Continuation of the last chapter. Nothing new if you read the unsplitted version before.
.
The next morning, Sunday.
"Hmm… Weird…" Something was different.
"Don't tell me you're disappointed, Kona." The nickname stuck, though.
"N-No… just surprised, I guess?"
"I see…" The weird thing was that nothing happened. Kagami had managed to sleep without her personal body pillow, Konata, through the night. Not only this, both ended up sleeping more or less at the edges of the bed, maintaining as much distance as possible. The weird air around them seemed to be still there today. The situation was a bit complicated. Both, mainly Kagami though, had overdone it a bit yesterday. As a result to this, both unconsciously decided to put a bit of distance between them. Konata didn't exactly dislike Kagami's whatever it was but she got so embarrassed as a result that it was impossible for her to remain unfazed. Konata's bunny girl idea also left some marks behind.
"Let's take it nice and slow today, Kagamin~. I'm not in the mood for… a lot…"
"Sure, let's have a nice and slow study session all day long." No matter what or how she did, Konata had no chances of winning whatsoever.
Even though it wasn't her first wish, by far, the change of pace was actually not taken in that bad by her. Konata did not make as much progress as Kagami, but she actually stayed silent and made a good amount of progress. Most of the day had passed while they were studying and the weird atmosphere was as good as gone and both were finally back to normal. It was easily visible by Konata, who wasn't as silent and diligent anymore.
"Kagamin~, let's do something else already!"
"It was your idea to take it easy…"
"Yeah… sure, but that's not exactly what I meant… watching a movie, for example, is also taking it easy…"
"That means you want to watch a movie?"
"Uhh… yeah, sure, why not… Good idea, Kagamin~." She had just voiced the first thing that flew through her head.
"Okay, whatever…" Kagami didn't feel like arguing right now. "Well, I have to give you some kind of reward for studying so long after all."
"That's for sure!" Konata really was back to normal again.
They went with the idea of watching a movie in the end. Konata grabbed the TV remote and searched for something interesting. Both weren't in the mood for anything related to romance for some reason and settle for some good old comedy.
…..
Monday morning. Thanks to the long weekend, both had another free day and that was a good thing because they had slept in a bit. The two watched movies until late at night and went way over the point of going to bed at a reasonable time, according to Kagami, and had to waste some hours from the next day as a result. Konata didn't care about it all right now, though, she also wouldn't on any other day… The situation from yesterday morning was a one-time only thing, Kagami didn't manage to live longer than a day without a hug pillow. The hug pillow was actually a bit relieved by that. Konata did say no yesterday, but she actually was a bit disappointed in the morning, but it probably was a good thing yesterday.
"Heee… Waking up like this is better after all." Konata let out a comfortable sigh as she stretched herself a little while waking up, although, her moves were a bit restricted. She was lying on her right side and Kagami was behind her. She had pulled her in close and the only thing Konata could see from Kagami, was her arms wrapped around her waist and the faint feeling of Kagami's breath in her neck was probably the reason she woke up in the first place. "It tickles a little, but I can't say it's bad… rather, it feels really nice actually. I'm calming more and more down with every breath I feel." Konata was slowly entering a state of complete relaxation and snuggled a little closer again her. Kagami in response seemed to realize this in her sleep and tightened her grip a little. Konata was about to fall asleep again, but she started feeling a slight change in the breathing of Kagami who also started stirring a bit.
"Good morning, Kagamin~."
"… Mor-ning~…" She wasn't exactly awake just yet and gave Konata's body another squeeze.
"Hmm… am I really that comfortable?"
"Why else would I do it...? You make a great hug pillow after all…" She definitely was still half asleep.
"I see… makes sense." She wasn't sure how to respond.
Another five minutes passed and Kagami finally regained full conscious. She loosened her grip around Konata and rolled on her back.
"Morning, Kona."
"M-Morning?" She felt a slight déjà vu. Didn't they had this already?
"Man, I had such a weird dream…"
"Oh, was is about having a personal hug pillow?" Konata had realized that Kagami wasn't really awake earlier.
"E-Eh? N-No… of course not… Why would I?" She was easy to read sometimes as she started blushing from her assumption. Konata was very delighted by the reaction because lately, it became quite hard to get Kagami embarrassed because she really got the upper hand.
"Kagamin~." She was enjoying every second of it. "I heard you saying it earlier."
"H-Huh? I… I actually said it out loud?"
"Yep."
