Waltz.
By Some1Else.
In less than two weeks, life as Azusa Nakano knew it would change. Happiness was not something that could go on forever. Her seniors were graduating. Though they had all managed to get into the same college, there probably wouldn't be much time to hang out during the coming summer. They promised to keep in touch with Azusa online, but she was afraid they might lose interest in her when their coursework kicked in. That was an irrational fear since being in a band had brought them so close together, but it was one she could not get rid of. Before meeting these wonderful girls, she had kept mostly to herself. Making friends did not come easy prior to high school and she had spent a lot of her time cooped up in her house when she wasn't pretending to be interested in the clubs she had reluctantly joined. Only after she had met Tsumugi, Ritsu, Yui, and Mio did she realize what she had been missing. Their experiences together certainly made up for what Azusa had missed out on.
Azusa was silently wondering if she should join the same college. She was fairly confident she could pass the entrance exam, but it didn't seem like a good idea. There were other universities that were more suitable to the goals she had in mind. It became a question of following her friends or following her dreams and it was extremely difficult to choose between the two. Azusa would have plenty of time to think about this for one whole year while the rest of the band was sharing an apartment together and she was busy being the club president. Ui and Jun had volunteered to become members and Azusa resolved to do her best and hoped they could somehow form a band half as great as After School Tea Time.
Yet it wouldn't be the same without them. They didn't talk about this at all as they went on about nothing while having tea and eating the sweets Tsumugi had brought. It was a topic they were avoiding entirely. Surely the emotions would come to a head soon enough and they would all have a session where they could share their tears. Azusa could hardly wait, but she wasn't going to be the one to start it.
The last thing they were going to do together was film a recruitment video for Azusa's benefit, but that hadn't happened yet and it looked like Ritsu was putting it off in favor of just enjoying the time they spent together after school. That was fine. If this moment could go on forever, Azusa would be happy. Yet there was something nagging at her. It wasn't a silly worry or disgust with how not even staying in one spot could stop the world from turning.
It was the feeling that something was extremely wrong.
Azusa had been bothered by this little voice in the back of her mind since she entered the clubroom. The thought came up from time to time as they discussed little things only high school girls would care about. Azusa kept pushing it back when it came to her attention, but this time it was not going away as easily. She tried thinking about other things, but the thought no longer chose to be ignored.
Something was wrong and Azusa needed to figure out what it was right now.
Clearing her throat, she poured herself another cup of green tea. It was a delicious blend. Everything Tsumugi had usually tasted like heaven. They had already eaten some cake at the start of their meeting. Azusa wished there was more. Tsumugi had been bringing better stuff lately since they would all be leaving soon.
If she didn't figure out what was going on she was going to go crazy.
There wasn't a surprise in store for her. Azusa was sure of that much. The other girls talked amongst themselves without Azusa's involvement as she began to examine her surroundings. If she thought her seniors leaving was bad, she was going to have even more trouble leaving the clubroom for good once she graduated. It was perfect for what they used it for and so comfy. Part of the allure to the school had been its design. Azusa loved the wood floors. This school was old, no doubt about that. So many memories. So many dreams.
That wasn't it. Outside, the afternoon sun was setting. It would be dark out soon. Tomorrow was Wednesday, so much for Tuesday. There was nothing particularly wrong with that. Azusa was getting nowhere fast. She stood from her seat and wandered over to the instruments. Everything was still set out in case they suddenly wanted to jam. They only put their instruments away when they were leaving. They hadn't practiced in almost a month now. Azusa still did at home to keep herself fresh, but it looked like their band was going to go out with a whimper instead of a bang.
The cases for their instruments were all still out and their overpriced briefcase's that every single high school student was expected to carry were laid out on the bench. The cute little charms were still attached to them. Yui had written a funny message on the billboard to Azusa's left. Nothing was on the chalkboard used for music. All their ideas were on paper. So far so good.
Her Fender Mustang was in place, the pride and joy of all she owned. It had previously belonged to her uncle and now it had been given to her when she managed to impress him with the cheaper electric guitar her parents had bought for her about two years ago. Her uncle no longer had any use for it. After paying to have it restored, it was given to Azusa in near mint condition. She didn't sleep for two days straight after that.
