Chapter 4 - A Normal School Day
A/N: Hallo, readers. This Anime Borat. This my latest chapter since Chapter 6, apart from a small update back in '13. Finally! I got this chapter posted Here I continue the rest of the story for the Azumanga girls and of course, Kimura-sensei. This time, I'm dispensing with the quotes that used to precede the previous chapters. I'll try to do my best to keep my fic back to its conceptual roots as much as possible. Also, for a limited time my fic will be rated T to acquaint new readers with my fic as it had stagnated for sometime, a rather chancy proposition as the readership of Azumanga fanfiction had declined to a certain extent. This chapter goes to old friends who helped me before during the early days here in Fan Fiction. And lastly, please read and review, plus PM me. Constructive criticism is most appreciated.
Disclaimer: Azumanga Daioh is the property of Kiyohiko Azuma and J.C. Staff. No copyright infringement intended.
Kagura found herself jolted awake. She breathed heavily and her skin felt cold from the sweat covering her body. For some reason she felt this alarming feeling around her as she scanned her room, almost as if looking for something out of place, something that was alien to her and didn't belong in her room. She looked around for a few seconds before she calmed down. After that she shifted herself to the side of her and sat up, wiping the sweat from her brow.
She got up from her bed and went to the bathroom. She splashed some tap water on her face. She looked at herself. Looking up in the mirror, she stared at herself for a few minutes. She turned away and wiped her face with a small towel.
"Man," she sighed. "What was all that about?" She got up and returned to her room. Sitting there, she offhandedly looked back at the events of yesterday.
The first significant event was Yomi and Tomo getting into another fight again. Not that much of a surprise until Principal Hajime appeared. They got burned for it. After a rather uneventful afternoon, besides being made to write an essay on good behavior by Miss Yukari, they had volleyball practice inside the gym. And then more PE, only it's basketball.
The basketball game was had been a rather exciting one for the swim team as they made a bet of who will buy drinks on their weekend swimming practice, a habit everyone in school picked up from Yukari which Hajime is currently trying to stamp out.
The match ended and most of them marched off to Kurosawa, the swim team's adviser. Since the rain drenched most of the outside left the school pool unfit for swimming, they did a series of exercises to keep busy. After that they went to the locker for rest and a change of clothes. She was the last one left and took a shower after her rest.
She heard them come inside the locker room and she hid inside one of the lockers. From where she hid she could not hear the core of the conversation and what she did heard had not make any sense.
And then it came abruptly in full view.
Everything in it was wrong. Just all wrong! She hoped that it was some trick of light or maybe fatigue from their ballgame but it was there, two unlikely people, Kimura and Sakaki doing...
She shook the image out of her mind, regretted scrutinizing yesterday's events. Having witnessed the whole thing for all its worth, she knew there's no way she could remove it from her mind. And she knew that sooner or later things would be bad from there.
Sakaki woke up from her sleep. She naturally stretched and yawned as anyone who woke up would normally do. She checked her clock to see that it was five in the morning. Her mother was probably up making breakfast. She got up from bed lazily and decided to take a bath. Having woke early switched on the radio and did some light exercises to the tune of a cute and perky J-pop song. After that she took a short break, she thought of giving herself a warm bath. It pays a lot a lot to be squeaky clean, she thought.
In the bathroom she turned on the warm water and allowed the tub to fill. Steam rose as Sakaki peeled off her clothes and then slowly dipped herself into the welcoming warm water. The warmth soothed and relaxed her body. It reminded her of those times when mommy would bathe her when she was just a little girl. Bath time was always fun time, and she remembered the splashing and the giggling they did together and how mommy always hummed a cute song when she bathed. It was such until she turned seven, when she can bathe herself. She felt bad during the first time to take a bath alone. She really cried at that time because she thought her mother did not want to play with her anymore. But her mother was firm with her on bathing on her own and telling her that she needs to grow up.
Finished scrubbing herself clean, she spruced up and put on her uniform. She checked her things in her school bag and went downstairs. She joined her parents for some breakfast. As she spooned in some rice, nori, and grilled salmon in her bowl, her mind turned back a little to the events from yesterday.
Her day yesterday was quiet and ordinary then, just the way she liked it, except for the scuffle between Yomi and Tomo which ended up with a trip to the principal. Sakaki was surprised that he called them after a mere fight, but then again it was their bad luck to have him nearby when they quarreled again. And then she recalled Kimura during that cold wet afternoon in school. Sakaki had one look at him and noticed that something's off about him. It wasn't just the slightly comedic creepy feeling every girl in the school gets from him... he looked a little fixated.
She caught one look at his eyes and felt a slight chill but discounted it as just another twitch on her mind. But when they stayed behind at the classroom, he changed.
At first it was just Kimura being Kimura, she thought. Then he spoke slowly, mentioning something about her last night, which puzzled her. Those small words gave way to a few quick rants about "last night", which alarmed her. She shook inwardly as he looked at him at that point, he had that look of craving in his face, he was ready to pounce on her like some predator, all sorts of frightening thoughts had entered her mind. If Yomi had been a minute late or he had a very good alibi, she would have been...
