Sorry for the delay. I got hooked on Soul Eater, haha! Great flippin' anime, yo.
Enjoy! :)
Chapter 6
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Under the great lone star
Try to work out where you are
In the silence of the sea
I don't know where I've been
In the future, in the past
Going nowhere much too fast
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Ritsu opened her eyes when she felt a soft nudge on her shoulder.
"Wake up… I don't want you to be asleep for too long," a hushed voice rang through her haze. She tried to sit up, only to be pushed back down by soft hands. "Don't try and get up, idiot. We're not going anywhere too soon."
Ritsu blinked, she'd almost forgotten they weren't back at the cabin, safe and sound. Suddenly, she glanced wide-eyed, fearful, up at Mio as the memories came flooding back.
They'd kissed.
Ritsu stared into Mio's silvery eyes, trying to decipher the emotions swirling and raging within them. The color grey was never dull, not when they were Mio's eyes… windows to the soul indeed. Still, the drummer couldn't unravel all of their mysteries. And at this moment, she couldn't find a voice to ask.
Was it ok? Do you regret it?
Mio stared right back, eyebrows knitting together and cheeks reddening. Thankfully, Mio seemed to understand Ritsu easier than the other way around, and the bassist relaxed. No words were passed as Ritsu felt cool fingers run through her bangs, as if to soothe her fears, wash away all apprehension.
Ritsu calmed and settled back down, looking out into the stormy night. It was less violent for sure, but still dangerous. She hoped morning was coming soon, then they'd be out of this freezing cold and next to a toasty fire.
But, Ritsu didn't mind the cuddling at the moment. Her leg was numb. Probably because it's frozen solid, she thought bitterly. She involuntarily shuddered from a stray wind gust that made its way into their haven. Mio must have taken pity on her because she felt a pair of arms pull her close. Ritsu sighed and settled back into the embrace.
The only sound was wind whistling and whipping just outside. Until Mio spoke up quietly.
"Ritsu, I… w-what do this make us?" Mio questioned tentatively, her warm breath brushing the brunette's earlobe, sending shivers down her spine. The drummer sat quiet for a moment, contemplating the answer.
"Well, whatever we want us to be… I assume."
"That's not a straight answer."
"Pfffft… straight…" Ritsu whispered mostly to herself, snickering. But Mio heard and slapped the shorter girl on the shoulder lightly.
"Seriously, Ritsu…"
"Ok, ok… but I really don't know. Logically… if I like you and you like me, than I guess we should… you know… be together?"
Mio took a long, deep breath. "…That's what I was afraid of."
Ritsu tried to turn around to look Mio in the face, but just as she shifted, pain shot bullets up her leg at the sudden motion and she whimpered. Suddenly, fire seemed to run rampant through her veins. It slowly crept up her body from there and made her stomach clench. She bit down hard on her lip to keep herself from screaming in agony. A whimper squeaked out despite her efforts and Mio gasped.
"R-Ritsu!?"
"Ugh… can't, it... AGH!"
She grasped her pants leg and she was sure she could taste the metallic twang of blood from her lip from biting it so hard. The lack of immediate medical attention to the broken bone was taking its toll. The pain was concentrated on her upper shin, where it was white hot and made colors flash behind the drummer's eyes. But the ache seemed to spread like wildfire through her tightened muscles. Her eyes narrowed.
"Mio, I-I can't handle this." Tears ran fiercely down her pale face. She hadn't even realized she'd moved to the ground until she felt the cool earth on her cheek, soothing the feverish flesh. Ritsu was curled into a ball, clutching the source of her agony.
Mio was motionless beside her, frozen pallid.
"MIO!"
The raven-haired girl jerked suddenly, awakened from her momentary lapse. Adrenaline kicked in from panic and Mio was next to her companion's side at once. She reached outside of the small cave and gathered a small handful of snow in her palms. She ran the snow-covered fingers over Ritsu's burning forehead, but it didn't help as much as she'd hoped.
"Ritsu, I'm going to get help."
With bated breaths, Ritsu panted, "W-What? Its still –ah- dangerous out t-there!" Mio glanced outside anxiously. Sure the blizzard was not at its original strength, but one still probably wouldn't be able to see anything more than five feet away. "You'll… g-get lost!"
