Wow, this was a long chapter. I had to mend around a lot with the plot of this chapter, so it was a bit hard to write. And I wrote basically all of this in one day. Several changes were made, but I feel satisfied overall.

On a serious note, this is probably another crucial chapter for the story. It touches up on one of Konata's flaws and has some very long dialogue. You fans might have been waiting for some more development, and I feel like this is what you've been waiting for. It's much bigger than what happened in Chapter 10. Critique would really be appreciated here.

Disclaimer: Lucky Star is owned by Kagami Yoshimizu.


Chapter 12: Fallin' Through Paper Body Parts

It was a very lazy Saturday afternoon in the streets of Tokyo. School had ended for the day, beginning the small time of relaxation that all Japanese students needed. Many of those teenagers would go home and start up their homework, but others would instantly start their time by going out and having fun.

For two otaku students, that was clearly the case. Konata and Kaito had a very long week of adjusting to the normality of student living. Comiket's mind altering effects were still heavy in their minds and hearts. It was a shame that it was only twice every year. Yet even after going to the massive event, they still had a craving for the constantly updating mainstream manga at the various shops.

They walked out of Gamerz triumphantly with large bags of copyrighted materials. The two students were smiling immensely knowing they'll be able to add even more books to the piles of unread doujinshi. It was amazing they had such stockpiles of money for their obsessions. The two were walking slowly, as Kaito began pushing multiple buttons on his chocolate colored cell phone. He glanced at his friend as he closed the device.

"Thanks for supplying me with everyone's numbers, Kona-chan. I never took the time to ask."

"No problem. It was kind of embarrassing for me to get a phone call while we were shopping."

"I should have expected you would have that type of ring tone."

"It's a popular song."

"Oh yeah, it was Kagami who called you, right? Did she want you to buy something?"

"Kagamin would never ask me to buy her manga…I'd never let her live it down."

Kaito made a small sweat drop, dealing with those kinds of threats already. "So what did she need? Your phone was turned up a bit loud, so I could hear that my name was mentioned."

"She just wants you to go to her house to pick up your PS2. She told me she dealt with something scary and needs to give you the game and console back."

"Poor girl is probably dealing with the pain of Misirlou." Kaito thought to himself.

At that moment, the two students were hit with a very strange occurrence. Simultaneously, both of their stomachs quaked in such a manner that everyone ten feet around them could hear it. Konata and Kaito looked at each other blankly over the experience. However, they shrugged it off, coming to the same conclusion.

"You want to go get something to eat?" Kaito suggested.

"Nah, my dad worries if I'm out too long when I'm not working."

"I could use something though. I don't necessarily get the best food at home."

Konata turned her head slowly around the bustling streets. Surely there would be something to eat that wouldn't require sitting in a building. She was successful however, seeing a fairly small FamilyMart amongst most of the other buildings. The blue haired girl pointed at the convenience store.

"Let's get a snack from there."

"Sure." Kaito nodded.

The two walked through the crowded masses to the shop filled with various snacks. Automatic doors welcomed them into the store as they stepped onto black squares. Konata and Kaito went to different sides of the building, the girl aimed for pastries while the boy searched through many boxes of candy. Kaito looked over every box curiously, trying to find the best one. He grinned as he grabbed two boxes of a particular candy. It was filled with pillow-shaped, bite sized pieces of dark chocolate filled with rice crispies.

Konata immediately knew what she wanted. It was something she had eaten already for lunch that very day. She enjoyed eating choco cornets so much. But as she looked through the spiraled deserts, one of the plastic bags caught her eye. It was a cornet that was tied to a second cornet by their thin ends. The two fat ends had different fillings as well, one with milk chocolate, the other with white.

Both of them walked to the middle of the store where the clerk was located. They were very pleased as the three treats rang up on the register.

"Your total is 580 yen." The clerk said.

Kaito took it upon himself to pay for the food. Konata had spent much more money than him. It was also the man's responsibility to cover food payment. He pulled out his wallet with confidence as he was ready to pay. But his fingers discovered something horrible as they dived into the main pocket.

No bills were located in the wallet. This was incredibly hard for the boy. Not only was there no money, but he couldn't show any emotion or fast movements. Konata would quickly realize that. The boy however was able to find a shining lifesaver. It was a random present given to him by his friend Taichi. Kaito pulled out the card with vigor and relief.

