CHAPTER 27
"Well, Kagami, as I said before, all I can see is just a giant group of people that loves you to death and wants to see you make the right decisions. Everyone wants you to get clean and I can help you with that. I already made a few phone calls and I was able to find you a clinic up north called White Mountain Rehabilitation Center and they're already expecting you." Kishimoto said as the group continued to stare at Kagami, who kept her head hanging low as Tsukasa gripped her sister's hand. "It's never too early to make a fresh start so what do you say we make everyone's dreams come true and we can leave here right now together, you and I, and we'll start your journey to recovery today."
Everyone felt themselves slide to the edge of their seats and it became unbearably quiet in the room. Some even folded their hands together and placed them under their chin in displays of prayer that Kagami would make the right decision. Konata dabbed her puffy green eyes again with a tissue while watching Tsukasa also drain her eyes of water while whimpering at the mercy of her sister's antics.
"You people…" Kagami's sudden voice emerging from under the entanglement of dirty black hair startled everyone, not because of its abruptness, but because of its sinisterly tone. "You people think you know what suffering is? You think that sitting on the sidelines and simply watching me wither away into the mess you see now is the true unbiased definition of pain? What gives you any right to pull a stunt like this today? How dare you try and understand what it's like to be inside my head…to feel what I feel…to see what I see…"
Tsukasa tightened her grip on her sister's hand as she feared that at any second she was going to lose Kagami. "Sis, we do understand and that's the truth, and that's why we're here. We're all here for you. This has never been about us. This has always been about you."
Kagami slowly turned her head to Tsukasa's face, her long and crusty hair sliding and slipping with each movement until Tsukasa finally saw her sister's eyes. The creature that Tsukasa now sat on her knees for was not her sister. Deep in the shadows of Kagami's hair and head sat two burning eyes of nothing but utter repugnant hatred. A disturbing crimson ring now plagued Kagami's once violet iris's while the formerly white sclera's in each eye was beginning to crack and form blood-shot veins, the veins as black as a raven's feather and Tsukasa felt fear. She believed that she was holding the hand of a stranger, immediately prompting her to let go and slowly back away.
Everyone watched with confusion at the youngest twin's sudden change in persona and when Kagami slowly stood from her chair and looked at everyone with eyes that made everyone gasp, she twitched several times until she slowly turned and they feared she was about to make a break for the door. Instead, Kagami approached another wall where more picture frames of the twins' history together were kept alive in the frozen images. Kagami stopped and stared at one of the pictures, which was of her, Tsukasa, Konata, and Miyuki together in Kyoto in front of the Kyoto Animation building. She tilted her head at the picture and stared lifelessly at it until Konata slowly rose from her chair and tiptoed towards Kagami to help recreate the class trip for her.
"Remember that trip, Kagamin?" Konata asked weakly. "It was another one of those times where you didn't understand me or my interests…but at the same time you still went along with it. You went along with it because you truly are that good of a friend that you care about what your friends like and want over your own wants."
Kagami slowly raised her hand and took the framed picture off and held it before her. With an unusual and even disturbingly calm voice despite the situation she was in, Kagami replied, "That was an interesting trip, Konata. Please come closer to me so we can look at it together."
Konata formed a small grin and complied and came closer. As Kagami kept her back turned to the blue-haired girl, it all went horribly awry. When Konata was close enough, Kagami suddenly spun around to show her burning eyes, hoisted the frame up high, and thrust it downward. The glass frame shattered on Konata's head and before anyone could react, Kagami followed it up by slapping Konata across the head with the wooden frame, cutting her head open and Konata tripped and fell to the floor in her attempt to escape.
The intervention was sent into an uproar as everyone rushed to assist Konata and Tsukasa started screaming and crying loudly as Kagami backed up. When Konata saw her head was bleeding slightly from the violent assault, her only response was to look up at Kagami and join Tsukasa in crying while Hiyori and Patty helped her to her feet.
"You worthless, spineless motherfuckers! You think you can fix everything that is fucked up in my life and erase the guilt I feel for Matsuri and Kusakabe with therapy and rehab centers?! I said it before and I'll say it again! None of you understand me! You're all dead to me! I don't need you! I don't need anyone or anything unless I can shoot it or smoke it!" Kagami screamed her violent drug-fueled temper out as everyone backed up, fearing she would attack. "This fucking little intervention is a crock of shit! Way to help me, Konata! It's a good thing your mother is dead because she would tell you how much of a failure you are! Get out of my life! All of you!"
