Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing these guys.
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Elsewhere at the amusement park.
"What a nice atmosphere this place has!" said Tomoyo taking in the sights of the park. She was dressed casually and looked five years younger than her actual age. Her short hair was tied into a ponytail that made her look like a teen.
"You've been saying that for the past ten minutes," said Sōjirō a little bit annoyed at Tomoyo's excitement which he hardly shared.
He would rather be at home at that moment. His favorite drama was about to play on TV. Instead he was here at the traveling amusement park being pulled along by Tomoyo by the hem of his polo shirt. He too was dressed casually for the out doors but his selection of clothing only made him look older.
"Don't be like that," said Tomoyo. "Besides, I told you we're here on an important mission."
"What kind of mission?"
"We have to watch over those two, of course."
"Why?
"To make sure they stay alone."
Sōjirō thought about this for a moment. "Isn't it sort of defeating the purpose of making sure they're alone by being there to make sure they're alone?"
"Ok, that didn't make sense to me."
"You should listen to yourself talk."
Tomoyo suddenly turned around and swiftly put Sōjirō in a tight headlock. It only took a few seconds before Sōjirō started turning blue. A few people here and there were called to attention by Sōjirō's groans.
"What did you say about me?" asked Tomoyo with a malicious hint to her voice.
"Nothing!" said Sōjirō. "I said nothing!"
"Good."
She let him go and allowed him to breath. Around them, people were starting to stare. As Sōjirō got some air Tomoyo patted him on the back and put on a wry smile. Sōjirō was actually getting worried if peple might mistake them for a couple.
"Now that that's settled," said Tomoyo, "Let's go shall we?"
Tomoyo grabbed onto his sleeve and pulled him along again.
"Hey! Stop pulling me like that!"
"We have to hurry and find them."
"Will you relax? I know my own daughter. She'd be smart enough to think of something even before we get there."
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Back at the eatery.
"What are you guys doing here?" asked Konata.
Kagami looked curious while behind her Tsukasa and Miyuki were almost panicking. Konata and Kagami soon noticed this and looked back at them.
"Are you guys okay?" asked Kagami, already annoyed and wondering about their already strange behavior as of a few seconds ago.
"Oh we're fine!" answered Tsukasa almost too defensively.
"You guys aren't acting fine," commented Konata.
Tsukasa and Miyuki started to sweat. While trying to come up with a response, that's when they notice that Konata was standing alone. Two large question marks appeared over the Tsukasa and Miyuki's heads.
"What?" asked Konata, noticing how they were staring at her.
"Um, Kona-chan," are you here alone?" asked Miyuki.
"Of course I am."
Tsukasa and Miyuki looked dumbfounded for a moment. They both flashed back to when they saw Konata sitting with a boy on the table across from their own. Almost immediately the two started looking around for the boy in question. This prompted looks of curiousity from both Konata and Kagami.
"Anyway…what are you guys doing here?" asked Konata again more directly to Kagami as she was the only person left she felt she could keep a conversation with.
"Well, I could ask you the same question," retorted Kagami. "What brings you here…and all by yourself, too?"
That last line had a hint of maliciousness in it that Konata could not place at that moment.
"Well, it was about my part-time job."
"Really, what are you supposed to be doing here then?" asked Kagami. At the same time she looked back at Tsukasa and Miyuki who were looking intently around them. Tsukasa was actually bending down to look under the tables.
"Well, we were hired to promote a shop here. I've been handing out fliers in my Haruhi uniform all afternoon." Konata looked back towards Tsukasa and Miyuki. "You two found who you were looking for yet?"
"Well…I suppose….no," said Tsukasa as she continued to look in every direction for an apparently non-existent person.
Kagami ignored them and turned back to Konata. "So what are you gonna do now?"
"I already ate and I'm tired so I guess I'll just call it day and go home now."
"But what about the job?"
"Oh, Patty-chan has already relieved me."
At this point, Tsukasa was standing on an empty chair scouting the area for someone she just couldn't find. Miyuki was wandering around peeking inside nearby bushes also looking for that person but having little success. Kagami and Konata were giving the two questioning looks as they both sweat-dropped.
"Those two have been worrying me recently," said Kagami.
Around that moment, one of the many mascots, this one dressed as Doraemon, came lumbering towards the four girls. Konata seemed to spot him first and pointed it out to them all. This was the only time Tsukasa and Miyuki stopped their fruitless search.
"Hey, you girls want tickets to the variety show?" asked the mascot.
"Variety show?" asked the three girls other than Konata.
"Tickets are free for the first show. It's tonight special since it is our opening night."
"Well, I'm a little bored," said Kagami. "I guess we could blow off an hour or two at the show. What do you guys say?"
Tsukasa and Miyuki hesitated in answering for a bit before they snapped to their senses. "Oh, yeah sure!" they both said.
Kagami sweat-dropped. "Uhh…sure…"
"Count me out," said Konata in an exhausted tone.
"Three tickets it is then," said the mascot as he handed it towards the three girls.
Kagami took them. "Okay, then. See you later Konata. C'mon you two, let's go before the show starts."