"No, we can't wait for morning any longer. I hate to leave you by yourself… but I also hate to see you in so much pain! I'm not helpless, I will help you, Ritsu!" Mio commanded, determination on her face.
Tense silence. Both girls were panting heavily.
"…I t-trust you."
Mio's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, as if she was surprised Ritsu agreed so quickly. But she shook it off and nodded.
"Here, take my scarf. You need it more than I do," She unraveled the piece of clothing from her neck and layered around the brunette's own scarf. "I'll be back. Twenty minutes… t-tops, ok?"
"Got it…"
Then, glancing (rather unnecessarily) around, Mio leant down and seemed to aim for Ritsu's lips, but decided against it and placed a quick and unsure kiss on the drummer's feverish forehead. Both blushed and averted their respective gazes. Mio started to crawl out of the cave before Ritsu grabbed her arm.
"Wait. P-Please be careful."
Mio smiled. It was one of her rare, true smiles that lit up rooms and made hearts flutter. It made Ritsu's pound in her chest and she forgot about the pain for a moment.
"Ok."
Then, she was gone… like the wind.
A few tense seconds passed by painstakingly slow. A heavy, unsettling silence fell over Ritsu, and her stomach twisted in pain and anxiousness. She was afraid to look at her leg. It was probably twice as swollen and black and blue. She tried desperately to ignore the dull throb emanating in waves.
Think about something else. Think about something else…
Mio. Mio. Mio. Mio. Mio….Mio... Oh, Mio...?
Ritsu sighed. Was Mio hers now? The taller girl said she was afraid of them being together. The brunette gritted her teeth.
What was that supposed to mean?
Ritsu forced herself to focus on something, anything else, but an image of the raven-haired beauty drifted into her mind's eye again.
…How could a person be so beautiful? Ritsu so often felt humbled by Mio. She had always been fascinated with those long dark locks and how they never seemed to get tangled. They were almost impervious to any imperfection. It was uncanny. She suddenly longed to touch them. Ritsu remembered when they were back at Yui's house. How she'd fallen asleep simply by stroking her friend's midnight strands.
The drummer had to keep her thoughts churning. It was working well as a distraction. She clenched her jaw in concentration.
The bassist was so smart, too, and not just book smart… Mio seemed to know just about every thought, every fear, and every insecurity that ran through Ritsu's head. She was an open book, just beckoning for Mio to soak up its contents. One of the brunette's greatest desires was to have that same perception, that same intuitive power.
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Flashback
"Good morning, Ritsu!" A twelve-year-old Mio greeted her shorter companion as she entered through the classroom threshold.
"Un… hey Mio!" Ritsu flashed wave and a grin, but her face felt stale and stony. She took a seat next to her best friend. Mio frowned and cocked her head to the side.
"You ok?'
Ritsu yawned and glanced at the raven-haired girl. "Er…yeah, why?"
"'I don't know… were you up late last night or something? You seem… off."
The chestnut-haired girl clicked her tongue and looked towards the window. It was raining that day. Ritsu both loved and hated it when the weather matched her mood. It was awful when it was dreary outside and she felt energetic and happy, because she was unable to enjoy it. However, it made her feel at ease when she was down and the clouds were grey. It was like the world was sad with her.
Misery loves its company.
"Really? I'm fine, Mio-chan!" Ritsu smiled again. The ashen-eyed girl nodded, but seemed unconvinced.
The bell rang and the teacher clapped her hands together to get the class's attention. "Good morning, everyone! Today is your lucky day, we're going to watch a movie since we can't go outside and finish our science projects." The kids cheered and turned to their neighbors to express their excitement. The middle-aged teacher shushed her class and continued, "It's a very intriguing educational film about the migration patterns of monarch butterflies!"
The class groaned.
Ritsu put her head down as soon as the lights went out. Maybe she could catch up on her sleep a little before the next period. After about five minutes of half-listening to the monotone voice of the narrator talking about the "wondrous adventures of the fantastic creature that is the butterfly," she felt a tap on her shoulder. She opened one eye and lifted her head a little to find a note lying on her desk. She glanced at Mio, who was focused on the screen and even taking notes over it, and opened the folded piece of paper.
'Really, what's wrong? You can tell me you know.' It was Mio's handwriting. Ritsu sighed and fumbled around in her desk for a pencil. She scribbled a reply underneath the neat writing, quickly folded it back up, and placed it on Mio's desk.