Kagami abruptly turned and dashed out the door as everyone else refused to follow her for fear of another violent confrontation. Tsukasa however had finally reached her breaking point. With her eyes spewing water, she quickly rose to her feet and to everyone's astonishment, she dashed down the hallway after Kagami while screaming her name. Kishimoto feared the youngest Hiiragi was reaching a point of no return and she ordered everyone to help Tsukasa. Still rubbing her bleeding head, Konata was still one of the first ones to rush out despite Kagami's violent words and actions to her.
Kagami blew the door open where Patty first led her through and she was once again out on the streets and began stomping down the sidewalk. She continued to pant in everlasting rage and hatred at what just happened and her anger spiked when she heard the door swing open again from behind her and heard her sister's desperate words call out to her.
"Kagami, please! Don't do this! All I ever wanted to do was help you!" Tsukasa cried as she pursued her stone-cold sister. "I love you so much that I don't know what I would do without you! Only you can protect me from everything scary in the world!"
The enraged twin-tailed Hiiragi didn't slow down or even turn her head to look at Tsukasa. The only thing on her mind was escaping the ones she viewed as enemies when she barked, "I don't give a fuck what you say or think, Tsukasa! Grow up already and learn how to take care of yourself and quit being such a goddamn baby all the fucking time!"
"I'm not being a baby, sis, I'm just scared! I don't want to be all needy and everything all the time but I can't help it! I'm needy and I'm an airhead as you called me before because I'm just scared of everything but I always had you with me so I never showed it since I knew I was safe!" Tsukasa wailed again as she kept following close behind Kagami as the rest of the intervention participants finally made it outside and watched the heart-breaking scene of Tsukasa losing her hero. "Remember when we were little girls and I was literally afraid of my own shadow one day?! I was crying because that dark thing wouldn't stop following me but when you took my hand and walked with me, I knew even back then that everything was going to be okay!"
Kagami suddenly halted in her tracks, making Tsukasa freeze as well and she folded her hands together as her knees buckled and she cried. The twin-tailed girl slowly turned to Tsukasa and leered at her with her angry eyes again and hissed, "Everything is not okay anymore, Tsukasa. I know that I'm throwing my life away by doing what I'm doing but I don't care anymore. I heard each and every one one of you pathetic dicks in there and let me say I don't want it. I don't want to be anyone's hero anymore. I don't want people to look up to me or look to me for leadership anymore. I don't want to be a role model for anyone anymore. I'm neither your idol nor your sister anymore so just forget about all of it. Get a life of your own and leave me to mine. To think…you really were this easily replaceable…and with drugs no less. Now goodbye, Tsukasa Hiiragi."
As Kagami turned and started walking again, it was all Tsukasa could take. She couldn't bear the indescribable pain of listening to her sister confirm her worst fears by saying she was expendable and eighteen years of bonding, memories, love, attention, and presumed happiness were all so easily swept away like dust in the wind. Tsukasa let more tears rush out of her eyes and she didn't know what to do anymore. Kagami was telling her to go against her natural instincts by forgetting about her, tearing the youngest Hiiragi daughter in half over what to do. She wanted to obey her sister as she always did without question in the past…but these new orders were killing her inside.
Tsukasa dove forward in her final attempt at keeping Kagami in her life and landed on the cold cement of the sidewalk while wrapping her arms around Kagami's thinning legs and she screamed and cried more loudly than anyone had ever heard before. Tsukasa kept venting her anguish when she cried, "Sis, please! Don't do this! Don't leave me alone! I need you! Only you can protect me! I beg of you, don't leave me here like this!"
Tsukasa began coughing and hacking in the midst of her meltdown as everyone could only watch and some slowly began to approach. Konata and Miyuki joined forces as they approached the two separated twins as Kagami began to wedge herself free. She didn't turn to attack her sister but in a sense did something much worse. Kagami was hell-bent on abandoning her and it showed when she finally escaped Tsukasa's grip, making the youngest twin sit up and continue crying alone on the sidewalk. Her wails of a broken heart echoed throughout the area, attracting some onlookers but they didn't want to get involved as they had a feeling it had something to do with drugs, which was just the norm of the Aku District.
