CHAPTER 4
THE MELTDOWN
"Are you absolutely sure this is what you want to do, Tsukasa?" The concerned Miki Hiiragi asked as she held her daughter's shoulders. She gazed at her daughter in her school uniform, the first time she had seen Tsukasa in it before the New Years break began. Tsukasa was extremely adamant about going back to school despite the fact that her school had given her a lengthy vacation to recover.
Tsukasa nodded as she held her schoolbag. "I'm sure, mom. I just want to go back and see everyone again."
Miki understood and kissed her daughter's forehead, which obstructed her vision of her daughter's face. She didn't see the frown form across Tsukasa's face as she stood like a statue and just accepted it like before. Though with each kiss and hug from her family members, all she could feel and see were those men. Those men as they abused her body and treated her like a doll. With each passing day and with each show of affection, she could feel her temper rising a little bit more.
Miki pulled away just in time for Tsukasa to wipe away her angry expression. Kagami's voice suddenly announced, "Tsukasa, come on we need to get going!"
Tsukasa slowly turned and walked towards her sister when her mother said, "I love you, dear."
Tsukasa didn't stop. She just kept walking and quickly muttered, "Yeah I know."
Miki felt confused and a little hurt by the cold return of affection. She tried to say something else as Tsukasa kept walking but as soon as she closed the sliding door, Miki sighed with depression. Feeling defeated, she slowly retreated to her kitchen, where her middle child Matsuri placed a mug of warm tea in front of her.
"Thank you, dear." She replied and took a sip.
"I saw everything," Matsuri said. "I'm starting to get a little pissed at her attitude."
"Matsuri you don't understand. Something so horrible has happened to your sister that it literally makes me sick to my stomach when I think about it." Miki sharply replied in defense of Tsukasa. "You and I can't even begin to understand what's going through Tsukasa's mind right now and that's one of the things that's killing me the most. I just want her to open up to me and tell me about it."
Matsuri folded her arms. "Yeah I guess, but if Tsukasa ever did decide to open up, would you really want to know what happened in the shrine that night? We saw her when Kagami pulled her out of there and she was bleeding everywhere."
Miki shuddered through another sip of her warm tea. "I know. Since she won't open to me, I wish she would at least open to the police psychologist she's been meeting with ever since that night."
Matsuri's ears perked up and she leaned in closer. "Yeah, tell me about that. I've been trying to keep out of it as much as possible but—"
"When she was in those sessions, the doctor could barely pry more than two sentences out of Tsukasa. The only thing Tsukasa would say were things like 'it hurt so much,' and they don't understand how I feel now.'" Miki replied and felt her eyes become heavy with tears again. "She was just trying to help that young man out…and this is how he repaid her."
Matsuri shook her head. "He wasn't repaying her. He had her pegged as a target the moment he saw her."
Miki looked at her daughter. "What are you saying?"
Matsuri nodded. "I know punks like that in the real world. They're the losers of the world and can't get any girl to notice them, so they resort to that shit. One of my girlfriends from college has a cousin who was also raped by someone like him and she was never the same."
Hearing her daughter's words, Miki began to wonder if Tsukasa was doomed to suffer the same fate. She questioned if the family would ever be graced by the youngest daughter's innocent charm again or if she would ever bounce back from the rape. As of now, Tsukasa seemed to be a blank slate with no personality to her. Miki and Tadao tried to keep convincing themselves that Tsukasa was still mentally recovering and would one day wake up and rejoin the world like nothing ever happened. Their logic, in their minds, would only work if they continued to shower love and attention onto the youngest daughter.
"Inori also told me something the other day that kind of freaked me and Kagami out," Matsuri added. "Did you notice that Tsukasa wasn't wearing her yellow ribbon again today?"
Miki nodded. "I did but didn't say anything. You think she just forgot?"
"Kagami told me yesterday that she found the ribbon in the upstairs bathroom trashcan." Matsuri stated, making Miki's eyebrows raise. "Inori also said that Tsukasa asked her if she was a baby."
