Hey folks, thank you for reading and reviewing my fic!

So, we have the graduation party. Things under the influence are always interesting, aren't they?

Note: Italicized and bolded words indicate that the characters are speaking in English. Remember, they're still speaking Japanese.

/

Ethanol

The agreed upon time to meet up at Sakura High School to finally empty the clubroom of the four graduating girls' personal effects was at five in the afternoon. The balmy afternoon sun shone down on Akiyama Mio and Kotobuki Tsumugi, who both arrived at around five in the afternoon in front of the gates of Sakura High mere minutes apart, right next to the location where Yui and Azusa had injured themselves the night before,

Mugi didn't know that such an event had happened though, as she was whisked home by her favorite teacher Sawa-chan in her car, and while that was happening pretty much nearly everything else that Mugi was thinking about would have to take the backseat for the time being.

"Good afternoon, Mio-chan," greeted Mugi in a cheerful voice when she saw Mio, who was wearing a collared blouse and shorts approaching her, while she was already waiting in place for the rest of the Light Music Club to arrive.

She was wearing another of her usual sundresses on this temperate spring afternoon when Mio just walked past her; clearly, she wasn't paying any attention at all to her surroundings. This prompted Mugi to do something she'd wanted to do for ages, except that Ritsu would always beat her to it. She snuck up behind Mio and whispered into the raven-haired girl's left ear,

"Mio-chan, there are barnacles on your legs."

Mio flinched and shrieked in a voice so high pitched that Mugi felt like it could shatter a champagne glass. The bassist looked down at her lithe legs only to find them completely barnacle-free when Mugi gently poked Mio in the side and said,

"You were spacing out, Mio-chan. I couldn't resist, sorry."

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure, no problem, I'm used to this due to the crap a certain someone pulls nearly every day," said Mio monotonously, recovering quickly.

Mugi could sense something was amiss, but she couldn't pin down exactly what was wrong, so she decided to do the simplest thing a friend could do: ask.

"Mio-chan, what's wrong? You sound like something's up," said Mugi, patting her shoulder gently. "Also, where's Ricchan?"

At the mention of Ritsu, Mio snorted and said,

"Ritsu wants me to take her Yamaha drum set home for her, since she said she was working on something for tonight's graduation party over at Yui's house. I don't even know how I'm going to transport a drum set on foot."

Mio raised her arms in exasperation and Mugi chuckled. "As expected of Ricchan," she thought but didn't say.

"Actually Mio-chan, I'm arranging for a car to bring us and the instruments to Yui-chan's house. I just told the chauffeur that he didn't need to come immediately since we'd probably take some time to look at the room for the last time," said Mugi. "That should conveniently solve all our transportation problems regarding the instruments, and most of Ricchan's cardboard boxes."

As Mio nodded, a light breeze blew past them when the bassist sighed and spoke,

"Mugi, something happened last night to Yui and Azusa," said Mio carefully.

Mugi's eyes gleamed like sparkling sapphires when she replied excitedly,

"Did Yui-chan and Azusa-chan kiss or anything like that or even do this or that?"

"…eh?" uttered the raven-haired girl in surprise. "Ah no, this was actually something pretty bad. Well, it was bad enough for Yui to completely lose her smile and normal demeanor. Admittedly, the cause of the accident was a pretty silly thing, but in any case, Yui fell on top of Azusa and Azusa bruised her back pretty badly. Yui's tights were torn because she gashed both her knees."

Mugi gasped in alarm at the news the bassist was imparting onto her, and Mio continued,

"Now, imagine Yui, injured badly, flagging down a taxi with cold efficiency. After me and Ritsu gently helped her load Azusa into the taxi, she bade us curt goodbyes, nothing like the happy and bubbly greetings she usually imparts onto us."

The keyboardist frowned, and said,

"Is this what's been worrying you last night?"

Mio nodded.

"I even phoned Ritsu about it, but she was confident that nothing would be wrong, saying something along the lines of 'this is Yui and Azusa we're talking about here.'"

"I think I know what Ricchan means by that, and you do too, Mio-chan," said the blonde. "Yui-chan and Azusa-chan have a bond that's special. I'm sure you've noticed that when Azusa-chan's all stressed about us not practicing, or with other similar issues, all it takes is a hug from Yui-chan to calm her down. I'm positive that their bond is strong enough that it won't be affected negatively by such a minor accident as what you've recounted…"

"Although if I'd hazard a guess, their relationship might've become even stronger due to Yui's guilt," thought the ojou but didn't say.

