Sorry for the wait; planning has been kinda tough, and I've been enrolling for my second semester so times have been hard and not much left in the way of writing.

Chapter is relatively short, as it's the beginning of a new arc, sort of. We won't be seeing much of the kouhai for now.

Bolded words are in English. Italicized words are either thoughts or song lyrics or someone on the opposite phone line; the context should be fairly obvious.

/

Hyperactive

"So that's how it's going to go down, huh?" said Mio casually as she, Ritsu and Yui made their way to College English, one of their other common classes.

"Yeah," replied Ritsu as she flung her arms behind her head. "Azusa's going to form a band with Ui, Jun and Satoshi anyway, and they'll be meeting every so often after school and on weekends."

"Of course, Azu-nyan said that her priority is still us, Houkago Tea Time," cut in Yui, who took a bottle of water out of her bag and began to sip from it. "Cool water's always good on a hot day."

"Say Yui, I heard from Azusa that you comforted her when she was depressed over the Light Music Club being disbanded," said Mio, an eyebrow raised as the three entered the lecture hall and took seats at the middle-far-right side. "From what I can tell when she was telling me about it, you two must've been so love-love, at the bare minimum."

"Well," said Yui, poking her index fingers together in embarrassment. "It's not even a secret to you guys anymore, and I actually don't think it ever was, anyway. But I can say honestly we're not like that yet. I haven't formally asked Azu-nyan yet, so I guess it'll come in time, I hope. Just like Mugi-chan's cake and tea!"

Ritsu sighed in amusement; here she goes again with the food. As if on cue, Yui opened her backpack and took out a small pack of cookies.

"Want some? I bought these from the bakery in the neighborhood I'm in," said Yui happily, offering the cookies and crème cookies to Mio and Ritsu, taking one as she did.

The drummer and bassist took the proffered cookies and munched on them quietly, while Yui was talking about what she had newly learned in her Culinary Arts courses. Inwardly, Mio was looking around the hall, paying only half-attention to Yui. People were still milling around or chatting, as the English professor wasn't around yet. While Ritsu and Yui continued to talk about the niceties and complications in cooking Shanghai fried rice, she noticed a few boys looking in their direction, whispering to each other while trying not to draw too much attention to themselves.

Mio raised an eyebrow, curious at these boys who were clearly looking at one of them. Following the eyes of one of them who was far to engrossed to notice, she concluded that they were staring at Ritsu, who was boisterously talking about that mixed-martial arts match she had seen the night before, while Yui dramatically cringed as she was explaining the techniques she had seen put to use in the match.

The raven-haired girl turned to her two friends, sizing them up in her eyes to attempt to determine what about Ritsu was drawing the attention of other people in an unfavorable manner. Today, she was wearing a plain yellow shirt and jeans, while Yui was wearing jeans and another pink shirt, this time with a picture of a slice of cake on the front. Satisfied that it wasn't her appearance that was drawing the boys attention, she turned to them and said,

"Why don't you two tone down the level of your discussion? You might be bugging other people or something…"

In a louder voice, she said,

"Hey Ritsu, did you hear about the latest soap opera twists?"

Ritsu looked at Mio as though she had just eaten a horse in one bite and she scratched her head in confusion. Mio stuck her face mere inches from Ritsu's and said,

"Play along as though we're talking about that stuff with Yui. Just do it."

Ritsu nodded despite being confused, while Yui was all-too happy to talk about one where the girl the guy was sleeping with turned out to be his own long-lost mother. While Ritsu cringed from that kind of revelation, Mio looked at the boys who were whispering and staring earlier and to her satisfaction, they had turned away from them.

"I wonder what about Ritsu is making them do that… This stuff also happened in Philosophy class where she was blamed for something she didn't do…," thought the bassist. "She even wore a dress like those assholes said!"

A loud crack resounded throughout the entire hall that sent students scrambling for their seats.

"Class is now going to begin, fellas, so don't give me a hard time today," said their short-haired teacher, who wore a green jumper and black-and-yellow striped clothing, a shinai in hand.

"Yes, Fujimura-sensei," replied the class in unison.

When she had turned around to write something on the whiteboard, the whispers ensued again.

