Souls dwell beneath the Earth
By UG
"Yui senpai, I've told you, its just a scratch! There's no need to make such a big deal out of this." Azusa sighed, only to be met by another wave of affections from her benevolent senpai.
"Oh but Azunyan, I just cant bear the thought of losing you…" Yui over dramatically swooned as she leaned over for an embrace. Azusa gently pushed her away, sighing at the airheads perseverance for the sake of joking affection. Recently, Azusa was at her wits end, she felt like she'd rather the wound just be let open to become infected than to let it properly heal over the damn head bandage that was causing her so much trouble.
Ritsu weighed into the banter, "Oh I agree, if only you had been more careful, Azusa!" The drummer scolded, lamenting the rhythm guitarist's injury as if she had lost a leg.
Finally, Azusa felt like she'd had enough. She thrust both her fists in the air and threw both the coddling senpai's off of her, feeling no remorse as the pair of idiots took overdramatic dives at the floor.
Ritsu and Yui lay on the floor for a short while as Azusa recomposed herself and took her seat once again. At this, the blonde girl sitting diagonally from her kept her attention on the defeated antagonists on the floor, her focused anticipation keeping her from remembering that she had yet to serve Azusa's cake yet. Azusa raised a finger to ask Mugi whether she could venture for a slice of cake but lowered her finger as she didn't want to interrupt the natural cycle of idiocy that was commonplace in the light music club.
"What are you afraid of? Mugi doesn't bite," Mio smiled, taking her eyes off of the half-eaten slice of cake in front of her. Azusa did not humour her, but instead eyed Mio's desert, envying the privilege of taking cake so much for granted that one felt that they could leave it half eaten. Mio followed Azusa's gaze and lowered her teacup.
"Do you want some of mine?" Mio ventured, seeing an opportunity to rid herself of the vanilla cake in front of her that she cared very little for. A confused look briefly arose on Azusa's face before her eyes settled on Mio's cake to which she politely but unsurely replied, "No thank you, Mio-Senpai."
Sometimes, Azusa took Mio's reputation as 'The Normal one' as an absolute rather than a relative. She wasn't sure whether she was being overly prudish, but a half-eaten cake was not her ideal meal, or even a meal she would take as a middle of the road option. What spurred Mio into thinking it was an acceptable offer she would never know. Azusa reasoned herself into the position that Mio was simply suffering from Light-music-club-itus, a disease that dwelt solely within the light music club and made every save Azusa abnormal. In fact, sometimes Azusa felt herself falling to the disease too, especially when the cat ears come out.
However, Azusa was brought out of her pondering as a shout echoed out from across the room.
"Ritsu!? Why did you do that?" An angry looking Mio asked, raising her fist in preparation for her vengeance. She looked up at the tawny haired girl leaning over her, smiling at the Bassist with her cake filled mouth.
"Ythou said tat ta c-" Ritsu mumbled, the food in her mouth obscuring her speech, crumbs flying out and creating an unpleasant rain onto the raven haired girl beneath her.
"Don't speak with your mouth full, idiot!" Mio yelled, pushing Ritsu away. The drummer fell into Yui's arms sulkily and crossed her arms, pouting as she made herself comfortable in Yui's supportive hold. Her legs were spread out in front of her to the point that she was leaning on her back heels, her head only coming up to Yui's breast as the Guitarist partially struggled to keep Ritsu suspended in what was basically mid fall.
"You said it was up for grabs!" Ritsu exclaimed, having finished her mouthful in the fall. Mio's eyebrows furrowed in frustration at the pseudohistorical claim.
"I offered my cake to Azusa-chan, not to you." Mio reminded her, expecting the rebuttal to shelf the dispute. However, such thinking was a dangerous misunderstanding of Ritsu's ends.
"You snooze you lose!" She exclaimed proudly, holding her head high as Yui cheered her on from behind, waving the limp drummer around a bit to add to the celebration.
"That doesn't even make sense!" Azusa exclaimed from across the table, seemingly sharing Mio's frustration with the illogical pair.
"Oh, look who's taking sides!" Ritsu said condescendingly, acting as if she had foreseen this. The duet became solemn as they projected a worryingly convincing sense of betrayal over the other three.
"Azusa, how could you do this to us…" Ritsu lamented, acting as if her world had been shattered before her very eyes by Azusa's part in the idiotic affair.
"Yeah, we thought you were cool, Azunyan!" Yui chimed in, casting an accusing hand at the Rhythm Guitarist. Azusa sustained her bored frown as the pair came tumbling down onto each other as Yui's raised hand had caused Ritsu to fall back onto her completely, finishing the fall which should've happened minutes ago.
