The clock struck midnight. Yui motioned to turn off the lights, saying, "Good night."
The girls in their futons replied, "Good night!" in unison.
"It was fun!" Kyouko told Yui after she turned off the lights and got into her own futon.
"I guess so."
"Let's do it again sometime."
"Make sure you get permission first." The chiding voice came from opposite of them, belonging to the vice president of the student council, Ayano.
At the other end of the futons, the president Rise whispered something in her usual almost-inaudible manner to Nana, the science teacher who acted as a chaperone for the sleepover.
"You're worried you won't be able to wake up tomorrow?"
Rise nodded back.
The teacher smiled reassuredly. "Don't worry. I brought an alarm clock." Indeed, she took out an alarm clock from under her futon, though it seemed attached to something larger, like long brown sticks and wires. At any rate it was too dark for anyone to see what they were. "I set it for 7:30, so rest well."
The girl nodded again, this time happily, and closed her eyes to sleep.
It was the end of an eventful night, full of fun, games, outdoor bathing … and a traumatic kiss-fest. It was exhausting enough for most of the girls to already be asleep, except for two.
"Toshinou Kyouko, are you still awake?" Of course, that could only come from the one person who would say that girl's entire name.
Kyouko asked in response to Ayano, "What?"
"Well… Thanks, for inviting me."
"Oh." Kyouko sounded somewhat surprised at that.
Wanting the conversation to end there, Ayano exclaimed, "That's all! Good night!"
And it would have ended there, but… "Ayano, wanna sleep together?" The other person teased.
The vice president squealed as she stammered, "G-go to sleep already!"
Kyouko let out a long "Awwww." of impolite disappointment before letting it go.
It wasn't so easy for Ayano to let go, though. The girl tossed and turned in her futon restlessly for hours, anxiety building up within her.
I wonder, does Kyouko hate me? … It-it's not like I wanted to say yes to that or anything! I just… I don't want to lose control of myself! Being with her in the same barrel bath, seeing her like that...
She put two fingers to her lips as she laid on her left side. The same lips that pecked that girl on the cheek to stop Chitose's kissing rampage. That kiss she gave Kyouko was thankfully enough to make the crazy girl pass out from nosebleeding, but she kept thinking about it all.
N-no, stop it, me! I'm starting to be like Chitose! Get a hold of yourself! It's a good thing that nothing else happened. If I gave more than that kiss to her, I'd have gone mad! I don't… want her to hug me, kiss me, like that. If she did that—
Which is how she didn't notice the slow footsteps, the presence slipping into her futon and hugging her from behind. There's only one person who could be so bold with her.
She sharply whispered, "—T-T-Toshinou Kyouko, w-w-what are y—"
"Shhhh." A finger was placed on the protester's lips. "If you don't want this, pinch me."
Ayano tensed even more from that. It's not that she wanted to reject her. She only couldn't believe this was really happening, so her senses froze up. Still, as if the physical contact from Kyouko moving her hands along her pajamas warmed her, she relaxed into the hold despite the initial squirming. Absent-mindedly, she set a hand of her own on the hip of the person behind her.
Then the hands stopped moving. It was something Ayano regretted doing immediately. Was Kyouko waiting to be pinched? Did she herself really want this? Did Kyouko? More and more thoughts raced through her head, and though she didn't tense up again like before, it was beginning to make her tremble with anxiety, with fear, at her own indecision and how it could be affecting the one she loved.
A hand that stopped moving reached down to rest on top of Ayano's own, and then pulled them up to face level before tugging at her hand. "Turn around…"
Once again, that girl took the initiative. If heartbeats could be heard, Ayano's heart would probably sound like a metronome with how fast it was going. It was a feeling that made her wish time would stop right then and there, but she had to answer sometime, she knew that. She reluctantly turned over on her right side, just in time to receive a kiss on the lips by none other than Toshinou Kyouko.
