Setting: This is an AU setting where the circumstances of our favorite K-On! girls are markedly different from canon. In this universe, the original four girls met for the first time at a private women's college in the United States, and the ones a year younger have arrived and everyone is getting settled into college life.
Notes: I represent internal dialogue as italics, English as "simply quoted" and Japanese as "[bracketed italics inside quotation marks]."
I don't own K-On!. I am using characters from that work without permission, but I am not using them for profit. I promise.
American Style, Chapter 2 – A Forest of Lights
The morning sun flooded Azusa and Ui's dorm room, coloring the plain walls with refracted yellows and golds. Azusa rolled over and covered her eyes for a few moments before realizing that further sleep was useless and she wondered if all the freshman rooms were east facing like this one. Someone had to have done this on purpose, she mused, she doubted that the blinds installed on the window would do much to mute it, either.
Added incentive for new frosh to get out of bed and get to class.
She didn't notice the sound of the shower running until it suddenly stopped; a glance at the bed across from her confirmed that her roommate was already awake. Azusa would have been content to wait, but a biological urge was becoming pressing as she was becoming more alert.
Azusa rolled out of bed and stretched, then moved to the bathroom door, knocking softly. "[Ui-san. I need to use the toilet.]"
She hated to be rude like that, but she'd be sharing a room with this girl for nearly a year, and she was certain that her roommate would appreciate a puddle on the floor even less than being hurried out of the bathroom.
To her relief the door opened almost immediately, revealing Ui in an oversized pink terrycloth bathrobe, her hair wrapped in a towel. As usual Ui had a soft smile at the ready, seeming composed and ladylike even dressed like that.
I wonder if her sister looks anything like this in the morning.
"[Good morning, Azusa-san! Why don't you get ready and we'll head downstairs for breakfast? Since our dorm houses foreign students, the cafeteria is already running for the semester.]"
Azusa stood to one side to let Ui out, so she could take her place in the bathroom. "[Sure, ah... is it ok if I call you Ui-chan?]" Ui indicated assent as the door closed "[Give me a few minutes Ui-chan, I washed my hair last night, so it won't take me long.]"
"[Sure thing Azusa-chan! I'll be ready when you are, and we'll go down together.]"
In short order (no pun intended) they were headed down to the cafeteria for breakfast. Azusa still felt groggy, even though she was sure she got enough sleep, so she blindly followed Ui down.
This must be jet lag, I feel like I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom or something. My body just doesn't believe I plan on being up all day. Heck, I can't believe it myself.
Azusa winced, placing her hand between her eyes and the morning sun as their route took them past another east facing window. The pain was like the proverbial 'thousand needles in your eye'.
Is this what a hangover feels like?
She and Ui caught up with the other girls, Yui being noticeably absent. While both Mugi and Mio were wearing jeans and light tops, Ritsu, on the other hand, was another story.
I wonder if she is one of those people who wear shorts, sandals and a sweat top in the winter?
"I'll have to lure her out of bed with Pop Tarts." Mugi reported of Yui, patting a foil pack of toaster pastries.
Azusa giggled, picturing her luring Yui out of bed with the pastries much as you might catch a fish.
Breakfast was simple in the dorm cafeteria, sort of like a hotel breakfast. They had a waffle maker, some fruit and a choice of cold cereals. Azusa opted for a crunchy cereal that she didn't recognize the name of, and a banana.
Mueslix? German, I suppose. Truly this is an international dorm.
Ritsu watched the freshman eat with a big grin on her face. Azusa noticed that her sempai tended to play with her food before eating it. Right now she was submerging cereal in milk with her spoon.
"We'll be setting up this morning, why don't you bring down your guitar to the practice room when we get done here?" Ritsu drawled to the younger woman, a sly little smile on her face, a spoonful of some colorful cereal soaked in milk halfway to her mouth and dripping.
"Will Yui-senpai be there?" Azusa inquired without thinking.
Ritsu grinned and held up her pinkie in a well known obscene Japanese gesture. "Oh, looking forward to seeing Yui are we? What is she calling you? Kitten? Pet names already?" Moments later Ritsu was nursing a sore spot on the back of her head, glancing in Mio's direction.
Azusa looked at Ritsu, her hands in her lap clenched into fists, blushing and fuming at the same time.
The tall dark haired bombshell smiled faintly at Azusa. "Mugi-chan will wake her up; we'll all be down there in about an hour. Practice room 3, in the basement." Mio looked over to Ui and smiled. "If you want, you are more than welcome to come and listen too, Ui-chan."
"Thanks, Mio-san!" Ui chirped, while Azusa stuttered her own assent after being embarrassed by Ritsu.
Ritsu rubbed her head and shrugged, still grinning. "Sorry Azusa-chan, just teasing." She then dug into her second bowl of well drowned fruit loops.
She wasn't sure how she liked this American breakfast, it didn't seem very proper, but, she supposed it was reasonably fast for college students.
When she and Ui got back to the dorm room, Ui took a moment to soothe her. "Please, don't mind Ritsu-san, Azusa-chan. She doesn't mean anything by it, it's just that everyone can tell you like Nee-chan and she was just teasing you. "
"I am that obvious?" Azusa moaned and buried her head in her hands.
"I'm not sure anyone was really thinking that way, please don't be angry with them." Azusa let out a sigh and sat up, moving to get her guitar and gear ready to go. "It's not like there is anything really going on."
But a girl can hope.
"No, Azusa-chan, don't worry about it. Mio-sempai will have her straightened out by the time you see them next."
Azusa chuckled at that. "She's the dominant one in the relationship?"
Ui seemed thoughtful a moment, then shrugged. "At least when it comes to manners."
An hour later and Azusa was carrying her Mustang downstairs to the practice room, and Ui her effects box. She figured out which room it was easily enough from a few chance strings of synth and some drumbeats coming from inside through the slightly open door. She saw drum cases and gear sitting just outside in the hall. The young woman paused to examine a couple pairs of Cerwin Vega cabinets several sizes bigger than her, and a pair of three ways.
Those loudspeakers are enough to fill a decent sized auditorium. Cool.
Azusa paused outside the room, hearing a few random drumbeats and the sound of a bass tuning. From what she could make of the sounds, Mio must have been tuning it off Mugi's synthesizer. She pushed the heavy door open the rest of the way with help of her shoulder and looked around. Everyone was there. She and Ui entered with her stuff in as everyone waved them over.
"Hey, Azusa!" "Welcome, Azusa-chan!" Greeted Mugi and Mio respectively, the former behind her keyboard and the latter holding a bass. As she had guessed, Mugi was helping Mio to tune her bass from the notes on the keyboard.
Azusa didn't expect what happened next. Suddenly, she felt strong arms wrap around her from behind, a face nuzzling her hair, guitar and all.
"Azu RE-charge!" her body stiffened for a moment, then relaxed slightly as she stood there blushing, still holding on her case while Yui pinned her arms to her sides from behind for what seems like a long time. Finally, Yui released her from her grasp and moved around to where she could see her face and grinned brightly. "I am so looking forward to playing with you today, Azusa-chan!"
Yui blinked a few times as she took in sight of the red faced freshman and her grin widened. "I have just the thing." She said scampering off.
Azusa tried to get a grip on herself and moved towards the soundboard and pre-amp stack, putting down her guitar case and opening the effects box that Ui provided, she started laying it out and plugging it up.
As she got set up and got the pedals ready, she felt something being put on her head, fingers lightly brushing the tops of her ears. She turned around to look at Yui again, a puzzled look plain upon her face. She could feel the heat in her face as a blush started to rise again into her cheeks at the familiar touch.
Indignation warred with the warm pleasant feeling that spread out in her body.
"Do this, Azusa-chan!" Yui made a pawing motion with her hand and went "Nyaaaa". She grinned brilliantly once more and gestured to Azusa. "C'mon, it'll be great!"
Azusa felt confused and flustered by the touch, and repeated the gesture, still kneeling on the floor. She wasn't sure why she did it, but the look on Yui's face was a reward in itself.
