Author's Note: It's another two-character chapter! Tomo and Yomi, our good ol' polar opposite pair. What have they been up to?
I know, but it'd be better for you to find out by just reading what comes after these damnedable author's notes. You know what would be even better? If you wrote a review after reading. Speeeectacular, really.
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Koyomi Mizuhara glanced up at the morning sky, relaxing in the calming effect of the pale blue dawn. She relaxed in the light of the early day, enjoying the simple peace that the pastel color of the sky inspired. She sighed satisfiedly to herself, and sat down to eat her breakfast. This was her morning ritual, and she considered it of utmost importance.
Ah, these moments are too sparse. I've got to appreciate them as much as possible. If I didn't center myself like this each morning, I don't think I would be able to deal with...
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Tomo Takino stared up at the morning sky and grinned. The pastel blue expanse tried its hardest, but it didn't really have much of a chance at calming her soul. Tomo gazed up at the morning sky, but didn't see it for the calming blue. Her eyes settled on the morning moon, pale white somehow standing out against the sky's pale blue.
To some people, the morning moon was not something to take notice of. The moon's nighttime reign is coming to an end at this time, and it would soon fade into the post-dawn sky.
To Tomo, however, the moon was something important. The moon sat out, defiant, refusing to go away quietly with the night. That pale white disk burned with an energy that other people simply didn't see.
Tomo grinned at the man in the moon, her friend in the sky, and glanced down at her cell phone.
7:18 A.M. That means that Yomi's just finishing with breakfast, which means...
Tomo laughed to herself and glanced down the walkway to Yomi's front door. She stared down the walkway, stifled her laughter, and casually avoided the lines of sight that lead to the house's larger windows and, behind them, the kitchen.
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Yomi finished up her breakfast neatly, taking everything to the sink and cleaning it all off. She then dried off the plate and put it in the rack, leaving the kitchen almost entirely the same as it was before she'd taken breakfast.
Adjusting her glasses more out of habit than out of actual necessity, she looked around the kitchen. Satisfied with its orderliness, she went back to her room to pick up her bag before heading off to school.
As she twisted the knob and pushed open the door, a voice called out to her from inside the room. "What's cookin', good lookin'?"
"Tomo... you really need to come up with better greetings, you know?" replied Yomi, remaining completely unshaken by suddenly discovering her closest friend sitting in a bed she'd left only minutes ago.
"What's up, buttercup? That's not too shabby, eh, flabby?"
Yomi fought the urge to turn her friend into a bloody splatter on her carpet, reasoning that it'd be exremely difficult to clean up.
"No."
"Ah well, whatever. If I need to come up with better greetings, then you need to come up with better security, yeah? I mean, your window was just unlocked! Imagine if some crazy person came in here? You'd be screwed... maybe even in a more literal way tha-"
"Let's stop that right there. First of all, a crazy person did get in here. I am screwed, but not literally. At least, I don't think so. Secondly, I did lock my window. I always lock my window. I don't know how you got in, but..."
"I've got to get these skills down if I'm gonna become an Interpol agent one day, yeah?"
"Or a thief."
"Nah, I'm definitely a good guy!"
"I have my doubts. Anyway, we're going to be late if we just hang around here. Let's get going."
"Naw, we won't be late. Just slightly behind schedule, yeah?"
"That's also defined as late, Tomo."
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The two girls made it to Yukari's class around ten minutes before the class period officially begin, but official times meant almost nothing in this classroom. Whoever seemed to enforce temporal matters seemed to simply look the other way in this region of spacetime, although it is currently unsure as to whether they're being bribed or simply disgusted by the blatant disregard or order and normalcy.
The two girls sat down at their desks, adjacent to each other. Yomi glanced around, taking note of which of her friends had already arrived. Kagura and, interestingly enough, Osaka, seemed to have arrived earlier than they had and were busy having a conversation about something or the other. Sakaki and Chiyo were still absent, which was odd for the young prodigy.
"That's odd," commented Yomi.
"What is?" asked Tomo.
"Chiyo's and Sakaki aren't here yet."
