If she had to tell the truth, she was feeling that tell-tale feeling of dread mounting inside her stomach. Why did Suzuki Shun arrive here? Why? Couldn’t he have come a little later, when she’d been gone, and there would have been no need for them to talk? Megumi’s social battery was basically fried by now.

‘Now I have to go through this too?’

In her constant ruminations, she had forgotten that she was pretty much just staring into thin air. Suzuki Wakaba had already retreated into the kitchen, and her former friend was standing by the door, looking at her questioningly. Waiting for an answer.

Megumi sighed internally. This was bound to happen. Might as well get it over with.

“Hello to you too.” Maybe it was the pettiness surging through her veins, because gone was her usual skittish self. All that was left, at least in front of the perplexed teenage boy, was pure distaste.

Shun looked like he hadn’t expected her to answer, or at least not answer something so...dismissive. He stepped closer.

“Megumi, I-”

“Kanazawa-san.”

“Hah?”

She turned her full body towards him. “Call me that instead. We aren’t that close.”

That got a reaction out of Shun. “E-eh, that’s...?” She saw how the fight left his body, and some unknown emotion filled it instead. But she didn’t care. She honestly felt like an idiot, thinking about this guy for so long, and for what? He wasn’t her friend. He wasn’t even a stranger. He was a bully.

Because of that, she didn’t care if he thought she was awkward or not. She didn't care if she made a good impression on him. Because he hated her anyway.

She left him alone, which prompted him to react. “Megumi, wait-”

Rounding the corner, she entered the kitchen, Shun on her heels. She didn’t pay him any attention and sought out Wakaba. Making eye contact with the cheery woman, Megumi gave a brief nod. In the short time she had remained at the front, Wakaba had made a small spread. Megumi felt bad that the woman had gone through so much trouble for her.

“Wakaba-san, you don’t have to do this much.”

“Nonsense! You were so kind to me, it’s the least I could do.”

“No, really...”

“I insist...”

The ping-pong game of politeness had begun. Ridiculously enough, it seemed like Wakaba wasn’t going to let up. Meanwhile, Suzuki’s eyes looked from Megumi to Wakaba and back at Megumi again. He seemed as though he couldn’t understand why his stepmother was acting so courteously.

The doorbell rang once again. Megumi, feeling a little frustrated, went to open the door. She completely ignored the floored look on Shun’s face.

‘Why is she suddenly so comfortable in my house? Is there something I don’t know?’

Suzuki wanted to talk to Megumi desperately, but he also was afraid of seeming rude in front of his mother. She was a calm, sweet woman, but she also hated impoliteness. What was he to do? He sighed.

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Meanwhile, Megumi had opened the door and peered down at the visitor. It was a little girl. She had cute braided hair with butterflies intertwined. Considering her pitch-black hair, Megumi wondered if the girl had gotten the wrong house. Instead, she was asked something like this:

Little girl: “Who are you? This is my house!”

It was?

The little girl glared intensely, and only seemed to stop once Wakaba’s booming voice was heard.

“Suzuki Nana! Is that you I hear!”

Megumi looked at the girl.

The girl looked at her.

Then she ran off.

“That little! I’m so sorry, Megumi-chan, I’m afraid I’ll have to go after her,” said Wakaba before putting on her shoes. Megumi’s eyes widened. “You do? I could just go out, you don’t have to go...”

At this, Wakaba smiled briefly. “No, this is something I have to do.” She leveled a tired smile at Megumi. “It’s my fault, after all. But thank you.” With that, she was gone.

Megumi didn’t understand. It was then that she heard footsteps coming closer.

She didn’t want to speak to him. And as long as he didn’t understand her, he couldn’t get whatever it was he wanted from her. So Megumi didn’t feel particularly bothered about her current situation.

“...”

She sat down at the kitchen table. After half a minute, Suzuki did so as well.

Still, silence ensued.

“She tends to do that, you know?”

“Nana-chan. She runs away, glares at people, screams, yells, the works! It was hard to adjust to at first. But I think I’d be the same way, with what happened.”

He was talking to the air, not even facing her. Megumi didn’t understand. Why was he trying so hard to talk to her?

“Aren’t you curious? You seem chummy with my stepmother, I thought you might be interested is all. Even if you don’t want to talk to me, this might make it worth it, or something. I don’t know...” he trailed off sadly.

It had to be a trap.

A horrible, cruel trap. Maybe he got those awful people back at school to make a bet or something? Either way, she wouldn’t be caught like that. Negative thoughts swirled in her head, the dull heartache of yesterday coming back in full force. She knew this was strange. She knew she was being rude. But he had hurt her first, and she didn’t want to let him keep hurting her. So, she ignored him.

He put up a good fight, but after ten minutes, it seemed he had had enough. “What’s your problem?” he shot up from the table. “I’ve been trying to speak to you since Thursday, but nothing! At school, nothing. At home, nothing. Seriously! Am I just air to you? It’s like you hate me or something!”

That got her attention. Hate? How could he turn this back on her? Megumi felt her anger rise, but she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of actually knowing why they were on bad terms. He was an idiotic bully, he could figure it out himself!

“Well, maybe you deserved it!”

“Oh, so you’re saying I deserve to be ignored? Even though all I’ve done is try to reconnect?”

He looked at her as if he was disgusted.

“What kind of a friend are you?”

It burned her. It angered her that he thought he was someone who could judge her. No matter how horrid she was at socializing, she wasn’t nearly as manipulative as he was! Her, a bad friend? Hah!

He should go take a long look in the mirror.

“So I’m a bad friend, is that it? I’m nasty, I’m cruel. Good to know how you feel. I knew this was a mistake,” she said bitterly, before yanking her coat off the rack. She made the motions to open the door and leave.

Immediately, Shun’s tone grew panicked and he said: “Wait, no that’s not- Megumi, please.” The emotion in his voice made her stop.

“Can’t we just solve this? I don’t know why you dislike me so much, but I- towards you, I don’t-”

Megumi stilled.

“I, I loved being around you. We, everyone back home, we used to have so much fun together, y’know? Those old memories, don’t they mean anything to you anymore?”

Her breath hitched.

“Please reconsider...whatever it is you think about me,” he pleaded. Megumi didn’t know which Shun to believe. The Shun who acted so differently around his newfound friends and smeared her name like it was nothing? Or the Shun she recognized from her childhood, the one she’d spent so many summer days playing football with, laughing with, growing up with? The one who stood before her bore such a striking resemblance to her old friend. Finally, she could see a connection between the past and the future Shun.

But if he was lying, then...

Megumi wasn’t sure if she would be able to pick herself back up again by herself.

If it was just all a bet, if it was the bidding of Maeda Haruki that Shun had acted under, then what?

She couldn’t believe his words. She realized now that she genuinely didn’t know him anymore. This was a fact that embarrassed and relieved her at the same time. Because now, she could do something like this easily.

Finally, she turned to him.

“Suzuki-san, I think it’d be best if you leave me alone. I don’t want anything to do with you anymore.”

With that, she left his house and went inside her own. Closing the curtains, she sighed before trekking inside her room and collapsing into her bed.

She had done it. She had finally done it.

With this, things could go back to normal. She was finally free of this feeling.