"I see…" One awkward pause later. "Let's have some breakfast, I'm hungry." The topic was completely ignored by her. She even gave her a free pass to tease her with something else. Kagami quickly left the bed and went out of the room. It took Konata a little to realize something.
"Wait a moment… Kagamin~ didn't deny it." She really didn't, but Konata also realized something else. "Oi! Wait for me!" She quickly ran after her.
Part of the hugging case was solved. The 'why isn't a mystery anymore. Konata was actually a bit surprised because it actually was more or less what she joked about all the time, Kagami actually liking to hug her and doing it unconsciously. The 'how' part was now the interesting question. Konata was thinking about installing a camera in her room again, but then she remembered the tsundere rage and now, with the leveled up Kagami, it was a bigger threat than ever. A thread she couldn't ignore and decided against the camera once more. Konata actually became a bit bothered by Kagami, who overtook her.
Breakfast was done quickly and she once more decided on something weird.
"Kagamin~, we should spend as much time as possible together now. I'll be soon leaving for the mountains."
"Sure, have fun." Kagami dryly answered. "By the way, how about some context?"
"I have to train myself and in order to that, I have to leave. Training is supposed to be done in the mountains, right?"
"If you say so… So, what's this training about."
"I need to level up! Your teasing abilities developed way too fast and way too far. I'm pretty sure you're cheating, Kagamin~."
"Ah, it's about that…"
"Exactly! Because of that, I'm going to spend the next three months in the mountains!" She actually sounded serious and Kagami was worried, for various reasons.
"No, leaving school for that long is…" Kagami couldn't agree with her idea and staying out of school was only one reason.
"Kagamin~, you just don't want to lose your lead, don't you?"
"N-no, of course not…" Bullseye.
"Or is it because you're going to miss me when I'm gone?" For what was the training again?
"That's… ehm…" Another bullseye. She really didn't need the training. Konata once more caught her off guard. Kagami quickly started blushing and turned her head away.
"Hmm~." Konata had a pretty satisfied expression on her face. 'Huh? She didn't deny it again… D-Don't tell me she's plotting something again?!' Thanks to the events of the weekend, Konata developed some slight trust issues and started doubting her 'dere-meter' and so the thought of Kagami just being honest didn't cross her mind.
"You were thinking something rude just now, weren't you, Kona?"
"E-Eh? Of course not, why would I?"
"I don't know why, but your face is pretty easy to read after all."
"As I thought, I have to immediately leave for the mountains!" She declared once more and let the table in order to prove her statement. Konata looked at Kagami to see her reaction, but then she quickly sat down again. "Don't look at me like that, Kagamin~… Ah, I know! Just come with me to the mountains."
"What's the reason to go there in the first place then? If we're going to train together…" Konata's plan had a problem, well, several to be exact but that was the most obvious right now.
"Okay, change of plans, let's all go camping in the mountains." Her ability to adapt surely was something else.
"What's up with you and the mountains?" Kagami had no idea why she liked the mountains this much all of a sudden.
"There's a new anime about hiking currently airing and…" She's really easy influenced.
"Haa… I should've known… Kona, you know that there's no electric in the mountains, right? No power means no anime..."
"Screw the mountains!" The change of pace was quick, even for Konata's standards and Kagami sighed again.
"What was I worried for again?"
"Oho, so Kagamin~ was worried."
"Argh!" She gasped at her sudden slip of the tongue. She really did become unconsciously more honest with herself. Kagami wasn't sure what to say and took the easy but approved route out, fleeing. She stood up from the table in the kitchen where they had breakfast before and left for Konata's room.
"Running away, huh?" No reaction. "Ah, wait for me!" Therefore, the two were in her room again, Konata quickly started searching for a new activity in order to keep Kagami away from the outrageous idea of studying for school, and she found an older fighting game.
"How about a good old Beat 'em up, Kagamin~?"
"Hmm? Sure, why not…" She was happy enough that Konata wasn't pressuring the thing in the kitchen and so she let her have her will for now.
"Yay, but don't think I'll go easy on you!"
"When did you ever go easy on me?"
"Fair enough…"
"And I don't mean just games."
"I get it already! Shut up and get beaten."
"Someone is getting a bit full of herself, huh?"
Konata started the game, both chose their favorite character and the first match started. In the beginning, it was business as usual, but something unexpected soon happened. Kagami made a splendid comeback and started to utterly destroy Konata in every match.
"Wha-? What's going on here?" She couldn't believe what she saw on the TV screen. Konata saw the K.O. screen for easily over the tenth time as her character hit the floor. "You're cheating, right, Kagamin~?"
