Title: Rendezvous

Characters: Mio, Ritsu, Satoshi

Pairings: Mio/Ritsu

It was a pleasant spring evening, a little breezy, but still enjoyable. However, the evening wasn't very enjoyable for one golden-eyed high school graduate.

"Aren't you full yet?" Ritsu Tainaka demanded of her younger brother Satoshi, who was still stuffing his face. Satoshi shrugged, cramming who knew what into his mouth. Eventually he swallowed.

"It's a party for you, sis, so why aren't you celebrating?" He took a gulp of orange soda from the 2-liter bottle in front of him. Ritsu wrinkled her nose; couldn't he pour himself a cup?

"It's so boring," Ritsu grumbled. "Just a bunch of adults. This graduation party isn't as fun as I thought it'd be." She longed to play on her drum set, but the noise would probably disturb her grandparents, and she wasn't that inconsiderate. Her thoughts drifted back to that afternoon, when she and the others had played their song for Azusa. She'd really seemed to enjoy it.

Meanwhile, not far away, another member of the Light Music Club was thinking the same thing, but not because she was bored. Mio Akiyama was trying to block out her own graduation party and failing. She kept trying to bring back the memory of the look on Azusa's face when they'd finished the song, but it wasn't working. Mio had never liked being the center of attention, but tonight, she was. People kept coming up to her and trying to chat with her, often sneaking up behind her, which she didn't like at all. On top of that, her mother was making her give a speech to everyone in exactly ten minutes. Mio just wanted to block out the party, because if she did, then maybe it would go away.

Mio didn't remember she'd had her phone in her pocket until it went off. Edging out of the room as inconspicuously as she could, she glanced down to see who had sent her a message. It was Ritsu.

Azusa really liked our song, huh?

Mio smiled, the memory coming back more clearly now. Yeah. It was a lot of fun.

The reply came back within seconds. What cha up to?

My graduation party, of course.

Me too. It's so boring. Nobody's paying attention to me and the only thing I can do is watch Satoshi pig out.

Mio gaped at what she'd said and typed back, Nobody's paying attention to YOU? Do you know what I would do to have that happen to me?

Oh yeah, center of attention? At least you get to do something!

Mio could hear someone calling for her. It was apparently time for her speech soon. Quickly, she typed, Meet me at the park ASAP. Shoving her phone in her pocket, she searched frantically for an exit, eventually finding the bathroom window and climbing through it.

Ritsu's exit was less difficult. Peering down at what Mio had written, she said, "I'm going out, Satoshi." Her brother made a noise in reply, since his mouth was full of cake. Ritsu opened the back door and stepped out of her house.

The park was deserted, since it was now dark out, but there were streetlights here and there, so Mio and Ritsu could see well enough. They'd both taken different routes to get there, and though Mio had left her house first, Ritsu's route was faster, so they both ended up arriving at the park at the same time. Ritsu waved at her dark-haired best friend and they both sat down on a park bench together.

"This feels good," Mio sighed. "Not having people paying so much attention to me." She closed her eyes and leaned back against the bench.

"I just can't believe we graduated today," Ritsu said in reply. "High school's been so crazy."

"It seems like it went by too fast."

"Way too fast."

"Ritsu?" Mio turned her head toward her friend's. "Do you think college will be like that, too?"

"Well, knowing Afterschool Tea Time, maybe. I mean, anything's possible with Yui," snickered Ritsu.

"And Mugi, too."

Ritsu remembered something Yui had said at the last school festival. "Afterschool Tea Time will always be afterschool."

"I'm still not sure what that means," Mio smiled.

"Me neither."

In the light of the streetlamps, both girls leaned back, their heads touching. Mio's hand was inches away from Ritsu's. They could both feel one another breathing as they both rested.

"Today…was really great, huh?" Mio asked softly.

"Yeah, it was."

"Ritsu?"

"What is it?"

"Thanks for meeting me here. At such a short notice, I mean."

"No problem, Mio. I'm your friend. That's what friends are for."

On the park bench, Ritsu's hand reached out and took Mio's.

"Mio, I know you don't like being the center of attention, but you should probably go back."

"I-I can't." Mio's voice wobbled, since she had just pictured her parents out looking for her, thinking she'd gotten lost.

"Why not?" Ritsu's voice was slightly teasing, but she understood what Mio was going through.

"I have to make a speech-" Mio's voice cut off as she saw Ritsu stifle a laugh.

"What, is that all?" the golden-eyed girl asked.

"Yes!" responded Mio in an outraged tone.

"That's just so-just so easy!" Ritsu snickered. "Just some dumb little speech about graduating."

"Hey, you know I don't like making speeches."

In reply, Ritsu stood up, pulling Mio along with her. "Come on," the drummer declared. "You're going to go make that speech, and I'm going to help you."

Ignoring Mio's protests, Ritsu hauled her back to her house. Luckily, nobody was worried about Mio's sudden disappearance. What people did notice was that, while Mio was making her speech, she kept her hand in Ritsu's the whole time. Although Mio had gotten a bit mad at Ritsu, she'd still held on to her friend's hand. She'd been holding onto it since Ritsu had taken it when they were sitting on the park bench. Mio didn't let go of it until after the speech, when Ritsu was about to go back to her own house.

"Who knows, maybe I can liven the party up a bit. Maybe I'll give a speech too!" Ritsu gave Mio a big, confident, assured smile that told her, Don't worry, the hard part's over now.

As Ritsu had her hand on the door, she turned back to Mio. "Hey, don't worry about college. It's probably gonna be tough, but I'll be there, and I'll help you out if you get stuck."

Mio grinned. "Ritsu, I bet that when the first exams come up, you're going to come begging to me for help studying."

"No way! I'll be a college student, and college students don't need help!"

"Keep telling yourself that." Mio smiled at her best friend as she left. She could still feel the warmth of Ritsu's hand in hers, and it was something she wasn't going to forget for a long time.