CHAPTER 25
Two days after Kagami's one-on-one session with Kishimoto, the twin-tailed girl only furthered her downward spiral into the darkest trenches of drug abuse, promiscuity, and overall dysfunction. She simply didn't want to believe the psychologist's words when she told her about Miyakawa's childhood or that Kishimoto's little sister was only manipulating and lying to her. It wasn't just the fact that Kagami didn't want to picture Miyakawa as a little girl being raped and sexually tortured by her uncle, but she especially didn't want to believe that her presumed lover was only using her. The troubled Hiiragi girl's addiction was reaching new peaks to the point where her grasp and concept of reality was beginning to crumble and she would only hear and see what she wanted to hear and see because without the drugs, reality was just too damn depressing. Her sister was dead, her friend was dead, she couldn't take the weight of the world anymore; all of it was too much.
Kagami's simple refusal to believe Kishimoto's words aided in her choices to further alienate herself from her friends and family, though even Miyakawa herself noticed that Kagami was becoming more depressed despite the drugs. The sinister girl also feared that her experiment on Kagami with the new drug she called Satan's Blood was a failure after all. Kagami had yet to show one single display of pure rage and even her nightmares had subsided. Of course, this didn't mean that Miyakawa was simply going to give up. She still had other drugs she wanted to experiment on Kagami, though the twin-tailed girl was still completely oblivious to the fact that she had gone from Miyakawa's sex toy to her laboratory.
Kagami slowly awoke feeling stiff as a board and glanced around her surroundings. She wasn't in Miyakawa's apartment. She was in a dark space that smelled putrid and all she could see was blackness. The darkness and the horrid smell were the only things she could comprehend and she began to lift her pulsing head up, hearing a vast collection of solid matter shift below her with each movement. Several sharp things began to poke her across her body while she felt her hand touch something wet and moldy. She could also hear the buzzing of flies zip past her ears and Kagami slowly sat up and her head instantly struck a plastic barrier, though she was able to push it up.
When she pushed the plastic lid up, she was immediately engulfed by the bright sunshine of the morning rays and she had to shield her eyes from the burning light that also illuminated her pasty pale flesh. It all began to return to Kagami when she realized she was sitting in a city dumpster tucked in another alley. The events of last night suddenly replayed in her mind. She had never entertained three men at the same time before but they made sure they got their money's worth out of her by making it a group encounter all at once. After they were done with her, a large thunderstorm arrived and Kagami asked for a ride from them back to Miyakawa's apartment. They laughed at her and pushed her out of the car in the rain and sped off, making Kagami take shelter in the dumpster. Kagami ran her hand through her long hair and her hand was immediately tangled in her crispy and crusty hair, forcing her to use more force to get her fingers through it all.
"I told those assholes not to release it in my hair." She uttered to herself as she slowly began to climb out of the rusting green container until she crawled to the other side and fell to the ground.
Kagami felt so weak as her budding eating disorder continued to sap away all her strength as she struggled to pull herself to her feet. She felt the bones in her legs crack and quake when she slowly rose to her feet and began walking down the street again. She still didn't feel hungry but couldn't stop shivering from coldness despite how warm the morning was. The addiction's withdrawal was beginning to return and something needed to be done about it as far as she was concerned. She needed to find Ryuji, who was recovering well from his injuries inflicted onto him by the rival gang a few days earlier.
As Kagami walked in her tight and revealing clothes that only consisted of a red tube top that only covered her breasts, a tight black mini-skirt, fishnet stockings, and red high heels, she started to think about one thing Kishimoto said two days earlier that did sink in. She couldn't stop thinking about Tsukasa. She barely remembered hurting her the ways she did whether it was physically assaulting her or lying to and manipulating her so she could do drugs and prostitute herself in the family home. Still, her conscience was weighed with guilt and she wanted to see her again, if not just to apologize and nothing more. The withdrawal was bringing her back to reality and every time that would happen, all the horrible things she did to Tsukasa and the rest of her family would become clear again, which only made Kagami want to do more drugs. She was even beginning to remember the very last words she ever said to Tsukasa during the family quarrel.
