Flesh and the Power it Holds
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Mio woke up, raring to go take on the day! To push through school, jam/eat cake and drink tea with the Light Music Club and then give it her all with yet another rehearsal with Fractured Reality! Although she was extremely apprehensive about getting involved with that band once she found out what genre they play, her ability as a bassist was needed! So she'd do her best! She picked up her school bag and her bass and burst out her front door with energy that could rival both Yui and Ritsu put TOGETHER!..
Or at that's how she would have felt if illness wasn't keeping her bedridden. It seemed that she caught a cold or, God forbid, influenza and there was no leaving the house. If she moved, she felt a new wave of coldness fill her body as it reminded her brain that she was supposed to just remain still and get rest. The intensity of the chill, as unpleasant as it was, made her disappointment sting less as it made her realise that if she tried to brave out the day outside with this illness she'd only make trouble for others. Possibly by passing out on the street on the way to school! 'That would cause all kinds of trouble.' Mio thought to herself. 'Not to mention Mommy and Daddy would be mad at me...'
This cold couldn't have come at a worse time, minus right before the gig, since both Mio's parents had to work late today. This wasn't uncommon for Mio's father, but this was probably a first for Mio's mother. Chouko was asked to fill in for a co-worker who fell ill, probably from the same thing Mio caught, and had to work overtime. Co-workers had become sick before, but they had usually found someone else to fill in for them. At first Chouko wasn't bothered about getting stuck with the overtime since Mio was now old enough to look after herself (for at least a couple of days) but that was before she fell ill. The couple had to leave the house while their very sick daughter stayed at home all alone. Mio felt guilty seeing the obvious look of worry on her parents' faces as they left, she wished she could do something but she knew all she could do was rest. As she drifted off into sleep, she tried to pinpoint when she caught this damned bug! Her thoughts turned to last night.
Yeah, I'm gonna tell this next part of the story in flashback! (I'm just THAT original!)
"Umm... Mio-senpai."
"Oh! Yes, Azusa?" Mio replied to her concerned sounding kohai, realising that everyone at the table was looking at her.
"You've seemed really down and out of it for a while now." Ritsu said. "What's up?"
"Well..."
"Masumi-san seemed really eager to leave the table when Minoru-san got off stage." Mugi pondered.
"I thought that was because I farted." Phil said.
"I was wondering what that smell was." Ritsu sighed irritably.
"She did seem troubled by something." Mugi continued.
"And you were both acting that way after you came back from the bathroom!" Detective Ritsu proclaimed (a little too loudly for Mio's liking)
"Oh... Oh my." Mugi said blushing, clearly getting the wrong idea.
"What are you talking about?" Hiroshi asked, coming over after talking to Minoru.
"Mio apparently had a hot and steamy quickie in the bathroom with Masumi." Phil said cheekily.
"Really!?"
"NO!" Mio replied, horrified that he'd even entertain that idea.
"Damn."
"So what really happened?" Ritsu asked, resuming her role as wannabe detective.
"Well... Masumi-san was on the phone and..." Mio filled the group in on what happened. Mugi looked heartbroken at this information, Azusa looked confused and Ritsu...
"What!? What the FUCK!? What the hell is her problem!?" Ritsu shouted in outrage, catching the ire of the bartender.
"Are you sure it wasn't just a joke?" Hiroshi asked.
"I'm… not sure." Mio admitted. 'It didn't feel like one.' She wanted to say, but decided against it as it may have sounded pathetic.
"I won't be surprised if it was serious." Phil sighed.
"Why is that?" Mugi asked, sounding like a child who'd just been pushed off a swing.
"Well…" Phil paused in order to think of how to best use his words, perhaps in order to explain Masumi's point of view. "She kind of a pretentious bitch." Or maybe not. "She has something against music that's not 'real' as she puts it and stuff similar to what she's heard before."
"But she hasn't heard us." Azusa countered.
"Yeah, but you told her what kind of lyrics you write. That's enough for her to judge you." Phil elaborated, rolling his eyes as he did.
