Connected Hearts

Chapter 7

"Sorry about that" Yuzu giggled
"Don't scare us like that" Himeko said
"Are you feeling well?" Mei asked
"Y-yeah I'm fine" Yuzu said smiling nervously
Ahh...can't believe I freaked out like that but I couldn't help it. Mei was really cute...
"Maybe we should take a break and eat something. Should we get something from the food court?" Himeko asked
"I really don't mind where we eat" Mei said
"You sure? You don't have any place in mind?" Yuzu asked
"No" Mei said
"Okay then we can eat here" Yuzu said
"Alright. Let's see what our choices are" Himeko said as she got up from the seat
"What about our spot?" Yuzu asked
"They can handle it" Himeko said signaling at her body guards
"Oh right. They're here too. Let's go" Yuzu said and got up from the table. The girls went around to decide what to eat and stood around looking
"Do you guys have anything in mind?" Yuzu asked
"Eh? Is that who I think it is" A girl said and Yuzu turned around before smiling brightly
"Kana!" Yuzu said as she ran to the girl and hugged her
"Yuzu!" Kana said as she hugged her back
"Oh I've missed you so much! Wait, is she here too?" Yuzu asked looking around and gasped seeing the other girl
"Hi Yuzu. How have you been?" Manami asked and jumped as Yuzu went to hug her as well
"I've been doing well. How about you guys?" Yuzu asked
"We've been missing you of course. It's no fun anymore since you left. I've been lonely" Kana said
"I'm right here" Manami said
"Hahaha! I've also been feeling lonely without you girls around" Yuzu said
"It must've been tough for you being the new girl at school. Did you make any friends?" Kana asked
"The first day wasn't so bad and I successfully made a couple of new friends over there" Yuzu said
"But we're your number one friends right? There's no way you could replace us" Kana said as she held Yuzu's arm
"You guys will always be my bestest friends" Yuzu said
"And I guess those girls over there are your new friends?" Manami asked as she noticed the two other girls
"Oh them? Yep! Come. I'll introduce you to them" Yuzu said. Mei tensed up slightly as she noticed Yuzu coming back with the two other girls
"...they're heading over here" Mei said
"I guess they're her friends from the other school since they seem to be close. Also try to get rid of your jealous face" Himeko said making Mei jump
"Jealous what?" Mei asked
"Hey Okogi-san. Are they your friends?" Himeko asked
"Yep. These are my friends Kana and Manami from my other school. Kana and Manami meet-"
"Mei Aihara" Mei said interrupting Yuzu
"I'm Himeko Momokino" Himeko said
"Oh a pleasure to meet you Aihara-san and Momokino-san. Psst! Yuzu, how did you get them to be your friends? They look...rich" Kana said as she pulled Yuzu close
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Yuzu asked
"I mean it's surprising that you have friends like-ah!" Kana exclaimed as Manami flicked her forehead
"Nice to meet you. Have you guys eaten yet?" Manami asked
"Nope. We were just about to get something" Yuzu said
"Oh what a coincidence. We were also grabbing something to eat. Hey! Is it alright if we join you?" Kana asked
"Join us?" Yuzu asked
"Yeah! It'll be fun! Let's hang out like we used to" Kana said
"O-oh well...actually I would love to but I'm not sure" Yuzu said
"Huh? What's wrong?" Kana asked
"...it's alright if they join" Mei said
"Eh? Really?" Yuzu asked
"Yes. We don't mind them joining" Mei said
"That's great. Let's eat together" Kana said
"Kana, are you trying to rip my arm off?" Yuzu asked
"But you always let that little girl to hold you like this" Kana said
"Ah Matsuri? That's because she's a kid. Now don't cling onto me so much" Yuzu said as she pulled her arm away
"Ah my bad. Anyways, what are we doing standing around? Let's go and-" Kana paused as her stomach growled
