It All Started with an Act of Kindness
Chapter 3
A Past Best Forgotten
Konata woke up in the futon Kagami was sleeping in. She was confuse as to why she wasn't in the bed. After a minute, she remembered that she went to go get some water and then crawled in with Kagami for comfort from her nightmares. She shivered remembering the visions that haunted her night after night. She saw that Kagami wasn't anywhere in the room but could hear water running through the pipes in the apartment so she figured she was in the shower.
"I guess that I will make some breakfast for us then. I can't leave that to Kagami, after all..." She said to herself as she got up and stretched. She walked into the hall towards the kitchen and felt a sudden chill.
"Onee-chan..."
Konata stopped and her eyes were wide. What did she just hear? She could have sworn that she heard her voice just like in her dreams. Was she losing it?
"Yeah right. Like I am going crazy..." She tried to reassure herself as she continued to the kitched to make some eggs and toast for herself and Kagami as she could hear Kagami shut the water off. Kagami opened the steam filled bathroom and walked out to the smell of scrambled eggs and saw Konata in the kitchen busy at work.
"Good Morning, Konata. I hope you slept well." Kagami said but getting no response from the small girl. She figured she was just absorbed in her cooking and let it slide. She sat at the table and watched the girl focus on making the eggs. She noticed that the girl's eyes seemed to be tired even though she seemed to be sleeping well the night before. Kagami was worried about her so she got up to see if she could help in any way.
"Konata? Can I help with anything?" Kagami asked but still received no answer. She spoke a little louder and got closer to her.
"Konata? Did you hear me?" Still no answer. Konata seemed off in her own world and she started mumbling to herself.
"I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm sorry I couldn't save you..." Konata said to herself. She was completely unaware that Kagami was standing right next to her. The other girl placed a hand on her shoulder and Konata turned and saw the smiling face of a red haired girl looking back at her.
"Onee-chan..."
Konata lost it and just screamed. Kagami jumped back scared at what was going on and wondered what was wrong. Konata was screaming something about she couldn't be here that she was gone. Kagami was confused and tried to calm the girl down.
"Konata, calm down. It's me. What's wrong? Are you alright? Speak to me!" Kagami was saying pleading with the small girl to come back to her. Konata had tears running down her face and she was trembling. She saw Kagami over her and started to calm down a bit. She was still hiccuping and sniffling from the crying and screaming she had been doing but the last few minutes had been a blur. She couldn't recall everything but one fact remained. She saw her face...her smiling face looking back at her.
"Kagami...I'm sorry..." Konata said and hugged the girl. She wanted comfort even if it was just a little. Kagami hugged the girl back and figured she needed to find out what had happened to her now. She didn't want her new friend suffering like this. She wanted to help so she figured she would ask what has been troubling the small girl and how she ended up alone out in the alley where she found her.
"Konata, I know this may be hard...but what happened to you? I have seen you with pure fear in your eyes more than once now and that doesn't happen to people normally. Can you tell me what happened to you? I want to help..." Kagami said looking sad herself. She felt like she was the only one who could help the girl.
"I don't want to remember it...but I will tell you what happened..." Konata said wiping away the tears in her eyes. She pulled away from Kagami and got a serious look on her face and she was fighting the urge to start crying again. She was about to journey back to when it all started...and she wasn't sure she was ready for it.
"It all started three months ago...It was raining..."
Konata was walking home from her favorite comic book store. She had just bought a few new issues of Shuffle! and Haruhi she had yet to read so she was excited but she had to keep them under her shirt to keep them from getting wet. She had not taken an umbrella and it started pouring on her way home. She decided to stop at a friends house until it stopped raining as she was still a good ways from home.
"Patty, you home?" Konata asked as she opened the door. She knew where Patty kept her spare key and just let herself in most of the time. She saw her friend asleep in front of her TV. Konata shook her head. She found the girl like this more often than not. So she sat down after going into patty's room to borrow some of her clothes while her clothes dried. Patty soon woke up to see her friend watching anime next to her.
"Oh, hi, Konata. What's up?" Patty said while rubbing her eyes. She stood up and stretched while Konata looked at her enviously. She patted her chest while looking at Patty's wondering why she wasn't gifted like that.
"Patty you always have to show off don't you?" Konata teased the blonde. The other girl blushed when she realized what she was talking about and went to go put on something other than a t-shirt and boxers that she used to lounge around in. Konata knew she was embarrassed of herself and she liked to mess with her about it. Patty hopped out of her room trying to pull up a pair of jeans and noticed the new manga that Konata had brought.
"Hey is that the new Haruhi? Can I read it?" Patty asked jumping beside Konata. Konata looked at her phone and saw that it was getting late. It had also stopped raining outside so she figured it was time to head home.
"Why don't you come over, Patty? We can play video games and read my new manga." Konata said as she started to gather her things and head for the door. Patty squealed and ran to grab her shoes. She hadn't been to Konata's house in forever and she just loved hanging out with the girl and her family. The locked up the apartment and headed out the door.
The two girls talked and laughed all the way to Konata's house and were excited about their soon to come vegging over video games and manga. Konata put her key in the lock of her front door to find that it was already unlocked.
"Huh? That is weird. My dad never leaves this unlocked. Oh well, he probably forgot to lock it after I left. I swear, that man is going to be the death of me." Konata said sighing. She loved her dad but he was a bit scatter brained at times. Although, she couldn't say much because she inherited it as well.
