Early Morning Welcome: Soma Yukihira X Reader - One-shot
Summary: You've already been welcomed in as the newest member of the Polar Star Dormitory, but a certain redhead extends your welcome with a delicious morning breakfast.
It wasn't your alarm clock that woke you up.
It wasn't the early morning sunshine peeking in through your curtains or the faint chirping of birds from your closed window.
It was your nose.
Or rather the action of your nose inhaling so deeply that it had caused a new aroma to overcome you from the otherwise plain scent of your room and crumpled sheets that were covering nearly half of your face.
And it smelled...delicious.
With your intrigue fully captured, you swung your legs over the edge of your bed, tossing the covers away into a crumpled heap at the base of the mattress. Feet sliding into your slippers, you stood, and shuffled out of your room.
Once in the hall, you noticed how quiet it was. All doors were shut with no traces of your fellow dorm mates in sight.
The smell was a little more powerful now, as it wafted through the air and entered your nostrils. You could only make sense that someone was cooking, and considering this was one of the dorms to the greatest cooking schools in the world, it supposedly made sense to a certain extent. But still, this early in the morning?
With crossed arms, you slowly padded to the stairwell and took quiet steps to reach the bottom floor, turning to head towards the kitchen.
Your ears then picked up the sound of clanging pans and the sizzling sound of something being cooked. You sniffed the air again.
It smelled rich, hearty, and delightedly greasy.
Bacon perhaps?
Your nose carried you further until finally, you reached the large kitchen of the Polar Star Dormitory.
And you were right.
Someone was up and cooking away without a care in the world.
He was male, lean yet slightly muscular, the curvature of his biceps evident through his thin, blue shirt as he expertly whisked away at a substance heating in a pot over the stove.
A strip of white fabric was tied around his forehead, contrasting against his slightly tanned skin and vibrant red hair.
But even though he seemed heavily drawn in by his work, it didn't stop him from noticing your slightly hidden form from out of the corner of his eye.
He turned his head, causing you to stiffen as you met his friendly, golden gaze. His free hand flew up into a wave.
"Hey ! Mornin Y/N !"
His greeting caught you off guard, especially since you weren't too familiar with your new dorm mates yet. They welcomed you humbly the night before and you could only recall a few of their names in full.
Still, he had greeted you and you didn't want to be rude, but…
"G-Good morning. It's...Soma, right ? Sorry, I... don't remember your last name." You admitted shyly, "I would have addressed you as such but I didn't really get a chance to memorize the names of everyone here."
"Ah, don't worry about it," he shrugged off, "The formality isn't necessary. But you're okay with me calling you Y/N aren't ya?" He asked, flashing you a toothy grin.
You nodded, finding a strange, immediate comfort in his friendliness,"Yeah. Absolutely."
"Awesome!" he stood straighter, extending his right hand out while he continued whisking, "I know last night was a little crazy so I'll go ahead and introduce myself fully. Soma Yukihira. It's nice to meetcha."
You smiled warmly, stepping fully into the kitchen and over to where he stood, reaching your hand out to grasp his in a shake.
"Y/N L/N. It's nice to meet you too."
He flashed another smile, before letting go of your hand and turned back to the stove.
You tilted your head at him thoughtfully.
Even though you just met, you were very intrigued by this boy and for some reason, you wanted to know more about him.
But just as you opened your mouth to speak, he beat you to the point.
"Say, Y/N. Are ya hungry ?"
You blinked. This boy certainly had his ways of catching people off guard, but you answered him nonetheless.
"Uhm...maybe a little. I guess."
"Perfect. Go and sit. I'll make you something."
"Uh, no it's okay !" You waved your hands in front of your face, "You don't have to."
"I've already kinda got a head start anyways. Go ahead and take a seat. It won't take long "
You held your breath, thinking that there wasn't any way to turn down his offer, mindlessly adding 'persistent' to the unknown list of traits you were giving him in your head.
Soma turned away, going back to the stove as you made your way to one of the seats at the bar, pulling out the chair and situating yourself comfortably, a palm resting on your cheek while your arm propped itself up on the counter.
There weren't any other sounds in the kitchen beside the occasional chop of a knife and the continued sizzle of food being cooked. And even though you practically had a front row seat of his actions, you had no idea what Soma was making.
He was very quick and precise with his actions, his timing with everything near perfection and you were completely transfixed as he moved almost gracefully with nearly everything he did.
"Do you do this alot ?"
He looked up, "What ? Cook?"
You shook your head, "No. I mean obviously you cook because why else would you be here." Your hand gestured to the clock on the wall, which currently read 6:15 AM, "I mean cook this early in the morning, and for other people so randomly like this."
"Well in a way," he started, cutting a lemon and squeezing the juice into a pot, "My dad and I own a family eatery and we opened pretty early in the morning. But most of the time, it's just to get in some early practice."
"Practice ?"
"Uh huh. I mean I won't get any better if I don't experiment and work with different things. And if I don't get better, then I'll never beat my old man."
His words piqued your interest, "What do you mean 'beat him' ?"
Soma looked up at the ceiling, "He and I battle in the kitchen sometimes, but I have yet to whip up something better than him." He clenched his fist, "He's one of the greatest chefs there is, and it's my goal to beat him one day along with being the best chef at this school so I'm good enough to run our eatery."