"Himeko, you're not touching your food," her mother said.
Sakaki, stunned, turned to her mother. "Oh. Sorry, mom. I was just thinking of something."
"Is there something wrong?" her mother asked.
"No, nothing wrong. I was thinking of today's test."
"I see. Did you study?"
"Yes, mother. I did."
"Is there anything else?"
Sakaki shook her head. "No, I don't think so." In all honesty, she would not trouble her mother by describing her brief exchange with Kimura. It's bad enough that he tried to put the moves on her; explaining the incident to her would upset for all involved, and perhaps for nothing more than just a misreading of a situation.
Finished with her breakfast, she got up and placed her plate in the sink. She brushed her teeth clean and when finished, picked up her bag and bade her parents goodbye. She was now on her way to school. It's good to look forward to a new day.
Kagura spotted her walking with Chiyo and Osaka. It's one of those occasions that they get to walk together to school. For sure Yomi and Tomo would not be far off along the way. She caught with them coming around the corner across the street. Chiyo was talking to Sakaki and looked like
"Aw man," Tomo groaned. "Thanks to you, I'm grounded for two weeks. I can't play Krazy Kart or Maple Story. Worse of all, I'm stuck gonna stuck here after school with nothing but cleaning the yard and pool."
"You think you had it bad?" Yomi retorted, pushing up her glasses. "I had my parents give me a lecture about my behavior, suspend my internet time privileges, and I'm stuck cleaning the yard and hallways with you after school!"
"Ha! So says the fatty."
Yomi grabbed Tomo by the collar of her blouse. "You talk like I'm the one who did this. It's plain as day that you started it."
The two started arguing loudly. Chiyo, worried that it could get out of hand, intervened. "Hey, you guys," she pleaded. "You both got in trouble yesterday. I don't think we should start now."
The two girls ignored Chiyo and started shouting and grappled each other. They were kept from carrying out the threatened fight when Sakaki and Kagura pulled them away from each other, writhing angrily as they're dragged apart.
"Tomo, cut it out!" Kagura scolded Tomo and grunting as she pulled the wildcat away. "You already got your daily dose of trouble yesterday."
"Oh yeah!?" Tomo retorted. "Fatty here whip a storm."
"Why you little..." Yomi screeched angrily, trying to break loose from Sakaki.
Kagura cried angrily at them, "Alright, break it up, both of you!" She yanked Tomo further away from Yomi. The tomboy was already frustrated with their childish bickering, especially with Tomo's immaturity. Sakaki and Kagura held the two friends back until their resolve to thrash each other cooled down. Kagura added, "It's bad enough that the two got into a fight and having Principal Hajime burning your asses yesterday but you both need to simmer the heck down already."
Only the panting of their breaths was all the tomboy for an answer from the wildcat and the glasses-girl. The two girls glared at each other intensely as their fury abated, evaporating through their slow and shallow breaths and hanging from their friends' arms. Then they stood up and composed themselves, eyeing each other like two wolves over a carcass. They picked up their bags and turn away from each other.
The rest of the gang followed the two close by, ready to intervene if they resume their feud again. Chiyo walked uneasily with Sakaki close by, clearly wanting the protection of her biggest friend if the worse comes to pass as the two friends were not likely to settle their dispute anytime soon.
Class began with Yukari, reading a lesson on tenses. As she droned the lesson plan, Yomi and Tomo kept their eyes on the blackboard, the two were not in any mood to look each other in the eye. Chiyo and Sakaki looked fearfully at the two. "I hope they made up soon," the pint-sized girl said sadly. "It's not like them to bear a grudge."
"They would eventually," she replied. "They can't stay angry forever."
"I hope so." She turned to Sakaki. "I think they should learn a lesson. He's not an easy man to please."
Sakaki regarded the little redhead. "I think so. He's awfully strict with everyone now." Ever since the new principal arrived, she saw students reporting to his office not in ones or twos but by the dozen. A lot of the misbehavior rates have fallen significantly in the past few weeks, all the usual fun and games of unruliness have almost disappeared entirely. He made examples of the first offenders he caught and the school was turned into a very restraint, subdued place. Obviously one cannot stamp out the energy of teenagers completely as stopping such tide of youthful energy is as easy as the Atlantic Wall's performance on D-Day. This contradiction has to be managed by school administrations as best as they could. Good for the teens while this gave the campus enforcers of the peace no end to headaches. In Japan, the problems with teenage youth are partly mitigated by its famous(or infamous) conformist culture - only to worsen in some cases.
Delinquent gangs for instance. She heard that the principal's previous school was full of them. There were also cases of the bullying among students and a subtle and growing disregard for rule and regulation, something of an anathema in Japan, although attitudes were beginning to change among the youth, especially after Shoujo A of the Sasebo slashing had put the nation on notice. All of Japan found how unsettling it is that potential killers are getting younger and that they have no concrete way of dealing with it.
