It was some weeks later when the weekend finally came, and the four girls all met at the train station near their college. Yui was the last one to arrive, of course. Mio finally spotted Yui rushing up to the group just moments before the train would finally arrive while shouting,
"GUUUUUYYYSSS I'M SORRY I'M LATE AGAIIIIIIIN!"
The three girls could only stand there, watching and giggling as Yui rushed up the platform in her cute pleated grey skirt that bellowed in the wind as she ran, yelling and apologizing in embarrassment. Mugi smiled with her eyes closed as Yui finally reached the group,
"It's okay! The train hasn't come yet, I'm just glad you made it!" Mugi said before giggling more as the announcement of the train arriving rang through the small station. Seconds later the train began pulling up next to the girls, and they were still giggling as they boarded the train and found four empty seats together. Mio and Ritsu sat next to each other with Mio closest to the window, while Mugi and Yui sat across from them. Before long the train began moving again, and the girls were off to their usual vacation spot. Or, the usual "summer practice" spot that was often used for vacations, rather. Mio was the first one to speak as the girls relaxed into their seats and the journey began,
"Azusa said her train would be arriving first, right? Hopefully she won't have to wait too long for us" She said, looking out the window as the afternoon sun lit the world passing by brilliantly. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the air was still crisp with the winter air despite the bright sun warming things up.
"Yup! She shouldn't be waiting long for us, her train is only scheduled to be 15 minutes ahead of us so it should be okay!" Mugi replied quickly. Ritsu would have answered first, but her and Yui were both too busy hanging over their neighbors' laps looking out the window at the city rushing by as the train picked up speed. Ritsu was mostly hanging over Mio just to annoy her, and in response Mio would rest her arms firmly on Ritsu's back, so when she tried to get up she was trapped on Mio's lap. Mugi and Yui both giggled more as Ritsu struggled to escape Mio's firm hold; but it was no use, and soon Ritsu had resigned herself to laying on her lover's lap for the time being.
The rest of the train ride passed mostly without incident. Eventually the sight of buildings whizzing by gave way to fields of sprouting crops and other flowers that were freshly planted for the coming summer months. Finally though the sights were overtaken by a thick forest that dimmed the light of the bright sun that had been shining through the windows of the train. It was at this point that Yui had been overpowered by her sleepiness, and was soon snoozing away on Mugi's shoulder as the train flew through the thick forest.
Ritsu was the first to notice, and of course she began taking pictures of Yui's goofy sleeping face almost immediately. Both Ritsu and Mugi stifled their giggles just enough so as to not wake the sleeping girl as she lay cutely on Mugi, her mouth open just a bit as she snored away on the train. Mugi was finally the first to comment, however.
"Wow, not only does she show up just moments before the train arrives, most likely because she was asleep; but then she falls asleep on the train! Not only that, but she's gotta fall asleep in the cutest way possible, on my shoulder. Jeez, what are we gonna do with her?" She spoke, blushing brightly and clearly enjoying the closeness of her friend having decided that her shoulder was comfortable enough to nap on. She continued looking down for a bit before looking back up and smiling brightly at her friends across from her.
Mio and Ritsu smiled just as brightly back, amused at how absolutely clueless the brown-haired girl was and continued to be through college. It seemed that this was just the way Yui was, and all the girls loved her for it. Mugi was especially thankful for her, however.
"Has she told you that she's been staying in my dorm a lot lately?" Mugi asked in a chipper tone. "My room is filled with clothes of hers, and I've even done a load of laundry with our clothes mixed. It's weird, but I've been enjoying having a roommate!"
"Oh yeah! How did you end up with one of the single rooms, anyway?" Mio asked in a hushed whisper.
Mugi blushed more and looked down into her lap, clearly embarrassed by the answer that had to come,
"Oh… well, you know… my dad knows some important people at the college… and of course he pulled some strings. I told him I didn't want any special treatment!" For a bit she was lost in the embarrassment and frustration of having her wishes invalidated, but soon her attention turned back to Yui.
"...But, it seems like we've got something figured out here." She said as the smile returned to her face, lightly blushing again as she rested an arm on Yui's leg.
"Aw that's so cute Mugi! I'm glad you've found someone to share your room with so you're not so lonely. Do you two just share the bed that's in there?" Ritsu asked softly as she curled up on her own neighbors shoulder with a little yawn, much to the chagrin of Mio who did not appreciate being used as a pillow, especially after allowing Ritsu to free herself of her lap.
