Wow! How much do I procrastinate?! A LOT!! Oh my god! I should've waited to do this. In fact, this has been in my head for months and it's just about to tear my head into tiny shreds. Especially when I came across an interesting Azumanga fanfiction that caught me by surprise so much that the details are still in my head even after reading it like a week ago. It was made a while ago, but it's definitely worth a look for those who like to see some serious tragedy: Gang Aft Agley by Jinjojess. While this brought me to finally write this, this will be nothing compared to the well-written fanfiction that author did.

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters mentioned in this story. They belong to Kiyohiko Azuma and ADV Films. Honestly, if I did, would I really be bothering?

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She choked, the words that the people around her so patiently waited for burning at her throat, leaving embers in her own mind. When she stared numbly at the mic in front of her, she didn't even know what to say. Honestly, wasn't somebody else was supposed to do this? But, no, they had picked her in the last minute. (1)

All she could do was bite down on the words that continued to dig at her bottom lip. She ran her tongue on the hot scarlet, tasting the bitter blood sipping into her mouth. That day continued to light anything that she was going to speak out, but, maybe they understood when she could feel the wet trailing down her cheeks.

She found it ironic that she never was good with speaking of the girl lying in the wooden sanctum, ready to join the cold earth at their feet. It was luck that another laced her tan fingers around her shoulders, beckoning her to take her seat, letting her know that they knew.

The thank you to Kagura would have to come later as she took where she stood, intent on finishing the job.

She slumped in the seat closest to their circle of friends as the young girl—teen--- offered her a comforting upturn of the lips, but the eyes averting to the floor told her otherwise. She wanted to comfort the teen, but knew no words from her would help what had already been done.

Words can't bring back the dead. The words she never told her would forever lay fresh in her mind, but they wouldn't bring her back.

Yomi's eyes fell back onto the wooden casket where the corpse of her best friend would forever lie. It was her fault that she was dead, that her life had been cut so early, leaving to the frozen fingers of death. She would never see the friends that grieve for her now, never see the dog that still waited for her to come home, never see the courage that Kagura tried her best to uphold as she continued to talk of their ventures together—

Never see the family that wept in front of her. Maybe it was better that way. After all, the wildcat never was comfortable to see depressing situations, even as she finally achieved the dream of becoming an ICPO officer at the young age she was.

Despite all the berating, she had a good future ahead of her. One that was to likely be cut short with her profession, but Yomi knew that Tomo would have been happy with whatever came to her. Even as she lied dying from the stray bullet from the robbery of the bank that she had to damn insist on stopping by first and even forgetting to bring the damn issued gun, she stilled died with the silly grin on her face.

The blood was still on her hands.

The entire time she couldn't do a damn thing as she just stood there dumbly as the man fired the shot and the damn idiot got in the way. Not only that, as she had lied bleeding in her arms, she was laughing at the damn irony of all of it!

The glazed over dark eyes still stained heavy in her eyes as she lied back in her lap, staring at the white-tiled ceiling of the bank. The cold hand rested on the soaked blood at her abdomen as the blood dripped at her bottom lip, staining her teeth, but she still smiled despite. Her breathing continued to be shallow as the skin turned a chalk white.

"What's wrong, Yomi..?" She could even recall the words that she had strained to even whisper. She had started talking to her when she finally noticed the hysterical state she was in. "You've been always trying to get rid of me." When the taller woman had profusely refused both things, the fact that she was dying and that she ever thought that way, the wildcat only gave a hollow laugh, ending with the sick coughing as the blood spurted out of her mouth in a sickening squirt-like sound. It wasn't this that weighed down her mind so heavily, however. Her breathing had nearly ceased when she leaned her head to Yomi's shoulder, her whisper lowering to barely coherent even at the closeness she was. Much to her own shock, the shorter girl gave a chaste kiss to the lope of her ear, muttering, "You would never believe that I love you, would you?"

