I'll try to keep'em coming, so don't get fussy or anything! I Azumanga not own Daioh do.
Chapter 8, "Summer High, Pt.1".
Over the weekend, Tomo pondered a new question. 'W-what if s-she...d-does...like me? I mean...why would she? She's always a jerk to me! But still...the movie, the constant visits...the other day...' she slowly realized that she was indeed correct; if anything, Kagura at least had a crush on her. "It's kinda weird and flattering at the same time, but why would she like me?" she wondered.
She honestly couldn't understand why her rival would develop a crush on her. "But wait...if she does, and she showed it through doin' that stuff, then..." she said as it dawned on her: if Kagura showed it through such subtle actions, then...Yomi had to be in the same situation. "She was even more aggressive than Kagura. I could understand her maybe liking me a bit, but...what if she's a lot more serious about how she feels?" she put a hand on her head, trying to quell her stress.
As if on cue, a knock on the window signaled the arrival of one or the other. It turned out to be Kagura, who had adorned a meek smile.
After a pause, though, she narrowed her eyes, "What? You act like you were expecting me or something." She pointed out.
"At this point, I might as well..." Tomo mumbled under her breath.
"Huh? Well, anyway...would you wanna, like...hang out...or something?" she asked tentatively, and Tomo knew that this was the perfect opportunity to torment the other girl about her crush.
"Well, I don't know...I figured I might catch a movie, maybe even dinner with Yomi tonight, and then I'd stay over at her place." she lied, and was very satisfied with the results: Kagura's face paled, and she bit her lower lip.
"O-oh...I t-thought...what about tomorrow, maybe?" Kagura stuttered, falling for the ploy.
"She's taking me to the amusement park!" Tomo replied, although that was true.
"B-but...but...a-alright. Well, whenever then, huh?" Kagura gave up, a disappointed look on her face. At this point, Tomo had to laugh her head off.
"I was just screwing with you! I'm free for today!" she admitted. Kagura glared at her for a moment before they got ready and headed towards the city.
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Seeing another opportunity to antagonize Kagura, Tomo waited until they were out of sight to take her companions hand and interlace their fingers.
"T-Tomo?" Kagura stammered at the action, but didn't make a move to break the coveted contact. After coming into sight of the public again, she broke the contact, leaving Kagura to yearn for more.
As Tomo expected, this act made her admirer more brazen, as Kagura now made discrete but frequent attempts to make some kind of contact with her. 'Wow, she really does like me! But...what should I do? I mean, I'm not even sure I feel the same way...not to mention...Yomi...' when she thought about it, she found that she actually did have feelings for her best friend. They had been friends since elementary school, sticking together even though Yomi often got annoyed with her, and it was only natural that such feelings would exist; she had just pushed them out of the way for the time. But after recent events, she was finding it hard to think about anything other than the two of them.
"Hey, what's wrong? You look like you're mad." Kagura interrupted her.
"Wha...what? Oh, no! It's nothing!" Tomo denied, not realizing how deep in thought she'd been. Kagura was about to ask further, when an unusual sound perforated the sound of the masses: the sound of rubber squealing against cement.
"Either someone's speeding, or Yukari's pissed about something." Tomo decided. Unfortunately, it was the latter. They looked on in terror as their teacher's car flew around the corner, sped up toward them, and stopped right in front of them.
"What do you two think you're doing!" Yukari demanded from the two girls.
"Walking around, which I don't think is safe right about now. Tell us when you're headed the other way, and then we'll start again." Tomo spat at her, regaining her composure. The other girl, who was still in a state of shock, simply nodded in agreement.
"SHUT UP," their teacher screeched, slapping them both on the head repeatedly, "My driving is impeccable! It's all these other idiots that need to go take a test!" she continued, spreading her arms out to indicate the now-offended bystanders.
"Well, anyway...what are you doing, Miss Yukari?" Kagura finally managed to ask, still reeling.
"Well, you see, girls, I have a life. And as such, I like to do things with it. Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go buy some gam-...items...yeah, items! Don't question it!" the teacher informed quickly before speeding away. The two girls facefaulted, before continuing on their little 'date'.
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Kagura was both fleeting and despairing over the events thus far. 'S-s-she's returning my feelings! Does she actually like me too? Or is she just jerking me around? It would be her style, but...well, I'll j-just have to find out!' She mentally stammered, resolving to take a snap-decision and push herself up to test her new boundaries.
At every chance, she attempted to make some sort of physical contact with Tomo, but the other girl seemed to conveniently pull away at the last second.
'She definitely doesn't need much motivation, but I wonder if she actually...cares about me? I mean, it's probably just a crush, right? And I still don't know what to do about Yomi...damnit! Well, I'll enjoy Kagura's advances until then...' she decided, finally allowing the athlete to grip her hand lightly. The other girl blushed wildly, and ducked her head to hide it.
"T-Tomo?" she finally called after a while of the act.
"Mm?" she responded between thinking and registering the other girl's shyness.
"...N-nothing. So, i-is there anything you wanna do? I mean, in particular, b-because I'm sure it has to be pretty boring, just walking around with me..." she continued, almost shuffling instead of walking.
"Oh, no, this is nice...well, I mean...yeah, nice..." Tomo answered, to the surprise of both of them. 'Where did that come from? I meant to say that we should be heading back! This is totally screwed up! And yet, it is nice...' she contradicted herself repeatedly, unaware of the now completely elated Kagura who held her hand discretely.
"It's l-late...later t-than I t-thought...I'll walk you home...?" she suggested, not even realizing the way she'd worded it. At that Tomo blushed, and slowly took her hand from Kagura's. The latter wasn't quite sure how to interpret it, so she figured that it had resulted from her last comment.
'DAMNIT! I screwed up again! But...either way, I'm going to make my move when we get there...' she told herself; ordered herself. Both of them were unnoticing of the quaint shadow that traced their moves and actions, a familiar shadow of the other competitor...
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The sun having gone down prior to their arrival, Tomo invited the other girl to stay over...against her better judgment. 'Grrr! I should be scorning her or something, not encouraging her! At least not until I figure out my own feelings!' the room's owner thought suddenly as she turned to her admirer. Said admirer was flipping through a magazine, though most of her attention was focused on her crush.
"Tomo...?" she asked quietly after a while of silence.
"Hmmm?" the usually spastic girl replied with a rather somber look.
"T-today...I mean, what with when we...when we held hands, and..." she stammered, unable to word it right. Instead of answering her, Tomo turned to look out the window, which was open on account of it being an unusually warm night. She had meant to see the stars, but was greeted by a malicious glare. Her scream let it be known that they were being spied on.
"So what's this I here about hand-holding? Staying over?" Yomi inquired relentlessly. They both faltered under the stream of questions, and scrambled to think of an answer.
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End of Chapter 8.
I'll try to have other chapters for my other stories up as soon as possible too! Sorry for the hiatus!