A/N: This one was kinda tricky to write, as I've always had a similar philosophy to what Tomo talks about here. It's kinda a long story of how I got it, so I wanted to sort of simplify and Azumanga-ify the way she would lookon such an ideology within the bounds of her character.I had to go back and watch a few episodes to really get a handle on who, what, where, when, why, how, and this was what I came up with as an interpretation. I hope you like it!

Big thanks to everyone who left a review. I'd like to respond to a couple specifically, and I'll do that in an afterword rather than make you people scroll past too much of my babble. Feel free to get critical in your reviews, people; it'll help me to write better!

On with the show!

2: Orange Socks

So what if I go off on tangents with Osaka all the time? So what if I'm raising hell, teasing people, getting teased back, and reacting like a child to it?

Every day at school, I get yelled at for not having done my homework. I think it's worth it. I get to laugh at myself for it, and I get to laugh at others for it, too. It's just something dumb I do to make things fun... sometimes I get laughed at for it, but other times I just get blank stares. Nobody wants to look like an idiot. Everyone's got their noses in books, burning pencil after pencil to try and make it into the Best College. Then they get into the Best Company and stay there for the rest of their lives if they're lucky.

So what if I have to be an idiot to get people to laugh? So what if I have to spin headlong into a desk to get people to look at me like I'm an idiot? Come on, loosen up a little.

I like to laugh, and there's nothing wrong with laughing at someone. I'm OK with people laughing at me. I'm a human being; I think it's funny when someone messes something up. I'd be lying to myself and to everyone else if I didn't say it's funny. If I ever cry, it's almost always theatrical... unless it's that time Sakaki's stupid cat that scratched me that one time. I see it everywhere; people want to laugh at a minor misfortune, at an annoyance to someone else. It's unhealthy to bottle things up. It's OK to have fun, and when fun can't be had, you've got to make fun.

I don't pick on people; it's not like I'm a bully... it's just all those points of opportunity that just crop up from time to time. It lightens the situation up a little. It turns a slip and fall into "Tomo, that isn't funny!" all while I'm laughing my ass off.

They never laugh anymore, that's the problem.

It's not like people don't have the ability to laugh. Just because we're Japanese doesn't mean we're all born samurai, salarymen, or office ladies, and just because we're high school students doesn't mean we've gotta sit around like robots.

They have robots in factories, and you don't see them laughing... then again, there are robots in the high-rises, too. Come on. There's got to be other ways to live.

Why else would I bug Yomi since we were in cribs? She's like the example of everything I'm trying to do. Every single poke, prod, or joke I made at her expense comes back with a bluster of yelling, a smack upside my head, et cetera. She's like clockwork. I could have sworn she never wanted

You've got to make fun... yeah. You've gotta stand up, be an idiot, and act, wear, or be something that goes totally against the way that everyone else is. Uniforms? Psh. If I'll be kicked out of school for wearing non-uniform clothes, I'll fall into that little line... but they never said anything about our socks.

The orange of my socks doesn't even match with the red or blue of our uniforms. They draw attention and curious looks. I even have shoes that match. It's like my calves down is uncontrolled by school rules, and damned if I don't want to make the most of it. Sure, I want to look cute, but I am who I am. What I wear, though... clothes are the best thing I can use to get it across. I don't want to look like everyone else. Look at me! Point and whisper! Whatever it is, just get angry, laugh, scowl, inquire... break it up a little!

I wear 'em every day. I wear 'em just because I want to, just because it's how things work for me. Every single time Yomi babbles on about some crap about the importance of appearance, or how I don't take things seriously, I just laugh and throw it right back at her. It's hard to get her to laugh back, but it happens.

That's what wearing orange socks is all about. I want to be the origin of laughter for everyone I know. Chaos? Childishness? Random harmless violence? That's just the means of getting to the end. It's worth it, too.

Yomi laughs. She doesn't want to admit it, but I make her laugh. Even if I can't get everyone in Japan to laugh at me – as nice as that might be – it's worth it if I can get my uptight friend to laugh. Whether it's at how dumb I am, something that I broke, or my loud fashion sense.

Afterword A/N: I know I already spoke to Pete Z. at one point (I think I did E-mail you about that... my brain is gone... ) but I wanted to put my manifesto up publicly as a point of reference to all the other readers.

Anyway, my responses and explanations to a couple of reviews:

TheTrueWolfBrother: I see where you're coming from, but in this case, "selfish" seems to be more pointing towards "self-conscious." I interpreted her confidence with her actions in the manga and anime, e.g. taking charge in the race, not being iffy about showing her enjoyment of cats after a while (Example: in the beginning, she concealed the plush toys from Kaorin, but later she doesn't hesitate to share notes with Necoconeco drawings with Kagura, etc.) and other factors. I think she's more confident than many people would give her credit for; a lot of her self-effacement is Japanese etiquette at work.

Pete Zaitcev: I really didn't want to touch KaorinxSakaki... I've never been good at portraying romantic feelings in a same-sex situation. I hesitate to write things I'm not familiar with... Mark Twain said it best: "write what you know about." I was more focused on drawing out her general character, not as much her relationship potential. I also see Kaorin's feelings as more of a one-sided infatuation/crush; while I sympathize with her, I don't see enough of Kaorin's character save for "I HEART SAKAKI!" to work her into a story. I'll leave that to the writers who are really good at that sort of thing.