Chapter 3

Author's Notes: Before this chapter commences, I'd like to make a quick thanks to Solarius Scorch for pointing out a possible factual error in the last chapter. Hiyori is a first year, alongside Minami and Yutaka. Kagami is a third year. That being said, I think I made an error in saying that two shared a homeroom. It doesn't really affect the plot too much (I can change it if need be) but I thought I'd just say that. Thanks again, Scorch.

Konata once more took her position sitting atop of Hiyori's left thigh. After a brief pause, the two leaned forward and their lips connected. Then, after a few moments, Konata took the initiative and introduced her tongue into Tamura's mouth, beginning the process of massaging it against her partner's.

This time, though, Hiyori did not back off.

Instead, she met the intrusion with one of her own. Soon, both girls had their arms wrapped around each other's waists, holding each other in a tender clinch. They broke oral contact only to take in quick breaths of air. The bonded lasted for longer than both of them intended.

When their moment finally ended, the two slowly pulled their faces apart, their eyes gazing to one another. Initially, the only thing that could be mustered from Hiyori was a faint and whispered "Wow…"

Izumi giggled from a mixture of giddiness and from Tamura's reaction. "See?" the bluenette asked Hiyori. "That wasn't so bad, was it? Nothing to be afraid of."

"Y-Yeah… But I wasn't afraid before. You just caught me off guard is all… That was fun, Konata…"

"… Sorry to break this little moment here," Izumi then said, "but I have to ask: Who's your next source of inspiration gonna be?"

"Well, I'll tell you who it defiantly won't be: Tsukasa."

"Wha? Why not? That little ball of timid cuteness has got to be worth something!"

"It's not that, Konata! Tsukasa kind of… walked in on Kagami and me."

"Oh, I see… Yeah, I see your point now. Ok, Tsukasa is off the list… but that limits our choices even more. Who's left again?"

The artist retrieved her phone and quickly scrolled through her contact list. "There's… Patricia Martin, Ayano Minegishi, and Misao Kusakabe… Well, it doesn't matter right now. I got enough ideas in my head to last me a while, so I'll choose when it's time to."

As it turned out, that moment came two weeks later, when, once more, Hiyori came to a creative halt. After a night of contemplation, Hiyori chose who her third source would be: Misao.

-o0o-

Since Misao did not share a homeroom with Hiyori, finding her would be a slightly more difficult task. In-between classes, the young artist kept an ever vigilant eye for her head of short brown hair (not to mention an open ear for her loud voice.) After the last bell of the day had rung and students began to file out of the school and into the courtyard, Tamura seemed to catch a break in her search.

From a distance to her left, she could hear Misao talking loudly to a friend. "Aw, come on, Hiiragi! Why can't I come over!"

That's not good. Tamura turned her gaze to her left and spotted the brown haired girl talking to Kagami. From the look on her face, it was clear that she was displeased at something. Great, and Kagami is right there! What should I do? Just then, in the midst of their conversation, Kagami glanced in Tamura's direction and her sharp eyes me hers.

Panic quickly swelled onto her face and, turning back to Kusakabe, she hastily excused herself and ran off. Misao was left rather confused. "Hey! Where are you going!" she called out to the twin tailed girl, but she was already well off. After a shrug of her shoulders, Misao turned to also see Hiyori standing at a distance.

"Hey Hiyori!" the girl greeted the artist as she approached. "How's it hanging?"

"Not bad… Taking to Kagami?" she then asked.

"Well, I was. Then she just suddenly got all nervous and walked off. Weird, right?"

"Y-Yeah, weird… Hey, Misao… You doing anything this week?" Hiyori found that asking this question was becoming easier and easier.

Misao thought for a brief second before replying. "Well, nothing really. I'm going to a hockey game in two days." The name of the sport was spoken in English, which instantly caused confusion for Tamura.

"Eh? You're going to a snack food?" the artist asked in puzzlement.

