~Melodies~

A YuruYuri Fan Fiction brought to you by Vladimir [Matt] Smith.

"You asleep yet?" Funami Yui spoke softly through the darkness of her apartment. Beside her she could just make out her best friend's profile, her long blonde hair shining in the soft light falling in from the window. Toshinou Kyoko sighed a small, content sigh. "No, not yet."

She rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. Yui smiled.

"Are you hungry? Do you need anything?" Her whisper seemed to sound for miles in the silence. Kyoko chuckled softly.

"You're so thoughtful. I guess maybe...rum raisin ice cream?" She turned to face Yui, and the girl could just barely see her hopeful expression. Kyoko was easily contented, that was one of the things Yui loved best about her.

"Sure, wait there." She shook off her drowsiness and stood up, then padded over to the nearest table and switched on a lamp.

She checked the fridge. "Here, I found some." Yui pulled out two tiny containers of ice cream, one for her and one for Kyoko. Her friend immediately rushed over and lunged for the ice cream.

"Give me!" she cried, grabbing for it but missing as she toppled to the ground. "Owie," she whimpered, holding her knee. Yui smiled sympathetically.

"Don't get so excited over ice cream." She pulled out a cardboard box of Band-Aids and put one on Kyoko's knee. "Is that better?" she asked.

Kyoko shrugged. "I guess."

A few moments passed where nothing was heard but the rattle of the refrigerator.

"Yui?"

Yui turned to face her blue eyed friend.

"Yeah?"

"Can you kiss my boo-boo?"

Kyoko looked up hopefully and smiled. "That always makes it feel better."

Yui's face reddened. "U-u-um. O-okay." She nervously bent over and touched her lips to Kyoko's knee, right on the hurt spot.

"Is that better?" Her face was as red as the tomatoes sitting in the ceramic bowl on the counter, but Kyoko didn't seem to notice.

"Let's eat rum raisin now!" She cheerfully stood up, grabbed one container of the ice cream, opened it, and began to shovel it into her mouth with her hands.

"Kyoko! Use a spoon!" Yui scolded, but smiled in spite of herself. "You're so careless. You'll make a mess." She got a napkin and gently wiped a smear of ice cream off the corner of her best friend's mouth. "There." Yui handed her a spoon and proceeded to eat her own ice cream.

The two girls sat on the kitchen floor, eating their ice cream in silence. The hum and clatter of the air conditioning flowing through the vents in the ceiling was the only sound to be heard in the deafening silence.

Yui finished the last of her ice crea, and threw away the trash, afterwards collecting her friend's empty ice cream container and tossing it into the trash can.

"Are you sleepy yet, Kyoko?" she asked. Her blonde, long haired friend smiled.

"Yeah, I guess so." She yawned, got up, and then crawled into Yui's sleeping bag.

Yui frowned. "If you're going to sleep with me, you better not kick or snore." Kyoko merely grinned.

She switched off the lamp and crawled under the covers. Her friend smiled and snuggled up closer to Yui, burying her face in her shoulder.

"You're really mature and calm and protective," she whispered. "You're the only one willing to put up with my antics." She smiled in the blackness of the room. "That's why I like you."

Yui blushed. "Th-thanks." Her best friend laced her fingers through Yui's, smiled, and drifted off to sleep, a small snore escaping her lips.

She looked down at Kyoko, fast asleep and curled up next to her.

Everything I'll ever need, sleeping next to me..

Yui held Kyoko close to her, letting out a faint, content sigh as she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning the two girls awoke to the doorbell buzzing loudly over and over again.

"Yui-senpai!" She heard Chinatsu's voice outside the door.

"We're gonna be late!" Akari's generally cheery voice, now tinged with worry, sounded outside the door.

Great. Now both of her other friends were waiting on her. Yui sat up immediately and woke up Kyoko. "Morning. Hurry, we'll be late for school."

Kyoko yawned and sat up. "Mmm. I don't wanna go to school." She rolled over and fell back to sleep.

"Kyokooo!" Yui stood up and struggled to drag her friend to her feet. "Get dressed, let's go."

Kyoko shook her head, eyelids still half closed. "But my uniform is still in the washer," she mumbled.

"Oh, yeah." Yui remembered now. Kyoko had fallen in a muddy puddle on the way home from school and had gone home with Yui to get cleaned up.

"Here, you can borrow mine again." She grabbed an extra uniform from her closet and tossed it to Kyoko. "You can get changed in the bathroom first."

