Disclaimer: Still don't own anything.
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At the Hiiragi household.
Ayano and Misao came by the house as planned that night to discuss with Kagami various school and club related issues. Tsukasa, though not really part of the grouping, also joined in just to keep the atmosphere pleasant. Something Kagami wasn't helping at. Throughout the whole thing Kagami seemed to have one expression on her face. Her brow seemed to be permanently furrowed and there was a slightly noticeable scowl on her mouth.
The meeting was fairly productive and the group got some good ideas talked about and already drew up some good plans but the one thing prevailing throughout that whole night was the sense that Kagami was a little ticked off at something. Ayano, Misao, and Tsukasa all noticed this soon enough but shoes to ignore it and hoped that it will go away by the time the meeting was over.
As the girls were finishing up their talks three of them, Kagami, Misao, and Ayano, were in the twin's room and were seated on the floor around the table amidst some paper work. After they finished with their work, Misao and Ayano breathed a sigh of relief and laid back onto the floor. Kagami on the other hand kept her erect sitting position and stared blankly at the far wall.
Tsukasa came in a few seconds later carrying a tray, which had a pitcher of soda and four glasses. "Does anyone need a drink?"
"Here!" Misao replied cheerfully, getting up off the floor.
Ayano also sat back up. "I think I'll have a drink too."
"What about you, Onee-chan?" asked Tsukasa turning to Kagami.
The girl didn't reply.
Tsukasa, along with the other two girls, was curious about this but shrugged it off momentarily as she served Misao and Ayano their drinks. Tsukasa then poured Kagami a glass and offered it to her.
"Here you go. Onee-chan," she said merrily.
Kagami reached one hand out, grabbed the glass, put it to her mouth, and drank the whole glass in one single go, all without moving anything else but that one arm.
Tsukasa, Misao, and Ayano all sweat-dropped. Tsukasa put on a cheerful face but slowly backed away.
Misao moved over to Ayano and whispered. "Hey, what do you think is up with Kagami?"
"Um, I'm not really sure," answered Misao.
They both turned to Tsukasa who seemed to have an equal look of confusion. "Maybe one of you guys should ask her," suggested Tsukasa.
Misao immediately waved her hands in protest. "No way! The way Kagami looks, it like she could bite my head off."
"Kagami is pretty dangerous in situations like these," commented Ayano.
"Yeah, yeah. Remember that time in middle school?"
"We had to replace all the windows in our classroom."
Tsukasa sweat-dropped. Now she knew her sister well but she will admit that there are things about Kagami that she didn't know but Misao and Ayano knew. Kagami, Misao and Ayano have been classmates for a long time now so they were quite close friends.
"Still, we can't let things stay this way," said Tsukasa. She turned to her sister, still staring blankly into the wall.
"Yes, we can," said Misao. "Haven't you heard of the expression "let sleeping dogs lie"?"
"But I am also curious, Misao-chan," said Ayano.
Misao grumbled. The other two sighed in slight frustration. The three girls looked at each other than at Kagami then at each other again. For a while nobody said anything about who will be the first to ask Kagami what was wrong. Eventually, the three girls seemed to decide on something silently and the nodded in agreement.
"Janken-pon" exclaimed the three girls.
All three girls threw their fist forward. Misao threw Choki (scissors) while both Ayano and Tsukasa threw Guu. (rock). Misao lost.
"Aww man!" fussed Misao.
Nevertheless, Misao had to be the one to go to Kagami and ask. She felt like a sacrificial lamb at that point. Misao moved cautiously like a hunter staking its prey except it seemed that it was Misao that was in danger here.
"Ehhh…Kagami, are you okay--"
"Why? Why?! WHY?!!" Kagami suddenly burst out.
Misao jumped back. The other two girls cringed.
"Uh…why what, Kagami?"
"Why is that bumbling idiot able to get a guy before me? How come I can't even get a guy to give me a card on valentines? Plus, she's the one who's always complaining about lack of romance around us and yet she's hogging some guy all to herself? That's just not fair, Konata-chan!"
Misao and Ayano exchanged confused looks.
"What exactly do you mean, Kagami?" asked Ayano.
