Growing Closer

by N30S

[-M-Rating mainly for safety later on-] Kagami and Konata were good friends since the very beginning, but as they spend more and more time together after Konata raised her own death flag by agreeing to teach Kagami how to cook, they became even better, or rather best friends. As time passed, new and different feelings became part of their friendship that changed everything.

25. Summer trip

"So… I actually like traveling by train because it's relaxing, but is that much really necessary just to visit the beach?" Kagami finally complained after riding a train for over three hours with the end of it not even in sight. The girls currently were in a closed, four-person cabin in the first-class section of the train they were riding. Konata, together with Kagami was sitting on one side and Miyuki next to Tsukasa on the opposite facing seats. The cabin was divided a by a table, which was holding a ton of snacks, drinks, and games right now. Konata had just won the fifth game of old maid in a row and so Kagami wanted to complain a little.

"I would've been fine with a local beach as well, but my parents wanted to go there because it's nice and really quiet there."

"I see, your parents, huh?" Kagami acknowledged Miyuki's answer before noticing something. "Huh, a quiet beach? Such a thing exists? Wait a moment… Judging by the included first class train ride… Don't tell me it's some kind of VIP beach?!"

"Well… no, it's not a 'VIP' beach…" Miyuki averted her eyes for some reason.

"That's good."

"Not so fast there, Kagamin~, I can feel the 'but' already."

"I-It really isn't a VIP beach… It's quiet because, well… the beach near the vacation house is… It's a private beach."

"P-Private beach… wow…"

"As expected of Miyuki."

"… Stupid rich people…" Kagami went from her initial surprise to jealousy and muttered some rude words that only Konata could her, who just smiled in response.

"Still, a private beach, huh? That kind of ruins a lot of things I planned…"

"What do you mean, Kona-chan?"

"For example, dramatically shouting 'She's mine!' when some random mob character tries to pick up Kagamin~."

"Wow, that's the first time I heard 'mob character' in an actual conversation… Wait! You were actually planning on doing that?!"

"I'm only stating the truth."

"Well, yeah, but that's still embarrassing… Then again, it's not like anyone ever tried to pick up any of us…"

"Ack! That's true…" Konata noticed the flaw in her plan. "But people often get popular once they're taken, right?"

"Just shut up, okay?"

"Okay… On the other hand, you getting hit on is… kind of…"

"That's more to my liking, Kona." Kagami was pleased with the more honest answer.

"A-Anyway, private beach means I get Kagamin~ and her bikini all for me alone… I think I can live with that."

"Good for you, I guess… probably… What about you, Kona? What'll you be wearing?"

"Oho, someone's getting excited."

"…"

"Hehe."

"By the way, if you're going with the elementary swimsuit again, I'll think about a breakup."

"Huh? W-What?! No way…" Konata turned pale and her cheeky mood was gone.

"H-Hey, Kona, t-that was supposed to be a joke… Please cheer up! Okay, I probably would get a little mad and would've ignored you a bit on the beach, but I would never break up with you, especially not over something like that!"

"Really? I'm glad… But be at ease, Kagamin~, I wouldn't wear that a second time." She recovered a little and changed her attention to the little sister while whispering something by leaning over the table, which separated the two. "H-Hey, Tsukasa… do you have some time to spare after we arrived to go shopping with me? I may need to buy a new bikini…"

"K-Kona-chan…" Tsukasa wasn't sure how to react and Kagami only sighed. She obviously heard everything, but decided to stay silent. "Sure…"

"Thank you very much." Konata sat back down on her seat.

"Being in a relationship isn't as easy as it seems, is it?" Miyuki entered the, slightly derailed, conversation. "Misunderstands sure can get troublesome."

"That's nothing compared to the misunderstandings from before we got together!" Konata and Kagami immediately answered at the same time. The two then looked at each other and soon started laughing.

"It's useless to worry about them, Yuki-chan. They're the same as always after all."

"Ehehe…"

"Such a happy go lucky couple."

"Hearing that from Tsukasa is a bit…"

"Yeah…"

"Ehh?!" She was shocked by the remark of the two for some reason.

The girls kept chatting for some time, but soon only two were left. Miyuki and Tsukasa had fallen asleep at some point and Konata changed the topic to something that caught her interest.

"Hey, Kagamin~, those two…" She looked at the other side of the table where two girls were sleeping peacefully. While unconsciously leaning onto each other, Tsukasa's head was resting on Miyuki's shoulder and her own head was placed on Tsukasa's. Their breathing was slow and gentle and both looked extremely comfortable. "I might be imagining things, but… don't they look a little like us?"

"Haa…" She only let out a big sigh in response.

"Something wrong?"

"That's a bit… complicated."

"Uh, I already like where this is going." Konata's eyes started sparkling.

"Well…" Kagami told her what happened between Miyuki and Tsukasa last week. She knew about the little heated discussion about love and other things from her little sister, who told her about it a couple days ago.

"Heeh~… interesting… I wasn't expecting that."

"Yep, I also was a bit surprised."

"Maybe not surprised, but…"

"I get what you mean…" Kagami also took another glance at the two. "So, what's your cunning master plan, Kona?"

"Plan? For what?"

"You don't want to bring them together like they tried with us?"

"Hmm… It's true that they would make a nice couple, there's a good chemistry between them, but if anything, it's too early for that. According to your story, they just became slightly conscious of each other. If we were to play cupid now, it also could go in a wrong direction very easy. If these two started their help earlier before I realized what was going on, I don't know how I would've reacted... Even more so on your side, right? What would have happened if someone said you're in love just after you noticed something's going on you didn't understand at this point?"

"Yes, that's very true… Even after I understood, I had a hard time…"

"Well then, Kagamin~, let's just watch them from the sidelines and see what happens. A little innocent push in the right direction here and there is probably fine, but let's not interfere more than that. For now at least, that is."

"You sure can be mature if you want to, huh? You could be really popular if you regularly act like that…"

"Nah, no need for that. The person I wanted already fell for the normal me."

"That person also probably wouldn't mind if you act like that more often."

"It's just a little sad that said person is a bit greedy, but I still love her."

"Weird, I heard that that person thinks exactly the same about you… word for word."

"Is that so? You're right, that's rather weird."

"Looks like they're a pretty compatible couple, aren't they, Kona?"

"Yes, people may say we're a bit of an 'idiot couple', but I wouldn't want it any different."

"So, you were aware of it?"

"Of course I am, Kagamin~. After all, I'm 30% the reason of it…"

"… Wait, what?! 30%... You?!"

"What? Do you think it's even 40% or what? There's no way that it's so high…"

"Kona?"

"Yes?"

"…" Kagami was about to say something, but after looking at Konata's huge grin, she decided to just sigh and gave up. "Haa… It's a good thing that it's just us in this cabin."

"Oh, are we embarrassed?"

"That has nothing to do with it… Would you want other people to hear our stupid conversation?"

"Hmm… Fist class sure is amazing."

"It's good that you understand. Let's copy Miyuki and Tsukasa and sleep a little on our own. Looks like it'll still take some time before we arrive."

"You just want an excuse to cuddle, don't you?"

"If you know that much, then just stay silent…"

"Wow, you're surprisingly easy to tease today… Ehm, I mean that I just wanted to say that you don't need an excuse… or even a reason to do that."

"…"

"Sorry, I'm just admiring how you can be shy and assertive at the same time, Kagamin~. Such a complex personality."

"Just how long are you going to continue this conversation?" She became a bit impatient and Konata finally understood that she was only hurting herself. She shut up, inched closer to Kagami and, just like the two in front of them, put her head on Kagami's shoulder.

"Happy now?" Konata never got a spoken response. Instead, Kagami turned her head to the side, lightly kissed Konata's head, or rather hair and then also leaned with her weight against the smaller girl beside her.

….

Almost an entire hour passed and sadly, the cuddling had to come to an end now. The girls were about to reach their destination and had to pick up their belongings. The four woke up almost simultaneously and all let out a yawn before looking around. Konata and Kagami were obviously unaffected by the position they were in because being intimate was more than natural already for them, for quite some time even. Tsukasa and Miyuki weren't acting much different, though. They may exchanged a short, embarrassed glance, but nothing much happened. The event from last week was more or less forgotten and the two just innocently enjoyed each other's company without any hidden thoughts.

The train stopped, the girls got out and after a short bus ride, they were almost at their destination. The four took a bus because Kagami had something against using the shuttle service they would've normally used. From the bus stop, it was only a short walk before they arrive at the beach house or rather…

"W-What's up with this villa?! Kagami went through another culture shock as she looked with wide eyes at the place where they're going to stay for the next week. It was a two-story tall building and its width easily exceeding three normal houses.

"W-Well… Let's just enjoy this opportunity, onee-chan…" Tsukasa tried to calm her down and the girls went inside for the time being.

"Okay then… I think we first should choose our rooms. Actually, there are more rooms than people her… so feel free to choose the one you like the most." Miyuki briefly explained the room situation to everyone.

