Hi, I did not abandon this story.

I mentioned it before, but I am going to be taking longer on writing the next few chapters because I have no idea where to put the next events yet. I have them written down, but I keep constantly changing the chapters I want them in.

It didn't help that my computer up and died during the first section of the story and I had to buy a new one, nor did it help to have a month-long writer's block after that.

But fear not, my dear and loyal readers! For I have rewarded you with a big chapter! How big, you ask?

It's over 9000 (words)!

Why is that? Not because I wanted to make a joke, but because I wanted write all of these events in Megumi's POV and also wanted to keep the theme of one POV per chapter so that's what happened. I swear, this is the longest chapter I have ever written ever.

Anyways, I'll meet you guys at the end for my chaotic notes. See you there (or not.)

Earworms that may or may not fit this chapter:

"You Fuckers Were Asking for This One" by Rav. (I strongly suggest listening to the Deboin edit because it's longer.)

"Spoons" by Mt. Marcy.

"Flowers" by Alec Hershey.


Soft music was what woke up Megumi.

Out of habit, she waited for Isami to roll over and turn the phone off. However, when she felt no movement and the phone continued to play, Megumi mentally chided herself as her memory caught up with her.

She had fallen asleep alone last night.

She reached over herself to turn her phone off, not surprised to see that she had a couple of texts waiting to be opened on the lockscreen. She could tell that they were from different chats by the symbol, but not the details of who did until her phone was unlocked. The reason she set her phone that way was obvious: no one needed to see the frequency or the content of the texts that she sent to Isami. It caused a bit of an inconvenience from text messages from other people, as she had to keep opening her phone to see them, but it was a small price to pay.

Sure enough, one of the messages was from her doting boyfriend. It was just an innocent good morning text, something he did when they didn't wake up in the same bed. Smiling, she sent a greeting in reply before opening up the other text log. This one was the main Polar Star group chat. Isshiki had made it a few years ago when everyone else had moved into the dorm. Even the group chat had not escaped the dorm's uniqueness. Each one of them had the monikers that had been given to them by the rest of the Polar Star members or by their peers which was chased by an ellipsis. The reason for the three dots was to go along with the name of the group chat, which had been named '…of Polar Star!'.

Just by scrolling through, Megumi could see that The Red Riding Hood… was dominating the chat. The day of the dorm contest had arrived, and Yuki was no doubt excited by it. She was finalizing the food schedule for the day. The menu for today was going to be the contestants' dishes, with the judging taking place in the evening after the last meal. Originally, it was going to be two people serving breakfast, two for lunch, and three for dinner. However, with Isami dropping out of the event, everything evened out to just two for every meal today.

Megumi thought back to the events of last evening. She knew that Isami had been deep in thought for the last couple of days. However, she did not expect the outcome to be him not participating in the contest. He had been clearly in favor of the dorm stand idea, even getting to the point where he had foiled his brother's plans for their own stall. For him to abruptly choose not to participate in a contest he had been so excited for was just odd. But once the brunet had explained his reasons, Megumi realized that the decision may have not been as sudden as it seemed.

She knew that it had taken him a lot of courage to just tell her and Takumi of his choice. He had a tendency to keep a lot of his feelings hidden from people behind his usual aloofness, as Megumi found out as their friendship blossomed. Even as Isami was explaining yesterday, she could tell there was more to the story than he let on. But she didn't push for more. Thankfully, neither had Takumi. The two of them just stayed with the brunet until it was close to dinnertime. Realizing that he would have to tell the rest of their friends about his choice, Isami had tensed up again. However, once Megumi reminded him that their friends would support him as well, he had calmed down a bit.

His nerves clearly came back later, though, as he blurted out his news when someone had mentioned the contest.

The room had gone silent, a rare occurrence at Polar Star when everyone was together. Megumi, who had been sitting next to him that night, could feel the waves of apprehension coming from him to the point that she had wanted to hide under the table for him. She heard Isami breathe deeply before he launched into practically the same explanation that he had given earlier.

Once he had finished with an apology, everyone acted exactly as Megumi had predicted. Hugs from the girls, shoulder claps from some of the boys, and everyone telling him not to worry and to go on with his new goal. The reaction from their friends had brightened Isami's mood greatly from what Megumi could see. After that, everyone went back to planning for the next day. Takumi had stolen his brother after dinner for the rest of the evening as the remaining contestants went off to do whatever, leaving Soma to loop her and Isshiki into some video games before bed.

Megumi's phone vibrated, this time with another message from Isami. He told her that he and Takumi had decided to work out in the Hut today instead of running this morning because it looked like it was going to rain. The bluenette scrunched her face in mild disbelief. Was it going to rain? She slipped out of her bed and went to peek out of the curtains. Sure enough, the sky was covered with ominous clouds. Now that she thought about it, her room did look darker than it should have at this time in the morning.

Her morning ritual of tending the garden would have to be canceled today. She did not want to be caught in the storm.

But she still itched to go outside.

She found herself on the balcony a little while later. It was the best place to be at the time, as she got her morning air and she would be able to make a quick getaway when the storm started. The female loved being outside right before a rainstorm, especially during the summer when the air became much cooler after days of humidity. Right now, it was the middle of autumn so there had been a chill in the air before the wind came in. She was glad that she had opted for a windbreaker. Megumi leaned against the balcony and closed her eyes, enjoying the enhanced smell of the forest that surrounded the dorm.

"Wow…It looks like it's going to pour!" A voice pulled her out of her daze.

"Hello, best friend." Megumi mumbled, not even bothering to open her eyes.

"Morning." Soma had made his way beside her because his voice was closer when he spoke again. "Why are you sleeping out here? You could have stayed in bed, you know?"

"I'm not sleeping. I'm just enjoying the morning air."

"Okay." Soma didn't sound too convinced A few seconds of silence stretched between them before Megumi opened her eyes to glance at the redhead.

"Did you need something?" She asked, somewhat concern by his silence.

