Almost two weeks passed since the girls began to attend their colleges, and, of course, Tsukasa her cooking school. Their excitement of being in a new environment was slowly fading, and soon enough, it became their standard everyday life.
Not everyone was pleased with their new day-to-day life, though.
From day one, despite most of it just being orientation, Miyuki became instantly busy with her studies and preparing for her courses. That much was to be expected and didn't surprise her much. Tsukasa, on the other hand, wasn't pleased whatsoever by this situation because Miyuki now barely had any free time to spare for her anymore. This was especially hard for her because Tsukasa had much more free time now, compared to her high school days. Her courses in cooking school only covered three of the five weekdays, and even then, they barely covered half a day. The school focused on giving practical lessons in cooking, before having its students recreate what they were taught themselves after the lesson. Tsukasa, being an absolute prodigy, finished the tasks in no time at all and so had way too much time on her hands. Her girlfriend being extremely busy at the same time made things really complicated for her by adding to her boredom, making her desperately seek for other things to keep her busy. Although, the school itself was super nice, and she was able to have a lot of fun during her cooking lessons.
Konata and Kagami, on the other hand, were also not so happy with their college situation. In fact, the two were just a tiny bit frustrated.
Even though there were several shared courses between their respective departments, the couple managed to enroll in only one of them together. To make matters even worse, their other lessons were completely different times of the day, making it even harder for them to spend time together. Kagami's lessons were almost all in the morning, while Konata's were mostly in the afternoon.
Even though the two were living together now and attending the same college, they didn't have as much time to spend together than when they were still attending high school. Then again, at that time, Kagami was already basically living at Konata's place, so the comparison wasn't worth much.
Konata didn't like the situation, and she could already see herself skipping a lot of her lessons, especially the ones in the late afternoon. A lot of them weren't mandatory anyway, so she already had a convenient excuse. Kagami would probably scold her, but she wouldn't stop her because she didn't like the situation either, after all.
…..
Another morning arrived, and because Konata decided to oversleep today, she couldn't have breakfast with Kagami, and so she was all alone before she had to leave for college around noon.
"Hnng~…" Konata stretched on the bed as she made an attempt to get up, but after seeing that the spot next to her was empty, the motivation to get up vanished. Feeling lonely, Konata flopped back onto the bed and continued to lifelessly laze around for a good while.
"Ahh, I'm sooo bored!" She suddenly jumped onto her feet because she couldn't take it anymore. Still in her pajamas, Konata left the bedroom and went to the kitchen after quickly washing her face in the bathroom.
"Stupid Kagamin~… She should've at least woken me up so we could've eaten breakfast together…" She grumbled to herself as she turned on Kagami's beloved coffee machine to make herself a cup. "Geh…! I wonder how long it'll take until black coffee doesn't taste like… this anymore…" Konata made a grimace after taking a sip and quickly added a ton of milk and sugar. "Just how can Kagamin~ drink it without any problems? Well, I guess that's a coffee addiction for you…" Kagami switched to drinking black coffee a while ago and Konata, being stupidly competitive about the strangest things, tried to do the same, but she simply couldn't get used to the taste. "Don't mind it, me! After all, I only drink a cup in the morning to get up, and compared to Kagamin~, who drinks like… I don't even want to know how many cups exactly… Should I say something? That can't be healthy, can it? Not that I have the healthiest lifestyle, though…" She was slightly worried about Kagami's coffee consumption. "Oh, maybe I'll secretly switch it with decaffeinated one. Nonono, I don't want to die yet!" Konata quickly shook her head furiously when she imagined Kagami's reaction.
"Hmm… She still should at least stop drinking in the evening… Kagamin~'s always so hyper till late at night, even when we're in bed… Ah! Wait, that's actually not so bad now that I think about it… Kona's feeling pretty conflicted here…" Because she had no one to talk with, she began speaking to herself in third person.
"Well, whatever… Breakfast, breakfast… looks like Kagamin~ just had some bread, huh?" She noticed the remnants of Kagami's early morning food hunt in the kitchen. "Okay, let's do that, too. I'm not that hungry anyway. I'll save my appetite for when I have lunch together with Kagamin~ in the college cafeteria." With skilled movements, she quickly made herself a small breakfast and ate at the kitchen counter.
"It sure is quiet without Kagamin~ around…" She spoke up again after a minute or two eating in silence. "I wonder what she's up to right now… I bet she's diligently taking notes in her lesson while everyone around her is fast asleep~." A smile formed on Konata's lips as she imagined the scenario. "Hehe~, I can totally see that being the case." She let out a small giggle.
"Ah! All I can talk about is Kagamin~ while I'm here alone… When did that happen?" Konata was shocked about her revelation. "Am I really that much of a lost cause already? Just a couple hours alone in the morning without her is enough for me to already feel so lonely?! Since when did I become lonely so easily? That's no good! Kagamin~ will totally laugh at me if she finds out about that! After all, I've always teased her about getting easily lonely… yet, here I am… feeling super lonely because I'm alone in our apartment during the morning hours… how pathetic is that?!" Konata slapped herself as she fought the growing sense of loneliness in her heart.
"Oh!" She looked at the clock and noticed that it was about time to head out for college. "Looks like I have to get ready. Wait, did I really just waste the entire morning thinking about and missing Kagamin~?! Oh no… I might really be a lost cause after all… That's pretty bad… I have to do something about that!" While worrying about her mental state, Konata got ready for college and left the apartment.
…..
Unfortunately, Kagami's last lesson took longer and so she missed having lunch with Konata. Thanks to that, she went home without seeing Konata at all since waking up.
