Chapter 53: The identity of... wait, what?
Hey all, been a while! Again! Again! Got stuck again, more stuff getting stacked on, losing time, yada yada. ANYWAY! I haven't read either of those stories Red, but I have read Artemis Fowl. Love that book series, but I haven't read any of them in years. Mutant, I do indeed have a reason I handled Inori and Matsuri that way, but you're off on the reason. Again with Tsuki being too obvious... Maybe, maybe not. Yes Sqweebs. I did. Yeah, I know the original ending (For all those who care, Simba gets killed by Scar and Pride Rock was swallowed in flames, killing everyone. Shakespearean indeed.) Yeah, I'm not showing that to Tsukasa. Do you want to break her? Huh? Is that what you want? She hated two deaths, can you imagine her reaction to EVERYONE'S death? Talk about a blue screen of death moment... Maybe later, but not now. So, here it is! New chapter! Woo~!
POV Konata
"Uh... Kan-kan..." Konata mumbled. The three of them had all gone to a fast food restaurant, so as not to wait too long. When Tony had ordered way too much food for the three to possibly eat, the two girls laughed. Tony didn't. He was currently almost finished with all of it, and didn't look like he was about to slow down.
"I thought he was joking..." Kagami said.
"He really is gonna eat all of my tournament winnings." Konata said. "Uh... Hey Kan-kan, I kinda had plans for that money... so could you please try not to eat all of it?" Konata asked. Tony barely slowed down enough to answer her.
"Hungry." He merely replied. Konata sighed.
"I'm gonna tell Tsukasa what said you about Mom when we left the hospital if you eat too much." Konata said. Tony stopped cold.
"You wouldn't." He said. While him calling their mother hot could be told to Tsukasa without it being TOO bad since he had meant it to be a compliment to the twins, he knew Konata could make it seem really bad by simply omitting that part.
"I would and will. I really have big plans for that money, so I kind of need it." Konata said. Tony sighed.
"Fine." Tony sighed. "Then this will be my last burger." He said, practically finishing it in three huge bites. "I'm surprised you still remember that." Tony sighed.
"What?" Kagami asked.
"Well, I figured it could come in handy eventually." Konata smiled.
"What? What did Tony say?" Kagami asked.
"Now if I told you that, I'd be going back on my deal, now wouldn't I?" Konata giggled. "Well, I finished a while ago and so did Kagamin." Konata said. "Shall we go see Tsukasa and the other two?" Konata asked. Tony nodded.
"I'm good with that." He said.
"So, it's been a while since they went to the movies, it's probably been over for a bit. Where do you think they went?" Kagami asked.
"We could wonder about that. Or I could just use her necklace to track her." Tony said.
"Oh yeah..." Kagami said.
"Forgot you could do that already." Konata giggled a bit. "Alright, where is she?" Konata asked. Tony closed his eyes and began to concentrate. A moment went by as he used the thin string of energy that would call him in times of danger to find Tsukasa.
"... Got it... We'll need to take a subway train to get to where she is." Tony said, opening his eyes again.
"Oh boy..." Kagami mumbled. "Anyway we can... avoid... the subway?" Kagami asked. Tony turned to her, confused.
"What's wrong with the subway?" Tony asked. Konata scratched the back of her head ruefully.
"Well..." Kagami began, but trailed off.
"LAST time we went on the subway, you and Tsukasa broke up." Konata finished for her. "The time before THAT, I had to punch you in the stomach or we would have missed our stop." Konata said.
"And? You don't think either of those is gonna happen this time, do you?" Tony asked, an incredulous look on his face.
"We're just saying. Since we met you, we can't seem to take a ride on the subway without something huge happening." Kagami said.
"Huge stuff already happened today. Matsuri and Inori are together, Masuta and Miyuki are together, stuff happened today. What do you guys think is gonna happen?" Tony asked. "We've already been attacked by future assassins and gone through a huge training montage. I don't think we have anymore room for major developments today." Tony said. The two girls sighed collectively.
"Alright..." Kagami said. "I guess we should go then." She smiled.
"Cool! Let's go surprise them!" Konata cheered.
"Um... I actually kind of told her we were coming..." Tony mumbled.
"Wait, you can do that too?" Konata asked. Tony nodded.
"I was already close enough to touch her mind, so I figured 'Why not?'." Tony said, shrugging.
"Aw... Oh well." Konata said. The three got up and left the fast food place. "And you couldn't have asked her what they were doing?" Konata asked.
"Didn't think of it at the time..." Tony chuckled. Konata sighed, but Kagami spoke before she could.
"Man... A lots already happened today..." Kagami smiled. "You guys fought."
"I died." Tony offered. Kagami chuckled, imagining he was exaggerating.
"Then I was training, then Inori and Matsuri..." Kagami said.
"A yuri, incest pairing." Konata said.
"Admittedly odd, but even that has it's fandom." Kagami said.
"You being a part of." Konata said.
"Shut up." Kagami said. "How would you know that, anyway?" Kagami asked.
"When you were imagining yourself sleeping with Tsukasa and Tsuki." Konata giggled. Kagami opened her mouth and began to point at Konata accusingly, but her words were cut off. Her cheeks turned red. And~... She's imagining it again. Konata giggled harder. The sound brought Kagami back to reality. She crossed her arms and cleared her throat. She seemed to recompose herself.
"That isn't my fault." Kagami said.
"Oh? And why is that?" Konata asked. Kagami sighed.
"Because... Every time I see Tsukasa, all I can think is..." Here, she looked at Konata a little forcefully. "My little sister can't be this cute." She said. Konata laughed loudly.
"Kagami, when you say it like that, I can't tell if you're serious or just making a reference!" Konata said.
"Well, now you know how I feel." Kagami said. Konata stared at Kagami for a moment.
"Seriously. Do you think that?" Konata asked. Kagami giggled.
"Guess you'll never know~." Kagami said in a sort of sing-song voice. Konata groaned.
"Come on Kagamin~! I wanna know if I have a chance at getting a threesome with the Hiiragi twins!" Konata shouted. Tony put a hand on her shoulder.
"Kon-kon, I'd imagine you have about as much chance as me in that regard." Tony said. "But seriously, do you remember everything Kon-kon?" Tony asked. Konata scratched the back of her head.
"Everything important, yeah. And my time with you all is more important than anything." Konata smiled. Tony chuckled.
"Glad to hear. Let's go make some more memories, huh?" Tony said as the three arrived at the subway. The three boarded the train Tony specified and sat down in three conveniently empty seats directly across from the door. Kagami yawned.
"Kona~... I guess all that training really got to me..." Kagami mumbled.
"Take a nap, Kagamin." Konata said. Kagami smiled warmly and laid her head on Konata's shoulder.
"Is this okay Kona?" Kagami asked. Konata smiled.
"Wonderful." She said, enjoying Kagami's close presence. Kagami's breathing soon became slow and rhythmic. Konata looked over at her taller girlfriend. She looked all the parts a sleeping beauty. She did truly look exhausted. "Kan-kan, do you think you can do something to help her sleep so the subway doesn't wake her up?" Konata asked.
"I'll do my best." Tony said. He cast a spell that would keep Kagami asleep through an earthquake. He made it so that if she were hurt or if there were an injury to her, she would wake back up. Of course, he would release the spell once they hit their station. But this would make her sleep more peaceful. "It's done. She'd sleep through a volcano as long as it didn't hit her." Tony said.
"Thanks a lot, Kan-kan." Konata smiled. She sighed. "Wonder what Tsukasa is doing." Konata said.
"I don't know. I can't think of anything around where she was." Tony said.
"About how close will the train get us?" Konata asked.
