Okay this is obviously the beginning of my Azu Fanfic WHICH HAS BEEN REWRITTEN in a more intelligent format... for the second time, lol. The story is the same, but the language should be more engaging. For those new to this fic, everything you need to know will be explained in the Prologue and First Chapter, so I obviously don't need to say it here.
I promise you that, if you don't just make the assumption that it's just a pile-of-dirt self-insert, you won't be disappointed. It's not a self insert. Also note that, if you want to get a grasp on the primary new OC and who he is, then go to my FictionPress and read the Prequel to this; "ZaXo's Story". You can find a link to my FP account on my profile page. It also explains why he has such a strange name (everyone asks about that, lol). Personally though, I think the prequel is better if you read this first ;)
For those few who felt compelled to re-read this fanfiction, I hope you enjoy the language updates. I don't own anything that has to do with Azumanga Daioh, which all belongs to its respective owners and companies. Well, Happy Reading :)
Azumanga Daioh: Higher Education
By: ZaXo Ken'Ichi
Prologue
Pre-Chapter 1
The clearest, most comfortable April night was just beginning to fall across Japan, leaving a peaceful serenity to all of it's residents. The bright lights that rose from the city of Tokyo prevented the stars from showing clearly, though it in no way ruined the calming mood. There was a slight, warm breeze in the air, that felt like a loving embrace to all those out at that current hour. The steady miniature gust was just powerful enough to carry seven newly fallen petals from a Cherry Blossom tree that was overdue. On the petals flew, whisked along gracefully by the winds, until they came to rest in a large yard.
The yard was covered in green, lush grass, and had a path that led up to an equally impressive house. The white home stood two stories high, many large windows covering its face, along with a magnificent wooden front door in the center. There were two large trees, one on each side of the yard, and flowers up across the whole front of the house. The massive yard and impressive house within were both protected by a giant white wall that stood about twelve feet tall, and had two huge, green metal doors front and center. Beside the gate was a buzzer system with a video screen, so that the owners could see who their visitors were, and choose whether or not to let them in. On the buzzer system was a plaque that simply said 'Mihama Residence' along with the address for the home.
Many people in the area simply thought that this house -the biggest around- was owned by some rich business owner. They were correct in the assumption, however, he wasn't the only one living in the home. Also inside was his wife, Mrs. Mihama, and his daughter, who was now fourteen; little Chiyo Mihama. Chiyo was sleeping soundly in her bed, a big white dog resting at her feet. The young girl was having pleasant dreams of her and two of her best friends conversing merrily, as they strolled through the park near her home. Just as the group passed over a bridge near the center of the park, the scenery around her began to change, morphing into another location she seemed to know quite well, though it was much more vivid than the park she had just been in. Chiyo was now all alone in Class Three of the high school she recently graduated from. She instinctively sat in the desk she usually did up in the front, but her mind was immediately wrought with confusion as to why nobody else was there.
As she started to ponder where they may be, the door at the front of the room slid open, and in walked a boy who looked to be much older than her. Chiyo had never seen him before, but somehow felt a strange connection with him. 'Where is Ms. Yukari?' she wondered to herself, looking him over. But before she could ask her question aloud, she felt the answer come to her. Chiyo knew that this boy was supposed to be a sort of mentor to her, so she figured he was substituting.
The boy stood about six feet tall, and was neither thin nor big. But oddly, he was the only thing in the dream that wasn't far more vivid that normal. In actuality, no matter how hard she looked and how much she concentrated, Chiyo didn't seem able to grasp at what he looked like. He simply stood there while frustration slowly enveloped the young girl. Why couldn't she see who he was? The mysterious boy casually stepped closer and closer to little Chiyo. With each step he took, her mood swiftly changed from frustration to something else entirely. She couldn't point to exactly what, but something about this strange person was warm and pacifying, and it calmed Chiyo down a great deal. It no longer mattered to her what he looked like.
Now standing right next to her desk, the young man reached out and touched his hand to Chiyo's shoulder. In real life, Chiyo would have escaped the stranger long before now as she had been taught to do. But here there was no need to. This was a dream after all, and Chiyo's would-be fears were instead replaced by curiosity. The second his palm made contact with her shoulder, she was consumed by a strange feeling of trust. Though she had no clue who he was, she knew he was friendly.
"It's okay Chiyo. I'll do my best to keep you safe," he told her softly. Chiyo could feel his smile reach her, yet his entire physical being still was too fuzzy for her to actually see it.
