Warning: quite dialogue heavy. And then a pretty long flashback (1/3). And jumps happen (but I'll try to be clear).
"Wha… " Houjo leaned forward and laid a hand on Megumi's shoulder. Her eyes scrunched with concern. "You don't have to… do this?"
Megumi looked up in surprise. Houjo unusually averted her eyes. "It's true that I wanted to know about the Shokugeki… But more than that-" She looked up again, her eyes clear indigo. "-I vowed to help you as a friend. And I will protect you." Her eyes slid towards Souma.
He twitched a finger, but otherwise didn't move.
"No… Thank you Houjo-san, I'm really grateful for all that you have done for me. But, please let me talk to Souma-kun. Alone." Megumi raised her eyes as well to look square at the boy. "This needs to be said."
Houjo took one look at Megumi before nodding silently. She gave one more growl at Souma before stalking out. Souma shut the door firmly behind him.
Megumi felt a sigh rattle out of her mouth. Souma crossed his arms, with a carefully closed expression. What… what do I say, what do I say, where do I start…Oh geez, Megumi, you need to apologize like heck but where, what- Thoughts began to pile in her mind too fast like a bloated compost pile.
"... So. Why did you leave the Polar Star Dorm for here?" Souma said at last. Megumi snapped out of her thoughts. "Yuki and Ryoko and everyone's worried."
"I-I didn't want to see you," Megumi mumbled. Souma winced. Then her never wanting to see me again wasn't a joke… or anything. He glared at the ground and his hands curled into fists. God, what am I doing here, this was a waste of time-
"I-I-I was scared tha-that you would be angry! I know, that's what's expected, that's what has to happened, that I deserve it, but I still didn't want to go through that-!" Megumi blurted. She hung her head. "It's so cowardly, I know, I tried to appear so terrible and I should never have backstabbed you and that you should be angry! Of course anyone would hate a friend who betrayed them, basically blackmailed them…"
"I'm sorry Souma. I'm sorry, and I know that can never be enough, but I'm sorry I asked you for a Shokugeki… I'm sorry I-" She managed to choke out, "made you leave the school. For my selfishness that caused this mess..."
Souma stared at her, topaz eyes wide. Megumi took in another shaky breath. "I need to tell you everything that happened two days ago. Now."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Hey Megumi!" Megumi straightened and brushed off her apron. Souma waved at her, an easy grin on his face.
"Good morning, Souma-kun," she replied warmly. She took off her gardening gloves and shielded her eyes. "It's hot again today, huh?" She laughed. The summer sun blazed down from dawn to dusk, and she loved it. It'll be autumn soon, and I won't be able to enjoy it then.
Souma grinned back.
"Yup. See you around!" Souma raised a hand in the air as he walked down the forest trail, away from the school and the dorm.
"Yeah…" Megumi waved back as he disappeared beneath the trees. I… I wished he stayed a bit longer… A sharp pang echoed in her chest.
"Again today, huh?"
Megumi whirled around to see Yuki, holding a chicken in her arms. She squinted her eyes towards him.
"Wh-what do you mean, Yuki?"
"I mean, he's going all the way into the town where he used to live, to the market where he used to buy things, that's what." Yuki harrumphed. "What's the point of even doing that? I swear, he hasn't used anything from the garden since, like, twenty years ago!"
Oh, I, of course, gosh Yuki can't read my mind. Megumi laughed again, good-naturedly. "Maybe he needs specific supplies? He's first chair, maybe-"
"Gaaaah, I'm so done with hearing about the elite ten," Yuki interrupted crossly. She rolled her eyes before stomping away.
Ah… Megumi held out an empty hand towards her friend, before dropping it. Hmm… it is true that I haven't seen Souma-kun at all at the gardens here or even the kitchens at school… I wonder why?
"Hey, you."
Megumi jumped maybe ten feet before she saw who it was. "O-oh, Kurokiba-kun, wha-"
"Food! Now," he grunted, and Megumi saw the bright red bandanna strapped across his head. Oh… Ooooh boy.
She clapped her hands. "U-uh, sure! But first, I-I-I need to bring in some of those dried vegetables there…" she pointed at the overflowing basket.
Kurokiba snatched the entire thing and hauled it onto his shoulder. He glared down at her. "Now."
