The first time you touch your soul mate, a petal appears where contact was made. The more you interact with them, the more it grows until it blooms into a flower that represents both partners and the relationship that they have together.
Megumi did not know when she got hers.
In fact, she hadn't known she had one in the first place until her mother pointed it out the second summer after Totsuki.
"I don't think I bruised myself…?" Megumi tried to look over her left shoulder, the one her mother was hovering around. She had opted for a spaghetti strap summer dress, as they had planned on being outside today. Her mother had gasped when she had her back to her, and now was inspecting a spot Megumi could barely see on her shoulder.
"It doesn't look like a bruise." The older woman hummed, tenderly touching it. "Actually, it looks like…" Her mother inhaled sharply before speaking softer. "It looks like a petal."
Curious, Megumi all but ran to the closest mirror she could find. Twisting around, she finally saw the mark that grabbed her mother's attention. She could immediately see why it was thought to be a bruise. The thumb sized splotch was a midnight blue, even darker than her hair.
So, this was the beginning of her soul mark.
She let out a dry laugh. It seemed like her clumsiness got her into yet another predicament, as she obviously got the mark bumping into one of the various people at her new school.
Unfortunately…
"I don't even know who it is." The teenager admitted to her mother.
"Don't worry," Her mother assured her. "Fate will let you know who they are eventually."
Sometimes, Megumi wondered what kind of flower she would get.
Her mother had a grey and white pansy on her wrist, which she had gotten when her father had pulled her out of a biking tourist's way. Megumi vaguely remembered the matching pansy on his palm, as he had died from sickness when she was younger. Pansy meant thoughtfulness and remembrance, a fitting flower for her considerate parents and for her widowed mother.
For now, all Megumi knew of her flower was that it was going to have some sort of midnight blue. In middle school, she would check it every night at first. Each time she would be disappointed that there was no change to the thumb sized mark. Eventually, she had stopped checking altogether, mostly because the fear of her expulsion from Totsuki had taken over her mind.
She was grateful that an eccentric transfer student by the name of Yukihira Soma had came to her rescue.
However, she was not grateful that her savior intruded on her bath time later that night.
Of course, she screamed in shock, turning her back to him to cover herself. He did not leave right away, to her dismay.
"Is that a bruise?" He asked. "Did you hurt yourself?"
"It's my soul mark!" She exclaimed, feeling herself turn red from angry embarrassment. "Now get out! Get out!"
Once she heard the door finally slide shut, she uncurled herself. But the panic was not gone yet. Quickly, she made her way out of the bath and haphazardly wiped the fog on the mirror. Only when she saw the familiar unchanged blue petal on her shoulder did she relax.
It wasn't him.
A few hours later, her new neighbor would come up to her during the dorm party. Both of them would apologize for the bath incident and would fall into friendly conversation.
They became fast friends, much to Megumi's amazement.
"When did you get yours?" Soma asked one day during a lull in their conversation on their way back to the dorms.
"What?" Megumi had absolutely no clue what he was referring to, and momentarily stopped walking. He paused as well.
"Your soul mark. When did you get it?" He clarified.
"Oh." The cloud of puzzlement cleared, and they resumed on the path home. "Between my first semester here and summer. It was on my back, so I didn't know it was there until the summer." Yukihira opened his mouth, but Megumi interrupted whatever he was about to say. "Before you ask, I don't know who it is and it hasn't changed since then."
"You read my mind." He pouted.
"No, it's just that people ask me the same questions once they are aware that I have one."
"Oh." He blinked. "It must be cool to have one."
"You don't have one?" She shouldn't be as surprised as she was. Only a couple of the Polar Star residents had some sort of petals forming on their bodies. Most people didn't get their petals until adulthood. The children and teens were the oddity, and from what Megumi saw Yukihira was an oddity in general. She had assumed that he would have one as well. But here he was, shaking his head at her question.
"Nope! But I'm glad. The people back at home were not up to par with me, so I would have been a little upset to end up with someone there. I just know my partner is going to be someone who I can challenge again and again."
"Maybe you'll run into them here like I did." Megumi mused.
