A little over a week of summer break already passed and until now, it was rather uneventful or rather, nothing different from the norm happened in that week. That being said, Kagami had not stayed a single day at her home, the Hiiragi house, that is. Up until now, every single day, and not to mention night was spent at Konata's house, much to the delight of that person.
The day of the girls' summer trip arrived, and the plan was for everyone to meet up at Minami's place in the morning before traveling together to the forest cabin. Most of them had already arrived before the appointed time because everyone was looking forward to it, but a certain couple was late. It was rather early in the morning, and Kagami's still extremely bad with waking up when sleeping with Konata. The two arrived about half an hour late and made everyone wait for them.
"Ah, there they are…" Hiyori was the first to greet them after the two finally entered the living room of Minami's house. "What happened?"
"Well… Kagamin's pretty bad at waking up as usual…"
"Oi!"
"And… What does that have to do with you being late as well, Konata-senpai?"
"I can't possibly continue to let her sleep alone in my bed while going here on my own, can I?"
"Oh, yeah, that makes sense…" Hiyori just absentmindedly nodded.
"Not that I could've left, but that's a different story…" It's impossible for Konata to free herself out of Kagami's grip before she wakes up after all.
"Mmmn~… I see…" Hiyori's left eyelid started to twitch a little. "S-So you two had a sleepover, I suppose?"
"Yes, a 'sleepover' does kind of fit, but, to be exact, it not just yesterday, but the entire last week already."
"T-That's cool…" The twitching got stronger.
"Is something wrong, Hiyorin?" Konata acted extra cute and innocent while asking so.
"N-No, everything's fine…" Hiyori slapped her cheek once and regained a bit of her composure. "Senpais, your teasing's sometimes way too extreme, you know…?" She addressed Kagami and Konata at the same time. Konata maybe was the one talking, but Kagami was still somewhat tired, and so she was leaning onto her shoulder the entire time while yawning. Doing her best to preserve her last bit of her sanity, Hiyori decided to brush it off again.
"Sure…" Konata felt somewhat sorry and stopped saying more while thinking that it's maybe time to tell her. Looking at Kagami at her side and confirming it with a nod, the two decided to tell her about their relationship on the upcoming trip.
Miyuki and Tsukasa were watching the complete conversation with somewhat envious eyes. Although being not quite as intense as Konata and Kagami, the two still had the same relationship as the two and seeing them being so lovey-dovey without minding anyone, made them almost jealous. At the same time, though, they were also somewhat happy not being the center of attention all the time and so, watching the idiot couple, left them once more with mixed feelings.
After everything was over, the group finally left Minami's house almost an hour late, and they made their way towards the forest cabin.
…..
Luckily, the delay caused by Kagami and Konata wasn't that much of a problem for the trip. The girls only had to ride a bus for about half an hour, and so they just took the next one. Even though their destination was just half an hour away, the scenery had still completely changed, and the only signs of civilization were the road the bus drove on, and the small hut that worked as the station where the girls exited. Other than that, there was just green as far as the eye reached in every direction.
"Wow, it's so peaceful out here…" Yutaka voiced out everyone's opinion on the scenery.
"Yes, I always liked being here because it's so nice and quiet." Minami agreed with her. "Well then, let's go." She guided the group alongside a nature trail that soon led them into the forest. The girls were excitedly looking around while trying to spot animals and the like, but Konata and Kagami were lagging a bit behind the group. Minami noticed that, and while the others were still busy with looking around and chatting, she decided the chance to join them.
"Oh, hey Minami, is something wrong?" Konata noticed her and asked why she joined them.
"N-No… Everything's fine…" She was clearly nervous about something, and the two didn't fail to notice that.
"Okay… What is it, Minami?"
"Ah… W-Well… Yutaka-chan told me… something a little over a week ago…" She became redder with every spoken word. "I-Is it true that… that you two are a… couple?" While looking extremely embarrassed, she timidly finished asking her question.
"Yep~."
"That's true." They had no intention to hide it at all.
"Wow… That's… I wasn't sure if Yutaka-chan was telling the truth, but… wow…" She was struggling to find the right words.
"Shocked~?" Konata decided to tease her a little. Normally, it would've been okay to feel offended by her spoken words, but one glance at Minami's strangely happy looking face made clear that she was only a little awkward without any ill will at all.
"N-No, not really shocked… 'Surprised' probably is a more fitting word, I guess…"
"Is that so? By the way, Minami-chan~, why are you looking so happy? You're smiling from ear to ear there." As usual, Konata was having a lot of fun.
"W-Wha-?! Am I really…?" She touched her cheeks and immediately realized it. "I-I'm sorry, I just got a little too excited…"
"No problem~. Speaking of which, why are you so excited and interested in it, Minami? Don't tell me you also have someone you like~?" Konata did her best to keep her voice normal, but she was already pretty bubbly about the whole thing.
"Hmm? I'm just really interested in the whole topic, Konata-senpai…"
"Ehhh?!" Konata wasn't sure how Minami would react to her teasing, but this definitely wasn't what she hoped for. Not only did she easily brush it off, but she also didn't expect her to be excited to this degree about romance topics. Kagami grinning at her with a smug look wasn't helping with her disappointment either.
"Y-You two are the first… same-sex couple I ever met in person after all…"
"I-Is that so…?" Konata looked at Miyuki and Tsukasa at a slight distance in front of them and felt a little awkward because she's much more intimate with Miyuki than her and Kagami.
"Yes, I only read about it in books, or TV, or… the mangas Hiyori-chan drew that Yutaka-chan showed to me…" Her face got redder again near the end.
"You two… okay…" A picture of those two looking at lewd yuri mangas briefly floated through her mind, but Konata immediately pushed them away because she didn't want to end up like Hiyori, or even more like her.
"H-How is it… dating a girl… as a girl yourself…?"
"Uhh… Even if you ask me… I don't have anything to compare it with, nor do I want to… But, you're together with the person you like after all, so I suppose there isn't that much of a difference of feelings in the end. Well… Aside the part where my partner is cuter, softer to the touch compared to boys, and of course has boobs, I guess…"
"I'm not sure how I should feel about that…" Kagami wasn't entirely happy with that comparison.
"B-Boobs…" Minami shortly was concerned with something that bothered her greatly, but quickly came back to the topic. "Ah, I see… It's only logical, and the circumstances are only a little different. You like the person you like, and that's it, right?" Ignoring most of the comparison, Minami concentrated on the core part.
"Well… Yes, that's how it works on the surface, sure… But, if we weren't into girls in the first place, it surely wouldn't have happened because there would've been no romantic interest between us. Yes, we started out as simple friends as well, but that just led us to realize our sexuality in the end when we fell for each other…"
"Although, it's pretty easy to fall for a girl like her, isn't it, Minami?"
