Author's Note moved to bottom for those interested.
Chapter 8 Memory of a Promise!
Kagami couldn't help but smile a little remembering how much fun her and Konata had on that day. Even if they hadn't made any promises to each other then, it would have still been an important day to Kagami just because of the time they spent together happily.
Kagami still wasn't ready to let go of her knees yet, she was still feeling shaky, and nervous about how Konata would act when she came down. She had already made up her mind to forgive Konata since she hadn't been forced to accept the feeding in any way. Kagami still couldn't understand why she had accepted it though.
Maybe since her and Konata had become so much closer in the last couple weeks, her feelings for the shorter girl were growing. For an embarrassing moment Kagami considered that maybe she wanted more from Konata than friendship, but she quickly pushed that thought aside. She wasn't into girls, she had always dreamed some guy would come along, and ask her out, or admit secret feelings for her, held back for the longest time.
Kagami kept on smiling. She was sure Konata would come down with some dumb joke, and then Kagami would get angry at her, and then everything would get better. Just like it always did.
Kagami rested on a bench under a street light, chatting happily with Konata. She was now really happy she had come along, and after they had such a great time watching the movie, she found herself looking forward to whatever event it was that Gamer's was holding, as she was sure her and Kona were going to have fun with whatever it was.
A sudden loud grumble announced to the world that Kagami was hungry though, and she blushed as Kona flashed a knowing grin, saying, "Wow Kagami, you're really dedicated. I'm having a hard time even thinking about food after seeing that movie, but you're still rearing to go for a meal."
Kagami responded, "Sh-shut up! I haven't eaten anything since breakfast, besides a couple pieces of that candy, and I was out walking earlier, that's probably why I'm so starved."
Konata looked her friend directly in her eyes, still grinning, and said,"Yeah, I guess I'm pretty hungry too. Now that I think about it, I haven't slept in two nights since I've been trying to beat this new RPG I got, and didn't have much of a breakfast either, I could go for something, you wanna find a place to eat?"
Kagami inwardly wondered how the smaller girl could have so much energy. Kagami didn't think she could stay up for two nights, and then go out, and do everything they had done so far. She'd be dead on her feet if she did.
Still, Kagami was glad Konata wasn't pushing too hard tonight, she was having fun, and didn't want it ruined by Konata teasing her about her weight. She said to Konata, wanting a little revenge despite not wanting the argument to continue,"Yeah, we'll look around carefully for a place where you don't need a stool to place your order."
Kagami smiled a little as she noticed Konata was taken by surprise at the remark, and grumbled under her breath something Kagami couldn't make out. Kagami called success when Konata didn't enter her teasing mode again though, and she stood up, and began looking around. There were plenty of restaurants to choose from around here as they were in pretty high demand around all the recreational stuff in this area.
They quickly chose a place where they could get a good meal. Walking into the orange tiled fast food restaurant right across the road from where they had been sitting. Konata trailed along behind her instead of walking beside her as usual. Kagami figured Konata just hadn't realized she didn't need Kagami to part a crowd for her anymore, and hadn't thought about just walking beside her.
Kagami was a little thankful the place was empty as she got a little self conscious about ordering, and eating a meal when there were a whole lot of people around. She knew it was dumb, but she couldn't help but feel like they were watching her. It made her uncomfortable thinking they were all watching her weight for some reason.
She ordered a hamburger, and a medium side of fries, and a Coca-Cola since that was her favorite soda. Konata got a 20 piece box of chicken nuggets, and a side of fries as well, but Konata got a root beer to drink. On their way to their table Konata stopped, and grabbed way more ketchup packets than she actually needed, just like she always did. They sat in a corner table facing each other, and chatting only a little as they ate since they were both pretty hungry.
Kagami quickly finished her burger, and started on her fries, they were a little too salty for her normal tastes, but they still tasted pretty good. She happened to glance up at Kona who still hadn't finished the first part of her meal. She saw Konata pick up a chicken nugget, and grip it with both hands, like a hamburger. She then bit into it, and only bit off half of it instead of just popping the whole nugget into her mouth.
Kagami giggled as she saw this habit of Konata's, causing Konata to look up quizzically, asking, "Hey, what's so funny?"
Kagami answered, "That's a cute way to eat Konata, I'm surprised I never noticed it before."
Konata looked at Kagami for a moment in confusion, and then she grinned, and said, "Oh? Does Kagamin think I'm cute?"
At the end of the sentence she batted her eyelashes at Kagami, causing Kagami to blush with her forwardness. "Geez," Kagami thought to herself, "She doesn't even care we're in public, and still makes remarks like that."
Kagami told Konata, "Don't just say weird stuff like that Konata. Don't you have any shame?"
Konata then reached out quickly, and grasped Kagami's hand, squeezing lightly. Kagami felt odd as she met Konata's eyes right then. Konata answered her question saying, "I don't know, why don't you tell me?"
