This story is my humble take on what will happen after chapter 36.

Disclaimer: I don't own Citrus or its characters.

Chapter 1

"Goodbye." That was the last thing written on the letter. And with that one word, Yuzu's world fell apart. Yuzu, who was reading on the bed, felt her tears dripping down her face and onto the paper. She angrily crumpled up the covers of the mattress and wept uncontrollably.

"Mei..." Yuzu couldn't help but whimper. She glanced at the head the bed, where Mei's pillow was missing, then around the room to see that all of Mei's belongings were gone. Indeed, Mei had left her, and Yuzu assumed she probably staying at either their grandfather's mansion or at her fiancé's house.

"No!" Yuzu helplessly pounded on the bed in frustration. "Mei, how could you? How could you leave me like this?"

In sadness, Yuzu simply remained on the bed, hugging her knees to her chest, longing for Mei's return. She desperately wished that this was all just a nightmare, but even as she pinched herself hard on her arm, she knew this to be cruel, cruel reality.

Hours flew by and the light from outside the windows slowly retreated into darkness, leaving Yuzu in her dimly lit bedroom. Even though the new school year had just begun, Yuzu had absolutely no motivation to do her homework. At this point, academics was the least of her worries. Just yesterday, Yuzu had pledged to Mei that she would genuinely try to study harder in order to maintain good grades and be in the same university as Mei, but after reading such hurtful words in the letter, Yuzu didn't know if she could bring herself to fulfill her promise.

Deciding to distract herself from Mei, Yuzu went to take a bath. She rushed towards the bathroom, hurriedly stripped her clothes off, and lazily threw them aside. She then turned on the water, letting it fill to the brim before cutting off the flow of water. However, after stepping inside the bathtub, Yuzu had flashbacks to when she first found out about how Mei was going to be her stepsister. She could vividly remember how she had accidentally dragged her stepsister into the cold water outside, and she could remember the both of them being sent to the bathroom together after being told by their mother to warm up. Yuzu recalled how Mei stripped naked, and the blonde remembered her stepsister's silky hair, her soft, naked skin, and when Mei caught her off guard by pinning her against the wall.

Yuzu shook her head to escape the memory. She hunched over in the tub, wrapping her arms around herself as her tears began to well up again. Yuzu knew that wherever she was, whatever she was doing, she would be reminded of Mei. It was hopeless. In frustration, Yuzu quickly left the bathtub, not bothering to drain the water, dressed herself in her nightwear, and climbed into bed. Perhaps, she would be free of her struggles while sleeping. But she couldn't sleep. Not while her stepsister lingered in her mind.

"Yuzu?" Her mother, Ume, asked while knocking on the bedroom door. "You're going to miss school if you don't leave soon."

Ume figured that Yuzu was upset about Mei's decision to leave, as well as for being kept in the dark until now about Mei's plan. Ume found herself sympathizing with Yuzu and was about to give up on waking her up when the blonde creaked the door open.

"Yuzu?" Ume gasped as she noticed her daughter's puffy eyes and messy hair. "Did you sleep at all?"

Yuzu remained silent for some time before sighing. "No, I couldn't no matter what," she said with little energy.

Ume stared at Yuzu's dejected look. What used to be a cheerful girl primed with energy was now diminished to an exhausted and heartbroken person.

"Yuzu, do you need to take a day off? Will you be unable to go to school today?" Ume asked.

Yuzu pushed past her mother and gathered her school bag and lunch. She then headed towards the front door, having already changed into her school outfit.

"I'll manage," was all the blonde said before leaving the house and closing the door behind her, while her mother wore a look of concern.

On the way to school, Yuzu stared at the ground while treading slowly past the trees and the park. Because her mind was occupied, Yuzu failed to notice the other people on the sidewalk and accidentally bumped into them, earning complaints and shouts of annoyance. But Yuzu couldn't be bothered. She mumbled apologies and walked on.

Yuzu recalled the words in the letter from yesterday. She remembered how her stepsister wrote that she'd try not to associate with Yuzu in school, and this recollection brought Yuzu to clench her fists tightly.

"You say you will try not to associate with me, but I will not back down when I see you in school," Yuzu said with resolve. With newfound motivation, Yuzu rushed to school.

