Disclaimer: After all this, we STILL don't actually have any legal ownership of these characters. Enjoy anyway.

Author's Notes: It's been four years since our last update! I bet you didn't think we'd be back. We didn't think we'd be back. Inspiration struck out of nowhere, though, and we have ideas for another 3 chapters after this one! Our lives are still busy but we hope to be able to submit more chapters after this one. In the meantime, enjoy!

If you're new to this story, you'll wanna read Level Up! Love! before this. Just click on our profile to find it! I hear it's pretty good.

Edit: Also just fixed a ton of formatting errors... sorry to those who had to read this all messed up!


Chapter 3: It's a Matter of Love

"Jeez, I'm so tired. I think the sun was still down when we got up today." Kagami caught herself slumping pretty significantly. She blew out a sigh and straightened her back, not stopping as she walked down one of many bustling, table-filled aisles.

Better get used to it all. This is going to become an obligation of mine for the rest of my life now, isn't it? The girl put her fingers to her forehead and frowned. Maybe I should start charging her a fee for my services... a girlfriend can do that, right? Reasonably steeled, Kagami trudged onward toward her next save point on the trying trek that was Comiket.

Somewhere off in another hall of the building, Konata was a methodical blue torpedo, hitting target after target in a way that could only be considered legendary to some. She consistently failed to notice the burning auras and passionate screaming that seemed to follow in her wake, trying desperately to draw her attention to the Ani**te table. There was only minimal collateral damage.

"Excuse me! Hey, I said excuse me! C'mon, move already!" Kagami's shoulders pried their way forcefully between several much larger body masses, each of whom moved aside as easily as a rusty shopping cart. Her frustration with the crowd was reaching a boiling point. They had been particularly obnoxious in this aisle... especially the cosplayers in military uniform that kept on speaking broken Italian and rambling about "pasta".

I've got to get out of here! This place wasn't meant for humankind!

It was as Kagami was resuming her resigned trudge forward that she suddenly caught a glimpse of the table she'd stopped near. This particular table did not seem abundantly popular at the moment, leaving its contents vulnerable and viewable. A quick glimpse of a cover image, and a nostalgic feeling of curiosity compelled the girl to scoot a bit closer. Kagami crept over to the stack of books on the far left corner of the table. The cover depicted two young women, one with long, aquamarine hair and the other with braided, silver hair, who were locked in a delicate embrace. Both figures were wrapped in lily petals that just barely covered their risque areas. Kagami's gaze intensified and her mouth began to stiffen.

Now hold it, this situation seems way too familiar... The girl's eyes darted warily between the book and the floor below her. I know better than to look at these things. Still, things in life are a little different now... and I kinda wonder about...

Kagami swallowed hard, grabbed the book and hoisted it up over her eyes. She began tentatively flipping through. Kaname and Tessa seem way too repressed here. She turned a page. Yep, this is totally out of character... She flipped another. See, I can totally handle this- woah, they would never- do that? And now... damn... Kagami flipped once more to a 2-page spread, and the whites of her eyes suddenly spread to fill her face. EH?! Is... is that how we're supposed to- no no no, this is a perverted comic, not some guidebook. I shouldn't expect to... but what if SHE expects-

"Only 500 yen if you're interested-OH Hiiragi-san!" The table attendant's voice was the catalyst that sent steam bursting from Kagami's ears.

"N-no actually, I- ah-ah-AHHHHh T-Tamura-san!" The sample doujin was nearly crushed in her mortified hands. "So this is your table, huh?" Kagami hastily slapped her composure back together.

"Heh heh, yeah," Hiyori replied, trying not to stare at the display book that Kagami was wringing into a tight cone, "This is it! We're not doing quite so hot as we'd hoped this season..." Hiyori feebly gestured to the sparse evidence of patronage. "Buuut I don't need to carry on about that," the younger girl cut herself off, "I'm surprised to see you here, Senpai! I didn't think that Comiket was really... your scene."

"No, it's definitely not." Kagami waved the mauled doujin a little. "Konata just roped me in again, so I'm really only here as a favor."

"Woah, really? That's pretty awesome!" Hiyori smiled brightly. "Izumi-senpai sure is lucky to have you, isn't she senpai?"

"You don't know the half of it. Let's just say she'll owe me bigtime someday." Kagami gave her own sardonic smile.

