K-On! - Shattered Dreams
By MidniteBleuCrusader
Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.
A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)
Azusa – Listen! Outfit
Chapter 26: Blackout
Ritsu, given the damage that she had taken, was forced to crawl across the cold floor to try and at least get to one of her band mates. Of course, she found Azusa first. As much as she and Azusa couldn't co-exist, she helped Azusa up.
"You all right, Azusa?" The 2nd guitarist only gave her a glare. "…Sorry, reflex question."
"Well, if you mean battered, bruised and utterly abused, then yes, I'm totally okay." Azusa replied sarcastically, only to garner an annoyed look from Ritsu as she helped the 2nd guitarist up. Mio on the other hand helped out Tsumugi, who took a battering in Sawako's hands.
"You guys both okay?" Mio asked. "Look, we really need to get out of here."
"What about Yui? We can't just leave her here." Just as Azusa mentioned that, Yui was holding her own against Sawako, even if she took a nasty punch to the face that sent her sliding down the icy walkway. However, she managed not to stumble and fall. She looked back at her friends who were trying to make a break for it, and all so for the better. Yui didn't want them to be caught up in her battle anymore.
"I'll be FINE! Just get yourself out of here and regroup at home! I'll deal with this menace." Yui ran right back into the thick of the action.
"You heard the lady. Let's scoot on out of here right quick!" Ritsu said at the rest of the team, holding on to Azusa as they try to exit from the premises. However, Mio looked back, and she saw the body of the downed Akiyama.
"…Ritsu, hold on to Mugi for me and get yourself out of here." Mio said, passing the keyboardist over and immediately running back to pull Akiyama out of harm's way. When she did, the hooded one came to, looking a bit dazed after the beating she took.
"U-ungh… my head… gh… I really hate it when this happens." Akiyama then looked up, seeing Mio trying to help her. "What… are you still doing here? Get out of here… and leave me here to die."
"Not gonna happen, Akiyama. As much as I dislike you, death isn't an option for anyone." Mio said, helping her clone up and wrapping her arm around her shoulder. Akiyama, however, was still puzzled by Mio's actions.
"…Why? Why would you do this for someone like me… the one person who treated you like total crap and almost killed you…?"
"Listen up, Akiyama." Mio said, assertively at that. "Don't you dare ask for your own death ever again, or I'm going to beat the living crap out of you. If you want to die, then die of old age. Ever thought of that?" Akiyama couldn't bring herself to argue back. She wasn't in a state to do so anyway. All she did was sigh at Mio.
"I guess you won't let me go that easily, clone of mine." That, however, earned a sharp elbow to her hip. "Ow!"
"Call me by name. No more of that 'clone' crap, Akiyama." She said, continuing to haul Akiyama away from the fight.
0
This left the two combatants, the highly volatile and insane Yamanaka Sawako, and the young and heroic Yui Hirasawa, facing each other. Both of them fired of salvos of ranged attacks, and when they got close, they tried to at least lay a scratch on each other. However, both of them weren't willing to let the other hit them, and as such there were countless stalemates. At the end of it all, both of them stood across each other, both of them sweating and panting hard. Yui's fatigue was more noteworthy, as she had to face down Akiyama earlier, thus she began to grow a tad bit wearier than Sawako.
At this stage, however, Yui wasn't about to give up. She wouldn't allow herself to give up.
"Resilient little girl, aren't you, Yui?" Sawako taunted, getting ready to attack once more.
"What's it going to take to keep you down, Sawako?" Yui responded, charging in once again, firing off lightning bolts as a distraction. Sawako once again blocked them, but even in her weary state, Yui still had her speed to use, as she successfully managed to get up in her face and slash right at her with her battle fans. Sawako tried to dodge it, but got nicked right on her cheek. This time, Sawako wasn't having any of it. Instead of letting Yui retreat, she caught Yui by her neck and immediately slammed her right into the ground, choking her once she's got her pinned with one hand. Yui tried to break free, but Sawako kept raining punches on her body and face to debilitate her.