Konata and Miyuki arrived at Tsukasa's side and they bent down to her as she couldn't halt her tears. Tsukasa looked up and saw her twin sister disappear around a street corner and she couldn't help but lift her arms up and pointed them down the desolate street where Kagami disappeared. Tsukasa's heart-breaking display resembled a lost child reaching out for its mother while the youngest Hiiragi girl continued to cry.
"Tsukasa-san…we tried." Miyuki whispered while unable to hold the water in her eyes as she held her ailing friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry…but your sister has made her choice."
Tsukasa lowered her hands from her eyes and looked up at the pink-haired girl and showed her a face of endless devastation. Never in Miyuki's life did she ever believe that such a gut-wrenching face could be made but regrettably it was and to make matters worse, it was the most innocent and purest member of the Hiiragi family who was making it. Tsukasa continued to drip water from her eyes as she sniffed and trembled with swollen eyes and she turned back to look down the empty street.
"…I…I…I want…Kagami…!" She screamed again and Konata and Miyuki glanced up at each other while Tsukasa continued to cry.
As everyone watched from afar, Konata pulled Miyuki away from Tsukasa and said, "Do you have any plans for tonight?"
Miyuki shook her head with a bit of confusion. "No…why?"
"I was thinking…Tsukasa is a wreck and she needs to be surrounded by people who love her tonight. I was thinking that you and I could spend the night at her place if it's okay with her family because I myself won't feel satisfied until we can calm her down." Konata whispered.
Miyuki nodded. "I agree, Konata-san. I'll go ask her parents and you just keep talking to her."
The two girls broke apart and put their plans into action. While Miyuki began to console and bring Tsukasa's parents up to speed and ask their permission to spend the night, Konata returned to Tsukasa's side and hugged her. Tsukasa wasted no time in returning the soft gesture and sobbed into Konata's chest as the blue-haired girl stroked her friend's head. Though Konata never saw it before, she had a relatively easy life up until now. She was never dealt a hand that was this horrid and shocking that it too made her want to join Tsukasa on the sidewalk in crying her eyes out while screaming for Kagami to return.
With the intervention ending in failure, nobody knew the utterly devastating and truly frightening fate that Kagami had just created for herself. She had walked away from her only chance at salvation and to be saved from the infinite wickedness of Yuka Miyakawa and Ryuji Katsumoto. The twin-tailed girl still had no comprehension of the true depths of their insanity and depravity and how little they truly valued human life. All of those concepts about the evil cousins was regrettably about to become a norm in the newly chosen life of Kagami Hiiragi. If she thought that feeling guilty over Matsuri's and Misao's deaths were unbearable without the drugs, one could only imagine how she would feel when she would eventually add murder, torture, and many other crimes to her resume of disaster all as a result of Kagami's string puller, Yuka Miyakawa.
As Kagami huffed down the street, the raging high she was feeling was making her sweat and pant and even giggle a bit as a result of its maddening potency. Feeling that the she was in the clear, the twin-tailed girl stomped back towards the place she considered home in Miyakawa's apartment. As she huffed though, a familiar voice called to her.
"All they wanted to do was help you, Hiiragi." The female voice said.
Kagami turned behind her and saw Misao Kusakabe walking behind her, prompting Kagami to turn again and speed up while replying, "I can't hear you, Kusakabe, because you're not there!"
"We knew this intervention would fail…but please don't fail Tsukasa." Another female voice called.
Kagami looked over her shoulder again and saw Matsuri walking alongside Misao. Becoming more flustered, Kagami kept rushing away. "Leave me alone! Tsukasa will be fine! She just needs to grow up!"
"Protect her, Kagami. Protect her from Yuka Miyakawa. The devil you're sleeping with won't stop until our little sister's blood runs in the streets…and she'll use you to do it." Matsuri warned.
"And remember, Hiiragi. Your oldest sister only has love in her heart when you'll promise to get clean…but your heart is tainted by greed and deception. Don't betray Inori. Heed our warnings, Hiiragi. If you betray Inori the way we see it…they'll never take you back. All your friends and family will turn their backs on you forever." Misao added.
