Disclaimer: If it's copyrighted, chances are I don't own it…and neither do you!
O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O/\/\O\/\/O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O
At the Animate store.
Konata quietly browsed the shelves filled with all kinds of manga and DVDs for sale. She was no longer wearing her school uniform but was no in more casual attire consisting of a large blue shirt over a white, long-sleeves sweater. Some baggy denim shorts that reached passed her knees, socks, and sneakers.
Unbeknownst to the otaku girl, her every move was being monitored.
Behind her, hiding inside a ridiculously large Sgt. Frog cardboard display, a male employee was using a pair of high-tech binoculars to watch the girl as she slowly made her way across the aisle. His brow was practically drenched with fresh sweat. His breathing was heavy but he was careful not to make a sound loud enough that would make him noticeable.
Konata moved to another aisle again and the whole display moved to follow her as the employee inside kept a vigilant watch over the customer.
The male employee reached into his belt and pulled out a radio and spoke into it. "Manager. Sugita reporting. Target has been spotted moving down aisle seven and a speed of 0.6 kph. Currently she's browsing the Shojo selection though her intentions are unknown. Request orders!"
"Stay hidden for now," replied the Manager's voice from the radio.
Sitting hidden near the back room, Manager Meito Anisawa gripped his radio with intense anticipation gripping his nerves.
"So you have finally returned," he said. "You may have defeated us last time but tonight will be the night when you shall finally walk up to our cash register and make a purchase! Tonight, it will be me wo will emerge victorious!"
With overly flamboyant hand movements and sparking special effects, Meito summons his employees for the night ship out into the open and screams out: "It's time! Legendary Girl A shift!!!"
From out of the shadows of the aisles, a two more female employees burst out into the open followed by a trail of sparks and flowery highlights as the both jet towards the valued customer who was Konata.
Meito screamed into his radio. "Go, Matsuri, Narabe!! Engage the customer and make a recommendation, now!!!"
"Yes, sir!" Both women affirmed in unison.
They hop off the top of the shelves and positioned themselves behind Konata in ready crouching positions. Konata however didn't seem to notice their presence as she continued to casually stroll the aisle she was in.
"Jun, Otoe, can you hear me? This is Sugita," called the man hiding in the Sgt. Frog display over the radio. "The target has not yet picked an item! She could just be browsing! Hurry and make a recommendation to her! The fate of the sale depends on it!"
"This is it, Otoe," said the woman with the red hair, Jun. "It's time that we prove our worth to Manager Anisawa. Tonight we must make this sale!"
"Yes, I understand!" replied the blonde haired Otoe.
"Let's go!"
In a fanfare of electrical effects and random heroic posing, the two girls powered-up in preparation for their massive, twin-cam attack on the customer that will, in their own assurance, sure make the sale and guarantee that Konata will finally reach the goal that is the cash register. They then jumped over the shelves on either side of the aisle where Konata was and, while hidden from view, grabbed all the new merchandise with lightning speed.
They rushed to the end of the aisle so as to intercept Konata as she came out the aisle she was on. With a fan of manga and DVDs in their hands, both girls popped out from behind the ends of the shelves to meet Konata face to face.
"Welcome!" the exclaimed in unison. "Would you like us to recommend you an item today?"
Unfortunately, by the time the two girls came out Konata was looking behind her shoulder at Kirio who was peeking out from the end of the aisle and calling out to her.
"Konata-chan, it seems that their sold out on Air gear 17 and 18."
"Oh, I see," replied Konata, oblivious to the two women behind her. "Guess we'll just have to go to Gamers then."
BOOM!!!
"Not again!!!" exclaimed Meito.
O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O/\/\O\/\/O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O
At the Iwasaki household
The four first year high school students were busy doing their part in their class advocacy project. Their part in particular was to create a banner for the campaign their class was participating in, something about cultural understanding which is why their group was particularly thankful for the input of their resident foreign student, Patricia. So far everything was going fine. Patricia came with all the materials they needed. Hiyori had all the tools they needed and Minami and Yutaka already had drawn up the plans they needed.
They were all in Minami's room, which was big enough so that the whole banner could be spread across the floor, working on separate task. Yutaka was busy painting on some English word that she herself did not understand all that well. She has yet to learn this language at an intermediate level.
"Something the matter Kobayakawa-san?" asked Minami. Noticing her friend's plight.
"Um, what's the next character in this word, again?" she asked with a hint of embarrassment.
"The letter 'r' comes next," replied Minami.
"Uhh…'arrrruuu'…?"
Since she wasn't that good with English, Yutaka had to pronounce every letter of the English alphabet like it was a hiragana syllabic character.
Minami smiled back at her short friend and got up from her position and moved towards Yutaka who was obviously having trouble remembering how to write the particular letter. Minami knelt down next to Yutaka. She then reached out her hand to hold the writing hand of the shorter girl and guided her in drawing the letter 'r'.
