Exactly 16 days after his seventeenth birthday, Shiro slept in later than the rest. He sat up groggily, blinking in the sunlight that filtered through the window and wondering why Konata was not beside him. Rubbing his eyes, he stumbled out of bed and loped off to the bathroom. The scent of cooking pancakes floated up from the kitchen, and the only sound to be heard was clinking silverware, Konata and Catherin humming cheerily, the occasional plop when a pancake was flipped, and Sakura explaining to Blaze that their House Elf Opey comes and goes as he pleases.
Still caught in a sleepy stupor, Shiro half-closed the door behind him and turned on the sink to splash his face with water. He allowed the faucet to flow into his cupped hands, splattering it against his cheeks and closed eyes when his palms became full. Something felt immediately out of place. Now wide awake, Shiro hastened to turn off the sink and stared into the mirror. He uttered a minuscule gasp at the sight of his reflection: dark brown hairs had sprouted all over his chin, along his jaw line, and that space between his nose and upper lip. Slowly, he brought his fingertips up to his damp face as if feeling the bristly hairs would make them any less real. As much as it resembled it, he knew this wasn't 5 o'clock shadow. No, he knew that this would grow into a legitimate beard. Sighing, he threw on a t-shirt and some jeans then headed downstairs.
He couldn't help but smile when he walked into the kitchen. Blaze and Sakura were setting the table, Satoshi was digging through the fridge for butter and juice, plus Catherin and Konata were putting finishing touches on their pancakes. To be fair to Konata, Catherin had agreed to cook the Muggle way despite her magical abilities.
Satoshi pulled his head out of the fridge, a carton of orange juice in one hand and the butter dish in the other. He shut the refrigerator door with his foot and cheerily called over his shoulder, " 'Morning, Sleeping Beauty." His grin faltered and shock swept over his face when he caught sight of his brother. "Bloody-… Forget Beauty, looks like you're the Beast." Shiro blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his head, at a loss for a response. Satoshi laughed, placed the items in his hands on the table, and strode over to ruffle Shiro's hair. "Look at you, mate! First you can use magic out of school, now you're sprouting a sexy beard? You're really turning into a man." He sniffled, making himself appear convincingly touched for a few moments.
"God, Shiro, I can barely recognize you with that thing," Blaze commented with an amused smile, her elbow propped on the table with her chin resting on her palm. Konata giggled, sliding a plate of blueberry pancakes onto the center of the table. She hopped over and kissed Shiro on the nose.
"I think it's super handsome. …So long as you don't let it get longer than that."
With a laugh, Shiro kissed the top of her head. "I'm not too fond of it, honestly. I don't like how it feels… I'll shave every morning that I can."
After enjoying a delectable breakfast, everyone headed off their separate ways in the house. Satoshi, however, grabbed Shiro's arm and tossed him back into a chair at the table. He did his best to look completely serious, but failed drastically for he couldn't help grinning like a fool. "Alright Otōto, since you've got your manly beard, and you're getting very serious with Konata, you need to hear The Talk again." Raising an eyebrow skeptically, Shiro just stared at his brother. Satoshi cleared his throat, linking his hands on the table. "So. When a man and a woman love each other very much, they do special things. Sometimes, though, these special things can go wrong-"
Shiro was now aware that his face was flushed pink. "Satoshi… WHY are you telling me this? I know already."
For a few seconds, it was silent. "I don't know, Shiro. I don't know. But you were intrigued, weren't you? You were very interested in hearing a story, I can tell." On that peculiar note, Satoshi shoved his chair away from the table and started rooting through the cabinets for a snack.
That night, Shiro came across Konata staring out the window of their shared bedroom. First scratching the ears of Mischief, who was curled up on his pillow, Shiro approached Konata from behind and wrapped his arms around her front. He pressed his lips against her head, making her smile gently. "What cha thinking about?" he whispered. Konata shrugged halfheartedly, continuing to gaze at the darkening sky.
