MEMORIES OF YOU, AND THE BRAND NEW DAYS
A K-ON! fanfic
By: Ryuamakusa4eva
Summary: Sequel to When A Heart Skips A Beat. Memories of You: "At a crosswalk, I heard a voice very similar to yours", Brand New Days: "A new miracle begins from here, a shining place, hey, once again, with you..."
Disclaimer: if I own it, I won't troll you too much like Kyoani and Kakifly...DAMMIT KYOANI AND KAKIFLY! MAKE MITSU CANON FOR GOD'S SAKE! !
A/N: woot! the longest title, EVAR *shot for being stupid* XDDD
and yeah, those who play Persona 3 must've recognize the title and the summary LOL XD and, please watch out...because this fic is...uhm...err...well...
...a-anyways...here's tissue. *offers a box of tissue*
and, WARNING! there will be a LOT of words in italics! !
MEMORIES OF YOU
"I love you..."
...were the words that she said when everything changed between us.
...In the dark, where we could only feel each other's body heat, our mingled breath, our synchronized heart beat, and with one stick of pocky in our mouths that made us in that situation.
Kisses, we had our first kiss back then, before she confessed to me that she loved me. I remembered how gentle and how hesitant her kisses were, how gentle yet how afraid she was as she held me close and pressed her lips deeper onto mine, which resulted in an emotional explosion inside my mind.
That situation back at the faithful blackout day was what made me bear deeper feelings for her, my love for her grew to another step, which produced the need for her warmth, for her kisses, and for her 'touches'.
I closed my eyes and took a deep, shaky breath.
And then we had our first fight after we went out, which was actually a complete misunderstanding. However, we were able to sort it all out and end our quarrel, and after that, we unleashed what we had felt for a long time... lust, passion, and our overwhelming love.
Our sweat trickled down when we made love for the first time, the unforgettable, and unbearable pleasure was the only thing that we felt. Our bare bodies brushed up against each other, we both whispered, or rather in my case, cried out, each other's name with a hoarse, out-of-breath voice, our hands never let go of each other's skin and our lips were always locked together like they were never meant to be separated.
I looked at my hands which were drenched with rain. I clenched them to remember the feeling that I had when I touched her warm skin. To remember that there was such a beauty in the past...
What awaited us after that past was a much harder obstacle, which was to hide ourselves in a tight knit closet. We both fought a lot because of it, but we eventually found the solution and made up. We intertwined our fingers and supported each other to face our obstacles.
The result of our fighting against the obstacle was ravishingly beautiful.
Ritsu looked at me with the most sincere eyes, I could feel that from the way she acted, the way she talked, and the way she looked at me was different, it was full of love...and happiness, something that made me kept on questioning her about what the heck had gotten into her.
She answered with the most beautiful thing, and in the most beautiful way. Ritsu grabbed my hand ever so gently, that the way she intertwined our fingers were gapless, tight, but so soft and gentle. She walked gracefully, leading me to a place, a building that looked like an apartment, a quite big one.
Ritsu laid her eyes on me, "Mio..."
I got really confused as to why she brought me there. "Y-Yeah...?"
She squeezed my hand for a bit, "...Happy birthday, Mio." She said as she looked up to the building.
My eyes widened as I stared at her in shock, but she only gave off a nod and a shy grin. I gasped and then I hugged her while I burst into tears.
I put my hand in my pocket, feeling the outline of a key. That was the best gift that she ever gave to me.
My head jerked up, looking at the dark, gray sky. It was raining hard.
The rain was the one that hid my tears.
My reminiscence was what made me kneel on the wet ground, while my eyes lost its color. They were both blank and lifeless, but they shed tears, tears that I could no longer stop from pouring down. My tears were all mingled with the rain, the rain that felt as cold as my heart.
I missed her warmth...
I sat on the sofa and then I laid my head on her shoulder. I felt an arm sneaking around me and held me close. I turned my head and buried my face in her neck. Once in a while I inhaled her scent and snuggled even more closer to her.
She turned her head at me when she could feel that my shoulders trembled a bit, with a low, deep voice, she asked, "...did your parents...find out?" I nodded. I still had my head on her soft, warm, comfortable shoulder.
"They...t-they want to meet you, they want me to introduce you formally to them...l-let's just hope they won't tear us...apart..." I answered with a shaky breath. Ritsu pushed me away from her a bit, and looked at me in the eyes.
She grinned, and she said no more, just one soft peck on the lips.
Don't worry.
I remembered that the way she grinned back then meant don't worry. Thus I did, and things ended up smoothly. I lost all my worries in life, I could love Ritsu without having to feel suffocated for always hiding in a tight knit closet.
