It's Not My Fault We're Together!

Chapter 1: When She's Not There (You Are)

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A/N: "Top_Tsun", you seven who're following my work (THANK YOU SO MUCH, by the way) say, "You have work to do on MTsDB! Why are you starting another multi-chapter fic!?" "Well," I answer, "I was reading the most recent chapter of WataMote, and-having found the dynamic between Nemo and Yuri interesting-couldn't resist writing about it."

"You dumbass," I hear you collectively murmur. Ah well. I'm living in the future I want, writing what I want, and it may seem selfish-mostly because it is-but I'm happy this way. So...

...

"Y-yuri-chan."

Yuri jolted to a halt, blood rushing to her cheeks as she found herself caught completely off-guard by this turn of events. She recognized that timid, uncertain voice, but she knew it was impossible. Kuroki was still in the counseling room, right? There's no way she could've gotten out or caught up with her, right? There was just no way...

These thoughts came to a grinding halt when she turned to find Hina, not Kuroki, standing behind her, a happy smile on the girl's face as she asked, "How was it? Do I sound like her?"

Yuri blinked, uncertain how to respond to this shock. It was rare for Hina to talk to her, but to hear what she had assumed was Kuroki actually calling out to her and seeing this girl instead...

After this intense deliberation, a simple "What?" was all the response Yuri gave.

Nimo, unfazed by Yuri's apparent indifference, answered, "I figured we could walk home together."

Yuri considered the suggestion, weighing her options as Hina continued to smile. While it WAS true that they weren't exactly friends-rivals, maybe, but that was about it-Yuri couldn't deny she had grown accustomed to having someone she could walk home with. Well, it wasn't like she had much better to do...

Finding no reason to reject the offer, Yuri answered with a simple nod.

...

Several minutes had passed in awkward silence, and Yuri was still trying to understand why Hina had suggested they walk home together. It wasn't like they were friends; they barely knew anything about each other despite spending so much time together, only interacting because they were both friends with Kuroki-

Ah, Kuroki. Without her, Yuri wouldn't have any sort of rivalry with Hina, would she? Then again, it's not like they would have been friends otherwise; Kuroki was the only reason they even met, let alone spoke to each other. At the end of the day, it was a kind of fluke they had ever encountered one another, a cosmic miscalculation, leaving the books unbalanced and the record unsatisfied, an unlooked-for answer to an unasked question, something that was both-

"Still, Kuro is a moron, getting suspended at a time like this." Hina said, cutting into her meandering thoughts.

Yuri blinked, unsure of what answer to give her before responding with a simple, "Yeah..."

Hina smiled before continuing, "I figured a week would go by in a flash, but it's pretty long, huh? Still two more days."

Yuri wasn't quite sure what to say. She had never considered Hina to be a friend, and found her feelings about the girl conflicted. Yet here Hina was, talking to her about Kuroki, choosing to be around her when she could just as easily be around one of her own friends. Well... Hina was probably only talking to her because she was a friend of Kuroki's as well, so she supposed it made sense.

Hina began to frown at Yuri's silence. "Huh?" She wondered. "You don't think so?"

Yuri blinked again, surprised at how determined Hina was to talk to her. She shrugged internally; when the subject was Kuroki, it made sense that Hina would doggedly try to keep up their conversation. Realizing that she was being sucked back into her internal dialogue, Yuri answered, "No, I thought the same thing."

Hina blinked, somewhat surprised that Yuri had responded as she said, "Oh, we think alike, Tamura-san." She smiled again, asking, "Do we have similar interests in Kuro?"

Yuri couldn't help but wonder what 'interests' Hina was referring to. Electing to mostly disregard the comment, she still answered, "It was just coincidence..."

Hina hummed happily, saying, "Really? 'Cause normally, with everything coming to a head like this, it would seem like everything is rushing straight to the end." Her eyes sparkled just slightly as she concluded, "But since Kuro's not here, everyone-us especially-has been kinda... off."

