Author's notes:

I don't own Citrus, or any of its characters, no copyright is intended.

This story is basically what I would like to see happen in chapter 24 so there may be possible spoilers here? But please know that these are all just my thoughts and the real chapter probably won't turn out anything like this since Saburo Uta likes to see us suffer so much. ;)

Italics - Means the person is thinking, just so you know

Warning: This contains yuri pairings (girl x girl), as well as pseudo-incest. Don't like? Don't read, simple, otherwise enjoy. :)

...

Late evening was just starting to fall upon the Aihara household. The black haired teen, Mei, was just finishing a phone call, while she had been waiting for her elder sister to return home for the night.

She had no idea where Yuzu may have been disappearing off to these past few days, but to her as long as the older girl stayed out of trouble and didn't cause her any problems, by dragging her into whatever mess she may have gotten herself caught up in, then she shouldn't have to worry all that much.

"Right…I understand,"

Mei sighed a little, closing her eyes, before opening them again at hearing the sound of the front door opening, signalling that her elder sister had finally returned home, it would seem she was a little be later than she had been lately though.

"It seems like Yuzu has just come home, I'll be hanging up now," she stated as she hung up the phone and put it to rest on the side, moving to walk up to her sister and greet her back home.

"Welcome home Yuzu. I met with Taniguchi-san at the supermarket today, Taniguchi-san asked me to not get angry at you, however…where on earth have you been?" Mei asked as she wondered just where Yuzu had been all this time, she had obviously been lying about being round at her friend's house, so if she wasn't there, just where had she hanging around without telling her?

Mei's eyes narrowed as she noticed Yuzu being oddly quiet for some reason, plus the fact that the older girl was not looking at her. Before when Yuzu had come home these past few days she had been tired, but this time she wasn't talking and acting like her normal chipper self, which was indeed very strange for her.

Mei tilted her head to the side in a confused manner, before she was a little taken aback to see Yuzu lift her head up to reveal her tear-stained face, while sight sobs escaped her throat.

"Yuzu?"

The elder girl slowly kicked of her soaked shoes, walking up to her younger sister, clenching her teeth together as she dropped her bags, and rested her head against her dear lover's chest, grabbing on to her dress while her sobs grew a little louder.

"Mei…I'm sorry…I…" she apologized in a low tone, shaking all the while, as she cried harder into Mei's chest, causing the younger girl to become even more confused by her actions.

Mei didn't respond as she just watched Yuzu slump down on to her keens, while she still tightly grabbed on to her sister's dress, still weeping and cough back loud sobs.

'She's…crying…why? Just what happened to her?' Mei wondered as she wasn't really sure how she should react at the moment, Yuzu could be a real crybaby a lot of the time, but what could have upset her this time?

Mei ushered Yuzu into their lounge area, wanting to ask her what had gotten here so upset, but right now she was crying and needed to calm down in order for them to talk about what had happened. So instead Mei decided to leave it for now, just sitting Yuzu down on a chair and setting some dinner down in front of her, thinking that it would be best for her to eat something, then maybe she could talk to her afterwards.

….

Mei now stood in the kitchen, leaning over the counter, sighing a little as she watched her still very obviously sad sister sitting at the table, while the blonde was slowly pushing food around her plate with her fork, still sobbing slightly and sniffling, wiping her tearful emerald eyes every so often.

Mei was supposed to be washing the dirty dishes, that were laying waiting in the sink in front of her, but at moment, she was paying more attention to the blonde sitting across from her, gazing over to the elder girl, while she watching her long dyed hair cover her face. Yuzu not bothering to brush it out of the way, as she wiped her puffy-looking bloodshot red eyes again, coughing back a couple more slight sobs, before running a hand through her long (and still quite damp) hair, sighing heavily and avoiding looking up at all coasts.

'She's still crying? Just what happened to make her this upset?' Mei wondered, as she watched Yuzu still, guessing that the depressed girl was definitely not going to eat any of her dinner tonight.

Mei shrugged slightly as she stepped away from the counter, moving to walk up to Yuzu, since she could see that she definitely wasn't going to get her attention from just simply calling her from across the room.