As soon as the school day was over, Kyoko made a beeline for Yui.

"Yuuui," she smiled. Yui turned towards her. "What? What do you want?" she asked irritably.

"I...I was going to ask if you wanted ice cream." Kyoko looked taken aback.

"N-no, it's fine, sorry. I just...there was this test today...I don't think I did too well on it," Yui quickly apologized. "I'm sorry. Sure, yeah, let's go get ice cream."

"So, are you going to tell me what's up or not? You don't seriously expect me to believe the whole test story, do you?" Kyoko asked impatiently, taking another lick of her strawberry-lime-rum raisin flavored cone.

Yui frowned. "What makes you think I was lying?"

Even though I was.

"You're one of the smartest people I know. Either you were distracted from studying by something important or you're distracted now."

Yui sighed-even though Kyoko could be childish, she was brilliant in a lot of ways. And, since she knew Yui so well, there was nothing she could hide without Kyoko knowing.

"So are you going to tell me or not?"

With her heart pounding in her ears, Yui made the split-second decision to tell the truth.

"Well...there's this girl...she.." Her voice trailed off into silence as she finished the thought in her head.

I'm in love with you but you'll never love me back.

Yui swallowed another mouthful of cold, creamy, caramel ice cream, feeling tears threatening to form in her eyes.

She blinked them away.

Kyoko grinned, instantly reading between the lines.

"So who is it that you're falling for?"

Yui reddened instantly, afterwards wanting to punch herself for doing so. "A-Ah..that's personal, don't you think?"

"..Please? I promise that I won't ever tell anyone, ever."

Kyoko's eyes, a vast sea of blue, focused intently on Yui's own; engulfing her thoughts and making her lose herself.

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. "Fine..on the condition that you swear you really won't ever tell anyone."

Not that it matters, anyway.

"Okay, I won't, pinkie promise. Who do you like?"

Yui felt her eyes widen almost imperceptibly, feeling a flicker of panic surge through her veins. She couldn't tell Kyoko, not now and not like this.

"Uhm. Ayano."

What the hell?! Where had that come from? Yui felt even worse lying to Kyoko.

You idiot, she thought, cursing herself under her breath, you just eliminated any chances you have of ever being with Kyoko.

Her friend stared at Yui, open mouthed, and for a brief second Yui thought she saw a glimmer of disappointment in her clear, azure eyes.

Great. What have I done now?

"Ah..are you all right?" Kyoko was looking at her questioningly.

"Brain freeze," she replied instantly, putting her hand up on her forehead and pulling on a painful expression for emphasis.

Kyoko nodded faintly. "Y-Yeah..I hate those."

Goddammit. What am I doing?

"Do you wanna go to the arcade or something?" Kyoko asked lazily, slurping the last bits of ice cream from her quickly melting cone. Yui glanced at her suspiciously. "I thought we were just getting ice cream."

Her blonde friend grinned crazily.

"You should know by now that there's always more to my plans."

Yui nodded, knowing that this was true. It was typical of Kyoko to make last minute plans, generally ones that left Yui wondering why she even agreed to do this stuff in the first place.

Sure, the arcade didn't seem that bad, but one thing always led to another...

"So, how many places are you really planning on taking me?" She narrowed her eyes slightly.

Kyoko stopped suddenly, surprised and unprepared for the question.

"Well, I hadn't thought of that...let's just go wherever the wind blows us! Come on!" She grinned maniacally, grabbing Yui's hand and skipping onward.

Embarrassed, Yui followed her at a fast walk, trying to keep her friend from accidentally yanking her arm off.

Still..holding Kyoko's hand...

She blushed lightly and looked at their intertwined fingers. Did the two girls give off the impression...did they..look like a real couple?

Then Kyoko jerked her hand away and ran ahead.

"Gah, Kyoko, slow down!"

Her friend frowned and slowed her pace to a walk. "Boo, you're no fun."

Yui gazed into her clear, familiar blue eyes. "Of course not..I never have been."

Kyoko's face changed for a brief second, and Yui looked closer. Was she...crying?

Then her friend looked up, that cute lopsided grin flickering across her face, and Yui felt relief flood all through her body.

As Kyoko skipped happily alongside her, Yui shyly sneaked a glance at her, feeling a faint blush spread across her cheeks.

As loud and childish as she could be...Kyoko was the one person who could make Yui feel less alone.

"..Thanks, Kyoko." She smiled, briefly intertwining their fingers.

