Chapter Text
Kagami's eyes flcikered open and took in the golden rays of the morning sun. A blissful stillness permeated Kagami's room this morning, letting her know that all was right with the world. She bowed her head and kissed the top of Konata's head instinctively before gently disentangling herself from her girlfriend's embrace.
She stretched for a moment, lest her back threaten to incapacitate her during the day, then set into the kitchen and to make her morning coffee. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she watched the kettle boil Kagami began her morning routine. First and most importantly was the coffee, Kagami liked it sweet with syrup and heavily diluted with milk but she forced herself to one black coffee first. Partly as she was conscious of the calories and partly because she thought it was the adult thing to do.
She didn't feel like an adult. Truly it never felt like she grew up from being a teenager but she wagered that was mostly Konata's influence. Still she didn't mind.
Kagami made the short walk from the kitchen to the living room and settled down on the sofa. She wanted to return to bed and cuddle with Konata but she knew Konata wouldn't be getting up for another hour at least. Besides she had work to catch up on and she prided herself on being on top of everything.
Taking a leisurely scroll through her emails, Kagami fired off a few responses while the news played in the background. She always woke up early on workdays so she'd have time in the morning to take it slow. She finished her first cup and eagerly returned to the kettle. Now was the time for her treat. The coffee she had been waiting for.
Kagami tried not to keep too many unhealthy things in the house. With an admirable amount of restraint she limited it to two items. Those being coffee syrup and beer. Of course she'd have the occasional sweet treat at the end of the month or a meal out during the week. The latter even more so now that she was in a relationship. But beer and syrup were her staple treats and even with those she tried to be sparing with them.
In went the syrup, then the esspresso, then boiling milk and a gentle stir to combine it all. She sat back down with a huge grin on her face and stretched out on the sofa. With her emails done she changed the tv to something a bit more interesting whilst she waited for Konata to wake up.
Konata was getting better at waking up early. And not just because Kagami had found unique ways of waking her. Konata was making a concentrated effort to adapt herself to Kagami's lifestyle, which made Kagami even more endeared to her. Seeing the deranged and devoted otaku changing her lfielong habits for her made Kagami feel very special. She loved Konata dearly but she was almost completely certain when they got together she wasn't going to chage her habits. But Konata had pleasantly surprised her.
As if she knew Kagami was thinking of her the door to the bedroom opened and Konata, admitedly rather sleepily, stumbled out and made her way to the sofa before crashing down and cuddling up close to Kagami.
"Mornin'" She mumbled into Kagami's pajama top.
"Good morning" Kagami replied sweetly. Konata was cute as usual today but the fact she now got to enjoy her affection and witness her cute everyday moments made her heart swell.
"Hey come on now, don't fall back asleep" Kagami gently nudged Konata as she realised her eyes were starting to close.
"You're falling asleep" Konata replied.
"I definitely am not. Come on get up" Konata replied by wrapping her arms around Kagami and burying herself deeper into her chest. Kagami gave her a gentle smile and held her in her arms before reaching for the remote, scrolling through a streaming app and putting on an episode of anime. The fast-paced, blaringly loud intro was enough to rouse Konata from her slumber and sit, at least mostly, upright.
"Coffee?" Kagami asked as she stood up and made her way back to the kitchen.
"Please"
"You sure you're fine locking up here?" Kagami called across the room as she pottered around the kitchen.
"Yeah I don't gotta start till twelve"
"You know things would be easier if we moved in together" Kagami had brought up the idea of moving in together before. Now that their relaitonship was fully established she wanted to take it to the next level while the iron was still hot. Besides she was desperate to wake up beside Konata every morning.
"Sure you can move into my place" Konata replied in her typical laissez-faire attitude. Images of an anime filled, fast food dominated future in Konata's tiny gamer pad flashed in Kagami's mind.
She shuddered violently. She could not let this come to pass. Fixing her sweetest smile to her face Kagami picked up the finished coffees and went back to the living room. She set them down on the coffee table, sat down beside Konata and took her hands in her own.
"Maybe we should look at a new place. For both of us?"
"Hmm I dunno....I have everything set up just how I like it"
"Aww come on. You don't wanna find a new place to live with your cute girlfriend?" The look of stalwart defiance on Konata's face wavered momentarily.
"But my place has plenty of room for both of us" She lied.
"We could wake up together every morning"
"Hmmmm"
"Please?" Kagami gave her an aodrable, pleading look. "For me?"
"Ah it's not fair when YOU do the cute thing! Fine we can have a look together. But I'm keeping all my games and anime" Konata relented.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you" Kagami said and wrapped her arms around her.