"Nobody here seems interesting." Soma shrugged.
"Oh. Okay."
"No, wait!" Soma picked up on her glum reply. "I mean, no one has caught my eye. I think everyone at the dorm is cool!"
Megumi only hummed.
"Look," He placed a hand on her arm. "If I do get a soul mark from someone at this school, you'll be the first that I show, okay?"
"Why me?"
"Because you're my best friend?"
"That sentence ended as a question." She gave him a skeptical look.
"I wasn't sure if you were okay being called that." He explained himself.
"Fair enough."
"But seriously, I will show you first if I get it." He held his hand to his chest, a rare solemn expression on his features. Megumi, taken aback from his sincerity, dumbly nodded before her thought process caught up to her.
"I'll show you if there's any progress in mine." She quickly said. "I would feel bad if you're the only one giving updates."
"That would be cool!" He gave her a thumbs-up.
"Y-yeah." She weakly agreed, too caught up in Soma's enthusiasm to admit that she had given up her own search a year ago.
It turned out that neither of them had to wait too long for changes.
It was the day after they had come back from the Training Camp. Nearly everyone in the dorms were out of it, the first years still recovering from their experiences during the program and Isshiki slightly out of it from a dream he had the night before. The only ones that seemed to have energy was the dorm mother and, to a degree, Soma. But Soma was crazy so most of the dorm members chalked off his jitteriness to normal behavior. Megumi, however, easily picked up that this was not normal Soma behavior and started to silently guess what was making him this way. The only thing she could come up with was the new 'rival' he had made at the camp.
It was after dinner when Soma decided to burst into her room shirtless.
She wished she could say that this wasn't a common coincidence. He had a habit of coming in unannounced half dressed when he was excited. However, this time wasn't about a dish or a shokugeki.
"Look!" He bounced on her bed, distracting her from her manga. Her golden eyes shifted to him, then widened when she saw what he was pointing at.
"Oh, my goodness!" The book was completely ignored as she scrambled to get a closer look at the angry red line on his shoulder. "Did you hurt yourself?"
"You think a pro like me would hurt myself in the kitchen?" He scoffed.
"I wouldn't put it past you."
"…Anyways, if I had gotten injured, it would have faded away within a couple of days, right?"
"You mean you had this for days and it didn't occur to you to get it checked out?" Megumi frowned at him. She didn't think her friend was that stupid.
"I am worried that it hasn't disappeared, though. I don't think it's soul mark since it's not a petal."
"Actually," Megumi cut in. "There are some flowers that don't have the traditional petals."
"Then…it really is one…"
"Leave it to you to get an untraditional flower." Megumi exhaled.
Soma chuckled. Then he groaned and flopped on her bed.
"What? Are you not excited to have one?" The bluenette prodded him with a toe.
"I know who it is." The voice was muffled from the pile of blankets he dug his face into, but Megumi was able to discern it.
"Wait, what?" Shock went through her. "When, who, how?"
Soma lifted his head. "Remember my new rival?"
"New rival…" She trailed off, memories of a really angry blond going through her mind. The challenge he made during the training camp. "Takumi, right?"
Soma nodded.
"How?"
"Remember when he squeezed my shoulder and I was able to tell that he worked in a diner?"
"Oh."
"Yup."
"Are you upset?" Hesitation filled Megumi's voice.
"I don't know yet." Soma sighed.
They were silent for a while after, each lost in their own world.
Soma, still reeling with the information he had received.
Megumi, trying to fight back the little twinge of jealousy she felt in her.
Soma surprised himself with how long he waited until he confronted Takumi about theirs.
At first, he was skeptical. How could he be soul mates with someone who hated him? Not a day went by when they met up and Takumi reminded him that they were rivals.
However, they seemed to gravitate towards each other, and Soma had many opportunities to see the growth of his soul mark mirrored on Takumi's palm.
One day, he had grabbed the blond's arm in mid-air during one of his rants, bringing the marked hand to his eye level. The mark didn't grow before his eyes as he heard they can do, but it had grown because he was immediately able to pinpoint the new addition to it.
"What are you doing?" Takumi's strained voice cut through his thoughts.