Fortunately for her, Yuzu arrived at the Aihara Academy before the bell rang. While walking through the hallways, Yuzu gained a few funny looks from classmates because of her disheveled appearance, but Yuzu was so set on her mission that she didn't notice. Before Yuzu could begin her search for Mei, however, she realized that she didn't have enough time to comb the whole school, so she defeatedly made her way to her classroom. Being that it was a new school year, Mei and Yuzu were assigned into different classrooms, much to Yuzu's disappointment, but fortunately for her, she was assigned into the same classroom as Harumi. Yuzu rushed into class and sat next to Harumi, who looked quizzically at her.

"Yuzucchi, are you feeling alright?" Harumi asked while looking at Yuzu's messy hair and makeup.

"I could be better," Yuzu replied truthfully.

"You're gonna explain everything to me after class."

"Alright."

Class was tough not because of the lessons covered in class, but rather because Yuzu was stuck at her desk and unable to talk to Mei. Yuzu kept imagining different scenarios for when she'd talk to Mei, and the more she thought about it, the more it bugged her that she couldn't just get up and leave. It also didn't help that Yuzu's mind kept going back to the letter. During the duration of the class, Yuzu constantly kept reciting the words that were ingrained into her brain, and whenever she thought about Mei's message, her heart kept feeling sharp stings of betrayal.

Harumi waved her hand in front of Yuzu in order to get her to realize that class had ended. Yuzu sighed and gathered her bag as she and Harumi left the classroom. In the hallway, Harumi had to guide Yuzu through the traffic as Yuzu had trouble concentrating on where she was walking. Later, Harumi led Yuzu to a quieter area, where she would interrogate her best friend.

"Alright, Yuzucchi, what's going with you today?" Harumi asked with her hands on her hips.

Yuzu sighed as she stared down at the ground, suddenly not feeling comfortable about sharing her internal struggles. However, Harumi had an idea of what might be troubling her.

"It's Mei, isn't it?" Harumi asked while placing a hand on Yuzu's shoulder, earning a nod.

"She left you to get married to another dude, right?" a higher-pitched voice emerged from the side. Yuzu and Harumi turned to see a young pink-headed girl who was walking in their direction.

"Matsuri?" Yuzu asked, surprised to see her here.

"That's right, Yuzu-Chan! Didn't you remember that I transferred to Aihara Academy?" Matsuri stopped in front of the two girls while Harumi appeared very confused.

"Wait, Mei left you?" Harumi asked Yuzu in bewilderment.

Yuzu nodded while trying to fight her tears. The way Matsuri casually said how Mei left her made Yuzu want to throw up.

"Wait, I thought it would be a good thing that your stepsister is getting married, unless..." Harumi suddenly realized just how important Mei was to Yuzu, "...oh, this is much deeper than I had thought."

At this point, Yuzu broke down into tears again and knelt down with her palms rubbing her eyes. Harumi and Matsuri knelt down as well and tried their best to comfort Yuzu by patting and rubbing her back.

"There, there, Yuzu-Chan, we're here for you," Matsuri said gently. "If we ever come across Mei-San and her fiancé, Taniguchi-Senpai and I will help you beat the lights out of them, okay?"

"Matsuri!" Harumi scolded the younger girl, then turned to Yuzu. "It's okay, Yuzucchi, if you need anything, let us know."

While comforting Yuzu, Matsuri glanced up and noticed that in the distance, Mei was patrolling the school with some student council members on the upper levels.

"Look, it's Mei-San!" Matsuri exclaimed, pointing in her general direction. Harumi and Yuzu followed where Matsuri was pointing and saw the President, who looked expressionless as always.

"Sorry, I gotta go now!" Yuzu shot up from the ground and started running through the halls.

"Hey, wait up!" Harumi yelled as she and Matsuri followed the blonde to make sure that nothing went wrong when they'd confront Mei.

As the trio ran through the school, they'd get complaints from classmates to stop running and bumping into people. Yuzu squeezed through groups of students and ran up to the top of a staircase, pausing to scan the area for where Mei was now. In the corner of her vision, Yuzu saw how Mei was headed towards her office, so Yuzu ran as fast as she could. As Yuzu closely approached her stepsister, she called out her name.

