Title : Talk
Characters : Mio Akiyama and Tainaka Ritsu
Pairings : None
A/N : My first try on K-ON fandoms... Please R&R... Thankyou...! I was extremely excited to write this story, though I don't really like the ending... :(

It's hard.
Mio glanced back to see their once clubroom once again for the last time before she took one step away from the door and then descended downstairs. But she stopped again after 2 steps and then turned around again.
It's still hard to accept the fact that this was really the last time she would ever stepped her foot on that room. That room had so much sweet memories contained in it that she would be reluctantly letting go. But life goes on, she had to move on. One could not survive if they just lived on their past.
But no, she knew that she could've somehow managed that, what really makes it hard was Azusa. Mio loved Azusa –in a friendship term-, and she was really concerned about her after they all left her. Would she be alright? Could she move on? Could she—

"Mio!"

Mio instantly snapped out from her own train of thought hearing that so familiar sound from the second floor called out her name.

"Coming, Ritsu!"

She continued downstairs to meet the curious look on her best friend's face.

"What took you so long, Mio? I was almost leaving you!" Ritsu huffed and then crossed her arms in playfully irritated manners.
"Sorry, I was… No, never mind that… So shall we go now?" Mio bit her lips a little and averted her gaze in between her words. 'Maybe I was worrying too much… Azusa is strong, I'm sure she'll manage somehow… Maybe…'
Ritsu quirked her eyebrow slightly. Only a fool wouldn't notice that slight hesitant on her tone. "Is there something bugging you?"
"No, nothing…"
"Mio, you know I've known you far too long for you to hide something from me, don't you?"
Mio averted her gaze again and then paused for a moment before she opened her mouth again to speak. "Well… Uhm… Can I come to your house tonight?"

Ritsu smiled knowingly before giving her a nod. "Sure, Mio…"
Even though Mio never said that she would discuss her problem with her, but Ritsu just knew that she would eventually open up and speak to her. She didn't know where she got that confident from, she just knew it. Well maybe an over 10 years old of friendship was part of her seemingly physic ability toward Mio.

"Well, I see that your room is as messy as usual… That didn't come as a surprise though…" Mio muttered under her breath once she entered Ritsu's room with a slight annoyance on her face. Ritsu herself was lying on her bed while playing with her phone.

"Mio…! Can't you at least knock first? What if I was… What if I was still undressed…?" Ritsu dramatically stood up and held her blanket to her neck level with an innocent expression on her façade.

Mio sweatdropped while mumbling, "There was countless time I've seen you undress, Ritsu…"
"You… You saw it…? Oh my innocence has been taken away by my best friend…! That was cruel…! Too cruel for my pure soul…!" she dramatically sobbed and then dropped her blanket gracefully. Looks like she still had that Juliet act effect on her.
"Fine, fine… Whatever…"

Mio walked inside her room and then casually plopped into Ritsu's bed.

"So…" Ritsu put her phone on the table and then sat down on the floor. "Mind telling me now?"
"Err… Well…" Mio trailed off, still unsure if she should tell Ritsu about her worry.
Ritsu just waited there eagerly, she made no attempt to force her to speak her problems with her. She simply just sat and stared at her eyes.

"It's about… Azusa…" Mio finally made up her mind. Ritsu, however, was her first and best friend. So if she had any problems that she could not handle alone, she knew the first person that could help her would be Ritsu.

"Oh… What about her? Did she do something?" Ritsu relaxed a bit realizing that this wasn't really a serious problem. Well at least Mio wasn't in debt, having a stalker, or another dangerous situation, was she?
"No, no… It's not like that… I'm just worried about her…" Mio looked at the floor below her.
"Worried? What makes you worried about her? She's fine the last time I saw her." Ritsu tilted her head aside slightly, still not getting what she was trying to say.
"Have you ever seen she cried that much when we finally left her…? I was so worried that she would never get over it…"
"Oh that… Geez, Mio! You're such a worrywart! Azusa will get over it, I can assure that."
"But—"
"Mio… You noticed how much she cried, but you failed to see a determination on her eyes?"

Mio tried to remember that day when they finally really left her on her own to take care of the club. Her mind was still full with worry that she didn't notice anything happening on Azusa.