Miki looked down at her steaming tea and tried to put the two together. "I don't get it. What do you think she meant?"
Matsuri shrugged as her only response but soon reengaged her mother in the ongoing discussion consuming the whole household as Kagami and Tsukasa rode their train to school.
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Why won't she say anything? Kagami kept asking this question in her head over and over again as the twins waited for their train to arrive. The oldest twin had just asked another question about how Tsukasa was feeling and once again, was met with silence from the youngest twin. Kagami tried to stick closer to Tsukasa than usual as the morning rush at the train station picked up and it became more populated around their personal space. Whether they were alone together or trapped in a crowd together, Kagami still felt uncomfortable with this new personality of Tsukasa's.
It was when a pair of hands quickly covered Kagami's eyes from behind and a voice called "guess who" that made the twin-tailed haired girl happy.
"Good morning, Konata!" Kagami exclaimed with excitement and turned around to see the short blue-haired girl. "Look who's finally coming back to join our group!"
Konata quickly pulled the silent Tsukasa into a deep hug and whispered, "Welcome back."
"Th…thanks." Tsukasa muttered back and waited for Konata to break the strangling embrace.
Konata then tried to do her part in making Tsukasa feel better. "You're lucky you got to take such a long vacation, Tsukasa. If I could take a vacation from school like that I would pitch a tent outside of Gamers and turn it into a serious vacation!"
"Seriously? You would waste time doing that?" Kagami snapped. "You'll never change, will you Konata? You need to take things more seriously!"
Konata formed her trademark cat-like grin. "I bet if you had a vacation like that you would pitch a tent outside a candy store, Kagamin!"
"Shut up you!" Kagami shouted back with a pulsing red vein across her head now.
"It's the New Year after all so how many rice cakes did you add to your waistline this time?!" Konata added with a laugh as Kagami formed a fist and was ready to clobber the blue-haired otaku, just like how their teacher would.
It was as if nothing had happened. Tsukasa was caught in the middle of her sister's and friend's shenanigans again like it was every other day and an intuition was telling her that she should be happy, even give a slight giggle at times. Yet every time she tried to open her mouth or her heart, nothing came out. Even when Konata asked if Tsukasa liked the gifts she got her, all Tsukasa did was grin slightly and nod once.
Their train pulled up and allowed the three girls to board along with the tens of other people surrounding them. Allowing Konata to take the reins, Kagami backed away and let her otaku friend continue to engage the youngest twin in conversations. Konata, seemingly oblivious to Tsukasa's disinterest, continued to talk to short-haired twin about things that interested her such as cooking. She told Tsukasa about several new recipes she came across during the twin's absence and Konata was excited about cooking with her again. She even mentioned another sleepover with Kagami at her house again like old times.
Tsukasa hoped that she would blend in with the crowd at school but it was a futile attempt. Forgetting to take into consideration the nature of the crime forced on her, Tsukasa also forgot that as a result, the story was in a lot of the regional newspapers. It wasn't every day that a young shrine maiden is gang-raped inside a shrine on New Years. Tsukasa kept her head low and stuck close to Kagami and Konata as they walked the hallways and the youngest twin could feel her fellow students staring at her. Their eyes burned against her, making her paranoid and slowly but surely, making her blood boil.
When they reached homeroom, it only got worse when Tsukasa walked into the room. The eyes of her classmates were glued to her every movement as if she was some sort of celebrity, but Tsukasa was more than willing to relinquish that kind of attention at the drop of a hat. She quietly sat in her seat and in front of her good friend, Miyuki Takara. The pink-haired girl placed her soft hands on Tsukasa's tightened shoulders and gave her a light massage, making her relax.
"You really need to try and relax, Tsukasa-san." Miyuki whispered. "We don't want any pressure on you today. If you need help with notes or homework, please ask me. I'd be more than willing to help you."