Her friend rewarded her with a cute little smile. "You're welcome, but I don't know what you're thanking me for." She squeezed her hand, letting go to shove the last of her ice cream in her mouth.

"You're just now finishing that?" Yui chuckled softly. "I ate mine minutes ago."

Kyoko shrugged. "I didn't want to finish it because the aftertaste is bad and so I thought that if I kept eating then there would be no aftertaste until I finished, but that would be longer than if I...Yui? You still following me?"

She narrowed her eyes, unamused. "Forget I ever asked."

"Ooh, look how cute that hat is!" Kyoko careened towards the store they were closest to and pressed her face against the window, her breath fogging up the glass. Yui walked closer to take a better look.

"Which hat?"

Kyoko gave her a look. "The cool one!"

Yui sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Is it the one that looks like an ice cream cone?"

Her friend turned to her and grinned. "Of course!"

"I was afraid so."

"Ooh, Yui, lookit that one!" Kyoko dragged her inside, almost flattening several unfortunate customers who happened to be exiting the store.

She pulled Yui to a rack of hats, picking up the one she was looking for and held it out to Yui.

"See, isn't it cute? It would look awesome on you...here, try it on!" She shoved it on her dark haired friend's head and grinned, satisfied. "See how cute you look?"

She wheeled Yui around to the nearest mirror.

Her friend was stunned. It was good...no, horrible...was Kyoko right? Did it really look...cute?

She adjusted the panda ears on the hat so they weren't folded over and pulled on the little flaps hanging down on either side of her head.

It didn't look bad, she concluded after a moment's pause.

"Do you think I should...hey, Kyoko!" She glared at her best friend as the half-mad blonde ran over to the counter and paid for it.

"You're welcoome," Kyoko sang.

Yui sighed, smiling and closing her eyelids briefly. "Thanks." She looked up at her friend then, chuckling to herself.

"What? Why are you laughing?" Kyoko pouted.

"You're such a mess." Yui smiled again.

Her best friend frowned and cocked her head. "I thought that you liked Ayano."

Yui felt her face warm. Was she that readable?

Instead of brushing the comment off lightly or saying something cool, however, Yui began to laugh uncontrollably; hysterically. She fell over, her sides aching from laughter.

Why was she laughing? This wasn't an amusing situation.

"Yui. Are you okay?" Kyoko leaned over her, concerned.

All of a sudden Yui fell completely, utterly silent.

Kyoko's face was so close to her own...

Her blonde friend pulled back sharply and stood up.

"Come on, let's go."

What was that for? Yui stood and followed her out of the shop, confused.

Oh, yeah, she thinks I like Ayano...

Yui sighed. Things were getting way too complicated, and it was all her fault.

Yui looked away from her manga and stared at her phone, which lay next to her on the couch. Hoping, praying that Kyoko would call.

After the Hat Store Incident, her friend had gone home.

That was so odd, Yui mused. One minute she was happy, but then...her mood changed completely.

Then a thought hit her.

What if she likes Ayano, not Chinatsu, and is afraid to tell Ayano anything because she doesn't want to hurt me?

She pulled one of the couch pillows over her head. Now she felt even more remorse for lying.

This was awful, beyond anything Yui could have dreamed up. In just one day, she had tangled things so much that, she realized, this web might even be impossible to get out of.

Taking a deep breath, she sat up, setting down her manga on the table beside the couch.

What can I do to fix this..? She sighed, wishing fervently that she hadn't caused the entire ordeal in the first place.

"Kyoko," she spoke quietly; coming to a difficult resolution. "I have to call Kyoko."

Shutting her eyes and clenching her teeth, she picked up the phone, almost immediately dropping it back on the hook and falling into a motionless heap on the couch.

"Shit, I can't do this," she muttered. "How the hell am I going to clear this up?"

Her eyelids fluttered shut for a brief moment as she shut out the world around her, thinking of nothing but Kyoko-which, incidentally, wasn't so hard in itself.

How can I fix this?

Well, that was fairly simple. All she had to do was call Kyoko.

And tell her what? That I lied to her earlier, and that I'm in love with her but I'll still be her best friend and help her get the girl of her dreams, even if it crushes me to pieces?

Yui let out a deep breath, knowing that if it came down to it, she would do it. She would do whatever it took to make Kyoko happy, even if it trampled over her own emotions in the process. She would have to become a blank page; not capable of feeling anything.

As her determination returned, she opened her deep brown eyes, sitting up with the resolution that she wouldn't back down this time.

She would do it.