"It's probably someone like her," said Kagami, ignoring her two friends. "Someone she met online or something. He's probably also crazy about anime and RPGs. That wouldn't be surprising at all. I mean, Konata has a one-track mind and it only makes sense that the person she goes out with also has the same mindset as her."
"Are talking about somebody's boyfriend or something?" asked Misao, getting slightly annoyed.
"What about me? I'm smart! Heck, I'm the top of my class! I work out sometimes and I haven't gained that much weight! In fact, I'm dieting! But even after all that, not one guy has even looked shy around me. How come? What makes that anime and RPG maniac better than me!?…maybe that guy is a lolicon or something."
"Hoy, Hiiragi," said Misao, getting a bit more annoyed, "why don't you calm down already. You're starting to bug me."
"She's right, Kagami-chan," concurred Ayano. "No need to get worked up over a little thing like this."
"Am I really that unattractive? Is there something about me that scares away guys? I mean it can't be true, what Konata said about me. That I have some kind of aura that repels boys or something. No way! If anything I have a better chance of nailing a guy than her. So what If not that good with housework or that I'm that skinny as those stupid models in TV commercials. I'm still a pretty decent girl! Why won't anyone hit on me or ask me out?!"
By now, Misao was very annoyed. "Oh, will you stop complaining already! Maybe it's because you're such a whiner like this that guys are actually scared of you. I mean you do sort of come off as a bit hostile. You have a short temper, you lack style, and you brood too much!"
Snap
It took only two seconds for Misao to realize her mistake. All the light in the room seemed to fade and the only thing that became visible was the glowing red aura coming from Kagami who turned towards Misao and pierced her soul with a devil's stare. Misao started to back away towards one corner of the room where Ayano and Tsukasa were already at.
"Short temper?..." slurred Kagami as she stood up off the floor.
The three girls dug deeper into the corner where they were shivering in fear.
"Lack style?..." Kagami took a step forward ans her red aura seemed to absorb all the remaining light of the room.
All three of the girls swallowed nervously. Sweat was pouring down their temples.
"Brood too much?..." Kagami was standing over them now.
They seem to plead with their eyes. "Um…Kagami, calm down please," said Ayano.
"Yeah, Onee-chan, we're all friends here right?" said Tsukasa.
"No need to be hostile," the moment she said that, Misao instantly noticed that she made another mistake and she shut her mouth with her palm. But it was too little too late.
"Hostile?..." slurred Kagami. "I'll show you hostile!!!"
The three girls screamed in terror.
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At the old playground.
"Did you hear something?" asked Konata looking up into the sky, suddenly alert. She slowly swung back and forth on the swing set where she was seated. Kirio was seated on the other swing only a few feet away from hers.
"I don't hear anything," replied Kirio.
"Are you sure? It sounded like a cry for help from three helpless girls as they are about to be devoured by some unholy demon."
Kirio sweat-dropped. "I don't even want to know where you got that from."
"Well never mind." Konata turned back to Kirio. "So how long are you gonna stay here?"
"Not long now," replied Kirio. "We're due to fly back on Sunday."
"Awww, so soon?"
"Can't help it. Business thing. Mom's pretty big with her gyms there now so she has to manage all that. Plus I gotta go back to school next week. Our short vacation is almost over."
Konata had a genuine look of disappointment.
Kirio smiled as if appealed by this. "Missing me already?"
"Nah, why would I? All you do is make fun of my height. You've been doing it ever since we were kids."
"It's not like I made you cry."
Konata seemed humored, a small smile gracing her lips. "I'm done crying remember. I got you to thank for that."
"So you still remember that time?"
"Of course, I do."
"I wonder how you would've turned out if I hadn't come along."
"Hmm, I don't really think about that. Maybe because I don't wanna know. All I know is I much rather prefer the way I turned out. I'd hate to see what I would be like if I didn't decide to stop crying."
"You'd probably turn into those cutesy type girls that guys are so crazy about. Too bad, you could've nailed more dates."
Kirio meant is as a tease to Konata. But Konata wasn't reacting the way he expected. Instead of acting angry at him like usual, she seemed thoughtful.
