The Smaller Moments in Life Chapter 1:

Mei Swears


"Thank you for the meal, it was delicious." Mei spoke soft yet diligently.

Shooting a quick and appreciative glance in Yuzu's direction, she could very clearly see the blonde's face heat up as she looked away in what appeared to be an utter loss for words, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"U-uh.. t-thanks." She laughed nervously, trying to shrug it off. "It's just a recipe I found online. No big deal, really."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Ume shouted proudfully, taking her eldest daughter into a headlock, her almost empty can of beer being balanced in her other hand. "My Yuzu-chan is the greatest cook in the world, and anyone saying she's not can go bite my-"

"Mom! You're choking me!" Yuzu interrupted, visibly struggling to get out of her mother's 'embrace'.

"You need to be more confident, dear. C'mere you!" Ume laughed tipsily as she charged at Yuzu with outreached hands, tickling the blonde until she wheezed with laughter, trying to slap her mother's hands away in a desperate attempt to save herself from running out of air to breathe.

"HAHAHA- stop! Please!" Yuzu pleaded, but to no avail as her mother continued to punish her with the tickle death. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Oh what a troublesome family the raven-haired had found herself in.

Mei let the corner of her mouth curl up slightly as she collected the empty dinner plates, taking them to the kitchen to be washed. Despite never having been written down on paper officially, it was an unspoken rule in the Aihara household that when one daughter would do the cooking for the family, the other would be responsible for doing the dishes afterwards.

Placing the dishes inside the sink, small remnants of leftovers from their meal caught Mei's eye.

Tonight's dinner consisted of a spicy chicken and miso curry, a dish which Mei was very hesitant about upon first hearing of it. But it was in improper mannerism to refuse eating a dish that someone else prepared for her, she had thought to herself. So Mei internally decided to at least try it first, before choosing a fitting judgement.

And as she had taken the first bite, and then the second, and a third, she came to the conclusion that the dish wasn't half bad actually.

Quite the contrary even. And Mei was honestly impressed.

Because before meeting Yuzu, Mei had never been fond of certain types of food that had a very distinguished or spicy taste, as they made her taste buds prickle. A feeling the girl considered to be quite unpleasant in the earlier days.

Strong flavors just weren't her taste.

But ever since she had fallen hard for the meddlesome blonde, Mei seemed to become more tolerant towards trying new things, and she found herself actually enjoying the dishes Yuzu prepared for her, even though occasionally, her taste buds would literally ache while eating due to the large amount of seasoning her sister used in her dishes.

But Yuzu just looked so damn good preparing meals, and that alone made the heat - to which the fiery depths of hell could not even come close to in comparison - that she could feel inside her mouth with every bite, worth it.

The heartwarming smile she'd receive from the blonde whenever Mei would agree to trying one of her dishes, was also a nice bonus though.

God that smile. Simple, yet pure enough to captivate one's mind and hold it tightly for hours on end.

Mentally absent and drifting further away into the train of her thoughts, the raven-haired girl turned on the faucet in preparation of doing the dishes, unaware that the water that was pouring into the sink was scorching hot, as the temperature setting had been left on the highest one possible.

Grabbing a dish towel from one of the kitchen cabinets, Mei readied herself for the task at hand.

Reaching her hands into the sink to pick up the first plate, Mei was immediately greeted with a sudden but fierce sting, burning on the surface of her skin. Abruptly, she yanked her hands out from the sink, a barely audible grunt escaping her lips as she gazed down at her now reddening hands.

Hot!

Mei sighed, turning on the faucet once again. This time to cool her hands to avoid further swelling, as she made sure to change the temperature first, before putting her hands underneath.

She had become a lot more unfocused as of late, a bad habit that she had acquired along the same time she had met, and started living together with Yuzu. Whether that was just an inconvenient coincidence, or that there was a clear connection between Yuzu and Mei's inability to focus on nearly any simple task now, the raven-haired girl did not dare to ponder.

But she should've monitored the temperature of the water before starting instead of letting her mind be clouded with nonsensical daydreaming, she thought to herself.

Peeking over the kitchen counter, Mei watched as her stepmother was still dilly-dallying with Yuzu at the kitchen table. Her mother loved telling people her infamous puns, as Yuzu's occasional snorts of laughter reached over the sound of the television, which was playing some corny romantic soap in the background.

A man was sitting down on one knee, displaying a ring that had a way too sizely diamond on it, to a woman. And she was crying, a gesture Mei could only recognize as tears of happiness, relief that the person of her dreams had finally proposed to her, securing their place alongside each other and confirming the love that he felt for her.

She looked down at her hand, a familiar sparkle catching her eye.

It was the ring Yuzu had given her some time ago, covered in dish soap. Her own personal reminder and confirmation that the blonde sitting at that table loved her dearly, and wanted to be with her during every step on the way forward.

But would marriage also become a possibility for the two of them? Mei thought to herself.

No, Mei. Focus!

Her eyes still somewhat focused on the television screen, Mei reached behind her to grab one of the pans that were left on the stove after Yuzu finished cooking.

Gripping its metal handle tightly, Mei let out a pained hiss as she quickly dropped the pan back on the stove, rubbing her palm in an attempt to somewhat soothe the stinging sensation she once again felt underneath her skin.

After closer inspection of the pan, Mei came to the vast conclusion that the handle of the pan she was trying to wash had hovered over the used gas pit while they were eating dinner, and that the handle had heated up to the point where it was too hot to be touched directly.

