Disclaimer: I don't own Lucky Star, nor any of its characters and yadda yadda, yadda yadda. You know the drill, I don't own them, but I do manipulate them.
IoOoI
Izumi Konata was more than determined to continue the dream she was currently having. Never one for early mornings - or mornings at all - the slightest thought of going through the routine of waking up was enough to cause a frown to emerge from her face, just as she dodged the strike of a longsword aimed at her neck with a somersault. After all, why would one want to wake up when killing orcs in one's mind-scape was lengths more fun? She could not find a reasonable answer to that question either, so she continued to dodge their never-ceasing blows, and, with whatever momentum was left from her dodging, stick her tiny and pointy dagger with all her might in the beasts' eyes.
Two hundred forty sixth, two hundred forty seventh, counted the nimble girl with a savage grin as the slaughter continued. It was the usual routine she would do whenever she had the chance to become lucid in a dream. She had worked hard to achieve her usual ten or so lucid dreams per month, and, being the hardcore gamer she was, the thought of re-creating the battles she once faced with only her mouse and keyboard was too great to ignore.
Poking an orc's eye away from his bloody skull with a whole-hearted laugh, she started to feel something, something really familiar. Aw, shit!, thought the girl as the dream literally started to fade and crumble, her trustworthy foes slowly turning into dust as the fantasy world around her disappeared in front of her eyes.
Nothing unusual there.
And I was just getting to the good part, whined the girl to no one but her dream-self, not being able to complete the challenged she issued herself. Kill five hundred orcs in a lucid dream with a cheese knife for a weapon was no small task, after all.
Murmuring some things best left in the dark, Konata opened her eyes only to be greeted by an intruding and incredibly shiny ray of sun light.
"Son of a...!", cursed the girl, rubbing her eyes in reflex, her incredibly awesome dream now resting in some dusty old room in the back of her mind.
Taking her time to get through her morning routine, which included some stretches and a quick checking on her memories, just so she wouldn't forget anything incredibly important like, for example, telling Kira they would have some company in the afternoon, she struck a victory pose for the walls in her room in victory, after all, she couldn't remember anything important to do and she felt refreshed, alive, even, albeit hungry.
In dire need to remedy such hunger that plagued her body, she started the tiresome walk towards her kitchen. It was 11 A.M., and the girl could really use a breakfast. Or a breakfeast.
The latter seemed leagues more appealing in the bluenette's mind.
Her already building dreams of a banquet were quickly crushed to dust once she saw her father had not bought much food, especially not the nutritious food, like vegetables, or something that would fill her poor little stomach while giving her body some sort of advantage. Sure, cup noodles were one of the greatest inventions of mankind and everything, but someone in her line of work simply couldn't survive on instantaneous food and snacks. Plus, her cooking expertise allowed the creation of tasty and healthy foods. With bacon. Bacon..., trailed the girl's mind as her hands were making sure her eggs would come out fluffy and delicious and salty, instead of a gray-black matter of smoke and bad smell.
After eating a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs, a bowl of hot and steamy udon and a few pieces of deep-fried tofu, the girl was thoroughly renewed.
Food level: 100 percent! We no longer require minerals, Overlord!, thought the girl, missing dearly the gaming she couldn't quite do as much as she could a couple of years ago.
She risked a glance at one of the many digital clocks in the house and sighed, knowing it was now 12:35 P.M. Funny, I thought I'd programmed my comm to buzz right around 1200, hm? Ah, hell, not that I care, I'm not even tired, thought Konata as she walked the stairs towards her room, really looking forward to whatever time she would be able to spend playing.
IoOoI
Donatello's Gelato, with it's quiet ambient, large number of ambitious - although delicious - ice cream flavors, was the perfect place for the girl's reunion. It sports a nice and classic look, with its' black-and-white checked floor, long counter with quite the nice view to the park, it was everything they could ever hope for in an ice cream shop.
