AN: So...this. This story is KonataxKagami plus MisaoxOC, and it was inspired by another KonataxKagami story I read. It's called "Possibility" by Quirkky. I would highly advise you to read it, but do note that it is M-rated for sexual content and violence and all that fun stuff. I can only hope that my story will be a tenth as good as that one.

The "storyline" here is very...abstract (you have to look at it a certain way to see it ^^), so if that sorta thing turns you off, stay away from this. It also contains violence/abuse, and the same goes for that. Hopefully you will enjoy the story, because I sure enjoyed writing it...even if it took an awfully long time...what is it they say about all writers being lazy? Tch. Reviews are much appreciated.

Ring…ring…ring…what an obnoxious noise. What time is it? Ugh, don't want to wake up right now. I want to sleep, if just for a few more minutes. Hmm…dresser…novel…alarm clock. And…snooze button! Ahh…five more minutes in heaven. Beds are always the softest in the morning…

…

Ring…ring…do I have to get up? Yes, you do. She's eight already, get your lazy ass out of bed! But turn off the damn alarm first, I'm getting a headache. I hate mornings…

I practically crawl out of my bed, my hair forming a pool of purple on the floor as I tumble out of my sheets. Not every morning is like this, but a good portion of them. My brain just refuses to work as early as eight, and it's quite frankly really frustrating. I decide to sit like this for a while, my knees and hands on soft, fuzzy carpet. It's sunny, a Saturday. A sunny Saturday, where the sunlight gently cradles me and my room in its golden glow. I yawn loudly, and get up on my feet. I stretch my arms a little, but I can't shake the feeling that sleeping compresses my body. My arms and legs feel too short, my body stiff and unresponsive. I make my bed as neatly as I can before I walk out of my room. I thought about getting dressed properly, but there's no point and it's not something I like to do so early. My feet tap against the wooden floor as I walk along the hallway, my fingers following the forest green wall. It's a nice color, I'm glad we picked it. I was one of the few thing we decided on together, in fact. I'm sometimes baffled by how different our tastes are, that we even get along without constantly getting into fights. Maybe because we're older, more mature. Twenty-one years old. Not a bad age, not at all. But…no, I shouldn't complain. I mean, imagine this a few years earlier. It would've been a disaster. More than it was, that is. I reach the white door at the end of the hallway, knock twice and wait. The waiting part is a habit more than it is actually waiting for Konata to open, so I just walk in after a few seconds. Her door is never locked.

Her room is similar to mine. She has more shelves and storing compartments than me, I usually never keep stuff I don't need. It's the complete other way around with Konata. She keeps everything, from bottle caps to paperclips to matches. She got into tinkering and tweaking the random scrap into little sculptures two years ago. Last year, on my birthday, she gave me two tiny figurines of me and her on a glass base. She presented it like it was nothing, but I was so overwhelmed I almost cried. Konata Izumi, absentminded girl who doesn't celebrate birthdays (or Christmas, or Easter, or any holiday for that matter) gave me a thought-out, handcrafted gift on my birthday. Yeah. That's not nothing. This little hobby shows as well. The room, not to mention the entire house, is full of goblins, fairies, dragons, ladybugs, you name it. It's always some sort of living creature, the things she make. Why is that? I've never asked her, honestly.

I walk around the bed, so that I'm facing her. My girlfriend is sleeping peacefully, a twitchy nose is the only thing revealing her dreamy state. I feel a little bad waking her up and all, but it's my job to make sure she isn't late to her job. I get better hours, certainly. Not too much on the monetary side, though. I carefully poke her side through the sheets, with little to no response. I poke a little harder, and am rewarded with a disgruntled noise. A green eye peeks at me through the haze of morning apathy, and I can't help but blush a little when I think about how I must look. I'm wearing nothing but a T-shirt with some sort of rabid alien kitten on it (it's cute, I swear) and a pair of panties. My hair is a complete mess since I haven't brushed it yet, and I must look at least twice as tired as I feel. Konata gives me a one-eyed smile, and scoots back in the bed.

"Ka…ga…min." She puts emphasis on every syllable with a thick voice, and she pats the now empty spot on the mattress invitingly. If I wasn't blushing earlier, I am now. I think I'll never get used to Konata's forwardness. But I just smile and bend down to kiss her gently on the forehead.

"You need to get up, Kona. Saturday, remember? Work, meeting with friends?" Konata rolls over with a grunt and waves her hand in the direction of the door.