That big goofy grin. I like having it directed at me, it's like a warm bath. It feels so good. "Do it again, remember the nyaaaaa!" Yui pleaded, turning the full force of her magnetic smile upon Azusa, who found herself unable to resist it.
Oh no, they're cat ears, they have to be! But, I don't think I care. I love that smile.
Azusa blushed deeper, if even possible, and pawed the air while going "Nyaaaaa".
An electronic flash went off and Azusa glanced up to see Mugi holding an Iphone much like her own.
Photographic evidence, great. This better be worth it...
She was rewarded with a huge hug from Yui, the embrace washing away any misgivings from her. She felt the soft warmth of Yui's cheek against hers, and the warmth spread down into her chest to nest there. "Azunyan! That's your nickname, 'cause you are my kitten!"
Azusa looked mortified, she now knew with absolute certainty that those were cat ears on her head. That and that Yui smelled kinda nice. The second realization was winning against the first. That 'my kitten' ringing in her head pleasantly. She liked that 'my' part a lot.
You've got it bad, girl.
After what seemed like a long time, she groaned and tried to get free, pushing rather feebly and twisting. "Can we play now?"
"We are playing, Azunyan!" Yui pulled back enough to level that thousand watt grin at her. She almost gave in, but she felt her indignation rise.
"Music. Music! I want to play music!" Azusa got free of Yui's strong hold and turned a terribly angry countenance on Yui, who had the most adorable look on her face. She guessed belatedly that a temper tantrum while wearing cat ears didn't do much for her case. The twin-tailed girl tried to avoid it this time, but was too off balance emotionally to physically dodge Yui's attention and was soon scooped into another hug.
"Sorry, Azunyan, don't be angry." She felt the cat ears coming off her head, and Yui's soft touch smoothing her hair. Just like that she deflated.
Yeah, I got it real bad.
"Can I do my audition now, Yui-senpai?" Yui let her go, put her hands on Azusa's shoulders and looked at her critically, then nodded. "I won't go easy on you because you are cute, kitten." She winked at her and grinned slightly.
Azusa returned the grin. "Bring it on, senpai." She moved to get her guitar out and started tuning it from her electronic tuner built into her gear box.
While doing so, Yui gave Mugi a thumbs up. "Send me that picture, Moogs! It's my new desktop background!"
I hate it, but I love it, too. Gack.
Everyone's attention shifted from the show Yui and Azusa were making to finish setting up and tuning, soon enough they were ready to play.
"OK, Azunyan, lay some wild stuff on me. I want to hear you shred." Yui put her earplugs in and handed Azusa a set, just holding her guitar lightly at the neck, resting on its sling. Azusa glanced at the huge Gibson Les Paul Signature that Yui wielded.
Wow, she handles that big axe?
Azusa shrugged it off and with a smirk she took a wide stance, then leaned over her Fender Mustang letting it rip; running from super fast scales to tapping, hammering on and off, bending and distortion play. Somewhere in there she channeled some Eddie Van Halen, some Eric Clapton, and some 'damn that's cool'.
After she finished everyone stood still, stunned, except Yui who went from critically watching her to wearing a huge grin. "I knew you had the stuff! Okay, let's see if we can find a song you know well enough to play lead. Japanese bands, American? We can do Shoujo S, for instance?"
Azusa shrugs. "Every girl musician in Japan can do Shoujo S. If that is what you want, I'm game. You guys know Clapton's Layla, by any chance?"
Yui looked up at the others, who shrugged. Mugi was the one to answer. "Azusu-chan, how about we do Shoujo S for the audition, then go over Layla and do it in say, 15 or 20?"
Azusa nodded, impressed by the skill of these women. If they can pick up a song like Layla that fast, that would be amazing. This might be the best she'd ever played with, if it was true.
It really is like a dream come true. An amazingly talented band who wants me to be a member, and they know and embrace my sexual preference. And there is so much more to it. I can't stop this feeling of happiness that is taking up residence in my heart.
"Okay, Shoujo S, want me on lead or rhythm?"
Yui grinned warmly at Azusa and bowed slightly. "Mighty Azunyan, take the lead, please!"'
I hope I'm not stuck with that ridiculous nickname.
Azusa took a look around and arched her eyebrows at the statuesque Mio who was wielding a Fender Jazz 5-string, a lefty one at that. She took note that on a stand behind her sat what at first glance seemed to be a standard Fender P Bass, but Azusa caught the light off it and realized it was a much rarer fretless model leftie.
Cool, she's a leftie, and plays fretless.
Azusa then turned to look at Ritsu who was holding up four fingers, then after a moment dropped her hand and with a snap of her drumsticks she lead them into the song.
The ensemble played the song credibly well, they even sung it well. Azusa dropped into the groove, never having performed this song like this, but she had certainly played it before. In less than five minutes they came to the end and Azusa found herself just a few feet from Yui. The brunette had danced the entire song enthusiastically, while playing the rhythm part. She was everywhere, like some kind of energizer bunny.
She has so much energy, she puts out such a vibe when she is singing and playing. It feeds the rest of us too, making us work harder, play better. She's awful cute when she is doing it too, it makes me want to…
Yui smiled at her softly. Moving closer, she carefully hugged the smaller woman around the neck so their guitars didn't rub against each other.
"Yeah; that's what I'm looking for, Azunyan." The smile widened slightly for a moment and her voice got softer while holding Azusa's gaze. "You are mine." Yui's head tilted slightly to one side and she winked, her voice gaining volume again. "Consider yourself part of our ensemble." The other three clapped, even coming up to pat Azusa's shoulder. The entire time Azusa saw that precious smile from Yui with those big warm eyes; the ones that continued to make her pulse roar.
I wonder if she has a clue what she is does to me on the inside. It doesn't seem like it. Maybe she just wants a guitarist. But the way she looks at me, it's so intimate. And then there are the hugs. I mean, she has to like me like that, right? Crap, maybe not.
Mugi pulled up Layla on her laptop and threw it up on a wall with a projector. After doing some adjustments on her keyboard, Mio ran through some bass lines and Ritsu tried a few timings until she was happy with it. Yui just looked the music over for about a minute, her brow furrowing intently, tongue sticking out slightly from between her lips as she concentrated. Really, all she studied was just around a minute, though Azusa was a bit caught up in her own thoughts so it might have been more. Sooner than she would have expected it, Yui turned to Azusa and bathed her in another of those radiant grins.
"Azunyan, your position from now on will be lead guitarist; we'll work out the arrangements today and tomorrow. We have a gig next weekend, and it's not exactly small, maybe two or three hundred gals. You're playing." She grinned that big grin again, and Azusa felt like she was being wrapped in sunlight. It held off her panic of playing her biggest gig ever.
"That's great Yui-senpai. Um, aren't you playing Layla?" Yui nodded in reply. "Don't you have things to do?"
Yui grinned and tapped the side of her head. "I got it. It's all up here!" Azusa looked looked at her astonished before blinking a few times.
She's either a genius or crazy, maybe both. But I love that smile. It's like swimming in sunshine; it warms me all the way through. It makes me feel special.
She had to make a few changes herself. While she changed the tuning on her guitar a little and checked her pedals, Yui watched her, an amused look on her face. "Don't you find that Les Paul heavy, Yui-senpai?"
"Nah, Azunyan, I love my Gitah." Azusa wondered briefly if that was some kind of accent she heard, but decided to dismiss it. "Oh. Is everyone about ready?"
Azusa looked around and everyone gave a thumbs up. Ritsu grinned, and with a few starting snaps of her sticks brought in the groove of the song, starting right on Azusa's shoulders.
Azusa easily ripped into the first lead lick, and her heart soared when Yui joined her on the complimentary line, the sounds of their guitars weaving around each other until Mio started with the vocals.
The raven haired girl's voice had that smoky flavor the song needed. It wasn't Clapton, but it sure was appealing. The sound of Mugi's Triton added volume to the rhythm of the guitars and bass, filling the sound out. Ritsu's drumming was energetic and on the money.
Yui didn't dance around as much with this one, but kept her eyes on Azusa as their guitars sang the lead melodies of the entrancing song around each other like a sultry dance of electricity. The sound was smooth and buttery and Azusa felt like it was seeping into her veins. She looked at Yui in return, who swayed her hips, her fingers smoothly dancing on the big Gibson. It was like they were making love to each other through the breathtaking beats their instruments produced.