"I hate you Tsukasa! I fucking hate you!"
Another thing Kagami couldn't get out of her mind was why both Kishimoto and her hallucinations of Matsuri were telling her to protect Tsukasa from Miyakawa. Because of the drugs and the role Miyakawa was playing in Kagami's life, she still didn't see her as a danger to Tsukasa even though she couldn't have been further from the truth. The depraved sociopath in Miyakawa had plans for Tsukasa that also involved the drug she was experimenting on Kagami though for now it looked like those plans weren't going to come to fruition.
Kagami continued to walk down the desolate, crime-ridden street where the buildings were covered in gang graffiti while windows were smashed and homeless people begged for money on the street curbs. She didn't even know where she was going at this point; her legs just kept carrying her further down a random direction. Kagami felt like a soulless being as she shivered from the internal cold. Her lightheadedness also made her rock back and forth as a result of her hunger though she still couldn't feel it and she nearly lost her balance a few times.
As she walked though, a new sensation was able to plow its way through the other withdrawal symptoms and make itself a blunt reality. Her private parts covered by her dirty underwear began to itch and tingle and she tried to ignore it and keep walking but the irritating feelings wouldn't leave her alone. It got so bad that Kagami couldn't ignore it any longer and she eventually found a fast food restaurant so she could use the bathroom.
She locked herself in one of the stalls and gave herself an exam on her privates and regrettably it didn't take long for her to find something that wasn't supposed to be there. A red rash was beginning to cover her groin with several white bumps also rising from within the rash. Kagami may not have been a medical expert but she instantly began to panic with deepening gasps and trembling when the first thing that came to her mind was a sexually transmitted disease. She quickly covered her area again and sat on the toilet to bury her face in her open palms while gasping for air. Kagami inhaled and exhaled deep breaths over and over again to try and calm herself as she tried to reassure herself that maybe it was something else. Maybe it was a simple rash from sleeping in the dumpster all night. Maybe it was some kind of bizarre reaction to the drugs. Kagami tried to create a long list of other possibilities and also realized that she wouldn't have to worry about it if she got more drugs in her system.
The troubled Hiiragi girl did her best to keep her latest addition of disturbing discoveries out of her mind and once again began walking aimlessly down the street while still trying to ignore the itching beneath her panties. Using some of the money she was given for her previous night's perversion, she stopped at a pharmacy to buy the best anti-itch cream she could find, all the while getting stares from everyone in the store. Some even held their noses as she walked by to shield their senses from the putrid stench that was coming off Kagami's body from the dumpster.
When Kagami bought her pharmaceuticals and made it back to Miyakawa's apartment, she discovered that she was the only one there and to a certain extent she was happy. She didn't want to let this issue become a public affair, at least not until it would be forced to become one. Kagami quarantined herself in the bathroom and began applying the over-the-counter drugs to try and stop the itching that was beginning to turn into a burning sensation across her groin. She started crying in both frustration and anguish when she applied the entire tube and it didn't stop or even slow the uncomfortable feelings ravaging her loins.
"What the fuck?!" Kagami screamed and threw the empty and flattened tube across the bathroom and curled into a ball. "Why is this happening to me?! I can't fucking take this anymore!"
Kagami yelled again and curled into a ball and started crying on the bathroom floor. Her tears rolled down her face and formed puddles around her head as she rested on the cold tile floor as she hugged herself tightly and continued to tremble. Silence of Miyakawa's empty apartment was the only thing that kept her company and her ongoing whimpering and crying in the bathroom as the only sound source. Kagami didn't even have a formal diagnosis yet but she already felt so alone and was also beginning to reconsider suicide, the first option she entertained after Misao died before she made her first call to Ryuji.
As Kagami wallowed on the floor, an idea suddenly struck as this seemed like a déjà vu setup. She remembered the last time she saw her family, the day her mother walked in on her while she was injecting heroin into her veins, which kick started the fight where Kagami nearly murdered her own mother. Before Kagami strangled Miki, she remembered a secret stash of cocaine she hid underneath the toilet seat; a trick that she was taught by Miyakawa.
