CHAPTER 5

THE NEW TSUKASA

There was no doubt about it. Arson. Another crime had bestowed itself upon the Hiiragi family as they watched firemen pick through the smoldering remains of the once harmonious shrine that had been in the Hiiragi family for generations. Policemen were also there, some who had returned from interviewing neighbors about whether they saw anything or not. The firemen continued to look for clues in the charred wooden foundation while a policeman approached Tadao as his wife, Kagami, Matsuri, and Inori watched.

"Mr. Hiiragi, the firemen are confirming that it was arson since they have picked up trace amounts of gasoline on the wood," the policeman said with remorse. "Right now we suspect it was one or possibly all of Ryosuke's accomplices seeking revenge but we won't be able to confirm that for awhile. Until then, stick close together and report anyone suspicious to us immediately."

The Hiiragi family continued to talk to the policeman while the fourth daughter Tsukasa was absent from the scene. She watched the whole thing unfold from her bedroom window with a piercing glare pointed at her family and she suddenly shifted it to her secret diary as she continued writing in it. Her daily entries were becoming longer, more detailed, and above all, more disturbing and horrifying for a girl who just only a few weeks ago would write and dream about either candy or puppies. Tsukasa closed the diary again and, as a result of her desk being gone, she hid it in the one area where no one would find it. She lifted the front of her mattress up and it revealed a torn section underneath it that was converted into a storage compartment, where she hid the book.

Changing into her school uniform again, she readied herself for yet another agonizing day where people would stare at her and talk about her behind her back. She was able to avoid her family altogether as she snuck out the back and began her isolated walk to the train station in the cold January morning. Nobody had spoken to her since last night and the fact that they had a shrine fire on their hands only gave Tsukasa more latitude from them, just as she had planned. With every step she took though, the thought of skipping school grew larger and larger. The last thing she wanted to do was deal with more drama so what was the point of going through it all?

Tsukasa arrived at the train station just in time to see her train arrive. The doors opened and as she walked to the open doorway, she suddenly froze as if she was shot. While the morning commuters bumped and pushed their way past her, she remained frozen in front of the open train doors with her new glare on her face. As she heard the alarms sound indicating the doors were closing, she simply said in her mind, fuck it.

The train doors closed and she watched the train speed away to the usual destination near the high school. When the mode of transportation disappeared, she slowly turned and began to walk away from the station and towards the city. With one final notion, she lifted her schoolbag up and with sudden and angry movements, forced it into a garbage can as she walked past it. As she walked towards the city, she passed a series of glass-covered billboards with advertisements locked inside and the glass also worked as a mirror.

Tsukasa stopped and looked at one. Disregarding the advertisement inside, she looked at her faded reflection in the glass. The first thing she noticed was her hair color and she fingered her light purple layers on her head and tightened her glare. Next, she began to rethink her entire wardrobe and what was in her closet, which only disgusted her further because now everything she had she saw as babyish. Despite the fact that she opened up like a volcano to her family, destroyed precious pictures and even burned down the shrine, she still felt like the family's baby. I think I need to make a few stops today, she thought to herself and abruptly left the train station.

On her own, Tsukasa walked through the busy streets alone as people pushed past her as she made her way to several clothing shops and hair salons. She never went into such busy areas without Kagami or another family member for fear of being robbed or, what felt like a rerun at this point, being raped. She bypassed all the stores that she used to love to go in. The stores that sold cute and bright outfits that she was once incredibly fond of and remembered it was there where she basked in her former innocence. She quickly passed several restaurants and ice cream parlors where she, Kagami, and Konata would eat and spend time together. In her mind, those good times were dead and it was time for a radical transformation, both internally and externally.

Now in a whole new section of town, Tsukasa felt like, and was a fish out of water. The streets were darker, graffiti was spray painted on building walls, garbage was in the streets, and shifty-looking people stood in front of alleyways. As Tsukasa walked past an alleyway, she quickly glanced down the dark corridor and spotted two men talking to each other. One quickly handed a wad of yen bills to the other and quickly, the second man handed his customer a bag of an unknown substance. Her mental transformation was already happening and she knew it was drugs.

Tsukasa arrived at a clothing store that she had heard of several times but never thought she would have the nerve or the mindset to shop there. The store was called "The Black Window" and the outfits in the windows were polar opposite of what her parents would approve of. Black leather, suggestive miniskirts, go-go and kinky boots, shirts with gruesome and anti-religious images on them, and chains sat in the window as Tsukasa pushed the door open and stepped into the new culture store. Seeing the clothes dangling from the walls and the ceiling, she approached the front desk and to the female clerk, who was reading a dirty manga and was dressed in a frightening gothic ensemble.

