CHAPTER 7
THE DREAMS
She decided to take a break from the never ending sweeping. Still picking up the pieces of the shattered china, Mike propped her broom against the wall and slowly walked into the living room, only to be faced with another mess in the shattered wooden table where Tsukasa had tackled Matsuri the previous night. Still feeling her eyes burn from her tears, she slowly sat down on the same sofa where both Kagami and Tsukasa had been scolded by their father for their irregular behaviors. The home was quiet with Kagami and Inori out of the house together while Matsuri accompanied her father to the other shrines.
The only sound that accompanied the hurting woman was the ticking clock in the living room, where the family always watched television together. Slowly turning to her right, Miki eyed an end table with a lamp sitting on top of it. She opened the single drawer of the table and retrieved a thick photo album with Our Family engraved on the hardcover in gold. Placing the thick book on her lap, only one thought could come to mind.
My youngest daughter is sitting in a jail cell, and this is all I have left of her. It was this one single thought that brought more tears to Miki's eyes as she opened it to the first wave of pictures, chronicling her wedding to Tadao. She immediately bypassed them and eventually came to when she was in a hospital bed and held a newly born Inori in her arms. She had such a happy smile on her face as Tadao also had his joyful expression in the shot. The next few pictures showed Inori playing around the house and at the shrine, followed by one photo of the young daughter kissing her mother's pregnant belly. Another photo showed them in the hospital again with Matsuri wrapped in her blanket and crying as Inori was also in the frame and hugging her mother around her neck with Tadao also with his hand on Matsuri's head. Turning the page again, Miki felt a faint smile tug at the corners of her mouth when she saw Inori holding baby Matsuri, each child with happy expressions on their faces.
Flipping through more pages, Miki finally came to the one photo that made her cry full board. In the hospital bed for the third time, she held Kagami in one arm and Tsukasa in the other. Kagami had a serious look on her face for a baby, while Tsukasa continued to claw at the air and cry while Miki smiled. The next photo showed Inori holding Kagami in her lap, while Matsuri held Tsukasa in hers.
Paging through the album only made things worse for Miki's emotions when she came to a section of the book dedicated to Tsukasa only. By the time Tsukasa was five years old, she would never leave Miki's side. One photo taken by Tadao showed the infant Tsukasa clinging to her mother's apron as she washed dishes in the kitchen sink. The photo sitting next to it showed Tsukasa in the kitchen again as her mother cooked and the young girl had her coloring books and crayons scattered all across the floor while she played. A third memorable photo showed Tsukasa, still at a short height and young age, holding a frying pan up to her mother while she sat on the floor, while Miki bent down to take it with a happy smile on her face. Another showed Tsukasa's growing interest in cooking as she stood on a footstool, overlooking the kitchen counter as she prepared some vegetables for her mother to chop.
The timeline of photos continued and Miki's tears only increased when she came across a photo of her with Tsukasa when she was ten years old and they had arrived home from the mall. Both Miki and Tsukasa were wearing the same dresses with floral arrangements and stripe patterns. They were the mother daughter dresses Miki wanted to take Tsukasa and get another pair of before her meltdown and eventual collapse.
A teardrop landed on the page when the Hiiragi mother came to a copy of the photo Tsukasa smashed when she had her meltdown at the dinner table. Tsukasa and Kagami stood side-by-side with Miki and Tadao behind them, the Hiiragi twins giving the peace sign with jubilant smiles as cherry blossom pedals fell around them. Their high school stood tall and proud behind them, waiting for the Hiiragi twins to grace their hallways.
Miki closed the photo album and hugged the book to her chest, hoping it would sink into her skin and heal the massive wound across her heart. She curled into a ball on the sofa and continued to sob and the continuous emotional demise for her and the family sapped her strength. Her eyelids felt heavy and it didn't take long until she was completely asleep. The only time her pain would go away would be in her dreams and it was then that Miki prayed that she would never have to wake up again as her memories began to replay for her again.
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"You're almost there, Hiiragi-san!" The doctor's voice called as Miki felt the pain engulf her being as she struggled to push the miniature human out of her body and sweat doused her body. "I can see your baby's head coming! Just keep pushing! You're doing great!"
