Osu! Happy birthday to our favorite brunette lead guitarist with a Gibson Les Paul Hirasawa Yui!

As it's an interlude, expect the chapter to be shorter than usual. Note the time skip that happens, speed readers.

x~~*~~x

Interlude: Convergence

The blonde couldn't sleep at all that night. Tossing and turning about in her king-sized bed in the Kotobuki mansion, Tsumugi was far too stunned by what had happened at the end of her "date" with Satou Sei.

The woman had kissed her when her guard was at its lowest. It was a kiss that had no strings attached; it lacked anything kinky in it, now that Mugi thought about it. A neutral kiss, and yet…

She had felt that Sei was at least half-serious about what she had said.

I like you a lot, Mugi-chan.

She was dazed throughout dinner earlier, dinner that she had together with her father, which was a dire rarity in the Kotobuki mansion. She wasn't able to appreciate the dinner she had arranged with her father though, and unbeknownst to her, Mr. Kotobuki wasn't as unperceptive as he thought.

Being the person that he was, he was confident in his Tsumugi's skills to overcome whatever was troubling her, and he paid no further attention to his daughter's manifestation of her internal turmoil. He, however, thought that it would be nice if he could take time off with his daughter… but companies and conglomerates don't run themselves, do they?

Tossing and turning once more, the blonde decided to resort to something she hadn't done since the first time she had discovered it a few years ago. Trying her best to fill her mind with thoughts that excluded Satou Sei, out of desperation, she imagined Yamanaka Sawako beside her on this very bed, stripped down to her bare undergarments, lips moving in towards her own as her right hand went to a certain spot in the southern region of her body…

x~~*~~x

However, Tsumugi was to be denied the simple pleasure of sleeping her troubles off. Punishment perhaps, for resorting to that? She didn't know, and her sleep was punctuated by the events that had happened earlier that day, as though she was watching herself on a film reel.

x~~*~~x

Again, the keyboardist was having fun; truthfully having fun like she hadn't experienced since the last time she had seen Sei. While last time was a wild ride in arcades and karaoke boxes, their meeting this time was a relatively tamer affair.

It was around one in the afternoon when Mugi was picked up by Sei from the dorm; Yumi had already left much much earlier for her home so Mugi was tasked to lock up, as her roommate had reminded her the previous evening.

"Sup Mugi-chan," said Sei as she raised a hand in greeting. She was wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and crosstraining rubber shoes.

Mugi looked down at her own attire and, to her own surprise, she thought she was overdressed. She was wearing a long skirt, a blouse, her usual wide brimmed hat and flats, with a small magenta purse slung across her shoulder. Sei had a black duffel bag with her that appeared to contain paper. Not thinking about such things further, Mugi walked off with Sei and upon further discussion, decided that their first order of business would be to have lunch.

They had flagged a taxi down that would take them straight to the heart of Tokyo, and Mugi had messaged Klaus that he was to pick her up when they were finished at her current coordinates at that time.

"Damn, I hope she doesn't pick an expensive restaurant; I'm not exactly the richest of people right now. Scratch that; I'm not the richest of people, period," thought Sei grimly as Mugi sat beside her in the taxi that was weaving through traffic.

"Sei-san, would lunch at McDonalds be alright with you?" asked the blonde, her eyes seemingly glittering as Sei could only gape at her choice of restaurant.

"M-Mugi-chan, are you serious about that? You're okay with lunch at McDonalds?"

"Of course! I've never eaten their food in the restaurant itself before, because the only time I had tasted their food was years ago when my father decided to throw a party to celebrate my graduation from middle school. He ordered in bulk from the establishment and I would very much like to taste those, uh, Big Macs once again."

Sei just nodded dumbly and thought how sheltered the Kotobuki heiress was. "Someone to rival even Sachiko, despite the fact that their personalities are worlds apart… I wonder…"

"Say Mugi-chan, would you happen to know someone named Ogasawara Sachiko? She's Yumi's onee-sama, I'm not quite sure if she's—"

She was interrupted by Mugi's squeal of excitement. "Of course; you'd know Sachiko-neesan! Shimako-san told me you were the former Rosa Gigantea so it would make sense that you'd know her!"

"Sachiko… neesan?" repeated Sei dumbly, astounded at the connections the blonde beside her, giggling happily, had.

And yet… She gazed at Mugi who sat beside her and could somehow feel that something was off about her. The longing she had sensed the last time… it was still there, and a lightbulb flickered in her mind, and she now knew the path she would take with Mugi.