'It's nothing, just tired.'
Mio frowned.
'I don't believe you... if you were just tired you wouldn't pretend to be happy. You'd just whine about it.'
Ritsu cursed under her breath, and ducked her head when the teacher gave her a dirty look. She pretended to focus her attention on the screen until the teacher turned back to her paper work, then she quickly wrote her reply and practically tossed it at Mio.
'Fine. I've been better, alright?'
Mio shot her a concerned glance before penning a response.
'What's wrong?'
Ritsu hesitated to answer. 'I'll tell you later.'
After reading the note, Mio met her friend's eyes with a soft gaze, an understanding yet worried expression. 'Come to my house after school, ok?'
'Got it.'
It was a long day of school for Ritsu. She and Mio only had two classes together, first and last periods, so Ritsu usually walked with the raven-haired girl home from school since it was on the way to her house. Neither of them lived too far from the middle school, so their parents let them walk.
It was still raining steadily when the final bell rang, and the girls treaded home under their umbrellas. Thankfully, Ritsu remembered hers that morning. That in itself was unusual.
"Ritsu, if it makes you uncomfortable to talk about it, it's ok… you don't have to tell me," Mio said when they were settled in the ashen-eyed girl's neat and organized room.
"Nah, it's alright. I don't want you to worry about me." The shorter girl shook her head and grinned halfheartedly. "My dad came home last night."
Mio's eyes widened. Ritsu rarely talked about her father, and all Mio knew at the time was that he'd left a few years ago without a word since. "Oh, Ritsu…"
"H-He just popped up out of the blue… drunk as hell… I didn't even recognize him at first."
Mio reached out to her friend, who took her hand sheepishly. "R-Ritsu… I had no idea…"
"No, it's fine Mio. He was gone almost as quick as he came; he just made himself at home for an hour or so as he waited for one of his buddies to pick him up. Probably on their way to the next town… to find the next club or bar or whatever. It doesn't matter, I don't care about that man." The brunette waved her hand in the air, trying to put up a strong front. "He never cared about us, so why should I give a damn, huh?"
Mio didn't know what to say, so she just squeezed her hand a little tighter.
"I mean, it's not like I missed him or anything…." She trailed off, her voice a little weaker, cracks forming in her armor. "I-It's not like I wonder what it would be like it he'd stayed."
Ritsu's eyes filled with tears, which she tried to hide by rubbing her face with the back of her sleeve. "Ugh, I hate him. Satoshi even cried himself to sleep last night. That bastard doesn't say a word to us in years and he suddenly appears out of nowhere without anything to say for himself!"
She ducked her head to try and conceal the trail of tears that were now dripping from her cheeks. Mio put her other hand on the shorter girl's shoulder and pulled her into a hug.
"My mom tried to kick him out, but he just refused to leave, saying he couldn't afford a hotel room and all this other stuff. They screamed at each other until he finally stormed out of the house. Then my mom cried and I let Satoshi sleep in m room because he was so scared."
"It's ok, it's over now. A man like that doesn't have the right to call himself your father… don't worry… shh…shh… I'm right here," Mio whispered into the top of the now sobbing girl's head. Ritsu cried into her friend's shoulder until she ran out of tears. When she was done she lifted her head, cheeks rosy with embarrassment. "I'm sure everything going to be fine, Ritsu. I'm sorry you have to go through this, but remember that I'm here for you, ok?"
This was the first time Mio had ever seen her cry.
"I-I'm sorry… hehe," the chestnut-haired girl mumbled as she sniffed and plastered a grin on her face. Mio shook her head and chuckled.
"Sorry? Why are you sorry? I'm glad that you came to me about this, Ritsu." Mio flashed a dazzling smile, and Ritsu felt comforted.
"You're the best friend a girl could ask for, Mio-chan!" Ritsu almost choked the bassist to death with a bone-crushing hug.
"Ehehe…ok… c-can't… breathe..."
"Oh! Sorry!"
"Don't worry about it…"
End Flashback
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Ritsu wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it felt a hell of a lot longer than twenty minutes. The rational part of her argued that her grasp of time wasn't at its best at the moment, and that Mio was probably on her way back right now.
I have no reason to be worried, Mio is strong… she can make it through a damn storm. She'll be fine. No worries, no worries.