"No way. I wouldn't want that," said Konata with resolve. "I'd never want to turn into that type of girl. I can take care of myself just fine. I even have a job you know. I don't care if those kinds of girls attract more guys. I'd rather be like this than be a weepy little prune."
Kirio looked proud. "Guess I did you a bigger favor than I thought."
"I guess I never paid you back properly huh?"
"Oh, no way. You did plenty for me back then too. If you haven't noticed I wasn't all that popular back then either. I was never much for the mainstream crowd so I had trouble getting along with other people. I never really made a close friend until I met you, Kona-chan."
"Awww, how sweet."
Kirio knew she was being sarcastic but it made him laugh nonetheless. "You really were my the first person I could get along with. Everyone else was more or less just like an acquaintance."
"I guess it was the same with me."
"But you have plenty of great friends now. You're lucky that you found a bunch of people that will actually tolerate your obsessions to anime and all."
"How come my liking anime and manga has to be a bad point. Why can't it be my appeal or something."
"Over-obsession over fictional works is not appealing. I bet you cosplay as a job, don't you?"
Konata choked. "Stop over-analyzing me already!"
"So who do you cosplay as?"
"What?"
"I was right about you cosplaying for your job right? Who's your character? I really wanna know."
Konata felt herself blush a bit. She found that strange. She was never embarrassed by the fact that she cosplayed. But she couldn't explain why she felt this way in front of Kirio.
"Well?" he pressed.
"Haruhi Suzumiya," she finally admitted.
Kirio let this information sink in and put his hand up to his chin in a thoughtful expression. Konata felt a little bit more embarrassed about this. Was he comparing her to the anime character and seeing if they were truly alike or something?
"W-What? What is it, Kirio-kun? You think that doesn't suit me?"
"I can't tell. I have no idea who Haruhi Suzumiya is."
Konata nearly fell off the swing.
But," continued Kirio, "I'm sure you look good as her anytime."
Konata felt herself blush a bit more. Kirio saw this and laughed to himself about it. She looked cute when she blushed and it was quite rare when she did blush. Even though the first memory of her he had was mostly her blushing, she seemed to have gotten rid of that habit as she grew up. Probably his fault too but he wasn't ashamed of it. He looked up at the sky and noticed that the sky was getting darker. It was probably around seven by then.
"it's getting late," he said out of the blue. "I'll walk you home."
Konata gave a wry smile. "Oh, you're walking me home now?"
"It would be rude if I just left you here. Beside, who was it that said I was who's date?"
Konata blushed again, remembering what she said to her little cousin the other night on the phone. Kirion laughed it off.
"Forget about it. Let's go before you're dad starts to hunt me down."
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Minutes later.
Being that they were so close, it only took them about five minutes to reach Konata's house. Kirio took her as far as right at the front door before Konata turned to him.
"So where are you going back to?"
"I'll catch a cab back to my hotel," said Kirio.
"What'll you're mom say when you get back so late? Aren't you worried?"
"Nah. She's never scolded me for being late before."
Out of nowhere the front door of the Izumi household burst open to reveal Kirio's mom, Tomoyo. "Where have you been, boy? You're late!"
Both Konata and Kirio jumped back in surprise.
"Mom?" said Kirio.
"Mrs. Sato?" said Konata.
"Me and Sōjirō have been setting dinner all this time so we could all have a little catch-up on old times. Just the four of us. After all, it's been a while since we've seen each other Kona-chan. I'd like to know what you've been up to all this time. But Kirio seems to be hogging you all to himself."
Konata blushed a bit. So did Kirio. "You know, mom. You could've told me you were coming here."
"Well, I wanted to surprise you guys."
"Mission accomplished, Mrs. Sato," said Konata.
"Well, never mind about all that. Let's save the rest of the conversation for later. C'mon get in already while the food's still warm!"
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Author's note: Sorry for the long time it took me to update. Had waaaay too many stuff in the way. Pls. R&R in the mean time and hopefully I can get the next chapter up a little quicker.
Other notes: Janken is the Japanese form of Rock, Paper, Scissors. The mechanics work the same where p[layers throw their hands when somebody shouts "Janken-po" and the names of the symbols are Guu (rock), Choki (scissors), and Paa (paper).