"Here's how you do it, Kobayakawa-san," she said in a tutoring manner. "First the vertical straight line…"
Minami guided Yutaka's hand to draw a long straight vertical line. She followed up with the curve at the upper half, right side of the vertical line. Then finally they finished up with the diagonal line extending from the middle and own to the right.
Yutaka was, as always, impressed with Minami's linguistic skills "Wow, you're so good Minami-chan!" praised Yutaka.
Minami humbly returned the sentiment. "Oh, it was nothing, really."
Unbeknownst to the two teens, Hiyori was quietly watching them and in her mind…
O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O/\/\O\/\/O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O
Minami moved to the side of her precious Yutaka-chan and gently, lovingly, placed her hand on the delicate girl's own. Together they write the letter on the large banner in front of them Yutaka was clearly enjoying the company of Minami as the shorter girl pressed herself back to feel the taller girl's warmth.
"Minami-chan…" said Yutaka softly. "You're so knowledgeable in these things. I cannot possibly compare to you."
"Do you really think so, Yutaka-chan?"
Yutaka turned her head away in mild shame. "An ignorant person like me is not worthy of your attention, Minami-chan. I feel so inadequate."
Minami lifted the shorter girl's hand from the paper. "Do not say that, Yutaka-chan. You are smart, I know you are!"
"But I…"
"Even if you feel this way, I promise to help you every step of the way."
Yutaka had a slight tear in her eye as she head this. Her heart felt like it was beating to a bursting point. "You…will?"
"Of course, I will…You are precious to me, Yutaka."
The shorter girl looked up lovingly at the taller. "Oh, Minami-chan…"
"Yutaka-chan…"
O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O/\/\O\/\/O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O
Back in the real world.
"Hiyorin!!!" exclaimed Patricia who had just come back from the bathroom.
Hiyori snapped out of her mental delusion in time to see Patricia's face no more than a couple of inches from her own. She jumped back in surprise and had to catch her breath.
"P-P-Patty-chan!" Hiyori stammered. "I didn't notice you there."
"Huh? I called your name like three times already, Hiyorin."
"Oh…really?" Hiyori's face was turning slightly red.
Patricia raised an eyebrow and curled her lip to one side in a suspecting manner. "What were you thinking about just now?"
"Nothing! Nothing at all!"
This slight outburst caused both Minami and Yutaka to look in the direction of Hiyori and Patricia.
"Uh, Tamura-san, Martin-san, are you guys alright?" asked Minami.
Patricia looked towards her. "I guess so."
Patricia decided to forget about the whole fiasco and looked down at the work that has been done so far. She wasn't disappointed, that's for sure.
"Wow!" she exclaimed while clapping her hands together. "You guys did wonderful work! This banner is excellent."
The other three looked at each other then at the banner and genuinely agreed to what Patricia said. They all stood up from the floor and gave the banner another look and felt a little proud about their work.
"Guess we did, do a good job, didn't we?" said Hiyori.
The rest of the girls nodded.
"Well, not that that's done, what do you all say we go get dinner already? I'm famished."
They all seemed to accept this idea and headed out towards the kitchen where a proper dinner was prepared for them. Minami evidently didn't skimp on anything when it came to her friends. The dinner that was prepared was something that one would expect to find at a five-star restaurant. This of course did a lot to impress the other three. To Yutaka particularly, she was reminded of something.
"What is it, Yutaka-chan?" asked Patricia.
"I was just thinking, that's all," she replied. "I wonder what Onee-chan is having tonight…"
O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O/\/\O\/\/O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O
At the local cake café.
"I promise to treat you to dinner yet the only thing you want to eat for the duration of this night is cake?" asked Kirio, looking down at his plate full of sweet, similar to that of Konata's.
"I happen to know that this place makes great deserts and the price is nice too," replied Konata, downing a brownie in one bite.
Kirio sighed. The cake café was new to him. Pay for just one hour and have all the desert you can eat as long as you make sure you can actually clean your plate by the time your stay has expired. He should've known Konata better.
"Aren't you worried about gaining weight?" he asked.
"Not really."
Kirio sighed and took a bite out of a large cookie he had on his plate. "I know you want your body to grow more but I was thinking more along the vertical aspect and not the horizontal."
Konata nearly choked on the piece of cherry she was trying to swallow. "Kirio-kun!"
Kirio snickered a bit. "I'm kidding! Besides, with your athleticism, you probably have the metabolism of a gazelle. That's why you don't gain weight as often, do you."
Konata thought about this. "Hmmm, I guess that's right."
"Guess that's one thing that hasn't changed about you. Can't say the same thing for this town though."
Konata smiled at him as he looked out the window of the café into the streets. "You've been gone longer than you know, Kirio-kun."
"Kinda makes me glad you're here with me. I'm not sure if I can walk around here without getting lost. It's almost like when I landed here it was a whole different place."
