"Hello, Yuzuko", the elderly woman greeted.
There was a moment of silence between them before Yuzu spoke, "What do you want? Why are you here?", she asked impatiently.
For the first time ever Mrs Hayato seemed to be at a loss for words. She looked down at her hands then looked back up at the blonde sitting in front of her. "I… came to apologize", she finally spoke.
Yuzu's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What?"
"...Perhaps it was wrong of me to blame you for all this through all these years… Especially since you were just a child", she spoke solemnly.
The girl continued to listen to the elderly woman but still maintained her hardened expression.
"What you said the other day… about your dad being sad if we didn't get along. You're right", she paused for a moment. "I think he'd definitely be disappointed in me if he saw me now. So, I've decided to try and… mend our relationship". The elderly woman finally looked up at Yuzu, "That is… if you still want to try?", she asked hopefully.
Yuzu sighed, "How do you plan on 'mending our relationship'?"
"Well, after witnessing your martial arts skills first hand and hearing about your academic knowledge in history and economics, you seem to have all the requirements to take over the family business! All that's left to do is to teach you about how exactly we conduct our business…"
"So… you'll be teaching me the responsibilities of becoming the 'head of the clan'?", Yuzu crossed her arms.
Mrs Hayato clasped her hands together nervously, "Look, I know that it's not fair of me to force you into becoming the next head but… there's no one else other than you to take over".
Yuzu thought for a moment before taking a deep breath, "I'll have to think about it first"
"Of course. Take as much time as you need", Mrs Hayato gave a genuine smile and opened the door. "I'll be waiting for your answer when you're ready", she closed the door after Yuzu exited the vehicle.
The girl finally made her way to her home.
"Oh Yuzu, welcome home!", her mother greeted cheerfully. "Mei's in the shower and dinner's already gone cold 'cause you took so long to get home".
"It's fine… I already ate"
Mrs Aihara knew immediately something was wrong. She sat next to Yuzu as she was taking off her shoes on the genkan floor. "What's wrong?", she asked simply.
"Nothing…"
"Yuzu, didn't you promise me yesterday that you would talk to me when something was on your mind?", the middle aged woman tried to get her daughter to meet her eyes.
Yuzu reluctantly obliged, finally looking up at her mother, "I spoke to grandmother. She asked me to take over the clan for her"
Mrs Aihara's hands tightened into fists, "Why that old-"
"No! It's okay. It's just", Yuzu paused to think. "She genuinely apologized and asked me to spend time with her to 'repair our relationship'".
Mrs Aihara's anger was replaced with shock, "Oh… What did you say?"
"I told her I would think about it…", she trailed off.
A moment of silence passed until her mother spoke again, "And what do you think?"
Yuzu hesitantly replied, "I don't know. The last time I saw her I asked her for forgiveness but", she let out a heavy sigh, "I don't know if I've forgiven her yet".
"Oh Yuzu", the middle aged woman pulled her into a hug, "No one expects you to forgive her straight away… hell, I didn't expect you to try to forgive her at all. The point is, only you can decide for yourself and you should do it in your own pace".
The other girl broke the hug off to look up at the older woman, "I want to take over the Hayato Clan… I want to accept my heritage!"
Mrs Aihara smiled, "It'll be hard you know…"
Yuzu hugged her once again, "I know"
"You'll be faced with many responsibilities, as well as difficulties", the older woman warned.
"Mhm", the blonde nodded in reply.
Mrs Aihara finally sighed in defeat, "You really are as stubborn as your father…". She grinned brightly, "You've already made up your mind so all I can do is cheer you on!".
Yuzu wiped away any stray tears from her face, "Thanks mom!"
The next day in school
After submitting the form to join the martial arts club the previous day, it was approved by the student council almost immediately thanks to Shiraho's insistence of letting the blonde join as soon as possible and her affiliation with the Hayato Clan, among other things like the student council president being Yuzu's girlfriend.
However, things were not going well for the blonde martial artist. There was a lot of protest against the delinquent to join the martial arts club thanks to the fight between the beloved Suzuran Shiraho and the infamous troublemaker a few months back.
This event, as well as Yuzu's sudden disappearance soon afterwards, sparked a series of baseless rumours about the blonde.