The sobbing blonde was too engrossed in her sorrow it would seem, as she didn't notice her younger sister until she was standing right in front of her, and was now crouching down to her eye-level. Yuzu jumped back a little in her chair, not expecting Mei to just suddenly show up right in front of her eyes.

The two sat looking to each other for a moment, Yuzu not knowing what to say as her tears were still falling and she felt no longer able to bite back her sobs. While Mei seemed to be staring deep inside of her lover's soul, she was obviously trying to read her, and understand what was wrong, but it didn't seem to be working for her.

Yuzu was upset, but that's all Mei could grasp from all of this, she wasn't making anything easy to understand, after all the only words she had spoken since getting home was, 'I'm sorry, Mei' and that was it.

Mei didn't like seeing Yuzu's crying face, it didn't fit her normally very bubbly and happy personality. She could never understand why the blonde was happy and would smile over such small and meaningless things, but it normally seemed like little things would cause crying as well, (only she had never really cried this much before now if it was indeed such a small thing).

"Yuzu, aren't you going to eat anything?" Mei asked, her voice low and calm, she wanted to get Yuzu to tell her just what was causing her to be so upset, but there was no way the older girl was going to be able to tell her when she was still weeping and choking back whimpers, maybe reading her mind would be easier at this point.

"I…I guess I'm just not that hungry," Yuzu finally answered, her voice in a whisper, while her head was now hanging low, as her chin was being uncomfortably pressed against her neck, staring straight down at her tight, clenching fists, while her whole body would shake over and over again.

'This isn't good, Mei's too close…' Yuzu thought as she felt like losing herself, she felt like crying and grabbing on to her dear girlfriend, wanting to cry in her arms, while holding her close and never wanting to let her go.

"Yuzu..."

The elder girl immediately froze as she suddenly felt her younger sister's warm hand rest upon her cheek, lifting her head up so that she was looking at her now. Mei was so close right now, their noses were almost touching, and Yuzu still tired all she could to avoid looking into her girlfriend's dark lavender eyes, blushing a little while she could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest.

"Err…you know I feel really tired, I'm going to hop in the shower, before heading off to bed, night Mei," Yuzu stated nervously in a rushed voice, as she pulled away from the younger girl and sprung from her chair. Before she hurriedly left the room, quickly making a B line for the bathroom, leaving Mei sitting and watching her as she went.

"Yuzu wait!" Mei called after the blonde, but sighed as she didn't catch her fast enough, and she was already out of the room. Mei turned as she looked back to the untouched food that was still on Yuzu's plate, frowning a little, before she decided she might as well clean up the kitchen, before heading to bed herself. After all it was getting a little late now, and she didn't want to let Yuzu sleep without getting to the bottom of why she had suddenly come home crying, she wasn't getting out of this that easily.

….

Once all the cleaning was finished and done with, Mei thought she might as well head off to bed, it was already getting late, and if she stayed up much longer, she knew that she would have left Yuzu alone for too long and she would have to wait until the morning to talk to her again.

Mei suddenly remembered the bags that Yuzu had left by the door when she came into the house, so she quickly went to where they were left and picked them up, taking them into her and Yuzu's bedroom along with her. Before she began to get ready for bed, glancing back to her lover as she could still hear slight sniffles coming from her. She was still awake, and also still crying.

After getting changed into her pyjamas, Mei sat on her and Yuzu's bed, looking down to her crying girlfriend, and sighed deeply, while she rested a comforting hand on the blonde's shoulder, shaking the older girl and calling to her in a whispering tone.

"Yuzu get up, I know you're not sleeping, I can hear you whimpering,"

Following Mei's orders Yuzu sat up slowly, as she wiped her tearful eyes, and sighed, glancing to the younger girl ever so slightly, while Mei moved closer to her, causing the blonde to recoil and pull away, not wanting to be so close to her girlfriend and possibly end up losing the little composure she had left.

"Are you ready to talk to me now?" Mei asked, only to get no response from Yuzu, and tried asking her a different question, hoping she would actually get an answer to it.

"Why are you crying, you've been like this since getting home. I've seen you upset before, but just what has gotten you this worked up?" Mei asked looking to Yuzu with a concerned expression. She never showed it that much but Mei did love Yuzu and worry for her all the same, so seeing her this depressed sure was baffling and distressing for her at the same time. She wanted to know what was making her lover so miserable.

