Citrus: Mei's Story+Matsuri volume 3 - Impulsive Heart

I. Mei - Matchmaker

          I watched Yuzu pace in a casual arc around the bed as she waited to talked with Harumi on the phone. She gave me an apologetic grimace.
          "I'm sorry, Mei. I should have don—"
          "Just make sure it's alright with her."
          I did my best to make it clear with my tone that I wasn't upset or disappointed in her. True, we had talked about my going with them to this hangout just yesterday afternoon and the reason was personally important to the three of us. But she had the best excuse in the entire world for forgetting to check in with Harumi. She had her hands full with a particularly needy fiancé last night. Something about what happened in the drained pool had sparked a need in me. Not for our typical passion either. I just had wanted to be in her arms all night. And like usual, my neediness was the perfect excuse for her to do exactly what she wanted. We didn't even kiss all that much. I just curled up in her arms with my head laying on her chest so I was in the perfect position to listen to her heartbeat. It was perfect, and I was more than willing to let everything we had put off for tomorrow go without comment.
          Yuzu smiled gratefully. She even opened her mouth to say something, but then there was an adorable little hitch as the line must have picked up.
          "Oh— Hey, Harumin! So, I wanted to talk about our meet-up today..."
         Her voice trailed off as she left the room. I was tempted to follow her out. After all, it wasn't like I wasn't aware of what she was going to be asking. Before I could make up my mind, she slipped back into the room. I had to blink back my surprise.
        "That was a short call."
        "Yeah, I probably could've done it with just a text, huh?"
       She flashed me another one of her amazing smiles, but this one was full of mocking self-deprivation. I took a second to steady myself. While the younger Taniguchi sister and I weren't on bad terms, our interactions were typically only related to school or my relationship with Yuzu. Except for once. Though the reason had ultimately still been Yuzu and I, the incident had been centred around a specific bubblegum pink haired little gremlin. I adored Matsuri. She was the closest thing to an actual sister in my life. She happened to be in love with Harumi. And though I was 95% sure it was more than requited, Harumi hadn't made a move as far as I knew. It hadn't stopped her from threatening me that night simply because Matsuri had been upset with me. So while I had recently relied on her help with Yuzu, it seemed prudent to be cautious about the subject of Matsuri.
        "Was she alright with me coming?"
        "Why wouldn't she be?"
Because Matsuri's not been to school for a while, and I'm the president of the student council... I feel like the conclusion of her going into defensive mother bear mode is really more of a skip than a jump from where we stand right now.
        "Now come on, we should probably get ready too."
        Yuzu led me over to our shared closet. It was something that had somehow started back before our brief break up. It was something that now we were back together, I had to fight the urge to smile over. Yuzu might be in love with cute fashion and only adjusted her style little by little after she had stopped chasing the idea of getting a boy's attention. But she loved helping us plan outfits to subtly go together—with compromising my style, or lack thereof—like an adorable couple. Which we were. I loved her so very much and secretly enjoyed whenever I could watch her have fun. Still it felt like I was just forcing her to go along with my whims without an explanation of why I wanted to talk about Matsuri with Harumi specifically. Yuzu was still not aware of everything going on with those two, and that was likely due to me existing anywhere Yuzu could get. It wasn't at all fair.
          "I'm sorry for asking you to do this, Yuzu."
          "It's totally fine!"
           Yuzu waved her hands as if to ward off further apologies for taking advantage of her instinctual kindness and soft spot for me.
            "I want to do anything I can."
            She didn't say it, but the tone in her voice was clear: she was in sister mode for Matsuri just like I always was. She then gave me a soft smile.
           "And if it's for you, Mei. All the better."
           I am completely unworthy of you. And I'm just greedy enough to not care if you could do better than me.
          Then Yuzu's eyes shifted down and widened.
          "Oh no, your clothes!"
           I blinked and looked down at my outfit.
          What about my clothes?
          I was wearing a pressed white button up and a simple light pink skirt with a cream sash belt tied into a bow. Simple, cutely feminine, and comfortable. I turned my eyes back to Yuzu's face, my gaze questioning while hers was... worrying. Like she was trying to calculate a solution to an equation as she looked from me to her phone while scratching the back of her head.
          "Shoot! If you're eating with us..."
           She shot another glance at my outfit then looked back to her phone, thumb hovering as if ready to fly out a frantic text.
           "Then I probably should have changed where Harumin and I are eating."
           That felt like a step too far. I was just wanting to have a conversation about Matsuri with the people who clearly loved her. I didn't need to be catered to. If anything this was a moment to make Harumi more comfortable. She was the one who was probably going to react strongly to the conversation.
        So I moved quickly before Yuzu could send a message.
       "Yuzu, wait!"
        I nudged the phone away and put my other hand on the small of her back, getting her attention.
        "I don't want to cause you that much trouble!"
        This is for Matsuri. I don't need to put Harumi on edge or being controlling.
        Yuzu nodded as though she understood and thought for a moment before her face lit up.
        "Hmmm... I got it!"
        She dove back into the closet and practically started humming to herself with excitement.
        "I just had a great idea!"
        Minutes later, she laid out a full outfit on the bed. Not one from my side of the closet, and not something she had ever worn since I've known her. I couldn't even imagine how she would look like in it. It no longer seemed to fit her aesthetic, and there were no vibrant colours that fit her personality. It was girly and cute and extremely dark in colouration on the top. Like it was something she had gotten back in middle school to wear for a date, while trying to come off as a cool beauty. Way more fashionable and flirty than anything I would have chosen. I sighed and looked at her, my scepticism rising.
          "Are you sure about this?"
           Yuzu just beamed at me.
          "You'll look amazing, I promise."
          I looked from her to the outfit and back. I didn't doubt I'd look good in it. Because that's what Yuzu's taste was all about. But it wouldn't look the same on me the way it would look on her. We were the same general size, but our bodies were different. She was all lean muscle, I had curves that I tended to hide. They weren't to the level of either of the Taniguchi sisters, but they would be noticeable in this outfit instead of subtly present like in my choice. It would be a very different matter if I wore something like that on a date, one where Mother and Naruka decided to get us a room in a love hotel again. When I didn't say anything, she pushed a little more.
          "And it's something that will be easier to clean than your clothes. Plus I can do your hair and makeup to fit with the look."
         "Alright. I'll wear it."
         There was no point in resisting. Yuzu was clearly wanting to see me in her clothes and was getting more excited by the second. She even changed her outfit to match, except hers was a little more boyish and less girly than mine. A perfect couple's date outfit. I just had to hope that Harumi didn't feel like she was going to be the third wheel.