-TADOKORO MEGUMI-

AUGUST 19

After the endless responsibilities she'd had the first half of the month, Tadokoro Megumi desperately needed this girls' night. It was the perfect Friday evening for it, too. With most of the school already gone home for summer break, graduated, or been expelled, Tōtsuki's campus and the Kyokusei dorm were ghost towns— except for the returning third-years who survived their advancement exams and The Council of Ten, who never seemed to get time off.

But that honestly didn't bother Tadokoro Megumi, not during Tōtsuki summers. She had fond summertime memories with her dorm mates, melting their days away under sweltering heat and cooking and partying into the wee hours of the night. She loved how lush and colorful Isshiki's Garden looked right at sunrise. She'd taken over tending once he graduated and knew he'd be proud to see how she'd maintained all his hard work. Or the weekend barbecues they would have at the hidden lake on campus, with Shōji-kun and Daigo-kun always accidentally setting off endless rounds of fireworks at the night's end. It was the first Kyokusei summer since their expulsion.

"Why?! Megumi, you really can't come!?" The usually bubbly Yoshino Yuki wailed, throwing her weight over her best friend's chest. Sakaki Ryōko gingerly cupped her arms.

"Ugh, Yuki. Not too tight. But-" tenderly coaxed, "we will miss you, Megumi." The fermentation-expert chef batted her thick lashes and softened her large eyes on Megumi. Megumi immediately remembered why her friend was voted "Most Seductive Kyokusei Resident" three years running.

The senior-most Polar Star Dormitory girls lounged around Room 302, drinking rice juice and snacking on an assortment of snacks prepared by theirs' truly— smoked jerky and fried chicken bites courtesy of Ryōko, Shun, and Yuki, respectively. Ironically, Megumi had provided the location since she had been too busy to cook. It was the first time the best friends had their Friday schedules aligned since spring break (never mind that it was doubling as a packing party for Yuki and Ryōko's two-week hunting adventure). Summer, and consequently their summer break, was coming to an end, and they could feel it— their days at Tōtsuki, and consequently Kyokusei, were winding down.

Well, Megumi didn't have a break all summer.

"Damn The Ten!"

"Yuki!"

"I don't care! I want you to come hunting with us! It's the end of summer, and I've barely seen you, and we live two floors apart! You're best friends with the First Seat-"

"Former," Ryōko whispered. Yuki didn't miss a beat from the correction."You're best friends with the former First Seat for crying out loud!"

"What are you ladies crying about now?" Yuki's entire demanding energy shifted from Megumi to their guest. "Nikumi!"

"I said stop calling me that, Yuki." The bronze-skinned, meat master ground through her teeth before playfully rolling her emerald eyes. Her wide smile at her closest girlfriends belied her annoyance at the insufferable nickname. "Anyway, I come bearing quality beef kabobs and boy troubles!"

"Yum!" Ryōko quietly clapped, buzzing in excitement.

"Ooo! Dish!" Yuki bounced before pouring a shot glass of sake. "Now, catch up," she slurred and shoved the sloshing miniature glass into Ikumi's exposed cleavage.

"You don't have to tell me twice." She knocked the fermented rice beverage back, her blonde pixie cute swaying away from her face from her sudden movement. The Polar Star girls popped open the Tupperware container and helped themselves to the top-quality beef sticks as Ikumi found her words.

"Isami and I…" she heaved out the saddest breath, "just got into a bit of a disagreement and…ugh! I don't knowwww…boys can be so-"

"DUMB!" Yuki interjected.

"Utterly clueless," Ryōko chimed in.

"Absolutely confusing," Megumi hiccuped.

"Tell me about it," Ikumi sighed, plopping on the large monkfish bean bag in the corner of Megumi's room. Megumi watched as the extra large plush animal greeted Ikumi, absorbing her into its belly until all that could be seen was her long, tawny legs.

Watching the clumsy, consuming scene made her think, That's what unrequited love feels like.

"So, what'd I miss?" Ikumi muffled through the fish's plushness.

"Nothing much. Just Yuki being sad that Elite Ten duties are pulling Megumi away again," Ryōko said. She was too focused on perfectly rolling up her sleeping bag to see Megumi's guilt-ridden pout.

But Yuki did. Her hawk-eyed gaze steeled on its prey; she never missed the subtlety of those in her range— charge it to her wild game hunter instincts."I'm just saying, they work you guys like slaves!" Yuki whined. The three Japanese girls then awkwardly glanced at their biracial friend. Yuki started to apologize, "I didn't mean it like that-"

"It's a false equivalency, anyway. The Ten has the culinary world at their literal fingertips, but weak apology accepted." Ikumi threw back another shot, delicately placing a finger over her mouth to conceal a burp. "Speaking of The Ten, that's what started our argument."

