Author's Note: Thought or Emphasis; Flashback or English; Thought or Emphasis in Flashback

I don't own K-ON!. I only own these images of the band members battling to the death...

Once again, only in my head. Sure wish I could draw.

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K-ON!: Howl!

Part VIII: What Tomorrow Brings

The months passed, one moon after another. Before they knew it, the high school lives of Afterschool Tea Time had ended. The seniors-turned-freshmen continued the band without Azusa (for now), knowing she would have a chance to leave a mark of her own.

Their band became one of several that made up Japan Women's University's light music club. One band just happened to live in the same dorm, providing the girls with some nearby guidance (and in Yui's case, new prey in the form of a certain Akira Wada).

Today, however, was not about the band.

Today was a Mio-and-Ritsu day.

Just now, that Mio-and-Ritsu day had become night.

"Admit it."

"Okay."

"Come on."

"Okay!"

"Well?" Hands met hips. "I'm waiting."

"OKAY!" A short laugh. "You were right. Madoka Magica was a good movie series."

"Thank you."

The two had just left a movie theater not too far from the campus. Ritsu never really saw the value in magical girl anime, so Mio's suggestion caused her to raise an eyebrow. Still, if she could get Mio into watching Naruto with her (a miraculous accomplishment, she thought), it was only fair to try this out.

Both of them were quite surprised.

"I thought it would be totally sappy, but the action was pretty solid. I kinda liked that one with the guns. Momo?"

"Mami." Mio corrected. "For some reason, she reminded me of-"

"Mugi? Yeah, me too." The blonde got her hair styled into curls, not unlike the veteran magical girl, as a Valentine's Day surprise.

They shared a laugh, before remembering Mami's fate. Both shuddered in unison.

The noirette remembered another tragedy. "Oh, and Akemi-"

"The other one with the guns."

"-Her story still gets to me. Going back in time again and again to save a friend, even when she failed?" Mio wiped a tear from earlier. "That was so beautiful."

"Yeah... but wow, did they have some issues." Ritsu chuckled. "That one girl went nuts and almost killed her friends, because of what, a boy?"

"Not just a boy, but it was definitely part of it. Love is a powerful thing." The bassist recalled Akira's story of unrequited love. Of course, cutting one's hair to make him notice her was a bit different than altering reality with a wish from a fox-creature... but she had a point to make. "Still, I'll never act like that over someone who doesn't like me."

The drummer beside her had not said a word, only a small "Hmm..." and a barely concealed smile on her lips.

Mio stopped in her tracks, not fond of the look on her face. "What?"

"Well, you've always been a little sensitive, Mio-chan." Ritsu tossed a kernel of popcorn into her mouth, a bag she bought on the way out. "Remember when you heard how rare left-handed people were? You cried after class and asked me if you were a freak!"

"I was seven years old!" The noirette's cheeks reddened. "Excuse me for not knowing much about the world!"

"And just look at us now!" Ritsu raised her hands to the sky, risking a spill of her snack, and making a few bystanders turn their heads. "Two freaks on the cusp of adulthood, boldly leaping into that big wide world!"

"There's still a while to go before we truly get into our careers, Ritsu. Besides, you're honestly saying that I'm a freak?" Mio smirked. "You're the one who..." She paused, checking if people were around, and lowered her voice. "You're the one who was barking at me on all fours not too long ago."

"Hey, we worked it out, didn't we?"


"This feels kinda weird..." Ritsu sat in a room made specifically for the ritual. The stone walls were marked with... well, as best she figured, magic spells or seals, the lines of symbols she did not understand intersecting at a circle in the middle. In that area, she could feel something; a tugging sensation similar to, yet different from, the one she felt at Toyosato Park.

"So this kind of stuff actually works, huh?" She shrugged. "Still, it wouldn't be the weirdest thing I've learned."

Indeed, Mugi sharing her family secret almost shocked her out of her (torn) shorts, but she could only accept and adapt. Besides, the chance of ridding herself of her own curse—and possibly going to Mugi's house—was a temptation too hard to resist.

Well, we only ended up in one of the villas, but still, it's a really sweet place. Won't be seeing much of it locked up in this room, though.

This was true; the only other sign of a world outside the room, besides the impossibly thick and tightly sealed steel door, was a small window, from which a yellow-red sky's calm light could be seen.

