Raising Kagami
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
XXX(Introduction)
"Kagami-chan! You need to dry off first!" Yutaka stared at the scene unfurling in front of her. A young girl ran towards the bedroom, still in the nude, Konata following hot on her tail with a towel.
Laughter echoed through the house, and Yutaka could only blink at the absurdity of it all.
Finally deciding that it'd be best to simply ignore her cousin and the young girl – who seemed to have been caught in the next room considering the noises – Yutaka continued through the house, wondering if maybe her uncle could shed some light on the situation.
She found Sojirou sitting in front of the television with a blissful smile, mumbling something about winning at life. After some hesitation, she decided that it would probably be better to try and talk to Konata after all.
XXX(Explanation)
"Eh, Hiiragi-senpai?" Konata nodded, "B-But… how?" Konata shrugged.
"No clue, she was like this when I woke up this morning," Yutaka looked at the young girl, and though she was clearly a kid, she did look an awful lot like Kagami.
"Umm… is there some way to revert her back to normal?"
"Well, it's not hot water, and if it was related to embarrassment, then we're in for a bit of trouble," she glanced meaningfully towards the girl that was now dancing wildly to some anime song.
Yutaka stifled a giggle at the sight, the young girl looked unbelievably cute.
XXX(Summer)
Since nobody knew exactly what had caused Kagami's sudden reversed aging, there was some dispute about what do about it.
Were they supposed to alert her family, or just hope that it would get better before they started asking questions? Were they to try to find a cure, or should they let her deal with this on her own?
Konata voted on the 'let her deal with it' option, deciding that it was enough work to keep the young girl in line even without adding anything else to the mix. Sojirou had voted on the same option, but Yutaka was a bit uncertain about his motives. And finally, Yutaka concluded that it might be somewhat difficult to try to explain this to Kagami's parents in the first place.
Other than Sojirou – who will always be Sojirou – none of their decisions were related to how cute the girl looked when she tried to slide down the stairs in a big cardboard box – she'd ended up crashing, but seemed oddly content either way.
It was a very strange day.
Konata somehow ended up being the one put in charge of the little menace, cleaning up whenever she splattered food over the ceiling, and scolding her whenever she tried to draw on the walls.
Sojirou was largely excluded from the events – since Konata didn't trust him in the least – and Yutaka had her summer homework to do.
But, when the sun set, they received a call that changed their easygoing view of things.
The Hiiragis were off to visit some relative – that Kagami had never gotten along with – and as Sojirou made the believable excuse that she was currently in the bath, they asked him on her behalf if she could stay over for the rest of the week. Sojirou happily agreed.
Kagami was staying for a week.
Meaning, in practice, that if she didn't turn back by dawn, they'd actually have to get used to this, rather than push her back on her family with their sincere – and confused – apology.
Sojirou was ecstatic, Yutaka was a little worried, Konata seemed to have developed a small headache, and Kagami fell asleep in the older girl's lap.
XXX(Rain)
Chibi-Kagami – who'd been named due to confusion with her older self – enjoyed: anime, manga, cake, running around, and climbing things. She disliked: baths, responsibility, nutritious food, Sojirou – much to his disappointment – and cleaning.
Basically, she might look the same – and have a similar infatuation with sweets – but to say that she was just like Kagami would be a lie.
Konata had a theory going that these were things that either Kagami had later learned to repress or simply grown into, or they were dealing with some kind of mind-eating alien that turned its host into a child for its own sick lolicon-related needs.
Deciding that he could relate to the alien, Sojirou had tried to strike up a conversation with the young girl about it, only to get clogged over the head with a shoe. He'd taken it surprisingly well, saying something about it reminding him of his high school days – by now Yutaka knew better than to ask.
In the end, Chibi-Kagami – or 'Kagami' for short – continued lazing about and reading her manga. Until it started to rain.
Many children come to love rainy days as an excuse to stay indoors, but every now and then, there are those that will come to love rainy days for the mud and the puddles.
Apparently, Kagami was one of the latter.
Konata – being the one that had ended up being in charge of her – found a decent raincoat and some rubber boots that seemed to fit to at least some degree.
Somewhat annoyed at being held back until that point, Kagami had hurried out the door, located the biggest puddle. And splashed into it with a joyous frenzy only a child can possess.
Yutaka felt a twinge of jealousy as she watched the girl jump around in the rain. After all, she'd never really been able to enjoy such things as a child, due to her weak health. Then Konata handed her another raincoat, winked, and told her not to stay outside for too long.
