"It sure stinks, though…"
"But still, fall sure is great~. The temperature's finally going down to something tolerable again, a new anime season is about to start and tons of mangas are back from their summer hiatus."
"Lower temperatures definitely are great, but once fall starts… I always am getting so sleepy…" Tsukasa partially agreed with Konata's statement, but for some reason, she got some very dubious looks from the others once the words 'once fall starts' fell.
"Personally, I love to read in fall…" Miyuki also got some questioning looks. "I-I mean even more than usual…" She quickly corrected herself.
"That's all nice, well, most of it, but fall definitely is for studying. After all, the midterm exams will start soon enough." Kagami's smile while she said that was just a tiny bit evil because she was quite enjoying the complete change of the facial expression of two girls, Miyuki remained indifferent, though.
"K-Kagamin's~ sadistic side sure is growing… or showing more often?"
"Tehe~."
"That so doesn't help you at all…"
The four girls were, as usual, having a lively chat during their lunch break in school. Summer break, including their trip to the beach, was long over and September had just changed into October. Nothing much has changed since then, though. Konata and Kagami were still the same lovey-dovey couple they have ever been, well since way before they started dating even, although Kagami was getting more assertive. More than she already was in the first place, that is. Miyuki and Tsukasa on the other hand… No, there's also no change over there. Nobody's sure what exactly is going on between them. It seems like there's more than the eye can tell, but at the same time, it also didn't. Konata and Kagami were pretty confused by them because there were definitely signs, but the two in question were even more confused, sort of. Both weren't exactly sure what they want from each other, but also still didn't care about it. They knew that they enjoy the time spent together and everything else didn't matter. Whatever happens, happens was their motto. Kagami and Konata stopped reading too much into them in the end because it always only resulted in a headache. An occasional push in the right direction at a suitable time still happened, though. In the first place, the two were too busy with each other. Spending every free minute together was hard work after all. No, for them, it really wasn't. The only difficult part was to decide at whose place they met up. Both houses had some drawbacks lately. Konata's father keeps asking Kagami for opinions and help with his, now in the third volume, light novel, which was rather bothersome in her eyes, but Konata had an even harder time at Kagami's house. Miki has become rather suspicious lately and Konata obviously had a pretty bad feeling about it. She did her best to ignore Miki, but too much ignoring would only raise more suspicions in the end. Balancing it was pretty hard for someone who can't be subtle or discrete about, well, anything.
"I'm looking forward to working with you, Kona." Kagami ignored her and only added more to Konata's suspicion.
"Geh… looks like I'm not getting any sleep this weekend, huh? Because of an unreasonable amount of studying forced on me by you, that is…"
"Exactly."
"Yay…" Konata's eyes looked pretty lifeless, or rather, completely dead.
"Hey, Yuki-chan, can we also study together?"
"Of course, sounds good to me."
"Great!" Tsukasa and Miyuki had a much more relaxed view of studying together.
"Kagamin~…" Konata leaned over to her and started whispering. "Who's the couple here again?"
"Are you dissatisfied about we're handling things?"
"If it's alright with you, I would like the withdraw my previous question."
"Good girl."
….
The following days progressed smoothly and the weekend arrived soon enough. Kagami entered Konata's house and had just opened the door to her room.
"Hey, Kona, are you ready for a weekend full of nothing, but studying?"
"You're waaay too eager, Kagamin~." Konata was looking forward to Monday already. "There's nothing to look forward to… I mean it's not like I have a chance in the first place."
"Come on, a weekend's nothing compared to what we're doing in more or less a year."
"Eh? What's going to happen in a year?"
"Preparations for our college entrance exams."
"We're also going to study together for that?"
"Of course." Simple and determined.
"Even though you're going to that elite college in uhm… ah, Yokohama, while I'm settling for a local one? If I'm going to a college in the first place, that is…"
"Kona, first off, not going to a college isn't going to happen. I'll personally take care of that."
"What are you, my dad?"
"Something similar… wait…" Kagami realized that something was off.
"I'm not sure if I'm okay with that, Kagamin~…"
"Yeah… I definitely am not… I have no idea where I was going with that… A-Anyway, what I said is true and the more you study, the better is your college going to be.
