This chapter follows Megumi after the first chapter.
Megumi didn't go home right away.
She couldn't because she was on the verge of crying, and right now, she didn't want anyone to see her cry.
The bluenette veered off the beaten path once she got to the forest, heading towards a tiny clearing that she knew existed. She left her bike part of the way there, as it was too much for her to drag with her at the moment, and continued on foot for the rest of the short way there. It was only when she got to the clearing did she finally sink to the ground and sob into her knees.
"Stupid, Stupid, Stupid." She cried. Why had she said that? Why did she scream in front of all the Elite Ten? How many other people heard her? They must think that she's crazy now. Why couldn't she keep her mouth shut and wait like usual?
Soma did really rub off on her.
"Soma…" She whimpered. The mental image of the redhead brought in a fresh batch of tears. He hadn't stopped her at all. He didn't grab her or even yell at her to wait.
Why didn't he stop her?
Was it so bad to request a single afternoon with him? Just one? They used to spend almost all their free time with each other. Now it felt like they had none at all.
For a few seconds, Megumi wished that they weren't Chairs anymore. That way, they would be able to do the things they used to do without the strains of their jobs.
Megumi mentally slapped herself. No! Soma loved being the First Chair, and she did not mind some of the benefits that came with being Tenth. How could she even think of such a horrible idea? She sighed and looked out to the horizon. The sun was setting, the last remaining beams of the day trying to get through the trees. The sight reminded her of the afternoons she and Soma would stand on the Polar Star balcony, the wind going through their hair as they talked about random things and laughed about silly stuff…
The tears slipped out again. She really did miss those days, did she?
Her phone went off, dragging her out of her painful memories by telling her that she had a message. Her heart sped up. Was it Soma finally trying to contact her? She tapped her screen and her face fell when she saw that it had been Isshiki instead.
I don't think you went home. Just send me your location when you are ready and I'll have a car pick you up.
Megumi just sent an okay before shutting off her phone. She honestly didn't want to speak to anyone else now, and Soma doing anything to contact her was just a pipe dream. After all, he had the time to do so earlier.
Megumi blinked, realization slowly coming to her mind.
He had the time.
He had the time to call her earlier. He had the time to stop her when she ran off. He had the time to tell his friends that he was hanging out with her. He had the time to give her a text or call to say he wasn't going to make it to whatever they had planned. He had the time to tell her not to wait up on him. He even had the time to say that he was sorry when they saw each other.
Megumi knew Soma too well. He would fight for anything that he wanted, even if he failed at it again and again. Finally seeing all the missed opportunities and the lack of effort from Soma's end brought Megumi to a sobering conclusion.
Soma didn't want to spend time with her anymore.
The tears kept falling, but this time she didn't know if they were from sadness, anger, or frustration. Her mind was a mess as she went through her memories. How come she didn't see this before? It made perfect sense now that she thought more about it. But what did she do wrong to make Soma not want her around anymore? She acted the same as she always did. Sure, she did grow more confident over the months. But he seemed so happy at that. That couldn't be the reason. And how come he didn't say anything to her about this? He wasn't one to hide his thoughts. How come he didn't just come out and say that he didn't want to hang out with her anymore? It would have saved her the embarrassment of today. It would save all the time that she allotted just for him. It would have saved the hours she would wait for him to come home.
Was this his way of ending a friendship?
The first stars were twinkling in the sky by the time Megumi came to a decision. Soma wouldn't have to worry about her anymore. She would cut the rest of their ties herself. She knew it was going to be hard, but this would be the best option for them in the long run.
Her phone blew up with messages and missed calls once she turned her phone on again to ask for the car. She read them but she didn't have the energy to reply. Her finger froze as she went through her missed calls. Soma had called her. If it had been just a couple hours earlier, she would have been elated. But she knew now it was probably an obligatory call. Someone must have told him to call her. He didn't even leave a message, cementing her guess.
The car came soon enough, and she loaded her bike before opening the door. To her surprise, Isshiki was sitting on the other side.
"Did you wait for me at the office all this time?" She asked, her voice hoarse from her crying earlier.
"I didn't mind. I wanted to make sure you got home safe." Isshiki told her. "Water?" He offered her a bottle. She didn't know how thirsty she was until she drained the bottle and half of a second one.
"Just that you know, everyone at Polar Star knows what happened."
"I figured by all the missed stuff I got." She weakly chuckled. "I guess I have to apologize to our dorm mates. And the rest of the Elite Ten."
"I don't think anyone will blame you for anything that happened today, so don't feel bad about that part." He told her. "It's understandable."
Megumi stayed silent the rest of the car ride, opting to stare out the window at the dark trees and listening to her senior talk to the driver. It was only after she had put her bike away and they were walking to the main doors did she start talking again.
"Do you think I could skip dinner?"
"You can. No one will be upset if you do."
Megumi took a bit longer to take off her shoes as the brunet went to greet everyone in the dining room. He glanced back at her and she took that moment to show herself to the rest of her dorm mates. She kept her eyes on the ground.
"Megumi." Soma's voice was accompanied by the sound of a chair scraping the floor. He was coming towards her. But she had a job to do.
"Stop." Her arm flew up, not even looking at him. She would burst into tears if she did. "I don't want to talk to you."
She didn't hear him say anything else, but she wouldn't have let him anyways. She quickly apologized to her friends and tried not to run up the stairs for an early shower and bed.
She didn't sleep much that night. However, she could tell that she was tired because she kept hallucinating that a door was opening and closing at random times during the night.