"I'm home…" She entered the apartment, but no one answered her greeting, making her mood drop even more. Letting out a sigh, Kagami got rid of her shoes and jacket before going to the kitchen and saying hello to her beloved coffee machine. At least there was something that was waiting for her.
"Oh, looks like Kona had some coffee, too, this morning, huh? Hehe, I bet she challenged herself to drink it black again. I wonder how it went this time~. Too bad I wasn't there to watch it. She always looks so cute when she tries so hard. That scrunched face she makes when she realizes that black coffee is still way too bitter for her… Ah, no, let's not go there!" Kagami forcibly stopped her delusion from starting before she drifted off into another weird direction. "It's sooo good, though…" She took a sip from her freshly made cup of coffee and looked satisfied. "I wonder what's wrong with Kona…" She just couldn't understand why Konata didn't like it.
"Anyway, I wonder what Kona made for breakfast, and more importantly, are there any leftovers…?" She started roaming through the kitchen before she abruptly stopped again. "Ah! Nonono, I just had lunch right before arriving here! Don't give Kona such an easy opportunity to tease me!" She began arguing with herself.
While being slightly ashamed, Kagami went to the bedroom and changed her clothes into something more comfortable. While changing, she noticed that Konata's half of the bed was still a mess after she hastily got up in the morning.
"Geez, Kona's such a slob~." With a smile, Kagami started tidying up the bed before she changed her mind. With a small leap, she jumped on the bed and made herself comfortable on Konata's side.
"Hmm… why does it feel like Kona's side of the bed is more comfortable…?" With the two sharing a single, big mattress, there was no rational explanation why one side would feel better. It was definitely just Kagami's imagination.
She lazed around for about half an hour before getting up again because she was bored.
"Argh! Kona's taking way too long! The times of our lessons are way too cruel! How much more time does it take until Kona… S-Seriously?!" She looked at the clock and was shocked when she realized that there were still hours left until Konata would arrive at home. "W-What should I do until then…? It's so boring without Konata around…" While loudly complaining to no one in particular, Kagami dejectedly walked to the living room with a sour expression and flopped face first onto the sofa.
"Lonely… So very looonely…" Muffled by the cushion her face was buried in, Kagami loudly voiced out her real feelings. 15 minutes of complaining while not moving, she suddenly bolted straight up after realizing something.
"W-What is wrong with me?! Just how pathetic am I?! Getting lonely just because Kona's not here with me for a couple of hours…" She couldn't believe herself. "When did that happen…? Just when did I stop being able to function on my own? We haven't been even living here together for that long and yet I'm already… No, I was already basically living at Kona's place for a good while longer, so… No!" Kagami was about to try to justify her behavior with a lame excuse, but she managed to stay resolute. "That doesn't make it any better, me!" Scolding herself didn't make her feel any better, but it was all she could do.
"I wonder if Kona feels the same as me…" She was secretly hoping that she wasn't alone with her feelings. "Even though she teases me all the time about feeling lonely, I know perfectly well that she gets as easily lonely as I do, if not more. Ah, no!" She scolded herself again. "Well, it would make me a little happier, but that's not the point! This is bad… this is seriously bad… okay, I'm glad my feelings for Kona are so strong, but this is really no good at all… I don't want to become such a useless person…" She got scared at the fact that it seemed like she would be unable to survive without Konata by her side anymore.
"Okay, let's talk with Kona about it once she comes back!" She decided not to waste any time on it. "It's embarrassing, but it's way too important to ignore and hope for the best. Let's think about some possible situations until Kona arrives…" For the next hour, Kagami did her best to come up with some ways to solve the problem.
…
When Konata finally arrived home and entered the living room, she noticed that something was going on after she saw Kagami's determined expression and felt like turning around and leaving again, but sadly, that wasn't an option.
"Err… is there something wrong, Kagamin~…?" Konata had a bad feeling about the situation.
"Welcome home, Kona."
"Ah, yes, I'm back…" She still had to be polite, even now. "So…?"
"We need to talk, Kona."
"O-Oh, okay…" Her bad feeling was spot on as expected.
"Ah, no, don't worry, I'm not breaking up with you or anything like that! I just couldn't find better words to start the conversation." Kagami noticed that her wording was suboptimal.
"Yeah, I figured that much already. You never were good with words when it came to these kinds of things." Konata was used to getting small heart attacks every now and then whenever Kagami tried to talk about serious topics. "Still, it's something important, right?"
"I absolutely think so."
"Okay, hit me!" Konata psyched herself up.
"What are you usually doing when I'm in college, and you're alone in the apartment, Kona?"
"Gueh?!" The question came so out of nowhere that her only reaction was a weird sounding noise. After all, it was just earlier this day when Konata was having a slight crisis over her behavior at home.
"What's that reaction supposed to mean?"
"W-Why are you asking, Kagamin~? D-Did something happen?" She became unreasonably flustered, completely unprepared to be confronted with this topic.
"You see…" Kagami decided to go first. "It's really embarrassing to say it out loud… but I always get lonely whenever you're not here… Feel free to tease me now so we can cont–"
"You, too…?" Konata answered before she could finish her sentence.
"So I wasn't alone with my feelings after all, huh?" Kagami was a little relieved after finding out she was feeling the same.
"Yeah… Also, I'm sorry for always teasing you about feeling lonely, Kagamin~… Although I can't promise I'll actually stop, even though I'm not really in the position to tease anyone about it anymore…"
"Thank you for your absolute sincerity, Kona… Okay, back to the topic. You know, I was shocked when I realized that I was getting extremely lonely just by being here alone without you for a few hours…"
"Yes!" Konata wholeheartedly agreed. "I couldn't believe it when I realized. Today, every single thought I had ended up being about you, Kagamin~… When I woke up and noticed you were gone already, I couldn't even motivate myself to get out of the bed for a while…"
"Exactly that! Not being able to be alone for a few hours is… really bad…"
"That's true, Kagamin~. I'm happy that our feelings for each other are so strong… but…"
"That can't be healthy, right?" Kagami finished Konata's sentence because she was struggling.