...My worries might have been all gone, but my greatest fear came true.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Mio-chan..." I looked up, to see a slightly wet Mugi, with a very sad expression on her face. I could even tell that tears were ready to leak out of her eyes, but she kept blinking so her own tears wouldn't fell.
My eyes wandered around, I saw a lot of people, all in black, and their faces were hidden by their umbrellas. I could only see Yui, Mugi, Azusa, and Ui's faces who stood beside me, they were showing so much sympathy that it felt hurt. I felt like my heart was being clenched so tightly as more tears poured out of my eyes, I started to sob so hard that I hiccupped.
Still sobbing, and crying so hard, I touched the stone that had a name engraved on it.
Tainaka Ritsu.
"Mio-chan...are you sure you'll be alright alone here at your apartment...?" I heard Yui asked as she touched my arm.
I wiped my last tears as I nodded, from the corner of my eyes I saw the concerned expression of my friends, I looked at them with my red and puffy eyes, and then smiled, forcefully. Their worried expression turned into a more worried one.
"Just...make sure you change your wet clothes Mio-senpai, and call us if you need anything." I nodded silently at Azusa, she frowned and looked even more anxious.
"Thanks guys...it's just...I...want to be alone for now...okay?" I finally let out my hoarse voice, tears almost made their way to my cheeks again.
They looked at each other before they nodded hesitantly, and then they walked away, while stealing a glance or two at me. I hung my head down, before turning around to walk into my apartment room, but was stopped when I hear a voice.
"Excuse me...are you Akiyama Mio?"
I turned around to see a middle aged man. I stared at him in confusion because I didn't recognize him. Then after that, he shoved out an ID from his pocket, I was surprised to find out that he was a policeman.
"Uhm...yes, I am...is there anything I can do sir?"
He took out a box, a small dark blue box with a lot of burned stain. "We found this box 'there'...I think you might want this," he said as he gave me the box. I took it with anxiety, and then I looked at the box and the man in turn.
Then he continued, "And we are very sorry to inform you this but...we still...haven't found her body." He said as he shifted his eyes away from me, and then he bowed down politely before he took his leave.
'There'.
That one word stung so hard in my heart, before tears started to well up in my eyes, I went inside my apartment. I closed the door and walked limply to 'our' room.
...although now it was no longer 'our' room.
Then, I put the burned box on the nightstand as I lied down on the soft bed. I turned my body around, tears finally made their ways to my cheeks when I remembered that I would never feel her warmth anymore, I wouldn't be able to see her face the first thing in the morning when I woke up, and I wouldn't be able to hear her gentle voice anymore.
I started to sob as I touched the empty space next to me. It was cold.
I cried harder as I clutched the sheet, then I grabbed the pillow and hugged it, her smell began to fade from this pillow which she always slept on. My face was buried deeply in the pillow, it started to get wet because of my tears, but I couldn't stop crying as I hug it as tightly as I can.
While I was like that...I started to reminisce about her again...
"What are you doing?"
Ritsu jumped in surprise and closed her laptop shut as she hurriedly grinned at me. "Uh...err...nothing!" she said nervously.
I squinted my eyes, I walked approached her and stretched out my arms to the laptop, but she took the laptop away. I looked at her in confusion, she stuck out her tongue, I tried to grab the laptop from her but then she ran away, but since I was really curious, I chased her.
She laughed and kept on running away, I grunted and ran faster. I finally caught her, with my arms around her, it made her couldn't keep her balance and fell. Fortunately, we fell onto the bed, and so was the laptop.
"Owww...my nooosee..." she grimaced, Ritsu fell to the bed face first, and I being on her back made it worse.
"S-sorry! Are you okay? ?"
"...I think my nose is broken," she said, without turning her face from the bed.
I paled when she said that.
"...Oh, it's bleeding, a lot."
My face went even paler as I yelped.
"R-Ritsu...?"
She snapped her head to me "BOO! MY NOSE FELL OFF! !"
"KYAAA! !" I fell from the bed and landed on my butt while she sat up and laughed hard.
After it finally registered into my head that she was just teasing me, I stood up and pounced her to the bed.
We had a bit of wrestling there before we stopped because we got tired. I panted and looked up to meet the teasing face of Tainaka Ritsu, I was about to scold her for teasing me but she shut me up with her mouth, and then quickly, we forgot why we wrestled in the first place.
...And in the end, we 'wrestled'.
I cried harder, I clutched the pillow so tightly that it was about to get ripped apart.
That night, I cried myself to sleep.