"Maybe I'm just better than you…"
"Nope, you're cheating."
"Thanks for your blunt and useless honesty." Kagami didn't want to accept it, but there really was no way she could be that better than Konata in a game.
"It just has to be it because… If Kagamin~ really became better in a game… I… yep, that would mean up to the mountains for real this time. I had to get a generator and that's it then…" It affected her way more than Kagami had expected.
"Stop with the mountains already." She really didn't want her to leave. "How about we switch the controllers for now, maybe something's wrong with yours." Konata happily agreed with the proposal and swiftly switched the controller with Kagami. The tables quickly turned back again and Kagami's character was now the one to repeatedly kiss the floor.
"Ah, that's how it's supposed to be after all." Konata's spirits were immediately lifted as when the usual outcome was restored again.
"As I thought, a button on the controller is broken."
"Hmm… I guess I was a bit too rough with it in the beginning…
"Do you have a spare?"
"Yeah, my wear-out of them is pretty high after all. There should be a new one in the room right next to mine."
"Okay, I'll go and get because I can't expect you to go…"
"That's my Kagamin~."
She stood up after Konata showed no sign of going on her own and left the room. She opened the door to the room she never entered before and after looking inside, Kagami gasped in shock.
"W-What's up with this room? Hey, Kona!"
"Haa… I should've known better." Konata sighed in her room and went to Kagami. "What's up?"
"Really? Well, let's ignore the 1000 manga in here for now…"
"It's a storage room after all…"
"Whatever. What's with these frigging huge figures on the floor?!" Kagami pointed at nine about 60cm [~2feet] tall anime figurines, which were still in their original packaging. Even though they were nine in total, only three were different characters and three of each.
"Ah… well, they're my monument of shame or something like that…"
"Your what?"
"They're from a super unpopular magical girl anime, which only got like three episodes before being canceled. I don't know why, but they still made these figures. I saw them and I just had to buy all of them for some reason. I mean they look cool, but still…"
"Well… the right one is kind of cute…" Kagami looked at the three same looking figures on the right side. She was a little smaller than the other two and had shorter blue hair tied in a single sidetail. It was pure coincidence, but she looked more or less like the spitting image of Konata only with a different hairstyle and super frilly clothes. "You don't have a wand and similar clothes, do you, Kona?"
"Oi!" Konata was not amused by the remark but had an idea. "I'll think about it if you do the same. I mean…" She pointed at the tsundere like looking figure in the middle. "You know…"
"Hmm… I'll think about."
"Eh?! Seriously?"
"Hmm~."
"Kagamin~. Shopping. Now!"
"Nah, another time… Let's get the controller and look who's really better."
"B-But… the Cosplay… Oi, Kagamin~… the Cosplay!" Konata was seriously thrown out of her tracks. "Maybe the figures weren't such a fail if I get Kagamin~ to Cosplay again…"
"Sure… Anyway, how much did they even cost?"
"About 5000¥ or so." [~45€/50$/38£]
"Wow, that's quite a good price for nine figures… especially so big ones."
"Eh, no… each of them…"
"Huh, you paid 45000¥ for something you weren't really interested in in the first place? I mean it's still a good price and all but… What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"Kagamin~, they're a limited edition and it was a sale… How could I not?" Her stupidly smug grin annoyed Kagami much more than she wanted to admit.
"Haa… I give up… It's no use… arguing with you, that is."
"But maybe I should get a haircut. Looks like Kagamin~ likes shorter hair.
"Huh?"
"Well, you said that that the one figure looked cute and she basically looks like me…" There was no way after all that Konata didn't hear it. "A figure looking like me being cuter than I am, nope, that's a big no-go!" Her competitiveness is also something else with her rival being a figure.
"You don't need to cut your hair for that or rather, no, don't cut your hair!" The hair wasn't the reason Kagami liked the figure in the first place.
"W-What?" Konata took another serious blow because Kagami was getting the upper hand again in her eyes. They soon reached her room again, but it was no time for her feeling safe.
"So, are we going to continue the game or what?"
"Huh? D-Don't tell me you were just trying to break me in order to win the game, Kagamin~?
"Hmm… I wonder…" She smirked at Konata and disappeared into the room.
"I'm scared… I'm so scared of the new Kagamin~ v2… I'll start looking for appropriate mountains starting tomorrow!"
"Stop with the mountains already! You're not going!" Even though she was already in Konata's room, Kagami still yelled at her.
"Scary!"
