Author's Note: Welcome to the second chapter! Mind you, we're back to the morning of that fateful day, except today we walk the steps of our dear boy Ryu instead of that unfortunate Americophile-spawned child Marion! Who's Ryu shooting for? How's he going about it? Will he succeed? Who knows?

Read and review, because I am powered by reviews! Roarargh!

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The sun shone as it had done day in, day out (which were, of course, determined by the sun itself) for some five billion years. It gazed down on a group of boys walking to school, as countless boys had done countless times throughout all of time. Today, however, the sun wasn't merely shining on a group of schoolboys.

Today, the sun was singing. It was singing the song of opportunity.

Ryu gazed up at the benevolent orb in the sky and grinned, enjoying its warmth.

Then, of course, the predictable question pointed itself towards him.

"So, Ryu, who'd ya get?"

"Sakaki."

"Sakaki! You're... joking, right?"

"Nope." Ryu pulled out the paper and flashed it at his friends, affirming his previous statement.

"Ah!" cried out Sho. "How I wish I had your luck! Sakaki... Sakaki's..."

"Stacked. Completely and utterly stacked. A hottie to rival that great ball of fire in the sky," continued Genji.

"Hey, I'm not complaining." replied Ryu, grinning. "Oh, hello Chihiro," he added, as they passed by the girl standing at the entrance to their school.

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The five made their entrance into Yukari's classroom a few minutes before the bell rang, but Yukari's class ran on a schedule that couldn't be defined by a simple bell. Several top-tier physicists and mathematicians are currently working on a formula to properly predict the class's temporal behavior, but it is widely accepted that the Grand Unified Theory will probably come first and be more useful.

Ryu and his friends looked around and tried to locate their general targets. Sho headed one way, and Marion followed after him. Ken and Genji headed another way, leaving Ryu by himself. He glanced around, looking for Sakaki.

I've got to make my impact, right? I've got to show her that I care, somehow. I've got to show her that I'm different from all the other generic background guys in some fashion, but how?

He scanned the room once more and saw Sakaki sitting in a desk by the window, watching the sky.

There she is, watching the sky.

Ryu had spent the night before thinking about Sakaki, and given her looks, he and most of the other boys had probably spent more than just that night thinking about Sakaki. Yesterday, however, he had come up with a plan.

Sakaki is a mystery, always looking outside, past the classroom, as though she had something more important to ponder than everyday life, but she's still human, right? Language is what separates people from mere animals, what allows us to move past the slow advance of the evolutionary process into our tremendously speedy technological process, so then it's all about the right words!

"Sakaki! My dear Sakaki, you're a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, shrouded in uncertainty, and I, with man's customary love for the unknown, would like nothing more than to unravel the mystery, to explore the unexplored! Please, would you grant me this honor?"

Sakaki simply continued to stare out the window.

Damn. Nothing? Then... I'll have to bring out the big guns!

Ryu closed his eyes and began to recite,

"Sakaki! Sweet Sakaki! if a name

Dearer and purer were, it should be thine.

Mountains and seas divide us, but I claim

No tears, but tenderness to answer mine:

Go where I will, to me thou art the same--"

"Is that Epistle to Augusta?" asked a voice.

"Yes! Yes it is!" Ryu grinned, happy that he'd finally gotten through, and opened his eyes, only to see...

Chiyo.

"It's quite lovely."

"Yeah, it is." Ryu looked over at Sakaki, then looked down at Chiyo.

I can't do this with her here! She's too young! She wouldn't understand!

"Why were you reciting Lord Byron's poetry?" asked the prodigy.

Damn!

"Ah... er... you see... it's like th-"

"STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING! CLASS STARTS NOW!"

Saved by Yukari!

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Yukari's class passed despite all of it's temporal weirdness, and while Ryu usually loved English, today he simply could not pay attention in Yukari's class.

Crash and burn. Not a single response from her... If only Chiyo hadn't shown up, I could have... Well, no reason to dwell on the past. I still have the rest of today!

Why's that Osaka girl flashing a peace sign?

P.E., however, yielded some interesting knowledge.

"Hey," started Ryu, "Where's Sho?"

