Here's the next chapter!

Ok, so I decided to alternate their POV's each chapter, so that's how its going to be from now on.

This one is in Ritsu's POV. :)

Chapter 2

Ritsu stared at her suitcase.

She was sure she packed everything, but she ran a quick checklist through her head. Yeah, she definitely had everything, so why was she feeling like she was forgetting something? She shook off the feeling. Maybe her head was still jumbled from the previous evening.

Sure, she wasn't the most perceptive being in the universe, but she always seemed to pay close attention to Mio. The signals radiating off the dark-haired girl yesterday were all over the place. At first, she was her usual, stoic self, then she became uncharacteristically playful… next she was sweet and… loving. The drummer's mind drifted back to the snowball incident. Ritsu had never experienced something like that before. No one has ever touched her that softly and with that much attentiveness, not even her own parents. She couldn't quite wrap her head around what happened next… or what almost happened, anyway.

Nah… Mio would never do something blunt like that.

Ritsu decided the best thing to do was to ignore it for now. Maybe it was Mio's time of month. Maybe it was just hormones, mood swings.

Then again, I kind of leaned in too…

Or maybe she was stressed out from school and wasn't thinking clearly…

Oh geez! What if I scared her!? Maybe that's why her face was so red afterwards!

Ritsu's heart rate picked up and her breathing quickened. She started to panic. Mio didn't act any different afterwards, though. So, it should be fine.

Wait! What about the whole cuddling thing during the movie? I didn't mean for us to fall asleep like that, I just kind of, got lost in the softness of her hair. Aw man, I don't want her to think I'm weird and push me away!

I don't… you know… like girls. Right?

…Of course not.

The brunette made a silent vow to herself to make sure things were back to normal when they went on this trip. She glanced at her phone. It was almost noon.

"Damn, I gotta go!"

xXx

They were all meeting at Mugi's house, and then they were taking the train out to the resort, which was called Perfect North. It wasn't a private resort, like the lot on the beach, but the cabin itself was owned by the Kotobukis, so the would have it all them to themselves. Azusa seemed the most excited. All the girls were present in Mugi's living room, and were listening to various skiing escapades as told by the young guitarist. Her family visited the resort often, and Azusa seemed to have plenty of experience on the slopes. She even claimed to be able to brave the more advanced ones. However, it wasn't the skiing she was most anticipating.

"I'm glad we're going to get to practice even though school's out!" She chirped, smiling broadly.

"That's all you ever want to do, Azu-nyan!" Yui complained to her "protégé," as she secretly dubbed her. The brunette poked her on the cheek, a pout on her face. Azusa blushed and slapped the hand away, mumbling indignantly.

Ritsu was sitting next to her best friend, as usual, but trying not to accidentally brush against her.

"Uh, I guess there's something I should tell you guys," Ritsu scratched the back of her head, grinning. Azusa and Yui stopped their antics and the rest of the girls turned their heads to their so-called leader. "I've never been skiing before!" She threw her hands up in a dramatic fashion and sighed in much the same way.

Yui's eyes almost bulged out of her head. Azusa didn't look much different. Mugi smiled in a way that Ritsu couldn't quite identify. Mio just smirked.

"You mean Ritsu The Great can't even ski?" The dark-haired girl teased, clearly enjoying the fact that she had the advantage in this area of skill. Ritsu glared at her.

"No, Ritsu The Great cannot ski!" She crossed her arms and tilted her chin up, trying to retain her dignity.

"B-But… it seems like something you would definitely know how to do, Ricchan!" Yui was shocked to say the least. "I mean, considering how much you like thrills and adventure!"

Ritsu shrugged. "Heh, my family doesn't get to go on vacations very often… and…" She trailed off, leaving them hanging.

She didn't want to talk about how her family was struggling slightly in the financial region. Her father left when she was very little, and her mother had to raise two kids on one salary. They weren't poor, but they just couldn't afford too many luxuries. This was the wrong environment to talk about all of this, and she didn't want to make Mugi feel bad. An awkward silence fell like a blanket over the room.

Fortunately, Mio knew about her family life and read the situation.

"Hey, what time is it? Shouldn't we head out soon if we're going to catch our train?" The bassist smoothly changed the subject. Ritsu sent her a grateful look, which the dark-haired girl returned with a knowing smile.

"Ah, yes! Thanks for the reminder, Mio-chan," Mugi's eyes lit up, then she clapped her hands together and picked up her suitcase. The blonde led the way out of the house and to the large SUV. The driver helped pack all of their belongings into the trunk, and there was just enough room for them to squeeze in the back seats.

"Yosh! Here we go!" Ritsu pumped her fist in the air as the car pulled out of the rather long driveway. Mio flicked her on the ear, complaining that they were in too small of a space for her to be yelling like a baboon.

It took about thirty minutes to get to the train station. Normally it would only take fifteen, but they had to stop because Yui had to pee.

Twice.

Mio banned soft drinks after that.

Despite the minor delays, things went rather smoothly until about halfway through the train ride. Ritsu was sitting in between Mio and Mugi, and Mio had the window seat. Yui and Azusa took the seats opposite of them. Giitah had the window seat.

The trip was going to be four hours long.

Ritsu was awfully, horribly, impossibly bored. So, about an hour into the trip, she became restless. She played the air drums, counted everyone in their car, counted all the bald people in their car, imagined all the bald people in their car with a handlebar mustache, got hit by Mio for laughing too loudly at imagining the bald people with handlebar mustaches…. and twiddled her thumbs. She soon gave up and glanced at her dark-haired friend, who was currently gazing through the window and listening to her iPod. Ritsu poked Mio on the shoulder and gestured to share the earphones. Mio nodded and let the brunette take one.

