Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Hope you all have a great Turkey Day, and also hope you enjoy this shameless commentary on my views on the various Azumanga Daioh pairings I've seen over the years.
The crisp air greeted the class as they stepped out onto the football field, and they all smiled contentedly. Fall was the best time of year: it wasn't too hot out, so it allowed for quite a few allowances during PE, which was (let's face it) the best time of the class schedule.
Nyamo blew her whistle, and the class lined up in front of her.
"Alright, here's how it's going to work," Nyamo said, gesturing with her clipboard, "half of you will be on one team, half on the other team. As always, NO TACKLING. It's called 'flag football' for a reason..."
Tomo simmered; tackling was her favorite part of the game.
The class divided up into their usual groups: the Azu-girls all went together with a few of the guys thrown in for good measure, and the rest of the students banded together.
"Don't try anything, Tomo!" one of the other girls yelled out. Tomo simply stuck her tongue out in response, and the girls on the other side laughed. It wasn't really serious, their taunts at her; they were just kidding with her, and she knew it.
The other girls weren't even paying attention to her, though.
"What do you think the results are going to be?" Chiyo asked.
"Results of what?" Tomo asked, rejoining the group.
"That stupid poll that Yukari-sensei made us do," muttered Yomi. "The one where everyone was supposed to rank the rest of the class by pairings. Apparently, Yukari-sensei is going to read out the final list later on in class, like the top 10 or something like that..."
"Pairings...?" Osaka asked. "Like what kind?"
"Romantic, I assume," Yomi replied. "I don't even like girls; why on earth do I even have to participate in this?"
Tomo snickered. "Girls? I don't even think you like anybody... do you?"
"Not particularly," Yomi said. "I'm just not interested in dating right now."
The other side kicked the ball off at that point, and they all scrambled to get into position. Conversation would have to wait; it was game on.
After PE, the girls went back up to the classroom, still talking about that stupid list.
"Who would you say is the top?" Osaka asked.
"Top pairing...?" Tomo asked herself. "I have no idea. I've never even thought about that before."
They all agreed, it hadn't even been on their minds before Yukari had asked them to compile that list.
At least two of them weren't being completely honest, though...
When they got up to the classroom, Yukari was smiling at them, folded-up piece of paper in hand.
"Damn it..." Tomo said. "I was hoping she'd forget about it..."
"This is Yukari we're talking about here," Yomi replied. "If there's something that's even going to have a hint of scandal to it, she's all over it."
"What's scandal about it?" Kaorin asked. "None of us really even care about this."
"I'm sure some of us do, at least," Osaka said, catching Chiyo's eye. The two smiled.
The class was seated, and Yukari came out from behind her desk.
"So here's what I'm thinking," Yukari said. "Let's just go ahead and get this done. But, I've decided that I'm going to make this special. Whoever is voted the number one couple in the class, will win a date, all expenses paid, courtesy of the school funds."
The class was shocked; school funding was going to pay for this?
"Alright, settle down," Yukari continued, "I'm going to read out the list now."
The class fell silent; their interest had inexplicably been piqued. Regardless of whether they claimed to care or not, they were at least a little bit interested in finding out the outcome of this poll.
Yukari unfolded the paper and looked down at it. "Here we go..."
"At number 10, we have... Yomi and Kaorin!"
Yomi and Kaorin looked at each other and snickered. They both knew that would never happen.
"Number nine is... Chiyo and Sakaki!"
Chiyo shook her head in exasperation; she was halfway hoping she wouldn't have been included on this list at all...
"Number eight... Yomi and Shizuku!"
The class looked around, confused; who the heck was that?
"Oh," Yukari said, "Shizuku isn't here today. I forgot she was out sick.."
At least she knew that she was out; a majority of the class didn't even seem to realize she was even in the class to begin with.
"Kay, moving on, number 7... Tomo and Chiyo!"
Chiyo again buried her head in her hands. Tomo, on the other hand, burst out laughing.
"Sorry, but I'm just not your type, Chiyo-chan..."
It was barely audible, but Chiyo responded, "Thank God..."
"Number six... Kaorin and Sakaki!"
Kaorin beamed with excitement, while Sakaki sat there expressionless. She emitted an aura of happiness, though, and some of those around her could feel it.
Numbers five and four were of people who weren't even in the class anymore, for odd reasons...
"Number three... Yomi and Tomo!"
"God kill me..." they both muttered under their breaths.
"Number two... Wait, there's nothing here... There's nothing down for number two... Who the heck typed this up?"
Tomo raised her hand sheepishly. None of the class was surprised; it seemed the kind of Bonkura mistake that Tomo would make.
"Okay fine," Yukari continued, "we'll just go on to number one. And here we go. Number one is..."
The class waited in anticipation.
"Chiyo... and..."
Chiyo was getting ready to bolt out of the room at that point.
"Osaka!"
Chiyo and Osaka looked up at each other. How the heck did they get picked?
The rest of the class applauded for them. They really did think that Chiyo and Osaka made a cute couple.
"Alright, so Chiyo, Osaka... You two are going on a date together. Just tell me when you want to do this, and we'll make it happen."
After class, the girls all bunched together to talk about what had just happened.
"So you and Osaka are finally getting together?" Kaorin asked. "It's about time, if you ask me..."
"We're not getting together..." Chiyo protested. "It's just a date, and only because Yukari is making us-"
"So you don't really like Osaka?" Tomo asked. "We all thought it was really obvious..."
Chiyo didn't want to answer, and luckily she didn't have to. The class bell rang, and the girls dispersed.
No one saw it, though, but Chiyo and Osaka started holding hands as they walked along.
"You looking forward to our date?" Osaka asked.
"Definitely," Chiyo confirmed. "Just you and me..."
"I can't wait," Osaka replied, smiling.
The two of them walked to their next class, their heads filled with anticipation as they thought about the day they had coming up for them, all to themselves...
So now that I've shamelessly promoted my favorite pairings, y'all can look forward to my next story, which will be Chiyo and Osaka's date. 'Til then, Azu on!