The month November was already on its last legs, but Kagami was having a bit of a problem on Saturday of the last weekend of the month before the calendar would change to December. It actually wasn't that much of a problem, but rather the fact that she was all alone on that day. Her bigger sisters, Inori and Matsuri, where doing whatever, as usual, Tsukasa was at Miyuki's place, nothing surprising there either. Her parents, Miki and Tadao, were about to leave as well, and worst of all, Konata also was busy with something. The last detail was actually the only real problem. Long story short, Kagami was doomed to do housesitting, and even though she's able to keep herself busy with studying, Kagami was already bored before the day really started. She absolutely wasn't lonely, though. Kagami made sure that everyone knew that much at least. Multiple times that is.
"Well then, we'll be going now, Kagami." Miki and Tadao were already standing fully dressed in the hallway and were about to leave when saying goodbye.
"Okay, have fun… or whatever you planned in the first place…" Kagami had no idea what her parents were up to, but she really didn't feel asking either for various reasons. Possible date plans of the two aren't really in her range of interests.
"I'm not sure when we'll be back, but we'll bring takeout food, so don't bother with cooking, okay, Kagami?" Miki was worried about her kitchen after all.
"Come on, we still have some leftovers in the fridge to just heat up, right? Even without Kona around, I can do at least this much now, you know?"
"B-But…" Miki wasn't convinced at all, or rather, plainly sure that it wasn't the case.
"Oi!" She wasn't happy about that. "Just go already, you two! It'll be fine." Kagami pushed them out of the entrance door before Tadao could even say a single word on the matter, and both forcefully left their home. "Haa… Even I wouldn't mess up with just warming up food… So, what am I going to do now…?" Completely ignoring the death flag she just raised, she thought about something to do while she was alone. "Well… I guess I'll give my best and study all day… I'm busy and thus not lonely after all!"
….
While Kagami wasn't fighting her loneliness because she wasn't lonely, her parents arrived at their destination, a, to her, very well-known house.
"Do you happen to know what Konata wants to talk about with us? Something to extra invite us over…" Tadao was looking at the Izumi house with a confused look.
"I wonder~."
"So you know, huh?" Tadao wasn't married to her for nothing. "Mind telling me?"
"No, I don't exactly know what she wants, I just have a hunch about what it could be. Well, we'll know soon enough, right?" Miki's answer wasn't satisfying, but she simply pressed the doorbell, effectively postponing the conversation for now. Sojiro opened the door, and after exchanging some greeting, they went to the living room and sat down.
"Sojiro-san, do you know what your daughter wants to talk about with all of us?" Tadao had already lost against his wife, but he hoped that Konata's father was a more reliable source of information. He hadn't had much contact with him yet, so he couldn't know that this was a useless effort.
"Unfortunately, I don't have the slightest idea. Up until an hour ago, I didn't even know that the two of you were coming as well." All Sojiro was asked by Konata was if he's free today after all.
"I see… Well, we really have to wait then, huh…?"
"Sojiro-san, how are the studies of Konata coming along?" Miki decided to have some small-talk until the person in question shows up.
"Almost too good, actually… Whenever I see her lately, I always think 'Who's that girl next to Kagami' for a second before I remember that's my daughter. I've never seen her that motivated before… Your Kagami sure is something else." Sojiro knew that she's the sole reason for Konata's drastic change.
"Thank you very much." As her parents, they were very happy to hear that.
"Seriously though… Kagami wasn't just able to talk her into going to college, but also made her want to go to such a high level one in Yokohama because she's actually serious about it and even likes to study her economics thing…"
"Kagami was happy about it as well. She really wanted to be together with Konata there after all."
"Hehe… Those two sure are cute."
"You can say that again." Miki agreed with him.
The parent's group continued to have some small-talk about their daughters until the host, and reason of their get-together finally showed up. Konata, seemingly nervous for some reason, entered the living room and awkwardly sat down in the free place next to her father after giving some light greetings to the group.
"It really has gotten cold lately, huh…?" Konata had absolutely no idea how to start the discussion she's planning to have with them.
"It sure has~." Miki played along with her nervousness.
"Erm…" She was too busy with fidgeting and couldn't say much.
"Just get out with it, Konata, you really don't have to be nervous in front of us." Miki tried to make it easier for her.
"Yeah… You're right… Okay, I'll make it short." Konata finally found her courage and took a deep breath. "As you all know, Kagamin~ and I are planning to go to the same college in Yokohama. That in itself is awesome, but there's a small change I want to suggest. Instead of going to the dorm like it's currently planned… I want to live together with Kagamin~ in an apartment on our own."