It's white. My Fender Mustang is red. Azusa thought to herself indifferently.
The world started to turn black slowly as Azusa felt her head try to fly away from her shoulders. She was extremely faint. No, her Mustang was white. It had been white since the day it was given to her and she played it so much when she first had it her parents told her she just might chip the paint to scare her into putting it down so she would go to sleep. A buzzing noise entered her ears. She hadn't felt this way since she had watched Donnie Wahlberg break his foot with a toilet lid to escape from the chain holding him captive at the beginning of Saw 3. Ritsu had a horrible taste in movies.
"Feeling nostalgic, Azunyan?" Ritsu asked brightly.
"I guess." Azusa replied, nodding.
"Come back and sit with us!" Yui requested.
Don't wander off, you look silly! Let's go back to the table, Azunyan. I think somebody needs another cup of tea.
Each of them had told her to come sit at the table at least once before and they had asked her to do so several times throughout the course of their session. No. It was at least a dozen. A bakers dozen.
We can't be the Knights of the Square Table if you don't join us, Azunyan! That had been another one from Ritsu. She could be quite clever sometimes.
"Hey, are you okay?" Ritsu asked, looking rather concerned. "You look a little pale."
"Maybe it's just my blood sugar." Azusa muttered.
"I've got a mint!" Tsumugi offered.
Tsumugi placed it in front of Azusa's special cat cup. To get it, she would need to go back to the table.
Don't. You. Dare.
"What time is it?" Azusa asked herself.
She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and checked the time. 5:30 gleamed up at her helpfully. It had been 5:30 the last time she had checked her phone, too. In fact, it had been 5:30 when she had checked her phone before that.
"Do you want to play?" Ritsu asked, gesturing at the instruments.
She's trying to distract you.
They had managed to do that quite easily before. Azusa was so eager to spend time with them she had neglected to notice what was happening around her. Azusa's head was spinning. If she fainted, she was just going to wake up on the bench with all of them standing around her and it would still be 5:30. Her heart was beating against her chest and she could taste metal in her mouth as if she had been running a marathon.
This was silly. She was just under a lot of stress lately. Her best friends were leaving and it didn't look like they were ever going to go to Budokan at this rate. Maybe they could rekindle their band in college and change their sound so they would have a better chance of impressing a wider audience instead of just a school full of insecure girls struggling to find their own identities because songs about loving to sing and calligraphy pens weren't doing so hot on the blog Ritsu had created last month to distribute their work. The general consensus was they sounded pro, but there was something about their music that would only find them popular among creepy otaku.
Down the rabbit hole, Nakano. Just remember, you don't have a rope.
What was that voice? Her guardian angel? Her instincts? She couldn't say she enjoyed it, but it did have a point and it was helping her put together the puzzle right in front of her.
My guitar is red. Azusa thought, repeating it to herself like a mantra.
"I need some air." Azusa said as she went over to a window, fumbling blindly for it.
"Azusa, you're going to faint!" Mio shouted.
She ignored them and went for the window. Mio and Tsumugi grabbed her and lead her back to the table. Azusa's skin was cold and clammy to the touch and she could feel herself sweating underneath her uniform. Mio took off her vest to give her skin room to breath. At least this hadn't happened before. They were all looking at her with such a great deal of concern, ready to do anything to help her out. Anything except not graduate.
Azusa suddenly felt selfish. This was all her fault. She had put all of her eggs in one basket and look what happened. That was Ui's problem and one thing Azusa clearly didn't like about the younger Hirasawa twin, probably because she was the exact same way. If she could invest just as much effort into liking herself than none of this would have happened. Azusa would never, ever take back the fact that she was friends with them, but she could have done more to stifle the blow their departure would lay upon her by looking out for herself from the very beginning. Being with them had helped her through her own inadequacies, but she had come to rely too much on their company.
"Is it hypoglycemia?" Tsumugi asked.
"No, I just feel weird all of a sudden."
"You should eat that mint, then. It looks positively delicious." Yui said.
"Then why don't you eat it?" Azusa asked evenly.
Yui looked offended by that question for a moment before she returned to her usual self.
"Are you sure I can have it?" Yui asked.
