Growing Closer

by N30S

[-M-Rating mainly for safety later on-] Kagami and Konata were good friends since the very beginning, but as they spend more and more time together after Konata raised her own death flag by agreeing to teach Kagami how to cook, they became even better, or rather best friends. As time passed, new and different feelings became part of their friendship that changed everything.

44. Christmas surprise

Time went by in a flash and Christmas was right around the corner. Actually, it was the morning of Christmas eve already. Thanks to the girls being on winter break, Kagami had spent the last couple days entirely at Konata's place as usual. Those days weren't easy for her, though. She knew that Konata had something planned for their Christmas, but no matter what she tried, and she tried a lot of things, Konata simply wouldn't tell her anything. Thanks to that, Kagami just couldn't help having a bad feeling about it. Today, on the morning of Christmas Eve, that feeling just got a lot worse. Thanks to the fact that Konata had ordered to pack a bag with clothes, and the small detail that they had left early in the morning, headed to the station, Kagami had made the bold guess that the two are going on a trip. Even then, Konata didn't say a single word and stayed silent on the matter. She was in no way enjoying the sight of Kagami being all fidgety and confused, though.

Once they arrived in Tokyo and entered the Shinkansen, Kagami finally had absolutely no idea what was going on anymore, but the bad feeling in her stomach continued to faithfully grow with every single passing minute. She was also becoming increasingly impatient over the 45-minute-long train ride because Konata wouldn't talk about their destination at all. But, once the train stopped at a station with a very familiar sounding name and Konata finally gave out the little detail that they're getting out there, Kagami's impatience and the bad feeling was instantly blown away. The couple left the train and now stood inside the central station of Yokohama.

"Okay… I wasn't expecting this…" She was positively surprised by the situation and looked around the station with a smile."

"Ehehe~. Looks like my surprise was a success, huh?"

"Yeah, it really was. Good job, Kona. So, what are we doing in Yokohama?" She was happy being here again, but that didn't mean she understood anything now.

"Okay, let me rephrase it… Looks like part one of my multilayered surprise festival is a success, huh~?"

"Ko~na~…" Kagami didn't like her answer and became just a little intimidating.

"Fine…" Intimidating is surprisingly effective. "We're going to stay in a hotel here, have dinner in a restaurant in the evening, and tomorrow… we're going to explore the area a bit…?" The last part sounded more like a question because she wasn't sure what to say without letting out details of her real plan. "I thought it would be nice to get a little familiar with some places around the college beforehand." She hasn't told a single lie that way. Konata just left out some minor details and kept it ambiguous.

"Heh~, I see…" Kagami did feel that Konata was still hiding something, but the general plan didn't sound bad at all, and because she felt that Konata really put some effort into this, Kagami kept it at that for now.

Once Kagami seemed somewhat satisfied with the situation, the two finally left the station and started walking towards their hotel. It was located somewhat in the middle between the station they just left, and their soon to be college. It involved a fair amount of walking, but the couple was looking forward to seeing more of the city. Coincidentally, the area the group visited last year on golden week when Miyuki won the trip to Yokohama in a lottery, was in the complete opposite direction, so everything the two were seeing now, was a fresh experience for them. While they were walking around on the streets, the two got a first glimpse of the city's effort in creating a festive Christmas mood. Almost every building and shops, as well as the streetlamps and trees, were generously decorated with, mainly green and red, Christmas ornaments. But it was still bright outside, so it wasn't that impressive yet because the lights weren't turned on. Even so, both of them were having a lot of fun just by looking around. Especially Kagami was extremely excited because this city is going to be her new home starting in spring and she's been looking forward to that for quite a while already. Konata naturally was excited as well, and after half an hour of leisurely walking around, the two arrived at the hotel she had chosen to stay at. The couple went to the counter, and Konata checked in. The hotel employee confirmed her reservation, a two-night stay for two people with included breakfast and handed over the key-card for their room. While they were walking towards the elevator, Kagami had a slightly confused look on her face.

"Kona… Why are we staying for two days?"

"Our schedule for tomorrow is pretty packed, so I thought adding another night wouldn't be a bad idea where we can relax a little."

"I see, that's reasonable. Kona… Why is our schedule packed?! Didn't you say we're just going to walk around and look at the surroundings near the college?" The bad feeling Kagami was having lately suddenly came back because Konata's answer sounded rather ominous.

"W-Well… There are lots of… things we're going to look at…"

"Kona~, what exactly are those things?" The intonation was very important to her.

"O-Oh, look, there's our room…" Konata tried to divert her attention and quickly entered the room. Compared to the place they stayed in on their anniversary trip a couple months ago, this one was more than just a few steps behind. Sojiro didn't generously pay this time after all. It was still a pretty cozy room, though, and Konata's focus was on something else this time anyway. After all, they're not going to spend that much time in the room, and so she merely got one with a big bed, a single one of course, and a spacious bathtub. Kagami slowly followed her, and once the two finished unpacking their stuff, both threw themselves on the bed and relaxed for a while. This pattern was nothing new, and they almost indulged into the usual cuddling once they enter a bed together, but Kagami barely managed to stay strong.

"So, about tomorrow, Kona…" She naturally hadn't forgotten about the earlier topic.

"Come one, Kagamin~, no one likes women that are prying this much."

"Shut up and give me at least another detail or something."

"Like I said, it's a… complex surprise… I worked hard to plan what's going to happen, so I don't want to tell you yet." Konata had almost reached her goal of successfully surprising Kagami. Backing down wasn't an option anymore.

"Ahh, come on, I'm worried, you know? A little hint would be okay, wouldn't it?"

"Fine… Aside from walking around, you'll also be getting your Christmas present tomorrow."

"E-Eh…?" Hearing that, Kagami suddenly froze up. "W-Wait, what do you mean by that? The whole trip over Christmas, which already is way over the top, isn't your present?!" She was shocked by this revelation.

"This trip, my present…? Nonono, the trip is just there to help my surprise for tomorrow because it takes a fair amount of time. Think of it as a side quest that is needed to advance the main story, Kagamin~."

"O-Oh… Is that so…?" Completely ignoring Konata's slightly odd comparison, Kagami was having a hard time. The already bad feeling changed into an even worse one. It wasn't fun at all, and she really didn't like this trend of continually having a bad feeling lately.

"I hope you're happy with this much detail, Kagamin~?"

"Well… For the sake of my mental health… and sanity, I'll keep it at that…" It actually made things much worse if anything. "That being said, after everything I've heard, I'll be giving you my Christmas present after I saw you yours…"

"Eh, why?"

"I'm quite confident with my present for you, Kona. Thanks to the superior bad feeling you're giving me, I need to make sure earned that present first after all."

"That's super mean, Kagamin~." Even though it was obviously faked, Konata started pouting.

"Shut up, idiot, you're the last one I want to hear that from right now!"

"Ehehe~. Okay, I get where you're coming from, and I admit that it's usually a good idea when it comes to my plans, but trust me this time, Kagamin~, you'll be regretting giving me your present after mine. There's no way your present is going to be even close to mine."

"We'll see about that~." The two were being as competitive as usual, and so the topic was off the table for a while. Unfortunately, Kagami had no idea she made a big mistake at this point.

Once the problem, including the bad feeling, was tossed aside once more and they still had more than enough for their dinner date in the evening left, Konata and Kagami finally indulged in some quality cuddling. Thanks to that, the remaining time passed in a flash, and the two already need to get ready to leave or the evening. They dressed up a little bit and then left the hotel.

…..

While strolling once more through the city, the two arrived at the restaurant after a short walk and entered it. The couple was guided to their table, and for the next two and a half hours, both enjoyed a very nice and romantic dinner together. Once Konata and Kagami finished eating, they continued where they left up when arriving in Yokohama and looked at the decorated streets again. It was already after dusk and thanks to that, the roads were now illuminated in colorful lights by all the Christmas decoration around.

While they were aimlessly wandering around, merely following everything that piqued their interest, the two somehow ended up at a park. As one would expect from a park in the middle of a vast city, it wasn't overly big, but it was well tended and looked really lovely. It naturally was decorated to create a Christmas mood as well, but compared to the colorful streets, the park was a lot subtler and tastefully decorated, creating more of an elegant look. The trees were adorned with a few snowflakes while being illuminated by a faint blue light and the streetlights along the trail in the park were decorated with garlands.

While the two were walking around, they noticed that the park was rather empty and only a few other couples were around. Being swept up in the Christmas mood, those couples were way more intimate with each other than usual in public. All of them were either holding hands while strolling through the park, were entirely clinging to each other, or were cuddling on the benches together. Not wanting to lose to them, Kagami and Konata got a little more lovey-dovey as well and also started holding hands. Not only that, but Konata also began clinging to Kagami's arm after a while as they continued to walk through the park. Thanks to the fact that the other couples were too busy with each other while entirely not caring about their surroundings, Konata and Kagami didn't have to care about getting weird glances and the likes. Then again, it's Konata and Kagami, they never wasted a thought on those kinds of things anyway. Both of them never cared much about others when it came to their relationship after all, or rather, the two were so bad at hiding it so that they never had much of a choice in the first place. Just like that, both continued to walk around while taking in the sight and started chatting at some point.

"That's our first Christmas in Yokohama, huh?" Even though it was something obvious, Konata had just noticed it.

"First out of many more, Kona." Kagami looked happy while she gave Konata's hand a gentle squeeze.

"Hehe, that's true."

