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Azuringu Dai-O!


Azumanga Daioh! is owned by Azuma Kiyohiko, Media Works
Ringu is owned by Koji Suzuki.
Ringu/The Ring, Asmik Ace, Dreamworks SKG.


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---
Thursday, September 18
Day 7
 

 
The last time she saw Tanizaki-sensei, Sakaki thought, was right as her
group was about to take the ferry to Iriomote. Perhaps the teacher could
still be in Okinawa?

Beside her, Kaorin all but exploded in joy. She had never seen Sakaki 
drive before, even though the latter had obtained her license early 
enough. And now, although she really was trying her best to find 
Yukari among the people on the streets, the rosy hue and flowers on the
edge of her vision wasn't helping matters any.

Fortunately, first-hand knowledge of their former teacher's habits 
proved invaluable help in finding her. It took up a good portion of the
day, but they finally encountered Yukari at a place called "The 
Chugging Fish." The teacher's condition, unfortunately, was not the 
most helpful.

They found her surly form slumped over one of the tables farthest from 
the entrance, her cloud of irascibility easily visible through the bar's
own thick atmosphere. Though little of the food before her had been 
consumed, the table seemed overrun by split chopsticks --some split 
smoothly, most of them unevenly. Kaorin approached her nervously.

"Yu-Yukari-sensei?" the short-haired girl called. Yukari's eyes flew 
open and she stood in an instant, sending chopstick halves flying 
everywhere.

"Buckwaaaawk! I am the Lamprey Queen!" she proclaimed in English. 
She stood in place for a second, the bar entirely silent, and then sat 
down and resumed slumping with a loud snore.

Sakaki examined the contents of the beer can on the table. "Full," she 
said, shaking it slightly, "She has only drunk a bit from it."

"Huh?" Kaorin looked back at the unconscious educator. A quick 
glance towards a nearby waiter, who merely nodded, ascertained 
Sakaki's guess. "But how can she be drunk if she..."

"Ah ain't drunk 'nymore..." said a voice from beneath the mane of hair.
"Ah'm way too sober, really."

Yukari, apparently hung-over beyond human possibility, looked up 
from the table and peeled a bit of salmon off her forehead. Her eyes 
stared forward, unseeing, even as Kaorin and Sakaki waved hands 
before them. Yukari hiccupped once, causing her head to bounce off 
the table, then slammed down her forehead on the table once again.

"Lousy Osaka... Can't even get properly drunk now..."

The two girls stared at each other, then Sakaki pulled a chair and sat 
down. "Tanizaki-sensei, about the tape you gave me the other week..."

"Ooh?" Yukari looked up again, "You watched it?" Sakaki nodded. 
Yukari smiled through her stupor, "Way to go, Sakaki! Told ya it'd be 
all right!" She didn't slump down this time, just remained staring 
blissfully into the distance.

"But..." Kaorin sat down as well, "What about the other girls? Didn't 
they watch it too?"

"Yeah? What about them?" Yukari asked.

"They're dead," Sakaki stated simply.

Yukari blinked, "Ah?" She seemed to consider this for a moment, then 
said, "Yaah, they probably didn't add anythin' to the tape, that's why 
she got 'em."

Sakaki leaned forward. "Who got them?"

Her former teacher also leaned towards her, seriousness and a bright 
glint of alcohol in her eyes. "Now, Sakaki, listen to Yukari-sensei. 
Don't mess around with that girl, she's nothing but trouble. Leave 
everythin' t' Osaka fer now."

"Osaka?" Kaorin repeated. "So... she's not the one doing the killings?"

Yukari sat back on her chair much like a marionette, her arms hanging 
loosely by her sides and her head snapping sharply at attention to stare
at Kaorin as if she had grown a second head. "Hell no," she said 
simply. The two girls looked at each other, relieved to hear the news. 
Yukari continued, "She's just running distribution."

Sakaki and Kaorin fell over.

"What do you want with Osaka anyway?" Yukari asked, diving into her 
beer.

"We want to stop her," Sakaki said. "She has something to do with the 
video..."