"I thought you were injured." The lie slid out easily.
"No, it's my soul mark."
"Doesn't look like petals." He commented, relying this time on the ignorance he had before.
He was right, though. The red line that it had started from had first grown downwards, enough to turn into a dark red. For Soma, the line stopped just at the top of his breastbone. Takumi's was much shorter, probably the bulk of it under his sleeve. What was clearly showing on his palm was the growth upwards. The stripe slowly started to turn orange as it stretched upwards, and for some reason, started to branch out. Soma knew eventually those lighter lines that were starting to go up the blond's fingers were eventually going to curve over his shoulder.
"Well, not all flowers have petals, Yukihira."
The explanation came out slowly, like he was trying to explain to a child.
Had he been the only one who didn't know that? Maybe he should have paid more attention to something that would affect his life. Again, he wondered what flower they shared. Maybe he could find the finished plant in the wild? Were they native in Japan? Edible? Could he cook with it? Does it taste good by itself?
"Umm…" Takumi distracted him from his mind again, bringing to attention that he was still holding his fingers.
"Oh, sorry." Soma let go. "It's a cool mark."
He could see Takumi open his mouth, but he managed to change the subject.
Soma decided to wait until he could identify the flower before he said anything to Takumi. Hopefully it would give him enough time to figure out if he was happy with his soul mate.
Megumi was furious at herself.
The day had been full of minor inconveniences at school and all she had wanted to do was soak in the bath to help her relieve the stress from school. She did get her wish, being the last one to bathe allowed her to take her time in the warm bath water.
However, her luck for the day hadn't changed.
In her rush to get to the bath, she had forgotten to grab a top for her nightclothes. After a good five minutes was spent panicking, she got the idea of wrapping her towel around her shoulders like a long cape and make her way upstairs as fast as possible.
It was the fastest she had ever made it to her room, allowing herself to breathe normally once she had closed the door behind her.
She hadn't forgotten the top at all, it seemed. It had fallen out of the pile she took to the shower room, now spread out on the floor in front of her. She growled in annoyance, allowing the towel to fall to the ground as she went for it. As she shook it, she passively glanced at her mirror.
A scream escaped her a few seconds later.
It didn't take long for Soma to come in her room, concern etched all over his face.
"It's growing." She managed to squeak out, turning her back towards him.
"Wow…How come you didn't tell me sooner?"
"I didn't know! Mine isn't in a great position to see progress!"
"Where's your phone? I'll take a picture of it."
Soon, both of them were sitting on her bed, hovering over her phone. She finally managed to snap out of her…panic?...excitement? to put her shirt on after Soma snapped the picture of her back. The redhead had taken the phone away from her again because she was shaking too much to hold it steady.
The dark blue petal was not alone anymore. It was the center of layers of petals. The petals seemed to open just a bit more the farther it got from the center, the dark blue slowly fading into lighter shades. The flower was a bit slanted, trying to take over her shoulder blade as it leaned towards the middle of her back.
"It looks like it's been growing for a while." Megumi murmured. "Have I really been that distracted with school and cooking to not even notice this growing?"
Soma simply shrugged, and Megumi's attention briefly went over to his tattoo. The orangish lines had branched out, the longest one threatening to reach his collarbone. She knew he hadn't told Takumi yet, taking advantage of the colder weather to wear clothes that covered it. The fact that he was actively hiding his soul mark reminded Megumi of something else.
"I still don't know who it is." She hid her face in her hands. "I met so many people this year."
"Well, at least we know what it is." Soma commented, tapping her with her phone.
"Eh?"
"I did an image search."
Megumi removed her hands in order to grab the device. Staring right at her was a flower similar to her tattoo, but it was all pink instead of shades of blue.
"A peony? Those mean 'good fortune and happy life." Megumi lifted an eyebrow. "How could I have such a lucky flower?"
"From what I read from this article, it also means 'bashfulness and compassion', and those words practically describe you." Soma added. "It's a perfect flower for you."
"I guess…" She slowly agreed. "It could also mean my partner."
"True. Or both of you guys." The redhead chuckled. "Now if only I could do the same image search for my mark. I keep getting trees."