"Not really." He drummed his fingers on the edge. "I was just wondering where everyone was."

"Well, I know the twins are at the Hut…" She started.

"I already did my exercising for the day, so I have no need to do it again."

"How early were you up to be done already? It's not even…"

"I didn't sleep too much." Soma grinned, as if it was something to be proud of. "I was too excited for today. I ran into Isshiki early this morning and he dragged me outside to teach me some Tai Chi. That was fun."

Megumi blinked in surprise. "You actually liked that?"

"Yup. I even asked him if he could teach me more about it."

"Out of all the sports in the world…" She sighed.

"What? Is that bad?"

"No, not at all! Just the idea of you picking that up is so…"

"Unpredictable?" Soma smirked. "Yeah, I get that a lot. Probably why Isshiki named me The Wild Card in the group chat."

"I always though the reason was because your appearance could either make someone's day and/or fuck someone over, like a wild card does in a game."

The ever-moving Soma suddenly froze, his amber eyes widening as he stared at her.

"What?" The female was puzzled by his stupefied gaze.

"Did…did you just curse?" Soma asked in amazement.

Realizing that she had, the bluenette ducked her head. "Sorry."

"No, no, it's fine. I just thought it was illegal for you do such a thing."

"Well, seeing that I spend quite a lot of my time around you and your competition, it was inevitable for me to pick up some … choice words."

Soma laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry about that."

Megumi waved him off, signaling all was fine. It wasn't all his fault. Soma had the power to attract challengers with strong personalities. Many of his frequent challengers were now also in the Elite Ten, so Megumi had her fair share of team ups with said people. She had soon noticed that they attempted to curb their tongues when she was sent on errands with them, but they would slip up eventually if they got distracted.

"Hey, Megumi?" Soma spoke again after a few more quiet moments.

"Hm?"

"I've been meaning to ask you. Were you with Isami when he decided to not be in the competition?"

Megumi was used to Soma randomly blurting out random questions and comments. His brain worked faster than his mouth, after all. This question caught her off-guard, though.

"Well…I-I wasn't around him when he made the choice, but I was one of the first people he told. A-Along with Takumi, since we went to check on him together." She winced at her fumbled reply.

"Ah."

"What made you ask?" Megumi questioned. Usually, his 'random' questions came from unsaid thoughts and she would have him backtrack to completely understand him.

"Well, I know you and Isami are really close…"

Dread started to creep into her. Did Soma know about their relationship as well? Were they not as secretive as they thought? She and Isami made sure to keep their interactions at a friendly level in public, so Soma could have not guessed from that.

Unless…

Had he heard them on nights they did things in her room? She knew sometimes Isami had to warn her of her volume, but she thought she had kept it a reasonable level…

"Do you think he's mad at me?"

"Uh…what?" Soma's voice brought her back to her surroundings.

"Do you think Isami's mad at me?" Soma clarified. "I wanted to ask you because he seems as close to you as I am."

So that's what he meant as in close. He saw him as another good friend of hers. She held back a sigh of relief as his question settled in her mind.

"Why do you think that? You haven't done anything to upset him. At least, from what I know of."

"Well, I do spend time with Takumi a lot. More than he spends time with Isami nowadays. I remember Takumi saying that he wanted to spend more time with his brother when he said no to another match. That got me thinking that maybe Isami is upset that I've been kind of stealing his brother."

"You only challenge him every day."

"It's not every day..."

"Just often enough to make it seem like that."

"Yeah. I know." Soma rubbed his arm. "Anyways, ever since Isami had announced that he wanted to find his own thing, I've been thinking of ways to try to help him, since we are on the same boat of not having a certain cooking style. But I don't know if he wants to hear me out. That's why I was wondering if you knew how he felt about me."

Megumi took a few moments to think about her answer. Isami had not mentioned anything about being upset at Soma. In fact, the brunet confided in her several times that he would not mind if Takumi and Soma started dating. If Isami was angry at the redhead, he would have not said something like that.

"I don't think he's mad at you." She told her best friend. "But I think it would be best to ask him directly." Soma's eyes flickered to the fog-covered trees as he pondered the suggestion.

"You're right." He agreed. "I should."

"But I think you should wait until after today. We're judging today, after all, and our focus should be on that."

"True."

No sooner than he had said that, their phone chimes went off, indicating that it was the group chat. Soma was the first one to get his phone out.

"Breakfast is starting soon." He read. "Ryoko also sent the order that everyone will be going in."

"Who's first?" Megumi asked.

"Sato and Ibusaki. Then it will be Ryoko and Aoki for lunch and Marui and Yuki will end it for dinner."

"They called us in just in time." Megumi lifted herself of the railing, feeling the first few drops of the storm on her hands. "It's starting to rain."


"We just can't make a rice dish for everything!""Anything goes well with rice."

"Doesn't mean we have to do it now!"

"Well, why would we go with stew? Polar Star had stew last year. We need to change it up!"

"And rice is the answer?"

It was then Megumi decided to tune out the squabbling between Takumi and Soma. She expected this. All four of the Chairs had been throwing ideas almost the moment after the winner was announced last night. The contest had gone well. It was only delayed because the twins had gotten soaked on their way back from working out and Fumio made them clean up the water they brought into the foyer.

Shun and Shoji had been the first ones of the day to present their dishes. Shun had served seemingly simple pork buns. However, they were heavily filled with smoked meat and other bits of vegetables. Somehow, the dough did not break with the weight of the filling. Shoji had made something called Bacalhau à brás. According to him, it was a very common dish in Portugal. It consisted of scrambled eggs and shredded potatoes, salted cod, and onions. Once she detected the fish, Megumi knew why Shoji had picked the dish. His forte was fish, similar to Ryo. Unlike Ryo, however, Shoji had not grown up by the coast. The reason why he had picked fish as his specialty was because he was fascinated with the subject. He had started from scratch, and because of it he was overlooked a lot last year. Fumio had been the only one to see his promise at that time.

