Disclaimer: I do not own K-ON! Or K-ON!
Akiyama Mio was sitting on a bench in a park near her collage. They were dismissed early and she didn't want to go back to her dorm just yet. Being part of the university's Light Music Club, she brought her bass with her.
Mio was a beautiful eighteen year old girl. She had long black hair that cascaded elegantly down her back. Her eyes were a stormy gray color. And she was bored.
Not wanting to go home, she stayed at the park. Not wanting to attract attention, she sat on the bench beneath one of the big trees. There was nothing to do, except play her bass regardless of the fact that there was no amp. So she took out her Fender Jazz Bass and started playing a few lines that only she could hear.
Moments later, she stopped playing. Not because she was tired, but because she could feel someone's eyes on her.
On the back of her neck.
Watching her.
As she played the bass.
She blushed and looked up.
Her gray eyes met someone's amber ones.
A girl. A short one.
With a bright yellow headband holding her ochre hair in place.
"Why'd you stop playing?" the girl said with a disappointed tone. "You were pretty good y'know!"
Mio turned a deeper shade of red at the compliment, and looked away. Left. Down.
"Y-you probably can't even hear it…"
The girl crouched down in front of Mio, trying to catch her eyes.
"I can hear it just fine!" the girl said, grinning. "Sure, it's a bit low, but I can still hear it!"
"Hey~ continue playing, please?" the girl said. "It sounded so cool, I want to hear it again!"
Mio looked away again, blushing furiously. Two compliments in a row. She didn't know if the girl was being sincere or sarcastic when she said those things, but Mio saw sincerity in the girl's amber eyes and heard it in her voice.
"I-I'm not used to being watched while playing…" Mio said in a low voice.
"So you're shy! How cute!" the girl grinned. "Come on, please?"
Mio found it weird that she found the girl's begging cute.
"Oh! I know, bet ya don't wanna play cuz we're complete strangers." The girl said, as if hitting a realization. She held out her hand. "My name is Tainaka Ritsu. You can call me Ritsu, or Ricchan. Everyone does. Friends?"
Mio reluctantly took the girl's hand and shook it. She'd like a friend, anyway. "I'm Akiyama Mio."
The ochre-haired girl grinned at her. "Okay, Mio-chan! Will you play for me?"
'First name-basis already? And with a –chan?' Mio thought.
"O-okay.."
She then began playing a simple, but fast jazz tune.
"Awesome! And you're a lefty! That's double awesome!" Ritsu said, squatting on the grass. "You ever wanted to join a band?"
"I-I guess…." Mio replied.
"Me too!" Ritsu said, pulling out an iPhone. "You wanna jam?"
"Y-y-you're rich!" Mio exclaims.
"What, this?" Ritsu asks, shaking the iPhone. "I won it in an arcade. I refused to lose in that Push-a-Prize game of theirs." She grinned like an idiot.
Mio could not help but sweatdrop.
"So, wanna jam?" Ritsu asks again, selecting the drums app. "I play drums."
"Sure, but I don't have an amp..."
"It's fine, the pick-up has battery, don't it? Turn the volume up." The pick-up did in fact, have battery. Full ones, at that. Mio turned the volume knob up and plucked a string to test it.
DO—N.
"T-then…s-s-shall we?"
Ritsu started out with a random beat. Mio then followed with a few twangs of the strings she thought would match.
They continued, until Ritsu went all-out rock and Mio couldn't help but follow. Her hand moved quickly along the fretboard while her other hand plucked the strings so fast, her fingers were almost a blur, so as to match Ritsu's rushed beats. She slipped in a few bass slaps whenever Ritsu let in a dramatic pause in between her fast drumming. A few times, the rhythm went out of sync, the beats were all over the place, but sooner or later they would put it back again, creating a perfect symphony.
Minutes later, their arms were too tired to proceed, so they finished their little jam session.
"Wow." Ritsu exclaimed. "That was awesome! Let's listen to it.."
"W-W-W-WA-WAAAIIITT! " Mio screamed. "What do you mean? Don't tell me you recor-"
"Of course I did!" Ritsu said happily. "It's not every day I get to awesomely jam with an awesome bassist like you."