Misao laughed back. "No, not Pocky, hockey. It's an American sport that's played on-"

"Misao, I do know what hockey is. I just misheard you." Just what I want to be near: ice and skates. I'm still slightly sore from before. Jesus, I bruise worse than a banana.

"Oh, right. Hmm… Hey, you wanna go with me?" Wait, shouldn't I be the one asking that? "Oh wait, I forgot, sports aren't really your bag. Nevermind. I guess I can ask someone el-"

"No, wait!" Tamura quickly interjected. "I'll go, sure!"

"You will?" Kusakabe asked with surprise. "I didn't think you liked sports." I don't really. My "ice-capades" made that fact clearly evident. "But if you wanna go, that's ok with me! It's in two days. You know how to get to the stadium from here?"

"Uh, yeah, I think I do," Hiyori said back. "It's in the next town over, a like seven stops outbound, right?"

"Yep, you got it. I'll meet you there at around 20:00, ok?"

"Sure."

Well, that was easier than I thought. Hell, she practically set the date up on her own. Ends justify means, right? I just hope this ends better than the last one…

-o0o-

It had been two weeks since Kagami's day with Hiyori. Even after all that time, the twin tailed girl could not help but have her mind go back to that moment, where the bespectialed girl threw herself on top of her and… stole her first kiss.

As she laid atop her bed, her sharp eyes fixed to the ceiling of her room, the door to the room opened and Miki poked her head through. "Kagami," she said, "dinner is ready. You coming down to eat with us?"

"… I'm not really hungry," was her daughter's reply.

Worry showed in Miki's eyes. "Kagami, is something wrong? You been acting kind of strange lately. You can tell me if something is wrong."

"It's nothing, Mom. I'm fine." Her voice showed clear melancholy.

"Ok… See you down stairs then…" After Miki shut the door, Kagami voiced a distant sigh to herself. "Hiyori," she thought to herself. "Why did you do that…?"

-o0o-

Hiyori met Misao at their intended destination: a station located a brief walk from the stadium itself. Already, at this hour, there were crowds of people who (if their clothing had any indication) were also attending the game. Stepping off the train, Hiyori began to frantically scan the crowd in search of Kusakabe. So far, she had no success of locating her.

Crap. The game starts in forty minutes and I can't find Misao anywhere! If I can't find her soon, we're gonna miss it and this whole day would have been wasted. Damn it, you short haired bi- "AAH!"

Hiyori yelped at the touch of a tight hand on both her shoulders, grabbing her from behind her back. Her mind instantly raced with strange and frightening thoughts. Shit, what if it's one of those train gropers I hear about on the radio. Or worse, one of those guys that's abducting high school girls? They just had a big special on them on the news a few days ago.

Well, I'm not going to become another statistic! I got to defend myself, take a strike back! With sudden fury in her veins, she whipped around and cocked a fist up, ready to plant it into the person's face. She, in fact, came extremely close, but the person grabbed it.

Thankfully, it was only Misao.

"Oh crap!" Tamura exclaimed as she pulled her hand back. "I'm so sorry! I thought you were someone else!"

"Who the heck would I be?" she laughed back.

"Actually, I thought you were one of those 'gropists.'"

"HA! Good one, Hiyori! Come on, we need to get there early if we're gonna get good seats."

The two girls left the station and began to head off into the city with the flow of traffic on the sidewalks. "Hey, Misao," said Hiyori at one point during their walk. "Don't people usually preorder tickets to this kind of stuff."

"Usually," she responded, "but hockey isn't that popular in Japan yet, so we can pretty much just walk up and buy tickets. Don't worry, I'll pay for your ticket, Hiyori."

"Thanks. Hey, Misao, if hockey isn't really popular, why do you like it?"

"Are you kidding? It one of the only sports you get to see people beat the crap out of each other!" Figures. "Plus I love how physical it is!"

