Day two of their trip ended peacefully, but the morning of day three had a slightly rough start. After the events of yesterday when Hiyori found out that Konata and Kagami are an actual couple, she had basically fused with her sketchbook and she hadn't stopped following the two ever since breakfast was over. The couple tried their best to simply ignore her because nothing worked on Hiyori anyway.
Because they had explored the area enough already the days before, the group decided to simply relax around the lake for the day.
They got ready, changed into their swimsuits and went to the small beach at the lake. Konata had found a huge parasol in the shed next to the cabin and together with two towels, Kagami, and she got comfortable under it. Strictly speaking, there were three people, though. Hiyori wasn't together with the couple under the parasol, but she made herself comfortable on the beach near them and watched the two while drawing in her sketchbook. Next to her were already three used up tissues full of blood because a very taxing event happened a couple minutes ago. Konata and Kagami had applied sunscreen for each other, and because they decided to ignore Hiyori earlier that day, both didn't hold back, and not a single spot of their bodies left unoiled. Thanks to that, Hiyori had already suffered a lot of damage, but a lot of pages in her book were already filled with sketches.
Miyuki, Tsukasa, Minami, and Yutaka went directly into the water and started playing. Konata had also found an inflatable ball in the shed and handed it over to Tsukasa earlier. While Konata and Kagami were trying to relax under the parasol, the four had fun playing with the ball in the water while Hiyori was still busy with her sketches.
The peaceful scenes continued for a while, but Hiyori had finally run out of ideas and approached the couple.
"Hey~." She sat down next to them with a bright smile on her lips.
"Haa…" Kagami sighed because she already had a vague idea what's about to happen.
"You know, thanks to you two, I had lots of ideas for tons of new mangas, but is it possible to get some live inspirations because my memory is a little hazy when it comes to some details.
"Hiyorin… Oh, look at that…" Konata tried to get her attention diverted to something else and away from them. She pointed at the lake, more precisely at Yutaka and Minami, who were looking pretty intimate while playing in the water together. "Aren't those two more interesting?"
"So, how about it?" Hiyori didn't even look at the water and stayed focused on the couple.
"Haa…" Kagami gave up with another sigh because she knew it was no use. "Okay… Together with your freebie question, you get one a physical request as well… Oh, but there are obviously some limits this time, and the decision has to happen immediately." Giving Hiyori completely free reign over that could end badly.
"W-What?!" Hiyori was just a little surprised by the unexpected offer. "U-Uhm… W-Well… Okay, I'll settle for a good kiss…" Because it happened too fast, she didn't have enough time to think of something better, but the idea of two girls in bikinis making out wasn't half bad at all.
"Heh~." Kagami started grinning. "If it's just that much, there's no problem~." Her smile got even bigger. She then stood up from her towel and looked at Konata who was about to stand up as well, but Kagami didn't let her. She pushed her down again and added a little extra service for Hiyori. Kagami got on top of her, and while continuing to push her down, she gave Konata a deep, passionate, and extensively long kiss. After parting again, Kagami got up and offered Konata a hand to help her up as well. Without letting go of her hand or saying a word, Kagami let her away from the place under the parasol, and the two joined the others in the water. Hiyori didn't follow them, though. Strictly speaking, she couldn't because she was completely frozen in place, not the mention that she hadn't even noticed that she was alone. About five minutes passed, and Hiyori started working again. She shook her head a few times and then grabbed the tissue the couple placed on her lap before leaving. After her nosebleed was taken care of, Hiyori decided to stay under the parasol for a little longer because she needed a moment to fully register what just happened.
"T-They're goddesses after all…" It was the only conclusion she could come to. "Although… Kagami-senpai might as well be a devil… or a demon lord… She's one hell of a dangerous girl…" She realized once more that messing with her too much could end up very badly for her. Hiyori looked at the lake and saw the others happily playing in the water, but because she couldn't move yet, she grabbed her sketchbook again and draw a couple more pages. Some more minutes passed, and Hiyori finally joined the group in the water. She decided to stick to Minami and Yutaka for now, though, because the, in her words, sadistic demon pseudo-tsundere lord goddess had scared her a little again, but it wasn't a bad case of being scared this time.