"I think so, too… We probably should do something about that."
"My suggestion is that we should get a little more independent again. We're way too much all over each other ever since moving to Yokohama. We've spent basically every minute together. I mean, just yesterday we went to the convenience store together because I wanted a bag of chips for the movie we wanted to watch, and you came along because you didn't want to wait for me even though the store is just a two-minute walk away…"
"Yeah…" Konata agreed with a complicated expression. "We are kind of overdoing it lately… So, by more independent, what do you mean exactly?"
"Well, doing more things on our own, I guess?" Kagami wasn't completely sure about her plan, either. "Oh, I know… Tsukasa's been dying to come over again to finally visit the grandma in the sweets store. I think I'll go with her and the trip should probably take an entire day. That should be a good start."
"No fair!" Konata suddenly began to pout. "I want to go, too!"
"Did you even listen to what we were talking about just now, Kona?"
"That's not it! Why do you get to spend the entire day with Tsukasa?!"
"Th-That's the problem?!"
"Of course! It's your fault that I've barely seen or spoken to her for so long, and now you want to hog her all to yourself?"
"Just what is my little sister to you?"
"Tsukasa's great, you know?"
"Yes, I am quite aware of that, Kona… Okay, how about this: I get her this weekend, and you can do something with Tsukasa the next time she comes over?"
"Next two times!"
"Well, aren't you a pain today?"
"Nothing new here, is there?"
"Fair point." Kagami was used to it already.
"Okay… You can have her the coming weekend…" She reluctantly gave up. "I'll find something to keep myself busy while the two of you visit the sweets store."
"Any ideas yet?"
"Hmm… maybe I'll attack my manga backlog… that one's gotten to the size of Mt. Fuji before I even realized."
"You haven't read much manga lately, have you?"
"I was too busy spending my entire time with you, Kagamin~."
"And that's exactly the problem. Ah, the conversation just went full circle."
"Ehehe~." Konata was proud of her accomplishment.
"Idiot~. Anyway, Tsukasa said–no… actually simply announced that she was coming over this Saturday… it didn't sound like I had any say in it… is that okay with you?"
"I wouldn't go that far, but let's do our best." Konata wasn't exactly okay with it because it meant spending a day without Kagami after all, but she understood why they were doing it.
…..
Saturday came, and Kagami had already left to meet Tsukasa at the station. They didn't meet up at their apartment because then there would've been a high chance that Konata would end up tagging along because Tsukasa definitely would've asked her to do so.
Konata initially wanted to stay at home and go through her unread manga, but there was a slight change in her plans. After exchanging some mails with Naomi the day before, the two spontaneously decided to go cosplay shopping together. For some reason, Konata forgot to tell Kagami about those changes.
Once Konata was ready after Kagami had left, she too left the apartment and made her way towards the anime and cosplay store where she wanted to meet up with Naomi and noticed she was already waiting for her when she arrived.
"Hey there, Naomi-san! Sorry, I took so long. Did I… make you… wait… wow!" Konata got closer to her and began apologizing because she was a tiny bit late, but once she got a good look at Naomi, she became speechless.
"N-No… I just got here myself…" Naomi awkwardly replied with a low voice and reassured her that she didn't wait long. It probably was a lie, but no matter how long you waited, that's the proper answer you should give in such a situation. Thanks to that, the awkwardness of the conversation ended up sounding like the two were on their first date together if one didn't know any better.
The reason why Konata became speechless after looking at Naomi was perfectly sound. If anything, not reacting like that would've been weird. It was already the middle of April, and because the weather was lovely and warm, Naomi went all out with her spring outfit.
She was wearing a bright red dress that ended just above her knees, which, especially because of the vibrant color, gave off a warm and flowery feeling. The cleavage of the dress was while very modest, it was still enough to show that Naomi was by no means flat-chested. She combined the dress with a thin, black belt around her waist and a black jacket because the wind was still rather chilly. To make herself a little taller, she was only just under 150cm after all, Naomi had on medium-high heels, which were also black and had the perfect compromise between comfort and height gain.
For accessories, Naomi had a cute looking bracelet on her right wrist and was wearing a thin silver necklace with a small heart pendant. To finish her red and black look, she had a medium-sized handbag being held in her left hand, which was also all black. Her fluffy, golden hair was flowing freely down her back because tying it up would be a huge waste, especially when combined with such a beautiful dress.
Compared to that, Konata was merely wearing her favorite pair of jeans, combined with a white shirt and a dark gray jacket. The contrast between the two was enormous.
"…" Konata was still unable to communicate correctly.
"K-Konata-san…?" Naomi was getting increasingly nervous because she suddenly stopped talking.
"H-Huh?!" She snapped back into reality. "A-Ah… no, I was just so captivated by your outfit that my brain stopped working for a moment there…"
"D-Do I look weird…?" She misunderstood what Konata meant.
"Eh?! No! It's seriously great! You look wonderful, Naomi-san! You're almost too cute to bear!" Konata had a hard time holding back her compliments.
"R-Really? Ehehe~…" Hearing those words, Naomi began to smile from ear to ear and happily twirled around to show off her dress, and it almost seemed like a bright light was radiating from her entire body.
"…" She became once more unable to reply because the creature in front of her was just way too adorable.
