Chapter One
"Sorry I'm late" Yui breathed heavily as she entered the club room.
"Disappointing but not unexpected." Azusa chastised from the table where she was standing. Ritsu gave a halfhearted snort from her seat, it was not like Mio had arrived yet, and Mugi could not make it today due to a dentist appointment so it's not like she was missing anything.
"You don't understand Azunyan, It's a very long journey from our class to here isn't it Ricchan?" Yui attempted to defend herself. The girl in question however sighed in mild amusement as she gave her answer.
"I made it here on time, not to mention the reason you're late is because you were lamenting over the fact Mugi wouldn't be bringing tea or snacks." Ritsu deadpanned, image of the melodramatic Yui at the end of class pictured in her mind.
"Ricchaaan" Yui moaned as Asuza's disappointment intensified. Ritsu had to say they were the most... Unique versions of soulmates she's ever seen, definitely falling on the 'opposites attract' end of the scale.
"You need to show up earlier Yui, Besides, this club isn't the 'sweets' club." Azusa lectured.
"I know that! after all, I don't need a sweets club when I have you!" Yui chirped back
There was momentary silence as Azusa didn't know what to say in return and Ritsu raised her eyebrows at the statement, moderately impressed. In the silence Yui continued as if nothing happened and jumped on her girlfriend mumbling her nickname and giving her some 'Yui Affection' ™.
"J-just be more punctual." Azusa said trying to keep some semblance of composure. Ritsu smiled and leaned back on her chair, Idly fidgeting with her own timer as the other two eventually sat down at the table making some small talk. Ritsu's thoughts eventually wandered towards her own soulmate. She knew they existed, but who that was remained a mystery. She'd all but given up on finding them herself, If she was going to ever unite with her soulmate unfortunately she would have to be found.
Especially considering it could pretty much be anyone, Guy, Girl, she was cool with either, but right now she had an issue with that, someone who happened to catch her eye was her best friend, figuratively and literally. Mio entered the room and made eye contact with Ritsu who was still daydreaming. Yes the drummer had a thing for the bassist, a massive thing at that, in fact it had lasted so long and was so strong by now the depths of her affection for her best friend went well beyond the eloquent description of 'a thing'.
"Ritsu?" Mio called for a third time as the girl in question shook herself from her reverie.
"Y-Yeah what was that?" Ritsu attempted to hide her embarrassment by stretching.
"I said you left this in the classroom." Mio handed over her phone, she must have forgot to put it in her bag.
"Oh, Yeah thanks a heap Mio, I probably wouldn't have noticed until it was way to late." Ritsu replied in relief. Mio just shook her head smiling as she took her seat on the other opposite side to Ritsu, She directed her attention to the other two members present.
"So, What are we going to do today? Given Mugi isn't here." Mio posed the question tot he room. Azusa lit up but didn't get to make the suggestion as Yui was already speaking.
"I was thinking we could go to a café and have cake and tea there! I-in memory of Mugi of course" Yui suggested.
"She isn't dead! And we're not the cake and tea club! I was thinking-" Azusa tried in vein to steer the topic to the elusive 'practice' she's encountered maybe once in this club without procrastination and complaining beforehand. However she was cut off.
"Yes we always do cake and tea, How about we go and get a burger or something, Go to dinner, that'd be fun!" Ritsu recommended, Of course she was just teasing Azusa who was getting more frustrated by now.
"Okay but after the burger we all go get desert!" Yui continued.
"And who do you think will be paying your share Yui you've used your allowance!" Azusa snapped at her girlfriend. Yui pouted.
"But Azunyan when do we ever get to go out with our friends like this!" Yui moaned, and it was true, they spent a lot of time together but that mostly consisted of school, the club and occasional day ventures. The last time all of them actually ate out at dinner would have been on their school trip. Azusa seemed to realize this as well.
"Well... Not often but what about Mugi? We can't leave her out of something like this." Mio asked, this was also true.
"I can text her now, See if she wants to come after her check up. She doesn't need to... wait twelve hours or something after that right?" Ritsu inquired.
"No I think it's only half an hour, but where should we eat?" Azusa asked before realizing not only that she had been distracted from veering the conversation back on topic but she was contributing to said distraction as well.
"A-after we practice of course! We have time before dinner after all..." Azusa corrected herself.
"That's true we should practice, but we should decide on a place beforehand though so people don't get distracted" She assisted eyeing Yui and Ritsu.
Needless to say they spent the next hour and a half deciding, bickering and mucking around getting a grand total of zero minutes practice.
