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

Oh, by the way, I hate to do this, because it feels so cheap-and-easy, but when words are in bold, that means they're in English. If it's in bold and italic, though, that just means it's really loud. So... yeah.

THINGS THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

an Azumanga fanfic by Einoo

CHAPTER IV

CHIYO-SAN?

"He knows changes aren't permanent
But change is"

-Tom Sawyer, Rush

Kaorin stared at the woman lying face-down on the airport floor.

"Oh my God," Kaorin apologized quickly as she brushed herself off, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you like that at all, I just didn't pay attention to where I was going, and it's all my fault, I'm really sorry. Are you all right? You look hurt, are you hurt? Do you need me to get a doc-"

The woman she had bumped into got up and Kaorin froze completely.

Chihiro looked rather bemused, but also suddenly seemed a bit tired. "Hello," she said.

"Yeah, uh... hi." Kaorin said in a small voice. "I didn't expect you... that is, uh... fancy meeting you here..."

"Well, I kind of was invited," Chihiro said, trying not to sound sarcastic, at least in tone. What she actually said could really only be taken one way.

"Well, cool... I mean, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Kaorin sighed.

"Yeah, it really has been. We sort of... you know... since the marriage..."

"We did, didn't we..." Kaorin admitted. "I dunno why, I was... I mean, you're a good friend. But I guess I was busy."

"How are you and, uh... what's his... you know, your husband?" Chihiro coughed.

"Oh, we're really great, we're going to celebrate our two-year anniversary soon," said Kaorin, dropping in the mention of the anniversary almost automatically at this point - she had been telling everyone for months.

"That's great," said Chihiro, which was the standard response to the announcement for most people.

"Yeah, it's crazy how things turn out, huh?" Kaorin said. "Anyway, we'd probably better get back to the main group now so we don't miss Chiyo-chan showing up."

Chihiro agreed and they started making their way back to the group.

Their return was fortuitously timed, for mere seconds after they rejoined the group, Chiyo arrived, staring at the group with awe.

"So... uh... well..." Chiyo paused for a second, then finally said something: "Wow. I mean... wow."

"'Wow' is a pretty fair way to put it," Minamo remarked as she gave Chiyo a good look for the first time.

Indeed it was a pretty fair way to put it. Perhaps even a great way to put it. When she had left Japan, Chiyo-chan was still Chiyo-chan – a small and naïve girl who was immature at heart. Astonishingly intelligent for her age, to be sure, but still a child, a child that loved meatballs more than any other food, a child that separated disposable chopsticks for good luck, a child who feared above all else a car trip with Yukari-sensei.

But this Chiyo was no longer a child. She certainly was no longer small – she actually was fairly tall for her age (and ethnic background). Not quite as tall as Sakaki, of course, but she still had quite a few inches on, say, Ayumu – who, incidentally, she was also no longer in the same "group" with. She actually made for a quite attractive young woman. But more important than outside appearances, she had grown up on the inside. All of the gang could see it. There was something in her calm and graceful demeanor that indicated the change she had gone through. Even just the smile on her face and the light in her eyes revealed that she was a more mature and stable person.

She was still scared to death of the Yukarimobile, though. I mean, who wouldn't be?

"I mean..." Chiyo flushed a little. "I'm really seeing you all again! This is so... strange... and–" She struggled slightly for a word– "magnificent."

"Yeah, it's kinda freaky," Ayumu interjected.

Everyone turned to give her a look. Yomi in particular frowned at her. "That's not a very nice way to-"

"Oh, no, don't worry." Chiyo beamed. "I know what she means. It's just... so..." Her eyes suddenly shined with emotion. "I mean, I... you guys..."

Before she knew what she was doing, she suddenly raced towards a flustered Sakaki and engaged her in a spontaneous embrace.

"I..." A blush so fierce that its hue rivaled that of Chiyo's hair assaulted Sakaki's face. "Chiyo... er... Chiyo... san?"

"Oh! Sorry!" Chiyo snapped away quickly, obviously humiliated at her sudden outburst. "I don't know what came over me... So... uh..." She looked around at the gang awkwardly until she spotted Kaorin and Chihiro hanging out in back, the former with her gaze fixated a bit too intensely upon a vending machine in a corner.

"Oh, hey, I'm glad you could make it," she said, walking over to them. "Especially you, Chihiro-san... Sorry I forgot to mention you in the letters I sent to everyone else, but you're... I mean, no, you're not, it's–" Chiyo fumbled a bit with her words– "Sorry, I don't mean to imply that–"

"It's all right," said Chihiro bluntly. "I know. I'm forgettable."

"Er."

An awkward silence descended over the group before Kagura broke it.

"Hey," she asked, "Where's Tomo?"

Chiyo did a triple take.

"Wh- She's not here yet?" She scratched her head. "I could have sworn... Well, it did seem a little too quiet," The woman chuckled to herself. It almost looked to her like Sakaki flinched a little at that comment, but she dismissed this as her imagination. Meanwhile, Koyomi was staring out the large airport window with a bit too keen an interest. "Well, I'm sure she'll show up eventuall-"

Just as Chiyo said this, Tomo rammed straight into her, and the recently-arrived traveler screamed something very rude-sounding in English before falling to the floor.

"Oh, shit!" Tomo screeched as she dusted herself off quickly. "Crap! I... don't really... er... good morning... madame... the... I'm... gomen... don't speaks English..."

"Er... What?"

"Oh. Phew! Thank God. Uh, I... sorry, miss, but-"

"Miss?" Chiyo repeated. "That's how you greet me after all these years?"

