K-On fic! Mio x Ritsu (...practically canon.)
This was a cute anime. :)
It was getting late during band practice one wintry evening, and the members of the light music club finally decided to pack it up and head home.
However, two girls lagged behind.
"But Mio-chuaaan…"
"Ritsu! I told you, I don't like scary movies…"
"But we haven't hung out in forever!"
"Well, why to we have to watch that?" Mio tried to reason, "How about a romantic comedy or something?"
"Hm…well, if we do that, what am I gonna do with this?" The energetic drummer pulled a gruesome werewolf mask from her backpack and pushed it towards Mio's face. The dark-haired girl screamed and fell to the floor, shaking and chanting mantras to herself. Ritsu doubled over her stomach in laughter.
Several minutes later, after Ritsu recovered, Mio was still on the floor.
She wasn't getting up.
"Oi, Mio?"
"…"
Ritsu crouched in front of her best friend and poked her head. "Hey, are you ok? I was only joking, it was a fake mask..."
"No."
"…No? What do you mean?"
"No, I'm not ok," Mio lifted her head. Her eyes were red and blurry from the tears. "I'm done, Ritsu, I can't take this anymore."
"W-what? I still don't understand." The abrasive teen was panicking now. Mio knew she wouldn't really hurt her, right? She would rather kill herself than hurt Mio.
The bassist stood up roughly. "I'm sick of you scaring me like this all the time. Teasing me and making me cry…do you even care? It's always some kind of cruel joke on me, to make you and everyone else laugh at my expense." Ritsu was shocked, and just crouched where she was, frozen. "I constantly tell you to stop, but I can never reach you, Ritsu!" Tears were spilling from Mio's eyes. "You're the worst, I can't take it anymore."
Mio grabbed her bass guitar and ran out of the music room, slamming the door behind her. Ritsu was still frozen, eyes wide in terror.
What have I done!?
Ritsu clenched her fists in frustration, but she was still unable to move her leg muscles that so desperately wanted to chase after the dark-haired girl.
She's the sweetest person I know, and all I do is treat her like a joke. I'm a cruel, terrible, horrible person!
She bit her lip until it bled.
Why do I do the things I do? She means everything to me! You're not supposed to treat the one you care about the most the way I treat her. I-I just wanted her to pay attention.
Her muscles tensed.
Why do I hurt her when all I really want is to hold her?
She closed her eyes, which threatened to spill over with tears.
Why do I make fun of her when what I really want is to tell her how much she means to me?
Her eyes shot open.
I have to find Mio.
Forgetting her backpack and heavy coat, Ritsu sped out of the room and stumbled down the two flights of stairs that led to the exit. She burst through the double doors, only to be temporarily blinded by the snow that blanketed her surroundings. Her subconscience noted how unbelievably cold it was, but her one-track mind was numb to that fact as she raced towards Mio's house.
What the hell is wrong with me?
She screamed that sentence in her head over and over, as her breath created foggy clouds that billowed behind her.
Finally, she spotted her. Ritsu could only see the back of her head like a speck in the distance, but she sprinted until she was only a few yards behind her.
"....M-Mio!" The exhausted teen gasped. The bassist turned, eyes wide in surprise. However, when she realized it was Ritsu, she spun back around and continued towards her destination.
Ritsu growled and grabbed the raven-haired girl on the shoulder. "Mio, wait." She stopped, but stayed silent. Ritsu took that as a cue to continue.
"L-look," she spoke in between raspy breaths, "I'm sorry, Mio. You're my best friend and I treat you like crap. You don't deserve that. Not from anybody...and especially not from me."
Mio sighed.
"You're right, I don't listen to you...and I'm a jackass. A complete jackass," The drummer's voice sounded rough and she bit her lip in anger at herself. "But you...Mio...you're so kind. I don't deserve to have someone like you in my presence...ever. I'm surprised you can stand to be in the same room as me..."
Mio slowly turned her head.
"So, I'd understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore..." Ritsu's voice softened, sounding almost frightened, "I sure as hell wouldn't want to be friends with me."
Mio turned to face Ritsu.
"B-but, there's something you should know..." Ritsu shivered as a cold gust of wind rattled her bones. She was only wearing her school uniform. The brunette took a deep breath. "There's a reason I do the things I do...Mio."
'Inside I'm dying, I hide from the light...'
The dark-haired girl's eyes softened as the met Ritsu's. The shorter girl shivered again, but she wasn't sure it was from the cold.
"Nowadays, it seems like teasing is the only way I can get you to see me. Childish, I know...but I miss the times when it was just you and me." She couldn't hold Mio's intense stare, so she averted her eyes, "I-I just can't get a reaction out of you anymore...unless I do something mean like that."
Ritsu took her hand off of Mio's shoulder and brought it to her arms, rubbing them furiously in attempt to get some feeling back in them. Mio didn't take advantage of the silence and waited patiently for the shivering girl to continue. Flashes of memories of her and Mio exploded behind the brunette's eyes. Most of them consisted of her yelling obnoxiously at her friend with no regard to what she might have been doing to the poor girl.