Konata tried to calm down a little and went back to her room to resume the game. Kagami's psychology warfare, it really was that what she did, actually worked to some extent. The fighting strength of the two was more or less the same, Kagami even had a slight lead until now, but Konata's pride started to act up and she decided to resort to dirty tricks. Kagami was about to unleash a combo attack on Konata's character to finish her, but Konata poked Kagami's side just at the exact moment. In result to this, she flinched a bit and messed up her attack. Konata immediately used the advantage and achieved a quick victory.
"Oi!" Kagami was not exactly happy about that.
Konata repeated the same tactic two more times and was about to do it a third time, but she didn't get the chance to do so. Kagami pressed the pause button, grabbed Konata's controller and put both away. She turned her head to the left and stared right into Konata's eyes. All color had immediately left her face and she started fearing for her life again, for the nth time this weekend.
"Kona, I hope you're prepared."
"P-Prepared, huh? What if I say no?"
"Well, it would make… absolutely no difference whatsoever.
"Just as I thought…" She made an attempt to flee as she tried to jump from the bed with all her might but Kagami casually caught her mid-air, which made her only scarier in Konata's eyes. She wrapped her arms around the flying Konata and threw her back on the bed again. She landed face first on the bed and Kagami instantly made herself comfortable on her back. Konata was once more reduced to muffled sounds and Kagami looked at Konata but stopped for a moment.
"Hey Kona, I think I may acted a bit too fast here…"
"Hmm?" Konata turned her head away from the cushion in order to speak and see again. "Don't tell me you're forgiving me?" She couldn't believe it.
"No, that's not it… I'm just out of ideas right now… Sure, I could tickle you again until you die but that's a little bland…"
"Huh? You don't want to have a tip from me on how to punish me, right?"
"Why not? Let's give it a try."
"How about that… Shut up, Kagamin~."
"Okay,"
5 minutes of absolute silence passed and Konata was getting a bit irritated at various things.
"Aren't you getting a bit tired on top of me there?"
"Not really… I already thought so last time, but your back is surprisingly comfortable."
"Thanks?"
"By the way, getting back to earlier… Really, don't cut your hair." Kagami's gaze wandered to Konata's head again and she grabbed a couple strands of her hair and started playing with it a little.
"I-I wasn't planning on."
"Good." She answered and continued to play with Konata's hair like nothing was wrong. Konata let her do how she wanted, but she was still a bit confused.
"Hey Kagamin~, quick question… My punishment is you playing with my hair or what?"
"No, I gave up on the punishment somewhere along the way, but your hair feels kind of nice so…"
"I see… but you also could do that without sitting on top of me, right? So… could you...?"
"Oh… yeah… sure…" Kagami had totally forgotten about where she was sitting but quickly got off her.
"Thanks." Konata was finally free, got up and rested her back against the wall and Kagami did the same shortly after. The urge to play with Konata's was still as strong as ever, though. Kagami grabbed a couple strands again and let strand for strand glide through her hand while being completely captivated by it.
"Is my hair really that interesting, Kagamin~?" Konata had watched her playing with her hair for a good while and became curious about it.
"Kind of… yeah. Although… it's kind of hard to play with it in this position… Can you move a little?"
"Absolutely, princess Kagami-sama… How about a lap pillow… that would make it easy to play with!" Konata rolled her eyes while being as sarcastic as possible.
"Hmm… that could work, let's give it a try." She completely ignored the sarcasm and was actually okay with the idea.
"Eh?! K-Kagamin~… I was just joking… I…" She wasn't given the chance to finish her sentence. Kagami grabbed Konata's shoulders and with a little force, she placed Konata's head on her lap and readjusted herself a little afterward. After Konata had settled down on her lap or rather had given up, Kagami started stroking through the hair with her fingers.
"Your hair sure feels nice."
"T-Thanks…" Konata grabbed a bit of her hair Kagami wasn't playing with and used it to hide her face, she was quite embarrassed by the situation and didn't want Kagami to see. "A-Are you really fine with all this?" It was not like Konata wasn't okay with it, but her own embarrassment and the ultra dere Kagami took a big toll on her.
"Sure, why not?" She as totally fine with it. Konata became even more confused. She wasn't sure if Kagami was acting again, really became fine with the intimacy or in this case, was just too distracted by her hair to even notice anything. Konata had no choice but to play along with it. She made the best out of the situation and used it as a training in order to get her resistance up a little. Kagami's attention ever left Konata's hair and so the internal struggle of Konata more or less went right pass her. Kagami just grabbed three strands of her hair and started braiding some pigtails. She made great progress and was pretty satisfied with the finished work. She first did a couple short braids, but in the end, she settled down with a long braid on the left side of Konata's head, but as soon as she was finished, it was finally Kagami's turn to get a bit embarrassed again. She became hungry in the progress and her stomach made sure that Konata's knows about it by making a huge noise.
