I do not own the rights to nor am I in any way affiliated with Azumanga Daioh.

Author's Notes and replies to reviews are at the end of the chapter.

Warm Days

It was a nice and sunny January morning, barely any clouds in the sky. Kagura had hardly noticed as she ran along the sidewalk, checking her watch every few steps to make sure she wasn't late yet. She arrived just a few minutes before the bell, quickly heading to change her shoes. Grabbing her bag off the floor where she'd set it, Kagura turned towards the stairs, stumbling to stop a few steps into a run as she met three girls she recognized vaguely from her old home room with Miss Kurosawa.

"Hey guys, nice morning, isn't it?" Kagura said out of reflex.

The middle girl, Sayuri, smiled. The most well spoken one as Kagura recalled. The other two seemed to silently elect her to speak for them. Sayuri looked to cast around for what to say, finally speaking in a demure voice; "We heard about…it, Miss Kagura…."

"Heard about what?" Kagura responded at once, an air of confusion setting in around her.

The smallest girl, Haruka, grinned and said in a suggestive voice, "You know…."

Glancing around, Kagura laughed nervously, "I don't know what you're talking about, guys."

Giggling, Haruka shot back in a now cheerful voice, "That you're going out with Miss Kurosawa, silly."

Sayuri nodded, "We think it's great that you had the courage to come out of the closet, and we support you all the way on your choice."

It took Kagura a moment to process what had been said, her hand suddenly tightening on the handle of her book bag when she did. Finally, she whispered in the most controlled voice she could manage, "You think I'm going out with Miss Kurosawa?"

The three nodded in unison, Sayuri keeping the demure tone of her voice despite looking more than a little uncomfortable now, "Sorry if it wasn't supposed to get out…We thought it'd been going on for a while, and you had finally decided to make it public."

Though she now looked like a teakettle going through a slow boil, Kagura's voice remained unwavering in its cold and controlled tone, "Who did you hear this from?"

The three girls looked at one another, Haruka finally saying, "A guy in our class, Kenta, was asking us if it was true when we got here."

"How many people have heard this," was Kagura's next question.

"Well…" Sayuri took a step back in unison with the other girls, "We seemed to be the last ones in our class to find out, uh, and we should be going, it's almost time for the bell." The three turned, heading up the stairs at a quick pace.

Staring after them for a moment, Kagura sullenly began to follow, giving them enough time to be well out of her way by the time she reached the door of her homeroom. She slid the door open, stepping in and glancing over the other students who were already there. The bell had rung when she was mounting the last flight of stairs, not that it mattered with Ms. Tanizaki's tendency to be a good five minutes late.

It looked like the rumor hadn't made its way to this class yet, or at least, everyone was good at pretending it hadn't. She took her seat, hanging her book bag from the hook on her desk and turned to face the front of the room, keeping her eyes from wandering to the other students for fear of finding out they did know. The room's door was flung open harshly and Ms. Tanizaki marched in, shutting it in a similar manner behind her. Ms. Tanizaki went to the board immediately, moodily scrawling their assignment for the day down before taking a seat at her desk and putting her head down to sleep.

The day was becoming worse and worse for Kagura. The rumor she had hoped would just be some silly piece of gossip that would be lost by the next period seemed to be doing quite the opposite. Each class she went to had more people that she cold tell were whispering behind her back. By the time lunch rolled around it seemed that every boy in the school was laughing behind her back, and all the girls were looking at her like she was going to jump on them any moment and tear their clothes off.

It was becoming unbearable for her; she wanted to curl up in a corner and cry. After giving whoever started the rumor the beating of their life. Lunch was welcomed because now she could get down to business in finding out where the rumor came from, and put a hurting on the source. She could only vaguely remember what Kenta looked like, thankful to find him sitting alone in his home room to eat lunch when she began the embarrassing process of questioning each person for who they heard the rumor from to track it back to the source.

