Disclaimer: I don't own Azumanga Daioh.
A Helping Hand or Two
Shortly after the chaotic chase, Tomo and Ohyama quickly left the scene. Sakaki was brought to the hospital for her injuries. Fortunately, her wounds were not too serious. She had gotten away with a few bruises and a cracked rib. Sakaki was able to attend school the next day.
Tomo had the feeling that her friends would try to pry into her relationship. She knew that they would be watching her like a hawk. The spies that she saw were solid proof of this. Tomo felt angry at the "betrayal" of her group's conspiring. Nevertheless, she had to remain casual and nonchalant around them. At the same time, she felt guilty for dragging Chiyo into the mess.
The next at school, Tomo entered her classroom as usual. She said a few passing words to Ohyama before approaching her friends. However, she noticed that Chiyo wasn't there.
"Quick!" Yomi whispered to her friends, signaling Tomo's approach.
"Hey, how goes it?" Tomo greeted.
"Tomo", Yomi replied.
"How goes what?" Osaka asked.
"Hey", Kagura greeted back.
Sakaki gave a painful nod without responding. She tried with difficulty to hide her physical pain.
"What's up with ya?" Tomo asked Sakaki.
"Oh, nothing", Sakaki answered.
Tomo already knew the answer before she asked. She could tell that her friends were planning to play dumb with her. It looked like she would have to do the same.
"You wouldn't believe what I saw yesterday in the field", Tomo started. "The Class 4 rugby team totally owned somebody in a cat costume. Isn't that costume ours?"
"Yeah, someone from another class must have stolen it", Yomi fabricated. "Whoever it was, Class 4 must have despised that person very much".
Yomi's group stayed silent, hoping that Tomo would fall for the explanation.
"Hmm, yeah", Tomo acknowledged. "By the way, where's Chiyo?"
Yomi and the others breathed an internal sigh of relief. Their cover wasn't blown, and Tomo remained clueless to their efforts. It was obvious, however, that this was not the case.
"I don't know", Sakaki answered. "I didn't see her on the way here".
"Oh", Tomo said. "Well, catch you guys later".
"Yeah", Kagura bade.
Once Tomo had left, Yomi turned to face her group.
"Sakaki, I'm sorry", she apologized.
"It's nothing", Sakaki replied.
"And you, Kagura?" Yomi asked. "You okay?"
"Yeah", Kagura answered.
"Still with me, Osaka?" Yomi asked Osaka.
"Oh yes", Osaka said.
"Good, we can't give up now".
However, Kagura's facial expression hinted at her weariness.
"But Yomi", she said. "Sakaki and I didn't hear anything suspicious in Tomo's conversation with Ohyama. Right, Sakaki?"
"Right", Sakaki answered.
"What if this is nothing?" Kagura asked. "What if Chiyo was right?"
"It isn't", Yomi answered. "In case you guys haven't noticed, Tomo hasn't been hanging around us as often. On top of that, she hasn't asked to copy off me for a single homework assignment".
"Oh yeah, Yomi's making sense!" Osaka exclaimed.
"Yeah, Ohyama is as smart as Chiyo is", Kagura noted. "And I don't think that Chiyo lets Tomo copy off her. Ohyama would be a reasonable bet".
"We'll have to find out ourselves", Yomi said. "I'll be back".
Yomi got up and walked towards Yukari's desk. She might know something useful.
"Yukari-sensei?" Yomi said.
"What is it?" Yukari asked.
"How is Tomo doing in your class?" Yomi asked. "Some time ago, she stopped trying to copy off my homework".
"She was doing horribly anyways", Yukari answered. "However, I've noticed a slight increase in her English grades. It's surprising to see her actually get tutoring".
"From who?"
"She's been hanging around her superior representative, Masaaki Ohyama", Yukari answered. "That boy is so good at English, he could take over my profession!"
Yomi accepted it as solid proof. The others heard it too, and decided to stick with her plan.
"All right everyone", Yomi started. "We'll have to let things blow over before we resume our observation. In the meantime, don't do anything that could raise suspicion. I'll tell you guys if something comes up. And be sure to take it easy, Sakaki".
