CHAPTER 3
At a little past two o'clock in the morning, the front door of the Hiiragi residence unlocked and the door slowly opened. Two girls stumbled into the house and trying to hold in their laughter from their rambunctious activities they had just come from. They were three hours past the curfew that Kagami's parents established at the graduation ceremony, but they couldn't even comprehend time by this point. Misao and Kagami were still completely intoxicated by the amount of alcohol they consumed as they continued to trip over themselves and Misao closed the door a little too loudly.
Kagami shushed her. "My parents are home…I think…maybe…I don't know."
"God they're always home. It's like they think they own the place or something. Hey you wanna some ice cream?" Misao said in her slurred speech.
"God you're such a pig. You're a…you're a…okay I'll have some." Kagami replied with a slurred laugh.
The two girls bumped their way into the dark kitchen until Kagami found the light switch and illuminated the room. "And then there was light…beer."
Kagami and Misao giggled again as the brown-haired girl found the refrigerator and opened the freezer door. "Hey that was a bitchin' party. Ryuji and his pals are the bestest, ain't they? All that booze and dancing…I feel I should'a put out."
Kagami sounded her drunken laugh. "You did you little slut…in the closet with that one guy…"
Misao searched her blurry memory. "Oh yeah…what was his name again?"
The two girls laughed again as Misao pulled out a carton of ice cream and a box of frozen burritos. She dropped the two boxes on the counter as Kagami still struggled to keep her balance. Her bloodshot eyes spotted the box of frozen burritos and she started giggling again.
"What's with the burritos?" Kagami hiccupped.
Misao looked down at the two boxes. "Which one the burritos? They keep moving…good dancing…"
Kagami pointed to the box of foreign food.
"Oh…I don't know how he got there. He must'a just hopped on to enjoy the ride…" Misao also hiccupped.
"Like that guy you did in the closet!" Kagami exclaimed.
The two girls couldn't contain themselves anymore and they began to laugh loudly, causing activity to be heard upstairs which was the sound of more people getting out of their beds to investigate what was going on. Kagami and Misao couldn't hear the footsteps over their laughing frenzy as they continued.
Kagami opened the box of burritos and put one on a plate. Turning to the microwave, she opened it while still trying to keep her balance and bluntly dropped it in and closed the door. She then turned her focus to the numbered pad on the microwave and tried searching for the correct number that would commence the cooking time. She moved her finger up and down the dial pad until her inebriated confusion got the better of her.
"Hey Kusakabe…which one is the number five again?" She asked with another chuckle.
"Uh…the uh…the uh…the one that comes after twelve." Misao hiccupped again as she found a spatula in a drawer and began digging the ice cream out of the carton with the blunt and unnecessary object.
Kagami shrugged and pushed the first number she could see clearly. It was too bad it was the number one and the burrito began cooking in the microwave as another human suddenly entered the kitchen. Matsuri entered in her pajamas while rubbing her tired eyes.
"Hey what's going on in here? What are you guys doing up so late?" Matsuri asked as she finished rubbing the sleep out of her eye.
"Nothing!" Misao and Kagami exclaimed together.
Kagami cleared her throat and looked at her older sister. "We're just hanging out. I'm making Fexican mood so you wanna somethin' to eat?"
"Or drink?" Misao asked.
The two high school girls suddenly laughed again and Matsuri narrowed her eyes. She had seen this kind of behavior before and her first instinct was to rush over to Kagami's face and she quickly sniffed her breath. Matsuri abruptly backed away while rolling her nose and giving Kagami an angry look.
"Oh my god, you're drunk!" Matsuri exclaimed.
Kagami stiffened like a board. "No I'm not."
"I am!" Misao exclaimed, once again sending her and Kagami into a laughing frenzy as Matsuri looked at both of them with disgust.
"What the hell were you thinking, Kagami?! You're only eighteen years old!" Matsuri yelled.
"Oh god…oh god…" Misao stuttered behind Matsuri and Kagami and the two Hiiragi sisters turned and saw the brown-haired girl suddenly turn green as she began to sway back and forth.
