Hello, K-On! fandom,
I've been struggling to write this story for nearly 2 years, as I had a terrible writer's block and nothing would come out of my head, but as you can see, I finally managed to get over it (kind of, lol) and type down the first chapter!
I'm still not happy with the way it turned out, but if I keep trying to make it look perfect, I'll end up never posting it at all.
My friend Mike helped me with the grammar errors, so Kudos to Mike!
Warnings: This story contains strong language, sexual situations and transexuality.
First Chapter - The Look
A pair of honey eyes slowly opened and blinked. They tried to adjust to a blinding light that someone directed at them, while the grogginess and the long bangs complicated Tainaka Ritsu's study of the place. That, however, didn't prevent her from taking a better look and realizing she was completely tied down to a chair and wearing nothing but her school skirt and her bra.
'Did I get kidnapped?' When she started to realize what was happening, her shoulders stiffened and cold sweat started to spread throughout her skin with the thought of being in that kind of situation.
"W-What is going on?" Her hoarse words echoed as she struggled with the rope that kept her hands and feet tied behind that chair.
A person wearing medical attire took her attention. They were standing in front of a large white table, wearing a surgical mask that only their stale-blue eyes appeared. She couldn't distinguish if that person was a man or woman until they took a glance at her after she spoke. She recognized he was a man, who seemed to ignore the question and continued focused on whatever he was doing.
It didn't take long until he finished his job. He got a tray filled up with various equipment and brought it to a smaller table, which was by Ritsu's side. She didn't move her eyes away from him, watching every single move, until she lost it after taking notice of pointy and sharp equipment. "W-What are you going to do with that?" She nervously tried getting an answer again.
He got closer and untied her left arm that was behind the chair, and tied it to the chair's armrest. In an act of reflex, she tried moving away, but it was useless, as those cords were so tight that the blood circulation was weak around her torso. "Can't you fucking tell me what is going on?" She impatiently demanded.
He chuckled when he noticed the girl was trembling. "You'll be fine." He replied, but in English.
'English? Damn it, I wish I had taken English class seriously… Am I even still in Japan?' The girl desperately wondered, while she prepared herself psychologically for what was coming. It was obvious that the man was up to no good and she could do nothing to stop it. She was a strong girl, but could not bear to be in this condition, as she wasn't able to move her body and had no escape but to "accept" whatever this person was going to do with her.
She felt the anger rising and would totally punch him in the face if she could. "Where the hell am I? And who are you?" Her voice cracked as she was on the verge of tears.
"You're quite the talkative one, aren't you?" The man provoked, still in English, while examining her left upper arm. He then proceeded to make a tourniquet on it. She couldn't comprehend any word he was saying and started thinking a million things while he was doing those things on her arm. Thoughts on ways to escape, the reason she was there and even if she was going to be alive after this passed through her mind.
He got the syringe that was lying on top of the tray and flicked it with his finger for the air to ascend. Despairing tears quickly ran down the girl's face when the tall man moved back to her and grabbed her arm. "Please stop…" She begged, in English, while she felt the pain of the needle touching her skin and the slate-blue eyes staring through her. Those words were one of the few phrases she could form in that language. The desperation helped a little, too.
"This will be fast…" Her mind went blank and she wasn't able to hear his last words.
A brief and loud yelp sounded.
The light brown haired boy quickly covered his mouth with his right hand as frightened tears overflowed his shut eyes. He knew he had just woken up from a terrible nightmare, which felt so real that it made him breathless and sweat cold. He stayed that way for some seconds, completely lost in thoughts, but it didn't take long until he cleaned his tears and became aware that he was inside the bathroom, facing himself in the mirror.
'I ... Was I sleepwalking again?' He scratched his cheek and turned the head to his bedroom, confused as to how he ended up there. It wasn't the first time this happened and he still was not used to it, even when these vivid dreams had happened at least two or three times before. He tried examining them, but they vanished from his memories the moment he opened his eyes. In the same way he attempted to remember his past, but there was this empty space in his head, making the boy feel like a complete stranger for himself.
It was earlier than he was accustomed to waking up, so his alarm hadn't even sounded and classes hadn't started yet. Thus, he laid himself on his bed and took a glance outside the window, taking notice of the fresh spring weather as his thoughts drifted to his first memories.
A single bed, a hospital room and… someone.
He looked left and right, shortly after waking up. He soon took notice there was someone inside the room with him, but they were talking on the phone. He moved a bit to have a clear vision of who it was, but his vision was foggy, consequently making it difficult for him to see more than a blur.
"Yes, I'm in the room with her- I mean him. The doctors said he might have permanent memory loss due to the trauma..." That person had a familiar feminine voice.. "He'll be discharged today, so he's going to wake up any second now." The woman was listening to the voice on the other side of the line, not knowing that he was already awake. "...No, I just… I can't believe it. If I knew before, I'd totally have done something about it". When she finished that sentence, she turned around and her brownish eyes met the amber eyes' gaze. "I need to go now." She quickly put the phone in her purse and approached the bed.
They kept staring at each other until the boy broke the silence. "W-Who are you…? And where am I?" As soon as he finished his questions, a single twinge in his head hit him like a punch, making him close his eyes and hold his head with both of his hands until he fell back and fainted.
