A couple weeks since their trip into the forest had already passed and summer break was over as well by now, meaning school had started again. As Kagami had said, the remaining summer break wasn't much fun for Konata because she made her study almost every day. Half of the first school day after the break was over already and the group was currently enjoying their lunch break when Kuroi-sensei suddenly joined them because she had something to complain about.
"Oi, Izumi! What happened during summer break!? I thought we're going to have a couple all-nighters for a change again?"
"Ah, sorry about that, sensei… I was too busy studying that I barely used my PC at all…"
"Ahaha… That was a good one. Seriously though, what stopped you from playing?"
"Like I said, I was studying the entire time… Mainly for college entrance exams and stuff…"
"R-Really?" Kuroi-sensei looked beyond shocked.
"Really!"
"S-Seriously…?" There was no way she could believe it after all.
"It's true, sensei, we studied the entire time together." The reason for Konata's studying spree, Kagami, confirmed her claim.
"Uhh… good job, Hiiragi…" It was obvious to her that Kagami made Konata study.
"So, if you want to complain, do it to Kagamin~."
"Oi! Well… You're not wrong…" Kagami complained too fast before thinking.
"No… It's not really a bad thing after all…" Kuroi-sensei was feeling conflicted because she couldn't play with Konata, but, as a teacher, she really couldn't complain about it.
"No, feel free to complain, sensei… The only fun I had during the summer break was our trip with the first years…" Konata wasn't happy at all on how her summer break was this year.
"Don't be like that, Izumi. You should be grateful to Hiiragi. It'll help you a lot in the future."
"Sensei, which side are you on?!"
"Hiiragi's, of course… speaking as a teacher, that is…" The last part was only mumbled.
"Haa…" Konata sighed because no one was her ally.
"More importantly…" Kuroi completely ignored the sighing girl. "On what trip did you all go?"
"Minami, one of our first years, is even richer than Miyuki and invited all of us to her forest cabin near a lake and we spent a couple days there."
"Ehh… How nice…" Kuroi-sensei was a little envious and got even more jealous once she heard a couple details of the trip.
"It was really great, sensei~." Konata wanted to tease her a little as payback for earlier, but Kuroi-sensei isn't the best target to tease.
"Ah, I almost forgot… Izumi, come see me in the faculty office after school. There's something I need to talk about with you.
"Eh?! B-But I didn't do anything! I even did all my homework over summer break!"
"It's about your career sheet…"
"Ahh…" Konata instantly fell silent for some reason.
"Hiiragi, you can accompany her if you want."
"Huh… uh… okay? Wait, why?!" Kagami had no idea why she was included all of a sudden, but she didn't get any answers from Kuroi-sensei because she used the moment to silently leave at the same time. "Kona! Just what did you write on your career sheet?!"
"I-I have absolutely no idea… I-I just wrote to enter college…" She was clearly nervous for some unknown reason. "M-Maybe she just wants to know which college exactly because I don't know yet…"
"I see… So, why does she want to see me as well, Kona?" It was extremely easy for Kagami to see that Konata was hiding something.
"W-Well…" She had no idea what to answer, but the bell luckily saved her that rang in the same moment. "A-Ah, lunch break is over… Don't you have to head back to your classroom, Kagamin~?" Konata already thought she had won, but her plan had a huge flaw.
"Kona, you know that'll find it out after school anyway, right?" With that, Kagami let her be for the time being ad headed back to her own classroom.
"Ah!" She did forget about that part.
…
School safely ended, and Konata, together with Kagami arrived at the faculty office to talk with Kuroi-sensei about Konata's career sheet.
"Ah, you actually came." Kuroi-sensei spotted the couple at the door, and the two entered. "Izumi, I read your career sheet… I was very happy to read that you're actually entering college, you know?"
"Thank you very much, sensei. Well then, let's go home, Kagamin~." Konata wanted to leave as soon as possible again.
"But…" Kuroi- sensei stopped her, though, and grabbed her career sheet. "First choice; 'Kagami decided that I'm going to college.' Second choice; 'There's no second choice. I had no saying in that after all.' Third choice; 'See two. It's Kagami we're talking about here.'" While Kuroi-sensei was reading Konata's career choices, Kagami started looking at Konata with cold eyes.
"W-Why are you looking at me like that, Kagamin~? I didn't lie, did I?"
"That's not the problem here, Kona…"
"Ahaha…" A dry laugh escaped Konata's lips.
"Well, whatever…" Kuroi-sensei interrupted the two. "It's a good thing in the end. Hiiragi, you did very well in… guiding her."
"Thank you very much, sensei." Kagami seemed rather proud of herself.
"And, which college did you decide on, Izumi?" She asked Konata, but was looking at Kagami the entire time.
"We haven't decided on that yet..."
"I see… Well, it's good enough that she agreed on going to college in the first place for now."
"I agree with that, sensei. It also was hard work to get just there…"
"What are you, Kagamin~, my mother?!" Konata couldn't keep up with the situation anymore.
