Chapter 57: Filler

Since Mei had arrived home from her afternoon class, Yuzu had been sitting quietly in the corner of the couch. Only greeting Mei with a 'hi' when she announced her arrival before going back to her phone, and since had been sitting in complete silence.

It was ticking past six and yet Yuzu hadn't made a move to start on dinner. Mei had said hello before ducking into the bedroom to get some studying done after Yuzu had shot down her attempt at a conversation when she had arrived home. Bringing herself out of the bedroom at half five, Yuzu still lacked to start any conversation, which in its self was unnatural.

It seemed quite obvious to Mei that Yuzu was brooding, but she certainly hadn't done anything to upset the blonde. That she was positive of, but then what was causing the blonde to sit committed to her vow of silence?

"Yuzu, are you going to start on dinner?" After waiting nervously for the blonde to start the conversation or even just start dinner, Mei finally gave in and after going through several word choices in her head, finally approached the blonde again.

Scoffing, Yuzu tossed her phone onto the couch before slugging to the kitchen, mumbling curses under her breath about 'having to do everything'. Though Mei was sure she wasn't supposed to hear what the blonde muttered, she still found the statement outrageous; they both did equal amounts of housework.

"Excuse me?! If you don't want to make dinner then say so," Standing from the couch, Mei stormed after the blonde into the kitchen, a mightly glare on her face at the blonde's words.

"Awe god, Mei please don't start. I'll make dinner, I didn't mean to swear so just forget about it. What do you want?" Rolling her eyes along with a grumble, Yuzu made a calm down gesture with her hands before putting her hands on her hips, as she waited for Mei's reply.

"'Don't start'? Who do you think you're talking to? Whatever has caused this coarse mood of yours don't take it out on me. You can forget about making food I'll order something in and you can go back to sitting silently on the couch." Giving a scowl, Mei waited a bitter moment while Yuzu glowered back, clearly debating if she wanted to go against Mei or just swallow her pride and back down, but her stare lasted longer than Mei's patience as the stubborn Aihara left the room after clicking her tongue in annoyance.

"Mei wait, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be grumpy with you. If you want dinner I'll make it," Seeming to collect herself and choosing to stop being an ass to her girlfriend, Yuzu quickly apologised, though the grumpiness was still evident in her voice as she forced herself to speak the words when she would much rather have just been left to mope by herself.

It took all the will the tight tempered Aihara had to stop herself from stomping down the hall. Turing after a second, Mei looked the blonde up and down who was now waiting at the other end of the hall, arms crossed across her chest, lips pursed together tightly.

"No it's fine, I'll order some noodles from the Chinese. If you want something, tell me now and I'll order it." Deciding not to indulge Yuzu in her bittersweet offer, Mei stuck to her decision to just order food instead of pushing an already temperamental Yuzu.

"Mei, I've just had a bad day at school, I'm sorry I've been crappy since you came home I've just had a rough day okay?" A moment longer in the staring contest from across the hall, Yuzu sighed and gave a small explanation trying to show she wasn't trying to be a dick.

"Then talk about it and get it out, don't talk to me like that just because you had a 'bad day'. I don't deserve to be spoken to in such a manner, and if you think it's acceptable then you clearly need to have a long hard think... If you're not having anything then I'm am going to order food now." Mei, however, wasn't one to hear the blonde's excuses, she was hangry and did not like being spoken to by the blonde like this. She did not like it at all.

With Yuzu's mood now spoiled even more, she returned to the couch without another word and Mei to the bedroom. Both rather salty about the conversation.

"Mei, why did you order so much food just for you?" Knocking once on the door, Yuzu walked into the bedroom with a full bag of takeout. Placing the bag down on the desk, Yuzu waited as Mei finished her writing before turning to the blonde.

"You may not have asked for anything, but you haven't eaten dinner either so you must be hungry. You need to eat, whether you are in a foul mood or otherwise." Turning to face the blonde, Mei eyed her a moment longer as she watched the blonde thinking of something to say. Picking up the food, Mei began her walk out the bedroom, cautious of the blonde at her tale.

"I got you your usual, if you don't want it now just put it in the fridge and eat it later." Sitting down at the dining table with her plate, Mei began eating her food, pushing a box to the other side of the table holding the blonde's spoken of food.

Taking her place opposite the silent Aihara, Yuzu pushed her food around the container before finally giving in to the tense silence.

"I got an F." Speaking quietly, Yuzu kept her head low as she felt Mei's gaze on her immediately.

"You got what?"

"I've been in a bad mood all day because my professor gave me an F." Still speaking into the table, Yuzu could feel the lump in her throat as she spoke the words. The paper she had spent the past 2 weeks writing that she knew was A-grade material, was demoted to a shitty F. All because of 5 minutes.