"Fuck you all!" Kagami screamed and sprinted as hard as she could until the voices of her departed loved ones faded into the wind once again.
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Kagami had plenty of stories to tell Miyakawa and her cousin upon her return to the apartment of the damned. The rogue Hiiragi told Miyakawa everything about the intervention and how pissed off she was regarding it…and ultimately her response to Konata. Miyakawa was nothing short of overjoyed, though she didn't show it outwardly. It proved once and for all that her experiment on Kagami had worked and that her homemade drug was a success after all. It also told Miyakawa that it seemed to hit and miss in the beginning because she wasn't using a high enough dosage of it. Miyakawa planned to inject more of it into Kagami eventually but it wouldn't be for tonight. Kagami and Miyakawa had a dance routine they were planning on doing at Teasers later that night as a duet.
To kill time before their show later tonight, Kagami and her lowlife friends stayed in Miyakawa's apartment and got stoned. Miyakawa however was able to maintain a sense of normalcy despite the fact that her cousin and Kagami couldn't even stand anymore. As they sat in her apartment with toxic clouds of crack cocaine smoke hovering above them, Miyakawa crawled over to Kagami who rested on the floor with her back leaning against the couch.
The sinister girl collected Kagami and held the groggy twin-tailed girl in her lap and began to rock her while furthering her experiment on Kagami. She hummed for Kagami and kissed her on the head before she whispered, "They hate you, you know."
Kagami slowly looked up with blood-shot eyes. "Who hates me?"
"Everyone at that intervention today. They all hate you." Miyakawa whispered again. "These so-called friends of yours…they're laughing at you behind your back and trying to destroy you. Why else would they try and take you away from not only me, but also your drugs?"
Kagami glanced away. "They think they know what's best for me. They've always been like this. They try to mask their desire to control and manipulate me with love. I saw today that my parents are nothing but puppeteers and I'm finally free of their strings. They still want me to be their 'perfect' daughter and they still don't get me. To think…I almost fell for Miyuki's words in her intervention letter when she said that she wouldn't be able to take her prissy little ass to France without me getting clean or that it was our respect for academics that bounded us together."
Miyakawa giggled lightly. "Don't worry my dear…I get you. Now…tell me a bit about these animals you call your former friends. Tell me about this Miyuki girl."
Kagami rolled her eyes. "Don't get me started, Yuka. She's one of these girls where it just seems that everything aligns over their perfect little fucking heads. She's pampered and out of all of them is probably the one that doesn't know the most about me. She's been shielded by this perfect little bubble of perfection; the kind that I always wanted when I was in school but there was always one little flaw I had that she didn't that always drove me fucking insane."
Miyakawa smiled again as she could literally feel the rage from her drug still controlling Kagami so she decided to do what she did best; fan the flames. "Why don't you do something about it?"
Kagami looked up. "Like what?"
"Teach her a lesson. You told me that she's a bitchy little bookworm…so I say you put her through your own little crash course of study. Maybe a course that's a little more…hands-on…if you catch my drift, Kagami." Miyakawa said with a conniving smile. "Make her your own bitch…because Kagami…once you truly know the power of having control over another human's life…the rush is greater than drugs and sex combined. Knowing that a person's life is in your hand and you get to take your time and slowly squeeze it to death as they scream and cry for mercy…it's the greatest aphrodisiac."
Kagami tightened her glare. "I have these…thoughts…Yuka, that some would interpret as very bad when I think of Miyuki now."
"Then express them, Kagami. Find this Miyuki girl…hunt her down…and fuck her up." Miyakawa whispered and bit Kagami's ear gently. "The rush you will feel when you shed her blood…"
Kagami could feel her body temperature rising as the hot breath of Yuka Miyakawa blew through her hair. This girl's words and tone penetrated deep into Kagami's brain and every time she was this close, the twin-tailed girl felt a powerful rush. The fact that Miyakawa still had no sense of restraint or boundaries was still a foreign concept to Kagami and that was exactly why it turned her on. This girl was able to live life in the fast lane with no regrets and Kagami was mistaken in her belief that she had not lived a single day until she met Miyakawa.
