For those few who have been eagerly following this story, I am reuploading all the chapters as I've gone over and given them a quick edit. The main thing I've changed is that I've removed some of the uneccessary gratuitous Japanese which a few people mentioned detracted from the story (I realise now that experiment has failed). So the story should flow more smoothly now. I'm still keeping the chapter titles in Japanese though (but they will be written in English on the scroll tab anyway). So now enjoy the redone version of chapter 2!
暗闇天使が降りてきた
"Miss Hirasawa, you really are an interesting girl, you have great potential and much to learn, I look forward to meeting you again sometime."
"YAWN. Another strange dream..." Yui stretched when she woke up. Her brown hair was in a frizzy states as usual, she hobbled over to the bathroom to to whatever she could to make it look somewhat decent for the public to see.
"GARRRR." Yui rinsed her mouth at the basin and and splashed her face to freshen herself out of sleep mode. When she was done she reached for the towel rack and dried her face before placing her two yellow clips in her hair. When she glanced into the mirror she swore she could see that strange creature standing at the edge of the doorway. She spun 180 degrees and tried to catch the critter but it wasn't there. Her rather confused little sister was standing in its place.
"Um...Onee-san...Are you feeling alright?
Yui jumped back, releasing her colossal grip on her sister and giggled embarrassingly. "I thought you were a bug or something?" She messed up her hair as she smiled nervously back at her intelligent sister.
"I see, well breakfast is ready, we'll be late if we don't hurry." Ui squirmed past her sister to reach the basin. "See you downstairs."
"Hai." Yui nodded before sprinting to the kitchen. The table was set, two pieces of warm buttered toast with a fried egg draped on top were waiting for her as well as a glass of orange juice. Yui crunched into her meal as she anticipated another wonderful day with the gang at the Light Music Club.
Yui could hear the television in the corner of the room. Ui had left the morning news on by accident. She was about to change the channel when a picture of a taped off area appeared in the screen.
#The woman, believed to be in her early 20s is believed to have died instantly when she fell from the ten storey building. This has now been confirmed as the fourth suicide in the last fortnight.#
"How sad." Yui expressed her sympathy at the unknown woman who had taken her own life. However even such hard news was not going to break her vibrant spirit.
"Sorry, let me change the channel." Ui came down with her uniform worn neatly. "I forgot you watch the cartoons before we leave."
"No-no..." Yui waved her hand casually. "I don't mind..."
Ui studied the news story for a moment and sighed. "How horrible for someone to end their own life in such a way." Ui reacted just like any other motherly person would: dismay that someone could possibly harbour such despair that they would make that ultimate decision.
"I should really pay more attention to the world around me eh?" Yui tried to lighten the mood.
Ui left the TV and began packing her bag. "Well we better be leaving soon."
Yui finished her toast and gulped down the last of her juice. "Pwah! Alrighty let's go."
'''''
After getting changed into the same uniform as her sister. Yui caught up with her younger sibling as she reached the front gate. The sky bore a peaceful image as the sun crept into view, only slightly obscured by a few friendly clouds.
"So what do you think the band will be up to today?" Ui was always interested in her sisters club activities.
"Dunno, but I hope Mugi brings some more nice cakes for us." Yui offered a carefree smile.
"It's any wonder you guys have any time to practise with all the tea and cakes you eat." Ui laughed.
Yui spotted someone over at the next block. "Hey it's Mugi! I better catch up with her. Ja ne!" Yui waved goodbye to her sister as she rushed over to Mugi.
"Hi Yui, I'm glad to see you." Mugi smiled. Her thick eyebrows wiggling in delight.
"Me too Mugi-chan." Yui had to catch her breath after her brief Olympic sprint. "I saw Mio-chan after school yesterday."
"Oh I see. And how was she?" Mugi spoke in her formal manner.
"I think she was having a bad day and left early." Yui never mentioned the odd behaviour Mio exhibited that day. "I believe she will come today though."
"You really think so?" Mugi held her hands together in hope.