Two of which were unique that two teachers were seen as promoting the problem. Yukari, now on the rocks with him over her behavior as seen yesterday, chewing her out over her habits which the students might imitate such as placing bets, tardiness at work among others. And then there was Kimura, the Classical Japanese teacher known for his inappropriate tendencies with the school girls. That kind of behavior sends a negative message to the boys: sexual harassment is okay; there is an open season on females all year round; and with less or none of the repercussions. As with the student body, he set out to change that as well.
"Miss Sakaki," a voice asked. She turned her head to see Tomo, smiling like she won the lottery. "Hey, if it's not too much, can I borrow your homework later on?"
Sakaki gave Tomo an odd look.
"Come on, Sakaki, don't give me that look. Yomi won't let me borrow her homework."
"Oh, I see," she replied. Tomo was waiting for the tall girl to deep into her bag and pick her homework to copy but instead, she added, "Tomo, don't you feel sorry for what you did yesterday?"
Tomo waved it off happily. "Ha! It's not too much of a bad thing. I mean Yomi will cool off eventually."
Yomi, who was within earshot at the whole conversation, pushed up her glasses replied to her. "Sakaki, don't let her ruin your life and don't entertain her either."
Tomo shot Yomi a look. "What me and Sakaki do is our business." She gave her erstwhile friend a dismissive wave of her hand. "Go bother someone else."
"If Sakaki suffers because a jackass like you, it's my business," the glasses girl warned.
"What's wrong, Yomi?" Tomo taunted with a smirk. "Are you starting miss little 'ol me? And it was just yesterday. How about kissing my feet so we could all make up?"
Yomi sat up and crossed her arms in annoyance. "No. How about you take responsibility for what happened yesterday?" she said firmly.
Tomo looked surprised. "What? That stuff. I seem to recall seeing you all hot and fired at me for that dancing fatty video."
Yomi grumbled a while at being reminded by that. Even if the wildcat was right about that, she had trouble giving Tomo her due, especially over her many stupid antics."Well..." she strained to speak as she bit down her pride, "I apologize... for what... happened yesterday."
"See, it wasn't that hard," Tomo mewed.
"Your turn," the glasses girl said.
"What? Me?" Her tone was incredulous.
"Yes, you. You were party to that disaster as well."
Tomo shrugged her shoulders. "Why bother. It's last year's news and why do I have own up?"
The casual remark in which Tomo disowned her part of the trouble they caused a vein pop red on Yomi's forehead. The wildcat rest her hands behind her head a big grin. Chiyo look between the two worriedly, seeing Yomi tensed, seemingly ready to pound Tomo once again.
The door slid opened and everyone started in an about-face to the doorway. It was Osaka. She walked to the girls. "Hi, y'all." She took her seat among them. Tomo and Yomi gave her odd looks. "What'cha doin'?" In the course of a few seconds her appearance had evaporated the previous tenseness of the room.
"Oh, nothing," Tomo said lightly.
Yomi sighed heavily, since she had no idea what to say to the airhead and what would she say. That she was about to pound Tomo to pulp? She sunk back on her chair and looked ahead. Tomo got down herself and relaxed on the chair, her hands behind her head.
"Hey, Chiyo-chan," Osaka happily called out. "I was wonderin'. Would you tell me about that thing you read yesterday?"
"Oh, I was just reading about a cat goddess," Chiyo replied, "from Egypt."
Sakaki perked up her ears at that. Cat goddess? she thought. Her body shivered with delight at thinking of a cute feline deity being worshiped.
"A cat goddess?" piped Osaka. "Wait, how could a cat like that end up in a hot and sandy place with stone gum drops?"
Chiyo looked puzzled. "Stone gum drops? Don't you mean pyramids, Osaka?"
Osaka looked at Chiyo oddly. "I fell asleep during math class, Chiyo-chan."
"It wasn't math class, it's history."
"Oh. I see."
"Well, Egypt wasn't all hot and sandy," the genius explained. "Most of Ancient Egypt was concentrated along the Nile River. In fact, Egypt was referred to as the 'gift of the Nile' by Greek historian Herodotus."
"Herd-to-us?" the airhead mispronounced the ancient scholar's name. "Was the river a present?" She had this imagination of a smiling giant cat giving a huge present to some thirsty people in the desert. When they opened it, a huge wave of water burst open from the box, washing them away.
Chiyo sweatdropped. "Uh... Not literally. You see, Osaka, the Nile River was very important to Ancient Egypt. It was the primary source of water for the Egyptians and the floodplains were viable for agriculture due to the rich silt deposits left by the river after the annual floods. Moreover, it was important as a transportation highway, which enabled trade with their neighbors in Africa and the Mediterranean."
"Silt deposits..." Osaka murmured allowed as she thought back to her geology lessons past. Her mind burned furiously as she searched what her mind stored. Then a snap of brilliance. "Yah mean the muhd washed away by the river? Wow, think the Egyptians use teh muddy river banks as rice paddies."
