Yuzu was frustrated. Not only did she become more nervous in the presence of the raven haired vampire but the other girl had pretended like nothing had happened. Though Matsuri's warning was still fresh in her mind, she simply could not imagine leaving her beloved master. Especially since she'd fallen even harder for Mei after she suggested that perhaps her master cared enough about her to feel jealous of an old friend. Still, Matsuri's insistent tone bothered her. On top of that, it seemed like Mei really did catch a cold.
"If only I'd gotten the windows fixed sooner!", she'd scold herself while frantically trying anything that could possibly cure her master of her ailment. "Is it warm enough, master?"
Mei leaned back on her chair and turned to Yuzu, who was putting more wood into the fireplace. "Will you please calm yourself. It's not that serious-Achoo!", Mei sniffled a bit before continuing with her work, or at least she was trying to. Apparently, even the most 'noble monsters' had to work. Usually vampires are members of aristocracy and even though Mei would be one by blood it would require her to attend social gatherings on a regular basis. So instead of riding on her family's success she decided to work on her own.
Now, Mei is a renowned author of a famous book series that is beloved by both monsters and humans. She works under a pen name so as not to draw attention to herself and get involved with the outside world. This has led to the vampire living a relatively peaceful life in her own mansion. However, recently she'd been running out of ideas and her agent had been practically begging her to at least write a draft to her next book.
Her effort to ease the blonde girl was ignored, "Oh no! It's getting worse! You should really lie down! Shall I make you some tea?". Yuzu started pacing around, her hand placed under her chin in thought, "No, no, human remedies wouldn't work on a vampire… Oh, but I couldn't find any cold remedies for vampires in the library and I already tried calling Matsuri but she still hasn't answered!"
This got Mei's attention, "Why would you call her?"
"Because Matsuri's a doctor!"
Mei opened her mouth to say something but was quickly cut off by a small cough.
Yuzu gasped in horror at the sound, "Is your throat sore? Maybe I should make you some tea-"
"Yuzu… I think some tea would be nice"
"Right away, Master!", without another moment's notice, Yuzu sprinted off into the kitchen to make the tea.
'I told you to stop calling me that'. Mei sighed at the girl's antics. She'd been making a whole fuss over her small cold. It wasn't even that serious. Sure, her nose was stuffy and she had a small cough but that was about it. She couldn't remember the last time she was sick. Had she ever even been sick? She also couldn't remember the last time someone fussed over her like this. A small smile graced her features. It was almost nice… but she wasn't about to admit that to the other girl. She shook her head to cut off her own thoughts and went back to writing out her ideas for her next story.
'Maybe I should write something more romantic this time'
Meanwhile, Yuzu was looking through the assortment of medicinal herbs. "Hmm… some Moon Dewberry should be good", she mumbled to herself as she began to prepare a cup and started to fill the kettle with some water. As she waited for the kettle to boil, her thoughts trailed off once again. She thought about Matsuri's warning, about her kiss with Mei and then about her recent behaviour. Was the vampire girl really jealous or did she just resent Matsuri that much? And what about her behaviour after they kissed? She pretended like nothing happened afterwards, going back to their master-servant relationship. The kettle's shrill whistle forced her to snap out of her thoughts.
She turned the stove off and poured the boiling water into the teapot. Just as she was about to pick up the teapot her vision momentarily blurred and she felt a mind-numbing migraine. She nearly lost her balance, only catching herself at the last second. 'Maybe I caught her cold', she thought to herself while placing a hand over her head. Yuzu took a deep breath to get a hold of herself and made her way to Mei's room holding a silver tray with a cup and the teapot.
"Master, I've prepared your tea"
But the vampire girl was so focused on what she was writing that she hardly noticed Yuzu come in. Yuzu smiled at the sight of Mei working so diligently and poured the tea into a cup, leaving it next to her master. "Well then, I will be in my room if you need anything", she excused herself before shutting the door.
While on her way to her room she felt that numbing dizziness again. This time, more painful than the last. Waves of pain would come and go and she had to support herself against the wall to keep her knees from collapsing under her. Once she made it to her room she immediately stumbled towards the telephone on her side table and dialed Matsuri's number. Before she could even hear the other girl pick up, her sight had darkened and her consciousness faded.
Mei sighed in satisfaction as she took off her glasses. She finally managed to finish her first draft. She reached over to sip the rest of her tea, only realizing now that she had finished it about an hour ago. She'd been so invested in her work that she didn't realize that it was already past her dinner time.
'Strange', she thought. Yuzu would have already called her by this time or at least checked up on her.
It was deathly quiet, almost too quiet. Like around the time when she was still living on her own type of quiet. This didn't feel right. Mei got up from her chair to look for her servant. But before she even set foot out of her room the telephone rang, disrupting the eerie silence of the entire building.
It was rare for someone to call her, let alone know her number. So she quickly went over to the small table next to her bed and picked up the phone.
"Hello?", an unpleasant yet familiar voice asked from the other side of the line. It was that little thief, Matsuri.