"Dad, Yutaka, I'm home. Patty is here too!" Konata shouted but there was no response. Konata shrugged and figured that they must have went to the store or something so her and Patty started running up the stairs to Konata's room. They stopped at Konata's door and were about to open it when they were both grabbed from behind and dragged into Yutaka's room.
"What the? What is going on here?" Konata screamed as she saw her dad and Yutaka tied up in the middle of the room. Standing near them were men in black ski masks and sunglasses. Konata was lined up against the wall while one of the men made a motion to the one holding Patty. She was then dragged downstairs and Konata heard the front door close.
"Hey! Where are you taking her!?" Konata shouted only to be greeted with a slap on the face. Konata hit the ground hard and looked up holding her reddening cheek.
"Shut up and sit there, Brat. We have some business to take care of." The man who slapped her said. He circled around her family and snickered. He seemed to be enjoying this. Konata was scared. She didn't know what was going to happen to them, but she had to do something.
"Yu...Dad..." Konata whispered to herself. Her eyes widened as one of the men brandished a gleaming butterfly knife and put it to her dad's throat. He laughed as he berated him.
"You like this you bastard? Is this what you were expecting when you double-crossed me? I'm going to enjoy this...and I am going to enjoy making your little girl watch!" The man said as he inched the knife closer. Konata threw herself at the man but was only able to move him a few inches due to her small size. She had succeeded in making him cut himself, however.
"You little...That's it. Light it up and let's go." The man said to his cohorts. One of them went into another room and came back with a container of liquid and doused the room in it. Konata was being dragged away by the other man, but could smell the scent of gasoline. She thrashed about but was not strong enough to break free of the man's grip. She heard a match strike and everything seemed to go silent as she heard the uproar of flames coming from the room she was just dragged from.
"Alright guys, it's done. Let's go." The man said as they got out of the house. Another one of them looked to him and then looked at Konata.
"What about her? Should we ice her too? What about the other girl?" He asked. The man shook his head.
"No, I think it will be better if we let her go. That way, she will always be haunted by this, heheh. As for the blonde, we will take her somewhere to be disposed of. We don't need any more people alive than this girl." The man sneered. The other's looked at him and just thought how sadistic this man truly was. They threw Konata aside and got into a van near the house and drove off. Konata ran back into the house and ran upstairs coughing through the smoke. The room where her dad and Yutaka were had a wall of flames covering the door. Konata's vision was becoming blurry and she felt her head getting dizzy but she fought it and went into her room where she had a fire extinguisher. She sprayed at the fire. She sprayed and sprayed until the extinguisher was out and so was the fire...but the sight she saw horrified her.
"Dad...Yutaka...The joke's over now right? You are both going to come from behind me and yell GOTCHA! Or something, right? Dad? Yutaka?" She said through tears. She lay down on the floor and cried and cried until she was dried up. She stood up and just wandered out into the world like a robot. No emotion, no sounds other than her small footsteps. Just a girl who had lost everything and she couldn't do anything about it. She was helpless...
"Dad...Yutaka...I'm sorry..." Was all she could say as she cried herself to sleep in a small, dark alley. A lonely girl who had nothing left. A sad girl who couldn't protect the ones she loved.
"Konata..." Kagami said as she saw the girl fighting tears again. That was the most horrible thing she had ever heard. Kagami now knew that Konata needed her. She needed someone to confide in. She needed a friend...no...She needed family.
"Kagami...I...couldn't save them. I tried, but I couldn't do anything...It's all my fault...my fault." Konata said burying her head in Kagami's shoulder. Kagami saw how hurt she was, how vulnerable. Kagami made a silent vow that she would get that happy girl back.
"Konata, you are strong. I know that your dad and Yutaka don't think that it is your fault. They are watching over you right now and they want you to be happy. You need to remember them as they were. You need to remember the times you had as a family. I know it is hard, but they wouldn't want to see you like this...I don't want to see you like this." Kagami said trying to bring comfort to the girl. Her heart skipped a beat when Konata looked up at her with those green eyes of hers. They were asking for help, for a friend...for love. She hugged Konata tight and tried to give as much assurance as she could.
"Kagami...I don't know...I can't sleep at night. I hear their voices. I see them. I think I am going crazy." Konata said as she looked down. Kagami couldn't even begin to understand how the girl felt, but she could understand how one bad thing could destroy a life.
"Konata, I'm here. I'll take care of you. There is nothing to be scared about. I promise I'll never let you go." Kagami said blushing slightly. She had to admit, maybe she had watched one too many romance movies, but she didn't care. If it made Konata feel better than she was going to say cliché line after cliché line.
"Promise? I can stay, then?" Konata asked quietly. Kagami laughed and pulled Konata in for another hug.
"Of course, silly. You can stay forever if you want to." Kagami said and pulled the girl away from the hug. They looked at eachother for a few moments smiling. Konata surprised the girl with a sudden kiss which, after a few seconds, Kagami returned. Konata buried her head into Kagami's shoulder again before starting to drift off to sleep.
"Stay with me, Kagami..." Was all the little bluenette whispered as she fell asleep. This would be the first time she would be able to sleep without nightmares in a long time.
END
Hey guys, been busy so once again sorry for the slow update. Going to be working on the next chapter as soon as I can. Hope you guys are enjoying it so far. Let me know what you think. R&R
-Phantasmflash
