Soma and his group had just come back from recon on Central's survivors hunt. Locking up his bike, Soma, Takumi, and Megumi all head into the dorm.

"Man, that was brutal…" Soma muttered.

"Tell me about it, Momo is a monster despite her size, and she's just the fourth seat. Imagine having to face the higher ups. The elite 10 are nothing to scoff at." Takumi said.

"It won't be easy." Megumi said, making Soma grin.

"Yeah, but that's what makes it fun."

"Soma-kun! This is serious! The elite 10 are a lot stronger than we thought." Megumi worried. Soma put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Then we just need to get stronger too. Shouldn't be a problem, we've all gotten a bit better since the Stagiaire period, and we have Isshiki-senpai. Plus, now we have another elite 10 member in our corner."

"Nakiri-san?" Megumi asked. Soma nodded.

"Yup, 'God's tongue' is on our side, sorta. We all keep challenging each other with our cooking and we'll take on Central no problem."

"Well said, Yukihira! In fact, why don't we have a challenge right now?" Takumi suggested, fire in his eyes.

"Nah, I'm beat. Been a long day, you know?" Soma said, making Takumi fall over.

"Hahahahah, nii-chan, you're so cool." A voice said behind them. The three turned to see Isami, Yuki laughing at Takumi while Fumio just chuckled.

"Oh, hey, you guys are back. How'd it go?" Soma asked. The three quickly became somber.

"Not good. The elite 10 demolished the competition. The only good news was that some of the reserve members lost. But the 10… Yukihira, it's a miracle you managed to beat one, even if he wasn't at his best."

"What did you expect, the 10 are the strongest students in Tootsuki, that much is certain. Defeating Central won't be easy." Fumio reminded.

"Yeah, we talked about that, but Yukihira made some good points on how to win."

"Oh, really?"

"Mhm, Soma-kun reminded us that we got better during the stagiaire period and now we have two elite 10 members on our side."

"Two?"

"You mean Erina-cchi?" Yuki asked.

"I get it, her "God's tongue" ability. You think you can use that to better yourselves." Fumio said.

"Yeah, even without that, she's a really good chef. She's the only first year in the elite 10 and she cleaned up during the festival."

"Do you think she'll be up for it though? With everything happening with her father, she doesn't seem to be in the best shape." Takumi interjected. Soma thought about that.

"You got a point… I'll check up on her, least until Hisako gets back." Soma said, going up to the room Erina was staying at for the time being and knocking on the door.

"Nakiri? You awake in there?"

"Yukihira-kun?"

"Yup, can I come in?"

"Just a second… ok, you can come in now." Soma did and closed the door behind him. Erina was sitting in the bed, brushing her hair.

"You just take a nap or something?" Erina nodded.

"Yes, just tidying myself up a bit."

"You look fine to me." Soma commented, making Erina blush a bit.

"Wh-what?"

"You look like you always do, even without the uniform, you still look all proper and whatnot."

"Oh, that's what you meant." Erina whispered.

"Hm? You say something?" Soma asked.

"No, nothing at all!" Erina quickly defended.

"Ok then…"

"How did your reconnaissance go?" Erina asked, filling the silence.

"Not that great, turns out the rest of the elite 10 are monsters. Only ones who lost were some of the new Central recruits." Soma said.

"Aren't you worried?"

"A little I guess, but I'm more excited."

"Why would you be excited?"
"Because now I can go up against all these strong chefs! Something like that doesn't come around too often." Soma said, grinning. Once again, Erina could see the shadow of the man she admired in Soma.

"Yukihira-kun, did you need something from me?" Erina asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Just checking up on you. You seemed pretty out of it from when Nakamura-senpai came."

"Yes, my father is a… difficult subject, but I was more surprised about yours."

"My dad?" Erina nodded.

"I never knew that Saiba-sama had a son, and to think you would be him."

"Man, it's so weird to hear people call him 'Saiba'. He's been Jouichirou Yukihira all my life, though I guess I didn't know too much about his past. Didn't even know he went here till a few months back, let alone him being second seat as well. Old man's got some explaining to do."

"Was Yukihira your mother's name?" Erina asked, making Soma tensed a bit.

"Yeah… guess so. Pops must've taken it when they got married."

"I didn't even know he got married."

"I guess there's a lot we don't know about him. Maybe could you tell me what you know?" Soma asked.

"Huh?"

"I know I asked for you to tell me sometime, but my curiosity's at an all time high. Do you mind?" Soma asked.

"I suppose not. Saiba, er, Jouichirou-sama came to cook for my family some years ago. After my… father was banished, he came and cooked the most delicious food I've ever tasted. It helped drown out what my father did. He set my 'God's tongue' into a blaze. His food took me to places I didn't know food could reach. Your father is one of the chefs I admire most in the world, so much so that I asked for a picture with him-" Erina couldn't stop herself from admitting the last part. She couldn't stop talking about her idol once she started.

