"Konban-lucky!" announced the pink-haired middle-schooler to the cheering crowd before her. "And welcome to Akira Kogami's 15th birthday party! We're gonna have a blast here tonight, aren't we? There's cake, punch, candy, and all kinds of other goodies, and later some live music and karaoke!" The crowd's cheering calmed slightly after that last mention. "Oh, and don't forget to pick up a copy of my latest CD, for just three quarters of the retail price! And another reminder, it's now out on iTunes!"
"I knew there was a catch," the cynical Konata Izumi said.
"Well, why else would she invite everyone ages 12-18 in Kasukabe?" replied Kagami, incredulous at large crowd gathered in the adolescent prodigy's backyard. "She'd never miss an opportunity with this many people, although most of them probably came because her parents got filthy rich off her earnings. And you know what they say about rich people's parties." Indeed, it did seem like everyone under college age was gathered there that night…and probably more than a few people over the age limit.
"Tsukasa would probably love this strawberry shortcake," Miyuki said. "But where is she? She said she was coming, right?"
Kagami smirked and pointed to the other end of the refreshment table. Her twin sister was there standing next to a guy a few centimeters taller than her, with scruffy hair and a boyish, slightly goofy face. Tsukasa was giggling at something and grinning her sunny smile. And slipping a hors d'oeuvre into his mouth.
Konata's and Miyuki's mouths popped open and their eyes bulged. Then Konata narrowed her eyes and smiled as well, her face taking on an even more catlike appearance than usual. "Oh ho, so I guess there's no more twincest gong on anymore, eh Kagamin?"
"WHAT?!"
"Nothing," Konata replied innocently. "But anyway, who is he? How long have they…been going together?"
"I think she said it was Kentaro. It was about a week ago…"
Tsukasa had caught the 24-hour flu and had to miss a day of school. Kagami brought her homework of course, but since her grades were never exactly stellar, the next day she had to stay after school for study hall. And so, that afternoon she found herself heading home alone.
She shivered against the fall breeze. Most of the other students had already gone home, leaving mainly the middle-aged office workers heading towards the train station. It was almost four now, and with Daylight Savings Time coming to an end in just a couple weeks, the sun was low in the sky now and the shadows long. The creak of a mostly bare tree branch above her increased her heart rate by a few beats. Last summer Patty had remarked how interesting it was to her, as an American, that summertime was the time for scary stories in Japan, while back home it was this time of year, October. The encyclopedic Miyuki was glad to inform Patty that this was because scary stories could make one feel chilly, and thus were an entertaining way to survive the muggy Japanese summer. But on this afternoon, with the lower sun angle casting long, distorted shadows over the street and buildings, the hissing rustle of the dry dead leaves, and the eerie moan of the cool wind, Tsukasa could see why October was the month for spooks in the West.
Throughout her life, her mind had been dominated by fear, coupled with a lack of self-confidence. She'd had to use a nightlight until a rather late age, and even today she dreaded having to turn the hallway light off at night, let alone make her way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. And of course she couldn't watch many horror movies, even with her friends. Not that her friends and sister helped, often bringing such wonderful titles to their summer sleepovers as Boogiepop Phantom, Ghost Hunt, and on occasions when Konata lost the rock-paper-scissors match, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or The Ring.
But it wasn't just the imaginary and cinematic ghosties and ghoulies and long-leggety beasties that haunted her mind. The real world could be a very scary place itself. Her young life had been punctuated by news of terrorism, war, nuclear threats, and cataclysmic earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes. Many of these things were fortunately far away, but of course Japan was not immune. Especially unnerving to her was an event last summer in which a deranged young man had gone on a rampage with a knife in the Akihabara section of Tokyo. Akihabara being the city's main center for anime, manga, and electronics stores as well as cosplay cafes, the four girls frequently visited there, and Konata would even more often go alone. Afterwards they were obviously a bit hesitant to venture into the big city…except for Konata. When Tsukasa asked how her friend could just shrug off an event like that so easily, she merely smiled and replied, "Hey, you're only alive once. You can't always worry that something bad's gonna happen to you." But seeing those shrouded bodies on Tokyo's colorful streets on the TV screen, it was just so hard to remember those words.
Almost as bad were…those guys. None of them personally knew any girls who had even been groped, let alone raped, but again, every time such stories appeared in the paper or on the evening news, they had a way of gripping your mind. Guys did occasionally make passes at her and her friends, and her appearance in her fall uniform didn't help with that. Since they all took the train to school, the idea of all-female train cars on the Tokyo and Osaka subways seemed a disturbing development. Were Japanese men really that dangerous?