Kagami and the others started to move away. Tsukasa was still looking around and Kagami had to order her to stop it. Konata waved bye to them as they disappeared into the crowd. She stood there next to the Doraemon mascot for a few short moments to make sure they were alone. Eventually, the guy in the Doraemon costume took off the head piece.
"Didn't think they'd fall for it," said the Kirio.
"Yeah," said Konata. "It was pretty lucky that we were able to borrow that Doraemon costume from one of the vendors a while ago."
"Well, they were just finished with it for the day. But tell me, why did we do this to those guys again? Aren't they your friends?"
"Well, I guess that was a little mean, since you said you wanted to meet them but I wanted to make sure I could spend as much time with you as I can, Kirio-kun."
"I'm flattered," said Kirio as he took off the rest of the costume.
"I'm glad it all worked out. It was easier than I thought it would be."
"Easy for you to say. I paid for those tickets, you know."
"Well, now that I have you all to myself, let's not spoil the night, shall we?"
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On some nearby bushes
Tomoyo and Sōjirō were crouching low like a couple of overdressed Shinobi. They hid so as not to be seen by the two teens. They both watched as Konata and Kirio returned the costume to the stall owner which hey borrowed it from. and walked away to go somewhere else. Tomoyo had a look on her face that said she was impressed. Sōjirō on the other hand had an expression of boredom.
"That girl is pretty smart," said Tomoyo. "She must get that from her mother."
Sōjirō turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing."
"Can we go now? I don't wanna miss my shows."
"We can't leave yet. What if somebody else tries to interrupts?
"Somehow, I doubt that."
"Well, we can never be too sure."
"Since when were you this paranoid? I don't think you were this paranoid when you were my neighbor."
Tomoyo suddenly put Sōjirō in one of her signature headlocks again. Sōjirō was once again turning blue and he could feel his spirit leaving his body.
"What did you say about me?" asked Tomoyo with a wry smile.
"Nothing! Nothing!"
Tomoyo finally let go and Sōjirō caught his breath. "I really wish you'd stop doing that."
"Never mind. Let's go before we loose 'em!"
Tomoyo grabbed Sōjirō's collar and pulled him along as they trailed the two teens.
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At the variety show.
The stage was dark, and suddenly, softly at first, music began to play. It was a soft kind of music like that of a love song. A spotlight lit up on the side to highlight the figure of Minoru Shiraishi. He held a mic on his hand and he brought it up to his mouth to speak. As he was about to do this, another spotlight lit up the figure of Akira Kogami as she slowly walked to the center of the stage with her head down in a solemn manner as she too carried a mic.
"On her way to her loved one's arms," began Minoru, "the day when she reaches, will it ever come? She travels alone, drifting, drifting away. With his words on that fateful day as her companion, she'll go anywhere to find his face. Let's listen to her song, Kogami Akira-san with "Cape of Thirty Years.""
As Minoru quietly walked off-stage, Akira lifted her head and sang in an angelic voice.
"Do you mind if I talked to myself? I softly whispered to the--"
A loud clanging sound as the audio turned off completely. Everyone looked to the side of the stage and saw Minoru with a wire tangled up in his foot.
"Whoops," he said. "I tripped on the wire by accident."
Akira was on him like snow on the peak of Mt. Fuji. "Accident my ass! You did that on purpose!"
"No I did not! Stop blaming me for every little thing!"
"You just can't stand the fact that I can be more popular than you!"
"Stop yelling at me all the time!!"
"You're the one who's yelling all the time, you jerk!"
Everyone in the audience sweat-dropped as the argument ran its course. Among them were Kagami, Tsukasa, and Miyuki seated somewhere in the third row. Kagami let out a frustrated sigh, feeling that she's seen this before somewhere. Tsukasa and Miyuki exchanged some amused smiles with each other.
"They really get along well, don't they?" asked Miyuki.
"Despite being like that most of the time," said Tsukasa.
"And here I thought I was gonna see something normal for a change," commented Kagami. Too bad, Konata didn't come to see this. I'm sure she'd think this was entertaining. But, I guess she would be tired after handing out fliers all afternoon."
"Good thing Patty-chan was able to relieve her, huh?" said Tsukasa as if she wanted to drive the fact that Konata was going home alone.
"Guess so."
Both Tsukasa and Miyuki breathed a sigh of relief. There seemed to be no chance that Kagami will find out that Konata was with a boy just then. They thought back to it. Maybe that boy wasn't her date after all. What if she was telling the truth and that boy she was eating with was just her boss or something treating her to a thank-you meal? That was possible. They were pretty worried for a while there. But it looks like it would be smooth-sailing from now on—
"Wait a minute," said Kagami. "Isn't Patty-chan supposed to be sleeping over at Minami-chan's place with the others tonight?"
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Author's note: Sorry for being a little late again. So much stuff got in the way that I had to put this on hold a bit. But I must be doing something right with story. What, with all the reviews I'm getting plus the people who put this on their alerts. Well, I'll see how fast I can get the next chappie up. See you guys then!