A/N
Well, here I am again.
This is a story request, for a very good friend of mine. The subject and direction of the story belong to his idea, the writing is mine.
I wanted to say a thank you to everyone who has already indulged in reading my other Citrus story, this one is just a stand-alone to keep you all going until the next update. Again, apologies for any mistakes – this isn't my first language and I use no Beta.
Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me, I just borrow them for your enjoyment and my writing addiction.
Lean on Me.
"Yuzu, hey..."
Yuzu Aihara's emerald-green eyes fluttered groggily open at a slight weight pressing on her chest. A scent tickled her nostrils, sweet like peppermint. It tickled almost as much as the jet black locks of her step-sister Mei's hair caressing her cheeks. The weight she was feeling on her chest was Mei's hand resting just above her left breast. The girls lavender eyes stared almost unblinking down into her own.
She had propped herself over Yuzu, her hair falling forwards around her face and draping over the blondes cheekbones. Their faces were mere inches away. Yuzu flushed, not expecting this sight when she woke.
"Mother has made breakfast this morning, I've called to you a few times now with no answer." Mei said, her breath on Yuzu's face causing her black hair to move and tickle further. Yuzu blinked up at the girl above her, her silhouette outlined by daylight streaming in through the open curtains. Mei was already dressed in her uniform. Hair perfectly straight, her red student council badge pinned carefully to her left arm.
Yuzu missed the contact the moment Mei straightened up, sitting backwards and removing the weight of her hand from her chest.
Yuzu sighed and followed her example, slowly raising herself from her slumbering position. Her golden hair fell down into place, slightly wavy and slightly dishevelled from her few hours of sleep. Her abdominal muscles protested at her sitting position and she looped one arm across her stomach to ease the ache.
"You look flushed." Mei's voice was soft yet firm, the same flat tone it always was. She was still perched only a foot or so away from Yuzu and raised a hand to touch her forehead lightly. Her hand felt incredibly cool against Yuzu's just woken skin.
"You are flushed. Are you feeling alright?" Mei asked, pushing her hand onto Yuzu's head firmly.
"Of course I'm flushed, I've just woken up." Yuzu murmured, her cheeks heating at Mei's closeness. 'That and you just make me feel this way when you are near' she wanted to say. Yuzu swatted her hand down, swinging her aching legs over the side of their shared bed and making to stand. Her knees creaked, thighs burning with effort as she stood.
Of course, she peddled god knows how many miles across the city to the train station last night, with no small amount of haste.
She swayed, her head light and spinning.
"Maybe you should stay in bed today. You aren't looking well." Mei said pointedly. Her eyes never leaving Yuzu"s.
"Your kidding? Skip school because I'm a little weary from cycling yesterday? Please. I didn't think that would sit well with my school council president." Yuzu scoffed, brushing off the other girls concern. It hadn't helped that they had been awake for most of the night emotionally sifting through all of Mei's father's letters to his daughter.
"I never did thank you for yesterday Yuzu.' Mei said, her voice a little quieter. "What you did for me... you're a kind person."
Yuzu flushed harder at this.
"So thank you."
Mei leant forward, her cool lips soft against the sensitive skin of Yuzu's neck. She lightly placed a gentle kiss there, her hand softly running down Yuzu's long blonde locks.
"A..anytime." Yuzu stammered, the dizzy feeling in her head doubled after their contact. Mei pulled away, dragged herself off the bed and looked sternly down upon her.
"If you are adamant you need to come to school, at least come have breakfast before we go." Mei said, slowly making her way out of their room and closing the door behind her. Yuzu stood for a second, face burning hot before she shook the lovers haze from her vision and made to follow Mei down to breakfast.
Mei watched Yuzu as close as she dared on the long walk to school. She watched her chest rise and fall rapidly, the small beads of sweat trickle in lines down her brow, falling loose until they caught in her scarf. It was cold out, so bitterly cold this morning that Mei had her own scarf pulled up so that it covered her mouth, warming with her every breath. It certainly wasn't sweating weather.
She had watched Yuzu too at breakfast, watched her shuffle her food around her plate, rearranging it so that it looked as if she had at least eaten something. She hadn't, Mei had observed her even push her glass of orange back to the middle of the table until it was time to leave the house. Mei had frowned at this, the same flushed redness across Yuzu's face and forearms as she had eaten.
She was worse now, her skin a darker shade of pink, her pace slow. Not slow enough they they weren't making progress, but not the same brisk pace that she usually used to keep up with Mei's long strides.