"Ahaha…" Minami wasn't sure how to react to Kagami's comment after listening to Konata's explanation, and so she just let out a dry laugh before continuing. "That's what I meant with different circumstances, Konata-senpai. If you prefer girls and fall in love with one, just like you said, you simply like the person you like, right? Nothing more, nothing less."
"Yeah… Saying it like that, it works…" Konata preferred this description much more.
"B-By the way…" Minami wanted to ask something else, but a certain someone finally sensed the embarrassment radiating from her. Without even looking back, Hiyori in front of them stopped walking, and the three girls quickly caught up to her.
"You called, Minami?"
"E-Eh?" She didn't recall ever calling her.
"You didn't? Weird… I total felt that my presence was needed here…"
"Wow…" Konata quietly mumbled a word of admiration to Hiyori's yuri sensor.
"Not really…"
"Well, now that I'm here already, what's the topic?" She still felt that something of great interest was going on here.
"O-Oh… W-Well… T-That's… Uh… Huh?! I think Yutaka-chan called me just now…" Minami started to panic and awkwardly decided to flee.
"Uhh… Okay then… That was weird. What was that about, Konata-senpai?"
"Ahaha… That's a long story. You'll find out about it soon enough, Hiyorin."
"Ehh? Very suspicious… I'll get back to that later, but first…." She looked at Yutaka next to Minami, who was blushing as well for some reason now and figured that this was more interesting for the time being. "If you'll excuse me now, senpai…"
"Our first years sure a something…" Kagami let out a sigh once the two were alone again.
"Yep… Especially Minami is far more interesting than I first thought…"
"That's true…"
"A talkative and blushing kuudere is kind of cute…" Konata suddenly entered otaku mode and was pretty fascinated by Minami just now, compared to the usual expressionless and somewhat cold one.
"Yeah… I-I mean, what? I mean, what's a kuudere? I-I mean, shut up!"
"Ahaha~, my Kagamin~'s still unparalleled, though."
"…" Kagami decided to stay silent because she knew herself well enough to know that she would only make it worse if she continued talking. Simply admitting defeat was the wiser choice.
Just like that, the two caught up to the group, and they continued to walk for a while until Konata felt like complaining about something.
"It's sooo hot and humid out here…" Not only got the heat that entered the forest got trapped in there, making the shade of the trees useless, but all those plants also made the place unbelievably humid and uncomfortable. "Are we there yet, Minami?"
"I'm sorry, it'll take a little longer…"
"Come on, Kona, don't be such a child…" Kagami tried to cool her down, but her method was highly questionable. She grabbed Konata, hugged her from behind and both continued walking like that. "And, any better now?"
"How's that supposed to be any better? When did you, hugging me ever cooled me down?" Konata had no idea what was going through Kagami's head. "Did the heat got you as well?"
"Should I stop then~?"
"Hmm…" She looked like it was a really hard decision. "No, I think I'll allow it for now."
"How generous of you." Despite the slight sarcasm in her words, she gave Konata a little squeeze from behind.
"Well, that's just how I am~."
"Oh, shut up~."
While the two continued to blatantly flirt with each other, Hiyori was watching them with great interest but was confused by the show as well. She was under the firm conviction that Konata and Kagami were doing those things simply to tease her, but she realized just now that those two weren't even paying attention to her. She frantically flapped her arms around to get the attention of the other girls to get them to look at the couple, but everyone was ignoring the two and Hiyori as well for some, to her, unknown reason. Thanks to that, Hiyori wasn't able to get any questions answered by the group. Dejected, she gave up and convinced herself that the couple is just good at deceiving her.
…..
The group continued to walk for about ten more minutes, and it slowly felt like the forest began to open up. Once they realized that, Minami also spoke up and announced that they had reached their destination.
"Aaand there we are…" The last few trees obstructing the view disappeared, and a huge, almost crystal-clear lake appeared in front of them. The lake was completely surrounded by the forest they were wandering through, and a thin line of a sand beach stretched around the water.
"Rich people sure don't do things half-heartedly…" Kagami got a little jealous again.
"Ahaha…" Everyone decided to ignore Kagami, and after walking a short distance alongside the lake, they arrived at the cabin.
"Like I said, rich people are…"
"Stop being jealous and shut up already, Kagamin~." Kagami wanted to complain again, but Konata quickly stopped her while everyone else was simply amazed.
The group was looking at a cozy timber cabin located between the forest and the lake. A long, wooden pier, connected to the terrace of the cabin, reached into the lake, and a couple canoes in different colors were towed onto it. Everyone took in the view for a moment before continuing.
"Okay, let's go inside then." Minami guided them into the living room, and everyone sat down on the sofas there.
"Good, how about we go for a swim now?" Konata was still feeling hot, and the lake outside looked really appealing to her.
"Calm down, Kona, there are other things to do first. Minami, where are we going to sleep for starters?"
"Ah, right… Well, there's a bit of an inconvenience… We only have three rooms to use… My suggestion is that us first years use the bigger room together and the senpais are going to use the other two if that's okay with everyone."
"No problem~." Konata grabbed Kagami's shoulder and immediately claimed one of the rooms for the two of them.
"We're okay with that as well." Miyuki and Tsukasa also had nothing to complain.
"Konata-senpai, Kagami-senpai…" Hiyori suddenly popped up between the couple and started whispering. "Hey, is it possible for me to stay in your room? I want Yutaka and Minami to be alone. I'm sure something great will happen then~."
"Nope, not going to happen." The two didn't even need a second to react to turn her down in an instant.
"Ehh, why not?"
"Multiple, very complex reasons, but the most important is that we don't want to."
"You know, the ability of you two to perfectly sync your speech and saying exactly the same is pretty impressive… and somewhat scary."
"Hehe…" The two only laughed a little.
"Too bad…" Hiyori looked disappointed.
"Look at it this way, Hiyorin, maybe, if they enter their own little world, you'll be able to freely watch them from the best position."
"Ah! I hadn't thought about that at all! As expected of Konata-senpai, you know your stuff."
"S-Sure…" Konata simply nodded in agreement to get over with it. Hiyori was now happy with the room arrangements as well, and so, everyone went to check out their rooms.
After looking around a bit, Kagami and Konata started unpacking their stuff. That normally would've been an easy and uneventful task, but these two aren't like that. After emptying her backpack, Konata carelessly tossed it on the floor, and when Kagami turned around, she stumbled over it. Falling in such an artistic way that even Olympic gymnasts would get jealous over, she managed to knock over Konata as well, and both accidentally ended up on the bed. Kagami was on top of her, and for some reason, she didn't look like she was going to move anytime soon.