Miki screamed as the convulsions in her body worsened and she squeezed her husband's hand with all her might. Her soaked body rested on the hospital bed as she trembled in pain and continued to vocalize her discomfort. Tadao continued to hold his wife's hand and embrace her head with loving care. He whispered affectionate words to her and that their next daughter was going to be beautiful, just like her.
"One more push will do it!" The doctor exclaimed as nurses rushed in with towels and a blanket that would become her baby blanket.
Miki screamed one more time and her cry was suddenly replaced by the howl of a newborn baby. With the nurses quickly wrapping blankets around the new life, the doctor severed the umbilical cord and lifted the crying baby up as Tadao slowly looked over while Miki continued to breathe.
"Congratulations, sir. Here's your daughter." The doctor announced happily and carefully handed the newborn girl to Tadao, who slowly took her and held her close to his chest.
As the baby continued to cry, he saw the small patch of purple hair on her head and smiled. "Hello Kagami," he said lovingly. "I'm your daddy. You look just as you did in my dreams."
Still breathing hard, Miki inhaled an exhausted breath and said, "Let me see her."
Tadao stepped over to his hurting wife as the nurses prepped her for the inevitable round two. Kagami continued to cry and swat at the air as Miki placed her quivering hand on the newborn's head and stroked it gently. She wanted her meeting with her newborn daughter to last longer but the convulsions rebooted, starting the birth of the next Hiiragi fraternal twin. Tadao stepped back as the nurses rushed in to dab the sweat off Miki's head and it was then that Kagami suddenly stopped crying. He looked down at his newborn daughter and saw the most amazing thing. Kagami opened her eyes for the first time and was looking straight at him as he held her. She suddenly lifted her arms up towards her father and whimpered. Tadao moved his hand towards Kagami's outstretched arms and her little fingers wrapped around his index finger.
Kagami then smiled and began laughing happily, earning a smile from Tadao and he felt tears form in his eyes as he heard his newborn daughter's laugh for the first time. It was then that Tadao had to allow the nurses to take his daughter for the moment so she could be properly cleaned and he turned back to comfort his wife as Miki felt the second and last human body inside her shift and ready itself to emerge.
The grueling process started all over again for Miki and she began to screech as the pain worsened while the doctor positioned himself in front of her exposed womanhood. His surgical mask still wrapped around his mouth, he slid a fresh pair of gloves on his hands and waited as Miki continued to push. She gritted her teeth and thrust her head back as this baby's head began to crown, thus jolting more pain into Miki's body.
Giving birth to twins was without a doubt the hardest thing Miki ever had to do in her life, yet through her pain, all she could feel was joy over the new additions to the family. With Inori and Matsuri waiting outside, she couldn't wait to bring them in and introduce them to their new sisters. Before she knew it, it too was over and as she rested her soaked body back on the bed, she could hear a new set of lungs announcing itself to the world. Feeling relief rush her body, Miki laid perfectly still on her bed as the nurses soaked up the sweat across her head while the second twin was rushed away to be cleaned.
"W…welcome…to our…family…Tsukasa Hiiragi. May…your life be…blessed." Miki whispered to herself with love and a smile on her face. The crying continued as she felt her eyelids become heavy after fifteen hours of labor and giving birth to twins. When her eyelids closed, Miki fell asleep as the commotion around her continued.
Her slumber was short-lived when the familiar sound of her newborn baby crying was heard. An hour after falling asleep, Miki awoke to the same scene she had left and saw her husband gently bouncing the youngest twin in his arms. "Tadao, dear?" She asked.
Tadao turned to her with an anxious face. "It's Tsukasa. She hasn't stopped crying since she came out."
Miki couldn't help but give a weak smile and slowly pulled herself up. She outstretched her arms and said, "Give her to me, dear."
Tadao complied and gently handed the crying Tsukasa to his wife, who proceeded to rock her gently. She hummed a soothing lullaby for her daughter while rocking her and whispered, "There, there, my beautiful sweet Tsukasa. Mommy's here now."
As if it was a sign, the crying Tsukasa suddenly and abruptly ceased her tantrum and she slowly opened her violet eyes. Her droopy eyes drifted around the room until they met her mother's, and everything changed instantly. Tsukasa smiled and reached her arms upward towards her mother and giggled playfully and Miki pulled her closer. Miki rubbed noses with her daughter as Tsukasa placed both hands on her mother's cheeks and continued to giggle with a smile.