Kagami quickly sprung up, dashed to the toilet, and tore the lid off the top of the toilet and flipped it around. She immediately began crying tears of joy when she saw clear plastic bags filled with white powder sealed to the lid with duct tape. The twin-tailed girl wasted no time in ripping the bags off the lid and opened them. Tasting a bit with her tongue, she realized it was heroin that was stashed under the lid so she initiated the usual procedures of melting down the powder with a bit of water in a spoon, taking it into a clean syringe, swabbed the flesh between her toes with alcohol, and injected it into her body.
Feeling the rollercoaster of sunshine speed through her veins again, Kagami's earlier fears of acquiring a sexually transmitted disease now became a distant memory as she became high again. Still, she still somehow had enough sense to get the rash and bumps around her groin checked out so after she let enough time go by where she was still high but slowly coming out of it, Kagami left Miyakawa's apartment again and walked into the first free clinic she could find and waited to be examined.
Keeping to herself, Kagami looked around at the other patients waiting to be examined and some had injuries that were far more serious than her predicament but at the same time they too were keeping quiet and to themselves about them. Some had stab or gunshot wounds and were doing their best to keep their injuries hidden so it was clear to Kagami that she wasn't the only criminal looking for medical attention that day. The waiting room of the clinic was also bordering on a state of disrepair. Kagami saw some holes punched in the walls near light switches and electric plug outlets and it clicked in her mind that people had tried to steal copper wiring within the walls before.
Because of her situation and the little information she gave the receptionist about herself, Kagami was waiting for awhile. She did know that free clinics offered help to people with little to no money or medical coverage but they still required some information from them. Kagami did her best to try and keep them in the dark as much as possible about who she was and why she was there, mainly for fear of it leading to the police being called. Even though she still didn't know how sinister and evil Miyakawa really was, Kagami still knew that she willingly took part in different thefts and assisted in drug operations, as well as possessing them, which was enough for the police to be called on her.
After sitting and waiting for an hour, a nurse finally called Kagami's name and she tried to hide the pain she felt when she stood up and followed the nurse into an exam room and was told to sit on the stand.
"So what can I do for you today?" The nurse asked as she sat down and opened her chart.
Kagami hesitated at first as she leered with hostility at the nurse until she eventually responded. "I have a rash that's burning and itching around my groin."
The nurse jotted it down. "Okay and are you sexually active?"
Kagami tightened her glare. "…I guess so…"
The nurse nodded a sarcastic gesture and kept going. "How many sexual partners have you had in the last month?"
It was this question that made Kagami rear her aggressive side. "What the hell kind of question is that?! Look, all I want is for someone to look at this fucking rash so I can get out of here! I was waiting for over an hour so why don't you do your job and look at it?!"
The nurse all the while remained calm and collective. Kagami didn't give her or anyone else working at the clinic much credit since they've seen not only their fair share of street injuries, but most of those injuries also came with street thugs so the nurse knew exactly how to handle the situation.
"There's no need to get snippy with me, sweety. I'm just doing my job." She replied calmly. "Now I know these are embarrassing questions but they're all necessary and you're gonna have to answer them if you want any help. How many men have you slept with since you became a prostitute?"
Hearing the same question rephrased at the end made Kagami's eyes go as wide as dinner plates and it was her stuttering that revealed herself to the nurse. Knowing she was caught, all Kagami could ask was, "How did you know?"
The nurse sighed. "Unfortunately dear, you're not the first young lady to come into my clinic dressed the way you are and complaining about a bad rash or bumps or whatever. I've been working here for fifteen years, almost as long as you've been alive so I know a prostitute when I see one. How many men, dear?"
Kagami looked away as the withdrawal of the heroin was beginning to take hold once again and her shame began to return when she answered. "I can't give you an exact number. Thirty…maybe forty. I don't know anymore."