"That's retarded!" Ritsu huffed loudly, earning the ire of the bartender yet again. "Why does Daisuke like her if she does that crap?"
"Flesh and the power it holds?" Phil guessed, hands squeezing the air as he did.
"I think it's more to do with-"
"Umm, sorry to interrupt!" Azusa said. "But shouldn't we get going now? It's almost ten o'clock!"
"OH CRAP!" Ritsu yelled. "I'M SCREWED!"
"This might be the first time I ever get in trouble with my parents!" Mugi added, seeming… weirdly excited by the prospect.
"Sorry, I'll see you tomorrow!" Mio apologized for her and her friends' very abrupt departure and followed them into the cold night.
Mio awoke to the sound of her front door opening, forcing her out of her recollection of events. presumably one of her parents had come home. "Welcome home." Mio rasped, attempting to raise her voice so it could be heard downstairs (it didn't work.) She didn't hear whoever it was announce they're home however. 'Maybe they're trying to not disturb me.' She shrugged internally… then felt panic come over her as she checked the clock. It was still WAY too early for Mio's parents to be home! Worse still, it was impossible that it was just one of her friends as it was still within school hours, not that they'd be able to get in without the key anyway. So then who was in her house? Was it a burglar? Could it be a stalker? Mio had felt like there had been someone following her from time to time for a few days, but tried to shrug it off as her just being paranoid. But now she heard quiet footsteps and whispers of what sounded like two men in her house. 'What do I do? What do I do!?' Mio thought to herself, as she heard them outside her room. She could only think to pull the covers over her head and hope that the intruders didn't come in to her room… which is when she heard the door open.
"Hey Mio, you awake?" A deep but soft voice came from the doorway. The familiarity of the voice made Mio slowly uncover her face and look to who stood there.
"…Phil?"
"'Sup."
"…How… Why are you here?" Mio asked, flabbergasted and quite embarrassed that she got so paranoid.
"Your Dad asked me to check up on you." Phil replied, as though it was the most obvious thing ever.
"…Oh… Wait, isn't your office busy? Daddy mentioned something about someone important being fired?"
"Yeah, me!" Phil grunted irritably.
"…Oh Phil… I'm so sorry."
"It's ok, it happens every couple of months." Phil shrugged. "It's just annoying. Although, it freed up last night to get drunk as shit with Hiroshi. Speaking of which, he's here too."
"Hey Mio!" Hiroshi chirped as he poked his head through the doorway.
"Oh! Hey Hiroshi."
"He crashed at my place, and I thought it'd be useful to bring him along since he's apparently quite a good cook."
"I heard the ladies love a man who can cook, so I learned." Hiroshi said with a wink, causing Mio to laugh.
"Hahaha! I knew that would be the reason! Haha-" a fit of coughing cut off her fit of laughter. "Uuuugh."
"Damn, you sound terrible." Hiroshi said commenting on her croaky voice and coughing.
"Uhhh I know." Mio replied solemnly.
"You still look good though." Hiroshi informed her with another wink, causing a blush as usual. "Ah, is that a blush I see?"
"It's because of the cold!" Mio proclaimed as she covered her face back up with her sheets. Causing the two men to chuckle.
"Do you think you're well enough to eat?" Hiroshi asked.
"...I'm not sure." Mio answered, feeling guilty that Hiroshi was apparently here to cook especially for her.
"Well how about this: I make you something simple, you eat as much as you want and whatever you can't finish, Phil will eat it."
"What am I? A dog getting leftovers?"
"Pretty much." Hiroshi replied cheekily
"...fair enough." Phil shrugged.
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Daisuke sat on his bed, eyes glued to his tv and hands glued to a game controller. He didn't go to sleep once he got back to his apartment. His thoughts alternated between seeing Masumi with Minoru outside the Booze n' Blues, and how 'lovey dovey' they'd be with each other, and when he was assaulted by the DMC fanpricks. He figured that trying to get absorbed in the immersive world of Skyrim for sixteen hours beat tossing and turning all night unable to get unwanted crap from his mind, unable to sleep.