"…" Konata had a hard time finding an argument against her, but there was nothing good that came to mind. "Well, let's save that for when it's time for it. I just want to survive the weekend first for now."
"Sure, I don't mind, after all, I'm going to win anyway, no matter when…"
"Haa…" Konata was already pretty exhausted even before the studying started. She knew that Kagami's right and it's certain that she's going to win every argument on that topic. Konata was even a bit happy that Kagami cared about her future that much, but in the end, studying is just something extremely bothersome for the time being. The only good part of studying was the time spent with Kagami and exactly that was the only motivation.
"Let's start already, Kona."
"Sure~…" Konata reluctantly left her desk and moved towards the small table in the middle of her room. Kagami joined her and sat down at the opposite side of it. The fist subject to study was math. Kagami thought it would be the best to start with Konata's most hated subject first, but it had the opposite effect because she was already eying the window in order to jump out of it.
Two hours of diligent studying passed and Kagami thought it was time for a little break. The reason for that was pretty easy. Konata wasn't complaining like she usually did, but she wasn't studying anymore either. For 20 minutes already, she was just watching Kagami in front of her without even trying to hide it.
"Soo, I haven't seen your father yet, Kona… Has he holed himself up in his room again?"
"Nah, meeting with his editor because… uh… something… I forgot because I didn't care, but I think it was something bigger because he won't be back before Monday…"
"Poor guy, but that's good to know. A weekend without him pestering me about his light novel is…"
"Should I ask?" Konata still was a little interested in the whole light novel thing and her father frequently asking Kagami about her opinion only piqued it more.
"If you want to know, ask him yourself."
"Hmm…" She was interested, but not to this degree.
"Wait, now that I think about it… don't… you would be better off without asking him…"
"Ehh?"
"Just trust me on that, Kona."
"Uh… What age restriction do the books of my father have?"
"I'm not you, Kona." Kagami's glance at Konata's PC was only to further prove her accusation.
"Well… A-Anyway… what were we doing again?"
"Studying for our exams, still math, to be exact."
"I see… Anything else? With that, I mean, anything more interesting?"
"Nope~."
"Figured as much…"
"Come on, focus."
"Yeeees…"
The two refocused on the books in front of them and another two hours passed. Konata had finally enough and her head hit the table with a loud thud.
"Wow… that must've hurt quite a bit…"
"Y-Yes…" Konata had miscalculated the force by a great margin and started nursing her bright red forehead.
"You okay?" It was so red that Kagami actually started worrying a bit.
"More or less… I might've lost a few problems I studied from the impact, though."
"I see. Well, that just means we have to add another hour to make up for it." Her worries were wasted on Konata.
"No way… Wait! Ah! I-I just remembered them! False alarm… We can safely stop now!"
"Sure… Well, I also have enough for now and we, or I, are anyway done with math."
"Finally! It's rather late already, though… We aren't starting another subject today, right? Right?!" It was important and so Konata asked twice.
"No, I think we'll continue tomorrow morning with fresh vigor. Studying while being tired isn't very effective after all."
"My late-night cramming tells another story if you ask me."
"Well then, let's continue, Kona." Kagami gave her a little smirk while saying so.
"… Why am I so stupid?"
"Good question~."
"Hey… Okay, but no, let's go with your plan. I like that one way better."
"I wonder why. Tomorrow and Sunday are going to be two topics each, though."
"Yay~… I hate my life…" Konata had already more than enough and got a bit depressed.
"No, you don't."
"Okay, only the school related part of it."
"That's also not true."
"Well, you are there… Okay, I hate everything that exhausts my brain related to it…"
"Oh, I can actually believe that bit."
"Weird… What else do we have to study again? I kind of forgot…"
"Kona…" Kagami shook her head. "Left is English, Japanese, history… oh, and economics… You know, production costs, supply and demand, prices, market analysis, taxes, marketing and stuff."
"Wow…" Konata was looking at her window again. The chances that she'll actually jump out of it just increased again.
"Especially economics will be hell… I think we have to sacrifice almost a complete day for it…"
"Hmm? Isn't economics the by far easiest subject?" Konata had a perfectly straight face while asking so.
