(A/N) Okay…I'm starting to get bugged with all these comments…Apparently I can't write an Azumanga fanfic…I KNOW that it was a joke that Osaka and Tomo were trying for Tokyo U. I KNOW that some of the characters are out of character. I KNOW that I have absolutely no idea what goes on in a college. I'm 13—please give me a break, min'na. In fact, there have even been comments on my Japanese…Min'na can be spelled like that. It's to show that the two N's are pronounced separately. Please pick up a Japanese/English dictionary or whatnot for yourself, and please stop with the pointless comments that I have heard ten times over. Sorry for being cranky. I'm typing this in the early morning, and I am always cranky in the morning. I don't mean to yell at those who have been kind enough to except my fanfic, like Beowolf and Katana. If someone writes any nasty comments because I'm "rude and obnoxious" in my author notes, please be warned that I will only snap at you more... Enjoy chapter 3, min'na.

Sakaki was nervous about going to the pet club the first day—for about fifteen minutes all she could do was stand outside the door, biting her lip and shuffling her feet nervously. Finally she took a deep breath, and, squeezing her eyes shut, opened the door and walked in.

She opened her eyes a bit to get a peek of what the room was like—seeing that it was exactly how she imagined, she opened her eyes completely, and walked in with a smile. The room was extremely orderly, with many small tables and counters that held skeletons of small animals and household pets, first aid kits, an array of shots and medical tools, and even a small bathtub was set into one of the counters. There was a circular table in the middle of the room, where a group of people sat, some of them a few years older than Sakaki. She recognized the boy she had run into that morning, and he seemed to have noticed her, too, for he motioned for her to take a seat. She smiled and nodded, and sat between a girl she knew from on of her classes, and another girl who was a year or two older than her. When she sat down, all eyes were planted on her for a second—Sakaki blushed and looked away, not wanting to think she liked the attention. The boy cleared his throat, however, causing all eyes to shift back to him once more.

"We have a few new members joining us today," he said, looking at each new member in turn, "so I believe we should all introduce ourselves. Does that sound good to you all…or would you rather have them guessing your names?" There were a few giggles, and then an older girl stood up.

"I shall introduce myself first," she said, her voice carrying an air of importance. She looked at Sakaki, who felt it impolite to break her gaze this time. "My name," she continued, "is Fukuji Mine. I am the president of this club. You may call me Fukiju-sensei, Fukuji-sempai, or just Mine. Whatever you wish to call me, anything is fine. Just no cute high school girl nicknames, all right?" Sakaki felt a little heat rise to her cheeks, both from embarrassment and anger—she bowed hurriedly so as not to reveal her emotions to the president.

"Y-yes," she said, "I am honored to meet you." The other new students did the same. After the president stood up, the vice president stood up. He introduced himself as Ayomiya Shou, then let the other students introduce themselves in turn. Finally, it was Sakaki's turn. She stood up, trying not to let her embarrassment show on her face, and cleared her throat.

"My name is Sakaki…Um, it's my first year here at this veterinary college, and I'm very honored to be here. I hope to give what I can to this club. I shall always try my best." She bowed again and sat down. Shou nodded at her approvingly, as did the president, and she smiled brightly. After introductions were done with, Shou went on to talk about a local animal shelter that was in need of some helping hands. He said he would have a word with the dean about taking a bus off campus to the shelter during lunch. Sakaki vaguely wondered how she was going to be able to eat her lunch when they were going to the shelter, but she was more than thrilled that they would be going to one. Thinking about all the cats she would see there reminded her of her own cat, Maya, who was waiting patiently for her return after school. Since the club was an after-school program, poor Maya would have to wait a little longer for her to get back…

"…and that is why we're holding this campaign," said Mine, placing a medium sized cardboard box on the table, and making Sakaki focus her attention on her new president. "We shall get as much money as we can through bake sales, paper routes, community service, anything we have to do to get the animals at the shelter enough money for vaccines. You, Mitsuru-san, will put one in each class, and, if you have permissions from the teacher, explain what cause the money will go towards. If anyone would like to make a donation, they will do so. For the next few weeks we shall be going with this method, and in the meantime we shall be doing other things to earn money for the animals. Any questions?" No one raised their hands, so Mine handed the box to a tall boy, Mitsuru-san, Sakaki supposed, and sat down again. Sakaki rummaged in her pockets for a few minutes, and then walked over to Mitsuru before he left the room and dropped a five hundred yen coin.

"The first donation," she said, smiling proudly at the president as she sat down again. The president nodded, but didn't say anything, whereas Shou smiled at Sakaki approvingly, making Sakaki's own smile widen. There were a few more announcements, and then the president declared that that everyone could go home. Sakaki grabbed her backpack and coat from where she had left them beside the door and started to walk down the hall. She was nearing the stairs when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Shou smiling at her, and she turned around, slightly confused at why he had stopped her in the hall.

"Ayomiya-san," she said, "what are you doing? Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?" Shou still smiled, but stood up a little straighter. Sakaki saw that at his full height he was a little taller than she was.

"I was just thinking that that was a really nice thing you did," he said cheerily. "Not many people would even give ten yen to save the animals." A look of worry crossed Sakaki's face.