Upon arriving at a McDonalds outlet, the two quickly ordered two Big Macs and sat down at a small table in the corner, both quietly intoning "Itadakimasu!" before diving into their respective burgers.

Sei watched Mugi eat out of the corner of her eye and smiled in satisfaction when she noticed how neat and clean the ojou was as she ate a large burger that normally entailed condiments and coleslaw dropping intermittently from the sandwich onto the table. Internally shrugging, she continued to eat while they both talked about life in the university, the latest trends in fashion, gossip, and their taste in music.

Mugi felt as though a small Thundershock had been sent down her spine when Sei offhandedly mentioned how much she loved metal.

"It was a small indie band that never really got a big break; apparently, the members all moved on with their lives and didn't really make a career out of music. Ever heard of DEATH DEVIL, Mugi-chan?"

About to take a bite from the large sandwich in her hands, and as though she was then encased in a block of ice, she just stopped, appearing to onlookers to be a motionless doll, her eyes not even moving.

"She's a fan of sensei's band? That's…," thought Mugi, turmoil circulating through her mind. Lately, Sawako hadn't been messaging her, because things were getting busy and she was helping Azusa out as her homeroom teacher in dealing with the renewed assault of bullying she was receiving due to the fact that word of their Founder's Festival concert had leaked to the general public of Sakura High School.

Reminded painfully of the lack of contact, the longing in her heart intensified and she hadn't realized that Sei was staring at her as though analyzing a lab rat in a Biology class.

"She's definitely missing her… although why she just manifested those thoughts now was a mystery to me," thought Sei.

"Hey, Sei-san… Did you know that Catherine from DEATH DEVIL… is Sawako-sensei?" mumbled Mugi, putting her burger down and resting her head on her hands which she propped onto the table with her elbows.

"Who?"

"Sawako, my former homeroom sensei, Light Music Club advisor and the woman I love. She used Catherine as her stage name back when she was DEATH DEVIL's lead guitarist and vocalist," said Mugi neutrally.

Sei just dropped her burger in shock, the patty sliding out ungracefully as the comestible hit the plate with a flop. The lead guitarist and vocalist of her favorite indie metal band was the woman Mugi was in love with? Hell, she was her teacher as well! Trying to wrap around her head around the fact that the wildest member of DEATH DEVIL settled down and became a respected teacher was the least of her worries.

"Why are you telling me this, Mugi-chan?" said Sei carefully; she knew she was treading on a potential disaster right here. Being the perceptive woman she was, she knew that the blonde was headed towards a small breakdown in the near future unless something happened, and fast.

She wryly thought about the time so long ago when Sachiko had just taken Yumi as her petite soeur and they were having communication problems. Shimako was planning to interfere at the time, but she had stopped her own petite soeur from meddling in business that wasn't hers.

She needed that wisdom again. She genuinely liked the blonde and wanted her to be happy. The lightbulb in her mind glowing brightly, the path before her illuminated with the strength of a thousand candles, Satou Sei set about her greatest project yet.

"I don't know myself, Sei-san. It's just that I haven't been speaking to sensei lately; as the homeroom teacher of the kouhai we had left behind when I and my peers graduated, she currently has a lot on her plate to handle. I know it's irrational, but I can't help it," mumbled Mugi, who was about to bury her face in her hands before Sei stopped her, gripping her right hand in her own.

"Mugi-chan, love makes us humans irrational. It's a fact of life, really, so there's absolutely no need at all to beat yourself up over it," said Sei, who firmly gripped Mugi's right hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

Seeing the blonde smile made Sei happy, and they finished their meal without any more incident.

They whiled the afternoon away, spending about an hour at the arcade, playing air hockey. Surprisingly, Mugi was quite good at air hockey, and Sei felt like smashing her head into a figurative desk when Mugi mentioned that they owned an air hockey table at her home when she wondered aloud about Mugi's skills.

It was already three in the afternoon, and Mugi had told Sei that she was leaving at five so that she'd be able to catch her father before he left on his business trip in Switzerland. They decided to go clothes shopping at a department store; while Mugi recounted to Sei how she had convinced her father to leave a bit later so they could have dinner together. She was happy for Mugi that her father had relented; she assumed that Mugi's father was similar to the typical conglomerate patriarch who neglected his children in favor of running the family business.

Sei wasn't too far off and yet she was completely wrong in a way; Mr. Kotobuki indeed loved his own daughter; he was just too busy to show it. Mugi of course knew this and just continued to believe in her own father, despite the lack of time he had available. She understood it as well; her father needed to run the business she would inherit someday.