After spending half of lunch on trips to the lunchroom to find more people and back to her old homeroom, all the while gaining more whispering voices behind her back, she finally came to stand over a desk filled by a small girl with short dark hair and a timid look to her. The girl was obviously attempting to ignore Kagura looming before her, keeping her eyes down and her chopsticks steadily moving between her bento box and her mouth.

In an unquestioning voice Kagura growled, "You're Mayu," watching the girl quiver slightly as she nodded, setting down her chopsticks so she could wring her napkin nervously. Placing her hands on the edge of the desk, Kagura said in a low voice, "The other girls said you're the first one in the room to hear this thing about me. Who did you hear it from?"

Looking as if she were about to cry, Mayu continued to wring her napkin nervously, "M-My cat got out of the house this morning and I was trying to catch him. I was behind someone's bushes trying to coax him out, and I heard one of those girls you're friends with in room 3-3 say it…."

Her brows knitting, Kagura opened her mouth a few times, trying to imagine which one of her friends would ever do something like this to her, and why. "What was the girl that said it like?" she finally mumbled.

"The one that's sort of loud, and always challenging people to contests…." Mayu's voice seemed even more timid than before as she cowered under Kagura's glare.

Releasing the desk, Kagura stormed across the room, her imagination supplying a million and one appropriate ways to kill Tomo. She flung open the door, heading down the hall for room 3-3, attempting to compose herself at least partially so she wouldn't make a scene.

Chiyo, Sakaki, and Osaka were sitting next to each other to eat their lunches, Tomo and Yomi nowhere in sight. Still doing her best to avoid losing her temper at them, Kagura stalked over to where they sat, saying through gritted teeth, "Where's Tomo?"

Chiyo smiled up at her cutely, "Good morning, Ms. Kagura. I think Tomo went to the bathroom."

There was a barely audible cough that drew their attention, save for Osaka who was attempting to evenly break a pair of chopsticks, several awkwardly separated pair already laying around her untouched lunch on the desk. Sakaki wiped her mouth daintily with a pink kitty-print handkerchief, then looking up at Kagura, "I saw Tomo walking towards the stairs to the roof at the beginning of lunch."

Despite her face being locked in a scowl, Kagura nodded and bowed politely, thanking the three before heading out of the room at a quick pace, ignoring Chiyo's voice asking if anything was wrong. As soon as she was out of the room Kagura broke into a full run, her temper rising as she headed for the stairs. Turning the corner into the last hall before the stairs, Kagura slid to a stop, nearly colliding with Tomo who had been running in the opposite direction.

For a moment, the two stared at each other, Tomo then grinning and saying, "Don't tell me you pigged out and finished your lunch already."

Her whole body tensed, Kagura's voiced quivered as she snarled, "Were you the one that made everyone think that?"

Tomo's grin remained, "What, that you're a pi—"

"That I'm gay, that I'm going out with Miss Kurosawa, did you tell everyone that," Kagura shouted over her. If she'd been in better control of herself, Kagura would be thankful where they were in the hall was mostly deserted; only a few other students were overhearing the scene.

Her grin gone now, Tomo opened her mouth several times, unable to find the words to defend herself. How could this have happened, what were the odds of someone hearing her and telling everyone else? It was her loud mouth, why'd she have to yell it like that?

Taking the silence as an admission of guilt, Kagura continued her verbal attack, "And then you were up here hiding on the roof from me!"

"Kagura, I wasn't hiding," Tomo said quickly, hoping Yomi would be down any second to talk some sense into Kagura.

"Then what were you doing? You don't even have a coat on!" Kagura felt her anger waning into depression quickly. As much as she wanted to hit Tomo, her arms refused to move as she yelled, "What the hell did I do to you? Why would you do this to me? You rui—"

Backing away for fear of being struck Tomo had to shout back to make herself heard, "Kagura, I—it, I was just kidding!"

For a tense moment Kagura was silent, her hands balling into fists, "THIS WAS JUST A JOKE TO YOU? You ruined my reputation, what the hell were you thinking?"