"No, I'm not, and that would be very weird if I were…"
"Yeah, that's true…"
"Well, keep up the good work, Hiiragi. You're having a good influence on her. Izumi's grades also got a lot better over the last year."
"Thanks, and I will!"
"That's good to hear."
"Ehm…" Konata felt a little left out. "D-Do I have no saying in that?"
"Nope." She got two answers at the same time.
"I figured as much…" Konata sighed in defeat. "B-But sensei, don't encourage her even more! Kagamin~'s already doing more than enough." She started complaining anyway, but no one was listening to her.
"Oh, Kona, you have no idea… We're only getting warm, you know? Look forward to December till February right before the entrance exams… Right now is nothing compared to what is to come."
"S-Seriously…?" Konata turned a little pale.
"Seriously." Kagami and Kuroi-sensei answered at the same time again.
"Haa…" The remaining color left Konata as well.
"Anyway… You two can go now."
"Thank you very much, sensei~." Kagami was in a good mood, and the couple finally went home together. Konata needed a couple hours to recover to full health again, though.
…..
While Konata was recovering from the experience she had with Kuroi-sensei at home together with Kagami, Miyuki and Tsukasa were doing their homework at Miyuki's place. Just like Konata had improved greatly under the regime of Kagami, Tsukasa also made some considerable progress, but because Miyuki is a lot less forceful and because Tsukasa's a natural klutz, she still needs a lot of help with her homework. While she was doing her best, she and Miyuki started chatting a bit. Thanks to the scene they witnessed during the lunch break in school, the topic naturally ended up being about their career sheets as well.
"I really wonder what Kona-chan wrote on her career sheet that Kuroi-sensei ordered her to see her after school…"
"Oh, I wonder about that as well. I was under the impression that Konata-san's going to college as well…"
"Yes… Well, it's Kona-chan we're talking about here. She probably just wrote something funny on it, instead of doing it seriously."
"You're right, that might be very well the case."
"Yuki-chan, you wrote colleges as all of your three choices, right?"
"Yes, starting with the one here in Tokyo as my first choice, I wrote down colleges where I can study medicine. You decided as well, didn't you, Tsukasa-san?"
"Yes, I decided to go to a cooking school as my first choice. I think that suits me the best and its pretty easy grade wise… After that, I wrote down a college with a dedicated cooking course, and a local one at last, but just for the sake of having written down three choices…"
"It sounds like you, Tsukasa-san. A cooking school really does suit you. You like cooking, especially baking after all."
"Ehehe~. Also, the school is really close to your place here, Yuki-chan. So, even though we're going to different places to study, it's still really easy to see each other~." It wasn't exactly a decisive factor for Tsukasa, but it was still a huge bonus point.
"This really is nice." Miyuki, as well, had nothing against that point. "Now that we're talking about it… What are Kagami-san and Konata-san are going to do?"
"That's a good question… Onee-chan's set on going to a college in Yokohama and Kona-chan… Uhm, probably a local one?" Tsukasa wasn't sure about Konata's plans. "Wait a moment! Kona-chan and onee-chan dived by a whole prefecture?!"
"Two prefectures actually, Tsukasa-san…"
"That's even worse! How's that going to work?! Onee-chan's mood already worsens if they're not in the same building for more than a day…"
"It's going to be quite the challenge for the two, is it not? Well, I'm sure they'll learn to be able to live with it, though."
"Y-Y-Yuki-chan! I recently watched a TV show where they said that certain animals will die due to loneliness if they're separated! T-That won't happen to onee-chan and Kona-chan, right?!" Tsukasa started panicking for a fairly weird reason.
"C-Calm down, Tsukasa-san. Something like that doesn't happen with humans."
"Even when we're talking about Kona-chan and onee-chan here…?" Tsukasa wasn't convinced.
"Uh…" Miyuki needed a second to answer. "E-Even then! Moreover, they can easily see each other on the weekends and can even meet up somewhere in the middle on weekdays. It's not that far after all…"
"You're probably right, Yuki-chan… Anyway…" Tsukasa decided to change the topic. "Speaking of the cooking school earlier… I learned a new recipe recently. Want to try it together?"
"Sounds nice, I'll help." Striking the iron while it's hot, the two directly went to the kitchen together.
…
A couple days passed and the weekend quickly arrived. While the third years continued to be busy studying, the first years decided to meet up at Minami's place. Yutaka and Hiyori arrived at the same time and entered the house together after Minami had opened the door for them. The girls walked a few steps through the hallway when Minami's dog, Cherry, showed up.
"Ah, it's Cherry-chan~!" Yutaka walked towards the dog and wanted to pet him as usual, but Cherry didn't seem interested in her.
"Oh-oh…" Hiyori had a bad feeling about how Cherry was looking at her instead. "N-No, you really don't have to… Be a good boy and stay where you are…"
"Woof!" Cherry wasn't listening at all and used the chance to jump straight at Hiyori.
"Ahh!" The two crashed on the floor together, and Cherry literally sat down on top of her.