"Wow, I could not only hear it loud and clear… it could almost feel the grumbling…" Konata had the best place for recognizing Kagami's appetite.
"S-S-Shut up, i-idiot." She was so busy with Konata's hair before that it completely threw her off and she let out her standard retort Konata didn't hear for a long time.
"Yes!" She was really happy with the reaction she got and immediately jumped off from Kagami's lap and made a victory pose in the middle of her room. "How I missed that!"
"You want to die after all, huh? I can kill you, right?" Her eyes looked really scary and Konata instantly stopped her cheering in return.
"Off to the kitchen we go! Let's find something to eat!"
"Good choice." Her expression became a bit softer again and Konata sighed in relief.
They arrived in the kitchen and looked for something to eat. Konata took the easy way out and let Kagami made some fried noodles. Everyone won by it. Konata because she was lazy, Kagami could train a bit and the kitchen was happy because they only cooked rice once this weekend and it probably was the last time, too. After Kagami had been reminded of the existence of rice cookers, her fascination of cooking it on her own died completely. Her fried noodles were pretty good and the honest praise from Konata also made her quite happy in return.
The two went back to Konata's room and decided to play a little more of the game that got a little interrupted before. Konata decided to play fair the entire time because of… reasons and behaved well. Kagami put up a good fight again and the battles became really long, hard and exhausting. Their total matches were tied until the very last one and in the end, Konata took the victory just a second before Kagami could finish her final attack.
"Wow, what a battle… You became way too good, Kagamin~."
"Nope, still not good enough."
"Seriously, any more of it and I'm up to the mountains!"
"Shut up already." Kagami couldn't hear it anymore.
"Hehe." Konata was happy. "But still, I actually worked up a sweat while playing a game…"
"Yeah, me too…"
"Time for a bath. How about you go first, Kagamin~?"
"With pleasure." Kagami agreed to the proposal, took some clothes and left for the bath. Konata took the remote of the TV and switched to her favorite anime channel. It was just the right time to watch an episode while Kagami was gone.
She took 20 minutes in the bath and had just returned to the room and saw Konata staring at the TV screen.
"You're not seriously watching that hiking anime right now, are you?"
"But Kagamin~, it's a really good anime, why shouldn't I watch it?"
"Kona…" Kagami rolled her eyes and sighed at the same time. "Whatever looks like it's over anyway, go and take your bath."
"Roger." Konata saluted right before her, also took some clothes and disappeared.
"What a troublesome girl…" She said to herself and then grabbed a light novel out of her back to read it on the bed.
Konata's bath didn't take long and was already back to the room by now.
"I'm baaack~!"
"Welcome back… or rather, you just went to take a bath…"
"Hmm…"
"What's wrong?
"Nothing… I guess…" Konata tilted her head as she kept staring at Kagami, who was still focused on her light novel. Just like Kagami before, she became strangely interested in Kagami's hair all of a sudden. Her hair was still open because of the bath she took earlier and looked really pleasant to touch for some reason. Konata sat down behind Kagami on the bed and grabbed a couple of strands, only to let them flow through her hand in order to test how they feel. Kagami shuddered a little in response because it was unexpected, but she neither said anything nor stopped Konata. "I-I think I get it why you were so interested in my hair earlier now, Kagamin~. It really feels nice."
"I guess that was a compliment, right? Thanks."
"Absolutely." Konata said so and refocused her attention at the hair in front of her. She played around a little and tested a few different hairstyles but she wasn't really satisfied with the results until now but then she remembered something. "Kagamin~, I need a hair-band."
"Why?"
"Ponytail!"
"Eh? You want something to laugh or what?" The slight trauma of the first time she had a ponytail in front of Konata surfaced again. She wasn't thrilled for a redo.
"Of course not, Kagamin~. I also didn't laugh last time, did I?"
"Oh, yeah, you're right." She had forgotten about the time in Yokohama where Konata was the only one who didn't laugh. She reacted a bit strange but she didn't laugh. "Okay, whatever…" She rummaged a bit in her bag and passed Konata a hair-band.