"O-okay," she squeaked.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Kurokiba dropped the basket onto the counter. The vegetables jostled.
"Okay. Now cook, Tadakoro Megumi," he ordered. He landed on the seat heavily and gave her a baleful eye.
"... Now wait a second." Megumi turned towards Kurokiba with a look of her own. "I'm grateful that you bought in the vegetables but first, what do you want me to cook? And second, why?"
"Just. Do it," he hissed.
Megumi sighed. Okay then…. She took a look at the basket. Hmm, I haven't made that since I was a first year… I've been wanting to for a while; let's do that.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
As Megumi explained her story to Souma, Takumi and Nikumi had smushed themselves to the door outside.
"Oi, you stupid Italian prick, stop leaning on me!" Nikumi snarled (quietly).
"Same with you, vulgar meat cook!" Takumi snapped back (quietly).
Houjo watched them with a tired look before turning to Isami. "How do you even deal with these two?"
"I don't," he replied cheerily.
Thus noted, thought Houjo warily.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"... and I'm done! One Rainbow Terrine!"
She set down her dish with a smile. It really has been a while! … To think I was almost expelled that long ago too… Megumi glanced out the window into the forest. Another reason to be thankful towards Souma-kun, she thought fondly.
Kurokiba looked at it with faint disgust. "... Too happy-looking," was all he muttered though before he sank the fork into it.
"I, uh, you never told me what to make so that's just what I did." But Megumi received no reply as Kurokiba dug into the dish.
I guess… he likes it?
"... mfghuble." he mumbled around his words.
"... Sorry?"
"... Too, Good." He swallowed down the last of the dish and stood. He placed his plate into the sink.
What a strange day. "Um, thank you?" Megumi added as per etiquette, "Oh, and have a nice da-"
"Oi, don't get rid of your customer so quickly." Kurokiba turned towards her with a devilish grin. Megumi felt uneasiness painted right on her face. Kurokiba's smile widened.
"Sit," he ordered. She obliged in confusion. "Now, I'm gonna cook."
Megumi watched as he wrenched out a frying pan and slammed open the refrigerator. She looked on dubiously as a nasty grin became nastier as he shuffled through the stuff inside. Marui and Ryoko are going to be angry… she thought gloomily.
Megumi's mind wandered back to the garden and Souma. I do wonder why he's going to the markets… Maybe homesickness? I mean, maybe if it were me I would also find most of my supplies in the local market… Around now, it should be the best season for shrimps and sea urchins… Also the lavender fields! And watermelons! The mouth-watering, sweeter than nectar taste of watermelon made Megumi smile dreamily. I want for everyone to taste them… Maybe it could be helpful too? Maybe Souma-kun will like them.
Souma-kun… Eyes like a jar of burnt gold honey, usually sparkling mischievously as though they were sharing a secret that no one could ever know about. As though there was no one else in the world. They're such beautiful eyes… Megumi started as she felt her heart beating just a bit faster.
No, I mean, he's just a friend-
"Oi, I'm done!" Megumi jumped again as a plate flew down and clattered in front of her. Megumi took a double-take.
"This…! This is the curry you made with the lobster and cognac! During the Autumn Elections…"
"Eat. It."
Helpless, Megumi spooned in several mouthfuls. Aaaah, it tastes good… Lobster flooded into her mouth and the thick curry sauce coated her tongue. She set down her spoon and took a glass of water.
"It tastes quite good. Although not something I would eat in the morning…"
Kurokiba gave her an intense look. Megumi blinked. Alright, one more then. She took a final bite, this time from inside the lobster itself.
… Oh! She turned towards him, eyes wide. He grinned and nodded. Kurokiba began strutting around the kitchen. "I knew it. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it."
Megumi put down her spoon. "I didn't know you used… um, what's it called…"
"Kari Gosse. From Britton of France. I used that to season my lobster this time, instead. But that isn't the point." Kurokiba slammed down his hands onto the counter. He stared at Megumi. "The point is that we're different. We've changed."
"Wha-what do you mean?"
He jabbed a finger at the sink. "That Rainbow Terrine. I, no everyone in the school, knows you made that at the training camp two years ago! From dried vegetables and whatever. But it's different isn't it? It's not the exact same one as the one from two years ago!"
