I don't know if anyone particularly wanted to see this, but here is the 
next installment of my AzuDai horror saga. C&C welcome, naturally.

KYUUKETSU YOMI
An Azumanga Daioh DarkFic
by Michael Hopcroft

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Azumanga Daioh. It is owned by Kiyohiko Azuma 
and his representatives. I am using (and possibly abusing) the 
characters in the Great Doujin Spirit.

WARNING: This is Not a comic AzuFic. It is dark, violent, sensual and 
deals with difficult moral issues. It is obviously not part of standard 
continuity.

Part 2: Questions and Regrets

Tomo woke up and realized she was in the wrong bed.

Dismissing what had happened the night before as a dream would have been 
the easy way out. But she couldn't do that for two reasons � the fact 
that she was in Yomi's bed and not her own, and the fact that the side 
of her neck was decidedly sore.

Yomi was sitting upright in the chair in front of her desk. �Good 
morning,� she said, �are you over it now?�

�Over what?�

�Over your desire to commit suicide by having me drink the rest of your 
blood. Do you have any idea how much that bothered me?�

�I don't know about that, but you must be getting thirsty by now. I'm 
still here, Yomi.�

�Knock it off already! And go check on my mother, will you? I don't know 
if she'll be OK.�

�You drank from your own mother? Wicked!� Tomo got up and went over to 
the room Yomi had specified. �She's still asleep,� she said when she 
came back. �My, what sharp teeth you have, Yomi! They left quite a mark....�

�Shut up! Your saying things like that is only making things worse. It's 
bad enough that I've become some kind of undead bloodsucking fiend, 
without knowing that in one night I almost killed my mother and my best 
friend. And to make matters worse, it doesn't work.�

Tomo seemed confused. �What doesn't work?�

�Sunlight. When the sun came up I went over and opened the window to see 
what would happen to me when the sunlight touched me, and you know what 
happened? Not a goddamn thing! I can walk around in daylight as easily 
as I always could.�

Tomo clapped excitedly. �But that's a good thing! It means you can 
continue your life, Yomi! You can come back to school now! You can take 
the entrance exams and go to college and.....�

�And what? I'm dead, Tomo. I died in the park three nights ago in the 
arms of a stranger. The only reason I'm walking around and talking to 
you is that I gulped down a lot of human blood � your blood, Tomo.�

�For which I expect you to show proper gratitude, Yomi. We are going 
back to school today.�

�Are you insane, Tomo? Are you completely and utterly mad? I'm a 
vampire! I shouldn't be anywhere near a school! Do you have any idea how 
dangerous I've become?�

Tomo smiled and slapped Yomi on the shoulder. �You'll be fine. Besides, 
you'll be bringing a lunch anyway. It'll be perfectly safe. You'll be in 
no danger.�

�I'm not the one I'm worried about!�

�Don't you think it'll look ever weirder if you don't go to school?�


And so, an hour and a half later, Yomi walked into Class 3-3. To her 
surprise, the girls all gathered around her eagerly.

�Yomi!� Kagura said. �Thank the Gods you're back! We were so worried!�

�Thanks,� Yomi said, �It was rough going but I made it.�

�Thanks to Tomo!� blurted out Tomo standing behind her.

Yomi turned on her angrily. �And why are you taking the credit?�

Sakaki nodded her head. �You were able to get help for her after all?� 
she asked.

Chiyo added �Yeah, I couldn't get anyone to go over to Yomi's house, and 
with my family's connections that's saying something. What did you do?�

Tomo laughed. �Well, you could say I stuck my neck out a little.� And 
then she laughed harder, only to have Yomi grab her by the shoulder.

�Tomo, Hall. Now. On Pain of Death.�

The girls watched as Yomi dragged a startled-looking Tomo out into the hall.

�It is weird that you couldn't get help, Chiyo.� Kagura remarked.

�Weird is not the word.� Chiyo frowned. �From what I was able to find 
out about how the police handled Yomi's case, a lot of the stuff that 
happened wasn't just severe violations of medical ethics � it was 
illegal. They could have gone to prison for it. Withholding care, 
writing a premature death certificate � all against the law.� Even 
coming from someone as small and innocuous as Chiyo, the words had a 
bite to them.

