Battle Royale AU.
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This story is supposed to take place in the universe Takami Koushun creates for Battle Royale.
A word of caution: Expect the girls to be out of character. This is supposed to be a harsher world than the one K-on! is set in.
Disclaimer: K-On! belongs to Kakifly, and the Battle Royale universe belongs to Takami Koushun.
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"Listen!"
[We chose the same dream; that is the power that drives us for tomorrow]
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Arc One: Tsubasa wo Kudasai.
Chapter Four.
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"Store-oniichan!" a very familiar voice chirped. The sound of the greeting melded with the chiming of the bell he had tied to the door.
He straightened himself up and beamed, clapping his hands together to get rid of the dust on them.
"I've been wondering when the two of you were going to show up," he said by way of greeting.
The two girls who have just entered his little shop-house were, by far, his favourite customers – and he made no efforts to hide the fact. They reminded him of his younger sisters, and he had practically watched these two grow up since he moved into the neighbourhood a couple of years back. The girls never failed to bring a smile to his face.
The eight-year-old with the sandy brown hair rushed over to give him a high five. At the very last moment, he brought his open palm to the level of his shoulder – clear above the young girl's head. Ritsu jumped, trying to reach his hand. He couldn't help but chuckle; it was really fun to tease Ritsu because she was such a determined soul. He never would have pulled such a trick on the mild-mannered Mio.
Speaking of Mio, he tried to inconspicuously offer the timid girl his free hand for a low five. Mio quickly snapped up the opportunity and offered him a grateful smile. They both knew that Ritsu wouldn't hesitate to steal the greeting from Mio if she had noticed.
"Ha!" Ritsu called out in triumph as she finally managed to slap his hand.
In truth, he could see that the girl was beginning to tire and had dropped his hand little by little so that she could reach it, but he made a show of groaning in defeat. He tossed a wink at Mio for good measure and the girl giggled into her hands when she figured out his ruse.
"Okay, okay – you win," he admitted, holding his hands up in a placating manner. "So, what can I get for you today?"
The little girl rattled out her order and he rushed to put it together. Ritsu had some spare change left after getting her mother's groceries; he told her to milk it for its worth at the dagashi store down the street. The little opportunist, however, tried to cut a deal with him.
"I'll spend it here if you'll cut me a good deal," Ritsu announced. "Please, onii-chan?"
He shook his head, chuckling. That girl – he was always letting her walk all over him.
The young man shrugged and prepared to negotiate with the young girl, bantering the way an older brother would with his sister.
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The letter was sealed in a brown paper envelope, looking every bit like the piece of formal document that it was.
The girl whom the letter was handed to sighed, looking up at the figure still bent in a deep bow before her. She ran her fingers through her ponytail. It was a habit that she had wanted to kick for a long time coming but had never gotten around to actually getting rid of it.
The figure before her dared to steal a glance with her amber eyes before looking back towards the ground.
"Is there really no way that I can convince you to stay, Tainaka?" the captain of the soccer team asked, half-tempted to just reject the membership withdrawal letter right where she stood.
Ritsu shook her head.
"What are we going to do without our star midfielder?" asked the captain. "You know, you're the most likely to be elected team captain next year if you stay. You've got great potential, and I can always recommend you for the position when I step down."
"I'm sorry, captain. I love soccer – I really do – but I've always wanted to play a real instrument, you know?" the resigning midfielder offered.
The captain sighed once more and relented: "I know; I've heard you on the harmonica a couple of times. You love soccer but you love music more, yeah?"
The second-year student didn't even have to reply. The captain let her shoulders slump for a moment before giving Ritsu a firm nod.
"Well, then," the older girl announced, "resignation accepted."
Ritsu squeezed in yet another apology before leaving. She was jogging partway down the field and towards the bleachers when the captain called out.
"All the best, Tainaka!"
Without slowing down, Ritsu held a thumbs-up high above her head as a sign of acknowledgement.
