Hey guys! Thanks for all the reviews! Today I'm back with another new chapter and it's one of my favorites! I hope you enjoy!

Soma woke up to the sun shining in his eyes through the balcony window. After a few seconds of trying to ignore it, Soma decided to roll over in hopes to obtain a few extra minutes of sleep. However, when he went to roll over, he was stopped by two arms wrapped snugly around him. Erina had both of her arms wrapped around Soma's Torso, in a way that she was basically pressed up against him. He was going to have a fun time teasing her when she woke up, that was for sure. In the meantime he decided to remain still to let her get her rest, and he placed his hand on his face to block out the ever present sun. After remaining like this for a few minutes, he heard a few soft whispers from Erina and he listened in.

"No… don't go... don't go Soma…"

Soma turned in the bed so he could take a peek at Erina without the risk of waking her up. Confirming his suspicions, she had been talking in her sleep. She was probably having a bad dream. He decided that it was best to wake her now.

"Erina"

"Zzz-huh?"

At his call, Erina's eyes slowly opened, taking in a similar sunny sight that Soma had a few minutes ago.

"What were you dreaming about?"

"I was not dreaming!" she responded quickly, trying to forget the dream she had

"She's certainly feisty for early in the morning." Soma thought

"Well, you were talking in your sleep. Asking me to not go or something. What was that about?"

"I just had a dream that…" she took a deep breath before continuing "That you left to go on one of your training trips, and I tried to stop you and then something bad happened to you on the trip."

"Well you don't need to worry about that happening, at least not right now."

"And why is that?"

"Because I'm about to die right now from you squeezing me so hard!"

Upon realizing her position, Erina's first reaction was to retreat her arms back into her own personal space, but enjoying the touch, she decided to just relax the tension that was in her muscles.

"Sorry about that. I-I just know you're sturdily built so this kind of thing doesn't have much of an effect on you compared to others!"

"You got that right. Most other people would have suffocated an hour ago."

"Was I really clutching you for that long?!"

"No, only a few minutes actually."

Soma then shifted towards Erina and took one of his hands and brushed a lock of her hair out of her face and upon meeting her eyes smiled and said

"Good morning, Erina."

While he was facing away Erina was able to keep the butterflies out of her stomach for the most part, but once he turned around and faced her she just about overheated.

"G-good morning Soma. I didn't realize you were a morning person."

"Oh I'm not really, but I am really excited for today! I think it's going to be awesome talking to Ramsey and the others!"

"Just make sure you behave Soma! I don't want to be responsible for any of your shenanigans!"

"Oh, you mean like that one time I got really drunk at that Polar star dorm party and crashed through the window?"

"Yes! That was sooo embarrassing. Do you know how embarrassed I was having to explain to everyone how the damages occurred?"

"But you have to admit it was a little funny."

"Ok. It was a little funny. But you also could have seriously gotten hurt! Because of that incident, no alcohol for you while you are at the event! You'll have to save it for afterwards."

"Aww C'mon Erina. You know I like a good drink and I'm sure this place has the best stuff"

Soma gave her a pouting face which was becoming really hard to resist. She turned away from him and continued

"I know you do. But can you control yourself… for me?"

Soma waited there for a good few seconds wondering and hoping she was going to add some sort of reward for him to sweeten the deal but when nothing came he responded.

"Ok fine. But just because it's you. You should at least let me do whatever I want tomorrow."

"In fact, I will. Tomorrow you get to be the leader since I'm the leader today. I'll even allow you to give me some sort of rule like the one I'm giving you right now."

"That sounds fair. I'm in!"

Soma jumped up from the bed and landed on his feet and shouted.

"Ok, now I'm excited. How about I cook us some breakfast?"

"Actually, I'll cook for us today. I want to continue improving my breakfast skills."

Soma gave her a questioning look

"But like, don't girls normally take a lot longer to get ready for stuff than guys?"

"I'm no normal girl. Besides, I want to cook for you today."

Soma connected the dots inaccurately this time and came to the following conclusion

"Oh, so you're trying to make me say delicious. I never knew you were so sneaky Erina, attacking so early in the day."

With this comment he headed towards the show to get cleaned up for their upcoming day.

"I'm glad he misread the intentions behind my actions, I really just want him to have a stress free day, not having to worry about impressing me or anyone else." she thought, as she began cooking breakfast for them. Little did she know the exact opposite was about to happen.

