CHAPTER 12
THE SCANDAL
Forcing herself to wake up and prepare her morning routine, Kagami once again had to face another day with the trouble of knowing that her sister was missing from the household. Every time Tsukasa disappeared, Kagami feared that each time it would end with the police coming to their door to inform them that they recovered her body from some street gutter or alley. Nevertheless, Kagami continued to ready herself for school as she divided her long hair into her two trademark pigtails while looking in the bathroom mirror.
With her hair fixed, she slowly turned her head and stared at the bathtub, the same one that nearly became Tsukasa's coffin. She shuddered at the spotless white fixture that had since been cleaned of Tsukasa's blood, as well as the tile floor. It was a sickening process and she remembered gagging when she helped Matsuri and Inori scrape the dried liquid off the floor. She walked out and closed the glass door, which had a piece of cardboard and duct tape sealing the area where their father forced through to open the door to save his daughter.
Kagami rethought everything as she walked to the train station alone and realized that she had no idea where Tsukasa was. She assumed that her sister was still at the hospital and living as an inpatient at the hospital while enrolled in that psychological program Dr. Hirukawa told them about. She hoped that that was the case but Kagami was smart enough to know that it wasn't that simple and she believed Tsukasa was out on the streets again. Taking into account Miki's refusal to talk about Tsukasa last night, it was all the evidence the oldest Hiiragi twin needed to conclude she was right.
"Good morning, Kagami." A familiar voice said and Kagami turned to see her blue-haired friend Konata approach.
Seeing Konata put a smile on Kagami's face and she waved to her and greeted her warmly. "Hey, you."
Konata seemed passive this morning. Her trademark grin was absent and her face was locked in a serious expression. "I'm worried about you, Kagamin. What happened after your big sister picked you up the other day? She picked you up and yesterday when you came to school, I could barely pry two words out of you and when school was over you ran out."
Kagami sighed knowing that this was going to come sooner or later. Everyone was still oblivious to Tsukasa's suicide attempt since she was no longer a student at their high school and it was Kagami's heart-felt apology to Hiyori that was still the talk of the town. It was out of character for the hard-nosed tsundere to apologize, especially in tears. Kagami didn't mind it though; if anything, she was grateful because she wanted to keep Tsukasa's troubles as far away as possible.
"I'm fine, Konata. It's just that Tsukasa is still in a lot of trouble and we don't think she cares." Kagami said with remorse. "She has no more ambitions. She doesn't want to go to school, she's still causing my parents grief, and she keeps disappearing for long periods of time. I don't know what to do anymore."
Konata nodded slowly and placed her hand on Kagami's shoulder. "It sounds really rough. Don't give up hope though. You have a strong support system at home and I know someone as strong as you will pull everyone out of this rut."
Kagami deepened her smile. It was rare for Konata to be so serious but then again, Kagami faced a very serious matter. She was taken by her friend's support and suddenly hugged her, surprising Konata as their train entered the station.
"I have to tell you…Kagamin…I'm a little turned on right now. Please tell me you have chocolates in your pockets." Konata joked and returned to her infamous personality, so Kagami naturally returned to hers.
"Shut up, weirdo!" Kagami snapped and pushed the short-statured otaku away from her as Konata giggled.
Balance restored, Konata thought to herself with her grin as she followed Kagami onto the train.
She wouldn't admit it but Kagami was giggling to herself after Konata made the joke. It made her feel better and being around Konata's antics brought a sense of stability and a familiar comfort to her as they sat and the train took them to school. They continued to talk casually just like the good old days and Konata continued to keep up her prankish personality because she knew Kagami was counting on her. Even though Kagami was smiling and laughing with her, Konata knew that Tsukasa's situation was still eating away at the oldest Hiiragi twin and she needed to do her part as her friend to keep her happy.
When they got to school, everything seemed to continue uninterrupted as the two friends walked towards their classrooms and got ready to part ways. It wasn't until Konata disappeared in Miss Kuroi's classroom and Kagami was left alone when it all began to unravel again. Kagami approached two female students standing next to each other, one was holding her cell phone up with a shocked expression glued to the screen and her friend stood next to her, also with the same face and couldn't take her eyes of the glowing picture on the screen.
