The reason I was able to update so fast is because I've already posted this chapters on ao3. This is the latest chapter I've written and writing a new chapter takes about a week. That being said, the next chapter should be up on Friday (Sunday at the latest because I have school stuff to do). Anyway, please be patient and enjoy! ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ
"Tch", Amemiya watched as the blonde entered the building from below. "So they really couldn't beat her…"
Mei was quick to notice his agitation, smirking as he started to pace around the room. "I told you they wouldn't be able to beat her. It's only matter or time before-"
She suddenly felt a sharp sting on her cheek, a split on her lip has caused a small amount of blood to trickle down her chin. "Shut up", Amemiya took his seat on his desk again and took a deep breath in order to calm himself. He tightened his tie and cleared his throat before speaking, "Well, I expected them to fail anyway. But after I found out about that bitch's heritage it would have been more convenient if they handled it though… Would have saved me the energy and time to clean up, plus, they would be the ones put in jail for murder"
"Yuzu won't die from the likes of you", Mei spat.
Amemiya smirked and pulled something out of his desk drawer. He gleefully presented a small vial to her, "She will with this. No matter how strong she is, this will definitely kill her". He placed the small glass tube on his desk carefully before continuing, "It's a lethal gas I created that causes death within 5 minutes of inhalation. What makes it special is that it leaves no traces during an autopsy, making it seem as though the person died of natural causes"
Mei stared at it in fear of its purpose, "Y-you won't get away with this. Yuzu's family will definitely know it was you!"
Amemiya shrugged his shoulders blithely, "Sure they'll know after this but they won't be able to find me. Not with my connections, especially when I start selling this on the blackmarket!". He glanced at his monitor which showed all of the building's cameras, "Looks like she's almost here…"
Mei's body tensed up, '...No, she's here?!'. Her mouth felt dry and her heart started to beat faster. "Yuzu don't come in here!", she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Please don't come in-"
Amemiya tied a piece of cloth around her mouth, preventing her from speaking anymore. He pushed the chair into a small room next to his desk, "We can't have you spoiling the surprise now can we?", he said in a taunting manner before shutting the door.
As Mei sat in the dimly lit room contemplating the situation for the hundredth time she stared at the floor pensively.
Flashback:
Yuzu huffed as she looked at the floor that was littered with heaps of letters. They burst out of her shoe locker right when she opened it. 'Again?', she thought as she rubbed the back of her head in annoyance. This was starting to get problematic.
About 3 weeks ago, after her date with Mei, another rumour started in their school. Word got out that Hayato Yuzu, the new 'prince' of Aihara Academy, was gay and had gone on a date with another girl. However, the identity of the girl was unknown and the blonde had not confirmed that she had a girlfriend. As a result, the girls in the school got their hopes up and started confessing and sending love letters to Yuzu.
So maybe it wasn't a rumour since she really did go on a date with her girlfriend but thinking about it, she never thought of herself as 'gay'. In fact, before she met Mei, Yuzu was dead set on getting a boyfriend. But things change. People change, including Yuzu and especially Mei, who had learned to open up and start giving her love and affection to the people she cared for. However, she was still learning how to show it.
Aside from being exhausted from the combined school work and club activities (not to mention the trips all over Japan to learn about the different companies and CEO's that she'll be working with in the future), she now also had to deal with rejecting the people who were confessing to her. Not only that, Mei has reverted back to her old self lately. She'd been acting cold and distant again. Yuzu suspected that the sudden bombardment of confessions were starting to bother Mei. Sure, Yuzu loved her tsundere side but her indifference was starting to worry her. It wasn't that Mei didn't trust her, but it still made her feel uneasy; like she was unworthy of her.
The martial artist picked up the letters and shuffled through them. As troublesome as the situation may be, Yuzu still wanted to answer them truthfully. Even if it meant that she had to reject at least a dozen girls every day. 'I already like someone', she would say after a confession and when they still wouldn't give up the situation would only get more complicated. It would be so much easier if she could just tell everyone that she was already dating someone but that would only create more trouble for Mei. It would only be a matter of time before someone figured out that the one she was dating was none other than the student council president, who also happened to be her younger step sister.
'I'll read them tomorrow. I'm too tired for today', just as Yuzu was about to cram the letters into her bag she noticed another note on the ground. 'Must've missed this', she picked up the piece of paper. This was unlike the other ones as the other letters were neatly placed into an envelope, whereas this one was just a small card.
'Come to our classroom after your club activities', it said. 'I'll be waiting'
Yuzu rubbed both her eyes with her index finger and thumb. She was really tired and would have preferred to get some early shut eye for the day, especially since her grandmother's been on her case lately (something about a nearby company's CEO's husband being involved with the underground market). On the other hand, she didn't want to be a jerk and leave the anonymous girl to wait there for god knows how long. The decision was made apparent with a heavy sigh as she started walking towards her classroom.
As expected, it was another confession. However, this one got slightly out of hand. Consumed in all her heavy thoughts and fatigue, Yuzu was caught off guard when the confessing girl suddenly kissed her. Little did she know, in that moment Mei happened to pass by the classroom to retrieve something she'd forgotten. That's how it all began. After Yuzu pushed the other girl away she started to resolutely explain that she already had a girlfriend. Enough was enough and she wanted to make it clear that her heart already belonged to someone.
