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

One-second Interlude

Chapter 7.

Tainaka Ritsu was known as someone who was prideful, slightly arrogant, and confident and definitely one of the lady killers. Never had in her life she had someone refused her.

Never.

Until that particular day in the hospital.

It still irked her to no end whenever the conversation in the hospital lobby replayed in her mind like a broken tape. Over and over and over again…without end, creeping up to her when she least expected it.

Her subconscious was such a masochist sometimes. Her pride stung, and her heart hurt a little bit….a little! But yet, the rejection scene kept repeating itself in her mind.

Was that some kind of a reminder or a warning that she shouldn't have asked out someone who's like years older than her who at the same time was her math teacher?

…

Nahh.

With a light groan, Ritsu sat up on her bed and yawned widely before rumpling her head. Dressed in a wrinkly t-shirt and shorts, it was clear that she had just woken up from a deep sleep. And yet, from the baggy eyes, it seems like it wasn't that good of a sleep.

"G'morning," the drummer said lazily as she exited her room, walking past by her brother who was already dressed smartly in polo and jeans. Yes, they're siblings and yes, she's older. Don't judge people based on their appearance, was what Ritsu like to say. But then again, judging these particular siblings was not very hard, when the older sister dresses like a slob while the younger brother dresses like a wealthy businessman on vacation.

Satoshi opened his mouth to say something— but Ritsu had already fled before the words even come out.

She didn't need any lectures about discipline and tidiness after she woke up, thank you. It's enough that she has her mom after her with that lecture, she didn't need her brother to be on her case too. This was why she never liked coming home every weekend. Family time was supposed to be nice and refreshing, but spending time with her family only gives her aneurism.

The drummer headed to the vast, clean, pristine yet empty kitchen to get herself some breakfast. Cereals and milk in a large bowl, she poured herself a glass of orange juice and blatantly ignoring the pacing of the person that had been tailing her.

"Satoshi," annoyed, she finally spoke out "if you have anything to say to me…say it." He's been hovering over her with this worried face lately, and yet whenever she asked him what's wrong, the boy would always shake his head and said nothing. After a while she's sick of that same answer, and Ritsu swear to god if he's going to reply to her in this same fashion she's going to hit someone.

The brother, thankfully, did not do the same thing this time.

He stopped pacing and sat across from his sister, looking at her with those same worried eyes.

"Nee-chan, are you alright?"

His sister raised her brow at him as she kept shoving cereals in her mouth.

"I mean, you've been looking pretty down." Satoshi bit his lip before continuing "Ever since you came back during that weekend party." He's pretty close to his sister, so undoubtedly he kept an eye on her like how she to him. To everyone else's eyes Ritsu might look like her usual self, but he knew her well to see that she's lost some of her usual cheer when she came back after storming out during the party that day.

It bothered him, but he didn't want to pester her with questions. The better part of him wanted to give her space until she's ready to talk (or being asked questions) but another part of him wanted to ask her immediately because he's worried. He hadn't seen his sister look that down for a long time, and his brotherly instincts were screaming at him to get to the bottom of this.

Weeks had passed, and he thinks his sister had enough time to mope. Now, it's time for the little brother to do his job.

"What happened?" Satoshi noticed that Ritsu had paused in her eating and he took it as a good sign. A bad sign would be his sister tossing her spoon at him and stomped back to her room with a new one in hand.

Said sister looked contemplating as she stared down her swirly white milk filled with cereals. She was kind of hoping that he wouldn't notice, but who she was kidding. They're close siblings and whenever one's feeling off the other would notice. Ritsu gave a sigh of defeat before continuing her eating.

"Nothing happened." she ate another mouthful before continuing "…I just…I got turned down." And it's apparently a big deal if she moped about it. Wow. Let's just hope that her brother was the only one who noticed. She has a rep to uphold you know.

"…What?"

Satoshi's jaw dropped open.

