Sorry for the wait! Chapter 8- wait chapter 8? Damn. Side note: I don't know how long this fic will be. I assure you it will be quite lengthy, since I plan to cover the remaining three years of HTT's college years (I assume the three will choose a bachelor's degree route, may change tho? Who knows? Maybe a sequel story. Enough babbling, enjoy!
Chapter 8: Yui and Azusa, the Adults.
"Onee-chan!" Ui said, shaking her sister awake, "You're gonna be late for class!"
"Five more mini-, minu, mi-" Yui mumbled before dozing off again.
Akira looked at Yui pitifully and walked to Yui's freezer, only to return with an ice cube.
Ui stood to one side as Akira dropped the cube into Yui's pajamas.
Yui scrunched up her face and wiggled her body, attempting to slide the cold item out of her shirt.
"EEEEEEEKKKKKK," Yui screeched sitting up suddenly.
"Good, you're awake!" Ui said, "Onee-chan, you have to get going! You have twenty minutes till your class starts!"
Hearing what Ui said, Yui immediately ran to her bathroom to change, running out of her dorm to meet Akira.
"You really are hopeless," Akira sighed, "You're lucky to have such a sweet sister."
"I know!" Yui agreed, "Lucky she joined our college or I would have never survived the next three years!"
"That's not the point," Akira facepalmed.
After their lecture ended, the two guitarists headed to the cafeteria for lunch.
"It's only been two weeks since school started and we already received so much work!" Yui complained with her mouth full of pudding.
"Yui…" Akira sighed, "When will you grow up?"
"Yeah Yui-senpai," Azusa said, suddenly appearing next to Akira.
"When did she get here," Akira thought.
"How do I be 'mature'?" Yui asked.
"Maybe wake up on your own! Or get a part-time job!" Akira nagged.
"That's it! A part time job!" Yui eureka'd, "Azunyan you're looking at new jobs right?"
Azusa looked at the air head, "Well yeah. Why?"
"Let's sign up together!" Yui said, grabbing the cat-like kohai's hands.
"Eh?!"
"A part time job?" Ui asked.
Yui and Azusa were in Ui's room, browsing part-time job pamphlets.
"Yeah! You know, like a convenience store cashier," Yui said, eyes shining brightly.
Ui imagined her sister as a cashier, then imagined her being robbed at knifepoint.
"Maybe something other than a cashier?" Ui smiled.
Azusa was looking through pamphlets.
"I'll do whatever Azunyan goes for!" Yui grinned.
"That's your problem Yui-senpai," Azusa sighed, "You need to be more independent!"
Yui pouted, "I just wanted to work with you."
"That's n-not what I-, a-anyway! How bout' we sign up for Max Burger workers?" Azusa said quickly, cheeks turning red.
"Max burger?" Yui said, looking at the pamphlet, "Sure! Maybe we can get free meals!"
"That's now how it wor- you know what nevermind, let's check it out now," Azusa said, getting up.
"Yes ma'am!" Yui saluted.
"Onee-chan…" Ui said slowly.
"Hm?" Yui hummed, turning to Ui.
"You aren't forgetting your homework are you?" Ui said, hands on her hips.
"OH," Yui cried, "Sorry Azunyan, give me half an hour!"
"It's fine, I'll wait," Azusa sighed.
While waiting, Azusa grabbed the other pamphlets and flipped through.
Babysitter? No, Azusa isn't good with kids. Maid cafe? Ritsu would never let her hear the end of it. Karaoke? There's bound to be drunks.Azusa sighed, she didn't actually want to sign up for the Max Burger role, she only blurted it out loud because Yui almost made her blush.Why, though? Yui had always been affectionate to her, but ever since she arrived in college, she started feeling a little… light? Fluffy? Whatever it is, it's causing her to blush when Yui glomps her. Which is strange, considering she was so used to it back in High School.
"Azusa-chan?" Ui said, waving a hand in front of Azusa's face, "Onee-chan is done with her work. She says she will meet you at the gate."
"Oh," Azusa said, snapping out of her thoughts, "Right, see you later Ui."
Yui and Azusa walked leisurely to the nearest Max Burger, with Yui chatting the whole way, and Azusa merely replying 'hm' repeatedly.
"Azunyan, are you feeling alright?" Yui asked, staring at Azusa.
The cat-like kohai blushed and spluttered, "O-of course not! What made you say that?"
"You were kinda quiet," Yui replied, "Wait, lemme try this."
Yui went closer to Azusa, who blushed even harder, placing her forehead against hers.
"You seem to be fine," Yui said.
Azusa's face was so red at that point that she could only stutter, "C-can w-we get g-going?"
"Right!" Yui said, grabbing Azusa's hand, "No time to lose!"
The two guitarists walked into the Max Burger chain, where one of the staff greeted them.
"We're here to apply for a part-time job!" Yui announced proudly.
"I see, you can talk to the manager," the staff said, gesturing to a door near the far right of the fast food chain.
After being briefed on their job, Yui and Azusa went to the wardrobes outback to change into their uniforms.