"We're actually going to live here, aren't we? Once we get accepted, and college starts in spring, we really are going to live here…"

"You really are looking forward to it, huh, Kagamin~?" It was easy for Konata to notice her excitement.

"Of course I am! Isn't it awesome that we're going to live together here, Kona? Well, it's still in the dorm, but you get what I mean, right?"

"W-Well, yeah… sure… It surely is going to be awesome…" Konata was having problems with her answer. They aren't going to live in the dorm, but Kagami didn't know that yet. While the two continued to chat about college and other things, Konata tried her best to not accidentally leak her surprise, and the two finally left the park after a while. Walking along the brightly illuminated streets again, Kagami suddenly noticed a bakery that was selling Christmas cakes in front of their store and stopped there.

"Oh, those cakes look pretty good, don't they?"

"You're right, how about we get one, Kagamin~?" Konata knew perfectly well what her real intention was, but she didn't feel like teasing her. Being the considerable girl she is, Konata also ignored how Kagami secretly tried to gulp down her saliva without her noticing.

"S-Sure, if that's what you want, we could get one…" Kagami still had her moments where she was unable to be honest, mainly when food is involved nowadays, though.

"Okay~, let's buy one." After getting the cake, the couple slowly started heading back to their hotel, but because they weren't in a rush, the two kept chatting while looking at a few more things in the city on their way.

"Hey, Kona, is it just me or is this Christmas pretty similar to our last one?" Kagami had just noticed it, but just as last year's Christmas, the two went to the city, had dinner in a restaurant, looked at colorful Christmas decorations, and bought a cake at some random bakery at the end. The only thing that was different was the location because last time they went to Tokyo instead of Yokohama.

"Yep, you're right about that. Because I placed all my effort into tomorrow, I couldn't plan much for Christmas… Next year, I'll leave it to you~."

"Nonono, I wasn't complaining in the slightest, you know?! I just realized it now. I'm having a lot of fun here!"

"I see, that's good then." Konata was relieved that recycling last year's Christmas wasn't a wrong choice.

"Still, tomorrow again, huh…?"

"Ah, look, we're already back at the hotel again!" Getting incredibly lucky with the timing, the couple had already arrived back at their hotel, and Konata had a way to divert her attention. The two went to their room, and once they had made themselves a little more comfortable, both began eating the cake they bought earlier.

"Oh~, the cake's pretty good." Kagami tasted a piece of it and liked it.

"You're right, it's delicious. Well, it doesn't hold a candle to Tsukasa's stuff, but I don't think I'll ever eat anything better anyway…" Konata liked the cake as well, but Tsukasa had spoiled her with her own sweets too much already.

"Yeah… That's true…" Kagami knew perfectly well what she was talking about. "Still, I think the bakery is worth adding to our list."

"You mean the list of places and stores worthy to visit again once we're living in Yokohama you started earlier, Kagamin~?"

"Yep. Well, it's the first and only bakery we visited, but I think we can put it on the list for now."

"Sure, we first need to find a better bakery to beat this one in the first place. So, what else did you put on the list?"

"Hmm… The park for starters. I liked it there, and I want to see how it looks in spring when the cherry blossoms are blooming."

"Hey, let's invite the others over then and have a flower viewing party there."

"Oh, that's an excellent idea. Let's do that, Kona."

"What else?"

"Let's see… There were a couple stores that piqued my interest, but they were all closed already so I have to wait until next time until I can check them out…"

"Well, we won't have time for it tomorrow, but sure, let's do that eventually… Ah…" She just noticed that she accidentally mentioned tomorrow again.

"Just what is going to happen tomorrow?!" Kagami actually didn't want to ask again, but it was impossible for her to hold back after all.

"Like I said…"

"Yeah, yeah… It's a surprise and all…" She had heard it more than enough already. "But, you see~, in the end~, I'm just getting more and more curious about it~." Kagami's eyes suddenly started glittering as she approached Konata.

"H-Hey…" She didn't exactly know what was going on, but it now was the time for Konata to have a bad feeling.

"Really~ curious~." Kagami got even closer with her sparkling eyes and pushed Konata down on the bed behind her. She then climbed on top of her and lowered her head to whisper something into Konata's ear. "If you tell me now, something nice is going to happen, you know~?" Her voice was incredibly sweet, and Konata started sweating because her will began to waver. But, right before she gave in to the temptation, Konata started fighting back.

"W-Wow… you almost had me there, Kagamin~… In return for your great effort, let me do something nice and sweet instead~." She lifted her head and gave Kagami a passionate kiss on the lips while wrapping her arms around her neck, making Kagami unable to move away.

From there on, things got a little messy. Kagami didn't want to be on the receiving end this early because she started the whole thing with an objective in her mind. Finally pushing her away after a while, Kagami managed to get on the offensive again and before Konata new it, her clothes were already flying through the air. Kagami only thought to have the full advantage, though, because Konata could make a career as a magician. Feeling a slight chill all of a sudden, Kagami realized that her own clothes were also flying through the air. At best, they became equal again, but it was only a minor setback for her, and she continued like nothing happened. Even so, her competitive side was on fire now. She was able to push Konata down again and immediately started showering her entire body with kisses. Kagami managed to stay on top for a while, but Konata felt like it was time for a change of pace. She started kissing Kagami's body as well, and because she perfectly knew all those little weak spots on her body, Kagami was quickly losing her strength once she was under attack. Using this chance, Konata was able to get on top again, and everything started from the beginning. Konata had fun for a while on top of Kagami, but knowing all the weak spots of her partner wasn't exclusive to her. Kagami had an equal knowledge of her after all. Not hesitating to use said knowledge, another change of roles was quickly made. Needless to say, the two weren't merely changing positions the entire time, and lots of other enjoyable things were done, but precisely that was the reason why Kagami had a big problem right now, a problem she wasn't even aware of. Her initial goal, getting the information about what's going to happen tomorrow out of Konata, was utterly forgotten somewhere along the way. She was completely focused on what was on top, below, in front or anywhere entirely else from her. It was still Konata she was focused on, but the objective she was after had changed entirely after all. To be more precise, having fun became the only important objective.

….

The two had continued to thoroughly test their hotel bed for a while, and before they knew it, Konata and Kagami woke up on the morning of the next day. Needless to say, Kagami never found out what was going to await her today. Like usual, when the two are sleeping together, whether it was just sleeping or something more, they started their day fancily late because Kagami's bad habit of being unable to wake up when Konata's around was the same as usual. Once the two finally managed to leave the bed, they got ready and to the hotel own restaurant and had a late breakfast. It was nothing too fancy, but because it was a buffet style breakfast, neither of them had any problems to find something to their liking. While the couple was enjoying their food, Kagami suddenly remembered something and gasped.

"Ah! I totally forget about making you speak about today!"

"Yeah, that's really no good, Kagamin~. I'm worried about your future if you always keep losing your concentration on your target so easily~."

"H-Hey… Uh… I… S-Shut up!" She had nothing to say in her defense because Konata had a point.

"That being said, please don't change, okay?" Obviously enough, Konata liked that part of her, especially when it leads to something like last night.

"I suspect that you'll also never change, right?" She more or less confirmed in a roundabout way that she won't try to better herself either.

"I'm not planning on. I'm perfectly fine with my current self after all."

"I see… Well, that's fine, I guess…" Staying true to oneself isn't a bad thing. "Oi! Thanks to your distraction, I almost forgot about it again!"

"That's just unreasonable now, Kagamin~… Ah, I just said you shouldn't change… I guess it's not your fault then." Konata found the flaw in her suggestion.

"Hey, can I hit you? I can hit you, right? Please let me hit you just once, Kona~. I promise you that it won't hurt… too much…" There was a dangerous glint in her eyes again.

"Eyes, Kagamin~, your eyes… Your true feelings are leaking out again!"

"Oh, sorry…" She wasn't sorry at all, it was on purpose after all. "So, what's going to happen today?"

"Just a little walking around the college and getting accustomed to the area~." Konata was already on the finishing line, so there was no way she would leak anything now.

"You sure are persistent, Kona."

"You're the last person I want to hear that from."

"Fair point. So?"

"Oi!"

"I mean, walking around isn't much of a present, you know? So we are doing something else as well, right? Just tell me about that part."

"Nope~. You'll have to wait a few more hours for your present.

"Haaa…" Kagami was super frustrated about the never changing answer of Konata because she was way too curious about it.

Once Kagami had lost another argument about the mysterious present, the two finally finished their breakfast and went back to their room. There, the two got ready to leave, mainly by putting on some warm clothes, someone really disliked the cold after all, and then went on their way to the first stop, their soon-to-be college. The couple walked around for a while and arrived at the college after about 30 minutes later.

"So, this is it, huh?" The two were standing at the entrance of the campus area and looked around. "Quite impressive.

"It definitely is!" Kagami's excitement was already about to reach max level. "Let's go and take a better look!" She grabbed Konata's hand and dragged her onto the campus.

"An excitement Kagamin~ really is cuter than the normal one. About 32% cuter."

"What's up with that oddly specific number?! Anyway, what do you want to see first, Kona?" She didn't care much about it in the end because she was too busy with eagerly looking around.

"Hmm… How about we start with the least interesting thing?"

"Meaning the buildings where the lessons are held…?"

"That's my Kagamin~." It really wasn't a hard guess for her, though. Having decided on the first destination, the couple began walking towards the three, huge main buildings in the middle of the campus.