"Excuse me for interrupting, but look who decided to say hello." Tadao said happily as he approached Miki's bed and was accompanied by Inori and Matsuri, who were barely as tall as his knees.
"Girls, come say hello to your new sister, Tsukasa." Miki said happily as the two youngsters climbed onto their mother's bed and scooted slowly over to their new sister. "Where's Kagami, Tadao?"
"Right here," the doctor said as he held the oldest twin in his arms. Kagami, naked and still wrapped in a blanket, was busy chewing on the doctor's pen as she handed her to Tadao. "She had a bit of a cough so I just wanted to make sure it was nothing. Congratulations Hiiragi family, you have two healthy daughters."
Tadao held Kagami again, who continued to pursue the doctor's pen between her gums as he chuckled and relayed his daughter to Miki, who now held both Hiiragi twins in her arms. She kissed both their heads and held her bundles of joy closer as Inori and Matsuri scooted closer. Matsuri looked at her new sisters and said, "They smell funny, mama."
Miki couldn't help but giggle. "Oh come now, Matsuri. You smelled the same way when you were born."
"Yeah that's right! I still smell you, too!" Inori teased Matsuri as she held her nose, making a vein pop up on the younger brunette's forehead.
"Now, now, cut it out you two." Tadao said with a smile on his face.
While Matsuri remained passive about the twins, Inori scooted closer with intrigue. "Can I hold them, mama?"
Miki smiled and nodded. "Here, you can hold Kagami."
Tadao assisted his exhausted wife by taking the oldest twin and placing her gently on Inori's lap. Kagami's big purple eyes drifted up to her big sister and the two stared at each other for the longest time. Tadao and Miki just sat back and took in the sight as Kagami smiled again and lifted her hands towards Inori, and the oldest Hiiragi daughter began to play with her sister and tickled her belly, making Kagami laugh.
"I think she likes me, mama!" Inori exclaimed happily.
Miki nodded. "Of course she does, sweetie. She's your little sister."
"How about it, Matsuri? Do you want to hold Tsukasa?" Tadao asked as he saw Matsuri's eyes light up with curiosity as she watched Inori and Kagami get to know each other.
Matsuri was reluctant at first but soon smiled and nodded slowly. Tadao took the droopy-eyed Tsukasa from Miki's arm, immediately making Tsukasa restless as she began to squirm. As soon as Tsukasa was placed in Matsuri's lap, the youngest Hiiragi twin looked up and into the eyes of her bigger sister, triggering an opposite reaction than what Inori received from Kagami. Tsukasa closed her eyes, scrunched her face, and began crying again, startling Matsuri.
"What did I do?! I didn't even say hello yet! This baby's broken!" Matsuri protested with a frown as Tadao and Miki laughed as Tadao gently scooped Tsukasa up again and placed her in Miki's arms and also placed Kagami back in Miki's possession and pulled out his camera.
"Okay, smile." He said, which Miki complied while Kagami stared at the camera with a serious face and Tsukasa continued to cry and claw at the air as he pushed the button and took the picture.
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Miki felt cold and it was the sudden change in the temperature that woke her from her nostalgic paradise. She opened her eyes and saw a blanket had been placed on top of her body as she heard commotion from inside the kitchen. The tired Hiiragi housewife stretched and slowly walked into the kitchen and to her surprise, the shattered china on the floor was swept clean and the broken cabinet was gone.
Miki looked further in the kitchen and saw Matsuri had her back facing her mother while she washed her hands in the sink. Miki entered slowly and said, "You swept the rest of the china?"
Reluctant to turn around, Matsuri nodded slowly. "Yeah, I did."
"Thank you, dear." Miki replied with gratitude. "Are…are you feeling okay?"
Matsuri nodded again.
"Please turn and look at me, Matsuri." Miki pleaded with a weak voice.
Matsuri sighed loudly to present her discomfort with the request but nonetheless complied. She slowly turned and revealed her face, consisting of a black and blue right eye socket where Tsukasa had elbowed her, an enlarged lower lip, and a bruise on her left cheek from a punch. Miki approached her daughter and pulled her slowly into a soft hug, followed up by tender kisses on her head just above the eye socket and on her bruised cheek.