"No, absolutely no way!"
"Ehh?" Konata didn't understand her.
"Huh?" The two apparently weren't on the same wavelength.
"Nonono, that's the only subject I'm actually confident in, Kagamin~. It has to be easy then."
"Wait a moment… You're actually good at economics?"
"Yes… Is it really that surprising? No, never mind that… Forget that I asked."
"No, that's not what I meant, Kona. Actually… I'm mediocre at best in economics…"
"Ehh?! Seriously? But it's so easy~."
"It's true… All these analyses, calculations, charts to find out whether a product is going to sell or not, how to advertise efficiently or how the market works… I don't get it at all!"
"Heeh~, I wasn't expecting that at all." Konata looked pretty smug right now.
"Me neither… What's your trick, Kona? Did you find something easy to study, like a guide?"
"Did you really just ask me that right now?"
"Uhh… sorry, I forgot who I was talking with… So, how?"
"Well… There's no trick to it… I just saw the stuff and directly understood it…" Konata awkwardly scratched her cheek because she had no good explanation.
"That means you're naturally good at it, huh?"
"I guess so…"
"Do you like it as well?"
"It's my least hated subject at least… Well, it's kind of interesting and especially the marketing stuff is rather fun… Marketing is also not that bad, I guess."
"Ohh~, is that so? Interesting, very interesting…" Kagami suddenly started smiling, pretty strong, even, for some reason.
"Eh? What's wrong, Kagamin~? You look a little scarier than usual."
"Nothing, everything's fine~." Her suspicious smile didn't vanish, though.
"Sure…"
"Well then, I'll be counting on you when we come to economics on Sunday, Kona."
"Ah, that's what it was? O-Okay, leave it to me… probably… I still need you for every other subject…"
"No problem. I was expecting four more and not just three in the first place, so… sure."
"Great, more or less, but first, let's do something more relaxing for the rest of the day, Kagamin~."
"Okay, sounds good to me. Not much of the day is left, though."
"Hmm… let's be creative and say a movie?"
"Very creative, but sure, why not?" Kagami agreed to her proposal, closed the study books and moved to the bed.
"Good." Konata grabbed the remote and joined Kagami without holding back. While not even asking, she just sat down on Kagami's lap and she pressed her body against her.
"You comfortable there?" She asked, but it didn't look like she was mining it even a bit.
"Very~."
"I see, well then…" Kagami didn't want to leave it one-sidedly and so she wrapped her arms around Konata's waist and began to rest her head on her shoulder.
"You, too, look pretty comfy yourself, Kagamin~."
"Just your imagination~."
"Is that so?"
"Yep~."
More than 15 minutes passed with them staying like that before the two noticed something.
"Hey, Kagamin~, aren't we forgetting something?"
"Hmm?" Kagami started thinking. "Uhh… Oh, right, we wanted to watch a movie, didn't we?"
"Did we? Ah… That would explain why I'm holding the TV remote…"
"You're pretty forgetful, Kona."
"Oh, shut up." Konata finally turned the TV on and quickly found a watchable movie. The two watched the whole movie without moving an inch from their position and afterward, it was soon, according to Kagami, time to sleep.
…
The next day. A day of pure hell in Konata's eyes. Directly after finishing breakfast, Kagami had directly chained her to the table in her room and was forced to study from dawn till dusk. Today's subjects were English and Japanese. The only allowed break was when they had lunch. Konata actually went to the window somewhere in the second half of the study session, but she just opened it for fresh air and after enviously looking at the ground from it, she went back to the table. Evening arrived and Kagami had finally decided that it was enough for today. After hearing those heavenly words, Konata immediately stood up, jumped on her bed and crashed face first into her pillow. She was totally done for. Kagami sat down next to her and gently patted her head while praising her hard work of the day.
…
The last day of the study session, or hell, Sunday, arrived. Kagami woke up early and decided to have a small head start because they're going to start with economics, her worst subjected. Konata almost needed another whole hour before she responded to her surroundings again.
"… Morning…" Konata greeted her and yawned while rubbing her eyes at the same time.
"Good morning, Kona."
"Why are we two together again?" She was still half asleep, but was pretty amazed at the difference in motivation.
