Hikari stood there holding a now frail Yaya in her arms, her shoulder soaked with Yaya's tears. She had finally stopped crying. And now that her brain was completely fried, the thought occurred to Yaya of what to do next. Crap, what do I do? I can't chock this up to a joke or anything. I have no plan for this. Yaya slid her arms to gently push Hikari back, shaking from a combination of her nerves and her lack of composure. Embarrassingly, Yaya looked Hikari square in the eyes. Hikari's eyes were fogged with thoughts, Yaya's eyes red from tears. They spoke at the same time.
"Hikari, I…"
"Yaya-chan."
"Go ahead Hikari."
"No you go first."
"Its okay, you go first." Yaya was nervous, her heart pounding, and trying to make any idle talk just to avoid saying anything. She had no idea what to say.
"It's a bit chilly outside, maybe we should go back to the dorms. You know, to the room. What were you going to say?"
"Oh, yeah. That's what I was going to say too. Heh heh." As Yaya forced out a nervous laugh, she dropped her arms and turned away to start walking in front of Hikari.
As the two walked back, Yaya began to panic and worry at the same time about any little detail. She said 'the room' not 'our room.' She's going to tell me something like she doesn't want to live with me. Just as well. I blew it. I won't be living with her. I'll never see her again. I'll never… Yaya began to cry, heavily. She leaned over, hands on her knees and let the tears flow, and as she felt she was about to slip on her sweaty hands, Hikari caught her, and held her up, arm around her shoulder and looked at her roommate. Eyes closed, tears streaming, she couldn't help but hug her again.
"Yaya-chan, its okay. Everything will be okay, please don't be this upset, I can't stand it." Hikari felt a throb in her chest she had never felt before, and a sudden urge to make her roommate feel better hit her stronger than anything she had felt that night, even stronger than Yaya's confession. As she wiped her tears away with her hand, Yaya opened her eyes, looking down. The thought of Hikari looking right at her was too much to bear anymore. Hikari whispered to her. "Everything is alright, Yaya-chan. Let's just head back." All Yaya could do was nod. The two walked back quietly, Hikari with her arm around Yaya's shoulders most of the way.
Hikari opened the door and let Yaya walk in first as the brunette mumbled 'thanks'. She turned on the lamp, the two got undressed, and Yaya got under her covers and just stared at the ceiling. Hikari sat on her bed, looking at her. "Yaya-chan?" She knew this was coming, and it felt like the spike she had thrust into her heart was being twisted slowly.
"Yeah."
"How…how long have you lo…felt like…this...about me." When a few seconds passed and Yaya hadn't answered, Hikari turned off the lamp. But Hikari didn't lie down; she walked to Yaya's bed and sat on the edge near her knees, looking down at her.
"Yaya-chan. I..."
"Its fine Hikari, I'm sure you hate me. I'll move out tomorrow so you don't have to live with me"
"Yaya-chan! Why on earth would you think that? I just. I um…I'm not…mad. Or anything. I just, I didn't think about it." When Yaya didn't answer, Hikari started to get flustered. "Yaya please don't move out! I'd miss you too much." Suddenly that feeling she felt as she held Yaya not a half-hour before, it came back. She felt this strong urge to not let go and to not want to be apart from her best friend. "Yaya-chan, please talk to me. I'm not mad. I don't hate you. Nothing has to change. Please just talk to me!"
"What is it Hikari?"
"How long have you…l…loved me?" At those words, Yaya's eyes teared up again. Hikari immediately laid down on her roommate, digging her arms around the sheets and hugged her.
"Since…since I first saw you. Please…please leave me alone Hikari, I can't take it anymore."
Hikari lifted herself up onto her hands leaning right over her roommate. "No Yaya-chan! I don't want you to feel upset. I care about you. You're my best friend. I care about you more than anyone!"
"Pssh. Except Amane." And then Hikari really freaked out.
"No! You're my best friend! I couldn't stand being without you!"
"You have your girlfriend" she spat. "You love her, and that's that."
"Yaya-chan! I- I care about you too! I care about you just as much as Amane-senpai."
"Still calling her your senpai? That's a lot of respect for an equal, huh? Please Hikari, let me sleep. I'm sorry I put you through all of this, It was stupid, I shouldn't have said anything, I didn't expect you to make your poor roommate feel better, that's my job. You only love one person. Now goodnight."
"Yaya-chan! That's not true, I'm glad you were …honest with me…" As Hikari trailed off, her mind started to drift, and as she looked down, there was Yaya, eyes red and swollen, breathing slowly and harshly, asleep from exhaustion no doubt. Hikari got up, tucked in Yaya's covers, and contemplated giving her a goodnight kiss on the forehead. She stopped short and walked over to her bed, got in the covers, looked up at the ceiling and laid there, thinking about everything that had happened this evening.