Mio was listening to "I'm Yours" by The Script. Ritsu liked the band because the drum beats were captivating, but she wasn't familiar with this song, as she preferred the faster tempo type. This was soothing.

I listen close for I'm not smart

You wrap your thoughts in works of art

And they're hanging on the walls of my heart

Ritsu's amber eyes slowly drifted back to her companion. Mio didn't turn her head, in fact she seemed to refuse to look Ritsu's way. Why do these words feel familiar?

I may not have the softest touch

I may not say the words as such

And though I may not look like much

The drummer tore her gaze from Mio's profile and glued them to her hands.

And though my edges may be rough

And never feel I'm quite enough

It may not seem like very much

Mio shifted next to her, and Ritsu peeked back over from the corner of her eye to find the bassist's cheeks were slightly pink and she had her eyes focused intensely on her shoes.

…But I'm yours

Ritsu gulped and her heart rate picked up like it did earlier that day. The atmosphere suddenly became tense. You could cut it with a knife, and Ritsu didn't know how to handle something like this. Neither of them had experienced this kind of strange aura in their relationship, and fear began to creep into Ritsu's veins.

Mio changed the song before one of them imploded.

It was "Suffocate" by J Holiday. Ritsu's head whipped back to her dark-haired friend.

"I didn't know you liked this kind of music…" She nudged Mio's shoulder playfully.

Mio blushed. "Well, I don't really… but I like this song and I'm not entirely sure why."

"...Oh."

Now even though I try to play it off

I'm thinking 'bout you all day long

and
I cant wait for shawty to come through

On any other occasion Ritsu would've snickered at the lyrics simply because it was on Mio's iPod of all people. However, today she didn't feel much like laughing.

From your lips and neck

To your eyes, my hands on your hips when we grind

I'm fantasizing
'bout what I'm gonnna do

…To you

The drummer squeezed her eyes shut an tried to focus on the beat, but images of Mio and herself doing the things described in the song pervaded her mind. She saw Mio's soft lips, her beautiful grey eyes, her long onyx hair, perfect bod-

Ritsu's face lit up in flames, and the blood in her veins felt like lava, but she couldn't stop tapping her foot to the rhythm.

There's no way…

She dared to look at the bassist, who was in a state similar to hers. Amber met grey. Both girls' cheeks turned bright red. That's when the chorus sounded through their ears.

'Cause I cant breathe when you talk to me

I can't breathe when you're touching me

Ritsu decided to be brave. She needed to find out what Mio was thinking. She slowly, discreetly moved her foot and touched the tip of Mio's shoe, pretending like she didn't notice it was happening. Mio's breath hitched. It was extremely subtle, but Ritsu was tuned to her like a satellite and picked it up quick easily. Ritsu's face turned stony. What is going on?

I suffocate when you're away from me

So much love you take from me

I'm going out of my mind

The bassist quickly shut off the iPod.

"Sorry, Ritsu, I don't feel like listening anymore. I think I'm going to try a go to sleep, ok?" Mio mumbled, rubbing her eyes in a tired manner. "You can keep listening if you want." She offered the brunette her MP3 player.

Ritsu shook her head. "Nah, sleeping sounds good right now actually," she nodded her head to all the other band members, who were were fast asleep. "How much longer until we get to Perfect North?"

Mio flipped open her phone to check the time. "Um, I'd say about two hours."

Ritsu groaned. She hated long trips.

xXx

"Hey... Ricchan," A voice echoed in her ears. "Wake up, we're here."

"Hn.." The brunette opened her eyes to pools of blue. Mugi was hovering above her and waving her hand. "M-Mugi?" She looked around. They were still on the train, but it had stopped moving. Realization came gradually, but soon Ritsu's eyes lit up in excitement.

"Everyone's already waiting outside..."

"Oh! Ok, my bad!" Ritsu jumped up, grabbed her suitcase, and stumbled down the aisle, Mugi in her wake.

Part of her was kind of agitated that someone had woken her up. She was having the weirdest dream... but she didn't want to wake up from it.

In her dream, both Mio and herself were lying in bed, but there was a dark, ambiguous figure in between them.

The shadowy figure suddenly rose up and pinned Ritsu to the bed, hovering above her menacingly. Ritsu struggled, but the figure was far to strong. Gradually, the shadows melted off the humanoid and it became apparent that it was a boy. He had brownish hair and amber eyes, and wore a yellow headband.

It was a male version of Ritsu.

"You can't have her, you dumbass. She wants me."

Ritsu's eyes widened in shock before she growled at the boy. "Ergh! Get off me!" Ritsu pushed with all her might and the boy disappeared into a puff of black smoke. Mio pulled the drummer into a tight embrace.

"Ritsu!"

Mio placed a soft hand on Ritsu's cheek and leaned in, capturing her lips in a gentle kiss. When she pulled away she mumbled, "Why aren't you trying harder?"

Ritsu shook her head furiously as if the rid her mind of the disconcerting images of her dream. She glanced up to find Yui, Azusa, Mugi, and Mio giving her strange looks.

This was going to be a long week.

Ugh... I'm sick.

Let me know if this chapter seems "off" in any way, cause I can't seem to concentrate as well when I have a massive headache....haha.

The dream was not made up, it was actually a dream I had a long time ago. ;)