"Nakiri, what do you think of my food?"

The exhaustion in his voice made Erina pause. As she looked closer at her friend, she saw his jaw tense, his hands squeeze shut. They had just walked out of the Polar Star post-BLUE celebration and escaped their friends for a few minutes. It was one of the happiest moments of her life, and she had been looking forward to this nighttime stroll. Suddenly, though, she found all of the friendly jabs and banter she had been anticipating drying up in her mouth.

"Soma. You know what I think of your food."

Soma shot her a glare, a look so foreign on his face that it chilled her to the core. "No, I don't. No matter what I serve you, your answer is always the same. 'Disgusting.' I'm sure at some point this turned into a game for you: I serve you the best dish I possibly can, and you tell me it's not good enough. I keep trying, and improving, and learning new skills, and it's still not enough. You know what my cooking means to me, and you know your opinion matters to me. So tell me, honestly this time. What do you think of my cooking?"

"You're serious, aren't you?" Erina sighed. "Soma, your cooking is objectively wonderful. When I met you, I never thought I'd say that to you, but your cooking is objectively delicious."

Soma relaxed, and his eyes glinted with happiness. But his expression only lasted for a second as he paused and seemed to consider. "Nakiri, it means the world to hear you say that. But both times, you qualified your assessment with the word 'objective.' What about subjectively?"

"Oh come on, Soma. You know that chefs shouldn't worry about people's subjective –"

"I don't care about people's subjective opinions. Just yours. So I'll ask again, Nakiri. What do you think about my cooking? How do you feel when you eat my food?"

Erina suddenly stopped walking. She found herself unable to look Soma in the eyes, and as she stared at the ground she saw Soma's fist clench around his wrist where he kept his headband tied.

"Soma, I…"

"Say it." He whispered. "Please. I need to hear it for myself."

She took a shuddering breath. "I'm sorry, Soma. I've changed a lot since we first met. I can now acknowledge the skill behind your cooking where I was unable to before. And you've grown so much since we first met. You can cook a true 'high class' gourmet dish. But somehow, there are traces of the influence of your special of the day background and the innovation that comes with it that for some reason, still, ring false to my personal tastes. If I separate myself from my palate, I can see the truth in your ability, but I can't honestly say I enjoy your food. And I hate myself for it."

Staring at the ground, she saw one drop of water hit. Then another. And another. She glanced at the sky. It wasn't raining.

After a moment, Soma gently took her arm and started walking her back to the dorm, and when he spoke, his voice was gentle. "Thank you, Nakiri. Thank you for tasting my dishes for the past year. Given how much our worlds revolve around food, I can't imagine how much you must have suffered to eat food you found disgusting every day just to satisfy me. And thank you for your honesty tonight. It was really brave. But I guess… I'd been thinking. We work so well together. We push each other, make each other better. I was wondering if we could've been partners. As chefs, and maybe even as romantic partners."

He smiled a little as she shivered at the suggestion of romance. "My dad once told me to find someone I wanted to give my cooking to. And I don't think I give my cooking to you knowing that you would suffer for it."

"Maybe you could change your cooking?" Erina asked, already knowing the answer.

Some gave her a glance. "My cooking is a part of me, Nakiri. It's part of what defines me. I won't change what it is at its core. Not even for you."

Erina felt herself starting to grow desperate. "Maybe I could change. People sometimes develop a taste for dishes over time."

Soma chuckled a little. "Thanks, Nakiri. That means a lot, but you've been eating my food for a while now. Every day for months, and less often for longer than that. If you still don't like my food, I'm not confident that will change."

"As business partners, or as fellow chefs…"

"You'd still have to try my dishes. On a regular basis. Besides, our dreams are different. I still want to go back to Yukihira's keep cooking for my community like my dad did. To cook for the masses. I don't think that fits your dreams, though."

They were getting close to the dorm now. "Soma, I don't want to lose you. You were the first person I could trust to keep me honest with my cooking, and on a personal level, you've given me so much hope when I was lost. I've grown so much thanks to you, and I don't want to see the friendship we've built end."

Soma grinned at her. "It won't. We'll still hang out as friends and exchange ideas as chefs. I'll still propose ridiculous projects and you'll still call me out where I go off the rails. I… Well, I'm not completely sure exactly how it'll work. But it will. We'll make sure it will."

They were back inside as he grinned at her. "Now go back to your party. I need to run upstairs for a bit, but I'll be back down soon."

As she walked back in, her mind was fixated on that look. He was grinning, but it was missing its usual spark. And as she plastered a smile back on her face as she rejoined her friends, she couldn't say she didn't feel the same way.

A/N –

Personally, I've always felt that Erina and Soma needed an honest reckoning in their relationship. Erina's put Soma down so many times and for so long that I feel like it'd wear on most people (unless they're an anime character who is resilient to a fictional level). And as I was writing it, I found that the best way to me to recognize Erina's growth while acknowledging their differences was to make her subjectively dislike Soma's food (maybe due to lasting effects of the brainwashing? Or simply because it runs counter to the food she grew up eating?).

And that finally leads to the point that at their core, they're two different people with two very different life goals. So that all culminated in what was kind of a break-up-before-getting-together conversation where they sort of recognized unspoken feelings and discussed the possibility of a future together.

I welcome all feedback (both on the subject matter and the writing), the more brutally honest the better. This was my first fic of any sort in years (and I don't think the one I wrote over 5 years ago counts – I recently reread it, and it shall never see the light of day (or of a computer screen for that matter) again), so no advice or input is too small or insignificant.

Thanks for reading.

By the way, if any of y'all know my username's reference, I'm happy to discuss ToG (either than anime or the webtoon, though I don't fast pass so please keep that in mind).