Yukari leaned back on her chair, smirking evilly, "You can't stop her."
She grinned, her face flushing automatically as if drunk beyond belief.
"She can't be stopped!"

And with that, she rose from her seat and laughed for a full minute. 
Sakaki and Kaorin just stared. Realizing this, Yukari gulped and bolted
for the door, laughing all the way.

Sakaki calmly leaned over to pick up Yukari's purse. Without a word, 
she extracted a rather large bottle of sake --utterly depleted-- and set
it on the table. Both girls lifted an eyebrow at it, Yukari's laughter still
echoing in the streets.

They managed to catch up with her outside a small fair, her half-drunk,
half-hung-over form slung carelessly over one of the horses at the 
merry-go-round. It was still close to noon, so the fair was mostly 
devoid of children, but it didn't stop her breath from permanently 
scarring a few vulnerable minds.

"She always sleeps... even when she's awake..." Yukari kept droning 
on, half-conscious. "Worse, she sleeps during MY class... And she's gonna
take everything over..."

The pair approached her carefully, trying not to rouse her into another
sudden outburst that would make her harder to catch. They slowly held 
her down with their hands, then Sakaki finally pulled her up and slung 
Yukari's arm across her own shoulders.

"Ya watched the other one, didn't ya?" Yukari slurred into Sakaki's ear.

The tall girl nodded, and Yukari hollered, "Whoo! It really worked 
after all! Wheee..." And she slumped back down, barely dragging her 
feet to match Sakaki's stride.

"Sakaki-san?" Kaorin approached. "What did she mean by that?"

Sakaki spared her a brief glance. "There's another video. Not like 
Kasuga-san's, it's... evil."

The intense, focused look that spread over Sakaki's face almost made 
Kaorin buckle at the knees. "There's..." she stuttered for a moment 
before restating Sakaki's revelation. "There's two videos?"

"Un," the taller girl nodded. "We found one at the lodge. We... watched
it a little over a week ago." Kaorin gasped in realization. "A day later,
Tanizaki-sensei showed up at the lodge... and gave me Kasuga-san's 
video."

"Oh..." Kaorin's eyes widened, finally understanding. "Do you think 
Osaka's trying to outdo whoever made that other video?" Kaorin asked.

"Ah--" Sakaki almost replied, but held her tongue. She thought back to 
the horrific vision in her dream, which exuded none of the friendliness
or sweetness of Osaka herself. The dark-haired figure... belonged more 
in the creepy, bizarre video they had found at the Inn rather than the 
one given to her by Yukari. Perhaps...

"We need to find the others," she said, finally.

"Hmm..." Kaorin pursed her lips, "Do you know where they could have 
gone?"

At that precise point, Yukari's eyes flew open again, and she shrieked 
loud enough for Sakaki to lose her grip.

"Not Osaka's! Not Osaka's! The tape was Samara's! You two recorded 
over it! Gyaaaaaaaarrrgh!" She ranted incoherently for a few seconds 
then, with a dramatic flourish, yelled out loud the word, "Yamamaya!"

...and dove face-first into a nearby pool of multicolored balls with a 
painful-sounding "PAF!" Several of the kids already in the pit crawled 
over to her and poked at her with sticks, giggling.

Sakaki narrowed her eyes. "Yes. I know where they are."


-			O!			-


The sun was quickly coming down over the mountains, already casting 
long shadows on the path. As the foursome quickly made their way up 
the road, past the burnt sign and towards the resort itself, Yomi stole
a quick glance at her watch and shivered, the weight of the tape in her 
bag suddenly too great. It was almost one week to the minute now; they 
had little under an hour before...

She shook those thoughts out of her head. They were too close now, 
she needed a clear mind to think how to solve this --particularly now 
that all her friends had watched the killer tape. They knew it was Osaka
behind it all, and the video itself had led them to this place. All that
was left was to find their bizarre friend and end her unexplained reign of 
terror.

"We'll go check with the owner!" Chiyo said as they came up to the 
cabins. Yomi nodded, and the genius girl and Tomo hurried towards the 
registration office. Meanwhile, she joined Kagura and headed for Cabin 
12 itself.

