I do not own the rights to nor am I in any way affiliated with Azumanga Daioh.

Author's Notes and replies to reviews are at the end of the chapter.


Warm Days

Chapter 7

It was Saturday evening and Minamo Kurosawa had just finished getting dressed for her date. She checked herself over in the bathroom mirror one last time, then wandering back into the main room of her apartment, flopping herself down at the table. Though the TV was on as it had been all afternoon, Minamo stared at some imaginary point past it, lost in thought.

Of all things, Minamo felt nervous. She had felt nervous since the day before when she and Kagura met for lunch in the locker room, and had arranged their date. It wasn't that she had never felt nervous before a date before anyway, she certainly had, especially for double-dates with Yukari who normally assured the night would have a bad ending. This, however, was a different kind of nervousness that she kept telling herself was only a fear of being recognized by someone from school.

Minamo's eyes flashed momentarily to the time displayed in the upper right corner of her TV's screen, noting it was a few minutes before the top of the hour, when she had told Kagura to be at her apartment. As if on cue, a knock at the apartment's door caused her to snap back from her thoughts. Quickly hitting the 'power' button the TV's remote, Minamo hopped to her feet, heading to the door to greet the girl with a warm smile and, "Good evening, Kagura."

Kagura looked as ecstatic as ever, bouncing on the balls of her feet, saying with a grin, "Good evening, Ms. Kurosawa!"

Her smile turning to an embarrassed one, Minamo quickly corrected her, "Please, while we're out like this call me Minamo—or Nyamo."

Managing to look even more delighted, Kagura said in a soft voice, "You don't mind?"

Minamo shook her head, moving to slip her shoes and jacket on, "Of course not." She lifted two plastic sacks from where they set just inside the door, flicking the apartment lights off and locking the door as she stepped out and pulled it to, adding, "I don't mind being called by my nickname, except when Yukari insists on using it while we're at work." She smiled modestly, "Well, let's get going."

Kagura nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah, let's go!" The two walked down the hall, taking the stair well down to the parking garage below the building. As they walked, Kagura repeatedly glanced to the sacks carried by Ms. Kurosawa, her curiosity finally forcing her to say, as she motioned towards them, "What's in there?"

Responding to Kagura's curious look with a cryptic smile, Minamo simply said, "Something for tonight, you'll see when it's time." Reaching her car, Minamo unlocked the passenger side door first, holding it open for Kagura who smiled graciously as she climbed in, having the door shut behind her. Minamo made her way around the car, depositing the two sacks onto the back seat before taking her place behind the wheel and getting them moving.

As the car made its way out of the basement parking garage and onto the already darkened street, Kagura said in a playful voice, "Are you going to tell me where we're going, or will I have to wait until we get there to see that too?"

Not taking her eyes off the road, Minamo said bemusedly, "I thought we'd drive over to Edogawa. My grandparents lived near there, so I know the area pretty well."

Kagura's gave her a surprised look, "That's pretty far away…."

Minamo grinned sheepishly, "Yes, pretty far away from anyone who would recognize us, too."

Nodding in approval, Kagura laughed, "Hey, yeah, that way we don't have to worry!" A small smile of complacency stayed on Minamo's face as they fell silent. It was several minutes before Kagura breached the silence between them otherwise only marred by the sounds of traffic. "So, uh…how did you decide you liked girls?" She did her best not to make the question sound prying, even though it was.

Not answering immediately, Minamo considered the question carefully, "Well, I, uh, guess I decided it when I realized I had a crush on Yukari. I mean, I don't know when it started, I think I'd been getting weird feelings over seeing other girls changing in the locker rooms for P.E. in middle school."

There was a moment of silence in which Kagura looked thoughtful, "Oh, yeah, you're never in the locker room when we're changing, are you?"

Her face reddening, Minamo looked to the girl quickly, "No, that doesn't happen now, it was—" Her attention was yanked back to driving by the brake lights of the car in front of them illuminating. Now keeping her eyes firmly on the road Minamo said in a nervous voice, "It was nothing, I was just confused by the way my hormones were playing with me. I probably would've gotten the same feeling if I'd seen the boys changing too—I just misinterpreted the feelings…."

Kagura kept her eyes turned down at herself as she fiddled with the zipper on her jacket, "Do you think that's what's wrong with me?"

