Okay, this is my first attempt at a K-On fanfic. I have watched the 2 seasons of the anime but not the manga, so if there's any inconsistencies with the characters, please tell me. I would ask the same for the Tintin characters; I may have watched the cartoons, read all the comics and even watched the Spielberg/Jackson movie, but I'm not entirely sure my memories of the characters would serve me well.
Special thanks to Kissy Fishy for beta-reading this chapter.
K-On characters: © Kakifly/Sakuragaoka
The Adventures of Tintin characters: © Moulinsart/Herge Studios
Story is for fan expression only, not for publication or for sale.
The spirit of summer made its presence felt as it set loose the oppressive heat of the sun's rays, threatening to dry up anyone who dared to challenge them. Fortunately, the generous width of the trees in this forest was more than enough to shelter anyone from most of the rays' ill effects, but it could only do much. Despite this, the intrepid group of young campers, armed with their camping luggage and their summer clothes, valiantly marched on; unmindful of the heat or the UV rays. After all, they had much to celebrate.
"Isn't it great? Now that Azu-nyan has passed the entrance exam, she can finally be reunited with the Hokago Tea Time Club! We're a complete team once again! Right, Azu-nyan?" said the girl with the short, brown hair as she playfully sidled up to the girl with the double-ponytail-ed black hair.
Apparently not pleased with the outward display of affection, the black-haired girl groaned and said, "Yui-sempai, you haven't changed since the last time I saw you. And stop calling me Azu-nyan! We're in college right now. At least have some dignity and stop calling me goo-goo names!"
"Really now?" said Yui, still not taking her arm off her friend. "If you want me to stop calling you Azu-nyan, then you should stop addressing me as 'sempai'!"
"You know that I can't do that, right? College is still a school setting, and I still have to address you as 'sempai'. So much for thinking of a clever deal."
"Oops, I forgot. You got me there!" exclaimed Yui, scratching her head and laughing.
Their three other companions laughed as well. "Yui sure hasn't changed," said Tsumugi, the girl with the long, blond hair and thick, sliced-radish shaped eyebrows. "And neither have you, Azusa. But I'm glad that you're now in the same university as we are. Now you can really join us full time! I just wished that we made this celebration trip a lot earlier, when our villa's not being renovated."
"Nah, it's okay, Mugi-chan," said Ritsu, the girl with the short, bleached blond hair. "A fancy villa like yours would have defeated the purpose of roughing it out in the woods. Besides, we don't have much of a choice. Our schedules are pretty packed."
"Just think about it, though," said Mio, the girl with the long, black hair and the chopped bangs; her slanted eyes gaining a thoughtful expression, "We're a full-time recording artist band, AND full-time college students. We may not be in the league of the big shots now, but that's exactly why we can still afford to have excursions like this. So let's make the most out of the limited time we have here."
"Oh Mio-chan, playing the 'old-timer' part, as always," said Ritsu. Wearing a mischievous smirk, she inched closer to Mio, waving in the air with creeping motions and talking in a mock creepy voice, said, "Yes, we'll make the most out of this summer trip by doing the 100 ghost stories this night!"
"Ritsu! Stop it!" cried Mio, wearing her trademark helpless, frightened look. "No ghost stories!"
"But a summer vacation trip is not complete without one! Don't tell me that a college student like you is still scared of them?"
"Of course not! Now stop wearing that creepy expression! It's unbecoming of a college student too, you know!"
Their other companions laughed. This group of friends had taken pride, joy and comfort in the fact that they may be college students now, but they still remained exactly the way they used to be. They had known each other since they were a humble music club in their school, but they may not be as humble in this day, as they were on this excursion on the behest of a production company that took them in and turned them into a full-fledged band. But as always, they never let all this get into their head and like they always do, concentrate on making the most out of living in the present.
"Hey! I'm gonna race you guys to the lodge!" shouted Yui as she ran ahead down the trail.
"Yui-sempai!" cried Azusa, running after her senior as she struggled with her camp luggage. "Are you sure that's the right way? Get back here!"
"Yui-chan is still as childish as ever," sighed Ritsu, "but let's race with them anyway!"
"Wait!" cried Mio, "Are you sure this is a good idea?" We might get lost! And the sun! We might get dehydrated with all this running…" She broke off when she saw that her other companions had gone along with Yui's "race".
