Title: Part 1: Goodbye, Middle School!

Characters: Mio, Ritsu

Pairings: Mio/Ritsu

It was a frosty day in early spring. Mio Akiyama stuffed her hands in her pockets to warm them up. Though she had been stressing out a lot lately, the chilly day was making her even more anxious. Her homeroom teacher had told her that this was the week they were getting their high school entrance exam results back.

High school was one of Mio's main obsessions. The middle school third-year had been talking and thinking about it since the beginning of the school year. Her best friend, Ritsu Tainaka, had soon gotten tired of talking about high school. To her, it wasn't a big deal. Knowing Ritsu, she'd probably fail all of her entrance exams but still get into a high school anyway. But Mio cared. High school was her future, just one step away from college, which was adulthood. So, for whole months before the entrance exams came up, she and Ritsu had been studying meticulously. Then came the question of where the girls actually wanted to go to high school. For this, Mio had spent 15 minutes reading off her list of dream high schools and backup schools. Then she'd rounded on Ritsu, who'd looked half asleep, and asked her what school she wanted to go to.

"Eh, I don't really know. My mom wants me to take the entrance exam for Sakuragaoka Girls' High School, since she went to school there, so I guess I'll take the exam for it."

"You mean that's it?!" Mio had exclaimed.

"Yeah, I guess. I can't really think of anywhere else."

Mio consulted her list. She'd been shocked to find that Sakuragaoka Girls' High School was there, as one of her last backups. There were just so many other good schools. But Ritsu had been her friend for years, and she couldn't abandon Ritsu just because they wanted to go to different schools. Ritsu would be totally lost without Mio. Who would help her study for finals? Who would be around for Ritsu to spook and tease? Mio didn't want to admit it, but she'd be lonely without her energetic golden-eyed best friend. So she'd made up her mind. She was going to take the exam for Sakura High along with Ritsu. It would become her new dream school, and all of the other ones would just be backup schools.

She and Ritsu had studied and studied until they were both positive that they could nail Sakura High's entrance exam (though Ritsu had been complaining that they'd wasted every free second they had on studying). For Mio, the entrance exam had gone well, but she was still worried about Ritsu, who wasn't the best with tests. Of course she was concerned about her own test results, but she thought about Ritsu's more than hers.

Mio was pulled back to the present by Ritsu running up to her and slinging an arm over Mio's shoulder. "You better not be thinking about high school again, or I'll hit you." She held out her fist, proving that she was indeed serious.

"I'm not!" protested Mio. "And you shouldn't be hitting anyone!"

Both of them started walking down the road toward their middle school. Ritsu did most of the talking, telling her about what she'd seen on TV and what her family was up to. Mio tried listening to her, but had a bad feeling in her stomach, like something was wrong. She couldn't take her mind off their entrance exam results.

The day couldn't have gone any slower, or it would have been going backwards. Mio kept trying to look for an opportunity to talk to her homeroom teacher, but she always seemed to be busy. Mio even tried ambushing her in the bathroom, but Ritsu, who knew what was going on, dragged her away, declaring what Mio was doing as stalking. It was usually Ritsu who drifted off during class, but now it was Mio. She kept having visions of things that might happen.

Finally, after school, Mio finally got her opportunity. In the staffroom, she cornered her homeroom teacher. Ritsu came with her for some reason.

"Your results? Well, I was planning on giving them out tomorrow, but I guess I could give them to you now-"

Ritsu snatched the two papers out of their teacher's hand. "Okay. Thanks!" She dragged Mio out of the room.

"Hey! What was that about?" demanded Mio.

"You've been obsessing over this for way too long. It's time we just got it over with." Ritsu handed Mio one of the papers. At the same time, they both looked down at their results.

Mio couldn't believe it. She'd gotten into Sakura High, and the six other schools (she'd narrowed her list down) she'd applied for. With a big smile on her face, she looked up at Ritsu. Everything was okay now. Since she'd passed, Ritsu probably had too. Probably…?

Ritsu was smiling too. "I guess you got in then, huh?" she asked. "That's really great, Mio." Wait…was Ritsu being a little too kind. Mio studied her friend's face closely. Her smile wasn't exactly happy, more sheepish.

The paper dropped from Mio's hand. "No way. You didn't…"

"I didn't pass. But I'm really glad you did."

"D-don't try to change the subject!" Mio exclaimed. But she'd worked so hard to help Ritsu, whose first choice had been Sakura High. It hadn't even been Mio's top choice, but she'd easily gotten in. "You should've gotten in, not me!"

"It's okay, Mio."

"No, it's not!" Mio whirled around and started walking away, only stopping to take off her indoor shoes and put on her street shoes. She felt like she was about to cry. All of those scenarios that had been playing through her head didn't even begin to compare to what had really happened.

Mio opened the door to her house and ran straight to her bedroom. She flopped down on her bed and pulled out her cell phone. Sure enough, there were three missed calls for Ritsu. She dialed the second number on her speed dial, which was Ritsu's.

"Mio! Geez, where did you go? Are you still at school?"

"No, I went home."

"Do you want me to come over?"

"No."

"Mio, you don't have to act this upset. It's just the end of my school career," joked Ritsu. She was trying to be funny and make the situation seem better than it was, but Mio didn't smile. She felt a tear roll down her cheek.

In a quavering voice, Mio said, "It's not just the end of your school career. It's the end of mine too. Ritsu, I'm not going to high school unless it's with you. So it looks like I won't be going to Sakura Girls' High after all."

To be continued…