A/N: This is my first time writing a story, so please bear with some of the mistakes that I've done. BTW, this story is written on my small notebook for a long time. Forgive me if my grammar sucks a bit. Anyways, enjoy reading everyone! :D
Disclaimer: I do not own K-On! or any of its characters, etc, etc.
More than Just Friends
Chapter 1: Childhood - Part 1
Chapter Summary: Ritsu and Mio always played at their school's playground when they were in Elementary School, after they first met. Then...
After class..
"Hey Mio-chan!" Ritsu shouted in their classroom, running towards Mio, her friend.
"H-hey.. don't shout. You're attracting attention from our other classmates." Mio said, blushing while hiding in her small story book, averting her gaze from her other classmates who turned their heads towards Ritsu and her.
"Yeah. I know, I know. Do you wanna play with me at the playground?" Ritsu said while ignoring gazes from the other pupils, grinning.
"Hm.." Mio placed her small hand under her chin, thinking if she still have time to play. "Okay, but not for too long.. You know how my parents get easily worried when I'm not home on time." Mio said.
"Okay then, if ya say so!" Ritsu grinned again and took Mio's hand with hers, forcefully dragging her to the playground.
"W-wait Ricchan! My story book!" Mio widened her eyes as she dropped her story book, because of Ritsu's sudden action.
"Ah! Sorry about it.. ehehehe.." Ritsu sweatdropped when she realized she dragged her friend forcefully, scratching the back of her head with her free hand.
Ritsu then let go of Mio so that Mio can pick up her book on the floor.
"C'mon, hurry up!"
"Wait..okay done." Mio placed her story book under her desk, her story book storage, to be exact.
"Yosh! Let's go!" Ritsu grabbed Mio's hand again and went for the playground. Little Ritsu stole a glance at her shy companion, 'She's blushing.. Interesting... very interesting!' Ritsu exclaimed in her mind.
At the playground...
Ritsu ran to the sandbox, still holding holding Mio's hand.
"And.. jump!" Ritsu exclaimed, excited as ever.
"Eeeeh?!" Mio's shocked, she didn't even know that they're gonna jump.
After that, Ritsu landed successfully, while Mio tripped on the edge of the sandbox.
"Kyah!" Mio yelped. Ritsu caught her on time.
"..." Mio's speechless. Ritsu caught her on her arms, almost loosing balance due to the impact.
Mio blushed beet red, getting off from Ritsu as fast as she can.
"Pfft.. Bhahahaha!" Ritsu laughed out loud when she saw Mio's blushing face.
...THUMP!
"Stop laughing!" Mio scowled at Ritsu while in the verge of tears. Ritsu on the other hand, bit her tongue and massages her bump on the head.
"Itaii! You don't need to hit me that hard, y'know?" Ritsu pouted, stopping her laughter.
"S-sorry.." Mio bowed her head down for forgiveness.
Ritsu looked at Mio, 'Yep, she's really interesting alright.' Ritsu thought.
"Nah.. it's okay, I mean, I'm pretty sure you're gonna do this many times in the future, right?" Ritsu chuckled and grinned, putting her hands behind her head.
"Anyways, enough chit-chat, I wanna play now."
"Okay."
"Hahaha!" Mio and Ritsu bursted into laughter. They've been playing for 1 hour now.
"Haha- Ah! W-w-what time is it now?" Mio's eyes widened. She lost track of time, since they're building sand castles but it ended up being ruined.
"Uh.. I don't even know. Hehehe..." Ritsu sweatdropped and scratched the back of her head.
"Oh no! M-my parents will get worried at me! R-Ricchan, I need to go now!"
"Mio-chan, w-wait!"
Ritsu chased Mio, since Ritsu's already tired, same with Mio, they panted and stopped running.
"Huff.. huff.. Why do we even need to run?" Ritsu whined.
"I-it's because my parents will be so worried about m-me!" Mio almost cried.
"C'mon! I'll take ya there fast!" Ritsu grinned, flashing her thumbs up.
"B-but how?" Mio widened her eyes, it's impossible for Ritsu to take her at her house fast because she's already tired from chasing her.
"No worries!"
With that, Ritsu piggybacked Mio.
"I didn't know you're that strong!" Mio's eyes widened with a hint of amazement on her face.
"W-w-wha-!"
Ritsu ran at high speed, startling her raven-haired companion.
"Di-didn't y-you said be-before t-t-that you're t-tired?!" Mio panicked, tears forming in her eyes as she shut both of it close.