Ryoko and Daigo were the ones who served lunch. Ryoko decided to go with a tofu and vegetable noodle toss, as it would allow her fermentation affinity to shine. She even had the choices of sauces for the noodles. For the bluenette with slight PTSD from Soma's attempts of Mapo Tofu last year this was a relief. Daigo, who found comfort in fried foods, served them tempura. He kept it simple by not accompanying the fried fish and vegetables with anything else but soy sauce, but the batter that it was fried in completed the dish.

Last, it had been Yuki and Zenji. Yuki had gone with a variation of tandoori chicken, an Indian dish that roasted chicken that was soaked in yogurt and spices. What she had improvised was the cooking method. Instead of the traditional clay pot method where the meal got its name from, she had roasted it in their rotating oven. Zenji had made a Kisir salad, a dish commonly found in Turkey. He explained that normally it would use bulgar as a main ingredient, along with tomato paste and parsley. However, he substituted the bulgar with rice in order to not completely stray away from Japanese foods and palates.

They had judged four times. One for each meal, and for the final vote. Shoji had won breakfast, Daigo managed to grab the win for lunch, and it was a very close win for Yuki in dinner. Megumi was glad that all three of her votes had won but had struggled to pick a winner in the final round. She could tell she wasn't the only one who had a hard time. Everyone else had their eyebrows furrowed in thought as they contemplated the three dishes. In the end, it had been Daigo's tempura that had won. The unique batter brought out a delicious and unique flavor of the seasonal fish and vegetables. It was also very easy to hand out in the setting they were in and the ingredients were very easy to get at the time. Megumi found out later that the simple way that Daigo had made the tempura made it easier to explore many different pairings it, which was what her group oversaw.

With how creative everyone was in her group, picking one dish that they could all agree on was going to be a slight problem. It was not like they haven't done it before, as many past challenges required them to work as a team.

"Megumi...Takumi's being mean."

"I was not!"

There was just going to be a lot of squabbling in the meantime.

"You're a big boy, Soma. You can take Takumi on without my interference."

She could tell that the males weren't actually fighting. Or at least Soma wasn't. Out of all the times he had to work with people, the only times she would see him actually upset about disagreements were when he was partnered with his father or Erina. Anyone else he would just mess with them, which was exactly what he was doing with Takumi right now. She could tell that the blond wasn't all that upset as well. His posture was relaxed and he had a faint smile on his face when he called Soma out on complaining to her. They were excited about finally being able to do some cooking for the festival, and this was their way to release their enthusiasm. Plus, Isshiki was doing his cooking class this morning so they could not go too far without his input. Not that they had gotten anything done past throwing ideas at each other and messing around.

No one else was at Polar Star to tell them to shape up and focus. They were all at the fairgrounds getting everything ready for the festival in less than a week. Even Fumio had gone. They had waited until they had the first dish decided to truly customize their workspace. From the latest update she had they were planning to make it an open stall plan in order to allow customers to watch them fry up the food. It had been Zenji's idea to do that, as he had claimed that the open cooking would enhance the ingredients and the customer's appetite. It wasn't too far from what they did during the summer.

Amber eyes slid over to the two males still engaged in their conversation. Hopefully their arguing doesn't end up wasting too much time like it almost had during the summer. They were very lucky to get by that last day. It should not, though. They had Isshiki to help. But then, the bluenette remembered just how much "help" he was before the contest had been decided.

Maybe she should be worried.

The senior came into the kitchen about ten seconds later after she had that thought. When had he gotten home? She didn't even hear him announce his arrival. Megumi guessed that she must have gotten too good at drowning out background noises.

"How's it going?" The brunet asked, already clad in just his usual apron.

"Not good." Takumi answered. "Yukihira is insistent that we use rice for our side of the dish."
"And Takumi wants to use a stew." Soma added.

After a pause, Isshiki looked over to the table that Megumi was sitting at. "What does our angel think about these ideas?" He questioned, using her dorm nickname. She had no idea why her friends gave her that moniker, but she was fine with it.

"They never asked me." The female replied as she placed her phone on table. "They've been too busy playing around with each other the whole time. I kind of feel like the third wheel in this relationship."

Takumi spluttered, probably trying to reject the idea of him and Soma in a relationship. The other two males just chuckled.

"Sorry." Soma rubbed the back of his head. "We didn't mean to."

"That's okay." She grinned. "You two are just excited."

"So, what do you think?" Isshiki asked again.

"Don't you ever have an opinion when it comes to group projects?" Megumi countered. "The last few times we teamed up with each other, you just rolled with our ideas. I want to hear your thoughts as well this time."

Isshiki leaned to one side in thought.

"I don't agree with either." He eventually said. "But I'll stop there until we hear what Megumi has to say."

Megumi realized that she had inadvertently made herself the tie breaker.

"Um…I don't think we should use those choices, either."

Soma placed a hand on his chest as he staggered dramatically.

"Megumi!" He gasped. "How could you?"

Takumi covered his face with a hand and groaned at the display. He failed to block a corner of his mouth, though, and Megumi could see it turning upwards.

"I do think that Takumi was going in the right direction, though." She continued, watching Soma drop to the floor at her words. Takumi revealed himself again, sporting the grin he had been hiding before.

"I think so, too." Isshiki chimed in.

"That's it." Soma whined. "I'm dead."

"Dead people don't talk." Takumi nudged him with his foot.

Soma grabbed the blond's leg. "They sent me back to haunt you."

"Are you sure the Reaper just did not want to deal with you?" The blond retorted.

The click and flash of Megumi's phone was the thing that interrupted them.

"Couldn't resist." The bluenette had slid off her stool and had silently made her way over to them. "You guys look so cute."

Takumi pulled his leg out of Soma's grasp, his face turning scarlet.

"Alright." Isshiki clapped his hands. "Get off the floor, Soma. It's time to get serious." Once the redhead was upright again, the brunet continued. "Would you like to elaborate on your point, Megumi?"