"Yeah, except the rice paddy part," Chiyo replied. "When the flood waters recede the now fertile plains can be used for harvesting wheat and barley."
"Oh, Ah see," Osaka replied, "It's good ta know another historical fact that won't be needed later in life."
"Ah... I see," Chiyo awkwardly agreed with the wisdom of the Osakan's wit.
The door opened and in came Yukari, breezing through and getting into her seat. Her expression was that of her usual annoyance, plus an additional pissed-off look, no doubt from whatever verbal spanking she received from Hajime yesterday. She announced, "Okay, class. Today, we're gonna do English lessons... Boring English lessons." She then proceeded to list out the lessons in question on the board.
As Yukari began the lessons someone was having a hard time following the discussion. Kagura was absently tapping her ballpen, feeling quite agitated. Admittedly, she wasn't one of the brightest minds of the school. It took her a lot of trouble understanding English. On one hand, her spoken English had improved somewhat whereas her written English was subpar and she could not quite get the way words were written in the Latin alphabet.
She often turned to a number of people for help. Coach Kurosawa, for instance, but she doesn't always have the answers. Things weren't helped by the fact that Kagura neglecting her other subjects, getting a terse warning from the swim team coach instead. Then another choice for her would be Chiyo, but Kagura was hesitant to approach the little girl genius, feeling guilty of imposing her wishes on her. At this point, even her mom was giving her a hard time.
Kagura really felt like crap now as she struggled to hang on to Yukari's lecture. The English teacher was going into prepositions and gerunds like a bat. Yukari had the look of someone who was crossed over some matter. If what they say was true then she had a fateful encounter with the Principal. The man was quite hard on student and staff alike.
"Psst...," a whisper sounded itself. The tomboy turned to the source of the sound. Tomo, grin in her face, put up a doodle she drawn, a mocking caricature of Yomi as a fire-breathing... walrus? The wildcat remained thickheaded in spite of her "reconciliation" with Yomi. But for Tomo to regret or apologize her slights to other people is not characteristic of the school wildcat. She either cast aside or simply forget about their truce at a whim, which was not unusual. "Whaddya you think?" she asked as though for an art contest.
"Can it, Tomo," Kagura replied brusquely. "I'm busy here."
"Oh, really?" she asked slyly. "Like any of Yukari's lessons are gonna sink in for you. They'll probably need a power drill just to make a hole on that thick skull of yours."
Kagura shot back a glare, not liking her reference to her current academic performance. "Piss off, Tomo. Unlike you, I'm at least trying."
"Fine, then," Tomo shrugged, seeing she couldn't get the tomboy interested.
Kagura was about to get back with lessons when Tomo whispered out again, "Kagura, watched this." Tomo held up a paper plane for her to show. Then she threw it through the air, the craft narrowly missing an inch of a stunned Kagura. It picked altitude, turned around and glided towards, much to the tomboy's horror, at Yukari instead of its intended target, Yomi.
The plane landed on top of the teacher's head. Some worried groans erupted from the class as they saw it sitting atop her hair. She turned around to face them. "Okay, class. I hope you get all of this 'cause I'm gonna-"
The plane fell off her head in front of her, causing a few to gasps and mutter softly. Kagura blanched as she saw it while Tomo simply said, "Uh-oh..."
"Huh? What's this?" she picked up the paper plane. A vein popped red in her head, her eyes beady and pissed. "Hey!" she called out loudly and obnoxiously. "Which one of you brats threw this piece of junk?" She shook the plane for emphasis. A stunned silence, no one dared to volunteer an answer. Yukari said again, "Come on, I don't have all day." She shook it again, loosening its fold.
Her eyes caught on the crude doodles. "Huh? What's this?" She unfolded the entire plane to check and...
She became red with rage. "WHO DREW THIS?" she cried out loudly at her terrified class, shuddering in their seats. "Who among you little maggots here thinks I'm a fat, blubbery, horned sea slug vomiting napalm!?" She held out the paper for all to see.
Both girls, already scared by Yukari's angry demeanor, sprung up like jack-in-a-boxes. "It was her!" they cried together, pointing at each other. They looked at each other in surprise at what they just did. They it again, "I swear!"
"I like sea slugs," Osaka mewed. No one paid her any heed.
"Okay," she said slowly, befuddled. Then with an ominous shadow cast on her face went on in a threatening tone, "So? Which one of you bakas owns this piece of crap called art?" She held out the paper menacingly, which carried the offending drawing.
Kagura was too petrified to form a coherent answer and so was Tomo. But the wildcat quickly got over her own stutter and saw a chance to get out. She milked it for all it was worth. "Miss Yukari, it was Kagura," she said suddenly.
"What!?" the tomboy snapped in surprise, staring at the tomboy in disbelief.
"She thought it was a good joke to make you look like a fatass and deliver it by airmail," Tomo continued in her faux-innocent voice.
Kagura could not believe it. "B-b-but- That's a lie!" she refuted, outraged and shocked. Yukari spanked the rolled text in her hand harder.
