Caution! This story contains trace elements of Yuri.


The hurried footsteps grew louder as a soft voice yelled out into the hospital corridor. "Onee-chan!"

The voice became more desperate as Tsukasa neared the room which held her twin sister. It sounded like Tsukasa was so frantic to find her sister that she didn't check with the reception desk and made her way into the hospital on her own – peering into each and every room to find Kagami.

"T-Tsukasa," I tried to call out. My voice was barely audible through my grief. I had not yet shed a tear in the hospital, but during the ambulance ride I was distraught. I cried at the sight of Kagami unconscious on a tiny stretcher in the back of the vehicle. My grief was so immense, I felt that tears could barely begin to express it. I screamed for the medics to get away from her; to stop covering Kagami with hideous, ghastly bandages. They threatened to throw me out of the ambulance if I didn't stop disrupting them. The threat of being torn away from my best friend calmed me, but only slightly. I was forced away from her as the medics applied more bandages. Binding her, suffocating her. It was only then that I saw the blood on the floor. Deep red mixing with white...

"Ka...

ga...

mi..."

"Konata," whispered a voice at the door. "Onee-chan!" A purple blur passed my vision as I was brought back to reality. Tsukasa knelt roughly beside the bed, opposite to me. In her haste to be there for Kagami, she landed painfully on her knees. Tsukasa remained unphased by her actions. She held Kagami's other hand and looked into her closed eyes. Tears began to fall as she surveyed the damage.

"I...I felt it," she whispered through sobs after a long silence. "Before you called me, I felt what happened. It was...too much...I almost died inside, realising that Kagami was in worse pain..."

I didn't doubt Tsukasa's words. It was true that she and Kagami shared an unspoken bond; a 'telepathy' I joked at one point. Yet, I had felt something as well. I saw the whole incident in front of me. Even seeing it caused me pain...but, I felt the impact as well.

It was supposed to be me who was hit. I was the careless one. I didn't look. It all happened in the split second that I was distracted.

Tsukasa shifted in her position on the floor. I realised the situation and moved to get a chair for her. She thanked me in a quiet voice. It sounded like Tsukasa was lost. She had immersed herself in grief over her sister.

"W-What happened?" she stammered. Tsukasa's innocent purple eyes shone with tears. She looked at me imploringly. It was in that moment that I saw she was truly lost. I was compelled to take a supportive role. I suspended my own agony and knelt beside Tsukasa, reaching an arm around her in comfort. Tsukasa reacted like she usually did with Kagami, resting her head on my arm, seeking protection from the world.

"It was very fast," I replied, desperately trying to form a version of events that wasn't too horrifying. "We were crossing the road when a car suddenly appeared. We barely had any time to react. But Kagami was quick. I was in the direct path of the car when she pushed me out of the way. Then..." Tsukasa griped my shirt. She sobbed quietly. I decided to end my story there. It was too much for her to take in. It was bad enough that she heard about the accident second-hand. I could almost imagine the incredible guilt she must have felt for not being by her sister's side when everything happened.

Kagami and I had been walking in the afternoon sunshine. It was a rare moment where we were without anyone from our usual group. Miyuki and Tsukasa had arranged to do something else that afternoon and Kagami and I decided to branch off to spend some time together. I was strangely happy to just be with Kagami as we walked towards the train station from Akihabara.

"I didn't think you'd come with me to Akiba again! You must have missed me," I teased as we walked. Kagami smiled.

"Not everything is about you. Anyway, I heard there was a new Full Metal book out today."

A light breeze rustled the leaves of the nearby trees and tossed Kagami's long hair. For a moment, as I looked back at her, she was captivating. Her silky purple hair was thrown behind and her jacket fluttered in the breeze; Kagami was the image of beauty. I must have had a strange expression on my face as Kagami interrupted my dreamlike state.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

I shook myself out of my momentary lapse in manner. Kagami was my friend, she wouldn't want to be anything...more. I assumed that I had been playing too much eroge and quickly recovered from my daze. Standing aside from my usual quip, I turned the conversation into something more serious.

"It's been so long since school has ended and we've seen everyone."

"I suppose our year group have all left for holidays or moved to go to university."

"I'm surprised that we haven't seen more of each other. Since we live so close." I missed seeing Kagami, Tsukasa, Miyuki, Misao, Patti...Calling people was just not the same as being with them. In the months following our graduation from high school, I longed to see Kagami again. I missed her laugh, her tsundere personality, her deep blue eyes, her gentle touch...

Her what...?

"Yeah, everyone's been busy," said Kagami, bringing me back from my fantasy yet again. "But I'm glad...to see you again..."

"Kagamin," I said quietly. She turned to face me. "Your deredere side is showing."

Normally I would have received a smack over the head or just a quick retort, but even Kagami was different today. The sun began to set behind the buildings of Akihabara as we stopped to cross a small, almost deserted road.

"I missed you, Konata." I looked back at Kagami standing on the sidewalk. Her mouth hinted at a smile. It was sincere.

"Kagami, I -"

A horn sounded to my left as tyres screeched to hold on to the asphalt. Kagami's faint smile disappeared. She ran towards me. Time seemed to slow to an agonising pace. Each action was drawn out, prolonged, so that each minute detail could be taken in and the full horror of the situation realised. A hand griped my own and drove me from the road towards the sidewalk. Purple hair invaded my sight as Kagami dove into action. The car was still screaming...or was that me? I twisted to see my best friend take my previous position. She tried to escape it as well, but was not as fast as she was getting me out of it.

The car edged closer and Kagami showed absolute panic. Time began to shift into is usual position as Kagami gave one last look at me. Her deep blue eyes filled with terror, reflected in my own. Her hand was still grasping mine.

The instant the car slammed into Kagami, the event merged into one rapid moment. Silver. Purple. Silver. Red. I felt something warm spray onto my face and saw the road turn darker. The car had stopped a few metres ahead of a mass of purple. "Kagami!" I dropped onto my hands and knees. The ground was strangely slippery, but I didn't realise why it was. Her eyes were closed, her head in an unusual position, her arms and legs almost unnatural. I reached to hold Kagami's hand. She was already becoming cold. I could feel heat seeping from her.

"Stay with me, Kagami," I cried. Her hand moved slightly and her thumb caressed my knuckles before relaxing completely. It was a silent signal of her willingness to fight.

Sirens invaded the quiet street but did not replace the screaming of tyres and metal slamming in my mind. An ambulance was on its way to rescue Kagami. She laid so delicately before me, I was torn that they had to disturb her.

The sirens halted and medics rushed to surround my lifeless friend. "No!" I screamed. "Don't take me away from her!" I was hysterical, I was desperate, I viciously clawed at every person who tried to remove me from the scene. I had a thought that if they took me away from Kagami, I might never see her again. My short stature must have made the medics eventually think I was some sort of younger sister. I was allowed to ride in the ambulance beside my best friend.

I watched helplessly as Kagami was put onto a stretcher and placed into the van. I was helped aboard, too.

My hand left a streak of Kagami's blood on the side of the ambulance as I climbed in.