"The tallest one in the middle is for the law department and the two slightly smaller ones on the sides are for the computer-related studies and your business-related ones. If I remember right, the one on the left is for your business studies…"

"Heh~, so that's the place I'm going to suffer a lot in the future, huh?"

"That's a… very interesting way to look at it… Wait, I thought you like economics…?"

"I do, I really do… Economics isn't the problem here anyway…"

"Ahh…" Kagami understood what she meant. Konata isn't going to suffer because she's studying economics, but rather because of the other courses, she has to attend alongside it.

"Well, whatever…" She didn't seem to be too bothered by it in the end, though. "Anything else of interest?"

"Hmm…" Kagami looked around on the campus to find something else to explain. "See those smaller buildings behind the three main ones? Those are used for courses that aren't affiliated with the main departments."

"I see… So, if we have any courses there, we could end up being in the same, right?"

"Probably… It depends a little on our other courses and stuff, though."

"That makes sense. Still, it would be awesome if we could attend at least one of them together, right?"

"Absolutely, I would love to." Kagami agreed with her because she also would enjoy having a course together with Konata.

"That being said, that's about all we can look at here for now, isn't it?"

"We can still take a look at the dorm before leaving."

"Ahh, right… The dorms… How could I forget about them…" Konata tried not to be sarcastic about it, but she was failing at it. "Sure, let's take a look at them as well…"

"Okay~." Kagami was still in a cheerful mood, and so she didn't notice her sarcasm at all. After that, the two started walking towards the female dorm building at the side of the campus area and took a look at it.

"As expected, we can't enter, huh?" For some reason, Konata didn't sound or look sad at all when she read the notice at the entrance door that everyone except inhabitants are forbidden to enter."

"Looks like it… Too bad, but it can't be helped. I guess we have to wait until spring to get an actual look at the inside…"

"Y-Yeah…" Slowly but surely, Konata started feeling slightly guilty about leaving completely in the open when she looked so excited about basically everything including the dorms right. "W-Well then, let's get going, Kagamin~."

"Ah, sure~. So, are we getting closer to your surprise now?" Despite being overly excited about being at the college she's been looking forward to attend for quite a while already, Kagami didn't forget about the mysterious surprise of Konata.

"Just a little~. It's still a while until we're getting to that."

"You sure are dragging this out, Kona…"

"If you wouldn't ask about it at every single opportunity, it wouldn't feel like that…"

"Fair point… As if!" She just had to retort here, but she didn't feel like saying much more on the topic. "Well, whatever… Let's get going. The more time we waste on talking about, the longer it takes for the surprise to actually happen, right?"

"You finally understand, huh?" Once they stopped talking, the two continued walking again and left the college campus. After having left it, Kagami stopped again, turned around, and took a last look at it.

"I can't wait for spring! My dream to study here is getting closer and studying with you here, Kona makes it even infinitely better… Living here with you is an incredible bonus on top of it!"

"Y-Yeah… I'm looking forward to spring as well…" Looking at Kagami's innocent and honest smile, Konata began feeling even more guilty. "Maybe I should prepone it a little…" She only muttered those words to herself.

"Did you say something, Kona?"

"A-Ah, no, nothing. Let's get going already, Kagamin~." She denied her mumbling and urged her to move.

The couple finally left the college area for good and started wandering around the vicinity. It looked like there were wandering from one interesting place to another, but Konata was secretly guiding her into a specific direction die entire time. They only walked around for about five minutes before they already made their first stop. Once they came around a corner, a convenience store popped into view.

"Oh, it's cool that there's a convenience store so nearby."

"Yep, it's pretty convenient. Well, it's a convenient store after all."

"…" The pun was so bad that Kagami couldn't even look at her. "Are you proud of that…?"

"Waahhh!" Konata fell down on her knees in the middle of the street while hiding her face behind her hands because she was incredibly embarrassed. "I-I want to die!"

"N-Now, now…" Seeing her reaction, Kagami tried her best not to laugh at her. "You wouldn't want to die with a pun like that being your last words, do you~?"

"S-Shut up! Anyway…" She simply pretended it never happened. "You're right, having a convenience store sure is nice." While Konata was talking about a different nearby, the distance between the college and the store was about the same as from their apartment to it, so she didn't lie.

"Hehe~. Ah, please wait a moment for me, okay?" She suddenly disappeared into the convenience store and left a confused looking Konata behind. A little over two minutes passed, and she came back again while carrying a small plastic bag in her hand. "Here, have one." Kagami grabbed into the bag and gave her a hot, still steaming meat bun.

"Thanks…? I'm not really hungry, though." She looked even more confused.

"Me neither, but meat buns are pretty good against the cold, aren't they? They equally warm up your hands while holding them and your stomach when eating them. You're bad with the cold after all, aren't you, Kona? Your little stunt on the cold street probably made it only worse, right?" Kagami really bought them for Konata and no because she wanted one. She really wasn't hungry or anything.

"You sure are sweet, Kagamin~. Thanks, I was actually feeling quite cold. If you ask me, we could skip right to summer… The cold sucks so much that I can't even put it into words."

"Summer, huh? So I can buy some ice-cream because you're no good with either, right?"

"T-The cold is worse, though!" Konata stuttered once because Kagami wasn't wrong at all.

"You sure are temperature sensitive… Well, it's not like I don't get your point…" After that, the two finally took a bite from their meat buns.

"Oh~, they're pretty good."

"It's true. Okay, this store goes right onto the list!" Kagami's list of places to visit again had just another point added to it.

While they kept munching on their meat buns, the couple continued to walk around the area. They found a couple cafés and a pretty big supermarket that carried about anything of need not too far from the convenience store and both were relieved that they don't have to walk far to go shopping among other things. Not that anything of this was new to Konata. She saw all that a couple weeks ago already after all. They also found a bookstore nearby, and after taking a quick look inside, Kagami was super happy about finding the store because it had a vast variety of books, including her beloved light novels. She might've been the most pleased about the bookstore amongst the places they found. Until now, that is.

…..

Once the two left the bookstore and walked a little more, the scenery around them slowly started to change. The stores and cafés were becoming less and less, and apartment complexes and ordinary houses became more prominent. Konata and Kagami entered a small park in the residential area after a while and sat down on a bench there while looking around all over the place. Kagami was naturally confused about why they suddenly entered the residential area and sat down on a bench in the middle of nowhere while being surrounded by apartment complexes.

"Kona, what are we doing here…?"

"Hmm… Taking a break…?" Her answer sounded more like a question than an answer. "The park has a relaxing feeling to it, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it's nice here. It's like a small oasis in the middle of all those buildings. Just like a smaller version of the park we visited yesterday. Those are apartment complexes around us, aren't they? It looks like a nicely maintained area. I like it."

"I'm happy to hear that." Konata seemed relieved that Kagami had a favorable impression of the vicinity.

"Why are you happy about that…?" To her, it logically made no sense at all.

"Because… It's… Uhm… Eh…?" It was way too late for this revelation, but Konata had just realized that she had absolutely no idea how she should start the conversation about the slightly complicated topic of the two living together, as in really together. Having that kind of problem is nothing new to her because Konata often forgot to think things through, she simply decided to get over with it as usual in a direct approach. "If you like it that much, how about living here in one of those apartment complexes together with me instead of the college dorm?"

"Ehh…?" It felt like she was missing something here.

"As you know, I really don't like the whole dorm thing, and so this would be perfect, wouldn't it?"

"Nonono, wait a moment, Kona… It's not that easy, you know?!"

"Well, want at least take a look?" Konata ignored her, got up from the bench, grabbed Kagami's hand, and started dragging her towards a not so random apartment complex around them.

"Ehh…" Kagami was becoming more and more confused because she already had no idea what was going on anymore, but she also had no time to comprehend it because the two had already entered the building before she could say anything. Once they were in the lobby, Konata let go of Kagami's hand and let her behind at the entrance as she started walking towards the porter who was sitting at some sort of reception desk, almost like in a hotel.

"Hello, how can I help you?" The slightly elderly looking porter called out to her.

"Ah, yes… My name's Izumi Konata, and I have an appointment to visit an apartment today." Apart from having no idea how to start the topic, Konata did have planned things out.

"I see, let me take a look…" He flipped through the pages of his appointment book that was lying on the desk. Once he found the entry and looked at Konata again, he suddenly started smiling. "Ahh~, I remember now… You were here with your father ago a couple weeks ago, weren't you?"

"Yep, that's me."

"So, that means…" He shifted his attention to Kagami, who was still at the entrance. "The utterly confused looking girl over there is your future roommate?"

"Yes, that's… Woah, she really looks confused… and it only keeps getting worse for a while…" She took a look at Kagami as well, but continued nonetheless. "Anyway, I'm impressed you remembered this as well."

"After you talked so much about her the last time, there's no way I would forget about it so soon…"

"Did I…?" Konata never noticed she talked that much about Kagami back then.

"You sure did. Still, you found yourself a cute roommate there~." The old guy working as the porter here was a bit of a pervert, but he was a nice one.

"I know~." Konata looked proud for some reason. Because she had deemed the elderly guy as not dangerous, they all are perverts, after all, she simply accepted the compliment.

"Well then, here you go." Once the two finished their small talk, he handed over the apartment keys to Konata, and she went back to Kagami.

"Shall we go, Kagamin~?"

