Someone Else

Chapter 2: 9th of April, 2013

Konata sighed as she dropped her satchel on the floor and put her head on the desk, feeling extremely tired. She had barely slept that night and right now, school was one of the last things on her mind. Not even the chatter and noise in the classroom did anything to open her deeply closed weary eyes. Not until she eventually heard a familiar voice utter something right beside her.

"Kona-chan, is everything alright?" she could hear Tsukasa ask with worry.

Looking up to see her friend standing next to her with a frown, Konata rapidly shook her head in an attempt to wake herself up and find the strength to even answer the girl.

"Long raid last night," she finally drawled. "Finally got the armor drop I had been trying to get for so long."

Tsukasa's bewildered stare was enough to indicate that she probably hadn't understood a word Konata had said. The blue-haired girl yawned before clarifying.

"Just played the game until very late, Tsukasa. Didn't have much time for sleep."

"Oh," Tsukasa uttered with a nod. "Sis stayed up late too, working on the homework Ms. Kuroi gave us."

The Hiiragi daughter slightly blushed, her eyes looking away from Konata.

"I… fell asleep and couldn't get much work done. I just couldn't focus."

"Don't worry, you're not the only one," Konata waved her hand dismissively, rubbing her eye with the other. "Is Kagami here? I thought she said she would come today."

"Oh, yes she is, but her class has already started. I think Ms. Kuroi is late for ours."

"Wonder why," Konata replied with a devilish, knowing grin.

Just at that time she saw Jayden going through the door of the classroom. She wouldn't let him walk past her desk without talking to him first, deciding to wait for him to get closer in order to accost him. He cast the two girls a somewhat tired smile on his way to his desk, one that Tsukasa returned but Konata didn't.

"You didn't show up on the server," she stated grumpily.

"Good morning to you as well," Jayden spoke. He continued with a sigh, "We have a lot of homework to do during the week, Konata. I didn't want to save everything until the last minute."

"What did you work on, Jayden-san?" Tsukasa asked curiously.

"That history essay. I couldn't do it all but I'm at least halfway through."

"I'll have you know that if you had joined us last night, you could have been the proud owner of the Prayer Beads of the Incantation of Treatment," Konata said with irritation.

"Sorry, I'm not going to be playing a healer," Jayden shook his head. "A mage is more my type of class."

"Fine," Konata breathed out. A healer is what she had the most trouble finding in a party and it would have been of great help if Jayden decided to play that class. "Just get to playing the game, I will persuade you to switch class then."

"Okay," Jayden said in a chuckle. He continued walking towards his desk before suddenly turning around. "Do you by any chance have that umbrella I gave you?"

Konata's eyes widened. She had forgotten about it completely.

"Well…" she began, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly and closing her eyes as she shrugged.

"It's alright. Just don't forget to bring it next time," Jayden said in a sigh, proceeding to sit down on his desk at the back of the window row.

Konata felt bad about forgetting to return his umbrella since it was of great help to both her and Tsukasa. She turned to look at her friend again when she noticed that she had already sat down herself. Instead, Konata fixed her gaze on the entering Ms. Kuroi.

"Morning everyone," the woman said drowsily, obviously trying to appear cheerful and energetic but failing miserably. Konata grinned to herself, knowing exactly why her teacher hadn't gotten sleep last night either, for she had been busy fighting centaurs in the Shrouded Halls of Gloom.


Finally closing his notebook with relief, Jayden quickly started rummaging through his satchel, his stomach growling. Japanese history lessons, while entertaining for him, were long and eventually tiring. Even if it was something he had never studied before, Jayden was genuinely interested in finding out more about Japan, but not when hunger was threatening to overcome him.

After taking out his lunchbox, the American looked towards Konata and her friends Tsukasa and Miyuki already grouping around her desk. Even though he was perfectly willing to eat the sandwich anywhere he was, Jayden wanted to join the girls, for he had fun hanging around with them. He had just started heading towards them when Konata herself looked back at him and nodded, inviting him over.

"Do you mind if I join you again?" Jayden asked the girls when he approached them.

"You needn't ask, Jayden-san," Miyuki meekly replied, closing her purple eyes and giving him an assuring smile.