"Actually, I just bought the dress earlier today for our shopping trip, Konata-san!" She was feeling very cheerful after Konata complimented her so much.
"Wow, r-really?"
"Yes! After we decided to meet up yesterday, I became so excited that I could barely sleep last night and really wanted to buy something new to wear for today. That's why I got up really early to buy something new to wear." Behind her shy exterior, Naomi was an awfully honest and easily excitable girl.
"I-Is that so…? D-Do you always go so all out when you meet up with someone, Naomi-san?" It's not that Konata wasn't happy about it, but it was somewhat overwhelming, even for her.
"…" Naomi suddenly went silent.
"D-Did I say something wrong? If so, I'm sorry!"
"N-No… to tell you the truth, apart from Mio-chan whom I see all the time, you're the first person I've ever met up with, Konata-san…"
"Naomi-san…" It was impossible for Konata to understand why such a nice–not to mention cute–girl like Naomi wouldn't be surrounded in a sea of friends, but instead end up with having next to no friends and having developed a strong anxiety towards strangers.
"That's why, because I have no idea how to dress up when meeting… f-friends, I decided I'd rather do too much, than not enough…" Due to that, she used her dates with Mio as a baseline and did the same for Konata. Her voice sounded so earnest and innocent that Konata had to give it her all to hold back and not hug the poor girl right there and then.
"W-We will meet up like this a lot more often in the future, okay?!"
"Y-Yes, I would like that very much, Konata-san." The two of them suddenly became pretty embarrassed.
"But why didn't you get Mio-san to help you with your outfit? She seems rather sociable, and she would've been able to give you some tips, right?"
"That's true… But I wanted to surprise Mio-chan, so I didn't tell her about today." She then looked like a mischievous child that was playing a prank on someone.
"Hmm…?" Konata was confused and tilted her head.
"Y-You see, it was Mio-chan's idea to meet with you and Kagami-san in the first place… Honestly, I never wanted to meet the two of you…"
"Okay…" Appropriately reacting to something like that was hard.
"Ah, no! That was before I got to know you, Konata-san! I'm now happy that Mio-chan forced me to meet you!"
"I see, and what about Kagamin~?"
"Th-That's…" Her voice instantly grew thin. The two of them hadn't had the chance to bond yet. "I-I do think that she isn't a bad person, but… but she's a little… sc-scary…"
"Mhmn~." Konata gave her a nod. "That's actually a good description of Kagamin~."
"S-So she really is scary?!" Naomi was way too gullible for her own good.
"No…" Konata noticed that her usual, playful teasing wouldn't help her with Naomi right now. "Well, you don't want to get on her bad side, but she's normally a really nice and friendly girl."
"O-Okay, that's reassuring…" She seemed relieved.
"But seriously, don't ever make her mad…"
"I-I won't…" Naomi doubted whether she'd be actually able to get closer with Kagami or not.
"I think we went a little off-topic here… Why did you keep today a secret from Mio-san again?"
"Ah, yes, right… Mio-chan pushed me into getting new f-friends and now that I've gotten… c-closer with you, Konata-san, I wanted to surprise Mio-chan about being able to meet up with someone without her help…"
"You really like Mio-san, don't you?" Konata was touched by how much Naomi was thinking about her.
"Yes! She's the most important person in my life after all!" Without a single shred of hesitation, she readily confessed her honest feelings with a great smile. Her smile was even more radiant than when Konata earnestly complimented her earlier. It was a smile that was bad for Konata's heart, so she had to change the topic to distract herself.
"H-How about we go look for cosplay now, Naomi-san…?" The honest and innocent character of Naomi made it hard for Konata because she was just too cute in her eyes. Konata was glad that she preferred Kagami's firm, yet sweet personality more, otherwise she would be feeling guilty at that moment. If anything, the feelings she had now about Naomi are closer to those she has towards Tsukasa. Someone you just had to love unconditionally because they're too adorable and soothing to not have such feelings. Although, this feeling of love was as far away from being of romantic nature as possible.
"Yes, let's do that, Konata-san!"
After having talked a lot in front of the store, the two finally went inside for their primary objective of the day: looking at, and shopping for cosplay together.
…..
Konata and Naomi went to the first floor of the store where all the cosplay was located and began roaming around together.
"Are you looking for anything specific, Naomi-san?"
"Hmm… For now, I'll just get all the new cosplay like this… and this… oh, and that one looks nice, too…" Naomi grabbed one outfit after another in the new arrivals corner and put it into her shopping basket.
"Now that's some dedication…" Even Konata wasn't used to seeing something like that.
"Hehe~." She took it as praise.
"Naomi-san… could it be that you're kind of rich…? Buying so much cosplay all at once without even looking at the price tag. Also, the clothes you're currently wearing seem to be of really high quality and expensive, too." Konata noticed how she didn't seem to be concerned about money whatsoever.
"J-Just a little bit…" Naomi awkwardly turned her head away.
"I don't know why, but I'm not convinced by that little."
"You're really sharp, Konata-san."
"No, I'm really not sharp at all…" It's just that Naomi's incredibly easy to read.
"Daddy owns quite a few companies all over the world… In anime terms, I'm more or less the 'spoiled daughter of a rich and prestigious family' archetype." Because Naomi knew Konata liked anime, she chose a rather peculiar way of describing herself.
"…" She kept getting surprised by her new friend today.
"K-Konata-san?"
"Sorry, I had to concentrate to keep my jealousy in check, but I'm good now. Wow, it must be nice being able to buy all the cosplay you want…" Typically, people wouldn't think about buying cosplay as their first priority when finding out that someone was loaded, but Konata was far from normal after all.