Kagami blushed deeply, and then blushed even deeper when she noticed the man who had taken their order at the counter looking over at them holding hands. She broke the contact quickly, feeling anger coming in at Konata embarrassing her in public like this. She quickly raised her fist, and brought it down on Konata's head, trying to both show her anger, and remain quiet, "So, was your fun worth it?"
Konata rubbed her head, thinking she could feel a lump rising, she said in a pouting manner at Kagami, "Ow, hey. Isn't that a little harsh? it was all in good pun." Konata snickered at the end of her sentence, and Kagami smiled, now realizing Konata's jokes, but still feeling a little uncomfortable thinking there could be something more behind Konata's banter.
Konata didn't spend much longer finishing her meal up, and by the time they finished there were only fifteen minutes remaining until everything started happening at Gamer's, so they started heading in that direction. Kagami couldn't help but wonder what was happening that Konata was so excited about. She also wondered if Konata's cute dress had anything to do with it.
They headed out of the restaurant, and started making their way towards Gamer's which took slightly less than ten minutes, just as Kagami had predicted. It was obvious something was going on as soon as it came into sight due to the people crowding around it. Not just any people though, these people seemed to give off an aura of just...weirdness to Kagami.
Also she noticed there seemed to be a lot more girls here than usual, but she figured they had most likely just been drawn away from their computers by the lure of a special event just like Konata had been.
Now in her element, Konata took the lead, and Kagami followed feeling awkward as a few of the people gave them stares. A few giving very strange reactions as Kagami and Konata passed. Some facepalmed, some looked genuinely angry ,Kagami wasn't at all sure what was going on, but she knew it was creeping her out.
Still, she kept close behind Konata who led them over to a table where she filled out a couple of papers, and was rewarded with a ticket that had a number on it. It would seem Konata had made it just in the nick of time. When she got her ticket back a woman explained that while the event started two minutes from then, registration also closed at that time. Konata was the last person to fill out a registration.
The woman behind the table gave Konata a big smile, and then she looked at Kagami, and winked at her. Then the woman took her leave of the registration table. Leaving Kagami to wonder what that wink had been about. Had the woman been hitting on her? Kagami shuddered a little, noticing other people were giving them weird looks. Everything about these people was foreign and weird to Kagami.
At least Konata was happy though. She was holding up the ticket with her number on it, and cheering loudly. Kagami couldn't help but facepalm when a couple people actually joined in doing the same thing. Whatever was going on, Konata seemed to be having a blast, so Kagami made up her mind to try and enjoy it even if she couldn't understand it.
Konata now put the stool away, and exited the bathroom. She paused for a minute, her resolve weakening as she pictured Kagami wielding some sort of physical incarnation of the Banhammer, that just erases people from existence. She didn't think Kagami was going to leave, but she was pretty sure Kagami was pissed, and she was scary when she got like that.
Konata crept down the stairs slowly, and peered around the corner, hoping to spot Kagami before she herself was spotted. She really wished she had some Octo-Camo right then, but she knew it wasn't going to happen.
Konata spotted Kagami right where she had left her. Still in the same chair although the table was cleared, and there was a stack of dishes drying in the drain. Kagami was holding her knees. She looked pretty sad. Which made Konata feel bad since she couldn't stand when her friends were sad.
Konata tensed her arms up, and went rigid expecting blows to come after what she said, even though she had no idea what she was going to say to Kagami. As she spoke though, all she could think about was their promise. Konata knew deep down that because of that, everything would turn out just fine, even if moderately painful.
Konata was really excited, this was the time she had been waiting for all day. The reason she had dressed up all cute, and hoped desperately Kagami would dress up very similar to how she had indeed dressed up. She had had fun, and everything was going perfectly today, she could almost taste her prize. For some reason after the movie, and meal with Kagami though, most of her energy was drained. Sure she hadn't slept for two nights, but she figured she could keep going until she got home at least off of excitement alone. Besides that, she would need to stay up late watching Haruhi again after all this was over.
Konata looked over at her taller companion, and noticed she didn't look very excited. She knew Kagami didn't understand this sort of thing, but still, the other girl could still try and have fun. Konata tried to spark some conversation by saying, "Wow, look how nicely everyone's dressed up."
Kagami looked around for a minute, and then replied to Konata, "Yeah, all the girls here are wearing really cute outfits. I sort of feel like I under dressed."
Konata smirked at her friend. Kagami was feeling like she wasn't as pretty as some of the other girls because of her outfit. Seeing the perfect chance to make up for the vending machine incident earlier, Konata said to Kagami, "Yeah, I bet they're all jealous of you though. I gotta admit Kagami, at first I thought the hat with pigtails was funny, but you're looking really cute yourself right now."