She had burnt herself a second time that evening.

"Should I help you Mei?"

Mei's gaze shifted from her hand to the dinner table, making eye contact with Yuzu as the blonde's smile widened. God, she looked like a happy puppy whenever she gave her that look. A shiver ran down Mei's back as her eyes softened for a brief moment. She then quickly looked away, avoiding eye contact as a small blush crept up her own cheeks. Showing Yuzu her vulnerability was not an option.

"No, I'm fine.." Mei inquired, a slight hesitation apparent in her tone. "...Thanks."

In the corner of her eye, Mei saw Yuzu smiling warmly at her before refocusing her attention on her mother.

That's who Yuzu is. Always willing to jump to the rescue immediately whenever Mei was in any form of trouble, or looked like she needed help, like spotting it was a sixth sense of the blonde. And even though she was not very vocal in showing or accepting it, Mei felt a great deal of appreciation towards Yuzu's unwavering and constant support and willingness to help.

Clenching her fists, Mei scolded herself mentally for letting her mind become hazy a second time in such a short period of time. She really needed to get her act together, before she would end up seriously hurting herself.

Returning back to the sink, Mei decided that the pans needed some time to cool off first, and that it was for the better to start by washing the cutlery.

Grabbing the dish brush from the counter, Mei reached her hands in the now lukewarm water to grab the first piece of porcelain to wash. It was somewhat of a search for cutlery though, as the amount of dish soap in the sink was so large by now, that it was masking all vision, making it impossible for the girl to see what she was reaching for.

But all was going well, for a short period of time at least.

"OW. FUCKING SHIT!"

Mei yelled out as she gritted her teeth in frustration, pulling her hand back hard from the sink a second time that evening, watching as a trickle of blood was now flowing down the palm of her hand. In her search for a fork or a spoon, she had accidentally grabbed into the blade of a cutting knife. And by the looks of it, the wound was not pretty.

Shifting her attention from her wounded finger to the counter in search of something to temporarily stop the bleeding, her eyes met with two brilliant pairs of emerald ones, looking at her in what appeared to be utter terror and confusing shock.

Why were they looking at her like tha- Oh god.

Realisation hit her like a speeding train as Mei quickly cupped her mouth with her palm, eyes widening as she disregarded the cut she had made in her hand earlier completely, blood trickling down freely now.

The silence in the room was a rather deadly one, with little exception of the commercials playing on the television still playing in the background. "I-I uhm.." Mei stammered, unsure of what to say next. She had never lost her cool mannerism like this, especially not in the company of other people.

Silence.

Then, laughter. A lot of laughter.

"Did Mei just swear?!" Yuzu exclaimed in sheer disbelief while staring at her mother, hoping for confirmation that what she had just heard wasn't just her mind playing tricks on her. Her facial expression then shifted from a shocked to a rather amused one, as she started laughing alongside her mother, who was already practically rolling on the floor giggling.

"Mei-chan!" Ume tried to sound stern, just barely managing to do so between bursts of uncontrollable laughter. "L-L-language!"

However, Yuzu's expression of laughter quickly shifted back into one of concern upon noticing the blood that Mei was losing.

"Oh my god! You're bleeding Mei!" Yuzu quickly rose to her feet, sprinting to the kitchen to join Mei at her side before hastily applying a towel around the raven-haired girl's hand, to avoid her from further bleeding all over the counter and on herself.

"I'll go grab a bandage!" Ume shouted, already stumbling out of the room to collect the first-aid kid from the bathroom, leaving the girls behind in the kitchen area.

Tonight had been the furthest possible from a success, Mei thought to herself. While she had intended to lift responsibilities off her mother's and Yuzu's shoulders by single-handedly taking care of the chores tonight, she had ended up becoming a much bigger burden for them than she had been willing to become by hurting herself. A wave of shame and guilt washed over the raven-haired girl as she allowed her head to drop slightly, refraining from looking Yuzu into her eyes, afraid of what the blonde was thinking of her right now.

"You should really be more careful, y'know? I don't want you getting hurt." Yuzu smiled reassuringly, breaking the silence as she rubbed her thumb over the back of Mei's hand.

"I-" Mei opened her mouth to protest, but considering the fact that she had already hurt herself three times in this small of a timeframe, immediately fell quiet again. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Yuzu's smile grew wider as she raised her hand, gently stroking Mei's cheek in an attempt to comfort the girl, her other hand still holding on firmly to the towel around Mei's bleeding palm.

"You know.." Yuzu began, a slight blush forming on her cheeks as she visibly hesitated to say whatever was on her mind at that moment.

"It's kinda hot when you swear.."

Mei's expression deadpanned, this being the furthest thing she had expected to hear from her girlfriend right now. However, she did feel the slightest tug at the corners of her mouth at Yuzu's spontaneity, suppressing it right on time before the blonde took notice, as that would have only motivated her even more to become smug in her comments.

Bringing up her own hand to Yuzu's cheek, Mei allowed herself to show the smallest of smiles, causing Yuzu's eyes to sparkle in hopefulness.

Mei then decided to pinch the blonde's cheek. Hard.

"Owww!" Yuzu cried out, feeling tears well up behind her eyes as the grip Mei had on her cheek was made of iron. "Sorry!"

With a content sigh, Mei let go of her stepsister's cheek. Instead, she brought her face close to Yuzu's, planting a small yet loving kiss on the blonde's lips, who was experiencing a full mental short circuit at Mei's unpredictable actions.

"Don't be a nuisance."