Tsubasa wo Kudasai
(Please, Give Me Wings)
Chapter 1 – Hello Little Girl
I know, I know. I should finish Slice of Life and Matryoshka!. But the outline and rough draft for this chapter have been sitting in my story notebook for quite some time now, so I figured that while I'm planning out the rest of Slice of Life and Matryoshka!, I could write this first chapter. And then I'm back to studying (x_x) and writing my Vocaloid fics.
Anyway, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own K-ON! and I wrote this story simply for fun.
The group crossed the street, each wearing an expression of light-hearted humor. It was routine for the five to walk home together afterschool, at least for part of the way. Each day they walked down the familiar path, their school bags slung over one shoulder; and for three, an instrument case was latched onto the other shoulder. Their conversations were light, full of jokes and giggles. When they approached the street corner, they turned to one another, ready to say their goodbyes.
"Yosh! Azusa!" The tawny haired girl of the group slapped the shortest girl on the back. "Ja ne! See you tomorrow! Take care of Yui, yeah?" The grin on her face was wild, and her amber eyes tended to have a jokers glint to them. She slipped her hands into the pockets of her uniform's navy blazer and flapped them wildly.
Immediately, a short haired brunette latched herself onto the short, twin tailed girl. A smile of content was on her face as she rubbed her cheek against the top of Azusa's head. A giggle of pleasure escaped her as she continued to nuzzle the lightly blushing twin tailed girl.
The youngest girl scowled up at her attacker with garnet eyes. "Mou, Ritsu-senpai!" she whined, as she struggled to escape Yui's intense hug. "Yui-senpai and I don't walk all the way home together, you know!" The short girl's cheeks puffed out when she realized Ritsu was snickering. "What—What's so funny?"
Ritsu grinned and pushed her yellow headband back, the amused grin unwavering. "Nothing, nothing," she replied. "I was just kidding around. You need to calm down some, Azusa. If you're always tense like this, you might end up dieing young from a heart attack—A'DWAH!"
A stiffened hand had collided smartly with the top of Ritsu's head. The owner of said hand had an unamused frown on her face as she frowned at the tawny haired girl. "Ritsu, really," Akiyama Mio sighed. "You shouldn't tease people so much. And besides, don't go around saying stupid things—"
"Eh? But, Mio-chaun…" Ritsu interrupted the gray eyed girl as she rubbed at her head. "What if a zombie were to pop out and steal my lieutenant away? I can't go on knowing Yui's missing!"
At this, Mio stiffened, and she began to quiver. "Z-zombie?" she stammered, as she stared at Ritsu with wide eyes.
"Yup! They'd just drag away Yui—Oi… Mio…" Ritsu felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of her face when she saw her best friend immediately curl into a ball, hands over her ears. "I wasn't serious…"
The sight of the two childhood friends caused the quiet, blonde of the group to giggle. Kotobuki Tsumugi covered her lips with a hand before she politely excused herself. Unlike the others, she lived further away and had to commute to the school by train. This intersection was their normal parting location, so it was of no surprise to the others. "Sumimasen, but I have to take my leave," Mugi smiled at her friends fondly. "I'll see all of you tomorrow!"
Yui momentarily ceased her nuzzling and looked at the thick browed blonde. "Ah! Okay! Bye-bye, Mugi-chan!" she sang, as she waved one hand frantically as the blonde began to cross the street.
"S-sayounara!" Azusa managed to stammer, as she moved Yui's arm away from her mouth.
Ritsu grinned and nodded at the blonde. "Matte ne!" She glanced down at Mio, who was still cowering in fear from the image of zombies. "Oi, Mio. Mugi's leaving, ya know."
No response.
The tawny haired girl sighed, and took hold of the back of Mio's navy blazer. If her raven haired best friend refused to move, Ritsu supposed she was going to have to drag Mio home. It was a good thing they lived close to one another, or she might have abandoned the long haired beauty on that street corner…. Okay, not really. "Mio-chaaaaauuun! I'll drag you home if I have to!"
Mumbling.