"I've got you… right where I want you, Yui!" Sawako screamed as she kept squeezing Yui's neck. She tried and tried to get her hand off of her neck, but she was too strong, and with Yui's condition in mind, she wasn't able to fight back. "Why do you think I gave you that guitar, huh? You think I gave it to you for fun, huh? No! I gave it to you to see what you can do with it. Well, you're still ALIVE, for one, but that's gonna change once I'm done with you!" She kept squeezing the throat of the young guitarist, making her suffocate.
Yui started to fight back. She raised her hand and blasted a thunderbolt right at Sawako's face. Though she dodged it, Yui managed to squirm away from Sawako's hold to breathe again. She was vulnerable, so instead of waiting, Yui did a well-timed shining wizard kick—she hopped off Sawako's leg and used it as a platform to kick her right in her face—and sent her flying into the wall hard. Yui didn't want to let Sawako recover, so she quickly ran over to her and picked her up by her collar, pinning her against the wall.
"I don't care what it takes, Sawako! You're gonna stop this foolishness right now! I want you TO END THIS!" Yui screamed right into her face, but Sawako just gave off her own trademark smirk. This angered the guitarist, who let go of her, took a step back and heel kicked her own teacher right into the icy wall, cracking it and possibly cracking Sawako's skull in. She backed off, seeing her body fall down flat onto the floor.
Yui could only breathe a sigh of relief. This was over for her, so she quickly turned on her heel and made her way back to where her friends were. However… as she was making her leave, she saw a beam of light shine past her.
It only couldn't bode well for Yui.
0
The band members who managed to escape slowly made their way out of the ice castle, heading straight back to the portal. Ritsu was anxiously awaiting the arrival of Mio, as Azusa continued to help the hurt Tsumugi down the icy steps.
All of a sudden, they felt the entire castle shake, as if a huge explosion had just occurred right near them. Luckily for them, the tremor wasn't that huge, and the castle wasn't about to cave in on them, so they were safe for now.
"Gh… that explosion almost shook up the place." Ritsu said, looking up the steps to see if Mio was coming down or not. "MIO! HEY, MIO!" She called out. "Darn it, what's taking her so long?"
"Geez, if you're so worried about Mio-senpai, go run up to her and find her, lazy bum." Azusa chastised, a bit annoyed at Ritsu's constant shouting.
"Shut it, Azusa." Ritsu said, scoffing at her junior. She looked up to see whether Mio was coming down soon. Lo and behold, her best friend had come down the stairs, albeit slower than usual. But not only did she see Mio, she happened to see the injured Akiyama being helped by her, and she wasn't happy with it. "Oh no she didn't…" She ran up to confront her. "Mio! What is the meaning of this?"
"She was hurt. I had to help her out. No way is she getting killed on my watch." Mio said, but it wasn't like Ritsu's going to like her reasoning.
"She's the one person who's been trying to kill us every day, and here you are saving her life! She's the one who trapped you and used your body! And you're letting her LIVE!"
"In case you've forgotten already, Ritsu, she wound up helping Yui in her fight. She may have almost DIED trying to fight Sawako, but she's on OUR side now." Ritsu just fumed, not believing that these words were coming out of her best friend's mouth.
"You know what? I think she's better off DEAD in the first place!" Mio was having none of that. With her free hand, she slapped Ritsu right across her face, forcing the drummer to stagger back and clutch her face. It didn't take long for Ritsu to strike back, however, as she tried to lay a punch right back to Mio. However, instead of fist connecting with face, she was stopped by Akiyama, her hand blocking her fist.
"You… touch Mio… you die…" Akiyama warned the drummer. Even in her weakened state, she tried her best to look as menacing as she normally would. Ritsu just gritted her teeth, the utter disbelief clear as day in her expression. She pulled her fist back and sneered.
