At two months pregnant, you start to really feel those early pregnancy symptoms. Morning sickness starts to appear in most women, though it can also be all-day sickness as well. Fatigue will always be around, however mood swings will become more prevalent at this point. Food aversions and cravings grow as well. And speaking of growing, your breast size will start to change and may even start to feel tender on the process. Also, you will be bloated as water retention starts. Heartburn, increase in urination, and constipation are symptoms as well.

Sources: Healthline and Pampers

"Hello, Isshiki."

"Hey, Nene!"

"Is there a reason why you are calling me on my day off?"

"Because it would be rude to call you on a day that you were working."

"…Fair enough."

"Plus, I wanted to share some news with my dear and oldest friend."

"Which is…?"

"I'm going to be doing a cooking class for a couple of months in your area."

"Weren't you planning to open a restaurant in a few months? What are you doing teaching?"

"Yeah. But Dojima got a hold of me recently and asked for this favor, and seeing that he has helped me establish connections to suppliers, it's only fair to repay him with that."

"I see."

"So that means I get to see you and Megumi more often for a while."

"Great…"

"You can afford to show a little more excitement, you know? You're the first friend to know about this."

"Probably because Megumi didn't answer her phone."

"Not true. I haven't even contacted her. I felt that it would be better to surprise her than to call her ahead of time and have her worry about preparing for my arrival."

"She really doesn't need anything else to bother her."

"What was that?"

"…"

"Nene, what do you mean by that? Is something wrong with Megumi?"

"It really isn't my place to say anything, not that I know much to begin with. But she has seemed…off these past couple of months…"

Even though her alarm had yet to go off for the morning, Megumi was awake.

In a way, it was normal. She had suffered insomnia since she was a little girl. When she was at Polar Star, sometimes she would be up before the sun making snacks for the people working outside. It also did not help that events at Totsuki had further destroyed her sleeping schedule. But it had been getting a little better these past few years, especially since she had basically set into a pattern. She was able to sleep through a night more often than not now.

However, what was keeping her up was not a fit of insomnia.

Instead, it was the unpleasant feeling of severe nausea.

Megumi groaned as she slumped away from the toilet. She felt gross from the taste of vomit in her mouth and from kneeling on the bathroom floor for the past 20 minutes. However, and unfortunately, she was becoming used to this feeling because nausea had been plaguing her for the past week or so. She was lucky that her vomiting spells were once a day and had happened at home so far. Who knew how much more concerned her coworkers would become if she were to start doing that there as well?

The bluenette stayed on the ground until she heard the faint and tinny sound of her phone alarm. Slowly, she pushed herself up and stood still, waiting for both the feeling of her legs to come back and to see if the need to vomit came back. When the former was positive and the latter negative, she made her way back to her bedroom long enough to turn off the increasingly annoying alarm and came back to the bathroom to rinse out her mouth.

After that, she came to her kitchen. Even though she wanted something solid to help her stomach, her body literally recoiled at the thought of food. Sighing, she instead pulled out the mix of Kampo that she had made a few days ago to make tea from it. She found that this helped her keep down food. Or whatever food that she could eat without her stomach churning. Which wasn't a lot right now. Even the smell of foods that never bothered her made her sick. Megumi found herself less in the kitchen at Kirinoya and more as a waitress. And even that was a feat sometimes if the smell of the food was extra strong.

Megumi had pondered about going to the doctor a couple of times, but eventually decided against it. Her vomiting only happened once a day late at night or early in the morning and there wasn't any blood with it. She also was managing her nausea well and keeping herself extra hydrated. But the main reason she didn't go was because she felt that this was just another side effect of what had happened two months ago.

Even though her and Soma have not spoken to each other all this time, she still thought about him. How can she not, when he had been such a big part of her life? He still was. She managed to stop herself from trying to contact him first. And each time he texted in the group chat or stumbled upon some news about him she got less and less upset and more and more…numb.

Sometimes, she questioned herself. Was this okay to start feeling this way about her best friend? To slowly not care about his feats and adventures after so many years of actively doing so?

And sometimes she questioned him. Had he done the same? Does he even care about this rift? Did he even care about her or just went along with whatever? Was all he truly cared about was cooking?

These questions and more would still swirl around in her. And she still found herself trying to answer them all. No wonder she didn't feel good.