Tomo cowered away in fear, arms up to guard her face and eyes shut out of fear as she waited for her beating. After a few seconds where she didn't feel Kagura pummeling her mercilessly, Tomo risked opening her eyes to see why. Her hands still balled into fists, Kagura's whole body was quivering, her eyes shut tightly as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Lowering her arms slowly, Tomo's throat still felt tight, "Kagura…?" She flinched when the tanned girl turned suddenly, sprinting down the hall with one arm up to hide her eyes. Watching until Kagura was out of sight down the hall, Tomo felt the fear of physical harm leave her to be replaced by a heavy feeling of guilt.

It was a surprise to Kagura that she didn't crash into anything as she ran. Her eyes already clouded with tears, she kept her arm up in front of them, watching the ground just in front of her feet as she ran. Down the stairs and out of the school's side door, she headed straight for the pool house, where she always came for refuge when there were no others around. She was thankful, though not surprised, to find the pool house empty. Slumping onto the bench before the locker she used during the warmer months, she rested her elbows on her knees, her face covered with her hands as she began to sob uncontrollably.

It had been a long morning for Minamo Kurosawa. She felt like the whole world new a secret they didn't want to share with her. While her classes this morning had been more attentive than they ever seemed to be, very few of her students appeared interested in learning so much as staring at her like she was going to do a trick at any moment. On top of this, it seemed all her co-workers were having important conversations in hushed tones, right until she came within earshot of them. For once she wished she were Yukari so it would be fully in character for her to rudely intrude on their conversation and ask what it was about.

At least lunch was something to look forward to. Minamo took a seat at her desk in the teacher's workroom, undoing the handkerchief covering her lunch. She took up her chop sticks, digging in and barely managing to savor the first bite before a strong hand clapped down on her shoulder causing her to nearly choke on the noodles. Managing to swallow without coughing, Minamo slowly turned to look over her shoulder, seeing the principal of the school, Mr. Ichikawa, staring down at her grimly. "Y-Yes sir?" She hated the quaver that entered her voice when she was nervous.

Mr. Ichikawa stepped back, motioning towards the door to his office, "Ms. Kurosawa, may I have a word with you in private?"

Nodding, Minamo wiped her mouth quickly and slid from her chair, heading for the office door. She could feel the stares of her co-workers burning into the back of her head. Inside the office a sudden foreboding feeling hit her, making her knees feel weak as the door to the office snapped shut ominously behind her.

"Please, sit," the principal said, motioning to the chair set before his desk as he moved around to take his own desk chair. Nodding dumbly, Minamo slumped into the chair, feeling anxious over not being able to imagine what her boss was going to say.

Behind his desk again, the principal leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk and steepling his fingers forebodingly. For a moment, Minamo would swear his eyes were boring holes down to her very soul. She'd never seen him look at anyone other than Yukari like this.

"Ms. Kurosawa…" finally with some of the severity seeping from his stance and voice he said, "I do hope that the rumor I have heard today has been greatly exaggerated. More than one of my staff have mentioned it to me in passing."

Smiling nervously, Minamo tried to calm herself. It was just rumor control; he'd probably been talking to all the other teachers like this today, right? "May I ask what this was…?"

"That you have been forcing a student into a relationship with you," he said, as if it were some mildly interesting piece of news.

For a short moment Minamo looked around the room, expecting to see Yukari half-hidden somewhere, barely able to contain her laughter. "I'm sorry…?" she asked incredulously.

Mr. Ichikawa smiled vaguely, looking relieved that she was as shocked as anyone to hear the so-called news, "Yes, a rumor that you were using your power as a teacher to force a girl into a relationship with yourself."

Minamo felt like an icy arrow had been shot through her heart on the word 'girl.' She was thankful to be seated; her knees felt weak as jelly. Failing to control the quaver in her voice she spouted quickly, "T-That's, that's—of course not!"