�Why would they do something like that?� Kagura blurted out. �It's 
inconceivable!�

Sakaki shook her head. �The only reason that makes sense is fear. They 
were afraid that if they didn't, something worse would happen. Something 
much, much worse.�

�Yomi nearly died! What the hell could be worse than that?�

�Maybe Yomi not dying.�

Chiyo was visibly shaking at those words. �Miss Sakaki, you're scaring me.�

Sakaki's normally gentle eyes began to harden. �Perhaps we should all be 
scared....�

In the hall, Tomo looked at Yomi with surprise. �Come on, it isn't that 
big a deal....�

�Isn't it? Do you think having your blood drunk is funny? Something to 
joke about?�

�Everything is something to joke about, Yomi. You know that.�

�Then what do you think it is? Fun? Do you get some sort of sick 
homoerotic thrill from staring death in the face?�

�Hey, Yomi, I don't even know what that means.... All I'm saying is that 
we have to take things as they come from here on in. We're back, things 
are returning to normal, we're in Yukari's homeroom again and all is 
right with the world. You should set aside your problems and enjoy 
yourself!�

�I should see the Headmaster, tell him I'm dropping out.�

�No way, Tomo! You are so close to graduating and getting into college, 
you will see this through! Don't you have any faith in yourself? You're 
still Yomi!�

�Am I? Am I really?�

Suddenly they heard a familiar voice behind them �Hey, hey hey! Do you 
have to fight in the hall? My head hurts bad enough as it is....�

Yomi sighed. �You didn't have to get drunk last night, Yukari-sensei.�

�Sure I did! Yomi, you're -- � Yukari paused for a second. �You're back!�

Yomi turned around. �Yes, that is my back. And this is my front. Any 
questions?�

�Yeah, you're not dead! The Headmaster told me you were dead!�

�Well, you'd better go tell him I'm not then. Or do we want to embarrass 
the school by having a big assembly for the funeral of someone who's 
still alive?�

�You're right! That would have been so embarrassing. I'll take care of 
it. Can we have the wake anyway, though?�

�Wake?�

�I was gonna toss back a six-pack of Sapporos in your memory tonight.�

�Knock yourself out, sensei.�

The classes went fairly normally. Yomi began to regain her interest in 
classwork, as a distraction if nothing else. She noticed that the other 
girls were reserved, except for Tomo, who was trying to be manic enough 
for all the Bonkuras put together.

How could Tomo be so energetic after losing so much blood last night?

After Kimura left after Classics, Tomo cried out �Yay! Lunchtime! 
Lunchtime!�

�You forgot to bring a lunch, didn't you?� Yomi remarked.

�No sweat. I'm off to the school store for bread!� And Tomo ran off at 
Warp Ten, as usual.

�Tomo getting your lunch?' Kagura asked.

Yomi was flustered. This would be tough. How could she explain not 
eating? �It's a.... it's a....�

�Not a diet! You've been sick, Yomi, you need to get your strength back, 
not worry about losing weight.�

�Not that kind of diet! It's a special diet my doctor put me on. I can't 
eat solid foods for a while. That's it. No solid foods. Sorry.� Yomi was 
sputtering, and Kagura could tell she was clearly reaching.

�Liquid diet?� Chiyo chirped. �Then maybe I can help.� Yomi was amazed 
that Chiyo had even heard the conversation. �Here!� Yomi looked down and 
saw Chiyo holding out a bottle.

�What is it?�

�An energy drink, Yomi. It'll perk you right up.�

Yomi was about to politely refuse when she noticed something about Chiyo 
standing there. She could tell that Chiyo was relieved and pleased to 
see her. So much so that her little heart was beating faster, and the 
blood in her exposed veins was coursing through at a more rapid rate. 
Yomi could plainly see it, and nobody else could.

Yomi stretched out her hand, as if to grab the drink. She could see the 
vein in Chiyo's neck throb, inviting, pleading. Yomi's thirst grew 
deeper, as she reached forward past the hand offering the drink, towards 
the little girl's shoulder....

Suddenly Yomi shrieked. �No!� She stood bolt upright and ran, knocking 
over her desk as she ran past a startled Kagura, past a bewildered 
Chiyo, past the retuning Tomo knocking down her armful of rolls, and 
into the hall.

�Hey, what just happened?� Tomo asked.

�I don't know. Yomi looked scary.� Chiyo said.

�Scary? How?�

�Something frightened her.� Kagura said. �Something frightened her and 
she ran away.�

Chiyo shook her head. �It's only an energy drink. Why would Yomi be 
scared of an energy drink?�

Tomo's mind raced. A drink? I was offering her a drink when.... That's 
it! Offering Yomi a drink reminds her that she's thirsty, and when she's 
thirsty she wants to.... �Don't worry, Chiyo. I'll find Yomi.� Tomo then 
went back into the hall. Yomi's really going to need a drink now. If I 
don't find her and give her one....

