Family Wars

Confession

After the huge lunch, everyone had at Yukihira Diner, it was time for them to leave.

"Arigato for dropping by!" Soma shouted and waved at Alice and Ryo-Kun, who were the last ones exiting his Diner. "I'm hoping to see you guys soon enough!"

"Hey, Soma!" Joichiro shouted from behind and Soma turned around. "You know? You might have not won the BLUE first place, but that's even better than what I did back when I was your age."

Soma's expression dropped slightly. He wasn't supposed to lose like that, but he did cook especially for Erina, so it could've been valid. Still, he felt like he should've won, before losing to his dad again.

"Don't give me that face," Joichiro said, rubbing Soma's head.

"Dad! I told you to not mess up my hair like that!" Soma said, shoving his hand away.

"Alright, alright. But what I was trying to tell you is, I'm proud of you son. And I'm sure your mom would be too."

Soma's face lighted up with a warm and nostalgic smile.

"And I think you're ready to take over the Diner!" Joichiro finished.

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-what?!" Soma said, startled. "But this is your Diner, aren't you gonna-?"

"Don't worry about me, I will still be here, but now you'll be my boss. You're the one who will have to tell me what to do. I'm not ready to retire yet, to be honest, but I know that Yukihira will be in good hands when I do."

Soma just stared at the floor, speechless.

"What's wrong?" Joichiro looked at him in concern.

"Oh, I'm just thinking!" Soma said, amused. "I'm thinking about everything. Come to think of it, time is moving extremely fast. It feels like I stepped inside the Polar Star Dormitory just last week and all of a sudden, I won second place in the BLUE and I'll be running the Diner from now on."

"Yeah, time is frightening, aside from the fact that it moves very fast when you don't even notice. But, as far as I know, you can either run from it or learn from it."

"Yeah, you're right. But I miss mom too. I want her to see where we both are right now. I'm sure she would be proud."

"She is here, Soma." Soma looked at him confused. "In here."

Joichiro pointed to Soma's left side of his chest.

"As long as we don't forget her, she will never leave."

Soma smiled warmly.

"I'm glad you met mom. Who knows what would've happened to you if you didn't." Soma said, laughing.

"Yeah, and I hope you find someone as special as your mom soon enough." Joichiro pointed behind Soma, a blonde girl with a uniform was standing at a balcony, enjoying the summer breeze.

Nakiri Erina hadn't left yet.

Soma blushed slightly and turned to face his dad again.

"I'm not one for love, dad, you know it," Soma said with a straight face.

"Yeah, I know. But I also know you can't deny the fact that you love her." Joichiro said.

"Well, she was very bossy and mean when I first met her. But I can't blame her, it was mostly her father's fault."

"She did say your cooking was disgusting too."

"And I still haven't managed to make her say 'delicious'."

"You probably still have the chance to do so."

"What do you mean?"

"Go and talk to her. I think she has some things to say to you."

"But what are we supposed to talk about?"

"Everything."

Joichiro gave him a wink and disappeared into the kitchen. Soma sighed and walked towards Erina, very nervous but somewhat kind of confident.

"Hey, Erina-Sama!" Soma said, startling Erina.

"Uh, Yukihira-Kun?" She answered.

"You know that everyone left, right? Even Hisako." He said, walking to Erin's side.

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to stay here a little longer."

"For what exactly?" Soma rested his arms on the rail, bending his back to the front.

"I don't know. I just... felt like I had to talk to you."

"About what?" Soma seemed intrigued.

Erina just looked at the floor, unsure of speaking.

"It's okay if you don't wanna talk, I'll start, what are you going to do now? We've practically finished our exams at the academy and are free now, so what do you have in mind?"

Erina just kept to herself, inside her thoughts.

Is it worth telling him? She thought.

"I guess I'm running the Diner now," Soma said, trying to break the ice.

"Wh-what? Right now?" Erina seemed startled all of a sudden.

"Yeah, pretty crazy huh?" Soma chuckled.

"Well, I guess I'm a bookmaster of the WGO now too."

"Wow, that's amazing! Both of our stories are getting kinda crazy then." Soma laughed.

Erina laughed too, but eventually, they both kept silent. Erina casually turned to see Soma, he was just staring off into the orange sky, smiling, his eyes glistening and his hair blowing in the breeze.

Dang, he was gorgeous.

Soma turned to face Erina, catching her off guard.

"What is it?" He said.

Erina blushed.

"What? N-n-n-n-nothing! I was just-" She said, but she had no excuse whatsoever.

"It's okay. Sometimes I just stare at you for no reason as well." Soma smiled.

Baka, Erina thought.

"Well, it's not that I don't know," Erina said. "I know why I stare at you like that. And to be honest, I think I would hate to feel this way, but I like it."

"Wh-what are you saying?" Soma looked at her confused.

"It's... hard to say... And it was kind of hard to admit it... But... I-I love you, Yukihira Soma. I love everything about you even though we hated each other and disagreed so much in the past."

Erina looked down, embarrassed. How would he react? He probably didn't feel the same way as her.

But Soma took her chin with his thumb and index finger, lifting her head.

"And I love your God Tongue," Soma said.

"What are you saying?!" Erina screamed. "That's not how you confess your love to someone! Have you not learned anything?!"

Soma chuckled.

"Relax, I was just messing with you." He laughed.

"That's probably one of your best qualities," Erina mumbled.

"What did you say?" Soma asked.

"I like your sense of humour, you baka!"

Soma smiled, warmly.

"I love you too, Erina-Sama."

Erina blushed and Soma grabbed her left cheek with his right hand, pulling her closer for a kiss. Their height difference making Erina stand on her toes and Soma bending his head downwards. They gave each other a sweet and warm kiss.

They eventually let go and Erina rested her head on Soma's chest, hugging him and smiling. Soma blushed but smiled and hugged her back, placing his head on top of Erina's in a cute way.