WARNING: Contains violence and inappropriate language. Read according to your own discretion.

DISCLAIMER: This story is purely fan made. All K-On! characters belong to their respective owners.


CHAPTER EIGHT: Test of Skills


In the absence of the sun, the island is nothing but an escapade full of beasts that thrive in the wilds where dangerous predators lurk everywhere, seeking potential preys which serve as a crucial factor towards survival.

Unlike human beings, they don't need knowledge rather they are governed solely by their instincts which played an important part in maintaining the equilibrium in the ecosystem.

Inequality in the form of powerful predators that devour every single prey they could find? That's bullshit. In this very island, rationality is inexistent. It's eat or be eaten; there's only one choice to make - to prove one's worth that they all have what it takes to survive.

That mindset also applies to the three who ventured out in the time of day where the beasts are sleeping peacefully, with the hopes of filling their satiety.

"Sawa-chan…" the redhead spoke in a hushed tone, "isn't it a bad idea coming out of the building where the fog's all over the place?"

"She's right", the brunette agreed, "We're on a very huge disadvantage if the beasts found out that we're trespassing into their territory. It's like we're inviting ourselves to be eaten."

The woman turned around to face the two, "what are you talking about? We're here to look for a potential breakfast."

"What!?" the delinquents were startled.

"Nobody's sending us provisions so the best thing we could do is to eat what the island provides us", she continued, "Besides, I feel like eating omurice for breakfast."

"You don't mean that we'll look for eggs right now, do you?"

"Well, what if I said that we're looking for one right now?" she leaned closer to the two while holding her hips.

"I don't think that there are chickens living in the forest. They're domesticated for consumption, you know?" the redhead tried to persuade the woman.

"I know that, silly! That's why we're looking for an ostrich egg."

Ostriches in the forest!?

"Masaka…" Ritsu was taken aback, "there are ostriches in this island? I thought they live somewhere in the desert region?"

"Oh yes they do", Sawako nodded, "but fortunately, I found many of their kind in that area". She pointed her finger towards the direction of the swamps.

Impossible! There is no fucking way they exist in this isolated place!

"So you're thinking that I'm lying, huh?" the woman leaned closer, certain enough to assume what the delinquents are currently thinking - loads of bullshit.

"Oh no, Sawa-chan" the brunette replied, clearing the woman's suspicion though their faces gave it all away, "we're just perplexed on the idea that there are ostriches in here", sweat dropping hoping that the woman will buy her excuse.

"They really do exist." She rubbed her chin to look knowledgeable, "Long time ago, there was man who smuggled the ostriches from Africa across Japan in an attempt to sell it in a higher price in the black market. Unfortunately, they were caught by a violent storm during their voyage then ended up being washed away to the island's shore, together with his smuggled goods. "

Sawako slipped her arms to the delinquents' shoulders, displaying her strength to impede their attempts for escape.

"You're coming with me right, Yui-chan… Ricchan?" her smile meant the exact opposite.

They didn't dare to oppose the woman out of fear that she will torture them for disobedience.


"Ricchan!" Yui's eyes were gleaming, "There are lots of ostriches in here!"

"Shhh!" Ritsu warned the brunette, "Lower your voice or else the ostriches will notice us."

"She's right, Yui-chan." Sawako added, "They can be really aggressive when someone dared to steal their eggs."

"Oopps… My bad!" The brunette quickly apologized in a soft voice, almost inaudible.

The three were hiding in the bushes, thirty meters away from the ostriches. They were busy discussing their plan to steal the egg from the mother ostrich.

"This is the first part of your test", the woman crossed her arms, "obtain the egg without alarming the other ostriches."

Damn this old hag! I think she wants her revenge for calling her a witch!

"Ano… Sawa-chan" the brunette asked, "do we have something like weapons… crowbars, baseball bat and the like?"

"Oh… Thank you for reminding me, Yui-chan." The woman scratched the back of her head, embarrassed, "I won't come to this place unprepared. I do have something in my bag to aid you in your task."