"Mei!" Yuzu shouted. While the other student council members turned their heads toward Yuzu, Mei kept her back facing her. Instead, Mei seemed to walk faster, wanting to avoid Yuzu. Yuzu sprinted towards her sister, only to be blocked by Himeko and one other student council member.

"I'm sorry, but Meimei told us to stop you at all costs from seeing her," Himeko told Yuzu.

"Momokino-San, please, I have to speak with her!" Yuzu tried to convince the shorter girl. "Please, you have to understand!"

"Aihara Yuzu, I really can't let you go after her. I'm sorry," Himeko said with a look of sympathy.

Yuzu began to feel frustrated, growling as she tugged on her hair.

"Damnit, this is an emergency!" Yuzu shouted.

"Hey, eyebrows!" Matsuri called out as she and Harumi approached Yuzu and Himeko.

"Excuse me?! You have the audacity to call me by that name here?!" Himeko faced the pink-haired girl in annoyance.

"What, don't you like your nickname?" Matsuri asked with a smirk. "I thought it was fitting."

"Why, you little brat!"

As Himeko started lecturing Matsuri, and while everyone else in the hallway was now focused on the commotion, Harumi signaled to Yuzu to quickly go. Yuzu nodded, understanding that Harumi and Matsuri were distracting the student council members. Yuzu made a mental note to thank her friends as she rushed on after Mei, who by now was probably already at her office.

After sprinting through the hallways, Yuzu finally made it to the office door. Taking a deep breath, and deciding not to knock on the door first, Yuzu swung the door open, emitting a loud banging noise. Across the room at her table was Mei, who looked up at Yuzu. Yuzu observed how Mei had a brief look of affliction before wearing her usual serious face.

"It is against the rules for students to be in the student council office at this time, especially with such a rude entry," Mei stated calmly.

"Mei, please lis-"

"Please leave now, or there will be consequences," Mei interrupted.

Yuzu stared at Mei in shock, surprised at how her stepsister was treating her like they had never dated or knew each other before.

"Mei, what's gotten into you?" Yuzu asked quietly, taking a step forward.

"Refusing to listen to student council orders will result in-"

"Mei! How could you treat me like this! And I don't just mean now, I mean how you suddenly left me yesterday! You left me and only left behind a freaking letter!" Yuzu exclaimed in frustration.

"Yuzu..." Mei was taken aback by Yuzu's emotions.

"And what's worse is that you kept me in the dark about your plans! Do you know how much that hurt me? Do you?" Yuzu said, unconsciously raising her voice.

Mei's serious persona was beginning to falter, and she couldn't stand to listen anymore.

"Yuzu-" Mei tried to speak, but was interrupted.

"Just two days ago, I swore that I'd do my best not just academically, but to also be the best person I can be for you! But you simply tossed me aside! I cried all night for you! I couldn't sleep at all! I almost lacked the motivation to go to school because of you!" Yuzu began yelling.

Mei just then took in Yuzu's appearance, how her tie wasn't worn correctly, how her hair had been sticking out, and how her makeup was mostly smudged up.

"Yuzu..." Mei began before finding herself unable to speak.

"Mei, I need you! Please come back! Please!" Yuzu whimpered. "I want us to go back to the happy times. I want us to be together again. Please, Mei. I don't want to feel so helpless."

Mei was finding it increasingly more difficult to listen to Yuzu. She covered her face with both palms while leaning on the table with her elbows, feeling more and more stressed out. She couldn't listen anymore. She didn't want to hear anymore of Yuzu's heart wrenching words.

While Yuzu was waiting for Mei's response, other student council members came by after hearing such loud commotion and had to restrain Yuzu, cutting the conversation short.

"No! Please, Mei! Mei!" Yuzu cried out as she was forcefully pulled out of the office. Mei couldn't even bear to watch as Yuzu was forced out of the room. Another student council member noticed the pain in Mei's eyes and respectfully closed the door to leave her in peace. In silence, Mei wept.

Yuzu angrily slammed on the lunch table. After being kicked out of the student council office, she had been warned by other members that she would receive punishments for causing more trouble. Up until lunch time, Yuzu has been sulking in class, pondering about what she should do, but now, Yuzu was filled with even more determination to talk to Mei.

"They think that threatening me with detention and all that stuff will stop me? I don't think so!" Yuzu exclaimed as she pounded on the table again.