"Are you okay, baby?" She asked.
Matsuri glanced away. "More or less. What about you?"
Miki hugged her daughter again, only this time it was more intimate and deep. Miki pulled Matsuri as close as she possibly could and whispered, "I don't know, dear. I don't know."
The front door opened, making Miki and Matsuri discontinue their hug and Tadao walked into the kitchen. When he saw his wife was awake, he couldn't help but comment. "You were asleep for more than two hours, dear."
Miki nodded and slowly yawned. "I know, I'm sorry."
"The police called us while you were asleep." Tadao informed with regret, grabbing Miki's attention. "They know of Tsukasa's incident with that exchange student and know the trouble she's already in. As far as this is concerned, it's up to Matsuri. If Matsuri wants to press charges, they'll keep Tsukasa in the jail until her trial."
Miki quickly turned to her middle child with a look of desperation. Through her blackened eye, Matsuri could see her mother's desire for her not to pursue more charges. Matsuri didn't want to admit it, but she was scared of Tsukasa and didn't know what to do. If she chose not to pursue more charges, Tsukasa could be released until her next court date for Patty-chan's attack and she would come home. If she did pursue the charges, it would gut Miki like a fish and Matsuri didn't want to be responsible for mentally killing her own mother.
Matsuri sighed again as all attention was on her and she slowly shook her head no.
Miki was about to thank Matsuri and hug her again, until Tadao interjected with, "Are you sure, Matsuri? I'll understand if you want to keep Tsukasa out of the house."
Hearing this prompted Miki to shoot a grave look of shattered emotions at her husband, which he picked up on instantly. He too sighed and instructed Matsuri to give them some alone time, which she promptly did as she was anxious to get out of that bad spot. When they were alone, Tadao opened by saying, "I assume you want me to bail Tsukasa out or something."
Miki looked at him with trembling eyes, hoping he would pick up on what she wanted through her body language. She wanted Tsukasa home where, in Miki's mind, she belonged. Tadao sighed loudly and turned, walked to the kitchen sink, and placed his hands on the counter, letting them slide away from him, making his posture slouch over in agony.
His wife quickly scurried over to him and hugged him around his torso. "My love, please, don't let them take my baby away from me. I'll do anything."
Tadao slowly turned and faced Miki again. "Were you in the same household last night? Tsukasa attacked Matsuri; her own flesh and blood. She gave Matsuri a black eye and Kagami a bloody nose. What's stopping her from doing it again or worse? She's not well, Miki, and keeping her here will do more harm than good. We need to call in a professional and have them take her to a hospital if it needs to come to that."
As soon as he mentioned hospital, Miki began to shake her head and wouldn't stop. "No, no, no. Please, anything but that. She's our daughter, Tadao. Remember when she was first born and she wouldn't stop crying until I held her in my arms? It was the first time I connected with Tsukasa!" She cried and allowed the full river of tears and emotions to follow. "Please, don't take that away from me! I'll never forgive myself if they take her away! If she goes, then you'll have to send me with her because I won't be able to survive without her!"
Miki was becoming hysterical again and Tadao led her over to a dining room chair where the fight took place the previous night and sat her down. She breathed hard and began to cough sporadically as she tried to keep talking through her chokes and wheezes. "I can still fix this! You just need to give me more time! Once Tsukasa sees that we're still here for her, she'll come around! She has to!"
Tadao feared his wife's mentality was going the way of his youngest daughter's. Of course he remembered the day when Tsukasa was born and when he held her for the first time. She wouldn't stop crying until she was in the loving and tender arms of her mother and he couldn't get Tsukasa away from her ever since. Even when Tsukasa was in middle school, the family almost needed a crowbar to pry the youngest twin away from her mother. With all those memories in his mind, it was still killing him to make these decisions, but he had to do what was best for his family. He still knew Tsukasa had a violent personality now and the next time blood would be spilled, it could be a whole lot worse than a bloody nose.
"I'm sorry, Miki. I won't allow Tsukasa to come home." He said and abruptly walked out of the kitchen.
