Yui isn't entirely sure when spending time with Ayano becomes a regular occurrence. She suspects it happens in their third year of junior high, the first year they are put in the same homeroom and, coincidentally, the first year she isn't in the same homeroom as Kyouko.
It doesn't even register to her as ironic until their second year of high school, when the student council has a late meeting and there's only two of them on the walk back home. The unusual emptiness is something she realizes she hasn't felt since before Akari and Chinatsu joined the Amusement Club.
Somewhere along the line, having their group rounded out by Ayano and Chitose became the norm, and it was strangely jarring to have that change.
Akari and Chinastu chose a different school than Yui and Kyouko. Yui can still remember Chinatsu's promise to follow her to the same school and the way that it took Chinatsu's whole family and the Amusement Club to convince her to choose a school better suited to her interests.
They still meet up sometimes, the four of them, usually at Yui's apartment. Yui can't ignore the uniforms that, no matter how many times she sees them, feel unfamiliar and strange. Despite how happy she is that they found a good school and good friends, she regrets that she's missing out on so much of their lives.
Sometimes Yui misses the days when things seemed less complicated and, beyond the occasional unrequited crush, all anyone cared about was having fun.
It's easier to forget that they're growing up and changing when everyone's in the same uniform, talking about the same people, same school.
She thinks that's the main reason it's so much more comfortable to spend time with Ayano and Chitose.
Ayano still has a crush on Kyouko. It's something that Chitose, despite any other reason, finds absolutely adorable, and it makes Yui feel nostalgic, so they tease her mercilessly about it.
Kyouko is Kyouko, and that is something that turned out to be quite popular at their school. Yui is sometimes struck by how unusual it should be, the idea that Ayano is not the only person who would fall for her, but it's something she's just come to expect.
The first time she gets a confession is during their first year, and Kyouko immediately recounts the tale to her in their empty classroom while they wait for Chitose and Ayano to finish with their student council meeting.
Yui's first thought is Ayano and how crushed she would be if she heard, but before she has any chance to formulate a plan to keep it from her, Ayano's walking into the classroom and Kyouko is starting her story all over again.
Kyouko is oblivious, so Yui is certain she doesn't see the way Ayano's face subtly falls, but Yui sees it, and the odd way her stomach stirs uncomfortably at the sight of it is enough to make her resolve to keep Kyouko from doing such a thing again.
By their second year, Kyouko is one of the most popular girls in the school. It makes sense, when Yui thinks about it (though it's something she'd never want to admit), that the second years who admired her became third years and that the people in their grade who became enamored with her would stay that way. To the new first years, she is wild and charismatic and friendly, and that was all they needed to be attached.
In the eyes of the fans, Yui is the best friend, the childhood friend, the best… source of advice.
The constant flow of girls asking for help to snag her best friend is something Yui deals with because, like all of Kyouko's antics, it's just something that comes with being Kyouko's friend. She can't even imagine actually doing anything to help them along, not after what happened their first year.
That doesn't stop anyone from going to her, though, despite the rumors that's she's plotting to keep Kyouko all to herself. Considering the encouraging words she gets from some classmates, she's convinced half the school wants that to be her reason.
Yui doesn't actually notice the unwanted attention she gets from her classmates until Ayano mentions it.
"I'm jealous of you," she says, one day when they're both given cleaning duty, "but some of the things those girls say when you're not around is just terrible."
Yui's stomach twists, and she wonders if it's because she skipped lunch to talk to a teacher about the assignment she missed yesterday.
"It's okay. I don't really hear any of it, anyway."
Ayano looks at her furiously, the expression on her face so similar to Kyouko's when she gets fired up that she can't help but stare bemusedly. "You shouldn't be okay with it! No one should be okay with something like that."
"I get more encouragement than attacks. And I don't really care what the others think of me."
"Maybe you should care," she huffs, crossing her arms over the broom she's been using.
Yui feels her stomach twist again, and she tells herself to ignore how anxious it makes her feel. "Thanks, Ayano. I'll try to be more mindful of it."
She tries to contort her face in something resembling a smile, but her gut is wrapping itself into a knot and Ayano's relieved expression only serves to tighten it.
Yui's first encounter with jealousy happens shortly after Kyouko and Ayano agree to go shopping with each other. She is resolutely calm about it until they start planning their trip while they all sit around her desk before class.
She doesn't even realize it is jealousy until after she gets to the nurse's office and has the time to think about it away from the chaos.
The feeling stays with her for a week after, a ghostly thing that is always threatening to come back. She feels as though her throat is just waiting to close up, like there isn't enough air in the world to fill her lungs.
She can still remember the feeling if she thinks hard enough, and it causes her to regret any callous thing she may have done to Chinatsu in the past.
It never hits her like it did that one time again, but it always hangs there in the air around her.
Love isn't anything like Yui thought it would be. Her heartbeat doesn't pick up like it does in Kyouko's manga; her chest doesn't ache like it does on TV. Her reaction is, at most, her stomach clenching, and it's so strange and unfamiliar, it takes her nearly three weeks to notice she hasn't just been battling a persistent stomach bug.
It's so strange and confusing, in fact, that Yui first assumes it's directed towards Kyouko. She doesn't realize that if she doesn't have the typical symptoms of love sickness she probably doesn't have the typical target, and by the time she does, she's too deep to stop it from happening.
She starts to find spending time in their group of four is more frustrating than fulfilling like it used to be, and she gets even more annoyed when she notices that she isn't doing a good job of hiding it.
She skips school one day when it hits her that she just can't spend another day watching Ayano flounder over Kyouko and Kyouko cheerfully return the attention. Kyouko visits her afterward, alone, like a good best friend would, and the time alone with her forces Yui to have an epiphany.
She loves Kyouko; she really does. She just doesn't love her like she loves Ayano.
Coming to terms with her feelings makes it easier to be around Kyouko and Ayano at the same time. Yui's sure that she was more frustrated with her torrent of unexplainable emotions than she was with their flirting, and it doesn't take much to convince everyone else that she was struggling with a cold for the past few days.
She can still feel the tingling in her throat every time she sees Ayano blush in Kyouko's direction, but it becomes bearable.
Over time it becomes normal, and then, expected. Eventually it is as much a part of her as being the serious one in their group.
Sometimes she wonders if this is how Ayano feels, if her feelings for Kyouko are something that helps complete her person.
Thinking like that makes Yui feel closer to her, so she cherishes the thought.
It's not exactly the happiest place to be, but Yui's already at the bottom; she was falling before she even noticed it, and she can't even imagine going in any direction other than down.
A/N: I can't seem to write Yuru Yuri fic that isn't somber.
I was on /u/ the other day when I saw someone mention shipping Yui and Ayano, and I decided that this needed to be a thing. This is me trying to make it a thing. I'm also considering writing a couple more one-shots to make this a full Yui/Kyouko/Ayano love triangle series. Thoughts?
Disclaimer: I don't own Yuru Yuri or its characters, and I am in no way making any profit from this. (I wish, right?)