"More rooms than people… tzz…"

"Calm down, Kagamin~. Miyuki, Tsukasa, feel free to choose one first. Kagamin~ and I are going to share a room anyway."

"Do we?"

"You don't want to?"

"Ehh… What Kona said…" Kagami readily agreed. She wasn't even sure why she asked in the first place.

"O-kay…" Miyuki and Tsukasa briefly looked at each other, but had nothing more to say and went upstairs to choose a room each. Konata and Kagami followed a little later, but settled for the first room with a comfortable looking bed, which wasn't a hard task in such a luxurious villa. The other two each took a room right next to each other and after unpacking their stuff and settling down a little, the girls met up in the living room. They sat down on one of the sofas there and started planning various things.

"So, how about Tsukasa and I are going shopping first and then we take it easy on the beach for the rest of the day?"

"Oh, why do you want to go shopping, Kona?"

"Why? For food, of course. Well, except you want to catch something to eat in the sea… Personally, I don't ever want to even touch a fishing rod ever again in my life…" Some trauma came back to the surface.

"Oh… I see… Y-Yes, that's true." Kagami knew that the main reason for the shopping trip is the swimsuit incident from earlier today, but Konata splendidly talked her way out of getting teased before Kagami even had the chance to try.

"Sure, let's go, Kona-chan! It's going to be fun." Tsukasa was in awfully high spirits for some reason. Seeing that, Kagami's lips changed into a small grin.

"Well then, have fun, you two~." She seemed to have noticed something Konata overlooked and was delighted by it.

Tsukasa and Konata left, leaving Miyuki and Kagami alone behind.

"Is there anything you want to do until they come back, Kagami-san?"

"Hmm…"

"I mean, it's probably going to take a few hours before they'll come back…"

"Oh, so you've noticed it, too, Miyuki? Kona's mistake, that is?"

"Indeed. After all, I went through it a lot in the last couple months."

"Somehow… I'm sorry about that…"

"No, I'm having a lot of fun with your little sister. That much is totally fine."

"I see, I'm happy to hear that and thank you."

"Hmm?"

"Well, ever since I'm spending so much, or rather all my time with Kona, I feel like neglecting Tsukasa a bit, but you…"

"Kagami-san, I'm not just spending time with her because she felt a little lonely. It wasn't a lie and I genuinely like spending time with her. More than you probably can imagine…"

"Ehm… Miyuki… I'm going out with a girl I fell for mainly thanks to how much I like spending time with her and being around her. I think more than qualified to understand…"

"Oh… yes… I'm s-sorry… looks like I was a bit too impulsive there."

"Don't worry about it and I really didn't want to imply anything. Just a big sister worrying about her little one and thanking you for being such a good friend."

"That's what you meant… I understand." The two calmed down a bit while feeling a little awkward.

"A-Anyway… getting back to the topic… Is there anything interesting nearby?"

"Well, we could take a first look at the beach, you can't really see it from her after all."

"Hmm… Sure, sounds good."

"Great… but please don't be too shocked, okay?"

"Eh? Why?" She tilted her a little.

"You'll see soon enough…" Miyuki guided her towards the point from where they could see the beach and stopped. Kagami looked around and then she froze.

"S-Seriously?"

"Yes…"

"Damn rich people…" She didn't even try to hide it."

"I'm sorry…"

"…"

…

Three and a half hours passed and the shopping trip was finally over.

"Sooo hooot~, soo tired~, soo…" Konata staggered into the living room and crashed face first onto the sofa without even finishing her complaints. The shopping, together with the summer heat seemed to have taken quite a toll on her.

"Good work." Kagami walked up to her and offered something cold to drink.

"Thanks…" She gladly accepted the glass and gulped it down in one go.

"Feeling better now?"

"Yeah… I'm almost back to live…"

"I see, how was shopping with Tsukasa?" Kagami had a hard time with suppressing her grin.

"That's… How could I forget about it? I mean, I saw what happened with Miyuki in Yokohama… How Tsukasa went on a shopping rampage…"

"Hehe. So, found at least a new bikini?"

"Yes, after trying on every single one and combining whatever she found, I finally found on, or rather, Tsukasa and I agreed on one… You knew from the very beginning, huh, Kagamin~?"

"Yep~."

"Why didn't you say anything then? Wait… no, nevermind… don't answer that. I should've been just honest and could've gone with you…"

"Yes, I would've appreciated that very much."

"Anyway… What done is done, anything happened with Miyuki while we were gone?"

"Well… I learned one or two interesting things… Oh, and I started to hate her a little more. Ehm, no, I mean, how rich her family is…"

"Huh? What made you jealous this time? You're out of it all day already because of it."

"I-I'm not jea- ah, whatever… Miyuki and I went to the beach together and… wait, can you even call that a beach…?"

"I need context…"

"Just showing would probably be easier." Kagami grabbed Konata's hand and the two went behind the house and walked towards where the beach is located. They met up with the other two there, who directly went there when Tsukasa came back from the shopping. Seeing what Kagami meant, Konata's eyes grew wide in shock.

"Seriously?"

"It is as you can see…"

"… Damn rich people…" Konata couldn't help it.

"I know, right?!" Kagami made a few big nods.

"I-I'm sorry…" Miyuki's head hung low once more.

"This beach is amazingly beautiful, isn't it, Kona-chan?"

"… Ah, yes… it is…"

The beach the girls were looking really was stunning. No, the lagoon they were looking at, was probably a more fitting description. What comes to view after leaving the villa and walking a bit downhill towards the direction of the sea, is a beautiful and secluded lagoon. Edged into a relatively small cliff, there was a lake filled with crystal-clear, blue water, which was connected with the sea by only a small hole in said cliff. In front of the water was a big area of almost snow white sand, making the whole place more like something from the Caribbean.

"We're still in Japan… right?" Konata had some serious doubts.

"Where else should we be?"

"Well, the scenery doesn't match at all and now that I think about it… It did feel like we passed through some kind of portal earlier… maybe this place here is actually located in a different world and…"

"Kona?" Kagami stopped her.

"Hmm?"

"I'll be putting you on an anime ban for the next month."

"Eh? No way… You can't do that!"

"Shall I extend it to a whole season?"

"Noo! Anything, but that! I'll be a good again, but please spare me, mom!"

"I give up…" Kagami sighed.

"No ban then?"

"I'll settle for six weeks."

"W-Wha-?!"

"Kona-chan… you should better stop…" Tsukasa tried to help her a bit.

"Okay… six weeks with manga only… Love sure can be painful…"

"…" The twins and even Miyuki facepalmed. The conversation came to an end, which ensured Kagami's sanity and Konata's safety, and the girls silently enjoyed the scenery. The shopping trip earlier consumed quite some time and so the swimming, together with other beach activities had to be postponed to the next day. The girls also became a little hungry and decided to head back to the villa in order to make dinner. Konata absolutely wasn't searching for fluctuations in the air that could hint an invisible portal on the way back to prove her theory and Kagami even less so hit the back of Konata's head afterward. Such a thing never happened.

…..

The four arrived in the kitchen and started preparing the food right away. Miyuki and Tsukasa were responsible for the vegetables, Konata took care of the fish, they're at the sea after all and Kagami prepared the rice by washing it. Once it was clean, she put it in the rice cooker and while shedding a little tear, as usual, she pressed the start button. While looking extremely disappointed, mainly at herself and also dejected, Kagami turned away from the hated machine and offered Konata some help.

They finished dinner without any incidents and after each taking a bath, which went by quite fast thanks to having two separate bathrooms, the girls met up in the living room again.

"This place is so amazing! Thank you for inviting us, Yuki-chan."

"Yes, I'm very happy that I was able to share it with all of you, even though it wasn't planned." Miyuki wasn't that sad that her parents had to cancel the family trip.

"Almost too amazing… if you ask me…" Kagami was still overwhelmed by everything. While saying so, she unconsciously grabbed Konata's hand for some reason. It happened a lot already on this day.

"Don't be like that, Kagamin~. Well… I have to agree that the beach is a bit much, though. It's almost like it's… out of this world." Konata couldn't help it.

"Seven weeks."

"Totally worth it."

"You know, I'm still not really sure if onee-chan's good at handling Kona-chan or not…"

"I'm not even sure what they're talking about, Tsukasa-san…" Miyuki's answer didn't help much.

"In Kagamin~'s eyes, she isn't, but if you ask me, she's WAY too good."

"Exactly what Kona said." Kagami easily agreed with her explanation. Tsukasa had intended to only ask Miyuki next to her, but the party in question had good ears.

"I-Is that so?"

"You two sure are complicated."

"Ehehe."

"Kona, I'm pretty sure that wasn't a compliment…"

"So mean~." She started pouting a little.

Their lively chatting continued for some time, but slight drowsiness slowly started to appear, for two people at least.

"… It sure has gotten late… I think I'll go to sleep…"

"Yeah… I'm also tired… I'll come with you, Yuki-chan. Good night, onee-chan, Kona-chan." Miyuki and Tsukasa then went to their rooms.

"So, now that the children are asleep, the parents can party, huh?"

