Disclaimer: Oh look, a disclaimer.
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Kasukabe, in the morning.
Of all the places to have breakfast at, Kagami thought, it had to be this place.
Kagami, dressed again in her now dry school uniform, stared at the piece of strawberry shortcake at the tip of her fork hovering not more than a foot from her lips. The cake taunted her with all its sweet goodness and in Kagami's mind she was already thinking of the thousands of ways she could make up for or at least cover these new calories. Kagami hated the fact that her sweet tooth always seemed to win out at the end.
Kagami took the bite and chewed slowly, savoring every ounce of sweetness from the natural strawberry flavoring. If she was gonna pay for this, she was gonna make it worth it. And thank goodness it was the last bite...
"Want some more cake, Hiiragi-san?" asked Hitomi.
...Or so she thought.
Kagami looked up to her present company. Somehow, someway, she was asked to join Tetsuya's family in touring around the city. And the first destination, much to Sayori's insistence, was some place where they could get some sweets. Kagami, ever the graciously polite guest, suggested a particular cake cafe she normally went to with her friends. None of them seemed to protest, not even Tetsuya. Now they were all seated around a table with Kagami and Tetsuya on one side and Hitomi and Sayori on the other.
"Um...sure," replied Kagami.
As much as she wanted to say no, it was Hitomi that was paying for the hour they had there. It was one thing for Kagami to waste her money but she'd be darned if she wasted someone else's. With that, Hitomi handed Kagami a slice of chocolate moose. Kagami stared at the slice of cake with a bit of dread, already doing the complex calculations in her head for counting calories.
As Kagami was taking her first bite of the chocolate moose, she was also thinking of ways to make up for it. She thought that maybe a bit of fruit might help to balance the calorie intake. She also wondered if she could exercise it off. She never really thought of it before. Maybe if I do a bit a jogging, thought Kagami. But I wonder for how long?
"I suggest jogging for about half a kilometer, every morning for five days," said Tetsuya, who was seated right next to her. "That should make up for the cake."
"Oh, I see. Thanks," said Kagami as she took a other bite. In her hear head Kagami was already thinking of her jogging route. There weren't that many long roads where her house was and it probably not a good idea to wander down onto the main roads in the early mornings just to get a bit of exercise.
"If you have a fairly long enough piece of road near your place, you can just jog up and down that road repeatedly," said Tetsuya, taking a bite out of his own chocolate cake.
"Hmm, good idea," replied Kagami taking another bite. He was right. There was a fair bit of straight road in front of her house that had two bridges going over canals. If she jogged from one bridge to the other about three times she should be able to--
A beat.
Kagami nearly choked on the piece of cake she was eating. She quickly turned to Tetsuya who wore a wry smile on his face. "The heck?! Are you psychic or something?!"
Tetsuya let out an amused laugh. "It was practically written all over your face. You had that look I always see in people who think about their weight all the time. If you're dieting, you should just tell us."
"Darn it, Shimakage, stop reading me like that!"
"I can't help it, you make it too easy, Hiiragi."
Kagami resisted the urge to stab the guy with her fork. Tetsuya spotted this on her face as usual. "Oh, lighten up, Hiiragi. You should be more relaxed sometimes."
"I would if I didn't hang around stuck-up, anti-social jerks with a napoleon complex."
Tetsuya's smile faded. "I do not have a napoleon complex."
Kagami grinned ever so slightly. "Hmm, what made you think I was talking about you?"
"You know, you really take everything way too seriously."
"Look who's talking. You're always nagging to me about my voice acting while everybody else seem to think that I'm doing just fine. There is such a thing as positive reinforcement, you know? Or maybe you like berating me since it helps with your napoleon complex."
"I do not have a napoleon complex! And as for my coaching of you, I only call it as I see it. What's the point in telling you about what you're doing right when what we're trying to do is to get rid of whatever you're doing wrong?"
"Oh, like you're Mr. perfect voice actor."
"I never said that."
Kagami was about to say something back when she noticed that Hitomi and Sayori were looking at her with amused looks on their faces. Tetsuya also noticed this right after Kagami and the two seiyuus simply faced the two on the other side and asked "What?" at the same time.
"I was just thinking how it's kinda nice how the two of you get along so well," said Hitomi.