Mugi blushed even harder at the question, knowing the arrangement the girls had made. She shifted in her seat a bit while nervously murmuring under her breath, before finally answering,
"...Y-yeah. We just sleep together in the bed. Just because it makes sense! I mean, maybe we could get an inflatable mattress or something. But that's so much work and the bed is plenty big for us both to sleep in together! I-it just makes sense to let her sleep with me in my bed!"
Mugi had gotten so wrapped up in her embarrassment that she didn't realize how loud she was talking until Yui stirred on her shoulder. The cute little blonde girl instantly lowered her voice again back to a whisper so as to not disturb her friend more. What she did leave out telling was that the girls would always cuddle each other to sleep at night, and that she had even begun feeling attracted to Yui through their time spent together. She'd never had somebody to come home to before, and the past couple weeks of them all but living together had shown Mugi what she was missing out on. The girls had even started a sort of routine together. They both had classes in the morning that they would wake each other up for, but depending on the day one girl always got back to the room first, and she would be the one to set up the tea and snack cakes to share with the other girl once she returned to the dorm as well. Then they would work on homework together, or if there was little else for them to do they would put on a movie or other internet based videos to watch and enjoy together. They'd even begun cuddling with each other while relaxing, and if Mugi were honest it was all she could do not to instinctively wrap an arm around Yui and cuddle her on the train. It made her happy that she was starting to accept herself and her feelings.
Meanwhile, Mio and Ritsu were going through their own excitement and slight confusion over the exact nature of Mugi and Yui's relationship. Mio could certainly sense the same apprehension that had consumed her for so long, while Ritsu was more oblivious to it. However, both girls were elated and their hearts swelled seeing and hearing all the adorable things Mugi and Yui would get up to. Mio had plenty of questions, but the time didn't seem to be right for any of them. Besides, she knew that the last thing Mugi wanted to do was answer tough questions that she really didn't have an answer for in the first place. But of course, Ritsu was the first to respond without thinking too much about things,
"That's adorable Mugi! It does make sense just to share the same bed, especially if you two are comfortable sleeping together. Not to mention that I'm sure she helps keep your bed plenty warm and cozy~" She said, smiling devilishly before continuing,
"I wonder if she'll be able to sleep normally without sharing a bed with you this weekend, unless you two already planned on sleeping together~"
Mugi blushed even harder as an adorable, embarrassed squeaking sound escaped her. She curled up in her chair even more, trying to hide herself. Mio finally decided to offer some support to her friend however,
"Mugi, it's okay!" She exclaimed in a quiet whisper, "We're adults now, and if you want to sleep in the same bed with one of your friends then you're allowed to!"
She paused for a moment, clearly debating whether or not to continue down this line of logic. It was logical, what she wanted to say; but she was still having trouble becoming completely comfortable with it, especially since it was still 'hidden' to her friends, who of course already knew the big secret. But now there was a different big secret that would undoubtedly be revealed on the trip as well.
"...as a matter of fact, Mugi. Even if you wanted to cuddle Yui while you slept, or even do other romantic stuff… all I'm saying is that it's allowed. You're not going to get in trouble over it, nobody is going to yell at you"
It was like Mio was telling this all to herself as much as Mugi, but they both needed to hear it and both girls knew it.
Mugi reacted with even more embarrassment, her entire pale face turning bright red as more squeaks of embarrassment left her. It was so much that it caused Yui to stir and awaken, lifting her head off Mugi's shoulder as she proceeded to hide her face behind her long blonde hair in embarrassment. Meanwhile, Yui was still waking up and letting her brain get up to speed when she saw Mio and Ritsu both smiling as Mugi was so adorable looking, curled up in her chair with her bright red face covered by waves of light hair, a single blue eye poking through just enough to see.
"...did I do something again? Besides falling asleep?" Yui asked sheepishly while yawning.
"No no, just Mugi being adorable and ditzy, once again" Ritsu responded.
"Ah, so just normal Mugi stuff then?" She said while looking over at Mugi, who continued to shrink into her seat while still holding her hair over her face.
"Mind if I keep napping, then? You know how much I love sleeping on you, Mugi! You've got the softest shoulders and lap that always puts me right to sleep~" Yui continued, this time lifting the arm rest up so she could fall over into Mugi's lap and curl back up on her.
Mugi could only continue to squeak and curl up cutely in her seat as Yui took her place in her lap. It truly wouldn't have been a big deal, Ritsu was doing the same thing to Mio at this point. But Mugi had so little self control over things like this. There were deep, intense emotions welling up inside her and she'd never really been able to release them anywhere other than watching others and imagining them in romantic situations. But with the tables turned and the romance happening to her for a change, it was all too much for the poor girl. She would spend most of the rest of the time on the train slowly moving the hair out of her face, but her blush never really died down.
