Day 5

Saturday, February 5th

Noon-ish

Christ, today was shaping up slowly. I'd gotten up at about 10am, and all I'd really been doing since then (besides breakfast, of course) is reading around on TvTropes with my computer until the home phone rang. I didn't pick it up; that was usually either Mom or Dad when it came to the home phone, but soon enough my dad popped in my room with the phone and a wide grin on his face.

"It's your girlfriend."

I rolled my eyes. "She's not my girlfriend, Dad, how many times do I have to tell you?" He gave the phone to me, and I spoke into it. "Hello?"

"Heey, this is Sakana, right?" I heard Konata's voice ask over the phone.

"Yup, what's up?" I asked

"Kagami invited me over for a study group and asked if you wanted to come along too. Miyuki-san'll be there too."

I paused for a moment, not really sure what to say. "Er…where?"

"Hiiragi house."

"I haven't the slightest idea where that is. Got an address?" I asked, grabbing the nearest pen and paper I could find.

"Yeah." She gave me the address, which I wrote down and promptly Google Maps searched, my head leaning on the phone, holding it in place with my shoulder.

"Oh, hey, that's only about a thirty minute walk. Sure, I can be there." Something hit me then. "Uhh…Konata…?"

"What is it?"

"I'm gonna be the only guy there in the group. Will Kagami and Tsukasa's folks be okay with that?"

"I asked the same thing actually!" Konata replied, "Turns out, they're okay with it so long as there are all of us. Guess they figure that if you're the type that'll try anything funny, the rest of us girls'll team up and kick you out."

I chuckled. "No need to worry about that from someone like me, really. Hey, why didn't you just Skype me through all of this?"

"Huh? You were on Skype the entire time?"

"Yeah, of c-" I glanced at my computer's taskbar to find out that I, indeed, was not on Skype at all. "Oh…I see…I guess I wasn't on after all…"

"See? I had no other choice! Christ, today's been shaping up slowly," Konata said dryly, sounding clearly bored, "I'm glad this'll probably get things going. Well, see you there Sakana, later."

"Later." I hung up, then, unable to contain myself, jumped up from my chair and dashed to put the phone back into the receiver, dashed back into my room to get some jeans and shoes on, packed my bag with my math homework (figured I should at least get something done while there), excitedly grabbed my iPod and headphones, and ran out of my bedroom before being stopped by Mom.

"Whoa whoa, where are you heading off to in such a hurry?" Mom asked

I was panting at this point, having spent myself pretty much. "Hiiragi house…study group…getting help with Trig homework…"

"How far away is that?"

"About thirty minute's walk from here."

"Who'll be there?"

I hesitated. I hated lying, but thankfully my parents were fairly lenient. "Their mom and dad. The study group'll be me, Konata, Miyuki, Kagami and Tsukasa."

"All girls, huh? Not planning anything funny, are you?"

"Mooomm!" I drew out her name, clearly disappointed that she'd think so low of me, "Come on now! Even if I was, they'd just team up and throw me out the window if I tried anything funny! Not to mention the rest of her family there!"

"Oh, I suppose it's alright then," Mom said, "Just be back before dark, or give us a call if you're not here by dark for whatever reason."

I nodded. "Reasonable enough, I'll grab my cell." I went back into my room, grabbed my cell phone, went out of my room, through the house, and out the doorway.

"Have fun with your girlfriend Sakana!" Mom called as I left the house.

"FOR THE LOVE OF- SHE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND, DAMN!" I yelled, shutting the door. I knew she was just teasing, so I had a smile on my face as I put my headphones on and left.

I knocked on the door of the address Konata gave me, and sure enough, Kagami opened the door. "Yo, Sakana." She greeted me cheerfully, "Come on in."

"Thanks." I simply replied as I came in.

"I figured I could help you with that trig part of your homework you were on about yesterday," Kagami said, "Though don't expect Konata to do any work at all." She sighed. "At least you actually try."

"Oh?" I replied, "What's she do then?"

"Leech the answers from me all the time." Kagami replied, somewhat irritated.

I chuckled a little. "Yeah, sounds like something she'd do."

"Honestly," Kagami went on, "Would it kill her to have just a little work ethic for school? You'd be amazed how dedicated she can get when she wants to be."

I shrugged. "I dunno, just because one isn't motivated in school doesn't really make them an outright failure off the bat."

"I suppose so. Though actually getting through school well tends to at least help your chances out there, anyways." She replied.

"True, true, I'm not knocking school, don't get me wrong." We started walking through the house; I assumed she was taking me to the room where everyone else was. "Although trig can still suck it, as far as I'm concerned." I added bitterly.

