Summary: As long as we keep memories in our hearts, nothing is ever truly lost…
Genre(s): Romance/Tragedy/Supernatural
Character(s): Ritsu T., Mio A., Tsumugi K., Yui H., Azusa N.
Pairing(s): Ritsu x Mio
Story Type: One-shot
Disclaimer: I do not own K-ON!
* I'll Always Be With You *
The golden late evening sunlight shined through the third floor of Sakuragaoka High School and into the Light Music Clubroom. Inside were five lively girls, all seated at the table in the back of the room. A frustrated cry broke the chatter amongst the girls as Azusa fended off her senior's aggressive advances.
"Senpai! What are you doing?" Azusa cried irritably as she shoved Yui away.
Yui grabbed her hands at Azusa, her lips puckered in a desperate attempt to home in on the younger girl's. Ritsu and Mio watched the scene with amusement clear on their features, Tsumugi, however, was ablaze with joy at the loving scene before her. Azusa finally managed to push the overly excited girl back into her own chair then sighed in relief as a look of dejection washed over Yui's face.
"C'mon, Azu-nyan!" Yui whined as she sucked on her finger pitifully.
"No, Yui-senpai!" Azusa replied adamantly as she crossed her arms over her chest and huffed defiantly.
"But, Azu-nyan! They did it! Why can't we?" Yui whined again as she pointed a finger at Ritsu and Mio. Ritsu leaned over and gave Mio a quick peck on the lips, which elicited an intense blush from the black haired girl.
"See! They did it again!" Yui pointed out as Ritsu grinned and Tsumugi recovered from nearly choking on her tea.
"We aren't in a relationship like they are!" Azusa responded harshly which caused Yui to whine even more. Ritsu's grin grew as Mio stared down at her lap and blushed even more from the attention she was receiving.
'You're really loving the attention, aren't you?' Mio thought with a small smile as she looked over at her grinning girlfriend.
"Well, we need to go, we have a date tonight," Ritsu said slyly with a grin as she stood up from her chair and grabbed Mio's hand, pulling her up as well. Ritsu and Mio headed out of the clubroom together, leaving Azusa to fend off Yui's renewed advances, and Tsumugi to enjoy it all to herself.
As the pair headed down the sidewalk outside of the school, Ritsu boldly grabbed Mio's hand which caused the taller girl to flush slightly. Ritsu spotted the blush and smiled in satisfaction.
"You're still blushing from this simple contact?" Ritsu teased, which caused Mio's cheeks to redden further.
"I-I'm not blushing because of that!" Mio defended. "I'm just thinking of something..." Mio lied in an attempt to save herself from any teasing.
"Oh? Thinking of what we did after last week's date?" Ritsu teased again with a suggestive wink which caused Mio's entire face to go crimson.
"S-shut up," Mio replied half-heartedly with a smile.
The girls arrived at the corner, crossed the street, and finally arrived at a fairly fancy restaurant. They entered the restaurant, with Ritsu making sure to prominently hold Mio's hand, as if a declaration to the entire world, which embarrassed the shy girl.
"A table for yourself and the...missus?" A hostess courteously asked as she spied the pair holding hands. Mio's shy blush deepened as Ritsu grinned happily.
"Yep!" she replied as the hostess lead the pair through the crowded restaurant. Once the girls were seated in a nicely secluded booth, the hostess handed them both a menu.
"A waitress will be with you shortly," she said simply before leaving the two alone. Mio scanned through the menu quickly, wanting to hurry and decide what she wanted.
'Wow...' she thought in amazement as the sizeable Yen numbers beside each menu item caught her eye.
"Ritsu...this is really-" Mio began but Ritsu had predicted what she would say and waved her off.
"It's my treat, Mio," she said as she placed her menu down.
"But-" Mio tried to protest but Ritsu stopped her.
"It's nothing, really. I've saved up to bring you here," Ritsu said which caused Mio to blush.
"Really..?" Mio asked in pleasant surprise. Ritsu reached out and clasped Mio's hand in her own then nodded her head, a large happy grin on her face.
"It's been three weeks since we got together, I figured we could celebrate," Ritsu said.
"Don't you think it's a little early to be celebrating our relationship?" Mio replied jokingly. Ritsu's face took on an oddly serious look which surprised Mio.