"She said she'll clobber me if I tell her," Tomo added. "Please help me, Miss Yukari." Innocent eyes.
"I-I d-didn't," she stuttered. "It wasn't for you, it was for Yomi." At the mention of her name, Yomi got up, her glasses glinting menacingly.
Tomo was horrified as Kagura mention for whom the drawing was actually intended for. She had to fix the situation to her benefit or it's Yukari's rage. "No, she really meant Yukari. She's just trying to cover her ass."
Then the mudslinging turned into an argument, with an angry Kagura calling Tomo out as the latter seem to be flinging new, some even absurd, accusations. It irked Yukari even more as her day was spoiled - again.
PACK! PACK!, went Yukari's rolled-up book on their heads, ending the proceedings.
Outside, both Tomo and Kagura holding buckets of water in extended arms. "Thanks a lot, Tomo," Kagura muttered angrily. Her arms trembled from her load.
"Well, I lost the game," Tomo said casually. "If you weren't so far worked up trying to shake blame on me we wouldn't be in this mess."
Kagura shot back angrily, "You mean you wouldn't be in this mess. You had to dump on me that paper plane trick and you'd get away with it."
"Well, I was having a good time," Tomo chimed, beamed with her eyes closed.
Kagura frowned darkly. "I so hate you." They did not continue any further, the tomboy having retreated to a sullen, moody silence.
It seemed like several minutes since they stopped talking; it couldn't have been more than five as her arms felt like jelly now. She thought sourly, Oh man. Then the door slid open.
"Okay, you twerps," Yukari peered out and said plainly like she's bored, "get in." The two girls looked at each other. "Come on," she added irritably, "I don't want Hajime up my ass again."
With sighs of relief, the two girls put their burdens of water down, arms wearied. The teacher warned, "Don't get so cocky. I'm not done with you two yet." Kagura felt her spirits down. So much for a break.
Kimura entered the classroom just as Yukari left. The teacher, his face set in his familiar open-mouthed expression, plodded to the chair as usual. Taking his seat, he began the usual pleasantries, including yet another rant about high school girls which naturally frightened the girls, and got to the business at hand, which was teaching Japanese literature. The bump on his head subsided somewhat.
"Okay, class. Today, we're gonna check your assignments," he announced in his usual singsong voice, which didn't sound anything like his earlier rant.
Kagura suddenly realized that she forgot to make her homework. Crap! she thought. She should have taken it seriously. "Damn," she muttered to herself. If only she wasn't so concerned about yesterday's...
Her eyes unknowingly turned to Sakaki, whose was staring out into the window as always. A chill fell on her shoulders as she regarded the tall girl. Homework seemed like a world away as she thought of Sakaki. On the surface she seemed like a calm, well-mannered girl, admired throughout the school by the student body and a mystery to all. And then she saw something that was totally unexpected: Sakaki just made love the school pervert, the whole nine yards. Again the images of that scene invaded Kagura's mind and she turned away from her.
Her mind could not fathom the events of yesterday. She could not make sense as to why the act was committed, apparently with the full consent of the the parties involved. Consent? she thought. Sakaki was two years shy of the so-called legal age so any "consent" on her part was illusory at best. How could she do this? Why?
"Kagura," a voice called out. The tomboy looked up saw to see Chiyo.
"Yeah, what is it?" She looked at her curiously.
"You haven't passed your homework."
"Uh, well..." She tried to reply but she couldn't think of a proper response. Then she gave up. What the hell, no use hiding the truth anyway. "Sorry, Chiyo. I didn't have any." She hung her head in shame.
"Kagura," another voice called. This time it chilled her. She raised her head to see Kimura looking at her. Dammit! she thought to herself. Why this of all times? She screwed the courage to get up in spite of her newly-found loathing for the Classical Lit teacher. She then moved towards the desk.
The tomboy stood in front of the desk. Looking up, he asked, "Where is your homework, Kagura?"
She hesitated. It felt like lead weights were on her shoulders as she considered what to say to him. It's no surprise that her academics were doing poorly. Her passion was more on the physical rather than the intellectual. Due to that she never could concentrate on her studies as seriously as she should.
"Where is your homework, Kagura?"
"Ah, I-I, uh, well-," she twiddled her fingers, thinking about what to say. She looked at the glasses, those lenses covering his eyes. "I... didn't do it," she admitted sullenly.
"You didn't do your homework?" the teacher asked ludicrously.
She was silent. The glasses stared back at her as her mind searched for the right words to describe her reason of not submitting her work or, more accurately, her alibi. She cannot divulge about what transpired in the locker room yesterday. She'll just have to make that up.
"I'm sorry, Kimura-sensei," she began. "I was just having some... problems."
"What kind of problems?" he asked in his singsong voice.
Should she tell or not? Kagura was feeling nervous and had to be careful about what she will say to him. The last thing she wanted was a slip would betray her beholding of yesterday's events.
"Well?"