"Um…I haven't thought too far ahead…" She admitted. "But I like Takumi's idea just a bit more because I feel like we should serve a warm dish as an option. It's getting close to the end of autumn, and our section continues into the night. I think customers would be grateful to have something warm in their hands and stomach to combat the chilly air."

"That's a good point, especially since our stall is going to be so open." Soma commented. "Do you have a dish in mind?"

"No." She sighed. There were too many combinations for tempura, and she had not set her heart on any of the ones that had come to her mind.

"I think we are overthinking things." Isshiki observed. "We don't always have to come up with something so…unique."

"You mean we should go with something more traditional?" Takumi clarified.

Isshiki nodded. "When you guys hear 'tempura', what's the first thing you think about?"

"Udon…" Megumi and Soma said simultaneously. The best friends giggled at the strange coincidence.

"Seems like we have three votes for udon." Isshiki threw his own vote in the recap. "Takumi?"

"Way to put me on the spot." The blond mumbled. Megumi chose not to remind him that she was in the same position just a few minutes ago. "But I have no problem with that idea."

By the next evening, the four of them managed to have a few samples for the rest of their dorm mates.

"You guys already have an idea on what to make for the festival?" Shun asked incredulously. "I thought it would take you guys much longer, considering the teammates you guys had." He nodded over towards Soma and Takumi.

"Surprisingly, they stopped messing around long enough to get things done." Megumi replied.

"I did have to embarrass Takumi a bit in order to have them stop squabbling, though."

"How?" Isami perked up at the last sentence, a grin forming on his face.

"Don't worry about that." Takumi butted in and placed a sample bowl in front of his twin. "We need to worry about the festival."

"Hold on." The bluenette mouthed after Takumi turned his attention towards something else. She pulled out her phone and sent the picture she had taken the day before along with a brief description to the two of them. She had decided to not send the image in group chat, as Takumi would have been furious about that. Then again, it may have been just as bad to send it to the two males whose friendship grew from their shared interest of putting people on the spot.

Maybe even worse, she realized as the sight of their impish grins.

Oh well. It was the price he had to pay for making her sit through hours of him and Soma feuding.

Sure enough, as soon as the taste testing was done and everyone started to go their separate ways, Shun called out to the blond.

"Why'd you do it, Takumi?"

"Do what?"

"Why'd you bring Yukihira back from the dead?"

"What?"

"I told you, Ibusaki." Isami chimed in. "The power of his feelings for Yukihira brought him back. I know for a fact how strong they are."

"What the hell-?" Takumi cut himself off as he realized what they were talking about.

"Daigo!" Megumi quickly walked over to the raven-haired teen on the other side of the room the second she felt Takumi's glare on her.

"Hm? Oh, hey!" Daigo waved back. "What's up?"

"I-I just realized that I didn't congratulate you properly on your win." She replied. It was true that she hadn't, which made the perfect excuse to avoid the potentially volatile blond across the room.

"Oh. Thanks." Daigo chuckled. "I still can't believe that I won."

"Why not? You've won most of your shokugekis this year."

"Yeah. But I've never won against anyone in the dorm before. Well, except against Sato, but he doesn't count."

"There's always a first time." She smiled warmly. "I'm just glad it came sooner than later."

"Thanks." He shot her a grin. He turned his head in the direction of the trio she had left behind. The bluenette did not dare to do the same. "You want to know something?" Daigo spoke up after a few moments.

"Sure."

"I think Isami would have won had he not dropped out of the race."

When Megumi did not immediately reply, her dark-haired peer shifted his gaze back to her. "I tried his dish. Well, so did Ryoko and Hayama. But Ryoko and I did it because he helped us with our dishes. Anyways, after I ate his food, it made me feel like my then-recipe could not even hold a candle to his dish. He even said that it was his first time making that version of the meal. Ryoko even told me that she was afraid of him."

Megumi could not help but to chuckle at that. "Sorry. I understand where you guys are coming from, though."

"Yeah. I made the realization that day that if I wanted to win, I had to be better than him. Guess I won't know for a while if I succeeded." He sighed.

Soon after, Daigo left to do stuff before his turn in the bath. Megumi, ever the person to not like watching people suffer for too long, went back to shoo Takumi's "tormentors" away and to apologize to the blond for letting this happen. Takumi stayed downstairs as the other three went to their rooms, Shun leaving them alone when they passed his floor.

"So, what were you talking to Aoki about?" Isami asked as they reached the third floor.

"Oh, I was congratulating him on his win. I hadn't had the chance to up until then."

"Ah." They stopped by her door.

"We also talked about you, if you were wondering why he kept looking over in your direction."

"You were?" His blue eyes furrowed in confusion. "Why?"

Megumi told him the same thing that Daigo had told her.

"Huh." Isami folded his arms and looked away. "I don't feel like I am as good as he says. Especially now with the problem I am having with my cooking."

"You wouldn't even be here right now if you weren't." Megumi reminded him.

"True."

A few moments of quiet passed before the bluenette broke out into a grin.

"I guess you have potentially gained a rival."

"I guess so." Isami chuckled. "However, unlike my brother, my obsession will not be with my rival."

"Oh? And where would your obsession lay if not with them?"

Isami smirked before he leaned towards the bluenette until their foreheads were touching.

"Oh, Luna." He spoke in the low tone that always sent shivers through her body. "Has it been that long since I've shown you where my obsessions lay that you've forgotten?"

Megumi smiled and placed her hands on his hips.

"I wouldn't mind a refresher." She whispered, already feeling herself becoming warm.

Isami chuckled and moved his head to kiss her. Their lips barely brushed against each other before hurried footsteps forced Isami to jump back. Megumi pushed herself off her door just before the culprit turned the corner.

"Oh, Megumi, there you are." Soma grinned. "Are you busy?"

"No!" She squeaked, flustered at the thought of Soma walking in a couple of seconds later. "I-I-I mean…am I needed for something?"

"I just wanted to know if you could come back down for a bit. But…" He looked over towards Isami.

