Chapter 36: Feeling Better

Mei felt her heartbeat quicken as she neared her grandfather's office, having arrived more than ten minutes ago and was thinking about what to say.

Yuzu had decided not to come and so she would have to face her grandfather alone. Which usually didn't bother her, but today she knew that there would be a few questions about Yuzu's true intentions and her feelings towards her.

Which Mei thought the man had every right to ask. She had turned up at his door at four in the morning, still crying and stayed with him for several days until she returned home. It seemed normal that he would have some misgivings about Yuzu after he had seen what she had done to Mei.

It wasn't going to be easy persuading the man that Yuzu truly had done nothing wrong, well nothing of the kind that Mei thought and was upset about.

The only thing Mei would maybe say Yuzu needed to work on was her little habit of keeping things to herself until she wanted to tell Mei. Or felt she had to. And she had already begun to work on that and had promised to be honest in the future.

Taking one last shaky breath Mei raised her hand and went to knock on the door but was stopped by a raised voice. One that had her straining her ear to see who was being shouted at, but also had her stuck in place not daring to move.

"Absolutely Not! Had you been telling the truth you wouldn't have let her leave at such a ridiculous time and in such a state! You would have comforted her not make her feel uncomfortable in her own home!" The words rang throughout the room and echoed through the house, Mei drew a sharp breath at the words.

How was it possible that who she thought was on the receiving end of the shouting was here. Yuzu had made it more than clear she wasn't coming so how?

"You are right, I should have done a better job at making her feel safe and secure, but we all make mistakes and that night was one of my biggest." Yuzu's gaze dropped and regret took hold of her expression for a moment, but before she had time to wallow in it she had to make sure the exasperated man in front of her heard what else she had to say.

"I love her, and I am never going to let anything tear us apart; Not an argument that should never have happened in the first place, not other people's opinions and certainly not because you want us to. If you don't think I'm good enough for Mei then let me prove it to you again. I did in high school when you demanded that I pull my grades up, and I'll do it again now. And just so you know, when Mei left to come here that night, I didn't just let her leave. I called her and begged her to come home, I hated that she had to leave because of me and I wished that she would have stayed until the morning at least. But things just didn't work out that way, but if anything the whole ordeal brought us closer and I think if Mei were here she would say that too." Yuzu's voice came strong and unwavering from the other side of the door, Mei felt her heart quicken at the words. Happiness and pride swelled in her chest listening to her girlfriend.

The door no longer felt so dominating, nor the idea of going against her grandfather.

"Yuzu is correct Grandfather. The events of last week are no longer a concern in our relationship, Yuzu has done more than enough this past week to make up for it. And as she said: I do feel closer to her than I did previously." Walking into the room, Mei managed to slip her hand into Yuzu's and gave it a tight reassuring squeeze as she came to stand next to her.

No words were said as the two waited to see what the man's response would be. As the time trickled on Yuzu felt Mei's hand begin to tremble ever so slightly, and internally thanked her mother for making her see just why Mei wanted her to be here.

Over the years he had been as much of a father figure to Mei as Shou had, and his approval was as important to her as Ume's was to Yuzu.

He sighed and sat down, furrowing his brow for a moment before giving a small nod.

"Very well, but let me assure you Yuzuko, if I find my granddaughter like that again, you will not be so easily forgiven. Even at her request." It was more of a grumbled threat, and Yuzu quickly nodded to his demand.

As he took a moment to collect his thoughts Yuzu turned to Mei.

"I'm sorry about before, I didn't know why you wanted me to come but Mama made it clear to me. I'm going to wait outside while you talk to him about your birthday, okay?" Yuzu said with a sad smile, relief flooding her as she managed to get there in time to keep Mei from being here alone.

"Thank you," Mei smiled subtlety as she held onto Yuzu's hand tighter before letting go.

Yuzu just smiled brightly to her girlfriend before giving her a fleeting kiss on the cheek and leaving the room, leaving Mei with a blush at the act in front of their Grandfather.

Yuzu felt like steel blocks were lifted off her chest when she was finally able to escape the towering man's presence.

A little over an hour later Mei had finally left the man's office and was now searching the mansion for her girlfriend, who was supposed to be waiting outside not putting up a wild goose chase. After searching all the down floor lounges and her bedroom upstairs, Mei finally saw her beloved sitting innocently as ever at the front door.

Standing on the main stairs that lead up to the second floor, Mei looked down at her girlfriend who was, as asked, patiently sitting on a plush leather stool gently swinging her legs back and forth as she smiled out the window.

Mei had no idea what she was looking at, but the light did shine in just the right way to light up Yuzu's cheeks, practically making her glow. A soft smile spread over her face as she started her descent down the flight of stairs, as she grew closer the soft sound of her girlfriend humming hit her ears, and much like her playing, it sounded beautiful. Well maybe Mei was slightly biased because she was irrationally captivated by the figure in front of her, but still, she stuck to her evaluation.

Her footsteps drew the attention of the blonde who lit up at the new arrival, "Mei!" A large excited smile on her face as she jumped up from her seat, Yuzu bounced on the heels of her feet as she waited for Mei to get closer.

Finally within touching distance, Yuzu grew red when Mei's hands cupped her cheeks as she was brought in for a slow gentle kiss. "... I love you," Pulling away a few moments later, Mei took a few seconds to take in Yuzu's exasperated expression before saying three small words that pushed away any and all negative thoughts in both girl's minds.

Bringing up her hand, Yuzu gentle stroked her thumb along Mei's cheek, a small content smile on her lips. "Is everything alright, did it go okay?" Yuzu spoke softly as she felt Mei relax into her touch, wearing a smile similar, although less noticeable, to Yuzu.

"Everything went fine," Mei nodded as she waited a few more seconds before leaving the brief embrace and walked towards the door.

"Let's go home," Yuzu didn't have to be told twice as she grabbed her bag from the floor and rushed after Mei, finally feeling like things were back to normal. The past week and a half had not done Yuzu any favours; she felt constantly on edge as if anything she said was wrong, loneliness, a stifling sense of guilt and she had felt like she wanted to cry all the time. But now, all that was gone. Now she had Mei back and the only thing she could think to do was smile.

The journey home was a peaceful one, as Yuzu, and Mei finally felt content with the other.