After 15 minutes, Soma was out of the shower in the tailor made tux Erina had gotten for him a few years back, and she had to admit he cleaned up pretty nicely. Everything about the tux was black except for his tie which was a bright red color, to match his hair. He stepped around the corner and tried to look as macho as he could when he asked

"How do I look?"

Erina giggled and replied

"You look good. Really good actually. I think that tie suits you especially."

"Really? I always thought the tie made me look silly. Like my hair is already red so why does the tie have to be the same color?"

Erina left his question in the air and placed a nice hot plate of eggs in front of him, which he seemed to be really excited for. She then sat down opposite from him at the table with her own plate.

"This looks really good. I'd even venture to say it's like diner food. Did Yukihira style cooking rub off on you after all?"

"Q-Quiet! I'll let you know that nowadays I'm well versed in all kinds of dishes, not just expensive ones. And this is all that we had bought, so I had to make due with what we had!"

Soma took a bite of the eggs, and then the bacon which accompanied it. He smiled

"Ya know, this is actually really good. Maybe even good enough to be served at Yukihira's"

"Of course it's good enough to be served at a diner! This is me, Erina Nakiri, top of the culinary world after all."

After the two had finished eating Erina went to change. She came out wearing a black pencil skirt and a red blouse, which was the same color as Soma's tie meaning they matched. Soma guessed that Erina had planned for that. He looked her up and down and noted that while she was still dressed modesty and professionally, she looked sexy as hell. He would have to watch out for snobby businessmen staring at her for sure.

"You look really nice, but why do I feel overdressed?"

"Because if I didn't say to wear a tux, you would have showed up in a T-shirt or something! The goal is to make Totsuki look good, and not like it's just a bunch of low class diner kids going there?"

"But what if those diner kids are really good chefs?"

She turned away from him, hiding her blush

"Most of the time, that's not the case. I've come to understand that there are exceptions, but unfortunately some people don't share that thinking."

"Oh, so like you when we first met."

"...Yes."

"Well I'm glad you changed. Let's have fun today, alright?"

Soma grabbed Erina's hand and she contentedly followed his lead as the two exited the room. Luckily, the place they were headed to was within walking distance, so it gave the two the opportunity to get some fresh air. On the streets of Los Angeles there were a lot of interesting characters, some of which Erina was uncomfortable with due to the sheer strangeness. She clung closer to Soma which he noted. He secretly let out a smirk

"Is this your first time in a city, Erina? You're acting all skittish."

She loosened her grip on his arm but still kept hers around his.

"It just… the people here are so weird! I've known American cities were a lot weirder than Japanese ones, but they really aren't holding back up. That guy back there was dressed like a clown!"

Soma laughead, and replied

"That was a street performer. That's how some people make their living in the city, entertaining others on the street. It makes me feel glad I can make a living doing what I truly enjoy."

That last bit which Soma said triggered a bit of reflection for her. She always knew she was well off and was lucky to be that way, but she never really imagined people that weren't as well off, at least not until her adult years. After liking Soma she began to become more of things other than the high class world. They walked past a drummer and Soma put what appeared to her to be an American five dollar bill into the man's basket. She smiled at how one man could be so selfless, and how this same man was here, choosing to be with her. Shortly after Erina's reflection, the two arrived at the cooking conference venue. It was at another massive hotel, in the ballroom of the place which was huge.

"Wow this place sure is big. I'm assuming we don't have the wrong place,"

"Yup! We've got the right place. Just follow my lead."

"Okay"

The two entered the venue and went to the desk which was stationed in front of the ballroom. Erina began speaking to the woman who was helping out the guests there.

"Hello miss, I'm here for the cooking conference today. I'm Erina Nakiri, my name should be the first one from Japan."

"Oh yes, I remember you from last year, Miss Nakiri. I'm surprised to see you here with someone. And such a handsome man at that. From what I remember, you normally came to this event alone, right?"

Erina looked into the women's eyes and though she didn't detect anything suspicious, the woman must have been around the same age as them and was fairly attractive. She wasted no time setting things clear.

"Yes, I usually would come alone, but today I am here with a date. His name is Yukihira Soma, he's pretty well known in Japan."

"Yo!" is the extent of greeting he had for the woman. He knew this woman was pushing Erina's buttons.

"Well, have a nice time." the women responded.

"Thanks." Erina replied.

