DRABBLES INCLUDED:

CHILD

IRE

UNIQUE

CHILD

Megumi knew what this must have looked like, but it still felt like nothing after everything the 18-year-old had braved in the past month. The potential of Shinomiya Kojiro slamming the door in her face and sending her back out into the streets of Paris, didn't make her so much as twitch.

"Again, Tadokoro, not that it's unpleasant to see you but...it's unexpected as hell."

Her former coach made no subtle move to hide his borderline irritation and bewilderment as he stared her down through the doorway of his flagship restaurant.

"What are you doing in France?" He asked again. "Your class graduated two weeks ago. Aren't you supposed to be with-"

"Dojima-san actually gave me some leave before the first role of my internship begins!" Megumi chirped too brightly, a painful smile on her face as she balanced her singular suitcase in both hands. "I've always remembered the message Dojima-san gave me after the Regimente De Cuisine, that if I ever wanted to get stronger, I could knock on the door of Shino's Tokyo anytime! Ha, well, I figured, hopefully that invite would apply to Shino's Paris too!"

Megumi tried. She tried the hardest she could to keep her radiant, grownup smile and tranquil demeanor on display. The last thing she could do is break in front of her coach.

That's not why she came here.

Shinomiya ran a hand through his coral hair and skewered her with an intuitive look from behind his glasses.

Please...not now.

"Bumpkin, I've been keeping up on your progress and I know that-"

"You've really been watching for me, Coach?" Megumi chirped suddenly, a hopeful gleam perking up her eyes.

"Because Dojima won't shut up about your class!" Shinomiya snapped, almost with a blush as he leaned against the doorframe, trying to turn his head from her view. "That's-not the point!" He sighed at the way she deflated again as he took a step forward. "Tadokoro, I know Dojima is going to start you out in the Tokyo sector for a few months. Why are you here? By yourself? In Europe?"

Megumi's hands began to shake around the grip of the suitcase handle, but she steeled her resolve and looked to Shinomiya head-on before continuing.

"Well, I-I really loved all the traveling I got to do while in the Elite Ten, and I figured I'd miss doing it freely when work started...so I-I thought I'd use the break to revisit some of my favorite places and I-"

Now her voice was shaking. With every word she spoke, Shinomiya's gaze cut through her, dismantling her. But she should have expected that.

"Tadokoro, what happened?"

All it took was one forceful, yet sincerely protective, question from Shinomiya Kojiro, and Megumi couldn't hold on anymore. She couldn't pretend, not right now at least.

"I'm sorry," Megumi whispered.

She spoke as softly as she could, trying not to disturb the tears that now glazed her entire vision, hoping there was some way she could keep them contained.

Shinomiya made a move toward her, possibly to try to usher her inside? Lecture her?

She wasn't sure, but the quivering girl flinched back, still holding her suitcase and her ground.

She had to state her peace before she wasn't able to talk anymore.

"I'm so sorry, Coach Shinomiya," she said in the strongest voice she could. "I know this is sudden. I know I didn't call. I know I shouldn't bother you, but...it was the only place I could think of. It was the only place I knew that I could remember to be strong. Because this is my dream! And so many people have sacrificed so much...I've sacrificed so much, just to be here! So it has to be more important than anything! Or anyone! It has to, and I've learned that more than ever when you've trained me. I'm-I'm so sorry! I promise I'll go if you can't deal with a distraction in your restaurant right now, but - but if you let me stay, just for a little while so that I can help, and stay here, and stay strong, I promise...I...I just-"

As the first sob broke free, Megumi felt Shinomiya's firm grip on her shoulder as he quickly pushed her inside the restaurant lobby.

She didn't want to embarrass him, she didn't, and he was so kind to try to stop her from shamefully losing face in front of a street full of the European elite.

It was early enough that the restaurant staff was still prepping for dinner service, and the dining room was empty. Megumi never saw the hostess, but her intimidating mentor had probably shooed her with a look the moment they arrived inside.

As soon as she felt her feet leave the feel of Parisian cobblestone and morph into soft, plush carpet, Megumi dropped her suitcase, and crumpled against the nearest wall in tears.

She couldn't keep it in anymore. She couldn't keep acting like she hadn't been weak enough to end up here in the first place.