"Do you want me to buy some cosplay for you, too, Konata-san?"
"I'm grateful for the offer, but no, thanks." She quickly turned her down. "It wouldn't feel right to use you like that."
"Ehehe~." Naomi began to smile. "Daddy told me that there a lot of people out there that only like others because of their money. I'm glad you're not one of them, Konata-san."
"It seems you have a great father that cares a lot about you."
"Yes!" Konata just scored a lot of bonus points in Naomi's book. "Ah, but personally, I wouldn't mind, though. I would gladly help you out if that means you'll cosplay more so we can talk even more…" Cosplaying was a serious business for Naomi. The odds of her going all out to buy something for Konata in the future, whether she wanted it or not, was very high.
"No, I'm good, really. I might not look like it, but I don't have any money problems at all. It's nowhere close to your scale, but I have quite a bit of money saved up, and my father's actually a rather famous light novel author." Not that she had ever read one of Sojiro's works, but that wasn't the point. "Ah, but when all of us are going to a café, or eating somewhere together, I know who's going to pay, though~." That much should be allowed when having a stupidly rich friend in your circle of friends.
"Sure, I don't mind at all~. Wait, is your dad really a famous light novel author? I don't really read them much, but that does sound kind of cool."
"Don't worry, I don't read light novels at all… Never managed to finish even a single one…"
"Huh? Even though it's your dad…?"
"Funny, eh? I always get super tired when I read too much text at once…"
"I totally get you, Konata-san!" She seemed to have a similar problem.
"Ehehe." Konata was happy having found another comrade. "Back to the question, Kagamin~ and my father both claim his works are popular. It's apparently selling extremely well because the novel series recently also got a manga adaption. I've read that one, though, and it's really good."
"Oh, that indeed sounds like he's a successful author. You should tell Mio-chan about it because she likes, no, loves to read."
"Nah, I'll leave that to Kagamin~. Reading's those two's thing, after all, talking about books and stuff."
"That's true, Konata-san. Mio-chan also said she enjoys discussing novels with Kagami-san."
"Yeah, Kagamin~ doesn't have many friends who like to read; I sure don't. I won't take her fun away by mentioning any novels to Mio-san. Kagamin~'s also working together with my father on his series as an editor. All the more reasons to leave it to her."
"Kagami-san's the editor of your dad's light novels?" Naomi looked confused. "That seems kind of unusual…"
"Well, it's more like a co-editor, I guess…? She really likes his novels, and the two talked about the story a lot, and Kagamin~ ended up assisting him with the plot and editing a bit."
"You and Kagami-san are also really close, aren't you? Besides living together, for Kagami-san to be on such good terms with your dad…" Naomi remembered Mio wanting to find out whether the two are an actual couple or just good friends, so she decided to ask a little question.
"That's not something someone with an inseparable childhood friend should ask~. Well, yeah, leaving the two of you aside, we are rather close and Kagamin~'s super important to me." Konata left out the part where the reason she met up with Naomi today was because the couple was too close, and they needed to try putting a little bit of distance between each other.
"Ehehe~… Like Mio-chan and I, huh?" Naomi was happy that Konata noticed how she and Mio were inseparable and the idea of probing about the relationship between Konata and Kagami was quickly forgotten. "By the way, what kind of light novel series is it?"
"Yeah, a little bit like you and Mio-san…" Konata wasn't sure what to think about it. "Ah, just your perfectly normal, run-of-the-mill, romance kind of story…" A lot of people would argue with her description of the yuri novel, but for Konata, it was precisely that.
"Oh, Mio-chan likes romance novels, I'm sure she's going to enjoy it."
"Kagamin~ would be happy about that… for various reasons…" For Kagami, Mio liking a yuri novel would mean a lot. She was still hoping that Mio and Naomi were a couple, too. "Anyway, we went completely off-track again, Naomi-san. How about we continue our cosplay shopping trip?"
"That's an excellent plan, Konata-san." Realizing they ended up talking for a long time about something unrelated again, the two quickly concentrated back on the cosplay outfits around them.
"By the way, are you looking for anything specific, Naomi-san? Except for getting all the new arrivals, of course."
"Now that I think about it… I totally came here without a plan… Do you have any good ideas for Mio-chan, Konata-san? Oh, and for me too while you're at it. It's fun to cosplay together."
"Well… Oh, have you watched the Madoka Magica anime and its movies?"
"Yes, I did watch the anime at least… I can't say I liked it overly much, though… It somehow turned out to be way too dark for my liking…"
"That's… a very valid point. The series definitely wasn't what you would've expected from the art and setting…."
"Speaking of the art…" Naomi suddenly looked like the idea wasn't so bad after all. "Their outfits are really cool looking, though. Mio-chan would look great in Homura's clothes. The monochrome look of her magical girl outfit is so cool. The overall black and white appearance with the dark lilac or purple accents is so nice… Especially those black leggings with the décor on the side… yes…" Naomi apparently had a healthy interest in legwear.
"Mm-hmm~." Konata gave a hearty nod because she thought Naomi had great taste. She, too, had a thing for legwear. Stockings especially were one of her greatest weak points. After agreeing with her, Konata suddenly focused her attention on Naomi's body, especially her chest area. "Hmm… Mio-san's general look does kind of fit Homura, but I think her proportions are vastly different and a better fit for Mami, if you ask me." This girl also was from the same anime series, but her body was way more developed than the other girls.
"What do you mean…? A-Ah! Just where are you looking, Konata-san?!" Naomi was confused for a moment, but she understood when she noticed Konata's line of sight and instinctively turned her body away.
"Where indeed~…" She was having her fun.
