Erina felt sick. She felt really sick.

Yes, the feeling she had now was as if she had eaten a subpar dish multiplied by twenty. It was as if there were a hundred taiko drums beating inside her head leaving her nauseous and ready to puke in the nearest wastebasket. But no, someone of her pedigree could never show such a shameful display.

Where was she, she wondered? The bed under her was soft and comfortable, and though she was awake, she didn't want to open her eyes yet. The last thing she remembered was trying to climb down the stairs, unsteady as she was on her feet, to reach the kitchen and fix up something nutritious and organic for herself to eat. The memories after that are a bit blank.

She can hear whispered voices from somewhere beside her (perhaps Hisako had already come back?), and suddenly a soft hand touches her forehead to swipe away the sweat there.

She can't help but think that she must be stuck in some fever dream. The gentle hand that comforts her is so familiar. Perhaps it's her sickness, but she can't help the tears that accumulate in the corner of her eyes.

"Okaa-sama. . ."

o

Erina starts to regret pretending she had been fine earlier when Hisako had knocked on her door to get ready for the walk to school. But if she had told the truth, no doubt Hisako would have stayed behind to take care of her. She feels embarrassed to be so weak, but luckily all of the residents of the Polar Star Dorm are off in their own respective classes so there are none to see her supporting herself against the wall as she drags herself inch by inch to the kitchen.

"Just a little more..."

All of the dorm's vegetables and fruits were lovingly taken care of by the dorm members so she doesn't worry too much about the quality of ingredients she'll be using. Just yesterday, they'd fully stocked the pantry fresh from Isshiki-san's fields. She'll whip up something light and quick, and after getting a full rest she's bound to get better. Hopefully, before everyone came home. There was no way she was going to let them see her in this state! She, Nakiri Erina, queen of Totsuki, the youngest to have entered the elite ten, felled by a common cold?

Even now, she feels as if she's getting better. So much so, in fact that there seems to be no need to eat. She just needs to sleep, ah and what fortune, the wooden floor seems to be so inviting. . .

"Oi, Nakiri!"

"Nakiri-san?!"

A broad hand enclosing around her arm stops her slow descent, while another goes around her shoulder to support her back. If she had her wits about her, she'd be berating the brazenness of this person for improperly touching her. But before she can do so, she slips into blessed unconsciousness.

o

Memories sufficiently restored, Erina sits up so fast she feels the effect of whiplash, to see Tadokoro-san kneeling with a towel in hand while Yukihira-kun stands some ways behind her with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Are you alright Nakiri-san?!" Tadokoro-san has a heavily worried look on her face and Erina realizes she had been there to see her go down. She smiles softly and tries to reassure the other girl.

"I'm fine now Tadokoro-san. Thank you for your help."

"Thank goodness," Megumi sighs in relief, one hand against her heart. She'd been really worried to see the usually indomitable Nakiri-san collapse suddenly like that. "Ah, Nakiri-san," she starts, "It wasn't only me. Souma-kun, too, he carried you up here, just like a princess." She gestures to the boy behind her and beams sweetly at Erina, but her smile falls after seeing how red the girl in front of her is.

"Nakiri-san?" Megumi resists the urge to flail and instead places her hand against Nakiri-san's forehead again to check her temperature. She hopes she doesn't mind. "Are you sure you're ok? You're awfully red, maybe your fever spiked up or something."

"It's nothing really. Thank you again for your concern." Erina musters all of her training as a heiress to keep up her calm and elegant smile, even as on the inside she's having a mini-meltdown. It was bad enough to have a boy carry her like THAT while she was dressed only in a nightgown, but to have it be Yukihira-kun of all people to carry her like THAT.

It seemed to do the trick well enough as it manages to convince Tadokoro-san. She then places a warm cup in Erina's hands, briefly surprising her.

"Here, I'm n-not really sure if it's as good as Arato-san's. What am I saying, of course it isn't as good, but anyway um. .",she continues on shyly, "I followed her five-berry recipe to a tee, so I really hope it helps you feel better soon Nakiri-san." Erina feels indescribably touched. "I have class now, but maybe I should stay?" She looks up at her hesitantly.