Everything in the ambient was designed to cast a comfortable setting, while still maintaining the business-like manner that Japanese stores usually have. That is, if you're not in Akihabara. Usually, the customers would order their ice cream and either sit in the counter or take the relatively small walk across the often busy street, so they could eat peacefully in the park. Today, however, was a fairly busy day for the ice cream shop, and the girls had been waiting in the line for at least twenty minutes, and by the looks of it, it would still take a while for their time to come.
Groaning and rubbing her temples, Kagami was starting to get annoyed. Not only had she been waiting for more than 15 minutes, but the only reason they were all there was late. Very late. Quickly checking her wrist watch for the hundreth time in the last few minutes, she was not surprised to see it was already way over 16:30 P.M., and not a single sight of blue could be seen outside the ice cream boxes. Which, obviously, looked delicious.
"O...Onee-chan?" asked a tiny and shaky voice behind her, which belonged to her younger sister, Hiiragi Tsukasa.
"Yes?" answered the girl, not even bothering with hiding how unhappy she was with the whole situation.
"Well," began the younger twin, "You're clenching your hands so hard they're red.", added the girl, taking utmost care not to upset her sister even more. Even after all this time, Kagami could still be quite scary when she was upset. Like now.
"Huh?" was all Kagami muttered, while checking to see if she indeed was doing that, which she was. With a heavy sigh, she started to mutter a mantra to try and calm down, scaring everyone was not going to help much. Damn you Konata, if you're going to be late at least call us in advance, you stupid blue-haired midget, cursed her thoughts, when, ironically, her cell phone's ring-tone started ringing - loudly - blasting the beginning of Sakura Kiss throughout the place, startling more than a few people and earning her very curious looks.
Especially from Tsukasa and Miyuki.
Tsukasa was giggling, not even trying to hide it, unlike Miyuki, who had clasped her mouth shut, managing to contain everything but a few sneaky and short-lived girly laughs, greatly adding to Kagami's embarrassment. Turning her back to them, she answered her phone with more strength than necessary, eager to stop the humiliating event as soon as possible.
"What is it, Konata?" whispered hurriedly the lilac-haired girl, feeling her ears burning with embarrassment.
"Yo, Kagamin!" came the usually energetic response, somewhat muffled by a strange ambient the train, was all she could think before being interrupted by loud honking sounds. "Sorry for my being late, I will be there in five, maybe ten minutes, okay? Don't kill anyone while I'm away, bye!" said Konata, before hanging up on a somewhat bewildered Kagami.
Well, thought the girl before facing what was probably going to be an even more embarrassing sequence of questions about that particular ring-tone, At the very least I will be able to strangle her soon enough.
Shoving the poor unsuspecting cellphone into her black purse once again, she slowly turned, facing her amused and smiling companions. Immediately Kagami knew this was going to be a long, long day.
"Onee-ch-," tried her twin sister, only to be interrupted by an annoyed Kagami.
"Tsukasa, don't. Just...don't, okay?" she asked, once again rubbing her temples. She could use some ice cream right now, some cold would do her wonders. The weather was hot and humid, as it should be in the middle of August. Glancing just another peek at the line, Kagami was satisfied with knowing that in only a few minutes she would be wolfing down blob after blob of ice-cold goodness. Damn Konata and her crazy ideas, she always ends up embarrassing me, even when she's not even near me.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, and a mental battle of epic proportions on whether she would kill the midget at sight or not, Kagami was finally calm again, which made her wonder why was she even mad at the first time. Sure, Konata could annoy the hell out of her in just about every way, but wasn't that one of the facts that she loved about the girl? And it's not like it was the first time it happened, too. Her unusual, sarcastic-dripping commentaries were so unexpected that she just couldn't get bored around her, which is more than what she can say about almost everyone else she meets. Even with her family, the conversation usually withers and they all go back to their merry way, but a conversation was never truly over with Konata. Guess the college is finally getting me, huh, thought her as she ran her hand through her left ponytail, gently caressing it.