Everyone played in the water for a good while, and by the time they finally left the lake again, it was already rather late, and the girls were pretty exhausted.
….
Once they left the water, the group went back to the cabin, and once everyone took a quick shower after being in the lake for a couple hours, the girls went back to their rooms to relax a little.
About half an hour passed and everyone recovered from their fatigue to some degree and met up in the living room again. Because they used up a lot of energy by playing for so long, the girls were pretty hungry. It was also already early evening, and so they decided to start dinner preparations. Because this dinner was a little more complex, everyone helped to prepare for the barbecue they planned to do on the terrace of the cabin. Konata, Kagami, and Tsukasa went to the kitchen to prepare the meat and veggies while the others went to the terrace to get the grill ready.
"Sooo hungry…" Once Konata saw all the meat in front of her, she started complaining already and then looked at Tsukasa who was busy with the vegetables. "Oh, a whole cabbage! I'll eat the whole thing raw!" She grabbed the cabbage and was about to make a run for it, but Kagami stopped her.
"Bear with it a little longer, idiot." She placed a hand on her shoulder and made her unable to flee.
"Let me go~! The god of cabbage is enraged! He wants me to use this offering!" Konata sounded pretty serious, but Kagami easily managed to calm her down.
"Shut up." With a rather strong, but hearty chop on the head, she made her return the cabbage to Tsukasa, and the three continued to prepare the meat and veggies.
They made some skewers and other cuts for the grill together with some side dishes and joined the others with a couple trays of food on the terrace. The girls were still busy with preparations as well. The four had finished cleaning the grill, and while Miyuki, Minami, and Yutaka got the table ready and made some decorations on the terrace with some lamps that they found in the shed. At the same time, Hiyori had placed some coal on the grill and was about to light it when Konata and the others showed up.
"Ah, Konata-senpai, good timing. Have you lighted a grill before? How much of that liquid barbecue lighter do I need?"
"One bottle per barbecue session." Konata obviously lied, but she thought it could be fun.
"Oh, that's easy then." Because she never did it before, she easily believed her and emptied the whole bottle on the coal.
"Ah, but stay away from the grill when lighting it because there's occasionally a fireball…"
"Okay~." Hiyori stepped a few steps back, ignited a match and threw it into the grill. The next thing everyone saw was a huge fireball above the grill, but no one got hurt, and Hiyori wasn't mad at all by Konata's joke. "Wow~, lighting a grill is super fun~."
"I know, right?!" The enthusiasm was mutual.
"You two little…" Kagami wasn't having as much fun as them. She let the two idiots alone and joined the others to finish up the preparations.
Hiyori and Konata calmed down after a while and made the grill ready before joining the others as well. Once everything was finished, Konata and Tsukasa put the skewers and some other things on the grill and took care of it while the other girls swarmed them like hungry wolves. The food was soon done, and everyone went to the table on the terrace. The group ate together and had an overall good time while chatting with each other. Time quickly passed while they were having fun and it slowly started to get dark in the area. Hiyori and Konata then first looked at the creepy forest and then at each other with a grin because they remembered something.
"It's time, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is, Konata-senpai." The two looked pretty excited.
"Hey, girls, isn't this area perfect for a walk of courage? How about we…" Konata had not even time to finish her suggestion.
"Nope."
"N-No, thank you…"
"E-Eeek! N-No…"
"That's really not a good idea."
"I think so, too."
"Ehh… No way…" Konata didn't expect those answers and wasn't happy at all.
"You all are no fun at all…" Hiyori was equally disappointed by their reactions.
"It's way too dangerous to walk through an unknown forest at night." Miyuki was concerned about the safety of everyone.
"I-I really don't want to enter the forest…" Yutaka looked visibly scared just by thinking about it.
"I'm scared, and I don't want to!" Tsukasa thought similarly about it and was pretty frank about it.