Tomo quickly overtook Chiyo and rushed into the office. Then she 
almost gave the smaller girl a heart attack as she shrieked loud enough
to scare a flock of pigeons into the air.

"Tomo-san! Tomo-san!" Chiyo cried, coming into the building. "What 
happened?"

"L-look!" Tomo pointed at the innkeeper. He was sitting, immobile, at 
the counter --with a hideous slack-jawed expression of horror etched on
his face. "He-- He must've watched the tape too! And it killed him!"

Chiyo shrieked, half out of frustration, "That's Kimura-sensei and he 
always looks like that!"

Tomo quietly approached the terrifying creature and poked it on the 
shoulder, earning a faint "Whuh?" and a smallish snot bubble coming 
out of its nose. "Huh, you're right," she said, "He's just sleeping. Heh,
how 'bout that?"

Chiyo suddenly achieved a level of understanding of Yomi that few 
mortals ever reach. Putting that aside, she decided to look around 
frantically. "The keys! We need the cabin's keys! We don't have much 
time!"

Casually knocking over the sleeping form of Kimura (who only 
blubbered a little and mumbled about rocket-powered high-school 
girls) Tomo rummaged through the desk and came up with a set of keys 
marked "12." She stared at them for an instant, and the tiniest of grins
began to curl on her lips. Yelping, Chiyo dashed towards her and stole 
away the keys, then ran away as fast as her legs could take her, leaving
Tomo to call out, "Come on, I wasn't REALLY going to do it!"

Chiyo reached the door to Cabin 12, jabbed the key in the keyhole, and 
opened just as Tomo caught up to her with a "Boo!" The pigtailed girl 
yelped and juggled the keys for an instant, bouncing them off her 
fingers until they finally fell away and under the couch. She whimpered
quietly.

"We couldn't find anything outside, what's going on?" Kagura asked, 
coming in through the door along with Yomi. Chiyo looked up at them 
pitifully and cried, "Yomi-san, the keys..."

Yomi patted Chiyo's head comfortingly, "It's okay, Chiyo-chan, we're 
inside." With a more serious tone, she continued, "Come on, 
everybody. The tape brought us back here for a reason. Now let's hurry 
and find out what it is, OK?" She didn't add, "Because I only have a 
little over forty minutes," knowing it would only cause Chiyo to worry 
and Tomo to go berserk. More than normal, anyway. So, as they set out 
to sweep the cabin clean of any clues that could lead them to Osaka, 
Yomi took one last glimpse at her watch --it was a quarter to seven, and
she had watched the video around seven thirty. Swallowing hard, she 
took off her watch and tossed it out the door.

Minutes clicked by on the discarded watch as the four girls searched 
every nook and cranny of the cabin. Living room, kitchen, hallways, 
bedrooms --not even the bathroom's toilet was spared from prying eyes 
and searching fingers, but no clues were to be found. And the sun 
continued its unstoppable arc down into the sea.

All of a sudden, Kagura called out from the living room, "Hey, Yomi! 
Found something!" The other three girls converged on her almost 
instantly. "Had to twist my arm to reach this," the tanned girl said, 
showing them a small notebook, "but I found it in the couch. Must've 
slipped in between the cushions."

"What? What is it?" Tomo asked, impatient. Kagura opened the book, 
which, from the looks of it, was another diary, and flipped through to 
the last entries. "It says something about finding a creepy tape in this
room, and getting a phone call right after."

"Does it say anything about Osaka? Or a way to break the curse?" 
asked Yomi, her heart thumping hard in her chest.

Kagura flipped through the pages, scanning them for anything useful, 
but there was nothing. The very last entry in the diary simply read, "We
watched the other one today. We couldn't do anything," followed by an 
anxious, "Are we going to die?" It was all blank pages after that.

"Dammit..." Yomi slumped down heavily to her knees. The others 
turned to her silently, with Chiyo gulping loudly in nervousness. "So, 
that's it, then," the bespectacled girl said. "We came all this way, and
we couldn't find anything."

"Hey, Yomi..." Tomo said, her voice far more calm and collected than 
normal, "You're not giving up, are you?"

