Ayano thought it would be unfair to describe Yui as impatient. True, she sometimes lost her temper, or grew exasperated and snappy with those around her, but really it was a small miracle that she didn't do so more often. After all, her best friend in the world was the one and only Toshino Kyoko, and there was few people in existence who were as incredibly infuriating as that beautiful, but inexplicable, blonde.

"You're lucky you didn't get tasered." This morning however, Yui sounded anything but patient. "In fact, if you did get tasered, I wouldn't have helped. I'd have just watched."

"What was I supposed to do?" Kyoko gave the short haired girl a look like she was the one who was being ridiculous.

"What you were supposed to do was the exact opposite of what you did." Actually, Yui sounded downright impatient this morning. "What you were supposed to do was stand there and do nothing. Nothing at all. If you wanted, you could have said, 'Good morning officer,' or tipped your head in respect, but you didn't actually have to do either of those things. Doing absolutely nothing would have been good enough, Kyoko, but you couldn't even do that, could you?"

Kyoko just shook her head and rolled her eyes. "She was cute, Yui." The worst part was she sounded like that explained everything, and any contrary idea was officially null and void. "Honestly, sometimes I don't know what I'm supposed to do with you."

Yui's hands twitched violently. For a moment, Ayano was convinced she was about to witness murder. After a second though, Yui let out a calming breath and her hands rested at her sides again. "Kyoko, you're not allowed to hit on Police Officers while they're on duty. It doesn't matter how cute they are in their uniform, or if they're single or not, while they're at work, they don't want to be hit on."

Kyoko's brows came together. "But what if she-"

"No." Yui answered firmly.

"You sure? Because-"

"Absolutely."

Ayano pinched her brow, and looked at the sky in despair. Why me? Why is Toshino Kyoko the girl I'm crazy about? She's not even that good looking!

Ayano glanced at the blonde and was forced to reassess that opinion.

Okay, she's actually really pretty. Especially her eyes. And her hair. And god, I wish I had skin like that.

A singly stream of blood rolled out of Chitose's nose, and Ayano blushed beet red. "Put your glasses back on!" she snapped.

Chitose giggled to herself guiltily, sliding the glasses back on. "You were staa~aring, Ayano," she sang quietly.

"N-no I wasn't!"

All the answer Ayano got was another smile and a knowing look.

Sighing to herself, Ayano looked back across to Kyoko, who was still trying to wrap her head around the basic ideas of social etiquette. Okay, so yes, Kyoko was genuinely pretty, but she didn't have half the figure Yui did, and for all her IQ points she really was impossibly dense. Ayano was well aware how terrible she was at hiding her crush. She knew that it was something of a miracle that Kyoko hadn't noticed. No matter how she tried, she could never school herself into the careful pokerface that seemed to be Yui's default look.

How does she do it?

Ayano spared a glance at Yui.

Why can't I be in love with her? That might actually make sense.

Yui wasn't as pretty in the face as Kyoko, but she was far from ugly, and the girl had a figure to die for. She wasn't selfish, her thoughts were easy to follow, and she didn't give everyone around her headaches, either. Yui was calm, polite, loyal, dedicated to her studies and health, and rarely made a decision she regretted later.

That was the sort of person Ayano should want to be with. Someone… stable. Someone who wasn't exciting, or silly like the blonde. A responsible person, a nice person, a…

Oh. She was basically describing Akari, there: Someone who was essentially boring.

That's the problem, then. Yui is boring, where as I've never had a boring moment with Kyoko. Ugh. I hate the girl I love so much.

"Is something wrong?" Yui asked, when she caught the purple haired girl staring.

Ayano's eyes widened a bit, and she looked away quickly. "Sorry, I was just spacing out."

Yui shrugged in acceptance, and they continued their walk from the train station to school.

"Something on your mind, Ayano?" Chitose asked innocently. "Something blonde, maybe?"

"W-why would you ask that?" Ugh, Chitose knew Ayano had a crush, there was no one at Nanamori who didn't know after that awful graduation ceremony, so why couldn't she admit it to anyone? It had taken a lot of will and determination from her to announce it publicly like that, so why couldn't she just summon it up now and ask out Kyoko right here, right now?