"Oh…umm…It's no big deal really…Harumi and I watched a really sad film earlier today, and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since," Yuzu quickly came up with some lie, knowing that the actual reason for her tears was nothing really to cry over at all.

"Liar," Mei simply stated as she stared Yuzu down, and caused her to nervously turn away from her a little.

"I ran into Taniguchi-san and her older sister in the super market earlier today. Moreover, when I asked about you, it didn't seem like Mitsuko-san had seen you at their house at all," Mei explained seeing through Yuzu's lies easily.

"Well…that's because we just stayed up in Harumi's room most of the time I was there," Yuzu nervously mumbled as she hung her head low, and avoided looking to her girlfriend, wishing that Mei would just let this pass already, she really didn't want to talk about it right now.

Mei raised an eyebrow, before she grabbed hold of Yuzu's chin, and made her look her in the eyes, surprising the blonde a little, as the younger girl now glared to her in an annoyed way. Those bright emerald eyes still had tears in them, and were still red from all the crying, but Yuzu was no longer choking back sobs or even whimpering anymore, Mei guessed that she had probably cried herself out by now.

"M-M-Mei?" Yuzu stuttered as she could feel her cheeks growing hot, and her heart beginning to beat wildly in her chest again.

"That's enough lying Yuzu! Just tell me the truth, I won't let you sleep until you do," Mei demanded sternly, letting Yuzu know that she was not getting out of this without giving her a proper explanation for everything.

Yuzu nervously looked to Mei, knowing that there was no possible way she was going to be able to lie her way out of this, Mei wanted answers, and to be honest it was about time that she got them. Yuzu had been avoiding her all this time, but she couldn't keep lying to her, and now she had to finally come out with the truth.

"Alright I'll tell you, but you can't get mad at me okay?" Yuzu gave in as she sighed deeply, and agreed to come clean about everything, just as long as it didn't cause Mei to become angry with her.

Mei was hesitant for a minute, but soon nodded slowly in return, letting go of Yuzu's chin before she sat back and looked to her girlfriend with a serious and stern expression still resting on her face.

"Now tell me, where have you really been wandering off to over these past few days?"

Yuzu thought of maybe lying here, but knew that Mei would see right through anything she might come up with, and just get mad at her for lying to her again. Therefore, the only real option here was indeed to tell the truth, she only hoped she could at least keep her surprise a secret if nothing else.

"I got a part-time job at a café in my hometown, and I've been working there to earn some extra money," Yuzu finally confessed, letting her shoulders slump a little while she really hoped Mei's reaction to this situation was going to be…relatively okay at least.

"Yuzu you are aware that school does not allow part-time jobs right?"

"Of course, but I really needed the money…for something important,"

Yuzu still nervously tiptoed around her words, as she really didn't want to ruin the surprise, after all, she still wasn't sure how Mei was going to react to what she had planned. Or even if that was still going to happen since what had happened to her tonight had gotten to her quite a bit, and was making her question and re-think a few things.

"If you needed money Yuzu, you could have asked our Mother. Or me, if you didn't want her getting dragged into your mess," Mei's voice was changing a little now, she was sounding annoyed and she could tell that Yuzu wasn't telling her the whole story here.

"Well…I didn't want to bother you, and possibly cause you trouble, so…" Yuzu paused as she was now smiling nervously, sniffling slightly as she wiped her still slightly tearful eyes, and was still looking away from her younger sister.

"What did you need the money for?" Mei asked, wondering how long Yuzu was going to beat around the bush with this, before breaking and coming out with the full story.

"Err…you know nothing big, I mean it's important I guess, but nothing really you should get worried over Mei,"

"If it is 'important' as you say, then why can't you tell me what it is?" Mei straightened her back and folded her arms, knowing that it wouldn't be long until Yuzu would end up blurting out what she was hiding from her.

"Because I just can't…I'm sorry Mei, but I can't tell you…well at least not yet anyway," Yuzu was surprising herself at how long she was lasting here, she thought she would have caved before now, but she was determined to keep this a secret at least. Even if that did mean she would get into trouble with the younger girl for doing so.