The second girl looked up and saw Kagami approaching, making her elbow her friend who still held the phone to grab her attention. The two girls suddenly glued their looks at Kagami, catching the twin-tailed Hiiragi daughter's attention. There was an awkward silence between the three of them until Kagami glared and spoke.
"What?" She spat.
The two female students to Kagami's surprise began to giggle and they tried desperately to keep it from turning into deep laughs. Sweat formed across their foreheads as they gritted their teeth and began to lose the anti-laugh battle as Kagami's glare tightened.
"What is it?!" She yelled at them.
They shook their heads together and continued to try and keep their laughs contained. The girl who held the phone stuttered, "N…No…Not…Nothing…Nothing…Nothing Hiiragi."
Kagami rolled her eyes and continued walking to her classroom as she muttered to herself about how weird they were. She didn't know their names but has seen them around before and didn't like them. They were bordering on the delinquent side and were the types of girls that never did their homework, were always late to school, and would be seen at late night raves. They were also into the same genres of manga and anime as Hiyori and Konata were.
When Kagami was gone, the two girls couldn't contain their laughs anymore and released their gut busters, quickly drawing tears. They coughed and wheezed and when they were content with their amusement, they wiped their tears away and lifted the phone back to their eyes and gazed at the screen's picture with enthusiastic eyes.
"I can't believe this…this is the greatest thing I've ever seen." One of the girls giggled as she looked at the picture.
Her friend nodded. "Damn right. You could be granted a million lifetimes and never get anything this good. This is a sign from above."
The two girls drooled over the picture. On the phone's screen, a picture from last night's rave in Tokyo showed them what Tsukasa Hiiragi has been doing with herself since she was expelled. The picture showed Tsukasa in her lingerie swinging on the support pole on the stage with her nostrils throwing blood and the look on her face was pure animalistic. The girl holding the phone clicked to the second picture, which topped the first one. Tsukasa was making out with Yuka Miyakawa on stage, still nearly naked and completely out of her mind.
"What are you going to do with them?" Her friend asked.
The girl who held her cell phone formed a sinister grin and navigated to her address book. "My friend was kind enough to share these goodies with me…so I'm going to share them with everyone at Ryōō High School. Kagami can take this and shove it up her snatch."
The two conniving girls laughed again as she attached the photos to everyone in her address book in text messages with the caption "Tsukasa Hiiragi's day off." With one fateful movement, she pushed the send button and once again, another powder keg was lit and the detonation countdown began. It was only a matter of time until the entire Hiiragi family would be the laughing stock of not only Ryōō, but all of Saitama.
Hiyori Tamura waited anxiously for the clock to strike noon for lunchtime. Not because she was hungry, but because four hours earlier, she felt her cell phone vibrate in her skirt pocket when it received a text message. She had been anxiously awaiting a message from one of her friends who was also well-vested in the manga underworld, only with one addition; she was also into raves and never missed one. According to her friend, she saw something so shocking last night at a warehouse rave in Tokyo that it shook her to the core.
When the clock struck noon, the students began to push their desks together while Hiyori dug for her cell phone and quickly withdrew it. Flipping the screen open, she saw it was from her friend and that it was a picture message. She assumed that her friend had seen a cosplayer that had an outrageous ensemble and that she too needed to see it. It wasn't until she saw the caption "Tsukasa Hiiragi's day off" that made her heart beat and gulp.
Pressing the open button on her phone, Hiyori nearly shot out of her seat like a missile when she saw the youngest Hiiragi daughter hanging from a pole and wearing black lingerie. She sweated bullets and breathed hard, now feeling as if she was sucked into a moral crisis on what to do next. Looking at the CC section of her phone, Hiyori then realized the extent of the damage that was falling onto the Hiiragi family and it was dire. Her friend had forwarded the images of Tsukasa to sixty people, who were undoubtedly going to forward it to more people, keeping the malicious cycle going and spreading the images like a plague. It was only a matter of time until it reached Kagami's phone.
