Hello everyone,

Took a while, but I'm happy to say Yaya for President is now done and finished. Took me a little longer than expected, but I hope the end result will amuse you. Now that that's story's finished, I can focus more on my other stories like Opposites, Hello Work and my claymore story.

Yaya for President

Chapter 5 : Scandal!

About twenty-four hours before the final debates had started, Brian and Stewie, suited in black leather spec-ops outfit which would put Solid Snake to shame, had found a perch on top of the town's highest point: the clock tower. Of course, it being a Japanese town, it was actually a digital clock accurate to within a nano-second.

Their mission: to use any means possible to find dirt on Arakawa Megumi. So far, they had been decidedly unsuccessful. They had been keeping close tabs on Arakawa, and continued to do so.

"Anything yet, dog?" Stewie asked Brian while he was leafing through a Japanese manga.

"No," Brian looked through his binoculars at Arakawa who was sitting on a terrace in front of a cafe reading a book. "Unless you count sticking her gum underneath the table down there as a major political career-killer."

"We could make it look as if it was plastiques. A terrorist attack on the cafe downstairs! Of course, we'll have to provide actual explosions," Stewie rubbed his chin. "Brian why are we doing this again? For that whimsical airhead and that pink-haired loli of hers?

"Nah," Brian said. "For that scary Momomi-chick. She's really determined to beat her girlfriend. Look, we really have to find out something other besides gum underneath the table and a Hello Kitty backpack!"

"Hello Kitty is evil and must die! That pink smiling monstrosity has been spawned from Satan's seed in the very depths of Hell!" Stewie snarled. "You will never replace Rupert, Hello Kitty! You hear me? NEVER!"

"You're just upset because Lois bought you that Hello Kitty plushy for your birthday and put it in your playpen with you," Brian said.

Stewie narrowed his eyes. "You weren't there, Brian. Hello Kitty was looking at me all night, staring at me with her dead eyes and plotting to kill me! Well, I got to her first! Bwahaha!"

"Yes," Brian nodded. "The fire got rid of Hello Kitty and the living room couch."

"Details, Brian, details," Stewie replied.

"What is that you're reading anyway?" Brian asked.

Stewie nodded in approval. "This is a very finely drawn Japanese comic. Just look how elegantly drawn these boys are, so slender and well-dressed. And they take such a shine to each other, a true sense of manly camaraderie and celebration of deep male bonds. I believe this style of drawing is named Yaoi, Brian."

Brian rolled his eyes. "Oy, vey... Let's just get back to the business at hand. There HAS to be a reason Arakawa heads into town as often as she does. We need to find out what it is!"

And so time ticked away, and Brian was staring to get a bit desperate. Until...

"Oh, helllllooooooo," Brian sat up. " Quick! Stewie, put down your gay porn and get the camera."

"Why?" Stewie said while looking over the railing, and there he saw it: Arakawa lovingly greeting and kissing another person. "Oh, my..."

"There's our smoking gun. They're heading to the hotel district! We got her now!"

Twenty-four hours later, Arakawa was animatedly delivering her closing speech.

"... and that is how I will change Spica for the better, and permanently establish our school as being the superior one. We are more than Miator. We are certainly more than Lulim. And we shall be forever the elite of the elite."

Arakawa finished her closing speech to an applause. And though many girls applauded out of politeness, there were more than a few which greeted her ideas with genuine enthusiasm.

Yaya, in the meantime, was ready to wretch. While waiting her turn to deliver her speech, she had listened to Arakawa, and if she would have her way, Spica would not be Spica anymore. It had come to a point where she realized what she was doing this for, why she had stood up to her in the first place. This would be her last chance to save Spica.

Yaya searched the crowd until her eyes locked with Tsubomi's and saw the love and admiration there. For a moment, she wondered if she actually deserved that. But for all their bickering and strife, they shared a measure of respect for each other which complimented their love.

She looked at the speech prepared for her by Tsubomi, and had added some points here and there to add some extra bite against Arakawa. Yaya almost felt guilty about dragging Tsubomi to bed while working on the speech, but now was not the time for regrets.

