[8]

Chapter 8: Megumi and the Importance of Friendship?

It was raining that day. It kept raining, and perhaps because it was raining…Megumi didn’t want to go home just yet. She belatedly remembered the books she was supposed to deliver to the class…and while she felt bad, it wasn’t a priority. Not anymore.

At that moment, all she wanted to do was run. Run as far away as possible, until those words didn’t hurt her anymore…

Of course, this wish wasn’t fulfilled - and the more Megumi remembered them, the more painful it became. Running in the rain, the street was a blur to her. She looked a mess, hair disheveled and eyes bloodshot, but she didn’t care.

The streets were abandoned anyway, and after the day she had had, she found that she didn’t care about the bystanders’ opinions.

Megumi finally ran out of breath when she reached an old arcade…and, as the rain got stronger, and her clothes got more and more soaked, she entered the store.

The only ones in there were three third graders and an assistant clerk. Looking around, she felt a bit better as she spotted the female bathroom.

Once there, she locked herself inside and sat herself onto the toilet stool, running her hand through her wet, dark hair.

Megumi had never felt like such a colossal…idiot. Her cheeks burned painfully, red color spreading until she looked like a particularly sad tomato. She put up a hand near her heart - and noticed for the first time a strange, uncomfortable pain spreading.

She just felt awful. She felt so small, so insignificant, so…hated.

She had never felt like such an outcast before in her life. She had always told herself that she didn’t care…but it was right now that she realized, she did. She did care just a tiny, tiny bit. That lonely feeling, she had suppressed all this time burst forward, growing stronger and stronger until she felt like she couldn’t breathe...!

And it was there, in that abandoned arcade bathroom stall, that she let loose and cried. Big, fat tears trickled down her eyes, her body crumbled into a ball on the ground. And it was here that she thought about everything, even though she knew she shouldn’t.

She thought of Haruki’s words - of Maeda Haruki’s cruel words, and of how nice he used to be. Megumi was still shocked… was this his real self, or was he just so overcome with hatred towards her that he acted this way?

In the year that she had attended Sakuragaoka Private Academy, she had seen the way he would speak to everyone kindly, and act as a peacemaker in class.

Haruki was very popular. He was loved, and he didn’t have to do a thing - people gravitated towards him, and Megumi knew he probably loved that attention.

His parents were influential, he was set for life if only he followed the path laid for him. While Megumi initially knew all these things, she felt like such an idiot for believing his nice guy act, for believing him to be a genuinely good guy.

Besides, when you were as popular as he was, compassion and fairness was probably …beneath him. Megumi, despite her sadness, felt a strong distaste grow inside her.

And there you had it - the brown-haired boy that she always admired turned out to hate her guts.

And her former best friend, one of her closest former friends, didn’t defend her at all. No, he joined in on the bullying.

Yeah, Haruki’s words had hurt - but if possible, Suzuki was even worse.

Because on some level, Megumi didn’t care about Haruki as a person the way she did about Shun. Shun had been her friend, her precious childhood friend - although their relationship was a bit different back then.

You see, Suzuki used to be…a lot different. Back in second grade, he wasn’t popular at all - he was what most considered a country bumpkin, on the chubbier side, and he liked unpopular toys, especially G*ndam action figures and would only ever talk about those.

When they first met, it was when he had wrecked her friend, Tomoko’s, Pretty C*re 5 figurine.

It honestly looked like an accident - but, as Tomoko ran to chase Shun, and he yelped out a confused laugh, she was sure that it had been. Anyway, he managed to evade her, and Tomoko cried for a week. Still - it was through Tomoko’s angry rants that Megumi learned more about Suzuki Shun.

Apparently, ever since that day, he ramped up the pranks - throwing water balloons at girls, spooking guys at the bathroom, and writing jokes on people’s faces. He would always laugh, someone would always chase him, but it never seemed like fun to either party. At least, that how Megumi viewed it.

He did stuff like that all the time - and especially, it was the girls that hated him the most. They thought he was a big bully - that he only did it to make them cry.

Later, she noticed he was only doing it for attention. He had gotten a lot more conversations ever since he began pranking everyone, after all. Despite a bad gut feeling, and since Megumi liked G*ndam as well, she tried her best to befriend him. Soon, he mellowed out when he realized he could be himself without anyone disappearing - and after a while, the chubby honest nerd with a heart of gold emerged. They were, along with the other 4, pretty inseparable.

‘Honestly, he was a good friend to me back then.’, thought Megumi morosely.

But now, everything had changed. Suzuki Shun hated her, dragging her through mud just because he didn’t know she was listening, and they were so different now that it was almost funny. Partly, Megumi blamed herself for not being able to fully let go of their friendship…but maybe, because of her lonely, sad state, she couldn’t help but hold onto that friendship even more. Even if it was hurting her.

