Chapter 4: The Sacrifice

"I see...that's too bad. I hope Mio-chan will get well soon. See you tomorrow..."

Mugi pushed a button on her cell phone and ended the call.

"What happened to Mio-chan?" Yui asked with a worried look on her face.

"Looks like she has a fever..." Mugi explained, "It seems that they can't make it to here."

The K-on club members minus Mio and Ritsu were sitting at a table on the second floor of Bogus Cafe. Yui, who was sitting next to Azusa, was bolting her fourth cup of pudding. Azusa and Aoi were finishing their chocolate-flavored ice cream as they listened curiously to Mugi.

"Too bad. Ricchan seems really want to visit this place."

"I wonder why she does. The food's here so expensive that almost nothing's left from my allowance this month," Azusa said with a confused expression.

"You only have yourself to blame after eating so much ice cream," Aoi pointed out.

"Well..." Azusa blushed, "I can't stop myself."

"Yeah! Everything's here so delicious!" Yui said, pointing to her pudding.

"It's a shame Sawako-sensei can't come," Aoi said with a shrug.

"Don't act as if you were blameless. When you kicked her cell phone until it flew out of the window, it broke into pieces and Sawako-sensei snapped," Azusa said to her.

"It was an accident! Can you see where your foot's going when you are being raped!"

"Poor Sawa-chan..." Yui said, "And it's a shame Mio-chan and Ricchan can't come, either."

The others said nothing for awhile as they continued eating and drinking.

"...Mio-sempai and Ritsu-sempai..."Aoi suddenly said.

"Eh?" the other three girls looked at her questioningly.

"...They are so close, aren't they?" she said in a curious tone.

"Well, they've been best friends since they were little, right, Mugi-chan?" Yui said, putting a spoonful of pudding into her mouth.

"But they fight a lot," Mugi added with a chuckle.

"They're making love?"

The others were speechless for a few seconds.

"Uhm...I must have heard it wrong. What is it again?"

"Making love," Aoi repeated.

"What does that mean?" Yui asked innocently.

"Uhm...you must mean it wrong..."

"Do you mean...like, dating?" Mugi asked.

"No, it's not like..." Aoi thought for awhile, "Uhm, yeah, maybe something like that..."

"Aoi-chan, dating is NOT making love...."

"They are two greatly, extremely different things," Azusa said, "You almost completely freaked me out just now."

Azusa didn't want to think about how Aoi learnt her absurd vocabularies...and from Ritsu nonetheless.

"Azu-nyan, what's making love?" Yui asked, tugging her blazer.

"Mugi-sempai, help me..."

"It means making cookies together."

"That sounds fun!"

Azusa wished they would just get over with this topic.

"Azu-nyan, let's make love!"

"What the hell are you talking about!"

"You don't want to make love with me?"

"Your voice's too loud!"

"Azu-nyaaan...."

Yui received a good slap half a second later.

A few minutes later, Azusa walked blearily out of the cafe alongside her fellow club members, hoping that Yui would just stop clinging at her and leave her alone.

"Azu-nyaan..."

"Yui-sempai, you're heavy!" Azusa protested, slipping away from her hug.

Yui grinned in amusement. "Aah, that was great!" Yui exclaimed, throwing her arms over her head, "Too bad Sawa-chan, Mio-chan, and Ricchan can't come."

"Hmm..." Aoi looked lost in thought.

"I wonder what they are doing..." Yui said, "And, oh yeah, Ao-chan, why did you ask about them all of a sudden just now?"

The question jolted her out of her musings. "Eh? Uhm, I..."

"Yes, yes, why did you ask?" Mugi said enthusiastically.

"Eep! You're too close!" she gasped.

Aoi said nothing for a while. "Ao-chan...?" Yui looked at her curiously.

"What do you guys think..." she said, "When a girl says she falls for another girl...?"

Azusa's eyes widened. Yui, on the other hand, looked obviously clueless.

"I think it's completely okay," Mugi replied happily.

Azusa almost fell anime-style.

"Then..." Aoi looked slightly embarrassed, "Can you guys...help me?"

"Help you..." Azusa blurted out, "...With what?"

"This might sound...really strange," she said nervously, "But it's...about Ritsu-sempai. I think...I've fallen in love with her."