Misao suddenly bent over, opened her mouth, and vomited quickly and loudly all over the kitchen floor, making Matsuri and Kagami quickly back away as the spew covered a portion of the floor in a collage of colors. When Misao finished her spew, she slowly pulled herself back up and swayed back and forth on her feet and looked as if she would pass out at any second. Matsuri angrily turned back to Kagami.
"Okay…maybe we are a little drunk." Kagami confessed with guilt.
"No, Homer Simpson is a little drunk! You're completely shitfaced!" Matsuri yelled, making Tadao and Miki come into the kitchen.
"What's going on in—" Miki began but stopped when she saw the large puddle of vomit steaming on her kitchen floor. "Oh my lord, what happened? Is someone sick?"
"Yeah…these two idiots are and it's called the Absolut Flu!" Matsuri snapped.
Tadao quickly rushed in and confronted his daughter. "You were drinking?! Where do you get the nerve doing that at your age?!"
Before Kagami could reply, the microwave dinged and the frozen burrito stopped cooking. Kagami turned and took it out of the microwave as if she didn't hear her father and bit into the still frozen meal, making a crunching sound in the kitchen as she chewed.
"Hey Kusakabe…I think I accidentally cooked your ice cream." Kagami slurred her speech again.
"Okay you know what? Go to your room Kagami and sleep it off. We'll deal with you in the morning. Take your friend with you." Tadao commanded and Miki escorted her wobbling daughter and friend up the stairs to Kagami's room. "Matsuri, the bucket and mop are in the hallway closet so clean this up for me."
Matsuri glared at her father's request but still obeyed as the man stormed off in anger. The only thing that made Matsuri comply was the fact that she was going to get a front row seat to Kagami's tongue-lashing in the morning by her parents. If she played her cards right, she would be able to squeeze her own revenge into the mix for making her stay up late and mop vomit off the kitchen floor.
The next morning, Matsuri sprinted out of bed and began cooking eggs in a certain way to make things even with Kagami and with any luck, teach her a lesson. Inori was already awake and enjoying a bowl of fruit and a cup of coffee as Matsuri began cooking the eggs and informed Inori of what had happened last night. Inori did find it strange that the kitchen smelled different.
"And you're saying that she was completely hammered last night?" Inori asked with a wide-eyed expression upon learning that her little sister was at an unsupervised party where there was plenty of drinking.
Matsuri shook her head as she prepared the eggs. "Let me put it this way. If someone threw a dodge ball at her head she would probably try to make out with it before she would duck it."
Inori shook her head. "I can't believe it. Kagami. Our Kagami. I still remember when she came home from health class in middle school one day after watching a movie about the dangers of drinking and she vowed to never touch a single drop of the stuff in her life."
Matsuri shook her head as the eggs continued to cook the eggs. "Yeah, well, that plastered ship has set sail. Set two plates up for me, would ya?"
Inori rolled her eyes though she complied as she too was enticed to see Matsuri's cruel revenge trick. As she grabbed two plates for Kagami and Misao, she tried to make herself feel less guilty about it and asked, "Are you sure you wanna treat Kagami and her friend like this? You might be going over the top here. I remember when mom and dad got mad at you when they found you drunk."
"That maybe so but I'm of legal drinking age." Matsuri quickly shot back. "Besides, I figured it would be better for Kagami to learn this way and from the inevitable scolding's she'll get from dad. I remember my scolding…it only made me want to drink more so trust me, this will teach Kagami a lesson. And don't go there with me. You know I hate talking about…that event."
Inori shifted her eyes away and she sighed. She still remembered a dreadful night when she received a cell phone call late at night from a drunk Matsuri. She was crying and wanted to be picked up by her and leave their parents out of it, though fate had other plans. Inori was discovered as she tried to sneak out of the house so she had no choice but to come clean. When Miki and Tadao arrived and found not only Matsuri drunk but also that she did something repulsive and almost self-destructive, it nearly drove the two parents to disown her.
