For the past two weeks, the library was Mei and Yuzu's meeting spot. When Mei had student council duty, they would just meet afterwards.
It was difficult for Mei to get the blonde to study, but the only way she was going to impress her grandfather was to be successful in changing the blonde's troublesome habits.
At the library, Mei took a seat across from Yuzu. "How far behind were you at your other school anyway?" the younger girl asked.
"I mean I did some of the work..." Yuzu said while scratching her head. 'She probably thinks I'm completely stupid' the blonde thought while watching Mei bring out books and papers.
"Exams are coming up in a month, so you need to be more serious about this," Mei stated.
"I have been trying, I just don't understand all of this and you've been shoving all this information in my head in a short amount of time," Yuzu whined.
The raven-haired girl sighed, "We will start with this today," she said as she pulled out a history book. "My Grandfather will not be satisfied unless you are in the top 100's."
"Top 100's?!" Yuzu blurted out loudly. Eyes began shooting towards the two and a few shushes were heard in the background.
"Idiot..." Mei mumbled under her breath.
Tossing the book in front of Yuzu, Mei told her to start reading a few chapters from it. 'This is going to be soo boring' Yuzu rolled her eyes as she began reading.
Ten minutes had passed by as Mei peaked up at the blonde. Noticing Yuzu hasn't turned the page even once she tapped on the book, "Do you know how to turn pages, Okogi?"
Quickly the older girl looked up. "I'm not that dumb! This stuff is just boring as hell," Yuzu said while blowing hair out of her face.
"Perhaps we should try a different subject?" the black-haired girl suggested while taking out an algebra book from her bag.
"As if that is any better..." Yuzu groaned.
Sighing again, Mei pushed her belongings to the other side of the table next to Yuzu. "If I go through it with you, will you pay attention?" She asked while switching over to the seat beside Yuzu.
'Why is she being so nice to me?' the girl wondered. "I guess I'll try," Yuzu shrugged her shoulders a bit while bringing out her work she was handed earlier that day.
Random numbers were all over the page and the blonde had no idea where to start. Mei gave Yuzu a blank stare before Yuzu finally asked, "Can you help me with this problem?"
Mei scooted closer to Yuzu, leaning in closer, inches from her. Yuzu blushed slightly at the closeness. "Let me show you," Mei said while going into grab Yuzu's pencil. Ever-so slowly it seemed, she grazed against Yuzu's hand. Mei's silky hair brushed passed Yuzu, leaving a lingering smell of lilacs again. 'Is that the shampoo she uses?' the blonde got lost in her thoughts.
As Mei was explaining how to solve one of the equations, Yuzu failed to listen at all.
"Do you understand this?" Mei questioned.
"Uhm..." Yuzu froze. "Yeah, yeah! I think I get it now", she'd said while giving a nervous chuckle.
Mei rolled her eyes at the other girls' behavior. She knew the delinquent hadn't been listening to a single word she'd said.
Smirking, Mei told Yuzu to solve the next problem on her own.
Suddenly realizing she couldn't get out of this Yuzu had no option, but to tell the girl she wasn't listening.
"Actually Mei- "hearing her name spoken so casually, the black-haired girl shot Yuzu a stern stare. "Uhm, I mean Aihara-San...I wasn't actually pa- "Yuzu was cut off again by the sounds of an alarm.
"What's that sound?" Yuzu shouted over the blaring noise. "It's the fire alarm, follow me quickly," Mei shouted back while grabbing onto Yuzu's hand.
Sprinting towards the exit, Yuzu looked down to their clasped hands. 'Her hands are so soft' she thought as she began to blush again. Shaking her head, she attempted to get rid of these recurring thoughts. 'Get your shit together, Yuzu! She's a girl!'
Yuzu hadn't even noticed the sprinklers were set off, as water drenched the two.
Finally, making it outside Yuzu took one look at Mei and noticed her white blouse was see-through. By now, the blondes face was two times darker than before as she could see Mei's black, frilly bra. She watched as water slowly trickled down the other girls' slender body.
"What are you staring at?" Mei asked, seemingly oblivious. 'Oh shit!' Yuzu internally scolded herself for staring too long.
Looking down, Yuzu noticed their hands were still connected. She quickly let go.
"No-nothing! Gah, we are all wet now!" Yuzu said.
Suddenly a voice was heard from the distance, "Apologies to all affected, this was a false alarm. It seems our system had a malfunction. Seeing as the sprinklers went off, we ask everyone to grab their belongings and head home immediately. Thank you." They then proceeded to bow and head back to where they came from.
