Ayano: Speak and Listen
Akarin!
Sakurako: Hey! Yuru Yuri: Amusement Club Forever is about to start!
Ayano: Hello, everyone!
Sakurako: This chapter's about you, Sugiura!
Ayano: Yes, it is.
Sakurako: How come you get chapters and I don't?
Ayano: I…don't know? You were in the entirety of the last chapter, even though it was Akari's.
Sakurako: Ah, that's true. Akari's so fun!
Ayano: She is.
Sakurako: I could your chapter too.
Ayano: This chapter takes place at the high school, Sakurako.
Sakurako: No, I mean, I could play you while you take a break. Ahem. TOSHINO KYOUKO! See?
Ayano (sighing): Not this again…
Sakurako: Huh? Not what again?
Ayano: Never mind. Let's just start the chapter.
It was the morning, and classes had yet to start. Ayano stepped into the bathroom that was nearest to her classroom. When she did, she saw a familiar girl with a red ribbon in her blond hair standing in front of one of the sinks. Ayano smiled at the sight of her.
I've barely gotten to see her since the Cultural Festival. And now, here she is. Maybe she'll want to go on an outing the next time we have a holiday or maybe even this weekend. I just need to figure out a good way to bring up. Or perhaps I'll get lucky, and she'll suggest one again.
"Toshino Kyouko!" she said happily. "Don't spend all morning waffling in the bathroom. You might be late! Did you remember to do your homework assignments from yesterday?"
Kyouko turned around and looked at her. "Hi, Ayano," she said quietly. Ayano could immediately discern that something was off here.
Oh dear, she thought. It's like she's a campfire that someone threw a bucket of water on. Kyouko sounded tired and gloomy, and Ayano noticed that her posture had slumped a little. Her blue eyes that were usually full of merriment and mischief (except for when she slept through her classes) instead regarded Ayano sadly.
"T-Toshino Kyouko?" Ayano said uncertainly. "What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?"
"Something like that."
Ayano stepped over and put her hand on Kyouko's forehead. It felt normal.
"You don't feel feverish," Ayano said. "Is your stomach hurting? Are you cramping? Are you-"
"No, Ayano, it's not really anything of that sort." Her voice dropped some. "It's just, I….the other day…um…"
"Go on. Did something happen?"
"Yes," Kyouko said almost in a whisper.
"D-do you want to talk about it, Toshino Kyouko?" This feels like such a strange situation, but I can't just leave her like this.
Kyouko suddenly threw her arms around Ayano's neck and began sobbing loudly. "Ayano, Yui hates me!"
Ayano was stunned. That was probably the last thing she'd have expected Kyouko to say.
"W-what?" she stammered.
"We had a fight and now she won't talk to me because she hates me!"
"I-I can't see her ever hating you, Toshino Kyouko," Ayano replied. She hugged Kyouko back as the girl continued to cry.
"She does though," Kyouko blubbered. "And I tried to go and make up with her, but she just said that we aren't friends anymore…and…." Her words trailed off and she pressed her face against Ayano's shoulder.
"Hey, shhh, it'll be okay," Ayano said, patting Kyouko some. Are those the right words to say? I hope so. She let Kyouko pull away from her. Her eyes were red, and her nose was running. Ayano reached into her pocket and pulled out a package of tissues. She tore it open and handed one to her. "Here, Toshino Kyouko."
Kyouko took the tissue and wiped her eyes and nose. Still sniffing, she looked back at Ayano. "Thank you."
"If you feel okay to do so," Ayano said. "Can you tell me what exactly happened?"
"I-I think I can," Kyouko said.
Ayano listened as Kyouko told her about a string of events: arguing with Yui about the Cultural Festival work and the club form and Yui leaving the Amusement Club. In the middle of her story, Kyouko broke down crying again. Ayano pressed the entire tissue package into her hands this time. Once she had calmed back down, Kyouko told Ayano about how she had tried to talk with Yui more than once, but had been brushed off by her each time.
"…and she won't even talk to Chizuru and Haruka, and I don't know what to do. Everything is just so messed up, and I feel sick. And now she's going to join the track team and probably won't want to see the rest of us at all anymore."
