A/N: I believe this goes without saying, I don't own anything from K-ON and this story was written with a standard romance of Mio in mind, Don't expect too much, I just wanted to try my hand at this kind of fanfic, soooo hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1: Band Outing

"Ritsu, who are we going out with again?" A girl was adorned neatly in her school uniform which consisted of a white blouse, a blue blazer, a cute red ribbon and a plaid skirt. She had long flowing black hair and a set of grey eyes that seemed to radiate with kindness, enhancing her almost divine beauty. She questioned her friend with brown hair; a bright yellow hair band that pinned her bangs up and crisp golden eyes who had apparently arranged a band date.

"Didn't I already mention it in the suuuuuuuper important message I sent you last night Mio?" The raven-haired girl tried to recall the events of the previous night. She had a vague memory of receiving a text message. The first few lines of the message went something like "I'M WATCHING YOU GIRLIE! I'M GONNA GET YOU!" The opening statement of the message terrified the shy girl so bad that she simply deleted the message and began cowering under the covers of her blanket until she fell asleep. When she finally recalled the incident, everything made sense and she delivered a timely bash to the top her friend's head. Before Ritsu could protest, Mio was already offering an explanation.

"Stupid Ritsu. That was for scaring me half to death last night. Anyways, I already deleted the message, so who are these people?" As the brown haired girl was recovering from the devastating blow to her cranium, three additional people entered the room.

"Ah perfect timing you three. You guys know about tomorrow right?" Ritsu inquired with her usual positive energy on overdrive,

"Yeah." The three people who entered chorused. The trio were all in the same attire as Mio and Ritsu, they all also had their share of interesting hairstyles.

Yui had shoulder length chestnut brown hair with two yellow hairpins pinning her fringe to the side, preventing it from obscuring her face. Tsumugi or "Mugi", as she was nicknamed by her band mates, had dazzling long, wavy blond hair despite being a pure blooded Asian. Azusa was a year younger than her fellow band mates and had the same jet-black hair as Mio. However, Azusa chose to pin her hair up in a twin pigtail in spite of the fact that her hair was almost as long as Mio's.

"That just leaves you then Mio," Ritsu pointed at Mio with a tinge of authority, as if preparing to deliver a top secret briefing to her friend. "I got in contact with a friend of mine from another school who also started his own band. Won't it be fun to have a group date?" As she was done, Yui and Mugi erupted into cheers to show their total support for their self-proclaimed club President. As with any event, there will be people in favour and those in opposition.

"But Ritsu-senpai," Azusa respectfully interjected. "What about our usual Saturday practice? Don't we need to prepare for that performance in a couple of weeks time?" Mio agreed with Azusa, saying that their practice should take precedence over entertainment and socialising. Seeing the obvious difference of opinion concerning the issue, Ritsu devised a perfect method of roping the two raven-haired girls in. With her usual cheeky grin, her lips began to part.

"Well let's be fair then. Let's call a vote. All those opposed," Two hands, which obviously belonged to Mio and Azusa, shot up. "Aaaaaand all those in favour." With that, three enthusiastic hands shot up, crushing the opposition forces by one vote.

"Then it's settled then! Tomorrow we PARTY!" As Ritsu announced it, cries of joy could be heard along with sighing. Mio conceded and finally agreed to meet the group at the train station at 10.00AM.

The Next Day

It was 8.00AM when Mio awoke. Despite sleeping soundly for a night, her hair was still in perfect order, not a strand standing. She massaged her face gently to wake herself up and stretched her arms up to get rid of the tension in her back. She slipped on her pink bunny slippers at the side of the bed and proceeded to the bathroom. As she stared into the mirror, an idol of beauty looked back. Even without a trace of make-up, Mio was a person to behold. She adjusted her hair slightly and began washing up while thinking about what to wear on her very first date.

Forty-five minutes later, Mio emerged from her room in an adorable light purple boat neck top and bright red leggings. She bade her parents farewell and left the house. She headed towards the train station which was roughly ten minutes from her house. She relished the feeling of the cool spring air against her face and found it ever-so refreshing. As she entered the train station proper, she noticed a throng of people also waiting to take the train in the direction she was headed. She sighed slightly, loathing the pushing and shoving which would soon take place.

When the train finally arrived, as Mio predicted, she had to squeeze and squirm her way in. Before she had could stabilize herself and find her centre of gravity, the train lurched forward and Mio lost her balance. As she fell backwards, she shut her eyes, expecting her head to sharply impact the floor. Instead, she felt her back being supported by a powerful yet gentle arm. When Mio opened her eyes, she was looking into the emerald eyes of a youth with raven hair. The man pushed Mio back to her feet.

