Still don't own Azumanga Daioh. What a surprise.

If you're wondering where the rest of the conversation between Yukari and Nyamo is, I moved it to the end of the third chapter. It just doesn't work right tacked onto the beginning of this one.

Also, I apologize for the glaring continuity error in the original version of this chapter. It's fixed now. But I still cannot believe I was so dumb.

-----

IV

KEEPING SECRETS

The next day, lunch happened again as usual. Chiyo-chan and Osaka sat down and ate their meals quietly in a corner of the room where they did not usually eat, trying to look as though they were not there.

Their cover was blown amazingly quickly.

Chiyo-chan knew it wouldn't be long before someone discovered them, but even then she thought they could buy a bit of time before the others found them out. Unfortunately, the first person who noticed them was Tomo, and she said their names loudly and waved frantically for them to come over to the spot where they usually ate.

Sighing, Chiyo-chan trudged over in her direction with Osaka in tow.

When she finally arrived with the others in the group, she said "Hello!", perhaps a little too brightly, and sat.

"Hey," Tomo asked, "Didja find anything out about the teachers yet?"

After a slight pause, Chiyo-chan answered, "Nothing to report, I'm afraid. Right, Osaka?"

"What?" Osaka stopped staring at Chiyo-chan's pigtails.

"We did not find anything out on our trip, right?" Chiyo-chan repeated.

"Oh... No," Osaka said quickly, "Chiyo-chan's right, we didn't. We didn't even find anything out about the clones."

"...Clones?" Chiyo-chan looked puzzled.

"You know about the army of clones Yukari-sensei is building, right?"

"Uh-"

"Aw, come on!" Tomo interrupted, looking quite disappointed. "I thought you guys would find SOMETHING! You're supposed to be smart, Chiyo-chan. Or maybe you DID find out and you don't want to tell us! Tell! Don't keep secrets from us!!"

"But... I really didn't find anything out!" Chiyo-chan protested, although she did not look at Tomo, instead preferring to focus on her meal.

"I think she is telling the truth," Sakaki murmured.

"I think so too," Kagura agreed. "Chiyo-chan isn't the type to lie... Although I thought she also wasn't the type to spy on people..."

"I don't know..." Yomi looked suspicious. "I think there's something she's not telling us." She pointed her chopsticks at Chiyo-chan.

"Of course not," said Chiyo-chan, but she continued to look at her food.

"I'm not lying either," Osaka promised. "That's my pledge as an investigator of the truth."

-----

It was morning of the next day and Sakaki had arrived at her storage space. Thing. You know, that place where people put their stuff.

Anyway, before the author of this story gets off track, let us note that Sakaki's storage contained something unusual.

It was an envelope.

Sakaki picked up the envelope, flipped it over, and read what was on the other side: "To Sakaki-san. Do not open around others." There was no return address.

Should she open it?

She couldn't think of a reason why not. After all, there was nothing written on the envelope that said she couldn't open it when she was alone. And she was alone – as she often was. But she was at school, and at any moment a friend could approach her, perhaps Chiyo-chan or Kagura, and ask what she was reading.

But if it was Chiyo-chan, she could tell, couldn't she? They trusted each other.

Sakaki continued to hesitate.

Then, on a whim, she changed her mind and quickly opened it.

She read it. When she got to the end, she paused, not really having taken it in, and reread it. As she did so, her eyebrows rose higher and higher and a slight blush appeared on her face.

She read it a third time and her surprise was replaced with puzzlement. Who could have sent her this letter? There was no name on it. In fact, there was no ending salutation at all. The bottom of the letter was just left blank. There were a lot of candidates; Sakaki only had to walk unassumingly down a hallway for plenty of students to swoon. But the letter was written as though its author thought there might be a chance that his identity would be discovered. This confused Sakaki all the more. For there to be any chance, it would have to be someone that she interacted with on at least a semi-regular basis.

But all her friends were female!

Sakaki had a lot of questions in her mind about this letter, but there was one thing she knew for sure: She couldn't tell anyone.

Not even Chiyo-chan.

-----

The weekend passed fairly uneventfully, and on Monday, the gang picked up where they had left off before last school week had ended. Having forgotten all about Chiyo-chan and Osaka's apparent secrets over the weekend, they (Tomo especially) increased their efforts to learn the secret.

Although neither Chiyo-chan nor Osaka could say it, of course, Yukari-sensei and Kurosawa-sensei had both made them promise not to mention anything about the conversation they had overheard.

Of course, this, as many secrets do, made the week that followed a little hard to deal with. Not only did Chiyo-chan have to keep quiet a lot, she also had to keep a close watch on Osaka. She knew Osaka might have a hard time remembering there was something she was supposed to keep secret and she worried Osaka would slip up. Once or twice she almost did and Chiyo-chan would have to make a save. It was quickly starting to wear her down.

