9 Chapter 9: A Fun Date or Troubles in Paradise?

Yuzu awoke to the feeling of fingers running through her hair, she squinted as she opened her eyes letting the harsh sun rays burn her still tired eyes, she glanced at the figure beside her. Mei was happily sitting with one arm around Yuzu's shoulders playing with her hair; the other lay across her waist making small circular patterns on her stomach. Yuzu noticed Mei was humming to herself as she played with her hair obviously unaware the blonde was awake. Yuzu shuffled in Mei's hold turning on her side to face Mei, Mei's eyes' snapped open at the sudden movements, her humming immediately stopped and she was greeted with a light peck from her lover.

"I was enjoying that, why'd you stop?" Yuzu said wearily as she nuzzled closer to Mei, who continued to twirl her hair and glide her fingers over Yuzu's waist.

"Sorry, I didn't know you where awake," Mei apologized while leaning down and giving Yuzu's forehead a lingering kiss. The blonde smiled, raising her hand to cress Mei's slightly rosy cheeks,

"Don't be embarrassed, I liked listening to you hum it was relaxing, you should do it more often," Yuzu said while tracing her thumb over Mei's soft lips, Mei moved her hand from the older girls waist taking Yuzu's hand from her face into her own hand, and giving each knuckle a tender kiss,

"Maybe, if you want, though I can't guarantee I'll be any good," Mei gave a small chuckled as she gave the knuckles one last kiss before tucking the hand in the cress of her neck, leaning into it as she lay down on the pillow, still smiling at Yuzu. Mei looked into the emerald pools, they seemed like they were neverending, she could look into the bright orbs all day and still find a new attribute to gush over. She felt they were all-consuming, she always found it near impossible to drag her sights away from the deep green eyes. This morning was no different as she once again was lost in the green centres, happily lost in thought.

"You're in an awfully good mood today, what's up?" Yuzu didn't mind the affectionate wake-up, in fact, she would love to wake up like this every day, instead of being dragged out of bed by a usually annoyed raven-haired girl. Mei spoke quietly, her smile seeming to widen thinking about why she was so happy today.

"Well, I made some plans for the two of us today and I think you will really like it," Mei said to the enthusiastic blonde, who was now sitting up in the bed looking down at Mei. "Ooo, where are we going?" Yuzu clapped her hands together with excitement, as she eagerly awaited a response from Mei.

"It's a surprise, why do you think I've not told you till now? You are going to have to wait till we get there." Mei joined Yuzu in sitting up as she took the blonde's face in her hands and kissed her deeply, though she quickly pulled back from the kiss and gave Yuzu a displeased look.

"Before we go anywhere you need to go and brush your teeth, whatever you've had is absolutely disgusting," Yuzu smiled instantly she knew exactly what Mei was talking about, she leaned in quickly kissing Mei again pinning her down on the mattress, laughing as Mei tried to wriggle out of her grip. She soon let go and slid off the bed and a still giggling Mei followed.

After a shower and brushing her teeth Yuzu stood in front of her wardrobe unsure of what to put on, Mei wouldn't tell her what they were doing so how was she supposed to plan an outfit accordingly. She thought it best to go with something casual but still smart, laying out a white blouse, skirt and converse she looked at it still contemplating her decision. Mei walked in and seeing the clothes on the bed, chuckled slightly,

"Don't wear that, trust me it won't work," Mei smiled, seemingly amused at the thought of the blonde doing the actions of their date in a skirt and blouse, Yuzu put her hand on her hip and puffed her cheeks out, "Well how am I supposed to know what to wear when you won't even give me a hint?" Yuzu pouted as she dramatically sat down on the bed. Mei ignored the sulking girl and approached her wardrobe, trying to overlook how unorganized it was, she eventually presented two pieces of clothing and handed them to Yuzu.

"Really? What are we going to do in these, they seem a little too casual don't you think?" Yuzu said as she looked at the pink tank top and dark blue sports leggins Mei had given her. Mei just shook her head as she too got herself out something similar and started getting changed. Mei put her hair up in a ponytail while she still waited for Yuzu to get dressed.