"… So many things I want to retort to…"

"Not good?"

"Shut up, Kona."

"Fine…"

"Well, what do you want to do? I'm a bit tired, too, though… Not directly sleepy, but exhausted or something…"

"Hmm… Want to test how the bed in our room performs? … Wait, that sounded kind of dirty now, didn't it?"

"I'm glad you noticed."

"Sorry…" Konata apologized and Kagami stood up from the sofa. She was about to leave the living room when she turned her head around.

"Are you coming or what?"

"Ehh?! W-Wait… ehh?!" Konata overloaded.

"Just cuddling at most, idiot."

"Aww… Wait, I'm totally fine with that." Konata was disappointed for a second, but immediately realized that something good happened.

"Just what were you imagining, pervert?" Kagami's wink didn't help her accusation at all.

"Oi, you totally did that on purpose! Geez, your suggestiveness is bad for my heart…"

"Welcome to my world, Kona~."

"I should've seen that one coming… Maybe it's because it's late already…"

"Also tired, huh? So, bed or what?"

"Don't be so pushy~. A girl should be more reserved."

"Kona?"

"Yes, I'm coming!" She finally started following Kagami towards their room.

"Finally."

"P-Please be gentle, o-okay~?" Konata tried to sound bashful, but it didn't work at all.

"No."

"Hardcore cuddling, huh? Wow… even that sounds kind of dirty…"

"…"

"Yes, I'll shut up for now."

"Good girl."

The two entered their room and closed the door behind them. Konata walked towards the bed, but made a big mistake while doing so. She let Kagami enter her blind spot and before Konata even knew it, she arrived on the bed earlier than expected because she was thrown there. The bed was pretty comfortable and so it wasn't that bad, but she still had no time to relax because Kagami already landed on top of her, with her face only a couple inches above Konata's.

"So forceful today~. It's hardcore cuddling after all, huh?"

"Hmm…" Kagami brought her face closer to Konata's.

"S-Seriously?"

"Nope~."

"You are such a tease!"

"I don't want to hear that from you, Kona."

"Who's on top of who right now again? Furthermore, you're pretty pushy today… I mean more than usual… I'm not complaining, far from it, but is something wrong? Homesick? You didn't act so clingy in Yokohama, though… Then again, our relationship was a little different, huh?"

"Homesick, huh? No, that's not really it… More like it's kind of hard for me to calm down in this environment or so…"

"Ah, I see… It is kind of overwhelming here. That makes you pushy?"

"Well, as exhausting as you are on your own, Kona…" Kagami started her explanation while crashing down on her beneath her on the bed while burying her face in Konata's neck before continuing with a now muffled voice. "… You're still the person I feel the calmest around…"

"What a spoiled kid you are…" Konata playfully complained, but then wrapped one arm around Kagami's waist and patted her head with the other one.

"Sorry…" She only buried her face deeper into Konata's shoulder.

"Nono, I quite like the gap. We should consider traveling with Miyuki more often."

"… Shut up…"

"Oh, you can act spoiled whenever you want, if that's the problem, though."

"… Shut up."

"Only if we're alone?"

"Shut… up."

"What if I also act spoiled? Will that help?"

"Will you listen to me already?! More importantly… 'if' and 'a little'? What?"

"Oh, look who's feeling better again."

"… Idiot." She really was better.

"You're welcome."

"Yes… Thank you, Kona."

The two stayed a couple minutes in the embrace until Konata spoke up again.

"Ehm… Kagamin~?"

"Hmm?"

"How do I say that delicately now…? Well, like I can do 'delicately'… So, as much as I like your closeness, I really do, and not just because I get to feel various soft and nice feeling parts of your body without feeling guilty… The weight of your body on top of me, which absolutely isn't much, but still the weight of a human body, that naturally has some weight attached to it… even in your case… Is slowly getting a little…"

"…" Kagami didn't answer. Instead, she not-so-gently flicked Konata's forehead before sliding down beside her on the bed.

"Air…" She took a few deep breaths.

"I think I should punish you after all…"

"Tomorrow, okay?"

"Fine…"

"After getting the much-awaited treat I'm looking forward to tomorrow, I'm willing to take everything afterward."

"What treat?"

"Kagamin~ in a bikini of course."

"Ah, the perverted old man is back."

"He was never gone."

"Are you really forward to it that much?"

"Of course I am! Shouldn't it be weirder if I, your girlfriend, wouldn't?"

"W-Well…"

"Sure, leaving justice aside, my main selling point is my overwhelming charm, but you're more than just nice to look at.

"Quite the ego." Kagami looked at Konata from the side and then gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Nope, there's more than just your ego. You're plenty attractive yourself in my eyes."

"I-I'm happy to hear it…" Konata wasn't expecting this counter attack and turned slightly red.

"Thanks for that treat." Bashful Konata is one of Kagami's favorites.

"Haa… Okay, I'll let it slide because I'll be much worse tomorrow."

"Great… Anyway… How about we get some sleep now?"

"So… really no hardcore cuddling?"

"Scratch the hardcore part and we can talk, Kona."

"Well, I'll take what I get."

"Not like that."

"I'm sorry! Please let us cuddle, o great Kagami-sama."

"Wow, it actually got worse… Whatever, I think I'll stop now because we're both only hindering ourselves…"

"That's great to hear. Thank you very much, Kagamin~?"

"Sure…" Kagami gave up, wrapped her arms around Konata and pulled her close. "Good night, Kona."

"Night." With that, the first day of their summer trip ended.

…..

The next morning, Konata and Kagami were sleeping in the usual position. Both lying on their sides, Konata at the front while Kagami was hugging her from behind with her arms wrapped around the waist of the girl in front of her.

"You know, I read something pretty interesting a while ago, Kagamin~."

"Morning… What is it…?" She was still a little sleepy.

"The article said that the person who acts as the big spoon is the one who's usually in charge in the relationship…"

"Ah, that…" Kagami gave her a squeeze from behind before moving her head a little to whisper directly into Konata's ear. "I know that already."

"…"

- They got up and went to the kitchen for breakfast.

….

"Oh, Kagami-san, Izumi-san, good morning." Miyuki greeted them when she saw the two entering the kitchen.

"Morning."

"Also roaming for breakfast?"

"Yes, I was getting a little hungry." Miyuki nodded at Konata's question.

"My sister's still asleep, huh?"

"Well, I knocked a few times on her door earlier and even got an answer, but I think she fell asleep again."

"Ahaha… that's just how she is…" Kagami knew perfectly well that it's impossible to wake up Tsukasa in the morning unless something important happens.

"I'm aware of it…" Miyuki's face was full of sympathy and understanding towards for Kagami. With Tsukasa staying at her place pretty often lately, she was well accustomed to it.

"She'll probably up in an hour or rather two."

"More like three."

"Oh, can I try it for a change? I have so many ideas prepared for waking up Kagamin~ when she doesn't want to get up, but too scared to try because I would be killed then…" Konata's face only looked a little scary right now.

"And you think my little sister is the right person then?"

"Sure, she's able to take it."

"I'm not?"

"Exactly!"

"I really don't think…" Kagami wanted to voice her doubts, but Konata was already gone. "I have a really bad feeling about that…"

"I wonder what Izumi-san wants to try."

Three minutes passed and Konata, together with Tsukasa came back to the kitchen. Konata looked pretty satisfied, Tsukasa, on the other hand, looked rather tired, but it was hard to tell if it was Konata's fault or because she just woke up.

"We're back~."

"Good morning… Yuki-chan… onee-chan…"

"How is that even possible?"

"Kona, w-what did you do to my sister?!"

"Trade secret~."

"I'm even more scared now… Tsukasa, what happened?"

"Huh? Ehm… n-nothing… nothing happened…"

"Kona!"

"I didn't do anything susp-… ba-… uh… I did nothing that should worry you…?" She wasn't very convincing.

"I don't know why, but after said I shouldn't worry, I started worrying a lot…"

"You don't have to, onee-chan… It really wasn't anything… uhm… It was totally safe, onee-chan… I'm hungry… what about breakfast?"

"Of course, that's why I woke you up after all." Konata welcomed the change of topic.

"I'm not happy with this!" Kagami's complaint reached no one.

The mood at the following breakfast was a bit awkward, but the topic of interest soon changed towards the beach. The girls started planning the day at the and Kona and Tsukasa got very excited. For entirely different reasons, though. They started to get ready and decided to meet up at the beach later on.

…

Half an hour passed and all four were at the beach and more importantly, everyone was in their bikinis.

Miyuki was wearing a completely white one and as a highlight, she had a piece of cloth wrapped around her waist. Technically speaking, the piece would be more effective around her chest, because the bikini top was working pretty hard and could use some assistance.

Tsukasa's bikini was light blue with white polka dots and many frills around her chest and hip.

Kagami was wearing a greenish-turquoise and white striped bikini. The top had a little black ribbon between the cups and the bottom was tied together at the sides of her hip.