"You have got to be shitting me!" A voice yelled from behind Hiyori and she quickly turned to see another student holding his phone up and looking at the screen. "Hey guys, come and check this out! Looks like we went to school with a slut!"
Hearing the last sentence corralled all the boys over to the area and around the phone. Their reactions were simultaneous and the same when their eyes exploded in their heads and began pointing and laughing hysterically. Some cussed in shock at it and when they saw the second picture, the whole classroom exploded in a mosh of screams and satisfied laughs.
"Is that really Hiiragi?!" One of them yelled.
"Oh man and I always thought it was the other twin that had the butch in her!" Another laughed.
"I'm spreading this shit around!" The student who received the picture on his phone proclaimed and as he began to spread it like a virus, the other students demanded that they get a piece of the action, too.
Hiyori had to act. Minami and Yutaka were infected with curiosity as they were beginning to walk over to see what the commotion was all about but the female otaku quickly stopped them and tried to make it look casual for Yutaka's sake. As Hiyori moved towards the door, she quickly whispered to Minami, "Don't let Yu-chan see those pictures."
Minami didn't know what was going on but could see the seriousness in Hiyori's eyes and heeded her warning. She quickly steered Yutaka away from the laughing frenzy as Hiyori shot out of the classroom and ran as fast as she could down the hallway. Knowing that her legs were no match for the speed of cyberspace, she still ran in the hope of getting to Kagami before any of her sister's compromising photos could.
When Hiyori arrived at the senior hall, she eyed Kagami's classroom door and suddenly saw a short blue-haired girl tear from around another corner, also aiming for the twin-tailed Hiiragi's classroom. It only took one glance to see it was Konata and she had the same look of panic as Hiyori and seeing her with her cell phone also in her hand confirmed that she had received the photos too.
"Sempai…! Tsukasa-san…!" Hiyori panted.
"I know! I know! We have to hurry!" Konata exclaimed and the two female otakus arrived at Kagami's classroom door and quickly ripped it open. They rushed in and absorbed the scene. Unlike Konata's and Hiyori's classrooms, which erupted into riots upon seeing the photos, Kagami's classroom was dead silent. All eyes were fixated on Kagami as she held a cell phone in her hand while staring at the screen. Misao and Ayano stood next to Kagami, each one with an expression of horror and grief. Ayano held her hands over her mouth with her eyes wide while Misao held her trembling hands out towards Kagami. She wanted to comfort her but was afraid of what Kagami would do if she was touched. Hiyori and Konata exchanged looks of dread. They were too late.
Kagami kept her back facing her friends and stood perfectly still. Ten painful seconds ticked by and Kagami didn't move or twitch a muscle. She was struck lifeless the second she saw the photos that arrived on her phone. Everyone in Kagami's class was mortified by the photos and was sympathetic to her, but didn't know how to approach her or comfort her. How could they? What do you say to a miko when she suddenly discovers that her baby sister has been doing such unspeakable things and that her family was now inevitably going to collapse because of it?
Konata slowly approached her friend with her hands outstretched. "Kag…Kagami. It…it's okay. We all know that this isn't who Tsukasa is. Your sister…is just in pain. Please…don't blow this…out of proportion. It…it isn't that bad—"
The cell phone in Kagami's hand suddenly slipped from her grasp and as soon as it smacked against the floor, it happened. Kagami released a deafening scream and grabbed her head as she fell to her knees and cried with all her might. All she could scream was no over and over again and began to thrash, triggering Misao, Ayano, Hiyori, and Konata to intervene. They tried in vain to calm the oldest Hiiragi twin as her twin-pigtails came undone and Kagami turned herself into a crying, screaming, thrashing mess. Kagami was smart enough to know that these pictures were still circulating around school. She was also smart enough to know that because of it and the bad publicity, her life was over. If it was one thing that was a serious stigma in Japan, it was the stench of scandal and right now, her family was chest-deep in it and still sinking. No college or law school in Japan would come near Kagami now. If only the damage caused by Tsukasa's pictures would stop there but unfortunately, scandal knows no limitation.