She pulled something in her bag and showed it to the two enthusiastically, "Tadaaa!"

"….."

"…?!"

What the fuck is with that!?

"Sawa-chan..." the brunette asked nervously, "you're telling us to use that?"

"Yes… is there a problem with it?" she seemed vexed with the delinquents' reaction.

"There's really a BIG problem, Sawa-chan!" the redhead shouted.

"Shh!" Sawako hissed, "You guys should be thankful that I prepared something for you. Don't you get it? This is very useful, I tell you. You don't know its effectiveness not until you try it."

"But it has nothing to do with stealing the eggs." The redhead got teary-eyed.

Right before their eyes were two skimpy cheetah outfits tailored to their sizes. It's embarrassing to the point that it defiled their very existence as human beings.


"I cannot marry anymore!" the brunette wept while wearing the outfit.

"Tch! You girls are exaggerating!" the woman pouted, "Those clothes can help you, you know?"

"…."

"Don't you play RPG games?" she asked, "Outfits are essential because it adds attributes to the wearer. Regarding your case, it is obvious that this outfit was meant to increase your speed."

"Sawa-chan has a point, Ricchan" Yui swayed her hips frantically; "I think I can move my body with ease right now."

"See, Yui-chan has also agreed." She looked to the redhead who was blushing furiously.

"That's just her imagination." She replied while not attempting to raise her head.

The woman sighed, "Come on, Ricchan… This is part of the test; I thought you were dead serious when you said you wanted to take your revenge against those girls?"

Ritsu remembered that she told Sawako that they will prove theirselves before her so that they will be deemed worthy to leave the island,

"Yeah, I was dead serious when I told you that", she stood without hesitation, her eyes burning with determination while giving the woman her signature grin.

"Good that you remember why you're here in the first place", she smiled before pushing the two out of the bushes, "good luck with your task."

The delinquents gave Sawako thumbs up, reassuring her that they can handle this job without fail.

"Oh before you go", she pulled something in her bag again, "take this."

The duo gave her a curious look, "What's this for?"

"It will become handy later." She smiled again before they walked away from the bushes.


"I really don't get it why she gave us this thing", Yui was puzzled on the woman's action.

"She said that it will become handy", the redhead said while following the brunette from behind, "though I doubt that this is her way of punishing us."

The two kept crawling, attempting not to make a single sound to awaken the sleeping birds, until they reached their destination.

"Yui, you will be the one in charge of stealing the egg. I'll serve as your backup."

"No way!" Yui protested in a hushed voice, "Why should I be the only one who's going in all sorts of trouble? It's unfair!"

"Did you forget that you owe me a curry drink?"

"Sonna… you're still fretting over that drink even though you asked me to open that old door?"

"You didn't open it, silly. The witch came out herself."

The brunette was left with no choice but to follow the redhead's idea although it's against her will.

"Yui, wear this before you go." She handed the object to the brunette.

"Eh..? But I don't feel like wearing it."

"Use it." The redhead insisted, "Sawa-chan told us that it will become useful later on."

Without further protest, the brunette wore the coconut shell in her head.

Ritsu laughed frantically, "You seriously look like a looney, Yui!" She held her tummy much to the airhead's resentment.

She gave her friend a pat in the shoulder before wishing her luck, "Ganbatte, aibou." she smiled.

Yui nodded before giving Ritsu a high-five, trusting each other to watch their backs in behalf.


Yui successfully snuck on the ostrich's nest by burrowing a tunnel nearby the nest, replacing the egg with her head so as not to raise any suspicions from the mother bird when he rolled the egg over to Ritsu.

"Good job, Yui! Just a little more", Ritsu cheered in a soft voice.

The ostrich flapped her wings after the brunette handed the egg to the redhead.

Yui gasped, 'Oh shoot! Did she notice?'

The huge bird nuzzled herself on the brunette's head, mistakenly identifying it as her own egg.

Dear heavens, I hope this mother wouldn't wake up!

Ritsu gestured Yui to pull back before the bird will take notice.