"Ugh", the girl curled up in defeat. "Why does the school hate me so?"
Yuzu, Harumi and Suzuran decided to spend their lunch time on the roof for the time being as the ill based rumours about the blonde only worsened if she was seen with the upperclassman.
"It's... kinda your fault Yuzucchi. Beating up Shiraho-senpai and then disappearing for almost 3 months without a word afterwards was bound to set off a bunch of rumours about you", Harumi shrugged nonchalantly. "Plus, showing off your mad maths skills so smugly yesterday only made them hate you more…"
"I was not being smug!", Yuzu cried out in defense. "In any case, I don't get why they don't want me to join. The rumours about me can't be that bad !"
"Well, the most widely believed rumour about you is that you're part of an infamous yakuza clan and that you defeated me to send 'a message' to my family", Suzuran explained. "Some rumours claim that my family went after you so you went into hiding…", she trailed off.
Yuzu grabbed the older girl by the shoulders and shook her vigorously, "Shirapon-senpai, is my life in danger? Is your family really coming after me?!", she cried desperately.
"Calm down, I already explained the situation to my family..."
'Eh? So they really were gonna come after me?!', a chill ran down her spine. The girl settled down and took a deep breath, "Still, I don't know how I can put a stop to these rumours"
"Maybe you should just address them directly", the brunette suggested. "Or you should just beat them up", she mumbled quietly.
Yuzu suddenly lit up, "Harumin… that's it!"
"Eh? You're gonna beat them up?!"
"What? No! I'll just address these bad rumours directly!"
...
After school
Yuzu took a deep breath before entering the dojo. Shiraho had assured her that she needn't worry about any incidents that may occur but it didn't stop her from feeling nervous. Upon stepping foot on the tatami mats, she immediately received sharp looks of disdain.
Nonetheless, the girl kept walking towards the top of the room where Shiraho was standing.
The sound of whispering ceased when the president spoke up, "Alright everyone, please be quiet. This is our newest club member, Aihara Yuzu. Before we start, she has a few things to say"
Yuzu stepped forward and took another deep breath before starting, "As you all may know, I'm quite the troublemaker. I'm the student council president's step sister who doesn't always follow the rules, which sometimes causes a bit of a commotion…". "But", she paused for a moment, "I did not beat up the president to send her family 'a message', nor am I a part of a 'Yakuza family'", she air quoted.
Some looked doubtful but continued to listen.
"That's not all! Before my mother married Mei's dad, my real name was Hayato Yuzu!", she finally declared.
The club members were shocked to say the least.
"The Hayato family? As in the family that specializes in martial arts?!"
"But I thought they didn't have an heir?"
Yuzu cleared her throat, "Regarding the rumours of my disappearance, I took a leave from school due to some family matters", she explained calmly. "And as you can see", the blonde wrapped her arm around Suzuran's shoulder, "Shirapon-senpai and I are buds!".
The club members stared at their president expectantly, looking for an answer.
"What she is saying is true. Yuzupon and I are indeed… 'buds'", she said the last word as if it was the most foreign word to ever leave her mouth.
The other girl nodded in agreement, "So, let's all get along from now on 'kay?"
After club activities
'That went better than expected!', Yuzu thought happily as she made her way to the student council room.
After her bold yet honest introduction to the martial arts club members, they were still hesitant on letting Yuzu join the club. Some even doubted her claims of being the only heir to the 'Great Hayato Clan'. However, their disapproval of her would soon be forgotten when the blonde inadvertedly started showing off her moves while practising.
Slowly but surely, some club members started to speak to the blonde. First, a timid girl asked her how a certain move was performed without injury. Next, someone else asked for a demonstration and from then onwards, more people started to gather around her, complimenting her and even apologizing for believing the rumours.
When she arrived at her destination, she knocked on the door quietly so as not to disturb the student council.
"Mei~ you're still not done?", Yuzu whined as she entered the room.
The student council president did not look up from the stack of documents in front of her, "Yeah, but I'll be done soon"
The blonde looked over at the other student council members present, "Wow, you guys are still here? The student council sure works hard…"
"That's right, so don't distract us with your antics. Got it?", Himeko snapped.
