Summary: Erina is tired and Souma likes her a lot.

A/N: this is my first SouRina fic so lemme know what you think. I hope you guys like it!

...

Erina just wanted to go home.

Even Hisako had gone back and here she was, wasting her time on some stupid work that she wasn't even able to concentrate on. Her eyes kept drooping and she was about to fall asleep on her desk any minute now.

Taking on the Headmaster's place as a seventeen year old was really getting to her.

She had to look after her Grandfather's previous contracts and make sure that her Father's contracts were taken well care of. She was thankful for Hisako for helping her through this by looking after other arrangements and jobs. Erina couldn't thank her enough for all that her best friend had done for her. Even her friends from the Polar Star Dorm visited her sometimes. Usually they came with food and invitations to come over for dinner.

Mostly it's Yukihira-kun who comes over to drop by some stuff that the others sent. He usually drops by late, having to stay over to finish up his duties as the First Seat of Tōtsuki Elite Ten.

She remembers the first time he visited her, how surprised she was. It was like when they sat together in the train during the End of the Year exams all over again minus the beautiful display of stars. She giggles when she recalls his face when he compared the shimmering stars to salmon roe. That was the first time she had realized she didn't hate him like she thought she did. Overtime, he had become a cherished friend and ally.

While Erina believes that Yukihira-kun deserves to be the one at the top, she also believes that he needs to change her attitude towards his work. He leaves his paperwork to the last minute -getting poor Tadokoro-chan to help him and sometimes had the audacity to ask her for help.

She fumes just thinking about how he drops by whenever he wants. Strutting in like he owns the goddamn place. She usually forgives him when she sees that he brought her food or drinks -mostly made by him- after giving him a warning to not disturb her while she is working. Erina has to keep up with her reputation after all but it's not like he listens anyway.

It's also not like she doesn't want him to come by but it's not like she can tell him that to his face, Erina just stays happy when he sets foot in her office despite her half-hearted complaints.

She might not have told him about his food being delicious -at this point, it almost feels like a challenge, and Erina isn't one to back off. But she appreciates it when he brings her food. She isn't able to take proper breaks because of her schedule and him coming over is like a breath of fresh air. Since she doesn't have many taste-testing schedules anymore, she finds herself hungry a lot more. Erina probably would have dropped dead by now if it wasn't for her friends bringing her food from time to time.

These days, Erina is always feeling grateful. Something which she didn't feel when she was younger.

Thinking about Souma, she blushes when she remembers the knowing glances Hisako sends her way whenever the topic of the chef is brought up. Erina makes sure to pointedly ignore her when that happens, choosing to leave the conversation for a later -possibly never- date.

She would deny it if anybody ever said something but she had started to enjoy the company of the redhead. She has started looking forward to seeing the chef, enjoying their banter. She marvels at the fact that they could talk about anything. From the way no one is challenging him to a shokugeki to Yukihira's newest disaster squid and peanut butter dish.

She finds it surprising when he asks her about her day which is usually filled with her Headmaster duties and classes, still she likes telling him about her day and in return she listens to him telling her about the new dishes that he has in his mind or the various accidents which typically happens at the Dorm every other day.

She likes it when he asks her to taste his dishes. She likes it even more when that conversation turns into banter when she asks him what she'll get in return. Since his answer is always 'come on Nakiri, you're getting an opportunity to taste the First Seat's dish before anyone else. You should think of yourself to be really lucky' to her reply being 'the God Tongue isn't interested' to 'okay, I'll come if you bring me the newest edition of the manga that I'm currently reading'.

She doesn't realize when she falls asleep -with a warm smile on her face- thinking about her conversations with the chef or when the said chef enters her room.

"Yo Nakiri," Souma calls out, pausing when he sees her fast asleep on her desk.

Sheesh, if she was so tired then she should've just gone home. The work isn't going to run away from her.

He moves towards her, setting down the bag of food and drinks on her desk. Deciding to wake her up, he goes to stand next to her, his hands on her shoulder.

"Oi Nakiri! Wake up!" He calls out, his voice softer than usual, filled with fondness that he never was able to deny.

He stops after a few seconds after noticing that she isn't waking up. Damn, she must have been really tired.

Souma doesn't know why she likes working herself to the bone but it makes him want to visit her every day. He wants to make sure she eats properly and takes care of herself. Doesn't seem to like the thought of her being alone in her office at night.

He can't say that the only reason for his late night visits is to take care of her. He enjoys the blonde chef's company, how she is able to understand him and his cooking. He thinks about how much she had changed. From wanting to expel him to spending the rest of her school years with him -and the Dorm. Souma smiles down at her sleeping form, his hand unconsciously moving to remove the strand of hair hiding her face from him.

He brings his hand back to his side, surprised at what he had just done. He is suddenly filled with a emotion he hasn't felt before -more like hasn't acknowledged before, threatening to overflow. His heart starts beating faster and he can't stop himself as he moves to bend down next to her, until his face is right next to hers.

Souma, you're done for. He thinks as he stares at her. He can't help when his lips start moving on their own. He can't help the words that fall out. He can't help the way his eyes widen when he realizes what he just said.

"Erina, I like you."

He moves towards the door, his expression that of a deer caught in headlights. He looks back at her; grateful she is sleeping and therefore hadn't heard his slip up.

He's such an idiot.

Souma's hands are on the door knob when he hears a sound from behind him. He takes a moment to control his emotions and his expression before turning around to face the chef. He nearly staggers back when he notices her stretching out like a cat, her face still clouded with sleep. Cute.