"I have to agree with those two. If they're too scared, we shouldn't do this…" Minami was more concerned about Tsukasa and especially Yutaka.
"I just don't want to~." Kagami was simply being Kagami. A part of her was also having a bad feeling about Hiyori and Konata organizing a walk of courage, but that was only a secondary concern.
"Aww man…" The two openly showed their dissatisfaction.
Once the topic was off the table again, they chatted a little more, but then went inside into the living room after some cleaning up to find something else to do in the evening.
"Oh, I think we have some more board and card games if I remember right… How about it?" Minami remembered the game of Monopoly from yesterday and that there were even more in the cupboard where it came from.
"Sure, analog games are, interestingly enough, fairly entertaining." With Konata's approval, Minami went to the cupboard and spread every game she found on the table before the sofas.
The group played board games for a couple hours, and while having a surprisingly high amount of fun with all those old games, it got really late really fast. Because they were getting tired, the girls decided to end the game night with a good old game of old maid. Konata and Kagami were winning almost every game up until now, but old maid apparently wasn't their game. Hiyori had won the game already, and she looked pretty happy when she lost her last card, not exactly because she had won, but rather because she could spend more time with her sketchbook now. Yutaka finished in second place soon after and followed her to their room. After that, it took a little while longer, but Miyuki and Tsukasa got rid of their cards as well. The two stayed in the living room, though, and watched how even Minami beat Konata and Kagami with ease who won most of the time until now. While they were waiting for Minami to finish, Tsukasa had fallen asleep and was leaning against Miyuki's shoulder with a comfortable expression on her face. Minami placed her last card on the table and was about to leave the room as well, but Miyuki stopped her
"Could you wait a bit, Minami-san?"
"Hmm…? Sure, what is it?" She didn't know what's going on, but she sat down on the sofa again.
"W-Well…" Miyuki looked nervous all of a sudden. "W-Wow… was it that hard for you two as well…?" She looked at Kagami and Konata for moral support, but the two were completely absorbed in their game of old maid and were no help at all. "M-Minami-san, there's something really important I have to tell you, but you first have to promise me to absolutely tell no one about this!"
"Okay…" Minami looked confused, but because she noticed that it seemed really serious, she only nodded. "I promise."
"Not to Yutaka-san, your family, my family, anyone else and especially not Hiyori-san…" She especially mentioned her because she saw what happened to Konata and Kagami.
"O-Okay…" It was apparently even more serious than Minami thought. "But, what about Tsukasa-senpai and the two over there…?" She pointed at the couple that was still in their own zone.
"They know about the contents because they're more or less involved in it…"
"Oh, I see. Then, please tell me."
"You recently found out that Konata-san and Kagami-san are a couple and you were fascinated by them…"
"Yes… Because they're the only same-sex couple I know and that made me interested in them…"
"That's exactly why I need to tell you something…"
"Eh?" Minami still had no idea what's going on.
"Y-You see… Tsukasa-san here…" She patted the head of the girls sleeping on her shoulder. "… and I are a couple as well…"
"…" Minami stayed frozen in place for a couple moments. "Wait, what…?" She looked somewhat shocked at the sudden confession. "You two… like Konata-senpai and Kagami-senpai… Really?" She hadn't expected something like that at all. "Seriously…? I had no idea…"
"Tsukasa-san and I tried our best to hide it after all."
"Wow… Wait, why are you telling me then?"
"That's their fault…" She pointed at Konata and Kagami who flinched in response, but kept concentrating on their game.
"What do they have to do with that?"
"Because the two are so open about their relationship, we became a little envious, and it became somewhat painful to hide completely…"
"I see, yeah… those two are definitely something else…" Minami agreed with her.
"Ha! Now I've got you, Kagamin~! Now I'll draw that card that definitely isn't the joker and… Eh?!"
"Too naïve, Kona! You're ten years too early to beat me with a petty trick like that!" The couple in question was too busy to answer. The two totally weren't trying to avoid getting roped into Miyuki and Minami's conversation and getting scolded for being too open again.
"Indeed…" Miyuki could only nod.