It didn't go well over for Miki, who cried loudly again for her husband to hear. She sobbed and sobbed in the chair until she slumped out of it and curled into another ball on her own floor. She had been married to Tadao for many years prior to the girls' arrival and knew when he made a decision, he always stuck with it for better or for worse. Even when it turned out to be the wrong decision, Tadao still stood by it firmly as it was the principle of the matter over the actual reason that he held to his heart. When you make a commitment to anything, you stick with it, even if you get burned. That was one of Tadao's moralities that attracted Miki to him when they were younger. Tadao recently made a decision regarding Kagami however that raised questions about how far he was truly willing to go to make a point.
Miki was going to have to take matters into her own hands if she ever wanted to see her youngest daughter again. She had an idea to bail her daughter out but to do so, she would have to do something unthinkable for a family as religious as hers. Is a crime justified when it's used to help the ones you love? The answer was clear for Miki as she rose to her feet and readied to do the unimaginably insane.
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Across town at a café, Kagami was enjoying her newly reinstated freedom granted to her by Tadao with Inori. The two sisters sat together inside the restaurant, spending quality time together as this was the first alone time they had for each other in a very long time. Kagami stared out the window with an iced coffee sitting in front of her and watched the busy traffic scene outside and was anxious to start school the next day. She wasn't looking forward to her academics as much as she was to apologizing to and making up with Hiyori Tamura.
"You've been awfully quiet since we left, Kagami." Inori noted as she sipped her tea. "I thought you'd be overjoyed since dad ungrounded you last night. I've never seen him lift a punishment before."
Kagami slowly nodded and turned back to Inori. "I know, but I think it has to do with Tsukasa. When the police took her away, I think it was then that he realized just how quickly things can change and he didn't want me to start revolting too, either."
Staring at Kagami's red nose from Tsukasa's punch, Inori nodded. "I agree with you. But it's not dad I worry about, it's actually mom that has me concerned. I never thought she would've been the one to call the police like that."
The oldest Hiiragi twin nodded slowly, her long pigtails moving with her head. "You're right. It shocked me, too. I just hope that mom doesn't feel so guilty over that that she ends up doing something crazy to help Tsukasa."
Because Inori was the oldest daughter and therefore the unofficial leader of the Hiiragi children, she felt it was her responsibility to keep things as optimistic as possible, even with Tsukasa sitting in a jail cell. As a result, Inori tried her best to make Kagami smile again by joking, "Remember that American TV show Prison Break? I hope mom doesn't plant herself on the inside just to bust Tsukasa out."
The joke wasn't funny to Kagami and was poorly timed, but she could still see what Inori was trying to do. Nonetheless, the twin-tailed girl smiled and even giggled for her sister's sake. "I totally know what you mean." The resulting joke from Inori allowed the two sisters to share an uncomfortable laugh, which ended as quickly as it began.
After a few seconds of silence, Inori talked again. "Is your nose still hurting?"
Kagami shook her head. "No, not really. Again, Tsukasa is better at scaring people than she is at hurting them, except when she has a desk or a chair at her disposal."
Inori quickly cast her eyes downward upon hearing Kagami's statement and began to rethink this whole day. Inori wanted to take Kagami out and treat her to an iced coffee to make her forget about everything that had happened. It was a futile attempt as the only thing on both of their minds was Tsukasa and why all of this was happening to their once harmonious family. Only a few weeks ago they were celebrating New Year's the best way they knew how, and to think that thirty agonizing minutes of Tsukasa's life changed both her and the people around her for the worse.
Kagami looked up again and met eyes with Inori, and the oldest Hiiragi daughter could tell that Kagami was still hurting from this. Inori sighed and said, "I'm sorry for dragging you out here, Kagami. I just wanted to do my part and help everyone through this horrible time. I know how close you are with Tsukasa and you must be taking this harder than anyone else in the family, Kagami. I'm sorry this has happened to you, but I want you to know that I'm always here for you."
Kagami's expression changed from depressed to sympathetic and she slowly outstretched her hands. Inori connected her hands with her little sister's on the table while Kagami smiled faintly and said, "Hey, remember that time when we were kids and we were playing tag around the shrine? You were able to tag Tsukasa and as she was running after Matsuri, Matsuri ran across the stone path over the koi pond but Tsukasa slipped on a wet spot and fell in."
Inori quickly remembered the incident and couldn't help but laugh, only this time it was sincere. "Yes, I remember, Kagami. Tsukasa wouldn't go near the pond or even eat fish for a month."