"B-But you might be right, Konata-san… Mio-chan's… assets might be a bit much for cosplaying as Homura." She imagined Mio wearing the outfit in her head, and it wasn't working as well anymore.
"Assets, huh?" Konata liked the word. "Great assets, to be exact."
"Ye–" Naomi was about to answer honestly but stopped before she was getting too obvious about her relationship with Mio and went for a counter attack. "I-It might just be my imagination, but could it be that you're a bit of a p-pervert, Konata-san…?"
"Juuust a little bit~." She had no intention of denying it. "Then again, the two of you are so stupidly attractive that it's really not my fault." Konata was becoming unreasonable.
"T-Thank you v-very much…" It was a very effective attack, and just like earlier, Naomi reacted strongly after being complimented by someone other than Mio because she never developed any resistance to it. "Y-You really have your way with words, Konata-san. If you teamed up with Mio-chan, it would be terrifying… She's also good at this whole… smooth-talking thing…"
"I don't think I can rival Mio-san, though." Konata remembered just how good Mio was with her words during their first meeting alone and knew she was not on that level.
"Ah, Konata-san, don't you think Kagami-san would make a good Homura instead?" Naomi got the conversation back on track.
"Kagamin~ as Homura…? Including those already mentioned and awesome leggings… Yes!" Being subtle never was one of Konata's strong points and never will.
"Great! What about us then, Konata-san?"
"Huh?"
"Remember our plan to cosplay together? The four of us, I mean. We exchanged a lot of mail about it, haven't we?"
"Ah, the thing we wanted to surprise Kagamin~ and Mio-san with…" Konata remembered the idea the two had of everyone dressing up together. "We should totally do that in the future, but I don't think it's going to happen with the Madoka Magica cosplay."
"Ehh, why not? We already have two characters ready, so I'm sure it would be a good idea." Naomi was visibly disappointed after hearing Konata's refusal.
"Well, we both aren't on the tall side–I definitely am not–so the two of us could only cosplay one specific character, and that is Madoka herself. We can't possibly be the same person when cosplaying together, can we?"
"You're right… Too bad…"
"We should look at Love Live cosplay or other series with a big cast of different girls for a good group cosplay. That way, we won't have such a hard time finding a suitable character for everyone."
"That's a great idea, Konata-san! I've always wanted to make Mio-chan do a Love Live cosplay, but I somehow never got to it… Yes, let's do that together sometime!" Naomi's eyes were sparkling from the mere thought, and Konata was again wondering about just how big the gap was between Naomi's shy outward personality and her real one.
"I actually think we went past some Love Live cosplay earlier. Should we take a look, Naomi-san?"
"Gladly!" She was very excited. "Oh, but let's still do the Madoka cosplay sometime! You together with Kagami-san and I with Mio-chan. I told you about how fun it is to cosplay with another person, didn't I? I want to talk more about couple cosplay, and I would be very happy if you could do that for me…"
"Ah, sure, sounds fun…" Konata didn't have much against the idea, and refusing Naomi was an impossible thing anyway.
"Yay!" Naomi was thrilled that she agreed. "A-AH!" She suddenly gasped after realizing something she said. "B-By couple cosplay, I-I didn't mean anything romantic, o-okay?!" She sounded very suspicious.
"I wasn't thinking about anything related to that… until now…" Konata mumbled these last words to herself as she wondered about Naomi's behavior.
"Thank god…" She let out a relieved sigh, and Konata's suspicions only grew further.
"…" She was lost in thought and remembered Kagami's intuition about Naomi and Mio being a couple once more. "C-Could it be…? Nah, there's no way that's possible…" Konata was willing to believe Kagami's claim for just a second. Only before she remembered that the two were childhood friends, and her anime and manga filled brain made it impossible for her to pursue the thought any further.
After getting the Madoka Magica cosplay for themselves and their respective partners for an entirely non-romantic couple cosplay, the two went over to the Love Live outfits and had a long and lively discussion about it while both appearing to be having a lot of fun.
…
While Konata and Naomi met up at the anime and cosplay shop and were busy with their shopping trip, Kagami and Tsukasa arrived at their destination. Ever since tasting the delicious sweets when they went flower-viewing a while back, Tsukasa had been bugging the couple every day about visiting the store owner, the sweets grandma. It was today that Kagami finally agreed to introduce the lady to her, and the two were now standing in front of the store.
"Wah, the store's so small and homely looking~." Right after entering, Tsukasa had immediately taken a liking to the interior.
"My, thank you, and welcome!" The grandma greeted her from behind the counter. "Hmm…? You look kind of similar to someone I know…" She tilted her head, trying hard to remember.
"I'm hurt, grandma!" Kagami popped out from behind Tsukasa with a displeased face.
"Oh, Kagami-chan! Welcome to you, too. Wait, is she the mentioned twin sister of yours?" She dodged the topic of forgetting her for a second.
"Yes, that's her, miss slightly forgetful grandma." Kagami didn't like being forgotten, so she was holding a small grudge.
"Hello, it's nice to meet you, I'm Hiiragi Tsukasa. Thank you for always taking care of onee-chan."
"My, such a polite girl."
"Ehehe~." Tsukasa always enjoyed being praised.
"Did you come for a reason today, Kagami-chan? Also, where's Konata-chan? I didn't know the two of you were able to be apart from each other…" For the grandma, the couple only existed as a set.
"Ahaha…" Kagami could only awkwardly scratch her head because that was the exact reason why she came without Konata after all. "A-Anyway, I brought my sister along because she wanted to meet you, grandma."
"Me? My, what's that about?"
"I tried some of your sweets that onee-chan had with her, and they were just sooo good."
"Really? That makes me so happy! It's great that another young person likes my traditional sweets!"