An awkward silence ensued. "Owe her bigtime..." Hiyori repeated softly, her smile still present. The brunette allowed her eyes to drift downward casually to the kudgel of manga. Oh man, I can't ask her to pay for it! This is too awkward!

It was at this same moment that Kagami's own gaze drifted downward, catching sight of the book that Hiyori had in her own hands. There were two vaguely familiar figures on the cover of this one... they were a bit difficult to make out due to Hiyori's fingers covering parts of the image, but the entangled blue and violet hair was pretty unmistakable. Kagami's sharp eyes locked onto the book like a cat's lock onto a dying bird.

"So were you interested in, ah," Hiyori leaned over her table to figure out which display piece was missing, "Ah..."

Her eyes shrank to dots and she continued in a small voice that shrank under the weight of sympathetic embarrassment, "Fumoffu Flowers... Kiss..."

Kagami's gaze-of-steel was abruptly slashed, jolting her back to the reality of the revealing material currently crushed between her two hands. "Ah-AH NO no no I wouldn't call it informative-INTERESTING, I mean, I... just needed something to-"

Hiyori interjected desperately," Of course! It's for a friend! You shop for Izumi-senpai right!?""

"YES!" The older girl's eyes ping-ponged between what she herself was holding and what Hiyori was holding. She was becoming more and more sure that Hiyori's book depicted herself and Konata on the cover.

"That makes seEEEENSE HAHA," Hiyori gasped loudly as she realized what Kagami was staring at, and impulsively ripped it in half and threw it behind her.

"WELL. That'll be 500 yen."

Kagami in turn slammed the wrinkled book back into place on the table, sending the other display titles momentarily into the air and back down again. Nearby tables looked over. Not even bowing her head was sufficient in hiding the poor girl's confused, mortified aura.

"ACTUALLYIJUSTREMEMBEREDIHAVETOGOWAITINLINEFORTHEB ATHROOMTHANKSTAMURA-SAN." She rocketed off, colliding with every other person on her escape route, till she was out of sight.

It took a few seconds for Hiyori's hair and manga to settle again in the wake of Kagami's departure. Silently, streams of tears ran down Hiyori's face.

Back on the other side of the building, no legendary girl seemed to pay notice as a few staff members were dragged out to an ambulance. One man with a particularly large hat and green jacket continued to cry desperately about getting her next year for sure.


Konata sat at a very small table, drinking a bottled coffee and reading. She would have looked unusually normal if her book wasn't pornographic.

Kagami was sitting across from her at the same small table, hunched dramatically over it. Her chin was just barely resting on the table's surface itself. Her features looked bedraggled, and the girl did nothing to move a single twin-tail that had flopped over her face.

"So glad I made it over here..."

"Uhhuh." Konata turned a page.

"Hey, are you even listening to me?"

"Uhhuh."

"HEY, I dragged myself out here for you again, at least give me the time of day, huh?!" Kagami reached for the top of Konata's book and yanked it down to reveal her face. Unfortunately she had also revealed the lamentably offensive contents of the book itself, and reeled back, shielding her eyes. "Haaaahewohgod, put that away already!"

Konata started and finally looked at her distressed girlfriend. Her twin-tails were frayed, her mortified eyes bulged over weary bags, and her posture had her set to fall out of her chair. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Why ever do you ask?" Kagami twitched.

"You look awful. Like you just walked out of Hellywood or something"

"Well EXCUSE me for not dressing up for you today!" Kagami huffed, wearing her thinned patience on her sleeve. "I'm not trained for the kinds of things I saw today... not trained at all."

Konata leaned back in her chair and waved a hand, "I'll have you trained soon enough. And it's like this every year. What's the difference?"

Though Kagami balled up her fists and glared a searing glare at her girlfriend, but then gave it up. "Nothing, nothing," she waved a defeated hand and plopped her tired head to rest on her arm. "I just can't wait to go home, at this point."

Konata mirrored her and theatrically plopped her arms over Kagami's shoulders and back. "You wanna dress up for me that badly?"

"What are you talking about now?" Kagami could not be bothered to open her eyes while speaking.

"Your miko cosplay." Konata patted Kagami's back deliberately.

"What gives you the idea that I'm doing any of that stuff for you? And I told you, don't call it cosplay! Anyway, you can't keep me out too late tonight, okay?."