Erina grabbed Soma's hand and led him into the ballroom where everything was set up. The place was indeed huge, with currently only about 50 people in the place, mingling about. There were a few tables where people could sit down for conversations, a sort of stage which had a podium which Soma expected was used for presentations, and a couple temporary cooking stations which had been set up, which peaked Soma's interest the most. Soma also noticed there was a poker table there for some reason, and he decided he would head there to see what the American games were like. One of the reasons why Soma liked to travel to other countries was to participate in their culture, and that included their games of course. Once Erina had given Soma a chance to take in the sights, she pulled him to the side in a spot where she was sure no one else could hear them

"Ok Soma, before you go crazy, I would like to let you know a few things. First this is a business meeting for me. That means I can't be having fun with you all night, there are actual things I need to take care of, things that can really benefit Totsuki in the future. And also..."

Soma just nodded his head, and Erina was surprised at how understanding he was being. She then continued.

"And also no flirting! The last thing we need is for you to cause a scene."

Soma looked at her and gave her a smirk

"C'mon Erina, first no alcohol and now no talking? You know I just say whatever I'm thinking and others interpret it as flirting. I'm just a talkative guy, ya know"

"W-well, just watch yourself! I won't be able to concentrate properly if I'm thinking you're going off with some other girls, or something."

Soma closed the distance between them so they were now in arms length. He tilted up her chin up with his hand and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. He then gave her a genuine grin and ruffled her hair.

"Silly Erina! You don't need to worry about that. As you told me before, no funny business! It's cooking talk all night for me!"

Soma then headed off and began a conversation with the person nearest him about the newest recipe he came up with, and she could only smile. It was really silly of her to think of Soma doing anything like that behind her back, she knew. As for her, she put up her more icy personality she would be using the rest of the day with most of the other attendees, especially those who were clearly silver spoons just in it for the money. It was currently a few minutes past 11, and the next 4 hours for her were filled with taking notes on the cooking curriculums everyone presented. She was also presenting, but she was well prepared and always left everyone amazed. And after that she had meetings with several influential people, some which she loathed, but being the headmistress she had to deal with them. After that it would be dinner time and she was looking forward to this with Soma. She had even researched beforehand that there was a third location of Shino's in Los Angeles, and she was planning on taking him. With a small smile, she entered work mode.

On the other hand, Soma was also in work mode, but in a different way. He was going up to each and every person introducing himself and talking about everything cooking. He was determined to use the conversations to boost his skills, and he was enjoying swapping recipes with a few of the chefs. At one point there was this middle aged dude who sort of brushed him off, which left Soma confused but he really paid it no further mind. He was determined to find the man he considered the big name aside from Erina. And that was Gordan Ramsay. After maneuvering around the room mingling for a couple of hours, he stopped when he saw Erina giving her presentation. As he expected, it was really well done, and when she finished he locked eyes with her and gave her the thumbs up causing her to quickly blush, before she returned to her stoic personality.

He turned around to see a bit of a crowd was forming around the cooking stations. Curious, he headed over to see what the commotion was, and he found the man he was looking for. Gordon Ramsey was cooking some Scallops and Cod and doing a demonstration in front of all of the other guests. He was making dishes for a whole bunch of people, and Soma had to admit that he was certainly a top caliber chef who could even rival himself. He was wondering why no one was approaching him though. Being Soma, he went straight towards the chef.

"I hear you're pretty famous around here, Gordon Ramsey. I suppose I should introduce myself."

"Oh I've heard of you. You're Yukihira Soma. Only a complete donkey wouldn't know who one of the top two chefs in Japan is."

A few of the people gathered around shuddered, obviously not knowing who Soma was. The more competent ones, the ones that were actually chefs, obviously knew who he was. Soma chuckled at Ramsay's response and replied, extending out his hand".

"It's nice to meet you, Gordon."

Ramsey shook his hand and replied

"Likewise Soma. I suppose you've been up to something lately, I haven't heard about you causing a storm in some remote part in the world in a while."

"That's right. I'm working as an instructor at Totsuki nowadays, so I don't have very much time to travel currently."

"And why the hell would a man as free spirited as you do something like that?"

"Well, Erina Nakiri personally aske- begged me to be an instructor there, so I couldn't really refuse"

Soma knew this was an extension of the truth, as she hadn't really begged him to be an instructor she just really wanted him to, but he wasn't about to waste this opportunity to pump up his ego a little bit.

"You must have done something really special to reign in someone like her. She even gives me trouble, and most people are scared of me."

"Want to have a sort of competition? I heard you host those kinds of things sometimes in America."

"That's true, but no one has ever challenged me before. Are you sure you're up for it?"