It was barely audible and, not to mention, that Tomo could hardly breathe it between her paling lips, but Yomi swore it to heart that was what was whispered. But—

Her next breath turned out to be a soft whimper as Tomo eventually left the body that Yomi had cradled in her arms, to go wherever she was needed. Yomi swallowed thickly as she closed her eyes tightly, shaking her head in shame. She never got the chance to even tell the truth of everything, or even shake her head, before Tomo quietly slipped away. If only they hadn't stopped their on that day on the way to work. Tomo wouldn't be dead and she wouldn't be struggling to find her own courage and strength that her best friend continually exploited through the course of their lives.

She nearly jumped out of her own skin when a hand grasped her shoulder loosely. Yomi whipped around only to reveal Kagura, her eyebrows furrowing together in concern with Sakaki looming not too far behind. The two have been close as of late, but Yomi kept her suspicions small. It would only make her envy the two's relationship, if there was one.

"You can visit her now if you want…" Kagura trailed off, biting her bottom lip. After a moment, she breathed a small sigh, mumbling a sort of apology. Yomi merely nodded her head numbly as she stood up from her seat, making her way back to the wooden casket. She ran her hand along the smooth, polished surface, wondering if there wasn't a way to switch places.

The predator always lived better than the prey. (2)

She finally stopped at the half open casket lid, revealing the corpse lying in a peaceful manner on the ashen sheets. The wildcat's skin nearly matched the pillows around, sporting a long cerulean dress that she couldn't recognize. Her dark brown hair had long since grown out from the length it was from their last year in high school. It was nearly down to her shoulders now with bangs nearly obscuring the closed eyes, messy and unruly despite the formality of the situation.

She caught sight of how her arms wrapped at her stomach and for once in a long time, she gave a soft smile. She laced her fingers around the cold still hand and moved it to her heart before putting the other at her side, because she knew that she would always liked to have things differently, even with their death. She kept her hand there, however, brushing her thumb around the palm, trailing the lines of her skin.

"You should know by now," Yomi softly whispered as she felt the tears return to the lids of her eyes, spilling out onto her cheeks. This time, however, she the lump in her throat had creased down. "You aren't the greatest person when it came to judgment…"

The soft murmuring of the radio brought some comfort to the rare silence in Yomi's room as she focused on her studying, trying her best to ignore the unruly girl that lied lazily on her bed. It had become routine over the years, but it didn't make it any easier on her. The classes they shared had become increasingly harder over the years, so Tomo had come up with a plan: just copy from anyone who was willing.

That left her an easy target, not only from their history, but from the fact that she had been doing well in the class. Tomo seemed thoughtful this evening, however as she stayed at the bed, fingering the sheets to the bed. Finally a sigh came from the wildcat's mouth.

"Do you think Romeo is gay?" She had no idea if it was for side question, but it didn't matter as it seemed completely out of the blue. When the shock wore off, however, she remembered that they were doing Shakespeare in Yukari's class.

"Why?" she questioned in confusion as she whirled her chair in the wildcat's direction. Her gaze remained to the ceiling, keeping from Yomi to see what she was thinking.

"Romeo was willing to kill for Mercutio," Tomo mused strangely, a small eerie feeling seeping through the words, "but Romeo only thought of killing himself when Juliet died." Yomi only shrugged.

"I doubt that's what Shakespeare had in mind," she answered simply, returning to her work. She only received a 'hm' as a return for the time being as silence fell in the room once more. Yomi didn't want to think what could have meant for Tomo by asking that. She honestly expected more of a question like that from Osaka, but she guessed some things can rub off.

She was startled when the wildcat spoke again, this time in a quieter tone, muttering almost sagely, "Everyone needs to have a good foil, y'know…"

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Wow…that's what I get for experimenting writing styles. Oh well, I hope you people liked it. I've only just started writing in Azumanga Daioh. It helps to know that Yuffie and Tomo have similar personalities though Tomo is more extreme, I suppose. I love writing angst too, but it's weird to write it for the anime. (Shrugs) Could be worse.

(1): If you hadn't figured it out, they're at a funeral. They always have someone speak of the departed, so that's what I'm talking about there.

(2): That just talks about Tomo picking on Yomi all the time and she was talking about how she envies her brazen personality.

Ha ha. Hinted some KaguraXSakaki in here. I love the couple on the same level as TomoXYomi. Well, review if you want. Buh-bye!