Sighing from the fact that she couldn't win against Yui's childish mindset, she gradually let a smile take over her face when she realized that this was exactly what their friendship was all about. And that was something that she hoped would not change. Holding this thought in mind, she secured her own camping bag and ran after her friends.
I hope that we can stay like this for a long time, thought Mio, as her heart flew like her long, black locks in the wind.
Not far from where the girls are, a pair of campers was walking together, guided by a smartphone's trusty GPS system. As the two men were walking along the trail, a small, white wire fox terrier was incessantly weaving through them and sniffing about, taking all the sights and smells of the unfamiliar terrain.
"Stay close to me, Snowy," said the younger of the two men. Apparently, he was the dog's master, as the dog promptly trotted back to his side, wearing an eager, bright-eyed and panting expression.
"You really are enjoying yourself, aren't you?" the dog's young master said, with a fond expression in his deep blue eyes. As the dog yipped a "yes", its master looked back to his handheld device, studying the terrain and their direction; unmindful of the stiff breeze that blew through his upswept quiff. "We're almost there," the red-headed young man told his older companion, "that lodge's not far from here, Captain."
"And about time," the older man harrumphed, as he surveyed the whole terrain as well, wearing a thoughtful yet suspicious expression as he stroked his full beard. "But I still don't fancy those newfangled 21st century contraptions. They're better off with young whippersnappers like you."
"Oh c'mon now, Captain," said the young man, as he slid his index finger on the phone's touch screen. "It's not that hard to learn how to use these things. Besides…we have to adapt to this era, even if it isn't ours."
The two men fell silent for a while, feeling the significance of that last statement. Even Snowy, the little terrier, felt the weight of what his master had just said, and that made him glance up to the two humans beside him. The bearded, older man broke the silence as he asked, "Are you having any regrets, Tintin?"
"No, Captain. Getting into this kind of mess is part of being a reporter. At least…that's what I used to be back then." As he said this, Tintin's eyes became more serious and meditative. "I have to admit though; I may have been overzealous on that fateful day, forty-five years ago. I've stumbled on something that I shouldn't have. That's why…oh, never mind. No use regretting it; it's not as if we can turn back time and return things to the way they used to be. What's important now is for us to accomplish this mission."
"The day's main objective's the only thing in your mind, just as always." Casting a worried look at his lifelong friend and partner, Captain Archibald Haddock mulled over their situation, and how it was affecting Tintin. They may have endured several trials and tribulations together, all of which had one way or another turned into a grand adventure, and gained them several friends and enemies along the way. But none of them had actually turned out to be like this situation that they were in right now: they have been dragged into this time frame that they both knew they didn't belong to, and forced to work with people that they'd rather not have anything to do with, all for the sake of saving a dear friend. Of course, he's a veteran of the high seas that had endured times that are both physically and emotionally draining. His young friend may have endured life's physical trials and have prevailed over them splendidly, as it was demonstrated several times over; but there was no telling whether or not Tintin was only using his focus as a way to block off any thought that might send him spiraling into sadness and regret. "Say Tintin," he said, "I just thought…"
"Captain, look out behind you!" Tintin shouted, as he pointed to a highly-inclined trail that intersects the road that was right behind his friend. But it was too late, as the screaming girl who has lost her footing due to the sharp incline and stumbled off the trail, had flown off and directly collided with the Captain; as both of them slammed on the road in a tangled heap of limbs, and their bags landing beside them.
"Captain! Are you all right?" shouted Tintin. Sliding back the phone into his luggage's gadgets compartment, he and Snowy rushed to their friend's side.
"Ten thousand thundering typhoons," the Captain muttered, as he slowly sat up and looked around. "Who sent that free-flying flotsam?"
"It's not a flotsam; it's a girl," replied Tintin. Seeing that his friend was more or less all right, he turned to the other fallen person. "Uh, are you all right? Oh…" stalling when he remembered that he was in Japan, he repeated his question in Japanese, as the still disoriented girl slowly stood up, collecting herself and her luggage.
"Yui-chan!" a group of voices shouted out. Looking towards the direction from which the voices came from, Tintin saw a group of girls running towards them. "They must be her friends," he said, as he backed off to give space to them.