Kagami giggled a little. "Oh don't worry, I'll help you out with that."

"Much appreciated." I replied gratefully.

"Cute boyfriend you got yourself there!" a voice behind me spoke. Kagami and I turned around to see a girl there with light brown hair and hazel eyes.

Kagami immediately started to fume. "He's not my boyfriend, Matsuri! Just a friend! Got it!?"

"Ehe…she's right, you know," I told the girl in front of me, "Anyways, we're just friends is all. I'm Ajiyoshi Sakana."

"Hiiragi Matsuri." the girl in front of us replied, seemingly a little put out.

"Well, nice to meet you then." I said, trying to be nice.

"C'mon, let's go." Kagami hastily said, turning and walking away. I turned to her, then back to Matsuri, and made an apologetic face to her, waved and followed Kagami.

"This the place?" I asked, coming into a rather spacious room. Konata, Tsukasa and Miyuki were all there, sitting around a square table.

"What do you think?" Konata replied, "Come on, have a seat, stay a while!" I grinned, and set down my bag. Tsukasa and Miyuki both greeted me, and I did to them back.

The table was a little small, but not tiny, and square shaped. Oh boy, how's this gonna work with five people here… Miyuki was already sitting across from where Konata was sitting, and Tsukasa was at the left of Konata. Kagami took her seat to the right of Konata, directly across from Tsukasa. Looks like I'm not getting a side to myself…better just grab a corner and go with it. I sat myself at the corner between Konata and Kagami.

"You gonna be okay there?" Tsukasa asked, "That's not much space. I can trade you spots if you want."

"Aah, nah thanks, I'm fine." I replied. Gah, she's so sweet I can barely take it!

Konata started giggling all of a sudden. "What's up with you?" I asked. At that question, she started giggling even more.

"You knoooow, Sakana-chaaan, we can share this side of the table if you want, I don't miiiind you coming closer to meee." She said teasingly. Just at the thought, I immediately blushed furiously, my head now resembling the color of a tomato. "It's okay, I won't bite!" she added.

I glanced around the room at the rest of the group, who were all waiting for something to happen. My gaze averted everyone, instead looking down. She's right you know. She said you could! Just do it! Just move over next to her, your head won't explode, she won't kill you, everything'll be okay, just do it.

I shifted closer to Konata by about two centimeters, each centimeter turning my face a brighter shade of red. I couldn't tell if it was Konata or Kagami giggling in the background.

"Well enough of this then!" I heard Konata say as I was still looking down. Next thing I knew, I was knocked over on my side suddenly, then yanked all the way to the opposite side, someone holding me rather tightly and dragging me. Finally my head rested on someone's arm. I was very disoriented, having been tossed about like a ragdoll with so much blood up in my head prior wasn't exactly the best feeling I'd ever had. I looked to the table, which I now was in a side rather than the corner. Tsukasa was to the left, Kagami to the right, Miyuki straight ahead.

I looked up to who's arm I was resting on.

It was Konata's.

And she was the one holding onto me.

"You see!?" Konata said loudly, "If you're ever gonna become my – or anyone's - boyfriend, either you or I'll have to break this super-shyness shell of yours that you insist on hiding in!"

I just blinked a few times, completely expressionless. Nothing happened for a few minutes.

"Is…he okay?" I heard someone ask. I think it was Tsukasa.

"Good going Konata, you broke him." What must have been Kagami said. I felt myself being lifted off of Konata.

I slowly turned my head to Konata. "You okay dude?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm f-" I replied dizzily before fainting.

I slowly fluttered my eyes open. The hell had just happened? I could tell that I was in a bed…and it was a freakin' soft bed at that. I rolled over to come face to face with a bright colored stuffed bunny. Subsequently I realized that the entire bed was jam-packed with stuffed animals.

"Ah- you're awake!" I heard a voice say, "Hey, he's awake now!" I lifted my head to see Tsukasa sitting on a stool next to the bed I was in.

"How…what…huh?" I said, clearly befuddled.

Konata came into the room, followed by Kagami. "Yeesh," Konata began, "You're a heavy sleeper, you know that?"

"I think you owe him an apology." Kagami said rather harshly to Konata.

"Oh-hahaha, yeah probably. Sorry about that, I didn't realize you'd go limp on me," Konata said, smiling sheepishly. "But you know, you probably shouldn't faint like that again. Tsukasa was worried sick that you'd died!"

"I-I was not!" Tsukasa protested, "I knew he wasn't dead!"

"Ohh?" Konata teasingly cooed, "Is that why you didn't leave his side for even one moment before he came to? Not even to help with the cooking!" Tsukasa simply pouted a little and turned away from Konata. It was kind of cute, really.

"Aah, sorry I worried everyone. Hey, where's Miyuki?" I asked.

"Helping in the kitchen with my sisters," Kagami replied, "They're making all of us lunch."

At that mention, my stomach growled loud enough for everyone to hear. Everyone in the room giggled a little. Kagami said, "I'm pretty sure the food's ready."

"Guess I'd better get up then," I said, grinning. Something about me had…changed. I couldn't place my finger on what quite, but I would soon come to realize that Konata had indeed slightly cracked my shell. It wasn't broken as of yet, but it certainly had a nice dent on it. From here on, I didn't…worry as much. I still worried, of course, but not to the point of fainting ever again. "By the way, this bed is really comfortable."

"Well, I do like my bed to be really soft." Tsukasa replied cheerfully. With that, we all headed to the living room. A main table was set up with all the food on it, and a separate table with chairs set up in the kitchen. The mom and dad of the family were at the main table, along with Matsuri and someone else I didn't recognize. It seemed like the five of us were meant to get the separate table – probably so we weren't all drowned by total grown-up talk.

As we came into the room, I waved passing through. Who I assumed was the dad got up to greet me. "Hello, my name's Hiiragi Tadao," he said smiling, "You must be the young man going out with the blue-haired one?"

"Ah-" I cut myself off. I was going to respond in a fashion similar to my dad saying that, but I figured I shouldn't be too impolite. I grinned sheepishly. "I'm Ajiyoshi Sakana, nice to meetcha! And no, we aren't going out at all, just friends for now."

"For now?" a woman whom I thought to be the mother said teasingly, "Doesn't sound like it'll be that way forever, by the way that was worded."

Okay, now I didn't give a crap about formality. When the mom starts teasing on me, all bets are off. I pouted slightly. "Gimme a break, why is it always the grown-ups that think we're going out anyways?"

"Probably because you and her are so alike!" the mom said, clearly having fun with this.

"Aak! Everyone keeps saying that." I responded. It's not like I made it look like I took it to heart or anything; I was well aware it was all in good fun. Besides, I secretly liked hearing that Konata and I were alike.

Our group of five (that is to say, Konata, Tsukasa, Kagami, Miyuki and myself) took our seats at the separate table in the kitchen. Looks like today's menu was a casual barbeque…or was it sautéed? Maybe it was stir fried…I don't know what it was, alright? All I know was that there was meat and fried rice and it was really freakin' good. I'm not that great at recognizing how a food is cooked…

"So, do you feel any better now?" Miyuki asked me while at the table.

I was puzzled for a moment. Oh yeah, that's right, fainted and everything. "Yeah, I'm fine. No problems. Probably helped that I got some shut-eye anyways. How long was I out?"

"I'd say for about half an hour." Kagami replied.

"Huh…" Looking back on it, I wasn't really sure why I reacted the way I did. I mean, sure I could see myself getting all red in the face and embarrassed, but not to the point of fainting. I mean damn, was I really that hyper-nervous? If the same situation were repeated, would I go so far as to just drop limp again? It just seemed so unrealistic of a reaction…

Hah, come to think of it, Konata was eating right next to me at the table. I'd only just now noticed. And I wasn't reacting anywhere near to what I'd done before.

Maybe she's right…maybe I really do need to work on my whole nervousness thing…

After eating, we all headed back to the same room. Kagami told me to sit next to her this time, so that she could help me with Trigonometry. She broke out her math book, as did I.

Kagami noticed that I stowed my homework paper into the book itself. "You know, putting it there gets the ends all bent out of shape. I usually keep my homework pages in a separate folder."

I shrugged. "It's homework, not important government documents. I doubt it'll make a difference if the ends are bent upwards."

"Eeeeh, it just looks nicer," Kagami replied, "But I guess it doesn't make that much of a difference, as long as the writing's legible."

And then she looked at my actual homework page and what was written. As she scanned through it, an exasperated look formed on her.

"Geez Sakana…you're handwriting's almost as bad as Konata's." she said.

"Aah, just one more thing we have in common, then!" Konata chimed in.

"They'd probably never be able to write notes or letters to each other." Tsukasa said, somewhat missing the point.

"Yeesh, is it that bad?" Konata swiped the paper away from Kagami, startling her in the process, and scanned the paper herself.

"You're crazy, Kagami," Konata said flatly, "I can read it just fine."

"WHA-REALLY!?" Kagami replied.

Tsukasa and I grinned. "Konata should translate." Tsukasa and I said at the same time. The entire room stopped for a moment, and then everyone burst into laughter.

After all of that, Kagami ended up helping me a lot with the concepts of Trigonometry, and thanks to her, I actually got the hang of it! It wasn't easy for me, by any means, but at least I wasn't hopeless in it anymore.

"Hehehe, so this means I'm going to have a boyfriend that can do my homework for me?" Konata said schemeishly

I narrowed my eyes, smiling slightly. "Oh? Just because I have a sizeable crush on you doesn't mean I'm going to become your tool." Kagami giggled slightly at that.

"Aah no!" Konata cried, "Kagami's influence has rubbed off too much on Sakana!" We all had a good laugh at that.

After my Trig homework was finally complete, it was getting pretty late. I decided to pack it up and get ready to head home. "Mom said I had to be home before dark, so I should go," I began, "Kagami, thanks so much for the Trig help."

"No prob!" she replied, "Feel free to ask if you need anything else!"

"Now why don't I get that sort of treatment from Kagami?" Konata muttered smiling.

"Because he actually tries to learn the stuff." Kagami replied rather crossly.

"Tsukasa, thanks for lending me your bed after I was out." I said gratefully. She smiled cheerfully, saying 'Of course!'

"Konata…" I began. I wondered how I should word something so odd to say. "Uhh…thanks…for being here!" What I had wanted to do was to thank her for making me overall less…nervy. But I wasn't really sure how to word it, especially with everyone else around.

Konata just tilted her head a little. "Uhh…no problem?"

I chuckled a little. "Well, I'd better be off then. Later!" I turned to take off before hearing someone else pipe up, making me stop.

"Actually, could I maybe walk with you?" Miyuki asked, "I really do need to go home myself, and we live around the same area."

I tilted my head. "We do?"

"Well, no, but in the same direction anyways."

I shrugged. "Sure, fine by me." I held up for her to grab her things, and off we went, thanking the mom and dad for making lunch as we went out.

It was around 5pm, and the sun was just beginning to set. Miyuki and I began our walk. It was odd; she seemed to know the way better than I did.

"Say, how did you know what direction my house was?" I asked.

"Oh, well, it's a little embarrassing," she began, "but sometimes when I'm bored, I get on my computer and start putting my friend's addresses into Google Maps."

I grinned. "You too, huh? Though whenever I do it, I never remember where or what direction the person is in. Then again, I do have a crappy memory…"

"Can I ask you something?" Miyuki said rather suddenly.

I blinked a little. "Yeah, sure, go for it."

"Why do you like Konata?"

I looked at her, slightly surprised. "Well, um…she's just really cool overall! She's a gamer girl and she's into anime and manga, she's pretty…"

"Would you like any girl that was like that?"

That question took me aback. The fact that it was from Miyuki, of all people, surprised me the most.

"…No, I wouldn't think that I would," I replied carefully after thinking a little on it, "I mean, Aika's pretty much like that, but I'm not all that into her. Not like I am with Konata, anyways."

"So," Miyuki replied, "There's something that sets Konata apart from other gamer and anime girls?"

I blushed a little. "Yeah, must be."

"Do you know what it is?"

"…I…I'd never really thought about it." I'd faltered a little. This was something I'd never expected from Miyuki. It wasn't like she was insistent or intense about it. She was asking as if she were genuinely curious.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely, "I didn't mean to make you feel bad or anything like that. Are you alright?" I'd had my head down for a little bit, dwelling on the questions she'd asked.

"Yeah, I'll be alright." I replied, "It's just…these are things I'd never thought of, but I feel like I should have before getting myself into this. Maybe…maybe I'm in over my head…maybe this has all been for little to nothing…" I sighed a little.

"Well, you've got new friends, right?" Miyuki replied, "That's got to count for something, even if you don't end up going out with Konata, right?"

I saw what she was saying. That even if what I really wanted didn't happen; it wouldn't all have been for nothing. I'll have gained friends, not to mention, experiences and great memories. It had only been five days, and I'd already had good times with this group.

I smiled. "Yeah, you're right."

A little while later, we came to my house. "You gonna be alright on your own?" I asked.

"Oh, I'll be fine, no need to worry!" she replied cheerfully, "I'd be more worried about you having to face your parents if you were out after dark."

I grinned sheepishly at that. "Yeah, that'd be pretty bad." I turned to go to my door, then turned back.

"Miyuki…you're not really as much of a ditz as you make yourself out to be, are you? You knew what you were doing when you decided to walk with me, didn't you?"

She smiled pleasantly. "I'm flattered that you think so, but really I have no idea what you're talking about."

I chuckled a little. Okay, maybe she was still a ditz. But still, I put on the most sincere face I could find.

"Miyuki…thanks."

She just smiled, waved and went on her way.

A/N: Now go back, read the chapter again, and take a drink every time someone denies that they're someone else's boyfriend/girlfriend.