A/N: Happy Birthday, Mio-chuan! :D (1.15.2011)
As my gift to you, in commemoration of this day, I present to you a warm memory from your past. :3 Quite literally warm, I'd say. XD
(Just to prevent any misconceptions, this chapter is a flashback of their childhood, as Mio's thoughts alluded to at the end of the last part. Just thought I'd point that out. :3)
A sentry in the lazuline heavens, the blazing sun patiently awaited crepuscule for retirement. Nigh fully unadorned, the sky's paltry sum of clouds did little to hinder its celestial resident's potent glimmer. Ergo, its burning rays enveloped the scholastic milieu below within oppressive warmth, sapping strength and focus from children who, predominantly, possessed zero attention span in the first place.
"Uwah... So hot...," Two enfeebled voices decried in unison.
Beyond their school's doors, supposed liberty was just in front of them. Deplorably, their first steps on the path home had only betrayed them, leading Mio and Ritsu outside into a realm of purgatory; they stood aghast when acquainted with the miserably scorching conditions that demanded their endurance.
The commute home would be a hellish one.
"Argh...," Ritsu released a vexing number of groans, trudging along the sidewalk at a pitiful speed with her back hunched, and her deadweight arms swaying to and fro like pendulums. "And I thought it was hot in the classroom...," she remarked, her face contorted in utter misery.
Mio found some unexpected merriment in her friend's inflated displeasure.
"You look like a zombie, Ricchan," she observed, a blithe giggle audible.
"...You're the last one I'd picture making that comparison, Mio-chan. Though, I guess if it helps you flog a fear, I'm happy for ya..." Ritsu had attempted to speak without sounding lifeless, but failed terrifically.
As the brunette carried on as if she were crossing the Sahara, Mio dragged herself home in a similar, albeit less melodramatic, fashion. Far from being impregnable, Mio struggled somewhat with harnessing stamina in such sweltry conditions, as her lengthy dark tresses were best suited for cooler weather. She could recall learning that darker colours absorbed ultraviolet heat rays, while lighter ones reflected them, a memory which always seemed to taunt her on days like today. How she wished for a lighter hair colour.
'Though... isn't black a shade...?' Mulling over dubious perspectives on such picayune matters served as a distraction from the heat for little more than seconds, at which point...
"Mio-chan! !"
Mio's entire body jolted in surprise; Ritsu's manic outbursts never betrayed expectations to rob her of all serenity.
"E-eh? ! W-what...? Don't yell so suddenly..." Mio's usual timorous voice had weakened further in the heat. How Ritsu suddenly managed to appear unfazed by the weather, Mio could never fathom.
"Look!" Ritsu threw her arm out dramatically, seemingly pointing to something in front of them.
"At what...?" Mio's head tilted to one side with her inquiry; Ritsu was clearly pointing at air. There was nothing noticeably garish or conspicuous to be seen ahead of them, either.
"It's the door to your future!"
"Huh...?" Mio deadpanned.
"And your decisions are the key to that door!" Ritsu explained.
"...What exactly are you talking about, Ricchan...?"
"I'm sayin' you won't get anywhere if you decide to stay so shy!" Ritsu placed a hand on her hip for emphasis as she held one finger up, shaking it at her friend while she spoke. Mio quickly distinguished this all to be impromptu babbling on Ritsu's part, though the essence of her message still imbued her with melancholy nonetheless.
"That again...? I... I'm trying!"
"I know, I know. Hey, don't worry about it! I've come up with something that might help ya!" Ritsu suddenly wore a devious smile. Seeing this, Mio shuddered.
"But first... do you have any ice cream at your house Mio-chan?" Ritsu's new-found energy suddenly met its untimely demise, as she promptly returned to her earlier debilitated state, accompanied with severe slouching, and the instant death of all her usual vigour. Mio covered her mouth to avoid a giggle escaping.
"Sure, I've got some-"
"Great! !" Ritsu's eyes suddenly shone with the liveliness of Christmas lights, and she recovered from her droopy state forthwith. "Then we'll get started on 'Operation Confidence!' The new you! The assertive you!"
"Ehh...?" Mio was rather flummoxed at the sight of Ritsu's highs and lows in regards to her vitality.
In a flash, Mio felt Ritsu's hand swiftly take hold of her wrist, and then they were off, with the brunette pulling Mio along towards their destination. The dark-haired girl blinked thrice as she realised what was happening, then began to whine about being able to walk fine on her own, though her pleas fell on deaf ears, as they often did with Ritsu.
"So... you just wanted ice cream, huh..."
"You're wrong! I'm gonna help ya!"
"Okay..."
As Mio happened to stare up at the vast sky, a single cloud caught her eye. Being completely solitary in the firmament, Mio wondered if it was lonely as she watched it slowly drift on by through the heavens at the wind's mercy.
'It looks like a teddy bear...'
She could empathise with that cloud; they were somewhat alike. Just as it was pulled helplessly along by the wind, Ritsu frequently dragged her into many of her endeavours as she pleased. Though, Mio could refuse, if she had truly wished to do so. This humble cloud was not so fortunate.
"I wonder, Cloud-san... do you... like the wind...?"
"What's that, Mio-chan? I couldn't hear ya," Ritsu called from over her shoulder, still dragging her friend onward.
"Hey, Ricchan?"
"Hm?"
"...The sun makes your forehead really shiny, Ricchan."
"... Shaddup!"
A/N: LOLIPOSTEDSOMETHINGONTIME.
There is a strong possibility I may dismantle this fic's poorly short "chapters" in the future, reconstructing them together to form chapters of greater and more acceptable length; at present, the word count of these chapters is simply egregious.
It's not unlike how chapters of a manga are released, and then are eventually compiled into a complete volume.
I had originally planned on finishing the whole fic come Mio's Birthday, but I got preoccupied with crap like IV breeding/EV training, along with laziness, and simply released this. Hey, at least I managed to write something, right?
:D?