"C'mon Yuzu, if you don't hurry up we are going to be late, just put them on and put your hair into a bun or something. We have to go." Mei said as she pointed to the clock. Without further complaint, Yuzu got changed and put her hair in a high messy bun, and went over to do her make up. Although she didn't wear nearly as much makeup as she did when she was in high school, she still liked to wear the basics when leaving the house. And yet just as she was about to sit down at her desk, Mei had taken her by the arm and pulled her up gently from her seat, smiling kindly at Yuzu, running her hand over the blond's cheek.

"Nope, no makeup today. Not that you need it anyway, you are a natural beauty," Mei's cheeks blushed slightly at the statement but she didn't mind, she meant what she said.

Yuzu reluctantly moved away from her table and into the kitchen where Mei had already prepared breakfast. And before long Yuzu found herself walking down the street holding Mei's hand, having completely no idea where she was being taken.

"C'mon Mei, how long are you gonna make me wait?" Yuzu questioned as she tugged on Mei's hand, Mei just smiled in response and pointed towards a building at the end of the street,

"We're here, so stop complaining already," Yuzu instantly stopped and turned in the direction Mei was pointing, Mei heard a slight gasp before Yuzu turned to her again,

"You brought us to a dance studio?" Yuzu looked at Mei in confusion, Mei never danced at least not that she showed Yuzu.

"I thought it would be a fun date that wasn't dinner and a movie, it's a two-hour dance class. What do you think?" Mei asked Yuzu who wore a bright smile at her girlfriend's words.

Yuzu was usually the one to think of spontaneous dates or days out for the two, while whenever it was Mei's turn to plan a date it usually consisted of a walk, movie and dinner. Which neither of them minded but Mei thought she should do something different, something fun. And seeing Yuzu grinning in front of her gave Mei a huge amount of relief, Yuzu practically jumped in the direction of the studio as Mei was dragged along behind her.

"Hey slow down Yuzu, you're going to bump into someone," Mei said which done nothing to slow down the older girl's pace as she drew nearer the building. After being directed to the correct hall, they were met with half a dozen other couples, a grinning Yuzu skipped to a space on the further end of the hall as she waited for Mei to follow her.

"Thanks for doing this, it's going to be so much fun," Yuzu said once again as she kissed Mei on the cheek, still over-excited by the events of the date. Before long the instructor came into the room and began the class. After several warm-up stretches, he wasted no time in picking someone from the crowd and showing the first example.

Now 20 minutes into the lesson Mei and Yuzu were in the middle of a failing attempt at the tango, Mei growing discouraged at her inability to follow simple steps; Yuzu laughing happily. Once again putting the wrong foot forward and stopping the progression of the dance, Mei let out a frustrated sigh as she grit her teeth and stepped back from Yuzu.

"Mei, come on just have fun it doesn't matter, see everyone is just letting loose, C'mon try again and just relax." Yuzu said with a cheery voice as she put her hand out waiting for Mei to take it again. Although this was their first dance class Yuzu had picked up the technique relatively fast, Mei, on the other hand, was having a much harder time with it which wasn't something the black haired girl particularly enjoyed. Yuzu could tell she was getting annoyed at getting it wrong and was doing her best to stay positive, but was finding it rather hard not to let a chuckle loose every now and again.

Mei took Yuzu's hand and placed her other on the older girls shoulder while Yuzu put her's on Mei's waist, "Okay, back with your right foot first, then your left then once again with your right, then just take a side step with your left foot and slowly drag your right to meet it okay?" Yuzu explained again and Mei nodded stepping backwards with her right foot as Yuzu followed her movements and stepped forwards. Several steps later and Mei was slowly dragging her foot across the floor, Yuzu smiled as she twirled Mei under her arm, "See you can totally do it," she giggled as she brought Mei in for a quick kiss.

"Good work you two, now how about we try and put a turn in to continue the dance?" the instructor said with a smile, Mei immediately let go off Yuzu blushing, she didn't know she was being watched. Yuzu just laughed and nodded, he extended his hand to Yuzu as it was clear to him that she was the stronger dancer.

"Okay if you just follow my lead, and then you can show this to your partner," Yuzu placed her hand on his shoulder as he put one on her waist and started to lead Yuzu into the dance, when they got to the end of what Yuzu had learnt so far, he gently turned 90 degrees and started again, every time the 8 steps came to an end he would gently turn with Yuzu and start again.

