TakuMegu: She Likes Me, She Likes Me Not (2/3)
Prompt: Day 1, Chocolate and Day 4, Valentines Day/ White Day
Summary: Greatly confused and perplexed, Takumi uses chocolates to determine Megumiâs feelings for him.
âPour the hot cream over the roughly chopped chocolate. Wait for a good minute. Stir gently. Watch as the white liquid and dark brown particles evolve into a velvety and smooth texture. Refrigerate mixture for at least 2 hours. In the meantime, make the lemon curd. Add extra zest and reduce sugar to enhance sour flavor. Make it un-palatably sour.â
Takumi worked quietly and efficiently, with a speed that proved many years of chocolatier experience. The only change was the filling â nineteen of them to be made intentionally sour, and the last one to be as sweet as Megumiâs smileâŠ
Takumi cringed inwardly, almost hearing Isamiâs snickers in his head if he knew how sappy his older brother had become because of a certain girl.
He chose to make a blueberry jam for his one special chocolate. As cliché as it seemed, it reminded him of her luscious dark blue hair that always seemed to be perfectly weaved into braided ponytails.
His eyes spotted the Kezuriki (a traditional Japanese mandoline) placed almost at the edge of the kitchen counter. He remembered borrowing it from Megumi last year when he had found out that he was to take History of Japanese Cuisine. Takumi, being raised in Italy, never had proper exposure to Japanese culinary methods â especially the traditional ones. This being one of his weaker cuisines, Takumi was grateful that he could turn to such a respectable person like Megumi, who grew up working in her family-owned ryokan (a traditional Japanese inn). Research was but one of his reasons for borrowing it from her.
Returning it now seemed like the perfect opportunity to meet up with her again, and casually asking her to take a piece of chocolate as his token of appreciation toward her for the upcoming White Day occasion felt very apt.
However, dropping her a text was daunting, perhaps it was because Megumi seemed to have grown very distant through her one sentence replies and her almost restrained tone behind the words in her text.
This was the period when they had begun to grow further apart, about a month or so ago. Before that, they hung out almost every day and every night, even people had begun noticing and called Takumi a âlost puppyâ â which weird enough, he didnât seem to care. Megumi was someone who was so independent and strong behind that frail and adorable appearance.
The way she looked at people, with such absolute confidence and faith, could make anyone feel like trusting her with their deepest secrets and insecurities. While Takumi was initially attracted by her charm and glow, this attraction grew into adoration and respect of how beautiful she was as a person inside and out.
Takumi felt like he could finally be himself around her. Never had he felt this freedom with anyone else before. Not even with his brother, as he as the older sibling, and as someone he knew Isami greatly looked up to, he had the responsibility to fulfill this duty well by being that proper role model. But with Megumi, he never had to feel the need to live up to a certain expectation. She never once judged or make any assumptions about him â something that he received a lot from his high achieving friends, and even from his own overly critical self.
Even if his feelings were never reciprocated, even if nothing will ever happen between them, those few months of getting to know her more intimately made him solid sure that he cherished their friendship more than anything. From the way she responded so enthusiastically to him, it almost made him dare to hope that she felt the same way he did.
How one month could change all of that was heartbreaking and frustrating. A beautiful friendship now reduced to awkward smiles and exchanges. He thought they had shared something special. Could you really blame him for feeling frustrated and hurt that he received nothing for Valentineâs day? Not even a friendship chocolate?
Despite their state of distance and awkwardness, thankfully, Megumi very graciously agreed to his request to meet her at her dormitory. She was just that kind of girl who could never say no, even if she was not interestedâŠ
His heart lurched for the quickest moment as he mentally took back his fist pump in victory when she accepted his request. Perhaps she only agreed because Megumi was Megumi, and not because it involved a certain blonde Italian boy whatsoever.
Takumi shook his head at how pitiful he sounded again. No more uncertainty, no more overthinking. This chocolate test shall finally free Takumi of these conflicting thoughts and feelings.
To finally be active in his pursuit of her again gave him a new rush of uneasiness and excitement. A definite improvement from the past few weeks of passively moping around and sulking. Â
âNii-san?â A voice called out to him.
Snapping out of his thoughts, he took in his surroundings again. Isami was approaching him, giving the counter a once over, appearing slightly impressed. Looking down at his work surface, he realised that he was about done with the truffles. All that was needed was to place them into the box and leave them to set in the fridge. Â
âI can help you randomize the chocolates, so even you wonât knowâ, Isami cheekily suggested.
âWhat? No!â Takumi shouted in protest.
âWhy not? Itâll be a good surprise for both Megumi and you.â Isami paused for a moment before adding, âBesides, knowing you, you would probably give away the location of the sweet chocolate very easily.â
âWhat do you mean by that?â Takumi asked in frustration, his eyes betraying his words as they shot straight down to the sweet chocolate, precariously placed at the right top-hand corner of his metal tray.
A moment of silence passed between the two of them before Takumi slammed his towel on the counter and walked out of the kitchen in defeat, refusing to spare his brother a glance, knowing full well how smug he looked at that very moment.
âCall me when youâre done,â he muttered out.
Ringing the doorbell at the Polar Star dormitory was nerve-wrecking. Having Isshiki open the door made it even worse. Somehow, it always felt like he was meeting the over-protective father who knew he was interested in his daughter.
A look of surprise flashed across his features before his face erupted into a cheerful smile. Â
âTakumi-kun! How nice to see you!â He greeted happily, almost too happily, the same way he did every time Takumi came over.
Used to come over. His thoughts taunted him again.