Konata saw Kagami blush a little, and she responded, "What did I just tell you about those weird remarks in public? You want another lump?"
Konata feigned fear since she knew Kagami wasn't really angry, and said, "OOOO feeling feisty Kagamin? Just keep your natural killer instinct in check until after we leave. I think you'd be more embarrassed from the scene of stepping away from knocking me out than anything I could start up."
Konata saw a little vein appear on Kagami's forehead letting her know Kagami was good and angry, but she felt her teasing could be allowed now since she had made up for the dumb teasing earlier. Konata started moving through the crowd towards the far edge of the room. The event would be starting in a few minutes. She saw the cameras being readied.
She took one of the seats over on the edge of the room, and Kagami quickly took the seat beside her. A few minutes later the loud chatting finally died down, and the lights darkened in the room. Konata noticed Kagami examining the other people all around them. She was looking a little confused, and Konata thought she could see worry on Kagami's face.
Kagami was definitely starting to get nervous, and Konata was really hoping the taller girl wouldn't go all overboard, and have a panic attack or anything. As she thought that though, she started feeling kind of nervous herself. She knew she would soon be in the brightly lit area on the other end of the room, that everyone was now watching expectantly.
Another two minutes passed before the woman who had been doing registration came out wearing a beautiful red dress. She was holding a microphone, and as she spoke her voice came from speakers that had been set up just for this event.
The woman bowed, and began speaking, "Hello out there everyone! I'm the host in charge of the gathering here tonight. It's great to see all of you! I hope you're fired up, and looking your best, because the competition will be starting in five minutes. As you know we're here to gather the cutest Otaku couples , and use their pictures in order to promote a new romantic anime series that's coming out soon. So the pictures of the winning couple will be used in the advertising, what a great thing to have signifying your love for each other, right? When your number is called, you, and your partner will proceed to the lighted area. We will demonstrate the pose to be taken before the competition starts. I will be one of three judges for the competition, and we will each give a numerical score to each couple. Once your score has been given, proceed off to the right, and return to your seat while the next couple enters from the left. At the end one winner will win the Haruhi collector's box set. Containing both seasons of the anime, as well as a special container of which only one-hundred were made. Those one-hundred containers for the box set were sent to one-hundred different stores, meaning if you don't win it here, you'll probably never get another chance to get it, so look great, and work hard everyone!"
Konata's instincts told her there was something very dangerous in the room with them. She couldn't quite place where it was though, but she knew if it got the drop on her, that she might not make it out of this competition alive. She looked around, and met Kagami's death glare. She shrunk back against her seat for a moment, thinking Kagami actually meant to harm her.
Kagami's face was all red, but Konata couldn't tell if it was embarrassment at finding out this was a couples competition, or fury. No strikes came, and Konata was sure Kagami was trying to tell Konata how much she loathed her, but couldn't speak through her anger.
Kagami took a deep breath, and very quietly told Konata, "I should of known you would do something like this Konata. You're always ruining what would otherwise be a perfectly good time. You can forget it though, there's no way I'm doing this."
Konata nearly panicked when she heard that. Kagami couldn't bail on her now! Not when they were so close. She pleaded with Kagami, holding on to the other girl's arm to stop her from moving, "No! Please stay Kagami! I'll do anything, I'll stop calling you Tsundere, I'll do my own homework...sometimes, you have to see how important this is!"
Kagami still looked angry, but she stopped her motions to leave. She looked like she was struggling with some huge internal debate, which lasted three minutes into the beginning of the competition. Then finally she sighed, and said, "Fine. If it's that important to you I'll do it. You owe me big though. One day If I ask you a really big favor that you really, really don't want to do, you had better shut up and do it anyways, got me?"
Konata perked up significantly, and hugged Kagami tightly saying repeatedly, "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Thank you!"
Kagami said to her, "I can't believe I'm actually going through with this. Also you still owe me even if we don't win this prize."
Konata smiled at her friend's embarrassment. She was glad Kagami wasn't leaving though. She settled back into her seat, and watched how the other competitors were posing. She mentally took notes on what the judges seemed to be eying, and started considering how she could get a higher score.
She looked over at Kagami for a moment who seemed to be doing the same thing. She looked really intense, and was muttering some stuff under her breath that noone other than herself would be able to understand. Not wanting to break Kagami's concentration, Konata went back to her own studying.
Konata noticed that when really cute couples made their way into the lighted areas, and posed there were many guys in the crowd taking pictures of them also. She had sort of expected that since most of these guys did that sort of stuff anyways, why would they not bring their cameras where already cute girls were going to try and be looking as best they could?
The nervousness set in as a number only ten away from theirs was announced. Konata could feel her stomach tightening. She hadn't expected to be really nervous about this sort of thing after working in a cosplay cafe', but she was getting tense regardless. Konata looked over at Kagami, and was surprised to find her already looking at Konata. She was blushing quite heavily.
