Chapter 4: Lightning

Behind the door to the rooftop were the sound of heavy rains and probably Kagami's admirer if he was still there. Opening the door was simple to almost everybody in the world but to her, it felt like such a grave action to take. In between the torrent of the river of Kagami's life stood two fortresses: standing ground and withdrawing. She faced another decision-making situation and time wasn't on her side. Like all the other options in this purpose-driven life, she could only choose one among the others—one that dominated her mind and heart; and one that called out her name in a soft whisper. In the torrent of her river of life, she could seek refuge in either of the fortresses but she could only choose one; one that would affect her personality and reputation forever and add up to the archives of her life. Slowly she touched the doorknob with her right hand—touched but didn't turn yet. It was graver than touching the knob. Questions popped up in her mind.

"What do I really want in my life? Is this what I wished for? I always complain about not being lucky at love but…now that this happens, why am I still complaining? Is this the right thing to do? How will I explain this once the word is out?" There were too many questions to even enumerate; some of them being beyond her understanding. Disturbed by the unfortunate series of events, she unhesitatingly turned the doorknob and pushed the door outward with tremendous amount of force. Kagami ran outside and looked around her surroundings—no Hajime, just streams of rain soaking her wet.

"It looks like I'm too late. It figures…I should've met him at least for a couple of minutes." Kagami said to herself; followed by the first streams of tears that blended with the wet rooftop. An instant strike of lightning made her fell down to her knees under the torrential rains and the cold climate; followed by a roaring thunder.

She could even hear voices calling out to her. "Hiiragi! Hiiragi!" These weren't voices of the mind; more like a call from the outside world. "Somebody pull her out of the rain, hurry!" She saw the gray clouds going farther and farther away from her, and eventually everything became dark…as dark as a room without any lights on midnight.

"Steady now; get a towel. She's soaking wet!"

"That idiot, what the heck is she doing on the rooftop?! Lightning can kill!"

"Hiiragi! Please answer us! Hiiragi!"

"It's no use, she's out cold."

"Hiiragi, please give us a sign that you're okay!"

Kuroi-sensei happened to pass by the classroom full of students on cleaning duties. She overheard the various panicking noises coming out of the room.

"Hey, what's going on here? Don't you guys have cleaning to do?"

"Sensei, its Hiiragi!" One student at a time satisfied Kuroi-sensei's curiosity

"What about her?"

"We found her lying on the wet rooftop. We drew her out of the cold rain as quick as possible. I believe that she was struck by lightning."

"Say what?! Has she lost her marbles? Bring her to the infirmary immediately!"

"But the nurse just left several minutes ago."

"I don't care if there's no nurse in this school! Bring her to the infirmary immediately!"

As instructed by the teacher, several boys carried the comatose Kagami into the nurse's office across the hallway. In the office, she was put in a soft bed as the remaining students crowded the office. Among the crowd were two of her best friends; now worrying and troubled. Nobody knew the exact cause of her actions…even Kuroi-sensei. Misao and Ayano were getting anxious. Rain may not be lethal but whatever that made their friend down for the count was killing them.

"Listen, you all, I don't want a fuss in this school." Kuroi-sensei suddenly announced. "Whatever happened today, keep it to yourselves, got it?"

"Yes, sensei…!"

Everything happened too sudden—the confession at first and now this one. The rain suddenly got stronger; plus accompanied by lightning. It would be too dangerous for the students to stay for any longer otherwise they would be stranded for the night. The teacher sent them packing for safety before the rain gets anymore stronger. Only two of the troubled crowed refused to pack up and go; and these were her best classmate buddies.

"I'm sorry sensei but…we simply can't rest easy." Ayano said.

"Not with Hiiragi like that…" Misao added.

"I know how you feel but it's simply too risky to stay at school with the rain gushing and ferocious thunderstorms." Kuroi-sensei defended her stand.

"Then so be it."

"We'll do whatever it takes; just let us stay with Hiiragi."

"You do know that this is no prank. Are you even willing to stay here until she wakes up?"

"Yes, sensei..."

In this purpose-driven life, there are instances of great pain and decisive victory. Kagami had suffered a heavy defeat in this battle of life—well at least for now. Such defeat was regretting something that she hadn't done in the first place. Regretting was one thing but deception by destiny was another. With that being said, she had been deceived by destiny. The latter is not a bad element; the former happening is.

The torrential rains worsened as nightfall approached. Thunderstorms became very frequent upon nightfall. Kagami was still in bed with no sign of being okay to the outside world. A shower of water plus electric currents created a grave disaster. People being struck by lightning had only little chances of surviving because of its voltage beyond human resistance. Apparently she could resist a high voltage like any person could but she was soaking wet at that time. In one terrifying blow, she collapsed in the wet rooftop. Luckily, Misao wasn't convinced that it wasn't Kagami who ran across the hallway a while ago so she followed her tracks with Ayano after cleaning. It was too absurd to be some kind of suicidal plan to end the suffering. She wouldn't think of dying early; not until her duty on the living world was complete.