"Mio?"
"Z-z-zombies!"
Ritsu sighed, but it was clear she found the whole thing to be somewhat amusing. After all, a small smile was plastered onto her face. With a tug of her arm, the cowering bass player promptly fell onto her rear. "Mio! Mio! Let's go home!" the tawny hair girl nagged, as she continued to tug at the navy uniform blazer. "Ikimashou!"
Despite the scene taking place before her, a slight glistening in the sunlight caught Azusa's attention. "Ah—Mugi-senpai!" she called out, as she finally managed to break free of Yui's tight embrace. "Chotto matte, kudasai!" The twin-tailed girl ran after the blonde, who was already walking along the sidewalk which led to the station.
Mugi halted upon hearing her name, and turned around to see little Azusa. The younger girl stopped to and bent over to pick something up. "Hm?"
"Your keychain!" Azusa called out, as she stood up straight and held the keyboardist's fallen keychain up in the air. "It fell off your bag!"
The blonde girl smiled and began to walk back towards her kouhai. "Ah, thank you—!" She stopped speaking and her eyes widened. A hand flew up to her mouth as she let out a blood curdling scream.
Confused, the garnet eyed girl could only stare at the horrified expression on Mugi's face. "Huh?"
"AZUSA!" Ritsu?
"Wha—NO!" Mio?
Azusa turned around, only to see Yui begin to run towards her. "AZU-NYAA—"
The unmistakable sound of a car horn cut through Yui's desperate cry. Garnet eyes widened as they turned to her left, only to see a car heading straight towards her. Her legs wouldn't move, and the car seemed to be moving impossibly fast.
"YUI-SENPAI—"
Garnet eyes shot open, and Azusa gasped for air. She stared at the ceiling fan which whirred above her, and it took her a moment to process that she was safe in her room. The young girl closed her eyes, and covered her eyes with her hand. It was that same dream. The same dream that had been haunting her nights for the past few weeks. Every night, whatever pleasant dream Azusa may have been having would suddenly shift into that. That horrid accident where she undoubtedly died by automobile… She shuddered, and turned to her side. Sunlight was already streaming through her closed curtains and blinds. With a shaky sigh, she forced herself to sit up and pushed back her bangs. A quick glance to the clock told her it was 6:45. Great.
Why was she having this single dream? It must be unusual for anyone to have a repeated dream for two weeks straight… Right?
And who were those other girls, anyway? She had never met them before. But there was the repeated thought that ran through the back of her head. Those girls were important to her. Azusa wasn't sure why girls in her dreams would be important, but she was sure that they were…
These thoughts continued to nag her as she went through her morning routine. Have breakfast, shower, get dressed, head off. It was a somewhat lonely routine, for she had moved out of her parent's home after she turned 16. But then again, every other 16 year old did the same. It was required of them, after all. After the revolution, the new government declared that once a child turned 16, they would leave their parents and take a placement test to evaluate their academic skills. From there, the child would be sorted into the appropriate school and would be required to either find their own off-campus residency, or move into the provided dormitories. After touring the campus dormitory of Sakuragaoka Girl's High School, the garnet eyed girl had promptly decided that living in those tiny rooms would… well, suck. Azusa was lucky that she had found a girl to split the cost of rent with her.
Regardless, Azusa had finished her morning routine by 7:25. She stared at herself in the mirror after having donned the required uniform. Navy blue blazer, gray skirt, white button down, sky blue ribbon. Check, check, check and check.
Now all that was left to do was to check on her roommate.
As she headed out of her bedroom and into the kitchen, the familiar sight of her roommate's head lying against the table awaited her. Azusa pushed her bangs back, and put a hand on her hips. "Jun," she said, as she went and stood beside her dozing friend. "Hey… Wake up, or we'll be late." Azusa placed a hand on Jun's shoulder and shook the other girl once.
