A smooth sounding trumpet was blasting through her headphones. Head bopping lightly, her short, caramel-brown hair was getting messy from her movements. She didn't seem to care, though, lost in the relaxing, light voice of Minmi combined with the talents of Nujabes. She was lost, thrown into a world of color and beauty unlike anything she'd ever seen before. Her fingers tapped with the light accompaniment, adding a few beats of her own simply because she could. Three other girls were sitting around the lost child, laughing about many different topics and just overall having a good time.
"Ritsu, what do you think?" One of the girls asked, flicking her dark bangs away from her eyes. When the brown-eyed girl didn't answer her immediately, the two other girls giggled, one of them saying, "Here comes another lover's spat!"
"Ritsu!" Pulling the earphones off, the black-haired beauty effectively grabbed the girl's attention. Shocked at the sudden loss of music, she almost looked depressed. Realizing that she was now the center of attention, though, she looked to the other two girl's for help. Both laughed heartily, leaning onto each other for support.
"Ouch!"
"What's wrong Mugi- Ow!" Replied the most childish of the group, realizing that her clips had caught on her friend's hair when they started hugging each other in laughter.
"Hah! Serves you right, Private!" Ritsu grinning lightly, forgetting her current predicament. A flash of white and a loud yelp later, Ritsu wasn't anywhere near grinning.
"Jeez, Mio, no need for violence!" She whimpered, nursing the large lump on her head.
"Maybe if a certain someone was paying attention instead of listening to music…" Mio trailed off, lightly glaring at the smaller girl of the two. "Besides, it's not like you to tune people out like that. What were you listening to, anyways?"
"Nujabes!" She replied excitedly, gathering up her I-Pod and bringing one of the ear buds to Mio's ear. "I was talking to an online buddy, and he suggested a couple artists, this guy being one. I was hooked after one song!"
While Mio and Ritsu were enjoying the music, Mugi and Ritsu's Private were having a 'sharing time' of their own.
"Yui, I love you very much, but I must ask that you please try harder to end this issue." Calm and smooth, Mugi was reaching her limit. If Yui didn't hurry up, she was liable to get a nosebleed from the closeness of two girls, especially since she was one of them!
"Yes, yes! I'm just trying to see if there's a way to connect our hair colors together!" The weird girl replied, trying very hard to combine the blonde and brown locks together. "I mean, I've always wanted blonde hair! Outsider* be darned!"
Mugi laughed then, knowing that trying to rush this girl was as useless as trying to eat natto without having a clogged nose. However, she knew she was very close to having a nose clogged with blood, and no one would be happy about that. Deciding enough was enough, she started helping Yui out, getting their hair untangled rather quickly for the amount of trouble the childish girl had. Smiling at each other, Mugi was thankful for her flexibility while Yui contemplated on how much longer until practice (cake).
"Hey, hey! Mugi, what do you think they're doing?" Yui pointed to the now two lost children. "They look weird, hahaha!"
Both were bopping their heads lightly, in sync, and seeming to be having no quarrels about any sort of thing. It was quite an unusual site, seeing Ritsu and Mio together, quiet and relaxed. Yui rushed over to them, pulling the I-Pod out of Ritsu's hand and looking at the front of the screen. Mugi looked on, seeing how Mio had started blushing, realizing the closeness sharing earphones with Ritsu brought. Ritsu yelled jokingly at her Private, telling her to read the mood, and the younger girl laughed simply, scratching the back of her head.
Mugi sighed happily, eyes completely set on watching these three girls interact with each other. If she didn't count Sumire (which she was hard-pressed to do in the first place, oh how she loved that girl like a sister!), she had hardly any experience with other people near or around her age. More specifically, she hadn't had the chance to make very many friends, too busy trying to bring honor to her family name through private tutors and piano tournaments. She was very thankful that her father heard her request and granted her wish to go to a real school for her last years before college.
She didn't think it would be as easy as going into the wrong room for tryouts, but she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. After meeting Ritsu and Mio, and shortly after, Yui, she had finally found a place where she could be herself. She no longer had to feel so pressured and uptight about her upbringing anymore during school, because she wasn't just a Kotobuki; No, she was a member of the Light Music group and friend to the three most interesting Freshman in Sakuragaoka High.
Sighing again, she floated towards the trio, joining into the conversation quietly.
