January was already over, and it was not a very fun month for the third years. Especially Konata was on the verge of dying already because she had only 1 HP left from all the studying they did. Absolutely nothing else other than the girls doing their best for the entrance tests from morning to evening happened after all. Konata naturally wouldn't survive something like that without taking damage, but Kagami wasn't in her best shape either. All that studying for the test put her under a lot of stress as well, but, on the brighter side, she was very happy about the stress-induced weight loss during the last weeks.
Miyuki had completely disappeared into her own world and, in Konata's words, had undergone some full-blown spartan training. Because of her intense studying, she also only met up with Tsukasa during her few break days, but she fully understood that. The girl in question, Tsukasa, on the other hand, was somewhat hated by everyone during their study time. While she also needs acceptable grades, her studying mainly consisted in cooking as much as possible and taste testing as the preparation for the practical test of her cooking schools she wants to enter.
….
February arrived and with that, testing time for the girls began.
Miyuki was the first one who had to take her entrance test, but it wasn't even worth mentioning that much. Nobody doubted even for a fraction of a second that she's even physically capable of failing a test in the first place. Everyone was sure that she passed for sure.
Tsukasa was next, and while she got nothing official yet, the examiners had a hard time staying indifferent after tasting the desert she had to prepare as part of the test there. From the look of it, she wasn't going to have any problems either.
A few days later, it was finally the time for Konata and Kagami, who had their test on the same day. Kagami's test was scheduled a little before noon, and Konata's began a couple hours later. Because of the time difference, the two decided to go to Yokohama individually after also sleeping at their own places for a rare chance, to not accidentally getting distracted. Konata used the extra hours in the morning for some last-minute cramming just to make sure.
…..
Kagami finished her test about half an hour after Konata started hers, and because she wanted to wait for her, Kagami had to find something to kill time until then.
Not being able to think of anything better, she decided to pay the sweets store grandma another visit. Barely remembering the way, and being totally exhausted, it took her a while, but she eventually managed to arrive at the store.
"Welcome. Oh, Kagami-chan, you really came again, huh? Wait, what's wrong?!" The grandma needed a moment to recognize her again, but then quickly noticed that she wasn't looking overly well.
"Ahh, nothing much… I just never was as exhausted and tired as today before… That's all."
"Is that why you look like a ghost?"
"More or less…"
"So, what's the cause if this?" The grandma was curious about the state she was in.
"I just finished taking my entrance test for college before coming here. That and all the studying beforehand completely tired me out…"
"Oh, that was today? I see I guess it's normal to be tired after that. Ah, want to rest in the back room for a while? You can also have some tea if you want."
"Really? That would be perfect." Being too tired to refuse her, taking a rest sounded perfect right now.
"Go ahead then. I'll bring you some tea later."
"Okay, thank you very much…" Kagami disappeared into the room behind the store and made herself comfortable there. About ten minutes passed, and the grandma appeared with the tea and a large variety of sweets from her shop.
"Here you go, I'm sure that will help you recover, Kagami-chan."
"Oh, that looks so good~." She completely ignored the tea and dived directly into the sweets. After getting her fill on that, she finally drank the tea, and after emptying the cup, Kagami's complexion already looked way better.
"Oh, looks like it worked. You already look way healthier than before."
"Yeah, sweet things work really well for me…" Thankfully, there was no one there that would make fun of her.
"So, how was the test?" The grandma wanted to know how she did.
"Hmm… It was super hard and exhausting, even more than I had imagined… But, I don't have a bad feeling about it. I think a did a good job."
"That's nice to hear. Well, after you made all those grand plans with Konata-chan, it just has to be, right?"
"That's true, falling is not an option."
"By the way, when is her test?" She was wondering why Konata wasn't here with her.
"Actually, she's taking her test right now. There were only a few hours in between. That's why I came here, to wait until she's done. She'll come here as well once she's done.
"Is that so? I hope she's doing well right now then."
"She better be. Well, I'm not that worried. She may not look like it, but she's surprisingly good at economics."
"That's reassuring. Okay then, I need to go back tending the store. Feel free to relax some more here."
"Thank you very much, I will." Kagami accepted her offer, and the grandma left her alone again. Still having a lot of time left to kill, Kagami kept munching away way too many sweets while worrying about how Konata's doing right now and wishing for the best.
…..
A little over two hours passed before Konata finally arrived at the sweets store as well.
"Welcome. Oh, Konata-chan, you're done, huh? Good job."
"Yep, just finished taking my test, thanks."
"How was it? You seem to be a lot more relaxed than Kagami-chan earlier." The grandma was surprised that Konata wasn't pale and exhausted looking as well.
