DISCLAIMER: K-On! belongs to Kakifly, Kyoto Animation and Pony Canyon.

One-second Interlude

Chapter 3.

Wednesday came far too quickly for a certain brunette's liking.

"Yui!" Ritsu called as she rushed towards a darker shade of brunette head that stood up at the call, done with returning her lunchbox back in her bag "You cannot believe what had happened when you're absent!"

Hirasawa Yui turned to her friend in amusement, it's not every day the great Ricchan-san whined like a kicked puppy "what happened? It sounds interesting!" Yui had been absent since last week's Friday to a cold and just returned to school today. It looked like some excitement had appeared in her friend's life while she was gone.

Ritsu gave a snort and sat on an empty chair across her friend, ignoring the staring eyes of her fellow students as they saw one of the infamous Four Fiends visit the class next door. The stares are getting annoying and the brunette find it pretty hard to stop herself from snapping at them.

Opting for peace, Ritsu returned her attention to her long time friend and told her in a low voice about the dinner date she was supposed to attend tonight. Yui let out a 'hmm' but was not at all surprised, since she knew that her headband-wearing friend had to attend meetings like that ever since they were little kids.

"Then what's wrong, Ricchan?" Yui cocked her head cutely as she stared at her friend's slumped figure by the desk "you're used to things like this. What makes tonight's dinner so different that it gets on your nerves?"

Ritsu gritted her teeth "well, if the fact that my parents have been bugging me since last month about this doesn't ring a bell to you, then I don't know why." It was well known between the two that every time Ritsu's parents became nagging of something, it's almost positive that they're planning something behind their daughter's back.

Yui could only cringed at the tone her friend used and pat the girl gently on the head "there, there, Ricchan. That's a good girl." She giggled when a pout came to Ritsu's face, earning a collective gasps from watching students because she dared to pat Tainaka Ritsu on the head!

The bell rang and signaled the end of lunch break and Ritsu stood up lazily off the desk with a sigh. With a lazy wave at Yui, the leader of the Four Fiend left class 3-1 and headed towards her own. After she was gone, Yui was immediately mobbed by her fellow classmates.

"Hirasawa-san, you know Tainaka-san?"

"Were you friends?"

"You pet her on the head!"

Yui could only give a tired laugh as she waved the torrents of question off. Honestly, that childhood friend of hers, she could act like the biggest jerk in the universe and the whole school still loves her.

~888~

Fingers drummed against the wooden desk unconsciously as its owner stare out once more into the courtyard. Hey amber eyes had a faraway look in them, telling anyone who cared to look that Tainaka Ritsu was currently unavailable at the moment.

Her minds whirled with frantic thoughts and half-baked plots in order to sneak off the engagement she was assigned to tonight. The drumming fell into a patterned rhythm as Ritsu's head began to move with the beat.

She was considering the chances of acting as though she slept in through and missed it, but her mother would immediately smelled through her lies. Ritsu had used this tactic too many times before for it to work. Lips pursed as the drumming intensify almost feverishly, earning the attention of her classmates.

Strangely though, no matter how loud the drumming gets, Akiyama-sensei didn't bat an eyelid over it. It was clear to the students' eyes that the Math teacher was currently distracted about something and as the results; she created unwanted chaos throughout the lesson. Breaking chalks into small pieces, ripping papers accidentally, and almost stapled her finger together clean into her file holder. Mio surrendered in trying to teach and resorted to giving the class several math exercises for the them to do until the end of the class, which was also the last period.

With one golden rule which was to keep quiet.

Unfortunately the teacher was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to notice that one of her students was in the same state as her. Obsidian eyes kept flicking towards the clock, counting the dreaded hours towards the dinner date.

Mio was too nervous to notice that she was tapping her pen along to the loud beat Ritsu was playing from the back of the room. The whole class listened with wide eyes at the melodious rhythm shared between the two and marveled how easily their teacher's beat fell in tandem with the brunette's.