"We do not get along!" both Kagami and Tetsuya said simultaneously.
"Are you kidding?" said Sayori. "You guys talk to each other like an old married couple."
"You stay out of this!!" exclaimed Tetsuya. Kagami blushed a bit where she was seated and looked away.
Hitomi chuckled at the reaction of the two seiyuus in front of her. Kagami seemed to blush a bit more while Tetsuya tried to shrug it off. Looks like it was a good choice to come to Saitama after all, she thought.
"Well, I think our hour here is almost up," she said. "Better finish your cakes guys. We still wanna see the rest of the city after all. By the way, um, Hiiragi-san, was it?"
Kagami's attention was piqued. "Um, yes?"
"Tell me, you wouldn't happen to know a few good tourist spots in the city would you?"
Kagami was a little taken aback by the inquiry. She had lived in Kasukabe for a long time but she was not that familiar with the city's famous landmarks. The only landmarks she knew very well were the places she usually went to on a regular basis like school. Kagami remembered a few famous monuments and such scattered around the place. Trying to think of a good enough place to be called a tourist attraction, she could only recall the Robinson's mall in the city,
"Well, I do know about the Robinson's mall..." said Kagami.
"Oh, I know that place!" said Sayori. "Let's take a look at it. I've been wanting to check it out!"
"Sounds like a good idea. I wanted to check out some stuff I might wanna buy." said Hitomi. "What do you think, Tetsuya?"
"I guess it's alright," said Tetusya.
"Great! Let's finish up here and get a move on."
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Some time later.
Kagami included, all four of them took a drive around town in Hitomi's modest little Honda Fit. Sayori, like the little kid she was, was facing out the window the whole trip, taking in the sights of the unfamiliar city. The place they were headed, the Robinson's department store, was the first U.S. department store in Japan.
The seven storey shopping mall, a popular hangout for the locals, has become a sort of landmark. Based on the well-established Southern Californian department store chain it got it's name from, the mall was famous for being a uniquely western-styled shopping center. Kagami has been there every now and then with her family and friends so she knew the place well. Tetsuya, even though a resident of the city, rarely went there mainly because he was saving cash so he still had only a rough memory of the place.
They reached the mall in just under thirty minutes of driving. Once inside the group did the usual mall stuff to do: mainly do a lot of window shopping, a little bit of actual shopping (Hitomi was looking for a new pair of reading glasses and new lipstick) and finally, because Sayori insisted, they lastly went to the arcade.
Kagami liked going to the arcade because it had an abundance of her favorite type of game: shooters. She spent a good bit of her left over allowance on side scrolling shooters. Meanwhile, Tetsuya, who happened to be also rather fond of the arcade, spent a most of his time on his favorite genre: racing games. He challenged Kagami to a bit of Initial D Arcade Stage 5 at some point. Sayori, being an inexperience gamer for the most part, tried just about everything. The group had a bit of humor when Sayori tried her hand on some rhythm games, particularly GuitarFreaks and DrumMania.
After a while, Kagami got a bit tired and decided to rest, Tetsuya and Sayori busied themselves competing on the Street Fighter 4 machine. Kagami found a nice little bench in the middle of the arcade and watched Tetsuya and Sayori from a distance. She was soon joined by Hitomi.
"Hey there," greeted Hitomi.
"Um, hi," greeted back Kagami shyly.
"Tetsuya is right. You should relax a bit. Don't worry I won't bite. I wanna get to know you better."
"Well, uh...what do you want to know, Shimakage-san?"
"You work with my son as a voice actor, right?"
"Uh, yeah. He and I provide the voices for a couple of main characters in this new anime series that's being produced And...he's also kinda supposed to be my voice coach or something like that. I've only started doing voice acting just days ago you see."
"Hmmm, that would explain the bossy attitude Tetsuya has with you. But you do deserve some credit. I mean, you're obviously still a high school student and you already have a job. What year are you in?"
"I'm in my third year ma'am."
Hitomi laughed a bit when she head Kagami called her ma'am. "Oh, don't be so formal. What course are you aiming for? Are you going to college?"
"I...I was thinking of taking a humanities course. Something like psychology maybe."