More than anything, after everything she's experienced, Erina's grateful to have found such loyal friends at the Polar Star Dorm. "I'm really fine now Tadokoro-san."

Looking at her radiant smile, and her demure pose with her hands delicately clutching the tea, Megumi has to believe her. Her color looks to be fresher and there seems to be actual sparkles emanating from her, but of course that's just Megumi's silly imagination.

"Ok then. Let's go Souma-kun, before we're late. You don't want Chappelle-sensei to yell at you." She calls out to the redhead who still hasn't moved from his place.

"Ah Tadokoro, I forgot to tell you, my afternoon class with Chappelle-sensei got cancelled. I just got the text."

"Eh? Well, that's great then! You can stay here with Nakiri-san so she's not alone. Take care of her ok Souma-kun?"

"Gotcha." Souma-kun smiles up at the bluenette with his usual energy.

Though usually she'd be concerned since from what she's observed Souma-kun tends to stress Nakiri-san out, perhaps he'd tone it down a bit because of her cold. And anyway, though his methods were often unorthodox, he was the type of guy one could rely on for anything.

Everything would be fine.

o

The clicking of the door latch left an ominous sound, thought Erina. She was already dreading having to face the boy in front of her who still had yet to move. Simply because of the marked difference in the scene when Tadokoro-san had been inside the room and now with only the two of them left. Erina could no longer keep up the appearance of nobility, and she was now trying to bundle herself with the blankets after safely depositing Tadokoro-san's tea on top of the bedside table.

Frankly, she felt like crap.

"Now then," he began in what Erina thought was a cheeky voice, as he turned to face her. She really hated it when he was cheeky, which was unfortunately, ninety-nine percent of the time. She had to suppress her groan at the inevitable teasing that was sure to follow. "Why'd you go and hide that you were sick, eh Nakiri?"

Huh.

She looked him in the eyes, and saw that although his position was relaxed and he had that same lazy (infuriating) smirk on his face, she seemed to have caught him in the rare one percent that he was serious.

"Wh-what are you talking about Yukihira-kun? I didn't hide anything."

"Yeah and I s'ppose the fact the Arato isn't here worrying her head off despite knowing that her best friend's sick is because it's opposite day or something?" His voice is sarcastic and Erina bristles reflexively, no matter that they've been getting along quite well nowadays. He sits cross-legged on the floor to better meet her gaze. "And obviously that act with Tadokoro was just that-an act. I reckon pretending you were fine and dandy actually left you worse off."

She wants to deny it but it would be no use. Despite his lackadaisical demeanor, Yukihira is as sharp as his favorite knife. Before she'd have told him to mind his own business, but that wasn't what you said to a friend. "I didn't want Hisako to feel guilty," she mumbles from her makeshift cocoon. "Hisako takes the business of my diet very seriously, as she's the one who usually prepare my meals. I didn't want to have her think it was her fault that I got a cold."

"Ah right!" His sudden exclamation surprises her. "You slept while forgetting to dry your hair last night didn't you? And the weather's been chilly lately too. You should have known better Nakiri, tsk tsk." His expression is gleeful, and Erina can do nothing but grumble. The fact that he's so happy at the opportunity for more teasing material speaks a lot about his twisted character.

"I get not wanting to guilt-trip Arato, the girl panics enough as it is, but you could have called me you know? Tadokoro too. Heck, if you didn't want to pull us out from our classes, you could have hollered for Fumio-san." He preemptively interrupts her after seeing the protest ready on her lips.

"I'm not..."

"Hmm?" he tries to hear her muffled words. By the way she's burrowing into the blanket, he half-suspects she's suffocating herself to death. When she finally looks up, her eyes are glassy and her face is as rosy as her hair. "I'm not used to being taken care of," she finally admits, shyly.