"O...e-ch...n," said something, but she wasn't quite sure. Snapping out from her slumber, her first sight was that of her sister looking worriedly at her, frown and everything. A frown would never be suitable on Tsukasa's face, thought Kagami.
"Huh? Sorry, I was distracted." It seems her trying to calm her sister down worked, for the frown disappeared, giving space to her usual bubbly smile.
"I said we're next, Onee-chan."
"Oh?" she murmured, surprised. Just how much time has passed?
Looking at the old woman smiling at her from behind the counter, she was somewhat worried. Konata said she'd be there in 5, 10 minutes at most, but she was quite sure more than 15 minutes passed. Glancing a final peek at the door with a frown she didn't even know was there, she sighed, mentally calming herself. It was definitely her actual life's fault. Definitely. Where the fuck are you, Konata?, thought her before giving in to the internal war going inside of her head on what flavors they'd combine and enjoy.
IoOoI
Just after finishing her call, Izumi Konata knew she would have to speed up in order do reach her destination in time. That, however, was no challenge for her current vehicle, a black Suzuki Hayabusa GSX-1300R-K9. Effortlessly dodging the many obstacles - A.K.A. the other automobiles - Konata was happy. It had been quite some time since she had last used her little baby, and the feeling the wind hitting her black leather jacket was more than invigorating.
"On." she commanded, and her communicator sprung back to life, now pumping Aya Hirano's God Knows throughout her helmet, making the already nice trip even better. By her calculations, she should be getting close to the Ice Cream Shop, probably 3 minutes or so from there. Even though 3 minutes is quite something when one is driving a motorcycle at 200 km/h while thoroughly ignoring traffic semaphores, loud honks from unsuspecting walkers and even the beautiful sights of the city. As beautiful as a metal and concrete jungle can be, at the very least. And she would continue to ignore everything, had she not seen the familiar flare of a sniper rifle shining on the very top of a corporative building a mile away, followed by a sharp hit on the left side of her helmet.
Damn, she thought, alarmed, suddenly changing directions and causing many cars to brake in a screeching halt, It just had to be today! And in such a beautiful day, too..., she risked a glance upwards, just to see if it was indeed a beautiful day. The skies were still somewhat clear, an unusual sight in August, but the intruding rainy clouds were starting to show up, attempting to fill the blue of the sky with their wet gray. It was, indeed, a beautiful day.
Just not a beautiful day to get killed.
She knew she'd be late by taking another route, but it was the safest thing she could possibly do at that time.
"Kira," she commanded, and after a few seconds the music ceased, and her friend's voice could be heard.
"Yeah, Fox? Still up for that ice cream?" asked Kira, obviously unaware of what was happening.
"No time to explain, sniper targetting me, go to the ice cream shop and search for a lilac-haired girl. You must-", was all Konata had time to say before another shot pierced through her motorcycle's rear tire, sending her flying towards the street. Her beloved motorcycle exploded just a few seconds after, sending piping-hot shrepnel everywhere, injuring more than a few people. In the midst of the chaos the explosion caused, the girl flew straight into the sidewalk, partially destroying everything on her way as she ricochetted towards unconsciousness.
Wave upon wave of excruciating pain shot throughout Konata's body, and yet she could not scream. She could not do anything, except feel the torture that would endure for the the few precious minutes she had before fainting. Even with her faltering eyes and ringing ears, she could see through a red frame the bloody mess that was her body. Sitting painfully on a pool of red, warm blood, her limbs had pieces of twisted metals piercing through, her left leg was twisted in a way that should not be humanly possible and the yellowish white of her bone was sticking through the punctured skin. After a few dozen seconds, the pain just stopped. Her already faltering sight gave way to a cold, comforting darkness, and in her ears all she could hear was a low, dark chuckle that belonged in the farthest domains of her mind. Concern and aprehension flashed for but a second, but she was too tired to maintain them. Pain gone, Konata was free to fall into the realm of unconsciousness.
