I'm back. Check out this thing I wrote, I think it's pretty decent. Thanks to UncleGrandpa14 (fanfiction extention : /u/12067340/UncleGrandpa14) for helping me revise this. Credit to the cover image on pixiv (extention): /en/artworks/79326993. The title is actually the title of the song 'Nights Become Days' by Frank Turner from his album England Keep My Bones.
It was another Saturday in Sakura High. Classes had just got out for the day and students headed towards their respective clubs. The Volleyball club met in the gymnasium, the gardening club met in the courtyard and the science club met in the lab. Students were packed in the halls, all heading in different directions; but there was one girl who could stand out from the rest. A short, black haired girl carrying a guitar case on her back. This girl sped through the halls. She moved with a purpose. She headed up the stairs to the third floor, where only third year classes and special classrooms were. The girl turned left and quietly opened the door to a special classroom, the Light music room. Behind the door was some music equipment, a small couch with four bags on it, a large cabinet and five desks all put together to form a table. On the table was five teacups and a cake. Four girls sat at the table, each one turned her head towards the door as it closed behind the short black haired girl.
"Hello, Azusa-chan," said a beautiful blond girl.
"Good afternoon, Azusa," said a taller black haired girl and a girl with a headband, they both looked at each other and winced suspiciously after saying the same thing in synchronization.
Azusa barely got her hand up to greet everyone when she was glomped by the fourth girl; a brown haired jumpy girl named Yui.
"Azunyan~!" Yui exclaimed while hugging Azusa.
"Yui-senpai, please let go of me," Azusa sighed. When the overly joyful guitarist finally let go of her, she grabbed Azusa's hand and ushered her to have tea with everyone else. The junior quickly placed her bag on the couch with everyone else, leaned her guitar against the wall and joined everyone else at the table. Mugi poured hot tea into Azusa's custom cat themed teacup before returning to her seat, her blonde hair flowing as her wake. Azusa settled in and listened to the group's chatter while sipping tea and eating cake, the old sun rays beamed through the windows. The Light Music club was as lively as ever.
A girl with a ponytail slowly opened the door to the music room. She peered in, it was dark. She opened the door a little more and stepped inside the room. She was about to turn on the lights when she saw her friend sitting at a table made of desks, looking down at an empty teacup.
"Azusa-chan?" The girl quietly called out. She looked behind her and ushered her friend in. A brown eyed girl with a bass guitar case on her back followed behind. The two quietly approached Azusa. The ponytailed girl spoke again.
"Azusa-chan?" She said quietly. Only after Azusa's head perked up in response did the other two girls realize that she had been muttering to herself beforehand.
"Oh, hey Ui," Azusa groggily said, she sounded tired and worn out. Ui and Jun approached her and sat down at the desks next to her's.
"Ui, what are you doing? Yui-senpai was sitting there…" Ui's chest tightened at that name.
Azusa's eyes glossed over, Ui and Jun saw the moment reality came back to her.
"Hi… do you need something?"
"I-I'd like to join your club."
"... Sorry, can you say that again?"
"Um, I'd like to join your club."
"Wow! Really!?"
"Yay! We got one!"
"Ui?" Azusa's voice began to shake, a mixture of fear and grief quickly surfacing. Her eyes began to well up with tears and her lip began to quiver. Azusa's hands searched for something to hold onto, they only found the empty teacup. Azusa stood up, tears freely flowing down her cheeks. She tried to run away, but Ui was quick to encase the girl in her arms. Azusa buried her head in the crevice of Ui's neck and sobbed. Jun approached and wrapped her arms around Ui to surround their crying friend in comfort. Ui looked up at Jun and gave a loving smile.
Three girls walked the busy streets of downtown, looking for a place to have fun. Shortly after entering the music room, the three collectively decided that it was better to be somewhere else. Jun decided that the arcade was a nice place to go, Ui was ecstatic at the idea. Azusa, still shaken from her flare of grief, was less enthusiastic. However, they continued and Azusa stuck right with them. As they passed through the entrance of the arcade, Jun's eyes lit up with excitement at being surrounded by such a plethora of options: Racing games, fishing games, pinball, air hockey, all sorts of collaborative fun things to do. Jun wasted no time getting tokens from the machine and pulled the others along, both beginning to shine more light of the situation.
"What should we do first? You guys wanna team up against me in that shooter game?"
"How would we even do that?" asked the twin tailed guitarist.
"One of you takes the joystick, one of you takes the buttons,"
"Wait, Jun, have you even played a shooter game? I've played a lot before wi- umm… maybe you guys could team up against me?" Ui said. She was right, she had played video games in her free time, although not so often anymore.
"Challenge accepted!" Jun said as she put her thumb up to indicate agreement.
"Famous last words…" Azusa said under her breath. Those words were almost correct. After four rounds, Jun and Azusa were only a few hundred points in front of Ui; both sides totalling to a few hundred thousand points in the end. But Jun and Azusa managed a win and they celebrated their win.
