Chapter 5 – The President's Secret Past
Kagami's POV
*LATER…*
"Seriously! Is there ever an off switch with your perverted comments?!" I yelled at Kirin once we were far enough away from the Principal's office.
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…
…
But for some reason, she didn't answer.
"Kirin…"
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just…n-never mind."
*INSERT CLASSIC JAPANESE SCHOOL BELL CHIME HERE*
"Let's just get back to class now. We got Student Council work after school today, right?"
"Y…Yeah…"
"Alright, then. See you then." Kirin then walked away from me with not much else said. She didn't even say her perverted catchphrase at the end. It was just…quite and normal.
What's up with her?
The rest of the day was just as weird as before. As the teacher went on with the lesson, Kirin didn't say anything. Not one perverted comment came out of that mouth of hers. She was basically mute the whole time. Looking out the window with an awfully sad look on her face.
Is she really okay?
*BZZZT*
I then felt my phone vibrating and took it out to see that I had gotten a message from Misao.
"Hey, Kagami. Something wrong with Miyagi? She looks depressed."
So, I'm not the only one who's noticed…kinda shocking since we've only met her just yesterday.
"I'm not really sure. She started acting like that after we left the Principal's office. It's really weird…"
*BZZZT*
"Well, what happened in there? You both went to talk about the Sex Ed class, right?" Now it was a text from Ayano.
"We did…but as that conversation continued, at some point the recent attacks were brought up. And I had to explain to Kirin what was going on. After that…"
*BZZZT*
"You think she's really bothered by that?"
*BZZZT*
"I didn't think Miyagi was the type of person to be bothered by anything. Despite us only knowing her yesterday." From Misao.
"It's definitely not like her…we start Student Council work today. I'll ask her then."
*BZZZT*
"Understood." From Ayano.
*BZZZT*
"Good luck, Kagami." From Misao.
"Like Latin and Cyrillic, Greek originally had only a single form of each letter; it developed the letter case distinction between uppercase and lowercase in parallel with Latin during the modern era…"
Geez…didn't even notice that we were using our phones the whole time. Teachers really are dense…
The second day of school had ended and now it was the first day of the Ryōō High School Student Council.
…
And it was still depressingly tense as before. Already an hour into it and Kirin's depressed mood was starting to get to me. For her to not make a sex joke for this long period of time was unnerving as all hell. Which I don't get at all since it's only been a full day since I met her.
Did it really take only one day for me to see that quirk of hers to be normal? Just how accepting am I when it comes to perverts?
"Hey, Kagami. Where do these papers go again?" Kirin asked me.
"Um…in that bin over there."
"Thanks."
…
…
…
"H-Hey, Kirin. Are you feeling okay?"
"Okay? What do you mean?"
"Well, you haven't made a sex joke since we left the Principal's office. Everyone's starting to get concerned."
"Is that really abnormal of me? To not make a sex joke every 5 seconds? Is that really a part of my character, Kagami?"
"Yes. Yes, it is." I said nonchalantly.
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…
"*sigh* Okay, fine. You got me." Kirin said as she sat on the table. With me joining her soon after.
"This is just a guess, but…did what we talked about before in the Principal's office bother you? About the attacks that's been going on?"
"So, you caught onto that, huh? Guess having you as Vice-President really is a good thing."
"So, it is that. But why, though? It's only happening here on the mainland and you were in Okinawa until now."
"Well…" Kirin went silent for a bit. "…I-I can't really tell you. It's a secret."
"You can't tell me? You sure it isn't "you won't tell me"?"
"Geez, how much of an investigator are you? Prying into my life so freaking easily."
"Well, that's a part of MY character. I don't back down until I get the answers I want. No matter what the case is."
"That's how you lose friends, you know…" Kirin gained a sweatdrop.
"Sh-Shut up and tell me what the hell's wrong with you!"
"Fine!" Kirin yelled back before going silent once again. It wasn't until she took a huge deep breath that she continued talking.
And it wasn't at all what I was expecting.
"You see…the reason why hearing of the attacks here bothered me so much is because…well…i-it's because it reminded me of my own ordeal. Similar to the ones people have been having here."
Now, to be honest…I didn't get it at first. But once I started putting the pieces together…what I realized was both shocking and sickening to hear.
"N-No way…K-Kirin, were you…"
"Yep. On the nose…I was raped."
