Lucky Legacy Gaiden
Kyoto Chronicles
Tease
"I know…I know…well tell Makoto to run the early boards through me first! Yes…Yes…I know Endless Eight was my idea! Well There's been some positive reaction!!! Well, I think you read too many fan blogs!" Kagami shut her book, quietly sighing as Konata's irritated voice bounced through the air and into her bedroom where she was studying.
"Well excuuuuuuse me for trying to do something different for a change!" Konata barked back in such a tone that made Kagami accidentally break her pencil in surprise. Two months into the show's production and Konata was at her wits' end with half of her writers. Between going back and forth between the author himself and attempting to synthesize the multiple prospective story ideas into a cohesive script, Konata was about ready to throttle somebody.
"I'm not attacking you!" Konata sighed in exasperation. "This is just…what?! Are you out of your mind?! Listen you…..you…"
Getting a feeling as to where this conversation was headed, Kagami decided to put an end to it. In one move, she snapped her book shut, threw her pencil down and crossed the hallway into the living room in three long steps.
"Is that what this is about?!" Konata was pacing irritably up and down the living room floor, tapping a pencil against her leg in frustration. All around her were drafts of scripts, hastily drawn storyboards and unfinished cups of coffee. "I thought I already told you that there's nothing going on between me and Shin-HEY!!"
Kagami quickly grabbed the phone from Konata's hand. "Hey Akio-san? Yeah, Konata needs to do her share of the dishes so I'll have her call you back."
"HEY!!! Give it back Kagamin!" Konata grasped for the phone as Kagami turned away, twisting out of the shorter girl's reach. "I seriously need to-"
"I understand you're busy but it's past two in the morning. You can carry on your discussion at work tomorrow."
Konata flailed wildly as she tried to get a hold of the phone. "I need to let her know about the changes in draft five before she gets a chance to-"
"I respect that, Akio-san but at the same time you should respect…WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?!"
"Uh-oh." Konata fell back as the cutest little vein started popping out of Kagami's forehead.
"Are you seriously telling me you've been digging your heels in because you thought Konata was flirting with your boyfriend?!? WHAT ARE YOU, STUPID?!"
"Hey, Kagami, it's really nothing." Konata said placidly. "Akio's had some problems with Shinji in the past so she's kinda suspicious of-" Kagami waved her off.
"So you've been keeping Konata up for the last three nights in a row because of a stupid misunderstanding?! Really? Okay…okay…yeah, I'm going to hang up on you now."
"Kagami!" Konata pleaded, struggling for the phone. "Don't-"
"Bye-nee!" Kagami said dryly, closing the phone's lid and tossing it on the couch.
"NO!" Konata leapt on the couch, flipping the phone open. "Hello? Hello? Aww…" Konata looked dejectedly at the empty screen before rounding Kagami's retreating rear as she disappeared into the kitchen. "Kaaaagaaaamiiii!" Konata huffed, following her roommate into the kitchen.
Kagami barely shot a glance over her shoulder, filling the electric kettle with milk. "Yes?" She said mildly setting the kettle to boil.
"I…I was in the middle of something!" Konata insisted.
"Oh, I heard." Kagami said, pulling a few mugs down from the cupboard. "You've been in the middle something for the last couple hours now."
"Yeah but that last part was a totally important brainstorm session! We were just talking about the part of Disappearance where Kyon realizes that Yuki hijacked Haruhi's…reality…warper…stuff…it's complicated!"
"Uh-huh." Kagami said, emptying the contents of two hot chocolate packets into the mugs. "It sounded really complicated when you referred to Akio as a "shrill, nagging, narcissistic As-ka knock off."
"I mean sure Akio can be grating…and needlessly offensive…and generally hard to get along with but she's still part of the script staff!" By now Konata was rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet and pulling her ponytail in agitation.
"Uh-huh." Kagami said again, pouring the frothy milk into the mugs while Konata rambled on.
"I mean she's enough of a basket case as it is with her boyfriend hitting on anything with legs and now she's got to deal with everything the job has to-HEY!" Konata suddenly found Kagami pushing her back into the living room while balancing two mugs of cocoa.
