Disclaimer: I do not own YuruYuri or any of the associated characters.
Kyouko and Ayano sat hand in hand next to each other on the bus, eagerly awaiting their arrival at Kyoto.
Chitose had opted, for various reasons, to not endanger herself by sitting on the same bus as them. Instead, she decided to sit with her sister on the other bus. While Ayano wasn't entirely happy her friend was gone, she agreed it would save the poor, bespectacled girl much pain and nosebleeds.
And it gave her a bit of a chance to spent time with Kyouko, which she never really minded.
"I brought a bunch of snacks with me, but there's no way in hell I'm eating anything on the bus! I learned my lesson last time." Kyouko replied.
Ayano arched an eyebrow, "Wait, what do you mean last time?"
At first, this question struck Kyouko as odd, but then she realized Ayano was right. They were second-years, there was no way they went on this trip before.
She shrugged, "I don't know, maybe it was a dream or something…"
Ayano shook her head, but she seemed content with this answer. After all, they definitely hadn't gone on this trip before, so any thoughts of a "last time" had to be entirely fictional.
Right?
Akari sat bored in her bedroom. Chinatsu was coming over soon, but it wouldn't be for another hour, and Kyouko and Yui were both out on their school trip to Kyoto.
She had vague recollections of her two older friends going away for a school trip before, but she couldn't for the life of her remember when. As far as she knew, there was only one school trip for the second-years, and this was it.
Akari decided worrying about such trivial matters was in no way useful, nor it wouldn't speed up the time she had to wait for Chinatsu. Instead, she opted to head to the kitchen to see if there was snacks for when her girlfriend arrived.
As she headed out, however, she noticed that Akane was on the phone with someone. She didn't want to pry, but she decided to wait until her sister was finished before making her presence known.
"So soon, huh?" Akane replied to whoever was on the phone, "Well, I guess it can't be helped, but now... it's just bad timing, I guess… right, I'm on my way, then!"
Akari walked into the living room, where her sister was, as soon as the older girl put down the phone and sighed.
"Nee-chan?" Akari began.
"Aaahhhh! Akari-chan!" Akane turned around and looked at the girl wide-eyed, "Your onee-chan's going out for a bit! I should be back before dinner."
"Alright," Akari replied, turning into the kitchen to do what she had planned earlier. Akane headed for the door, but then turned around in hesitation. She watched her younger sister rummage around in the fridge a bit, then close the door and give a satisfactory nod.
Akari soon found her older sister's arms wrapped tightly around her, and she turned to look at her older sister startlingly. Akane had small tears in the corners of her eyes, and she was clutching Akari tightly like a lifeline.
"Akari…" Akane began, "I love you, Akari…"
"Nee-chan…?" Akari began, "What's wrong?"
Akane wiped the tears in the corner of her eyes away and shook her head, "Nothing… I just… I want you to know that I love you, and I don't just mean like a sister either… Akari… I love you so much…"
Akari's eyes widened, "W-wait! Nee-chan… wh-what do you mean, more than a sister…?"
Akane smiled, "I mean… this…"
Before Akari could react, Akane had pressed her lips up against Akari's, and the younger red-head stood there mortified for a few seconds before pushing Akane off.
"Nee-chan! I have a girlfriend!" Akari blurted out. It hadn't crossed her mind that she hadn't told her family about Chinatsu until just now, but she figured since her sister was confessing to her anyway, that wouldn't really be the issue here.
"A-ah… Akari, I'm sorry… I didn't mean… wait, you what?" Akane asked, wide-eyed.
"China-chan and I are dating!" Akari declared.
"O-oh…" Akane replied emptily. She looked downtrodden, and Akari started feeling a bit bad she hadn't mentioned it earlier.
"A-ah, Nee-chan…" Akari replied, "I'm flattered you like me and all, but… I'm taken."
Akane nodded and turned away, a look of disappointment still on her face, but she smiled, "I'm… I'm happy for you, Akari! Anyway, I'm heading out, alright! Goodbye, Akari."
Akari smiled, "Alright, take care, Nee-chan!"
As Akane walked out the door, tears began falling from her eyes, yet she soldiered on.
"It's alright, Akane!" she told herself trying to wipe her tears, "You have more important things to worry about right now!"
And with that, she headed off for whatever it was she was doing.
As Kyouko and Ayano marched through Kyoto with an unstoppable enthusiasm, Yui turned to the much quieter Chitose and sighed.
"They sure are a handful sometimes, aren't they?" Chitose asked, hand on her cheek like a mother observing her child.
Yui nodded, "Yeah, I guess. I'm used to Kyouko though. If anything, Ayano keeps her out of my hair much of the time."
Chitose looked at Yui questioningly, "Huh, oh, yeah. I guess that would be the case. I guess it's harder on me because Ayano asks me for help a lot."
Yui nodded, "Yeah. Actually, Kyouko's been asking me for advice a lot more lately too, I just don't consider that as much of a pain as having to host every time Kyouko wants to invite herself over."
Chitose placed her finger on her lips, "Ah, come to think of it, you live by yourself, don't you, Funami-san? It must get lonely, I bet, without Kyouko coming over all the time anymore."
Yui smiled, "I'm the type of person who can appreciate the peace of solitude. Besides, the four of us in Amusement Club haven't lost touch just because the others are dating."
Chitose nodded, "Ah, so it's like that… well, the Student Council Room seems pretty empty as of late. Himawari often heads to look after Sakurako after school, and Ayano and Kyouko often head off to…"
Chitose's nose began leaking blood as per usual, and Yui sighed, "How to you keep yourself alive with them dating?"
Chitose, however, was already off in her own fantasy world.
Up ahead, Kyouko looked around for a second and her eyes lit up, "Hey, it's the spikey wooden fence thing! Remember, we were down here under Kiyomizu and Chitose pointed it would be bad if I fell because I might be impaled!"
Yui frowned, "Ah, Kyouko… we… we've never been here before…"
Yet even as Yui said that, recollections of that happening flooded back into her mind, and her eyes widened.
She added, with more than just a hint of uncertainty, "R-right?"
AN: This is part one of the two-part finale (I've uploaded them both together, more or less.) Don't worry, I'm not ending the story, just preparing for a bit of a "season two", if you will.