St. Mio's Fire
A K-On! story
Twenty minutes on the phone with mom was more than enough. It's hard enough to talk to a woman whom you barely know about anything of significance, let alone something as sensitive as this. Needless to say the old witch had no advice of use and her squeaky voice was annoying as ever.
It was a late Sunday afternoon and though Yui had always been a heavy sleeper something told Ui that her sister was still upset about the altercation that took place last night. Ui made an effort to make breakfast for her sister, as she had always done. At first as a sign of love, with absentee parents, they all they was each other in life. And she would've given up her life for were older sister in a second in those days. She only wished that Yui would've been a little faster. Things had changed and so did her feelings towards her sister.
She stood outside the guest bedroom door. She knocked and she knocked again. Not surprisingly, there was no answer. She slowly opened the door and let herself in. The hard stench of vodka and cigarettes instantly filled her nostrils and induced a gag reflex. Suppressing the urge, she moved into the room and placed the breakfast tray next to her sister's bed. Yui didn't move. Ui immediately began to pick up all the empty beer bottles and put them outside in the hall.
Yui laid in her bed facing the other direction. Feigning sleep, she recounted the events of the previous night. Her drunken call for help to her younger sister who had always been there for her. In retrospect maybe she leaned on her a little too much. Maybe I was selfish, Yui thought. Maybe I was weak. A drunken boyfriend, just another in a long line of bad habits, chasing her through a bar. She felt alone, so vulnerable. Where had it all gone wrong? But of course she knew exactly where it went wrong. She was just trying to figure out why.
The sound of a off-tune open string note reached her ear. She turned her head. Ui picked up her Heritage Cherryburst Les Paul and brushed off the dust from it. One of the strings must have been broken last night, when for the first time in a long time, during a drunken haze, Yui picked up her guitar and played her heart out. Ui of course, heard the whole three hours of it from her room.
Ui took out a pair of scissors and cut off the rest of the strings. From the guitar case, she retrieved a fresh pack of strings and began to restring the guitar. Although she was never quite as passionate about the instrument as her older sister she knew exactly how to take care of it. Yui watched silently as her younger sister repaired her guitar as if it were her own heart.
"I'm sorry Ui" She said from her bed. "I'm sorry for all of this."
Ui turned to her older sister and smiled. "It's alright."
"No, I mean it." Yui said. "I've been a horrible older sister."
"Don't be too hard on yourself." Ui replied in her usual compassionate tone.
"I was a fool." Yui coughed, her years of smoking were starting to catch up with her. "I didn't know. I wasn't prepared Ui. For this, for life."
Ui walked over to her sister and kneeled. She took Yui's hand and held it up to her face. She shared with her, her warmth as she had always done, she was just reminded of why she did.
"I miss them Ui. I miss Ritsu, I miss Mio, I miss Mugi... my god Ui, I miss them all so much." Yui said as she began to cry. "Was I toxic? Ui, I'm so sorry for what I did to you."
Ui leaned in closer. "Hey, look at me. We'll fix things. Everything's going to be alright."
"That's what people say when things aren't okay." Yui replied.
Ui smiled back at her sister. "Hey, you've been out there too long. You're not a cynic Yui. You're not even a realist. Yui my cute adorable older sister. You just need to remember that."
"I wrecked everything." Yui cried. "I don't deserve you."
"No you don't." Ui replied. "But you've got me. And you always will. Don't forget that."
Yui smiled through her tears. Ui smiled back at her older sister, she leaned in, gave her a kiss on the forehead and a big warm hug.
"Now let's get you cleaned up." Ui said as she ran her fingers through Yui's greasy hair.
