Author's note: This is my FIRST Azumanga Daioh fanfic, so don't please be too hard on me if they seem out of character.
The Secret Admirer
Who could it be? Who could be my secret admirer?
Sakaki looked down at the open envelope, rereading the letter that poked out from it.
"Dear Sakaki," it read. "I have always admired you ever since I first laid my eyes on you. You are so good at many things, your ability impresses me. You also act so mature and quiet, I could never be like that and so I admire you for that too. At first, I thought you was too cool to care but then I saw you had a soft side to you. Admittedly, that makes me like you even more. Sakaki, I believe I have feelings for you.
Who am I? I can't tell you yet but I think you definitely know me. Yours, Secret Admirer."
And Sakaki would read it all over again, her cheeks blushing as she did.
She was used to many people looking up to her like an idol, that it sometimes came to the point where she was just sick of it. But…this was different…no one had ever written to her about how they felt about her, with such meaningful writing. The admirer even pointed out Sakaki's true side and liked her even more for it, she was touched to read.
But the question remained; who was her secret admirer?
She help keep wondering about it. As hinted she supposedly knew the person, but whom?
Boys were off her list for she never paid them attention, she just wasn't interested in them as girls should be.
"Sakaki!"
Sakaki hastily put away the letter into her desk(the spot where she had first found it) and looked up to see Chiyo, the child prodigy.
"Today's Valentines Day which means we can give presents to friends, right?" Chiyo said as her auburn pigtails bounced happily with her every word. "So I brought you this because you're such a great friend to me, Sakaki!"
She then handed the tall girl a coffee mug which had a cat on it and a plastic bag of chocolate sticks inside.
"…Thank you…" Sakaki took it, nodding.
She watched Chiyo return to her seat two desks ahead.
She and Chiyo got along very well and Sakaki always thought her to be really cute for a kid. However, while Chiyo did admire her on a level; Sakaki did not think she would be that infatuated to write such letter to her. Chiyo was still too much young for that.
Sakaki then distracted her thoughts onto the girls she knew in the classroom. Only Kaorin, a girl whom she vaguely recalled was absent; she had been sent to a different classroom this year. Sakaki counted her off as she didn't really know her that well anyway.
She turned her gaze to Osaka whom was dozing as usual. An annoyed Yukari walked over to her, brandishing her rolled up paperback about. There was a loud smack and warning scolds from the teacher came thereafter. Osaka rubbed her sore head as Yukari walked away then looked around with a spaced-out expression.
Sakaki gave a slight shudder.
No.
She doubted the girl even had the head to write a secret love letter. Osaka would have probably revealed her name then without realizing it too, and so Sakaki moved her eyes onto Tomo and Yomi nearby.
They had a large red heart-shaped box between them and Tomo pulled off the lid, exclaiming thanks. She then proceeded to scarf down a majority of its chocolates much to Yomi's aghast.
"Hey! Aren't you going to share?" she half-yelled at her candy-munching friend.
"Huh? Why would I?" Tomo looked at her bewilderingly, her mouth covered with dark chocolate. "You got this for me, didn't you?"
Yomi emitted a low growl, her teeth gritting.
"WELL maybe I thought you'd be good enough for once to let me have some pieces in return for buying you that!"
"Ah but Yomi, gifts are for giving not for sharing!" Tomo smiled. "That should be obvious to you! Besides, don't you have your 'diet' to think of?"
"ARRRGHHH!!!"
"Whoa! Yomi's lost it!"
Yomi then chased Tomo out of the classroom, Sakaki could hear them shouting and running down the hallway.
Sakaki sighed.
Nah, I don't think they'd be interested in a person like me; besides, they probably have someone else in mind.
That leaves…
Sakaki's eyes widened as she turned to look at the back of the class.
It couldn't possibly be…
There was Kagura at her desk, looking bored as always as she chewed the bottom end of her pencil. She would sigh occasionally, twiddling it in her fingers then continue her gnawing.
Sakaki could only stare at her. Kagura wasn't the type to do this sort…was she? She could not believe that the tomboy would beat around the bush by writing her a secret letter rather than come out in the open. That would be very unlike of her. Sakaki then picked up her letter, rereading it then shook her head doubtfully.
Maybe I'm not looking hard enough, there must be someone else.
Still, every now and then, Sakaki would steal a shy glance at Kagura.
…..