Heads began to move along with the beat, and Mio's foot began to tap as well. Ritsu gave an unconscious two handed drum roll before falling to the original beat, missing her teacher's quick tapping of her pen as the older woman replied with her own quick beats at the teacher's desk.

The end of school bell rang and jerked the two out of their music stupor. The class began to packed their belongings and Mio tried to make herself known as she told her students about the homework due Friday. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a certain brunette dashed out of the classroom like hell was on her heel. The teacher had half a mind to call the girl back, but a glance at the clock made her changed her mind and dashed out of the classroom herself after her students.

Falling into quick strides towards the teacher's lounge, Mio dialed a well-known number into her white slide phone before bringing it up against her ear. She had to wait several seconds before it was picked up.

"Kotobuki Tsumugi here, how may I help you?" letting out a relieved sigh at the familiar voice, Mio smiled as she walked down the stairs, avoiding running students expertly as she goes.

"Mugi, I need help." A gulp "Um…wardrobe help."

The excited squeal the other girl let out made Mio slightly nervous, but she trust Mugi's judgment more than her own in this particular issue.

~888~

Ritsu was half an hour early to the assigned time. Still seated in her prized Lotus, she drummed her fingers on the steering wheel anxiously. Her eyes traveled and eyed the restaurant she was supposed to be in warily. Niwa no Hana was one of the most expensive dining place around. Located at the top floor of a well know 5-star hotel that oversee the whole city, you need a month's reservation just to get a seat. Just by this knowledge the brunette could smell what her parents were planning behind her back.

It would most likely be an Omiai.

A freakin' arranged marriage, or they wouldn't even bother to spend their money at an expensive place like this.

Ritsu tugged at the collar of her suit impatiently, loosening the red tie she wore until she felt comfortable enough to breathe. She was never one to bother putting on dresses. She'd cross dressed her way through any damn parties and like hell she cared about people staring at her for it.

Her hair was free of its usual headbands, and she kept blowing it off her eyes out of habit. Amber eyes peeked through the long bangs to see the blinking green clock on her car's dashboard.

'7.45' the clock read.

Fingers drummed even faster as Ritsu scrunched up her face in concentration.

Should she or should she not?

Her wristwatch ticked loudly like a ticking time bomb and Ritsu finally made up her mind.

'Aw, fuck it!'

The bright orange Lotus roared loudly before zooming out of the parking lot.

~888~

The raven haired woman gave a shiver as she walked towards the restaurants a bit slower than usual, since she's wearing heels 2 inches taller than normal. She smiled at the person who greeted her at the entrance of Niwa no Hana and gave him an envelope like she was told to by her parents the night before. The man gave a surprised gasp and several moments later Mio was ushered into one of the most luxurious looking table of the whole restaurant and had several well-dressed waiters serving her.

After nodding and shaking her head at the offers the waiters made, Mio turned her eyes towards the transparent glass walls on her left, obsidian eyes taking in the beauty of the city during night time. She could feel the appreciative stares of the other costumers and felt her face burn in embarrassment.

Yes, she had literally went all out for tonight.

Under Mugi's critical eyes, the blonde had chosen Mio's dress for her. A long dark blue shoulder-less satin dress that was embroidered with gleaming diamonds was worn for tonight. Accompanying it were a pair of long white gloves that covered the unblemished skin along her arms. Mio's beautiful mane of raven black hair was pulled up into an elegant bun that showed off her neck very clearly, and a golden necklace dipped downwards teasingly towards her cleavage. With a touch of makeup, Mugi had transformed the shy girl into an upper-class lady who took the attention of all males, and several females, that she passed by.

As nervous as she was feeling at the moment, Mio couldn't help but felt like she fell in place in this getup. Almost all the people inside the restaurant were dressed like she was, and it would be awkward if she wore something different. Mio took out her phone and text Mugi a 'thank you!' before returning her eyes to the outside view once more.