Azusa dropped into a low open legged stance about three minutes in and really let the solo fly. Clapton never played the same solo twice on this song, and hers was near the same level of adaptive, always returning to the main theme for a moment before taking off again. For a full minute she played until she faced Mugi. As the solo faded, the rich tone of the Korg took over for nearly a minute, easing the hard tone of the song into melody. She and Yui hit new pedals and joined in to add to Mugi's sound after a few measures, but not taking over until the bridge. It was like sitting in the back seat while someone else was driving a luxury car.
After another minute Azusa took control back with another smooth matching solo, leading the band back into a heavy climax.
"Now that was awesome!" Yui crowed. "We could have never pulled that one off with just me!" She bounced around a bit in glee. "This is what we were missing!"
She bounced back and hugged Azusa again, still excited.
Mio handed the guitarists some printed music sheets. "Okay, here is first of the set for next weekend. We'll start with our arrangement of Orianthi's Kiss Me; courtesy of our rhythm guitarist's infatuation with her." Yui shot a peace sign in response. "Azusa-chan, you can listen the first time through and then join in on the second try or whenever you feel ready. Then we'll go through the rest of the set like that until we can't take any more. Good?
Do you have a computer?" The young woman nodded in confirmation. "Give Mugi your email address and we'll send you all the arrangements you need to look over. We were hoping to add another guitarist this semester so I already re-arranged the sets for that. Work with Yui this week to iron it out." Mio gave Azusa an affectionate smile. "You can handle it, Azusa-chan.
"Okay, now is everyone ready?" Mio looked around and after getting everyone's affirmation, practice was launched. It was, on all counts, a grueling affair but Azusa was on cloud nine.
These women are awesome! Professional, talented, flexible, and dedicated.
She was falling in love with playing all over again, thanks to them. She was sure it was better than sex, not that she was an expert at that exactly.
All throughout practice Yui played with an eye firmly on Azusa, adapting to her, improvising as needed, and syncing with her whenever she should. She thought she began to understand what Yui was talking about earlier. The girl felt both ecstatic and a little disappointed because she was sure Yui wasn't talking about sex or love. She was just looking for a deep artistic bond and Azusa was measuring up to it, in spades. Yui looked like she was in heaven, and Azusa was feeling it too.
By the time they were finished, Azusa had played every song in the set, and everyone was pretty satisfied with how it was turning out. They knew they still had a lot of work to do to get their new lead guitarist fully integrated, but that had been a great first step. After practicing some more, the group took a quick break for lunch, sandwiches on the fly from the cafeteria upstairs and resumed playing. They almost missed dinner, which turned out to be more sandwiches.
When they were all getting ready to crawl upstairs, a tired but happy looking Yui gave Azusa a big, happy, soft hug. "Azunyan, you were everything I hoped for. Don't you dare leave me." She murmured into Azusa's hair.
Azusa smiled and leaned into the hug. "No, I'm yours, Yui-senpai. That was an awesome practice."
Maybe I can get you to look at me as a woman too, Yui-senpai. Please look at me that way.
Not long after they finished practice, Yui noticed Azusa yawning. The hard practice combined with jet lag, wiped the poor girl out now that her adrenaline levels had dropped.
"Come on Azunyan, I'll walk you up and explain it to the others later. They'll understand, trust me." Yui hugged Azusa's head quickly and smiled softly, then held the younger woman out at arm's length. "You grab your guitar; I'll get your pedals." Yui let go and went to grab Azusa's effects box, then took her hand.
"Come on, sleepyhead." Yui guided her out of the practice studio and upstairs to her room. "Do you have everything you need?" Azusa nodded a little, blushing faintly at the idea of Yui alone with her in her room, then grabbed some pajamas before ducking into the bathroom. She washed up quickly and changed. Her heart wouldn't stop pounding, it was crazy.
She keeps touching me, and every time she does something inside me yearns for more and more.
When Azusa was done she came back into the room to find Yui sitting at her desk, idly looking at the books. When she heard the bathroom door, she turned and smiled. "Ready to be tucked in, Azunyan?" She had that tender look on her face again and Azusa's pulse raced and her chest felt tight.
"I... don't need help with that." She wore shorts and a t-shirt, her usual attire to sleep in ever since she arrived. It was definitely too hot for flannel in Pennsylvania, and even though the nights were getting down into the 40's F, the dorms were pretty warm.
I can't believe she said that! I wish... I wish she'd do more than tuck me in, though. Like join me.
She moved to her bed and sat down where the blankets were turned out. She knew that Yui had done that because her bed was fully tucked in when they arrived. Once Azusa sat down Yui stood and moved towards the door, grinning at her again, her brown eyes dancing in the dimly lit room.
"You were great tonight Azunyan. I couldn't have asked for a better partner. You'll knock 'em dead on Saturday." She said softly.
Azusa smiled, enjoying the warm touch of Yui's voice when it was low, it felt almost silky to her ears. "Thank you... Yui. I... enjoy playing with you."
Kami-sama, I'm falling in love with her, and I don't think she sees me as more than a musical partner. What am I going to do?
Yui waved lightly and turned off the lights on her way out, a last smile sent in the direction of her tired kohai. The exhaustion from Azusa's full day and the jet lag soon carried her off to sleep.
The next day, they met again for breakfast. Without Yui. Again. They put in another full day of practice for the gig's set?]. Azusa only counted three hugs during that day. The first one, labeled 'Azunyan recharge', being the longest.
Now that I know she doesn't mean anything by this, it is starting to annoy me. But, it feels so good. Dammit. Okay, maybe I am not that annoyed.
On Monday Azusa followed the normal breakfast routine and went with Ui to the special international student freshman orientation. She wasn't required to go, but with Ui's natural mothering tendencies and the fact that she still got lost around campus, she decided to go along with it.
Ui stopped when she heard her last name and turned to look for the person whom it came from, the voice sounding very familiar to her.
"Hirasawa!" As Ui turned to look at the woman calling her name, she started to smile. "Ui! Is that you?"
Azusa looked and saw the grinning gaze of a puffy haired asian on her, her hair mostly reined in a pair of ponytails.
The young woman moved up to Ui, grinning. "Hey, short stuff! Well, not as short as the one next to you. I'm gonna have to find a new nickname for you, Ui." The newcomer had quickly taken a look at Azusa, comparing herself to them both. Jun was easily several inches taller than Ui, and just about towered over the diminutive Azusa.
"You know that's rude, Jun!" Ui put herself a little between the two women, looking first towards her roommate. "Azusa, this is an old friend of mine, Jun Suzuki. She doesn't speak much Japanese; only a few words." She turned to Jun, then and reversed the introduction. "Jun, this is my roommate, Azusa Nakano. She just arrived from Japan, but speaks very good English for never having been abroad before. Please treat her well, and speak a little slower." Ui smiled between them. "So, Jun, it has been a long time. Are you starting school here this semester as well? Both Azusa and I are new freshmen."
Jun gauged the two of them while Azusa watched her. The woman seemed to be a little off balance. "Nice to meet you, Azusa." She said to Azusa before replying to Ui's question. "My dad got a position here three years ago and I'm living with him, so yeah. You don't seem to have changed... I mean... you look good, Ui."
Azusa watched Ui calmly and obviously sized up the taller woman. "You're way taller than me now." She smiled primly, but it broke after a moment into a more genuine smile. "Music major?"
Jun nodded and grinned. "Bass and Guitar, modern studies."
Ui returned the grin without hesitation, and for a moment was the spitting image of her older sister. "Well, my sister is a Sophomore here, and has a full ensemble." She motioned her head to Azusa. "Azusa-san here took their last open position for guitarist."
Jun took another look at Azusa, who was watching the exchange curiously; barely keeping up with the rapid fire Jersey accented English, even if they thought they had slowed it down for her. "Short stuff here is taken already?"
Ui made an exasperated sound. "Jun, you are being rude."