With a nervous chuckle Minamo shrugged, "I don't think there's anything wrong with you…I just think you need a chance to explore your options and decide for yourself what you want. Everyone does. That's why we're doing this, isn't it?"

Kagura nodded in response, silence then once again filling the space between the two women as the car slowly wove its way through the streets of the Tokyo metro area. It was halfway through their trip when Kagura spoke again, "So, uh, does anyone else know you had a crush on Ms. Yukari?"

A frown flitted across Minamo's face, "Well, no, I don't think so." She shrugged, "You were the first person I've ever told about it…."

Shifting in her seat Kagura looked shocked, "Really?" After a moment her expression sobered, and she turned to look out the side window, watching the people on the sidewalk as they traveled. The better part of their trip was through when Kagura had put together in her head what she wanted to say next. "I think Tomo and Yomi are…a couple."

The candid statement startled Minamo, causing her to give Kagura quick glance, "What? Why do you think that?"

With a shrug Kagura kept her eyes focused on the sights outside of the car, "It's, well, promise you won't tell anyone else, okay?" Minamo confirmed the agreement, Kagura then launching into a recollection of what had transpired the past weekend when Kagura had found Tomo out in the cold without a jacket. While trying to downplay Tomo's mid-winter bout with hypothermia Kagura gave special emphasis to the end of the night when she had overheard Yomi and Tomo proclaiming their love for one another while holding hands.

Through the surprise over the anecdote the only word that Minamo could respond with was "wow."

Now looking pensive, Kagura drummed her fingers on the door handle nervously, "It was weird seeing it, but…."

Glancing to the girl Minamo offered a leading, "But?"

Kagura chewed her lip for a moment, squirming a bit in her seat, "Well, I've been thinking about it, and, what if Tomo wasn't just…being Tomo, when she started the rumor about me? Maybe she knew I was…this way, even before I did. And what if someone else knows, too?"

Offering a re-assuring smile, Minamo chuckled quietly, "You're just being paranoid now."

Continuing to fidget restlessly, Kagura sighed, "I guess. I just, well, what if my parents figure it out? I mean, I guess I've got to tell them anyway, though, don't I?"

Coming to a stop at a traffic light Minamo used the chance to look to Kagura, making the first real eye contact with her since they left the apartment complex. "You should if you feel the need to, but you don't have to worry about that until you're sure what you want."

Nodding, Kagura then went back to gazing out of the car window, the silence between them returning yet again. Finally, an hour after they left Minamo's apartment, they were finally in Edogawa. As they had entered the area the tall buildings that turned streets into confining valleys had given way to relatively large houses, mansions by Japanese standards. The sounds of the city had dulled down, barely audible in the relatively quiet streets of Edogawa. The houses here were interspaced only by mostly smaller stores and strip malls, with an occasional larger building.

After a bit of searching Minamo pulled the car into a vacant parking space at the curb. Cutting the engine and taking her keys, Minamo looked to Kagura, smiling, "I forgot how long it takes to get over here."

Kagura returned the smile, her previous nervousness over her situation apparently gone, "I don't mind, we got to talk." She checked the street outside before opening her door and climbing out, Minamo doing the same. The older woman dropped coins into the parking meter on the sidewalk before retrieving the two plastic sacks from the backseat of the car and locking it.

Once standing on the sidewalk Kagura stretched her legs and back, then turning to Minamo, "So, where to now?"

"We're heading this way," Minamo said as she motioned for Kagura to follow and began to walk. "We're just a few blocks away."

Nodding curiously Kagura shoved her hands into her jacket pockets as a cool breeze picked up around them. Kagura's mind set on trying to think of what she could say at this point for small talk, every idea being rejected because she didn't want to end up prattling on about something of no interest to anyone else, much less Minamo. It was Minamo that re-initiated their conversation as they made their way around the block, "So, have you ever been here before?"

Her hands still deep in her pockets as the wind picked up further, Kagura shook her head negatively, "No, I don't think so." Another gust of chilling wind hit them, causing Kagura to reflexively press against Minamo, quickly springing away as if she'd been burned, blurting out a fast, "sorry."

Minamo gave Kagura a modest smile, "You don't have to be so jumpy, even if this is the first time we've done this, it's not like we just met." The two rounded the block, Minamo's attention being drawn from Kagura to the large building that had come into view. Pointing towards it Minamo said, "That's where we're headed."