"Just, reflecting back on us… The first time we met, back in Diagon Alley… When I decided I had a crush on you… When we confessed our love on the Astronomy Tower, and all our failed attempts to say those 3 special words… Our first kiss at the Yule Ball… That time when we were shunned because we were caught snogging…" She sighed apathetically. "It's weird, how the past can make you feel so warm inside, but thinking about the future is more icy, since you never know how long of a future you're gonna have. Especially in times like these…"
Biting his lip, Shiro felt his heart begin to throb. "Come now, love, don't say that… Like you said, you never know how things will turn out, so if you're going to think ahead at all, why not have a positive view on it?" Konata offered a tiny smile.
"I guess I am kind of being a Negative Nessie, huh? Besides… There are a LOT of good things I hope'll happen after this whole war thing ends…" Her cheeks burned light red as the image of her in a wedding gown, Shiro in a tuxedo, flashed before her mind, transitioning into the picture of an older version of herself holding a baby- Shiro's baby- affectionately in her arms.
They simultaneously turned to face each other, resulting in them smiling deeply and chuckling softly in their throats. Words weren't needed for them to communicate to lean in and share a kiss. The sheepish look that suddenly appeared on Konata's face when they backed away strongly reminded Shiro of her back in year 1. "How… How far are we going to take our relationship?" she questioned in a whisper. Now Konata wasn't the only one blushing.
"As far as you want, darling…"
Perhaps it was because it was nighttime, or maybe it was due to their discussion of love and the uncertain future, they realized with a jolt at that moment just how tempting the bed was… Silently, Shiro stepped away from Konata and approached the bed. He scooped Mischief up, plopping her down outside in the hallway. She glared after him, hissing briefly when the door closed in her furry face. Tail twitching irritably, she slunk off downstairs with the air of a child keen on tattling.
"Well… hi," Shiro murmured awkwardly after secretly clicking the door locked, sitting on the edge of the bed. Konata took a seat beside him, caressing his recently shaven cheek with her fingers.
"Hello." Their eyes met, but were quickly closed as they leaned in for another loving kiss. They pulled back slightly just to breathe and smile, though it was immediately that their lips were locked together once more. Scooting so that they were as close as possible, this action repeated itself over and over until they were snogging amorously.
After about 15 minutes passed, the couples' consciences were both wiped clear. The only thing they responded to was the warm, fluttery emotion that was their unbreakable love for each other. It was a good thing Shiro had locked the door, because to their embarrassment and partial shock, 2 or so hours later they found that their clothes were on the floor for a good deal of the time.
"Okay, o-okay, that was… fun…" Konata murmured, panting slightly. Shiro nodded leisurely, momentarily wondering why it felt like it was over 80 degrees Fahrenheit in the normally comfortably cool room.
"I, guess we should go sleep now," he offered, sluggishly sitting up. Reality creeping back into his mind, the full actuality of the situation crashed down on him. "I-I can't believe we just did that…" His voice became shaky as he noticed the light bruises spotting Konata's skin and that she was quivering slightly. "Konata, I'm sorry…" Konata shook her head, sliding out from under the pink-and-brown covers to locate a robe to throw over her naked body.
"Don't be sorry, Shiro… I was part of it too, if I wanted you to stop, I would have said so. Not to mention this wasn't your idea, it was more so mine…"
"But, Konata, I… I hurt you," Shiro whispered, tossing the blanket off of himself. His heart seemed to skip a beat as he noticed what a mess he had created of the bed. He swept his wand over the sheets and whispered "Tergeo" under his breath, causing the newly present white stains to vanish.
Sliding into a silky pink robe, Konata tossed Shiro his blue one to put on. "Maybe a little, but…" She lowered her voice. "It felt really good. Did… Did you enjoy it too? Be honest."
Gulping, Shiro nodded and gave a meek smile. "Yeah… Yeah, i-it WAS pretty brilliant…"
"Then, see? No harm done," Konata replied cheerily, climbing back under the blankets. As she kissed her boyfriend good-night, snuggled up with him, and fell asleep, Konata had no idea of how incredibly false those last 3 words were. Perhaps Shiro should have let Satoshi finish his Talk.