Azusa took the initiative to be less of a bystander and stepped closer and offered a tiny paw to the taller girl. "I am pleased to meet you, Jun-san. A friend of Ui is friend of mine." She smiled shyly and cocked her head. Jun took the hand and Azusa noted that the other girl's hands were pretty calloused.
Jun apparently noticed something similar. "Wow Azusa, you've got some serious calluses there. I have to say I admire the way you can master the guitar with tiny little things like that."
Azusa shrugged and ignored the insult,smiling lightly. "I have no choice. My hands won't get any get bigger at my age. You have tough hands, too."
Jun took a moment to translate what Azusa meant before grinning again. "Yeah, I play bass, it's pretty rough on the hands but I love it."
Jun turned back to Ui and Azusa could see her eyes drifting up and down her form a little obviously. "So, I guess maybe you could use a bassist."
She's checking her out, and they used to be close. I wonder if they ever dated.
Ui seemed to consider her a moment, then nodded. "It would be nice to play with you again, Jun."
Jun smiled a little uncertainly, then pulled a small cell phone from her pocket, holding it up. "Exchange numbers?" Ui nodded to that request. "Busy tonight?" Ui shook her head and blushed slightly. "Um... See you later, um... tonight, then?" Ui nodded again and they exchanged numbers quietly.
"See you soon, Jun." Ui looked very controlled, but Azusa thought she saw a little pensiveness.
Jun smiled. "Yeah, I'll call or text soon" And with that she was off. Ui watched her leave.
Azusa cleared her throat softly. "Anything you want to share, Ui-san?"
Ui took a deep, cleansing breath, then slowly let it out. She turned an honest, small smile to Azusa. "My ex-girlfriend." She paused a moment, and Azusa could tell she was thinking about something. "I guess there is still an attraction. We broke up right before she moved away." Ui sighed. Noticing they were close to a bench, she took a seat. Azusa sat next to her, looking concerned at her roommate.
"[I don't want to pry, Ui-san, but if you want to talk it out, it will not go any further.]"
Ui looked at Azusa gratefully then leaned back, looking up at the sky, looking at a few fleecy clouds floating up there in that azure field a few moments before speaking.
"[Jun-chan and I have been friends since elementary school. We grew up together, figured out we both liked girls together, and fell in love together. With each other. When she found out she was moving away, she started pressuring me to have sex. I wasn't ready then, and we broke up right before she moved away.]"
Azusa was torn. She wanted to comfort the younger Hirasawa sister, but was uncomfortable initiating physical affection, especially in public like this. She kept her voice very low when she spoke, breaking Ui's new silence. "[It appears there's still an attraction there.]"
"[It's been nearly three years, and you don't pick up something like that right back up where you left off as if nothing happened.]" Ui looked back over at Azusa and then stood, offering her a hand up. "Come on, Azusa. Let's get some lunch."
Azusa took her hand and rose from her seat, letting Ui keep hold of it as they walked back to the dorm for lunch. She had to admit though, it embarrassed her slightly to do so. This was comforting a friend, she told herself silently, watching Ui's face now and then from the side. She could not dismiss the fact that Ui's expression seemed wistful.
The rest of the week fell into a sort of routine for Azusa. In the morning she would meet most of her friends for breakfast, excluding Yui; next were orientation classes aimed at foreign students, making sure they had a firm grasp of the schedules, how grading was done, registration, dorm life and more; she would then meet everyone for lunch, after getting caught in a very public and embarrassing 'Azunyan recharge'. After a while, she started meeting her senpai in their suite to keep Yui from embarrassing her in public with this particular behavior.
The private moment seemed to please Yui more, possibly because she perceived Azusa as coming to her because she missed her. Though Azusa did miss her and came to look forward to the contact, Yui missed her real intentions. Azusa simply didn't like that sort of public attention. She knew that the community here was accepting of such things, but she was still Japanese. The Monday Yui did that to her in the dorm cafeteria was mortifying to the undersized freshman.
In the early afternoon they all met back at the Sophomores' suite and had a snack served by Tsumugi. Generally, some sort of light dessert and the blonde woman's impeccably delicious tea. Azusa privately wondered about the tea sets that were used for these casual occasions. Each one appeared to be very old and expensive. She knew Tsumugi was a multinational citizen, but she was beginning to suspect that the ladylike woman was a true 'Oujou'.
After tea, they all met for band practice before a late dinner. The older girls explained this was the normal routine, and that their schedules actually had a slot marked 'ensemble or solo practice'.
Afterwards, they hung out although Azusa was sure that it would become study time later on, though, usually, they would work on scores. Her seniors, Yui in particular, went over what she could expect in her freshman year, class wise. Azusa had her pre-registration finished well before the rest of the students started arriving on Thursday.
She really only saw Ui at breakfast and, for the most part, lunch. She was already done with her required orientation since she was born in America and had impeccable English. She didn't need survival tips that Azusa still needed to learn. The sweet roomie barely talked to her and it seemed that she and Jun were spending time catching up. It almost sounded like dating to her, but Ui insisted it was not.
She also met the Modern Music Advisor, who turned out to be a Japanese-American by the name of Sawako Yamanaka. Azusa was impressed by how demure and responsible the advisor was in their meeting, but when she told the other club members they laughed at her, Ritsu in particular.
"Sawa-chan has you fooled, huh kiddo?" She laughed harder and to Azusa's surprise Mio didn't bother to even acknowledge Ritsu's behavior, let alone correct it. The petite girl guessed she was used to seeing it.
Azusa was still uncertain of the couple dynamic between the two women, they rarely showed much affection to each other outside their suite, and even there, with others around, they tended to be very chaste. There was no doubt they were a couple, though, if you watched them closely. They were always very aware of each other.
"Don't worry, she'll show her true stripes later." Ritsu went back to frowning at some score with a small keyboard in front of her, sometimes tapping a few keys and writing, then erasing and starting the line over. She wasn't that good with the piano, but knowledge of it was necessary for composition classes here. All of them had to know at least piano basics.
The campus got a lot more crowded Thursday afternoon when all the domestic students moved in. When Azusa came back to her room after lunch they had a visitor, the puffy haired girl from Sunday.
"[Sorry, I didn't know you had company Ui-san, should I come back later?]" Azusa stopped in the doorway, ready to walk back out when Ui rose to her feet and waved her hand to invite Azusa in.
"[It is your room, too, Azusa-chan, and no need to be so formal with me, we live together. Do you mind switching to English for our guest? She doesn't speak much Japanese.]"
As they spoke, Jun rose and bowed a little awkwardly, speaking in accented and stilted Japanese. "[My apologies for intruding in your home, Azusa-san]"
Azusa smiled widely and moved to take a seat at her desk. "If you are a friend of Ui's, Jun-san, you are welcome in my home."
Jun grinned and sat again on Ui's bed. "Sorry if I was crude earlier, Azusa. It's hard for me to get over how small you are. An average American middle school girl is bigger than you. I can see why you wouldn't be into guys though."
Azusa blushed and stared at Jun a moment before turning away and standing. "Please, excuse me." Azusa said coldly, fighting shame and anger rising in her chest.
Ui leaned into Jun and spoke softly, but Azusa could hear an unfamiliar cross tone in her voice clearly. "Jun Suzuki. How could you be so rude to her after she welcomed you into her home? Apologize. Now."
Azusa paused at the door with her hand on the doorknob as Jun came up behind her. She stuttered out. "Ah… Azusa-san. I mean, ah… Nakano-san, I am very sorry to offend you in your home." Jun paused, taking a deep breath and spoke quickly. "It's like… you're really cute and small, and maybe I'm a bit jealous. I bet you can get a girlfriend real easy, not like me." Jun let out the breath and smiled, hoping Azusa would turn around. "I'm a lesbian too, not a practicing one, you might say, but I'm part of the club. Please forgive me?"
Azusa seemed to deflate a little and she turned around, eyeing Jun a moment as her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, she noted that Jun looked truly miserable that she had offended Azusa so easily. "Apology accepted. Just... Just because you think that I have it so easy, does not mean that it actually is."
