Matsuri watched as Yuzu unscrewed the cap of the prescription bottle, "You still take medication, huh?". The middle schooler invited her out to eat, telling her she would treat her to dinner as an apology for causing a scene in the academy after showing up without notice this morning.
Yuzu swallowed the small pill and took a swig of her water before replying, "...Yeah"
"Does anyone else know about your condition?". Matsuri was well aware of Yuzu's tendency to keep her affliction a secret from everyone unless it was absolutely necessary to tell them.
"Harumin knows, though it was kind of an accident…"
The younger girl raised an eyebrow, 'So that senpai from the other day knows…'."What about your little step sister? If you told her, I'm sure you'd get closer"
'And make her feel guilty and pity me? No way'. There are many ways to get someone to like you. Pity is not one of them. Yuzu was aiming to win Mei's heart with as much love as she could offer. Even if she's been rejected countless times only to be kissed again a few days later.
'So that Mei doesn't know anything, huh?'. Matsuri stared at the older girl's serious expression. She was lost in her own thoughts. 'That's good'.
Boring. That was her impression of Yuzu's new step sister/crush. Someone who was blessed with a long, healthy life was living it in such a boring way that she actually looked dead inside. 'Someone like that couldn't possibly make Yuzu-oneechan happy', the troublesome middle schooler thought as she devised one of her schemes. Yuzu becomes compliant and timid whenever Mei was around. But the Yuzu that Matsuri knew was carefree and rebellious. She would never take orders from anyone, especially someone so stiff and subservient.
Flashback:
"The doctor said that I'm sick", Yuzu said simply.
Since she started middle school Yuzu started feeling a strange fluttering sensation in her chest. She'd mentioned it once or twice to her mom and she simply wrote it off as her daughter having a crush for the first time. However, a few weeks ago when the pain got so bad that she ended up fainting during school, her mother, like any other worried parent, brought her to the hospital. They did a few tests, hooking her up to machines using wires and took a couple x-ray examinations.
The results came in this morning and her mother had been crying ever since. Yuzu was sad that her mother was sad but she herself didn't really know how to react to the news. There were too many complicated words for her to understand like 'life expectancy, arrhythmia and hereditary'. All she knew was that she would die because of this 'sickness' but wouldn't everyone die sooner or later? Sure it was sad but she couldn't understand why that was a bad thing. After all, she'd meet her papa again in heaven when she died right?
Yuzu decided to give her mother some space so she went to the playground where she found Matsuri playing by herself like usual. "They said that I'll have to take medication for it…"
Matsuri sat down on one of the swings next to Yuzu and after a pause she finally managed to form words. She was also trying to wrap her head around this. "If you're sick does that mean you'll have to stay in the hospital?"
The middle schooler shook her head as she began to swing a little. "The doctors said that finding out while I'm still young will reduce the risk of full time hospitalization"
Matsuri looked at her with a blank expression.
Yuzu chuckled. Sometimes she forgot that Matsuri was still in elementary school. "It means I won't be staying in the hospital", she reached over to pat her on the head. "At least for now…"
"Why wouldn't you want to stay in the hospital? You'd get to live your life in peace while everyone pampered and took care of you!", she hopped off the swing. "Sure it'd be boring sometimes but it's more boring to have your life pass you by by working non stop when you're an adult!"
"No!", Yuzu practically shouted. "I'm not going to live my life like that! From now on, I'll do whatever I want. I'll eat whatever I want, I'll stay awake however long I want, I'll fall in love with whoever I want and when I'm an adult I'll get whatever job I want. Even if I happen to bite the dust before I get to do all that, I'll be happy because then at least I won't have any regrets!"
That's right. She won't waste away in a hospital bed or in an office like her parents. That would be boring. Her Yuzu-oneechan is the type of person who'll go out with a bang. 'I just need to remind her of that'. "Well, it was nice catching up, Yuzu-oneechan but I gotta go", Matsuri waved goodbye before walking out of the fast food restaurant. The pink haired girl smirked wickedly as she stared at the photo of herself and that student council president.
Ever since Yuzu rejected Mei's offer to help her to the infirmary, things went back to zero. It was always like one step forward and two steps back. But it's not like she intended to hurt the younger girl. Just when she thought she'd made some progress with that kiss, Yuzu went and hurt Mei's feelings resulting in a mutual period of silence and tension between them.
However, recently things have been looking up for the blonde. She placed 97th in the last test but more importantly, Mei was starting to talk to her again. The encounter with Matsuri also reminded her of the burning determination she once had when she first learned about her condition.
A tinge of doubt started to fill her mind again as she remembered Mei's response to her question when she asked her what that kiss meant. "There was no meaning behind it". Yuzu shook those thoughts off, 'Come on Yuzu!'
"Hey Mei, since it's cold can we hold hands?", she held her breath and kept her eyes fixed to the ground.
The raven haired girl thought for a moment. After the older girl fainted she put some distance between the two of them. Of course she was still concerned for the other girl's well being. She made sure to give her some space after the nurse told her she fainted from exhaustion. It didn't hide the fact that she definitely felt something for the older girl though. But before those feelings grew any more, she decided that she wouldn't try to become more than sisters with her and outright rejected Yuzu's advances towards her a few days ago. Even so, she couldn't help feeling a tinge of jealousy when she saw Yuzu and that middle schooler together. She simply couldn't help herself, so she took back Yuzu's lips with a kiss.
Mei sighed to herself. Ever since she met the lively girl, her thoughts and actions have been contradicting each other more and more. "Sure"
The blonde lit up at the answer and she couldn't help but fidget in her seat as contact was made.
"Your hand is as warm as always". Through the silence, Mei tried to start a conversation. "The extra heat can be a bit unpleasant but I guess it has its perks during cold weather"
Yuzu smiled at the younger girl's effort to compliment her. "Mom says that my body heat is naturally higher 'cause I used to get fevers a lot as a child", she looked up at the sky, a white cloud escaping her lips as she breathed out.
Mei watched her pensive expression. Yuzu was always so cheerful that it was rare to see her look so focused. It made her heart beat faster. "Wanting to feel someone's warmth like this, is it because of how twisted I am?", she kept her eyes downcast.
But suddenly she felt her hand squeeze tighter so she looked up at Yuzu.
"If you're twisted, Mei, then I must be just as twisted"
There was that resolute expression again. She couldn't help but feel captivated by the blonde. Was it respect, admiration maybe? No. That flutter she felt in her chest told her that it was something more. Yuzu didn't know if it was because of the cold weather but she noticed the colour of Mei's ears grow slightly red.
Not much happening this chapter. A little bit about Yuzu's past and focusing more on Mei's growing feelings towards her.