Tsukasa nodded again as Miss Kuroi entered the room and to the short-haired twin's relief, it took all the attention off her. Kuroi knew about Tsukasa's return and commenced the class immediately. She knew students at their age and knew that rumors and lies spread like wildfire in the hallways and during lunchtime with their generation. The teacher had to do her part to keep all the focus on her as she started the class.
Across the hall in Kagami's class, the twin-tailed girl began taking notes as she listened to the teacher's speech. She suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder and glanced over to see a folded piece of paper being pushed closer to her and it was her friend Misao who was holding it. Reluctantly, Kagami took it and opened the note.
Is your sister okay, Hiiragi?
Kagami wrote back on the same piece of paper, She's fine. Class has started.
Thinking she had heard the last of her dim-bulb friend, Kagami resumed taking notes but stopped again when Misao tapped her shoulder again with another note. Kagami tried her best to ignore it but Misao was clearly not going to let it go so the older twin had no choice but to take it and open it again.
That's good but did you hear the rumor about her?
Kagami's eyes suddenly narrowed as her attention was now on the paper. She quickly jotted down What rumor? and handed the note back to Misao, careful to not let the teacher catch them.
The first thing Kagami noticed was how long Misao was taking in responding. Kagami knew that her friend wasn't paying attention to the teacher or taking notes for class but for some reason, she was writing a very lengthy response. The longer it took, the more Kagami's anticipation grew. She was hoping that Misao knew something about Tsukasa that she didn't as it was nearly impossible for her to get her younger twin to open up. Maybe Misao found something out and Kagami's readiness grew when she felt the note tap her shoulder again.
There's a rumor going around the school and the streets that Tsukasa was paid by those creeps to act out a rape fantasy for them. I've been hearing about it non-stop ever since it happened and it won't let up. They're also saying that Tsukasa lied to the police to get them arrested so she can get a cash settlement or something. I also heard that Tamura-san is making her own dojin story about Tsukasa's rape and is planning on selling it at the next Comiket. She's already advertising it around Otome Road.
Reading the last part nearly made Kagami shoot up from her seat and create a scene. Some of her classmates noticed the sudden movement but lost interest when they saw nothing was happening afterward and they resumed listening. Everything that Misao said about Tsukasa was a lie. Her sister was brutally raped against her will and now one of their "friends" was planning on capitalizing on it at the next Comiket. Kagami felt her sister instincts burn and now wanted to confront Hiyori Tamura about this. Kagami, with gripping anger in her movements, wrote her final statement to Misao and handed it back to her. Her grip on the paper was so tight that her fingernails punctured the paper and left crumbling marks across it.
If you run into Tamura first, tell her she's a dead bitch walking.
Misao quickly shied away from her twin-tailed friend. She was becoming more scary than usual, which was speaking volumes about her. A sudden change in the air was felt and it was the calm before a storm. A storm was coming and Misao could feel her knees knocking in preparation for it and whenever it would arrive, she didn't want to be anywhere within striking distance of it.
For the first year students, the only thing the rape of a senior meant was more safety lectures from their students and to always stay in groups when going to and from school. In the class of Minami Iwasaki and Yutaka Kobayakawa, they listened to their teacher finish his lecture on "no means no," the latest in the anti-rape campaign by the school. By the time his speech was over, the bell rang and it was time for lunch.
Minami and Yutaka pushed their desks together and Hiyori Tamura joined them as they began eating. Yutaka first opened with, "I heard Tsukasa is back today."
Minami slowly nodded. "I saw her earlier this morning with her sister and your cousin."
Hiyori's heart was beating in her chest as she was beginning to have second thoughts about the contents in one of her sketchbooks in her bag. What seemed like a good idea at the time was now beginning to weigh heavily on her heart and soul as she questioned the moral character behind it. She had a great idea for a story in a dojin, but at what cost to her friends? If Kagami found out, there was no predicting what she would do. She was a notorious hothead but whether she was capable of something violent was anybody's guess.
"Tamura-san?" Yutaka's innocent, bell-like voice asked, snapping Hiyori out of her trance.
