The Remedy? By their standards, the rest of the day went well. There wasn't too much criticism, there wasn't a whole lot of aloud confrontations, and about the worst that had gotten shot at Tomo and Yomi for the rest of the day had been evil looks, and the sound of gossip of course was always there. They weren't exactly singled out at lunch, but the person that sat nearest to either of them was a good five feet away. He didn't really seem to care, nor did the ones who had sat down at the same table in the first place. Either way, it was an uninterrupted lunch, and while neither girl was about to say that they were happy with this, they were satisfied for now. The day could have been a whole lot worse. Of course, once some of the boys started to follow Mr. Kimura's way of thinking, it probably would get worse, but again, that was something that came with the package. After Lunch, Yomi and Tomo were separated for one period, one of two times in the day that that would be. Yomi had Fifth Period Gym Class, and Tomo had Fifth Period Music Class, a Class Yomi had elected not to take After that, Yomi had Sixth Period Gym, to Tomo's Sixth Period English, as in American English. 'See ya Seventh Period.' was all that was said from Yomi to Tomo and Tomo to Yomi. A hug, a kiss, nothing like that would have been necessary, and would have caused way too much attention. The girls had learned that there was a time and a place for everything. As Yomi walked, she worried. Her and Nyamo Kurosawa, the Gym teacher at school, had gotten along fairly well, in the last two years at Chiyo-chan's beach house. Then again, the way things had been going, another rejection wouldn't have surprised Yomi in the least, and with her being the more pessimistic of the two, she didn't exactly have high hopes for any acceptance. To Yomi's surprise, however, gym class went smoothly. As usual, she was one of the more flexible girls in the class, with only a few boys being able to beat her out, so stretches went well. After that, Ms. Kurosawa handed out some basketballs and, after a brief lecture on sports safety, everyone had a free day in gym class. The best part? While nobody came out and straight up said it, nobody seemed to have any problems with Yomi. She wasn't picked last for the pick up basketball game, (matter of fact, she was picked first, by one of the boys that was known for his perversion, but Yomi wasn't really complaining at this point), none of the girls on the other team were afraid to play defense on her, and overall, it was fun. The period was drawing to a close, and everybody was sweating and playing somewhat sloppily. Somebody went up for a shot, and Yomi, on defense, went for a block, but missed, and lightly smacked the guy on the noggin. "Oh my, I'm sorry." Yomi bowed apologetically. They guy just rubbed his face in his shirt and bowed back. Then, however, the blow of a whistle was heard, and everybody looked to see Nyamo, Ms. Kurosawa standing there. She was looking straight at Yomi. "Gotta step up, Yomi, but don't get sloppy." Nyamo said, sounding like the true sports critic that she was. Yomi just bowed again. "Yes, ma'am." She was always respectful to her teachers. Even Mr. Kimura, to the extent that one could be. As Yomi began to turn her back, Nyamo blew her whistle again, drwaing her attention back once again. "Your dad dropped something off for you in the office, Yomi. Come with me, please." Nyamo turned her back and began to walk away. Immediatley, and with great interest, Yomi followed her. What could her father have sent her? An apology? Could it not wait till later? An 'I'm Sorry' note that her mother was too proud to give? As Nyamo held the double doors to the Gym open, Yomi passed through, and the former addressed the class one last time. "You all have roughly five minutes before the bell rings. Clean everything up and be ready to go, or you guys won't see the Gym again until the spring." She never yelled, but she made her students listen. That was the great thing about Nyamo. Yomi had already started to walk to the main building of the school when she heard the doors shut to the Gym, and once again, the voice of Nyamo. "Hold it, Yomi. We're not going to the office." Surprised, Yomi turned around, and was already face to face with her Gym teacher "But you-" Yomi cut herself off. She knew now. Her father hadn't sent her anything. "I had to get you out of there without raising any suspicion." Nyamo said, sympathetically. She placed a hand on Yomi's shoulder. "Look, I know some of the kids are giving you a tough time, and I'm more than sure that Yukari hasn't been easy either?" "She's not really come out and said it, but..." "But you know?" "But we know." "Well, I plan to talk to her later, and any of my students that give you trouble in this class, or Tomo in hers. I don't see it being too much of a problem though." Wow, Yomi thought, Nyamo really knew how to comfort sombody. She couldn't help but smile. "Thanks, Ms. Kurosawa." Yomi said, still smiling. Maybe it had been the fact that Yomi wasn't expecting sympathy or kindness. Maybe it had been the fact that her classmates that period had been so friendly. Yomi didn't know why, but she was happy that now, she had somebody that she could talk to