"I think that's why my first love right now is so important to me. Gender isn't an issue at all, I'd say, but I think the way and reason I fell in love with Sawako-sensei is because I couldn't feel my father's love. I do not really doubt him; I understand since I know how it's like, what he does every day. Sawako-sensei probably is the older person figure I had been searching for all this time, only that the love is in the romantic aspect," said Mugi, trying on another dress. "I think I like this one."

It was a long floral dress that perfectly matched her gentle nature, but Sei had other ideas. "Try this one on," she said, while shoving articles of assorted red and black clothing and what appeared to be a cape into the surprised blonde's hands. Closing the curtains, Mugi began to change, and when she saw what Sei had handed to her, she began to giggle like a schoolgirl. She had seen this anime back in 2004, when she was still in her first year of middle school and she was looking for a hobby that would entertain her, since her classmates were a bit intimidated by her wealth. The blonde took out elastic ties from her purse and tied her air into pigtails, and when she had finished putting the black-and-red articles of clothing on, she opened the curtain with a flash and intoned in a quiet and serious voice.

"Bardiche… Set Up!"

Sei laughed out loud, attracting the attention of nearby customers who then noticed the alluring Fate Testarossa cosplay that Mugi was currently parading in the fitting room. A few raised their eyebrows in momentary interest before turning away, a few other people looked on at how well the blonde carried the costume, and no one noticed a certain blue-haired girl snapping pictures with an SLR camera from a distance.

"Houkago Tea Time's keyboardist and resident ojou-sama is into this stuff, huh? Interesting find, now what will people on 2ch think…," she muttered to herself as she shuffled away quietly, no doubt eager to post her findings on the famous board.

"I didn't think you'd catch on, Mugi-chan," remarked Sei as the two of them exited the department store, leaving behind the Fate Testarossa costume in a neat pile by the fitting room. "I didn't peg you as an anime person."

"Well, it was years ago when I chanced upon the medium in a more in-depth fashion. I was looking for hobbies to stem off loneliness in middle school when I discovered that anime that showed on TV was actually sold on DVDs depending on the series," said Mugi as they rounded a corner that led them nearer and nearer to where Klaus was waiting for the Kotobuki heiress. "Thus, I picked up quite a few shows that catered to my, um, interests. Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha, Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl, Strawberry Panic! and Kannazuki no Miko to name a few."

"Those are all yuri shows," remarked Sei with interest.

Mugi nodded and said, "You don't think it's wrong, right? Girls being with other girls? I never really asked you what you thought about it…"

Sei laughed and exclaimed, "Mugi-chan, girls being with other girls is freaking great and awesome! I'm disappointed in you; I already told you that I liked other girls too!"

"I know that," replied Mugi. "I mean to say; did it ever cross your mind that what you were doing is wrong? One major religion in the world is strongly against homosexuality, and I've just wondered how you thought about it."

"Pardon the language, Mugi-chan, but they can go fuck themselves," replied Sei, scoffing. "Love does not take into account the genders of both parties. Love is something that transcends that. As long as you are happy…"

Mugi nodded and they finally were walking along the street where Klaus would be waiting around the corner.

"See you around sometime, Mugi-chan," said Sei casually, the gears in her mind already at work as to how she would pull things off. From what she knew, there could only be one reaction to what she was planning, and she hoped against hope that she was right.

Let it be said that all Satou Sei wanted was the best for Kotobuki Tsumugi. With that in mind, she suddenly pulled Mugi close to her side and kissed her quickly but gently on her lips when the blonde looked up at her.

"I like you a lot Mugi-chan. See ya," Sei said as she let go of Mugi and ran in the direction they had both come from, not daring to look back.

"This should be one big push towards your happiness, Mugi-chan. You've always felt comfortable, haven't you? I think it's time you got introduced to something called conflict. Let it be said that conflict sometimes makes things more productive. One of a few things I learned from that stuck-up Sachiko," muttered Sei to herself as she smiled.

Unfortunately, Mugi was not privy to Sei's thoughts, so she just robotically stepped into the limousine and when she had arrived at the Kotobuki mansion, she robotically ate dinner with her father who had immediately left for Switzerland after that.

x~~*~~x

Tsumugi was never the same after that. Yumi, Shimako, and Yoshino all noted that something had happened on her date with Sei, but the keyboardist was unwilling to spill the beans, no matter the effort they directed into wringing information from her. Their tea parties ended up having Shimako, Yoshino, and Yumi doing all the talking while Mugi played classical music pieces, soft adult contemporary songs and as well as piano arrangements of some of Houkago Tea Time's songs on her Korg synthesizer, while she sung softly, serenading the occupants of the room.