An echo of sporadic footsteps walked down the staircase and the hung-over Kagami and Misao walked into the morning light, prompting them to shield their eyes from it and groan in agony while also holding their pulsing heads. Their skin was pale and their eyes were bloodshot while their hair were also two piles of messy strings as they wobbled over to the kitchen counter and sat down.
Matsuri grinned, turned and vocalized her revenge loudly. "Hey, good morning you two party girls! Sleep well?!"
Kagami and Misao quickly shielded their ears while Kagami whimpered, "Could you not talk so loud, Matsuri?"
"Sorry!" Matsuri turned up her volume. "How about a nice nutritious breakfast?!"
She walked over to the two plates Kagami and Misao were sitting in front of with her frying pan and scooped the over-easy eggs onto their plates. They were undercooked and very runny, making the two hung-over girls' faces turn a hint of green when the eggs splashed on the plate with a splat and throw runoff everywhere.
"Looks like I undercooked the eggs again! Hope you don't mind it all runny and moist and warm and sticky and smelly! Hey it kind of looks like what Kusakabe left on the floor last night so enjoy!" Matsuri added as she turned and walked towards the sink. She dropped the frying pan in the sink loudly, making their hangover worse while Inori tried to hold in her giggles.
"God…please no…take it away…" Misao whispered as she pushed the plate away.
"Well if you don't like eggs I could always make you two idiots something else!" Matsuri returned with a small pot and a metal spoon and to the girls' sudden horror, she pounded relentlessly on the pot with the spoon, making the noise and their hangovers worse. They winced and whimpered in pain as Matsuri backed away and reached into a drawer and pulled out a whistle. "Hey look, I found my old whistle! Hey Kusakabe you're in track and field, right?! Let me know if I'm doing this correctly!"
Matsuri put the whistle in her mouth and blew loudly, making Kagami and Misao scream loudly in pain as they struggled to keep the incessant noise out. Kagami reared her angry face and yelled, "Okay, okay! I get it already! I couldn't feel any worse."
"Oh I don't know about that!" Matsuri yelled and blew the whistle loudly again while simultaneously banging the pot on the kitchen counter, keeping her torture of her sister and her friend alive and well.
"I said I get it!" Kagami yelled as she still held her ears. "I have a terrible headache!"
Matsuri threw the whistle aside and still shouted. "Yeah well this is why underage girls shouldn't drink, especially if one of them is my sister! It's illegal and bad for your health and it impairs your judgment! I'm concerned about you the most, Kusakabe! You're not that smart in the first place so when you drink you're putting yourself at the same intellectual level as a bag of wood shavings!"
"Stop! Just stop already!" Kagami yelled.
"Okay?! Don't make me clean up puke at two in the morning ever again or I'll use a chainsaw as your alarm clock next time!" Matsuri finished and had her fill of revenge. She stormed out of the kitchen as her younger sister continued to rub her head in agony while fighting the urge to mimic Misao's bodily spew over the nauseating breakfast and treatment. Inori however stayed behind and felt torn upon watching Matsuri get back at Kagami. Inori knew that it wasn't fair for Matsuri to be the one cleaning up after Kagami but at the same time she couldn't help but feel empathy for her situation.
Inori placed her hands on Kagami's shoulders and began to gently massage them. "Are you okay, Kagami?"
Still gripping her head, she slowly shook it. "Never…again…never."
Inori giggled. "Don't be too hard on yourself. You made a mistake, that's all and as far as I can tell nothing else happened…right?"
"Not that I know of." Kagami whimpered. "I…I checked…myself…and it doesn't look I did anything else…or anyone."
The oldest Hiiragi daughter breathed a light sigh of relief upon learning that Kagami was able to keep herself clean of everything else despite the alcohol. "That's good. But I have to ask…why did you drink at the party? You're smarter than that, Kagami. What if the cops came to crash the party and you were arrested for underage drinking? Do you know what that could do to your future?"