Mio suddenly twitched and muttered to Mugi,

"Speak of the devils."

Mugi looked where Mio gestured with her eyes and true enough, there was both Yui and Azusa, casually walking towards the gates, chattering animatedly while they did so.

"Look at them Mio-chan, looks like there's nothing wrong," said Mugi cheerfully.

The bassist just nodded as they both walked towards the two guitarists.

"…and I was saying to you earlier, Yui-senpai, you should avoid sleeping with your Les Paul; I mean, what if it got damaged because you hugged it too hard or rolled onto it?" said the kouhai as they both approached Mio and Mugi.

"But Azu-nyan, I didn't even sleep with Gitah last night! I was holding your hand the entire time, remember?" said Yui, which caused Azusa to blush a fierce crimson red.

"Yui-senpai, stop saying such embarrassing things, please! Oh, good afternoon, Mio-senpai, Mugi-senpai," said Azusa, trying to regain her composure as she greeted the bassist and keyboardist.

"Hello to you two," said Mio, greeting both girls as Mugi merely smiled beside her. "How're the injuries?"

Yui scratched her chin for a moment before replying.

"Umm, my knees hurt so much, and Ui said it'd be better if I didn't put bandages on them so the wounds would clot much faster… oh but Ui got that from you, Mio-chan!" chuckled Yui.

"Don't worry senpai, I have a cold compress tied around my back right now, courtesy of Ui and Yui-senpai. That's why I'm wearing these suspenders, so I'm sure that it's pressed well against my back to soothe the pain," said Azusa, gesturing to her outfit that consisted of a blue and white striped shirt inside jeans and denim suspenders.

"You look like a really cute kid with what you're wearing, Azu-nyan," said Yui happily.

"Says the one wearing a shirt and shorts that're fit for the park playground," countered Azusa. "Besides, these are your old clothes, Yui-senpai, not to mention that you're wearing play clothes right now," continued Azusa, emphasizing Yui's attire, a t-shirt and shorts, to the other two girls.

"Ehehe… they are, yup," chuckled Yui, realizing that her sharp kouhai won this round. The smile was immediately wiped off Yui's face when she remembered her own words last night.

"You're the one looking after me all the time, I'm the one causing trouble for you all the time, and you're more mature than I am… I think it would be better if I was the kouhai instead of you…"

"Yui, what's wrong?" asked Mio quizzically, noticing that she looked even more spaced-out than she usually did.

"Nothing Mio-chan, I think I just really decided that I have to work on a few things in my life," said Yui seriously.

Both Mio and Mugi were taken aback at how left-field and unlike Yui that response was.

"Oh right Yui-chan, you mentioned that you were moving into an apartment near your university, right?" asked Mugi, trying to shake off the effects of that weird moment.

Yui nodded and said,

"After today, it'll be…household skills bootcamp under General Ui!"

She saluted and Azusa burst into laughter at how silly her senpai was being. "You always find a way to turn serious things into funny things, Yui-senpai," thought Azusa. "By the way, why are we standing around here and not going into the clubroom? Where's Ritsu-senpai?" asked Azusa of Mio.

"Ritsu's being the inconsiderate whelp she usually is, so she asked me to bring her drums to Yui's house for her. If it weren't for Mugi's transportation arrangements for us, I'd end up paying for a taxi…," said Mio, slowly clapping her right palm to her forehead.

"As to why we're still here and not entering, Sawa-chan has the key to the clubroom, so we're waiting for her," quipped the ojou. "It's been twenty minutes since the agreed upon meeting time though, so I think I should call her on my phone."

That being said, Mugi took her cellular phone from her handbag and began dialing Sawako's number, anxiously tapping her feet on the ground as she waited for the call to connect.

"Hello? Oh, Mugi-chan, it's you."

"Where are you, Sawa-chan?" asked Mugi in a worried tone, while Mio looked on with veiled interest at Mugi's overt anxiety for their former homeroom teacher.

"Oh don't worry, I'm on my way to the school; I just had to buy a few things from a convenience store for tonight's party and Ricchan kept calling me about… stuff," replied the former metal guitarist evasively. "I'll be there in five minutes, tops. See you in a bit."

Sawako hung up as Mugi lowered her cell phone from her right ear.