"There she goes again, being a Tiger…"

"…transferred here after being fired by her old school…"

"…heard that she had voluntarily left after her ward was discovered having sex with a girl in his own house…"

"…someone named Matou…"

Fujimura Taiga[1] was indeed, in a foul mood these days, and Mio was very aware of this. From the first day she had entered their English class, immediately declaring that no one should ever call her "Tiger", Mio had pulled Ritsu and Yui aside and told them sternly to behave in this class, for their own physical safety.

Taiga had gone on to remind everyone that she had a 5th dan in kendo, and even the normally cocky Ritsu swallowed in fear and decided to be good in this class.

The class proceeded uneventfully and Ritsu turned to Mio,

"Say, do you think I should join a club? Of course, the band still is my utmost priority, but I think I'd like to join a sports club, like say, the volleyball club."

Mio thought about it and Ritsu is quite athletic, despite her lack of height relative to herself. She was abundant in energy, willpower, and she does have a work ethic when it came to extracurriculars. She sighed though, wishing that Ritsu would have the same kind of motivation for academics.

"Say Yui, what do you thi—"

Mio cut herself off when she saw Hirasawa Yui sleeping peacefully beside Ritsu, her backpack placed on the desk in front of her.

"Typical," said Ritsu. "Then again, maybe she's dreaming about Azusa. I mean, it was only last last Friday when she came over to her apartment soaking wet, and it's been, what, twelve days since then?"

"It could also be this tropical hot and humid weather we've been having recently," interjected Mio. "Even I feel sleepy in this heat…"

The drummer sighed and wished that she could join their guitarist in the land of Morpheus, but she knew that she had to stay awake and listen, as Mio wouldn't always have the time to help her out in her studies. Though she may appear carefree, Ritsu was also trying her best to do better in her studies. Nowadays, she's cut down the hours she spent reading manga and talking with Mio on the phone from three down to one and a half. Summing everything up, she averaged about an hour and a half on studying, which was a dramatic improvement from the amount of time she had invested in the same every night during high school.

She knew that she couldn't be a burden on Mio forever; and her heart ached in sadness when she considered the day that Mio finally left her for a boy.

"I don't know if I can take it, honestly… I'm positive that I'm in love with her, else I won't be feeling distressed about this matter."

The drummer brushed those thoughts aside, writing down what Taiga had written on the blackboard.

"I went to a bar and bought myself a drink," intoned Ritsu slowly and softly as she copied the sentence that Taiga had written into a small notebook.

Mio looked sidelong at her but didn't give her any more thought as she turned back to the front of the class and continued to listen intently. Internally, she was happy that Ritsu was doing her best on her own without immediately resorting to help from her. It was exactly the kind of trait she had admired in Ritsu for as long as she could remember. It also occurred to her that she had been seeing the sleek black notebook that Ritsu was writing in more and more frequently.

The period carried on uneventfully until the bell rang, upon which the three decided to make their way towards the cafeteria to get a bite to eat in the case of Ritsu.

Upon arrival, Ritsu was pleased to see that the line at the bread stall wasn't that long. She bade Mio and Yui find seating for them while she went to purchase her favorite soba-pan and tonkatsu-pan. In front of her were a couple of guys and a girl who she recognized were in their Philosophy and English classes.

The three had purchased their bread and were heading out when one of the boys noticed Ritsu and muttered under his breath,

"Oh. It's the loudmouthed tomboy."

Ritsu froze upon hearing those words and turned to face the boy in displeasure when she had realized that the group of three had walked on. Annoyed, she continued to glare at their backs until a coughing sound broke her from her anger-induced reverie.

"Excuse me miss, but other people are behind you in the line," said the cafeteria lady gently.

Ritsu, startled, apologized and said,

"One yakisoba-pan and one tonkatsu -pan please!"

The old lady handed her the items she had requested in a plastic bag and said,

"That'll be 250 yen please."

Ritsu paid up and proceeded to eat lunch with both Mio and Yui, who were seated at a three person table at the far corner of the cafeteria.

"Itadakimasu!" said the three girls in unison as they began to dig into their respective meals.

"Ooh, let's see how well I made today's beef steak…," said Yui excitedly. "I even got up a bit earlier than usual to tenderize the beef with a meat mallet I bought at the supermarket."

"You're really getting good at this stuff, Yui. Last year, this stuff would've been impossible for you," said Ritsu enthusiastically, clapping Yui's back with her hand.