"As punishment for losing, Ui, you have to play that shocking game," Jun said.
"Wait, Jun, that's a little hardcore," Azusa said.
"What, you want me to play it so you guys know it's safe?" Jun replied.
Ui added to the conversation, "Aren't those banned in America?"
"I'll play it, Azusa. To prove that I am the most courageous person in this arcade!" Jun exclaimed.
"Nobody even made that point…" Azusa said before realizing that Jun's mind was set to the shocker. Jun walked up to the machine, inserted a token, held onto the conductors and waited for the voltage to increase. For every change in voltage, the machine sent out a one second long shock. Three volts, five volts, eight volts. The voltage was increasing into the double digits and Jun couldn't take much more. Every revolution, the other two saw Jun tense up as the machine buzzed. Azusa got closer to see if Jun was in actual pain. That was a mistake. Right as the machine sent out a shock at fifteen volts, Jun let go of one of the conductors and grabbed Azusa's wrist, adding her to the circuit in a practical joke. Azusa flinched and yelped in surprise. Jun screamed as the machine shocked her too, and let go of the other conductor. The machine stopped and returned to it's ready state of one volt, waiting for its next victim.
"What was that for?!" Azusa exclaimed to Jun.
"Come on Azusa, it was just a prank. It's your fault for getting in proximity," Jun added her signature cheeky grin to the pose.
Azusa scoffed and rolled her eyes, "How about you make it up to me by playing my game then?"
Jun was quick to take the challenge, "You bet. Which game?"
Azusa pointed to the racing games, "Let's have a little race." A menacing smile spread across the guitarist's face.
Jun smirked, her confidence rose. Azusa didn't normally show competitiveness; but when she did, it was an awe inducing sight. Jun and Azusa walked to their stations, cheerleader Ui following behind. Ui loved seeing these two at their finest; they had become good friends throughout their highschool lives. Just as they picked their virtual rides, Azusa looked over to Jun with the most threatening look the girl could wear. She looked like a criminal mastermind, "Silly Jun, your hands and arms are slightly numb from the shocking, it was quite the workout for them. You don't stand a chance."
Jun's eyes widened, she hadn't thought of that. The announcer boomed through the speakers of the machines
"3… 2… 1… Go!"
Jun hit the gas hard, but Azusa picked manual transmission. Azusa was off the starting line first. Jun accelerated, trying to get bearings of her ride. Her arms were shaky and slightly unresponsive. She ran into traffic, rode corners and traded paint. Meanwhile, Azusa cut corners, braking into them and accelerating out of them. She chose the most efficient routes and got used to her ride's torque, sensitivity, traction control and turning circle by the time she was halfway through the circuit. Azusa ended in first, a master of her chosen ride. Jun finished almost a full thirty seconds after, battered and worn out, "Alright, you win. Ice cream's on me."
Ui was mesmerized. She had no idea that Azusa was so good at specifically racing games or that Jun could take so much voltage. It was fun for Ui to watch her two friends bond in the strange way that they did. With the sun beginning to set, the three girls exited the arcade and made their way to the nearby ice cream parlor.
With the last light casting over the sky, three girls sat at a bench with ice cream cones in hand.
"Today was fun, we all won in some capacity," said the timid black haired girl.
"Yeah! I guess we did," Ui added, "We should definitely do it again sometime."
"Well, it's not like it has to end so soon. My parents are out tonight for a retirement party. They said I could have friends over if I wanted," Azusa said, "If your parents are okay with it, of course."
"Mine are in America right now for a Midnight Riders concert, so I can come," Ui replied.
"What about you, Jun?" Azusa asked the frizzy haired girl who was spaced out at the moment, "Jun?"
Jun's head perked up, "Sorry, I was zoning out. What did you say?"
"Azusa's offering to have us over tonight, can you come?"
"Hmm, let me ask my mom," Jun pulled out her phone, clicked through the interface and put it to her ear. There was a moment of silence before the other line picked up, "Hey mom, can I stay over at Azusa's house tonight?"
Azusa knew Jun's parents, she had met them a few months ago at the school festival.
"Thanks mom. See you tomorrow!" Jun hung up, sliding the phone back into her bag, "She said yes!" Jun said, putting her thumb up with a cheeky grin.
"Awesome! Also: Jun, you're ice cream's melting," Azusa pulled Jun's attention to the melted ice cream dripping down the cone. Jun quickly licked the sides of the cone to clean up the potential mess, before taking a big bite into the solid ice cream at the top. Moments later, she regretted it, "My teeth! So cold…" Jun yelped. Ui and Azusa shared a laugh at their friend's mundane suffering.
After they were done with their ice cream, they decided to make their way to Azusa's house while they still had sunlight.
Entering the Nakano household just as night settled in, the three girls took off their shoes and left their bags at the doorway. They went through the kitchen to the couch, which faced the large TV that made the center of her parent's home theater. Jun slumped into the couch while Azusa and Ui still stood, "Azusa, want to help me make tea?" Ui asked.