Mei didn't wish for the slightly older girl to think she was watching her too closely, so she kept her mainly in the corner of her vision. Until Yuzu ground to a halt, her hand stretching down to rest on her knees, body doubled over. The other hand clutched her side.
"Can we take just a minute? My side keeps cramping." Yuzu huffed, her palm attempting to work the painful stitch free from just below her rib cage. Instead of looking at her sideways, Mei turned to face her, eyes piercing.
"A minute? You shouldn't be here at all if you cant even manage walking ." Mei"s voice was scornful. "You should have taken my advice and just stayed home."
Yuzu hung her head at Mei's gaze. Her eyes always held such a coolness. The same kind of coolness her voice always held. Yuzu frowned right back at her.
"If you cant spare a minute, go on ahead." Yuzu said, mopping at her brow, her side easing off a little. "I'll catch you up, I'll only make you late for morning inspections anyway."
Mei paused, her features softening to what... concern?
"Seriously Mei, just go on ahead I'll just follow slowly when I stop cramping."
Yuzu grinned sheepishly.
"So I pushed myself a little hard yesterday, its it's not like I had time to take it steady or anything. Besides, I'm lazy. All that exercise just hit me all at once you know. I'll be fine when I get to school and my legs can actually rest instead of feeling like lead. I'll meet you at check in, where your vice president can scold me for my lack of conformance to school policy."
"Well alright then." Mei said flatly, turning away. "If you are sure, I'll go meet up with Himeko and see you at school." She clasped her school bag with both hands in front of her as she spoke.
"Take it easy." She shot over her shoulder as she left Yuzu standing, still wiping at her brow with her sweater sleeve.
Mei did feel ever so slightly bad for Yuzu in that moment. It was obvious that the girl was running a fever, all because she had pushed herself so hard to help Mei the night before. Not only had she cycled for miles like the devil possessed just to let Mei tie things up with her father, they had needed to make their way home again, to which Yuzu had insisted she also did the hard work of peddling. They had then sat for hours conversing and flicking through all of her fathers old letters, just so that Mei could work out her feelings. She knew Yuzu was happy to, the tears in her bright green eyes had been of relief and happiness for Mei.
Then there was the kiss. The kiss that made Mei's cheeks heat up themselves on this cold morning. The kiss that she had laid awake thinking about for hours after her and Yuzu had called it a night. It was a kiss that lingered with her, the soft feel of Yuzu's lips against her own, the faint taste of salt from the tears that had run across them, cascading down her cheeks. There was the beautiful smell of her hair, pulled free from its restraints and left to run wildly down her body. The smell of Jasmine and Elderflower, reflective of the shampoo Yuzu always used. It was a feeling that stayed with her, far more than any of the other kisses they had shared before. It was intimate, far more intimate than the rest.
Mei tightened her scarf around her neck as she walked, looking back once to see Yuzu still catching her breath behind her. As soon as she got to school, she would check back in with her. If Yuzu didn't want her concern, she would just have to keep an eye on her from a distance. She owed her that much at least. Well, she owed herself that much too. She knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate without.
"You're late!"
Yuzu didn't even get the chance to brace herself before the flying form of her best friend, Harumi Taniguchi, hurled herself clumsily against her exposed back. The school bag that Yuzu carried ordinarily over her shoulders hung from one limp arm and slipped from her fingers as the cheery voiced, brown haired whirlwind tackled her. Normally Yuzu would stumble forwards a step, catch them both and grin wildly up at her assailant. Today, there was no catching either of them as the force of Harumi's tackle saw them both sprawled on the floor in the schools mighty entrance hall.
"Hey Yuzucchi what gives?" Harumi asked, rubbing at her elbow which had for all intensive purposes, made friends with the marble tiled floor a little too much.
"Oww, Harumi, a little more warning would have been nice." Yuzu moaned, her ribcage throbbing where the other girl had used her as a landing mat. Her legs felt like jelly as she picked herself off the floor and bent to collect her spilled belongings. Typically the compartment holding her school books had flown open at the assault and had all scattered with them across the floor. While gathering up her mistreated books, a brightly-shined pair of leather shoes ground to a halt in front of her, white socks pulled up to their owners knees.
Himiko.
The curly haired vice president did not look pleased at the disruption they had just caused. Next to her, Mei stood tall, much taller than the shorter Himiko. A look of puzzlement on her face, almost as if she was torn between helping Yuzu straighten off the floor and half as if she would yell for her disrespecting school rules.
