K On!: Shattered Dreams DLC Chapters, a k-on!/けいおん！ fanfic

K-On: Shattered Dreams DLC – Limits of the Heart

By MidniteBleuCrusader

Summary: Extra story for K-On: Shattered Dreams. See what happens when your Heart Piece gets taken out in the Dead Hour… at least that's what Nodoka Manabe and Kanzaki Kaori are experiencing. Can they get out of there before they are Disposed?

Disclaimer: I do not own K-On or the Index series.

A/N: Don't ask why I decided to call this a 'DLC' or why I decided to bring in Kanzaki Kaori from the Index series. It's an AU.

~Secrets and Mysteries~

She didn't know what to look for… she didn't know where she was. All she knew was that when she woke up, she was floating in something. It felt watery, felt like she could swim in the air. When she opened her eyes, she looked around. She found herself in a bubble. She started swimming around and feeling at the area. Sure enough, she wasn't able to get out. Outside of her bubble, there was a strange orange fluid, and at the same time, she saw many other people in the same bubble-like environment that she was in right now, all unable to get out of their bubbles as well.

"Where… am I?" She asked herself. No matter where she looked, whether it was above her, below her, to her left or to her right, it was all the same. People all around her trapped in bubbles and all of them were asleep. It looks as though she's the only one who's woken up. She started questioning herself. "Don't tell me… am I dead?" She went and touched her chest area, where her heart is supposed to be.

She couldn't feel or hear a single thing. A sense of emptiness filled up in her. At the same time, fear and panic started to set in.

Maybe Nodoka Manabe really WAS dead.

She floated backwards, stunned by this reality. She jogged her memory for a while to remember what happened to her, until she realized who did this to her.

"Akiyama stabbed me… and I lost my Heart Piece… and then…" She then remembered who she was looking at in her dying moments. The one she deemed to have abandoned her was the last person who saw her and stayed with her until she disappeared.

Tears started to trickle down her face, dripping onto the floor and on her shoes. She fell onto her knees and covered her face, crying her eyes out and unable to hold it back. "Yui…! Damn it… I'm so stupid… She's my best friend, and I said all those things to her when I first met her… DAMN IT!" She punched the bubble with her right hand, hoping it would break. Unfortunately, it didn't. "Maybe… maybe I'm better off dead. No one is gonna save me here… Yui was right… she didn't abandon me… I abandoned her." She said to herself. After all, she was the one who accused Yui of leaving her for dead. She joined Akiyama in the hopes of getting back at her, but was killed in the process. Her Heart Piece was taken and she paid the price.

"No… there's no way I can get out now… this is my just punishment for saying all those things to her… I never got to say sorry to her either…" Nodoka said, slumping to the floor, face covered by her knees. "Just… just kill me already." At this stage, she's begun to lose all hope. All her guilt from the beginning swelled up inside her and she felt the need to end her life.

She suddenly felt something bump onto her bubble. She looked up to see who it was. Out there, swimming in the orange liquid, was a woman with tied-up long hair, a white shirt, jeans that are long on one side, while the other side was miniskirt length and sported cowboy boots, holding on to a katana. She signaled Nodoka to move back, as she was going to attempt something. Nodoka complied, moving backwards and letting her do what she needs to do. In a quick and swift move, the woman slashed the bubble, destroying it to release her. She held her breath, partly because it was natural to do since she was underwater.

"Don't worry about not being able to breathe. This water won't go into your lungs." The woman told Nodoka. She took her advice and started breathing normally. Sure enough, she was breathing as if she was above water and not underwater.

"Whoa… thanks, but why did you save me?" Nodoka asked.

"Well, for one, I know you very well, Nodoka Manabe. You're Yui Hirasawa's best friend, therefore it's my duty to help and protect the crew. Two, I'm trying to help anyone who's awake and get them out of here. So far, you're the only one." Kaori said, grabbing the girl's hand. Instead of accepting it, Nodoka just shook her away, as if refusing help from Kaori.

"No, forget it. I don't deserve to live after all that I've done… I hurt people… I hurt my own friends…and most of all, I hurt my own pride. I don't know HOW I'll live anymore." She said, turning away from her. Kaori wasn't going to listen to this, so she pointed her sword at her back.