IoOoI
It had been almost twenty minutes after the girls had finished their ice creams, and anger quickly turned into worry. It was not like Konata to disappear like she had, not even leaving a text message, and that truly and deeply scared Kagami, for reasons she was not fully able to understand at the moment. So intense was the despair with which she walked down the streets that every single moment her eyes were not busy blinking, she was searching for something, anything that stroke her eye as a mass of blue. So far, she was unsuccesful, and so were the two girls walking beside her.
"Onee-chan, I'm sure she's alright.", tried Tsukasa, apparently more worried about her sister's state than Konata's.
"She better be!", snapped Kagami suddenly, somewhat scaring the two girls. Unable to do something in order to eliminate the feeling of dread that had built in her stomach, she was turning to the only thing familiar to her in such situations: Anger. "She better be alright, or sweet mother forbid me, I'll kill her myself!" The whole street fell silent at the display of rage from the lilacette, and the burning stares of awe and fear were enough to mush Kagami's rage into a puddle of embarassment. Out of pure instinct she grabbed both Miyuki and Tsukasa's hands and stormed towards no where in particular, face burning in pure awkwardness.
Finally stopping to catch her breath, her aching lungs buring with the same power as her face, Kagami turned to the other girls, unaware of what to do. She first tried to speak, but what jumped from her lips were not her voice, but the ragged, choked sound of nothing. I don't even know what to say!, realised Kagami.
"Kagami-san?" asked Miyuki's voice, which, to both Kagami and Tsukasa's surprise, was not at all sounding like her owner had been running for the past ten minutes.
Greedily inhaling a large amount of air, Kagami was relieved to feel the burning sensation that lingered within her body disappear, and answered, "Yes, Miyuki?"
"I know I should have suggested this before, but why don't you call Konata-san one more time, just to be sure?" Damnation, why didn't I think of that?, thought Kagami, angrily.
Not even bothering to answer the girl, she tore her purse open with unnecesarry strength, and snatched her poor cellphone from within its resting chamber. Furiously poking at the screen, she managed to wait a few seconds before having her call answered. Not waiting for the usual greeting, she decided to let Konata feel right now what she was feeling. With every word conceivable.
"Now listen here, you deranged little brat!", spat Kagami at her phone, her anger returning at its maximum, "Last night you even promised me you were going to be there, and not only you never showed up to the damned place, you didn't even warned us you were not coming. I bet you got distracted by some big fucking sale of manga or something, right? You're impossible, Konata! Impossible!"
After her little show of affection, all that remained was for the other girl to apologise. And then she would get mad at her again, and tomorrow they would go back to being best friends, and even though such an event would probably happen again in the near future, Kagami would still be happy. However, it was not Konata's voice that answered her monologue. Unless she had a sex operation just after calling her at the Ice cream shop.
"Uhm, are you a relative of Ms. Izumi's?" came a raspy, obviously male voice.
First the color drained from her face's skin, which amused her sister to no end. Then, it became a raging crimson tornado.
"Umh...errr...", Oh, sweet lord, did I call the wrong person? Heavens forbid I'm wrong, heavens forbid, thought the embarassed girl, "I...No, I'm...not.", answered the lilac-haired girl, finally remembering how to properly speak Japanese. "I'm a friend of hers, why?"
"Uhm...this is Dr. Shijimura, from the Tokyo University Hospital. Ms. Izumi had a motorcycle accident, could you tell her relatives to come to the hospital? She's not in grave danger, but is under surgery right...Hello? Hello?", he tried, now hearing the familiar sound of a dead line.
Kagami's face was pale, ghostly, even. Her hands were trembling furiously, and in her mind raced the dance of thoughts, each one more morbidly terrible than the other. Sensing the difference in both her face and attitude, Miyuki tried to ask in a calm, controlled voice: "Kagami-san? Is something amiss?"