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Sitting alone in the Honden of his shrine, Tadao Hiiragi searched deep within his soul and within the building's most sacred artifacts for an answer. The broken man stared at the shrine's kami, a portrait of the goddess Amaterasu, and prayed relentlessly. He prayed for Tsukasa, for his family, for himself, but most of all, he prayed for a miracle. He also prayed for forgiveness. Forgiveness from the gods for, what he felt in his mind, letting such a morbid crime bestow itself upon his youngest daughter.
He couldn't sleep the previous night. Not just because Tsukasa wasn't home, but because he couldn't stop seeing the video of the rape. Every time he closed his eyes, his mind only acted like a theater replaying the same grotesque film over and over again. Tadao couldn't even eat breakfast this morning he was so repulsed by what he saw at the police station and the fact that it was burned into his memories made him think he wasn't going to eat again anytime soon.
As he sat alone in the quiet, it allowed him to hear footsteps sound against the cobblestones and approach the Honden. Someone was advancing towards him as he finished his prayers and the sliding door behind him slowly opened. Matsuri's voice whispered, "Dad, you have a phone call. It's Yoshimizu-san in Tokyo."
Tadao lifted his head up upon hearing the name of his former religious mentor from college. This man taught Tadao everything he needed to know about being a great priest, and was there for the family giving religious and mental support behind the scenes after Tsukasa was raped. He was also aware of Tsukasa's downward spiral but wasn't aware of the severity of it. What could he want? This question consumed Tadao's mind as he followed his middle child back to their home where his mentor awaited via the telephone.
"Hello, Yoshimizu-sensei. What can I do for you?" Tadao asked when he put the phone to his ear.
The older religious teacher cleared his throat on the other side and began to speak. "Hello, Tadao-san. I first wish to continue to express my deepest sympathies to you and your family."
Tadao sighed mentally and replied, "Thank you, sir."
"Allow me to get straight to the point. I actually have good news for you since I've known that your shrine has been in a rut lately." Yoshimizu-sensei said. "I received a phone call the other day from a secretary of the Prime Minister of Japan and his granddaughter is getting married next week. The Prime Minister is adamant about his granddaughter getting the best possible wedding and was looking for a well-qualified priest and naturally, I thought of you."
New life was struck into Tadao's eyes as he took in the once in a lifetime offer. If he could perform the Prime Minister's granddaughter's wedding, it would wipe away all the troubles the Hiiragi shrine was having. The wedding would be in all the newspapers in Japan and the shrine would receive incredible publicity from both political and religious supporters. It would draw countless more tourists, as well as the Prime Minister's political supporters who would undoubtedly contribute financial support to the shrine. It could also pave the way for more VIP weddings, thus putting the Hiiragi shrine at the top of the religious tourism trade.
Tadao couldn't help but smile. "You…you don't say, sir?"
"Absolutely, Tadao-san. Everything is ready to go for the wedding so all you have to do is make sure the shrine is prepared for all the visitors." The elderly instructor added.
"Thank you so much, sensei. You have no idea how much this means to me and my family!" Tadao exclaimed happily and on the verge of tears.
"Yes, actually I do, and that's why I brought this offer to you and no one else." Yoshimizu-sensei replied. "It appears that this is a gift from above and a sign that everything will get better for you and your family."
Tadao nodded happily. "Thank you once again, sir."
The two old friends continued to talk to each other and inform the other of what has been happening in their lives since they last talked. Tadao's news wasn't as uplifting but at this point it didn't matter. He had an opportunity to come out on top and bring his family out of this horrid groove that was forced upon them. Unfortunately, he was still oblivious to the next storm that was on the horizon and had the Hiiragi family in its sights.
Hearing the news lifted the Hiiragi spirits and prompted Inori and Matsuri to quickly begin the preparations for the Prime Minister and his granddaughter. They swept the grounds, cleaned the shrines, made decorations welcoming the highest-ranking politician in the country, and practiced the Kagura dance. Spirits and morale were both high for the family as Tadao also eventually joined them in their preparations and practiced the traditional ritual for the wedding.
The hours flew by as the preparations continued and as Inori and Matsuri pursued their work, they eventually caught sight of Kagami slowly walking towards them returning from school. The family's euphoria was so deep that the two older sisters looked right through Kagami's broken face and her bloodshot eyes from her crying episodes throughout the day. Her head was cast low as she walked towards their home while Inori called to Kagami.