Immediately, Jun lifted her head up, yet her eyes were still sealed shut. "Nn… Azuuuuuuusaaaaa!" she whined, as she lifted her arms up to stretch her back and torso. "I don't wanna go… So early…"
"Early? It's…" A pause as the black haired girl glanced at the microwave's digital clock. "7:30. School starts in half an hour—"
"Make a clone of me and send it to school." Thud. Jun's head returned to resting on the tabletop.
A sigh escaped Azusa's lips. She turned on her heels and went into Jun's bedroom, snatched the hanging uniform from the brunette's closet, and went back out into the kitchen. "Here, I got you your uniform," she said, as she set it down in front of Jun. "But I absolutely refuse to dress you—Huh?"
Once more, Jun sat up, and lifted her arms up in the air. "Dress me!"
Azusa stared at her roommate, a sweatdrop making its way down the back of her head. "J-Jun…"
"Just kidding~" The curly haired girl laughed and pulled her t-shirt off. "I'll be done in a second—"
"Get dressed in your room! Mou, have some sense of shame!"
"Mm? At least I have a bra on, right—"
"That's not the point!" Azusa shot back, as she quickly crossed over to the living room and picked up her black guitar case. "Mou, Jun, at least be more responsible in the mornings. We go through this every day…" The girl opened the door and stepped out onto the landing. "Can you hurry up, please? We need to drop off our instruments before class."
Jun grinned as she hurriedly slipped into her uniform. She knew if she took any longer, her short friend would leave her behind. "I know, I know. But hey! At least we live really close to the school, so it's not even a problem if we do this every day," she laughed. The girl quickly threw her curly brown hair into their regular pigtails. Suzuki Jun was quick to snatch up her school bag and bass guitar case. The apartment door slammed shut behind her, and she quickly shoved her key into the keyhole and locked their apartment. Satisfied that their home was properly locked, Jun skipped ahead of Azusa laughing as she ran down the stairs.
Azusa trailed behind, her head already throbbing from the antics of her roommate. Right off, the bat she knew it was going to be a long day.
Music filled the room as the trio played on their instruments. They had all arrived early to Sakuragaoka for the sole purpose of making music. The all girl's school was known for producing intelligent young women, more than capable of making it into some of the finer universities. For these three girls, they were simply absorbed in the present, happily creating intricate melodies for those who happened to stray to the third floor of the school.
"Yosh!" The president of the keionbu stopped beating on her yellow drumset. One of the sticks twirled around her fingers as she gave the other two members a wide grin. "I think it's time to take a break and have some of Mugi's cake—"
"What?" The left handed bassist narrowed her eyes at her somewhat lazy best friend. "Ritsu! We can't keep taking breaks if the exam is coming up!" Mio exclaimed, as she took a step towards the drummer. "And if we can't at least beat that lower level band, then there's a good chance that they'll take one of us—Don't be so nonchalant about this!"
Ritsu was already seated at the worn wooden table, hands outstretched as she took a teacup and saucer from their blonde keyboardist. "Hm? Oh, right, right," she shrugged. "I hate this new system. It sucks. Why do we even have to outplay another band just to keep our keionbu going? It doesn't make any sense! And the only reward we get out of 'winning' is whether or not we want to take one of their members and make them our own…" She removed her yellow headband from her head and quickly readjusted it. "Stupid."
The keyboardist set three more sets of teacups and saucers for herself, Mio, and their absent guitarist. "It is a little silly," Mugi agreed. "But I can understand why they would set it up that way. Something like survival of the fittest, I suppose, where the weakest groups are eliminated slowly..."
"Right," Mio nodded, and placed her hands on her hips. "And that's exactly why we need to keep practicing!"
"Eeeeeh, Mio-chaaauun," the tawny haired drummer whined as she cupped her head in her hand. "You take things too seriously. We haven't lost to anyone yet—"
"Pure luck."
"Pure talent. Not to mention the fact that last year we took out the only other music club," Ritsu added in cheekily. "So there's really only that new band that we have to worry about, right? That new jazz club or something?"
"If you mean Fresh Leaf Girls—" Mio began.