He pulled up a chair next to their desk, one that was next to Keiji's table. The Japanese boy was once again buried in his manga book. Jayden attempted to give him a friendly nod, but the brown-haired student seemed oblivious to the world around him, not even registering the noise in the classroom.

Once Jayden sat down on the desk, Tsukasa and Konata on either side, he noticed that they had each brought out a box-shaped white plate in front of them. There were small portions of a lot of different foods clustered close together, among which Jayden could spot rice and several cooked vegetables.

"What is this?" Jayden asked before having a bite of his sandwich, gesturing towards the plates.

"Oh. This is called bento," Miyuki answered. "It is usually a home-packed meal that a lot of students here like to bring along at school. It can consist of a lot of different foods, but traditionally people make them with rice, meat and pickled or cooked vegetables. I personally like mine with fish meat."

"I might try one of these sometime," Jayden said in approval, nodding his head as he chewed on his sandwich.

Sating his hunger had almost made him oblivious to the fact that Miyuki had suddenly turned around, apparently following Konata and Tsukasa's gaze. They were looking at another girl who was approaching their desk with a quick, excited pace, a lunchbox in her right hand.

"Hey!" she spoke joyfully, giving the girls a soft smile and waving her other hand as she closed in.

The others greeted her happily, referring to her as Kagami.

"Hey, Sis!" Tsukasa also joined in. Kagami gave her a gentle squeeze on the shoulder as she stood beside her.

"Kagami is back to school, I'm overjoyed!" Konata almost yelled, her green eyes lit up and fixed on the girl's face with expectation.

"I am not carrying my history notes with me, Konata," Kagami was quick to reply with amusement, putting her hands on her waist. Konata exhaled heavily at the response she got and put one of her hands over her heart as she closed her eyes.

"You wound me, Kagami. You think I'm not happy to see you because you are back on your feet, which is the one and only reason for my inexplicable delight, I assure you."

Kagami shook her head in mock disbelief. She eventually moved her gaze from Konata to Jayden, curiosity evident in her sharp bluish eyes. He noticed her long straight purple hair, which she wore in pigtails and was put in a pair of brown ribbons, and the way it shifted as she tilted her head in his direction. A lot of Kagami's features resembled Tsukasa, and yet, on the whole, she was quite different from her. The way she looked at Jayden spoke of her own inspection of him that she was doing.

"Oh! I'm Jayden," he introduced himself after remembering that he probably had to, doing a slight wave of his hand while still holding the remainder of his sandwich in the other.

"I'm Kagami," she replied with a nod of her head, an unreadable expression on her face. "Tsukasa mentioned you."

"Ah, did she?" he uttered in surprise, giving Kagami's sister a glance. Looking back at her he added, "I heard that you were sick. Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, I am actually. It wasn't so bad yesterday, but I was still too tired then," she answered confidently. Her countenance softened as she said, "Thank you for giving your umbrella to Tsukasa and Konata, by the way. You didn't have to."

"It's no problem," Jayden replied with a smile, turning to face Konata. "Of course, it would have been nice if I got it back, but I'm not in a hurry."

Konata gave him an annoyed stare in response to his teasing.

"That's Konata for you," Kagami said in a heartfelt chuckle, redirecting the girl's leer to her.

Jayden was aware that all chairs on the four sides of the desk were occupied, and felt uneasy being there with Kagami standing next to the group.

"I, uh, will go finish up this sandwich at my desk," he spoke, already starting to stand up from the chair.

"Oh, don't worry, I will sit next to Tsukasa," Kagami replied in a haste, looking around for the nearest chair to pull to the table. She eventually sat down between her sister and Miyuki and put her lunchbox down on the desk. She started opening it to reveal her own bento inside.

The others finally continued eating while Kagami gave Jayden an assessing stare and folded her hands on the desk.

"So you are from America, then?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I am. My father's Japanese and used to live here for a long time though," Jayden answered.

"Why did you move here, to this school?" Kagami inquired with curiosity.

"My grandmother has been very sick for a few months now," Jayden started explaining. "My father wanted to be with her and assist in any way he can. With some help he managed to find an accounting job in Kasukabe and somewhere for my sister and I to continue our education, so we moved here."

