Ne, ne minna-san, does anybody here misses me?
Cat: No one's missing you, including me...
OL21: Cat! T^T I missss u!
Cat: Stop it! Can we move on to the story now?
OL21: Mou~~~~
Let's get the chap over with, shall we? ;)
Disclaimer: I do not own K-On!, but owning and continuing it is still in my bucket list ;)
Since then...
Seasons changed, months fade and the years have passed. The bond between the girls became stronger than ever, just as their love for one another, although they still don't know what other one feels. But one was willing to let go and move on...
The 16-year old Akiyama Mio met somebody on her sixteenth birthday. A man from Tokyo who has a relative in their province. The man around their age, who the 17-year old Tainaka Ritsu thinks that's better for Mio. The man that confessed his feelings and wants to take Mio to the city if she was to be his lover.
The black-haired girl was in the state of confusion that time, so she asked her best friend for help. Ritsu, only replied with a bitter smile, which was recognized by Mio as a gentle one. The harmonicist was in the verge of crying but won over it. She told her that she wished Mio's happiness, to someday perform in Tokyo.
"C'mon, Mio! This is your dream, right? Plus, he seems to be a kind, intelligent man!"
"B-But Ritsu! I don't w-want to be f-far away f-from y-you!"
"Hey. Mio, we promised that you're gonna show 'em what you got in Tokyo and I'm gonna be there to watch and support you, remember? See this sakura tree? It knows what I mean! I'm gonna be there Mio, now trust your Ricchan..."
"A-Alright. Pinky swear!"
"Here!"
Realizing that Ritsu was happy, her heart tried to let go of the golden-eyed and love the man instead after sleepless nights and a river of tears. You could say that she was happy with her decision, while Ritsu was crying behind her 'I'm-happy-for-you' façade.
The days they spent together became rarer and rarer. Until they didn't see each other anymore like those days that they spent all their time lazing around their townlet. They no longer cuddle on the grassy lands and appreciate the beauty of nature. It was only Ritsu who would climb up on their hill, return to their sacred tree and play her harmonica there everyday after helping her father in farming.
'...I don't know if we're still the best of friends or worse...are we still friends, Mio?'
But unbeknownst to her, Mio would always look up to the hill and the memories she and Ritsu had would always flood her mind. Mio would always wonder if she was truly happy in her decision.
'Here I am, away from her...even if I'm still not moving to Tokyo, we seem distant already...what more if I were to be away? Would she still see me?...'
Ritsu would always hesitate on going to Mio's house and the latter does so too. Whenever they have the courage to knock on the front door, the occupants would always say that the person they've been looking for are out for the day but when they come back to their respective houses, their mothers would always tell them that their best friend was looking for them earlier. And they would both smile.
Ritsu made girls of different ages fall for her in their province, enveloping guys in great envy. But she never returned the feelings of the maidens for she still hadn't move on. She was still in love. In love with Mio. She was still keeping her feelings to herself for if Mio knew, she thought that it may destroy their friendship and the relationship the black-haired lass with her lover. While the said girl is still in the process of moving on, looking at Ritsu across the distance.
Time sure flies by quickly and it's now the night before Mio would say goodbye to her province along with her now-fiancé. It was the night when Mio decided to climb up the hill for the first time after she made her decision. She smiled the brightest when she saw the now 20-year old Ritsu, staring behind the clouds and playing her instrument.
"Ritsu..."
The staring girl turned around and instantly smiled at her.
"Oh hello, Mio."
"...I'm off to Tokyo tomorrow evening a-and I w-wish you a h-happy life with O-Ojou-sama..."
Indeed, the governor's only daughter, the Kotobuki heiress, was one of Ritsu's charm's victims. She got a hold with her heart but she was never able to hold it tight like Mio did.
"...oh, I broke up with Mugi last night...", Mugi just hadn't had the right things that only Mio has.
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't know!", Mio panicked.
A gentle smile. "It's alright, guess she's not the right one", Ritsu looked at the distance once again. "Good luck to you two in your relationship! I hope to see my nieces and nephews when you come back!", and faked a smile.
WHACK!
"Ritsuuuu!"
"Hey, that thing is soon to come, ain't it?"
"I'm not planning that!"
"Geez, a forever virgin, Akiyama Mio..."
"What? How many times did you do that already?!"
"Oh, I lost count", a sly grin. "Ask the governor's daughter..."
"Ritsuuuu-!"
Mio tripped over one of the tree's overlapping roots and crashed on top of Ritsu, causing them both to lie down the grass, with Ritsu under and Mio on the top.
"Heh. Mio, I was kidding. Why do I have to do that already, anyway?"
"You...y-you idiot..."
The raven-haired beauty wrapped her arms around the taller figure's neck and buried her face in its side. The one under instinctively secured her arms around her companion's waist.
