First I want to say: Thanks for all the constructive critisicm I got :) I´ve previewed this chapter better ( I hope) with the help of a beta-reader and thorough checking. Some things might still elude me though, and being non-English doesn´t help either.
All in all thanks for the reviews and I hope this chapter clears up a few things.
PS: Sorry about the last chapter being as vague as it was, but hey, it´s the first chapter
Disclaimer: I do not own Azumanga Daioh.
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Kagura ate her dinner absently as she thought about her run-in with Tomo just thirty minutes ago. Even though she usually would've gulped down the curry in a few minutes, she was acting on autopilot and didn't notice the food she put in her mouth.
´What the hell was wrong with Tomo earlier today? Usually I should´ve been expecting a fierce revenge about now, instead of having her sock me instantly like that.´
Frowning, she decided to ignore the fact that Tomo had in fact had her at her mercy.
´ Then she leads me on a merry chase through the neighbourhood ( nearly losing me as well! ) before I catch her. And, of course, just when I've got her where I want her I have to return in time for dinner to avoid getting yet another lecture about my training habits. At least I´ll get to talk to her tomorrow at school. Still, I wond-´
Her train of thought was interrupted as her mother leaned over and poked her stomach. "Something wrong there? You're not eating like your usual self. Maybe we need to cut down on your training routines, it's not hea-" Kagura decided to nip this speech in the bud, before her parents decided to actually break her routine. " Ah, no it's not that Mom, I was just thinking about some school stuff. Say, did ya know Chiyo-chan went to Hawaii!?"
Having done this a thousand times by now it didn't take long before Kagura had derailed the conversation enough to finish her dinner and excuse herself from the table.
Hastily she washed off her plate and ran upstairs to take a shower.
As she stepped into her bedroom Kagura realised that she'd have to do her homework as school had started again.
Cursing she dismissed her plans for an hour of video games after pumping some weights. Homework wouldn't leave enough time for both.
As she read the classic lit piece Kimura had given for homework, she couldn't help but drift as she thought about her encounter with Tomo.
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Kagura kept a wary eye open as Tomo seated herself properly , back towards the fence she'd failed to clear. She was not about to let Tomo get away again, but from the way she favoured her right leg it wasn't likely she would go for another attempt.
"Well?"
Kagura demanded. She was annoyed at herself for not actually catching Tomo, annoyed with Tomo for her abnormal behaviour and still intrigued by the unusual situation. Her jaw ached as she rubbed it carefully, checking it for loose teeth.
"You can start with explaining why the hell you hit me like that! And where you learned to swing a punch like that. Oh! and where you got your knife. An-" The first time Kagura didn't hear what Tomo said, but she shut up when she noticed her mumbling something. "What was that?" Tomo looked up at her and sighed patronisingly. " I said that it's a reflex. A reflex."
"That's not like anything you've ever reacted before...And heaven knows we've pulled foolish pranks like that on each other since I first met you."
Tomo picked at a pebble on the concrete as she answered. "Well...that's because I'm in a different state of mind when I'm with you guys...ya know?"
"Different from what exactly?" Tomo looked at her. It was a challenging, dismissive look, but at the same time there was something...pleading...to it.
"Are you sure you want to know?"
"Hell , yes, I want to...oh shit..." Kagura suddenly remembered she was late for dinner. And that she didn´t want to find out what her parents would say if she stayed any longer. She bounded up and sprinted down the alleyway for all she was worth. She managed to shout an answer over her shoulder before she disappeared around the corner. "Gotta go! I´ll expect an answer tomorrow! Cya!"
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Tomo frowned at the corner Kagura had disappeared around. ´What was that about?´ After a moment of contemplating Tomo heard heavy steps and a rough voice coming from the house to her left. "What the hell is going on back here!? Just wait till I-" The voice faded as it reached the door to the alley and someone started turning the knob.
Tomo was up and running down the alley before the knob was fully turned. At first she almost tripped as she put her weight on her left foot , but she caught herself on the fence. She managed to hobble around a corner before the door opened and someone stepped outside. She heard a man's voice mumble something, but couldn't make it out. After a few seconds she heard the man step inside and close the door after him.
Setting off she wondered how far she could push Yomi and still get dinner.
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As she climbed over the hedge to the Mizuhara´s garden Tomo could hear music from the back of the house. ´Good, her window is open.´ Tomo thought as a Cheshire grin grew on her face. In an exaggerated fashion she moved stealthily into position, peering around the corner at the window. It was open alright.
After listening for a few seconds, Tomo couldn't hear Yomi singing along to the sappy love song currently playing. Knowing for a fact that Yomi always sung or, at least, hummed to the music she listened to Tomo decided that this was her chance.
She jumped the metre to the window, trying to ignore the angry protest from her ankle, and peered inside carefully.
There was no Koyomi working diligently by the desk, but there were homework papers spread out in a systematic fashion.
