Disclaimer: I do not own Lucky Star or any of the characters/plot points/dialogue associated with it and other franchises.

Of Galge and Imaginary Friends

Chapter 45

Last time in Of Galge and Imaginary Friends…

"Hm…" Konata hummed. "Actually, I'd like to talk about that with you in private." Okaa-san nodded, stood, motioned to Konata, and led her away. As this happened, the otaku turned toward Kagami and mischievously winked.

The twintailed girl glanced towards Kanata, who replied with a nod and, "I was going to, anyway, Kaga-chan," before following her daughter.

Konata -BT02-

Thursday, July 7

Fufufu, chuckled Konata internally. Operation Field Trip's success is guaranteed! And I even confirmed that my gift is actually useful!

"While I don't quite understand why you chose that as your price, I must admit that you're bargaining skills are impressive, Izumi-san," Hiiragi Miki acknowledged, not looking at all annoyed by the recently agreed upon arrangement. "I expected you to be more adamant on sitting in on Kagami's and Tsukasa's lessons, though."

"If I want to know anything, I'll just ask Miyuki-san," explained Konata absently. All I have to do now is wait. More waiting. Why must I always wait?! Actual games are so much faster than this one. "I wonder why she knows this stuff, though…"

The Hiiragi matriarch replied, "Others have happened upon the ability to utilize," before walking off away from the living room.

…That's it for explanation? Okay, whatever. I can mine Miyuki-san for information later. Now, though, is a chance to raise-why is Kagami covering Tsukasa's mouth like she was suddenly spilling some secret that's probably highly important to the plot - most likely It. Well, I guess that means I'll be playing this game for a while longer.

Konata decided that it would be best if she pretended to ignore the rather panicky look in Kagami's eyes and the wide-eyed realization in Tsukasa's, instead giving the twintailed miko a grin before settling back where she'd been before. Kagami's strange fear fades somewhat, becoming suspicion.

"What did you do?" came the tsundere's accusing voice.

"Why do you assume that I did something, Kagami?"

"You winked."

"Maybe some dust got in my eye."

"And you just grinned at me."

"I grin all the time."

"You're up to something."

"Of course I am, Kagami. When aren't I?" Is Tsukasa breathing enough through Kagami's-wait, her hand is sparking! Why isn't Tsukasa being affected? She can't heal before she's hurt…does she have damage prevention? That seems like it wouldn't-

Kagami's voice cut through the otaku's thoughts. "At least you admit it," she muttered, finally releasing her twin's mouth.

It appears that Tsukasa could breath perfectly well after all. …But her nose was covered rather tightly, too…wait, if the necklaces confine power to the body, then her healing stuff is all in there. With all the energy I saw emitted earlier today…holy Haruhi, Tsukasa might be immortal!

"I doubt it."

"Kagami, you keep responding to my thoughts like that. Are you absolutely sure you're not telepathic?" She rolls her eyes, obviously exasperated.

"You just have a habit of thinking out loud, now. How many times have we been over this?"

I could tell her the number, but I don't think she'd believe me. It's also a rhetorical question, but when has that stopped me? "So, how does it feel to know you're not the only one in your family who has the ability to power Tokyo?"

"The same as before, really," the twintailed tsundere replied, effortlessly following Konata's jumping conversation thread. "It's not like anything actually changed between this morning and now."

"It's technically still morning, Kagami; we still have hours until lunch." Kagami looks a little troubled, though your words don't seem to have caused it. Hm? "What's up?"

Kagami glanced around, making sure that nobody besides Tsukasa, who was still staring at Konata like she'd never seen the otaku before, could overhear; luckily, Matsuri and Inori had left. "What do you make of all this?"

That's…a good question, actually. What is this? Let's see… "It explains a bunch of things," began Konata, "things I've been wondering about for a while. We all know that you have super electric powers, and Tsukasa showed her thing, too, when you were unconscious. Actually, now that I think about it, it's almost too convenient; we have me, the tank-like character, you, the DPS mage, and Tsukasa, the healer. Throw in Miyuki-san's support, even if it's just non-"magical" knowledge, and we pretty much have a full party, ready for raiding." I should've asked for a magical sword or something. Maybe I'll get another chance…

"Should've known you'd say something like that," the long-haired twin muttered, though she also nodded slightly, quite like Konata did when she noted something important. "Also, while we're somewhat close to this topic, what the hell?!"

I wondered when she'd get to this. Better act innocent. "Whatever are you talking about?" Very innocent, me, very innocent.

"You know full well what I'm talking about!"

"Well, yes, but also no."

"Don't deflect."

…Well, crap. "My memory isn't what it was three seconds ago, Kagami, so could you re-enlighten me?" She does not believe you. Yeah…just because I have fine control over most of everything I do doesn't mean I can act worth anything.

