Chapter 2: Prelude

"For tomorrow's weather forecast, thanks to the rain, the fog shall be lifted. You can expect sun to be shining all day long for the entire week." The newsreader read the prediction for the upcoming days. "As for the disease, our national laboratory said that you can expect it to be ended soon. It was probably because of the fog, and that it shouldn't have any side effects."

*beep, beep, beep, beep"

"Hmm… Funny, Mio's not picking up." Ritsu looked quizzically at her phone. She had been trying to call her childhood friend to walk to school together for the past five minutes, but none of her calls were picked up. "Perhaps she's having breakfast right now. I'll just pick her up, then…"

*ting, tong*

"Yes? Oh, Ritsu-chan? I thought Mio was walking with you?" Ms. Akiyama asked the brunette, who looked as puzzled as her.

"Huh? I was calling her all the way here. Thought she was having breakfast… Oh well, I'll walk alone, then. Excuse me!" The amber-eyed grinned at her best friend's mother, before jogging her way to the school. It sure feels different, walking to school with and without Mio. But why is she avoiding me? Did I make any mistakes? I'm sure her birthday is next month. She still phoned me yesterday night. What could possibly happen in such a short span? Ritsu was too immersed in her own thoughts that she bumped into Mugi near the station.

"Whoa! Sorry, Mugi! Good morning!"

"No problem, Ricchan! Good morning to you, too!"

"How are you?"

"Oh, I'm perfectly fine, thank you! What about you?"

"Hehe, same here!"

"Huh? Where's Mio-chan? You usually walk together with her to school… Something happened?"

"Not really… She still talked with me until yesterday night… But she wasn't picking up when I called her this morning… And her mother told me that she had gone to school."

"Strange, Mio-chan won't be angry without any legitimate reason… Let's talk to her later, shall we?"

"Sure!"

"Mio-chan?" Mugi approached her friend carefully. She was sitting in her chair, but somehow the atmosphere was different. It was… heavy. "Are you okay?"

"Does that matter? Or does it concern you in any way?" Mio's voice was rather low, cold, but every word seemed to be as sharp as needle, able to pierce one's soul. Mugi was rather taken aback by the cold response she got.

"Hey, what's with you? You didn't pick my phone this morning, and you also walked to school alone. What's wrong?"

"And how will any of the actions mentioned above satisfy me? Or profit me, in any way?"

"Huh? What's that?"

"Get lost. Now. I'm in a foul mood. Don't disturb me." Stormy grey eyes glared to Ritsu's amber ones. The eye contact broke when another brunette and her high-pitched voice came from the door.

"Ah, good morning, everyone!"

"Oh, Yui-chan, good morning to you, too…" Mugi trailed off as Mio suddenly grabbed Ritsu by her collar. "Mio-chan? What's wrong?" Yui tried to separate them, but Mio elbowed her hard at her left nose, sending the girl down to the floor, her back hitting a desk behind her. Gasps were heard, as the entire class was looking at them anxiously, puzzled at the sudden tension. Mugi tried to help Yui back up, and gasped when she saw Yui's nose was bleeding.

"Oh, you're bleeding! Hold this tissue now, just look above, and let me take you to the infirmary." Mugi tried to keep her composure as she ushered the poor guitarist.

"Hey, what's that for? Are you mad?" The drummer was furious, exasperated with the bassist's actions.

"I. Don't. Give. A. Fucking. Care. About. That. I warn you now. Don't get in my way, or you will end up like her." She coldly cussed, shocking the entire class. Ritsu was clenching her fist when suddenly the door slid open, and their homeroom teacher, Sawako, entered the class, forcing Mio to let go of Ritsu's collar. But before the shorter girl walked away, the raven-haired whispered something that reverberated in the brunette's head.

"We'll settle this after school. You. Me. Rooftop."

She scratched the back of her head. Frustrated. How come, a scaredy-cat like Mio, turned like that? Hitting her friend seriously was something she had never done before. Did I do something wrong? Hell, even though I did, there's no way she could cuss like that… What's gotten into her? Is this some kind of joke? Not a chance. Could it be a kind of mind-intruding disease? Or…or…

"Tainaka? Please answer the equation here." Sawako broke the brunette from her trance. 2 * 2x + y * 4 = 30 while 2 * x + y * 4 = 17. Oh, good, nothing comes to my mind. "Erm… x is 13 while y is 4, perhaps?"