"I should have known it would be you Yuzu Aihara." Himiko scoffed, pulling a tidy notebook from her bag and pointing her pen at Yuzu's stunned face. "Late for check in, chaos in the hallway, disrespecting the schools dress code..."
Yuzu let the stubborn girls words wash over her, paying them little heed as her head spun and pounded. Himiko's words like a little drummer bashing against her skull. She was dizzy again now that she had managed to pull herself off the hallway floor, her knees shaking beneath her. She took a deep breath, seeing in the corner of her vision Mei's expression change from puzzlement to mild concern.
"I'm sorry vice president, I just lost my footing and took Yuzucchi down with me." Harumi held her hands before her in mock surrender. "We didn't mean to draw attention to ourselves."
Himiko snorted, continuing on with her word assault like it was obvious Yuzu and Harumi wished to be the centre of attention. Yuzu dropped her gaze, empty stomach swirling, sweat still tickling her brow.
"What's the matter with you Yuzu?" Himiko stated, pen still moving wildly, "You look flustered"
Yuzu shook her head quickly, cracking a lazy smile.
"I, I overslept so had to step on the gas to get here in time." She lied, "I'm not fit enough for all this jogging around."
Himiko snorted.
"Well you best catch your breath before sports class later hadn't you, We don't want your tardiness causing poor performance today." Himiko said matter-of-factly. She tucked her pen back inside the swirls of her notebook before returning to to her bag, satisfied she had written down all of Yuzu's current crimes.
Yuzu's heart sank. She had forgotten about sports class today. Her knees trembled at the thought of running up and down the gym hall. Volleyball today. Something nice and strenuous.
"Of course" she said briskly to Himiko, "I'll make sure I'm rested before it." She turned to Harumi sharply.
"Come on, we don't want to be late for class." She said, glancing once more at Mei, who had stayed silent throughout the conversation. With a quick bow of the head Yuzu pulled Himiko away with her, hand grasping her sleeve tightly.
Once they were out of earshot, around the corner to make sure the school president was no longer in their line of sight, Yuzu took her hand away and leaned against the cool hallway wall. Her back warm against the brick.
"Did you have to get the jump on me so hard?" Yuzu sighed, frowning up at her best friend.
"Girl, you don't look so hot." Harumi murmured, raising a hand. "I mean, you always look hot of course just not in this way." Harumi's cold hand pressed against her brow, just like Mei's did this morning, just without the spark of electricity that had through Yuzu's blood at Mei's touch.
"Damn, your burning." Harumi said sharply, removing her hand, damp with perspiration from Yuzu's brow. "The president let you come to school like this?"
"I insisted," Yuzu sighed. I'll explain on the way to class, its a long story."
She dragged herself off the cool stone, clutched her bag tightly and made her way down the hall.
From around the corner, Mei watched them leave, watched Harumi's hand loop through Yuzu's arm as they walked. She then picked up her own bag, checked one last time to make sure all of the students had left the halls and followed behind to their first morning lesson.
Mei heaved a sigh, rubbing at her temples as she stared down at the papers on her student council desk before her. Lunch had just ended and as usual , Yuzu had come to join her in the presidents room for the little break they had. Of course, Mei had continued to work as she snacked on her traditional rice lunch. Yuzu hadn't even opened the one their mother had packed for her.
"Aren't you going to eat?" Mei had asked, to which Yuzu had swiftly changed the subject.
It was a relief for Mei to have Yuzu in the same room as her. She had been carefully watching her throughout the day, whether it be in the corridor between classes or in the classrooms themselves. She had watched Yuzu lightly fanning herself with her school books or occasionally resting her forehead against the desk while the teachers weren't looking her way. Mei had watched everything .
Now however, she sat alone at her desk with the paperwork in front of her that Himiko had insisted was of the utmost importance. A stack of reports that she needed to sign and stamp. She had a little bit of time before she needed to change for sports class and supposed that this was the best time to actually get her work done. She had been unfocused on her duties today, which was extremely unlike her. It had been hard to focus her studies and all her attention on Yuzu at the same time. She just wished that Yuzu had taken her advice and stayed at home today. She would scorn her when they returned home and if Yuzu still seemed feverish, she would insist the other girl remained in the house tomorrow.
