Chapter Text
"Yomi! Catch!" Tomo lobs the coffee can to
Yomi and she barely catches it."Idiot! Don’t throw a can at me!"
"But you caught it so it's all good!" Tomo said as Yomi sighs as she takes a sip of her coffee. She glances over at Tomo, who is drinking her coffee black.
"Huh? Since when do you drink black coffee?"
"Well I figured we are in university now, so I need to adapt to the adult life!"
"By drinking black coffee? Isn't that just a kid's idea of what a grown up does?" She says as she adjusted her classes in an accusatory manner.
"Whatever, I wouldn't expect a kid like you to understand!" Tomo says as she takes a big sip of her coffee. "Agh bleh!" She almost spits out her drink, then notices Yomi staring at her and quickly regains her composure to take another sip. "See, it tastes good!"
Yomi lets out a small laugh and then responds "Sure it does, you should get it every day from now on since you're such a grown up."
"Maybe I will!" Says Tomo. Yomi tries to hold back a smile as she watches Tomo continue to try and drink her coffee. Each time Tomo takes a sip, for a split second she’ll make a disgusted face, but quickly try and pretend it tastes good.
"Eh? What are you looking at? You keep staring at me." Tomo says. Yomi snaps out of her daze and quickly tries to think of a response.
"Uh… just seeing how long you are going to keep drinking that." She says slightly flustered. This has been happening more and more often recently. With the newfound freetime of college life, not having to worry about any sort of entrance exam, and her first year classes being much easier than high school was, Yomi had found her mind wandering to more and more strange places.
For some reason, she was having a bit of difficulty keeping up with Tomo’s high energy antics. Maybe I’m getting old. Out of shape? Or possibly fat. She thought.
"I'm going to finish the whole can! You just watch me! I'll even drink the rest in one drink!" Tomo said.
"Don't do that…" Yomi signed.
"Too late!" Tomo says as she takes several huge sips of coffee. "Agh bleh pleh! Nevermind I'm gonna puke!"
"Well yeah dumbass what did you expect! You're gonna get a stomach ache too! Go get some water now!"
"No, I'll be fine, I'll just drink it slowly from now on." A bit embarrassed at her failure to impress Yomi. Wait, why am I even trying to impress her here? She found herself wondering.
"You don't have to drink it at all!" Exclaimed Yomi. They both go back to drinking their coffees when Yomi spots someone out of the corner of her eye. "Hey wait a minute, isn't that Kaorin?" Yomi says while pointing to a girl seemingly hiding behind a wall of the science building. Tomo glances over and notices their mutual high school friend.
"Oh it is! KAORIN, HEEEEY!" Yells Tomo causing the girl to jump in surprise. The fear in her face goes away once the girl looks over at them. She starts to smile as she runs over.
"Oh hey! I didn't know you two went here!" Says Kaorin happily. Their whole group from high school had vaguely discussed their plans after graduation. Chiyo was traveling to America, Sakaki planned on going to veterinarian school, Kagura got a sports scholarship, Kaorin told the group she planned on studying astronomy, and Osaka, well no one could figure her out.
"We didn't know you went here either, that's pretty cool. How's it going?" Says Yomi.
"It's going ok, classes so far have not been too difficult, but it's only the 2nd week, " Kaorin replied. "What about you too?"
"Yomi's still upset she didn't get into Tokyo University or her favorite University in Sapporo, she hasn't stopped complaining!" Said Tomo.
Yomi had applied to multiple universities but despite her decent grades and entrance exam scores, she didn’t get accepted into the ones she planned. She figured it was for the best that she didn’t get into Sapporo university because she surely would have gotten fat with all the food there. Tomo knew she was just saying that to make herself feel better.
"Hey! Just because I didn't get my 1st choice, or 2nd choice, or 3rd…" Yomi's face slowly begins to go pale.
"Oh you know you failed those on purpose so you could come here with me!" Tomo says as she puts her arm around Yomi. Tomo would not admit it, she was happy Yomi was going to the same university as her. Yomi’s face goes visibly red when Tomo puts her arm around her. "How would you live without me?"
"Hey, stop that!" Protested Yomi. Tomo makes a smug face and pulls Yomi closer.
"Stop what? I'm just cheering you up," Tomo said smugly while Yomi's face starts to turn even more red. To Tomo, it was just their regular dynamic, and normally, Yomi would think the same, but these past few months had been different. Just then a laugh interrupts both of them.
"Hehe, it's good to see you two still getting along so well," Said Kaorin.
"That's one way to put it," Yomi said awkwardly. "Anyway, what about you? Did you have any other school you wanted to go to?"
"No, not really. This one is close to home so I don't need to live in a dorm. And uh, there's another reason," Kaorin says as she starts to blush. Just then she glances over at a long haired girl eating her lunch across the courtyard of campus.
"Oh! You still like Sakaki, right?" Asks Tomo rather loudly.
"Yeah, she's just so cool! I had to come here! I just… I still haven't talked to her yet. I'm too nervous. Won't she be too cool for me now that she's in college?" Kaorin said, looking at the ground.
"You still go to the same school you know, she's not out of your league. Go for it!" Yomi said as she flashed a smile. Both Tomo and Yomi have been aware of Kaorin’s high school crush, but they both figured it would fade. Now that they were all in college and Kaorin seemed just as interested, they decided to finally encourage her.
"Uh, I wouldn't know what to say." Replied Kaorin. "You approached us pretty easily, just do the same thing." Said Yomi.
