Chapter 3 has arrived!

I still own nothing Azumanga Daioh related. As in, I don't make money off of it.

Enjoy.

Minamo poked her head in the doorway of Yamanashi-sensei's classroom and found Hako sitting in one of the desks in the center of the room. Hako didn't seem to notice her, however, which Minamo found strange. Sighing, Minamo walked in and took a seat in the nearest desk.

The only thing Minamo could do was stare at the boring face of the desk. The same dull polish and repetitive square design was present on every desk in the room. Minamo was annoyed at the lack of variation and once again found herself thinking about how much better her school life would be if she took all gym classes. At least outside she could engage in different activities, but for most of her day the only part of her that got to move was her hand as she took notes.

Minamo suddenly thought of Chia and the way she vouched for variety by coloring her hair differently every year. Minamo wasn't that bold, but at the same time she began to fancifully imagine ways to get herself outside more often--sneaking out of the school during breaks, climbing out the window when the teacher wasn't looking, going to a gym class in the morning and staying there all day.

"Good afternoon, Minamo-san," said Hako, interrupting Minamo's train of thought.

Minamo turned her head and looked at Hako, who was unusually calm. "Good afternoon," she said. Hako smiled and returned to writing on the white sheet of paper on the desk. The only sounds in the room were the slow ticking of the clock hanging from the wall and the rapid scratching of Hako's pencil as it imprinted numerous characters onto the blank sheet.

"Hey Hako, are you all right?" asked Minamo.

The sound of the scratching pencil ceased as Hako lifted her head and fixed her eyes on Minamo. "Yeah, why?"

"You're not flustered at seeing me like you usually are. Are you sick?"

"Sick? No. . ." For a split second, Hako's eyes filled with sadness, but she hid her expression by returning to her writing.

After a heavy silence, Minamo finally built up the courage to ask the one question that had been on her mind ever since she first noticed Hako obsessing over her:

"Hako, why do you like me so much?"

Hako froze and her eyes widened; the clock on the wall seemed to stop ticking. Then, her eyes softened and she sighed, looking at Minamo once more. "Do you really want to know?"

Minamo nodded, though she was uncertain of what she was getting herself into. Hako took a deep breath and began her story:

"You probably think I'm in love with you, right? I know everyone thinks I'm, well, strange. At least, that's what I hear them say. That's not the truth, though it may seem that way. See, a long time ago I had a sister who was two years older than me. She was good at sports like you are and she kept her hair short like yours. I was only in first grade when she got sick, so I didn't fully understand what was happening to her. All I knew was that a few weeks later she wasn't around and my parents told me that we couldn't play together anymore."

"That's. . .I'm so sorry." Minamo now felt horrible for the way she, Yukari, and Chia were talking about Hako at lunch. More than that, she felt bad for how the three of them made fun of her over the years.

"Don't worry," said Hako, smiling. "It happened a long time ago, so it's okay to talk about it now. Anyway, about two weeks later I noticed how well you were playing soccer in gym class and--well, with that and everything else I told you, you looked exactly like her and you still do. To me, Minamo, you're like another version of my sister."

"But Hako, that's not healthy. You can't hold on to your sister forever."

"Oh, I know that. I came to terms with her death a long time ago, but it's like--it's like someone else like her was put in my path for whatever reason, not as a replacement but as a compliment. I don't know what you've heard, but I don't have a huge shrine dedicated to you and I don't know every little detail about your life or your family. I know just as much as everyone else knows."

"I see," Minamo paused, "but that still doesn't explain why you almost have a heart attack every time you see me."

"I admire your skills in sports. Like I said, you're a lot like my sister. I always cheered for her and looked up to her, so I kind of do the same for you. Although, I will admit that it's funny seeing you freak out. No wonder Yukari teases you so much."

Both Hako and Minamo laughed, which greatly lightened the atmosphere of the room. Now, they began to wonder where Yamanashi-sensei was.

At that moment, Yamanashi-sensei walked into the classroom with a broad smile on his face. "I see both of you have learned something important," he said. The girls stared back at him, confused.

"But isn't detention supposed to be punishment?" asked Minamo.

Yamanashi-sensei chuckled and clasped his hands behind his back. "There is no point of punishing students if they don't learn something from it. Yes, you two did disrupt my class, but I could tell that there was a misunderstanding between you. Now that things have been explained, the room seems lighter, does it not?" He slowly paced back and forth the length of his desk and smiled in satisfaction at the results of his first lesson of the year. "You two have been here long enough," he said, resuming his serious tone. "Go home."

Minamo and Hako silently stood and left the room.

Once outside the school, Minamo turned to Hako and said, "Why don't you hang out with Yukari, Chia, and I? You can help me keep them under control."

Hako beamed back at her and she had that look in her eye that preluded her spaz mode. "Yay! I get to hang out with Minamo-san!" Hako jumped on Minamo's back.

Honestly, Minamo thought, twice in one day? "Hako, I can't breathe!"

"Hey, since we're friends now, can I call you Nyamo?"