But as Kaito felt happy once again, Konata was in shock. A fellow otaku spending snack money on QUO card?! The clerk swiped it quickly and handed it back to the teenager, as she placed the three items in the bag. She waved at them kindly as they left the store. Konata held onto the bag as Kaito already dug into one of his boxes of sweet candy.

"Oi, Kaito…" Konata said hoarse tone.

"Mmm, yeah Konata?" He responded with some chocolate in his mouth.

"What was that?!" She demanded in an angry voice.

The boy was startled as his small otaku friend looked at him in undiscovered anger. Kaito had never seen her lovely emerald eyes in sharp, piercing fashion. He wouldn't know what to expect. The girl he really connected with was unbelievably mad for the first time he had ever seen. And he had already dealt with Kagami's wrath, what could Konata's fury possibly be?

"How dare you spend a QUO card!" She screeched.

"Whoa, whoa, what?" Kaito could only say in disbelief.

"I thought you were a true otaku, Kaito. Using a card so impurely like that was truly a disgrace."

"I'm sorry Kona-chan. I ran out of money after Gamerz, so I just used that card to pay for our food instead."

"That's no excuse! You could have asked me to pay!"

"I couldn't! It's a man's duty to pay for the lady's meal!"

"But an otaku's pride should matter when using a QUO card! Don't you know how to use them properly!?" She demanded.

"Well, I know that QUO cards have collection value. But they also naturally have money on them, so I thought it would be best to use them for their purpose."

"A QUO card's purpose is to be collected and treasured! You can apply that with everything an otaku would need!"

"You can read a comic, you can decorate a figurine. QUO cards can only be spent and then collected."

"Don't you understand that by spending them that you're defiling their true purpose? Collecting them it all that people care about! That's why I always get three!"

"But they are prepa…" Kaito stopped as those last words echoed in his head. "You buy three QUO cards?"

"Mmhmm." She said, some happiness in her voice.

"That's stupid." He said bluntly. "You don't even spend them, and you buy three of them!?"

"You buy three of them for a specific reason. One is for pure collection and to be safely guarded and maintained. The second is used to be observed."

"So why would you need a third…"

"Simply as an extra. You buy extras of things you enjoy, don't you?"

"No." He said plainly. Konata looked at him in shock.

"What kind of person are you?!"

"I'm not a moron! Buying three mangas makes sense in case you ever want to sell them or give them as a gift. Buying a QUO card for collection purposes is a strange, but buying three of them? Without even using all that prepared money? Buying three of them is just plain insane!"

"So…" She said hurtfully, but with the rage still inside her body. "I'm an insane moron eh?"

Kaito growled at the statement. He should of known she would of taken that route with that kind of comeback. This wasn't going to end well.

"You are just wasteful, Konata."

"Hmmf." Konata pouted.

At that moment, they had arrived at the train that would take them back to the Saitama Prefecture. Kaito with a heavy heart walked into one side of the car, but he realized Konata hadn't followed him. He quickly got out, seeing that she would get into a different part of the transportation vessel. She glared daggers at him as she slowly walked into the train. She rasped the following words at the boy.

"Kaito. Don't follow me."

"But…Kona-chan…" His voice weakening.

"You heard me." She said, walking into the train.

Kaito walked back into his own car, going to the farthest seat from the door. He had made a royal mistake. He flipped out his cell phone, looking at various names that he just added. This was very bad for him. He didn't want to risky such a thing over such a trivial squabble. Maybe talking to her would help.


In about half an hour, Kaito was at his destination. It was a good thing he learned where she lived from the early morning of Comiket. He looked along the place with more detail now that he wasn't in a hurry. It was a nice, peaceful place with large trees and shrubbery surrounding the area. He walked up the stone stairs noticing the wonderfully decorated red gates. Looking over the shrine, he reflected over his own mental beliefs.

Shintoism was something that didn't require much thought. Like most kids he enjoyed celebrating in the local festivals or the climax around New Years Eve. However, he strangely didn't know much about the practice of the religion itself. He did know however that the belief system did incorporate peace and nature. That was something he needed desperately at this point. It was strange though. How a place of purity and tranquility could house such a fiery, young teenager.