The nurse couldn't help but sigh as she wrote her notes down. "You know this is none of my business, but this isn't the kind of life for you, darling. I have a niece about your age and it would kill me to see her in your position."
"My life…my life is complicated." Kagami quickly retorted in a feeble attempt at justifying her lifestyle.
"Life in general is complicated, sweety, but don't worry I'm not here to judge." She said and closed her chart and slipped on elastic gloves. "Now let's get down to business. Show me where it hurts."
Kagami blushed slightly at doing this but regardless she stood and slid her panties down and lifted her skirt so the nurse could examine her privates. The nurse took a few swabs of the soft and moist irritated flesh to be analyzed and Kagami was eventually allowed to leave the clinic with no form of closure. She would have to return to the clinic in a few days to know what was happening to her since she didn't give any cell phone or email addresses to be contacted by.
Still feeling hollowed yet somehow filled with fear, Kagami once again began walking throughout the Aku District and kept contemplating her next move. What was she to do now? She could go back to Miyakawa's apartment and take a shower or she could hang out at Teasers until she would strip again tonight. She could also simply go back to Miyakawa's apartment and take a nap on a bed instead of inside a dumpster. All of these possibilities, none of which were going to help her project her life forward, yet she still didn't care. Kagami felt mixed emotions about everything and began to think that maybe Kishimoto's words from two days earlier were correct about her after all. She honestly did want to keep her family in her life but at the same time knew that if they were going to be a part of her life, they would want her to go to rehab and get clean, which was obviously something she didn't want to do. Kagami wanted her family and friends but at the same time didn't want to do the hard work it would take to keep them.
"Ka…Kagami...?" A weak and frail voice asked from behind the twin-tailed girl.
Still feeling paranoid because of the drug side effects and still remembering the night she was sodomized, Kagami quickly spun around with her guard up and ready to fight. Imagine her surprise when she identified the source of the voice belonging to Patricia Martin, who stood before her and she also looked in rough shape. Her clothes were wrinkled and dirty, her hair was a mess, and she had sad eyes.
"Pa…Patty-chan?" Kagami asked with a perplexed look. "What are you doing here?"
To Kagami's further astonishment, Patty gripped her arm and began rubbing it. "I…I was just…I was just hoping for…for a fix."
Kagami's eyes formed a look that both illustrated surprise and skepticism. "A fix? What do you mean?"
"I think you know exactly what I mean." Patty snapped and rolled up her sleeve to show Kagami yet another shocking revelation. Patty's left arm was riddled with red marks and one collapsed vein from what appeared to be real heroin abuse.
Kagami squinted at the sight and glanced back at Patty. "Patty…I…I didn't know."
"Well you're not the only one with problems, you know!" Patty bit back with an angry glare. "I've been suffering for a long time, too! I have a lot of fucked up family drama behind closed doors! You think I came to Japan just for the otaku lifestyle?! The otaku lifestyle was just another reason to sweeten the deal. I ran away from my home but my problems just kept following me."
The twin-tailed girl tilted her head with a sigh. "I…I'm sorry. I had no idea."
Patty glanced away while starting to increase the rubbing rate on her arm. "Yeah well whatever. Anyway…you know where I can score some good stuff?"
Something about this still seemed a little fishy to the twin-tailed Hiiragi. Patty was never this emotionally distraught before and it seemed highly unlikely to Kagami that Patty would suddenly change from happy-go-lucky to a depressed and dysfunctional junkie like her. Still, Kagami didn't want to be one to judge, especially when Patty mentioned family drama since she was easily able to relate. It was this reason Patty gave to justify her hidden heroin abuse that made Kagami accept Patty and Kagami nodded to her.
"Yeah. Yeah I can get you what you need. Follow me." Kagami turned again and began walking down the street, thus prompting the golden-haired friend of Konata Izumi to follow Kagami.
"I know that you already know my story so what's going on with you?" Kagami asked Patty as they walked down the street together.