"I know if she doesn't, I get to eat her cake."
Mugi laughed at Yui's remark. "I brought choc-orange with me today." Mugi pulled out a box from her bag and showed Yui the gorgeous treat. The brown-haired girl was already drooling on the box. "No Yui, that's bad!" Mugi scolded her as if she were a pet dog.
"Sorry Mugi-chan." Yui squeezed her lips when she pouted.
When the two of them arrived at the school gates Ritsu and Mio were already waiting for them. "Yo Mugi-chan, Yui-chan take all day why doncha!" Ritsu had to make her attention-grabbing greeting as always.
"Hey Ricchan." Yui bowed in front of her equally eccentric friend. She then found Mio standing next to Ritsu. "Hi Mio-chan, how are you today?"
"Hi, I'm fine thanks." Mio still seemed a little tense from yesterday but Yui hoped she would lose all that tension once they picked up their instruments and played their thrilling music.
"Where's Azu-nyan?" Yui scanned the area with her hand on her forehead.
"She's in the class, she said she'd meet us in the clubroom later." Ritsu led the way into the school building.
'''''
"We're glad you're here Mio-chan. You had us all worried about you yesterday." Mugi poured the dark-haired girl a fresh cup of piping hot tea.
"Sorry about that. Something came up and I had to leave without telling you guys." Mio seemed guilty about leaving her friends behind yesterday.
Ritsu's voice came from behind Mio. "Yeah if you were here yesterday I could have done this." She lowered a toy spider down on Mio's shoulder. Everyone else knew Ritsu was probably going to make Mio leave again and it was shown in their disapproving glares.
However Mio's reaction was quite surprising. Instead of shrieking and curling into a ball like she would normally do, she just looked at the spider and sighed. "That old one again eh?" Before she swatted the spider off her shoulder.
Ritsu was disappointed that her trick didn't work. "Someone need a recall for a defective Mio-chan?"
"Ricchan! Stop being so mean!" Mugi tried to intervene.
Ritsu crossed her arms and made an odd grunting noise. "It's no fun if Mio doesn't crap her pants anymore, I may as well start warming up the drums." Ritsu walked over to her drum-set and started making a few beats whilst the others remained at the table.
"Are you sure your okay Mio?" Mugi leaned her head forward for a closer inspection of her friend.
"I'm telling you all I'm fine, let's just practise already and forget about it." At least Mio seemed to have preserved her stubbornness. She walked over and picked up her Fender Bass before playing along to Ritsu's thumping beat
"We should probably join them too Yui." Mugi finally reached for her trusted keyboard and Yui hauled herself away from the sweets to help lead the band with her guitar. Their tiffs seemed to be forgotten in their harmonious melody. Ritsu finished the song with a flashy solo, impressing everyone else.
Ritsu clapped with enthusiasm. "Sugoi Yui! Sugoi! Sugoi!"
"It looks like we came up with another piece of magic." Mugi commented about their impulsive new song.
"Yeah, it just feels right every time I pick up Gitah." Yui stroked the body of her prized guitar. "It's as if the music were speaking to me."
"There you go in daydream mode again." Ritsu chuckled.
"Ano Sumimasen." A quiet voice came from the door. It was Azusa. "Sorry I'm late I just-"
"BLAAEERRGGHH!"
"AAGGHH!" Azusa leapt off the ground in fright. Thankfully it was only the club's advisor and Yui's teacher, Sawako Yamanaka.
"Hahaha!" The normally kind-natured teacher seemed to enjoy laughing at others expense – perhaps Ritsu had rubbed a few of her bad habits onto Sensei since forming the club. "Oh I thought you were Mio-chan, never mind then."
"You're worse than Ritsu Sawa-chan." Yui commented as the quirky teacher made her entrance. Though her small stature, modest clothes, large round glasses and beautifully kept long brown hair made her appear as a model teacher, you shouldn't be fooled. She was once a wild-chick in a rock band. Since becoming a teacher she has always tried to hide her past character, it is only when she's with the girls of the K-ON club that she can really show some of her true nature.