"Ten minutes. Promise." I give her a quiet thanks and walk back out into the hallway. I'm glad that went as well as it did. Not that she's that much of a bother to get out of bed, but she's usually more persistent with getting me into the bed. If it had been Sunday, I might've considered it. Not too sure if I should feel happy or disappointed about that. Disappointed, I think. She's so sweet in the morning.

-I-

Konata keeps her promise. After a shower, clothes, exactly one- hundred brushstrokes and my favorite black ribbon that I tie into a neat knot in level with my neck, I go downstairs to make myself something to eat. Konata is already at the table, gulping down toast and orange juice at a sickening speed. She looks a lot like I did minutes ago; dressed only in her underwear and with hair that makes her look like one of those little monster dolls. She greets me with a muffled "hi" and a raised hand.

"Why aren't you dressed?" I ask while pulling out a chair and taking a seat, reaching for the pile of toast bread on the table.

"Hnngry." Konata tries to communicate through a full mouth of food. She realizes it didn't work very well, and takes a sip of her glass of orange juice. After some chewing, she smiles her mellow smile at me. "I was hungry. Calm down, Kagami, my shift doesn't start until ten."

"Didn't mean it like that." I thoughtfully take a bite of the crispy, not-at-all-burnt toast. I can't even do something as easy as that without ending up eating black bricks. "When will they be here?" Konata finishes her plate, then gets up to put it in the sink.

"Misao said seven. Though, she's not much for punctuality." Her smile grows wider, and a shiver runs down my spine. A few months ago, Konata had some sort of operation done where they sharpened every one of her teeth into a triangular shape. The ends were left moderately blunt, but whenever she smiles she looks like some kind of animal…the predator kind. Her almost luminescent eyes just enhances that look. It creeps me out, honestly, but she was so excited and just didn't have the heart to deny her it. And of course, those observant lasers that is known as eyes on us mortals notices my reaction easily.

"Oh…right. You know, if you were so against the idea you should've said something!" Her voice has a sharp, disappointed tone. I try to say something, but I can't seem to find the right words. All I'm doing is making me look more evasive. Konata takes a few quick steps forward, getting uncomfortably close, and looks straight into my eyes. Past twenty years and just slightly shorter than me. Talk about growth spurt.

"Are you…scared of me? Is that it?" I want to run. I want to hide. Anything to get away from those piercing eyes. And what's worse, I can hear a slight hint of delight in Konata's voice, dark like chocolate. I know the tone, I know and fear it. And the fact that I haven't heard it in months just makes it so much worse.

"I-It doesn't suit you, is all. You look like a shark or something, not the sweet little girl I love." I'm proud of myself for only trembling slightly when I run my hand through my lover's tangled hair. I can feel her loosening up, and the mellow smile returns. I can swear I even see a faint blush before she turns away.

"Hmpf, you could've skipped 'little'. What, you don't think sharks are cute?" She laughs and starts walking out of the room, when she turns her head and looks at the plate on the sink.

"I'll take that. You go up and get dressed some time today, yeah?" I gesture towards the sink and even manage to put the right amount of nonchalance in my movement.

"Thanks, Kagami." A flash of blue disappears up the stairs, and I breathe out. I have to support myself on the table as to not fall, my legs aren't feeling particularly reliable right now. 'Calm down', I try to tell myself. It was just a slip-up, no worries. You're allowed one of those a day, calm down. Just calm down.

-I-

I'm sitting in the living room when Konata comes back down. I don't work Saturdays and they are always really boring since I never have anything to do. The few friends I have is the very ones who will come over later; Misao and Amabi. I'm planning on spending most of the day playing video games half-heartedly, maybe take a walk or something. Days when you're not doing anything are almost worse than when you have way too much to do, in my opinion.

"Going!" I hear Konata's voice from the door and I realize that I didn't even hear her coming down the stairs.

"See ya later!" I shout back but I don't know if she heard me as the door slams shut. I go back to slicing the heads off zombies. The really fast annoying kind, not the old B-thriller slow-moving kind. I kinda liked those better. But maybe I'm bias because I've just died to the same blade-wielding zombie four times in a row. I put down the controller in frustration and go to do something else.

