Author's Note: It's the Prologue! The start of a new story! Enjoy! Oh, and I don't own Azumanga Daioh. I'd like to say that I own Sho, Ryu, Ken, Genji, and Marion, but... actually, I might not.

This story takes place sometime during the second year. Everyone's in place, but there aren't any horrible college exams looming in the distance. It's a happy time.

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"CAUSE I LIKE HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS AND STUFF"

That was over one year ago. Mr. Kimura's statement had generally been regarded by the masses as simple lechery. Despicable, but at least he hadn't acted upon it.

In this case, the masses are probably correct.

Still, that opinion is not held by all. Some students claim to see past the initial shocking statement itself and into the heart of Mr. Kimura, as disgusting as that sounds. These students claim that Mr. Kimura is no different from other teachers.

Actually, that's not entirely correct.

Rather, they claim that he's different from other teachers, but not in the commonly perceived fashion. All people, they argue, are somewhat perverse, but Kimura is more honest than the average person. These students see Kimura as a noble individual who is not afraid of the opinions of others, who isn't afraid to lay his heart bare for the world to see.

This is their story.

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"Prrrring!"

There. The school day was over, and not a moment too soon. Students packed up what they'd brought to school and started the minor trek for home.

Most of them did, anyway.

Three boys walked together in a group, although they seemed to be slightly more focused than your average pack of high school punks. The three walked in a way that was more focused than aimless wandering, but not nearly focused enough to be deemed purposeful. They walked, in short, as though they knew where to go but not what to do once they got there.

The boy with somewhat messy brown hair broke the silence. "Sho, Ryu... do you guys have any idea what Genji's little meeting is all about?"

"I've got no idea, Ken." That was Ryu, who looked rather a lot like Ken except with black hair. A palette swap, perhaps.

"He is rather unpredictable," added Sho. Sho, surely enough, had black hair as well, but his was kept much more neatly than Ryu's. "Oh, look, there he is."

Genji looked up at his three friends. They were each taller than he was, and as a matter of fact he looked kind of like Sho sans a few centimeters, but by the way the group coalesced, it was obvious that he had some authority in this little group of friends.

"So, there you three are. Well, it's about time. You see, this is a meeting of terrific importance. As a matter of fact, I think it might even change the way we live for the rest of our high school lives. The subject at hand, of course, is g-"

"Wait! Is it really just the four of us, Genji?" asked Ken.

"No, of course not. We need all five of us for my plan to work."

"Well, shouldn't we wait for the last person?"

"No need to wait," said Ryu. "There's Marion now."

"I'm told you to call me Minoru! Minoru!"

"But Yukari calls you Marion."

"Minoru!"

Marion was a boy. Let there be no doubt about that. His name is due to an unfortunate episode during his birth that will not be detailed right now. It is doubly unfortunate that Marion's hair somewhat resembles Minamo Kurosawa's hair, but he simply can't do anything about that.

"Okay, so the gang's all here," muttered Genji. "I trust that we're all done teasing Minoru, eh?"

"I didn't get any digs in yet," answered Sho.

"And you won't. Listen to me, because this plan's important. Life-changing, even. This could be the biggest event of our lives as high-school boys. I'm not going to lie to you, it'll be dangerous, but should we succeed, the rewards are indescribable."

"Okay, so what exactly are we trying to do?" asked Ken.

"Do you remember, about a year ago? When Kimura-sensei made his declaration in class?"

"Yes, we were all touched." answered Ryu.

"Yeah, yeah, we were all touched, but have we acted on it? Has any of us even tried to get a girlfriend yet?"

"No... we've been busy, I guess." answered Marion.

"Exactly! So I propose that we go out and try to get ourselves girlfriends! The act of searching out a companion closer than mere friendship is an integral part of the high school experience!"

"But how, exactly, do you think we do this? I mean, look around you! The girls usually hang out in pairs. Some of us would be left out in the cold, man. That'd suck." said Sho, quickly covering himself with, "Not that I don't want one, of course. Just... you know."

"Not quite! There's one gaggle of girls that's the same size as our little group of friend here!" declared Genji, pointing past the circle of friends.

Their gaze followed his finger, and beset upon a group of girls chatting cheerfully amongst themselves.

"But..." answered Sho, "There's six of them."

Genji stared at him. "Dude... Chiyo-chan does not count. She's like, twelve!"

"Dude, what the hell were you thinking?" asked Ken. "You actually counted Chiyo-chan? Pedo!"

"Pedo! Pedo!" chorused Ryu and Marion.

Genji coughed quietly, and his friends fell silent. "Right, now that all the complications are cleared up, are you all ready?"

"Ready for what?" asked Ryu. "You haven't even given us a plan yet!"

"Divide and conquer, of course! It's hard to ask one of them out when we're in a group, right? But... but if we ask them out separately, when they're alone, they're much more likely to say yes! And, don't you see, girls talk! So then, throughout the day, they'll all find out that their friends are also getting boyfriends, and they won't want to be left out, so it'll become more and more likely that we'll be successful as the plan progresses!"

"So should we each ask one out as the week goes on, or something?"

"No, no, no! We've got to try on the same day! Strike while the iron is hot, lads!"

"Lads..." murmured Sho, more to himself than anyone else. In fact, he was hoping that he wouldn't be noticed right now, lest the cries of "Pedo!" return.

"So then, is this where we argue over who gets which girl?" Ken joked. "Nah, that wouldn't work out."

"Random." Genji said, simply. "I've put all their names in a hat, so we each just reach on in and pull a name out of the hat... and that's the girl we try to woo. No complaining. Fair all the way around. Got it?"

The other four boys nodded. In unison, each one reached into the hat and pulled out a slip of paper, reading it to himself. If any boy was unhappy with his draw, he kept it to himself, bound by the iron code of honor that all boys seem to have.

"Tomorrow's the day, then." said Genji.

His friends nodded towards him purposefully, and then they went their separate ways, each heading home to plan out tomorrow's endeavors.

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Author's Note: I know, I know. Oh no, original characters! How dare you try to insert yourself and your friends into the story? 'tis a crime against art! Well, I'll have you know that I don't have friends or a penis, so ha!

In my head, that sounded a lot more impressive. On text... it's kind of meh.

Oh, and because I suck at giving character descriptions, do you remember those five guys that showed up when the girls were talking about Kimura's comment? Yeah, that's them. Sho, Ryu, and Ken are the three in the back, and Genji's the one who was talking. That leaves Marion as the last one, of course... if you really needed help visualizing perfectly average kids.

Anyway, I know that I'm starting a new story and that I've still got Wanderers up and running, but like I said, I had a really cool idea that didn't fit into the Wanderers storyline at all, and so I had to start this one. I'm not ignoring Wanderers or anything, but sometimes you've just gotta go with the gut, right?

As for Endeavors, the story is going to take place over the span of just one day. The one day'll be seen from the viewpoint of each character, so here's hoping that I don't mess it up horribly somehow.