"Hard work, Ricchan, hard work. I just keep telling myself that it's just like learning how to play Gitah. With that mindset, I feel like I could do anything right now. It's also what drove me to really assume the senpai role when Azu-nyan came over last last Friday. Actually, I was scared that I'd fail her but given the way things turned out, I'm glad I was able to be there for her," said Yui happily, eating a piece of beef. "Hmm, not too bad; do you two want to have some?"

Mio and Ritsu took up Yui's offer and had some of her lunch, after which they were heaping praises on Yui for cooking something like this for the first time but being able to do it pretty well.

"Looks like Ui's rubbing off onto you, Yui," said Ritsu amusedly. "Azusa must be lucky; being able to eat this stuff all the time."

That's when the three stopped dead, the air growing dead due to Ritsu's comment. "Well, maybe," said Yui shyly, breaking the silence. "But not anytime soon…"

Mio, on the other hand felt severely disturbed. I wonder if I'll have a chance at being with her.

But like time and time again, Mio felt more comfortable with the current status quo, and kept to herself, idly wondering when she would have the courage to break the status quo as the trio consumed their meals.

"Toilet! I'll be back quickly," said Yui, who immediately stood up and ran for the toilet, nearly barreling over another student.

""Man, she's such a handful," said Ritsu, who then sighed. "Hey Mio…"

Mio turned to the drummer and was perplexed by the look of melancholy on her face, a look that she normally didn't have.

"What's wrong, Ritsu?" she replied in a tender voice.

Ritsu ate the last of her bread and sipped some water from her cafeteria glass and replied in a subdued tone,

"Two guys and a girl from our English and Philosophy classes walked past me earlier, and one of the guys called me a 'loudmouthed tomboy.'"

"They've got to be the same people staring at Ritsu earlier. I don't get it; I thought in college no one really cared about these sorts of things," thought the bassist as she was unsure on how to console her friend other than completely deny the words that had come from those men.

"Don't get affected by their words Ritsu. I know that you were also affected by the words you heard in our Philosophy class two weeks ago, hence the dress you wore the next day. You're great the way you are, Ritsu," said the bassist, trying her best to reassure her best friend.

"But I know I'm loud and tomboyish, Mio," said Ritsu. "I don't get why people have problems with that. At least I'm not some elementary school student who tried to seduce her teacher.[2]"

"Even so, Ritsu is Ritsu. If you change just because of those words, then you're not the Ritsu I know and love," said Mio who, upon realizing what she had just said, clapped her hands over her mouth and blushed furiously.

Ritsu's jaw dropped and Mio regained her composure.

"Uh yeah, love platonically, that's right! Heh heh…," chuckled Mio nervously.

"Right, right," said Ritsu, laughing when Yui suddenly returned. "All done Yui? Let's go then; Mio and I have to head to our Philosophy class now."

"I'll walk you guys there," replied Yui, who slung her backpack and proceeded to walk ahead of the two of them.

Ritsu s tood up with Mio following in her wake, and perhaps a small burst of courage had Mio grasp Ritsu's hand in her own. The sandy-haired drummer looked at Mio with a look of inquiry, to which Mio just replied with a resolute nod.

From a few feet away, Yui just looked at the two of them and smiled widely.

/

"Hello, Azu-nyan? It's me," said Yui as she was lounging in her bed that night, reading a volume of the Aoi Hana manga. "How was practice with Ui, Jun and Satoshi-kun?"

"It was great senpai; Jun's a pretty good bassist too while Ui is just getting better and better at lead guitar. Satoshi-kun's pretty good too; Ritsu-senpai must've taught him well."

Yui sat up and frowned,

"How come you didn't take lead guitar, Azu-nyan?"

"I felt comfortable with being second guitar due to being second guitar to you, Yui-senpai. I thought it would be appropriate that another Hirasawa would lead us. Of course, Ui's also proficient at keyboard so if whatever we're doing necessitates that instrument, we could always change roles. Sawako-sensei was able to acquire a spare keyboard for the band's use under conditions of a special agreement."

Yui smiled but remembered that Azusa couldn't see her through the phone. "Good work, Azu-nyan! If only I could hug people over the phone, I would've done so already."

"Same on my end, senpai," replied the kouhai. "Oh yeah, um… if it's not too much trouble, can I come over on Friday?"

Yui laughed loud, the mirth encompassing her and bringing tears to her eyes.

"Senpai…?" came Azusa's voice through the phone.

"Azu-nyan, you're being silly. Remember what I told you last time? You're welcome here anytime. That's why I gave you my key, remember?"