"I'm sure Tsumugi-senpai has plenty more like it, Yui-senpai." Azusa said, trying to be as polite as possible.
"I don't want it, though."
"Okay, then."
Azusa was beginning to notice the friendliness was slowly leaving the room. They were still acting like they did every day, but there was a peculiar feeling in the air. Like the walls were starting to come down all around her.
Where are my friends? Azusa asked herself, since it was gradually becoming apparent that they weren't the girls in front of her.
Bad move, came the voice.
Panic started to set in. Yui wasn't wearing her little hairband thing on the right side of her face. Tsumugi's eyebrows were a lot thinner. Ritsu had a mysterious scar on her kneecap. Mio's boobs were a cup larger. Montgomery the Russian dwarf hamster, the pet they had bought her so she wouldn't be lonely when they left, was on the right side of the room instead of the left. In fact, so were the windows.
Wait a minute. This entire time the whole room has been reversed and I failed to notice it? Azusa thought to herself.
And Montgomery the Russian dwarf hamster? Where were they hiding Ton-chan?
Azusa wondered how she could have possibly been so stupid. How had she not noticed all of this earlier? It was almost insulting that she had failed to spot the problem earlier. Maybe it hadn't been quite this obvious when whatever was happening had started, but she should have noticed the change at some point. A weird noise brought her attention over to the cage holding the hamster. It had been switched out for Ton-chan who waved a finned leg happily at her when she noticed him. Azusa closed her eyes to blink and opened them again. Facing north, the windows were once again on the left instead of the right. Azusa fell out of her chair and landed on her side, dizzy enough to vomit. Ritsu's scar had vanished. The other girls looked like they always had before.
Yet her guitar was still white.
Whatever it is, it's getting weaker.
These people in front of her were not her friends. They looked, talked, and acted like them, but they were not the upper class men she adored. They were imposters. Fakes.
"Geez, Azunyan!" Ritsu exclaimed as she went to help her back to her feet. "I really think you need that mint."
Azusa scuttled away from Ritsu, holding a shaking hand up to stop her from advancing further.
"I need to go to the nurses office. Will one of you take me there?" Azusa asked.
"You don't look that sick." Tsumugi said.
"You'll feel better after you have this mint. It's peppermint! That's better than a regular mint!" Yui urged.
"I am not going to eat that mint." Azusa said flatly.
"It's not like doing so is going to hurt anything. This isn't a movie. You're not going to wake up somewhere strange. Besides, I think you need it." Ritsu explained.
That sounded really suspicious and quite weird.
"It's so delicious I can taste it in my mouth now!" Yui said, unable to contain her excitement.
"Then eat it! Ritsu, take me to the nurses office now!" Azusa screamed.
She hated herself when she got too angry. Azusa felt she became whiny and childish whenever she vented so she did her best to maintain a steady temper. This was her limit, though, and she did not have to be ashamed of herself. The room went silent. Any warm and fuzzy feelings she had for these fakes were now gone.
"How about some more tea?" Tsumugi suggested, holding up a teapot.
Azusa backed up against the wall and used it as a support as she stood up on both of her feet. Nobody said a word.
"I'm going home." Azusa announced.
"No, you're not. You don't want to leave us. You can't." Ritsu said.
Her tone was not condescending. Ritsu had no hidden meanings in what she said. That made it even more unsettling. Azusa walked carefully passed Ritsu, making sure she wasn't going to try anything funny. She ignored her briefcase and the white Fender Mustang that didn't belong to her and put a hand on the door to leave the room.
"Don't do it." Mio said.
"Come back and have some more tea." Tsumugi said.
Azusa felt her jaw pop under the strain of her clenched teeth. God, that was getting annoying! Tea, tea, tea! Sure it was good, but so was any excuse they could use so they didn't have to practice. Had she even gone to the bathroom while she was in here? She couldn't have. They wouldn't have let her leave the room.
"Azusa, I'm sorry for whatever it is that I did. Please don't open that door and come sit with us." Yui pleaded, almost ready to cry.
"If you want to practice, we'll practice. We'll do whatever. Just stay in here with us." Ritsu said.
Azusa let her hand drop to her side and turned to face the girls staring at her. They smiled reassuringly, thinking they had won.