-I-

Outside. Even though it's sunny, the wind is surprisingly chilly and I put my hands in my pockets so they won't be so cold. I've decided to walk around the neighborhood for a while, just to clear my thoughts and to get some fresh (sub-zero) air. I look up at the row of trees that grows along the street where our house is. The leaves are a multitude of colors: red, brown, yellow and green. I have no clue what kind of trees they belong to, but they look wonderful, especially in fall. A bit down the same street, my mind inevitably wanders to Konata. What happened this morning. I look up and quickly step out of the way of a biker coming in the opposite direction. I always walk looking down at the ground, it's just a habit.

When she and I first got together, I was overjoyed. I can't say I remember exactly what happened, but it did, and that was all I cared about. Within a week with the love of my life, I was miserable. She…hit me. A lot. There were days when I couldn't even get out of bed because my body hurt so much. When I did manage to get outside, I had to wear full body clothing so no-one would see the bruises and cuts. Those horrid days have all melted together in my memory into a big chunk of darkness that weighs me down, some days more than others. But after a few months (it could've been up to a year, there is no way for me to remember), the "sessions" became less regular. Earlier it had been every morning and every night, or just once a day if I'd been good, but Konata started to skip them for days without any discernable pattern. Eventually, she would only hurt me if I had done something wrong and now she only does it when she gets frustrated with me. It almost happened this morning, I could tell.

I'm almost home again. All I did was loop around three or four houses. You would think that if I wanted time to pass, I would've walked to the park and back instead. But I didn't have the energy, and now I feel apathetic and useless. I hate Saturdays with a passion. I walk up to our door while I reach for my keys. I go inside, throw my jacket on the floor and collapse on the living room couch. My frustration makes me punch the soft padding, but the spongy surface just absorbs my blow and doesn't grant me any satisfaction. The clock shows 13:54. Three hours until Konata comes home. I think about watching TV or playing a game, but I don't have the energy to get up anymore. I'm so bored. Then I blink, and my eyes refuse to open again. I fall asleep, and the soothing darkness is welcomed as a replacement for the dull apathy.

-I-

The taste of fresh blood in my mouth is familiar. I like it. It's so much better than dried blood. When that liquid dries, it starts to smell so incredibly foul. Like…like…there isn't even a good comparison. It just smells…old. Used. Rusty. So right now, I'm enjoying the taste and feel of the blood that drips from my lips onto the wooden floor. The dim light makes the drops glisten with a dull shimmer. My hands are fastened to the wall behind me with duct tape and a hook, my legs are hanging down in an uncoordinated mess below me. I'm tied low enough for me to almost sit straight down, but just almost, so without the will to twist to sit on my knees, my wrists hurts something fierce. But that's hardly noticeable compared to the pain in the rest of my body. If it was brighter in the room, you could easily see the color of my arms shift in red and blue as old bruises are being replaced by new on-

"You awake?" Konata. I didn't even notice her. I'm far too exhausted to even lift my head, so I can't look up. All I can do is keep staring at that ever growing puddle of fresh, clean blood. My blood. But I then realize that she asked me a question, and I quickly nod as much as I can. A searing pain blows up in my neck, and I only now notice a thin trail of blood that runs down my pummeled body from somewhere to my left. What happened to my neck?

"You seem to be feeling better." With an almost affectionate voice, she says this without a hint of sarcasm. I could cry, if I wasn't so emotionally numb already. I just don't want any more pain. And maybe it's because of the lack of sanity and emotion that a cracked word escapes past my bloody lips.

"Why?" Silence. Oh, how I wish I could look up right now. Bad Kagami, bad! No talking unless she specifically asks you a question. This is really bad. You don't break the rules. You get punished if you break the rules.

"Why…what?" Still the affectionate tone. She should be furious. Now I'm even more scared, but now matter how hard I try I just can't raise my head. So I do the only thing I can do: I answer the question.

"Why…are you…doing this?" Even talking makes me dizzy, and I'm afraid I might pass out again. But there are no worries there, because Konata sticks a finger under my chin and violently pulls it up so I'm looking right at her. The intense pain in my neck is nothing compared to Konata's stare. I want to turn away, but she won't let me. I look into green eyes that inspects me as if I were a fine piece of meat, and she was pondering how to best serve me.

"You haven't seen it, have you?" This is why you don't break the rules. I don't want to hear what my loved one, the person I want to spend my life with despite anything she could ever do to me, has to say. But I don't have a choice. "That lovely wound I made earlier, right…here." A cold finger brushes against the stinging part of my neck, and the pain triples. I scream at the top of my lungs right into Konata's face. The blue-haired girl gives me a crooked smile that shows off a row of perfectly aligned teeth, their excellent white color stained by dark-red spots. My heart skips a beat, and my scream echoes out in a pathetic yelp.

