CHAPTER 19
THE TRAGEDY
Tadao Hiiragi sat in the dark on his rock-hard bed in his motel room with the phone to his ear. Feeling depressed and grounded, he listened to his newly hired lawyer explain the grisly details of what the legal proceeding was like in a divorce. It was ugly and worst of all it was going to hurt his daughters more than it was going to settle anything. As his lawyer's words became white noise, he reminisced about the devastating events that brought him to this spot. He admitted that despite the fact that Miki stole from a charity for the homeless, he was still in love with her and that he didn't want it to come to this. Tadao was regretting his decision to divorce his wife but at the same time couldn't ignore what she did. What would any man do in his spot?
He suddenly heard a knock on his motel door, giving him a perfect excuse to cut his legal conversation short and inform his lawyer he'd call him back. With that unpleasantness behind him for the moment, Tadao opened his motel door, expecting it to be either Inori or Matsuri, maybe even Miki hoping to reconcile.
Anyone could imagine his surprise when a tall man with blue hair was standing before him. Though they've only met a few times in the past and never became close friends, Tadao recognized this man to be Sojiro Izumi, Konata's father.
"I…Izumi…" Tadao's voice and perplexed expression illustrated his surprise.
He smiled and replied, "No need for formalities, Tadao. Just call me Sojiro."
"What can I do for you then?" Tadao asked, trying desperately to hide his upset persona underneath his exterior.
"It seems my daughter visited yours the other day and she asked me to come and see you." Sojiro replied with a joyful appearance. "Konata told me about the marital problems you're having and since Konata and Kagami are good friends, I wanted to come over here and just have a talk with you."
Tadao's eyes slowly shifted away. "How did you know where to find me?"
"It also seems that there are no secrets between our two daughters." Sojiro added with a deepening smile. "They're very close, you know. It was Kagami that told Konata where you were. I think that was Kagami's subliminal way of trying to ask for help."
Hearing this only made Tadao feel worse about the situation. He knew how badly this split with Miki was hurting her and she was now exhausting all her means to try and stop it. "I'm sorry my daughter made you come all the way out here."
To Tadao's surprise, Sojiro kept his smile and shook his head. "I don't even want to hear it, Tadao. Now come on, there's a bar down the street so since I came all this way we might as well drink a few rounds."
Tadao shook his head. "That's very kind of you, but I don't drink."
"You do now. You're a member of an exclusive club now; the single father's club so come on. It's even all on me since it's your initiation night." Sojiro added, practically grabbing Tadao and pulling him out of his dreary motel room and down the street.
It all happened so fast and Tadao barely had time to react. Less than five minutes ago he was talking to his lawyer and now he was sitting in a bar with a man he barely knew drowning the sorrows of his broken family. The atmosphere was as depressing as the current Hiiragi home life so naturally, Tadao fit in perfectly there. Sojiro ordered them two drinks and to Tadao's surprise, the widowing Izumi swallowed it in one large gulp and immediately demanded another.
Tadao slowly sipped the powerful beverage and it was an immediate fiery sucker punch to his taste buds and fought the urge to spit it out. It barely made it down his throat as it too burned his esophagus and his stomach felt like a wildfire as he breathed deeply and Sojiro laughed at him.
"Yeah you weren't kidding. You really aren't a drinker." He exclaimed and downed his second drink.
Tadao finally forced the rest of the burning liquid down his aching throat and shook his head. Through his coughs he said, "But it's not that bad really. I can see how this would take anyone's mind off their troubles."
Sojiro nodded as he watched the bartender pour his third round. It suddenly became serious. "I remember when I first came here. My wife had just died a few days earlier and my parents were in town. They took care of Konata for me while I went on my own little downward spiral."
Tadao slowly looked at his budding new friend. He had known that he and Konata had both lost their beloved Kanata many years ago but he didn't know the exact details of what happened or what happened afterward. He knew it wasn't his business but now it seemed the older Izumi was about to open up and allow him to hear the details.
"You know, Tadao, I was in your exact same spot when Kanata passed away." Sojiro took this third drink and watched the liquid swish in his glass. "Kanata was my everything. I remember when I first asked her parents for her hand in marriage. Do you know what they said to me?"
Tadao shook his head.
"They said no before I could finish the request. Her father even took it a few steps further and said that I was creepy and that I wasn't good enough for his daughter." Sojiro added as he swished the liquid in his glass and watched it dance. "I said that he was right. I wasn't good enough for Kanata. My exact words were, 'you're right, sir. I'm not good enough for your daughter. I don't think any man on this Earth is fit enough to hold her hand let alone stand by her and be husband. Your daughter is a goddess among mortals. What she sees in a degenerate like me is beyond all comprehension of rationality but the fact of the matter is that she does see something. That gives someone like me hope. Hope that maybe there is something more to me than what meets the eye. Your daughter wields a powerful force that could topple any empire without firing a single shot. That force is called her love and if I could marry into it, I would cherish it and protect it forever. Whatever she loves and cherishes, I would accept with open arms.' That's what I said to her father. He changed his mind right there on the spot."
