notes: this takes place somewhere 4-5 years down the road after graduating tootsuki. for those following my fics, hopefully i can bang out a longer fic sometime but for now i'm trying to dabble in shorter oneshots. i hope you enjoy anyway, and thanks for reading!

"So, I was thinking I'd take her to dinner and—"

Erina holds a hand out. "Stop right there. It's already boring and unoriginal. Next."

"Uh," Souma says. "There… There is no next, that's all I've got."

She touches a hand to her chin, brows knitting in concern. "Then the situation is more dire than I thought." She types something quickly on her laptop, her eyes flitting over her screen as she reads something Souma can't see through their video call.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

"Looking at weather reports for the next month. We need to wait for a day where it's going to rain."

"Why?"

"Erina thinks rainy days are the most romantic," Alice chimes in, pushing in from the left side of the screen, Erina squawking in surprise when she does. "Though she's wrong of course, because everyone knows snow is the most romantic."

"It doesn't really snow much in Tokyo," Souma points out.

"Boo," Alice huffs, pouting, before Erina shoves her out of frame.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with going traditional," Hisako adds from somewhere off-screen, her voice distant and crackly through the video.

"But Megumi-san deserves better," Erina argues. "Listen, Yukihira-kun, here is what you do. Wait until a rainy day. Then when night falls, you suddenly appear on her doorstep, drenched, ring in hand, and—"

"Sounds like a perfect way to get sick and ruin any proposal plans," Alice says loudly, appearing back in the frame. "I have a better one. Wait until she's about to board an airplane, then you dramatically run to her gate, begging her not to go because you're in love with her, then you get down on one knee—"

"That doesn't make any sense." Erina crosses her arms haughtily.

"It makes way more sense than waiting in the rain—"

The camera suddenly shifts to the side as Erina and Alice argue with one another and an apologetic Hisako appears.

"If you'd like, I can book reservations for you at one of the finest restaurants in Tokyo," she says, already opening her tablet. "There are many popular ones for proposals and I can organize them into a chart sorted by cost, cuisine, location, and atmosphere. Within a few hours I can—"

The call suddenly drops, and a message saying Connection Lost blinks in the middle of Souma's laptop screen.

"Proposal ideas?"

"Yeah." Souma drags a hand over his face, the other holding his phone up to his ear. Behind Takumi's voice are the sounds of a busy restaurant—he feels a little bad calling in the middle of the day, but the time difference between Florence and Tokyo makes it difficult for him to find a spare moment to talk. "I tried asking others for advice but… Haven't gotten a whole lot of help yet."

"And you thought you could ask me because I'm Italian and surely I know the ways of romance," Takumi finishes for him, sarcasm thick.

Souma flushes a little, embarrassment hot on his cheeks. Takumi had his own fan club back at Tootsuki and always paid more attention to class and charm than Souma ever did. He figured he was a safer bet than any for advice on his current dilemma.

There is a rustling sound, like Takumi moving or shifting the phone away. Then the distant sound of talking in quick Italian that Souma's rudimentary understanding of it doesn't catch. Then Takumi's voice comes back more clearly. "Take her somewhere nice. Surely you know that much."

"I'm not that hopeless." Souma frowns.

Takumi huffs an amused sound. "Take her somewhere you know she'd love. Cook her dinner—all her favorite foods, the best cooking you've ever done. Then go out for a walk when the moon is out. A park is nice, or maybe a beach."

Souma nods as he takes all of this in. This sounds like something he can do. Takumi seems very certain of himself, like he is nothing less than an expert.

"Then at the right time, the right moment, you get down on one knee."

"Wow," Souma says. "Have you proposed a lot or something?"

"What? No!" Even through the phone, he knows Takumi is blushing fiercely. "I don't just propose to everyone, you know, it's supposed to be special."

"You sound like you really know what you're doing."

There are scuffling sounds on the other end, making Souma raise an eyebrow. Then the familiar chime of Isami's amused voice lilts through the line. "Nii-chan has been reading a lot of romance books lately because he just started dating someone new. He's already head over heels for him."

"Isami!" Takumi's voice is outraged in the background.

"Is that so?" Souma says, grinning.

"Give me the phone, Isami—"

"Good luck proposing to Tadokoro-san," Isami says cheerily.

"Thanks! I'll let you guys know how it goes."

"Don't worry, I'm sure it'll work out."

"Isami, I said give—"

Isami hangs up.

"How did you propose to mom?"

Jouichirou rubs his chin, a smile curling onto his face at the memory.

"She proposed to me, actually. It wasn't anything formal at all. I didn't keep to one place very well when I was younger, but when I met her, it was the most at home I'd felt in a long time. I still left every now and again to work jobs that were offered to me, but I'd always come back here."

Souma listens quietly, hands cradling a mug of tea as he sits across from his dad at the dining table.

Jouichirou goes on, "After a while, there wasn't anywhere else I wanted to go. So she said, 'Let's get married and stay here.' And we did."

"That simple, huh?"

"Yep. Then you were born." Jouichirou reaches out to ruffle Souma's hair, laughing when Souma swats at him.

When the laughter subsides, he asks, "You gonna do it soon?"

"I think so."

His smile crinkles the corners of his eyes. "Good."

"But I haven't decided how exactly I should do it." Souma swirls the tea in his mug, watching the stray tea leaves spin circles.

"I don't think you can go wrong with keeping it simple."

"I just… want it to be special. Because she's special."

When he gets no response, he looks up from his mug and finds Jouichirou's grin greeting him.

"Nevermind," Souma says immediately, starting to get up from his seat. "I'm leaving."

"No, no, wait!" Jouichirou waves him back down. "Come on, I'm just happy for you."

"Thanks." He takes a loud slurp of his tea.

"I mean it. She's a good one."

Souma swallows, the tea burning a warm path down his throat. "I know she is."

Megumi is running late but Souma doesn't mind. She texts him well ahead of time, explaining that her cooking class has gone a little long but she'll be there soon.

The kids miss you, she writes, and would love to see Souma-sensei again.

He grins at that, typing out a reply. He should have time this week to help out with a lesson or two, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy seeing her students.

He waits on a rooftop garden where they agreed to meet, a bouquet of white carnations resting on the table he's seated at. As the evening sky changes from pink and orange to cool purple and blue, the lights strung up through the garden blink into life like stars dangling from the tree branches.

In his pocket, his phone buzzes with a million texts from everyone he's spoken to about his plans for tonight. It would be impossible to answer all of them so he's long since stopped trying, but he hopes to have good news to share with them later.

He doesn't feel scared. When every day together has felt like a journey into something new and wondrous, all he can really do is look forward to the next step. He wants to believe Megumi feels the same.

The entrance to the rooftop garden opens, and when Souma turns to look Megumi is there.

Loose strands of her hair sway in the evening breeze, and when she tucks them behind her ear Souma can see the glint of earrings, the birthday present he bought for her while he was in Paris working for Shinomiya. She's wearing a yellow dress and white flats and her eyes light up when she sees him.

"Souma-kun," she says, a smile spreading across her face like a warm sunrise.

She is beautiful.

He loves her. He really, really does.

"Megumi." He grins back.

There is a little velvet box in his pocket dying to be taken out. But he waits. There is dinner first, waiting on the table set just for them in the center of the garden. And before that there are flowers and conversations because he wants to know how her day has been. Patience is difficult to hold onto when he wants to ask her right now, but there's no need to rush.

When he holds out the flowers for her and Megumi gasps, taking them and laughing in delight, reaching out to squeeze Souma's hand in hers, he knows they've got all the time in the world.