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"I still can't believe that you went ahead and quit the literature club," said Ritsu to Mio. "Then again, I never understood why you'd join a club that does homework as its club activity–"
"There's more to it than that!" Mio defended, folding her arms across her chest with a huff.
The four girls were congregated in Ritsu's room, which has become sort some of an unofficial clubhouse to them. It would have been easier for them to gather at Mio and Mugi's room (what a pleasant surprise that was) but Ritsu's room was more spacious, seeing as the girl did not have a roommate. Mugi was listening to the two best friends go back and forth while Yui was distracted by the snacks.
They had planned to get together and discuss the direction they wanted the light music club to take. Ritsu had already applied to form a new club and the results were pending. The goals they had set for the night seemed a little ambitious when all they've done so far was engage in idle chitchat.
"Ano," Yui mumbled out of the blue, still nibbling on a stick of Pocky, "I think it's a good idea – rearranging classical songs, I mean."
The girls were a little surprised by how on-task Yui was but hid it well. They've only known Yui for a week but that was more than enough time to clue them in that the brunette could be a little scatter-brained and klutzy. Yui's light-hearted and innocent personality made up for it, though – well, mostly.
Ritsu nodded approvingly at Yui's remark, glad that someone was agreeing to her idea. "Thank you, private."
"No problem, captain."
Mio resisted the urge to pull a slap her forehead in exasperation; the little running gag between the two brunettes was getting old. Instead, she turned to face Mugi and asked:
"If we do that, would you arrange the music for us, Mugi? I can help out, too."
"It wouldn't be a problem, Mio-chan," said the blonde with a brief, beatific smile. "Although… I'm not sure if we'll manage to convince a teacher to be our supervisor."
"We will be," Ritsu interjected with a firm nod. "Don't worry about that, Mugi – let's worry about the music first. We can't be the light music club if we haven't any music."
"And besides," added Yui in her usual optimistic chirrup, "Sawachan-sensei is a good person. She might help us out."
'Sawachan-sensei,' thought Ritsu, brow furrowed. A corner of her mouth twitched. 'What is up with Yui and all these nicknames?'
Mio was quick to remind them that the most pressing issue was Yui's instrument – or, more accurately, the lack thereof. Logically speaking, the instrument that they would most likely need to complete their band would be a guitar. And while the brunette wasn't opposed to the idea, there was a snag in their plans: who was going to teach Yui the guitar? Being a bassist, it would seem like Mio was the most suited for the role of a guitar teacher but Mio could only provide Yui with the basics. The bass and the guitar were similar but they were different instruments that required different skills…
Ritsu flopped to the ground in defeat, groaning for them to pick up the discussion some other time. Their entire discussion seemed to consist of one problem after another and there never seemed to be a good enough solution for them. It's killing her enthusiasm – and their application hasn't even been approved yet, for goodness' sake!
That last remark earned a blow to the head from Mio. The raven-haired girl was not too pleased by how Ritsu had pushed her to withdraw from the literature club shortly after Ritsu quit the soccer team herself. At the time, Ritsu hadn't even completed the application form and had to be reminded by Nodoka to get it in soon.
It wasn't long before Ritsu's guests retreated back to their rooms. Yui was the first to leave, saying that Ui had sent her a reminder not to stay up too late. Mugi and Mio had taken it as a cue to leave as well. Just as she was leaving, Mio paused by the door and said:
"I can't believe it. The light music club – it's actually happening."
"Yeah, it is. We'll make sure of it."
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Elsewhere, a high school student was out prowling about the masses that brought the late city nights to life. It couldn't possibly be safe for such a young (and seemingly defenceless) girl to be out so late – unless she knew her way around the underground music circles, that is.
The girl sighed and lowered the case of her instrument to the ground while she rested.
The crowd pushed on around her. Some bumped into her with a quickly-muttered apology. She couldn't blame them; the place was packed to the brim. Bottlenecked, she supposed, would be a better descriptor for the traffic situation here.