It's like he's seeing a whole different side to the imperious princess. She's been many things to him –a rival, a goal, a shrine – but the entity in front of him, is just a girl he can't help but want to protect. "Well then, you'll have to get used to it. Tadokoro made me promise , no even if she didn't, I'm here and I'm going to take care of you. You can expect the rest of the guys to smother you too, when they get back."

He grins, wide and laughing, and Erina flushes, heart dangerously trying to escape from her mouth (or perhaps that's just the food she can't keep down).

And embarrassments of embarrassments, her stomach chooses that precise moment to rumble loudly. Yes there are tears in her eyes now, tears of mortification. She ducks her head and refuses to surface. When the laughter that she'd been expecting doesn't ring around the room, she chances a peek, expecting Yukihira to be wearing what she's privately dubbed in her head as his 'devil expression'. Instead, his expression seems to be a bit fond? Erina's not sure if that's the way to describe it. Even his smile seems to be, dare she say it, angelic. He really has to stop it though, as it's making her sickness worse, if the flip-flopping in her belly is any indication.

"You haven't had anything for lunch yet, right? I'll cook something up for you in a jiffy." One polo shirt removed and a bandana tied later, Yukihira stands there in all his pride and glory as a chef, ready to serve a hungry customer.

"Now what would like to eat Ms. Nakiri Erina?" He said with a slight bow as if they were in a high-class French restaurant. Half of her thought that she was being patronized like a child, but she couldn't help but laugh anyway. His grin told her that he'd accomplished his mission.

Erina sobered and really thought about it. "My mother... ", she murmured hesitantly before trailing off. She never would have shared something so personal with anyone else, save for Hisako, but then for now she'd blame her vulnerable state on her sickness. Besides Yukihira-kun had a way of making Erina honest like no one else could. "I don't really remember that much about my mother since she died when I was young. But whenever I wasn't in a cold, sterile hospital room, she'd been the one to take care of me. She'd brush back my hair and feed me some of her homemade porridge, and perhaps it was because my taste buds were a bit dulled, but I could find nothing to criticize about it." She smiled while getting lost in her memories, and by the time she met his gaze again, he was staring hard at her with an uncharacteristically somber look on his face.

It was there and gone again in a moment and Erina had to wonder if she'd just imagined it when he suddenly ruffled her hair.

"Wha-" He was now closer to her, in the same position as Tadokoro-san had been earlier. She felt something wet touch her face and realized that Yukihira-kun was dabbing at her with the towel. "I perfectly understand what you mean." He said conversationally, seeming to find nothing strange with his ministrations. "Arm." Still silently stunned, Erina could only obediently raise the requested appendage. He began sponging off the sweat there too and did so for her other one, even as he continued to carry on the conversation. "Even if you're an ojousama from a rich household, or a simple diner brat like me, I think everyone's favorite cooking is always their mother's. When I was sick, mom made me her signature congee, and I swear that was all the cure I needed. I'd be better the next day."

"I didn't think you could catch a cold Yukihira-kun." Erina declared with a completely straight face.

"What do you mean?" He asked, confused. "Of course I get-," he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her, "Ah I get it, 'cause idiots can't get colds' right?" Erina couldn't suppress the chuckle that escaped at the sight of his childishly offended expression. "Hardy har har. Since you feel well enough to be making jokes like that, I say you're well on your way back to your throne, your highness. Anyway, what should I make?" He seemed to be deep in thought before getting that spark in his eyes that always seemed to herald the creation of a delicious dish. "Just sit tight Nakiri Erina-dono. I have just the thing."

She didn't really have a choice in matter, being bedridden as she was. But she had to ask - "Won't you have to go down to the kitchen?" She didn't have any cooking utensils in her room to speak of.

"Nah, I mean we're in my room after all." Erina's brain short-circuited. So she'd been lying down on-, wrapping around herself-, whose bed and blankets exactly?! That's it she decided to shut down until Yukihira's dish was done.

o

She wasn't sure exactly how minutes it had been before Yukihira was snapping his fingers in front of her to wake her up from her daze.