All those thoughts just made her ever gladder that she lived in a relatively safe, prosperous suburb with her wonderful family and her dear twin sister. Tsukasa occasionally thought of her and Kagami as two halves of a whole, with Kagami as the forceful protector to her meek moe prototype. She often wondered when else she would feel the calmness and security she did by her sister's side.
She was jerked out of her thoughts on the eerie atmosphere when she noticed she was entering the underpass beneath the railroad tracks. The station entrance was just to the right from the other side, but at this late hour, no light entered it except for the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Tsukasa stood there quaking for almost a minute, wishing that she could've remembered to recharge her cell phone so she could've called her mom. But she eventually realized that if she didn't make her way down that passage of doom, she would eventually be standing there after dark, at the mercy of the creeps.
With a gulp, Tsukasa started through the underpass.
It sounded like the sky was splitting open as an express train roared overhead without stopping at Kasukabe West Station. An electric shock raced down her spine and without thinking about it, she let out a scream. However, right then a pair of thick hands clasped over her mouth, stifling it.
"Well, well, looky what we have here," sneered a voice redolent of sweat and too much body spray. The hands continued pressing her against what felt like a beef carcass wrapped in an undershirt.
"Hmm, a bit more like Skuld than Mikuru, if you know what I mean, but she'll do for now," replied the second pervert, snatching her schoolbag with one hand and seizing her left arm with his other. Even though the guy was standing right in front of her, she couldn't make out any of his features.
But suddenly the initial shell-shock faded and her survival instincts kicked in. Having received a few pointers from Kagami, Tsukasa fiercely launched her left leg out towards the guy's crotch. Big mistake! In almost the same motion, the guy tossed her schoolbag behind him and firmly grabbed her ankle. Meanwhile the jerk behind her slipped his right leg around hers, leaving her pinned.
Tsukasa tried to pummel him with her right arm, but it didn't seem to be having any effect. But time seemed to stop when she heard a metallic click in front of her, and the waning light shone off the blade just centimeters from her face. "Now look," the seeming leader of this wolf pack told her. "We don't wanna get too rough here. This won't take long. And you'll thank us afterwards." She again tried to scream but the hands pressed even harder against her face. This just couldn't be real!
But just then the guy's silhouette was jerked away into the shadows, and she heard a sharp punch. "Hey, what the…?! Aaauuughhh!!" He seemed to double over. A mysterious figure then came right in front of Tsukasa, still caught in the other thug's iron grasp. Her savior then peeled the guy's meaty fingers away like shrimp. She could hear his knuckles crack.
"Yaaarrrghhh!!" Tsukasa's captor bellowed, releasing her. His right leg went limp, and immediately she dashed away as fast as her legs would carry her.
"HELLLLLPPP!! PERVERTS!!" she cried at the top of her lungs, tears coursing from her eyes. Upon reaching the safety of the station entrance, her lungs gave out, aching like bruises. Unable to do anything more, she collapsed on her knees and began crying loudly.
"Hey, you left your bag," a nasal male voice said, coming from just above her head. More as a reflex than anything else, the sobbing girl slapped him from cheek to cheek as hard as she could. Realizing what she had done, Tsukasa wiped her eyes dry and looked up to see a boy clad in an unfamiliar school uniform, surrounded by a crowd of stunned commuters and a ticket agent. He had a round, goofy-looking face with wide eyes and intense eyebrows, crowned with a scruffy mop of dark brown hair. His nose was bleeding slightly and his mouth still grimaced from her slap. He then laid the bag beside her.
"I-I'm so sorry," she murmured. "I can't thank you enough."
"That's okay. Who wouldn't be a bit scared of guys after an experience like that?" His question was answered quickly. Tsukasa leapt up and wrapped her arms around him tightly.
"P-please," she sobbed, "Don't leave me alone. Wh-why does the world have to be so cruel sometimes?"
While waiting for a police car to take Tsukasa home, he took her into a nearby tea shop to get something to calm her nerves.
"The name's Kentaro Moribashi. I'm a junior at Kasukabe Academy."
"W-wow. How could your parents afford the tuition?" Tsukasa replied, sipping on a chamomile tea with honey.
"My dad owns a chain of used car dealerships. You know those annoying commercials with the guy with the monkey?"