Tadao was speechless. That was one of the most romantic things he had ever heard in his life and it even topped everything he ever said to Miki in their marriage. He remained silent as Sojiro continued.
"When Konata was born, we were both so happy, but it was short-lived. Kanata became ill and I spent every moment I had with her. I was there until the very end when she died in front of me it was then that I wanted to die, too." Sojiro said and quickly downed the drink. "When I lost Kanata, I felt I lost everything and that there was nothing worth living for. I left Konata with my parents, checked into a motel, and lived inside the bottle for nearly an entire week while contemplating killing myself."
Becoming more vested in the story, Tadao asked, "What snapped you out of it?"
Sojiro suddenly formed another smile after bringing the mood down with such a depressing story. "It was when I wandered home one night drunk and I saw my daughter. She was crawling on her own and she tried to pick up a manga that was nearly as big as she was. When I saw her hoist it up, it was too heavy for her and it pulled her to the side and she fell down. I realized what I was missing. Konata was going to grow up and if I didn't shape up, it would pass me by. And I asked myself what Kanata would say about me if she saw me like that. Wasting away in a stingy motel room drinking away my troubles and abandoning Konata as my tribute to her. It all made sense then. My daughter. My daughter was and still is everything to me. She's the only thing I have left of Kanata's memory and I wanted to be there to cherish and protect that memory, just like I told her father."
Tadao looked at his empty glass. "Is this why you brought me out here, Sou-kun?"
Hearing his name uttered in that style surprised Sojiro. "My wife called me that."
Tadao nodded. "Like you said earlier, there are no secrets between our two daughters."
Sojiro chuckled and patted Tadao on the shoulder. "Listen my friend, Konata told me that there was an issue between you and your wife. I don't know what the issue is but I know it's none of my business but I do want to say one thing. I can see you get the point of my story. It was my daughter that saved me from myself and I was always there for her ever since. Your daughters still love you and whatever issues you may have with your wife, I can assure you that none of them can trump your love for your daughters."
Tadao slowly nodded. "I love Inori, Matsuri, and Kagami with everything I've got. But what my wife did was unforgivable. It hurt a lot of people and not just the ones she loves."
"I couldn't help but notice you only mentioned three names. I believe you missed one." Sojiro observed as he signaled the bartender for another round.
This observation only made Tadao cringe as now he wanted another round. When he got it, he downed it like a pro, surprising Sojiro. Tadao coughed lightly and added, "I only have three daughters, Sou-kun."
Sojiro slowly shook his head. "I remember awhile ago when Kagami and Tsukasa had a sleepover with Konata at our home. I was very humbled by your daughters' politeness and selfless attitudes. Tsukasa especially. She was so sweet, caring, helpful, and happy."
Tadao asked for a third round and abruptly swallowed it. "She was. But what she too has done is horrible. I've done everything I could as a father for her."
"Really? Everything?" Sojiro implied something else.
Quickly turning his head, Tadao showed a stern facial expression. "Since there are no secrets, I assume you know everything about Tsukasa up until now so what would you do if it was Konata in Tsukasa's place?"
Tadao saw Sojiro shudder briefly. From one father to another, Tadao knew that Sojiro felt a horrific chill while thinking about such an atrocious crime happening to Konata. "If Konata was on a spiral like Tsukasa, I would never stop loving her. No matter how much shame she brought me. No matter how much she hurt me. No matter how much she wanted to prove something to me. No matter how much trouble she got in with the law or anybody else. Love is the most powerful tool a parent can have and it can and will conquer everything ugly and horrible in this world. Kanata taught me that."
Once again, Sojiro spoke profound words. Tadao's sudden look of guilt and shame made the oldest Izumi smile and finish his last drink. He paid for all the drinks and stood up. "I have to go. Konata said she'll be home a little late so I want to be there for her. I would like to have another round with you one day, Tadao Hiiragi. I think we have a lot to talk about as fathers."
Sojiro left the bar with a smile on his face, an opposite for Tadao. He stared at his last drink compliments of his new friend and rethought everything. The old memories of Tsukasa's birth popped into his head, along with their first dance together in the Kagura-den and everything else up until last fateful New Years. He felt tears in his eyes as he readied himself to drink he realized something new. He still loved his youngest daughter, Tsukasa Hiiragi. He wanted her back and he wanted her safe in his home. He still loved Miki and didn't want to leave her or their daughters. Tadao swallowed the drink and stormed out of the bar to once again resume his undying duties as a father and husband. He wasn't going to let his family go so easily.
(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(- )-(-)
She wasn't satisfied with where her life was going. Tsukasa Hiiragi sat in the backroom of The Black Window and once again found herself in the epicenter of a life of drugs and self-destruction. Hugging her legs to her chest and curled into a ball, Tsukasa couldn't help but think about the chain of events that led her back here. The civil war in her family that led to her banishment should've felt like a war of liberation, but it still felt like a civil war. Tsukasa remembered when she held that kitchen knife to Kagami's throat and looked in her older sister's eyes. That look Kagami gave her. A look of sheer desperation and defeat. She couldn't get it out of her head.