"I think I managed just fine~." Konata was in awfully high spirits for some reason. "Is Kagamin~ in the back?"
"Yes, she's still recovering from her test in there." Saying so, the two went to the room behind the store where Kagami was waiting for Konata to arrive.
"Well, that certainly didn't last long…" Konata noticed all the remnants of already eaten sweets and the pile that was still left. "And you were so happy about all the weight you lost over the last month… Not that there was a need for that in the first place, though…" She had a hard time suppressing the smirk that was forming on her face.
"S-Shut up, idiot!" Kagami almost leaped over the entire table and hit Konata's because she was embarrassed. What made it worse, it was completely true. "W-Wait, that doesn't matter right now! W-Why are you so laid back after just finishing your entrance test?" How… Eh, Kona…?" She noticed that something was wrong.
"Haa… Good night…" The moment Kagami had hit her, Konata lost all her little remaining energy, and once the tension inside her was gone, she lifelessly slumped down on the table. She was also beyond tired after all, but managed to keep running until now.
"My, my, it looks like I need to prepare some more tea." The grandma left them alone for the time being.
Almost ten minutes passed before Kagami was finally able to wake her up again. She felt a bit bad for doing it, but there were still a ton of things to talk about.
"Kona~, wake up already~…" She continued to shake her body until she got a reaction.
"Ugh… Just five minutes more, Kagamin~…"
"Come on, you can sleep all you want once we're back home…"
"Fine…" Konata reluctantly, and lazily raised her head before facing Kagami. "Good morning…"
"Yeah, yeah, good morning, Kona… So, how about coming back to the topic?"
"Topic…?" She was still half asleep.
"The test, Kona, the entrance test! How was it?!"
"Ah, that… Ehehe~." She suddenly looked really smug for some reason.
"H-Huh…? What's with that confident look of yours? Wasn't the test hard?"
"No, super hard, actually… I hope the creator of the test will suffer and misfortune until the rest of his pitiful life…" Konata apparently didn't like that person.
"Ehh…? Then, where's your confidence coming from?"
"You see~, I missed an essential detail on the entrance test for my department."
"That doesn't sound good at all, though…"
"Nonono, it's awesome! Only the economics related part of the test decided whether you pass or now. The rest only determines which other mandatory courses you have to attend afterward. To make things perfect, over half of the economics questions were about marketing things~." It couldn't have gone much better for Konata.
"S-Seriously…?" Kagami wasn't sure whether she should be happy for Konata or jealous because she had such luck with her test.
"Well, it was still super hard, but I have a really good feeling about it~."
"Setting aside the slight unfairness… That's just perfect for us, isn't it?" Jealousy took over a part of her feelings after all.
"Yep~. This also has a very interesting other meaning."
"Hmm? What do you mean, Kona?"
"Whether we will be able to move here, or rather, live together, is more likely up to you now, Kagamin~."
"W-What…? Oh…" She obviously had never imagined such a possibility. "W-Wow, I never would've thought to be the decisive factor here…" Kagami was being casually rude as usual, but she had a point.
"Nobody could've seen that coming." Konata even agreed with her. "I hope you did your best, Kagamin~."
"I-It'll be fine!" She had a good feeling as well, but she couldn't help feeling nervous now.
"Yeah, I think so, too." Teasing aside, Konata believed in her. Kagami was the intelligent here after all.
After that, the couple chatted a little longer with the grandma, but because the two were extremely tired and still had a catch the train, they didn't stay overly long. The grandma didn't say anything, but Kagami still left a suitable amount of money behind for the enormous amount of sweets she ate today. After promising her to visit again, Konata and Kagami finally were about to begin their long way home. The two were about to exit the store when the door suddenly opened, and another person entered the store and slipped past the two while they left.
"Woah, that girl had gorgeous hair…" Kagami turned her head around when she noticed the girl that entered the store. She only saw her from the side and back because she reacted a little late, but that was enough for her to be fascinated by her hair. It was a very tall girl, a good bit taller than Kagami herself, and from what she saw in the very short amount of time, the girl had a very attractive figure and super long, silky jet-black hair that reached all the way down to her hips.
"Eh? Who…? Where?" Because she was so tired, Konata hadn't even noticed that they walked past someone when they exited the store.
"The girl that entered the sweets store just now…"
"Hmm…?" Konata turned around, but the door had already closed behind them, and she couldn't see anything. "Aww, too bad… Ogling other girls, already, huh~?"
"Shut up, idiot, you're just jealous you didn't see her, right?"