Even though she was disappointed in Yuzu's recklessness today, she was grateful for her recklessness the previous one. Even if it did mean Mei had to spend her day slinking around to make sure she was alright.
It wasn't long before Mei rubbed at her aching wrist, her fancy patterned fountain pen falling from her fingertips back into its holder. She looked on in satisfaction at the now finished stack of papers and the clock, extremely pleased with how swiftly she had managed to get through them all. Just as she straightened, leaving her bag on the floor near her chair, reaching into one of its pouches for her locker key, hands fumbling around until she grasped them firmly. There came a knock at her door.
Taking her keys and waltzing gracefully around her table, she pulled the door open smoothly. Beyond it, a small short-haired brunette stood, chest heaving from what looked like a run to her office.
"Can I help?" Mei asked sharply. She needed to head off to the changing rooms to get ready for sports.
"President Aihara." The girl stammered, straightening her uniform and standing taller as she caught her breath.
"President, your assistance is required. A student collapsed in the locker room just before class." She panted. Mei felt her stomach turn to stone. She glanced back at the clock. She had only been gone thirty-minutes.
"Which student?" Mei asked, exiting the room with more urgency. She asked, but she feared she already knew the answer.
"Yuzu Aihara, president. They are taking her to the infirmary as we speak."
The schools resident nurse was a kindly woman. Slightly on the portly side, her short dark hair greying in places. She wore a typical nurses robe, her small pocket watch swinging from her chest as she hustled up and down her clinic.
Mei watched her work, organising her utensils as she spoke.
"She's severely dehydrated." The nurse said sweetly, "Her temperature is far too high, a fever for sure. When they brought her to me it was clear to see that the poor girl had clearly been pushing herself too hard today. Her friend, Miss Harumi I believe, said she passed out in the changing rooms before they even reached the gym. It shocks me that she would be so reckless to even considerer sports class in her state, especially when she shouldn't even have been at school."
Mei listened to what the nurse had to say, carefully hanging on all of the information she was disclosing. She had pulled the curtains around Yuzu's cubicle, speaking with Mei outside the cloth barricade.
"She needs rest, plenty of fluids and cooling down until her fever has settled. I haven't had a student with a temperature so alarmingly high for quite some time."
A heavy feeling washed over Mei as the woman spoke.
"I have other matters to attend to, can you stay here until she wakes? Its important she gets some fluid when she comes around." The nurse pushed a crisp cold glass of water towards Mei. "Make sure she drinks this right away and stays firmly in bed until I come back to see her."
Mei nodded, taking the glass with a polite bow.
"I will." She said, that flat tone of voice again.
"Very well, I'll leave her in your capable hands for now, student president." With those words the nurse swept from the room, closing the door behind her. There was no one else in the infirmary, just Yuzu and her curtain cubicle.
As Mei slipped gracefully through the fabric doorway, the glass of water cupped in her hands, she was happy to see the nurse had already set up a chair beside Yuzu's bed, with a bowl of water resting on a small table beside it. Mei placed the glass down and took up residence beside Yuzu's bed.
The blonde girl was still sleeping, the covers of her bed folded at the footboard, leaving her skin open to the air. Mei noticed she had already changed into her sports wear. Just a short sleeved plain workout shirt and three quarter length shorts, her calves bare. The nurse had placed a cloth over her forehead, damp to allow the cool air in the room to help keep its temperature down for longer.
Mei sighed as she removed the cloth, Yuzu's fast breathing and closed eyes filling her with sadness. She dipped the cloth into the water next to her, wringing it put, fingers protesting against how ice like the water was beneath them. She carefully re-applied it to Yuzu's forehead, her hand lingering for a second on the other girls cheek. To Mei's now cold hands, Yuzu's skin felt hotter than it had this morning.
Sinking back down into her chair, Mei placed her elbows on the bed next to the sleeping girl and rested her head in her hands.
"How much did you berate me that time I was sick at school?" She whispered, watching the rise and fall of Yuzu's chest. "When I had a fever, you forced me to stay in bed for days, made me take my temperature more times than I could count and then still forced me to stay longer even when it was normal."
She raised her head back up, one hand sliding over to Yuzu's own.
"Yet I let you come to school knowing full well that you were sick. I should have insisted you didn't come in today."
She squeezed Yuzu's sweating hand slightly.
"You're an idiot." She sighed.
"I know." Yuzu whispered, her voice a little dry. "You tell me that a lot Mei."
