Okay guys, in my humble opinion, this is where it'll get good. Of course, I think the whole thing is good, but I'm the Author. This is where the story picks up, and I'll also say that within the next chapter or two, the rating will start to pick up. Basically, from this point on, this is an MA Fic. Anywhoo, enough of my ranting. Let's get on with it! And Welcome To It The Next Day, The First Day of School When Summer Vacation had started a few months ago, this had been a day that Tomo and Yomi had looked forward to with great anticipation. They would be Seniors, Year Three students. So much came with that title. College Entrance Exams, graduation, respect even. They'd be looked up to by all of those below them. They would be the elite of their school. But now, in light of how everything had fallen apart, the girls would've been stunned if any of the teachers would have even talked to them, and even more shocked if one of their former friends hadn't spilled the beans at all, if you will. Neither girl was about to hold their breath on the news of their love not getting out. I mean, hardly anything else had gone their way. Why start hoping now? Yomi felt this way, and Tomo wasn't too far from it. Either way, when the Alarm Clock in the girls bedroom rang at Six O'clock AM that day, they knew, like everything else that had conspired because of their romance, School was something that they could not avoid. Yomi was still an A's student, and Tomo was well on her way. Neither of them were about to let other people ruin their education. Yomi was out of bed first, not exactly being the light sleeper. Rubbing the grogginess out of her eyes, she yawned as she reached over to shake Tomo awake. "Tomo...Tomo...sweety...it's time to go to school..." Yomi still wasn't completely awake herself, but a groan from Tomo signified that she was awake, and with that, Yomi almost literally rolled out of bed, and off to take a shower. No sooner had Yomi removed her pajamas and closed the door, before she heard a loud banging on the door. "I'm up, Yomi..." Came Tomo's yell from the other side. "Good." Yomi yelled back, making sure that the half awake Tomo could hear her voice over the sound of shower water. "I won't take too long." There was a long pause, and Yomi was sure she heard Tomo yawn, before opening the door and speaking her reply. "I'll go make breakfast." Tomo yawned and shut the door, but not before noticeably getting a good look at Yomi's naked butt. Of course, Yomi didn't mind. She just sighed as she entered the shower, more from still being tired than anything else. It'd been awhile since she'd gotten up this early. The last time, in fact, was a few weeks ago, when she'd gone to Magical Land with Tomo. The day they had confirmed each others love. A day that Yomi would always remember, as the only day in her life that was ever, truly perfect. But it would also remind her of the day, a few weeks later, that had gone just the opposite. Within Fifteen Minutes, Yomi had slowly awoken herself fully, finished her shower, and all of her morning bathroom duties. With the exception of being naked, she was ready to go. She stepped out of the bathroom and walked back to her and Tomo's room, still naked, where she put on her underwear and school uniform, which was actually a little big on her. "I've been losing weight..." Yomi smiled to herself. "I'll have to ask Yukari about a new uniform..." She trailed off on her last statement. Yukari. How would she feel? What about Nyamo? Mr. Kimura? "Mr. Kimur-blegh!" Yomi thought that last name out to herself. "Okay, Yomi, chill out. We'll cross those bridges when we come to them." She'd gotten the thoughts out of her head, for now, at least, as she trotted down the stairs to the kitchen. The aroma of Waffles and Bacon hung heavily in the air here, an aroma which Yomi liked very much. The sight of Tomo in an apron, cooking at the stove made Yomi all that much happier. Tomo knew some of Yomi's favorite foods. Yomi also sighted the ingredients for Fried Rice and Domburi to the side of the stove, which heightened Yomi's excitement even more. She walked over and took her seat at the table, which was already set with a dining set which was apparently pulled from both American and Japanese cultures, and loudly breathed in the air, which caused Tomo, who had an expectant look on her fact to turn around. She smiled at Yomi as she spoke. "Figured you'd like it." Tomo said, knowingly. "Dad may have taught me American dishes, but I can still throw down the Japanese stuff. So I figured, hey, why not a mixture of both?" Tomo turned back to her cooking. "And you knew my favorite." Yomi said back, sounding truly happy for the first time in awhile. "What don't I know about you?" Tomo chuckled slightly as she posed the rhetorical question. It was true, Tomo and Yomi knew just about everything about one another, and what just their friendship had never told had all come out in the past few weeks. No secrets were kept between the two girls. A solid foundation