"Pretty close, actually. We should only be about ten minutes away." Tony said.
"Cool." Konata said. The two fell silent for a time, listening to the random conversations on the subway. They could hear a few mumbles and whispers concerning the fact that they two had just won a tournament earlier that day, but they did their best to ignore them. "Could you do that thing where we wouldn't be recognized again?" Konata asked.
"They've already seen us. It wouldn't really help." Tony said. "It'd be like we just disappeared into thin air and were replaced by a few random nobodies." Tony said.
"Well that wouldn't do." Konata said. "Maybe you should name a move after them." Konata said.
"Ha ha, very funny, ho ho, it is to laugh." Tony laughed humorlessly. Suddenly, the train quieted down. They could hear a huge crash somewhere nearby. Tony and Konata began looking around as people began crowding the windows to look.
"What's going on?" Someone asked.
"A movie?" Another suggested as the train arrived at the station. Another crash rocked the train, almost jostling Kagami awake. The door opened to reveal a large portion of the station was only occupied by two people. One looked scarily familiar, but the other was someone neither of them had seen before. Tsuki landed in front of them, but she looked different. Her hair was a ghostly white instead of its usual color. She turned and saw them.
"Oh! Hey guys..." She was breathing very heavily. "This guy was asking questions about Tony, but I didn't feel like answering." Tsuki huffed. "After that, he attacked me..." Tsuki said. The man across from her saw Tony. His eyes widened.
"H-How are you alive?" He asked. "Beating the three of those idiots is unbelievable enough, but there's no possible way you could beat Kia!" He shouted. "Even with this girl's help!" He shouted.
"Kia? Who's that?" Tony asked, standing up. Konata stayed seated, but grew very tense. She wanted to stay put and try to protect Kagami if it got to that point. The man stared at Tony for a moment.
"You'd know her if you saw her." He said in a deadpan sort of way.
"I never saw any Kia." Tony said. "Each of my opponents introduced themselves, but there was no Kia there." Tony said. The man looked pissed.
"Damn it, what is that girl doing?" He said. "No matter, then she will never get the chance." He said. A shine came over him as if he were dipped in gloss. Tony cursed.
That damn armor again... I practically died the last time I had to break it. Tony thought. He also didn't have Tsukasa there to heal him if he had to do it himself. He glanced back at Konata, who was ready to grab Kagami and get her out of the way in case something happened. Tony understood, as the girl hadn't been in the line of fire before. He also recognized a certain glare from Konata.
"I told you." It practically screamed. Tony shrugged. He thought he'd made a good argument. He turned back to the man, who was ready to attack. Tony grunt and was about to press off the ground. Suddenly, it was like he was electrified as he hit the ground outside the train, on one knee. His body wouldn't move. The pain was incredible.
Damn it... not now... He cursed himself. The man laughed.
"At least those idiots did SOMETHING right!" He shouted. "Now I can take my time." He chuckled. Tony glanced over at Tsuki. Her hair was back to normal and she was on her rear. The pipe that she had been using for a weapon was rolling away.
She must have some sort of transformation or something... We must have talked too long and it ran out I guess. Tony thought. That left Konata to take care of the man and Tony knew that even though she had had time to recover, she was in no way able to take him. Well... shit. Tony thought. The man saw Konata staring at him.
"Maybe I'll start with your friends." The man smiled. Tony glared angrily at him and tried to stand up. He met nothing by the pavement. The man laughed as he picked up the pole from where Tsuki had been rolling away. He stared directly at Kagami. On seeing Konata getting up, he threw the pole with such uncanny accuracy that it would impale Kagami through the forehead. Faster than Konata could move, they heard the pole impale something. Konata's head shot back to her girlfriend. "What?" The man asked. Konata let out a relieved breath. Kagami seemed to have moved in her sleep. "How did I miss?" He shouted.
"Kona... you shouldn't eat that..." Kagami mumbled in her sleep.
"Was that just an accident?" The man asked. Konata began thinking quickly. The train was in panic, but no one was going anywhere near the door. She couldn't move left or right with Kagami asleep like this. Konata was legitimately surprised that she had been able to sleep through all of this. She heard the snap of metal and looked back at the man as he threw another piece of pole. Kagami's head moved back towards the first just in time to dodge the other pole. Her head, however, was now caught between the two. Konata decided she'd take her chances and grabbed Kagami, trying to jerk her away as a final snap was heard. She was caught with her head between the poles however, and Konata couldn't pull too hard without seriously hurting her. Kagami would have to be moved forward. As Konata moved to do so, the final piece of pole came flying. This time, there was no dodging. And no need. "WHAT?" The man yelled as Kagami caught the pole.
"Kagami?" Konata asked.
"Are you mocking me?" The man yelled angrily. He growled. "No, she's definitely asleep." He said. Kagami stood up drowsily, though her eyes were still closed. There was an entirely other presence to her now, though. Konata was almost afraid of her.
POV Tsukasa
Tsukasa walked back over to the couch as she finished her rendition of Valentine's Day Kiss. While Mikado and Tereya liked it, something seemed notably missing from it for Tsukasa. She shrugged.
"That's was awesome Tsu-chan!" Mikado shouted.
"V-very cute..." Tereya mumbled. Tsukasa scratched the back of her head and giggled a little.
"Really, I didn't do very good... You guys are much better." Tsukasa said. Mikado spoke up again.
"No way! That was the best performance ever!" Mikado shouted. She seemed to be trying to speak genuinely. Tereya put her head down a little so that her hair covered her eyes. She got up and walked over to the machine, as it was her turn to perform. Tsukasa went and sat next to Mikado.
"Mika-chan, why are you acting like this?" Tsukasa asked.
"What do you mean?" Mikado asked. "Acting like what?"
"Well... All the compliments and the... physical contact... why?" Tsukasa asked. Mikado giggled a bit.
"'Cause I like you, Tsu-chan!" Mikado said cheerfully. Tsukasa, while the statement made her a bit happy, tried to stick the script she had thought of on the way there. She had noticed Mikado paying more attention to her and less to Tereya, and it was showing in the shy girl's demeanor.
"But you realize that you're making Teri-chan feel uncomfortable, right?" Tsukasa asked. Mikado sighed. "You do, right?" Tsukasa asked a bit more forcefully.
"Why should I care?" Mikado asked. Tsukasa stiffened up. "And why should she care what I do? It isn't like we're dating or anything." Mikado said. Tsukasa jerked almost violently. Tereya turned to see them for a moment, but they both smiled and clapped for her to continue. She smiled shyly and continued. Meanwhile, Tsukasa thought about what Mikado had said. There had been a certain tone in her voice that Tsukasa could tell would cut Tereya deeply if she had heard them. Tsukasa was not in the least amused.
"What... did you just say?" Tsukasa asked.
"It isn't like me and Teri-chan are girlfriends or anything. Why should it matter if I choose to flirt a little with someone, have a little fun?" Mikado asked. Tsukasa was stunned a little at what the girl in front of her told her.
"I... can't believe you... I thought you liked Teri-chan... I thought you loved her!" Tsukasa said, barely managing to keep her voice below the level of music and, thus, out of earshot of the subject of their conversation.
"Well... I do." Mikado said. "But if she doesn't return my feelings... Then what else is there for me to do? I can't force her to love me back." Mikado said. Tsukasa sighed and thought. It was, after all, true that if Tereya didn't fall in love with Mikado, there wasn't much Mikado could do to FORCE her to love her. However, she could also tell that Mikado's attitude and behavior certainly weren't helping her cause.
"No, you can't." Tsukasa said. "Believe me, I went through something kind of like that with Kan-kun..." Tsukasa sighed.
