[It's only the fact that she's been expecting something along those lines that saves her from dropping the teacup and making a whole great mess of things. As it is, her fingers tighten almost imperceptibly on the handle, and her smile wavers, just for a moment. It's everything she can do to keep her voice light and cheerful, but she manages it.]
I think I've learned all my best lessons from misfortunes, actually. There's hardly a better way to make a point.
[And what lessons they were--lessons of hard choices, of self-sacrifice, of loss and grief and above all else, the importance of doing the right thing. For a moment, her mind flickers to the school curse, a few months ago; Megumi had been there for that one, even if they'd barely seen each other at all, and she'd been--oh, rats, this was going to be a lot harder than she'd originally anticipated.]
Oh, well, it wasn't--anything, really. That was just a silly curse and of course, we can't hold the things that happen during a curse against each other! It's nothing. Goodness, I'd almost forgotten about it by now, even. That's what we agreed, anyway. It's only a curse, so why not just...pretend it never happened? It'd be for the best, of course.
[And yet, her stomach is sinking even as she says the words aloud. She's an awful liar and she knows it, everyone says so, and there's no chance that someone as clever as Megumi wouldn't see through it. But she's not ready to give up her pretense, not quite yet, so she lowers her eyes as she takes another sip of tea, slowly and carefully, and sneaks a peek at Megumi as she does so.
She'd promised herself she wouldn't cry, not over this. But she hadn't realized how much more difficult it was to say the words aloud, rather than just writing them on the Network. Her eyes feel hot, but she won't cry. Crying is for facing down death and losing loved ones, not something like this.
She ought to keep her mouth shut, but she can't help but ask one last question, just for confirmation of what she's suspected all along.]
[ Action! ] it's all good!
I think I've learned all my best lessons from misfortunes, actually. There's hardly a better way to make a point.
[And what lessons they were--lessons of hard choices, of self-sacrifice, of loss and grief and above all else, the importance of doing the right thing. For a moment, her mind flickers to the school curse, a few months ago; Megumi had been there for that one, even if they'd barely seen each other at all, and she'd been--oh, rats, this was going to be a lot harder than she'd originally anticipated.]
Oh, well, it wasn't--anything, really. That was just a silly curse and of course, we can't hold the things that happen during a curse against each other! It's nothing. Goodness, I'd almost forgotten about it by now, even. That's what we agreed, anyway. It's only a curse, so why not just...pretend it never happened? It'd be for the best, of course.
[And yet, her stomach is sinking even as she says the words aloud. She's an awful liar and she knows it, everyone says so, and there's no chance that someone as clever as Megumi wouldn't see through it. But she's not ready to give up her pretense, not quite yet, so she lowers her eyes as she takes another sip of tea, slowly and carefully, and sneaks a peek at Megumi as she does so.
She'd promised herself she wouldn't cry, not over this. But she hadn't realized how much more difficult it was to say the words aloud, rather than just writing them on the Network. Her eyes feel hot, but she won't cry. Crying is for facing down death and losing loved ones, not something like this.
She ought to keep her mouth shut, but she can't help but ask one last question, just for confirmation of what she's suspected all along.]
...He told you, then?