The two sisters continued to laugh and share the fonder memories of their troubled sister together. This time Inori added another one. "And remember that one Christmas when Tsukasa tried to surprise us by wrapping gifts for us, only she had to hop out of her room because she accidently tied herself together with ribbon and tape?"
Kagami's laugh deepened and she began to feel happiness for the first time since the night Tsukasa was raped. While the two disconnected sisters mended their ties and became closer again, Kagami continued to reminisce in her mind some of the other times only she and Tsukasa had shared. The fraternal twins shared a special bond that neither Matsuri nor Inori could understand outside the mainstream connection of ordinary sisters. Kagami was always there for Tsukasa, except for one particular time when they were younger and Tsukasa was there for her instead.
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"Hurry up, Tsukasa!" A five-year-old Kagami called to the lagging Tsukasa as the two twin girls ran together in the community park. "You're such a slowpoke!"
Tsukasa panted and breathed hard as the physical labor was too much for her petite body as the twins neared a sandbox. It was the middle of July that year and the twins had recently celebrated their fifth birthdays only a few weeks earlier and their childhood continued to grow and flourish. Miki had taken them to the local park that day and she watched her two daughters play with a smile on her face as she held an umbrella over her head and her children made it to the protective shade.
"You're very fast, sis!" Tsukasa panted as she bent down and rested her hands on her knees to catch her breath. "I can't keep up with you!"
Kagami giggled and the two twins began to play together in the sandbox while Miki watched them with loving and protective eyes. They're so beautiful and innocent, she thought to herself. It's so hard to believe they'll be starting school this fall, she added and remembered a funny incident that happened on their walk over to the park. When they were walking, Tsukasa held Miki's one hand while Kagami held her mother's other hand and all of a sudden a butterfly flapped in front of the twins and caught Tsukasa's attention. The beautiful insect landed on a flower in a garden near Tsukasa and the young girl chased after it happily.
As Tsukasa approached the butterfly, she tried to grab it but the insect was too quick for her and it took flight but not up and away from the youngest Hiiragi twin. Instead, it flew right at her face and landed on her nose, suddenly changing Tsukasa's feelings about the flying insect and she shrieked and tried to run, making it take flight again. Tsukasa quickly wrapped her arms around her mother's leg and sobbed slightly as Miki couldn't help but giggle as she lifted Tsukasa up and held her tight, which the youngest Hiiragi daughter wholeheartedly appreciated and hugged back. She was much better by the time they arrived at the park.
With their plastic shovels and pails, the twins began to scoop the countless grains of sand into their buckets and build taller mounds of the particles. Tsukasa began to pick dandelions and stick them in the mounds of sand and the girls continued to build their childhood as Miki reached into her handbag and pulled out a book to read. The twins continued to play in the sandbox and Miki could hear their laughter for another ten minutes until she felt nature calling. She looked around and saw the bathroom facilities the park had and closed her book to relieve herself as she walked up to the sandbox.
"Girls, I need to use the bathroom. I'll be right over there," Miki informed her daughters and pointed to the facilities. "If you need anything at all or a stranger comes and talks to you, you know what to do, right?"
"Run straight to you and scream as loud as we can." Kagami and Tsukasa said together at once.
"That's my good girls. I'll be gone for five minutes so stay here." Miki commanded and took her bag with her into the bathroom stalls while the twins continued to play alone.
"Hey Tsukasa, go see if there are any flowers in those bushes!" Kagami exclaimed. "Our sand mountain will look so pretty with flowers on it."
"Okay, sis!" Tsukasa exclaimed happily and dashed from her spot in the sandbox and disappeared in the rows of bushes, leaving Kagami alone to continue playing, or so she thought she was alone.
As Kagami poured another shovelful of sand onto her growing mountain, three shadows casted themselves over the twin-tailed girl, startling her and making her turn and look up. Three older girls, around the age of twelve, stood tall above the young and petite Kagami with their arms crossed across their chests and with frowns plastered onto their faces.
One of them stepped into the sandbox and said in a taunting tone, "Aw, look at the pathetic little baby! Look at the little sand mountain."
A second girl stepped near the sand mound and began laughing. "Look at those pitiful little pigtails! They look like clumps of dryer lint! Hey kid, why do you have dryer lint sticking out of your head?!"