"…" Sojiro and Tadao didn't say a word, and Miki simply looked at her with a warm smile. It looked like her guess on what this discussion was about, was pretty much spot on.
"I know it's a little sudden and all, but that's what I want to do." She had an extremely determined look on her face. "I'm aware that it's an expensive plan, but I recently came to quite a lot of money by selling some of my things, and I think it should suffice for paying the rent and extra costs during our time in college."
"Is that how it is…" The two fathers, especially Tadao looked somewhat dubious while Miki simply continued to smile. "Why do you want to live together with Kagami? I believe the dorms are far more practical, don't you think?" Tadao asked for her motivation behind her plan.
"Hmm… First off, I really don't want to live in a dorm, much less want Kagami to live there… You never know what kind of people live there as well and lure in the hallway. They could be dangerous… in many ways, or want something from you…" Konata tried to stay objective, but she wasn't very good at it, and her slight jealousy that was plainly obvious to a certain someone was already leaking out.
"Ha-…" Miki was almost unable to suppress her laugh, but was somehow able to save herself.
"I'm also not sure if I can trust Kagami living on her own… No, I'm worried about it. The college dorm only provides the room, right? You still have to cook on your own, and do laundry and stuff… Do you think Kagamin~ is ready for that?" It sounded incredibly rude, especially coming from the girlfriend of the person in question who tells it her parents on top, but no one said anything for some reason. "Sure, we probably would end up doing those kinds of things together anyway, but, for example, cooking probably is going to pretty bothersome together in a small room intended for single use."
"Ahaha…" Miki finally failed at holding back and openly started laughing while nodding her head. "That's actually a pretty sound argument… As much as I don't want to admit it as the mother who had failed at teaching her those things…"
"Hehe… Kagamin~ isn't an easy to teach girl when it comes to that after all. I have made some painful experiences with that." Konata had a light chuckle as well, but then got serious again because she wasn't done yet. "Kagamin~ and I are already pretty used to pseudo-living together by now because we're basically together the entire time at my place. We more or less know what we're getting into when living together because we take care of cooking and other chores together when dad's busy or not at home as well because of his work. Thanks to that, I think we're ready for the next step." Konata continued to give it her all to convince the parent's faction of her plan of living together. "Being together all the time and taking care of each other sounds pretty awesome, doesn't it? Even if you aren't exactly alone in a dorm, a single room does sound rather… lonely, right?" Miki, and especially Sojiro reacted to that statement, but Konata was already stronger than that and simply continued to dish out arguments. "Compared to a tiny dorm room for each of us, I think an apartment offers a far superior living quality. It's less cramped, bathroom and kitchen are surely better as well, and lots of other things… Also… in a dorm… sharing Kagamin~…" Konata was just mumbling those last words, and they weren't audible to anyone except one person.
"Okay, okay… We heard enough…" Miki stopped her for various reasons. "I don't particularly have anything against the idea itself, I kind of saw something like that happening in the future anyway, looking at the progress of your relationship, but…"
"Konata, do you really want to burn through your money for that?" Sojiro was concerned that she maybe would regret it in the future that she blew her small fortune in order to have a more exciting college life.
"I'm just following Kagamin~'s advice here. She's the one who said I should save the money for something I really want in the future that needs money. I can't think of anything even remotely close to being as awesome as living with her… Also, it's not like I worked hard for that money, I was just lucky. I think it's okay to use it to fulfill a dream, rather than using it for something that would be more practical.
"I see…" There was nothing Sojiro could say any more, nor did he want to because he understands his daughter.
"Hmm…" Tadao, who was silently listening until now, finally spoke up. "How much money have you saved up for that, Konata?"
"Huh…? Uhm, about 10 Million ¥…"
"Hoh, impressive… Still, even 10 Million ¥ could be a little tight for living comfortably in Yokohama for four years. At best, I think you would need to spend every single ¥ on it. Even then, I'm not entirely sure how good the quality of the apartment would be. I guess that you would need to be lucky in your search for an apartment…" It didn't seem like he was against the idea either, but Tadao had a couple concerns about the money and how much Konata had thought about it.
"R-Really…? I knew it was going to be really expensive, but… really…?" Konata looked incredibly down in an instant. She had a hunch that it was going to cost a lot, but she had thought that she had at least a small puffer in her budget.
"Ahhh! Don't look like that!" Sojiro couldn't bear her expression. "I have a proposal for you, Konata. I was planning to pay for everything college-related anyway… Including the dorm, food, and whatever else comes up… How about I add those costs to your budget instead?"
"S-Seriously?!" Konata instantly started beaming again.