"Hmm?"
"We're pretty different after all, aren't we?" There was no way that Konata would study in the morning right after waking up on her own.
"You think so? I think we're pretty similar." Kagami didn't agree with her.
"Nonono…"
"Kona, just swap what's important to me, like studying, with something that's important to you, like anime, and think again."
"Well… I guess that point goes to you."
"Good… How about joining me now?"
"Nah, I guess I'll need another ten minutes or so… Oh, about you join me instead~?" Konata tried to sound a little suggestive while she patted the place next to her on the bed.
"Not now."
"Oho, that's already more than I was expecting." Konata was pretty much awake by now and so it didn't take much longer until she also finally left the bed. She joined Kagami at the table and simply watched her studying for nearly 20 minutes because the motivation to study on her own had a negative value.
"Hey, Kona, let's test if you're really good at economics… This question here makes absolutely no sense at all to me…" Kagami showed Konata her study book and pointed at something.
"Let me see…" She took a look at it and continued. "Isn't this just about how good or bad a product sells?"
"Huh… And the diagram right next to it?"
"It shows what happens with the price of a product if the supply or demand changes. Basically… if you want to sell something at the best price possible, you have to take care of the demand because if you have a lot of a product nobody wants, the value, or price, will drop. The same goes in a certain way for the other direction. If you can't keep up with it, meaning the supply is low, the price will rise. That sounds good at first, but you want to find the point where you neither have too much, not enough of your product because that's the most efficient way. You want to find the point where you have a stable price and for that, the supply and demand have to be equal."
"…" The day where Kagami actually got taught something school related by Konata arrived and that made her speechless.
"Something's wrong, Kagamin~?"
"N-No… I was just wondering if the world's going to end soon…"
"Ehh?"
"Well… You're teaching me something while I was thinking about an apocalyptic event…"
"That's a pretty valid point." Konata nodded at the odd situation.
"Nonetheless, thanks for the explanation, I think I finally understood it."
"I'm good after all." She looked pretty proud.
"Don't get cocky now."
"That's a rather difficult request…"
"Do your best, Kona."
"Maybe~."
The two continued their studies, well, Kagami did at least. Konata was actually confident enough to plow through economics without studying and using the free time to study another subject didn't cross her mind even once. Well, that's not entirely true, though. She became quite the model student in the subject of studying Kagami, but that one's not going to be tested. A couple hours passed and the progress was mostly pretty smooth. Kagami asked her quite a few questions and she actually got decent answers to every single one. She was really amazed by this, but Konata's cockiness increased with every answer and that wasn't amazing at all in Kagami's eyes. There wasn't much room left until Kagami would finally snap.
"Although I'm going to regret it… Wow, you're almost too good at this stuff, Kona…"
"Ehehe, that's just how I am.
"Sure… Seriously, though, you should continue to invest a little bit of time here and there in economics. It would be such a waste to ignore such a talent."
"That's too much of a hassle and what's the point of doing it on my own if I can't tease you with it?"
"Kona…"
"What? I'm serious, there's absolutely no reason."
"Will you shut up already?"
"Make me~." Konata was in a pretty good mood.
"Sure~." Kagami leaned over the table, grabbed Konata's collar, pulled her close and sealed her lips with her own. She finally had enough and that was the easiest way. "How about that… If you continue, you'll occasionally get rewarded." Kagami parted from her lips for a moment and made an interesting proposal while giving her a small wink. There's no way she'll let Konata off the hook after finding out that she has a talent that's actually promising and not related to anime and co. or useless trivia. Cooking aside, that is.
"Hmm…" Konata started thinking, but never replied. She just closed the distance for another kiss again, grabbed Kagami's shoulders and pulled her over to her side of the table. The proposal actually wasn't the trigger. Konata had already lost it after the first kiss because the whole studying on the weekend caused quite a lot of stress to be pent up in her. Kagami didn't stop her, though. Rather, it looked more like she welcomed it. Thanks to the pulling across the table, she landed on top of Konata and stayed there. Kagami pushed her down and kissed her a couple more times. It continued like this for quite a while and then, long story short, the studying for history, that was scheduled for the rest of the day, never happened.
…..