If it was seconds or minutes after that when she finally regained her voice, Kagami didn't know, nor did she care. Stricken with fear for Konata's well being, and guilt for lashing over at Konata, even without really knowing what happened, Kagami felt a dark, dooming hand crushing her chest. So this is what true guilt feels like, she thought, pained. Placing a hand on her left breast as if to strike away the feeling, Kagami turned her white and terrified face towards Miyuki.
"She's...she's at the hospital, she...suffered a motorcycle accident.", she managed to say with a strained voice. The images of Konata's fate flashing in the back of her mind were enough to cause such sensations. Her words flew towards the two girls and hit them like bricks, leaving them in almost the same state as she was. No more words were muttered between the three girls as they started to run, madly, as if there were Hellhounds pursuing them.
Unaware to them, a shadowy figure kept their distance equal, following them through the shadows, mimicking their path. As a ray of light illuminated the figure's short, brownish hair, she could only imagine what the heck happened to her partner and friend.
Her thoughts and theories alone made her match her targets' despair in her running.
IoOoI
Konata woke up in a dark, fogged place. A soggy gray mist was lazily creeping through what she could only describe as a park. Tall,wild patches of brownish grass ran in the entirety of the field, their size only outmatched by the numerous trees, their limbs blackened and twisted. They had died long ago, Konata realised, as she started walking. A red, eerily light was being cast from up above, and with a quick inspection she discovered that the source of said light were two huge, crimson moons that sat above the skies, as if dutifully watching over her. Strange relief washed throughout her body, and Konata, renewed, started to explore her strange surroundings.
She did not remember how she had gotten there, nor did she remember ever seeing such a strange place before. Sure, she had seen her share of unusual sights, but what laid before her eyes was not only unusual, but slightly magical. She didn't need much effort to feel the very air cracking with surges of magical power. That place had probably seen its share of powerful sorcery, thought the bluenette. Yet, despite her earlier relief, the more she walked, the more a deep, dreadful sense of forebonding fell upon her, filling her with aprehension. What if the power cackling through the air was not from a battle staged eons ago, as such things usually happened, but from recent dabblings in the realm of magic? She herself knew a few rituals that would keep a place tainted with the touch of raw power for at least a week. Yet said rituals didn't come without a price, and the smell of blood or meat was not to be found.
Despite the deep sense of wrongness the place emanated, she could not help but get curious as to what truly happened here. And so she continued to walk, following the trail of mana as a child would follow a rainbow, in hopes of finding a golden chest in the very end. Minutes passed, and with each step her vision became more foggy. The trees were already distorted signs upon the brown horizon, black bastions of nothingness that her eyes could not define. Something was indeed very wrong, here. Had the layers of magic confused her senses, somehow? Could this be intended? She was confused, and yet, her cat-like curiosity burned inside her chest with almost divine determination. Fiery eyes ablaze with willpower, she continued, straight into the trap laid ahead of her.
As more minutes passed, Konata had started to smell the coppery, bitter taste of fresh blood. So there was a ritual, thought her darkly. Her senses sharpened, she crouched, if but a bit, now moving stealthily through the tall patches of brownish grass, trusting her sensitive nose to get her to their final destination. And get her it did, for not after a few dozen seconds, the camps of grass ended, and she was left to stare at what could have been a village not long ago.
About six houses were spread into a tight circle around a single, well kept pool. The houses, however, were not so well kept. Every single one of them was destroyed beyond reparation, a few of them missing their roofs, some had cracked and throughout broken walls, but all of them were burning with the same feverish green fire, its' flames licking lazily above of them.
"Sorcerous fire." she muttered darkly to herself. Such destruction magic was long ago deeply used by the unruly and cruel witches, who did not care for her protection, or for the others. There was always a price for using such chaotic magic, and one word chanted wrong could cause the very fabrics of reality to bend and twist into madness, releasing long forgotten abominations into the world.