He walked to the door, completely mixed with feelings. He needed comfort and support after his conflict. Yet he made the fatal flaw of not calling ahead, even after learning their cell phone numbers. It was possible suicide if the wrong person had opened that door. A teenaged boy approaching a house to talk to a girl in the afternoon? Any familiar member would freak out.

Kaito extended his hand slowly to knock on the door. He hoped for the best that Kagami or Tsukasa would find their classmate needing comfort. It was rude enough that he didn't call, but barging in would be out of the question. The door slowly slid as Kaito bit on to his lip. After it completely moved to the side, Kaito looked in surprise to see a completely different face at the door.

She had looked older than the Hiiragi twins, but only by a few years. She had nearly rivaled Kaito's height by a few centimeters. Her hair was short, painted in a strange colorful fusion of red and violet. She wore a white, lacy shirt with a green sweater over her arms. From the lower half she had on a long, blue skirt matching the color of her eyes. She was also surprised, but welcomed the boy nonetheless.

"Hello there." She said politely. "Do you need something?"

"Um…" Kaito said innocently. "Uh, yes. Is Kagami here?"

"Yeah." She glanced at him. "Why do you ask?"

"Damn…" He thought. "I knew this was going to happen." He spoke regularly after his thoughts. "Oh, I just had lent her a game so I decided to come pick it up."

"Is it that guitar one?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, so you lent her the game!" She said with new enthusiasm. "Please, come in."

Kaito entered the house hesitantly, but happy that would at least get this far. He slipped off his shoes as he walked through the main hallway of the large, traditional house. It was good to know that other people enjoyed the import game. Especially to this unknown, yet very becoming young lady. She continued to explain the joys of the game.

"Kagami has had a lot of fun playing it. I tried it myself, but I couldn't get far at all."

"That's nice. Oh yeah, and I'd hate to ask but who are you exactly?"

"I'm Kagami's older sister, Inori. It's good to meet you." She bowed politely.

He responded back with a bow of his own. "Yasuhiro Kaito. Thank you. I didn't know Kagami had another sister other than Tsukasa."

"Well I'm not the only one. Our middle sister, Matsuri is off taking college courses at the moment. Tsukasa isn't here either though; did you only want to speak to Kagami?"

"Yeah. Where is her room?"

The two stopped in the hallway to a door on the left of them. Inori knocked on it slowly as she spoke softly. "Kagami, you have a visitor."

"Ok." She said plainly.

Kaito took a deep breath as he was prepared to make a huge jump. He slid the door quickly as he entered in swiftly one leg at a time. He glanced over to see his twin-tailed friend lazily reading into a normal manga book. Once she looked at her guest, her façade shifted instantaneously from calm to frenzied. Kaito feared for his safety as he didn't want to deal with similar situation to that of Konata's. Inori slowly closed the door, yet left enough room for her eyes to look in on the situation. It was a very nice plus for traditional houses.

"Oi, Kaito-san! What are you doing here?!" Kagami demanded.

"Sorry Kagami. Kona-chan told me that you didn't want to borrow the game any longer, so I came by to pick it up."

"Oh…" She said, lowering her voice a bit. Kaito sat down realizing he would be safer here. She pointed to a corner of her room, with the familiar fat, black rectangle of a console and the SG controller. "Go ahead and take it when you leave."

"Your sister told me you were having fun with it. Why give it back?"

She sighed. "It's kind of a strange story."

"I have time to kill…"

She had trouble looking at him. It was hard to tell what Kagami was feeling at the moment. "I…I had this dream."

"A dream?" Kaito asked.

"A dream?" Inori thought. "Kagami never mentioned that today."

"Well, do you know that last song in the game? The one that starts off very slowly and that goes incredibly fast after five minutes?"

"Ah yes. That's a fun song."

"Well in my dream. I was in my room but it was completely black except for me and the game. I was playing that song with all of my might as I struggled through the painful solos. But then after much time of trying, I finally beat the song on expert."

"That's good."

"No. No it isn't." Her mood shifting towards her more defensive side. "After I beat the song I went to school. We took this test that I was completely unprepared for. A few minutes later I got a failing grade. Then Sakuraba-sensei walked up to me and began to rant. She began to say that ever since I received that game, that I had been neglecting my school work and everything I had worked on up to that point."