Megumi had not gone to school the next day. She tried to tell herself that it was because she had not slept well, but she knew the true reason. Everyone knew the real reason.
She couldn't bear to see Soma at school.
The classes they shared had them sitting right beside each other. It would hurt to see him so close but unable to talk to. And besides, it might bother him to see her.
Most of her day was spent in the garden. The day felt nice and everyone else but Fumio had gone to class. It was soothing to work the earth and listen to her stories about the old days and whatever else came to mind. When it was getting near the time for the others to get home, she went upstairs to do some homework. A little while later, she decided that it was time to take a break and grab a snack downstairs.
It quickly turned into a terrible idea.
No sooner than she closed the door behind her, her neighbor's opened.
She jumped. What was Soma doing home now? He was never home at this time!
"You're home early." She tried her best to keep her voice neutral. He didn't not need to see how his rejection was affecting her. "Whatever. I'm sure that you have other things to do." He probably just came up to grab something. She didn't need to hold him up. But he shook his head.
"I don't." He said, making her pause in shock. "That's why I was trying to find you-"
"Oh." She interrupted him, anger and sadness filling her. "Nice to know that I'm the last resort." Was that all she was to him now? Someone to come to when there was nothing else to do? Well, she wasn't going to allow that at all! She had a job to do, after all. She turned to walk down the stairs.
"See you later, Soma." She waved off any further comments he tried to say. She didn't want to hear anything else he had to say. He would make her start crying at this rate. Again, he didn't follow her. This time it was a good thing because her unhappiness was blatant on her face. So much so that when she met Yuki downstairs the other female whisked her away to her room and called Ryoko to join them.
"You can talk to us." Yuki had told her.
But Megumi shook her head. Even though she was trying to cut ties with the redhead, she still felt like he didn't deserve to be yelled at anymore by their dorm mates. Besides, it was her mistake that she didn't see anything sooner.
Thankfully, the girls didn't push it. They just kept her company and distracted her from the earlier events. By the time dinner came around, Megumi felt well enough to sit with everyone else, though she made sure that she kept her distance from Soma. After all, he didn't want to spend time with her so this would help achieve that goal. She tried to keep her attention on everyone else until Soma abruptly got up and left. Megumi guessed he ended up finding something to do.
Her method was working.
Megumi stayed away from school again the next day.
She was starting to feel a bit bad about missing school. She had no idea how Isshiki could miss so much of it. It was not because she was afraid of failing her classes. It just made her anxious to not go somewhere she was required to go. She had considered on going on a trip to make up for this, but ended up deciding against that. Traveling to any location would require all her attention to acquire the knowledge there, and right now she knew that she didn't have the focus right now.
After she checked on the garden, which really didn't need much work because she tended it yesterday, she worked on a few recipes by herself. She hadn't been lying when she had wanted Soma to be with her to try new combinations that day. His creativity would have helped her a lot. Also, it was fascinating to watch him put random things together and the end product coming out delicious. Or horrifying for terrible dishes. It depended on what he wanted to do then.
But Soma did not want to do that anymore with her.
She sighed. It's not like she had no one else to talk to about ideas. She had several other friends, many living under the same roof as her. But there was something special about cooking with Soma. He made her feel relaxed in the kitchen with his carefree attitude. She felt okay laughing about her failures around him. She didn't even mind when he shoved his awful creations in her mouth, though he had to start finding ways to convince her to try them.
She only got through one dish before the memories overtook her mind. She left the excess food in the fridge for anyone else to eat before going up to her room, making sure to bring a thermos with her this time. She didn't need another run in with Soma until dinner. Someone knocked on her door a while later, and she almost called out an answer before she heard the voice.
"Megumi?"
Of course, Fate loved to be against her when it came to Soma.
She froze, her mouth still hanging open. He never fails to surprise people, does he? This was the second afternoon in a row that he had nothing to do, it seemed. Why was it now that he had all the time in the world? She was trying to help him by distancing herself so he had more time to do what he actually wanted. She was trying to help end the friendship, something that he seemed like he wanted to a while.
So why was he here?
He knocked and called for her again, but she stayed deathly silent. She didn't want to face him yet. She barely breathed as an added measure, hoping that she could get away with pretending that she wasn't in her room. It seemed to work because she saw the shadow under her door move and heard the creak of the stairs as he went down. She uncurled herself and exhaled.
Does Soma really have nothing to do anymore? She texted Takumi a little while later. He was the next person that spend the most time with the redhead after her. Surely, he would know what was going on.
He has been rejecting challenges the past couple of days from what I have seen. Takumi replied. Even mine.
So Soma did have the capacity to say no.
Does he even go to the office? She asked.
He was actually here earlier today, but he left soon after Isami and I came in. He said that he had to 'end' something.
Megumi let the phone slip from her shaking hands. Soma's visit made sense now.
He came to officially end their friendship.
She knew it was coming. This was what she was planning for. But she felt devastated. Soma had called her his best friend. She never had anyone call her that before, not even Yuki. They went through so much together, but everything had to come to an end.
"It's for the best." She whispered. It was the chant she kept in her head during dinner, when she had to fake her emotions in order not to raise too much suspicion. She could feel Soma staring at her the time she was there. He must have known that she was in her room when he came to find her earlier. She was the one to leave early this time, wanting a bath to calm her nerves.
"It's for the best." She said out loud again, this time to her rubber duck.
Whatever relaxation she could snatch from the bath disappeared the moment she pushed open her door and amber met amber.
"You've come to end this." She said.
Soma nodded.