"I'm doing this because I can." She raises an open hand. I close my eyes and I wait for the inevitable. I will be punished.

-I-

"Kagami!" I feel the world spin around me and I fall to the floor with a surprised "oof". I shake my head to make the transition from asleep to awake. My vision is blurred and I have a pounding headache, so I make no effort to get up. I just kinda lie there. Konata humors me and lies down on her stomach next to me. Her beautiful hair flows down in small rivers and lakes around her, and her mere presence makes me feel better.

"Having a bad dream?" She asks innocently while stroking me soothingly across the back. I close my eyes and try to remember what it was I was dreaming about. But as it often is with dreams, I can't remember anything.

"No clue." I answer truthfully. Konata shrugs away my uninteresting answer and jumps up.

"Well, I know that the floor is quite cozy, but Misao will be here soon. I need to move the couch, help me?" I roll over to look at the digital clock on top the TV. She's 18:46. I have slept the entire day away, but I still feel tired. Headache ain't helping. Suddenly I wish that Misao and Amabi wasn't coming at all today, I can't deal with people today. There's a second reason as well. Misao and Konata…no, to hell with this. We're going to eat junk food and talk and play video games tonight, and I'm not going to ruin that by being a whiny little kid. I get up, slowly as to not make my head spin. Konata claps when I get on my feet, only somewhat sarcastically. "Good girl. Okay, let's just split the couch in all four parts.

"Sure." We have one of those couches that is made up of four smaller seats. You can arrange them however you want depending on the situation. Pretty neat. The color? A dark brown. Not very neat. But it matches the wall quite well, I guess. Not that I care about things like that. Konata and I put the chairs in a semicircle around a low glass table we usually use for nights like these. Konata seems strangely excited, something I can't help but notice. I'm as glad as anyone to meet friends, but…eh, I don't know. I'm probably still just a little off from my nap.

-I-

Half an hour later, the doorbell rings. They are indeed late, but not by that much. My headache is almost gone, and I feel better by a mile. It may or may not have something to do with the fact that I've spent about twenty minutes in a comfy armchair (the left and right parts of the couch has armrests) with a very special person curled up in my lap. Older and taller or not, she's still that clingy and annoying girl I fell in love with.

I'm the one who opens the door. Not entirely unexpected, the brown-haired incarnation of energy that is Misao Kusakabe throws herself around my neck in her interpretation of a hug. I gladly hug her back, the last traces of my headache are gone with her cheery voice.

"So, so, so sorry we're late! I drove here, and it's really dark, and I just got lost!" I laugh and peel off Misao while raising my hand to greet the girl that is walking up from the blue (it is really dark, I just remember it being blue) car parked right outside our house.

"It's fine, honest. I would been fast asleep if Konata hadn't woken me up just now. Hi Amabi." Amabi is Misao's girlfriend. She has spiky blonde hair that goes horribly with her quiet and shy personality. I can't even begin to understand how the two got together, considering how different they are. But they get along well, and Amabi is very nice and even talkative when you've known her for a while. Well…Konata and Amabi really don't got along too well at first. I think Amabi accepts Misao's forwardness because they live together and all, and she has trouble being around someone that she isn't so familiar with, but is so much like Misao. Poor girl. It makes me happy when I notice that she's at least trying to change, as she gives Konata an honest hug and greets her with a voice filled with excitement. True to style, Konata does nothing to acknowledge the shy girl's efforts, which was probably the nicest the thing she could've done.

-I-

"Cheater, cheater!" Misao screams with full force and points at me. I would protest if I wasn't laughing so hard that I'm incapable of talking. Amabi is having her own fit beside her, so it's up to Konata to calm her down. When I think I've regained the ability to speak, I waste no time catching my breath.

"You're the one to talk! I've never seen anyone use so many projectiles in a hand-to-hand fighting game!"

"I'm not the one using only one combo the entire match!" Konata opens her mouth to say something and gets a faceful of fist from the sore loser. Ouch.

"Well, if you would do anything besides block, then maybe I could kick your ass in a more creative way. Would you like that?"