"I guess the fact that she isn't emo is good enough," muttered Yoshino while Mugi played Love of my Life by Jim Brickman. "Although the song could be construed as her expressing her melancholy in a productive way."

"And we still have no idea of what exactly happened between her and onee-sama," whispered Shimako in worry. "Yumi-san, no progress?"

The pigtailed girl just shook her head and the month of June just flew by like that. July first had arrived and summer vacation for both Lillian University and the University of Shiga Prefecture had just started.

"Excuse me, Yumi-san, Yoshino-san, Shimako-san," said Mugi as she was packing up a few things to take home, along with her Korg. "I called you three here because… I wanted to invite you along to Houkago Tea Time's annual summer training camp that'll be held at one of my villas by the sea. It's a bit last minute but I do hope that you can make it."

After a short consultation with each of their respective schedules, mostly involving phone calls to their families, the three responded favorably a few hours later.

Mugi had already spoken to Mio, Yui, Ritsu, and Azusa about the training camp, and everyone said that it was a go. The plan was to meet up at four in the morning at the train station near Sakura High School, where they'd take a train ride along the sea, getting off at a faraway station where a limousine would be waiting to take them to the third largest villa in the possession of the Kotobuki family.

She had also called up Sawako, having informed her a week ago about the training camp but she wanted to make sure…

"Hello, Sawako-sensei? It's me, Mugi-chan," spoke the blonde quietly into her cellphone. It was already twenty-three-hundred hours and Yumi was fast asleep; they were leaving the dorms at two-thirty in the morning so they could hopefully make it to Shiga prefecture by four in the morning.

"Hey Mugi-chan, what's up? Why are you still up anyway; I thought the agreed upon time was four in the morning?"

"Well… I just wanted to make sure you really were coming, sensei."

"Mugi-chan, do you really not trust me that much? I cleared my entire schedule for the next three days, even foregoing that meet-up with Nanako I was planning for old times' sake this week."

Mugi's blood froze and she asked softly, a feeling of trepidation coursing through her veins, "Sensei, who is this Nanako?"

"Oh, she was my roommate back in college. Kuroi Nanako. She was actually another reason why my dad and I don't get along at all. You see, my dad once suspected that the two of us were dating."

Upon hearing Mugi's gasp on the phone, Sawako immediately continued.

"Of course I swear we weren't going out. I really didn't think I was into girls back then, and she did nothing but play Final Fantasy games on her Playstation in our room back then. If you're worried, Mugi-chan, don't. I never really knew that I could swing the other way as well until I got dumped by a guy a few years ago. And to think I thought that Ichigo was bad."

"Who was Ichigo again?" asked the keyboardist softly, feeling the underlying sadness that Sawako was exuding, even over the phone.

"The boy I became wild for," came the reply with shades of forgotten melancholy. "In any case, I'll make it clear; I'm perfectly single at the moment, alright?"

Mugi didn't know if there was a knowing tone in Sawako's voice, but she did determine that there was at least sincerity in her words.

"Alright sensei… Sorry to bother you so late, but I'm glad that you're coming along. I'm also bringing a few friends along from the dorm. Good night," said Mugi as Sawako bid her the same and dropped the connection.

Mugi had also invited Sei along, out of courtesy. Over the past month, she had contacted Mugi albeit not showing any indication that she had kissed her all of a sudden that day weeks ago. They easily returned to their normal routine of conversation but it was only Yumi and the others that really noticed how affected Mugi was due to the mysterious event that had transpired on that day. Things were easier to hide over a phone line since they lacked body language and physical contact.

With all those thoughts swirling through her head, Mugi went to sleep, setting her phone to ring in four and a half hours to wake her up.

x~~*~~x

Tainaka Ritsu had just finished packing when the clock struck midnight. She wasn't worried that she wouldn't wake up; Mio would just wake her up for her in any case, probably by calling her cellphone until she woke up from the incessant ringing.

Smiling grimly, she turned to her desk and picked up a small, thin steno notebook where she had written down ideas that she wanted to try out during the training camp.

During the past month, after their visit to Dr. Aozaki, the two had grown a tad bit closer to each other, if that was even possible. Closer in the sense that neither minded coming into physical contact with the other, and even Mio sometimes felt comfortable just holding Ritsu's hand, not really caring what other people would make of it. True, there were a few whispers, but nothing major so far. Even so, there was nothing that would back up what they were insinuating anyway.

Nothing at the moment, that is, and again Ritsu picked the notebook up and began to hurriedly flip through it, gazing down at her own haphazard handwriting. She had written about random situations that she would possibly encounter on this training camp so that she could further advance her relationship with the bassist.