Tsukasa felt a rollercoaster of emotions when she returned to The Black Window. At first, Tsukasa felt enraged and angry. To think that Yuka Miyakawa simply tossed her out the car door and left her to die when she overdosed on drugs after all they'd been together. Tsukasa was so confused. After she was raped, her concept of love was severely damaged and she thought all the times she and Miyakawa had sex was true love. When Tsukasa angrily confronted her on this, Miyakawa got angry and yelled at her. She told the still-naïve Hiiragi girl that she now belonged to the streets and that it wasn't the pampered lifestyle she was so accustomed to. Life was very short, hard, and painful in the streets and the few days they knew they had on Earth would be dedicated to whatever gave them the strength to even wakeup in the morning. If one of them went down, they weren't going to let that drag all of them down and that's why Miyakawa ditched Tsukasa when she was in trouble.
What else could Tsukasa do? She had nowhere else to go but to continue to slip further down the social scale, if that was still possible. She lifted her head again and slowly looked around the backroom and felt scared. She was surrounded by the same people who brought the drugs that nearly killed her and eerie smoke continued to hover high above them. Used or still-burning joints were sitting in ashtrays while empty plastic bags littered the floor, as well as empty pill bottles and used syringes.
What scared Tsukasa more was what she saw Yuka Miyakawa doing. With metal music pulsing around them and setting a troglodytic atmosphere, Miyakawa was slowly dancing with one of the male junkies. They held each other close and Tsukasa felt disgusted when she saw the guy fondle Miyakawa's chest and suckle her neck. Miyakawa held the guy close and nibbled his ear as she drifted her hand below his belt. They whispered seductive things into each other's ears and tested each other. How long would it take for one to rip the clothes off the other?
When they put their tongues in each other's mouths, that's when Tsukasa shuddered and looked away. She suddenly found she was trying to use an old trick she tried to use when she was being raped in the Kagura-den. Tsukasa tried to leave her body and be in a happy place. It once again proved to be a futile attempt when she realized she had no more happy places. Whenever she was depressed in the past, she would think about cooking with Miki, or being in a world full of puppies, or being with Kagami. She couldn't see her happy places anymore. Now she felt like Kagami without Tsukasa; an empty shell.
As she tried to leave this uncomfortable scene, Tsukasa didn't notice another male junkie standing in the corner with his eyes locked on her. He was scanning her, eyeing her body and he was aroused by her. He squinted with a sinister mind and turned his attention to Miyakawa, who couldn't take the foreplay anymore and took her lover by the hand and began to lead him into the secluded bedroom.
Before she could disappear in the next room, the junkie eyeing Tsukasa turned to Miyakawa and cut her off. Tsukasa didn't see him whispering something to Miyakawa, who grinned and she nodded. She let her lover's hand go momentarily and walked over to Tsukasa, grabbing her attention.
"Hey there sweet face, still having fun?" She asked in a fake voice of affection.
"What are you doing with that guy, Yuka?" Tsukasa asked in a voice that was getting ready to cry.
Miyakawa rolled her eyes and groaned. "Look Tsukasa, you make for a good triple-x throw down every now and then, but I'm still a woman and I need some man-meat inside me every now and then. Besides, you see that guy over there?"
Tsukasa turned her head and saw the guy who was eyeing her a minute earlier.
"He's pretty nice and kinda cute, don't you think?" Miyakawa asked. "Anyway, he says he likes you and that he wants to have you."
The idea triggered another rollercoaster ride of emotions and she was scared. The thought of another man doing those things to her again only brought back the nightmares that haunted every corner of her once innocent mind since New Years. She pulled herself tighter into a ball and shook her head while whimpering.
"Look, are you going to keep up this quiet little daddy's girl routine forever?" Miyakawa asked with frustration. "You think you were the only one who was dealt a bad hand? My dad used to beat my mom and me so I escaped using drugs and having sex. Now if you want to forget your troubles, either take another hit or give me half an hour and you can have the bedroom when I'm done."
Miyakawa left Tsukasa open and vulnerable again as the youngest Hiiragi daughter felt more scared. She felt more tears form in her eyes as she watched the woman whom she thought she could trust and whom she thought loved her take a junkie's hand and lead him to the back bedroom. He slammed the door behind them and Tsukasa truly felt open and abandoned. In addition, she now had to feel paranoid and scared because there was a guy in the same room with her who wanted to have his way with her.
Tsukasa kept an eye on him. Her heart pounded faster and faster as the junkie refused to take his eyes off her. As she stared at him, something made her more frightened. This man looked a lot like one of her rapists named Daisuke, the one who videotaped her ordeal and was the last one to rape her mercilessly. Her breathing deepened and she tried to keep herself calm as she scanned the rest of the room in search of anyone that could help if something happened. There were only two other guys in the room and one was unconscious while the other was clearly stoned and couldn't even sit properly as he was slouched over with an empty pill bottle in his grasp. They would be less than useless if something happened.