"Yes, they were easily the best Japanese sweets I've ever had, and I tried a lot of them."
"Oh? Are Japanese sweets your favorite, Tsukasa-chan?" It didn't take the grandma long to take a liking to her.
"No, that's not exactly it, grandma… I try every single sweet I come across and get my fingers on. A lot of them were naturally Japanese sweets. I really love them, though."
"Well, that's good enough for me." She was a bit disappointed that they weren't her favorite, but she was still happy to hear that Tsukasa loved traditional sweets. "Does that mean you have a big sweet-tooth, Tsukasa-chan?"
"Again, not exactly… I mean, of course, but that's not the main reason. I love to make sweets on my own, and so I'm always looking for new inspiration."
"Wow, that's such a great hobby!"
"It's actually not just a hobby anymore. I recently enrolled in a cooking school that focuses on desserts and sweets, and I plan to become a pastry chef in the future."
"Really? That's impressive!"
"Ehehe~." Tsukasa seemed happy. "That's why I wanted to ask if it would be possible for you to teach me some of your recipes, grandma. Their taste is really extraordinary."
"Me teaching you my recipes… Those recipes were passed down in my family for a long time already. I'm not exactly sure how old they are, but even my great grandmother used those very same recipes. So, unless you plan to marry into the family, it's kind of complicated, but…"
"Ah, no, I'm already happily taken, so that's no good at all…" She didn't hesitate at all about confessing to be in a relationship, just not any details of who she was dating.
"I wasn't serious about that, Tsukasa-chan. Still, those recipes are very important to me."
"Hmm… I understand. Oh, how about showing me just some basics instead? I always felt like I was missing an important step when making Japanese sweets, but I can't figure out what it is…"
"We can do that. I think it actually would be fun to bake with someone else from time to time."
"Ah, how about I share some of my recipes, so we can find out what I'm missing? Also, lately I've been experimenting a lot with combining Japanese and western sweets."
"Combining western and Japanese sweets…?" That, the grandma wasn't sure what to think of.
"Yes. You might know that already, grandma, but a lot of people, especially younger ones aren't very fond of sweet bean paste, right? That is where the western sweets come in. Chocolate, vanilla, or jam are great replacements for the red bean paste. Specifically, filled sweets like dorayaki or taiyaki work very well for that. Instead of filling them with the bean paste, you use chocolate or vanilla cream. Strawberry jam is also really delicious!"
"Indeed… My granddaughter, Mio-chan, also really hates red bean paste… Wait! Wouldn't that mean if I use this combination thing from you, Tsukasa-chan, Mio-chan would finally like my sweets, too?! Let's do it, let's do it, Tsukasa-chan! I'll teach you everything I know if you do the same!" Just the mere possibility of Mio enjoying her sweets made the grandma's mood skyrocket and become super motivated.
"Really?! Yay! Thank you very much!"
Because the two were so excited at that moment, nobody could stop them anymore, and the grandma decided to take an extended lunch break and closed the store for a good while. The two went to the backroom where the kitchen was also located and began their planning and training session. Kagami, who was still there, but completely forgotten about at this point, slowly followed them while letting out a tired sigh. She sat down at the table with a bored look on her face and started munching on some sweets that were left laid out.
"Haa… maybe I should've gone to a different place with Tsukasa… Well, she's having fun, so it's not that bad…" Even so, it was far from exciting to her. "… I hope Kona's not as bored as I am…" While Kagami was trying her best not to fall asleep, a certain black-haired girl silently entered the room and sneaked up to her from behind.
"Guess who it is~." Mio placed her hand over Kagami's eyes and playfully asked her a childish question. "Ehh…?" She froze up when she noticed Tsukasa next to her grandmother. "Who's that? A second Kagami? A short haired and gentle looking version of Kagami? Huh? What's going on?" She was confused.
"Oi, what's that supposed to mean? Am I not gentle looking or something?!" Kagami peeled Mio's hands from her face and glared at her.
"You're asking me that now while looking like you want to attack me? Anyway, who is she?"
"I told you before that I have a twin, didn't I, Mio-san?"
"Ahh~… Tsukasa, was it, right?" She remembered the conversation. "So, why is she here, though?"
"She likes to make sweets and wanted your grandma to teach her a couple things."
"Mhm…" One could easily see how Mio's curiosity towards the situation instantly hit rock bottom because she wasn't the least bit interested in her grandmother's sweets. "Haa…" Copying Kagami, she let out a sigh while looking bored as she sat down next to her at the table. "How's college going for you, Kagami…?"
"Hmm… Everything's fine, I guess. I've settled down there, too." While she actually had a couple of problems, those were mainly related to Konata, so it was quite difficult to talk about. Also, it was clear that Mio was just making some small talk and wasn't looking for details anyway. She only asked out of pure courtesy.
"That's good."
"By the way, where's Naomi-san? Have her hiding skills gotten even better again or is she really not here?" Kagami looked around but couldn't find the shy girl anywhere.
"Hmm? Why are you asking?"
"It's just that I don't think I've seen you without her for as long as I can remember."
"Really? Well, I admit that we're together very often, but it's not like every day, you know? We both have our own hobbies or stuff to do from time to time. Not that she really cares when I'm busy or just want to relax with a book…" She mumbled those complaints to herself alone.
"I-I see… That makes sense…" Kagami felt herself reminded of her current situation with Konata again and became embarrassed. "You do seem rather bored, though, Mio-san."
"I don't want to hear that from someone who looks almost lethargic and lonely while stuffing herself with sweets, but you do have a point… I actually wanted to do something with Naomi today, but she suddenly said she was busy for some reason…"
"Ah, makes sense that you're bored then."