XXX(Bath)
Bathing with Kagami was… for lack of a better word, interesting.
Though Konata had demonstrated how the young girl could be distracted using bubbles, her unwillingness towards the bath was still enough for her to need to be more or less held down by someone in the bathtub with her. And, since Yutaka needed to warm up from the rain as well, she'd been given 'holding down Kagami'-duty.
This meant that Konata was now able to actually cook, rather than keep Kagami out of harm's way, and Yutaka was looking forward to a meal that wasn't made by her eccentric uncle. He had a way with food that was best not described in words – at least not in the presence of children.
Even shampooing the young girl's hair quickly proved to be a difficult task. Ignoring her obvious dislike at the thought of getting prepared for the bath, Kagami was either whining about getting shampoo in her eyes – something that Yutaka was trying her hardest at avoiding – or simply twisting and turning with Yutaka's hands, making the task of keeping it out of her eyes even harder.
Amazed at the thought of her cousin being able to put up with this, she finally completed their preparations and dragged her into the bath. The dragging part wasn't an overstatement, and she quietly wondered how such a small girl could be so stubborn.
Oddly enough, once Kagami had entered the bath and realized that she was supposed to stay there, she seemed completely fine with it, even laughing as she splashed around.
Unfortunately, this changed the moment she realized that it was time to get out, and soon Yutaka was once more stuck with trying to wrestle the girl into submission, only, this time, so that she could dry her off.
Deciding that it was beyond her to clean, dry and clothe her, Yutaka simply blocked the door before the young girl could run off, and decisively pointed at the clothes Konata had laid out earlier.
"Kagami-chan, you need to put those on if you want dinner," after eyeing her suspiciously for a moment, Kagami seemed to decide that trying to resist wasn't worth the effort, and got dressed without making a fuss.
Yutaka smiled proudly as she watched her run down the stairs towards the kitchen. She'd won.
Then she collapsed into the nearest chair, and marveled at the dedication of mothers.
XXX(Park)
Though the original plan to deal with Kagami's transformation had been to have her cooped up in the house, it had proven to be somewhat lacking.
Kagami needed to play.
This was something all members of the Izumi household soon realized, in one way or another. Unfortunately, this 'one way' tended to be related to a variety of pranks – Sojirou was the one subjected to the more painful of these – and soon, all of them had come to a conclusion.
Kagami needed to play with other kids. Because there was no way they'd be able to keep up with the energetic little bundle for much longer.
Due to a deadline coming up, Sojirou would stay home and leave the two girls in charge of finding new and hopefully interesting ways of using up all of Kagami's abundant energy.
Yutaka felt a small smile rising to her lips as she watched the scene in front of her.
Though Konata could easily be mistaken for being several years younger than her actual age, she seemed surprisingly motherly as Kagami dragged her along by the hand. If Yutaka hadn't actually known better, she'd probably be wondering who the husband was.
The thought almost made her laugh.
Konata had absolutely no chance of ever snagging a husband – it might sound rude, but that's what Hiiragi-senpai had always insisted.
Still smiling, Yutaka raised the camera – Sojirou's orders – and snapped a few pictures of the two of them.
Though walking around town with an age-altered Kagami probably wasn't the most discrete way of spending a day, it didn't seem like anyone noticed it. And it was a lot of fun. Partly because with Kagami and her insistent whining backing her, Yutaka could have as much sweets as she wanted – at Konata's expense no less.
Finally arriving at the children's park, Kagami took off at what seemed to be very close to the speed of light. Leaving the two girls to find a seat at a nearby bench.
It was a warm, sunny day, and the birds were merrily chirping along.
Her ice-cream melted in just the right way, and the sound of the children laughing seemed strangely comforting.
Yutaka felt a smile tugging at her lips, she felt kind of old.
Turning towards her cousin, she could see a similar expression, and as their eyes met, they started to laugh.
It was a nice day.
XXX(Café)
Yutaka smiled as Konata scolded the young girl for trying to inhale the ice-cream, saying that she should at least taste it before granting it the ability of producing headaches.
It was a lot of fun to watch her cousin act responsible – something that she'd now learned was basically as rare as solid kryptonite. And when she reminded herself that the girl she was scolding was actually Kagami, well, it was all she could do not to laugh.
Thankfully, the small bundle of limitless energy had actually begun to calm down somewhat, meaning that the lasso that Konata had joked about buying would not be used – which was something of a relief to Yutaka since she didn't know if they could get arrested for that or not.