"Thanks." Konata grabbed it and swiftly arranged Kagami's hair in a ponytail. "Hmm… hmm…" She moved a bit sideways from left to right multiple times in order to examine her creation. "Yep…" She looked pleased with her work and nodded in approval.
"What's with that 'yep'?"
"You're going to wear a ponytail for the rest of the day, Kagamin~."
"Just for a day, huh? What's up with the reasonable demand?" Kagami really wasn't used to Konata being reasonable.
"I wouldn't mind if you wear it for longer, but you're a tsundere… or at least supposed to be one… I'm not entirely sure lately… and so you need twintails.
"Shut up!"
"Twintails it is."
"Haa… Whatever, but why the sudden change? First, you couldn't stop laughing and now you like my ponytail?"
"I don't know what happened before, but looking at you now, ponytails kind of tur… Ah, nevermind that… forget that I ever said something." Konata stopped mid-sentence and tried to brush it off.
"Ohh? Now I'm curious…" Kagami put her light novel away and finally turned her attention to Konata as she turned her head around. "I'm all ears."
"All ears you say… All I have to say is that it looks good on you, nothing more."
"Is that so?" Kagami wasn't buying it. She stared right into Konata's eyes to build up pressure on her, but Konata did the same. It soon degraded into a simple staring contest. They looked into each other eyes for several minutes already and neither of them wanted to lose at this point. Two more minutes passed and both started getting slightly uncomfortable. Staring at each other for a longer period of time became quite embarrassing for both. However, both girls in question were pretty stubborn and letting the other one win at this point wasn't an option anymore. They had to play dirty in order to win. Konata was obviously the first when it comes to that. In order to get Kagami more embarrassed, she moved her face a little closer to hers, but it backfired, twice. Not only she herself became more embarrassed at the same time, Kagami immediately did the same and also came a bit closer. No one dared to back down and Konata once more came a bit closer, but Kagami also decreased the distance again. It was a dire situation. They repeated it two more times, but they soon ran into quite a big problem. Closing any more distance was not an option anymore. Due to the extreme closeness of their faces, their foreheads were almost touching each other, combined with the starring, both were beyond embarrassed already, which was clearly visible by the red faces of both of them.
"K-Kagamin~, w-what do we do now?"
"G-Good question, Kona… I wouldn't recommend any closer because…" She couldn't finish the sentence.
"Yeah… that's kind of… I mean the one who would do it, would probably win the game but it's a bit… well…"
"So..?" Kagami was out of options.
"Hmm…" Konata had another dirty trick ready, she feared the consequences a bit because of last time but she had to end the situation. She lifted her arm and poked Kagami's side again. She immediately flinched and, out of reflex, broke the eye contact with Konata. Thanks to the flinching, their faces came even closer for a split second and Konata had to back off to avoid actual contact. Kagami hadn't noticed it because of the surprised flinching, but their lips were only a hairs breath away from each other for a moment. Konata may have won the battle, but she had lost the war because she did notice it. Her heart was beating furiously and her face was burning in response and she quickly looked away. Kagami noticed her reaction and was a bit confused because she hadn't seen what almost just happened.
"N-N-Nothing! A-Absolutely nothing! No, wait, even less than nothing! So little happened that it's almost scary!" Konata started panicking and denied it way too hard. She had no idea why she was affected by something that only almost happened. Her heart just won't calm down no matter what.
"Sure…" Kagami didn't believe her, but for some reason, she decided not to press the issue any further because she looked pretty shaken.
"I-I need something to drink… Do you want something, too, Kagamin~?"
"Yeah, want me to come with you?"
"Nah, I'm good."
"Okay, anything's fine."
Konata quickly left the room. The drinks were just an excuse for it. She needed a breather to calm down after the almost incident. Even though it was just an excuse, she still went to the kitchen. Something to drink actually didn't sound so bad right now. Once she entered the kitchen, Konata leaned down against the fridge and sank down on her knees and took a couple deep breaths in order to calm down.
"W-What is going on with me?" She started questioning herself. "It's not like something happened. It's not like out lips actually touched or anything… they definitely didn't so it's safe…" She started trailing off a little and started a second fight with herself. 'Oi, brain! What's up with the disappointment I'm feeling here?!' The second fight was fought in her mind. "I mean, even if they touched, what they didn't, what's the problem? It's just Kagamin~… A kiss wouldn't mean anything, right? Really, what am I getting all worked up for? Nothing noteworthy happened! Nothing at all…" She trailed off again. 'Shut up, brain.' Konata even went tsundere on herself. "It's not the time to get worked up now! Kagami's already in the lead right now and now that I can't go to the mountains in order to train… What's up with her in the first place? She's way too scary lately… Whatever, time to get back." Konata slapped her cheeks a few times and got back on her feet. She then took a bottle of tea out of the fridge and gulped it down in one go. It helped her calm down by a great margin. After she felt confident again, she took another two bottles and went back to her room. Her refreshed fighting spirits should help her with handling Kagami now, or so she thought.