Yomi suddenly snapped at her, "I don't want to give up, damn it! But 
what's left?!" She quickly stood up and strode towards her bag, 
forcefully ripping the videotape out of it. "This stupid thing keeps 
changing and taunting us! We've already gone through everything it 
showed us, and for what? We end up at a dead-end!" She looked 
around at her friends, who were uncharacteristically silent at her 
outburst. Fuming, she slid over to the TV and VCR and inserted the 
infamous tape, careful enough to fill the void in its overwrite protection
with a small piece of crumpled paper.

"Yomi, what--?" Kagura asked, confused. She, along with Tomo and 
Chiyo, jumped slightly as the clock on the living room wall rang out: 
7:30 pm.

Yomi scowled at the TV as it came on, then flipped through the 
channels until a halfway-decent signal was found. She turned back to 
the others, and said, "I don't know what Osaka's really after, and right
now I don't think I care anymore. I'm erasing this tape."

And she lifted her hand to press the "REC" button on the VCR. The 
other three girls gasped, but only Tomo reacted quickly enough to clear
the couch with a small jump, slide by Chiyo, and jank Yomi's hand to 
the side --causing her to hit "PLAY" instead.

"Tomo!" Yomi growled, "Why did you--?!"

For once, a decidedly serious look had taken hold of Tomo's eyes. She 
regarded Yomi for a few seconds, still holding her friend's hand tightly,
then said, "Yomi-chan's been my friend my whole life. She's pissy, 
uptight, and way too cynic for her own good. But I've never seen her 
give up on something, and I'll be damned if I let her give up now."

"T-Tomo-san..." Chiyo whispered, relieved at seeing Yomi's entire 
frame relax gradually, her face adopting a calmer demeanor.

"Uh... guys..." Kagura called them to attention as she pointed at the TV.
Silent static ran wildly in lines across the screen, sometimes skewing as
if trying to form a ring. Two, three times they attempted to create the
ominous image, but then all static disappeared, and the screen was 
filled with darkness.

The four of them stared at the darkness silently, then a soft breath came
from the TV. It sounded like a breeze blowing gently through the 
leaves of a tree, but it never rose louder than a whisper. When an image
finally rose from the darkness, it was a shot of a cherry tree, in full
bloom, shedding its leaves and petals in otherwise silent full color. 
Stars shone brightly around the tree, although the night sky was slightly
marred by the aura of what appeared to be city lights in the distance.

"That... wasn't there when I first saw it..." Kagura gulped. The others 
quickly waved at her to stay quiet.

The peaceful image of the blooming tree was then replaced by a shot of 
a school's corridor, brightly-lit but empty of people. Gentle murmurs 
filled the air, including distant laughter as well as crying. But as the
pleasant droning rose in volume, the sunlight from the windows also 
increased in intensity, steadily becoming blinding and filling the screen
with a golden glow.

The light receded, and the video was now in a classroom. The girls 
remained silent as they saw it slowly fill with people, with students --
their former classmates. The clock above the blackboard sped up, its 
hands going round and round too quickly for the eye to follow, and as 
the time changed in the clock so it did in the classroom. Seasons flew 
by outside the window; inside, the classroom morphed into a plush doll 
store, then into a small cafeteria. Indistinct, good-spirited laughter 
echoed through the room, and quick flashes of people --also classmates,
but a few teachers here and there-- came up on the screen to offer 
smiles and reassurance.

The last face to come up was that of a cat. More specifically, it was a
small mountain cat, Maya. The classroom behind him faded away, 
replaced by a forest. The image focused on Maya and his mother for a 
few instants, and the girls sighed unwittingly as Sakaki's voice came 
over the speakers, calling softly for Maya to come over.

The forest then shrunk back into a park, bathed in the reddish light of
sunset. A jumprope swung itself in the middle of the screen, as if 
supported by people invisible to the camera. Then, slowly, like a ghost,
everyone's favorite orange cat-like creature appeared, jumping the rope
in time to an offscreen Tomo's cues of "One, two, three!" But then the cat 
disappeared, and the rope was swung by a pair of children while a third
jumped it. They didn't notice it at first, but, if they watched more 
closely, the children were younger versions of Tomo, Osaka and Yomi.