"Sawa-chan will be here in five minutes, more or less," said Mugi, informing the others of their teacher's whereabouts. "Had to buy stuff at a convenience store for tonight's party at Yui-chan's house and Ricchan kept calling her about something she wouldn't tell me about."

Mio's temples creased and she sighed audibly,

"I'm sure that whatever that was, it was related to Ritsu calling Sawako-sensei last night."

At Mio's words, the keyboardist felt as though a stone dropped from her throat into the vestiges of her intestines. "Ricchan, call Sawa-chan? What for? I mean, I don't see how she could feel anything like that for Sawa-chan…"

Mugi brushed the intrusive thoughts aside like flies in a restaurant, shaking her head slightly, which Mio noticed and raised an eyebrow in reaction to.

"Who knows indeed…," said Mugi, as she looked over at Yui, who was gathering a few fallen sakura petals on the fence while Azusa looked on in a doting manner.

A few minutes later, while the four were just idly leaning against the fence, a red smart car pulled to a halt in front of the school gates and Sawako alighted in a tank top and jeans, her face creased in apology. Mugi's jaw nearly dropped at the attire her sensei was wearing; she was privileged to have seen Sawako wear this when she hadn't seen her before in this kind of clothing.

"Aaand that's another one filed under 'things to see before I die,'" thought the ojou happily.

"Sorry about that guys, had to pick up a few things for tonight. Mio-chan, you should keep Ricchan on a better leash," said Sawako, who led the girls into the entrance foyer of Sakura High School. "She kept bugging me about the surprise she wanted to spice up tonight's party."

At Sawako's words, Mio's suspicions rose even further; knowing Ritsu, these "surprises" of hers could be dangerous at times. Wincing internally, she recalled a scene from their youth when Ritsu had very nearly seriously injured her.

/

The raven-haired girl was going down the slide when her best friend appeared out of nowhere at the end to catch her.

"Ricchan, watch out!" screamed the future bassist, as she tumbled straight into her friend, who amazingly stepped back, countering the force of her body hurtling head on towards her using the additional distance and her positioning as leverage.

As Mio brushed sand from her shorts, she glared at Ritsu saying,

"You could've been seriously hurt there, Ricchan, what were you thinking?"

Ritsu just raised her arms in an expression of uncertainty and replied bluntly,

"I don't know, but whatever it was, it's not too much for the great Ritsu to handle."

She thumped her chest with her two little fists as she laughed at her own statement. Mio looked on and longingly thought that she would acquire even a tiny smidgen of Ritsu's toughness someday.

"Hey Mio, why don't you try playing on the monkey bars set?" asked Ritsu, pointing towards the playground equipment in question.

Mio shrugged and said in a soft voice,

"I don't think I'm strong enough to support my own weight on that thing."

Ritsu then smiled widely and said,

"Why don't we try, Mio? Don't worry; I'll be there to catch you if you can't hold on any longer."

Reluctantly, Mio nodded as the sandy-haired girl led her towards the monkey bars. As Mio began to scale the bars one by one, she was surprised that she was able to support her own weight with her arms, albeit with much strain and difficulty.

"Ricchan, I'm doing it!" shouted Mio happily, as Ritsu was moving under her at the same rate as she was.

Suddenly, Ritsu said something that made Mio's blood run cold and freeze as though she was suddenly dropped from a C-130 without a parachute.

"Mio, you've got barnacles on your butt."

Impulsively, the girl let go of the monkey bars to strike at the offending creatures that purportedly laced her bottom, and she fell, closing her eyes in fright. When she landed, she was surprised that the fall didn't hurt as much as she'd expected it to.

"Argh, Ritsu, why did you have to scare me like that while I was hanging from the bars!" said Mio angrily as she moved off of and turned to look at Ritsu who was beside her on the sand.

It took one look for the anger to completely slide off her face as though it was rust dissolved using kerosene. Ritsu was clutching her stomach in pain, seeing as Mio landed cleanly on top of her abdomen when Ritsu failed to catch her.

"Ricchan, are you okay!" screamed the raven-haired girl in fear. She impulsively looked around for help, noting blithely that the playground was empty sans the two of them.

Ritsu then groggily sat up and turned away from Mio, who was about to run off to find help when she heard a retching sound coming from Ritsu. Without warning, Ritsu threw up onto the sand, away from Mio, thankfully. After she had done so, she turned towards Mio, crudely wiping her mouth with her forearm.

"Don't worry Mio, I'm fine," coughed the future drummer. "I just got the wind knocked out of me."

