"Thank you so much. To be honest, I really haven't had breakfast yet." Hearing the word 'eat', Yusei's eyes lit up a little.
Megumi wore an expression that seemed like a faint smile, yet also placid. But the joy visible deep in her eyes showed that she liked the idea of Yusei eating her cooking.
"Please wait in my room. I'll go make it for you now."
"Wait, aren't your parents home? I should go greet them first."
Yusei called out to stop Megumi.
"Mom and Dad are on a business trip out of town. I'm the only one home these past few days."
Megumi led Yusei to her room, then hurried downstairs with quick steps to the kitchen. Her slightly hastened movements seemed much more energetic than usual.
Hearing Megumi's words, Yusei settled down quietly to wait for breakfast.
With time to spare, Yusei observed the room.
Megumi's room was plain and ordinary. There was no sweet, girly flair, no posters of idols she followed. It was just a simple room.
The room was very ordinary, perhaps matching her personality perfectly.
But ordinary as it was, the room was extremely tidy and neat. The bedding, just gotten out of, was already folded neatly.
Yusei felt a bit embarrassed looking at it. If he remembered correctly, when he got up earlier, he probably hadn't folded his own futon...
A gentle breeze blew in through the open window for ventilation. Yusei looked over. On the desk, there was a paper that looked like a wind chime pendant.
It seemed somewhat familiar to Yusei.
Curious, he walked over and picked it up.
It was a ticket, somewhat old now, but well-preserved. One could tell Megumi had carefully placed it on her desk as a decorative pendant.
"This is... the ticket from my Kendo Tournament? And it's the admission ticket for the final day."
Having participated in the Kendo Tournament himself, Yusei remembered it very clearly.
Especially since the staff had given him some tickets too, though he hadn't used any of them.
"Was Megumi there on the final day too? I had no idea." Yusei looked at the ticket in his hand and murmured to himself.
Suddenly, he flipped the ticket over. On the smooth back, he saw a memo stuck to it, covered in writing. It wasn't a complete essay.
[Today, Yusei-kun defeated all his opponents very skillfully. Seeing the happy smile on his face, I felt very satisfied too.]
[I met Yusei-kun's sister. And the famous beauty from school, Kasumigaoka Utaha-senpai. What a coincidence, they were sitting right next to me.]
[This is a woman's intuition. Utaha-senpai has feelings for Yusei-kun. I know it.]
[From that day on, Yusei-kun began to change.]
[He became strong, outstanding, and confident. It feels like we've gradually grown distant.]
[I'm happy Yusei-kun has changed like this, but sometimes I think this change is terrible, because now I don't dare to actively start a conversation with Yusei-kun anymore.]
[Perhaps, an ordinary, unnoticeable girl like me isn't qualified to be Yusei-kun's friend, let alone date him.]
[Utaha-senpai doesn't know I'm Yusei-kun's desk mate, but she seems like a very nice person, and is definitely more suitable for Yusei-kun than I am.]
[Perhaps I should take the initiative to step back and let Utaha-senpai be with Yusei-kun? No... This is just my one-sided crush. Yusei-kun probably just sees me as an ordinary classmate.]
The words ended here. The back of the ticket seemed to be notes where Megumi recorded her feelings from that day, filled to the brim.
Yusei finished reading with a complicated expression and put the ticket down.
He truly hadn't known anything, 'So Megumi had such feelings for me.'
Like and dislike were sometimes just a thin wall apart.
Thinking about it carefully now, he realized Megumi's intense studying seemed to have started after he received the University of Tokyo recommendation.
'So she's been trying hard to catch up to me all along.' Yusei took a deep breath, looking out the window at the clear sky. His gaze was clear, but it was unknown what he was thinking.
Accept, or not accept?
Was that even a question?
'But for Megumi right now, the most important thing was still getting into Tokyo University, right? That was her resolve, her determination to chase after me.'
Yusei wouldn't negate this effort and persistence. Megumi's hard work was quiet and unassuming.
Yusei didn't want to interrupt her 'quietness'. It was like her little secret, as if she was carefully nurturing a seed, waiting for it to finally sprout.
After a while, Megumi came upstairs wearing an apron.
"Yusei-kun, breakfast is ready."
Her face still wore that faint smile, very calming.
Yusei smiled and nodded, not mentioning that he had found the ticket.
"Megumi, during Valentine's Day a while back... did you make chocolates?"
Megumi's walking feet suddenly halted. She seemed not quite to understand the meaning of Yusei's words.
No, it was that reason again. What had she heard? What had Yusei called her?
'Megumi?'
Megumi turned around, looked at Yusei's face, and finally nodded firmly.
"I did. Because Yusei-kun is my only friend, I made them very, very, very carefully."
"Is that so? Thank you very much." Yusei smiled.
After the two finished eating, Yusei helped with washing the dishes.
The two stood together, one with long hair hanging down, one with short hair, both black, looking very well-matched.
After finishing all this, Megumi eagerly brought out the chocolates she had made.
She had made them just yesterday afternoon, because she had arranged for Yusei to come to her house today.
Yusei looked at the chocolates but wasn't in a hurry to eat them. Instead, he smiled and said,
"These were probably made yesterday afternoon, right?"
A rare expression of embarrassment appeared on Megumi's face, but it faded quickly.
"What about the previous ones?"
"I was afraid those had been sitting for too long."
"It's fine. I'm Megumi's only friend, right? I want to see the work Megumi put her very, very, very great effort into." Yusei smiled slightly.
Megumi nodded and brought over the chocolates she hadn't been able to give away before.
Yusei looked at the chocolates, which had no special shape, just ordinary ones, but showed no disappointment.
He directly took one and put it in his mouth.