"Walk." Kagami said, nudging Konata with her knees
"But-"
"Quit complaining and just walk." Kagami sighed, bumping Konata in the direction of the cluttered couch.
Konata sighed, complying with Kagami's gentle prods until she was more or less herded to the front of the couch.
"Sit." Kagami ordered, setting the chocolate down on the side table.
"Okay, Kagamin, I understand you're worried about-OOF!" Konata didn't get a chance to finish her thought before Kagami lightly pushed her in the stomach with the ball of her foot, causing her to fall back on the couch, scattering unfinished storyboards. "Hey!"
"Oaky then," Kagami said, sitting down and taking a sip from her mug of cocoa. "Let's just take five and chill out for a second."
"But-" Konata stopped as Kagami fixed her with a stern glare that plainly said, "Shut up and drink your damn chocolate."
So Konata complied with Kagami's evil eye, wordlessly sipping her chocolate while Kagami did the same on the other end of the couch. For a while, neither of them spoke as each thoughtfully sipped her drink, enjoying the sound of silence rarely heard in their apartment.
Finally, Kagami spoke. "So…" She prompted.
"I know…" Konata said.
"Haven't we been in this situation before?" Kagami said.
"…"
"Well?"
"Yes…" Konata said sheepishly into her cup.
"And?" Kagami pressed on. "What did we learn?"
"…" Konata mumbled out.
"Err…right." Kagami said, shaking her head. "The point is that you've been increasingly worked up over this job for months now-"
"I know, but…" Konata trailed off, staring in her cup. "I just…you know…oh, I don't know."
Kagami chuckled at Konata's surly expression. "Look, I know this job is "everything you've dreamed about for the past eighteen plus years of your life" but you gotta take it easy. Try and compromise now and then and stay out of this personal drama nonsense. High school's over, remember?"
"Yeah…I know." Konata said, polishing off the last of her drink. "Still
"And try not to stay up so late anymore." Kagami said, finishing her cup and heading for the kitchen. "It's late and you won't be doing the Brigade Chief any service if your half asleep, right?"
"Understood, Kagami-sama!" Konata standing and bowing deeply. "I am sorry for having offended you, mistress!"
"Take care you don't forget it, soldier." Kagami responded curtly. "If you do, I'll have to punish you for it."
Kagami smirked to herself as she heard Konata nearly choke on the last of her cocoa behind her. "Well, I should probably get to bed; you should probably get some sleep too."
"Yeah…I might take a shower first." Konata said, poking her head in the kitchen. "Still don't know what to say to Akio tomorrow."
"Just tell her your beastly, psychopathic roommate works you like a maid." Kagami said dryly. "Make something up."
"So do you want me to tell her I have a beastly psychopathic roommate or make something up? Cause what you just described is a total para-" Konata ducked as a dish sponge hurled over Kagami's shoulder. "Okay, okay, I'll lie then."
Kagami frowned to herself. "What are you, stupid?" Kagami said carelessly but judging by the sound of Konata banging her knee into the door, her well timed catch phrase use had the desired effect.
"Um…I'm…I'll just take a shower then…" Konata called out unsteadily.
"Great; I'll be in in ten minutes." Kagami said, listening for the-
BANG!
Kagami smiled to herself. After enduring years of teasing from Konata's end, it felt good to have a chance to dish it back. All she needed was the right tools
"Um…Kagami…" Konata stuck her head in the kitchen door, towel wrapped around her body. "Did you just…"
"I need to take a shower before I go to bed." Kagami said, turning around to see Konata fidgeting in the doorway. "Is ten minutes enough for you to finish?"
"Wha…oh yeah…" Konata turned around quickly but Kagami swore she saw a flush of red color her cheeks. "I'll just get washing then!"
"Wash away." Kagami chuckled, scrubbing her mug.
