Disclaimer: Azumanga Daioh belongs to Azuma Kiyohiko.
Semi-disclaimer: There is a short story entitled "Chatty" by Fujino Chiya. That, however, is the only thing our two stories have in common. Please read "Chatty", it's quite good.
More credit where credit's due: I got the idea of Sakaki seemingly having a "rain-man" element from a post on the topic of "best Azumanga Daioh couple" on the shoujoai com forums. I didn't write that post, but it was an interesting discussion.
Sakaki never was the chatty type, by any means. Rather than gossip about the latest CDs, romances, crazes, etc., she generally kept her opinions to herself. The so-called "lone wolf", with her tall and seemingly proud exterior, rarely smiled, thanks to her shyness, and she bore loving hands, lovingly bandaged. Combined with her reticent nature, this earned her a paralyzing mixture of fear and respect, from Kaorin's "Sakaki-san!" to Kagura's "Hot damn! You're so cool!" Some would say she had a sort of "rain man" aspect. Why, she wondered, would people consider her a savant? Or even autistic, for that matter? It was like wondering why that grey cat chose to bite her day after day. In other words, a mystery.
Her friendships were few, but deep. She credited Chiyo-chan for drawing Sakaki into the group, for without Chiyo-chan's endless sunny personality, Sakaki was sure the other girls would've rejected her too. Just like junior high, just like elementary school. Always tall, never cute, she could never reveal her secret love of all things kawaii... stuffed animals, real animals, shoujo manga, even a few romance novels... It was difficult, sometimes, balancing her image of an athletic and intelligent schoolgirl with her reality of not only that, but a cat-lover and a cute-lover as well. But somehow Sakaki managed.
Yet though she was quite aware of the rumors that Kaorin worshipped her, and she knew that Kagura and Chiyo-chan openly admired her, Sakaki still worried, sometimes, about what they, or any of her friends, would do if they knew the "real" Sakaki. But whenever such thoughts invaded her head, she always reminded herself that these girls in her life weren't fair-weather friends, that they would like her, maybe even love her, just the same, if any of them were to see past her "cool" exterior. She had to remember that.