The building ahead of them was several stories tall, rising above the decorative trees around it. From this side all they could see was a blank white wall. Nearing it the large set of windows that took up half of the front wall, as well as its large blue and yellow sign came into view. Reading the sign with interest, Kagura said in surprise, "An ice skating rink?"

With a smile Minamo nodded, "Have you ever been to one before?"

Her gaze dropping to the sacks Minamo carried, Kagura shook her head, "I've been roller skating, but never ice skating." They walked in silence for a few moments, nearing the building when Kagura asked, "So those sacks are…?"

Minamo smiled, holding one sack out to the younger girl, "My pair of skates, and one of my older pairs for you. I think they should just fit."

Kagura took the sack, opening it far enough to peak inside at the pair of light blue ice skates as they neared the building, saying curiously, "How do you know?"

Shrugging as she opened the door to the building and held it for Kagura, Minamo said with a playful smile, "Just a guess." As they made their way to the ticket counter she added, "I still had your shoe size written down from when I ordered you those new track shoes last spring."

After Minamo paid for their tickets—not giving Kagura the chance to even try to pay for herself—the two made their way through the turnstiles into the stadium-like floor of the ice rink. Several sets of movable stands lined both sides of the rink, a few people sitting in groups chatting on them. Below at the ends of each set of bleachers was a honeycomb of cubby holes for shoes, Minamo heading for them immediately.

Changing into their skates, Kagura looked at the pair skeptically once they were on her feet. She glanced up from her feet as Minamo laid a hand on her shoulder, "It's not as hard as it looks, just keep your ankles straight, or you'll risk rolling them if one of your skates tilts to the side." As Kagura carefully rose to her feet Minamo's hand slid down from her shoulder to grasp her hand.

Taking small steps, Kagura's cheeks were flushed as she made her way towards the ice. Removable plexiglass walls surrounded most of the rink, set up for hockey games no doubt, especially considering the markings and lines in the ice. Many other skaters were already out in the rink, though due to its size it was nowhere near overcrowded. Reaching the edge of the ice Minamo, without letting Kagura's hand go, stepped out onto the ice effortlessly, leaving the younger woman in awe. Taking Kagura's other hand as well, Minamo said in the same way she would when teaching any other sport, "Now just take it nice and easy. You move using the same sort of motion you use when rollerblading."

Slowly Minamo glided backwards to let Kagura step onto the ice, pulling her along gently as Kagura's feet wobbled slightly. They ventured along the edge of the rink in this position, Minamo leading with her hands still on Kagura's with no support, in case she started to fall.

Once they were far enough out on the ice, likely longer than Kagura needed her hand held, Minamo carefully released the other woman's hands and glided backwards around to stand beside Kagura, "See? You're getting steadier already." Minamo had, rightly, counted on Kagura's natural athletic ability to make skating easy for her.

Nodding, Kagura seemed more interested in Minamo at the moment, "I didn't know you could ice skate."

Gliding forward around Kagura, Minamo turned to face her again, smiling nostalgically, "Well, I haven't in a while, but I came here a lot when I visited my grandparents as a child. Try moving some more?"

Kagura snapped from her daze and nodded, the two beginning to skate slowly around the rink as most of the other patrons were with Minamo offering the occasional warning or tip as they moved. After a few circuits Kagura said with a smile as they neared the less crowded end of the rink, "Hey, can you do that quick-stop thing that sprays ice everywhere?"

Glancing to the younger girl, Minamo smiled obligingly, "You mean a 'hockey stop,' like this?" Taking a few quick steps to pick up speed she then turned sharply, causing her skates to send up a brief mist of ice as she came to an abrupt stop.

Kagura clapped, laughing, "Yeah, that's so cool!" Doing her best to imitate Minamo she lurched forward to pick up speed, then turning sharply as she passed Minamo. Unfortunately, she leaned too far into the stop, breaking the grip on the ice her skates had and causing her feet to come out from under her, sending her rear-first onto the ice with a yelp.

No sooner than she'd impacted the ice was Minamo behind her, hooking her arms under Kagura's to lift the girl to her feet, saying quickly, "Are you okay?"