"Yeah we should get going and grab something to eat" Manami said as she touched Kana's shoulder
"Okay" Yuzu said
"I know a nice place to get delicious food. Although your cooking is the most delicious. You need to cook for me again. Have you guys tried her food before?" Kana said
"No" Mei said
"You should! Yuzu is such a great chef" Kana said
"B-be quiet. That's not true" Yuzu said as she smiled nervously
"She has a great talent when it comes to food. She always brought food for us when she had time" Manami said wrapped an arm around her shoulder
"I really missed your food, Yuzu. You need to invite us to your place like old times" Kana said hugging her
"Hahahaha alright alright" Yuzu said. Mei clenched her fists slightly and gritted her teeth
"Ahem!  We should go ahead and grab something to eat right?" Himeko asked
"Oh right! Follow me!" Kana said with her arms linked with Yuzu's
"Okay" Himeko said and grabbed Mei's arm before pinching her
"Ow! What was that for?" Mei whispered as she pulled her arm away
"You're going to give them the wrong idea if you have that face. Now let's go" Himeko whispered as she walked with Mei. The group of girls went ahead and found a nice place to eat together. It seemed that everything was going well except that a certain someone kept releasing some sort of dark aura which made the people nervous around her
"Hey, are you sure you're really okay?" Kana asked
"...yes. I'm really fine..." Mei said
"Oh don't mind her. She's probably just tired from all the work she's been busy with lately" Himeko said
"Eh? What kind of work?" Kana asked
"I mean her grandfather is the Chairman of the Aihara Academy so she has a few things to take care of" Himeko said
"Eh? Wait? Academy?" Kana asked slightly shocked
"You actually got accepted in that sort of school, Yuzu?" Manami asked
"Well...I kinda got lucky I guess" Yuzu said
"Do you get along with everyone at that place? It's filled with rich people right?" Kana asked
"Students get easily accepted if they're from a high class family. Others get accepted depending on their grades" Mei said
"Yeah no. Yuzu, you must've done something to get in. Your grades really sucked" Kana said
"Hey! My grades weren't always bad" Yuzu said
"You could barely stay focused on your homework" Manami said
"It's because you guys kept distracting me about the boys you found cute and your crushes" Yuzu said
"Are there any boys at your new school?" Kana asked
"Nope. It's an all girls school" Yuzu said
"Eh? So no boys? Well that sucks. How will you find your future boyfriend?" Kana asked
"Don't need to" Yuzu said
"Eh?" Kana asked
"There's no need for me to look for anyone anymore. I've actually found someone I'm interested in" Yuzu said
"What?!" Kana and Manami exclaimed as they seemed surprised and excited
"No need to yell" Yuzu said
"Who is he?" Kana asked
"Where did you find him?" Manami asked
"Hmmm I can't say" Yuzu said
"What? Why not? You can't keep it a secret from us! You have to tell us!" Kana said
"Hehehe calm down, Kana" Manami said
"Yeah we're not together or anything. I just met them one day and...we sort of clicked right away" Yuzu said
"Do you two know who she's talking about?" Kana asked looking at the other girls
"No" Mei said
"No idea" Himeko said
"At least tell us how he's like" Kana said
"Well...they're definitely stunning and pretty cute. They have this cold serious expression on their face all the time but I ended up making them blush one time. It was cute when their face got all red including their ears" Yuzu giggled and locked eyes with Mei who instantly looked away. Himeko noticed the two girls and took a sip of her drink
...are they dating already? They have to be dating at this point. No one's been able to change Mei's expression that quickly with just one look...