"Maybe you should search for 'flowers that mean loud'." She suggested.
"Ha ha."
Today was the day Soma decided to go to the public baths. The winter air had chilled him a bit more than usually today and he felt like soaking in a hot bath without the stress of someone waiting on him.
He decided on one of the barrel baths. The facility was near the school and he had less of a chance of running into classmates. He did not want almost complete strangers to notice the rare soul mark growing on his shoulder. The only ones who knew about his soul mark were the residents of Polar Star and his father.
And now Isami, because the younger Aldini had the same idea of using the barrel baths.
Thankfully, he had been alone before the redhead came in the area. Soma got in the bath next to him.
"Takumi's not here?" He asked after they greeted each other.
"He didn't want to come."
"Ah." Soma could feel his heart rate go down at that news.
There was an unspoken rule that came with soul marks.
If someone were to see people with identical flowers, they would not say a word about the match unless the couple knew about it. It wasn't illegal, but the custom was so intertwined with the issue of soul marks that it was heavily frowned upon if someone decided to play matchmaker. Some said it ruined the experience, that it would defy the path that fate wanted a couple to go down. If the pair had a rough relationship already, a premature reveal might worsen it. To avoid that, people avoided talking about other people's soul marks unless it was common knowledge between them.
That was why Soma could see Isami silently stare at his mark. There was no need to talk about it. He has no doubt seen the smaller version on his brother's hand nearly every day. At the moment there were five orange lines, each of them fading into gold the more they grew. Four of them were curving over his shoulder. The fifth one, the one that was starting to peek out from his V-necks, had thankfully stopped growing out. Instead, tiny hay colored flowers were starting to bloom from it. From what he remembered from Takumi's, the branches were starting to curve up the sides of his hand.
Even though Soma came to relax, the silence was a bit maddening.
"I know Takumi is my soul mate." He admitted, freeing the brunet from the customary silence. "I've known it since we came back from the training camp."
"Then why haven't you told him yet?" Isami lifted his head to stare directly at the red head. "It would put an end to his daily denial."
"Why would he need confirmation that he matches with someone he hates?" The red head frowned. "He always seems so angry with me."
"I don't think he hates you." Isami assured. "I also think that the flower fits the both of you."
"You know what it is?" Soma leaned against the side of the barrel.
"Someone in the school who's really good with plants told Takumi it's an Angelica."
"An…Angelica?"
"It's also known as wild celery."
"Does it mean 'loud'?" Soma asked hesitantly.
Isami laughed but shook his head.
"Good. Megumi was wrong then."
"She knows as well?"
"Everyone in Polar Star knows about mine and-" He stopped himself. He had almost mentioned that his best friend had a tattoo as well. She hadn't mentioned that she told Isami, so it was safer to not say anything at all. "What does it mean?" He decided to say instead.
"It means 'inspiration'." The brunet smiled. "I have to admit that my brother seems to have more of a drive in cooking ever since he realized you existed."
Soma grinned. Honestly, he could say the same thing about Takumi.
The twin then decided to stretch, and a flash of blue got Soma's attention.
"Blue?" The word slipped from his mouth. He's seen that shade before.
"Hm?" Isami paused. "Oh, my soul mark." He raised himself a little higher, and Soma inhaled sharply as he took in the sight of the very familiar flower blooming on the left side of his chest.
And just like that, Soma knew the fate of four people.
He managed to keep his head long enough until he was home. Thankfully, he ran into no one on the trip to his room. It was only when he was in the safety in his room did he let his thoughts go wild with the truckload of information he had gotten in such a small amount of time.
By the time he was calm enough to go to bed, two main thoughts circled around his mind.
He should show Takumi his soul mark soon.
And Megumi and Isami would be great in-laws.
"I got to hand it to you, Soma." Yuki hummed. "Sometimes you come up with good ideas."
"What do you mean 'sometimes'?" The red head huffed. "All my ideas are great!"
"Please, I can count the number of times you had 'good' ideas on my hands and still have fingers left." Yuki challenged.
"Oh, yeah?"