Physical. Right… Ugh, why did my mind just go there? I think I've been hanging out with Konata too much. She has been infecting my brain with perverted thoughts…

The flow of people led the Ryoo students to the city's stadium. Having never been to such an event before (or at least not in recent memory) Hiyori was personally surprised at both how large the structure was and the multitude of people that had crowded near the front entrance. Sure, it's a lot of people, but it's no Comiket.

Just as Kusakabe has said, the two were able, much to Hiyori's continuing surprise, to get in a short line and purchase tickets for the game, which was now no more than twenty minutes from starting. "I think there's enough time to get some snacks if you want to," Misao suggested. Feeling a bit famished herself, Hiyori agreed.

Their seats were located in Row G of Section 14, putting them behind the net of the opposing team. Once the two had bought their food and drink, they took their seat. Tamura bought for herself a bag of popcorn and a Pepsi (both of medium size.) Kusakabe, however, took to the extreme and ordered a hot dog, nachos, popcorn, and a drink (the latter two being large sized.)

The artist took one look at the smorgasbord that sat in Misao's lap and burst into laughter. "What so funny?" Misao interrogated.

"Sorry, but you're not really going to eat all that food, right?" Hiyori asked.

"You bet your ass I am!" Kusakabe instantly declared back as she reached down and shoved a fistful of popcorn into her mouth. What, is this girl a bottomless pit? If I ate all that crap in one sitting, I'd most likely be dead the next morning.

A few minutes later brought the sound of the first buzzer and the start of the game. Tamura watched as Misao instantly became engrossed in the action of the game, her eyes scanning back and forth across the length of the rink, ever locked onto the puck. Hiyori watched as well, but her amusement was hovering slightly over "amused." As Misao had pointed out a few days earlier, sports were not Hiyori's "bag." Still, if it gets me closer to her, I can endure this snooze fest.

As mentioned previously, Misao had become absorbed in the action of the game. Whenever the home team missed the opposing team's net, she would exclaim along the lines of "Oh come on!" Every. Single. Time. When the opposite happened (the visitors missed the home team's net), she would exclaim a "Yes!" But then, in the second quarter, when the visiting team scored a goal, her true colors showed.

She jumped to her feet (paying no attention to the popcorn that sat in her lap, which spilled at her feet) and yelled at the top of her lungs "What the fuck was that shit! Get you heads in the fucking game!" She then returned herself to her seat, huffing a "Damn, fucking idiots, I swear!"

Finally turning to Hiyori for the first time since the game started, Kusakabe saw the paled and frightened look on the artist's face. "What?" Misao asked casually.

"… Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Tamura asked her.

"Huh? What do you- Oh! Sorry about that, Hiyori," she then apologized, all the while scratching the back of her neck. "I guess I get a little too involved in sporting events sometimes."

Clearly… "Try to put a damper on it, please?"

"Fine fine," the fanged girl relented. "Hey, want some of my nachos?" she then offered.

"Uh, ok," Hiyroi replied. Having never tried stadium nachos before, she was curious as to how they tasted. She picked from the plastic dish one chip (half it surface coated in the orange substance) and took a bite.

Not to appear rude, she pretended to like it. These are not nachos. Nachos have salsa, sour cream, peppers, (sometimes) chives, and (most importantly) cheese. That is not cheese. I don't know what it is, but it's certainly not cheese.

Hiyori watched as Misao, her eyes locked back onto the game, continued to shovel food down her throat. Maybe I should call an ambulance on standby, just to be safe if she has a heart attack…

-o0o-

The game ended with disappointment for the home team: a devastating 7-0 defeat. Outside, again walking with the crowd, the feeling of defeat seemed to hang on the majority of those that left the stadium.

"Dang," Misao said aloud, "that wasn't even a close game. It was a fu- I mean a freaking shutout! Sorry it didn't end in victory, Hiyori."

"Why are you apologizing?" she asked back. "It's not like you had any control of the game."

"Yeah, I know, but it would have been cool if we won… Hey, you hungry?"