"I see…" Kaito nodded.

"But then it got worse. She then said how the game playing also made my looks go down the drain. And when I looked down, I saw that serafuku was riding up on my body extremely tightly. Every part of my body just became more round and large until I something absolutely horrible. And as she said that, everyone was laughing their head off as I tried to cover up my fat body. Even you and Konata were laughing at my misery."

"Oh." Kaito could only say.

"Kagami's weight is that big of an issue?" Her older sister thought to herself.

"I'm sorry Kagami. I wish I could help." The boy said sympathetically.

"Hmmf." She grunted. "Yeah, yeah."

Kaito was stunned by her dismissal. "What's wrong?"

"Come now, Kaito." She looked at him coldly. "Ever since that day, when I found out about that dirty manga you bought at Comiket…things just changed. I had to think about everything you said since we had met. It felt like you betrayed me. Especially since you suggested that I tried a new diet to lose weight."

"So he's why Kagami tried that different system…" Inori continued to watch on.

"And you know what? I didn't lose weight. I don't even think my body changed at all."

Kaito felt puzzled by everything, but kept up a defensive front. "Well, if your weight didn't change then that would be a good thing. Or maybe you might have gotten some muscle instead of fat since that technically weighs more."

"Maybe. But still, you telling me what to do with my weight? And then me finding those that you bought for a friend you won't speak of?"

He responded back bluntly. "Kagami. I'm not into that sort of thing."

"So why did you even own those things?!"

"What's with this boy?" Inori thought.

Kaito had to move the subject. He wanted to focus on the main reason he came to the Hiiragi house anyway. "Man, I already have enough problems to deal with today. I don't want to cover over this again?"

"Like what?" Kagami asked.

"I got into a fight with Konata…" He said slowly as he curled his legs closer to his body. The tsundere could feel the shame emitting from the otaku.

"About what?" She asked, her tone lightening up.

"It was over the stupidest thing. QUO cards."

Kagami slowly nodded and smirked over the statement. Konata had early on in their friendship had explained the importance of every little otaku detail. QUO cards were no exception to that rule. Instead of arguing, she allowed her tiny friend to go on with buying three of every single one of those pieces of plastic. It at least gave her the responsibility of owning a job.

"Hehe, she does get obsessive over that sort of thing."

"Well, it's just that I never knew. And I used one in her presence as we bought some snacks to take home."

"I see. So what happened?"

"She just completely went off on a rant how I was ruining the sanctity of those cards." He glared at Kagami. "Can you believe she doesn't even spend the pre-paid money on the cards?! It's like throwing your money away!"

The girl was thrown off a bit from the response. "Well I can understand it from your point of view. But I thought otakus cared for that sort of pride."

"I just thought it was a waste of money. And things just then got completely out of control and we basically left on different train cars."

"Oh…" Kagami looked away, knowing now that Kaito was capable about such guilt.

"I never thought Konata could get worked up over such a thing. And now I feel like things could crumble from here."

"Poor kid…" The older sister thought as she was eavesdropping.

"Things would get better Kaito-san." She comforted.

"But what if they don't?" He said with the tension still building up inside him. "Did you by any chance tell her what happened at Comiket?"

Her rage geared into motion once again. "Of course not! Why must you think about such things, especially when you are worried about your friends?! Besides, have you caught up on my part of the deal?!"

"Deals?"

"Sorry Kagami." He said, looking down on the hardwood floor. "It was wrong for me to say that about you. You have your own problems."

The girl began to show her deredere side after his began to speak softly. "Wow, you are really shaken up on this aren't you?"

He placed his limbs down on the floor as he directly looked at his friend. His eyes were shaky and blinking constantly, trying to deal with the flood of emotions coming from him. Kagami wasn't exactly sure how to handle this. Tsukasa might come whining to her twin from time to time, but this was a much different situation.

"Kagami…"

"Yes?"

In a quick burst of speed, he moved his knees forward as he wrapped her arms around her. He placed his head next to hers, partially resting his chin on her shoulder. Kagami blushed as she wasn't expecting this thing at all. A simple game retrieval turning into such a monumental moment? The teenager hugging her felt completely unnecessary but soothing at the same time. They were both confessing things at the time. Inori looked on in awe and amazement. Her sister was having a romantic moment right before her very eyes. She wanted to interfere, but she just couldn't ruin the atmosphere.