Megumi, the only Seated Member in the friend group, tilted her head quizzically. "I thought it was just a disagreement, Mito-san?"

Ikumi toyed with her red leather choker; the velvet material around her neck seemed tighter than usual.

Ikumi choked through tears. Ryōko felt a kindred connection to their honorary dorm mate and silently wrapped her arms around Ikumi, causing Ikumi's shoulders to tremble. Yuki, on the other hand?

"Oh, bitch! C'mon, spill! What happened? What did Isami-poo do now?! See, you can't trust even the nice, soft-spoken ones!" Her questions rolled off her tongue a mile a second, making everyone's heads spin. Megumi suspected this was Yuki's way of distracting herself from her hidden relationship woes— she knew that juicy gossip always pulled her sister-friend out of her suppressed emotional sadness. Even though Megumi understood this was a coping mechanism, it felt a bit too intrusive, even for Yuki.

"Yuki, it sounds like you're projecting," Megumi pointed out with a knowing smirk. Yuki slammed her lips shut, and her eyes grew innocently wide.

"Whatever do you mean, my dear Megumi? I am unsure of what-"

"Don't you mean whom?" Ryōko added with the same conspiratorial grin. Yuki's only response was indignant, though painfully aware she had been exposed, "HMPH!"

Megumi giggled but never took her eyes off of Ikumi. The hospitality maven couldn't ignore how distraught she looked, but Megumi wasn't sure if it was her place to pry. The Aldini brothers have been trusted friends to Megumi since they were first years, and she and Ikumi had their own shared experiences that further complicated things.

But she still regarded Ikumi as a good friend. She couldn't just say nothing.

Good thing she didn't have to.

"Okay, I lied. We had a huge fight, but Isami is the furthest thing from an f-boi." Ikumi's attention was on a juicy meat stick she was twirling, looking for the perfect place for her first bite. "We haven't spent time together since Takumi became Dojima-sensei's sous chef."

Yuki squinted, turning around from the duffle bag she had been rearranging to conceal her previous embarrassment.

"What do the two have to do with each other?"

"Isami-kun has been taking over Takumi-kun's Ten duties in his absence," Megumi plainly explained.

"Exactly, so double the already overwhelming work means cutting in half the already little time we have to spend together between The Ten, my role as a member of the Mito Group, and trying to survive and graduate from this demon lair of a school. And since it's his first year as a Seated Member, he feels like he has something to prove. Like he's trying to beat-" she shot a quick look Megumi's way, and her voice caught before looking away.

Ikumi cleared her throat, "I-I mean, I get they have the whole brotherly love thing runs deep, but as an only child, I don't get it. Things like this don't come up when you're dating another only child, y'know?"

It was a rhetorical question, she knew. Still, the answer was evident in her defeated tone.

"I hear 'ya."

All heads spun Megumi's ways— the last person in the room they expected to agree with Ikumi.

Megumi included. She shyly sipped out of her paper cup, "I'm an only child, myself. I don't understand a sibling bond like the Aldini brothers."

"You know what? Come to think of it, Tōtsuki seems to have many of those," Yuki noted as she sat on her overstuffed suitcase, trying to zip it closed.

"True, like almost everyone on The Ten is an only child. Nikumicchi, can you pass my shampoo and steel skewer sticks by your feet?"

"Megs, you know, I just want more time with my-"

"Boooooyfriendddd!" Yuki taunted. It was an open secret that Ikumi and Isami were more than just "the best of friends," as they always told people in perfect unison.

Ikumi squinted her eyes, holding back the items requested of her. "Best friend," Ikumi corrected. "So, almost, Yuki-chan, but not quite," she said in a nice-nasty tone.

Unmoved by the daggers, Yuki's chipmunk expression turned suggestive. "You mean, not yet."

"You're really feisty tonight, Yuki," Megumi giggled.

"Don't encourage her," Ikumi said, rolling her eyes until they settled on Megumi. "Y'know, Megumi?" The meek teen's eyes widened at how her friend dragged out her name. "I told Isami that if he weren't always working so much, we'd have more time to do things like…"

"…like?" Megumi nervously asked.

"Like, going on double dates with you and-"

"…and?" Megumi's voice trembled.

"Megumi and who?!" Yuki bounced at the possibility of a new potential love match.

"Whom," Ryōko gently corrected.

"Whatever. Nikumicchi, come on now, girl! Don't leave us hanging! Isami, Megumi, and…?"

"Takumi."

Megumi's dorm room was so quiet that she could hear the electricity in her lightbulbs. Internally, she heard nothing but confusion— Eh? Takumi Aldini or that one random Takumi boy Sōma-kun once told her he almost beat up as a first year? Surely Mito-san was not referring to-

"Taaaakumiiii?!" Everyone shrieked at the girl casually cleaning the butcher cleaver that never left her melanated thigh. Yuki twiddled her fingers on her chin, eyes envisioning such a world, analyzing their compatibility.