Living with Konata had given her insight into her friend's life that proved to be very enlightening. For one thing, she always tied her hair in a ponytail when she worked on her scripts. She kept odd hours, often staying up late and waking up early (or never sleeping; Kagami wasn't totally sure) but never seemed out of energy. She was a surprisingly good cook, though cooking for two must have had something to do with it.
Kagami's wolfish smile grew even wider as she mulled over the implications of one of the most interesting revelations living with Konata had taught her. A few weeks back, Konata had made a snarky comment about "looking sad and lonely" while she studied for her midterms and under the pressure of preparing for her tests, Kagami snapped in a rather interesting direction. Instead of batting away Konata's baited hook, she bit back and pulled. She totally reversed the situation, teasingly asking Konata if she wanted to keep her company and 'distract' her from studying. It had been a totally unconscious remark but the effect was stunning as Konata nearly dropped her laptop in shock.
All this led Kagami to an interesting conclusion; Konata wasn't used to being called on her teasing. She wasn't used to getting it dished back. Backtalk left her fumbling for a comeback and in the month since Kagami had been biting at Konata's responses, she had always managed to come out on top.
Of course it was just harmless play, right? Kagami scrubbed her mug a little harder than she should have. Kagami's responses were just an interesting switch-up of their long running banter. It was fun to see Konata get flustered for a change when she called her on her bluff to bite the end of a P-cky stick off. She liked the way that a wayward phrase from one of her anime or games caused a flash of surprise (In fact, she liked it so much as to pay special attention to the shows Konata had on in the background to specifically pick and choose phrases to sling around when Konata least expected it.) Sure, it was just harmless, friendly teasing. That was all.
"Well G'night Kagamin!" Konata called from the end of the hallway. "Don't stay up too late and hurt your cute little head now. I'm going to bed!"
Kagami froze as a flash of savage pleasure surged up inside her. "Get ready then; I'll join you in a minute dear!" Kagami nearly dropped her glass in horror. Konata was silent and for a moment, Kagami prayed she hadn't heard.
"Uh, I didn't quite catch that Kagami; what did you say?"
"Uh…" Kagami quickly darted into the living room, grabbing a random anime DVD from the shelf. "Doesn't Noriko Hidaka play the voice of N-ar?"
"Well…yeah…" Konata answered back. "Huh…well, g'night…" Konata turned back into her room, closed the door and for a while just stared at the doorknob in contemplation. God, she thought to herself, Hiyori rubbed off on me…I could have sworn…Shaking her head, Konata toweled herself off before climbing into bed.
"Night." Kagami called back, replacing the DVD before heading back into her room. Kagami shook her head briefly, trying to figure out where that last quip had come from. Sure, Konata had given her an opening she could have flown a plane through but the sheer…reflexive way she responded gave Kagami a turn.
True it was fun to see Konata react to having her jabs turned around and used against her. True, Kagami enjoyed the crafty sense of satisfaction that came with foiling Konata's snarky comments and suggestive remarks. True, Kagami liked biting on Konata's lines because part of her wanted to see how much she was teasing her and how much was true; she bit because part of her wanted to be reeled in. Kagami finally understood why Konata liked teasing her so much because it was the same reason she teased Konata back.
They teased for the blush.
They teased for the stammering.
They teased for the exquisite feeling of making the other squirm
They teased for the way the other looked when confronted with her own bluff.
They teased each other because there was something about their harmless teasing that brought them dangerously close to something they both wanted.
AN: HIYA-LUCKIES!!!
As promised, here's the KonaKaga chapter. I wanted to try something new with Kagami's relationship with Konata. I had originally written another piece that had Konata more in charge of this little flirty thing but it felt too stale. Then I started watching Clannad and there was one scene when Kyou teased Kotomi that inspired this little tango we have today. Next chapter will get back to Patty and Minami sick in bed but I thought this was a nice change of pace. As always, reiews are appreciated, especially for the way I'm handling the relationships (As this is the closest I've come to romance so far). Next Gaiden Chapter will probably deal with Tsukasa and Miyuki and their correspondence while they're at school
Please Review!
BYE-NEE!!!.