"I was standing in Peretola and I didn't know what to do," Megumi confessed, trapping tears in her hands as she tried to contain her cries. "I used the miles I saved from my Elite Ten trips and I got a one way plane ticket, because it hurt too much. I was in the airport...and I saw the sign for the bus into Florence...and I couldn't think and I - I just needed somewhere to think. Somewhere to remind me...someone to stop me. And then, I saw the next flight that was leaving for De Gaulle, and there were empty seats...and I remembered what you said...what you've always said and...I'm just so sorry! I know I'm making this whole thing too much!"

Megumi did her best, but her explanation turned into a blubbering mess as she hurled herself toward the stoic form of her towering Coach. He just sighed heavily, and it was a very knowing sigh that told Megumi he was probably putting the pieces together. Or maybe he was just finally acknowledging them, because Megumi had finally acknowledged it out loud herself.

There was no way he didn't know about the break up.

After the graduation ceremony, Inui-senpai had invited Megumi's entire family from Tohoku for an exclusive dinner at Izukoya to celebrate. Megumi had done her best to keep herself together during the evening, despite Takumi's noticeable absence, but it was also Inui-senpai who found her in the restaurant's surrounding gardens alone, an absolute wreck by the koi pond.

The young chef did her best to calmly explain, placing no blame on either party, urging her senpai to keep the incident discreet and inconsequential.

However, Inui-san would always be Megumi's biggest fan, "The Empress of the Mist", and a vengeful gossip. The entire alumni network of the Totsuki Elite probably knew, and Shinomiya-senpai was probably one of the first.

Almost a minute into leaving puddles across the Shino's lobby floor, Megumi waited for the Michelin Star chef beside her to push her away and yell the sense back into her. That's what she needed, right? That reality shattering brand of motivational therapy that had gotten her through the Regimente De Cuisine.

Instead, an awkward, yet sturdy hand could be felt on her head in a comforting gesture, and another kept her in place by her shoulder as she sobbed closely to a warm chest in front of her.

This...this wasn't what she had expected. Was Coach Shinomiya just...letting her cry? He wasn't stopping her? But, she had to stop! There was so much she needed to do!

"He must be so ashamed of me," Megumi thought frantically, her chest suddenly feeling tight with anxiety she had spent the past three years trying to healthily manage under all of the pressure of school life. "That's why he hasn't said anything. He knows I know better. He knows that I can't stay sad! And I can't stay scared! Those are all the things that held me back in the first place! Coach spent so much time, everyone spent so much time, trying to give me all this growth and opportunity...and if I don't stop crying…"

The words overflowing in her mind spilled onto her lips, and caused her to admit everything to her mentor like a religious soul seeking salvation.

Like she was trapped in a confessional, from one of those beautiful old churches in Tuscany, that she had walked through on beautiful summer afternoons...when his family had joked about…

Oh, oh no.

"I almost went..." Megumi said aloud, her guilt forming around un-intelligent whimpering. "I almost went to Florence, to the trattoria, to find him... I still don't know what I would have done...but I felt that I just had to see him again and-"

"And it wouldn't have helped anything."

Shinomiya's flat and factual voice, finally breaking through the air, was sobering in a way.

Megumi just nodded and cried harder, finding herself retreating more toward him, because he knew.

"If you went, and you stayed, you would have just brought all that uncertainty, all that expectation from everyone else, all that dissatisfaction, all that weight...to a new place. It would have crushed everything, and that doesn't help anyone. Not you. And especially not Aldini."

Though Megumi wasn't looking at him, she could tell he was looking somewhere far past her.

"But you know that already."

She did. That's why she came to Paris instead. She just needed to hear this from someone else.

She knew he understood what it was like to abandon every familiar home and face, to find what you needed in the world for yourself. By yourself. She couldn't handle more than that right now, she just couldn't. And she knew that, that's why she was here! But why... was it still so hard?

Especially when she was the one that finally decided to walk away from their last argument in front of the fountain. She had tried to convince him to be a part of this with her, but she wouldn't forsake her growth for insecurities. Not his, and not her own. That was the choice she made! Yes... it hurt when he didn't even try to stop her as she turned to leave...

But she was supposed to be mature now. She was supposed to be wiser, a leader, a force to be reckoned with!

She wasn't supposed to cry like this, like a 15-year old trembling failure, anymore!

She was supposed to move past the fact that she loved him.

Shinomiya didn't say anything else for a long time. He just let the accomplished, internationally educated young woman weep like a vulnerable child as she struggled with her resolve.