Seeing that Ritsu was alright, Mio's anger returned and she asked in a even voice,

"What did you do that for, Ricchan? Why did you scare me so that I would fall?"

"Because," coughed Ritsu, spittle flying from her mouth. "I wanted you to trust that I would catch you when you fell, no matter what it takes. Between the two of us, I'd rather that I'd get hurt than you, Mio. This was just a nice and flashy way of demonstrating things. I'm pretty tough, but it did hurt much more than I thought it would. Still, I'm glad that you're pretty light though."

Mio could only gape at her best friend, who was massaging her stomach gingerly as she continued to retch.

/

The memory fresh in her mind, Mio blushed, thankful that no one was paying attention to her as they ascended the staircase headed towards the clubroom. "I promise that I'll also do my best to guide and protect Ritsu in college. It's only fair… and I would've done that even if she didn't do the same for me," she thought.

"Oh Azu-nyan, it was only weeks ago when we made our awesome recruitment video," said Yui happily, gesturing to the frog sign that the club used to signify their request not to be disturbed. "I remember when Sawa-chan wanted us to wear those clothes, and when even Mugi-chan refused, she just put the thong on the froggy sign."

At the mention of their latest recruitment video, Azusa could only sigh in embarrassment, recalled the very final clip of said video. Sawako chuckled as she took a key out of her jeans and unlocked the door.

As they entered, the clubroom was in the exact same state they had left it yesterday. Without preamble, Azusa immediately went to the tank and started to feed Ton-chan, while Yui had her hands and face plastered onto the tank, watching the food pellets sink gently as the soft-shelled turtle began to consume them.

"Oh Azu-nyan, you really do love Ton-chan so much," squealed Yui as she glomped Azusa in a gentle manner, mindful of the state that her back was in.

Azusa knew better than to struggle against Yui's hugs by now; she just exuded a calm aura of acceptance, though internally, she felt her heart rate speed up like it did every time Yui hugged her. "How can I calm down when my heart's beating fast?" thought the kouhai. "Surely, this is oxymoronic."

"Okay everyone, let's start bringing the heavy instruments outside to the gates first. Mugi-chan's arranged for a car to take the things along with you guys to Yui-chan's house," said Sawako.

Yui let go of Azusa as she went over to help Mugi carry her Korg, while Azusa decided to help Mio bring Ritsu's drum set that Mio was currently disassembling with efficient expertise, placing the individual drums and cymbals into a large box that required two people minimum to carry.

"Thanks for helping me, Azusa," said Mio gratefully as she counted to three, hoisting the box simultaneously with Azusa as Mugi shouted "watch out Yui-chan!"

Mio turned her head, attempting to look at what was going on with Mugi and Yui when she heard a loud "thunk", followed by Yui's pained exclamation. Azusa winced.

"Yui-chan, be more careful!" barked Sawako, who received a "yes, sensei" in return. Sighing, Sawako decided to tie packaging line around the two cardboard boxes containing Ritsu's stuff, enabling her to carry both out with ease. She hefted both boxes and to her surprise, found them to be much, much, much heavier than she expected, nearly losing her balance when she did so. Cursing, she took steady steps and slowly made her way out of the clubroom with both boxes in her hands.

"It's no problem, Mio-senpai. I think we need to coordinate our movements so that we won't hit anything on the way down the stairs," suggested Azusa.

"Good idea, Azusa. I'll go back and forth between 'one' and 'two', so synchronize your steps with my voice, okay?"

"Yes, Mio-senpai," said Azusa.

"Alright, here we go," said Mio. "One, two, one, two, one, two…"

Inefficiently but safely, Azusa and Mio made their way towards the gates where they saw a long black limousine waiting for them, with Mugi and Yui standing beside Mugi's Korg in its protective case. Sawako was also there, panting while shooting the boxes containing Ritsu's stuff dirty looks.

Mio whistled at the sight and said,

"Mugi, you always seem to catch me off guard with these things."

Mugi chuckled and said,

"It makes things interesting, don't you think, Mio-chan?"

"Yeah, it does," said Mio, as she and Azusa laid the large box containing Ritsu's Yamaha drum set on the ground.

"Mio-chan, I'd really like to know why Ricchan brought freaking ten-pound dumbbells to the clubroom," panted Sawako in frustration.

"Ten pound dumbbells?" asked Mugi, her turquoise eyes sparkling in amazement. "You're pretty strong, sensei."