"Aww… And here I thought I could have a cool moment…" Tadao looked disappointed. "Just like Sojiro-san said, we planned to pay for Kagami's side as well. We wouldn't mind giving this money to Kagami to pay for the apartment instead either. We maybe could even add a little extra because I really like the of you two taking care of each other." He took a liking to Konata's idea. "I also think would be a worthwhile experience for future lives, so I'm supporting your plan, Konata."
"I-I'm not dreaming… right?" Konata pinched her cheek once and then quickly transcended from the state of simply beaming and the others had to protect their eyes in order to not go blind.
"Hehehe…" Miki began chuckling again because it was so easy to read her emotions. "You're exactly like Kagami in some ways…" Konata wasn't the only one like that after all.
"It doesn't come without a couple conditions from our side, of course." Tadao obviously wasn't planning to let them completely do as they please. "The two most important things are that both of you aren't going to neglect your studies, or rather, everything related to college, and of course take care of each other at all cost. Also… You have to promise me that you have Kagami do some of the housework as well… She finally has to learn to do that completely on her own…" Tadao couldn't help taking a jab at her daughter as well. "You two have to live a healthy lifestyle, and…" It seemed like it's going to be a long list.
"Ah, wait a moment please…" Konata suddenly interrupted him. "Can you please make a list for me? I'll agree to absolutely anything if that means I can live together with Kagamin~! The points you mentioned are already a given anyway." Konata didn't care about a few rules if that means she can live out her dream. Seeing her determination and excitement, her father and Kagami's parents smiled warmly before giving her a nod.
"Okay, I want to do the conclusion~." Miki wanted to say something again. "Under the mentioned conditions and rules, we'll allow you two to live together and partially support you with the money we planned to spend anyway."
"R-Really… I… uhm…" Konata didn't know what to say and teared up a little because she was so incredibly happy right. Once she calmed down a little after a while, she got up and deeply bowed in front of the parents because she was so thankful. "Thank you very much, all of you."
"You're welcome." She got a nice, collective answer.
"Konata, we want to discuss a few more details, and you probably need to plan a couple things as well, right?"
"Ah, sure… Again, thank you very much, dad, Miki, and Tadao." Konata bowed again and was about to leave the living room when she suddenly stopped again. "I almost forgot… I kind of have a small request as well… Can you not…"
"Yes, Konata." Miki stopped her in the middle of her sentence. "We won't tell Kagami anything, you can surprise her all you want with it." She knew perfectly well what Konata wanted.
"Ahhh, so that's why Kagami isn't here today~." Sojiro and Tadao finally understood it as well.
"Thanks~." Konata finally left, and the parents started discussing things once more.
…
"Okay, hands up who's surprised by this development." Miki decided to start with a joke.
"Sojiro-san, do you think the two are ready to live on their own together?" Tadao, on the other hand, decided to ignore his wife, for now, earning a cute pout from her in return.
"Hmm…" He started thinking about it. "It should be fine. The two are quite good at running a household together if you ask me."
"Together, that is…" Miki sighed as she looked at her phone. "Dear, it really is too early for Kagami to live completely on her own… We should be thankful that Konata is willing to take her in…" She showed her phone to Tadao who promptly sighed as well when he read the following mail on the screen.
Sorry mom,
I messed up with reheating the leftovers. Please bring some food after all. Also, feel free to take your time with dad because the kitchen doesn't look so good right now.
Thanks,
Kagami
"Oookay… About the budget…" Tadao stopped asking about their ability to live together because of his daughter and changed the topic. "If we add up rent, electricity, water, food for the two, and various miscellaneous costs, it's probably going to be easily 250 000 ¥ per month. Maybe even a little more because I'm not entirely sure about the current rental prices and I won't allow them to live in a rundown or insecure apartment." He made a quick list of the cost and then started comparing it to the dorm. "Miki and I had calculated that dorm, including food and allowance for Kagami, would cost us about 60 000 ¥."
"Yeah, I had about the same amount in mind." Sojiro agreed with their calculation. "I think I could go somewhat higher, though. If it's for her sake…"
"We also could go up to… maybe 75 000 ¥. If both sides would do that, Konata only had to pay 100 000 ¥ from her own savings."
"100 000 ¥, huh?" Sojiro thought about Tadao's suggestion. "That would only kill about… half of her 10 Million ¥ in those four years. That sounds way better in my opinion, especially because they need to buy some furniture, among other things as well. Even after that, she should still have more than enough of saved up money for whatever the future holds." He agreed to the plan, and the budget talks came to a quick closure.