"Absolutely!" She not even tried to hide it. While Konata missed the girl completely, Kagami also had missed a very important exchange between the girl and the grandma was well when they left the store.
"Oh, Mio-chan, welcome back."
"Yeah, I'm home, grandma."
Not realizing at all that they had just met someone important passing by, a person Kagami wanted to see the last time they visited already, but couldn't back then, the two continued their walk towards the station while trying their best not to fall asleep without ever talking with the granddaughter of the sweets store grandma.
The moment the two entered the shinkansen to Tokyo, it was no use anymore, though, and they slept through the entire ride, barely even managing to exit in Tokyo again. After that, Konata and Kagami entered another train towards their homes and both went back to their own because their parents wanted to know how it went in Yokohama in person.
Once the two informed their parents about their tests, they directly went to their rooms and instantly fell asleep without taking a bath or even eating something in the evening because the exhaustion was too great. Thankfully, the girls had no school on the next day because it's more or less optional during the testing period until graduation. Because of that, the couple almost slept until noon of the next day without running into problems.
…
After Konata was finally more or less awake, she headed over to Kagami's place because it was Valentine's day, but Kagami actually wasn't the main reason for her visit. Having had their entrance test just a day before it, the couple had decided to skip Valentine's day this year because the timing was beyond bad.
Miyuki also had her difficulties with preparing something for Tsukasa in such short time, and so, Tsukasa decided to make something for everyone because she was the only one who had enough time. Actually, even preparing sweets for Valentine's day worked as some sort of training for her entrance test. Because of those factors, she got overly excited and made a literal mountain of chocolate-y sweets for everyone. This wasn't very good for Kagami, though. Her stress-induced weight loss, which she was pleased about, had already taken a huge hit yesterday when she visited the sweets grandma, but became utterly pointless with that. She complained a ton about the amount of chocolate to Tsukasa, but she still ended up eating more of it than her sister, Miyuki, and Konata in the end.
While the girls were snacking on the sweets in Kagami's room, the group naturally began chatting about their tests because that was more or less the only topic they were interested in right now.
"Now that I think about it, this is the first time the four of us all met up again since New Year, isn't it?" Kagami noticed they actually haven't seen each other like that in a while.
"Indeed. Well, we just went through a hectic time, so there's no helping it." Miyuki agreed with her observation. "By the way, how was your and Konata-san's test yesterday, Kagami-san? I hope it went well."
"It was extremely hard, but I'm fairly confident."
"Yep, same for me. I was pretty lucky and got some good questions, though. How about the two of you?" Konata was interested how Miyuki and Tsukasa did because she hadn't heard anything yet.
"It may be presumptuous for me to say, but I'm basically certain to have passed without any troubles." Miyuki said so, being a little bashful, but no one thought she was being presumptuous at all because that result was a given anyway.
"I think I did a good job as well." Tsukasa was quite as convinced as Miyuki, but she also had a good feeling about it. "I'm still totally about the results, though…"
"That's absolutely true." Konata and Kagami were feeling the same as Tsukasa. The two were being especially nervous about it because they had so much more to lose if one of them failed the test with their apartment in Yokohama.
"By the way, when is everyone getting their result?" Tsukasa wanted to know how long to have to wait. "To me, they said somewhere in the upcoming week."
"Same here." Konata and Kagami got told the same date.
"So am I." It was the same for Miyuki as well.
"What is everyone going to do until then?"
"Absolutely nothing at all!"
"I'm with Kona here this time… The last weeks were so exhausting that I just want to take it easy and relax for a change." Usually, Kagami would've given a more serious answer, but the last weeks were so hard that she went down to Konata's level of laziness.
"Oh, I like that idea." Tsukasa apparently was going to do the same.
"Yes, I think I'll take a short break from studying as well for now." Miyuki didn't let go as much as the others, but she was tired as well.
After everyone had decided to enjoy their time after the tests were over by taking it easy without needing to study, the days passed in the blink of an eye.
….
The following week began, and with that, the results of their entrance test were coming in.
Tsukasa was the first one who got a reply from her cooking school, and as expected, it was an easy victory. The points she got from her desert alone was more than enough to make her pass already.
Miyuki actually had a more difficult time, but for a very special reason. Nobody, not even the professors from her new college had an explanation for it, but Miyuki somehow managed to score 107% on her entrance test. Because something like shouldn't have been possible and people in her medicine department rarely score even above 90%, there were obviously some doubts about her impossible results. The faculty director of the college got curious about it and invited Miyuki to a personal conversation about the topic. For some reason, after talking about an hour with him, Miyuki was the first person ever that got a full scholarship in her college for some reason.