"I've loved you for a long time, for years I had to hold it in, but now I'm getting to express my feelings for you, so every moment means a lot to me," Ritsu confessed as Mio simply stared and blushed in silent wonder.
"Ritsu..."
"Are you ladies ready to order?" A cute young waitress cheerily asked as she arrived at the girls' table, breaking them out of their romantic reverie.
The two ordered then began conversing in a more casual and light manner, mostly about school and the club. Their meals arrived quickly and they ate, talking in intervals as they enjoyed their food.
Mio absently placed her hand on the table as she really got into discussing a particular topic. She closed her eyes in thought for a moment, but immediately opened them as she felt a familiar, soft pressure on her hand. Ritsu had gently lain her hand atop Mio's and a coy grin was on the bold girl's face. She propped her head up on her elbow and stared seductively into Mio's eyes.
"Have I ever told you how your hands are really nice and soft, Mio?" Ritsu remarked coyly as she ran a finger up and down Mio's index finger before rubbing lazy circles into the back of her hand. Mio's breath hitched in her throat as Ritsu repeated her actions along Mio's middle finger. Ritsu picked up Mio's hand and clasped it in both of hers, then began to rub Mio's fingertips, eliciting a heavy blush from the girl.
"Especially for someone who plays bass," Ritsu commented as she kneaded the girl's digits with her own.
"R-Ritsu..." Mio said as she began to pant lightly, her heavy blush deepening even further. Ritsu grinned devilishly as she continued to lavish Mio's fingers with affection.
"R-Ritsu, w-we should go...i-it's late..." Mio finally managed as she half-heartedly pulled her hand from Ritsu's grasp. Ritsu looked disappointed for a second before brightening up.
"Alright, alright...I guess we can just continue later?" Ritsu said slyly as she gave Mio a smile. Ritsu paid for their meal and the two girls left, laughing happily as they talked and walked hand-in-hand.
* K-ON! *
Ritsu and Mio walked happily down the sidewalk together after their date. The two lovebirds were so wrapped up in themselves as they crossed the street that they did not notice the pair of oncoming headlights until it was too late.
"Mio! Look out!" Ritsu cried as she shoved the black haired girl forward. Mio only got a brief glimpse back before the headlights blinded her vision and all she heard was the screeching of tires and a sickening thud.
"Ritsu!" Mio cried as she rushed over to the fallen girl, falling to her knees and pulling her onto her lap.
"M-Mio?" Ritsu coughed out as she breathed weakly. The driver of the car jumped out and pulled out his cell phone to call for an ambulance.
"Shh, don't talk..." Mio whispered as tears leaked out of her eyes. "You're...you're gonna be alright," Mio reassured, more to herself than to Ritsu. Ritsu weakly grinned up at the crying girl before she coughed up spurts of blood. Mio gasped as she pressed her hand to Ritsu's chest, pulling it back to see it covered in crimson blood.
"J-just hold on, R-Ritsu..." Mio pleaded, her voice trembling with choked emotion.
"M-Mio, I..." Ritsu tried to speak but Mio shushed her again.
"Please, Ritsu! Don't talk..." Mio begged as she cradled the dying girl in her arms. Ritsu continued to weakly grin up at Mio as her eyes glazed over. Her breathing came in short, erratic bursts, her chest heaving while the dark red stain spread across her shirt.
"Mio...the past few weeks with you...they've been the best of my life..." Ritsu managed as she breathed through a throat full of fluid as her lungs rapidly filled with blood.
"D-don't say that! You're gonna be alright, Ritsu!" Mio cried as her tears dripped down onto Ritsu's face.
"N-no, I-I'm not..." Ritsu lightheartedly rebuffed, despite her injuries, as blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth. Mio began to sob like a child as she fiercely cradled Ritsu's head against her chest.
"I'll..." Ritsu began as she weakly reached up towards Mio's face, holding her cheek and smearing the tears away.
"...I'll always..." she continued as her fingers slowly traced down Mio's cheek and gently along her throat, before coming to a rest pressed weakly against her chest.
"...be with you..." Ritsu finished softly as her arm fell limp and her eyelids closed as the once vibrant orbs within lost their former glow. Mio shook the limp body of her girlfriend, unwilling to accept what had happened.
"You can't be dead...you can't be..." Mio repeated over and over as she continued to shake the dead girl. Finally, Mio halted in her actions and was silent for a moment before she let out a wail of despair to the bleak heavens as the sound of ambulance sirens blared in the distance.