"So we won't be getting much money during this campaign?" Shou shook his head.

"With ten yen apiece for every student in this college it won't be near enough. That's why we always plan so many different money making shindigs. One idea has to actually be worth a million, right?" Sakaki sighed with relief and nodded.

"Maybe not a million…but still worth a lot." Shou grinned broadly, bowed, and began walked backwards up the hall so he could still talk to Sakaki face to face.

"The next meeting is Friday," he called, "I'll see you then, Sakaki-san." Sakaki nodded and waved as he walked further down the hall. After he had disappeared through an open door, she walked the rest of the way through the school and to her car in the parking lot. She then drove to her house, taking the fast way so as not to miss a moment with Maya. When she got home, she saw a little brown face peeking out one of the windows. She chuckled, then opened the door carefully and walked in.

"Maya! I'm home!" The little brown iriomote cat ran into the living room and jumped into Sakaki's arms, licking her face and purring loudly. Sakaki giggled and set the cat down, checking his food and water trays to make sure they were full. She hung her coat up and took off her shoes, then she walked into the carpet floor of her house and picked up one of Maya's favorite toys—a stuffed catnip mouse that hung from a string. She dangled it for a little while, pretending to bat at it like a cat, until Maya became interested and walked over to bat it around himself. He bit and scratched at it for a bit, then Sakaki set the mouse and the ground and dragged the string along so it looked like the mouse was running away. Maya gave chase, clawing at the toy mouse and batting it with paw from time to time. He finally pounced on it, and bit it where the neck would have been, like a normal wild cat. He knew by now it wasn't a real mouse, and became uninterested in the toy.

Sakaki grinned and hummed to herself as she placed her homework on the coffee table and got started. Maya rubbed against her legs, and she petted him appreciatively, but got started on her work none-the-less. She got up to prepare dinner later, then returned to the table with dinner to continue her homework as she ate. It was very quiet in the house; Sakaki did not want to turn on the T.V. or radio for it would distract her. She was almost sorry she had decided not to get a dorm with another person, but it was nice just being by herself in her own home. Still, she missed having people come over and laughing with her friends…Living by herself was just so much less exciting then being with them.

888

Chiyo was having more trouble fitting in than Sakaki was. For one thing, she was shorter than anyone else in the school—she had been the shortest kid in high school as well, but being short had never bugged her as much as it did now. Also, though she could speak perfect English, students spoke about her when she was in plain sight, and teachers talked to her like she has a small child. It made her angry that everyone treated her that way. She had come to see that most American college students were ignorant and rude and didn't care much about the feelings of their fellow classmates. She herself had tried not to think so pessimistically lately, but it seemed that was impossible. She missed her friends dearly, and almost wished she had stayed in Japan and gone to Tokyo University instead with Tomo and Osaka. She wondered if her friends missed her at all…

By lunchtime, she had no trouble keeping an optimistic attitude—the lunch she had packed was quite good, and she was even invited to sit with a group of girls at a table. They spoke like she wasn't there for the first ten minutes or so, which suited Chiyo just fine. She was just happy that she was sitting with people instead of all alone like she usually did. She didn't even notice that the table had gone quiet until she was about to eat one of her croquettes. She put down her chopsticks and looked back at the group of girls staring at her. Se cocked her head, and started to blush. Had she offended them somehow?

"Uh, um," she stuttered, forgetting her lunch, "is something w-wrong?" A girl sitting not far from her looked at Chiyo's neatly packed lunch, her chopsticks, and then back up at her.

"What is all that stuff?" she asked hesitantly. "And can you really eat with chopsticks?" Chiyo giggled.

"Of course I can eat with chopsticks," she replied. "The food is just something I made this morning. There's some rice, pork croquettes, and some gyouza." A student looked closer at the things she had called "gyouza."

"They look like pot-stickers to me," she said. Chiyo nodded.

"Yes, I suppose that what you call them here in America," she said. She picked up her chopsticks again, and was just about to pick up another croquette, when the students starting bombarding her with more questions.

"Are you really from Japan?"

"You can't be! How can you speak perfect English?"

"Which part of Japan did you come from?"

"Is that your natural color?"

Chiyo sat in stunned silence, waiting for the questions to subside—since when did anyone show much interest in her?

"Well," she started when the questions had stopped, "I am from Japan, yes—I used to live in Tokyo, around the Shinjuku area. In Japan, every school has an English class in which you can learn the language. Since I'm at a higher level than most kids my age, I know perfect English. Ah, and yes, this is my natural color."

"Cool!" said the girl who had asked the first question. "Hey, you're name is Chiyo, right? Chiyo Mihama?" Chiyo nodded.

"Why, yes, it is!"

"Great! So, Chiyo, can I try a bit of that croquette thing?"

Chiyo felt odd being called just plain Chiyo—usually people called her –chan because she was so short. She happily gave each person a tiny piece of the croquette to try, and then started a conversation about the different teachers and subjects, and how different schools were than from the ones in Japan. It felt like she was back with her friends, talking and laughing like everything was perfect, which made her feel a lot more confident about going to school in America. She was happy that she had finally been accepted.