Only the sunset remained as once again the image changed, but this 
time it was focused on a race track. A lone figure jogged along the 
track, its shadow stretching into infinity. Steadily, the runner's speed
increased, climbing higher and higher as the camera also came closer. 
Kagura blushed as she recognized herself on the screen.

But, once again, that image changed from a running Kagura into a 
rampaging white cat terrorizing the school corridors --the exact same 
image that appeared after Yomi had watched the video. In spite of it all,
Tomo snickered a bit at the image.

Then came a brief montage of their former teachers Yukari and Nyamo 
--both looking taller and prettier than in reality-- in quick flashes of
their various competitions: swimming, running, even driving. And it 
was at this point that the video's point of view climbed into the back 
seat of Yukari's car. With the teacher's enthusiastic (and English-
spoken) "Let's go!" the car suddenly jumped into light-speed, people, 
other cars and scenery blurring into streaks as seen through the 
windshield.

A pinpoint of light appeared at the very center of the screen, the 
vanishing point of the light-speed streaks. It grew larger and larger 
until, with a rushing sound, it engulfed the screen in absolute 
whiteness. Then the video pulled back, revealing the whiteness to be a 
pristine dress worn by a young girl. She was standing with her back to 
the viewer, her long, dark hair swinging gently in a breeze. As the 
video continued to pull back, it revealed that she was standing in a 
forest, next to a worn and ancient-looking stone well. The sound of 
insects and birds was deafening... but only for an instant, as the girl
in white disappeared slowly in a faint mist of white powder. The stone 
well --and only the well-- flickered into static for a second, then it spat
out a colored ball.

And then, all was static. The VCR whirred as the tape began to rewind 
itself, but it was the only sound in the room. None of the girls found 
herself able to move, a sudden --yet pleasant-- sensation of peace 
permeating the entire cabin.

It was a familiar voice, which snapped the four of them out of the 
reverie. "It... changed."

As one, Yomi, Chiyo, Tomo and Kagura whirled to face the door. 
Night had fallen, and the automatic floodlights of the resort came 
through the open door to frame the tall figure of Sakaki.

"We just came back," she explained. "We came in at the part with the 
hallway at school..."

"That... that wasn't creepy at all..." Kaorin breathed next to her. The
others then noticed the elusive Yukari, apparently sober, leaning 
against the doorframe.

"You all watched it," the teacher said. "Osaka said it'd be like that."

They all turned to face her. Simultaneously, the clock on the wall rang
out for 8 o'clock. Kaorin blinked; she could have sworn the video had 
lasted only a minute or two.

"I ran into Osaka a couple of weeks ago," Yukari explained. "She let 
me stay at her place for a few days. So, there I was, minding my own 
business, and let me tell you, Grandma Osaka doesn't keep a SINGLE 
bottle of beer in her house. Un-BELIE-vable. You'd think an Osakan 
would keep at least some sake around, but--"

"Ahem," Chiyo cleared her throat. "Yukari-sensei, about Osaka?"

"Right, right," Yukari waved her off. "Anyway, I was minding my own 
business, when I run into Osaka in her room. She was watching this 
ultra-freaky video, all grainy and in black and white. I dunno. She just
got all, 'Aa, you watched,' and tells me I'm gonna die in seven days."

The others gasped, but she just dismissed that with another wave. 
"Whatever, I never did figure out what went on in Osaka's head. But 
*then* she tells me she's making her own video, because the other one 
was making people sad or something." She sighed melodramatically, 
slumping down and dropping her arms. "She wanted me to help her 
make it. And, honestly, I *thought* Osaka was strange back when you 
were at school. Now I KNOW she's weird."

"Did you see her use nensha?" Chiyo asked. "Is that really how she 
made the tape?"

Yukari stared at her. "Hell if I know. She just grabbed a tape out of some
chest under her bed, put it in the machine, stared at a TV and there was
the video."

"There was another video..." Yomi said to herself, finally able to react.
"Yukari-sensei, you said Osaka wanted to make another one? Why?"