However, Mei had already left the scene, missing Yuzu's fierce statement. If only she'd stayed for just another minute, perhaps they wouldn't have gotten into a fight in the first place. But she didn't and things escalated from then on.
Yuzu POV
Yuzu entered the building with unexpected ease. Despite the building being empty the doors were all unlocked. Nevertheless, she quickly made her way to the highest floor where she'd anticipated Amemiya would be. Just as she stepped out of the elevator she heard a muffled voice yell, "...zu don't… here…! Please don't… in". As soon as she realized it was Mei's voice she immediately barged into the room.
"What took you so long?", Amemiya stood in front of his desk, his hands locked together behind his back.
The blonde girl wasn't in the mood to entertain him, "Where is she", she demanded, barely containing herself at this point.
Even Amemiya wavered for a moment. He attempted to hide his apprehension with false composure by smiling arrogantly and gesturing to the door next to him. Yuzu eyed her surroundings cautiously, she was certain that he was planning something but it didn't stop her from complying and entering the room. The door instantly shut behind her but she didn't care. Her breath stopped in her throat for a second when she finally saw Mei, immediately noticing the indication of physical abuse on her girlfriend's swollen cheek. Without delay she was by her side, caressing her cheek and asking if she was okay.
"Mmm!", Yuzu could not decipher what she was trying to say but the alarmed look on Mei's face and the vigorous shaking of her head immediately told her something was wrong. She untied the cloth around the other girl's mouth.
"Yuzu you have to get out of here, now!", Mei shouted as soon as she was able to speak.
"Calm down! It's okay-", the older girl was interrupted by Amemiya's aggravating voice, "I'd hate to interrupt this heartwarming reunion but we need to get a move on!".
Yuzu's eyes moved around the room rapidly, trying to find the source of the sound. The room was quite dark, making it easier to spot the small red light blinking from the corner of the ceiling. Looking closer, she realized that it was a camera. Smoke suddenly started to emit from a small vent next to the camera, creating a soft hissing noise.
"Yuzu, this gas is fatal to anyone who breathes it", Mei explained frantically.
The older girl turned to the door and started attempting to break it down. However, from the first hit she knew that it would be impossible to break the door down with her bare fists.
"Do you like the door? I made sure that it's unbreakable with your hands alone. But don't worry, I've left you a little gift. Check the box behind the chair", Amemiya sounded all too eager.
Yuzu opened the box reluctantly and stared hard at its contents. The box contained a single gas mask. She continued to stare at it then looked at Mei with a small smile. The younger girl was confused at first but one look at the other girl made her realize her intentions, "Yuzu. No.", she tried to sound adamant but the cracking in her voice made her sound more desperate. Yuzu wordlessly started to place it on the other girl's face, "It'll be okay"
"No, don't you dare, Yuzu!", her words barely coherent as they were slightly muffled while she wore the gas mask. Mei continued to struggle, ignoring the pain of the ropes digging into her wrists and ankles. She couldn't do anything except watch helplessly through the hazy lenses of the gas mask as Yuzu started coughing violently. Until finally, after a minute, her hacking and wheezing settled down and she lay on the floor, unmoving.
Flashback:
When Yuzu got home she was ready to collapse on anything soft for her to sleep in, a huge migraine had set after the incident.
"Yuzu, did anything happen today?", Mei tried to ask as calmly as she could.
The older girl hesitated before answering, "No, nothing in particular". Mei hadn't initiated a conversation for a while so Yuzu didn't want to increase her anxiety by telling her that she was just unwillingly kissed by some girl.
"Liar", Mei said in a quivering, low voice, her jet black bangs covering her face.
"Huh?"
"I saw you kissing someone!", the girl snapped.
Yuzu shot up from the bed, frantically trying to explain, "I was caught off guard! I pushed her away as soon as I realized she was kissing me!". She was wary of getting close to the other girl, "I didn't want to worry you even more than you already are. I know it's been bothering you… you've been acting so distant lately"
Mei turned to Yuzu, "Me, distant? You're the one being distant! Talking to all those girls and now kissing them. What's even worse is that you lied to me", jealousy, anger and fear all mixing into one. "Maybe you should just go out with her…", she mumbled quietly but loud enough for the other girl to hear.
"What?", Yuzu's guilt was replaced by all her other emotions which turned into anger. All her efforts to balance her school, family and love life was starting to fall apart. She had to keep up her grades in school, learn to become a good leader for her clan and had to keep her relationship with Mei a secret. "I was trying to protect you. That's why I've been enduring all this myself so then you wouldn't have to…!"
Mei stepped back, but instead of admitting her regret for her previous comment, her unwillingness to apologize got the better of her, "...If you were really trying to protect me then you shouldn't have lied in the first place"
The rest of the day was spent blaming each other for any faults the other one had. Until finally they both ended the discussion without really resolving it, both girls too stubborn to apologize. Yuzu spent the night sleeping on the couch while Mei stayed in their room.
Mei snapped out of her thoughts. Why did she have to remember their stupid fight now, out of all times?
"I'm sorry", the girl spoke in a weak voice, "I-If only I'd apologized at the time… then maybe none of this would have happened!". She continued to stare at the motionless body in front of her, expecting her to get up any second now.
"...Yuzu…?"