Konata had mixed hers a little more. She was wearing a multicolored and fluffy looking top together with red shorts. The fluffiness of the top came from the extra layer of cloth sewn on top in order to keep the attention away a little from the slightly lacking chest department.

Tsukasa had immediately grabbed Miyuki's hand and dragged her towards the water, leaving Konata and Kagami alone behind.

"Miyuki sure is unfair… money and looks…"

"Good thing it was you who said it, Kagamin~."

"Sorry, but I was your line of sight when you saw her in the bikini, don't try to act innocent."

"I was just cheering for the fabric of Miyuki's bikini top. Seeing it desperately doing its best in order not to tear up, made me a bit emotional."

"Oh, is that what it was?" She wasn't even trying to hide her sarcasm.

"Well, I have to admit that she's rather eye-catching, but if anything, it's calming me down when I look at her…"

"Hmm?"

"Truth to be told, I'm getting rather excited by just glancing at a certain someone."

"Yeah, Tsukasa looks quite adorable, huh?"

"… Idiot."

"Speaking of my sister, I guess I have to thank her later."

"Why?"

"She did a good job when you two were shopping for a bikini. I'm starting to understand why you looked forward to today so much, yesterday in the bed. You look extremely cute. It suits you very well."

"Y-Your super honest mode is so unfair… My heart really is going to take damage by it… But thank you, I guess…"

"I really mean it."

"A-Anyway, you're on the other hand, are totally cheating, Kagamin~. I'm having trouble focusing my eyes because I'm desperately resisting the urge to jump at you right here and now!"

"Pervert."

"As if that wasn't your plan! Easily having the boldest bikini here and then there's the color scheme of it… It's so totally inspired by Hatsune Miku and you know what I think of her."

"Hmm…"

"It was on purpose, wasn't it?"

"Who knows~?" Kagami just smiled at her and started walking towards the water.

"Oi!" Konata wasn't done talking and so she jumped at Kagami's back. Said person didn't stop walking, though. With Konata clinging to her back, she continued her way towards the water. Konata didn't mind it much anymore because, after two seconds of clinging, she was just enjoying the contact of bare skin. When she arrived at the water, Kagami turned around and let herself fall, with her back first, in the water.

"Wow, the water's pretty warm."

"Oh, you're right, it feels really nice."

"Calmed down a little, Kona?"

"Yeah, I'm slowly getting used to the bikini, I guess."

"Me too, let's both do our best with having fun in the water without getting excited over a little exposed skin."

"Eh? Both? You mean…" Konata was surprised to hear it, but pressed one of her fingers on Konata's lips to silence her.

"You really need to learn how to read the mood and when you should stop talking."

"Huh? I know perfectly well that I should've stopped a while ago, I just didn't want to."

"I see…"

"Well, in this case, I was just happy that the excitement's mutual."

"Weren't your words yesterday 'Shouldn't it be weirder if I, your girlfriend, wouldn't be excited by seeing you in a bikini'?"

"More or less…"

"Don't you think that this should also apply to me, Kona?"

"Hmm…"

"It does, more than you think actually. Now let's stop talking already and have some fun together with Miyuki and Tsukasa."

"T-That's a very good plan, Kagamin~."

Their conversation was over and the two swam towards Miyuki and Tsukasa, who were playing together on the other side of the lagoon-like water.

"What are you two doing?"

"Oh, Kona-chan, onee-chan, have you two finished flirting?" It looks like Tsukasa saw them having fun.

"W-Wha-…"

"We just thought that it would be nice to play together as a group."

"Oh, that's a very nice idea."

"Yay! But back to my question for Yuki-chan first… Yuki-chan, why are there no fishes here in the water?"

"Huh?" Konata was a bit confused and then looked down into the water again. "Wow, you're right, there's nothing in here? Wait, the water isn't poisonous or anything, right?"

"No, don't worry, it definitely isn't." Miyuki immediately cleared up the dangerous question. "There are many reasons why some waters don't have fishes in it. The two most likely here are that it's because this water isn't directly connected to the sea, only by the small hole in the cliff and only when the tide is high enough. The second reason is probably because the water is too clean. There isn't a single sign of algae or plankton and thus no food for most fishes."

"Oh, okay, it sounds like it makes sense…" Tsukasa didn't fully understand the reasons completely, but she had absolute faith in the correctness of Miyuki's explanation.

"So… even nature thinks this place is too amazing?" Konata had her own explanation and Kagami actually gave her a small nod.

"Well, I'm actually rather happy that we don't have to share the water with fishes and whatever else…"

"You have a point there, onee-chan…"

"Hmm…" Konata's attention was already somewhere else.

"What is it now, Kona?"

"That cliff surrounding us… it's not very high, is it?"

"Well… It's still twice as tall as I am… Why?"

"Who's in for a little cliff diving?"

"Eh? N-No, I think I'm fine, Kona-chan…"

"I'll probably also just watch…" Tsukasa and Miyuki weren't a fan of the idea.

"Aww, so boring~… What about you, Kagamin~? You're cool, right?"

"Wow, that's one of the lamest things you ever said…"

"Y-You don't have to say it out loud! Don't you think I realized that while saying it, myself?"

"Hehe. The cliff, huh? Well, I think I jumped from higher places at public swimming pools. Sure, let's try it."

"That's my Kagamin~."

"Yes yes."

The two got out of the water and looked for a way to get on top of the cliff. After a bit of looking, they found some kind of path and could simply walk their way up. Standing up there, their earlier confidence started to waver a little.

"Is it just me or does it look way deeper from up here?"

"Weird, I was just thinking the same, Kona."

"Hey Miyuki, why does it seem deeper from our point of view." Konata yelled from the top of the cliff, hoping for an answer.

"It's most likely an optical illusion caused by the extremely clear water. Basically, you're looking from up there all the way to the ground of the lagoon. Look here…" Miyuki began splashing the water and created several waves with it. "See, the actual distance should be clearer now, right?"

"Ohhh, you're right, thank you."

"Having a personal wiki sure is nice. I wonder if it'll rub on Tsukasa one day…" Konata whispered the last part so that only Kagami could hear before starting to laugh.

"Oi…" Kagami scolded her, but had a hard time holding back her own smile.

"What's wrong, Kona-chan?" Tsukasa was a bit confused by the acting of the two.

"N-Nothing…"

"Well then, shall we do it, Kona?"

"That's why we're here." She grabbed Kagami's hand and the two then jumped from the cliff. The next thing Miyuki and Tsukasa saw was a huge splash of water coming towards before the two got even wetter.

"Phew, that wasn't bad at all."

"Ha, another thing to cross off my list. Good thing I didn't specify the height of the cliff to jump from…"

"Should I ask?"

"No, that list is way too high level for you, Kagamin~." She looked proud for some reason.

"Which means there are a lot of embarrassing things on it, huh?" Kagami looked even prouder, or rather, smug.

"W-Well, there's also that…"

"Oho, I wonder if I'm also on that list…"

"Hmm~, interesting question, Kagamin~. It's a good thing that the list only exists in my head."

"Too bad, I would've loved to take a peek at it."

"Maybe I'll make you a best-of list in a couple years in the future."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"Aww, making plans for the far away future already."

"Got a problem with that?"

"N-No… I'm very sorry…" Tsukasa's attempt to tease was completely negated by the simultaneous answer of the two.

The girls kept playing in the water until they were somewhat exhausted and decided to rest. Miyuki brought over a parasol and a blanket from the villa and the girls were currently resting on the beach.

"This place…" Tsukasa was in awe again.

"Yeah, I wonder if we could meet the aliens who created it." Konata was being Konata.

"It's aliens now? What about the different world theory?"

"Well, duh… The aliens who created the other world… What else could I mean, Kagamin~?"

"…" She was completely speechless.

"Eight weeks?" Konata received a nod from Kagami.

"Kona-chan sure is…"

"Indeed." Tsukasa and Miyuki were pretty amazed for some reason.

Ten minutes under the parasol had passed and Tsukasa was already bored. She took Miyuki and now the two were building a sand castle near the water.

"Your sister sure is quite the kid."

"Says the one who thinks this place is in a different world and created by aliens…"

"That's not childish at all. After all, there are a lot of manga and especially light novel authors, who are quite successful with this kind of setting."

"Sure, other world settings are popular… but aliens? That's kind of outdated, isn't it?"

"Really? That's your retort, Kagamin~?"

"Gah… I did that to myself… Well, I do like the whole transported and reincarnated in a different world setting quite a bit in light novels, but aliens? No, not even a bit. Another world's supposed to be fun, right? New culture, tons of adventures, interesting friends and of course magic… An alien invasion doesn't sound fun at all… Wait… what if…"

"K-Kagamin~?"

"H-Huh? Uh… yes?"

"Six weeks light novel ban."

"Eh?! Why? That's totally not fair!"

"Not fair, huh? Kagamin~, I got a ban for casually mentioning different worlds, but you should get a free pass for totally nerding out about your light novels?"

"Uhh… that's… I'm sorry…"

"Hey, how about that… Let's call it quit and no one gets a ban on anything?"

"Okay… fine, I guess that's only fair…"

"Yay! You're the best, Kagamin~!"