Yukari sighed in exasperation, "I told you, she said the other one was 
making people sad or something. I think she said she found it while on 
vacation with her parents, Izu or somewhere. What, didn't you hear the 
rumor about this tape that kills you when you watch it?"

Six pairs of eyes glowered at her silently. She blinked. "Uh? What?"

"Sorry, Osaka-san..." Chiyo said, "We misunderstood what you were 
trying to do..."

"Where is she, anyway?" asked Kagura. "How does she keep changing 
the tape whenever we watch it?"

"I dunno," Yukari said. "I dropped her off here last week. Isn't she 
staying at another cabin?"

"I... don't think so," Yomi, who had briefly checked the guestbook 
during her last visit, replied.

There was silence for a moment, but then Tomo broke it with 
"Uuooooh! She's not just making the video, she IS the video!"

"Why the hell?" Yomi bapped her on the back of the head. Then, 
something that had been nagging her for a while suddenly came to 
mind. "Wait. We just watched the video. Why doesn't she call us on the 
phone to say 'seven days' or something like that?"

Sakaki nodded, "She should be calling now." She looked at the 
telephone, sitting on its table by the couch. "It rang when I saw both 
videos."

"But it didn't ring when I watched it," said Kagura.

"Or when I did," Chiyo added. "Someone called, but it was Tomo-san."

"Hmmm..." Yomi frowned. Did it ring when Tomo watched it? She remembered the
answering machine picking up, but there was no "seven days" message. Absent-
mindedly, she walked over to the phone and lifted it. Not a sound --it was
a dead line. She began to follow the cable from the base of the phone and
down.

"Yukari-sensei..." she started. "When exactly did you leave Osaka 
here?"

Yukari made a quick count with her fingers. "Uhh... I dropped her tape 
with Sakaki on a Monday... I think it was the next Tuesday."

"Sakaki, when did you watch Osaka's tape?"

"Tuesday," replied the taller girl. "We watched the other tape on 
Sunday."

Yomi thought about this. If they had watched the real killer video on 
Sunday, it would make sense that they would be wary of yet another 
mysterious tape. They probably put off watching it until Tuesday night.

"At what time did you leave Osaka here?" she asked Yukari.

"What, you want me to remember that?" the teacher shot back. "Ahhh... 
I think it was at noon. Yeah! Yeah, it was at noon. I remember, because
she asked to borrow a flashlight and I thought it was weird, since it was
a bright day."

"Yomi-san?" Chiyo asked anxiously. "Do you know where Osaka-san is?"

"Now I do," was the reply. "Look."

And she pointed down at the phone line. It ran straight down from the 
telephone and into the floor. Kagura tugged on the cable; it gave freely,
without resistance. She continued to pull on it, drawing out quite a 
length of cable, until suddenly it stopped. They vaguely heard a bell-
like sound, just like a telephone would make if it hit something.

The girls all stared at each other. Despite her small size, Chiyo was the
first out the door.

The cabin itself had no basement. However, as they exited the building 
and came around it, they realized that it was built over a slant on the
ground. The door was level with the path and the terrain on that side of
the cabin, but most of the structure was suspended over a hollow just 
tall enough for Yomi to walk upright. This hollow was cleverly hidden 
from view by decorative landscaping and a wooden lattice fence that 
allowed air into the cabin's underside.

"Hold on a sec," Kagura said, observing the framework for a moment. 
Then she smirked and stepped back a few feet. With a shout, she 
dashed for the lattice and kicked at it, knocking a sizeable hole in the
frail wood.

"You're paying for that," Tomo said. Kagura shrugged, and they began 
to pull at the remaining wood to open a larger entrance. They had 
barely removed enough for one person to crawl through when Chiyo, 
possessed by worry, cried, "Osaka-san!" and climbed into the dark 
hollow beneath Cabin 12.

"Chiyo-chan!" Yomi called. "Come on, hurry!" she said to herself and 
the others as they continued to pull at the wood. "Wait for us, Chiyo-
chan!"

They finally removed enough of the lattice to make a decent entrance. 
But before they stepped in, Tomo called, "Wait!" and dashed back to 
the cabin. When she came back, it was with a small flashlight that she 
used to illuminate her face from below.