Kagami looked up again. "Yuka…take me now."
Miyakawa let Kagami lay on the floor and the sociopath rolled on top of Kagami and began kissing her deeply. As they undressed themselves, Miyakawa was able to pry Kagami's skirt off and was met with surprise when she saw the red rash below her navel. She called Kagami out on it but to Miyakawa's further happiness, Kagami told her she forgot all about it. In fact, Kagami went into details about how she suddenly remembered that she went to a health clinic at all to get it tested before she was led to the intervention. After the intervention, Kagami's rage attack caused another side effect that told Miyakawa her experiment was working. The drug was able to cause short-term memory loss. If anything, Kagami also probably forgot about her violent assault on Konata. This of course was going to lead Miyakawa to up the dosage and whenever Kagami had her next rage attack, it would make the one on Konata seem like a child's tantrum. To make matters worse, Kagami was going to be injected with this drug with hostile and violent thoughts against Miyuki Takara in her head and Miyakawa was only fanning those flames to make them bigger.
Later that night at Teasers, Ryuji and Itou discussed the seriousness of what they were getting themselves into with the drug trade while the energy at the club was bouncing. While Itou worked the bar, Ryuji sat at it and laid out all their issues for their boss. It seemed that they were in bigger trouble than they anticipated. Ryuji's enforcement of their drugs in the streets combined with Miyakawa's bloodlust and insanity made them high-valued targets and there were now bounties on their heads and anyone who associated themselves with them. Consequently, this also included Kagami Hiiragi. It was only a matter of time until something would happen and one single incident could turn this powder keg into a nuclear detonation of gratuitous and sadistic-wanting violence. All for ultimate control over the streets, something Miyakawa dreamed of having ever since she was raped; to have control back.
While Ryuji continued to deliver the tensing news, Miyakawa was once again living without fear as it was time for their show. The strobe and flashing lights began to focus on the center stage again as Yuka Miyakawa and Kagami Hiiragi stood back-to-back wearing nothing but black combat boots, camouflaged short-shorts, camouflaged tops that barely covered their breasts, and camouflaged military caps while a new song blasted throughout the club. The two girls walked down the catwalk towards the center pole with microphones in-hand and readied themselves to sing the lyrics to their song, "Daughters of Darkness" by Halestorm.
"We came to battle baby! We came to win the war! We won't surrender till we get what we're looking for!" Miyakawa sang.
"We're blowing out our speakers! There goes the neighborhood! A little scissor happy, little misunderstood!" Kagami sang with Miyakawa as they danced around the pole in a synchronized routine that started to make it rain money at their feet once again.
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While the anarchic and depraved lifestyle of Kagami Hiiragi continued to consume her, her family and friends were once again left behind to pick up the pieces of her destructive persona. This time however, it was much worse because Kagami broke something even more treasured and valuable than household furniture. She broke Tsukasa Hiiragi's heart. Even though Tsukasa felt like such a failure, she still didn't feel alone because two of her best friends were with her in her room later that night. Konata and Miyuki were granted permission to spend the night in their home to give comfort to Tsukasa.
Miyuki returned to Tsukasa's room with a tray holding three cups of steaming tea and found Konata and Tsukasa sitting around her table in the middle of the room. Tsukasa was holding another stuffed animal to her chest and leaked a fresh tear into it every now and then. It was one of the only plush dolls that wasn't confiscated by the police for having drugs stashed inside it.
"I took the liberty of making this especially for you, Tsukasa-san." Miyuki said softly and placed the cup of tea in front of her.
The youngest Hiiragi daughter slowly took it and looked into the steaming green liquid. She could see her reflection in its wake until another tear fell from her eyes and splashed in it, turning her reflection into a rippled effect that vanished within the depressing ambiance of her bedroom. Regardless, Tsukasa sniffed twice until she took a small sip of the tea and placed it back on the table.
"Thank you, Yuki-chan." Tsukasa whispered. "And thank you…for staying with me tonight. I just don't want to be alone tonight."
Konata scooted closer to Tsukasa and pulled her close. The blue-haired girl allowed Tsukasa to rest her head on her petite shoulder while still struggling to hold herself together. "Its okay, Tsukasa. We wanted to stay here tonight. You're our best friend and we care about you."