Unfortunately, they'd passed several places were the young girl's puppy-like stare had been used to their advantage, meaning that they now had a lot of things to carry around – Konata was a little annoyed at her for that, but let it slip when Kagami began to pout at her.
It'd been an unusual day. A day that for some reason made her feel like an older sister – or maybe an aunt, she wasn't really sure, but she felt oddly mature either way.
For some reason, it felt… for lack of better word, sad, to watch her cousin acting so much like a mother. She couldn't really put her finger on it, but Yutaka guessed that it was a sort of fearful curiosity of what would happen in the future. Not about Kagami, but rather, about the girl who seemed like such a capable mother.
Would she find a husband and settle down somewhere? Would Yutaka be able to come visit?
It made her feel a little uncomfortable.
"Yuu-neechan?" a small face hovered inches away from her own, and Yutaka jumped a little.
"K-Kagami-chan? W-What is it?" the young girl tilted her head at an almost ludicrously angle as she looked into her eyes.
"What are you thinking of?" an embarrassed blush slowly rising to her face, Yutaka tried to think of a good answer.
"Umm…" an idea showed itself, and she went for it, "What would you like to be when you grow up Kagami-chan?"
"Eh?" the young girl seemed taken aback, but sat back in order to think it through properly.
It was a very childish-looking way of pondering a question – a finger to her lips, and with a furrowed brow – but it seemed to work as she soon lit up.
"I want to be Konata's wife."
Yutaka stared at her for a moment, wondering if she'd misheard something. Then she turned towards Konata, and found a girl that had apparently become a tomato that enjoyed gaping like a fish out of water – Yutaka wasn't really sure of how a tomato could do that, but that was the impression she had.
Kagami looked between the two of them, seemingly confused by their reactions. The bewildered look on her face was actually enough to cause Yutaka to smile. The smile soon developed into a full-blown hug, and she couldn't help the uncontrolled laughter as she saw that her cousin was still trying – somewhat desperately – to recover.
XXX(Wife)
"… Konata's wife?" Sojirou stared out through the window, looking unusually serious, "Konata's wife, huh…?"
"Is there something wrong with that?" Kagami looked both annoyed and nervous at the same time.
"No, no not at all," he continued to stare out of the window for a while, "Konata's wife, huh?"
Yutaka watched the two of them curiously, wondering to herself what would've happened if the grownup Kagami had asked the same thing. And stifled a giggle since the scene that appeared in front of her mind's eye was… utterly romantically clichéd…
"Konata's wife… yes, I think that'd be quite wonderful," nodding solemnly to himself, Sojirou finally faced the young girl, "Please do."
For a moment, the world was filled only with the chirping of cicadas, and then Sojirou was brought to the floor by his own daughter kicking him in the stomach – he was an unusually resilient person so it wasn't enough to seriously harm him.
"Who the hell are you marrying off with such a straight face!" Konata's face was a bright red color as she glared daggers at her father.
"Umm… Konata…? C-Can't I be your wife?" she sounded as if she was on the verge of tears, and it made the older girl flinch for a moment.
"It's not that you can't… It's just that… well… there's something of an age difference, you know? It just wouldn't be fair…" Yutaka smiled slightly as her cousin's excuses came apart in front of her eyes – Kagami was technically the same age as her.
"Then, it'd be fine if I were older?" feeling a twinge of sympathy for Konata as she remembered her own experience with having those hopeful, blue eyes staring up at her, Yutaka wondered if Kagami would be able to remember any of this when she turned back to normal.
"… Umm… I guess…" Konata's face had somehow managed to turn even redder.
"Yay!" the young girl hugged her with a smile that could probably outshine the sun itself.
XXX(Injuries)
Yutaka was worried the moment the door opened.
Kagami had always had a tendency to use excessive force when opening doors, and she usually proclaimed her arrival to the house in a voice that might leave your ears ringing if you were unlucky enough to stand too close.
But this time, there was only silence.
Konata seemed to have thought the same, and hurried out of the kitchen to see what was wrong. Yutaka followed her at a somewhat slower pace since she didn't want to get in the way.
Konata flinched in the doorway, and panic began rising up through Yutaka's chest. What had happened? She hurried to her the doorway, as Konata rushed to what she could only assume was Kagami's side.
Kagami's nose was bleeding, tears slowly rolling their way down her face.
Yutaka located some tissues, whilst Konata did her best with trying to calm the young girl down and get her to explain to them what had happened.
