Early AN: A review is answered to the best of my ability in the end-of-chapter AN.

Disclaimer: I do not own Lucky Star or any of the characters/plot points/dialogue associated with it and other franchises.

Of Galge and Imaginary Friends

Chapter 22

Last time in Of Galge and Imaginary Friends…

Under his daughter's unusually furious glower, Soujirou cowered, an action repeated by the figures on the several computer screens set up in the living room.

"I ask again:" the teenager growled, "do I make myself clear?"

"Y-yes," each of those she was addressing responded. They all knew of the pain Endless Eight could cause; they'd experienced it before, though not yet at Konata's hands. It was a test they all had to take, and none of them wanted to go through with it again.

Well, they'd all sat through it except for the occupant of a lone video feed, easily the eldest of the group, who just giggled animatedly at the entire situation.

Kanata -FM01-

"Are you sure this is safe, Kanata?"

"Of course, Ane-sama!"

Crack! Crumble…

"…That didn't sound safe. And stop calling me '-sama'."

"Sure, Ane-sama, and don't worry! We're almost there!"

"Really? It doesn't seem-Oh my! This view is amazing!"

"It is. …Just think, this is just one building in one city. When I grow up, I want to travel the world to find places even more beautiful than this!"

"Hah? That sounds troubling and tiresome. Why'd you wanna do that?"

"Eh?! Come on, Ane-sama! Even you would like that!"

"Meh, it's too much work."

"Ane-sama~!"

"Ane-sama…"

"What's up?" asked Kagami, a Pocky stick stuck out from the corner of her mouth. "I thought that going to your daughter's party would've had you juggling kitchen knives in front of the family or something like that out of sheer excitement."

It sounded like a fun idea, but, after the argument that, despite occurring over a month before, still vividly replayed itself in the spirit's mind quite often, Kanata would rather remain bored than go through with it. Instead, she sighed. "I am, Kaga-chan, but I'm also…a little worried about Ane-sama."

"…'Ane-sama'? Whatever. What about her?"

"Konata said that she's been traveling the world since my death. That doesn't sound like her at all."

Kagami took a second to reply, though that might have been because she was still studying. "Maybe she felt she needed to get away?"

"Ane-sama would've said, 'Meh, it's too much work to try to avoid Kanata's death by running away,' before even thinking about leaving."

"…How would she-no, before that, your sister sounds as irresponsible as her niece."

That caused Kanata to giggle, but she was still rather distracted. Put simply, it was rather strange feeling both very excited and very worried at the same time, but, as the only spirit she knew of, Kanata already had quite a few strange aspects about her. This was just a deformed and mutated blue cherry on the sundae of her unlife-the spirit half-heartedly giggled again at the comparison, drawing a curious glance from the room's living occupant. This didn't make the feeling(s) any less weird, but she knew how to deal with them.

A dose of normalcy was needed, and it came in the form of a flustered Tsukasa.

"O-Onee-chan…" she whispered, looking around frantically for unwanted listeners, but, naturally, completely missing the only one around-Kanata. "Um…I forgot to go to the store on the way home…"

Kagami, who had just finished studying, sighed around another Pocky stick. "Distraction?"

"Ah, yes," was the embarrassed reply, though its mutterer brightened considerably at the exasperated nod from her sister.

"I thought you'd gotten over this, but I'll try." Looking up under the pretense of stretching, though, allowed the twintailed twin to give Kanata a look that said, "If you don't help me with this, I'll knock you through the wall."

At least, that's how she chose to interpret it…

…and, apparently, she interpreted wrong.

"What the hell are you doing?" was the furious whisper Kagami shot toward the spirit, whose hands were suspiciously close to a hanging picture frame.

"Well," she began, "Tsu-chan needs a distraction, right? I was just going to-"

"No. Just no. Let me handle this, like usual."

"But, Kaga-chan, I'm bored and excited and worried and tingly and-actually, I think that's it."

Kagami paused for a second, giving Kanata another look-this one looked like a "We're going to have a long, fun-filled game session later," though the ghost doubted this was what her hauntee actually meant-before saying, "You're not throwing a family photo and blaming it on me just so Tsukasa can buy more Pocky."

"She also needs some balsamic vinegar for something, though I didn't hear what."

"When did-whatever. Just don't cause any trouble." And, with those accursed words, the long-haired Hiiragi daughter approached the living room. "Okaa-san, could you-Matsuri, where's Okaa-san?"

Kanata stuck her head through the wall out of curiosity-something she giggled a little at simply due to how absurd such an action would be were she corporeal. As Kagami had said, the middle sister sat in the room, where she had likely been watching the now-muted television, though, now, she was gazing at her younger sibling with a bit of annoyance. Just as Matsuri was about to say something, though, she froze, staring into the blue-violet eyes of her sister. When the resident spirit saw exactly what the troublemaker of the sisters was looking at, she entered another giggle fit.