for a prosperous relationship, the way they saw it. Anything that one girl knew, was always important enough for the other to know. Yomi had no answer to Tomo's question. She just smiled to herself as Tomo set the table with all the food. Eggs, Waffles, Fried Rice, Domburi, Orange Juice, and some toast for each girl. Tomo removed her apron, draping it over the back of her chair, which sat directly across from Yomi at the end of the table. The convince of the kitchen, as well as this whole house, was uncanny. It had always been Tomo and her father. Now, it was Tomo and Yomi. With the exception of having to clear out the clothes that Mr. Takino had left behind, to make room for Yomi's, there was little difference. In a way, Yomi had replaced Tomo's father, physically, in the house, and it was very easy transition indeed. "Eat it now and you'll probably burn your tongue." Tomo warned as she began to walk towards the stairs. "Give it about five minutes. I brought the morning paper in if you need something to do while you wait." With that, Tomo was out of sight, as it was now her turn to clean up for school. It was Six-Thirty now, And ideally, Tomo and Yomi would be on their way sometime between Seven-Fifteen and Seven-Thirty. This schedual had been set up by Tomo, surprisingly. Apparently, she'd been the type of person who could be up and early and on schedual, but always lacked the motivation. Now, Yomi was the motivation. Finally, Tomo had something in her life to truly get her going. About Ten minutes later, Tomo came back downstairs, she too dressed in her school uniform, which still fit her perfectly. Tomo wasn't exactly a growing child, and her dad and her had agreed more than once that she'd be lucky to grow a few more inches in her lifetime. Tomo was surprised when she re-entered the kitchen. There was Yomi, working on the crossword puzzle section of the paper, still sitting right where Tomo had left her. However, the food hadn't been touched. "Whassamatta?" Tomo said, confused at the moment, but still keeping her usual carefree attitude about her. "You know it's probably cool enough to eat now." Tomo took her seat opposite of Yomi, and began to put some food onto her plate. Two Waffles, an egg, Orange juice (though it was the only drink on the table), and a bowl of fried rice was the breakfast she'd picked out for herself. "I know." Yomi said, without looking up. After she'd finished scribbling in a word on her puzzle, she placed the pencil down, and pushed the paper off to the side. Speaking as she began to get her food. "I wasn't about to eat without you, Tomo." Yomi smiled and took for herself, a bowl of friend rice, and a bowl of domuri, as well as her toast, a large glass of orange juice, and four strips of bacon. Tomo giggled slightly. "How sweet of ya." Her tone was halfway joking, halfway sarcastic as usual, but Yomi knew she meant it. Yomi'd grown to know when Tomo was being sincere, and when she was just being a pest. Most of the time, it just sounded like the latter. The two girls ate happily, making small talk over the breakfast table here and there. Both knew better than to ruin the meal, as well as anything else, with the talk of how they'd be accepted by the student body. There was a very small bright spot in the form of this good breakfast, and this morning which was starting out pretty good. Both Tomo and Yomi wanted to keep this happiness about them as long as they could, before the certain woes began. It was Seven past Seven when the girls piled the dishes into the sink, deciding they'd rather clean up after school, and after picking up their bags, were on their way. The walk to school was a short one, and as far as Tomo and Yomi saw, no classmates, or barely even anyone from their school was passed along the way. Both girls were thankful, and their good mood was preserved. They arrived at school at about Seven-Forty Five, after stopping to admire some very nice flowers, among other things to eat up the free time they knew they would have, seeing as how school didn't start up until Eight. The courtyard was crowded as usual, and the crowd only grew thicker as Tomo and Yomi made their way to the board which would tell them of their home-room class. However, as they walked closer and closer, the good feeling left them, and the misery began. It wasn't much at first. A few whispers, which could have been about anything. Then there were more. Tomo heard her name a few times. More. Yomi heard a blatant derogatory statement aimed at her from a kid who couldn't keep his voice down. More and more. The two weren't holding hands. They were merely walking beside one another. But all of the students present were either paying the two no-never mind, whispering, or staring AND whispering. Unfortunately, about nintey-nine percent of the kids were noticeably committing those last two acts. About ten steps away from the home-room board, the crowd parted all-together, and the only people that Tomo and Yomi saw now were Sakaki, Kagura, and Chiyo. When