"Yeah, but I gained energy after a few seconds!" Ritsu said, eyebrows knitting together as she ran fast while carrying her heavy companion.
"B-but how?" 'Is that even possible?' Mio mused.
"Well, during times like this, I can feel my energy back 'cause its a bit important right now!" Ritsu exclaimed as some of her sweat started trickling down her chin.
"M-maybe that's whay they call a-adrenaline rush. I read something about that i-in my Science book." Mio's voice shaked, due to Ritsu's running.
"You can just call it like that, yeah!" 'I wonder what will happen if Mio-chan isn't at home on time? Will they slap her butt if she did? Well, that's what my parents do to me when I'm home late, so... yeah.' Ritsu thought.
"Ne Mio-chan, are we there yet?" Ritsu panted, getting tired as she started to run slower.
Mio, feeling that Ritsu's starting to run slower, opened her eyes and said, "We're almost there."
After a few minutes of running to jogging, they've finally arrived at the Akiyama residence.
"Whew! Finally, we're here at last!" Ritsu exclaimed as she dropped Mio carefully. After that, she gasped for some air and wiped some of her sweat with her arm.
"Ricchan, t-thank you.." Mio said, blushing at the 'thank you' part.
"Ah, no prob!" Ritsu waved her hand in response, plastering her trademark grin.
"Ano.. aren't you going to go home y-yet?" Mio asked curiously at her brunette companion, tilting her head in question.
"Eh-um.. no. I wanna see what the inside of your house looks like, since you've already been to my house." Ritsu said.
"O-okay then."
Then they proceeded to the gate of the house, Mio reaches for her pocket and opens it with her key, thus opening the gate. Ritsu followed suit as Mio gestured to follow her. After that, Mio knocked on the door. Someone opens the door, revealing a slightly tall black-haired woman, presumably in her early-30's.
"Ah Mio-chan! Okairi!" Mio's mom said as she kneeled and hugged her daughter. Mio hugged back.
Once Mio's mom let go of the hug, she glanced curiously at little Ritsu. "Ah and who might this be?"
"I'm Tainaka Ritsu, but you can just call me Ritsu!" Ritsu grinned at Mio's mom, placing her small hands at the back of her head, yet again.
"Oh my! So you're the one my little Mio-chan talks about often, eh?" Mio's mom smiled warmly at Ritsu.
"M-mama.." Mio let go of the hug as well due to embarrassment.
"Ara ara. My name is Akiyama Midori, Ricchan." Midori smiled again at both of them.
"Just come on in, Ricchan. I'm cooking some stew right now, so feel free to stay here if you'd like." Midori gestured Ritsu to come in.
Right after that, Ritsu took of her shoes, same with Mio. Then they went straight toward Mio's room upstairs.
Mio turned her room's knob and flicked the lights on, revealing a small round table, stuffed toys in the corner, loads of books on the shelf next to Mio's small bed with a small stuffed bunny toy, and a small study desk with a small study chair. Some of its walls are decorated with girlish stickers, and a light bulb, of course.
"Woah! This is awesome! I wish I have a room this big!" Ritsu exclaimed, [1]ridiculously happy when she fixed her gaze right away at the rather big stuffed toys in the corner.
"I-it's not really that big for me." Mio blushed at her friends compliment, embarrassed at the same time.
"Really? I don't believe it!" Ritsu said as she picked one of the stuffed toys, a fox plushie. "Man, I like this one 'cause it's a fox, like me!" Ritsu exclaimed, her grin getting wider as she held on the fox toy.
"I got that from my mom last year." Mio said, approaching her drawer and took out a towel. "Here, for your sweat, Ricchan."
"Ah. Thanks!" Ritsu took the towel from Mio, her grin never leaving her face, dropping the fox plushie on the round table. She started wiping her sweat with the towel. Mio, on the other side, started to blush as she saw Ritsu's grin again.
As soon as she finished wiping her sweat, she hanged it on her shoulder and looked at Mio again. 'She's cute when she's blushing like that.' Ritsu mused.
Amber eyes met gray ones...
Ritsu's gaze fixed on Mio's eyes. 'Her eyes are beautiful, just like her hair.'
Mio, on the other hand, looked at her companion's amber eyes. She felt her cheeks burning when she stared at them for a while. 'Yellow, just like the fox's eyes.' Mio thought.
Not long after that...
"Ricchan, Mio-chan! The stew is ready!" Midori called from downstairs.