The horrid pressures and relentless fears of her future hanging in the balance once again hit Kagami harder than her hangover. She gulped again and felt herself tremble while her palms became sweaty as her nerves were set ablaze again. Sweat began to form across her forehead when she began to contemplate all the "what ifs" in her mind. What if she was arrested? What if somehow word about her drinking did get out? What if it reached the college level and she was turned away because of it? What if it even reached as high as the employment level and she would never have a secured job because of it?
"I…I don't know why I did it, Inori. I…I guess I just wanted to take a break from being a conformist, if not for only one time." Kagami whimpered while still holding her head.
Miki and Tadao suddenly came into the kitchen, each one presenting a disappointed face and Inori knew her place. She took her cue to leave but before she did, she patted her sister on the shoulders and whispered to her, "Good luck, sis."
Inori abruptly left as Tadao and Miki hovered above Kagami and Misao. Kagami held her head low as she was too scared to look her parents in the eyes. It would almost be easier for her if they would yell and scream at her but she knew something even worse was coming. A lecture inspired by actions that concocted an emotion that seemed a thousand times worse than anger. Disappointment. No one in the Hiiragi family had ever seen either Miki or Tadao angry but when they were disappointed in one of their daughters, it somehow hurt a lot worse than if they were angry.
"Kagami, we're very disappointed in you." Miki began with genuine hurt in her voice, making Kagami cringe as she held her head. "We trusted you to make the right decisions and your father and I can't help but feel that you lied to us. You said there was going to be parental supervision at that party and instead, you were there with a bunch of older boys and there was alcohol involved. As your parents we have to ask…did you have sex?"
Kagami quickly shot her head up with a defensive look of her own. "No, mom! I didn't do any…dirty things…with anybody!"
Miki and Tadao looked at each other and turned back to their daughter. Tadao took charge this time and said, "Okay, we believe you. But why didn't you just come home when you saw that there was no supervision and a lot of drinking? Why did you stay and break the law and embarrass us when you got home?"
Kagami lowered her head again and gulped. Hearing about the ramifications of breaking the law was something that was eating away at her more than anything and it scared her the most. More sweat began to form across her head as her eyes darted back and forth in her hurting head while she searched for a rational explanation for her parents.
"Um…excuse me, but please don't be mad at Kagami." Misao suddenly spoke with clear guilt in her voice. "It…it was my fault. I lied to her and told her that there would be supervision when I knew there wouldn't be. She didn't even want to drink either and she even said she wanted to go home. I put pressure on her until she caved. I'm sorry so please don't be mad at her. Be mad at me."
The two Hiiragi parents once again looked at each other and back at Misao. "Okay, Misao-san, we accept your apology but that doesn't change what happened. I think it would be best if you and Kagami stayed away from each other for awhile. Now if you're feeling better, I'll drive you home." Tadao said.
Misao nodded submissively as the ball wasn't in her court. She asked to use their bathroom one more time, which they allowed and the brown-haired girl quickly left Kagami alone with her parents again. Kagami's hangover continued to burn and pulse inside her head and she tried to hold perfectly still but it didn't help knowing that her parents' eyes were leering on her.
"So what do you think should happen to you, Kagami? You may be eighteen years old, but you still live in our house and you still have to abide by our rules." Miki said with more disappointment.
"Isn't this excruciating hangover and the gauntlet Matsuri forced me to run through enough?" Kagami groaned. "I'm sorry, okay? I really am sorry and I promise you it will never happen again. The last thing I want to do is ever drink again and now all I want is to put all my efforts in getting ready for college in the fall."
Her parents exchanged another long look with each other and they simultaneously nodded. Tadao cleared his throat. "Well it does appear you have learned your lesson and from what we heard earlier, Matsuri really let you have it so we'll let it go this time. As long as you promise us this will be the last time we have to have this conversation. Do you know the reason we let her do that, Kagami?"
She slowly shook her head.
"Because she was in your spot before." Miki finished for her husband, making Kagami look up. "She got drunk at a party once and she made a few…mistakes…of her own. She just doesn't want to see the same thing happen to you. She loves you."