"Hey there, Kagamin~." Konata had no idea what's going on because it happened so fast, but she wasn't particularly bothered by it.
"Hey~." Kagami was even less bothered by it. More than that, she seemed to enjoy the situation. While closing her eyes with a mischievous smile, she lowered her head and started attacking Konata's lips.
"Mmmn~." For Konata, the whole thing was a perfect template scenario she saw coming with the development, and as a result, she wasn't dazed and immediately wrapped her arms around Kagami's neck while returning the attack. They continued to make out for a few short minutes, but the two actually managed to restrain themselves after realizing where they were right now.
"I-I think we should stop, for now, Kona… During the day… and more importantly, without a locked door is a little…" Kagami looked hesitant, but she had a point.
"Easy for you to say, being the one who started it and all…" Konata was extremely disappointed.
"It was an accident, okay?"
"You accidentally started making out with me?"
"Well… I accidentally pushed you down on the bed and… the rest just kind of happened, I guess? I simply couldn't help myself after seeing you below me…"
"So… you accidentally fell, pushed me down and then accidentally attacked me as a response because of your instincts? What are you? A harem protagonist?"
"What harem protagonist actually pulls through it after having a lucky pervert moment?"
"Fair point… You certainly are no wimp…"
"I'm a girl of action after all." She looked pretty smug while saying so.
"Did I tell you that I love you already?"
"I'm not going to complain if you repeat it once more, Kona~."
"I love you, my perverted, not so closet anymore, otaku."
"That's not what I hoped for, but I'll take it for now. I love you as well, my equally perverted, not even trying to be closeted even if I would prefer it sometimes, otaku." The original topic was already long lost, and the two just kept flirting for a while until they heard a knock on the door.
Hiyori entered the room and looked around while being a little confused. Kagami was still on the bed, but Konata was currently on the floor picking up her backpack and a few of her clothes that Kagami knocked over as well earlier. Aside from their still somewhat disheveled clothes and hairs, nothing looked remotely suspicious.
"Oh, Hiyorin, what brings you here?"
"That's a good question…"
"Eh?"
"I was in the kitchen to get something to drink, but I sensed something and hurried back to our room where Minami and Yutaka still are, but something made me stop here…"
"What…?"
"Man, ever since I got to know you two, my yuri sensor is seriously messed up! I hope you're going to take responsibility for that!"
"We'll see about that…"
"Anyway, if you'll excuse me now, I need to get back to my room to see what's going on there." Just like that, Hiyori disappeared again, and the couple could finally start laughing.
"Ahaha, Hiyorin really is great~."
"I almost feel sorry for her… almost. So perspective and blind at the same time…"
"I think I'm seriously going to miss that after telling her the truth…"
"It's time, though."
"Yeah…" Once they stopped laughing, the two fixed their wrinkled clothes and decided to go back to the living room where the others showed up as well one after another.
….
After everyone met up and sat down on the sofas, they decided to discuss some organizational details.
"Okay, I think we should do something like a cooking plan. Any volunteers?"
"Kagamin~ and I can take care of dinner today. Other than that, use me however you like."
"Oh, we should seriously consider this offer, girls. Kona-chan's cooking is at a professional level."
"Like you're any less good, Tsukasa."
"Ehehe, sweats are my specialty, though…"
"Anyway…" Kagami felt like Konata and Kagami were slowly getting off topic. "How about breakfast is prepared by whichever group shows up first in the kitchen in the morning and the other meals are decided on when it's time for them?"
"I think that should work." Minami agreed with Kagami's plan.
"Oh, are they any fish in the lake? How about we go fishing and grill them on one day?" Hiyori thought it was a good idea, but the response wasn't that great.
"No!" Konata and Kagami immediately started protesting.
"Eh? Why not?"
"Ahaha… Kona-chan and onee-chan had a bad experience with fishing once." Tsukasa took over the explanation.
"What happened?"
"Not that much… We four tried out fishing last year on a trip as well. Kona-chan and onee-chan made a contest out of it and made a bet on who of the two could catch the most fish… In the end, Yuki-chan and I caught quite a lot of them, and those two had not a single bite. Ever since then, they had sworn to never fish again."
"Ahaha, what a story~." Hiyori had fun listening to it.
"Shut up!" Konata and Kagami not so much.
Hiyori and Tsukasa as well were enjoying the reaction of the couple for a moment, but the group soon decided to go outside after the food question was answered to explore a bit. They first looked around on the terrace, but the pier was far more interesting for most of them. As they walked along the pier on top of the lake, the group had a good view of the water.
"Wow, the water looks so clean…" Kagami seemed pretty fascinated by it.
"You know, Kagamin~, seeing you lean over the water like that, kind of wants me to push you into it…" Konata stood next to her and teased her a little. "You should be happy that I'm not… WAHHH!"
"Ahaha~." Not even reacting to Konata's teasing, Kagami simply extended her arms and effortlessly pushed Konata into the water without a second thought. Her plan didn't exactly work as planned, though. "Heeyyy!" The next thing the group saw after Kagami's scream was not one, but two big splashes in the lake and two people were missing. While Konata was falling, she somehow managed to grab Kagami's hand and pulled her down with her.
"Oh~, the water feels really nice. That was a good idea, Kagamin~."
"I'll kill you, Kona~." She was smiling, but her words sounded rather scary.
"W-Why?! You're the one who pushed me? I merely took you with me…"
"When was I ever reasonable?" Her smile looked a lot warmer already.
"Fair point… I almost forgot about that…"
"Oi!"
"What? I'm only agreeing with you here… I forgot again already, huh? You're unreasonable after all~."
"Idiot…" It was impossible for Kagami to stay angry at this dork and simply started splashing water at Konata who quickly returned the attack. For a while, the two simply kept splashing water at each other while laughing. The completely ignored group of girls watched them with warm eyes while doing so. Hiyori was a bit of an exception, though. Once again, she was pretty confused about the whole situation.
"Okay…" She slowly started to break down and began mumbling to herself. "A-Are they actually…? No, no, no… No way… What am I even thinking)! I really have to stop fantasizing about friends in that way… Although, they really aren't making my life easy… But what if…"
"-yori-chan…? Hiyori-chan?" Yutaka was calling her name, but there was no reaction. "Hiyori-chan!"
"H-Huh?! Eh… y-yes? What is it?" She finally snapped back to reality and reacted to Yutaka.
"We're going back to change into our swimsuits. Looking at those two, it made us want to go swimming as well. Are you coming with us?"
"S-Sure, let's go…" Hiyori gave up on the two in the water and went back to the cabin with the other girls.
Kagami and Konata were having some more fun on their own for a few more minutes, but soon decided to follow the others.
"Let's get out as well, Kona, my clothes are feeling really uncomfortable…" Kagami started to climb back on the pier and held out her hand to help up Konata as well.