"I am cool..." Azusa mumbled, looking down at her feet as she contemplated Yui's words. However, she suddenly sprung to her feet and yelled, "Wait, I don't care what you guys think is cool!"
Feigning hurt, Yui partially de entangled herself from Ritsu and exclaimed, "Oh Azunyan, that injury must have knocked all the love for your beloved lead guitarist out of you…"
At this, Azusa lowered herself back into her seat as she was thrust back into thought, but this time revelation rather than self-reflection. It was true that her affection for Yui had somewhat weaned at the constant teasing and banter at her new bandage, hating that the overbearing airhead wouldn't just allow her to live her life in peace.
"You really shouldn't take what they say so seriously, Azusa-chan." Mio said, ignoring the two fake weeping musicians on the floor behind her. Azusa gave an unsure nod and stood, pardoning herself from the club for the evening. She had made it halfway down the stairs before a hand grabbed onto her from behind, making her jump out of her skin and spin to meet the person behind. She was met with two big brown hazel eyes and a wide smile.
"Azunyan, Ritsu had one last question for you before you left," she said buzzingly, like a grand idea was on the tip of her tongue. Azusa, out of pure curiosity, took the bait.
"What's the question?" She nonchalantly asked. Suddenly, Ritsu appeared from the top of the stairs and sped down them, almost tripping over her own feet a series of times before she finally caught herself on Yui's shoulder.
"Is she still here?" Ritsu said between pants, turning to face Yui completely so that Azusa was out of her peripheral vision. Azusa felt almost insulted that she was being ignored but reasoned that it was the means to the ends of a joke, so she said nothing and let the scene play out in front of her.
"Yes cap'n, she's right in front of you!" Yui boldly said, puffing out her chest and saluting Ritsu as she relayed the update. Ritsu, hunched over with her eyes near closed, finally turned around to face the twin tailed girl. Ritsu put one hand on Azusa's shoulder as if she was going to deliver some terrible news. Such a thought made her memory of Yui's silliness null as an irrational fear took over her mind, her focus was now concentrated on Ritsu.
"W…what happened?" Azusa asked, fearing the worst.
Ritsu looked up at her slightly and let out a small smile, "Eyepatch," she whispered.
Azusa deadpanned in annoyance and turned around to leave.
"Azusa, hear me out, instead of a bandage going round your face and eye, you could wear an eyepatch and look even cooler!" Ritsu called out after her.
"Ooooh, and like a pirate! Like a pirate Ricchan!" Yui exclaimed, jumping up and down excitedly at the idea.
"That's a great idea Yui! We could get her a pirate hat too!"
"And a cutlas!"
"And a real parrot!"
The pair were so invested in the ideas revolving around Azusa's supposed eyepatch that they failed to notice that Azusa had long since descended the stairs and was now leaving the school grounds.
Azusa laid down on her bed, sprawling herself across it to relieve some of the physical tensions of the day. The quiet suburban neighbourhood served well to lessen the frustration in her head. She lay there for a few minutes before a screeching car came speeding down her neighbourhood and broke her rest. She startled up in bed until the automobile had passed, resting herself back down and calming her racing heart.
However, her focus was muddled and disturbed by the recent interruption which brought her thoughts back to the theme she was hoping to avoid most. She had often tired of the banter she received from Yui and Ritsu, but never before had she felt that she actively disliked it. Not even disliked, hated. She hated that they never took anything seriously, not their instruments, not the club, not even her.
She stood up from her bed and placed herself in front of a mirror on the opposite side of her bedroom, brushing her hair out of the way to witness the bandage over her eye in its full spectacle. The bandage was a constant reminder of why it was there in the first place. The memory she had wanted to ignore since it had occurred. She didn't want to remember the fight.
Of course, the club knew not of this, she had passed off the bandage as a scrape from falling over and that seemed to have satisfied their queries. The initial feeling of worry about her physical being seemed to pass pretty quickly as within the hour they were joking about it. Mocking it. Mocking her pain. She teared up at the notion and turned away from the mirror and took a deep sigh. Part of her wanted to tell them the truth, but she knew better than to break their fantasy world with the notion that their dear kitty had been scrapping with other kitties.
She just wished that they would have some respect, that they would act like they cared about her injuries on more than a surface level.
But then again, she found it hard to blame them as they meant no ill intent by joking about her bandage, in fact they perhaps even meant to make light of it to cheer her spirits. At this a small smile on her face crept up, beaming at the thought that her friends shed light onto her darkest hours.
Just then, her phone began to ring. The sudden buzz made her jump as she scrambled to pick it up and accept the call. Once she did, she settled down on the floor and put an ear to the phone. She heard incessant giggling on the other end.