"Oh thanks Mugi, you've left the rest of the cake for me I assume?" Sawa-sensei had a twinkle in the corner of her glasses as she sat by the table.
"You should hear what we just come up with." Yui said. "We just randomly came up with a killer tune. Here listen to this!"
"Fine then, show me already." Sawa-sensei crossed her legs waiting for the girls to unleash their talent.
"Etoooooo..." Yui hovered her plectrum around the guitar. "Does anyone remember how it went?"
"For cryin' out loud Yui!" Ritsu cursed, even though she too had forgotten the tune.
"Why don't we just make a new song on the spot like we did before?" Mugi kindly suggested.
"Great idea, now that Asu-nyan's here we can all play together!" Yui led the band with a slow riff, building up some tension with a few higher chords and notes before Mio and Azusa backed up her rhythm with some quick picking.
"Alright I think I see where this is going." Ritsu came in with her drums, smashing the cymbals and bashing the bass drum. It was such a heavy sound, Sawa-sensei couldn't believe it. It might have even put her old band Death Devil to shame.
Yui kept going for one last solo whilst Ritsu clanged around the tom-drums to add to the finale. The song only lasted a few minutes but the girls looked like they had just run track-and-field for half an hour. Yui drooped her shoulders trying to catch her breath when she finished. "So...Sensei...What...Do you...Think?"
The teacher remained frozen like a cute statue for a moment before lifting off her glasses slowly and uncrossing her legs. Ritsu held her teeth, worried about Sensei's reaction. "It was...******* Brutal!"
"Sensei did you really say that?" Mugi was shocked by her teacher's reaction.
"I've never heard such passion from your band before. This is better than the crap I've had to sit through at clubs on a Friday night. If you can play like that at the MADD night tomorrow...Glllarrggghhhh..." Sensei suddenly couldn't stop salivating at the thought.
"Oh no Sensei hang on!" Mugi rushed over thinking her teacher was about to die. Yui and the others were stoked. Even Mio had to leave her melancholy behind for a moment just to feel excited about tomorrow night. It had only dawned upon them then that there was in fact a Music, Art, Dance and Drama event on tomorrow night, and Ho-kago Tea Time were going to be the final act of the night. The senior members of the band had been too distracted by exams and University options to have bothered coming up with a specific song for their act. But if they could muster up a song like that once more...They would become school legends!
'''''
Nightfall was approaching and the K-ON club finally finished their practise for the day. They tried writing down a few of the notes of the song and kept playing some of the pieces over and over again. They couldn't seem to get enough of the sound they were making. In fact they might have stayed all night if Sawa-sensei hadn't finally come fuming into the clubroom demanding that they go home.
"SCRAM!"
'''''
"That was awesome guys, make sure you practise all night so we can do some final rehearsals tomorrow." Ritsu waved to the others as if she were about to leave, but before she left she jumped on Mio and gave her an unwanted hug. "I love you Mio-chan, don't ever jump ship on us again sweety."
"Yame! That's enough already." Mio struggled to break free from Ritsu's gorrilla grip. "And that pirate talk is giving everyone the creeps."
"Y'know I'm just Joshin' with ya!" Ritsu gave a wink as she let go of her best friend. "Okay Ja na!"
"See ya Ricchan!" Yui waved goodbye as the others remained at the school gate.
Mio stood with the others for a few awkward minutes before she made her way home as well. "Well I better get back home as well. See you guys tomorrow."
Yep, see ya Mio-senpai." Azusa called out before she left on her own path back home. This left just Mugi and Yui left.
"Well should we start making our way back home Yui?"
"Mm. I never knew you went the same way as me." Yui beamed.
"Well only for a little while I guess." Mugi shied away from the remark.
The two rather opposite characters walked along the quiet streets for some time before Mugi reached the steps of the station. "Well I'll see you tomorrow Yui."