Later, she would come to realize, this is what she had needed the most.

IRE

The minute Takumi saw Megumi sobbing quietly under the bright lights of the Regimente De Cuisine stadium, he saw red.

Behind a cool practiced exterior, he felt the searing heat of his anger, and he was reassured of the crushing defeat he would bring to Eizan Etsuya.

Not that he wasn't certain of it already, he'd made all the precise calculations to take care of that. There was no other option. The fate of his brother's future was on the line.

However, there was something about Megumi crumbling, even after confidently wearing a smile in the face of defeat, that raised the stakes of this current grudge match.

Her tears were now gasoline on the flames of his forge, and that swelling wall of fire would completely engulf his opponent...his target...his prey…

Eizan, that poor genius bastard, didn't realize he no longer had anywhere to run.

"Just watch the results of our teamwork," Takumi vowed to Megumi in his mind. "I promise I won't let it go to waste!"

He focused on the ginger in his saucepan, the very ginger she had shared with him, that now linked their two dishes.

She called his name, and Takumi prayed that she understood how important her dish had been, how important their synergy had been, how important she was.

He thought back to all the times he remembered her blindly supporting Yukihira and all her friends, because she felt it was the only role she could play, and he saw white as his temper rose more.

All of the trials they had faced in the exams side by side, all of the endless hours they had spent training, finding their rhythm as a team in the kitchen, no!

That hadn't been for nothing.

The new rituals that had developed between just the two of them on the train, sharing espresso at dawn and tea at midnight as they boosted each other's morale for the day to come, those hadn't been pointless either!

All the tips, secrets, stories, laughter, fear and failures they'd shared...and her tears!

Every tear that had fallen from her eyes when Shinomiya had scolded her anxiety or technique in the kitchen. Every tear she had shed for their expelled friends, for his brother and even him...Those tears were worth everything!

"They sure are counting on you…"

As Megumi, the Rebel Forces and the Polar Star crew continued to cheer for him, Eizan's voice slithered through the air, trying to strike at Takumi's confidence.

"Though I only did it due to the reform," Eizan said casually. "I did end up doing a number on their dorm..."

That's right. Eizan had been the one behind the attempted desecration of Megumi's home…the place she loved more than anywhere else in the world…

Takumi couldn't forget to add that sin as kindling for his fire.

His rage simmered inside as his eyes skewered Eizan, who was ignoring the way Takumi adjusted his sauce as he prepped his dish for the oven.

"People seem to find reasons to hate me quite easily," Eizan droned on. "Would you be one of those people too? Mimasaka's the one who challenged you to a Shokugeki at the Autumn Elections. I was just earnestly running the Autumn Elections. I don't think it's fair that I'm the one getting hated on."

Takumi wouldn't allow himself so much as a twitch as Eizan tried to bait him with useless banter.

This whole food battle was bigger than him, bigger than the upperclassman's petty agendas against his rival.

"Hate?" Takumi scoffed, assuming a power stance of feigned disinterest with crossed arms and a scathing glare. It was something very similar to what his father would do to assert his authority over the trattoria staff during tense service days. "That word doesn't quite sum up the feelings I have towards you."

Right.

Absolute Loathing. Relentless Pursuit. Vengeful Retribution.

Oh, he definitely held those sentiments. But something as simple...as single tiered and shallow as..."hate"...that didn't even come close to a thought in Takumi's mind.

"At the very least I don't hate you," Takumi bluffed with a debonair shrug. "I'm just here to win. That is all."

That's right. He was here to conquer, and everyone was watching. Isami...Soma...Megumi...she was watching and he had to keep it together…

Megumi...Megumi had been on his side, on his team, before all of this. She had cared about him before he could even manage to care about anything outside of ambitious vision.

And he had never thanked her...to this day, he had never thanked her for her support.

Well, now it was time for Eizan to repay him three debts by association.

His mezzaluna, his brother and Megumi's cries for all the days leading up to this would be avenged against all of the trouble this scheming gangster had begun.

"Forno accendere!" Takumi chanted lowly to himself as he thrust his dish into the oven, beckoning the flames to seal the fate of this match.

The ire of an Aldini was inescapable, after all.

UNIQUE

Every new relationship had its honeymoon phase. Still, the saccharine overload that was the beginning of Takumi and Megumi's courtship, even Takumi would admit, had been a bit much.