Yuri cast a sideways glance at the girl, eyes narrowed in suspicion as she asked, "How do you know whether or not I've been off...?"

Giggling slightly, Hina clasped her hands in supplication as she said, "Ah, caught red-handed! I guess I just sorta noticed how often you hung around Kuro, and that made me wonder what sort of person you were. So, I watched you just a little bit." Her grin broadened as she declared, "I'm pretty good at reading people, actually!"

Yuri sighed, saying, "I'm not sure I want you to be doing that."

Hina leaned closer to her, her grin turning mischievous as she asked, "But are you sure you don't want me doing that?"

"You're insufferable, aren't you?" Yuri deadpanned.

However, she couldn't help grinning just a little as she walked away. Maybe hanging out with Hina wouldn't be that bad. Just a little bit, anyway.

...

"...And then," Hina continued, "they just sat and looked at each other for, like, five whole seconds! It was SUUUPER awkward! Man, I can't believe they would show something like that on TV!"

Yuri chuckled in spite of herself. She had always known that Hina wasn't a bad person per se, but she didn't seem like a great one to hang out with. It was surprising to see this side of her, to say the least. "Well, you know they record those programs live," she said, "so it's not like they can screen them for content first, right...?"

Hina shrugged. "Yeah, probably not. I just can't believe that things went THAT badly! I mean, someone had to figure that might happen, right!?" She paused, glancing up to see that they had arrived at the station.

"Ah, well," She said, shrugging. "Looks like this is the part where we split up. See ya, Tamura-san!" Hina waved to Yuri before turning to walk away, but stopped when she realized that the other girl had caught hold of her sleeve.

"Wait a second," Yuri said, "I wanted to ask you for something."

Hina smiled, saying, "Sure! But isn't your train gonna get here soon? You don't want to miss it!"

Yuri released her sleeve, fidgeting in place indecisively before she finally said, "Could you... please..." before mumbling the rest incomprehensibly.

Hina tilted her head, saying, "Hm? What was that last part, Tamura-san?"

Yuri paused for a deep breath before repeating, "I wanted you to... that is, could you please..." she paused for a smaller breath, before asking in a very small voice, "...do the Kuroki thing again..."

Hina scrunched up her face in confusion before realization dawned upon her. "Oh!" She said. "You mean the impersonation?" Yuri merely answered with a small nod, her normally cold, unreadable expression taking on just a slightly pinker hue. Hina smiled at this display. She's kinda cute that way... she thought to herself.

"...Yes." Yuri eventually answered.

Hina smiled again, hugging herself tightly and seeming to close up as she got into character. Finally, slouching just slightly, she said in a high, soft voice very much like what they knew Kuroki to have, "H-have a nice d-day, Yuri-ch-chan..."

Yuri returned Hina's smile as she turned to get ready for the train. Then, as quietly as Hina's impersonation, the introvert said, "Thank you."

Hina smiled, waving once more as she turned to leave. Today was a good day.

***Chapter 1: Good End***

A/N: Ah! That was refreshing! Y'know, originally I was thinking about just making this a one-shot but... well, I didn't really feel like it was substantial or original enough to justify that, so I figured I might as well write a multi-chap on this one. Then, I thought maybe I would write this first chapter a bit longer-see where it went, y'know? However, I decided against that in the end; I figured it would be best if I wrote this as long as I felt was right, and go with that. Since this isn't my main focus (right now, anyway), this will likely be updating once every week or two on Wednesdays. I might miss an update (ONLY if I'm at an unimportant junction, mind you; I'm not going to blueball you guys in the middle of the climax, y'kn-okay, maybe I've been reading too much WataMote, seeing how naturally the euphemism came out-...Damn It. Also this parenthetical set has continued for a while, huh?), but I'll try to be fairly consistent if my schedule allows for it.

...Yay, adult problems.