A Chance of Rain

It was raining and Kagami was stuck at Konata’s house.

Just hours prior it hardly looked like it would rain, the sky was as blue as it had ever been and what clouds were there did not give any indication of what was to come, and yet the showers came - creating an ambient sound that would almost have been relaxing were it not for the inane video game that was being played.

No, clouding the tranquil sound of rain falling was a soundtrack of murder and mayhem.

Kagami was hardly one to credit Konata for her taste in video games, but this felt like a turn from what she usually got up to - a shooter game full of blood, guts, and not much else. Not that she understood Konata’s video game habits all that well to begin with, but still… she wondered if she should be concerned or not.

“So this is the new game, huh?” Kagami asked, as she could faintly recall Konata mentioning the title of an upcoming game she was gonna pick up ‘at some point.’ Judging by what she was seeing on screen, the title she was remembering at least sounded like it could’ve been the one she had now.

“Hm,” Konata replied, affirmatively, not looking away from her game.

What was up with her? It felt sometimes like Kagami knew way more about Konata than she’d ever asked to know, entirely against her will, and yet the blue-haired otaku could be an absolute enigma when she wanted to be - leaving Kagami to wonder…

Konata had been picking up a lot of games, lately, so it had gotten harder for Kagami to keep track of what she was onto next. Not that she was keeping track, just… well, it was a lot of games. Konata used to have some weird sense of discernment, much as it pained Kagami to admit, but it felt like now she was just buying anything she could get her hands on as soon as she could get her hands on it.

“Been playing much of that online game lately?” Kagami asked, pivoting away from the game Konata was currently on. She just didn’t really know how to make conversation about the violence that was as senseless as it was monotonous.

“Sorta,” Konata replied, “Ms. Kuroi’s been weirdly busy, and then the rest of the party is full of schedules that never line up anymore, so I haven’t had much to do besides getting my log-in bonuses every day.”

Kagami sighed. As weird as it all was for her, even she could understand on some level that this group Konata got together with was some sort of positive thing to have in her life.

“That sucks,” she sympathized, “I guess everyone has to move on from playing the same game eventually,” she figured, eliciting a very low hum of acknowledgement from Konata, “but wasn’t there one person on your team who you were close with besides Ms. Kuroi?”

“Hm?” Konata responded, curiously.

“Yeah,” Kagami said, as the knowledge came back to her, “I think you said you had a wife? Who was a guy? But you were playing a guy, even though you’re a girl, and you were married inside the game… or something weird like that.” It felt so convoluted when she said it all back to her.

“Not anymore,” Konata corrected her, near-monotone, “‘got divorced.”

“D-divorced?! You weren’t even really married to begin wi—” Kagami started to say, before catching herself as she realized she could’ve hurt Konata’s feelings, “I mean… ugh, I’m sorry Konata,” she apologized, before offering, “do you wanna talk at all about it?”

“Not much to talk about,” Konata replied, not breaking eye contact with her game and barely modulating her voice as she spoke, “his stupid wife didn’t like it.”

“Wait… you married someone in your game who was married in real-life? Doesn’t that mean he was cheating on her with you?” questioned Kagami, a little shocked.

“They weren’t married when we got married,” Konata answered, relieving Kagami somewhat, “actually, he met her afterward. She was ok with us being married in-game until she wasn’t, he likes her more than he likes me, so yeah. Divorce.”

It turned out the situation was the exact opposite of what Kagami assumed, and the bluntness with which Konata spoke was almost painful.

“That… really sucks…” Kagami frowned, “I mean, to go back on what she said when you weren’t even standing in the way of her relationship… it’s not like you were waiting and hoping he’d decide he liked you better, right?”

Silence.

“Konata…”

“It’s whatever,” Konata replies, conspicuously pressing the buttons on her controller more harshly. It didn’t seem like it was really ‘whatever’ and Kagami didn’t feel right letting her drop the subject that quickly.

“You don’t have t—”

“It’s fine,” Konata stopped her, before being startled as Kagami reached over her shoulder to pause the game. Finally Konata turned around, only for Kagami to put her hand on her shoulder as they at last made direct eye contact.

“It doesn’t sound fine,” Kagami told her, as the vulnerability in Konata’s depressed heart began to well up like the tears in her green eyes. She could tell it made Konata uncomfortable, but she didn’t let that stop her from holding her gaze in hers.

“You… it…” Konata began to say a couple times, until finally…

“… Fuck,” she sobbed, not offering any resistance when Kagami pulled her into a hug. Konata could hear nothing but the rain and the sound of her own weeping, now that the game had been paused, leaving her with no more distractions.

Her escape from her feelings was foiled - despite her best efforts, she was feeling them again.

“I just wish that someone would choose me one time, y’know?” Konata admitted, her voice muffled against Kagami’s chest, “it feels like I’ve been the second-most important person, at best, to anyone I’ve met my whole life…

“Why does there always have to be someone anyone would rather be with than me?” she wept, not knowing if there was an answer to her question or that she would even want to hear it.

Not quite sure what to say to that, Kagami rubbed her back and held her. She really wasn’t used to seeing Konata like this, it was like there was an air of irreverence surrounding everything she did and said most of the time. Did she miss that irreverence? Did she want her to feel better just so she could go back to not talking about how she felt?