When he broke the dance he gestured for Mei to take his place and waited for them to get ready. He counted the beats as they danced to his voice and Yuzu happily lead Mei across the floor, Yuzu was smiling at Mei who was concentrating hard on her feet.

"Okay very good, but I'm going to make one small change," when he said that Mei instinctively stepped back to allow himself to demonstrate again, however, he only told her to take the starting position with Yuzu again. "You need to be closer, feel one another, be one, there shouldn't be all this space," he gestured to the inches of space between Mei and Yuzu, stepping forwards he urged Mei to move closer to Yuzu so they were flush against each other, he also lifted Mei's arm slightly, so it was resting more comfortably atop Yuzu's shoulder.

"Okay try again and Miss, I want you too look at your partner and forget about your feet, let her lead and follow what she does," Mei although thought it would only make her mess up, stayed close to Yuzu and looked at her. Yuzu beamed at her with a slight tinge to her cheeks at their close proximity and started to lead Mei to the sound of the instructors counting.

As Mei let her girlfriend lead her across the floor she found her body naturally following Yuzu's and she once again found herself lost in Yuzu's emerald orbs, they both smiled warmly looking into the eyes of the other. Mei was once again captivated by those bright, smiling eyes and she soon found herself forgetting everything else in the room, all she could feel was Yuzu against her, swiftly moving over the floor. "Just go with this okay?" she heard Yuzu say, and she nodded as she continued to let her lead. Mei felt Yuzu move away slightly as she raised their clasped hands and gently let Mei twirl once under her arm, before bringing her back flush against her body.

Yuzu turned their position quickly once more before she graciously let her leg stretch out behind her and dipped Mei over her thigh, careful to support her weight, and she was surprised to see Mei bend one of her legs up against her as she leaned against Yuzu. The whole time Mei never once broke eye contact with Yuzu as she smiled up at the beaming blonde, who leaned down and captured her lips in a soft kiss before gently pulling Mei back to her feet. Yuzu giggled slightly as she continued to hold Mei close, her heart was racing and she was sure that Mei could feel it too.

They were quickly brought out of their daze at the loud applause, they both moved apart to see that all the other dancers had stopped to watch them dance, and were now clapping at the little show. The instructor smiled happily at the two as he too applauded. Both the girls blushed furiously at the realisation, as people soon returned back to their own dancing.

"See? You have to trust completely in your partner," the man smiled and bowed as he walked away leaving the two alone again. Mei could still feel her heart beating from the intimacy, "Why did you do that, what if you had dropped me?" Mei questioned and although she tried to protest she was smiling happily in Yuzu's grasp, Yuzu just smiled and gave her another kiss, "But I didn't," she laughed as they continued their dance.

Hours later Yuzu and Mei were leaving the studio, both rather exhausted from the two hours of dancing, "What do you want to do now? I didn't really have anything planned after this, I didn't know what you would be up for," Mei smiled as she took Yuzu's hand and lead her towards the side of the pavement.

"Well that was super fun but it really tired me out, how about we just go to a cafe and get some lunch?" Mei nodded as they headed for their favourite cafe that was about a 10-minute walk from the studio. When they reached the cafe they both sat down heavily at the booth, relieved to have a seat and give their legs a break, ordering their food they both sat in comfortable conversation.

Mei was proud that her date had gone so well, she had half expected it to go completely wrong or that Yuzu would hate dancing, which given the blondes perky personality would be far-fetched but it was still something she had considered and now that they both sat peacefully chatting at the cafe Mei could say that her idea had gone pretty well. She hadn't expected Yuzu to be so good at dancing, as throughout the practice Yuzu continued to excel at it but that didn't stop Mei from enjoying it as Yuzu relentlessly attempted to teach her the simple steps.

When the food finally arrived it was like heaven to the two, not long after they were both finished and Yuzu was resting against Mei's shoulder as she slurped on her drink. "So do you want to go home now or we could stay out and do something? I mean it's only about two o'clock, loads of places are still open." Mei asked. Yuzu eagerly sat up declaring that she wanted to stay out, and pulled Mei away from the table and out into the streets.

The two soon found themselves back in their normal routine as they walked around the mall, entering random shops as they passed the time, after walking for hours the two headed home.