"Hello, is this Azun-"The overly deep voice was muffled on the other end as the phone seemingly passed from hand to hand, or someone had thrown it into a tumble dryer. After a few seconds, the deep voiced person was back on the other end.
"Hello again A-… Miss. I am here to ask where the nearest chest of gold under a buried x is…"
Azusa hung up and closed the phone, evidently, she was going to receive a living parrot in a few days at this rate.
However, the call sullied her expectations, and her smile quickly dissipated. Perhaps they weren't making fun of her directly but were rather just using her whole life as a joke. Was that all their pet was to them, a butt of every joke?
She stood once more and plopped herself down in front of her computer, deciding that she had had enough of thinking about her clubmates. However, she decided she was not going to let herself be made a mockery of anymore. A frown of concentration and determination materialised on her face as she anticipated the coming school day, where she would make the cause of her injury known to the rest of the light music club, and surely put them in their place for their immaturity and negligence.
Azusa dragged herself into school the next day, berating herself over the lack of sleep she had achieved the previous night which had led her to her current tired state. She had been up last night thinking about the club, dwelling on what she had considered when she first got home. She had come to the same conclusion as before, which frustrated her even more as it meant that her late night was unnecessary. Sometimes Azusa doubted her judgement and had to remind herself of her confidence, although she wished she had confidence in her ability to not let club related stress steal away her reasonable bedtimes.
Nevertheless, she survived the long school day, scribbling down notes as assiduously as she could muster and passing off any notions of concern with calm dismissal. She tended to do that, to say everything was fine when it wasn't until she was at a boiling point.
The twin tailed girl felt she had reached her boiling point with the club.
Eventually, the bell rang and the time to face the club had undeniably come. Azusa raised herself from her seat and took her leave from the finished lesson, not bothering to explain her speedy departure to Jun or Ui whom she had left behind in the classroom.
She neared the bottom of the staircase leading to the music room and paused, taking a single step up the stairs then withdrawing it. Her confidence faltered as she considered the consequences of what might happen if she does what she plans to do. What if she scolds them so badly that she ruins the club for everyone, she could never live with herself after spoiling the little home the four of them had built. However, she had expected the same result when she exploded at them on her first week in the club, and absolutely nothing had come of it.
Azusa's confidence faltered once more as she shifted her feet timidly on the spot, considering how little bearing her opinions and feelings had on the club. She felt tears tug at the corners of her eyes as she considered just going home and bailing on the club, believing that such an action would cause little concern to the other four members of the band. However, before she could make such a decision, she heard a giggle behind her, and then she jumped as she was embraced in an all-encompassing hug from behind. Azusa stood there in mild shock as she struggled to get the overbearing girl off of her but to no avail as she was brought further and further into the embrace. Suddenly she was let go of and spun around to be greeted by the beaming face of Yui Hirasawa.
"Ohayomasan, pirate-chan!" Yui exclaimed, clearly entertained by her own joke. The normally endearing innocence on the guitarists face causing anger rather than affection to flare up inside the smaller girl. Finally, she could contain herself no more as she leaned over and yelled at her senpai.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" She rebuked, scrunching up her eyes and balling her hands into fists as she did so. She felt the tears finally roll down her cheeks as she let the malice escape her and bear down onto her upperclassman.
Finally, after a few seconds had passed, Azusa opened one of her eyes, then the other one, and looked upwards. Instantly, her fists unballed and her shoulders relaxed as Yui's heartbroken look tugged on her heartstrings and took her aback. She quickly recomposed herself and looked down at her feet, unwilling to witness Yui's hurt gaze again. Immediately, guilt forced Azusa's brain into submission, so she subconsciously resolved to at the very least explain her actions to her heartbroken friend.
She took a few deep breaths and begun, "Yui-Senpai, I don't like it when you tease me over my bandage." She said, still looking down at her feet. However, no answer came, but she could still feel the brunette's presence, so she continued.
"I just feel like you don't take me or my concerns seriously…" Her voice drifted into a whisper as her confidence failed her, embarrassment at her rashness causing her face to flush as she kept her eyes concentrated on the floor below her. She was ready to be rebuked, to be scolded, for Yui to say something malicious that would stick with her for the rest of her life. She considered not the irrationality of her thoughts but was yet still surprised at Yui's response.
"Azunyan, I'm sorry," Her voice was solemn, "I didn't mean to hurt you, I was just trying to be nice-" She was abruptly cut off by another burst of anger from her Kohai.
"What exactly is nice about treating me like I don't matter to you? That I'm just the butt of every joke! That you don't like me enough to care about my injuries!" She exclaimed, fresh tears running anew as she quietly sobbed to herself, her knees shaking as she felt overwhelmed by her own emotions.