"I didn't ask for this…"
"Come on, guys!" Azusa yelled, urging them to get a move on. "You all can argue later, this is NOT how we use the time Yui-senpai's buying for us!" As reluctant as she was, Ritsu just about-faced and walked on, Mio and the injured Akiyama following behind her. The bassist looked behind her for a second, a concerned look drawn on her face.
"Yui… come home safe…"
0
She thought it'd be over if Sawako stayed down. She thought she'd beaten her and she thought she could leave.
If there was any time for Yui to be wrong, this would have been the worst time for it.
Instead, she was blindsided by a mega laser that caused the explosion and made a gaping hole in the ice wall of the castle. She thought she was dead, but by some miracle, her body said no to death and she wouldn't allow herself to give up.
But, as if to crush her resolve, the real Yamanaka Sawako had shown herself. She was glowing in a bright yellow aura and she had shown how immensely powerful she has become. She grabbed Yui by her neck and lifted her up into the air, squeezing at her throat and trying to crush her very spirit.
"Did you REALLY think it was that easy, Yui? You think it'd be all fine and dandy to just knock me out? Well, don't get your hopes up, you little prick." Sawako said, this time not even fooling around like she usually has. This time she had every intent of crushing Yui's neck. The guitarist tried to struggle out of it, but to no avail. The grip was way too strong for her to just simply squirm out of. Before Yui could do anything, though, Sawako immediately smashed her right down onto the floor, harshly at that, and went back to choking her with her foot, causing her to scream out. "Music to my damn ears."
"G-gh… w-what… are you going to accomplish by killing me…? A-all you'll get is that guitar…!" Sawako just went back into a fit of laughter, letting her foot off Yui's neck. At this point, she doesn't even have any strength left to move.
"Is that it? Is that all that your puny little head can think of? You think I'm doing this just for one measly guitar, Yui?" Sawako screamed. Yui did her best to even support herself with her arms. "You don't have a 'bigger picture' sense, do you, you little prick? Sheesh, I thought you had a bigger brain than that. I guess not."
"W-what… do you mean by 'bigger picture'?" Yui asked, trying to recover slowly.
"What do you think I mean, ingrate? What do you think happens if I, Yamanaka Sawako, ruled this world alone… then, in a single moment the Dead Hour will be a new world to live in? No more Yamanaka Sawako the high school teacher. No more crappy students, no more minimum wage job, no more of this crappy world. Just a whole brand new world and I will call the shots. I'm making this world RIGHT again, Yui! Can't you see that?" Sawako said. Her hands rose up. "I… could be the Goddess of this whole world."
"DREAM ON!" Yui screamed, finally able to make it back to her feet, though staggering a bit. Sawako turned around to face her. "You, a goddess? Don't make me laugh! It's not going to happen, not while I'm around!" She got her battle fans out once more and went back into battle position, despite all the pain she's had to take, she was ready for one more shot at Sawako.
"Hmph. That's the problem. You're still around, which makes my job THAT bit difficult. Don't worry, I'll be sure to properly eliminate you and THEN I'll be the new goddess of this world. Deal?" Sawako said, preparing herself as she levitates above the ground.
"…No deal." Yui instantly leapt off the ground and made a mad dash straight for Sawako. Injury or no, her absolute goal was not to let Sawako win. She fired thunderbolt upon thunderbolt in sheer anger. Sawako dodged quickly trying to find a way past them all. Yui had other plans for her, though. Once she landed, she quickly swung around and used her battle fans to strike, constantly keeping Sawako on the back foot and not letting her attack, knowing full well she'd be done for if she allowed her enemy to attack. Yui used all the quickness her body could allow to dodge any attack Sawako had for her, and with that same quickness she unleashed a heavy kick to Sawako's gut to send her flying back.