Kagura regretted saying, realizing she just dug her hole a little deeper. She answered, sighing, "I've got problems... at home."
Kimura looked at her with his open mouth and his glasses obscuring his eyes. Come to think of it, she thought, no one can be to get a read on him looking at his eyes, so if it wasn't for his obsession for high-school girl, everyone would think of him a colorless plod; add that back in and he was a colorless, perverted plod who the boys loved.
"Oh. I see," he responded in a monotone. He paused for a while. "Is that why you don't do your homework?"
Kimura's tone was one of curiosity. Kagura knew that teachers don't have a lot of patience for students who don't do their homework. But Kimura wasn't her teacher so he didn't know how he'll react. Not that it mattered, seeing how she couldn't take him seriously. Still, after that scene with Tomo and Yukari, she needed to watch herself prudently. So she said, "I'll make sure to do my homework next time."
"Kagura, that's not good enough," he responded with a slightly hammy pitch. He took his student record and flipped several pages. "Your grades are quiet poor."
"Uh... w-well," she stammered, "Ah-ah, I-I'm gonna do better next time, Kimura-sensei." She bowed and turned to leave.
"How about we go to the pool together?" he suddenly quipped with creaky, jerky neck movements for emphasis.
"That's not what I'm asking for!" Kagura snapped back. The silence between the two screamed awkward. The tomboy's sweatdropped and Kimura kept his open-mouthed stare.
"So, how about a remedial, huh?" he finally offered.
"No, thank you!" Kagura then went back to her seat, not wanting to deal with the pervert sensei anymore than she had to. Yesterday was enough already.
Kimura was then left on his own as all homework was passed. He sighed sadly. "I blew it..."
The rest of the day was largely uneventful and everyone was getting ready for the end of classes. Yomi was despairing as she had to begin her sentence of a week of cleaning after school with Tomo, much of her upper body spread on her desk like jelly oozing with depression. As Yukari was making small talk evaluating the day's activities and tomorrow's tasks.
"And furthermore," Yukari added as the classroom darkened save for portion lighting her face in a devilish red, "if any of you bring the principal on me or ruin my day in any other way, your asses will be mine. Got it?" The very frightened class stammered their responses.
"Oh good," she chimed, bringing back the cheery atmosphere. "Dismissed!" On cue the bell rang announcing the end of the day. Everyone began the busy process of leaving or preparing to leave just as Yukari left her desk for the door.
"Aw, man," Tomo moaned wearily as she got up. "I gotta serve my time now." She then looked over at Yomi. "Hey Yomi~. Time for us to report to ol' yard before Warden Hajime slings our asses there."
"Uh, go away, Tomo," Yomi said despondently. "You dragged me into this..."
"Okey-dokey, Yomi. I'll by your side." The wildcat took an empty seat beside the meganeko. "You have integrity. I admire it." This caused Yomi's glasses to glint.
Chiyo approached them, looking rather concerned, and said, "You both have to go. If you don't you'll be in a lot trouble."
"Don't sweat it, Chiyo," Tomo said casually. "I'll go if Yomi does."
Yomi sighed wearily and rose up. She growled, "I'll go. Don't make my day any worse than it is already."
"That's the spirit, Yomi, but I changed my mind. I'll just hang back-" The meganekko grabbed Tomo roughly by the arm and half-dragged her out. "Ouch! That hurts! Let me go, you big fat meanie. I'll sue you if you do..." Everyone went back to their affairs as the school closed.
Sakaki, Chiyo, and Osaka went together to the library. "I'd like to show that cat goddess that I showed Sakaki yesterday."
"A cat goddess? Is that even possible?" Her eyes had the appearance of being permanently wide, yet anyone who who knew her long enough can tell the subtle differences in her expression. Right now one can see the understated wonder at the mention of a cat goddess.
"It is," Chiyo said, striding alongside the Osakan. "Back in their day they were very much revered."
"Wow, being a kitty cat must have been popular," she commented.
"Oh... Kittty," Sakaki murmured softly to herself as she walked behind them. She had an image of a cute orange cat walking majestically in the hall of a great temple, surrounded people dressed in finery who watched in awe as the feline strutted on its way to the throne in the end. The palace had an extremely high ceiling supported by massive cat statues that act as pillars. The marble walls were adorned with numerous hieroglyphics and murals depicting myths, legends, and glorious accolades of old kings, gods, and heroes. Small girls bearing baskets threw flower petals in exaltation, attendants with brought with them large palm leafs on staffs that act as fans, blowing a gentle breeze on the feline. Musicians played exuberant festival music and dancing girls whirled and gyrated to the beat of the songs.
The cat stopped almost at the throne. All festivities halted abruptly and the hall was silent. The entire assembly of nobles, priests, servants, and attendants looked at the cat as it settled regally on the marble floor.
Trumpets sounded. The man on the throne rose. The cat looked up to see the man up, silhouetted by sunlight reflected by the massive marble walls. He began his descent from the high steps to meet the feline visitor. The cat looked up to see the most powerful man in Egypt stepping down to meet the cat, the holy of holies of animals in the land.
