Konata experienced a brief sensation of confusion and panic when she woke up the next morning, but soon remembered what had happened.

As of yesterday, she had joined the Eclipse organization, which she realized she still had very little real understanding of. And ever since she had left this universe to visit the Castlevania one - she was still having trouble believing that had really just happened - things back here had taken on a new and disorienting (yet still awesome) appearance. Lucky Star... she still wondered what that was all about.

There was that old saying about "today is the first day of the rest of your life."

Sometime later today would probably be the next training session, in some other universe that before yesterday she would have thought fictional, but before that she had a normal school day ahead of her.

Normal? Well... Today would be the first time she would see her friends with however they would appear now... She herself had blue hair and huge green eyes now, so there was really no telling what anyone else would look like.

On the train and the bus, there was the usual mix of Ryoo students and adults on their morning commute. Still nobody else with amazing technicolor hair. Was it just the Izumi family or something...? The phrase "ultra rare" came to mind. Thinking about it that way, it was quite appealing.

Chapter 3

Something Wrong With The World Today

The train arrived at the Kasukabe station. As Konata got off with the other Ryoo students, she noticed two girls with lavender-colored hair standing off to the side. So there were people with different - wait, were those -?

"Hey, Kona-chan!" It was Tsukasa, but... wow, she had changed. Everyone here looked really young, but Tsukasa especially... She might as well be in middle school now, Konata thought with a slight grin. Truth be told, it was a little disappointing that she no longer looked so much like Akari Kamigishi... Konata remembered how that was the first thing she had thought of when they had met.

Kagami and Tsukasa were now a bit more recognizable as twins, being the only people around with that shade of purple hair. Their eyes had changed to light blue, and Konata couldn't help but notice that Kagami was actually pretty cute now.

"Uh... Konata? You okay?" Kagami asked.

Konata realized she had been staring. "Oh, yeah! I'm fine. Nothing's wrong."

"So did you ever manage to finish last night's homework on your own?" Kagami said.

"Oh yeah... that." She had completely forgotten. Kagami had been pretty mad that Konata would actually try to copy off her while she was at home sick, and of course right after she had left was when... "I guess I had other things on my mind."

"Typical... Knowing you, I wouldn't have expected any less." Kagami just couldn't believe how irresponsible Konata could be. She had probably just been up all night playing a game again. "And what's with that weird smile on your face, anyway?"

"Nothing, Kagamin," Konata said. "Though I must say, you're looking pretty good today."

What the hell did she mean by that? Kagami wondered.

"Huh... looks like Sensei's late again," Tsukasa said as they arrived in homeroom.

Konata wasn't paying attention, instead she was staring at the new and improved Miyuki-san. Pink hair, big purple eyes... not to mention the glasses and that figure. Obviously that was what all the fans of Lucky Star were there for. She was quite simply the Holy Grail of moe.

"Hey, Konata!" She looked over and saw Jason. He had gotten here early today. "So how are you today?"

"Great..." Konata replied, turning back to look at Miyuki.

Jason spoke quietly to her. "I thought we'd meet around midnight or so today. That way we'll have more time for practice. Sound good?"

"Yeah," Konata said. Today was going to be a very long day of school. She couldn't wait to get out for some more training. Not that the new anime lifestyle wasn't fascinating as well.

The bell rang for class to start, and still no sign of Kuroi-sensei.

"She's really setting a good example for all of us, isn't she?" Jason commented.

The door flew open and Kuroi ran to the desk, trying to catch her breath. "Everyone take your seats! Class is beginning!"

So this is one of those animes where the teacher looks the same age as everyone else... Konata thought. And none of us even look high school age to begin with.

That day Konata managed to stay awake through every class, though she still wasn't paying attention. Rather, she was observing each teacher, classmate, and detail around her. Hopefully she didn't give the impression that she was completely spaced out.

What kind of anime was Lucky Star, anyway? Jason had said it was just her daily life... Did that include Eclipse? High school could be a sub-plot - plenty of other anime did that. Konata Izumi, ordinary high school student with a secret after-school life travelling between worlds... That was a great plot for an anime, wasn't it?