"Really…?" Mio was still unsure with Ritsu's answer, but he decided to believe it anyway. She knew that as much as Ritsu loved to goof around, she would take this matter seriously. So if Ritsu had said that Azusa had determined to rebuild the club and can get over her sadness, than Mio could rely on that.
"Yep, Mio… You know that Azusa is a strong girl, right? So your worry had no base from the very start. Geez, Mio! Sometimes I really thought that you are really our mother! Hahahaha…"

Ritsu laughed out loudly but she dead stopped when she felt that black-purple murderous aura emanating from Mio. And before she knew it, -she had seen it coming anyway- a large bump appeared on her head.

"OUCH!" Ritsu rubbed her abused head while putting at Mio, "What was that for? You're really acting like one though! You can ask Yui and—," deciding that she didn't want the bum got larger, she abruptly stopped when she felt that murderous aura again. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry Mio-chaaaan~~"

Mio just hmph-ed her and then turned her face aside in an exasperated manners. Ritsu just grinning widely despite the pain on her head, knowing that she had just successfully teased Mio again.

"By the way Mio, what do you think about Azusa?"
"Huh?" Mio turned her head to Ritsu again with a questioned look on her face. It seems like she had forgotten that whole 'mom' matters. It's very interesting for Ritsu how Mio could alter her mood that swiftly from irritated to normal again. But then, she glad that Mio was like that anyway. Or else she'll be a boring person who'd sulk over a long period of time when she got teased.

"I mean, what is Azusa like in your opinion?"
"Why with the sudden weird question?" Mio tilted her head slightly aside.

"Well, I don't know… It just crossed my mind seconds ago… It's just that… We won't be seeing Azusa again in a quite long period of time, so I think we might share something that could remind us to her? So what do you think of her?"
"Hmm…" Mio tried to think of the right word to describe Azusa. After these 2 years of their friendship, she wouldn't have thought that this will be hard. "Maybe…" Mio started trailing off and then paused for a moment, "A shy girl?"
Ritsu chuckled slightly, "Like you're the one to talk!"
"What are you implying?" Mio said with a slight offended tone on her voice.
"What do you think I'm implying?" Ritsu asked back with a mischievous grin on her face. Mio just groaned slightly and then put her hand on the air, defeated.

"I mean, Azusa is a really perfect girl. She's cute, kind, and her guitar skill is very amazing… But yet, she just cannot express her true feelings to people; even to us." Mio paused for a while before she continued, "What is she exactly afraid of to show some affection or caring toward her own friends…?"

"Well, that reminds me of you, Mio… Only you are a slight better to express your feeling." Ritsu grinned at her. Mio just heaved a defeated sigh and smiled slightly. "Well Ritsu, what do you think of her?"
"Eh…? Hmm… Not pretty much different from your opinion… She's a shy girl who cannot express her feelings openly…" Ritsu paused a bit before she continued, "Do you know that she really admires you, Mio?"
"Huh?"
"Geez Mio… Pay more attention to your surrounding next time, okay?"
"Sorry about that… But what makes you think like that?"

"Well, I once overheard her conversation with Ui that she really wants someone like you to be her sister. She said that you're kind, responsible, cool, and she feels that you can be someone who she can depend on." Ritsu noticed how Mio got slightly embarrassed and flattered at the same time when she saw her blush faintly on her cheeks. But being mischievous Ritsu was, she continued, "And she really envies your big breasts. She said she wants to have ones like yours since—"
"Stop, stop…!"

A pillow smacked right at Ritsu's forehead.
"There's no way Azusa would say that!" Mio was blushing furiously after hearing those embarrassing words. Ritsu just laughed out loudly while rubbing her forehead.
"Besides…" Mio paused for a moment, her blush deepened, "It is me who envies her…"