âMegumi hasnât returned from school yet, but you can come in first!â Isshiki didnât need to ask why Takumi was at their front door. He opened the door wider to let Takumi in, instructing him to go to the kitchen while waiting for Megumi.
Thanking him, Takumi headed in the direction of the kitchen, knowing full well the way there.
âTakumi-kun?â Isshiki called out to him from behind. Turning his head to look at him, Takumi saw Isshikiâs smile soften at him.
âReally, itâs good to see you again. Itâs been a while. Thanks for visiting, for her sake.â
Although Takumi did not fully understand what he meant with those words, he felt his heart getting warm, thankful that Megumi had such a wonderful senior looking after her, and grateful that he was not on Isshiki-senpaiâs blacklist. For some reason, getting his stamp of approval was very important to Takumi.
Tightening his grip on the paper bag that contained his chocolate experiment, he gave Isshiki a nod in acknowledgement and thanks, and resumed his journey to the kitchen.
âYu-Yu-Yukihara!â Takumi stuttered in his usual fashion every time he saw his self-proclaimed rival.
âOh! Takumi! Long time no see!â Soma greeted him casually, waving his chocolate-covered hands at him.
The kitchen was fairly cluttered. With one glance you could immediately tell what he was cooking up. Cocoa powder in a tray, firmed up chocolate fudge in a container, a metal spoon in other handâŠ
âYouâre⊠making chocolate truffles?â Takumi asked, feeling at a loss of words. Soma looked down at his counter in his signature spaced-out manner, before exclaiming happily, âI guess so!â
âWhy⊠are you making chocolate trufflesâŠâ Takumiâs question trailed off, directing it more to himself than to Soma. Chocolate truffles almost felt too normal for the eccentric chef. UnlessâŠ
âAre you seriously going to return chocolates to girls on White Day?â  The bewildered boy asked, almost in an accusatory tone. Who knew Yukihira Soma had this in him⊠being sensitive and reciprocating feelings on occasions like White Day just felt so uncomplimentary to Somaâs personality. Maybe he was wrong about this guy.
Soma stared at him for a moment before bursting out laughing. âI didnât even know White Day was coming. Wasnât it during September or something?â
âNope, I wasnât wrong at all,â Takumi thought.
Takumi sighed in relief, reassured that his original profiling of Yukihira did not fail him, but at the same time he also felt a surge of annoyance at this boyâs obtuseness. Â
âItâs always a month after Valentineâs Day, idiotâ Here he thought he was the foreigner in Japan who was less familiar with the countryâs special occasions and cultural practices.
His felt his annoyance increase by a notch when Soma knitted his eyebrows in confusion, as if now wondering when Valentineâs Day was.
âValentineâs Day was in February. It is now March.â Â Takumi added in a deadpanned manner, feeling the need to save himself from this insufferable and painful situation.
âOh!â Somaâs eyes lit up with realisation and enlightenment. âNo wonder I received so many chocolates last month!â
If Takumi hadnât known Soma, he would have been slightly irritated at that blatant bragging. However, he knew it was simply because this guy was just incredulously dense when it came to things like these.
âTo answer your previous question,â Soma said, âIâm making chocolate truffles because I was craving for some. The chocolates I got from Megumi were so good, I had to try my hand at it.â He paused for a moment. âOf course, with a touch of Yukihira in it.â Soma added proudly, pointing to the block of cheese on the counter that was sticking out like a sore thumb amidst the more conventional baking ingredients.
Any other day, Takumi would have berated Soma for his awful choice of flavor combination, but at that moment he could not pay attention to anything else but the repeated reminder of how he was probably the first one to have received her chocolates, and of how close Megumi was to Soma. And although he didnât like to admit it, it made him insanely jealous.
He had a hunch that there were no feelings between the two of them, but that did not make him feel any better. Challenging Soma to a cooking duel he would willingly (and almost eagerly) do, but when it came down to winning a certain girlâs heart â between the two of them â he wasnât so confident in himself anymore. Â
Doubts flooded his mind yet again; why did he come up with such a stupid plan, when he knew the odds were never in his favour? Should he just call it quits?â
As if the odds were not against him enough, at his pivotal moment of doubt, he heard the main door open.
âTadaima, Tadokoro-san!â Isshikiâs loud voice resonated from the living room, almost as if announcing it for Takumiâs sake. And indeed, he was grateful for that forewarning, so that he could tame his heart that was now beating wildly against his chest and mentally preparing himself for rejection.
âHeâs in the kitchen.â Isshiki replied, probably answering a question posed by the soft-spoken girl.
The sound of his heavy breathing and thundering chest drowned his senses, throwing him into a whirlwind of frustration, disappointment, and anxiety.
Was it too late to back out? What if this was all a really bad idea? What if all this would obliterate any little progress that he has made so far?
âYo,â Soma called out to him. Takumi almost missed it in his state of utter disarray, but nonetheless looked up to him.
âGood luck.â He said simply with a knowing smile.
At that moment, all the negative emotions that were tormenting him were wiped away as Takumi stared dumbfounded at the boy before him. He may have to retract his impression of Yukihira as impossibly dense, again. Making a mental apology to him, Takumi gave him a nod to express his gratitude and exited the kitchen.
He took a breath and approached the girl standing at the other end of the hallway, this time with a new found burst of encouragement and determination.
AHH finally done with part 2! I initially planned for this short story to be 2 chapters long, but now that I think about it I may extend it to ⊠or maybe 4 if Iâm really feeling up to it :P Thank you for reading my story!
Also lol⊠I felt so bad for Takumi in this chapter⊠Megumi pls save him from his torture !!Â
