After thinking about Matsuri's words Mei decided to be honest with her feelings and face Yuzu head on. She was going to stay at the Hayato estate until Yuzu came back home with her. Just like that time when Yuzu had come back for her in her grandfather's house.
With the help of her stepmother, Mei found out the location of the Hayato residence and without much trouble, was able to convince her guardian to let her get Yuzu back. Mei had also already informed her grandfather that she would catch up on all of her studies and student council work when she returned.
So now there she was, standing in front of the gates to the Hayato house. She took a deep breath before pressing the doorbell.
"Come on! Dodge!", a middle aged man in a white gi uniform threw another punch.
"Yessir!", Yuzu said in between ragged breaths as she was hit in the shoulder.
The man continued throwing punches and kicks at the blonde, "You must watch your opponent's movements and anticipate their attacks!"
"Yessir!", Yuzu once again answered, this time with more determination and successfully fending off his attacks. She continued to do so, gaining more ground in the process and pushing the man back. Yuzu started to go on the offensive and roundhouse kicked Miyagi-sensei, only to block her leg with his forearm.
With that, their sparring session was over and both bowed before Yuzu fell backwards to the tatami mats. She was panting heavily and her whole body was sore.
"Ojou-sama are you alright?!", a maid scurried over to the exhausted blonde.
"Yeah...just tired… Also, drop the 'ojou-sama' already! I told you to just call me by my name", Yuzu replied.
After 2 weeks of training with Miyagi-sensei, Yuzu had become more accustomed to the pain of a full blown attack. She had also become much more lean after building strength in her whole body through strenuous training using barbells, pull-up bars and all sorts of machines. One would not expect such a modern gym in an old fashioned japanese-style mansion, so Yuzu was surprised to see it fully equipped.
"Yuzuko-san, you're still quite rusty, but you're starting to get a hang of it", Miyagi-sensei commented. "You're offense is quite good but we still need to work on your defense"
"Yessir. Thank you sir", the blonde bowed in respect.
Suddenly another maid burst into the dojo room, "Ojou-sama!"
"There you go again with the 'ojou-sama'...", Yuzu said with slight annoyance as she hung a towel around her neck.
"Ah. Yes. I'm sorry Yuzuko-san", the maid bowed in apology. "But there's someone at the gates claiming to be your little sister!"
"Eh?!", the blonde rushed to the front gates. Why is she here?
When she finally reached the front gates she immediately made eye contact with the beautiful raven haired girl. Her eyes shifted down to the black duffel bag Mei was holding.
"Mei, what are you doing here.", Yuzu said in a serious voice. Most of the staff had gathered to watch the stepsisters' interaction.
The younger girl tried to ignore Yuzu's unusual seriousness and replied with her usual 'student council president' tone, "I'm here to bring you back home."
"I'm not coming with you"
"I know that", Mei replied confidently. "That's why I'll be staying here until you agree to come home".
Both girls engaged in a staring contest, neither backing down. The maids and butlers remained quiet as they were anticipating their mistress' reply.
An exasperated sigh sounded from the older girl, "You're so troublesome…"
Mei smiled slightly, "I am merely using the same methods as you when you brought me back from my grandfather's house", she said smugly.
Yuzu turned around to face their audience, "Listen everyone!", the staff members flinched as they were expecting to be punished for watching the stepsisters' intense 'discussion'. "This is my little stepsister! She will be staying here for awhile. You're to treat her as respectfully as you treated me! That is all.", Yuzu finished and turned to a butler, "Please show her to her room", she said curtly as she walked away in the direction of the gym room.
Meanwhile, Mei was astonished at her older stepsister's dauntless behaviour. She was in awe of her as Yuzu was usually shy and timid around her which was completely different to her new authoritative behaviour. It didn't help that the blonde was wearing a white gi uniform which made her presence feel all the more overwhelming.
"Aihara-san please follow me", the butler said while taking Mei's duffel bag.
He lead her through the hallways, passing a door with an orange tree on it and stopping in front of the sliding door right next to it.
"Yuzuko-sama!"
Yuzu immediately snapped out of her current thoughts, "Yes?!"
"Please pay attention", Ms. Izumi demanded. "Now, I understand that you haven't had the best grades in school but you must know these things"
"I understand…", the glum blonde replied half heartedly.
The elderly woman sighed, "I suppose we could learn something else today"
"Uh, like what?"
"History", Ms Izumi simply replied as she pulled out a rather thick book from the top shelf.
Yuzu opened the book and started to flick through the pages until a certain name came up, "Aihara? Why…?". She continued the flick through the pages, recognizing names every so often, "Momokino… Shiraho… Ah, even Taniguchi…"
"That book holds information about important and powerful families in Japan", the elderly woman explained. "I assume the names that you've just called out are acquaintances of yours?"
"Friends, but yeah. I do know them…", Yuzu corrected.
"It isn't that surprising, since most of the students at Aihara Academy come from wealthy or historical families. I think it's quite ironic that you ended up in that school"
Yuzu looked up from the book, "How so?"
"Well, you are the heir to one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Japan. It's only befitting for you to attend the same school with other heirs to important families"
"Heirs? You mean Harumin, Shirapon-senpai and Momokino-san are like, heirs to important families?"
"Yes, and since you will be taking over the Hayato family, you will have to know these heirs"
"So this is… history?"
Ms. Izumi smiled, "Yes, this is history".
After finishing her lessons Yuzu went to the gym room to pass the time until dinner.
"Yuzuko-sam- Yuzuko-san, dinner is ready", a maid meekly peeked into the gym room.
"Alright, I'll be there in a minute!", Yuzu said in between bench presses.
When she finished her set she grabbed a towel and dried her neck. Her stomach growled and she decided to shower after eating.
In the dining room
As Yuzu arrived in the dining room, she was surprised to already see Mei eating. She was sitting seiza-style at the table. Having been raised in a mansion she was taught how to eat and sit during formal occasions or with important company.
As both girls made eye contact, Mei's eyes wandered down to Yuzu's upper body. The blonde had changed out of her gi and into a tank top and shorts, presumably to workout, and was still sweaty. Her arms were more defined, strength apparent in her newly formed muscles. Before Mei could take in the rest of her, Yuzu sat down and started eating in silence.
The younger girl stared as Yuzu practically devoured the different assortments of meat and fish on the table.
Yuzu must have noticed as she swallowed the food in her mouth to speak up, "I need to eat a lot. For building more strength.", she briefly explained.
Mei only nodded dumbly as Yuzu went back to scarfing down the food. A maid suddenly came in interrupting the awkward silence, save for the sounds of slurping and smacking. "Yuzuko-san the bath is ready for you".
"Oh, thanks! I'm almost done", the blonde finished the last of her food and started gulping down some water.
"My deepest apologies Aihara-san, the second bathroom is under renovation at the moment so you will have to wait for Yuzuko-san to finish", the maid said nervously. "Unless you would like to share?"
Yuzu spat out her water comically and started coughing uncontrollably, while Mei turned beet red. "N-no, it's fine I can wait", the younger girl mustered.
"Y-yeah, I'll finish as soon as I can!", Yuzu got up to leave quickly, both girl wearing the same shade of red on their faces.