"We were just talking." The brunet assured him. "It's fine."

"You sure?" Soma's gaze went back to Megumi. "You're all red."

Megumi held back a groan. Soma was too observant for her own good sometimes.

Isami smiled. "That was my fault. I teased her a bit too much."

"Ah." Soma seemed satisfied with that answer.

"Anyways, I should get going. See you guys later." With a wave, Isami turned around and went to his room down the hall. Megumi watched him until he disappeared inside.

"Did I piss him off?" Soma asked.

"I think it's more that he doesn't want to bother us." Megumi knew that her boyfriend had escaped as fast as he could in order to calm down. The memory of him pressing against her threatened to make her fading blush flare up again.

"Isami really did a number on you, didn't he?" Soma laughed.

The bluenette forced herself to not say that she wished Isami had done more.


Megumi would never get used to the glamour of the Uptown section of the Moon Banquet Festival.

She had avoided it in her middle school years after hearing the rumors of how expensive everything was. The first time she had visited the section was last year, when Rindo had invited her and Soma out to eat. The big structures, the beautiful lights, the well-dressed people, and the delicious smell of different kinds of foods hung in the air. If it hadn't been for her companions' insistent pushing and impatience for food, Megumi may have never moved from the entrance.

She was glad she wasn't the only one who had been entranced by the splendor of the region. Other than to help with the set up of the booth during the prep days, the Aldini twins had also not stepped foot in the district. They had been too busy with their own stall throughout the years to even bother. So when they came the first evening for their shift, Megumi got to see their amazed gazes as the lights came on all at once.

"This school really goes all out." Takumi murmured.

"It does." The bluenette agreed.

Their area paled in comparison to the more elaborate designs of others, but Megumi loved it. They were tucked away in a quieter area on the outskirts of the district, so the atmosphere was more relaxed. The stall was much bigger than the stall she had seen in passing last year, as there was now a few more people to help out. The stall was mostly wooden, with colorful banners spread across the sides. Other than a roof above the whole thing, the building was left open as it was planned, which was a good thing because they would need the air from all that frying. At night, they had a generator kick on in order to light up the kitchen area. The rest of the stand was illuminated by hanging lights, giving it a warm but spooky glow. Isshiki had even done the same thing he did last year and placed a board with all their faces beside the booth.

They had about twenty tables surrounding the booth with about four chairs each. Each table had a lantern in the middle of it to light up the tables with the same warm glow that the stand was under once the sun went down. Despite the location and the humbleness of the booth, they had a steady influx of people coming through their stand. Megumi had taken up an almost permanent job of waitressing and soon found out that a lot of the daytime customers had been fans of both the Polar Star Dorm and of the individuals within. The older ladies from Isshiki's cooking classes were one example, and she was surprised to see that they remembered her from the few times that she had accompanied her senior to the seminars. Takumi's fangirl club also came by. The reason she knew that they were his fangirls was by the way they actively searched for the blond and would screech with happiness whenever they caught sight of him. Only then would they sit for a meal. After the second day, Megumi was glad she had two or three other people helping her with the tables because after hearing a conversation about Isami actually looking attractive this time, as the brunet had slimmed back down again thanks to the added stress from his new goal, she place the group as far away from the booth and the twins and left them in someone else's hands. She would have snapped at them if she hadn't done that.

Other than that, the first three days of the festival went by fine. It was the fourth day that Megumi's exhaustion caught up with her. It did not help that she had the morning shift after working the night shift. It wasn't because of poor planning. She was supposed to work the afternoon shift originally, but Zenji had wanted to go to an event in the morning and Megumi had volunteered to switch with him. After all, she had worked on little sleep before. She also got to experience the morning shift, as she was never scheduled to be there at that time. It was much slower than she was used to because their main customers were elite members of cooking society, and those kinds of people never woke up early if they didn't have to. She actually got to sit down on one of the stools by the bar. However, as her adrenaline rush went down, she could feel herself getting tired. A yawn escaped her.

"That was a big yawn."

Megumi turned her head towards Isami, who was leaning on the bar from the inside. He wore his usual playful expression, although a bit smooshed because he was resting his face lazily on his hand.

"Sorry." She smiled sheepishly.

"It's to be expected." Isami replied.

"How are you holding up?" She asked. Isami still had trouble tasting his food correctly but had insisted on cooking in order to not lose his skills.

"I'm fine. As long as I follow both recipes. It's more if I try to create something by myself that I would have a problem."

Megumi nodded.

"Do you have any plans after this?" Isami questioned.

"No."

"Do you want to make plans to hang out and look around? Unless you want to go home and rest. You did work a double shift, after all."

Megumi shook her head, perking up at the invitation. "I want to hang out." She affirmed.

Isami grinned. "Great."

The rest of the shift seemed to go by just a bit slower, despite the increase of customers. By the time it came to get off, Megumi could barely keep her excitement down.

"You seem in a hurry to leave." Shoji, her relief, noted.

"It's my first time this year to have time to see the festival." She replied.

"Don't let me hold you back then." Her friend laughed before going to work. She made her way to the booth, where Isami was talking to his brother.

"Oh, ready?" The brunet asked once he caught sight of her.

"For what?" Takumi asked as she nodded.

"Megumi wants to see the festival, and I can't let a lady walk around by herself." Isami replied.

"Ever the gentleman." Takumi smiled at his twin.

Isami, however, looked away.

"Anyways, I'll see you guys later." Takumi nodded at her and went back into the kitchen area.

"Does Takumi know about us?" Megumi asked once they were far enough in the crowd. That had been the smile of knowing a secret.

"He knows that I have a crush on you." Isami admitted.

"Aw…you have a crush on me…" Megumi teased.

Isami gently pushed against her side. "Shush." He told her as giggles erupted from her.

They decided to start off their exploration with their friends' booths. The first one they ran into was the Lab Coat Trio's stand.

"Megumi! Isami!" Alice had been the first one to spot them. She quickly made her way to them and pulled them up to the front. "Here to try our dish?"