"Hmmm, well it certainly fits your personality." Hitomi leaned in a bit closer as if to try and make the conversation a bit more private. "Tell me, what's it like working with my son?"
Kagami was taken aback by the sudden change in subject. She sorted out what she might answer to Hitomi in her head first. This was her polite and proper side showing right then.
"Um, it's ok. He's very professional. He does good work. He doesn't do anything to bad or anything like that..."
Hitomi chuckled a bit. "You're being way too polite, my dear. Tell me honestly what you think about him."
Kagami turned to Hitomi. Hitomi's expression basically said that she knew Kagami was holding back out of courtesy and she was amused by it. But also there was something in her eyes that told Kagami that she was inviting her to be completely honest with her. Kagami felt rather comfortable with Hitomi for some reason. The same way she feels around her own mom. As a result...
"He's rude. He's bossy. He's arrogant. He constantly points out my every little mistake like he was making a shopping list. He acts like he knows everything just because he's a bit more experienced than me. He teases me a lot. He never passes up an opportunity to say 'I told you so' to me. He makes fun of my singing voice. He reads into me too much. He--"
"Okay, I get the point!" Hitomi was laughing now. It was only a moment before Kagami joined in laughing at Tetsuya's expense.
"But...I guess he's not all bad, really," said Kagami after a while.
"Really? How so?"
"I mean, when he gives advice, it's something I can really listen too. He may be bossy but, I do feel that he is sincerely concerned about my progress as a voice actor, you know. And then there was yesterday when he...well he was there for me when I needed somebody. I guess I owe him that much."
Hitomi didn't reply for a while and that made Kagami check to see what Hitomi was thinking. Hitomi wasn't looking at her but instead was focused on Tetsuya, who was then having yet another squabble with Sayori. Kagami saw a knowing smile on Hitomi's face, expressing satisfaction in something.
"That's so like him," said Hitomi then she turned towards Kagami. "Just because he's a bit mean to you, doesn't mean he hates you, Kagami-chan. It's because he feels you're hiding something."
"Oh..." was all Kagami could muster as a response.
"You don't get it, huh? Remember back at the desert cafe, Tetsuya was reading you?"
"Um, yeah. One of the many things he does to annoy me."
"You can say that it his special talent. He can read people like an open book. He does it all the time. And as such, he can easily tell when somebody is hiding something about themselves. When somebody is hiding their true feelings and personality."
Kagami looked confused for a second. "Hiding their true feelings?"
"He doesn't hate you for being inept at something, Kagami-chan. He just wishes you were more honest with yourself."
"Be more honest with myself? I don't quite get it."
Hitomi smiled at her. "You seem like the responsible independent type to me. Do you get good grades at school? Are you an officer of your class?"
"Um, yeah, My grades are pretty good. And yeah, I'm the class representative."
"So you seem to be pretty popular, huh?"
Kagami was a bit caught off-guard by that and blushed. "Well...I wouldn't say that."
"Tell me, do you like voice acting? Do you enjoy it?"
Kagami thought long about that question. "Actually yeah, I do enjoy it. Funny thing is I didn't think I would enjoy it so much. I really feel like this is something I can be really good at."
"But have you told any of your friends that you're a voice actor?"
Kagami was about to say something when she suddenly stopped herself. Her expression suddenly changed to something that made her look a little depressed. Hitomi picked it up instantly and she knew the answer to her own question from it. Hitomi could also see that Kagami was slowly coming to realization about some of the things they were talking about just now.
"You haven't told anyone yet, have you?" asked Hitomi.
"Should I?" replied Kagami. "I mean I am proud of being good at voice acting...but..."
"You're afraid that the people around you will start seeing you in a new image, huh?"
Kagami didn't answer right away but Hitomi knew at that point she hit the mark. "Well, it's up to you, Kagami-chan," continued Hitomi. "Are you more proud of your current image or the fact that you have great talent for your new line of work? Once you answer that question for yourself...well, maybe Tetsuya-kun wouldn't be so mean to you anymore."
Kagami gave Hitomi a questioning look but the older woman simply smiled back at her reassuringly.
Just then, Tetsuay and Sayori approached the two seated on the bench, apparently finished with their game. Tetsuya wore a characteristic smug look on his face while Sayori had that adorable pouting expression again. It was pretty clear what happened but their mother asked anyway. "Had fun?"