Two more days passed and Konata finally received a letter from her college as well. Once she told her father about the letter, she immediately headed over to Kagami's place because the two had decided to look at their results together before.
About 30 minutes later, the door of Konata's house opened again, and Kagami entered the hallway. Sojiro spotted her from the living room and looked confused.
"Ehh… Kagami…? What are you doing here…?"
"Ah, Sojiro, I just got my results from the college test earlier and wanted to take a look at them together with Kona. Is she in her room?"
"Ehm… No, she left a while ago…"
"Ehh?! Where did she go?!" Kagami wanted to see her result as soon as possible, so Konata not being there was a big problem for her.
"Well… She's at your place, Kagami…"
"What, why?! Out of all times, she decides to come to my place for a change, she chooses today?!"
"You see… She got her results of the entrance test today as well and had the same plan as you…"
"I-Is that so…?" She felt a little stupid that the two had the same idea and acted without thinking about it. "Well then, I'll head back immediately." Not that she started thinking now.
"Ah, wait a mome-… and she's gone… What a splendid flag she raised just now…" He already knew what's going to happen soon enough.
A little over half an hour passed and Sojiro's guess already came true. Konata had come home again and sprinted into the living room.
"Dad, I'm home! Has Kagamin~ already arrived? You won't believe it… I arrived at her place, and Miki told me that Kagamin~ had the exact same idea and was already gone…"
"…" Sojiro had troubles answering her. "Well, Kagami did come over a while ago…"
"Perfect, is she in my room?"
"Ehm, she was here, you know… Kagami headed back home the second she heard that you were at her place…"
"S-Seriously?! Just how stupid are we?"
"Ahaha…" He didn't want to answer that.
Meanwhile, at Kagami's house.
"Ha… M-Mom… I'm home… H-Have you seen Kona…?" Kagami had trouble breathing because she ran all the way from the station to her place.
"You're kidding, aren't you…?" Miki could only shake her head at her daughter.
"E-Eh, why…?"
"She already went back home because you were at her place…"
"T-That's not true, is it…?"
"As funny as it is, it is. Well, it's actually more kind of sad in a hilariously painful way…"
"Au… Please don't tell anyone about that, mom…" Kagami felt extremely stupid and embarrassed.
"As if anyone would believe me anyway…" Miki had no plans on gossiping. "So, what are you going to do now, stupid daughter of mine."
"I'll give her a call now first, I guess…" She didn't feel like retorting because she couldn't say anything about it, grabbed her cellphone and tried contacting Konata, but she didn't get through.
"Hmm, what's wrong?"
"I'm just getting a busy signal…"
"Don't tell me she tried contacting you at the same time. You two can't be that much of a…"
"No way… It was just a coincidence!" She tried calling her again, but got the same result. After trying it two more times with varying waiting periods in between, there was still no change in the situation.
"Wow…" Miki had no other words.
"W-Well… Let's try calling her house instead…" Kagami didn't want to continue this farce because it was way too embarrassing. "Ah, Konata? You colossal idiot, just what are you doing?!" She finally got through to her. "S-Shut up… Yes, we both are complete idiots… Anyway, just. Don't. move! …I'm coming over to your place again now… Yeah, bye…" She hung up and let out a big sigh.
"As long as you two are aware of it…" Miki was talking about the idiot part she heard.
"Once again, see you later, mom…" Without making any more fuss, she quickly left.
"Take care~." Miki also let out a sigh. "Those two are just too much… Mom is worried about their future…"
About 40 more minutes went down the drain, and Kagami arrived for the second time today at Konata's house.
"Welcome back, Kagami~." Sojiro greeted her with a smile.
"S-Shut up…" She was still embarrassed about their stupidity. Without saying a word, she went upstairs to Konata's room.
"Ah, there you are, Kagamin~."
"Hey, Kona… Can we not talk about earlier, okay?"
"I just wanted to suggest the same." Konata also just wanted to forget about it.
"So, back to the topic…" Kagami held up the letter from the college that was still closed and brought their attention to it.
"R-Right…" They instantly became nervous again. Just like Kagami, Konata stared at her letter for a while, but nothing happened. "H-How about opening each other's letters? That maybe makes it easier…"
"G-Good idea…" The two exchanged their letters, but the plan didn't work that well. Instead of looking at their own letter, the couple was now staring at the one given in exchange. Neither of them found the courage to open it because they were way too nervous to look at the results. The two were confident about their test, but looking at the real results was something different altogether. Almost five minutes passed when the door of Konata's room opened, and Sojiro barged in.