Movement caught Tsukasa's eyes and when she looked towards it, she saw the man who was eyeing her begin to walk towards her. She instinctively stood up and tried to keep her body covered with her arms and froze as he stopped short of her and Tsukasa continued to breathe deeply with obvious fear in her eyes.
"Hey there, I've been watching you all night." He said in a voice that sent a chill down Tsukasa's spine.
She looked away, trying to conceal the fear in her eyes. "Please, I don't want to…do anything. I'm scared."
This man with long, dirty black hair that nearly covered his eyes formed a small grin, making Tsukasa's heart beat faster. "Once I get it in my mind that I want something, I always have it."
With her knees shaking, Tsukasa felt one tear run down her cheek as she tried to uproot her planted feet and get out of the haunting store. She was able to take one step back until she saw the junkie's eyes shift to the front of the store where he could see the shop's windows and the darkness of the night outside.
He turned his eyes back to Tsukasa and said, "I guess if you want to leave this place, you can. Isn't that your sister from the other day outside looking at us?"
Tsukasa quickly turned around thinking she would meet eyes with Kagami but to her surprise, they only met darkness. She should've seen what was coming next. A pair of hands wrapped themselves around Tsukasa's top and with sudden and fierce vehemence, she was thrown onto the floor. Before she knew what had happened, the junkie straddled her and was on top of her.
Tsukasa snapped. In the blink of an eye, she unleashed an unprecedented wave of screams and thrashes as she tried to fight off her attacker as he grabbed the front of her top. With more violent movements, the junkie ripped Tsukasa's top apart and exposed her petite body, covered by a white bra. He grabbed her breasts and the horrors of New Years exploded and she increased her thrashing and struggles as she screamed.
"No…! No…! Please don't do it…! I don't want it…! I beg you, don't rape me…! No, don't do it…!" Tsukasa cried with the tears pouring from her eyes as she continued to thrash and kick. It soon proved ineffective when he dragged his tongue across her face and neck, making her scream for Miyakawa. "Yuka…help me!"
Inside the bedroom, Yuka planted herself on top of her lover as they stretched on the raggedy bed. Her black bra wrapped around her breasts was the only thing keeping her decent as she rocked herself back and forth on top of the junkie. She heard Tsukasa's cries for help but tried her best to ignore them.
"Isn't that your friend outside?" The junkie asked.
Miyakawa rolled her eyes. "Yeah, just ignore her. Once your friend penetrates her, she'll be fine. She's such a drama queen."
Miyakawa took a remote control and turned on a stereo system and played more death metal music to drown out Tsukasa's cries for help as she resumed her dirty deeds with the junkie by pulling the blanket over top of them.
Tsukasa continued to struggle as she heard the junkie undoing his belt. She looked around desperately for assistance but saw the other two junkies hadn't changed positions. One was still unconscious while the other was still on a drug trip and had no idea that Tsukasa was in trouble again. She didn't give up. Knowing that time was running out as she felt him pull at her tight pants, she spotted an ashtray with several objects sitting in it and she quickly reached for it.
Not knowing what she just grabbed, Tsukasa wrapped her fingers around it and swung it towards the junkie and closed her eyes. She didn't expect to hear the junkie scream in excruciating pain and when Tsukasa opened her eyes, she petrified herself when she saw what she did to her would-be rapist. A used syringe was jammed into his cheek and the needle traveled through his flesh and lodged itself into the top of one of his back molars, which sent intense shockwaves of pain into him as both his tooth and cheek leaked blood.
He rolled off the top of Tsukasa and held his face and thrashed, giving Tsukasa the opportunity she needed. Holding her torn top together and still trying to keep herself covered, she sprung to her feet and ran as fast as she could out of The Black Window and into the desolate night. She ran and ran down the empty sidewalk in the frigid cold with all her strength but she only made it a few blocks until the frigid winter air drained her strength. Tsukasa slowed to a jog and eventually to a stop.
She breathed deeply as she stood next to an alleyway and tried to make sense of everything that had just happened. She was already gang-raped in her family's shrine but now it felt that the same thing had happened again. Her heart continued to pound like a drum and she sweated despite being in the cold and she slowly sank to her knees. Trembling heavily, Tsukasa grunted and whimpered in fear until she let it out again. She screamed with all her might though no one was around to hear her and her tears continued to flow as she cried after the horrifying ordeal. Feeling her stomach tighten, she quickly sprung to her feet and vomited into an open trashcan as the clouds moved in above her. A storm was on its way.
(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(- )-(-)
For some reason, Konata was nervous. As she sat alone in the busy restaurant, she felt her right knee shaking as she looked at her watch, reading 8:00 pm on the dot. Why was she so nervous? It's not like this was the first time she was meeting a friend to share a meal and talk about what's been going on in their lives. Maybe it had something to do with why she was there and who she was seeing.