Looking up from her manga, the clerk batted her thick eyelashes in confusion as she saw the naive young girl approach her. In a bitter and sarcastic tone she asked, "Can I help you."

Feeling a little intimidated, Tsukasa shook her fears away, cleared her throat, and opened herself to a new lifestyle. "A change is in order."

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Nanako Kuroi looked at her attendance sheet on her clipboard and scanned the names. "Hiiragi, Tsukasa." She called and looked around the room but the youngest twin's face was nowhere to be found. "Has anybody seen Tsukasa-san this morning?"

Silence came from the class full of students as they looked at each other and either shook their heads or shrugged. Kuroi thought it strange and while giving a confused hum to herself, marked an X across today's date next to Tsukasa's name. She quickly wrote a reminder note to herself on the sheet to call the Hiiragi residence at lunchtime and ask if everything was okay. Even though Kagami wasn't in her class, she was still updated about the fight the previous day and that the oldest Hiiragi twin would be out of school for a week. She thought the fight had something to do with Tsukasa's absence as she closed her attendance book and resumed class.

"Okay everybody, we're going to pick up where we left off yesterday with the end of the Vietnam War in the year 1975. By the spring of this year, the American forces had all but finished withdrawing their forces as Ho Chi Minh's North Vietnamese Army closed in from the north." Kuroi said as she began writing dates and names on the chalkboard. "The evacuation of the US Embassy in Saigon became known by the Americans as Operation Frequent Wind, which occurred in April of that year and as this happened, across the border in Cambodia…"

Kuroi's voice trailed off as Konata stopped taking notes and began to think. It was rare for the blue-haired girl to think this way but she was seriously pissed off today and at Kagami of all people. When Yutaka arrived home later that night, she was still crying after seeing the fight between Kagami and Hiyori. To make matters worse, Yutaka had to stay home today because the trauma induced flu symptoms in her weak body, which Konata blamed on Kagami. Konata tried to keep her usually calm demeanor and kept reminding herself of the Hiiragi family's situation. Still, something felt odd about Tsukasa's sudden disappearance.

The cold weather in January rearranged the gym class schedule for first years Minami Iwasaki, Hiyori Tamura, and Patricia Martin. Volleyball was the name of the game today as Hiyori and Patty were put on one team while Minami was put on the other. As the gym teacher and two other students assisted in raising the net, Patty scooted closer to Hiyori. Trying not to make it look obvious, Patty whispered, "Feeling any better today?"

Hiyori glanced at Patty before quickly facing her attention forward again as the girls stood in volleyball formation on the court waiting for the game to start. Hiyori quietly replied, "I still hate myself. I had all of that coming yesterday."

"Well if it makes you feel any better…the whole school thinks the same thing." Patty replied.

Hiyori's head collapsed and a dark shadow fell over her as her depression worsened. "Leave me alone."

"I'm sorry, Hiyori," Patty quickly responded as the teacher and students finished fixing the net. "You made a mistake, that's all. But just for the record, I still think you should stick with your usual yaoi stories."

A deep blush ran across Hiyroi's face while the first serve of the game was launched by the opposing teams and it headed straight for Hiyori, which she didn't notice. Despite everyone on her team calling her name, the ball landed and struck her on the head, but the deep state of shock she was in made her stand perfectly still.

"…Missed." Someone on the opposing team said as the laughter followed.

The opposing team was allowed to serve again and Hiyori's mind was in the game this time as she returned it. This still didn't hamper her ongoing conversation with Patty as she said, "I think Iwasaki-san hates my guts now after what happened to Yu-chan yesterday. She's absent you know."

Patty waited for the ball to return to her side and she was able to return it before replying to Hiyori. "Nah, I don't think Iwasaki-san hates you, Hiyori, nobody does. I don't even think Kagami hates you either. You just need to give it more time. Trust me, this issue with Tsukasa is big now but sooner or later it'll all pass and everyone will move onto the next big thing."

Hiyori watched the ball bounce off one of her teammate's arms and land in her direction as she got ready. She hit it high again and it made its way over the net and the opposing team wasn't able to get to it in time, which scored a point for her team. "Maybe you're right, Patty. I just hope it blows over fast. I miss Tsukasa's soothing personality. It complements her sister's tsundere personality."