"Oh, I just remembered something…" Tadao decided to advance their discussion. "An acquaintance of mine works as a realtor. I don't know if he has anything available in Yokohama, but he maybe could help us find a suitable apartment for the two. One with a good price value and more importantly, a safe one."
"Hmm…" Sojiro tilted his head. "Sounds good to me and I'm also free next weekend. I could go and take a look with Konata in Yokohama. Knowing her, she surely doesn't want to wait longer than that after all."
"Looks like we have a plan here." Miki, and with that, Tadao as well, agreed to the idea, and once everything was planned out, the parents engaged in more small-talk.
"Children really grow at an amazing pace, aren't they…?" Sojiro suddenly looked a little melancholic.
"It's frightening, isn't it?" Tadao also looked into the far distance. "I already have two daughters in college, but Kagami's the first one who's actually going to move out of the house…"
"Konata's my only child, so that makes it even worse…"
"Nonono, having more children doesn't make it easier in the slightest when someone leaves, you know?! That only means you have to go through that pain multiple times!" The two fathers somehow started competing on who has it harder for some stupid reason. While the two continued to agonize, and almost cried over their moving daughters, Miki let out a sigh.
"Those over-doting fathers…" She shook her head before continuing. "Look, I'm also pretty sad they're going to Yokohama, but we should be happy for them, you know? Something like this is an occasion to celebrate instead, and we should be glad that the two found each other because their relationship is something really special. Also, no I'm not talking about their circumstances.
"We know…" The two over-doting fathers were perfectly aware of what Miki said, but they couldn't help feeling sad about their daughters leaving the house.
Once the two calmed down to some degree, all of them kept talking about various things because it was a fairly rare occasion for the three to meet up, but once it became evening, Miki and Tadao decided to head home again. They, of course, didn't forget to bring some takeout-food for Kagami with them on the way back. Luckily, Kagami finished up cleaning the kitchen a couple minutes prior the time where her parents arrived at home.
…..
…..
A week passed, the date on the calendar finally changed to December a couple days ago, and Konata, together with her father were spending the day in Yokohama to look for apartments together. Kagami still had no idea at all about those developments and faced yet another problem this Saturday as well. She naturally wasn't bored or lonely at all because she couldn't meet up with Konata again or anything. To kill a little time, she still went to Konata's place regardless as usual, even though she knew that no one was going to be there. She had a good reason, though. Kagami really wasn't bored, but she had forgotten a study book there that she absolutely needs today. While she kept telling herself that, Kagami soon reached Konata's house. Using her key, as usual, she entered and went to Konata's room. There, she threw herself on the bed and looked at the ceiling for a while. She could always simply pick up a random textbook when leaving later on for her excuse to work after all.
About ten more minutes passed, and Kagami was about to succumb to the deathly comfortableness of Konata's bed, but right before she fell asleep, she heard some noises coming from Yutaka's room.
"Oh, Yutaka and the others are here, huh? Well, might as well pay them a visit before I actually nap the day away here…" She had already forgotten about her excuse why she came over in the first place. Kagami reluctantly got up from the bed, walked over to Yutaka's room and entered after knocking on the door. As expected, she found Yutaka, Minami, and Hiyori sitting around the small table in the middle of the room while happily chatting with each other.
"Eh? Kagami-senpai? What are you doing here…?" Yutaka was the first to notice her and looked a little confused. "Konata-oneechan isn't at home, you know?"
"I know that much, Yutaka… Ah, but do you have any idea where she went? Kona only told me that she's busy the entire day…"
"Huh? I thought you would know that…" She seemed surprised that Kagami didn't know either. "Konata-oneechan only said that she doesn't even know if she'll be back today actually when she left with her father really early in the morning…"
"Ehhh…" That wasn't the answer Kagami was hoping for. "Hiyori is there an event or something like that the two are likely attending today?" If it's her, she would know about these kinds of things.
"None that I'm aware of and Konata-senpai surely would've told me if she's attending one." Hiyori instantly denied Kagami's guess.
"Too bad… Just what is that rascal up to this time…? She's acting weird all week long already… I somehow have a really bad feeling about this… way worse than usual, to be exact…" Kagami often had a bad feeling when it comes to Konata's plans, but this time felt somewhat different, and that's never a good sign.
"By the way…" Yutaka tried to get back to the initial topic. "If you know that Konata-oneechan isn't here, why did you come over, Kagami-senpai?"