‘I think I might actually be the most pathetic person in the whole world’, she thought, a feeling of shame creeping up on her, as she picked herself up off the floor. Megumi fixed herself up a little in front of the mirror.

Just as she was about to leave, she noticed the assistant clerk entering the bathroom.

Megumi’s eyes widened a comical degree as she stared at him in disbelief.

“Ah, we’re about to close, make sure you turn off the lights, oka-“ was all he managed to say before she started to scream.

Seeing her panic, he looked at her before looking at himself, then saying ”Eh? What? Why are you screaming?!” Before moving closer to her.

Then, seeing no other solution, Megumi readied her backhand, before slapping the assistant unconscious.

*** Twenty Minutes Later ***

Megumi sat beside the clerk - who had introduced himself as Touzenji Mitsuki - and looked down in shame.

“I’m really sorry about…you know..” Megumi said. He glared at her.

“You’re sorry about slapping me unconscious?” Megumi cringed as she heard it, before nodding.

“Yeah…but in my defense, I thought you were some sort of weirdo, haha…” It sounded pathetic even to her ears.

Touzenji looked at her in disbelief before sighing. “It’s okay…It was closing time anyway, and no one was around to see it.”

He looked at her face, awkward and apologetic. He felt bad for her. “Really, I mean it. I’m okay.”

Megumi instantly felt better. She smiled at the young-looking guy. “Thank you so much, I-”

“Of course, I’d feel a bit better if you told me why you were so sad earlier.” And Megumi felt her heart stop. “W-What?” she said with a strained smile.

Touzenji smirked. “Well, it’s nothing huge. I’m just a curious person.”

Megumi could feel herself adding a lot of things into her list of ‘disliked’ things. Haruki, School, Suzuki, and now, any and all ‘curious people’. ‘I think I might’ve found Shiori’s twin,’ she thought.

“Are you sure you want to hear about something so boring? I’d hate to take up your time…”

Translation: Why are you sticking your nose into my business, clerk-dude? Are you that bored?

Touzenji didn’t seem to mind. “Well, I just want to know what makes a mousy, normal person like you give a sucker-punch to a stranger…but oh well…” Translation: Lol, tell me or you go to jail. You owe me. Come on…fess up.

In all actuality, it was probably just Megumi’s overactive imagination…but she felt like Touzenji was mocking her. Still, he was a total stranger, and it wasn’t like he would know who she was talking about, so…

She told him. Excluding names, she told him about how she, the loser loner, walked in on her childhood friend and her classmate making fun of her, just because of popularity.

She told Touzenji about how betrayed she felt, how lonely and pathetic she felt, and how anxious she felt about everyone else.

When she finished, she could feel the anger radiating off of him. “That football guy is a joke. Don’t worry about him. I mean, badmouthing someone just because he stuck his foot up his mouth? What is he, 10?” Megumi appreciated his words, but could feel only wavering confidence.

“I think he’s 15, actually…” Megumi couldn’t help but say.

Touzenji just glared at her now. “So? I’m 14, and I know better than that. Ugh, I can’t stand private school brats like him…”

Megumi was surprised by that. “Touzenji-kun, you’re my age? I thought you were way older, what with that old-fashioned hairstyle.”

Touzenji: “You, you can say surprisingly rude things for such a shy-looking person…”

But Megumi just smiled, and let out an uncharacteristic laugh. “I don’t know what it is, but I feel surprisingly less skittish around you. It’s like you’re a kindred spirit, or something!”

Touzenji just shook his head, laughing quietly. “In any case, I wasn’t kidding when I said it’s closing time. Move.”

Megumi flinched before stammering: “O-of course!” and as she watched him close down, placing the key in his pocket, she remarked: “I know this is none of my business, but I’m surprised that someone so young is allowed to close down the shop.”

Touzenji nodded. “It’s a bit strange, sure - but my uncle owns this place, so it’s probably fine. Now, let’s see…”

Megumi looked on, watching him turn on the alarm detector, and remembered one thing: the weird heartache she felt earlier was mostly gone. Shocked, she patted her heart, feeling no crushing pain, no searing heartache, no dull ache. She hadn’t noticed that in the two hours she spent in the Arcade with Mitsuki, she hadn’t thought of Suzuki. Not really.

She felt refreshed, and sure, there was still some sadness in her - but still, she felt giddy at the prospect of her finally making a new friend. The sky felt just a little bluer - and her heart felt a lot less lonely. She couldn’t help but silently thank Touzenji Mitsuki for hearing her out…she didn’t realize it, but she really, really needed that.

As Touzenji finished, he nodded towards her, bidding her goodbye. Then, he stared at her, as if intrigued.

“You...you do know I’m a girl, right?”

“…What?!”

“Eh, you didn’t?”