"Kyaaa! I still can't get over Baby Queen Vel. She is so cute. Oh my gosh!" Himeko screamed, clutching her mobile phone to her chest.
"Does you husband know of this weird fetish of yours?" Mei sighed, a little annoyed that her quiet and sacred lunch break was being disturbed by her best friend. Though, in truth, Himeko's presence has helped her weather the storms whirling inside her since she had the talk with Yuzu.
It had been four days since it happened, and there wasn't a minute that passed by that her heart didn't ache. Mei closed her eyes, again overcome with the events from that night.
Yes, I like Harumin.
These four words kept ringing in her head, like a broken record, constantly reminding her of her mistakes.
"Damn it." Mei cursed under her breath, as she opened her eyes hoping to rid of the images of Yuzu's face.
"Hmm?" Himeko said, her head bowed, as she was still staring intently at her phone. "Did you say something?" she finished, finally looking up.
"Are you still reading that sordid material?" Mei said, quickly changing the topic. "I would never have thought that you, of all people, would be into this kind of genre."
"I'll have you know that they have very interesting story lines. Like this other one, with the flower maidens in a moonlight garden, its set in a historical timeline. They evoke real emotions as much any other kind of stories." Himeko's voice went a notch higher, her cheeks flared with indignation. "Besides, I would expect that you, of all people, would understand."
Himeko's words cut straight through her heart. Mei looked away from her best friend, afraid to show any weaknesses.
Breathe in. Breathe out. This is not the time to be weak.
On instinct, Mei shuffled pieces of documents that she needed to go over with, to distract herself. She read the first couple of lines, but the words became blurry and she could no longer make out any of the words in front of her. Mei blinked back a couple of times to clear her vision, but things just kept getting more blurry. Pearl shaped tears fell one after the other landing on the ink causing it to blot.
Mei wiped away her tears quickly, furious at herself for breaking down. She closed her eyes and pressed the heel of her palms, wanting nothing else than to turn back time. Back to the time when she was happier. Back to the time her world was full of colors. Back to the time she had Yuzu.
"Stop. Please stop." Mei whispered hoarsely, desperate to keep everything in. The board meeting will be held this afternoon, and Yuzu would be there. She can not afford to be seen like this.
You've been through way worse than this. Keep. It. Together.
She took a deep breath, her lips quivering from all the pent up emotions. For a moment she felt like she was in her own dark world, stuck in an infinite loop of pain and suffering, of hurt and loss. The only light she could see were from the bright green emerald eyes that used to only look at her, and Yuzu's wide smile that put color to the monochromatic world she lived in.
Yuzu. My Yuzu.
Nothing seemed to make sense anymore, the world felt bleaker by the second, until she felt comforting hands envelope her. Mei looked up and saw Himeko gazing at her with sadness and worry in her eyes. The shield she had been desperately trying to put up, cracked. And one by one, the it fell exposing the naked truth of her suffering. Without needing words, Himeko held her best friend, as Mei's sobs racked her body. Her wails resounding in the four corners of the Chairwoman's room.
Himeko remembered the last time she saw her Mei-mei cry, and that was the day before Mei's wedding. Mei had asked her to come over, which was unusual from the former student council president. The raven haired beauty was never one to believe in any unnecessary pre-wedding gatherings, so for her to ask this was new to Himeko.
That night started out rather quiet for a sleep over, with Mei not saying anything much, and kept to one word replies. When they finally slept in, something felt off with Mei so Himeko kept her ears peeled. With just a couple of minutes in her sleep, she heard Mei mumbling. When Himeko approached, she found herself staring at her best friend with tears streaming down her beautiful face. Mei was clutching her blanket to her her chest and kept saying one name, over and over. That was when Himeko knew how special Yuzu was to Mei. A secret she had kept to herself since that night.
"It hurts." Mei broke down, her right hand clutching her chest. "Why won't it stop hurting?"
"Because what you feel is real." Himeko said simply, her hand stroking Mei's soft tresses. "Just let it all out. It will help ease the pain."
"I, I can't. I'm not allowed to." Mei countered, wiping away her tears, but failing miserably. "My responsibilities will not wait for me to overcome my weaknesses."
"You say it like you mean it. But in truth, you know it's not true." Himeko said, her hands gripping Mei's shoulders. Himeko slowly bent down to look at Mei's eyes, clutching the raven haired's hands with hers. "You deserve to be happy too, Mei-mei. Please believe that."
"At this point, it feels like a luxury now. One that I can not afford."
"Have you even tried? I can see the way Aihara Yuzu looks at you."
Mei winced at the mention of Yuzu's name, her head turning to side to hide her face. She didn't have the energy to deny it. Just hearing Yuzu's name causes her world to be upside down.
"I know about you and Yuzu. Well, just the general idea at least. And I may not have been a fan of her back in high school, but I know how you are when she is beside you." Himeko squeezed Mei's hands to emphasize what she wanted to say. "It's complicated, I know. I just don't want you to keep lying to yourself."
"I'm, I'm still in love with her, Himeko." Mei finally confessed overcome with emotions, her purple eyes swimming with love, hurt and regret.
"Then tell her that." Himeko gently urged.
"I-I can't. She already said she likes someone else." Mei bit her lip, saying it out loud left a bitter taste in her mouth. It was a truth she knows but desperately wants to deny. "And there's Udagawa."