Sawako laughed and said,

"It takes strength to be able to continuously play a guitar with your teeth, since I have to hold my guitar just right or I won't be able to do it."

The driver's side door of the limousine opened and a gray-haired man of medium build stepped out and said,

"Tsumugi-ojou-sama, allow me to take care of these objects for you and your friends."

Mugi nodded and said,

"Thank you, Arakawa-san." [1]

Arakawa then gently moved Mugi's Korg and Ritsu's drum set to the trunk of the limousine, bowing and retreating to the driver's seat afterwards.

"Great; all we have to do is get the three guitars upstairs and we're all done," said Sawako, who led the way towards the clubroom once more.

Upon their arrival in the clubroom, Yui, Azusa, and Mio all picked their guitars up, and the five exited, with Sawako locking the room. All five on them stared solemnly at the room when Mio broke the silence,

"It's been three years, huh. I guess that's a long time for us and this music room, though Azusa here has one more year to enjoy and use it."

Azusa nodded fiercely.

"Don't worry senpai, I'll do my best to keep the club running smoothly! We just need one more member to play the drums, since Jun-chan told me that she's getting better on bass, and Ui-chan's pretty good with the guitar since she helps Yui-senpai practice."

"That's my Ui!" exclaimed Yui happily.

"And I'll still be around, helping you guys as much as I can," said Sawako fervently. "Sakura High's Light Music Club's torch has been passed, so do your best, Azusa!"

Once more, Azusa nodded with determination, when she felt Yui's left hand take her right. She looked at her senpai as Yui smiled and gently squeezed her hand. That alone was enough to continuously bolster her morale.

A short while later, they were at the gates of Sakura High once more, when the only people who hadn't gotten on were both Mugi and Sawako.

"Tsumugi-ojou-sama, are you not going to board the vehicle yet?" asked Arakawa politely, lowering the passenger side window.

"I'd like to ride with sensei going to Yui-chan's house," said Mugi, turning to Sawako as she said so. "Is that okay?"

Sawako nodded, adding, "I don't see in what way my smart car interests you that your limousine doesn't, but sure."

"I'm glad, though," thought the teacher.

"Understood, Ojou-sama," said Arakawa, as the passenger side window closed.

The main passenger lounge window opened and Yui stuck her head out.

"See you later at my house, Mugi-chan, Sawa-chan! Oh, I nearly forgot!" blurted Yui, rummaging in her pockets. Eventually, she found what she was looking for; a crumpled piece of paper that detailed directions going to her house and handed it over to Mugi.

"Good thing Ui thought of drawing that in case," said Yui. "Ooh, I like how the windows can go up and down like this and that."

The windows were indeed, rising and falling in succession when Mugi and Sawako heard Azusa's voice.

"Stop doing that Yui-senpai, you're going to overheat the mo—"

Azusa was cut-off as the window closed for good. The car then performed a U-turn, and sped away towards the Hirasawa residence.

Sawako then turned to Mugi and said,

"Let's go then, Mugi-chan. I'll have to move some of the stuff I bought from the convenience store to the backseat first though."

Mugi nodded, inwardly thinking how fortunate she was at this moment. "If only things as good as this lasted…"

/

"Ritsu! You're here already?" exclaimed Mio when she rang the doorbell to the Hirasawa household and lo and behold, it was Ritsu who let them in.

"Yeah, I already took care of some things; that's why I didn't join you guys."

"And it was because you didn't want to trouble yourself with taking your instruments out of the school?" asked Mio sarcastically, stepping in with Yui, Azusa, and Mugi following in her wake. Sawako entered shortly afterwards, holding two six-packs of Carlsberg beer in her hands.

"Don't say lazy, Mio," said Ritsu, laughing at her own pun.

Yui, Mugi and Sawako laughed, and even Azusa cracked a smile at Ritsu's lame pun.

"No, thank you," countered Mio in kind.

Yui and Sawako were practically rolling on the floor, gasping for breath when Mio joined in the pun-making, when Ui stuck her head around the corner leading to the kitchen.

"Good evening and welcome everybody; the food will be ready shortly!" said Ui cheerfully. "Ritsu-senpai, could you handle the drinks you mixed up earlier?"

"Roger that, Ui!" said Ritsu, who was wearing cargo shorts and surprisingly, a collared blouse, dashed to the kitchen.