"If you think I'm going to kill you, then you're wrong. I'm going to get out of here, and I'm taking you with me." Kaori said, but Nodoka wasn't going to budge an inch. The swordswoman could only sigh, continuing to speak. "Look, even if I DID want to kill you, there's no way I'll be able to. This is the Heart Receptacle. We're all souls in here, every single one of us. I can't kill you even if I tried. The only thing that COULD kill you is if anyone decided to 'Dispose' you from the outside."

"'Dispose?'"

"The Heart Receptacle can be used by anyone for just about anything, from healing to summoning. What the user uses it for requires a number of Hearts. Healing uses very little Hearts, summoning requires plenty of Hearts. No prizes for guessing where the Hearts come from. You lose your Heart Piece forever. You might end up a zombie when you die, your body could turn into a vegetable, or worst, you'll just be a soulless husk when you wake up." Kaori explained.

"…and once the Hearts are used up, they get Disposed." Nodoka pondered for a bit. Realizing that at any time, someone might just come over and use the Heart Receptacle, running the risk of being Disposed, she had no choice but to change her mind. She wasn't going to let herself be Disposed like this. "Fine, I'll follow you, but when I get out…" Kaori stopped her from talking, putting a finger on her lips.

"Don't say another word. I'm NOT going to kill you. I'm taking you back to your best friend, understood?" Kaori said. Nodoka, without any words left to say, complied. "Now we have to get out of here. Luckily, I know exactly where to go; the centre of the Receptacle. Problem is, when I got there, I encountered a massive presence there. I had to retreat, hoping I could find someone to help me out. Lo and behold, you're the only one who's woken up. So I need your help." Nodoka nodded her head and with that sign of agreement, Kaori quickly swam ahead of her. Nodoka quickly followed suit, headed straight for the Centre of the Receptacle.

Kaori and Nodoka swam for a long time, but eventually, they reached their destination. The Centre was empty, no signs of life, no bubbles with people sleeping in them, nothing but empty space.

"This is it. The Centre of the Receptacle, AKA the gateway, right there." She pointed up towards the only exit that was there. "Heart Pieces go in, nothing goes out. Basically, this Receptacle is nothing but a gigantic pot for Heart Pieces. And that's the only way we can get out of here." Kaori said. Nodoka, however, was a bit perplexed. She looked around the empty space, reminding herself of what Kaori said to her.

"There's nothing here. You said something about a massive presence here, yet I'm not seeing jack-all. You're not trying to scare me, are you?" Nodoka asked her. The swordswoman didn't answer. "Well, there's nothing here to stop us from just leaving." Nodoka swam towards the gateway. Kaori, however, didn't budge. She only watched as Nodoka kept swimming upwards without a care in the world.

However, she had a sudden premonition that something bad was about to happen.

That premonition came true.

As Nodoka nearly reached the gateway, she could almost smell freedom. That freedom was quickly snatched from her when she was suddenly confronted by a gigantic black serpent, hissing right at her. The serpent emitted a dark aura and fumed black smoke from its mouth.

Nearly shocking the life out of her, Nodoka quickly retreated, swimming as fast as she could away from the serpent. However, her escape was halted as the serpent was fast enough to get in front of her face. This time around, the serpent reeled its tail back and tried to capture her by coiling around her. Nodoka was too slow to dodge it, as the water she was in didn't allow her to use her mobility, and she was quickly wrapped by the serpent. Nodoka struggled to break free. She was being wrapped tightly by the serpent. At the same time, her energy was being squeezed out by it. The pressure on her body was starting to get tighter and tighter.

Kaori wasn't going to let the serpent kill Nodoka. Using her patented 'Nanasen' technique, she cut the serpent's tail off, freeing Nodoka from its hold and allowing her to swim right back to Kaori.

"Really, Nodoka? There's NOTHING here to stop us from leaving?" Kaori said cynically.

"I stand corrected. Now, how are we going to deal with this?" Nodoka said, watching the serpent's movements. The severed tail of the serpent disappeared, but it instantly grew another one in its place. "…THAT could be a problem."