"Thanks… Yeah, and clothes are getting super heavy when wet…" Konata left the water as well, and both were standing with dripping wet clothes clinging to their skin on the pier. "Although, I have to admit that it's a sight for sore eyes~." She wasn't even trying to hide it.
"Shut up pervert."
"And just where are you looking the entire time, Kagamin~?"
"…" Without saying a single more word, she simply started walking towards the cabin.
"What a girl…" With a smile on her lips, Konata quickly followed after her.
…..
After only taking twice as long as one normally needs to change into a bikini, the couple arrived at the pier again where the others were already waiting for them in their swimsuits.
Miyuki was wearing a rather plain white and black striped bikini, but thanks to her rather outstanding figure, the sight was everything except boring.
Kagami's bikini was entirely colored in a dark blue and rather plain as well, thanks to its single color and not that revealing cut, but she didn't want to impress anyone anyway. Looking at Konata's face, she still knew that it was more than good enough.
Tsukasa's bikini was a lot more playful. The base color was red and attached to the top, and bottom pieces were some frills with a black hem as a finish.
Interestingly enough, Konata was wearing the exact same bikini, except for the detail that the hem of her frills was white instead of Tsukasa's black.
The first years were a little different from their senpais. Every single one of them was wearing their dark blue school swimsuit for some reason.
"Man, they're allowed to wear their school swimsuits, huh?" Konata saw the three girls and immediately started complaining to Kagami in a low voice because she wasn't allowed to wear hers the last time they went swimming together.
"Not that again… Think about it from my perspective, Kona."
"Hmm?"
"I don't see the appeal of school swimsuits, like at all…"
"And…?" She didn't see the connection.
"It wouldn't be any fun for me if you would be wearing one, Kona… But, right now, I'm having a lot of fun~."
"Ahh… I see…" Just like that, Konata forever stopped complaining that she isn't allowed to wear her school swimsuit outside of school. While the two were having their silent conversation, two others were talking about something as well.
"Yuki-chan, the bikini looks really good on you…"
"T-Thank you, Tsukasa-san. You look really cute as well…"
"Ehehe~." Both were smiling from ear to ear with an embarrassed blush on their cheeks. It was only a short exchange of sweet words, but the pink space surrounding them was already lethal and quickly claimed its first victim.
"T-Thank you very much for the treat~." Hiyori wasn't expecting such a scene from those two and got caught completely off guard. That being said, it was definitely a happy surprise for her.
"Ah!"
"O-Oh…" The two snapped back into reality and became even more embarrassed. They're normally pretty good at hiding their attraction to each other, but the swimsuits unconsciously made Tsukasa and Miyuki loosen up a bit too much. While the two were looking for an excuse in panic, Konata saved them.
"Oi, first years, what's up with the triple partner look?" She came back to the swimsuits.
"W-Well, it's my first time going swimming with friends, and I had no idea what to wear, and so I thought it was a safe choice…" Yutaka's explanation made sense to some degree, but mainly because it was too sad, no one said anything more.
"Ah, wait a moment, Kona…" Kagami suddenly interrupted her. "Speaking of partner looks, why are you and my sister wearing the same bikini?" She was bothered by it the moment she saw the two and finally said something.
"That's pretty easy to explain… We went shopping for a bikini together and decided on a whim to get a matching one."
"Huh? When did that happen?" There shouldn't have been any chance for Konata and Tsukasa to be alone together without Kagami noticing.
"Ahaha… Remember a couple days after Yu-chan invited us to this trip? You made me promise to study on my own at home because there was a test upcoming and you, unfortunately, had to help out at your shrine for a few hours?"
"Yeah…"
"As it turns out, I didn't study at all~. Tsukasa didn't need to help out and showed up at my place because she wanted to go with me."
"I see…"
"I'm sorry, onee-chan…" Tsukasa apologized because she kept Konata from studying.
"Don't worry, there was absolutely no chance she would study anyway…"
"Ehehe~, my Kagamin~ knows me after all."
"Still… I know how much you hate studying, Kona, but you actually preferred going shopping together with Tsukasa?"
"It wasn't an easy decision, I can assure you that…" Shopping with Tsukasa usually isn't an easy task.
"Come on, you had fun as well, Kona-chan." Tsukasa started pouting.
"Yeah… it was kind of fun trying all those bikinis on together and finding the right one…"
"Heh~?" For some reason, Kagami wasn't smiling at all.
"Jealous?"
"N-No… W-Why would I?" Kagami denied it, but started whispering at the same time. "Consider yourself lucky it was Tsukasa you accompanied, though…" She was jealous, very jealous and Tsukasa being the only safe person on the planet, Konata was barely safe.
"W-We'll invite you next time."
"Good."
"M-Minami…" Konata decided to quickly change the topic. "What about you? Why are you wearing a school swimsuit as well?"
"W-Well… because my figure is…" She said nothing and just patted her chest with a sad expression. "… I decided to use whatever I already have because it makes no difference anyway…"
"Frills, Minami, frills." Konata knew exactly what she was talking about. "Trust me, those make even nothing look somewhat reasonable." She pointed at herself while saying so.
"Yes, yes!" Tsukasa energetically nodded in agreement. She was way bigger than Konata, but she's still on the small side, and so, frills are her best friend as well.
"T-That's really good to know. I'll keep that in mind." It was only faint, but a relieved smile was clearly visible on Minami's lips.
"Last, but not least, what about you, Hiyorin?" Konata already had a pretty good idea on why, but she asked anyway.
"What are you even asking, Konata-senpai?! It's a school swimsuit! It would be heresy if I wouldn't have worn it!"
"Fair point."
"No, it isn't!" Kagami didn't agree with her.
"Nonono, you just don't understand the beauty of a school swimsuit, Kagami-senpai."
"You're right, I don't, and I also don't want to."
"I'm with Hiyorin on this." Konata stopped complaining that she isn't allowed to wear one, but that doesn't mean she stopped liking them as well.
"Haa…"
"A comrade~!"
"Absolutely!" While the two hardcore otakus were energetically discussing the gloriousness of school swimsuits, Kagami grew more and more impatient. A couple minutes and she finally couldn't take it anymore.
"Okay, that's enough!" Moving closer to Konata, Kagami pushed her again towards the water to forcefully end this discussion. Once more, Konata didn't want to go down without a fight.
"Waaahhh!" It wasn't Kagami's scream that the group heard. Konata made a slight error and grabbed the wrong hand while falling. Thanks to that, her comrade also ended up in the water.
"Kagamin~, that's already bullying, isn't it?! What are… eh?" Konata hadn't even noticed that she grabbed the wrong person. "Hiyorin? What are you doing here?" She looked at the girl right in front of her in the water.