"Drinks… mixed up…" muttered Mio, who gasped when she put two and two together after noticing the beer Sawako had with her. "Riiiiiitsu! Are you crazy? We're underage here, except for sensei!"

"I kinda agreed because I'd be watching over you guys anyway," said Sawako, shrugging as she placed the two six-packs on a marble counter in the living room. "I brought my own so that I wouldn't have to partake of the stuff Ricchan brought."

"And what was this stuff that Ritsu-senpai brought?" asked Azusa, as Yui excused herself to bring Gitah and Mu (Azusa's Fender Mustang) upstairs, to the kouhai's chagrin.

"Oh, she told me that she'd be bringing just the one bottle of sake," said Sawako, sitting down on the living room couch. "I guess you're all my responsibility tonight."

"Somehow, that doesn't reassure me in the slightest," muttered Mio, loud enough for Azusa, who chuckled beside her, to hear, as she set Elizabeth down on the floor beside the Hirasawas' television set, joining Sawako on the couch, with Azusa who sat across them on the floor.

"Everyone, dinner's ready!" called Ui from the kitchen as Ritsu emerged, carrying a tray full of glasses containing what appeared to be orange juice, as well as the aforementioned bottle of sake.

As Mio, Azusa, and Sawako got up from where they were seated, none of them noticed that her right pocket was bulging. A few moments later, Yui's thunderous footsteps were heard, and she joined them all at the dining table, beginning to partake of Ui's delicious roast chicken and steamed salmon.

/

"Damn Ui, can you cook," said Ritsu, massaging her belly as the addressed was clearing the table. "You'll make a fine bride someday."

"N-not at all, Ritsu-senpai!" blushed Ui as Ritsu took a draught of sake straight from the bottle. "Anyhow, if you'll excuse me senpai, I'll be going off to bed now."

Ui took all the plates and cutlery to the kitchen, bade everyone good night, waved to her sister, and quietly ascended the staircase.

Earlier, Sawako had nearly thrown a fit when she sniffed the orange juice in the glasses, because she discovered that they were spiked with vodka. No one else had noticed, and, in a moment of childish mischievousness, she decided not to say anything, intoning that she'd have to control her own intake to be able to care for the kids.

"There goes the other six-pack then," thought Sawako sadly. "Might as well save those for another day."

By this point, nearly everyone with the exception of Ui was buzzed: Mio was feeling a tad bit woozy, while Yui and Azusa were talking animatedly to each other about caring for Ton-chan on the living room couch, their fingers intertwined.

Mugi, surprisingly, was the least buzzed of them all, and when Sawako asked, she had merely replied,

"When I occasionally accompany my father to cocktail dinners, they'd usually have champagne and a few other drinks available, so I'd usually drink those."

"I'd usually get myself drunk so I won't feel that my father was neglecting me during all those cocktails."

"Really, Mugi-chan? That's pretty sad," said Sawako, who downed her fifth can of beer.

"Huh… Did I say that out loud?" inquired Mugi of the general populace.

"Yeah Mugi, ya did," drawled Ritsu, downing another glass of spiked juice. "Fuck, this stuff really tastes good!"

"Riiitsu, I'm kinda dizzy now," said Mio, who unashamedly burped in Ritsu's face when she leaned over.

Ritsu laughed and said,

"Fuckin' good decision to bring this here bottle of vodka. Say Mio, I wanna show you something on Yui's TV; come with me!"

She whipped the 75% empty bottle out of the pocket of her cargo pants, and gently placed it on the marble counter, beside Sawako's unopened six-pack package of beer, gesturing for Mio to follow her to the living room. Mio stood up unsteadily and complied, sitting down on the opposite end of the couch as Ritsu, who turned the television on. Yui and Azusa continued obliviously, still having an in-depth discussion about caring for soft-shelled turtles.

"Still Mugi, I think I can relate to what you felt. My dad and I were really never on good terms either," said Sawako, opening her final can of the night. "He wanted me to play country music, but I flat out refused since it was my childhood dream to establish a band where I could play metal music to the best of my ability. He's practically disowned me, and I haven't spoken to him since the day I packed up and left to get my degree in Education."

Mugi stood up and moved her chair to beside Sawako, and sat down there. She took Sawako's free hand in her right and said,

"Stay with me, even if only for tonight, Sawa-chan. College will start next week and I can't help but feel… lonely."

Tears brimmed forth from the keyboardist's eyes as Sawako put her can of beer down and gently hugged Mugi.