Then again, it could just be a slice of life comedy. Whoever wrote this would have to be insane if he or she didn't include Miyuki-san in as many scenes as possible. And judging by the chibi art style, moe was definitely a focus here.

In this class... well, actually this entire school... Everyone except for herself and her friends had regular brown or black hair. Which meant that they must be the main cast. That made sense, those hair colors made them stand out.

Konata looked at Miyuki, who was sitting near the front of the class, taking notes attentively. Of course, like everyone else, she was unaware that she was undoubtedly an idol to... hundreds, maybe thousands, of anime fans.

And Jason... At the moment he looked like an ordinary student as well. It was almost hard to believe what had happened yesterday. He had all sorts of magical powers, combat ability (Konata remembered that was only a guess, she hadn't actually seen him fight) and connections to this powerful group that she still knew next to nothing about. And he had been aware of everything from the very beginning.

Konata reminded herself to ask him about Lucky Star. As weird as it would be to read the manga adaptation of her daily life, it was a chance she simply couldn't pass up.

Overall, that was a fairly normal day of school. Konata wasn't paying attention to the lessons, but she never had anyway. She could study it all the night before the test. Everything was normal... until English class.

Konata had never been very good at English, even less than in other subjects. Not really much of a use for it. She had always planned to live in Japan anyway.

The assignment today was to write a paragraph entirely in English over what you had done in the past week. Ordinarily this would have been next to impossible, but today... As Konata tried to decide what to write, she realized she was thinking fluently in English.

How was that possible? Being able to think fluently in a foreign language...? She understood what she was thinking, of course she would, they were her own thoughts, but...

"Izumi." She looked up at Fushimi-sensei, the English teacher. "How about you read your paper to us?"

Today of all days... He probably wasn't even expecting her to have written anything (anything intelligible, at least). Such a sadistic man. But today she had something. Well, might as well just read it...

"Last week I bought some manga at Gamers, and I went on some quests online with my friends." She was uncomfortably aware of everybody staring at her. Konata wasn't used to being admired for her academic talents. She continued reading through the paragraph, trying to ignore them. "And yesterday I visited my friend Kagami's house when she was sick," she finished.

The entire class was looking at her. And why wouldn't they be? She had read off the entire paragraph in perfect English, without even a hint of a Japanese accent. Like she had been speaking it all her life. What the hell was going on? Konata tried to look like she wasn't as surprised as everyone else was.

"That was... excellent, Izumi. Great job," Fushimi-sensei said.

"Thank you," Konata said, and took her seat.

"Anyone else want to volunteer to read their work? No?" He chose another student, another student who was known to have difficulty with English. As they read their paper, struggling on pronunciation and grammar, Konata realized she could identify all the grammatical errors in their paper. How was she doing this...?

"So I heard some of the clubs are accepting new members," Kagami said. "Maybe you should join one, Jason. It's a great way to meet new people."

"I've thought about it," he replied. "Maybe... kendo, that one sounded interesting. What is that, anyway? Isn't it like swordfighting or something?"

"Yes, that's correct," Miyuki said. "I believe I've heard it's based on traditional samurai fighting styles using a katana."

"Well, katanas are definitely awesome, no argument there," he said. "And they teach this in school? Japan is awesome!"

"Or you could try one of the art or music clubs. Those are lots of fun, too," Tsukasa suggested.

"They don't judge based on talent, do they...?" Jason said. "It's sad to say, I've never been very good at art."

"Well, the most important thing is that you're part of something. It's a great way to meet people, especially since you're new here. That's what Konata doesn't seem to understand about the entire 'club' business," Kagami said. "Isn't that right?"

Konata said nothing. She was staring intently at her choco cornet. It was so... symmetrical. It still felt like a regular choco cornet, and it surely still tasted like one, but like everything else today, it looked so different.

"Wait... don't tell me you're still trying to figure out which is the right way to eat it." All of them still remembered that conversation from their first year. Caterpillar or seashell?

"No, that's not it." Konata took a bite, and it still had that familiar delicious flavor. Of course it would...

"Kona-chan, when did you learn to speak English so well? That was really impressive in class today," Tsukasa said.

"What happened?" Kagami asked. "I gotta hear this." Konata doing well in school? That was news.

"Yes, it was very impressive," Miyuki said.