How come I couldn't see this before, thought Konata, confused. The flames were tall and obviously dangerous, and yet no smoke rose from them. But she could at least have seen from the grasses. As she turned to inspect if she was indeed right, she was left gaping with the knowledge that there was no grass around her. Everything beyond the small ruined village was completely swalloed by thick and leafy trees, standing so high they pierced the clouds themselves.
"What the...", murmured the girl, starting to truly feel fear. Such a setting was unknown for the girl, and yet, deep in her chest, she could not help but feel somethin familiar around her. Whatever that something was, it was feeling her with dread, and she did not like it.
"Tsc, tsc, little fox.", sang a low, feminine voice sweet like honey and poisoned like a scorpion's stinger behind her. Just hearing it made the girl cringe visibly, thougths of pure madness slowly creeping into her brain. Slowly and carefully, Konata turned widened eyes towards the source. There, sitting with her back supported by the well, was a woman in her twenties, voluptuous body covered by the pure strands of darkness falling from a beautifully lethal face. Her eyes were ablaze with the same flames that slowly consumed everything around her, and her savage grin showed enough teeth to unsettle even the most weathered warrior. Her beautiful brown skin was corrupted to the very core with madness and evil, with black veins running throughout her entire body. "Have you already forgotten me, after everything we've been through?" sang the daemon once again, and every word that was spilled from her mouth was like a distant thunder, shaking the very air with power.
At the sight of the daemon, realisation dawned unto Konata. It was a dream, it had to be!, thought the girl, grimly. Knowing what it was, however, didn't make it any better.
"...Nagaira.", was all Konata could say, carefully binding her body together. Any move and she could be killed in the spot so easily it wouldn't even require the Daemon's effort. "How did you escape your prison? I checked the wards last week, they were still actively binding you within."
"Indeed they were, little fox.", she began, her feral, wolfish grin growing ever so slightly. "But not anymore. I will not be so foolish as to fall into the same trap twice, you know?" Konata cringed. Now is when she kills me and parties with my skin, thougth Konata.
The woman laughed, and the very air was ripped from itself, twisting the very essence of order and slowly, but surely, sucking it into a pitch-black vortex above in the skies, covering entirely the light casted by the twin moons. Everything around the mercenary was now bound into complete darkness, and the only things she could see was her nemesis' white, sharp fangs.
"I told you," the voice began, now sounding from behind the girl, as soft fingers touched the back of her neck so softly she could barely feel it. "I'd be back." whispered the daemon right into Konata's left ear, her voice being enough to make cast waves upon waves of shivering cold through her body. Slowly, she could see or hear no more, but she could feel the presence of the Daemon settling it's nest inside her body. Every second something brushed the bones of her ribcage, and she could just imagine the smile on the spirit's face.
"H...How...?" managed the blue-haired girl between a pained gasp, as she grasped her left breast, as if to try and shy away the spirit possessing her.
"Hmm.", moaned the daemon from within her own body, "Your little accident today damaged the runes carved on your back." she said, matter-of-factly.
Accident? What accident, thought Konata. "What are you talk...ing." she began, but a sharp pain filled her head as the most recent memories rushed in, making themselves seen. Ah, she understood, That accident.
"Indeed. Speaking of which, you do know who was trying to kill you, don't you? 'twas not as if they were trying very hard to conceil their origins, too."
The implications of her words hit Konata hard. So it was true!, thougth her, angrily. Had her company finally found a reason to get rid of her? If so, they had probably recorded everything she said on her communicator. Then, a deep sense of despair crept into her heart. If they recorded everything, they would know of Kagami, and her ties. They would also know that Kira was helping her behind their back, and it wasn't good. She had to wake up, and very soon!
The daemon chuckled, somewhat amused, and something slid inside her chest, as if there were iron chains tying both her bones and organs together, and the chain was Nagaira. "I could lend you a bit of my strength, little one. Just a simple touch of my gifts, and you could wake up in less than an hour, the damage undone to you body.", she offered.
