A/N: Yep, ungodly late, I know. So I just made it longer

"Holy fuckin' shit dude, that was awesome!" yelled a voice in the school corridor of Sakuragaoka High School, just a few hours after the reception ceremony that took place in the gym.

Elsewhere, a bespectacled figure's ears pricked. Quick as a flash, she sprinted from the faculty lounge to trace the source of the crude language.

"I mean, can you believe that their guitarist supposedly had no experience whatsoever before joining the band?" Jirobu continued, cheeks red from the aftershock of watching an all girl band perform.

"Well...yeah I can. She was okay, but..." replied his shorter friend hesitantly, fearing an outburst.

"Oh shut up! You asshole! Always nay-saying! You need to open your mind and broaden your horizons!" yelled the boisterous young man heatedly at his friend.

Kai sighed heavily. "That's what I was saying before. Weren't you the one talking about them being pansies, with their pansy ass music?"

"Well, well, well, what's with all the noise here, huh?" growled a menacing voice from behind the two boys, causing both to shiver involuntarily. They both warily looked behind them to see two glowing eyes, framed by round lenses. A feral grin was fixed on her face and a prominent vein was again popping on her forehead.

"Jirobu-kun and Kai-kun was it? Why so noisy in the middle of the day?" she said, the grin widening. "You should be going home, right Kai-kun?"

"Ah, hahaha, y-yes I should but I figured I would wait for Jiro to finish his detention, Sawako-sensei!" replied Kai weakly.

"Oh no, silly boy, you needn't trouble yourself!" Sawako chirped merrily.

She turned her attention to the taller, spiky haired boy, her affect completely changing from its sugary sweet demeanor just a little while ago.

"You, come with me."

"Fine, fine...." Jirobu muttered, still wondering why the woman scared the hell out of him.

"One 'fine' is enough, thank you!" she snarled, causing the two lads to flinch.

"Er, Jiro, I'll just go home, alright?" stammered Kai, still reeling from the homeroom teacher's bipolar outburst. "Call you later man!"

"Yeah, sure..." said Jirobu with a salute as he followed Sawako upstairs. He was really starting to hate this school, what with its uppity students and faculty. Good thing Kai was going here too, or else he would've already started going back to his old ways...

"Well, we're here!" said the bespectacled woman in front of him. "You and I can stay here, for the time being. No point in missing tea time, is there?"

Jirobu's eyes narrowed in confusion "Eh?"

He looked up to see a sign clearly marking the room they were standing in front of as the "Music Room". There were slightly muffled voices inside, all of them female as far as he could tell.

"Damn, nobody but girls in the detention room?" he thought joyfully. "Must be my lucky day!"

Sawako gleefully slid the doors open and waved at the occupants inside.

"Ohayooo! Did I miss the cake?" she chirped brightly at the room.

"Nope, in fact we just finished setting up!" replied a sweet voice from the inside, as Jirobu followed the homeroom teacher inside the room. The girl, a long-haired blonde with rather strangely shaped eyebrows smiled pleasantly as she handed the smiling teacher a plate of what looked to be marzipan.

He continued scanning the room, his eyes going over to the two other occupants. One was a honey-brown haired girl, taking happy bites out of a chocolate chip cookie and drinking from a cup. She wore yellow hair clips and had a slightly vapid but pleasant expression on her face.

The other girl also had brown hair, but of a lighter color and kept in check by a thin yellow hairband she wore to keep the tresses from her forehead. She was using two small teaspoons to drum an up-tempo beat, with the porcelain tableware being used as the drums.

"Hey Sawa-chan, who's the new guy?", asked Drummer-Girl, as Jirobu referred to her in his mind. Did she seriously not know who he was? He remembered her being in the same class as Mio-sama.

"Hmm? Oh, that's right, you were late so you wouldn't know," replied Sawako through a mouthful of cake. "He's...I dunno, Janken or Jiraiya or something...."

"My name's Jirobu!" yelled the only male in the room, feeling his temper spike to dangerous levels. "How could you call yourself a teacher when you can't even remember your students' names?!"

"Hey, don't worry about it!" came the cheery reply from Drummer Girl. "Sawa-chan's always had trouble remembering her student's names."

The brown-haired girl quickly set down her impromptu drumsticks and walked over to Jirobu.

She jammed a thumb toward her chest "Tainaka Ritsu."

Pointing over at the blonde and hair-clip wearing girl, she mimicked holding a microphone with one hand. "And we have Kotobuki Tsumugi and Hirasawi Yui, our lovely and talented keyboardist and guitarist, respectively."

Jirobu felt his mind freeze. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a complete band set-up – two guitar bags, a drum set and an electric keyboard.

