Yuzu sat on the living room sofa while flipping through a magazine she had recently bought. Much like most of the 'literature' that she liked to read, this one promised tips on how to better take care of your skin and make you a hundred times more attractive and much like those that came before it, that was an utter lie.
The blonde shifted on the sofa and laid flat on her stomach, closing the magazine and burying half her face into one of the pillows used to decorate the otherwise plain sectional. She gazed up at the clock and took the time, it was half past 9. Mei had sent her a text just before she got home, informing her that the raven-haired girl was asked to accompany her grandfather at a social gathering.
It wasn't unusual for Mei to be invited to these types of social occasions, however, it was the first time she would be attending one since Yuzu started living in the apartment and the blonde wasn't sure how long these events usually took. There was a matter that she needed to discuss with Mei and having this thrown at her after she went through all the trouble of preparing herself mentally and emotionally for the conversation threw Yuzu off.
She thought of how to ask Mei about Amemiya and what she would do if the raven-haired girl refused to talk to her about it. Normally, Yuzu wouldn't even dream of forcing anything out of Mei but this was a special case and if it warranted that type of aggressive conversation, then she would do it even if it meant earning the hatred of the latter. Those thoughts swirled in her mind as she dozed off, apparently more tired from the day than she initially thought.
Around an hour later, a soft click resounded through the dark apartment and pair of shoes quietly slid in. Mei took off her shoes and slid into a more comfortable pair of slippers before slowly making her way to the bedroom, catching a glimpse of Yuzu sleeping on the sofa without so much as a sweater. She turned and continued heading for the bedroom before returning to the living room with a blanket in hand.
Draping it over the blonde, she quietly whispered, "I'm home." and to her surprise, Yuzu answered, "Welcome back." Mei took a closer look at the blonde, it was dark and her eyes haven't fully adjusted yet but she wanted to know if the girl was really awake or talking in her sleep. It was faint but she could see those emerald greens peeking through a curtain of lashes, confirming the blonde was indeed, conscious.
"Did I wake you?" she asked Yuzu who answered with a yawn, "Nah. I was just resting my eyes."
Yuzu lifted herself up and sat on one side of the sofa, then tapped on the seat right beside her. Mei knew she was being asked to sit, truth be told she was a little tired and wanted nothing more than to go and lie down in bed but there was something that piqued her interest so she complied and sat beside Yuzu. Once in place, the blonde shimmied a little closer to Mei and leaned her head on the raven-haired girl's shoulder while wrapping her arm around the other's.
It wasn't unusual behavior, Yuzu was always the type to start touching people, albeit not inappropriately, without their permission. She socialized in a way common to teenagers and kissing, hugging, holding other girl's hands were all things she did without a second thought or meaning. For Mei, it was comfortable but at the same time awkward. She had never allowed another human being to be so affectionately close to her as she had grown to dislike such contacts but with Yuzu... she didn't mind.
"How was the party? Did you eat yet?" Yuzu mumbled. Her voice a little more husky than usual which Mei chucked off to her premature waking as the girl was practically still partly drowsy. "Yes, I had dinner and it was the usual, nothing new," Mei answered with a disinterested tone. She just had to sit through hours of a social etiquette race and small talk along with the usual business related conversations. 'How it was' was very bad, there was more to complain about but she preferred to keep things to herself.
"Sounds boring." Yuzu shot back, a little more awake this time. Her voice sounding more like the usual cheerful tone before sinking back and returning quieter, "Say, Mei... there's something I need to ask you but I don't know if you'll feel like telling me. Do you have time right now?" she asked the raven-haired girl, being sure to glance up at the taller girl while doing so.
Mei looked at the blonde sloth beside her, arms still locked on her own, "Did you sleep here to wait for me just to ask me something?" she asked the girl with a curious look, eyes having adjusted to the darkness of the living room, she could now clearly see Yuzu's face as the latter nodded and spoke, "Yeah... it's kind of important and well... personal."
"Is it in relation to your job?"
"Yes, and as much as I'd like to say that I don't want to pressure you into something uncomfortable... I don't think it's an option right now." Yuzu spoke with a bit of distaste at having to force this conversation on Mei and the latter could feel and hear it in the blonde's words that she took no pleasure in putting the raven-haired girl at such a predicament without an exit.