"Hm? What do you mean?" Mikado asked.
"I didn't think he liked." Tsukasa said. "So I tried to force it by having him make me a potion. One that would make me look beautiful to him." Tsukasa said.
"Well, obviously it worked. Think he could whip me up one?" Mikado asked. Tsukasa shook her head.
"No. It... didn't work as intended. In fact, all it really did was probably hinder it. Love is something that you can't force." Tsukasa said. Mikado nodded.
"See?" Mikado said.
"But..." Tsukasa began. Mikado began paying even more attention. "When love it true..." She smiled here. "It finds a way." She said, looking at Mikado. "The way you're behaving isn't helping you at all. If you and Teri-chan are really meant to be together, then it will happen. Eventually. If you're not, then you have to respect that." Tsukasa said. "But... I think that either way, Teri-chan relies on you a lot more than you might think." Tsukasa said.
"So what do I do, Tsu-chan?" Mikado asked desperately. Tsukasa smiled.
"Just be you. Be the same person you've always been. Be the person who fell in love with Teri-chan. The person who is always there for her." Tsukasa said.
"But that's the person who got rejected." Mikado pointed out. Tsukasa looked at her.
"Wait... You mean... You've already confessed?" Tsukasa asked. Mikado sighed and nodded.
"I confessed a couple of years ago. She said... It wouldn't work." Mikado said. Tsukasa gasped.
"I'm... sorry. I didn't realize..." Tsukasa said.
"I think the worst of it though... Was that nothing really changed after that." Mikado said.
"But your relationship wasn't ruined, right?" Tsukasa asked. "Doesn't that say something?"
"I suppose. But she treated it like nothing happened. She ignored it and treated me the exact same as if I had never confessed." Mikado said. Tsukasa sighed a bit.
"I suppose I can understand how that would be irritating to be rejected and then ignored..." Tsukasa said.
"She didn't ignore me, just my feelings." Mikado said. Tsukasa hummed.
"Maybe... She couldn't handle it." Tsukasa said. Mikado's interest perked, she turned to Tsukasa completely.
"What do you mean?" Mikado asked.
"Well, I don't know Teri-chan as well as you do, so I'm sure or anything, but it looks like you're the only person she can really communicate with freely. She's opened to me and Kan-kun, but she talks to you without a second thought. She isn't reserved around you." Tsukasa said.
"I guess that's true..." Mikado said.
"Well, think about it. When you're really dependent on someone like that, when the only person in the world you can talk to is one person, what if something happens with that person? What if you get in a fight or something? She'd be almost cut off from the rest of the world." Tsukasa said.
"I'd never have a fight with her!" Mikado said. Tsukasa giggled.
"I can tell you first hand, you say that, but relationships also create a lot of drama... Just talking to Teri-chan for the first time made me get really protective over Kan-kun. I got super mad that he was spending so much of his time on her and not on me." Tsukasa said. "I know that Kan-kun loves me. But that didn't change the fact that I got really angry for some reason." Tsukasa said. Mikado sighed.
"I guess I understand. Teri-chan is easy to fall for." She said. Tsukasa smiled.
"But she has us now." Tsukasa said. "Maybe, with someone else to rely on in case of something like that, with someone else to confide in, there might be a chance that she'd be ready." Tsukasa said. Mikado sighed.
"I dunno. It hurt really really bad when she rejected me last time... I really don't want to risk going through that again." Mikado said.
"I understand that, but you have to!" Tsukasa said. She smiled warmly. "I think it was Onee-chan that said something like... "Love takes guts". At least, that's what Yuki-chan said she said." Tsukasa said.
"So... What should I do?" Mikado asked. Tsukasa sighed.
"Just... speak with your heart." Tsukasa said. "She'll understand." Tsukasa said. Mikado sighed.
"I sure hope so." She said. Tereya finished her song, which had been peculiarly long for some reason. Tsukasa wondered if she hadn't sung it more than once. She could recognize the very end of it as being a particular song from Hercules...
POV Konata
"Kagami...?" Konata asked.
"Che." The man spat. "I suppose I can't take my time as much as I'd like." He said. He put his hand up as pure energy shot from it in a beam. Konata went to push Kagami of the way before swiftly dodging to the side herself. However, her hand didn't hit anything as Kagami quickly dodged it.
"Here... go..." Kagami mumbled before launching through the subway door towards the man. Konata rushed over to Tony as the train pulled away in a rush. Kagami attacked in a deadly dance, landing nine major strikes to the man's armor.
"Kuh... Impossible! She shouldn't be able to keep up with me!" He shouted. "It matters not, your pitiful attacks can't break through my energy armor!" He shouted as Kagami stumbled and leaned on a wall.
"This guy doesn't have a clue..." Tsuki giggled. Kagami snorted in her sleep.
"Wall... Break?!" She said. Her pole flashed through the air, shattering time and space to tear apart the man's armor. His armor broken completely, her pole snapped in two on his shoulder.
"GAH!" He screamed. Kagami stumbled back and leaned against a pillar. "First that girl and now this one?" The station around them was luckily completely empty. "What the hell? My armor is twice as strong as that idiot Kanzen's! How can it be that some little nothing like her can break it so easily?" He questioned.
"Kon-kon..." Tony mumbled as he used what little concentration he could muster to summon the blade his mother had given him. It clanged loudly as it fell to the floor to his side. "Give Kagami the sword." He said.
"What?" She asked.
"It's obvious she can use it well! Just go ahead!" Tony said. Konata took the blade and ran over to Kagami. She held the blade out to her still sleeping girlfriend. When she didn't take it immediately, Tony spoke up. "Asleep!" He shouted.
"Right..." Konata said. She opened Kagami's hand herself and put the sword's hilt into her hand before closing her fingers around it. When Kagami gripped it, the blade turned a shade lighter, losing it's metallic look. No sooner did Konata run away than did the man pull himself together and practically explode in anger. Energy poured off of him in what was obviously a berserker power. Tony could feel the immense power coming from the man as he began channeling his power into a massive attack. He took the power into his hand.
"VERY WELL! I shall destroy this entire complex in one blow and kill ALL of you then!" The man shouted. "Take this! My ultimate power!" He shouted. He rushed at Kagami and struck with his full power behind it.
"Mmm... Useless..." Kagami mumbled as her body shone with an amazing power. Countering his attack with her own, she rammed into him. She smashed him into the wall opposite them, crushing the wall behind him. Backing up a bit, she slashed with Tony's blade. The man screamed in pain as the blade cut through him. A ball of energy formed in Kagami's hand as she put it to the man's face. Letting it go, she blasted him the face. Dust rose dramatically around the two from the impact. Kagami stumbled out of the dust before dropping the sword. She fell back, everybody being unable to catch due to paralysis of some sort between pain or awe, and hit the ground. Her head bounced off of the ground, causing her to snort violently. Her eyes shot open as she jerked awake. "Muo!" She shouted on instinct. She looked around. The dust settled to reveal a large cracked wall with a huge cut in it, though there was no body. "What... happened?" Kagami asked.
"Kagami, you..." Konata began. Kagami saw the huge crack in the wall.
"Gah! Tony, you idiot, what did..." She looked back at him. "...you..." She saw him collapsed, along with Tsuki. "...do..." She looked back at the wall again. "...Kona... Did you use your super chibi kawaii desu moe mode again?" Kagami asked.
"No, that was you." Konata said.
"Wh-...What... Ah, my head..." Kagami rubbed her head.
"You fell asleep on the subway. When we arrived, Tsuki was fighting a guy from the future that was apparently trying to ask about Kan-kan." Konata said.