"Konata…" Kagami growled, hands sparking almost silently.

"I was simply providing the most visible example as to why your Okaa-san was wrong." Guessing what she's going to say next… "I didn't actually say that your not-magical girl thing is tsundere-powered, only that one could see that it's not purely anger powered through your tsundere qualities." About now is when she says something like, "Can't you be serious for once?" or something.

"Couldn't you have used a different example?"

Woah woah woah, wait, what? "Not really." Alert! Alert bar, why aren't you alerting? This needs an alert!

"Why not just say, 'She did her magical girl thing when she was worried about Tsukasa,' instead?"

"I sort of did, in a way, somewhat." …Then she knows I'm being at least a little serious. Since I'm the only one who'd be able to tell her and I don't remember ever doing so. Memory lock me, why do you betray our cause?! My cause, actually, and I understand completely, but still. What have you been saying?

"Yes, that was very convincing."

The sarcasm is audibly undetectable, but, at the same time, also undeniable. Ah, well. Tsukasa looks like she's recovering from whatever plot divulgence happened without me. "Oh, right!" Konata suddenly exclaimed, as if she'd just remembered something. "Kagami and Tsukasa, I'm apparently your official bodyguard now. Or something like that."

The look Kagami gave the otaku before responding was a mixture of exasperation, annoyance, and mild surprise. "So you weren't just using the gaming party thing as an analogy?"

Konata's eyes widened an almost unnoticeable amount. "Kagami's played online games before?"

"Wha-how did you reach that?"

Kagami's good at hiding her real meaning behind more popular ones, so… "Which one did you play?"

"I haven't!"

"Hm…then you researched them, at least." After nearly ten seconds of being ignored, though, the Text box chimed, She likely decided not to speak as a countermeasure against stuttering. No matter, though I wonder when…and why. Her Connectivity ss hasn't increased recently, either, so it's not that… "Don't worry, Kagami; your secret is safe with me! And Tsukasa, too." Which secret, though? Fufufu…you're not the only one who can play with words, Kagami! "Oh, also, I should probably go and tell Otou-san that I didn't suddenly elope with a random stranger off the street. I rushed out rather suddenly, you see, and he forgets that I don't always forget my phone. Happy birthday!" And with that, Konata took off.

I should probably be more emotionally affected by all this, the blue-haired girl decided later that day. I mean, apparently, the only reason I ever knew Okaa-san is because Janitor-baa-san at the hospital is not-magical like Kagami and them. That seems like something that would, I don't know, move me to do…something…maybe send a gift basket full of medical books? What does someone do when they learn that somebody gave someone's mother a chance to live because of somebody's not-magical life support? How do I-

Just then, though, Konata's oft-forgotten cell phone made a vague noise that happened to form a song, a very important song. Ah, Kagami! This…is the first time she's actually called me and not the other way around. Huh.

Beep!

"Why, hello, Kagami!"

"There's literally no way you put this on my bed. You weren't ever at any point close to my bedroom."

Ah, that. "I gave something to Tsukasa, too."

"That doesn't answer my question, though I'd also like to know why you gave her that monstrosity."

"You never asked a question.

"…Fine, sure, whatever. How'd you do it?"

"Would you believe me if I told you I burst through the ceiling, guns a-blazing, and simply laid it there?"

"No."

Taking away all the fun… "I slipped away from your Okaa-san to put them there."

"…That was surprisingly anticlimactic. Also, what are these?"

"One's a bookmarked textbook for neurology, another for physics, and, then, there's the pack of reference manga I used when getting the others."

"And you got these…why?"

"Because thoughts are electrical currents in our brain and, according to your Okaa-san, you should be able to develop a general sense of electrons with practice. Throw in some magic-like reality estimation, and you should be able to master telepathy eventually. According to your Okaa-san, that is, who ended every sentence with 'probably.'"

AN: Alright, time to explain myself.

Really, it's mostly my fault. I haven't quite adapted to school yet, so my mind, still, in summer break mode, wasn't able to finish my early assignments nearly as fast as it should have. And I have a lot of assignments these first two weeks. At some point soon (hopefully), I'll be going back over these and, likely, previous chapters for intensive editing and additions. For now, though, it's late (again) and my brain is fuzzy (again).

I will mention that, inspired by Star Shatterer's review, I will probably add some kind of "story so far" section at the beginning or ending of story arcs. I think this particular arc is almost over, so it should appear soon. I would've put one here, too, but, well, see above. I'm sorry for how confusing this story has gotten!

Anyway, thank you very much for all of the reviews, comments, follows, and favorites thus far! I don't have an actual preview for today, either, unfortunately, but I can say that next chapter will definitely be Kanata -BT02- and might actually contain Kanata doing things.