The next week, exam week started and things looked pretty bad. Kagami didn't mind getting a little sidetracked because it was easily as much her fault as it was Konata's. She had thought she could still study enough the remaining week between the tests because history was usually the last test. That's also why Kagami saved history for the last subject to study on the weekend and also hadn't done any prior studying on top of it, but all of this was a terribly huge mistake. Her face went completely pale when she looked at the exam schedule in school. The first subject on Monday morning was, of course, history. Needless to say, but it was a complete disaster for her and so obviously even more for Konata. The remaining subjects were pretty good for both, though.
The week went by in a flash and before even noticing, the weekend had arrived. Konata was alone for a rare change and decided to dust off her net game in order to leisurely play for a few hours, but that was way too optimistic. The loading screen had not even finished when she heard the notification sound already.
Nanakon: Izumi!
Konakona: Sensei!
Nanakon: You online again? Got dumped already?
Konakona: How rude! -.-
Nanakon: Just kidding~. I'm happy that someone capable is online again.
Konakona: Is that so? I may became a bit rusty, though.
Nanakon: You're probably still twice as good as the guys I usually have to party with thanks to a certain someone having a fulfilled real life.
Konakona: Can't say I'm sorry.
Nanakon: Well, I'm also not sorry about your midterm exams. Let's talk about that first.
- Konakona has logged off –
Nanakon: Oi…
- Konakona has logged in –
Konakona: Sorry, just reacted on instincts…
Nanakon: Sure… Well, good news first?
Konakona: Okay ;;
Nanakon: You were pretty decent in English, Japanese and Math, way above your usual ranking to be exact.
Konakona: Oh, that's nice to hear.
Nanakon: But economics… what the hell?! o.O
Konakona: Ehh?!
Nanakon: You're only two points behind Takara, who almost got a perfect score!
Konakona: Damn, I should've studied a bit for economics after all…
Nanakon: What?! You did that without studying?! Wait, did your account here was hacked again= Who are you?
Konakona: Sensei… -.- I just couldn't be bothered to study for that because it is too easy…
Nanakon: It does sound like Izumi, but at the same time, it didn't… Sensei's confused…
Konakona: It's not my fault that it's so easy!
Nanakon: Well, whatever, let's kill the mood with the bad news.
Konakona: Yay ;;
Nanakon: You completely failed your history test and as your history teacher, it makes me pretty sad, especially seeing your remarkable grades everywhere else.
Konakona: Ahaha, can't say I'm that surprised…
Nanakon: What happened?
Konakona: Well, stuff happened that made it impossible to finish studying…
Nanakon: Okay, I won't ask. Anyway, even more shocking was that Hiiragi also failed…
Konakona: Wait? It's more surprising that Tsukasa failed than me?! I'm pretty hurt! I mean… you know?
Nanakon: No, I'm not talking about her, well she also failed, but I'm talking about yours, the big Hiiragi.
Konakona: Oh, I see. That makes more sense.
Nanakon: Yes.
Konakona: Wait.
Konakona: What?
Konakona: Eh?
Konakona: No?
Konakona: Hahaha, good one!
Konakona: Really?!
Konakona: No way!
Konakona: Oh noooo
Konakona: I'm dead!
Konakona: I'm soooo dead!
Konakona: Sensei, can you please come over to my place and delete everything on my PC in a few days after I haven't visited school? You can keep everything on this account, but nobody can see what's on this PC after I died!
Nanakon: Aren't you overreacting a bit?
Konakona: Haha, good one, sensei -.- ;;
Nanakon: What's wrong?
Konakona: Kagamin~ and I studied together and like I earlier said, stuff happened…
Nanakon: Okay, I definitely won't ask now.
Konakona: I even wasn't exactly my fault alone, but I'm not innocent either and thus, I'm dead.
Nanakon: Well just try to survive until coming Friday when the make up test happens. I'll give you a little service because the others will get informed about it on Monday. Get a little head start on the weekend and study lots.
Konakona: Okay ;;
Nanakon: And maybe, just maybe, I'll change the difficulty of it a little if I like your answer to my next question.
Konakona: Sensei, let's go on a raid until I start studying tomorrow, okay?