Mio was fairly proud of how she was handling the situation. She also had a secret, but she'd been living with it for a while now so it was easier to hide. Besides, Ritsu always ended up falling asleep on her during long car or train rides anyway.
Finally the girls arrived at their destination station with two of them well rested from their cozy naps. Not that Mio and Mugi were tired too; but they couldn't have slept with all the excitement of having their crushes napping away on their laps so casually. As the girls stepped off the train, Ritsu was the first to see Azusa sitting on a bench near where their train had stopped on the platform. Quickly she rushed up to her, with Yui following closely behind as they both wrapped their arms around her tightly, both exclaiming loudly. Azusa had expected this, which didn't make things easier to deal with unfortunately, but she did still enjoy how much they missed her. And she missed all her friends too. Ever since they had graduated and gone off to college, the music room was never so lively and energetic.
"Azunya! Have you and Ui been spending plenty of time together? I'm always so worried about you two being lonely, I hope you've been taking good care of each other!" Yui cried while squeezing Azusa.
"And what about the music room? You'd better still be having tea and cakes after school!" Ritsu added while she also hugged her tightly.
"Gah! You two are too much, get off me! You know the tea and snacks were a thing only you guys did, right? None of the other members want to get in trouble for having tea and food in the music room!" Azusa exclaimed while sliding down and away from the squeezing. Mio and Mugi soon caught up with the group as they stood in front of the bench on the loud and bustling platform. Azusa actually approached Mio and Mugi in turn and gave them each a hug voluntarily while Ritsu and Yui watched in shocked horror.
"What? They get real hugs and not us?" Ritsu cried once again as she and Yui hugged each other, consoling one another from their exaggerated loneliness.
"I'm so heartbroken, Azunya! How could you do this to us, your two favorite upperclassmen!" Yui added. Soon she went limp in Ritsu's arms as she held her up, a hand up on her forehead as she feigned passing out.
"Ri-chan! How can we go on after such betrayal? Please hold me, I'm going light headed Ri-chan…!"
"Oh no! Yui! It's okay, stay with me girl! Look at what you've done Azunya! Poor Yui is on the verge of fatigue from the heartbreak! Won't anybody help the poor girl?"
Both Ritsu and Yui continued to pantomime and act out a dramatic, Shakespearean scene as the other three girls giggled at them before continuing their greetings.
"Very glad to see you, Azusa! I'm happy you could meet us here and go on this trip with us too," Mio said after their hug.
"Yes I'm so happy to see you too, Azusa! We've got lots of plans for this weekend, and it's great we could all meet up again like this!" Mugi added as she finished her hug as well.
Azusa smiled while stepping away and picking her luggage back up before responding,
"I know! I was surprised when you suddenly wanted to get together this weekend, but thankfully I was able to free up some time. Anyway, our bus is going to be here before long, we should get moving to the stop."
"Yes, we should!" Mio said, looking toward her two friends who were still playing heartbroken lovers by the bench, Ritsu trying desperately to awaken Yui from her distraught coma. "Come on you two, you can have your scene when we get to the villa!"
Mugi, Azusa, and Mio began walking toward the end of the platform where it connected to the street as the other two finally did collect themselves and followed soon behind the rest of the group, still giggling a bit before Ritsu began whispering,
"So... things are all ready, right?"
"Yep! We've got fireworks lined up to go, I've convinced Mugi to ask her dad to use their boat, and that's all I'm telling you about for now! You'll find out more as the weekend goes on~" Yui responded in a hushed tone.
"You silly girl, I'm excited to see what you've got planned. Nothing that's going to make poor Mio too scared, right?"
"...Naaaahhhh she should be fine. Besides, she's got her big, strong girlfriend there to help her through anyway! No, this is going to be a great weekend I think." She continued, smiling as they finally caught up with the group now waiting at the bus stop.
They all five hopped onto the bus, and again they were whisked away toward their final destination, the beachfront villa. Mugi had managed to get the smaller one that would fit the five girls comfortably. They arrived at the bus stop near the resort area, and proceeded with the short walk to the rented villa. It was of course magnificent in size and luxuriousness, the roof was tall and a small set of stairs led up to the main set of double doors, which was set right in the middle of the building. There were three bedrooms in total, all of about equal size with two on one side of the villa, and the third on the other side where the practice room and outdoor patio were. In the middle was the kitchen and living room area, which was where the girls stepped into first when they entered the villa.