Yuzu flopped down onto the couch when she got in, sighing contently as she wriggled into the soft material. Mei watched amused as she walked into the kitchen and started to prepare dinner, Yuzu sat up when she heard Mei pottering about in the kitchen, "Mei don't you want to come and sit down, you must be exhausted?" Yuzu asked as she leaned over the couch on her elbows watching as her girlfriend continued to prep.

"Yes I would love to do that, but we have to eat and you don't seem to want to cook," Mei said, and although she didn't smile Yuzu could tell by the tone of her voice she was teasing the older girl. Yuzu smiled as she got off the couch and walked over to Mei, "I'll help, what are you making?" Mei smiled at Yuzu as she handed her the knife and pointed to the pile of vegetables, soon they were both again sitting down eating.

"Thanks again for today, it was really fun we should do stuff like that more often, I love learning new things especially if it's with you," Yuzu grinned at Mei who smiled at her comment, "Yeah it was fun. If you wanted to do something like that again, I saw a flyer for music lessons when I was booking the dance one, I don't have a clue how to play anything but I'm sure we could learn together" Mei said as she continued to eat, she looked at Yuzu who didn't reply and had stopped eating her food, Mei looked at her concerned, did she say something wrong? "I mean we don't have to it was just a thought," Mei tried to recover from her mistake even if she didn't know what it was.

"Yeah... we can do that if you want... maybe sometime next week. There is no rush we have the whole summer break." It was like Yuzu had flicked an internal switch as her expression changed from discomfort to cheery in a matter of split seconds. "Are you okay?" Mei asked clearly worried by her girlfriends out of character actions. Yuzu just smiled and nodded, "Of course," Mei decided to leave it, maybe she had just imagined that reaction, she seemed normal enough now.

Yuzu cleaned up after dinner, Mei had offered to help but she insisted on doing it herself, telling Mei to go and choose a movie in the bedroom and set up the bed. Which she complied to as she went through and set the bed with pillows and started up the T.V and started flicking through the movies. In the time Mei had chosen a movie, went for a shower and was currently changing into some pyjamas Yuzu was still cleaning up the kitchen, she only had a couple of plates and cups to wash it shouldn't be taking her this long.

Mei, once she was dressed made her way to the kitchen where she found Yuzu cleaning the stove, the kitchen had been completely cleaned, it was practically sparkling. Yuzu wasn't a dirty person but she also wasn't one to thoroughly clean something, and at the moment she was scrubbing the stove top with all her strength. Something was definitely wrong.

"Yuzu, what are you doing?" Mei asked her voice soft and comforting, Yuzu's head shot around at the sound of her voice, "Isn't it obvious? I'm cleaning up just like I said I would, is the movie ready? If it is I'll be through in two minutes, I'll finish up here, jump in the shower and then we can watch it okay." Yuzu rambled as she wiped the last of the stove and cleaned her sponge, before jogging to the bedroom, grabbing some clothes going straight into the bathroom.

Mei stood unsure of what to do, she knew that there was something wrong with the blonde, but in all their years together Yuzu had always told her when something was bothering her, whether it was something as small as the shopping or as big as Mei doing something that had upset her she always spoke her feelings. So why was she avoiding this topic or was there even anything wrong at all? Mei couldn't think of anything she had said to make Yuzu mad or upset. She hadn't snapped at her all day, which she usually would have by now so it wasn't that, she hadn't yelled at her nor had she back chatted her, so it wasn't something she had done. Mei was sure of that, but then what was making Yuzu act like this?

Mei went back to the bedroom and got into bed waiting for Yuzu to get out the shower, Mei knew she would just have to wait and ask the blonde and hope that she wanted to talk about it. 20 minutes had gone by when Yuzu finally came into the bedroom in fresh clothes, she smiled at Mei as she walked over to the bed crawling over the other girl to get to her side. "Sorry I took so long," Mei sat up and turned Yuzu's face to her own gasping when she saw the blondes bloodshot red eyes, "Yuzu what happened?" Mei's voice was laced in worry as she looked over Yuzu's face. Yuzu laughed, pulling Meis hand away and kissing the back of her hand lightly.