Ui had come up just behind the two of them. "Azusa is saying she's single too, Jun. I think she said she hasn't been seeing anyone for about two years now." Ui turned Jun enough by a tug on her sleeve and gave the puffy haired woman a significant look, a 'don't ask' look.
Jun took a deep breath and smiled. "Please don't go, Azusa. I guess the grass is always greener, huh?"
Azusa seemed to relax and smiled back. "Don't worry about it Jun. I guess I am a little, um... prickly. Does this grass thing mean like ah... Tonari no shibafu wa aoi... The neighbor's grass is always green?"
Jun and Ui laughed. "Exactly, Azusa-chan, we are always envious of what we don't have, but our neighbor is envious of what we have."
Azusa seemed to finally relax and started to move away from the door. When she passed by Ui, she took her hand and hugged her briefly. It didn't feel the same as Yui's hugs, even if they were the same size. "[I am so sorry, Azusa-chan. Jun doesn't understand how the Japanese think. She was trying to be friendly, believe it or not. Come in, sit down, we would love your company.]"
Azusa hugged her back quickly then stepped away with a wry smile on her face "Ui, I think your sister is conditioning me to hugging."
Ui and Jun both laughed as Azusa pulled her desk chair closer to the other two as they sat back down. "I remember Yui, is she still the same airhead she's always been?"
Ui shrugged and smiled at Jun. "I think she's too cute, but I am biased."
Jun rolled her eyes and shrugged. "The woman that ends up with her will have to be a saint." She eyed Azusa a moment. "Um... please don't be offended, but you aiming for sainthood by any chance, Azusa? I saw how Yui was all over you Sunday."
Azusa blushed and looked down, shaking her head. "I… might, but Azu-… um… I think Yui-sempai just wants to be good senpai." She nervously swung her feet. "Can we talk about something else, please?"
Ui watched Azusa silently for a moment, then caught Jun's eye. "Jun, how was it finishing high school here in town?"
Azusa didn't have much input into the rest of the conversation. She answered a few basic questions, but her heart wasn't into it. She couldn't stop thinking about Yui.
Later at group practice Azusa thought she would have a bad night after the whole business with Jun, but for some reason one Yui hug broke her funk and put her on track again. The young airhead didn't know the powerful effect she had on her kohai's emotions, but Azusa was dealing with it. She was both elated and worried that Yui might never feel the same way.
Things moved smoothly through to Friday, more or less, until Professor Yamanaka came to visit the girls right before practice in their dorm room with a form.
"Ladies, your band needs a name if you are going to perform." Azusa had answered the door and let her in unthinkingly, and now stood to the side as her demure sweet sensei dropped her public mask in front of the senior girls.
"Crap. Sawa-chan, you let us use Modern Ensemble Three last year. We just called ourselves MET, it was fine!" This came from Ritsu, who was the nominal voice for the ensemble.
"This year you guys are Modern Ensemble Two, and have an official additional member." She looked over to Azusa and smiled. "Congratulations, Nakano. You are officially part of Modern Ensemble Two. Your skills were proven advanced enough for you to be placed in an advanced group. Besides, the group picked you. We put a lot on group dynamics here."
Azusa bowed quickly and returned the smile. She had actually worried about being made to participate in a freshman ensemble instead of the one she meshed with. "Thank you, Sensei."
"Here we aim to help women achieve, not set them up to fail. You belong with this group." Sawako smiled to Mugi. "Mugi, could I have a cup of your wonderful tea? And maybe some of those lemon cookies, please?"
Mugi quickly consented and served it. While Sawako took a sip and settled into one of the plush chairs she eyed the ensemble members. "Lovely tea. I remember you girls did this before practice every day last semester. Planning on keeping it up?"
Everyone mumbled assent and tried to relax sipping their tea. Sawako placed a form on the coffee table. "No one leaves this room without a name for your band." She smiled at Ui too. "Oh, and Ui? Start thinking about a name, too, once we put your ensemble together next week. You and Suzuki are my freshman. I'm giving you Scranton as a drummer, she's a Junior and knows the ropes. The rest of her ensemble graduated last spring and she loves to play."
Ritsu nearly snorted her tea out her nose, laughing hard.
Everyone looked at her a moment, then the sophomores all chuckled. Mugi saved the freshmen some confusion and explained. "Sensei means Ari. She's very good and her ensemble won the school competition last year. We all know her pretty well." Mugi perked thick eyebrows at Ritsu, who launched into fresh gales of laughter at Mugi's explanation. "Ritsu knows her very well."
Ritsu fell out of her chair onto the floor, and earned herself a kick in the side.
"[That's enough, Tainaka.]"
"[Owwwww! That hurt, Mio!]"
Mio snorted and focused her attention on the professor.
She looked around again. "Names, girls."
Some names started rolling out of people's mouths, from the kind of names that were already taken, to the most absurd, to the just plain lame. Sawako got a refill of tea and seemed to ponder it a moment before she leaned forward and started filling out the form. "Ok, got it."
Ritsu spoke up first, sitting on the floor in front of Mio's legs. "Ah... got what? Our band name?"
Sawako set down the teacup and smiled to Tsumugi. "Thank you for the wonderful tea Mugi." She rose and started for the door, then looked back. "Houkago Tea Time, girls. We'll call you HTT for short. Sorry, but they have to print the brochures for the event tonight, and you were holding them up." Sawako set down her teacup and straightened the paperwork up.
"Ahhh. Whoa! What kind of lame name is that?" Ritsu exclaimed.
Sawako stood and grinned at the younger women in the room. "The kind of name lazy sophomores get when they had all summer to decide and didn't."
"But… But. Crap. Uh… How about the Lonesome Doves, or… uh... Slipped and Fell, or... " Ritsu hemmed as she tried to stall for time.
Azusa sat stock still holding her teacup, looking around the room while Mio watched Ritsu with a bit of a smirk on her face. Mugi simply refilled a few cups of her friends' teas while Yui ate.
"Already on the form, ladies. Too late!" Sawako grinned again, flapping the paperwork at them, and then turned to head out the door.
"Uh! Flaming Hot Chapstick!" Ritsu called to Sawako's back as she opened the door.
Sawako paused and looked back in with a smirk on her face. "I look forward to your concert. HTT." The door closed with a click. It had a sound of finality.
Everyone looked into their teacups silently and pondered their group's name. "Well. I suppose it fits." Mugi finally said.
"Kinda lame if you ask me." Ritsu growled a bit angrily.
"Maybe we can change it later." Added Mio, with a hopeful tone to her voice.
Azusa nudged Yui gently, who was snoring, the pile of snacks that were in front of her reduced to a few crumbs. "Yui-senpai, it's time for practice."
The club spent pretty much the entire morning working on setting up for playing at the student union. They didn't exactly have roadies or anything, but they seemed to manage on their own. Once they were done with sound checks, they grabbed some lunch and reviewed their sets.
The student union building's main room was pretty large, with a professional stage and a good sized auditorium. Attached were various lounges and game rooms, and the main campus cafeteria.
Yui checked on Azusa and her choice of wardrobe. "It's a big gig, Azunyan. We want you to look cool. Got any hip huggers? Maybe a shiny belt or something?" Yui spent a little time going through Azusa's clothes before they decided on an outfit. "There will be a pretty big crowd this year if it is anything like last year, and after all it is the first real party of the year."
"I saw it was a big room, Yui-senpai, but I thought it was an LGBT gig?" Azusa was having trouble wrapping her head around that there would be that many supporters of her lifestyle in one room, for starters.
"Might end up being more, this is a liberal school. A party is a party, you know? You'll get a better idea of the real dynamics at a real meeting. We're taking over the gig from a group that graduated last year. Well, most of them."
"So it's kind of like tradition that a band plays for the LGBT Society?" Azusa changed while she tried to wrap her head around all of this information. Yui couldn't help watching her change, her small body was lithe and her curves were more generous than they looked through her normally baggy clothing.
"I guess it is something like that. It's a big gig, and if you are Society members, you're more likely to get it." Yui turned away, giving her kohai some privacy, and herself some piece of mind. Yui knew she liked girls like that, but it wasn't right to be lusting after her kohai.
