Soulmates | Itafushi ✓

5 - udon

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"So why were you still at school an hour after it ended?" Megumi asked.

They were at the udon restaurant. It was an upscale but small place, and it was dimly lit. The food was cooked in front of you, so that you could see the whole process of boiling the noodles and adding the soup. It was a rather nice place.

"I just had to talk to the principal about some paper work, it's nothing special," Yuuji responded casually, even though it was actually more complicated then that. "How about you? Why were you waiting outside of the class?"

"I had student council. Also nothing special." Megumi stated.

The atmosphere went quiet, and the air was lukewarm. Yuuji wanted to say something, but he couldn't think of anything so he just kept eating. 

"You're a really big eater, you know that?" Megumi looked at Yuuji as he was slurping down noodles.

Megumi was full after one bowl and an appetizer, meanwhile Yuuji was on his fifth bowl and he was still eating. Four hours had already passed. 

"I don't know if I'm a big eater, maybe you're just a small eater!" He retorted. He stopped eating his udon and picked up a dumpling instead.

"I'm just a regular eater. But you're probably way above average when it comes to appetite." He watched at Yuuji ate another dumpling. Megumi was grateful that even though Yuuji ate a lot, he wasn't messy.

Yuuji stopped eating to speak again. "Anyways, I'm grateful you brought me here and that you're treating me to a meal, but why?" He asked. It just seemed so out of the blue.

"Short answer: just because I can." Megumi stated coyly. But then he thought about it some more and then he said, "Ok, well, a longer answer is because I needed to get away from him. And my parents. And away from my life in general."

"Is that why this restaurant is so far away from the school?" Yuuji asked. 

"Partially yeah." He admitted. "But this is also one of my favorite restaurants." That nobody knows about except me, Megumi thought. But I guess now Yuuji knows about it too.

"You have a good taste in restaurants." Yuuji complimented. "But what do you mean by 'get away from life' or 'get away from him'? Does that have something to do with why you were arguing with that guy?" He asked again.

Yuuji just realized he was prying a little too much by asking. And Megumi confirmed it because he had an annoyed expression on his face.

Yuuji thought that Megumi would get mad at him for asking, but Megumi actually ended up responding. "That guy's name is Yuuta Okkotsu. He's a year older than us. And we were arguing because he wanted me to come to his house to eat dinner with his parents even though I don't want to, and I already told him that. He's always so pushy, about everything. My parents are like that too." He explained.

"That sucks, I agree that you shouldn't have to do something you don't want to do." Yuuji sympathized. "Is there a reason why everyone in your life is so pushy? Like him and your parents?" He asked.

And then Yuuji chastised himself. Stop prying, it might make Megumi uncomfortable. "Oh, um, if you don't want to get too deep into it if you don't have to, I don't want to keep prying."

"You're very considerate." Megumi noticed. He crossed his arms and thought for a bit, and then he said, "I normally don't tell anyone about this stuff, but I'll tell you. Just because people usually push me into telling them things, but you were nice enough to say I didn't have to answer if I didn't want to." 

It was refreshing to have someone be attentive to my feelings for once, Megumi thought.

"But make sure you don't talk about this with anyone else." He warned Yuuji.

"Got it, my lips are sealed." He promised Megumi. He pretended to zip up his lips with his fingers, which made Megumi smile a little. 

"Okay, well," Megumi started. "Me and Yuuta have known each other since we were kids. And since then we always had to hang out together, even though I don't want to. I'm pretty much forced into it." Megumi explained. 

"Like now, he wanted me to go to his house, but I don't want to. And if I went home, my parents would just get mad at me for not hanging out with him. So that's why I'm here with you. So I can avoid everyone." He told Yuuji.

"That sounds tough," Yuuji felt bad for him. "It looks like you really don't like him." Yuuji observed. "Even though he looked so desperate when he was trying to convince you."

Megumi closed his eyes. "Yeah, I don't like him." He confirmed. "He used to be fun to hang out with when we were kids, but now it's just annoying. If only he would just give up! But he never does, no matter how much I refuse him. Even my parents are on his side."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Yuuji sympathized again. "But there are ways you can try avoiding him right? Like if you had other people to hang out with, or clubs or something."

"I'm already in student council." Megumi said. "I joined so I could get away from him. But that guy, he just followed me and became the treasurer. How can someone be so persistent?" He said, incredulous. 

"Is there a reason he's so desperate?" Yuuji asked. "Did something happen between you two to make him act that way?"

Megumi went silent for a minute. Then he said. "It's complicated, I don't want to get into it. In all honesty, it's not even his fault. It's not my fault either. But I still want him to stop." Megumi put his head down.

Yuuji just got more confused. It's not his fault? Yuuji wondered. Then Yuuji decided not to ask about it further, since this was probably as far as Megumi wanted to go with the topic.

Yuuji said, "This might end up being shitty advice, but I feel like if you keep running from all your problems, it's just going to get worse. Eventually you'll have to face it."

Megumi peeked up at him. "That's the thing, I don't know how to solve my problems. I still need to think about it." He confessed. "Thanks for the advice though." He thanked Yuuji. 

Then Megumi got up from the table. "Are you done eating now? I'll take you home." Megumi told him. 

Yuuji got up too, and Megumi payed at the front before they walked out of the restaurant. Then Megumi called a taxi.

The ride was silent; Yuuji didn't really know what to say. But he noticed Megumi was looking out the window, like he was deep in thought. 

Even though Yuuji had just met him, he hoped that everything would turn out okay for Megumi. Yuuji thought that Megumi seemed like a good guy. He even payed for his five bowls of udon and three side dishes.

"Oh, this is my place." Yuuji pointed out. The driver stopped.

They were at a sand colored building that looked cheap to live in. The outside didn't seem very well maintained. The paint was coming off of the doors. 

"Bye Megumi, see you at school." Yuuji got out of the car and waved goodbye.

Megumi just waved back. And then the car drove away.