Ritsu stopped laughing the instant she heard Mio's words. Mio? Envies Azusa?
"What are you envying about? You are taller than her, you have bigger br— I mean assets, your hair longer than her, and— Oh…!" A sudden realization hit her and she smirked mischievously at Mio who was averting her face in embarrassment.
"You…" Ritsu started and then gave a slight pause, "envy…", she paused again playfully while holding her laughter to irritate Mio, "her…" but this time Ritsu could not contain her laughter anymore, she burst out a loud laugh.
"Geez…! You don't need to laugh about that…!" Mio pouted and then smacked another pillow at her face. But that didn't stop Ritsu's laughter for a good 2 minutes before finally she ceased her laugh.
"But really, hehe… I mean c'mon! Azusa is shorter than you; of course she has a smaller body than yours, Mio!" Ritsu wiped the tears away from her eyes.
"But still…! Her body is so small and cute… I really want to have one like hers…!" Mio retorted but still with that heavy blush on her cheeks. Well Ritsu didn't find that to be scary of course, so she just snickered.
"Everybody has their own plus and minus. Azusa's body is cute, but yours is more appealing, Mio… None of you two is better than the other." Ritsu patted Mio's shoulder a sign of encouragement.
"A-A-Appealing…?" Ritsu's effort to cheer her up failed because now Mio was blushing heavier than ever and her eyes widened in shock.
"Oh you're really helpless Mio… Forget about that…" Ritsu just held her hand high and heaved a defeated sigh, "By the way, I feel really sorry for Azusa to be the target of Yui's skinship every single second she's with her…" Ritsu chuckled slightly.
Mio responded with a small laugh, "Hahaha… Yeah, Yui really likes anything that is cute, doesn't she…"

"But as much as normal girls like something cute, they wouldn't hug Azusa that much… Or could it be that…" Ritsu put her hand on her chin to give the sign that she was thinking really hard, "Yui has a crush on Azusa?"
"Oh really…?" Mio sweatdropped, "Your imagination has strayed too far, Ritsu…"
"But don't you think she hugs Azusa a little bit too much?" Ritsu tilted her head aside.
"Uhm yeah… I can't argue about that… But still, suspecting that Yui likes Azusa in a romantic way is just too much, Ritsu…" Mio lifted her cup of tea and sipped it slowly.
"Hmm… Is a girl loves another girl a big no-no for you, Mio?" Ritsu asked her absentmindedly while playing with her phone again. Mio almost choked hearing her question.
"No, that's fine with me…! Every person has their own right to love anybody. But as I said before, it is just too much to suspect there's something between Yui and Azusa." Mio coughed a little. Hearing her answer, Ritsu put her phone aside again and then faced Mio with a serious expression on her face.

"What if…" Ritsu paused for a moment, she looked hesitant. Mio felt a sudden uncomfortable on her chest. "What if I say, that, I love you Mio?" Mio's mouth agape and her eyes widened hearing a shocking revelation. Ritsu…? She…? Ah no way, this must be one of her sick joke.
"Yeah right, Ritsu… You look lame with that chessy confession…" Mio put a straight face.
"Ah you're no fun…" Ritsu pouted because she had just failed to tease Mio. Well, that's a really rare occasion somehow… "But Mio, what if I really mean it?" she asked again.
"Err well… I would say that I don't feel the same way, but I still want to be your friend…" Ritsu pouted again.
"So you don't love me at all, Mio-chan?" she asked dramatically.
"Not. One. Bit." Mio put a serious expression on her face. Ritsu put a playfully disappointed and shocked expression. But then Mio chuckled lightly, "But I guess, I really love you as my bestest friend ever." Mio averted her gaze and Ritsu could see a faint blush on her cheeks. She smiled softly and then sighed, "Well yeah, thanks… You're my bestest friend ever too…"

Mio smiled genuinely at her before she looked at her phone, "Oh my… It's already this late… I better go home now."
"Okay…"

Then they descended downstairs and Ritsu opened the front door for her.

"Good night Ritsu, see you tomorrow?" Ritsu looked confused somehow.
"Tomorrow?"
"Geez… Tomorrow we will go with Yui and Mugi to accompany Yui choosing presents for her parent's anniversary. Don't tell me you forget about that…"
"Aaaahh, Right… I remember… Okay, see you tomorrow then…"

Mio just nodded and then started walked away from her residence. After three steps she turned around and smiled at Ritsu, "Thanks Ritsu…"
Ritsu smiled back and then waved her hand at her, "Anytime, Mio…"

FIN