Pulling her drenched shirt away from her slick skin, the black-haired girl said, "We should go somewhere and change."
"My mama and I don't live too far from here. We could go there," Yuzu suggested.
"I suppose so, but this does not get you out of studying. We will continue there."
"Ugh, whatever. Let's just go get our things cause I'm getting cold," the blonde whined.
Yuzu was slightly shivering as the two walked to the apartment. Mei, who kept her eyes straight forward for most of the time, glanced over to Yuzu. "You should take a bath once we get there," Mei spoke.
"No, I'll be fine..." Yuzu looked over to Mei, "You can take one though and I'll dry our clothes."
Pausing for a moment, Mei stopped to look at the blonde once more, "You will get sick, and that will interfere with your studies. You are taking one once we get there," she demanded as she started walking forward again, Yuzu catching up quickly.
"Geez, it's really not that big of a deal! Besides, waiting for both of us to take a bath will 'interfere' with what time we have left to study," Yuzu responded sarcastically.
"Perhaps we should just bathe at the same time then," the black-haired girl said with a straight face.
Yuzu's eyes widened, blushing slightly. 'We are both girls...I guess it really wouldn't be that weird, right?'
Yuzu's heart was beating heavily as they walked into the apartment and made their way to the bedroom. Although something so simple shouldn't cause this, her mind kept wandering.
"Uh, I'll get you some clothes to wear for afterwards while our clothes dry," the blonde said while grabbing comfy grey sweatpants and a navy-blue t-shirt for herself.
"Here, you can wear these." Yuzu handed Mei black leggings and an oversized army green t-shirt.
Stepping into the bathroom, Mei began getting undressed and washing off her body under the shower. After Yuzu filled the bath, she turned around slowly. She couldn't tear her eyes away, watching the steamy water drip down from the black-haired girls back. It's as if time moved slower, taking in each movement, each breath, each strand of hair laying ever so slightly across her skin. 'I want to touch her...'
The shower turned off and Yuzu had suddenly realized she'd being staring the whole time. "Shit!" Yuzu abruptly jumped into the bathtub as Mei turned around.
"Is something wrong?" Mei smirked knowing that Yuzu had indeed been watching her.
"N-nothing, just the water is a little too hot! That's all!" The blondes face reddened as she peaked up to see the other girl was still looking at her. "I'll, uh be quick, sorry!"
Mei dipped her left foot into the tub, then her right all without breaking eye contact from the anxious girl in front of her. She then moved slightly closer to Yuzu, not much, but enough to have Yuzu jumping up quickly. "I'm gonna get out now! The towels on the counter," Yuzu blurted out while covering herself up and running out of the bathroom.
Yuzu wrapped her hands over her over-heated body, 'What the hell was she doing? And why the hell was I staring at her?!'
Five minutes went by, and the blushing girl heard the bathroom door open. Yuzu hurriedly put clothes on, even though her skin was still slightly damp. Quickly, she threw books onto the table and plopped down onto a pillow.
Mei walked in shortly after, looking down to Yuzu. "Okogi."
"Yes?!" Yuzu said in a startled tone.
"You're reading the book upside down."
"Maybe I like to read this way!" Yuzu said while folding her arms across her chest.
Mei rolled her eyes and sat down on the pillow opposite of the blonde. "Stop fooling around. You won't pass if you don't take this seriously."
Yuzu grunted. "Yeah, whatever. Can we just get this over with?"
A couple hours pass by, the two managed to get through their work for the night.
"Finally, I'm sooo tired," Yuzu said as she let out a wide yawn and stretched her arms.
Looking at the clock, Mei noticed it was already 10pm. "It is quite late. I will call someone to pick me up."
Looking down, Yuzu began fumbling with her fingers. "You...you could stay here tonight. I don't think my mama would mind."
Mei's right eyebrow arched, "I would not want to be a burden."
Yuzu stood up putting her right hand out towards Mei, "We may not always get along, but since you helped me, I figured this is the least I could do."
Scanning the room, Mei turned around to zip up her bag, ignoring Yuzu's hand.
'What the heck is her deal?! I'm trying to be nice!'
Out of nowhere Mei finally spoke, "Only for tonight. Studying too late should not become a habit."
"Hey, it's not like I wanted to spend my night studying," Yuzu shot back "But...I guess you can sleep on my bed and I'll sleep on our extra futon."
"If you insist," the raven-haired girl replied while standing up and headed to the bathroom.
Yuzu opened her closet to pull out the futon but realized she couldn't find it. Rolling her eyes, she went out into the hallway to search another storage area.