"What the-? You're still hunger? You just ate and drank your weight in stadium food!"

"But now I'm ready to eat some real food… hey, let's go there." Misao aimed a finger to a fast food restaurant down and across the street. You call that real food?

"Are you seriously going to eat more?" Tamura asked, fully aware of the answer. "Fine. I guess I could just have something to drink… Actually, now that you mention it, I need to use the bathroom."

Crossing at the nearest crosswalk, the two students entered the restaurant. While Kusakabe made for the registers, Hiyori went immediately for the bathrooms. Reemerging a few moments later, she spotted the fanged girl sitting at a booth with a large burger value meal (with two drinks) placed before her. And how is this chick not fat?

Sitting opposite Misao at the booth, the fanged girl immediately placed the second drink in front of Tamura. "Thanks," Hiyori said. "… Uh, Misao, not to seem rude, but how the hell can you eat all that food without remorse?"

"Because I do sports," was her instant reply. "I'm so active, I could eat this kind of stuff all day and I wouldn't get fat."

"That doesn't mean you should," the artist added.

"Don't worry, I don't normally eat like this." After a few moments of silence (much of which Misao spent shoving food in her face) she asked Hiyori right out of the blue a rather blunt question.

"Hiyori, do you like me or something?" she asked.

Being mid-sip, Tamura choked on her Pepsi. "W-What?" she blurted back.

"Do you like me?" she reiterated.

That was out of freakin nowhere! Well, what do I say? Do I like her?... It's mean for me to say, but no, I kind of don't. I mean, she's a nice friend and all, but I don't like her like I do Konata. Besides, this whole date was for the purpose of research-

Seeing Hiyori stall prompted Kusakabe to continue to speak. "I mean I won't hate you if you do. Hell, I'll take it as a complement."

Tamura finally spoke. "… Well, I kind of like you," she told Misao. Ok, so I half lied. that's the best I can do.

What Misao then asked freaked out the artist further. "So, do you wanna kiss me or something?" she asked casually.

"GAH! Jesus, Misao, not so loud. People could hear you!" Hiyori gave a quick glance around herself. Thankfully, it seemed that no one heard her friend's questions.

"Look, if you do, you could have just asked." … What? "Heck, I'd be lying if I wasn't somewhat curious about kissing another girl."

"… Y-You are?" asked Hiyori in disbelief.

"Yeah, a little… So? What's your answer?"

I don't want to hurt her feeling so… "Well, I like you a little," Hiyori replied timidly.

"Do you wanna kiss me?" was her next question. Why the hell is she being so blunt and, furthermore, how the hell is she so calm asking that!

"… Sort of…" Tamura whispered back.

"… Ok then." Ok then?

"Uh, Misao, what do you mean by 'Ok?'"

Kusakabe took a gulp of her soda before replying "If you wanna kiss, that's fine with me. Once I finish my fires, we'll go somewhere outside and we can kiss there."

Wha- The fuck? She's so damn laid-back about this! I'm starting to think that Misao has kissed girls before. Maybe that's why she's taking about it so casually. "Misao, have you ever kissed another girl before?" the artist then asked.

"Nope," was Misao's instant reply.

"Never before?"

"No, never before."

"UGH! Then why are you so cool about this? How can you act so damn nonchalant about it!"

Once more, Kusakaba paused to finish chewing a mouthful of fires before she answered "Because I'm doing it for a friend."

"… Eh?"

"Look, I may not act it, but I'm loyal to friends. If I think they're in need, I want to help them. So if you want to kiss, that's fine, I'm willing to do it… just don't bet on going much further than that," Misao concluded, giving Hiyori a fanged grin. "Besides, it's just a kiss. What's a kiss among friends, right?"

"Uh, right… Thank you, Misao…"

-o0o-

When her meal was concluded, Misao led the nervous artist back down the sidewalk, toward the direction of the train station they had arrived in. Tamura had not a single idea where Misao was taking her, so she was shocked when the short haired girl halted in front of a dark, skinny space between two buildings. "This place looks good," she commented aloud.

