Disclaimer: Iway oday otnay ownway Uckylay Arstay
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 Izumi residence
Tsukasa was reading a volume of Fairy Tail while sitting on Konata's bed. Next to her on a another chair was Miyuki, also reading a volume of the same manga. The said owner of the room was sitting on the computer playing Watashi ni Konya Ai ni Kite 2, clicking away as the choices for the paths of the game appeared on screen. After a while, Konata let out a frustrated groan and lightly slapped a palm to her forehead as the game ended yet again in the bad ending.
"Rrrrgh, darn you Grandpa and you blasted Tiger Temple!" said Konata to the image of an white-haired old man on the screen.
As the game returned to the main menu, Konata let out an exasperated sigh. "That harem ending better be worth all this."
Konata's mood was lightened considerable when she heard Tsukasa give of a cute sounding giggle. Konata turned to see her friend still absorbed in the manga she was reading. She recognized the volume in Tsukasa's hands and could remember a particularly funny scene in which the character of Lucy reveals how ridiculously rich she was by pointing out that what the other characters thought was a village was actually just her front garden.
Honestly, thought Konata, why is it in manga/anime when a character is labeled as "rich" they automatically have a house and lot the size of Okinawa?
"You're really enjoying that, huh, Tsukasa?" asked Konata.
"Yeah," cheerfully replied Tsukasa. "All the characters are really crazy. And the battle scenes are pretty intense as well."
"Looks like you're really getting into it."
"Well, with onee-chan taking a job as a voice actor, it really got me into checking out."
Konata nodded then turned to her glasses-wearing friend. "How about you, Miyuki?"
"Yeah, I'm the same as Tuskasa-san. I also became interested in the Manga when I heard about Kagami-san getting that job."
Funny, Konata was thinking while watching her two friends read manga, Kagamin is always on my case to think less about manga and anime and concentrate more on my studies. But now that she just got a job in the anime biz, she's influencing her friends to more and more like me. Man, I'm bummed she's not here right now. I would so be on her case about this, hehehe.
"It's kinda funny though," said Miyuki. "If you'd ask me which person I know would most likely end up in the anime business, it would be you Konata-san instead of Kagami-san."
"Yeah, I'd think that too," replied Konata while rubbing thr back of her head. "Funny how things work out in real life."
"I think Kona-chan would make a great voice-actor," said Tsukasa.
"Really? You think so?"
"Yup. I think that if onee-chan didn't already have the part, Kona-chan can play the lead female role in Fairy Tail, you know."
"Me? The voice of Lucy Heartfelia? Nah, I don't think that's possible."
Miyuki got up from her seat and started to browse Konata's bookshelf for something else to check out. After a moment of scanning the titles, she randomly picked out a volume of NEEDLESS and started flipping through the pages.
"I wonder if it's tough work, being a voice actor and all?" asked Miyuki. "After all, changing your voice to suit different character types must take a lot of practice."
"Well, there are whole courses devoted to voice-acting due to the number of people aspiring to be voice actors," said Konata. "Kagami must've been born with natural talent if she got scouted and accepted that quickly. But just goes to show you, being a seiyuu is more than just training and lessons. You should really have a knack for it."
"I wonder if we can be seiyuu as well." Miyuki flipped through the manga pages. "Like maybe if this manga was turned into an anime, we could play some of the characters."
"Hehe, That sounds like fun," said Tsukasa also picking up a volume of NEEDLESS and scanning the pages. "I'd like to be the voice of this kid carrying the teddy bear. She's so cute."
"But she's one of the bad guys, at first at least," said Konata. "And besides, to really prove your prowess as a voice actor, you need to play a character that is in contrast with your own personality, Tsukasa."
"Eh?"
"Right! I actually thought about this before. Tsukasa, you should be the voice of that wicked-crazy mercenary girl with the huge sword that has a skull on it. Miyuki should be the voice of that slightly wimpy but still dependable green-haired kid. And heck, Kagamin can be the voice of that pervy but smart cyborg librarian girl with all the guns hidden under her dress. Yeah, that sounds perfect."
"Ehhh? I don't think that's possible, Kona-chan."
"And how come my character is a boy?" asked Miyuki.
"Oh, c'mon guys. Have a little sense of Variety. Kagami probably knows this herself that she's gonna take a lot of varying roles."
"I suppose that makes sense. What kind of character would you play, Konata-san?"
"Well, that's obvious. I'd...uh...ummmmm...eh..."
Konata trailed off while Tsukasa and Miyuki waited for her to finish that statement. But soon Konata's face washed over with a look of dejections. "...I can't think of any character I can play..."
Tsukasa and Miyuki sweat-dropped. Konata, feeling a little depressed, turned back to her computer to start a new game. "It's ok. You three can have fun with your characters. I'll just find something else to do..."