At first he thought it was strange that Phil randomly bought him an Xbox 360, since he rarely played video games. He had a suspicion that Phil bought it for him just so he could 'grief' him in online play, partly due to 'Call of Duty' being one of the games that came with the console, and partly because that's just the sort of shit Phil was inclined to do, although to be fair he only did that once.
"Hey Daisuke, what'cha doing?" A loud, cheerful voice suddenly came from behind Daisuke. He quickly turned to see Katsuragi sitting on the bed behind him, sporting a big cheeky grin.
"...Seriously, it's called a door. You knock on it, I'll most likely answer it. It's a procedure that most would consider normal." Daisuke sighed. As soon as those words were said, a knock on Daisuke's door was heard. "See? Like that." He said patronizingly as he got up and walked to the door, wobbling slightly as he did due to not having sleep since twenty six hours ago. As he opened the door, the sight of who stood there made him do a double-take.
"Hello sir." Daisuke was very confused by the tall girl's very formal and polite manner. "Sorry to trouble you but is Katsuragi-san here?"
"Yeah, she's right…" Daisuke pointed to where Katsuragi was, only to find she had disappeared. "…Well she was there."
"Oh, where did she go now?" the girl huffed in irritation. "She's been messing with me all day. Well, sorry to bother you." She bowed politely.
"That's ok." Daisuke replied, still curiously examining the girl.
"I… Is something the matter?" The girl asked, becoming uncomfortable about Daisuke's staring.
"Do you have a sister named Mio?"
"No, I don't… Why do you ask?"
"You just look like someone I know… Like, a LOT like someone I know."
"…Ok, well thanks for your time."
"LATERS DAISUKE!" Katsuragi yelled jovially as she suddenly appeared behind the girl and grabbed her breasts, fondling them.
"Ka..Katsuragi-san!? Don't do that!" She scolded as she broke away.
"Aww, what was that? That was no fun!" Katsuragi pouted.
"Well, this was fun but I'm kinda tired no-"
"Maybe I need to do it more like THIS!" Katsuragi grabbed the girl again, but this time more aggressively. Doing things like nibbling her neck and lifting her shirt up high enough for Daisuke to plainly see her bra, and almost see her naked left breast due to Katsuragi's fondling.
"S-STOP! D-DON'T LOOK!" The girl screamed as she noticed that Daisuke could see her almost completely exposed chest. Daisuke in retaliation quickly closed the door to his apartment and allow the situation to unfold without him seeing the girl in what may have become more unintentionally provocative situations.
"Oh-ho! Ikaruga, they're so stiff! You cold or something?" Daisuke heard Katsuragi tease the other girl he now assumed was named 'Ikaruga' through the door.
"Ahhn! Don't touch me like that!" Daisuke then heard what sounded like running along from the other side of the door. "Damn it, get back here!" He heard Ikaruga shout as her rapid footsteps became quieter as she went after her molester.
"…How the hell am I supposed to sleep after seeing that!?"
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Mio ate all she could of the small amount of scrambled eggs that Hiroshi made her, the remainder of which was promptly consumed by Phil. "Umm, Phil?"
"Yeah Mio?" Phil replied through a mouthfull of egg.
"We were supposed to have rehearsal today, right?"
"Yeah. But don't worry, I cancelled it." Phil reassured, patting Mio on the head. "Can't do it without our precious bassist. Plus the reason we're doing so much practice is because you're new, and if you can't practice there's no point."
"Have you told Daisuke that there's no practice?"
"OOPS! No, I haven't. I'll just call him now." Phil dialed a number on his phone and put the phone to his ear.
"WHAT!?" An angry voice boomed from the phone loud enough for Mio to hear.
"AH! GEEZ! Calm your tits Daisuke, it's just me Phil!" Phil scalded. "Christ, did I interrupt you wanking or something?" Mio could only hear silence from Phil's phone. "...Did I hit the nail on the head there?" Phil laughed."