Grabbing Hiyori by her right hand, Kusakabe entered into the shadow of the nook and pulled the artist in behind her. In such a confined space, when the two girls faced each other, their chests were mere inches apart from touching. This place is dark. It's like in anime where the helpless schoolgirls are always cornered by thugs. I wonder if that will happen now. Yeah, and Misao, with her athleticism would defend me. No, that would be extremely cliché.

Suddenly placing a hand on each side of Hiyori's waist, Misao whispered to her "You ready?"

The artist nodded back and replied "Sure."

Putting her hands to her friend's waist, they brought themselves closer until their lips connected. For Hiyori, kissing was becoming an easier thing to do. In comparison to her first kiss (which in actuality she never really gave) her kiss with Misao was, though enjoyable, surprisingly easy to do. There was little in the way of hesitation on Tamura's part.

After a moment, Hiyori took a bold step forward and entered her tongue into Kusakabe's mouth. Her reaction was a muffled "Hmm" of pleasure, followed shortly after by her tongue. Slowly both their arms continued around the partners' back until the two students were in full embrace, and such embrace was held for a few minutes. In the shadow of the alley, passersby could not see them. It was just Hiyori and Misao, alone…

When then touch of their lips lifted, Misao had a surprised look on her face. "Dang," she commented, "that was pretty good. You're a good kisser. Been practicing, have we?" she asked with a grin.

"Maybe," was Tamura's reply. "…Uh, thanks for doing this for me, Misao."

"No problem. Hey, if you wanna do it again, don't be afraid to ask, ok Hiyori?"

"S-Sure… Uh, Misao, I feel really bad saying this… but I kind of intended on this being a 'one night stand' kid of a deal, know what I mean? I'm sorry if I hurt your feeling by saying that, but I thought it was better I get the truth out-"

"Don't worry about it," Misao interjected. "In fact, I was going to tell you later tonight that 'This would never work out,' so we can act as if this never even happened, ok?"

Wow, she took that in such stride! She's incredible! I wish I could be as laid-back as her, then maybe the rest of these dates I have to go on will be a lot less intimidating… You know, even though Misao planned on saying that it would never work out between us, I can still imaging us together.

But I have Konata, and she's more than enough for me…

-o0o-

"Hell-o Hi-yor-i!" Konata greeted her girlfriend in a sing-songly manner. Poking her blue head of hair through her bedroom door, she found the artist right where she expected her to be: at her table, busily drawing away. "I brought you a gift," she then said, holding up a small plastic bag in her right hand.

This brought the artist's eyes off her work and to Konata. "Oh, thank you," she said to Izumi. The bluenette enter the room and took her usual spot nestled to the right of Hiyori. Handing her the bag, Tamura quickly retrieved from within its contents: a 64 set of colored pencils.

Through Hiyori smiled on the outside as to show her gratitude, on the inside, the artist was rolling her eyes. I recognize this brand: this is cheapo stuff, the kind schools buy to save money, plus the fact that ninety-nine percent of the kids can't tell the difference from shit and quality pencils.

Still, though, it was really nice of Konata to do this. "Thanks, Kona-chan," Tamura thanked once more.

"Hey! You just called me by my nickname!" Konata exclaimed.

"… I guess I did," Hiyori said back with a grin of her own.

"So, have you decided who your next victim will be?"

"I wish you wouldn't call them that… but I think I'm going to go after Ayano next."

"Oh, tough one!"

"What makes you say that?" asked Hiyori.

"Because," Izumi replied, "she has a boyfriend already."

"Hmm… Yeah she keeps talking about him, but I've never actually seen him before. This might be a chance to find out… But that's for the future. I'm running well off the inspiration I got."

That stint of inspiration lasted a week and a half later, which caused the artist to worry. That less time than I had from Kagami. I hope Ayano can give me more of a boost…