"Ehh…?" She was still unable to say more than that. Seeing that, Konata grabbed her hand again and dragged her towards the elevator. The couple exited on the fifth floor, and after a short walk along the hallway, they reached their destination. Konata opened the last door on the floor, it was a corner apartment, with the key she had gotten earlier.

"Here we are, Kagamin~." Konata entered the apartment, got rid of her shoes at the entrance and naturally walked around as if she's living there already.

"Where are we… Ehh…?" Kagami surely wasn't having it easy today. She had absolutely no idea what was going on anymore and had overall lost track about anything because way too much was happening at once. Konata came back to the entrance after a short while and completely ignored Kagami's condition.

"So, what do you think about the apartment? It's way better than the dorm, right?"

"I haven't seen anything yet, Kona." She ever left the entrance after all. "Wait, that isn't the point at all here!" She finally found some words again and immediately snapped because she had a ton of questions. "What the hell is going on here? Where are we?! Why are we here?! How did you even get in here in the first place?! How…" It seemed like she would go on like that for a while, so Konata quickly stopped her.

"This apartment is my answer to not wanting to live in the dorm." She had no intention of making it easier for her.

"I think I'll repeat myself, but it's not that easy, you know?! It's not like you can simply say that you don't want to live in the dorm and go to the next best apartment!" She was really busy with a lot of retorting lately.

"Don't be like that, Kagamin~. Now that we're here already, let's take at least a better look."

"Like I said, it's totally pointless doing something like that."

"Come on~." Konata wasn't backing down at all.

"Haa…" Kagami also noticed that there was no chance she would give up. "Fine… Well, maybe it can serve as an early reference for the future…" She reluctantly agreed and mumbled the second part to herself as some sort of justification.

"Yay!" Konata was happy with her answer and started showing Kagami around the apartment.

---

Author speaking: Because I'm not really good at making detailed descriptions, I made a rough floor plan of the apartment. Please take a look at it while reading the next part! Floor plan: www,imgur,com/892qTI8 - ( Exchange , for . ) I also tried adding the link to my profile (for easier copy/paste), but something's broken there, so I don't know if you can see the link there...

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They started with the toilet and bathroom right next to the entrance on the right side. There was obviously not much to say about the toilet, but the bathroom was worth a mention or two. There was more than enough room for two people to comfortable was each themselves, or in this case each other, and take care of all other daily necessities without trouble. The tub was also on the bigger side and could comfortably fit two people who could even stretch out a little in it. Not that the two would need much place in a tub, but it's nice to have. Behind the tub, there was a huge window for letting in fresh air and natural light. One of the many upsides of having a corner apartment, more windows than usual.

Leaving the bathroom again, the two entered the kitchen that was located right on the other side of the hallway, meaning on the left side coming from the entrance. Following the trend of the bathroom, the kitchen was also more than big enough to properly work in without ever having the feeling of it being cramped. The installed kitchen was slightly run down, it seemed like it was used a lot in the past, but as a part of the renovation work the apartment's undergoing soon, it'll get replaced by a new and modern one. On the wall that was facing the room next to it was a window hatch built in that also served as a counter. The room connected to it wasn't visible at the moment because the hatch had wooden accordion shutters installed to optically divide the rooms from each other.

After the kitchen, the couple took a look at the two rooms next to the bathroom on the right side. The first room, directly next to the toilet, was a little on the small side, but it got lots of natural light from the window at the opposite of the door. It was intended as a single bedroom because of the size, but the two will most likely find a different use for it.

The next bedroom was of much bigger interest. It was almost twice as big and let in even more natural light because it not only had the same window at the opposite of the door, but mainly because the room was connected to the apartment's balcony with another window and a glass door for entering it. It wasn't a square room like the smaller bedroom, but instead pretty wide and one of the walls stuck out a little into the room, probably because the room at the other side was using this extra space. This bedroom was of more significant interest because it was going to be their bedroom. There was no need for two bedrooms after all.

After leaving the bedroom again, they entered the last room on the opposite side of the hallway, the living room. After entering the room through a sliding door, the two could see the other side of the hatch and counter that connected to the kitchen. The room itself was also a little special. The main living room was about as long as the two bedrooms together, but it was actually an '┌ ' shaped room. The longer part of the room was just a simple room, but the smaller '┌ '- part, that was separated by paper sliding panels, was actually a traditional Japanese style room with tatami mats on the floor. This particular part was also the reason why the bigger bedroom had that one offset wall to it. The balcony was also accessible from the Japanese room, as well as the regular living room because the balcony covered that entire side of the apartment.

Once they finished their tour, the two stayed in the Japanese part of the living room. While Kagami continued to look around all over the place because she was so fascinated and overwhelmed, Konata repeated her earlier question.

"It-It's super nice… I mean, really nice, but… I don't understand the purpose… There's no way we're going to live here after all. It's way too expensive, to only say one argument…" Kagami liked the apartment as well, but she stayed realistically. Konata didn't care about such things, though, and completely ignored her concern.

"Do you want to live here, together with me?"

"I would love to, there's nothing I would like more than that, but like I said…" She wanted to remind her that it isn't possible, but Konata interrupted her again.

"Okay, it's decided then, we're going to live here!"

"H-Hey, are you listening at all to me, Kona…? We can't afford to live here!"

"Kagamin~, do you remember the 10 Million ¥ I got from selling those anime figures a few months ago and how I haven't spent anything of that?"

"Ah… W-Wait…" Kagami seemed to remember and then froze up because she wasn't expecting this to come up now.

"Merry Christmas, Kagamin~, this is my surprise I had for you." Konata spread out her arms and gestured at the entire apartment. Kagami should feel relieved now that she finally knew the secret behind the surprise, but she didn't feel better at all.

"K-Kona, are you serious…? N-no, you shouldn't spend all your money on this… Yes, I'm happy, really happy how you feel, but… But, you should save the money for the future. There always might be something you really want, but can't afford it then." Kagami thought she had a solid argument, but Konata only looked at her with a confused expression.

"So… You think that spending my future together with you in the same apartment, this apartment, is not something I want? What else could I spend the money on to make my future any better?" She took great care in emphasizing the right words.

"Uhh…" Kagami turned silent again because she had nothing to retort on that argument of hers. She couldn't think of anything better either. "But, is it really okay for you to spend everything? I would feel awful for living here for free, you know?"

"Oh, don't worry about that, there's an easy solution for this problem~."

"Eh? What do you mean, Kona?"

"You're going to be a lawyer in the future, right? They earn quite a bit of money, don't they? Once we're going to earn real money, the next apartment, or house, that's totally up to you, is going to be your responsibility~." She said that as a joke because she's entirely okay with paying for the two of them, but a good idea is a good idea, and her eyes looked just a little like she really meant it for some reason.

"Kona… are you… are you actually serious…? You are planning that we're going to live here together…?" Kagami finally seemed to have realized that the whole situation is real.

"I don't have much room left to get even more serious, you know?"

"W-Wow…" She wasn't sure how to react to Konata's plan because the scale was too big for her to properly give an answer on the spot. About five minutes in silence passed when Kagami suddenly walked a few steps and started twirling around in the living room with a big smile on her lips while taking in the sight of the apartment. "Kona, I still don't entirely get what's going on, but I would gladly live together with you here.

"I see… Ehehe~." Konata began smiling as well because she got the answer she was looking for. The couple continued to smile like idiots for a while until Kagami remembered something else.

"Wait a moment… It's nice and all, but we can't just decide to live on our own here just like that, can we…? We have to ask our parents first, you know?"

"Ah, no, that's okay~. My dad and your parents already know about it after all. After a bit of explaining and a little convincing, they're all okay with it. Actually, they're even taking over a big part of the cost, so I don't have to spend everything of my 10 Million ¥. I'll have about half of it left to spend on other things… mainly furniture… and manga…"

"H-Huh…?" She had just recovered a little from the shock, but the confused looking expression on her face quickly returned to her face in full glory. "W-What are you talking about, Kona…?"

"Right, you don't know anything because of the surprise after all… You see…" Konata had forgotten for a second that she didn't know about anything and started explaining everything that happened in the past weeks. She told her about how she got the idea of living together, how she proposed the idea to their parents, and how she went with her father to Yokohama in order to look for a suitable apartment. All while trying her best to keep it a secret from Kagami because she wanted to surprise her.

"Ahh… So that's why you were behaving so oddly lately… It finally all makes sense. Wait… WHAT?!" Kagami finally understood Konata's suspiciousness, but at the same time, she really didn't understand anything at all anymore. "Y-You really did all of this beforehand so that we can live together here?" She couldn't believe Konata did all that without her ever realizing.

"I sure did~."

"Impressive…" There was no other word to say.

"Ehehe~."

"But, even with all that planned out, there's no way an apartment like this, in such a good area, is still available in spring when we're going to start college." Kagami had noticed yet another problem.

"Worry not, Kagamin~, that's also already taken care of. Have you noticed how the kitchen, for example, has seen better days already? Starting next month, this apartment's going to be renovated- They're going to install a new kitchen unit, new A/Cs in the rooms, and a couple other things that are getting replaced or fixed up. Thanks to that, I was able to get a reservation for the apartment until March. We have our entrance test in February and also get our results then. We would be ready to move in here in March after we both got accepted.

"R-Really…?" Hearing her explanation, Kagami couldn't help losing a bit of her energy and leaned against the wall and slowly slid down on the floor. "I-I can't believe you sorted all that out already… You are amazing, Kona."

"Hehe." Konata was proud of herself while giving out a praise-me-more aura, but Kagami didn't feel like doing so and suddenly started complaining out of nowhere.