"Why do you think I withdrew from my fight against this thing? I thought it'd be easy until I find out it could regenerate its tail over and over again." As they spoke, the serpent swung its tail to attempt to knock the two back, but both of them quickly sunk down to avoid it. "That's why I need your help."

"How do I do that?"

"I need you to use your Doom technique." Kaori suggested. Nodoka, however, paused before replying. How could a total stranger, a person she just met but completely knows all about her, know about any of her abilities? She summoned her scythes, her eyes still focused more on Kaori than on the serpent.

"You think that helps? This thing keeps regenerating. How is my technique going to work on this thing?"

"I reckon that we might have to destroy it completely, instead of cutting it apart. That's where your Doom technique works. It kills anything instantly once a timer counts down, correct? That's exactly what I need you to do. I'll keep it busy while you get that technique going. Once you hit it, we wait for that timer to count down. That should kill it instantly." Kaori explained, strategizing to Nodoka. The girl nodded, taking up her fighting stance.

"All right, that should be easy, provided this thing doesn't kill us first." Nodoka said, preparing the spell.

"Take your glasses off." Kaori suddenly commanded. The statement caught Nodoka offside. She only stared at her, baffled. How does she know about her demonic side? She asked herself.

"N-no, thanks. I do better with my glasses on anyway." She said, adjusting her glasses before preparing her spell again. Kaori shrugged, turning back to charge straight towards the serpent. She drew her sword out to slash at the serpent constantly, distracting the serpent as Nodoka continued to chant her Doom spell. She was very masterful at death spells. She DID use it against the Hirasawa sisters. However, when she was defeated by them, the effect wore off. The other way for the spell not to work was if Nodoka's enchantment was interrupted by an attack. The Doom Spell works quicker the longer it is chanted. The longer the spell, the shorter the time for the victim to survive and the faster it is for Nodoka to kill someone.

The serpent, however, seemed to know who to target, as it kept trying to get past Kaori and go for Nodoka. Nonetheless, the skilled swordswoman continued to block its path and attacking it to drive it back. She couldn't do much to hurt it, as her sword swings were slowed down by the water resistance in the Receptacle. Her Nanasen technique was the only thing she could use to knock it back, but the more she used it, the more energy she had to utilize, and the more tired she got.

Eventually, her defense slipped up, allowing the serpent to slip past and swim swiftly towards Nodoka.

"Nodoka, watch out!" Kaori called out to her. Her voice was hoarse, the result of her tiredness after facing off with the serpent. Nodoka opened her eyes to see that very serpent swimming straight for her at a ridiculous speed. Her spell wasn't complete, but with no time to react, she cast the spell. The serpent ran face first into Nodoka's magic circle, squinting and quickly changing direction. Kaori used this opportunity to swim back towards Nodoka. "Are you okay? Did you cast the spell?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't a full Doom spell. Your warning sort of broke the chant, but I managed to get it off in time. Problem now is that thing won't die in 10 seconds."

"So how long do we have?" Kaori asked.

"1 minute."

"…That's a tall order, and in our current battle conditions… it's easier said than done." She analyzed. Nodoka patted her on the back, though.

"Nothing's a tall order… geez, why do I sound like Yui?" Nodoka said, shaking her head.

"I guess she's rubbed off on you, Nodoka." Kaori said, turning straight to the serpent. "Now let's go get this thing." Nodoka nodded, holding her scythe. They both quickly charged the serpent, slashing at it consistently and in sync. Kaori did well to be careful, however, as she needed to protect Nodoka. Any damage to her would have an adverse effect on the spell. As such, any blows that were meant for Nodoka the swordswoman was swift to block it off or even absorb the damage for her.

"Are you all right?" Nodoka asked her after she took the latest blow from the serpent.

"Y-yeah… I'm fine." Kaori responded, trying to shake it off. Nodoka quickly realized that her companion wasn't going to last long.

"You should stop trying to defend me all the time. It's not going to be easy if you're out of the picture."

"You don't know what you're talking about, Nodoka. I'll be fine." However, just as she said that, the serpent's tail whipped about and nailed her right across the back. The blow sent her plummeting into the wall, knocking her out instantly. Nodoka quickly swam right to her, catching her before she fell.