"Takumi-poo and our sweet little Megumi, you say!" Megumi sat stone still, awaiting her verdict. Finally, Yuki concluded, "I can see it!" Megumi forced herself not to swallow her tongue whole.

"I-I-eeeek, I don't know about that, Ikumi-chan. Takumi-kun and I are just friends. Nothing more."

Suddenly, the dorm's rickety air conditioning system kicked on, blasting a mouthwatering aroma filled the room. One inhale of the sweet smell wafting through the entire dormitory, and the four girls knew precisely who was in the kitchen.

"Speaking of Sōma…"

"Yuki!" Ryōko whispered.

"What!? I know I'm not the only one who's been dying to gossip about the shift on campus the last six months since he returned to Tōtsuki and lost his First Seat to Miss Tōtsuki down the road."

"I am not doing this with you tonight, Yuki."

"That's fine. So, ladies…" Yuki slowly eyed them with a sinister glint flashing across her teal irises. "What do you say? Shall we venture down and pester the gourmet golden boy?"

Her raised eyebrows made Megumi's stomach churn. Yuki knew her friend well. And, selfishly, Yuki loved stirring the pot, especially whenever Ryōko was taste-testing new fermented rice wine recipes.

"Oh, c'mon! Where's the fun in a girls' night if we can't rag on your ex-"

"We never dated," Megumi hiccuped, blushing cherry red. For a split second, she also thought she caught the hottest glare directed her way from Ikumi before she did, though. But maybe she was just in her head? Ikumi was just talking about how much she missed Isami.

Right? "Besides, I'm long past that-"

"-Crush. You really should let me finish, Megs." Yuki winked. Megumi was furthest from the violent type, but at that moment, she could've wiped the cheeky smile on Yuki's face toothless.

"You know what?" Ikumi crossed her arms, a daring tone coating her low register. "Yes, let's chat about ex-crushes, Yoshino. When's the last time you spoke to Issh-"

"Ikumi!" Yuki decried.

"You know little Yuki is sensitive about that name." Ryōko weakly scolded her with an imperceptible wink— to Yuki, who was motor-boating into her best friend's ample bosom to calm down. The three girls stifled a laugh at their hypocritical friend's expense until she could no longer take being in the hot seat.

As Yuki poured another round of rice wine shots and passed around each refilled shot glass, the attention turned to Ryōko.

"And where is Shun tonight, young lady? I figured he'd be reorganizing our luggage while guilting me all night for stealing you away before you leave for two weeks." Though she was laying on her natural innocence extra thick, it was obvious to everyone that Yuki only asked because she wanted to be out of the hot seat.

Megumi giggled and shook her head. Her friend was such a small forest-dweller— could dish it with the best of them— always coming across as excitable as can be (which, of course, she was) but scurried at the first sign of exposure.

Maybe that's why they clicked.

But Ryōko knew her friend too well to be offended by Yuki's deflection at her expense. So, instead of returning with a snippy, prying question of her own about Yuki's obscure love life, Ryōko sincerely replied.

"He went to visit Zenji. It's family and friends weekend at the residential facility. He hates that he couldn't see me...er, us off, but he sends his regards. Well, sent. It's been a week, and I've heard nothing from him. I just…" She thumbed through the shojo volume on Megumi's nightstand she'd picked up to calm her shaking hands, but her quivering bottom lip told the truth. "I just hope Zenji is okay."

Thinking about how much had changed between her and her first genuine guy best friend since they admitted to having feelings for each other still made her anxious and sad.

Megumi shook the memories Ryōko's sadness conjured up with a quickness. Old Megumi could painfully relate, but new Megumi had long since moved on. "I'm so sorry, Ryōko."

"So, like, are both of you officially a couple yet?" Ikumi probed. "Hey, Yuki, pass over that yummy pita and pâté spread before you finish it all. And give me the pâté recipe!" Yuki stuck her tongue out and continued munching away. She'd already heard this story, and maybe she was still a bit peeved about being teased before.

"I-I…" Ryōko's soft voice petered out, swallowing a tearful lump in her throat. "He's my best friend, and of course, I'm his, and we only talk to each other as much as we talk to anyone. But, it's," her voice trailed off. But thank God for good friends.

"Complicated?" Ikumi rolled her eyes.

"Overwhelming!" Yuki whined.

"Crushing," Megumi cried.

Ryōko returned their empathy with a small smile. Sadness creased the corners of her gentle face as she agreed, "Indeed. All of the above."

Megumi wiped the tears tumbling down her full-moon face before joining Ikumi, who was already crossing the room to hug Ryoko.

"I've definitely been there," Megumi consoled softly. "But it stops hurting so bad once you determine to move on."