"That's sooo unfair, Kona~!"

"Eh…?" That was not the response she had expected.

"It's unfair that you planned all this on your own… I wanted to be involved in a decision like that, you know? It's our future after all…"

"Haa… You're such a piece of work, Kagamin~, are you aware of that?" Konata let out a sigh and then sat down on the floor next to her and leaned against the wall as well. "I just thought it would be a nice surprise..."

"Man, it's impossible to stay mad at you…"

"I'm sorry, Kagamin~. I wasn't planning on doing all that on my own, but I simply couldn't ignore such a chance to surprise you." While she apologized for her selfishness, Konata started leaning against Kagami's shoulder.

"It's fine… Actually, it was quite sweet of you, and I'm not really angry in the first place." She was a little disappointed for not being involved, but the happy feelings about Konata being so sweet were clearly stronger. While she leaned her own body against Konata as well, Kagami also grabbed her hand, and the two had their first cuddling session in their new, soon to be, home. The two enjoyed their intimacy and overwhelmingly happiness in silence for a while, but then began chatting again because Konata remembered another detail about the apartment.

"You know what else is interesting about this place, Kagamin~?"

"Hmm? There's even more?" Kagami had already heard a lot of interesting things today.

"There are pets allowed in here. Isn't that great?"

"Ehh…?" It was too much out of context for her to understand.

"You wanted to get a dog eventually, didn't you? Well, it was a tanuki, but we can't really keep one of those here…"

"Ahh…" Kagami remembered their summer trip to that forest lake where the group met the tanukis Tsukasa managed to tame. "I think we're going to be too busy with college, though. I'm not really sure we'll have enough time to keep a dog." She seemed to absolutely have nothing against the idea itself.

"You think so…?" Konata was a little disappointed about it.

"How about we talk about it again once we settled down here and see how busy the college is keeping us?" After all, she liked the idea even more than Konata did.

"Okay~." She was happy with the answer because there was not a single hint of Kagami saying no to it.

"Seriously though, how did you manage to do all that, Kona?" She still couldn't believe everything that happened.

"That's easy~. I'm good, that's how."

"Yeah, that makes sense." She didn't feel like retorting at the moment. "Wasn't it difficult convincing my parents, especially my dad? I still remember how hard it was after I told him that I want to study in Yokohama…"

"They were surprisingly okay with it overall. Well, I had some convincing arguments to make them warm up to the idea of us living together."

"Heh~, and what were those?"

"Mainly the benefits of living together like taking care of each other and things like that. Also, how you probably can't survive on your own because you can't even cook without me around."

"Oi!"

"As it turned out, your parents totally don't trust you at all with living alone. They were actually delighted and grateful that I'm willing to take you in because they failed at properly teaching you even the basics of household works… Their words, not mine, by the way…"

"Is that how they think about it~? I see~." She snapped a little. "It looks like I need to have a long and nice chat with my parents once I see them again~." She looked serious.

"D-Don't kill them, okay…? They're helping us pay for it after all…" Konata sent a silent prayer to Miki and Tadao and hoped she doesn't have to buy some flowers for their graves anytime soon.

"Nah~, they'll just suffer a little bit~." Her eyes didn't look like a little at all.

"I-I see…" Maybe she does have some flowers after all.

Once Kagami calmed down her anger to a reasonable amount, the two got up and went to the balcony of the apartment to take a look at the city that was nicely visible from there.

"Wow, you can even see the college from here!" While Kagami was looking around the buildings, she noticed a familiar looking area.

"Well, without all those detours we took earlier, it's only a five-minute walk from here to college."

"Ah, so the feeling of walking all over the place in an unnecessarily complicated manner wasn't my imagination, huh?"

"Yeah, I wanted to show you a couple interesting spots before arriving here first."

"This place is awesome! The college is nearby, and everything else of importance is close by as well. The apartment is beyond awesome, too!" Kagami was getting excited again, and Konata enjoyed watching how her eyes were shining and darted all over the place because she wanted to see everything at the same time.

"Such an adorable girl…" Konata unconsciously said that as she continued to watch her rather than the scenery, but Kagami suddenly started moving and faced her.

"You're the most awesome around here, though." She let out a stupidly cheesy line, grabbed Konata and kissed her out of nowhere. They were out in the open on the balcony, and it would be easily possible for other people in the buildings around them to see, but Kagami didn't care about that. She was simply so happy that about everything that Konata did that she just had to let out her feelings. Well, that was one side of the story. There was also a way more selfish reason involved. "So~, with that I have claimed our first kiss in our new home. Brace yourself, Kona, you may be the one who chose this apartment, but I'm the one who's going to claim every single first in here~." She still wasn't angry, but that didn't mean she isn't going to get revenge on Konata for deciding all that on her own without even telling her.

"Sure, that's only… fair." Konata couldn't complain about being unfair at all, so she had to bear this cruel punishment. Not that she wanted to protest.

"A-ny-way…" Kagami's tone suddenly changed from teasing to an incredibly serious one. "Kona, you know that you already would've been in astronomical bug trouble before if you were to fail the entrance test for college, but now… after showing me all this, the future you planned for us to have together, you're in a way bigger pinch. Failing wasn't an option before because I would get angry at you, but simply angry isn't going to cut it anymore if you fail now. Something way more unfortunate would happen then."

"…" Konata couldn't say anything as she turned pale while having goosebumps all over her body. She knew that Kagami was quite good at intimidating, but she had just raised the bar to incredible heights. It was the first time Konata really was afraid of her own life when looking at her. She maybe needs to buy some flowers for her own grave as well and not just for Kagami's parents. To make the situation even worse, Kagami suddenly started smiling out of nowhere.

"Well, there's no way that's going to happen anyways, right~?"

"Ahaha…" A dry laugh was the best answer she could muster. "K-Kagami-sama, how about we have an intense study session once we're back home?"

"Oh, that's a very nice idea, Kona. Let's do that." Being happy with her answer, she started smiling gently again, and Konata finally could relax a little.

…..

The couple left the balcony again, but spent some more time in the apartment. Starting with the living room, they actually began thinking about the placement of furniture and decorations in their minds already.

"So, what do you think, Kagamin~? The Japanese room is pretty easy… A low table and a few cushions in the middle and it's done already. Maybe a cupboard or two… Oh! We absolutely need a kotatsu, though!"

"Hmm… Hmm… Hmm…" Kagami took it very seriously and walked a few laps through the living room to get a better picture first. "Hmm… I definitely want a big sofa to relax on… Then, a small table in front of it, and…" She continued to walk through the room and looked for the best places to place them.

"Hoh~, a big sofa sounds very good, I'm in for that. Going by that means that on this wall over here…" Konata pointed at the wall in the opposite direction were Kagami was standing. "There, we'll place the biggest TV we can find."

"Let's stay a little more reasonable, Kona."

"Okay… The second biggest we can find…"

"We really have to go shopping for every single thing together in the future, huh?" She couldn't trust Konata making her own decisions on this.

"Ehehe~."

"We still have a lot of room left in here, don't we? This living room sure is big… I think we can make it a dining room as well. That would also make good use out of the hatch to the kitchen. We can place a table and a couple chairs where we can eat."

"Ah, I actually wanted to place some stools there and on the kitchen's side to make some sort of bar."

"Oh, that doesn't sound bad either. Maybe we can place the table a little further into the room?" Kagami liked the idea and rethought her own.

"That could work. We should take a few measurements next time to get a better overview." Once they had a rough idea of the living room, the two went the bigger one of the two bedrooms, but the planning for that was rather easy and quickly done.

"Okay, the bed's going to be there!" The couple had just entered the room and directly decided on a place for the most important thing as both pointed in the same direction.

"Well, that wasn't hard, huh?"

"It's the most important place for us after all, Kagamin~. It would be very weird if we didn't agree there."

"I kind of don't want to agree with that because it sounds a bit like I'm a pervert, but…"

"But it's way too late for that." Konata finished the sentence. Kagami maybe would've wanted to phrase it a little differently, but she stayed silent.

"We also should get some nightstands on each side of the bed, shouldn't we?" She completely stayed silent on the topic and ignored it. She then walked to a different place in the bedroom and continued. "I think here would be the best place for a big wardrobe if you ask me.

"Yeah, I thought the same. Also, at the other side…" Konata faced the opposite of Kagami. "… We could place a commode or something like that for other stuff." A rough plan for their future bedroom was made as well, and the couple went to the second, smaller bedroom right next to it.

"What are we going to do with this room, Kona? It's not like we need a second bedroom… A storage room wouldn't be a bad idea, or do you have something better in mind?"

"A storage room is one idea, but I kind of wanted to make a room for my PC and anime and manga stuff, if that's okay with you…"

"Oh, if that means that less of that stuff is flying all over the apartment, I'm more than okay with making such an otaku room. Oh, can I put some of my light novels in there as well? I, somehow, accumulated quite a lot of them over the course of time…"

"Sure, why not? It's a perfect fit for an otaku room after all. The ratio is going to be a bit weird, though, with 30% manga and 70% light novels, but that's okay." There was no way Konata wouldn't take this chance to tease her.

"I did that to myself, didn't I?" She silently began to accept that she's sort of an otaku as well with her light novels lately. Although, it's not like she's admitting that yet. "And, I don't have that many light novels you know?!" She tried to save at least a bit of her dignity.

"I also want a wardrobe in there." It was enough teasing on that subject.

