Set right at the end of cavalry arc and before the new 4th arc. (something around chapter 240~245)
Enjoy~ [while you can:v]
::::: Chairman's Pronouncement :::::
Chairman: After all the extraordinary events happened on our beloved school, I now proclaim the cavalry contest a…DRAW!
Along with his pronouncement came the buzz from the students.
Random student#1: "Yadda Yadda Yadda..."
Random student#3: "That's fair… I guess."
Random student#5: "Whatever. This event is already ruined even before it get started."
Random student#7: "Pff."
Random student# 9: *trembling* "Di...Kiyoshi...Dickiyoshi..." *pass out*
Random student#11: "I want my mommy..."
Chairman: ENOUGH!*cough* Dear students, the 48th Hachimitsu Academy Sports Festival is now clos...ED! As soon as the internal structure repairs ends, all club activities including both student councils will operate Toge…THER! Any object...ONS!?
There's no objection from the students.
However,
If a glare could speak…
Kate: "Don't think it's over, Kurihara Mari …I swear I will destroy you."
Mari: "Then try it on. I surely will crush you beforehand."
Chairman: You are all Dismiss...ED!
The whole crowd of students dispersed among mumbling and sighs. Only the four ex-prisoners stayed at the same place... And still mounted on Meiko. (Poor Meiko...)
Hana: A draw, uh...?
Meiko: It's still better than going back to prison.
Kiyoshi: Anyway, don't forget our party, Kaichou! Meal for everybody!
Mari: Don't worry. I'm a bonafide promise keeper. The Yakiniku party is still up.
Meiko: …Speaking of. I can't see any of the boys near. Where are they?
Kiyoshi: They are trying to wake up Andre-kun over there.
Meiko: Won't you help your friends?
Kiyoshi: I'm exhausted-to-dead to make any move...
Hana kicked Kiyoshi really bad, knocking him to the ground like a rotten fruit. She jumped down from the mighty war machine called Shiraki Meiko to continue the intimidation session with (her-yet-to-realize-crush) Kiyoshi.
Hana: Ohhh but you will help your friends OR ELSE! *weird hand mimic that means Kiyoshi will have his dick cut off*
Kiyoshi: YES, MA'AN! I will help them!
Hana: I- I'll go with you to make sure you won't flee ok, you scumbag? See ya, girls~
Kiyoshi: Oh boy...*dragged by Hana*
Meiko: Hehe, these two... *giggle*
Mari: "..."
Mari didn't even blink. She's still in the same position since the beginning of the cavalry contest: above Meiko's back. Both of them weren't really bothered by this position... Given that Mari is still topless, and Meiko would protect the good image of her beloved President with all costs.
Meiko: Kaichou ... Are you... Happy with the results?
Mari, moved by her instincts, tugged Meiko closer with her legs and forearms. This action made their bodies get closer to each other and for a brief moment Mari relaxes her head in the extension between Meiko's neck and shoulder, her lips pointed at the direction of Meiko's right ear.
Mari: Let's move back to our quarters, Meiko...
The President couldn't help herself from touching Meiko's hair. She entwined some loose gray locks on her fingers in a very affectionate way, even though Mari knew her Vice-Prez would blush because she is being so caring to her...
Mari: I hope to forget the formalities that entail being a member of the USC while we are in recess, yes?
Meiko almost stumbled because this words muttered by her Kaichou. Luckily this bodybuilder owns a very enviable self balance so she could easily adjust herself and slowly walks in direction of the Bath area.
Meiko: I- I...Ok.
Mari: Cheer up, Meiko... Finally it's time to enjoy this brief... Truce.
Then Mari looked around, meeting her arch-enemy's pierce stare on her.
:::: USC Dormitory ::::
"Thank you for making me company until we arrive to my side of the dormitory after our shower, President! I feel honored!" *Bows*
"That was something I ought to do for a while, Meiko..."
"Y... Yes, but also help me to clean myself was too much! Thank you so much anyway! *bow ten times*
As soon as Meiko finished her act of gratitude, Mari tossed aside all her 'Richie Rich' posture and hugged Meiko with all her might.
"...President?"
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you're healthy again..."
"I- Is that so?"
"Please... Let me stay here tonight, Meiko... I... I need to apologize to you..."
"Mari-san? Why are you crying...? You're too hot! ARE YOU IN PAIN!? I'LL TAKE YOU TO THE INFIRMARY RIGHT N-
"You don't need to, Meiko. You don't need to do anything for me anymore.."
Mari quickly released herself from Meiko's arms to kneel on the floor in a position of extreme shame.