"Yes yes… Huh? Wait a moment… You tricked me just now, didn't you?" Kagami calmed down a little and realized something.

"I would never do such a thing as fooling you!"

"Really?"

"A-Absolutely!"

"You're a bad liar, Kona."

"I know…" She could only muster a dry laugh.

"It's too bad that I'm not much better about it…"

"No, that's a good thing… Although, I wonder about that a bit…"

"Anyway… How about a topic change?"

"Sure, change away."

"Want to go for another swim?"

"Hmm… Nah, I'm good. I would rather keep enjoying the view here." Konata said so and looked at Kagami, who was sitting in her bikini on the blanket right next to her.

"Is that so? How about I go alone then?"

"Go on. Seeing a beautiful getting wet is… Okay… I'm sorry about that… I don't know where I was going with that… Sure, let's go swimming." Konata realized that she overdid it herself before Kagami could even react.

"Learn how to filter your words already…"

"Absolutely impossible. In the first place, it's your fault, Kagamin~."

"I would love to hear the reason for that."

"That's because I get too excited and happy around you what makes it impossible for me to restrain myself." Konata's extra serious face while making this statement wasn't something that Kagami was expecting.

"… Idiot." She was pretty embarrassed and was rather happy that she could jump into the water to cool down her red face.

"You're an idiot." Konata was happy that she had the upper hand for a rare change lately and delivered another blow before jumping into the water herself. Miyuki and Tsukasa, who were building their sand castle, had listened to the whole act with a bright red face.

"Kagami-san and Izumi-san are pretty… intense… I'm embarrassed just by listening to them…"

"Yeah… that's true… But I'm glad that onee-chan and Kona-chan are so lovey-dovey and happy."

"It indeed looks like they're having a lot of fun together…"

"Yes…" The two almost looked a little envious by watching their friends, but soon focused on their sand castle again or rather, sand-city by now.

The day continued like this, with the girls either playing at the beach or in the water. It was getting late and more importantly, they were getting hungry and decided to go back to the villa for preparing dinner.

After the four finished eating, they started chatting like usual.

"I'm sooo tired… Playing at the beach all day is surprisingly exhausting."

"You're right, Tsukasa-san, I'm also a bit tired."

"Really? I think I'm more energetic than I was in the morning."

"I'm mostly mentally tired…" Konata's and Kagami's opinion on it were greatly different from Miyuki's and Tsukasa's

"I wonder why~."

"Me too, Kona…"

"Hehe."

"Oh!" Miyuki suddenly gasped. "I totally forgot about something…"

"If Miyuki forgot about something… it's going to be bad."

"There's a hot spring nearby that we all could visit tomorrow or so."

"A h-hot spring, huh?"

"Oh… this is pretty bad…"

"Why is a hot spring bad, Kona-chan, and why is your face red, onee-chan?"

"It's bad for my heart…"

"There are various and difficult reasons…"

"I see…" Tsukasa didn't understand at all.

"Wow, look at the time… it's gotten pretty late… I think I'll head for the bed today…" Konata said some pretty uncharacteristic words for her.

"Oh, that's a good idea… I'll come with you, Kona." Kagami was also 'tired' and both left before the other two could say a word.

"That was… weird…" Tsukasa watched the two leaving and got only more confused.

"Was it?"

"Eh? Do you know what their problem with the hot spring is, Yuki-chan?"

"I think I have an idea… I probably did something bad…"

"Oh, what is it?"

"Well…" Miyuki wasn't sure how to explain it. "Hot spring means being naked and the two are probably… let's say embarrassed."

"Why? Didn't we visit a public bath together some time ago? Nothing happened there."

"The circumstances now are different. Back then, they were just friends and now they're a couple…"

"What's the difference… Ohhh…" Tsukasa finally understood.

"Yes, they probably don't know how to handle seeing each naked right now."

"It makes sense… I didn't think about that at all… Should we not go then?"

"I assume the two are talking about the same thing right now. Let them decide tomorrow."

"Okay… Being in a relationship also can complicate things, huh?"

"It sure can."

"It still looks like it's worth it, though…"

…..

Two girls were currently sitting on some chairs in the corner of their room and had some pretty difficult expressions on their faces.

"So…"

"Soo…"

"Hot spring, she said…"

"Hot spring, huh?"

"That could be bad…"

"Yeah…"

"…"

"…" The awkward silence started to become painful.

"Haa… that's going nowhere… Can I just speak openly, Kagamin~?"

"Sure, why stopping now?"

"I'm not sure if I should go with you there…"

"Hmm…"

"You know, me falling for you mainly happened because of your character. Talking to you, spending time with you, teasing you… getting teased by you is fun on its own, but nevermind that now, playing games… heck, even risking my life in the kitchen was fun. Your dere side is super adorable and your tsun side, even though it's on standby lately, made me interested in you at the beginning and I got rewarded with great reactions from you, thanks to it. I love all that about you, but I can't or won't hide that my physical attraction towards you is also growing… Well, not like that's a secret, especially after the whole bikini thing today…"

"Uhn…" Kagami wasn't sure if she should be happy and embarrassed because of the heartily love declaration or a bit angry because of the tsundere remark.

"I really think we should wait before going further than our cuddling and kissing… I already had a hard time with holding back when I saw you in a bikini today… If said piece of clothing is also gone in the hot spring… I don't know what's going to happen. I'm scared that I could do something I would regret later on and, well… make things awkward between us as the best possible outcome…"

"Kona…" Kagami was a bit overwhelmed and started thinking about her next words. "Ehm… First off, I'm pretty happy about what you said. I'm touched that you think so highly of me and our relationship."

"It's all true."

"Yes, I don't doubt you in the slightest… Let me continue. Everything you said is completely… mutual… I love you just as much and for similar reasons… And… I, too, got a little more conscious about the… physical part of a relationship bit by bit… I'm probably just better at holding back…"

"Ahem…" Konata didn't agree.

"Shut up, not now. There's only mistake you made there, Kona."

"Huh? Where?"

"It's not for you alone to decide how far we're going to go with or without feeling guilty. Or rather, you can only feel guilty if it isn't mutual… Yes, I as well think it would be too early, but… but whatever happens, happens… If… If we force ourselves to hold back with something we think we shouldn't do… or do yet in this case… What would that mean? If we go with that, we wouldn't even be together, right? I'm by no means saying we should advance our relationship without thinking, but we also shouldn't overthink it. We both love and feel comfortable around each other. If we mutually come to the point to go further, be it tomorrow or in a year, let's just go with the flow and see what happens. You don't have to feel guilty for thinking about it. After all, I'm not much different."

"… Ehh… Uhh… Uhm…" Konata's brain's gone way over capacity and overloaded. "I-I have no idea what to say… "

"Just say 'okay', Kona." Kagami gave her a little push and then averted her face. She was able to say what she wanted to convey to Kona with a straight face because it was important for her and her relationship with Konata, but now that it was over, she would prefer to crawl into a hole and die in pure embarrassment that she had never experienced before in her life.

"O-Okay." It was the only thing she could, should and wanted to say.

"Good… Now, if you'll please excuse, I'm going to go outside for a bit… If I don't cool down now… then there's a possibility for me that I'll spontaneously burst into flames." Not even on her best days had Konata managed to make Kagami's face as red as it was right now.

"Sure… I'll stay here, lay on the bed and scream into my pillow for the time being."

"Sounds like a plan, let's go with that." Kagami stood up from the chair and was about to leave the room."

"Hey, Kagamin~, thanks… for everything."

"…" All she could do, thanks to her mental condition, give a small nod before finally leaving.

….

Kagami first went to the kitchen to get something cold to drink and then stepped outside into the garden in order to clear her head. About ten minutes in silence passed before she got unexpected company.

"Oh, good evening, Kagami-san, I wasn't expecting to see you here. Is something wrong?" Miyuki also wanted something to drink, but she then noticed the light outside. She decided to take a look and found Kagami while getting a little worried after she saw her still slightly red face.

"Miyuki… hello. No, everything's fine, I guess."

"I see. Can I sit down for a bit?"

"Sure… we're your guests in the first place."

"Thank you." Miyuki sat down next to her on the grass and looked the same direction Kagami was looking at, straight at the starry night sky.

"I'm fine, Miyuki, you don't have to worry." Kagami saw through the intention of her.

"That's good to hear, but something happened, right? With Izumi-san probably…"

"Haa… It's complicated…"

"A fight? I'm sorry…"

"Why are you sorry?"

"I have the feeling that it's my fault… It happened because of the hot spring I mentioned, isn't it?"

"Well… that was the reason, but it wasn't a fight… more something like a… uh, discussion that took an… interesting turn…"

"I see… Still, I'm sorry…"

"You really don't have to, Miyuki. I've never felt closer to Konata and that's all thanks to the talk we had. If anything, I should thank you. I'm just here right now to get a little fresh air…"

"Oh, I'm pretty relieved to hear it. You probably don't want to share your talk, right?"

