Admiration.

Note: I do not own anything to do with Azumanga Daioh. I only own this fan fiction story.

I'm back, writing yet another story. This one seemed quite intriguing, so I wrote it as I got excited about doing so. This concept was also submitted by a fellow author. Therefore, I would like to dedicate this story to Weener1, yes the great author who has reviewed most, if not every, one of my stories. A big thanks to you, and I hope you enjoy this. On with the show!

(-o-)

"It tears me up inside..." pleaded Kaorin, sitting with her fellow friend Chihiro at break one Tuesday. She would do this sort of 'ritual' nearly every day.

"I know, but she'll notice you one day. I'm sure of it!" replied Chihiro, getting slightly annoyed by saying this every 24 hours. The person of whom they were speaking of was none other then Sakaki, the cool girl of the class.

"I'm not so sure..." cried Kaorin, now lightly sobbing into her arms. Chihiro merely sweat dropped, before getting up off of her chair. Kaorin, still hunched, did not notice her leaving.

This was a delicate stage of the girl's life. Not only would their futures be shaped from their, but also their outlook on life. Kaorin's was not an altogether too happy one, because of this.

Sitting there, she lifted her head off of the desk, staring at the pencil on her desk with slightly blurred vision. She heard the class door open, and in walked a familiar face. The long, luscious hair, the tall, imposing yet cool figure, there was no mistaking it. Sakaki had just walked in.

Walking by the sobbing girl's desk, she could not help but worry what was wrong this time.

"Are you alright?" she asked, getting a look of pure redness in return.

"M-m-miss S-Sakaki...I-I'm fine, thanks..." blurted Kaorin, before forcing her sight down to her desk once again. Sakaki took this as a believable answer, and walked back to her desk, resuming her window watching activity.

Suddenly, something dawned on young Kaorin. She looked back on all of the times, all of them, that she was around her beloved Sakaki, and realised one common fact between all of them. Sakaki did not care.

This hit her hard, too hard in fact. Considering that it was actually her that thought of it was astounding too. She raised her head, before turning around to see Sakaki. She thought about reasoning with her, the whole truth about her crush, to see what she would think. Whether her mind would let her produce audible words was another matter, yet alas, she lifted herself towards Sakaki's desk, and began to talk. Clearly.

"Sakaki," stunned by the volume of her own voice, she carried on. "You must've had some suspicions by now. Tell me, what...Do you think of me?"

Shocked by this sudden statement, Sakaki sat there, still. She tried to think of words, but only a few could come to mind. She spoke as soon as she could.

"I think of you as a friend, Kaorin,"

"No, I mean what're your views...In a relationship sense?" pleaded Kaorin, wanting to hear only one reply. Sadly, as she looked at the now blushing Sakaki, she did not receive what she wanted to hear.

"I-I don't love you, if that's what you mean," said Sakaki, quite uncomfortable with the inquisition.

That was it, Kaorin figured.

"Oh...Okay then, thanks for clearing that one up, Sakaki," replied Kaorin, now walking away and taking a seat. Sakaki, meanwhile, sat there, amazed at the fact that she did not addressed her as Miss.

Kaorin seemed more dazed then hurt, even if it was straight from the mouth of her beloved. She turned around every now and then, glancing at Sakaki, but had no feelings of nausea or other intruding sensations. What was going on?

She thought to herself. She does not love her, yet she does like Sakaki. Then, she realised. Like her? Surely not, after all of the things she had done, it must have been love. Just what was going on in her mind? Could she really be drifting away from her?

Correct, she thought. She declared, inwardly, that she was no longer going to ogle Sakaki, follow her or just generally be around her as much. Taking a deep breath, she saw Chihiro coming back from the cafeteria. She motioned her over to where she was sitting, with a smile on her face now.

"What's the matter with you?" asked Chihiro, now slightly worried, as she saw Sakaki sitting behind them. "I thought you'd be over with her?"

"Well, I've had a think. I'm going to see her as a friend now. I've been doing things that could be considered as stupid," recited Kaorin, with Chihiro rolling her eyes in response. "I want to stop it, and live a normal life as a High school girl."

"Whatever you say, Kaorin..." replied Chihiro, before starting to eat her newly acquired bread.

Small talk, considering other things to Sakaki, enveloped the two, which made Chihiro really think that maybe she has gotten over her. Break time was nearly over, as they looked at their timetables. P.E was the next lesson. Perhaps she could begin her new 'life' in P.E, she thought.

Getting changed, she glanced around to spot the usual late dressers. There was Chiyo, Yomi and...Sakaki. This time, the feeling of happiness did not embrace Kaorin. Instead she just looked, and resumed getting dressed. They went out onto the field, ready to begin the lesson.

First was a warm up, as expected of every exercise that they did. This time, as they were going to do running, a quick 100 metre sprint was good enough of a warm up. They started, with Sakaki leading, and Kaorin somewhere near the back, accompanied by Chiyo and Osaka.

Kaorin felt her leg tense up slightly. She slowed her pace, and it only got worse. Feeling the pain growing more fiercely, she fell to her knees. Miss Kurosawa was too busy monitoring everyone else to see her, as the young girl struggled to stand again. Then, a hand was offered.

"Are you okay, Kaorin?" asked the stranger. Not knowing who it was, and as the pain was growing, she looked up. It was Kagura. Shocked, she lifted her up off of the floor.