* K-ON! *
Ritsu's funeral took place a week later and there was not a dry eye in the house, except for Mio's. She had not cried once since the boisterous girl had died that night, yet nobody gave her strange looks. If anybody did not understand, they did not make it known.
Yui, Tsumugi, and Azusa were inconsolable at the viewing, but Mio had left long before. She did not want to see the girl in the casket; she was not dead, she was still alive in her memories.
Later that night, the weight of the funeral finally broke Mio and she wailed and sobbed on her bed for hours. Only once her throat ached and her eyes were empty did she simply lie against the mattress and stare at the ceiling. Everything seemed to remind her of Ritsu, even the pillows still retained the smell of her hair. A burst of rage hit Mio and she grabbed the pillow and flung it across the room before continuing renewed sobs against the bare mattress.
Mio did not attend school that week, or the next; she did not feel like doing anything anymore. As she sat on her bed, she remembered back to a time when she and Ritsu had written song lyrics together as a couple. As that memory filled her mind, a strange resolve struck her and she jumped from her bed and hurried over to her desk.
She grabbed a piece of paper and poured her emotions onto the page. At moments, she almost felt Ritsu's hand guiding hers, just as it had when she had been too distracted by the shorter girl's proximity to write properly. Mio finished the song as a few tears fell down onto the paper, thankfully avoiding smudging any of the words.
'She's not dead...she's still alive...in me,' Mio thought as she held the page to her chest then read the lyrics again.
* K-ON! *
"Thank you all, we have a much anticipated guest in the studio today," the radio DJ cheerily talked into his studio microphone. "She's been burning up the charts for the past five years, but now she's hit number one with her latest smash hit: 'Always with me'!" the host continued as a couple studio hands brought in a tall, black haired girl.
"Now joining us, the sensation herself: Mio Akiyama-san!" the host applauded her entrance as Mio gave a courteous smile.
"Thank you, it's nice to be here," Mio greeted into her microphone as she took her seat.
"Mio-san, tell us, what got you into singing in the first place?" the host asked overly excitedly. Mio's smile faltered for a second but she kept her cheery image in place.
"I'm sorry, that's rather personal," Mio replied apologetically.
"Aww, not too personal for your fans here listening at WHTT though, right?" the host urged as he feigned hurt. Mio's expression fell for a moment but she pepped herself back up again.
'Have to maintain my image...' she resolved.
"Well, I lost a dear...friend, five years ago, and I've dedicated my life to keeping her with me through my music," Mio said as she forced every ounce of her professional will into keeping her voice from cracking.
"Lost? Did she move away?" the host pushed, hoping he was not going to overstep his bounds.
"...Yes, she's in a better place now," Mio replied as her voice wavered ever so slightly, but it was not something she could not hide with her vocal talents.
"Well, you heard it here first folks! She's been around for years but she's just now hit number one! Be sure to grab her smash single: 'Always with Me!'" the host continued cheerily.
"From everyone here at WHTT, have a great night!" he finished as the background music began to play, signifying the end of the show. Mio curtly stood and shook the host's hand before hurrying out of the studio.
Even though Mio took the back entrance, the moment she stepped outside she was bombarded by news reporters, photographers, and screaming fans. Everywhere she turned it seemed someone was sticking a microphone or a pen and paper in her face and she could not hear herself think over the noise. When she finally composed herself, she ignored the interviewers and instead turned to the people she truly wanted to touch with her music: her fans.
Mio smiled warmly as she personalized every autograph. She truly enjoyed the feel of swishing a pen across the paper and returning the smile of a young teenage girl or boy. She was not even above a few pictures. Finally, she reached the end of the long line of fans, barely restrained by a guardrail, and came to the last one holding out a pen and paper.
"And who am I making this out to?" Mio asked with genuine sweetness, she did not have to fake it, as she took the pen and paper. The girl's face was obscured in shadow by the gray hoodie she wore.
"Tainaka, Ritsu," a voice floated out from beneath the hood causing Mio's heart to stop and her blood to run cold. Her face paled and she began to shake uncontrollably.
"W-what..?" Mio managed. The girl snatched the pen and paper back from Mio and disappeared into the crowd of fans.
"No! Wait!" Mio cried after her as she shoved her way through the crowd, finding the strength within her to be forceful but not hurtful. Mio broke out from the crowd and spotted the hooded girl disappearing into the darkness of the back alleyways.