A few days had passed since Aoi made her sudden confession in front of Yui, Mugi, and Azusa. Mugi was absolutely delighted with this and she was more than willing to help, while Yui, being Yui, never took it really seriously from the start. Azusa, on the other hand, informed the only left K-on member as soon as she got home from the cafe.

"I see," Mio said calmly over the phone, "So she really does have a crush on her, huh?"

"Eh?" Azusa was quite surprised with Mio's reaction, "You've already known about this?"

"Well, she makes it kind of obvious..." Mio said quickly, "How's Mugi doing?"

"Do you really need to ask...?"

When Aoi had her first practice session with the K-on club members, they immediately knew that she was born to be a singer, just like when Azusa first performed her guitar skills in the club room. When they asked her how she practiced her singing, she only said she was born and bred in her father's nightclub – whatever that meant.

They also discovered that Aoi had a remarkable talent in betting and gambling. Sawako and Ritsu soon grew fond of challenging her in a bet, although she had an extreme, obviously long-trained intuition and sixth sense for gambling. So far, she could guess right the color of Mio's underwear, the title of Mugi's favorite anime, Azusa's favorite snack, what outfit Ritsu thought suits Mio the best, what instrument Yui played before she joined K-on, and how old Sawako was when she bowed out of heavy metal.

It was also the first time the girls felt awkward being in the same room with a person who declared to have a crush on their club leader. The only five people (add Sawako, because she was sharp enough to notice in just two days after Aoi joined) who knew about Aoi's romantic feelings toward Ritsu sometimes bickered about it in the middle of practice sessions when Ritsu was not listening, and voluntary work, such as leaving them alone in the clubroom or bouncing ideas for Aoi to spend more time with Ritsu, soon became common practice between them.

It also seemed that Aoi was able to adapt with the bizarre norms and habits of the club much more quickly than Azusa, probably because she was used to moving from one country to another because of her father's work. Everyone, including Mio, soon got used to having the new sixth member in the clubroom, but there was always one person who didn't seem to accept how things were at the moment.

That person was Azusa Nakano.

"Mio-sempai, I want to talk."

"Eh...?" Mio was about to eat from her bowl of rice with her chopsticks when Azusa suddenly blew in to her classroom. "Er...Azusa, Ritsu and the others are at the cafeteria buying the new menu potato mint salad, so maybe you should wait until..."

"That's why I came. I want to talk to you." She looked quite serious, "Mio-sempai, are you sure you're okay with all this?"

"With all what?" she said, raising her eyebrows.

"Aoi. She's taken your position as the lead vocalist, and you're even willing to help her get closer to Ritsu-sempai," she said, looking at her straight in the eye.

Mio looked confused. "But, Azusa, you're the one who said she is nice and that I was thinking too much, aren't you?" she said, "Besides, everyone is supporting her, and she's a really good singer, too, everyone has admitted it. Why all of a sudden...?"

"You can't be bothered to make her closer with Ritsu-sempai!" she said. Mio felt a little flip-flop in her stomach. "I know, when yesterday Ritsu-sempai said you were botching the rhythm with your playing, I know there's something bothering you the past few days."

"Oh," was all Mio said to her. Azusa had always been admiring her attitude and her bass playing skills, so it was not a surprise that she noticed. And ANYBODY would notice when she was the one who messed up the rhythm and not Ritsu.

"And the only thing that changed the past few days was A..."

"Azusa, there is nothing to worry about," Mio smiled at her, "You're not wrong at all, Aoi's a really good girl. I've been teaching her guitar lately and she's such a nice and obedient student, and... we talked about a lot of things... and... about that idiot, too."

She could remember the first time she asked Aoi about...

"...what's so good about that...born loser?"

Aoi threw her a confused glance as she looked up from her guitar. "Sempai, I thought you understand more than me," she said, focusing back to her guitar before trying the new chords Mio had shown her.

"Eh? Why should I...?" she said, looking at her.

Aoi returned her look with a sweet smile. "Well, you know her longer than I do..."

"That's why I ask you. Despite that, I still don't understand at all," Mio said, letting out a sigh.

Aoi said nothing for a while. "When I first met Ritsu-sempai, I was very thankful of her," she began, "It was then I realized we attended the same school, and when my friend showed me a photo of her performing with you guys on stage, I was totally captivated by her."