"But, why are you telling only me then?"
"We initially wanted to tell no one for a while longer, but since it got fairly painful and Tsukasa-san suffered even more than I by having to hold back so much, we decided to tell you for now because outside of Kagami-san and Konata-san, we have the most contact with you."
"That's true… We often see each other because we're neighbors." Minami understood her reasoning.
"That's one point… More importantly for me was the relationship between you and me…"
"E-Eh…?"
"Remember yesterday when the two of us talked about the couple?"
"Hmm… Oh, yes, we did…"
"How you were so fascinated by the first same-sex couple you know and how amazing it is that the two are so open about it…"
"Ah… A lot of things make sense now…" Minami remembered how Miyuki looked so depressed yesterday and felt bad as well now. "I-I'm very sorry, that wasn't my plan…"
"It's okay… It's entirely my fault after all. Yes, I was pretty hurt and when Tsukasa told me again that she isn't comfortable with hiding it that much made it only worse, but it's all my fault. I decided to tell you because you're my oldest friends, Minami-san and we basically grew up together. I could say you're like family, but because I don't plan on telling my family anytime soon, this comparison wouldn't work here… I'm not yet confident enough to tell them, but I trust you a whole lot, and because you're important to me, I couldn't bear it hiding from you after our conversation yesterday anymore… I'm sorry for even hiding it this long to you, Minami-san…" Miyuki felt incredibly bad for not only hurting Tsukasa, but also for keeping secrets towards her oldest friend as well.
"M-Miyuki-oneechan…" Minami had no idea how to react to this emotional confession, and while completely ignoring her established character, she hugged Miyuki and even caught Tsukasa in the process, but she simply continued sleeping in her comatose state. "Y-You don't have to blame yourself that much! I'm pretty sure it wasn't easy for you either. I'm more than happy enough that you told me now and I'm not angry at all! T-Tsukasa-senpai also doesn't look like she's blaming you!" She looked at her peaceful sleeping face while trying to cheer Miyuki up.
"I see… Thank you very much, Minami-san." She started smiling again. "Onee-chan, huh? That takes me back. It's been a while since you last called me like that." Even though she was emotionally unstable until now, she didn't miss that detail.
"Ah!" Minami immediately froze while her entire face turned red. She then stopped hugging Miyuki and went back to her place on the sofas while she tried to hide her face behind her palms in shame. "I-It was an accident! I didn't plan on doing that! I was just so… and… wahhh…" She was really embarrassed about her little slip of the tongue.
"I don't mind you know? It was kind of nice hearing it again after so long…" Miyuki was actually kind of happy about it.
"R-Really…?" Minami shyly peeked through the gaps of her fingers at really. "No, p-please forget about it!"
"Aww…" Miyuki looked sad again.
"M-Maybe occasionally when no one is there…" She was about to break under the pressure. "W-Where were we again…?" She changed the topic in a hurry. "A-About you and Tsukasa-san, how did it happen?"
"Ah, that's also mostly the fault of Konata-san and Kagami-san…" She looked at the idiot couple again who still hadn't finished their game of old maid.
"Eh…?"
"The four of us usually spent our time together, but once that with Konata-san and Kagami-san started, the two spent almost every free minute with each other. Because of that, Tsukasa-san felt rather lonely, and the two of us started spending more time alone together as well. It took a good while, and I didn't think it would happen, but one day, I, or rather, we, realized that it's pretty similar, although way less extreme than those two and the rest kind of, simply happened…"
"It simply happened?"
"I don't understand it that well either… We just enjoyed each other's company more and more, and one day, we simply wanted more than friendship…" Even Miyuki didn't have a good explanation for that.
"I see, love is random after all…" Minami had no idea, but she thought it sounded good.
"So it seems." She agreed with her. The two continued to chat for a little while, and Miyuki explained more about her and Tsukasa's story, but Minami started to get tired as well. It was the middle of the night already after all.
"Thank you for telling me… Can you tell me a little more another day? I want to talk a little longer, but I'm really tired now…" Minami didn't want to, but it was no use.
