TIRED

Chapter 9

TW: mentions blood, abuse, self-harm

The next day after school, Mei had some extra work to do and told Yuzu to head home. They decided not to talk about what happened yesterday night just yet. When Yuzu got home, she saw that Ume was alone and drinking. "Where's Sho?" Yuzu asked. "He left. He said he was needed back and it was urgent." Ume answered. Hearing that, Yuzu ran out and grabbed her motorbike. She rode her bike as fast as she could and got to the academy. She hopped off and ran into the academy while franticly searching for Mei. She finally found her locking up the office doors. "Mei! I need you to come with me quickly!" Yuzu yelled and grabbed Mei's arm and started dragging her towards the exit. "Wha- Yuzu? Why are you still here? What's happening??" Mei asked. They got to Yuzu's bike "Don't ask anything right now, just hop on and I'll tell you on the way" Yuzu said.

While riding Yuzu answered Mei's questions and told her that her father is leaving and they need to catch up to him soon so Mei can tell him what she needs to tell him. Yuzu sped up which startled Mei and she tightened her grip on Yuzu which made Mei blush because she was so close. They finally got to the train station, Yuzu parked her bike and they ran in. They started searching for Sho, when they finally found him waiting for a train. Mei stopped and looked at him, he didn't notice yet. "Go ahead, I'll wait here for you to finish" Yuzu said while pushing Mei towards Sho. Sho noticed Mei and was surprised to see his daughter. "Mei. What are you doing here?" Sho asked. "I don't even know myself..." Mei answered. After a minute of silence Mei finally broke the silence "I wanted to tell you how much I missed you and that I'm sorry for my behaviour." she said. Sho smiled and hugged her "I don't mind what you did kid. I missed you too" Sho said. Mei started tearing up. They talked for a couple of minutes until the train arrived. Sho gave Mei a small teddy bear because he knew she liked bears. They hugged each other again and Sho went on the train and left.

Yuzu was waiting outside on her bike when she finally saw Mei coming out. "So? Did everything work out?" she asked. "......Yes" Mei answered and gave Yuzu a smile. Yuzu seeing Mei smile made her smile and they smiled at each other. "Oh, what is that? It's cute" Yuzu pointed at the teddy bear. "It's Kumagoro. My father gave me him so that I don't feel lonely when he's not around" Mei answered. "Is that so? That's nice of him" Yuzu said. "Let's go. Ume is probably worried for you right now." said Yuzu "Is she not worried about you? Why would she only be worried for me?" Mei asked. "Uhh, yeah sure. She's worried for both of us, so let's go" Yuzu answered slightly annoyed. And so they got home, Ume hugged Mei because she felt sorry that her father left. While Yuzu on the other hand got ignored, like she didn't exist...

After a couple of weeks, Harumin, Nene and Yuzu got closer and they made even more friends. There was Suzuran Shiraho, Sara and Nina Tachibana, and other girl from the school. Even Harumins older sister Mitsuko got to meet them all and she didn't like Yuzu at first because she was strict on rules but she softened later on. On the other hand Mei and Yuzu haven't talked about that kiss yet, it's like they forgot. Well Yuzu did, Mei...not so much. Ume hasn't got contacted by Mr. Shi for weeks now and he hasn't done anything to Yuzu yet so Ume was suspicious but chose to ignore it because it doesn't concern her anymore...she was wrong.

Yuzu made plans with her close friends that they will come over to her home one of the coming days and today was the day. Yuzu finished school and Mei told her that she had some council work to do so she'll stay till a little later but she promised that she'll be back as soon a she can so they can all hang out. Yuzu's friends told her that they'll all come over at 8 PM. She got home 2 hours earlier, her mother wasn't home and she was so relieved she wasn't. Yuzu started cleaning her house and preparing the snacks and drinks in her room for her friends. After she was done there was still 10 minutes until they arrived. So she sat down in the living room and waited. She heard the door opening and thought it was Mei so she went to the door to greet her...but it was her mother. She smelled like alcohol and was drunk. "Oh, it's just you Yuzu huh? What are you doing here? Why are you still here?" Ume asked with an angry tone. Yuzu just kept silent as she watched her mother undress. Ume was carrying a bag that seemed to be filled with beer cans. None were empty. Ume went to her room and Yuzu thought that she was going to stay inside her room and felt relieved but after 5 minutes, Ume came out with her stick. Yuzu looked at her and her eyes trembled for a little. Not because she was afraid that her mother will hurt her but because her friends could be here any minute. She tried tell her mother "Mom, can you do this another time, right now it's really not a good ide-" she was interrupted by a stinging pain on her shoulder. Her mother hit her. "I don't want your excuses...Just bear it how you did until now!" she hit her again "Ack- mother please list-" Ume kept hitting Yuzu, not listening to her. Yuzu couldn't say anything because she was busy dealing with the pain. Ume whipped her, and beat her, and cursed her, like she has done before. There was no sign of stopping.