A/N: Given the amount of serious-ish stories I've been writing and am currently writing, I've decided to pursue a light-hearted fanfic as a side project. I want to kind of reflect the happy fun time that is K-ON!. Inspiration for this fic? Nothing really. It was either this or a blanket-scenario fic. Are those still popular? I don't see them anymore. Although that's all I ever read in the InuYasha fandom eons ago when I was but a young lad. Anyway, enough distraction. Enjoy! After all, it has Mio with cat ears. How could you not?
Chapter One
Tawny brown hair fell back into the girl's face, obscuring her forehead seconds after it had been brushed back, an absent-minded gesture by an occupied girl. Sitting herself down at her drumkit, she rested her feet in their all-too-familiar positions, atop her double bass pedals.
Lightly tapping the pedals, she was rewarded with the soft double thumping of her bass drum. There was no one home today, she thought, so why not go wild?
After adjusting the nuts on her snare drumskin, she bounced her well-worn sticks off it, grinning at the rattling sound that reached her ears.
Tossing her head back, her shoulder length razor straight brown hair flew back over her shoulders, only to settle once again around her face. Ignoring it, she began pounding out a simple four-measure beat. Bass-closed hi-hat, snare, bass-open hi-hat, snare-closed-hi-hat. Holding it for a bit, she degraded into a double-kick breakdown, rapidly snapping her sticks on the snare and smashing the hi-hat in perfect harmony, just doing whatever she felt like as she threw in the cymbals wherever she wanted.
Minutes flew by as she improvised, making up whatever she wanted. Her legs burned as she abused her new double-kick, but still she didn't stop. Harder and faster she went, until she could feel the bass drum reverberating in her chest. Her toned forearms ached as she matched pace with the insane double-kick, but none of the discomfort meant anything to her as sweat beaded on her forehead, concentration creasing her eyebrows. Her dark, honey-gold eyes were closed, not needing to see to strike each percussion instrument perfectly. She had been playing for far too long to need to see where everything was.
Slowing now, she settled into a powerful drum beat that enunciated the strength behind her playing, and in her mind, it sounded so much stronger with a lead guitar and a bass filling in the gaps.
Smiling to herself, Ritsu pounded away, spinning her drumsticks between her fingers between each full note strike of the snare drum.
As happy as she was, she still yearned for a band to play with her.
Maybe she should start looking around...?
A carefree shrug. Whatever. She had all the time in the world to find other musicians. Right now, she was going to enjoy the spirited, unrestrained joy that was improvised drumming.
She had been following an American band lately, awed at their live performances and the spirit and skill of their drummer. Casey Grillo was his name, and she had instantly fallen in love with his spiky hair and crazy grin. He loved to perform with all his might, giving his all even though he was in the back of the band and not as noticeable as the frontmen.
Now, she strived to emulate his unique characteristics as she played, finding a kinship with his lively spirit and energy.
Beside her, her phone vibrated, signalling a text. She never noticed, and broke her steady stream of double kicks, dropping them down to an odd, overlapping double-triple kick as she hammered away on the snare and hi-hat. A smile spread across her face, and she tossed her head back, hair falling back over her shoulders as she imagined playing on a well lit stage with other talented musicians.
Azusa's long black silky hair cascaded over her shoulders and blocked her vision, but she didn't mind. She had long ago memorized her fretboard, and even now as she propped her left leg up on her amp, leaning forward and strumming a low, fast rhythm in drop C tuning, her eyes were closed as she let the music flow through her. Fingers flying up the fretboard, she revelled in the high-pitched squeals and whines she elicited from her guitar. Part of her wished she didn't have to limit her guitars sounds to only being heard through a pair of headphones, whilst the other half was glad that she was the only one who could hear what she was playing.
Her strumming hand left the strings, placing the pick between her teeth before she began finger-tapping her way up the fretboard, a metal symphony that only she could hear rising in her ears. When she reached the eighteenth fret, she quickly grabbed the pick and began strumming again, string-bending a few notes before ending on a pinch harmonic that she almost never pulled off. Holding the squealing note as long as she could, she ended with a palm-muted alternate strum of her sixth string, unsure of where to go next in her solo jam session.
Now that her guitar was silent, she became painfully aware that her phone was ringing. Carefully setting down her guitar, she removed her headphones and set them on her amp. Moving toward her bed, she picked up her phone as she wiped a light sheen of sweat from her forehead.