Tsukasa and Miyuki sweat-dropped a bit more. "She's giving up already?" they thought.
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 another part of town.
For anyone who has read a few shoujo manga and even a couple of shonen manga with a romantic subplot, they will know that stalking is an art on par with gunplay, martial arts, and whatever sport or activity that particular manga/anime franchise happened to be focused on. Following a designated target while staying completely undetected by said target will take considerable skill. Taking note of every little thing they do, no matter how minuscule the action may be, and completely over-inflate the notion and meaning of that action in your head.
So far, Kagami and her male companion, have, in chronological order, took a walk down the shopping district and browsed the windows, went into a shoe store and looked at sneakers and sandals, went into an eyeglass store to pick up a new prescription for the guy, spent a small amount of change playing at one of those sidewalk lotteries (they won a pack of tissues each), went into an arcade and played games for about forty minutes, and finally ended in front of a movie theater. All in typical, a-couple-on-a-date type of way.
All the while, Ayano and Misao have been trailing in the shadows like a couple of overdressed ninja.
While the two targets were evaluating movie posters, Ayano and Misao's heads were peeking out from the side of a store sign, Misao close to the ground, and Ayano near the top.
"I can see why the body is hidden when they show characters in TV shows doing this," mumbled Misao. "This is really awkward for me. I might get a backache in the morning."
"Shhh! They might hear us!" scolded Ayano.
"They're like twenty yards away! They can't hear us!"
A moment later, the couple seemed to have decided on a movie to watch as indicated when the boy pointed to a certain poster and the girl nodded in agreement. Mere seconds later, they were at the ticket counter purchasing their entry.
"This isn't good, Misao-chan!" exclaimed Ayano, still behind the store sign.
"How is that?"
"This date is going too smoothly!"
"...How do you figure? And why do you make it sound like a bad thing."
"Because, don't you know what happens when A date goes well?"
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
In Ayano's mind.
It was now past dinner time and the nightlife of the city was in full swing. Kagami and and the imaginary vision of her significant other were standing in front of a particular building. This building had a big neon sign displaying its name in bright pink and it was the kind of name you wouldn't want your kids to here about.
"Looks like there's only one last thing to do," said the blushing Kagami as she looked up longingly to the boy next to her.
"Yes, let's consumate are relations ship right now," said the boy.
"With this, I will be forever bound to you. No man will ever replace you in my heart."
"And I shall make you mine, Kagami-chan! Come, let us jump each other's bones like rabbits in heat!"
In one fluid sweeping motion, the boy took Kagami in the classic bridal carry and purposeful trudged up to the entrance of the building to the background music of classical strings and woodwinds.
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 reality.
"Oh, c'mon! Like that really happens a lot in real life," said Misao. "Not even you and Onii-chan habe done that."
"But still, you never know."
"This is Hiiragi we're talking about. I seriously doubt she'd let a guy sweep her away like that."
"Even so, we're gonna follow here and make sure that her innocence is not ruined."
"You do realize that what we're doing is illegal, right?"
"Details, details. Let's move!"
Before Misao could make any kind of protest, Ayano pulled her up from their hiding spot and dragged her towards the theater. Ayano quickly purchased two tickets to the movie they saw Kagami and her companion picked out, a cheap B-movie that you'd rather watch for fun rather than for appreciating the artistic value of the film. Minutes later, they were in the darkened theater just as the ending credits of the previous showing ended.
At this point, most of the previous viewers have already left and a few of the next batch is just about to settle in. The two student stalkers picked seats somewhere near the middle of the theater where they could easily watch their targets who took seats some five rows down. Kagami and the boy were making themselves comfortable while Ayano and Misao were spying over them using the seats in front as cover. The theater was nowhere near full. In fact, only a little over two dozen people were in the theater. After all, the start of the feature film wasn't for another fifteen minutes. This made the spying bit much easier.
"What do you think they're talking about?" asked Ayano in a politely hushed tone. They were in a movie theater after all.
"Don't know and don't care," replied Misao. "It's none of my business."
"Could they be discussing their plans to go to a seedy place after the movie?"
"Most likely they're just talking about how they think th movie will turn out. If not, then they're probably talking about where they'll want to have dinner after this. You know, stuff normal people would talk about."
"Why don't we move a little closer?"
Ayano begins to stand up when Misao quickly grabbed onto her shoulder then pulled her back down with some authority. The normally soft-spoken Ayano turned to her friend with a questioning look. The normally hyper Misao returned with a glare that seemed to input some discipline into Ayano who started to shy away from Misao.
