READ THIS: I really need to be more observant... I realized I made a mistake in Chapter 2. Nothing big, but enough that I felt it was important to make the change and important enough that you should probably re-read it, or at least the part near the end, which is the part I changed. I don't want a lack of knowledge of the change to affect your enjoyment of this fan fiction. But it probably shouldn't either way. Just thought you ought to know. Anyway, here we go.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Azumanga Daioh. That Azuma guy does. Still.


THINGS THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

an Azumanga fanfic by Einoo


CHAPTER III

ARRIVALS

"Practically everybody living near was invited. A very few were overlooked by accident, but as they turned up all the same, that did not matter." -The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien


Our good friend and hard worker Suzuki-san was, once again, sitting in a waiting room. This time, however, it was in a hospital. And once again, he was accompanied, but instead of his dog, this time he was backed up by his son. His son was not nearly as energetic as his dog. In fact, both of them looked very grim.

"Will she be all right?" the son said quietly.

"Of course she'll be all right, Kichiro," said the father, who did not sound at all sure.

"I hope so," said the son quietly.

"Me too."

There was a long silence. The blades of the fan spun slowly and the clock seemed to be ticking even slower. The seconds kept coming horribly consistently, one after the other, then another one after that. Single file. Somehow the bright, pristine, disinfected hospital room was a hundred times worse than a dungeon.

"Want a magazine?" asked the father.

"No," replied the son.

"I didn't think so." Both the father and the son looked down at the floor.

They could hear her before they saw her– the door creaked, and her tennis shoes squeaked slightly on the white tile floor. They didn't look up, though, until she said a name.

"Suzuki Masaru-san?"

The father looked up slowly and saw a kind-looking but clearly harried nurse looking down on him. "Yes?"

"I'm afraid I have some bad news," she said. It sounded like she was trying to put some emotion into it, even though it was probably just another number for her.

The father and the son didn't reply. They merely stared blankly.

"It's your wife, sir..."

"Is she-" Masaru inhaled sharply and couldn't continue.

"Well... she's alive... but..." The nurse shook her head. "I'm terribly sorry, sir, but she's lapsed into a coma."

Masaru's cell phone rang.


The early morning sun peeked above the horizon and stretched out its arms toward the airport.

A tan, blonde-haired woman with sunglasses and a baseball cap tapped one foot impatiently. She held up a card upon which the name "CHIYO" had been quickly scrawled.

She looked around. No one else was there. Well, this wasn't true at all. There were many, many, many people there. It was, in fact, extremely crowded. It just happened that none of them was anyone she knew. She sighed and adjusted her T-shirt.

"Excuse me... do I know you?" said a quiet voice.

The woman, startled, turned her head sharply to look at another woman, taller than she was. After the moment it took to realize what she was looking at, she smiled.

"Hi, Sakaki-san!" said the card-holder in an exceedingly friendly tone.

"Er... how do you know my name?" Sakaki asked in puzzlement.

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't I?" the woman said confusedly. "I- Oh wait, right, of course, I'm so dumb!" She took off the baseball cap, took off the blonde wig and shook it out, and took off her sunglasses and stowed them in Kagura's pocket – which is to say, hers.

Sakaki was understandably a little put off. She thought for a second about what to say, then gave up and just went "Uhhhhhh..."

"Oh, all this?" Kagura said brightly. "It's my disguise! As an Olympic-level athlete, I need to wear this or else I'll get mobbed by rabid fans!"

"Really?" Sakaki asked.

Kagura chuckled. "No, probably not, but I like to imagine it. Hey, do you want this?" She had just realized she was still holding the blonde wig and held it out in front of Sakaki, who merely shook her head. "Yeah, I thought not. I'll just hold onto it then... I knew I should have brought my backpack..." She continued to mutter to herself in an irritated fashion for a while.

There was a pause.

"So..." said Kagura. "...What do you want to do?"


"Come on, Sakaki, one more time! Best 200 out of 300?"

"But..." Sakaki shook her head. "I'm getting kind of tired of rock paper scissors... can't we do something else?"

"I dunno, I have some cards, we could play Go Fish... Or, I have some paper, we could play hangman or tic-tac-toe..." said Kagura eagerly.

Sakaki sighed. "Can't we just talk?"

"Talk?" Kagura repeated. "Why?"

Sakaki didn't answer.

"Uh... sure... I guess..." Kagura mumbled. She paused for a second, then continued cheerily, "Well, I can talk, but I don't know about you! Ha ha ha!"

She laughed, but it was forced, and then an awkward silence fell upon the two of them. Fortunately, just then there was another arrival.

"Yomi!" Kagura yelled delightedly, waving her arms over her head. "Yomi, we're over here!"

Koyomi was so surprised to hear someone yelling her nickname that she spun around so fast she nearly fell over. She caught herself just in time, though, and continued to talk on her cell phone as she walked toward the pair of former sports rivals:

"No, I already talked to him this morning. Really? You're right, that is terrible, but it doesn't excuse... No, I just think it's irresponsible of him to miss work so often... I know, but regardless. That's my decision and I'm sticking to it... No... No. No, there isn't. Sorry. See you wh- Hello?... Damn..."