"Hmm…? Ah, uhm… Right, I forgot a textbook here that I need for studying at home…" Kagami almost couldn't remember the excuse she made up to have a reason to come over. She didn't come to Konata's place merely because she was bored and lonely after all. That absolutely wasn't the case here. "Oh, I also wanted to retrieve some of my summer clothes because I won't be needing them here anymore and I need some place for my winter clothes…" She quickly thought about another excuse, but that actually was a real problem now that she thought about it. Bringing them home with her would prove even more that she wasn't simply bored.
"Heh~?" Hearing that, Hiyori looked pretty excited. "It's almost like you actually live here instead, Kagami-senpai."
"Not on paper, at least…" Kagami had no means to deny it because it was more or less the case.
"Ehehe~." Hiyori seemed pretty happy with the answer, but then suddenly remembered something from earlier. "Ah, there's a small thing that's bothering me ever since you showed up, Kagami-senpai…"
"Hmm, what is it?"
"Us three were the only ones in the house, and none of us ever left Yutaka's room to open the door… How did you even enter then?"
"How? With my key, of course…" Help up her personal house-key like the most normal thing ever.
"Y-You have a key…?!" Hiyori wasn't prepared for that response. "You really do live here after all, don't you?! Yutaka, back me up here!"
"W-Well… Kagami-senpai is here pretty often… Actually, basically daily, to be exact, so…" Even Yutaka, who does live there couldn't refute Hiyori's claim.
"Leaving that aside…" Hiyori became interested in the topic itself. "Would there even change anything if you two were to live together?" She was simply curious about the matter and definitely isn't going to use it as a reference for her mangas.
"Hmm…" Kagami put a finger on her chin as she thought about it. Quite a lot of things came to her mind, but because most of them, if not all, weren't suitable for saying out loud, Kagami went for a different approach. It wouldn't change anything, but she wasn't the one who said it in the end. "I'll leave that up to your imagination, Hiyori~." Actually, that probably would end up in something way worse than she ever could've said, but that wasn't her problem anymore. "Well, Kona and I have to wait a couple more years anyway to find out because we're going to live in single rooms in the college dorm."
"T-That's your retort?!" Hiyori was once more completely defeated by the scale where the couple works at. "It's already a given in the future, huh…?" Teasing Kagami really doesn't work as much as she hoped to. "Still, dorm life sounds fun on its own, doesn't it?"
"Probably…" Kagami didn't sound overly excited. "Kona really doesn't like the dorm, though… Also, it's basically a step back from right now where we share Kona's room more or less every day…"
"You sure have interesting problems there…" Hiyori wasn't sure what to answer as usual.
"Well, there's nothing we-… Oh, speak of the devil…" Kagami stopped speaking midsentence because she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket and saw on the screen that Konata had sent her a message. "Let's see… I have to keep myself free for Christmas and the days after, huh…?" She read the context of the mail. "Does she think I'm making plans without her for Christmas or what…?"
"Kagami-senpai…" For some reason, Hiyori sounded somewhat annoyed all of a sudden.
"W-What's wrong?"
"Please stop bragging, okay…?" Hiyori maybe was the only one who said it out loud, but Yutaka and Minami in the background also looked somewhat jealous. "I love listening to the relationship of the two of you, but there are limits…"
"Ahaha…" A dry laugh left Kagami's lips. "T-That really wasn't my intention… Wait, if she's already planning something for Christmas, me having a bad feeling about how she's acting really wasn't just an overreaction… Wait a moment… She's with her father right now, isn't she? If he's involved with the Christmas plans as well… Forget having a bad feeling, I'm legitimately scared now…"
"And she keeps on bragging…" Kagami's complaints made it only worse. Thanks to that, and because she wouldn't get an answer anyway, Kagami changed the topic to something else.
…
The group kept chatting about this and that for a while, but they noticed at some point that Hiyori had stopped participating in the topic and became completely silent.
"You've been unusually silent, Hiyori, what-… Eh?" Kagami looked at her and noticed that something was wrong because she kept staring at her phone with big eyes while her hands were shaking. "W-What's wrong?! Did something happen?!"
"…" There was no answer, not even a slight reaction to her voice.
"H-Hiyori-chan…?" Yutaka became worried as well.
"Huh…? D-Did someone say something…?" Hiyori finally changed her focus from her phone to her surroundings.
"We asked you what's wrong… You were behaving rather oddly just now…"
"Ehm… S-Someone… contacted me over my blog where I usually post some Illustrations or mangas I don't sell at comiket and the likes… T-That person who contacted me… a-apparently works for a p-publisher and… is interested…" Hiyori was so nervous and excited that she could barely bring out the words.
"Wow, congratulations!" Yutaka and Minami were happy for her.
"Ahhh…" Kagami's reaction was a little different, and she even looked like she did already know about it. "Sakaki-san finally messaged you, huh?" An unknown name suddenly came up.