"I see. I'm sorry that your grandmother is not feeling well," Kagami replied, her expression softening again.

"Thanks," Jayden said, giving an honest smile. "Unfortunately, I have only seen her a few times whenever she visited us in Portland."

The little contact with his grandparents in Japan was something that Jayden had always lamented, but being here now he hoped he would be able to make up for lost time.

"Your Japanese is very good," Kagami stated. "Were you raised bilingual?"

"Goodness, Kagami, what's with the interrogation?" Konata said in a laughter laced voice. "That food in your plate has an expiration date, you know."

"It's not a problem, Konata," Jayden firmly told her, turning to face the girl, "There's no harm in the questions she asks, and I'm happy to answer them."

"Some of us want to know more about a person beyond what level in a video game they are and what weapons they have," Kagami spoke at her friend with vigor, but picked up the chopsticks in her lunchbox and grabbing a piece of food nonetheless.

"Ah, Tsukasa. I see you haven't missed any details in your recounting of the day," Konata commented amusedly, making Kagami's sister blush and look away anxiously.

"Well, I couldn't understand what you and Jayden-san were talking about most of the time," Tsukasa replied in a nervous chuckle.

"I think 'video games' would be a good summary to that," Jayden said, and then turned to Kagami, "But to answer your question, my parents helped teach me both English and Japanese when I was growing up, yes."

"If I remember right, I read that being raised bilingually helps a person have quicker cognitive development and better listening perception, and is known to even help them become better at math," Miyuki explained, looking upwards thoughtfully.

"I don't know about that," Jayden replied with a chuckle, finally taking another bite from his sandwich, "I'm really bad at math. It's one of my worst subjects."

"Mine too," Konata spoke excitedly.

"At least there won't be a math test for some time," Kagami said. "The upcoming history exam is what we have to study for first."

"I am very worried about it," Tsukasa turned her head towards her sister. "There's only a few days left and I have to prepare for it somehow, but I can't bring myself to."

"We'll figure out a way," Kagami smiled at her. "I will try to help you concentrate at least, and then you will have an easier time studying on your own."

"Thank you, Sis," Tsukasa beamed back at her.

"I need help concentrating as well, Kagami," Konata said.

"Concentrating on copying, right?" Kagami threw a glance at Konata's direction, furrowing her eyebrows at her.

"Yes."

"At least pretend to be trying to study on your own…" Kagami closed her eyes and shook her head in disapproval.

Jayden couldn't help but chuckle. He remembered the times where he had tried to get his own sister Kaiya to get to work, as well. Even to this day, she still had trouble fighting sloth.

He hurried up to finish his sandwich, as the girls did the same with their own food, for their next couple of classes were scheduled to begin soon. Jayden did not want to go through any more of that with an empty stomach.


As opposed to what yesterday's weather had been, the blue sky was now perfectly clear and the air was warmer, too. The change was registered in people's faces, as well – most wore more pleasant expressions that must have reflected Jayden's own.

He walked alongside Konata as they headed towards the center of Kasukabe on their way back from school after the last bell for the day had chimed minutes ago. Kagami was right behind them, Tsukasa and Miyuki following her close by, all of whom were talking amongst each other.

"So you're saying that you will play the game today?" Konata said in hopeful expectation, her green eyes lit up as she stared sideways at him.

"Yes, yes," Jayden told her. He smiled amusedly at her and how childishly excited she looked. "That's the benefit of studying on time, Konata. You will be able to enjoy gaming more when you know you don't have homework that you would worry about doing."

"Ah, I don't worry about such things," Konata waved her hand dismissively and closed her eyes. "You should ease up, the world's not going to end if you don't do your homework on time."

"It's a responsibility just like any other, Konata," Jayden firmly told her. "I think you might be a tad too lax when it comes to that. That's why you eventually just resort to copying, and that's not always going to work out for you."

"I've already got Kagami pestering me about this every now and again," Konata replied nonchalantly, "I don't need another one to do the same thing."

"Well, she is right," Jayden spoke decisively. "You might try taking her advice to heart sometime."