"They're a tiny group, anyway. They have, what? Three members? And besides, it's kinda hard to practice our songs if we're missing Yui, right?" Ritsu pressed on, continually ignoring Mio's words. "Can't play all of the songs right without our guitarist and vocalist." She paused, and grinned at Mio. "Unless… You wanna sing for us at the performance?"
Those words caused the blood to leave Mio's face, leaving the raven haired girl pale as a sheet. "Ah—N-n-n-no, th-that's okay," she stammered, her bass guitar shaking in her grip.
"Thought so." The victorious tawny haired girl took a triumphant sip of tea from her cup. Beside her, Mugi could only smile and shake her head before she took her own seat at the table.
It took a moment for the blonde to realize that Yui really had been missing. "Ah! Where is Yui-chan?" Mugi asked, as she looked at the smirking Ritsu to the quivering Mio.
The two childhood friends promptly stopped what they were doing, and simultaneously shrugged their shoulders. "I don't know," they answered in unison.
"Onee-chan! Hurry!" Hirasawa Ui called out to her elder sister as the pair sprinted towards the open gates of their school. Her short ponytail bounced to and fro as she continued her mad dash. Behind her, her older sister ran after her, a black guitar case strapped to her back.
"Ui! Ui!"
"Onee-chan, hurry! The gates'll close—Eh!" The younger girls chocolate eyes widened in horror as she realized that the tall iron gates had begun to slowly close. The sight only caused her to quicken her pace, her navy blue school bag wildly bouncing against her side. "ONEE-CHAN!"
Yui, the elder of the two, looked past her sister and noticed that the gates really were closing. "Ah—OH NO! IF I'M LATE, I WON'T BE ABLE TO HAVE MUGI-CHAN'S TEA!" she shouted. In light of this realization, Yui's pace doubled and she hurled by her sister. Before she could completely pass Ui, Yui managed to grab ahold of the younger's blazer, and used her newfound energy to drag her sister into the school grounds. As soon as they were safely on campus, Yui released her sister's jacket and continued to run into the building, past the shoe lockers.
"Ah—Onee-chan! You need to change your shoes-… Oh…" Ui stood outside of the main entrance to the school, and sighed. Of course tea would cause her sister to hurry. And of course her sister would forget to change into her school shoes…
The words of her younger sister were lost as Yui continued her mad dash up the staircase, heading towards the music room. As she rounded the corner to head up to the next flight of stairs, she collided with another girl. The pair fell to the ground, each groaning from the sudden onset of pain they experienced.
Yui turned her chocolate eyes to see who she had smacked into, already ready to apologize to the unfortunate soul who had happened to be in her way. "Gomen nasai," she apologized to the twin-tailed girl sitting across from her. "I was running and—"
"Huh?" The younger girl stared back at Yui with garnet eyes. "Yu… Y-Yui-senpai?" Her voice was quiet, and disbelief crossed her face. It sounded as if she were unsure of herself.
"'Senpai?' Kyaa! I've never been called 'senpai' before!" Yui smiled at the other girl. "Ehehehe… 'Yui-senpai'-…" She stopped and blinked several times, looking thoroughly confused. "Eh? Ah—Have we met before?"
The garnet eyed girl felt herself blush a little, and quickly shook her head no. "Shitsuree shimashita!" she was quick to apologize. She stood up and bowed quickly before she adjusted the guitar case strapped to her own back. "I—No, we haven't," she answered. "I must have mistaken you for someone else—Sorry." The girl turned to leave, and hurriedly made her way down the hallway, heading towards the room used by the jazz club.
"Wait-…" Yui's words were halted by the sound of the door slamming shut.
Who was that girl?
With a shake of her head, the energetic guitarist quickly made her way up the staircase, eager to join her fellow band mates for morning tea.
Azusa stood in the jazz room, her back pressed against the door. She had already dropped her instrument off, and Jun had scurried off to the bathroom. Azusa had promised to meet her roommate in class. And as she made her way to the classroom, she ran into that girl from her dreams.
Well, one of the girls, that is.