Nanakon: Oh, that just scored you a lot of bonus points.
Konakona: How long do I have to play in order to get a passing grade?
Nanakon: I'm not that nice.
Konakona: Aww, well, let's start looking for a party now.
Nanakon: Good idea!
…..
Konata got a little under three hours of sleep that night and made her way over to Kagami's house on the next morning. Miki opened the door there and welcomed her in.
"Oh, good morning, Konata. Wait, did something happen? You don't look very healthy…" Miki noticed the dark circles under Konata's eyes and how she overall looked pretty exhausted and a bit tense.
"I just haven't slept much… Oh, and I'm going to die soon…"
"W-What?!" She obviously was pretty shocked.
"N-No, I mean Kagamin~'s going to kill me soon because of something school related."
"P-Please don't scare me like that! I thought you were sick or something for a second just now."
"Sorry… I'm perfectly fine health wise."
"That's good. It would be way too sad… especially…"
"Hmm?" Konata raised an eyebrow, but then decided to ignore it. "Well, today's still my last day on earth, though…"
"That bad?"
"Yes… You see, I was at least partly at fault that we both failed on of our midterm exams…"
"O-Oh! Oh… Uhh…" She was even more shocked by this that thinking Konata was sick. "Good luck, I guess…? My condolences…"
"Thanks…"
"I think she's in Tsukasa's room right now."
"Okay, I'll be going then…"
"She was so young… What a terrible tragedy."
Konata just shook her head while going upstairs and entered Tsukasa's room where she found the twins.
"… Morning."
"Oh, good morning, Kona-chan."
"Morning… Wow, you look pretty bad, Kona."
"Thanks, I love you, too."
"Well, onee-chan has a point…"
"It's just a slight lack of sleep and that I got some bad news."
"Let's ignore the obvious and go straight to those news."
"I talked with Kuroi-sensei about our midterms yesterday and…"
"Oh…" Tsukasa was already ready to flee.
"'You and Hiiragi failed the history test~ - is what she told me."
"Kona, Tsukasa and I are both Hiiragis, so…"
"Onee-chan, it's obvious who…" Tsukasa wanted to say something, but Konata was faster.
"That doesn't really matter when she means both, does it?"
"Ehhh?!" Tsukasa was the shocked one.
"Well, I had a feeling that it would be close, but I guess it wasn't enough in the end, huh? It can't be helped." Kagami was unusually calm about it.
"H-Huh?!" That's not the reaction Konata was expecting and she instantly hid behind Tsukasa because she was scared by this calmness.
"D-Don't hide behind me! Where should I hide myself now, Kona-chan?!" She wasn't the only one who felt that way.
"Calm down, Kona. We never studied for history after all and so I kind of saw it coming already. We're both equally at fault and so you don't need to feel bad about it. We just have to get a good grade at the make up exam, right?"
"T-That's true…" Konata had no idea what was going on right now.
"We're going to study a lot then. By the way, what's your excuse, sis?"
"W-Well… Yuki-chan and I were studying together… When history came up… I… uh… fell asleep and Yuki-chan tried her best, but couldn't wake me up again on that Sunday…"
"I see… That's…
"Yep, that's Tsukasa for you."
"But why didn't you two study?" Tsukasa wanted to get the attention away from her, but stepped on a landmine.
"No comment." The two immediately shot her down.
"By any chance, you haven't gotten any hints from Kuroi-sensei, right?"
"Please~. More than that… Why do you think I nearly haven't slept last night?"
"Uhh, because you played all night long?"
"Yes… with Kuroi-sensei, though, and now I know the date of the make up test, most of the contents and I even managed to lower the difficulty quite a bit."
"K-Kona-chan… you're the best!"
"And Kagamin~ says my gaming is useless…"
"Shut up…"
"It wasn't cheap, though… All the precious rare loot I used as a bribe…"
"You're so hopeless, Kona, but I guess Sensei's even worse, huh? Thank you for your noble sacrifice for the greater good."
"You're welcome, Kagamin~, and thanks for not ending my life today."
"Like I said, we're both at fault. It still means we're going to earnestly study until the test and without any sidetracking. Because of that, Tsukasa's going to study together with us."