"I see," Ayano said. She had listened to Kyouko without interruption and was now trying to process everything she had heard. "So, you think she was upset mainly because of the Cultural Festival work and the club form?" I shouldn't have allowed myself to distract you from your Cultural Festival duties. This is partly my fault, isn't it?
"I guess so," Kyouko replied.
"But…that just seems odd. Was it a lot of little things adding up?"
"I don't know. Maybe?"
"Toshino Kyouko," Ayano said. "It's not my place, but if you want me to…"
"You'll talk to Yui?" Kyouko asked hopefully.
"I'll…try." Truth be told, Ayano wasn't certain if she'd have any more success than Kyouko, Chizuru, or Haruka had, but figured she would at least give it a go.
"Thank you, Ayano!" Kyouko hugged Ayano tightly. She was crying for a third time.
Don't worry, Toshino Kyouko, Ayano thought, hugging her back. I'll talk to Yui and help you figure this out. If I contributed to this, then I'll do what I can to help rectify it.
Ayano never had a chance to talk with Yui during breaks or lunch. She wasn't sure where Yui disappeared off to during those times. She decided to wait until the school day was done to try and talk with her. After classes ended, Ayano watched Yui get up and leave the classroom before Ayano had a chance to even approach her. She figured that was just as well; it would have been hard to talk with Yui in the classroom anyway, given the noise and the other people close by. Ayano scampered out the classroom door and looked in both directions. She spotted Yui a long way down the hall and immediately sped off after her.
"Hey, no running the halls!" someone called.
Sorry!
"Yui!" Ayano called.
Yui stopped and turned around. "Ayano."
Ayano caught up to her. "Hey, do you have a moment?"
"I've got track team practice, Ayano. What is it?"
Struggling for words, Ayano tried to figure out how to begin. "I wanted to talk to you about…um…."
Oh, why didn't I at least plan out what I would say?
"Yes?" Yui asked, looking impatient.
"It's, uh…"
"Let me guess," Yui said. "You want to talk with me about my argument with Kyouko."
Ayano nodded.
"Jeez, now you're after me too. Is she roping you into this, is it Chizuru and Haruka, or is it all three? Or is Chizuru's sister now in on this too?"
When did you become so suspicious and cynical, Yui? Is it because of your fight with Toshino Kyouko?
"I do want to talk about your argument, but none of them asked me to come and speak with you. I'm here because I'm concerned," Ayano replied.
"I see. I'm a little surprised you, of all people, would come to me on your own about this."
"What? I just think…" Ayano trailed off. She was stumped trying to find the correct words again. This isn't going well.
"That's okay, Ayano. I'm well aware of what you think. It's never been a big secret to me. So, forget about me and go after what you want. You'll never have a better chance than now, right?" Despite her words, Ayano didn't hear any sarcasm in Yui's voice; rather, she sounded sad.
"Huh? A better chance at what?"
Yui sighed. "You know exactly what I mean, so please don't make me say it out loud."
A realization hit Ayano. She thought of the way Yui had glared at her at the Cultural Festival when Kyouko had hugged her. She could suddenly see everything clearly; she did know exactly what Yui meant.
Funami Yui, you're like me, aren't you? We both have the same feelings for Toshino Kyouko. We just express them in different ways, which is to say, not much at all for either of us. That's probably why I didn't see it before. How far back do yours go? The past two months? All of high school so far? Middle school? And I was right that this is partly my fault, but I didn't know the half of it. You were angry at her not because she skipped out on her work or because she said and did weird things or whatever. You were angry at her because she spent time with me. You were jealous, just as I've felt jealous of your friendship with her sometimes. In another life, that might have made us rivals or something to that effect, but I don't want that. I want us to remain friends. I want all of us to get along. Going after 'what I want' right now would be incredibly selfish.
Ayano composed herself and chose her words carefully. "What I think," she replied. "Is that you and Toshino Kyouko need to try and make up."
"Is that all? That's not going to happen."
"It can." Ayano felt a little more confident now. "You two were always such good friends."
"We aren't anymore."
"You can return to that though."
"No reason to."
"Sure there is, for you and for her. I think your respective lives make more sense when the other is in it."
"Except, that makes no sense."
"No, it does. You two need each other."
Yui snorted. "Humph. Not likely."