Nodding, the principal leaned back in his chair, removing his glasses and a handkerchief from the breast pocket of his jacket to clean them with, "I understand that these rumors crop up every once in a while. At the start of last semester, a girl lodged a complaint that Mr. Kimura was stalking her after she was moved to his homeroom. Mr. Kimura requested she be moved simply so he could give her more help with Classics, a class she was already excelling in. I am to assume that this is the exact same reason you have been having these private swimming sessions with Ms. Kagura?"

Nodding frantically and rising from her chair, Minamo spouted quickly, "Of course, sir, I wouldn't dream of forcing myself on a student, sir!"

The principal leaned forward again, Minamo taking her seat once more on his unsaid command. "I do recognize that the students in our school are past the legal age of consent, and thus, a teacher holding such a relationship with one would not technically be illegal. However, using any form of coercion because of your position in this school could be very dangerous to our reputation. And any teacher, who was to do such a thing, and especially get it publicized by the media, would have to be removed for the sake of the rest of the school. Do I make myself clear, Ms. Kurosawa?"

Swallowing hard, Minamo nodded solemnly, her hands shaking in her lap, "Yes sir, of course sir."

Nodding back in agreement, Mr. Ichikawa stood, walking around the edge of his desk, "Now that that nasty bit of business has been cleared up, please forgive me for interrupting your lunch hour."

Minamo got to her feet, her knees still feeling weak as she followed the principal to the door where he held it open for her. Bowing slightly as she exited, Minamo headed back to her desk, quickly gathering up her lunch and leaving the workroom at a quick pace. She could still feel the accusing glares of her co-workers as she left. The students in the halls looked away as she passed them, making her feel uncomfortable in ways she'd never felt amongst students. Down the stairs and out the side door, she headed for the pool house, hoping to get her appetite back and finish her lunch before the end of the hour.

Pushing open the door to the girl's changing room, Minamo paused behind the privacy wall. She listened to the soft sobbing coming from near the lockers, feeling her heart jump awkwardly as she realized Kagura was the only one it could be. She slowly inched from behind the privacy wall, trying to appear as relaxed and normal as she always did despite the disturbing fluttering in her stomach. The younger girl not noticing her, she called to her softly, trying to keep her voice from quivering nervously.

Kagura's head snapped up from her knees and she gawked at Minamo in surprise for a moment, slowly uncurling and resting her feet on the floor again as Minamo took a seat beside her, placing the lunch box between them. The two sat in an uneasy silence for a minute, finally broken by Minamo who said, "I guess you heard, then." A slight nod from Kagura confirmed the obvious answer.

Removing a napkin from the lunch box, Minamo continued, "Rumors like this get started all the time, you just can't let it get to you." She held the napkin out to Kagura, who took it to wipe her eyes and blow her nose on.

"Why does everyone want to believe this stupid gossip," Kagura sniffled again as tears returned to her eyes, "everyone in the school is talking about it now."

"I don't know," Minamo replied as she leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees, "Mr. Ichikawa even called me to his office at the start of lunch to confirm I wasn't forcing myself on a student like he'd heard."

Kagura stared at her incredulously, mumbling, "forcing yourself on me…?" She sighed, slumping slightly, "This morning they were just saying we were together."

"Guess the rumor got a bit twisted as it travel—" Minamo and Kagura both jumped in surprise as the door to the locker room was flung open.

Yukari stormed around the corner of the privacy wall yelling, "DAMMIT NYAMO! You're even using school property to make out with her, a student!" as she stomped across the room.

Rising to her feet quickly, Minamo yelled back, "What the hell are you talking about, it's just a rumor!"

Pointing accusingly at Minamo, Yukari moved closer until her finger was nearly touching Minamo's nose, "That letter you wrote me was all the blackmail I had for you! How the hell am I supposed to use it if everyone knows, dammit!"