"Y-Yes, that's his name…" Hiyori nodded because she was right, but then stopped because something seemed weird about this exchange. "Hmm… Wait a moment…" She finally noticed the reason for her confusion. "W-Why the-… How do know his name, K-Kagami-senpai?"
"It was about time… He should've contacted you over a month ago already after all… He sure is as unreliable as always…" Kagami completely ignored her while casually insulting this unknown person.
"Oi!" Hiyori's eyes looked scary because she apparently was missing some crucial information here.
"Hmm? Well, Sakaki-san contacted you to request some concept art and work samples, right?" She still wasn't helpful at all.
"Nonono, that's not the point here!" Hiyori was more and more losing her patience. "Also, not really… He just wants to know if I'm interested in working with them…"
"Haa…" She let out a big sigh. "He couldn't even do that right, huh…?"
"Ka-ga-mi-se-n-pa-i~." Hiyori finally snapped, walked over and grabbed her shoulders. "Just what is going on here?!" She yelled while shaking Kagami.
"C-Calm down, Hiyori… That guy, Sakaki-san, is Sojiro's main, or rather, real editor."
"I see… Yeah, no, I don't! What does this have to do with Sojiro-sensei all of a sudden?!" She didn't understand anything anymore.
"The publisher of Sojiro's novel is playing around with the idea of making a promotional manga adaption of his series…"
"Wait, what…?"
"It's planned to be released somewhere around spring next year, and they're currently looking for an artist to do it."
"I-I said wait…"
"The original artist of the novel illustrations apparently isn't interested in doing the manga because he's too busy with other projects."
"Ehhh…" Hiyori wasn't properly working anymore because it became too much. "Sooo… They want me to do some advertisement in my circle or at comiket or what…?"
"No, why would they want work samples from you then? If they're happy with the samples they receive, they want you to make the manga adaption itself…" Kagami explained the situation in a calm manner, but the effects were still tremendous.
"…" Hiyori had completely stopped working by now, and she simply stared with an open mouth at Kagami while processing the words she heard.
"Like I said…" Kagami started repeating herself because she thought Hiyori hadn't heard her.
"It's not a sound problem!" Hiyori unfroze and instantly snapped because it was becoming rather obvious that Kagami was just having fun messing with her on purpose.
"Hehe."
A short while passed before Hiyori started to calm down to some degree and the two started a new attempt to talk about it.
"W-Why are they asking me, though…? I'm sure they have a lot of other, professional, manga artist at hand, haven't they, Kagami-senpai?"
"Hmm… Sojiro said he really liked the mangas you drew based on his novels, and because your style perfectly matches with what he has in mind while writing, he showed his editor your mangas. Once he saw them, Sakaki-san showed it around at work, and it somehow reached the higher-ups, who then had the idea with the manga adaption… Oh, you're actually the reason for the manga adaption in the first place, huh…? Haven't noticed that before~." Kagami casually dropped yet another bomb without minding the mental state of Hiyori.
"B-B-B-Be-Because of me…?! T-They, a famous publisher, w-want to make a manga adaption of a really popular light novel b-because of me?!" She started to freak out again.
"Everyone in the agency really liked them after all… Well, they only saw the all ages ones, though…" Kagami wasn't even trying to be helpful.
"R-Really…?" She went from freaking out to embarrassed. Getting praise from professionals is something else that doesn't happen every day after all. "Hold on… Wait a moment, Kagami-senpai!" After being embarrassed for a minute or two, Hiyori remembered something else.
"What is it now?"
"Correct me if I'm wrong… But, you said that you knew about all that since last month, right…? And yet, you didn't say anything at all?!" She couldn't believe Kagami kept all that to herself.
"Did I say that I found out about it last month…? The plans for the manga adaption first reached my ears a little after the summer break. Sakaki-san wanted more of your mangas back then and a link to your blog which I all got from Konata back then." Kagami kept dropping heavy details without minding the outcome in the slightest. "Well, it's not like I was allowed to anyone in the first place. It was a secret back then after all."
"…" Hiyori froze up once again. She needed a moment to take everything in. She suddenly pinched herself after a while to make sure of something. "I'm not dreaming… right?"
"Should I punch you to make sure~?" Kagami clenched her first and seemed eager to go. "No, let me punch you to make sure~."
"No, sorry, I'm fine… Also, you want to pinch someone if they think they're dreaming, you know?!" She was a little scared by the look on Kagami's face. "S-So that means you haven't made up all that right now, Kagami-senpai…?"