"We look adorable!" Yui said, eyeing herself and Azusa, who had her hair down as wearing a cap and having pigtails was troublesome.
"Remember not to wake up late on Saturdays and Sundays from now on, we have the morning shift!" Azusa reminded Yui.
"Yes ma'am! I'll do my best!"
The next day at Mio and Ritsu's… (Sunday)
"Miooooo, I wanna go out for breakfast," Ritsu complained as she trudged her way towards the couch, "I've been cooking breakfasts non-stop since we moved here!"
"You're the one who insisted on cooking, besides I have never told you to cook, you were always volunteering," Mio said, facing her phone.
"Ehe~" Ritsu grinned, "Can we go to Max's? Please, please?"
The bassist looked up from her phone.
"I just ate my breakfast," Mio said, gesturing at the nearly empty mug of coffee.
"You only had coffee?" Ritsu sighed in exasperation, "I know you gained weight but starving isn't the best way to do so…"
*SMACK*
"I have NOT gained weight," Mio shouted.
"Calm down! I was kidding!" Ritsu defended herself, "On that note, shall we head to Max's?"
"Fine, but I'm only buying a drink."
"Thanks for eating at Max's!" Yui smiled, waving goodbye to some customers leaving.
"I must say, this is almost pretty fun," Azusa noted, handing a tray of food and drink to a customer.
"It wouldn't have been as fun if we didn't work together," Yui smiled at Azusa.
Azusa blushed.
"I-I like bein- I mean working with you too senpai," Azusa stuttered.
Yui hugged Azusa, "Aww Azunyan, you're so cute!"
"Do we have to give you two room?" one of the cashiers said, looking at Azusa and Yui.
Azusa flushed a deep red.
"Sorry! We'll get back to work!"
"Next please!" Azusa called after the last customer ordered.
A certain drummer walked up to the counter, looking at the menu.
"I would have a-"
Ritsu stopped talking when she saw the person she was ordering from looked down.
"Err sorry, did you hear me?" Ritsu asked Azusa.
Azusa continued looking down and replied in a deep voice, "Y-yes, please continue, I was getting a notepad to write your order."
"Isn't that computer in front of you used to mark down orders?" Ritsu asked.
"W-well of course, it's just that sometimes, we employees use a notepad instead, to err not over rely on computers!" Azusa replied.
"What a lame excuse," Azusa and Ritsu thought at the same time.
"Here's your order number," Azusa said, still looking down, as she passed Ritsu a slip of paper with her order number.
Ritsu grinned and walked away, before stopping to turn her head towards Azusa.
"You should wear your hair down more often… Azusa," Ritsu said mysteriously as she headed to her seat.
"Eh?!" Azusa cried as she watched her senpai go to her seat.
"What's wrong Azunyan?" Yui asked, coming out of the kitchen with a tray of food.
"It seems Ritsu and Mio-senpai are here for breakfast," Azusa deadpanned.
Ritsu whispered something in Mio's ear, leading to Mio waving at the two guitarists.
Azusa blushed deeply.
"Oh look Azunyan! It's Ricchan and Mio-chan!" Yui said, waving to the bassist and drummer.
"I CAN SEE THAT."
"So you're working here to be more mature?" Ritsu asked Yui, trying to stifle her laughter, to which the air head nodded.
"Yes," Yui said, her voice becoming deeper, "I have already achieved true maturity by signing up for this job, what about you Riccha-"
Ritsu karate chopped Yui's head before saying, "I will not be lectured on maturity, especially from you."
"Still, I'm quite impressed with you two," Mio smiled at the two guitarists, "Even Ritsu and I don't have jobs yet."
"Oh, it's nothing," Azusa replied, "I'm only doing this to cover the club fee."
"I should get a job soon, now that I think about it," Ritsu said, "Mio and I are still living off our parents for the club fee, and we have to start paying our own rent soon."
"I had the club fee covered since last year," Mio said, to which Ritsu gasped dramatically.
"Huh? H-how?!" Ritsu spluttered.
"I have been giving tuition to elementary school kids during summer break," Mio replied.
"Why is this the first time I'm hearing about this?" Ritsu asked.
"I tried to tell you, but you were too engrossed in your video games with Ayame," Mio told the drummer.
"You could have told me later!"
"I tried. Many times."
"Tsk."
"What are you 'tsk'-ing me for?!"
"Tsk!"
"You two seem to be getting along as usual," Yui smiled, "Next step on my road to maturity is… waking up myself!"
The other three looked at Yui and went into a fit of laughter.
"Good luck with that," Ritsu laughed, slapping a hand on Yui's shoulder.
"I'll show them," Yui thought, pouting.
The next day… (Monday)
"Yui, wake the hell-," Akira yawned, entering Yui's bedroom, "up?"
Akira searched for other parts of the house where Yui might be, but could not find her, or her phone for the matter. So Akira rang up her fellow guitarist.
"Moshi moshi," Yui's voice greeted Akira.
"Yui, where in God's name are you?" Akira yawned.
"Sitting outside the lecture room," Yui replied, her tone indicating she is very much awake.