"And, how does it look?" He was obviously curious about their results as well, but because he didn't hear anything until now, he totally wasn't listening in at all, though, Sojiro couldn't wait any longer and entered Konata's room. "Wait a moment… You still haven't opened them?"
"W-Well… We're too nervous to look at the results…"
"I see… Want me to check them first instead?"
"Oh, that could work." The couple looked at each other with a confirming nod and handed over the letters to him.
"Okay." Sojiro opened them and looked at the results of both girls. A few seconds passed, and he decided to tease the couple just a little. "Hmm… Hmm… I see… That's how it is, huh? Very interesting indeed…" He dragged it out as long as he could.
"DAD!" Konata really wasn't into teasing right now.
"That's not funny at all!" Neither was Kagami.
"Sorry about that." Sojiro turned the letters around, and the word 'Accepted' was clearly visible on both. "Congratulations, you two."
"…" The room fell silent for a while because the couple needed a moment to fully acknowledge the situation. Once reality settled it, Konata and Kagami leaped into each other's arms and began jumping around in the room. "We made it. We made it! We really made it!" While the two continued to happily jump around, Sojiro decided to leave them alone.
"Well, I think I'll give Kagami's parents a call for now. I highly doubt she'll think about it at the moment."
It took almost ten minutes before the couple calmed down to some extent and the two finally let go of each other, but continued to be super excited and giddy because they still had a hard time actually believing it. Both sat down on Konata's bed and reread their letters to make sure that everything wasn't just a dream. After confirming it about five times, they were finally sure about it and were about to do another dance of joy, but barely managed to hold back.
"We really passed the test…"
"Yeah…" The couple was in a daze.
"What are we going to do next now?" Now that it was sure that the two are going to move to Yokohama together, there was a lot of planning to do, and Kagami wondered with what they should start.
"Hmm… Calling the landlord about the apartment is probably the first thing we should do. After that… Taking a look at the renovations?" Konata hadn't planned that much yet.
"Sounds good as a start. Oh, we also need to take measurements of the rooms for the furniture and stuff. And, speaking of that, we also need to go shopping for those. Together, of course, because I totally don't trust you on that, Kona." More points were quickly added to their to-do list.
"Yeah, I wouldn't trust me either."
"As long as you understand. We also need to pack our stuff and get ready to move… Not to mention setting everything up in our new apartment."
"Haa... I just realized, but taking it easy after the entrance test is already over, huh?" After hearing everything that they have to do, Konata realized that the two are going to be very busy.
"Yes, we're going to have a ton of things to do with our moving to Yokohama."
"Well, it could be worse~."
"Yeah, compared to studying for the entrance test, I don't mind this kind of being busy one bit." The two weren't disappointed at all that they weren't able to relax anymore and looked forward to the next weeks.
….
Miyuki and Tsukasa came over to Konata's place in the afternoon of the next day to celebrate that everyone got accepted to their first-choice college, respectively cooking school in one case. Because of that, Tsukasa went ahead and baked a cake for the occasion. Much to Kagami's dismay, it was full of chocolate and cream, making it extremely rich in calories. There was already nothing left from her unintended diet, and with this cake, everyone, especially Konata will have to bear with the whining about some numbers on Kagami's scale in the near future.
"So, now that we all passed, what's everyone going to do until college starts." Kagami wanted to know what their plans for the next couple weeks are. "Oh, and your cooking school, of course, sis."
"Hmm… probably the same as last week, onee-chan. I'll sleep a lot."
"When did you wake up today?"
"Just a few hours ago…"
"I see…" Kagami had expected that much. "What about you, Miyuki?"
"That's a good question. I'll eventually have to start studying for college already, but, other than that… Meeting up with Tsukasa-san in the afternoon if she's awake by then, I guess. What about you and Konata-san, Kagamin-san?"
"Kona and I are going to be super busy for the next weeks because of our apartment in Yokohama."
"There's still so much left to do, basically everything, actually until we're ready to move… That's going to take up all our attention for a while."
"Yes, that sounds time-consuming." Miyuki understood why the two are going to be even more busy from now on.
"Speaking of which, onee-chan, I really want to see your apartment soon. Is that possible?"
"Hmm… Once we set everything up there, you can visit us anytime you want, sis. It wouldn't be any fun without furniture anyways, wouldn't it?"
"We'll probably do a housewarming party then as well."
"Oh, I can't wait for that."
"Indeed, I'm looking forward to it as well." Tsukasa and Miyuki were really interested in their apartment and how the two are going to live together.