"Well that's a bit different you know? Sakaki is just hard to approach. She has this super cool aura around her." Said Kaorin.
"I can't just go right up and talk to her." "Sure you can, watch! SAKAKI OVER HE-" Tomo was quickly cut off by Yomi putting her hand over her mouth. She then quickly grabs Tomo by the ear and starts to drag her away.
"Excuse us a second," she says to Kaorin and she drags Tomo back near the vending machines. "Hey, hey that hurts! Stop grabbing my ear!" Tomo protests. When they reach the vending machines Yomi releases her grip. "You can't just yell for her! Sakaki's a bit jumpy, you know that! And besides, we can't just go again Kaorin's wishes. If we are going to help her, we gotta do it better than that!"
"It'll be easier if she comes over here though. Then we get them talking! Look, she's already coming over here." Replied Tomo.
"What?!" Yomi glances over and sees Sakaki walking over to a scared looking Kaorin. "Ah, c'mon let's go back!" Yomi says as they both had back towards their old friends. "Oh hello Sakaki, I didn't know you went here," Yomi breaks the ice as Sakaki looks over at her.
"Yes, it was the closest university to my apartment… and they have a good biology program so I can get a veterinarian degree," said Sakaki. Yomi glances at Kaorin to try and get her to participate in the conversation.
"Oh tha… that's why I chose here too! Because it was close I mean. I don't really feel like having to commute far. But I heard the dorms for this campus are nice."
"They're surprisingly cheap actually. A two person room is only like 65,000円 a month for both people." Yomi adds.
"That's really good. Do you stay at the dorms here, Yomi?" Sakaki asks.
"Yeah, Tomo and I got jobs right after graduation to afford it." Yomi said.
"Oh so you and Tomo room together? That sounds so fun! I've never had a roommate before," said Kaorin.
"Yeah it's pretty fun! Yomi cooks dinner sometimes too!" Exclaimed Tomo excitedly.
"Oh you cook Yomi! I've been cooking for my family a lot recently, what kind of things do you like to cook?" Asked Kaorin.
"Oh, uh, I don't cook too often, just like curry, omelet rice, just basic stuff really…" Replied Yomi as she tried to think of a way to change the subject to Sakaki for Kaorin. "Say Sakaki, want to come with us tonight for karaoke? It's been a while since we all did it and Tomo, Kaorin, and I were gonna go tonight or tomorrow."
"We were?" Tomo says as Yomi chops her on the head. "Ow, why'd you do that!?" Kaorin quickly picks up on what Yomi is trying to do.
"Yeah they were just asking if I wanted to join them. Sounds like fun!" Said Kaorin. "Ok, what time?" Asked Sakaki.
"How about we meet at the station closest to here at around 5? We can also get some food somewhere too. I'm thinking ramen." Said Yomi.
"Ok, I have to get to class now though." Said Sakaki.
"Oh! Me too! Where is your class Sakaki?" Tomo asked.
"In the science building"
"Mine's in the English building and that's close enough. I'll race you! Later Yomi, Kaorin!" Tomo says as she runs off.
"But it's a separate…" Sakaki stops her sentence abruptly. "Better just go after her. Once she's made up her mind to run, you can't stop her," Said Yomi.
"HEY I'M GONNA WIN IF YOU DON'T HURRY!" Tomo yells from across the courtyard. Sakaki makes a determined face and runs off.
"See?" Said Yomi "We're all hanging out tonight. That should solve the problem with you approaching Sakaki."
"Thank you so much!" Squeals Kaorin.
"What's your plan? Are you actually gonna ask her on a date or what?" Asked Yomi
"Uh, I don't know. I haven't thought that far ahead… ah I am nervous again!" cried Kaorin.
"Heh, relax. We can help you. We are all gonna be together for karaoke tonight. We can figure something out."
"Ok let's brainstorm then! How can I know if I even have a chance? Maybe we can pick a love song or something? Or maybe you can ask if there is anyone she likes? Or maybe-"
"Hold on there, one idea at a time. I am not sure the love song thing will help her get the message. Unless you look her right in the eye while singing and grab her hand. And even then that may not work. Me getting her alone and asking her may work though. You'll have to district Tomo though. She's not known for her subtlety so I think it's best I talk to her."
"Ok yes! That's a great idea! Thank you so much! I owe you bigtime! Anything you need I can help!" Said Kaorin. Kaorin agreed without a second thought.
Her crush on Sakaki had been growing ever since first year of high school. At first she wasn’t too sure what to think about it. She never considered herself interested in girls until she met Sakaki. Even if she was a boy i’d still be interested, she had thought to herself. But as time went on and she was started to grow out of her timid and awkward high school self, she realized it wasn’t just a simple crush. Maybe she was interested in girls, but be that as it may, Sakaki was definitely a girl, no, the girl she was interested in.
There was a long silence as Kaorin's face continued to be lit up with excitement and wild fantasies. Yomi’s mind was also wandering. What were these feelings she had recently? Unlike Kaorin, Yomi had never really seriously thought about any sort of romantic relationship before. She was too busy with high school to even consider it. But with this new found freetime, she had a lot of unsorted feelings that have been building up in her for years.
Eventually, a thought crosses her mind but she debates if she should ask Kaorin or not. She decides talking about it may at least help and she could trust Kaorin.
"I… I think I do have something you can do for me…" Yomi Asked nervously. "Well when you have Tomo distracted-"