies, so she became comfortable.

When she finally finished explaining the task and there was no longer a reason for her to remain that close to Souma, she was assaulted by a feeling of disappointment.

She frantically racked her brain for other work topics to talk about so that they can stay in that position longer, but each topic was heavy and required actual work to be done, which would simply prompt her away from him.

In a desperate last-ditch effort, she decided to comment on what the redhead carelessly blurted out earlier.

"Y-yukihira-kun, a-about earlier, did you mean it?" She said in a very feeble voice.

Instinctively, Souma leaned closer to her to hear her, to the point that Erina could feel his breath on her ear, and his broad chest went into contact with her back.

"Earlier? What do you mean?" He said. Because he was so close to her, she could feel the vibrations within his thorax as he spoke. She could pick up on the subtle bass of his voice that signified his manliness. It was all making her extremely fidgety, but since she had decided to go this far, she stayed.

"About you missing me?"

Souma giggled. "Oh that! Haha. Of course, Nakiri. I missed everyone at Totsuki."

Souma's answer both overjoyed and disappointed Erina. Souma meant it, therefore he did miss her, but he mentioned "everyone" which meant that Erina probably wasn't anything special.

Everyone, huh. Finally, the minority within Erina's head burst forth, having been put to silence for too long.

The impulsiveness that brought her to the clinic in the first place took hold of her once more, and she asked.

"Who did you miss most?"

The question's ulterior intentions were extremely blatant to the outside observer. The close contact has melted away Totsuki's Ice Princesses' cold exterior, and now her shoujo manga-riddled, affection deprived brain took control.

Luckily for her, Souma did not pick up on it, a fact that would absolutely frustrate any socially adept individual, especially considering that Erina's mood absolutely rested on his hands. His answer could make or break the sparks that were kindling Erina's heart.

Fortunately, Souma had learned a valuable lesson from Chef Anne-Sophie.

When asked for a "most," you can't always say "everyone." Because doing that is like cheating. No one in the world is that noble. If you are to show your intent, it has to be specific. Who do you like most? Who do you want to impress most? Things of that nature, Souma, you need to think about those.

And so Souma thought. Sure, he missed his dad, but he's used to not seeing him. He missed the Polar Star Dorm, but he was always video chatting them. He missed Megumi, Takumi, Nikumi, Alice, Hishoko, Hayama, and even Ryo, but they also always felt connected to him. He didn't exactly "miss" a lot of time with them. As for Isshiki-senpai, they were texting like they were dating!

There was, however, one he felt like he left, the one he "missed." The one that had him thinking of things like, "Ah, I bet she'll be knocked off her socks when she tastes this." Or "Ah, I bet she'll definitely say this is delicious."

He realized that the reason they were so disconnected was mostly because of his stupidity, but what's done is done. They had technically missed 8 months of contact, while the only thing the other guys missed was his physical presence.

And that individual was this blonde in front of him.

He raised a mental salute to his beautiful mentor, and decided to say what he concluded within his mind.

"Well, to be honest, it was you." He said, softly and sincerely beside the blonde's ear.

The tickling sensation of Souma's cool breath, along with the relaxing baritone in his voice, was all overshadowed by the contents of what he said.

As such, he felt the blonde jerk her body abruptly. He was slightly worried that he said something to irritate her, but then again, he always says something that irritates her, so he decided to calm down.

What he didn't expect however, was the blonde leaning back against him, placing her back and his chest in full contact with each other.

And even more surprising than that, even, was the fact that she turned her head to the side and leaned it back, effectively snuggling him.

Erina had an unreadable expression on her face, and Souma couldn't see her eyes as they were blocked from his sight by his own neck, that she was snuggling.

Souma half-wondered if she was going to bite his neck out of irritation, but a few more moments of this extremely sudden and yet comfortable contact told him otherwise.

He could feel his heart thumping within his chest, but he knew it wasn't because he was nervous or pumped up.

He was embarrassed. Erina had done the one thing both Chef Anne-Sophie and Rosie, with all their allure, failed to do.

Erina then silently whispered to his ear in a very sweet-sounding voice.

"… Since you were so honest, I'll admit it, I missed you too. A lot."

And upon finishing that sentence, she darted up and ran towards the door, exited the clinic with a flash, and slammed the door behind her.

Souma was stuck there speechless as a rare semblance of a blush appeared on his patched-up cheeks.

Chef Sophie didn't tell me anything about this!

It took him a few moments to recompose himself, and seeing that Erina would likely not come back, he pulled out his phone to ask Google about what exactly happened there in that situation.

Erina, on the other hand, was a tomato-red mess. After she slammed the door of the clinic behind her, her knees gave out from beneath and she slumped to the ground on the entrance of the clinic, leaning her weight on the door, as if trying to keep Souma (who can't exactly stand) from exiting.

Her entire body was quivering and every brain cell in her head was screaming at her, some calling her stupid, and some calling her a genius.

Her heart was violently thumping in her chest as she breathed erratically. She cupped her still flushed face into her shaky hands as she tried to hold back an extremely girly squeal that was unfitting of her reputation.

After a few minutes of composing herself, she ran towards her room, zipping past concerned maids and butlers. As she reached her room, she grabbed her largest pillow and squeezed it between her arms like there was no tomorrow. She buried her face into its softness and as she felt herself start to swoon with what she just did.

After a few more moments, Erina lay in her bedroom, fainted from the extreme boldness of what she did. It would only be later during lunchtime that Hisako would discover the aftermath of the ordeal.

Of course, in a mansion with as many staff as theirs, there were witnesses, and Hisako, upon seeing the fainted mess her mistress was, and the confused Souma frantically reading wikihow articles, she managed to piece the story together.

Goodness, these two are harder to deal with than I thought. Hisako resignedly thought to herself as she reported the situation to an extremely amused Senzaemon and a very suspiciously satisfied Mana.

She already knew that Senzaemon was fond of the Yukihiras, so her surprise was directed instead to the usually strict and stoic Mana.

I thought Mana-sama would get mad that Souma is getting so close to Erina-sama— Erina, considering the fact that Erina's been sheltered from close male contact since her childhood. Is she planning something?

Little did Hisako know that her guess was absolutely on the money.

Daaamn that was tough. Sorry for the late update. I have just experienced the dreaded writer's block, but I have gotten it over enough to deliver you guys another chapter.

This chapter was originally about to feature more than this, but the individual segments got so long so I cut it off here.

Anyway, read, review, and enjoy(?)