"Don't worry, I was distracted and accidentally got some shampoo in my eyes, I rinsed them with water, so everything is fine. Let's just watch the movie or I'm gonna fall asleep before it even starts." Yuzu said playfully snuggling up to Mei under the covers. Mei played the movie but her attention was not on the screen but the blonde lying against her, she was sure that Yuzu had been crying and was lying about it, but that was only suspicion. She had no way to prove it plus the blonde was smiling happily cuddled up with her. After contemplating whether or not to bring it up she finally decided to ask the blonde,

"Yuzu?" Her voice was quiet but she got no response, she looked down to find that Yuzu was fast asleep. Mei smiled at her peaceful face and turned off the movie, taking the blonde fully in her grasp as she lay down next to her. Maybe she was over exaggerating things, Yuzu said she was fine and was acting like normal so Mei should too. Mei gave the sleeping blonde a kiss on the forehead before closing her own eyes and similarly falling into a deep sleep.

Mei woke the next again morning with warm spots of sun hitting the bed through the cracks in the blinds, sitting up and wiping her eyes Mei looked over to see the bed was empty, glancing at the clock it was only just past seven so why was Yuzu up? Groggily getting out of bed the apartment was completely silent as she walked down the hall, making a quick pit stop along the way she got herself to the lounge where there was still no sign of Yuzu. Mei beginning to get a little worried walked briskly towards the kitchen, she had a perfect view of the kitchen from the lounge but she needed to confirm the blonde wasn't in there, walking around the small island she came up empty-handed.

"Yuzu?" Mei raised her voice enough so if the blonde was in the vicinity she would hear her, but alas no response came and by this point, Mei was fully awake. With one room left in the apartment; the study, Mei made her way down the hall again, Yuzu hardly ever went in the study, it wasn't a set rule that she wasn't allowed to go in but Yuzu had said when Mei questioned her about it, 'I don't really like the vibes it gives off, makes me feel like in one of Gramps offices again'. Which was true, Mei had designed it after all; the walls were lined with ceiling-high bookcases and a large burgundy desk sat at the back of the room, though Mei had splattered the walls in photos of the two which gave it a slightly more personal feeling.

Mei liked to use this room when she really needed to focus or had family business to attend to, the room was professional and Mei had found it easiest to work in these 'conditions', and Yuzu usually never bothered her when she went into the study knowing it was because she had to concentrate. Mei had found Yuzu in the study on only two occasions; once Yuzu and Mei had had an argument and when Mei had come to apologize Yuzu was sitting in the swivel chair sulking, the other when Yuzu had called her grandfather to tell him he was giving Mei too much work and that she couldn't focus properly on her course because of the stress he was putting on her. And although Mei had denied this at the time her grandfather seemed to take to Yuzu's words and drastically lessened her workload, which she was thankful for, but that was more than 8 months ago and Mei hadn't found Yuzu in the study since she thought it very unlikely that she would be in here.

When she reached the door it was already open a crack, which confirmed that Yuzu was either in there or had been earlier as the door was kept closed. Mei pushed the door open and peered into the room, "Yuzu are you in here?", Mei asked her voice unconvinced as the room was completely silent, the only thing out of place was her chair that was swivelled towards the window instead of the door. Sighing Mei stepped in to turn her chair the right way, it wasn't like Yuzu not to answer her if she was in the apartment or to leave this early without telling her or leaving a note, Mei wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or worried. As she reached the chair she was surprised to find Yuzu sitting in it; knees pulled up to her chest her arms wrapped around them, her head rested against the back of the chair, her eyes shut.

"Yuzu?" Mei's voice was sterner now, Yuzu had ignored her and when she still got no reply she inspected the blonde closer to find that she had earbuds in, one of her hands tightly gripping her phone. Mei looked closer at Yuzu's face to find that her cheeks had tear stains on them, her eyes slightly puffy. It made sense to Mei that Yuzu would come here if she was upset and didn't want Mei to find her, after all, she had only ever come in here when she was mad so Mei would never think to look for her in here.

Mei was very worried now, Yuzu had come to the place she liked least in the house to cry herself to sleep at seven in the morning in hopes that Mei wouldn't find her. She thought about waking the blonde but thought it would only make her distance herself more, instead, she quietly exited the room and went back to the kitchen. Making herself a coffee she went back to the lounge and turned on the television to a show she wasn't really interested in, she sat for at least two episodes of the show, before getting her laptop out and doing the small amount of family paperwork she had been emailed. When she was finished it was already past 10, surely Yuzu wasn't still asleep? She had fallen asleep quite early last night but fair enough Mei didn't know what time she had left her to go to the study. Packing up her stuff she, for the third time today, made her way down the hall and peeked inside the study this time, however, the chair was lightly swaying from side to side.