Those blurry memories drowned him in questions and confusion. 'Why was I in a hospital?' The memory that came after that one puzzled him even more.
He woke up again somewhere completely different; in a place that looked like a bedroom.
The woman was once again by his side, trying to prevent him from moving forward with his body. "You're here, you're safe now…" Those swollen eyes, from someone who broke down not long ago, held some assurance in them. Those words made him feel somewhat secure, even coming from that complete stranger.
"Do I know you?" He asked, after feeling the familiar look in the woman's eyes.
She gasped and stared at the ground. "I know you don't remember anything, and that's great actually." She made a pause to clean her salty tears. "You're gonna live a completely new life from here." She looked at him straight in the eyes after she finished that sentence.
Completely lost, he didn't know if he should run away from there or listen to that sobbing woman. Something felt terribly wrong about his body and he had no idea why that woman was crying.
His reflexes told him to drag himself to a bathroom. The woman tried to stop him, but it was too late, he was already searching for one until he found it on the corridor. He stared at himself on the mirror and didn't recognize the person he was looking at. "Who am I…?" He said it quietly while touching his cheek and staring at his golden eyes. He took a glance at the woman, who was standing right beside him. "Do you know me?"
She took some seconds to reply. "I-... I can't answer all the questions you might have right now. I really can't." She said between sobs.
Rito faced himself again. He felt like his past was completely wiped from his memory, like a book with blank pages, an empty shell.
The woman got closer to him and touched his shoulder. "Just do me a favor… Don't dig into your past too much, because it will definitely hurt you." She wiped her tears and hugged him tight.
The warmth of the hug calmed him down a little. "Please, just... can you tell me who you are…?" He begged.
She shook her head and stepped away.
The boy clenched his fists and was about to punch something, but all he did was hold his face and let tears fall out. "I don't remember anything..."
He was almost asleep when his alarm rang, so he reluctantly went to the bathroom and took a long shower. After that, he put on some white pants and a hooded burgundy sweatshirt, put on his black converse shoes and left his room holding his backpack.
After having an ordinary breakfast, he headed to the building where he was going to take classes that day.
Rito was halfway there when he heard someone calling his name not far from him. The short boy looked around and spotted a girl coming in his direction.
It was Yoshida Ayame, his classmate. She was a very energetic and outgoing drummer, about his size, with big yellow eyes and short blonde hair that slightly reached her shoulders. "Ah, Ayame-san." He whispered, while his humor lightened up after seeing his only friend on campus coming.
"I was searching for you! What do you plan to do after class?" The girl was already in front of him when she asked that, making him step a bit back.
"Uh, I guess I haven't planned anything yet, why?"
The girl took two drumsticks that were in the side of her bag and started gesturing them around. "My band mates and I finally managed to have free time together and we are going to practice today at the club, so I thought if you would like to come and watch us play. What do you think?"
Rito looked left and right before giving an answer. "Y-Yeah, why not?" He shrugged.
Ayame's hands joined as she happily said "Perfect! You're finally going to meet my friends!" She made a small pause. "Ah, and I'm sure you'll like the club."
He gave her a weak smile. "It's the light music club, right? You've talked about it before."
"Yes! I was in a similar club when I was in high school. The only difference is that we didn't have to pay, back then." A dark aura surrounded her after she remembered that. "B-But it's worth it, the room is way bigger and there are many more members."
After chatting about the club, they both noticed they were already standing in front of the classroom, so they proceeded to get inside and sit in their respective seats. The lessons in that day seemed to go slowly, thus he kept spacing out about it until he got a small flash of that dream he had. He couldn't remember exactly what was going on in it, but he knew there was a girl and she was in trouble. It wasn't the first time he had dreams that looked like that, but this one was on a whole new level.
For him not to forget about those weird dreams, he thought it was a good idea to write all of them down in a small notebook. Those dreams were too mysterious to be left aside and the possibility of them being related to the missing parts of his memories was very high.
Ayame and Rito walked to the club room as soon as the classes were done. The girl had to be the first to arrive to open the windows and set everything ready for her band to practice.
"They told you to come earlier so you would make everything ready all by yourself?" The boy asked, while looking around. The club is indeed big.
"I was the only one who could arrive here first, so yeah. And I see no problem in doing it, anyway."
They soon realized they were not alone inside the club room when they heard someone coming behind them. "Yo."
Both turned back and Ayame's eyes widened. "Akira-chan! Since when have you been here?"
The girl had a punk style and spiky black hair. She looked like the type of person who could smash you with her own hands if you somehow made her angry. "I just arrived." Akira said while putting her bag and jacket away. "I was going to help you, but since you're so committed to do it all by yourself, I'll just chill ou-" The girl was already walking towards the couches when Ayame pulled her back by her shirt.
"No way." She denied, while she brought the punk looking girl back to where she was.
Rito smirked. "You two seem like good friends."
The blonde girl started messing with her friend's hair. "I've known this prick since high school, but it feels as if we know each other much longer than that."