"...Uhh... What? Who are you?" Tomo squinted, as if this would help identify the woman she was looking at.

"Um, the person you came here to meet?"

Tomo stared.

Chiyo sighed, pulled out two hair ties from her pocket, and gave herself pigtails.

For a second it was almost as if someone had pressed "pause".

Then:

"NO WAY!!!!!"

Tomo backed her way into a support beam.

Chiyo gave Tomo a sly grin. "You haven't changed much."

"You have!" Tomo managed to let out between heavy breaths. Clearly she was still dealing with this new information. "I mean... they're bigger than mine!" Tomo made an unsubtle hand gesture to illustrate this point.

"That doesn't take much," Chiyo said, and despite her witty retort (which left a few members of the group trying to stifle their giggling), she blushed a deep sunset-red.

"Probably." Tomo was shell-shocked enough that she apparently missed Chiyo's barb. Instead of retaliating, she closed her eyes for a moment and wiped the sweat off her brow. She continued to lean on the support beam for a few seconds, but she then seemed to recover herself quickly.

And then proceeded to get run over by a sprinting man with a downtrodden-looking boy in tow. (The rolling luggage bag did not help matters.)

After Tomo recovered a second time and the boy had apologized profusely, she finally noticed the others.

"Whoa! Look!" She punched the air overenthusiatically, perhaps being eager to brush away the previous awkward moment. "Incredible! The gang's all here! Dynamite! Hi guys! Hi Yo- Hey, where's Yomi?"

Indeed, it seemed as though Yomi had vanished into thin air, and the others were a bit surprised to notice she was gone.

Tomo looked disappointed for a second, but then immediately covered it up with enthusiasm. "Ah, well, she's probably just using the bathroom or something! I'm sure it's not because she hates me now and doesn't want to talk to me! Ha ha! That would be ridiculous!"

Everyone just gave her odd looks.

"Uh, yeah." She mussed the hair on the back of her head. "So, uh, yeah, what's the plan? Like, where do we go from here?"

Kagura shrugged. "I dunno, I was thinking we'd eat breakfast."

"I guess," Tomo said awkwardly, "But we'll have to wait for Yomi first."

There was a thick silence.

"Hey!" Tomo's eyes widened and she turned back to Chiyo. "What do you mean it doesn't take much?"

The people who had stifled their giggling before now burst into uncontrollable laughter.

The son had on his "utterly despairing" look, which he found to his dismay was lately becoming his default expression. He was barely able to hold on to his rolling luggage bag out of exhaustion. "Father..." he began, being careful not to look said father in the eye and not to fall behind, "Are you sure going on this trip is the right thing to do?"

The father nodded firmly, his feet moving at a brisk pace. "Even though I have been laid off from my job, I have already bought these tickets to Paris, and even though my Yui-chan is in a coma, I know she would have wanted us to go."

"Okay... sorry," the son said quietly.

"You don't have to apologize," his father said just as quietly. "You were just asking a question."

"Sorry for apologizing," the son apologized.

The father sighed and shook his head slightly. His son was not exactly the most assertive person, and apologizing was essentially a reflex for him. The schools didn't help much either; in fact, it seemed as though they were trying to make all the kids timid and drain them of their self-worth. Such was the Japanese way. It made them easily moldable into workers.

Because he was thinking about such things, he wasn't totally paying attention, and so accidentally ran straight into some woman.

"A-ah-I-uh..." The son stuttered and frantically waved his hands around. "I didn't mean- I mean- errr, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that!"

"No, that's fine," the woman mumbled, lying on the floor with her eyes closed and her hands clutching her head.

"Sorry for the trouble," another woman (whose looks reminded the boy inexplicably of a brash anime character whose name he couldn't quite remember- it started with A?) said, smiling sheepishly.

"No trouble at all," said the father in a small voice, before grabbing on to his son by the hand and moving on.

Actually, though, it was trouble, especially when they got to their destination:

The delay had caused them to miss their flight.

The father and son ended up sitting on an uncomfortable bench.

"Hey," said the father softly, "Want a Dr. Pepper from the soda machine?"

The son merely snored in response.

Before I say anything, R&R, please! I like to know what you think about my stories, so please tell! I'll be your friend if you do! (maybe)

Anywho, sorry it took so long. Pardon my French, but this chapter was a bitch to write. Actually, I'm not sure why I'm asking you to pardon my language, since I use worse words in the actual chapter (most of the time being said by Tomo). But seriously, saying I wrote myself into a corner here is a severe understatement... even if I'm not entirely sure why. I mean, it doesn't seem like the sort of thing that would cause my writing to grind to a halt, but it sure did. If the writing style seems inconsistent, it's because the times at which various parts of this chapter were written vary wildly from just after the third chapter came out to tonight when I finally finished it (to the repeated tune of "Too Hot to Stop" by the Bar-Kays - you know, that funky song that Superbad opens with?).

Just to give you a better idea of my complete disregard for timeliness, let me inform you that I posted the first chapter to this fanfic in March 2008. It's June 2009 now. Good grief, am I slow. Admittedly, I have been focusing slightly more on other projects, such as my recently-started Haruhi Suzumiya fanfiction, which I advise you to check out if you're into that sort of thing, but still. I'm a baaaaaaaad widdle boy, and I deserve to be punished.

On the other hand, at least I've gotten to the point where Chiyo has been introduced, so I might be able to start writing chapters that aren't so damn long now, and therefore I might update more frequently.

But don't count on it.