"Please, no challenges today." Megumi sighed from her splayed position on her towel. "Let's just relax and enjoy the summer air."
"Fine…" Yuki relented. Soma, however, said nothing and decided to flop on his best friend instead, earning a yelp from the bluenette as he landed over the middle of her back.
"Soma, why…?" She whined.
"You told me to relax, so I am." He simply said.
"I didn't mean on me." She pouted.
"You know," Yuki took a sip from one of the juice pouches they had brought to the lake. "If you guys did not have completely different soul marks, I would ship you."
"Ship?"
"She means that she would put us together as a couple." Megumi clarified.
"Oh. Would that even work? Don't all couples bond because of their tattoo?"
"A lot of the books I have don't rely on soul marks to pick their partners. At times, they don't even exist and people have to rely just on feelings to pick each other."
"Hmm…" Megumi unable to read his expression because she was still pinned under him. "That sounds complicated." He ended up saying.
"I guess." Yuki shrugged. "But it makes me jealous to see you guys at times. Your flowers are so pretty. And they grew so fast!"
It was true. Soma's angelica had seemed like it stopped branching out for now, most of the stems well over his shoulder. Little light-yellow flowers clusters were the newer additions.
Megumi still couldn't believe that the petal she had a little over a year ago had exploded into a flower that took up a third of her back. From what she saw this morning, the peony had completely taken over the back of her right shoulder, spilling over to her spine. The blue gradient of it was also clearer, now sporting colors from a midnight blue to a cerulean color.
"I'm still no closer to figuring out who it is, though." She mumbled. She felt Soma twitch on top of her. "Still nervous?" She asked him.
"A bit." He confessed.
The dorm trip to the lake had been Soma's idea. They had invited their non-dorm friends as well, but as a formality. The person the hyperactive redhead wanted to actually see was Takumi. He had decided that it was time to show off his tattoo to his soul mate because it was getting to the point where it was becoming difficult to balance hiding it with clothes and his own comfort.
Takumi wasn't here yet, though, and he didn't know if that was a blessing or a curse.
"Let's go swimming!" Yuki suggested. "All of us! It might help you calm down, Soma." All their dorm mates were in on the plan, and they were all supportive of him.
"Yeah, that might work." He agreed, carefully lifting himself from Megumi.
"I can breathe normally again." The bluenette also stood up, wiping whatever dirt was on her arms and bathing suit. The trio quickly made their way into the water, soon absorbed in games and conversation.
Their non-dorm friends slowly started to arrive. The Nakiri cousins were first, along with their aides. When Soma yelled for them to come join them in the water, Erina and Arato refused. However, Alice came in full tilt, and Kurokiba was dragged along by default.
"I'm not surprised that you have one, Yukihira." The albino scoffed as her fingers brazenly traced on of the lines on his shoulder. "I bet you know who it is."
"I do."
"I knew you and that Italian had something special." She placed her hands on her hips, the red and white amaryllis on her chest a reflection of her pride. Kurokiba had the matching flower on his own chest, a result from their initial contact from a challenge when they were younger.
"Hey, Alice. Kurokiba." Megumi greeted, lazily bobbing along the small waves in a doughnut floatie.
"Oh, Tadokoro." Kurokiba deadpanned, a sign that the bandana was off. "You have one as well."
Unlike Soma, she did not try to hide her own soul mark, however most of her clothes and uniform covered her shoulders. The strap of her bathing suit was thin enough to allow the blue flower to be displayed today.
"Yeah." She replied.
"How come you didn't tell me!?" Alice squealed, ducking down to see up close. "It's so blue!"
"I thought you've seen it before?" Megumi swore the white-haired girl came out for a girl's night at least twice.
"Your hair must have covered it. They both have similar colors."
That could have been it, but now her hair was in its regular twin braids so the mark wasn't hard to miss.
"It reminds me of the sea." Kurokiba hummed. "Peony, right?"
Megumi nodded.
"Oh. Oh!" Yuki waded towards them and shook Soma violently. "The twins have arrived!" She pointed towards the shore. Sure enough, the Aldinis were making their way to greet the people on the shore.