Once Kagura was on her feet the older woman's hands had slid down to rest on her hips, causing Kagura's face to flush, making her far too conscious of how Minamo was pressed against her back, leaving her only able to nod in response.

Realizing where her hands were lingering caused Minamo to slip back quickly, holding her hands behind her back, volunteering unnecessarily, "Uh, the reason I haven't been skating lately is because I've had no one to go with since Yukari fell so many times in one night she couldn't sit down the next day. She's refused to go anywhere near an ice rink since then."

Kagura turned carefully to face Minamo, welcoming the conversational segue, "I wish there was an ice rink nearer home, this'd be great to do during the winter." The two began to move once more, falling into the crowd in the circle around the edge of the rink again.

They skated for another few hours, Minamo showing Kagura the ins-and-outs of the sport, as well as demonstrating some more advanced maneuvers, much to Kagura's enjoyment. The night slid by too quickly for Kagura's taste and both were tired enough from skating to admit it soon enough. After a short rest in the bleachers while they changed their shoes, they left the ice rink.

Back out on the street, the night air had a deep chill to it. The skating rink had hardly been warm, but outside of it the chilling winter breeze had free reign on the two women. Kagura glanced down as she heard Minamo shift the sacks with their skates to her other hand, sliding the now freed one into her coat pocket to warm. Moving her gaze up to the woman's face Kagura said, "You want me to take those for a bit, so you can warm your hands up?"

Glancing to the younger girl, Minamo smiled and shook her head, "No, it's fine. But…." She held her free hand out, "Give me your hand." Doing as told, Kagura's cheeks flushed when Minamo took hold of her hand, sliding their clasped together hands into her coat pocket. Though they didn't have to move any closer together than they already were, both suddenly were avoiding looking at the other, feeling more of a thrill than they likely should over such a miniscule secret as holding hands.

Both were happy to reach the comfort of Minamo's car and be saved from the polar wind outside, even though it required them to release the other's hand. Once the car started off Minamo began to guide them back out of Edogawa towards home. Instead of the painful silence from before they now listened to the radio, not having anything in particular to say to each other. Along the way back home they stopped and had a late dinner at a restaurant suggested by Minamo, who also noted Yukari had been the one who found the place. By the time the car made it back into their neighborhood, Kagura had dozed off, resting her head against the car's window. She was roused by Minamo touching her shoulder and speaking to her softly, causing Kagura to snap awake, disoriented.

With a gentle smile Minamo repeated, "We're home," adding, "Just a block or two from your house. I didn't want to get too close."

Getting her bearings once more, Kagura nodded, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, "Thanks…sorry I fell asleep." She stifled a yawn, looking to Minamo who waved off her apology as unnecessary, then saying, "I…really had fun tonight."

The older woman nodded in response, "I did too."

Her eyes drifting back to the dashboard of the car, Kagura said hesitantly, "Could we…could we do this again?"

Minamo's grip on the steering wheel shifted nervously, "Well, I-I don't see why not."

With a wide grin Kagura unbuckled her seatbelt, leaning across and kissing Minamo on the cheek. The girl paused as Minamo's hand caught her arm to keep her close, Minamo then turning and sharing a deeper kiss with her. Falling back into the seat, Kagura fidgeted anxiously, saying without wanting to, "good night," as she opened the car door. Minamo returned the parting words, the two waving at one another as Kagura started down the sidewalk away from the car. The girl out of sight, Minamo pulled away from the curb and headed back to her apartment.

Pulling her car into its spot in the parking garage, Minamo cut the engine, staying in place for a long moment with her hands resting on top of the steering wheel. Her gaze moved from an imaginary point past the wall of the parking garage to the car's rearview mirror, shifting to look at herself in it. She reached with one hand, touching her fingers to her lips softly, the feeling of the kiss lingering.

With her contemplation going nowhere she wanted it to Minamo took her keys, leaving the car after grabbing the ice skates from the back seat and locking it, making for her apartment. Arriving at the door and trying to unlock it, she found her key refused to turn the correct way, finally trying the door handle to discover it already unlocked. Pushing the door open, she peered inside hesitantly, her sudden tension waning as she found Yukari sitting at the living room table, watching TV.