Sakaki gave an achy groan of agreement.
"Got it", Kagura affirmed.
"Yep", Osaka acknowledged.
Meanwhile, Tomo chatted with Ohyama on the other side of the room. She knew that something was up with Chiyo. But what was it? Did she abandon her?
"Hey Masaaki, have you seen Chiyo around?" Tomo asked.
"No, sorry", Ohyama said. "Odd, she never misses a day of school, even when sick".
"Oh", Tomo nodded.
Despite an uneasy feeling, she came to the conclusion that maybe she would pass by Chiyo's place later.
Soon after school, Tomo strolled down the sidewalk towards Chiyo's house. She was about to turn the corner when she spotted Yomi's group from the corner of her eyes. Reacting quickly, Tomo jumped behind a parked car and peered over the hood. It appeared that her friends also had Chiyo in mind and were visiting her too. It looked like Tomo would have to keep her distance for a little longer. She leaned against the wheel of the car and waited…
The afternoon dragged on for a long time before Tomo was able to move. Upon hearing the door to the house open, she saw Yomi and her friends leave. Now it was her turn. Checking her watch, she saw that it was eight in the evening. She had been waiting for three hours. Tomo entered through the gate and rang the doorbell. There was no answer.
"Chiyo-chan?" Tomo said.
Tomo shrugged her shoulders and tried the door. Much to her surprise, it was unlocked. She continued to make her way inside the mansion. With every step that she took, she felt more uncomfortable about her visit. However, something was wrong, and she had to find out what. She walked up the stairs and approached Chiyo's door.
"Chiyo?" she said again.
Tomo opened the door and looked inside. The room was dim, and the sun had already set. Upon closer inspection, Tomo saw Chiyo standing in front on her window. She stared with a grim emotion on her face.
"Chiyo, it's me", Tomo informed.
Chiyo turned around slowly and faced her friend.
"I can't believe that I actually did that", Chiyo bleakly uttered. "I didn't know that I would cause that much damage".
Tears welled up in her eyes and she struggled to keep her composure.
"Sakaki-san was beaten up and broke a rib because of me!" she wailed. "No matter how calm she sounded, there was no way that she could've truly accepted my apology!"
Chiyo fell on her knees and began to cry. Guilt had taken over her completely.
"Chiyo, I-" Tomo started.
Tomo slowly walked over to Chiyo and knelt in front of her. With brief hesitation, she placed her arms around Chiyo and hugged her in an attempt to comfort her.
"You did it for the greater good", Tomo finished.
Chiyo calmed down and stopped crying. In a way, she did feel better in knowing that she was doing the right thing.
"Feel better now?" Tomo asked.
"Yes", Chiyo whispered.
"Good".
"Tomo-chan?"
"Yeah?"
"I can't do this alone", Chiyo said.
Tomo didn't know how to react to her friend's statement. Was Chiyo going to give up and leave her alone, or was she going to get more people involved in the complicated situation? Tomo's gut feeling pointed towards something worse.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"I can't help you all by myself", Chiyo answered. "I need some extra help".
"As in?" Tomo asked with increasing anxiety.
"I've thought about it for a while", Chiyo explained. "It's obvious that we're outnumbered. Yomi and the others have numerical superiority. I simply can't cover all of your bases, Tomo. We need some extra help".
"From who?" Tomo demanded.
"Our best bets lie with Kaorin and Chihiro", Chiyo said.
Tomo threw Chiyo an extremely skeptical look.
"Tell me you're kidding!" she uttered.
"Look Tomo-chan, there's no one else in the class who would fit the description better", Chiyo reasoned. "Kaorin and Chihiro don't have any loyalty ties to Yomi or her friends. These girls also seem to have a lot of spare time on their hands. It's worth a shot".
"It's too risky", Tomo countered. "I may have unintentionally irritated Kaorin, especially about her Sakaki fetish".
"Sakaki fetish?" Chiyo asked, confused.