"I mean, you literally just dragged them up here and put them on the spot." Hayama pointed out bluntly. "Would be hard to say 'no' at this point."

"She's right, though." Megumi admitted. "We do want to try your dish."

"Here." Docile Kurokiba slid in between them, holding two plates to the visitors. As soon as the food was grabbed, he went back to the crowd outside.

"Stuffed peppers!" Alice virtually sang.

"But what are they stuffed with?" Isami frowned. Megumi could tell that her expression mirrored her boyfriend's. The pepper shells were recognizable, as they were just regular halved peppers. However, the inside was filled with little orbs. It reminded her of those squishy ball toys that grew in water.

"Eat it and find out." Alice goaded them on.

The couple did so, the orbs bursting in Megumi's mouth as soon as she started to chew. The surprise was clear on her face as the tastes of onion, tomatoes, fish, and spices filled her mouth."

"Like it?" Alice grinned. "We made a stuffed pepper mix and I took their flavors and made them into sphere form."

"That's cool!" Isami stared wide-eyed at the other half of his pepper before popping it in his mouth.

"You should share with everyone." Megumi suggested.

"We would, but that would require leaving the booth." Hayama noted.

"Then why don't you?" The bluenette asked. "You have enough staff."

"But we don't want an imperfect dish to go out." The white-haired male replied.

"He's just a workaholic." Alice interjected. "But no one can do my method like me, and what if we run out? And Ryu stays by me, so he won't go anywhere."

Megumi hummed. She knew that all her friends loved to try each other's creations, but it would be hard to do so when most of them were up here with the long hours of the Uptown district. They would have to get together after…

"Wait, duh." Megumi passed her plate to Isami and took out her phone. "Polar Star always has a party after the festival." She explained as she started to type on her phone. "Why don't you make enough to share then?"

"How much are we talking about?" Hayama asked.

"I'm sending the message to all the members of Polar Star and the Elite Ten. Plus, to Erina and Hisako, and Ikumi. She replied. "So at least that much."

"Great. Let me put my phone on silent." Hayama announced as he pulled out his phone.

"So, we botched our plans to visit our friends' stalls because of your idea." Isami said after they had left the trio. The brunet was looking at his phone. "Everyone who has replied has agreed so far, by the way."

"I did do that." Megumi realized.

"Well, there are plenty of other places to eat." Isami pointed out.

"Yup. Ooh! Can we go to the Local Cuisine RS booth? They set up in the Central Area this time."

"Wherever you want to go, Luna." Isami smiled. "But please try not to lead us in circles."

Megumi chuckled. "Okay, we will make our way over there."

And that was what they did. They would stop occasionally for meals and games and performances that interested them. Sometimes, because of her status, students would ask her to try their dishes. Of course, being the courteous person she was, she would not refuse them. Eventually, they made it to the Local Cuisine RS booth, where they stayed and ate and chatted for a bit before leaving again. This time, since they had no goal, they ended up wandering aimlessly until they ended up by Kuga's…establishment.

"I would make a joke," Isami said as they took in the massive structure that stood out in the Central region. "But I'll wait until he is potentially out of earshot. Megumi scrunched her face in confusion until she saw Kuga making his way over to them.

"Megumi!" The shorter male greeted enthusiastically as he approached them. "You're not with Yukihira?"

"Hello to you, too." Isami sarcastically replied.

"No, Soma at our booth right now." Megumi pointed in the Uptown direction.

"Did you guys break up? You guys are always together."

"No. We were never dating in the first place." It was a common occurrence for people outside of her main group of friends to think that she and Soma were dating. She did correct the people who asked, but the assumption remained.

"Oh. Well, then." Kuga placed a hand on her shoulder. "Yukihira better step up before it's too late." A wolfish grin appeared on Kuga's face.

Megumi did not miss the implication of Kuga's words. Nor did she miss the slightly louder intake of air from her boyfriend.

"Too late for what?" She hid behind the innocent persona that people pegged on her. She would do that sometimes when she wanted to discourage people from trying to woo her.

Sure enough, it worked this time.

"Never mind." Kuga stepped back. "I should head back. See you later." He playfully saluted before heading back up the stairs. Once the senior was out of sight, Isami sharply turned away. Megumi did not blame him for being upset. He had been practically ignored by Kuga and had watched her get hit on.

"Hey." Megumi touched his arm.

"I'm fine."

"Bullshit." She was not going to let him hide behind a mask this time. Isami opened his mouth, but Megumi interrupted anything he was about to say. "Follow me." She ordered.

The bluenette led the way through the crowds, taking a path that avoided any of the food stalls. She still held on to his arm so she would not lose him, as many visitors were doing around them, so no one paid them any mind. Soon, they reached one of the school buildings. Because most of the festival took place in the giant courtyards, the actual buildings were more or less abandoned for the time being. They were still open in case something was needed or if it rained, though. They continued walking in silence inside the quiet halls until they reached the specific room that she was looking for, which was one of the cooking rooms reserved for the Elite Ten. It was only after she locked the door and pulled Isami into the window-less walk-in pantry did she dare to wrap her arms around his stiff body.

"We're alone now." She muffled into his chest. "Let loose if it you want."

A sigh escaped him before he wrapped his own arms around her and lowered his face into her hair.

"I'm sorry." He murmured. "It's just that…I got upset from how he acted the moment he realized that you and Yukihira were not dating. I know he's always so casual with everyone, but his demeanor shifted right then."

"I know. That's why I pretended I did not know what he was talking about."

"I have a feeling that it was only the beginning." Isami said, hugging her just a little tighter.

"I'll reject him every single time he tries."

"I'd understand if you ever want to go with him." He sighed.

"Isami." She took a step back to look him in the eyes. "Remember how you said that you are obsessed with me?"

He nodded.

"Well," The bluenette grabbed the front of his sweater vest and gently pulled him closer. "I feel the same about you. So, anyone else trying to date me would just be wasting their time."