"Udagawa is another matter, one we will discuss another time." Himeko said, glancing at her watch. "You have a few hours to prepare for your board meeting. Do you want me to stay with you until then?"
Just when Mei was about to answer, her landline rang. Mei cleared her throat before hitting the speaker button. "Yes, Takahashi-san?"
"Pardon the intrusion Chairwoman, I know you said you did not want to be disturbed, but I just needed to inform you that the board meeting has been requested to be delayed to 5 pm, instead of the original schedule of 3 pm."
"Who requested this change in schedule? And why was I not informed beforehand?" Mei asked, her brows furrowed with this new information.
"It was requested by Ikaru-san a few minutes ago and was approved by the rest of the board right after." Miwa said, her tone apologetic at not being able to do anything. "Would you want me to inform Yu, I mean, Aihara-san?" Miwa quickly recovering from showing her familiarity with Yuzu. She wouldn't want to cause any concern knowing the Mei was extremely protective of Yuzu.
"I will inform her, thank you Takahashi-san." Mei hit the end call button and turned to Himeko. "I'm sorry, Himeko, but could you stay a bit longer?" Being alone with her thoughts right now, would be the last thing she needed.
"Of course. I'll call my husband and tell him I will just a be bit late." Himeko said, grabbing her phone by the center table.
When Himeko left to take her call, Mei looked at her own mobile phone. It was almost a half hour past one in the afternoon. She picked up her phone and opened her contacts, searching for Yuzu's name. With trembling hands, Mei hit the dial button.
"Yuzu." Ume called out from the kitchen as she was washing the dishes. "Can you take out the trash out before you leave later?"
"Sure Mama." Yuzu answered, picking up her phone to head to her room. She needed to prepare for the board meeting, and for the fashion show after. Harumin told her that she would take care of the dresses she needed to wear, as well as the make-up. She just needed to be there by seven thirty at the latest. By now, Harumin would be busy with the setup, since she had stopped responding to Yuzu's texts.
Yuzu checked the time, it was almost a half hour past one. She needed to prepare quickly so she could make it a few minutes earlier than the scheduled meeting. She went over to her bed with sprawled dresses and shoes she pre-picked. She went and picked up the maroon 3/4 sleeve dress when her phone rang.
Her hand froze seeing Mei's name. A couple more rings before Yuzu snapped out of her state and she quickly picked it up to answer.
"M-mei? I mean, hello Mei?" Yuzu stuttered.
"Yuzu." Mei whispered her name softly.
"Mei." Yuzu breathed, slumping down on her bed.
"Is it a good time to talk?"
"Yes, of course."
"I'm, I'm sorry to disturb you. But, I wanted to tell you first hand that the meeting was pushed back a little."
"Pushed back? Why? What happened?"
"Apparently, it was requested by Ikaru-san, and the rest of the board agreed. Majority won."
"I see. What time would it be then?"
"It would start at five. Will that work with you?"
"Five. Uhm, how long do you think your board meeting will take?"
"Usually, it would just be around an hour or two at the most. Why?"
"If it's two hours max, then it would be no problem."
"Do you have a schedule after?"
"Yeah, I have to go somewhere."
"Somewhere. Oh, I see."
Yuzu closed her eyes, lying her back on the bed. She had prepped herself on how she would act when she and Mei would meet in today's meeting. But hearing her voice all of a sudden now, all her plans just went through the window.
"How are you, Yuzu?" Mei asked softly, straining to hear Yuzu's voice. God, has she missed that voice.
"I'm doing okay, Mei. You?" Yuzu asked, wondering what it would be like if they were actually talking face to face.
"I've had better days, I guess." Mei answered honestly.
"I'm sorry, Mei." Yuzu rolled to her right side, eyes still closed.
"Why are you sorry, Yuzu?"
"I don't know. I just never want to be the reason why your day would be anything less than great." Yuzu clutched her phone tightly, waiting for Mei to respond.
After a long pause, Mei cleared her throat and answered "I'll see you later, Yuzu."
"Yeah, see you later Mei. I'll inform Mr Stevenson after this call."
"And Yuzu.." Mei paused. "You will always be a reason why my life has been better. Please be careful on your way here." Mei said before cutting the call.
The short buzzing sound of the dial tone snapped Yuzu out of her shocked state.
Did I hear that right? Did Mei just say that? Crap.
Just then, Yuzu's phone buzzed as a new message came in. Yuzu sat up and quickly grabbed her phone, to check the sender and opened the message.
'Sorry I took so long to respond, it's been so chaotic! But, I can't wait to see you later. Be careful. xoxo' Harumin's text read.
Yuzu quickly tapped on her phone to reply. 'I can't wait to see you too. The meeting was just pushed back a little later that scheduled, so I might be arriving a bit later than I had planned. Good luck, babe! xoxo'
Yuzu slumped back on the bed, her arms covering her eyes.
"Crap."
Notes:
Ahhhhhhhh! This took longer than it should have. （；・д・）
I've been quite busy doing portraits, and chatting away with new friends on tumblr and discord servers. This chapter had been on my mind for the past weeks, I just couldn't translate it to actual words.
To those who are still following this story, my eternal gratitude for sharing your time reading this AU. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
And to those who have given me words of encouragement, my heart is full because of all of you.
To JC and Sam unnie, thanks for watching like a hawk. LOL. Ψ(￣∀￣)Ψ
To Sappho, finally! Here it is, though its short. (◑‿◐)