What? I hear you cry, You're forsaking your Yukari x Nyamo roots? Hell no. I'm just stirring in a little Tomo x Yomi-ness too, since a couple of people have requested it and I really, really like the pairing. Probably because it's so similar to Yukari and Nyamo's relationship. Hence the inspiration for this fic.
Warning: Pure pointless fluff. And lesbians. A delicious combination if ever there was one.
Parallel
It was an average Monday morning. Most of Yukari's class had already arrived in school and were milling around the homeroom, waiting for their teacher to arrive. Most of them were finishing homework, discussing the events of the past weekend or amusing themselves by watching Tomo relentlessly insult and annoy Yomi.
"You put on weight this weekend!" Tomo cheerfully informed her best friend. Yomi, the best friend in question, glared down at the shorter girl, trying to rise above the comments and ignore her.
"So were you pigging out the whole time, or what?"
Yomi snapped. She was never any good at the whole ignoring thing, and Tomo knew from experience every button to push in order to make her fly into a rage.
"Shut up, you idiot!"
Most of the class watched the slanging match with great amusement, often shouting comments or cheering one or the other on, but four girls that stood watching them – Chiyo, Kagura, Sakaki and Osaka – just watched in silence. Tomo could annoy anyone into submission – and did so with Kagura and their teacher Yukari often – but Yomi was by far her most common target.
"Do you think we should do something?" Chiyo squeaked, looking up at the older girls while war was waged between the two friends in the crowded classroom.
"I don't think so. Yukari will be-"
Sakaki was cut off by the sound of the door being forcefully slid open. They looked over to see their homeroom teacher standing in the doorway looking grumpy.
"Shut up and sit down!" she yelled. Most of the class was intelligent enough to do what she said; Yukari wasn't known for her kind and caring nature first thing on a Monday.
"…seriously, I didn't think it was possible to put on so much in such a short space of-"
"Tomo! Sit the hell down!" Yukari screamed.
"Fine…" Tomo said, taking her seat.
"How are you still fitting into your gym clothes?" Tomo goaded a little later during their P.E. lesson.
"Tomo Takino, if you don't shut up right now, I swear I'll-" Yomi's threat was cut off by their gym teacher, Minamo Kurosawa, calling them out of the changing rooms and into the gym. Yomi skilfully ignored all of Tomo's comments during roll call and noticed she was receiving some sympathetic looks from some of her other friends – Chiyo most notably.
Nonetheless, Yomi was getting more and more pissed off with her friend and knew she was about to snap when a useful distraction came along in the form of Yukari.
Minamo had already given them some warm-ups to do, so most of the class was occupied with stretches, and didn't notice the language teacher burst into the gym and excitedly run over to their gym teacher.
"Nyamo, guess what?"
"Yukari," Minamo sighed irritably, "what have I said about calling me that in school? I'd prefer it if you didn't call me it at all, but not in front of the students!"
"Whatever. My point is; you know that restaurant we go to all the time?"
"Yukari, in case you hadn't noticed, I'm in the middle of a lesson!"
"Yes, yes," Yukari said, clearly ignoring everything her friend was saying, "the thing is, they're reducing the prices of drinks for the next week!"
At this point, a few groups of students had stopped doing their warm-up exercises in order to watch the two teachers.
"I'm trying to have a class here! Are you even listening to me?"
"So we'll go tonight? I think we should go every night this week; it's only right to take full advantage of this offer!"
Minamo snapped. "We're not going out drinking every night, Yukari!"
"Why the hell not?"
"How on earth do you plan to pay for it all?"
"You'd pay, idiot. Like you always do."
The entire class was staring now, and a fair few had backed away from the arguing teachers. Seeing Yukari in a screaming match was a daily event, but it was something else entirely to see the mild-mannered Ms. Kurosawa lose control and yell at someone.
"Why the hell do I always end up paying for everything?"
Yukari didn't have a response to that, so she fell silent. Minamo instantly became acutely aware that, in a gym full of people, a pin could easily be heard dropping. She broke her angry gaze with Yukari and glanced nervously around the gymnasium. Every single pair of eyes was on her.
"Heh, you scared them." Yukari cackled before wandering off. Minamo, now fully recovered from her screaming match with her best friend, gulped and faced the hundreds of disbelieving eyes.
"Now, where were we…?"
"Man, did you see Nyamo's face? She looked so stunned!" Tomo laughed at lunchtime with her five friends.