This was ridiculous. There was no reason not to! This silliness had gone on for far too long, especially when total strangers like that Student Council treasurer mocked her about it. Damn it, Ayano was the (former) Student Council President, there was no way she should be acting like this! It was time to grow up, and ask Kyoko out.

To her face.

Right here.

Right now.

...Any second now.

She could do it, any moment now.

...Maybe another moment, when they weren't crossing a street because that could be dangerous.

...And not this moment either, because Kyoko and Chitose were talking, and interrupting would be rude.

...This moment wasn't much good either, because they were passing a shrine and it seemed inappropriate.

Where are the good moments?! Ayano raged inside her mind.

Okay, okay, she needed to relax, calm herself, and think about this rationally. Why couldn't she do this? Was it because asking would make her the boy of the relationship? Hmm… now that Ayano thought about it, she didn't mind the idea of being the boy. She'd be fine taking top in bed. Or bottom.

Wait, do girls even do top and bottom together, or do they like, take turns?

That didn't matter right now. Focus, Ayano had to focus.

Ask out Kyoko. She'd not done it for too long. She could do it. She would do it.

Ayano drew in breath, turning to face the blonde. "Toshino Kyoko!" Her battle cry resounded proudly, and she felt like she would be more confident if she had a door to slam.

"Hm?" The blonde turned to face the purplette. "Did you want to come too?"

Ayano blinked, her righteous fervor dying a tad. "Eh?"

"To the teacher's office!" Kyoko shook her head. "Weren't you listening? Me and Yui needed to tell them something."

When did we arrive at school? Ayano thought to herself, looking around the schoolyard that seemed to have sprung from the ground. Oh god, everyone was staring at her. "O-oh. Uh… n-no thanks."

Kyoko shrugged. "Okay then, see you in homeroom!"

She turned around to skip away, when Ayano shouted out. "A-actually, there was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh." Kyoko glanced over at Yui, then back at Ayano. "Well can it wait? Yui and I were going to-"

"Actually Kyoko, I think it'd be better if I went alone." Yui met Ayano's eyes, and her lip turned up into a knowing smile that vanished as quick as it appeared. "Why don't you stay here and talk with Ayano about whatever it is that was on her mind?"

"Oh," Kyoko paused in thought, before shrugging. "Okay!"

Ayano wasn't sure if she wanted to thank Yui for helping her get alone with Kyoko, or slap her for leaving her alone with Toshino Kyoko.

Chitose was just reaching up to remove her glasses, when Ayano put out a hand to stop her. "Chitose, can you give me a moment with Kyoko?"

"Of course." Her smile was both radiant, and knowing. "Be sure to tell me everything."

Once the other two had left, Kyoko smiled at Ayano. "What did you want to talk about?"

"C-can we go somewhere more private?" The purplette glanced around at the crowded school yard.

The blonde blinked. "Oh, okay… Are we going to kiss?"

"N-NO!" Ayano shouted. "W-w-why would you th-think that?"

"Because we're going somewhere alone together, and if you wanted to do that alone with-"

"TOSHINO KYOKO!" Ayano once again drew her battle cry from the depths of her soul, cutting the irrepressible idiot off. "Just shut up, and take us somewhere quiet." Blushing bright red at all the stares she was getting, she added more quietly, "P-p-please."

Together, they left behind the prying eyes and ears of the crowd and made their way behind the main school buildings where they had a bit more privacy. The entire time they were walking, Ayano's head was filled with thoughts of, I'm doing this. I'm actually doings this. I can't believe I'm finally actually doing this.

Wait. Why was she doing this? This was Toshino Kyoko she was about to ask out. Did Toshino even know what a date was? Or how that whole romance thing works?

Oh god. Toshino Kyoko wrote Doujinshi, didn't she? Was that what she thought romance meant? The random exchange of sex in bad hentai?

Ayano found herself hyperventilating.

No! She couldn't do that! Not yet, she wasn't ready! She was still young and pure! She couldn't surrender herself so casually!

"Ayano?" Kyoko asked, sounding concerned. "Are you okay?"

Her rapid breathing game to a shuddering halt as she almost swallowed her tongue. Oh god, we're here.