"He was just about as strong as the huge dude I was fighting in the final tournament fight." Tsuki said. Tony did not look at all happy.
"Kagami." Tony growled, the pain dulling a little. "Do you realize what you did?" He asked. Kagami looked a bit scared, looking at the sword on the floor and the cut in the wall.
"What... What did I do?" Kagami asked. Tony stood up fully.
"That man had an armor, made out of energy, that he said was twice as powerful as Kanzen's. It took me the power from splitting an atom and grinding energy into him from every possible angle to break his armor, almost killing myself in the process." Tony said. "You did it by slashing." Tony said. "One slash. With a pole. Not even a sword." Tony said. "That's kind of frustrating." He said. Kagami, however, was still in a daze.
"Kagamin. You just kicked a guy's ass that had us on the ropes earlier, us having to use moves that we had never tried before today. You beat him without any effort, in your sleep." Konata said. Kagami turned to her girlfriend. Her eyes were still wide in shock. "I think... Considering that..." Konata mumbled.
"Kona..." Kagami finally spoke up. "What... who am I?" She asked, sounding terrified.
"What do you mean Kagami?" Konata asked.
"You... You said that you thought I might be an angel... Or something like that... That I had lost my memories... Or something..." Kagami mumbled. "What if you're right?" She asked. "What if... who I am... isn't me?" Kagami asked. Konata shook her head and walked over to her.
"Kagami, I was being stupid back then. Don't pay it any mind." Konata said.
"But Kona! What if I'm not me?" Kagami asked.
"You're you." Konata said. She grabbed Kagami by the shoulders. "Kagami I love you. No matter what, you're the person I love." Konata said. "You're not someone else. You're not someone with lost memories. You're Kagami Hiiragi." Konata said. Kagami stared at Konata for a moment.
"Guys..." Tony said, the pain subsiding entirely for the moment. "People are starting to come in. I put the shroud up from earlier, but I can't do it for long. I'm gonna get us out of here." Tony warned. Kagami was silent, though Konata turned to him and nodded. The four of them spun in, along with Tony's sword. Kagami and Konata barely noticed, preoccupied as they were with Kagami's existential crisis. They all hit the ground in an out of the way alleyway so that people wouldn't see four random people apparating onto the ground. While normally it wasn't an issue, after everything that had just happened in the subway, not attracting any attention to themselves would probably be a good idea. It was possibly just paranoia on Tony's part, but none of them had anywhere near the money it would probably take to fix the damaged wall, even with the tournament winnings, assuming they didn't need that money for other things like living. Tony stumbled against a wall the second he touched down. He let himself sink to the ground, beside Tsuki, who had yet to get up since she had fallen earlier.
"So..." Tsuki mumbled. "That was a thing." She said.
"What... was all of that?" Tony asked in an exhausted voice.
"Probably the same guys that tried to kill us during the tournament." Tsuki said.
"Yeah, I know that." Tony said. He looked over at the other two to see Konata still doing her best to comfort Kagami. "You know what I mean. Your hair was white. What was that?" Tony asked.
"Ehe... It's complicated..." Tsuki said. Tony sighed and looked at Kagami.
"You said "This guy doesn't have a clue.". That makes it sound like you knew what happened to Kagami. Why did she turn into a badass all of the sudden?" Tony asked. Tsuki chuckled nervously.
"Ehehe... It's REALLY complicated..." Tsuki said. Tony sighed. He could see he wasn't going to get anywhere with Tsuki. He sighed, staring as Konata tried to comfort Kagami.
"Kona, seriously!" Kagami shouted. Konata stopped and stared at her worriedly, listening. "What if? What if the real me isn't the person you fell in love with?" Kagami asked.
"Like I care!" Konata finally shouted. Kagami quieted down and looked stunned. "I don't! I really don't!" Konata shouted. Kagami started to look hurt. "Kagami, you're you. Right now, you're Kagami Hiiragi! You're not Kagami somethingelse! So I don't care if there's some other Kagami in there. Maybe there's another you named Kagami Vesperina Theotanasia Entheofushia or something. Maybe you're some princess of a different world, but that's not really you! It's a fake personality, THIS is you!" Konata said. Kagami stared for a moment and smiled a little, tears coming to her eyes. "This is the you I love!" Konata shouted. A tear ran down Kagami's cheek, her smile growing a bit. She sniffled.
"I'm having an existential crisis and you reference Negima..." Kagami giggled as she wiped some of the tears from her eyes. "As always, you can't read the situation..." She giggled, sniffling again. "You idiot." She said lovingly.
"Well, it IS one of your favorites." Konata said. "Another thing to identify yourself."
"... I'm the me that likes Negima..." Kagami said.
"You're the you that has a crush on Ne-" Konata began.
"We're having a moment here, Kona." Kagami giggled as she planted a set of knuckles on to her little lover's head.
"Hate to interrupt the moment, but..." Tony began. The two turned to him. "We're ignoring the obvious solution here." Tony said. They both cocked their head to the side simultaneously.
"Obvious?" Kagami asked.
"Yeah. Who, if anyone, would know if Kagami were either born here or somewhere else?" Tony asked. The two began thinking.
"Well, Hachiman would." Konata said.
"Did you two pick up the idiot ball?" Tony asked. "Usually when someone gives one hint, you gasp and get it immediately." Tony said. "Kagami's parents would know." Tony said.
"... Ooooooh..." The two said.
"Yeah, they would know..." Konata said.
"That being said, I think we need to focus on getting you home so we can ask. We can go to Tsukasa another time." Tony said. As the two were about to speak again, he cut them both off. "Hopefully not by the subway." Tony added. They both nodded.
"Can you teleport us?" Kagami asked. Tony shook his head.
"I can barely move. My body is beginning to crash from using the Divine Well during the fight earlier. Even if Tsukasa healed me from the damage my attack did to me, apparently it didn't do anything for the wreck my Divine Well caused." Tony said.
"So shouldn't we do our best to get to Tsukasa? She healed you from it before!" Konata said. Tony sighed.
"I suppose there's a point there, but as long as we get Kagami home, it'll be fine. I lost track of Tsukasa when we got off the subway. I could barely think since I used all my concentration to get that sword to Kagami." Tony said. He walked over and picked up the sword, inspecting it. It had returned to its previous, dull metallic white.
"Tsuki, can you heal him?" Kagami asked. Tsuki laughed nervously.
"I'm a wreck myself..." She said. "I couldn't work any magic right now if I wanted to, not to mention I'm not very good at that kind of healing..." Tsuki said.
"We get Kagami home, we ask about her past, and Tsukasa will be back eventually." Tony said. "Kagami's problem is bigger than mine is." Tony said. They sighed.
"Man. I forgot how much it kind of sucks not being able to just teleport around and stuff." Konata said. "The subway is no good, or something ELSE huge is gonna happen." She said.
"Thanks! See you in a few minutes." Kagami said.
"Kagamin?" Konata asked as Kagami hung up the phone.
"I just called Dad. I told him what happened and that we needed a ride. He's on his way." Kagami said. Konata cheered.
"That's our Kagamin! Always thinking of the best solution!" Konata threw her arms in the air. Kagami smiled.
"He should be here shortly." Kagami said.
"So Tsuki, you never did answer my question." Tony said. Tsuki chuckled nervously.
"What about?" Kagami asked.
"She seemed to know something." Tony said. Konata turned to her.
"Is that true, Tsuki?" Konata asked.