"Kagami! You're never going to believe this but the Prime Minister of Japan is coming here next week! His granddaughter is getting married and dad is going to perform the ceremony!" Inori proclaimed.
Kagami didn't respond. She kept her head low as she continued to walk despite hearing the joyous news. That time it caught Inori's and Matsuri's attention. News of the Prime Minister's arrival didn't stir one response from Kagami as she continued to walk. As they watched their little sister disappear into their house, the two older siblings looked at each other.
"Something's happened. You think Tsukasa has resurfaced somewhere?" Matsuri asked.
"I thought Tsukasa was still at the hospital. You think mom let her go? After a suicide attempt?" Inori asked with dread, to which Matsuri could only shrug and Inori added, "I'll go talk to her."
Inori promptly abandoned her work while Matsuri continued to feverishly prepare for the special event. The oldest Hiiragi daughter approached Kagami's room and gently knocked on the door. "Kagami? Are you okay?"
No answer.
"I'm coming in." Inori gently informed and slowly opened the sliding door. She peered into Kagami's room and saw her little sister sitting on her bed, her back facing the door. Inori approached her silent sibling and slowly sat down next to her. "Kagami…are you okay?"
Kagami remained silent and her eyes continued to fill with water. Tears once again flowed down her cheeks as she sat facing away from Inori and looked out her window at the birds flying in the sky. She envied them because now all she wanted to do was to take off and fly far, far away.
"Kagami please say something, you're scaring me." Inori said sternly when she looked at Kagami's face and saw the tears.
"My life…is over." Kagami choked in her tears, telling Inori that something was very wrong.
She placed her hand on Kagami's shoulder and said, "Did something happen at school? Or does it have to do with Tsukasa?"
Hearing the name of her disgraced little sister prompted Kagami to scrunch her face together and quickly cover it and cry again, shocking and terrifying Inori. Something happened and it had to do with Tsukasa.
Inori grabbed Kagami's shoulders and held her firm. "Kagami if something's happened to Tsukasa you need to tell me now and we need to get mom and dad involved. Is she hurt? Is she…"
Kagami shook her head. "No, Tsukasa isn't dead…but we all might as well be."
"What are you talking about?" Inori snapped with rising fear in her voice.
Unable to put the atrocities into words, Kagami reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She had received the same message with the same pictures over a dozen times since her first meltdown, some of which contained deliberately hurtful and taunting messages from other students. Kagami pulled the two infamous images up and handed her phone to Inori.
When Inori saw the baby sister that she so fondly remembered playing with and holding all those years ago, she felt her chest tighten. Seeing Tsukasa dangling from the pole in such seductive undergarments drove a spike through her heart and Inori too felt her eyes flood. It wasn't until she saw the next photo of Tsukasa devouring another girl's mouth that made her stomach churn and she felt sick.
Inori found the strength within her as the oldest Hiiragi child and quickly closed Kagami's phone. "We say nothing to anybody. Not to mom, not to dad, not to Matsuri, not to anyone. At least not until after the wedding. You have no idea how much this wedding means to us, especially dad."
Kagami dried her eyes and continued to choke and wheeze as she replied, "But you said that's next week. These pictures are already all over school. There's no way it'll stay quiet until then."
Inori gulped and knew that Kagami was right. "We have no choice but to take that chance, Kagami. This wedding means so much to dad and if this ever got to the Prime Minister's office, he would pull out of the deal and find another shrine."
Kagami slowly nodded as she understood the severity of what was happening. "I won't say a word."
Inori wrapped her hands around Kagami's head and pulled her close into a hug. "I won't either. I'm here for you, Kagami."
Despite her tough persona, Kagami cried again and hugged her big sister. Kagami was still human after all and had feelings like everybody else and seeing Tsukasa deprave herself in such a way killed her. It was becoming clear to Kagami that Tsukasa was severed from the family at this point, but knew that her individual choices were still going to hurt the family. Even when Tsukasa wasn't around to insult or assault them, she still forced her problems onto the ones that loved her.