"Hehehe..." she grinned maliciously. Yomi rolled her eyes. "Gimme 
that," she took the flashlight and led the way into the darkness.

"Chiyo-chan? Where are you?" Yomi called.

"You okay? Did something eat you?" Tomo followed. Then the bright 
beam of light suddenly snapped and bounced as if the flashlight casting
it had been used as a blunt weapon.

"Yomi-saaaan..." they heard Chiyo whimper in the distance. They 
hurried towards her, finding her shivering beside one of the support 
columns for the cabin.

"Chiyo-chan? What's wrong?" asked Yomi.

"There's... there's a well in here..." Chiyo said, frightened.

"A well?" Yomi arched an eyebrow. "Who would build a cabin over a 
well?" Whipping the flashlight around, she finally found the source of 
Chiyo's distress: a stone well, identical to the one in the video, and 
looking just as ancient. She turned to Tomo; both girls gulped as their
minds created visions of Osaka falling inside.

Cautiously, they approached the well. It was uncovered, but its walls 
were considerably tall: Chiyo wouldn't be able to look over the edge. 
Step by step they closed the distance, their hearts pounding wildly at 
what they would find inside. But then, as they came face to stone with 
the well, Tomo tripped and overstepped forward slightly, running into 
the stone.

It moved. Yomi's yelp died in her throat.

"What the hell?" she said, puzzled. She leaned a hand on the well, and 
pushed; it gave way easily --and it was made of cardboard.

"You HAVE to be kidding," Yomi muttered, then peered inside, 
shining a light into the "depths" of the cardboard well. What she found
was a small bag of bread, several bottles of water and cartons of milk,
a tiny icebox, a portable TV...

...and, curled up on top of a sleeping bag, was the peaceful form of one
Ayumu Kasuga, also known as Osaka, wearing a simple white dress 
and sneakers, making soft little noises as she slept. She held a small TV
antenna in her hand, and had a rabbit-ear antenna attached to her head 
like a helmet.

"Osaka..." Yomi whispered. "Sorry about what I said up there..."

"I don't think she minded," Tomo said, actually refraining from 
mocking her this time. Yomi smiled at that.

They went around the make-believe well to find an entrance at the 
other side. They called Sakaki, who took the much smaller Osaka in her 
arms and carefully carried her out from under the house. Kaorin, seeing
the serious-looking Sakaki carrying a white-clad "damsel in distress" in
her arms, immediately used her imagination to replace Osaka with 
herself and prompted a general system shutdown in her higher 
functions.

Yukari was not pleased at having Kaorin fall on top of her. Much less 
when her former student started pawing at her, calling for her "hero."

It was only a matter of a couple of hours for them to return to Okinawa.
For Yomi, the trip back on the van and ferry helped soothe her frayed 
nerves; a week had come and gone, and everything had turned out all 
right.

As the group finally split up at the hotel, the girls pairing up to go to
their separate rooms, she sent a quick glance at Tomo, who was teasing 
Kagura about the bed arrangements in their room.

"Tomo!" she called. The other girl paused in her ribbing of Kagura to 
turn back to her. Yomi smiled, and said, "Thanks."

Tomo grinned and flashed her a thumbs up. It looked like a rather 
shallow return, but Yomi saw the sincerity behind the grin. She waved 
goodnight, then joined Chiyo in the room across the hall.

"Osaka-san will be all right now, won't she?" asked Chiyo, worry 
creeping into her voice, but unable to overpower the relief of finding 
her friend safe and sound.

"I'm sure," Yomi said. "She must be very tired. We'll just let her sleep
for now."

"Yomi-san..." Chiyo called again, as Yomi turned off the lights in the 
room. "Don't be angry at Osaka-san."

Yomi smiled, "I'm not angry, Chiyo-chan. I'm sure she meant well." 
Through the darkness, she looked at the room's TV set. "She just 
wanted to be heard, and I didn't know how to listen."

"But now you do," Chiyo smiled. 



*********************

Azuringu Dai-O!

End of Day 7


*********************





Jorge A. Pratt

00709382@academ01.ccm.itesm.mx
terbril@rocketmail.com