"Ain't got a gig tonight?"
The girl's gaze snapped up to find a bunch of girls not much older than she was. She knew them; she had run into them a couple of times before. Heck, she had collaborated with them a couple of times.
"Not unless you have a job for me," the girl replied.
One of the girls smirked. She ran a hand through her cropped hair, bringing attention to her pierced left ear.
"I like you; you're straight to the point and all business. Well, here's the deal–"
It was the wee hours of the morning when the girl finally arrived home. She made quick work of shimmying up the pipe with practiced ease, quiet as a mouse the entire time. She got ready for bed and tucked herself in, thankful that it was not a weekday.
She was no stranger to sneaking in and out.
Everyone else in the building was most likely fast asleep, none the wiser about the girl's adventures.
And that was the way she planned to keep things.
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"Onee-chan, it's time to get up!" Ui called.
In response, Yui curled herself up even tighter.
She whined, "But it feels like I've only just gone to bed, Ui~"
The younger sister stifled a sigh and approached the Yui-shaped mass of blankets. She sat at the edge of the bed, gently shaking Yui to wake up the older girl.
"It's time to wake up, onee-chan, or we'll be late for school. You can go to bed early tonight to catch up on your sleep," reasoned Ui.
Yui reluctantly stretched and sat up. Ui was right; Ui may be the younger sister but she was the mature one out of the two of them. Yui was more than fine with that. She didn't mind playing the naïve and helpless older sister. Giving Ui someone to dote on let Ui take her mind off things.
The older sister shuffled her way to the washroom to get ready for school, giving Ui a word of thanks and a hug before that. Yui made a show of rubbing the sleep from her eyes, and smiled when Ui giggled.
The younger Hirasawa sister rewarded herself with a half-minute break before deciding to make Yui's bed. It was during that break that Ui noticed that the window was ajar. She shook her head and reached over to shut the window fast.
Her older sister could get a little forgetful at times.
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The end of the week found Mio, Mugi and Yui eagerly waiting outside the staffroom. The tension in the atmosphere was high. Each girl was leaned towards the door, just shy from outright eavesdropping. They could hear Ritsu's muffled voice from where they stood but none of them were able to make out the direction of the conversation.
Mio was picking at her fingers; the fingers of her left hand were busy tampering with the thickened skin on her right. It couldn't possibly be good for her to be peeling away at the hard-earned callouses. Yui's brown eyes flickered to Mio's hands, then up to her face, and then quickly away. Perhaps Mio wasn't aware of her little nervous habit.
Yui then stole a glance at Mugi. The young lady was, apparently, a lip-biter. She carried herself like a character straight out a comic book. An oujou-sama, Yui decided once she spotted Mugi's folded hands rested against the blonde's (ample) chest and her demure posture – and it all suited Mugi's image. Well, except for the lip biting, maybe. The brunette had never noticed that bit about her friend before...
Yui caught herself staring and shook her head to gather her focus again. Neither of her friends had noticed her behaviour. Good.
She leaned in closer to the door. Her hands were sweaty. Her heart was hammering a staccato beat in her ribcage. Yui was wondering if her heart was beating the quarter notes to a four-four time signature when the door opened all of a sudden. The brunette wasn't the only one to yelp at the surprise.
Her fellow brunette was solemn. It was weird to see Ritsu in such a downcast mood, paper envelope in hand. Yui couldn't even find the words to cheer her friend up. Mugi was at a loss of words as well. It was Mio who finally piped up after Ritsu gently closed the door behind her.
"Hey…" said Mio, "It's alright–"
It was then that Ritsu broke character and flashed the three girls the brightest grin they've ever seen.
"We're in. It's official; we're the light music club," announced Ritsu, swelling with a pride that deflated soon enough when Mio clobbered the girl for scaring the rest of them half out of their wits.
Yui couldn't help but beam. It was coming true. The light music club…
Just like in her dream.
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