Epiphany | Yukihira Soma X Fem!Reader

Chapter 22: Advent

(Y/N)'s POV:

"I'm beyond glad you all returned safely in one-piece," Senpai remarked, happily twerking in his favourite only-apron set of attire. You had grown accustomed to his strolling aimlessly in the dorm in only an apron that mercifully covered his front, and his occasional twerking with his naked butt hanging out. Yep, you'd grown accustomed to that; no lie, no lie. Or so you believed.

You'd returned from the camp just now. The camp was over. The 1 week, 7 days, 168 hours, 10,080 minutes, and 604,800 seconds of hellish cooking and no sleep were over. Now, you could spend time with your beloved boyfriend 'sleep' after a long, dreadful time of breaking up. You hated separating with him. The thought itself was abominable and despicable to even think about. You'd meet him tonight though, for a good ten hours, that's all that mattered.

You were met by the Madonna herself awaiting your return at the door of the dining room. "You all must be tired, being the fragile young generation of today. I'll give you guys a good meal tonight."

At that, everybody started cheering and applauding and shouting and screaming. Well, you yourself had the want to taste her cooking since you'd heard bragging and bragging from Yuuki about her being present at the occasion of Fumio-san's rare mood set on cooking.

"I'll not be cooking though," she added. Others sighed, including you. You'd looked up to it. Sad. When was the last time life ever did you justice, anyway?

Locking hands with Soma, you walked into the kitchen with everyone to see what the hype was about. Upon entering, you were greeted by the aroma of meat and butter and sauces, a killing trio; and also by a familiar man with the familiar hair in the familiar apron, cooking on the stove.

You raised an eyebrow in surprise. Soma didn't.

"Oh, Soma, (Y/N), you're back. Come help prep these," Joichiro-jii-san greeted and instructed. You felt at home. In an instant.

"Sure," you added, dragging Soma from your locked hands. He let your hand go to reach for the ingredients while nodding. Of course, Soma's dad noticed that.

"You guys happened?" Joichiro-jii-san asked, instantly dropping all the other matters occupying his mind, including chopping and the turned-on stove.

"We didn't happen," you added. "We got together." You hugged Soma and placed a light kiss on his cheek.

He liked small gestures as such. So did you. Your hands were somehow constantly touching each other, shoulders brushing, legs meeting. It wasn't a coincidence, it was completely intentional, and you both knew it. Being in constant contact with him made you realize again, and again, that what you had with him was real. That it was true, and you weren't just dreaming like the dreamer you were. Because you'd dreamed enough of him; for most of your life—around six years, at minimum.

Anyway, everybody was pretty much left in the dust since this conversation started, including Fumio-san.

"Gosh, how you make things sound weird," Soma uttered, closing the fridge.

"Whatever. No, wait. Oh my god—" Soma's dad put a hand on his now-wrinkled forehead. "You guys actually happened—" He looked purely astonished.

"Why wouldn't we?" Soma raised an eyebrow.

"That's ridiculous," his dad said. "I mean, ridiculously amazing."

"Thanks, I guess."

"I was betting all my life stakes on you never realizing and her never confessing," he sighed.

"Always happy to surprise," you remarked.

Did you mention how everyone was even more left in the dust since the conversation started? They'd all been raising eyebrows, meaning to interrupt, deciding against it, standing dumbly, watching free drama.

"Wait, I reacted out of habit—" an epiphany hit Soma as realization clouded his mind and he raised his voice a little. "What the hell are you doing here!?"

"You three know each other?" Fumio-san questioned after minutes of holding her curiosity.

"Wh-Who are you?" Megumi asked Joichiro-jii-san, shivering as she always did.

"He's an alumnus of Totsuki Academy, and of the Polar Star," Fumio-san answered while you and Soma were trapped in your never-ending epiphanies. Just that you snapped out of it before Soma. He'd take time in processing all the new information suddenly thrown at him. Yeah, life is a bitch.

"You don't know the former Second Seat of the Elite Ten, Saiba Joichiro?" Fumio-san sighed yet once again. "I knew you'd be capable of disappointing me every day. Not everyone can do that."

At the 'Second Seat of the Elite Ten' part, everybody got more interested in knowing about Saiba Joichiro, well, after they burst the big bubble of their apparent confoundment. While, again, you and Soma stood there unravelling the pieces of information.

"Oh, the rice is done, Soma," Joichiro-jii-san called blankly.

"Just explain already, dad!" Soma exclaimed, adding more layers to everyone's bubbles of confoundment. You sighed in disappointment.

"Y-You're family!?" Just pretend you didn't expect that.

"And my caretaker," you added.

After an hour of shocking revelations—absolutely nothing could surprise you at this point—constant cheering and applauding, astonishment and gratefulness, a set of hasty and desperate introductions and bonding time, all of Soma's brain cells were entirely, and in all entirety, exhausted. Hell, yours were too.

Soma sat in a corner, looking absolutely dejected with a face that screamed I-didn't-know-shit-about-my-own-life-and-my-own-dad. Been there.

"So," Yuuki clapped her hands together in elation and excitement, "We have the daughter of the First Seat, (Y/N), and also the son of the Second Seat, Soma!"

"The generation of the Polar Star might just repeat itself!" she continued and addressed to Fumio-san, as the latter wiped her non-existent tears.

Soma's dad's eyes widened at the short phrase as he concernedly said, "So, you know about it."

"Yeah, I do," you shrugged.

"Well," he put his hand to his neck, "Like your dad?"

"What can I say? He's a stranger." Even if you like it or not, accept it or not, won't change the fact that you two are random strangers.

"You're not surprised?" he questioned. "No, on second thought, you being surprised would be a downright anomaly."

"Preach that," you smiled.

After spending the whole day invested in cooking, helping, eating, talking, and just unimportant activities, it was now time for bed.

"Well, tell you what, I'm human unlike you all, and my human characteristics dictate I go to sleep," you stated and earned a few heartfelt laughs. "Come on, Soma, let's get to bed."

When you both stood up to walk in the same direction, Soma's dad paused for a second, "You two live in the same room?"

"Yeah," Soma replied.

"No, no, no. That's—" his dad started.

"—nothing. Let them sleep," Fumio-san interrupted. You mentally thanked her and went to bed, yawning.

Upon your and Soma's confirmed absence, Fumio-san explained, "There weren't any other rooms available."

"There actually were many other rooms, weren't there?" Soma's dad inquired sceptically.

"Who knows?" she simply added.

"What gave away their awkward crush tension?"

Fumio-san sipped her tea, half-smirked and half-smiled, "Just a woman's intuition."

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(1217 Words)