"You didn't notice?" Tomo asked. "Kaorin has always had some sort of unhealthy fixation with Sakaki. It's odd, yet scary in a way".
"So what exactly did you do to her?"
"All I did was show her some pictures of our past trip to your summer vacation home. When she saw the snapshots of Sakaki, she freaked out about not being able to go. Ever since then, she's hated me with much jealously".
"Oh", Chiyo said, now fully informed. "But maybe she's forgotten about it".
"I hope so, that was was more than a year ago"…
"Aww, that's so cute", Chihiro said. "Count me in!"
"What!?" Kaorin yelled, shocked. "You're joking, right!?"
The next day after school, Chiyo attempted to get some help from the two girls. She explained the Tomo's crush, the circumstances, and the opposition that they were up against. Chihiro loved the idea and gladly joined in. Kaorin, however, had her slights.
"But Kaorin, she really needs-" Chihiro reasoned.
"Do you expect me to help her out!?" Kaorin continued to yell. "Think of all the times. Think of all the times that she got to spend with Miss Sakaki!"
"Not this again", Chihiro muttered.
"Those countless summer trips…those pictures…all while I was out wasting my time staring at the damn sky!" Kaorin screamed.
Chiyo looked at her with disbelief. She never thought that an obsession with Sakaki could last that long. Chihiro, in the meantime, took a different approach to convince her friend.
"Okay, forget Tomo for the time being", Chihiro said. "According to Chiyo-chan, all we have to do is to keep an eye on the opposing group. Sakaki is among them. And I'm sure that you'll have plenty of time to look".
Kaorin immediately lit up at the opportunity.
"R-really?" she hesitantly asked.
"Yeah, what do you say?" Chiyo offered.
Kaorin didn't waste a single moment to accept.
"All right!" she agreed. "Now tell me when we're to spy on them!"
Armed with a more capable group, Chiyo was ready to set out and aid Tomo in any way possible…
Meanwhile, Tomo strolled through the supermarket. Her mother had left her a note in the morning, asking her to run a few errands after school.
"Okay, now where do I find the onions?" she thought to herself.
Pushing the shopping cart farther, Tomo spotted Ohyama in the same produce section that she was in. She took it as a fortunate coincidence.
"Masaaki!" she called out to him.
Ohyama turned around at the mention of his name.
"Oh, hello Tomo!" he greeted. "Nice to see you here".
"Yeah, what's up?"
"Not much. I just found these coupons lying around the hallway in school, so I thought that I'd use them. However, I'm not too fond of leeks".
"Ah, that's cool", Tomo acknowledged.
Suddenly, Tomo had an uneasy feeling about her surroundings. In a split second, she felt oncoming danger approaching. Quickly turning her head around, she spotted a large watermelon hurtling towards Ohyama. Acting quickly, she jumped in the way of the melon and shattered it to bits with her right hand.
Ohyama turned around just in time to see Tomo smash the watermelon in midair. His gankuran was splattered with some of the juice, but Tomo received the brunt of the mess.
"Where the heck did that come from!?" Ohyama yelled.
"Ack, my blouse!" Tomo cried. "Get me a towel!"
Ohyama spun around and saw a masked figure flee into the parking lot. The supposed assailant soon disappeared out of sight. Moments later, a supermarket employee approached the pair.
"What happened here?" the worker asked.
"I'm not really sure", Ohyama said. "I think someone tried to throw a watermelon at us".
"Really?" the worker asked with skepticism.
"Does it matter?" Tomo interrupted. "Just get me something to clean up with!"
"Relax Tomo", Ohyama said. "I'll pay for the watermelon".
He reached into his wallet to pay for the damage. However, he pulled out the wrong bill.
"Sir, I think that this is American currency", the employee said.
"Whoops, my mistake!" Ohyama nervously apologized as he quickly hid the bill.
The American dollar caught Tomo's eye though, and new speculations about Ohyama began to form in her mind.
Meanwhile, Masado peered around the corner of the produce section, hidden from the pair.
"All according to plan", he muttered.