Without their favorite tsundere to eat with, Misao Kusakabe and Ayano Minegishi sat together and ate lunch, not wanting to address the elephant in the room. It was, as always, Misao who broke the uneasy silence in her usual loud and brutish ways by saying, "Well I admit it. I miss Hiiragi."

Ayano looked up from her bento and smiled. "I understand. It is always more fun with Hiiragi-san."

"I still can't believe she went and did that to Tamura-san yesterday," Misao said as she talked with a meatball in her mouth. "I regret telling her about that manga she was drawing or else she would still be here."

Ayano nodded and replied, "But it still wouldn't have helped Tsukasa-san. Speaking of that, I heard she was absent today. That's rather strange, don't you think?"

Misao shrugged and a thought suddenly occurred to her. "Before I left home this morning I had heard that a shrine was burned down by an arsonist late last night. You don't think it was the Hiiragi shrine and that's why Tsukasa-san is absent, do you?"

"Oh come now, don't talk such nonsense," Ayano said in her usual soft voice, her smile still present with her eyes closed.

"Anyway, have you ever noticed that how whenever something bad happens to someone you know then all of a sudden that's all you hear about like on the news and around the halls?" Misao asked as she finished her last meatball while chewing loudly.

"I sort of get what you're saying," Ayano closed her bento as the lunch period neared its end. "I remember this one time where an old friend of mine had an aunt and uncle whose house was burglarized when they were out one night. After she told me, all I heard about on the news for the next week were stories about home invasions."

Misao shook her head as they began to push their desks back together and the teacher walked in while the bell sounded simultaneously. "It's quite a strange world we live in."

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Kagami was being worked like a dog back at the family's residence. Just because the school sent her on a week-long vacation didn't mean that her father was going to let her kick back and relax. She was either sweeping the property's grounds, trimming hedges, polishing or dusting the religious relics, or anything around the house Miki asked of her daughter. Miki wasn't as cruel as her husband was in dealing out the punishment, which she showed when she brought Kagami a cup of hot tea for her while she worked outside.

Miki approached her daughter with the steaming cup sitting on a tray as Kagami rested her broom, cupped her hands, and blew into them to warm her fingers as her mother handed her the cup. "You've been working hard, Kagami."

Kagami nodded as she took the cup and swallowed a sip before replying. "I know I screwed up yesterday with Tamura-san. When I see her next week I'll apologize to her and hopefully we can still be friends."

Her mother smiled and nodded. "That's the right thing to do, Kagami. You know your father and I love you very much, right?"

Surprised by the question, Kagami eventually gave a faint smile and nodded once. "I know, mom. I brought last night on myself, but I hope Tsukasa is okay."

Miki's fragile happy expression was suddenly destroyed after Kagami mentioned it. The whole family was still shook up by what happened the previous night and to make it worse, Tsukasa took off earlier this morning without telling anyone. Miki knew her youngest daughter had school today but couldn't get the arson crime out of her mind. What if what the police said was true and it was Ryosuke's friends and they were still in the area? Miki's worst nightmare was that they would find Tsukasa again and force her into another round with them for revenge.

Inori's voice suddenly broke the silence as she came running up the large concrete steps to the shrine with a telephone and panted, "Mom, phone call! It's the high school!"

Miki's heart leaped into her throat and knew something was wrong again as she began to tremble as she reached for the phone. She reluctantly took it and put it to her ear and stuttered her name to acknowledge the person on the other side.

"Hiiragi-san, this is Nanako Kuroi," the girls' teacher said. "I'm calling to make sure everything is okay at your home today."

For a moment, Miki breathed a sigh of relief and believed this was another courtesy call of concern. She responded, "We've had a few rough spots since the incident but we're getting better. Thank you for asking, Miss Kuroi."

"Well that's good because I was just wondering why Tsukasa-san was absent today." Kuroi added.

Miki nearly lost grip of the phone when her palms became instantly sweaty upon hearing Kuroi's last sentence. Her heart pounded so hard in her chest it felt like it would tear through at any second and she began to panic. Inori and Kagami saw this and rushed over to their mother as she collapsed to her knees and began to hyperventilate. Kuroi kept asking "hello" on the other side when Kagami snatched the phone while Inori tried to calm Miki down.

"Hello, Miss Kuroi? It's Kagami. What's happening?" Kagami asked.

"Oh hello Kagami," Kuroi replied and repeated her sentence. "I was just wondering why Tsukasa wasn't in school today."