He'd taken off his bandana and was now sitting cross-legged at his earlier position. In his hands was a tray with a closed bowl on top of it and Tadokoro-san's tea which he'd warmed again; he presented it to her proudly with a flourish. "Yukihara secret recipe, homemade congee porridge. Dig in."

Erina just looked at him blankly.

He sighed. "Say 'ah'Nakiri." Erina mechanically complied before feeling something warm inside her mouth and she realized exactly in what position they were in.

"Hey Nakiri, you're turning red. Is it too hot? That's weird, I made sure to properly blow on it." Only the spoon on her mouth was preventing her from launching into a full tirade, never mind that this scene was one that she'd recently read about in one of the new shoujo mangas she'd borrowed from Tadokoro-san.

She swallows, having no choice, and finds herself warmed from the inside. She takes the spoon and bowl from Yukihira-kun who hands it over wordlessly with a confident smile. Sick or not, there was no way she was getting spoon fed by him. There were limits!

Though as she continues to eat, her slight irritation melts away to give way to a comfortable and fuzzy feeling, as if being enveloped in her favorite blanket, or better yet, in her mother's arms.

She really can't help the words that come out of her mouth then, and after all he deserves it. "It's...good."

Ugh. How long before the gloating begins, she wonders? She'd acknowledged him long ago, but something else other than pride prevents her from saying his food is delicious to his face. For so long, it's been like a game between them, but now she's been checkmated. She bravely looks up to face defeat in the face.

To her befuddlement, it's not a victorious smirk which adorns Yukihira-kun's face, but a full-on pout that could rival Alice's patented one. What is it with this utterly confusing boy and his mixed signals? She tells him his food is disgusting and he grins razor-like, taking it as a challenge, she tells him his food is delicious, and he's annoyed?

"Nope. Take those words back Nakiri, I'm not accepting them."

"What?! I'm complimenting you, baka. Those words are high praise coming from me, Nakiri Erina. Normally, only five-star restaurants would get such an honor." Would anything this boy did ever make sense?

It seems like he's not backing down though. She of all people, knows his stubbornness is legendary. "I've been working my ass off since coming to this school to hear those words out of your lips. No way does this count. First off, because this is my mom's recipe."

"Just accept it!"

"No way!"

"Yes way!"

"No, means no. I am getting you to admit my food is good even if it takes my whole life to do it, and not only because you're sick. It'll be when your God's Tongue is in mint condition and when you're back to your usual hoity-toity, hair-flipping self. "

"ARGHH."

Erina has throw up her hands in frustration. It takes everything in her not to throw the leftovers of Tadokoro san's now lukewarm tea all over his face, and only because it'd be a waste.

o

Later, Arato volunteers for the night's cooking duty as thanks for the PSD members taking care of Erina. Predictably, Hisako had apologized profusely after being informed by Tadokoro-san of her condition, but at least she hadn't groveled. They were becoming proper best-friends now, moving away from that servile relationship of before.

True to his words, the rest of the dorm members had fussed over her like mother hens, but her condition had already improved considerably, in truth, and not only because of her pretending. It was all thanks to Yukihira-kun.

She steals a glance at the boy on the far side off the table and resists the urge to bury her face in her arms. She really did owe him for taking care of her. She was usually reserved, some would even say frigid, as many of their schoolmates could attest, but she'd let him see her at her most vulnerable. In a way, perhaps he let her see him too by sharing that story about his mom, when as far she knew, he'd never once mentioned the woman who was so integral to the person he was now, if the way he defended his shop's name was anything to go by.

She's pulled from her musings, inadvertently hearing snippets of his conversation with Ibusaki-kun seated on his right side.

"Yukihira, Chappelle-sensei was asking where you were earlier."

"Sorry 'bout that. I kinda forgot about the class. He didn't chew you out or anything?"

"He didn't. It's no problem."

She gives in to the urge, if only there was a hole near, but her hands will have to do. Darn it! She feels her fever coming back from the way her cheeks flame. There is absolutely no way she is getting sick again. To owe Yukihira-kun double is a terrifying thought.