"…right, senpai… Oh yes, thank you for letting us use your room for practice," said Azusa.

"Of course, that's not a problem at all. I'll be seeing you on Friday, or if you decide to come earlier, then whenever that is. Good night, Azu-nyan," said the guitarist cheerfully.

"Good night, Yui-senpai," said the kouhai as she hung up.

Yui just lay back down on her bed and smiled widely before resuming reading Aoi Hana. "Hmm, that Yasuko's kind of aggressive, isn't she…"

/

"…tashika na kiseki o okosu mahou deeee…," finished Mugi as she finished up the final keystrokes that the piano arrangement of the song she had composed entailed.[3]

Yumi stood up from her bed and clapped as hard as she could, her eyes wide in amazement at Mugi's skills on the keyboard.

"Thank you very much, Yumi-san," said Mugi as she stepped away from her Korg and bowed to her audience of one.

"That was very beautiful, Mugi-chan," said Yumi. "I was moved by the lyrics, the elegance of the piece, everything! It's like the 76 elves were all under command by your elegant fingers. I'm so happy to have a wonderfully talented roommate."

Mugi blushed at the compliments Yumi was hurling at her one after the other and she said,

"Yumi-san, you're embarrassing me… This is only the piano arrangement of the song; it's meant to be played with the band, so that's drums, 2 guitars, and a bass in addition to me. It's definitely better when done that way."

Inwardly, the ojou sighed, thinking once more about the trio that she was separated from, and their kouhai, whom she had heard was all ready to form a band with Ui, Jun, and Satoshi, Ritsu's brother.

The feeling of longing returned once again to Tsumugi's heart; lately, it seemed that it was becoming a more frequent mainstay in her feelings. She truly missed her band, even after getting to know and hanging out with Yumi and her friends, including her old friend Sachiko whom she hadn't seen for years.

It was only three weeks into the first semester and already she felt very troubled. Every cloud had a silver lining, however, and while Yumi excused herself to get herself some water from the hallway dispenser, she took her phone out and giggled at the hundreds of messages she had from Sawako. If there was one person she was in contact in, it was her former homeroom teacher and the person she could truly say that she loved romantically. Content as she was with her current relationship with her sensei, she still felt a void whenever she thought of the rest of Houkago Tea Time.

The dorm room door opened and entered Yumi with, to Mugi's surprise, Yoshino and Shimako.

"Yoshino-san, Toudou-san, what are you two doing here at this time of night?" asked the keyboardist, although she was inwardly pleased that Yumi brought more company to the room.

Mugi noticed that Shimako had a thermos with her and that both Yumi and Yoshino were bringing out the traditional Japanese table from under the mantel.

"Let's have a tea party, Tsumugi-san," said Yoshino excitedly. "Yumi-san here also told me how good you are at the keyboard. Shimako-san and I would like to hear you do so, if it's not any trouble for you."

Shimako nodded in agreement and said,

"I'd like to hear it too, Tsumugi-san. When Yumi-san called both of us earlier, she was bobbing on her toes in excitement."

At these words, Yumi blushed and began to pour tea into four cups for them all. "Go on, Mugi-chan," said Yumi, as she finished pouring tea and the three girls sat at the low-rise table in the center of the room.

Mugi stood up and proceeded to stand before her Korg. Perhaps I'll play the piano arrangement of Honey Sweet Tea Time in appropriateness of the moment.

Her decision made, she began to tap the notes out, all the while thinking of the friends she had left behind and of the sensei that she had fallen in love with, wondering when she would have the opportunity to advance their relationship.

"hachimitsu iro no gogo ga sugiteku… honey sweet tea time…," sang the keyboardist softly while Yumi, Shimako, and Yoshino looked on in awe at the elegance she was exuding.

Sensei… I really miss you.

/

[1] – Fujimura Taiga from Fate/stay night. Who says I can't have more than one transferee teacher? :)

[2] – Kokonoe Rin from Kodomo no Jikan.

[3] – The song is Dear My Keys ~Kenban no Mahou~ which is one of Mugi's character songs.

In case it still isn't obvious, a lot of Mugi's character development is hinging on how well she adjusts to her time in Lillian University.

As for Mitsu, you may notice that I'm playing the gay-angst card a lot; but there's going to be an interesting resolution to all this. I already have it planned out, and it'll come in due time.