"Guys!" The raised voice comes from Amabi, and makes us both shut up. Her face is lightish red from all the laughter, and her attempts to look serious are laughable. "Kagami won, okay? Stop being a bunch of babies." Having this told to you by the twenty-year old that looks like fourteen is embarrassing to say the least, but she's right. Too bad, I was enjoying the squabble. Misao looks annoyed at getting interrupted, but also somewhat…proud. Maybe that's reason the two go so well together is that they're not one bit like each other. They can learn from each other.

"Mmh." The muffled noise comes from Konata, and we all just now notice that she's standing with her hands pressed against her face. A small drop of blood seeps out between her fingers as she makes the sound again while trying to convey the look of "extremely pissed off" with her eyes. "Mmh." She's surprisingly successful with that.

"I'm so, so, so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you, it just kinda happened." Misao kicks back into hypermode and I've stopped existing to her, most likely. "Come here, let's go fix you up." Konata's answer is a grunt and a sniffle, and apparently Misao takes that as a yes because she throws an arm around the injured soldier and leads her up the stairs.

"Second door to the left is the bathroom!" I yell after them as Amabi breaks down into more hysterical laughter. I shake my head, pretending to be condescending, before picking up Misao's controller and throwing it to Amabi. And since I'm not Konata, I can't help but touch on her change in personality.

"You okay there?"

"I'm…fine. I'm not used to…laughing so much."

"I'm not used to hearing you laugh." I say neutrally as I scroll down the list of fighters and pick someone fast. Amabi usually goes for speed, so picking a heavy type would be stupid.

"What do you mean?" As expected, a fast type. But a little more on the brute side than usual. "Usual" then being the total of the other three times I've played against Amabi, so…

"I thought you more of a quiet person…"

"Yeah, yeah."

"…at least that's the impression I got."

"I know. I'm not too good with strangers, and even if I knew you guys somewhat, I always felt a little awkward around you. But I'm trying to change, both for my sake and Misao's. I can't go all my life being afraid of everyone."

"That's admirable." I say with feeling. It reminds me of something I should do. Should be doing. Should've done. Whatever.

"Thanks." The game starts. I run forward, and so does Amabi. She hits me first, a low combo. I try to block, but I'm too late. She gets me into a juggle, then an air combo. A quick look at the top of the screen confirms that I've lost more than half of my health in around six seconds. It doesn't stop. I've never seen her combo before, and I can't break it. With a stylish drop the game ends, and PERFECT! in shiny letters splash across the screen. I just sit quiet for a while, completely stunned.

"…since when did you get so good?" I then ask. Longs combos in themselves are nothing big, plus that all combos can be broken. But this was a KO-combo (a certain string of moves and juggles that ends up being a KO if all of them hits), and a very varied one at that. It requires some training.

"I didn't. I looked it up." Amabi says with a dismissive chuckle.

"Please don't teach Misao that." I look into Amabi's honey-yellow eyes and decide that I'm very happy to have her as a friend.

"Don't worry, I won't. Another game?"

"Sure." My fingers automatically find the sticks and start to maneuver them. "I bet that that was easy to block as well?"

"Every three is either low-to-high or low-to-medium before the first air." The blonde girl says with clear troubles holding back a laugh.

"Oh." Internal facepalm.

-I-

"Wonder why it's taking so long?" I ask after we've been waiting about fifteen minutes for Misao and Konata to come back. I'm practically hanging across my chair, very restless. Amabi is not much better. She sighs, very openly, and leans forward. She pulls out a pen from behind her left ear and starts doodling on a piece of paper.

"I dunno." Is her long awaited answer. She looks up and blinks at me. "I mean, you should go get them. Sorry for wandering off there, I was thinking about something else." I give her a crooked look, but decide to let it go. I get up with a moan as my limbs give off a symphony of cracks and creaks. As I leave the living room and go up the stairs, I can't help but think I misjudged Amabi. Today she's been just like any friend, open and warm. Maybe it's like she said, she just has trouble meeting new people. Makes sense when those new people are as messed up as us. I reach the end of my train of thought when I reach the bathroom, and it's with a contented mind I knock two times before I step into the room.

