Title: Antagonism is a Sign of Love, huh?
Category: Anime/Manga » Strawberry Panic!
Author: suki-gin
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T
Genre: Romance/Humor
Published: 10-14-09, Updated: 10-26-09
Chapters: 3, Words: 14,333
Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Series: Strawberry Panic!
Title: Antagonism is a sign of love, huh?
Genre: Romance, comedy
Rating: T
Spoiler: Set post series so, if you haven't completed the anime this fic will be a spoiler.
Warning: Shoujo ai/ yuri content
Summary: Yaya and Tsubomi's relationship after the results of the Etoile selection seems to be evolving in some way. Could it simply be a greater understanding or love?
Pairing: YayaXTsubomi, NagisaXTamao, HikariXAmane
Disclaimer: I do not own Stopani!
A/N: This is my first serious attempt at fan fiction (previous attempts were merely paragraphs which never progressed to a full story). Constructive criticism is always appreciated.
Chapter 1
A lone pink-haired girl sat in the second year classroom at St. Spica Academy. The new school year had just started and it was her first day attending classes as a second year student. The classes, however, were not the main thought in her mind. With her friend Hikari being chosen as the Etoile alongside Amane another dear friend of hers had to let go of the shy blonde. Yaya and her junior had managed to grow closer over the time Hikari and Amane spent together, all seemed to be heading for a resolved ending. This was initially what the pink-haired girl thought when class ended but, now she was not as certain of the current situation. While we argue, Yaya-senpai is still a dear friend and don't want to see that restrained look on her face again, she thought to herself. She stood to leave the classroom, secretly pledging to be herself around her senior so as not to let the older girl feel upset. Tsubomi would support her at her side just like she had promised on the night of the Etoile selection. I can start right now, she thought happily as she made her way to the church for her choir lesson as a second year.
The church had been remodeled over the holiday period the main change visible from the outside being new panes for the windows. The inside had a fresh coat of white paint which somehow managed to make the sacred building appear even bigger despite the amount of students which filled the space.
The Alto lead, Nanto Yaya, noted that quite a few of the students were first years. Ah, first years are always so fresh and cute, she thought with her trademark grin on her face while looking at a group of nervous young faces before her.
"Yaya-chan?" Hikari questioned, noting the brunette's absent minded state but, not following her gaze. Yaya turned to Hikari with her smile at a slightly less intensity than before.
"Hello, Hikari-chan…I was just-" she started.
"Yaya-senpai was just staring at the fresh meat" Tsubomi cut in, standing behind the darker haired girl and looking between her two seniors.
Yaya turned to face the one-liner behind her. "You're so small behind me here that I thought were a first year" she teased, knowing well that Tsubomi was conscious of her height.
Hikari giggled softly, covering her mouth with her hand to muffle the sound even more. Both pink and brunette faced the Etoile with a confused expression on their face.
She may be younger but, she was certainly smart for her age. Tsubomi wasn't sure if it was a curse or a blessing but, once she understood why Hikari laughed her cheeks slowly turned to a shade close to her own hair. She crossed her arms with a short sigh, not sure of how to react and not really wanting to either. Yaya watched the display of both girls in front of her, inwardly coming to a realization after a minute had as to what weight her words held. Yaya had been trying her best since the Etoile selection to come to terms with the present to acting different now wouldn't help. She would continue to tease the girl; it was something that had become a habit and somewhat of a release.
"Even after a whole year, Tsubomi-chan hasn't grown at all. It makes me happy that she wants to keep her appearance young just for me," Yaya sang out in an exaggerated tone a Cheshire cat grin on her face and her eyes on her junior's.
"Yaya-chan…" Tsubomi said in a low tone, adding an honorific to her senior's name out of mockery. Her left hand clenched and unclenched as her mind raced through the various retorts she could think of. Hikari held her hands up, much like a referee, in hopes of cooling the wall between the two Altos'.
Before anymore words could be exchanged, the choir advisor returned from her office motioned for both new hopefuls and seasoned oldies to stand closer for the meeting to start.