Akira hung up, jaw dropped.
The pixie-cut guitarist marched her way to the Department of Education's lecture room, where she saw Yui sitting on the bench outside the class.
She was holding a carton of milk, and had a piece of jam toast in her mouth.
Akira walked over to Yui and said, narrowing her eyes, "Why are you here, it's four hours before the first lecture? How the hell did you wake up and who made that jam toast?"
"I slept early, I made my own toast and I'm here to begin a new path on my way to maturity," Yui said proudly.
Akira was too confused at the moment, so she went to her dorm to take a long and cold shower to make sure it wasn't a dream.
Later that day, Akira, Ayame, Ritsu, Sacchi and Yui met up at the cafeteria for lunch.
"You look happy Akira," Ayame said to Akira, who was smiling nearly endlessly, "Too happy."
"The best thing happened today," Akira grinned, "Yui woke up at 4am, made herself breakfast, showed up to class before it even started, took her own notes and is currently doing her homework."
Ritsu turned to look at Yui and noticed for the first time that day, that Yui, yes Yui, was doing her homework.
Ritsu gasped, "What the fu-"
"That's amazing Yui-chan!" Ayame smiled warmly.
"Why the change though?" Sacchi wondered aloud.
"I'm nineteen," Yui sighed, "I have to start growing up sooner or later, now if you women could do me a favour, quiet down while I complete this assignment."
This rather formal speech from the guitarist left everyone speechless.
Three days later… (Thursday)
"You're joining us at the salon?" Mugi asked Yui in disbelief.
Yui had finish her day's worth of classes and caught up to Mugi and Mio on their trip to the salon.
"You… never go to the salon," Mio stated, hand on chin, "Ritsu also told me you were acting unusual since yesterday."
"It's nothing, besides," Yui huffed, "I think my hair needs some treatment."
Mugi and Mio looked at each other, and shrugged, agreeing with Yui's request to join them.
In Ui's room...
"SHE MADE DINNER FOR YOU?" Jun shouted in disbelief, slamming her hands on the table.
"Yeah," Ui replied, "She's been getting more mature each day. It is a little strange."
"I'm not talking about that!" Jun snapped, "Why didn't you invite me to eat?!"
Azusa narrowed her eyes at Jun and scoffed.
"What?" Jun said, turning to Azusa.
"Leech," Azusa said simply.
"Bully."
"Dumbass."
"Bitch."
"ANYWAY," Azusa said loudly, escaping the name calling, "Yui-senpai looks really tired too for the past few days."
"She has been downloading assessments from the internet, pulling all-nighters," Ui sighed, "I tried to stop her but she wouldn't listen."
"Yui," Mio called for the guitarist, "The receptionist asked for your ID."
Mugi, Mio and Yui had reached the salon. The receptionist looked at Yui and said, "No ID, no entry."
"Oh, I have it, let me get it ou-o let me- ge-get it," Yui stuttered before collapsing.
"Yui!""Yui-chan!"
When Yui came to, she was in a infirmary, with Houkago Tea Time, Onna Gumi, Azusa, Jun and Ui looking at her.
"Onee-chan! You're awake!" Ui said, hugging her sister.
"Glad you're awake," Akira smiled at Yui.
"What-, happened?" Yui blinked.
"You… idiot!" Azusa cried, "Don't scare me like that!"
"Sorry Azunyan, everyone, I don't know how it happened," Yui said, rubbing her eye.
"You overworked yourself," Mio sighed, "We get that you want to be more mature, but take it easy, one step at a time."
"Yeah, Yui," Ritsu grinned, "Even the Dangerous Queen herself doesn't have a part-time job.
"So do you!"
"Sorry everyone for worrying you, you're right, I should take it easy a bit," Yui said, tearing up.
Azusa hugged Yui, "Senpai, just be the way you are, don't change so much. I- I mean- WE love you just the way you are."
Yui smiled and petted Azusa's head, "There, there, Azunyan, I promise to take care of myself," Yui smiled.
"This is… really sappy," Akira rolled her eyes, earning her a roundhouse kick from Ayame.
The next day at the band's practise...
"I'm back!" Yui said loudly, a grin slapped onto her face
"Private Yui has returned from Mission: Mature!" Ritsu laughed, saluting Yui, who saluted back.
"Want some cake?" Mugi offered, holding a packet of cake towards Yui
Yui nodded happily and gobbled down the snack.
"That's the senpai I remember," Azusa remarked.
Yui blushed a little and replied, "Thanks for caring so much about me Azunyan!" Yui smiled at the cat-like kohai.
Azusa blushed deeply and smiled back sheepishly.
"Thinking about it," Ritsu thought aloud to Mio, "I should be more mature too!"
"Glad you realised," Mio replied sarcastically.
"I should start by learning to drive!"
"You've got to be kidding."
THANKS FOR READING :DChapter 9 should be out in the next week, and as you could tell from the last two sentences, it will be focused on Ritsu and her learning to drive. As you could also tell from the chapter, I will be slowly advancing on the romance in the story. Once again, I hope you enjoyed. See ya :p