Nearly following her mother's reaction, Kagami had enough sense to keep herself calm and explain that the family thought Tsukasa was at school that day. It immediately sent red flags up for both sides as Kuroi promised to inform the school a student was missing while Kagami hung up the phone and dialed her sister's cell phone. Kagami knew how much Tsukasa loved her cell phone and believed that no matter how Tsukasa was feeling, she would still always respond positively to her phone. Kagami put the phone back to her ear and listened to the dial tones that followed. The first one, then the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth. By the tenth consecutive ringtone, the phone went into voicemail and Kagami began to panic. She had no choice but to dial the police, a practice becoming too common in their family.

"Hello, I would like to report a missing person." Kagami's voice became crackled and it only worsened Miki's panic.

Kagami engaged the policeman on the other side of the phone for another fifteen minutes, sometimes becoming temperamental and raising her voice and for good reason. The oldest Hiiragi twin soon realized that despite their situation, the police weren't going to be much help in their search for Tsukasa. Kagami eventually thanked them properly before hanging up the phone and turning to her older sister and mother.

"Well, what did they say?" Inori asked impatiently.

"They said they can't officially declare someone missing until twenty-four hours after we discovered they're gone." Kagami said with remorse. "I gave them a description of Tsukasa and the only thing they can do is alert any nearby officers to look for any girl wearing a uniform for Ryōō High School."

Inori signaled to Kagami to hand her the phone. "I'll call Matsuri's cell and tell her to keep her eyes out too and spread the word to her friends. Maybe they saw Tsukasa somewhere."

"Oh god I hope she's okay," Miki whispered as she felt tears in her eyes again.

As Inori called Matsuri, Kagami helped her mother to her feet and guided her back to their home. Kagami swapped roles with Inori and played the role of the comforter as they walked back to the house and Inori finally connected to Matsuri. The oldest Hiiragi daughter told Matsuri the whole story, which only infuriated the hot-headed young woman and her mind jumped to the worst conclusion. She feared that Ryosuke's punks had returned for their final part of revenge by raping Tsukasa again after they burned the shrine down, at least that's what she believed happened.

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Konata arrived home later that day without the company of Kagami or Tsukasa on the train. Either way, the only thing she had on her mind was making sure Yutaka was okay and feeling well enough to return to school the next day. When Konata returned home, she arrived in the living room and was delighted to see Yutaka and her father playing a video game together as the frail girl was feeling much better.

"Oh hey, onee-chan!" Yutaka said happily and with clear energy in her voice.

"Hey yourself," Konata replied with a smile as she sat her schoolbag down. "You look like you're feeling better."

Yutaka nodded with cheer. "I sure am. It was just shock from seeing the fight."

Konata's smile was suddenly wiped clean. "Oh yeah, that's right, I need to talk to Kagamin about that. If she didn't start that, you wouldn't have had to miss school today."

"Oh don't worry about it, onee-chan," Yutaka replied. "I can understand why she did that to Tamura-san. I have a sister, too, so I know what Hiiragi-san is feeling."

"What's going on, you two?"Sojiro suddenly interjected as he was at a loss of what the girls were talking about.

"You remember what happened to Tsukasa?" Konata asked her father.

He nodded with remorse.

"Well one of our classmates decided to make a manga story about it and Kagami beat her up pretty good for it yesterday. Kagami was suspended for a week because of it." Konata informed him.

Sojiro slowly shook his head before replying, "So…when will this manga be out exactly?"

"Dad, that's not funny!" Konata snapped. "I worry about how you think sometimes so please don't let Yui-nee-san catch you with anything that she can arrest you for!"

"I'm kidding, you know I'm kidding honey." Sojiro began to see the faux pas of his attempt at humoring his daughter and niece. "What do you say we get dinner ready? Wasn't there a special recipe that you wanted to try out, Konata?"

Konata instantly remembered about the one recipe she came across that involved beef with green onions that also had curry with it as well. She and Yutaka teamed up and began to assemble the meal and as they were getting ready to eat, they heard the all too familiar sound of Yui's car pull up outside. They expected her usual flamboyant personality to crash through the door like it always did but this time was different.

Yui quickly entered but instead of her usual excited persona coming from her, a look and atmosphere of dread followed her. "Konata, have you seen or talked to Tsukasa Hiiragi lately?"

Still not knowing what to make of the growing situation, Konata shook her head and replied, "No, why?"

"Well I just got off work and I heard on my squad car's radio that Tsukasa is missing and that her sister called the police about it." Yui replied.

Hearing the dreadful news prompted Konata to quickly abandon her task as chef and find her cell phone, which she rarely used. She quickly called Kagami's number and waited anxiously for the dial tones to end and to hear her friend's voice replace them.