"Shut up, Tomo." Kagura told her. "I felt really bad for her."
"I don't get how she can put up with Yukari." Yomi mused.
"What about you and Tomo?" Chiyo asked innocently, "You argue just as much, if not more, than they do and you're still best friends"
Yomi paused, not sure how to respond.
"Speaking of Yukari; you know we have English next?" Tomo asked, changing the subject.
"What about it?" Yomi replied, already knowing what was coming.
"Can I copy your homework?"
"Hell no!"
"Why not?" Tomo pouted.
"There they go…" Sakaki sighed, as she and the three other girls watched on, words failing them.
"I'll never understand those two." Kagura sighed as she, Sakaki, Chiyo and Osaka walked home together. Yukari, who had been in an unusually bad mood following Minamo's refusal to take her out drinking every day of the week, had decided to vent her anger on Tomo, who had been unable to persuade Yomi to let her copy her homework and, as a result, had not done it. Thanks to Yukari's bad mood, Tomo was kept behind after school as punishment. Yomi had somehow felt it was her fault and decided to wait around until she was let out.
"Me neither." Sakaki nodded.
"You'd never guess what great friends they were from the way they argue all the time." Chiyo said.
"Maybe their arguments are how they show affection…" Osaka mused.
Kagura laughed. "In that case, those two must completely love each other."
"Can I go yet?" Tomo whined. She was feeling kind of bad for relentlessly insulting her best friend all day and wanted to catch up with her and maybe even apologize – swallowing her pride was certainly not something that Tomo was used to doing, but she felt that some of her comments had been a little harsh and Yomi certainly hadn't done anything to deserve them.
"No." Yukari snapped. "You can't go until Nyamo agrees to take me out drinking."
"What?" Tomo yelled. "That's not fair! You can't-"
"Yukari?" came Minamo's voice from the door. The arguing student and teacher looked around to see the gym teacher sticking her head around the door. Minamo glanced at Tomo, then at Yukari. "If you're busy, I'll-"
"No; come in! Tomo, go home. Just don't…do whatever I kept you in here for again."
"I won't!" Tomo assured her, not meaning a word of it. She vaulted out of her desk, ran past Minamo, out of the door and straight into Yomi, who was standing in the corridor.
"Yomi? What're you doing here?" Tomo asked, confused.
"Waiting for you, idiot." Yomi told her.
"Why?"
"I guess I felt kinda bad for you having to stay behind, so I thought I'd wait for you."
"But… I've been mean to you all day!"
"I noticed." Yomi said dryly, extending a hand, which Tomo took. "And I'd really appreciate it if you wouldn't do it again."
Hand-in-hand, the pair walked away from the school and back towards their houses.
"You know, Kagura and the others were totally confused earlier." Yomi told her.
"How come?" Tomo asked.
"I guess it's because we fight all the time; they don't get how I can put up with you." Yomi paused. "Nor do I, half the time."
"I'm not that bad, am I?"
"You certainly are."
"But you love me anyway."
"Of course I do." Yomi said, unable to keep the smile off her face. "Still, I guess you wouldn't expect a couple to argue so much."
Tomo giggled. "I love it when you call us a couple."
Yomi gave her girlfriend's hand a squeeze. "I know you do."
Minamo and Yukari watched the pair from the window. "They're so cute." Minamo sighed.
Yukari laughed. "I remember when I used to get kept behind after class, you'd always wait for me, too."
"You and Tomo are so similar, you know."
"I know." said Yukari nonchalantly. "She was a total bitch to Yomi all day and still expected her to like her."
"Yeah; just like you."
"I'm not that bad." Yukari defended.
"Yes you are! After you left the gym today I got a look from Chiyo-chan usually reserved for your driving! Half my students are scared of me now!"
Yukari chuckled. "Well, I'm not."
Minamo looked out of the classroom window, watching Tomo and Yomi disappear from view.
"Come on," she said, taking Yukari's hand. "Let's get back to mine."
"Yours? Why?"
"To get ready, of course."
"For what?" Yukari asked, confused.
"I figured we could go out to that restaurant." Minamo smiled. "We haven't been on a date in ages, and if the drinks are on special we might be able to do it again later in the week, too. What do you say? My treat."
Minamo didn't get a reply for a little while, mostly owing to the fact that Yukari's lips were busy being pressed onto hers. Eventually they broke apart.
"Sounds like a plan to me."
The End