He's never heard of this! His sister's always been, for a lack of a better word, a Casanova for as long as he'd known her. She'd never been turned down by anyone before! And this part of her was the part that he secretly envies. If only he has the same luck with girls…

Ritsu just smirked at the reaction she'd gotten.

"Yeah, first time for everyone I guess." She shoved in the rest of her cereal and gulped down the milk before continuing. "…or not. You've never been turned down by anyone before haven't you?" Ritsu knows that Satoshi has as much fangirls as her…or maybe even more.

The boy blushed at that "I'm not like that!" 'Like what?' Ritsu's gaze asked and he sputtered before continuing "I-I never dated so I don't know…" He's never pursued anyone before so getting turned down was something he'd never had to experience. All he read about it was from the mangas or dramas he watched on TV.

"Right? It's a nasty thing. Almost makes me think of stopping in hitting random pretty girls."

"…Um…"

"But then again, just give it time and I'll be right back in action."

Satoshi didn't know how to reply to that. He scratched his cheek as he thought of how to reply before a light bulb went off in his head.

"Ah." Ritsu's amber eyes turned to him "I don't know if it fits the criteria…but I think I might have been turned down once before."

'Oh?' now the drummer was interested. She's never heard of this before!

"Yeah? By who?" The girl must be stupid to turn down her brother. Satoshi's like the cream of the crop.

Said little brother gave her a sheepish grin "By your fiancée."

"…"

Her fian—ah. The lady from that dinner date Satoshi bailed her out from.

Ritsu hummed as she nodded thoughtfully "I guess that counts as her turning you down…only if you asked her out, dinner not counted." Her brother nodded at that.

"I asked her if she wanted to get coffee with me after that dinner, but she said she's had enough of coffee." 'Yowch.' She had to cringe at that. But what was her brother thinking? Coffee after a dinner date? He should really read more about this dating stuff…or read more manga. Shoujo manga seems to be the best regarding this problem.

"I see…" She leaned across the table to pat his head "Don't worry, there's always next time."

Satoshi grinned happily at that before snapping back to reality.

"Ah! I was the one who's supposed to cheer you up!" So why's she the one cheering him up? It's the other way around! The boy looked devastated "Nee-chan!"

The older sister laughed at that and only ruffled his head more in reply. Truthfully, the cheering up she needed was talking it over with her brother. She's back to normal now, but Ritsu won't say anything about that to him.

"I'm the older sister, remember? I cheer you up, it's my job."

"So, what's my job then?" the messy haired Satoshi asked with a pout.

A grin came on Ritsu's face as she stood up from her chair.

"Your job is to watch my back and keep me out of trouble, silly. I'm counting on you." And he has been doing that wonderfully. For all the things Ritsu hates her brother for, she loves him just as much. It's a really complicated feeling to have as Satoshi's big sister.

But then again…when faced with the sight of her brother smiling contently at her like this, the only thing she could do was smile back and ignores the uncomfortable churn in her middle.

~888~

Being a teacher comes with quite a few of wonderful perks, in Mio's opinion. It's nothing like you get a humongous paycheck or popularity with the students, no. In fact, in her case, it was the other way around. She's not at all popular with her students (being a Math teacher has a hand in this) and there's nothing to boast about the paycheck. It was enough for her to get by and she's happy with it.

For her, the perk of being a teacher comes in the form of learning. Her job requires her to help the students learn, guide them well so that they can face their future goals easily. And she was content with that. It might be strange, but Mio found joys when she helps her students solves the ever frustrating math problems. Seeing their happy faces when they tackle math problem and achieved good grades gives her a good amount of pride in itself. Not only that, but she's also learning what she can from her students as they work together. Learning in how to teach her subject better and make them more enjoyable…and overall be a better teacher.

It's a good and noble job, and she's proud of it.

Unfortunately, this work field doesn't come with a lot of vacation days. Sure she gets days off during holidays, but aside from that it's work day every day. Even during the weekend! She's okay with it, but there were days that she wished she has extra time to focus on other things.