The result of her story was Konata suddenly standing up and walking out the door. It was an unusual thing to do, sure. But the thing that made Yutaka feel unsettled was that she had murder in her eyes.
Left alone together with Kagami, she did her best to comfort the young girl. Thankfully, Kagami was quite easy to distract once you mentioned food.
XXX(Vengeance)
Konata's return was... for lack of a better word, powerful.
A woman trailed hesitantly after her in her wake, continually glancing to the young boy whom Konata was dragging along in a not-very-friendly-but-not-quite-violent kind of way.
If it weren't for the way Kagami flinched when she saw the boy, Yutaka would've been honestly confused.
This was the boy that had punched Kagami in the nose – the woman in the back was, considering her age, probably his mother.
Yutaka was not a person that was particularly good at holding grudges, or being mad at people in general. But when faced with this boy she felt an unusual urge to visit some degree of harm upon him – like stepping on his toes.
There was some awkwardness as everyone took in the situation, and then the two children were commanded to retell their stories so that everyone present could hear them and reflect upon what was true and what was false – though whenever one of them opened their mouths there were always protests emerging from the other child.
It was a painstakingly slow process, but when it was concluded they had successfully proven that Kagami wasn't lying, and that the boy was a 'doodoo-head'.
After this, there were apologies on the childrens' behalf, some forced apologies by the children themselves, and an odd bonding moment when the both of them realized that it was time for the power-rangers and launched themselves towards the television.
Realizing that the boy's mother would probably be stuck here until the ending of the episode, Konata made some tea and sat down with her to have a sympathetic talk about the many difficulties with raising children.
Yutaka quickly decided that that conversation was out of her own particular area of expertize, and instead joined the two younger members of the group.
The show was... remarkably engaging, and as the ending credits started rolling, she made a silent vow to make sure that she caught the next episode.
XXX(Piano)
There were those that turned their heads in her direction. And Yutaka couldn't help but wonder what it'd look like to their passing glances.
Two sisters doing errands?
It seemed like the most obvious assumption, and it wasn't far from the truth.
The reason for this was that it basically was the truth... Konata just had a very odd way of frazing things. Well, that, and they weren't actually sisters...
Yutaka's nose scrunched up at the thought, a reaction which startled herself. She enjoyed having the younger girl around, and it didn't feel all that different from what she supposed having a little sister would be like.
She smiled slightly as Kagami splashed through another puddle on the road. Her very own little sister.
She would never understand the young girl's enthusiasm for rain and puddles though, and was quite content under her umbrella – she was wearing a raincoat too, but that was because nobody trusted Kagami not to splash water at those in her near vicinity.
Finally arriving at the store – they'd had to go to one somewhat farther away due to the nature of their errand – Kagami continued on her energetic way through the aisles, leaving Yutaka to pick up the things they actually needed, and not just any candy that looked delicious – pocky, Yutaka had quickly learned, was a favorite.
There was no real need to rush, they had simply realized that some special coupons needed to be used before the end of the day, and so Yutaka didn't really mind taking her time in convincing Kagami that there was no need to try to buy the entire candy shelf. Kagami didn't approve of this, and she didn't seem to think that becoming extremely sick from overeating was any reason to deny her idea.
It was during this calm, responsible sister-like moment, that a voice made Yutaka freeze.
"Yutaka?" she would recognize that voice anywhere, and though she'd usually be more than happy to respond to it, there was a small complication – they had named her Chibi-Kagami, or Kagami for short.
Finally deciding that it would be impossible to pretend to be someone else – she was a terrible liar – Yutaka turned around to face the owner of the voice.
Minami looked at her curiously, glancing meaningfully towards the young girl who took this moment of distraction as an opportunity to stuff as many sweets into the stack of what-they-actually-needed as possible.
"Ah," she tried to recall what the cover story that Konata had come up with had been, but she kept drawing blanks, "T-This is definitely not Hiiragi-senpai that's been turned into a child for some reason and that we're currently looking after!"
In her defense. She'd already mentioned that she was a terrible liar.
Minami stared at her for a moment, seeming to consider her very specific denial. In the end, she looked a little worried, which Yutaka had anticipated.
She had however, hoped that Minami wouldn't believe that she went around turning people into children for fun. She wasn't that kind of person!
"Yutaka..." Minami interrupted her thought process, and she braced herself for the condemning words that would come afterwards, "Are you alright?" the taller girl put a hand to her forehead, "You look sort of pale."