She waited for Kizuna to announce her as the next speaker, which she did. Yaya took a deep breath and started. "Girls," she started.

Just then, there was a crash from the stage bridges above the platform Yaya was standing on. A shrill shriek sounded, coming from Peter who was dressed up in a very ill-fitting Batman-costume. Rather than making a cool entrance descending from the batarang and rope, his foot had gotten tangled in the rope and he crashed to the floor. He recovered quickly though and jumped to his feet. "Citizens of Spica! I'm Bat-Peter! Heheheheheheheh! And I've got some troubling, earth-shattering news about Me-whatsis Ara-whocaresis! Take it away, Momomi!"

Momomi, who was standing in the back of the room, gave a single while Kaname looked on with distrust in her eyes.

Immediately, the projector in the back of the room started a slice-show of images. Images that shocked and horrified the gathered crowd.

Arakawa gasped like a fish on dry land when she saw the hugely magnified pictures of herself at the terrace... looking lovingly in the eyes of her boyfriend. The next picture came, it showed them in a loving embrace and an even more loving kiss. The last picture, an even more damning on, showed them shyly standing in front of the entrance of a love hotel.

Kaname slapped a hand in front of her eyes while Momomi looked on smugly. "Well," Kaname said. "That was it. Well played, Momomi. Very well played indeed."

"Oh, screw this!" Kizuna sighed as she realized she had now completely lost control of the ceremony. She tossed her cue-cards and turned to her fellow Etoiles. "The sun's great, let's go out there and fry some ants with a magnifying glass!"

"I suppose," Remon said with some apprehension.

"Oshibaru says he hates ants!" Kagome said with uncharacteristic malice in her voice as the trio of Etoiles left the Spica hall in search for greener pastures.

A great ruckus started in the crowd of girls, while Arakawa started twittering nervously. For the first time ever, the feisty Spican was completely at a loss for words. The evidence was damning. One could read in her face that she was looking for a way to salvage the situation. This was not entirely impossible, as a great deal of the girls in the room could still not believe it, even though the damning evidence was projected on the screen right in front of their eyes.

But all her hopes were shot to hell when Shizuma calmly strode up to the stage. Immediately, the crowd of girls hushed themselves into silence, while the stately beauty that was Shizuma stepped up to Arakawa with purpose. Arakawa shuddered under Shizuma's piercing gaze. She tried to look away, to escape, but it was too late.

Shizuma reached out and touched her chin. Arakawa Megumi shuddered at Shizuma's touch as the elder girl raised her chin up to look her deeply in the eyes.

The entire crowd waited with baited breath while Shizuma looked into Arakawa's very soul. The candidate shuddered and tried to look away, but Shizuma was merciless and continued.

Finally, Shizuma released her. And she knew. She knew that Shizuma had seen the truth and it was all over for her.

The girls in the crowd all inched to the edges of their seats while Shizuma started to walk off the stage and uttered the damning words: "Straight as an arrow."

Silence.

Then eruption.

The girls of Spica shouted out in outrage. Some cried. Some even fainted. But all were dismayed and irate. In the middle of the cacophony stood Arakawa, her head lowered and her dreams crushed. The situation was on the edge of escalating.

In the crowd, Shion grinned to herself. "Hah," she almost giggled as she turned to Chikaru. "She's finished! She's never be council president now! Spica is saved! And she pays for how she's slandered us!"

But Chikaru next to her was far from happy. On the contrary, she looked on the display around her with concern and even a hint of disgust.

"Shion-koi," she said softly, seemingly in deep contemplation.

"Chikaru-chan" Shion replied. "What..."

"This is wrong," Chikaru shook her head in sadness.

"Wro... what do you..." But Shion knew what Chikaru meant. The Spican girls, outraged as they were, against a broken Arakawa. Yes. This was wrong, Shion had to admit to herself, accompanied with a growing sense of shame.

"I'm going to do something about it," Chikaru said resolutely and was about to stand up, when Yaya beat her to the punch.

"QUUUIIIEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTT!" shouted Yaya in the microphone, so intensely that an electronic wail loud enough to burst enamel of people's teeth bursted from the speakers. The crowd was instantly calmed: the ceremony was still ongoing after all, and after a few insults hurled at Arakawa, most girls had grown silent.

"Fellow students," Yaya spoke with a hard edge on her voice. "My beautiful girlfriend Tsubomi-chan stayed up all night writing the speech I have here. Uh, well, those hours of the night we weren't rolling around in bed kissing like mad hamsters, that is..."

"Yaya-chan!" Tsubomi snarled through clenched teeth and cheeks red like beets as many, many eyes suddenly turned towards her.

"Oh my god, that's so hot," Peter blinked from the side-lines as the mental image struck gold.

"It's a pity I won't use the speech," Yaya said. "And I apologize for that, Tsubomi-chan. But mostly, I just want to say something to all of you. And that is the following," she scraped her throat. "How dare you? How DARE you?"

To say that this confused the crowd was the understatement of the year. The girls looked at each other and murmured. "HOW DARE YOU CONDEMN HER FOR LOVING SOMEONE?" Yaya shouted angrily, producing another electronic wail. "Look at her. Look at us. Most of us here are girls who love girls. And there is nothing wrong with that! Absolutely nothing! We all know that our love is just as pure as any other love. In here, we are safe to love other girls. Out there, there are people who judge us for it, people who want to drive us apart because we're different from them. And now we act the same as them towards one who's different from us? Shame on you! Shame on all of you!"

Yaya took a few deep breaths to gather her composure as the stunned crowd hung on her every word. Even Shizuma seemed to be in quiet contemplation. Chikaru nodded in approval, offering one of those sweet and mysterious smiles of hers.

Yaya continued on a calmer note. "Hate her because she's annoying conniving bitch. Hate her because she plays games with us. Hate her because she's a bully who's made many of our lives miserable. But don't hate her because she's heterosexual. We should know better. We of all people should know better!"

Chikaru smiled gently while Shion nodded with hesitant approval. On the sidelines, it was Tsubomi who was the most impressed: she was literally beaming with pride as Yaya spoke to the gathered student body. "That's my girlfriend," Tsubomi whispered softly.

Silence followed, deafening silence, while the girls hardly dared to breathe in fear of missing what Yaya was going to say next. "So, here's the part where I say not to vote for Arakawa Megumi. So don't vote for Arakawa Megumi. But don't vote for me either. I mean it, don't vote for me."

"What's she doing?" Shion hissed before Chikaru shushed her.

Yaya gently removed the badge on her uniform which read 'presidential candidate' and gently put in on the pedestal. "I never wanted to be school council president, I just got swept up in all of it. I don't have any ideas or policies, I just have whims. And you don't run a school with whims. So don't vote for me. Instead, vote for Rie-san."

Rie-san, who had been standing on the side waiting for her chance to speak, was startled visibly. "I've bothered to read her program and she really has some good ideas. Did you know that she has created a club-budget program which will allow us to not only preserve all our sports clubs but also expand them? She is also dedicated to expanding our cooperation with the other schools and hopes to finally end the silly and useless feud we have with Miator. Did you also read some of her other points? Like a sempai-kouhai tutoring program to help students who are weak at certain subjects? Or proposals for students to have influence on the class curriculums? Did you read those?"

Yaya smiled. "No, you haven't. I hadn't either until earlier today. Because all those genuinely good ideas were snowed under by useless chatter and empty promises... and I am just as much to blame for that as Arakawa Megumi. So vote for Rie-san, if you love Spica. That is all. Rie-san? You may take the floor."

And so Yaya stepped down, leaving a mostly stunned crowd behind. Rie-san took the microphone and, growing with self-confidence due to Yaya's words, found that for the first time in this campaign, she had the audience's utter and complete attention.

"You know," Brian said to Stewie from the sidelines. "I think Yaya would actually make a pretty good president."

