Synopsis: The girls celebrate the arrival of the new year.
Azumanga Tales: New Year Fun
It had become somewhat of a tradition for the girls to gather at the local temple on New Year's Day.
Chiyo glanced excitedly at her friends. Tomo was yawning widely and grumbling good-naturedly about having to get up so early. Osaka was watching the leaves fall with avid fascination. Kagura was talking to Sakaki about a new training regimen she started. And Yomi was coming up the steps, being the last one to arrive as usual.
"Happy New Year, Yomi!"
Yomi smiled gently at the shorter girl. "Sorry I'm late. Kaorin called me and said that her father was sick and she was helping her mother take care of him. She'll meet up with us later."
The girls got in line to stand before the altar and and pray for health and prosperity for the upcoming year.
Osaka asked, "Did you have a first New Year dream this year, Chiyo-chan?"
"Yes!" Chiyo replied happily. "It was pretty ordinary though but fun too! I dreamt that all of us were at Magical Land and went on all the rides!"
"Was I there?" Yomi asked eagerly.
Chiyo looked at her with sympathy. "Are you still upset about not going?"
"Of course not," Yomi said unconvincingly. "Now was I there or not?"
Chiyo looked at the ground in embarrassment. "I think in the dream you were sick and had to stay home."
Tomo laughed. "Not even in Chiyo-chan's dreams! Better luck next time, Yomi!"
"What did everyone else dream?" Osaka asked.
Chiyo narrowed her eyes when she saw Tomo open her mouth. "If it involves my death again then I don't want to hear it."
Tomo crossed her arms and pouted. "Chiyo-chan's no fun!"
Sakaki told a long, convoluted story about a strange, cat-like creature that Chiyo insisted was not her father. Osaka told a disturbing story about how their entire class had been kidnapped by Yukari and brought to an island to participate in a Battle Royale, and Osaka had emerged the winner by slaughtering all of her classmates with a paper fan. (shout-out to DB Sommer!)
There was a long silence then Tomo turned to Chiyo and complained, "How come I get in trouble for dreaming about killing you and Osaka doesn't?"
"I'm more disturbed by the fact that Osaka's dream had multiple endings," Kagura muttered.
The girls finally reached the head of the line. On a whim, Tomo tried to toss her coin into the offeratory box with her eyes closed and missed by a few inches.
Kagura snorted and with her eyes closed threw her coin in a perfect arc into the box.
Not to be outdone, Tomo closed her eyes again, stretched her arm back like a baseball pitcher, and threw the coin as hard as she could. It ricocheted off the box and smacked Yomi in the face.
While the girl with the rapidly forming bruise wondered if it was worth the karmic backlash to beat up Tomo on holy ground, Tomo turned to Kagura and said quickly, "I meant to do that!"
"Shouldn't you be trying to deny it?" Kagura wondered. "It's not something to be proud of!"
"That would mean admitting that I missed!" Tomo replied, looking scandalized.
"Again, you're missing my point," Kagura said, rubbing her forehead.
Looking up at the heavens, Yomi moaned, "Why me? What have I done to deserve Tomo?"
Kagura patted her on the back sympathetically. "It could be worse."
"How?"
"You could be Tomo."
Yomi put a finger to her lips in thought. "You have a point. That would be horrifying."
"Hey, I'm standing right here, you know!" Tomo exclaimed.
Yomi looked at her briefly then turned back to Kagura. "Definitely horrifying."
While the girls moved on to receive their fortunes to tie to the tree, Osaka had picked up a book of koans from a nearby table and was flipping through it.
Osaka read aloud, "Was I before a man who dreamt about being a butterfly, or am I now a butterfly who dreams about being a man?"
Osaka looked up with a frown. "But I'm a girl. Does that mean that I'm a butterfly dreaming that it's a man dreaming that he's a girl? And if so, does that mean I have multiple personality disorder? Or maybe I'm a transvestite?" She looked at the booklet, impressed. "Layers upon layers, indeed."
New Year's in Japan was generally a boring day since most of the shops were closed. Normally, the girls would go home and enjoy lying around the house doing nothing, but this year Chiyo invited her friends over to her house for a backyard barbecue.
"So are we finally going to meet your parents, Chiyo-chan?" Sakaki asked as the group walked down the street toward Chiyo's house.
"I'm afraid not," Chiyo replied with a downcast look. "Father and Mother flew to America for a business meeting. They asked me to go, but there usually aren't any other kids there, so it's rather dull."
"I'm beginning to think they don't really exist," Yomi said out of the corner of her mouth to Tomo.
"Maybe she murdered them, chopped them up, then hid their bodies in the walls," Tomo said with great enthusiasm.