You smiled, admiring his determination, "Guess that video means you weren't lying then."
He tilted his head, "Video? What video?"
"The girls showed me a recording of your speech at the entrance exam. I didn't get a chance to see it since I was late arriving here. You seemed really dead set and," Your hesitated, remembering the angled shot of the people in the crowd and how poisonous their features looked,"...A lot of people looked sort of mad at you."
"Did they? Huh. Guess I didn't notice."
You practically fell over. Of course he didn't. For someone to have such big aspirations and goals, he was kind of an airhead.
But you honestly kind of appreciated it. For some people, it took a lot to ignore the negligent opinions of others, but Soma seemed to shrug any bad omen about him off completely.
You sort of...envied him.
"All right, breakfast is served !"
Your thought bubble popped once his voice breached the air, looking down at the plate he had placed in front of you.
And what you saw had your E/C irises snapping open in shock.
They were pancakes, thick and fluffy, cooked to a golden perfection while the middle remained a delightful off-white. There were two of them, stacked and topped off with pieces of crispy, pan fried bacon that stuck out delicately from their placement on top of the fluffy mounds. A deep yellow sauce cascaded from the top and over the edges, it's supposed thickness adding a strange elegance to the dish, making even the mediocre light in the kitchen glisten off of its polished finish. And the whole thing was garnished with a pinch of parsley.
You were completely awestruck.
"Well ?" Soma inquired, that same grin plastered on its face, "Aren't you gonna try it?"
You looked up at him, still totally bewildered, "I-Well, yes but it...it almost looks too beautiful to eat. Like I'd be destroying a piece of art or something."
Soma laughed, "Well I'm definitely happy that it's pleasing to the eye. But good food is meant to be eaten so don't think you're ruining anything." He gave you a thumbs up, "Go ahead and enjoy !"
You smiled softly and picked up the fork and knife he had laid out next to the plate, preparing to cut off an edge of the pancake.
"Ah, wait !"
You looked up, "What's wrong ?"
He folded his arms, "Cut it right down the middle."
"....Huh ?"
"Just trust me."
You blinked, your next words trailing out with confusion, "O….k…."
He gave you a wink and watched as you moved again to cut into the pancakes, but this time, right down the middle like Soma had told you.
Your knife glided right through the top, piercing what you thought was the pancake. That is, until a rich, orangey-yellow substance burst out and flowed down the edge of your knife and soaked through the fluffy center of the pancakes while also mixing with the thickened sauce below.
"Woah…" you breathed.
"Doesn't take much to wow you, I see." Soma chuckled, "Now make sure to get everything together."
You nodded slowly, taking care to create what looked like a perfect bite of fluffy, rich, and crispy.
Lifting the fork to your mouth, your lips encompassed it fully before pulling it back out clean and your eyes widened again as your mouth went to work in letting everything glide over your taste buds.
So much flavor and so many different textures.
The pancake was just as soft as it looked. The bacon was still crispy, even as you noticed it's thicker cut in biting it with your teeth. The sauce was thick and absolutely divine, buttery with a hint of acidity.
Acidity.
The lemon you saw him squeezing earlier.
Its classic yellow color.
Hollandaise sauce.
You inwardly gasped, now tasting and recognizing the other component of the dish that had burst out when you had cut into it.
It's smooth subtlety mixed perfectly with everything, the taste so familiar and oddly vibrant even though it was an extremely common breakfast food whether scrambled, boiled, fried, or in this case, poached.
"So what do you think ?"
You savored it for as long as you could before finally, you swallowed, refraining from taking another bite of what tasted like heaven on a plate so you could answer the red head.
"It's... incredible!"
Soma grinned, watching as your eyes quite literally started to sparkle which each additional bite you took.
It didn't take long for you to finish, and when you did, you sat back happily, humming as you relished in your delightful fill.
Soma leaned over the counter, "I take it you liked it ?"
You nodded eagerly, " Mmhm ! I've never had pancakes like this before. It was so unique! Everything fits so well together! The bacon, the Hollandaise sauce, and was that a-"
Soma snapped his fingers, "Egg ? Yep ! You're exactly right ! You definitely know your stuff ! What you had there were Souffle Pancakes Eggs Benedict style. Not a lot of restaurants serve it and it was my first time making it. Kinda risky but I wanted to welcome you somehow."
You tilted your head up with a smile, "Well...you definitely did. Thank you, Soma."
He beamed, removing the strip of fabric from his forehead and tied it around his arm, "Your Welcome, Y/N."
You weren't sure if it was from the meal you just had, but you felt full, especially when it crossed over on just how thoughtful Soma had been to you even though you just met.
Come to think of it, everyone had been thoughtful the night you had arrived.
You had been so nervous to cook for Miss Fumio, but you proved all successful in the end after she had tasted your dish. Everyone had been eavesdropping to see how you would do and surrounded you with all the congratulations in the world once you passed.
Everyone celebrated that night with a feast and you appreciated their kindness with every out of gratefulness you could muster.
They accepted you and wanted you to succeed.
No one at this dorm was at each other's throats like other students you had seen, especially the ones you had seen on the video of Soma at the entrance ceremony.
No, everyone here was considerate and friendly with a want for everyone to do their best even if they had powerful aspirations of third own.
Wholeheartedly, you did feel welcomed, and Soma's actions increased that feeling tenfold.