"Wait!" Mio called out as she dashed after the girl. Mio weaved through darkness and alleyways, somehow losing any fans or photographers that attempted to hound her, until she found herself thoroughly lost.
'Now I've done it...' Mio thought in despair as she could not determine her location. 'And who was that girl..?' she thought as she turned back towards the way she came. She jumped back in fright as she spotted the girl standing just a few feet behind her, her face still shrouded in darkness, the full moon from above bathing the area in a ghostly light.
"W-who are you!" Mio demanded as the girl stood chillingly still in the moon light.
"Forgot me already, did you?" a joking voice came out from beneath the hood.
"It...it can't be!" Mio cried in denial as the girl pulled her hoodie down, revealing a mop of shaggy brunette hair, unrestrained by a headband. A playful grin was plastered on the un-aging face of Ritsu.
"This is...this is crazy! You...you're dead!" Mio said frantically as tears filled her eyes.
"Is that any way to greet your girlfriend?" Ritsu joked as she took a step closer to Mio.
"Stay back!" Mio yelled as she stumbled backwards. "I-I must be going insane! I watched you die!" Mio cried as she wrapped her arms around herself to steady her shaking body, her voice choked with emotion. Ritsu's playful grin turned into a sorrowful one as she stepped up to Mio, the height difference even more prominent as Mio had grown and Ritsu had not aged a bit.
"...But I am dead," Ritsu replied softly, her voice taking on a hollow sound. Ritsu reached out and touched Mio on the cheek, her hand felt cold and empty. Mio's heart skipped too many beats to count as the place on her cheek seemed to pulsate with warmth from Ritsu's touch.
"But...how can this be?" Mio asked as her fear turned to longing as she felt her ageless dead girlfriend holding her cheek. Ritsu gazed into her eyes, the longing and love shining radiantly in them.
"I just...wanted one last moment with you," Ritsu said sadly as she traced her thumb across Mio's cheek. "They wouldn't let me, for so long, but I've watched you, I've seen how you keep me alive in your music...in you heart," she continued quietly as Mio stared in stunned silence.
"They finally let me see you one last time. They noticed too, how you kept my memory alive..." she said as she traced down Mio's cheek, along her neck, and placed her hand against Mio's rapidly beating heart.
"And, I told you, Mio..." Ritsu said slowly as she leaned up on her tiptoes to level her face with Mio's.
She softly gazed into Mio's shimmering eyes then smiled before slowly leaning in and pressing her lips firmly against Mio's. Mio's heart soared as her lips remembered the feel of her long lost lover. All the pent up emotion she held over the years melted away as she took the lead and grabbed Ritsu around the waist then pulled her up off her feet, cradling the shorter girl in her embrace, thus allowing her to kiss her back in earnest.
Tears streaked down Mio's cheeks as she enjoyed the comforting warmth that radiated from Ritsu's body, in stark contrast to the cold, lifeless touch she had felt just a few moments ago.
"Ritsu...Ritsu..." Mio panted between fevered kisses as she released every ounce of love and desire that she had harbored for her long-dead girlfriend over the years.
Then, without warning, she was gone. Mio opened her eyes and found her arms empty. She frantically scanned the alleyway, but Ritsu was nowhere in sight. Yet, she could still feel Ritsu's comforting warmth against her body. She desperately reached out and grasped at the empty nighttime air, hoping beyond all hope that Ritsu would appear again, but the air remained still and silent.
Mio fell to her knees as more tears welled up in her eyes. She gazed up at the silvery orb in the sky as a trail of tears slowly trickled from the corners of her eyes and dripped down her neck, sparkling in the moonlight. Her entire body relaxed as she stared up at the moon's soft glow, an oddly comforting sensation washing over her as she basked in the silvery light, she felt at ease, at peace.
Mio brought her head back up and clasped her cold hands together, bringing them closer to her body and pressing them comfortingly against her heart, relishing in Ritsu's fading warmth. She slowly lowered her head and closed her eyes tightly.
"Ritsu...I'll always love you..." Mio whispered to the night, knowing that she had been heard. She was not startled when she heard a faint, ghostly voice flow in with a light gust of wind.
"...I'll always be with you…"
END
Author's Commentary: In my opinion, this is the best, most emotional story I've ever written, I actually cried writing it. All feedback is happily welcomed.