Perhaps it couldn't have been helped. The Tohoku girl was the personification of a soothing jar of all-natural honey, and dulce was one of his specialties.

Yes, as an Italian and an Aldini, he was an expert in all things sweetness, and the flavor of Megumi's presence was beyond any recipe he could ever innovate.

His perfect little pasticcino.

His dolcezza.

The giddiness he would feel just thinking of her elicited the anticipation he'd held for one of his Mamma's specialty desserts as a child. And none of those desserts could compete with Megumi.

God, forgive him for admitting that…

No…scratch that thought.

Mamma, forgive him.

The wrath of an Aldini woman scorned was far more frightening than any punishment heaven could ravage upon him if that sentiment was ever exposed.

Considering the amount of time Takumi had dealt with combating his own feelings for the bluenette, the time she had taken to realize and reciprocate them, not to mention the rigorous school work that kept them apart during most of the day, the young Aldini decided he wouldn't waste time being abashed in his declaration of affection toward her.

After she had kissed him at the fountain that night, their fountain (Oh, how that thought delighted him!), they had mutually agreed to take things slow. Especially now that they were both on the same page.

"Cara Mio," he had cooed into her ear as they had sat side by side that night, deliberately placing a lasting kiss on her trembling knuckles as he grinned blissfully. "It would be my pleasure to go as slow as you could possibly want. Believe me."

Despite the comical blush that had erupted upon her cheeks, there were justified concerns to be warranted with their new attachment to each other.

Totsuki Culinary Academy wasn't exactly the kind of place designed for young romance to thrive. The reason so many fan clubs existed, including Takumi's own, was probably due to the fact that it was easier for the adolescents at the academy to indulge in idol worship as an outlet. Better that than risking the mental investment and time commitment that a real relationship required, especially when the high probability for failure loomed over each student like a dark cloud on a daily basis.

Due to the way the students treated their idol worships as an emotional lifeline, it was rather dangerous to Takumi's and Megumi's well being to publicly declare their relationship. Especially if some of Takumi's more manic fans caught wind.

They could still be seen in each other's company, since it was well established that they were friends and peers of the 92nd Jewel Generation. They also had a mutual circle of friends, so no eyebrows should be raised if they were seen eating, studying or testing recipes together on or outside of campus.

However, hand holding, pet names or public displays of affection of any kind were best avoided among the average student body. If they waited long enough, it would probably get to the point where most of Takumi's fans would be expelled and have their numbers dwindled down to a manageable size of annoyance. Plus, the more respect not only Takumi, but Megumi, received for their eventual seniority and Council of Ten roles, the more they could do whatever they pleased due to ranking alone.

One by one, the days where Takumi had comforted a struggling Tadokoro-san, who was the victim of tasteless scrutiny among her peers, were swiftly disappearing. Though to this day, she still kept the embroidered handkerchief he had given her in their first year after a reflex of chivalry.

She now fought her own battles and was building her own empire of merits. Even though her sweet smile remained, she could silence even the most subtle of side-eye with a fierce glow from her golden irises. A glow that dared anyone to question the value of her cooking, her worth or her friends.

Dio mio, how that look in her eyes thrilled him.

Every day, he learned they were more similar than his 15-year-old self had ever given her credit for. That included the flame in their souls, both determined to work hard and demolish any rivals in their paths.

Well...maybe Megumi was a little less obsessed with rivals…

And maybe even less concerned with demolishing them…

And maybe she was more astute at presenting herself as the epitome of grace in the heat of passion outside of the battle...but the sentiments were still there!

In the midst of all this admiration, the two still struggled when it came to having a safe place to freely interact. There was always his apartment, but the proper gentleman inside him feared for her reputation if she was seen going in and out of the place too often. There was also his own self-control in having her that close to his bedroom, the situation now vastly different from the day she had wept for him from behind the closed door.

During those circumstances, the Polar Star dormitory had become their personal sanctuary. Takumi and his brother were deemed honorary members by the entire gang, so he was more than welcome to visit, and it was a welcome he used to his full advantage.

All of the Polar Star residents, especially the dorm mother Fumio, could see what was happening between the two from 50 miles away. They openly agreed they would help protect the private relationship of the two young lovers, and for that, Takumi would forever be in their debt. Even in the debt of a Yukihira-his-eternal-rival-Soma. If that didn't prove his dedication to Megumi, he wasn't sure what possibly could.