Mio nearly fainted. "B-b-b-bu-but, i-i-it- m-my playing probably sounds horrible! T-t-the sync was all over the place and-"
"Hush." Ritsu put a finger to her lips and winked at Mio. "It was a jam session, and we just met. What can you say?"
Mio found it weird that she found Ritsu absolutely breathtaking when she saw the action described above.
Ritsu played the recording. It was, as Mio thought, messy. But Mio couldn't help but be awed that it actually sounded nice, despite the messiness.
Ritsu was grinning the entire time. In fact, she was so happy, she felt like she had won the lottery.
When it ended, the sun was setting.
"Whoa~ that was awesome, Mio-chan~" Ritsu said.
"I guess… yeah." Mio allowed herself to smile at Ritsu. She decided that she liked this Ritsu character.
Ritsu's expression was a mixture of shock and awe. The smile dropped of Mio's face.
"W-w-w-wha-what d-did I do?" Mio asks, flustered.
"OH. MY. GOD."
Mio had a confused expression on her face. "Ritsu, wha-"
"YOU WERE SO CUUUUUUTTEE~!" Ritsu yelled, jumping at Mio, trying to hug her.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
A fist collides with a head.
"ITTAAAAIIIIII!"
Fortunately, there were no stragglers in the park today, or they would have thought that someone was being raped on that shadowy bench underneath that huge cherry tree.
Ritsu is sprawled face down on the grass.
"Oh my God, Ritsu, I'm so sorry… It's a natural habit of mine, to punch things when they're flying at me.. I'm so sorry, Ritsu!" Mio apologized, again and again.
The first reaction she gets from Ritsu is a shaky hand, being slowly raised up, curling into a thumbs-up sign.
"Hey, M-mio.. e-ever consider taking boxing or karate as a career? That was one hell of an awesome punch!" Ritsu said, dramatically shakily pushing herself off the grass.
Mio was just lost for words.
"Anyway, Mio~" Ritsu sits up on the grass, facing Mio and smiling at her. "I really like being with you! We should totally hang out more!"
"Erm… thanks. Sure." Mio said, blushing. That was the first time anyone has ever said something like that to her.
"Here." Ritsu quickly scrawled something on a piece of paper (with pen and paper from somewhere) and gave it to Mio. "It's my address and number. Call me, visit me, anytime you want."
Mio took it and read it. "This is your address?"
"Yeah, why? Too far?"
"No, it's not that.. It's quite the contrary, actually, you see, this is my neighborhood. My hometown. Where my parents live. Where I lived before I moved to a dorm." Mio replied.
"Cool! Visit your parents next Saturday." Ritsu said, smiling at Mio. "And at… let's say… three in the afternoon? Meet me at that fastfood restaurant near the station. What was the name? Oh yeah, Max Burgers. Meet me, 'kay? It'll be my treat."
"D-did-did you just… ask me out?" Mio asked incredulously.
"Yeah."
Mio blushed.
"Oh! Hey, no, wait!" Ritsu stammered. "Not a date date, an appointment between friends date!"
"Oh."
Somehow Ritsu sensed both relief and disappointment in her voice.
"Erm… not unless of course, you'd wanna…" Ritsu said awkwardly. "I mean, if you wouldn't mind,… or…"
"Err…" Mio started packing her bass.
"Aha! I got it." Ritsu said, hoping to break the awkwardity*of the situation. "How 'bout we leave it as friends until… well…"
Mio finished putting the bass back into its case. She avoided Ritsu's eyes. What she was about to say would be REALLY embarrassing for her, partly because they just met, and partly because this was going to be a first time.
Ritsu could see her apple red forehead practically shining through her bangs. She was blushing so hard. Then she finally said:
"Then, w-w-would it b-be okay, then?"
"Huh?" Ritsu blinked.
Mio gulped.
"I-I said… Would it be okay, then? Would you be fine with it?"
Mio found it weird when she found out her heart stopped for a millisecond when Ritsu blushed.
"F-fine, you say?" Ritsu said, rubbing the back of her neck and looking away, blushing. "Well, why the hell not?"
Awkward silence. The two of them watched the sun set while sitting on the park bench. This spot, in this very bench, under this very tree, was surprisingly the nicest place to view a sunset.
The awkwardness slowly melted away into a companionable silence.
"Saturday then?" Ritsu asked as she stood up and started walking away, still with a smile on her face.
"Saturday it is."