"Kona-chan..." Konata stirred a little at the voice calling her name, bringing her slightly to consciousness.
"Nmm, five more minutes," she moaned, turning to get back to sleep, as she started to feel sunlight hitting her face.
"Kona-chan...please," the voice said softly again. Hang on, that voice wasn't her dad or Yutaka. Was that...Tsukasa? Konata finally opened her eyes and bolted up. Indeed, Tsukasa was sitting next to her in bed. Before Konata had a chance to remember why, she noticed Tsukasa covering her mouth with a slightly panicked look in her eyes. It dawned on her why Tsukasa had been trying to wake her up so desperately.
Quick as a flash, Konata leaped out of bed, grabbed a waste-paper basket, and placed it in front of Tsukasa just in time for her to empty to contents of her stomach into it.
"I'm really sorry Konata," Tsukasa apologised, bringing her head out from the basket and wiping her mouth.
"Don't worry about it," Konata replied, shrugging, as the events of last night came back to her. She clutched her head, realising that while she didn't feel like she was going to through up, she hadn't escaped a hangover.
"Uh...my head feels like Kagami and Kuroi have both been thumping it for hours," Konata complained, laughing a little at her own joke. She looked over to Tsukasa, who, unlike her, seemed to be a lot better.
"You okay?" she asked. Tsukasa nodded.
"I think...doing that helped," Tsukasa explained, standing up, "But I still feel a little woozy."
"Maybe we should have something to drink," Konata suggested, "Water I mean," she quickly added as her friend nodded in agreement, and followed her out of the room and down to the kitchen. As they walked down the stairs together, Tsukasa couldn't help but look over at her friend. Before last night, she had always seen the care-free, happy otaku. She still saw that, but there was something else now. She could see a sadness under the surface, something she'd kept hidden from her friends for all these years. It led Tsukasa to realise something. She had to look after Konata, and make sure she would never feel as lonely as she did before they met. Being the youngest in her family, it was a feeling of protectiveness Tsukasa had never felt towards anyone before.
"Morning girls," Konata's dad, who'd arrived home after they'd both asleep, said smiling as he sat in the kitchen in a dressing gown with a cup of coffee. His smile faded when he saw how ill his daughter looked.
"Konata, are you okay?" he asked with concern as he walked over to her.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, "I'm just a little,um...hungover." She stated the last part nervously. Her father didn't usual get mad at her, but she wasn't sure how he'd react to finding out she'd gotten drunk.
"Ah, that explains it," Soujiro said laughing a little as he walked over to a cabinet. Konata breathed a sigh of relief as she and Tsukasa sat down. A few moments later, her father placed a glass of water and a tablet in front of her.
"Take that," he instructed, "Trust me, it'll make you feel better." Konata did as advised.
"How did you manage to get alcohol anyway?" Soujiro asked as Konata swallowed the paracetamol.
"Kuroi-sensai gave it to us," Tsukasa explained, a little embarrased.
"Your teacher?" Soujiro said, surprised, "Man, there's no way we'd have ever been given booze by our teacher when I was at school. Hey, why don't you two go and recover in the living room. I'll make you some breakfast."
"Thanks dad," Konata said, yawning as she stood up and following Tsukasa to sit with her on the couch in the lounge. Soon, Tsukasa was engrossed in a cooking show that happened to be on the TV at the time, while Konata was beginning to feel the pill her dad had given her alleviate her headache. Feeling a little better, she decided it was the best time to discuss the previous night with her friend.
"Hey Tsukasa," Konata began, as her friend looked away from the TV. "How much do you remember about last night?" Despite all the beer she had consumed, Konata remembered everything she had discussed with the lilac-haired girl, and wanted to know if she did too.
"Well, I remember the story you told me about when you started high school," Tsukasa said, her bow drooping down as she remembered what her friend had said to her the previous night. "And, about, what you tried to do..." Seeing Tsukasa start to get upset again, Konata took her hand reassuringly.
"It's okay Tsukasa, you don't need to think about it," Konata explained, "I'm glad I told you, it actually felt good to get that off my chest. But, is it okay if we keep this between us for now?"
"Of course, Konata, I understand," Tsukasa said, nodding.
Like Tsukasa, Konata was also beginning to see her friend in a different light. She glanced at Tsukasa as all her attention remained on the television once again. Telling her everything about her old life... she'd never done that before. If she was going to confess that to anyone, surely it would have been Kagami? Was there something she felt for Tsukasa that she didn't feel for her other friends? The way Tsukasa had been so understanding and caring about what she'd told her, it meant something to her, but she was still having a little trouble realising exactly what. As she glanced at her again, Konata had to admit something she hadn't realised before. Tsukasa was beautiful. Why had she never realised that before? Always referring to her as "plain". Konata was beginning to realise how stupid she had been saying those things.
"Um...Kona-chan, are you okay?" Konata was snapped out of her thoughts, as she realised, embarrassed, that she had been staring at her friend for several minutes.
"Yeah, I'm fine,just daydreaming, sorry," Konata said hurriedly, trying to hide her blush.
