Own nothing, trust me.
Just trying to regain my once nigh undefeatable repressed creativity and imagination. Work does that to people, doesn't it? Or maybe it's the meds to help with my focus; I swear it my imagination deserted me when I started them, as well as my ability to multi-task.
"Come in, Kagamin." Konata beckoned the twin-tailed tsundere into the strange room.
"Okay, I'm here, you little midget. Now will you tell me what the hell is so important that you'd call me out at 11 at night? And what the hell are you WEARING, anyway? Are you doing some stupid cosplay thing again?" Kagami was annoyed. Okay, annoyed was wrong. Kagami was PISSED.
Konata, however, was devoid of her typical cat-like smile; rather, the look on her face was as serious as Kagami had ever seen, and if she had to put a label on it, it would be…sorrowful. Her outfit seemed like what one would see a stage magician wear, complete with a strange half mask. A table sat behind her, a deck of cards behind it.
"…Am I your friend, Kagamin? Am I near to your heart? Does my presence make a smile alight your lips, put a spring in your step? Do I brighten your life in any way? Because despite everything I do or say, I love you, Kagamin." Each word seemed to leave Konata's lips like a lead brick, dropping to the floor with intense finality, and somehow, Kagami couldn't deny their sincerity; simply by how Konata voiced them. As if she were reluctant; like she would rather rip out her own voice box to keep from saying them, but was somehow forced to say them.
"I love you, Kagami Hiiragi, that's why I'm sorry this has to happen."
Kagami blinked in shock and surprise as Konata turned around, walking slowly to a chair at the table behind her, shuffling the deck of cards on it as a strange and twisted smile covered her lips. It wasn't a friendly smile; it wasn't Konata at all. A strange carnival-like tune began to play in the background…or maybe it was in her head? It was eerie, haunting, and slightly echoing. Konata's lips began to form soft lyrics, the song unlike anything she'd ever heard from Konata in the Karaoke Bar.
"Let's start a new showtime….
Invite a woman in her prime….
Let's play a card game~
No need to know each other's names~"
Kagami gasped softly as the deck in Konata's hands slipped, the cards flying everywhere….and began to float and swirl around her.
"Let's play a game, Kagami-sama. Let's play a game for dear Konata Izumi's very heart and soul." Kagami let out a soft gasp as Konata looked up at her, her eyes a strange shade of glowing red. "Win, and she lives, free. Lose….and well, Konata will be the least of your problems."
Kagami gritted her teeth. All joking aside, this wasn't funny anymore. "Stop playing around Konata, this isn't funny. You drug me over here, just to play a damn PRANK?" The cards stopped twirling around her and all returned to Konata's hand as she spread them out on the table, looking up at Kagami in amusement.
"Humor me, then, Kagami Hiiragi. Play one game with me, and you are free to go. IF you win, that is." Kagami made a muffled growling noise, turning to leave.
"K-Kagamin….Kagamin, please run. Get out of here, leave me and run…" Kagami froze, hearing the heartbroken, yet pleading voice of Konata behind her. The pure fear and sorrow tugged at her heartstrings. She knew that tone wasn't fake. She could almost hear the underlying plea of 'help me, Kagami!' She turned, cursing her inability to ever truly deny Konata, pulling out a chair she was sure hadn't been there previously with a defiant look.
"Fine. I'll play your stupid game." Konata's eyes went wide.
"Kagamin, NO! Don't play the gaaaaaaammmaaaaaaahhhhh!" Her right hand went up to cover the exposed part of her face. When she looked up again, her lips once more held the twisted grin.
"You never could deny me, could you Kagami? Homework, Akiba, Gamerz, manga, "suspicious goods"….you always gave in. Maybe that's why I love you. You're always willing to give to me….and I'm always ready to TAKE from you."
Kagami felt her lips twist into a snarl of fury after hearing Konata state her strange behavior for her so bluntly.
"What's one more thing from her, hmmm, Konata? One more thing we've taken from our lovely tsundere, Kagamin? She's agreed to our game, and she's agreed to the stakes. Shall we play, foolish love-struck girl?"
"True love is only for fools;
If you want a pretty favor
Consequences cannot waver!