Mio stared at her. "That friend is..."

"Azusa, whom I met a few days prior to the incident," she explained, "I met her again, and she recognized me. We became much closer after that, and after some time, I realized I like everything about her: her smile, her kindness, her enthusiasm, her naughtiness, her light-hearted nature. I can't stop thinking about her. It's like my whole life suddenly becomes bound up with hers after I fell in love with her."

Mio listened to her explanation in amazement. She had never seen Aoi's expression like that before.

"I don't care if people think my feelings are strange," she said with vague pride in her voice, "Because those feelings have gone too far and now, I just can't stop loving her."

"Have you ever fallen in love..." Mio whispered, "...before?"

"Well..." she replied, "Never this deep."

Some people found love between girls intolerable and disgraceful, just like how her grandfather treated her aunt until she ran away from home. However, it was just like what her grandfather said, that love was as genuine and pure as any other, the kind of love that would sacrifice anything in that person's life for the sake of the one she loved.

She was a fool...to even think it was right or wrong.

"No, you're not. It's totally okay if you think that it's wrong," Aoi said.

"It's not okay," she said, "I...understand now. You are..."

Aoi was just like any other girl. Finding her soulmate, falling in love, and trying her best so that they could become lovers.

"But somehow I don't think that idiot deserves your feelings," Mio said.

"She cares for me, and that's more than enough," she said breathlessly.

"You really are lovesick." Aoi only responded with a laugh.

There was always a time in the year when almost all students in one class just wished to break free from the mountains of assignments and exams, while teachers praised their students' hard work and in the same breath said that it was a wonder why their scores were still simply too horrible for words.

For Mio, it was not exactly a big deal since she breezed through the tests and always became one of the brightest pupils in class. For Mugi, it was not a problem she needed to fuss about because she was smart and diligent. For Yui and Ritsu... well, it was another story.

"I'm beat..." Ritsu said as she slumped down in her chair, and put her head on the table hopelessly. In front of her, Yui mirrored her movements, with perfect timing and style.

"Is it really that hard...?" Azusa asked sympathetically.

"No, no, Azusa, if you encourage them, that'll make their laziness much worse..." Mio said, glancing over her shoulder to the two girls as she picked up her bass.

"Give me a break!" Ritsu said loudly, "We have to study AND practice at the same time! I'm dying!"

"None of them can kill you," Mio said flatly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm not as clever as you, Miss Smarty-Pantsu."

Sometimes Mio wondered if Ritsu was a masochist.

After a few minutes of practice, Ritsu suddenly slumped behind her drum set and groaned, "I don't wanna practice anymore…my head hurts…"

"Do you want me to hit you again until you bleed and die…?" Mio asked, preparing her fist.

"Mio-sempai seems to be very angry today…" Azusa pointed out.

"Must be her period," Aoi responded.

"Don't say that kind of thing with such a straight face," Azusa said to her.

On the other hand, Ritsu seemed to be angrier than usual today, too. "So what if I don't want to practice? You're the one who hurt my head!"

"Stop acting like a childish spoiled brat! Are you the club president or not?!"

Aoi watched closely as the two girls were arguing. When Azusa threw a glance at her, she almost swore she could see jealousy flickering in her eyes. She suddenly stood up from her seat and approached Ritsu and Mio.

'Uh-oh…' Azusa thought.

Totally annoyed, Ritsu started to yell, "Mio, you're such a…!"

"Ritsu-sempai, I think we should start and practice," Aoi broke in.

"Aoi…" Mio said, feeling slightly grateful.

"Ugh... Can't we just," Ritsu said with a scowl, "Take a five minute breather…?"

"No," Aoi smiled at her, and there was a threatening tone in her voice. "If we do, we'll just drink tea, eat cakes, and forget about everything else. Let's start again."

"Ao-chan is surprisingly strict…" Mugi commented.

"She kinda suits you, right, Azu-nyan…?" Yui asked.

"I don't think she said it because she WANTS to practice…" Azusa said, sighing.

Ritsu didn't seem to give up that easily. "Oh, c'mon…" she grumbled.

"Then how about this…?" Aoi said, her cheeks flushing with excitement, "Let's make a bet."