Quietly but surely, Yui put a gentle hand onto the younger girl's shoulder and rubbed it gently and affectionately. Azusa slowly raised her eyes and met the Two Brown Orbs radiating their happiness onto her, making her quickly look away as she began to regret her course of action.
"Azunyan, I don't think about you like that," Yui beamed, her smile creating cracks in Azusa's resolve to stay mad at her.
"Y-you don't?" The smaller guitarist inquired, questioning whether she really knew anything at all about the club she had spent so long agonising about.
Yui adamantly shook her head and looked at her with new determined eyes, Azusa could swear she saw a twinkle in them.
"We thought that you were so quiet about your bandage, that it was like a secret that we weren't allowed to know about," She explained, holding Azusa's teary gaze all the while.
"We didn't want to leave you out of the fun, since laughter is the best medicine!" Yui exclaimed, her joy lighting up the whole room.
"So, we joked around with your bandage condition to make you feel more comfortable with it, then maybe you'd tell us your secret, and feel less bad about it… We didn't want to leave you out or make you feel like your bandage was something to be sad about." Yui paused for a moment before continuing, "It makes me upset when your upset, Azunyan."
Azusa averted her gaze, considering the girls explanation. She couldn't find a fault with it.
"Come on, let's go find the others," Yui beckoned her, walking up the stairs past her and looking back, enticing her to come forth. Azusa took a deep breath and continued up the stairs after her beloved senpai.
"Oh Azusa-chan, we didn't mean any harm…" Mugi reassured the guitarist as she took her normal seat at the light music room table.
"I know, I know…" Azusa quietly replied, her remorse showing in her quieter than normal tone of voice. She sniffled a little bit and wiped her runny nose with her sleeve.
"That's so gross, Azusa!" Ritsu playfully scolded her, although the raven-haired girl seemed unphased by the amber haired girl's words.
"Ritsu, be more considerate!" Mio exclaimed in a far less playful tone, raising herself into a prime idiot hitting position. However, Azusa intervened before the two could butt heads.
"It's fine, Mio-Senpai." She reassured the bassist. Mio lowered herself back into her seat and regained her composure.
For a small time, there was silence in the club room as everyone poked at their food. There were no more misunderstandings between them all, but everything still felt off. Azusa let herself fall back into thought as she wondered whether she really had been right the day before, and that her worries had permanently cured light-music-club-itus for the worse.
"Hey," Ritsu perked up, causing all heads to turn to the drummer, "I remember the time when I lost my drumsticks, and all Mio would do is tease me about it for weeks…" She mused, but despite her words she smiled at the memory.
"Mhm, I then bought her some brand-new drumsticks when she least expected it," Mio light heartedly added, taking a small sip of tea after she did so.
Azusa's attention then spun round to her club mates on her right side as Yui joined the conversation.
"Ooooh! Ooooh! I have a story!" Yui exclaimed, waving her hand in the air as if she were in a classroom. The others shared a look before Ritsu smiled and asked, "What is it, Yui?"
Yui lowered her hand and took a breath before speaking, "One time, I dropped Giiita while practising with Azunyan at Mugi's summer house. I was really concerned but Azunyan said I was making a big deal out of nothing and was being a big baby…" Yui mused, making Azusa flush red at the accusation. Nevertheless, Yui continued, "But later on, I was carrying Giita back to bed and he slipped out of my hands, but Azunyan took a dive and caught him in her hands on the floor. I didn't know Azunyan cared for Giiita so much…" Yui ended with a gentle tilt of her head and a smile in Azusa's direction.
Azusa raised herself slightly and defended herself, "I didn't do it for Giita, I did it for you!"
Suddenly, the point of the stories clicked in Azusa's head.
The rhythm guitarist leaned back into her chair and looked down, appreciating the wit that she thought would've been above the club.
It was like someone cured light-music-club-itus, but in a way that left her fuzzy inside rather than sad.
However, Azusa found a small headache coming on due to her sleep deprived mind. She stirred a little bit in her seat and groaned a bit under her breath.
"Your always so cute whenever you're tired, Azunyan," Yui complimented her, taking partial advantage of Azusa's lowered defences as account of her tiredness.
"Heh, I guess so." Azusa smirked, the fuzzy feeling growing even brighter inside of her. Even with the expectation of lowered hostility, Yui was still taken aback by Azusa's agreement. But she soon recovered and grinned at her kohai, who returned the gesture with one of the few affectionate smiles Azusa ever granted to her fellow club members.
Sometimes, things weren't always as they seemed.
Sometimes, things were better than they seemed.
A/N: Explanation for the fic name. The name "souls' dwell beneath the earth" means that the souls of the members of the light music club lie beneath the façade of the club itself, dig up the club and you get the raw affection of the sum of its members.