"Woof!" He looked pretty smug for some reason.
"C-Cherry! You can't do that!" Minami tried to pull him off from Hiyori, but it almost took a whole minute and two paw-hits to Hiyori's face before he moved again.
"Haa…" Hiyori let out a relieved sigh once she was free again.
"I-I'm very sorry!" While Minami was apologizing, Yutaka was finally able to play with Cherry.
"Such a good boy~." She was energetically rubbing Cherry's belly as he threw himself on his back on the floor while wagging his tail.
"Woof~." He also sounded pretty happy.
"What's up with that huge difference in our treatment?!" Hiyori didn't understand Cherry at all.
"Well then… Let's go to your room to play, Minami-chan." Yutaka finished playing with Cherry, and the group went to Minami's room. Once they sat down there, Hiyori immediately slumped down and rested her head on the table.
"What's wrong, Hiyori-chan? You look really tired."
"Ahh… Well, I barely slept since our trip during summer break after all…"
"Eh? Why? Did something happen?"
"It's all Konata-senpai and Kagami-senpai's fault…"
"Huh? What did they do?"
"They didn't do anything… I just have so many ideas for my mangas thanks to them ever since our trip, that I simply have no time to sleep anymore..."
"I-I see…" Yutaka wasn't sure what to answer.
"Speaking of which, what are those two up to lately, Yutaka? We meet up here at Minami's place most of the time, and so I haven't seen them in a while…"
"Not that much, actually… Konata-oneechan and Kagami-senpai are mostly studying for their entrance exams after all and when they're taking a break, the two usually just play a little on the console together…"
"Eh…" That wasn't what Hiyori had hoped for, and because her tension was broken due to the boring answer of Yutaka, she finally lost the fight against her drowsiness, and her head hit the table again. She fell asleep in a matter of seconds, and while she slumped down, Hiyori accidentally knocked over the bag she brought with her, and a huge amount of her newest mangas inspired by Konata and Kagami slipped out of it.
"Oh, that one looks interesting." Yutaka grabbed one of the mangas that spilled out and started reading it. Because Yutaka looked rather fascinated by the contents, Minami became curious as well and joined her after a short while, and the two read the mangas together.
About an hour passed and Hiyori was finally able to keep her eyes open again, but the scene in front of her immediately after waking up was a little too much for her, and she had a hard with keeping up with the situation. The entire table was littered with her newest yuri mangas, but that wasn't the biggest problem for her. When she looked up, she saw Yutaka and Minami intently reading one of them with great interest while talking about what they're seeing with some words Hiyori wasn't able to process coming out of the mouth from Yutaka. That wasn't the end, though, the two flipped the page, and it looked like they were looking at a double page now. Completely immersed in it, Yutaka tilted the manga first, and then the two tilted their heads as well in multiple directions in order to follow the scene they were looking at right now.
"Au…" Hiyori let out a miserable voice because she was so embarrassed and hit her head against the table to hide her beet red face. If possible, she wanted to disappear from this planet. Minami and Yutaka weren't paying attention to her at all, though.
"Heh~, that one was really good." A little over ten minutes later, the two finished reading the manga and placed it on the table as well.
"It really was." Minami agreed with Yutaka's claim.
"Sooo… The next one would be… Oh, Hiyori-chan, you woke up already?" Yutaka was about to grab the next manga when she noticed the squirming girl at the other side of the table.
"I wish I didn't, but I unfortunately am…" Hiyori wished for eternal sleep right now. "What are you two even doing?"
"Reading your mangas, why?" She was looking totally innocent.
"I-I see that… but why?"
"They spilled out of your bag earlier when you fell asleep, and they looked interesting, so…"
"Au…" Hiyori got even more embarrassed because it was basically her own fault.
"You don't have to be embarrassed, Hiyori-chan, they're really good! I enjoyed reading every single one of them."
"Yes, they were good." Minami agreed with a couple nods.
"I-Is that so…?" Hiyori was still incredibly embarrassed, but she couldn't help feeling a little happy by getting praised.
"Although, I like the ones with the word 'safe' on the cover a little more, you know? They are way cuter and fluffier if you ask me."
"Me as well."
"T-That's good to hear…" Hiyori was somewhat relieved that she hasn't accidentally and completely destroyed their innocence. Yet, at least, judging by their deep interest in the matter, it's only a matter of time.
"I'm not sure about the other ones, but the cute and fluffy mangas are exactly like Konata-oneechan and Kagami-senpai are at home."
"Heh~? I can't let that slide… Yutaka, I demand details on that!" Hiyori became interested, and the last bit of her drowsiness was gone in an instant.
"Hmm… For example, Kagami-senpai has a very effective way to motivate Konata-oneechan to keep studying… The two decide on a couple goals, and whenever Konata-oneechan reaches one, she receives a kiss as a reward from Kagami-senpai for example."
"R-Really…?" Hiyori wasn't expecting such a sweet and innocent story from those senpais. Then again, that was the only bribe of Kagami that Yutaka had witnessed.