She would call Kyoko.

With her newfound courage, she picked up the phone and dialed the number that she knew by heart.

The line rang. Once. Twice. She felt her heartbeat sound in her ears, growing louder and louder as the dial tone continued, making her feel more taut each time it sounded.

Then she heard a thump in the background as Kyoko picked up the phone.

"..Hello?"

Yui remained silent for a few brief moments, willing herself to be brave.

"Hey..Kyoko? It's me."

Kyoko laughed. "I know it's you, I have your number saved and at the top of my contact list."

Yui felt a faint blush rise to her face. Her number was at the top of Kyoko's contact list?

"A-ah..yeah. Well, I'm calling about something I told you earlier..."

She heard Kyoko exhale deeply as her voice took on a more serious tone.

"I-I have something to tell you, Yui."

She felt her breath catch in her throat. "What..what is it?"

The sound of her friend taking short, shaky breaths reached her ears. "I'm..I like someone, too, but she'll never like me back...I need your help, Yui."

Yui felt her heartbeat fail. "Can you tell me who?"

"..No."

She dropped the phone on the table where it landed with a bang that rippled through the apartment like a gunshot, all thoughts fleeing from her head.

Kyoko liked Ayano. There was no other explanation.

The whole time Yui had been in love with Kyoko...it was worthless, now.

She felt tears form in her eyes as she began to lose it.

"DAMNIT!" She overturned the table beside the couch, causing the lamp that had rested on its surface to shatter into one thousand tiny shards, some of which gained momentum from the fall and embedded themselves in her skin.

She felt tiny beads of blood rise and mingle with the tears that were now flowing silently down her face.

"..Yui? Are you okay?" Kyoko's frightened voice rose to her ears from the floor, where the call had still not ended.

Yui replied only with silence, kneeling on the floor and picking up the phone to stare at the tiny screen.

"I'm coming over right now, I don't care how well you think you're doing."

The call ended and Yui still stayed completely, utterly still, save for the tears which still ran down her cheeks and dripped onto the floor, staining the light carpet a bright shade of red.

She was in the same condition by the time Kyoko arrived at the apartment, ringing the doorbell furiously.

"Let me in, goddammit."

Reluctantly, Yui obliged and turned her gaze towards the doorway to see her friend with a horrified expression fixed upon her face.

"Yui.." She rushed over and held Yui in her arms, feeling tears form in her own blue eyes.

She drew back for a moment, looking intently into her dark eyes, wiping away a tear gently with her thumb.

"Whatever it is, it's going to be okay..I promise."

With those words, she leaned forward and pressed her soft lips to Yui's, to both her shock and amazement.

Her eyes widened, dumbfounded, before she closed them and hesitantly returned the kiss.

After a few moments had passed, Kyoko suddenly pulled back. "I...I need to get you taken care of."

Wasn't that enough?

She helped Yui up and onto the couch, entering the kitchen to pull a First-Aid kit out of the cabinet.

Gently, Kyoko cleansed Yui's cuts with rubbing alcohol after pulling out the small shards of the lamp, placing Band-Aids carefully over each and every cut with care and precision.

Yui looked up at her, speaking quietly.

"..Thank you.."

Kyoko nodded. "You've always taken care of me, haven't you?"

She sighed. "Yes, but...not like this.."

Her friend smiled sadly, a shade of light pink rising to her cheeks. "I..I'm sorry about, you know..."

"Don't be." Slowly, cautiously, Yui wrapped her arms around Kyoko's waist, moving to plant a small kiss on her cheek before pulling back.

Kyoko searched her dark eyes curiously. "What...why are you doing this?"

Yui frowned. "Why am I doing what..?"

Her friend searched her gaze beseechingly, looking like she might fall to pieces any moment, her voice soft and barely audible.

"Making me feel like, just maybe...there's a probability that you might love me, too."

In that moment, as those last words left Kyoko's mouth, Yui felt time freeze altogether. She let her hands fall onto the couch cushion and looked at her, wide-eyed.

"But I do," she whispered softly. "I have for years."

"What about what you said, earlier...?"

Yui shook her head, letting a soft laugh escape her lips.

"I was too afraid to tell you anything...you either liked Ayano or Chinatsu..what was I supposed to say? Her name was just the first that came to mind.."

A tentative smile flickered across Kyoko's face. "Yui, you idiot." She chuckled softly, wrapping her arms around Yui's waist and burying her head in the crook of her neck.

"You're the only one I could ever wish for."

-FIN-