"I wouldn't dream of it. Can we make out while you wear it?"

"WHAT? N-no!" Kagami finally reacted adequately, blushing and bobbing Konata up and down with each of her words. "Where do you even get these thoughts?"

Konata just smiled lazily and allowed her head to bob like a bell.


The sun pulled itself down below the horizon, bringing a close to the year and with it, hundreds of worshippers ready to pay their respects. Washinomiya shrine was not quite overrun, but the location was undoubtedly seeing a higher amount of traffic than it had in recent years past. The Hiiragi sisters were certainly having their mettle tested. The two younger girls could be spotted rather easily among the dense crowd, darting carefully about the property or engaging patrons as needed.

"Onee-chan, over here!" Tsukasa signaled with a white-robed hand up in the air.

"Ah, coming!" Kagami trotted over to her sister, handing her a neat stack of small white paper. "Sorry it took so long, but that should last a while." The older twin stretched her back for a moment. "Man, Inori and Matsuri are so lucky, getting to sit at the booth all this time."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. But they also have to deal with a lot more people at once than we do, I think." Tsukasa put on an understanding smile.

"I guess you're right," Kagami relented, "but right now I kind of just feel like I'd do anything to get off of my feet."

"I'll be sure to make some tea once it's all over." Tsukasa offered, having total empathy for what her sister had gone through. "It'll be nice and relaxing."

"That sounds great, Tsukasa..." Kagami smiled weakly. "... but it seems so far away from now."

In the distance, a blue ahoge bobbed and darted over a sea of heads until a Konata popped out, "Hi guys."

"Oh, you made it! Hey!" Kagami and Tsukasa both turned to greet their tiny friend.

"Kona-chan, Happy New Year!"

Konata bowed, "Happy New Year. I'd like to buy ten fortunes."

Tsukasa giggled a little, while Kagami's eyes flattened. "Hey now, that's not how that works. Why do you want ten?"

"I said last year I wanted to collect them all, right? And I got a bonus at work so why not? I'm feeling lucky this year anyhow." She may have flashed Kagami a smile. Kagami specifically.

"You really wanna throw your money away on this?" Kagami looked at Konata's unchanging smile. "Alright then, I guess it's money for the shrine. Come on, they're over this way." Kagami lead the midget further into the crowd, and Tsukasa trailed behind. It wasn't long before the younger twin was approached by another patron and pulled away from the other two.

Konata was aware and, subtly, slipped her arm around Kagami's waist. Nobody would see, for the crowd and the big billowy miko sleeves.

"H-hey!" Kagami's mouth wrinkled with confusion and dismay, as she felt her body respond both positively and negatively to the touch. "Careful out here!"

"Since we're both girls, even if somebody noticed they'd figure we're just friends." Konata said cooly, unwavering in expression or step.

"You have an excuse for everything." Kagami rolled her eyes. "Just... keep your arm hidden." She was pretty aware of the rising blush that Konata would undoubtedly notice. The pair approached the fortunes.

As they did so she casually slipped her arm back to her side and began digging in her Ker_o coin purse. Konata made her purchase while Kagami sighed.

"Well, enjoy your ten, completely meaningless fortunes. Even if you did believe in this kind of thing, you'd have cancelled it out with this many."

"So heartless. I was getting these for the next ten years" She added quietly, "with you."

"Th..." A taken aback Kagami began fiddling with the red strings on her long sleeves, looking desperately from side to side. "That's still not how these things work, you know! W-watch what you say about that!" And after a 3-second pause, she flipped her arms behind her back and looked squarely away.

Konata smiled and laid her fortunes out in a row and then began to methodically open them.

"Good fortune."

She opened another, "Excellent fortune."

Another, 'Excellent fortune."

Another, "Excellent fortune."

Konata's eyes were getting a little wider, and her mouth stretched a little.

Peel, rip, Excellent fortune! Excellent fortune!

Kagami looked less and less enchanted with each passing moment. "... this is dumb."

Konata had a small crowd of people suspensefully gathered around her, much in the way people gathered about successful gamblers. Ever so slowly, Konata opened the seventh fortune, biting her lip.

"AH" Her eyes squinted tragically, "Terrible fortune." She turned back to Kagami with a little crying face, grabbing at the miko's robes, "C...C-COMBO BREAKER."