"You people are not my friends." Azusa said.
With that, she opened the door.
In front of her was what was behind her. Ritsu was looking right at her and so was everyone else. Even Ton-chan was at the edge of his tank, looking directly at Azusa's back. Impossible. Absolutely impossible. Azusa looked behind her shoulders and saw the same image that was waiting for her beyond the doorway. Holding her breath, she stepped through the door and found herself walking directly towards Ritsu, who smiled slightly. It was a sad smile. Azusa turned around again. The door to the clubroom was closed.
Azusa frantically went for a window and cracked one open to try and escape that way. No such luck. She saw what was behind her again through the narrow opening she could barely squeeze through. With the window closed, she could see the pleasant view of the school yard, which was devoid of life. Now that she was actually aware of what was going on around her, it looked more like a painting. Not even the sun seemed real. Closing the window, she looked back at everyone in the room.
"What's going on?" Azusa demanded, trying to remain in control.
Fear was starting to creep into her. If she lost the footing she had now, thanks to her anger, it would be all over. Azusa let her rage seep back into her, using it as fuel for her resolve.
"It's what you asked for." Mio said from her seat.
"Excuse me?" Azusa asked.
"We have it on tape." Tsumugi said brightly.
Tsumugi took a small voice recorder out of her pocket and put it on the table. They didn't bother pressing play for her.
"We won't make you sit down this time, but we're not getting up." Yui said.
Ritsu folded her arms across her chest. Azusa cautiously walked back to the table, avoiding Ritsu entirely by walking passed the bench that was between them. She took the recorder that bore no markings and pressed play.
Please don't ever let them leave me.
It was her voice, but she couldn't remember when she had said that.
"What is this? I never said this!"
"Yes, you did. Don't lie." Yui said.
"Even if you don't remember, it's still what you wanted, right?" Mio asked.
A memory suddenly hit her so hard she was taken aback. About one month ago she had visited a shrine and had said that little prayer. It was nothing. She was feeling pretty bad about the whole thing at that point and now as she looked back on it she should have asked for something else. Azusa had let her emotions get to her. If that had been a cursed shrine, there certainly was no indication of it. She wasn't even entirely certain if there was such a thing. Her mind drew a blank when she tried to remember passed that. She couldn't even remember what she'd had for breakfast this morning. Azusa was pretty good at paying attention in class and she could recall nothing of what she learned that day. All she remembered was entering the club room.
Her eyes went wide in horror. Azusa was fairly certain that she had been in some type of traumatic accident. It was even possible that she was lying in a coma somewhere. Something bad had happened to her after she had visited that shrine. She found it in the middle of nowhere while on a walk to do some thinking. Her next memory after the feeling of extreme dread was walking into the club room and being greeted by everyone as they sat around the table chatting.
There was no way Azusa could measure time in here, but she was fairly confident she had spent at least three days being drawn back into the loop.
"Where am I?" Azusa whispered to herself.
"It would appear that we have failed to perform our roles as your friends." Mio stated.
Their eyes became hallow and their faces ashen as if they had permanently lost Azusa.
This isn't going very well.
They began to take on the appearance of lifeless dolls with vacant gazes. None of them bothered to blink anymore. Azusa could feel fear starting to slowly overtake her.
"It's fine. Whoever you all are, you fooled me pretty good. Please let me go home." Azusa requested politely.
"You don't want to stay with us any longer?" Yui asked.
"No."
"We could reset this easily. We've done it before." Tsumugi offered.
Azusa shook her head again.
"I'm sorry. As I've said before, you are not my real friends. I had asked to be with them, not you."
"Then you are truly ungrateful. If we're not good enough for you, we shall see how well you can manage on your own against that which you fear the most. Allow us to punctuate that for you." Mio stated.
Ritsu tapped Azusa on the shoulder. She turned around and immediately got the business end of a crowbar shoved into her right eye with a dull thud. Pain unlike anything she had ever experienced erupted from the afflicted area. Her scream blotted out every other sound in the world. Part of her eyeball had popped out and she could feel it against the palm of her hand as fresh blood gushed from her ruined face. Azusa grabbed the bleeding wound and backed away from everyone. They stood from their seats sharply, but remained near the table.