The relief that her best friend hadn't rejected her for something she hadn't done but had no actual proof for not doing, was enough to bring tears to her eyes.
"Uwaah! You made Yuu-neechan cry!" Kagami pointed accusingly at the taller girl, who suddenly looked very flustered.
Deciding that this place probably wasn't the best place to talk – Minami seemed very uncomfortable with suddenly being the center of attention – the three of them began making their way out of the store.
Unfortunately, it was still raining outside, meaning that this too was probably not the best of places to talk at. Both of their houses were a long way away – apparently Minami had had similar coupons – ruling out them as well.
"This way," Minami took off in a direction that wasn't towards either of their homes, and Kagami followed instantly – Minami had ended up paying for most of the sweets she'd urged them into buying – leaving Yutaka a close second.
Not long afterwards, they arrived at a door with a small sign attached to it. Yutaka didn't have time to read what it said, since Minami opened said door, but it seemed as if the taller girl was familiar with the place.
There was what looked like a small waiting room, a small table and some soft chairs, and a couch which Kagami threw herself in the moment she got out of her rain-clothes.
Yutaka would've scolded her for that, but it made Minami smile, so she didn't.
On Kagami's behalf, some of the sweets were packed up.
After some questions, it was soon deduced that this place was a small music school, and that Minami had been practicing the piano here for years. This information was new to Yutaka, whom could guess that Minami was probably too embarrassed to ever mention that she could play the piano.
One of the doors to the waiting room was open, and Yutaka could see the corner of a piano on the other side.
She wanted to hear her play.
She really wanted to hear her play.
Minami seemed to pick up on the look on her face, as her own became an embarrassed red.
"Please?" she knew that she probably shouldn't have that longingly urging tone, but she couldn't help herself.
Quickly catching on, probably simply to the tone in Yutaka's voice, Kagami was soon to pick up any slack.
"Pretty please~?" surprised at being attacked from both angles, Minami looked panicked for a moment, and then she simply heaved a sigh, and nodded in defeat.
The two of them cheered happily as an embarrassed Minami made her way towards the piano.
The patter of rain drifted away, leaving a gentle coolness and sparkling drops in the trees that glimmered like crystals in the soft warmth of sunlight. Yutaka forgot to breathe. And then she realized that Minami was playing, and felt tears springing up to her eyes once more.
It was beautiful.
Kagami shifted slightly in her seat, looking with wide eyes at the taller girl, for a moment too enthralled by the music to be distracted by the sweets in front of her.
Yutaka felt herself drift away into the music's gentle flow, and she smiled at the girl who looked so at peace as she so easily brought life into the very air that surrounded those that listened.
When it ended, and Minami turned towards them with an apologetic gaze, still clearly not satisfied with the performance, Yutaka got up from her seat and walked over to her.
Kagami watched them curiously from over the sweets that she was currently remembering to stuff herself with.
"I'm still not all that goo-..." she was interrupted as Yutaka captured her in a hug, tears finally flowing freely down her cheeks.
"It was wonderful..." she could feel Minami stiffen at her words, but it soon melted away as she realized that she was telling the truth.
Yutaka wasn't sure how long they were like that, but when they finally drew back, Kagami had already eaten all of the sweets.
XXX(Studying)
"Are you going to be alright by yourself?" Yutaka watched her cousin uncertainly as she continued to hesitantly pack her schoolbooks into her bag.
"That's what I should be saying to you..." Konata smiled, "Anyway, she only has a fever, it's not the end of the world you know."
"But what if it gets worse?" Yutaka knew that she was probably being overprotective of the younger girl, but she couldn't help herself.
"If it gets worse, then I can get her to the hospital," she looked at Yutaka meaningfully, "I'm used to doing stuff like that."
Yutaka opened her mouth to protest only to find that she had used the few arguments she had two or three times already. Instead closing it slowly – and transforming it into a pout in the process – she zipped up her bag and put on her shoes.
Konata waved her off with a knowing smile, and Yutaka left for Minami's house, and the study-group that was to be formed there.
She was still worried about leaving Kagami at home, but she knew that more than anything, she'd probably just get in the way – or catch the illness as well, causing even more problems for those around her.
Minami had been informed of Kagami's condition and was slightly worried about the younger girl – she'd apparently grown quite fond of having the easily-bribed girl running around.
So when the study-group finally began, she found herself drifting away to thoughts about young girls and fevers – in contrast with Hiyori who was drifting off to thoughts of small dazed-looking girls and taller worried-looking girls staring into each other's eyes with sparkles surrounding them.
