Akai Ito / Red String (of Fate)

The Day They Meet (Again)

She gets her question answered a year later in London. Where she's checking out potential locations for Exposé 2.0 around Soho.

Gone is that spiky, crazy hairstyle he had back in highschool. Instead, his red hair is now gelled messily in a style only Sōma can pull off. There's a faint smell of Marlboro around him (don't ask her how she knows), but that careless smile and spiritful golden eyes haven't changed a bit.

As they're sitting across each other at a small coffee shop, she learns that the redhead has broken up with Megumi after the reunion, says that they're better off friends and the sparks died down along the way.

"Your hair sure is shorter, Nakiri." He says after explaining how he ends up being the head chef of the recently opened Shino's London.

"Well, I had them cut off a while ago, do you expect it to get longer?"

"Still feisty, eh?" He nudges her slim fingers around her cappuccino.

"Sorry, it's been a long day."

"Don't sweat it. No wonder it's hard to get a table at your place in Tokyo." He releases the papercup off his mouth. "When is your flight home?"

"Tomorrow afternoon. Why?"

"Aight. Why don't I take you on a little stroll around the city? To get your mind off things for a while." He suggests, "I mean, where else would you get a free tour guide around here, yeah?"

She scolds him for thinking she can't afford such things, and he laughs it off as usual. But it's given that when their fingers have been grazing lightly on that small table and she doesn't back away, the girl accepts his invitation.

He points her his favorite spots along the way. Mostly they are either pubs or some cheap 24-hour pizza places, but she doesn't mind as long as he's not taking her there with her current trench coat and kitten heels, which is starting to kill her feet from all the walking.

When they stop at Westminster Bridge later that evening, they talk some more.

"I'm tellin' ya, that pop-up restaurant I run back in Athens was something you would totally dig!"

"Why? Because your mediocre food is saved by the oceanic view?"

"Well some greek ladies did say I am the view."

Erina raises her eyebrow, he chuckles.

"And yet you're wondering why Tadokoro-san dumps you for Aldini-kun."

"Hey, she did not dump me for Takumi." He clarifies, "It's not that I flirted back or anything, y'know. That's what separates me from pops."

"I'm surprised you know what flirting is, to be honest."

"I've got a line or two." He brags, straightens his denim jacket.

"Which you will not offer to me. Ever."

"Yeah? What if I tell you I'm writing a phone book, and I'd like your number in it." He winks amorously.

Which obviously, does not receive to well on her end judging by a good slap on his upper arm, "You need to stop taking things from the internet."

Sōma later brings Erina to the bustling Shino's London for on-the-house dinner and gets her to sit in the chef's table while he's running dinner service. Of course, he cooks the dish himself for the VIP.

"It's passable." She says after a bite of duck confit, "But Exposé has a better duck dish."

"You enjoy doing that every time, don't cha?"

The blonde shrugs playfully, but ends her meal with a nice salted caramel éclair his pastry chef (who is apparently a big fan of hers with the way she asks her for a signature on her every review in Bon Appétit) has clearly mastered.

She doesn't invite him in to Four Season London where she's staying, but she does not reject his offer to take her to Heathrow the next day.

"When can we see each other again?" He asks her in front of the terminal gate.

"When you're back in Tokyo, perhaps?"

"Yeah, I won't be in Tokyo for a while," He smiles apologetically, scratching the back of his head, "With the job here, and-- I travel somewhere else when I'm not working, for inspiration."

"I'll be back here sometimes in a few months, I suppose. I still need to take care of some things for the restaurant."

At that, he beams, "Awesome."

Not sure what happens within that 5 seconds of silence, but when Erina gets on her tiptoe to land her lips on his cheek, she catches his lips instead. Her eyes that go wide at first gradually close because of how right that precise moment is and the feeling of his hand snaking behind her back somehow melts her. For old time's sake, at least she's letting those old feelings come to the surface for a brief moment their lips touch.

Even when she's glancing outside the window plane, those flutters of butterfly is something she can't easily shake off after haven't seeing him for the last three years and ended up having their own nice reunion. Though she suspects it's because of the red thread that's still intact sweetly around his wrist-- he hasn't taken it off after all this time.

But Erina decides to not get carried away with the feelings this time with a sip of champagne as her plane floats away from Heathrow.