"You alright?" The teen asked. Mio adjusted her attire and turned to face her savior of sorts. She was facing a young man roughly the same age she was. His hair was parted to the left and his fringe was resting on his left brow while his layered back was flowing down past his collar. He was almost half a head taller than Mio and had a relatively muscular build. He wore denim jeans, a crimson shirt with a phoenix in the centre and a deep blue button-up shirt he left unbuttoned to act as his jacket. Mio's face turned a pretty shade of pink as she took in the man's image.

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks so much." Mio managed to stammer. She was rather flustered and a bit embarrassed from the little incident. The youth flashed his pearly whites to Mio as he did the think-nothing-about-it grin. As Mio returned the smile, she caught sight of a rather tall and cumbersome bag slung around his shoulder, her eyes widened in amazement,

"Y-You're a bassist?" She asked excitedly with the possibility of finding a comrade racing through her mind. The young man almost seemed surprised, not at Mio's queer enthusiasm, but rather the fact she could recognize it was a bass through the bag. His look of amazement quickly reverted to a smile.

"I assume you're a bassist as well? Not many ordinary people can tell the difference between a bass and guitar just by looking at the bag." Mio chuckled slightly and gave a nod. She then became rather flustered as she forgot her manners and began with her introduction with a slight bow.

"Mio-chan eh? Cute name for a cute girl I guess," Mio began to blush profusely at the compliment and hoped the man didn't notice the sudden flush of her cheeks. "The name's Mikio." The raven-haired man automatically reciprocated. She wanted to ask so many things as a fellow bassist, but her usual shyness held her back. Mikio took the initiative to strike up simple conversations such as interests in music, and playing styles. Before long, Mio realized she had reached her stop and prepared to alight the train. Before she could say a quick goodbye to her savior, she realized he was also preparing to exit the train. As the swarm of people flowed out the train, the two teens were finally given some breathing space as they stepped on to the platform. As the crowd rushed off to catch another train hurriedly, it left the two teens on a nearly vacant train platform. Mio checked flipped open her cell phone to check the time. She was half an hour ahead of time. Thinking that she would have to while her time away at the platform alone, she gave a sigh.

"What's up?" Mikio asked the grey-eyed girl.

"I'm supposed to meet my friends at 10. And knowing them, two of them are definitely going to be late, I hate waiting alone, there's nothing to do."

"Oh, I totally understand how you feel. When we want to practice, two of my dumb band mates are always late. And one of them is the band leader to boot. And the one who suffers is always me for reaching earlier," Mikio's words seemed comforting to Mio in a way as she giggled at his rather sarcastic tone when he mentioned his friends. "Well, I'll be waiting for those morons alone again if I head off now. I can keep you company if you want." Mio respectfully declined the offer at first as she didn't want to interrupt Mikio's schedule, but with a little more reassurance from the man and a few extra sarcastic remarks about his band leader, Mio finally accepted.

The two headed over to a vacant bench for two and sat down. Without Mikio starting any topics for discussion, silence quickly took over and made Mio very uncomfortable. She was more of the passive type and didn't like taking initiatives. As the awkward silence began gnawing at her inside, she finally mustered enough courage to start a conversation.

"S-S-So are you headed off to practice?" Mio stammered with her face strangely ablaze. It was at this point she noticed Mikio's face also had a tinge of red.

"Uhh no. Actually we're going to perform. I proposed we take part in it as part of the charity drive. Quite a lot of bands volunteered," The crowd Mio saw then made sense. They were all probably headed for that concert. "How bout you? Where are you headed dressed up so cute?" The compliment made Mio's face burn brightly and she tilted her face away and used her long hair to obscure her face.

"J-Just hanging out with a couple of friends," Mio answered simply, trying to suppress her embarrassment. The short sentenced killed the conversation once more and awkwardness filled the atmosphere again. Mikio cleared his throat and thought about a more comfortable topic to be discussed.

"Soooooo, how long have you been playing?" He asked casually to try and lighten the mood. Mio had her hands balled up on her knees and was still trying to hide her crimson cheeks. With the amount of blood rushing into her face, it was amazing how enough oxygen was still being transported to the rest of her body.

"A couple of years now I guess. I honestly can't remember, I just know that I practically didn't put my bass down when I first started out. It was just so . . . beautiful. The way it supports the other instruments without taking centre stage and not being drowned out by the rest of the band." Upon hearing this, Mikio could sense that Mio had calmed down slightly and felt some relief. He smiled at the way Mio's expression would light up whenever talking about her bass. It almost reminded him of how he was when he first got his hands on his first bass guitar. As he was about to reply and share his own playing experience, an electronic tone rang out. He sighed and almost had a tinge of dread in answering the phone.