The study-group was a failure.
Patricia had brought snacks, and found that eating them in new and innovative ways were of much larger importance than thinking about equations. Hiyori was distracted by her sketchbook – nothing new there. Yutaka was worrying about Kagami's health. And Minami seemed to be alternating between trying to get them to actually study, worrying about Yutaka's dazed expression, and worrying about the young girl with a fever at the Izumi household.
Of course, this lack of getting anything done had been anticipated by the four friends, and was Patricia's excuse for bringing anime, Hiyori's excuse for bringing manga, and Yutaka's excuse for bringing even more snacks. Minami was exempt since she was the only actual brain in the outfit.
XXX(Fever)
Finally having decided that there was no way that she could enjoy herself – let alone study – when she was busy worrying about Kagami, Yutaka said goodbye to her friends and hurried home.
Not really wanting to yell and accidentally disturb any sleep Kagami might've fallen into, she walked quietly up the stairs towards the younger girl's room.
"Kagami-chan?" her cousin's voice made her freeze in mid-step. She sounded so... hesitant, awed.
Deciding that peeking into the room without knocking was probably allowed as long as she wasn't found out, Yutaka did just that.
The room looked much the same as it had before she'd left – the only difference being a plate that Konata hadn't bothered with taking downstairs to the kitchen yet – but something felt out of place.
Konata was kneeling in front of the younger girl's bed, her hand gently clasping Kagami's, and an oddly serious expression adorning her face.
Konata was never serious, and Yutaka felt herself tensing up. What could possibly have brought out this rarely seen side of her cousin?
"Konata," her voice sounded weak, but strangely calm in the silent room, "kiss me."
For a moment, Yutaka wondered if she'd been imagining hearing something very odd. But as Konata's face turned red, she knew that she hadn't been imagining things.
Konata opened her mouth to respond, but seemed to have run out of words, as she simply closed it again, then she nodded quietly, and leaned in.
It was at this moment that Yutaka's circuit fried a brain.
Was her cousin really kissing Kagami? Trying to suppress a sudden urge to beat the athletic girl over the head for assaulting her 'little sister', Yutaka glanced through the crack once more.
Two thin arms had snaked themselves around Konata's neck, and two delicate hands had buried themselves in her hair.
There were also some kind of odd noises – something like moaning and labored breathing – that seemed to be very much guaranteeing that it wasn't just a quick peck on the cheek.
As she watched them, something changed.
It was as if the air around her twisted in on itself, and it gave her a distinctly uncomfortable feeling.
Shaking off the sudden oddity that had caused her to lose focus, she turned towards the two in the room.
That's when she heard it.
"GAAH!" Kagami leapt upwards, landing with both feet on the bed as she backed into the wall, never letting her gaze leave Konata.
Konata, on the other hand, was sitting wide-eyed as the young girl had suddenly gained about ten years worth of growth.
Kagami had returned to her former age, in the middle of the kiss.
Apparently, it'd been equally shocking for both sides.
Yutaka had a vague awareness of her chin hitting the floor, but she wasn't really paying attention to it at the moment.
"You kissed me?" Kagami sounded something in between indignant and confused. Seriously confused.
"Umm... technically, you asked me to," the silence that followed that was deafening as Kagami couldn't do anything but stare at the shorter girl.
This stare-off between them finally came to an end as Kagami opened her mouth once more.
"So... that wasn't... a dream?" her face was turning redder with each word.
"You mean Chibi-Kagami?" a slow nod that didn't break any eye-contact, "Definitely not a dream... several pictures to prove it... you looked really cute."
Kagami tensed up for a moment, before her legs finally gave in under her and she collapsed back onto the bed.
She didn't look physically exhausted, just mentally strained.
"I see..." she glanced over at the smaller girl before continuing, "Long time no see, you perverted midget."
"Uwah! That's mean! That's the first thing you say when you see me!" Konata shot to her feet and Kagami began to laugh at her reaction.
Konata pouted at being laughed at, and turned to stomp off – in an obviously fake, but very peeved way, since she'd probably only make it to the nearest manga – but her arm was suddenly caught on something and she stopped moving.
Kagami's hand held on to her with gentle firmness, and then pulled her closer with the careless ease of a physically stronger person.
The movement caught Konata by surprise and she crashed into Kagami's chest causing the taller girl to fall back onto the bed once more.
"K-Kagami?" Konata struggled to get free from suddenly having her face pressed into Kagami's chest, but she wouldn't let go.