"So did you join the society to get the gig, support your friends, or because..." Azusa let it hang as she shimmied into a pair of over tight low cut jeans. "[Dammit, did I gain weight?]"
Yui turned and caught an eyeful. Luckily Azusa was too busy trying to shoehorn herself into the jeans. "Oh, it's because I like girls, Azunyan. Though the band last year had at least one straight girl, we don't discriminate." She giggled at Azusa's not so sexy struggle with her jeans. "[If you are worried about your weight, you can run with me in the mornings.]"
Azusa won the battle with her jeans and turned to face Yui, who was carefully looking her in the eyes.
"[Running? Do you run every morning?]"
"[Pretty much, Azunyan.]" She grinned. "Put on a shirt that bares some tummy, they'll love that. Sex appeal matters with this crowd."
Azusa giggled and pulled out a crop top. "Hard to believe I am dressing like this for girls."
"After this show, you'll probably be famous on campus, Azunyan. I'll protect you though!"
Azusa giggled, but in the back of her mind fantasies were already starting to form.
As the band took the stage they surveyed the room. This was indeed a pretty good sized crowd.
"The fire code says the limit is 350, and we may be close to it." Mio said while she checked her bass and started tuning as Mugi gave her the notes. Mio had on a pair of bell bottoms that were decidedly tight at the top and thighs and a sleeveless top that hugged her curves nicely.
"It seems bigger than last year. Then again, we weren't on this side of the room last year." Ritsu said as she was examining a logo someone had pasted on her bass drum. "HTT? Who put that on there?" Ritsu was in baggy shorts and a basketball top. She didn't really change. It did show off a lot of her very fit physique, though.
Mugi laughed softly. "I had that made, sorry I didn't ask, Ritsu." She was lovely in a white sun dress with a bit of a nautical theme, her sailor hat on top her blond curls at a jaunty angle.
"I wonder if there will be any food left when we're done…" Yui's eyes were fixed on the buffet table, where there were quite a few people browsing with plates. Yui opted for a pair of yellow very short shorts and an oversized t-shirt tied off at a knot to expose her flat tummy.
"I'll buy you a foot long at Heath's Subs if they don't save us anything." Azusa tuned her Mustang and eyed the crowd. This was easily the biggest crowd she had ever performed for. She was both nervous and excited and she felt her hands shaking a little.
Yui stepped up the microphone and waited a moment as people started to look, then she yelled. "We are HTT! Hajimaru Yo!" Ritsu snapped her sticks together and on queue they each started their practiced parts.
HTT started the set with Orianthi's Shut Up And Kiss Me to display Azusa's awesome chops. Yui's clear toned vocals carried well, and the song displayed the wall of sound they were developing with the group effectively. The crowd seemed to be enjoying the performance, and a good many knew the song. The vibe in the hall was electric and for the girls in the band, it drove them to perform harder and better.
Next they covered SCANDAL's high energy Scandal Baby in a heavier style than the original, and in Japanese. They had arranged the tune for both a bass solo for Mio and a guitar solo for Azusa. Yui's high energy vocals were perfect, and as usual she was bouncing around the stage enthusiastically. The crowd seemed to eat that one up too, and it continued to feed the energy of the band. Yui was practically a live wire, hardly still even when singing. Mio was her normal stoic self, as was Azusa, who mostly moved from standing somewhat normally to a guitar power pose during solos. Mugi was almost flirty from behind her keyboard, and Ritsu was like a wild machine behind the drums, grinning madly the whole time.
The band launched directly into Orianthi's Believe directly after Scandal Baby, really showing off Mugi's soulful keyboard skills while showing off Azusa's excellent lead guitar. Again, Yui's clear soulful lead vocals shone through as well.
HTT melded right into Orianthi's heavier Addicted to Love without a stop, Yui's rhythm guitar carrying it directly in. Once again, the stars were Yui and Azusa. They had talked about adding some more feature pieces for other members, but the band knew well that they were dealing with a real gem in their new freshman guitarist.
Azusa seemed to almost transform when she did her solos, her long hair waving in the flow of the mass air movers keeping the stage from being a sweltering hell. She often took a bit of a wide stance or moved sensually in place with her guitar as clear sweet tones or guttural trounces belted from it, her face serious.
The band all stood up straight and looked over the audience, awed by their enthusiastic response to their music. All of them were smiling widely, but the biggest smile had to be Yui's.
Yui stepped back up to the mic and yelled into it. "Right! That was fun! Now let me introduce the band!" Yui gestured to Mio on the bass. "Straight from Tokyo Japan, the sexy and talented Mio Akiyama on bass!" Mio did a riff of bass slap pop that sounded awesome. "Also from Tokyo, the energetic and fun loving Ritsu Tainaka!" Ritsu did a tasty drum flourish. "From all over the world, mostly Finland, Japan and New York, our tasty blonde treat, Tsumugi Kotobuki!" Mugi did a quick frill on her keyboard, smiling pleasantly while she did so. "And our newest member, recruited before she even reached the school, our very own little kitten frosh, on lead guitar! Azusa Nakano!" Yui herself clapped and grinned at Azusa as she did a bleeding fast riff on her guitar, straight out of Van Halen. Mio leaned into her microphone "And our very own Jersey girl, on rhythm guitar, Yui Hirasawa!" Yui hit a pedal and did a few bars of metal chords, then took a bow.
"Ok, now let's rock!"
The band was starting to show a richer blues influence in the music choices, after the introduction they did another Orianthi cover, According to You and followed it up quickly with their own guitar heavy arrangement of Sleater Kinney's Entertain and No Doubt's Ex Girlfriend. They slowed it down afterwards with Seether's Broken, relying primarily on Mio's smoky vocals and Azusa's guitar.
Azusa stood just to the side of Mio as she played and they seemed to have a vibe to them. They finished the song on a heavy last verse and then rested for a few moments before Mugi's keyboard started clearly playing the opening to 'Stairway to Heaven'.
The audience cheered and then got silent as they listened closely to this classic tune. They knew it hadn't been long since it had been featured on American Idol with an all star band. They were certainly making a mental comparison to this young band and that performance.
HTT measured up well. Yui's vocals packed enough power to carry it off, especially with Mio's sultry backups. Ritsu's percussion was amazing, with Mio's bass the perfect rhythm accompaniment. Mugi's keyboard skills gave depth to the performance, and above all the little freshman's lead guitar skills cut through it all like a scythe, clearly blowing the audience away.
The applause was a cacophony that blasted the women on stage backwards, even as they took their bows. The group was obviously a little tired and sweating. Azusa had put a sweat band on her right wrist, but it didn't hold up to the amount of sweat she needed to mop away. Someone handed her a towel and she was mopping it away as they left the stage.
The president of the LGBT Society greeted them backstage, looking excited. "You gals were amazing up there! I didn't know what to expect out of a sophomore ensemble, but it wasn't bad!"
The band was all grins as they accepted the praise, Ritsu chuckled and added. "Heh, we just added a hotshot frosh guitarist. Wait till we figure out how to really use her." Ritsu grabbed said short guitarist in a neck lock, catching her by surprise.
Azusa gurgled a moment before she was let go, gasping slightly. She was still red in the face from the heat of the lights and the crowd, but she was scooped into a more familiar hug soon after, that made her go rigid.
Public, so public!
Yui chortled into the familiar hug. "That's my kitten! That was awesome, Azunyan!"
Azusa struggled out of the hug. "[I'm hot Yui-sempai, let me go.]" Azusa said, sounding flustered, and a little angry.
Yui let her go with no complaint, just a chuckle and a word. "Angry Azunyan is cute too."
The president took a moment to survey the dynamic of the group then smiled. She could feel the sexual vibe coming off several of these women. "Can you ladies do an encore? The crowd is still cheering out there. Maybe in fifteen minutes?"
Ritsu scanned the members of the ensemble and got nods, even from the guitarists. She grinned widely to the President. "Two or three song set?"
Yui grinned widely at Ritsu. "Make it four. We'll leave it all on the floor, huh?"
The president gave them a thumbs up and headed on stage to tell everyone that HTT was taking a short break and would do an encore.