When Konata saw the restaurant door open and she glanced over to see the person walking inside, her heart leaped into her throat. Seeing the short wafting hair of Kagami's new look triggered Konata to raise her hand and wave the oldest Hiiragi twin over to her. Keeping her usual serious face, Kagami walked into the dining area past the other customers as they ate and laughed with their family and friends. Kagami slowly took off her jacket and sat down across from Konata in the booth.
"I hope you didn't have any trouble getting here." Konata said.
Kagami shook her head. "No, not really. Inori and Matsuri took mom out shopping to try and take her mind off what's been going on around our home and I didn't have anything else to do. So what did you want to talk about?"
Konata cleared her throat. "I want you to come back to school tomorrow, Kagamin."
Kagami raised her eyebrows as her only response.
"This thing with Tsukasa and the pictures is all-but resolved and nobody is going to make fun of you or your family anymore." Konata added. "I found the person responsible for it all and we both owe Hiyorin a big thanks because without her, she wouldn't have been able to help me. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know because when you come back to school tomorrow, I want you to be prepared. The person who did that to your shrine and added those billboards in Saitama was—"
"Patty-chan." Kagami stated with no emotion.
Hearing this nearly made Konata fall out of her seat. "You…you knew…? The whole time…?
"The whole time." Kagami added as the waitress sat complimentary glasses of water in front of them and left.
Konata gulped. She thought she knew everything about Kagami but it turns out her attempts to bust Patty may have been in vain after all. "But…but…but why didn't you do anything? Why didn't you call the police? Why didn't you call the school?"
"What do you think was more important to me at the time, Konata? Busting Patty-chan, or getting my baby sister back from the darkness that she's now a part of?" Kagami snapped as she took a drink of the refreshing water. "Come on, Konata. Tsukasa is expelled for beating Patty to a pulp and then she disappears from school and the next thing we know our shrine is vandalized. It doesn't take Detective Conan to put that together."
Konata couldn't help but grin on the inside upon hearing the anime reference but kept her poker face solid on the outside. "But…I don't get it, Kagami. You didn't take any action. Hiyorin and I worked hard and risked a lot for you and your family so that you could come back to school."
Kagami looked away. "I'm not coming back."
"What are you talking about? Is this about the other day when I came to your home?" The blue-haired otaku felt a mixture of frustration and fright.
Shaking her head, Kagami looked at her friend again. "This has nothing to do with you, Hiyori, Patty-chan, or even those pictures of Tsukasa. My sister is gone, Konata. Tsukasa is gone and there's nothing I can do about that. Busting Patty-chan or me coming back and even getting a law degree isn't going to change that, and that's why I'm not coming back to school. There's no more point in it."
Konata was now frustrated. She saw Kagami throwing her life away and was in a way joining Tsukasa. "So because Tsukasa is gone, that means you're going to keep hurting yourself and punishing your family and—"
"Shut up, Konata!" Kagami yelled, halting all the activity in the restaurant and now they were the center of attention. A few tense seconds of quiet passed until the activity slowly returned but people were still looking at them as Kagami continued. "What if it was Yu-chan, Konata?"
"Yu-chan?" The blue-haired girl was confused.
"Remember awhile ago before Yu-chan moved in with you and you, me, and Tsukasa were sitting in this exact same restaurant and you said that Yu-chan was like a little sister to you?" Kagami tried to jog Konata's memory. When Konata's facial expressions showed she remembered that one Valentine's Day a long time ago, it allowed Kagami to continue. "What if it was Yu-chan that was violently gang-raped in your own home and it sent her on this spiral? What would you have done if Yu-chan turned into a monster and started hating you and began to get in trouble, tried to kill herself by her own hands and with drugs and to attack you or your dad with such violent and merciless fury with no regrets? What if she even succeeded in killing somebody, like Yui-san? Would you want to go on at that point? Could you even go on at that point? What would you do, Konata? What would you do?"
The outburst shocked the blue-haired girl as this meeting wasn't going as she had planned and hoped. The terrifying hypothetical scenario took her by surprise and the only thing she could vocalize were grunts and stutters.
"You see…you hesitate." Kagami snapped with her narrowing eyes and she folded her arms across her chest. "You wouldn't know what to do. None of us did…and that's why I feel we failed Tsukasa. Tsukasa left us a diary and in its pages, she showed us that we thought we knew what was best for her and we always treated her like a baby. Tsukasa needed to recover in her own way but we didn't let that happen."
"What's your point?" Konata asked quietly.
"My point is that none of us know what we think we know. I even thought I knew what was best for Tsukasa instead of her and I played my part in throwing her down this vicious cycle that has broken us." Kagami said and hung her head. "I can't even cry about it anymore because I'm so damn depressed about it that it has reached new levels where crying seems so petty. I'm dropping out of school because if I didn't even know what was best for my own sister, what makes you think I know what's best for me in the academic world? My father is gone now, too, and I need to play my part in keeping my family afloat."