´Gone to the toilet, or perhaps for a drink, Koyomi-kun? Ignorance is death!´
The Assassin kicked off her shoes and hid them close to the wall before she easily climbed in through the window. As she entered in the smooth fashion The Assassin flowed in under the bed, not making a single sound. Hiding in the shadows under the bed The Assassin knew she was as good as invisible to The Target's untrained eye.
She placed herself with her head at the door so that she could effortlessly become aware of the situation in the household.
The Target's mother was apparently washing dishes, for her horrible singing voice mixed with the sound of moving water and the muted noise of porcelain clanking against porcelain. From her position the Assassin could also make out the shadow of the soon-to-be-daughterless person as she moved about in the kitchen some way down the hall.
It took some seconds before The Target's location was confirmed. The bathroom door opening and closing down the hall announced her presence. The Target's heavy footsteps like a bell tolling for her as she strolled down the hall. She closed the door behind her as she entered, effectively sealing her fate.
The Assassin watched the white socks under brown trousers cross the floor to the desk. The Target reached over to turn the volume up a few notches, seated herself and continued her homework.
There was not a sound from The Assassin as she crawled out from under the bed and into a low crouch by the door. A few silent steps later The Assassin was in position to perform her deadly Quadruple-Vortex-Of-Snakeblood technique. The Target remained completely unaware of her fatal situation as she bobbed her head to the current pop idol's newest hit.
Launching herself into the air The Assassin yelled: "IGNORANCE IS DEATH!" and thwacked The Target with a karate chop to the top of her head.
Yomi´s reaction was just wonderful. The chop landed on her head just as she leaped up in reaction to the shout. Tomo wasn't expecting the next line of events to occur though. Yomi had been sitting so close to the desk , with her legs underneath it , that when she rose in a hurry she only got halfway before she knocked into the desk, lost her balance and fell back into the chair. By now she was clutching her head in reflex to the big amounts of pain it was in, so she didn't manage to grab anything before the chair tipped backwards.
Tomo was laughing hysterically as Yomi and her chair knocked her over and landed on Tomo´s hurt leg.
"OWW!" She managed to say before she pushed Yomi and the chair away from her legs, clutched her leg and broke into silent sobs.
Yomi had to think through what had happened these last few seconds before she came to herself. "It's your own damn fault, moron! That hit to the head bloody hurt! Have you switched your diet to steroids during the summer vacation or what!? Ow, ow, ow..." Apparently shouting didn't help her headache.
After focusing for a few seconds Yomi realised that Tomo was still sobbing. It didn´t take long before Tomo sucked it up and tried for a grin, but the tears on her face probably spoiled it a little.
"You should´ve seen your face Yomi! It was sooo awesome!" Yomi got up with a sigh as Tomo ranted on. Then she seated herself at the desk again.
When Yomi had her back facing her Tomo decided it was a good time to test out her leg. With help from Yomi´s chair she managed to stand up. Her ankle hurt like hell when she tested it.
"What are you up to now? " Yomi demanded as she turned in her chair. She took in Tomo´s pained expression and how she quite obviously did not put weight on her left leg. "Ah, it's nothing serious. " Tomo said as she leapt on one foot to the bed and seated herself carefully.
Tomo saw how Yomi´s left eyebrow arched and she knew she had been found out.
"I'm getting you an icebag for that swelling." Yomi said as she got up and headed towards the door. Suddenly something growled from her bed. Tomo knew she wasn't able to hide her blush.
"And some dinner."
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Yomi watched as her friend shovelled the curry into her mouth. It wasn't anything new, but it always amazed her how much food could disappear down Tomo´s throat. You'd never guess it from her petite frame, though. After taking a sip of her tea Yomi sighed. Some people had it easy with stuff like that.
´ Although ´ Yomi thought as she unconsciously made a motherly face. ´ Tomo got her share of problems as well, far more than me on any level. ´
Yomi stopped thinking for a second and inspected the Tomo in front of her and compared her to how she'd been during their first semester at High School.
The Tomo in front of her seemed gritted in areas, her eyes were still the same, but at times they lost their shine. Her hair was longer, a little past her shoulders. And she had become...rugged. Yomi could see the wiry calves and arms. Tomo had toughened up during these last years...she had had to.
Her train of thought was interrupted as Tomo grinned and thanked for her meal. " Rub-a-dub-dub Thanks for the grub! That curry was reaally good! "
´Lets get this over with then.´ Yomi took Tomo´s plate and set it on her desk, then turned around with her fists on her hips. " You've gotten into trouble with Shinjiro again."
Tomo turned to Yomi and looked like she was going to give some bogus story, but Yomi made her look just a little sterner and Tomo´s mouth closed again. Instead she swung her legs up on the bed and rolled over so she faced the wall.
Just as Yomi was about to make another inquiry Tomo begun to speak.