I'm glad I knocked first. It saved me from the worst of it. When my brain finally understands what it is I'm looking at, the two has already started untangling themselves from each other. Maybe to make a point, the brown-hair lets her right hand remain around Konata's neck. My girlfriend's neck. It's like a punch in the chest, except that there is no flesh or bone to protected my heart. They turn their heads almost simultaneously, their faces still inches from each other. Konata is pushed up against the wall and she as well keeps a hand around Misao's waist, just to make the same wicked point. They look at me, a pair of green eyes and a pair of brown, they look at me with the same careless, mellow look. And at exactly the same time, both with just the hint of a sly smile, they say:

"What?" Like they don't even care, which they don't. I stumble back into the hallway, my head suddenly spinning as I realize that I stopped breathing the second I opened the door. I trip and fall backwards, my head hits the wall with a thud. With that impact, my memory seems to kick into overdrive and I suddenly remember something very important. Something I thought about earlier this morning.

-I-

"Is it okay with you?" My loved one asks as she caresses my cheek with the back of her hand. I try, in vain, to slow my hectic breathing. She's…too close. Brown eyes, more devilish and piercing than Konata's. She's in the room with us, I know it. In the shadows, in a dark corner, waiting for my answer. And I know, I know that Konata would accept my no. Maybe she would leave me…or just not care at all. But she would accept it. Misao would not. She would hurt me, kill me! For getting between her and Konata. I love Kona, even to death. But my death isn't necessary, all I have to do is say yes. So, is it okay? Am I okay with sharing the only person that has ever loved me back? Am I willing to see those two together? Hell no.

"Yeah…it's fine. I'm okay with it." I lie. I can feel Misao's grin, feel her one fang sparkle in the dim sunlight. To hell with her. Konata smiles widely and wraps her arms around me in a very unexpected hug. I'm okay with it, because I'm not doing it for myself. I'm definitely not doing it for Misao. I'm doing it for Konata.

-I-

When I've tumbled and staggered my way down the stairs, I find Amabi lying across two seats and playing with a tiny sculpture picturing an intense battle between a frog sage and a rat overlord. She doesn't look up at me, she just keeps turning and inspecting Konata's work.

"Y'know, I really wouldn't expect someone like Konata to be so creative. Sorry, that sounded worse than…" She takes one look at me and immediately gets up. She takes a step back and I can spot that shy and withdrawn girl Amabi's trying so hard not to be. "…what's wrong?

"I…they…they were…" Words elude me, the simple act of standing is a challenge, and I'm still dizzy from then I hit my head. But something I never expected happens as Amabi puts the sculpture on the table and proceeds to pull me up. She puts her arm around my shoulder and leads me over to one of the seats, where I sit down shakily.

Amabi's runs her fingers through her spiky hair with a sigh, and she suddenly looks a lot older to me. Sounds it too.

"You…didn't know about it?" She asks me with a wary voice. I can't bear to look at her, my head hurts and I can't concentrate. My memory is still painful clear and pictures I don't want to see are floating dangerously close to my consciousness. I bury my head in my hands, and it helps a little.

"I knew. But I…I wasn't expecting it." My own voice is somewhat muffled by my hands, but I don't really care. "She…scares me." I add without really knowing why. Silence. Wretched silence that makes me look up at my friend. I can barely see the tear in the corner of her eye as she turns away from me. "Amabi! I didn't mean-"

"She scares me too."

"…what?" My voice sounds so small.

"She's trying to change!" Amabi starts to pace back and forth, on the verge of crying and with eyes flaring. "She's nicer to me now! She's trying to change…but it's something with those two…" I don't know if it would've made a difference if Amabi had gone on, as she seemed as upset as me at this point. Whatever the case, she never got the chance as Misao and Konata came strolling down the stairs and into the room. Amabi shook her head almost unnoticeably and in a second, the careful attitude that I had brought out in her was gone. Misao yawned loudly and threw herself in the leftmost seat.

"'Ey Ami, should we go?" She asks using her pet name for Amabi. The blonde looks at her wristwatch and scratches her head.

"Mm…it is a little late. You tired?" I can't quite conceal my amazement at Amabi's ability to act like absolutely nothing has happened. Konata walks over to me, puts an arm around me and snuggles into my shoulder. I welcome her touch, it reminds me that I'm the one who's together with her. Not Misao, me. Konata made that decision for a reason.

"Well, you guys can always come back any time. There is no point in staying if we're all tired." I manage to sound as normal as possible, but I'm not quite what I'm trying to do, or to hide. I'm so confused.

"Agreed." Konata mumbles into my shoulder. Her breath is warm and makes me giggle. Amabi and Misao look at us with tilted heads, then turn around and start walking out of the room. Konata and I follow. The usual departure phrases are exchanged between all of us, and when I somewhat reluctantly hug Misao good-bye, I can swear I can hear a "sorry" whispered in my ear. The two visitors walk out into the cold, dark night and wave good-bye, I wave back, close the door and take a deep breath. Then a hand tangles into my hair and Konata slams my head against the closed door.