"Eh? What for?"

"For cosplay outfits, of course! You don't want them to put in our normal wardrobe, right?"

"That's true, good point. It's kind of embarrassing to have them between my normal clothes." A whole minute passed before Kagami finally realized what just happened. "Oi! What was that?!"

"What was what? We're going to live here alone… There's definitely a lot of cosplay going to happen."

"Ahh… I see…" While looking into the far distance, Kagami seemed to have accepted her fate. Not that she was that against it, but this was a story for a different time.

The second, now former bedroom was somewhat planned out as well, and the rest of the apartment was of lower importance, so they decided to wait for the planning for that until next time. There were a few little arguments here and there about some minor details, but they mainly agreed with each other's ideas, and more importantly, both had the time of their lives while making those plans for their new apartment and future together.

More than just a couple hours had passed since Kagami and Konata arrived there, but after having played around enough for the time being, they finally decided to leave the apartment again. Both took a last look at their new home, and then went back to the lobby of the building. Konata gave the key back to the porter, and after saying goodbye to him, the couple restarted their tour through Yokohama in a super mood. It was already getting slightly dark, but neither of them cared about that.

…..

Their exploration came to an early stop, though. Not even two minutes passed since they left the apartment complex and Kagami stopped once she saw a very colorful store right around the corner. She looked at Konata with dubious eyes afterward, but she feigned ignorance.

"Heh~, so there's an anime and manga store nearby, huh…?" She wasn't very convincing.

"Kona

~…" It was obvious that she wasn't buying it. "Mind telling me the reasons why you chose this particular apartment again…?"

"Y-You see… It really was just a lucky coincidence, you know…?" It wasn't a lie, but she still started panicking regardless. "A-Actually, it was the last apartment we visited back then, and we only found this store after we left the building…"

"Is that what happened? Well, the apartment is awesome, so I think I'll believe you, Kona."

"Good… Thank you, Kagamin~. Okay, pretty bad timing and all, but want to take a look inside?"

"Sure, why not?" Thankfully, she was still in an excellent mood from earlier.

"Yay~." Konata was happy, and the two entered the anime store. For some reason, she directly went to a somewhat important looking clerk near the checkout, though.

"Hello and welcome, how can I help you?" Sais clerk directly started talking to Konata the moment she arrived at the counter because he had already sensed her presence when she still was outside of the store.

"Ah, yes, I wanted to get a point-, or rather, membership card."

"Hoh~, that's rare, we usually have to advertise them first after someone buys something."

"Yeah, I'm the dedicated type."

"Oh, I like that attitude. Sure, may I ask for your name to put on the card."

"Of course. Well, I wanted to introduce me anyway because I'm going to be a regular here starting in spring. My name is Izumi Konata."

"Nice to meet you, Izumi-san. Spring means you're going to enter the college nearby?" He was a professional, so he didn't ask about the nearby middle school.

"That's the plan."

"I see. Does your friend need a membership card as well?" The clerk looked at Kagami, who was facepalming the entire time behind Konata.

"Nah, she'll use mine, if that's okay." She wanted to get the extra points.

"Yes, that's perfectly fine."

"Kona…" She finally removed the hand from her face and looked at her with cold eyes. "You introduce yourself to your new neighbors when moving, and not to your new anime store you're going to visit from now…"

"Don't be unreasonable now, Kagamin~."

"This is one of the few times I'm not, you know?"

"So you are aware of it after all, huh? Anyway, who do you think we'll see more often? Our neighbors or the insides of this store?"

"… Nice to meet you, my name is Hiiragi Kagami. Whether I like it or not, we'll be coming here rather frequently." Konata, unfortunately, had a convincing point where she had no comeback for because it was true.

"Y-Yeah, nice to meet you as well…" Professional or not, the clerk was already overwhelmed by the dynamic of his new customers. "T-The membership card will take a short while, but feel free to look around to your heart's content…"

"That's a good idea, let's go, Kagamin~." Both left the counter and started walking through the store for a while, and Kagami was seemingly happy with the light novel section here as well. She still preferred the bookstore the two visited earlier because the atmosphere was more to her liking there, but this store had a lot more variety of the not so mainstream books, which liked Kagami who has fun finding new gems. Konata took it easy while looking around. She already knew that this anime store was a good one after all. After the two had seen about everything, Konata guided her to the second floor, and she had a great time by enjoying Kagami's reaction because the second floor was a little special. Almost the entire floor was filled with cosplay and cosplay related accessories and goods.

"Kona… You really visited this store after the apartment… right? You didn't find this store first and then looked for the nearest apartment… right?" Kagami naturally questioned Konata's choice of the apartment again because it was just too much of a coincidence.

"We can look at different apartments, you know~? Just let me tell you the other nine ones I visited before were total… garbage is a good word them."

"N-Nine…? No, it's fine…" Kagami started believing that it really was just a coincidence. Besides, she had already fallen in love with the apartment Konata had chosen, so there was no way she's going to look for a different one now. Sighing, she dropped the topic and actually, mainly unconsciously began browsing through the displayed cosplay. Seeing that, Konata got super excited, disappeared between the shelves and was gone for a good while.

"How about you try these on, Kagamin~?" Almost ten minutes had passed before she reappeared again. Kagami almost didn't recognize her at first because she was carrying a mountain of questionable looking clothes with her.

"Oi, that's way too much at once!" Yes, that was her retort.

"By the way, have I already earned my right to receive a Christmas present from you, Kagamin~?"

"Eh? O-Oh…" She remembered the thread to give Konata her present only after she saw her surprise because she had a bad feeling about it back then. Now, on the other hand, she's the one in deep trouble because, no matter what her present is, there's no way she can get even near Konata. "That was a bad idea of mine, wasn't it…?"

"Remember, I tried to warn you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did… There was no way I could've expected something on a scale like that, though…"

"Soo… about my present. How about you get one or two… or seventeen of those to spice up your present a little~?" She held up the mountain of cosplay in her hands. "A cosplay show would be the ideal present if you ask me."

"E-Eh…? U-Uhm… N-No…" Kagami suddenly started acting suspiciously after she heard Konata's suggestion and awkwardly looked away before continuing. "I already prepared my Christmas present for you, Kona. Let's save that cosplay for another time…"

"Aww… too bad. I hope your present can measure up to cosplay, though, Kagamin~."

"I-I'll try my best…" She looked even more awkward and tried to change the topic before Konata noticed her behavior. "A-Anyway, are we done here for now? I still want to see a little more of the city."

"Sure, my membership card should be done as well by now." The two went back downstairs to the clerk who handed over her new card. After saying goodbye to him, the couple left the store again and continued their exploration of the area.

….

The two started holding hands at some point and continued to walk around for half an hour without a care in the world. It started to get a little late, and so they decided to head back to the hotel after a while. Taking a slightly different route where even Konata wasn't before on the way back because they could've missed something interesting, the couple continued to hold hands while walking through the unfamiliar neighborhood. Looking around, Kagami suddenly found something that caught her interest. She stopped in front of a traditional Japanese sweets store and seemed rather happy about the fact that it was still open.

"Kona, how about go-…" Kagami wanted to suggest taking a look inside, but an earth-shattering sound interrupted her. As if it was waiting for it, her stomach let out a loud grumbling at the perfect time. "S-Shut up!" She wasn't talking with Konata right now.

"…" She wanted to laugh, she really wanted to laugh right now, but Konata barely managed to hold it in. "S-Sure… something sweets sounds pretty good right now." Having agreed with her, the two entered the store together.

"Welcome… Oh? Look at that, new faces~:" The couple was greeted by a friendly looking grandma that was sitting behind the counter. "I haven't seen you two around here before."

"Good evening… That's impressive, to remember the faces of all your customers."

"I may be old, but I would never forget customers as cute as you two." Not only was she nice, but she was also an incredibly smooth grandma on top of it. "No, my usual customers are mostly older and barely any young people are losing their way in here."

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense, I guess…"

"Yes, the young ones are more into western sweets nowadays. No one values tradition anymore…"

"I-I see… S-Somehow, I'm sorry…" Kagami felt a little guilty because she basically lives for chocolate, especially pocky. Not to mention the western style cake they had just yesterday.

"Kagamin~, you don't have to feel bad." She knew perfectly well what she was thinking about. "You may love chocolate the most, but anything goes for you as long as it is sweet, doesn't it?"

"O-Oi!" She wasn't sure how she should feel about Konata's remark, especially because she was kind of right with it. "Isn't there a better way to phrase it?"

"Ehm… You may be part of the problem, but by far not the main reason the nice grandma eventually has to close her store…?"

"H-Hey, how is that better in any possible way?!" If anything, she made it worse, way worse.

"Just so you know, little girl, business is booming and going great. I'm nowhere near having to close anytime soon." The grandma, although even smaller that Konata had already figured out how to handle her.

"Yeah, little girl, shut up." Kagami liked the grandma already.

"S-Sorry about that…"

"She doesn't mean any harm. Kona just likes to overdo it from time to time." Kagami apologized for her as well.

"Ahaha!" The grandma suddenly started laughing. "No need to be so stiff, girl. I was only messing with you. It's totally okay if you like western and Japanese sweets. Ah, I was about to close the store for today when you showed up earlier… Want to join me for a cup of tea while I show you the superiority of Japanese sweets?"

"Is that really okay…?"

"Sure, it's been a while since I had such nice and interesting customers of your age. I would like to talk a little more." The grandma seemed to have taken a liking to the couple as well.