"I'm sorry, but there's no way that's going to happen. It's way too personal to tell anyone." Kagami had no intention to mention anything because it's too embarrassing and private.

"Okay, well, I was expecting it- I'm happy that I didn't accidentally harm your relationship with Izumi-san."

"Far from it."

"So, will you two go with Tsukasa-san and me to the hot spring tomorrow?"

"Yes… we'll go."

"That's great. Tsukasa-san will be happy to hear it."

"Yeah…"

"Well then, I'll be going back to my room."

"Okay, good night, Miyuki. I'll be going soon, too."

"See you tomorrow, Kagami-san."

Miyuki left the garden and Kagami followed a couple minutes later. She arrived in her room and saw that Konata was already asleep. She probably became tired from yelling into her pillow and fell asleep just like that. Kagami didn't mind it much, snuggled up to her on the bed and fell asleep on her own.

…..

After the talk the two had yesterday, both slept like a log and had a little late start in the morning. They finally woke up and arrived at the kitchen a little later.

"Oh, good morning, Kona-chan and onee-chan, finally awake, huh?"

"Tsukasa-san, didn't you wake up just a couple minutes ago, yourself?"

"Y-Yuki-chan! They don't need to know that!"

"I'm sorry…"

"Good morning." Konata and Kagami decided to just ignore the little bantering.

"So, what's the plan for today?"

"Well, I really wanted to visit the hot spring Miyuki mentioned yesterday with everyone, but… is that okay?"

"Yeah, Kona and I are fine. We'll come with you two."

"Yay!"

"But not the complete day, right? We would probably end up looking like lobsters or so…"

"Nonono, I wanted to go sometime in the evening after finishing playing at the beach.

"Ah, makes sense."

The girls ate breakfast and then went to the beach later on where they played the whole day. Konata even wasn't distracted by Kagami's bikini. The reason for that was obvious. On one hand, there was the talk from last night, but the main factor was that she was already preparing her heart for the main attraction later.

It was getting late and the girls decided to visit the hot spring now. It was only a short, ten minute long walk on foot until they arrived at the small hot spring, which worked on a reservation basis. Miyuki luckily made said reservation in the morning already.

They went inside, into the changing room and swapped their clothes for a towel that was now wrapped around their bodies. After that, the four went to the shower are in order to clean their hair and bodies before entering the actual hot spring. One after another finished cleaning themselves and entered the water. It was a rather hot, even for a hot spring and so the whole area was quite steamy. Even with the reduces visibility, the mood was awkward and that was clearly visible by how the girls were located in the water. Miyuki and Tsukasa were happily chatting with each other right in the middle, but the other two had some difficulties with that. Konata was sitting in one corner of the water, facing the forest that could be soon from the hot spring and Kagami was located in the exact opposite corner of the water, looking at the entrance. They couldn't even see each other thanks to the steam in the first place, but that wasn't important to them. Talking about it was one thing, but actually facing it was something entirely different.

"Hey, Yuki-chan, can we do something about that?" Tsukasa was getting more and more worried after five minutes passed without the situation even slightly changing.

"Hmm… I understand how you feel, but… I'm sorry, I don't have even the slightest idea what we could do in order to help."

"I see…"

"Let's give them some more time."

Ten more minutes passed and Tsukasa still wanted to help. She swam over to Konata and sat down next to her.

"Hey, Kona-chan…"

"Tsukasa…"

"How's the water?"

"…"

"Sorry… I'm not good at stuff like that."

"It's not your fault, Tsukasa."

"Do you want to talk?"

"There's not much to talk, though… I'm just having a hard time facing your sister in this situation. I was sure that I could handle it, but that wasn't true at all…"

"Uhh…" Tsukasa quickly realized why Miyuki said before that she had no idea how to help because it was something with a way too high difficulty. "Sorry… I wanted to help, but I don't think I'm able to after all…"

"It's okay, you did nothing wrong. Thank you for worrying about me…"

"… Hey, it's probably not the right time, but can I ask you some things instead, Kona-chan?" She tried a different approach.

"Any distraction is more than welcome."

"It kind of has something to do with the topic, though… You like girls, right?"

"Well… I am going out with your sister, so…"

"Yes, you like my sister, but further than that… girls in general…"

"Ah… that's where you're going for."

"And?"

"Hmm… You sure can ask some pretty difficult questions, little sis."

"Y-You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No, it's fine. You know Hatsune Miku, right?"

"The Vocaloid… robot… girl… you and onee-chan like?"

"More or less… The first crush I ever had is said Miku. Yes, I know perfectly well that she's not a real person, but she's still classified as a girl in my eyes. I guess that's how I found out that I may be into girls and your sister was the last hint I needed. When I see a boy, I think 'okay, that's a boy…'. When I see a girl… well, it's not like I want to jump at the next best one, obviously, but I occasionally though 'Oh, she's kind of cute...' It's hard to explain… but whatever. When I see a video of Hatsune Miku, I often get this warm and nice feeling in the stomach area…"

"Warm feeling, is it?" Tsukasa's line of sight changed for a split second before immediately refocusing on Konata.

"Yes… and when I think about your sister, I almost feel like going crazy any second. Now, when I imagine that she's on the other side of this hot spring and naked… my brain completely overloads and just the pathetic person you're talking right now is left…"

"Kona-chan… I really don't think you're pathetic. All I see is how you really care about onee-chan and how much you like her." Tsukasa was really impressed by what Konata told her and absolutely didn't agree with her self-evaluation.

"Thank you?"

"Can I talk some more for a bit?"

"Sure, talking it out feels kind of nice."

"Ehehe. Okay, you have problems seeing onee-chan naked and I can understand it your reason for it. There's also that you like girls in general… Now… well… I'm also a girl, sitting right next to you and I don't have to mention that we're both completely naked right now, thanks to being in a hot spring and yet, you're talking to me like it's nothing for over ten minutes already…"

"W-Wait, you're a girl?"

"K-Kona-chan, that's super mean!"

"Sorry, I couldn't help it. You're way more girl than I am, Tsukasa." The glance she threw at Tsukasa was just to make sure and nothing else.

"Okay…"

"Well, I can interact with you normally because you're not Kagamin~. It's as simple as that."

"I see."

"Don't get me wrong, you're definitely in the 'Oh, she's cute' category, easily, but you aren't my girlfriend and just a friend, okay, a very good and important one, but still… Rather, no… you're the little sister of my girlfriend and all I can see you as is also a little sister…"

"R-Really? You think of us as something like sisters?"

"I shouldn't do that?"

"NONONO! I'm just really, really, really happy to hear that!" Tsukasa was moved by how Konata felt about her and just had to hug her right here and now. Konata instantly raised up her arms to prove her innocence to anyone who could be watching this situation.

"T-Tsukasa… I really mean what I said, but being hugged while naked is still a bit…"

"Oh… y-yes, I'm sorry, I'm was just a bit too happy." She immediately let go of Konata again.

"It's okay, I'm glad you like my little selfish view of our relationship."

"Ehehe, not selfish at all."

"That's also why we're having this conversation right now… Yes, I'm, also not interested in Miyuki, even though she's more girl than all of us three together if you know what I mean, but she's still just a friend. A good one, yes, but that's it. I wouldn't have told her as much as I told you right now because I feel closer to you in an almost family kind of sense…"

"I… I want to hug you again…"

"Please wait with that until later when we're dressed again, Tsukasa."

"Of course."

"Anything else you want to know?"

"No, I already got more than I hoped for…"

"Is that so?"

"I was a bit envious that onee-chan found such a nice and caring partner, but looks like I gained a new sister in the progress… I'm pretty happy and satisfied right now!"

"I'm glad to hear that. I think you should go back to Miyuki now, though. You don't want her to be lonely, right?"

"Why should Yuki-chan be lonely?"

"Just saying."

"O…kay?" Tsukasa didn't understand her implication, but still was about to head back to her.

"Ah, Tsukasa?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for the talk, I feel a lot better now. You really helped me."

"Ehehe~." Tsukasa happily swam towards Miyuki and Konata got out of the water five minutes later because she was getting a bit dizzy from the temperature and because she talked so much. She went to the changing room and put back on her clothes. After that, she stepped outside of the building and saw someone she wasn't expecting.

…..

"Kagamin~?"

"Hey there, Kona."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Ehm…" They shared a lot of this situation like this already, but right now was probably the longest and most painful of every awkward paused they ever had.

"Yeah…" And some more moments of silence passed.

"I'm sorry…" Both finally said something, but at the same time.

"We're way too in synch and that's not a good thing for a change…"

"Yes…"

"Haa… Can I talk first, Kona?"

"Go on."

"Okay… found out and interesting fact about this hot spring… It has a pretty weird acoustic…"

"Ehm?"

"It probably has something to do with the huge oval-shaped rock in the water, Miyuki would probably know more, but I somehow was able to hear your conversation with my little sister in the place I was…"

"Oh, that's indeed interesting… Wait… What?! Ehm… You have to know that it was Tsukasa who hugged me and not the other way around!"

"I 'heard' everything, not 'saw'."