Konata slowly shook her head. "So that's it? You're just giving up?"
To her horror, Kagami nodded. "That's the only thing left to do. I'm going into Tokyo tomorrow to find a job to help support my family. I heard there was a fishing company that hired people at my level to clean fish."
Konata glared at such a grotesque degradation to Kagami's dignity. "But you're better than that, Kagami. You can go to law school and even become Prime Minister of Japan one day! Don't let this be the death of you!"
Kagami looked away again and began to tremble. It was at this moment that both their worlds would crumble forever when Kagami opened her mouth and added, "I don't think we should be friends anymore either, Konata."
She didn't believe what she heard at first. Konata turned her head so her ear would face Kagami's mouth and asked to repeat that.
"I said we shouldn't be friends anymore, Konata." Kagami said with a sniffle in her voice. "When Tsukasa was raped, a curse was put on us. We've sunk below everything that could possibly go wrong and now I fear that anyone who gets close to us will also be cursed. I never used to believe in that stuff…until they proved themselves right. To think…this all started with Tsukasa drawing a great blessing fortune on New Years."
Kagami slowly rose from her seat and Konata's heart began to pound. Was this truly it for them? "Wait, where are you going, Kagamin?"
Kagami slid her jacket on again. "Home, where I belong. I think you should do the same thing too, Kona-chan."
Konata gulped and couldn't help but hear that Kagami called her by her nickname, something she never did. "But what about Hiyori and I? What about what we did for you?"
Inhaling a deep breath, Kagami bent down and wrapped her arms around Konata. She held her shorter friend tight and whispered. "Tell Hiyorin I said thank you. I appreciate all you've done for me and everything you did to stop the picture scandal. You've been a good friend, but I was a bad sister. Thanks again, Konata. I love you."
Konata continued to silently panic when Kagami released her and even kissed Konata on her forehead. When she withdrew, Kagami could see that Konata was on the verge of crying and the former twin-tailed girl knew she had to leave now. As she walked out of the restaurant, she didn't look back once. Kagami knew if she looked back and saw the look on Konata's face, she wouldn't be able to leave her as she too fought back her own tears.
When Kagami disappeared, Konata lowered her head again. Staring at her glass of water, her vision became murky as her eyes flooded and tears flowed down her cheek. She uttered, "I love you too, Kagami Hiiragi. I'll never stop, either."
(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(- )-(-)
She was a mess at this point. Still struggling to hold her torn top together, Tsukasa wobbled through the empty streets as it began to slowly rain down on her. Her breath was visible in the orange glow of the streetlamps and her tears running down her frozen cheeks burned her. Tsukasa was at the very end of her sanity rope as she kept crying over her second nightmare. She was fortunate enough to escape this time, but she continued to feel old feelings. For some reason, she felt guilty over what she did to her would-be rapists by using the syringe as a weapon. Was this a good sign that she was feeling such emotions again? It was something the old Tsukasa would feel.
Distraught and freezing, Tsukasa had no idea how long she was wandering the streets. Over an hour had passed since she was nearly raped for a second time but she didn't know that, and she also didn't know where her legs were taking her as she continued to wobble and walk. As the rain continued to fall, the freezing temperatures on the ground began to turn it to ice and she nearly slipped a few times.
After nearly falling for a sixth time, she grabbed hold of a lamppost outside a house and she slowly looked up. Her heart once again pounded when she looked down the empty street and saw the familiar red Torii structure at the end of the road. She was almost home. Without even thinking, her legs began to take her towards her old house, but would she even be welcomed there? Why was she even going there? Her father made it clear that if he ever saw her again on his property, she would be hauled away by the police, but maybe that wouldn't be so bad. She had nowhere else to go so a jail cell actually seemed more appealing than going back to The Black Window.
When Tsukasa approached her house, she saw all the lights inside were off and the structure was dark. Nobody was home. Just her luck. That however didn't stop her from trying to find warmth in the sanctuary as she approached the back door and looked at a rock sitting in the garden. She prayed that what was underneath was still there and when she removed the freezing rock, Tsukasa nearly cried in joy when she saw the silver emergency key to the door sitting in the soil. Grabbing it quickly, Tsukasa quickly unlocked the back door and stepped out of the freezing rainstorm.
She felt yet another rollercoaster of emotions strike her mind and body as she heard voices in her head. She could hear her and Kagami's laughter as kids, the conversations she had with her mother, the lectures about doing better in school from her father, and the talks Inori and Matsuri had together. The warmth of the house's interior melted the icicles forming in Tsukasa's dirty black hair and began to drip onto the hardwood floor as she made her way further into the house.
Her body on autopilot again, Tsukasa wobbled up the stairs in the dark house and navigated to her bedroom and when she slid the door open, she felt cold again. Nevertheless, she walked inside her empty room and slowly opened her closet, looking at all the cute outfits she once dazzled everyone with. Feeling tears mount in her eyes again, she pushed them aside until she found the red and white patterned winter uniform from her old high school. She couldn't help but hug the top of it and smell the detergent aroma of the clothing that made her feel like she was back in the light.