H-Holy crap…this was definitely NOT what I was expecting to hear! Kirin?! A victim of rape?! Never did I think I would ever meet someone who's experienced every girl's worst nightmare! How is she still holding up after such an ordeal?!
"And you've gone and said it, didn't you?"
"K-Kuroi-sensei…" I said as we spotted our teacher at the door.
"Sorry, Kuroin. It's just…hearing about the attacks happening here made me replay that night from hell all day today. I just couldn't stop…*sniff* remembering such torment." Kirin then started tearing up a little as she lowered her head in pure sadness.
"*sigh* Kirin…"
"Sensei…is it true?" I asked. "Was Kirin…"
"Yeah…she was. And the whole thing…even before it happened…was pretty messed up."
"Messed-up? How?"
"Well, you see…"
"Kuroin, stop." Kirin spoke. "L-Let me tell it."
"You sure you want to do it? It'll only bring back the memories."
"Yeah…I'm sure. Just…let me tell it."
"*sigh* I really shouldn't…but go ahead."
"*sniff* Th-Thanks…Kuroin." Kirin then took some time before raising her head back up and taking a deep long breath. Fully prepared to tell me about her life before Ryōō.
And how messed-up it truly was.
"Well…you see it was like this…"
Kirin's POV
Back at my old school in Okinawa, I was the Student Council Vice-President. Working my way to become the President and succeed from my senpai. A person who, like most juniors, admired very much.
Mostly because…
"Hey, Prez! Where do you want me to shove all this white stuff at?! Deep inside one of them holes or something?!"
"M-Miyagi-san!"
…She was able to put up with my innuendos back then just as much as Kagami does now. The two are very similar, now that I think about it.
…
A-Anyway…she was always there for people if they had any problems at home or school. Including myself. But I didn't really rely on her when it came to that stuff. Or anyone, really.
Truth is…I was alone for most of my school life. All throughout middle school and most of high school at this point. Secretly secluding myself from my classmates just to hide the fact that I was dealing with some mental scars of my childhood.
Little did I know that was going to get one more added to that rather long list that day. And it may be the worst one yet.
"*sigh* Geez, Miyagi-san…with you succeeding me as President, I'm highly worried of if this school will survive."
"Oh relax, Prez. I can totally handle it. I've got my special charm and personality to help me out."
"That's what I'm worried about…" The president gained a sweatdrop.
"Anyway…I can't stay here for long. I got myself a date to go to. *giggle*"
"You? A date? What kind of guy would ask you on a date knowing your personality?"
"It's my personality that attracted him over, Prez. He told me that he admired my carefree attitude and explicit vocabulary. Plus, he said I was hot. That kinda flipped my switch in more than one place, if you get what I mean."
"I do…and I wish I didn't."
"Point is, I'm really excited for it. So much so that I haven't stopped thinking about it all day."
"Yeah…you have been more hyperactive than usual today. Just be careful, Miyagi-san. You never know what could happen on these dates nowadays."
"Y-You're…You're worried about me, Prez?" I asked as I looked at her with complete shock.
"W-Well…I-I gotta care about the safety of all students here, don't I? A-And I'm only caring about yours a bit more because you'll be succeeding me next year. D-Don't get the wrong idea, alright?"
"Gee…nice tsundere impression, Prez. You plan on getting your penis flytrap a good meal in college with that or something? *giggle*"
"N-No! Sh-Shut up! J-Just get out of here already!"
"*giggle* Okay-Vajay, Prez. See ya tomorrow." I said as I walked out of the Student Council room in higher spirits than normal.
And so, later that day…I met up with the boy who had asked me out over on Kokusai Street. I was really excited for it. Nobody had ever asked me out before. Mainly due to the fact I kept pushing people away from me. But…this was the first time…someone was actually this persistent to go out with me. For once, I felt…a bit of happiness inside of my own heart.
Sucks that it didn't last long, though…
Kagami's POV
"Once I met up with the boy, I felt like it was going to be a great night. But it ended up being an eternal nightmare…because it turns out that boy and his friends had planned to rape a girl for weeks in advance. And had picked me out because they believed I would suffer the most. And bring them the most amusement."
"N-No way…" I said in pure shock.
"It was pure hell. The pain and torture I experienced all over my body…I *sniff*…I truly thought I was going to die. With the amount of injuries they gave me while repeatedly raping me for 3 hours straight."