Those who know the entire Hiiragi family-really just limited to Misao, Ayano, and the family itself, as the twins' other friends hadn't spent much time around them yet and the older two sisters nearly always visited their friends instead-tended to notice the obvious personality differences between Kagami and Matsuri, forgetting that they are, in fact, related, as well as have many similar experiences. These similarities gave rise to others.

Just as Matsuri was a consummate troublemaker, so too did the older twin have a…conniving streak.

Kagami, ignoring Kanata's giggles, shifted from, as the spirit knew them, her "I have a fun-filled plan" face to her "I'm going to strangle you with your own spinal cord" one. "Matsuri…" she growled lowly, fists clenched, face lowered, and entire body trembling. "That's my shirt."

It actually was, though Kanata wasn't particularly surprised; not only did the middle sister often pilfer her siblings' closets, Kagami had, at one point, confided that she actually knew of several of her things still in Matsuri's possession that only stayed there for situations like this. There was a time when Tsukasa needed near-weekly "distractions," after all, in order to quickly fix mistakes.

Not for the first time, Kanata wished for popcorn; the show would be magnificent.

And it was. So magnificent, in fact, that it lasted more than the forty minutes Tsukasa needed, ended up involving the entire family (including Tsukasa, who was dragged in after she returned, family none the wiser, and simply stared blankly when she wasn't trying to calm her twin down), and resulted in nearby civilians calling the police out of concern.

"Like I said: magnificent!" Kanata said, sighing in happiness. As she'd predicted, the "normalcy" of the argument had calmed her down.

Kagami snorted from her place by the bookshelf. "You're lucky I wasn't grounded for that, you know. If it had lasted any longer, we wouldn't be able to go to Konata's party."

"So you're looking forward to it, too?" the ghost asked in a teasingly knowing tone.

"I don't even want to know how you reached that conclusion."

"You didn't answer, Kaga-chan~!"

"And I was literally about to strangle Matsuri, anyway," continued Kagami as if Kanata hadn't said anything. "I'm still not quite sure how it got so out of hand. It was almost like…something was egging them on."

The twintailed miko's glare had little effect on the resident spirit, who just giggled a bit before answering, "I didn't do anything."

It wasn't true, of course; she made sure the other members of the family were annoyed by hiding small items, like cell phones, in strange, out-of-reach places. Kanata interpreted that earlier look as a plea for help, after all, and she was perfectly willing to give it.

"Kaga-chan…"

"…mmph…"

"Kaga-chan…"

"Nmph…"

"Kaga-chan!"

"What?!" Kagami whisper-yelled, finally lifting her head off the pillow.

"Come on, Kaga-chan! I don't want to be late!"

"Late?! It's not for another-twelve hours?! It's two in the freaking morning, dammit!"

"Ah, is it?" replied Kanata. "Oh, you're right. I didn't even notice that it's still dark."

Ker-znap!

"Ow! That hurt!"

"Let me sleep!"

"When did you learn to control it? Actually…how was that even able to hit me?" Kanata was able to amuse herself with that line of thought for the next four hours.

Later that day, Kanata managed to drag-figuratively, since doing it literally would probably mean dealing with Ghostbusters International- Kagami and, by extension, Tsukasa to the Izumi house several minutes early. This, incidentally, had an amusing side-effect.

"Onee-chan is really eager to see Kona-chan," the short-haired twin had commented, causing the ghost to giggle and the twintailed girl to discretely whack her ever-present spirit companion.

At the moment, though, the trio stood before the front door. Kagami's fist was raised, poised to knock, but she hesitated, as if steeling herself to do something she didn't want to.

Kanata knew otherwise. "I could knock if you want me to, Kaga-chan," she said in her most teasing tone.

A subtle yet potent glare, not enough to stop the ghost's giggles, preceded the sound of a fist against wood.

"Ah, Konata," the visitors heard from inside, "those must be your-"

Thwang!

"Gah! My own daughter…with a frying pan…in the kitchen!"

Kanata giggled at Soujirou's and Konata's antics, while Kagami gave the door a weird look and Tsukasa stared in wide-eyed shock.

"Behave," the nearly unrecognizably deadpan voice of Konata said, causing Kagami's eyebrow to rise in curiosity; it wasn't the blue-haired teenager's usual tone, after all, and it truly did make her sound like a different person.

Almost to prove the point, Tsukasa asked uncertainly, "Was that…Kona-chan?"

Her question was answered when the door was opened by Kanata's daughter herself, barefoot and wearing pajamas and an apron. Upon seeing who it was, her v-frown turned into the cat-grin she inherited from Soujirou's side of the family. "Ah, hello, Kagami, Tsukasa!" she exclaimed happily. "Oh, and that's Miyuki-san, too, over there! Come in, come in!"

After being dragged inside-literally, this time, though Kanata wasn't quite sure how Konata had gotten the three teenagers inside in this manner with only her two tiny hands-the group was led past the downed Soujirou ("Oh, Sou-kun," Kanata commented warmly) into the kitchen, where the birthday girl had apparently been cooking. For the most part, it seemed done, with dishes arranged in a seemingly random pattern across the table.

"Okay," Konata began after necessary greetings, glomps, and whacks to the head had occurred, "there are a few things I should probably mention before my family arrives."