"Riku, I know you're going to be late," The obvious sarcasm in his voice would have made almost anybody laugh. However, Mio was still fixated on the ring tone she heard just now. Before she knew it, Mikio's conversation ended.

"Sorry Mio, that was my dumbass of a band leader. I need to go ahead first and take care of the registration, set up and sound checks. I'll be seeing you." It was then Mio suddenly snapped out of her daze and gave a series of jerky nods to acknowledge. She waved goodbye as the raven-haired man rushed off to catch his train. When he was finally out of her sight, Mio sat back down on the bench and began pondering about the tune she heard just now.

"It can't be, but that drum opening. . .That's our song wasn't it? That was Listen. . ." As she buried herself deep in her thoughts, a hand suddenly tapped her on her shoulder. This sent Mio into her usual state of shock and she began curling into a ball, chanting her sutra of "I didn't feel that". She only calmed down when she heard a familiar voice.

"Sen-pai?" The puzzled voice of Azusa finally snapped Mio out of her mental breakdown. She stood up, cleared her throat and tried to pretend nothing happened. Mio turned to face her junior. Before Mio could clear any confusion, Azusa let her own imagination take over.

"Mio-senpai, was that your. . . boyfriend?" Mio froze up instantly and blood rushed furiously back to her cheeks and she could barely speak like an educated teenage girl. After a series of stammers and stutters, Mio finally conveyed that the boy he was with was not her boyfriend.

"Azusa, please don't tell anyone else about the scene you just saw. I beg you, please. I'll never hear the end of it from Ritsu." Mio implored her junior for her silence on the matter. Azusa looked into the eyes of Mio and she could practically see the tears welling up in her deep grey eyes and swore to keep mum on the matter with a rather nervous look on her face.

Twenty minutes passed and the remaining three members of the band arrived almost one after another with the latest obviously being Ritsu. She was greeted with a well timed slap to the back of the head by her childhood friend with black hair before she could even finish saying "Sorry I'm late." The girls were all attired in adorable outfits that really made them stand out from the crowd.

The mature Nakano Azusa chose to don a loose white shirt decorated with bold red polka dots. She wore a black skirt along with deep blue leggings similar to Mio's. Her usual twin pig tails were replaced by a side pony tail held up by a scrunchie. The blissful Hirasawa Yui chose to go with a loose T-shirt with a pair of lips printed on and a pair of black skinny jeans. Al so as a change of image, she let her fringe down and allowed it to partially obscure her face. The tom-boyish Ritsu chose a rather feminine look by wearing a loose lime green top with black leggings and a green hair band holding her fringe up as usual. The eternally cheerful Mugi chose a white T-shirt with black horizontal stripes adorning it. She also wore a white skirt and had a denim jacket over her T shirt for a little warmth. She too had a side pony tail held up by a scrunchie for an image changer. The girls looked lovely and Ritsu led them on the train with her usual enthusiasm.

The group finally reached their destination. When they exited the train station, an almost comical line of people were assembled outside a stadium.

"What's all the commotion about I wonder?" Mio asked her band mates.

"You need to pay more attention to my messages Mio-chan, we're here to watch my friend's band play at the charity drive." Ritsu exclaimed while thrusting her arms energetically into the air. The last two words Ritsu said seemed to ring a bell for Mio. She was dazed for a moment remembering the teen she met earlier on the train. Luckily, Ritsu was too excited to notice Mio's stoned expression and grabbed her arm and ran towards the throng of people gathered at the entrance of the stadium. As the group squirmed their way towards the security check, Ritsu shrieked in horror as she frantically emptied all her purse searching for something. Mio was rather puzzled at this point, but all was made clear by Azusa taking five slips of printed paper out of her own purse.

"I was worried you would misplace them Ritsu-senpai, so I took them from you yesterday and held on to them." Ritsu put on a hurt expression that signified her disbelief of her bandmate's distrust for her. The other four members quickly pushed past her and made their way closer to the security personnel. Cries of "wait up" from their band leader were duly ignored.

Mio was like a dog on a leash, simply following the others without having a full understanding of the situation due to her deletion of Ritsu's message. The raven haired girl with a side pony tail handed the five slips of paper to the guard. He checked their authenticity and unshered the five girls in with a smile.

"Ri-chan, I'm hungry. Where's the popcorn?" Yui cried out.