"Tell me about it," Ikumi added, shaking her head at a distant memory she wished to forget altogether. "I say, it doesn't matter who else wants what I want. I'm going after what I like and who I like. And if it doesn't work out, so be it. But at least I didn't count myself out."

"Is that what you had to do in Hokkaido?" Ryōko asked between tears.

A regretful "Yeah-" came from a sad Ikumi.

But much to everyone's surprise— including hers— a slurred "Yes-" overlapped it.

Ryōko wished she'd just swallowed her tongue instead of asking.

Yuki was speechless for the first time that night.

As for Megumi?

When the word left her numbing lips, and she heard Ikumi's tenor in harmony with her soprano, Megumi regretted it. She doesn't know why she thought the question was directed toward her.

Their heads snapped in the other's direction; a swirl of conflicting emotions stirred between and within the two girls about who they were referring to as they made eye contact.

Yuki clapped her hands to snap them out of their stupor. "Okay, enough awkward, sad boy talk! Let's gossip and paaaartayyyy!"

"I've been meaning to tell you, Yoshino—I think you're just a generation away from the Kyokusei Chicken equal to the French Poulet de Bresse!" Ikumi said matter-of-factly, munching on Yuki's fried chicken bites.

"Huh?! Really?! You can tell just from one bite?!" Yuki beamed and hopped before hopping into her newly refined (and incredibly detailed) feeding process for her coop.

Before they knew it, their girls' night turned into a sleepover.

But that honestly didn't bother Tadokoro Megumi, not during her last Tōtsuki summer. Because, even though her entire Saturday was already scheduled to the hour, full of responsibilities for the Ten and personal errands (early morning cooking, for one), and even though she had to wake up five hours earlier than any of her giggling, gossiping girlfriends, Tadokoro Megumi needed this girls' night-turned-sleepover more than she realized. It switched on a lightbulb of courage in her the way only the very best girlfriends could.

She was totally over Yukihira Sōma.

-8-

-AUGUST 20-

The Celestial Room was always available for the Elite Ten's weekly Shokugeki. But that didn't mean it was always easy to gain access to the stadium, even as a Seated Member, because the weekly Ryo-versus-Akira Standing Shokugeki was always packed out. Okay, maybe it was only difficult for Megumi because she was still too timid and friendly to demand the first- and second-year students to make way for her when they didn't immediately notice her. She knew how well she could fade into the atmosphere.

So instead, Megumi often opted for squeezing through the crowd with soft excuse me's and pardon me's until someone stopped long enough to realize that the petite bluenette slipping past them was, in fact, the current Tenth Seat on the Council. Then, and only then, would a scramble of frantic apologies and bodies part like a mythological sea on her behalf. She would walk through, partially embarrassed by all the attention and somewhat relieved not to have to press up against any more sweaty and hormonal bodies. But all was well once she made it to the Elite Ten skybox.

Well, depending on who was already there, that is.

Today's low Elite Ten attendance was not surprising when she thought about it. Aldini Takumi was there because, of course, he was. The chef Italiano loved an excellent rivalry but loved seeing it play out in an epic Shokugeki even more. Megumi also knew he secretly wished the barstool their generation's legendary rivaled trio made was actually a four-legged chair.

Megumi looked at the bickering chefs discussing something or another in the center of the arena and smiled. They would never publicly call themselves such, but Kurokiba and Hayama were rivals-turned-the best of friends. Totsuki had a way of doing that to its students, she supposed, unintentionally thinking about the third leg of the top trio in their generation.

She abruptly slapped her hands together. The smack was sharp and loud and startled everyone in the section, including herself. Two pairs of crystalline blue eyes fell on her topaz. Megumi gave a sheepish trembling bow and greeted her peers.

"Takumi-kun, Isami-kun. Hello!"

"Tadokoro-san, Bongiorno!" The Aldini brothers said in unison, sounding genuine in their charming Italian way. And it made her blush pink.

"Where's Soma?" Isami innocently asked. Her pink blush flushed pale. Megumi had been making a forced effort not to think about Soma, not to ask herself about his whereabouts. Why had God just laughed in her face like this?

"Uhhh…" She stammered. Her eyes shifted between the fraternal twins before Takumi—bless his heart—came to her rescue.

"Brother, it's not her job to keep tabs on Yukihira. I'm sure he has some Second Seat business to attend to."

Isami smiled apologetically at Megumi, honestly feeling as dumb as his brother for once for not reading the room about The Soma Yukihira Effect on yet another person in his orbit. Isami certainly understood the genius chef's charm and appeal— Soma Yukihira is charismatic and selfless, among other things, no doubt about it. But it disheartened him just how much influence the prodigy chef had over his loved one's emotions. One mention of Soma's name at any given moment could change the entire atmosphere instantly; depending on the person, one never knew in which way. It was terrifying to Isami how emotionally powerful his twin's one-sided-rival was. And at such a young age, too. He couldn't imagine the weight of such a cachet.

