Chapter IIA: Change Of Hearts

GRATUITOUS DISCLAIMER: Yeah… I Kenji certainly "amn't" in legal possession of Azumanga Daioh… and I am not associated with Kiyoshi Azuma. That was inherently obvious though… :)

Nothing to do with Airports

The tarmac was teeming with life, as enthusiastic students in their PE uniforms convened in class groups. Somewhere in the midst of all this was Kaorin, a derelict, who had been exiled from Yukari's class at the end of the previous year. Following closely was an extremely irate Yomi, whose present state was due to the presence of a certain vivacious classmate – who, suffice to say, went by the name of Tomo Takino. Said girl tagged along behind her enraged companion, while Kaorin led, oblivious of the intense fury that emanated from the girl behind her.

"What the hell's this all about?" I don't actually hear you say? Well, basically, Yomi had concocted a plan after enduring Kaorin's rather dubious rant about Mr. Kimura (she was certain that Kaorin was concealing something; though that wasn't much of a surprise). It wasn't so much of a plan, more like an escape route – the idea was to have Kaorin "hide" in Yukari's class for as long as she could manage, then flee if Kimura approached. It was a rather shoddy arrangement on Yomi's part, but by her reckoning, all would go well. And, additionally, it would give her an opportunity to talk to Kaorin in private – provided that certain boisterous bitch didn't get in the way.

Interlude

Chihiro and Kagura gazed, bemused, at the cacophony before them, and looked at each other.

"Here's an idea – how about we ditch the sports fest?" Kagura suggested, grinning furtively. Chihiro chuckled and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"You're already well aware of my answer. So… let's go!" Chihiro replied, seizing Kagura's left hand. The lovers eloped to a nearby park bench and, well…

"This story's only rated T!" screeched Kenji and Sakako in unison. Unfortunately, their cry fell on deaf ears.

Long Middle Section

"Looks like we've lost her." Kaorin mused. Yomi beamed with untold elation.

"I don't know what to say…" the taller girl burbled, and smirked with triumph.
Somewhere in the hoi polloi, the pair ambled cautiously, wary of Kimura's discerning eyes. They had ridded themselves of one redundant lunatic, now they just had to avoid the potential company of another. Luckily, this wasn't too difficult, as Kimura seemed largely distracted by his "Sports Committee" duties.

Finally arriving at the Class 3's gathering spot, they both remembered one horrifying detail – Yukari Tanizaki was just as maniacal as Kimura, perhaps even more so. Her very presence was a guarantee that you would feel her wrath at some point during the day, or if not, perhaps she would encounter you on the street at night half-inebriated, looking for a verbal punching bag.

All their apprehensions were dispelled when they realized that Yukari was absent. An insipid male substitute took attendance, and then began conversing with Sakaki intently.

"Well, this is certainly a fortunate turn of events…" Yomi commented, noting that many of her classmates were sighing with relief and wiping sweat off their foreheads, grinning foolishly.

The sound of an eerily familiar technopop song wafted from the low budget speaker systems, and a raspy voice gave a rather incomprehensible announcement. Despite queries about the broadcast's actual content, most people presumed it was to designate the opening of the sports fest, and moved to the edge of the track. Kaorin and Yomi followed suite, keeping a sharp eye out for the persistent Miss Takino.

After a pithy screech from Mr. Kimura (aka the Executive Sports Committee Chairman… self-appointed) six competitors ambled onto the track, and then crouched down, each one determined to prevail. While all this was occurring, Yomi and Kaorin slipped away to a large vegetated area, near the school gate. Kaorin immediately hurled herself into the verdant meadow, chuckling raucously. Yomi merely watched, rather nonplussed.

"Kaorin… if you're trying to evade my earlier questions… again… it's not going to work. Sure, you can take your time about it – but you've piqued my curiosity to such an extent that I might not be so reasonable in a few minutes…"

Kaorin paused for a moment, then resumed her euphoric writhing, a sneer on her jovial countenance. Yomi's patience had all but evaporated (in a mere five seconds or so) and the bespectacled young woman proceeded to pounce on Kaorin's squirming form and deliver judgment.