"If you examine it more carefully, you'll find that it's actually 6.5 and 1. Care to share your previous musings with the rest of the class?"

"… No, Ms. Sawako. Sorry."

"Alright. Just pay attention, okay?" Ms. Sawako? She always called me Sawa-chan… I wonder if something happened?

"Yes."

"Oh yeah, by the way, did anybody see Kotobuki and Hirasawa?" Sawako wandered her eyes throughout the classroom but didn't find them.

"They're probably at the infirmary. Yui's nose was bleeding, so Mugi took her there." The amber-eyed drummer answered nearly inaudible.

"Oh, I see. Thank you. I'll check on them later."

*ding, dong, ding, dong*

"That should conclude our lessons for today. Don't forget to review what we've learned today."

"Okay, sensei!"

The lesson for the day is over, but something made Ritsu rooted to her chair. Mugi and Yui didn't come back; the bleeding was rather bad so they decided to take her to the hospital to see if anything's broken. And Mio skipped the final class as well, dark aura emitting from her preventing anyone from even asking.

She still remembered Mio's words from the morning, to meet her at the rooftop. It didn't sound like Mio, but she had to talk to her. No one knows what struck her. Ritsu talked to herself. I definitely need to meet her.

"What is it Mio? You skipped the final class. You never did that before. What's wrong?" Amber met stormy gray, as Mio coldly stared at the brunette. The raven-haired put a cold smile in her face. She never put on that smile before. Her smile was always honest, from the deepest of her heart. Otherwise, she wouldn't smile. It's not her smile. Ritsu was trying to find reasons when Mio's low, deep voice struck her dumb.

"What's wrong? You asked me what's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong. IT'S YOU. YOUR VERY EXISTENCE IS WRONG."

Shocked by such harsh words, Ritsu was left speechless, unable to believe her own ears. It can't be. My ears are deceiving me. It can't be right. Mio's words were full of anger.

"Even right now, probably you're thinking I'm a scaredy-cat, right? That I would never even dare to hurt my friends, no matter what they've done? That I would tremble at horror sights?"

"What are you –"

"SHUT UP! It was you. It was always you. Because of your stupid actions, I always thought that I'm weak. Now I'll show you, it's you who're weak."

As she was saying this, Mio jumped at Ritsu, who were still rather taken aback by her harsh words. She stepped back just in time to avoid Mio's left hook.

"Hey, what's into you? This is ridiculous! If it's a joke, I suggest you cut it out -" Her words were cut when she had to duck in dodging the bassist's jab at her face.

"You think it's a joke? Guess again."

Another hook.

Dodged

Spin kick.

Hit nothing but the air as Ritsu jumped back.

"Don't just avoid, damn it! Fight me! Or do I need to show you what I'm capable of?"

"I-I can never fight you. You're my best friend. There's no way –"

"You'll regret that."

She dug her pocket, and let out a short, small dagger. It was small, but effective in close combats. Especially when your opponent is unarmed. A dagger may not harness explosive power like a sword or an axe had, but when used effectively, it can pierce through one's vital spot very easy.

"W-what happened, Mio? Y-you really… I mean…" Ritsu stammered, unable to even retaliate.

"Yes, I'm serious. I'll warn you one last time – fight me with all your might."

Despite her entire body was trembling with fear, the drummer said with sadness in her voice, "I-I can never fight you."

Mio glanced coldly at the drummer, and said, "Fine then."

She threw her bag to Ritsu's face. The girl jumped to her right in dodging it, but was surprised when she saw a dagger heading right at her. Mio threw the bag as a decoy, limiting her opponent's movement by taking them at surprise. The dagger stabbed the surprised drummer in her left shoulder. She screamed in pain as blood began to pour from her stab wound.

"I've told you to fight seriously." The bassist smiled mockingly at her wounded friend. Her eyes stared right at her body, giving chills down the brunette's spine. It's a look of a hungry wolf's eyes, getting ready to enjoy it's prey. "Don't worry, I'll spell you from any pain soon – you'll meet your parents and brother in heaven."

Parents? Brother? What was she talking about? It couldn't be… The brunette broke out of her trance when a feet suddenly kicked her stab wound.