As she was about to ask him who he was, the whole entire dream began to fade away once again. She stayed seated in her desk as the classroom as the boy disappeared, to be replaced by a bench in the park near where she had been not long ago. "Hey Chiyo, what's wrong? We're heading off; aren't you coming?" one of her friends asked, now standing a couple of yards up along the path. Chiyo just smiled, and ran to catch up to her two friends. Though it had happened seconds ago, the boy and his words were thrust into the back of her mind, for now, to be forgotten.
Pre-Chapter 2
Outside, the winds picked up again, just enough to carry the small petals further along on the night's journey. This time, they came to rest at a much smaller home. There was nothing extravagant about this one, nor was there at most of the other stops the wind would make that night. This home was just a simple, basic Japanese home. The mailbox to the left of the front door said it belong to the Mizuhara family. To the right was a window, that led into the room of a girl at the young age of seventeen.
Koyomi was her name, but everyone just simply knew her as Yomi... at least, everyone she was friends with, which wasn't more than a handful of people. Yomi tended to be a little hotheaded and was a bit apprehensive when it came to new acquaintances. Though she was only seventeen, Yomi was fairly wise for her age, usually being the most rational out of her friends. As she slept, she dreamt that she was trying to study for school, in the desk not five feet from where she was actually sleeping.
She was currently in way over her head, as the stack of homework and tests she needed to take began to grow. Pages upon pages appeared, one after another, adding to the stack until it reached the ceiling. Yomi whimpered as it suddenly toppled over, crashing down next to her. Now each page began to multiply rapidly, taking over her room. She cried out, wishing it would stop. Opening her window, Yomi started to pick up the pages and throw them out, before she was buried alive. The thought of going out the window herself never came to mind. She just couldn't give up like that.
As Yomi grabbed her fourth armful of papers and turned to throw them out of the window, she noticed someone was now standing right outside. She dropped the paper she was holding, as curiosity began to take her over. Who was he? She subconsciously knew he was here to help; to set her free from the struggle and stress she was feeling. Yomi could tell that even though she didn't know him personally, she seemed to feel that they were really close. It was a strange feeling to not know someone who considers you a lifelong friend; someone who you consider a lifelong friend. But it just felt right.
The boy pointed into the room casually, signaling for Yomi to take a look. In her comforting stupor, she had yet to notice that the whole pile of homework was gone. All that was left was a single sheet of paper on her desk, and a pencil. The page was completely blank except for something at the top. Yomi took a closer look to see what it said. 'Relaxation' was all that was written. Yomi looked back for the boy, but he was gone. She sat down at the desk, and grabbed the pencil. As the girl began to write about what would be her ultimate form of relaxation, she lost all immediate memory of the boy she'd just met.
Pre-Chapter 3
Once again, the wind began to carry the Cherry Blossom petals along. But this time, they landed only a few blocks away from the last home. Just as with the previous, this house was fairly plain, only being ever so slightly larger. At the top of the front door was a wooden plaque that had the words 'The Takinos' burned in it. At the very back of the house was a small room that belonged to yet another female. The door had all kinds of pictures and things taped to it, though it was all rather messy and had no real organized feel to it. The girl inside the small bedroom went by the name Tomo. She was very deep in sleep at the moment, drool dripping from her mouth onto her pillow.
Tomo was busy dreaming she was in the air, flying high above the city of Tokyo. She was out looking for people to save. The front of her shirt said 'The Tomonator', and she was wearing a great red cape. As she hovered over the city, she suddenly noticed what appeared to be an old woman being harassed by several hoodlums. Tomo swooped down to confront what she now knew to be about ten gang members. They were surrounding the poor old woman in an attempt to take her valuables. Tomo held her hand up as she landed, warning them to stop, or they would have to face her wrath. The old lady's eyes widened in glee as she saw Tomo, but the muggers just chuckled casually. Tomo wondered why they were laughing when they knew they were about to be pummeled. The leader of the thugs shook his head slowly, and held up a small leather bag as if it was a weapon. The front of the bag was simply labeled 'The Tomonator's Weakness'.
Tomo's eyes lit up in shock, knowing full well what was inside the bag. The girl now realized that she didn't have a chance at winning, but refused to give up. Before she could valiantly face certain defeat, someone else suddenly flew down and landed next to her. She couldn't tell who it was, but felt that could she see him clearly, he would probably fit into her category of 'attractive'. Immediately she knew him to be her sidekick, but she couldn't get a clear grasp at anything else about him, including his 'heroic' sidekick name. She could however feel that he was trustworthy and brave, which was proven as he ran toward the lead mugger. The boy grabbed the bag, and crushed it into dust before his enemy could react. The young man then turned to Tomo, and gave her a salute before flying off.