Jayden noticed that his comments about this had annoyed Konata a little, who wore a slight frown after what he said, one that she tried to cover up. He would enjoy playing the game as much as her, but not if it meant neglecting any obligations that he had.

Konata turned around towards the other girls. The group stopped in the middle of the narrow street that led the way to the center.

"Let's go to the manga store everybody!" Konata exclaimed. "I saw some new stuff yesterday, but I haven't given them a proper look yet. That's something that needs to be rectified."

"Alright. It's not far from the station anyway," Kagami nodded, adjusting the strap of her satchel hanging from her shoulder with her hand.

"I might see something interesting there myself," Jayden said.

"You like reading manga too?" Kagami asked curiously.

"Yeah, I do. I don't have as many books as Konata probably does, but back home there weren't as many manga stores around."

"Okay then, let's go!" Konata interjected, picking up the pace as she excitedly headed towards their intended destination.

Jayden and Kagami shared an amused glance among themselves before they started catching up with Konata. Tsukasa and Miyuki followed them close by.

"You're a fan of manga as well," Kagami looked at him sideways with a soft smile on her face. "Why haven't you joined Konata in her mad dash to the store?"

"I'm not that excited about it," Jayden grinned. "That's a whole new level of being a fan that I don't think I've reached myself. Nor did I know that it even existed."

Kagami gave a slight chuckle that Jayden found infectious and returned himself. Just like her voice, it had a pleasant sound to it.

A weak gust of wind in the meantime had caused her long purple hair to slightly blow in the air. It had made her fringe fall across her face and hang in front of her eyes, which had also happened with Jayden's own bangs. Unlike her however, he brushed his away this time.

She had her one hand hold onto the strap of her satchel while the other freely swayed back and forth as she walked with confidence beside him. She was just about his height and he could make eye contact with her just by looking sideways. Even with her seifuku on, it was apparent that she had a slim, slender body, which moved with a certain poise.

Her gaze curiously looked at the stores on the streets around them. She made no effort to hide the soft smile she wore, clearly enjoying being outside during such a pleasant day.

Eventually they made their way through the narrow street that comprised most of the path between the school and the center of the city, which was where they were now. Konata led the group towards the opposite side of the subway station to where the manga store was. It was certainly colorful, with tons of books piled up in the window display alone.

"This place is almost as big as a library," Kagami commented and Jayden found himself nodding in agreement.

Konata had her face glued to the window as she inspected the covers intently with a concentrated stare. Jayden looked them over himself, searching for something that would intrigue him.

"Come on, let's go inside," Konata eventually urged the group.

They walked through the door, entering into a spacious room with a seemingly infinite amassment of manga books. In addition to the ones clustered along the aisles of the store, there were tons of shelves on the walls that had even more merchandise piled up. The group seemed to be the only customers inside, though Jayden could swear he heard a gasp close by and someone mumbling something about a "Legendary Girl A".

Konata seemed to be in a daze. She had started to deftly search through a whole aisle, rapidly opening books, spending a couple of seconds looking through the pages and then moving on to the next one just as quickly. She looked as if she had forgotten that the rest of her classmates were even there.

"I always get nervous in big places like this," Miyuki commented anxiously.

"This is quite the collection indeed," Jayden said, picking up a random book.

"From what I've seen, you can find a lot of reading material for any genre you can think of here," Kagami commented as her eyes curiously looked through the covers of the books, a finger of her hand on her chin.

"Have you found something interesting here yourself before?" Jayden casually asked her. He turned his head towards her to notice just the slightest hint of a blush on her face while she still kept her gaze on the covers.

"Well, I don't usually buy anything from here, but there've been some mangas that have caught my eye previously, yes... usually romance ones."

"Oh, well, I might have read some of those myself," Jayden replied, putting down the book that he was holding while rubbing his neck.

Their conversation was cut short by Konata's sudden cry of surprise.

"There's a new issue of Master of the Dungeon!"

"You don't say!" Jayden replied excitedly. He rushed to her side and saw that she was indeed telling the truth – she showed him the cover of the book she was holding. He had been eagerly waiting to see his favorite manga continued.

"Finally we might see whether Sanjuro escapes jail and takes his revenge on Admiral Akkaraju!" Konata nearly yelled at him.