"You're sick, you know that?"
"Maybe her parents are spies," Kagura suggested.
"Mister Mihama's powers would be useful in that line of work," Sakaki agreed.
"Didn't you say he could shoot laser beams out of his eyes? I can't remember," Tomo said.
"I think that's Superman. But Mister Mihama can fly too now that I think about it," Yomi replied.
"Maybe my parents are perfectly normal people!" Chiyo exclaimed, shaking her head a little. Sakaki's running joke (or at least she assumed it was a joke) was amusing, but it could be tiring at times.
The other girls didn't see it that way, of course. Agitating Chiyo was a guilty pleasure, so they actively encouraged the tall girl and her imagination. It was difficult enough getting the reserved girl to loosen up after all.
Osaka was rhythmically opening and closing her hand as fast as she could.
"What are you doing?" Chiyo asked.
"I'm trying to hear the sound of one hand clapping," Osaka responded while staring intently at her fist.
"Wouldn't it sound more like this?" Tomo asked before she whacked Yomi in the back, almost knocking the girl over.
"No, that sounded more like a slap," Osaka replied seriously.
"No, this sounds like a slap," Yomi growled, drawing her hand back.
"Ssh!" Sakaki suddenly hissed. She was staring intently up the street. "It's the gray cat."
Almost as if it could sense his nemesis, the tiny, feline head turned toward the girl sneaking silently upon him.
Knowing that trying to convince the older girl of the folly of her ways was futile, Chiyo rummaged around in her knapsack for the antiseptic and bandages.
Sakaki reached out with a trembling hand toward the furry little monster who was now baring his teeth.
Kagura's face brightened. "Let me try something." She quickly ran past Sakaki and scooped up the cat.
She then put him into a modified wrestling hold and presented him to Sakaki. "Quick! Pet it! Pet it now!"
Five minutes later, Chiyo was bandaging up both Sakaki and Kagura.
"I really thought that would work," Kagura said, crest-fallen.
"Never underestimate the hatred that cats have for Sakaki," Tomo said wisely.
The incident was quickly forgotten when they arrived at the house. Chiyo's chef had set up a magnificent spread and left a grill off to the side if anyone wanted to try their hand at barbecuing.
Yomi had to tackle Tomo when the girl took a step toward the lighter fluid.
"Set someone on fire one time and suddenly you're a menace," Tomo grumbled.
Since Kagura had the most experience, she took charge of the grill and soon, the group of friends were sitting back and enjoying the food.
"Hey, everybody!" Kaorin joyfully shouted as she walked through the yard. She nervously went over to Sakaki who was petting Mister Tadakichi.
"I'm sorry that I was late, Miss Sakaki," Kaorin stuttered. "Have you been having a good time?"
"It has been pleasant," Sakaki replied.
"I'm glad." Kaorin fumbled with her backpack. "I brought a snack to the barbecue that Yomi told me you really liked."
She handed Sakaki a can of bear meat.
Sakaki turned green and clasped a hand to her mouth. "Excuse me!"
Kaorin watched her idol run off, bewildered. "Was it something I said?"
Later that afternoon, everybody went home to have dinner with their families. Then they met back up at Chiyo's house dressed in their best kimonos ready to go to the festival.
"What's in the bag?" Yomi asked as she watched Tomo come into the house holding a large paper bag.
"You'll see," Tomo said mysteriously before setting the bag inside the coat closet.
The girls walked to the train station and took a ride to the festival grounds. There was some trouble keeping the group together since Tomo went berserk over the food stands and Sakaki kept disappearing whenever the group passed a table bearing stuffed animals.
"Maybe we should just pair off and meet up later," Kaorin suggested as she edged her way toward Sakaki's side.
"We should stick together," Yomi said firmly. "The last time we went to a festival, Tomo got lost in the house of mirrors for an hour."
"I was simply memorized by my beauty," Tomo said defensively.
"And your lack of brains had nothing to do with it?"
"Better my lack of brains than your big hips!"
"Leave my hips out of this!"
"I can't! They're too big!" Tomo cried with a smirk.
In the midst of this argument, Osaka had wandered over to a fish catching game. The vendor handed her a flimsy catcher and she stared at it thoughtfully.
Chiyo walked over next to her and stared at the large tank of water with tiny fish swimming around in it. Then she asked, "Do you like goldfish?"
"Not really. I just want to try something I saw in an anime once." Osaka took on a determined expression, drew back her arm, and yelled, "KACHUU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"
A soaked and dripping vendor told Osaka not to come back.
The visit to the festival ended up being quite enjoyable. They looked at all the stands, admired the setting, and went on the rides. The girls had to drag Tomo away from the merry-go-round though.
