Yuzu's POV

Ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring…

I groaned as I woke up to my ringtone. Reluctantly, I dragged myself slightly off the bed to reach for my phone which was ringing and vibrating on the bedside table. As I grabbed my phone, I took a glimpse of the digital clock, also on the bedside table. 07:15 AM it read. Dang, who could possibly call me this early on a Saturday morning?!

"Hel-" Before I could even finish my greeting word, a familiar high-pitch voice on the other side of the phone shouted, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY YUZU-CHI!".

The loudness in combination with the fact that I was barely awake yet shocked me so much that I immediately pulled the phone away from my ear. But that was only until it dawned upon me what day it was today. Slowly, a grin formed on my face. It's my birthday! I'm 17 today!

I got back onto the phone with Harumin, who called to wish me happy birthday and conversed for a while more about my plans for the day. I have already pre-celebrated my birthday the day before with my friends in school, so today – it being a weekend – would be celebration with my family, which includes my gorgeous step-sister, who also happens to be my girlfriend for that matter. The thought of spending the day with Mei unknowingly brought a huge grin to my face. But…where was she?

I looked beside me on the bed, her side of the bed was already cold which meant she probably already woke up way earlier. Then I looked around the room. No signs of Mei. Where could she be? I sighed in slight disappointment. I would have expected to wake up to my girlfriend lying beside me, or even better, with a wake up kiss, on my birthday.

Since Harumin have already woken me up from my slumber, and Mei was not beside me on the bed, I decided I might as well get up and start this day early. As I moved to the kitchen after a quick shower and wash up, the scent of my favorite food filled me with blissfulness. My mom was not always one who would be around every morning to make breakfast for her kids, since she has a shift job that occupies most of her time. However, she always made sure to make time for me on my birthday and bask me with the love she has for me.

"You're up early, I'm surprised! That's my grown-up Yuzu darling." Mom walked over to give me a kiss as soon as she noticed my presence in the kitchen. "Happy birthday my dear girl."

I returned her with a big hug before she continued with her cooking. I poured myself a cup of milk before clearing my throat to attempting to ask in a casual tone, "Umm, mom… D'you have any idea where Mei is? She uh… She's not around since I woke up."

"Yeah, Mei-chan said she had to go back to school to get some work done. She'll be back by noon to celebrate your birthday." Mom replied, with her eyes still fixated on the sunny side-up egg that she's preparing once in a year just for me.

Noon…That's another 4 hours from now. I guess I can make do with that… I guess.

The next 4 hours consisted of some mother-daughter bonding time for me as Mom and I sat on the sofa watching television while having breakfast then going to the groceries to get prepared for the feast that she would be cooking up tonight. By the time we were back home, Mei was already home from school. To my surprise, though, what greeted me at the door was a hug from Matsuri.

"Welcome home! Happy birthday, Yuzu onee-chan!" Matsuri clinged onto me while Mei stood behind her with the usual cool look she always have on her face. Matsuri was kind of like my sister from another family so I did not really mind having her with us for my birthday celebration. But what bothered me was the cold look on Mei, as though nothing really mattered to her. As though I did not matter to her. My heart cringed at this thought.

Not wanting to spoil the mood, I quickly resumed my usual happy-go-lucky attitude and had played the PlayStation with Matsuri while Mei helped Mom out at the kitchen. I could not help but to steal glances at Mei every now and then, though. Matsuri must have also caught me in the act when she leaned in and whispered to my ear, "Missing your sweetheart already?" She pulled back and giggled as my cheek reddened quickly with what she said. Because it was the truth. How I wish I could just ignore Mom and Matsuri, and hold Mei in my arms right here right now.

As though she heard our ruckus, I spotted Mei lifting her head up towards me and for a moment there, I thought I saw a quick smile on Mei's face. But it disappeared as soon as I saw it, leaving me wondering if that was just my own imagination. I shook my head thinking there's no use dwelling over it. Mei today is just as unpredictable as she is every other day.

Dinner was served early since Matsuri and I decided to help in the kitchen as well after we got bored of playing games by ourselves. "Itadakimasu~~" We cheered as we started digging into our food.

After dinner, Mom took out the cake that she and Mei had bought for me the day before.

"Yuzu, come look at this. Mei was the one who chose this for you." Mom said. It was my favorite dark chocolate ice-cream cake with a teddy bear stick on the side of the candles. It was sooooooo cute! I quickly jumped at Mei and gave her a big hug. "Thank you Mei!"

Mei, as usual, stood stiffly without returning the hug. Her head hung low and most of her beautiful face was covered by her long black hair running down the sides of her face and shoulders. But that did not stop me from seeing the slight red blush on her cheeks. It took me so much self-control to not grab her cheeks and force a kiss on her.

After we blew off the candles, Mom had to leave for her night-shift job. "Ah, before I forget, here's your 17th birthday present." Mom handed me a nicely wrapped flat rectangular box.

"Thanks Mom!" I planted a kiss on her cheeks and gladly took the box from her hands. Excitedly, I quickly unwrapped the box which revealed this season's most popular make-up set that was featured in the latest fashion magazine that I've been eyeing. "Oh my god, I love you Mom, thank you so much! I love this! How'd you know I've been eyeing this for a long time?!"

Mom flashed a wide grin and returned my hug. "Of course I know what you want. You're my daughter. Now, I really need to leave before I'm late for my work. You girls take care, alright? And Matsuri, thanks for coming." Mom quickly bid us goodbye as she left for work.

"Well, now that its just us three left…" Matsuri eyed at both Mei and I before finalizing her gaze on Mei, then she smirked.

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A/N: This is the first chapter! I initially wrote this as a one-shot but it got too long. (7 pages of the story, in fact. And yes, it's already completed as far as I know.) So I'm dividing it into two or three chapters. I'll update the next chapter once I get at least 5 comments, so comments please! Thank you!