"Kaito-san…" She squeaked.

"Kagami, I don't ever want to lose you as a friend. You and Kona-chan are just so precious to me…I would be a fool to ignore you. I don't ever want to do anything to hurt you!"

The twin-tailed girl felt even more confused than ever before. This feeling of devotion had felt so foreign to her. But now, Kaito had admitted that he had cared dearly for Konata and herself. She was used to Tsukasa and Miyuki caring this much, but a boy? Someone they had known for a miniscule amount of time compared anyone else? The emotion coming from his body was being melting away at Kagami's tough exterior.

When she was embraced by the hug, she didn't know how to react. Her arms had been freely in the air the entire time. However, she knew now where to rest her limbs. They slid slowly from Kaito's sides towards his back. He smiled, knowing how his tsundere friend could now understand the pain writhing in him. He might of carried too deeply for this, but the fear of losing great female friends like them would be too much to bare.

On a different side of the wall, Inori watched as her sibling and the boy hugged. She smiled immensely seeing such a lovely spectacle before her eyes. She sighed happily knowing that Kagami had good friends.

"Aww…" She thought as she watched the two. "Kagami sure is lucky. Someone cute like him being all attached to her? Definitely makes me want to see where this is going."

But the happiness didn't last long. From the side of Kaito's pocket, the room echoed in the sounds of a hardcore, melodic death metal guitar riff.

The two backed away still blushing at the incredible experience. They had a hard time looking at each other, too embarrassed to comment. Kagami simply looked over her manga, while Kaito tended to his vibrating cell phone. As he flipped it open, the guitar ended, introducing a new voice.

"Hello?" Kaito said.

"Kaito-kun?" A weak voice said from the other side of the phone.

"Oh, Kona-chan. How are you?"

"Hmm? Konata called?" Kagami asked.

"I'm fine. Hey listen, I just wanted to apologize for what happened earlier."

"Oh?" Kaito questioned with new found enthusiasm.

"Yeah. It was silly of me to argue over the QUO cards."

"Hehe, its fine."

"Everyone has their own way of collecting things. I shouldn't bother you for using the cards for one of their wonderful purposes."

As much as Kaito wanted to say on that, he simply brushed it's off. "It's fine. You make enough money, you can spend that money freely."

"A little too complimentary, eh, Yasuhiro?" Kagami grinned from the conversation. Kaito motioned telling her to keep quiet and to ignore everything.

"Oi, is Kagamin with you?"

"Yeah, she is. I went to pick up the game."

"Oh, well this is perfect. I was actually thinking about inviting you to come shopping with me again tomorrow. But I want you to meet up at my café."

"Really?" He said. He really wanted to go to that cosplay café and he finally now how the opportunity. After Comiket, he definitely needed to see Konata and Patricia in more cute outfits.

"Sure, I can do that." He covered the bottom part of the phone. "You want to come Kagami?"

"Yeah, me and Tsukasa can probably go."

"Ok then, Kona-chan. We'll be coming."

"That's good. Invite anyone else you can. See you tomorrow!"

"Good bye!"

Kaito said as he pressed the end button on his cell phone. The two friends smiled at each other knowing they'll have a day of great fun. He went towards the corner of the room, trying to balance his games and purchases all at the same time. But as he tried to hold everything together, he noticed something very off about the door.

"Oi…is the door supposed to be open like that?"

Kagami glanced at the door, also seeing that it was slightly cracked open. She blushed even more as she began flailing her arms like crazy.

"Inori!" She screamed.

At the moment, the older sister panicked realizing she had been caught. She took the opportunity to run to a different side of the house. Predictably, Kagami pushed her door open trying to find her red-violet haired sister. Kaito felt a bit uneasy as he left the house from that day. His emotions were discovered by some random girl, but at least he was now safe in the hearts of his friends.


Nothing much to say here...Chapter 13 will probably be more balanced as I have planned that one out for a good amount of time. I also wonder how many people have spotted the various references in the story...but that can be for another time.

Thanks for Reading and Please Review!