"You took the wrong person down with you, Konata-senpai."
"Oh… I'm sorry about that. Kagamin~!" Noticing that she got the wrong person, she turned towards the pier and started splashing water at Kagami. Hiyori, not having anything better to do, simply joined in on the fun.
"You two…" After being thoroughly drenched in water, Kagami had enough, jumped after the two and pushed them below the water surface while landing between them.
"Ahaha…" The two resurfaced again and resumed their water attack. Kagami didn't let them have all the fun alone and attacked back with all her might. Water splashed in every direction and even the girls on the pier were all wet now.
"Let's go, Yuki-chan!" Tsukasa didn't want to leave all the fun to the tree in the water and urged Miyuki to join them. She was a bit reluctant at first, but Tsukasa simply grabbed her hand, and both jumped in the water together.
"S-Shall we go as well…?"
"S-Sure…" Minami and Yutaka were overwhelmed by the events for a minute or two, but then decided to join as well. They were a lot more timid, though. Sitting down on the edge of the pier first, the two slowly slid into the water. Being so timid unfortunately wasn't unnoticed by the other girls, and once Minami and Yutaka were fully in the water, they suffered a frontal attack by the others for being so slow.
The group calmed down after a while, but everyone continued to have fun in the water for about an hour.
…
Once they finished playing in the water, the girls went back to the cabin and into their rooms for the time being.
Getting rid of their wet bikinis the second the door of their room closed behind them, Kagami swiftly locked said door, grabbed a couple towels and the two started drying their bodies, each other's, that is.
"Oi, where do you think you're touching?!"
"Everywhere~." Konata was very thorough with the drying and made sure not to miss a single spot on Kagami's body.
"Is that so? That's your game, huh? I hope you're prepared then~." She didn't let Konata finish drying her and grabbed a towel on her own. Once she had a firm grip on it, she quickly and firmly wrapped it around Konata and effortlessly pushed her constricted body on the bed because she was completely unable to move.
"Oho~, that's new…" Being completely unable to move thanks to the tightly wrapped towel around her, it had a slight feeling of pseudo bondage play to it as she lay down defenselessly on the bed.
"Are there any thoughts in your head that aren't perverted, Kona?"
"Bold thing to say as the person responsible for tying me up while currently standing stark naked in front of me…"
"Well…" She had no way to rebut it and also didn't try to. She moved on the bed and climbed on top of Konata, but instead of attacking her, she grabbed another towel and carefully started drying Konata's long hair.
"Oi, you big tease~…"
"Were you expecting something else, pervert~?" With a big grin, Kagami continued to take care of Konata's hair.
"Actually…" Konata suddenly had an even bigger grin. "Something like that was more what I hoped for…" The towel had become undone, and she could use her arms again. Using that chance, she immediately wrapped them around Kagami's body who was hovering above her. Applying a bit of force, Konata made her crash down on top of her, but there was a slight miscalculation.
"Yep~, definitely a pervert…" Because she was drying Konata's hair, her position on top of her was a little off-center. Thanks to that, rather than her face, Kagami's chest made contact with Konata's face when she crashed down, providing her with a completely different kind of sensation than Konata was expecting.
"Mmm-mmfmf-mffhmnfmm~~…" Even though she was clearly suffocating right now, those noises definitely were happy sounding.
"What an idiot…" With a smile on her lips, she moved her body a bit and let the girl below her breath again.
"Haaa~…" After taking in a few deep breaths, color returned to Konata's face. "I-I think I just found a new favorite way to die…"
"It would definitely suit you…"
"Ehehe~…" Konata wrapped her arms around Kagami's face this time and brought their faces together. The two shared a couple of kisses, and the task of drying each other was completely forgotten already.
….
A little over half an hour passed and two very refreshed looking girls arrived in the kitchen.
"Ah, there they are… What took you two so long… Eh? What's up with that look?" Hiyori was already there and got a little confused by the satisfied smile of the couple.
"Hmm~…" They feigned ignorance.
"Whatever… And, what took you so long? Drying oneself and changing clothes usually doesn't take way over an hour…"
"We were… busy."
"Busy?"
"Yes, busy~."
"Uhm… What are…" Hiyori wanted to ask something, but the other girls came back from the living room and showed up in the kitchen as well.
"Oh, Kona-chan, onee-chan, welcome back~. You two sure took your sweet time…"
"Ahaha…"
"Anyways… Kona-chan, I'm hungry."
"Ah, right… Are you ready, Kagamin~?"
"Sure, what are we going to make?"
"Everyone's favorite, curry~."
"Yay!" Tsukasa seemed very happy about that decision.
"Oh, I'm good at that."
"Hehe, you're welcome." Konata, being the reason that Kagami's good at making curry, was seemingly proud of herself.
"Shut up."
Konata began washing the rice, and Kagami collected the ingredients needed for the curry itself. Once the rice was put in the rice cooker while the poor thing received the usual glare from Kagami, the two started cutting some potatoes, onions, carrots and the meat with skillful moves in record time while being in perfect synch. The prepared ingredients were soon thrown one after another in a big pot together, and once the meat and onions were browned a bit, water was added as well.
"Heh~, Kagami-senpai can actually cook, huh…? Not only that, she's pretty good at it." Hiyori was surprised by her shown skills.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Kagami didn't like the sound of it.
"I'm sorry… It's just that you somehow give off the feeling that you'd produce more accidents than actual food in the kitchen for some reason…"
"Ahah-! I-I'm sorry, I didn't want to laugh, Kagamin~…" Konata instinctively started laughing on reflex, but managed to stop herself in the middle of it.
"…" Kagami sent a sharp glare at Konata, but then concentrated on Hiyori because she offended her more.
"Weeellll… That's a long story…" Tsukasa tried to lighten up the atmosphere a bit. "Onee-chan actually used to be… terrifying in the kitchen…"
"T-Tsukasa!"
"Terrifying?! Wait a moment, I was actually right?" Hiyori had only the feeling and wasn't expecting to be actually right with her guess.
"That's even lightly speaking… She was banned from our kitchen for a long time and even almost killed Kona-chan once… Not to mention all the fires she started when trying to cook rice…"
"Heyyy!" Kagami was still loudly protesting, but nobody seemed to pay attention to her.
"N-No way…" Hiyori was shocked. "That's a joke, right? There's no way you could start a fire by cooking rice after all…"
"That's not true, Tsukasa." Konata disagreed with her.
"Thank you, Kona…"
"See?" Hiyori was relieved that it was actually a joke.
"It was seven times she almost killed me, not just once." She actually corrected her and not disagreed.
"E-Eh?" Hiyori turned white.
"Kona, stop lying!" Kagami got angrier and angrier.