"Hey, you." Kagami's voice replied slowly and painfully as she recognized it was Konata from her caller ID in her cell phone.

"I'm sorry, I bet you were hoping I was Tsukasa, right?" Konata asked.

"Yeah I was," Kagami replied. "How'd you find out?"

"Yui-nee-san told me. But look on the bright side, Kagamin, she knows so that means the police know and they're keeping an eye out for her." Konata said as she heard her family continue fixing dinner.

"I know, but she's been gone all day." Kagami added with clear depression in her voice. "But I'm actually glad you called, Konata. I want to apologize for yesterday."

"Apologize? Why to me?" Konata asked with curiosity.

Kagami cleared her voice and replied, "I know that Yutaka-chan was right there when I was fighting Hiyori. I bet I scared her and I've felt bad about that all day. Tell her I'm sorry too and I won't do that ever again."

Konata felt a smile tug at her face and her eyes closed as she sighed before she replied to her friend as she felt her frustration before fade away. "And Kagamin's heart grew three sizes that day…"

"Oh shut up you!"

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"Okay, sweetheart, we're almost done here." The female clerk of The Black Window said as she washed Tsukasa's hair. "I have to admit, when you first walked into my store, I never thought you would have such a dark story."

The clerk stood above Tsukasa as the petite Hiiragi twin sat in a chair while her new friend washed a new image into Tsukasa's short hair. The clerk's name was Yuka Miyakawa and she had taken a newfound interest in her customer. She had to admit to herself that she was fascinated by Tsukasa's story of her rape and was even a little turned on when she mentioned she burned down the family's shrine as an act of revenge. Because of this, Miyakawa took Tsukasa under her wing and began to mentor her in her pursuit for a new and darker look that was the polar opposite of a baby. In the backroom of the store, Miyakawa operated her own hair salon, in addition to a tattoo and piercing parlor. She turned on the warm water and washed a coloring dye out of Tsukasa's scalp when it finally dried and the new color was soaked in.

When the transformation was complete, Miyakawa dropped a towel on Tsukasa's face and the youngest Hiiragi twin dried her hair and when she removed her towel, her short hair wafted in the movement and revealed the darkness of her newborn black hair with a single blue stripe running vertically down on the right side of her face. She took a small mirror and studied her new look with leering eyes, another rare thing for her to do with her eyes. "You do good work, Miyakawa-san."

Miyakawa cracked the gum she was chewing behind her thick, painted lips and smiled. "You're welcome, Hiiragi-san. It looks really good on you, too. So since you now have the hair and the clothes, how about we complete the look with a new tattoo?"

Hearing this made Tsukasa's heart pound since she knew about tattoos but worst of all, she knew about needles, which instantly turned the idea off. "Maybe some other time, Miyakawa-san. What time is it by the way?"

Tsukasa's new friend looked at her watch and answered, "Almost 6:00. Why?"

Tsukasa had no idea it was that late and already knew that she had missed a full day of school and surely by now her family would know about it. With a groan, she replied, "I have to get back home. If I know my mother and sisters, they'll be calling in the Special Assault Team to try and find me."

Miyakawa rolled her eyes. "I know the feeling. My parents were the biggest asses about that shit. The happiest day of my life was when they divorced and I was able to move out of that hellhole."

Tsukasa couldn't help but feel a little hurt at what she said. The youngest Hiiragi daughter was having some emotional problems and trouble with dealing with her problems, but she still could feel attachments to her family. It was then when she began to feel guilty about the dinner incident and even worse about the shrine. Tsukasa turned her head and stared at a shopping bag, which contained the new clothes she had bought from the store and began to have second thoughts about her lifestyle as she stared at the mirror again.

"I should go," Tsukasa said quickly and was almost able to rush out the door before Miyakawa stopped her.

"Hey, before you go, I have some friends from inner-city Tokyo who are throwing a rave tonight in an old warehouse. It would be great if you would come and we could show off the new Tsukasa Hiiragi to the world." Miyakawa said as she packed her hair supplies away.

Tsukasa turned to her. "A rave?"

"Yeah, you know, a big party with lots of dancing, lights, music, and a whole lot of fun." She added. "What do you say? You in?"

Tsukasa had never been to a party before, much less a rave in inner-city Tokyo with a girl she had met only a few hours ago. As she saw Miyakawa was waiting for a response, Tsukasa quickly weighed in all possibilities. What if she gets lost? What if it's too extreme for her? What if something happens and she's hurt again? A thought suddenly clicked in her mind and she suddenly realized that these were all thoughts a baby would consider and she thought about what her family would say. They would forbid her to go to such a party and say she's not mature enough, which made her more angry and prompted her quick response.