"Of course, Minami-san, but please remember, don't tell anyone…"
"I definitely won't. Well then, thank you for telling me and good night, Miyuki-oneechan."
"Hehe, good night, Minami-san." While both were smiling, Minami left the living room.
"Noo~, I looost… How could that happen~."
"Hehehe, you're no match for me after all, Kona~." Just in the moment when Minami was gone, the couple finished their game of old maid, and, as usual, their acting was extraordinarily bad.
"Mmnn… Are you done, Yuki-chan?" Tsukasa, as well, woke up at a suspiciously convenient time.
"Yes, we're done, Tsukasa-san."
"Good… Then we can go to bed now, right…?" She looked at her with sleepy eyes.
"That's a very good idea… Good night, Kagami-san, Konata-san."
"Night~." The two stood up and went to their room.
"Good job, Miyuki, I mean, good night~." Konata was obviously listening the entire time and congratulated her for averting a possible crisis.
"Should we go to bed as well, Kona?"
"Hmm… How a serious game of old maid first?"
"That's better… We were playing for time only after all…"
"I'll be victorious this time!"
"I doubt that the result will be any different from the fake one earlier, Kona~."
"Bring it on!"
The two played seriously now for a while, but because old maid with only two players wasn't exactly what one would describe exciting, the two finished after playing only seven games and then went to their room as well. Whether or not they continued playing there was a different story that probably only the two know.
…
Another peaceful day ended, and the fourth one was only a half day because the girls had to head back home around noon. The chances are high that it's going to be an equally peaceful day, if not even more because it's only half a day.
Konata and Kagami woke up rather early for staying up so long the day before, but neither of them felt like standing up anytime soon. To make the lost time not completely go to waste, the two simply cuddle for a while and finally left the bed about an hour later. They got dressed and wanted to leave the room, but they encountered something at least relatively unexpected when the two opened the door.
"Well… I have to admit that she sure is dedicated to her hobby…"
"That's for sure…" The two looked at the floor in front of their room and saw Hiyori sleeping there while tightly hugging her sketchbook. "Good morning, Hiyori…" Konata lightly kicked her arm and then greeted the girl before carefully walking around her.
"… Morni- GUH!" She wasn't able to finish her greeting because Kagami wasn't as friendly as Konata. She mercilessly stepped on Hiyori and then continued to walk towards the kitchen without even looking back. Konata shortly scratched her head, but then decided to follow Kagami. "S-So violent… She really is bad with mornings when sleeping with Konata…" She was completely wrong, but being positive is always a nice thing. "Well, it was totally worth it, though…" She looked at her sketchbook with a smile and got up again. While dusting herself off, she went back to her room to get ready as well. After all, she slept in her pajamas on the floor of the hallway last night.
Konata and Kagami arrived in the kitchen in the meanwhile and noticed that they weren't the first ones there.
"Oh, good morning, you two. Perfect timing, do you want some coffee as well?" Miyuki was already in the kitchen and had just finished brewing a pot of coffee.
"Sounds good, I'll take some."
"Sure, why not…" Kagami and Konata each got a cup from Miyuki and the three had some Smalltalk.
"So, you two like coffee as well? It's good to know that I'm not the only one…"
"It's quite nice once in a while, but I think I still prefer tea overall…" Kagami didn't dislike it, but liking isn't exactly right either. "You're talking about Tsukasa, right? You seriously didn't expect Tsukasa to like coffee, right…?"
"I'm not exactly sure why I ask her back then either actually…" It's physically impossible for Tsukasa to like something usually bitter like coffee.
"I'm not really a big fan of coffee either, but that stuff sure works and so, it's actually not that bad. And, by making it really unhealthy with sugar and stuff, its taste actually okay as well." Konata judged the effectiveness of coffee, and that definitely got a passing grade.
"Is that so? Well, that's something, I guess…"
"Okay then, let's get to something more meaningful for now~." Konata had already enough of the Smalltalk. "How did it feel to tell someone about your relationship with Tsukasa?"