"Onii-chan wouldn't let me win," said Sayori.
"As a gamer, it is a manner of pride and honor that I never to give less than my full capability when playing," said Tetsuya. "You'll understand when you grow-up, shrimp."
"Whatever! I'm hungry. Let's go eat lunch already."
"But we just ate breakfast like an hour ago,"
Hitomi chuckled a bit. "That's what you get for playing around too much. You got hungry too quickly, see?"
"I'm a growing girl! I need nutrition!"
"Alright, honey, we'll go find a place to eat," said Hitomi before turning towards Kagami. "Hey, you know you can still come with us right? I mean, the more the merrier."
Kagami looked back towards Hitomi with a slightly pleading look. She wasn't used to being treated like this, especially from people she barely knew. "Um, I'm glad you insist, Shimakage-san, but really I wouldn't want to impose on you. Though I do appreciate you offering to treat me to a meal and all, I don't wanna look like I'm taking advantage of you or anything."
"Translation," said Tetsuya. "Thanks for the offer but I'm trying to watch my weight so please stop pressuring me into politely taking your offer of gorging myself on free food and sweet--"
BONK!!
Tetsuya suddenly found himself nursing a growing lump on his forehead and wearing an exasperated expression while Kagami stood beside him with a raised fist and a popping vain on her temple complementing the more than annoyed look on her face. Hitomi and Sayori both sweat-dropped.
Just then, as if to answer the girl's unspoken prayers, Kagami's cellphone beeped to signal she just got a text message. She quickly fished her cellphone out of her pocket. The message was from her own mother, asking when she was going to come home since she missed breakfast. Kagami breathed an exasperated sigh. Finally, something happened that was actually predictable.
"It seems my mom is starting to worry about me," said Kagami. "I'm sorry Shimakage-san but it looks like I really need to go."
"Well, I can certainly understand how your mom would feel," said Hitomi. You have been gone for a whole night after all. Well, at least we had a good time while it lasted. Thanks for keeping us company, Kagami-chan."
"Yeah, and thanks for breakfast. It was great meeting you, Shimakage-san. You too, Sayori."
"Same here!" replied the little girl.
Kagami turned to Tetsuya. "Shimakage, thanks again for letting me stay the night. I guess I'll see you at work next week."
Tetsuya nodded back at Kagami. "Sure, no big deal. Take care going home. See you next week."
Kagami gave her final bows and started to head towards the exits while the Tetsuya's family turned to go find a place to have lunch. Kagami already started to compose a reply message to her mom and thought that was the end of that but after only a few steps she heard her name being called again by Hitomi. "Oh, Kagami-chan!"
Kagami turned back towards the three. Hitomi continued. "I really think you should give some thought to what we talked about, ok? I think you and Tetsuya can get along really well!"
Kagami blushed and hesitated a bit but eventually nodded back at the older woman. "Ok, I promise!"
Hitomi gave her an approving smile and turned back towards her children. Tetsuya asked his mother what was that all about but she simply shrugged it off. Kagami stood there and watched the trio disappear into the crowds, Hitomi's conversation with her already playing in her head.
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About an hour later.
Kagami was back at her district, walking down the road that lead to her house. She was slow in walking as it seemed that she was lost in thought. "Be more honest with myself, huh?" she mumbled to herself.
According to Hitomi, that was the reason why Tetsuya was being mean to her. So that implied to Kagami that Tetsuya was somehow attempting to make her honest with herself, what ever that meant. Was that it? She wasn't really sure. Kagami thought back to earlier that day. The first thing she thought about was that little squabble she had during breakfast. Fact of the matter is he was right, she did dread the cake just as much as she wanted it (curse her sweet tooth!) and he saw it all over her face.
That boy really did have a talent for reading people. But still, he didn't have to put it that way! Always teasing her with her true feelings! It really got to Kagami's skin. He was worse than Konata. At least Konata couldn't read Kagami as deeply as him and Kagami could always tease Konata back. Him on the other hand, well, he was easy to tease as well. Kagami found that out over their working days together that Tetsuya has his own buttons that Kagami can push. She thought back to that last thing Hitomi said. How the heck could she and Tetsuya really get along well?