"You're the all-girl band from this morning!" he yelled excitedly. "Oh my god, you were so awesome!"

"Heh, thanks," replied Ritsu, thumbing her nose. "We do try our best. What did you say your name was?"

"Ban Jirobu, but Jiro's fine," he replied, looking from one girl to the next. " Say, weren't there four of you on stage?"

Of course, Jirobu knew that there were four of them on stage. She was missing – the bass player that he couldn't take his eyes off of during the performance. It was strange; when they had "met" in class, she seemed so frail and cowardly, but when she performed with the band that morning, it was like a whole different person had taken the stage.

It was breathtaking, to say the least.

"Hey guys, sorry for being late, I got held up in Engli—"

The new figure froze as she took one look at Jirobu, still smiling maniacally as he was lost in his own thoughts, standing next to Ritsu, who seemed unperturbed by the psychotic looking boy in front of her.

"Ritsu, what...is...he..." she choked out.

"Hmm? Oh, hi Mio!" the drummer said, ignoring the frantic signs and waving from the dark-haired girl. "Have you met Jirobu? He's new here and he's a fan of the band!"

Jirobu scratched the back of his neck sheepishly as he looked at Mio who stared back warily.

"Er, hi? I'm sorry about..."

Quick as a flash, Jirobu's fair skinned goddess disappeared from his sight, faster than he could even finish his apology. Eyes darting around, he found her behind Ritsu, using the short-haired girl as a human shield.

"Mio? Damn, how'd you get here so fast?" asked the female drummer, looking over her shoulder at her friend. "We've got ourselves a fan here and you're not being very friendly!"

Ritsu smiled at Jirobu again. "Sorry, she's a little bit shy."

"It's n-not because of that!" came the shaky reply from behind Ritsu again. "He...um..."

"He tried hitting on Mio-chan this morning at class," piped up Sawako, finishing off her cake. "She got scared because he looks like a junior gangster."

"I thought I told you that I wasn't a gangster!" muttered the young man, blushing as the homeroom teacher recounted the details of the morning's incident.

Sawako giggled. "He needs a lighter touch when courting our Mio-chan, ne?"

"Mmm, that he does," agreed Tsumugi, slicing Yui another piece of marzipan.

The spiky-haired boy dug his hands into his pockets. "Tch. Okay, I'm sorry alright?"

Ritsu just gave a shrug "Well, we don't really have anything to do with the incident here, sooo..."

Side-stepping quickly, Mio's human shield was gone in a flash and she was left facing the boisterous lad. Gulping mightily, she bravely stepped closer to him and met his eyes.

"You were very rude."

"Yeah."

"And loud."

"Yeah."

"A-and...you shouldn't do that to somebody you just met, okay? I mean, I didn't even know your name, and you didn't know mine and you were hitting on me in the middle of the class!"

"Yes. I know."

"And....and...."

"He said he was sorry Mio-chan."

Both parties turned to the unexpected source of the input, from Yui who had just finished snacking it seemed.

"Jiro-san already said sorry.", Yui continued, making Jiro utterly grateful for the unexpected ally."And he also looks sorry....like....like when a puppy goes to the bathroom on the floor.... "

Jirobu's eyebrows began to knit together again. "Er...I think she gets it..."

Yui, however was quite engrossed in her description and ignored him completely. "And...and...it's looking really sad and it's eyes are really big! And it's making sad little puppy noises and sitting up, like it's promising that it'll never, ever, ever wee on the carpet or floor again!"

"Thank you, I think that's quite enough." Jirobu hissed, amidst cackles from Sawako and Ritsu. He didn't even dare look at Mio now; she probably thought he was a joke and didn't see him in any way as a potential romantic interest or even a friend.

"Fine."

The young man fixed the girl in front of him a dumbfounded look. "Eh?"

"I guess it's okay. What's done is done and we'll just have to forget about it."

He found himself smiling awkwardly."T-thanks, Mio-san."

The female bassist grinned in a way that made Jirobu very uncomfortable. "You're welcome. Now, who's a good boy?"

"Ooooh, BURN!" yelled Ritsu, seemingly very entertained at what had just transpired. "Yui....that was brilliant. And Mio! Just –" she made a gesture of kissing the tips of her fingers, similar to some TV chefs.

Yui smiled happily, having resumed her snacking.

Seeing everybody around him smiling, Jirobu's heart began to lift a little. Mio-sama had forgiven him! Sure, it had taken a humiliating metaphor and a solid figurative kick to his happy sack, but now his chances with at least being her friend wasn't at zero.

"Would you like some cake, Jiro-kun?" asked a pleasant voice, awakening Jiro from his thoughts. The blonde one, Tsumugi, was offering him a plate of pastry.