-0-
Meeting up at the local restaurant was simple enough. yes, after all that time deciding they chose a local place that probably wasn't even the best around, but at least it wasn't McDonald's. Mugi, to say the least, was overjoyed. Not only had she been invited out by friends like a normal person. She was being invited to not a fancy place but a local restaurant, at night, for dinner, with friends. This was a truly a dream come true.
She saw her friends walking towards the restaurant about a block or two away form the destination and she instantly instructed her driver to pull over the car. The look of surprise on her friends faces as she got out of the car was one she never got sick of, Surprise and happiness that she was there, that she belonged.
"You could have met us there, gotten us a good table or something" Mio pointed out after their usual greetings had concluded.
"I wanted to walk with you guys" Mugi answered as if it were obvious.
"I missed you so much in the club room today" Yui pouted.
"She missed your sweets is what she means." Azusa corrected her.
"Don't be too jealous Azunyan" She said as she gave Azusa a peck on the cheek.
"I-I'm not" Azusa mumbled back, flushed. Ritsu watched their interaction with mild amusement but it had a pang of something else that she couldn't quite pick in that moment, It wasn't pleasant though, She looked over to Mio absentmindedly and tried not to think about it, despite the fact she had now figured out it was jealousy, a relationships he wished she had with Mio. She quickly dispelled the thoughts.
"We should get going." Mio said rather hurriedly as she shivered. It was pretty cold out that night Ritsu figured. The group continued towards the restaurant as Yui and Azusa caught Mugi up on the happenings of the afternoon, Azusa comparably way more dissapointed than Yui of the outcome.
They arrived at the restaurant pretty early in the evening so there were plenty of seats to chose from, Ritsu went straight for a booth tailed closely by Yui who dragged a stumbling Azusa behind her.
"Why are you set on this booth" Azusa stuttered as she tried not to fall over by Yui's surprisingly strong grip.
"Here's perfect now we have a nice and short walk to the counter but its tucked away slightly with a window so we're not boxed in." Yui explained and Ritsu nodded as if they were on the same wavelength.
"This is a lovely place, It's perfect!" Mugi chirped as she sat down with Mio on the other side of the table, eyes sparkling.
"You really enjoy these sorts of places don't you" Azusa said as she untangled her hand from Yui's to grab a menu that was currently being supplied by the waiter.
"Why wouldn't I it's fun!" Mugi supplied joyously, a smile making its way to the other girls as they drifted their attention to the menus. It wasn't long before conversation started again, but this time there were two who weren't exactly comfortable with it.
"I never noticed how shiny your watch was Mugi" Yui pointed out mid-conversation.
"Its Ruby" She explained, The watches generally came in the shape of a metal or gem, Now this was purely aesthetic and soulmates didn't necessarily have to match as no two watches were exactly the same, This being said, many soulmates did end up having similar watches like Yui and Azusa who both had some kind of strawberry quartz variant.
"Maybe it glows brighter the closer you are to finding your soulmate" Yui guessed and Both Ritsu and Mio glanced down at their watches instinctively. 'If only' Mio thought as her Sapphire watch hung at her wrist.
"Oh no its not nearly close enough a time for something like that to start happening!" Mugi waved her off as Yui gave her a smile, Ritsu hoped their food would arrive soon before she was asked how long she had left.
"Is anyone close to running out of time though?" Mugi said trying to open up conversation with the rest of the table. Ritsu and Mio to be exact given the question can't really apply to the other two. 'Too late' Ritsu said as she looked towards the kitchens in vain. She forced a smile.
"No I still got some time left on my wrist. Plenty in fact." She said in a chipper tone that was hopefully convincing, though it should be she's been doing it for a while now.
"S-same" Mio responded with a neutral tone that only Ritsu could tell was a facade, the others didn't know about the predicament Mio and Ritsu were in. After primary school they promised to keep it to themselves, after all, Having a zeroed timer without a soulmate isn't something to brag about and she can only say for herself but Ritsu didn't want anyone's pity, she could really only share with someone who was in her position she figured.
"A-anyway tomorrow we really need to practice" Azusa blurted out sensing that it was time for a topic change. The conversation flowed easier with the topic change as the food was brought out shortly after. Ritsu gave the occasional glance at Mio to make sure she was alright. It wasn't like she wasn't going to be they've dealt with this quite a bit before, however, she still felt the need to check up on her best friend and found that Mio was doing the exact same thing.
To say she was touched would be an understatement.
To say she wanted to do more than express gratitude in that moment was also an understatement.