"And what about Ryo Ishikawa? Will his plan to overthrow Makabe work? I sure hope it doesn't, I really like Makabe!"

They continued talking about the manga while on their way to the cash desk. It was soon discovered that they liked different characters from the story, but were both fans of the manga nevertheless.

Jayden heard Kagami's chuckle again – she was looking on with amusement while Tsukasa and Miyuki were both smiling meekly behind her. He knew he must have looked overly animated, but he couldn't contain his excitement for finding out how the story continued.

To say that the odd-looking shopkeeper was ecstatic that both Konata and Jayden bought a copy would have been a monumental understatement. Thankfully, Jayden had saved up a lot of pocket money and could afford the manga book.

On the way out of the shop, Jayden couldn't resist taking a sneak peek into the book now that he had bought it. Konata was basically reading through it already. However, he didn't fail to notice that the rest of the girls weren't directly behind them. Looking back, he saw that a couple of guys with photo cameras had surrounded them by the entrance of the shop, particularly Tsukasa.

"Can I take a picture?" one of them asked, and without waiting for a reply, his camera flashed anyway, followed by that of the other man. Tsukasa clearly looked uneasy already.

"You… you must have me confused with someone," she barely managed to say, but they didn't back down.

It was obvious that Tsukasa wanted them to stop, but wasn't able to say anything. Jayden looked sideways towards Konata, but she was buried in the manga book and didn't even notice that something else was going on. And if anything, the men continued intruding on Tsukasa even more with each second. She had her arms crossed over her chest and even tried using the satchel to hide herself as they approached closer.

Jayden had just thought of stepping in when Kagami suddenly appeared in front of her sister, obstructing her from the photographers' view and stretching her arms on either side of her protectively.

"What do you think you're doing? Stop that!" she yelled at them with vigor. There was a certain ferocity evident on her features as she said it.

"Just one more picture," one of the men said, trying to get around Kagami, his camera still positioned in Tsukasa's way.

"No! Can't you see that she doesn't want to be taken a picture of?" Kagami firmly refused, her eyes flickering with ire. "Leave her alone!"

The men finally yielded and put their cameras down. Kagami didn't move until they went about their way, which they eventually did. Once they were gone, Kagami looked back at her sister with a softened expression.

"The nerve of those people," she told her. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. Thank you, Sis," Tsukasa answered with palpable relief, though she was still obviously a bit shook up. Kagami gently squeezed her shoulder with sisterly affection, a smile on her face as she did so.

"Always the vicious firebreather, eh, Kagami?" Konata said, apparently having noticed the scene herself.

"Not now, Konata," Kagami turned her head to face her friend as she answered in a sigh.

"Those guys were seriously overstepping their bounds," Jayden spoke while giving Tsukasa a reassuring glance. He looked at the sister that had protected her and told her, "Good job on telling them off, Kagami."

"Thank you," Kagami replied after a moment. Her eyes had made contact with his and the smile that had begun fading after Konata's comment started returning to her face once again.

"How about we head off to the station now before any more creepy stalkers show up?" Konata said to the group, but she had already opened the manga book again and had her eyes fixed on the illustrations.

Jayden was about to nod in approval when he noticed another location of interest right in front of them – an enticing sweet shop not unlike the one that he had visited in his own neighborhood.

"Would you mind if we make just one more stop?" he turned around and gave an almost pleading look to the girls.


Kagami didn't want to lie – she wanted to go inside the sweet shop that caught Jayden's eye as much as he probably did. Konata would inevitably give her a hard time like she always did, but in the end it would all be worth it. She'd finally go home to enjoy the sweets that she had bought for herself without Konata around.

Just like the manga store, the entrance to the shop was rather colorful as well – the front of it was comprised of all sorts of different pockies with various flavors, tempting anyone passing by to enter and buy as many of them as they possibly could. In Jayden's case, it seemed to work wonders as he almost sprinted towards the door of the shop. Kagami found herself being the one to directly follow.

"Don't tell me we've got another sweet tooth in our midst," she could hear Konata's exasperated voice as the girl trailed behind them.

