A shopping trip with Yukari is a life-changing experience.
Throughout time, many people have been traumatized, grievously wounded and possibly killed thanks to the language teacher’s antics in the supermarket. Minamo Kurosawa, long-suffering P.E. teacher of 27 years, had the good fortune to survive such an experience, though it is not known if the same was true to the poor man Yukari ran over with the supermarket trolley as she was riding it down isle four.
Somehow Minamo had managed to persuade Yukari to let her drive home, and as a result they were both still alive and well, though very weighed down with shopping bags, most of which contained various alcoholic beverages and very expensive treats and snacks for Yukari.
To her credit, Yukari had offered to help unpack, but she was getting in the way more than she was helping, so Minamo shooed Yukari away from the shopping and gave the English teacher a glass of sake to keep Yukari happy.
Meanwhile, Minamo was bent over, trying to make room in one of the cupboards under the worktop for the huge amount of sweets and treats Yukari had demanded. After trying desperately to find a place for a large quantity of little balls of chocolate, Minamo sighed and gave up.
She tried to stand up, but succeeded only in hitting her head against the worktop, the pain making her drop the bag of chocolates she was trying to put away. Eyes watery with pain, Minamo tried again to stand up, but slipped right over on the spherical little chocolates she had just dropped. The P.E teacher ended up sitting on her kitchen floor with a bruised rear, head in agony, surrounded by chocolates, Yukari laughing her head off at her and Minamo being completely confused as to what the hell just happened.
“Ouch…” Minamo moaned, touching the top of her head delicately. She winced. That was gonna hurt for a while.
“Here ya go.” Yukari said, setting down her wine glass and handing her a pack of frozen peas from one of the shopping bags Minamo was yet to unpack.
“Thanks.” Minamo said, taking it from her friend and holding it to her injured head. They held eye contact for a while, neither blinking much, until Yukari came over, knelt down beside her and put an arm over Minamo’s shoulder.
“You okay?” Minamo vaguely felt like passing out - and that had nothing to do with the head injury.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Good. I don’t know any of that medical stuff they teach you P.E. teachers.” Yukari said, trying to inject some humor into the situation, “All I can do is make sure you get to the hospital fast - though I’d probably kill you on the way.”
Minamo laughed. “So you do know your driving’s dangerous.”
“Much as I hate to admit it, yeah, it probably is. But there’s no rush of adrenaline when you obey the speed limits, pay attention to road signs…”
“…and avoid pedestrians?” Minamo asked.
She gave her one of Yukari-trademark grins that somehow managed to increase Minamo’s heartbeat. “Precisely.”
She rolled her eyes. “Do you have any idea how much you’ve traumatized Chiyo-chan because of your driving?”
“Chiyo-chan? I thought she liked my driving!”
Minamo stared at her. “What on earth gave you that idea?”
“Tomo told me.” Yukari said, as if Tomo were the most reliable source of information on the planet.
Minamo sighed, deciding not to inform Yukari of the counseling poor Chiyo would probably need in later life as a direct result of her driving skills. Still, it was really, really nice having Yukari comforting her like this; the English teacher wasn’t the most affectionate person and Minamo wanted to make it last for as long as possible.
“So you don’t know any first-aid at all?” Minamo asked by way of a conversation topic.
“Not a bit.” Yukari said proudly.
Minamo’s eyes narrowed. “I know I’ve done a course in it, but I’m sure they gave all the teachers a few lessons on it a while ago.”
Yukari nodded. “I know. I slept though the entire thing.”
“But what if you need it one day?”
“Hey; then I’ve got you, haven’t I? You can do it for me. And don’t you dare say otherwise; I know you would.”
Minamo shifted the peas a bit; the pain was dulling, but the top of her head was starting to numb from the cold. “That’s it. As soon as my head gets better, I’m teaching you some basic first-aid.”
“What?” Yukari groaned. “I’ve spent all day at school; I want a break from education!” Minamo shook her head, which was a bad move since it reawakened the pain in her bruised skull.
“Nope. You need it and I’m making sure that you know how to do the basics before school tomorrow.”
“But you’re… incapacitated!” Yukari said desperately, indicating to Minamo’s head. “You need rest!”
“Why do you care much all of a sudden?” Minamo said dryly, “On Friday nights you’ll make me take you out to eat and you don’t mind if I’m dying of the plague so long as I can foot the bill!”
Yukari actually looked a little hurt. “I do care.” She said, looking at the kitchen floor.
Minamo was very scared by the sudden mood change in her best friend - she never got upset, at least over anything more than a refusal on Minamo’s part to pay for dinner, and she suddenly felt incredibly guilty for making Yukari sad, especially after how nice she’d been to her regarding her head injury. Minamo took her hand that wasn’t holding the peas to her head and held Yukari’s hand that wasn’t around Minamo’s shoulder. “I know you do. I’m sorry.”
They held eye contact for a while, Minamo’s heart racing the whole time. It was very weird for her to see Yukari acting so seriously, and strangely comfortable sitting on Minamo’s kitchen floor amid spilt chocolates and yet-to-be-put-away shopping, holding Yukari’s hand with her friend’s arm around her. Minamo had forgotten completely about hitting her head.
Yukari blinked and smiled widely, breaking the eye contact. “So explain to me again why you want to teach me first-aid so badly?”
Minamo was a little surprised at the topic-change, but answered her. “You’re a teacher, and you have a responsibility to look after your class, should something-“
She trailed off at the look on Yukari’s face. Minamo was used to Yukari’s sudden mood swings, but found it impossible to concentrate when she was staring at her with such a dangerous look in her eyes.
“Are you sure,” she said, squeezing Minamo’s hand slightly, “that you just didn’t want to do CPR on me?”
There was perhaps a second of puzzlement and then a moment or realization before Minamo’s eyes widened hugely, she blushed deeply and stared at Yukari in disbelief. “I-I…”
That was all Minamo managed to get out before Yukari pressed her lip’s to her friends’. Minamo gasped, taken completely by surprise for a few moments before her brain realized what was happening and she kissed back with full force, letting the peas drop to the floor as she moved her hand to the back of Yukari neck, bringing Yukari closer. Minamo’s heart pounded and she felt her eyes slide closed in ecstasy. The bag of peas split and the little vegetables rolled all over the floor, joining the chocolates, but Minamo didn’t really care because she was kissing and being kissed by Yukari, her best friend in the world who Minamo had been hopelessly in love with since high school. And the feeling was indescribable.
Eventually Yukari pulled away and looked at Minamo, grinning her self-satisfied smile. “So I was right.”
Somehow amid the sheer happiness that had flooded Minamo’s system, she managed to look indignant. “Actually, the thought hadn’t crossed my mind.”
Yukari pulled her into another kiss that had Minamo grateful she was still sitting on the floor; she doubted her legs would have been able to support her had she been standing.
“How about now?” Yukari asked after they broke apart. Minamo shifted slightly so they were kneeling opposite each other, Yukari’s forehead against hers, looking directly into the others’ eyes.
“First aid with you does sound like a pretty good idea…”
The End
My first fic – feedback is (needless to say) greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!