"You might as well," said Minamo as she regained her balance.

"Hey, Nyamo, do you care that I'm riding on your back?"

"I'm used to it by now, thanks to Yukari."

Suddenly, they heard Yukari's voice screaming "Nyamo!" Soon, Minamo could hear the sound of her feet pounding the sidewalk as she ran and she wasn't slowing down. Before Minamo could react, Yukari crashed into them, causing all of them to splatter down the sidewalk. Yukari, of course, was the only one laughing.

"Yukari, why are you still here?" asked Minamo after she managed to sit up.

"Chia and I got bored, so we decided to look around the school for weird things and then I found you!"

Minamo glared at her. "Then where's Chia?"

"She's. . .I don't know where she is."

"What happened to you two going home?"

"Well, obviously Chia didn't want to go back to her house, so I invited her over, but when we got to my house my mom was yelling at a bottle of soy sauce."

"She what?"

"Yeah, she was yelling at a bottle of soy sauce. I don't get it either, but it's not my problem. Still, it was funny to listen to for a while," Yukari laughed.

"What's not you problem?" Chia said, appearing suddenly with a cup of yogurt in her hand and a spoon.

"Chia, why do you have yogurt?" asked Minamo, pointing at the small, brightly colored plastic container.

"Huh? Oh, um. . ." Chia scratched her head and stared at the yogurt cup as if it were a strange object that she would never be able to understand. "It's yummy!" She smiled as she stuck a spoonful of the fruity treat in her mouth.

"We should probably be getting home," said Hako.

"Oh yeah! How was detention, Nyamo?" asked Chia.

"Uh, good?" Minamo replied, unable to come up with a better response.

"You four!" Yamanashi-sensei's voice boomed from the entrance of the school. "What are you still doing here? Why aren't you at home? Chisaki, why do you have yogurt?"

"What do you have against yogurt, sensei?" Chia shouted, pointing her spoon at him.

"Calm down, Chia," said Nyamo, pulling her away. "Let's just go."

When they left the school grounds, Yukari noticed for the first time that Hako was with them. "Hey Nyamo," she said, poking Hako's head, "since when did Hako start hanging out with us?"

"Since detention."

"Oh," said Yukari with a shrug. Despite the rumors about Hako, neither she nor Chia cared that Hako was hanging out with them. If Minamo didn't have a problem with it, neither did they.

"By the way, Nyamo, your balance is horrible. You shouldn't be so unstable when I jump on you," said Yukari.

"As soon as I learn to drive, I'll make my car jump on you and test your balance."

"Not if I run you over first!"

"Your reflexes are terrible! You'd never be able to run me over before I got out of the way."

"Chia, tell Nyamo that I could run her over with a car because I'd be fast enough to do it!" Yukari whined, pointing her finger in Minamo's face.

"No, Chia! Tell Yukari that she wouldn't even close the car door before I ran 100 meters away!"

Both girls leaned closer and closer to Chia, trying to force a response out of her. Luckily for Chia, the five centimeters she had on both girls gave her some sort of relief from the two pairs of dark eyes staring intensely at her.

"Um, I guess if Yukari--" Minamo narrowed her eyes even more; Chia stepped back.

"O-Or maybe if Nyamo--" Yukari growled.

"Well, what if you both. . .ran over each other at the same time?"

Yukari and Minamo looked at Chia, then at each other, then at Chia, and then back at each other. Then, the walked ahead, discussing this new factor in their scenario. Relieved, Chia sighed and fell in step with Hako. She emptied her yogurt cup, threw it into a nearby trash can, placed her silver spoon in her briefcase, and gazed up at the slowly darkening sky.

"Chia, I've been meaning to ask you," said Hako, "Why is it that you always change your hair color every year?"

Chia hesitated. Part of her was surprised that Hako would be the first to ask her this question; Yukari and Minamo just accepted her habit without wondering about it. Part of her was also a little bit angry, but Chia knew that Hako had no way of knowing how personal that question really was.

"I have an older sister who does everything perfectly and has been perfect her whole life. She succeeds at everything she tries and has lived a completely normal life. My parents pushed me to be the same, but I couldn't do it. They were disappointed in me and they made sure to show it. I figured that if I couldn't be what they wanted, I might as well go all the way and be the complete opposite of my sister. I decided all of that near the end of first grade."

"How did you find someone to dye your hair in first grade?"

"I made friends with some older kids who knew how to do it. Once I was old enough to do it myself, they taught me how. Now, I usually have money to get it done professionally."

"What do your parents think?"

"They don't care. I'm not my sister, so they leave me alone. I guess you could say they've given up on me. They're too busy basking in my sister's success and glory."

Up ahead, Yukari and Minamo had stopped and were waiting for Chia and Hako. Once they caught up, they all continued walking and jumped from topic to topic every time a new thought popped into Yukari's head. The group eventually parted at a street corner where they each went their separate ways toward their houses.

That wraps up chapter 3! I love hearing your thoughts, but I don't love flames. They make me use too much water, really.

Until next time,

-LadyRushia