"Apologies, Tadokoro-san. I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that. Please, forgive me." Isami said in his usual soft, respectful voice and deeply bowed. This only made Megumi incredibly nervous, and she skittered over to pull him upright before bending repeatedly and rapidly in return.

"Oh no, Isami-kun! It's my fault! I didn't know how to answer your question, is all. I didn't want to look-"

"Please stop," Takumi cut in. His tone was compassionate yet firm, and it froze Megumi mid-bow, at a ninety-degree angle, staring directly at slender Isami's navel. She snapped up and excused herself to the suite's adjoining bathroom. Could she stay in there for the entire battle?

Megumi did not stay in the bathroom the entire battle.

And she's glad she didn't because Megumi could not remember the last time she had screamed and shouted that much at a Shokugeki that did not include a certain golden-eyed redhead.

It was the most ferocious Shokugeki between the two remarkably talented chefs to-date. None of the three judges could decide.

Again.

Their ninety-ninth draw.

When Megumi left the Elite Ten skybox, silk-wrapped bento box in hand, down to the dressing rooms to congratulate the two dissatisfied chefs on a draw well-earned, she knew neither would want to hear it. So she went to the quickest one first.

"Incredible job out there, Hayama-kun."

The frustrated scowl on the delicate features of the brown teen melted into a gentle gaze. He sighed and looked up at the mirror in front of him. He stared at her reflection. "Thanks, Tadokoro-san. But a draw is nothing to be proud of. Especially not against that brute," Akira said, his head leaning toward the room opposite the wall to the left.

"Maybe not, but I think today, of all days, it's as good a victory as you were bound to get," she replied with a knowing smirk. Akira screwed his face slightly and then cursed under his breath. "You forgot, didn't you?" Megumi accused, her tone turning maternal.

"Guys don't keep track of birthdays like that!" He said defensively. Megumi shook her head and turned away to leave his waiting room. "Of course, I could never accept defeat but tell that numbskull that the draw was my birthday gift to him. That'll certainly fuck with him."

Boys will be boys, she supposed? Megumi couldn't help but giggle at the sinister grin his words took on as she closed his door because it was so unlike Akira to be so expressive. But she felt like Jun Shiomi at that moment—glad that the once-isolated scent genius had found enough safety in friendship to be so playful. But she still would not relay such a petty birthday message, though.

Megumi lightly rapped on the door three times before she just braved the consequences and turned the knob. To her shock—and delight—it was left unlocked. She entered the dressing room and immediately felt the suffocating steam of the shower filling her lungs as the pattering of the waterfalls bounced off her eardrums.

She slowly entered the dressing room and found the pieces of a soiled chef strewn across the floor: black socks and non-slip clogs flung into the corners on the way to the en-suite bathroom; formerly pristine white chef's pants now splashed with red, green, and yellow sauce stains thrown over the love seat; that same sweaty, greasy chef's coat plopped in the center of the room beside a sweat-soaked undershirt tossed on top.

Megumi moved toward the center of the room, and as she nervously checked her appearance in the mirror, a balled-up flame bandana caught the corner of her eye.

When the shower head turned off, and the bathroom door swung open, the effects of the tornado in the dressing room were unseen.

In its place were an assortment of balloons, her onigiri bento box spread, and an apple-honey tart birthday cupcake with a single candle, big enough to be shared by two.

He was in nothing but a white towel wrapped loosely around his waist. His long, damp hair still dripped beads of water down his chest. Megumi couldn't help but follow the water trail through the crevices of his chiseled torso with her eyes like the grooves in a boulder. His skin was too chiseled to look so dewy and soft. Her hands ached to follow the water drops' path with the pads of her fingertips.

"Tadokoro?" His tone was unreadable, but she didn't care. Still, her breath caught in her throat at the sound of her name in his voice.

"H-happy birthday, Ryō-kun."

-8-

The walk back to Kyokusei, listening to "butter" by BTS, quickly evolved into skipping across Tōtsuki. Megumi couldn't believe how weightless her body felt leaving the arena.

As she popped in her Airpods, she knew what the afternoon had merely proved: Tadokoro Megumi had grown over the past year.

The courage she displayed in Ryō's dressing room (even if they did awkwardly part ways) was empowering. Lifting her head to the blushing early evening sky, Megumi smiled with her whole heart— she was capable of a new boldness now that she was over her unrequited love affair.

She was utterly lost in this new world, replaying what was said in the dressing room...and what wasn't. Then it hit her: she had not been paying attention to her surroundings, and worst off, she felt like she was being watched.