"Of, of course not! I tried adding some sweeter vege-"
Kurokiba waved his hand. "Yeah, yeah. But this is it: have you eaten Souma's food recently?"
Megumi snapped her eyes towards Kurokiba. "... Where are you going with this."
"I'm saying that his food is the exact same as it was for the past two years. He's made nothing new."
"N-no, that, he's done so many Shokugekis this year and all of the foods there were different! You saw them Kurokiba!"
Kurokiba shook his head. "I talked to that gangster guy, Mimasaka; it's true. He's seen all of those foods before, either from school or before when Souma worked at his restaurant."
Then going to the market… "B-but-" Megumi began.
"No." Kurokiba screwed his eyes towards her. "He's not… creative anymore. He's reached a high level but he's just staying there, not going for more or better."
"... And on that note, I've been wondering for a long time but, why are you still following this loser?"
"What?" Megumi jumped out of her chair. "Souma-kun is not a loser! He's the best cook in the school, e-even if he's not doing so well right now! It's like writer's block but for cooks, it happens to everyone." She returned Kurokiba's haughty look with an icy glare. "Don't you dare say anything bad about him."
Kurokiba snorted. He yanked out the bandanna in his hair and tousled his mane for a second. He turned limpid eyes at her. "You do realize that Souma sees absolutely nothing in you, y'know."
Megumi froze.
"At the start, maybe. But he thinks that you're still that horrible, that you're still some lesser cook from who-knows-where. That you're not worth his competition, like Erina or the other Polar Star people." He twirled around his bandanna aimlessly.
"No, that's… not true. Souma-kun he, he-" Megumi caught sight of the sink. "He saved from being expelled! He took up a Shokugeki with Shinomiya so I wouldn't-"
"So?" Kurokiba cut in. "How do you know that that wasn't just for that? A Shokugeki with a former elite ten? That's not an opportunity that comes by… ever, actually. Even less than a current elite ten."
"I-I-I see Souma-kun as my friend-"
"Again." Kurokiba sighed. "You're nothing but a useful stepping stone for him. After all, he's first chair; what is a nobody to him? Someone talented but won't even rise up. A safety."
Megumi shook her head before asking quietly, "Why do you care, Kurokiba-kun? What does any of this have anything to you?"
He shrugged and traipsed towards the door. "I don't. It's just annoying to watch all this. You could've been something, you could've been one of the best students in the school, but you let yourself be nothing because he treats you like nothing and you've accepted that. Nothing more. Thanks for the food."
The door abruptly swung shut.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Oh. My. God," whispered Nikumi, before Takumi ribbed her.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Megumi slumped onto her chair again, eyes lackluster.
"No… he, he does see me as a friend! I can't doubt him like this…" But really Megumi, why should he? a smiling voice cooed. You really are a nothing even three years later, and maybe that's all because of Souma-kun.
"No, Kurokiba-kun approved of me-"
And what of it? You're still nowhere, with zero acknowledgement from anyone. Always, always, never good enough. And now you're going to graduate soon and you'll leave with nothing to show for it.
Also, Souma-kun won't acknowledge you. He'll never even see you. You'll live and die as a memory. A stepping stone. You need to do something-
"No! I won't. I… I… " Megumi clenched her hands. She stared at the counter, the remains of the red lobster blurring into a crimson glaze. The tears burned like Saharan sand. "I won't. I'll believe in Souma-kun, no matter how he sees me. I know that he's kind at heart, I know it…!"
Megumi sighed and shook her head again. She roughly wiped away the tears. "I… I need to take a walk. I'm going to take a walk to school. I hope the library's open on Saturdays." She swallowed the last of the knot in her throat, stuffed away the gardening equipment in the closet, and set out.
Ahhh, the breeze feels nice… she thought hazily as she trotted down the woodland path and onto the side of the road.
Little did she know of a jet-black BMW that began to follow her.
A/N: I wrote another chapter since the last one felt too short. 'Tis only the beginning of the revelation, hehe. Also, sorry for the extensive dialogue… if that was annoying. Anyway, hope you guys liked it. See ya soon~
antoniopb: I'm sorry for being confusing for so long. I do hope to finish it soon. Thanks!
mehr03: Thank you! I hope this chapter was good too.