Yuki sat on the grass outside of the swimming hall. For the first time during her time in Japan she actually felt something other than lost- except this was much worse.
By the time Mei had found her, Yuki was already an anxious mess. She hesitated a moment, listening to faint sobs from afar. After a minute of this, she finally pulled forward, slowly kneeling down beside her.
"Takara," Mei stated, sounding slightly less apathetic than usual, "Why are you crying?"
"I'm not."
"Yes you are."
"Fuck off. Mind your own business."
Mei sighed softly, staring irritably into space before mustering up another response.
"Look, you really don't seem alright. I know we're not exactly the bestest of friends but if you want, I'll be your confidant."
Yuki looked up at her, a confused expression crossed her face.
"Are you okay?"
"Oh my god! Yuki! Are you okay?"
Yuki's eyes fluttered open to see her mother kneeling by her bed and clasping onto her hand. Her father had shifted towards the hospital bed as well, an expression of worry masked his usually bright smile.
"I'm gonna be late for modern." The girl managed to squeeze out.
"Oh no, honey." Her father explained sadly, "You won't be doing anything for the next while..."
"What?"
Her mum bit her lip softly.
"You're hurt, Yuki. But once you recover maybe you can..."
"Mari, the doctor said-"
"How long will it take?" Yuki interrupted.
"I don't know, honey. The doctor said it could range from weeks to months."
"Months?!" She cried, "No. No! I can't afford to lose that much time! The presentation is in three weeks, it's my big break! Mrs. Li... She said... She..."
"Yuki." Her father turned away, "You're gonna have to go through months of physical therapy. Even so, before the accident, you had awful knee pain at times. It's not uncommon for ballerinas, honey."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm not saying anything. It could... just be dangerous for you to keep pushing yourself so much."
Yuki shook her head in denial. She felt awfully dizzy, from the mild concussion and from the troubling news.
"I might as well quit."
"Don't say that, Yuki!"
She clenched her fist underneath the thin blanket.
"By the time I'm back, I'll be so out of practice that I won't be able to perform for another while." She spluttered, "So, that's it. I might as well quit. You might as well take that job in Japan."
"Yuki Hashimoto, you are speaking out of your ass! You're just in shock." Her mum raised her usually calm voice at her daughter, "We'll talk about options later. Now just focus on getting better."
"I see. So you quit ballet and moved here after the accident?"
Yuki nodded and wiped her nose with the back of her sleeve. She had just explained most of why she was sitting there to her newfound frenemy. The air between them moved from tense to more trusting.
"That's why you have the random doctor's appointments and therapy sessions, right?"
"Yeah..."
Mei re-positioned herself to face the swimming hall.
"You really gave up a lot."
"I left behind everything I knew and everything that made me who I am, to come here and be in denial of my own purpose." She explained.
"You started grasping at straws."
Yuki nodded.
"I'd do anything that would make me feel like I was here for a reason... Literally, anything. I've only just realized that now."
"Is that why we're here?" Mei asked, "You wanted to prove something against Rin, but-"
"But I realized that that was a fucking idiotic idea. Part of me... Part-"
Mei turned her head to her and looked her straight in the eyes.
"Part of me just wanted to see someone that I knew and who knew me. But I fucking blew it. I was an asshole to him and now I doubt he wants anything to do with me."
"You're overreacting. You haven't... fucked up that bad."
"He means a lot to me."
A silence crossed between the two. A faint cheer sang from the building.
"Man," Yuki laughed quietly, changing the subject for a second, "I've told you my biggest secrets and to think half an hour ago I hated you."
Mei smiled. It was great to see a smidgen of trust be given to her, seeing as they did not see eye to eye on most things. Although Mei doubted they would ever be close friends, at least they could work with each other.
"You're not that bad, Yuki. I'm sorry for being so harsh, it wasn't fair of me to be a prick after all you're going through."
"It's alright, I appreciate you hearing me out." Yuki added, "Seriously, thanks."
"See, you seem different now." Mei conspired, "Whenever we talked in class, you always seemed so uptight."
Yuki sighed and shrugged.
"You weren't exactly welcoming either."
"I can't argue with that."
They both chuckled gently. Another faint cheer could be heard.
"Do you have family back in Australia?"
"Yeah. Most of my dad's side lives there. He's half Australian, half Japanese- like my mother. They both went to a bilingual japanese school there." Yuki explained, "What about your family?"
"Both my parents are from the region." Mei responded with a polite smile, "So you and Rin went to the same school in Sydney?"
"Yeah, for a few years. He didn't speak much English so I sometimes translated for him." She laughed, "We had fun together. But when he left, he dropped contact with me. It hurt a lot."
"How awful."
"Yeah, but I can't bring myself to talk with him about it. Not after how awkward I've made it."
They both sighed.
"Are you ready to go back in?"
"Yeah, let's go."
Yuki accepted Mei's hand in helping her up and they both walked back to the entrance.
"There you guys are!" Kotoko exclaimed from the poolside.
Yuki and Mei walked side by side towards her.
Isaka watched from a distance; a stab of jealousy plagued her.
"So are we gonna swim or not?" Yuki asked with a smile.
"Of course. I'll race you, Kotoko." The black haired girl smirked and she pulled on the swimming goggles she had fastened to her wrist.
After apologizing to the Iwatobi boys for her sudden disappearance, Yuki walked over to Isaka and sat by her on the bench.
"I'm sorry for being so distant, I really appreciate your friendship." Yuki apologized, "I'm just dealing with some things now, it's not fair of me to take this out on you."
"Its okay, Yuki. Just... you can come to me when you need me. Don't just cast me away."
"I know, Isa. I'm so sorry. I'll explain things some time, but now let's race, huh?"
Isaka flung her arms around Yuki and smiled.
"Let's race."
(A/N: So now this part of the story is slooowly coming to an end, next chapter *should* be the last bit. DW the story isn't ending, this yuki angst 'arc' thingy is just almost done.
next part will focus more on yuki and rin ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) however after the next chapter there will possibly be a delay till the new content, stay tuned folks)