He finally touched down at the bottom step of his high throne and began his approached in reverence, very slowly. The entire court was silent, no one among the many guests and servants uttered a word, their breath held as they saw the drama unfold. Everyone was still, no moved one lest they fear desecrating this moment as the god-king of Egypt pays his homage to the sacred feline. The silence was such that one can hear even the tiniest of noise with tension thick as a cake of honey and dates.
He stopped just a few inches away from it. The pharaoh and the cat stood at each other, their stares acknowledging the other's power. Then he slowly bent over to the feline, almost as if to bow. The pharaoh's face, which only bore kingly dignity and solemnity, broke into a sparkly, wide-eyed grin the feline up close. His body quaked with kawaii that his body can handle, the atmosphere changed from a solemn religious event to something from a slice-of-life anime with hearts and flowers evaporating around him as he felt his body wanting to burst with rainbows and ponies.
"Hnnng..." his mouth murmured as he was trying to suppress the urge to squeal in joy as he picked up the cat close to his chest. Then cuddled the fur ball with a high-pitched squee of pure bliss, with the cat purring warmly at the snuggles he was receiving. His cooing was followed by the several loud "Awwwees..."
This stopped him on his tracks and he looked around. He realized that all eyes were on him. His act of adoring the sacred feline caused his subjects to revert to a state of childish glee. Realizing what had just happened, he cleared his throat, composed himself back to his kingly bearing. He lifted the cat up in the air with a great, deep yell. The crowd roared in reverence and triumph as the holy animal was presented to the assembly for all to see.
"Meow," the cat purred in disbelief.
"Miss Sakaki," Chiyo's voice got the tall girl out of her daydream. She looked down to see her two friends looking at her.
"You were far back behind," the little girl said. "You were looking out the window."
"You 'ad a big smile in your face," Osaka drawled with her innocent wide eyes and her sunny blank smile. "Yah must be thinking of something." Her comment caused the tall girl to blush in embarrassment.
"Uh... sorry," she apologized. "I kept you waiting."
"That's okay." Chiyo smiled. "You still want to go the library?"
Sakaki smiled. "Of course."
"Onward to the library," Osaka bleated on urging. They marched on the to the library.
"So this is Bastet," the Osakan said astounded, peering over Chiyo's shoulders and looking at the picture of the bronze cat idol dating back the Middle Kingdom. Sakaki stood behind looking down at the monitor.
"Yes." Chiyo clicked on it for a close-up. "She was worshiped as early as the Second Dynasty. As Bast, she was the goddess of warfare in Lower Egypt, the Nile River delta region, before the unification of the cultures of ancient Egypt. Her name is also spelled Baast, Ubaste, and Baset."
"That's a lot of names for a kitty goddess," Osaka noted.
"I'm no expert but it could be peculiarities with ancient Egyptian language, possibly even local dialects." She clicked back to the main article. As Bast, she was seen as the goddess of warfare in Lower Egypt, the Nile Delta region. In Upper Egypt, a parallel goddess with a similar role called Sekhmet."
"Upper Egypt? Lower Egypt?" Osaka was puzzled by the geographical terms. "I don't get it."
"Let me see. Hold on." She typed Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt on the search box, then clicked. She opened the appropriate article. "There we go. Ancient Egypt was once divided into two lands, Upper and Lower Egypt. It's still referred to as such today though not as prevalent."
Osaka examined the map and it did not make any sense. "Chiyo-chan, if it's supposed to be Lower Egypt, then why is it on the upper portion of the map? Same here for Upper Egypt. Seems like them map makers got it it all upside down. I mean North is supposed to up and south is supposed to be down, right?"
Used to Osaka's unusual musings, Chiyo answered, "Actually, it makes sense. You see, Upper Egypt is located upstream on the Nile River. Downstream is Lower Egypt, where the Nile is divided into several tributaries to form a delta and flows out to the Mediterranean Sea."
"Oh, I get it now," Osaka said excitedly as much her usual understated manner allowed. "It's like opposite day, only it you knew why it's opposite. Geography can be be pretty tricky." The two other girls sweat dropped.
Sakaki then broke the awkward silence. "Chiyo-chan, you said Egypt was divided into two lands. And these two lands have their own version of a cat goddess."
Chiyo looked up and nodded. "That's right. Before Ancient Egypt was united, the two lands were distinct kingdoms. The two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt were united c. 3000 BC., but each maintained its own regalia: the hedjet or White Crown for Upper Egypt and the deshret or Red Crown for Lower Egypt. Thus, the pharaohs were known as the rulers of the Two Lands, and wore the pschent, a double crown, each half representing sovereignty of one of the kingdoms. Menes was the one who conquered Upper and Lower Egypt and united them." She tabbed on a few more articles.