"Again..." her voice was soft in the gentle glow of the setting sun, "Konata, kiss me again..."
Yutaka blinked at the sight of her cousin looking up with wide eyes towards the girl who was holding her in her arms. Tears were running down the smaller girl's cheeks.
"I didn't think..." she smiled through her tears, and then she leaned in for a second time.
Deciding that staying where she was was probably a very bad idea for several reasons, Yutaka quietly closed the small crack through which she'd spied on them.
She felt a little sad, her little sister had grown up so fast. She giggled at the thought.
XXX(Explanation)
"So, how come you turned into Chibi-Kagami?" Sojirou seemed to have recovered from losing the younger version of her, but Yutaka had a sneaking suspicion that he was asking her in order to find some way to turn her back into that form – because that's what she would've done.
Denying that that last part had even crossed her mind, she tried to pay attention to her senpai's explanation.
"I don't really know..." Kagami looked somewhat thoughtful, "I was just lying there next to Konata, and then I kind of thought... umm... t-that I wanted to be closer to her..." her face had turned completely red.
"Kagamin, you're so adorable!" Konata hugged the taller girl happily.
"Ah! Don't do that so suddenly!" she made a half-hearted attempt at shaking her off, but quickly gave up on it.
Yutaka couldn't help but smile at the sight. The two of them looked good together.
Glancing over to her uncle, she could see him doing a thumb-up toward his daughter in an oddly proud way.
Deciding to ignore that, Yutaka stood up and started getting ready to leave for Minami's house – they'd decided to meet back up once Kagami got better from her fever to catch up on the studying they'd missed that day.
Suddenly thinking of something, she turned around in the doorway.
"Hiiragi-senpai, Konata-oneechan," the two addressed turned towards her questioningly, "Patty-chan says that women can have children by themselves, and though I'm willing to wait for it, I am expecting you to get me a replacement little sister."
Kagami was slowly starting to turn red, and Konata looked to be caught somewhere between absolute shock and amusement at Kagami's expression.
Yutaka smiled at them and then she took off. She could wait.
XXX
A/n: I had a sudden urge to add; "Yutaka liked to view herself as the liver of the outfit, but nobody really knew why." to the last phrase in 'Studying', but I got the feeling that it would just be too weird.
XXX
Western Christmas OMAKE
XXX(Awakening)
Children tend to fall asleep early, and as a result, they get up early. Sometimes though, this habit is taken to the extremes.
Yutaka stared at the wall for a moment longer, trying to understand why there was so much noise, but failing despite her valiant effort.
It was Christmas, and – partly because Sojirou wanted and excuse to dress up – they'd decided to celebrate it in a more western fashion – Konata had agreed with him since she'd wanted presents.
There was no doubt in Yutaka's mind that it would be, if not entirely pleasant, then at least something worth retelling.
The noises were slowly making their way towards her room, and as she glanced at the clock she knew, without a doubt in her mind, that she was facing some sort of ghost or specter, because only creatures who didn't require sleep could possibly be awake at such an ungodly hour.
The door slammed open and something small launched itself at her. Yutaka – still being somewhat distracted by not sleeping – was almost tackled to the floor as the younger girl tried to rouse her from her grogginess.
"Yuu-neechan, wake up! It's Christmas! Santa's giving out presents! Wake up!" Yutaka stared at Kagami and did her best to suppress the sudden urge to locate an empty bucket, fill it with water, and then dump it over the younger girl's head, trying to answer her properly instead.
"Kagami-chan… I want to sleep… Santa won't run away… and I want to sleep…" she blinked sleepily as she stared into those innocent blue eyes, then she continued, "Did I mention that I want to sleep…? Because I feel that that is an important part…"
"Can't you sleep later?" Kagami was now pouting.
"I don't think I'd be able to stay awake long enough for that…" she'd probably feel more guilty about shooting down all of the young girl's attempts to rouse her if she weren't so tired.
Since Sojirou had realized early on that he'd have no reason to dress up if they just left the presents under the Christmas tree – Yutaka had no idea of how, or where he'd gotten it from – there had been a vote on exactly how they were supposed to celebrate – of course, since none of them wanted to tell Kagami that Santa would just be Sojirou in a fake beard, the young girl had been excluded.
After realizing that there was no way that Kagami would be able to keep quiet until a more pleasant hour, Yutaka picked the young girl up and then lay back down in her bed, holding her in her arms. Hopefully, the girl's energy would dwindle and she'd fall back asleep, meaning that everyone else might be able to do the same.