Obsidian eyes rests on her beloved left-handed 3 colors sunburst Fender Precision Bass placed in a snug corner of the room. That bass has been with her for a good chunk of 5 years and even though it looked slightly worn, it's still working very well. Mio felt her heart swell with emotion at the sight of the bass, remembering her teenage years when she performed in gigs alongside her high school band mates. The band has long broken up of course, with the members going their own separate ways in college, but the love of music stays with her.

Extra time or vacation days would mean a chance to practice her bass or a short jam session with Mugi and Sawako-sensei. However, as inviting as that sounds, the three of them lack proper vacation days and whenever they do have time to meet up, they usually spend it by talking and relaxing.

Mio let out a sigh and shook her head.

'No need to lament on things like that,' the girl thought with a smile as she put her headphones back on and went back to the pile of papers she was grading 'As soon as summer is here, we can play again.'

And she'll do her best in her job in the mean time.

The long haired bassist hummed as her hand circles and crosses things out on the papers she's working on. It didn't take long for her to forget her surroundings and focuses entirely on the work she's facing. The headphones she was wearing blocked out outside noises effectively and helping with her concentration.

Unfortunately, the headphones also block out the sound of her cell phone's ringtone. The white Sony Ericsson W580i walkman phone's screen flashed as it buzzed along to the ringtone from a coming call. The call was ignored for a good ten minutes, but it never stops. And soon enough the phone buzzed its way off the thick book it was resting on, and onto the wooden desk.

The vibration from the phone was maximized against the wood of the desk, resulting in a loud shriek from the math teacher.

"Oh my god!" Mio ripped her headphones off and snatched the still-vibrating phone off the table. A glance at the screen shows 3 missed calls from her mother and the girl cringed inwardly before picking it up.

"Hello, Mama?"

"Mio-chan!" her mother's shrill cry rang in her ear and she had to pull away for a moment before listening back "Mou! You didn't pick up the first three times you had me worried!"

"Sorry Mama, I was grading papers." And she's still doing it now, one hand working on the papers and the other holding the phone to her ear "Is there anything you need from me?"

A slight pause came from the other side, before she heard her mother sigh.

"Well…nothing in particular…" another short pause and she could hear her father's voice faintly from the other end "It's just…your father and I were a bit…worried, dear. You have been rather distant with us lately…"

Ah.

Yes, that.

It's no wonder after all. After the fiasco that was her getting stood up on that dinner date, Mio's been avoiding her parents' call. She didn't want to tell them that she was stood up, not when they were looking so hopefully at her when they made their request, and she didn't want to lash out at them in annoyance either. It was their fault that she got stood up in the first place. If she didn't come, that would not happen. Even though she didn't say anything to Mugi, getting stood up hurt her pride as a woman. She's still annoyed at whoever her date was, but not as much as back then.

She let out a small sigh before replying.

"Sorry Mama, it's just been rather hectic lately…"

"Okay…but the dinner…it turned out well, right?"

Mio grimaced. She couldn't lie to her mom, but she didn't want her to know the truth either.

Argh!

"It was…okay. The food was really good."

A relieved sigh "That's nice dear…How about your…companion?"

A brow twitched at that. Mio panicked a bit because there was no companion at all back then. Her date didn't co—ah.

The little brother.

She did have a companion after all, just not the right one.

"He was nice," she thought back to that night "and was very polite too. He's okay, I guess."

"…He was?" there was something like bewilderment in her mother's voice and Mio found herself blinking in confusion "I…I see, dear…" from the way she responded, it feels like her mother didn't know anything about her date. If so, then that was not just a blind date. It was a SUPER blind date. Good lord.

A brief pause came between the two. Mio knows that there was more to what her mother wanted to say to her, but she's not really in the mood to start a conversation. She's good with waiting for her mother to gather her thoughts and speak her mind, and hopefully whatever she wants to talk about wouldn't kill her mood for today.

"Mio-chan?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you mad at Mama?" at this Mio blinked and paid attention "Because of the dinner thing, I mean…"

She should've known that her mother's sharp, especially if it's regarding her mood.