Mei looked to Yuzu sitting there, her head still turned away from her, as she noticed that her shoulders would still shake every so often, she had stopped crying now, but it was obvious that something was clearly still weighing down on her.

Mei sighed as she figured that even if she got Yuzu to break, this wouldn't really help her in finding out what had made Yuzu so upset, which is what she was really wondering about right now.

"Yuzu you do realize just how much you get off with right?"

"Umm…well I guess you do go easy on me a little,"

Yuzu was guessing that Mei wasn't going to let this go so easily, however she only hoped that they wouldn't be up all night with all this still going on between them.

"You don't wear the proper uniform, you skip classes, you just barely pass tests, you dye your hair, you wear too much make up, you don't set a good example for the younger students, you-

"Alright, alright I get it,"

Yuzu cut Mei's constant nagging off, as she knew she got special treatment when it came to school, anyone else would have been expelled by now. Mei had covered for her in the past, and pulled strings for her, so it was possible that she could so the same here again, just as long she agreed to do so.

"But even so, I'll keep this a secret from the school,"

"Really?"

Yuzu didn't quite believe what Mei had just said, she owed her so much for all the other times the younger girl had saved her hide from being kicked out of the school, and it seemed that she wasn't out of luck just yet with the council president.

"I'll keep it a secret, as long as you answer my next question truthfully, and no leaving anything out this time. Got it?"

Mei's question sounded much more like a demand, as she grabbed hold of Yuzu's chin again, and made her face her, not letting her turn away this time. She was tired and wanted to just quickly get to the bottom of this already.

"Got it,"

Yuzu nodded in return, before Mei released her chin, but the blonde kept her head in place, not wanting to move a single inch, as it might just anger the younger girl more. Yuzu waited for Mei to ask her question, hoping that this one wouldn't be as nerve-wracking or as difficult to answer as the last one was.

"Why did you apologize to me?"

"What?"

"When you came home, you told me you were sorry, why?"

Yuzu was a little confused at first, but now she had caught on to what Mei was asking her about, as now she really wished they could go back to the topic of that job she got, instead of this.

However, to be honest she should have been expecting this, of course Mei would want to know why she had come home crying and not really stopped until now, nodding to herself as she thought that there was really no point in hiding anything now, after all it's not like she could at this point in time.

"Mei, when we started dating, did you ever think of what other people might think of us being together like this?" Yuzu asked nervously, she hadn't turned away from Mei just yet, but her head had dropped a little, and it certainly did seem like her tone, voice, and her body language had changed all of a sudden.

All her nerves seemed to have gone, while a depressed and distant expression now rested on the blonde's face. Mei was a little surprised by this, it didn't seem like Yuzu was going to hide anything this time and although she seemed a little upset now, she didn't start crying again, and was able to keep her composure in check for now.

"I've thought about it yes," Mei simply stated, not really understanding just where Yuzu was going with this.

"Did you ever think what might happen if people didn't approve of us?"

Yuzu's questions were causing Mei to feel a little uneasy, as she wasn't really sure how to answer them, she of course had thought of these things before, but she had never really focused on them, until this point. Mei watched as she saw that although Yuzu was looking to her now, she was more or less looking in her direction than anything else, she figured if she moved from where she was sitting, then it wouldn't matter and Yuzu would just keep her gaze where it was currently stuck.

"Yuzu did something happen to you before you came home?" Mei asked looking to Yuzu with a slightly concerned expression now.

Yuzu didn't answer, instead she just asked yet another question which Mei had no idea how to answer to,

"What if people like Mom, or Gramps didn't approve of our relationship, do you think they would separate us? Would they stop us from seeing each other?"

Yuzu kept asking questions, not stopping to give Mei a chance to answer, and by the looks of things, it didn't even seem like she was looking for an answer from her. Was she asking these questions to Mei, or herself?

"Yuzu did someone say something to you about this topic?"

Mei reached out a hand and rested it over Yuzu's, giving her a little bit of a fright for a minute, as Yuzu looked straight at her lover's concerned expression now, and Mei could see those damn tears welling up in her bright eyes once again.

"Well…not exactly I don't think…"

Yuzu moved to turn away from Mei, as she felt all her courage leave her, while her nerves returned.