The group of friends surrounded their fallen comrade. "I told you not to run in that direction, Yui-sempai!" Azusa said as she tried to catch her breath, "Look at what happened to you!"
"Easy now, Azu-nyan" said Ritsu, "it's not that becoming of a kohai (under-classman) to scold her sempai (upper-classman) like that."
Still groggy from the impact of her fall, Yui looked around and mumbled incoherently before screaming out in surprise.
"What is it, Yui-chan?"
With a shaky hand, Yui pointed at the two men that she encountered and stammered in a gasping voice, "Fo….fo…fo…fo…reig…ners!"
Her other friends looked at them and was taken aback as well. The two men were obviously Caucasian, and as the girls judged from the men's puzzled stares, seemed to not understand what they were saying.
"Hey, Mugi…"said Ritsu, as she laid a hand on Tsumugi's shoulder, "Since you're the one who speaks English, how about you talk to them?"
"Uh…okay" said Tsumugi, "but what will I tell them?"
"STOOOOOOP!" Yui yelled in forced English before saying in normal Japanese, "It's my fault, so I'll apologize! Please don't interfere!"
As the girls were yapping amongst themselves; Tintin, Captain Haddock and Snowy exchanged puzzled stares. "What are these girls blabbering about?"
"I don't know, Captain."
"Okay, I'll talk to them!" Saying this amid her friends' objections, Yui nervously faced the two men and stammered in her broken English, "Haro…mai neemu…izu….Hirasawa Yui….Ai fuoru…obaa….rokku…" As Yui went on, her words became more and more incomprehensible and nonsensical; and this couldn't be more obvious than from the face-palming consternation of her friends and the increasingly awkward expression of the two men and the dog before her. And as always, it didn't take long before the Captain got annoyed and yelled, "Just stop the bilge-water balderdash, you cretins!"
With screams, the girls ran off the trail and into the forest.
"Look at what you've done, Captain!" said Tintin with a look of disapproval on his face. "You scared them off!"
"Bah, they could've just talked to us in their language if they wanted to. Are they making fun of us?"
"Really now, Captain! How are they supposed to know that we can speak Japanese?" But before Tintin could say anything more; a long, piercing scream broke the landscape. "Did you hear that, Captain?"
"Well, yes…"
"It came from that direction. That's where those girls ran off to!" An alarmed look went over the red-headed young man's face as he said, "Something must've happened to them! C'mon!"
As the two men ran into the forest towards the direction of the screams, with their bags in tow and Snowy the dog behind them, they saw the trees clearing out and soon enough, a clearing appeared behind the last wall of trees, and not far from it was a sharp ravine. Seeing this and realizing just what could be happening, Tintin ran along the rock-lined cliff side and when he got to a sharp bend, he stopped and wore an appalled expression, as his worst fears were confirmed. "Great snakes!"
At the edge of the bend that leads to the ravine, four of the girls were panicking and desperately reaching out to their friend who has lost her footing on the rocks and was desperately holding on to the lone branch sticking out from the face of the cliff.
"Azu-nyan!" "Azusa!" "Don't let go!"
The four girls were struggling to find any means to get their friend out as they rummaged through their luggage and searched the surroundings for anything that they could use. But it was to no avail; Azusa was far too low for them to hold on to and pull up, and they haven't brought any rope with them.
Wasting no time, Tintin searched through his own bag and found a generous roll of mountain-climbing rope, but he knew that there was not enough time to secure it to a tree and slide down the cliff's face to get the girl. As he searched the terrain to find a way to accomplish his objective, his human and non-human sidekicks had caught up with him, and were just as appalled with the situation as he is.
"Blistering barnacles!" exclaimed the Captain, "Why are you just standing there? Go and help them! Tie that rope to a tree or something!"
"There's no time, Captain!"
"What do you mean, there's no time?"
But the young man knew that arguing was the last thing that he should be doing, so he fell silent as he studied the surroundings while securing one end of the rope around his body. Soon enough, he espied a half-arch rock formation towering above him and the girls. How convenient, he thought, as he tied a rock he found earlier on the other end of the rope. Aiming carefully, he swung the rock before throwing it at the half-arch formation, and the rope quickly wrapped itself around the structure. Tugging at the rope, he felt that the formation was strong enough to support them, but even if he did manage to catch the girl, he has to consider the danger of flying straight into the cliff's face and getting smashed like a pulpy watermelon against the jagged rocks. He has to make a calculation that is both quick and precise.