Though deeply surprised by the revelation and hidden family secret, Kagami couldn't deny the fact that Matsuri only had her own well-being and health in mind. It may have been tough love and a bit unorthodox but at the same time Kagami believed that it fulfilled its purpose and she could easily say that that was her first and last party she was going to attend. Kagami tried to think of this event as a learning experience so she would be able to keep her nose clean from here on out. However, she was still curious about her sister's antics.
"What did…what did Matsuri do?" Kagami asked with her eyes twitching.
Miki and Tadao cringed upon hearing the question. What Matsuri did embarrassed them so much that they did their best to keep it a secret from the rest of her sisters and simply bury it despite Inori's involvement earlier. Though the two parents were outraged when they found out, they still didn't have the heart to throw her out because of how devastated Matsuri herself was when she learned of what she did. They never saw Matsuri cry before but she gave an incredibly deep and heart-felt apology riddled with tears in the process. It was enough for Miki and Tadao to forgive her and move on, though they could never forget that dreadful event.
"It…it's not important, Kagami." Tadao said. "What is important is that you have learned your lesson and that you listen to us and especially Matsuri on these issues. Now we know you just graduated high school and made a mistake, but please, don't let this happen again. If it does, there's no telling what could happen and you are an adult now so if you mess up, you are your own problem."
Kagami gulped again though didn't want to admit that her parents were only stoking the flames of her paranoia fire. She didn't want to fight or retort in any way, shape or form. She just simply nodded to end this misadventure and hoped that it would one day disappear from her memory.
Misao soon returned, deeply apologized to Kagami and the Hiiragi family again, and Tadao took the brown-haired girl home. Kagami spent the next half hour in the bathroom brushing her teeth to get the rotten tastes out of her mouth from the combination of alcohol and the little bit of vomit she threw up on the way home last night. Her complexion was becoming clearer again and it seemed that she was her old physical self again as she looked in the mirror. She decided she was going to sit out in the sun for the remainder of the day to also help in returning her color to her skin and erase the dark circles under her eyes.
"It was just one mistake." Kagami whispered to herself as she stared at her once again pretty face in the mirror. "Nobody else has to know about this. I made a mistake and now I'm moving on. It's not like I slept with a guy…or girl. Damn you, Konata!"
Kagami shook her head to get the thought that Konata planted in her the previous day out. However, it was true that it could've been much worse for her. She cleared her throat, gave herself one more mental slap, and opened the bathroom door. As she opened it though, she was stopped by a sight that broke through her hardened exterior and penetrated where it hurt the most. Kagami looked and saw Tsukasa standing before her with her eyes puffy and bloodshot. As a fraternal twin, Kagami knew her younger sister was crying.
Tsukasa sniffed a few more times until she whimpered, "Sis…are you…okay now?"
Kagami sighed deeply and opened her arms as an invitation. Tsukasa quickly accepted it and rushed her sister and hugged her tightly, still crying a bit as Kagami pulled her closer. Despite the fact that Tsukasa graduated high school and was an official adult, she still felt scared without Kagami by her side and was still innocent to the concepts of the dangers at wild parties. With that established, anyone could imagine the shock and even terror the youngest Hiiragi daughter felt when she saw her idol and protector in Kagami in the condition she was in the previous night.
Tsukasa awoke to use the bathroom late at night and when she was busy, she heard the ruckus downstairs in the kitchen, followed up by Matsuri investigating, which eventually led to her angry voice. Tsukasa took it upon herself to wake her parents and tell them what was happening, which led them to join Matsuri in the kitchen. When Miki escorted Kagami and Misao upstairs, Tsukasa was motivated by concern to check on the situation. When she saw Kagami falling all over herself and groaning in agony, it frightened her deeply. Her initial thoughts were telling her that Kagami was hurt or worse, someone physically hurt her, which would've devastated Tsukasa.
Kagami patted Tsukasa on her back as she still hugged her. "Yes, Tsukasa. I'm feeling much better now and I'm sorry you had to see all of that. I promise you that this will never happen again. Okay?"
"Okay…I love you, sis."