"Hahah! You got a picture with my old man?" Soma laughed.

"Sh-shut up! Erase that from your mind, forget I said anything!" Erina replied.

"Can I see it?"

"Absolutely not!" Erina stonewalled.

"Oh, c'mon, please? It's just a picture of my own dad, I promise I won't laugh." Soma said.

"How can I believe you?"

"I swear on Yukihira's I won't laugh."

"What's that?"

"The dinner me and my dad run back home." Soma answered. Erina thought about it and marveled at herself for even entertaining the idea. Then again, it was his father.

"You promise?"

"I promise." Erina thought about it a bit longer before deciding.

"Very well." She got up and opened a bag she brought with her. She took out a small case and pulled out a picture from it and gave it to Soma, who grinned.

"You said you wouldn't laugh!"

"I'm not, just grinning. I didn't think you would be so young in the picture. What are you, 10 in this?"

"No, eight actually. That's when he came." Erina cleared up. This made Soma somber up to her surprise.

"Eight? So this was taken eight years ago?" he asked.

"Seeing as how I'm sixteen, yes it was."

"Sometime in May? Between the 7th and 18th." Erina assumed he meant to ask that as a question, but it was a statement of anything. She nodded, slowly.

"Yes, how did you know?"

"So that's where he went…" Soma said to himself. Erina wasn't used to seeing the redheaded boy like this, he was usually doing everything he could to get on her nerves or cooking, but now he was quiet.

"Yukihira-kun? Are you alright?" Erina asked, brining him out of his stupor.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, just… something makes a lot more sense now." Soma said, giving her back the picture.

"What would that be?"

"Wouldn't want to bore you." Soma said, some of the playfulness back in his voice, albeit somewhat forced.

"Now, now Yukihira-kun. I shared something with you, now it's your turn to share." Erina teased. Soma relented.

"Alright, fair's fair. Let me just sit down." Soma slid down the wall he was leaning on to sit on the floor, his legs huddled against him.

"My mother's name was Mai Yukihira…" Soma started. Erina took note of the past tense.

"Was?"

"Yeah… she passed away eight years ago." Soma said.

"Oh my… Yukihira-kun, I didn't mean to…" Erina started but Soma stopped her.

"I know, just… I haven't really talked about this in a while, this could be good for me." Soma said, hugging his knees closer to him. Erina nodded and waited for him to continue.

"We were driving home from the grocery and another car crashed into us. I was in the passenger seat so I didn't really get hurt, just got nicked by a piece of glass." Soma said, pointing his thumb to the scar on his brow.

"But my mom… she was driving… got the worst of it. The ambulance took us to the hospital and my dad was there right away. They patched me up quick, but mom… they couldn't help her. She held on for a few days, and we got our goodbye's in. She died on May 2nd."

"Yukihira-kun…" Erina whispered, but Soma was to engrossed in his story.

"Pops fell into a funk after that, we both did. But it was bad for him. He still got up every day, cooked and cleaned the diner, but it was like… like he was just going through the motions. A few days later he got a call and told me he was going away for a while for work, left me with this kind old lady I'd visit every now and then. He left on the 7th of May." Soma said.

Erina was mortified. Here she was, just talking about how fantastic it was having Soma's father cook for her when he and his son had just lost the most important woman in both of their lives. Looking back on it, Erina never really asked about Jouichirou's personal life.

"Soma… I'm-"

"Let me finish, Nakiri." Soma interrupted. Erina waited for the blame, for the anger she thought was coming for taking a father from his son when he needed him.

"My dad came back on the 19th, and the first thing he did when he got back, was tell me a joke."

"Huh?"

"He told me a joke about how the chicken crossed the road because no one cooked it."

"That's…"

"Really bad, I know. One of the worst jokes he's ever told me. But I laughed anyway, not because it was funny, but because it came from my dad. When he left, he was this almost broken man but when he came back? Man, Nakiri, when he came back, he was cracking jokes and smiling again, putting his heart into the food again. He was still sad, yeah, we both were… we both kinda still are. But my dad was back." Soma said, eyes shining, a warm grin making its way to his face.

Erina was expecting him to be furious at her, blaming her, calling her selfish or anything. She wasn't ready for this.

"I always knew something happened to him on that trip. Didn't know what it was 'til now, didn't really care because whatever it was, it made my dad smile again, made him happy. Now I know that was you, Erina. You made my dad smile again." Soma told her. The way he was looking at her, with such sincere gratitude, made Erina blush slightly. This was something new for her.

''Thank you, Erina. I mean it, thank you for helping my dad. I owe you."

"Y-you're welcome. And you don't owe me, you're trying to defeat my father so-"

"Yeah, but I was gonna do that anyway. And besides, I'm doing that because I can't stand what he's doing, doesn't sit right with me. You helping my dad, that's between us. If you need me for anything, you just give me a call and I'll be there." Soma promised, once again bringing a blush to Erina's face.