Rooms were quickly decided with Mugi and Yui sharing the room across from Azusa on one side of the house, while Ritsu and Mio would share the single room on the other side with the practice room. Mio and Ritsu entered their room to place their baggage down, but Mio made sure to close the door behind them before taking the slender drummer in her arms and kissing her deeply, holding their bodies together as they melted into the familiar warmth of each others' bodies. Mio refused to let the kiss break for a while, and Ritsu was more than happy to let her have her fill. It wasn't like Ritsu wasn't enjoying her girlfriend's warm, soft tongue twirling around hers as their lips met in heavenly bliss.
"...Sorry, but having you laying on my lap during the entire train ride was giving me ideas." Mio uttered after finally allowing the kiss to end, their faces still just inches away as their bodies were still held in each others' arms.
Ritsu giggled cutely, feeling an even deeper blush spread across her face knowing that her girlfriend was so aroused by her. "Jeez, you're such a naughty girl! What would Mugi and Yui think if they knew what was going on just across from them?"
"Well let's just say that I'm glad you were laying there, making certain *things* easier to hide~ But speaking of those two, what is going on with them? Mugi can be pretty weird and flighty, but she was being especially crazy today!"
"I know! Those two are definitely up to something, and not even that one… uh..." Ritsu trailed off just before ruining the surprise for her lover. Mio started to ask about what she was talking about, but as soon as she did Ritsu occupied Mio's lips with her own once again, which effectively took her mind off what she almost just heard.
On the other side of the house, Mugi and Yui had just entered their room for the weekend and began setting their stuff down when Mugi made sure their door was closed securely, and sat down at the foot of the bed, leaning her back against it while curling her legs into her chest and laying her head into her knees. The poor blonde girl hadn't completely gotten over the embarrassment she'd endured on the train ride, and she finally had a chance to decompress fully. And of course, as soon as Yui noticed that Mugi was going through a lot of emotions, she plopped down right next to her and draped an arm around her shoulders. Mugi quickly leaned over into her as soon as she felt the familiar arm comforting her, although she continued hiding her face.
"Yui... I *really* liked it when you fell asleep on me on the train, I hope you don't get the wrong idea about that. I've just… never had… a girlfriend. Or any kind of relationship like that. And my whole life my dad always talked about finding me a good husband, I never really thought that girls could have romantic relationships too. Even more, my whole life kids always shunned me or made fun of me because of my family, it always just seemed like the only romance I'd ever have would be because somebody was with me for my family's money. I- I'm sorry for all this trouble…"
Yui was more than happy to listen as Mugi lightened her chest, but her starting to apologize signaled that it was time to respond. She reached down to take Mugi's smooth face, encouraging her to look up and reveal her brightly blushing cheeks, and beautiful bright blue eyes that were already welling up with tears from the emotions. Yui used her thumb to wipe a tear out of her eyes while giving her the most encouraging and happiest smile.
"Mugi... you're really something else~ You really don't need to apologize for anything. I understand why you're so uncomfortable and that it's not because of me. If I'm honest, I've never had anything like this happen to me either. I've had little middle school crushes 'n stuff, but nothing like this; and certainly nobody has made me feel so… fuzzy inside. So no apologies are necessary, and even if this doesn't end up being some kind of serious relationship or whatever, I'm just happy we can be such close friends and that we can spend so much time together. Though I am very happy to hear that you think we have a 'romantic relationship' starting here~~~"
Both girls giggled as Mugi buried her head again, this time in the arm and chest of Yui. Mugi was starting to relax and be relieved of her anxiety; but she was still embarrassed, even just in front of the person she was most comfortable with.
"Besides, we didn't even plan this whole trip for us anyway!" Yui continued excitedly. "Although I am looking forward to spending the weekend together, we've got work to do! We gotta go talk to Azu-nya and get her in on everything~"
She gave Mugi a big, tight hug as she continued to curl, before standing up and offering her hand out to Mugi to help her up.
Mugi knew that Yui was right, and that she needed to try her hardest since the trip wasn't even planned for those two. She reached out and took Yui's hand, popping up excitedly.
"You're right, we've still got work to do!" She exclaimed while walking toward the door, Yui smiling and following closely behind. Suddenly though, Mugi stopped just short of the door and turned around a final time to face Yui.
"...uhm. Just for clarification, you do want to date me too, right?"
Yui couldn't help but smile and giggle more at such a silly question, but one that could only come from Mugi's adorable, clueless mouth.
"Jeez, and my sister says I'm the clueless one~ Yes you goofball, I want to date you!"