"What did I do to deserve such an amazing girl like you?" Isami leaned in until their foreheads were touching. "My amazing, perfect, beautiful Luna."

"I don't know if I am any of those things. But I do know that I can't wait for a kiss any longer." The bluenette whispered before closing the gap between them. As soon they made contact, Megumi realized that she had been missing him a lot more than she had realized.

"Touch me…" She breathed once they broke the kiss, not caring about how lewd she sounded.

"Whatever you say, my queen." Isami chuckled. He pushed her against a wall and started to unbutton her shirt. "We have to be quick, though." He warned as he pushed her bra down to reveal her breast. "People might start looking for us soon."

"Uh-huhhh…" She sighed as he pulled at her nipples.

"I'll tease and fuck you properly later, though." He whispered huskily in her ear, sending shivers to her core. He kissed her again, letting his hands go up her skirt this time. He gave her ass a quick squeeze before tapping one of her legs. Understanding what he wanted, she curled that leg around his waist.

"You soaked your underwear, Luna." Isami breathed as he traced her through her panties.

"It's your fault."

"I think it's fair." He grabbed her hand with his free one and pressed it against his crotch. "After all, this is your fault." Megumi could not help but to feel proud that she had caused the bulge protruding from his slacks. But before she could ask if she could free him, he pushed her underwear to the side and gently rubbed her sensitive nub, eliciting a moan from her. He soon slid two fingers into her, and her hands went to his shoulders for support as he started to finger-fuck her. Megumi shifted, groaning and closing her eyes in pleasure once she got into a position where those long digits hit the spot that she wanted.

"You're so adorable." Isami hummed, adding a third finger and picking up the pace. Megumi only replied with a hum, already losing herself to the sensation. Isami cursed, and she suddenly felt the absence of his fingers. She opened her eyes and saw him pulling out his wallet.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist not being inside you any longer."

"You shouldn't have in the first place." She softly scolded him, her hands going to unbutton his pants. Once his dick sprung out, she stroked a few times before Isami placed the condom on in. He lifted her body up with relative ease and slide right in her. More moans came from the both of them as he started to get a rhythm.

"Faster!" She cried, mewling in pleasure when her demands were met.

"Look at you." Isami grunted. "The innocent angel of Polar Star …willingly getting fucked in a school pantry."

"You're…one to talk…" Megumi panted. "I thought…you were…supposed to be a gentleman."

"I won't tell if you don't." He winked. Megumi gave a breathy chuckle. Isami shifted her body, and it ended up cutting any further conversation because it felt so good. Eventually, the coil in her stomach released, and she was glad she was between the half-Italian and the wall because she would fallen. Isami came a stroke or two later, and pressed her further against the wall as he took a bit to catch his breath. Megumi remembered that they soon adjusted themselves and cleaned up the mess they had made, and she remembered sitting at one of the tables in the room.

What she did not remember was falling asleep at said table.

But she remembered waking up to Isami whispering in her ear and the setting sunlight streaming into the window.


All the districts closed at the same time on the last day, which was in the early evening. The early closure was to allow vendors to pack up in time for the fireworks show later on. As they cleaned up, the rankings were announced for each section.

Polar Star's stand ended up winning in the total rankings for the Uptown region.

It wasn't a total surprise, as they had four chairs in the stall and the lowest prices of the district, but it still was a surprise because who would have thought that the humble stand off to the side would gain so much attention. (Again, probably due to the four chairs and prices.)

Whatever the reason, Megumi knew for certain that Daigo had the biggest grin on his face for the rest of the night.

The group had gathered later in an emptied courtyard later to watch the fireworks. Soma had been a bit shocked that the festival had ended on such a serene note, as he never had the chance to experience the Totsuki Moon Festival normally, but was still impressed by the insane amount of fireworks that were shown. The redhead kept grabbing Megumi and Takumi in excitement at particular ones, the blond for once not telling him to knock it off.

Megumi woke up the next morning feeling a bit more rested than she had been for weeks. It helped that everyone had gotten home earlier than they had been for the past few days and she had slept through the whole night for once. Also, she noticed that she had slept in, as it was almost ten in the morning instead of six or seven. She shrugged it off, though. Tonight was the party so she needed all the rest she could get.

She checked her phone messages, noting that she had not been the only one that had slept in as a couple of her dorm mates had said that they had woken up past their usual times. She also got her usual good morning text from her boyfriend, indicating that he was awake. Soma had also texted her much earlier than the other messages, saying that he had gone to the store and had wanted to invite her, but she had been fast asleep when he had checked on her. So, he took Takumi along with him. The bluenette wondered how the blond was awake before seven in the morning when it wasn't a running day. Also, she was very glad that she had slept in her own room last night, as Soma had mentioned coming in this morning.

With his habit of often coming in her room unannounced, Megumi was very lucky that she and Isami had not been caught by him yet.

Seeing that he wasn't in the kitchen or in the dining room when she went to get a quick brunch, she made her way back up the stairs to his room. She opened the door, immediately greeted by soft playing jazz music. An older song, she realized, as her eyes fell on the figure at the desk. Usually, he would greet her from wherever he was in the room. Today, however, he didn't even turn his head from the video on his laptop. Did he even know that she was inside his room? Megumi smirked as a mischievous idea came to her mind.

This was a rare opportunity to startle the usually perceptive Isami.

Quietly, she made her way towards the distracted brunet, encircling her arms around his shoulders and placed her chin on his head like he would do to her often when he hugged her from behind. Isami stiffened and she let out a giggle.

"Did I surprise you?" She asked.

"You did."

But it wasn't Isami who answered.

Her amber eyes widened as she looked down at the computer screen.

"Judging by your expression, I think I got you back." The older man on the screen laughed heartily. Megumi didn't share his amusement. In fact, she had frozen with shock and growing embarrassment. Isami tapped on one of her hands.

"Breathe, Megumi."