~The following weekend~
The pair had gone round to Kagami's parent's place for dinner. Kagami's sisters had also made the trip back home and soon the house was bursting with life. Kagami's parents, somewhat unsurprisingly, had a reaction similar to Konata's dad when the two broke the news. In fact Kagami's mother had already bought a dress for the wedding but she kept that to herself.
Konata, Tsukasa, Matsuri and Tadao had all made their way through to the living room while the 'reliable' ones had taken to helping their mother prepare dinner. They settled in and flicked the tv to some game show to have in the background while they chatted.
"You think I could go on one of these shows? They seem fun" Tsukasa said to no one in particular.
"I dunno Tsukasa. What if you don't get a single question right and all of us see you fail on tv?" Konata replied.
"Yeah, you'd panic and stumble over the first question" Matsuri chimed in.
"If you go you have to be prepared to represent this family Tsukasa. No messing around, you better study properly" Tadao said firmly.
"Study?" Tsukasa flashed back to high school and dread filled her as she remembered all the studying and exams. "But it's multiple choice right? I'll get some of them correct"
"Ah my old strategy" Konata said wistfully as she remembered high school very differently to Tsukasa. "Why not go on one of those couples ones and take Miyuki with you? She'd do all the work and you could just sit there and reap the rewards"
"She's too busy with her work these days" Tsukasa replied sadly "I'd feel bad dragging her to some game show and making her do everything too"
"I know what you mean. She's too polite to say no too. I'd feel awful" Matsuri said.
"How about Kagami? I'm the show would definitely pick twins"
"I've tried that before. She threatened to bin my consoles if I suggested something so stupid again" Konata sighed dejectedly.
The conversation petered out and the lot of them relaxed and watched tv absentmindedly while waiting for dinner.
"Konata" Tadao said "I heard you and Kagami are looking for a new place"
"Yeah but it's been a drag. It's difficult to find anywhere around Tokyo"
"You not think of buying your own place? There's some good options just outside the city centre"
"My Dad said the same thing but we'd need to get married for a chance at a mortgage"
"Well maybe it's time you thought about that"
"Dad!" Matsuri shot her Dad a quick glare "Don't rush them just cause you want to throw another wedding. They'll do it when they're good and ready"
"Yeah. Besides I could have Kagami whenever I wanted" Konata gave her contribution with her usual amount of haste and gusto. That being none.
"I'm just saying it'll help them out. Besides they're gonna end up together anyway"
Just then Inori came in to the living room.
"Come on guys. It's dinner time" And with that the rest got up and moved through to the kitchen. The girls had prepared katsu curry for dinner and Kagami was busy setting out the plates. The all took their usual seats with Kagami nestling between Tsukasa, as they had since they were children, and Konata.
"Mmhh. Smells great dear" Tadao said.
"Yeah thanks Mum" Matsuri said while barely restraining her desire to begin devouring it.
The rest of the thanks chimed in from around the table before the family dug in. Conversation was short and sweet while food was consumed. A rare, quiet peace descended as the the sound of chopsticks dinging off bowls reigned.
Soon enough though it was over. Dinner eaten and stomach's sated and the dishes were swiftly cleaned up. The family gave a slow, lethargic charge back to the living room where they sank down and settled in. Tsukasa left to phone Miyuki and Inori had to dash back to her own household and partner. Konata and Kagami settled beside each other and held hands while absentmindedly watching the tv.
"What do you think of this place?" Kagami held up her phone to Konata. It was cute. A little out of budget but it had everything they needed. An office for Kagami and a huge living room for all of Konata's games and manga.
"Looks good. It'd make a mighty fortress to defend all my collectibles" Konata said half into Kagami's chest.
"Yeah? I can arrange a viewing for the weekend if that works?"
"You two still looking huh?" Miki said.
"Hopefully not for much longer. I can't wait to stop commuting between our places and work all the time" Truly the distance was starting to wear on Kagami a little bit. At least Konata got to work from home but Kagami had to actually go out and about. It'd be much easier when all this house stuff was sorted.
"We'd be happy to help you out you know?" Tadao chimed in.
"I know but it's about finding the right place too. There's a lot to consider"
"I'm sure you'll find something dear. We're here to help" Miki gave a reassuring look to her daughter.
"Thank you. I'll let you know when we find something" Kagami's mind took her elsewhere though. She was excited to find a place for sure. But she was more excited about what she had planned next. She looked at Konata and her heart swelled.
Kagami had never been more sure of anything in her life.
And when the time was right....