The group kept chatting for a good amount of time longer about various things, but once it became evening, Miyuki and Tsukasa headed back home again. Kagami obviously stayed at Konata's place, though.
…..
A few days passed since their gettogether, and just like expected, Konata and Kagami were super busy already. The paperwork for the apartment was already done, and it was officially theirs now. The two had received the keys already and were now on their way to Yokohama again. They wanted to check out the renovations and needed to take detailed measurements of the rooms in order to be able to buy furniture.
Once the couple had arrived at their apartment and opened the door, both were pretty surprised.
"Wait a moment… Is the flooring new as well?" The first thing that Kagami noticed was that the floor in the hallway looked somewhat different from how she remembered it before. The color was a little darker, and the type of wood was different as well, it was some sort of birch wood now.
"I think so, too. They sure went all out with the renovations, huh?"
"It looks nice. I like it. I wonder what else is new in here~." Kagami was getting excited already.
"We should start with the kitchen then. They said we're getting a new one after all."
"Okay~." Since the moment she had entered the apartment, Kagami's mood had skyrocketed and it didn't seem like that would change anytime soon.
"W-Wow…" The two entered the kitchen and Konata couldn't suppress her surprise. Not only was the flooring there new as well, being the same as the hallway now, but the kitchen itself was entirely new and totally different looking now. It was much bigger than before, offering more place to work on, and everything seemed really modern. The cupboard, including the hanging ones on the wall, were white with brushed aluminum handles, and a dark gray, elegant countertop made the look perfect. The electrical installments, such as the stove, oven, and the big fridge, that was also in a brushed aluminum look, where state of the art as well.
"Woah, you were right, they definitely went all out with the renovations…" Kagami also didn't expect that much of a change.
"Yeah, it looks awesome, though. We're going to have a lot of fun here~."
"… Pervert."
"Ehh… What? Ah, Kagamin~, I meant cooking, you know…?" Konata's words usually always carry a suggestive undertone, but this time, she really was talking about cooking only.
"Oh, s-sorry, I used a wrong word… I-I meant, uh…" She tried a weak excuse, but it apparently didn't work.
"Kagamin~." A happy grin formed on her face.
"S-Shut up…" Kagami wasn't embarrassed that she had a perverted thought, that's nothing new after all, but that she was the only one and basically self-destructed herself was too much.
"Ehehe~. Anyways, please don't destroy the kitchen, okay, Kagamin~? It would be too much of a waste for such a nice-looking kitchen…"
"H-Hey! That's not nice at all-… I'll try my best to be careful…" She got angry for a second, but she then got concerned about the kitchen as well because there's actually a not so small possibility that she actually blows it up.
Because they didn't have to take any measurements in the kitchen, everything was there already, after all, the two left the kitchen again. After taking a short glance at the toilet and the bathroom to see if anything changed, which didn't, they took some measurements from the fitting room part of the bathroom. Afterwards, the two went to the smaller bedroom, the one that Konata's going to use as her otaku room.
"Huh… Was the cabinet there in the was the last time as well already, Kagamin~…?" Konata looked to the right side of the room where she spotted an open sliding door that revealed a cabinet of about the size that the toilet next to the room wasn't using behind it.
"Hmm… I'm not exactly sure…" Kagami tried to recall the last time the two were here. "Ah, wasn't there some stuff standing in front of that wall back then?"
"Oh, now that you say it, I'm starting to remember. That's great, it saves us one shelf or so from the shopping list."
"Right, saved money is always a good thing."
"Not sure if a single shelf matters much, though…" Konata wasn't sure if one would even notice that on the list of things to buy.
After making a quick sketch of the future otaku room and adding the measurements on it, the couple went to the bigger, real bedroom. Except the flooring, that was the same as everywhere else as well now, nothing much besides the new AC near the ceiling on the wall changed there. Another room sketch, including its measurements, was made and the couple made a quick stop in the hallway again because they needed a plan and the size of it as well. After that, the couple headed over to the living room. In the bigger part of it, just like the bedroom, only the AC and the now matching floor changed, so sketching and taking measurements didn't take up much time. The Japanese room connected to the living room saw a few more renovations, though. On top of the new AC there as well, the paper sliding doors leading to it were entirely new, and fresh tatami mats were installed on the floor.
"New tatami sure smells nice~." The two were standing in the Japanese room, and Kagami noticed the distinct smell of fresh tatami mats.
"So true!" Konata enjoyed the scent as well and then threw herself on the tatami while rolling around on it. "It also feels super nice."
"Haa…" Kagami, too, sat down on the floor and after also enjoying the feel while letting out a happy sigh, she spoke up again. "I sure wasn't expecting that they would renovate that much."