"I bid you farewell." Ritsu couldn't processed what the bassist whispered to her ear as she suddenly gasped for air. Mio's knees were digging to her lungs, and her hands wrapping around the drummer's neck. She was unable to breathe. She made a desperate effort by swinging her right hand, connecting with Mio's right temple. But the blow didn't even knock her away or made her loosened her grip. Instead, her lips upturned into a snarl, her body trembling with anger. Her eyes scanned over the brunette's shoulder.

"Hmm… this should do the trick…"

As she said this, she slammed her fist to Ritsu's right shoulder. She let loose another piercing cry of pain, as her vision began to get spotty and blurred with tears. Her right shoulder was swelling. She felt a sharp pain and nausea was hitting her as she made a desperate attempt to move her right shoulder.

"Tch, someone's coming here. And it's going to rain soon. Let's just say, you're lucky this time. If I ever meet you again, let's say it'll be your demise."

Ritsu's vision was blurring, but she was able to see Mio opened the door and slammed it. Seconds later, just as her consciousness fading away, she heard screams around her.

"Ricchan!" "Ricchan!" "Ritsu-senpai!"

"Oh god, what happened to you?" Ritsu recognized that high – pitched sound at once – it was none other than Yui's.

Oh, the band's here… perfect. What should I say to them?

"Hello? Could you send an ambulance to Sakuragaoka High School? A student was heavily injured." And that soft voice must be Mugi's. She somehow detected tremor in the keyboardist's voice.

"Yui – senpai, please refrain from making her feel more pain!" It must be Azusa noticing the drummer whimpered when Yui tried to check on her injuries. "Let's bring her downstairs. We need to rush her to the hospital."

"Y-yes! Help me here, Azusa!" Both guitarists carefully lifted her wounded friend and began to take her downstairs when they met Nodoka Manabe, Yui's childhood friend and member of the Student Council.

"Yui, what are you – oh my goodness. What happened to her?"

"Questions later, Nodoka-chan! We need to be quick!"

Ritsu's pain was overwhelming. She finally gave up to the pain. Her thoughts began to fade away. Then it was pitch-black.

"Doctor? How's her condition?" Mugi asked worriedly to the doctor.

"Well, we ran an X-ray at her. She's suffering a concussion right now. But it isn't our main problem here." The doctor answered back.

"Her arms." Azusa whispered, but audible enough to be heard by everyone there.

"'Arm' doesn't really fit her condition." The doctor explained. "It's her shoulders. Her left shoulder's rotator cuff was torn. But it was torn rather badly. I suppose she's a drummer? A single stab from a small dagger wouldn't tear the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and teres minor at once."

"Yes, she's indeed the drummer for our band." Yui spoke up quietly, tears welling up in her eyes.

"And her right shoulder is even worse. It isn't just a torn limbs or muscles. She suffered a clavicle fracture."

"Her collarbone was fractured? But doesn't it require a direct blow to it?" Yui stared quizzically at her junior as the twin-tailed guitarist asked the doctor. Where did you get those kind of things? I really have to pay more attention to the class…

"Not just a direct blow, my dear. It required an enormous force. Recalling to what you wrote at the form, she was found at the rooftop. So we can eliminate the chances of broken clavicle because of falling." The doctor was rather confused himself. "It's quite a rare occasion. Whatever struck her, the force nearly cause acromioclavicular dislocation. It was quite close to a type III of that AC joint separation. Anyway, it'll take probably around 3 weeks for the initial bone and soft tissue healing. But unfortunately, she won't be able to use her right arm fully for around 10 months."

"When will she regain her consciousness?" Mugi tried to control her voice, but she was unable to hide her sobs.

"She fainted from the extreme pain and a light blow to her back of the head. She should be awake tomorrow morning."

"I see."

"You're going to wait until she wakes?" The doctor took a glance at his watch, trying to remember his schedule for the rest of the day.

"I don't know about the others, but I'm staying here." Mugi answered confidently while smearing away her tears.

"I'm with Mugi-senpai. What about you, Yui-senpai?"

"Let me call Ui first. I'm also staying here."

The doctor chuckled a little. "Such a tight bond, isn't it? It must be nice for her to have friends like you."

The girls finally smiled a little, a minuscule elation surfaced.

"Tell her not to move both her arms when she wakes up. It'll lessen the pain and prevent further injuries."