She, indeed, did dogeza.
"I'M TERRIBLE SORRY FOR LET YOU SUFFER THIS MUCH UNDER MY ORDERS, SHIRAKI MEIKO-SAN!"
"MARI-SAN!"
Meiko herself kneels in front of the still bent Mari.
"P-Please Kaichou, get up! You don't need to humiliate yourself because of me!"
Yet Mari didn't change her position.
"Meiko... My beloved Meiko... Your pain was all my fault... You were the one who suffered the most because of this sick revenge of Kate and I will never forgive myself for this!
Some of Mari's teardrops fall directly to the floor.
"Mari-san, don't cry..."
Meiko pulled Mari from the floor and held her in a tight hug. Her emotions is almost unbearable. Her voice is trembling and ragged.
"I- Please... *shaking voice*... Don't cry for me... I'm the one in eternal debt... *sob*
"You are in debt with anything, Meiko... I'm the one who's in debt with you! I-"
Mari looked away. She couldn't bear her shame, yet some words still need to be spoken.
"I made you suffer for real... My Meiko..."
By the heavens… Hearing Mari pronounce her name this way sent shivers down Meiko's belly...
And an inexplicable bittersweet peace in Mari as well.
"Let's get off of the floor... So Please, sit down on my bed!"
Meiko helped Mari to stand up. She guided her to the edge of the bed and as soon as they suited themselves in a comfortable way on her bed, Meiko held Mari's trembling hands with extreme caution.
"You obviously are not ok, so please! Please wait until I get some chamomile tea for you! I'll be right back!"
Meiko ran and came back from the shared kitchen faster than the hurricane itself. The truth is: She didn't really want to leave Mari alone even for a single minute...
"Sorry... I have only canned tea... But I warmed it for you!"
"It's the best I deserve at this moment, Meiko... Thank you."
Mari hates industrialized tea.
As soon as Mari took the can, Meiko quickly joined her on the edge of the bed once more, now holding her free hand a second time and staring at her with a deep concerned expression.
This act didn't go unnoticed by Mari.
"I let you pass through in such burden... If I could choose a second time I would do my best to not let it happen ever again. I really would rather not tell you everything that happened but I could not feel at peace with myself knowing that I hid the truth from you, Meiko."
Meiko quickly looked away due her huge embarrassment. She recalled that she also made the mistake of hiding the truth from her President and felt really ashamed for it-
Then a light squeeze in her hand makes Meiko look back to the guilty cerulean eyes of Mari's.
"Don't feel guilty. Our current position on USC made you overprotective... Besides, I know you were hiding the truth from me because you felt terrified of upsetting me. You always care for me... I appreciate that."
Meiko took almost a minute to cease the flush in her bright red cheeks before she started to speak again.
"I- I deeply appreciate your consideration! S-So please... Tell me everything, Mari-san..."
"I must admit that I have so many things to say that I don't even know where to start. Very awful things happened during your... 'Absence' ".
"I'm terribly Sorry, Mari-san! If I were strong enough to stand at your side when you needed me the most, nothin-"
"Please, don't say such a thing! Kate is willing to destroy me at all costs and she started where she was sure it would hurt me the most... She started by you. She was pretty sure that harass and harm you would disturb me. She did everything to keep you out of the way because she knew that if you stood tall and strong by my side everything wouldn't end the way it ended."
"Tch. That insuferable viper..."
"... I am no saint, though. At first I really thought Kate was just treating us the same way USC did with the boys... It took me too long to realize that it was all about a sickly personal revenge for Kate... Only when she started to bully you with that awful song and you got a fever that I realized her evil intent. And when I fought back her plans, the damage was already done."
Mari gazed away from meiko's face once more. She focused her vision on one hand holding a tea can to another that was entwined with Meiko's hands, then she sighed heavily.
"Tch ... If I were able to foresee her intentions in time, we could have figured out a plan against Kate's conspiracy."
"I could never blame you, Mari san... Everything that happened was beyond our control. We were under such pressure that I really can't feel right about blaming anyone but Kate Takemomiya herself and her psychotic behavior. She is a bully, everything started because of her- ...Oh, Dammit… EVERYTHING STARTED BECAUSE OF HER! WE ONLY BECAME FRIENDS BECAUSE OF HER! YOU MAKE THE MOST BEAULTIFUL SONG IN THE WORLD FOR ME BECAUSE OF HER! HOW CAN I FEEL GRATEFUL TO A DISGUSTING PERSON LIKE KATE!? HOW WOULD I—"
Meiko was interrupted by the tip of an index finger on her lips.