"You do though," Ayano insisted. Now she knew what to say. "Think about it, Yui. That sort of friendship doesn't just spring up overnight. It takes a long time to grow. And then you have a best friend, someone who knows you as well as you know yourself, sometimes even better. I have Chitose. Her sister has Koyama. And you have Toshino Kyouko. Everyone should have a friendship like that. It's wonderful and invaluable. Sure, you two might have your differences and even conflicts sometimes from them. But that kind of friendship is not something you should just throw away over one argument."
Yui seemed to think on this some. Finally, she shook her head. "There's more to it than just one argument."
And how. This is a bad impasse you two have reached, and now I'm getting in it deeper than I already was. But I can't just let this go without at least saying something.
"Of course, and getting past this will involve more than just resolving that one argument. But you can."
"Ayano, why is this so important to you?" Yui asked. "Why are you suddenly so involved?"
"I…I want to see everyone happy again."
"Meaning you want to see Kyouko happy again."
"No, both of you. You're both very unhappy right now, I can tell."
"Maybe it's because people insist on bugging me about this: You, Chizuru, Haruka, and even Kyouko."
"We're your friends, and we care about you."
"Some of you might. Kyouko doesn't. She cares only about herself."
"That isn't true. She wouldn't be acting the way she is if she didn't care about you."
"Well, she's not good at showing that she cares. Breaking her word, ignoring her work, following me around and acting like a moron…"
"Yui," Ayano began. This will be hard, but I have to say it. "Did you tell Toshino Kyouko the real reason that you're upset with her?"
"That she's selfish and immature and blows off things she promised to do? Yes."
"I'm sure you did make all that clear to her, but I'm referring to the real reason, Yui."
Yui's eyes looked downward, away from her. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You know exactly what I mean, so please don't make me say it out loud," Ayano said, repeating Yui's words from earlier. I think she'll get the point.
Yui's eyes met hers again. "You are the last person I want to discuss that with."
At least you don't deny it like I probably would, were I in your position.
"Yui, if you don't say anything to her, then nothing will change. Sure, Toshino Kyouko acts like an idiot a lot of the time, but I think you're the most important person in the world to her. She's-"
"Ayano, stop."
"-hurting and so are you, and she probably doesn't know why you're hurting unless maybe Chizuru or Koyama can tell and they clued her in. But what she does know-"
"Please, just stop!"
"-is that you shut you her out completely after you two argued, and since you did that, any chance of setting any of this right is completely gone."
"No, that's…I mean…I'm not the one who's at fault at here!" Yui snapped. There were tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
"Who's at fault is beside the point, Yui," Ayano said quietly.
"Then what is the point, Ayano?"
"Everything I've said," Ayano replied. "I meant it all, from what you had to why it's worth saving. Please think on that."
Yui said nothing, but stared down at the floor and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her blazer.
"But again, if you're still determined to push your best friend completely from your life, maybe you should at least tell her why."
"And if I don't want to tell her, then what?" Yui asked, looking back up. "You'll tell her?"
Ayano shook her head. "No, you should be the one to say that sort of thing to her. I'm still your friend as much as I'm still hers."
"I see. Ayano, I have to go, or I'll be late for track practice."
"Alright. Do you want a tissue, Yui?"
"No…I'm fine. See you later, Ayano."
"Good-bye."
Yui turned around and headed off down the hallway. Ayano watched her turn the corner and disappear. She looked briefly out the window at the athletic field and then started back to the classroom. She walked slowly, reflecting on just how embroiled she had suddenly become in her friends' conflict.
But I was already involved, even if I didn't know it. Did I say the right things, to either of them? Would I have said things differently if I had talked with Yui first? Too late for that now, I guess. I hope I did some good. And I hope things go back to normal.
However, a brief question occurred to her: What if things didn't go back to normal?
No, she thought, shaking her head. They have to. They just have to. And when they do, now I realize something that makes me look at things differently before: that I'm not the only one who feels the way I do about Toshino Kyouko. So, I'll have some things I'll need to deal with too.
This was all too much for Ayano. She felt overwhelmed by the situation, by her own feelings, by everything. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Chitose, she thought. I'll go talk with Chitose. That will help. We all need someone we can talk to right now, and she'll listen.