Meanwhile, the band huddled to discuss what they would play while swilling down water to cool off and rehydrate. They made a quick decision to use some of the stuff Azusa had brought in, since it was fresh in everyone's minds, and an encore of a song the audience seemed to really like. They spent the rest of the time doing a quick review on the parts.
Soon enough they were back on stage, rewarded with applause for returning. They all took a bow and Yui stepped up the Microphone.
"Hey everyone, we're HTT!" More applause washed over them. "Who likes ice cream?" A bit of cheering for that question. "I know I could use some!" Yui laughed and turned to Ritsu who counted them in to one of the songs they practiced with Azusa the first night she played with them, System of a Down's arrangement of 'Snowblind', rearranged to show off the depth of their band, with Azusa firmly in the lead role. And, of course, instead of a low throaty 'cocaine', the entire band yelled 'Ice Cream!' instead.
The audience seemed to love it. They quickly moved into Jimmy Eat World's The Middle, which led right into Nine Days 'Story of a Girl' and ended on a reprise of Orianthi's Shut Up and Kiss Me. The interplay between the peppy lead singer and the talented lead guitarist was read by many of the audience that the two were talking to each other through the song. It ended with the two of them face to face over their guitars grinning at each other and the audience went wild with applause.
HTT went backstage again and Yui had an arm around Azusa, excitedly talking about how the song went, and not seeming to notice the couple feeling they were putting out. Encouraged by this display of affection, Mio and Ritsu were unusually close, even touching foreheads a moment. Ritsu was obviously elated and still full of energy. Mugi found Ui backstage already to congratulate her, but what she didn't expect to find was Jun right by Ui's side.
Jun looked between Mugi and Ui as they talked and after looking thoughtful for a moment she interrupted, putting a hand familiarly in the small of Ui's back. "Hey Ui, can you introduce me to everyone?"
Mugi looked startled for a moment, not missing that familiarity. "Oh, sorry… We haven't been introduced, have we? I'm Kotobuki Tsumugi. Nice to meet you." She didn't sound strained, but no one really missed what was going on right now, except Yui of course.
Jun perked a brow at the keyboardist, then smiled and offered her hand for a shake. "Suzuki Jun. I've been friends with Ui since we were kids."
Mugi took the hand and squeezed a little, noting the tough callous on the frizzy haired woman's hand, her calm blue eyes locking with Jun's stormy brown. "Childhood friend? So you played a lot with Ui when you were kids?" The voice sounded pleasant. The look wasn't.
"Yeah, we played around a bunch more in high school too." Jun said with a big smirk on her face, while Ui was starting to look a bit alarmed.
Mugi looked more than alarmed, but somehow Yui saved the day before she could embarrass herself. The slightly eccentric guitarist barged right in and gave Jun a big hug. "Jun-chan! I didn't know you were here! That's awesome! I haven't seen you since… um." She glanced at Ui, then Mugi who still looked a bit out of it. "Since you moved!"
"Good to see you too, Yui." Jun wasn't missing the glances either, and pieces were falling into place. She'd known that she would have to win Ui back, but now she knew she had competition too. She just hoped they didn't know the whole story or it might be a bit hostile around HTT, more so than it was already.
The band collapsed in a small lounge they had been given as a 'green room' that wasn't really backstage or all that secure. Most of the girls were gulping down water and making dents in the plush if not battered furniture in there. Yui found a couple pizzas waiting on the card tables and did not hesitate to dive in.
A knock on the door announced more visitors. Azusa rose to answer it and found herself greeted by ten or twelve pretty white girls who immediately gushed verbally all over the short guitarist. "That was awesome! Your name is Asousa, right? Are you single? Where did you learn to play like that? You're so cute! Can I get your phone number? Hey, you are into girls, right? Wanna go out for a couple drinks?"
All this simply made Azusa gape at them, standing in the doorway. Yui, surprisingly, came to her rescue. She even abandoned her pizza. She came up behind Azusa and put an arm around her, drawing her close. "Sorry girls, she doesn't speak much English." She grinned down at Azusa and winked at her. "[Play along.]" Yui reached for the door with her other hand and moved to close it in the women's faces. "Besides, she's already spoken for." And the door was closed.
Azusa blushed a beat red at Yui's last statement while Yui stroked her hair a moment then let go, turning back to her pizza. "That should hold them off a while, have some pizza, Azunyan!"
Azusa came back to sit with Yui, but the aura was weird. Azusa felt elated and confused, wondering what Yui was up to exactly.
When Yui-senpai is eating, she rarely responds to anything. But she stopped eating to defend me. Do you have any idea what you are doing to me?
Azusa sighed and relaxed back, slumping slightly to one side and touching Yui's shoulder with her forehead. Yui just ignored the contact and kept eating.
The following two weeks went by quickly for all. Classes started and the reality of college sunk in. Psychology 101 followed by Calculus 110 from 8-10 Monday/Wednesday/Friday, English Composition 101 and Music Composition 110 Tuesdays and Thursdays 8-11. She had Ensemble Monday through Friday 1-3 and private guitar lessons Saturdays in the morning. A total of 16 credit hours, three of them General Education, and two music classes for her major. The guitar lesson counted as a general lab for her major.
She got to meet the third member of Ui's ensemble that Sunday afternoon when all three were assembled in her room after dinner. The third girl was named Arianna "Ari" Yesalavich, their drummer. She was maybe 5'7" with short blond hair, steaks of blue and green fearlessly sticking out and a somewhat athletic build, and quite pretty. She was lounging on Ui's bed in a sweat suit when Azusa came in, but moved to the edge to meet Ui's roommate.
"Well, if it isn't the Japanese Orianthi!" Jun chuckled and Ui giggled while Azusa blushed. She'd already had a fair amount of people approach her on campus, but she didn't travel alone so her friends usually ran interference.
Azusa bowed slightly "Umm… Azusa Nakano. Pleased to meet you. I am Ui-chan's roommate." The woman waved with a lazy grin. "Ariana Yesalavich. Call me Ari, and that's Yes-Ah-Lev-Itch. I'm the drummer in modern ensemble four. Oh, and I'm a junior. The rest of my ensemble graduated last year and all."
The upperclassman stood up and looked down at Asuza and blinked. "Economy sized guitarist." She grinned lazily and stuck out a hand at her. "It's cool."
Azusa blinked at the lame joke, then smiled and gingerly shook the loose grip. "Have you met Ritsu-senpai yet? You could compare notes, yes?"
Damnit my English is better than this.
Ari grinned widely. "Oh, I know that cat is pretty good. Ask her sometime about Wicked, ya know, the play? We had a lot of fun with it last spring." Ari ran a hand idly through her multicolored hair, roughing it up even more. "She calls me... ahh... what is it. Onee-san or somethin'. I'm her Big." She shrugged and moved to sit back down on the bed.
"Big? Sister?" Azusa guessed.
"Yeah. Upperclassmen look out for underclassmen in their departments and all. It's groovy, real tradition here. Like how we call you girls frosh." She grinned at them and laid back. "Like staggering a drummer two years off in a band, gives you guys some leadership or something. I suppose." She laughed, an almost odd honking sound. "Look at me, a Big, and now a big ol' upperclassman to some frosh. My classmates in high school would blow a frickin' gasket. Me, responsible. Hilarious."
She looked at Azusa critically with her washed out blue eyes, then grinned. "Saw you guys last night, Azusa. Killer performance, you rocked it! I can't believe you're a frosh, Azu. It's like... surreal. Anyway, nice to meetcha and all." And with the courtesy satisfied, the drummer lounged back onto the bed.
Azusa dropped off a few things and headed downstairs to give them some privacy.
Azusa was pleased to find that her schedule was very similar to Ui's and Jun's, so they generally went to class together. Psych 101 was general lecture and a fairly easy class, and the Calculus class was like a review for someone who had graduated from a fairly prestigious Japanese Girl's school. The Music classes were informative and a lot of fun for her, even if they were hard work.
Her anathema was English Composition. She sought help from Ui on it, but Ui pointed her towards her big sister. "She's already passed the course with an A, and you might be surprised how good she is at writing." Of course Ui had ulterior motives for having Azusa study with her sister. She wasn't going to mention it, though.