"I think the first time was when we…"
"Okay, okay… Stop, stop, stop!" She stopped being angry in an instant and turned red instead.
"C-Come on, Konata-senpai, Tsukasa-senpai, no one could possibly be this catastrophic in the kitchen." There was no way Hiyori could believe them.
"There's still that imprint from that one exploded pot on the ceiling in my kitchen at home if you want to see it yourself, Hiyorin."
"E-Eh…?" She turned white again.
"Oh, we have one of those as well in our kitchen, Hiyori-chan."
"S-Seriously?! Don't tell me you really are one of those legendary girls that can make pots explo- GAH!" Hiyori wasn't able to finish her sentence because Kagami had finally enough, grabbed a leftover piece of a potato and shot it right between Hiyori's eyes with perfect accuracy. "I-I'm very sorry, Kagami-senpai. I'll stop now! But, why are you so good now then? I don't think I'm that skillful with a knife… or potatoes…"
"Ah, that's a really cute story
~." Because Kagami suddenly turned a bit red, Tsukasa took over the explanation again. "That's thanks to Kona-chan."
"Ehehe~."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Everyone gave up on onee-chan already when it came to cooking, but Kona-chan tried teaching her one day as well, and it actually succeeded after a while."
"How was that possible?"
"That's the question no one has a definite answer to… It's probably lo-… ehm, lots of effort because the two spent so much time together and refused to give up." Tsukasa almost blabbed something out, but managed to save herself.
"I-Is that so…?" Hiyori's head started to hurt again.
"The cutest thing is that without Kona-chan around, onee-chan's still completely hopeless in the kitchen, even though she showed this kind of skill just now."
"What…?"
"Onee-chan once to tried to cook on her own, but it was a complete failure. Once Kona-chan was next to her again, cooking also worked without a single problem again."
"I-Is that so…?" Hiyori's eyes looked hollow, and her mind was a complete mess. 'Come ooon~! What's this? What's up with those two?! Are they kidding me? No… they've got to be dating each other after all… There's simply no other… Wait a moment, even if I'm fairly sure everyone here should be okay with that, the two should be hiding it more if they're actually dating… No one would ever be this open about it… Gah! Just what is going on here?!'
"Hiyorin? Are you coming?" While Hiyori had her internal crisis, Konata and Kagami finished cooking, and everyone except her had already moved to the table."
"Ah… Oh, sure… Ehm, Konata-senpai…?"
"Yes?" Konata innocently tilted her head at the sudden start of a question?"
"No… Nevermind… Let's eat…" Hiyori decided against asking in the end in order to not possibly ruin their friendship by asking weird things. She was happy to find fellow otaku friends in Konata and Kagami and decided that this was enough.
"Sure." The two joined the others at the table, and everyone ate dinner together.
…
Once they had finished eating and took care of the dishes, the group decided to go outside again for some more exploring. Having had enough of the lake, for the time being, everyone agreed to go to the forest again. It wasn't a very thrilling adventure, though. Miyuki took over the lead for some reason, and the whole exploring somehow turned into 'Japanese forests native fauna, explained by Miyuki-sensei.' A few of the girls were listening with some interest to her, but the others, especially Konata, were happy once they realized that it was getting dark already.
"Okay, I think we should stop here and slowly head back to the cabin. A dark forest surely isn't the most fun place to be at." Miyuki finished her lesson and noticed the time.
"T-That's a very good idea, Yuki-chan…" Tsukasa instantly agreed with her. "The forest got super scary now that it's dark! L-Let's go already!"
"Y-Yes, I agree with Tsukasa-senpai…" Tsukasa wasn't the only one scared. Yutaka didn't like being there as well anymore.
"Sure, let's go…" Unconsciously, Miyuki grabbed Tsukasa's hand and led her out of the forest. Minami's protective instincts kicked in as well and while grabbing Yutaka's hand, she quickly followed Miyuki.
"Ehehe~." Hiyori, on the other hand, liked the dark forest very much, even though it was for her very own selfish reasons.
"Seeing those two so scared, kind of want me to do a…"
"Test of courage!" Hiyori changed her attention and finished Konata's sentence.
"Exactly! We just have to do that one of those days."
"That's going to be great~!" While the two were having sinister smiles on their lips, Kagami walked up to them and gave both a hearty chop on the head.
"Come on, idiots, let's go as well…" The three quickly caught up to the others, and all soon and safely exited the forest.
"Wow…" The sun had already completely set by now, and once the girls had a free view again, they saw the starry night sky above the lake. Having absolutely no artificial light in the vicinity made the stars seem to shine incredibly bright, and the clear lake reflected every single one of them, illuminating the whole area in a gentle light.
"Heh~, that's pretty romantic." Hiyori actually said some decent words for a change.
"Indeed…" Konata and Kagami agreed with her, but something was off. "Wait a moment… Hiyorin, where did that sketchbook come from?!" She looked startled by the sudden appearance of it.
"How naïve, Konata-senpai, I never go outside without it. I could miss out on scenes like that without it after all…" While she was looking proud, an extremely detailed sketch of two couples that were holding hands in front of a beautiful lake that got illuminated by a breathtakingly starry night sky rapidly formed on paper.
"Nonono, I'm asking where it came from and not why…" It confused Konata greatly because Hiyori had no bag or anything similar that could hold a sketchbook with her.
"Don't mind the small details, senpai~."
"Ehhh…?"
"Welcome to my life, Kona." Kagami sympathized with her and placed a hand on Konata's shoulder to console her. She didn't feel any better though. The reason of Kagami's sympathy was because she's going through the same with Konata after all.
"Shut up, Kagamin~."
Hiyori continued to sketch the very stimulating scene in front of her for a while, but her utopia ended soon enough. Miyuki finally realized what she was doing and quickly retracted her hand.
"O-Oh, I'm sorry, Tsukasa-san, it happened unconsciously, and I forget about it afterward…" While apologizing, Miyuki's face turned red, but she wasn't alone with that because Tsukasa was in a similar condition.
"N-No, it's okay… I don't mind at all…" She looked at her empty hand with a sad expression and looked lonely. Hiding their relationship can hurt at times. This here is one of those times. While the two had reluctantly let go of each other, Minami noticed that she was still holding Yutaka's hand as well.
"Ah, sorry about that, Yutaka-chan." Minami gently released her hand without any fuss.
"No problem, I somehow didn't even notice it anymore…"
"E-Ehhh…? W-What's this?!" Hiyori was on cloud nine a moment ago while watching the embarrassed interaction of Miyuki and Tsukasa, but suddenly started crying blood because the smooth exchange of Minami and Yutaka was one of the most devastating things she saw in a while. The comforting hands from Konata and Kagami on her shoulders had also been, at best, only a little help for her broken heart.