"Yuki…don't kill him with your excitement." Megumi chided, sliding out of the floatie.
"Why is she so excited?" Alice inquired.
"Soma hasn't showed Takumi his soul mark yet." Yuki explained in an excited whisper.
"Ooh!" The albino grinned.
Soma, meanwhile, hadn't said anything since Yuki pointed out Takumi. Megumi could the conflict in his expression. Before he could completely panic, she gave him a gentle push.
"Go." She said. "Meet him the same way you usually do. I'll be right behind you."
He looked back at her, and the conflict turned into determination as he gave her a nod. They exited out of the water and made their way over.
"Yukihira! Tadokoro!" Isami greeted them first.
"Hello!" She waved.
Soma stayed silent, his golden eyes fixated on Takumi. The blond had gone still, his blue eyes tracing the lines and flowers on the redhead's chest.
Megumi glanced around, feeling a bit awkward from the staring contest between the two males. Their other friends had slowly migrated towards them to watch the scene, some degree of anticipation etched on all their faces.
It felt like hours before Takumi let out a shaky sigh.
"So, it is you." He dropped his head.
"Yeah."
"Why?" Takumi clenched his fists, and Soma unconsciously leaned against Megumi. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?! Did you know how stressed I've been for months thinking it was someone completely different than you? Did you know how many times I've crushed that the idea that it was you?"
"I thought you would be angry to know it was me." Soma admitted.
"Be angry to know…" Takumi's voice wavered, and Megumi could see the tears forming even though he was still looking down. "I'm happy…"
"What?"
"I'm happy!" Takumi exclaimed, finally lifting his head to directly talk to Soma. "I'm so glad it's you! I had hoped it was you! I…" He trailed off, wiping at the tears that were now trailing down his cheek.
The boys took a minute to accept the congratulations and friendly taunts sent their way before Soma extended his hand towards Takumi. "Want to go swimming? It'll wash the snot off your face."
"I am not snotty!" The blond growled, but he started to take off his shirt. Soma laughed, then looked up towards Isami. "The offer extends to you, as well."
"You sure I won't be intruding on your bonding time with my brother?" He smiled, easily catching the balled-up shirt Takumi threw at him.
"Nah, I have one more big goal to achieve today."
"What do you mean by that, Soma?" Megumi questioned. As far as she knew, the main goal of showing off his tattoo had been achieved. Her puzzlement turned into apprehension when he gave her a grin and grabbed on to her arm. "What are you doing?"
"A precaution."
"What?"
"So, Isami!" He turned back towards the brunet. "Joining the rest of us in the lake?"
"Sure!" The brunet chirped. "Just give me a minute to our phones away."
"Oh, that's a smart idea." Takumi mumbled, handing his phone to his brother.
"Too much in a hurry to strip for Yukihira to have common sense." The younger twin rebuked. The whole circle of friends laughed as Takumi scowled at the retreating form of his brother.
Soma decided to turn back to his best friend then, who was staring at him with a dubious expression.
"You'll see." He smiled.
"That doesn't assure me." She replied, glancing at Isshiki to see if his expression would show that if he knew what was going on. Her senior caught her eye and shrugged, honestly as lost as her. The people who actually gave her a clue were Alice and Yuki when they simultaneously let out shrieks and scared the shit out of her.
Megumi followed their gazes, noticing that Isami was coming back to them, now shirtless as well and ready to go in the water. However, Megumi could see that that wasn't the reason for their excitement.
"Oh, right." The brunet rubbed one of his arms. "I forgot that most of you guys haven't seen my soul mark yet."
It spanned the left side of his abdomen, half of it on his chest and half on his stomach. The center of it was a dark blue, slowly fading out into lighter shades of blue as it grew out.
Megumi could feel herself sway as she realized what she was looking at.
"Easy…" Soma mumbled, pulling her towards him so she could lean on him.
"It's a peony, isn't it?" She could hear Marui ask.
"Yup." Isami nodded. "This was the part that came first." He pointed towards the darkest petal in the center. "It was in middle school. Takumi was so scared with the thought that I had bruised myself that he nearly dislocated my shoulder dragging me to show our parents."