"A bet…?"

"Ao-chan is challenging for another bet!" Yui said, brimful of energy.

"If I win, you have to practice again this instant. If I lose, you can do whatever you want," she said, winking at Mio.

"Hey, Aoi…!" Mio said with wide eyes.

"Not again…"

Ritsu looked excited as she spoke to her, "Interesting! What'll it be?"

"If I can make you shout in one minute, I win," she said clearly.

"Oh, try it if you can. Nothing in this world can scare me, you know."

But Aoi moved really fast, she threw her arms around Ritsu's neck and kissed her left cheek. Everyone in the room was stunned with the sudden scene. Azusa gaped. Mugi's eyes were shining. Mio's mind went blank.

"Whoa! What the hell?!?" Ritsu exclaimed and jumped away from Aoi, blushing a few shades of red.

"Japanese culture is really weird. People can freak out with just one kiss on the cheek…" she said, straightening her head.

"Oh, how lucky I am to be here," Mugi said gleefully.

"...Mio-chan…?" Yui called, "Mio-chan?… Hey, Mio-chan…" She waved her hand up and down in front of Mio's face.

"Mio-sempai, come back to your senses!" Azusa shook Mio's shoulder.

Azusa looked up and saw Aoi throwing a cold glare toward Mio. A cold glare full of jealousy and hatred.

When their eyes met, Azusa could almost feel the killing intent radiating from that icy sharp glare, so much that she could read from her face, 'You will die alongside her someday.'

When the practice was finally over, Mugi was the first to say farewell and go home. Sawako and Yui soon followed suit, dragging a reluctant Azusa with them. It had become a usual practice between them, so that Ritsu and Aoi could spend more time on their own. Noticing everyone's cue, Mio, too, was preparing to go home. When she was about to open the door, Ritsu called out to her, "Mio!"

Mio gazed at her.

"Uhm…" Ritsu rubbed her head, "Don't you want to go with us to the café?"

Sensing a hint of loneliness in her voice, Mio felt a tinge of pain in her chest. Since everyone around her seemed to support Aoi, before she knew it, she had gone with the flow and had been doing what everyone else had: trying to help Aoi by bringing the two of them together.

She had been making a distance between herself and Ritsu for some time now, and Ritsu could never learn to accept it. Little did she know, that every effort she made to be with Mio was slicing Mio's heart bit by bit, as she struggled to stop herself from saying "yes" to her every offer.

And it was even more difficult than ever this time.

Aoi kissing Ritsu right in front of her reminded her so much of her own memory of Ritsu almost kissing herself at the station.

"Hey, Mio?" Ritsu called again.

"Mio…" the scene of Ritsu's face approaching hers flashed inside her mind for the umpteenth time.

Mio could feel Ritsu's and Aoi's eyes on her.

'C'mon, Mio, say no…' she told herself.

"Mio-sempai, what's wrong?" Aoi asked, cocking her head to one side.

'This isn't like you…just say no…as usual…' she wailed inwardly.

"Mio, I've wanted to say this to you. Actually, I…"

Her mind finally got the best of her and she broke in, "No, Ritsu, I got a lot of things to do today," she opened the door and smiled, "You guys have fun."

She gave them a little smile and, without looking at them, began to walk away from the clubroom.

"Ah, Mio-chan!" Yui piped up.

Mio felt slightly surprised when she saw Yui and Azusa waiting for her downstairs.

"You guys..." Mio said, "What's wrong?"

"Wanna go with us to the music shop?" Yui asked cheerfully.

Mio walked down the stairs and said, "Sure, why not?"

"It's been a long time since we went there," Azusa said excitedly.

"Yeah, Azu-nyan, do you know? I first saw Gitah in that shop," she recalled with a grin.

"And you chose it without second thought? That is so like you," Azusa said, smiling at her.

"Ehehe...but I like that shop alot," Yui said, "Remember when we first went there with you to fix Gitah?"

Mio suddenly stopped walking.

Azusa noticed this and said, "Mio-sempai...?"

Yui scuttled over to Mio and said curiously, "Mio-chan? What's...?"

"On a...second thought," she said, "Sorry, I think I'd better go home now..."

"Eh? Sempai?" Azusa said, blinking her eyes.