Azusa accidentally allowed Ritsu to corner her. She managed to establish that Ritsu did not have a reflection, judging by the mirror above the sink she was standing directly across from. Outside, the sun was sinking beneath the horizon and night was falling. The clubroom was getting very dark. All that was nothing compared to the sheer agony Azusa was in.
"What have you done to me?!" Azusa demanded.
"Yes, that was slightly excessive, Riichan." Yui chided.
"What should you care?" Ritsu asked.
Yui put a hand to her chin in thought and nodded silently after a moment, seeing her point.
"Should we take her other eye?" Tsumugi asked.
"Tempting." Ritsu said.
"Let's do it!" Yui exclaimed.
"No, because if we do, she won't be able to see." Mio said.
"Wouldn't it be more painful for her if she couldn't?" Yui pressed.
"True. Let's call a vote. All in favor of knocking out her other eye, raise your hand."
Yui did so eagerly. Tsumugi joined her. Ritsu and Mio kept their hands down.
"Against?" Ritsu asked.
Ritsu and Mio raised their hands. Azusa raised hers as well, which was covered in blood. Ritsu smirked.
"Okay. We'll let you keep the other eye." Ritsu said with a wink, using the eye she had destroyed on Azusa to return the gesture.
Azusa felt peer elation that they were going to let her keep her eye. At least she would be able to see what was going on.
"On second thought, never mind." Mio said.
"Ditto." Ritsu added.
"Hooray!" Yui exclaimed.
She felt her blood go cold as they began closing in on her. They actually intended to do this now. Azusa's mouth was agape in shock. She couldn't believe this.
"I'm sorry, Azusa. Don't make this any harder than it has to be. You should have listened to us when we were trying to help you." Ritsu said, although it no longer sounded like her.
Yui was suddenly at Ritsu's side. She had Azusa's Fender Mustang in her hands. Yui knelt down to the blood Azusa had left on the floor. She put her hand in it and then wiped it across the body of the instrument.
"Look, your guitar is red again!" a voice she had not expected to come from Yui exclaimed happily as she set the guitar on its stand right in front of Azusa.
"It was fun while it lasted." the apparition of Tsumugi admitted.
"I do not have any idea what you are talking about!" Azusa screamed.
"I guess this means we will have to do this the hard way." Ritsu said.
They lunged for her. Azusa wet herself when they began restraining her. She thrashed and squirmed, but it wasn't enough to break free. Their strength had increased significantly and there was no way she was getting out of this. Azusa vomited on herself as Ritsu readied the crowbar. She knew better, but Azusa was hoping she would die from fright before this happened as she begged them to stop and called out for her mother. There was no remorse in any of them as they teamed up against Azusa to finish whatever it was they had started. They looked more like dolls now than anything else.
"Don't! Please don't! Mama! Help me, mama!" she pleaded. "Someone! Yui-senpai, help me!"
"I'm right here, Azunyan." Yui said.
"Not you! The real one!" Azusa screamed.
Yui smiled and shrugged.
Perhaps I should have just kept my big mouth shut, came the voice, which slowly faded into her subconscious as the last word was spoken.
Her pleas fell on deaf ears. Ritsu's expressionless face was the last thing she ever saw. Somehow losing her remaining eye hurt worse than the other one. The scream she let lose was unimaginable. She was held down until the pain finally subsided. Azusa stopped struggling and was paralyzed, whimpering in fear and confusion. They then began to force her out of her uniform. Azusa believed they now intended to rape her. She heard her clothes tearing as she struggled to resist. Tsumugi had been at her head and now used her thumps to press down into Azusa's ruined eye sockets to make her submit. Azusa cried out in pure pain as they tore off her uniform, revealing her undergarments to them.
"Please stop hurting me!" Azusa pleaded.
Mio stuffed Azusa's socks in her mouth and clasped her jaw shut so she couldn't talk. Azusa felt her teeth press together so tight they actually began to feel lose. Any further pressure was going to crack them and destroy her mouth.
"Wait just a minute. That's far enough. There's no point in going any further considering what's ahead. Let's leave her like this." Tsumugi said.