"Where the hell is it?" the blonde asked herself. Suddenly Mei walked out and looked over to Yuzu, "Is everything okay?"
Yuzu sighed quietly, "I can't seem to find our futon. I thought mama had it in one of these closets, but I don't see it."
"I can sleep on the floor, it would not be a problem," Mei said while walking back into the bedroom.
"I can't make you do that! You're the guest anyway," Yuzu replied.
Instead of continuing to argue with the blonde, Mei got in the bed and said, "The bed is big enough for both of us. Can we just go to sleep now?"
"What?" Yuzu said a little harshly.
Mei rolled her eyes and laid down facing the wall.
Yuzu, beginning to blush, quickly turned off the lights, then got into the bed. She has shared a bed with other girls before, but she wasn't sure why she was suddenly getting nervous around the student council president.
'Why do I keep feeling like this' Yuzu asked herself. 'I've never been nervous around another girl before. 'These sudden thoughts and feelings are all so confusing' Yuzu let out a small groan as she turned to her side. Mei was now facing towards her and already asleep it seemed.
The moonlight in the darkened room left a slight shadow over Mei's face. "You look so peaceful", Yuzu quietly said to herself before closing her eyes.
It was early morning, causing the room to be slightly dimmed. Yuzu slowly opened her eyes and felt the weight of the bed had shifted. Looking around, she noticed she was alone. 'Geez, is she already gone?'
The blonde lifted herself out of the now empty bed and sluggishly drug her feet across the wooden floor while rubbing her sleepy eyes. Walking out of the bedroom she heard her mother in the kitchen.
"Morning mama," Yuzu let out while yawning and coming around the corner.
"Good morning Yuzu. I'm happy to see you girls are getting along. I have invited her to have breakfast with us!" Ume happily spoke while she smiled to the tired girl.
Being half awake, Yuzu only slightly paid attention to what her mother said. She then noticed the table which usually sat only two of them, now had an extra person.
Suddenly Yuzu perked up. "Oh, I thought you had already left." This came out a little harsher than Yuzu had expected.
"Don't be rude, she is our guest!" Ume said while putting her hand on Mei's shoulder. "I'm happy you decided to study here for a change."
"Sorry… I just woke up, so I'm still a little tired mama," Yuzu apologized while sitting down across from Mei at the dining table.
"How has studying been going anyway?" Ume asked while setting down breakfast for the two on the table.
"Your daughter seems to struggle in certain subjects, but I am certain I can get her up to speed with the other students before exams," Mei blatantly said.
The blonde furrowed her eyebrows at that remark. "That's basically your way of saying I'm stupid."
"Hey now, I'm sure she didn't mean it in that way Yuzu!" The older woman said before Mei could say anything in response.
Looking over to Mei, Yuzu noticed a small smirk upon her lips. 'You DO think I'm stupid' Yuzu thought to herself. Feeling irritation rise inside, she gave a smug look back. Noticing her mother had her back turned to them while making tea, Yuzu kicked Mei's shin underneath the table.
Mei slightly choked on her orange juice from the unexpected rough contact and began to silently wince in pain. "Why did you do that?" the black-haired girl whispered angrily.
Speaking quietly back Yuzu said, "I know what you're doing. Stop making me out to be dumb!"
Mei peaked back to see Ume was still turned around making tea, then proceeded to kick Yuzu's shin in return.
"Ouch! What the fuck?" Yuzu shouted out.
Quickly turning around, Ume raised her voice "Yuzuko, watch your language!"
"But- "Yuzu got cut off. "No buts, we don't speak that way. Especially around guests, got it?"
Groaning loudly, Yuzu set her elbow onto the table and leaned into her palm, giving Mei a dirty look. Before looking away, Yuzu noticed Mei mouthing the words 'That's what you get'
The blonde scoffed in disbelief and mouthed back 'Fuck you' as she sat up from the dining table causing Mei to roll her eyes.
"I'm going to get ready now. Thanks for breakfast mama!"
"Okay Yuzu, but don't be late for school!" Ume responded.
Yuzu had finished getting ready for school and walked out to the dining room once again seeing only her mother.
"Did she leave already?" Yuzu asked.
"She had to leave soon after breakfast, so you should get going soon as well," Ume responded while getting her uniform on for work. "I will be home late tonight, so you'll have to make dinner for yourself."
"Okay mama, I'll see you later then," Yuzu said while waving goodbye and heading out the front door.
Yuzu strolled through the main entrance at the academy and made eye contact with Harumin right away.