"Okay, Miyakawa-san, count me in." Tsukasa said with confidence.

"That's my girl," Miyakawa said but looked at Tsukasa's wardrobe, which still consisted of her school uniform. "But are you seriously wearing that to the party?"

Tsukasa looked down at her body and suddenly saw what her friend was seeing. Even though Tsukasa destroyed all remnants of her babyish lifestyle, she could still see them and this time, in her school uniform. Miyakawa suggested that Tsukasa wear her new wardrobe to the event, which Tsukasa agreed, and Miyakawa allowed her to use one of the dressing rooms to complete her new transformation.

As she was changing behind the curtain-drawn room, Miyakawa couldn't help but giggle to herself as she heard Tsukasa struggling. "Um…Miyakawa-san, how do I work the zipper on this skirt?"

"You have to jiggle it a little, first. It's a new miniskirt so it will be tight at first." Miyakawa replied and continued to wait as she heard the continuous sounds of zippers, laces being tied tight, and new clothes unfolding.

It took five more minutes for Tsukasa to finish dressing and when she emerged from the dressing room, no one would ever recognize her. Starting at her feet, black leather boots that stretched from her toes to the bottom of her knees covered her legs. Fishnet stockings covered the rest of her legs and disappeared under her red and black striped miniskirt that had chain-links all around it with a skull emblem holding them together in the front. A black leather top with chain-links holding it together covered Tsukasa's upper body while black and purple striped gloves were wrapped around her hands to her forearms and a short red and black striped scarf finished her look.

"You look hot," Miyakawa said while she quickly licked her upper lip.

Tsukasa grinned and allowed her new friend to close the shop and they were soon off to the train station that would take them to downtown Tokyo. The youngest Hiiragi twin learned a good deal about Yuka Miyakawa, including the fact that she had two cousins named Hinata and Hikage Miyakawa, and Hinata worked at Gamers, the store Konata was very fond of. The cousins had very little in common, including stability in their home lives, which showed in the stores they worked at.

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Riding the train to the darkest part of Japan's capital city brought chills to Tsukasa and butterflies flapped in her stomach as her ride came to a screeching stop at 9:00 pm that night. It was dark at the station with the only lights provided were the lamps above them or the glittering Tokyo skyline miles down the road. Still feeling nervous, Tsukasa was guided by Miyakawa and they were able to take a taxi to an older and even darker section of the city.

When the two girls arrived at the spot, Tsukasa was a little frightened at first. It was an old warehouse like Miyakawa said and a loud pulsing bass sound shook the ground and they could both see multi-colored lights change and flash from inside the building. Miyakawa took Tsukasa by the arm and dragged her to the side door and as soon as she opened it, Tsukasa was blasted by whole new world. It started with the deafening blast of rock and death metal with flashing strobe lights and the sight of people dressed in the most bizarre getups, as well as so many new smells. Still being dragged by her new friend, Tsukasa didn't know what to make of what was happening around her until Miyakawa stopped them and they were standing around three men and two other girls, all dressed the same way they were.

Because of the loud, pulsing music, Tsukasa could only read her friends lips when Miyakawa said, "This is Tsukasa!"

Her friends turned to her and nodded once, as if they were still a little unsure about how dark she truly was. One of the guys talked to the other and the other nodded, making him reach into his leather jacket and pull out a small tin box. He opened it and inside, dozens of perfectly circular white tablets sat inside and he began to pass them out and Miyakawa wasted no time popping it in her mouth. When Tsukasa was handed the tablet, she was reluctant to take it.

Miyakawa scooted over to Tsukasa and whispered loud enough for Tsukasa to hear, "Swallow it, sweetheart, it's 'sugar.'"

Tsukasa did like the sound of that as her naivety with the streets was still present as it made her swallow the mysterious pill. It was at that moment when everything that remained of the good and innocent Tsukasa died. Her pupils dilated and as she looked around at the party, everything began to melt. Tsukasa began to hear voices coming from everywhere, even inanimate objects, and peoples' skin colors began to change from everything to black to even purple and sometimes, green with yellow dots as she felt her heart race and sweat trickle down her forehead. She looked around again and saw the walls were flashing different colors and it was when one man turned to her and faced her that only deepened her trip. His face began to melt like ice in summer and when she saw his eyeballs fall out, two snakes slithered out of his sockets and hissed violently at her as she jumped back.

