"Mei, I know the chances to be with you are slim, but I refuse to give up!" Yuzu's words, passionate and full of unfounded conviction, was nothing but another burden on Mei's shoulders.
"No matter what you say, my feelings won't change," Mei responded, exhausted from having run this scenario a million times in her head. Of course, a small part of her always wished Yuzu would swoop in and save her like a hero rescuing a princess in distress. Now that it was actually happening, the naive scenario was making her sick. Even out in the clear evening air on this massive empty balcony of her fiance's estate, Mei couldn't seem to breathe properly. "Just… go home."
"Mei… do you hate me now?" Yuzu's question, spoken in a broken whisper, was snatched up by the wind and carried past Mei's sensitive ears where her brain seized upon the words. Her hands clutched the balcony railing, and she wished she could fling herself off of it to get away from Yuzu. To have her show up after months of not having her, of being unable to have her, of choosing not to have her; it was simply maddening.
What right did Yuzu have to cause this chaos in her heart? To be a tornado ripping up the foundations of her life until Mei didn't even know who she was anymore? All of a sudden hate made so much more sense. Mei did not cut ties with Yuzu over nothing. Her reasons were not trivial or imagined, or easily magicked away because of feelings. Yuzu standing there behind her, proudly declaring that they could all be happy together was not only foolish, but it mocked all the months Mei had suffered to keep such feelings in check.
The crumbling walls around Mei's heart were cemented by a new emotion taking root in her heart.
"Yes." Mei turned around to finally face Yuzu. "I hate you."
Yuzu flinched back as though Mei physically slapped her. The contempt in Mei's voice was nothing but genuine. The cold gaze, the upward tilt of her chin that made Yuzu feel small. It reminded Yuzu of when they were strangers at odds of each other.
"You can't possibly mean that," Yuzu tried to push back. She had come so far!
"You're idealistic, you do what you want without foresight," Mei listed off, the tinge of anger in her voice sparking. "Do you have any idea the lengths I've had to go to separate myself from someone like you?"
Mei did not take pleasure in the tears now streaming down Yuzu's face. It had to be done. Their ties had to be severed, and if Mei had to plunge a dagger into Yuzu's heart to get her to see the light, so be it.
She walked past Yuzu towards the doors, eager to finally wash her hands of this messy, confusing and agonizing period of her life. "I hope I never see you again, Yuzu."
Yuzu whirled around, desperate. "What am I supposed to do now with you gone?!" she shouted, clutching at the fabric on her chest as fat tears flowed freely. "Mei!"
It was all so clear to Mei now. Yuzu just needed something in her life to make her feel like a hero. Mei's suffering was nothing but a prop to Yuzu's ego. Now that she had no one to protect, she was just a pathetic mess.
Mei sighed as she slid the door open to her escape and stepped off the balcony. "I don't care."