"Yuzucchi, don't you think you're taking this too seriously?" Harumi asked, receiving a death glare from her best friend.

"No, I'm not! I just need to talk to Mei without getting interfered by her buddies!" Yuzu replied.

"But like you just said, her student council suck-ups will get in the way, and I don't doubt that they will be monitoring you even more now!" Matsuri explained.

"And plus, the prez will also almost certainly have other members with her at all times," Harumi added.

"Gah! This is too hard!" Yuzu collapsed her head into her folded arms.

"Yuzu-Chan, is Mei-San even worth it anymore?" Matsuri asked, gaining a strange look from the blonde. "I mean, she's treated you horribly multiple times, and she's set to marry someone else."

Yuzu sighed. While Matsuri was right, the thought of giving up Mei did not settle in with her, not in the slightest.

"Matsuri, I really want to talk to her. I can't get my mind off of her, so that means I legitimately can't focus on anything else. And if I don't get some kind of closure, I'll be driven into insanity," Yuzu explained her point of view. "And what's even more confusing is that I know Mei has feelings for me, so I don't quite understand why she's treating me like this now."

The three sat in silence. Lunch time was almost over, but Yuzu had hardly eaten a thing. In order for Yuzu to get the nutrients she needed for the day, Harumi and Matsuri had to feed Yuzu.

"Say, we can all probably hang out after school to come up with ideas to get the prez back," Harumi suggested while feeding Yuzu a rice ball.

"We can go to the arcade!" Matsuri beamed. Harumi and Matsuri looked at Yuzu for her answer.

"Sorry, guys, I think I'll just go home after school," Yuzu declined. "My mom will probably be worried about me, so I want to show her that I'm fine."

Harumi and Matsuri nodded. A couple minutes later, after lunch ended, they returned to their classrooms for the remaining hours of the school day.

At home, Yuzu flopped onto the sofa face-down. She flailed her arms and legs in frustration, then settled down as she began to feel tired. After a few minutes of laying on the couch, she couldn't help but recall that moment during Christmas night, when Mei finally opened up to her. Yuzu remembered how Mei had pressed her hand against her stepsister's breast, feeling her rapid heart beat. Mei was so vulnerable and nervous at the time, it was something so uncharacteristic of her. And then, Yuzu saw memories of how during the school trip, she had finally shared her feelings with Mei. She could remember Mei's soft lips against hers, she could remember Mei's sweet scent, and she could remember how they both felt genuinely happy. That memory was supposed to mark a new chapter in their lives, a chapter where they'd be closer together than before.

These memories...they keep showing up in my mind. I can't...get them out...they hurt so, so much.

Yuzu lifted her head off the couch to realize her tears left the cushion wet. She decided to distract herself by doing her homework, but that idea was immediately thrown in the trash; Yuzu's hands were shaking rapidly while she struggled to focus on writing.

Spontaneously, memories of how Mei had begun tutoring sessions had flown into the blonde's mind. Yuzu remembered that embarrassing moment when she was daydreaming about how Mei was slowly advancing towards her with both their cleavage showing. That imagination felt so realistic and it made Yuzu want to touch and hold onto Mei.

Crap, wherever I go, whatever I'm doing, I'll only be reminded of Mei!

Yuzu crumpled up her homework in exasperation and left her bedroom to the kitchen. She decided to put on headphones to listen to music while deciding to make her and her mom's dinner earlier. Maybe this way, she'll have some peace.

Listening to music proved to be effective in keeping her mind off Mei. While making dinner, she'd sing along with whatever song was in her playlist, and she found herself to be having a good time. That is, until she finished and glanced at the dining table, noticing the empty spot that used to belong to a giant teddy bear. Yuzu froze in place as she saw a translucent Mei appear in a green outfit, sitting at the chair, massaging a translucent bear's paws. Yuzu observed how Mei, while looking troubled, was absolutely adorable. The translucent Mei disappeared from the chair but quickly reappeared behind her, as Yuzu could see her hands hovering above her waist. But as Yuzu was about to accept the hug, Mei disappeared, and Yuzu dropped the two dishes in her hand, letting them crash onto the floor. She tore her headphones off and ran to her bedroom, loudly shutting the door behind herself. She threw her headphones and phone onto the bed, then weeped and sniffled as she buried her face into the covers of the bed, trying to get her memories out of her head.