"How is that possible? I proofread that paper for you, it was a B at the very lowest." There was an urgency in Mei's voice as she asked the blonde, she wanted to get to the bottom of this, she knew the paper was worth nearly 18% of the blonde's final grade. She had read the paper, if it had gotten an F what did that say about her? It was quite impossible in Mei's eyes.

"I was late to class, the deadline for handing in the paper was twelve o'clock today, I arrived at five past and he wouldn't accept it, saying if I couldn't get it in on time he wouldn't mark it and its an F. He didn't even look at it, he threw it in the bin as soon as I handed it over." Tears were evident in Yuzu's voice as she explained what had happened.

"How were you late! You knew that paper was important." Mei was on verge of shouting she was so angry. She couldn't understand how Yuzu could be so stupid.

"It was your fault!" Smacking her hands off her thighs, Yuu let out a frustrated growl when she said the words.

"I was late because you made me pick up your prescription! I said I didn't have time but you said it needed picked up this morning. So I went and got it, but I got stuck in the queue and ended up being late for class. That's why I'm in a shit mood," Hey anger and annoyance showing through her tone, it was clear to Mei why the blonde was in such a fettle with her.

"Oh... If you had a deadline you should have said, I would have moved some things about and went and picked them up myself. We both needed our prescriptions, but I could have gotten them if I'd known," Mei said, clearly feeling guilty at the blonde's words. She had definitely been insistent that their pills had to be picked up that morning, and after a few minutes of discussing it Yuzu gave in and agreed, she had said she would manage to get them around her day.

"I couldn't exactly say no could I? You only have two days left of your pill and the pharmacy is closed over the weekend and Monday is a bank holiday so you needed them. And I thought I could make it, I already feel crap enough as it is, I worked really hard on the paper and there is nothing I can do, I don't want to be scolded by you too." Tears now showing, Yuzu's cheeks red with anger as she spoke, her voice shaking as she tried to keep herself in check.

"You only have two days left as well, we both needed them; for protection and to keep on cycle. But I truly am sorry that you missed the deadline, if I'd known I would have gotten them myself. It's my fault for leaving this until the last minute. I'm sorry Yuzu," Mei said quietly, the lump in her throat growing as she watched Yuzu wipe her tears.

Yuzu hadn't felt the urgency to get the pills Mei had. Mei had them both on the pill since the day they slept together. They needed protection and this kept them on a regular cycle. Yuzu, however, had stopped taking the pill several months ago, finding that even without taking the pill her cycle had synced up with Mei's anyways and with Mei taking it strictly every day, she had no chance of falling pregnant. So she just didn't take the pill. She still ordered the pills as Mei still thought she was taking them, but they ended up in the trash every time and Mei was none the wiser. And Yuzu had no plans on changing that any time soon.

That was a liability in Mei's eyes, but Yuzu knew Mei was too strict with herself to ever forget to take her pill. So she had never thought twice about it. Yuzu had never been able to remember and take the pill every day anyways, it was a hassle she didn't need. Mei did it, so she didn't need to.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore. I'm sorry I have been horrible all day, I just didn't want to bring it up. Do you think we could just move this to the couch and watch a movie please?" Wiping the last of her tears away along with her terrible day, Yuzu gave Mei a hopeful look and was relieved when she got a nod from the younger girl.

"We can do whatever you want, but in future, if you have something like that going on let me know so we can arrange something together. Promise." Standing, Mei placed a hand on Yuzu's puffy cheek, gently drawing her thumb over the damp skin.

The blonde's eyes still watering, Mei brought her head closer leaning in to place a gentle kiss to her lips. And when Yuzu didn't pull away, Mei deepened the kiss, bringing her other hand up to rest on the girl's neck as she parted her lips.

"To make it up to you, tonight we can do whatever you want and I'll even extend the offer until tomorrow morning," Giving a knowing smile to the look of excitement on the blonde's face at her words, Mei pressed her lips to Yuzu's a final time before picking up their plates and moving over to the couch.

"Thanks Mei, but I'm still super bumbed out about my paper, I don't really feel like doing that tonight... I just want to hug you and fall asleep..." Yuzu said quietly as she sat down next to her girlfriend, close enough that their elbows were brushing.

"We can do whatever you want, this is my apology after all." Mei gave another brief smile to the blonde at her side before switching the TV on and handing the remote to Yuzu. Her night tonight, Mei wouldn't bore her by watching a documentary, she would watch whatever the blonde wanted.

At the smile and the words, Yuzu leaned up and pressed a kiss to Mei's cheek. "Thank you Mei," Giving a big smile, Yuzu made quick work of her own noodles so she could wrap herself up in blankets and lean against Mei for the rest of the night. Mei had a meeting on the computer at nine tomorrow morning but she was sure she would stay up with her just a little bit longer. It was her night after all.