"Hey Kagamin~, I'm ba-." She immediately stopped in her tracks when she saw Kagami."
"Hmm? What's wrong?" In the time Konata was gone, Kagami had relocated herself a little on the bed. She was lying down sideways on it, with her back on the mattress. Kagami's head didn't fit on the bed in the position and so it was hanging down on the side. Her hair, which was still styled in a ponytail by Konata, touched the floor with most of its volume. When Konata entered, Kagami lifted her head a little and looked with upturned eyes at her. Konata's freshly regained confidence was nowhere to be seen again and she blankly stared for some time at Kagami. Her mouth sometimes opened as if wanting to say something, but no words came out. It looked like she was battling herself in her mind again and she was losing. After the internal struggle seemed over, Konata raised her free hand and slapped her cheek a couple more times and took another deep breath. She gave Kagami a bottle of tea, earned a confused sound thanks and grabbed a manga from her shelf, sat down at the corner of the bed and started reading it.
"Absolutely nothing is wrong, Kagamin~." Konata finally gave an answer to Kagami's question, even though it was a bit late.
"Okay?" She had definitely realized Konata's strange behavior but had no idea what was going on.
The next minutes were spent in silence, Konata focused on her manga and Kagami used the time to finish her light novel. Even though Konata was the reason for the silence, she also was the first one who had enough of it.
"I'm bored!" Her being bored took a bigger toll on her than everything else and so it was time to do something against it, no matter the result.
"Oh, feeling better again? That's good."
"Well… let's say yes…" She wasn't even sure herself.
"Whatever, anything particular to relieve you from your boredom?"
"Hmm… nope, no idea at all."
"Looks like you're really better… What could we do… that's a good question…"
"Kagamin~, if you're going to say 'studying' now, I sadly have to kill you."
"Studying, huh? That's a good idea, Kona. I hadn't thought of that at all." Playing with Konata became quite the hobby of hers.
"Gah, Kagamin~, I really hate you sometimes."
"You're welcome."
"Shut up."
"Tsundere Kona, huh? Interesting…"
"I'm not a tsu- OI!" She almost fell for her own trap.
"Hehe… well, I think I had enough fun for now. How about our usual evening movie?"
"Do you really expect me to ignore your previous statement?"
"Yep."
"Movie sounds good." Konata took the easy way out because she didn't want to lose another battle today.
"Then let's have a look what we find."
The two made themselves comfortable on the bed and started watching a movie. Although both were on the bed, as usual, Konata took some distance from her because she still was far away from a complete recovery. Kagami was still confused, but she wasn't worried enough to ask her again and concentrated on the movie instead. The evening slowly progressed into night and the movie was nearing its end, but something had ended before. It was Konata's consciousness. The complete day had mentally tired her out so much that she had just fallen asleep at some point. Kagami noticed her a little later lying behind her and decided to end the movie early in order to let her sleep. She moved Konata a little away, to get some room for her own, and also tried to sleep, but she had problems with it because she kept staring at Konata besides her.
"Seriously, what was up with her today? It feels like something happened that I missed… But what? To shake her up this much…" Kagami was really curious in the end, but also a bit concerned about her. "Was it my fault? Did I do something? Sure, my teasing leveled up, but I don't remember doing something to cause this…" She was trying really hard but there was nothing she could think of.
"…Stupid staring contest…" Konata's sleep talking acted up again.
"Eh? The staring contest? Did something happen there? I mean besides the fact that she cheated again… Wait a moment… when she poked me and I flinched in response… I remember my face getting dangerously close to Konata's and… NO! N-No way… No, nope, never, NO!" She got an idea what could've happened and started panicking while her whole face was getting red. To make it worse, thanks to her freaking out, Konata started moving in her sleep and another accident almost happened.
