Chapter 6, just written up! Hope you enjoy! I do not own Azumanga Daioh.
Chapter 6, "Today is Chiyo Again".
Chiyo awoke at the same time this morning as any other, but with a new resolve fresh on her mind. After seeing how fast Tomo, Yomi, and Kagura had fixed their problem, she was sure she could handle her own problem. The question, again, was how?
"What'll I say? Or do, for that matter? I didn't see what happened between the others, so I don't have any experience." She worried. For once, her confidence wasn't present. None-the-less, she would do it today…or tomorrow…or next week. "Oh! I'm never gonna be able to tell her at this rate! I'm not sure what would happen if I did, anyway. Maybe…I shouldn't tell her at all…" she attempted to reason with herself, but failed miserably.
"Wait! What if I can trick her into telling me!" she thought, then deflated. "No…I don't even know if she knows what I'm gonna be asking her about. Why does this have to be so hard to do?" she argued with herself, before deciding to get ready for school. And she continued to argue internally until she got there.
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Naturally, everything was utter chaos. Yukari was late, Osaka was asleep, and Tomo and Kagura were arguing over who was smarter. A typical morning, with the exception of Yomi.
She sat at her desk, silent besides an occasional sigh. No doubt her thoughts were on the previous week, Chiyo thought. What with constant pop quizzes from Yukari and the 'Incident', as it was known, she was obviously too stressed to think straight.
Chiyo approached her. "Miss Yomi? I was wondering," she shifted when Yomi's gaze fell on her, "…what happened between you, Miss Tomo, and Miss Kagura that day?" she asked quickly. At that Yomi flushed red.
"I-it was nothing, Chiyo-chan…don't worry about it." Yomi assured her, but also drew the attention of Tomo.
"Oh, so it was nothing, was it? Is that so?" she asked, trying to make Yomi squirm. Instead, she got a surprise recoil:
"What, did you want it to be?" Yomi inquired, a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. It was Tomo's turn to blush uncontrollably now.
"I…I…shut up! I'm not gonna fall for that!" Tomo evaded and returned to her argument with Kagura.
"So, something did happen, didn't it?" Chiyo asked accusingly.
"Well…yes. And no. It's complicated, Chiyo-chan. Fortunately, she isn't. Otherwise I'd be screwed." Yomi finished, averting her eyes to Tomo.
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"Now I have to find out what's going on! I'll ask Miss Kagura." Chiyo decided, approaching her target.
"Oh, hey Chiyo-chan. What's up?" Kagura asked.
"Miss Kagura, what happened…last week, between you three?" Chiyo asked pleadingly. Kagura blushed, and turned away.
"It's pretty complex, Chiyo-chan. I'm not sure you'd understand-"Kagura began, but Chiyo cut her short.
"Miss Yomi already said that! I want you to tell me what happened. Please?" Chiyo begged, but to no avail.
"Sorry, Chiyo-chan," Kagura answered, "but I'm not at liberty to discuss it. It was really between those two. You might try asking Tomo, but, then again…she might be the one of us to give the least info." She told Chiyo, and walked off to converse with the others.
'I have to get it out of Tomo, then. Otherwise I won't have anything to work on!' Chiyo thought as she neared the hyperactive girl.
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"I proved you wrong, so deal with it, Kagura!" Tomo argued, after a debate with Kagura.
"You didn't prove anything, you idiot! You ranted about the concept of learning English, right?" Kagura asked her.
"That's right. There's no point to it, and I proved it!" Tomo answered.
"Well, Tomo," Kagura simplified, "if we end up going to America, we'll be in a country full of people speaking English now, won't we?" Kagura finished, making her point.
"That's right...HEY! Shut up! I knew that. I'm not gonna bother arguing about it anymore." Tomo announced, and walked away. And right into Chiyo. "Hey, Chiyo-chan! What do ya need?" Tomo asked.
"Miss Tomo…well…what happened the other day? Between you and Miss Yomi and Miss Kagura?" she asked. Tomo didn't respond vocally, but her face told her reaction; she reacted the same as Yomi had.
"W-w-why do you want to know?" Tomo stuttered.
"It's nothing important…it's just that you've all been acting so weird since it happened." Chiyo lied (!).
"Well…some things happened, and…well, I really don't want to talk about it. Go ask Yomi or Kagura, I'm sure they have something to say." Tomo finished quickly before rushing off. Chiyo was left to stand, angry and confused.
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Approaching Osaka at the end of the day turned out to be an even bigger problem. She had nothing to go on! She decided to make what she could out of it. "Miss…Miss Osaka…" Chiyo sputtered, just barely getting Osaka's attention.
"What is it, Chiyo-chan?" she asked.
"I…well…what I wanted to say, was…" she faltered, unable to think of what to do.
"Yeah, what is it, Chiyo-chan?" Osaka waited for her.
"Well…it's…nothing!" Chiyo backed out.
"Nothin'?" Osaka questioned, realizing the opportunity of this moment.
"I was trying to tell you that-"Chiyo had just worked up the courage when Tomo rampaged out of the school, over Chiyo, and off to her home. Osaka helped her up, and set her straight with extra care.
"Now, what were you sayin', Chiyo-chan?" she asked hopefully. Combined with Tomo's hit-and-run, and Osaka's expression, she decided to back out.
"It wasn't anything important, Miss Osaka. Never mind." She finished, much to Osaka's dismay.
"Oh…well, alright then. See ya later, Chiyo-chan." Osaka saw her off, and waited until she was gone to show her disappointment.
Even if she does, she probably wouldn't say it first. I've gotta do it, then!" she resolved, and started home.
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Yomi and Tomo continued to deny the events after the Incident, and were confused and awkward around each other for a while. Kagura also kept shut, but appeared to be hanging out with Sakaki more often, and she stood up to Tomo more often afterwards. And Chiyo and Osaka still have their own dilemma, which is still unfolding.
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End of Chapter 6.
Here it is people. RR!