"Uh, what was that?" She asked with embarrassment.
"I asked what you thought about this. Do you think Tsukasa will be okay?" Yutaka asked again.
Hiyori nodded this time. "Of course. Tsukasa can pull herself out of anything. I just wonder how this incident is going to weigh on how our school sees dating now. I heard they're really paranoid about this. My brother's school was always strict about such things like dating and every day after school they were borderline forced to go straight home."
"Well it's not like you hear about this kind of crime often." Yutaka replied. "We live in a pretty calm area and when that happened to Tsukasa, it shook everyone up."
"I know," Hiyori agreed.
"My big sister said that even she's been noticing a rise in crime lately and not just in the traffic area." Yutaka brought in Yui's experience as a policewoman to the table. "It's really scary if you stop and think about it."
Feeling depressed by the subject, Minami showed a rare demonstration of assertion and interjected. "By the way, Tamura-san, were we still going out to lunch this weekend?"
Hiyori nodded happily. "I wouldn't miss it for the world. I enjoy hanging out with you guys and—"
She stopped when she felt her cell phone vibrate inside her skirt pocket, prompting her to reach inside and pull it out. It was a text message and to her surprise, it was from Misao Kusakabe, who hardly ever texted her. When she read the message, her heart leaped into her throat.
Hiiragi knows about the dojin. She's coming now. Run!
As if her survival instincts took hold, Hiyori suddenly began to pack all her things in an attempt to flee the classroom before Kagami arrived. Yutaka and Minami were confused by Hiyori's sudden jolt of life as she struggled to pack her lunch away and get a move on. They tried asking her what the problem was but she ignored them and continued to pack ferociously until the sound of a wooden sliding door being ripped open from behind shattered the classroom harmony.
"You!" Kagami's voice erupted through the classroom and Hiyori could barely turn around in time as the oldest Hiiragi twin ran towards her and collided with the girl in a violent force, knocking the both of them over and taking a few desks with them, including the two holding Yutaka's and Minami's lunches as the two backed away in horror at what was happening.
Pinning Hiyori to the ground, Kagami threw smack and slap at the female otaku one right after another while yelling and cussing her name. The class was thrown into an uproar and everyone cleared a space while a boy yelled FIGHT into the hallway, attracting more spectators as the brawl continued.
"Why'd you do it?!" Kagami yelled as she slapped Hiyori on the face again, knocking her glasses off. "Why would you do such a horrible thing you bitch?!"
Hiyori was so taken by surprise the only thing she could think to do was cover up as more and more waves of brute force struck her head and face. She cried for help but the class was just as horrified by the ambush as she was and didn't know what to do. They all knew this has something to do with Tsukasa and for all they knew, Hiyori was getting what she deserved. Hiyori reached up and was easily able to find a handful of Kagami's hair, making her pull with all her might and suddenly change the tide of battle as Kagami fell to the side. Instead of fighting back, Hiyori still tried to block Kagami's blows as a teacher finally plowed his way into the room and yanked the two girls apart.
"I thought you were our friend, Tamura!" Kagami called again as she saw the red across Hiyori's face courtesy of her blows. "Stay away from my sister you pervert! Stay away!"
Yutaka's fragile psyche couldn't take the drama and she began to cry, triggering Minami to pull the frail girl close as she sobbed at the violent scene. It was so scary for the young girl and she suddenly began to feel sick. More teachers poured into the room to assist while one harshly pulled Kagami by the arm and dragged her towards the principal's office while another took Hiyori out into the hall to find out what happened. The fight had started and ended so quickly that it caught everyone by surprise that Kagami, a distinguished senior, stomped all the way down to the first year hall to get into a brawl with Hiyori Tamura. One thing didn't occur to Kagami, however, as she thought she did her sister a service. News of the fight was sure to spread like a disease and only make Tsukasa feel more smothered at home and now, more isolated in school. Things were getting tougher for the short-haired twin and it was only her first day back.