"O-oh, you're awake, Er-Nakiri," he stutters out, mentally slapping himself for acting so weirdly. He sends her a small grin as he walks towards her desk. "I brought you food but you were sleeping so I was about to leave."

"Ah, is that so? Thank you for bringing me food, Yukihira-kun," Erina says, a happy tone in her voice. She leans forward to grab the bag of food before motioning for Souma to take a seat in front of her. He hesitates before sighing and sitting down.

"You should go home, Nakiri," he starts, looking anywhere but her eyes, "You're going to fall asleep while standing at this rate."

"You don't need to tell me what I should do or shouldn't do, diner boy. Remember, I'm still ahead of you," her response is automatic.

"Well, if you keep running yourself to the ground like that then not for long," he shot back. Erina wasn't sure if he was serious or was just teasing her, but she could detect something like worry in his voice which she mostly hears in Hisako's. She opened her mouth to call him out but thought better of it and took out the food.

"Ramen?" Erina asked as she looked at the containers filled with ramen, "Why is there so much of it?"

"Oh, one of it is for me," he grinned, taking a pair of chopsticks and one of the containers, "I was testing some recipes and wanted to make one that could beat Megishima-senpai's."

"You have a long way to go, Yukihira-kun," Erina says as she takes a bite of the ramen, while extremely delicious it still wasn't anywhere near the level of the former Third Seat's.

"I think so too. What do you think is missing?" Souma asks and soon they launch into a detailed description of his ramen. Erina points out what she thinks is unbalanced and what more is needed and what is missing. Souma brings up different ways to make it better and together they come up with various recipes to try. From there they talk about their days like usual.

As this goes on, Souma forgets about his mishap and tries to stop himself from looking at Erina's lips for too long, trying and failing to keep the blush at bay. Thankfully, she either doesn't notice it or she did but doesn't point it out -whatever it is, Souma is relieved.

They finish up the food and Souma gets up, stretching and not noticing the blonde chef's gaze lingering at his waist where his shirt just rode up. Erina gets up too, finally deciding to go sleep in her own bed and as she clears her desk she fails to notice the way the redhead stares at her.

They're a bunch of idiots.

They both move towards the door and Souma waits for her as she checks her room for anything that needed her attention. She gives him a smile when she is done which he returns. Together they move towards the exit only stopping when they realize they have to go in the opposite direction. Erina has a car waiting to take her towards her mansion and Souma plans to walk back to the dorm.

An awkward silence takes place over them and Erina fiddles with her hands while Souma rubs the back of his head. Having had enough of the awkward situation Erina turns to face Souma at the same time as he does while both of them opening their mouths at the same time.

"I-"

"Er-Nakiri-"

They stop and stare at each other before their faces split in a wide grin and they start laughing. After a few seconds of euphoric laughter, Souma nods at her to start first.

Abruptly, Erina's throat goes dry as she stares at the redhead in front of her. Her confidence flowing away from her like water and her thoughts and feelings get stuck in her throat, unable to come out. She coughs when the silence stretches out and takes a step back.

"Uh-h I'll see you tomorrow then?" she says instead, feeling like she just lost a very big opportunity. Something that she was sure she would come to regret later -when she is lying down on her bed looking around the empty room where there is nothing to distract her.

Souma can't do anything but stare at her, not knowing what she was feeling. Instead, he just sighed, when it comes to cooking he was able to take up any challenge but why is that when it comes to Erina his mind just stops. His emotions stop him from going a step further and he can't stop himself from wondering what would happen if he let his feelings go. If she would reciprocate or she would coldly reject him. These thoughts continue plaguing his mind and he can't help but groan.

"Yukihira-kun?" Erina calls out, confused and surprised at his reaction.

"Ahh I'm just a bit tired, see you tomorrow, Nakiri," he says before waving her goodbye. Erina smiles before walking towards her car. Souma can't help but feel disappointed, as if this was his only chance to confess.

He stares at her as she reaches her car and is about to turn back when he notices something which confuses him more. Erina had stopped in front of car, neither getting inside nor doing anything else. He's about to ask her if anything is wrong when she turns towards him with a fierce look on her face. Something he only saw during the Régiment de Cuisine. Needless to say, he is bewildered -whatever it was going to be, he wasn't expecting this.

"Yukihira Souma!" she shouts at him and he looks back at her helplessly.

"Y-yes?" he can't even act his like usual calm self. Man, Erina is something.

"You're an idiot." she states, acting as if she didn't just shout at him. Souma wasn't expecting this and he can't help but feel way out of his zone.

"Yah Nakiri! What are you on about? What did I do?" he asked, getting annoyed. This wasn't how he wanted this day to end.

Erina didn't say anything else, just moved towards him until she was standing right in front of him. Looking down at her, Souma was sure if he leaned into her a bit then their noses would touch. It took all his willpower to not just bend down and kiss her. He blushed a bit at their proximity and his thoughts.

"You're an idiot," she repeated with conviction before tilting her head and standing on her toes until her lips were right next to his ear. She couldn't believe she was going to do this, didn't know where this confidence was coming from. Maybe she knew that Souma would never tell him his feelings again or wouldn't take the first step. Whatever it was, she knew she had to do it first.

At least she would get bragging rights.

She leaned back and gave Souma a fond smile, "You can call me Erina from now on, Souma-kun."

Erina gave him a mischievous grin before running back to her car and leaving Souma with his face red like a tomato. Both from what Erina had just said and with the realization that she had heard his embarrassing confession.

I like you too, Souma.