The brunette immediately slipped herself on the bird's caress but she stumbled on the ground because of an oh-so troublesome rock making quite an appearance to stir another trouble for the two.

"Ite!" the brunette cried, alarming the sleeping birds nearby.

"Shimatta! Run, Yui!" the redhead pulled her friend from the ground.


Sawako was too busy reading a pocketbook about anger management while waiting for the two who took quite a time in stealing an egg.

"Mou… what took them so long just to steal a single egg?" her eyebrows twitched.

Later on, she heard two girls screaming; running towards the direction where she's lying idly.

"Geez… what's with the fuss? Are they really that happy that they managed to steal an egg?"

She stood from her position to greet the girls, "Okaeri - oh my goodness! Why were you bringing the ostriches with you?!"

"Damn it, Sawa-chan!" Ritsu ran towards Sawako while holding the egg in her hands, "It was Yui's fault!

"Are…Why are you blaming me?" Yui protested, "I told you that you should do the stealing part but you forced me to do it instead."

"Stop arguing, girls!" Sawako joined the two who were running away from the angry ostriches, "We need to get out of here before those birds will flock us to death!"

They ran as fast as they can until they reached the point where the birds aren't following them anymore, thanks to the cheetah outfit though it doesn't have the attributes that Sawako claimed to exist yet she managed to trick the two, gratifying her very own fetish regarding forcing her victims to cosplay in various outfits.


"I will never ever eat eggs again!" the redhead blurted out, slouching on the chair while panting.

"Me too…" Yui added, her face buried on the table.

"Oh… there you go again; sulking over trivial things" the woman ate a portion of the omurice, "you should eat your fill already otherwise you'll lack the energy for our next test."

"What?!" the two replied in unison.

"That was just an appetizer", Sawako casually replied, "We still have the main dish."

The delinquents did not dare to protest; they ate the food whilst brooding on the fact that they merely escape the ostriches' wrath.


After they ate their fill, the three gathered outside the building like a soldier in patrol.

"First, I tested your speed when we went to steal an ostrich egg." She closed her eyes before continuing, "Today, I'm going to test your diligence, patience and endurance at the same time."

"Woah! Three at the same time?" the redhead grinned.

"Yes, three at the same time" she reiterated, "but before anything else, use this."

"…?!"

The brunette tried to raise a question, "Ano… Sawa-chan… how can this thing help us in our next task?"

"Because that is still part of the test; it would be displeasing in the eyes if you wear your regular outfit."

Ritsu cannot contain her anger; she raised her voice, "There's no fucking way I'm going to wear that ugly outfit!"

"Ara… so you want to stay here for fifteen months?" the woman shot the question to the angry redhead.

"But these outfits don't make sense!" she shouted, "You just want to make fun of us!"

"Yamete, Ricchan!" the brunette held her friend who's itching to punch Sawako's face.

"Let her go, Yui." She took off her glasses.

"But-"

Ritsu rushed forward, aiming her fist straight to the woman's face with the hopes that her attack will somehow connect.

Sawako did not move an inch; she was anticipating the redhead's honest attack then she gave her a quick hard punch in the face before Ritsu could land a blow.

The redhead fell face first on the ground; proclaiming Sawako as the victor in their match.

"Ricchan!" Yui rushed to the redhead's side with a concerned look in her face, "Mou.. give up already. You can't win against her, she's far too strong!"

Ritsu tried to sit down, wiping any remains of blood in her lips, "It's okay, Yui" she glanced at the woman who punched her, "Thanks, Sawa-chan, I feel better now."

The woman sighed, "Geez, you're weird Ricchan. Trying to resolve things through fists….That won't work in the near future."

She laughed while dusting her clothes, "Okay this time… we're going to wear that maid outfit of yours without complaining.

Sawako - 2, delinquents – 0. The woman was desperate to see her victims in costumes, enjoying every bit of her guilty pleasure though she doesn't feel sorry for the delinquents at all.