The person she had been talking with had disconnected already. She closed her phone and finally started paying attention.

This caused her to realize she had walked straight past Kagura and Sakaki.

She sheepishly walked back to their area. "Sorry about that... Business, you know."

Sakaki gave a small noise and a blank stare in reply. Kagura considered offering Yomi the wig but then quickly reconsidered and did no such thing. Instead, she asked, "Yomi-chan, what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean what am I doing here? I'm here to pick up Chiyo from the airport. Just like you."

"No," Kagura clarified. She spread her arms out wide. "I mean, what are you doing here without Tomo?"

Koyomi was going to glare at Kagura, but for some reason she couldn't do it. Instead she suddenly and inexplicably felt somewhat foolish, looked down at her feet, and merely said, "I dunno." Then some of her confidence returned and she looked up again and added, "We don't have to hang around with each other every minute of every day, do we?"

Kagura didn't seem to have much of an answer to that. Neither did Sakaki, but she never did. She didn't really seem to be paying attention anyway.

"So, uh..." Koyomi said to Sakaki, trying to strike up some conversation. "Looking forward to seeing Chiyo again?"

"What?" It seemed as though Sakaki had just been jolted out of a reverie. "Oh, uh... Yeah... I suppose..." She then fell silent.

"Uhhh... I see," said Koyomi lamely.

This silence was broken when Sakaki said, "Er..."

"Yeah, what is it?" Kagura immediately looked away from the random spot she was looking past and turned to Sakaki. "Do you want me to challenge you at something? Say yes!"

"I need to use the bathroom," said Sakaki.

"Oh..." Kagura looked put out. "Well... sure, go right ahead. It's over thataway." She pointed vaguely to somewhere and Sakaki went off in that direction.

No sooner than Sakaki had gotten lost in the crowd then someone else showed up.

"Hey, Kagura, Yomi-san, what's going on?" A woman, about the same age as them, greeted them fairly genially.

"Nothing much," said Kagura, "What's going on with you, uh... wait... no, don't tell me... who are you?"

The woman stared back at Kagura looking nonplussed.

"No, no," said Kagura, "I swear, I remember who you are, I just... I mean, well... I don't remember who you are... Do I know you?"

The woman sighed. "I'm Chihiro."

She received two blank looks in reply.

"Kaorin's friend?" Chihiro prompted.

Nothing.

"Chiyo-chan tutored me on weekends. I was president of the calligraphy club for a while. I started a band in my senior year."

Nothing still.

Chihiro groaned. "I helped Kaorin make Chiyo's penguin costume at the culture fest."

"Ohhhhhhhhhh," said Kagura. Yomi didn't say anything but looked equally enlightened.

"I'm going to use the bathroom now," Chihiro grumbled.

"OK," said Kagura. "We'll be waiting! Boy," she added to herself, "Everyone's using the bathroom... So uh... Yomi... yeah..."

"Yeah..." Yomi agreed. She was starting to realize she had never really talked with Kagura that much. She coughed. "So... uh, how's your life?"

"Oh, I've just been doing... well, stuff..." Kagura sighed. "Swimming, running, some triathlons, you know, this and that... but not right now, I'm taking a break. I mean, I love what I do, but all work and no play makes Kagura a dull girl, you know? I need some... me time. Oh, sorry, I'm talking too much. What about you?"

"I work in an office."

"Oh," Kagura said. "Well... That's nice... I guess."

There was another silence, but again, it didn't take long for the silence to be broken, as not one but three people came up to them this time - and one of the most unlikely trios that could have arrived together.

"Hello Yomi, hello Kagura," Kaori mumbled. She was holding an insulated paper cup with a rather large amount of steam pouring out of it and had a severe case of bedhead.

"Hi guys!" said Ayumu, looking the same as always.

"Oh, you're already here," Kurosawa said pleasantly.

"...Kurosawa-sensei!" Kagura's mouth widened into a smile. "How have you been?"

"There's no need to call me that anymore," said Minamo. "You can just call me Kurosawa-san. Or even Nyamo if you want."

"No, no," Kagura insisted, waving her hands, "I wouldn't call you anything else. You deserve the respect."

"Oh, er..." 'Kurosawa-sensei' looked embarrassed but pleased. "Thank you..."

"Um..." said Yomi, a bit put off by this conversation, "Hello, Kurosawa-san... Kaorin... Osa-"

"It's Kasuga," Kaori corrected.

"What?" said Yomi and Kagura together.

"Kasuga Ayumu. It's h–" She let out a huge yawn mid-word– "her name."

"Oh," said Yomi.

"So you don't like being called Osaka anymore, then?" Kagura asked.

"I never did," said Ayumu, without sounding bitter or angry. "I thought it was too simple. I wouldn't've minded if people'd called me something more creative, like Telephone, or General Custard."