The look on Kagami's face seemed to Kanata like it was saying, "What, don't stay in the same room as them alone?" though the twintailed miko didn't actually say anything.

However, the gamer girl apparently picked up on it. Or, rather, read it perfectly as if the older twin had actually spoken. "Well, I wouldn't say that, but there are a few things you probably shouldn't do or mention around most of them. Miyuki-san, you should probably avoid tripping or making it any more obvious that you're a moe character. Tsukasa should probably…ah, there's nothing I think you can do, really. Kagami, however-"

"What?" said girl irritably replied. "I'm not going to force myself to act differently, if that's what you're going to say."

Konata shook her head quite fervently. "No, no, Kagami, nothing like that. Just…don't mention that you're a tsundere-"

"Allegedly."

"-or that you're a miko-Tsukasa should note that, too-or…actually, I can't think of anything else right now; I'll get back to you."

"Great," Kagami sarcastically replied.

"Wait…no, there's no way…but…" Konata glanced up at her friends. "No, every precaution…"

"What are you going on about?" the twintailed girl interrupted.

"Ah, just a precaution, you see," was the vague reply. "Say, what are you three's birthdays."

Miyuki was the first to reply. "October 25, Sergeant."

"July 7th."

A thump came from the doorway, where Soujirou had collapsed again, this time from shock. Konata, herself, wasn't doing much better. She staggered back, crossing herself, except that it wasn't a cross; it was an "H." "Tanabata…on Tanabata…" the stunned girl muttered to herself, before managing to gather herself again. "Definitely don't mention that," she said, before her mouth returned to a frowning position "I'd like to avoid locking most of my family up, though that seems less and less likely the more I watch Otou-san."

Kanata turned, saw what her daughter was talking about, and began giggling again. Soujirou was trying to combine worshipfully bowing to the Hiiragi twins with making a crawling retreat from his daughter's pan-wielding anger.

AN: That's this chapter done! It's longer than normal, this time, though I honestly don't know why. Actually, this AN will be longer than normal, too.

The reason for this is something I've hoped would happen almost since I started this, and I have s1886x to thank for it. No, seriously, it literally made my day when I saw it. You don't have to worry about your review causing me to abandon this story or its schedule. If anything, that you cared enough to write such a long review is encouraging.

Many points-most, if not all, of them good-were brought up, and I'm sorry to say that, due to spoilers, I can't reply to a lot of them. What I will say about them is this: a few of your points I had already thought about and are already part of the story plan, and a few of them I hadn't thought about even though I should've. The latter category were, to me, the most helpful, the ones that assisted in solidifying the storyline in ways I hadn't considered yet, so thank you very, very much for that.

Something I can talk about is part of the Kagami-Kanata relationship. Before I begin, I would like to mention that I did end up taking a lot of artistic liberty with Kanata's character simply because she's barely featured in canon. Now, with that out of the way…

All the way back in the Prologue, little Konata's age was mentioned; in this fanfiction, she was two when Kanata died, which means that Kagami was near or already two as well (which one it is…well, that'd be spoilers). This chapter ends close to two in the afternoon on the day of Konata's sixteenth birthday, which leaves nearly fourteen years, from toddler to teenager, of forced togetherness and relationship evolution for Kanata and Kagami. This can be seen several times, most noticeably earlier in the story where it was explicitly pointed out. Furthermore, in Konata -NA- at the very least, it was mentioned that Kanata, even before her death, had a "teasing mode." Basically, sometime in the decade-plus-four she'd spent with the twintailed Hiiragi, it became the norm for her interactions with Kagami for various reasons (an explanation would be a good idea for a filler chapter if/when I need one again, actually…). This, though it might not seem so, isn't done without Kagami's input. It probably wasn't anything like, "Hey, Kaga-chan, can I spend the next decade teasing you incessantly?" "Sure!" However, in the anime, at least, Kagami has her (probably disproportionate against her) poking at Konata, but, so far, only Kanata's teasing (and Konata's) has really been shown. Unfortunately, I can't yet reveal reasons for this or why Kagami bears with it, as it has something to do with the points I thanked you very, very much for earlier. When it comes up, though, I'll try to remember to mention this review again.

Lastly, as a vague cover-all for everything else because spoilers, I find that I must mention 1) that the brain is a wonderful thing and 2) each chapter, despite being written in third person, is in each character's point of view.

Things should happen over the next, I don't know, three or four story arcs that ultimately pertain to your other concerns. Until then, I hope you can bear with me while the plot unfolds, and, once again, thank you very, very much for your review.

Wow, this is the first long AN in a while! Anyway, thank you very much for all of the reviews, comments, follows, and favorites thus far, with special thanks to s1886x! Here's a preview for the next chapter, Chapter 23, Kagami -FM02-:

Next time in Of Galge and Imaginary Friends, something shocking approaches.

'Of everything she had prepared herself for, this was not one of them. Kagami turned to face the new arrival, a strange combination of intense curiosity and utter dread coursing through her.'

What could this mean? Find out Friday!