Konata asked, "Hey, what's the matter Kagami? Is it too much?"
Konata desperately hoped Kagami wasn't about to choke, but she didn't think she would stop Kagami, since she was also mildly considering bailing from the nervousness she was feeling. Her stomach started feeling upset all of a sudden, reminding her of the movie she had watched earlier, that didn't help ease her tension.
Kagami asked Konata, still blushing, "Hey...they're not going to be spreading word that we're...you know..."
Kagami trailed off at that, but Konata understood. Kagami was still blushing because she thought people were going to think they were dating. As the number right before theirs was called, they both rose, and started towards where they would walk into the light from. They would be the last couple to go up. On their way Konata explained to Kagami, "No way. You don't really think these cute girls are dating the guys they're with do you? They just want the prize, so they chose the cutest guy they could who still was into anime, and decided to go on with them."
Kagami was really obviously relieved at this, she probably hadn't considered that all of these people hadn't really been couples, even though quite a few of the pairings must of struck her as odd.
Finally their number was called, and they linked arms, and walked to where they were supposed to. They stood side by side with Konata leaning her head over against Kagami's shoulder. The red light on the main camera came on, and then there was a bright flash as a secondary photographer flashed a photo from a different angle from the main camera.
The flashes nearly blinded Konata. Her stomach was completely knotted up from her nervousness too. More people began standing up flashing photos, and soon nearly every guy in the hall was taking pictures. She could hear a girl in the audience saying, "Yuri couple, why didn't I think of that!"
The flashes were adding to Konata's nervousness, she involuntarily found herself gripping Kagami's arm with her other arm, and trying to hide her face on Kagami's shoulder as she started blushing uncontrollably. She didn't understand what was happening, this wasn't what she had thought it was going to be like. She suddenly realized she was terrified. She just wanted to run away from the people causing the flashes.
She pleaded in her mind since she couldn't form words, "Kagami...help..."
Then Kagami was standing in front of her, yelling, "Hey! Cut that out! Can't you see she's scared! What did I say! Drop the camera, or I'll break it!"
Konata felt hot all over, she couldn't breathe, then everything went black.
Kagami looked up at Konata as the smaller girl entered the kitchen. Her embarrassment over the whole incident starting to return now that Konata was back in front of her. Once again she felt like she should just run away, but she killed that thought as soon as it appeared. She was here, and she was going to stay over, and have fun at the sleepover no matter what happened in the next few seconds.
Konata was looking at her feet, apparently trying to think of some sort of excuse for what she had done. She was really tensed up, as she said, "Uhhhh...Was that Yakitori finger lickin' good Kagamin?"
Konata's nervous tone made the attempted joke fall flat.
Kagami felt her anger boil up, she really wanted to let Konata have a piece of her mind. Even though Konata had come down, and made a dumb joke, just like she had predicted. Kagami was both embarrassed and angry the girl wasn't normal enough to understand she shouldn't make dumb jokes about stuff like that. Still, she was glad Konata was still Konata, Kagami found herself hoping the smaller girl never changed.
Kagami stood up, and Konata shrunk back a little, she looked ready to bolt. Kagami knew why Konata was nervous, but she had no intention of hitting Konata. Kagami moved in close, and put her left hand on her little friend's shoulder.
Kagami smiled while thinking about her friend, and the softer, fragile side she never let anyone other than Kagami see in her.
That really brought her back to that day.
Kagami was resting on a bench, most of the way back to Konata's house. The Haruhi Box set stored carefully in the shoulder bag it had come in. Konata sat beside her, snoozing peacefully. Kagami had been terrified when Konata had first passed out, but it only took a second glance to realize once she had fainted, she had just gone into normal sleep.
The cameras had stopped flashing when Konata fell, and the female judge who had also been the host, and registration lady rushed onto the stage to check on Konata, telling Kagami, "If she was this frightened, you really shouldn't have made her do this."
Kagami hadn't bothered to explain that Kona had been the one who had really wanted to be in the competition. Kagami just wanted to get out of there as soon as she possibly could, and get Konata away from these people who obviously didn't care about her.
Upon review of the photos taken by the main cameras, and the secondary photographers though, a certain shot was taken. The shot showed Kagami with a determined look on her face that Kagami recognized as the face she had made right before she had gone into full rage mode on the audience photographers. Konata was gripping Kagami's arm tightly, seeming to almost try and hide her face on Kagami's shoulder. There was a blush on Konata's face that made the whole picture adorable. It was scored as a ninety-eight by two of the judges, and a perfect one-hundred by the third, winning Konata the contest, and ensuring their picture would go public at some point.