To follow it up, she pulled a page out of Sawako's book and continuously hammered away with lightning attacks, attempting to zap her to eternity. Every zap, every crackle from every lightning bolt she summoned was all her emotions starting to compound. As soon as she let off one last giant lightning bolt, she backed away a few steps, letting the smoke that generated pass through, and there was a whole blanket of it.
As far as she knew now, Sawako would be quite unpredictable. Even after that entire string of attacks, Sawako wasn't one to go down to that.
Once again, she was right.
Suddenly, Sawako came at full speed and charged through the smoke, her sights set on Yui as she aimed a punch at her. The guitarist, however, managed to anticipate it and block her strike, but it was powerful enough to break her guard, causing Yui to stagger. That one second of stagger was all Sawako needed to quickly get another punch in on her, this time it nails her clean on the cheek causing her to lose her balance, but not enough to make her fall to the floor, only wobbling to the side. The punches flew in, each nailing Yui over and over again until she was up against an ice wall. Sawako kept nailing her again and again, each punch weakening Yui more and more. She reeled her fist back and blew a huge punch to Yui's gut, shattering the ice wall behind her and making a massive crack on it. Yui fell down to her knees, but before her face hit the floor, Sawako cupped her chin, forcing her to look up at her.
"I told you… you're no match for me." She whispered into her ear, before outright kneeing her hard in the face and shoving it right into the floor again. As a further exclamation point, Sawako launched an axe kick and kicked her right into the ice floor, the force of it strong enough to crack it.
Yui couldn't move at all. The attack almost made her unconscious, but she still managed to move her left hand. She was weakened greatly, however, and was unable to find the strength to get back up after that.
A perfect opportunity for Sawako. She didn't want to delay any further. She wanted to be rid of her once and for all. Sawako picked her up by the hair, supporting her head with her left arm. Her right hand started to glow. It could only have meant bad things for Yui.
"Time for you to say good night, Yui… I'm begging you to say your last words." She taunted.
"N-ngh… go to Hell… Sawako…" Yui said weak as ever. The backlash she got was a massive energy rush through her body, making her scream in pain and agony.
"Just for that, you can say goodbye to this world AND to your life, because I'm going to take what's rightfully mine…" Without any hesitation, Sawako reeled her right hand back, aiming to plunge it straight into Yui's stomach. The guitarist was too weak now. Death was almost inevitable.
As soon as Sawako plunged into Yui's stomach… everything went black for Yui.
0
Back downstairs, Mio felt a disturbance… as if something horrible had happened.
"Yui…!" She looked behind her, back at the tall ice castle. They were just about to head into the portal when all of them felt that same feeling.
"Something bad must have happened… I'm going back in and saving Yui-senpai!" Azusa said, turning on her heel and trying to run back into the castle, only to be grabbed by the shirt by Akiyama.
"And what will that accomplish, Azusa? You're only making yourself open and vulnerable to Sawako if you go back up there."
"And what do you suggest I do, Akiyama!" Azusa shouted at her, aggravated.
"We wait. This is Yui we're talking about… she won't die from something like this." Akiyama said, with assurance in her tone.
"What makes you so sure about that? What happens if she doesn't even make it out of there?" Ritsu questioned, ticked off.
"You doubt your own leader, Ritsu?"
"Hasn't stopped since I re-joined her." Ritsu replied, which vexed Akiyama. Tsumugi wasn't having any of their attitudes though.
"Will you two drop the death talk?" She said, intervening between the two. "I trust Yui, and I agree with Akiyama. Yui's not going to die to Sawako… even though I had that feeling. But there's no way Yui will let herself die like that, understood?" She glared right into Ritsu's eyes when she said that. Tsumugi wasn't going to hear Ritsu talk about Yui the way she did, especially since the two were so close.
"All right, all right, sheesh. Let's just get out of here." Ritsu said, trying to get rid of the tension. She then looked back at the ice castle. "Yui, you better be home tonight."
0
Darkness.
That was all she could see. Her eyes shut, her body floating back first. All she could hear was static, soon followed by a familiar tune echoing in her head.