Meanwhile, the rest of the gang was getting more and more suspicious of Chiyo-chan's behavior. Tomo kept badgering Chiyo-chan to tell, despite her repeated protests that she knew nothing. Kagura noted that Chiyo-chan was acting quite strange. Yomi was especially suspicious, giving Chiyo-chan silently disapproving looks through her glasses that made Chiyo-chan feel very uncomfortable. The only person who seemed to believe was Sakaki, which if possible made Chiyo-chan feel even worse whenever she stuck up for her and Osaka.

All this made the next week rather difficult to get through.

-----

One day during the week, lunch happened yet again. As usual, Tomo and Yomi were arguing. It started, as it usually does, with Tomo.

"You know," Tomo noted, "You seem to have gained a few pounds since last week."

"Excuse me?" Yomi responded sharply, as she usually did.

"You heard me." Tomo smirked. "You've gained weight!"

"I...I have NOT gained weight!!" Yomi protested.

"What did you eat that made you gain weight like that?"

"Nothing!" said Yomi crossly.

"I bet it was..."

"I said NOTHING!" Yomi interrupted. "Shut up!"

"Sensitive subject, huh?" Tomo's smirk became even wider.

A blood vessel broke in Yomi's head. "Shut UP!!" She stood up reached out to grab for what seemed to be Tomo's neck, but Kagura held her back.

"Don't," she said simply.

"Why not?" Yomi argued.

"You shouldn't." Kagura did not let go.

"I think it's an excellent idea."

"If you try to hurt me, I'll tell everyone–" Tomo stood up too– "About the incident in third grade... with the ketchup."

Yomi looked shocked (although still very angry). "You wouldn't dare. You said you'd never tell!!"

"Oh, but I would, Yomi... I would."

"You... I... FINE." Yomi sat down again, still fuming.

Tomo changed the subject as though nothing had happened: "So, Chiyo-chan, come on. TELL! Is it about money? I bet it's about money..."

-----

"Third grade sucks," Tomo complained. "The winter break this school year was three days shorter than the one last time! Three whole days! And the workload! Ugh. I swear, that math teacher gives us like TEN whole problems every day!! Can you believe that? TEN! What do you think, Yomi?"

Koyomi blinked. "Uh... did you just call me Yomi?"

"Yeah, I did," Tomo said. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"...I've never been called that before..."

"Come on. Koyomi is too long to have to keep saying all the time. Besides, it sounds all formal and boring and blehhhh. But if you wanna be boring and be called that name, that's fine with me."

"No... It's fine... I kind of like it." Koyomi – Yomi – smiled a little.

"So, anyway," Tomo said again, "What do you think?"

"Oh, I don't mind the work," Yomi disagreed. "I like being challenged. Besides, ten problems isn't that many, you know..." She leaned closer to Tomo conspiratorially. "I heard that in high school, you have to do forty! Or more!"

"Wow," said Tomo in awe. "That's incredible! How do they do that?"

"I don't know," Yomi said. "It's amazing they don't just faint in class!"

"Actually," Tomo said, "I think some kids have. Although that might be more because of their teachers. I heard that there's this really insane English teacher who yells at her students all the time. Some kids are so scared of her that they run whenever they see her walk down the hallway! Ha ha ha! Imagine that!! Some people sure are wimps."

"Oh, wow... " Yomi breathed, "High school sure seems scary."

"Yeah," Tomo agreed. "But it'll be all right if I have a friend."

"I..." Yomi didn't know what to say to that. Finally, she just settled for a simple "Thank you." There was a pause, and she added, "By the way..."

"What?"

"Remember what happened over break?" asked Yomi quietly. "When we were at Magnetron Burger and..."

Tomo waved her hand in dismissal. "Oh, don't worry about that... Everyone does things like that from time to time. Except maybe me."

"I know, but... I feel really stupid about it... Could you promise never to tell anyone else?" Yomi asked even more quietly than before.

"Don't worry," Tomo reassured her, "Your secret is safe with me."

"Thanks!"

"Don't mention it," Tomo grinned.

"Besides," she added, laughing, "You doing something as stupid is that is too hilarious for me to waste it by telling anyone else!"

Yomi laughed grudgingly and continued to eat her food.

-----

Well, done. Finally.

Surprisingly, the majority of this chapter was written in a single day. Like, a week or more ago, actually. The very beginning of it was written the day before that, and Sakaki receiving Kaorin's letter was done tonight.

I think it turned out fairly well for something that was, in all honesty, quite hastily put together.