"No popcorn Yui, we're having a group lunch later, just bear with it for a while. Weren't the VIP passes enough?" Yui pouted and gave her standard I-want-food-now look.

"Ri-chan how DID you manage to get those passes? It hardly seems like something that would come for free." Mugi inquired quizzically. At this point, Ritsu let out a triumphant chuckle put on a proud look.

"Never underestimate your beloved Tainaka Ritsu. My friend's band is the opening act and they were given ten tickets a band to invite people for VIP seats. Yours truly was given five golden tickets to bring you all along."

Mio wanted to burst Ritsu's bubble by interjecting with a comment but discarded the idea in favour of letting Ritsu have her moment. There was one question that was constantly on her mind, "Will it really be him?" The question looped itself constantly in her mind and made her oblivious to the mundane surroundings.

When the flood of people all entered, the MC finally took to the stage and began his introduction.

"Thank you for coming Ladies and Gentlemen, let's start this afternoons concert!" A roar of cheers and applause broke out through the crowd. Ritsu, Yui and Mugi were obviously excited and contributed to the cheers of enthusiasm while Mio and Azusa remained rather stoic despite the environment.

"Our opening band today is a high school quintet. They've been playing for about four years now and they love making sweet sweet music. Put your hands together for BLAZING PHOENIX!" With the band's name still echoing throughout the stadium, the crtains of the stage began to part and the opening chords of a Fender Stratocaster could be heard. A Gibson Les Paul quickly followed suite and played the same chord progression. The sounds of a keyboard could be heard next, and finally the drums and bass joined in.

Everybody present was cheering on the awesome intro played by the five teenage boys, however Mio was only fixated on the bassist.

"Mikio?" She whispered softly to herself. The teen delivering the groovy bass lines still had his back turned to the crowd. It was rather obvious that he was wearing denim jeans and a deep blue shirt was fluttering in the gentle Spring wind. With one final riff by the lead guitarist, the intro ceased with a crash of cymbals and the muting of strings. The crowd roared with excitement, even Azusa joined in the cheering after listening to the magnificent guitar intro. The bassist finally turned around, and a set of pearly whites were flashed to the crowd. Mio was utterly stunned, both by the identity of the bassist and the impressive slap bass he had been playing.

Mikio approached the microphone stand and right on cue, the drummer began tapping his drumsticks together to get the first song going. In a glorious display of musical talent and synergy, the band performed three amazing songs that sent the crowd to euphoria. As the third song ended, the cheers grew louder and louder with demands of encores filling the air. Sadly, every band was given a set amount of time to perform, and Blazing Phoenix exited the stage.

"They were good huh?" Ritsu asked her friends excitedly. The girls were discussing their favourite parts of the songs and Azusa made a casual comment that she wish she could meet the guitarists. With another arrogant smile plastered on Ritsu's face, she boldly proclaimed that it could be done and asked the girls to follow her,

Ritsu led them to the backstage area where a number of bands were still waiting their turn for a spot in the limelight.

"Ritsu, are you sure we can be here?" Mio asked with concern and worry in her voice.

"Well they didn't say we COULDN'T be here." Ritsu replied with a cheeky smile. As Mio was about to urge Ritsu to leave, a familiar voice stopped her.

"I swear Riku, the girl I met just now was really cute. She was a bit shy, but that just enhanced her adorable factor. Everything was going fine until SOMEBODY decided to ask me to take care of registration."

"Well I'm sorry Miki, I saw this pregnant woman going into labour and-OW!" A distinct slap to the back of the head was heard by the girls. The voices originated from behind a curtain behind the girls. Ritsu who also recognized one of the voices snuck approached the curtain with a grin.

"Owwww, well so much for trying to help people. So anyways, did you get her name Miki? This girl you've been drooling over all morning."

"VEEERY funny Riku. I've been drooling over nobody this morning. Besides, she's probably already has a boyfriend. Her name's . . ." At that moment, Ritsu jerked the curtain to the side to reveal two individuals. As the raven haired man turned his head to see the source of the sudden sound, he froze in both shock and a slight tinge of fear. His line of sight was lined up with a raven haired girl with grey eyes, With whatever physical control of his body he still had, Mikio finished his sentence.

"Akiyama . . . Mio-chan . . ."

A/N: Sooo yeah that's it. Hope you enjoyed it. Please review, I understand that my writing style isn't the best in the world. But I still wanna continue this project so let me know what I'm doin wrong, Too much description, slow story progress, ANYTHING. Just tell me and I hope to generate a better piece of work for you guys next time. Cheers people.