"What the deuce, Dog?" Stewie said. "You know as well as I that she'd probably blow the country's budget on a popsicles-for-the-people program, paint the UN building in New York pink and get her brains blown out on a presidential visit to Dallas."

"Didn't you hear her speech?" Brian nodded with approval. "She's full of insight and self-confidence."

"Doctor friggin' Phil's got insight and self-confidence too, but that doesn't mean I want him running anything more substantial than a sandwich and a bottle of soda. Now, Ricky Gervais on the other hand..."

Yaya had finally reached an awestruck Tsubomi. The two girlfriends locked eyes before Yaya spoke. "I guess you don't get to be First Lady. Sorry about that, Tsubomi-chan."

"Yaya-chan," Tsubomi sighed and flew into her girlfriend's arms. "I'm so proud of you."

Before Yaya could say anything, she was treated to an ever deepening open-lip kiss. Not being one to protest about being kissed by a beautiful girl, Yaya kissed her back with all the passion and love she could muster. When they finally broke the kiss, Yaya held her girlfriend close and smiled at her. "What ever happened to 'no kissing in public, Yaya-chan'?"

"Special circumstances," Tsubomi said resolutely.

Shion smiled as she read the Lulim Gazette, printed by the school paper club, which had an article about the Spica elections. Things couldn't have ended better: the elections had ended up being a landslide victory for Wanatabe Rie, whom had already contacted Shion for advice and help with choosing her council members.

A properly humbled Arakawa Megumi had issued a public apology not only to Shion but everybody at Spica for having terrorized so many during her earlier years. It spoke for Spica that she had gained acceptance after her speech. And fortunately, Arakawa had also admitted that her claims of Chikaru spying on Spica through Shion were completely unsubstantiated, which meant that they could see each other in public again.

"Shion-koi," whispered Chikaru. "Put down that paper."

Shion, wearing a silk bathrobe, did so. "I am happy, Chikaru-chan," Shion smiled. "I feel like I'm leaving Spica in good hands when we graduate. I don't have to worry about either Arakawa-san or Yaya-chan running the school into the ground."

"Hm," said Chikaru as she removed the covers from her bed, revealing she was only wearing a set of black lacy lingerie. "I want to be in good hands too."

"That's the plan," smiled Shion as she moved to the bed and was welcomed by Chikaru's embrace. The two held each other for a while. "God, I love you," Shion whispered. "I never want to be apart from you."

"I noticed this afternoon," Chikaru giggled, referring to the very public kiss in the cafeteria Shion had treated her to right after Arakawa's apology. "But it was kind of exciting to meet in secret without anyone finding out, don't you think? An air of mystery?"

Shion thought for a moment and nodded. "I suppose so. Hm, want me to climb in through the window next time? The rainpipe is very close to the window."

"No!" Chikaru swatted at Shion's arm. "The last time you climbed up a rainpipe, you ended up with a sprained wrist, remember? I don't want you to hurt yourself."

"I wouldn't mind being nursed again," Shion's eyes twinkled.

"I just bet," Chikaru smiled. "And setting mysteries aside, I think we might work to better Spica-Lulim relations before we graduate, wouldn't you say? In the best possible way."

"Grrrowwwl," Shion giggled as Chikaru tugged on her robe.

As the school was bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun, Kaname was leaning against the fence of the horse pen, having her arms crossed and looking to be in deep thought.

Footsteps approached, footsteps belonging to Momomi. Momomi stepped next to Kaname and leaned against the fence as well.

"Yo," said Kaname softly.

"Yo," Momomi repeated.

Silence.

"About our rivalry," Kaname said.

"I didn't like it."

"Me neither."

"We both lost."

"Miserably."

"We can't count on the ineptitude of others."

"Agreed. Arakawa-san's indiscretions."

"Or Yaya-san's whims."

"Suspicious of each other."

"Mistrust."

"We were incomplete," Momomi looked at Kaname.

"I certainly missed your mean-streak."

The two of them tilted their head sideways and shared the tiniest hint of a smile.

"Experiment failed."

"Epically."

"From now on, we work together, always."