"I said I was sorry…" The blond mumbled amid the chuckles of everyone else.
"Anyways, it did not grow again until high school, around the time Takumi's started to show up."
"How did Takumi react when he realized he had a soul mark?" Soma interrupted.
"Don't…!"
"Oh, he screeched." Isami ignored his brother's protest. "He woke me up from a nap thinking that someone was breaking in our apartment."
Cackles and howls were the response this time, but they were cut off when Megumi's voice wavered above them.
"Do you know who it is?"
She could feel the moment her friends' gazes shifted to her, the air filling with anticipation. She didn't pay them much attention, though. Her focus was on Isami.
"No…but I have a feeling that I meant them through Takumi because our flowers grew around the same time. We've met and kept in contact with a lot of people, though. Half the time I'm too tired to even check for any changes the same day."
"Hm." Megumi looked down at Soma's hands still holding on to her, the realization of his actions dawning on her. "How long have you known?" She asked her best friend.
"The same day I found out what my flower was."
"Since winter?"
Soma nodded.
"Everything makes perfect sense now." The bluenette exhaled.
"What does?" Takumi asked, and Isami mirrored the muddled expression that the blond had. Megumi lifted herself off of Soma, carefully making her way towards the younger twin. She lifted her hand, her intention still forming in her mind as her eyes met with his.
Briefly, she realized they were the same color as the petals on the outer layers of the soul mark.
"Can I?"
"Uh…sure."
Cautiously, she rubbed her thumb on the outer edge of the flower nearby. Immediately, the skin beneath her touch started to change. Slowly, two more petals grew in, adding on to the unfinished circle of cerulean. Whispers and murmurs of wonderment surrounded her as she twisted her body to show the matching tattoo on her back. She looked up at her partner, whose face had frozen in disbelief. Once he noticed her stare, he let out breathy chuckles.
"You're right. Everything does make perfect sense now."
The train station was full.
It was to be expected. Schools were being let out for the summer break and this was about the time the first wave of workers were heading home.
However, even though the crowd was thick, Megumi was easily able to slip through people easily. She had more than a year's practice, opting to go home every break she had ever since she got to Totsuki.
But this time, she was distracted.
Yet again, she had failed her finals. The only reason why she managed to pass any of her classes was because she had done so well during the semester for everything else. A couple of teachers had asked if everything was alright because they couldn't understand how such a promising girl could fail these tests.
She knew why. It was simply due to panic. Everything would get hazy to the point she wasn't able to even see her ingredients. She would forget the recipe. She would put the wrong stuff in.
She was just a mess.
"At this rate, I won't even make it past the first week of high school." She sighed, finally taking a look at her surroundings. She stopped walking, startled that she was in a different section of the station instead of the one she needed to be at. She looked up, noticing she was just past the stop hanging from the ceiling.
She backed up to…
"Oof!"
…to run into someone.
"Eee!" Megumi spun around, and immediately bowed. "I'm sorry!"
"It's fine." A male voice replied. Megumi looked up, immediately recognizing the middle school uniform of her school.
She could never escape being a clumsy fool in front of her classmates, could she?
"Hey, you don't have to be so sad." The boy's soft tone startled her. "It was my fault as well, I was too busy looking around instead of in front of me."
"Oh, it's not that. Well, it is, but not only that, well…" She caught herself. "Sorry. I'm rambling."
The guy chuckled. "Don't worry. I don't mind. My brother does it all the time."
"Oh?"
"Yup, he-oh." He pulled out his phone. "Speak of the devil. He's texting me right now." He commented once he checked the screen. A sigh of annoyance escaped him.
"Everything okay?" She asked politely.
"Nothing bad. My brother got himself lost again."
"Oh, no."
"It's normal. I got to go find him, though, before he gets too far." He pressed on his phone, and Megumi could hear the faint sound of it ringing.
"Oh, okay. Nice meeting you!" She waved.
"Likewise!" He waved back, phone already on his ear. He walked off, and Megumi could hear him speaking in a foreign language to someone on his phone. The bluenette watched him until he was swallowed up by the crowd.
Part of her hoped that she would meet him again.