True to themselves and to each other, Kagami and Inori remained silent on Tsukasa's newfound hobby. Later that night, Kagami tried to focus on her homework while ignoring her cell phone. The device still continued to ring and vibrate with more copies of the pictures and hurtful messages arriving. The one that nearly made Kagami crush her phone in anger was when one student sent the pictures to her with the message, "Enjoyed your sister's show. Got a birthday coming up soon, how much to use her?"
Still oblivious to his daughter's situation, Tadao sat in the kitchen and drank a cup of coffee with Miki. "Things are starting to finally look up, dear." He said with a smile.
Seeing the familiar smile of Tadao's face brightened Miki's day as she returned the facial expression and nodded. "I agree, dear."
"However, I still need to ask you," Tadao suddenly became serious. "What did you choose to do with Tsukasa? I assume you enrolled her into that psychology program Dr. Hirukawa recommended."
Miki nearly spat out her coffee when her heart suddenly jumped into her throat upon hearing the question. Now was the moment of truth. "I…I…yes. Yes…I enrolled her into that program Dr. Hirukawa recommended. I did do that…"
If it was any other day, Tadao would've seen right through his wife's lie. However, his mind was completely occupied with the upcoming wedding that he saw as the light at the end of the tunnel. He nodded and thanked Miki for doing so as the two continued to drink their coffee and talk.
Thank God he didn't ask me about the bail money, Miki thought to herself and continued to present her fake smile for her husband. With every lie she spoke and with every yen she took, Miki continued to dig a deeper and larger hole for herself. She didn't have much further to dig until that hole would become her grave.
As they conversed, they had no idea that the storm for the Hiiragi family had arrived at their shrine. Six people dressed in dark clothing and each one carrying large bags of destructive supplies arrived at the shrine and began to put their plan into action. One young man opened his bag and pulled out a can of red spray paint and approached the Honden shrine. With an evil laugh, he began to paint messages of hate across the shrine, undoing all the cleaning Inori and Matsuri so painstakingly went through earlier that day.
Another man opened his bag as he approached the shrine's ema. The ema, the large wooden wall where guests would hang small wooden plaques with their wishes written on them, was the next target of vandalism. Inside the bag, hundreds of fake wooden plaques sat inside with more messages of harassment and with a quiet laugh, he began to hang them. Some he even began to nail into the ema.
The next young vandal opened his bag filled with rolled up posters and began to cement them onto the walls of the other shrines as the destruction continued. The posters were without a doubt the worst part of the destruction because of the images they contained. Were these men alone in their horrible actions? Not a chance; they were merely the puppets as the string puller watched the whole scene unfold.
With her nose in a bandage and her bruises still healing, Patricia Martin stood and watched the men continue to unroll the posters on the other shrines while others spray painted more messages on the property. She ordered her friends to break into the Honden shrine and plaster the entire inside with the posters containing the same images. She even had some of them physically destroy the toros, the decorative wooden lamps that lit the walkway.
The process took twenty minutes and when it was over, Patty-chan smiled sinisterly at what she had created. Red painted words were now put on the shrines that said horrible and vicious names against Tsukasa and the Hiiragi family. The plaques that now polluted the ema were going to tear the religious family apart but the worst part was the posters that now served as wallpaper for every shrine on the Hiiragi property. If this action didn't drive a permanent spike into the heart of the Hiiragi family, nothing would. This was Patty-chan's revenge for what Tsukasa did to her and the humiliation that the foreign student suffered.
In a bitter voice, she said, "No Tsukasa Hiiragi…you've made my shitlist."
The traps were set for the unsuspecting family and Patty-chan and her gang quickly retreated from the crime scene before they were spotted. Tadao Hiiragi thought that his troubles were all but over when he received the phone call earlier today about the Prime Minister's granddaughter's wedding. After Tsukasa's rape, her meltdown, her change in personality and wardrobe, her school expulsion, her arrest, her suicide attempt, and her disappearances, he thought his troubles and his family's troubles were over. Despite all of these dramatic episodes, the true pain and drama hadn't even started for the Hiiragi family yet. That would all change at dawn the next morning.