Her emerald eyes flickered over to those such bright violet ones and she gave a tired grin. Mei retracted her hand immediately, a blush crossing over her cheeks. Yuzu took the opportunity to push herself up in bed, her arms wobbling a little bit. Mei helped her by pulling the pillow up behind her, propping her a little more upright. Before handing her the glass of water.
"The nurse said you had to drink this the moment you woke up." Mei stayed, nodding to the glass. "She said you are severely dehydrated. Have you actually drank anything since yesterday?"
Yuzu thought for a second and then blushed.
"Well... we were kind of caught up last night, what with... with," She gulped down "with what happened. So I suppose I got distracted. I felt too queasy this morning to drink so..."
"I knew you felt bad at breakfast, but you were certain you wanted to come to school." Mei scolded. Her eyes narrowing at Yuzu.
"Uhh, I'm sorry." Yuzu stammered, raising the glass to her lips and taking a mouthful. "I didn't mean to make you worry."
Mei huffed.
"Who said I was worried?" She said coldly, watching Yuzu finish the rest of her water.
"Either way, I'm sorry Mei." Yuzu said, placing the now empty glass back on the table and bowing her head to the other girl. She winced, hand shooting to her side.
"What's the matter?" Mei asked, Yuzu's hands digging into her side in an effort to get comfortable.
"I've had this stitch in my side pretty much all day" Yuzu replied, "it settles down and then just comes back worse than before if I so much as move wrong."
Mei reached over, Yuzu going statue like under her finger tips as she cupped the other girls hand.
"Let me." She said softly, seeing Yuzu go even pinker at her touch.
Gently removing Yuzu's hand, Mei carefully slid her own fingers under the hem of her shirt. Yuzu tensed as the other girl's hands brushed over, her stomach defining into well formed feminine muscles below Mei's touch. Her warm skin tingled, small sparks of electricity crackling between them. Mei was certain that Yuzu had stooped stopped breathing as she caressed her hand across to the inflicted side, her palm pushing lightly against the bottom of her rib cage.
Her feather light fingers danced across the smoothness of Yuzu's skin, caressing her tensed up muscles patiently. When she finally felt Yuzu release the breath she had been holding, Mei pressed a little harder, feeling each definition of her rib cage as she eased the tightness from her side.
Yuzu dared not move, she dared not imagine moving and breaking the contact Mei had with her skin. As clammy and hot as she felt, Mei's caress was soothing and cool to her aching muscles. When she dared breathe again, she released a content sigh, her body feeling like if would melt under her fingertips. The pain that she had been feeling faded as Mei worked her magic, her mini massage relaxing her muscles more than she thought she had relaxed for quite some time.
"Mei, I." She started, the younger girl lost in concentration.
"You don't have to say anything." Mei said quietly, "I'd be a pretty poor sister if I didn't repay your kindness somehow."
For the first time, Yuzu thought she noticed a softer side to Mei's expression. A more innocent side. The same side that she had seen last night after they had shown the first true signs of intimacy with each other. She was so lost and relaxed under Mei's caress that she felt as if there were a hundred miles between them when the other girl retracted her hand, leaving Yuzu's shirt ruffled up behind her.
"The nurse said you need to rest." Mei stated, almost as if what she had done was so far from resting. Yuzu couldn't help but think it was true, her heart was beating considerably faster now than it had when her fever had raised.
"She will come back and see you later, to see how you are doing. Until then you need to keep on top of your fluids and we need to help your fever." Mei repeated what the nurse had said. She knew it would be up to her to enforce those things . Yuzu was completely hopeless when it came to looking after herself.
"Which means when you are free to go home, we will be taking the journey steady. Once you are home, you'll be staying in bed."
Yuzu marvelled at how much Mei sounded like the older one all of a sudden. Well, she couldn't deny that the other girl was far more mature than her.
"I suppose its lucky its winter, now that we have to share a bed and all that. With a fever like yours, I doubt I'll even need a blanket to keep me warm at night." Mei stated, with such a flat serious expression on her face that Yuzu couldn't help but feel the heat creep back up her neck and into her cheeks at the suggestion.
"After all," Mei continued, snatching the glass off the side and walking coolly to refill it. "Someone has to keep you close to make sure you take care of yourself."
Yuzu smiled, a soppy sort of sideways grin at Mei's words. Even through her fever, she was extremely glad that she had ignored the other girls protests and gone against her wishes to go to school today.
Because she couldn't think of anyone she would rather watch over her when she was sick, than Mei.