She slowly took the uniform off its hanger and rested it neatly on her bed. Tsukasa felt relief when she dropped the torn black top off her body and let it fall to the floor. She remembered when she first bought that top from Yuka Miyakawa. The day she skipped school, changed her hair color, went to a rave, took her first drugs, had her first night of all female debauchery, and assaulted Kagami the next day. She never wanted to take things this far; Tsukasa just wanted the opportunity to become more assertive and get her space, even if it meant making her family resent her. It now proved to be a worthless idea.
Tsukasa fixed the school uniform over her torso and tried to warm herself with its long sleeves. Still trembling from the freezing cold, Tsukasa slowly walked downstairs again and found herself in the kitchen again and walked to the kitchen sink. Turning the faucet on and letting the water flow, she turned it as hot as it could go and when it was steaming, she placed her frozen hands under the stream and tried to warm them. It took awhile until she got the feeling back into her hands but when she did, she immediately turned the water off and stood in the quiet darkness.
She stood there for five minutes hovering over the sink with the silence of the rainy and cold night her only company, just like the night of her rape. When the long five minutes passed, she heard a noise behind her. It was the chatter of three women as they opened the front door and entered the house. Tsukasa recognized their voices instantly as belonging to Inori, Matsuri, and Miki. Still, she held her ground standing over the sink and staring out the window.
When the lights above her came on, Matsuri's scream shattered the silence, triggering Miki and Inori to rush in.
"What's going on?!" Inori cried as she rounded the corner and saw Matsuri standing facing towards the kitchen.
When Inori saw the entity in the kitchen, she too shrieked at first in fear but later in shock at who was in their home. Miki also came rushing in and when she saw Tsukasa standing over the sink and in her current physical condition, she was frightened.
"What the hell are you doing here, Tsukasa?! Do I have to throw you out myself?!" Matsuri yelled as she stepped forward but Inori grabbed her shoulder and held her back.
"Tsukasa…are you okay?" Inori asked as she slowly stepped forward. She knew something was wrong. Tsukasa's black skin-tight pants were still on her legs, but they were torn in certain areas and it was the fact that she was wearing her school uniform top that made them more surprised. Inori took a slight step towards her statue-like sister and added, "What happened to you, Tsukasa?"
Life suddenly struck Tsukasa's body and she slowly turned to face them, scaring her family even more. Her face was dirty with running mascara as a result of her tears, red marks were across her face, and her hair was stringy and filthy. Tsukasa looked like she was thrown into a mud puddle and given a quick once-over with a towel, spreading the dirt around. Her eyes were that of a terrified child as she opened her mouth.
Only whimpers emerged in a crying tone when she said, "Mommy…Inori…Matsuri…I don't want to be raped anymore."
Oh god, it happened again.
The thought exploded in all three of their minds as they slowly approached Tsukasa. With their hands stretched out, Tsukasa quickly panicked and squealed with fright and held her arms out as a shield. Miki suddenly remembered the diary's contents and quickly backed away, as did Inori and Matsuri. They gave her room to breathe as she hyperventilated and let more tears fall from her eyes and her knees continued to knock.
"Tsukasa, if you were raped again, we need to get you to the hospital now." Miki said in increasingly fruitless attempts to sound calm.
Tsukasa shook her head. "I…I wasn't…I wasn't…raped. I was able to escape."
The three women breathed blunt sighs of relief as Matsuri added, "Good girl, Tsukasa, you fought back, didn't you?"
Tsukasa nodded quickly.
"You're strong, Tsukasa. Stronger than a lot of women would be in that spot." Inori added.
Tsukasa, with her eyes still dripping water, quivered again. Her hands and wrists still dripping wet, she slowly hugged herself and struggled to keep her balance. "I give up. I don't want this anymore. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore."
Miki and her oldest daughters wanted to smile as they thought the nightmare was almost over for their family. The Hiiragi housewife took a step closer and said, "Let us help you, Tsukasa. We can call Dr. Hirukawa and enroll you in his program."
What came next took the Hiiragi's by surprise and it was established that their nightmare was still far from over. Hearing this made Tsukasa snap again and before any of them could bat an eyelash, Tsukasa lunged for a drawer, ripped it open, and grasped the largest kitchen knife. She quickly pulled it out and pointed it at her approaching family members freezing them in their spots. Tsukasa had no idea she was holding the same knife that Kagami once forced her to hold and urged her to kill her with.
"I'm not going anywhere! I don't trust him! He'll take me away and throw me in a room with other crazy people! They'll touch me! They'll rape me there too!" Tsukasa screeched, making the waterfalls under her eyes increase.
When they saw the knife, the Hiiragi women threw their hands up as if to surrender. They were scared now. What was going on in Tsukasa's mind? Was she about to rear her homicidal side again like in the pages of the diary? Was she planning on taking that knife to her wrists again? Or did she simply want to self-preserve and escape again?