"Noo! I don't wanna go!" Kana said
"Hey, we can see her some other day" Manami said as she held Kana
"I'll make sure to make time for you so we can hang out like we used to" Yuzu said
"That's great. Maybe we can stop by your new place. Does your mom still remember me?" Kana asked
"Uhh...hahaha...uh yeah she does" Yuzu said
"She doesn't like me huh?" Kana said
"It's not that. She just thinks you guys are a bad influence on me" Yuzu said
"Oh please we were only skipping for just a couple of classes. You were still going to pass...I think" Kana said
"We'll make sure to give your mom a better impression of us when we see her next time" Manami said
"We'll spend more time when we get our breaks. Right now I'm quite busy trying to get comfortable and do my best to study" Yuzu said
"Good luck at that school. I'm sure you'll do fine" Manami said
"Yeah, especially with their help. It was nice seeing your other friends. Mind doing us a favor and take good care of Yuzu? She can be a bit of a troublemaker" Kana said
"Huh?!" Yuzu said
"Sure" Mei said
"Surprisingly she hasn't caused any trouble for us...yet" Himeko said
"I-I'm not that type of person to-"
"Okay bye Yuzu! It was fun being with you again" Kana said hugging her
"Make sure to stay in contact. We don't want to lose our great friend" Manami said as she hugged her too
"Mhm I got it" Yuzu said as she was in between her two friends.
"Bye Yuzu" The girl said pulling away and waved goodbye as they walked off
"Bye Kana and Manami! We'll see each other some other day" Yuzu said waving goodbye and smiled
"It's time for us to head out too" Mei said
"Ah right. Our time is almost up. I have to get you back to your place" Himeko said
"Eh? Is it really over?" Yuzu asked
"We can do something like this again" Himeko said
"Yeah! Next time I'll bring my cousin...hopefully. She is a bit shy meeting new people but she's very fun to be with" Yuzu said
"We'll have our breaks quite soon so we could be able to spend more time with each other. Maybe even bring your middle school friends along with your cousin" Himeko said
"That's awesome! I'll look forward to that!" Yuzu said and hugged Mei
"Get off of me" Mei said as she tried to push her
"Let's go!" Yuzu said as she leaned against Mei
"Yuzu!" Mei said. The girls left the mall and Yuzu was the first to get taken back home. The car stopped by her apartment and she grabbed her things to step out
"Well it was nice hanging out. I had lots of fun and I hope you had fun too. I'll make a plan and find other places where we can hang out. Also thanks for the ride" Yuzu said
"No problem" Himeko said
"See you at school" Mei said. Yuzu stared at Mei for a moment and blushed deeply
"Something wrong?" Mei asked
"Mei, close your eyes" Yuzu said
"Wh-what?" Mei asked
"Please..." Yuzu said
"What for? What are you going to do?" Mei asked slightly nervous
"Trust me. It's nothing bad" Yuzu said. Mei sighed before closing her eyes and felt something soft on her lips. She opened her eyes and gasped as Yuzu pulled away then grabbed her bags
"Okay! Bye!" Yuzu said running away as she went home. Mei remained stunned by the quick kiss and turned around to Himeko who was laughing a little
"So are you two finally dating?" Himeko asked
"No!" Mei said
"I'll believe you" Himeko said
"I-I'm being honest" Mei said. The car door closed and the driver went ahead taking the girls back to their homes
"Should I drop you off? Or would you like to stay?" Himeko asked
"Drop me off" Mei said
"Aren't you going to get lonely though? Your grandfather must be busy working" Himeko said
"I've gotten used to it. So it's fine..." Mei said
"I think we should do a sleepover like those other times. Maybe we can invite Okogi-san" Himeko said. Mei's eyes lit up at the idea and looked at the small teddy bear she held in her hand
"...that doesn't sound like a bad idea" Mei said and gently caressed the bear softly. Her heart started to skip a beat remembering the small kiss and smiled a little. Himeko glanced at her and giggled
"You're making that face again" Himeko asked making Mei snap out of it
"I'm not sure what you're talking about" Mei said
"Are you just going to deny it?" Himeko asked
"She's just...a very nice friend" Mei said
"Mhm. Sure" Himeko said
"She's really a friend" Mei said
"Something happened between you two right?" Himeko asked making Mei get flustered immediately as she remembered the kiss
"Your face says it all" Himeko said
"Quiet" Mei said as she tried to cover up her face
"I'll do my best to not get in your way. I don't want to end up third wheeling you guys" Himeko said
"Himeko..." Mei said glaring at her
"Okay okay. I'll stop messing around" Himeko giggled softly
"Good..." Mei said
Why did she kiss me out of nowhere!?