"It...It wasn't like I meant to meet up with him again. One day, during spring break, I was strolling down a street in one of the ´hoods, doing my thing, looking for a store where I could...uh, buy some juice."
Yomi seated herself on the chair by the desk. "Don't you mean "Steal some smokes" ? I know you've started again." Tomo rolled over again to face Yomi and gave her a disgruntled look. "Lets not start that discussion again, not now at least?" Yomi gave way under the stare and waved her hand for Tomo to continue.
"Well, anyway, I found a store and entered. It was just your average store, but it had quite a few aisles. So I went down to the one the furthest from the desk to see what kinds of juice they had. Then I saw him. He was with three members of his gang and they were standing around him. Somehow his low height never did seem to matter much for his status in the gang. Gesturing with his arms he was explaining them something, I didn't know at the time.
So, in the middle of his explanation he spots me and freezes, then he grinned...Oh, I should´ve known it was a bad idea from the beginning." Stifling a sob, Tomo pulls herself up and seats herself, back to wall. Then, hugging her knees, she continues.
" He strolled up to me in that confident walk of his, his slick, mean eyes locking our stares together, as he brushes some of his hair away from his face. He never did look like much, with that hair going to the base of his neck and with no facial hair. Normally you´d just brush him away as another delinquent."
" He said they were going to steal some cigarettes and they wanted me to distract the shopkeeper." Tomo shakes her head as she pauses briefly. " He said I could get a part of the prize. Shinjiro was as persuasive as ever, so I didn't even think about it until I tipped that aisle of instant-ramen. The shopkeeper was suspicious, of course, but he came running over to check what happened and the boys sneaked up to the register. I was busy trying to explain about the ramen when I heard them spring the register open.
We both rushed to the sound, but the only thing we saw was the last one of them rush out the door."
Yomi could see small trails of tears on Tomo´s face as she kept on going.
"I honestly hadn't suspected a thing , not even after how we split up last time. Supposedly it was just going to be a few cartons of cigarettes, you know?..." Tomo stifled a sniff. " Well, then the shopkeeper grabbed my arm real hard and demanded that I tell him everything. I cracked within seconds when he threatened with the police. So I spilled out everything, where they usually hang out, Shinjiro´s home address, everything. The shopkeeper was an elderly man and I guess he saw in my eyes that I´d been betrayed. He sent me packing out the door, yelling that I was never welcome there again. I ran the way I´d seen the others run, hoping they might be waiting for me, but after turning around a corner I sagged down and cried...I cried for some time, but when I came to myself I found this thing on the ground next to my feet."
Tomo pulled something from one of her pockets and tossed it towards Yomi. Yomi caught it and checked the item in her palm. It was a switchblade in lightning blue, with golden ends and a slick "S" at the top of the hilt. The trigger was also in gold.
"Y..You kept this?" Yomi pressed the trigger and the blade swung out with a metallic "Click".
"It's Shinjiro´s...I remember he'd threaten people with it, at least he did when I used to hang with him. He used to love that knife , now it's mine. Ironic, huh?"
Sheathing the blade Yomi laid it on her desk, behind her. Then she fixed another look on Tomo, this one wasn't quite as stern though.
"So, that was during spring break , what have you been up to this summer?"
Tomo looked up at her. "Not much...I've been avoiding Shinjiro´s friends most of the time. So, I've been running alot...even fighting. You'd be amazed how many punks he knows, Yomi. And none of them would hesitate to hit a girl...so, it´s been rough...even rougher than before." Yomi was starting to feel a little guilty when Tomo smiled a relieved smile at her.
"Even though most of you were busy with studying for mid-terms I'm glad for those moments we got. It's the only time I can really, be myself, you know?. Anyway, now that school's started again I should be relatively safe. "
As Tomo sat herself on the edge of the bed and sighed Yomi rose and sat down next to her. "I guess I should be going home now, sorry for angsting all over you, Yomi. It's not li-"
"Do you want to sleep over tonight Tomo?"
Yomi got her answer in the form of a Takino-tackle-hug. Just abit too sudden as usual it knocked her sprawling backwards on the bed.
"Oh, yes! Thank you Yom- Ouch! my foot!"
"You are a moron for sure!"
" No, I'm not! I just get caught in the moment sometimes."
"Sometimes!? More li-"
The fight continued for a few minutes before the two collapse on the bed, glad to be back in old routines, even if just for a few hours.
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When they'd gotten ready her futon Tomo stripped and changed into her borrowed pyjamas. Yomi´s clothes were just abit too big for her so she looked kinda like a little kid again.
Before she went to sleep Tomo checked her foot. The swelling had gone down to the point where you almost couldn´t see it anymore. Thinking of her injury made her remember that she had promised Kagura an explanation as well.
´ Damn, like more people need to know about this stuff. ´
It didn't take long before the two girls filled the room with the sound of gentle snoring.