"It's okay tiger; you can come visit me during your free time. I'll always be there for you."

Sawako continued to sip from her final can while the ojou cried into her shoulders.

"I'm glad that here's someone I can love… But is this the real Mugi or just the alcohol and her insecurities talking? For her own good, I shouldn't do anything," thought Sawako sadly.

Over at the living room, Ritsu was showing Mio an anime that was airing at this unholy hour on the television, a classic anime about the high school life of six girls and both their English and PE teachers. [2] Yui and Azusa had already excused themselves, going upstairs.

"You know, I think I empathize the most with that one," said Ritsu seriously, sake bottle in hand. "That one, the one who just said that she'd form the team of idiots. I sometimes can't fathom how you even put up with me, Mio."

Mio gazed at her with soft, tender eyes and said,

"We're best friends, Ricchan. Of course I'd always be there for you."

Ritsu gasped and leaped from the couch, her right index finger pointing with Mio in shock.

"Y-You haven't called me Ricchan since we graduated from elementary school!"

"What does that even matter, Ricchan," said Mio, rising from the couch and approaching Ritsu. "In the end, you're always the one protecting me, so it's an even trade. But deep down, I know it's not, because I've always been the load to you, haven't I?"

The expression of comical fear on Ritsu's face was replaced by a look of tenderness as she spoke,

"Mio, you never were a burden to me. I've always done those things because long ago, I swore that I would do anything so that you would never cry again."

Her thoughts turned back to the days when she first became friends with Akiyama Mio; the days when people in elementary school would bully her for being easily scared and because she was left-handed, going as far as to call her a "weirdo". The thoughts aroused the anger that lay dormant in Ritsu's heart; she thought that anyone who made Mio cry would get their asses kicked, courtesy of Tainaka Ritsu.

Mio sat down on the couch nearest to where Ritsu was standing, and gazed fiercely into Ritsu's eyes.

"Even so, it's still unfair. So, I've decided that from now on, Akiyama Mio will do her best to stand alone without needing to be protected. In fact, I want to be able to protect you as well," said Mio in a powerful voice that belied her state of sobriety.

To Ritsu's complete and utter surprise, Mio stood up and swiftly moved close to Ritsu. The raven-haired bassist looked away in embarrassment after she did it, while the drummer was left stunned, holding the hand that wasn't holding the sake bottle to her cheek where she felt the silky lips of Akiyama Mio.

"Was that… nah, I'm sure that's totally platonic. I don't think Mio would be like that," thought Ritsu sadly. "She'll find out eventually that I'm a lesbian… I do hope she still stands by her words when she finds out."

Wordlessly, Ritsu put the sake bottle on the small table in the center of the living room and hugged the bassist from behind with tenderness coursing through her heart.

/

A short while later, Yui descended alone from the second floor with Azusa's cold compress in her hand and placed it in the refrigerator in the kitchen. On her way back, she stopped momentarily, inspecting the happenings in the dining room, where she saw Mugi slumped on Sawako's shoulder, who was rubbing the keyboardist's back gently. Turning her attention to the living room, she found Ritsu and Mio asleep on the couch, their heads leaning against each other, the discarded bottle of sake standing solitarily on the small table as though it was a steward watching over the two sleep.

Smiling, Yui haphazardly ascended once more due to the alcohol coursing through her body and, as silently and as gently as she could, returned to her spot in her own bed, where Azusa, now wearing another pair of her old pajamas, was sleeping. As she made to get onto her bed, Azusa opened her eyes, sensing her senpai's approach and wordlessly scooted over a bit to give Yui some space.

Yui smiled and got into the bed beside Azusa, who immediately hugged Yui and whispered,

"Senpai… don't leave me, even if it's only for tonight… okay?"

Yui responded by burying her face in the crook of Azusa's neck, her arms encircling the kouhai's body gently, still mindful of the state of her back.

"Azu-nyan, I'll always be here for you. I promise."

/

[1] – Arakawa was the driver of the car when Itsuki explained what his Organization thinks of Haruhi to Kyon in Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu.

[2] – In case you couldn't guess, Azumanga Daioh.

Nothing too explicitly yuri yet; I'll be saving those for future chapters after certain events have occurred. Read and review please!

Next time: The four girls get a week off before college begins, while Azusa is faced with the daunting task of recruiting. Will she utilize the embarrassing recruitment video they made? Tune in to find out!