Jayden seemed to have heard that as well, for he was chuckling when Kagami eventually entered the little shop and went to his side.

"Are you a sweet tooth as well?" Jayden asked her with a grin when she approached.

"Well… you could say that," Kagami replied. She had her hand twirl one of the strands of her hair subconsciously, feeling color rise in her cheeks.

"Don't worry," he told her, "I am like that myself. I can't resist good chocolate."

Kagami felt a smile pull at her lips when she noticed how excited Jayden was, his shimmering green eyes doing a thorough inspection of the sweets around them. People had told her that this was how she herself looked whenever she was surrounded by chocolate products.

There were a few other people in the store that they needed to find their way around, but eventually Kagami stumbled upon her favorite box of chocolate pockies. She reached out and picked it up, something which didn't go by unnoticed by Jayden.

"I've tried pocky sticks before, but they just aren't enough to satisfy me," he told her while he rummaged through a shelf full of candy bars.

"I've always loved pocky, especially the pure chocolate ones," Kagami spoke, trying not to think too much of the taste, for she could rip the box open before she even bought it. "I eat it very slowly, that's how I savor the taste as much as I can."

"I can't do that. Once I start to eat something as delicious as chocolate, I can't stop and I end up devouring my food."

"But then you wouldn't be able to enjoy it for long," Kagami replied. Jayden looked conflicted as to what he wanted to get from the store. He eventually turned to face her.

"Yeah, I know, but I just can't do it. I don't have the willpower."

"Hey, guys!" Konata's voice could be heard from the other side of the store. Both Jayden and Kagami looked at the direction of where it came from. "Look no further – I found what you both want!"

There was a gargantuan rectangular box on the wall next to Konata. The cover showed a huge chocolate castle made of tons of variously shaped sweets in different flavors. Whoever bought this would need a team of muscular men to help transport it.

Kagami furrowed her eyebrows at Konata's teasing. "As if you won't buy a video game collection that big yourself."

"At least I won't be eating it," Konata replied snidely.

"Come on, Konata. Don't make me remind you just how stuporous you were in that manga shop," Jayden retorted with visible amusement, which led to an annoyed frown on Konata's part. She sighed in defeat as she proceeded to simply browse through the shop herself, as did Tsukasa and Miyuki. A smile crept up on Kagami's face, one that she saw Jayden was wearing himself as they shared a subtle victorious glance between themselves.

In the end, Kagami decided to stick with the pocky box she wanted to get, while Jayden had finally concluded that he was in the mood for chocolate chip cookies and bought a couple of bags.

It felt nice, for once, that Kagami wasn't the only one who was into chocolate as much. Jayden seemed to understand the feeling of being a sweet tooth and shared it himself. He didn't let any of Konata's teasing get to him, and Kagami found it even easier to do that herself with him around.

Eventually, the group left the store and headed towards the subway station.


"Alright, Jayden, you better show up today at the server, or else…" Konata continued her incessant pestering.

"Or else what?" Jayden asked her with an amused, challenging eye.

"Let's just say you won't have any means of staying dry in the rain anymore," Konata replied, to which Jayden scoffed.

"Konata, I can find an umbrella for 250 yen just around the corner of my street if you don't decide to return mine."

"Fair enough," Konata said in a sigh just when the doors of the subway car opened and she began to leave. She didn't disappear without adding, "You know it will just be a replacement, though."

Kagami had to chuckle at Konata's idea of extortion and skill in bargaining. She had gotten used to it by now, but it was all new to Jayden. However, he did not seem to mind it – he looked amused rather than irritated. The fact that he wanted to play that game with her as well probably helped.

They were on their way home, and the subway had just reached the stop where Konata usually left at to catch another underground train for her house in Satte-shi. Miyuki, on the other hand, had already left for the Tokyo Metropolitan Area in the opposite direction.

Kagami was sitting on one of the benches with Tsukasa on her left side and Jayden on her right. Along with the satchels that each had on their laps, there were also a couple of bags that contained what each of them had bought from the stores they had shopped at.

"So you live in Kuki-shi, too?" Kagami eventually asked Jayden, tilting her head in his direction to look at him.

"Yeah, actually two stops after yours if I remember correctly," he replied after a moment of thought.