Growling, Minamo slapped Yukari's hand away, shouting, "THAT'S WHY YOU'RE MAD? Get out of here, Yukari!" The two stared at each other angrily, Kagura still sitting on the bench, long forgotten. After a long moment Yukari blinked, turning away with a grunt of arrogance she stomped towards the door, mumbling curses under her breath and slamming it behind her.

Staying on the bench, Kagura stared up at Minamo who still stood rigidly until Yukari was long gone, then finally slumping back to sit on the bench, looking like she was deflating as her head sank to rest in her hands. Kagura strained to listen, expecting to hear soft sobs from Minamo who instead sat up after a moment, smiling weakly to Kagura and saying, "Have you eaten lunch yet?"

Shaking her head, Kagura felt her stomach growl as if on command, "I was sort of busy trying to find out who started the rumor…."

Minamo undid the wrapping on her lunch box, picking it up to offer to Kagura, "You can have some of my lunch if you don't mind using my chop sticks…." Nodding, Kagura reluctantly took the lunch box to rest it in her lap, eating slowly, wondering why her cheeks felt so warm all of a sudden.

The two sat in silence, Minamo trying to resist glancing over at Kagura too much, feeling the uneasy fluttering still in her stomach, keeping her appetite away. Slowly she let her eyes travel over to Kagura, who looked back at her after a moment, still chewing a mouthful of noodles. Smiling slightly, Minamo picked up one of the clean napkins, wiping away a piece of stray food stuck at the corner of Kagura's mouth. The two held each other's gaze for a long moment, both looking away suddenly in embarrassment.

Slowly setting the chopsticks down across the lunch box, Kagura held it towards Minamo and said softly, "You want the rest?" Despite her lack of appetite Minamo took the food, beginning to eat slowly, anything to keep her occupied. After another quiet moment, seemingly out of nowhere, Kagura said, "What did Ms. Tanizaki mean about that letter?"

Minamo choked on the piece of croquette she had just put in her mouth, coughing until Kagura slapped her on the back to help her clear her throat. Still breathing heavily Minamo said in a strained voice, "It doesn't matter, it was nothing." She put the chopsticks down, beginning to bundle up the almost emptied lunch box, "Lunch is almost over, and it would just make things more suspicious if we were both late for our next classes."

Kagura frowned, nodding anyway and getting to her feet when Minamo did, feeling torn between respecting the teacher's privacy and prying further into the question. The two walked together back to the school, parting ways inside to take different stairways up to their next classes. The class was a blur for Kagura as she spent the whole period staring out the window, lost in thought. When the end of the day had finally arrived the whispering around Kagura had grown further, yet she was thankful to not hear any new parts added about what her and Ms. Kurosawa were doing in the pool house together.

Though Kagura still felt she should be angry with Tomo, she was having trouble remembering it now. After changing her shoes and pulling her jacket on she turned to see Chiyo, Osaka, and Sakaki waiting for her just outside the front doors. As she walked out to meet them Kagura hoped her face wasn't as red as it felt. "Hey guys," she said with a smile, wondering how they could not have heard the rumor at some point during the day. The only unusual response she could see as they returned her greeting was Sakaki's empty gaze lingering over her for a moment longer than usual.

The four walked in silence through the cold afternoon, Kagura keeping her eyes on the ground not far ahead and her hands shoved deeply into her pockets as her mind wandered about her emotions reflectively. She vaguely heard Osaka talking about what the clouds above were shaped like. The next thing she knew, Chiyo was asking her for the second time if they hadn't walked past her house. Kagura's eyes snapped to the small girl quickly, then trailing to the other two who stared at her as well. She felt her face redden, realizing they had passed her house a block back.

"Did you want to come over to see Mr. Tadakichi and Maya?" Chiyo said in a questioning voice, then adding with a smile, "Ms. Sakaki always spends the afternoon playing with them." The tall girl nodded, looking a bit embarrassed. "Are you okay?" Chiyo asked then, a look of concern on her face.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," Kagura replied quickly, lowering her book bag from where she had it slung over her shoulder. "I was just day dreaming, I guess."