"Good morning, Mio." I opened my heavy eyelids when I heard the familiar voice, I widened my eyes when I saw a familiar face in front of me, but when I rubbed my eyes to clear my vision, it turned out that I was just imagining.
This time I tried so hard so I wouldn't cry, and fortunately I could get a hold of myself.
When I realized that it was already morning, I sat up on the bed, I looked down to see that I forgot to change my wet clothes, I shivered and immediately went to my bathroom for a quick warm bath.
There, at the bath, when the warm water touched my skin, I closed my eyes and a memory of her played in my head...
I have a habit to hum some random song when I am taking a bath, but then my humming stopped abruptly when a hand was clamped on my mouth, I yelped and was about to elbowed the person behind me, but then that person let out a familiar giggle and held me close, thus calmed me down.
"...Idiot," was what I said once she let go of my mouth, she laughed.
I let out a sigh and snuggled myself in her embrace, I realized that being all naked and wet while hugging was feeling a bit weird, but it was still comfortable. Then after some while, I blinked in confusion, I let go of her embrace and then turned around to look at her, she gave me a questioning look.
After another moment of staring, she acted all embarrassed and hid her private parts as she said, "Ah! Don't look at me you pervert!" Her so-called girly voice made my eye twitch.
"I'm not looking at...urgh...your breasts are flat anyways."
"...Now that hurts, Mio..." I shrugged.
"Anyways...when did you get tall?"
She blinked, tilted her head to the side, and then she looked at herself.
"...Me? Tall?"
"Don't you realize that you're taller than me now?" She blinked again, she raised an eyebrow before she pinned me to the cold wall, I yelped a bit and looked at her in confusion, she stared at me for a few moment before her expression changed to an amused look.
"Whoa...you're right...now when I pin you to the wall I stare down at you rather than stare up..." I fell silent, that was one weird way to find out about your height.
"Anywaaays...Mio, want me to scrub your back?"
I blinked twice. "Sure, as long as your hands don't go further downwards..."
"...Oh crap, my plans got found out." I glared at her, she grinned.
A heavy sigh escaped my lips, I leaned my forehead on the wall. I bit my lower lip to stop it from trembling, but it was no use, although I still could control my emotion so that my tears didn't fell.
...Or had it fell without me realizing it?
I couldn't really tell the difference if I cried or not because of the water that was dripping all over my face. My hands were all pressing hardly to the wall, I let out a grunt before I push myself and stepped out of the shower.
Afterward, I grabbed the towel and dried myself, while I was drying myself, I walked towards my bedroom, still naked, to grab some clothes. But I stopped walking when I passed the kitchen, I glanced at it and remembered...
...There, was the last time I saw her.
"...Mio."
I looked up from my food and looked at her with a questioning gaze, Ritsu scratched her cheek before saying, "Uhm...I know it's sudden but...can you go back to your parent's home, today?" The chopsticks fell from my hand, I looked at her with wide eyes.
"Whoa, wait, don't take it in a wrong way...uhm, well, I have to go later, and, starting tonight, I will be home rarely...and I'm worried to leave you here all alone...especially knowing you're a scaredy-cat..."
"...Why?"
She grinned so brightly. "You'll see."
I frowned. "...Until when?"
"Hm...give me a week. So...can you?"
I narrowed my eyes. "Sure...but, why so sudden though?"
"Err...I can't help it, the situation IS so sudden..."
I didn't ask more, I already understood her, I knew that when she acted like this, she wanted to surprise me with something. But it made me confused, it was not my birthday, and it was not our anniversary either, so what was it that made her want to give me a surprise?
I watched her put down her chopsticks. "Alright, thanks for the food!" She stood up, walked towards me and then kissed my head before she whispered, "I have to go now, you be a good girl okay Mio? Call me immediately if there's any problem." I nodded and she smiled.
When she was walking away, I called her, "...Ritsu." She turned back and looked at me with an eyebrow raised, I waved my hand, giving her a sign to approach me, and she obliged.
Once she was close enough, I grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled her down, I closed our gap with my lips pressing on hers a bit hard. I moved my lips a bit, and then she moved hers, she put her hand behind my head and pulled me closer, practically deepening the kiss, we savored the moment by kissing slowly, as gentle as we can, and only mouth to mouth without tongues playing a role.
After a moment, we pulled apart, I gazed at her straight in the eye as I whispered, "...I'll see you in a week." She smiled and nodded.
I let go of her collar, and she turned her back to me, but before she walked away, she turned back to me, bent down, and plant a small peck on my lips before she took her leave.