"H-hey! Come on, don't go unconscious on me!" She said, trying to shake her awake to no avail. She looked up at the serpent as it made a loud hiss, as if telling her to stay back or else it would kill them both. She had to do something, however. As a distraction, she sent out 3 of her smaller scythes straight at the serpent. The first two just lightly nicked it, but the third one caught it right on the eye, blinding it but it made the serpent hiss at Nodoka in anger. "That… might have been a bad idea." The serpent suddenly sprang into action, charging right at her again. As an act of desperation now, she quickly took her scythe and blocked it.

This time, however, her glasses came off.

"Which part of 'Get lost' don't you understand!" The demon in Nodoka had emerged, and she shoved the serpent right off with her scythe, a sudden burst of strength flowing right through her. She looked at her watch. "Let me tell you something, you slithering nuisance. You've only got 15 seconds to live. So don't mind me if I cut you into a million pieces before you die!" Nodoka charged the serpent, quickly letting out a series of slashes all across the serpent's body. At this point her speed had increased tenfold, meaning that she is much faster than the serpent. It couldn't even catch up to her as she let out slash after slash, cutting it into pieces. She didn't care if it would regenerate over and over again. To her, this was 'too much fun' for her. Slash after slash she was just smiling demonically, typical from someone like Demon Nodoka. She backed off to look at her handiwork. The serpent had been cut into many, many pieces. She looked at her watch again. "Huh… time really DOES fly when you're having fun." The hands on the watch slowly ticked away. A mere 10 seconds and the serpent would be dead. She watched as the serpent tried to regenerate all of its sliced body parts back. She only smiled all too wickedly as she started counting down. "5… 4… 3… 2… 1…"

The serpent hissed as it managed to get all it's sliced up parts back, but just as it did, the body started to rip open with holes, light shining out of them. It completely started to damage him both inside and out. The Doom spell had worked successfully. The serpent hissed loudly again before it completely dissolved in a flash of light. Nodoka covered her eyes to protect herself from the light. With a smirk, she then swam back to Kaori and helped her back to the surface.

Freedom was assured.

With Kaori's unconscious body, Nodoka managed to get both their souls out of the Receptacle after that massive battle. She had her glasses back on and was breathing hard. The fight had taken a lot of energy out of her. "Gah… I need to get you back to your body." She said, putting her body down to take a light breather. She took the time to look around the place. They were in a huge warehouse, almost broken down and worn out. The window panes were broken and shattered. The place looked like it's been unused for years. It looked as though it was only in the Dead Hour where the Receptacle would appear here.

"Well, enough resting. I have to get out of here as soon as possible. At least now I have a possible location of where the Receptacle would be now…" As she carried the unconscious soul of Kaori out to the door, she thought to herself. 'When I get back to my body… should I even speak to Yui again?' She then remembered the time and day that she died, that very moment when Yui showed that she still cared about her right before she disappeared. Her eyes became teary, but she wiped it off before continuing on.

However, before she could even get out, she sensed something coming towards her. She immediately sidestepped, and what nearly hit her was a mini-scythe that pierced the wall. It looked all too similar to hers. She turned around to look and the only person she saw… was herself, in a darker tone sporting red eyes WITH her glasses on. Her whole outfit was similar to Nodoka's. In fact, she looked EXACTLY like her.

"…Are you kidding me? Darksides… I can't believe they DO exist." was the first thing Nodoka uttered. She could only watch as the Darkside snarled before speaking.

"Doesn't THIS look fancy? I'm looking at myself! And she's in soul form! PERFECT!" Darkside Nodoka drew her scythe, similar to Nodoka's scythe, except her Roman numeral was in purple instead of shining and emitted a darker aura, primed to fight. Nodoka wasn't actually bothered by the fact that she saw her own Darkside, but by the fact that she wanted a fight. Undaunted by her challenge, she rested her companion's soul on the wall, took up her own arms and stood ready to fight.

"Fine, I guess I'll play with you…" She threw down her glasses onto the floor, nearly shattering them by the impact of her own throw. "Sorry, Yui, but Nodoka's coming home late tonight!"

~DLC – END~