"So all I do is sit here, right?"

An gentle voice entered the room through speakers. "Just meditate or sleep, Ricchan. The magic in this room will send you into a special state, in which you can speak to your... 'inner wolf', as it were."

The brunette briefly recalled hearing this earlier; the blonde noted that some people could speak to them on their own, but this was the standard method in the Kotobuki clan, just in case the human's other side was a bit too unruly.

"I'm talking to myself? Heh, I guess I'm cursed and crazy now." She grinned slyly. "Should be fun!"

"Just be careful, okay, Ritsu?" Another voice spoke. "I don't want to have to tell your parents you've gotten lost inside your own empty head, okay?"

"Hey!" A vein pulsed on the shape-shifter's head. "I thought Yui was the airhead in our little group?"

"I like to think that we're blessed enough to have two."

Ritsu could practically feel Mio's smirk right now. So that's what Azusa was laughing about back then.

"The sun will set in about two minutes, Ricchan. It's probably a good time to start now."

"Right." She crossed her legs, preparing to do one of the things Mio thought she would never see: Ritsu completely still...

"Good luck, Ritsu-senpai/Ricchan!" It was clear who those voices were. The volume from the (incredibly expensive) speakers made Ritsu wince.

"Thanks." She snapped her fingers to make sure her ears worked. "Not helping, but thanks."

A deep breath. Okay, let's try this again.

Her head lowered, legs crossed, back facing the moon.

One...

Two...

Three...

Somewhere around 70 her patience dwindled, but hitting 100 convinced her to open her eyes.

"That oughta be enough."

Ritsu looked around. The walls had disappeared, only the circle, a dark void with changing colors...

"Well, look at—OH!"

...and a still figure.

"Hi."

The Wolf.

Its smooth, brown hair appeared to be slightly darker than Ritsu's, spreading all over its body to its almost puffy tail. Black lines outlined the lips and the yellow eyes, with thinner, lighter hair on the face, snout, and legs.

Interestingly, the spirit barely reached above her knees in height. If not for the current circumstances, the brunette might have had it confused for a stray dog.

"You're a lot smaller than I thought you'd be."

"I could say the same words to you, Tainaka."

"AH!" The creature resembling a museum exhibit had finally moved, shocking Ritsu enough to fall on her butt. "You can talk!?"

"Of course I speak your language." The Wolf's mouth did not move when it spoke... it simply spoke, the voice just hanging in the air. "You need only listen, Tainaka."

"Quit calling me that!" The girl hated formalities. "It's Ritsu."

The Wolf titled its head. "You are the woman of Tainaka blood, correct, Tainaka?"

"Yeah, sure, but-"

"Then you are Tainaka. Therefore, I will call you Tainaka."

"But... ah, whatever." The brunette promised to figure that out later. "So, are you... what I look like when I'm not... me?"

"Probably not, Tainaka." The Wolf did not shake its head; that was a human gesture. "It is... hard to wake up in this body. It hurts."

"Isn't that the truth." The human paused. "Wait, what? I was only thinking that!"

"We are in your mind. There is no hidden thought here."

"Seriously?" She stared into the "sky" of sorts. "Guess Mio was right. My head is empty." She got back to business. "Okay. Speaking of my mind... what's with that? Why are you messing with me, making me act like a dog? And why can't I remember anything?"

"I am sorry." The Wolf whimpered; the speech and gestures independent of, yet existing alongside, one another. "I have been asleep so long, I get excited when I finally wake, and I... like to play." It seemed embarrassed, pawing at something on the ground that was not there. "Our bond is not as good as before. That may be why we do not see and know together."

"That sort of explains the little stories about me, but that doesn't really answer the big question."

Human and beast met eye to eye.

"Why do you keep coming out?"

The wolf sat upright, back straight like a soldier's before his superior.

"I am to be one with the woman of Tainaka blood.

"To fight with her.

"To protect who and what she loves.

"In return, I will stay bound to her by blood and spirit, forever."

"That's just it... um, Wolf-san." She didn't have a name—and "Ritsu-wan" was out of the question—so she just went with what she had. "That woman you're talking about? That wasn't me."

"You are the woman of Tainaka blood."