"Er..."

"Nope, Mugi-chan, Buster here doesn't get any cake. He's in detention."

The young man glared at Sawako who was sitting on a stool and had her arms crossed under her chest.

"Oh," said Mugi, drawing back the offering. "Maybe later then."

"Why'd you bring me here anyway?" Jiro snapped at Sawako, who was humming merrily as she sipped from a teacup.

"Like I said, no point in missing teatime."

"You could stand to miss a few tea-times..." he muttered.

Her ears pricking in anger, Sawako set down the cup calmly on her saucer and smiled menacingly at Jirobu.

"You wanna try detention for a whole year? Do you?"

Gulping in fright, Jirobu could only shake his head frantically. Damn, there was something frightening about this teacher that he just couldn't put his finger on.

Scanning the room, he noticed the two guitar bags on one of the couches.

"So...Yui-san's the guitar player, right?" he began, trying to start a conversation. The girls had settled into what seemed to be familiar routine to them and he was feeling a little bit left out.

"Mm!" came the reply from Yui, still stuffing her face with sweets. "I practiced real hard last night so we could have a super-great show!"

Jirobu smiled. "Well, you did. That was an awesome performance."

Ritsu, having stayed quiet for a while, swallowed her cake and addressed the only male in the room.

"Hey, whatcha think about the drums? Any good?"

"Yeah, it was awesome too!" he replied excitedly. "It was like, the best show I've ever been to!"

"Bullshit."

All eyes turned on Sawako, who was still sipping from her cup.

"Don't you girls see? Buster here could care less about how you sound," she said thoughtfully. "He's not using his ears at all, are you Jiro-kun?"

"Wha— ?"

Sawako got up from her seat and continued. "I mean, think about it. He's a boy and you're...well, you're four nubile young women performing in a band. How much do you think how you sound really matters to him?"

There was a tense silence that filled the atmosphere in the previously cheery Music Room. Each band member was looking deep in thought about what the teacher had just said, particularly Mio who had brought a hand on her chin.

"Sawa-chan's right." Mio finally said, after a long silence. "Ritsu, your drumming was good, a lot better than usual actually."

Ritsu didn't smile. "But?"

"You missed a few beats and there were a couple of bum hits on the last verse."

The drummer nodded slightly. "Yeah, I know. I was kinda hoping you missed that."

"Yui...you said you practiced."

The guitarist looked up from her teacup to meet Mio's gaze. "I did!"

"At full tempo?"

"Uh...ahehehe...." she laughed sheepishly, poking her fingers together.

"What about me?" asked Tsumugi, looking a little down. "I didn't really have time to practice all that much..."

Mio smiled reassuringly at her blonde friend "No, you were fine, Mugi-chan, but you need a little bit more energy when we perform. You need to look at the audience more."

Clearing her throat loudly, Mio crossed her arms while looking down at her empty teacup. "As for me, I missed last chord in 'Fuwa Fuwa' and my harmony singing with Yui sucked."

Jirobu swallowed nervously. "Well...I guess it could have been better but...hey, every band has it's off days right?"

Mio responded with a flat look. "Is that what you want to be thinking after a concert? That it could have been better?"

More uncomfortable silence as the members of the band, their teacher and their impromptu guest thought of what to say next.

"Well then, that's that!" spoke up Ritsu, slamming her palms on the makeshift desk-table. "We could have been better, you say? We'll be better. Damn it, we're After School Tea Time and we're going to rock the Budokan someday!"

Yui stood up, pumping a fist in the air "Yeah! I have to go practice now!" And with this, she quickly made her way to the guitar bags on the sofa and unzipped the black luggage.

Jirobu's eyes practically glazed over as he laid eyes on the beautiful instrument. While he had seen Yui perform with it earlier, he hadn't managed to get a good look at the headstock (for his eyes were somewhere else, of course).

But now, he could the name clear as day; Gibson.

"Holy....that's a genuine Les Paul!"

Yui nodded in affirmation as she began to strum a few power chords on the electric guitar. "Everybody here helped me to buy it!"

"Do...you think I could try it?" said Jirobu, voice barely above a whisper. He had never even seen a real Les Paul; oh sure, he saw a lot of copies from various companies but he hadn't even seen one so up close!

The usually bubbly guitarist suddenly looked a tad apprehensive. "Y-you want to play with Gitah?"

The boy nodded. "Gitah, eh? Is that your instrument's name?"

"Whoa, he didn't question it at all!" said Ritsu in a hushed whisper, while Mugi nodded in affirmation.

"It's not really unusual for guitarists name their guitars," stated Mio, before turning on the still salivating Jirobu. "Do you play Ban-san?"