'Sing us a song of the century… that's louder than bombs and eternity… The era of static and contraband… leading us into the Promised Land… Tell us a story that's by candlelight… waging a war and losing the fight…'
"W-where… where am I… I-I can't see… it's so dark… and this song… such a saddening tune… am I… dead?" Yui thought to herself. However, she wasn't allowed to move, no matter how much she tried to force herself to move.
'They're singing a song of the century… panic and promise and prosperity… tell me a story into that good night… sing us a song… for me.'
The song ended in static. Yui opened her eyes suddenly, able to move once the song ended. Slowly, she was let on her own two feet, free from floating in the air. She looked all around her, and the only bit of light she saw was the spotlight on her. She could tell she fell a long way from where she was earlier, but it didn't feel like she was on Earth.
"Is this… Heaven?" She asked herself, continuously looking around. She shook her head and replied to herself. "No… it can't be. Heaven wouldn't be THIS dark. Still…" She looked up again to see the bright light above her. "I think I'm dead. Sawako… is going to get her wish." She slowly sat down, knowing she's lost all hope now. In her mind, Yui knew she wasn't going to be able to get out of wherever she was. At this point she knew Sawako was going to get her guitar and rule the Dead Hour.
All she could do now was just sit there and accept defeat…
However, before she let that stark reality sink in, her hand suddenly shot up in front of her. She had no control over it, but she knew she was pointing at something. She stood up and followed where she herself was pointing. Every step she walked forward into the darkness, a path of light was being made at the same time. Yui then started speaking to herself.
"Okay… what did Azu-nyan tell me last time during training? If you veer too far into the darkness, go back into the light. Do not venture too long into the darkness or else you will be devoured…" She looked behind her, noticing that she was making a path for herself. "…Convenient." She commented before moving forward. The song started to replay by itself, though.
She kept walking for a few minutes until she noticed her hand move 45 degrees to the right. She continued following where it pointed. Again, she had no control over her hand as she moved. At the same time, Yui had to listen to the song that played over and over again.
"…What is with this song? I can't stand this sound." She commented, continuing her walk.
After following where her hand pointed to for a few minutes, she caught sight of something at the end of the road of light. Something was resting on a pedestal, upright.
"Is that… Gitah!" Yui said as she ran right towards it. Sure enough, the shape and the color was similar to Yui's prized possession; her guitar. Like a child who found her lost toy, she hugged Gitah tightly. "Man, it's been ages since I've seen you, Gitah… then again, you've been inside me all this time…" She spoke to it, noting the fact that the words 'L Gitah' were still inscribed on it. Amidst her excitement, however, she realized that she only had little time before Sawako would take back the guitar and then kill her. "Okay, Gitah… I've found you first. Sawako's not getting her hands on you… I need your power more than ever now… so that I can wake up and fight again… you'd be disappointed if I didn't fight back, right, Gitah?" She asked, strapping the guitar over her shoulder in the proper position, her playing hand raised up and her free hand supporting the neck of the guitar.
With every ounce of strength, feeling, passion and emotion she had in her, she strummed her guitar once.
0
Sawako was still searching inside Yui's body for that very same guitar, her hand still inside her. "God damn it, where IS that thing? How deep did Yui hide it?" Her search suddenly stopped, however, when she sensed a sudden burst in power inside Yui's body. She noticed it and quickly pulled out, stepping as far away from her as possible. "What in the…?"
Suddenly, her worst fears were realized. Yui suddenly sat up from her position. She opened her eyes, but only the white of her eyes could be seen, as if her eyes were still rolled to the back of her head. Perhaps she was still 'unconscious' thanks to what Sawako did to her. What she saw next nearly made her jaw drop. Yui slowly stood back up. Starting with her fingertips, they started to turn blue, with strands of lightning flowing through her body. Soon, her whole body started to electrify.