"Okay, okay, let's go inside already, girls…" Kagami, having enough of whatever this situation was, urged the group to get a move on and once everyone snapped back to reality, mainly Miyuki, Tsukasa, and especially Hiyori, that is, the girls finally went back into the cabin again.
….
Once they were inside, the group went to the living room and once more got comfortable on the sofas there. After the three dejected girls had fully recovered again, they started chatting about various things. They naturally divided themselves into two groups and talked about very different topics. Miyuki, Tsukasa, Minami, and Yutaka formed one group, and their interests were rather tame. They chatted about clothes, sweets, the latest episode of a popular drama, and other things one normally expects from typical girls talk.
The second group, consisting of Hiyori, Konata, and Kagami was completely different. As expected from a group of otakus, their interests were missing a whole dimension because 2D was more than enough. Konata and Hiyori were energetically chatting about the newest chapters of their favorite mangas for a while, but the topic somehow started to shift towards light novels, and Kagami suddenly became way more active in the discussion. She was having a lot of fun talking with Hiyori about them because she rarely has the chance to talk about light novels with someone, mostly because Konata still firmly refuses to read them. Konata managed to reenter the discussion after a while again, though, because a lot of the novels they were talking about recently became an anime adaption. The three were on the same page for a while when talking about those animes, but Hiyori somehow managed to make them drift into slightly dirty topics. Listening to that, Konata remembered something and interrupted her.
"Ah, wait a moment, Hiyorin…" Konata suddenly left her place on the sofa, went to the other group and kidnapped Yutaka. Together, the two went back to the otaku group, and she made Yutaka sit down next to her. "Okay, please continue, Hiyorin."
"W-What?! There's no way I can continue my story now that Yutaka is listening, Konata-senpai!"
"Is that so? Well then, Yu-chan…"
"Yes…?" Yutaka innocently tilted her head, and Hiyori started to panic because she had a really bad feeling for some reason.
"You told me last time that you found something interesting on the internet, right? Would you mind sharing it with Hiyorin as well?"
"What I found on the internet…? Hmm… Oh, you mean t-that…?" Yutaka had no idea what Konata meant, but once she looked at Hiyori, she remembered and started to blush at the same time.
"E-Ehm… W-What's going on here? D-Did I do something?" Hiyori didn't know what was happening, but she had already turned as white as a sheet and cold sweat formed on her entire body because her instincts told her that something very frightening was about to happen.
"Really? Okay… Hiyori-chan, you always forbade me to look at your mangas, right?"
"Oh no…" Now she already knew where this was heading to.
"I was really curious about it, and last month, I found out your pen name…"
"Nonononono…" She was already gone for good.
"I looked it up on the internet and… I actually found a couple of your mangas online…"
"…" Hiyori had stopped working and didn't respond. She was so frozen up that she even wasn't blinking anymore and her lifeless eyes looked in the far distance.
"Oh-oh… I think I broke Hiyori-chan… Hiyori-chan? Hiyori-chan…? Hiyori-chaaaan?!" Unfortunately, Yutaka was getting no response at all from her.
"Don't worry about it, Yu-chan, that happens from time to time… Hiyorin!" Konata called her name as well and snapped her fingers a couple times right in front of her face. A few seconds passed, and Hiyori's left eye started twitching before she finally started blinking again. Another minute passed before she completely rebooted and directly fell into a deep state of panic.
"T-T-That's not true, right? R-Right?! It's a j-joke, right? K-Konata-senpai told you to say it, right?" She was unable to accept reality and tried to deceive herself.
"N-No, it's true, Konata-oneechan also didn't ever want me to show it as well after all and so she really didn't tell me to make such a joke…"
"D-Don't tell me you were actually serious?!"
"Yes, everything I said is true…"
"Oh no…" Despair filled Hiyori's face again. "W-What did you see…? Which of my works exactly…?" She sensed a ray of hope in those dark times.
"E-Ehm…" Yutaka first looked at Hiyori, then at the couple and then back at Hiyori with an extensively deep blush on her face, but didn't say a single word.
"Uhh…" Hiyori was a bit slow at the moment, thanks to the situation, but once she connected the dots and the reason behind Yutaka's blush, her face distorted into an ugly grimace while blushing as well before she started to scream.
"WAAAAAaaaaahhhhh…" Her screaming was getting quieter a and quieter, but not because she was running out of breath. Once she found out that Yutaka knows about her hobby, she stood up from the sofa and ran out of the room while embarrassedly screaming to her heart's content. The further she got, the quieter the screaming became until the group wasn't able to hear her anymore.
"Weeell, that was fun~." Kagami stood on the sidelines until now, but she had a pretty good time just listening to them.
"That's my cute little sadist~."
"Kona?"
"Yes?"
"You should stop smiling from ear to ear as well when saying something like that…"
"How's that supposed to work? I just witnessed the funniest thing ever. It's physically impossible for me not to smile~."
"And I'm the sadist here, huh?"
"Speaking from past experiences, the latest one being only a couple hours old, yes, yes you are."
"Shut up, Kona."
"Uhm…" A third voice timidly entered the conversation.
"Thank you very much, Yu-chan, you can go now."
The remaining girls chatted for a short while longer, but then decided to take a bath, and once they were done, everyone stayed in their rooms.
….
Konata and Kagami were done pretty quickly with their baths because they simply took one together. This normally would've ended in everything except quick, but the circumstances didn't allow them to have too much fun. They went back to their room and simultaneously crashed face first down on their bed together. The two changed their position after a while and made themselves comfortable next to each other and started chatting.
"You know, now that I've cooled down a bit, I kind of feel sorry for Hiyori…"
"Really~?" Konata somehow didn't believe her at all.
"More than you'd think, but definitely way less than I should, I guess…" In short, she didn't feel sorry at all.
"Figured as much… That's my Kagamin~."
"Still, it's going to be pretty hard to tell her about us now, isn't it? I'm fairly sure we actually did break her a little…"
"Yeah… I wouldn't believe us either anymore now…"
"Well, I guess we just have to break her a little more~." It was a good thing the two were alone because Kagami's happy voice was more than just mildly scary.
"And you actually argued with me who's the sadist here earlier…"
"Uhh… yeah, I heard it as well now…"
"Don't mind, your sadistic side is quite sexy~." Another dangerous statement that was better off unheard by outsiders was made.
"I'll remember that for future citation… and use~."
"Sure~. Anyway, what do you mean by breaking Hiyorin a little more?" Konata brought the discussion back on track.
"Hmm~." Kagami's evil grin had vastly improved over time and was able to scare Konata quite a bit by now.
"Oh boy, now I'm the one who's feeling sorry for Hiyorin…"
"Let's just do something slightly extreme, Kona~."