"To represent the union to the two lands, the double crown was created. On the matter of deities, often similar deities merged into one with the unification, but that did not occur with these deities with such strong roots in their cultures. Instead, these goddesses began to diverge. During the Twenty-Second Dynasty (c. 945–715 BC), Bast, as she was then known, had changed from a lioness warrior deity into a major protector deity represented as a cat. Sekhmet was a war goddess who became more dominant after the Two Lands united. She was depicted as a lioness as the lioness was the apex predator of Africa, lionesses often hunt together in groups."
"Is that so? What does the lion do?" the airhead asked. "Seems pretty much like a deadbeat dad."
The genius provided the answer, "The lions patrol the territory in which they lived. All of them lived in small social groups of up to thirty animals."
"Oh, I see. Like the Lion King."
Chiyo chuckled. "That's right, Miss Osaka." She went on reading. "From the third millennium BC though, when Bast first appeared in records, she is depicted as either a fierce lioness or a woman with the head of a lioness."
Osaka seemed genuinely impressed. Her eyes were wider than usual. "So we have twins now, right? What happened to her? Did she went out of style when Seka-, uh, Sasquatch, uh, wait, Chiyo-chan. Uh..."
"Sekhmet?"
"Yes, that' right," the Osakan bleated. "What happened to Bastet when Sekhmet to took over? Did she went outta style?"
"Not really," Chiyo replied. "Before unification she was viewed as the protector goddess of Lower Egypt. As protector, she was seen as defender of the pharaoh, and consequently of the later chief male deity, Ra, who was also a solar deity, gaining her the titles Lady of Flame and Eye of Ra." She read some more. "In the first millennium BC, when domesticated cats were popularly kept as pets, during the 18th dynasty Bastet began to be represented as a woman with the head of a cat and ultimately, by the 22nd dynasty emerged as the quintessential Egyptian cat-goddess. In the Middle Kingdom, the domestic cat appeared as Bast's sacred animal and after the New Kingdom she was depicted as a woman with the head of a cat or a lioness, carrying a sacred rattle and a box or basket."
"So much... for cats," Sakaki observed. "Why did Sekhmet took precedence over Bastet?"
"It was due to the Lower Egypt losing wars with Upper Egypt prior to reunification, which brought about the Middle Kingdom. By then Bast had lost her ferocity was regarded as a domestic cat. Occasionally, however, she was depicted holding a lioness mask, hinting at her potential ferocity and perhaps, a reminder of her origin."
"It's easy to see why." Sakaki looked at her right hand, the hand that Kamineko loves to bite whenever he goads the tall girl to pet her. The scars from the bites were still there, rough patches of hardened skin on an otherwise soft hand.
"Bastet became her name by then, written in later records. The addition of a suffix is thought to add to pronunciation, or perhaps even a diminutive name to reflect her reduced status, now Sekhmet has taken the role of royal protector."
"So she's not the pharaoh's bodyguard anymore. That's okay, right? She' still popular. And... why do they even pray to kitties in the first place?"
"Oh, let's see..." Chiyo typed key words on the search box. The results appeared and she picked one of them. "Ah, there it is. Cats were very important in Ancient Egypt because they prey on mice and other vermin, protecting grain. They also kill venomous snakes. They were sometimes dressed in golden jewelry and are allowed to eat off their owners' plates."
Sakaki perked up her ears. "Really?"
"Well, that's what the article says, Miss Sakaki," Osaka replied for Chiyo.
Again, Sakaki was seized with yet another spell of cuteness as her imagination vividly portrayed a cat on the royal banquet table eating a bowl of milk from a gold plate. It's so adorable! she thought.
"That doesn't sound sanitary," Osaka commented. Sakaki was snapped out of her trance by that.
"Oh, I see," Sakaki said softly, embarrassed though no one seem to heard it.
"Oh," Chiyo said. "It says here that cats receive the same funeral treatment as humans."
The tall girl looked over the little girl's shoulders apprehensively at that statement. "'Funeral... treatment?'" her voice quaked slightly.
"Oh it's true, Miss Sakaki," Chiyo said innocently. "When they die they get mummified."
Sakaki seemed struck by lightning as her face contorted in horror. "Kitties... die...?" she gasped. In her mind a cat made a last mournful meow, followed by a quick wrap of a linen bandage. Then it's packaged inside a sarcophagus that look like a maneki-neko, passed around a conveyor belt of hands by parading mourners, and sealed inside a pyramid, followed by the sound of a stone slab being rolled shut.
The long-haired girl could only cringe when she wanted to cry. The two other girls looked at their stunned friend oddly.
"Miss Sakaki, are you okay?" Chiyo asked worriedly.
"Hey, Miss Sakaki, you look like you saw a bunch of Italian-speaking barrels flying in formation," Osaka said like it was the most natural thing to say to a friend. When no response was forthcoming, she turn to Chiyo. Her question being, "Is she on her period?" Chiyo's eyes went blank at that.
A/N: It's gonna be a long until I update this fic again as I am inundated with several other projects, not to mention life itself. At the least I got a draft that's sitting in my account for sometime into a story. Hope you guys, like it.