Megumi had laughed to him one day, confessing she found out later on that Isshiki had made her dorm mates swear to some kind of pact to protect their "blossoming youth and happiness." Some had been more enthusiastic about the promise than others, but Takumi appreciated it nonetheless. Especially if it allowed him to sit with her in the sunshine of the gardens as they did now, no fear of exposure looming over them.

He felt bad that he had repaid her Polar Star comrades by inducing nausea and eye-rolling in them as he showered their local homestyle cook with affection. However, he had consciously decided to leave the majority of his shame at the dormitory threshold every day he came over after school to visit.

Time with her was just too precious.

He would stay affixed to her side, rarely letting their fingertips remain out of contact. To hold her hands, as much as he wanted, throughout the halls and the well kept grounds of her home was a luxury to him.

Embracing her in every room was a must, and he found a comfortable spot for his arms around her petite torso whenever possible. He could stare at her adoringly for hours, and it made all the clandestine looks in her direction during Elite Ten meetings worth it.

He would pepper her with unabashed kisses on the forehead or chivalrously on her hand (like the graceful lady she was) in front of her friends, and then lose himself in slow languid ones with her whenever they had a few minutes to spare in a secluded corner of the large estate.

They were usually able to break apart before anyone witnessed them, as most of the Polar Star residents could announce themselves from 1,000 feet away. All except poor Ibusaki-san...Takumi was still apologizing for all of the times the smoke specialist had quietly turned the corner to find a sight he would have rather avoided.

And the Aldini boy wasn't going to think about all of the times Isshiki-senpai may have been looming overhead, discreetly in the ceiling. Megumi had advised it would be the best for both their sanities.

Yes, he had put up with the jeering taunts from Yuuki about his "goo-goo eyes." The lectures about public relationship decorum in Japan from Marui and Ryoko. The threats to his life from Daiko and Shoji, should he ever "step out of line" with their adorable blue-nette. He even soldiered through the subtle glances from Isshiki-senpai, Ibusaki-san and the Madonna of Polar Star that informed him he was being watched in the way predators watch their young.

Yukihira always seemed to be blissfully indifferent and encouraging about his intentions toward Megumi, when he had been around at least. Yet every so often, Takumi thought he saw his rival giving him a serious side glance if Megumi ever appeared less than blissful.

But he put up with it all, because this was their sacred stronghold, and Megumi was his queen.

La sua regina...and he made sure to profess it to her every waking moment he was able with every darling Italian term of endearment he was able to muster.

Raggio di sole.

Zuccherina.

Farfallina.

Honestly, her Polar Star mates were probably more sickened by the disgustingly sweet pet names than they were by the covert kissing sessions. Because those he wouldn't let up on, no matter which one of her friends were around. He tried them all. Bellezza, Caretta, Caruccia...he tested 9,000 different ways to profess her loveliness and sweetness to the heavens and anyone that would bear witness.

But for some reason, nothing seemed right. Megumi wasn't the stereotypical sweetheart of those adorable manga series she read with Nakiri-san.

She was purely unique, and he wanted to call her something that justified that uniqueness.

Who would have thought the strict, aging dorm Madonna would have provided him with the answer one starry night.

He had volunteered to stay behind and help clean up after a routine dinner party. Megumi wanted to stay with him, but he insisted she join the group that ran outside to stargaze at Isshiki's behest.

"I'll be out soon, Amorina," he had said softly, taking her hand like the prince-archetype he was and gently kissing her ivory knuckles in habit. "Go out with our friends. I'll be quick."

"I just don't want you to miss out on anything, Takumi-kun," Megumi said with a soft blush.

She had recently been adamant about making sure Takumi and Isami felt as connected with Polar Star as she did. Without him having to confess much, she had been able to pick up the daily longing the brothers had for their life in Florence. She seemed to believe that her family at Polar Star was the next best thing to the energetic Mediterranean relatives they had grown up with.

"I won't be missing anything if I'm not seeing it with you, cara mio," he purred, then let go of her hand as he opened the door for her to stumble out to the backyard in melting bliss.

He smirked secretly, loving the reaction he had finally begun to elicit from her. The stupefied awe most women had in response to his charm was something he only recently started to crave from Megumi alone.

Now, as he put away dishes and leftovers from the cleared and spotless counters, he couldn't help but notice the way Fumio-san had been curiously observing him as she lounged by the counter, nursing a glass of sake.

