Erina may have solved one problem, but the other one – the main problem – still existed.

She'd shaken up Soma with her seductive tactics, but her tongue still felt worn and drab. The gourmet food she had been given for breakfast was… well, it was so boring that she didn't even remember what she'd had. Was it an omelet… or some professional hash brown? Erina strained her brain, but her mind came up blank.

Boring.

She didn't know what the recipe had been, but it had been boring.

Her chef coat fit her voluptuous body, hugging all her curves. Her blonde hair was tied in a crisp, neat ponytail and her plum eyes scoured the room with distaste. She couldn't believe she had to participate in classes regularly now. Most of the time, she'd been exempt from classes because of her talent that knew no bounds, but in Year 12, the competition had simmered down to only the best, and she'd been told she had to compete for fair examination.

Pfft. Compete. She was better than all of them anyway.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Soma grinning eagerly for their assignment of the day. He didn't look disturbed from what had occurred the evening before, but Erina still kept her eyes away from him. Even though she'd shaken him up, she herself had been quite uncomfortable. Being so close to him… he'd smelled like crisp spring celery and smoked bacon combined.

Which sounded weird, but… it had been quite… enticing…

"Get a grip," Erina whispered to herself.

In the front of the class, the professor, a specialist in vegetarian dishes, clapped his hands together. "Okay. We've been doing a lot of individual assignments because it's the last year, and we need your originality to shine… however, for a nice break, we thought we'd do a partnered assignment."

Erina groaned. Someone to slow her down. She couldn't even partner with Hisako because her friend had to rest. The professor started pairing people off.

Maybe she'd partner with someone that would let her do the cooking.

She didn't need someone just as headstrong as her. If the person she was partnered with felt like pushing their ideas on the dish, or taking control in the kitchen, she'd definitely burst a vein. If the person was sweet, submissive, and revered her… she could do all the cooking, and they could do the boring prep work. Yes, that sounded about right. Someone submissive, dutiful, obedient…

"Erina."

Erina straightened up.

The professor read his clip board. "You'll be with… Soma."

In an instant, heat flooded her body, but she forced herself to nod curtly. She refused to look at Soma, who was either dreading it as much as her, or grinning cruelly. Taking a peek, he was giving her a thumbs up, smiling widely. Great, she thought, she'd only encouraged him with her incident last night.

"Come here," she mouthed, pointing to her kitchen station.

He frowned, and pointed to his station, which was at the front. "Closer to the ingredients," he mouthed back.

She shook her head vehemently. She was not moving. "You come here," she hissed through her teeth.

He pursed his lips. "The ingredients!" he mouthed once more, arms flailing. "Closer!"

Stupid Soma…

With a huff, she squared her shoulders, and moved down the aisle. He had a point about the ingredients, so she wasn't going to be too stubborn. Many of the guys eyed her appreciatively as she walked down. When she reached the station, she wanted to step on Soma's foot, but then she'd be like… who was that other diner cook? Right, Takumi. Then she'd be like him. But she was respectable. She was above them all.

Soma shot her a look, and she shot him one back. She wasn't sure what his look meant, but hers was one of pure contempt.

The professor said, "Now that you're a paired up, the assignment is simple. Cook a simple vegetarian dish."

"That's all?" someone called.

"There is a small requirement," the professor said. "It can be anything you'd like, however, you're not allowed to use meat alternatives like fake meat or tofu."

"What?" Mito said, outraged from the back. "But meat is the star of any dish!"

"No, it's not," the professor said calmly.

As people complained, Erina eyed Soma with a fervent look. "We're making vegetarian chili."

"That's so typical," Soma protested. "Let's make something more unique! Like…" His eyes lit up. "Like – like a type of soup! Have you ever made white gazpacho sou-"

"Soup is way more typical than chili," Erina snapped. "I'm the chef here. You're… the sous chef."

Soma's eyes darkened. "I'm not just going to cut vegetables."

