Disclaimer: I don't own Azumanga Daioh.

An Unexpected Encounter

"YARGH!" Tomo yelled as she kicked the vending machine. "Damn it all! How come I'm the one always getting screwed over?"

Tomo was in the middle of a hissy fit over losing her drink to a vending machine: a milk tea drink, to be exact.

"250 yen gone down the drain! Why the hell-"

"Hey."

Tomo spun to her left and saw a fellow classmate, Masaaki Ohyama, standing to her left.

"Oh, it's you", she grumpily replied.

"Are you okay? You seem angry", Ohyama asked.

Tomo froze with both suspicion and slight elation. She had never recalled being asked if she was ever okay in her life. Most of the time, it wasn't true. However, she kept her facial expression the same and turned away from Ohyama.

"None of your business", she spat as she walked towards the lunchroom.

Once she entered the lunchroom, her eye caught a familiar item on the menu: curry udon. Immediately, Tomo's mood lightened up.

"Ooh boy!" she exclaimed to herself. "Yomi's going to splatter this stuff all over the school!"

Tomo fondly remembered lunchtime when Yomi and she were in grade school. Yomi was a long-time enthusiast of curry udon. She was careful, but she sometimes had a curry droplet or two land on her uniform. Although the stains were barely noticeable, Tomo's tendency for picking on her friend's errors made it no different than if the entire bowl was dumped on Yomi's head.

Maybe today would be the day when the droplets would fall. Heck, maybe the whole udon would spill off the table! The possibilities ran through Tomo's head until she spotted the group sitting at an end table…

Half an hour after she tore up the cafeteria in a tray swinging frenzy, Tomo was promptly sent to the principal's office. Despite her "loose cannon" personality, she rarely ended up there. Fortunately, the principal was absent that day, and Kimura was serving in his place.

"Tomo-chan", he said as he stared at her. "What did you do?"

"Don't call me that", she snapped back. "It's Takino. I just accidentally clocked Yukari in the face with a lunch tray".

Kimura continued to stare at Tomo with an open mouth.

"Well?" she said.

"I'll just let you off with a warning", he blankly stated. "Just as long as you promise to tuck your shirt in your bloomers and-"

"Oh shut up you old loser!" Tomo angrily interjected as she stood up and left. "Just screw off!"

Tomo stepped outside and rubbed the back of her head.

"Oww, my head", she groaned. "Plastic trays pack a punch."

As she continued to walk, Tomo saw the vending machine to her left. She glared at it and delivered a swift kick.

"Oooww!" she cried out. "Itai! Damn you, you machine! Damn-"

"Um, Takino?"

Tomo spun around and saw Ohyama standing behind her.

"Oh, hi", she said, slightly caught off guard. "It's you again. What do you want?"

"I saw what happened to your drink and I'd thought that I'd-"

Tomo's eye caught the milk tea in Ohyama's hand. It looked untouched, and her love for the beverage overcame her.

"YAAAAAY!" she exclaimed as she snatched the drink and sped off at full sprint. "Milk tea! Milk tea!"

Soon, she was out of sight. Ohyama stared in her direction, then finally turned away. He let out a resigned sigh.

"I was going to offer it to you anyway", he mumbled.

Tomo ran towards the school's entrance before stopping. Looking down at her newly pilfered drink, she took a long sip of it.

"Mmm…creamy", she noted.

She then thought about the same classmate that had asked her earlier if she was okay. Masaaki Ohyama was the former class president before he resigned his position. Tomo was still class vice-president up to this day. Despite the circumstances, the pair never conversed. Ohyama himself wasn't too social. The only time she remembered him openly speak out of choice was when he suggested the haunted house idea for the class festival. Come to think of it, she did feel slightly guilty about stealing his drink. The odd thing was: why did he approach her?

Tomo immediately felt herself blush. The only person who ever approached and talked to her was Yomi, and Yomi regretted that decision back in grade school. It just wasn't possible. Then again, was it?

"He sure is nice, but is he…really…that…?" Tomo speculated.

Then she remembered her horrible childhood past with the opposite gender.

"No, no!" she snapped out of her reverie. "I can't. I just can't!"

Tomo threw her drink away with disgust and ran up the stairs back to her classroom. She tried to counter her affectionate thoughts, but it seemed too late. Tomo had a crush now…