"Not really…" maybe a teeny bit "but it's not your fault. It was Papa's idea after all, remember?" She scrunched her brows as she tried to recall.

"It was. B-but Mama was the one who persuaded him. You see, Papa also didn't want to agree at first, Papa thinks Mio-chan wouldn't be pleased if we set you up again," the daughter nodded at that because he was right "but Mama managed to get him to agree to this. And if…this turned out bad, we would stop with the omi—dinner dates!" her mother had slipped, and Mio rolled her eyes. She was right after all "No more dinner dates…so, that's why we were rather pushy. I'm sorry, Mio-chan."

They were pushy not because they wanted her to have someone, but because a part of them just wanted to get this done. If this one last dinner date didn't turn out well, they would stop, and just let her be. Mio knew they were worried about her, and even though she might not like the way they tried to 'help' her, she appreciate it. Her parents have been nothing but supportive to her ever since that happened. They were watching out for her so that something like that wouldn't happen again. If they could do something about the people who wanted their daughter's hand, they would do it. Anything just for the sake of their daughter's well being and happiness.

There are worse parents out there, especially when faced with a past like hers…and Mio considered herself blessed. There was nothing but affection, gratitude and love that she holds for her parents. Regardless of how infuriating they can be sometimes.

"It's okay, Mama." She said with a small smile "I know you were just trying to help me. But, please, stop with the dinner dates okay? I'm happy with how things are right now, and I think I can do without a significant other for a while longer."

"Eehh! That means a longer wait for grandchildren!" The bassist knew that her mother was just joking, and she herself couldn't help but laugh at it.

"Yes, Mama, more waiting for grandchildren," Mio smiled as she doodles stick figures in the corner of a scrap paper "Your daughter is not interested in anything of that sort right now, and she doesn't want to get your hopes up."

"Awww." But her mother was smiling, the sign that things are well for now. "Don't worry about us, darling. As long as you're happy, we're happy." And Mio's smile only grew.

"Even so…if you're happy with your date from that night and want to…continue being…friends with him, we're okay with that too. Okay?"

Well, that didn't last long.

"Mama!"

Her mother's chuckles sounded amused from the other end. It only caused her daughter to roll her eyes even more.

"Just saying, darling. If you like him, pursue, if you don't, then that's it. It's your call."

Mio let out a sigh. If she keeps up this phone call, her mother won't stop talking about this.

"Okay, Mama, I understand."

"Good girl. I'll let you go then, grading students' papers are more important than listening to your old Mama chatter. Make sure you call every now and then okay? Or your Papa might get worried."

After promising her mother that yes, she would call her father soon, Mio hung up. She let out a sigh as she placed her slightly warm phone back on the table.

Her mother told her to continue hanging out with her date if she likes him. But that's the problem, she hasn't even met him. This person didn't even come to her date, so the only possible outcome was for her to just forget this ever happened right? There's no need to expect a second meeting. This person didn't want it, and she feel the same way.

Let bygones be bygones, as they say.

And with that, the girl put her headphones back on and continued with her work. There are still quite a lot to go through, and she would like to finish everything before dinner. It didn't take fifteen minutes for another phone call to break her concentration however.

And Mio, now a bit annoyed, picked up the call without glancing at the screen.

"Aren't we done? Mou!"

"…Done? But we haven't even started, Mio-chan~"

The bassist's blood ran cold at the familiar voice.

It seems like her nightmare had caught up to her.

A/N: I've been a bad writer, putting this off for 2 years. Sorry guys, I haven't written in a while, but I'm going to try to get back in the swing of things starting with this chapter.

We're going to start tackling the heavy stuff from now on, and if you guys have any comments or questions, don't hesitate to let me know. I'm trying hard to not make things cliché, and I hope it shows x)

By the way, this is un-beta'ed. If anyone's interested in helping me beta this, shoot me a PM 8) Hope you enjoy the chapter!