Hey guys, sorry for the long delay. School has started again and it's getting busy so I can't promise any regular updates.
Here's my shortest update as of yet, as exams are next week.
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Interlude: Of Hirasawa Yui & Nakano Azusa
After having dinner with her girlfriend that evening, Yui took a shower and Azusa phoned her parents and asked permission if she could stay over that evening at Yui's apartment. Her parents replied favorably and Azusa was practically glowing when she ended the call.
While the brunette guitarist was showering, Azusa surveyed the room and began entertaining thoughts of adding a bit of her personal flair to the place. She did assume that she would be coming over much, much more often and she thought that leaving a few more personal items wouldn't hurt. Of course, she would check with Yui but she had confidence that the brunette would acquiesce to her requests.
Azusa sat on Yui's bed and traced the sheets with her small palms. Small palms that would eventually grow used to holding hands with Yui's. Two callused hands, brought together by their craft and by their love for each other. Azusa smiled and listened to Yui singing to U&I while she was showering.
"If anyone had told me two years ago that Hirasawa Yui would become my girlfriend, I'dve probably stared daggers at them," whispered Azusa, giggling.
The black-haired girl lay back down on Yui's bed, smiling contentedly. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.
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"How can I calm down?" Azusa nearly screamed in frustration while Ritsu, Mio, and Mugi were growing more and more nervous by the second.
Mio had feared when this day would come. They had finally driven Azusa away from the club with their complacency, laziness, and penchant for appearing to be unproductive. She had tried to convince everyone to shape up to appeal to the good work ethic of their newest club member but to no avail. Especially that idiot Ritsu.
"You guys never practice! All you do is sit around all afternoon munching on cakes, chatting, and generally being unproductive. No offense to the cakes themselves, Mugi-senpai, as they were really good, but that's not what I was expecting and hoping for when I signed up to join the Light Music Club," the kouhai nearly screamed.
Without warning, Yui bounded towards Azusa from behind and encompassed her in a warm hug, rubbing the younger girl's head.
"Good girl, good girl," cooed Yui, feeling Azusa's tension disappear almost instantly in her arms.
"There's no way that could possibly calm her down," thought Mio in indignation. "Wait… she actually calmed down."
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"Come on Azu-nyan, eat up!" cooed Yui as she and the rest of Houkago Tea Time sat on a picnic blanket in the park.
"Have some cake, Azusa-chan," said Mugi, offering the black-haired girl a small plate with a slice on it.
Mio looked uncertain at the club's obvious attempts to placate the kouhai's anger when suddenly Ritsu stuffed a taiyaki into Azusa's mouth, saying "Azusa, have some of this!"
Mio finally snapped and screamed "You guys, what do you think you're playing at?"
To her immense surprise, Azusa wordlessly ate the taiyaki that had been unceremoniously stuffed in her mouth and began smiling contentedly, as though she was glittering in happiness.
"Uh, you like taiyaki?" asked the bassist uncertainly as Yui, Ritsu, and Mugi looked on expectantly.
The twin-tailed girl wordlessly nodded, a content look plastered on her face.
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"Azu-nyan, say 'ahh!'" cooed Yui as she stuck a fork with a piece of strawberry shortcake on it out to Azusa, who was practicing with her Fender Mustang.
With Yui's arms around her shoulders, the younger girl relented and partook of the cake. Her lips curled upwards once more into a contented smile, and she marveled the power that the Kotobuki pastries had over all of them. "Maybe this is why Yui-senpai and Ritsu-senpai love eating cake so much," thought the raven-haired girl.
"Azusa-chan, here's your personal cup," quipped Mugi, who was handing a pink tea cup decorated with a cat on the side and whose handle resembled the tail of a cat. "I'm sooo glad I had this cup custom made for Azusa-chan," thought the blonde.
Azusa took the cup of tea gratefully and downed it in one gulp, involuntarily sighing in content. She came to her senses however, in a manner not dissimilar to a rude awakening.
"This is bad! I'm falling into their pace," internally moaned Azusa.
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"So the cake isn't to your taste?" said Yui sadly, facing away from Azusa, who half-heartedly stepped forward but decided not to refute Yui's statement.
Turning, the brunette noticed what Azusa was doing and held the cake out to Azusa, whose lips turned up into a content smile, expectant at being fed. She drew the cake towards herself and to her amusement, Azusa's smile disappeared as instantly as it came. She held the cake out towards the kouhai again, and upon seeing her smile, she drew it back to herself, the smile falling off of Azusa's face in an instant.
The brunette began to blush while whispering, "This is fun."
