Citrus: Mei's Story+Matsuri volume 1 - Open Heart

V. Mei - Meetings & Confessions

         What am I going to do?!
         I paced alone in the common room as I held onto the phone receiver. Himeko had just called and asked that I meet her tomorrow at some point. Normally it wouldn't be much trouble to meet her after school, but I had been given the next few days off as well as Yuzu to prepare for our meeting with the board. Not only that, but we would be busy right up until the meeting even with the release from school work. So I wouldn't be able to leave. There was the possibility that I could have her come over for a bit around lunch or dinner, but that encountered another even more terrifying problem.
         Mother would be home.
         I had made a point never to give Himeko the chance to meet her because Mother wasn't the sort of person to just forgive and forget when someone attempts to rape her daughter. I still wasn't able to quite forgive Himeko for it either, and she made no attempt to convince me to. Instead, Himeko acknowledged her actions and refused to let us ever be in a situation like that again. While our old friendship had survived, there was a loss of comfort and confidence that would never be recovered. But even if I was able to be around Himeko, Mother still had an anger towards her for her actions that I didn't try to quell. That was the price. I wasn't going to ever fully let down my guard, Himeko was never going to stop feeling guilty and try to prove to herself that she was worthy of being around me, and Mother would continue to harbour the anger that I and Yuzu should feel.
         Yuzu for the most part was the only one who didn't seem to be affected when she heard about what had occurred, though I didn't go into detail. I wasn't sure if that was because she trusted that I had actually handled it, or if it was indicative of just how their own connection was lacking that it couldn't really make her change her opinion. I had expected her to get overprotective or even violent when she heard about it. But nothing seemed to happen. She didn't even act differently or hide sour expressions on the rare occasions that the two of them were in the same place. I could only guess that she had some reason that she didn't want to say.
          My puzzling was momentarily halted by the ringing phone in my hand. I stared at it for half a terrified moment, sure that it was yet another mess I was going to have to untangle. Then I steeled myself, and answered the phone.
          "Hello, this is the Aihara Residence."
          "Mei?!"
          "Father?!"
          "It's good to hear your voice. How have you been?"
          "I'm doing well. Are you looking for Mother?"
          "Actually I was hoping she might be out and you or her... Naruka would pick up."
           "Why?"
           "I didn't want Ume to know about it yet, but I'm coming home a day earlier than I expected. So I was thinking of planning a surprise for her and Yuzu, but I remembered the last time I surprised you... it didn't go so well."
           That's what happens when you disappear for more than five years while I take your place as the heir and then have to deal with my whole life changing around me just as I was resigning myself to my role.
          "Thank you for wanting to let me know ahead of time."
          And then a thought sprung to mind.
          "Actually Father, are you going to be home before dinner tomorrow?"
           "I can be."
           "Could you maybe take Mother out on a nice dinner date?"
            "Did Naruka put you up to this?"
            That caused me to pause as I remembered Mother making a comment a while ago about her girlfriend playing matchmaker. It seemed that it wasn't just a past event either. I could almost hear the suspicious thoughts in Father's head. It was too obvious that Naruka had already said something to him about needing to do something for his wife. I found that I agreed with her, and so didn't use her as a scapegoat.
            "Naruka isn't here right now, and if you couldn't I was going to ask her to do it."
            "I don't see a problem with it, and was thinking about doing something to show my gratitude for her taking care of you. So I'll do it."
            "Thank you."
            "Thank you for suggesting it."
            "Of course."
            There wasn't anything to really say more after that so I awkwardly hung up. It was strange to talk to him by myself, especially after everything that happened last winter. While he already forgave me for the things I had done to get Yuzu to act, I still felt like it caused a rift that neither of us knew quite what to do with. I sighed heavily.
           One down, three to go.
           It was a simple plan in my mind. I would invite Himeko over around the time Mother would go to meet Father for their date, and I was thinking that it would be nice if Naruka could also have a date with Mother so she would be exceedingly happy. All while I could stay in to have dinner with Yuzu after Himeko left and we might get to enjoy a night alone together. I just had to convince everyone of my plan. So I went to our room first. Inside Yuzu was studying on our bed.
"Yuzu..."
"There you are!"
Instantly she was off the bed and wrapping herself around me.
"I was worried when you didn't come back."
"I'm alright. Just was caught on the phone."
I pulled her into me and nuzzled into her as well.
"Who called?"
"Himeko. She wants to meet me about something tomorrow."
"Oh... I see..."
Her hesitation was unmistakable. Like me, she wasn't wanting to spend our free time separated. So it was easy to slip into telling her how I felt about it.
"I don't want to leave home to see her. Not when we have so much to do to get ready. So I was thinking..."
"She could come visit for a bit. I seem to remember someone wanting me not to forget about taking breaks."
         I love how sometimes you can read my mind. However this isn't likely going to be like if Matsuri or Harumi came over...
"Potentially discussing student council business is hardly a break."
"You think that's what she's wanting to talk about?"
"Either that, or it might have something to do with her family."
"Her family?"
All I could do was sigh. This was a topic I felt was obviously touchy.
"She's about to start her engagement meetings."
"I see. Then you should help her out."
She had caught on to the implication and like usual, was being more supportive than I even wanted. I pulled out of the embrace and looked at my fiancé in eye.
"Yuzu... will you help me tomorrow?"
"Always. What's wrong?"
At her question, I took a deep breath and dove into the hardest part of the conversation.
"I know that things are, complicated with us and her."
"But she's changed. That was two years ago and she has followed the rules you set. We used to not get along at all, but now she... she accepts how things are and regrets what she did. Plus she helped me get you back."
And there it was. The heroic side of my lover that felt like it needed to protect people. While others might have pretended to defend people that they had no reason to and struggle to find things they could say, it was easy for Yuzu to truthfully list the best reasons for her actions. But she always focused on the positive reasons for her actions, and never liked to consider the negative feelings that she had every right to feel. I wanted to see what was beyond that wonderful side of hers.
"Still... you don't... hate her for what happened?"
"No, but I also won't let her do anything like that again and I think she knows that."
          Are you really this good?! How can you be willing to accept her and ready to protect me, but not have the same anger that I did when it happened? How can you believe in me so much?
"Well it's not you that I'm worried about. I don't think it would be good if Mother is around Himeko."
That earned me a wry chuckle from my fiancé as she likely imagined what would be the outcome of such an encounter.
"Mama can be protective. So what do you want to do?"
"Well, I have an idea but part of it I can't tell you just yet."
"Okay..."
I felt horrible that I was withholding something from her, even if it was simply so that Father could surprise her. It didn't help that she seemed to pull away. So I moved around her and wrapped her in a hug from behind like I had once when I had first witnessed Matsuri's antics. From this needy position, I found it easier to just tell her the basics of my plan.
"I was thinking of arranging so that Naruka takes Mother out to lunch and then have Mother busy for at least dinner. Then Himeko could come for a bit before dinner, and after..."
I kissed the nape of her neck.
"You and I could stay in and enjoy an evening together alone."
"That does sound nice. I could cook us dinner and we could treat it as a home date."
"Maybe I could help with the cooking."
And with that the difficult conversation was completely over. We spent a short time discussing what a home date might look like, and then we called Naruka to get her in on the plan. Slowly we got everything we needed to make tomorrow a success.