Disclaimer: I do not own Azumanga Daioh.
(A.N: Thanks to Flower of Paper for the plotbunny. I hope you enjoy!)
Pipe Dreams
By Silver Sailor Ganymede
The more Chiyo thought about it, the stranger the collection of people she had invited to her sleepover were. There was Sakaki, who was quiet, gentle, clever and good at sports. There was Yomi, who was loud, aggressive, intelligent and slightly self-conscious. There was Kagura, who was louder and more aggressive than Yomi, extremely good at sports and one third of the so-called 'Numbnuts' because of her bad relationship with academics. There was Tomo, who was louder and more aggressive again than either Yomi or Kagura, to the point that she sometimes didn't realise when she was hurting people, who thought that she was going to rule the world and was the second-third of the Numbnuts. And then there was Osaka, the final third of the Numbnuts who was… well, Osaka was just Osaka.
Despite the apparently-conflicting personalities (and the fact that the other girls were all five to six years older than her) Chiyo felt that her party had gone excellently. They had made popcorn, eaten popcorn, got popcorn stuck in Kagura's hair (well, Tomo had…), watched movies, played games, and now it was getting late and it was time, Chiyo thought, to be getting to sleep.
"Sweet dreams, everyone," Chiyo said as she lay down between Sakaki and Kagura (which was the safest place to be, seeing as Yomi and Tomo would be fighting all night, and she'd never been able to sleep comfortably next to Osaka after the spacey girl had walked into Yukari-sensei's room with a knife in her hand, thanking said knife was a frying pan).
"Night guys," Kagura said, and Yomi and Sakaki followed suit. But of course Tomo had to choose that moment, just as everyone was settling down, to ask one of her typical-Tomo-questions.
"Hey Chiyo, you're smart; what's a pipe dream?" Tomo asked. Chiyo looked over at her confused, and noticed that Yomi appeared to be trying to refrain from hitting Tomo.
Before Chiyo had a chance to reply, chaos stuck; Osaka spoke. "Yanno I had a dream about pipes once. They was all shiny and purple. Coz ino pipes are usually grey and stuff, but these were purple coz I really don't like grey. And I had a dream about dancing round the pipes all night, and I liked the pipes coz they were purple."
Chiyo blinked. "Ummm, Osaka, I don't think that's what a pipe dream is…"
"Of course it is!" Tomo replied. "Just like a panda dream is about pandas!"
Yomi glared at her. "Tomo, there is no such thing as a 'panda dream'. Stop being stupid. And Chiyo's right; that's not what a pipe dream is."
"So what is it then?" Tomo asked. "Hmmm, if you're so smart then why don't you tell me what a pipe dream is!"
"That was what I was doing before you interrupted me," Yomi snapped. "And here's an example of a pipe dream for you – you joining Interpol and becoming Fujiko Mine mark two."
Tomo blinked. "But that's not a pipe dream. That's a Lupin dream. And I so am gonna join Interpol! But yeah, that can't be a pipe dream because there are no pipes in it. So nyah!"
Yomi hit her in the face with a pillow before she could say anything else.
"Sorry about her, Chiyo," Yomi sighed. "She's like a two-year-old; she always starts acting stupidly when she's tired."
"That's alright," Chiyo giggled. "Goodnight everyone!"
The others said goodnight back, except for Osaka who had something else to say.
"Night Chiyo. And yanno what? Tonight I think I'm gonna have a dream about pipes."