It's not so much painful as it is disorienting. Konata's grip of my hair remains firm and after two more slams against the wall, she forcefully pushes me to my knees. Old reflexes kick in and I put my hands out just in time to break my fall as she places her knee in my back and pushes me down. Gravity is on her side and I carefully lower myself until my nose touches the cold floor. In less than a minute, Konata has me against the floor with her knee strategically placed against my spine, and a big tuft of my hair wrapped around her hand. I try to take deep breaths as my mind and heart races to figure out what I've done. I notice that the ribbon I tied in my hair has fallen out, and is now lying lifelessly beside me.

"What is with you?" Konata's voice is strained, and I get the feeling that she's trying real hard not to scream at me.

"I don't know what you-" Her knee sinks lower and pain shoots along my spine. Her hand lifts my head slightly, just enough to let me feel what would happen if she pulled harder.

"You know about us." Konata's cold words cut me off. "Why so surprised?"

"It's been so long." Something is different. This is not the usual type of punishment. This is more like…interrogation. "I'd forgotten."

"Forgotten? Just like you've forgotten this!" Again, my head is slammed against a hard surface. My vision blurs and I can feel a warm liquid trail down between my eyes. I can hear Konata breathe heavily behind me. Yeah. This is definitely different. "Me and Misao…talked. Do you want to know what we talked about?" It's pretty impossible for me to nod, and talking is not easy at this point. But I try.

"Yes…tell me." As if Konata realizes how bad she injured me, she lets go of my hair. I still have enough strength to lay my head safely against the floor, but I feel the pressure in my back increasing as Konata bends forward. Her voice is uncomfortably close next time she talks.

"She apologized to me. Said she was sorry. She then explained what Amabi meant to her, and how she was trying to change for her sake. She advised me to do the same." I remember that Amabi told me the same thing, and I'm just now starting to get what they are talking about. That's why she's angry. Konata has done the same thing with me, trying to change the way she treats me. Amabi surely noticed Misao's efforts, but I completely ignored Konata's. What kind of girlfriend am I?

"I'm sorry." Tears mix with the blood in my eyes and drips down on the wood with soft taps. My body relaxes as the pain caused my Konata's leg goes away. I quickly roll over just to have the blue flash hold down my arms as she sits down with one leg on either side of me. The tiny amounts of energy I have left are completely evaporated when this very strange girl gives me a long, drawn-out kiss. As per usual, my mind is filled with extremely conflicting emotions. The result is that my body refuses to do anything.

"Heh…" Konata's hair tickles the wound on my forehead when she pulls away. An affectionate smirk is playing on her lips, and I can't help but smile when I see the dark spots of my blood in her hair and on her lips. "…do you think me a monster for doing this do you?" She asks me, the serious tone clashing with her smile. I'm surprised I can even form thoughts after all of this, but somehow I manage. I do however feel really sleepy, in a bad way.

"No…you're trying to change. Like Misao…" A not often seen streak of worry is seen in Konata's green eyes. I feel my eyelids getting heavier, and I understand I won't remain conscious for much longer. "…I love you…no matter what. I won't ask you why you…do what you do. I accept your feelings for Misao, and I…appreciate that you chose me." I can kid myself I see tears in my loved one's eyes as her smile widens. She's still holding me down. "I really hate those teeth, Kona." I say before I fall into a dreamless sleep.

-I-

Things get better from the bottom. Misao and Konata had been in love for a long time, and there is no telling how or why Konata developed feelings for me. Those two are strange individuals, and maybe it was shame or guilt that breathed life into Konata's violence towards me. I will never know, and I don't wish to. But people change, with some help from their friends. Misao advised Konata to act differently, but she had already begun to become nicer to me. What caused that change in her? It's anyone's guess. Heh…so many unanswered questions. But the answers doesn't matter in the end, only the result does. And in the end, everyone probably walked away a tad bit happier. Who can argue with results? Jokes aside, now it's my time to make an effort. I, like Misao, Amabi, Konata, will try to change. If Konata become less violent, then maybe I must become more so. Maybe I should try to become more confident, stronger, more resistant. Relationships need balance. It's complicated.

For the record, I still really hate those teeth. Sharks are not cute.