In response Kagami shrugged. "If that's the highest of your worries, it's probably going to be a good year after all."

Soujiro had been watching from within the little crowd, "Seven Year Itch," he muttered a little darkly. He clenched a fist and then slammed down some bills on the table, "I'll take seven fortunes!" He grabbed Konata's hand, "Konata! I'll save you! I'll give you a new seventh year fortune!"

"Dad-no, c'mon-" Konata tried to retreat.

"I'll save you!"

"Stooop."

Though at a loss for words, Kagami had a hard time taking her tired eyes off of the spectacle.

"... you know, it really doesn't work that way... "


Time rolled on and Kagami rejoined her sisters in work, forgetting about the presence of her eccentric little love interest for a bit. Her mind had begun to regain its focus and the crowd had just barely begun to thin, when she heard a small voice calling.

"Miko-san, Miko-san!"

The girl sifted through the crowd until she could hear the voice a little better. Yep, it was Konata, standing a few feet away from most of the other people.

"You're still here? What do you want?"

"I gotta show you something. C'mon." She took her girlfriend's hand and began to lead her away without any indication as to where she was going.

Though Kagami followed, she gave some gruff attempt at protest. "What exactly are you going to show me?"

Konata lead them around various trees and buildings, and finally stopped in front of a large sacred tree, far away from the main festivities. The commotion of the crowd was a soft murmur, and the softness of a winter's night settled on them. Konata was looking around and smiling at the scenery, her breath visible in little puffs.

Kagami took in the scenery with a bit of discomfort, "Hey Konata, I'm still working you know. What are you doing?"

Konata shot up to an even height and kissed Kagami. Her arms closed around the miko robes out of affection and a decided need to stabilize herself as she stood on her tiptoes.

"MMPHhHPt!" Kagami began to flail. Nonononononono we're at the shrine! Why is she-?

Konata kissed her a few more times, gently petting Kagami's back as if she were trying to soothe her.

Inevitably, the tsundere melted in her assaulter's arms. "Nnnmm..."

They kissed a few more times, but the effort of staying on tiptoe began to make the shorter girl wobble and she had to abruptly flatten her feet to avoid falling. That didn't deter her from keeping her arms around Kagami and leaning into the crisp white miko's haori.

"First kiss of the new year," She crooned as she nestled herself into the sea of sleeves.

Kagami blinked unnaturally slowly. "You... that... was totally inappropriate..." The dreamy tone of her voice negated all potential impact of her scolding.

"It was totally nice, and nobody saw us anyway."

"Well.. ah... I guess you're finished then?"

Konata popped up onto her tiptoes again and put her face very close to Kagami's "Only if you really want me to be."

Tempted though she was, Kagami steeled her features. She placed a hand atop the shorter girl's large blue head, and gently pushed her back down onto the balls of her feet.

"Guh!" Konata jerked, "Okay, okay. After you, Miko-sama." Konata bowed very low.

Kagami huffed and took her cue. "Whatever. You're awful, you know that?"

"Yes, Miko-sama."

"Not that I'm complaining too much here, but... you know, you could've had our first kiss of the new year at any time. It's not like I'm kissing someone else." The girl twirled some hair in one of her hands.

"Because Kagami, you wouldn't be in your miko cosplay later!" Konata held up a knowledgeable finger. "I wasn't about to miss that event."

"... I'm going back to work."

Konata lagged behind, and turned to look at the big tree, "Thank you, Kannagi-sama." she said quietly.

"What was that?" Kagami called over her shoulder.

Konata turned back towards the miko's back and jogged towards it, "Wait for me, Kagami-samaaaaa."

"Don't go calling me that in public again!"

"Okay, Kagami-samaaaa."


Footnotes: There you go! We hope we got the traditions right. We already knew that Comiket was on New Year's Eve, New Years is a family holiday, and that families go to the shrine to pray and buy fortunes for the new year.

Next time: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! ANIZAWA HERE, burning bright and rising again like a phoenix! The ultimate manager cannot be beaten down forever! Defeated merchandise always has it's season again! Even fanfiction can come back to life after years on the shelf! After a while the nostalgia sets in and the fandom is reignited with passion! ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS! FINGER!

Next Chapter: The Girl who Leapt Through Hurdles