Instinctively, Megumi began slowing down. She took her earphones out, surprised at the most warming yet emotionally confusing sight. That soft, piercing gaze cut through all her vulnerabilities, leaving her so exposed. That devil-may-care smile belied the expression whenever it came to her, and that quiet and patient confidence always waited for her self-doubt to catch up.

"S-Sōma-k-kun?"

"Need a ride?"

-8-

Megumi paced back and forth in her dark dorm room, unsure how to do this, but she knew she owed Sōma an apology. She had been unnecessarily short and sharp at him earlier; if she were, to be honest, it was because she felt defensive. Her stomach was in knots, trying to decipher if her defensiveness was over the birthday jibe.

No, that can't be because I didn't respond to Akira similarly. Which meant…

It was because it was Sōma.

She sighed.

"Liking someone new doesn't mean being mean to him, Megs," she whispered. She heard the door next to hers open and close and could sense his footsteps moving parallel to her room.

Her heart raced as she mentally traced his path. Sōma moved from the front door to the closet on his left. Then, he went to the dresser on his right across the room to his nightstand, turning left and walking "toward her" to enter his kitchenette. A few silent seconds later, she heard his squeaking springs settling into his bed.

Sometimes, she would hear him sharpening his knife or cooking something while she lay in bed, which would lull her to sleep. Other times, she would listen to him laughing on the phone or giggling as he texted the night away, and it would keep her up all night. Right now, she heard nothing, so she went to her door. She could not allow more distance to come between them. Her friendship with him mattered far more to her than whatever fear she harbored about her feelings for him. And since it was getting late, she had no time to waste.

Megumi turned her doorknob and walked out, wishing she had her red good luck charm in hand. Much to her current relief, they were the only Kyokusei residents who lived on the third floor. She found herself nearly hyperventilating outside his door.

She traced the kanji symbol for "trust" into the palm of her hand and pretended to swallow it ten times for courage before she finally closed her hand into a weak fist.

KnockKnock-

From the other side of the door, the lively and comforting voice that made her heart endlessly flutter for the better half of high school met her ears..

"It's open!"

-8-

She had been in his room countless times since they were first years. The first few casual invitations he gave her made Megumi's heart pound right out of her chest. Once, Yuki and Ryoko had to force her to breathe in an empty flour bag to calm her nerves before walking next door. Her soul almost dearly departed when he swung the door open and greeted her by brushing— ahem, dusting flour from her blushing cheeks.

Then she got used to hanging out in his very bare and boyish dorm room all the time. She waited all day for their late-night hangouts and study sessions in Room 303 that, when she got too sleepy to stay awake any longer, she had to drag her feet to leave— partly because she didn't want to.

Now, it just felt like a violation of his space—though that gut-punch feeling of jealousy was beginning to return—and his and Nakiri-san's relationship. It had only been two minutes since she'd entered and sat on the windowsill of his room, but she needed to get out of there.

"Hey, Sōma?"

He'd been sharpening his knife to take up the space their silence left. "Yeah?" She wondered how he always managed to sound unbothered and present.

"I came to apologize for earlier. Can we talk on the veranda?"

"Apologize?" Soma's face scrunched as he continued rhythmically, sliding his blade against his whetstone. Then he stopped, his golden orbs glowing in confusion at her remorseful expression. "For what?"

"How we ended things earlier this evening. I-I feel like I was short with you, and I'm sor-"

"Hey, Megumi," he softly called out from his kitchenette. "You have nothing to be sorry for. It's me. Now, c'mon, want something to eat? I have some leftover Soma-style pork belly ramen I made last night that can heat up."

As tempting as the offer to eat anything Sōma made… well, almost anything… Megumi could not be distracted; if she stayed any longer, all the courage she'd built up would deflate like a soufflé. "Um, thanks, but um, actually…" she stood up and walked towards his main door, "I need some air. Would you like to join me?"

Soma smiled and said nothing more. He put his chef's knife away, washed his hands, checked his phone on the charger one last time, and grabbed his favorite running jacket before heading out of his room behind his best friend.

While it was open to every Kyokusei resident to use whenever they pleased, everyone in the dorm knew that the veranda was Sōma and Megumi's spot. The nighttime summer breeze greeted them back to their usual corner at the farthest edge of the balcony, carrying the final notes of burnt Katori Senko.

"How's preparations for Fall Selection coming along?"

"They're actually a lot more involved than I expected it to be since Takumi-kun is often zooming in or asking Isami-kun to cover for him."

"Who would've thought it'd be Takumi's turn to be unreliable!" Sōma cackled, imagining the look on his friend's face when he shares this new revelation with the uptight gentleman the next time they meet.

"Yeah, but I know Takumi-kun is learning a lot from Dojima-sensei, and it's been nice working with Ryō-kun."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mmhm. Actually, that's what I want to talk-" But Sōma smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand.