"Why would I make up something like that? It's way too much of a hassle after all, and it's not like I enjoy teasing people or anything in the first place…" Kagami actually mentioned staying somewhat serious while saying those words.
"S-So…" Hiyori was confused again because her words didn't match up with her experience at all.
"Sorry about that~. It's true, though. You can ask Sojiro if you want. Well, when he's back, that is…"
"Wow, wow… WOW!" Her excitement was about to go through the roof. "How awesome is that?! I can't believe it! I've always dreamed of doing something like that since I started drawing manga. Wow… If things go well, this might be my first ever professional published work…"
"Good for you, Hiyori…" Kagami was happy for her. "But, don't get too carried away if they really offer you to draw the manga." At the same time, she was worried what would happen once Hiyori is allowed to draw a serialized manga.
"It has to be all ages anyway, right?" Hiyori directly understood what she was implying.
"And that's a very fortunate thing for all of us…"
"Ah, Kagami-senpai, can you tell me a couple more details? I want to be prepared as good as possible for this opportunity."
"Hmm… Sorry, I'm too busy with studying for my entrance exam ever since summer break that I never asked for details. I only overheard that they're planning to adapt the first volume as start and judging by how popular it's going to be, they're likely to continue the adaption. But, I think that's the normal way to handle these kinds of things anyway…"
"Aww, too bad~." Hiyori didn't look that disappointed, though. "Well, I just have to do my best then. It's my dream ever since I started drawing manga after all. Not doing my best isn't an option anyway. Also… Thanks to them, I feel like I should be drawing more… safe works anyway…" Hiyori pointed at the other side of the table where Minami and Yutaka were busy reading manga the entire time while the two were talking. Upon closer inspection, Kagami saw that it was all works of Hiyori, and not even half of them were actually suitable for Minami and Yutaka. Hiyori was still wondering where they get their endless supply of them, but she had given up on stopping them from reading at some point because the effort was futile.
"Ahh… I see…" After looking at the two reading some rather intense manga with great joy, Kagami felt some sort of sympathy towards Hiyori.
Once Hiyori calmed down from her excitement over a possible serialization, and Yutaka, together with Minami finished reading their manga, the group chatted a little more about various things until early evening when Kagami finally decided to head home again. She didn't come over because she was bored and lonely at her place after all. She came for an important reason to Konata's house so it couldn't be helped, but she totally forgot about taking those much-needed study books with her in the end. Taking home her summer clothes was even completely forgotten about.
The first years stayed a little longer and kept chatting until Hiyori remembered something.
"By the way, do you really not know what Konata-senpai's up to, Yutaka?" She guessed that Konata was planning something and told her to keep it a secret.
"No, I really don't know about it. Konata-oneechan hasn't told me anything. Although, I'm fairly sure that she's indeed planning something, something big on top of that. For some reason, Konata-oneechan is really happy and bubbly since last weekend."
"Heh~? Looks like things keep being interesting when it comes to the two, huh?" Hiyori didn't know what's going to happen, but she was already looking forward to it.
The three passed some more time with random things, but because it was getting late, Hiyori and Minami had to leave soon enough as well. After she was alone, Yutaka went to the kitchen to make some dinner for herself before heading back to her room again.
…
A couple hours passed, it was actually the middle of the night already when the entrance of the Izumi house became lively again. Sojiro and Konata had just arrived at home again and were still busily discussing various things.
"No way, I didn't like the second one at all, dad…"
"What? It was way better than the third apartment if you ask me." After getting rid of their shoes and jackets in the hallway, the two walked into the kitchen while continuing their discussion.
"Well, that one wasn't hard to surpass… The third one was utter trash, especially for the price that guy was asking for, so was the fourth one…"
"Then, what about the very first one we visited? That apartment looked pretty decent to me…" Sojiro looked pretty worn out. Konata apparently rejected quite a few apartments already.
"Hmm… That one was… okay, I guess… It's pretty far from college, though… If I'm moving already, I don't want to use public transport for about 20 minutes just to reach the college…"
"Hoh~, finally a reasonable argument, huh? Looks like we're finally making progress now." According to his look once more, Sojiro had endured a lot of unreasonableness from Konata today.
"I really liked the last apartment we visited. Actually, I would say that's the one. It's super close to the college, not even a five-minute walk on foot, and everything of importance is close by as well."
"Yeah, that manga and anime store right around the corner had a really big selection of basically everything."
"Well… Hehe… Okay, jokes aside…" Neither of them really looked like they were joking in particular, but Konata wanted to stay serious and actually meant things like convenience stores or supermarkets. "The apartment itself also is really nice. I quite liked the layout of it."