"So? There's still oh, I don't know, but a buncha minutes until Yukari shows up."
"Yeah, but they're not the types to gamble on that."
"They're just a little bit late."
"It's not normal for them is all I'm sayi-"
"Hello, Koyomi. I'm Ken." said a brown-haired boy, smiling wanly at them.
Huh? thought Yomi. Who's this guy? Oh, might as well just talk to him. It's kind of nice, I guess, actually having someone ask to talk to you instead of the other way around.
"Oh, hello Ken, how are you?"
"Ah, fine, just fine. Interesting weather we're having, isn't it?"
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Hey, who's this guy talking to Yomi? Ken, eh? I wonder what he's up to. Then again, "Ah, fine, just fine. Interesting weather we're having, isn't it," eh? How boring! It's just so... mundane.
"Hey Tomo, I'm Genji." said another boy, flashing what Tomo was sure he thought was a winning smile.
"Yeah, yeah."
"So anyway, Tomo, what kind of music do you like?" asked Genji.
Bah! With this guy here, how am I supposed to eavesdrop on those two?
"Nice hair, by the way."
Actually, I think it's kind of anno... shut up! Maybe if I ignore him he'll go away.
"Y'think Ken and Yomi are hitting it off?"
Hitting it off? Yomi and a boy?
"I could see that."
You are not reading my mind. Incase you are, shut up. Shut up. Shut up.
"STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING! CLASS STARTS NOW!" shouted Yukari, quashing all conversation in the room.
Oh, hell, what were those two even talking about? I probably missed out on something really juicy right there.
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"I suppose it is a bit warm for spring. I wonder why?" asked Yomi.
"Oh... I wouldn't know. I'm no weatherman." replied Ken, looking rather nervous and more than a little bit bothered.
That's... a very weird reaction to such a normal conversation. I wonder why he's doing that?
Yomi glanced around to the people in their little group at the time, trying to figure out exactly what could be making Ken so fidgety. The other boy was simply trying to talk to Tomo and failing spectacularly, so Yomi figured that, unless Ken was a particularly emphatic person, it wasn't Genji's fault. Yomi didn't think that she'd done anything terribly upsetting yet, so that only left Tomo.
Tomo was busy focusing a piercing glare on Ken at the moment, looking far more focused than Yomi knew she could be. Stop that, Tomo. Ah, hell, better get his attention somehow.
Yomi stared at Ken, willing him to ignore Tomo and focus on her. "I'm entirely shocked by that statement, don't you know?"
"What?"
"No, I mean, it's just totally different from what I normally run into."
"How do you mean?"
How do you mean? That's some weird sentence structure right there... must be more nervous than I thought. Oh well, better keep talking to him. He should relax more.
"I mean, the people who I normally talk to. Tomo here, for example, would claim that the weather is unusually warm as a direct result of how "hot" she is."
"I could see that." said Genji, grinning.
That line... that's so horribly cheesy. If I weren't so absolutely positive that Tomo didn't give a quarter of a damn about you, I'd clock you right now. Several times, nameless boy. Watch yourself.
"Oh. Heh, you've got interesting friends, Koyomi." said Ken, ignoring Genji.
That's the way! Now just do it to Tomo too.
"Yeah, I suppose I do. Just call me Yomi, by the way. Koyomi sounds too... well, I'm unused to it."
"Yomi. Hey, yeah, that's a bit better. You and I, Yomi, we should talk more often, don't you think? It'd be nice to have conversations that aren't defined by how ridiculous our friends feel that day." said Ken, casting a shifty glance at Genji.
Oh, so you've got to deal with that sort of thing too, don't you? Ah, you poor boy.
Yomi grinned at Ken, but before she could say anything else, a loud slam ripped through the room, cutting all conversation down where it stood. "STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING! CLASS STARTS NOW!" shouted Yukari, and that was the end of that.
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Yukari's class progressed as normal from Yomi's viewpoint. While Yukari's methods were somewhat... esoteric, she did get her job done, so to speak. Learning from her simply required a little bit more attention than normal, and at least the classes weren't so mundane.