The judges offered to call an ambulance for Konata, but Kagami declined saying they didn't live far away, and had picked Konata up, and carried the smaller girl out piggy back style, with her arms draped over Kagami's shoulders.
Kagami had been surprised. She knew Konata was small, but the weight of her body seemed to be hardly anything at all. Kagami had no trouble carrying Konata out of there, although she did shout angrily at a few people for whistling at her, and blushed heavily at a few girls who said things like, "Lucky girl, looks like she found a good one."
Konata was sleeping on Kagami's back, all cares apparently forgotten once she lost consciousness. Kagami was a little angry, not really at Konata, but the people who kept snapping those pictures even though it was obviously scaring her little friend. Still, she really hadn't thought Konata was the type to panic, and pass out in a situation like that. Maybe she had just been tired from her two days of not sleeping, and had finally caved in, but Kagami didn't think that was it since the smaller girl had been so excited about the whole competition thing.
Kagami had gotten a few weird looks as she walked on to the train carrying the smaller girl, but noone raised any questions, and she found a seat where she could lean Konata up against her. It felt odd for Kagami to be with Konata for such a long time with no conversation happening. When the train pulled into the proper station, Kagami disembarked, planning on taking Konata home.
She didn't know why she didn't just wake Konata up, or even call Konata's dad to come get her, but she felt it was nice being like this. She stopped to rest at a bench in a small park not too terribly far from Konata's house. She sat Konata down, and let her lay her head in Kagami's lap. Kagami just looked down at her little friend, and found herself stroking Konata's hair without thinking abut it.
After a couple minutes of the stroking, Konata began to awaken. She groaned as she awakened, and looked around questioningly, but she didn't raise her head from Kagami's lap. When she recognized where she was, Konata relaxed against Kagami. Kagami said to Konata, "Hey, are you alright?"
Konata answered simply, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm not sure exactly what happened though, and I have a headache. And I feel all weak. Also I'm thirsty, and I could really go for a few hours of MMO time."
Kagami smiled at her friend's odd way of thinking, and said, "You don't sound fine to me. Anyways, we won that competition, I guess you can feel a bit better now that that's out of the way."
Konata sat up, and stared at Kagami disbelievingly, she looked happy, but Kagami could tell Konata was really drained at the moment, she looked like she might pass out again soon. Konata said to her, "So we won the Haruhi Box set huh? I wonder how we managed to pull that off with me passing out like that."
Kagami wasn't about to show Konata her copy of the embarrassing picture that had won them the competition, besides, she would see it soon enough when the ads hit in a few weeks, so she just said, "I don't know, maybe we just looked really cute together. No matter what though, we won, and you got your prize."
Kagami blushed as she realized what she had just suggested. Trying to hide her discomfort, Kagami passed the shoulder bag to Konata who peered inside, and then smiled, and put the bag on her shoulder. She definitely didn't seem as happy as Kagami had hoped she'd be. Konata spoke quietly to Kagami, saying, "Thanks a lot. I guess we should call it a day though. I'm pretty tired, and I had hoped we could watch a couple of episodes together, but I don't think I could stay awake even if my Brigade leader ordered it. Although in fairness, if she did order it, I guess she could just make it to where I could stay awake."
Kagami chuckled at what she called Konata's "not logic". It was Konata's way of rationalizing things that couldn't possibly happen, and while it normally agitated her, she was just glad to see her friend slowly returning to normal. She asked Konata though, "Are you sure you can make it, Konata, you don't look so good."
Konata smiled at Kagami saying, "Yeah, I can make it, it's only like a mile from here anyways."
With that Konata said goodbye, and turned away wobbling as she walked, and almost fell when Kagami caught her from behind. She pulled Konata in close holding her around the waist, supporting her. Konata said quietly to her, "Sorry Kagamin."
Kagami once again lifted Konata into the piggy back position, which was even easier now that Konata was awake, and could hold on by herself. Konata laid her arms around Kagami's shoulders, and allowed herself to be lifted. She then laid her head against Kagami's shoulder relaxing as the bigger girl carried her for a second time.
Kagami started walking, and they were in silence for a couple of minutes before Konata said, "Do you want it?"
Kagami stopped for a moment, unable to believe what she had just heard. She asked Konata, "Excuse me? What was that?"
Konata seemed to be struggling to say it, but she managed to get it out a second time, "I mean, you can have it if you want it. I'm sure it was you who won the competition for us since I'm not really all that pretty anyways ."
Kagami couldn't believe Konata was offering her a once in a lifetime Haruhi prize, she had felt sure that would probably become Konata's most prized, and important item in her entire anime and manga collection. Sure she could tell Konata was having trouble offering it, but still, that was like the equivalent of Kagami offering to give Konata all of her favorite ribbons.
She answered Konata, saying, "Konata, I can't accept something like that. I know how much you want it, and I'd be a lot happier if you kept it."