"No, I'm not that woman. That's Satomi. I'm Ritsu."

"But you are the woman of Tainaka blood. What you are named now, the time that passes, they have no meaning."

Height did not matter to the beast as it stared with incredible force of will.

"A pact made in blood and in spirit is unbreakable without dire consequences."

"I DIDN'T MAKE THE DEAL!" Ritsu screamed. "My ancestor did! And I'm pretty sure she was crazy."

"The pact is unbreakable, Tainaka."

"The 'pact' is messed up!" The brunette grew even more annoyed, especially when the Wolf's face hadn't changed. "REACT, DANGIT!" (Another thought accidentally verbalized.)

"How shall I react?"

"Well, for one thing, aren't you angry about this? You're in the wrong woman! Get it?" Ritsu knelt down to the Wolf's level and grabbed its head. "You are not supposed to be inside of me!"

"Are you certain?" Its yellow gaze was... sly? Ritsu could not tell. She was a people person, not an animal person—except for when she turned into one. "Remember the pact."

"Yeah, yeah, the pact, the pact, it's always the pact!" She huffed. "You'll fight with me, protect what I love, bound to me by blood a—wait." Her hands released the canine's face, arms going slack. "Blood."

"Yes." The Wolf was glad the Tainaka understood, though nothing showed it. "I protect what she loves. The Tainaka loves her family."

"Loved. Past tense. She's never gonna get that right, is she?" That last bit was another thought made words. "But I'm part of it, so... you're protecting us all in some weird way?"

The Wolf simply sat erect. "I accept my duty, and my fate."

"So I'm stuck with you?"

Bark.

"Yes."

"Dangit." The human sighed. "Even so, I really don't like my body breaking apart every time you 'wake up'. We gotta work this whole 'pact' thing out."

It occurred to her.

"If we're gonna be like this forever, or at least until I die, we might as well start at the beginning."

Human reached out a hand to beast.

"My name is Ritsu."


"I guess we did." Mio looked up to the starry night sky, with a certain something above. "Another full moon tonight."

"Yep. But you know, she's still there." Ritsu patted her belly for effect.

"I can tell. You almost ate that first large popcorn all by yourself. I wouldn't be shocked if you were eating for two." The ravenette took this point to take the bag for herself.

"You almost make it sound like I'm having a kid." She suddenly realized her hands were empty. "Hey, wait, I'm not done with that!"

They had simply decided to share the snack, taking their time to get back, but Mio eventually checked her watch. "We'd better pick up the pace. It's getting pretty late, and pretty dark around here." For whatever reason, the lights seemed a little dimmer as they turned around the corner.

"Weren't we in a movie theater, Mio?"

"That's a different darkness."

"Don't worry, I'll look out for—Hold on."

Something hit her, causing her to look around. She had found that, besides her appetite growing, her senses had gotten sharper since she changed things between her and the Wolf.

Having once been told what she had eaten for breakfast, Mio knew this too. "What is it?"

"Something's not right." The smell of cigarettes was strong, but that wasn't the point.

With a new voice, Ritsu finally realized what she sensed...

"Well, hello there, ladies."

...Bad intentions.

Both came from a group of four who'd stepped out of the nearest alley. The speaker seemed to be the leader, straight black hair and a slim frame draped by a T-shirt, suit jacket and loosely hanging slacks. His friends, two with shaved heads and the other with wild green hair, were much burlier and wore more casual clothes.

Mio didn't need enhanced senses to know they were bad news. "G-good evening."

"My associates and I feel the need to inform you of the law around here." He inhaled from his heated stick of poison. "You'll need to pay a toll to go any further."

Ritsu was skeptical of this new policy. "Toll, huh?"

"Oh, yes." He grinned, a last few vapors escaping between the teeth. The associates surrounded the duo, a feeling in the brunette's gut starting to rise...

Mio wished to get through this as quickly as possible. "How much do you require from this toll?"

"All you got."

Ritsu did not like the sound of that and preempted Mio's strategy, getting between her and the leader, but the latter was too frightened to protest. "What if we don't have anything?"

"Oh, I'm sure there's something you can offer us in exchange for passage..."

Ritsu definitely didn't like the sound of that.

"...Isn't that right, princess?"

She turned around and followed his gaze.