"Will you give it a rest already," said Misao firmly. "Wasn't it just a little while ago that you were telling me that what was happening to Kagami was good and that she deserved it? And the next minute, here we are stalking the crud out of her all because you just happen to be a little jealous of her new found success."
"But...but..."
"No buts! We are Hiiragi's friends. We should support her. So what if she has a celebrity boyfriend or something like that? She probably deserves him too."
"But that's one of the reasons why I wanna check them out."
"Waddaya mean?"
"I wanna make sure if the guy deserves Hiiragi."
Misao blinked. "Wait...that was what this was about?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, if this guy can get our Kagami to go out with him, he must be something else, you know? And for Kagami to actually agree to going out with him...well he must have some kind of...endearing quality to him. I wanna know what that is. Even if this guy really may be a celebrity. It's gonna take more than that to get my approval for him to date our Kagamin."
"Are you sure it's not cuz' your jealous of Hiiragi over there?"
Ayano let out a little sigh and gave Misao an understanding look. "Well, I guess I am a little jealous. If that guy really is someone famous."
Misao blinked again. Then she just had to giggle. "Really now? I guess I am a little jealous myself. darn that Hiiragi for getting ahead of me so fast."
Ayano had to giggle as well. She finally got Misao to understand. But she was also glad Misao took a stand back there. Looking back in the day, she supposed the whole stalking thing was a little too much even if it was in the interest of their friend. "Still, I guess we are going a little overboard, huh? We even followed them all the way into this theater."
"Waddaya mean 'we'? You dragged me along."
Ayano rubbed the back of her head. "Oh, yeah. Sorry about that."
"I'm sorry I let it go this far. I wanted to go shopping for a new blouse today. And now I'm stuck here."
"Well at least Kagamin has pretty good taste in movies, huh?"
"Hey by the way, Ayano-chan. you called her "Kagamin" twice now. Now your using that Chibiko's nickname for Hiiragi. When did that happen?"
Ayano put on a surprised face then quickly thought back on their conversation. Misao was right. "I guess that just shows how much I like our Hiiragi. Heavens know she worth it all. Even if we are being a little silly."
"Yeah, I guess your right."
The two friends just giggled at each other, finally realizing just how silly the whole thing was. But both knew that they did this all for Kagami and if they had to do it all over again, they wouldn't change a thing. Because Kagami was just worth it. The three of them have stuck by each other since middle school after all. Kagami has done so much for them that they'll do anything for her in return. She was simply that kind of irreplaceable friend.
Both Ayano and Misao turned back towards the couple they've been following all this time. A beat. Then suddenly both girls wore rather shocked expressions on their faces. After looking back down they noticed that Kagami was gone. Only the boy she was sitting with a while ago was left there, quietly enjoying the background music being played as the theater staff was readying the next showing
"Man, we spend all this time following her," said Misao, "then we just completely lose at a time like this."
"Um, maybe she just got up and went to the bathroom," suggested Ayano.
"yeah. Or maybe she went to by some snacks up front," suggested Misao.
"Or, she just wanted to ask why her two friends have been tailing her this whole time," suggested Kagami.
A beat. Followed by another.
Ayano and Misao's eyes went wide and their jaws went slack. Large sweat beads started to form on their temples. Slowly they turned towards each other and quickly identified with the terrified expression they saw on each other. They then continued to turn their heads slowly until they were now looking up at the row of seats above them.
And sure enough, Kagami was right there, her eyes narrowed sinisterly and her lips slightly curled in a wry smirk. The dark atmosphere of the theater didn't serve to make her face any less scary.
"Well...what do you have to say for yourselves, young ladies?" asked Kagami.
More beads of sweat, and Ayano and Misao could only laugh nervously.
Kagami thought, so much for a normal day.
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: There's about two more chapters left to this story. After that I'll be moving on to my next project...which I'm still not certain what is. But as I mentioned before and OBM3 is already in the works in my head and I've pretty much got the general outline thought out (not that that will last. I have a habit of changing my stories middway depending on what idea I find most interesting.) Anyway, pls. R&R as ususal.
Additional notes: More inside jokes in the first part of this chapter. If you don't get it, here's the explanation. First there was that joke about Konata being the seiyuu for Lucy in Fairy Tail. Now, I started this story before the Fairy Tail anime was announced and had no idea Konata's seiyuu (Aya Hirano) actually WAS playing Lucy. That was a pleasant surprise.
The other joke was about the rest of them being seiyuu's of characters from the manga NEEDLESS. The fact is, for the anime of NEEDLESS, the seiyuu for Kagami (Emiri Katou), Tsukasa (Kaori Fukuhara) and Miyuki (Aya Endou) all played the respective characters described at that part. Unfortunately, Konata's seiyuu wasn't part of NEEDLESS.