Mio broke the staring contest, she flinched and blushed yet again and answered, "I'm coming, Mama!" 'That was a bit embarrassing..'
Ritsu answered as well, "Comin' down!" 'What the hell just happened, she just stared back at me!' Ritsu thought.
"S-should we head down now?"
"Yep!"
Downstairs...
"Oh, so that's what happened eh?" Midori said after Ritsu told her that she piggybacked Mio and ran to their house to avoid Mio from being late.
"Yeah.. ehehehe.." Ritsu scratched the back of her head as she continued eating with her chopsticks.
"Thank you Ricchan, if she were late right now, our Otosan would scold her." Midori answered back. Mio just listened intently at her mom's words.
"Soyaba, Mio-chan, where is your Otosan right now?" Ritsu asked her friend.
"Eh! Um.. a-ano.." Mio averted her gaze from Ritsu and stared at her mom.
"He's working right now, so he'll be home late tonight, as usual." Midori sighed as she answered for Mio when she can't answer quickly to Ritsu's question.
Ritsu's mouth only formed an "O" when Midori answered.
"Ricchan, are you staying here for tonight?" Midori asked, curious if Ritsu's gonna stay for now.
"Sorry Akiyama-san, but I need to go home after this. My mom will get mad if I don't. Hehe.." Ritsu answered with her apologetic grin.
"Hm.. well why don't I text your mother to inform them that you're staying with us for tonight. It's getting a bit late because it's already 8:00 p.m. right now and it's pretty dangerous for a small child to walk alone at night, right?" Midori suggested as she smiled.
"Yeah! Sounds like a great idea, Akiyama-san!" Ritsu cheered because Midori just saved her from danger.
"Do you know your mother's number?" Midori asked again, her idea seemingly falling to pieces.
"Well, I do have my mother's number written on a piece of paper and she told me to have it in case I can't get back home on time." Ritsu shoved her hand in her pocket, searching for an outline of a folded piece of paper.
"Here!" Ritsu found it and handed it to Midori.
"Okay! I'll inform her right away." Midori stood up and went for the living room to look for her cellphone.
"Isn't that great Mio-chan? I'm finally going to have my first sleepover at someone's house!" Ritsu jumped up and down due to excitement.
"Y-yeah." Mio smiled at her, still eating her unfinished food with chopsticks.
At the living room...
Midori continued reviewing her message to Ritsu's mom before sending.
'To: Ritsu's mother
Good evening and excuse me for the sudden message, your daughter Ritsu is staying over her friend's house until tomorrow, since it's pretty late and dangerous for her to go home right now. She took care of my Mio-chan and sprinted to our house to avoid her from being late for our curfew rule. Thank you for understanding.
Mio's mother,
Midori Akiyama'
After that, she pressed sent.
Tainaka residence, living room
A dark-brown haired woman, Ritsu's mom, Hitomi Tainaka stood up from her seat at the living room, starting to get worried because her little Ritsu isn't home yet, until...
*bzzt bzzt bzzt*
Hitomi reached for her cellphone and flipped it open, revealing the label "Midori Akiyama", she opened the message and it said that Ritsu will be staying over the Akiyama residence until tomorrow. She sighed in relief and is familiar with the Akiyamas and sent the messager a reply.
'To Akiyama residence
Good evening. Thank goodness my daughter is safe, thank you for taking care of my little Ritsu tonight. Since it's Saturday tomorrow, I'm expecting her to go home at 5:00 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. Thank you again, Midori!
Ritsu's mother,
Hitomi Tainaka'
"Honey! Our Ritsu's gonna be having her first sleepover at Mio-chan's house. She helped Mio-chan to avoid her from being late for her own curfew. That's our Ricchan!" Hitomi smiled as she said that to her husband, Ryota Tainaka, who's a tall man with short light brown hair as he continued to watch news and replied, "When she gets back I'm gonna suprise her with a fox toy, since she likes foxes so much."
Hitomi giggled.
A/N: Gonna end this chapter now, since it's pretty long haha! Chapter 2's gonna be the part II of this, so that I can write more about Ritsu and Mio's childhood days.
[1]Ridiculously Happy - a music from Owl City. Do check it out yo!
Well, since Ritsu does look a bit like a fox, I intended to give her the personality to like foxes. Just like me. :D
Anyways, please review this chapter, helps me out a lot. Thanks for reading and see ya in the next chap!
Peace! Arf!