"W-What exactly do you mean by that now…?"
"Don't mind the details and just leave it to me~."
"Ehh…" Konata had a weird feeling of déjà vu, but decided to keep it to herself because Kagami's unreasonable after all. "I've been wondering for a while now, though… Do you actually hate or like Hiyorin?"
"I did seriously hate her in the beginning when she hit off so well with you, Kona, but once I got to know her better, I actually enjoy talking with her about light novels and stuff now. I don't really dislike her at all. She's just a little annoying at times, but that's nothing new~."
"Okay…" Konata wanted to ask some more, but she felt like she would only hurt herself if she continued here and stopped. "Well then, I leave the breaking to you, Kagamin~."
"Sure~." Once the topic was done, the two started talking altogether and concentrated far more desirable, cuddling. Kagami opened her arms, pulled Konata towards her chest and hugged her tightly. Konata returned the warm embrace of her girlfriend, and the two spent the rest of the night like that until falling asleep in each other's arms before long.
….
Miyuki and Tsukasa had a similar experience in the bath. The two also took one together, but ended up needing a fair bit amount of less time than Konata and Kagami, even though they had already held back on having fun. They entered their room as well and sat down on their bed to talk about a few things.
"Kagami-san and Konata-san sure are something, aren't they?"
"They really are… To tell the truth, I keep getting more jealous of them, Yuki-chan… They're so honest about their feelings and don't hide it at all… We, on the other hand already got terribly flustered earlier because we held a little too long in public…" Tsukasa felt sad again by just thinking about it.
"Yes… It was a very unfortunate event…"
"Should we… maybe be a little more open about it as well…?" Tsukasa would prefer if the hand-holding incident doesn't repeat itself.
"I'm not so sure… I also don't like the situation very much… But, is it okay to wait a little longer? I don't think my mother has noticed anything and I don't want her to find out about us from other people. Also, it still takes some time until my father comes back and I have no idea how he would react to it… I'm actually a little afraid when it comes to that…"
"It's okay, Yuki-chan, I fully understand that. You really don't have to feel bad. Actually, thinking logically about it, Kona-chan and onee-chan probably are the weird ones, aren't they?"
"That's certainly a possibility… I never saw same sex… no, just couples is enough… acting quite like them in public…" Normally, people usually hold back with the display of public affection, but in Konata and Kagami's case, that's not true at all.
"Yeah, they really aren't even trying…"
"How about that, Tsukasa-san… We should simply try to be alone more often for now."
"Hmm…? O-Oh…" Tsukasa understood Miyuki's slightly suggestive implication after thinking about it for about three seconds and started smiling a bit. "Yes, I think that works as a start…"
Once they finished talking, the two laid down on their bed and also engaged in some light cuddling. Miyuki was laying on her back with her arms spread away from her body and Tsukasa used one of them as a pillow as she laid down next to her while facing Miyuki. The two stayed like that for a while, but Tsukasa drifted away into the land of dreams. Miyuki watched her peaceful sleeping face afterward, but this made her sleepy as well, and she quickly followed Tsukasa only a few minutes after.
…
The room of the first years wasn't nearly as peaceful as those of their senpais. Hiyori had apparently run straight into the bathroom after she left the living room while screaming. Minami had finished her bath as well already, but it was really awkward with just the two in the room. Yutaka had just entered the room as well, and Minami was happy that she hadn't needed to deal with Hiyori alone anymore. Both were sitting on the bottom bed of the bunk bed the two were sharing and looked at the single bed of Hiyori at the other side of the room.
"Uhh…" Unfortunately, Yutaka also was no help in getting rid of the awkwardness. The two only continued to look at Hiyori or rather, the direction of her. Hiyori herself wasn't even visible. Once she came out of the bath, she had immediately hidden under the blanket on her bed and curled up into a ball. Thanks to that, Minami and Yutaka had no idea what to do. A few more minutes passed, and Yutaka finally decided to do something. She went to Hiyori, sat down next to her on the bed and gently started patting the shivering ball under the blanket as a try to comfort her. Her way of comforting was very questionable at least, though.
"Y-You see, Hiyori-chan, I really liked your mangas, you know…?" Yutaka honestly tried to cheer her up, but, as expected, it only made things worse.
"Uhhhhh…" Hiyori didn't answer, and the two only heard groaning noises as the shaking beneath the blanket got stronger. Minami couldn't watch it any longer and decided to join in on Yutaka's tries in comforting the poor girl. Completely unexpected, though, Minami was at least equally bad at it.
"Yutaka-chan's right… I also think your mangas are great. I liked them as well, even though I was fairly embarrassed while reading them… You're really talented, and there's no need to be ashamed…" Minami was also perfectly honest and didn't have any bad intentions, but the point of Hiyori's suffering was completely missed. Although, there was quite a reaction from Hiyori this time. The shivering got even stronger, and the blanket suddenly flew through the room as she bolted up with great momentum.
"W-W-WHAT?!" Hiyori finally snapped. "Y-You saw them as well, Minami?!"
"Uh, yes… Yutaka-chan called me the second she found them, and we looked at them together." Minami, unconsciously, made it even worse again.
"…" Hiyori froze for a moment again, but she sadly wasn't able to enjoy the thought of her favorite pseudo-couple watching her yuri mangas together because of her own embarrassment reached a new all-time high. "Could someone just kill me already?! Please!"
"Oh, Minami-chan, do you remember the last manga I showed you?"
"Hmm… Oh, you mean the one where the two had the house for them alone and…"
"Yes, that! I showed it to Konata-oneechan as well, and she told me something very interesting…"
"Really? What is it?"
"You see…" The two suddenly started chatting energetically about one of Hiyori's mangas as if they've completely forgotten about the situation at hand. Their heated-up discussion didn't seem to end, and the two even got into some very piquant details with Hiyori right next to them who wasn't even be acknowledged anymore. In a simpler world, Hiyori would be over the moon right now, but in the cruel reality she was in right now, she could only do a single thing. For a long time, screams of agony echoed through the entire house that even reached the neighboring forest throughout the night.
Just like that, the first day of their very ordinary and completely uneventful summer trip ended with a peaceful night. The next two and a half days are surely going to be equally relaxing for everyone.
.
1/3… Yep, it's going to be long.
You know, while already being halfway done with the summer trip chapter, I started to notice that the whole 'a group of girls staying in a forest cabin in the middle of nowhere' is slightly… Let's just pretend Minami's father (the owner of the cabin) is slightly overprotective of her and so rich that he hired a squad of special forces to protect the girls… Yeah, let's go with that… No one was able to be harmed at any time… (It's fiction, you know?)
(Sojiro was probably sitting in a tree nearby while taking pictures –and looking after them- as well... Oh, maybe a little harmed then)