"TOSHINO KYOKO!" She shouted once again, drawing strength from the drums of war pounding inside her head. Wait, that was just her heartbeat. "WILL, YOU, go, out," she swallowed, "with…" Another dry throated gulp followed by a barely whimpered, "me…?"

Kyoko stared at her for a moment, before tilting her head to the side. "Eh?" She held a hand up to hair ear. "You trailed off at the end there, and my ears were ringing from the first part."

That was it. It was too much. Ayano's nerve broke, and she bolted from the scene with her face burning blood red, leaving behind a rather confused Toshino Kyoko. Which, when Ayano thought about it, was a somewhat ironic reversal of the way things went, where the blonde was supposed to leave the purplette feeling confused and dazed.

I hope things go well for Ayano, Yui thought to herself as she made her towards the Principal's office. Or at least she thought it was the right direction. This school was stupidly large, and she'd never been there before.

Still, Yui had always had a good sense of direction, and as long as she could find the right room before first bell rang, she'd be fine. She was on the right track after getting some directions from an elder student, and the principal's office was in sight when someone stepped in front of her.

"Funami Yui?" A girl with red hair stepped in front of Yui, smiling pleasantly.

Yui glanced her up and down, before deciding she was busy and shook her head. "You have me confused with someone else."

The girl blinked, before frowning and reaching into her pocket. She withdrew a phone, checking the screen before holding it out so Yui could see. "So you're telling me that's not you?" A picture of Yui talking with Kyoko was displayed.

"..." Yui sighed, before saying, "Yes that's me, but I'm busy."

"Oh, I'm sure you are." The girl smiled. The colour of the ribbon on her neck revealed her to be a second year, but despite being older she was still shorter than Yui. "I'm here on behalf of the Student Council to talk about what you saw yesterday."

Rolling her eyes, Yui stepped around her and went to continue to the principals office, when a hand grabbed her shoulder.

"I don't think you want to do that."

"Take your hand off me." Yui answered coolly.

The girl shrugged and did as she was asked. "Fine, but I'm just letting you know that if you do go to the principal, your friends will be the ones who regret it most."

That gave the black haired girl pause. "What did you just say?"

Coughing into her hand, the redhead smiled at Yui. "Why don't you follow me? This isn't the sort of thing you'll want an audience for." She tilted her head, indicating the passing students.

The taller girls stared at her for a moment, before she nodded.

"Great." The council member smiled. "This way please."

Yui followed her hesitantly, allowing herself to be led through the halls. Neither of them talked talk as they walked, and Yui found herself thinking about how she liked this new school less and less with each passing day.

Kyoko and I really should have applied to another all-girls.

They eventually stepped into an empty club room, and the redhead shut the door behind them before she turned to Yui. "Alright, so introductions first." She bowed slightly, smiling politely as she did. "Hello, my name is Kitamura Sayako."

Yui considered staying silent, but decided it would be awkward and bowed in return. "You know my name."

Kitamura chuckled at that. "Right. I want you to know I sincerely regret the circumstances we're meeting under, but you are about to be blackmailed so…" she shrugged. "I hope we can become friends anyway."

"Blackmail?" Yui repeated

"Yeah, I know right? Sucks so much." She rolled her eyes with a sigh, before straightening her uniform in a business like manner. "Anyway, I'm here because you saw something that I'm sure you could have gone an entire lifetime without seeing. I mean, not only are you a Nanamori girl, but it was Mr Ishii as well, which is just, you know, gross."

Yui blinked at that. "I didn't actually see the details."

"Oh. Lucky you." She shuddered at some unknown memory. "We really need to invent a better way to forget things than brain alcohol, you know?"

"No."

Kitamura shrugged again. "Anyway, so here's the deal. If you tell the principal about what Mr Ishii has been putting where in my good friend, your bff, Kyoko, will be expelled."

Yui's jaw tightened. "Why?"

"Oh, there's plenty of reasons. She's only been here two days, and we already have her on sexual harassment. And even if we didn't have that on her, you're telling me that she's gonna go the rest of high school without getting into trouble?" She shook her head. "I've only been following her since like, this morning, and I already know the only reason she's not in jail yet is because you're around."

"You followed us?"