"Welcome to St. Spica Saintly Chorus, the pride and joy of all Astrea Hill. I assure you, Miator and Lulim while both good in their own right, cannot live up to the standard this most pure choir maintains." She continued to share rather melodramatic in an attempt to enlighten the new students.
In between the act, Yaya and Tsubomi silently stared at each other with furrowed brows. Hikari still maintained her referee stance, even though matters had calmed down at least verbally, for now.
"Next, I will introduce you to the Alto and Soprano leads," the choir advisor turned in their direction.
Yaya broke her heated staring contest with the younger Alto and proceeded to follow Hikari to the pulpit for introduction. Yaya sighed inwardly, not particularly fond of talking in public but, still made an effort to do so. The Saintly Chorus was the one place she could express herself with words in a manner that could not upset her except on the opening day. Oh well, it's just today and after all who could refuse these lovely first years? She thought to herself with a grin.
"The name's Yaya, Nanto Yaya. I'll be the Alto advisor so all Altos', be sure to keep on your toes…" she paused dramatically, "because the pink-haired girl over there second in command to me will whip you into shape! If you want to learn to sing, however, I'll be able to help you." she finished with her grin still on her face.
The students had a look of surprise on their face, most whispering lightly among themselves. Tsubomi peeved silently with a slight patch of crimson on her cheeks. Yaya looked at her junior's face, enjoying her reaction. The first years continued to conspire, wondering what relationship with the Alto lead had with the second in command.
"Next is another great pride and joy of our great Spica, Etoile-sama!" the teacher dramatically started immediately silencing the whispering students to near catatonic state of surprise.
Hikari had slowly grown more firm since the Etoile selection but, somehow hearing her princess title always made her pink cheeked. She inhaled a little breath and let it out again.
"Good morning, dear freshman, I am Konohana Hikari. Congratulations for graduating into the senior department and thank you for considering the Saintly Chorus. As the Etoile duties are also part of my time, I will not be able to attend the Saintly Chorus at all times but, I assure you that your time here will be most educational and enjoyable." Hikari finished with a little smile, her eyes flicking to Yaya and Tsubomi.
She's gotten so mature, even sensei couldn't please the crowd like that, thought Tsubomi with a smile. Yaya shared the same thought and smiled at both Tsubomi and Hikari. "Etoile-sama~" came the fangirlish cry of the first years.
"Looks like your popularity has gone down, Yaya-senpai" Tsubomi whispered to her senior.
"Huh, what are you talking about?" replied Yaya.
Tsubomi look at her senior for a second, not understanding her argument at all. She then followed Yaya's gaze with a surprise expression. About half of the first year flock was a group of blushing girls staring in Yaya's direction. Yaya laughed triumphantly and Tsubomi crossed her arms with a displeased look on her face. Whether it was because she was wrong or the new found fangirls that annoyed her, she wasn't sure what affected her more.
"Ah, the joy of having innocent little fans following me around," Yaya sang with her triumphant grin still on her face.
Tsubomi never missed a beat, "Yes, the joy of having no privacy," she mocked in a sing song voice as well.
"You're just upset that you don't have any followers" Yaya said, merely to test the other girl's reaction again.
"Unlike Yaya-senpai, I do not see the joy in first year students." She countered.
"Ah, so you don't deny wanting a follower?" The black-haired senior jabbed further.
"No, I don't." Tsubomi started with a higher pitch in her voice, "I'd rather be behind somebody else and whip them into shape." She finished simply, her moody voice returned.
Yaya leaned toward the younger girl, her lips hovering at her ear, "Quite a kinky taste you have there…" her voice trailed off.
Tsubomi shivered at the unexpected sensation. Not wanting to appear reticent, she turned to Yaya with slitted eyes but, somehow could not hide the blush that grew on her cheeks.
"And Yaya-senpai has quite a dirty mind! Your first year fangirls would not be able to keep up with you at all." Her stare was hard and Yaya couldn't help but, chuckle.