"I think I should be going anyway," Tsukasa commented, yawning, "I think we both need some rest today." Konata nodded in agreement, although she had to admit she would be sad to see Tsukasa leave.
"I'll get your stuff," Konata said quickly, wanting to escape for a few moments, still worried Tsukasa would see how red her face was.
"Actually, I've got everything I need," Tsukasa explained, gesturing to her bag in the corner of the room, "Since we...fell asleep in our clothes." She felt a little embarrassed saying the last part.
Damn, Konata thought, I forgot I'm still wearing the same clothes as yesterday.
Tsukasa gathered up her bag, and her and Konata exchanged a friendly goodbye. As she waved her friend off at the door, the thoughts she had been having earlier.
Am I really developing a crush...on Tsukasa? The idea sounded crazy at first, but she more she said it to herself, the more it sounded...right. Then again, I was drunk, maybe that's what's making me feel like this.
"Konata, is something the matter?" Konata snapped back to reality as she saw her dad looking concerned at her. She'd once again been staring into space for several minutes without realising.
"Yeah, dad, sorry," she explained, "I'm going to go for a shower." Konata quickly went up the stairs leaving her dad looking confused behind her.
After a shower and watching some new anime, Konata went on to her favourite RPG until early evening, but still couldn't take her mind off Tsukasa. After getting distracted and killed again in her game, much to the annoyance of her other party members, she gave a quick goodbye before shutting the game down and pacing around the room.
"This is weird," Konata said to herself as she stood with her back to the door in her bedroom, "I never used to space out like this. I really need to talk to someone. My dad will just act all weird though, and there's no way I can tell Kagami about this." Konata looked dejected for a moment, before a thought entered her head.
"I know!" she exclaimed happily, before returning to her computer. She could barely contain her impatience as she waited for Skype to load up.
"Come on! Come on!" Konata said, fidgeting in her chair as her contacts list finally showed up on the screen. Quickly scrolling to one she wanted, she watched as the call hung for what seemed like hours. Sighing, Konata was about to give up before a pink-haired girl, wearing a dressing-gown and in the middle of a yawn appeared on the screen.
"Hello, Izumi-san," Miyuki gave a polite greeting, her yawn turning to a smile.
"Hey,Yuki-chan," Konata repiled, "I didn't wake you up did I?"
"I'm afraid so," Miyuki said, "It's 2am here."
"Crap, I forgot about the time difference!" Konata exclaimed, banging her head on the desk, "I'm really sorry Miyuki."
"It's no problem, Konata," Miyuki replied sincerely, "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Actually, there is if it's okay." Konata was just glad she hadn't called Kagami at this time of night, who she was sure would have given a far less polite response to being woken up. "I need some advice on something.
"Well, I'll try to help if I can."
"Okay, well," Konata nervously began, "I think I might like someone, you know, like like them..but I'm not sure."
"I see," Miyuki said, "Well, I've never really liked anyone in that way myself, so I can't give you first-hand experience, but why are you not sure about your feelings?"
"Well, I kind of got drunk last night, after Miss Kuroi came round with some beer," Konata started, "And I had a really good night with this person, and woke up feeling differently about them, but..." Konata trailed off, not entirely sure how to word everything.
"You're worried that your feelings have been influenced by alcohol?" Miyuki finished for her.
"Yeah, that's it exactly," Konata replied, glad Miyuki was smart enough to realise this.
"Let me see," Miyuki began, with her finger on her chin,"I think the best thing to do would be to spend another day with this person, just the two of you,when you're sober, and see if you still feel the same way. That way, you'll know if the feelings are genuine, or if it was, um, I think the appropriate expression is 'the beer talking'."
"That's a great idea, Yuki-chan!" Konata smiled. If there was one person she could rely on for advice, it was Miyuki.
"I'm glad I could help," Miyuki said, also smiling, "If I may ask, Izumi-san, who is it you think you may have feelings for?" Konata looked nervously around the room, as if there could be someone in the corner listening to their conversation.
"Promise you won't tell anyone, especially Kagami, " Konata pleaded.
"Of course," Miyuki nodded.
"It's...Tsukasa," Konata closed to her eyes on saying this, before finally opening them again a few seconds later to see Miyuki smiling broadly on the screen.
"Well, personally I think you two would make a wonderful couple," Miyuki explained, "and I would be delighted to see two of my friends so happy."
"Thanks, Miyuki,that means a lot," Konata said, happy to have been given such a vote of confidence from her friend, "Anyway, I'll let you get back to sleep."
"Thank you, Konata. Goodnight, and good luck," Miyuki smiled one last time before her face disappeared from the screen. Konata excitedly got her phone and began to text Tsukasa asking if she wanted to hang out the following weekend. Her mission was on.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far. Again, a little worried Konata and Tsukasa weren't entirely in character, and that the chapter may seem a little rushed, but let me know what you think. Next chapter will see things move along a bit, and will also see other characters make an appearance properly. Thanks for reading!