"There was no way you two weren't listening in yesterday after all…"
"Yep, absolutely…"
"… No way…"
"… At all." The two finished the last part together. Their level of synchronization had already surpassed that of those creepy movie twins.
"Why did I even ask…" Miyuki sighed as she started to question herself after she remembered who she was talking to.
"And, how was it" Kagami was also interested in it.
"Honestly… It feels like a huge burden was lifted from my shoulders… I mainly did it for Tsukasa-san, but it was the right thing to do because I hadn't even realized how much it bothered me as well… Thank you for telling Tsukasa-san that it could end up in a problem if we keep everything hidden, Konata-san."
"Hehe. Well, I just couldn't watch you two anymore."
"Do you plan on telling more people, Miyuki?"
"No… It already took me all my courage just to tell Minami-san, and I only was able to because I know her for so long and can trust her completely. She has a special place in my heart, but telling others… or even my family… I'm not ready for that… Also, I think now that we're able to be more open about it around Minami-san, our situation should become a lot more comfortable." Miyuki was sure that the slight change should make their lives a lot easier already.
"Yeah, I guess that's enough for now. But, feel free to ask us for advice anytime." The couple respected their decision because it already was a step in the right direction and only offered advice when needed.
"I will, thank you very much, you two."
…..
With the topic being over, Konata and Kagami decided to start preparing breakfast for everyone, and the others showed up one after another as well after a while. The group ate together, and while chatting about the last couple days, Tsukasa was still missing her Tanuki friends, a lot of time passed. The girls decided to go to their rooms once they finished chatting because it wasn't long until they had to leave and everyone had yet to pack their stuff.
Half an hour passed and Konata and Kagami were still in her room while getting ready to leave when the door suddenly flew open and Hiyori stormed into the room.
"I finally have it!"
"How about knocking first?" Kagami completely ignored her exclamation. "Who knows what we could be doing. Good thing we were just packing."
"Damnit…" Hiyori's inner voice leaked out. "Anyway, I've got it!"
"Good for you… Got what?"
"I finally thought of a question I want to ask you!" She had already surpassed the condition of being excited.
"Ah, right… I hoped you had forgotten about it…"
"There's absolutely no way that would've happened, Kagami-senpai!"
"Well… Although I really don't want because I'm a little concerned after looking at you… I promised it to you after all…" Kagami had a bad feeling about how excited Hiyori was about her question.
"Soo… Because I'm feeling rather confident, I'm willing to take a risk~."
"Wow, I'm so happy that you're the one who promised her, Kagamin~." Konata was relieved that she wasn't the one who made such a bad mistake.
"Shut up, I'm reflecting on it already…"
"Okay~… Since I'm fairly sure by now that I don't have to ask if you've done it already…"
"Oh boy…" Kagami was regretting her decision so bad at the moment.
"Were there ever some… toys involved?" Hiyori asked her question, and the couple stopped moving while they looked with big eyes at her.
"W-Wha-…" Kagami surely wasn't expecting that and looked at Konata for help, but it was utterly useless. Konata had already her head turned away and was unable to face either of them because she was always weak to that kind of pressure. Kagami realized she was alone in this battle, but she couldn't answer either. With a blush on her cheeks, she followed Konata's example and also looked away in embarrassment. A few moments passed, but the couple was still unable to face her.
"Oh… my… g- *thud*" With a wet sounding thud noise, Hiyori had fainted for the third time on this trip and landed on the floor in a puddle of her own blood that came from her nose. The couple may didn't answer her question with words, but the reaction of the two was still enough for her. Hiyori had high hopes for her question, but she couldn't handle it in the end. A minute passed, and Kagami finally said something again.
"T-That girl…" Her voice was a mix of embarrassment and anger. "It looks like I have to discipline a little more…"
"A-A very good idea…" Konata easily agreed with her.
"And thanks for the help, Kona."
"Yeah, sure, like I could've done anything that would've helped in this situation…"
"Now that you say it, you're not wrong…"
"And now…?" Konata looked at the unconscious girl on the floor in the middle of their room.