"Sure, let's do it. I'm not sure of what I have though."
Ui and Azusa turned back and went to the kitchen, "I'll grab the kettle and the bags, can you get the tea cups?" Azusa asked.
"Got it," Ui went to the cabinet to grab the tea cups. As she was reaching up to grab the saucers with the cups on them, she noticed a newspaper sitting on the kitchen counter. The headliner read '30 Dead in Bus Crash on Route 8'. Ui shivered at the headliner, quickly turning the paper over to the other side with the advertisements. She finished gathering the teacups and turned the stove on as Azusa prepared the kettle. While they waited for the tea, the three girls tried to choose a movie to watch. They didn't make a decision before Azusa went to get the tea. When she came back with the tray, a decision still hadn't been made. By the time they had decided on a thriller movie Azusa's parents had on DVD for some reason, they were all on their second cup. Tea was a good way to get Azusa to calm down, because she was asleep halfway through the movie. As she laid asleep on the arm of the couch, Jun and Ui continued watching until the movie ended. The two drowsy girls got off the couch, draped a blanket over their sleeping friend and laid out sleeping spaces for themselves. They used the pillows and blankets Azusa had left out for later to make themselves sleeping spaces next to each other on the carpet next to the couch where the rhythm guitarist slept. They snuggled up, but neither of them could sleep. They listened to Azusa's soft consistent breaths.
"She had a big day," Jun said.
"Yeah," Ui replied.
"I don't think I've seen her have this much fun since, well… you know," Jun commented.
"She had a tough time, she doesn't take that kind of stuff well," Ui remarked, "Well, I guess you can't expect her to. They were her best friends, her senpais."
Jun turned to face Ui in the shallow blue light from the window, "Don't tell me you took it just fine. She was your sister, Ui."
"Yeah, but we need to be strong. For Azusa," Ui looked up at Azusa with an expression that seemingly no one could break. Jun knew Ui liked to be the strong one.
"I can be the big brother, you need to take it easy, Ui. You're doing a great job with her anyway."
Ui's eyes started to wet, "Yeah. O-Onee-chan would be proud of me," She giggled softly to herself. She was trying so hard to contain herself and Jun knew it.
"Ui, it's okay. You've been holding it in for too long. I know I don't express it the best, but I'm here for you. Both of you."
"I remember when I bought her that self-defence book when they went to Kyoto. Silly me, huh?" A tear fell from Ui's eye onto the pillow. She was looking Jun right in the eye.
Jun freed her hand from the blanket and put it on Ui's shoulder, rubbing her shoulder with her thumb through the blanket, "Azusa's saved you too many times. You're breaking, Ui. Just let it out. I'm here."
Ui opened her mouth, but no words came out. She smiled as more tears started to flow. Jun moved towards Ui and wrapped her arms around her. Ui buried her head into Jun's shoulder and wept, slipping her arms under Jun's and pulling herself closer into the embrace. Ui cried herself to sleep like that, it was possibly the best way she could've. Jun didn't want to think about how many nights Ui cried alone in that empty house. Jun soon fell asleep in that position. Throughout the night, the two slowly unclasped unconsciously.
Jun was the first to wake up. The sun poured through the half-covered window. When she woke up, Ui's hand was resting in her palm, but she didn't dare move in fear of waking the brunette. Jun laid there awake for fifteen or so minutes before the other two simultaneously woke up.
Azusa looked down to see the other girls on the floor, "shoot, did I fall asleep during the movie?"
"Wow, not even a good morning?", Jun replied, "Just kidding, man," she gave that cheeky smile again. Ui rose from her position and looked up at Azusa with a drowsy smile.
"Good morning, Azusa-chan. Did you sleep okay?"
"Yeah. Umm, Ui, have you been crying?" Azusa asked.
"Jun rose and looked at Ui. Ui touched her face and realized that she probably had marks, "Oh, umm…"
Jun cut in, "Yeah, she's sad about… what happened, you know."
"Oh, yeah. Well, I'd be more concerned if you weren't," Azusa said.
"But hey," Jun started, "we had fun yesterday and if we walk around all doom and gloom, they probably wouldn't be very happy with us. Let's keep having fun together, not just for us but for them too, yeah?"
The other two looked at Jun with awe. She was right and they had to make an effort to follow through with it, to move past it.
"Yeah, you're right," Azusa said.
"In that case," Ui started, "What do we want to do today?"
Thanks for getting this far, by "this far" I mean the end. There will not be any continuation to this, this is a once-off. Still, I hope you enjoyed and maybe caught my cheeky references! There will be another once-off coming tomorrow, so look out for that if you're interested. If you're looking for other 'K-ON!' stories on this platform, PM me or my mate UncleGrandpa14 (the link to his profile is at the top) and we can probably hook you up, that dude knows the content of this site like the back of his hand. Thanks for reading, see y'all later!