Kagami felt intimidated as she continued to sit in the sandbox while these older girls stood above her. To combat this, Kagami quickly sprung to her feet, only to be quickly pushed back into the sand by the third girl, who followed it up by saying, "Watch it, kid, you wouldn't want to fall and break something!"
The three older girls laughed hysterically as one kicked the sand mound in front of Kagami's face, getting sand in her face and hair. The oldest Hiiragi twin continued to put on a strong act as she stood again and exclaimed, "I'm telling my mommy on you!"
As Kagami turned to step out of the sandbox, one of the older girls pushed Kagami again against her back, knocking her forward and the oldest twin skinned her knee against the wood enclosing the sandbox. When Kagami landed on her face and in the grass, she felt the pain of her skinned knee and she began to feel the painful ball of emotions climb higher and higher as her eyes began to fill with tears. She continued to try and keep her tough girl act going as she struggled to hold in her chokes and winces from the bullies while they continued to laugh and point at the ailing Kagami.
The bushes rustled and Tsukasa poked her head out with her usual happy face across it and she was carrying a bundle of colorful flowers back to the sandbox when she saw what was happening. Her sister was in trouble and she suddenly felt scared, thus replacing her happy look with an expression of fright. She didn't know what to do. Kagami was always the one that took the lead and would protect her from other children, but these girls were much taller and stronger than her. What was she to do?
She suddenly got an idea. An old trick about berries her mother taught her after spending so many hours in the kitchen with her. Tsukasa abandoned the freshly picked flowers and retreated to an area in the bushes where she saw certain berries growing that her mother had warned her about. The youngest Hiiragi daughter quickly picked as many of the berries as she could and when she felt she had enough, she reemerged from the bushes using her dress as a way to carry the massive amount of berries.
The older girls laughed again as Kagami struggled to get up with the pain in her knee as Tsukasa approached them, her hands trembling as she held her dress up carrying the berries. "Um…excuse me," she said.
It caught the attention of the bullies and they quickly spun around and glared at Tsukasa. "Beat it, kid. Can't you see we're working here?!" One of them snapped.
Tsukasa felt like crying too, but she knew she had to remain strong for her sister. "I…I'm sorry for bothering you, but would you care for some berries?"
"We don't want your stupid little baby berries now get lost!" Another bully yelled, making Tsukasa shiver.
As they turned to keep harassing Kagami, Tsukasa made one last effort to get them to eat the berries. "Um…they're very good for your skin and pretty girls like yourselves surely must care about beautiful skin."
Once again, the bullies turned to Tsukasa and exchanged looks with each other. They had no idea Tsukasa was Kagami's fraternal twin sister and assumed she was some random kid passing by. They were still flattered by Tsukasa's words and each of the three girls grabbed a handful of the berries and began eating them.
"Wow, these are good," one of them said as Kagami pulled herself up and watched the scene unfold in front of her.
The bullies continued to eat the scrumptious berries until they were all gone and once again, they told Tsukasa to hit the road without even thanking her for the treats. They turned back to Kagami to keep their inhumane treatment of her going until one of the girls heard a noise. A gurgling sound erupted in one of their stomachs and she suddenly held it while saying, "I don't feel so good all of a sudden."
"Suck it up and let's make this kid eat sand!" One of the girls laughed but was suddenly silenced when she too felt and heard her stomach churn and twist into a knot, forcing her to bend over and clutch her abdomen. "Damn, what the hell is happening to me?!"
The third girl suddenly felt the same and her consequence came first. She felt her throat squeeze inside her and she released a spew of vomit from her mouth and it landed on her friends' shoes and pants, making them scream as Kagami scurried backward to avoid becoming a casualty herself. The sight and stench of the vomit triggered the other two bullies to vomit and they were soon splashed from their hair to their feet in each other's bodily fluids, making them cry. They ran away from the scene, trying to claw the gross fluid off them as it soaked into their clothes and it just left Kagami and Tsukasa alone again.
Tsukasa stepped forward as Kagami came to her feet. "Are you okay, sis?" Tsukasa asked.
"That…that was amazing, Tsukasa!" Kagami exclaimed as she dried her eyes.
Tsukasa giggled and replied, "It was nothing, really. Mommy taught me to never eat those berries or else my tummy would be mad at me."