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"Azusa?" asked Mio worriedly, noting how quiet and nervous their rhythm guitarist was.
"Please don't go," muttered Azusa quietly, unable to face her four graduated senpai.
"Azusa?" repeated Ritsu.
"I'll stop bugging you about cleaning the club room and slacking around and having tea…" whispered the kouhai, feeling weak at her knees. "Just please… don't leave me."
The tears began to form in Azusa's eyes as she finally realized just how important the four of them had been to her. If they left, she would be forced to face the prospect of being the Light Music Club's president all by herself.
She could contain her feelings no longer and she knelt on the floor in despair, crying and wailing like a child whose balloon had flown up into the sky, never to be seen again. Immediately, Yui bolted from her seat at the table and ran towards Azusa.
"Azu-nyan!" exclaimed Yui worriedly, since she had never before seen Azusa like this.
"I'm sorry," uttered the raven-haired guitarist amidst tears. "But…"
"What happened to your forehead?" asked Yui, cutting her off.
Yui's eyes widened when they saw the mark on Azusa's forehead, the bandage having come off partly when she rubbed the tears from her eyes.
"Did you hurt yourself?" came the worried voice of Tsumugi.
"Did you run into something?" asked Mio tentatively.
"Yeah," forced Azusa. "Even though it's your graduation… Even though it's a happy day…"
She stifled another sob and continued.
"I have bandages for that," said Yui as she took bandages from her bag, leaving the stickers she had been putting on everyone sometime ago on the floor beside a notebook she had taken out of her bag.
"I'm sorry," apologized Azusa once more. "I really didn't want to cry… I wanted to be strong, to be able to send you all off with a smile on my face…"
She took a deep breath.
"But I'll be fine. I'll do my best to continue the club and… Ton-chan's going to be with me."
Yui took the notebook and extracted a photograph from it. "This is for you, Azu-nyan."
With trembling hands, the kouhai accepted the photo. "It's a picture of the four of us back in our freshman year," said Yui. "We're younger than you are right now by a year in the photo. This is for you as well."
The brunette handed a sakura to Azusa, and Mugi's prominent eyebrows rose as far as they could when she recognized that it was the same sakura that Yui plucked out of the hallway on the opening ceremony earlier that year. "It's got five petals, one for each of us here."
The symbolism and feelings of her senpai weighing down on her heart, Azusa began to tear up again.
"That's not fair Yui, you're stealing the spotlight again!" exclaimed Ritsu while Mugi seconded that notion.
"Azusa, the four of us want you to listen to a song," said Mio as Ritsu glomped her best friend in indignation at stealing the emotional spotlight.
"We wrote it just for you, Azu-nyan," said Yui as Mugi mock complained.
"Hey, that was my line, Yui-chan!"
Azusa chuckled at how silly her senpai were being, when Yui gestured for her to sit on the couch as they began to set the instruments up for their performance.
Ritsu tapped her drumsticks together three times and at the third, the four of them simultaneously began to play a slow song, a song that seemed to express sorrow and happiness all at the same time.
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nee omoide no KAKERA ni / Hey, if we could put our names
namae wo tsukete hozon suru nara / On a piece of our memories and preserve it
"Takaramono" ga pittari da ne / Wouldn't that be the perfect "treasure"?
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Hearing Yui's voice, Azusa remembered all the other times that she had spent with the brunette that she had grown to love. Their time at the summer training camps, Natsufest, hugs every time Yui calmed her down, and everything else.
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sou KOKORO no youryou ga / Right, These excitement-colored days
ippai ni naru kurai ni / That have passed have filled our hearts
sugoshita ne tokimeki iro no mainichi / To their full capacity
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The vocals fluidly transitioned to Mio, and Azusa then remembered all the times she spent with the bassist. She remembered seeing Houkago Tea Time's first concert, that infamous moment that had Mio lose her dignity and gain a fan club at the same time. She remembered cutting the cake at the Mio-tan fan club's tea party with Mio, both of them mortified at the reactions of the audience and the other club members.
She had always remembered looking up to the bassist as a role model, for her professionalism, work ethic and skill. "If only I didn't grow to love Yui-senpai after all this time, I wonder what could have been…," mused the kouhai as the vocals then transitioned fluidly to Ritsu, taking her by complete surprise.
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najinda seifuku to uwabaki / The familiar uniforms and indoor shoes
HOWAITOBOODO no rakugaki / The doodles on our whiteboard
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She remembered being put in a headlock by Ritsu, their moments of humor and chiding the drummer to get off her ass and work if Mio wasn't doing it for her. The doodles on their whiteboard reminding them of their goal to play at Budokan someday. Tainaka Ritsu may be a slacker at times, but when her switch is flipped on she can be a force to be reckoned with.
