[2]

‘Agh! How embarrassing!’

It’d been about 20 minutes since she first entered her house, but Megumi had yet to leave the floor. She sat there, shrinking in on herself - her messy hair clouding her eyes as she felt her whole body flush. She clutched her burning red cheeks as she tried to calm down. But no matter what, her mind started to remind her of what happened. Seriously, what kind of scenario was this?! Why had he even come here? She was still apart of their group chat after all, and they hadn’t said anything about this! Granted, she was a bit of a lurker there, but she’d throw in a message...sometimes... Her lips morphed into a sheepish smile. ...Did once a year count as sometimes? Well, whatever! The point was, this came straight out of left field. Megumi exhaled as she picked herself up off the floor, adjusting her clothes frantically. In their little group of friends, she had been very...uh, present. It was kind of embarrassing, now that she thought about it. She had been a wild child, the fun one, the cheerful idiot of the group. She should really stress the 'idiot' part. She was the one who’d dare them to explore the forest at night, the one who’d tell scary stories after dark, the one who’d eat a bunch of hot sauce mixed with cola just to show she could... Well, looking back at it now, Megumi could see that she was a bit...weird back in the day. But still...Megumi sighed as she played with her fingers morosely. Still...she had been more cheerful, she had been braver, she had been happier. Megumi really missed being like that. She missed feeling good about herself. Now, she was average in just about anything. If she really thought about it, then the only thing about her that remained the same, would probably be her inner thoughts. Try as she might, even if she was awkward and introverted on the outside, she had a very...argumentative mind. Gathering some courage, she peaked through the blinds. For some reason, he was still out there. That Suzuki Shun. With a golden blonde mane of hair, and light honey-brown eyes, he definitely looked...very sparkling. Actually, he was super sparkly! Megumi had to shield her eyes, his aura was that bright! He was taller, too - and he had an air of nonchalance and joy to his movements. Megumi let out a breath she didn’t know she had hold onto. It seemed like Shun had been happy in her absence. That was good. It looked like he was moving furniture into the house. Megumi bit her lip...still, what insanely bad luck she had. It was bad. Really bad. Shun had seen her. And not only that, he remembered her!Which meant he could remember how she used to be... Megumi’s eye twitched. She didn’t want to meet him. She really, really didn’t want to meet him. She didn’t even want to see him! In Megumi’s mind, the best memories of that time back in Kyoto are best in ‘memory’ and not reality. Meaning - if she could help it, she would NOT want to meet those guys again. They were great, and she considered them to be her only real true friends - but she didn’t feel ready at ALL to face them. Even if everyday in this bustling city felt dreadful and grey. If she allowed herself to be completely honest, she really disliked this place - but in the end, she learned to adapt. For both her mom’s career’s sake, and for her travelling Dad’s sake. She wouldn’t be a wrench in their plans, no matter what. After all - she didn’t want to be a burden. Megumi sighed, as a serene smile spread on her face, as she looked at Shun. She felt a slight ache in her chest, but she ignored it. It was fine. He was in a better place now. “Stalking is a crime, y’know?” Megumi froze. ...What? There shouldn’t be anyone in her house. Mom was at work like usual. So who...? Thinking about it logically, Megumi knew it had to be her overactive mind at play. Megumi exhaled, relieved. It was just a hallucinatio- “I’m not a hallucination, either. I’m real, y’know? Seriously, how rude.” "?!"