"Kag-Um, Miss Kagura? But I thought you were at the front?" winced Kaorin, as she straightened her thigh. The pain slowly seeped away. She sat down soon after, as Kagura began checking her for any signs of the cause.

"Well, I saw you over here on the floor. I couldn't just leave you, could I?" said Kagura.

Kaorin sat, albeit in slight pain, thinking about what was happening. Her warm, soft hands were rubbing on her leg. She felt excited, although she did not want it to stop. It did, however, causing Kaorin to look down to see Kagura giving her a confused expression. Breaking the ensuing silence, Kagura spoke.

"It's nothing more then a cramp, I don't think anyway. Say, are you alright?"

"I-I'm alright now, thank you, Miss Kagura," said Kaorin, smiling while blushing slightly. Kagura paid no heed, and began to run to the rest of the group, who were staring in her direction.

She felt enthralled, watching the figure of Kagura run back. That shape, that...Bounce, it seemed so inspiring. Then Kaorin realised. Was she back at square one?

Struggling to come to terms with this, she started walking over to the group, after the motion to from her teacher. Still feeling a bit sore, she sat out for the remainder of the lesson. She felt happy to, even if it meant she could not participate.

The class were lined up along the starting line, Sakaki, Chiyo, Osaka, and then Kagura. Her heart seemed to miss a beat. Catching her breath, she could not keep her eyes off of Kagura. Multiple thoughts raced through her mind, most of which were along the lines of 'she is so cool', and 'she actually cared'.

That last thought reminded her of her old 'relationship' with Sakaki. She never cared, in her eyes anyway. Kagura was different. She did, even in disregard for the teacher and the lesson. This was when Kaorin had made her mind up.

"That's it! I've made up my mind, I'm going to show-" interrupted by a shadow looming over her, she turned her head to see the one and only, Kagura.

"What're you talking about? Show who?" she quizzed, as she saw Kaorin go through multiple shades of red blush over the next few seconds,

"Oh, M-Miss Kagura, h-hello, it's nothing," panted Kaorin, before Kagura shrugged and walked away. The lesson had ended already.

"That proves it," murmured Kaorin, as she tried to get dressed. She was still in slight pain from the cramp, which was still semi present.

"Damn this leg, if only I could be more like...Her," said Kaorin, struggling to change. She heard footsteps behind her. Feeling a little uncomfortable, she turned around. No one was there.

"Who's there?" she asked, before hearing a familiar voice.

"It's me, Kagura. I saw you go in, and you've been a while getting changed. Want a hand?"

This caught her somewhat differently then she would have initially thought. She started to breathe heavily, as she replied.

"O-okay, please I could do with a hand."

"Alright, are you decent?" Kagura asked, not wanting to walk in on her naked.

"Y-yes," Kaorin replied, which was half true. Her school blouse was on, but her skirt needed to be buttoned at the side. It was on the floor, although it was small enough to stay around her waist with only one of the buttons fastened. Left exposed on her lower regions were several areas of her skin that were fragile. She saw Kagura walk in, before greeting her with the same enthusiasm as she had once done to Sakaki.

"H-hello, Kagura, could you just help me button this?" Kaorin asked, lifting her skirt up around her waist. Kagura proceeded to do so, yet Kaorin felt the pain again. It was worse then before. She fell to her side slowly, as Kagura grabbed her. The force of her falling made them both do so.

This predicament was far from anything that Kaorin's imagination could ever create, let alone actually happen. She looked down; to see that she was nestled into Kagura's arms like a mother's to her child. Kagura realised what the situation was, releasing a breath onto Kaorin's cheek. The warm sensation, much like earlier, made her feel excited again.

"I-I'm so sorry, Miss Kagura!" said Kaorin, worried about what had just happened. She did not want to lift herself from the comforting embrace of her friend's though.

"It's alright, was it your leg again?" asked Kagura, slightly blushing. Kaorin nodded positively.

"Want me to rub it again?" asked Kagura. Kaorin tried to summon the breath, let alone the courage, to say otherwise, but she nodded again. They were, by this time, late for their next lesson, very late.

Kaorin sat down on the bench, lengthening her leg outwards. Kagura kneeled down beside it, and began. Kaorin inhaled quite sharply, having the slightly cooler smooth hands rubbing her sore points. She felt euphoria, before it stopped.

Kagura had finished the procedure, yet Kaorin still sat there, in a dreamy like state. She savoured the feeling, before snapping back into reality.

"Hey, I think we're going to be late," Kagura motioned to the clock on the wall. Kaorin gasped, having rarely, if ever, been late to any lesson. She stood up slowly, still aware of what might happen otherwise, as Kagura got her bag. She gave it to her, as they both left the room.

As luck would have it, they were both in the same lesson next. They had science, a subject that neither of them liked at heart. They hurried to the room together, and braced themselves for impact, or namely, the teacher. They opened the door.

"Oh, there you are. Where have you..." said the teacher, before staring at the two of them, raising an eyebrow. The two looked around the room, seeing multiple others staring too, some of the males with their mouths slightly open. Among them, Chiyo sat, a look of terror creeping across her face. Kaorin looked down, and saw the reason why. Her skirt was still unbuttoned, save for one.

(-o-)

Thought I'd end it with a slight humorous twist. There you have it! I hope you've enjoyed reading, especially you, Weener1. Thank you all for reading, and please review. Until next time, I bid you all farewell.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Azumanga Daioh. I only own this fan fiction story.