Ready Or Not - CITRUS

Seven

When Yuzu made it home that night, it was 3 AM. Her limbs burned and a headache lingered from the music, but the night had been a good one. She'd had fun at the bar, playing darts with Matsuri and Mei, and now she had Thursday to look forward to. How could she not smile at that? It wasn't a date, but it still made her stomach tense pleasantly, and well, nothing had done that in quite a while.

The stairs into her building, however, weren't so inviting. She stared up at them with a combination of excitement to see her sister and fear at not knowing when the other shoe would drop. Yuzu hadn't spent time in the same place with Yuna in a long while by design, in fact.

She took a deep breath. It was now or never. Regardless of whether she wanted Yuna at her place, Yuzu knew she'd done the right thing by allowing her to stay. She'd lent a helping hand, which she'd hope her twin would do if their roles were reversed.

The apartment was quiet when she entered, so she made sure not to shut the door too loudly in case Yuna was asleep on the couch. A lonely light above the kitchen sink greeted her, but the rest of the place was dark and empty, including the said couch. She shrugged out of her cargo jacket, taking note of the pile of dirty dishes in the sink. Seemed her steak had been sacrificed after all. A newspaper lay in sloppy sections all over her small kitchen table, and drinking glasses stood empty in various spots around the room. Her place wasn't big, but she took pride in keeping it somewhat neat and put together. She swallowed the mild annoyance and focused on catching some much-needed rest. It was possible Yuna was just out enjoying her evening and would return at some point, so she'd keep an ear open for the door.

As Yuzu made her way into her bedroom, the shock of blond hair across her pillow caused her to pull up short. Her sister was sound asleep, snoring even. In her bed.

"Damn it, Yuna," she breathed because all she wanted in the world was to curl up under those covers and let the exhaustion fall off her. Instead, she grabbed the spare blanket from her closet and dragged it to the couch, but not before placing the covers over Yuna's exposed shoulder because, well, there was a chill in the air.

When Yuzu woke up six restless hours later, she spotted a note scribbled on a Post-it stuck to the end table next to the couch. She blinked away sleep and forced her eyes to focus.

Had to jet. Thanks for putting me up. Let's catch up soon. –Y.

She'd taken her bag and clothes with her, which meant Yuzu didn't know when she'd see her sister again. It could be the next day. It could be never. She had, however, left the pile of dishes and an unmade bed in her wake.

Yuzu would have expected nothing less.

Was she actually doing this?

The thought played on a loop in Mei's head that Thursday evening as she walked the few blocks from her building to CITRUS. The day had been killer, and quite honestly, she should be working tonight, not going on a non-date with Yuzu Okogi to satisfy some stupid bet. What would they talk about anyway? They didn't have anything in common. Still, she'd made an agreement, and when Mei committed to something, she always followed through.

Yuzu was seated at the bar when she arrived, talking to that Udagawa guy, who grinned when he saw her approach. Had she told him about the non-date? She had, hadn't she? Then her eyes drifted to Yuzu, who looked rather nice in a long-sleeved black top, dark-green pants, and short black boots.

"Hey," Yuzu said as she approached. "How was your day?"

"On a scale of zero to crazy, pretty insane," Mei said, offering a polite smile. "Hi," she said to Udagawa, who seemed to be actively listening. She offered him her hand. "We haven't officially met. Mei Aihara."