"They also are cuddling all the time… Whether the two are playing a game, watching a movie, or simply killing time while doing nothing, they're always cuddling with each other. The two also cook together for all of us as well while Konata-oneechan often teaches Kagami-senpai new things because she's a little clumsy in the kitchen. Both always bicker over really silly things, but I never saw them having an actual fight. They cuddle all the time and really love to tease each other, where Kagami-senpai definitely is better at, and the two, of course, love to cuddle." It was no accident that Yutaka mentioned cuddling more than once.
"O-Okay, that's enough for now, Yutaka… Thank you very much for the meal, it was very sweet and delicious…" Hiyori had to stop her because she was about to vomit sugar from all that sweetness she was listening to. "Haa… I love my live~." She seemed really happy, though. "It kind of wants me to write a couple more safe mangas right now, actually…"
"Oh, I'm looking forward to it, Hiyori-chan."
"Yes." It already seemed to be set in stone that Yutaka and Minami are going to read Hiyori's next works whether she wants or not.
"S-Sure…" Hiyori had officially given up on hiding her mangas from the two because it didn't seem to be working anyways.
"Yay~!" While the topic was finally being done, the group chatted some more about entirely different things and the time quickly passed.
….
While the first years were having fun at Minami's place, Konata's room had a way less relaxing feeling to it. Thanks to Kagami's harsh study plan, tons of study book and reference materials were scattered all over the room. Konata looked around her room and let out a strained sigh.
"Haa… doesn't this room slowly starts to look like it would belong to a diligent student…?"
"Working as intended~." Kagami looked satisfied with herself.
"Eh? What was that? I think I heard something very unsettling just now…"
"Just your imagination, Kona, just your imagination~." She played it off as nothing. "Come on, let's start studying already."
"Ehh… Even more…?" Konata obviously wasn't happy at all about that.
"Be a good girl and do your best. Once we're done, we can do whatever you want." Kagami's attempt to bribe her, including her seductive smirk at the end, seemed to be rather effective.
"Okay, let's get going!" Konata got fired up and was eager to start. "So, what's today's topic?"
"I'm still rather weak with everything related to economics, so I want to improve some more there…"
"Okay, I'll do the same then. The whole studying thing is your idea anyway, and I'm just doing it for you in the first place, so I might as well study the same thing for the time being…"
"Sure, I won't stop you."
Having decided on a topic to study for today, the two started doing their best. Konata was diligently studying for about an hour, but she was having a hard time keeping her concentration up.
"Haaa…" Konata let out a tired sigh and actually fell asleep a couple moments later.
"Oi!" Kagami wasn't happy with her behavior and directly woke her up again, with a chop on the head, that is. "I told you to take the studying seriously, didn't I?"
"I-It's not like you think, Kagamin~. It didn't happen because I was bored or anything like that." She tried to defend herself.
"Then, why did you fall asleep?"
"Well… It was just so relaxing that I simply got sleepy…"
"Studying for economics… relaxing…? No, that's simply not possible, Kona…" Kagami didn't believe her, especially because economics is everything except relaxing for herself.
"It's true, though… Economics is so easy that it's a relaxing change of pace from all the other studying, you know?" Konata was really serious about her claim.
"Really now?" Kagami still doubted her. "If that's true, you don't mind if I test you a little bit, right?"
"Sure, I don't mind at all. Come at me." She confidently accepted the challenge.
"Okay… First,…" Kagami looked at a random question in her textbook and asked Konata about it. Surprisingly enough for her, the correct answer came instantly. It went on like that for almost 20 minutes and dozens of questions until Kagami finally gave up and accepted her complete defeat.
"What now? Is that everything you got already?" After Konata had magnificently passed the test with ease, she was looking rather smug.
"W-What's up with that…?" Kagami was speechless, and not to mention, jealous because she even had to look up some answers she got from Konata because she had no idea what the right answer actually was when asking the question.
"I'm awesome, aren't I~?"
"You sure are… In a very weird way…" She wasn't sure how she should feel about it. "It seems you're not only good at marketing, huh? You're good at economics as a whole, aren't you?"
"Sure seems like it. I wonder why…"
"Not only you, Kona… Not only you…" She still had a somewhat hard time with acknowledging her talent. Not exactly because she doesn't want Konata to be good at it, but rather because she doesn't get why. Marketing isn't supposed to be that easy after all.
"Ohh! I just had the most genius idea ever!" Konata suddenly became excited. "I'm just going to major economics in college and scratch studying all those other subjects to focus entirely on it."
"Sorry to burst your bubble, Kona, but you still need really decent grades everywhere else as well, especially because an economics major is a really complex and challenging course, you know?"
"Ehh… That's too bad…" Her excitement didn't last overly long.
"It's still a really good idea, though. Economics is a really broad thing to study, and it's going to be extremely useful in your future career. It's a fairly prestigious study path, and you can basically work in every bigger company with a major in it. Not to mention when you venture further into it by getting more titles once you have the basics."
"You sure know a lot about that, huh?"