"Just to school." Kitamura admitted with a dismissive hand wave. "I was hoping to catch you alone, but you were with your friends the whole way."

Yui's fist tightened, but she kept her best poker face up.

"Oh, and speaking of friends, Ayano, who I've met and I've gotta say I really like her, will be accepted onto the Student Council if you keep your mouth shut."

"So you're blackmailing me, and bribing me."

"Yep." She smiled. "The President feels that a double motivator is always the best. If you do the wrong thing, bad stuff happens, and if you do the right thing, good stuff happens. Karma, you know?" The readhead twirled her fingers around each other, before she paused. "Or in this case, if you do the right thing and rat out the adulterous predator, bad things happen, and if you the do wrong thing and don't tell anyone, good things happen." She reversed the direction she was moving her fingers. "So really, it's more like the inverse of karma."

Even Yui couldn't stop her brows narrowing in annoyance.

"Anyway, the other thing we need to mention is you and your extreme lack of motivation."

"...What?" Yui would never describe herself as unmotivated. No one would.

"Yeah, you're this really talented athlete, right? We've checked your middle school records, and your the best at like, every sport in your year for every year you were there, but for some reason you never joined a sports club." She sniffed and shook her head. "Instead you spent every-day goofing off in some unused club room, which is just a sad waste of a lot of talent, really." She rolled her eyes. "And no one wants to see that. So, to stop any future awkward encounters like yesterday afternoon's, you're gonna try out for the track team."

"No. I don't think I will."

Kitamura blinked. "Oh?"

Yui paused to gather her thoughts. "A threat only works when you don't have to use it. I'm not threatening you, I'm telling you that I intend to do the right thing. You're the one who has to use a threat to stop me."

"...I don't understand your point." Kitamura tilted her head.

"I'm not joining any sports club. If you try to force me into that, I'll just bite the bullet and tell the teachers anyway." This was an Absolute bluff. There's no way I'd do that to my friend. They key to this working was convincing Kitamura that Yui would only bend so far, when in truth she'd probably join every club in the school if it meant keeping Kyoko out of trouble.

"You'd let your best friend get expelled because of a club?"

Yui nodded calmly.

"Huh. That's kinda cold."

The short haired girl shrugged.

Kitamura glanced her up and down, before nodding. "Alright, I'll make sure she knows you don't want to join the track club."

"Why isn't the President down here telling me all this, herself?"

The redhead shrugged. "She's… kinda skittish, honestly. She doesn't have much of a stomach for this sort of thing, which is why she always has me or Kaname do it for her."

This sort of thing? "You make it sound like she has to blackmail a lot of people."

"Heh. No comment." Kitamura scratched her cheek.

"She must be really bad at hiding her affair."

"Oh, you have no idea." Kitimura chuckled. "Anyway, I'd ask to shake your hand and make sure it was a deal, but I doubt that's gonna influence your decision to rat out Mr Ishii much. So, now you know what will happen if you do talk, I'll just leave you to get to Homeroom." Once again she bowed. "And again, I'm sorry that this is how we met. Have a nice day."

When Yui didn't even respond, Kitimura shrugged and left the room with a wave goodbye. "Stay out of trouble." She paused and added, "Or don't. That way we can threaten you directly next time."

Standing alone in the empty room, it took Yui all of five seconds to decide she had no intention of letting someone else put her friends in harms way. Her eyes narrowed in thought, she stepped through the door and headed towards homeroom.

AN: The thing I like most about this story is writing with shorter chapters. Usually when I write, my chapters are ten to twenty thousand word monstrosities, but here there's no pressure. One good afternoon, and the chapter's done.

You know I originally didn't want to call this story 'Raaawr!' My original plan was to call it 'R[]/\R!', like someone had been dumb with how they spelled it in a text message.

And a brief note on the Japanese language. You may notice in my story I don't use any chans, senpais or other Japanese honorifics. That's because I don't speak Japanese, and I'm sure I'd mess up the titles anyway. However, I do have it so that whenever anyone uses their full name they say it in the Japanese order. IE, family name first, given name second.

Let me know how the characters are. My goal is for them to be in character with their behavior in the show, but at the same time add to what's there, give them new dimensions. Plus, they've aged up a few years so they're supposed to be more mature now, although they really aren't.