"Okay.", said Konata, not insisting, and Kagami smiled when she felt Konata give a sigh of relief from her back. Kagami started walking again.
Konata wasn't done though, she said to Kagami after a few more steps, "Still. I have to give you something. There's no way I can be in debt like this. Surely I have something you want, just name it...I...I don't mind at all."
Kagami could tell how hard it was for Konata to say these things, all those collectibles she was offering were her life's work, it wouldn't be easy to give any of those things away, but Kagami wasn't really interested in all that stuff, so she told Konata,"I'm not really interested in any of that stuff Konata, you know that. Also what's up with this seriousness all of a sudden, what debt do you have to me?"
Konata once again seemed to be struggling for words, making Kagami a little concerned for her friend. Konata definitely wasn't the strong silent type, so this sort of quietness, and passiveness made it seem like there was some sort of serious problem. Finally though, Konata spoke, telling Kagami, "Nobody...I mean, No one's ever taken up for me before Kagami. Especially not after I embarrassed them in public, like I did to you. I never thought anyone but dad even cared enough to do something like that. Then you carried me, and you bought me my favorite theater candy earlier, and you're always nice to me when I tease you, and I feel dumb a lot because you never get really mad at me. I'm sorry Kagamin, I'm not really good at explaining feelings and stuff."
Kagami, however, was touched. Konata had actually confessed a lot of really sweet feelings to Kagami. She hadn't even been embarrassed, Kagami wished she could always talk about her feelings openly that way, but even so, it shattered an opinion she had held of Konata for a long time. She had always thought Konata was really tough, and nothing ever bothered her, she could treat the worst things in the world as a joke, and laugh it off. Now Kagami found herself thinking, "Was this girl always this fragile? I really should have noticed it earlier, I bet it's been killing her to hold that stuff in."
Kagami carried Konata on in silence, half a mile now covered. Soon they would be at Konata's house, and their night together would be over. Kagami didn't want it to end like this, she wanted to make sure there were plenty more nights she had fun with Konata. She wouldn't let this melancholy sit on her friend for another minute if she could help it.
So Kagami said out loud, "Best friends."
Konata raised her head up, and said, "What?"
Kagami then said to Konata, "If you want to give me something I really want, how about we be best friends. We'll make it official right now."
Kagami had now stopped, she felt Konata's heart suddenly start beating really quickly, and she was a little worried when Konata replied, "It's not enough."
Kagami asked her, "What do you mean it's not enough?"
Konata responded, "I mean, it's not a fair trade. I need to give more, so how about we add 'forever' on the end of it?"
Kagami told Konata after thinking about that for a moment, "I don't understand."
Konata then explained, "I mean we promise that we'll always be best friends no matter what. No backing out of it after a couple weeks because we get mad at each other. No matter what, we can't ever deny we're best friends, and if we stick with it, I'm sure one day I'll be awesome enough to make up for the Haruhi prize you won for me."
Kagami was instantly saddened by this statement. Sure she was overjoyed Konata wanted to be best friends, Kagami had actually thought of making that official a few times before, but couldn't ever bring herself to say it. Her friend, however, had just admitted she didn't think her friendship was worth a box of DVDs. Kagami had an urge to just grab them and break them right there, she didn't know why her anger was directed at the anime, but she wasn't going have anything making her best friend think less of herself.
The urge passed though, and Kagami said, "Fine. We'll be best friends forever. It's a promise."
Kagami started walking again after the promise was made, feeling she had accomplished her goal.
Konata then yelled, "YAY! Kagamin's so sweet!"
Kagami felt a little agitated at the sudden display of exuberance, thinking if Konata had the energy to yell, she had the energy to walk, so she warned Konata with a strict tone, "Konata."
Konata didn't notice though, and kept cheering, deepening Kagami's embarrassment and agitation, "Kagamin protects me from evil photographers, and she carries me when I'm weak, with not a Hi-Potion in sight. She's like a champion of justice!"
Kagami warned again, feeling the all-too-familiar vein that appeared anytime Konata seemed to be feeling energetic, "Konata."
Konata finally took notice, and said, "Hey we're best friends now, we both gotta be more tolerant of each other. That means you can't get mad at me for calling you Kagamin, you have to start liking your nickname as of just a minute ago. Also you can't get mad at me anymore for making fun of your weight, you just have to assume I'm doing it to build your character or because you're hilarious when you're aggravated."
Kagami couldn't help but feel happy hearing her friend suddenly back to normal. She would never tell Konata, but she loved listening to the smaller girl when she got all energetic, even if it was a little trying on her nerves, she wouldn't trade her friend's behavior for anything. Konata was Konata, no matter how you looked at her, what you got was an odd, boisterous, obsessive, lovable, and all around pleasant to be around little blue haired Otaku. She didn't think anyone would want Konata to be any other way than that.