Mio smiled and said, "I just don't feel like it..."

"Why?" Azusa's voice became slightly stronger, "Is it Ritsu-sempai...?"

"Eh?" Mio said in a surprised tone, "Who said this is about Ritsu...?"

"Are you jealous of Ricchan and Aoi-chan...?" Yui asked out of the blue.

"No, what're you guys talking about?" Mio said impatiently, "Aoi's having a crush on Ritsu and we're all supporting her. So what? It's not that I'm jealous or anything. That idiot Ritsu always annoys me and teases me all the time so it's a good thing Aoi's making her forget about me for awhile. I don't care if they become a cou-"

"Mio-chan," Yui broke in, "It's been really hard for you, isn't it?"

She couldn't say anything else.

Azusa felt a surge of pity when she noticed that Mio's hands were shaking. Yui smiled warmly at Mio, and for her, it was the most tranquilizing thing she had seen in a few days, the thing she needed the most at that moment.

Yui opened her arms. She stood on her tiptoes and pulled Mio into a gentle hug.

"There, there," she said, patting her head softly, "Mio-chan is a good girl."

She felt that pain again.

Her eyes almost brimmed with tears.

"A really strong and good girl," Yui whispered, "We're proud of you."

It was as if the dam which held all the feelings she had bottled up the last few days finally burst under the weight of her emotions.

Mio buried her head weakly in her shoulder, as Yui continued to whisper words of consolation to her.

It was a painful sight for Azusa.

However, apparently she was not the only one who witnessed Yui comforting Mio. Holding on to the banisters of the stairs, Ritsu was gazing silently at the scene below her, not knowing what to say. Aoi stood next to her. They didn't hear what Mio said before Yui hugged her, and Ritsu was left clueless and sad, as Aoi noticed from her eyes.

"Sempai..." Aoi said in a low voice, "Why don't you do anything?"

Ritsu kept silent. "Why don't you run down to them...?" Aoi asked.

"I..." Ritsu said, putting her palm on her face, "She...I...she won't tell me...anything."

She hid her face from Aoi's view. "Although I know...something's bothering her...although I have...tried as best as I could..."she continued, "She won't tell me anything..."

"Sempai..." Aoi said, clutching the banister.

"As if..." she said, bowing her head, "...We cannot...share our secrets anymore..."

The hint of sadness in her voice was so evident that Aoi could feel that she was suffering much pain.

"...She is able to hurt you this much, isn't she...?" Aoi said.

"No, that's not the way it is," Ritsu said, "I don't care if she won't tell me. I won't give up. I will find out for sure!"

The determination in her eyes made it clear for Aoi. Ritsu was, had always been, unreachable.

"Why...?" Aoi said, her voice shaking, "Why is it always about her...?"

"Aoi...?" Ritsu looked at her.

Aoi pulled the sleeve of her arm and said, "Sempai...please...make one more bet with me..."

"Eh...?"Ritsu said, slightly surprised.

"If I win..." she said with a solemn look on her face, "You have to do what I ask you to."

Ritsu could see anger and envy blaring in her eyes. Her grip on her arm was so strong that Ritsu almost gasped in pain. She noticed there was something threatening, yet sad, in her way of talking. Slowly, as if she was in a daze, Ritsu touched her small shaking hand, and accepted.

"Guys, have you heard?? Fujii from next class is going to release a single!"

"Really?? That's so cool! We're going to be in the same school with an idol??"

"I doubt she'll be successful."

"At least she's gonna be famous around here for awhile."

"Maybe that's why the contest will be held."

"Contest? What contest?"

"It's still a rumor, but it seems that there's a new popularity contest on the way."

"What? Never heard of it before!"

"It seems that she's the one behind it."

"What's it called?"

"Let's see...if I didn't hear it wrong..."

"The Prince and Princess of Sakuragaoka!"

A/N: Now for some news...

The good news is... the next chap will be full of Mitsu. That's definitely a promise.

The bad news is... I'm not sure that I am able to finish it within one month. I've reached the busiest months in my school and my head almost explodes because of the huge amount of work I have to do. I can't promise you, but it might take two to three months until I post the next chap. I really thank everyone for all the support you've given to me... (T___T)

See you next chap...!