Yukari's class was normal from Tomo's standpoint as well, which simply meant that today was the day for another confrontation. Today, Takino would win out over Tanizaki, and Tomo was positive.
My heart is burning with passion! Today is the day where I emerge victorious, blinding my fellow students by letting them bask in my glory! Today, Yukari! Let's rock!
"Objection!' shouted Tomo. "Yukari, I've got to say that I find that previous statement utterly and completely objectionable! Absolutely despicable, you know?"
"Oh, how so?" asked the teacher.
"It's so despicable that it tears at the roots of my very being, Yukari! I mean, it almost causes me physical pain."
"I can only hope."
"I mean, Yukari, you can't be seriously serious about that! It's a crime against mankind, it is!"
"And this whole time you've simply voiced your dislike of it, Tomo. What, exactly, do you find objectionable?"
"I... uh... erm..."
"Nothing, eh?" said Yukari. The teacher turned towards the chalkboard and reached for a piece of chalk that was too small to write with, a grin sneaking its way almost imperceptibly onto her face.
Then Yukari paused and started to talk, perhaps to someone else. Even then, Tomo didn't hear a thing, because her mind had run wild as a result of Yukari's brief pause.
Musing to yourself, are you, Yukari? I see, I've got you now! I'm making you reconsider your actions! Any moment now, your expression will change, you'll slowly put down your weapon, and then you'll admit de-
The chalk missiles sailed through the air in a way that amazed Yomi. As she watched the projectiles fly from Yukari's hand, she noted two things. Firstly, with one smooth motion she'd sent two projectiles heading towards two separate targets. Secondly, she noticed tha the two pieces of chalk weren't tumbling at all. They simply flew perfectly still and perfectly straight towards the foreheads of their targets, impacting on the portion with the smallest surface area and maximizing the force transferred to a single point.
I wonder what Yukari does in her spare time, thought Yomi as she watched the twin weapons explode into clouds of white dust. On second thought, I don't really want to know too much.
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Nyamo's class could barely be considered a class that day. It was, though, for the best, at least as far as Yomi was concerned.
Sure, I may have lost physical education's excercise, but damn, it's hot today. Too hot for spring. Days like this shouldn't exist.
Yomi satisfied herself by sitting down in the shade with Sakaki, Kagura, and Chiyo. Tomo and Osaka were off somewhere else. Yomi considered this a somewhat welcome reprieve from the somewhat more unpredictable members of their group.
Not that I dislike them or anything, but it's nice to have a break sometimes. Just... something to relax with, a little time to simply sit and be without having to do anything, or to calm them down, or bring them back.
Unfortunately for Yomi, immersing herself in normalcy didn't turn out to be the relaxing experience which she had hoped for. Chiyo had somehow gotten the thought into her head that life was too mundane, too average. It was a depressing way to look at normalcy, really, and it put a damper on Yomi's mood.
Oh, Chiyo. You're too smart for your own good sometimes... Children your age are barely supposed to think about what they're about to do, let alone muse about things like "In the end, will my life even seem halfway interesting to anyone else?" Just be a kid for a little while longer, please. It's a lot more fun.
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Tomo, Osaka, and Sho were walking around during P.E. They'd originally been sitting in the shade, but sitting still proved to be too difficult a task for Tomo, who at first resorted to simply standing up and pacing. When she realized that that wasn't enough, the entire group began to wander around P.E. aimlessly.
Nyamo would have been proud of their devotion to excercise, except Minamo Kurosawa generally knew better.
"So Osaka, you know, I was thinking, and I decided on something."
"Oh, that's good, Tomo. Decisions are important, yeah? You've gotta be firm in choosin' things, or else you'll run into trouble somewhere down the line."
"Er... yes Osaka, they are important... Anyway, I've decided that I need... a haircut!"
"A haircut?"
"Yes, yes. I can't really be like Fujiko, yeah? So I should just go and cut it down a tad. Besides, it's kind of getting a bit long. Too cumbersome, you know? Not fitting for a lithe little girl like me."