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Back at the Hiiragi residence, Inori was relaxing after doing some chores around the shrine. It had snowed earlier in the week so she had just finished sweeping the light dusting of white off the walkways of the shrine and returned back to her home. Her senses were instantly met with the sweet aroma of a baking cake from the kitchen and she navigated to the room and found her mother watching the oven.
"Something smells yummy," Inori said.
Miki turned and smiled to her oldest daughter. "It's for Tsukasa but there's plenty of batter left in the bowl over there."
Inori took a spoon from a drawer and began to devour the scrumptious batter. "It's really good, mom."
"Good," Miki replied with a wink.
Inori looked around again and noticed her other sister wasn't anywhere to be found. Even though Matsuri wasn't a fan of cooking, she was still never too far from the kitchen whenever Miki was cooking. "Where's Matsuri?"
"She left a little bit ago. She's meeting some of her friends today and then she's meeting with her advisor at school to discuss her last two semesters before her graduation." Miki explained and watched the timer tick down on the oven.
The phone suddenly rang, prompting Miki to say, "Could you get that dear?"
Inori complied and answered the phone with the family's standard opening, "Hiiragi residence." After hearing the voice on the other side, Inori quickly turned to her mother and relayed, "It's for you mom, its Kagami and Tsukasa's school."
Hearing this prompted Miki to panic slightly and she rushed over and snagged the phone from her daughter's grasp. "Um…hello, this is Miki Hiiragi."
Inori took it upon herself to grab the cake from the oven when the buzzer sounded while her mother was still on the phone. Using protective gloves, Inori reached into the oven and pulled the cake pan out and placed it aside as she tried to predict what was happening on the other end of that phone. She knew whatever it was, it couldn't be good as it was Tsukasa's first day and she instantly thought it was about the baby of the family having a breakdown in the class and unable to complete the day.
"Thank you…I'm on my way." Miki said and slowly hung up the phone but couldn't turn to Inori. "Kagami was in a fight. I have to go to the school and get them both so you're in charge until I get back."
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"You're lucky your little friend isn't pressing charges against you!" Tadao screamed at the twin-tailed girl later that night as she sat on the living room couch and he stood above her. "I know what your friend did was wrong and terrible by making that manga about what happened but what have I always taught you?! You never resort to violence! Ever! Violence is beneath the dignity of this family and you've insulted me, your mother, your sisters, and ancestors by pulling this! Besides, the school says Tamura-chan has already agreed to destroy that story she drew. Needless to say, the school has suspended you for a week so you're grounded for a month, Kagami!"
Kagami sat and took it all with, what felt more like a bucket of salt instead of a grain. She could never remember a time when her father was this angry at all, let alone at her as she tuned out her father's words. Miki, Inori, and Matsuri sat in the kitchen, cringing at the sound of Tadao's every loud word. They too were intimidated by the man's harsh words to his daughter and they were more surprised by the sudden disappearance of his usual calm attitude. Tsukasa however sat alone in her room's darkness with a single desk lamp casting the only light onto her as she wrote in her private diary. As Tsukasa sat, she was able to hear every word her father yelled at her big sister. She could even feel the walls vibrate with his anger but she wasn't intimidated by her father's sudden split personality. Her inert facial expression was stern and focused as she wrote another disturbing entry and as she completed it, she heard a knock on her door.
Hearing it prompted her to suddenly slam the diary shut and hide it in a drawer before asking, "Who is it?"
"It's Matsuri. We're having dinner now if you're hungry." Her older sister said and walked away.
Tsukasa breathed a sigh of relief that her secret book was safe as she stood and came down the stairs to join her family in the awkward setting. Everyone was sitting at their usual spots at the dinner table, only everyone was afraid to break the uncomfortable silence after hearing Tadao scream at Kagami. Even the light winter wind blowing outside had more emotion in it than the entire Hiiragi family.
"Um…Tsukasa, I made sukiyaki, your favorite." Miki said as she brought the large bowl with the sizzling food over.