Tsukasa struggled to keep her balance as she continued to feel the strong effects of the LSD she had swallowed and suddenly saw a fire. Upon squinting to see it better, she saw her own shrine go up in flames but what came next horrified Tsukasa. The doors of the shrine opened and to her horror, her three sisters, mother, and father rushed out, each one on fire and screaming in pain as their flesh began to burn and peel off their bleeding bodies.

Horrified, Tsukasa screamed but it was instantly buried by a song from an American band called Avenged Sevenfold. The only verse Tsukasa could hear from loudspeakers was "They took for granted your soul, and it's ours now to steal, as your nightmare comes to life!" Still, Tsukasa pushed her way through the crowd, thinking she could save the hallucination of her family that still burned.

She was cut off by another man who bumped into her and when she looked at him, she only saw the head of a deer with massive, jagged antlers. The deer's head screeched loudly at her and bore its yellow, blood-soaked teeth at her with piercing red eyes and the antlers suddenly came alive and screamed loudly. Tsukasa pushed away from the deer and bumped into a woman, who upon turning, she saw a cute teddy bear, which made the pounding of her heart slow and she began to calm down and added a smile to her face. It wasn't until the teddy bear's mouth opened and a flock of bats flapped out and flew at Tsukasa, making her panic and swat at them even though she only struck air. It was followed by a collage of cockroaches, centipedes, and rats crawling out of the cute bear's mouth, ears, and nose, only deepening Tsukasa's fear and one final thing happened that nearly made her vomit. The bear's head began to inflate like a balloon slowly and quietly until a massive flash blinded Tsukasa when it exploded and when the youngest Hiiragi twin opened her eyes, she saw the teddy bear's head was now gone and a headless corpse gushing blood from the open neck was left. Tsukasa screamed again and looked at her wardrobe and saw it too was soaked in blood, skull, hair, and flesh pieces and when she wiped her hand across her face, she saw it was also soaked in the red liquid.

A hand suddenly grabbed Tsukasa's shoulder from behind, making her jump and spin around and to her relief, it was Yuka Miyakawa. Miyakawa opened her mouth and yelled, "There you are! You move really fast in those boots!" Tsukasa's body began to adjust to the LSD and another song suddenly came over the loudspeakers from a band called Escape The Fate and Miyakawa's ears perked up.

"Miyakawa-san, where am I?" Tsukasa asked groggily.

She didn't hear her and replied, "I love this song! Come on, let's dance!"

Miyakawa dragged Tsukasa again onto an open dance floor and to the lyrics of the song "Gorgeous Nightmare," she began to lead Tsukasa in a group dance that lasted through the song and Tsukasa suddenly felt another new sensation as her body trembled, her blood rushed, and her knees knocked.

Miyakawa felt the full sensation of her LSD too and suddenly did something that caught the whole attention of the party. Looking at Tsukasa's drooping face, she placed her hands under the Hiiragi twin's cheeks and made her look up at her.

"Mi…Miyakawa-san," Tsukasa said.

"You better call me Yuka from now on, Tsukasa Hiiragi!" Yuka exclaimed and pulled Tsukasa's face to hers. Tsukasa barely knew what was happening when her lips connected to Miyakawa's and their kiss deepened when the experience shop owner pried Tsukasa's mouth open and made it more intimate. The focus of the party was on them as a mixture of cheers and hoots rallied over the music as they lyrics came to, "You make me feel brand new, yeah we resurrect, it's like I've come back to life!"

When Miyakawa pulled away from Tsukasa's lips, the former shrine maiden was trembling with a little bit of saliva dripping from her mouth. An expression of fear, shock, anger, and excitement was plastered on Tsukasa's face but she pulled Miyakawa into a hug and whispered for her to hear, "I need company tonight!"

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The next sound heard was the opposite of what was heard the previous night. Birds chirping outside on a tree branch made Tsukasa's eyelids twitch and she slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes gazed at a window with the curtains drawn where she the chirping was coming from and she tried to make sense of things. It didn't take her long to realize that she wasn't in her own room or even her own home as she pulled herself up from the bed and quickly flinched when she realized she was naked. Using the sheet to cover herself, Tsukasa looked around the room, which was painted black and had posters of gothic and punk rock bands on it and she felt another human body next to her.