"No, Meiko. Just… No, Please. Don't think this way."
Then Mari's hands briefly let go from the warmth that was Meiko's hands.
"Everything started because of this".
Mari took the old rabbit-printed handkerchief that is always hidden underneath Meiko's pillow.
(How Mari knows about it it's secret~)
"It all started because of this handkerchief I gave you on that rainy day. You..."
Mari couldn't help herself from blushing hard.
"You drawn my attention that day. You caught me like a bee is attracted by the flower filled with nectar... And I didn't feel regretful for leaving my handkerchief with you, because I was pretty sure that I would see it very soon."
Meiko stared at Mari with a mixture of longing and surprise.
"Oh, My...! It's been so long time ago that I almost forgot about it..."
Mari keeps talking.
"I know I didn't show it at first, but I really felt so glad to know that the beautiful girl whom I had given my handkerchief was a student from the same school as me and moreover: you where in the same class as I was, and we sit next to each other in the classroom!"
This time Mari is the one who held both Meiko hands tenderly.
"I really couldn't stand seeing you being bullied by Takemomiya. Since our childhood I noticed her bad behavior and evil intentions, so I protected you the way I could... However, I couldn't feel in peace knowing that you were leting Kate's lies spread like a plague among our class and I ended up yelling at you... Yet you gave me your friendship as a gift even after you heard my harsh words. How could I not feel in eternal gratitude to you for this, Meiko?"
Mari kissed both of Meiko's palms in an act driven by pure impulse. She then lowered their hands in her lap and started squeezing them.
Her expression changed from happy to melancholic with each stroke...
"Then our Elementary School period ended. Life revealed to us it's true repulsive face when we started high school... Eventually I got so much attention that I ended up becoming the President of the USC itself and even though we got closer than ever, we ended up getting so far from each other- Today I just can't forgive myself for dragging you into this deep abyss in which threw myself because I wasn't mature enough to deal with my own problems..."
"Mari-san."
Meiko lifted their hands and brought them to her own lips, wiping away Mari's tears in a tender tongue-stroke through wet skin.
Mari blushed hard, totally dumbfounded.
"Meiko?"
"No need to feel guilty you too, Mari-san. I stood by your side all this time by my own choice. You showed me the true path of courage; you helped me to find the strength I didn't know I ever had! You gave me a warm feeling that not even my parents could give me... Everything I did under your orders was done for both of us, and I know that every decision you made was taken by thinking of me likewise and for the sake of our Academy..."
Even said in a heartfelt way, Meiko's words had a negative effect on Mari.
Instead of comfort, the President of Underground Student Council felt an overwhelming remorse.
"Meiko, since we joined the USC I made you fulfill absurd orders from me! There's no excuse for it! I'm really sorry for all this. You lost precious and enjoyable weekends just to take care of a bunch of pervy scumbags! My crows used their claws and cries to harass you! You did all the hard job until you got ill when we were imprisoned! Seriously, you even rode a horse toy in front of five shitty boys under my orders! The Mari I was when we were just kids would never let you do such embarrassig things for me! We—
Mari was breathless.
Meiko smiled.
" 'We', from that childhood time… We would just beat the boys mercilessly and tell them to stay away from our girls."
"Sigh... I wish life could be this simple."
"Your orders were simple. You gave me freedom to execute them the way I found more effective, so no need to feel guilty about the past, Mari-san..."
2017-08-30 A/N:
Yes, it is literally a work in progress. Sorry for that.
Maybe the title will change. Maybe.
At least I can assure there's more confessions and tears to come, so stay tuned~
Anyway,
I started writing this fiction on early Aprils, right after I finished reading chapter 245 of Prison School manga. I was so full of feelings about marimei! I just couldn't accept that Meiko didn't make ANY contact with Mari for 7 days! DAYS! Worse of it, she didn't even felt a single bit worried!
GAHHH! *enraged scream*
Ahem.
Then everything started to not make any sense anymore [Mari's absence and her late behavior for example] and it got worse on every new chapter…
In the end Hiramoto killed my joy with this manga .-.
I'm waiting the release of more chapters to keep writing marimei, because from now I just have no strength nor good feelings to write it properly…
Tbh, I am really afraid of a possible terrible plot twist from hiramoto and I can't think straight nor think about it without mixed feelings, that's why I will leave it for a while..
(sorry, Gumbat-senpai! ;-;)
Ps: If anyone still have any doubt, I hope that you guys finally get that Mari x Kate is a NOTP for me, okay? Okay.
(040517)