"Truth to be told, when we found out about your talent for marketing, I looked it up a little, and because marketing is a part of economics, a major in that is even more versatile."
"You're such a sweet girl, Kagamin~." Konata was a little moved by her caring side.
"S-Shut up…" The sudden compliment made her embarrassed. "I only did it because I taught that this is the easiest way to talk you into college."
"I see~." Konata was smiling from ear to ear because Kagami's tsundere side made a rare, although short comeback. "Well, you're right, though… Economics itself is fairly easy and quite fun in my eyes. You know, I think I'll really go with studying economics." Konata decided about her career path on a whim, but the choice was perfectly reasonable and perfectly fitting for her skills.
"Really? That's great!" Kagami was really happy about Konata's decision as well. "I'm proud of you, Kona. I really think that's the right choice for you… Still, I'm somewhat annoyed that you're having such an easy time with economics when it's the only subject I'm bad at…"
"Well… Look at it that way, economics is the only thing I'm good at, so it's not really that unfair if you ask me…"
"Oi! You can at least pretend to disagree here…"
"Ah, sorry… That being said, you did improve a lot, thanks to me, in basically every subject and I don't think you're actually bad anywhere anymore…"
"What a shameless self-praising that was mixed in there…"
"Ehehe~." She seemed happy nonetheless. "By the way…"
"Hmm?"
"Can you help me a little with economics? There are still a few things I don't get at all…"
"Can't be helped, huh? Sure, Konata-sensei will teach you~." She adjusted her fake air-glasses while trying to play teacher and went to Kagami's side of the table.
"What's with that sense of defeat and humiliation I'm feeling right now…"
Kagami continued to study economics for another hour with the help of Konata teaching her the things she didn't understand until she was finally satisfied with the results. Once she was done with it as well, the two went to the living room together where Sojiro was because they had some sort of news after all.
"Sojiro, I finally made it!" Kagami proudly entered the room.
"You made what now?" He had no idea what was going on.
"Tell him the news, Kona."
"Hmm…? Ah, okay… Dad, I decided that I'm going to study marketing when I'm going to college."
"…" Sojiro needed a moment. "H-How…?" He directed the question at Kagami.
"I'm good, that's how." Someone was satisfied with herself.
"You sure are… That's amazing…" Sojiro couldn't believe that Kagami managed to talk Konata into going to college before, but choosing a major made him even more speechless.
"You two sure do like to exaggerate…"
"No, we really not…" Konata's complaint was easily refuted.
"Yeah, I didn't believe myself either when I said that just now…"
"Anyway…" Sojiro came back to the topic. "That's great, Konata, I'm really happy that you finally found something you want to do in the future."
The couple stayed with Sojiro in the living room a little longer because he wanted to know some details on why and how Konata choose to study marketing and other things and celebrate it a little. A little time passed, and the two were about to wrap it up.
"Okay, how about we go back to my room for now, Kagamin~? I want to stop talking about studying and college already and do something fun." Konata grabbed her hand and wanted to drag her out of the room because she was becoming impatient.
"Ah, Kagami, can you wait a little bit? I finished another chapter of my novel and wanted to hear your opinion on what needs some changes and what is good to go."
"Sure."
"Ahh!" Konata wasn't happy about that. She still let go of Kagami, though, and went to her room alone first. "Don't take too long, Kagamin~."
"Okay~." She waved after Konata who was already on the stairs. "Ah, I almost forgot already, there's something I wanted to talk about with you as well, Sojiro… Regarding college and things…"
"Hmm? Sure, I'll listen." Sojiro wasn't sure what she wanted to talk about, but it seemed rather important if she asks for his advice on something. Konata had already reached her room and so hadn't overheard a thing of their conversation.
…
A couple weeks have passed since Konata's decision on her future study path, and Kagami's mysterious conversation with Sojiro about college passed, and it already became the middle of October. The two were still studying almost daily, but because Kagami had acknowledged their progress during August and September, she decided to lower the intensity a little for the time being, and that made Konata quite happy. Konata was trying to completely focus on economics related things because that's still the only thing she's having fun with, but Kagami, unfortunately, did her best to prevent Konata from completely neglecting the other subjects, keeping it more balanced. A small problem was still there with Konata's decision to study marketing. She had decided on a course, but she still had no idea which college and it didn't look like that would change anytime soon. A simple local one was kind of her first choice because it would greatly support her laziness, but Kagami was still doing her best to get the laziness exorcised out of Konata so that she strives for a bigger challenge. It seemed that there was still a long road ahead, though. Konata and Kagami were studying today as well, but they already did a good chunk and the time where they agreed to stop was near already.
"Okay, with that, I have officially studied enough for today!" Konata solved the last problem in her textbook and immediately threw it into a corner of her room, announcing that study time was over.
"Sure…" Kagami finished her last problem as well and then closed the textbook and neatly placed it on the table. Konata had other plans, though. She placed her arms on the table and instantly pushed everything on it off the table. "Hey, was that really necessary…?" She looked at the pile of study materials next to the table.