Tomo and Yomi approached, Kagura wasted no time. "Kaorin is the only one of us fortunate enough to have been placed elsewhere. Otherwise, Yukari and the rest of us are stuck with you two." So it was Yukari once again. If anything, this showed that Yukari Tanizaki either hadn't heard, didn't care, or that the placement truly was random (though Kaorin's winding up in the home-room of Mr. Kimura would beg to differ.) The two tried to keep their faces emotionless, but Yomi was frowning, and couldn't stop it. Had Kagura not tortured them enough? What caught Tomo's eye was Chiyo-chan, who was doing her best to hide behind Sakaki's legs. She was doing a good job of it, except for the fact that her pig-tails gave her away. But that wasn't what got Tomo. Chiyo was cowering, visibly shaking. Once, she slowly peeked out, only to return to hiding at the sight of the two lesbians. She didn't know what Kagura and the rest had told Chiyo, but they'd evidently told her enough to where the mere sight of either Tomo or Yomi scared the poor girl. "You've turned her into a homophobic." Tomo said aloud. She didn't mean to, but she'd said it. The fact that she was looking at the spot where Chiyo would be if Sakaki wasn't in the way told Kagura exactly what she meant. "As well she should be." Kagura said hatefully, before motioning for Sakaki. She was met with a nod, and the two started to walk away. "Know that we've all spoken enough to you two for today. Get lost." Kagura, still hateful, said to Yomi as she walked by. As soon as Kagura was gone, the whispers started up again, and the place was louder than ever. Tomo and Yomi just stood there, and after what seemed like light-years, the bell finally rang, and everyone was ushered into the school. Reluctantly, Tomo and Yomi had headed in. On the outside, they were fine. They'd expected no less. It was simply the fact of the matter that it was happening, that got to them on the inside. The fact that they were being treated as the outcasts from society, and the fact that it was all being lead by the same people who, months earlier, were they're best friends. Now, it was just them. The courtyard had cleared out, and Tomo and Yomi were walking in behind everyone else. Freshmen staring back at them, everyone else gossiping in front. The fact that they suspected it was coming, didn't make it any less painful. "This is our life, now, Yomi." Tomo whispered. Though it seemed like anything that either girl said silenced the crowd within the immediate vicinity. Yomi met with an uneasy nod. "Welcome to it, Tomo. We're here for the long run." Yomi whispered back, though the volume really didn't seem to matter. They were going to be chastised for any word that came out of their mouth. Even a hello to one another would probably cause talk. It may seem ridiculous, but that was exactly the situation of Tomo Takino and Yomi Mizuhara on their first day back to school. Thier shoes were changed out, and they tried their best to walk to class, even though, it seemed that wherever they went, eyes were on them. Granted, there were many people who either didn't know, doubtful, or didn't care, more likely. But for every one of those people, there were five who did care, and two who were completely disgusted or repulsed by the two girls, if one were to make this into a ratio. They made their way to their home-room, Class 3, where Tomo took her usual seat, closest one to the door, and Yomi right beside her. A boy who's name that neither girl could recall came in, and was very close to demanding that Yomi move, in the seat that was usually his, before his lady friend whispered something to him, and was able to drag him off without another word, though Tomo was positive she'd heard the word 'dykes' in there. It killed her, it killed both of them. It was a good thing they hadn't decided to come to school holding hands, or arm in arm. The reaction would have surely been astronomical in the worst of ways. One by one, their former friends came in. Kagura, Sakaki, and Chiyo didn't even bother them a passing look, and Osaka apparently didn't notice the two. Then again, Osaka failing to be observant wasn't exactly the surprise of the century. Tomo and Yomi would've liked it if everyone had reacted that way. They got everything. From dirty looks to flagrant swears, it was all directed at them. Of the Thirty-Two people who cam into the room, about twenty of them, not including Sakaki, Kagura, Chiyo, and Osaka, has something bad to say to them. Everyone else, nothing. Not a single "Hello.", not a single "How was summer?". Nothing. Nobody seemed to care anymore. Perhaps the rest of their classes would be better. Probably not, but then again, hoping had yet to hurt them. The after effects had. A few minutes later, the second bell rang, and in stepped the teacher. Yukari Tanizaki, a young woman about nose-high on Yomi, brown hair, curly near the bottom, and her favorite purple suit, which the girls had always seen her wear on the first day back. They were hopeful, hopeful