"W-Woah!" She quickly backed off and barely avoided Konata's faces while almost falling out of the bed with a furiously beating heart. "T-That was close…" She took a deep breath to calm down. "W-We almost… Is that what happened at the staring contest? O-Okay, I can understand now why Konata was behaving oddly… That was scary just now… WAIT! D-Did we touch or did we not?! Ehm… we didn't, right? Right?!" Kagami started the same battle against herself that Konata fought before. "N-No, they did not! They definitely didn't! I would remember that… I would totally remember something like that… right?" She also started trailing a bit off. "Okay, Kona's mystery is solved." She decided that 100% nothing happened. "But why did it affect her so much? Sure, it's super embarrassing and I would do exactly the same… well, I kind of did just now but Kona should be better than that… Or did I break her so much the last days? Sorry about that, Kona…" She swiftly apologized to the sleeping girl next to her. "But still… why are we this affected by it? I mean two girls doing something like that… not that I ever tried it before or was going to try, but… it shouldn't throw us, especially her, that much off guard… weird… Well, whatever… I'm finally getting a bit sleepy." Kagami yawned a little and watched Konata some more. Thanks to the moonlight illuminating the room, she had a good view of her. "She actually is kind of cute, isn't she? There really is no way to deny it in the end…" Kagami at night is bolder after all. "Hmm…" Something bothered her. It seemed like looking wasn't enough and she had an idea to completely stop her restlessness and fall asleep. "It couldn't hurt, right?" She reassured herself and got a bit closer to Konata in order to hug her as usual in the night, though she made sure not to come in contact with her face and so she pressed her head against Kagami's chest. That probably wasn't that good of an idea, rationally thinking, but she hadn't thought about hugging her from behind. "Just as I thought, she really helps me calm down…" She let out a big yawn directly after hugging her and she instantly got extremely sleepy. "Looks like the is really what happens when I fall asleep… hugging her in order to calm down… Hmm, uh, I don't care anymore… Good night, Kona." She whispered the last words to her and quickly fell asleep on her own.
….
The next morning, Konata felt something soft pressing against her face and thanks to that, she woke up first again. She opened her eyes and saw… nothing because she was way too close to Kagami and so her view was completely blocked. After some wriggling, she managed to gain some distance and immediately shrieked at where she had slept and what she just did.
"WAH-! I-I'm sorry, Kagamin~, I wasn't doing…" Konata was way too conscious of everything right now.
"Hmm? Did something happen, Kona?" Kagami was just waking up.
"O-Oh, n-no… nothing, but can you please release me… I'm kind of…" Konata almost begged and Kagami quickly released her after seeing how she was hugging her.
"I-I'm sorry…"
"It's fine…" The room turned silent again and both competed over which face can become redder. The atmosphere was really weird again and both felt super awkward.
"A-Anyway… we should get ready for school…"
"G-Good idea." Konata agreed and looked at the clock. "Maybe we should also hurry a bit because we're running late."
"Wah-?!" Kagami bolted up and both got ready for school in order to more or less get on time there. Konata didn't care that much about and lagged a bit behind. Her mind was still focused on how she woke up today and many other things. Kagami couldn't take her being this slowly anymore at the door and wanted to drag her out of the house. She wanted to grab Konata's hand, but as soon as their fingertips touched, she immediately her arm and looked away in embarrassment. Konata reacted similarly. The little touch they shared, seemed to shoot lightning bolts through their bodies, something that never happened before and scared both.
"L-Let's get going…"
"S-Sure…"
The two finally left Konata's house and made their way to school. Neither of them said a single word to each other and just kept looking at their hands because a tingly feeling was still present.
'Something's wrong here… Really, really wrong….'
Both were thinking exactly the same and looked very troubled. It's probably going to be a long day for Konata and Kagami.
.
Yes, I just ended an almost 18k (10k + 8k) words chapter with a cliffhanger and no, I'm not sorry about that. Feel free to hate me.
I think I may overdid a little in this chapter but I sure had fun. The jump from the last chapter may be a bit big, though, but it's finally time to get some progression here.
Kagami v2 = best Kagami. The complete chapter is easily my favorite one.
I tried my best to proofread (not that you could actually call it that...) the chapter with some kind of grammar tools but I have the feeling I missed a ton because it's so long and I got a little blind... If you find some game-breaking mistakes, feel free to send me a message. (First chapter I actually care a bit about it…)
By the way, the end of the chapter is on the same day as chapter 1, so we made a complete round.
Next chapter: Start of the mountain training arc! Just kidding… but I actually kind of like it now that I think about… Maybe I'll make a camping chapter sometime… Anyway, next time… Well, a bit of drama and other stuff… The chapter is about a third done and quite a mess right now...lot's of mono- and dialogues right now… But! I have a lot of free time the next two weeks and should get it ready there.
P.S. The story just broke the 100k words wall.