"No… don't tell me… is that the Thunder Goddess?" Sawako yelled in disbelief, as she stared at Yui's new body. Electricity fizzled throughout her body, sparks flying sometimes. Yui's subliminal state of mind didn't help things either. Her blank stare was focused right on Sawako. The glare was a bit too much for her and she outright attacked her with a laser. Yui subconsciously deflected the laser right back at Sawako, forcing the teacher to roll to one side to dodge it. Yui then slowly approached her threateningly. Her very presence was a threat to Sawako, as she launched a desperate flurry of lasers trying to force her back. Unfortunately, all her lasers either deflected off or were absorbed into Yui. Suddenly, Sawako found herself as the hunted instead of the hunter, as Yui suddenly rushed straight to her and punched her right in the face, taking her off her feet and crashing her right into the ice wall. The impact of Sawako's back hitting the wall completely shattered the ice wall. She fell onto her knees before falling flat on her face, the impact possibly taking everything out of her.
It wasn't over for Sawako yet. Yui slowly walked over to her, just about ready to finish this whole affair. Sawako slowly looked up, seeing the approaching guitarist. Her strength really went out the window once Yui had punched her that hard. However, Sawako forced herself to get back up. With what little strength she had left, she pushed herself back up to her two feet. However, by the time she got back up, Yui was looming over her head. As soon as she looked up, she was eye-to-eye with Yui again.
"Y-Yui! C-come on, Yui! Y-you don't want to hurt me, do you?" She pleaded. However, her pleas were falling on deaf ears, as Yui wrapped her right hand around Sawako's neck and choked her harshly, as if she wanted to snap Sawako in half. Yui's empty eyes glared at her teacher, striking fear into her soul.
"You… will… pay…" Yui said, her voice in a near demonic tone, reeling her fist back. With absolutely no feelings, yet no remorse, Yui punched her in the face hard, sending her flying out of the same hole she created. The blow itself incapacitated Sawako. The punch sent her flying out of the castle. No scream or anything. Utter silence as Yui just watched.
The entity that was Yui stood silent for a few seconds, before about-facing and trudging slowly towards the center of the room. She then spread her arms, letting her hands emanate with lightning energy for a few seconds, before releasing a massive shockwave. In a flash, she turned back into her normal self, but the exertion of that amount of energy caused her to immediately pass out...
…as the castle began to crumble.
The castle roof started to crack, huge debris starting to fall. The whole place was going to collapse… and an unconscious Yui was lying down on the center of the ice floor…
0
Outside, the rest of the group could feel the tremors coming from the castle. As they had to wait for the portal to reopen by itself, they could only watch as the castle began to fall apart. Chunks of ice falling at high altitude forced the girls to move back so that they don't get hit.
"Talk about your highs and lows." Ritsu snidely commented, but the rest of the girls ignored it. The one concern they had now was whether Yui managed to get out alive. Unfortunately, they couldn't see their leader at the entrance.
"The whole place is going down…" Azusa said. Then, the group heard a sound, signaling that the portal had been re-activated finally.
"Portal's here… let's get out of here." Akiyama ordered in a raspy voice, her weakness still evident.
"Wait, what are you saying, Akiyama?" Mio turned to her and asked, flabbergasted.
"I'm saying we need to go before this whole place crashes down on us. You wanna become a pancake, by all means."
"And what about Yui? You expect us to leave her to die like that?" Akiyama went silent, but Ritsu was going to have none of it.
"So you DO want her to die!"
"That's not what I'm implying, you idiot. If you went in there, you're going to end up like her and we'll have TWO dead souls on our hands. Do you really want that?" Akiyama explained. The crew looked at each other, but once again, Ritsu would remain defiant, walking back to the crumbling castle.
"RITSU!" Mio called out. Ritsu's ears were shut and oblivious to what Mio was saying. She was the one who's regretted everything that she's done so far, from hurting Yui to insulting her and questioning her decisions. If there was any a time to look for forgiveness, now was the time for it. She ran right back into the castle, climbing up the steps of the crumbling castle and looking up to avoid any debris.