"Th-Three hours?! It's lasted THAT long?!"
"And what's worse is that they left her for dead when they were done." Kuroi-sensei said. "When she was eventually found, her injuries were near-fatal. Battered bruises, broken bones, cuts leaking out blood…it was amazing that she didn't die from all of that."
"I also managed to avoid getting pregnant. Despite the multiple times they released inside me." Kirin added as she continued to softly cry.
"W-Wow…" I went dead silent for a bit. "…S-So…is that the reason why she's here with you, Sensei? What about her family?"
"Well…to be honest, Kirin doesn't have a family."
"H-Huh?"
"Shortly after she was born, her parents were murdered by a street gang robbing them for money. They were shot point-blank in the head…and thankfully left Kirin to live."
"Y-You're kidding…"
"Both of her parents had no siblings. And with both of their parents either already dead or close to death due to old age, she was placed into adoption. Where she stayed for…most of her life, really."
"Most of her life? Why did it take so long for her to be adopted?"
"Well, it's because…"
"It's because people saw me as a freak." Kirin said.
"Kirin…"
"What? You know it's true, Kuroin. People didn't want to adopt an ugly-as-hell child like me. They only wanted normal-looking children and I was nowhere near that. It's the freaking truth."
"W-Wait, what? What do you mean by "normal-looking?" I asked.
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"*sigh* It's basically…this." Kirin said after a moment's silence. She then turned to face me and moved aside the part of her hair that covered up most of the right side of her face.
And what I saw was rather…shocking.
"K-K-Kirin…y-you don't have a right eye?!"
"It's a birth defect. My right never formed when I was in my mother's womb. And when I was born, the doctors said that it was impossible to insert even a plastic eye in there. Because the skin was closed up tight…it would only bring pain."
"I-I see…"
"And so…that's where I stayed for a good portion of my life. Until I met Kuroin by a sheer stroke of luck."
"Luck?"
"I often go with an old friend of my to volunteer at random places all around the country." Kuroi-sensei said. "One time, we went to Okinawa and stopped by the facility Kirin was being held at. She was the oldest one there…so it was pretty hard to ignore her. We ended up talking a lot. Mostly about her past, but…there were some happy moments there. We talked for hours every day that I was there. Feeling a bond with each other that felt stronger than with anyone else we both knew. And when it was time for me to leave…I adopted her. And brought her to Kasukabe with me. Which was a couple of weeks ago, to be completely honest."
"I see…so, that explains it all."
"Yeah. That's everything." Kirin said. "So, are you done prying into my life now? Because if so, I'm going home. I'm not in the mood to be doing this crap." She then got up from the table and started heading towards the door. Walking past Kuroi-sensei in the process.
But before she fully left, she turned to face me and said one last thing.
"And Kagami…forget you ever heard any of this. I rather play this off like this conversation never happened. Much like my life as a whole."
She then left the room. With nothing left to say and not a single amount of perverted happiness she became known for rather quickly. She was just a sad depressed girl…pushing me away as she did to everyone else in her life.
…
Well…almost everyone.
"You gonna be okay, Hiiragi?" Kuroi-sensei asked.
"Y-Yeah. I-I'll be fine. I'm just…gonna head home now."
"Okay, then. Have a good day." Kuroi-sensei then made her way out of the Student Council room. but before she left…
"S…Sensei. Will Kirin…be alright?"
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"*sigh* Honestly…it's hard to say. Kirin's past is something that traumatizes her each and every day. The birth defect, her parents being murdered, the rape…all of that combined with her only knowing what loneliness is like. It's no wonder she hates being alive."
Sh-She hates…b-being alive?
"S-Sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I'm gonna take her home now."
"R…R-Right."
That was the last thing said in this room. Now, it was just me…sitting in this empty room thinking to myself of what I just heard. The truth of someone who I only just met yesterday.
And how her lifelong suffering aches my damn heart.
How can the world be so cruel to just one person? It…It truly makes no sense.
Author's Note: Kagami learns of Kirin's dark past. And it leaves her near speechless about it all. One person having that many bad things happen to her…is Kirin really to suffer the mental torment forever?
This is a new direction I'm taking for this story. Hopefully, it will bring out more confidence for it than before. I really don't want to quit on yet another story.
Thanks for reading. Later.