"What's worse, she's clearly hiding something from me…" Mio looked frustrated
"What do you mean?"
"I called her in the morning, asking if she was coming over today, but she said she wanted to watch anime all day today… I mean she has those days from time to time, but she sounded nervous for some reason and tried to end the conversation as soon as possible. It really seemed like she was lying to me…" Mio had a very complicated expression while explaining the situation.
"You're right, that does sound suspicious. Hmm…?" Kagami suddenly began to think about something she'd ignored until now.
"What's wrong, Kagami?"
"No… It's just that Kona said she was going to read manga all day today…"
"And…?"
"Well, when I left earlier and told her to have fun today, Kona suddenly flinched and didn't want to meet my eyes anymore. I didn't put much thought into it and ignored her reaction because I was in a hurry, but… now that you've said that Naomi-san was behaving suspiciously as well, I…"
"I suddenly have a bad feeling about the whole thing, is what you wanted to say…?" Mio finished Kagami's sentence, having had the same thought.
"Y-yes, exactly that… you don't think the two are…"
"N-No, there's no way… I think…" Mio didn't want to face reality.
"… We have a problem, don't we…?"
"Yes…" The two knew then when Konata and Naomi met up, it could only mean bad things. Mio and Kagami would definitely be getting some embarrassing cosplay to wear from them.
"Haa…" Both sighed again over their shared misfortune.
"So that's why Kona made no more fuss when I actually left to meet Tsukasa today…"
"Speaking of which, how did that start with you and Konata anyway?"
"H-Huh?!" Kagami was surprised and startled by the sudden unexpected question.
"I mean, it surely wasn't your idea to cosplay, was it, Kagami?"
"Ahhh, that's what you meant…" She realized that she just misunderstood her, though Kagami did not realize that she was making herself very suspicious at the same time. "No, it definitely wasn't my idea… Kona actually forced me to cosplay…"
"How can you force someone to cosplay…?"
"Kona… Kona exchanged my clothes with cosplay while I was taking a bath… Basically, I didn't have much of a choice…"
"I see… Well, that's at least better than my first time because there was nothing you could do in that situation…"
"No, it was seriously bad…" Kagami looked lifeless as she remembered the day where Konata tricked her into cosplaying as Hatsune Miku. That alone was bad enough already, but she also remembered how she forgot to put on her underwear and attacked, or rather jumped on top of Konata while going commando under her mini skirt. "A-Anyway… what did Naomi-san do to you, Mio-san?"
"I'm ashamed to say, but it only happened because I spoil Naomi too much…"
"Hmm?"
"A couple years ago, Naomi suddenly asked me to wear some cosplay she randomly bought, and I did as was told because I can't say no to her when she looks at me with her big, pleading eyes…"
"Th-That's…" Kagami had no words.
"Yeah, I know, I'm weak… to my defense, Naomi can get really pushy and forceful when there's something she wants…"
"Kona's actually rather similar in that aspect." Not that Kagami was any better, but Mio didn't need to know that.
"We both have some friends with bothersome hobbies, huh, Kagami?"
"You can say that again. They're such a handful…"
"But, you know… and don't ever tell her! While it definitely is bothersome, I don't entirely hate cosplaying for Naomi…"
"Yes, okay, it's mainly embarrassing, rather than bothersome for me, but it's also kind of fun, to be honest… there are some really cool outfits every now and then."
"That's true, Naomi gave me an outfit a few weeks ago that looked really cute. Although, I had no idea from which anime or whatever it came from, and I was a little bit afraid of finding out, too."
"Absolutely! You should never ask about the source when you don't recognize it! That always ends up being bad for you… you really don't want to know which character you're imitating most of the time." Kagami looked like some bad memories had surfaced for a second again. "The best part about cosplaying for Kona is something else, though…"
"You get happy seeing her have so much fun, right?" Mio finished Kagami's sentence. "It's the same with Naomi in my case."
"Should we be stricter on them…?"
"It's fine, isn't it? I'm fine with spoiling Naomi every so often." Mio showed no sign of changing her dynamic with Naomi. "Well, except those times when she completely overdoes it, those are no good."
"You might be right… this much should be fine."
"By the way, what was your favorite cosplay, Kagami?"
"Eh? My favorite…?" She put a hand on her chin and thought about the question. "That's a tough question… let's see…" Because the two were getting really into the topic, Kagami and Mio started enthusiastically chatting about cosplay on their own. They shared some of the cosplay they wore for their partners while leaving out the most embarrassing ones of course. They didn't want to get the other party to become too suspicious about their own relationships, although they completely forgot about the fact that people don't normally cosplay for mere friends just to make them happy. The two hadn't thought about that during their conversation.
Almost a whole hour passed since the two began talking about cosplay before they both suddenly stopped with a loud gasp after noticing just what they were doing.
"Ah! We totally got caught in their pace, haven't we?!" Mio was the first to notice.
"F-For me to openly discuss cosplay…" Kagami was embarrassed with herself.
"Th-This conversation never happened, okay?!" She was equally embarrassed.
"What conversation are you talking about?" Kagami immediately agreed.
"Good girl."
"Y-You, too…" The mood became somewhat awkward afterward for a couple minutes, but then Kagami's and Mio's phones suddenly went off.
"Oh, looks like Naomi sent me a mail."
"Ah, Kona did the same."
"…" The two went silent.
"W-What…?!" Both apparently got the same mail with an attached photo. After looking at it for a while, they turned to look at each other with a shocked expression and then back to the picture because Mio and Kagami were unable to believe what they were seeing. "Ehh?!"
.
I split the chapter because it got a little long.