It took Azusa a moment to recompose herself. Her garnet eyes stared at the worn wooden floor beneath her, and struggled to make sense of what just happened. How had she known that other girl's name? Yui, was it? It had just slipped out of its own accord. But more surprising than that was the fact that the chocolate haired girl had responded to the name.
So she really was Yui-senpai—Er, Yui.
But how did Azusa know that?
A throb of pain shot through her head, and she winced. "Ah…" Her hand immediately clutched her head as she slumped down to the floor. Normally the headaches that she experienced were mild and tolerable. But this pounding in her head… It was as if someone has trapped her inside the kick drum to a drum set, and repeatedly pounded their foot against the bass pedal. She groaned squeezed her eyes shut.
And the strange part about these headaches?
She only had them when she thought about that repeated dream.
"Oi! Azusa!"
"Azusa-chan!"
The voices of her two closest friends came from the hallway. At least… It sounded like Jun and Ui.
"Maybe Azusa-chan's in the classroom now?"
"Ui, we were just there… I have a feeling she went back in here—"
"The jazz room?"
"Yup."
Oh… She should probably move…
The door knob rattled above Azusa's head, and the twin-tailed girl was quick to stand up. She stepped out of the way, and smiled at her friends once the door opened. "Ohayou gozaimasu," she greeted the two surprised brunettes. Without explaining herself, she strode past them, her garnet eyes avoiding making any sort of eye contact with bright brown eyes of Ui and the deeper brown of Jun. "We should head to class before we're late."
"Azusa-chan, are you alright?" Ui asked, as she followed after the shortest girl of the trio. She had a worried look on her face. "You look… Troubled."
Jun quickly fell into step with Azusa, and wrapped an arm around the shorter girl's shoulders. "Ah-zu-saaa!" she whined. "What's going on? You okay? You didn't go to the classroom like you said you would." A pout was on her face, and she grinded her pointer finger into the cheek of the raven haired girl.
Azusa sighed and fought the urge to shove Jun off of her. "Mou, Jun, quit it," she sighed. "I have a headache…" She felt the other girl remove herself from her shoulder.
"Eh? I thought they weren't that bad?" Jun blinked a few times, a brow raised.
Ui's hand flew to her mouth. "Ah—Headache? Maybe you should go home and get some rest—"
"No, no, it's fine," Azusa said quickly, as she glanced up at Ui. She stopped in her tracks, and tilted her head slightly, looking over the ponytailed girl's features.
Strange. She looked so much like Yui…
No, they couldn't be related. Whenever Ui spoke of her Onee-chan, Ui seemed to hold her elder sister in such high regard. And such a well-respected sister wouldn't be that spacy girl that she had bumped into, right?
"Ano… Is something wrong, Azusa-chan?" Ui asked, a little uncomfortable with the intense stare she was receiving.
The petite guitarist shook her head quickly. "Sumimasen, nothing's wrong… I was just thinking," she answered, as she strode into their classroom. Wanting to avoid any other questions from her friends, Azusa promptly took her seat and placed her head down on the desk. Her eyes fluttered close, and she took a deep breath. This whole day was a mess, and tomorrow wasn't going to be any better. She knew the three of them needed to rehearse. After all, they were playing against the only other band in the school. The stakes were high, and Azusa couldn't afford to lose her keyboardist, Ui, or her bassist, Jun, to Ho-Kago Tea Time. But even then, Azusa wasn't sure so sure that the other band would decide to take one of her members. They did have an outstanding keyboardist and bassist already. So maybe she'd be able to keep ahold of her two bandmates… Geez, thinking about all of this was wearing her down even more. She was exhausted from the stress of tomorrow's performance, her restless night, and running into a girl from her dreams (was only making things confusing). The guitarist was having a hard time understanding her repeated dream, and was having an increasing difficult time figuring out if there was any sort of relation between Yui and Ui.
But really. Who would name their children such similar names?
Ui and Jun stood by the door, each exchanging uneasy glances. It was strange. Normally Azusa would have shoved Jun off for trying to mess with her so early in the morning. And normally Azusa would be amiable in the mornings.