"Yeah, it's indeed a nice surprise. Thank god we agreed on the rent before the renovations started." After seeing all those changes, it would be more surprising if the rent wouldn't have gone up.
"Hehe, lucky us~." Once they had relaxed enough, the two took the measurements of the Japanese room, and after making a sketch of it as well, the couple sat down on the tatami mats again because that was the most comfortable spot in the apartment right now. After that, Konata laid out the sketches of the rooms on the floor, and both carefully looked at them.
"So, shall we do some more planning, Kagamin~?"
"Hmm… Hmmng…" While having a really concentrated look on her face, Kagami picked up the sketch of the living room and rotated it a few times to get a better feel for the proportions. "Let's see… How about…" She grabbed a pencil, and after tapping it a few times on the paper while thinking about something, she began drawing a dining table and a couple chairs on it. It looks super messy, but it got the point across.
"Yeah, that works. There's still enough room for the stools I wanted for the hatch to the kitchen that way." Konata took over the pencil and started drawing on the sheet of paper as well. After adding the stools and pondering a little over a good place, she added a sofa as well. It was an L-shaped one that also acted as a room divider between the dining place and the rest. Then, at the other side of the room, Konata also drew in a TV stand. "How about it?" Her drawing looked even worse, but that wasn't a problem either.
"Seems good to me. Okay, we still need a sofa table and... How about a shelf?" The user of the pencil changed again, and Kagami drew them onto the plan as well. "That should be it."
"Looks like a living room to me. I like it." Both looked at their drawings for a moment and seemed happy with the result. Once the living room was done, Konata picked up the sketch of the Japanese room and looked at it for a second or two. "Well, that's easy… A low table slash kotatsu and a shelf or cupboard-like on the wall…?"
"Yep, we should keep it easy here." The Japanese room didn't take up much time, and it was Kagami's time again. Picking up the pencil, she began drawing something on the sketch of the bedroom. "Well, okay, we already agreed on the position for the bed the last time, so… that goes there. A nightstand on each side is also a good idea and… hmm…" She drew those on the sheet and started tapping with the pencil on the paper again as she thought about the other furniture. "Ah, right, the wardrobe and a cupboard… Let's see, those are going there… and, do we need anything else…?" Kagami's drawing looked finished, but she felt like there was missing something.
"Anything else… Oh, should we get a TV in the bedroom as well?"
"Doesn't sound like a bad idea. Watching a movie while… relaxing in the bed is quite nice." Kagami always enjoyed cuddling in the bed with Konata while watching a movie. "But, do we even have enough place for that?"
"We can get one of those wall mount things. This way, the TV basically doesn't need any place at all on the wall." Konata already had a way to solve the problem.
"Yeah, let's do that." She quickly added a TV to her drawing to finish it. "Other than that, we don't need anything else, do we?"
"No, looks complete to me as well. Okay, next up is my playground, right?" Konata took over the pencil again and got ready to start working on the sketch of her otaku room.
"Don't make it sound like the bedroom is my playground."
"Well, it's our playground, Kagamin~." She corrected her words in her own way and then began adding some furniture to the sketch. "Okay, let me think… I need a desk for my PC… that goes there… or maybe on that wall…? Then, a big shelf for my mangas and figures…Probably there, I guess? Some stuff can into that wall cabin we found earlier…" She kept drawing things onto the sketch of the room while thinking about what she needs. "Oh, I almost forgot the wardrobe for your cosplay, Kagamin~."
"Damn, so close…" She actually hoped that Konata had forgotten about it. It's not like she has anything against cosplaying. That's certainly not the case, especially after Christmas, but Kagami was a little scared about what's going to happen with the whole cosplaying thing once the two are living alone.
"Hehe~. Okay, I think that's all I need for now in there…" Konata finished her drawing for the otaku room and put the sketch back on the floor to the others.
"On to the bathroom… Well, not that there's much needed in there…" Kagami took a quick look at the bathroom sketch, but was quickly done with it again. "Well, a washing machine and a shelf for towels and stuff, huh?"
"Yeah." Konata had nothing to add. "What's left…? Ah, the hallway…" She found the only sheet of paper that had nothing added to it yet. "What do we need in there…? A cupboard or two and maybe something else to place… stuff on, I guess?" Konata wasn't exactly sure what to do with the hallway.
"Hmm… also some decorative things…?" Kagami also was no expert on the topic. "Oh, we do need a shoe rack at the entrance and something to hang on our coats and stuff." She managed to think of something practical at least.