Hearing this sincere sentiment only made Tsukasa's emotions deepen as she pulled out of Konata's embrace and sat on her knees. "I'm…I'm sorry that today…that today didn't…work out. I thought that we…we could've helped her. I thought that…I could've helped her."
Tsukasa covered her face again and wept, earning a gentle pat on the shoulders from Miyuki. "Now, now, Tsukasa-san, what happened today wasn't your fault. You did your best and we all pulled our own weight but in the end, Kagami-san made a choice, just as you said in your letter."
"Listen to her, Tsukasa. You were great today and you were very inspirational to us all." Konata added.
Tsukasa sighed as she took more tears away from her reddened cheek. "I just…wish that I was brave and strong. I hate being like this all the time now. I don't want to…keep crying all the time. I…I don't want to be seen as the little sister or the weakest link anymore. I just want to be brave and strong like my parents or Inori…or Matsuri."
Miyuki sighed. "But Tsukasa-san, don't you see? You are strong and you are brave. If anything, I believe that you were the strongest and the bravest out of all of us today."
Tsukasa sniffed again and looked at Miyuki with her red and puffy eyes. "What do you mean, Yuki-chan?"
"Remember when Kagami-san took that picture of us and hit Konata-san with it?" Miyuki asked.
Tsukasa nodded.
"While all of us were panicking and crying when Kagami-san left, you were the only one who ran after her to try and save her. The rest of us weren't following Kagami-san, we were following you." Miyuki added with a slight smile.
Koanta picked up on what Miyuki was trying to do and joined in. "That's true. While everyone was helping me, everyone was also staying on guard for fear of Kagami attacking the rest of us. But you…you refused to give up. You refused to let the darkness take your sister so you stood and faced the unknown and chased after her. Kagami could've hurt you out there but you still wouldn't give up. That was true strength and bravery, Tsukasa. You really are the bravest out of all of us."
Tsukasa sniffed again and looked back at Miyuki, who deepened her smile and nodded. Feeling the love of her two closest friends, Tsukasa became teary again when she was finally able to smile from all the support and she started crying again. Miyuki pulled her close and held Tsukasa in her lap and began rocking the ailing girl gently like a mother rocking her newborn.
In the midst of Tsukasa's tears, Miyuki whispered, "Tsukasa-san…I've been practicing my French a lot in anticipation for my trip and I learned how to fluently sing this lullaby. May I sing it to you?"
Tsukasa sniffed a few times until she nodded while snuggling deeper into Miyuki's warm and loving touch.
Miyuki smiled and nodded as Konata watched with intrigue. "It's called 'A La Claire Fontaine' and it means 'By the Clear Fountain.'"
With her sweet and maternal voice that would make every songbird in the world jealous of her beautiful serenade, Miyuki sang gently for Tsukasa while rocking her gently in her arms.
La Claire fountaine
M'en allant promener
J'ai trouv l'eau si belle
Que je m'y suis baign
Il y a longtemps que je t'aime
Jamias je ne t'oublierai
Sous les feuilles de chne
Je me suis fait scher
Sur la plau haute branche
Le rossignol chantait
Il y a longtemps que je t'aime
Jamias je ne t'oublierai
C'est pour mon ami Pierre
Qui ne veut plus m'amier
Pour un bouton de rose
Que je lui refusai
Il y a longtemps que je t'aime
Jamias je ne t'oublierai
J'ai perdu mon ami
Sans l'avoir mrit
Pour un bouquet de roses
Que je lui refusai
Il y a longtemps que je t'aime
Jamias je ne t'oublierai
Miyuki Takara took a deep breath upon finishing her song and looked down. Tsukasa had fallen asleep in her arms as she continued to rock the Hiiragi girl, making the pink-haired girl giggle quietly. She looked up at Konata, who couldn't take her eyes off the scene. Konata wasn't crying, but her green eyes were flooded with deep emotional sentiment, as if she had witnessed the most beautiful and innocent scene in her entire life.
"How was it, Konata-san? Was that what you call…moe?" She asked.
Still filled with emotional euphoria, Konata sighed and replied with a small and sincere smile, "No Miyuki-san, that wasn't moe. That was just beautiful."