She heard Ritsu sigh and felt the others release their hold on her. Azusa scuttled away blindly into a corner where she curled up into a crumbled heap, shivering violently, completely ruined, a shadow of her former self. She couldn't even begin to think what she was going to do without eyes and she was really in for it if they became infected. There was a medical pack in the storeroom where Ritsu had fetched the crowbar while Azusa was sufficiently distracted, but without being able to see her ability to heal herself would be about as effective as troubleshooting computer problems over the phone.
Azusa spat out her socks and used her hands to clutch her empty eye sockets, trying desperately to squeeze the terrible pain away, wondering why exactly this was happening to her. It didn't look like they were even going to give her an explanation. It sounded like they were getting ready to leave. Azusa could hear them packing up their instruments. Even Ritsu was disassembling the drum kit. She imagined everyone would help carry the pieces since she hadn't brought her cases with her.
They intended to leave her here all by herself, which did not frighten her considering what had just happened and the fact she had been alone to begin with ever since she became trapped in this paradox. Following them did not seem advisable and it was already apparent that they would not listen to her beg, so she saved her energy.
"Goodbye, Azunyan." the distorted voices of her companions said.
"Please send me back to where I belong." Azusa whimpered.
Trying to cry without eyes was interesting and only increased her pain.
"This is where you belong." they said together.
"Don't forget to feed Ton-chan!" Yui said in that odd voice.
Azusa hoped they all would rot in hell for this. She wished she could tell these foul beings that, but considering how defenseless she was in this state she kept her mouth shut. Azusa heard the door close on a hinge that really needed to be oiled. It shut with the finality of being sealed inside a tomb. She heard the lock latch, which would prevent her from trying to escape in that manner.
She didn't even bother moving. Azusa wasn't sure how long she laid there on her side, whimpering and shaking uncontrollably. At first she expected the whole charade to reset again. It didn't. It wouldn't. Azusa eventually gathered up enough resolve to find her cell phone amidst the tattered remains of her clothing. The battery was freshly charged and she had the device set to dial her friends at the press of a button when she spoke their names. It took her a moment to decide who she wanted to call.
"Ritsu." Azusa said into the phone.
Though she could be quite irresponsible, Ritsu was a natural leader when she wanted to be. Being saved by Yui-senpai would be nice, but in reality Ritsu was the best choice. Then again, Azusa didn't care who came to her rescue at this point so long as it was someone she knew. The line rang. Nobody picked up. She didn't even get to Ritsu's voice mail. Azusa ended the call and dialed 119, using her memory to carefully determine where the buttons were. It was useless. The only sound she heard was the gentle bubble of Ton-chan's tank from across the way. Eventually she gathered enough resolve to start to crawl blindly towards it. She accidentally bumped into the guitar Yui had decorated with her own blood, the wardrobe containing all of Tsumugi's silverware, and the table. She stopped at the table and felt for the mint. Nothing happened after she ate it. Ritsu had been right.
Azusa continued on her way towards Ton-chan. Her hands located the stand and she slowly felt her way up until she could touch the tank with her bloodied fingers. It would be funny if they had taken Ton-chan with them and left her with an empty tank. That sounded very plausible given the circumstances. She didn't want to reach in and find out if that was the case just yet. Instead, she left her hand where it was, feeling some semblance of warmth as she forced herself to sense Ton-chan's presence. Memories of her friends flooded her mind. She remembered the time they had spent at Tsumugi's manors, the summer concert, the time they had played at the live house, and every minute they had been together. It was all gone now.
She was all alone.
"Yui-senpai. . .please come save me." Azusa whispered.
In the darkness of the clubroom, the only person who heard her was herself.
Notes.
- Arist Kite136 drew a piece of fan art for this story. Since you can't post a proper link within a document on this site, you will need to Google "kite136 deviantart" if you are interested. The image is marked as mature, so you must have an account with DeviantArt if you want to see it. The drawing is named after this story.
- I originally had a note at the beginning of this story that I later cut out that said this :
I can't be Tastychainsaws and I doubt I could beat him at his own game, but to hell with it. I'll try.
Which must have provoked the review I received from him.
- I almost let Azusa keep her eyes so she could enjoy the empty room, but that approach seemed far too delicate.