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ashita no iriguchi ni / I guess we have to leave them behind
oite kanakucha ikenai no kana / At the entrance to tomorrow
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She would never forget that day when Mugi had asked to be taught how to play guitar. It was interesting, as she had never been alone with the blonde before and she eventually relaxed in her presence, taking on a slightly authoritative role as teacher. Mugi wanted simple things in life despite her affluence, and Azusa wanted to help her out in that department.
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demo ne, aeta yo! suteki na tenshi ni / But hey, we met one! A wonderful angel
sotsugyou wa owari ja nai / Graduation isn't the end
kore kara mo nakama dakara / We're buddies from here on out!
issho no shashintachi / Pictures of us together
osoro no KIIHORUDAA / Our matching keychains
itsumademo kagayaiteru / Will shine on forever
zutto sono egao arigatou / And always, we thank you for your smile
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She remembered them coming back from their field trip to Kyoto, laden with keychains for each of them, keychains that spelled "Keionbu." It was a mark of their friendship that they wanted to last forever, as the song was exclaiming through the power of music.
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eki no HOOMU kawara no michi / The platform at the station, the path by the riverside
hanaretete mo onaji sora miagete / Even if we're apart, we can look up at the same sky
YUNIZON de utaou! / And sing in unison!
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She remembered the night of Natsufest, when they all lay together on the grass under the bright starry sky, talking about the cool bands, their strong music and powerful spirit that had affected them so. How Yui had exclaimed that they were better because of the aura they exuded as a band, how they pledged that they would return, someday, as performers and not as spectators.
"It'd be amazing if we could continue playing together," said Yui.
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demo ne, aeta yo! suteki na tenshi ni / But hey, we met one! A wonderful angel
sotsugyou wa owari ja nai / Graduation isn't the end
kore kara mo nakama dakara / We're buddies from here on out!
daisuki tte iu nara / If you say you really love us
daidaisuki tte kaesu yo / We'll answer that we really, really love you!
wasuremono mou nai yo ne / There's nothing else we've forgotten
zutto eien ni issho da yo / We'll be together forever and ever!
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The final concert they had, where they had played the song that Yui had dedicated to Ui. She would never forget the aftermath of that moment, when all of them expressed the desire to continue playing together as Houkago Tea Time. It was a promise they all shared, a promise that went far beyond just being a band.
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Azusa woke with a start when she felt the weight on the bed shift slightly. She looked to her side groggily and saw Yui sitting on the bed, staring at her in inquiry.
"Bad dream, Azu-nyan?" replied Yui softly. The lights were out and when Azusa took her phone out of her pocket and glanced at it, she realized that she had been asleep for two hours. Yui didn't disturb her and consequently, prepared for bed and did everything else while she was down for the count.
"Not at all, Yui-senpai," replied Azusa. "For the record," she continued, noticing how Yui reverted to calling her "Azu-nyan", "I like being called 'Azu-nyan', but only by you, Yui-senpai."
Yui giggled and replied, "I know. So, what did you dream about?"
At that question, Azusa smiled a radiant smile.
"Old memories, promises, and goals for the future. Your graduation day among others," said Azusa, leaning into the brunette's arms. Yui gently let Azusa lean on her shoulder while her arms encompassed the younger and smaller girl in front of her.
"We were right in the end, Azu-nyan," whispered Yui into the raven-haired girl's ear, resisting the urge to nibble on it gently.
"Right about what, Yui-senpai?" came the reply.
Yui smiled despite Azusa not being able to see her and replied softly.
"That graduation isn't the end, and that we'd be friends forever."
Azusa turned to face Yui with a small smile on her face.
"Of course, Yui-senpai, we're more than friends, aren't we?"
Yui nodded as she leaned down towards her girlfriend for a gentle kiss. "Good night, Azu-nyan. Summer has only started. We have lots of time ahead of us, right?"
Azusa nodded as the two of them separated, and then lay back down on the bed, fluffing their pillows. "That we do, Yui-senpai. Thank goodness for small blessings."
Yui faced her as she lay down on the bed, replying as her arms snaked around the kouhai once more.
"You're my small blessing, Azu-nyan."
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This chapter isn't as long as I might've liked, but I'm going to be busy and am suffering from writer's block on top of that. I'm not sure when the next update will come, so for now, I hope you liked this chapter and I await reviews and comments for improvement and such. :)