Once she finished her tea, Megumi opted for the armchair in her living room instead of the table. Today the restaurant was closed so she was able to relax a bit more at the moment. And even though summer was upon the land and she was sipping on a hot drink, she still placed the small blanket that was there upon her legs. She then turned on the TV and flipped through the channels until she settled on a talk show.

She didn't realize that she had fallen asleep until a noise startled her awake. It took her a few moments to register that it was her doorbell.
Sliding out of her blanket and her comfortable chair, she ambled over to the door and opened it. Whatever drowsiness she had left melted away into surprise once she recognized the person at the entrance.

"Isshiki!" Megumi gasped.

The brown-haired male gave her a friendly wave and his trademark smile while balancing a box in his arm.

"Good morning, Megumi!"

"Wha-Wha…er…why…?"

"Let's go inside to talk." Isshiki laughed at the bluenette's attempts to speak. "If that's okay."

"Oh, s-sure." Megumi moved out of the way to allow him inside before shutting the door behind him. "Would you like some tea?"

"That would be great." Isshiki placed the box he had been carrying on the small table in the kitchen. "I brought some castella, by the way. It's a simple one."

"Oh." Megumi replied. Though she hadn't eaten anything since expelling whatever she had this morning, she still felt a little hesitant about anything solid. But she ignored that hesitation. "Sounds good. I haven't had anything to eat since last night." Because she was looking in her cabinet at that moment, she failed to see the small frown that had momentarily appeared on her guest's face.

"Ah. Well. I don't think a pastry would be the best thing to eat first thing in the morning. Or afternoon." He corrected himself.

Megumi glanced up at an old wall clock she had and saw that it was past noon already. Wasn't she up right before the sun? How long did she nap?

"I can make something instead. It won't take me long" Isshiki offered.

"You don't need to." Megumi said, but Isshiki pressed on.

"It's the least I can do since I came unannounced."

Megumi almost relented. However, she remembered her nausea then and realized that Isshiki might make something that would make her not want to eat it. And she did not want him to make a meal and her not eat it.

"No." Her voice came out firm. "Castella is fine"

Isshiki blinked before raising his hands in front of him.

"Alright. You win."

Thankfully, the pastry was simple enough that she didn't gag on the smell alone like she had with some many other things lately. And she could just taste the flavor as she took a bite of the moist cake. Her hunger returned completely as that first bite was swallowed, and she had an urge to shovel as much as she could in her. But she knew that would be a terrible idea in the long run and decided to pace herself by asking her friend questions.

"How come you are in the area?" From what she understood, Isshiki had plans to open a restaurant in a location that was not near here at all. She did not know how much progress he had made in the past couple of years, but she knew that he had the support of Dojima and his connections so the progress of that goal should have been high. However, she also knew that Isshiki had the tendency to do whatever random stints caught his eye, again because he had the support of Dojima and had access to information of worldwide events. One of the things that Isshiki had done was travel with a famous circus in Norway for a few months until their main chef had gotten over their sickness. Another thing he did was volunteer his services for a new disabled veterans' facility in United States until they were able to hire a cook, which took about a year.

And sure enough, this was one of those things.

"I'm here to teach for a couple of months." Isshiki replied, sipping his tea. "It's a program for adults that did not have the ability to go to Totsuki but do have brilliant talents. I also am going to teach teens that may transfer over to Totsuki on Saturdays as well."

"That's amazing!" Megumi knew that ever since Erina had taken over as director for the school, she had been gradually reaching out to the public. Even as early as her last year in high school Megumi had seen students enrolling from less prestigious families.

"Yeah. So this area was picked as one of the places to do so because there quite a few qualified chefs around here. It's good because I'm only up for a two month stint to hold the program until it's more established. Also, Shinomiya had said that he would not mind helping out every so often if the location was convenient for him. So that played a part in the location as well."

Megumi smiled. Her former mentor as well as her current employer's husband had gotten a little more tolerant and patient over the last few years, especially since he became a father. His no nonsense attitude was still intact, though, and even though Megumi was still in frequent contact with him she still was wary with him. But to hear him wanting to help with something like this rather than being a little coerced was a definite change.

"To think that around 10 years ago none of this would be happening." Isshiki marveled. "And to be part of said change…" He trailed off with a smile of his own, a faraway look on his face as if he was remembering the days that were becoming long gone.

Megumi felt herself fall into a nostalgic mood as well. However, she could not remember events at Totsuki without remembering unraveled white cloth, unkempt red hair, and an unafraid grin…

"Megumi?"