"Aw, man! I almost forgot! Isn't your Shokugeki for the Sixth Seat in a few days?"

"Mmhm! It is!"

"And how're'ya feelin'? You're going up against Arato. I know that's gotta be exciting."

"You say exciting; I say anxiety-inducing," Megumi cowered.

"Nah, you got it all wrong. Your dish is gonna do great, I know it. You're a dope chef, Megumi. You've got the right stuff to win that Seat."

"Th-thank you, Sōma-kun. You always know just what to say to help me believe in myself. And-" She took a deep, purposeful breath.

Exhale, Megumi. You can do this. You can say this.

"That is why I love-" her confession is interrupted by her cellphone vibrating in her pocket. Megumi doesn't know what she was thinking— why she was about to say what she was about to say, why she stopped talking the second she felt the sensation, why she absentmindedly pulled her phone out, or why she chose to check who the late-night caller was. Megumi really doesn't know what she was thinking…

But she knew what she saw scared her shitless—scared her newfound confidence frozen silent.

Why was Nakiri-san calling her past midnight? And right now, of all times! This had to be a warning sign from God.

But if she didn't try to be braver than her fear this time, could she really say she'd grown?

For Sōma's part, he seemed clueless about the blood draining from her face and what caused it. "After you win your Shokugeki and snag that higher Seat on The Ten, we should celebrate! It's been a while."

Megumi wanted to respond; she wanted to agree. She tried to tell him how much she'd love to spend time together because she'd missed it. But then her phone began to vibrate again, and it felt like each passing vibration was getting louder and hotter in her hand, speeding up her already limited time. Megumi tried to pry her vocal cords apart to say everything, anything, once and for all.

Soma finally noticed her distraction just as she looked up. The best friends made eye contact.

But, "It's Nakiri-san" was all Megumi could muster.

She was in such a daze at the sharp turn of events—What is life right now?—that she was unclear on if she simply handed him her phone or if he had to pry it from her stony grip.

"Yo, Nakiri! You're still up?!" When she said nothing, Soma pulled Megumi's phone away from his ear and stared at the screen, confused. Did she hang up? "…Nakiri?"

Like a haunting echo, Erina finally spoke up.

"…Yukihira…?"

As Sōma quickly moved to relationship damage control, Megumi watched with longing and pity as he shifted into a nervous overdrive of word vomit. It was so unlike Sōma to be visibly distressed by someone else that it made him look almost unrecognizable.

She did that to him.

"Hey, yeah! How'd you know where to find me? Well, I guess you did call my best friend! Wait, you called me, huh? Okay, don't go to sleep just yet. I'll call you back in a bit. Let me just say goodnight to Tado-."

She saw him pause and shiver.

"Jeez, Erina, I thought we were past the honorifics-" He lightly chuckled, tried to play it off like it didn't scare him shitless the way that girl could cut people down to size with a single tone shift.

Megumi couldn't hear Erina's words, but her liquid nitrogen tone sliced through the phone like a shard of glass, making the best friends flinch where they stood.

"Y-yeah, I figured that's why you called Megumi," he laughed coolly, returning to his signature indifference. "But it's still in my dorm room, on the charger." Sōma grunted innocently, turning to Megumi to roll his eyes like, 'this girl is lovable but frightening.' Megumi tried to flash him an understanding half grin, but it did not reach her eyes; she knew what his look meant. He was head over heels in love with Nakiri Erina.

"Where the hell are you?!" — Megumi heard that demand crystal clear.

"Awwww!" Sōma laughed from his gut. "You're worried about me? I'm on the veranda with Tadokoro right now."

After Megumi heard Sōma mention her name, her organs immediately shriveled within her, imagining how that would make Erina feel. She knew how hearing her name made her feel. So, she decided to mind her business as much as possible and not eavesdrop on their conversation, even though it was taking place on her cell phone.

So, for the better part of the most awkward five-minute phone conversation she was not even a part of but had to be around for, all she heard were what could only be described as a submissive Sōma. A version of her best friend she still hadn't gotten used to.

"Yah. … Uh… yes? … Yes, ma'am." The longest second of deep silence passed between the three of them. Suddenly, he sounded like the men she read about in shojo and watched in K-dramas. Sōma shifted the atmosphere around Megumi so quickly that it almost made her believe in true love. That is, if the affection had been directed toward her.

"Erina? What's wrong?" His voice was coated in concern. His tone felt like the warmest, deepest hug in Megumi's ears. He sounded ready to tear the world apart to make whatever it was wrong right—for her.

Megumi didn't know why her ears decided at that moment to hear what she shouldn't have, but the moment she heard her name from Tōtsuki's HBIC on the other end of her phone, all the feeling left her fingers and toes.