"Yay?" Tsukasa was happy and confused at the same time.
"Sure, that's for the best." Konata wasn't really happy, but she understood the reason and accepted it.
"Okay then, tell us what you found out, Kona."
"Sure." Konata told them what info she got from Kuroi-sensei and once she finished, the three girls immediately started studying. Sunday went by before they even noticed. Monday arrived and the four, now including Miyuki, were comparing their test scores in the lunch break at school.
"Wow, onee-chan really did fail in history after all… Her score's still higher than mine, though…"
"Yeah, just two points below the passing grade… rather regretful."
"But how's that even possible, Kagami-san?" Miyuki asked while looking at her other scores. "I mean, all your other grades are as good as usual. Hmm? Oh, Izumi-san's the same, no, even more extreme…" She shifted her gaze to Konata's scores. "Most of her marks are way better than before, but history's also, well, a total catastrophe. Especially economics, it's almost the same score I have!"
"Well, Kagamin~ and I got distracted at the same time and time and so a similar scoring isn't that weird."
"Distracted?"
"Stuff happened, don't ask."
"Okay… But Izumi-san, your economics score really is remarkable. How much did you study for it because I had a rather hard time with it…?"
"Your score tells a different story, Miyuki." Konata wasn't sure if she could agree with her.
"I made up for it by investing more time in it."
"I see, you're probably not going to like my answer then…"
"Why?"
"Kona here didn't study at all for it."
"Seriously?!"
"Yep, what Kagamin~ said."
"Wow, that's really impressive. This means you're naturally good at it, huh?"
"I guess so…"
"It wouldn't be a bad idea to keep going at it. I heard we're going to need it in our third year quite a bit and it could be interesting for when high school is over…"
"Thank you, Miyuki, thank you very much." Kagami was happy that she found someone who supports her idea.
"Do I really have absolutely no saying in that?"
"Nope~."
"Figured as much…"
Lunch break ended soon after that and when school ended, Konata directly went with the twins to their house in order to study for the test on Friday. The same program continued all the way until the make up test.
The day in question arrived and after school ended for most students, the three and a few poor other students did their test. It only took a little over and hour and everyone obviously, after studying so much, passed without any problems at all and so their well-earned weekend finally arrived.
…..
Just like the last couple days, Konata accompanied Kagami and Tsukasa to their house. Only two of them stayed there, though. Tsukasa grabbed a few things and immediately left for Miyuki's house.
"Well, she hasn't visited her for a week after all…"
"Yeah, I, as well, wouldn't waste any time after not visiting Kagamin~ for so long, or you visiting me after all…"
"That's true… Wait, aren't we a bit different in that regard?"
"Oh, yeah… I forgot about that again. I really don't get those two at all in the end…"
"They're just… uh… No, I don't get them either." Kagami tried to give an explanation, but failed because she also wasn't sure about the relationship of Miyuki and Tsukasa. "Anyway, want to go to my room?"
"Hmm… not a bad idea, but actually, I'm a bit hungry… Is there any food available?"
"Oh, that sounds like a better idea, let's have a look in the kitchen."
"As usual, Kagamin~ gets pretty eager when the word 'food' gets mentioned."
"Shut up."
"Come on, let me have some of those rare-getting teasing moments."
"So… We have some leftover rice, chicken, and vegetable…" Kagami splendidly ignored her and was looking for ingredients. "That should be enough for some simple fried rice, right?"
"Yep. Okay, training session, you cook and I'll criticize."
"You're just too lazy to do it on your own, aren't you, Kona?"
"Don't mind those small times… I mean of course not!"
"Sure…" Kagami was spot on, but still started preparing everything.
The cooking didn't need much time and Konata had nothing to criticize. The two finished eating and then went to Kagami's room.
"So… have I left any good games here to play?"
"Hmm… I think I still have that beat 'em up we used to play somewhere…"
"Maybe we should make a list of what is at whose place to keep track, Kagamin~."
"No use, that list would change almost daily anyway."
"That's true. Well, let's play the game for now. Finally, something I can easily beat you at again."
"Something's still left, huh?"
"Oi!"
"Hehe~."