"Hey Yuzzuchi!" the chestnut-haired girl squeezed Yuzu tightly.
"Ugh careful Harumin. I'm so worn out from all this studying," Yuzu sighed.
"I've been around Mei so much; it feels like I can finally put my guard down for a moment."
"That bad huh?" Harumin gave the blonde a pouty look while patting her on the back.
"I just want one day without having to read a damn book," the blonde grumbled.
Just as Yuzu said that, Mei and another girl with twirled, tornado-like pigtails walked up to them.
"Mei-Mei, this is that delinquent who you've been tutoring right?" The girl looked Yuzu up and down as she furrowed her eyebrows.
"Who the hell are you?" Yuzu annoyingly asked.
"I'm Mei-Mei's best friend, Momokino Himeko. You better not be getting her in any trouble!" She argued while pointing a finger towards Yuzu's face.
Yuzu stepped forward abruptly, causing the purple haired girl to step back. Harumin pulled Yuzu back. "Yuzu, she isn't worth it. Let's just go to class." Mei sighed heavily, causing Yuzu to glance over at her.
"Do not be late for class you two. I will see you after my student council duties Okogi," the black-haired girl said as she began to walk towards the school doors.
"I can definitely see now that it is that bad," Harumin snickered.
Letting out a short huff, Yuzu crossed her arms over her chest, "Her minion can be a bitch too, go figure."
It was another mind-numbing day in school. Yuzu had no interest in today's subjects at all. She had been putting so much time into studying as is. So, instead of paying attention last period, the girl flicked open her notebook and began writing.
'I wish I had never gotten caught' the troubled girl thought as she sighed quietly and continued writing in her notebook.
'Then I wouldn't have to be around her, I wouldn't be so frustrated, so confused, so...'
Looking down, Yuzu realized she'd instinctively written something numerous times strewn onto the page.
Her eyes widened; it was her name. And a shaped heart around the name placed in the middle of the paper. Grabbing ahold of the paper in anger, she caused the page to wrinkle.
'What the hell?' It's like she was creeping into her mind, soaking into her bones, intoxicating her lungs and Yuzu couldn't understand why. It made no sense; she barely knew the raven-haired girl. So why was this happening? Maybe it was because they spent so much time together after school. Something about the girl she found interest in, but the two didn't even get along most of them time. Both were forced into this situation, yet the more time they spent together, the more Yuzu began to grow attached. Sure, she loathed studying, but she found peace in being within the presence of Mei.
Suddenly the bell rang, which caused the blonde to jump. Quickly, she shut her notebook and slid it into her bag.
Harumin turned around in her desk, "Ready for hell Yuzucchi?" she jokingly asked.
"You betcha!" Yuzu responded sarcastically.
"I can wait with you until you have to meet up with the prez if you want?" Harumin suggested.
"At least that would be one enjoyable thing I get to do today," Yuzu said while getting up from her desk.
"Let's go hang out in the cafe and get a snack then for the time being," Harumin said.
"Sounds good to me. I'm starving!" the blonde cheerfully exclaimed.
Thirty minutes passed by and Student Council members had been going through each classroom to finish their tasks for the day.
Walking into one of the classrooms, they'd first noticed a rather messy desk with books, papers, and other random items scattered around.
"You'd think this school wouldn't allow girls like this," Himeko scoffed while picking up Yuzu's ID, then shortly throwing it back onto the desk afterwards.
"It was my Grandfathers decision. I will say she is a somewhat capable student, but inconsiderate of her actions," Mei said while grabbing a notebook that was slightly sticking out of Yuzu's bag.
Furrowing her eyebrows slightly, Mei looked over to see Himeko and Kayo distracted. It wasn't like Mei to snoop, but something was pulling her to do so today.
She began tossing through the pages. Most of them consisted of algebra problems, history notes, but one page had been wrinkled. Flipping to it without hesitation, she was taken back a bit. Her name was written. The student council president realized it wasn't just her name written once though, but multiple times. She slyly hid the notebook underneath her own.
Yuzu and Harumin finished their snacks soon after and decided to head back to the classroom. As Yuzu was picking up her bag, Mei entered the room quietly.
"You," Mei said coldly.
Yuzu froze once she'd heard the familiar voice.
"What? Did I keep you waiting?" the blonde questioned in annoyance.
"Uhm, I think this is my cue to go Yuzzuchi! See ya later girl," Harumin shouted while dashing out of the classroom.
"We are studying at my grandfather's today. I am hoping this arrangement works out for you?" The raven-haired girl asked.
"Do I have any other choice?" Yuzu asked back sarcastically as she walked out of the classroom with the President.
