A drabble and an uncanny amount of references to cats.
Finished another drabble from this meme today. This one's for qem_chibati, who requested Chiyo+Osaka from Azumanga Daioh with the prompt "sometimes things are so slow that they go quickly." Not... sure if this completely fits, but I think I got the gist of what you wanted. Also, I do no claim to know anything about how the Japanese school system works; the "cutoff" tidbit in the drabble applies especially, but, um... humor me and ignore my lack of research, yes? Hope you like it!
The Drawbacks of Brilliance
“Hey Chiyo-chan,” Osaka said one day, when both she and Chiyo were on cleanup duty after school (Osaka was busy sweeping with a full-length broom, given that she’d attempted to use a duster and wound up knocking a row of desks over), “You skipped middle school ta come here early, right?”
“Yup!” the pigtailed girl chirped, smiling. “I skipped five grades to get to high school!”
“Tha’s pretty impressive,” Osaka replied, ceasing all sweeping action to stare blissfully into space. Chiyo couldn’t help but recoil at the look; it never boded well, at least as far as sense was concerned.
“But since yah here five years early, won’ it mean that your life’ll go by much faster?”
“Um… what do you mean?” The corners of Chiyo’s mouth drooped, but only slightly.
“It’ll mean you’ll get ta college five years early… an’ get married five years early… an’ you’ll go to a nursin’ home an’ eat your food from a blender five years early. It means…”
Now Osaka’s eyes completely glazed over.
“Yah gonna die five years sooner.”
Chiyo’s pigtails rose sixty degrees and she dropped her broom, now positively quaking. “But, but… I thought skipping grades was supposed to be a good thing!”
“Well, now time’ll go faster for ya, Chiyo-chan, an’ ya know what they say: time flies when yah havin’ fun! So live life, Chiyo-chan! Have fun!”
“But… but…” By this point, Chiyo’s quivering had reduced her to nothing more than a blur. “I don’t want to die!”
-
“I barely made the cutoff for this grade myself.” Osaka was still going on about time and life and lifetimes fifteen minutes later. She still held her broom, but she was no longer sweeping so preoccupied she was. “My birthday was real close to the cutoff for the next grade up, so I coulda been pushed forward an’ been the youngest in the senior class.”
Osaka shook her head.
“But I figure it’s better this way, bein’ one o’ the oldest in the junior class with you an’ Tomo an’ Yomi an’ everyone. That way, my time in the world’ll go slower, an’ while I might not have as much fun as you because time ain’t flyin’ for me, I’ll live longer.”
Chiyo glanced up from her sweeping to give Osaka an angry (and, admittedly, adorable) glare. “Oh, but it’s okay for me to die earlier, huh?”
~
Completely unrelated to fic and fandom: I don't care how many times I watch this, it stays funny and I can't stop laughing.
Also, I have Cats Don't Dance in my possession. I LOVE YOU DALIN.
The Drawbacks of Brilliance
“Hey Chiyo-chan,” Osaka said one day, when both she and Chiyo were on cleanup duty after school (Osaka was busy sweeping with a full-length broom, given that she’d attempted to use a duster and wound up knocking a row of desks over), “You skipped middle school ta come here early, right?”
“Yup!” the pigtailed girl chirped, smiling. “I skipped five grades to get to high school!”
“Tha’s pretty impressive,” Osaka replied, ceasing all sweeping action to stare blissfully into space. Chiyo couldn’t help but recoil at the look; it never boded well, at least as far as sense was concerned.
“But since yah here five years early, won’ it mean that your life’ll go by much faster?”
“Um… what do you mean?” The corners of Chiyo’s mouth drooped, but only slightly.
“It’ll mean you’ll get ta college five years early… an’ get married five years early… an’ you’ll go to a nursin’ home an’ eat your food from a blender five years early. It means…”
Now Osaka’s eyes completely glazed over.
“Yah gonna die five years sooner.”
Chiyo’s pigtails rose sixty degrees and she dropped her broom, now positively quaking. “But, but… I thought skipping grades was supposed to be a good thing!”
“Well, now time’ll go faster for ya, Chiyo-chan, an’ ya know what they say: time flies when yah havin’ fun! So live life, Chiyo-chan! Have fun!”
“But… but…” By this point, Chiyo’s quivering had reduced her to nothing more than a blur. “I don’t want to die!”
-
“I barely made the cutoff for this grade myself.” Osaka was still going on about time and life and lifetimes fifteen minutes later. She still held her broom, but she was no longer sweeping so preoccupied she was. “My birthday was real close to the cutoff for the next grade up, so I coulda been pushed forward an’ been the youngest in the senior class.”
Osaka shook her head.
“But I figure it’s better this way, bein’ one o’ the oldest in the junior class with you an’ Tomo an’ Yomi an’ everyone. That way, my time in the world’ll go slower, an’ while I might not have as much fun as you because time ain’t flyin’ for me, I’ll live longer.”
Chiyo glanced up from her sweeping to give Osaka an angry (and, admittedly, adorable) glare. “Oh, but it’s okay for me to die earlier, huh?”
~
Completely unrelated to fic and fandom: I don't care how many times I watch this, it stays funny and I can't stop laughing.
Also, I have Cats Don't Dance in my possession. I LOVE YOU DALIN.