Kaname wrapped an arm around Momomi's waist, who in turn leaned into her girlfriend. "We are condemned to each other," Kaname chuckled.

"I can think of worse things."

"Me too."

A kiss followed.

The Hanazono summer house was tranquil and silent, safe for one girl who had woken up early and was cooking bacon and eggs. Yaya was far from a morning person, but today was an exception. She was still clad in her baggy oversized T-shirt which she usually slept in. The logo on her chest, which read 'Bad Grrrrrl', had started to fade from many trips to the launderette, but certainly hadn't lost its meaning.

Thanks to Nagisa's insistence, Shizuma had invited Yaya and Tsubomi to stay with them in their summer house to recover from the hectic times of the elections. For Yaya it was a vacation of sorts, and a prelude towards the inevitable time when she and Tsubomi would be living together. Miraculously, they had been here for two days and they hadn't even killed each other yet. A good sign.

A yawn behind her alerted Yaya to the presence of another girl. She grinned, put out the stove and turned to her. "My, my, sleepy-head."

"You're one to talk," Tsubomi said while wiping the sleep from her eyes. "Usually I'm the one kicking you out of bed when it's time to get up."

"Well," Yaya wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's waist and hugged her tight. "I've got something special for you," she said in a low voice. "Do you want it in bed? Or... right here on the kitchen table!"

Tsubomi gulped and stiffened. "This is... inappropriate and ecchi!" she spoke angrily. "First of all, it would be unhygienic to do that on another person's kitchen table. And we have guests in the house too, what are you thinking? Or what if Shizuma-sama or Nagisa-chan were to find out?"

Yaya grinned wickedly. "I was just thinking we should have breakfast. What was it you were thinking of?"

Tsubomi blushed. "I, uh, well, I..."

"Who's ecchi now, ey?" Yaya kissed the tip of Tsubomi's nose.

A thousand nasty comments shot through Tsubomi's mind, but she decided to let it go.

"Speaking of ecchi," Tsubomi said. "Do you think Shizuma-sama and Nagisa-chan will wake up soon?"

"I doubt it," Yaya giggled. "Didn't you hear them last night? Damn, Shizuma-sama is completely insatiable. I wonder how Nagisa-chan keeps up with her."

"You still okay with losing the elections?" Tsubomi said, eager to change the subject.

"Pfft," Yaya shrugged. "I've only just now realized how much work it is. I'm glad I lost. Now I have more time to devote to being lazy, having fun and making my girlfriend happy."

"I can live with that," Tsubomi bent over to kiss Yaya on the cheek.

"Besides, it's not a complete loss," Yaya grinned. "Rie-san took a few things from my program. We're finally losing the white-uniform means white panties rule, and we're getting our very own dinosaur exhibit! So I'm happy."

"Peter-san... was not so happy," Tsubomi chuckled, remembering Peter's exact words as he was crying on the ground: "Whaaaaaaaaaaaa! We loosssstttt! We're losers! LOOOSSSERRRRSSSSS!"

"Neither is Hikari-chan," Yaya sighed while Tsubomi sat down at the kitchen table. "Poor girl, she's still afraid to look me in the eye, even though it was not her fault. Time heals all wounds and all that. Orange juice, Tsubomi-chan?"

It was just then that Yaya accidentally hooked her foot behind one of the chairs at the kitchen table. She yelped and managed to stead herself before falling to the floor, but not before tossing the contents of the glass of orange juice into air. Unfortunately, Tsubomi was right in the path of the freshly squeezed orange juice.

"Aiieeeeee!" shouted Tsubomi, now covered with juice. "You did that on purpose!"

"It was an accident!"

"I'll get you for this!"

And so ended a race around the table, a giggling Yaya with a seething Tsubomi in hot pursuit. Complete with feints and dashes, their match continued for a couple of minutes while they knocked over crockery, chairs and even their breakfast.

The match was ended when Tsubomi lunged at Yaya and grasped her firmly around the waist. Both girls toppled over to the floor and Yaya found herself pinned to the ground by an angry Tsubomi.