If you make a choice, you cannot take it back;
For I have already put my card into play!"
Konata indicated to the cards in front of her, smirking at her strange song as Kagami rached forward to select one. As her fingers touched it, there was a shattering noise, and a disembodied wail of despair and denial. The card floated up, flipping over, but Kagami was more attentive to the fact that a spectral Konata seemed to be crying beside the solid Konata, who was outright smirking as she pointed to the card selected.
"Joker!
A girl on the verge of tears!"
A wave of happiness, then horrified despair as thoughts not her own streamed through her mind. She was in love! No, wait. She was in LOVE! NO! Don't make me! Don't make me do this! I don't want to! Not Kagami! Anyone but Kagami!
"JOKER!
A burl of created fears!"
Konata smirked, standing slowly and making her way leisurely to the paralyzed Kagami.
Kagami could taste Konata's tears as she donned the mask of the magician. The mark of her curse.
The Mask of the Joker.
"Joker!
A second of great pleasure!"
The strange feeling of pleasure at having your wish granted, but instantly regretting it for the terrible price. One life saved, many lifetimes of suffering taken. How long had they lived, her and her father? Unable to ever fall in love, for fear that the curse would force them to take the life and heart of those they loved. Kagami could only feel the strange rush of emotions as Konata drew closer, an ornate dagger in her hand, the laughing visage of a jester carved into the blade.
"Joker!
A beckoned Runaway leisure!"
The blade pierced Kagami's chest, as Konata's sprit let out one last sob. The blade left no mark, but the blade struck true, piercing her heart as once more Konata was given a single wish, a single wish that never worked with her father. The wish for the curse to be lifted, the wish that their beloved would be returned to them.
Her lips lost their cruel smirk as Konata felt control returning as Kagami's lifeless body fell from its chair, leaving Konata alone with her tears.
"This is a new world for you…
The forest melting into blue…"
Konata clenched her fist until it turned white. It wouldn't end like this. She'd played all sorts of games in her life, preparing for this moment. The moment where she would succeed where her father failed; the moment when she would free the world from this curse. The day she would beat the Joker. But then again….She could not win. No one ever had. Her ancestors' lives always ended with tears, lonely to the end. But…maybe there was a way….
"Father…..Kagamin….forgive me. I love you, Kagamin. I always did."
The mask once more on her face, and the deck once more shuffled, and Kagami back on her seat.
"One more game, Joker. One more. I want to play one more time."
The mask on her face seemed to smirk as she wrapped Kagami's lifeless fingers around the hilt of the instrument which took her life.
"My need is at a fever pitch;
I hope yours isn't at a low~!"
"I'm betting it all on you, Kagamin….I love you. If you chose to run, I won't blame you. I think…I would too. I'm a coward at heart; but I hope that in your moment of honesty, that you….that you…." A single tear slid down Konata's cheek as she slid the blade into her own chest with Kagami's hand.
"My life for yours, Kagami-sama…." Were her last words.
Pain. Pain and an echo of her own emotions as Kagami died. Her only comfort was that she felt no anger or betrayal as the world faded to black, the Joker now in sole control of her body as Kagami's heartbeat resumed.
Kagami couldn't think. It was muddled. What was going on? Oh, the game. There was…..there was a game. Konata stood before her, pointing to the cards on the table.
An overflow of love. She could feel it in her heart. An echo of Konata. But Konata was in front of her. No, no that wasn't her Kona-chan. That wasn't her love. That was an abomination. A horrific being. A hand holding a dagger rose. Such things should die. No, no, wait. A Game. The game must be won, if she wanted her Kona-chan back. A hand reached to the cards. The Joker smirked.
Wait. That wasn't right. The game is rigged.
Look for the Ace of Spades to escape.
Take the Ace of Clubs to take the power of the Wishing Joker as your own.
The Ace of Diamonds will win you a free prize.
But the Ace of Hearts….The ace of hearts is the grand prize.
Another pulse of love from her Kona-chan. A bit of her mind cleared. The Joker was the void, endlessly hungry and whispering tainted, empty promises. The Ace of hearts was Love, weak, but unstoppable. Stoppable, but strong. Love was not understood. Focus, Focus Kagamin. Where is the ace of hearts?