"You've got it"

Soma tied his headband around his head, the one which Erina had gotten for him, as he was getting serious. He seriously wanted to win this, and he knew he was up against the best in the industry. The theme was meat, and Ramsey went with a traditional New York Strip steak while Soma went with classic pork chops. They were both very simple dishes, but they were also easy to mess up and only a truly great chef could ascend them to the next level. This was as much a contest against each other as it was making the dish perfect in every way.

The two finished their dishes simultaneously, and presented them to three of the more competent chefs who were watching, and also to each other. As the judges were eating, they had similar reactions to both of them, stunned by how delicious a simple meat dish with no tricks could be. If they were against anyone else, either of them would have won by a landslide for sure. After careful contemplation, the judges arrived at their decision. The first judge voted for Ramsey, the second judge voted for Soma, and the third judge… Also voted for Soma. He had won in a close 2 - 1 match. Ramsey was the first one to congratulate Soma

"Wow man, that was some good stuff. One of the top dishes I've ever had."

"Yours too! The tenderness of the meat was just perfect, cooked down to the exact second probably."

Soma then stopped in thought for a second. Before him was truly a man who could make Erina say delicious. He spoke so only Ramsey could hear, and asked blunty

"Do you have a wife?"

Ramsey just laughed a bit and replied

"Yes, and I love her very much. You don't have to worry about me taking Erina from you. I've heard about your promise to her."

"Whew, good. Just thought I needed to get that out of the way. Sorry if that was so sudden"

"Nah, you're fine."

For the next hour, Gordon and Soma talked amongst themselves about different recipes, cooking techniques, and restaurant styles too. They even began opening up about their personal lives and by the end of their conversation they exchanged contact information and could even be considered friends. Gordon said that since Soma won against him in the contest, he could get a free meal at his local restaurant, and that he could even bring Erina along for free too.

It had been several hours since they had spoken, and he was already missing the blonde princess despite their short time apart. What he saw he was not what he was expecting. A clearly drunk Erina was currently stumbling towards him, clearly trying her best to walk straight but failing to do so. When he saw her he rushed towards her so he could support her so she wouldn't fall over, which seemed like it could happen at any moment.

"Erina! You told me no alcohol and look at you now! What happened?"

"Ohhh, heyy Somaaaa. I just had a little drink nothing muucchhhh…"

In reality, after Erina had her presentation, she was parched so she saw a waiter walking around with drinks so she took one and downed the whole thing before her god tongue could let her know it was alcohol. And Soma knew how low Erina's alcohol tolerance was, so he knew a single shot or mixed drink would make her like this. He contemplated having a shot of his own to relax himself but he remembered her request earlier so he decided to take care of her being 100% sober. He could also tell that she was drunk as she was having no problems being all over him, where sobered she would have been at least a little bit reluctant too due to all of the people that were watching them. After managing to get Erina seated he spun her to the side so he could get access to the bag on her waist in the most normal way possible.

"Heyy, you'reee getting a bit touchy, aren't youuuu? Why aren't you thisss bold allll the time?"

Erina then laughed out loud and it was then where he had doubts if she would remember this tomorrow. She would have never done that even a little intoxicated in front of all these people.

"Dummy, I'm just trying to get a look at your schedule. Now that you're incapacitated, It's up to me to take care of all the work you were supposed to deal with."

"Awww, you're so sweet, Somaa"

She then wrapped her arms around his neck, and planted a kiss on his cheek. He was now really having doubts as to whether he would be able to get all of her work done. It was already hard enough for him to get in the mindset to talk to people about nitty gritty logistics that weren't directly related to actual preparing of a dish, and now his mind would be able to focus even less with an aggressively affectionate Erina on his hands as well. Regardless, he was going to do this anyways. She already worked too hard to begin with, so the least he could do was help her out for a few hours. With a printed out schedule in one hand, and Erina latched to his arm on the opposite side, he made his way to the designated table, blushing the entire way there as the other attendees looked at them.

And if matters couldn't get worse, the first meeting was that one man who shrugged him off earlier, the one who didn't seem very friendly. He knew if Erina knew about this, she wouldn't give the man a piece of his mind, but she couldn't do that now for obvious reasons. He walked over and sat down across from the man. The seat was not a bench seat that he hoped, so he was in this chair with

Erina seated on his right leg. It was already getting really hard for him to concentrate. Despite this, he composed himself and said.

"Hello. I'm Soma Yukihira. It's come to my attention that you have a meeting with Erina Nakiri to discuss some stuff, but I'm going to act as her stand-in today."

The man narrowed his eyes, clearly displeased.

"And what credentials do you have? For all I know you could have seduced her and are using this meeting to further your own goals."