"What is it?", Mei tried not to snarl.
The change in tone was obvious when Matsuri spoke again, "Yuzu called me but I was unable to answer her. You know what? Just hand the phone over to Yuzu", she demanded.
Before Mei could reply she was silenced by a coughing fit. When she pressed the phone back to her ear the other girl's demeanor completely changed.
"You… you're sick? What are the symptoms?"
The raven haired girl was confused at the sudden change of tone, "Just a cold. Why?". She hadn't really meant to show any concern but Matsuri's change in behaviour and question had somehow filled her with dread.
There was a moment of silence from Matsuri's side before she finally answered, "You're a vampire. Vampires don't get sick… unless you have vampiritis in which case… Hold on a minute", she went quiet again before the line went dead.
Mei was left confused and irritated by the witch's strange behaviour but decided to shrug it off until a sudden burst of light nearly blinded her. After blinking several times she recognized the pointed hat atop a head of pink hair. She would have reacted with hostility had it been any other situation but the distressed expression on her face made her reluctant to do so.
"Where is Yuzu?!", she demanded with panicked urgency.
"...Most likely in her room", the vampire was still reluctant to help her but was confused above all else, especially at the other girl's reaction.
At once Matsuri bounded off, somehow sensing the blonde werewolf. Yuzu's room wasn't far, it was straight down the hall. Mei followed the witch into her servant's room and paused when she saw the girl momentarily freeze after barging into Yuzu's room. When Mei finally entered the room her breath caught in her throat.
Yuzu was lying motionless on the floor, unresponsive to both Mei and Matsuri.
"Yuzu!", Mei immediately ran to her. "What happened?", she asked Matsuri, who was already examining the blonde's body.
First, Matsuri spread her eyelid open and shone a light into her eyes. Yuzu's usual bright emerald eyes were now cold and dead, her pupils dilated. Her whole body was rigid, though her chest would still rise and fall indicating that she was at least still breathing. But every other part of her looked so stiff that you could have snapped her limbs off as easily as you would when snapping a toothpick.
Mei instinctively grabbed Yuzu's hand, flinching at how cold it was. It wasn't the kind of chill you felt off a person's hand on a cold winter night, it was more like the kind of icy feeling you felt when a person's body began to shut down. Like you could feel them slipping away.
Matsuri continued examining the girl's body. She pressed her ear against Yuzu's midriff. "Her blood circulation has retreated back to help her vital organs, that's why her body temperature is so low... But I can hear them beginning to shut down"
"What's wrong with her?", Mei asked anxiously. Just a few hours ago she'd seen Yuzu in her normal energetic stage. Even more than usual actually since she was so keen on making Mei feel better.
The shorter girl sighed next to her, "Well, it's more like what was wrong with you". She waved her wand a few times and Yuzu's body magically floated up off the ground and drifted down as softly as a feather onto the bed. "Vampiritis is an illness caused by a mutated virus in vampires. Cases of vampiritis are rare but they're just as harmless as colds are to humans. However, to a werewolf, being infected by vampiritis is fatal"
'So, she'll just… die?' "Is-Isn't there anything you can do?", Mei asked desperately.
"There have been no known cases of werewolves recovering from it"
That last sentence hit Mei like a ton of bricks. Mei grit her teeth, as much as it hurt to hear that, she couldn't deny that she felt responsible for what happened to Yuzu. She was angry and confused but most of all she was terrified. As selfish as it may be, Mei didn't want, no, couldn't go back to living alone. What would she do if Yuzu was gone? She used to scoff at the stories where the young lovers who couldn't bear to live without each other would go so far as killing themselves just so they could be together. It hadn't made sense to her at the time. But after meeting Yuzu she started to understand.
'No', she thought. There was no way that she could give up now. She hadn't even told Yuzu how she felt. Actions speak louder than words but she didn't even know what emotions she was acting on when she first kissed Yuzu. "There must be something you could do. If you were able to bring the living back from the dead then surely you can do something for Yuzu. Right, Dr. Frankenstein?"
Matsuri let out a small chuckle, "No one has called me that in a long time...". She put a hand under her chin in thought, "Hmm, I think there is something…", there was a pause. "I think I might be able to create a potion that can save Yuzu", Matsuri thought aloud.
Mei visibly lit up, "Then do it!"
"But…", Matsuri hesitated, "I'll need some of your blood"
Mei looked at her as if she was the stupidest person in the world, her expression perfectly summing up her thoughts, 'What, that's it?'. "Take it. Take as much as you need", she rolled up her sleeve to reveal her pale wrist. 'Hell, you can take all of it if that's what it takes…'
Am I a sadist to keep making Yuzu suffer in my fics or am I a masochist for liking Citrus in all its angsty glory? Maybe a little bit of both ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ . I realize that I made Mei a bit ooc because she follows her own path and doesn't take over her family's business but that's why it's an AU ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Full disclosure, I got the idea of 'vampiritis' from a manga I was reading, but I can't remember what it was called anymore (forgot to bookmark it). Also, I hope you like that twist with Matsuri's character!