Then again, Hitomi was right. Kagami didn't feel that Tetsuya really hated her. And she didn't really hate him...all that much. So maybe, yeah, Tetsuya might be really friendly deep down. And he's always coaching her in the right way so she can't really say he's sabotaging her work. Far from it, he was essential to her progress. She had to admit to herself that she wouldn't be anywhere in this business without him.
But still, he could be down right unbearable at times. Always teasing her about something and pointing out something embarrassing. He would be a good friend, Kgami thought, if only he didn't keep realizing those feelings and emotions she was trying so damn hard to keep hidden from everybo--
Kagami suddenly stopped walking, three blocks from her house, eyes wide with realization.
The wind blew quietly and played with Kagami's hair as she stood there with a somewhat sad but thoughtful expression on her face. As thoughts ran through her head, she specifically remembered something he asked her last night.
"I really am a tsundere, huh?" she asked the same question to herself.
She looked up and was able to clearly see her house, less the a minutes worth of walking ahead. This was the first time she was able to completely comprehend Hitomi's words to her and this was also the first time she wanted to do something about it. She already knew where to start.
She started walking again, more briskly this time. She was gonna tell her family first. Then she was gonna tell her friends at school. She'll admit to everyone that she is a seiyuu and not be embarrassed about it. She reached her front door and stopped in front of it.
She took a deep breath and let out a long exhale. She nodded to herself to cement her resolve in her own mind before finally reaching for the door. Kagami opened the door, removed her shoes, stepped into the front hallway, and announced herself like she normally would. "Hello. I'm home. Is anyone he--"
"KAGAMIN!!!"
Suddenly and without warning, a little blue-haired otaku appeared from out of nowhere and tackled Kagami to the floor.
Kagami lost her senses for a moment but quickly regained them to see Konata on top of her with an expression that was shocked, upset, angry, and even a little envious as far as Kagami could figure. Konata also had that same pouting expression that Sayori had as Kagami remembered.
"Konata? What the heck are you doing?" Kagami asked.
"It's so unfair, you know!? Why didn't you say anything!?" exclaimed Konata.
"I'm really not getting you right now. Moreover, get off of me will ya?!"
"No! Stupid Kagamin must be punished!" Konata started to lightly beat her fist on the side of Kagami's head.
Kagami was having the weirdest case of deja vu. She managed to stop Konata long enough to sit up and push the shorter girl aside. "Okay, you should chill out, Konata. I don't even know what you're so mad about!"
"Oh, yes you do!" Konata moved behind Kagami and put her into a not-so-serious choke hold which annoyed, more than hurt, Kagami.
"What is going on here?!"
"You can't really blame her, you know," said Matsuri. Kagami looked up to see that her sisters were now right there in front of her watching the scene between here and her best friend. Both Inori and Matsuri had mildly amused expressions on their faces and Tsukasa was nervously sweat-dropping. "Considering you friend's otaku tendencies, you should've expected something like this when she found out."
Kagami started to get a bit nervous. "Found what out?"
"Um, onee-chan," spoke up Tsukasa. "Konata came here a little after breakfast because she wanted to talk to you about a DVD she bought yesterday. And, by coincidence, this came in the mail for you."
Tsukasa showed Kagami the DVD she was hiding behind her back. Kagami took about two seconds to recognize the title to be Q-ko-chan, the Animation. Kagami started to get somewhat nervous.
"Um, it also came with a note," said Tsukasa, pulling out a pice of paper. "It says "Kagami-chan. Here's a token to mark your first production. Thanks again for your excellent work!" Signed Aoi."
"By the way," said Inori with a wry grin, "we decided to watch it while waiting for you to come home. Guess whose name we saw in the credits, hmmmm?" Kagami started to get pretty darn nervous. At this point, Konata started to tighten her choke hold a bit more just to get her feelings across. "Why didn't you tell me, Kagamin?!" said the otaku to the seiyuu.
Kagam knew right then and there that she will have to be more honest with herself...whether she liked it or not.
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Author's note. This took a little longer that I wanted but I do have a good excuse. I caught the flu last week and was stuck in bed for 4 days so I didn't feel like doing much of anything. And also, there was my other I was working on. But, whatever. Here's chapter 9. Pls R&R as usual.