Her face flushed about as red as that silly tomato suit Kyouko was wearing, if not redder. It was a good thing that couldn't be seen in the dark. She almost pulled back in shock, but the gratification of the moment made her accept it willingly. The two hands held each other, clasped while the kiss lasted. After they broke the kiss though, Ayano found herself hugging Kyouko and kissing again, this time on her own.
"I love you, Kyouko. Kyouko, Kyouko, Kyouko, Kyouko…!"
"Good morning." The voice came from the first person to wake up, Kyouko in that red tomato suit, before she got up and began her morning routine.
Ayano stirred and opened her eyes to the light of morning. She wanted to greet her, but embarrassment came over her as she started to remember the details of last night, and then what supposedly happened after everyone went to sleep. She pulled the blanket over her head, both to block out the sun and so no one could see her face.
… A dream, huh? That felt too real, though…
It couldn't have happened. Kyouko was acting like her normal self, and Ayano could see that much as she spied on her from under the blanket. No hint of affection towards her, just Kyouko being as spacey and outgoing as usual. She put the same two fingers to her lips that she recalled.
… Well, if it didn't happen, that's good too.
Maybe it'd be better if things didn't go that fast. They could keep being friends for now, and someday she'll be able to take the initiative herself and confess her adoration for Toshinou Kyouko. Someday.
The group was brushing their teeth outside, everyone waking up aside from Sakurako and Himawari already going at it, glaring sparks at each other. It was then the tea house behind them blew up in a dramatic manner. Everyone turned to see the result: There were no survivors, and the place was in ruins.
Immediately they realized the only one inside was Akari. It was only for unfortunate things like this, no?
"Akari…" Kyouko's eyes watered in her tomato suit.
"She did it to save us." Yui commented knowingly in her panda suit.
"You'll always be in our hearts, Akari-chan." Chinatsu cried in her cat suit.
The girls turned to the pond in front of them in salute, with Kyouko leading, "That's right. We'll never forget you, Akari." They imagined the girl in their hearts, always happy and smiling, going "Akarin!"
Maybe they only imagined it, but a voice behind them said, "Hey, now! I'm not dead!"
Kyouko then went over to Ayano and said in a teasing tone, as if just remembering, "By the way, those were some cute noises you made last night, A-ya-no-chaaa-n~ "
"Hey, listen to me already! Wah!"
This caught Ayano completely off-guard, Kyouko suddenly bringing up that intimate moment in public. Did it really happen? She stuttered, trying to think of something clueless to say in reply as she glanced away and back. "W-w-w-wait, what're you talking about!?"
What are you doing!? D-don't talk about something like that so casually, dummy!
"I was half asleep for most of the night, but for some reason I remember you whispering my first name over and over again at your futon. It's odd though, you usually only say my whole name." Kyouko advanced, their faces close now with obliviousness stuck on her own. "What was that all about, anyway?"
So that didn't happen, after all? … Wait, if she didn't actually do that to me, then that was me doing…!
After blinking in realization, coming to her own conclusions, and having Kyouko approach her like that, Ayano's face went about as red as it did last night. She would have responded to that, if it weren't for the sudden rush of water splashing over everyone's faces and clothes. They all noticed very quickly that the pond in front of them was full of red water, Chitose's body upside down and half-submerged in it.
"Ah! We have an emergency!"
And thus, they helped pull the other hopeless dreamer out of the water.
~THE END~
Author's Notes
Hello! This is my first submission to FF, dedicated in timing to a dear friend of mine's birthday (January 10th).
I'm still trying to get the hang of things, and I don't know if I'll submit any other works, but thank you for reading!
The original story had no Author's Notes. I was told about them after the initial publish, so that's the only difference here.
The document I wrote this in had Akari's lines grayed-out, but the site doesn't seem to like such formatting. =( Oh well. Akarin!
I had a difficult time deciding whether to rate this as T or M due to the content involved toeing the line, but I think it's more of a tease than actually going anywhere. Then again, I've written the story so that what's really going on can be up to the interpretation of the reader, much like with most of YuruYuri itself.
Since I haven't watched any of Season 2, I wouldn't be surprised if a future reveal messes with the idea. Still, best of luck, Ayano!