"Is there anything else I can help with, Fumio-san?" Takumi asked the woman reverently, acting as the epitome of manners and chivalry his Mama had raised him to be. He also thought it wouldn't hurt to show his gratitude with menial work at every turn, lest his presence should ever become a nuisance in the Madonna's mind.

"Don't you Aldini boys have an apartment of your own?" Fumio said suddenly. "I've seen it myself, I know it exists. You both spend an awful lot of time here."

Takumi blushed, suddenly panicking that what he feared had come true.

"I-if our visiting has come to inconvenience you, Madame F-" he began stuttering an apology and was half way dipped into the deepest bow of his life, before he was cut off by the dorm mother's laughter.

"Oh, no need for that," she said, chuckling and waving him off. "I don't mind, especially since you two are more well behaved than the hooligans that actually live here. My goodness boy, get up from that bow! No, I asked because two have been coming here for quite awhile, even before you and Megumi. It's a surprise that you two haven't just challenged to join the dorm by now."

Takumi blushed again at the mention of his girl, but managed to pull together a coherent response.

"Our Father wanted us to keep our own family home, away from campus. He believes it helps us stay grounded and undistracted, even though he does encourage us to socialize."

"Undistracted, huh? How's that been working out lately?"

The savage smirk on the old woman's face made Takumi want to curl into a ball and die.

"I-I-I'm very inspired by the other Polar Star dorm members," he tried protesting. "If I'm to surpass Yukihira, it only makes sense I study his cooking and influences here every chance I get! And I-" he paused again, trying to wrap the words in his head into something dignified.

He looked out the window for a moment to avoid the woman's soul piercing stare, and he caught the silhouettes of the Polar Star kids gawking at stars in the garden clearing.

Even in a mixed crowd, he could always spot Megumi from the shape of her signature braids. He let himself stare, as he usually did in this place.

Emitting a sigh, honesty took over his response. Who was he even trying to convince anyway? He was hopelessly past that point by now.

Besides, Fumio had known from day one.

"Lately," he finally added. "I seem to cook my best whenever I'm near Megumi-san. Everyone around her is talented, and they're always willing to offer critique and help. The environment here reminds me of cooking in the kitchen back home, the energy of the place. And to be honest, if she wasn't by me, my mind would probably be searching for her anyway. Her presence draws me back here, again and again. I learned it was better to give into that pull instead of trying to fight it. It helps to keep me a little less distracted, at least."

Getting those words off his chest felt slightly relieving. He looked up with a smirk of his own, and found something interesting twinkling behind Fumio's eyes.

"You know, I've always found it ironic that this dorm was named after Kyokusei, the polar star," she said.

Takumi curiously raised his eyebrows at the sudden topic change. Perhaps she'd been nursing a bit too much sake that evening.

"I'm so old, that the original reason for the name doesn't seem to matter anymore, but what is interesting is the people the dorm attracts and what they do here," Fumio said, challenging the questioning look in Takumi's eyes. "Millions of people, civilizations all over the world, have used that star as the primary navigating star. The brightest beacon of light, that even while lost at sea, could be used to get them where they needed to go. Even if that was back home."

Home. Hmmm, that was a place...a concept...a thing...that he'd been thinking of quite often lately. This conversation even sent him back to memories of a conversation had with his father long ago...when he had been so sure that the pull of home could never be stronger than at their family restaurant.

"All the kids that have passed through these halls, they've used this place as their navigator," Fumio chuckled, waving a lazy hand around the kitchen. "This place, and the people in it, they've got a certain pull. Even the ones that leave, as you notice, have a tendency of gravitating back at one point or another."

If the history of Saiba Joichiro, Dogima Gin and evening Nakiri Azami has any indication, Takumi would be inclined to agree.

"Interesting, isn't it?"

Fumio asserted her question with a smirk and another sip, as if commanding him to take notice of something.

All Takumi could do was nod as his eyes gravitated once more to Megumi's form, looking up at the celestial lights above.

For the majority of his young existence, Takumi had been mapping out the points of his life with passion and precision. Each glowing like a star that would eventually create a unique constellation of his achievements and family legacy.

His family and Trattoria Aldini was the first point he could always find when he searched the darkness for meaning.

That point led to his brother Isami, as their twin bond kept their paths primarily in the same orbit, as different as they were.