But time was not on their side, as the flimsy branch that was Azusa's only lifeline had started cracking from her weight. As her friends screamed, panicked and started crying, Azusa started crying herself as well, as she screamed,
"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"
There was something in the girl's scream that stirred something in Tintin; a deep-seated layer of strong and painful memories buried deep within his subconscious that he had long struggled to suppress throughout his existence. But those memories had triggered something within him and switched his mental faculties to high gear.
The following events were fast. As the branch finally snapped and Azusa plunged to her apparent demise with the screams of her friends and her own, Tintin had abandoned all hesitation and swung over the ravine, and in a series of calculated moves, caught the girl in his arms and with his feet and legs, kicked on and maneuvered his way off the cliff face's rocks. Finally, he spotted a ledge that was just directly beneath where their other companions were, and he maneuvered his last kick on the cliff face to get them there.
As he landed on the ledge, he checked to see whether or not the girl that he had just rescued was still alive. She was lying still, dazed and motionless in his arms, apparently stunned by her brush with death; but otherwise was alive and unhurt.
"Hey Tintin! Are you still alive?" the Captain called from above, as Snowy the dog barked the same sentiments at his master. "Did you get the girl?"
"Yes, we're both alive down here!" Tintin yelled back. "Can you hold the rope from up there?"
"I'm holding it now and I'm hauling you both in!"
As the Captain pulled the rope, the other girls watched as he dragged the two youngsters up the face of the cliff and to the safety of the ground up above. When they finally got on the ground and made a safe distance from the cliff, the girls ran towards their friend, tearful from the fact that they had almost lost her. Gently, Tintin helped Azusa get back on her feet, as the girl's friends called out to her. Upon hearing their voices, it finally dawned on her that she'd been saved and was still alive. And the sheer fact that she was just a hair's breadth away from her demise was more than enough to make her break down and cry.
"There, there, Azu-nyan," said the girls, as they gathered round and comforted Azusa.
The two men fell silent, knowing all too well that they were actually responsible for putting her in danger. In fact, they might as well have killed her. With this in mind, they were both at a loss for words, and they were even more at a loss when the girls finally faced them. The girls were no different, as they were just as tongue-tied, but from the fact that these two foreigners have just saved the life of one of their own, and their current grasp on the English language may not be enough to properly thank them. An awkward silence fell over the two parties for a few moments before the near-sentient dog Snowy exasperatedly grunted his impatience over the silence and prompted his master to speak up at last.
"I'm sorry…" Tintin slowly said in fluent Japanese, which made the girls gasp in surprise and consternation. "All of this is our fault. This wouldn't have happened if not for our carelessness. I'm just glad that no one's hurt, but still….I'm really sorry!"
"Oh no, no! Please don't be!" Tsumugi spoke back in her native tongue. "In fact, we're the ones who should apologize to you from earlier. We could've simply asked you if you spoke Japanese and act like that. It was very rude of us!"
"Don't just stand there, Yui!" said Ritsu, as she pushed the aforementioned forward. "Say something! This mess is partly your fault too, you know!"
"B-b-but do I have to?" Yui nervously stammered.
"No. This is entirely my fault."
Silenced by the serious, grave tone in that statement, everybody turned to Captain Haddock, who said those words with a defeated, repentant, but still dignified expression. "It's extremely unbecoming of me to just lash out at a bunch of helpless young girls like that. And you were even put in danger and one of you almost got killed; all because an old man just can't keep his temper in check. I don't know how I'll be able to live with that thought while keeping a straight face."
Once again, silence had dominated in those moments, as everybody was unsure about what they're supposed to do next, given everything that just happened. The girls looked uneasily at each other, as if they were asking one another wordlessly about what they should do. Finally, Tsumugi, who was acting as the group's unofficial spokesperson, had an idea.
"Since Kichioji Lodge is the only campsite around this area, I'd assume that's where you sirs are going, right?
"Well, yes," replied Tintin, "that's where we're going to. And you'll be going there as well, am I right?"
Tsumugi replied in the affirmative. "I just thought, since it's about to get dark and we've already seen how potentially dangerous the area that's beyond the trails and roads could be….."
"Can you two gentlemen be kind enough to go together with us?"