A hand reached up, reaching into Not-Kona-chan's outfit and pulling a card from the chest of it. The Joker won, it was the Joker card.
"If I make a choice, I won't be able to take it back because;"
It was the Joker. No, no it was not. Kagami felt her lips curl into a snarl of denial. It was NOT a Joker. She would not let it end this way. Konata was counting on her. It was not a Joker!
The Joker's eyes widened as a glowing crack appeared down the middle of the card, shattering to reveal….
The Ace of Hearts.
"You have already put your card into play!"
The Joker stumbled back in shock as the mask cracked and the cards began to shred, shedding a layer as they became a full deck. Chains erupted from each, clamping around the Joker's limps as it squirmed.
"You cheated! You CHEATED!"
"JOKER!"
It was time for the Joker to fear. The Ace of hearts glowed a ruby red.
"JOKER!"
It was Kagami's turn to sing mockingly at the bound demon, a spectral Konata at her side.
"Joker!
Your light dimming to a glow!"
A lance of red shot from the center of the Card Kagami held as she smirked. Suddenly there dagger was in the way, blocking the beam of judgment. Joker Konata was grinning madly, her eyes red and teeth filed sharp.
"Joker!
Your eyes brimming with a mad flow!
Joker!
Your body taught all the wrong things!
Joker!
Your shady thoughts on a strong string!"
Konata and Kagami smirked too. Mad hunger and Malice was weak. As cliché as it was, their love would shatter it to pieces!
As if on Cue, the dagger shattered, the red beam piercing the Joker as he howled in fury, then fear as his the fear, pain, and despair of all previous victims struck him at once, evicting him from Konata's body and revealing the unspeakable thing for what it was; a hideous leech-lick being with long, spindly legs. A mask like mark covered its eyes, a giant teeth filled mouth underneath the mask.
"Joker!
A girl on the verge of tears!
Joker!
A burl of created fears!
"Joker!
A second of great pleasure!
"Joker!
A beckoned Runaway leisure!"
Kagami and Konata watched with grim satisfaction as the beast disintegrated, the cards vanishing into nothing as it seemed to shred, leaving nothing behind….aside from a half mask, its face contorted in rage.
"Thank you, Kagamin…"
The unspeakable happened.
Kagami awoke with a start.
"AWWWW, WHAT THE HELLLL?!" Kagami shrieked into her pillow, a dark blush adorning her face as she tried to convince herself that her dream self hadn't enjoyed the passionate kiss it had shared with Konata.
Later that day….
"And that's the dream I had." Tsukasa finished. They had started a conversation on strange dreams when Miyuki had talked about having nightmares. Kagami, however had been only half listening, torn between trying not to look at Konata's lips, and trying to hide her perpetual blush at remembering her own dream.
"Hey….Kagamin….would you say we were….friends?"
The question had been unexpected, and Konata's voice had been unusually serious.
"U-um….O-of course we are, Konata. You annoy the hell out of me, but I would do anything for you, you know." She was blushing and looking away, but her dream stayed fresh in her mind. I want to be honest…just a little.
"Awww! I knew it! Kagamin really loves me!" Konata seemed to snap back to her normal self as she glomped onto a madly blushing Kagami.
"Ma-maybe I really do…." She mumbled to herself, softly enough that Konata second guessed herself. That didn't stop her from teasing, though.
"What was that? What did you just say? What? What? What?"
On second thought, there's no way! 100% not a chance! No, no, no!
"I said…" A blushing Kagami began, red in face. "Embarrassing talk in public is FORBIDDEN!"
"Owwie….so cold, Kagamin…."
No one would notice. No one would notice that that night, Miyuki would look inside an unlabeled box at what was inside. No one would see the cracked half-mask, its face twisted into a scowl. No one would hear Kagami and Konata humming the same song under their breath.
No one would hear them singing about playing with a game with high stakes; about a girls tears.
But what they don't know, or deny, won't hurt them, right?
…Right?
Done. Horridly short, but I got inspiration and it needed writing.
As a Meme would say: "One does not simply write when one decides to. You need….like….inspiration. And imagination. And inspired imagination! Kitsune, signing out for now.