Hey everyone! this is a reboot of my first story Holiday Trip. You don't need to read the first one in order to read this but if you want to anyway then freedom to you. Enjoy!

I'm aiming for the top. There's no way I'll lose to a bunch of people who've never served a customer in their life

"Now then…" the the old man stroked his long beard "What to do". In front of him was the syllabus for the Professional Essentials course, the final course that all third years must take to graduate.

'I need an instructor for this.' Senzaemon thought to himself. 'Everyone has their hands full and Chapelle's on vacation. Usually I'd have the first seat teach this since they usually take it at the beginning of the year…' as he looked through the roster for the class idly. He could call Dojima to come as a substitute until he found a permanent instructor but decided against it. The old man let out a groan to himself and leaned back in his chair.

"I'm getting too old for this I should just retire right now and let someone else deal with it" he sarcastically said knowing full well that the entire school would crumble without his directing. He looked at the roster again, only this time, he saw two very special names. At that moment a devilish idea came to him.

The old man chuckled to himself, "I don't have anything important to tend to this semester...maybe.."

The class sat in their chairs waiting for their instructor to enter. Speculation of who the instructor will be filled the room. Some said that it would be a hot guy, others said a hot girl, but most figured that it was Chappelle-sensei. All the chatter in the classroom came to a halt as the door opened.

In walked the princess of Totsuki, the Ice Queen of Culinary, the First seat, Nakiri Erina. The entirety of the class shifted to the wall furthest away from her and opted to make that their permanent residence for the walked casually into the class, not paying any attention to the behaviour of her classmates, and sat at the front of class. She had been in meeting after meeting and was honestly drained.

~Fifteen minutes pass since class was supposed to start~

'What kind of instructor not only doesn't list their name on the syllabus but is late to the first day of class. what an unprofessional' she thought irritably to herself. Usually when the teacher is late the students would be out and about in the classroom taking and such but in this case the class was dead silent. All of the other students sat quietly in their chairs in hopes of not angering the Gods tongue.

The sound of the classroom door opening caught everyone's attention, hoping that their teacher was finally here. Instead they were greeted with the sight of a disheveled, huffing and puffing redhead.

"Sorry I'm late sensei! I forgot to charge my phone last night so the alarm didn't go off and I was incharge of breakfast duty so.. Wait where's the teacher?"

"They're late." Erina said rather annoyed. "And you" she pointed to Yukihira "You should set a better example than coming to class late. You're the second seat for goodness sake!"

Soma leisurely walked to the front of the class and sat right next to Erina. "Hey! It's not going to be like that for long Nakiri! I'm going to take the first seat from you before we graduate"

"You can die trying Yukihira".

The rest of the class stared in silence at the back and forth between the first and second seat. Sure Some was much more approachable than Erina, but he still garnered fear from the student due to his cooking skill and his… eagerness for test subjects for his squid creations.

Erina groaned and leaned into her chair. Truth be told, she didn't mind Soma as much anymore. His energetic personality was a breath of fresh air from the professional setting that she's always in. Over the years, Soma made her try his food over and over again; each time better than the last. Erina found it truly impressive that he'd developed so much since their first year. Not that she'd ever tell him.

"I swear this is so stupid! Why do we even have to take this class?"

"Well Nakiri, you have to admit that Totsuki would have a bad image if they pushing out chefs who don't know anything about a professional kitchen" Soma said as he put his head down on the table. "Besides, you're taking the class with me so how bad is it really?" he said sending a grin Erina's way.

"THAT MAKES IT WORSE!" Erina yelled with a heavy blush and huffed "Once the instructor comes I'll make sure he's fired for inadequacy."

"Oh is that So? I'll start packing my bags then" a booming voice spoke with a chuckle.

Everyone turned to the door for the last time and dropped their jaws at the source of the voice. In walked the giant that is Totsuki's director.

"Good morning class, I am your instructor for Professional Essentials, Nakiri Senzaemon. Do apologize for my tardiness there were some issues that needed to be dealt with prior." looking to his granddaughter. "So should I leave? You said you were going to fire the instructor weren't you?"

"No! I mean- that was -" Erina stuttered and tried to respond only to be met with a booming laugh by her grandfather and Soma. The latter of which she dealt with via a notebook to the face.

"Relax Erina I was only joking." The jolly giant looked to Soma who responded "'Sup gramps! Golden years treating you well? I know you're the director and all but don't work yourself into the ground."

Smiling at his kind gesture Senzaemon replied "I've been well Soma, thank you for your concern" As knuckle headed as soma was, he knew to respect his elders and in turn, the old man respected him back.

The rest of the class however were effectively in a puddle on the ground. Not only did they have class with the first and second seat, but the teacher was the Food Demon himself?! Yeah… not the most encouraging work environment. They brought their attention to the front of the class as their instructor spoke.

