"Erina, why don't you start?" Alice said, glancing at Asahi, who still hadn't reacted even after everyone entered the room. "It doesn't look like he's snapping out of it anytime soon."
This was technically a matter between siblings, but letting the two of them handle it alone clearly wasn't going to work. Someone had to guide the conversation.
Erina had only learned the truth recently, but she'd had time to calm down on the way here. And since they were the ones who came to him, it made sense for her to speak first.
"I do have some thoughts," Erina said after a brief pause. "So I'll just say them outright. Saiba… Asahi—can I call you Asahi-niisan? That shouldn't be a problem, right? Even though this is our first meeting, the blood connection between us is real."
She had almost addressed him as "Saiba-sensai" out of habit. But no matter how she thought about it, this man was her older brother.
And compared to him, her own childhood had been far less tragic.
At least she'd experienced her parents' love for a time. She'd grown up in comfort.
Asahi hadn't had any of that.
He'd never known who his father was. His mother had treated him like a burden, beating and scolding him whenever the mood struck.
After her death, he'd been sent to an orphanage. If not for Joichiro Saiba appearing back then, Erina couldn't imagine what kind of person he might have become.
After reading his file earlier, she'd felt a deep ache in her chest. She couldn't help wondering what she herself would've become if she'd grown up in his place.
Without realizing it, "Saiba-sensai" had turned into "Asahi-niisan."
"I-I-I—uh—"
The moment she said it, Asahi sprang to his feet like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, staring at Erina with pure panic on his face.
The reason he'd stayed silent this whole time wasn't because he couldn't accept having a sister.
It was fear.
Fear that Erina wouldn't acknowledge him. Fear that she'd reject him because of Azami Nakiri.
Azami's crimes were no secret. Asahi knew all too well what kind of suffocating, twisted upbringing Azami had forced on Erina.
Because of all those worries, Asahi hadn't dared to speak.
But now—now that Erina had spoken first, and called him brother—the longing for family he'd buried deep inside him exploded all at once.
In that instant, any lingering thought of replacing Soma vanished completely.
He already had family.
Someone who called him "brother."
For someone starved of love like Asahi, Erina's single "Asahi-niisan" hit harder than a mushroom cloud.
His head went blank. He just stood there, dazed, staring at the three people in front of him.
"…What's wrong with him?" Soma asked, completely baffled. "Why does he look so weird all of a sudden?"
"Don't ask me—I have no idea!" Alice replied, just as confused.
Only Erina smiled.
She was familiar with this reaction.
Because she, too, had grown up starved for affection. When she reunited with her mother and finally reconciled with her, she'd felt something very similar.
She could guess what Asahi had been so afraid of.
"I—I'm sorry," Asahi said, finally snapping back to reality after hearing their voices. "I just… got a little too excited. I never imagined I had a sister, so I didn't know what to say."
"As for how you address me," he added nervously, looking at Erina, "I don't have any objections at all. And I should probably… call you—"
He hesitated.
Logically, since she'd called him niisan, he should call her imouto.
But she was a girl, after all. Even if they were siblings, calling her that so suddenly—was that okay?
Gone was any trace of the ruthless Midnight chef. Right now, Asahi looked like nothing more than an older brother terrified of upsetting his sister.
"If Asahi-niisan is fine with it," Erina said warmly, "then you can just call me your sister. Or call me Erina—either is fine."
"Th-Then… Erina-imouto it is!" Asahi blurted out, finally relaxing. Then his face lit up with pure joy.
He really was that deprived of affection. Just a few words had completely undone him.
After that, the two of them started talking—really talking.
Catching up on their lives. Sharing their pasts. Simple, everyday conversation.
As true siblings, there was no shortage of things to say.
Off to the side, Alice and Soma exchanged awkward glances.
At this point, the two of them felt completely unnecessary.
"By the way, Asahi-niisan," Erina said after a while, steering the conversation back on track, "what do you plan to do next?"
"Well… I'll be honest," Asahi said, pointing straight at Soma. "My original plan was to take everything this guy had."
"When I was in the orphanage, Joichiro Saiba came to teach us for a while. He treated every one of us like his own child."
"That was the first time I ever knew what a father's love felt like. And I won't lie—it was intoxicating. I didn't want it to end."
"But it did. He got a call from home and had to leave. Later, I found out his wife, Tamako Yukihira, had passed away. He couldn't abandon his own son, so he went back."
"I was jealous. Envious. Why did he get a father like that?"
"Before he left, Joichiro-sama gave me ten knives he'd used when he was younger. He said I had talent, and that I should walk the path of a chef."
"That was when my Special Ability awakened. I copied his cooking."
"With that power, I rose through the culinary world. But my goal never changed. I wanted that fatherly love."
"I'm really sorry, Soma," Asahi said, bowing deeply. "I caused you a lot of trouble."
Back then, his extreme lack of love had twisted his thinking, driving him to do unforgivable things. But now, with family who truly cared about him, he could finally see how foolish he'd been.
Asahi had never been evil at heart.
So once he came to his senses, he knew he had to apologize.
"I'll accept your apology," Soma said. "But you don't just owe it to me. You should apologize to Mayumi too."
Soma didn't really care himself. Getting rid of Asahi as a problem was already a win. He wasn't the kind of guy to hold grudges.
But Mayumi Kurase had been harassed relentlessly. She deserved an apology.
Soma hadn't been surrounded by girls at school, partly because of Kael's presence. And when Mayumi had confessed—pushed on by her friends—he hadn't rejected her.
No matter how popular he later became, the only one he liked was Mayumi.
That was exactly why Asahi had targeted her.
"I know," Asahi nodded immediately, looking embarrassed. "I'll apologize properly. I really did lose my mind back then."
"Since everything's cleared up," Alice said cheerfully, "that's a happy ending, right?"
"Yeah," Erina added. "So, Asahi-niisan—what about after this?"
"…Honestly, I don't know," Asahi admitted. "Becoming a Night Cuisine chef, building my own forces—it was all to replace Soma. Now that goal's gone."
For the first time, he felt truly lost.
What he really wanted was to stay. To have family.
But he didn't dare say it out loud.
"Then stay," Erina said without hesitation. "If you're willing, you can join the Nakiri family. You're my brother, after all."
She couldn't bring herself to leave him wandering alone. And from everything she'd learned, Asahi wasn't like Azami.
Besides, Senzaemon had already told her this was her decision to make.
The Nakiri family would one day be hers.
And Asahi's talent—his monstrous talent and terrifying Special Ability—was undeniable. Someone like him, with good character, joining the family was nothing but a boon.
The Nakiris weren't that closed-off. Senzaemon himself had once tolerated Azami for his daughter's sake, choosing exile over stripping him of the family name.
Otherwise, Azami wouldn't have lived to see another day.
"I… join the Nakiri family?" Asahi asked, stunned. "Is that really okay?"
He was already completely overwhelmed by having a sister. Now she was offering him a home.
He had no roots, no attachments.
And most importantly—his sister was here.
"Of course," Erina said. "Grandfather and Mother won't object. Right, Alice?"
"Yep," Alice said with a grin. "If Erina's decided, then it's fine. Guess that makes you my cousin now."
"In that case," Asahi said without another second of hesitation, "I'm in."
His hunger for family was powerful enough to override everything else.
Less than an hour later, Asahi Saiba officially joined the Nakiri family.
Erina and Alice brought him to meet Senzaemon. As for Soma, Alice arranged a car to take him back to Polar Star Dormitory.
Everything had finally settled.