Hikari made her way through her own new fangirl collection toward her two friends.
"Hmm, and who does Tsubomi think could keep up with me… maybe you could but, I can't be tamed by anyone, especially not a pink-haired lion cub."
Yaya returned Tsubomi's hard stare but, had moved to a reasonable distance from the other girl. It's too hot in the church today, she concluded.
"Me, be t-t-tamed by Yaya-senpai?" she retorted, wrinkling her nose for good measure but, inside her thoughts quietly dwelled on the strange idea.
Hikari had finally made it through the crowd of fans and stood at their side panting lightly from mental exhaustion. Tsubomi's expression changed to a lighter one and she turned to her blonde senior.
"Welcome back, Hikari-senpai! It was getting boring without you." she said with a blush and then a pointed look at Yaya.
Briefly Yaya threw the younger girl an annoyed look. Tsubomi felt triumphant and a bit displaced at the dark-haired girl's look.
Amongst the friendly rivalry and Etoile speech, the briefing for the first Saintly Chorus was near its end. The large volume of students was slowly growing restless and the advisor caught on to it quickly.
"Thank you all for your patience, keep up this excellent behaviour and you will definitely be an asset to the Saintly Chorus, "the advisor spoke while scanning the crowd, "The next choir lesson will be in two days so, until then…" She bowed her head and proceeded back to her office.
The respective leads nodded in direction of the newer students, a sign that they were allowed to leave.
"Hikari-senpai, let's walk back to the dorm together~" Tsubomi started in a cheerful voice.
Yaya stood quietly, silently glad that the event was over and then turned to her friends.
"I am terribly sorry, Tsubomi-chan. Amane-senpai and I have a meeting to attend to and afterward we may go out so, perhaps another time?" HIkari spoke in her soft tone, sounding genuinely apologetic.
Tsubomi's eyes flickered over to Yaya for a second, which went unnoticed by her seniors, and then faced Hikari again.
"I understand, Hikari-senpai." She said softly meeting the blue-eyed girl's gaze and then turning away again.
"Then, I will be taking my leave. We will meet for a tea party at Tamao and Nagisa's then." Hikari finished with a small wave to her friends. Tsubomi knew well that Yaya and Hikari were both trying hard to maintain their balance as friends and put the past behind them. It really is hard on Yaya-senpai, she thought sincerely and not out of simple pity. She turned to her dark-haired senior with a soft expression, one that was not uncharacteristic of the pink-haired girl but, still surprising to the Alto lead.
"Shouldn't we get going by now, Yaya-senpai?" she half asked, half ordered.
Yaya was slightly taken aback by the sudden soft expression on Tsubomi's face and only snapped out of her reverie when the younger girl spoke again. Mentally shrugging her previous thoughts, she tried not to read into the girl's reaction too much. She probably pities me, even though she herself feels upset about Hikari and Amane. Seriously, she really needs to learn to be more honest with herself. An epiphany of sorts ran through Yaya's mind and she suddenly felt annoyed.
"Let's go." She grumbled under her breath and gently though suddenly grabbed the younger girl's hand and proceeded to leave the church.
Tsubomi was surprised by Yaya's sudden reaction, "Yaya-senpai?" she asked in hopes to distract her mind from questioning the sudden physical contact.
It was not that the two girls had never held hands but, as far as Tsubomi was concerned little gestures of affection were not involved in their relationship. Senpai and Kouhai, senior and junior, rivals and friends, Tsubomi ran the words in her head as the followed next to her senior. Over the holiday break, she had thought a lot of her seniors but, somehow Yaya had ended up weighing down the image of Hikari her mind. Shaking her head, she told herself to focus on her pledge. Walking toward the other girl she fell in step with her, quickly peering at her senior's face from the corner of her eye. Yaya's expression was unreadable and thoughtful. The dorm approached them and Tsubomi felt at ease thinking that once they entered the dorm Yaya may return to usual self but, the older girl surprised her. Yaya took a detour to the left of the dorm, through the forest with a frowning Tsubomi following slightly behind her. They walked for another minute or two, with each step Tsubomi found her frown take form into silent annoyance. What is Yaya-senpai thinking right now? I can't do anything if I don't know what she's thinking; she thought silently her annoyance more at the mystery behind Yaya's sudden behaviour than with the girl herself.