Still she said to Konata, teasingly, "You're going to make me regret this aren't you?"
Konata responded,"It's okay, Kagamin, I like my best friends super-sized."
Kagami was a little past annoyed at that remark, she let Konata's weight shift downwards, not actually intending to drop the girl, but threateningly saying, "That's it, you're walking."
Konata overreacted as usual grabbing Kagami's shoulders tightly, and yelling, "NOOO! I'm too weak to make the journey Kagamin! Hold brave steed, I need your strength!"
Kagami didn't understand what Konata was talking about, but she was sure if she understood, it would annoy her. After another minute of silence though Konata said in a more serious tone, "Still. I've never been a best friend before. I may have to do some serious grinding in the next couple weeks to get good at it."
Kagami smiled, thinking, "Of course she'd think of it that way."
She kept walking without letting Konata drop though. After they covered another quarter mile in silence, Konata said quietly into Kagami's ear, while letting go of her shoulders, "And since we're best friends, you can't get mad when I do stuff like this."
Konata wrapped her arms around Kagami's stomach, and hugged her strongly, burying her face into Kagami's back. Kagami immediately started blushing, but she wasn't mad at all. Konata just wanted to be close to her, she understood that better than anyone. After all she had chosen her classes in High School just to be closer to her friends and sister, so she let Konata hang on to her the remaining distance to Konata's house. She would never tell anyone, but she enjoyed every second of it.
Kagami let Konata down, who broke the hug reluctantly, and said, "You're home now, make sure you go straight to bed. It's a school night anyways, you should rest up before tomorrow."
Konata nodded, and then flashed her cat smile at Kagami, saying, "Hey Kagamin, did anyone ask why you were carrying me?"
Kagami was embarrassed by that question although she had no idea why it should make her blush. She told Konata, "No, a lot of people gave weird looks though."
Konata looked disappointed for a moment, and then she said, "Aww man, I was hoping you would say I was your narcoleptic little sister."
Kagami was confused, and asked, "Wait, what? Why would I say something like that?"
Konata just shook her head, and clicked her tongue, and said like an older person talking down to a young one,which really aggravated Kagami, "It's no use, if you don't get it, I won't bother explaining it. You're so boring sometimes Kagamin. Oh well, I guess that's just who you are. I don't think I'd change anything about you even if I could."
Kagami couldn't decide if that was an insult or a compliment. Maybe a little of both. Even so it annoyed her, but she was still worried about her friend, who looked like she could drop from weariness at any moment, so she said, "Whatever Konata, you just make sure you get to bed alright?"
Konata nodded, and wearily started walking past Kagami, heading towards the front door. She stopped as she made it a few feet past Kagami, and then started ambling back towards her. Confusing Kagami who was about to ask her what she was doing, when she suddenly felt warm, as the soft figure of the smaller girl pressed against her. Konata hugged her very warmly, and whispered, "Thanks, Kagamin."
Kagami couldn't respond, she had been taken completely by surprise. She didn't have time to get mad or get embarrassed, so she just did what came naturally, and hugged her little friend back, saying, "Go to bed Konata."
Konata broke the hug, and smiled up at her, saying before turning around, and heading into her home, "We're going to be a lot closer now, huh?"
Kagami smiled down at the blue-haired girl, and just nodded her answer.
After watching Konata make it inside, Kagami sighed. She felt exhausted all of a sudden as she started her own journey home. Even so, she kept thinking about Konata hugging her sweetly like that, and kept on thinking, "Sometimes miles just aren't long enough."
Konata looked up to her, and they locked eyes. They stayed that way for nearly a minute before Kagami smiled at Konata. The little blue haired girl seemed confused for a moment before she smiled back. Kagami immediately felt better seeing Konata's happy grin. That was the Konata she knew most of the time, and was always happy for.
Kagami said to her, "It's fine."
Konata replied, "Huh?"
Kagami told her again, "Just forget it. That's my favor, so you have to do it, you agreed. We're a lot closer now, right? That's enough to make me happy. Let me warn you though, if you EVER try something like that again, you're not going to walk away from it, and that's a promise."
Konata just nodded. She felt like someone had just pulled a mountain off of her chest. She had known Kagami wasn't going to leave, but complete forgiveness? That was completely unexpected. She felt great, the sleepover was saved, and Kagami wasn't mad at her, but at the same time, she didn't feel so great. A big part of her didn't want to forget about it, but she had agreed. Even if she didn't want to do it, it was the least she could do for Kagami.
Kagami sighed, relieved, and she said, "Want to go play some games or something?"
Konata perked up at the mention of that. She had had some great games prepared even before she left to meet Kagami. They were going to stay up all night, and play games, and eat junk food, and maybe go play in the rain again since it had been so much fun the first time. Although even as these thoughts were racing inside her, she kept thinking, "Where's my Tsun-Tsun?"