Tomo watched him for a second or two before lowering her gaze back to the stunned muggers, cracking her knuckles. She smiled a devious smile and began to take them each down with a single punch, before any of them could defend themselves. Tomo didn't yet realize that she had completely forgotten who had just allowed her to save the day, and simply continued beating the evildoers down.
Pre-Chapter 4
For the fourth time, the small zephyr picked up the petals and carried them along, this time to a house on a corner, quite a few blocks away. This home belonged to a family who had been there for just over three years. The writing on the door under the knocker said 'Home to the Kasugas'. Down the very small hallway at the end of the house, was an open door. Inside it rested another girl; Ayumu Kasuga, who was about the same age as the last two. The girl was drooling far more than the last one, though she was strangely a fairly light sleeper.
However, even in a light sleep Ayumu still dreamed. Her fantasy world consisted simply of an infinite space made of white nothingness. However, inside this deep, blank canvas were many odd, seemingly random items just floating about. Ayumu just stared at everything, trying hard to think of what she was going to do next. As she unsuccessfully thought on, someone she didn't know walked up next to her. It was a boy who was her age, but she couldn't tell exactly who he was, or what he was doing there. While she stared curiously at the boy, ideas of all sorts began flooding her mind. As soon as a new idea would find its way into her mind, a couple of the items around the space would come to life, and start flying off into the distance. After several minutes, they began forming something giant, though Ayumu didn't yet know what it was. On and on she stared at the boy, constantly finding waves of new and amazing thoughts flowing through her head. Very quickly, the giant makeshift object grew until it had finally finished forming.
Ayumu broke her eyes from the boy to look at what had formed. Front and center was a giant castle of the likes she had never seen. It was big enough to fit anything and everything she could ever want inside. Yet the amazed girl didn't seem to want to fill it with any material possessions. After all, it already consisted of pretty much everything she'd ever wanted. Ayumu decided that she was going to instead fill it with all the creative knowledge she could muster. She turned to ask the boy if he wanted to join her, but he was gone. The girl simply shrugged it off, and walked on toward her new home. By the time she opened the front door, she barely knew the boy existed, much like if she had bumped into him in a hallway.
Pre-Chapter 5
As it had been doing all night, the gust picked up the fallen petals, and carried them to their next destination. This house was fairly close to the last one, and was almost the exact same model. The only real difference was a banner across the door that said 'The Kaguras' House'. Back in the same room as in the last house, was a young woman who had just turned eighteen. Her name was Shun Kagura, though she just went by Kagura most of the time. The athletic girl had come in from running not too long ago, so she was still a little sweaty. She was so tired when she came back, that she almost instantly fell asleep, completely clothed. Her sleep was the deepest of all so far.
Even in her midnight vision, Kagura was running. Though this time, she was in a race. Kagura was already far, far ahead of everyone else in the race and quickly began to grow bored. All she wanted was a little competition, but nobody was even close to catching her. They just succeeded in falling further behind. As the finish line peeked over the horizon ahead, Kagura looked behind, hoping against hope that someone was catching her up. To her surprise, a boy of her age was now hot on her trail. Grinning at the challenge, she gave it all she had. But the mysterious runner continued to catch her, until they were dead even. The race quickly became very heated as they both sprinted at full speed. The two of them breathed heavily, sweat dripping from their faces, neither willing to give up.
The finish was finally in sight, and they both forced out an extra burst of speed. When the pair crossed the line, it was obvious there was no clear winner. It seemed as if they had both broken the tape. Kagura truthfully didn't care whether she won or not, as she just liked having to push herself. The boy offered her a bow and she bowed back, showing respect and honor to each other. And yet, when she looked back up, he was gone, with no trace to be found. She started to wonder about where he'd gone, but was suddenly swarmed by her countless fans and friends. As they congratulated her, Kagura too almost completely forgot ever meeting the boy. She just went on as if she had won the race in an all out victory.
Pre-Chapter 6
The warm breeze picked up again, gathering its passengers, and continuing on. The petals next came to a halt back a few blocks from the first stop they had made that night. The current home was not quite as large as the first, but it was still larger than the rest of others so far. It was two stories tall as well, but had a smaller yard, and a smaller outer wall, with a classic, black iron gate. The buzzer for this house did not have a video screen like the first house, but the fact that the house had a big gate and buzzer at all, said that the owners were clearly not poor, or even average in class. The label on the buzzer said the address, along with 'Sakaki Residence'. Up on the second floor, at the front, right window to the house was a bedroom. The room was covered in pink and purple, with many stuffed animals on the shelves. In the bed was a girl who was also eighteen, though she looked twenty at least. She was very tall and shapely, and wore a pure and innocent expression as she slept. Her name was Yoshiko Sakaki. Yet, like the previous girl, she went by her family name as well; Sakaki.