"Ehehehe..." Tsuki laughed nervously, looking at the three inquisitive faces in front of her, all staring at her. She put her hands up submissively. "A lot of stuff happened..." Tsuki mumbled. Things began to get weird again. Tony recognized it as having happened several times before. Each time, he had felt less like questioning things. This time, he felt the touch of magic. He raised a mental barrier around his mind that would prevent any tampering with his emotions. In his current condition, it was the most he could do. He felt his energy dip as he prevented something. "So Tony, are you sure you don't want to go see Tsukasa? Kagami's Dad could pick her up too! I know you're curious about what she's been doing~!" Tsuki said. Tony hummed.
"Yeah, he could pick her up!" Kagami agreed. Tony looked over at her.
Kagami wouldn't drop something like this so easily, especially if it had something to do with her past. Tony thought. He glanced at Konata.
"Is she still with Tereya and Mikado though?" Konata asked. Tony sighed.
Yeah, something happened. Tony thought. Didn't Tsuki just say she couldn't use magic again, but... I suppose she could be lying. I wonder what she's up to. Tony thought. She keeps doing something that makes us less inquisitive about things. Why? Tony wondered. He looked over at Tsuki to catch her staring at him. He jumped back a bit.
"You look confused." Tsuki said.
"I, uh... Just was wondering what Tsukasa was doing too. I didn't think to ask her earlier." Tony said. I had better play it safe. I'll pretend that whatever she did worked. Tony thought. There was a sudden beep, causing everyone to look over. Tadao sat in the driver's seat of the newest Hiiragi van and Miki in the passenger's seat. The four piled in.
"How did you get here so fast, Dad?" Kagami asked.
"You happened to call me when we were leaving from our date." Tadao chuckled as Miki giggled.
"How was it?" Konata asked.
"It was nice, as you can probably guess." Miki said before giggling again. Tony glanced to catch Konata glancing to him.
She knows. The two knew the other was thinking. Miki hummed. The two looked forward to see her staring at them through the mirror. Namely, Tony.
"That's an interesting blade you have there." Miki said. There was no smile on her face, no teasing in her voice. In fact, she sounded quite inquisitive. "Wherever did you get it?" She asked. Tony was a little uncomfortable under her stare.
"It's... complicated." Tony said hesitantly. Miki gave an almost icy stare for a moment that chilled Tony to the bone. He shuddered.
"I look forward to hearing about it later." She said sternly.
"Hey, Mom... Dad...?" Kagami began, taking her mother's interest off of Tony. Tony sighed in relief. Tadao hummed.
"Yes?" He asked. "What are you so reserved about? Are you coming out of the closet again? Because I think we covered that." Tadao said before laughing. Kagami laughed too, but mainly did so so that her father wouldn't feel so bad.
"I just want to talk to you guys when we get back home." Kagami said.
"Is Kagami an angel?" Konata asked bluntly. The entire Earth seemed to halt for a moment as Kagami's head creaked over and glared at her.
"Idiot. Why would you ask something like that so bluntly?" Kagami asked, torturing Konata with a stare.
"Well, I figured it would probably get it out of the way..." Konata scratched the back of her head.
"Of course you are Kagami!" Miki said cheerfully. Everyone save Tadao looked at her.
"Really?" Kagami asked. Miki giggled again.
"Of course! You are my daughter after all." Miki said.
"Mom, I'm serious!" Kagami said.
"Hello Serious, I'm Dad." Tadao said as dads around the world united in uproarious laughter. Kagami sighed.
"Yeah, okay. We'll see you in a minute." Tony said. "I love you too. Bye." Tony smiled. He put his phone away. "Hey, can we go get Tsukasa as well?" He asked. "I'll let you know where she is." Tony said.
"Sure thing!" Tadao said. Tony gave him the directions to the building that Tsukasa was at before refocusing on the prior conversation.
"But really Mom, Dad... Who am I?" Kagami asked. "Do I have some sort of background that I don't know about?" Tadao hummed.
"Well, there is SOMETHING, but I don't think it's what you're looking for." He said.
"What is it?" Kagami asked.
"I think we should wait for Tsukasa, as it concerns her too." Tadao said. However, now that Kagami had heard something like that, she was getting anxious. There was something about herself that she didn't know. And she wanted to. Badly. Konata put her arm around her girlfriend.
"Don't worry Kagamin. It isn't going to be too long before you know." Konata said quietly. The Tsundere barely calmed down at all, but continued to fidget around.
"So~, what's Tsu-chan doing?" Tsuki asked. The four of the people in the back continued to talk about things of little consequence, anything they could think of to keep Kagami's mind off of her past.
POV Miyuki
"So Masuta..." Miyuki began. The two had started their meal a short time ago, yet hadn't talked much. The silence, while present, wasn't awkward. Still, Miyuki wanted to know more about her new boyfriend.
"Yes Miyuki?" Masuta asked.
"What did you... use to do?" Miyuki asked. Masuta cocked his head to the side.
"Special forces, remember?" Masuta said. Miyuki shook her head.
"No, that isn't really what I meant. I mean in the interim. Between the time you stopped training Kanpeki-san and the time you came back." Miyuki said. Masuta nodded.
"Ah, gotcha." Masuta said. "Well, mostly what I did before I started with his training. I did... jobs... for the special forces. Lots of classified stuff, you'll understand." Masuta said.
"I understand. So what kind of jobs did you do?" Miyuki asked.
"But I just said..." Masuta began.
"I don't need details. Just... the kind of things you did." Miyuki smiled. Masuta sighed.
"I... don't really like to think about it. There were a lot of thing that I... didn't enjoy doing that I had to do." Masuta said. Miyuki's eyes widened as she bowed her head.
"I apologize. Once again, I didn't consider your feelings when I asked such a personal question." Miyuki said. Masuta sighed again.
"Well, it's not like you knew. Well..." Masuta said. "My jobs were mixed between special operations and off-the-books... jobs." Masuta said.
"Off the books?" Miyuki asked. Masuta stared at her for a moment.
"You're a smart girl, Miyuki." He merely said. Miyuki thought another moment. Then she realized what Masuta was saying and fell silent. "My special operations were mainly things that would have failed if any other method had been used. We were the last resort. The only real time there were other options other than us, the collateral damage would be extreme when compared to how we got it done."
"When was your last operation?" Miyuki asked.
"Just before I came here, actually. It was a big one, too." Masuta said. "I can't tell you directly what we were doing, of course, but still..." Masuta sighed. Miyuki smiled.
"You've spent so much of your life in the service of others." Miyuki said. She sighed and put a hand to her heart. "You truly are a good person." She said. Masuta smiled.
"Yeah... That "service", wasn't all good things. It wasn't exactly bringing ice cream to underprivileged orphans on Christmas." Masuta said. "Some of it, I'm really concerned ended up doing much more harm than good." He said.
"But the good you did overall outweighed the bad, didn't it?" Miyuki asked. Masuta sighed.
"I don't know." He said. "I'll never really know." He sighed and closed his eyes. "Families lost loved ones. Some of my best friends didn't make it." He said.
"But we have to believe that you did well, Masuta." Miyuki said. "You're a smart person, Masuta. You wouldn't let something you thought was wrong succeed."
"You'd be surprised." Masuta said.
"Masuta..." Miyuki mumbled.
"You'd be very surprised." He sighed. Miyuki was quieted. She felt almost uncomfortable with how resistant Masuta was to her attempts at reassuring him.
Perhaps... This is what Kanpeki-san was talking about when he said there were aspects of Masuta that I didn't know of... Perhaps I need to rethink my strategy... Miyuki thought. "Masuta, you may have done bad things in the past." Miyuki said. Masuta sighed. "There's nothing you can do about that. What's been done has been done." Miyuki said. "None of that matters." She said with strength. Masuta looked at her curiously. It wasn't like her to say something like that. He was temporarily worried he hadn't been quite clear enough of the natures of his jobs, but she seemed to get the gist.