"Leave her, we still have some more packing to do."
"Okay…" Because Konata wasn't as heartless, she quickly wiped the blood away from Hiyori's nose with a tissue, but then followed Kagami's lead and ignored her as well while continuing to pack her stuff as if nothing ever happened.
….
Once Hiyori had recovered, everyone had finished packing and got ready to leave the cabin. Taking a last look at the area while Tsukasa was energetically waving after her Tanuki friends that were wherever, the group began walking through the forest on the same trail they came a couple days ago. While feeling somewhat sad about leaving and being tired, their travel back to civilization happened faster than they realized and the girls were already back home. Three of them had just entered Konata's house and got greeted by her father, Sojiro.
"Ah, my daughters are finally back home!" He energetically welcomed Konata, Yutaka, and Kagami at the door. No one even said something when Kagami came with them like it was the most normal thing in the world because they were expecting it anyway. "Yutaka-chan as well, I missed you."
"I'm not sure how I should feel about your wording, Sojiro."
"Unless you stop coming over basically every day, I won't stop counting you as a daughter."
"It can't be helped then." There was no way that it's going to change after all. She completely ignored the part where Yutaka got an extra mention, though. It was simply too bothersome.
"How was it?"
"Pretty fun, although somewhat tiring as well…"
"What happened?"
"Kagamin~ went full sadist on Hiyorin, and then we told her about us. Thanks to that, the backlash from her was a little much to handle."
"Oh, I see… Sounds like fun, though." He looked at Kagami with a smile, but she only looked away for multiple reasons.
"Well, we'll tell you more later, dad. Let's go to our room for now, Kagamin~."
"Sure." The couple left and entered Konata's room.
Arriving in the room, the couple threw their belongings in a corner and threw themselves on their most loved places, Konata's bed. Being welcomed by the comfortable fluffiness, both let out a comfortable sigh.
"Haa… How I missed my bed…"
"Absolutely~…" The couple let out another sighed and did nothing than simply lying there for about five minutes.
"Well then, good night, Kagamin~…" Konata didn't feel like standing up anymore.
"Shut up… *yawn*… Kona… It's the middle… of the day…" Kagami tried to be reasonable, but she wasn't very convincing, especially with her yawn in the middle. Because she wasn't able to stop Konata and she wasn't any different, a couple hours were suddenly gone.
"Good morning, sleepyhead~." Konata woke up again when it started to get dark outside and tried to wake up Kagami. As usual, this was easier said than done.
"Mmmnn~…" Kagami had no intention to wake up and only squeezed Konata to stop her from moving because she was obviously hugging her again.
"Fine…" Konata knew the game already and let Kagami one-sidedly cuddle her for the next 15 minutes until she had enough.
"Morning…" She finally let go of her and woke up… "Wait, it's still dark, why did you wake me up?"
"It just got dark, Kagamin~… It's evening…"
"Ehh…? How did that happen?" It looked like she had forgotten about it.
"Remember when we came home from our trip with the other and relaxed a little on my bed? Well… that's what happened…" It was inevitable after all.
"I see… That does indeed sound like us…" It's not the first time that happened.
"Ehehe~. So, what do we do now…? I mean, we just woke up and it's evening…"
"Hmm… Oh, there's something I yet have to tell you, Kona."
"I really don't like the sound of that…" She had a bad feeling about the announcement.
"Yeah, it's going to ruin your mood for sure."
"Then, how about not telling me?"
"Sorry…" For some reason, even though she said it, Kagami didn't look very sorry.
"What is it…?"
"Starting tomorrow, we're starting our college study arc."
"What?! No! Nonono! You said we're starting with that after the summer break!"
"Yeah, but we, that means you, need more time for that."
"Nonono! I hate training arcs in anime!"
"That comparison of mine didn't work, huh?" Kagami thought it made it a little easier for Konata, but it didn't have the desired effect.
"Can't we skip that arc?"
"Sure, if you can tell me how, Kona."
"Damnit… I still haven't decided on a college, though…"
"Don't worry, we'll get behind that as well." Kagami was really determined right now.
