Azumanga Daioh Fan Fiction ❯ Tomo's Wish ❯ Act 1 Koyomi's Wisecrack ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

I do not own Azumanga Daioh. It is owned by Kiyohiko Azuma.

The girls had a somewhat wonderful evening. They went to Karaoke where there were three surprises. Osaka was able to get a better singing score...than she did on her tests. Sakaki blew everybody away with her singing (and was bashful about it). Yomi...she bew everybody away with her singing...which required ear plugs. Kimura showing up was an unneeded surprise. They managed to catch the train back to Chiyo's house, which was a mansion. Her parents didn't mind at all if Chiyo had a sleep over with her friends. in fact, Chiyo's bedroom was very large. However...Chiyo decided to use the spare bedroom. It was a lot more reasonable...and nobody would have had to step over each other if they needed to do anything. The spare also had a large flat-screen television. Mihama's parents did, however, put on a parental block so nobody could sneak dirty movies, and late night cable. That was not a problem for Tomo, as this was a time for the classics...well the American Classics, that weren't blocked.

"We can watch A Christmas Story," Osaka suggested, "or that Christmas Vacation film."

"I say we watch a Christmas Story!" Tomo suggested.

"I haven't seen it before," Yomi said.

"I have," Kagura said, "it's the funniest thing ever on Earth!"

Sakaki sat there silent. She was more concerned about cute things and not the movie. That is, she is looking at Chiyo's posters for some very cute manga. She really loved the Fruits Basket posters, as well as the Full Metal Panic posters. She also had her host's stuffed Bunta-kun in her arms clutched. Chiyo decided it'd been the perfect time to bring the snacks to the party. Her parents were just getting ready to turn in for the night. Their bedroom was clear across the grounds, but they asked her to try to keep the noise to a minimum. Once she returned with the snacks, the movie started.

"Oh wow, this takes place in the forties!" Yomi exclaimed.

"That's right," Kagura said smiling, "I'll let you figure out the rest."

"Wait...why is the old man swearing like that?" Yomi asked.

"Haven't your father try to battle the family car, the furnace, or hits his finger with a hammer?" Kagura returned.

"That's a good point..." Yomi then continued.

"Hey the good part's coming up!" Osaka hushed.

"There's way too many good parts," Yomi said.

She was right, there was a lot of laughter. They did enjoy their snacks, which consisted of milk-flavored Pocky, some small cakes, and some tea...and so on. After the movie, Yomi wiped a tear from her eye. She never laughed so much. Sakaki, fell asleep. Most likely she spent too much time looking at the Kisa poster, she couldn't concentrate on the movie. Though, she'll get a Kisa plush tiger toy from a UFO catcher some day. Osaka fell asleep on Kagura's chest. Though by accident. Tomo was watching an American television station's morning news cast.

"Wow...they don't adopt the metric system?" Yomi cracked.

"Hey they tried damn it," Tomo defended (she did pay some sort of attention in History). "They just weren't used to it in the seventies!"

"Hey, sorry," Yomi said, giving up playfully, "I'm surprised you'd even pay attention in history."

"Don't forget, my granddad visited America back in the 70's," Tomo warned.

"If you keep becoming a wildcat, you're not going to get a boyfriend," Yomi then said...changing the topic.

"What do you mean?" Tomo asked.

"You're too much of a wildcat..."

"So I'm energetic!"

"Right, your last resort is if I actually agree to date you," Yomi cracked.

Takino turned off the television, and placed the remote control on the table. She then cleaned up the snacks wrappers and went to dispose of them. She ran into Chiyo's mom, and bowed. She was back into the bedroom after disposing of trash, and she then quietly took the tea service to the kitchen. The matriarch had helped quietly. Once everything was cleaned up, Yomi was asleep. Tomo didn't want to seem like an ill-mannered guest. She decided to lie down on her futon. However...Yomi's wisecrack was decided to haunt her. Tomo had a little trouble getting to sleep. The next morning, Tomo woke up and turned on the television. it was still set to that American television station, though, it now was prime time. She changed it again to a local channel for the morning news. Sakaki woke up. She was quiet, and soft-spoken.

"Good morning," Sakaki said softly, "did you sleep well?"

"No," Tomo admitted, "it's a wonder I even slept as long as I did."

"Is there anything bothering you?" Sakaki asked.

"I don't know why Yomi's wisecrack got to me..." Tomo grumbled.

"What did she say?"

"Basically, if I was a last resort, she'd date me..."

"Oh my...it's happening..." Sakaki said, a bit troubled.

"Don't tell, the seeds of doubt?" Tomo tried to joke.