"Yes! I waited long enough already, and I can't bear it anymore!" Konata had reached her limit.
"You sure are needy…" She noticed how Konata was all fidgeting and looking with an expectant gaze at her. The two were quite busy with studying all the time, and because of that, certain activities were neglected more than they liked to. In short, Kagami judged that Konata was horny. Being confident with her guess, she leaned over the table and gave Konata a hearty kiss on the lips. Konata immediately returned the kiss and the two made out for a couple minutes before Konata parted from her again.
"Wow… I appreciate your enthusiasm, Kagamin~, but I was talking about something else…"
"Eh…?" While parting from each other, Kagami noticed that Konata was already holding the controller from her console.
"Remember when we stopped playing yesterday? We're only a couple steps away from the last boss, and yet you still made us stop at such an exciting place because it was getting slightly late…"
"T-That's what you were so eager for…?" Kagami felt extremely cheated and disappointed right now. As it turned out, she was the horny one.
"Of course! I could barely sleep because I couldn't stop thinking about the game… Just what were you expecting, Kagamin~?"
"…"
"Come on, tell me~."
"Shut up…" Kagami snatched away the controller Konata was holding and moved to the bed where she sat down with a slightly grumpy look on her face.
"Ehehe~." Konata grabbed the second controller and joined Kagami with a suppressed giggle.
The two played their game together for a while, but they weren't making as much progress as they normally did. Kagami played fairly well in the beginning, but she more and more started to lose her concentration. Having started kissing Konata earlier, made Kagami want to do more, but Konata didn't seem that interested in going further. That being said, Kagami was already turned on, and this didn't seem to change anytime soon. It started to become a problem for Konata because she wanted to finish her game, but it didn't seem like she would be able to do so today. Kagami let go of her controller altogether and moved behind Konata on the bed where she began kissing her neck. It continued relatively tame like that for a couple minutes, but Kagami was merely warming up. Konata was still trying her best to concentrate on the game, but it was becoming increasingly difficult with every passing minute. Difficult was taking it easy, actually, because once Kagami started stripping her as well, it became outright hard. Kagami was so eager that she almost ripped the t-shirt off her body because Konata didn't want to let go of her controller, but once she heard some ripping sounds, she finally put the controller away for a minute to properly get out of her shirt before playing again. Kagami also had more to play with now that Konata's upper body was freed from clothes and she started kissing along her entire back.
She was having a great time, and Konata was breaking as well by now. Her game character on the TV was barely moving anymore, and her concentration had hit rock bottom as well. She managed to hold back another minute, but because Kagami had not the slightest intention of stopping, Konata finally snapped entirely and threw her controller in the next best corner and let Kagami have her way. She turned around and returned her kisses before she stripped away Kagami's shirt as well. Once she saw Kagami in her bra only, it was officially over for Konata, and she went on the attack herself. Kagami wasn't the only one who was enduring certain urges while they were busy studying the last weeks after all. Her priorities were just little messed up as usual. Konata, as well, had quite a lot of pent-up feelings and they came out all at once now.
She pushed Kagami down on the bed, and before her back even reached the sheets, her bra was mysteriously gone as well. Konata showered her entire body with kisses, and somewhere along the way, the two had completely stripped each other of their remaining clothes while drowning in affection and lust for each other. Neither of them wanted to be on the receiving side only, and so both fought for the position on top that seemed to change every couple minutes. Sometimes Kagami was the one on top for a while and attacked the girl below her, but Konata was equally dominant and caressed every inch of Kagami's body when she was on top.
Position change after position change, the two were busy throughout half of the night. While not minding in the slightest about the mess they made in the room with all the scattered around study materials and even less about the mess they created inside the bed because both were too exhausted to care after all the stress relief they had engaged in, Konata and Kagami simply fell asleep in each other's arms with a satisfied expression on their faces.
…..
A new morning arrived, and the first thing the couple did, was taking a shower because both really needed to freshen up, they went together of course. According to the faint sounds that could be heard outside of the bathroom, the two took care of washing each other. It also sounded like both were very seriously, and thoroughly doing their job, and that they had a lot of fun as well. After spending an hour in the bathroom in order to get really clean, the two went back to Konata's room to get properly dressed. Once they were done with that, Konata and Kagami went downstairs to the kitchen and had breakfast together. When they were almost done with eating, Sojiro arrived in the kitchen as well.
"Oh, you two are up already, that's good."
"Good morning, Sojiro." Kagami did a light greeting and was happy that he wasn't grinning like an idiot right now. Whether or not he had noticed something wasn't mentioned because the respect of privacy was one of the few things that were taken seriously in the Izumi house, long before Kagami shoved up, actually. Sojiro made a mistake with violating their privacy once, but Konata made sure that he doesn't do it a second time in a very expensive way after all. Also, Kagami simply didn't want to know what he did or did not hear, because the honest answer she would get, surely wasn't something she wanted to hear.
"What's up, dad?" Konata didn't seem to care at all.
