Kagami sighed, partly in joy and partly in melancholy. The school day was over, and her students were gathering their things to start the journey home. She was doing the same, clearing any papers from the desk and answering a few students' questions about things they didn't quite understand.
That finished, she slung her bag over her shoulder and made her way out of the classroom, turning down the corridor and walking a bit, before a familiar voice rang out from behind her.
"Hiiragi! Hey, Hiiragi!" Misao—rather, Principal Misao—called out her name, and Kagami could only sigh, again—this time, purely out of melancholy.
It was Friday, and Friday meant one thing to Misao. Party. Honestly, how Misao of all people managed to become the Principal of her old high-school was a mystery to the purple-haired woman, but such is life. She turned, smiling a bit when she saw Ayano walking to her, and letting the smile slip slightly when she saw Misao running up to her, her fitted suit jacket undone, tie fluttering in the air.
"Oi, Hiiragi! It's Friday, you know," panted the slightly winded Misao as she reached where Kagami was standing. Kagami merely nodded.
"Well, are ya gonna come ta drink with me and Ayano, or what?"
Kagami stilled her eyes for a moment, to prevent her from rolling them, and considered the proposal. On the one hand, she didn't particularly enjoy drinking, or some of the seedier bars Misao had dragged her to in the past. On the other hand, though… What else would she be doing if she didn't go out with Misao and Ayano?
Nothing, like always.
Kagami nodded, and smiled, "Sure, I'll come."
###
As she stumbled through the puddles of rain that lead her to the stairs of her apartment complex, she remembered hazily why she didn't enjoy drinking with Misao and Ayano. The ground was always so stubborn in its intent to wobble and sway with every footstep. For a moment, Kagami thought to herself that she was glad she couldn't afford a car, and that she had a friend like Misao that'd pay her cab fare all the time when she needed a lift.
'Naw, it's the least I can do for ya, Hiiragi! I know you can't hold your liquor like me,' Kagami remembered Misao saying as she tried to apologize for the fare, as she always did. Or did she?
With that thought, she sighed, 'I really need to just go to bed.'
She stumbled a little further, until she reached the stairs and made the surprisingly difficult journey to the second floor. It was only difficult because the stairs were slick with rain, turning her already unstable footing into a downright dangerous adventure. She made it to the top, eventually, and walked a little more stably to her door, unlocking it and stepping in out of the rain.
She gave a deep sigh, laced with happiness in being home, and sadness that it was so dreary inside her small apartment.
A couple of dull thuds and her shoes were off. The small clank of her keys hitting the kitchen table, followed by the scuffle of her socked feet on the carpeting. She made her way into the bedroom, getting out of her wet clothes, not really noticing the way she shivered a tiny bit, and looked around for her warm pyjamas.
She found them, to her dismay, in the dirty clothes hamper. She just made-do with a t-shirt and sweat-pants.
Making her way back out to the living area of her apartment, drying her hair on the way, she heard her mail flap clang shut. She stopped for a moment, pondering why that seemed strange to her, until she realized that the mail didn't come at nearly one in the morning! Stumbling, a bit more soberly, she reached the door and found a thick envelope at the foot of the door.
She bent to pick it up, and opened the door to see who had left it. Looking left and right, she saw that the person who must have left it wasn't around. She was too late.
Sighing, she shut the door, relocking it and turning the envelope in her hands. It was unmarked, and it felt like there was something boxy inside. Perhaps it was a late-night courier? Who knew?
She ripped the seal of the envelope open, and tipped it into her hand, coming up with an unmarked VHS tape. This made Kagami raise her eyebrow up in surprise. Nobody used VHS anymore, not for at least five years. Who could have sent her a tape?
She pondered this, walking to her television. If she were sober, she probably would have thought it strange to watch an unmarked tape from a stranger. Perhaps it was some sort of advertisement? She'd heard of people receiving free CDs in the mail as a marketing scheme to raise a band's rating, but never anything about videotapes.
What if it was some pervert? Someone who recorded some… stuff… and put it into beautiful women's mailing slots? That would be terrible! But, Kagami just shook her head, glad again that she couldn't afford to have new things, since her old television had a VHS player built right in.
She popped the tape in and hit play, and walked the short distance to her small couch to watch.
Oh, what a mistake.
###
Kagami blinked. Then she blinked again. The tape apparently had made her sober, in its confusing, cut-up way. She thought back to what she had seen: giant robots walking on the horizon, the sunset on a beach full of pretty girls, an animated frog leading troops to battle… She blinked a third time.
She must have been right, thinking it was an advertisement. Although, it wasn't a very effective advertisement, as she couldn't tell what it was actually trying to sell. She sighed as the television filled with static, the tape rewinding itself.
Then the phone rang. Kagami got up, looking to where the phone hung on the wall. She sighed; it was too late for anyone to be calling her, so it was probably a wrong number. She would just let the machine answer. And she intended to, but then she thought of the chance it could be something important. Had there been an accident? Maybe Tsukasa was in trouble? Before she knew it she had picked up the phone.
"Tsukasa?" she asked. Then she promptly palmed her face. What a way to greet a potential stranger. The other end was silent for a moment, and she almost thought they had hung up out of confusion. But she heard a small laugh, cheerful, and the words
"Seven days."
"A-… What?" Kagami asked, genuinely confused.
"Seven days," the woman—she could tell—on the other end said again, this time with a slight chuckle.
"What about seven days?" Kagami was starting to become irritated. Was this person slow?
"Oh, you'll see!" the voice seemed to smile out, and then the other end hung up, leaving a confused Kagami listening to the beep-beep-beep of the phone in confusion.