"Yui-Senpai?" She mumbled to herself, looking at the caller I.D. Raising the phone to her ear, she slid the screen up to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Ahh, Azunyan, you answered!" Came the excited voice of her senior. "I texted you but you didn't reply!"
"Sorry Yui-Senpai, I was playing guitar." Azusa replied, turning around and sitting on the bed.
"Ah, Muttan! How is she?"
"Yui-Senpai, stop naming my guitar! And why is she a girl?"
There was a puzzled sound on the other end of the line. "Is Muttan a boy?" The tone of her voice suggested that this was a foreign concept she hadn't considered yet.
"It's a guitar, Yui-Senpai!" Azusa scolded. "Why did you call, anyway?"
"I'm bored!" She chirped happily. "So I decided to see if you were busy or not."
Azusa hummed softly. "Well, today was supposed to be a practice day..."
"I'll bring Gitah over and we can practice!" Yui said excitedly. "Gitah probably misses jamming with Muttan anyway."
Azusa didn't even bother this time, letting the brown-haired girl get away with the silly name.
"As long as you practice, Yui-Senpai. You get distracted so easily!"
"I will! See you soon, Azunyan!"
Before Azusa could refute the nickname, Yui had already hung up. Azusa slowly closed her phone, then put it down on her bed. Turning her gaze to her guitar, or, "Muttan", as Yui called it, she slowly got up and moved over to where it was leaning carefully against her amp.
Picking it up, she sat down on her amp and slowly laid the guitar across her lap. There was some dust on the surface, and using her sleeve, she carefully wiped it off. Observing the guitar with sharp, almost predatory eyes, she was pleased to note that it still remained scratch free, even after over a year of ownership.
Holding her hand out in front of her, palm facing outward, she quickly did a few repetitions of her finger stretching and strengthening exercise, before doing a few sets of alternate sweep-picking. Her strumming hand knew the order from muscle memory by now, strumming the strings up and down in rapid succession, but her fretting hand still had a hard time keeping up, flying across the fretboard in an attempt to keep everying flowing smoothly.
Almost impatiently, although she would never admit it, she waited for Yui to arrive.
Humming softly to herself, Yui shouldered her beloved guitar as she plodded happily down the street. Azusa had two amps and a stack, she knew, so she was spared lugging her amplifier with her over to Azusa's house. Azusa didn't mind sharing, which was nice, something Yui really liked.
"Azunyan, Azunyan~" She sang, walking down the faded grey sidewalk. "Azunyan and cake-chan, they're the best, they beat the rest!"
Humming the silly song to herself over and over, her mind gradually lost track of what she was supposed to be doing as thoughts of strawberry cake and vanilla ice-cream flooded her mind. Slowing to a stop, it took her a second to remember that she was supposed to be going to Azusa's house. Perking up, she quickened her step. Maybe Azunyan had some sweets at her house?
With thoughts of delicious cakes and Azunyan floating in her mind, she hummed happily as she continued on toward her destination.
Small, fuzzy cat-like ears swivelled back and forth, picking up a plethora of sounds and alerting their owner to any potential dangers. Yawning, the ebony-haired girl stretched, baring her snow white fangs as she squeezed her eyes closed. She failed to stop tears forming in the corners of her eyes though, and rubbed them away with the back of her hand. What was it that had woken her up...?
Her stomach growled once more, impatiently reminding her why she was awoken from her nap. Her pink tongue darted out, licking her lips as she blinked, wondering where to go.
The grey irises around her black slitted pupils increased in color as she looked toward the light, pupils dilating until they were a thin vertical line. Inhaling softly through her nose, the girl smelled the familiar scent of food. Getting up, she stretched once more, a soft squeak escaping her as she stretched each muscle as much as she could.
Jumping down from her hiding place on the roof of the shop, she hit the ground with both hands and feet. Standing up, she pulled the hood of a sweater over her head, concealing her face and hiding her ears. The attention she had drawn last time was overwhelming, and she wasn't risking a repeat performance.
Her tail swished in annoyance at the thought, before curling up underneath the hem of her sweater. Stuffing her hands in her pockets, the girl walked down the semi-familiar streets, in search of food.
A/N: Although certainly not plot-less, it isn't as detailed and in depth as some of my other work. Will update whenever I need a break from my other fics, or if/when the reviews demand it. Hope you enjoy it! I'm currently out of town for work, and although I've brought my laptop with me, I work 12-14 hour shifts, and only have time to write for an hour before it's time to turn in, if I'm lucky. Once I get back home, updates for this and for my other stories will become more frequent. Thanks for reading!