A soft voice and a softer touch snapped her out of her unwarranted memories. She looked at the hand on her shoulder before flicking her eyes to the owner. When had Isshiki walked over here? He was just across the table a moment ago.

"You're crying." He told her before reaching for one of the paper napkins she kept on the table.

Only then did the bluenette notice the wetness on her cheeks. It was another feeling she had become familiar with the past couple of months. She accepted the napkin that was given to here.

"Sorry." She dabbed at her face.

"I understand." Isshiki soothed as his hand rubbed her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. The gesture made her want to cry even more because he really didn't understand at all.

And once Isshiki left, she ended up crying again. This time because she was too much a coward to allow anyone to understand.

Over the next few days, Megumi started to feel better. She still had some nausea and she was still sensitive to smells. And she was still what was seeming to be permanently tired. But she wasn't running to her bathroom at odd hours in the morning to vomit.

She had wondered if the change of her condition was from the surprise visit from her friend. It had put her in a better mood that another one of her friends was nearby, and since her sickness had calmed down since then it wasn't hard to assume that.

However, that notion nearly flew out the window a little more than a week later.

Megumi didn't even know what had triggered it. All she knew that one morning she had walked into the kitchen just 30 minutes before the Kirinoya had opened for the day and the scent of some food hit her. Next thing she knew, she was vomiting heavily in the bathroom. When she came out, Hinako was waiting for her and gently grabbed her hand once she was in reach.

"I think you should take some time off. Starting now." The owner told her.

Megumi started to protest and tell her that it was a one-time thing, but Hinako stood firm.

"You won't be the only one. I'm going to send Nene on a break today as well. Just that I've decided that yours should start now because I've been noticing that you have been looking so exhausted lately and this is now the time that I should intervene before things get worse."

"How long is the break for?" Megumi asked tentatively.

"A month."

"A month!?" Megumi screeched. "No no no no. Hinako, I couldn't take that much time-"

"A month." Hinako's tone carried finality this time. "I don't want your cute face to be marred by wrinkles at this age nor do I want you to continue pushing yourself like this." The worried look in her purple eyes was what finally convinced Megumi to accept the time off.

And that's how the bluenette found herself home a while later, feeling off because she wasn't used to being here around this time.

She had to get used it, since she was stuck without work for at least a month.

She sighed, going to her room to change out of her uniform. She tried to put on some casual pants that had buttoned at the top, but they felt just a little too tight to deal with for a few hours. Megumi knew that she had been a bit bloated for some time, but she had always managed to wear this pair of pants until now. A little miffed that she would not be able to wear such a coveted pair she opted for a light dress instead. After that, she made some more tea and settled in her chair with videos on her phone. She spent some time like that before she heard her doorbell ring.

When she opened it, she was met with an anxious pair of cyan eyes.

"Megumi! Are you alright?" Isshiki forwent formalities as he continued. "I heard from Nene that you had been sent home sick and have been placed on a mandatory vacation."

"I'm fine, Isshiki." Megumi tried to placate him while moving out of the way to let him in. He looked a bit disheveled and hot from the summer sun. "Did you rush all the way over here because you thought I was sick?"

"Yes. Right after class."

"I just vomited right before work." Megumi replied nonchalantly. "I haven't done that for the past few days so it's not that big of a deal."

"Wait. You've been vomiting frequently for days?" Isshiki gaped.

It was then Megumi remembered two things. One, that she had yet to tell Isshiki about her nausea episodes. And two, just because she had accepted it doesn't mean it was going to fly with others.

"Yeah…but it's been just nausea for the most part."

Isshiki stared at her for a few seconds in thought.

"…Were you feeling like this when I was last here?"

Megumi slowly nodded her head. Shame filled her when Isshiki closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Still has that habit." He exhaled to himself. Before Megumi could ask for clarification, he went to her fridge. "I'm making you something to eat, since I assume you haven't eaten since you got home.

"I had tea." Megumi weakly argued.

"Exactly my point." He looked around on the shelves. "It's a crime to see a chef's fridge so empty."

"I haven't really had an appetite until very recently. I still can't tolerate a lot of things."

"What can't you keep down?" He asked, and Megumi gave him the mental list she had been keeping for the past couple of weeks. Isshiki nodded before doing a sweep around her kitchen.

"I know what to make." He declared. "But it requires a trip to the store."