"Something must've happened when I left her alone," Jun muttered to Ui, before she took her seat. "Maybe she'll be better by the time we have rehearsal this afternoon. We gotta practice so we can beat Ho-Kago Tea Time. And maybe then we can get the Akiyama Mio to play with us! Or, or, or—She might even be our singer!"
Ui nodded, and took her own seat. "Right…" She said nothing else to the curly haired brunette, and only offered a small smile before she took her notebook out to prepare for the rest of the day. "Oh, Onee-chan… We do have to play against you and your friends tomorrow, don't we?" she thought to herself, as she began to jot down today's notes.
Throughout the rest of the day, Azusa failed to take notes. She kept her head down and eyes closed. For the most part, she was resting, allowing herself to get some well-deserved sleep. Lately, the only time she was able to sleep without having that car-accident dream was when she was at school. And right now, Azusa was taking full advantage of this fact. It wasn't long before she felt a hand on her shoulder, roughly shaking her from her catnap.
"Oi, Azusa! Time for lunch," Jun said as she pulled a chair up to her friend's desk. Likewise, Ui did the same.
The raven haired girl lifted her head up from her desk, and used the sleeve of her blazer to wipe away the drool from the corner of her mouth. "Nn... Ah, lunch?" She repeated, her garnet eyes cloudy with confusion.
The curly haired bassist shook her head as she unpacked her lunch. "Yup, yup. Lunch!" She grinned and unsheathed her chopsticks, ready to devour her meal. "Itadakimasu!" Without waiting for her friends to bring out their bentos, Jun began to stuff her face full of food.
Ui smiled a little bit and set her bento down on the desk. She removed the lid and looked at Azusa, who was moving at a snail's pace. "Azusa-chan, do you know what songs we're going to perform tomorrow? So that way, we already know what songs to polish up this afternoon during rehearsal?" she asked, before murmuring 'itadakimasu'. "I think one of your songs would be good!"
This pulled Azusa out from her cloud of drowsiness. "What- My songs?" She repeated, wide-eyed. "No- Who's going to sing them?"
"You!"
"Mmf."
Azusa stared at her two friends. "No, I can't sing-"
"But you can sing, Azusa-chan!" Ui squealed. "Please sing one of your songs! We only need to perform one, right? You wrote a couple yourself, and we could use those-"
"What about your songs, Ui?" Azusa retorted, her cheeks flushed from embarrassment. "You wrote 'Uki Uki New Way'! We could perform that!"
Jun swallowed down her food and pointed her chopsticks at Azusa. "But you're the leader, right? So sing for us!"
"No-"
"IT'S SETTLED!" The curly haired girl announced. "We're going to play 'Watashi wa Watashi no Michi Iku'!" She grinned and popped open the lid to Azusa's bento, quickly picking out the best parts of the boxed lunch. "No if's, and's or but's about it! This afternoon, that's all we're going to play. Until our fingers bleed!"
The raven haired guitarist smacked away Jun's chopsticks with her own, a sour expression on her face. There was no point in protesting over the song choice, so she took her defeat in silence. That song? It looks like she wouldn't have much of a choice on the matter... All that was left to do was practice the hell out of her piece, and then best Ho-Kago Tea Time tomorrow... She sighed, and thought over the lyrics to her song.
'I Go My Own Road'.
Right now, it seemed like this road was leading to another headache of epic proportions.
LINEBREAK
Note: fuuuuu, what a rough first chapter, at least, that's how it feels to me. xD; Yes, yes. Alternate Universe. But it's very short, only because it's serving as an introduction to the rest of the story. I promise, it will get better. OTL I'm just so caught up on working on my other two stories at the same time… So I've been dividing my time between them.
Ah, ah. I have a lot of big plans for the story. Why Azusa doesn't remember the others, and why she's having that dream. As well as why Yui has no idea who Azusa is. There's a lot that's going to go on within the next few chapters. I can't make any promises on how long this story will be. Who knows.. It might end up being as long as my Vocaloid fic, Slice of Life.
Anyway, please stick around for the rest of the story!