"That's exactly what it is," her taller friend said.

Tomo didn't really believe that. After all, why lose sleep over something somebody said? To Takino, it seemed like it was a very bad joke that Yomi made. To Sakaki, it was something more serious than that. She decided to keep her views to herself. After all, it's a lot easier to bandage a cat bite, than it was to bandaged a ruined friendship. Yomi then woke up, and made her way to the bathroom. Tomo waited, since that'd been a bit rude. Once Yomi did her morning ritual (which included weighing herself) the day then began.
"Morning," Yomi said stretching out, "you look like hell, Tomo."

"Yeah, I had trouble getting sleep," she stated. "It looks like Mr. Sandman missed his appointment."

"The bathroom's free if you need it," Yomi said evenly.

"Alright...I'll be back in a bit!"

Yomi saw Tomo go to the bathroom. She couldn't tell if her wildcat friend was faking it. Either way, she realized things can't have been good. Osaka and Kagura woke up. The Kansai air head blushed as she realized where she slept. Kagura wasn't too bothered. The last one to wake up was Chiyo. She had a quite restful sleep. Tomo returned, and told Chiyo she cleaned up after everybody went to bed. She was so grateful. Tomo still didn't realize that things were setting up for her eventual emotional fall. She needed time to think. Yomi...getting to her...ha! That was quite laughable. Later on that day...since it was Christmas Eve, Tomo remembered she had to get home.

"Hey," Tomo said, "could we hang out tomorrow afternoon?"

"Oh that's right," Chiyo said, "my family is getting the Christmas party set up!"

"Is it an adult thing?" Yomi asked.

"It's actually for our family," Chiyo answered.

"Hey, what are you guys doing with your family?" Kagura asked.

"Oh, we're going to open some presents, have dinner, and watch Soccer untill we fall asleep!" Tomo chimed.

"That sounds like an American Thanksgiving dinner," Chiyo's father said.

"Though...I would say the American soaps are a lot more boring than the Japanese ones..." Tomo remarked

Yomi held her temples. She was quite annoyed that Tomo would bring up something like that. She was more so annoyed when he agreed with her. He did have friends in America. After, they went to the train station. Chiyo then showed them out. She couldn't come along, but she was happy they could come. Tomo attempted to put that wisecrack behind her. It was quite hard. Her life-long friend planted that seed. In Tomo's mind, it meant one of two things: Either screw off, I won't date you, if you're the last woman on earth; or I really want to date you, but you're not listening. That was something she couldn't ignore. Once home...Tomo plopped down on her bed. She placed her phone on her night stand. She was beyond tired. With her family, peace and quiet is something that was rare to come by.

"OH YEAH! I JUST WON HE LOTTERY THIS MORNING!" Mr. Takino bellowed.

"For the love of..." Tomo grumbled. "Dad I love you, but you're too loud."

"Hey there, kiddo," her father said bursting into her bedroom, with the same wildcat energy he's passed to his daughter, "how was Chiyo's sleepover?"

"It was very fun," Tomo then perked up. "We at sweets, watched movies, and went to karaoke before then!"

"Oh my...if I know Koyomi's mother...she's inherited her tone-deafness..." he said holding his temples.

"That's not the kind of thing you want to say..." Tomo said. She too knew the truth, but she at least told Yomi to her face.

"Right! I just won 20,000 yen in the lottery this morning!" he said smiling.

"Great! Now you can give mom her present!"

"This is a surprise," he said smiling.

"Shouldn't you be at work though?"

"Right! I will go pick up your mom's present, and I will be right back at six!" he announced. "Oh, your brother will be home until late."

That gave Tomo the out she needed. The rare moment of peace and quiet on in the Takino household. She loved her family, but sometimes, they were just too loud for her. She decided to shower, and get into a new pair of pajamas. Well, in her case, it was a low-cut green tank-top, and a pair of shorts that were form fitting...but not immodest. About twenty minutes later, she returned drying off. She was fully dressed, and she sat on the bed, and fell down. She just lay there, trying to figure out Yomi's signals. Were they mixed? They probably were. As for the message, it was quite direct.

"Yomi doesn't know what she's talking about," Tomo said drawing the blinds.

She then decided to go back to sleep. it was about 9:30 in the morning. Until, about five, she'd have some time to really think. Tomo couldn't exactly sleep again. She lay there thinking about what Yomi said. It didn't bother her much at first. She did openly question if Yomi were to date her, would it lead to something more. That was a scary thought for her...and a comical thought. She turned her radio on, and listened to pop music for most of the day. However, it was going to be a long week. It just was getting started.