during the school day, should problems arise. Nyamo was really a great person. "I don't have a problem, and I'm here if you need me." She moved her hand up and ruffled Yomi's hair slightly, then took a step back. "You better go on, or the kids are going to think something is up." Yomi nodded and headed back to the locker room, where she would change and be on her way. It had been an average day up until that point, and now, Yomi was beginning to see the light through the darkness. Tomo and Yomi were together again in seventh period, Math class, the last class of the day. Both took seats near the window, and had a very brief talk before class started. "Boy, do I have good news to tell when we get home." Yomi said. She was still smiling brightly from Nyamo's show of kindness. Tomo, on the other hand, had a very paranoid look on her face, and she kept her bag inside of her desk, though her hand never left the handle. "Same here, Yomi. Same here." Her voice was on the borderline of breaking at a few points, and Yomi began to worry. "Tomo, are you-" But the concern for her girlfriend was cut off by the ringing of the bell, and the teacher entering the room. "Well, class, you may think that just because it's the first day of school, we can all just slack off." Said the Math Teacher, a Middle Aged man with a black toupe. "Well, I have news for you. Arithmetic doesn't care what day it is! Pull those Textbooks out of your desk and open them to page Thirty-Five." There were many sighs and cries of tired anguish from the class, but in the end, they gave way to the Old School Teacher, and the work began. About fifty minutes later, the final bell rang. They'd done it. Yomi and Tomo had made it through their first day of school as a lesbian couple in one piece. Not waiting for the crowds to dim, the two girls were out the door immediatley, and a few minutes later, they were walking down one of the backroads that curved behind the school, and would eventually take them home. "So, what's you're good news?" Tomo asked, cheerfully. She seemed much more calm and collected than she was an hour ago. Yomi noted this happily, and responded, telling the story of what Nyamo had said. She was able to recite it damn near word for word. After all, Nyamo's words had been the highlight of Yomi's day, and she wouldn't easily forget them. "Basically," Yomi recapped when she was finished. "Anytime we need to, we can go to Nyamo, and she'll help us. Great, ain't it?" "Sure is," Tomo replied. "But why didn't she tell me this?" Yomi thought for a moment, but was quickly able to put two and two together. "Well, if she'd pulled both of us out of class, even if she was saying that it was for something else, like to be taken to the office, or something like that, people probably would have figured it out. In my PE class, I didn't hear the word Lesbian, Dyke, or anything like that, at all. I don't think she wanted to give them a reason to single me out." "Ahh..." Tomo understood better now. She may have been the practical one, but when it came to Inductive Reasoning, Yomi was the one to go to, hands down. "So, what about your news, hon?" Yomi inquired. She was finally able to be affectionate out loud. Nobody was on this road but Tomo and Yomi. Tomo just smirked. "Oh, you'll see when we get home." All she did was pat her bag and continue walking. Yomi arched an eyebrow, but though she was curious, she could wait, and decided to strike up a conversation about something else. "So, how was your PE class?" Yomi asked. "Oh, it was..." For the next twenty minutes, Tomo and Yomi walked and talked, talked and walked. If one were to walk by at this point, or if one were to eavesdrop on the conversation, knowing that Yomi and Tomo were girlfriends, one would probably think, 'These two don't sound like teenage girl fuck buddies. If anything, they sound like a married, lesbian couple who love each other, and not just each others bodies.' And of course, one would be exactly right. Finally, they arrived at the house. Yomi pulled the house key out of her bag, unlocked the door, and held it open for Tomo, who went inside and immediatley began to close all of the windows and blinds on the ground floor of the house. This did nothing but peak Yomi's curiosity further, as she suspected it had something to do with her news. "Hey, what're you-" Then she saw the dirty dishes from this morning. "Just come in the kitchen when you want to talk, hon." With that, Yomi rolled up her sleeves and walked into the kitchen, where she would put on her apron and begin to wash the dishes. A few minutes later, Tomo walked in and sat her bag down at the table. After catching her breath, she pulled a chair up, and sat down, beginning to undo the straps on the bag. Yomi turned to confirm that it was Tomo, then looked back to the dishes she was washing. "So, what's the big news?" Yomi asked bluntly. Tomo stopped what she was doing for a moment and stood up. "Well, remember how I told you Kimura was giving me a hard time in American English?" Tomo started by using an event to lead into her point. "Yeah," Yomi responded. "Couldn't you like, report him for that?" "I don't think so. It wasn't really anything he said. It was the staring and the innuendo he put into his teachings." There