There were protests, there were some struggles, but finally, Kagami quieted down, her breathing slowly becoming more regular. Yutaka smiled as she watched her sleep, annoying as she could be from time to time, she was happy to have her around.
Then the blackness swallowed her, and she gratefully returned to the land of dreams.
XXX(Presents)
In a desperate attempt to distract Kagami from trying to coax anyone and everyone into making Santa arrive faster, Minami had brought a lot of different snacks with her. The snacks weren't really enough, but they kept the young girl from using her mouth – Konata had told her that if she spoke with a full mouth a genie would steal away her food, and it'd left an impression on her.
Sojirou had no understanding of why Minami had been invited, but reacted to it in a positive way – another girl in the house can hardly be bad, now can it?
Konata had already known that she would be invited through Miyuki, since the taller girl would otherwise spend Christmas alone in her house – and that kind of went against the point of it all.
Kagami had reacted to Minami's presence with joy, but Yutaka highly suspected that that was because the younger girl had developed a sixth sense when it came to candy.
They'd watch several anime Christmas specials, but they were starting to run out, and everyone already knew of the chaos that would ensue if Kagami decided that Santa was getting late – she'd probably try climbing up the chimney or something, or in lack of a chimney, climb up on the roof and wave 'good kids down here' flags around.
None of the people gathered wanted to see either of those scenarios happening – and despite Konata's suggestion, they couldn't really bring themselves to tie her down in a chair until it was time for Santa to arrive.
In the end, they were forced to cut the time short as Sojirou pretended to realize that he'd forgotten to buy the newspaper.
"What? But you can't go now! What if you miss Santa?" Kagami seemed honestly upset at the prospect – Yutaka had to restrain herself from hugging the cute girl.
"I'm sorry Kagami-chan, but the newspaper is of extreme importance, I can't face Santa without it," Minami seemed to be trying not to laugh at how serious Sojirou sounded.
"Then hurry! Santa could come any minute," Yutaka's restraint failed, but Konata beat her to hugging the younger girl.
"You heard Kagami-chan, dad. Hurry! You must not be late!" as her cousin pointed dramatically towards the door, Yutaka realized that they made a very entertaining combo.
Finding a way to distract the young girl from thinking too much about Sojirou's departure proved to be quite easy, since Konata suddenly recalled where she'd hidden some of the gingerbread cookies.
But at the arrival of a big-bellied man in red, with a white beard adorning his face, and carrying a huge sack on his back, Yutaka truly realized why parents tell their children that Santa will bring them presents.
The way that Kagami's face lit up when 'Santa' entered the room, was beyond compare.
Minami froze in mid-stride towards her seat, Konata's cookie stopped moving inches from her mouth as she completely forgot about it, and even Santa stopped momentarily, awed by the reception.
The presents were nothing all that great, but they were received happily from all, and as Santa lifted Kagami to her feet once more – she'd been sitting in his lap by pleading request – they all waved him goodbye with smiles on their faces.
When Sojirou finally returned with a newspaper in his hand and a story about the long lines during Christmas, Yutaka couldn't help but smile at Kagami's vibrant retelling of Santa's visit.
Happily wrapping a fluffy scarf – that she'd just gained from a carefully wrapped package – around her neck, Yutaka sat down next to Minami on the sofa.
There wasn't a kotatsu in use at the moment, and the scarf was proving to be very pleasant, despite being indoors.
She couldn't really say when it'd happened, but she'd shared the scarf with Minami, cuddling up to the taller girl for warmth, and Minami had in return carefully wrapped an arm around her shoulders, holding her steadily against her chest.
As Kagami finally fell asleep – still in the middle of playing with a karaoke game – and Konata gently carried the younger girl up the stairs to her room, Sojirou also decided to retire, being somewhat exhausted from having to run a long way to get that newspaper within a reasonable time-frame.
The two of them stayed behind, sitting contently together in the suddenly quiet house.
It was warm. A comfortable, protective kind of warmth. And Yutaka could feel her eyes drooping as Minami's soft hands gently played with her hair.
Chancing a glance upwards, she met the taller girl's eyes. Eyes that hid that wonderfully warm glow.
She smiled at the sight, and leaned upwards, slowly so as not to startle her, before finally capturing her lips.
As Minami began to melt towards her, she decided that this was a perfect ending to a perfect day.
XXX
A/n: Minami x Yutaka, because I felt that they needed it.