However, anger faded soon after their eyes locked. They embraced and their lips met for a loving kiss on the kitchen floor amidst the mess they had just created.

The only became aware of the presence of others in the room, when they saw three pairs of feet standing next of them.

"Oh, cripes this is hot," Peter said.

"I say," Stewie said. "What is it with girls and rolling around in food?"

Tsubomi blushed bright red and sat up quickly. "We weren't doing anything!" Tsubomi yelped.

"Really," Yaya laid her arms behind her next in a relaxing pose. "Cause I could swear you were about to do me."

"Yaya-chan, stop making everything sound perverted!" she narrowed her eyes. "Food has nothing to do with anything sexy!"

"Oh?" Yaya's eyes twinkled. "You weren't complaining that time you licked chocolate syrup from my belly-button."

"YAYA-CHAN!" an embarrassed Tsubomi was about to slap Yaya, when they noticed Brian was licking a mixture of orange juice, egg and bacon off the floor.

"Eewww," Yaya said.

"Seriously, dog, take a moment to lick yourself so that way you can't be any more disgusting."

Brian blinked. "Eww... Well, I AM a dog," he said, and pointed to a piece of bacon stuck in Tsubomi's hair. "You still gonna eat that?"

As Tsubomi and Brian started bicker, Yaya turned to her friend Peter.

"You still upset that I threw in the towel, Peter-chama?" she asked while two of them left the kitchen for the outside of the house and went to sit on a bench overlooking the yard.

"Nah," Peter said. "I mean, politics would have crushed your gentle spirit and probably transformed you into a hyperactive version of George W. Bush or something."

"Perish the thought," Yaya blinked as she imagined herself reading to a class while holding the book upside down. "Peter-chama, why don't you take the plane-tickets my parents wanted to buy for you? It's no skin off their nose, they practically own all the buildings in the Tokyo CBD."

"Nah, we'll be taking the Peter express!" he said, pointing to the wooden shipping crate standing in the yard, ready to be used. "Besides, Japanese postal services are awesome."

"I'll miss you," Yaya said. "We always have fun."

"Oh my god, you should totally come to the States next year," Peter said. "Quahog is preparing a Boba Fett themed parade! The Fett-man is more awesome than Jesus. In fact, I'm pretty sure Boba could kick Jesus' ass into tomorrow!"

"Don't let the sisters hear you say that, or you're in for a preach," Yaya said. "Well, except maybe for Lulim's sister Hitomi. She'd probably agree with you."

Meanwhile, Nagisa was looking out the window into the yard and observed her friends. Tsubomi had come out now as well and was yelling at Yaya for something or other. But it was just cute.

"Shizuma?" Nagisa asked to Shizuma, who was still in bed lying on her belly with her head stuffed underneath her pillow and her lower body covered by the duvet. The sun neatly illuminated her bare back while she made muffled groans.

Nagisa giggled and let her fingertips run across the length of Shizuma's spine, making the older girl shudder slightly while pulling the pillow even tighter over her head.

"Wake-up, lazybones."

"How come you even have energy left?" Shizuma said softly, muffled by the pillow "Am I losing my touch?"

"Never," Nagisa brushed some of Shizuma's luxurious long hair away to kiss the back of her neck. "Why don't we make the most of today? You have to go back to college tomorrow, after all. How about a nice picnic? I could make sandwiches and we could have them on top of the hill overlooking the sea. We could hold each other and watch the sun set."

"Hmmm," Shizuma let out a tired groan. "That sounds lovely. But... I don't seem to be able to move. Too lazy... So lazy..."

Nagisa giggled. "No worries," she patted Shizuma's shapely behind and walked back to the window. "I need some time to prepare our food, so you can lay there a little while longer."

A grateful groan followed.

"You know," Nagisa smiled as she watched Yaya and Tsubomi bickering in the yard. "I get the feeling all our lives are just beginning."

And that ends Yaya for President. Thanks for reading and sticking by me. :) Opposites will be the Stopani story up next, soonish I hope.