"That's true. Okay, the apartment's maybe a bit too big for two people, but the price is reasonable enough to compensate for it. Also, it's perfect for you that they want to start renovating it next month, even installing some new A/Cs in the rooms."
"Yeah, thanks to the renovating taking some time, the realtor guy said it's possible to reserve the apartment until March because that's the earliest date to move in anyway. It's almost like it's made for Kagamin~ and me, don't you think, dad?" It seemed like Konata had made up her mind about the apartment search.
"Yes, I think so, too." Sojiro agreed with her decision. "It's a really nice apartment."
"I hope Kagamin~ will like it as well."
"That shouldn't be an issue. Speaking of which, when do you plan on telling her about all that?"
"Hmm… Christmas is soon, right~? I'll go all out and invite her to an overnight, or two, to Yokohama and… Well, I'm still working on the details."
"You sure don't operate on a small scale, do you?"
"Never did, and never will."
Both of them kept discussing a couple details for a while until another person suddenly showed up in the kitchen.
"Konata… oneechan…?" Sleepily rubbing her eyes, Yutaka appeared out of nowhere while letting out a big yawn.
"Oh, Yu-chan… Sorry, did we wake you up?"
"Hmmn…" She was still half asleep.
"Sorry, we didn't plan on being so loud…"
"No… It's fine… Where were you two until now, by the way…?" Yutaka's brain slowly started working again.
"Umm…" Konata wasn't sure what to answer. "We… We had some college things to do… In preparation when I'm going there next year…" Konata didn't want to lie to Yutaka, so she simply kept it vague. It's not like she doesn't trust her, but fewer people knowing about a secret is always a good thing.
"Oh, I see." Either because she's a good girl, or still incredibly sleepy, Yutaka didn't pry any further than that. "Ah, I almost forgot, Kagami-senpai came over today."
"Really, why?" She knew that I wasn't at home today."
"Ehm… What was it again…?" She had completely forgotten about the excuse Kagami made. "I think she wanted to get a textbook or something like that. She spent half a day with us then, though…"
"Ah~, she was bored, I see…" Konata tried to hold back her chuckling at how obvious her girlfriend had acted just by listening to Yutaka.
Because Konata was interested in it, she attentively listened to Yutaka's explanation on how the first years and Kagami spent the day, and the more Konata heard, the more obvious it became to her that Kagami really was only terribly bored and maybe even a little lonely and simply wanted to kill some time. Sojiro was already gone, and the two finished chatting as well after some time and headed upstairs to their rooms as well and the day ended with that.
Apart from the usual studying with Kagami, Konata was even busier than usual for the next weeks because she had a lot of planning for Christmas to do. Kagami became increasingly suspicious of her and launched quite a few attacks on her, but Konata managed to stay strong until Christmas.
….
.
Surprise, Konata wants them to live together. I'm sorry for being so predictable. Well, not really, actually… The story is made for fluff, not meaningful plot twists~.
Poor Kagami, in the end, she did forget bringing home her much-needed textbook. She wasn't lonely after all. Konata will make it all up next time.
The part of Hiyori possibly doing the manga adaption of Sojiro's novel series was totally a spur of the moment thing. I have a few ideas, but I'm not yet sure what I'm going to do that yet. I'm trying to introduce new plot here and there to keep the story alive because I have no idea how to continue the story once the main group enters college, but I don't want to end it there yet. That's why I'm adding things here and there that can be used for something later on.
The next chapter is about Christmas… or at least happens around Christmas story wise and judging by this chapter, it's pretty easy to guess what's going to happen. The initial plan was to release the chapter a few days after Christmas. The 'draft' is already fully done, and the chapter itself is also 1/3 to halfway done so it shouldn't be a problem timewise. (I'm feeling the chapter's going to be pretty long so I better promise nothing, actually... Maybe I do have to rush myself... It's already longer than this chapter, but not nearly done...) Then, I had a short idea for New Year… Depending on things, next Chapter will be released shortly after Christmas as planned, or it'll be released a week later, but then includes the new year. I don't know that yet.
Random rant: We just had the first snow a couple days ago around here (luckily didn't stick, tho) and I'm a little jealous of those neets because I don't want to leave the house as well anymore... Actually, no, I just want to hibernate until spring... The cold sucks so much... I'm totally with Konata o that.
Interesting to know this time: Last chapter, I broke the 300 000 words wall and a little after that, the story passed 30k views and getting close to 31k one now. Sure, compared to other fandoms, that's nothing, but for a lucky star story, I think it's quite good. Monthly views dropped a fair bit after changing the story to M-Rated, but that's fine because I can write more open now.