"Mm. See you tomorrow." Yui hopped off the step and began skipping rather innocently on her way home. Despite the darkness, Yui wasn't scared of anything – or rather she was oblivious to any possible threats that could possibly present themselves when the sun's asleep.
Yui took a slightly longer route home than usual. Her inquisitive native meant she felt like a brief wander before heading home. The city seemed so much more alive at night, even if there were noticeably less people around. She gazed at the array of concrete towers and neon sprites as she wandered around the city. Soon she found herself back in a quiet street. It wasn't long before she felt like she was being followed by someone.
"Who's there?" She turned around but was surprised to find noone on her tail. Perhaps she was just getting a bit hasty since it was getting late. She'd have to get back soon though she thought, Ui must be waiting for her and besides, nobody wants a cold dinner!
"Doo-dee-doo-diddly-doo" Yui started singing to herself to lighten the mood. She turned another corner and found herself facing the opposite of an old warehouse. But who was that girl standing outside the cracked doors. She looked eerily familiar with that blue blazer on, she must have gone to Yui's school.
She's one of my classmates but what is she doing near a place like this?
"Then again what am I doing near a place like this?" Yui knocked her head to get back some sense. "No this is serious, she could find herself in trouble if I don't say something to her."
The fellow student was about to enter the building when Yui ran over to her side. "Hi there, are you lost by any chance?" she received only silence in response. The girl continued to advance toward the old warehouse as if Yui were a mere ghost. "Hey why do want to go in there it's scary you know." Still facing no response Yui blocked the girl's path. "What's wrong with you? Why are you trying to get in here?" She was horrified by the girl's zombie like expression. The girl just budged her way through Yui as she entered the dark and mysterious building.
What the hell was that look? I need to help or she might hurt herself.
The ever curious Yui plunged herself into the dark building, but it was nothing like she had expected. She literally plunged herself into another strange world – not unlike the world she experienced in that dream the other night. She was surrounded by an infinite array of windows – everywhere! Even the roof and floor were made entirely of old and new looking windows. They each peered into another room of windows. Yui was cautious with each step but was in awe at this abstract world.
"Wow! What a cool warehouse, I can see why she wanted to come in here...speaking of." Yui called out for the girl, she must be somewhere in this strange place. Yui opened a window beneath her feet and floated down into another room of windows. However in this room some of the windows were opening and closing on their own, like chomping alligator jaws. Yui received a fright when she noticed one of the windows snarling by her feet.
"KYAH" She jumped into the air which seemed quite 'Fua Fua' like her song with the same name. The other chomping windows started to rise from the floor and advance towards Yui. The once trivial everyday intimidate object was now greeting Yui with great hostility. Yui's bright smile had finally faded and fear had taken over as she let out a shrill scream.
"Somebody help me!"
At once, all of the windows smashed in a dazzling display. For a spilt second Yui swore she could see an outline of that creature being reflected through the billions of microscopic mirrors. The glass blew across the room like shimmering snowflakes as the room returned to normality. Yui found herself back in the warehouse and it no surprise that she felt quite confused. A gaping hole in the roof provided the only source of light; Yui saw the girl from before, lying unconscious on the ground. She was bleeding from a few scratches on her face and her shirt had a few tears but otherwise it didn't appear serious. As Yui crept towards her another girl appeared from the darkness and lifted the injured girl up. A veil of long dark hair covered the injured girl and in an instant the injuries seemingly vanished. Yui was gobsmacked at what she was seeing. It was that girl from her dreams again. The dark angel appeared to be looking at Yui with grey-blue eyes before she leapt out of the whole in the ceiling, vanishing just as quick as she had entered.
Though it was only an instant, Yui was sure now who the girl from her dreams was. She was sure that the girl she had just seen swoop out of nowhere and rescue herself and the other girl was none other than the shy, timid, sometimes clumsy but ever so well-disciplined Mio Akiyama.
Yui uncovers the cause for Mio's strange behaviour. What kind of strange world has Yui discovered for herself now? Don't miss the next exciting chapter!