'I roar like a lion...an unlovable sight...'
"S-See...the thing is...I-" Ritsu steeled herself, "I care about you, Mio. I care about you...a lot more than I should."
The brunette closed her eyes, unwilling to see the taller girl's reaction.
"I like you... a lot more than I should..." she continued.
Silence.
More silence.
Ritsu slowly opened one eye, and forced herself to look at Mio, who's face only displayed shock.
"...M-Mio?"
"Y-Yes?" The sphinx broke her muteness.
"I'm sorry." Her brown eyes were filling up with tears. She was losing her most precious person.
Ritsu turned heel and started to walk away with what little dignity she still had. Her fists were clenched so tightly that her fingernails threatened to pierce the skin, but she couldn't feel her hands anyway, so it didn't matter.
Suddenly two arms grabbed her from behind, stopping her in her tracks.
"Baka..." Mio's voice cracked with tears, "B-Baka Ritsu!"
Ritsu kept her mouth shut, she was afraid of what would've come out.
"Why did you run all the way out here without a jacket! You're going to get sick! You stupid, stupid, stupid..." she trailed off, sobbing harder as she did so. Both sunk to their knees on the snow covered sidewalk.
Why are you so kind to me, Mio!?
"...I d-didn't think about it...I could only think about h-how I couldn't lose you..." Ritsu mumbled. A tear spilled over and almost froze on her cheek. "I-I can't s-seem to do anything right."
Mio tightened her hold on the drummer and pressed her face into the crook of the brunette's neck. "B-Baka! Baka! Baka!" Ritsu blushed at the unexpected, intimate contact. She suddenly couldn't feel the coldness as warmth slowly enveloped her.
"Ritsu..." Mio started, "You're the biggest idiot on the planet! You didn't notice my feelings....anytime before this?"
"...What? I-I don't u-understand."
Mio laughed in between sobs. "You're always so dense, Ritsu." The drummer shivered again, and Mio turned her around so that that were facing each other. The dark-haired girl wrapped her arms around her freezing companion in attempt to warm her up.
It worked in more ways than one.
"I-I would always try to make you jealous Ritsu...I would purposely hang out with other people just to try and get you to react. Though, sometimes I did it just because you just make me angry. And for that...I apologize." Ritsu's heart thumped in her chest. Surely Mio could feel it? "I'm not so nice. You can be mean and obnoxious sometimes, Ritsu, but that's only on the surface. Inside, you're incredibly sweet, and I can see it clearly."
She paused and took a deep breath, but the warm air passed over the brunette's ear, causing her to shudder involuntarily. Mio inched closer, thinking that the girl was still cold. "I, on the other hand...am a mean person on the inside. I was being so selfish when I did those things to you, and it was cruel of me to blame you for trying to get my attention."
Ritsu didn't know what to say. Mio, a mean person!? That statement didn't make sense in her universe. She put her hand on Mio's face and wiped away the tears with her thumb. She hoped her action would say what her words couldn't.
Mio sniffed and lifted her gaze, placing a gloved-hand over the drummer's and leaning into the touch.
"F-Forgive me...Ritsu."
"What's there to forgive?" Ritsu put on the most reassuring smile she could muster despite her fears. "We both made mistakes, but now we can move forward from here. The only question is...in which direction?"
Ritsu didn't have a chance to think before Mio's lips crashed into hers.
The brunette's eyes widened in shock as blood rushed to her face. She was so in awe that she forgot to react, and Mio started to pull away. However, the lack of warmth on the drummer's mouth snapped her from the daze and she captured the taller girl's lips in her own, bringing her other hand to the tear-streaked face. Mio wrapped her arms around Ritsu's neck and deepened the kiss. After a few moments, they broke away.
"...Baka Ritsu," Mio whispered, for lack of anything else to say.
"Y-Yea...but I'm your baka, now."
Mio tapped her lightly on the back of the head. "Yeah, I guess you're right..." She kissed the shorter girl's lips once more. "C'mon, let's go get your things from the music room, and then we can go to my house."
Ritsu grinned, still dazed from the lip contact. "Yeah, we can watch that movie you wanted to see."
Mio smiled back. "Or maybe you could protect me from those evil monsters in that scary movie."
"Mm...obviously you don't expect to be doing much watching if you agree to watch one of my movies..." Ritsu flashed her teeth playfully.
"See, you can be right sometimes, Ritsu..." Mio teased as the drummer pounced on her lips, growling in mock anger.
'But you see me beautiful....you see me beautiful.'
What did you think? Should I continue or leave as is?
Listen to this song: See Me Beautiful by Sister Hazel (Definite inspiration for this lousy one-shot.)
You see me differently than I've ever seen myself,
You hear me clearly when I haven't spoken,
I wake from the dream when I thought from a doubt,
But you said I don't know what I'm talking about this time,
That I keep myself from flying,
Inside I'm dying, I hide from the light,
but you see me beautiful, you see me beautiful
I roar like a lion, an unlovable sight,
but you see me beautiful,
you see me beautiful