"Yuzu, did someone hurt you?" Mei lowered her voice as she tightened her grip on Yuzu's hand, giving her an understanding look, while really wondering if she was right or not. And by the blonde's reactions, she guessed that she was.

"They didn't 'hurt' me per-say, they more or less just made me realize something…"

"And that was?" Mei asked hoping that Yuzu would get through this explanation of her's without breaking down and crying, which definitely seemed like what she was going to eventually do if she kept getting herself worked up like this.

"Maybe this isn't going to work out after all. I always knew that this relationship wasn't going to be easy for us, but I never really thought of how difficult it might be for the other people around us. Right now, only Matsuri and I guess Sara and Nina know about us, but what if everyone else found out what we had been hiding from them all? Would they be okay with it, or would they demand that we shouldn't be together?" Yuzu sighed as she moved her hand away from Mei's, now looking down to the bed sheets and turning her body away from her lover.

"Yuzu, what are you saying?"

Mei's concerned expression was soon turning into a very worried one, as she felt like she knew where this was now going, and felt scared for what Yuzu might say next.

"We're both girls, plus we're sisters now. If people found out about us, we wouldn't be allowed to be together anymore,"

"So what, are you saying we should break up before anyone finds out then?" Mei asked, her expression becoming unreadable, as she didn't want to let Yuzu see what she was really feeling at this point. Was Yuzu really going to end their relationship here?

"I don't want to but…"

Yuzu trailed off as there was no way that she wanted to break up with Mei, she loved her, and didn't want to lose her like this, but she felt someday soon she just might anyway.

"Yuzu…do you think us being together is gross, or wrong in anyway?" Mei asked as she now looked to Yuzu with a serious, yet blank expression. Yuzu was surprised by that question as she quickly turned back to look to the younger girl,

"What, no! Of course not, I could never think like that!" Yuzu rose her voice a little, as she shook her head vigorously, she wanted nothing more than to be with Mei, and them being a couple was all she could ever dream of.

"Then why should it matter what other people may think about us?"

Yuzu's eyes went a little wide, as she really wasn't expecting Mei to ask her something like that. It was such a sudden and blunt question that Yuzu had no idea how to answer to it, as she just sat there, looking to Mei with a taken aback expression on her face.

"Listen Yuzu we haven't been together for very long and I'm not sure if this relationship of ours will last, but I do know that if both of us want this, than it shouldn't matter how our friends and family might feel about it. And even if they may not approve of us, we can deal with that when the time comes, if it really worries you that much then we can keep it a secret for now, but there's no reason for you to get so worked up about something like this now, okay?" Mei reassured Yuzu as she moved closer to her and rested her hand over her's again, tightly gipping hold, while Yuzu looked to their hands. Swallowing loudly Yuzu turned her hand around, entwining their fingers, before she blushed slightly, and looked to Mei again.

"Yuzu I've been holding back for a long time now, and since I made you be honest with me, I might as well do the same with you in return,"

"What do you mean Mei?" Yuzu questioned as she wondered just what Mei was going to say next, this was a new kind and caring side to the normally very cold and reserved girl, she would never normally speak her mind or tell Yuzu how she was really feeling. So seeing this side to Mei was all completely new for the blonde.

"Yuzu, I love you…and I'm not letting you get away from me that easily," Mei let a small smile form on to her lips, while she could feel heat rising up to her cheeks and spreading across them, causing them to turn to a light shade of pink.

"M-Mei…" Yuzu was completely astonished by all that Mei had said, not believing her ears at first at the reality of Mei actually saying that she loved her. Her heart began to beat faster, while a slight blush covered her cheeks and before she knew it tears started to stream down her face again, but for very different reason than earlier.

"Why are you crying again? There's no need for you to," Mei smiled a little more as she cupped Yuzu's cheek and brushed her long blonde hair out of her face.

Yuzu shook her head as she hit Mei's hand away, before throwing herself at the younger girl, and tightly hugging her, holding her close while their hands still lay locked together on the bed. Mei was startled at first by the sudden embrace, but soon composed herself while she looked to the weeping girl in her arms.

"I-I love you…I love you too, Mei," Yuzu cried as she buried her head into Mei's shoulder and choked back a few loud sobs, feeling a warm sensation fill her chest while she could feel Mei's hand giving her's a tight squeeze.