That didn’t feel right. Despite how unserious Konata so often was, and how inscrutable she could be with her weird interests, Kagami had gotten to know her surprisingly well - to the point where she’d decide she even wanted to hang out with her. That was why she was there… wait.

“No,” Kagami responded, “that’s not true,” she told her, causing Konata to let out a questioning whimper, “if it was, I wouldn’t be here with you right now.”

“That’s really nice of you to say, Kagamin… but you wouldn’t be here if you knew it was gonna rain and you’d be stuck with me,” countered Konata, with a sad smile, the depression still convincing her of the truth of her misery.

“Forget that,” replied Kagami, “I still chose to come hang out with you and I’m not sorry I did,” she told her, “even if I’m probably ‘triggering a flag’ or whatever you’d call it.” She felt stupid saying it, but she figured it might cheer Konata up.

Konata looked back at her with those tired green eyes of hers, but no witty comeback came out. Instead, Kagami watched the sadness ever so subtly drain away from her smile. It was probably one of the most beautiful things Kagami had ever seen, but she’d never admit to it.

“You actually remembered the terminology…” was, for some reason, what Konata said back to her after what had felt like a very meaningful pause.

“Ugh, that’s your takeaway?” Kagami reacted, “You mention it often enough I’d have a hard time forgetting it, it’s practically drilled into my skull at this point,” she complained half-heartedly, though she honestly couldn’t be too mad even at Konata’s gaming nonsense in that moment.

The incorrigible otaku nestled her face back into Kagami’s chest and relaxed, with her latest lonely battle with depression won after receiving some much-needed reinforcements. It felt good to have another person in the house again, even if she was only visiting.

“Thanks, Kagamin…” Konata said, her muffled voice coming through clearly enough, “I guess it doesn’t really matter whether you’re here by choice or not, just how you feel about it, y’know?”

“Yeah… how I feel about it…” Kagami echoed, thinking back to what went through her mind earlier that day - back when the sun was still out.

“Sure.” That was all Konata had written when Kagami had offered to come over. She’d been meaning to spend some time with her again for a while, but one thing or another would come up and she’d have to try and find another time to go and do it. Being holed up all alone for that long couldn’t be good for her.

“God knows she’s hardly going out enough these days,” thought Kagami, as she slipped into her shoes. She was just about to head out when she heard Tsukasa call after her.

“Sis!” Tsukasa said, “Before you go, I checked the weather app on my phone and it said there was a 30% chance of rain starting this evening!”

At that, Kagami looked outside. Barely a cloud in sight.

“Are you sure there isn’t a setting wrong with your phone, Tsukasa?” Kagami asked, skeptically. She knew she had a habit of getting deep into her phone, but she still wasn’t above the occasional bout of absentmindedness.

“No, see? It says Saitama, and it could last all night after it starts,” Tsukasa replied, showing her screen, before her phone jingled as it notified her of a new text, “ahh, wait, no, don’t look!” she squeaked, turning her phone back around and attending to whomever had messaged her. Phones had the worst timing, sometimes.

30% wasn’t all that likely, but it gave Kagami pause. If she went out without an umbrella or raincoat and it did rain, she’d be stuck at Konata’s. Would probably have to stay there overnight, by the sound of it…

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Kagami told her sister, who offered a smile and nod before getting back to tapping out her next message. “Same old Tsukasa,” she thought, as she wondered if she could find the same old Konata in the house she was visiting.

It took some digging, sure, but eventually she did sorta find her. They were both a bit older, some time had passed, but she could still recognize the girl whose face was planted firmly in her chest. Very firmly, actually.

“Say…” Kagami started, suspiciously, “you’ve been down there a while, y’know…” she mentioned, only to hear a giggle she hadn’t heard in a long time… and could probably have gone a bit longer not hearing, honestly.

“You’ve put on some pounds, I see,” Konata remarked, mischievously, “your boobs are fuller than usual~”

Yep. She had definitely found the ‘same old Konata.’ God help her, she found her.

“I’m only letting that one slide because you’re too pathetic to hit on the head, tonight, got it?” Kagami replied.

“If you say so, Kagamin~” sighed Konata, wrapping her arms around her in a hug that elicited what would’ve been the cutest blush Konata had ever seen on Kagami’s face… had she seen it. The boobs giveth, and the boobs taketh away.

She was going to be stuck there the rest of the night, Kagami realized. A whole night spent with the most inscrutable and annoying person she’d ever met. That was what she’d chosen.

With any luck, the night wouldn’t run out too quickly.

The End.

Author’s Notes: It’s my first Lucky Star fan-fic, and it’s of course dedicated to my favorite ship of the show - KonaKaga! I know I don’t have them officially start a relationship here or kiss, but this is a KonaKaga fan-fic and you are not allowed to enjoy it while imagining it’s just platonic. If you were doing so before you reached these notes, no you didn’t! I reach into the past and steal your enjoyment away! Mwahahaha! >:D

Something readers may notice that I am a little self-conscious of is that, for a Lucky Star fan-fic, this doesn’t really have the casual conversational vibe of the source material nor is it authentically Japanese. Lucky Star has had more dramatic parts to it, though, and I like to think I stayed true enough to the characters and setting at least.

Hope you enjoyed reading! I’d love if you shared any thoughts you had while doing so! Thanks!