"Yuzu?" Mei spoke calmly and as she suspected she got no response from the blonde as she most likely still had her earphones in, Mei once again went to leave when she heard a light almost inaudible sob come from the room. Mei was sure she felt her heart break at the sound, Yuzu didn't want her help here so who was she to barge in and stick her nose into her business if Yuzu wasn't comfortable talking about it?

Mei felt useless but refused to force the blonde into talking to her, Yuzu could come to her if she wanted to and she had made it clear to Mei that she wanted to be alone right now, and as hard as that was for Mei to do she didn't have a choice. She left the room again letting out a weary breath her chest heavy and tight, all she could do was wait but at the minute, time felt like it had decreased down to the slowest possible rate. Mei couldn't sit and listen to her lover's cries, instead, she got dress and wrote a short note in the kitchen, explaining she was going out to get some shopping. The cupboards were almost completely stocked and they had plenty of food in the fridge but Mei needed an excuse to get out of the house.

Mei left quickly and began making her way to the store, upon entering she really didn't know what she was going to buy and found herself in the sweet section of the store. Mei herself like sweet foods but not nearly as much as her girlfriend, maybe she should buy her some comfort food? She needed to get at least something from the store, she ended up graciously filling her basket up with cakes, puddings and candies she knew the other girl enjoyed. She was aware that if Yuzu ate all this she had a good chance of being sick but Mei thought it was good for her to have options.

After purchasing her mountain of items she had only been gone for 45 minutes, it would only take her 15 minutes to walk back and she wasn't sure if the blonde would have calmed down. Mei sat down outside on a nearby bench deciding to send the blonde a quick message to see if she was okay. 'Morning Yuzu, I didn't see you before I left are you okay? Love you x',

Mei knew it was wrong to lie to the girl but thought it best to let Yuzu come to her when she was ready. She instantly got a text back from the blonde, 'Hey babe, yeah I'm completely fine why wouldn't I be? When are you coming back? I miss you xxx:)' Mei smiled at the text at least she wanted Mei to be there whether she was going to tell her what was going on or not. Shooting back a quick text saying she would be back soon, Mei got to her feet and briskly walked home.

"I'm home," Mei said as she walked through the front door, where she was met with a smiling Yuzu fully dressed and her eyes no longer puffy or red. Yuzu stepped close to Mei and placed a big wet kiss on her cheek, "Why'd you go to the store I could have sworn we bought everything we needed a couple days ago? And you didn't even tell me you where leaving?" Yuzu said as she puffed up her cheeks in a mock offence which Mei couldn't help but smile at.

"I bought you a bunch of sweets," Mei said as she held open the bag of deserts and watched as Yuzu drooled over the contents of the bag, Yuzu stopped her adoration as she looked sceptically up at Mei giving a short "Why?" while simultaneously taking the bag to the kitchen and placing the items on the counter. Mei frowned at the remembrance of why she had left the house in the first place, moving behind Yuzu she wrapped both her arms around the older girls waist holding her tightly as she nuzzled into the back of her neck.

"Do I need a reason to want to buy you stuff?" Mei asked as she placed a warm kiss on Yuzu's neck, making the girl shudder at the contact. "I guess not," Yuzu said as she turned around to face Mei her eyes now shining brightly, Mei could find no trace of her earlier breakdown as if it had never happened. Yuzu was as lively and bubbly as she normally would have been, but Mei still didn't understand why Yuzu was so upset or why she continued to lie about it, Mei furrowed her brow and could not deny it when Yuzu called her out on it.

"Mei what's wrong, you look annoyed?" Yuzu said as she pushed herself out of Mei's hold to get a better look at the younger girl, Mei couldn't lie or hide her concern any longer, she really wanted Yuzu to come to her of her own will, but she refused to let herself be blindly lied to. Especially if she knew it was making the blonde leave their room in the middle of the night and actually cry herself to sleep.

"Why were you in the study this morning?" Mei asked ignoring Yuzu's question as she looked straight into her eyes; that widened at the statement, she heard a small gulp come from Yuzu as the blonde broke eye contact and mumbled something before speaking up.