"I can't believe that we're cleaning this building in maid uniform" Ritsu yawned, "it's fucking eight floors, Yui! How long will it take us just to finish this task?"

"Ma… ma Ricchan… You lost the fight with Sawa-chan" the brunette said while wiping the floor with utmost care, "and here you are again, complaining though you said you'll be glad wearing it without protesting."

"I did not say that, Yui!" Ritsu darted her gaze to the brunette while dusting the windows, "I really hate this frilly outfit! I don't get it why people will lick your shoes just to see a girl in a maid outfit" she continued, "cheh, such weirdoes."

The delinquents decided to clean the top floor before moving on to the lower floors; shining the floor tiles with wax and removing every speck of dust clinging in the furniture.

"Yui, what do you think you're doing?" the redhead leaned to the brunette, watching her intentions unfold.

"Eto… I really want to try this for a little while", she held the guitar on her hands while crouching.

"So you're going to play a song, huh?" She looked to her friend who's brimming with joy, "then I'll be glad to provide you the beats of the song."

"Really?" the brunette smiled, "Thanks but I don't have a song in mind now."

"Any song is fine."

"Ja…" she lifted her index finger, "I want to try to play this song."

"Are you serious?" Ritsu gave her a quizzical look, "You want to play the song that Sawa-chan despised the most?"

The brunette gave Ritsu a nod. She hit the play button; they listened to the song intently.

"You ready?"

"Yeah… I think I can manage to play the song though I doubt if I'll hit the chords right."

"That ain't a problem, buddy" she gave her friend a reassuring pat on the back, smiling, "I'm sure you can do it."

The brunette smiled back. She held herself like a professional guitarist in concert; there was definitely an aura of celebrity emitting in her body.

Ritsu positioned herself in a nearby table; she used the feather dusters as a substitute for the drumsticks.

The redhead signaled her friend by tapping the sticks in the air, "One. Two. Three. Four. One, two, three!"

Just after Ritsu gave a countdown, the brunette started playing like a pro. Wailing the guitar like a wild animal and doing some neck-wrecking headbangs, her hair swaying in a continuous loop like a real rockstar in a live performance.

They played the song excellently though the lack of essential instruments was their obvious flaw.

It would be best if we had someone like a bassist, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist; we could have played this song flawlessly.

"Woah, Yui!" Ritsu exclaimed, slipping her arm on the brunette's shoulders, "I never knew you could play the guitar so well!"

Yui blushed. "Eto… Arigatou, Ricchan… I'm also surprised that you could play the drums too" she played her bangs for a bit, "truth to be told, you're really cool when you play it like that. It makes me wonder if I could start a band with you."

The redhead averted her gaze for a while; she was facing the opposite direction.

"What's wrong?"

She gave her a lousy excuse while covering her face, "N-nothing… I think I got a dust in my eyes because of these stupid feather dusters."

"Is that so?" She approached the redhead, leaning closer to her face, "Let me blow your eyes then, perhaps that would help."

"N-no! Stay away!" Ritsu shoved the brunette to hide her flushed face.

The brunette pouted, "That was rude. I was just trying to help you."

"No… I'm fine." she still covered her face, "I'll just wash my eyes with water."

They continued their bickering, unaware that Sawako was listening all along behind the door, grinning before walking away from her position.


The woman pulled her phone out from the pocket, dialing the number of a familiar figure in her phonebook.

"Moshi, moshi… Norimi? How's Ui doing?"

["Ah, Sawako! Good that you called. You won't believe this but this girl has what it takes to be your next successor."]

They continued their exchange of pleasantries until Sawako cut the chatter with her sudden request.

"By the way, Norimi. Can you do me a favor? I know it's not so me to request out of the blue, but I really need your help."

["Go ahead, I'll hear you out."]

"Can you forge my clients' documents? I want you to create copies regarding these two in a different identity. They will no longer be Ritsu and Hirasawa Yui by the time they return to the city."