Yomi was all the way outside when she finally began to ease up on her 
pace. That was too damn close, she thought. If it'd been Tomo she might 
have stood a chance, but not Chiyo. There's no way someone that small 
could survive being bitten by me! Yomi began to think. Come on, you're 
the smart one, Yomi. There must be some way! Maybe I can find a couple 
of cats � cats have blood, don't they? That'll tide me over until I can 
get out of school....

She noticed that she was out in the courtyard, by the vending machines. 
It seemed odd to her that so few people were around during lunchtime. 
Probably a good thing, too.

Then she heard a voice. �You all right, Mizuhara-senpai?� She turned 
around and there was a boy. A boy she didn't quite recognize.

�Yeah, I'm fine. I'm Okay. Thanks, ....�

�It's all right that you don't know who I am. I'm Wataku-san, from Class 
1-2. Seniors don't usually notice freshmen readily.�

�I see. Thank you for being concerned about me, but I'm all right.�

�Okay.� Wataku walked up to one of the machine and put some coins in. A 
satisfying rattle followed, and then another, and Wataku rushed back to 
her. �Lucky! Something happened with the machine and I got an extra 
juice! You can have it, senpai!� Wataku held out a can of orange juice.

Suddenly it was too much. Yomi grabbed the freshman by the arm and 
pulled him towards her. He gave a startled cry, but before he could say 
anything she had pulled him down and buried her fangs in his throat, 
right on on the vein. As she drank, his breathing was heavy. He stood as 
long as he could manage, and as his legs began to fail him Yomi found 
herself unconsciously holding him on his feet, as the hot, wonderful 
blood poured into her mouth. Yomi began to wonder if it could be like 
this forever....

�YOMI! What are you doing?� Yomi was startled out of her trance by the 
sound of Tomo's voice. She let the boy fall, again subconsciously 
licking the wound before she did. She turned to Tomo, who could the 
blood on Yomi's lips dripping down her chin, see the fangs sharp and 
gleaming.

Tomo ran over to the boy and checked his pulse. She looked at Yomi with 
concern. �He's still alive, Yomi. You didn't kill him.� Yomi was turning 
away with revulsion. �Hey, I said you didn't kill him! That's good, 
isn't it?�

�And if you hadn't stopped me, Tomo, I would have killed him! My God, I 
didn't want to stop! I wanted to keep on drinking until there was 
nothing left! The thirst! The damnable thirst!�

�It's okay, Yomi. It's over now.�

Yomi turned on Tomo furiously. �Hell no, Tomo, this isn't over! It's 
only begun! This is what it's going to be like, every goddamn stinking 
day for as long as I live! Every day there's going to be someone else, 
someone minding their own business, who'll cross my path at the wrong 
time! And I won't be able to do anything about it. I didn't want to 
attack this guy! I don't know him at all. He was offering me a can of 
juice, a simple kindness, and suddenly I had my teeth in his neck and I 
was draining away his life! You wanted me to come back, Tomo! You wanted 
me to come to school, and now look! Look at what I've done!�

Tomo whapped Yomi on the top of the head. �Snap out of it already, Yomi! 
We can handle this!�

�Handle this? How can we possibly handle this?�

�First, we clean you up. Then we clean him up and take him to the 
nurse's office. Tell her he collapsed in the courtyard, she'll have no 
cause not to believe us. Then we go back to class as if nothing happened.�

�And how does that help? Tomorrow it'll be the same thing!�

�Tomorrow we are going to have lunch on the roof. And I'm going to be 
your lunch. If you have a willing donor...�

�You mean victim.�

�I mean what I said, Yomi. If you have a willing donor, nobody else gets 
hurt.�

�But even if I can control how much I drink, I can;t drink from you 
every day. Nobody has that much blood.�

�When this guy comes to, I bet he'll be more than happy to join your 
supply list if his experience was anything like mine. All you need is 
two or three more like us and you'll be set for the whole school year, 
Yomi!�

�But I can't....�

�And if you don't go to school with me, you'll still have the same 
problem, but it'll be worse. You'll be going out hunting down strangers, 
and if you do that people will die. This way is a lot better for everybody.�

Yomi sighed heavily. �You'd better be right about this, Tomo.�

�Hey, if I'm wrong, you'll kill me, all right?�

Yomi could not bear to correct Tomo's joke. If Tomo was wrong, she would 
die � and it wouldn't be a joke, it would be reality....


TO BE CONTINUED


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