Seemingly out of nowhere came the question, "Was it about Ms. Kurosawa?" Everyone turned to stare at Osaka who had paused from her cloud searching for the moment. Between the confused look from Chiyo and the burning blush of Kagura, Osaka seemed to feel the need to elaborate. "I heard people talking about you dating Ms. Kurosawa today," she added in an innocent tone.

Kagura could feel her cheeks burning, her grip tightening on the handle of her book satchel as her rage towards Tomo blossomed anew, "It was just a rumor…." She was having to fight back tears, turning away from the others and saying quickly before Osaka had a chance to respond, "I have to get my chores done before dark, I really need to get home, see you at school tomorrow." As she trotted away at a quick pace she could hear the three bidding her goodbye as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Walking in the front door of her home Kagura stepped out of her shoes, heading to her room immediately, her book satchel dropped just inside its door before she flung herself onto the twin bed. She hugged her pillow for comfort, wanting to kick herself as she tried to compose herself. Why was she even crying? Someone was going to ask eventually, she knew that. She had even expected it to be Osaka, or worse yet, Yomi, who would smirk bemusedly and ask if it really was just a rumor after Kagura had explained it.

Kagura drew a deep shaky breath and buried her face in her pillow. Having finally calmed herself, her mind wandered back to the thoughts from before her emotional interlude. It wasn't long before she was falling asleep in the quickly darkening room. Her last thought before she left consciousness was wondering what the letter Ms. Tanizaki had referred to could possibly have been about, followed by Ms. Kurosawa's embarrassed avoidance of explaining it.

End Chapter 1.

Okay, so, this took way longer to write than I'd expected. Chapter 3 of Cold Nights shouldn't take that long, as it's still mostly finished. I decided that while this fic is technically separate from Cold Nights, it's so intertwined it might as well be posted as parts of it. I may go back later and separate them depending on how far this goes.

And in case anyone is wondering, the letter Yukari is referring to is the same one mentioned in one of the early episodes of the anime (Episode 3, or around there?). As far as the series shows, it's a love letter of some sort she's apparently holding against Nyamo to keep Nyamo from ever talking about Yukari's personal life or past.

"Fluffy fluffy Azumanga lovin'...I love you so much!

Yeah, please do make stories for a few of the other characters...I'd personally love to see Yukari and Kagura go at it for Nyamo "-JMcConnor

Already on it. Not sure exactly where this is going to go, though I do have a good idea or two. Or should I say, I'm not sure who all this is going to involve in it.

"thumbs up Yayy! Good work, but a Chiyo romance while they're in high school... shudders Makes me feel like a pedophile just thinkin' about it. Keep up the awesome, shoujo-ai-happiness in this story and I will be forever grateful."-Lady Tiger

I think the fic Azumanga Daioh Six Plus is about the best and only Chiyo romance I could imagine happening (The 'six plus' part referring to how many years after the series it takes place). Her and Osaka are sort of getting left out in the cold here, as even though Osaka is the same age as the other older girls, anything romantic involving her just feels...odd.

"good story very believable. Not to be a jerk, but I don't know about the nyamo/kagura thing. If anything i'd say kagura/sakaki and nyamo/yukari. though I don't think sakaki is really even interested in the thought of dating at all right now. Any ways loved the story. very nice hope you get the 3 chapter out soon.
p.s. Defiantly going on my alert lists."-Saintbeast

Thanks, and yeah, Nyamo/Kagura is a bit of an odd one. Though this fic is starting out that way, whether it stays on that path may or may not happen. We'll see when I get the next chapters hashed out and written down.

To those of you who left reviews that I haven't answered directly or spoken to in another medium, all I can say is thank you for reading, I'm glad you like the fic and I hope you'll enjoy the next chapters as well..

Coming up: Chapter 3 of Cold Nights, Tomo and Yomi's first official date.