"Hanging out with that Osaka girl and some of her friends." answered Ken.

'What? Already?"

"Yeah, lucky bastard. Anyway, how're you guys progressing with your girls?"

"Er, we had a pleasant conversation." answered Marion.

"Yeah, me too, but that's it. Genji, Ryu, how about you guys?"

"Not much yet," started Genji, "But the coup de grace is coming up!"

"Uh... I don't think that you're using that phrase entirely correctly," said Ryu. "Anyway, I'm not doing so well yet, but I've got another thing to try."

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Prring! The lunch bell rang, and Ryu raced to the locker rooms, changing quickly. He headed into the building, making a beeline for Yukari's classroom. He noted that Genji, Tomo, Ken, and a few other people were further down the hallway, but he paid them little heed. He had to get to Sakaki, and Sakaki usually had lunch in Yukari's classroom.

He turned the corner, looked in the window and saw Sakaki and... Kagura.

A church bell rang out mournfully.

Terrific omen, by the way.

He glanced around.

Can't do it like this! This'll be just like Chiyo, except worse! Kagura will actually know what I'm trying to get at! She'll focus on me, and my will to continue will vanish under her relentless glare! No chance!

Then he spotted Marion, staring at the two girls too, probably thinking the same thing. Ryu walked over and clapped his hand on Marion's shoulder, grinning. "Hey there, Marion! So I see that our two are there together, having lunch. So then, what do you say that we try to approach them together? If they support each other, then we will also support each other, yeah?"

"Yeah, okay!"

"Stand or fall, success or failure, we do it together!"

"Yeah!"

"We'll show that bastard Sho that he won't be the only one to get a girl today!"

"Yeah! Let's get them!"

Heaven or Hell!

"Let's rock!" the boys shouted, clasping each other's hands.

Strangely enough, it seemed as if, to commemorate their unity, someone had started to play a very energetic piece of music, the sort of thing that comes in just as the heroic final battle begins, with accompanying explosions and laser-blasts.

It begins!

The two boys turned to the pair of girls and were surprised by what they saw. "They're gone!" they cried in unison.

"Split up?" asked Ryu.

"Yeah. Good luck."

"Did you see where they went?"

"Not in the slightest."

Marion headed down one way, and Ryu went the other, away from that bizzare music. The music, faint but undeniably there, started to increase in energy as Ryu caught up to the tall girl. He ran up to her, but she didn't turn.

Now's as good a time as any, right?

"She walks in Beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes:

Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which Heaven to gaudy day denies,"

As Ryu finished the first verse, another deep, mournful bell tolled.

Where are those things coming from?

Ryu opened his mouth, ready to continue, but was interrupted by a high pitched shriek.

Tomo Takino ran down the hallway, screeching loudly. As she passed Ryu, she grabbed his arm and tossed him behind her. She did this to a great many other things as well, leaving an interesting path of destruction. He watched after the screaming girl, but suddenly his vision was blocked by a pair of long legs and accompanying panties. Unfortunately, Ryu couldn't enjoy the sight, because the words that accompanied it were, to be frank, shocking.

"Takino! When I catch you, I'm going to take several adorable, fuzzy, tiny woodland creatures and jam them up all of your major orifices and a few new ones that I'll create specifically for the occasion!"

Kagura leapt over his body as well, and Ryu decided to simply lie there and enjoy the sight.

"Sakaki! Yomi's snapped! You've got to help me stop her before she... before she... I don't know what she'll do, but it'll probably be very bad!"

"Okay." Sakaki answered, and the two girls ran off with each other. Down the hallway, a confused Chiyo chased after the older girls, although she didn't stand much of a chance of catching them.

"Are you okay?" asked a new voice.

Ryu glanced over. It was Chihiro. Someday that girl is going to make an excellent spy. Nobody ever notices her. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Ryu got up, brushed himself off, and looked down the end of the hallway which the girls had come from. He noted some of his friends looking very confused, but figured that he'd probably gotten the best end of the deal. After all, I did get a few panty shots.

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Ryu loved Kimura's class. It was the final class of the day, so after it finished he could go home. Kimura was a teacher of incredible honesty and personal integrity, so Ryu admired him. Furthermore, Classic Literature was just the sort of thing Ryu could really get into.