Well, she might as well enjoy it tonight, it's not every day she could eat at a place like this.

What have she got to lose?

~888~

Time actually.

Mio lost her precious time for this dinner date.

It's been an hour since she arrived and no sign of her date in sight. Mio's patience was wearing thin and so does the waiters'. They have been serving her the courses of food for the appointment, which she originally refused, wanting to wait for her date to arrive before eating. After she had waited long enough, with the waiters' insistence, Mio ate through the full five courses by herself. The waiters' were miffed at whoever the woman's date was for not coming and Mio was fuming as she ate for she, quite clearly and obviously, was stood up.

Mio was on her fifth helping of the desert, which was on the house thanks to her absent date, and was thinking of going home before seeing a figure making a mad dash across the room towards her.

She took in the sight of messy brunette hair, black messy suit and a pale red tie, and she stood up to meet her date.

The person panted as though they've been running all the way to the restaurant and let out a cringe at the unfriendly glares the waiters' had for them. After taking enough breathing, the person stood up straight and had the grace to look ashamed at the obvious tardiness.

"Good evening," Mio said coldly, making the newcomer cringed even more.

"I'm so, very, very sorry," a husky voice greeted Mio's ears as its owner bowed repeatedly and quickly becoming the centre of attention of the whole restaurant "I'm sorry to have made you wait for so long."

Mio only let out a sigh as she saw the clock hit 9 at night. She turned to the person in front of her, who was looking expectedly at her "are you my date?" Mio asked bluntly, her temper made her forgot to be shy and courteous to strangers.

The person gave an apologetic smile "I'm afraid not. I'm the younger brother, Satoshi," the teenage boy looked familiar to Mio, but she couldn't pinpoint where she had seen that face before "the person you're supposed to dine with today had to cancel due to unexpected change in schedule."

The Math teacher frowned, showing her displeasure "then they should have informed me before hand." At which Satoshi bowed his head low again in apology.

Mio only let out a tired sigh as she gathered her purse and headed out "well, I might as well get home then." She made to pay for the dinner, but Satoshi held her hand before it could get her credit card out of the purse.

"Please, I'll take care of the bill. And, um, if I may ask, how are you getting home?" the boy who looked like he was about 16/17 years old asked as he handled the bill with a waiter before they walked towards the entrance of the restaurant side by side.

"I took a taxi."

"Would you mind me driving you home then?" the boy's blunt words made Mio stopped on her tracks and turned to him in question "I mean, it's the least I can do for having my older sibling stood you up."

Mio considered in refusing him, remembering the news about being attacked by strangers who offered lifts in their cars. But when she met the young boy's familiar amber eyes, she didn't have the heart to refuse him. They were shining with honest intentions and if anything were to happen, Mio could always use the pepper spray Mugi gave her before coming here.

With a small smile on her lips, Mio asked as they both entered the elevator "do you have a license?"

The boy nodded quickly.

"Then, I'd be glad for the ride."

Satoshi's face exploded in a full blush and he averted his eyes in embarrassment.

Mio then spent the rest of the elevator ride thinking up ways to make her stinking date pay for tonight. A couple of kicks to the shin, and a dozen of her infamous chop to the head would be enough.

But another uppercut to the head sounds tempting as well.

All in all, she would make that person understand the frightful wrath of a Akiyama Mio.

Hell hath no wrath like a woman scorned, indeed.

If only she knew who this person was.

A/U: Poor Mio huh? *runs*. By the way, thanks for the awesome reviews, guys. You've made my week much, much better. Sorry I couldn't reply to them one by one though. Anyway, here's a question I'd like to answer:

HayatexBlade: Her talent? Well, you should ask Ricchan tha- *dodges flying drumsticks*. Haha, just kidding. Ichigo's backstory would be explained somewhere in the future chapters, since it's a vital element to the plot *hints*

Anywhoo, don't forget to leave a feedback, and thanks for reading!