"Tsukasa, please, put the knife down." Inori tried to remain calm. "We're your family and we just want to help."
Tsukasa shook her head violently as her grip on the knife trembled. "Just stay back!"
"Okay, okay, Tsukasa. We're all cool so let's just take it easy. What do you want us to do?" Matsuri asked, still with her hands up.
Hyperventilating, Tsukasa looked around as her paranoia was through the roof. "I need to get out of here! I need space! I can't breathe! Back up!"
The three functioning Hiiragi women began to move to their left and Tsukasa also moved to her left, they began to walk in a circle which would allow Tsukasa to go out the front door as she still pointed her knife at them. As this happened, Kagami finally arrived home after her short and disappointing meeting with Konata. Approaching the front door, she heard screaming inside and quickly poked her head around one of the windows and looked in. To her horror, Tsukasa had her back to her and gripped the familiar knife while the rest of her family was still trying to talk the youngest daughter off her cliff.
Kagami knew it was up to her to disarm Tsukasa and came up with an impulsive plan. It had a slim chance of success but she still had to try. Slowly entering through the front door, Kagami began to sneak up behind Tsukasa, her heart pounding in her chest with every step. Tsukasa still held the knife tightly as she continued to slowly walk backwards towards Kagami, still oblivious to her sister's presence.
"Tsukasa, please, don't keep doing this to yourself." Miki said with pain in her voice and suddenly noticed Kagami approach from behind Tsukasa in the darkness.
"I'm not going to that program!" Tsukasa yelled and suddenly, it happened.
Kagami shot out from behind Tsukasa and quickly grabbed her wrist holding the knife and it made Tsukasa explode. She thought her rapist had found her. She screamed and began to thrash with all her might as Inori, Matsuri, and Miki yelled at Kagami to watch the knife. Unfortunately, Kagami didn't know that Tsukasa's wrists were still soaking wet and the hand holding the knife slipped from Kagami's grip.
Tsukasa quickly spun and closed her eyes as she grabbed her attacker and hugged herself tight to Kagami's body. Silence. It followed as the two Hiiragi twins hugged each other and Tsukasa kept her eyes shut. When the sweet smell of a familiar shampoo entered Tsukasa's nose, she suddenly opened her eyes and shifted them to her attacker. Seeing her identical hairstyle forced her to slowly pull away and her heart sped up again when she saw a mortified expression on Kagami's face.
Kagami breathed slowly and looked her fraternal twin in the eyes and tears formed in hers. She opened her mouth and said, "Oh Tsukasa, look at what you've done to us. All we wanted to do was help you. Now look what you've done."
Confused, Tsukasa slowly looked down and saw she was still gripping the knife's handle. What she saw next made Tsukasa's life with Kagami flash before her eyes. Her panic hit new highs when she saw the entire blade of the knife had disappeared into Kagami's stomach and blood was slowly seeping out. Tsukasa had stabbed her own sister.
Letting go of the handle, Tsukasa took a step back and as tears formed in her eyes, she said, "Sis…I didn't…I tried not…you…please don't…"
To her surprise, Kagami smiled. The last thing Tsukasa heard from Kagami was, "At least I got to see you one last time."
With her single sentence complete, Kagami's pupils went wide and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Losing control of her body, Kagami collapsed onto her back, the knife still stuck in her abdomen and leaking the red liquid of life.
"Kagami!" Inori, Matsuri, and Miki yelled together and they quickly stampeded and pushed Tsukasa aside and huddled around Kagami's lifeless and bleeding body on their knees.
"Inori, call an ambulance now!" Matsuri took control as Miki cried and kept calling Kagami's name.
Tsukasa stood above them trembling ferociously and another wave of fresh tears rolled down her cheeks as she stuttered. "I…I didn't mean to! It was an accident! Sis snuck up on me and—"
Miki's anger suddenly exploded. She erupted like a volcano as her pupils shortened and in an emotionally-driven rage, turned to Tsukasa and showed her the face of an angry animal. "Look at what you've done, Tsukasa! Look at what your behavior has done to us! Was bringing shame to your father and family not enough?! Are you not satisfied until we're all dead?! Well you just murdered your own sister! Kagami is dead! Get out of my house, you monster! I never want to see you again! Get out now!"
The order sank in and Tsukasa immediately fled the scene and began to run down the empty street again. It was still raining as the night wore on and she kept running, even when a screaming ambulance zipped past her towards her former home. Now what was she going to do? There was only one way out of this as far as Tsukasa could see it. Death. Tonight would be the night that Tsukasa planned to leave this world forever and put all the memories behind her.
As she continued to run in the darkness while crying over what she had done, she didn't know what was going on in the cyber network of the local police. The voices echoing across the radios all relayed the same message to every police car.
All units be advised…we have an APB for a 10-28, suspected murder. Suspect's name is Tsukasa Hiiragi. I repeat, suspect's name is Tsukasa Hiiragi, over.