"That's all you're good for," Erina said.

"It's year 12 and I'm still here. How have I not proved myself to you?"

"You got lucky," Erina muttered, face warming.

"Lucky," Soma echoed in disbelief.

The professor hit the timer, and a ding rang around the room. Erina smoothed out her hair, and calmly said, "We better get ingredients for a good chili," she said.

"Soup," Soma said. "I think you meant to say soup."

They stared at each other. Then with a war cry, Soma charged for the ingredients. Not about to lose, Erina skirted her way through, smiling smugly when everyone parted way for her. Soma may have been physically stronger, but she was going to get the ingredients for her chili first. Anyway, what kind of person thought soup was unique?

"By the way," the professor called. "Ingredients are limited. Choose wisely."

Soma's eyes widened, and they met eyes. They both needed a lot of similar vegetables for their dishes.

Oh, it was on.

Both of them dived.

….

One hour later…

"What… is this?" the professor said skeptically.

Erina stood uncomfortably in front of the professor, feeling ashamed of her dish for the first time in… well, ever. It was a heap in a bowl – a sloppy slew of vegetables with some white soup poured over it. Soma didn't look much happier next to her, tugging uncomfortably at his chef apron strings. "It's, um, it's… vegetarian chil-" she started.

"… soup," Soma interrupted.

"Chili," Erina said through gritted teeth.

"Soup," Soma responded brightly.

"Chili," Erina said, and this time, she couldn't resist. She stepped on his foot.

He winced. "Fine! It's Chili soup!"

The professor stared at it regrettably. Then with his spoon, he reluctantly took a spoonful, and shoved it in his mouth. Immediately, his face recoiled, and his lips twisted. It took a moment for him to get words out, and even longer for him to swallow down the food. After a painful few minutes, he said, "I expected great work from two chefs as talented as you both… but this… this is… this has set the bar really low." He grimaced. "How much salt did you put in here?"

"Just a few pinches," Erina said.

Soma whitened. "Wait? You added salt?"

"Yes," Erina said sharply.

"Oh… well, I added salt too."

"What?!"

"I didn't know you added it!"

"What kind of sous chef are you?!"

"I wasn't going to sit on the sidelines! My soup would have turned out great!"

"So would my chili."

The professor tried to intercept. "I'll let this one slide because I'm sure it was an unfortunate accident-"

"You ruined everything," Erina hissed.

"Me? You're the one who won't treat me like I'm your equal!"

"Equal?" Erina laughed harshly. "You wish!"

"That's why we did bad. Because of your attitude."

"You're just going to ignore the fact that you added too much salt?"

"I didn't know."

The professor nervously scratched his head. "It's okay. Look, it's not a big deal, mistakes happen-"

"Well, you should have known!" Erina said. "How the hell did you run a restaurant?"

"My father wasn't a snob! That's how!'

"At least I don't kiss people randomly!" Erina sputtered out.

Soma flushed slightly. "I'm not the one who was acting all seductive before!"

The class snickered.

"Shut up," Erina said viciously.

"Make me," Soma said.

The professor clapped his hands. "Okay, that's enough-"

"I HATE YOU!" Erina cried.

"AS IF YOU HAVEN'T SAID THAT ENOUGH TIMES!"

The professor twitched.

"YOU DON'T BELONG HERE!"

"WELL, I'M HERE- SO DEAL WITH IT!"

The professor snapped his ruler on his desk, and the whipping sound went around the room. Erina and Soma both froze.

"Both of you gets E's," the professor said calmly. "And detention after classes."

"But- it was her fault-"

"-It's not fair – he's an idiot-"

"Detention," the professor said crisply. "You'll both be cutting onions until your eyes burn." He eyed them sharply. "Together. In the same room."

Later, as she grabbed her bag and headed toward the detention hall, Erina mused with ire, it wasn't the cutting onions or the staying after school that was really a punishment. It was his last words, together, in the same room, that irked her the most.