Konata headed up the stairs, calling happily for Kagami to come with her. There was a fighting game Konata hadn't had last time Kagami was over, and it was just waiting for them to play it. Kagami lagged behind a little. She was really glad Konata had perked up a bit, and she even felt better herself. She knew Konata would honor the favor, and never speak of it again, and it seemed that all of their awkwardness had disappeared as well.
Still, Kagami knew even if they never discussed it, She wouldn't forget what had happened. She would still question why Konata had tried something like that, but even more than that. She would question why she had accepted it, and been happy. Her heart had been beating fast, she hadn't been able to think a single bad thought, and she had desperately tried to be angry with Konata at that time. She just hadn't been able to. There was no way for her to deny it, she was happy when Konata was close to her.
Konata made it to the top of the stairs, and looked back to see Kagami spaced out, and wondered what she was thinking. Konata knew even if Kagami had asked her to never mention it again, there was no way she could just forget. She had felt some really strong feelings when she had been close to Kagami like that. There was no way something she had never felt before like that could be erased so easily.
She once again wondered if maybe she was interested in Kagami as more than a friend. There were definitely worse people she could have ended up liking. She knew Kagami was pretty, nice, caring, protective, and lately she had been downright lovable, and cute. Less and less of her Tsun side showed around Konata when they were alone. If she really was interested in Kagami though, she doubted the bigger girl would ever return her feelings. All Konata could do for right then though was save all the serious thoughts for some other time, and focus on making the sleepover fun for the two of them. She hoped by the time they were ready to go to sleep, Kagami would have laughed so much, that serious look would never cross her face again.
She called down to Kagami, saying, "Hey! Are we gonna play games or what? Come on girl, it's butt-whuppin' time!"
Kagami was shaken from her memories, and she smiled up at Konata who seemed to have made a quick recovery from all the seriousness, and said, "Yeah, I'm coming. I hope you're not over-hyping this game like that last one you got."
Konata started moving on, Kagami losing sight of her, as she walked away from the top of the stairs, calling out, "Naw, come on, it'll be fun, I promise!"
Kagami chuckled at her smaller friend's behavior. She was sure the rest of the night was going to be great. After all, she had thought it herself earlier when she had been trying to decide whether she would come or not. She always had fun when she came over to Konata's place. This time would be no different. Kagami started climbing the stairs looking forward to spending more time with Konata, and who knew, maybe Konata was right when she had said earlier that, "Something amazing might happen."
Author's Note: I've moved the Author's note to the bottom instead of the top since I got an email from someone saying putting it at the top is a distraction since people want to get straight to the story. Okay there are a few things I need to get out. First off, sorry about the way the last chapter ended, there definitely were better places to have cut it, but as I was editing, and looking for grammar problems, and broken sentences, and stuff like that, it never crossed my mind that the chapter ending was going to be as horrible as it was. I'm an amateur though, and this is my first work, so I'm actually surprised I didn't make that mistake earlier in the story. I think I did a better job with this chapter ending, and will try to avoid doing anything like that again in the future.
Next up, I had broken this chapter into three parts since it was so long, but I decided to put the second two parts back together, so it would be comparable in length to the first part.
Third, I feel the need to explain the puns in the restaurant scene. In one part Kagami asks Konata if she has any shame, and Konata responds by gripping her hand, and saying for Kagami to decide for herself.
The pun there is that the Japanese word haji means shame.
Haji can also mean grip though, which explains Konata's response.
Then Konata says "It was all in good pun." Which isn't just an English pun on the word fun, but a crossover pun because in my mind she was using the Japanese word tawamure, which can mean both to joke, and to be flirtatious which would take Kagami a second to register, and then she still wouldn't be for sure how Konata had meant the word. That doesn't translate very well into English while still remaining a pun though, so I decided to write it as, "All in good pun." so that anyone who speaks English could get a kick out of it.
Also, when Konata is picturing Kagami wielding a Banhammer, that may be confusing for people who don't frequent forum sites, so I'll clarify. When an admin, or moderator bans someone on a forum site, it is often referred to as bringing down the Banhammer, once it has been used, that user can never use the site again, so of course when Konata is picturing a physical incarnation of it, the result would be to be wiped from existence.
Also, in response to Zokusho, sorry about the gore. Oddly enough my line of work is as an actor, but when I can't find work as an actor, I make my living as a butcher, so the gore stuff just flows out unintentionally, I actually thought I was being mild with the description of the gore in the movie, I'm very sorry if it took away from the story though. I'll try my best not to make a mistake of that nature again.
As always, thanks for the reviews guys, without those, this story would have probably been a monotonous jabbering, and a waste of space on this site. Keep them coming, and I promise to try and make everything better as it goes.