Patty sighed. "My parents had been fighting for the longest time and sometimes it would get violent. I used to cry myself to sleep under the covers while I listened to my mother scream and throw things at my dad and accuse him of cheating on her. I hopped on the first plane I could to get out of that cesspit so here I am but my problems kept following me. Did you know I was fired from the cosplay café Konata and I work at?"
Kagami glanced at her and shook her head. "No I wasn't aware."
"Well I was. I had received a phone call the night before I was fired and I found out my parents were splitting up. I started using heroin to try and deal with it and I showed up to work high as the stars." Patty informed Kagami. "When my boss found out he fired me on the spot and I've been using ever since. It was only a few weeks ago but goddamn…it never ceases to amaze me how fast shit can get fucked up."
Once again, Kagami had to agree with Patty. Kagami couldn't help recall how fast her tragic decline happened and it was still happening so fast that so far the troubled Hiiragi was still having a hard time comprehending it. In two days she graduated high school and went from feeling on top of the world, to losing her sister in a tragic car accident. Before she knew it, Misao was also gone. After Misao died, everything continued to fall apart for Kagami and before she knew it, she was not only shooting heroin and smoking crack, she was sleeping with and taking her clothes off for strange men for money to keep her downfall going.
The two girls neared the edge of the Aku District and the building started to become less tarnished and grotesque. Kagami knew this section and this was the quickest way to get back to Miyakawa's apartment and Teasers, where she planned on hooking Patty up with heroin or whatever she desired. As they walked, the two girls passed a building that caught Patty's attention. It appeared to be an apartment building but more upscale than the rest of them in the Aku District.
"Wait a second, Kagami. I know a guy who lives here who is my dealer." Patty informed and looked at her watch. "It's a little past noon so he should be up there. Let's go up and see him."
Kagami was reluctant at first. She was told by Ryuji and his psychotic cousin to never obtain her drugs from anybody except them because there was a chance the next drug dealer she would come across would be one of the rival gangbangers. However, Kagami decided that she could help them by doing her own "recon" mission and if Patty's dealer was a gangbanger, she could learn a few things about him and report it back to them to help with their rivalries with them. It was this line of thinking that made Kagami agree to it and she followed Patty into the building and up the flights of stairs.
To Kagami's surprise, it wasn't an apartment building. It looked more like a general studio on each floor where art students or musicians would rent the level for privacy or to create their artwork. The two girls made it to the top floor and walked down a single corridor where a door was standing on the other side of it. Patty led the way and when they arrived at the door, the golden-haired girl took the initiative and knocked on it three times.
Patty waited for a few seconds, which Kagami interpreted as a signal from Patty to the dealer on the other side to let him know it was a customer and not another rival so he wouldn't start shooting them through the door. Patty grasped the doorknob and opened the door and allowed Kagami to walk in first.
Kagami took her steps into another large and spacious studio setup, but she didn't expect to see her mother, father, oldest sister, and youngest sister sitting in chairs before her. She also didn't expect to see Konata Izumi, Ayano Minegishi, Yutaka Kobayakawa, Minami Iwasaki, Miyuki Takara, Hiyori Tamura, and Dr. Nagisa Kishimoto also sitting in chairs in the studio setup. Nevertheless, all these people were still there and looking at her. Patty quickly closed the door behind them and Kagami started looking around quickly with paranoia.
"What the hell is all of this?!" Kagami snapped while beginning to sweat.
Kishimoto stood and smiled at Kagami. "We're glad you could make it, Kagami, and I must say it is a pleasure seeing you again. We've all been talking and from what I can conclude…you have the world's biggest fan club here, Kagami. Now all these people took time out of their lives to see you and be with you today so how about we let everyone say what they want to say and then we can take it from there?"
Kagami tightened her glare and started gritting her teeth. She quickly turned back to Patty, who licked her fingers and moved her moistened digits to her arm with the marks and collapsed vein and began removing them. It was makeup on her arm and Patty looked up.
"What is this, Patty?!" Kagami snapped again.
Patty cleared her throat and calmly replied, "This is your intervention."