As the end of school day neared, Sakaki felt something light hit against her shoulder and saw a crumpled up piece of paper land onto her desk.
She looked around curiously but saw no sign of anything that might have given away the paper perpetrator. Kagura was simply looking down at her notebook, scratching her ear casually.
Sakaki blinked then folded open the paper:
"I'm ready to show you to see who I am, please see me at the park right after school today. Hurry! Yours, Secret Admirer."
Sakaki could barely contain her excitement though her face did not give it away. Her admirer was going to reveal itself soon and Sakaki wouldn't have to go on wondering any longer!
As the bell rang, Sakaki stashed away her letter and Chiyo's gift into her bag then waved a quick goodbye to the small girl and dashed out of the building as quickly as possible.
As she sped down the corridors, Kaorin caught sight of her.
"Oh, where she could she hurrying off to this time?" she asked herself quietly. "I'd better try to catch up to her and…"
Her eyes glazed over dreamily as she looked down at her bag which carried a gift for Sakaki-a red sweater patterned with white hearts. "Bring Miss Sakaki her Valentines present and maybe then we will both confess our love!"
Her best friend, Chihiro then walked up beside her.
"Hey Kaorin! Would you…"
Kaorin looked at her with a scary face, cutting off Chihiro in mid-sentence. "Not now! I must catch a runner!"
With that, she hurried off into the direction which Sakaki had run in.
…..
Sakaki reached her destination near the entrance of the park. She looked back thoughtfully. For the first time, she had ignored all the cats that had walked within sight of her path. Something certainly had to be special about this mysterious meeting.
Sakaki let out a deep sigh and entered the park. She walked over the grass to under a cherry blossom tree, this would make a good meeting place. She then waited.
Moments later, a familiar voice came calling: "Oh shoot! Even you manage to be here first before me for a secret meeting that I told you of!"
Sakaki whirled about to see Kagura standing before her. Sakaki stared at her wordlessly for a moment. Then Sakaki remembered her letter and pulled it out, showing it to Kagura inquiringly. The tomboy smiled, nodding with a slight blush.
So Kagura really did write her the letter…Sakaki felt surprised and elated at the same time.
"You…wrote…this?" Sakaki asked slowly.
"Yeah…" Kagura rubbed the back of her neck uncertainly. "To tell the truth, I had little help from Chiyo, but trust me…all that was written in the letter came from my heart.
"Sakaki, I really do like you, maybe even more than that…" she sighed, stepping toward the tall girl. "And I always have ever since I first saw you, before I even knew your name…"
She paused for a second.
"Do you like me, Sakaki?"
Sakaki looked over her. A realization hit her. Why hadn't she seen it earlier? Then she would have known whom the letter had come from for certain!
Despite her rough edges, Kagura was truly an admirable person as well. She was so confident, a trait which Sakaki sometimes envied; she wasn't afraid to say what she thought and felt. Unlike Kagura, Sakaki could never bring out most of her words for she feared she would get teased for it. Kagura also had a another side to her that she showed occasionally, the side of her where she would show concern and understanding. That too, Sakaki liked about her.
The girls stared at each other for a minute then Sakaki smiled, nodding.
"Yes"
Kagura exhaled with relief, wiping her eyes of tears that had formed briefly.
Sakaki walked over to her and they both hugged gently. She looked down at her newfound love's brown eyes then planted her lips onto hers. Kagura muffled a blissful sigh as they kissed, moving closer to Sakaki's body.
…..
Meanwhile, Kaorin looked on this scene with shocking disbelief. Tears welled up in her eyes but she held them back as she moved out of sight behind a the park wall.
She clutched her bag tightly, breathing in and out deeply.
Finally:
"Well, you brought this onto yourself, Kaorin," she spoke to herself. "You waited around daydreaming for Miss Sakaki to notice you first instead of being direct and look what happened now. You've let another woman get in your way and grab her prize!"
She inhaled.
"Ah…it hurts my heart," Kaorin looked back at the girls whom were holding hands now. "But if Miss Sakaki will be happy then it will be a sacrifice I'm going to make."
She sniffled, rubbing her nose then looked down at the sweater she was going to give to Sakaki.
"I could give this to Chihiro instead, I'm sure she'll love it."
With that, she ran off and left Sakaki and Kagura to their newly formed relationship.
As long Miss Sakaki is happy…