But when Sōma heard his darling take a steady, exhausted breath, the kind she took when she could really use a good argument (but didn't want to use him as her punching bag for no real reason), he visibly relaxed. Megumi watched as Sōma threw his right hand to his head in a playful salute. Whatever the Ice Queen had said after mentioning her name must've made him smile, so she had nothing to worry about.

Right.

"Okay, on it!" Sōma, still energized and afraid of pissing his domineering girlfriend off, cut her off and hung up lightning fast, not even realizing his paramour was still talking. Thereby, unbeknownst to him, further pissing his imperious girlfriend off.

He turned to Megumi and handed back her phone with a heart-meltingly dazzling grin. "Sorry about that, but thanks. I gotta go call the Queen of Gourmet back before she offs my head, but this was fun. Let's plan to hang out again soon, Tadokoro." He scratched the back of his head, briefly averting his gaze. "I mean, outside of The Ten meetings. Like I said, it's been too long." Soma said it gently; he seemed to reserve it just for her. His words oozed sincerity.

Even if she wanted to freeze him in their worst moment, Megumi knew this softened tone like she knew how to wield her petite knife. She was the little sister he never had and the best friend he was glad he found. But she never wanted to be one, or only the either.

She always wanted to be more.

Megumi silently nodded and took hold of her phone. Their hands lightly grazed each other at the handoff, and Megumi felt her heart stop.

"Ready to head back in?" The clueless boy asked, turning to face the French doors that led back into the dorm.

She silently nodded again, this time, a limp smile hooked between her lips.

They walked back inside to their shared floor in silence— comfortable for him, anxious for her. He stopped in front of her door and gave a wide smile.

"Have a good ni-"

Megumi ambushed Sōma into the tightest hug she could manage. She hugged him as tightly as she wished she could kiss him— long, slow, close. She pressed her head on his broad chest, purposely finding his heartbeat to ensure her losing mind that this moment was real. She interlocked her fingers together with the crisscrossed sides of his jacket the way she wanted their tongues to do the same. She closed her eyes and inhaled in his spicy, savory scent and physical warmth to take hold of this moment for future memory's sake.

And she held herself there. She was ignoring that he had stiffened at the suddenness of the ordeal. Disregarding how long it took him to loosen up and wrap his arms around her (even if it was limper and looser than she would have preferred)— never pausing to care if he was confused or concerned by her swift action being so out of character.

A large part of her soul knew she had just taken advantage of his trust, stealing intimacy in this way. She just…really needed this hug from him. She wasn't sure if it was the conviction of her reawakened affection or as a bittersweetly resolved goodbye, but she needed to be held by him— in real life, and not a night or daydream—one last time before she made her mind up either way.

So she hugged him. And she appreciated that he said nothing about it.

But she was more grateful that he allowed them to stay like that— silent, in each other's best friend's secure embrace. They had always had each other's back before things got messy. Now, they were facing each other like none of the past had ever happened. Maybe even better, like none of the past mattered anymore. Only right now, standing chest-to-chest on the veranda that served as the backdrop of both their first kiss.

Neither of them knew when it happened, but the hug became something of its own comfort for the first time in a long while. It felt like the realization of a finally healed deep blade cut.

Sōma was confident.

Megumi was calm.

She knew this would be the last time they shared such an embrace for a while.

Because his heart belonged to someone else, she decided to seriously just remain best friends and move on with their lovely friendship.

Besides, there was Ryō. And there was much to figure out about moving forward with him, too.

But then they stayed hugging outside Room 302 for so long Megumi accidentally fell asleep in the only place she wanted to be in the first place:

In Sōma's arms.

-8-

The following day, the first thing Megumi read before she forced herself back to sleep still flashed on the blacks of her eyelids two hours later.

"Tadokoro-san. Arato will schedule a meeting for you and me to talk in private soon if that is okay with you. Have a good night.

At first, she thought it was a dream how she found herself in her bed when all she could remember about falling asleep last night was…

Shit!

She tried her best not to cry from fear.

Alas, she failed.

A/N: This chapter was a labor of love, frustration, confusion, and inspiration over the course of this past month. I thought I'd be able to post this chapter mid-month (with 4K fewer words), but then I got injured while walking my dog, which led to me being inspired to write more while I was moping, healing, and balancing the rest of life's things. I still don't know if I'm satisfied with the final product even though I've been working on it for months because Megumi is a conflicting character for me to write for many reasons. So I may come back to update this chapter sooner than later. Might need to label this a slowburn, though, idk... Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter; it was another meaty one. Thank you to those following/favoriting the story and my author page- I see you and I appreciate you! Please like and review and share! Chapter 5 soon come...gimme like, maybe three weeks. And as always,

-My pleasure! Hope you enjoyed!-

8.20withlove

Disclaimer: sadly, I do not own SnS :(