Compliment her hair.

Compliment her swimsuit.

Compliment her bass skills; make sure that you emphasize how good she is after a long layoff from practicing with the club. (one month approx.)

Ask for more advice from Mugi.

Try scaring her and then maybe hug her afterwards if she doesn't appear to reject it.

Test of courage?

Take a walk with her along the beach at night.

These were just a few things Ritsu thought of, but the main principle was what Touko had told her one month ago.

Subtlety is your best friend.

She sent Mio an email requesting that she call her to make sure she wakes up, bidding her good night in the process.

"I'm no good at being subtle," drawled Ritsu as she turned off the lights and plopped down on the bed. "But I'm damn persistent."

x~~*~~x

"Yui-senpai, are you still awake?" came the soft voice of Nakano Azusa between the sheets on Yui's bed in her apartment.

"Yeah," came the whispered reply of Yui, who gently pat Azusa's back with her left hand, facing the kouhai's back temporarily.

Azusa decided to sleep over at Yui's house that night so as to make sure that she wouldn't be late for the meet-up at the train station at four in the morning. She had asked permission from her parents and again, they had obliged. It was the first time Azusa had slept in Yui's apartment since last month, and she felt that it couldn't have come at a better time.

The bullying had hit an all time high this past week; they probably wanted their message to be felt by Azusa before Sakura High School ended classes for summer vacation. As it was, she was horrified that someone had indeed crossed the line; she had found her indoor shoe soles peppered with thumbtacks earlier this morning, and she had found out the hard way.

It was Ui who had helped her to the infirmary after she had seen Azusa walk to the classroom barefoot, blood trailing on the floor in her wake. The nurse had looked at Azusa's feet and her soles had multiple small punctures, none too deep but just enough to draw blood. Not all of the tacks had pierced the soles of the shoes but quite a few did, thus the resulting wounds.

Yui had taken one look at Azusa's feet when she had arrived earlier that evening, only to feel her blood boil at the people who had done this to her Azusa. She had immediately prepared warm water for Azusa to soak her feet in to soothe the prickling pain.

"Those motherfuckers are going to regret doing this to you," Yui whispered through the sheets. Azusa was completely taken back at how crass the words coming out of Yui's mouth were. It was the first time Azusa heard Yui swear. No doubt the brunette was unbelievably pissed off at what she had gone through. Inwardly, Azusa felt happy that Yui was worrying so much about her, though it came at the cost of pain in her feet.

The raven-haired guitarist turned towards Yui and felt the brunette's left arm go across her back in a light hug.

"Those ungrateful bastards are going to get their bad karma someday. Like, when they're going to buy strawberry shortcake for their little brother who'll die unless he's fed strawberry shortcake, they go to the bakeshop and find out that you had bought the last slice of cake," said Yui seriously, rubbing Azusa's back with the intention of comforting her.

"I know that Azu-nyan has a lot on her plate right now, but it's precisely that that makes me just want to flat-out tell her how much I love her," thought Yui. "Or perhaps I should continue to wait and see…?"

Azusa chuckled at Yui's analogy and whispered, "That's so just like you, Yui-senpai. Hirasawa Yui branded humor."

Azusa took a deep breath and said, "I've said it so many times before, but it bears saying again: Yui-senpai, thanks for everything."

She nuzzled in Yui's neck and Yui felt pleasure creeping through her body; her Azu-nyan was nuzzling her like a real cat! Feeling brave, she gently nipped Azusa's ear with her lips and whispered softly.

"I guess I'm a good senpai now, huh."

Azusa giggled and replied in a quiet tone that resonated sincerity and closeness.

"You always were a good senpai to me."

They looked into each other's eyes and smiled. Their arms wrapped around each other, nothing more was said between the two guitarists as the drifted off to sleep, the training camp they would be having in mere hours bolstering their confidence in themselves to pursue their happiness.

x~~*~~x

Kuroi Nanako/Sawako is homage to the fanfic Lucky Stars and Gitahs.

Sei's actions can be interpreted in many ways, I think. I wonder what exactly you guys are thinking right now about that.

Apparently, in canon, the four girls all went to the same university. I honestly thought Mugi was separated from the other three, hence it giving me the kickstart to this fanfic. I was corrected recently, and just attribute shipping Mugi off to Lillian University as creative license.

In any case, please continue to read and review; hesitate not to indicate constructive criticism! Even if it's just to say something nice, please do so. Seeing reviews makes me happy and further motivates me to write. :p

Also, this is, I believe, the first chapter where Mio does not make an appearance at all.