"That's what I'm saying! If we tried to change our sound so suddenly, we wouldn't be able to make it before the Cultural Festival!" Mio was losing her patience, and the restraints on her fists were slowly disappearing.
"But but! If we started sounding like this, it would be easier, right?" Yui asked, looking everyone. All three girls didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the silly question.
"Yui, how in the world would it be easy to learn so many different instruments? Nujabes uses trumpets, bongos, acoustic guitars, and so many other different instruments!" The disbelief was obvious in Ritsu's voice. "Are you going to learn all of those different instruments?"
"Ah! That's wrong, Ricchan! Nujabes is a DJ, so he makes remixes using different songs!" Yui replied, grinning and admonishing her General. "Haven't you ever heard of a mixing table?"
All three girls were astonished, confused, and worried at the same time.
"Ehh? What, was something I said weird?" She looked worried, scratching the side of her head while tilting it to one side.
"Mio, Mio! Does your phone have Internet? I need to know if this is true!" Ritsu was clambering for Mio's phone now, desperate to prove Yui wrong so she didn't feel like an idiot. Mugi had beat her to the punch, though, reading a Wikipedia page aloud.
"Seba Jun was a Japanese Hip hop producer and DJ who recorded under the name Nujabes…" Mugi read out, stunned. She looked over to Mio and Ritsu, but both of them were looking at Yui as if she were a Tengu**. Considering Mio was terrified of most mythical creatures, it was a surprise she wasn't screaming with the look she had on her face. Ritsu was crushed, feeling the unfairness of having been proved wrong by Yui of all people. Mugi was simply awed by her friend's sudden knowledge.
Yui grinned, flashing a piece sign and giggling slightly at her friend's jaws dropping.
"Y-y-y-ui-chan…. What's going on?" Mio stuttered, worried that some sort of divine retribution was going to follow this sudden burst of musical knowledge from her friend.
"Oi, how did you know about Nujabes before I did?" Ritsu asked, slightly upset over not being the first in the group to know.
"Yes, Yui-chan. I too am quite interested in your explanation." Mugi was still calm, her kind and gentle smile still present through all of this.
"Well… I didn't think it mattered all that much, but…" All three girls leaned in, wanting to hear this explanation. "I'm actually a big fan of Hip hop music!"
All three girls fell down comically, kicking up dust into the air and causing Yui to sneeze. That sneeze landed on Ritsu's face, and suddenly the natural order of things was restored as Ritsu reached up and pulled Yui down to the ground as well, giving her a rather harsh noogie.
All three girls laughed heartily on the floor, no longer even worried about Yui's sudden, unusual knowledge. They all began to stand up, returning to their own seats to prepare for the next period. Yui returned to her seat, sighing in relief that her secret wasn't discovered yet. Mio returned to her seat, ready to start learning about different uses for the chart they had written down yesterday before the end of class. Mugi returned to her seat, sitting down and getting ready to start her duty as the only daughter of the Kotobuki family. Ritsu sat down in her seat, still slightly upset that her discovery was made light of, but happy that she was able to share something with Mio by herself once again; somehow, she always felt like she was competing for her best friend's attention when she was with the other girls.
Life was about to change for the four girls, but for now, they were happy with the unscratched surface of their friendship. They were content with the basic set up of their relations, but things were about to change for all of them. As for how they get through all of it and whether or not they remain friends afterwards relies entirely on one person. She has yet to make an appearance, but I'm sure none of you will be as surprised as these four girls when she comes in and helps where no one else could.
Anyways, I digress. I am simply a narrator. I have no place in the story aside from ending the chapters and reading out these girls' lives. I do hope that you all will enjoy this story, and can learn something from it all.
*Here, Yui was talking about becoming a 'gaijin,' or non-Japanese, in order to have blonde hair. In Japan, people who aren't Japanese can be discriminated against rather harshly.
**Tengu are Japanese mythical creatures, known for their unusually long noses, which are supposed to be beaks. They are worshipped as Shinto gods, and are generally depicted as protectors of the forests and the mountains.
I don't own K-On!, thankfully. It would have turned out much more perverted and interesting (in my opinion) if I did. I like it very much, and this is just what I thought of doing when I was listening to some music. But this story won't exactly be perverted. My hopes are that this story can get close to human emotions and thoughts. I want to make these characters grow and learn and hurt and love. I want them to discover life.
That's just how I feel. I hope you enjoyed, and might review if you have anything you might want to say.