"I'll go with you." Megumi invited herself. "It's not like I'm bedridden." She added when Isshiki raised an eyebrow.

"Alright."

It was a short walk to the grocery store from her place. When they went inside Isshiki immediately started to fill the hand basket they had picked up from the entrance. Megumi was glad that he took charge of the trip because the smells of the mix of food and spices was slowly starting to affect her.

What had distracted her from her sickness was the banana stand. For some inexplicable reason she suddenly had a very strong urge for one. She gravitated towards it and inspected the levels.

All of them were green.

And she started to cry.

"Megumi?" Isshiki was beside her a few moments later, probably noticing that she wasn't at his side. "Megumi, what's wrong."

"There are no yellow bananas." She whimpered.

"What?" His face showed pure confusion.

"I really want a banana, but they are all green and I can't eat green ones." Megumi was nearly sobbing at this point.

"O-oh." Isshiki kind of looked lost for a moment before his face lit up with an idea. "You know, they might have yellow bananas in the front in order to catch people's eyes before they go bad."

"You think so?" Megumi gave Isshiki a watery but hopeful look.

"More than likely. We can check once we finish getting other stuff."

Megumi smiled a little at the suggestion. They quickly finished Isshiki's short shopping list and grabbed a couple of other things Megumi remembered she needed before going to the checkout. Isshiki nudged at her side with an elbow to get her attention, and Megumi's eyes lit up when she saw that Isshiki was gesturing towards a few bunches of yellow bananas. She squealed and picked out a bunch she liked before heading back to her companion so that they could pay for everything. As soon as they were out, she pulled out one from the bag to eat on the short walk home. Isshiki chuckled at how eagerly she ate the fruit. However, he banned her from grabbing another when they got back.

"Leave room for an actual meal." He told her before shooing her out of the kitchen. She was not allowed to help at all. Pouting, she decided to watch a show until Isshiki called her back. Waiting for her on the small table was some soup.

"Chicken and rice soup?" Megumi wondered as she dipped a spoon to taste it. However, the texture was too different to be rice.

"It's orzo." Isshiki chuckled at her confusion. "Visually they look the same as rice, but orzo is actually a rice shaped pasta."

"Ah."

"I know you can also taste the lemon and the egg as well." He added, taking a spoonful from his own bowl.

Megumi nodded.

Pretty soon, she finished her bowl.

"I really hope I can keep this down. I don't want to go back to a somen diet."

"You should. This recipe is made for a person with a sensitive stomach." Isshiki said, attempting to grab her bowl to wash, but Megumi stopped him.

"At least let me help clean up." She insisted.

Isshiki didn't stop her and in fact allowed her to do the rest of the dirty dishes. Megumi found him in her living room when she was done on her sofa. They stayed watching TV for a bit until Isshiki caught the time.

"I should go and prepare for class tomorrow." His movements were slow, though, as if he did not want to leave.

"Alright." Megumi sleepily said. The warm soup and the little crying episode in the market she was finally affecting her. But she still had enough energy to walk her guest to the door.

"Do you want me to come over tomorrow?" He asked before the door was opened. "Neither the school nor my inn is far from here."

"I rather you call or text me." Megumi suggested. "I don't want you to tire yourself out coming here every day."

"Like you were tiring yourself by going to work nearly every day until you were force to take a break?"

"I wasn't- Wait. Did Nene say that?" The green-haired female wasn't one to gossip about others.

"Hinako did. I had wanted to do a surprise visit to you and Nene a few days ago so I stopped by the Kirinoya. Of course, the one day I pick is when you and Nene were off. But Hinako filled me in on you guys."

Yup. That made more sense.

"I won't come over every day if that's what you wish. But in exchange," Isshiki gave her a serious look then. "You tell me exactly how you are feeling."

"You don't have to worry-"

"I'm going to worry either way." Isshiki stated. "But it's nice to hear the truth from you so I can be a little less worried."

Megumi blinked and stayed silent. When he realized that she wasn't going to answer, the male gave her his trademark smile.

"Well, I'll get out of your hair now." He said before turning around and walking off.

"Tell me when you get back!" Megumi hollered after him.

"I will!"

Megumi watched her friend until he turned the street corner and out of her sight. She then looked around her neighborhood. The setting summer sun lit the area in an orange hue as people passed by her apartment complex either in silence or in conversation too low for her to catch details from.

It was a nice ending to her first day on forced vacation.

And it had her wondering what else the rest of these free days held for her.