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Best Friends.
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"Mio!"
Ritsu ran up the snowy hill, trying to catch up with her best friend. Well, best friend... Ritsu thought while her breath formed little clouds in the air, best friend... might as well have ruined everything just now. Ritsu deeply breathed.
"Mio, wait!"
Though slipping from the steep and frosty surface a few times, she reached the top of the hill, and was turning around, searching for Mio. Ritsu couldn't see Mio. All that was there was whiteness. Cold and rejecting whiteness. The ever so isolating blanket of snow that now clouded Ritsu's mind as well as her vision.
"Mio!"
Ritsu heard nothing. Not a single thing but her own heart beat down in her chest, furiously but afraid and uncertain. Not even the comforting echo of her own voice resonating down in the fields.
"Mio?" crackled her voice into the cold.
She tried again, unsuccessful.
Ritsu walked a little further. Looking for shimmering eyes, jet-black hair, cute laugh, keep looking or you'll never know what she is thinking about you, keep looking. Footprints imprinted in the snow in an endless sequence, going back and forth with no certain direction but always going on.
Ritsu never quits.
Snow crunched under her feet in her steady pace, as steady as new flakes floated down from the sky. Ritsu was scared, afraid of what Mio might've thought, afraid of where Mio is now, afraid of her own feelings and thoughts, afraid of herself. Why had Ritsu changed so much, why had she been developing like this? No clear answers where there, except for Mio. Mio made everything clear. Ritsu needs to find her now, for she needs her to clear her thoughts.
As Ritsu walked on, she searched for Mio's footprints in the snow, but her trail had been quickly concealed by a new layer of powdery snow.
A deep sigh escaped her throath, bringing up the exhaustment that had been bugging her lately, the mental tiredness of things she could even barely understand herself, Ritsu wanted to understand but all she could do was to bring them out in words, seemingly hurtful words, judging by the way Mio had reacted to them.
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"Mio, I need to talk to you." Ritsu exclaimed, swallowing hard. Ritsu never liked serious conversations because Ritsu couldn't really talk that well, she was more of an action-taker than a talker but desperate times ask for desperate measures.
"Oh.. Sure."
Walking to a more secluded space in the hallway, Ritsu got nervous. How would she tell her this? How can some one translate such feelings in words? Thoughts circulated on and on, finding words, searching more explanation as Mio silently followed Ritsu.
"Okay, so, this isn't easy.." began a shaky voice once the girls reached a silent little corner.
Heartbeat racing, head thumping, stomach aching.
"But, I can't hide this from you any longer."
Breath caught in throath, shaking hands.
"I think... I think I'm in love with you, Mio."
Eyes wide open from shock faced her, uncertainty and surprise shimmering down in the vast darkness of the orbs. Ritsu breathed out one time, steadily.
Words bluntly left her mouth, not sure wether she should say them all or not, mind willing to quit, but she couldn't stop. Letting out all that she felt the past weeks or months, Ritsu talked on and on, how she felt, what she felt, how she had struggled, all her fears, her problems, her life. Relief washed over Ritsu.
Ritsu told Mio everything. Every little thing she ever felt towards her, why it had started, why it would never end, how she loved everything she did, how she couldn't stop thinking about her, what she feels. Ritsu doesn't care about how Mio could react anymore. All that matters is talking.
A single glistening teardrop shone weakly in the light before it rolled down a pale cheek.
"Mio?"
"Mio, are you okay?"
A sob, a sniff and then the unforbidding sound of hasty footsteps on the solid floor, her heels ticking as the sound faded away. Her smell still lingered, but her presence did not.
"Mio!?"
Ritsu finally grasped the moment with her absent mind and quickly chased after her. Oh, how she hated herself right now.
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What had she done wrong? Would she have reacted the same? Ritsu couldn't tell, Ritsu and Mio were two seperate and opposite beings. How can you love some one who you're always fighting with? Ritsu couldn't tell, Ritsu wasn't good at those things. She normally left them to Mio.
Cold wind blew across the hill, and carried the sound of a stifled sob.
Ritsu turned around, scanning the area, but all she could see was white snow, white, white and more white. Lifting her head up to the grey sky, she wondered, why she was like this, why it all must've went like this. Angst and fear had taken over the energy that was normally stoked inside.
Though, Ritsu never gave up.
Roaming the snowy hilltop for the fourth time now, Ritsu decided to go down, there was no sign of Mio anywhere, all there was left to do was hope she was okay.
Ritsu half glided, half walked down the hill, finding some resemblense with her own life. She couldn't get a good grip on her thought till some days ago, which felt like a huge victory, though it was a small step in the whole process. Ritsu knew.
"R-Ritsu..?"
Heart skipped a beat, breath chocked inside, if Ritsu could turn around faster Ritsu would've, stomach lurched at the pleasant tone frequency of her voice. Shimmering eyes, jet-black hair, cute laugh.
Mio.
"Ritsu.. I'm, I'm sorry." her dark eyes reflected the snowflaked that fell down, making them sparkle. She shivered all over, Ritsu noticed. Take off your warmth, give her your coat and scarf. Mio didn't accept them at first.
Ritsu insisted.
"Come on, let's go inside, you're freezing!" her voice sounded alien, too optimistic, but she still had to play her role as best friend.
Ritsu was about to walk ahead when a strong hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into a warm and powerful hug where her emotions tumbled over each other from unsuspectedness and secret pleasure. Ritsu expected this. Mio was a good friend, a good best friend, who would accept her no matter how she felt, what she was, how she would become. As expected.
But Ritsu never, never expected those lips on hers.
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A/n: Just felt like writing a little K-On! one-shot fluffiness n_n Okay it might be a little angsty and all, but I was trying out a new style, a more overhead view of things in the story. I dunno if I got it all right, I struggled a lot but it felt like I could describe things better with this writing. So I hope you like it, tell me what you think, constructive critism is always welcome :3
Little update: I am currently working on Winter Days and Astreae Rock, I'm sorry for the slowness in my work ^^;
Disclaimer: I do not own K-On! This anime belongs to their respective creators.
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