Yuzu merely nodded in reply. She took a seat on a lone chair that was sitting in the corner and pulled out a book from her bag. 'Might as well do homework while I'm waiting…'
After about 20 minutes of undisturbed peace a few members started to grow uneasy. It had remained unexpectedly quiet even though they were expecting something to happen.
The pigtail haired girl decided to sneak a peek at the quiet girl in the corner. 'Is… Is she- Is she reading a book?' , Himeko squinted in the blonde's direction.
Meanwhile Yuzu, who was growing more anxious by the minute, closed her book in frustration. After the conversation she had with her mother yesterday, it never really left her mind. She spent the entire day trying to distract herself but it still continued to gnaw at her.
Yuzu reached for her phone in her bag and stood up from her seat, making her way towards the door, "Hey Mei, I know we're still in school but can I use my phone? I need to make a call…"
The student council president looked up from her work and thought for a minute before answering, "Don't let any teachers see you".
Yuzu smiled and nodded before leaving the room and closing the door behind her. She pulled out her phone and stared at the screen intently before dialing a number. It felt like an eternity until someone finally answered. "It's me", Yuzu started to walk down the hall to maintain distance from the student council room.
A nervous voice spoke from the other side of the line, "Oh, Yuzuko. H-how are you?"
The girl continued to walk and turned a corner, "I've thought long and hard about your offer yesterday"
"... So, what's your answer?", Mrs Hayato asked apprehensively.
Yuzu stopped in her tracks before speaking, "I've decided to give it a try, only on one condition though", she paused before declaring determinedly, "I want to continue living with my mother until I graduate high school. "
The voice on the other line remained quiet for a moment before chuckling and speaking again, "Okay, I don't see why not. I'll have Ms Izumi explain things in detail to you next time, Yuzuko-"
"Grandmother", the girl suddenly abruptly intervened, "Please call me Yuzu from now on".
"...Okay", the elder woman agreed.
Yuzu grinned happily, "Well, I gotta get going. I'll talk to you soon", she got ready to end the call.
"Yuzu!", the other voice suddenly shouted. "What I said about dyeing your hair… Don't. It suits you"
Before Yuzu could answer, the older woman hung up. A small smile spread on her face as she shoved the phone into her pocket and skipped towards the student council room.
"Mei~ Are you still not done?"
…
The sun was already making its descent into the horizon as the two girls made their way home. During their quiet walk, Yuzu couldn't help but notice a small smile on her girlfriend's face. She poked at Mei's cheek lightly, "Hey, what're you smiling about?"
The raven haired girl smacked her finger away, her smile replaced with an annoyed expression. Yuzu chuckled at her girlfriend's reaction.
"What's wrong with me smiling?", Mei scoffed and made her annoyance apparent as she started to pout.
Yuzu continued to grin, "Nothing. It's just that you smiling like that out of nowhere is bad for my heart".
The younger girl only grew more irritated. Yuzu's cheesy pick up lines always irked her but what pissed her off more was that they actually worked on her.
Mei huffed, "Well if you must know, while you went out earlier, Himeko and the others' bewilderment at your recent behaviour was quite amusing for me", she explained. "It seems that they were surprised when you actually didn't cause any trouble"
The blonde grabbed Mei's hand, "What about you? Were you surprised?"
"Hardly", she held onto Yuzu's hand, "After the last few months, I'm done with being 'surprised'".
Yuzu only laughed at that and they returned to walking in silence. The peace was short lived however, as Mei interrupted the still atmosphere, "Who… were you talking to on the phone earlier?"
The blonde girl's eyes remained on the ground as she simply answered, "My grandmother".
"I see", they continued to walk. Mei waited for Yuzu to continue.
"Actually, she came to me last night. We talked and she apologized…", she paused. "She asked me to become the next head of the family. I told her I'd think about it, so I talked to mom… I called her today to tell her my decision".
"And what did you say…?"
Yuzu finally looked up from the ground, "I told her I'd do it, that I'll be the next head of the family"
It was Mei's turn to stare at the ground, "...So, will you be moving into the Hayato Estate?"
She held her breath as she waited for Yuzu to answer.
"No. I told her that I want to continue living here", the older girl squeezed Mei's hand. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere"
The younger girl returned the gesture and looked at Yuzu in the eyes, "Good"