'She's crying even harder now, and I thought she had already cried herself out long before this,' Mei sighed as she wrapped her free arm around her crying girlfriend and let her continue to weep into her chest, smiling slightly while she rubbed her back in a comforting way.

….

Yuzu cried for an awfully long time it seemed, as the two lovers stayed sat, embracing one another, as their hands were still tightly held on to each other, not ever wanting to let go. Right now, they were alone in this moment, no one else in the world mattered.

Eventually Yuzu's cries began to quiet down, and it seemed like she had no more tears left, as she sniffled slightly and wiped her bloodshot, red eyes with her sleeve. Squeezing Mei's hand Yuzu sighed deeply, and let a small smile form on her lips.

"Have you finally calmed down now?" Mei asked as she looked to Yuzu and wiped a few remaining tears from her cheeks, while the blonde nodded in reply.

"Good, I was afraid that you weren't going to stop for a minute there," Mei whispered as she leaned into Yuzu more, before she pecked her forehead lightly, causing Yuzu to blush deeply, and gasp a little, her heartbeat speeding up again.

"Sorry Mei, it's normally meant to be the elder sister comforting the younger one, not the other way around," Yuzu joked as she smiled slightly and hid her blush from her younger sister.

"You've comforted me when I needed it before, so I don't mind doing the same for you," Mei stated as she held Yuzu closer to her, letting the blonde rest her head against her shoulder, closing her eyes for a moment, while she felt Yuzu nuzzling into her neck lovingly, but then stopped her few seconds later.

"I need to go and use the bathroom for a moment. You'll be okay on your own right, you aren't going to cry anymore?" Mei asked as she slowly let go of Yuzu's hand and moved a little bit away from her.

"I'll be fine," Yuzu stated with a nod, and a small smile.

Smiling back to Yuzu, Mei lightly pressed her lips to her sister's, closing her eyes and resting a hand on Yuzu's cheek.

Yuzu was taken aback for a moment by the sudden kiss, before she felt herself melt and moaned a little, returning the kiss, before their lips parted, and Mei stroked the blonde's jawline with her thumb, while Yuzu breathed heavily and seemed to be in a daze of sorts, a deep red blush staining her cheeks.

Leaving her, Mei got off the bed, and headed for the door, planning to make a swift escape before she heard the older girl come back to her senses and call out to her.

"Wait, Mei!" Yuzu called to Mei as she stopped the younger girl in her tracks, causing her to turn back and look to her, with a wondering expression on her face.

"Thank you," Yuzu's smile grew as she gazed into Mei's lavender eyes, causing Mei to look surprised, before she nodded while blushing slightly, turning away to leave the room again a second later, hiding her flushed face from the other girl.

Yuzu sighed once Mei had left the room, running a hand through her long hair, as she looked around the room for a moment, smiling to herself, while she thought of her beautiful lover, actually feeling glad that tonight had gone the way it had.

For if it hadn't then she wouldn't have seen how caring and considering Mei could be towards her, and the two of them probably wouldn't have been able to work through all of this, and Yuzu would no doubt still be rethinking her past decisions, whereas now she most certainly wasn't.

The blonde's emerald eyes widened as she caught sight of her soaked bags that she had dropped by the front door when coming home, guessing that Mei had brought them into their room earlier, Yuzu quickly climbed out if the bed and crawled up to her forgotten bags.

Sitting beside the bags she quickly reached inside the smaller one, and pulled out the small box that contained the special present she had brought for her dear girlfriend, holding the tiny box close to her chest she smiled,

'Mei's right, we've just started dating, there's no reason to rush into things, and then end up worrying about it all. For now we can be happy with leaving things as they are,' Yuzu thought, as she was fine with how things were going right now, as long she was together with Mei then she couldn't be more grateful.

"I guess I'll just find another time to give these to her," Yuzu whispered to herself as she placed the small box back into the bag that it belonged in, deciding that that is where it would stay for just a little longer.

...

I realize that I have not written in a LONG time (since I've been busy with College and other things), but don't worry, I asure you all that I am getting back into writting now, and will be doing loads more of it, so look forward to all that's to come.

Killerchainsaw ;)