"Ah, yes, we need those…" Shopping for decorative things could become quite the challenge for the two.
Once they finished their planning for the furniture in every room of the apartment, Konata and Kagami looked at the sketches with a happy, but also complicated look.
"Woah, that's quite a lot of stuff we need…" Kagami was a little overwhelmed by the amount of furniture. "Konata, that's getting really expensive…"
"I know~." She didn't care about it in the slightest.
"Hmm…" Kagami didn't feel that well about Konata paying for everything. "I wonder if I can bring something from my place that we can use as well…" She wanted to at least contribute a small part to the costs. "Oh, I think my mom bought a shelf not that long ago, but it didn't fit in the place where she wanted to have it in the end. It's still collecting dust in its carton ever since then…"
"That sounds like a good idea. Let's ask her later about it."
"Let's do that. What else… The TV in my room is also fairly new, and I won't be needing it anymore. Sure, I'll stay a few days here and there back home, but I can live without a TV during that time…"
"Your TV, huh? It's certainly not a bad one, but it's too small for the living room… Maybe it could work for our bedroom? Oh, how about the Japanese room? Watching TV while lazing under the kotatsu is pure bliss after all."
"Just how many TVs do you want, Kona?"
"How many rooms do we have again? About twice the number of that would be ideal."
"I shouldn't have asked…." She had expected an answer along those lines. "Then again, a kotatsu and a TV goes pretty well together.
"It's decided then~. All that's left now is going shopping for furniture, huh?"
"I have the distinct feeling that this is going to be a really complicated experience, Kona…"
"Nah, I'm looking forward to it. I'm sure it's going to be fun."
"More like long, nerve-wracking, and expensive, but sure, fun." Kagami and Konata had different interpretations of fun on that.
"Don't be like that, Kagamin~."
"Well, it's our apartment and future life together, of course, I'm excited… I just hope you're not going to overdo it, Kona." She addressed her primary concern about the shopping trip.
"Ehehe~." Konata didn't give a very satisfying answer.
"Let's look up furniture store once we get home and visit one tomorrow, Kona." She wanted to go as soon as possible.
"Look who's looking forward to it now."
"That faster we get our furniture, the faster we can move in, right?" So she said, but Kagami's eyes were definitely sparkling.
"True. Ah, I can't wait to live together with you here, Kagamin~."
"You're absolutely not alone with that." Kagami also was looking forward to their life together.
"Now that I think about it… If everything goes well, we actually could spend a first night here in a couple days or a week, huh?"
"Oh, I would like that. Let's make tomorrow a success then. Too bad we can't move in already because we still have our graduation ceremony among other high school stuff…"
"Yeah, but then again, graduation is a little over two weeks, so we don't have to wait that long, Kagamin~."
"Let's hope I can wait that long~." Kagami was so excited at the moment that two or maybe even three weeks were way too long for her.
"Hehe." Konata was happy that Kagami was so eager to move together with her. "Not that I don't understand you, though. I hardly can't wait either." She also was pretty giddy.
After relaxing some more time in their apartment, the couple decided to head back home, the homes they were living right now because it was getting late and the two had everything they needed to know of the apartment. They didn't pay the sweets grandma a visit this time because Kagami didn't want to. According to her, she had gained way too much weight over the past week, not that Konata had seen any of that extra fat.
Once they had arrived at home, Konata's place, of course, the couple looked up some furniture stores online and made some plans for the next days and how they're going to tackle their big shopping trip. It wouldn't be a good idea to do this without a plan after all, especially when Konata's taking part in the furniture shopping for their new home.
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I got that chapter ready way earlier than I had imagined… Maybe even too early because I have the feeling I missed something, but… whatever.
Not really relevant, but I made a bad sketch of the scene about how they handled the planning for their rooms and the furniture.
www,imgur,com/e7U2qEr (exchange the , with . ) (For some reason not showing up on my profile again...)
Nothing much to comment on this chapter… The girls had their entrance test, and the results were obvious after all. Miyuki sure overdid it, though.
Not sure if anyone noticed, but there was a short tease about one of my new characters for the story in here. Mio, the granddaughter of the sweets grandma, made her debut, although a short one. You'll see more of her in the future. Starting with this chapter, I'll post a profile of the extra characters of this story on my page and add information as they get revealed in the story. All of you then can take a look at those characters.
Next chapter… I'm not sure how much going to happen there… Definitely their shopping trip and setting up their apartment. Maybe I'll include the graduation already, maybe I won't. I also want to do a Miyuki and Tsukasa scene again because I neglected those too much lately… Absolutely no idea when the chapter's going to happen, though.