"No!", roared Konata, her will power flaring brightly against the darkness. "This is my dream, and I command it!", her voice sang, full of power of her own. "And I sure as hell don't need you to help me live my life, Nagaira.", spat the mercenary with unusual spite, which in turn just increased Nagaira's chuckle. "So you say, little fox. But we both know that soon you will turn to my power.", her voice rang somewhere in the back of her mind as the world around her began to fade and crumble. "Just as you did in the past.", she said again, ominously, and the words were stuck in Konata's head as she was thrown into reality.
IoOoI
Konata woke up panting and sweating, hearing startled gasps all around her. Yet her eyes were still hazy and unfocused, and all she could make of what was around her is that it was white.
Eye-hurting white.
She tried to move, but her body was hurting all over, so she decided to lay down - and close her eyes - and try to process all the information she acquired in her dreams. Had she been a sane, normal person, she'd dismiss it as being one of her subconscious' jokes, but she was neither. When one dabbles enough in the realms of magic, their understanding of the world around them changes. She knew, deep inside, that the daemon had, in fact, been released. The severe burning pain in her back was only the supporting idea. Minutes crawled, slowly, as her mind raced with hundreds of thougths. But first things first.
Gingerly opening her eyes, she was glad to be able to see anything. Surveying her room for a while, she was not only shocked to see several bandages and stitches on her limbs, but also from seeing four very familiar faces watching her, eyes burning with expectative.
Both Miyuki and Tsukasa had worried, troubled looks on their faces, and were cutely holding hands, finding support in each other, as Konata imagined. Next was Kira, standing by the door, with the wall supporting her back. She too had a somewhat troubled expression on her face, which somehow amused the blue-haired girl, but was more concerned about the door and the windows. Probably looking for anything that wasn't right, thought Konata, feeling quite safe.
Then her eyes were upon the teary face of a scared Hiiragi Kagami. Her face was covered from the mess her crying created on the makeup, but someone could mistake it for a surrealistic painting. Black and red mixing into a uniform pink stained the lilac-haired girl's pretty face, and even though Konata would probably laugh it off with a joke, had it been in another setting, now the only thing was stare deep into her friend's face, huge, dry emeralds looking upon wet sapphires.
After a few seconds of awkward staring, Kagami literally threw herself into Konata's lithe frame, causing her whole body to jerk away at the pain. Realising she was hurting the already hurt girl, the crying girl gingerly eased her weight, and hugged the smaller form beneath her.
"You dummy!", she cried, worry washing away with relief, "You could have died! What would we do if you went and died like that?", she managed between loud sniffs.
Konata was at an utter, complete loss. What should I do?, panicked the girl. Had it been an assassin with a shotgun pointed straight to her face, she'd at the very least know what to do. But never before she had a crying friend hugging her because she nearly died. Carefully, as if any swift movement would break her hugging friend, she returned the hug, gently patting Kagami's back now and then.
At some point between all of this, Tsukasa and Miyuki had gone up, and were now standing right beside Kagami. Tsukasa's right hand was sitting securely on top of Kagami's head, as if to lend her sister much needed strength, and Miyuki was still holding Tsukasa's left hand, lending her girlfriend strength of her own. Konata had to fight down the urge to just scream about how moe the two of them were.
Minutes passed without a single word was spoken between the girls, and after what seemed an eternity, Kagami moved away, cleaning her face with a pink handkerchief that reminded her of Miyuki. One inquiring glance between the pink haired girl and said folded cloth was enough for Miyuki to nod. It was indeed Miyuki's.
"Well", began Konata, trying to find the right words, "This was not how I imagined my perfect day.", she finished, giving everyone a warm smile. Everyone - including Kira - relaxed a bit, seeing that Konata was in fact quite alright. "At least you've brought me delicious Ice Cream, right? Kagamin?", she asked, expectantly.