"Sorry for imposing then, I guess…" Kagami had no reason to refuse and accepted her invitation.

"Sounds good." Konata was in as well.

The grandma guided them to a room in the back of the building and offered the two some dango [Japanese sweet made from rice floor] she made for the store while she prepared the tea. Kagami didn't wait long and directly tried them.

"Wow, they're good!" Her eyes immediately started shining once she took her first bite.

"Well, thank you. I'm happy to hear that." The grandma finished preparing the tea and joined the couple.

"Oh, yeah, Kagamin~'s right." Konata tasted them as well. "You're good at this, grandma."

"Thank you as well, little one."

"Hey…" She didn't like being addressed like that. "Please call me Konata, okay? Izumi Konata is my name."

"Konata-chan, is it? Yes, that sounds better."

"By the way, I'm Hiiragi Kagami. Just Kagami is fine as well."

"Konata-chan and Kagami-chan, I'll remember that. So, what brings you two to my humble sweets store?" She was interested in the couple's story.

"Our story, huh? Well… Uh…" Konata wasn't sure where and how to start and secretly hoped that Kagami would take over for her. Luckily, she got the hint.

"Long story short…" She naturally had no intention to start from the very beginning. "Kona and I are planning to study at the college near this place starting in spring. We just took a look at our new apartment where we're going to live then. On the way back, we looked around the neighborhood and found your store here, grandma." She stuck to a rather short summary of the day.

"Hoh~, impressive dedication you're showing here. You two must be confident with your studies if you're already sure about entering the college here."

"W-We'll manage…" There was still some studying to do, especially for Konata when it came to different subjects other than economics itself.

"Well, I hope you'll fulfill your dream of getting accepted without problems." She was rooting for them.

"Thank you very much." The couple was happy about her support.

"Ah, speaking of the nearby college… I almost forgot, but my granddaughter also studies there."

"Eh… Really?" Kagami didn't see that coming. "What does she study?"

"Uh… What was it again… I keep forgetting the name of it. Computer… Computer… Well, something with those computer machines…" The grandma apparently wasn't good with technical stuff.

"C-Computer machines, huh…?" Konata wasn't sure how she should react to that.

"She started studying there back in spring and currently lives with me here because her parents had to move because of their jobs, but she didn't want to transfer to a different college."

"Oh, I can understand that." There would be no way for Kagami to transfer away after she started studying I her dream college after all. "Is she by any chance home right now? I would love to get some tips and info about the college from a senpai." It was an excellent chance so she would like to meet her.

"Sorry about that, but she's currently out, and I have no idea when she will be back. She wanted to spend the Christmas days with her partner."

"Aww, too bad… Well, maybe next time." It was a bit unfortunate, but it couldn't be helped.

"Yes, I'll definitely introduce her to you next time. I think you would get friends in an instant with her. Even though her preferences are totally bizarre, she's a really nice girl."

"H-Her preferences…?" She somehow didn't like the sound of that.

"Yeah, her taste is totally the other way from what we taught her… I totally can't accept the way she's thinking, but she's still a nice girl in every other regard so there's nothing I can do…"

"E-Ehm…" Kagami really didn't like the sound of that now.

"I mean, she grew up with me, a specialist in making Japanese sweets and she doesn't like them! The only sweets she likes are all western ones!" For the grandma, it was a huge deal, but the couple looked incredibly relieved at the moment.

"You totally though she…" Konata started whispering.

"Don't tell me you didn't…" The two thought for a moment that the granddaughter was even more similar with the two, and the grandma had a problem with that, but it was luckily just a big misunderstanding on their end.

After recovering from the shock while munching on some more sweets, the trio kept chatting a little more, and the grandma had some interesting suggestions on which places the two should visit in Yokohama in the future. By the time the couple decided to leave, Kagami had almost tried every sweet of the product range from grandma's store and added it to the top of her list of places to visit again. It was getting late, and Kagami still had to present her Christmas present after all. Thanks to this, Konata had already become slightly nervous in anticipation. Before they left, the couple decided to buy a ton of her sweets and also got a lot of extra as a service.

"Well then, until next time, grandma~."

"Yes, see you soon, little one."

"H-Hey!" Konata still didn't enjoy being teased by a grandma.

"We'll definitely come visit again… and totally not just because of the sweets… I'm not sure when, though. It will either be on the day where we have our entrance test or in March when we're moving here at the latest." Kagami couldn't wait to visit the grandma again and totally not just to eat the sweets of her again.

"That confidence of yours sure is inspiring." She liked how there was not even a slight hint of them failing in their voices. "I'm looking forward to seeing the two of you again."

"Bye then." While waving their hands, the couple made their way back to the hotel without any extra stops because it had gotten rather late and Konata really wanted to see her Christmas present soon.

…..

The two arrived in their room without any distractions, but Kagami's present had to wait a little longer. Even though she was really curious, Konata insisted on taking a bath first because she had almost frozen to death on the way back to the hotel.

Both went into the bathroom, and after getting rid of their clothes, the two started washing each other's back and hair. For some reason, they showed some surprisingly skillful moves, almost as if they're used to this routine already. Once they finished washing each other, the two went into the already filled tub and started relaxing in the hot water.

"Haa~, such bliss~." Konata let out a happy sigh as she submerged herself in the water.

"Yeah~, it was a good idea to take a bath first… I've come back to live~." She seemed pretty happy as well. "Now, come here already." She grabbed Konata, who was moving around way too much in the tub and forcefully placed her between her legs.

"Ehehe~." Konata instantly calmed down with that, and while she was hugged from behind by Kagami, she pressed her body against her chest.

While the couple enjoyed the hot water and the feeling of each other's naked body pressing against one another, 15 minutes quickly passed. The two got out of the tub again, and after thoroughly drying each other, Kagami suddenly urged Konata to leave because she had some preparations to be made for later.

"Okay, Kona, please go ahead and wait in the bedroom for me. Your Christmas present needs some preparation before I can show it to you…"

"Ehhh~? Now you're the one making me curious."

"I'll be ready in a couple minutes, so just stay put, okay?"

"Roger!" Konata saluted in front of her and then sprinted to the bedroom because she was really looking forward to it.

Konata waited in high tension and anticipation for about ten minutes until the door of the room opened again. Kagami entered the room, and once Konata's eyes fell on her, she died. Her heart stopped working, and everything was over. Even though it was a short life, she had no regrets and went to the afterlife with a satisfied smile after seeing Kagami.

As a result of her extreme reaction, Kagami started blushing because she was extremely embarrassed about the situation she was in. A couple minutes passed, and Konata miraculously revived from the dead again, but the revival wasn't complete because her eyelids and mouth still weren't working. Her mouth refused to close, and she was unable to blink for a while now already. Her brain had too much trouble processing the information it got from Konata's eyes and overloaded, causing her body to bug out.

"K-K-Ka-Kagamin~…?" Her vocal chords were apparently affected as well. In front of her, there was her girlfriend that decided to cosplay as Santa on Christmas. It wasn't the standard Santa, though, it was the much more popular sexy version of it. On top of it, it was a Santa costume that gave every other sexy Santa a run for their money.

"P-Please say something, okay…?" She was already embarrassed enough, and Konata wasn't any help.

"…" There was no spoken reaction, but Kagami could be sure that Konata liked what she was seeing because the liquid that began dripping out of her nose had the same color as her costume. A nice and deep red.

Kagami wasn't just wearing red, though, there was a lot of white mixed into it as well. Calling it a Santa outfit was a little controversial, to be exact. The only traditional, or rather not indecent, part was the red Santa hat with a fluffy, white bobble attach to its end. The rest of the outfit barely even qualified as a Santa costume, except for the color, that is.

Her top was basically just a red bra with a white outlining and a big ribbon between the cups. Her stomach was completely exposed, but at least her skirt was perfectly fine. If used as a belt, that is. As a skirt, though, its coverage wasn't even worth mentioning because it utterly defeated the point. The tiny piece of clothing also followed the color pattern of being red with a white outlining, together with some lace applications. By the way, her panties, that were entirely out in the open thanks to the sorry excuse of a skirt, where white as well.

Going further down, snow white lace garter stocking came into view that tightly clung to Kagami's legs and tights. According to Konata's line of sight, those were by far her favorite things of the Santa costume. As a finishing touch, Kagami was wearing red, elbow-long gloves with white ribbons attached here and there. Completely unnoticed until now, she was also holding a neatly wrapped present in her arms, but Konata didn't care about that in the slightest. She continued to shamelessly stare at her for many minutes.

"K-Kona, isn't it about time to say something already?" Kagami was still fighting against her embarrassment.

"Ah… Eh… Uhm… Wha… Er… Wai… Ehm…" She needed another moment to speak in an understandable language again. "Ah, I see… So this is heaven, huh? I did die early after all…" She was totally overwhelmed, and this was the only possible explanation.

"Do you really think you would end up in heaven, Kona?"

"Ah! That's true… Wait, so this is real…?" Konata didn't even try to say something about her comment. "W-Wow, you look awesome, Kagamin~. No, you look hot." Once she had accepted reality, she immediately began complimenting Kagami in her own way.

"T-Thanks…" She was still embarrassed, but looked happy as well. "Looks like I made the right decision about the costume I chose…"

"Huh, what's that about?" Konata heard something interesting and shifted her focus away from Kagami's legs for a short while.

"I wasn't so sure which cosplay to choose."