I watched her go with a smile.
That, was our last kiss, and that was the last time I saw her smile, felt her warmth, and tasted her kisses.
I massaged my temples with my hand, and continued to walk towards my bedroom. At my room, I walked to the wardrobe and grabbed some clothes to wear. While I was wearing my clothes, the burned box on the nightstand caught my eyes, I walked to the bed and sat down before picking up the box from the nightstand. I observed the box a little bit, I wondered what was the inside of it, why it was found 'there' and why this box had anything to do with me.
I inhaled a bit before I opened it...only to make my eyes widen in shock.
A ring.
Inside the box was a ring.
My fingers carefully touched the ring before I lifted it up, I observed it and found the kanjis of two names engraved on the inside. It said, "Tainaka Ritsu and Akiyama Mio", thus made me fell more into a deep shock. I finally realized it, this ring, was no ordinary ring, it was a wedding ring.
It all made sense, back then, a week after the last time I saw her, Ritsu called me, she asked me to meet her at a high class restaurant that was on the top floor of a building. I thought that it was really weird for her to ask me to meet her in a fancy place, and said that I have to wear formal clothes.
I finally knew...
...Back then, Ritsu was about to propose to me.
Tears welled up in my eyes, threatening to fall. My hand clenched the ring tightly and I brought my hand to my chest as tears finally made their ways to my cheeks and I could no longer hold my sobs back.
That one moment, I cursed God for taking her away from me.
Months later...I found myself finally getting a hold of myself, I finally could accept the reality, and tried to move on forward. I looked behind through my shoulder, I casted one last look to the room and smiled.
Ritsu worked really hard to get this apartment, she took a full-time job as a bartender at the cafe where the source of our first fight was, and not only that, she actually worked so hard that she was promoted to be the manager of the cafe, and all of her hard work was for me.
It was time to pay back for what she had done, it was my turn. I wanted to keep the apartment, for it was the place where everything happened, sad, anger, and happiness, this place was full of memorable memories, and I didn't want it to be forgotten.
Thus, I started to work very hard, just like her, so I could afford it to keep this place, since before, Ritsu and I worked together to keep this apartment. This apartment was quite expensive, even with both of us working with a very decent salary.
I stole a glance to my finger where there was a ring, then a sigh escaped my lips before I closed the door, locked it, and walked away.
I went to my work place on foot, since it was not that far from where I live. I stood there, with my eyes focused on the traffic light. Then my eyes wandered around, I saw many people around me looked like they were busy with something, some were happily talking on the phone, some kept on staring on their watch and seemed to be in a hurry, there were a group of high school students who have books on their hands, I assumed that maybe they were going to have an exam that day.
Sometimes I think to myself, that they look like they don't have any burden, or any sadness, they look so happy that I'm jealous of it. I might have accepted on what happened to Ritsu, but it didn't mean I could forget her, no, my feelings for her was getting stronger, not weaker or strayed.
Which was why right now I worked hard to keep what she left behind.
I blinked once I realized that the traffic light had changed, I inhaled and walked across the zebra cross, before looking at my watch to check the time.
"Man, better go home soon or grandpa will get worried," I heard a person who went past me.
I stopped my pace abruptly, I had my eyes widened like a saucer.
That voice...
I recognized that voice...it was the voice that I had been longing for so long...but that was impossible...
...impossible...
I turned around to the source of the voice, that voice came from a hooded person, I couldn't see that person clearly because of the mass of the crowds, but then, I did one thing that was beyond my consciousness.
"...Ritsu...?" I said that loud and clear that I was sure that the hooded person must've heard me, since that person was not that far from me.
What made me surprised was, that person stopped abruptly once I said that.
I stopped breathing.
TO BE CONTINUED
A/N: Yep, I know, I'm very evil.
...*wears a rock protector* DUN THROW THOSE ROCKS ON YOUR HANDS TO ME! ! !
and anyways, YES, you read it right, TO BE CONTINUED, which mean, there will be the next chapter for this.
but well...and then that's that, I decided to make this one a two-shot.
I'll give you some bits of the next chap, well, it will be on a different POV, and there will be an explanation about WTF is going on in here, like, about Ritsu. AND of course, there will be the continuation about what happened next at that last scene up there, I won't left it hanging, dun worry XD
And again, THANK YOU GASIAN-CHUAN FOR DA BETAAAA~~! ! ! XD
Last note: FFFUUUUUUUUUUU ROMIO AND JULIETSU EPISODE IS LIKE A GOD! ! ! and I can't wait for next week's episode TO SEE DA PLAY! KYAAAAAAA~~~