"Oh, right… forget that I said something. You heard everything, huh? Can I go to the beach really quick and bury myself in the sand? I kind of want to die in shame right now…"

"We need to talk first…"

"Okay, then I'll wait a bit with it…"

"Good." The two sat down on a nearby bench and Kagami continued. "How much of what you told Tsukasa is true?"

"Every single word. You know as much as I do that it is physically impossible to lie to your sister for some reason…"

"That's true…"

"Furthermore, she's quite dangerous… Once she gets you to talk, you'll tell her everything… not matter if you want or not…"

"Yes, she's pretty good at that… So, everything's true, huh? Great… I feel even worse now…"

"Huh? Why?"

"I held this grandiose speech yesterday and I really believed myself. I thought we made a big step yesterday and I was sure I could handy today. I was confident and something deep inside of me was even looking forward to it. You know what happened earlier? I caught just a little glimpse of you… I haven't even seen anything in the second it happened, but I still completely shut down… I spent a whole hour alone in the hot spring because I couldn't go near you…"

"So… you were as scared or reluctant or whatever as I was?"

"No, on the contrary to you, I really am pathetic."

"I don't understand you at all right now, Kagamin~…"

"You know, while listening to the conversation you had with Tsukasa, I thought for a second that you're too good for me…"

"Eh… Ah… Uh… W-Wha…" Konata's ability to talk died.

"We both had the same problem, but the differences were enormous. I did absolutely nothing except praying for it to end. You, on the other hand, managed to help my little sister by answering all those questions to her. Not just that, you also made her super happy by feeling how high you think of her… I haven't seen her face, but I'm sure I would've seen the biggest smile she ever had in this moment. You know what would've happened if she came to me instead? Without no doubt, I definitely would've shooed her away in this situation. Then there's your extremely high opinion of me… Don't get me wrong, I think of you just as high and I really care about you and love you, but I can't talk to anyone but you about it. I told Tsukasa that I fell for you and all, but I never could've talked about romance so open like you did with her, I literally would've died in embarrassment… It feels like you are more invested in our relationship… I know that it's wrong because it's mainly because I have a hard time opening up to people… even to my sister in this particular case… but I just can't help thinking so…"

"Ka- Kagami…" Konata placed her face into her palms and started thinking. Think harder than she ever did before. She knew that Kagami's way of thinking is simply stupid, but she had no idea what to do or say right now. Konata had to do something soon in order to defuse the extremely complicated situation, though. She desperately racked her brain until she just tried her luck. "You really are stupid." Konata never was good at thinking hard. "You think you're not worthy of me? Get out of my head because that's my line! I'm the one who wants to dance in joy every morning when I woke up after realizing that my current life isn't a dream… Do you want to know what I thought after our conversation from yesterday ended? I was trying to find out what I did to deserve such a perfect girl for over an hour… Know what? I still have no idea… Every single time we had a serious talk about something, I felt the same like you do right now. This girl is so invested in it and constantly thinks about our relationship, yet all I do is making jokes… Who's not worthy of who here? Speaking about talking openly about us… Tsukasa… I wouldn't be able to talk to other people about it, either… Not with Miyuki, not my dad obviously and no one else either… She's special in a way to me because she's the first friend I had in a long time and she's the one who brought you in my life… Hey… let's stop this… whatever we're doing right now and just say the following: You love me, I equally love you and we're both worthy of each other… How about we leave it at that?" Konata finished her extremely emotional speech, which even forced some tears down her cheeks in the progress and looked at Kagami beside her. She was already crying before Konata even started talking and now changed her point of view from the dark night sky to Konata's face.

"Kona…" She whispered her name between two sniffs.

"I want you to say yes. I don't want any more misunderstandings that can cause such anxiety or insecurities."

"Yes." Kagami wiped away her tears and gave a big, powerful nod.

"Thank you. Ehm… About the whole Tsukasa being my first friend in a long time thing… Can you please forget about it? I really didn't want to say that…"

"I'm sorry, but I can't and sadly, according to our new pledge, I have something else to apologize for…"

"Uh…"

"I… I know what happened in your past…"

"W-What?!" Her initial red face lost all color.

"Your father told me about it… Elementary school, middle school, beginning of high school and his influences on the things you like… probably everything…"

"Why…?"

"He was concerned about you. He saw the two of us getting closer and closer and so he started to worry about what would happen if I also suddenly vanish… He just didn't want you to be hurt again…"

"Is… Is that why we…"

"NO! DON'T EVEN DARE TO THINK THAT!" Kagami instantly interrupted her before the by far biggest misunderstand today could manifest with a powerful and resolute no.

"I'm sorry… I had to ask… I didn't want to imply anything, but I had to hear the answer because else, it would've killed me sooner or later…"

"I fully understand it, Kona. I think I would react the same way. To reassure a little more, your father told me about it even before I fell in love with you."

"I see… I'm glad… I feel really relieved right now…"

"Good. Ever since I found out about it, I feared that it would haunt me someday…"

"Well, I am pretty angry, but not at you, Kagamin~. It's not your fault. I wasn't intending on telling anyone, but if it's you… it's not that bad. I don't want to hide such secrets from you, now that I think about, Kagamin~."

"You little smooth talker."

"Ehehe…" Their mood started to brighten up again.

"I would like to also tell you a secret of mine, but… hmm, I also never had any really close friends because people often think I'm rather cold and hard to approach…"

"… ha… hahaha…" Konata didn't want to laugh, but there was no way that was possible. "I really shouldn't laugh, but my little tsundere is hard to approach, huh?"

"… Idiot…" There was zero malice in her words, though.

"Let's go home, Kagamin~." Both were able to laugh again and thought it was a good time to head back. Kagami agreed and stood up from the bench. She then extended her hand to Konata after entwining their fingers, both started walking hand in hand towards the villa.

They were already halfway there when Kagami spoke up again.

"Tsukasa's like a little sister, huh?"

"Yep, you'll have to share her now."

"As long as it stays by 'sister'."

"Pervert."

"Oi."

"Jokes aside, of course, Kagamin~. You're the only one."

"Then I'll allow it."

"Yay."

"I wonder what mom would think about that."

"Uhh…"

"What's wrong, Kona?"

"Nah, it's nothing." Miki probably would like it for various and difficult reasons.

"Now that we're talking about Tsukasa… What happened when you woke her up yesterday?"

"Hehe… you're going to hate this."

"I know that much already."

"We were just messing with you, Kagamin~."

"Huh?"

"I told Tsukasa that she should act a little secretive and bashful once we arrived at the kitchen."

"You… Wait, that doesn't explain how you got her to wake up in the first place."

"' Kagamin~ will go shopping with you for an entire Saturday if you get up right now, Tsukasa.' You have no idea how well that worked."

"You didn't do that…"

"Do I look like I didn't?" Konata gave her a smirk, let go of Kagami's and started running towards the villa that just came into view.

"Don't think that I won't take you down with me once this day comes!" She yelled before she started chasing her. They ran all the way to the villa and even continued chasing each other inside. Konata arrived in the living room first and stopped for a second.

"Oh, hey Tsukasa, Miyuki, already back again, huh?"

"Uh… y-yeah…"

"Sorry, I got to go again… see you later or so." Konata disappeared again and Kagami replaced her two seconds later.

"W-Where did that little pest go?!"

"U-Upstairs…"

"Thanks…" And she was gone again.

"Uhm…"

"Yep…" Miyuki and Tsukasa just looked at each other a little dumbfounded.

"Why do I always worry for nothing when it comes to them, Yuki-chan?"

"Because they're always like that… Although, I don't think it was nothing earlier… The two definitely had a fight. I didn't hear what it was, but it sounded pretty heavy…"

"We should've stayed and listened after all… instead of sneaking around them after leaving the hot spring."

"No, I really don't think that would've been a good thing."

"Yeah… it's bad to eavesdrop on friends, but still…"

"I understand what you mean and I'm also more than just a little interested, but we have to respect their privacy."

"That's true."

"Let's just focus on the outcome. Whatever happened is over already and the two are as happy as always."

"You're right. I guess we won't be visiting the hot springs again, though, right?"

"I think the chances for all of us together are rather low. Us two could go together if they're okay with it.

"Good idea, Yuki-chan."

"Leaving everything aside, I still feel rather guilty about everything, though… Everything started because of my idea with the hot spring in the first place…"

"That's not true."

"Kagami-san said the same, but look at what happened… I'm pretty sure the two were even crying a little earlier… That wouldn't have happened without my proposal…"

"And they were happily chasing each other with smiles on their faces five minutes ago… Your argument is? Listen to yourself and just look at the outcome."

"Still…"

"If you ask me, after what I heard from Kona-chan, you only helped them to grow. So, don't worry about it, Yuki-chan." Tsukasa gently placed her hand on Miyuki's shoulder in order to put her at ease and it helped.

"Yeah… thank you."

"Shall we go to bed now? We made sure that the two are okay and it's gotten pretty late."

"Good idea."

The two went to their rooms and the slightly turbulent day ended just like that.