In front of the Hiiragi household, the three were offered shelter inside the home. Tsukasa was getting worrisome. Constant lightning strikes and thunderstorms made her worry very much as water conducts electricity.

"Tsukasa, where's your sister?" Her mother asked worryingly.

"She said she had something to do back at school. I don't know what."

"I hope she's safe. These lightning storms are deadly to the core."

Miyuki tried some words of encouragement.

"Tsukasa-san…"

"Huh?"

"Everything will be alright, don't worry. I believe in Kagami-san. You should, too."

"Yuki-chan…"

"If anyone can get through this, it's her."

Words like those left Tsukasa enlightened with a shimmering shower of hope; which was cool and all that. What will become of twins when one is gone? Still, even the wisest of best and the best of the wisest cannot be particularly sure about the events. They had high hopes for her safe return but only time will make or break such assertion.

"The rain's really coming down." Konata said. "I can't go home in this weather."

"Perhaps it's wise to stay here for the moment." Miyuki suggested.

"Good idea, Miyuki-san! At least I get free access to her homework."

"Um…that's not what I meant…"

Back at school Ayano, Misao, and Kuroi-sensei continued to watch over their literally-shocked friend. The simple drizzle of the afternoon exponentially grew to an all-out shower by nightfall. Judging by the conditions outside and the presence of lightning and thunder, going home was out of the question. They have their umbrellas unfortunately they were even too scared to step foot outside every time lightning strikes and thunder roars. A dire hit could destroy the power grids around the area. A severe lightning strike and loud roar of the skies knocked out the telephone lines. They couldn't call for help outside the campus, hence, stranded in the school. The torrential rains flooded the streets as high as their leather shoes. Of all the days of the entire revolution of the Earth, it had to be this day that disasters occurred.

They took turns in watching over Kagami. It was seven o' clock: it was Misao's turn to take over Ayano's post. Kuroi-sensei rested up because she volunteered for the late night shift (10:00 pm – 5:00 am if it took that long for Kagami to wake up). It had been approximately three hours since she was attacked by Mother Nature's wrath. There was no change in her condition—still unconscious as usual but still drawing breath every second. It was the first time in the history of the school that somebody was actually struck by lightning as electrifying as touching an electric eel.

Then, a miraculous sign—Kagami's hands twitched and her eyes slowly slightly opened. The one in charge hurriedly alerted the rest of the three-woman crew.

"Hey Hiiragi, pull yourself together!" Kuroi-sensei exclaimed.

"S…Sensei, where am I?" Kagami was awake but still not stable.

"In the infirmary…you're pretty lucky to have survived that lightning attack. It almost killed you! What made you go into the rooftop anyway?"

"Lightning…? I…I was supposed to meet…somebody…but I was too late to show up."

"Thanks to your blunder, we're all stranded here for the night. It's even too dangerous now to go home now that the simple downpour has turned into a storm surge."

"My apologies…sensei…"

"Rest up. We'll move out in the morning. I'll convince the other teachers to excuse all of you from classes tomorrow."

It seemed that the goddess of fortune was on their side. However since Kagami had to sit tomorrow out, she couldn't meet Hajime tomorrow. She never gave out her contacts to him. Also, she wondered if she would be able to go to Tokyo Tower two days from now. Her feet still trembled, creating difficulties even in standing up.

"Can you stand up?" Misao asked her.

"Barely…" Kagami answered with an unexpected smirk.

All of them weren't ready to leave yet. They are all stuck inside the school for at least until the heavy rains die down. They took this opportunity to rest up in the infirmary.

An hour had passed and the twins' mother was more than worried. Konata and Miyuki made their respective calls at their homes; telling their parents that they couldn't make it home until the rain dies down (somehow they understood the situation they were in). Tsukasa couldn't get any homework done; not without her stranded sister helping her. Feeling somehow responsible as a friend, Miyuki dedicated herself to helping Tsukasa out while Konata watched a program randomly on TV.

Meanwhile at the doorstep, the couple argued.

"You can't go outside. Rain showers and lightning storms are running amok out there." The wife argued.

"I have to. This is Kagami we're talking about." The husband stood his ground; wearing a raincoat and grabbing the umbrella.

"You might get hurt out there. Wait for the storm to subside."

"Every minute we wait here is a part of our daughter's life being taken away."

"I respect your faith, dear. But for once please listen to reason."

The husband spoke no more. He opened the door to the raging monsoon outside and opened his umbrella as he stepped out of the house.

"Tadao, that's suicide!" She yelled; crying.

TO BE CONTINUED