Yuka Miyakawa was sleeping soundly, also naked and from the look of her, she was physically exhausted. Tsukasa tried to make sense of what had happened the previous night as she found her new clothes scattered all over the room mixed with Miyakawa's. She stretched, and climbed out of the bed, disregarding the fact that she was naked and collected her clothes, one piece at a time and careful to not wake up her lover and was able to dress herself. As Tsukasa made her way to the bedroom door, a voice suddenly said, "You have fun last night?"

Tsukasa turned and saw Miyakawa awake and sitting up, holding the bed sheet over her breasts. Tsukasa looked at her and with a squint on her face replied coldly, "You were pretty good. What time is it?"

Miyakawa looked at the clock on her dresser and replied. "Almost five. You need to get back home?"

Tsukasa rolled her eyes. "Only because I have to."

Miyakawa formed a small smile. "Take the H train to the third stop and take the C train until you reach your stop."

Nodding, Tsukasa turned again and was about to walk out before Miyakawa stopped her again.

"When can I see you again?" She asked with a sensual tone.

Tsukasa stood until she turned again. "Whenever the next rave is."

Miyakawa giggled as the former good girl and shrine maiden walked out the door and proceeded to the train station. As she walked in the morning cold, Tsukasa reached into her pockets to warm her hands until she felt a paper carton of some kind and pulled it out and saw it was a pack of cigarettes. As if her body went on autopilot again, she put the stick in her mouth and lit it and smoked it like a pro, making her question what else she learned last night. She felt no shame, though. She felt pride. She was no longer a baby. She was something else. It didn't matter to her what that was, as long as it would keep her family in line.

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Arriving home at a little past six in the morning, Tsukasa realized this was the first time she had been home in nearly twenty-four hours. She hadn't eaten much but wasn't hungry at all as she unlocked the front door with the family key hidden under the welcome mat. She knew today was an off day for school so everybody would be home, which made her creep slowly up the stairs towards her bedroom.

As she sneaked past the bathroom she suddenly heard the toilet flush, which made her role her eyes and mutter "damn it."

The door slowly opened and Kagami slowly walked out, her hair in a morning mess and when she saw Tsukasa, she nearly let out a scream upon seeing the black and blue hair and scary wardrobe ensemble. Despite the outer change, Kagami could still see right through it all when she gazed into her younger sister's eyes and she slowly and dreadfully uttered, "Ts…Tsu…Tsukasa?"

Tsukasa didn't say anything to the sister she had loved, cherished, and admired for her whole life. She simply glared and turned away, still heading towards her bedroom. She didn't get far as Kagami took her usual tough role and stopped her by forcing her way in front of her and blocking her path.

"Where the hell were you?! Do you have any idea what you put us through yesterday?! Especially mom?!" Kagami's voice hissed loudly but in a way that it wouldn't wake the family. "Spill it! Where were you?!"

Tsukasa tightened her glare and began to brush past her sister while saying, "None of your damn business, sis."

Kagami didn't know how to react. This new attitude by Tsukasa took the whole family by surprise and everyone thought the dinner episode the previous night was horrifying enough but what would happen when they would see Tsukasa in her new outfit? There would be no way a religious conservative like Tadao would allow one of his daughters to succumb to this lifestyle so Kagami was at a loss.

"If you don't tell me where you were last night, I'm going to tell mom and dad you're home and they'll bust an artery when they see you like this!" Kagami snapped again.

Tsukasa continued to walk and muttered, "Fine, go suckle mom and dad. It's no sweat off my tits."

Rage suddenly ripped through Kagami and she rushed over to shake some sense into her sister, even if she had to do it physically. Kagami grabbed Tsukasa's left wrist but before Kagami could do anything, Tsukasa suddenly spun around with her right palm flattened. It was then that Kagami saw something in Tsukasa's eyes that scared her to death. It was nothing. The absence of life. This was confirmed for her when Tsukasa suddenly and violently slapped Kagami across the face with her right palm, knocking Kagami off balance and Tsukasa suddenly charged and forced her older twin against the wall.

With her teeth showing and her glare across her face, Tsukasa whispered, "Now you listen to me and you listen good, you little goodie-two-shoes bitch! For far too long I've been in your shadow and always was the follower. Those days are over and from now on, you stay out of my way, and I'll try my best to stay out of yours…dear big sister."

Tsukasa let go of Kagami and finally entered her room as the stunned Kagami slouched to her knees. Breathing hard, she felt tears flow from her eyes and she began to cry as she curled into a ball and sat on the floor and continued sobbing after the episode. Never in her life was she afraid of her own sister, but today changed all this.

In Tsukasa's empty room, she reached under her mattress and took out her private diary. With a black pen, she simply wrote in one sentence.

The bitch is free.