Ban-san.

If it was possible for Jirobu to shatter into a million tiny little pieces right there and then, he would have. Seriously, Ban-san? He would have to work his way up to first name basis with her somehow, but considering what had already happened, he was not off to a great start.

Seemingly noticing the young man's crushed spirit, Yui removed the guitar from her person and held it out ever so carefully to Jirobu.

"Here, Jiro-kun, play something for us!"

Lighting up quickly, Jirobu took the guitar with steady hands and tested its weight as the straps settled on his shoulders. It was perfectly balanced, the neck was as smooth as butter and the craftsmanship was a wonder to behold.

"Go on, play something!" egged on Ritsu excitedly.

"What do I play? I bet this thing's got some excellent crunch to it!" thought the lad excitedly, taking out a guitar pick from his wallet. He was already poised to play his first power chord when he stopped as if frozen.

"No, I can't play that! These girls play light, fun, poppy music! What would they think if I play that?! What would Mio-chan think?! Ah, goddamn it!"

"Is he alright?" asked Mugi, looking quite concerned for the frozen fellow.

"Damn it, I don't any pop songs! Maybe they won't mind Iron Maiden? Or maybe Trivium! Yeah, that's pretty melodic!"

A rapid-fire galloping rhythm filled the walls of the Music Room as Jirobu picked out a thunderous riff on the guitar. The aggressive riff bounced off the walls, filling the empty space with a wall of sound.

The members of the Light Music club stared dumbfounded. What had they just heard?

Jirobu began to sweat nervously as the silence wore on, the only sound coming from the amplifier. "Er....that...that was..."

"Hmm, Entrance Of The Conflagration by Trivium."

Jirobu turned his head so fast, he sure he heard something pop. The teacher...she knew what song he was playing?

"I gotta say, I liked their Ascendancy album a lot better than The Crusade," she continued sauntering over at Jirobu with a gleam in her eye. "Play something again."

Nodding, the boy began to pick out another riff, this one an up-tempo piece despite retaining the aggressiveness.

"'Crazy Doctor' by Loudness. Not bad," said Sawako with a smirk. "Another one."

Jirobu nodded feeling decidedly more upbeat. "I think you guys might know this one."

He began playing a power chord riff, simple but very driving. It was surprisingly funky yet still somehow still being quite aggressive.

"Oh, I got it!" chirped Ritsu, excitedly. "Like A Foojin by BECK!"

"Correct," Sawako replied, with a thumbs up gesture. "Last one."

Nodding again, Jirobu began playing an incredibly dark and heavy riff. It was almost atonal in its quality, punctuated only by palm-mutes mixed with open chords.

"Satsugai by Detroit Metal City," said Sawako, her eyes beginning to glow eerily. Jirobu swallowed mightily and quickly gave the guitar back to Yui.

"How....how'd you know those songs?!" he yelled pointing a finger at Sawako, who simply smiled mysteriously.

"Another story for another time," she said, grinning pleasantly. "Now, since it seems I've got everyone's attention....Jirobu-kun, what did you really think of the band's songs?"

The lad swallowed mightily, looking at the expectant faces on the girls. "Damn it...I'm sorry but...I thought it could've used...some....I don't know..."

"...edge?" came the answer from Mio, looking very much like she'd had an epiphany. "You're a pretty darned good guitar player."

The boy blushed mightily. "Thanks Mio-ch...er, Mio-san."

Looking over at her bandmates, the raven-haired bassist had a determined look in her eye. "We're going to get better even if it kills us. We're going to rock the Budokan, right?"

"RIGHT!" came the chorus of replies.

Mio turned to Jirobu. "Jiro-san, do you think you could teach Yui how to play guitar better?"

The boy felt his heart grow wings and fly into the heavens. He had worked his way up to first-name basis in fifteen minutes flat!

"Um, I guess? I really mostly play rhythm. Kai's the real guitar whiz. He should be able to teach Yui-chan."

"Great," said Ritsu, cracking her knuckles. "Guys, winter break's almost coming. I think it's high time we started stepping up our game."

"Osu!" supplied Tsumugi, her brows furrowed in determination. "You're a blessing in disguise Jirobu-kun!"

"Heh, thanks," said Jirobu, feeling quite good about himself. All he had to do now was get Kai and...

....oh, shit. He had neglected to mention that the reason why Kai was so good at guitar was because he spent most of his free time practicing in his room. And the reason why he spent so much time practicing in his room was because of his morbid fear of people, girls in particular.

Crap, what had he gotten himself into?

A/N: Remember when I said a while ago that I would reference just one fictional band? I actually referenced TWO fictional bands here. Cookie to anyone who can point them out!