"Oh, I err didn't sleep well last night, so I went to the study to listen to some music I didn't want to disturb you," Yuzu gave a half-assed smile at Mei who still eyed her sceptically. "If that was true why didn't you just go to the lounge? You said you didn't like going into that room, so why would you choose to go in there?" Mei held her argument as she narrowed her eyes on the blonde, she wasn't lying; when Mei had seen her at seven the girl was sound asleep, but it was clear to Mei that she was hiding parts of her story. Yuzu looked taken aback at Mei's persistence,

"Am I not allowed to go in there?" Yuzu shot back, her voice had a sting to it that she regretted as soon as she heard it, she saw Mei wince slightly at her tone before she spoke, "I never once said you weren't allowed in that room, this is our apartment you can go where ever you please within it, but why would you go into the room that makes you feel.. I dunno tense? When you could have just stayed in bed or went to the lounge?" Mei really didn't want an argument she knew Yuzu hadn't meant the attitude in her voice, but she had dodged Mei's question.

Yuzu didn't actually know why she had chosen to go into the study, and Mei was right; it was her least favourite part of the house, but she had found some unknown source of comfort in the darkroom in the early hours of the morning. She didn't know why and couldn't put it into words, but Mei was really pushing her, more than Yuzu would have liked. Yuzu had thought Mei hadn't seen her before she left; that's what Mei had told her, why would Mei lie about that? Yuzu quickly realised that Mei had probably found her crying or heard her one of the two, and was trying to get an explanation from her.

Yuzu just needed a moment this morning, Mei's topic the previous night had brought up past memories that weren't very pleasant for her. Now after crying for several hours, she was fine, she had gotten past it and just wanted to spend time with Mei. Yuzu didn't really want to talk about it, what she was upset about had happened over a decade ago and shouldn't still be making her sad, but Yuzu always found music to be her soft spot on the subject and could never suppress her feelings. She had gotten kind of used to the process over the years, the thought or mention of classical music or lessons would always bring a tear to her eyes and she would be flooded with the sentiments of the past. After letting her feelings run rampant for a day or so she would feel better, content almost. Mei bringing it up again wasn't something Yuzu particularly wanted, Yuzu thought her little outbursts were irrational and never liked to share her worries with anyone, and that included Mei.

"I dunno Mei, I was tired and wasn't really paying attention. I just wanted to fall asleep and what can I say your chair is pretty comfy," trying to lighten the mood Yuzu cupped Mei's face in her hand and gave the interrogator a peck on the lips, smiling she said, "Just leave it okay Mei?" Mei was a little taken aback by the warning stare Yuzu gave her and narrowed her eyes again, why was Yuzu being so difficult? Mei moved out of Yuzu's grasp; letting the blonde's hands fall back to her sides.

"Fine, whatever you want," answered Mei as she turned from her girlfriend and started packing the deserts into the fridge in an attempt to escape the blonde without storming away. Mei heard Yuzu give a long sigh and detected a light thud, "Don't be like that Mei, I was tired and wanted a quiet place where no one would disturb me while I listened to my music. You have no reason to be giving me the cold shoulder, so stop it and just let it go. I'm not in the mood to be having any petty arguments." Yuzu, although she had started off light, towards the end of her statement she was using a rather cold and accusing voice. Mei quickly drew her attention away from the fridge at her words and looked at Yuzu who was now sitting on the countertop lightly swinging her legs.

"Excuse me? Do I have no reason? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you are lying through your teeth, refusing to tell me what's bothering you and then telling me I don't have a reason to be concerned or upset about it? I let it go last night when you said you were fine but again you lied to me today, why can't you just let me know what's making you upset?!" Mei's voice was unintentionally raising with every sentence, and by the end of it, she was almost shouting as she slammed the fridge door shut. Yuzu groaned this was the exact opposite of how she had wanted this conversation to go, it was irrelevant to Mei, it didn't concern her so why was she so insistent on knowing, why couldn't she just let the blonde be?