"Ritsu-senpai…" Azusa said, looking back as her senior attempted a daring rescue attempt. Akiyama could only scoff before turning back to the portal.
The drummer raced up to where they were earlier; the highest point of the castle where they fought Sawako, dodging chunks of broken ice to get up here. Panting hard, she scoped the area she was in. She had to be quick. The whole place was going to collapse and it would take her with it if she failed. More importantly, it would take Yui down with it as well if she couldn't find her. Lo and behold, she found her leader sprawled on the ground, unconscious, in the center of the room. Ice rocks and small stalactites started falling, so she had to act quick lest she wanted her leader to be impaled. With her flames, she boosted her dash and raced toward her, dodging any ice boulders that impeded her way to Yui. Right as she almost got to her, an ice boulder landed right in front of her, catching her off guard and forcing her to jump over it. Her landing, though, wasn't pleasant, as she tripped up and fell face first next to Yui.
"O-ow… damn it." She said, but she had to get up. She wasn't about to give up. She went to check on her leader. "Still alive… thank you, God!" She carefully carried her over her shoulder, trying not to hurt her anymore than she already was. She did her best to dodge everything she could as more ice kept falling. It seemed as though there was no end to it.
As she rushed for the exit, her strength was waning. The damage she's sustained, not to mention her still injured leg, only slowed her down. The dead weight on her back only slowed her down more. However, she kept pushing on no matter what. She needed to get Yui out. Once she got to the bottom of the stairs, she was almost home free.
Unfortunately, her strength decided to cave in on her. She fell hard on her knees before falling flat. The impact nearly launched Yui far in front of her as she rolled on her side. "D-damn it… Yui…" She could only say in a soft voice, before shutting her eyes and losing her consciousness completely.
At this point… both of them were left for dead…
What they couldn't hear was the voice calling out for them.
"YUI! RITSU!"
0
Silence.
That was the common sound that was heard throughout. Only the humming of the air conditioner broke the silence, if just by a bit. The sun lit up through the window, lighting up the patient's face. However, she wasn't able to wake up. She had been like this for 2 days straight, completely still, her consciousness not returning to her yet.
Visiting hours were over, but her friends still stuck by her, waiting for any signs of life to show.
"Is she…" One of them asked, but was quickly shushed by her companion.
"Don't even go there."
"…Sorry." Inappropriateness aside, the three of them waited and waited… until finally the patient could open her eyes.
"U-ungh…" She groaned, her head ached like a quart of firewood being split open. The three friends heard her and quickly went toward her. In a bit of an overjoyed mood, Azusa almost went and hugged her outright, but Tsumugi managed to control her in time.
"Yui… my God, you're finally back with us." Mio said, a relieved figure now that her band-mate is awake.
"H-how long was I out?"
"A whole two days, Yui. We got worried you died on us…" Tsumugi answered this time.
"Two days… shoot. I can't remember what I did two days ago…"
"You took on Sawako, Yui. You gave it everything you had and you defeated her… then you lost consciousness in that crumbling castle." Azusa explained to her.
"Yeah, and then, I'M the one who ran in to save you." From the door, a wrapped up in bandages Tainaka Ritsu said, being supported by crutches, meaning to say that the hole in her leg was still there.
"RITSU! The doctor said you're not supposed to move about yet!" Mio yelled, frustrated at her best friend as she walked right up to her and glared at her. "How are you going to recover in time if you keep defying the doctor's orders?"
"Look, I only came around to see Yui not in sleeping beauty mode, Mio. Relax! I'll be back in bed in no time." Ritsu confidently answered, but it still earned her a continued scowl from Mio.
"If your leg doesn't recover in time, I'm going to murder you, do you understand me?"
"Yes, ma'am~" She jokingly answered before joining the rest, but was more focused on Yui. "Congratulations on getting the job done, Yui."
