CITRUS ~ A Long Way From Home / Trust

Chapter 3

The whole week was exhausting for both young ladies. In addition to their schoolwork, everyone was helping Mei to prepare for her trip.

Mei was grateful for any help she could get. Her grandfather instructed her on what he expected, her assistant coordinated all the documentation, even Ume was offering advice on business attire and not to wear a school uniform.

To be of help to Mei, when her assistant wasn't with her, Yuzu had been running with Mei around town to help buy clothes, gather more information online about where her hotel was, places to eat... anything she could think of to show Mei how much she supported her.

And now that the school week was over, the girls were starting their break early by having Himeko and Harumi spend the night.
Ume was in a good mood, having all these young ladies in her home reminded her of when she was a teenager herself. So after everyone helped with dinner and cleaned up, they all gathered in the living room in their pajamas.

But this was a special gathering tonight. Mei will be leaving on her trip the day after tomorrow, so everyone wanted to spend some time with her before she left.

Ume begin showing photos of Yuzu when she was little, which embarrassed her to no end, then made a bunch of snacks for everyone as they bantered back-and-forth about what movie they wanted to see that week.

As the evening went on, Himeko was playing with Mei's hair and brushing it, while Mei was sitting on the floor in front of Himeko, looking over some papers to prepare for her trip. Meanwhile, Yuzu and Harumi were browsing through fashion magazines.

"Of course" said Himeko "my family has been to Europe many times as I was growing up. Oh, Paris was always so lovely. I can't wait to go back there again someday."

"Yeah well at least you went to places like that. My family never left Japan" said Harumi.

"Well, the only other country I've been to was Australia with mama a few years back" said Yuzu. "I remember being so bored cause all I mostly saw was the hotel room."

"Now that's not true Yuzu" said Ume to her daughter. "I took you to the opera house, the beach, the zoo to look at kangaroos. You went all over."

"Yeah, all over to that Construction seminar you had to attend" says Yuzu. "We only went to those other places the first two days. The other eight were at the hotel and those offices cause you didn't want me left alone."

"Well... it was another country!" said Ume. "I couldn't just let you walk around wherever."

Ume turns to Mei as Himeko continued to brush her hair. "What about you Mei? Didn't you say you went to America once?" she asked.

"Grandfather took me with him to Honolulu for a business conference a little over 2 years ago" said Mei in her usual mellow tone. "But we didn't site see. I was there to learn how the corporate world works. Grandfather would tell me 'this is business, not a vacation'."

"Wow! That's pretty lame" said Harumi.

Yuzu stared at Mei for a moment, as her expression was the same as when she's working regarding academy affairs. She was so focused on her goal that she gave off an aura of confidence. And she felt very proud of Mei for all she did to prepare for this coming week.

"Well at least you'll be ready for this conference" said Yuzu. "But when it all over, you better bring me a souvenir from California. A T-shirt or snow globe... or maybe both" she said with a smirk on her face.

"Wait, if she brings both, I get the T-shirt, you get the snow globe" said Harumi with a wink and a smile.

"Hey! What about me?!" said Himeko.