"Is that your dad?" she giggled.
"Oh thank God, no. But…he owns those dealerships."
"That's neat! Umm…I forgot to tell you my name. I'm Tsukasa Hiiragi. My dad runs the Washinomiya Shrine and my big sisters are mikos there. That's kinda impressive, I guess, but we're not exactly rich."
"Well, it's certainly nothing to be ashamed of. And I know it's a cliché, but neither is not being rich. What matters is what's in your heart; compassion, generosity, manners, courage, heroism…" Tsukasa suddenly realized he was staring right into her eyes as he said those words.
"Uhh…I'm…not exactly courageous. And how am I a hero?" Why did she ask that? He hadn't given any indication that he was talking about her.
"Well, you could've called your parents to come pick you up, but you decided to prove yourself and take the train back alone, even though this is the time when hoods can start creeping out of the woodwork."
"Actually I just forgot to recharge my cell phone last night. But…I guess I could've asked my history teacher to give me a ride. My friends and I are all pretty close with her."
"See what I mean?" Kentaro replied, beaming at her and placing a hand on her shoulder from across the table. Tsukasa didn't notice it at first, but didn't mind. "As for heroism, well, when I first saw what was going on, you were putting up quite a fight there."
"Thanks. My other sister—we're actually twins—taught me some moves for…that kind of situation. I never thought I'd have to use them. She's my twin sister, but…" She glanced to the side. "She's a lot prettier than me."
"Hey," he answered, grabbing Tsukasa's shoulders and turning her to face him. "Really, don't sell yourself short like that. You're…you're…extremely cute."
Tsukasa suddenly felt almost like she had 24 hours previously, while she was wiped out on medicine, nauseous, and running a fever. But this time it was in a good way. Suddenly she was reminded that yes, there were good men out there, in Kasukabe, in Japan, in the world. Again without fully realizing what she was doing, she jumped out of her seat, wrapped her arms around him tightly, and kissed him firmly on the lips.
Kentaro stood up and hugged her back as she laid her head on his shoulder.
I just feel so safe here, Tsukasa thought. I never want to leave this safety.
"Okay, you two, let's break it up now, let's break it up," interrupted the voice of Konata's police officer cousin Yui. Tsukasa blushed fiercely as they both disengaged. "Heh, sorry Tsuka-chan, but after…what happened this afternoon, this is a bit unexpected."
"Yeah, same here," the purple-haired girl replied. "Umm, can I borrow a pen, Yui-san?"
"Sure. Here's a couple pages from my notebook, too." Yui winked as she tore them off.
After exchanging phone numbers, Tsukasa started to follow Yui out of the tea shop. Just then she turned back towards him. "W-would you like to come to my house Friday night? For dinner? I like cooking."
"Sounds great. I'll keep in touch and we can help iron things out." He flashed another smile at her, then added, "Oh, and don't worry about those jerks. They're just some prep-school mama's boys who can't get a date, so they just try to ambush whoever they think looks easiest. One's in the Dungeons and Dragons Club, the other's in the anime club; that's about all you need to know about how tough they are. And that switchblade was plastic."
"Thanks. Well, goodnight." The other shop patrons were all staring, smiling, and chatting amongst themselves about the drama playing out before them, but Tsukasa didn't care.
Before the door could close all the way behind Tsukasa and Yui, the cop gleefully slapped the schoolgirl on the back. "Awright! Atta grrrl!"
A confident smile on his face, Kentaro Moribashi then passed by the smiling and whispering customers and entered the men's room. Inside, he headed for the last toilet stall in the row.
"Hey guys, sorry about that little dust-up back there, but, well, you know I keep my word. …Ohh yeah, she's the one with the twin in ponytails. Yeah, twins… All riiiiight, eh? ….Well don't worry, I got her almost eating out of my hand now. Oh shit, someone's coming!"
Kentaro covered up his cell phone's mouthpiece and remained still as possible as someone entered the bathroom. As soon as the door settled shut again, he picked up the phone once more. "Well, like I was saying, it won't be too long. Later!"
After hanging up, he pulled out a small tape recorder and pressed "Record". "Note to self: get those idiots to get texting capability for their cell phones so I don't run the risk of blurting out something incriminating in front of someone else." He then pressed "Stop" and left the toilet stall. Then something else occurred to him and he reentered, then pressed the "Record" button again. "Second note to self: remember to record notes to self on cell phone voice mail. Who the hell still uses cassettes anymore?"