"I have a little request for you, Konata."
"Sure, what is it?"
"I need some space in our storeroom. I already relocated a couple of my things, but it's not nearly enough yet…"
"W-What did you buy, dad?"
"Nothing. They made some posters and cardboard-standups for my novel series, and they're going to send me a couple of each. I want them to place them in there then."
"I see… Hmm… Well, it looks like it's finally time to get rid of those magical girl anime figures, huh?" Konata remembered that she still had these nine huge figures stored in there.
"Just throw them away already. It's weird that you still have them in the first place…" Kagami remembered them as well, especially the part where Konata wanted to get rid of them one and a half years ago already.
"What?!" Sojiro and Konata's dismay overlapped, and the two sent a cold gaze at her. "You can't do that!"
"Haa…" Kagami had forgotten who she was talking with for a second.
"Ah, I found a site on the internet where you can sell collectibles a while ago, Konata."
"Oh, that's a good idea, dad. They're probably not going to be worth much because the anime was so trashy, but they maybe find a good owner this way."
"Just make a couple good pictures and write a nice text. You know all those crazy collectors from comiket, right? I'm sure you'll find someone who's going to give you at least as much as you paid for back then." Sojiro gave her a tip to sell them better.
"Yeah, that would be awesome."
"Why are you going to put so much effort into something worthless that no one wants anyway…? Just throw them away and get over with it already!" Kagami seriously didn't get it and was questioning their priorities once more.
"You simply don't get it, Kagamin~."
"You're right, I really don't get it…"
"That's just because you don't have enough love, it's all a question of love!"
"Sure, sure…"
"You have to work on that, Kagamin~."
"No, it's okay. I want to concentrate my limit love on you, Kona~."
"W-Wha-… H-Hey, that's not fair…" Konata didn't expect to get attacked and beaten with her own argument, especially not in such a flashy and effective way.
"And so, I'm totally fine with not having enough love for useless things."
"T-Thanks, I guess…?" Konata felt flattered, but it was also a somewhat difficult feeling as well. "A-Anyway... Dad, you can have the place once I sold them."
"O-Okay…" Sojiro felt incredibly out of place right now and wasn't able to say much more, but he also had an idea for the next chapter of his novel now. All in all, it wasn't that bad.
…..
Another week that was mostly spent with studying passed, and Konata decided to put the nine figures on the internet just as her father suggested. She really wasn't expecting to get much out of it because the show was such a fail and even got canceled midseason, something that basically never happens and so she simply hoped she gets at least someone who's interested at all in the first place. She posted them online with such feelings in mind, but the result was slightly different. Konata was currently on her PC while checking how well the figures were received when Kagami arrived at Konata's place the first time since the figures were online and entered her room.
"Hey, Kona, how is it… Huh?" Kagami cheerfully greeted her, but instantly stopped when she saw her. "What's wrong…?" She was looking at Konata in front of her PC while she was missing all color and stared with a blank look at the screen.
"K-Kagamin~…" Konata seemed extremely shocked by something.
"W-What happened?!" Kagami started to have a bad feeling.
"Otakus are weird…"
"Ehhh…?" Kagami's tension was gone in an instant. "What? I know that much already."
"Nonono, I mean, seriously weird!"
"Like I said… Give me some details, Kona…" She realized that the conversation wasn't progressing.
"Well, you know that I put the figures on sale yesterday, right…?"
"Yeah, and I still don't know why… Is there some problem with them?"
"It seems like the failure anime has a very loyal and eccentric fanbase…"
"What are you talking about?" Kagami didn't understand at all
"You see, as it turns out, they're slightly more valuable than I thought…"
"What do you mean with slightly exactly…?"
"People are literally fighting over them… Their bids are slowly crawling towards a million ¥ right now… I have no idea what's going on anymore…" [7 500€, 8 900$, 6 700£]
"…" Kagami lost the ability to talk and froze, and the only sound that could be heard was when her bag slid off her shoulder and hit the floor while she remained unmoving. "A… A… A m-million?! I-I misheard just now, right? Right?! There's no way someone would give you a million ¥ for those nine figures, Kona…"
"Yep… You misheard, Kagamin~…"
"See?! Stop with those jokes that give me a heart attack, Kona… Jeez…"
"Come here, Kagamin~…" Konata beckoned her to the PC because she wanted to show her something.
"What is it now? If you want to fool me again… then… W-What…?" Kagami walked up to Konata and looked at the screen. She froze again when she saw the contents and then slowly, while lagging like a broken robot, looked at Konata and back at the screen a couple times. "K-Kona…"
"Yes, you really misheard… It's each…" The two were looking at Konata's post to advertise the figures, and it already had a couple hundred entries where people were fiercely fighting for every single figure on their own.
"W-What is going on here…?" Kagami couldn't understand anything anymore.
"Well… apart from the anime having an extremely loyal fanbase, it seems like my figures are, like, ultra-rare or something like that. According to the people on the site, it was believed that those figures are a mere myth until now. Only ten of each were apparently ever made, and mine are the only ones that ever entered the market again, or so they say…"
"No, wait, you're just messing with me, aren't you…?" It was too much for her.