was a bit of silence, where the only sound that could be heard was the water running out of the sink, and the occasional clank of a plate that Yomi sat down to dry off later. Tomo broke the silence quickily. "But that's not the point." "Then do you care to get to it?" "Well, anyways. After class, somebody came up to me." "Who is this sombody?" "Do you know Tamika Hamisaki?" "Short, black hair, big scar on her forehead?" "Yeah, that's the one." "What about her?" "Well, she came up to me." Tomo said, now opening her bag, and reaching in, fiddling around with a zipper pocket on the inside. "And told me she knew that I was going through tough times." Yomi listened, but she was now growing concerned. Tomo wasn't exactly the easiest person in the world to trick. "So we went up on the roof, and a few of her friends told me they knew exactly what I needed, and for a small price, they could give it to me." Yomi was freaking out in her mind. 'Please, do not let her have done what I think she's done.' On the outside, though, she was able to keep a calm demeanor. "What was the price?" "Don't worry, sweets, I covered it." Tomo gave that cheesy smile of hers. Yomi played along. "Alright," She said, now eyeing the bag. Tomo had her hand in, as Yomi could see, the zipper pocket on the inside, and the was she was holding it didn't relenquish her fears one bit. "But what's this remedy, if you will?" "This." Tomo pulled it all out quickly and without hesitation. In one hand, she held a metal razor, about an inch long and three wide, with a sharp tip at each end. There were also two straws, one metal and one of a very hard plastic. In the other hand, there was a zip-loc bag, full of a white, squishy powder. Tomo had purchased a few pounds of Cocaine. Yomi wasn't in the least bit surprised, but she wasn't at all happy. She dropped the dish she was working on, almost breaking it, and got right up in Tomo's face. "What were you thinking!" She didn't scream, but her voice held a great deal of anger. "Might I remind you that you hold ILLEGAL DRUGS in your hands!" Tomo was spazzing. "Yomi, Yomi, Yomi! Shhhh! Somebody will hear you." There was a moment of silence, Yomi stared at Tomo, noticabley pissed. Tomo stared back, with her trademark 'Just give me a chance' look on her face. In the end, Tomo won, with Yomi plopping down in the chair beside of her, her head hanging back, and her hands cluching her skull. "How much did you pay?" Yomi asked, her voice dragging, as if she knew she wasn't going to like the answer. "Just Four Thousand Yen. It wasn't that much." Yomi just sighed and slid down deeper into her chair. "Well, get it over with, Tomo." Tomo nodded in response. First, she laid down a piece of paper. Then, taking a handfull of the Cocaine, she placed it on the paper, using the razor to form it all into a line, then to divide it into small, inch long strips. There were nine of these. Taking a deep breath, she took the plastic straw, placing it into her nose. She placed it on the first line, and slowly, began to snort. The sound was sickening to Yomi, but when it stopped, she looked up. Tomo had finished the first line, and Yomi could already see it in her eyes. She was high, and it was only going to get worse as Tomo went down on the second line. Then, curiosity got the better of Yomi, she stood up, and walked beside Tomo, holding out her hand. "The straw, dear." Tomo just smiled and handed it over. "I want it back when you're done, baby." Just by the tone of her voice, Yomi knew that Tomo was high. However, curiosity had gotten the better of her, and Yomi went down on the third line and began to snort. The drug entered her System, but immediatley, it did nothing for Yomi, who sat back down, placing the straw back down on the paper. Tomo took the straw and, with her pupils in the process of dialating, looked at Yomi questionabley. "Does nothing for me." Yomi said truthfully. "It's all yours." Her lover just smiled and proceeded to continue. Tomo went down on the fifth line, then the sixth, then the seventh, and so on until she was done. Not just with that handfull, but with the whole bag, which turned into about twenty more lines. In the end, she was breathing heavily, and couldn't stay still at all. "Is there more?" Tomo asked. Oh, how high she was. It didn't help at all that that was her first time. Yomi shook her head, also breathing a little hard. The one line she had done earlier was starting to come back to her, but it wouldn't affect her near as much as the other eight had affected Tomo. "Oh well, just gotta get more tomorrow!" Tomo went into the living room and laid down on the couch and began to channel surf, though Yomi was sure that she didn't know what was going on half the time. She just sighed, and went back to cleaning the dishes. 'I'll talk to her about it later.' Yomi thought. 'Not gonna let her get addicted. Although...no, no. It was bad. Don't even think otherwise.' For now, she was the one in control. Though every now and then, Yomi couldn't help but look back, and take a long look at where that Coke had been earlier. Maybe she would talk to Nyamo about this tomorrow. Maybe.
Back to Downward Spiral Index - Back to Azumanga Daioh Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction