A/N: Alright, you guys are going to have to bear with me on this one. I have only a vague idea of where it's going. And by that mean I know it's eventually going to be Konami. All other plot details are strictly WIP and will be made up as I go along. Updates I'll try to keep frequent, although I make no promises, and must point out that I have a very poor record with keeping at projects. But I'm hoping this one will be different.
The rating is mainly to keep my bases open; this may end up being more like T. Or it may include borderline lemon. We'll wait and see, shall we? Anyway, enjoy!
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Chapter 1: Waiting
Any second now.
Hiragii Kagami was absolutely thrilled. After years of waiting and being teased by her so-called best friend Izumi Konata, she had finally been asked out on a date by a guy in her class! Maybe not the man of her dreams, true, but hey, Akiro was a pretty hot guy, and she was just glad to have gotten her first date before that little blue-haired layabout. She'd never have heard the end of it otherwise.
He'll turn up any second now.
The invitation had come as a complete surprise, at the end of last period yesterday afternoon, a Friday, just had been Kagami had been packing her bags to go home to another weekend of studying hard and cajoling – without success – Konata and Tsukasa, Kagami's delightful but ditzy fraternal twin sister, to do the same. She'd been chatting away as usual while she did this to her classmates Kusakabe Misao and Mineshige Ayano when Akiro had walked up to her out of the blue and asked her to go to the cinema with him the following night! Kagami had been shocked, but delighted, and after a few seconds of stunned stammering had blushingly accepted.
Any second now, he'll walk right around that corner, and we'll go in, enjoy the movie and afterwards... well no, I mustn't get too far ahead of myself... hee hee...
She'd practically skipped home that night. Tsukasa and Takara Miyuki-san, the tall, pink-haired girl who shared a class with Konata and Tsukasa but fortunately shared none of their work-shy tendencies, had both shared her ecstatic joy – particularly Tsukasa, who was always happy both for herself and others. Kagami had been expecting Konata to make a crack about it, or at least one of her ridiculous real world/game comparisons, but for once the miniature otaku had seemed stunned into silence. Indeed, even when Kagami had tried to elicit some of their usual banter from her – she'd never admit it to anyone, least of all Konata herself, but Kagami had actually come to enjoy their verbal bouts – Konata had simply turned and muttered some shocked-sounding comment which Kagami had been unable to pick up. Strangely, this lacklustre response had annoyed her a bit, but in her buoyant mood it hadn't taken her spirits long to be soaring again. She'd been bursting with energy all the way home, and whereas she usually just sat in polite silence while Tsukasa fell asleep on her shoulder, on the train part of the journey she'd actually been tapping her feet in excitement. The other passengers might have been annoyed somewhat by this – though Tsukasa of course had managed to sleep through it perfectly – but for once in her life Kagami hadn't cared one bit, so great had her joy been.
Ok, so he's a little late, and we'll have to run when he gets here. But he'll be here. Any second now.
Her exuberance had persisted throughout Saturday, and she'd thrown herself onto a variety of household tasks with a vigour she never usually had for them – diligent though she may be with her studies, she just didn't share the affinity for manual chores which, paradoxically, the perennial procrastinators Konata and Tsukasa possessed. Of course, that had been in the early part of the day – late afternoon onwards had been devoted to getting ready. It felt a bit silly fussing so much over what was really just a trip to the movies, but it was her first date, and she didn't want to go unprepared. Her parents, though naturally worried for their daughter as parents always are, had been supportive as usual – her mum had even come in at one point to see if she needed any help getting ready, although her two older sisters Inori and Matsuri, both of whom had left school but continued to live at the family residence and served as miko at the Takanomiya Shrine, had been of far more help with that, and had given plentiful, even excessive, advice on what to wear, advice which quickly went on a tangent onto the more general topics of what to say, how to act, how to react, etc. etc., most of which despite her best efforts to pay attention went over Kagami's head – although she strongly suspected much of it had been superfluous anyway. But, either way, come six in the evening she'd been out the door and on her way to the cinema. She was a bit early, but didn't want to be late; what would Akiro-san think of her then?
He probably just missed his stop by accident. Or maybe he drives and got caught in traffic. It doesn't matter. He'll get here any second now.
And so here she stood, outside the cinema, waiting for her date to get here. She'd been pleased when she realised she'd gotten there before him; it felt like she'd won something. Maybe, she'd thought, she'd tease him with it lightly when he arrived – or would that be too familiar? She'd pondered that as she'd waited... and waited... and watched the queue for the movie they were meant to be watching dwindle down to nothing as the time for it to start drew closer, then eventually passed her by. And still no Akiro.
Any second now...
Where was he?
He'll be here any second now...
She was beginning to get worried; had she gone to the wrong cinema? No, definitely the right one... wait, what if something had happened to him?
Any second now, and everything will be fine...
What if he was hurt? Was that silly? Was she worrying too much? Well there had to be something... why wasn't he here?
Any second now.
They were missing the movie! Something had to have happened! Maybe she should call-
*Ring ring! Ring ring!*
Her mobile's ringtone cut through Kagami's increasingly jittery thoughts like a razor-sharp knife. She started violently, nearly jumping on the spot, then hastily went to grab her ringing mobile from her pocket. She looked at the number; not one she recognised. It had to be him. She flipped it open and answered.
"Hello?"
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A/N: Sorry to leave you guys with such a cliffhanger. :P New chapter has already been begun, and will probably be done by the end of the weekend. Again, not a promise, so don't shoot me if it's not here by then. For now, rate and comment! ... erm, review.