Tsukasa stared at the plate with her adopted deadpan face, which would usually light up like a fireworks show after learning she would be eating sukiyaki for dinner. Before Tsukasa could respond, Miki added in a desperate voice, "We're all here for you, Tsukasa."
Tsukasa opened her mouth and lightly said, "You didn't have to do all this."
"Oh it's no problem," Miki quickly replied with forced emotions in her voice. "We love you, Tsukasa. We really do."
Tsukasa knew what was happening. Miki felt guilty about sending her to school today because she believed that if she kept her home again, Kagami never would've gotten into the fight with Hiyori and her situation at school wouldn't have worsened. Her theory was confirmed as soon as Inori and Matsuri began to pile on the beef onto her plate, which they usually had to fight for. Her dinner plate soon contained more food than the bowl for the whole family as Inori got up and retreated to the kitchen again.
"Stop…" Tsukasa lightly whispered and could feel the pressure mount as her family moved closer.
"I'm keeping you home again tomorrow, too." Miki replied. "Maybe we can go shopping together for mother and daughter dresses like when you were a child."
"…stop…" Tsukasa whispered again and nobody noticed as she began to hyperventilate.
"After dinner, what do you say we go see a movie together?" Matsuri asked. "Don't worry, I'll protect you, lil' sis. I hear that anime movie you were looking forward to since last month is out and we'll go see that, even though it looks like it's for babies."
"I'm begging you…" the youngest girl whispered again and felt her anger and to her surprise, her hate rising like a balloon. Her flat hands resting on her knees formed into fists as she strangled the jeans she was wearing.
"And let's not forget dessert," Inori said happily as she returned with a large chocolate cake sitting in a decorative glass case and sat it in front of Tsukasa. "Eat up, it's all for you, baby sissy."
That was it. That was the final straw. Tsukasa could literally hear something inside her snap and it unleashed an unholy storm of hell as she shot up from her chair and screamed. She screamed at the top of her lungs and it scared the hell out of her entire family as they suddenly backed away a little. When her scream was complete, Tsukasa breathed heavily and was shaking like an entire earthquake.
"Tsukasa, what's wrong?!" Miki asked quickly and moved in with her arms stretched out.
Tsukasa looked up and what the family saw horrified them. Tsukasa had no tears in her eyes but rather, her eyes had changed. They were red as if she was crying but they were dry. The meanest and angriest glare was glued to her face as she panted and showed her teeth to her family as she inhaled and let it all out.
"Stop it! Just stop it, each and every one of you! Is this how you think you're helping me?! By strangling every single fiber of my being out of me?! You can't change what happened and I don't want you to try! That's right, mom, I was raped! I was gang-raped by four scum-suckers! Yeah that's right mom, those bastards tore my cunt apart and every other hole in my body and pumped me with their shit as I felt the blood drip from my area! All that happened on your watch!" Tsukasa coughed loudly and turned to her father. "And you! You think all the faith and confidence in the human race is going to keep your family safe?! Fuck you! You let your own daughter get raped and inside your own shrine and in front of the family pictures! You have no idea what humiliation they put me through in there and they made me feel worthless! Go add that to your prayers, father!" Tsukasa turned to her sisters, who were now beyond scared. "Is a baby sissy the only thing I am to you?! A weak and docile creature that will always need your protection?! Where were any of you that night?! Why was I the one that had to go through that alone?! Well let me tell all of you something! I don't need you or anyone else anymore! I'm not your baby sister and I sure as hell am not your sweet and innocent daughter anymore! The world woke me up to what's really going on here! This world is one big deception! From now on, I'm going everything alone! Die! Die! Die! Everyone and everything just die!"
Tsukasa's rant was topped off by one final scream and a move nobody expected. She picked up her plateful of sukiyaki, turned towards a wall with pictures on it, and hurled the plate with all her might. The plate shattered against a family picture in front of their home when the four sisters were very young, which also broke the frame and threw the food everywhere. Tsukasa turned back to the cake, picked it up, and hurled it at the wall behind her sisters, making them jump for their lives as the glass-covered dessert shattered against the wall.