"Lithe?" asked Sho.
Either ignoring him or simply not hearing him, Osaka spoke back to Tomo. "No, no, that's not right! You can't just decide to cut your hair like that! Imagine, Tomo, how long it takes for those little hairs to muster up the courage to grow that long! How much work they've been doing, yeah? And now, now you're gonna just chop 'em up on a whim! That's not right, Tomo!"
"Not... right?"
"Yeah, it's not right! You can't just up and do things on a whim for no good reason, right Sho?"
"Y-yeah... You're right, Osaka." replied Sho, looking more than a little bit flustered.
"So you're saying I need a reason to cut my hair?"
"I'm sayin' it wouldn't be fair to your hair if you didn't have a good reason."
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Tomo meandered into the school's main hall, thinking about what Osaka had said.
I need a reason, eh?
"Hey, Tomo, I've got something to show you." said Genji, carrying a boom-box.
I guess it could be mildly interesting. Let's see what'cha got, Genji.
Tomo followed him for a while, and eventually Genji set down his boombox and smiled at her. Osaka and Sho were hanging around as well, somewhat curious as to what Genji was about to do.
He reached over and flipped on the boom-box, and a bell rang. It wasn't the sound of the normal school bell. It was a deep, mournfull ring, like church bells in medieval times. The sound shook people to the core. When the bell stopped ringing, the rest of the song kicked in.
"Hey," started Tomo, looking over to Sho and Osaka. It seemed that they were the only others watching. As a matter of fact, other students seemed to avoid the display like the plague. "What song is this?"
"It's... ah, Aerodynamic, by Daft Punk." said Sho.
"And Genji is..."
"Dancing."
"Dancing..."
"Dancing."
"Right..." Tomo watched Genji flail about for a little while more, but decided that she'd really rather not, and wandered off. She glanced inside Kimura's room and saw Yomi sitting there, eating lunch. A sandy-haired boy entered the room from the other entrance and walked towards her.
It's... it's the boring boy! I can't let Yomi get stuck with him! He's far too uninteresting for her! She'll just... languish! I've got to do something right now, something to save my best friend from the clutches of mediocrity!
Aerodynamic's bell tones rang out again, and Tomo knew what she wanted to do.
Daft Punk, eh, Genji?
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Yomi sat in Kimura's room, eating her lunch. There wasn't really much of a reason for anyone to avoid the classroom at lunch, especially because Kimura always ate lunch in the staff room. The classroom was just another classroom during lunchtime, and after all, it wasn't like Kimura ever did anything past leering and making a few lecherous comments.
Well, more than a few.
"Yomi! Hello there!" said Ken, entering the room.
"Oh, hi Ken. What is it?"
"Erm... ah..." muttered Ken, struggling with the words. "Swe-" he started, but he was cut off by a haunting, mournful bell, ringing out sadly.
"What was that?" asked Yomi. "It's... not anywhere near the time when church bells should be ringing, let alone four or so times."
Ken paused for a second, trying to collect his words. "Sweet gi-" he started, but was once more cut off, this time by a loud slam. Tomo Takino was standing in the doorway, grinning madly.
Tomo... what are you doing here? Oh, hell, that never gets an explanation. Tomo Takino doesn't need reasons. Still, Ken must be confused.
Yomi stared at her blankly. Ken stared at her, but couldn't maintain the same indifferent attitude that Yomi had honed through years upon years of experience. Tomo ignored the stares with an indifference that would put Yomi to shame.
What the hell are you going to do, you crazy girl?
Then Tomo started to sing.
"Last night, I had a dream about you,
In this dream, I'm dancing right beside you,
And it looked like everyone was having fun,
This kind of feeling, I've waited so long."
Ken stared, dumbfounded. Yomi started to look somewhat nervous.
Tomo, this is... absolutely strange. Even for you. It's scary. This is the time where you activate your best friend empathy, read my mind, and shut up. Please, Tomo.
Yomi tried to ask tell Tomo this, but something in the wildcat's face stopped the words from even beginning to think about perhaps wanting to try to come out of Yomi's throat.
