When Nothingness Ends… and Begins

PE. One of my worst classes. Especially since we were doing volleyball that day. I'm really bad at volleyball. It flies over my head! It flies into my head! It flies under my legs, past me completely, hits me in the stomach! What a wonderful game volleyball is.

Today we were doing PE with Kimura-sensei's class, so I was happy that I saw Kaorin. Kaorin was more pleased that she saw Sakaki-san, I think.

"Osaka!"

Tomo-chan thwacked me in the head to get my attention. I was thinking about Kaorin and Sakaki-san… were they together…?

Tomo-chan stared at me. "Osaka, did you even hear what Kurosawa-sensei said?"

"No," I replied in my thick Brooklyn-esque accent.

"Neither did I!" Tomo-chan cried.

"Oh come on, Tomo," Yomi-sama sighed. She held a volleyball under her arm and had Sakaki-san, Kagura-chan, and Chiyo-chan by her. "Teams of six, remember?"

"Okay!" Tomo-chan yelled. She ran to where Yomi-sama stood as I calmly walked over there.

I couldn't help but wonder why Yomi-sama had stopped calling Tomo 'Tomo-chan,' though. It had happened so suddenly…

I stood beside the group, standing in the front row. Yomi stood to my left, and to my far left was Tomo-chan. Behind me was Kagura-chan, and then Sakaki-san, and then Chiyo-chan.

The team we were facing was half-boys, half-girls, with Oyama-san, Chihiro-san, and a few other people that I forgot the names of. As the match began, things didn't get too bad. I never got hit in the head, or anywhere, and I had actually hit the ball over.

I should have known it was too good to last, for when we were playing, a rogue volleyball from nowhere appeared, and landed smack on my head. I landed on my own head, and things went black.

-

"Itoko-san, what'd you do?"

"It was an accident!"
"She's still out…"

"Osaka! Are you there?"

I opened my eyes to see a ton of people surrounding me as I lied in a white bed. Tomo-chan, Yomi-sama, Kagura-chan, Kaorin, Sakaki-san, Chiyo-chan, Oyama-san, and a guy with white, shoulder-length hair were looking at me.

"Am I… in heaven or somethin'?" I asked.

"No, Osaka," Yomi-sama sighed, "you aren't in heaven. You're in the nurse's office. You blacked out."

"Oh. I get it," I replied. I looked around. A sink, thermometers, and all that stuff that a nurse has encircled me.

I looked at the kid with the white hair. He looked… unfamiliar to me. "Who's that guy?"

"Oh," Chiyo-chan replied, startled. "That's Itoko. He's in Kimura-sensei's class."

"I'm no good at volleyball…" Itoko admitted. "Sorry about that…"

I wasn't paying attention. His voice was so deep, so inviting, and his eyes were so mesmerizing, their blue hue engaging me.

"Okay, you guys," a voice that sounded like Nyamo's called. Interestingly enough, Nyamo pulled through the crowd of students and looked at me. "Are you all right, Miss Kasuga?"

I blinked. I forgot for a brief second that Nyamo was talking to me, but then I responded, "I think so."

"Okay, all of you, clear out," Nyamo called.

But I didn't want Itoko to leave, for some reason. I wanted him to stay.

I sat up slightly before my head began to throb in pain. I lay back down, staring up at the ceiling (stucco, and brown), wondering if I would ever see Itoko again.

-

I was spacing out again later that week. But this time, I wasn't tracking dust, as usual. I was, instead, thinking about Itoko-sama. His hair, his eyes, his smile, his undeniably klutzy way of doing things…

Something smacked against my head. It was Yukari-sensei's fist.

"OSAKA!" she yelled. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT AN EXPOSITION IS?"

"Um… sorry, I don't…" I responded, a typical answer for me.

Yukari sighed. "It's a marvel that you've got a higher grade than Takino-san."

Tomo-chan got mad at Yukari, and they argued, but I was still lost in thought, daydreaming about Itoko-sama.

I went into my bag, thinking that perhaps I should try to take a few notes. As I reached for a pencil, a slip of paper fell out of my bag.

I picked up the miniscule note and unfolded it. The bell rang, and I noticed Yukari let go of Tomo-chan's head and tell us that we had a free period. I didn't really care, though.

I bit my lip. What if the note was from… Itoko-sama? I nearly died at the thought.

Ayumu-chan, the note began. I almost did a double take. Ayumu-chan…! Someone knew my actual name!

Just so you know… I really think that you're awesome. Okay, scratch that, you are the most wonderful thing that's happened to me. Will you meet me at the arcade after school today?

Itoko

I sighed.

And that was how I got a roommate for college. The end.

(Yomi: Um… they went out for three months before becoming roommates, in case you wanted to know…)

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Azumanga Daioh.

A/N: This is the long-awaited sequel to my most popular one-shot, When Nothingness Ends. Due to popular demand, I created the (amazingly underdeveloped, as I now notice…) character Itoko, to play a romantic interest to… Osaka!

A/N 2: I'm not making a Sakaki/Kaorin! Never! Bwahahahaha…! (Um… maybe Yukari and Kurosawa? Oh my god, I'm grossing myself out…)