I DON'T OWN AZUMANGA DAIOH, YO!

Tomo was moving too fast; her hands seemed to be trembling as they moved almost snakelike under Yomi's shirt. Yomi smiled as she gracefully lay back on the bed, pulling Tomo on top of her. She raised her finger to the other girl's lips before they met again. Tomo's eyes flew open in surprise and to Yomi's own, didn't seem as confident as she has remembered – above anything she looked worried.

"Tomo…" she whispered, reaching one hand up to gently stroke the other girl's cheek. "Tomo, what's wrong?"

"I-I don't know." She replied, voice shaking slightly. "Are you sure this is what you want? I mean, I know what I can be like sometimes – This is kinda important to me, but I don't wanna force anything on you."

Yomi paused. Tomo actually was considering her feelings? This was something that hadn't happened once before that Yomi could remember, let alone recently. Yomi gazed up at her, keeping her face as sincere as she could manage. "No more worrying Tomo," she whispered, "This is what I want too, believe me."

For a fleeting moment, Tomo's eyes widened in shock, before relaxing and the familiar Tomo grin spread itself across her face. "Yeah," she smirked, "I thought as much."

"Then why ask?" Yomi blurted, feeling her anger rising.

"Um…just checking."

"You're an idiot, you know that, right?"

Tomo paused for a moment as if she was pretending to think about the question, the casting it aside as if she had no intention of returning to the train of thought. Either it wasn't important or at this particular moment nothing else seemed to matter apart from this moment. She looked down at the young woman beneath her. God knows how long she had been trying to get her to see, to get her to realise how much she really meant to her. She felt Yomi wrap her long fingers around the back of her neck. For once her best friend wasn't trying to choke her – instead she felt herself being pulled forward into another passionate kiss. Tomo's stomach fluttered as she felt Yomi's tongue clash fiercely with her own. She allowed her hands to struggle once again with the buttons on Yomi's fitted shirt. Wow, she thought, it really is more difficult to do this when you're not looking. She also found herself idly wondering how the people on television coped with this obvious design flaw. She felt Yomi's warm stomach flinch instinctively under her cold hands. A quick gasp escaped the girl's lips, Tomo moved without thinking as she helped her shed her shirt and tossed it to one side, where it fluttered gently to the floor.

Tomo sat up so she was practically sitting on the other girl's lap. Yomi's felt her face redden, realising what Tomo was looking at. "What are you doing?"

Tomo grinned, running a stray finger in a line over Yomi's chest and down her stomach. "Oh, nothing." She said almost idly, "Just admiring is all."

Yomi reached down to catch Tomo's wandering hand in her own, she felt herself becoming more flustered as she felt Tomo move her fingers so they intertwined with her own. "Well don't," she said, "You're freaking me out."

"Why?"

Yomi looked away, desperate to find something else in the room to find an object on which she could focus her line of sight. Anywhere put Tomo's face; she sighed softly and raised her shoulders in a slight shrug. Tomo raised her eyebrows and moved her hands to rest gently on Yomi's stomach. Slowly she arched her back and placed a soft kiss at the point on the taller girl's stomach where her own hands rested. She looked up once more grinning to find Yomi looking at her once more.

"You know," she began, eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Out of all the times I made fun of you – you do know I never really meant it, right? I mean, apart from the time when you were talking back to the radio and the time when.." her voiced trailed off under Yomi's fierce stare. Tomo, suddenly aware of the danger she was in, tried a new train of thought.

"Uh…what I mean is…" she said, concentrating all her energy in order to sound completely serious. "I watch you, I watch you worry about your weight and stuff – and how you hide under those long socks you always wear, and you know, despite how I come across…I've always kinda wondered why you're like that…"

Yomi lay very still, and for the first time in her life she found herself actually very interested in what Tomo had to say. She was still nevertheless overcome by the sudden urge to throw Tomo off and pull her shirt back on really quickly. This was too much…too much for just one night…In this one night she had gone from totally in control to being more vulnerable than she had been in her whole life. And she had no one else to blame but herself for putting her in this position. She had finally opened up and she was actually frightened. Oh Tomo, she thought, stay with me…please don't leave me like this…

She opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out – she must look so stupid, she thought. All you have to do is say something. Throw her a bone here, this must be as scary for her as it is for you. She and Tomo really were polar opposites, in this particular situation Yomi seemed to be struggling to even say anything at all that wasn't a one word answer. Tomo on the other hand, as per usual it seemed, couldn't seem to keep her mouth shut.

"I mean…you have no real reason to hide, just look at you!" Tomo rang her hands through Yomi's long brown hair, enjoying the feel of the locks between her fingers. "You have nothing to be even slightly ashamed of y'know? I mean, as much as I make fun in all…to me…you've only ever been beautiful…"

Despite her best intentions, Yomi felt the corners of her eyes moisten, her vision of her best friend seemed to blur behind a liquid layer of unshed tears. Her hands held Tomo's tightly once more, clasping hold as if she felt that she would slip through her fingers.

"And uh, yeah…" Tomo continued. "I-I…I kinda love you."

Without thinking, Yomi raised herself up into a sitting position so she was sitting crossed-legged facing Tomo on the bed. Now she was sitting up the tears that had been obscuring her vision winded their way down her cheeks. The soft tear tracks reflected slightly in the light from her lampshade and dried to make her face feel oddly stiff. Tomo did her best to wipe them away with the back of her hand. "Yomi, did I say…" Tomo shivered, "Did I say something wrong?"

Yomi took a deep breath, a grin tugged ever so slightly in the corners of her mouth. "No, Tomo," she said finally, "No, Tomo. For once…you said everything right." She felt her hands grasp the base hem of Tomo's sweater, with a swift tug she pulled it up over the others girl's head. Tomo planted another tender kiss on Yomi's lips before pulling aware once more.

"Are you sure?" she asked simply.

Yomi grinned, "Yes…are you?"

"Of course! When am I never not sure?"

Yomi smirked mischievously as she yanked a surprised looking Tomo forward.

"Good point."