Oh, how quickly she could change from teary-eyed goddess to angry demonette, thougth Konata with a grin on her face. To avoid being killed at last, she raised her hands, completely ignoring the pain and the wild look one of the medics gave her as he walked through the halls. "Just kidding, just kidding!", she finished, wearing one of her cat-like smiles.
Tension and aprehension gone, the three girls used their time together - however wrong a setting it was - to talk about their lives. Or rather, Konata inquiring every single one of them about unnecessary details, especially about Tsukasa and Miyuki's relationship. She wanted, after all, to know all the juicy details. Who in their right mind wouldn't?, justified the girl.
The hours passed, and one by one her friends had to leave, for one reason or another. It was already late in the night, and only Kira remained, her expression now somber.
Giving the windows one last look, Kira closed the door behind her, and walked lazily until she was sitting on the edge of Konata's bed. "So, will you tell me what happened?", asked the girl, truly concerned and curious.
"Well", began Konata with a sigh. How would she tell it to her?
"Well?"
"First choose. Bad news, or Even worst news?", Konata asked, grinning.
"Eh, I'll bite. Bad news, hit me.", answered Kira, mentally preparing herself for whatever could have happened to her little co-worker.
"Well, my would-be assassin is from Chimera. It seems the bosses finally got tired from my never-ending sense of humor.", she said, trying to cast some light on the situation.
Needless to say, Kira was shocked.
"What? How do you- How could they-Argh!", she mumbled, confused.
"Let's just say I'm pretty sure it's from Chimera and leave it at that, eh. The second news kind of answers this.", said Konata, grimly.
"...It gets worse? Aw hell, now what, there's a daemon on the loose?", she asked, half-kidding.
"Woah, pretty good, Kira! Didn't knew you were training your detective skills.", praised Konata, truly amazed. "Now guess which one is it?"
"Wait, there is a daemon?", her question was answered with a nod. Kira groaned, sighing loudly. " Just please tell me it isn't..."
"Yeap, it's Nagaira alright."
"Goddamn. Can we trap her again? I mean, it was hard enough on the first time, but surely you have another awesome magic trick on your sleeve, right? Right?", Oh, how I wanted to, Kira. Really did.
"Sorry, it seems she's not falling again for that trick. I'll just have to cope with her when the time comes. For now, it seems she's still weakened from the spells, but who knows what will happen tomorrow.", murmured Konata, while she moved against the bed, trying to find a comfortable position. "We'll have to be on the lookout, Kira. They will target you, too, and probably even Kagami.", said the girl, her voice trailing a bit.
"And how do you know all that?", she asked, truly curious.
"Ah, easy. I used to be on the other end of this situation, eh?" Bitter memories showered Konata's mind, but she did not move an inch.
"Ah, I see. What will you do, then?", said Kira, looking intensely at Konata's face.
She gave the best grin she managed, and showed her friend a thumbs-up.
"What else? I'm going to destroy them", she said, and laughed a bit at how stupid that sounded.
However stupid her plan was, however, it was the only viable plan her mind could muster, and thus, would have to be followed.
It just would be hard as hell to do so.
IoOoI
Well, I sure took my time with this chapter. Had another major writer's block, but managed to dish out the final 4000 thousand words in one night, so I'm pretty satisfied. Okay, I'm not completely happy with how the chapter turned out to be. It started as one thing, and then changed completely from the end, and however I look upon it, I feel I could have done better, had I had the time. And then I remember I had all the time I needed to do so and then some, and even still I didn't do it. I'm just like that, eh.
Anyways, story is picking up, and soon an explanation as to how the magic works will be done. As I've said, this world has mutated a bit from the original DC counterpart, but some characters from the DCU may appear to make their cameo.
Anyways, good reading, hope you like the chapter, and review!
P.S.: Extra lengthy chapter, yey! Sorry for any typo inside that jungle, eh.