Akira escaped the fingers that were making her hair all messy and complained while fixing it. "Ugh, you know I hate when you do that with my hair, Ayame!"
"I know! That's what makes it so funny!" The drummer giggled.
"Anyway, Sachi is going to take a while to arrive, so let's get started by setting up the instruments." Her eyes met up with Rito, who was standing beside Ayame.
"A-Ah, my name is Takeda Rito, I'm Ayame's classmate. I came to watch you guys perform."
"Nice to meet you, Takeda-san. My name's Wada Akira, but you can just call me Akira if you want." She said while analysing the boy. He looks very shy.
"Nice to meet you too, A-Akira-san." He said, sheepishly. "Is there something I can help you guys with?
As soon as they finished, they sat on the couch and waited for the others to arrive.
The guitarist, Akira, looked at Rito. "So you know how to set up the drums, but do you know how to play them?" She asked, while sitting alone on one of the couches.
Rito sat beside Ayame on the other one. "I… I feel familiarity with the drums, but I don't remember ever playing them."
"I see… So do you know how to play any instrument?"
His eyes hardened in concentration. "I don't think so, no."
Akira frowned with that statement. She couldn't understand what the boy meant by that. For her, either you know how to play an instrument or you don't, there's no in-between. He definitely looked confused with the questions she was making and she didn't dare to stop just yet. "Ever tried learning any?"
He felt a little uncomfortable after all those questions, coming from someone he just met. 'Does she see me as a potential musician?' "N-Not that I remember."
"Well, if you're here, it probably means you are interested in music, right?" She asked, giving a look at Ayame.
"Actually… I invited him to watch us play." Ayame replied for him. "But I feel that Rito might be interested in music." She finished the words looking at him, waiting for an answer.
The boy gave it a thought. "Yeah... I enjoy watching bands performing." He made a short pause. "But, I'm not sure I'd be in a band though." He said that even though he always imagined himself being on stage, but never thought of actually joining a band, considering he didn't know how to play any instrument.
"Seems like the drums caught your attention. I thought you played it before since you knew how to set it up so well." Stated the guitarist, who got a magazine that was laying on the table in front of them and started leafing through.
'I only realized I knew how to set up a drum set after Akira pointed it out it. It felt natural for me to know how to do it, I mean… I thought anyone could do that?'
"You guys are only attempting to bring the boy to our club, aren't you?" A girly voice sounded from the club's entrance and slowly approached where they were sitting, together with another girl.
The one who spoke had short blond hair with frontal fringe. Her eyes were brown and she had a warm smile on her face. The other one who came behind her had a calmer look, with brown hair and a cut similar to Akira's.
"Oh, hey prez! No, we were just curious; we thought Rito-kun knew how to play the drums." Said Ayame.
The club president, who was the blond one, sat with her friend on the same couch as Akira. "Ah, it would be interesting to have a new drummer in our club. There's a band in need of one."
Rito paid attention to the conversation, quietly.
"Are you talking about the Houkago Tea Time, by any chance?" Asked Akira, with her eyes focused on her magazine.
"Yes, Akiyama's band. Weren't they lacking a drummer?"
'From time to time, I sometimes find names and see people who look familiar to me, even when I have no remembrance of seeing them before. Akiyama is one of those names…' The boy thought.
"Hmm… I don't think they actually need one."
"Didn't Hirasawa-san say they had a drummer and now they don't?" Ayame recalled.
Akira sighed. "Seems like their drummer is now living somewhere else."
"But they're gonna have festivals to participate in. They should have at least someone to be their temporary drummer, in my opinion." Affirmed the president.
"They should choose what they think is the best for them, Kana. It's not obligatory to have a fully formed band in this club anyway." The other girl admitted.
The talk ended when other four club members showed up. Are there only girls participating in this club? "Sorry for the wait, guys, I was finishing a project with Akiyama-san." The tallest of the group apologized to Ayame and Akira, who were already standing up and facing her. Rito kept sitting on the couch by himself, looking at all those girls walking in the club, by distance.
"There's no need to apologize, Sacchan. We finished preparing the instruments not long ago." Said the drummer.
The other three girls joined the conversation after they left their stuff on the entrance. "Aaah, finally we meet again!"
"Where were you, Yui? You took longer than expected; our class finished almost an hour ago." Asked Akira, crossing her arms.
The girl ran to her and gave her a tight hug. "Oh, Akira-chan! You were worried about me?"
Akira pushed her away and turned her eyes inward. "Ack, no. I was just wondering." She grumbled.
"Who's that?" The brown haired asked Akira, when she saw a boy sitting on the couch by himself.
"Ah, he's Rito, Ayame's friend."
Yui started tapping her blond haired friend excitedly. "Mugi-chan, Mugi-chan, doesn't he look like Ricchan?"
The girl looked when she was pointing at and gasped. "Whoa… indeed, Yui-chan!"
Their raven-haired friend overheard their conversation and she searched for the person they were gossiping about. That is when her eyes clashed with Rito's.
Time froze.
Their eyes locked on like magnets.
He had a neutral expression on his face, while her mouth was agape. The two of them wanted to talk, but nothing came out.
With that staring contest is how everything in their lives slowly begun to change…