Tsukasa suddenly turned and ran out of the room but not before smacking one more family picture off a table and breaking it. It was a picture of Kagami and Tsukasa together in front of Ryōō High School the first day of their first year. They were with their parents as cherry blossom pedals fell all around them on the warm day.
Left in a state of shock, nobody in the Hiiragi family knew what to do now. Never in their worst nightmares would they label Tsukasa this way. Their frozen positions stayed for nearly two full minutes and it wasn't until Miki let loose her tears that everyone decided to act together.
"I'll sweep this mess up," Matsuri said and eyed the glass-riddled cake.
"I'll take care of the sukiyaki," Inori stated as she shook herself out of her trance.
Miki slowly walked over to the last small picture Tsukasa knocked over and bent down to it. She began to pick it up and let the broken glass slide off the picture and with her tears still flowing, she held the picture to her chest and let her sobs out. It was official and there was no denying it anymore. Tsukasa Hiiragi was in serious mental trouble. Tadao bent down to his wife and embraced her.
"We should call a doctor," Tadao whispered, which was met with instant resistance from Miki.
She violently shook her head before turning her head towards him, her face a leaking mess. "No, Tadao! I beg of you, please don't let them take my daughter away! Just…just give it more time! Let me be there for her! I'll fix this, I promise!"
Tadao couldn't help but sympathize and even agree with his wife. He didn't want to send Tsukasa away anymore than she did and trusted Miki's loving and tender ways to reach their troubled daughter. The rest of the night was dead as a result of the dinner incident. Everyone lost their appetite and didn't come anywhere near Tsukasa's room for the rest of the night. The time continued to march forward and nobody heard a peep from her, but it probably would've been best if they checked in on her.
At 1:00 am, everyone was asleep in the house except for one person. Tsukasa Hiiragi now sat in her room on her bed with her legs tucked to her chest and the same evil expression was across her face. She shifted her eyes and scanned her bedroom, which had recently undergone a dramatic change. From wall-to-wall, everything was gone. All her get well gifts, cards, letters, flowers, candies, stuffed animals, balloons, everything. Even her furniture, aside from her mattress, was gone. It was nothing but an empty space.
Knowing she had one last thing to do before her night was complete, Tsukasa lifted herself from her bed and was able to successfully sneak out of the house and through the bitter winter cold, navigated through the Hiiragi property and approached the shrine. She no longer saw it as a sacred place, but a scene of a crime. She slid the wooden doors open and the moonlight shined onto a stockpile of clutter sitting in the middle of the shrine.
All her flowers, stuffed animals, candies, get well soon cards, furniture, and all signs of affection from her family were sitting in the massive pile. Tsukasa slowly entered and reached into her pocket as she gazed at the clutter one last time. She even saw the picture of her with Kagami, Konata, and Miyuki when they were in Kyoto together. With her dark eyes still locked on the pile, she slowly retracted her hand and as the wind outside shifted, her nose caught the floating aroma of gasoline and in her hand sat a book of matches.
Striking one of the matches and lighting the rest on fire, Tsukasa held the burning paper book high and with a quick movement, flicked it at the pile of childhood memories. It was as if the sun itself lifted up from under the shrine's floorboards and the massive flames engulfed the clutter of love. The fires spread and began to burn the shrine and Tsukasa watched the pictures of her ancestors disappear in the walls of flames.
Looking down one last time, Tsukasa could see bloodstains at her feet. Her blood that dripped from her "area" on the night of the rape. Scowling at the sight, she callously turned and slowly walked out of the shrine as the structure began to buckle. Her final movement involved closing the door of the crime scene and walking away as if nothing happened. The fires breached the shrine's roof and now consumed the entire building, making it collapse as it continued to burn. Tsukasa could feel the last remnants of her old self burning with it as she walked towards her new lifestyle in the darkness of the night ahead of her.