Prologue 2

Four friends sat around a kotatsu, mountains of textbooks and papers scattered about (Isn't that a fire hazard?) You'd be forgiven for thinking such a scene depicted quite a serious study session, serenaded by the scratching of pens on paper and the rhythmic flicking of pages rising above the low electric hum of the kotatsu.

Unfortunately...

"Hey, what's the answer to this one?"

"Oh come on I just told you how to do the last one! Work it out for yourself! It's not like I can give you hints during the actual test you know? You have to learn to do it for yourself!"

"Yeah, I know, but that's the exam. This is now. So tell me the answer!"

"I said no! Honestly do you even care about these exams? Or your future?"

"Of course I do! That's why I want to know the answer to this one."

"All you've been doing is copying my answers! At some point you're gonna have to learn to do it by yourself!"

"That's what the night before is for, right?"

"What?! You can't just cram for an entrance exam! This is serious!"

Two of the friends were uh...'Passionately discussing their coursework' while the others watched on with warm smiles. The scene was a familiar one to them all and though to anyone else it would seem the group couldn't stand one another they had been the best of friends since their first year of high school.

The serious one, a girl with blunt trailing pigtails and narrowed eyes was named Kagami Hiiragi. Taking on the leadership role simply because no-one else would, she tried her best to bring her friends into line, but that wasn't the easiest of tasks considering the calibre of such friends.

Her spaced out twin sister Tsukasa nibbled mouse-like at a muffin while watching the others bickering. Her short neat hair bobbed as she laughed and the oversized ribbon in her hair swayed like a dancing cobra (but much cuter) Having no particularly strong qualities she happily allowed herself to be swept along by her successful twin. And being in a group with one of the few people who could be classed as worse than her at things like academics served some consolation for living in Kagami's shadow.

The reserved and regal looking girl with long fluffy hair and large round glasses was the academic ace, Miyuki Takara. Like most gatherings she quietly went along with the other's childishness, fondly smiling and watching over them like a proud parent. Though she lacked the wild-streak for the others she had plenty of fun just tagging along for the ride.

And of course, like any group, there's always the wild one. The problem child...

Buried under a tangled mop of unkempt knee-length hair there peered wide green eyes which seemed to focus on nothing at all. With much of her tiny, wiry frame wrapped in the blanket of her messy hair she didn't exactly fit the image of the group. In fact there weren't many places she would fit in. Not her... Konata Izumi was something of an enigma. Devoid of passion for anything other than anime and games she led a life her friends could scarcely understand and yet for reason unknown to them they still remained close. A closet otaku if she didn't go around blatantly boasting about her hobbies, Konata seemed to pride herself more on her knowledge of anime than she did on her knowledge of...practical things...

Naturally, her laziness and lack of enthusiasm where it is more often needed made Kagami and Konata appear more like natural enemies. The endless quarrels and quarries only serve as mounting evidence of that. However, defying those natural laws, the two still hang out and stay in touch every day. One of the great mysteries of the world...

This unlikely group were in the midst of studying for their entrance exams. In a fit of constantly recurring Deja Vu, Miyuki and Kagami were the only ones motivated to learn while Tsukasa struggled and Konata simply refused to try.

Sparks flew between the ever fighting pair of Konata and Kagami and the welcome side-show was cathartic to the others. Three long years of this ever-recurring scene suggested that neither would cool down for some time and so it was unanimously declared time for a break.

"Honestly, why are you even doing this test?" Kagami groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. After all, arguing with Konata was like arguing with a brick wall (albeit with a far worse attitude) "It seems pointless to continue your studies when you never actually started to begin with."

"Oh Kagami, it has nothing to do with studying!" Konata explained, nodding to herself.

"Huh? Then why bother?"

The indecipherable young girl stuck out her chest with pride and smiled. Before she had even given her reason Kagami was already burying her head in her hands and grumbling irritably. Any time Konata struck such a pose something profoundly stupid was bound to arise.

"Isn't it obvious? You can't properly finish off a school drama without the tension of college entrance exams! It would be boring if the characters just graduated and got jobs."

…

Times like these made Kagami regret being the straight man.

"Wait, are you telling me the only reason you're applying for university is because that's what they do in anime?"

Konata nodded with a proud smile.

Kagami glared at her, her dark pupils floating in a sea of dull white poison.

Taking the ensuing silence as a chance to join in Tsukasa leaned over onto the table, resting her head on a makeshift pillow of textbooks, "You're right though, they always take the test. And there's always that one person that seems like they would fail, but in the end they always pass! I like that. I'd be sad if they didn't make it..."