….

The following two days were a little calmer. Konata and Kagami were basically back to normal again, but the other day, when Tsukasa wanted to visit the hot spring again, she had to go alone with Miyuki. The couple decided to spend the entire two days leisurely at the beach and had fun in the water.

The final day before they had to head back home on the next morning arrived and they had something special prepared for lunch. Konata and Tsukasa went shopping again, only for food this time, though, and were preparing a barbecue at the terrace of the villa right now. The two had cut up several pieces of meat, created many skewers and fired up the grill.

Some time passed until the food was ready, but the girls were happily annihilating everything eatable they saw soon enough. Skewer after skewer disappeared and the girls soon started to rub their stomachs in satisfaction.

"Haa… that was pretty good."

"Yes, that's true."

"Hey onee-chan, Kona-chan, have you two planned anything for today already? Yuki-chan wanted to show me the real sea today. We didn't care about it because we had this dreamy lagoon like place all for us alone, but I wanted to at least take a peek at the normal one."

"Sorry, Tsukasa, but Kagamin~ and I have something planned already…"

"Oh, that's okay, Kona-chan. What are you two going to do?"

"Something like a date, I guess."

"Really? That's nice."

"Actually… It's more like facing some difficulties or something like that…"

"Hmm?"

"Kona and I are going to the hot spring today."

"Huh? Oh, that's great…" Tsukasa wasn't expecting that after last time.

"Have fun, you two." Miyuki was equally surprised, but was better at hiding it.

"Thanks."

…

An hour passed and the two were standing in front of the entrance to the hot spring.

"Are you sure about it, Kagamin~."

"Yes, I want to do it… For our sake."

"Okay."

Konata entered first and Kagami waited a couple minutes before following. They had decided to enter with a time gap to lessen the 'impact' later on. Konata was already in the water when Kagami finished cleaning her body and hair. She entered and slowly got closer to Konata, who was facing the other direction of her the entire time. Kagami also sat down in the water of the hot spring and their backs were facing each other right now.

A few moments of silence passed, but the two were already doing way better than last time.

"H-Hello, Kona."

"Good evening, Kagamin~, how are you doing on this lovely day?" The two were still looking in different directions.

"A bit much."

"Sorry, I need my jokes in situations like this after all." She said so and lightly pressed her back against Kagami's.

"Ah…! D-Don't surprise me like that!"

"Sorry…"

"No… it's okay."

The two kept chatting while getting slowly more comfortable with the situation and each other before deciding to go to the next stage.

"Okay… we count to three and turn around, okay?"

"Yes."

"Good… One, two, three, go." Nothing happened. Neither of them moved a bit. "Oi, you didn't turn around!"

"Neither did you, Kagamin~!"

"Fair point…"

"Okay… new countdown… three, two, one go!"

This time, they really turned around. Kagami looked at Konata and Konata looked back at Kagami. Both of their eyes wandered up and down at the same time while fighting back the strong urge to turn back again. Their eyes kept wandering from one place to another and the faces of the two were getting redder and redder. The heat of the hot spring wasn't the only cause for that. A little time passed before they looked away from each other.

"W-Well, that was easy." Contrary to her statement, Konata's facial expression told otherwise.

"R-Really?"

"Nope, I think your birthday with the confession took fewer years away from my lifespan than this moment here…"

"Same here…"

"Problem is, I think I'm already in the negative range…"

"I don't think so."

"The chances are low, but I'll believe you for now."

"Kona…" Kagami just shook her head.

"Wow, I'm so good at destroying the tension in every discussion."

"And that's a good thing for a change."

"Absolutely."

"Should we finally enjoy the hot spring a little now?"

"Pretty good idea, Kagamin~." The two moved a little and sat down next to each other near a stone while leaning their back against it.

"It sure is misty here. The view's pretty bad." Kagami was looking around, but the only thing she saw was white steam.

"I think the view's rather good actually."

"Eh?"

"Huh?" The two weren't talking about the same thing.

"Pervert." She saw through Konata.

"I'm not going to apologize."

"Well, you have a point…" Kagami changed her line of sight on copied Konata's.

"I'm not happy with those differences in our treatment."

"Too bad."

"I mean I could've said whatever I wanted, it would always end up being in being called 'pervert'. Even if I just would've said that you look cute."

"Except you wouldn't have said cute, but thanks, pervert."

"See?! Well, maybe I would've said something like 'you're hotter than the water', but that could've been a bit much."

"No, I wouldn't have called you a pervert then."

"Eh?"

"I would start laughing because of that terrible pick-up line."

"… I seriously have a hard time understanding you sometimes…"

"What? It is pretty bad after all."

"Haa…"

"In the first place, you're the cute one here."

"I'm not happy at all to hear that." Konata still averted her face after hearing it.

"What a tsundere."

"I'm not!"

"Are we getting embarrassed?"

"No!" She only turned her head even more around.

"Bashfulness only adds to your cuteness, Kona."

"…" Konata turned around to face Kagami again.

"Mfmn!" Kagami wanted to say some more things, but Konata was faster. She closed the distance between their faces and just kissed her. Kagami was bewildered at first, but then wrapped her arm around her and pulled her closer. They exchanged a few more kisses and it almost looked like the hot spring got a little steamier for a moment. A few moments passed and then they loosened their embrace again.

"S-Sorry, I got too…"

"It's okay… Just the place… is kind of…" Kagami first looked around and then down on Konata and herself.

"Y-Yeah…" Konata did the same. The complete lack of clothes made the whole thing a little more intense than usual. They stayed silent for a minute and calmed down again.

"How about we go back? I think it was quite a success already."

"Good idea Kagamin~. This…" Konata looked at her. "… and the extra heat of the water is pretty extreme."

"Yeah, one of each is hot enough already…"

"Sure, I'm the pervert here…"

"Yep- let's get out of here before we get dizzy."

The two got out of the water, reclaimed their clothes and left the hot spring. Konata walked hand in hand back to the villa without exchanging even a single word. There was just no need to talk. Both arrived at the villa ten minutes later and went to the living room where they found the other two.

"Well…"

"… I wasn't expecting this…" Kagami and Konata found Miyuki and Tsukasa sleeping arm in arm on the sofa.

"Okay… I prepared to get interrogated by them, but that… what happened?"

"Kona… it's those two… They played all day at the sea they were visiting and got so exhausted that the two fell asleep the moment they arrived at the living room again."

"That's way too easy… No, you're probably right…" Konata agreed pretty quick with her.

"The hugging is a bit hard to explain, but…"

"If Tsukasa sleep-hugs just half as much as you do, it's pretty easy to explain…"

"Hey… yeah, you're right. Well, whatever happened, they're still too innocent to do it on purpose."

"That's for sure."

"I'm rather happy, though. If they're still awake, it could've gotten pretty embarrassing."

"Yep."

The two watched them a while, but then, after covering both with a blanket, they decided to leave them alone.

"H-Hey, Kona, let's go to bed…"

"Nah, I'm not really tired."

"Neither am I… S-Still, let's go."

"Why? That makes…" Konata finally looked at Kagami's face and noticed the deep red blush. "H-Huh? Y-You…" The took a deep breath. "Okay."

Kagami gently grabbed Konata's hand and the two went to their room.

---

.

Okay, first… I'm a little sorry that the update took way longer than expected, but hey, extra-long chapter as a compensation or so…. I was pretty busy lately… Okay, that's not true… I got extremely hooked up on light novels and spent the end of November and the entire December reading in every free minute I had… Another world stories really are nice, especially the cute ones. The lack of yuri is alarming, though. There is way too much focus on stories for inexperienced 13-year-old boys. 80% is a harem and that's mostly… well, whatever… There are some okayish harems with actual developing romance, but those are extremely rare. Most of them are sadly just pure fanservice… Anyway, where was I again? Light novels… If someone wants to try a little, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear for something cute is one of my favorites. Only Sense Online is also quite a fun read (VRMMO, though).

Uhh… Back to my story, I guess…

This chapter took a rather unexpected turn in the second half. I haven't planned it… It just somehow happened bit by bit while writing it. I'm rather satisfied with the result, even though it got a bit, or rather pretty bumpy here and there. It maybe was a little early, but it fitted so well in the setting, my opinion, that it basically happened on its own.

The next chapter… Here it gets complicated again… First off, I still have a lot of light novels on my 'Still to read' list and not to mention that most of them I already read are still updating… The more important point is something different, though. I'm planning to do a first time-skip. I have very few things left for the second year of the girls and want to quickly advance them to their third year in high school, where I already have some setting prepared. I'm still not sure if I should add Yutaka, Minami, and co, though. The problem I have with the skip is the transition and how long. Maybe a story when fall is going on or go directly to winter, although I think that's a bit too long… Questions over questions I still have to answer myself. Maybe I'll use it also and try to get their characters back in order a bit, but then, I like what I did with them, especially cheeky Kagami, so… probably not… That being said… Next chapter will come whenever, but it'll come.

P.S.: Nope, not going to go M-Rated in this story. Barely safe is all I can do.