"I…I can't thank you enough." Kagami said as she rubbed her skinned knee.
Tsukasa looked at the knee and approached it and added, "It was nothing, sis. You've always been there for me. Why wouldn't I do the same for you? I love you, big sister Kagami."
Tsukasa bent down and kissed Kagami's wounded knee tenderly, triggering emotions in the usually tough older twin. Kagami began to cry as she hugged Tsukasa, who hugged her back as Miki quickly reemerged from the bathroom and charged up the hill to the sandbox where she heard the commotion. When she got there, her heart melted when she saw the crying Kagami sitting on the ground but in the loving embrace of Tsukasa and the youngest twin kissed her older sister gently on her head.
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"Hey Hiiragi, wake up!" A brutish voice called accompanied with the banging of metal bars, waking Tsukasa up from her slumber. Curled and resting on an iron bed with a cold mattress in her jail cell, Tsukasa slowly looked up with her eyelids have shut, the light from the hallway proving overpowering. With her back facing the jail cell door, Tsukasa slowly turned her head towards the iron-bar door and saw an overweight guard standing there with his nightstick on the iron bars, explaining where the noise came from.
"What do you want, fatty fatty two by four can't fit through the prison door?" Tsukasa hissed in a hostile and fatigued voice.
The guard glared at her as he fiddled with his keys before replying, "You made bail. Get out of my cell."
Surprised by the news, Tsukasa slowly pulled her sore and aching body off the metal slab of a bed and stretched, her bones cracking and echoing across the hallway. Tsukasa stepped out of the jail cell slowly with her eyes cast downwards as the portly guard closed the empty cell and locked it again, followed by reattaching his keys to his belt as Tsukasa observed it.
"Is that your whole job? Your parents must be thrilled." Tsukasa snarled sarcastically with a scorn on her face and she turned to walk out of the jail block.
"Yeah that's right, keep your ass moving Hiiragi, before my nightstick becomes very familiar with the inside of it." The guard snapped.
Tsukasa froze in her tracks and slowly turned her head with a piercing look of hate across her face at what she just heard.
The guard laughed and replied, "That's right. I read your rape report when you came in here last night. I feel bad for the broom."
The guard laughed again as Tsukasa slowly turned her head and continued to walk out of the jail block as the laughing continued. His laugh reminded her of the laugh of Ryosuke's and his friends, only adding fuel to her fire of hate in her soul. Tsukasa was escorted into the lobby of the police station, where the police activity continued all around her and she scanned for what she expected to see would be her father. When she saw Miki finish signing the last piece of paperwork and eventually bow to the policeman, Tsukasa squinted her eyes and walked forward.
When Miki turned and spotted Tsukasa, she dashed through the busy lobby and hugged Tsukasa like she never did before. Her tears flowed from her eyes and dripped onto Tsukasa's black top until Miki pushed back and looked at her daughter. Tsukasa's complexion was much paler from the previous night and dark circles were under her eyes from the sudden change in sleeping conditions.
"Let me take you home, dear." Miki whispered and took Tsukasa's hand and led her out of the station.
When they entered the sunny day, Tsukasa squinted tighter to lessen the burning of her eyes. She wanted to rip her hand from her mother's grasp but didn't have the strength to do it and allowed herself to be pulled like a dog on a leash to the family car. When they sat inside, silence engulfed them until Tsukasa asked a question that nearly made Miki wet herself. "Where'd you get the bail money?"
After stuttering several times, Miki finally was able to lie, "You're father allowed me to spend some of our savings to get you out."
Tsukasa wasn't fooled but at the same time didn't care as she rested her head against the window. "How's Matsuri doing?"
Miki turned again and believed this may be the first sign of recovery. "She…she's doing fine, Tsukasa. We want to be a real family again but we cannot do it without you, so what do you say? Will you please shape up and join the Hiiragi household again?"
As Miki navigated through the traffic, she found time to look at Tsukasa, only to see her youngest daughter was leaning up against the car door and apparently asleep. Miki decided not to wake the sleeping Tsukasa up as she concluded that she had just as rough a night as everyone else. Tsukasa wasn't asleep though. She was pretending to be and only one thought could come to her mind even after the fight, her arrest, and her night in jail.
Nothing's changed.