"This man is bad for my heart!" she thought.

"Well, if you'd really like to repay me… maybe you could tell me more about him?" Erina tentatively asked, making Soma grin. Soma spent some time telling Erina stories about him and his father, some she couldn't believe like their ongoing war for their 'best worst dish'. Others she had no problem believing, like Soma's 490th consecutive loss against his father.

"Wow, 500 straight losses."

"Only 490!" Soma hotly defended, making Erina giggle.

"Hey, that's something new." Soma commented.

"What is?"

"You're laughing, I think it's the first time I've seen you do that."

"Well, I suppose I just enjoy hearing about your failures, Yukihira-kun." Erina teased.

"Man, you're brutal, Nakiri." Soma laughed, bringing his hands up behind his head, causing the headband tied around his wrist to flop onto his face.

"Yukihira-kun, I have to ask, why do you carry that headband with you?"

"Hm? This thing? It's kind of a lame story. Whenever my dad cooks, he'd tie his hair into a ponytail, his way of getting serious. I thought it was cool so I wanted something like that too. Tried doing the ponytail thing but my hair wasn't long enough, though I did grow it out a little so maybe now…" Soma mumbled, getting distracted by his hair. Erina grunted and brought him back.

"Er, right. Anyway, since I couldn't do the ponytail thing, my mom gave me this to wear when I'd cook serious. She told me it was a magic headband but I knew it wasn't. Still, I finally had my own thing and I was super excited about it. Been using it ever since."

"Your mother sounds like she was a very kind woman."

"Yeah… she was." Soma said wistfully. The two fell into another silence, both of them unsure how to continue until there was a knock at the door.

"Erina-sama?" Hisako's voice rang through the door.

"Come in."

"Erina-sama, I'm back from- Yukihira? What are you doing here?" Hisako asked, surprised that the redheaded chef was in Erina's room.

"Just keeping Nakiri company 'til everyone got back. How'd it go?" Soma asked, getting up off the floor.

"Not good, I'm afraid. Central is stronger than we thought." Hisako informed.

"Yeah, we all kinda figured that out too. Just means we're all gonna have to get stronger, right, Nakiri?" Soma asked.

"We?"

"Yeah, you and Hisako are practically members of the dorm now that you've seen Isshiki-senpai's naked apron routine. Means we all gotta help each other get better. Now that we got you two in our corner, Central better watch out."

"I don't know if two people could make that much of a difference…" Erina mumbled.

"You kidding? Hisako here made it to the top 8 in the elections, and I'm telling you, Nakiri, you should've seen her in the Stagiaire. And then we got you, 'God's tongue' herself, 10th seat in the elite 10. You got out 400 servings in the training camp, plus you and Hisako did great in the festival. The way this dorm works is we clash against each other with our dishes, building on each other's ideas. With you two here, our cooking's sure to evolve." Soma assured. The two girls were touched by the praise.

"Soma… tha-" sadly, Hisako was cut off by Soma slamming his fist into his palm.

"Man, all this talk about our cooking growing is getting me fired up! I'm gonna go find Takumi and take him up on his offer to have a match. See you two later." Soma announced, going off to find the Italian chef, leaving the girls by themselves.

"Well, I should've seen that coming." Hisako sighed. "I'm sorry about him, Erina-sama. He can be quite… fickle, but he means well. I hope he didn't trouble you while I was away."

"No, it was fine, Hisako. We just… talked, mainly about his father."

"I'm still shocked he has such a father, who would have thought?" Hisako asked. Erina nodded but stayed quiet.

"Is something wrong, Erina-sama?"

"No, it's just… everything that's happened, my father coming back, meeting the people at this dorm, Yukihira-kun's father, it's all so much but… but for some reason, I'm anxious."

"Anxious?" Hisako asked, Erina nodded.

"Yes, but I think it's a good anxious. All my life, everything has been planned out, everyone is who I thought they would be, but now? Now everything is changing and despite it all, despite all the struggle I know is coming, I think I'm… excited. Excited for the challenge." Erina explained. Hisako was taken back, Erina was usually so calm and composed, always sure of herself, confident in her ability and status. Now, things were more bleak for her than they'd ever been and she had a spark in her eye that Hisako had only seen in a certain redheaded chef before.

"Could this be the spark of Erina-sama's fighting spirit?" Hisako thought to herself. The pinkette smiled and knelt to Erina's eye level.

"Then it's like Yukihira said, with us at this dorm, Central better watch out." Hisako said. At these words, Hisako swore she could see that spark in Erina grow just a bit more. Erina smiled, the first true smile Hisako had seen in some time.

"Well then Hisako, let's get started."

(A/N. Well, what did you all think? This is my first shokugeki story so go easy. If you liked it or have any constructive criticism, key word being "constructive", please leave a review.)