"Yeah, you almost sounded like an American, Kona-chan!" Tsukasa said.

"Well, um..." Konata tried to think of something. Why was she suddenly fluent in English, anyway? "I've been... studying with Jason. He helped me."

Jason realized he was suddenly on the spot. "Uh... yeah. That's right. You really learn fast, Konata. It shows."

"You actually studied? I'm impressed," Kagami said. "What's with the sudden motivation?"

Konata tried to think of what to say next. This was harder than she had thought. "Well, I was thinking... I want to visit America someday." That sounded good enough. But please, no more questions today...

Jason suddenly cut in. "Well, the line's probably shorter now, I guess I'll go over to the cafeteria and get some lunch. Anyone want to come?"

Konata got the hint. "Yeah, I think I'll get something too... Be right back."

They both stood up and started towards the cafeteria. As they left the room, Konata just had to say it. "What the hell happened in English class today?"

"It's another effect of Eclipse's inter-dimensional program from yesterday. You're fluent in every language now," Jason said. "It'll come in handy, trust me."

Had he just said every language? As in... all of them?

"I actually never learned how to speak Japanese. That would have taken too long, I just don't have the patience..." He shrugged. "Besides, you never know what languages you'll run into on a mission."

"You... never learned Japanese? And you're going to a Japanese high school?" That was a stretch even for a mysterious transfer student from another dimension. "How?"

"Well, for one thing, being from America I'm not expected to know much about the culture here anyway, so it's fine if I seem a bit different," Jason said. "I haven't been in school at all for the past five years anyway."

Five years? Konata wondered. She never would have guessed, he seemed so natural in this setting...

"So... Why didn't you tell me about this language thing yesterday?"

"Why didn't you ask?"

"Anyway..." Konata said. "I've been thinking about where I want to go next. You said any universe, right?"

"Except for a few that are off limits."

"I really want to meet Haruhi Suzumiya, to start -"

"Absolutely not."

"Wha -?" That had been pretty blunt. "Why not?"

"How do I put this... That universe is a bit of a special case, you could say. We're monitoring Haruhi pretty closely. There are plenty of people out there with abilities to distort reality, but Haruhi is just so unpredictable, and so powerful..."

"So we're not even allowed to visit?" Konata was disappointed. So much for her favorite anime...

"Unless you want to risk her finding out about all the different worlds out there, and potentially destroying a few of them in the process. This is business, not tourism."

They were silent for a moment. Konata hadn't even thought about it, but it made sense for Eclipse to have such an interest in Haruhi... and other people with similar abilities? Like who?

"If they decide you're skilled enough, you might get a chance to be part of the team investigating that world. But for now you're just starting out, so it's out of the question. Sorry about that." They were standing in line now. Nobody was paying attention to the conversation. Konata had to remind herself that they didn't stand out as much as it felt like they did. Jason continued, "So any other ideas on where you want to go tonight?"

"Yeah, I've got a few."

"Good. Let's hear them."

Class had ended for the day. They met out in front of the school.

"So... The gym's that direction, right?" Jason asked, pointing.

"Yeah. The kendo team should be practicing in there now, so just tell them you want to join," Kagami told him.

"Thanks. You guys are headed home, then?"

"Yeah," Konata said. "I guess I'll see you later, then."

"Sounds good. See you later." Jason headed off towards the gym. Konata could only imagine how he'd do on the kendo team. Was that just another front he was putting up, trying to seem like a regular high school student? She had never seen his fighting abilities, but to be practicing swordfighting against regular people... Hopefully nobody would get seriously injured.

"So what's your opinion on him?" Konata asked, trying to sound casual.

"That's kind of a weird thing to ask, don't you think?" Kagami said. "He seems okay to me."

"I think he seems very nice," Tsukasa said. "It's so cool knowing someone from another country, don't you think?"

Kagami suddenly remembered something. "But when did you have time to study with him, Konata? From what I heard you really made some progress on your English, and we haven't even known him for very long."

"Oh... you know, after school..." Konata said. Sure, it was vague, but what else was she supposed to say? "It hasn't really been that much."

Konata was really acting strange today... Kagami was beginning to wonder if - no, of course not. That was crazy...