"Is that over the river?" Tsukasa joined in.

"It is. I still haven't been to the Takanomiya Shrine, though. I hear that is where festivals take place in the area."

"We live right next to it. We're shrine maidens there, actually," Kagami said.

"Really? That sounds like an honorable position." It was obvious that Jayden hadn't heard of the term before; the look on his face spoke of confusion.

"It's not a big deal. We just generally assist with various shrine functions. Mostly we work on omikuji fortune telling."

"You're fortune tellers?" Jayden asked with surprise, brushing the bangs away from his face.

"Not really, no," Kagami shook her head. "We help with setting up the strips of paper that have the various fortunes written out on them for people to pick during festivals."

"It's very exciting when we actually get to pick some ourselves," Tsukasa added.

"Ah, I see. I might just try my luck with those things," Jayden replied. "Fortune telling seems to be a popular custom here."

"You don't have anything like that in America?" Kagami asked curiously.

"Not to this extent. We have it, but it's not ingrained in our culture like it seems to be in here."

"I don't place much importance on fortunes, but it's still a fun thing to do when the time for a festival comes," Kagami spoke, happily reminiscing the many times in the past where she and her family and friends have participated in such holiday activities.

"I'm very intrigued to see what it would be like," Jayden said with a hopeful expression on his face. Kagami could tell that he was looking forward to something like this. It felt nice seeing that he seemed genuinely interested in their customs and way of life and did not dismiss it like other foreigners could have done.

The announcer's voice soon informed the passengers that the subway had reached the Takanomiya Shrine stop. Kagami looked at Jayden as she put the satchel over her shoulder and grabbed the bag containing the pocky box that she had bought.

"This is our stop," she told him, already standing up to head towards the doors that would soon open. Tsukasa got up herself right after Kagami did.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school," Jayden said to the girls.

"Goodbye, Jayden-san," Tsukasa replied kindly him.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Jayden," Kagami spoke as she smiled earnestly at her classmate.

"Same here, Kagami," Jayden returned the smile. He pointed towards the pocky box that she was holding and said, "Enjoy those."

"I'll make sure I do," she replied mirthfully. "Same goes for you."


After spending some time simply resting at home and talking to his mother about his impressions of school and the people he had met there, Jayden headed towards the computer in his room to finally play Surface Breach. It was something he had been waiting to do for some time and now he could allow himself to enjoy it, for he already had a head start as far as studying for classes was concerned.

Chatting with Konata, however, turned out to be something of a challenge. Not only did she constantly spam unique smileys that Jayden had trouble understanding, but she often used abbreviations that he hadn't seen before, even ones for smaller words. He initially couldn't say whether it was a Japanese thing or a Konata thing, but he assumed that it was the latter. His suspicions turned out to be correct when both of them entered the same server, a Japanese one that he hadn't been to before, and he saw the way other players chatted there. He found it easier to communicate with them rather than doing so with Konata.

He was quick to get used to it though. Jayden was already having fun playing the game with her. It wasn't easy, for some of her derogatory comments to other players in their party may have prompted one or two of them to leave in the middle of a dungeon.

It was a surprise seeing Ms. Kuroi's friendship request come up on the screen. Thankfully, Konata was there to clarify that it was indeed the teacher who was now playing with them. Even though Ms. Kuroi sent her fair share of insinuations regarding their upcoming history exam, she was fun to hang out with in the server. The initial awkwardness that Jayden felt when she joined them soon disappeared.

A good, satisfactory raid which gave each of them plenty of decent loot had its way of whetting Jayden's appetite. He opened one of the bags with chocolate chip cookies that he had bought before. While slouching on the chair he was still sitting on, Jayden gave what Kagami had suggested a shot – eating the cookies more slowly so that he'd enjoy them for longer, but once again, his efforts proved to be in vain. The bag was already dangerously close to becoming as light as a feather, and at least he managed to stop himself and save some more for later.

Shortly thereafter he went on to continue playing the game with Konata. For that day, he had saved himself the trouble of worrying for both the essay he had to do and the exam he had to prepare for. So, without much in the way of hesitation, he joined Konata's party again on his way to conquer yet another dungeon.