The next star was Japan, and the divine beacon that was Totsuki's illuminating education.

Moving on from Totsuki is where he discovered, begrudgingly, Yukihira's star and the magnetism of their glorious rivalry. Hiding behind Yukihira, had been Tadokoro-san, a tiny dwarf star with nothing particular about it.

At the time.

Back in the garden, someone, probably Yuuki, had tried to take a picture of the group. The flash of a phone camera illuminated Megumi's embarrassed and delighted face.

She glowed, so much brighter than any of the others around her. Even now he could feel himself being drawn in by her light.

Somehow, she was now one of the brightest points in the constellation, and whenever he was searching for a pull of inspiration…

To better his cooking…

To better his relationships with others…

To better himself…

He found himself back in this place next to her every time.

Just like...

"I'm sorry, Fumio-san, I need to excuse myself," Takumi blurted out instantly as the realization hit him like a freight train. "Thank you for your wisdom and-"

"Go! Go!" Fumio said as she shooed him off while taking a drink straight from the bottle. "You've been rambling to an old woman like me for long enough. At least I know you're still alive in there. You were staring out the window for longer than normal."

Takumi decided he would be embarrassed about that another time, and raced as fast as he could to her.

The bright and magnificent light that pulled him back.

His very own...

"Takumi!" Megumi exclaimed in simultaneous joy and confusion, as she witnessed the blonde joining the star gazing party at a breakneck speed.

"T-Takumi-kun?" Megumi stuttered as he then proceeded to gather her in his arms, drag her off from the stunned view of Polar Star students, and then kiss her within an inch of her life between a small grove of fruit trees in the garden.

"T-Takumi-kun!" Megumi sputtered as she gasped for air and was beet red with mortification at the immense display of affection near their friends. "Wh-what was that for? Not that I-I mean it was- b-b-but everyone is right there! And you just-"

It was fine, he would apologize profusely later and deal with Sakaki-san and Marui-san later...but right now…

"Megumi, sei la mia stella polare."

He had her hands clasped in his as he confessed those words with every bit of sincerity and joy he could muster. It was similar to every time he called her by a new nickname, but this time was much different. This one was finally perfect, unique, meaningful...just like her.

"Takumi-kun," Megumi sighed with almost a laugh, and Dio mio, his soul sang every time she said his name. "That's...beautiful, but what does it mean?"

He grinned and let go of her hands long enough to tuck a loose strand of blue hair behind her ear and lean in.

"My Polar Star," he whispered, aiming his words and warm breath close to the curve of her neck. "You, are my Polar Star, Megumi."

Takumi was giddy at the way he felt her shiver in reaction to his voice, and as he pulled away to gaze at her, she was beaming with approval.

Pure joy shown from her smile, more than he had ever seen from her after any nickname so far.

And when she grabbed his cheeks between her soft palms, blessed him with a starry eyed gaze and rose to punctuate her approval with a strong kiss, Takumi knew he had made the right choice.

—-

A/N:

Happy Post-Valentine's Day! Finally after a whole year, I add another slice to this beautifully constructed crack ship of a pizza pie.

The favorite collection so far for this story seems to be the one with the prompt MIDNIGHT, so I channeled a bit of that into this new collection that I hope you all loved. Aside from the angst fest that is CHILD (suggested by glasses bunny), I like this look back to some Totsuki-TakuMegu era moments.

UNIQUE(suggested by an anonymous guest) is something really special that I've been perfecting for a really long time, and I'm really proud to finally be able to let it see the light of day. Sorry to bombard you with Italian pet names, but maybe it will give you inspiration for that special Stella Polaris in your life. IRE (suggested by GUest97) was a last-minute inspiration after I saw the rebels battle in the latest season, and I know I had to have a Takumi scene in there.

I don't know what I did to deserve 46 reviews, 43 faves and 31 follows, but I hope all of you enjoy what you get to come back to!

I don't even think I can post drabble predictions with my failed posting schedule, but please keep giving me some. Hopefully, my next update will be, like, a lightning round with a paragraph limit each to get through a couple. Quality versus quantity, ya know? I still get good reviews for the mini drabbles in chapter 1, so maybe going back to that couldn't hurt.

Once again, thank you so much for still following this story. I appreciate you guys and all the kind words of motivation you've given me so far! I'll do my best to keep at it because I love this pair so much!

Till then,

Ciao, bellas!

-Tasia'sEndlessDreams