Still, Mei felt uncomfortable. The skinship and warmth followed by a request made her feel like she was being used, like always. The walls she had erected to protect herself came into play as she pushed the blonde aside, fervently pulling her arm away from the girl before straightening herself and answering, "If it's that important then ask and let's get this over with. I want to sleep."
Yuzu was a little taken aback by the sudden chill that floated with Mei's voice. She couldn't quite place it but something was different, there was no warmth left in the room... but she had to push forward. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she tried to comfort Mei before she dropped the bomb, "Mei, I know about what I said but if you don't feel comfortable at any point then we can stop and continue later. Okay?"
"Just say it. Your concern is unneeded nor wanted." Mei shot back, words still containing familiar venom.
"All right. I need to know about Amemiya and what happened between the two of you, what you know about him. Everything." Mei looked at the blonde with alarm, she knew this conversation would eventually come but she didn't expect it to come all of a sudden. Yuzu took a glance at Mei, having just seen a flash of the other girl's expression before it disappeared back into that hardened, emotionless expression.
Mei composed herself faster than lightning, there must have been a reason why the blonde was suddenly bringing this up now to the point where she was willing to wait all night long for the raven-haired girl to come home, "Why do you want to know about this now?" she asked the Yuzu with one eyebrow raised but her face was otherwise annoyed and looking for a reason.
"Because Homura Mio was found dead and we found out that Amemiya was her boyfriend."
"I see," now it made sense Mei knew why the blonde had such conviction, "Amemiya, as you know, was my previous suitor. We didn't have any particularly close relationship aside from that, hence, I doubt you'll find anything useful."
"Still... there might be something, anything."
Mei looked at the blonde with calculating eyes. Yuzu recognized that look as the one the other girl always had on when she's considering something and the blonde thought that a little push was in order, "Come on, Mei. There must be something. That type of anger he displayed towards you doesn't just come from normal circumstances... so, please?" she pleaded.
Knitting her eyebrows, Mei looked down and sighed. Why was it so difficult to talk about this? Even so, the matter can't be buried back down anymore and she decided to tell Yuzu, "Grandfather thought it would be prudent to have me marry a man with a background in education as such a person would be able to help me lead the academy through experience. The Amemiya's eldest son, Hideki, just happened to be a perfect match so their family worked on convincing my grandfather and at the age of 15, my Grandfather informed me of the engagement."
Mei looked outside the sliding glass panel that peeked through the dark sky beyond it. The turbulent winds and pattering of rain complemented her inner turmoil well and after a few deep breaths, she continued, "At the time, I had already come to the conclusion that I would live as my grandfather wishes- it was my wish as well. Meeting Amemiya for the first time made me think it wouldn't be so bad to marry him. He was kind, gentle and often came to visit but-"
Yuzu looked at Mei who had trailed off and sat in silence. She could tell that the girl was somewhat struggling to narrate the story and Yuzu wanted nothing more than to hold her hand in an attempt to comfort Mei, but the latter pushed her hand away and motioned for her to stop, " I'm fine." she told the blonde.
"It didn't last long. I soon found out that he was seeing a woman and only intended to get my family's fortune and prestige. I didn't particularly care if he had a mistress, there was no love between us and if he was capable of managing the Aihara business, then that on its own would've been fine. After that things got worse, it may have been because of my personality but he felt compelled to try and win me over to secure his position as my fiance."
"When I was 16, during my freshman year in high school, things had escalated to the point where he would call on me during school hours. At the back of the school, in an empty classroom... practically anywhere we could be alone and he would kiss me." Yuzu studied Mei's face, it was as stoic and disinterested as usual but her eyes painted a different picture. Even in the dark, the blonde could see the turbulent emotions in those amethyst eyes, "Without your consent?" she asked quietly and Mei nodded.
"It didn't go much further than that and I didn't particularly tell him 'no' either. I thought that was the natural progression of things, after all, had the engagement worked out I would've had to bear a child with him." The words that left Mei's lips were so hollow that they threatened to swallow her whole, it sounded like she had rehearsed these words in her head over and over again until it sounded convincing and that just broke Yuzu's heart even more.