In her dream, Sakaki was walking across a field of grass and flowers. It seemed endless, which she felt was comforting. There were many cute animals following her, and birds perched themselves on her shoulders. Sakaki just smiled and blushed while she walked on, in pure bliss.
But such bliss was not eternal. Within an instant, the field disappeared, and so did the animals. Sakaki gasped and cried out, as her feet left the ground, or rather, the ground left her feet. It all vanished from under her, the young girl now falling into a seemingly endless pit of darkness. Everything around her was black as pitch. Her hair flew up above her as she continued to plummet ever further.
Sakaki cried out for help, but none came. Again and again she yelled, hoping someone would come to her aid, but nobody responded. By now, she was way beyond what was suppose to be the terminal velocity for a human. Tears began to flow from her eyes. At the rate she was falling, they should have fell from her eyes, and then her speed should have left them far behind. But they simply left her eyes and fell with her, inches from her face. Tear after tear accumulated in front of her, as if she had suspended time during a rainstorm. Sakaki however, was too frightened and bleary eyed to notice. After another minute, the girl wiped her eyes off and gathered up the strength to looked down... at precisely the wrong moment.
At her speed, Sakaki was about five seconds away from the ground, which looked like a black-board with white chalk lines showing the roughness of the terrain. Sakaki closed her eyes, and brought herself in, ready for impact. However, it never came. Five seconds went by... then ten... then twenty, and thirty. When a minute had finally gone by, she opened one of her eyes to look down, sure that when she did so, she would hit the ground in a cruel twist of fate. But she didn't. Sakaki was instead hovering a few feet above the rocky, hard looking landing spot. A mixture of confusion and happiness filled her as she realized she wasn't dead, and was no longer falling.
Sakaki opened her other eye, and relaxed her body, looking around to see what could have saved her. The blackened walls to the chasm were gone, and a few feet in front of her, Sakaki saw a boy that looked to be about her age. She couldn't seem to make out what he looked like, but she knew that it was him who freed her from deaths grip. Sakaki put her feet to the ground, and stood up from her floating state, as the tears that had been lingering with her fell to the ground. They each landed softly to make small splashes of white on the dark surface. She was glad to be on solid ground again. Her heartbeat, which had been racing just a minute ago, was now completely calm. She felt relaxed and safe around this mysterious boy. "Th-thank you..." she stammered, bowing. He bowed back and then proceeded to point behind her.
Sakaki looked back to see that the cliff was no longer there. Instead it was replaced by her field of flowers and grass. She turned to face her companion in elation, and saw that the blackness that was behind him was also once again a beautiful field. She could feel him smiling at her, as he walked up and touched the side of her face with his palm. It felt so warm and invitingly caring to her. Sakaki blushed and closed her eyes. Seconds later, she opened them and found herself in her dark bedroom. "It was just... a dream?" Sakaki whispered to herself. She still felt a touch of warmth on her face, but couldn't remember what it was from. She already had no real recollection of the boy, but knew there was something special about that dream. Glancing over at her clock, Sakaki realized that she still had about two hours before she had to get up for her first day of college. The tall girl laid her head back down with a deep sigh, and fell back asleep at once, no longer thinking of her last dream, and why it seemed so important.
Pre-Chapter 7
The wind didn't pick the petals up for the next two hours. When it was finally time for their last stop, the warm gust brought the seven petals to another house in the same neighborhood. It was another rather large home, and had just been purchased by a family from the U.S.A. They had a son who was eighteen years old, and today was his first day at college. The boy had the rather strange first name of ZaXo, and he had adopted the 'family' name, Ken'Ichi in order to fit in here in Japan.
The alarm in his room went off, signaling that it was time for ZaXo to get ready for his first day of school. He was so excited that he sat bolt upright the second the alarm sounded. As he did, a sudden and strange image burst forth from his mind's eye, for just a fraction of a second. It looked like it consisted of him and several people about his age, but it was gone before he could get a good look. ZaXo figured it had something to do with a dream he must have had that night, which he didn't remember anything about. Nonetheless, he shrugged it off, excited to experience what was bound to be a new and exciting life.
K, so that is the prologue, and I invite you to please review it. I think I did a good job with the rewrite, but I would really like some intelligent critiques from others (even if this is your first read-through). Hope you like it so far :)