"What do you mean?" Masuta asked.
"I don't care about any of that." Miyuki smiled.
"Then why did you ask?" Masuta asked.
"As I said, I was curious. But... I don't care that you did bad things. You're a good person now." Miyuki said. "That's what truly matters to me. If you want to know what I truly care for... What truly shapes my opinion of you?" Miyuki smiled. "It's what you do. What you do shapes your image. Your age, your past, all of you previous actions... I do care for them, but what makes me feel the way I do about you are what you do now. You're a kind and caring person. You do your best to guide your friends and their actions. You're wise and smart and always know what to say to others who need to hear it. The person who did those bad things aren't you. It can't be." Miyuki smiled. "Someone as kind as you couldn't enjoy doing things like that." Miyuki said. Masuta stared at her for a moment, his face contemplative.
"..." He continued looking. "It sounds like you just described yourself." He smiled. "Miyuki, I'm glad you feel that way." He said.
"How could I not like you Masuta?" Miyuki gave her warmest eye-smile. "With all that you've done for me and our friends... I don't think there's any girl out there that wouldn't fall for you." Miyuki said. Masuta chuckled.
"I think you're pretty much one of the only girls who would actually go for me." Masuta chuckled. "And I really don't know why." He said. Miyuki shook her head.
"I don't know why you like me, if I were to be honest." Miyuki said. "I'm clumsy, I'm not very good at housework like cooking and cleaning, my sight is worse than twenty/two hundred." She began.
"You're smart, you're clever, you're witty, you're fun, you're pretty, you're, and I must quote Konata on this one, moe." Masuta finished. Miyuki's face flushed as she closed her mouth. "You really are a huge catch. Besides, being clumsy is cute." He said. Miyuki smiled and fidgeted. "Housework? I can do that." He said. Miyuki smiled a bit wider. "And your glasses? They're just too damn adorable." Masuta said. Miyuki blushed and adjusted her glasses. "Gotta admit, I kind of have a thing for girls with glasses." Masuta chuckled. "I was going to get an email about it, but it was taken..." He sighed. Miyuki giggled.
"I'm afraid I couldn't picture you with such an... interesting email." Miyuki giggled.
"Well, you're gonna learn a lot more about me, I'm sure." Masuta said. Miyuki smiled and cocked her head to the side, looking as mild as a sheep.
"I do so look forward to learning about you." Miyuki said.
"As I am you." Masuta smiled as the two held each other's hand.
POV Tsukasa
As the Hiiragi car pulled up outside the Karaoke Cafe, Tsukasa began saying goodbye to her friends.
"Bye Mika-chan! Bye Teri-chan!" Tsukasa waved. "Mika-chan, you better remember what we talked about." Tsukasa turned serious for a moment. Tereya glanced at her friend as Mikado winked with a thumb up.
"Sure thing! Thanks for the advice Tsu-chan!" She said. Tsukasa nodded. "See ya Tsu-chan~!" Mikado waved energetically. Tsukasa smiled and got in the car. They closed the door and drove away. Tsukasa, still smiling, looked over at her frazzled sister. "Onee-chan? What's wrong? Is everything okay?" Tsukasa asked. When Kagami didn't seem to make a move to answer, Tsukasa looked to Konata, who was still holding her girlfriend.
"A lot of stuff happened." Konata said. She began to explain the situation to Tsukasa, who seemed quite upset. After all, in all of her life, Kagami had never once ignored her. She realized something huge must have happened for her to shut out her own sister like that, but it was disconcerting. First about their training session, then about their angel talk, the subway ride over, leaving out the bit about spying on everyone for obvious reasons. She then told her about what happened in the subway.
"Wait... Onee-chan... Did she...?" Tsukasa began to ask.
"No, there was no body." Tony said. He was lying a little, as the blood on splattered on the wall indicated that Kagami's cut had made contact. And the size of the cut was easily fatal. "My guess is that he was called away before the final blow was struck." Tony said. "So don't worry about it." Tony put his hand on her head.
"Onee-chan, are you saying you think..." Tsukasa began. Miki began to giggle, cutting her daughter off.
"Oh dear, is that was this is all about?" Miki asked. "You think you have some sort of mystic background?" Miki asked. Kagami looked at her mother.
"Look, Tsukasa is here now, could you tell us now?" Kagami asked.
"I'd rather wait until we're home. What I'm going to tell you is a little private." Tadao said.
"Come on, you can tell us!" Konata said.
"It's a family secret." Tadao insisted.
"But we're all family here!" Tsuki said. Tadao sighed.
"Sorry." Tadao said. Konata and Tsuki pouted. Tony could feel it in the air again. Something was happening, just like it had before when they asked Tsuki about Kagami.
"Are you sure~?" Tsuki asked. Tadao shrugged.
"Well, alright." He said. "You see, if you trace-"
"Honey!" Miki glared at him. He shook his head haphazardly.
"Sorry, don't know what came over me." He said. "Never mind." He said. Tsuki looked confused for a moment. Irritatingly, the air began to shift again. However, Miki looked in the mirror again. Directly at Tsuki. The air around them practically froze in her death glare. It wasn't even directed at him, but Tony shuddered again by being in the same atmosphere as that stare. "We're almost home, don't worry." Suddenly, it looked as if something went off in Konata's head.
"Hey Tsuki, you left with Yu-chan earlier, right?" She asked. Tsuki nodded.
"Yep, why?" She asked.
"What happened to her? She wasn't with you when the fighting broke out, was she?" Konata asked, concerned. Tsuki giggled a bit.
"She's with her Minami-chan~!" Tsuki did her best impression of Yutaka. It was actually pretty accurate. Konata sighed.
"Okay... I'm glad she wasn't there." Konata breathed a sigh of relief. "You walked her all the way there?" She asked.
"Yep! Minami was more than happy to see her. At least..." Tsuki trailed off a bit. "I think she was. She's hard to read." She sighed a bit.
"I know what ya mean..." Konata chuckled a little. "Man I feel a lot better..."
"Hey, we're home." Tadao said.
"Let's go!" Kagami said as she tore out of the car. The rest of the occupants of the vehicle hesitated for a moment.
"She does know she isn't going to find out before we even get there, right?" Miki giggled. They all exited the car and walked to the door. Upon opening it, they saw Kagami standing there with a somber expression.
"Looks like it might have to wait." She said. She looked a little tired of waiting, but that was understandable to all. They peeked into the living room to see Inori and Matsuri sitting down, facing the door. The television was off. Tadao could see how serious they were.
"Konata." He said sternly. "Do you remember what we talked about?" Tadao asked. Konata looked up.
"You mean about that... literature... you wanted me to obtain?" She asked. Tadao nodded his head. Konata turned to her girlfriend. "Kagamin, could you take me to where you brought my stuff? In that bag?" Konata asked. Kagami cocked her head to the side.
"Yeah, but how did you know?" The two left for Kagami's room. Those remaining, Tadao, Miki, Tsukasa, and Tony all stepped into the room. Tsuki seemed to think that she wasn't wanted and stayed behind in the hall.
"Dad." Matsuri spoke up. Tadao nodded. Inori stayed still with her head bowed. "I want you to listen to everything I have to say before you say anything." Matsuri said. Tadao nodded somberly.
"As you wish." He said simply. Matsuri took a moment to compose herself. After a few moments, she finally began to speak.
"Mom, Dad... I've spent the past while hanging out with Inori. We were joking around, upping weirdness and all of that..." Matsuri began, smiling. "We had fun. We saw movies together, had dinner, just enjoyed each other's company." She continued. She sighed. "Dad... I have to say it now, or I never will." She said as she stood up. "I am deeply in love with my sister, Inori!" Matsuri shouted.