Soma again blushed when he heard the word seduce. He hadn't done that, at least not intentionally.

"Heee- He speakss the truth. Soma is my voice today."

"I'm also an instructor at Totsuki, where I'm sure you know Erina here is the headmistress of.

Erina nodded her head in agreement, and he decided to make his authority at the school seem more than it actually was.

"And I'm actually the head instructor at the school, the only one who reports directly to Erina on all matters so you can be sure that I'm well aware of what's going on."

While the position of head instructor itself was a lie, it was a truth that he basically knew everything that was going on in the school through either his own class, or his many conversations with Erina. He was certainly the most equipped aside from Erina for this conversation. The man took off his mean face and put on a more neutral one, which Soma took as a win.

"Ok, this all seems a bit weird, but I'll take your word for it, because you seem like a trustworthy man. Just try to focus on me and not her.

"Right. Got it."

Soma thought the man must have known he was distracted by Erina's presence but he didn't know how he gave it away. Damn geezer was sharp, Soma concluded. After the interesting introduction, the meeting went smoothly, with Soma taking care of everything that was on Erina's schedule, and taking notes on the more specific things he was sure she would want to know but he wouldn't remember. He actually grinned at the fact that this was the most notes he's ever taken in his life for anything. The things she was able to do. After three hours of these meetings (which Soma thought lasted three days), he carried a sleepy Erina back to their hotel room princess style, gaining a few thumbs up from some of the passerbyers. It was 6pm once they were back, and Soma tucked in a sleepy Erina in bed and watched her doze off. He knew sleep was the best way to return her to normal, and when she woke up in a few hours, she knew she would be back to normal.

After Erina was taken care of, Soma sat down in a nearby chair and dozed off himself. Taking notes really made him sleepy.

After a couple hours, Erina slowly woke up, confused as to how she got to where she was. She then remembered everything that happened up until her presentation, and then bits and pieces of what happened after the alcohol. She ducked under the covers when she remembered all of the embarrassing things she said in front of Soma. After a few minutes, she emerged from the covers to find Soma still dozing off. As if he could tell he was being watched, he opened his eyes and made eye contact with her.

"Have a nice nap Erina?"

"I could ask you the same"

"Yeah, but only one of us had to be carried back here!"

"Yeah- um, sorry about that. Did I do anything that embarrassing?"

"After all that talk about me not drinking, and you're the one that gets drunk! And you didn't do anything that embarrassing. There was just that one point where you started dancing and-"

"Stop! I'm fine not knowing about it. I'm sure you did a fine job taking care of me"

"That's right. And I was teasing you, you didn't do anything embarrassing unless that includes being latched to my arm the entire."

Erina turned red, clearly indicating that it was indeed a little too much for her.

"But I was able to take care of all the stuff you needed to, since you were so organized. Had to explain some stuff to a few people but it all worked out."

"You went and did that on your own?"

"Yeah and I even took notes on all this stuff which I thought you might have wanted to know"

Soma moved next to Erina on the bed in a seated position, and started flipping through the notes in his notebook to show her everything which he had covered.

"Wow Soma, these are really good. I can't believe you not only took care of all my stuff but also did all this extra stuff too."

"Well, I always see you working so hard, so I just thought it would be right to give you a hand, you know."

Erina looked towards Soma and quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him in for a kiss. Right on the lips. It was her first real kiss ever, so she didn't really know what to do but instinct took over. She had right there decided in that moment that the man in front of her deserved all the affection she could give, and she wasn't going to hold back. He kissed her back, and in one swift motion she changed her position so she was on top of him, and they kissed a few more times. Though she wanted to continue, her mind was overheating so she returned back to her own side of the bed, blushing like mad. After lying next to each other for a few minutes, it was her who broke the silence.

"That was my way of saying thank you Soma. Thank you for this today and everything."

Soma lay there in shock from what happened, still trying to take it all in. Erina had just kissed him. On the lips! He hadn't feel so happy in a while, maybe ever. He managed a Soma like response though.

"Wow Erina. You're a good kisser"

She smiled and replied

"They don't call me the god's tongue for no reason"

"That's for sure. Multiple reasons for that title for sure."

"How about we get some dinner? I've made reservations for us at a local restaurant."

"As if I could say no after that." Soma joked "I'm down, what place?"

"Shino's"

Next time:

Soma and Erina explore the city!

Things were heating up a bit at the end there, overall I had a lot of fun with this chapter! I hope you guys liked it as much as I did

Until next time,

~TheGoodGuy20