"What do you want?!" Daisuke aggressivly snarled.
"Just wanted to tell you that there's no rehearsal today." Phil said still laughing.
"Oh? Why?"
"Mio's ill."
"Oh, that sucks. If you see her, tell her I said 'get better soon.'"
"Actually I'm at her house now. Would you like to say hi?" Mio didn't hear Daisuke's reply, but since Phil handed her the phone, she assumed it was a yes.
"Hey Daisuke." Mio said weakly through a cough.
"Hey Mio, feel better soon." Daisuke said simply.
"Thanks. Where did you go last night? We were worried about you."
"It's a long story. I'll tell you guys about my epic adventure of walking around aimlessly at next rehearsal. Be sure to kick Phil out if you think he's getting in the way of getting the rest you need."
"I'm sure he won't be too in the way." Mio chuckled. "See you soon."
"Bye." With that, Daisuke hung up the phone.
"Betcha one thousand Yen I was right about what he was doing." Phil laughed. Mio decided to ignore his comment.
"So... Are you really not worried about getting fired?" Mio asked, concerned.
"Nah, not really. I should be rehired soon." Phil shrugged. "I mean this has happened about... Hiroshi, how many times have I been fired at this job now?" He asked as Hiroshi entered the room.
"Dunno, about six?"
"Sounds about right."
"How does that work?" Mio asked, completely confused at how someone could be fired and rehired by the same company so many times.
"Our boss has it in for me, and when he somehow gets me fired, your dad and others get me back in since I'm the only person they know who can speak to most of our foreign business associates." Phil explained. "It's an almost constant pissing match between that guy's pride and idiocy verses everyone else's common sense. Although, this time it's come at a pretty bad time since I've just moved to a nicer apartment so I have more rent to worry about."
"What are you going to do if you don't get rehired this time?" Hiroshi asked.
"I can think of a few things." Phil mused. "Anyway, we'd best let you get more rest." He said as he got up from sitting on the floor of the room. "We'll just be down stairs, give a holler if you need anything." Phil and Hiroshi left Mio in the room to get more sleep, which was promptly achieved as her head hit the pillow. As she slept, her thoughts turned to her friends in After School Tea-Time... Mio didn't like to miss out on time with her most cherished friends, and even though she was grateful for Phil and Hiroshi's company... It didn't feel the same.
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"Mio-chan... Mio-chan."
"Oh, I don't think we should wake her Yui-chan." Mio's unconscious state was stirred lightly by soft voices.
"Yeah, I don't think it'd be appropriate to wake her senpai."
"Looks like it's too late to worry about that." Ritsu said as Mio lifted her head from the pillow.
"Huh? What the?" Mio observed her surroundings. Seeing the clock on her bedside table, she noticed that it was the time that her club members should be at school practicing. But here they were, in her room! "What are you doing here?" Mio asked.
"We're here to see how you were. Duh!" Ritsu said, amused by how obvious it was.
"We were worried that you'd be lonely." Mugi added kindly.
"It's... way too hard to get these guys to practice without you there, senpai." Azusa said, fidgiting.
"You guys..." Mio felt tears well up behind her eyes and her heart felt as though it was about to burst. If it weren't for the damn illness, she'd have given them a big hug right there and then.
"I'm really surprised Mio!" Yui said. "I had no idea your dad was a big black man."
Usually someone would have scolded Yui for ruining the moment, but this time they just let their laughter ring through the house.
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AN: HOLY SHIT! TODAY (the 4th of November 2014) IS THE 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF FRACTURED REALITY'S FIRST CHAPTER PUBLISHING ON THIS SITE!
To all of you have Favorited the story/Followed me as an Author/just left a review, I humbly thank you all.
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I decided that I really wanted this chapter out by this time because I'm ridiculously sentimental! :D
Next chapter will probably take me fucking ages as usual! CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERS! XP