["Woah, woah! What's with the sudden change of heart? Since when was the legendary juvenile delinquent from eight years ago became so attached to her clients? Did you just bump your head or something? It's not like you to help the others but nevertheless, I'll help you."]

"Arigatou, Norimi."

["Stop it, Sawa-chan. It gives me the creeps hearing you thanking me. I can handle the forging of documents with ease! Just who do you think I am?"]

"Yeah, I know. That's why I'm counting on you."

["Okay, if that's all you wanted to ask from me then I'll hung up first. I have lots of things to do. Bye!"]

Beep.


After 5 months, the girls were ready to leave the island. They gathered on the beach to bid farewell to the social worker.

"Thank you, Sawa-chan for taking care of us these past few months." The delinquents bowed before the woman, "We have learned so much from you; we'll make sure to use the teachings that you've inculcated in our hearts and minds"

"Oh stop it, you don't have to be too formal", her eyes started to become watery, "I enjoyed your company too. It feels like we've been here forever yet I know that time will come that we need to go our separate ways."

"Don't worry, Sawa-chan" the redhead tried to cheer the older one, "we'll come here to play with you during the holidays."

"Ricchan's right." The brunette added, "We'll come here again and we'll bring Ui too!"

"Thank you, girls." She gave them a huge bear hug, drowning them in her bust.

Damn this witch! I can't breathe!

"Oh, I forgot. How are we going to leave this place?" Ritsu asked, "Did you asked the police to fetch us?"

"No way!" Sawako exclaimed, "If they found out that I let you go less than a year, they would've fired me!"

"Oh, I see…" the redhead seemed dejected.

"But I have a reliable pet to guide you out from this island and lead you to the city." She held a victory sign, while her other hand was on her hips giving her a childish look.

"Woah… I never knew you were friends with the sea animals. Was it a dolphin, Sawa-chan?" the brunette seemed overjoyed.

Sawako blew a loud whistle, "He'll be here in a minute."

"Cool! It's my first time riding on the back of a dolphin, Sawa-chan!" the redhead gave a fist pump on the air.


Two minutes have passed, still no traces of the pet. The two were eagerly waiting on the dolphin's arrival.

"Hey, where's that pet of yours?" the redhead's eyebrows twitched, hinting that she's running out of patience.

Sawako grinned, "He's already here."

"Wait - where!?"

The woman pointed her finger behind the delinquents, "Here he is."

"Nani?!" the two exclaimed in unison, "You're telling us that we'll ride on that one?"

"Use your common sense, girls" she shrugged, "You can't ride on that poor animal, can you?"

"But I thought we'll be riding with a dolphin?" the brunette seemed disappointed.

The woman sighed, "It's your fault for making assumptions; I never told you that it was a dolphin who'll serve as your guide, did I?"

"…."

Sawako approached the animal, "Ton-chan… Can you do me a favor?" she carried the pig-nosed turtle in her arms, caressing him; "can you lead those girls to the city?"

The turtle nodded as if he understood her master's words.

"Okay, girls. You need to swim on your own. This is your final test, don't disappoint me. I don't want to hear that you've been eaten by the sharks." She continued, "You just need to follow Ton-chan's lead until you reach the city. Also, don't forget to feed Ton-chan or else I'll kill you!"

"Hai, Sawa-chan!" the two gave Sawako a salute; they left the island while following the turtle from behind.

"Off they go" Sawako frowned before turning around, "guess I need to pack my things up coz I'm going to follow them to the city."

To be continued.


Some (useful?) information not included in the text:

The delinquents met the queens sometime around late of October before they got arrested and were sent to an isolated island. Five months have passed, it's already March. In Japan, new school year starts in April so the delinquents will be posing as transfer students to enact their long-awaited revenge against the Queens. Of course, that means that they need to hide their real identity and use pseudonyms instead so they won't raise any suspicions from the people and from the students of Sakuragaoka.

A/N:

Oh shoot! This is second longest chapter. Next chapter will be their quest for revenge. Thank you for reading. Rate and review if you have time. Thank you very much. Chapter 9 is up!