Guilt crept up Yuzu's back. She thought the life of the Aihara heiress contained nothing more than fancy parties, money and a bright future but hearing this did nothing but crumble determination. The case was important, true, but right now she saw nothing but Mei. It didn't help when she that pained look on Mei's face again and this time, being unable to contain herself, threw her arms around the taller girl and squeezed as tight as she could. The two of them tumbled on the sofa, Yuzu laying on top of the other.
"I'm sorry, Mei. I didn't know." She spoke in between sobs, realizing how painful the other girl's life must have been. Responsibilities, distant relatives and a man who used her to the point of sexual harassment. The dignified, ice cold girl in her embrace was nothing more than a broken child who didn't know how to handle the loneliness and betrayal.
"Yuzu, let go." Mei commanded her with a stern tone but the blonde could hear the crack in it, "No. I won't" she sobbed onto Mei's shoulder.
"Why are you even crying?" She asked the blonde, "I haven't finished telling you everything either." Quickly growing frustrated at the girl's refusal to move, Mei fidgetted in her place while trying to shake Yuzu off.
"Because Mei, you looked like you wanted to cry!" Yuzu was steadfast in her refusal to move, clutching tighter at Mei the more the latter tried to pry her off and eventually, the raven-haired girl gave up and stayed still, allowing the blonde to cry her eyes out. It was the first time that someone had cried for her sake... it felt nice but also terrifying as it caused her to be more aware of her own emotions intensifying.
Trying to brush the growing feelings within her, Mei spoke "Yuzu, I would like to finish telling you the story. Would that be all right?" she asked the blonde who was still keeping her head buried and only weakly nodded in reply.
"I don't know exactly who it was or what their reason was for doing it but someone saw us and reported it to the school. Soon after, the engagement was silently called off and Amemiya was asked to leave the school. I never saw him again after that but rumors die hard and eventually, it got out that he had been in a relationship with a student."
"It didn't take long for things to sour between us and the Amemiyas. The incident brought them great shame and they ended up losing a lot of business partners because of it. Trying to save face, they disowned Amemiya Hideki and started digging up whatever they could find against our family but nothing ever happened and in the end, Hideki was the one who lost everything, including his career."
Yuzu had calmed at this point and listened intently to Mei but kept her head buried to prevent the embarrassment she felt from being noticed. She had once again lost control and did as her heart demanded without thinking it over nor considering Mei's feelings on the matter. 'Stupid Yuzu!' she screamed internally before quietly asking Mei a question, "So then, that time at the cafe... what was that about?"
"Where we first met?" Mei asked the blonde and felt a slight nod, "I had just arrived from London and he somehow found me. He was asking me to talk about the engagement, if it could still be pushed through. Of course, that was impossible. The Amemiya family is in decline and he has been disowned. There was no benefit in marrying him." she answered logically and uncaring.
"So then... if it benefited the Aiharas, would you have married him?" Yuzu's question was out of reflex, she didn't mean for it to spill out of her head and into her mouth but she would be lying if she said she wasn't the least bit curious. "If that is what Grandfather asks of me then yes, I will," Mei answered without flinching but quickly becoming startled by the blonde's sudden movement.
"You can't do that!" Yuzu looked straight at Mei, shouting a little louder than she intended, "You can't just marry people because it benefits your family and your grandfather asks you to! How can you so openly accept it?!" The blonde was being emotional and Mei couldn't comprehend the idea of marriage for the sake of love, it wasn't a concept learned in the Aihara house.
"What would you know?" Mei nudged Yuzu off, trying to get the girl off of her so she can get up but Yuzu fought and grabbed Mei's arms in retaliation, "I may not know a lot of things but 'that' you definitely shouldn't do." The blonde's eyes burned with persistence, leaving Mei with little choice but to push with even more force to push Yuzu back, succeeding this time.
"Mei!" the blonde raised her voice as if desperate, causing Mei who had already gotten up and started heading towards the bedroom to stop in her tracks, "I will definitely show you that there are things in the world that you can't just have others decide for you!" Yuzu clutched at her chest at the proclamation.
"I'll be looking forward to that," Mei answered briefly before turning to leave the room.
Notes:
Pretty grueling to write these past few chapters and they will continue for at least a few more chapters. I hope you guys are ready for a bit more serious stuff.
I'm not doing much A/Ns because some of the things I want to discuss could lead to a possible spoiler. So, I'll just leave everything up 'til the end to avoid accidentally giving too much information.
Cheers everyone!