Today, however, was different. The class seemed to drag on, and for the first time in a while Ryu had simply wanted the class to be over with.

When it finally was, Ryu got up and attempted to make his way through the general bustle of homeward bound children. Sakaki, however, managed to simply squeeze through much faster. Ryu, trapped with Kagura and the general bunch of students not lucky enough to make it through the door before the crowd, simply stuck together, shoved about by the whims of the masses.

Eventually, he managed to make it out of Kimura's classrom.

"She said yes!" cried Genji.

"Hmm? What?"

"Ryu, Tomo said yes to me! Haha!"

"Congratulations."

Ah! Then I'm behind! Damnit!

He glanced around, looking for Sakaki, and could barely make out her raven hair bobbing around amongst the crowd down the hallway. He stepped out to try to catch her, but a dainty, soft hand caught his in a gentle, but firm grip. Shocked, he turned around to see who it was.

"Chihiro?"

"I... I heard you reciting She Walks In Beauty earlier today. I... I was so... so... could you please follow me?" She looked at him, doe-eyed, and Ryu felt his knees weaken. He couldn't resist.

It's not Sakaki, not the girl I pulled out of the hat, but... after all, she did at least know the name of the poem.

Chihiro led him down the hallway, towards the other end of the school. Ryu grinned and followed her. She looked back at him, and smiled. She ran ahead of him, and he jogged after her.

That smile... there's something about it... It seemed somehow... sad. Ah, that Chihiro! She's so... adorable! How have I not noticed her before?

She turned a corner, and he jogged after her, turning the corner as well.

As he rounded the corner, someone punched him in the gut. Dazed, confused, and with the breath knocked out of him, Ryu staggered back. He glanced around, looking for Chihiro, checking to see if she'd been attacked as well. He looked around, trying to find the attacker, when a roundhouse kick connected with his face. He fell to the ground, bleeding slightly, and was kicked in the gut. Ryu decided to simply lay there, pretending to be unconscious.

"Quickly now, let's just... put him in the dumpster." said an unfamiliar voice.

"Kaorin... don't you think this is going a bit far?" asked Chihiro.

"People go to terrific extremes for love, Chihiro. I've got to do this. I'm sorry, but you wouldn't understand."

"Don't worry, Kaorin... I understand."

"Thanks, Chihiro."

Ryu heard the Dumpster open, and then he came to rest amongst the bags of trash.

Ow... ah... well... I don't think anything's broken... no horrific injuries just yet...

The same deep, mournful bell from before rang out from somewhere beneath him, and Ryu sagged amongst the sacks of trash. He lay there, listening to the bell, and heard it ring once more. Afterwards, it was replaced with very energetic bit of music. Ryu lay there, listening to the music for a while, and then heard something else.

"Bastard." said a familiar voice, muted somewhat by the Dumpster lid.

"Agreed." replied another voice that tugged at the strings of memories.

"Hey," started Ryu, carefully moving his head away from the trash as he opened his mouth, "is that you guys?"

"Waugh!"

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Author's Notes

Anti Mary Sues: Gotcha! Ha! Actually, your review put me in something of a good mood, which is a good thing. When writing about something as cheerily cheerful as Azumanga Daioh, you've got to put yourself in a damned good mood or else it doesn't feel right, right? Thanks.

Ryu is indeed reciting poems by the great Lord Byron. Chiyo is right in identifying the first poem as Epistle to Augusta, cheeky little prodigy that she is. The only difference here is that Ryu has changed "My Sister! My sweet Sister!" to "Sakaki! Sweet Sakaki!" Of course, a guy that dorky over language wouldn't do something crazy like mess up the number of syllables in a line. Chihiro is also right in identifying Ryu's second poem as Byron's She Walks In Beauty.

I'm actually considering doing a chapter for the girls as well, or at least, for some of the girls who seem more obscure throughout the story. Kaorin and Chihiro, for example, show up in the stories but what they're doing throughout the day is largely unknown. Chiyo-chan would also be a good candidate, but I'm not entirely sure as to whether or not I should deviate from my original plan of only doing the five boys.