After supper and ensemble practice, afternoons turned into study sessions in the sophomores' suite. Yui would point Azusa in the right direction, then work on her own lessons. As needed she would evaluate what Azusa did and offer suggestions.
Azusa found herself spending a lot of time with Yui and getting to know her. She saw her from lunch until fairly late in the day nearly every day. She learned some of Yui's peculiarities. Yui was very smart, it turned out. When she focused on something she made easy work of it, but when she lost the focus she turned into a complete airhead.
She was constantly touchy-feely with Azusa and she was growing accustomed to it. Azusa enjoyed Yui's intimate touches, even if she sometimes, despite the dropping Pennsylvania temperatures outside, found herself taking a cold shower at night before bed.
She tries to act like a good senpai to me, but I can feel something more there. Kami-sama, I can't help myself though. Her touch does things to me that no one else's has ever done. I want more.
I want her to make love to me.
On the second Saturday in October there was a ceremony called the "Festival of Lights" that was a tradition at their school. All the freshmen were made to attend wearing white dresses, and even encouraged to wear flowers in their hair. They assembled at the foot of the hill below the main administration buildings, Dublin Hall. It was nearly a half mile walk up the hill to the steps of the grand building, the Greek style columns lining it clearly visible from the distance.
They were each given an unlit white candle and waited for nightfall. Once the sun had set, a group of women in dark red colored robes streamed from either side to fill the steps of Dublin hall, each one holding a lit candle, bathing the entrance with the soft light. It was mysterious and entrancing for the approximately two hundred young freshmen waiting below. Dublin hall looked like a human candelabra.
The seniors that were directing the freshmen started lining them up, calling out one name at a time and directing them to stay in that order as they walked up the hill. They were to walk up the hill to the middle of the base of steps and wait until their name was called. The freshmen were sent slowly up the hill spaced out by at least a minute each, so that there were only a few walking at a time.
From her place below, Azusa, Ui, and Jun watched as a robed figure approached each freshman, lit their candle, pulled back their hood to reveal their face, and as a pair they moved to line the walkway route up with lit candles. With each pair that did this, the sight became more and more beautiful as the route lit up. Ui was the first one who was called up. Apparently they were going in English alphabetical order. Already maybe a quarter of the freshmen had made the exodus to the steps.
Nearly half the freshmen student body had gone by the time they called Azusa's name. She slowly walked up the hill, which was mostly unlit, and soon came across the ones that had gone before her. She scanned their faces and soon found Ui's. Ui was standing next to Mugi-senpai, both holding lit candles in one hand with the hands between them clasped with each others. They were both watching and smiling at Azusa, and she nodded in return.
As she walked up she noticed that each pair of girls, seniors and freshmen, were holding hands with lit candles. She tried to tell what was going on at the top of the hill as she neared, but whatever was being said was not loud enough to reach the next person back, probably on purpose.
When it was finally her turn at the top of the hill, there was a senior standing in the middle. She held out her hand when Azusa reached the spot where the last girl in white standing.
The woman intoned solemnly. "Who will impart upon this woman the light of knowledge?"
A figure in one of the red robes, with the hood still pulled forward to hide her face solemnly, intoned in a soft voice her reply,. "I will." The figure walked forward to directly in front of Azusa. "Little sister, from this day forward I will be your light." The woman solemnly intoned, then leaned her candle forward to light Azusa's.
Azusa noted absently a little wax spilled on the stones of the steps, and that there were many drops of it already there.
Once the candle was lit, the figure used her free hand to pull the hood of the robe back. Revealed was Yui's grin to Azusa, who smiled in return. Yui held out her hand and intoned her last part. "Take my hand, and together we will light the way for others."
You've got my heart too, I wish you could see it.
Azusa took Yui's hand a little shyly, and let herself be led back down, they took the sidewalk on the left hand side to get into position at the end of the chain on the left. She was sure they took the sidewalk instead of the road to help with the mystery for those who had not yet come to the top.
Soon Jun made the same trip as she had and Azusa watched her go up with a smile. She saw her on the other side when she joined the ranks of the 'enlightened', hand in hand with Mio.
Once the last of the white had made the trip and returned to line the path, someone intoned from the top of the hill, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"The light has been handed off to the next generation, and with the handing off, the light grows. Big sisters, I charge you to keep the light burning in the hearts and minds of your little sisters. Little sisters learn from your big sisters well, so that you might kindle the light within your own little sister when the time comes. Now go forth into the world, my sisters, and shed that light into every corner! Remember that the darkness cannot abide the light!"
With that last proclamation, the streetlights and spotlight on the building finally came on as normal and she heard Yui whisper to her. "Put out the candle!" As she put out her own candle, Azusa quickly put out her own by pinching the wick between her calloused fingers.
With all the candles out and the normal lights on, the sanctity of the moment was broken, and conversation spread out around then in a sudden cacophony of voices. Yui turned to Azusa and gave her a big hug. "Hey, little sister!" She giggled and rubbed cheeks with Azusa until the smaller woman started blushing. "I'll be a good big sister, you'll see!"
Her lips are so close, why can't I make myself take them? Is it this public place?
She smiled up at Yui's obviously happy face then pushed herself into the hug tighter. Yui seemed a little surprised but accepting of the affection, idly stroking Azusa's back. "I'll always protect you and look out for you, Azusa." Yui rocked the smaller woman in the embrace as other sister couples walked past. They weren't the only pair still doing something like this, and no-one did much more than smile at them.
Azusa could feel the words, though, like they were burning her.
She wants to protect and look out for me. I want that. I really want that.
Azusa whimpered into the embrace and buried her face, shivering from the cold as far as Yui could tell, but honestly, the petite underclassman was riding an emotional wave that was becoming patently physical to her. She squirmed a little as she felt the heat start to melt her, causing her core to start its own wet heat.
Oh kami-sama. She's really turning me on. But it's more than that, as if her touch is driving me wild, which it is. When I play together with her, it's like our talent, our souls merge. Playing the guitar is more fun than it has ever been for me with her. Being with her makes my heart feel like it has wings, I have never been more carefree. And now with this, she has pledged to always take care of me and protect me.
Azusa suddenly clutched Yui tighter, her hands clasping together around the taller woman's back. A small part of her mind took note of how solid the other woman felt. How comforting. She felt a hand run through her hair and then stroke her back soothingly, a soft voice in her ear. "It's okay, little kitten. Yui has you and isn't letting go."
Azusa shivered at those words in her ear and became very aware of how her body was reacting to it, the dampness between her legs enough that she was sure she'd have to change her underwear before bed.
I'm in love with her.
Nuzzling her face into Yui's neck she dared the softest of kisses, her lips only finding cloth.
I'm in love and I don't ever want to be anywhere else but her arms.
"Hey, Azunyan. There's, umm... free food at the Student Union..." Azusa not only heard but felt Yui's stomach growl and she couldn't help but laugh. She stepped out and beamed up at Yui's face, keeping one of her hands in her own.
"Sure, Yui-senpai, let's go eat."
They walked to the Student Union hand in hand, and for once Azusa wasn't the least bit embarrassed by the public display of affection. It wasn't just that they were not the only pair of women holding hands around them. It had a lot to do with Azusa's heart brimming over with her love for Yui. So much that she couldn't find any reason to hide it right now.
Look at me Yui. I'm going to be your lover. I have to be your lover.
A/N –
Big thanks to my wonderful Beta readers Musician74 and Lupo Azzurro. Their help with this story was invaluable. I am absolutely certain that this chapter would have been pretty horrible without their insight and help. Thank you Betas! You are awesome!
This marks a long chapter 2 I know, but I don't see chapters getting very small with this. I already have a 3rd chapter roughed out, and plenty of ideas and ground to cover for several more. I hope everyone is enjoying the ride, please give me feedback on what you like and don't like. I'll listen!
Finally, thank you readers for taking your time to read my little lark, I hope you enjoyed it!
Notes:
Hajimaru Yo!" (roughly - it's starting)
Holding up the pinkie means 'girlfriend' (sometimes they do it a little lewdly, but girlfriend is all that was intimated in the story)