Her assault was cut short when she burst into hysterical laughter, and slapped Kaorin on the back, rather uncharacteristically.

"Erm… what's so funny?" enquired her companion.

"To tell you the truth… hehe, I'm not too sure. I restrain myself half the time… hmm… well, basically, I just don't cut loose like that very often. It's a novel experience for me."

"Heh… You could almost say it was an impeccable depiction of Tomo's emotions 24 hours a day, 7 days per week."

"Haha! You're a comedian now? Rather atypical of you, Kaorin. Most people see you as another bland, competent student."

"And most people see you as an irritable cynic. With an occasional display of compassion."

Both girls chortled ridiculously at this kind of mediocre humor for the next two hours or so, but I will not bother transcribing these dreadful puns (etc.) here.

Some Time has Passed... or something

aka Sakaki becomes the protagonist for a few lines

By now, both girls have collapsed with exhaustion – no wonder, those ludicrous jokes must have eradicated surplus of 5,000,000,000,000 brain cells. Out of the encircling copse came a tall, elegant figure strolled towards their halcyon bodies, and suppressed a small giggle. Yomi was, perhaps unconsciously, clutching Kaorin's body with baffling zeal, while Kaorin stroked the other girl's thigh. While she had originally come to wake them up (at Yukari's vehement request), Sakaki was compelled to leave them be, and she gazed at them for a few moments before raising herself to her feet. She sighed.

"Hmm… Cute…"

Yomi's Realization does not occur in this chapter

"Arrrgh!"
Yomi awoke suddenly, almost sending Kaorin sprawling into a sandpit. Her companion glowered at her, half-jokingly.

"Looks like you've had a rough night…" she commented dryly, staring in the general direction of where the sports fest was probably occurring "…or rather, it seems we didn't sleep for as long as I thought…"

"Hm. Let's head back."

Lonely Cheerleader...

Almost 3 hours later, the exhilarating day was coming to an unremarkable conclusion. Cheerleading was, for no apparent reason, the last event, and Yomi, with some vague encouragement from her clique, chose to participate. Reluctantly she lined up outside the change room, and in a few minutes she emerged from the other side, looking incongruously gorgeous – a fact that she wasn't particularly proud of. Expecting her "pals" to lavish her with derogatory remarks, she was surprised when she found they were nowhere to be seen, with the exception of Kaorin, who was meandering around the tarmac, humming the bass riff from "Warning". The girl glanced at her, and then did a rapid double take.

"Yomi! Is that you?"

She approached with (some kind of) hesitation, beaming awkwardly. Yomi was concerned.

"It's not as awful as I think it is, is it?"

Her diminutive cohort shook her head, clearly embarrassed.

"No… Yomi… on the contrary, you look, er… rather pretty… or perhaps that's an understatement… uh…"

"What! Pretty!" her consternation was dissipated when she noticed Kaorin's expression. While it was somewhat incomprehensible, she judged by the way Kaorin's eyes were roaming that the girl had ulterior motives - which, unfortunately for Kaorin, were all too obvious. Yomi flushed a deep red, then moved slightly closer to her companion.
"Uh… is something the matter?" Yomi asked, feigning ignorance. Kaorin simply emitted a series of ecstatic squeals, and wrapped her arms around her the taller girl, smothering her.

"What… the… hell!"

Unrelated Occurence

Kenji guffawed heartily somewhere nearby, and produced a laptop from hammerspace.

"Tomo's not gonna like this one…"

Kenji's note: much like the preceeding chapter, this is in its most primitive form. One thing I noticed in retrospect - it doesn't really relate to the second introduction at all... or perhaps it does... anyway, Expect revisions later! Another quick addition - this is my/our first time using partitions... I think... and subchapters... of sorts... I also included some narrative and formatting "amusement" and utilized "author avatars" (there's a "lingo" term for it, but I can't remember) akin to Sakako's Midori No Hibi fic.

I have a tendency to refer to a thesaurus whenever I see repetition, or simply a phrase that I might want to condense, which results in rather dodgy writing... ah well

By the way, "Warning" is a song by the Japanese progressive rock band, Bi Kyo Ran.