"Mei it has nothing to do with you, so why can't you just get out of my damn business and leave it alone!" Yuzu had spoken before she had time to think about her words and instantly wished she didn't have such a big mouth. Mei's eyes immediately started watering at the statement and she couldn't stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks, Yuzu quickly got off the counter and tried to approach Mei. "Mei, wait please don't cry. I didn't mean that I just spoke without thinking...Mei?" Yuzu tried to touch Mei but was brushed off as Mei pushed past her and walked into the hall. Yuzu hurried after her, she knew they couldn't leave the conversation like this, taking Mei by the arm she attempted to turn Mei around to face her, "Mei don't walk away, we need to talk, please I'm sorry." Yuzu was practically begging Mei to stop, which she eventually did.

"You told me to stay out of your business so I am, next time I find you bawling your eyes out about something I'll make sure not to ask as It's evident that you don't want my help or comfort." Mei's words cut Yuzu like a knife, 'so she did find me crying...shit' Yuzu thought, she didn't have any escape root here. Stepping in front of Mei Yuzu placed her hands on Mei's shoulders and spoke softly hoping to sound apologetic, "I do want your comfort Mei, why do you think I asked you to come back to the house? I'm really sorry for what I said I didn't think about what I was saying and it came out completely wrong," Yuzu paused as she wiped a tear from Mei's cheek with her thumb, and was glad when the younger girl allowed her the touch.

"You and me... we come together, my business is your business, we are a couple and I'd trust you with my life. I love confiding in you as you always know just the right thing to say to make me smile, but this...'issue' is something that I've handled since I was small, I know how to deal with it and I like to do it alone. I love you more than anything in the world and I know you know that, but this is something I handle by myself. I'm sorry, but it's always been this way so I really need you to just let it go, continuing to pry will only worsen the situation. I have a system if that's what you would call it, and it works so I am going to continue using it, and I know you want to help but the thing I want you to do most is to just forget about it, please Mei ignore what I said in the kitchen and just listen to what I'm telling you now; I love you, so so much and I want you, no, I need you to be part of my life, to support me with my struggles and help me get over all the hurdles to come in our life together. But just this time I need you to trust me and believe that I can handle this by myself,"

Yuzu looked into Mei's still watering eyes, they were full of hurt and pain even after Yuzu had pored her heart out, "Mei?" Yuzu asked her again her voice cracking as she spoke the single word, It hurt Yuzu more than Mei knew to exclude Mei from her worries, but Yuzu felt this was something she should experience by herself, as she waited for Mei to reply she could feel her own tears prickling at her eyes. However before they could spill over Mei had rushed into Yuzu's arms, tightly clinging around her neck, as she sobbed into her shoulder. Yuzu hugged her back as tight as she could, swaying her back and forwards as she moved her hands in circular patterns on her back while making 'shhhh' sounds to try and calm her.

"I'm s-sorry Yuzu," She didn't say anything else as she drew herself further into the blonde tucking her face in the crook of Yuzu's neck, tears still streaming. Yuzu stood there holding Mei until she had stopped crying, even then Mei didn't seem to want to let her go as she still clung to Yuzu's neck. Yuzu felt horrid for making Mei cry so much, but there was nothing to be done, if the day ever came where Yuzu felt comfortable sharing her sorrow with Mei then she would happily share her grief but until that day came, Yuzu needed Mei to accept that even if she didn't know the cause she could still comfort her.

"You okay?" Yuzu asked as she stroked the long black hair soothingly. Mei gave a 'mhmm' and nodded silently, Yuzu pulled away from the embrace enough to take Mei's now puffy face in the palm of her hands, she looked into her eyes once again searching for any tinge of uncertainty, when she found none in the amethyst orbs Yuzu leaned in and placed a long tender kiss on Mei's lips. "Thank you for understanding, I love you so much," Yuzu's voice rang with gratitude and Mei couldn't help but give the blonde a small smile.

Mei nodded again, if Yuzu felt she needed to face this concern alone there was nothing Mei could do or wanted to do, to force the blonde to tell her, instead she would have to support her from the side and hope that one day Yuzu would be ready to let her in. Yuzu wiped Mei's eyes a final time before giving her another kiss, "How about we go and eat all those desserts you bought?" Yuzu's voice was almost back to its originally cheerful tone as she took hold of Mei's hand and lead her towards the kitchen.

"Okay," Mei smiled at her girlfriends attempt to change the subject and was happy with her suggestion as she walked down the hall behind her.