"I see." Yomi gave the new arrivals an examining look. "Why exactly did you all show up together? Carpooling?"

"We work together," said Kaori, taking a swig of her coffee.

"I'm being serious," said Yomi.

"So am I," Kaori countered. "Ayumu-san teaches at our old school school with Kurosawa-san, and I went there as a guest speaker but eventually started volunteering my time there."

This sort of chatter continued for a while, with all the girls catching up with each other. Eventually, the chatter died down, but then Kaorin asked a question.

"Hey," she said, messing with her hair involuntarily, "Do you have any idea when Sakaki's going to show up?"

"Hmm?" said Kagura. "Oh, Sakaki? She's already here."

"What?!" Kaorin dropped her fifth cup of coffee on the floor. "You mean she's-"

"Excuse me, did someone mention my name?"

"Hi Sakaki!" Kaorin shouted as she turned beet red. "Hi! I'm Kaorin! You might remember me! Or not! Hi! I'm fine! How are you!"

"Uh... Hello..." Sakaki responded. "And hello to Osaka and Kurosawa-sensei as well." They nodded to acknowledge her presence. "It's good to see you all again."

"Yes," Kaorin recited, standing stock still. "It is very good. Hi, I am an astronomer. That is the field in which I work."

"Uh... Are you all right?" asked Sakaki. "Do you need some fresh air or something?"

Minamo and Ayumu snuck worried looks at Kaorin.

"Yeah, I think I would need some... of that... some fresh air... like you said..." Kaorin giggled frantically, then hurried away from the group and shook her wrists as she hyperventilated.

Oh god oh god oh god, her mind screamed at her, What the hell was that? I was acting like a little kid! I bet I looked so stupid! I bet she thought I was stupid! Agh, I am stupid! God I gotta find someplace to hide! She wandered randomly through the swirling maze of the airport, this gate, that gate, through people and metal and plastic, all blurred with speed and wooziness. Oh man I just realized that I have no idea where I'm going! Why am I doing this, why should I care about what Sakaki thinks, why did I get so weird around her, am I just intimidated about her because of high school? Aaaagh, jeez, there's nothing that could make this more awkward!

That's when, due to the fact that she had no clue where she was going, she rammed straight into Chihiro.


Kagura looked around anxiously. "It's almost time! Where is everybody?" The card with Chiyo's name on it, which had been temporarily forgotten, was being wielded once more by the athlete.

"I wasn't aware anyone was missing," said Yomi, a little loudly.

"...Well yeah Yomi, jeez, of course there's people missing," Kagura replied, tapping her foot increasingly rapidly. "There's Tomo, obviously, you of all people should know that, and plus there's Kaorin and what's-her-name..."

"Actually, now that you mention it, I wonder where Chihiro–" She emphasized this name and gave Kagura a slightly reprimanding look– "ran off to."

"Maybe," Ayumu postulated, "She ran into Kaorin."

"Could be," Minamo hazarded. "They would have a lot of catching up to do."

"Really? I was gonna say that they were making out." Ayumu said this with such a wide-eyed sincerity that everyone else squirmed and backed a few paces away from her.

Except, of course, for Sakaki, who was staring off at nothing and starting to look a little sick to her stomach.

"Sakaki, are you OK?" asked Kagura, momentarily distracted from her own anxiousness.

"What?" Sakaki only just seemed to realize that everyone else was still there. "Oh, no, I'm fine..."

"Well, I hope so, because Chiyo-chan's supposed to be here in like..." Kagura checked her watch. "three minutes ago."

"W-what?" Sakaki suddenly went pale.

"Are you all right? Why are you so worried? Don't you want to see her again?"

"Well, yes, but... I mean... what if it's not Chiyo-chan?"

"What are you talking about? Of course it'll be Chiyo-chan. Do you think someone's going to be impersonating her?" Kagura nearly laughed, but then Yomi shot her a "don't-press-your-luck" look and she shut up.

"It's all right, Sakaki-san," said Minamo consolingly. "I'm sure she's just the same as she ever was."

"Well, I guess we'll find out," said Ayumu cheerfully.

"Look!" Kagura shouted. Everyone turned their heads to see her pointing out into the crowd. "I think I see her!"

Sakaki squinted and could just barely make out amidst the other passengers a red-haired girl walking towards them...


Lordy, it's taken me so long just to get to chapter three... Originally, I said here that in a few months it would be a year since I posted chapter one of this, but then I realized I was actually thinking of when I started the fic I was writing BEFORE that. It's actually only been since March. That's kind of a relief... otherwise I would feel really slow. Anyway, I'm sorry for being sluggish in writing this, but I guess that's just how I am. On a pretty much unrelated note, I wish I could write stuff that's less dialogue-heavy. It always feels to me like there's less descriptive language than there should be and too much talking.

Also Chihiro totally did start a band in her senior year. Do not deny this. I have willed it and so it is true.