"Come on! One more time!" Tomo whined.
"We've been on it ten times!" Yomi yelled. "What's so fascinating about going around in circles?"
"It brings out the child in me," Tomo replied flippantly.
"Like that's tough to accomplish. A ball ofyarn brings out the child in you," Yomi said witheringly. "It's a dumb ride."
"No, it's not," Tomo insisted.
"Yes, it is."
"Not."
"Is."
Tomo held out her hands in a time-out gesture. "Look, there's an easy way to settle this. Chiyo-chan, what's better? The merry-go-round or riding in Miss Yukari's car?"
Chiyo trembled and whispered, "Mer-ry go-o ro-round."
Tomo turned to Yomi triumphantly. "There you go."
"That didn't prove anything and you know it!" Yomi shouted.
A short argument later, Yomi got her way and chose the next ride. So Yomi got to work off her frustrations on the bumper cars by chasing Tomo around... in circles. Nobody dared to point out the irony.
Back at Chiyo's house, Sakaki and Kagura set up the karaoke machine while the other girls flipped through the music selection.
Yomi made a move to pick up a microphone, and Tomo leapt up and tackled her.
"What the hell?" Yomi mumbled into the floor.
"All in favor of Yomi not singing?" Tomo asked while Yomi squirmed and cursed beneath her.
Kagura raised an eyebrow. "So she's a bad singer. It's only one night."
"That's what you think!" Tomo cried. "But it adds up! New Year's, Christmas, birthdays. I've suffered since elementary school! I can't take it any more!"
Then she felt Yomi's body shaking. "Wha-at?"
A sob escaped from Yomi's lips. "I know you didn't like my singing Tomo-chan, but I didn't know you hated me so much!"
Tomo scrambled to her feet in utter panic. "I don't hate you!"
"Well, friends don't embarrass each other like this," Yomi said, turning her face away.
"I was just joking around! I didn't mean anything by it. Please stop crying," Tomo pleaded.
"I guess I'm just over-reacting," Yomi said, still hiding her face. "I think I just need a drink to calm down."
"You got it!" Tomo said, rushing toward the kitchen. "Lemonade, okay?"
"Whatever," Yomi said, sniffling. "Do you think you could get me a sandwich while you're in there?"
"No problem!" Tomo yelled before she disappeared.
Chiyo put a hand on Yomi's shoulder hesitantly. "Are you okay?"
Yomi looked up with a dry face and an evil smile. "Couldn't be better."
Two hours later, everyone was ready to go home and have a good night's sleep, but Tomo blocked the way to the front door.
"Wait! We have to do one thing to really start off the New Year." Tomo ran to the closet and pulled out her bag. She then spilled their contents onto the floor.
"You bought fireworks?" Kagura asked in disbelief.
"Yep, back in August," Tomo replied proudly. "I've been saving them for a special occasion."
"You know they're illegal, right?" Kaorin asked.
"Only if you get caught!" Tomo ran off before the other girls could stop her.
By the time they caught up with her, Tomo had already set some off, and they could only watch in awe as streaks of color flashed across the sky.
"I guess one or two wouldn't hurt," Kagura said as she accepted a sparkler from Tomo.
Chiyo refused a sparkler. "I don't like them. They just seem like an easy way to set yourself on fire."
"Or other people," Yomi said, glaring at Tomo.
"Your hair grew back," Tomo replied cheerfully.
"Wigs are very itchy," Yomi informed the others.
"If a house catches on fire and there's no one around to see it, does it make a sound? And more importantly, do the people sleeping inside the house still burn to death?" Osaka asked, waving her sparkler around.
Tomo snatched the sparkler from her. "Okay, no more fireworks for you."
"It's like the pyromaniac leading the arsonist," Yomi teased.
"Now you're just exaggerating. I'm not that bad. It was one time," Tomo insisted. She swung her arm out in frustration, and in doing so, knocked the bottle rocket Kagura had just lighted out of her hand.
Chiyo watched her life flash before her eyes. It was rather short.
Luckily, so was she. The rocket went right over her head then fizzled out on the lawn.
Six glares were leveled on Tomo.
She gulped and smiled weakly. "Happy New Year?"
Chiyo gingerly felt the top of her head. Deciding to look on the bright side, she said, "Well, it certainly started off with a blast."
Six very pained looks were sent her way.
AN: My friend's uncle was hit by a bottle rocket right in the chest one Fourth of July. He got a deep bruise since he wasn't as lucky as Chiyo. ;)
We also accidentally set the hedges on the fire that very same night, but I couldn't figure out a way to work that into the story since you kinda had to be there to really appreciate the chaos. So remember, kids, always have a fire extinguisher on hand. Happy New Year!