"I guess the tree really has it's own ways to bring us back together, huh?"
"Y-Yeah. Thank y-you, R-Ritsu..."
"H-Hey! Why are you c-crying?"
"You're c-crying too you know~"
"W-Well this are just s-sweat, you know..."
"But Ricchan~ it's winter~"
"O-Of course it is..."
They stayed in that position like they can never be apart again. They hugged like the first time they did, warm and tight. They breathed each other's scent like they never did before. They longed for each other prescence although they're both denying it inside their spent their last night together stargazing and playing with the drifting sakura petals sailing by the winter wind. They raced to the top of the sakura tree only to fall on each other and laugh whole-heartedly.
"Hey, Ritsu"
"Yeah?"
"I really, really love the way you play your harmonica. It lifts negative emotions to turn into positive ones... "
"That's quite deep, Mio. But oh well, if you say you love it, then I'll continue to play it for you"
"Thanks..."
Or they would just stare at the carved 'MiTsu with the huge heart around it' on the tree's bark and giggle at the memories they had. Love was all over the sparkles of their eyes but they were too oblivious that they mistook it as the gleam of happiness. To other people's eyes, they may look like a married couple right now but in their eyes, the thought was their only wish.
Ritsu held both Mio's hands and kissed her forehead.
"Promise still sealed, Mio-chuan~?"
"Of course it is"
"Yeah or I have to cut my pinky and all of my blood would spill o-"
WHACK!
"Shut up!"
"Oww...why you so mean~?"
"Because you just destroyed the moment!"
"Hahaha! You're so cute when you're angry~~~"
"Hmph. I don't care anymore..."
"Sure you do"
Ritsu then again, kissed Mio's forehead.
Ritsu doesn't want to confess although this might seem the last time that they will see each other and feel one another's warmth again, she doesn't want to destroy their little heaven. They then accidentally fell asleep under the shade of the winter sakura tree, under the starry night sky and in each other's arms.
But those memories are already in the past and this is now.
The 22-year old Tainaka wondered why those memories and the promise flew right out of the window since Mio left over a year ago. She wondered where her best friend was and why hadn't she come back to visit.
'Maybe she's busy? Oh well, that's a possibility...'
She wondered why hadn't she heard a famous Akiyama already.
'Maybe I was too excited...that doesn't just come quickly!'
She wondered if the man was still kind and compassionate to Mio.
'Oh he has to be...or he'll get a piece of me! Ha! That's for sure!'
She wondered if she's already married.
'We had no means of communication...I hope she's fine...'
The thought of Mio getting married to someone else still poisoned her lonesome heart, sending pain to her head. She tried her best to move on and face reality instead of living inside her own fantasy, wherein there was only she and Mio and they felt the same way towards each other. Her real problem was; she doesn't know what Mio feels towards her since they were young. But she thought her problem was; Mio didn't feel the same. Well, both of them belong to the oblivious group of people. Unfortunately for her, the longer she hadn't see Mio or sense her best friend's presence, the more she'll fall deeper.
'This has to be true love...but unrequited...'
The former hairbanded girl removed her trademark garment on her head the day Mio left her in the province. 'I have to be mature...I want to have a life soon, I just can't live in an one-sided love forever...I can't be this stupid', she had said to herself. The Kotobuki heiress visits her in their farm once in a while, trying to rekindle their relationship for she too, can't get the harmonicist out of her head. But the harmonicist kept on dumping her again and again. Although she didthose horrible things, she proposed that they have to stay as friends, nothing more, nothing less. The blond agreed even though undeniably broken hearted.
Men told her that the rich lass was a very good catch, not only is she rich but also the most attractive lady in their region. But the stubborn Ritsu is stubborn. Seeing the Tainaka's loss of romantic interest to the oujo-sama, men from all over their place grew more and more jealous of her position, wishing that the heiress should love one of them instead.
"Tokyo...Tokyo...", the speaker announced.
Tainaka Ritsu was getting herself ready board the train heading to Tokyo. She's going there not only because she wants to find her best friend and her fiancé, but also for their growing agriculture business. She was able to finish Agriculture and Business Management as her courses because she wants to lift her family's state, her mother and father both farmers and her little brother is unable to finish highschool because of poverty. But of course, since they were quite poor, she struggled and worked hard for her to finish her studies. And here she is now, going to Tokyo because the Emperor was interested in her growing business.
"Oh well, Tokyo, get ready! Tainaka Ritsu's coming for you!", she fist pumped, earning her the attention of the other boarding people. But she didn't care, she wished herself good luck. She wished that her business will grow even more successful. Of course, she wished to see her best friend again, kiss her on the forehead and play the harmonica just for her.
O/N: *crying*