"Don't stop, come a little closer,
As we jam, the rhythm gets stronger,
There's nothing wrong with just a little little fun,
We were dancing all night long." sang Tomo, grinning all the while.
Tomo, Tomo, what are you doing?
Yomi applied her rather impressive mind, trying to figure out exactly what Tomo was getting at. She couldn't. Her friend's actions puzzled her immensely, and Yomi suddenly felt immensely helpless. She couldn't do anything but sit back and watch Tomo's machinations unfold.
Tomo simply grinned and walked towards Ken and Yomi.
"The time is right, to put my arms around you," she sang, and reached out, embracing...
Yomi.
Wh...what?
"You're feeling right, you wrap your arms around me too," Tomo sang, pulling Yomi's arms around her as well.
This action had fully evaporated Yomi's usually cool demeanor, leaving her as flustered and confused as Ken was. Luckily for Ken, neither of the two girls was paying him much attention.
There are very few situations in which a boy can be considered "lucky" to be completely ignored by women, but this may have been one of them.
"But suddenly, I feel the shining sun,
Before I knew it, this dream was all gone..." sang Tomo, disengaging herself from Yomi.
Yomi tried to think of something to say, something to do, even something to think but she simply couldn't. She'd lost all control of herself, and simply sat there and stared at Tomo.
"Oooh, but... but I know what to do!" she said, grinning. Tomo then leapt onto her friend and kissed her deeply.
Tomo just kissed me. thought Yomi. Tomo just kissed me. And I'm... not fighting back? Why am I not fighting back? I'm just... taking it. Am I kissing her back? I am kissing her back. Why am I kissing h... Tomo just kissed me. In the middle of school. Well, it's only Kimura's classroom, and nobody's here but me, Tomo and... Ken. Ken's here! She kissed me infront of someone!
As if sensing her friend's impending rage, Tomo leapt off of her and made a beeline for the door. "Yomi's snapped again!" she shouted, racing down the hallway.
Yomi was hot on her tail. "Y... you... you! Ahhhhgh! I am going to tear you apart, Tomo Takino! I will rip you apart methodically, starting with your fingernails, and eventually I will work my way up to your major organs, and I will do it in a very slow, very painful manner! I will then laugh maniacally, Tomo Takino! You had best run! If I catch you, I'm going to break every single bone in your body! Afterwards, I'm going to get a medical degree, mend all of your bones and then BREAK THEM ALL AGAIN! It will be a cycle of pain that will never end, and the world will weep openly for you, Takino! When I catch you, I'm going to take several adorable, fuzzy, tiny woodland creatures and jam them up all of your major orifices and a few new ones that I'll create specifically for the occasion! I'm going to have you hung, drawn, and quartered, Tomo Takino! Then I'm going to take the pieces and light them on fire, and then I will douse your ashes. I will take the water filled with your ashen remains and freeze it, and then I will hit it with a hammer! After that, I will take all the little pieces and jump on them! Then I will take the little bits, find a cloning machine, and then ressurect you and kill you in a million more ways, laughing with newfound glee with each and every kill. Three million clones later, my revenge will still not be complete!" Yomi shouted a few more things, but fortunately, most people didn't hear the truly vulgar things she'd shouted.
Tomo glanced back at her friend, who was steadily gaining on her. She looked ahead and saw the staircase to the roof, and decided to take her chances up there, where at least the beating would be somewhat private.
Yomi turned after Tomo, charging up the stairs, and burst out of the doorway to the roof.
"Reveal thyself, that I may shred you in the most efficient fashion, Takino!"
The door creaked shut.
"Are you sure you want to do that, Yomi?" asked Tomo, standing in a spot that had been previously concealed.
"Almost 408 positive, Tomo. Why did you do that?"
"I couldn't stand the thought of letting you get stuck with such a boring fellow, Yomi! I...I wouldn't be doing my duties as a best friend!"
"Bullshit. You don't kiss me just to stop me from getting with a guy. Do you like me in... you know, that way?"