"Now then, let's begin class. I know that there isn't much time left so We'll only do one assignment then you can all leave for the day. You will need to hone your skills if you wish to survive in a professional kitchen. However, remember that you will almost never be cooking alone but rather in a team. That being said, divide yourselves into groups of four so that we may begin."

The were eight-teen stunts in the class, not nearlyenough students for everyone to be in a group of four, and Senzaemon knew that.

Erina looked at the group of students across from her who all turned away in fear as they split themselves up then to the redhead next to her who had no intention to move why?

"Hmmm, it seems that there aren't enough students for everyone to have a group" the old man said stroking his long bear as he eyed the first and second seat. "Would you two be okay in a group of two"

Erina blushed at the implication but replied nonetheless "If I must" she said quietly.

"Sure! It'll be fun eh Nakiri?" Soma nudged Erina's shoulder playfully

"Whatever, just don't slow me down"

"Now then the first assignment is to make an appetizer. You can leave once you're done."

The director snapped his fingers and in came an army of staff pushing carts full of every ingredient one could think of.

"BEGIN"

The groups of students ran and fought to the carts desperate to get the best ingredients to make a dish for the Demon. Erina, however, turned to Soma and whipped her har.

"Let's get this straight, I will be leading the assignment and you will follow what I say and do as I tell you to, got it?"

"Oi Nakiri this is a group assignment remember we're supposed to work as a team," Soma said as he walked over to the ingredients. "Let's just have fun with it! Let see… what would be a better appetizer: peanut butter squid or Jelly squid?"

"Yukihira don't you dare!"

And so the cooking started and all the groups left one by one leaving only Soma and Erina left. Rather than leaving like the others, both of them insisted that the director try there dish. So he did.

"This is rather good not any chef could create such a dish"

Erina and Soma turned to each other and simultaneously argued that it was because of them

"However…"

The two students turned back to their teacher

"The flavors, although delicious, do not complement each other. It feels almost chaotic."

Erina looked down at her feet "I'm sorry grandfather, I've been in meetings back to back for the last couple of days". Soma put a comforting hand on her shoulder and was pleasantly surprised when she didn't shake him off.

"It's not a problem, but you need some time to relax Erina. You've been working far too hard"

Then director pondered ways to help his beloved granddaughter and came up with an idea.

"Soma-kun, Do you have any upcoming urgent matters?"

"No not really"

"Good, Erina do you remember the cabin that we use to stay at during summer when you were a child?"

"Yes?" Erina smiled as she remembered the times she spent there as a child.

"I want you to spend some much needed time to relax and recollect yourself at that cabin."

Erina's jaw dropped at her grandfather's request "WHAT?! I mean, I can't there's Elite 10 meetings ,classes, and not to mention all the taste testing for-"

Senzaemon raised his hand and stopped Erina's train of thought. "Don't worry about those, I'll deal with it. Erina.. Don't take this as a request from your director, take it from me as a grandfather, please.". He looked at her pleadingly with genuine worry.

"...okay, I'll go" Erina caved into her grandfather's request. She knew that he only had her best interests in mind and she couldn't really say no to him.

"Great! And Soma-kun will be joining you" Pointing over to the redhead

"WHAT?!" they both yelled in disbelief.

"I believe that it would do you good to be there with a friend and I'm sure that he has no issue with it, Right?" the giant of a man loomed over Soma. now anyone one else would have cowered at the sight but some just laughed.

"Sure, Pop's always told me that its better take breaks every once in a while and it sounds like fun."

Senzaemon clapped his hands together and spoke "Brilliant a car will be at your dorm to pick you up tomorrow. Oh and Soma-kun..." he walked over to Soma and put a firm, yet pleading hand on his shoulder. " Take care of her." Soma matched the directors eyes and gave him a sincere answer

"I will."

With everything said and done, Senzaemon left the two alone in the classroom. Soma looked at erina and rubbed the back of his head. "Sooooo looks like you're stuck with me." leading to Erina stomped her foot and pointing at him.

"Let's get this straight, I am only do this because I was asked to. If I had a choice I would NEVER choose to stay anywhere with you. Understand?!"

Erina was fully expecting him to laugh it off or tease her, instead she was met with a rarely seen serious Soma staring directly back at her.

"I know, but he's right Erina. You've been working way too much and the last thing he wants is for you to collapse"

Soma made his way in front Erina and stood face to face. Erina gazed into his golden eyes. She wanted to move but his eyes held her in place. Soma's eyes then went from serious to soft and concerned as he put a hand on her head.

"That's the last thing I would want too. So for the next week we're in each other's care." he said with a smile.

Erina looked back at Soma and gave a small nod after gently pushing his hand off her head.

"Don't call me Erina…"

Soma turned around and walked out of the room laughing to himself "Whatever you want princess, see you tomorrow."