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ʚ 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐭 ɞ
Megumi had seen Kazuma many times growing up. With how close she and Yuki were growing up, it would have been hard not to. She had spent plenty of days loitering around his dojo to watch the other kids spar, and so his face wasn't unknown to the girl.
That being said, she by no means was as close to him as Kyo was. The redhead had spent nearly every day at the dojo growing up. That was mainly when the two would ever see him, as Yuki tended to avoid him like a plague. All she could remember was his kind face and the reaffirming way he spoke to all his students like they were each a child of his which he wanted to see succeed.
It seemed time served him well. After a few years of not seeing the older man, he looked much the same. Same burnt auburn hair, although it was longer than she had remembered, falling to his waist now in a low ponytail. His skin looked toughened after excess amounts of sun exposure, small wrinkles framing his mouth like a mid-day portrait. Crow's feet appeared around his eyes as he smiled down at Megumi.
"Megumi," he greeted, his voice smooth and clear. "You look much brighter now, and you stand taller. I'm glad you are doing so well here."
Megumi rushed to bow, flustered greatly by the unexpectedly caring words. They reminded her of how Tohru's grandfather speaks to her, words overflowing with care and affection. It blindsided her, but she rushed to regain enough composure to respond. "Ka-Kazuma! It's n-nice to see you too!"
The man chuckled, waving away her polite manners with a smile. "I see you are still struggling with your speech, though I must say, it's much better than when I last heard you speak."
With a hanged head, Megumi rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment, wishing the ground would swallow her whole. Why did she have to be the only one here when he stopped by, it was such an awkward encounter! She forced out a laugh, although it came out much more lackluster than she intended. "Yes, unfortunately, I can't beat the habit." She replied slowly, putting intention behind each word to erase her stutter as best she could.
With a prayer sent, the blonde hoped he would drop the conversation at that and ask about the whereabouts of one of the boys. Surely, that's what he traveled all the way here for, not to ask her about her speech patterns. The man had never spoken to her directly before, and she wallowed that, of course, it was when Yuki wasn't here to buffer the conversation and keep it afloat. All she was doing was taking on water and slowly drowning as she waited to see if he'd move on.
"My apologies, I didn't mean for that to come across as accusatory." Kazuma amended, clearly not letting go and moving on like Mehumi had been hoping. "I suppose I should have gone about praising the accomplishment better. You'll have to forgive me; I had no intention of upsetting you, Megumi."
"N-No! Don't... don't worry about it." Megumi reassured, reaching out to grab the long white umbrella from his hand, remembering all the rules a host is supposed to follow to ensure the guest is well taken care of. "Let me put up your u-umbrella! It's just me here, b-but I can put on tea while we wait for the others to re-return."