"They're not real people!" Kagami snapped, still struggling to wrap her head around the previous bombshell. "And of course they all pass, it's a TV show! But this is real life. They don't just let everyone pass because they're all friends! You have to really work hard and study."

Abashed, Tsukasa frowned, her ribbon drooping like a wilting flower. "Sorry sis..."

The other one, however, was much harder to convince.

"Come now Kagamin, being all pessimistic and stuff will just get you demoted to a background character. They won't even give you a back-story."

"What are you talking about?!"

Miyuki hid a giggle behind her soft white hands. As usual the only one getting agitated appeared to be the group's designated older sister. It goes without saying that the study session didn't progress very far. After another hour of arguing in circles the girls called it a day and returned home feeling as lost as they had been before they met to study.

The last batch of mock exams were returned to the students at Ryouo high. Although it was no surprise, an obligatory array of awed exclamations surrounded the schools undoubted genius, Miyuki. Her results were, as ever at the top of the class and she was given a 90% chance of being accepted to her chosen university. Half-hearted applause and congratulations echoed through the classroom while those on the fringe of the group quietly lamented their own underwhelming results.

Sitting beside Miyuki, Tsukasa anxiously glanced over her own papers. With her head turned aside she squinted out the corner of one eye at the numbers scrawled across the front of the sheet in bright red ink. Although she couldn't quite make them out, the presence of two digits was promising. After taking a deep breath she shot forward, burying her nose in the paper.

"Aww...It says 40%...Is that...Is that good?"

Konata patted her dejected friend on the back and smirked, "Don't worry, they're just numbers. In the end, if you suck you'll fail and that's all there is to it!"

Tsukasa slowly looked up, her eyes glistening with tears. "Wha...?"

"Ah, I didn't mean..." Konata cried, "Look you might be bad, but you don't suck. See? So you should be fine!"

That pitiful excuse for an excuse miraculously worked. Tsukasa's face lightened up and the ribbon in her hair seemed to puff out a little.

But just as it seemed to have worked, Tsukasa wailed loud enough to garner the attention of the entire class.

"No, don't cry! Tsukasa, it'll be okay! There's always someone worse off than you, remember. All you have to do is beat them and you're sure to make it!"

This managed to stall her tears for the time being. Looking up with little lambs eyes Tsukasa quietly asked, "What did you get?"

Without words, Konata thrust her paper towards her friend and once again revealed a content smirk and an odd sounding laugh. "Read it and weep!"

She'd gotten a 60% chance.

Tsukasa did indeed read it and weep.

While the students mulled over their uncertain futures lunch quickly sprang up and soon mobs of downtrodden students were marching about amidst the jittery chatter of their more optimistic and talented peers.

Tsukasa had gone hoarse from her uncontrollable sobbing and had run out of steam, simply sniffling and making the occasional odd noise while her two close friends stroked her back and said soothing nothings to calm her down.

"Although it might look grim a 40% chance is actually quite good." So sayeth Miyuki the wise one with a reassuring smile. "That's close to a one in two chance of succeeding and so conversely you can look at it this way. You're just as likely to pass as you are to fail."

Tsukasa rubbed at her eyes and let out a trembling whimper. "R-really?"

"Yes. Rather than looking at the glass as half empty, one can see the glass as half full. In fact," Miyuki explained, raising a finger like an elementary school teacher, "studies show that simply being confident and optimistic in these sorts of situations will often stack the results in your favour. So as long as you believe in yourself you should be able to pass."

A trace of a smile returned to the frail girl's face and a faint chuckle escaped her. "I guess I just have to study harder."

"That's the spirit." Miyuki said in her motherly way.

The crisis was averted.

Until...

"Waaaaaaahh!"

The door to the classroom nearly fell of its hinges as a figure barrelled through, stooped over like a footballer making a charge, making a b-line for Konata and the others. She stumbled and fell short, landing sprawled out over a desk, hair cascading about her face like messy streamers.

"Why?! Why?! I did everything right! I studied every night!"

Kagami wasn't in the highest of spirits if it weren't obvious enough to tell from the crying fit. She bawled madly, her test clenched between white-knuckled fingers. Wordlessly Konata snatched the test away from her and backed up a few paces to read in relative peace. A damning 30% adorned the top of the first page under which the words 'Needs improvement. Keep trying.' were scrawled in the same deep red ink.

"Whoa! Kagami bombed!"

Kagami wept quite loudly, all through lunch until inevitably Kuroi-sensei had to escort her back to her own classroom.

That night Kagami organised an emergency study session and this time she swore to ignore Konata's distractions at all costs.