"So, Isami, are you going to introduce me to the pretty girl on your shoulders or do I have to do it myself?" Megumi, realizing that she was still draped over the male, immediately retracted herself and looked down to hide her reddening face.

"Hold on. I'll do it." She glanced back up at the sound of the chair scraping the floor, and Isami gestured for her to take the seat. Megumi shakily sat down and saw herself face to face with the person on the screen.

"Megumi, this is my father, Aldini Hiraku. Papa, this is Tadokoro Megumi. She's my girlfriend."

"Nice to m-meet you." Megumi bowed her head.

"Likewise." Aldini smiled warmly. "I take it that this wasn't the way you were planning to meet me." His dark eyes shone with mirth.

"No, it was not." Megumi looked down at her hands.

"So, you got yourself a girlfriend." Aldini's attention went back to his son's. "Your mama picked the wrong day to be out. She would have been ecstatic hearing this news."

"Um…actually, can you not tell her about this yet? Takumi doesn't even know about us yet." Isami admitted.

"What? I thought he would have been the first one to know about this." Isami shook his head. "How long have you guys been dating?"

"Since the end of summer, so about three months."

"I've talked to you a few times during that period. You've kept this hidden for that long?"

"Surprisingly."

Aldini laughed. "Today's full of surprises, it seems."

"But, please, don't tell Mama." Isami asked again. "If she finds out, she'll let it slip to Takumi and I don't want him to get angry at me from finding out from someone else."

Aldini looked to the side in thought for a moment.

"Okay, I won't…"

Isami sighed.

"…if," The older male looked over to Megumi. "You invite Tadokoro to Italy over winter break. I would like to meet her properly."

"How does sound, Megumi?" Isami turned his head to her. "Would you like to come along with us for the holidays?"

"I would have to write to my mother and tell her first." Megumi replied.

"Great! We still have more than two months, so we have plenty of time to plan. Isami, you better call me as soon you find out."

"Yes, Papa."

"Okay. I'll let you guys go now." Aldini grinned. "Oh, and congratulations."

"Thank you." Megumi answered.

"Ciao."

"I'm sorry." Megumi apologized as the screen went blank. "I didn't know you were on call with your father."

"It's okay." Isami patted her head. "I'm more concerned about if you're angry at me for telling him about us."

"I did make it obvious." She groaned, hiding her face in her hands.

"If it makes you feel better, you did scare me when you came in."

A muffled 'thanks' came from her.

The brunet sighed. "It seems that we have a list of things to do now."

Megumi lifted her head. "Which are…?"

"We need to tell Takumi."

"When do you want to tell him?"

"I think…" Isami started after a minute of silence. "If he doesn't figure out by two weeks before winter break, we tell him then. But I have a feeling that he will beforehand."

"Okay."

"We also have to figure out what you are going to write to your mother."

"Oh no." Megumi groaned, remembering her mother's words of saving herself for marriage. Which she had not done. At all. "What am I going to say to her?"

"I'll help you if you don't want to do it alone." Isami offered. "And, if we both get stuck, we can ask Isshiki for help."

"Thanks." Megumi smiled, appreciative of how supportive her boyfriend was being. That was something she could tell her mother. "Anything else on our to-do list?"

"Yup." The brunet stretched as he went to go check his phone. "And it's long overdue."

"What is it?"

"We need to go on our first date."


First Section

-I have my phone set up the same way to deter my nosy family members.

-Isshiki simply has way too much time on his hands. I mean, he could go to classes to take up said time, but whatever.

- Supportive dormmates being supportive.

-I think I mentioned this before, but the Hut is referring to the gym that Polar Star has. I made it up so don't try to look for it.

-I headcannon that Megumi loves rainstorms and would absolutely stand in them during the summer.

-Originally, I was going to have Soma hate exercise, but I realize that that might be too OOC for him, so I settled for Tai Chi for him because even people as animated as Soma need to calm down at times.

-There is absolutely no way Megumi has not cursed at all this whole time. Her best friend is Soma, after all.

Second Section

-This was the section I was stuck on for a month. I had no idea how to write the contest. I went on discord for help and someone told me to not worry about the details if it doesn't progress my story. I think I was more worried because I had hyped up the contest and did not want to disappoint anyone. Also, I'm not a foodie so I could not go into insane details like they do in the series. I ended up taking the advice and summarized the whole thing.

-I have a fascination with side characters (if it isn't obvious already) and I wanted each Polar Star character to have a chance to shine, which is another reason why I picked to have a contest. I selected the specialties for Daigo and Shoji after looking at the three dishes that were logged of them making.

-I mentioned in my notes last chapter that I had thrown all my dishes at my friend and asked him to pick a winner for me. He picked tempura, which was Daigo's dish.

-Remember how Isshiki was just smiling in a corner like a madmen two chapters ago? Megumi is having none of that this time.

-At the end of the day, they are still teenagers, so Soma's dramatic acting is valid.

-I think Isami and Ibusaki would make great friends. They are both witty, sarcastic, and also, Takumi's nightmare.

Third Section

-Sometimes, I forget that Totsuki has a middle school section. Then I remember that everyone but Soma went to middle school here. Then I refer to it.

-Oh, yeah. Takumi knows that Isami likes Megumi, because I forgot that I had mentioned that in a previous chapter in passing.

-The inspiration of these stuffed peppers were Orbeezs and those edible water bottles I see online every one in a while.

-Short joke avoided.

-Da dun dah! This whole smut scene is the reason why I started this story. I read a doujin a while back of Soma and Megumi having sex at the school and I thought that was a nice change from the innocent girl I was so used to seeing. I was already shipping her with Isami and I thought it would be a cool idea to have our innocent Megumi and our gentleman Isami sneaking off to have some fun in a classroom. It was originally going to be a one-shot but I change my mind for some reason and decided to make a multi-chapter story out of it.

Fourth Section

-I knew that I wanted to have the twin's parents find out right after the festival, but it took me a while to find out how. Thankfully, by the time I got here, I had figured it out.

That's all I have to say! See you next time!