That's Yomi. Straight and to the point, thought Tomo. She didn't say anything, and just stared at her friend.
"You do, don't you?"
Tomo grinned at her friend, and then leapt at her. The two rolled around a bit, and eventually, Tomo's lips found Yomi's. The two locked together for a long moment, free of the world, free of the universe, free of everything but each other.
"So, do you like me in that way?" asked Tomo, grinning at her friend.
The rooftop door swung shut, creaking noisily.
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"So you say I need a reason for a haircut, right Osaka?"
"Yeah. You gotta, or else it's just a real jerk move."
"Hmm."
"By the way, Tomo, didya fall into a pit or something? You're looking kinda frazzled."
"Didn't you hear Yomi during lunch?"
"Nope."
"Well, it's all her fault."
Kimura's class passed quickly for Kimura's class, but because it was still Kimura's class, that was far too slowly for any of the girls' tastes. Still, it hit the home stretch, and order in the classroom started to dissolve.
Genji walked up to Tomo. "Tomo, would you like to be my girlfriend?"
Shit! How do I say no to him? 'Sorry, I appear to be romantically involved with that tall brownhaired person over there. No, not your friend, the one with the boobs. Yeah, her.' Can't do that... maybe if I just stay quiet he'll go away.
Genji sighed and walked away.
Man, I'm good.
Hey! That's an opportunity right there!
"Hoy! Genji! I've thought about it, and I totally accept and stuff, yeah? You and I, boyfriend, girlfriend, that sort of thing."
Genji grinned. "Really?"
"Really!"
The bell rang, and everyone started to drift off, heading for home. Tomo left the classroom, heading on over to all of her friends. She flashed Yomi a grin, and then glanced over her shoulder before saying anything.
Osaka was walking up to the group, but without Sho following her. Tomo grinned at her, and then ran off from the group again.
I wonder what she's doing, thought Yomi. Oh well, when she gets back, we'd better tell our friends about... that.
Tomo ran up the hallway, past that boring fellow, and saw Genji standing there, smiling wanly at her. She flashed him her winningest smile. "Hoy, Genji!"
"Yes, Tomo?"
"We're done! I'm bored of you, so... seeya."
Before he could react, Tomo had turned around and raced back towards her friends. She caught up with them and glanced over to Yomi.
"What were you doing?" asked Yomi.
"I know." said Osaka.
"Really? Oh. Well, Yomi and I figured that we'd best tell you all," started Tomo.
"Yeah. Erm, Tomo and I are, well,"
"We know." said Sakaki and Kagura.
"You know?" asked Yomi.
"We know." said Sakaki and Kagura.
"You know?" asked Tomo.
"I know." said Osaka.
"What does everyone know?" asked Chiyo.
Osaka smiled at her, and started off. "Well, Chiyo, To-"
"It's probably best that Chiyo doesn't know, Osaka." said Sakaki, cutting her off.
"Really?"
"But I wanna know!" shouted Chiyo in the miffed way that only children her age could pull off.
"You know too much already." said Kagura, grinning at her.
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Author's Notes: Yeah. This is another two-character chapter. It's got a bunch more tie-ins to other chapters than the Sakaki/Kagura chapter, although I still sneakily snuck in a lot of original content. Like thoughts and feelings and all of that other wishy-washy hoo-ha. And a few scenes unique to this chapter, but hey, what can ya do? I was actually tempted to skip the Yomi/Tomo chapter entirely and simply leave the rooftop scene a total mystery, but then I realized that that would make a lot of people rather miffed.
There's really not much to say on this chapter, aside from the fact that I typed it on a laptop without any spellchecking feature for some reason. So... if there's anything I missed, I'm taking this time to apologize for the agony that any of my typos caused you.
Who's left? Sho and Osaka, of course! What are those two people who've been so absent from the rest of these chapters been up to? I don't know, give me a day or two to figure it out, yeah?
Oh, yeah. Customary demand for reviews. Reviews make me happy, happy Lire writes more. You want that, or at least, I hope you want that, so let's help each other out, yeah?