"You should've seen what happened yesterday right after I posted the figures… It was a literal war that I had started there… The site even needed to be shut down for an hour or so because it couldn't handle all the visitors…"
"A-About eight million ¥ and it's still getting higher…" Kagami was still shocked beyond belief.
"Yes…" Konata also had yet to fully process it.
"Otakus are weird…"
"Ah, the conversation made a full circle, Kagamin~."
"Haa…" She inhaled deeply to recover. "And, how much anime, mangas, and games are you going to buy now?" She had to make a joke or less she'll go completely insane.
"Hey, that's a brilliant idea. I hadn't even thought about that. Good job, Kagamin~."
"Shut up, Kona."
"Ehehe~."
"How about you buy something reasonable like…" Kagami tried to talk her out of buying the usual things. "Wait, even better… Safe it. You never know if there's anything you really need in the future or something you absolutely want to do, but need money for it."
"You can be pretty boring from time to time, Kagamin~. Well, you also have a point, and there's also nothing I really want right now…"
"What a good girl." Kagami was happy that she actually listened to her boring suggestion.
"Ah, I just remembered something…"
"What is it now?"
"Remember last week?"
"You need to be more concrete, Kona."
"Someone said something about that I should just throw the figures away because they're just worthless junk no one wants anyway…"
"Oh… my… god…" Kagami froze and turned pale when she thought about it.
"It's a good thing I rarely listen, huh?"
"Wow… I…" She started even shivering at some point.
"It's okay, Kagamin~, absolutely no one could've guessed something like that." Konata tried to cheer her up, but it wasn't working.
"M-Millions thrown away… because of me…"
"Okay, come here…" Konata wrapped her arms around Kagami and tightly hugged her in order to calm her down. "There, any better now?"
"Yes…" As always, this technique never fails to work. "I'm sorry that I wanted to throw them away, Kona."
"Like I said, don't worry about… You weren't wrong after all. Otakus are just weird, and that's why it happened."
"Thank you, idiot." Kagami felt really relieved that Konata wasn't angry.
"Ehehe~."
…
A few more days passed and Konata had finally sold all nine figures. In the end, the figures changed owners for totaling a little over ten million ¥. Konata was really happy and shocked about her unexpected wealth, but Kagami had lost a little more of her faith in humanity in exchange. The only silver lining was that Konata took her suggestion to heart and didn't spend a single ¥ on anime and other related things.
.
This chapter came a little faster tis time~.
Yes, before you say anything, the figures are maybe worth a little too much. I tried looking up some ultra-rare stuff on Japanese sites, and 500 000 to 700 000 ¥ actually wasn't that uncommon, though… I may, or may not have something planned for it, so simply overlook it.
Kagami sure was lucky Konata didn't listen to her about throwing away the figures, she sure freaked out when she found out about the value.
Konata finally found the thing to study, not that it wasn't totally obvious after the marketing thing a couple chapters back.
By the way, Tsukasa going to a cooking school, Kagami studying law and Miyuki medicine is canon by the manga. Konata studying economics is made up by me. She goes to the same college as Misao, but I don't think it was ever mentioned what she's doing there (If anything at all because it's Konata we're speaking about).
Speaking of the manga, I was finally able to read volume 9 and 10 of it with an English translation of it because they never got an official translation. (I tried reading the Japanese raw before, but my skills were only good enough to loosely get the overall plot. A translation sure is something else.) They had a couple shippable moments, but the constant complaints about the lack of boyfriends was as irritating as always, just like in the last couple volumes. Then again, they don't even make the slightest effort to get one, so it's somewhat tolerable. The best things in the newer volumes are Kagami's new hairstyle and how, despite going to colleges, nothing major changed in the group. Overall, I still like the older volumes better.
Because I had some free time at, hand I also finished some other mangas I had already ordered a while ago and were just collecting dust and more importantly finished watching the animes of the last season. I have to say, wow, Hina Logi sure was great. I was busy shipping Lion and Nina since episode 1, and then ep 11 almost killed me because I wasn't prepared for that… (In a good way, of course) They didn't even care about being subtly anymore and jumped straight to basically canon… (I'm going to ignore everyone who wants to tell me otherwise, so don't even try). This season seems rather weak, but Konohana Kitan is going to be enough for me.
I mentioned Patty in the last chapter, but I decided to wait with her and go the manga route as well there. In the manga, Patty transferred to the school when Yutaka and the others were about to enter their second year. Patty also lives in the Izumi house for the time of her stay in Japan, compared to how she lived on her own in the anime.
Next time… Definitely not before November. I'm not sure what I'm going to focus on then. Either based on the mysterious talk Kagami had with Sojiro offscreen, or I'm going to make a story about the first years as a filler because of Konata and co. are mainly busy with their studies right now. Maybe the chapter will also feature both things, and I'm going to break the 300k word wall then.