"After the incident in the library, I figured we should study elsewhere," Mei spoke as they walked down the hallway.
"Yeah, well as long as you don't keep referring to me as an idiot, I don't care where we study," Yuzu said in a harsh tone.
"Maybe if you took studying more seriously, I would think differently," the younger girl responded.
"We have been studying non-stop, I'm obviously doing some work," Yuzu said back. "Besides, I have notes to prove it!"
"I am aware..." Mei mumbled to herself.
After 20 minutes of walking, they arrived at their destination. The first thing Yuzu noticed was how unbelievably massive the house was.
The blonde's eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. "Woah, do you live here too?"
"For the time being, yes," Mei answered.
"The time being?" Yuzu questioned, but this time Mei didn't say anything back.
Deciding to not say anything else, she followed the taller girl up the stairs to a large, mostly bare room. It had a few shelves with books, a black modern desk, and a king-sized bed.
"What do you do in your spare time, stare at empty walls?" Yuzu said jokingly.
Expecting no response, Yuzu was surprised to hear Mei speak up. "I often read to pass extra time."
'Is she opening up to me?' Yuzu wondered.
"What else do you do?" she asked another question in hopes of learning more about the mysterious girl she kept thinking about.
"We are here to study. Please pull out your learning materials for the day," Mei said while taking out her own schoolbooks.
A couple hours passed by, and Yuzu was beginning to feel drained from taking in so much information at once. Mei seemed to notice how drowsy the blonde was, so she suggested they take a break.
"Thank god," Yuzu cheered. "I was on the verge of passing out. I don't know how you can do this for so long."
"It is my responsibility as a student, so it is only natural," Mei said while reaching into her bag.
"I feel it is also my responsibility as Student Council President to try and understand all the students in the academy," Mei hesitated for a moment before putting a notebook onto the desk. "But I don't understand you, or this," she continued speaking while pointing at a specific page.
In that very moment, Yuzu felt as if she could die. Her face began to redden, looking almost unnatural. Sweat trickled down her forehead, and the air seemed to tighten around her chest.
'FUCK!' Yuzu internally screamed, wishing she could just run away from this moment.
"I-I uh, well," the embarrassed girl couldn't even spit out an excuse, as nothing would be able to explain the situation.
'Yeah, Mei, I keep thinking about you even though we don't get along and you hate me!' Yuzu scolded herself for not being more careful.
"I've seen you staring at me. Are you possibly having weird fantasies about me too?" Mei gave Yuzu a slightly seductive look.
"It's...it's not like that! I'm not some weird perv, so don't just assume that!" Yuzu shot back rapidly.
"What is it you're wanting then?" The raven-haired girl asked.
"I don't want anything. It's just a stupid piece of paper. It doesn't mean anything, okay?" Yuzu turned her head to the side, trying to avoid eye contact.
From the corner of her eye, the blonde noticed Mei scooting closer.
"What are you doing?" Yuzu's eyes widened in realization that Mei kept moving closer until their faces were inches apart, noses only one small movement away from touching.
'Is she going to kiss me?!' The confused girl began to panic as she had no idea what to do.
Unable to keep her emerald eyes locked on to the other girls' violets, she scrunched her eyes tightly shut. For a few moments the only sounds heard were ragged breaths, and Yuzu swore the whole world could hear her heart pounding against her chest.
Mei chuckled, "You are too easy," she said as she backed away.
"What the hell was all that for? You're such an asshole!" Yuzu yelled, lungs still striving for steady breaths of air.
"I wanted to see how you would react," Mei replied calmly.
"Well, it wasn't funny!" Yuzu shouted as she stood up. "I think I've had enough studying for the day. I'm going home." Yuzu turned around and grabbed her things quickly.
Mei stayed silent as Yuzu walked out the door.
"Why would she do that?" the blonde asked herself in frustration as she walked out of the mansion. "She's so awful!"
As Yuzu continued walking home, she wondered if being around Mei was a good idea anymore. She may have been catching up on studies, but after this happening she felt it would be difficult to concentrate. On top of that, things would be awkward. What did she expect? An actual kiss? She hasn't even had her first one yet.
"I don't even know why I care. She's only doing this for her own good. It's not like I care about anything of this school stuff," the girl thought out loud.
Yuzu sighed, 'Am I supposed to act like that didn't happen now?'
Suddenly Yuzu's phone began vibrating in her pocket. She pulled it out and answered.
"Hello…?"
"Yuzu! I'm so happy you picked up," the voice on the other side called out.
"Matsuri?"