"Oh, what were the options?"

"Either the sexy Santa I'm wearing right now or sexy catgirl." Her choices were a little one-sided, but it was for Konata after all.

"Sexy c-catgirl…? Hmm…" She had a really conflicted look on her face. "Now that's a tough decision right here… It's a good thing you didn't leave the decision up to me. I never would've been able to choose one… How did you end up going with the Santa one?"

"It was a little more fitting for the occasion and… W-Well, I did like the catgirl, but the way the tail gets attached there… I wasn't so sure about that specific part…"

"The tail…? What does… WAIT! Wait, wait, wait a moment!" Konata was a little confused at first, but once she understood what Kagami was implying, she needed a moment to let it settle in. Even she started blushing a little, but it was nothing compared to Kagami when she saw Konata's flustered reaction. "T-There are other ways to attach the tail besides i-inserting it, you know…?"

"T-There are…?" Apparently, she didn't know about that.

"Y-Yeah, like some sort of belt where the tail is attached to, or directly integrated as a part of the costume for example…" She was oddly well informed about that sort of thing.

"I-I-Is that so…?" Her face earned another shade of red and was already past the point of typical embarrassment.

"Kagamin~… Just where were you looking for the cosplay…?"

"On the internet of course! There's no way I would look for, much less buy something like that in a normal store after all."

"Mind telling me the address of this site? For research purposes only, of course." Konata was very interested in what else the site has to offer.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Kagami was slightly concerned about her well-being, or rather, her remaining dignity.

"Anyway, I'm very happy with your choice, Kagamin~. I couldn't have chosen anything bolder, even if I tried my best. It's just the way I like it~." After all, she was quite the pervert. Not that Kagami was any better because she was the one who chose the cosplay in the first place.

"By the way, how about I give you the actual present now?" She held up the present she was holding in her arms the entire time.

"No, thanks, I'm good already." She had no interest in it because she already had her fill with the cosplay and so her inner, humble self couldn't accept anything more. "I'm already more than happy with the cosplay, you know?"

"Nonono, I'm already about a million presents behind before being able to compare to your apartment surprise, so please accept my present."

"Fine, who am I to refuse a present in the first place?" Her inner, humble self, went back to sleep and Konata finally unwrapped the box while looking rather confused once she saw the content. "Those are?"

"Study books." Kagami had gifted her a wide variety of economics-related study books. "But they aren't just any books because there's a story behind it. I looked for people who are studying economics in Yokohama all over the internet and asked them which books they used to pass the entrance test. After getting a decent list, I visited about every bookstore and online shop until I found every single one of it." She had put quite a lot of work into her present. Way more than one would think at first glance. "It's still not in the slightest comparable to your present, Kona, but I still did my best with that."

"Wow…" Konata was deeply impressed. "What a very thoughtful present. I'm very pleased you think so much of me and our future together." She really liked her present. "By the way, you're the only one who's allowed to gift me study books without receiving a beating, you know?"

"I, and all the people around you are very well aware of that." No one besides Kagami would even think about getting her anything study related in the first place.

"Anyway, thanks, Kagamin~. It's a very nice present. It's maybe not as expensive as mine, but that's not the point of presents anyway. It's equally meaningful because you also want to spend your future here with me in Yokohama and that's all that counts. Also, that Santa cosplay gave you like a million bonus points." She gave a meaningful speech, but still managed to ruin it at the end.

"I-Is that so…?" She was feeling a little conflicted. "Somehow, it really does feel like the cosplay alone would've been enough after all…"

"N-No, that's not true… I was joking when I said that earlier…" Konata tried to deny, and she also meant what she said, but her voice was still wavering and the fact that she was staring at her legs for quite a while again already, wasn't exactly helping her case.

"You're such an idiot~." Kagami wasn't angry at all because it was clear that Konata was happy about the books and she interpreted her staring as a compliment.

That look Konata was giving her also made clear what was about to happen. Kagami had no problems with seeing that she was incredibly turned on for a while already. She absolutely couldn't blame her for that either because it was her fault and responsibility that she was like that in the first place. It also wasn't much of a bother for her because, honestly speaking, Kagami was more than just ready for it as well. More than that, she was even looking forward to it because of everything that Konata did today really made Kagami want to have her. If the apartment wouldn't have been empty, she might've already attacked her there, but the lack of a bed or anything else of use left her no other choice than to bear with her urge until now.

Once Kagami returned Konata's wanting gaze with a much more powerful on her own, there was no holding back anymore. Konata tackled her, and both ended up on the bed while immediately starting to make out. It didn't take long before they began stripping each other, but Konata hadn't much to do there because Kagami already was basically naked from the started and her kinks were leaking out.

"K-Kagamin~…" Her breathing already was a little rugged. "Would it be possible if we don't take off your stockings…?" She really liked them. "Oh, and… the Santa hat as well…" There was no explanation for that part.

"Nevermind the stockings, I know about that after all, but… seriously, what's wrong with your head…?" Kagami knew about her love for stockings, but the Santa hat surpassed her understanding. Even so, she complied and kept both on.

After that, things got heated up again, and both openly let out their desires that had pent up over the day. Thanks to the events that happened, the two, especially Kagami were a lot more passionate and wild throughout the night.

….

The next morning arrived, and just like yesterday, the two had a somewhat late breakfast in the hotel restaurant again. After finishing their meal, they checked out of the hotel afterward. Facing the hotel employee at the counter was one of the most embarrassing things the two ever had to do until now. Not only did they have more than just a few visible hickeys, but the two also had to explain how they broke the lamp on the nightstand next to the bed. Konata and Kagami obviously lied about the real reason on how they broke the lamp during the last night, but their appearances were telling its own story.

Having paid for the room, and the lamp, the two exited the hotel with very swift steps and were on the streets of Yokohama again. While they were walking the last time through the city, for now, the couple suddenly started laughing halfway to the station because of what happened earlier.

"Ahaha… That was sooo embarrassing at the checkout… Why are we such idiots, Kona?"

"Because we're having fun in our lives?"

"Do you really have to be an idiot for that…?"

"It certainly looks like it, doesn't it?"

"Well… it does…." Kagami accepted the fate of being an idiot rather easily.

"Ehehe~."

"No more visible hickeys, though! That hotel employee didn't say anything, but she clearly was embarrassed as well after looking at us. She totally knew that we lied when we told her how the lamp broke!" She wanted Konata to hold back at least a little.

"Kagamin~, you do realize that I have more hickeys than you, right…?"

"Ah… We really are idiots, huh…?"

"Why we? Well, not that you're wrong…" They were both idiots, after all, happy-go-lucky idiots.

"We should still be a little more cautious… We should at least try to… We're going to fail anyway, but it's good to have a resolution, right…" Kagami was perfectly aware that her plan isn't going to work.

"Sure~. So, what did we learn from last night's incident, Kagamin~?"

"Not being so wild anymore…?"

"Eh…? No way! What are you even talking about?" According to her reaction, Kagami apparently came to the wrong conclusion.

"What's the right answer then, if not that?"

"That we shouldn't place anything breakable next to our bed once we're living together of course!"

"Ahh… You're not even going to try holding back in the future, huh?"

"Well, are you going to, Kagamin~?" She never got an answer from her, but that was an answer in itself, and the two reached the train station shortly after. With that, their trip to Yokohama came to an end.

After getting home safely, the two were pretty busy until New Year's Eve. Konata was still legitimately afraid of Kagami's thread about what happens if she fails the entrance test and, so she didn't stop studying even for a minute on those days after Christmas. She absolutely can't allow herself to fail the test for college after everything she promised Kagami about their future together after all.

Kagami's Christmas present actually helped her a ton. The study books, of course, were very helpful. The Santa cosplay was more distracting than everything else she came across before. She, and Kagami as well, made significant progress over those days, and so they allowed themselves to take a break over the new year to spend it with their group of friends.

---

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---

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Well, even though it was supposed to be a Christmas chapter, it played a rather minor part in the story.

As usual, the two are continuing to be a lovey-dovey idiot couple. Rest in peace, Mr. lamp. Your death won't be in vain. Actually, it was…

Their dream of living together is getting closer now that Kagami knows about the apartment as well. Okay, I admit the apartment is a little big, but who cares about the small details. The floor plan isn't completely final, and there maybe are going to happen some slight changes, but that's the apartment I had in mind. I plan to use the floor plan in the future again once the apartment got renovated. Also, when the girls get the furniture for it so I can give a better understanding of their future home.

…

.

I'm about to run out of ideas for the story, so I'm currently thinking about new things (Feel free to message me requests/ideas!). How do you guys feel about OC (Character not native to the original story)? I mentioned the sweets grandma and her granddaughter in this chapter, and I have a few ideas for the grandma and actually want to make the granddaughter a regular character as a college friend of Konata and Kagami, but I'm not sure whether I should add OCs or not. I'm probably going to have a lot of fun with them because I already have a ton of ideas. Having completely free hands with some characters sounds pretty interesting in my eyes. Okay, I already altered the girls quite a bit but that's just... character progression...? Yeah... let's call it that.

Please let me know your opinions about that. (hopefully positive... I somehow love the new characters already...)

.

….

The next chapter is about New Year, and it's already done, so it's most likely going to be here after New Year's Eve. It's much shorter, though, so don't expect too much. (3500-4000 words) It's also completely based on a joke on a specific name/description I wanted to do since forever... A joke on Kagami's costs, that is.