"That so?" Tadao asked.
"I'm not finished yet!" Matsuri said. "I love Inori! And I don't care what you think about it either!" She shouted. "Me and her can both get a job! We'll move out and live together! We'll both find ways of supporting us and we won't have to hide our love! No one will care!" Matsuri shouted. Tadao chuckled. "What's so damn funny?" Matsuri shouted. "You don't think we can do it? I don't care what you think! Even if our love is some filthy, despicable thing! We'll leave in an instant!" Matsuri shouted.
"So leave." Tadao shrugged. Everyone in the room was stunned for a moment at his blunt order. "If that's what you want to do, then leave. But first, hear me out." He said, putting his hands up. He smiled. "I want you to read something." He said, walking over to the bookshelf. He looked around for a moment as Kagami and Konata reentered the room.
"We heard it from the hall." Kagami said. In Konata's hand was the bag full of manga and games that Kagami had gathered from her house.
"Ah, here it is." Tadao smiled as he picked out a large, old looking book. He walked over to the table in front of Matsuri and Inori and set it down. They looked down at it.
"Nihon Shoki..." Inori read. Matsuri looked at it for a moment and then back at her father. Tadao simply nodded. Matsuri and Inori opened the book and began to read.
"Mainly, sections two through four of the first part." Tadao said. The two skipped some and began reading.
"It's about the birth of Gods..." Matsuri said.
"Two of which are Izanagi and Izanami." Tadao said. Matsuri looked up.
"What does this have to do with what we were talking about?" Matsuri asked.
"Well, you see... When you two started with all of this, I decided to do a bit of research on the topic." Tadao said. "Much like I did with Kagami. However, this time I ignored what other people said. I didn't call other priests or anything like that. Frankly, that's not the issue here." Tadao said.
"I still don't get how this has anything to do with us!" Matsuri protested. Tadao chuckled again.
"Were not Izanagi and Izanami siblings?" Tadao asked. Inori, who had continued reading as if she had never read it before, looked up.
"Yeah, they were brother and sister." Inori said.
"They were also husband and wife." Tadao said. Here, he turned to Konata. "Konata, if you would." He said, holding his hand out. Konata reached into her sack and produced a manga, as well as a light novel she had taken from Kagami's room. Both had the same title as she gave them to Tadao. He, in turn, walked over and put them on the table.
"My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute..." Inori read.
"The title says it all." Tadao said. He turned to Konata again. "Another, if you would." He nodded. Konata took out another manga. She put it on the table.
"I Don't Like You At All, Big Brother!..." Matsuri read. She looked back at her father. "I still don't understand." She said.
"Incest." Tadao said. "It's in our culture, in our religion, and even modern day artists and authors accept it as a legitimate relationship. All of these books were written about the love of two siblings, both old and new!" Tadao said. "And it isn't just our culture, either! The Greek also had gods who were siblings, but they still married and had children!" Tadao said. "Is there a difference between the love you two share and the love between me and Miki?" Tadao asked, looking to his wife. She was smiling lovingly and shook her head. "No, I don't think so either." He said. "Incest is an inherited story that's passed through the generations since humanity has existed! So don't you dare call your love filthy! Don't call it despicable! Or else you're insulting the very concept of love itself and that isn't something I'm prepared to tolerate in my house!" Tadao said. "So leave if you're going to insult your love. However, if you're going to embrace this love of yours, you're always welcome in this house." Tadao said, with a big smile. Matsuri and Inori sat, completely stunned. "Of course, there's also the issue of you both being girls." Tadao chuckled. "But I think we already went through this with Kagami." Tadao glanced over at Kagami. Kagami was smiling warmly enough to heat a small room, as was everyone else.
"... I love you Dad..." Matsuri said as a tear fell from her eye. Kagami and Tsukasa both walked over and silently hugged their sisters.
"I love you too. Both of you." Tadao said. Konata looked at the scene and couldn't help but shed a few tears herself. She began to miss her own father. Then, she wished her father had been even half as understanding as Tadao had been. The family having a moment where none of them really talked, them all just hugging and enjoying each other for the moment, they passed a few moments in thankful silence. Finally, the moment passed, Tadao decided to revisit what would be the next huge thing on the agenda. He turned to Tony and Konata, who were still standing at the entrance to the room. "Konata, I want to thank you for your help. However, I'd like it if we could have a moment to talk to Tsukasa and Kagami alone. What we're about to say in a private, family matter." Tadao said. Tony and Konata, both nodding and understanding, left the room. With Tsukasa, Kagami, Matsuri, Inori, Miki and Tadao left in the room, they all sat down. The four oldest sat in a semi-circle in front of the twins.
"So what's this all about?" Matsuri asked, Inori's hand in hers and their fingers intertwined.
"I think it's time we told Kagami and Tsukasa about our family's lineage." Tadao said. Inori raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"Really? We had to wait until our coming of age ceremony!" She protested.
"It's complicated." Kagami waved her hand dismissively. "Can we hear it? I'm dying to know about this!" Kagami said. Tadao crossed his arms and sighed.
"Alright." He said. "Like she said, usually we wait until your coming of age to tell you, but I suppose there's no harm in learning something like this a little early, is there?" Tadao smiled. Tsukasa cocked her head to the side.
"Learning something? What are we learning?" She asked. Tadao smiled at her.
"It also doubles as a ritual that's been handed down in our family for generations." Tadao said. "I know I say ritual, but it's really just a phrase that you learn." Tadao chuckled.
"A phrase?" Kagami asked. "What is it?"
"A small group of words standing together as a unit, typically forming a statement or a sentence, but that's not important right now." Tadao said.
"Why are we learning it?" Tsukasa asked.
"Patience." Tadao smiled sympathetically. "It's said that it helps release holy energy that's being held captive. Or something or another." Tadao chuckled. Kagami smiled a bit tiredly.
"I thought you were going to say that we had some sort of super ancestor." She said. Tadao hummed, clearly surprised.
"Well... Kind of. He's actually where this ritual originates." Tadao said.
Angel. The word ran across Kagami's head, but she shook it off. "Wow, really? We have an actual super ancestor? Who was it?" Kagami asked. Tadao smiled.
"Well, if you trace our lineage back a great distance, Yamato Takeru is our ancestor." Tadao said. Kagami sat there, stunned for a moment.
"...Whoa..." She mumbled.
"Um..." Tsukasa piped up. "Who's that?" She asked. Kagami turned to her.
"What? You don't know Tsukasa?" She asked. "Well... Basically, there was an Emperor, Keikô, who had a ton of kids. Two of them were Osu and Ousu. Osu was the younger one and killed his older brother because he wouldn't come to meals due to a dispute with his father. His father was afraid at how easily he did it and sent him off to conquer other territories. His aunt helped him with getting stuff to help with infiltrating." Kagami said. Here, Miki giggled a bit.
"How vague..." She said. Kagami looked sheepish.
"Sorry, I don't know what he actually got... I'm reciting from memory." Kagami said.
"She gave him a woman's robe and skirt, not to mention the blade he was hiding." Miki said. Kagami looked at her for a moment.
"Miki is kind of a history buff." Tadao smiled. "She knows more about our family history than I do." Tadao said. "In fact, she's the only one who'd ever heard of the phrase I'm going to teach you outside of the family." He said. Kagami smiled.
"Maybe you should be telling this story instead of me then, Mom." Kagami chuckled. Miki shook her head.