The two started the game and played for some time. Konata wanted to let out some steam and so, Kagami didn't even win one match, nor did she even got close to winning once. Two hours passed and Konata suddenly remembered something.
"Oh… I completely forgot to tell my dad my score of the make up test… He wanted to buy me something if it was good."
"Your dad sure is great at handling you…"
"Jealous?"
"Not really. I think I'm decently good at it myself by now…"
"Sadly, yes, that's true…"
"Hehe… Still, your dad wants to buy you something even though you had to redo a test, Kona?"
"This time the bet was on the average score of all tests combined. Even though I failed one, all points together still were more than enough. He said when I pass the make up decently enough, I'll get my reward.
"I see, good for you. Have you already decided on your reward?"
"Hmm… Maybe I'll get some cosplay…"
"Kona… If you make your dad buy a cosplay costume for me, I'll kill you and with that I mean, literally ending your life."
"I-I'll keep that in mind and will buy it on my own and pick something else as my reward."
"I can't say I'm much happier with that, either…"
"You want to go together with me when looking for it?"
"Hmm…"
"Oh~, I'll tell you when we go! Well, I guess I'll head back home for today. Will you come over tomorrow?"
"Sure, I have nothing else planned, Kona."
Kagami accompanied her downstairs and Konata was about to leave.
"Well then, see you tomorrow, Kagamin~. Bye." Konata opened the door and stepped out of the house, but got stopped midway. Kagami went between her and the steps in front of the house.
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
"What a spoiled girl, but sure… I'm very sorry for forgetting."
"As long as you understand."
"Hehe." Konata bent forward a little and gave the other girl a small good-bye kiss on the lips. After parting, Konata thought for a second that she saw a person passing the street in front of Kagami's house, but she was sure that it was just her imagination.
"Very good. Bye, Kona, see you tomorrow." She was smiling from ear to ear and went back inside her house.
"Sure…" Konata finally left, went around a corner of the street and quickly found out that it wasn't just her imagination earlier.
"Hello there, Kona."
"O-Oh, M-Miki… hey… What brings you to this remote area?" She had a bad feeling. A very, very bad feeling.
"I live here."
"Right… Now that you say it… W-Well, I have to go now, see you later, Miki." Konata took exactly one step before she felt a hand with a pretty strong grip on her shoulder.
"Not so fast there, Konata~." Miki's voice sounded as cheerful as ever, but for some reason, Konata was extremely scared and cold sweat was running down her spine.
"U-Uhm…"
"There's a lovely little café nearby. How about we go there and have a nice little chat together? Don't worry about it, I'll pay for everything." That wasn't the problem here.
"Ehm… I'm actually rather busy right now, so…" Konata really didn't want to go.
"Konata, declining is not an option." Even her voice sounded a little scary now and so Konata had no other choice.
"I-I see… Well then, p-please lead the way…" She gave up and accepted her fate while trembling a little.
"Very good, please follow me then." Saying that, Miki and Konata went to the nearby café and the two had a nice chat together.
.
Yay, a decent length chapter!
I hope you like the ending, though. Cliffhangers sure are nice~. Well, actually, it was going to be another hyper long chapter and so I decided to step on the break here.
I wasn't expecting to be this fast either and even more, but my inspiration was stong lately and the next chapter's also half way done already… (I had way too much fun with the talk of Miki and Konata and I think I may have to tone it down a bit…)
Poor Konata, though, she really has no saying in anything anymore. Well, at least Kagami only wants her best, most of the times, that is.
I actually have no idea how midterm exams work (never had them where I live) but I'm sure a weekend wouldn't be sufficient in the first place, but hey, plot convenience and stuff. I actually liked economics myself back then in school, but it's been too long and so the bits of my explanations are probably wrong, but please don't mind if it's possible.
Next chapter is, like I already said, half way done and so I'm relatively confident that I'll have it ready in the next two, maybe three weeks. Definitely in February, though. (Then again, I still have tons of light novels to read and I'm finally able to play Pokémon moon… No, I'll have it done.) Content's probably self-explanatory after the end.
Oh, I just saw that I'm lenght wise already in the top ten of Lucky Star fanfictions. Well, let's aim for the top three. First one with over 500k is way too overkill.