"But only the city's changed, ya know? A lot has stayed the same back in near my home. Back where you used to live too."
Kirio let out a soft sigh. He thought back to earlier this day, when he met her in that playground near his old home. "That place…hasn't changed at all."
"Like my dad says sometimes, there are just some things in this world that aren't meant to change."
A moment of silence passed between the two. Kirio took a sip from the coffee he ordered to go with his plate of deserts. After setting it down, he let out a long relaxing sigh.
"Enough of all that nostalgic stuff," he said. "How have you been Kona-chan?"
"Where do you want me to start?"
"I wanna know about your friends. Have you even made any since I was gone?"
Konata looked slightly annoyed by that remark. "Of course I have!"
Kirio snickered. "Alright, tell me."
With an exasperated sigh, Konata proceeded to tell Kirio all about her friends. She started with Kagami, telling him in excrutiating, and exaggerating, detail about the twin-ponytailed girl's temper and tsundere characteristics. Then she talked about Tsukasa, and how the fact that she was such a klutz as compared to her twin that made her undeniably cute on many levels. Then, of course, there was Miyuki who Konata described simple as the human embodiment of moe. Konata seemed to enjoy her streak of friend topics as she continued to talk on about her teacher, her cousin Yui, her dad, Yutaka and her friends, plus just about everyone else worth talking about.
Kirio listened to all that she said intently. He was genuinely interested in all that she said. And, more importantly, he was genuinely happy that his dear friend has found so many people to care for and who similarly care for her in a similar manner. He was wrong about what he thought earlier. Konata had changed a bit, and it was all for the better.
"How about you, Kirio-kun?" Konata asked. "How's life in Canada?"
"Oh, not bad. It's pretty nice up there. Me and my mom even got a good place near a lake."
"I heard the school system in the west is a little different from here in Japan. Have you been coping well?"
"I do just fine, thanks. It may be different but I found out in some ways that it's a little easier to deal with. Plus the people up there are really hospitable."
"So I gather you've made quite a few friends over there?"
"Yup, pretty much."
Konata's eyes sparked. "Do they know about me?"
"About the immature, shrimpy, crybaby girl that has an unhealthy obsession to anime, manga, and games? I'm not sure. I may have mentioned you, but I don't think I gave away anything too embarassing."
Konata fumed slightly at Kirio who threw off her anger with a humored grin. "Anyway, from what I gather, You haven't told your friends about me."
Konata was about to say something when she realized that he was right so she held back. She rubbed the back of her head as if trying to look for an excuse. "Well, it's not like I wanted to keep you a secret. It's just that…"
"Just what?"
Konata was having a hard time looking for words. Kirio really didn't need to hear them as his slight smile seemed to suggest that he understood to some degree. It's not he himself told his western friends about the whole picture of Konata. She was his little secret.
At that moment. Konata's cell phone rang. She dug it out of her pocket and found that it was Yutaka calling. Before answering the phone call she glanced at Kirio, then back to her phone. A thought popped into her head and when she finally decided , she turned on the loud speaker and set the phone on the table.
"Hello? Yu-chan"
"Onee-san, it's good to hear you," said Yutaka's voice, although the girl did not know that she was within hearing range of Kirio, who was flashing a curious look towards Konata who simply winked back. The cell phone's volume was set so that Only Konata and Kirio could hear the conversation and no one else I the café could.
"What's up?" asked Konata.
"I just wanted to check if you wear okay. I mean, Uncle Sōjirō told me that he would be staying at his editor's place when I called him. You must be home alone."
"No, I'm fine. I'm not even at home."
"Really?"
"It was a nice afternoon so I decided to look around town."
"Are you with Kagami-chan and the others?"
"No, I'm not. but it's cool. I'm with Kirio-kun after all."
"Oh, I see…um…who's Kirio?"
"My date for the night." Across from her, Kirio raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, I see…" Yutaka paused for a while. "…your what?!"
Konata stifled a laugh. "Say hello to Yu-chan, Kirio-kun!"
Kirio leaned forward towards the phone on the table. "Hello, Yu-chan."
Yutaka stammered. "But…how?...who…I don't…"
"Well, thanks for calling, Yu-chan!" cut off Konata. "I'll just see you in school tomorrow. Bye!"
Konata ended the call before Yutaka could say anything else. She then looked up at Kirio who still had an eyebrow raised. "Date?"
"Never mind about that. Just eat your cake before our time runs out!"
O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O/\/\O\/\/O\/\/O/\/\O\/\/O/\/\O
Author's Note: Some stuff got in the way so I wasn't able to update as fast as I wanted. I also have another fic in the works so that might cut into my work on this. However, since I'm getting a lot of reviews, I'll try to keep up with this story so as not to disappoint you guys. Thanks for all the feedback. I'll also try to correct some of the mistakes you guys pointed out from the previous chapters. Pls. continue to R&R!