"Yeah, thanks… though I get the feeling this is far from over."
"It's still a far cry from restoring our world, but it's a step in the right direction." Ritsu made her way to the chair and sat on it, resting her crutches on the wall. "For now, we all deserve a good rest, don't we?"
"Yeah, we do… all of us need to recover after that night." While the conversation was ongoing, from the corner of her eye, Mio could see another figure at the door. It was Akiyama, reluctant to enter the room at a momentous occasion. She wasn't much of a cheerful woman, so she stayed away from them. Mio headed out towards her and dragged her clone away from the rest, to a safe spot in the long hallway of the hospital.
"So she's recovered…" Akiyama started speaking.
"Yes, she has. You doubted whether she was going to survive all this while."
"…I never did doubt her, really. This IS Yui we're talking about." She said, grinning a bit. Mio couldn't help let out a small chuckle before moving on to the next topic.
"So what about you? Planning to go back to the Dead Hour? I mean, that IS where you're from after all."
"Normally I'd say I would, but I wouldn't want to live in a place filled with things that now loathe me to death." Akiyama retorted, crossing her arms.
"Then… you're going to live with us then?" Mio then asked. The response she got was a bit delayed and started with a bit of a stagger. She couldn't believe it herself. Akiyama was actually showing signs of shyness.
"W-well…" She looked away for 2 seconds before mumbling. "I want to stay with you."
"What? I can't hear you, Akiyama. You're going to have to speak up."
"…I said…" Akiyama was a tad bit louder this time. "I want to stay with you."
"I REALLY can't hear you, Akiyama. Wanna speak up a bit?" Mio said, acting as if she couldn't hear her the first time. This peeved Akiyama and forced her to yell.
"I SAID I WANT TO STAY WITH YOU!" Her voice echoed through the corridor of the hospital. Realizing what she did, she covered her mouth in embarrassment.
"Oh, so you DO want to stay with me." She declared, peeving the clone off that bit more, to the point she may have accidentally popped one of Akiyama's veins.
"YES, you moron. I DO want to stay with you… me going back to the Dead Hour's just a step in the wrong direction for me anyway." Akiyama said, turning to look out the window. "As far as I'm concerned… I'm still going to be watching that place to see if anything else develops… in the meantime, I should probably bunk in with my twin."
"That's all fine and dandy, but how am I going to explain this to my parents if they find you? Not to mention, are you going to school with me?"
"That part, I leave to you." She said, as she had one foot on the window sill, and with some force, jumps her way out of the hospital. Mio tried to pull her back but didn't have enough time.
"O-OY! What do you mean 'leave it to me'?" She yelled at her, watching as her clone runs off right quick. All the bassist did was rest her palm against her face in disbelief. She quickly turned back to join her compatriots. She was still glad that Yui had come back to life finally. But as usual, it was all business, even during these times.
"You guys… did a fantastic job out there. I couldn't have asked for a better team. However…" She stopped, looking out the window for a short moment. "I get the feeling this isn't going to be the last we're going to see of her."
"If that premonition is true… we'll fight with you again, Yui." Tsumugi responded, holding onto her hand.
"We'll do anything to keep Sawako, or anything that threatens the safety of this world, at bay." Azusa declared, showing that she's ready to face up to the challenge.
"You know my answer, Yui." Mio then said. "I'll fight with you no matter what."
"And I have to make up for all the things I put you through, Yui." Ritsu said, still remembering her mistakes.
"Thank you, girls…" She acknowledged.
For the Hokagou Tea Time, a small, little-known rock band from Sakurakou High School…
The fight had ended, but the battle had only just begun.
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To Be Concluded
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A/N: About time I managed to get this out. I apologize for being late. National Service hit my schedule pretty hard, plus with gaming and life hitting me. I will still continue this series. Thus ends the 1st of what is to be a 5 part series as I have declared.
Enjoy it when it comes out!