The one with the crazy hair was too close, far too close to Mio. Ritsu could smell the sweat on her head, a heartbeat becoming machine gun fire in her ears—the palpable fear from her best friend. There was something practically pouring from him too as he started to smile...

...and put his hands on her shoulders.

That was the last straw.

"Mio..."

The ravenette had kept her eyes just slightly downcast so as to ignore the others, but then Ritsu's words forced her vision to rise.

They made eye contact.

One pair was glowing.

"...close your eyes, and don't move."

The other pair faithfully obliged.

The burden on her shoulders vanished in the next two seconds, but Mio did not open her eyes until the shouts stopped.

The twin curtains rose to the crowd of delinquents scattered. The green-haired man had somehow found his face leaving a trail of a certain liquid down the nearest building wall. Another laid against the adjacent alley, a spider-web crack having formed where his back made an impact. A third unconscious man held his hand over his face—apparently, he was the one who screamed, "My eye!"

A short distance away, the leader was currently in someone's grip, her hair just a little bit spikier under the headband as she pulled him closer by the shirt. Most interestingly, he was being lifted off the ground by one hand.

"Ritsu!"

The predator heard, as evidenced by her stiffened posture, but had not let go of her prey. For some reason, light clicks backed her words as she spoke.

"I'll be there in a second."

Ritsu's fist tensed. The guy's eye and lips were bruised and swollen from a few punches, but he was about to receive one more...

"That's enough!" She could deal with it a bit in movies, but violence in the real world was a different story. "You've won!"

"Yeah, what she said!" Blood and tears dribbled from his face as he pleaded. "I give up!"

"You sure?" Her arm reached back.

With disgust, the brunette smelled a new liquid come from his body. "I'M SURE, I'M SURE!"

Mio couldn't see her face, but she could feel something lurking under Ritsu's words from there.

"Apologize."

"...yes, ma'am."

The brunette had finally turned around, revealing to Mio glowing amber orbs and sharpened canines (explaining the clicking sound).

It would seem the deal was more nuanced than she knew.

His captor beside him, the now reformed criminal sped over and bowed to the ravenette, as if she were indeed the princess he called her.

"I am sorry, miss."

His superior's hand gripped his head, forcing his bow lower and bringing her suddenly sharper nails into his scalp. "For?"

He screamed it out in pain, "I AM DEEPLY SORRY FOR ATTEMPTING TO ROB YOU!"

She released him, and he toppled over.

"Good boy."

To Ritsu's satisfaction and before Mio's gobsmacked face, he scrambled onto his feet and back into the alley from whence he came. The former had advised him to "Take your trash with ya!", but by the time she thought up that witty one-liner, he was long gone.

"Ritsu-"

She was interrupted by a howl, the long U-sound striking right through Mio's form and halting her thoughts.

Wolves, the two once read, howled for a few reasons: to find their pack, and when defeating their prey.

This one was the latter.

"Uhh..."

"Huh?" Ritsu finally noticed her friend's stare. "Oh, this." Closing her eyes, the brunette felt her face shift back to its normal state. "It's just part of the deal."

"But... you..." The bassist could only look around at the mess. "Wow."

"Don't even look at them." The drummer opened her eyes, displaying the same color, the same warmth, Mio knew all these years. "You okay?"

She nodded.


"There's one thing I gotta know..." Ritsu asked, "Why didn't you attack Mio? You killed a whole gang a hundred years ago, and the girls said you were jumpy towards them, so why not her?"

"I feel as your heart does, Tainaka. She is close to you, and I feel that bond as well."The Wolf looked down meekly. "She also scratches that itchy place I cannot reach."

"So that's why Satomi's husband was okay in the story!" Ritsu realized. "Because you and her shared emotions!"

"And as the pact says-"

"I know, I get it...


Ritsu put an arm over Mio's shoulder. Arms gratefully wrapped around her in return.


"...You protect what I love."


"Then let's go home."

END


I based the appearance of the Wolf off of Japan's now extinct Honshu wolf. Get this: it actually used to live in the mountains (and called yamainu, or "mountain dog"), working right with the curse origin.

I hope you enjoyed the ride, folks. Perhaps one day I will return to bring more enjoyment or disgust into your lives. See you then!