"G-Great… But, I promised Kuroi-sensei to play a lot with her in our online game this holiday…"
"Nope~." Every single escape route was blocked.
"Aww… You're so cruel, Kagamin~…"
"I know, but you'll thank me one day."
"I'm not so sure about that…"
"You'll see."
"W-What about today…? We can do something else today, r-right?"
"Yeah, Kona, we're starting tomorrow. Also, it's not like we're going to do nothing but studying until our entrance exams… We'll take proper brakes that even going to last a couple days, you know?" Kagami tried to make this whole studying thing as comfortable for Konata as possible, while still getting things done.
"R-Really…?" Konata sounded a little relieved.
"Really."
"Then… I got this new game, you know… How about we play it today…?"
"Sure, I'm in. Because we just got up, I don't think I'll sleep at all this night. Let's play all night long, Kona!" Kagami tried to make her as happy as possible so she can less complain less once the actual studying start.
"Oh, if we're going to stay up all night long anyway, how about…"
"Let's start with the game, Kona~."
"Yes!" Being successfully distracted from the studying, Konata was in a good mood, and the two started playing her new game after she turned on the TV and the console.
The couple was busy for almost the entire night and fell asleep about an hour after Yutaka wished them a good morning when she stood up. After having somewhat ruined their sleep pattern, Konata and Kagami woke up a little after noon again and that was also the beginning of Konata's walk through hell because Kagami was extremely motivated with her studying. Even though summer break's supposed to be a rest from everything and recovery from fatigue, Konata looked more exhausted than ever.
Just like that, their trip, and basically the rest of their summer-break passed in the blink of an eye.
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This time's reference, the whole cabbage, was a reference to K-On.
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Well… That got slightly long… Almost 30k long…
I think this chapter had (even) more mistakes than usual, but because it's so long, I had a really hard time finding grave errors because my concentration always slipped away... If you find something important, please feel free to tell me, especially if you think I mixed up a name... I found a couple of those, but not sure if all...
The original plan was to make it about 7-10k words, but that didn't work that well. That's also the reason why it took so long. I planned to finish the concept directly after I posted the last chapter because I was on a trip almost the entire August, but I didn't feel like doing it… Once I came back at the end of August, I was on a roll. Half of the concept (noted a couple things on the plane flights) and the entire monster of a chapter here happened in about three and a half weeks… The Jetlag almost killed me because we literally flew around the world, but quietly being able to write at the oddest times because my biological clock was quite relaxing and I made progress like nothing else. It was a good thing taking two more weeks off from work after coming back home. Such a trip around the world is quite tiring, but it was totally worth it… We even visited Tokyo, but I wasn't allowed to visit the Lucky Star shrine in Washinomiya because it would've killed at least half a day and shopping was apparently more important(Because the trip itself wasn't expensive enough already... I don't even want to think about it...). We spent almost an entire day in Akihabara, though, so I guess there's that… (Was still more than awsome, though)
Anyway, back to topic…
I feel just a little sorry for Hiyori, she went through a lot in those days, but I think she had a happy end and her revenge in the form of her mangas will be quite thorough, I suppose… Kagami sure is scary, though. Also, Yutaka's innocence has to be questioned a little more.
I'm not sure if I overdid it with Kagami a little, but I had fun with writing her that way, and I love the personality she grew into. Konata influenced her a lot, but she completely surpassed her on the way. Summarizing it, I'm not regretting anything, I won't reflect on it, and I'll surely continue like that. Konata also likes her like that, and so everything's fine~.
Like hinted at the end, the story will now slowly start to advance towards them entering college. I have a few stories ready, including a few surprises, but I need some filler stuff, so we'll see what's going to happen on the road.
Also, I'm thinking about adding Patty now because it would make somewhat sense because she theoretically finished her school year in the USA in summer and is now transferring or something like that. Still not sure about it, though.
Next chapter: Whenever, I guess… I'm fairly busy the next two weeks, but it should be ready in October. Konata's probably going to suffer a lot, thanks to Kagami's study sessions.