Stepping through the door, Minamo let it snap shut behind her as she dropped the ice skates by the door and removed her coat and shoes, walking through the apartment to stand behind Yukari who failed to acknowledge her. After watching the woman for a minute Minamo said in a more agitated voice than intended, "What are you doing here?"

Glancing up, Yukari shrugged boredly, "The cable in my apartment was out. You were out with your girlfriend, anyway."

Taking a step back, Minamo said defensively, "She isn't my girlfriend, it wasn't—"

Minamo was silenced by a look of scrutiny from Yukari, "You took her out on a date."

Suddenly becoming avidly interested in the balcony door across the room, Minamo walked to it to avoid having to look Yukari in the eyes, "No, we weren't, it was just a…trial."

Rising to her feet, Yukari said loftily, "It was a ménage à trios, wasn't it?"

Minamo turned from looking out of the balcony door, snapping tersely, "You don't even know what that means!"

"I know it means you've been wasting time with that little hussy! We never spend any time together anymore because of her."

Bringing her hand up to press against her forehead, Minamo tried taking a deep breath, saying in a calmer voice, "Yukari, we went bar hopping last night. Now it's late, I'm going to bed, you're going home."

The other woman crossed her arms, huffing in exaggerated annoyance, "You're going to make me walk alone through the dark streets this late at night?"

Moving to take Yukari by the hand, yanking her to the door, Minamo said through gritted teeth, "You live two blocks away, now go."

After making a show of putting her shoes and coat on, Yukari left, having given Minamo a few more dirty looks for effect. Locking the door behind her friend, Minamo walked slowly back through the apartment, collapsing on the bed. With the loss of Yukari as a distraction her thoughts had shifted back to what they had been on before, causing her to bury her face in her pillow.

Her relationship with Kagura had progressed quickly and she could only assume it was because she and Kagura were comfortable with each other's presence long before the date had begun. Though the problem at this point was the fact the relationship was progressing, something Minamo hadn't intended. She hadn't intended to hold Kagura's hand. She hadn't intended to say 'yes' to another date. She certainly hadn't intended to kiss Kagura again. But she had done it all anyway without knowing why.

End Chapter 7.


Paranoia, paranoia, everybody's coming to get me...

This chapter is months past due. It's not like I just finished writing it the other day, as I've had the final draft done for quite a while now. Realizing I haven't updated the story in over five months makes me feel...like I don't know what happened there. The end of the last semester of college cracked down on me, with the leviathan that is Calculus III/IV attempting to consume my immortal soul, and that's part of what took so long. But then, I've been moved back home for well over a month now, which is how long the final draft has been done. I suppose I just hit a writer's block. I'm into Pen & Paper RPGs, and a bit after I finished chapter 6 for this story, I hit a sort of writer's block in that too. I solved the block on creating and running P&P games last week finally, thanks to Star Wars: Saga Edition, and I suppose the pent up buffer on this story sort of flowed out as well. Hopefully this means I'll be quicker with getting the next chapter written and ready.

For those of you who have ice skated before, I apologize for any details I botched there, as I've never done it myself. As always, I did do research on it, though one of the things I never did find much about was whether or not people just walked across concrete in their skates to get on the ice or not. I suppose that's a relatively minor detail to be worrying with, but, I'm usually meticulous about details. I suppose one good effect taking so long with this chapter had was the fact I watched the anime Maria-sama ga Miteru, which is where the idea for the hand-holding scene in this chapter came from. Also; someone working on the Marimite anime had a sick sense of humor. There is no other reason an anime that focuses on shoujo-ai relationships would open each episode with "THE VIRGIN MARY IS WATCHING YOU" in bold text...

As I usually give an update on other ideas for fanfics I've had in the mean time, the only one really hanging around is a Chizuru/Tatsuki/Orihime love-triangle Bleach fic. I'm currently reading through the Bleach manga, so, when I catch up to where the manga is still currently in-progress, we'll see what I have to work with there. Which, I do like this idea if I can reasonably bring it to fruition working from within canon.

Thank you to everyone who has been following this fic, and an extra thank you to those who have left reviews. The upcoming chapter, while not written yet, will be bringing Sakaki into the story more. It also will likely contain the climax for the Kagura/Nyamo pairing, though that's not to say the fic is drawing to a close just yet. And no, I don't mean "climax" to be a pun. And it probably says I have a dirty mind because I realized it could be taken as a pun.