"Ahh!" she cried out as she pushed herself up from the ground to lean against the wall of the cave. Her leg was useless. She couldn't move it at all but it could still send pain waves to her brain. "…Guess I hurt myself pretty good, huh?" she said to no one in particular as she poked her thigh pathetically. She fixed her amber gaze outside into the whiteness. She couldn't see anything. It was so frustrating. She felt her eyelids drooping from exhaustion; her body was trying to heal itself.
"No," she mumbled. "Gotta stay awake… Mio's coming back…. got to… stay… a-awake…"
The blackness was closing in, but her will was stronger than her desire to sleep. She grabbed a handful of snow and threw it in her face to get rid of the drowsiness. She shook her head and grinned rebelliously to the sky. "Ehehe…ouch."
Suddenly, she heard the crunching of footsteps over the roar of wind.
"Ritsu!" Mio's voice rang in her ears. The brunette breathed a deep sigh of relief. Mio was ok. The faces of Mio, Yui, Mugi, and Azusa appeared at the entrance of the cave.
"Hey guys…" The brunette rasped and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
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By the time dawn finally came around the girls were already at the hospital a few miles down the road from the ski resort. Mugi had called a cab before the left the cabin to find Ritsu. They needed an adult present in order for Ritsu to receive medical attention, so Mugi had her father fly over in his private helicopter. He was there in less than an hour. Mio contacted Ritsu's mom to let her know what happened and that Ritsu is fine. Mrs. Tainaka was very worried, but Mio was like a second daughter to her and she could rest easier knowing Ritsu was under her supervision.
"This is what we call an impacted fracture," Dr. Stein pointed to Ritsu's x-ray. "It happens when pressure is applied to both ends of the bone, causing it to split into two fragments. So, when you fell off the ledge, you must've landed with all your weight on that leg, causing the injury."
The brunette shuddered at the description of her broken bone.
"We're going to have to put a cast on you, but in about six to eight weeks you'll be as good as new," he adjusted his glasses.
"Does this mean we can't practice until then!?" Azusa yelped, terrified at the very thought of foregoing precious practice time for so long.
"Well, unless one of you can learn to play two instruments at once I guess not!" Ritsu huffed, obviously offended that practice time was more important to Azusa than her health and well-being. The dark-haired guitarist shrunk back in embarrassment, realizing her mistake.
"Ah... it'll be ok! We can write a whole bunch of our own songs during that time so it won't be a waste!" Yui stepped in, trying to defuse the situation with her usual cheer.
"Yui's right. Let's take advantage of this time and focus on some original stuff," Mio chipped in. Dr. Stein cleared his throat and everyone refocused their attention on him.
"Well, I'll get a nurse to cast you up. I'll be back shortly." He said as he left the room.
"Does your leg hurt, Ritsu-kun?" Mr. Kotobuki asked. He didn't know his daughters friends all that well since he was rarely at home, but he knew of them through the stories Mugi told him. He was very happy that Tsumugi found some great, reliable friends and wasted no time rushing here when his daughter asked him to. He vowed to himself silently that he would be around more often to get to know his daughter's friends better, he felt it would bring him closer to Mugi... which was something he had trouble with. He often felt that it was partly his fault that Mugi sometimes struggled with making friends, so he'd been trying to strengthen their bond for some time now.
"Um, kind of... If I keep still it's fine... it's only if I try to move," the brunette grinned at the blond-haired man. She vaguely noted that Mr. Kotobuki had brown eyes. Mugi must have gotten her blue eyes from her mother. Mr. Kotobuki smiled.
"Well, that's good. I'll get you all home as soon as we're done here. Have any of you ever ridden in a helicopter before?"
Everyone's faces lit up in excitement, except Mugi's, who sighed in exasperation. She hated to flaunt her wealth, it made her feel slightly isolated and kind of set above everyone else, and it never fit well with her friendly and modest nature. But she knew her father was trying his best, so she let it go.
"You hear that, Ricchan!? A helicopter!" Yui squealed with stars in her eyes, Ritsu had a similar expression on her face.
"Y-Yeah!" She caught Mio's ash-colored eyes, and she saw nothing but happiness in them.
Her heart smiled.
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Take a picture of
Something that you're not sure of
Bring it back to show me
But I don't know what I see
In the future, find a home
Getting nowhere on your own
Got to find your missing piece
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Sorry, had to stop it there. ^^;;
Reviews are great!