As they rounded a corner, Tsubomi found her annoyance slowly calm down at the sight before her. A scenic view of the Astrea Lake and the nearby flowers in full bloom stood before her. What she took in with even more energy, was the calm look on Yaya's face. Tsubomi felt her annoyance gone and replaced with a pressure at the back of her throat. Seeing Yaya so unaffected, it had been a long time since she last saw that look on her senior's face. Ever since… that day, she thought sadly and then shook her head lightly, noting that they were still holding hands. Yaya seemed to be taking in her reaction with a little smirk.
"Why are you staring at me like that?", she asked the smirking girl, her tone haughty and eyes not fully meeting the Alto lead.
"Tsubomi, I have a question for you." Yaya began seriously but, her smirk remained.
Tsubomi wasn't sure what to make of the older girl's tone as her smirk seemed to say otherwise.
"How honest are you with yourself these days?" Yaya asked, placing her free hand at rest on her hip.
"Huh?" the pink-haired girl said simply, not understanding the reason for sudden strange question.
"What do you mean by that?" she elaborated.
Yaya seemed to pause for a bit, as if wondering what to say next. She let out a little sigh, "What I mean is, how do you really feel about Hikari and Amane being together?", and looked to her side not meeting the younger girl's inquiring gaze.
Why would my answer for this really matter? Unless Yaya-senpai is under the impression that I am not over Hikari. She laughed inwardly at the thought, not sure why. Yaya-senpai is the one who isn't- she broke her thoughts off and came to a realization about her dark-haired senior's behaviour.
"I haven't been very honest with myself lately but, then again, I can say the same for Yaya-senpai." She said softly, with a frown on her face.
In truth the pink-haired girl was not upset with her senior but, being too nice didn't feel like a usual reaction to her either. The hand resting on Yaya's hip dropped slowly.
"I guess, you can say that…" she said under her breath, returning Tsubomi's frown.
The older girl sighed, tugged at her junior's hand and sat on the grass before the lake. She paused. Tsubomi observed Yaya's behavior silently, not daring to speak while the other girl acted differently.
"Tsubomi-chan, you and I both, we've been chasing something for so long. It hurts to follow a ghost, doesn't it?" she smiled wryly and continued, "Neither of us was honest with ourselves before. Well, now I can say it. I only wish Hikari happiness and even though it hurts, it also makes me happy. Maybe together, we can… support each other. I mean, you're feeling the same way, right? You care for her too, right?" Yaya said with a husky voice.
Tsubomi listened to the other girl's words carefully; her hand entwined with Yaya's suddenly feeling heavy. Chasing a ghost, not being honest, caring for Hikari? Tsubomi repeated the questions in her mind, wondering about them herself. In amongst all the teasing Yaya had put her through, she never really gave it enough thought, the thought of caring for Hikari. The only thing that rang clearly in her mind now was her pledge. I need to be her support, she said it herself. How can I support her now if I am not even sure that Hikari really was a part of my heart? She questioned again, trying to lay her facts straight.
"What matters to me now, Yaya-senpai, is that we can support each other. I mean, since we've been through the same thing." She finished quickly, feeling awkward with her first sentence.
"I knew I could count on my little second in command" Yaya said with her trademark grin and poked the pink-haired girl's nose with her free hand.
The younger girl shut her eyes at the surprise contact, "Yaya-senpai" she moaned with an inward smile.
Yaya laughed lightly, her eyes scanning their surroundings. It was almost not long before their tea party would begin so she gestured to Tsubomi with a tug of her hand.
"It's almost time for the tea party so, shall we head back?" she stood up and turned to her junior.
Quickly following behind her, "I'm gonna take a shower first," said the younger girl as they headed back to Ichigo-sha, with a calm look on their faces.