that at least the teacher would be unbiased. Those hope were shot down quicker than a lame horse. It was small, but they saw it. Nobody else would have, even the ones who were paying attention to Yukari completely wouldn't have noticed. But Tomo did, as did Yomi. A glare, from the eyes of teacher to both girls. It showed them that Yukari didn't approve either. Then, a split second later, the usual. "Well, you guys are single now. You know the drill. Tanizaki Yukari, teacher, Class 3..." Yomi and Tomo stopped listening here. Both faked paying attention, but made sure not to keep their eyes on Yukari for too long, for fear that she'd snap and say something about them aloud. Knowing her as they did, it wouldn't have been a big surprise. They dared not sigh, either, for the same fear. But with each passing moment, the purpose of hoping became less and less to the two. Like a lamp in the middle of the desert, there didn't seem much point in it anymore. They both knew that the ride they were in for was gonna be tough, and they decided to stop hoping and just go through with it, surviving like they knew they could. Like they thought they could, would be more like it. They were not alone. They had each other. But, other than that, who? Nobody. Tomo's father was in America, but even if he had been present in Japan, what could he have done? Sure, a talk to the principal on the girls behalf, and maybe counceling with the girls who had been giving them a hard time, assuming any specific group was to blame, but the truth is, High School gossip, and how people feel towards you, cannot be changed unless the person has the will. As far as Yomi and Tomo saw, nobody wanted to accept them. After Yukari's never changing speech, scheduals were passed out. Thankfully, Tomo and Yomi both received theirs from someone who made no mention of their love. The last thing the girls wanted was any more attention than they were already going to get. "So, we've got...all but gym class together." Tomo stated. "Nyamo's class..." Yomi trailed off. The fact of not being with Tomo for even one period of the day was a bit too much to bear. She hated being singled out enough when they were together. What was going to happen if Tomo wasn't there for her? She truly would be the outcast of that fifth period gym class. Tomm wasn't exactly happy about it either, but tried not to show it. "Hey, don't worry about it." She said comfortingly. "It'll be alright, it's just one period. Besides..." She was cut off by the bell, telling them that it was time to move on. They had Classical Literature first, which meant Mr. Kimura. By now, Tomo had also considered the possiblitiy of how he would feel about this, and upon arriving in his class, it didn't take long for them to realize that it wouldn't be any more pleasant. Neither ever caught him, but Tomo and Yomi knew that Mr. Kimura was staring at them. When the bell rang, for class to start, he took role, then, turned to them. "Ms. Mizuhara, Ms. Takino, could you two step out in the hallway, please?" Kimura said, looking as normal as he ever would, which wasn't very normal. "Yes sir." Was the response from both girls, and the gossip immediately started up, but Kimura was quick to silence them. "Students, class is about to start, I'll have none of this hubbub and what-not. Now, pull the Lit books out of your desk, and get out some paper. Turn to page Thirty-Seven and be ready when I come back." After giving the instructions, Kimura followed the two girls out, shutting the door behind him, triggering the gossip and the whispering again as soon as he was out of the room. Though Tomo and Yomi knew he could hear it, they correctly guessed that he had other things on his mind. "Now girls," He started out simply as one such as himself could. "I've heard rumors..." He trailed off. Neither girl dared say anything, for fear of setting off his perverted mind any earlier than could be helped. They merely nodded. "I just want you to know..." He snapped. "THAT IF YOU EVER NEED ANYTHING YOU CAN ALWAYS COME TO ME!" His neck twisting in every which way and his mind running crazy, Kimura just stared, and Tomo and Yomi, though completely disgusted and aware of his true intent, merely kept themselves composed, and after a moment, Kimura calmed back down. "Ahem...yes, well, now then...back to class, shall we." He opened the door and allowed the two to walk in first, about the most curtious thing they'd ever seen the man do, though it didn't mean much coming from him. Tomo and Yomi stepped back into the classroom. The class immediately hushed, and Kimura closed the door behind him, before working his way back up to the desk, where he began to teach. Tomo and Yomi did their work, as usual, and not much was said before the bell rang again, and they silently walked on to their next period. The day had just begun, but already, the young lovers were wishing for it to end. Either way, it was shaping up to be a long, long, year.
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