"No, you're doing a wonderful job. Please continue." Miki said. Kagami turned back to Tsukasa, but she had shrunk a little.
"Do more people die?" She asked. Kagami sighed.
"Yeah." Kagami said. "Well, even more basically, Osu went on to become Yamato Takeru who went on to accomplish a ton of amazing things. He defeated local deities of various places and even more men. He marries a bunch of women and probably has a bunch of kids." She said. "If there's anyone that can match the description of a legendary hero, it's him." Kagami described. "It's from his feats that Kusanagi gets it's name."
"Ooooh..." Tsukasa said in understanding. "Okay, I get it!" She smiled. Kagami nodded and turned back to her father.
"So, is there any particular reason you're telling us? Or just so we know? Why is it kept a secret?" Kagami asked.
"Ah, the name of Yamato Takeru isn't so much a secret anymore, the reason for that disappeared a while ago." Tadao said.
"So wait, if we're his descendants, wouldn't that mean that we have royal blood? He was a prince, right?" Kagami asked.
"Hail Empress Kagami." Matsuri chuckled.
"A yuri empress. That'd be a new one." Inori smiled. Tadao scratched the back of his head.
"Well, we may be descendants, but we weren't exactly legitimate..." Tadao said. "As a prince, he had a lot of women." Tadao chuckled humorlessly.
"You're the descendant of him and Princess Miyazu." Miki said. Tadao looked over at her.
"You never told me that before..." He said. Miki giggled.
"The explanation has never been needed before." She said. She closed her eyes and put a finger up to show she wasn't finished yet. "After which, since Kusanagi was left in her care before Yamato left for the mountain he met his fate on, she gathered it up and brought it back to Yamato's aunt, Yamato-hime. It was taken back by the gods some time later, however. A replica is kept at the shrine she tended." She said with a large smile. Tadao laughed.
"Now you're just showing off." He said.
"How do you know it's a replica?" Kagami asked. Miki looked surprised at the question, as if she hadn't been expecting it.
"Well, because Kusanagi was taken by the gods." She said. "So it must be a replica." She said.
"How do you know it was taken away?" Kagami asked. Miki chuckled.
"I read it somewhere." She said.
"She loves history." Tadao smiled. "It's been kept a secret from everyone basically because we technically could have claimed the throne. And if anything went wrong with the current emperor, people may rally behind anyone with a claim, figuring that it would have to be better than conditions were. However, it made things a lot less complicated by simply keeping the information a secret." Tadao said. "Now, the phrase." He said.
"Ready." Kagami nodded.
"I'll do my best!" Tsukasa said, full of confidence.
"Just remember, this part is a secret. If you have to tell the others about your heritage, that's your call, but this is to stay in this room and in private." Tadao said. "Do your best not to let anyone outside the family hear it." Tadao said. Both of the twins nodded.
"Understood." Kagami said. Tadao turned to the other twin.
"Tsukasa?" He asked.
"I won't say it to anyone not a part of our family!" She said. Tadao nodded.
"Alright then, this is it." He said. "I ask thee, Gods in heaven. Reveal my blood, yolked in twilight. Return my true power to me!" He said. He smiled. "Got it?" He asked. Both of the twins nodded again.
"Got it!" They both said. Kagami couldn't help but let her thoughts wander.
What if this is some sort of super power? Like a transformation? With what happened earlier... Kagami thought. "I ask thee, Gods in heaven." She began. "Reveal my blood, yolked in twilight." She continued, tensing her muscles in preparation. "Return my true power to me!" She said. Suddenly, absolutely nothing happened.
"Yeah, that's it." Tadao smiled. Kagami sighed.
Aww... That's a bummer. Kagami thought. What a letdown. She slumped over depressingly. She brought herself back up. "So Mom, you already knew about this phrase before?" Kagami asked. Miki nodded.
"Yes, I remember reading it in a book somewhere. Though, it was a bit different in the book. It was also something Yamato-hime taught to Osu." Miki said. Kagami nodded.
"Alright. So that's pretty much the big story about my past that I've been worrying about this whole time?" Kagami asked. Tadao nodded.
"More or less. Was it what you were looking for?" Tadao asked. Kagami sighed.
"I don't know. I don't know what made something like the subway thing happen. I'm glad I didn't have to wait, like, three months to find out about my past though." She said. Here, Tadao shrugged.
"I don't know what caused it either. It was really surprising." Tadao said.
"Kagami." Miki said forcefully. Kagami snapped over to her quickly.
"Mom?" Kagami asked.
"I just wanted you to know..." She began. "You ARE our child." She said. "You've probably been concerned by all of this, that you were some different person who lost their memories or something." Miki said. Kagami groaned a bit.
Right on the head... She thought.
"I just want to say that your concern in unfounded. You are mine and Ta-kun's child and we both love you two very much." Miki said. "You're you. You never lost your memories of being a different person." Miki said. Here she smiled. "So no, you aren't some angel thrown to Earth." She giggled.
"That would be your mother." Tadao added with a big grin. Miki elbowed him playfully.
"Now Ta-kun~..." She chimed happily before giggling. Kagami smiled at the sight. It felt as if all the tension she had been experiencing recently melted away. She was her. Her love was really her true love. The real Kagami loved Konata. She got up.
"Thank you guys... So much for telling me all of this. I feel a lot better now." She said. The parents in the room looked up to her and both smiled lovingly.
"We're glad." Tadao said for the both of them.
"I'm... gonna go tell Kona and the others that they can come back in now, if that's alright..." Kagami said. Miki nodded.
"Fine by me." She chimed. Kagami nodded.
"Thanks..." She walked out of the room. Miki giggled.
"That was interesting!" She said cheerfully, clapping her hands together.
Luckier Channel
"Luckier~! Channel~!" Akira shouted. "Hiya Luckies~! I'm your navigator, Akira Kogami~!" Akira shouted.
"And I'm the assistant, Minoru Shiraishi!"
"This really isn't a slice of life anymore, is it?" Akira sighed. "Who knows, maybe I'll~ get special training~!" She giggled.
"Yeah, everyone seems to be doing their best! Though, it is a bit odd that there doesn't even seem to be a villain if it's stopped being slice of life!" Minoru said.
"The future!" Akira shouted.
"But why?" Minoru asked.
"Because... powers? I don't really know..." Akira mumbled. "But at least there are some really nice parts! The way Inori and Matsuri were accepted was great!" Akira shouted.
"Yeah, isn't it great how when someone confesses, they'll probably get accepted?" Minoru asked.
"... Huh?" Akira looked over at him.
"What?" Minoru asked.
"... What's with the funny way you're wording that?" Akira stared at him suspiciously. Minoru put his hands up.
"What do you mean by funny?" Minoru asked.
"... Almost like you're expecting something from me..." Akira said. Minoru, chuckling, shook his head.
"Absolutely nothing." He said. "Just like you aren't expecting anything from me, right?" He asked. Akira looked away.
"Che, why don't you make yourself useful and find me a hundred billion yen?" Akira asked.
"If you want to find a hundred billion yen, just look in a mirror." Minoru said. Suddenly, Akira's jaw dropped as her head whipped around to stare at him.
"... ah..." A slight noise escaped her throat.
*Music Tone*
"I guess that's all the time we have for today!" Minoru shouted as Akira continued to stare at him, her jaw agape. "We'll see you all next time! Bye-nii~!"
"..."
"... Wh... When the hell did YOU get so smooth?"
"Smooth? I was just stating a fact." Minoru said.
"... Damn it..."
*End*
Aftersection
What did you guys all think, huh? I hope you all liked it! And I got this one in two months instead of three! Sweetness! Let's see if I can take it down another month with the next one! Make sure to review!
