Chapter 3: "Can't Take My Eyes Off You"

Disclaimer: Citrus is the property of Saburo Uta, the characters do not belong to me.

On the way to work, Yuzu was humming to herself, making it known that she was in cloud-9. Her make-up was fully toned and her crisp and pressed attire made her mood even better. She twirled her car keys within her finger and stopped dead on her tracks when she saw the object reason for her slight change of spirits.

She was thinking of something to say, but they were all bonkers. Something between; "Hi, we had a good time yesterday, right?" and "Hi, I think I like you already."

Suddenly, her body sped up its pace like an autopilot animal in search of her mate, she made her way to Mei and smiled as the raven-haired girl stole glances from her right to spare her a look while talking animatedly to one of her project members.

All the blonde said was, "Hi, good morning." And then she left abruptly like a shy cat.

Before even Mei could reply, Yuzu was no longer there. But she knew she turned crimson red when Yuzu's lips slightly grazed her ears.

While at work, both of them caught themselves staring back at each other, and they immediately tore their eyes away the moment it landed at the exact same time.

Yeah, really. They're undressing themselves bare with their eyes.

Yet they still have the audacity to call each other 'friends'. Pfft.

It was Yuzu who was bouncing for joy when they were given a break for lunch. She stared at Mei to look if she budges out on her seat… but she was still absorbed in her work.

Maybe she had made changes and corrections to their project presentation? Fuck this, if she couldn't bring herself to eat lunch, then I'll bring lunch to her!

"Hi, Stranger." She smiled at Mei with two meals and coffee cups in hand. "I just thought that it'd be nice if I'd ask you to have lunch with me?"

Mei spared her a glance and sighed, "I guess it can't be helped, thank you. How much do I owe you?"

"No, no, please. It's on me." She waved dismissively at Mei once she'd placed the food next to Mei's desk.

"So where are you going to spend Christmas?' Yuzu asked with a mouthful of pork cutlet stuffed inside her mouth.

Mei tried to avoid Yuzu's adorable puffed cheeks, her life was decreasing by 50 percent every time the blonde made new faces, and truth be told, she saw no grotesque features on her face.

You look like my living, breathing Kumagoro.

"I'll have to get to Grandfather's mansion and spend Christmas with him," Mei said in a serious tone.

"My, I still have to get used to you being a real-life princess," said Yuzu jokingly.

"Technically, I don't want any part of his… life," her face turned somber. "I want to live just like this, a hard-won job, eating this cutlet and drinking this coffee, and maybe even talking to you."

DAMN! She got more moves than I do. What a shame! I have to play my cards right.

Yuzu flustered at the statement as she tried to cover up the smile that's starting to appear on both the corners of her mouth by sipping her cup of coffee.

"How about you, where will you spend Christmas?"

"Umm, I have to travel back to Japan, it's nothing big, I just have to see Mama."

"Oh, will you be residing there, or are you just there to visit?" Mei made a face, one with a very deflated one.

What's that look she's making, is she perhaps sad?

A smile curled its way up to Yuzu's lips, "I don't know, we'll see, but if it's not much of a bother, I can invite you for dinner before I take my leave?"

Woah, am I too direct?

"Sure, why not?"

"I plan on preparing the food!" Yuzu smiled proudly.

"So, you do know how to cook."

"You have no idea."

Is it a friendly dinner? Why is she inviting me? What's that supposed to mean? Ugh! Should I send her a message and thank her for the food? No. That's going to mean that I wanted to talk to her, right? What am I feeling exactly? It must be because I kept listening to love songs, right? It must be…

Mei found herself subconsciously typing the letter keys in her laptop with the words;

10 signs you're in love

10 Signs Your Crush Likes You

10 body language signs your crush likes you

And she went video after video before concluding; I AM SO DOOMED.

A/N: Yes, I did that. Guilty as charged. But that was when I was 17. Also, expect updates twice a day for this. It's only a short fic.