"Hey."
*b-bump**b-bump**b-bump**b-bump*
"….Ritsu…"
Mio's eyes couldn't tear themselves away from her old friend's figure, who was dressed in white and wearing her trade mark head band.
"Oh~ So you remembered me? How sweet of you, Mio!~" Ritsu says happily.
"O-Of course I would! You!...You're my…"
But before Mio could finish, Ritsu put her face extremely close to her own.
"Wh-Wha? What are you-!"
"….barnacles… on your face." Ritsu remarks while putting on a neutral expression.
*GLOOOOOM*
Mio squats on the ground and covers her ears with her hands.
"I didn't hear that…I didn't hear that…I didn't hear that…" Mio begins trembling.
"Ahahaha~ Just kidding Mio! I was just kid-OOOF!" Mio's fists make contact with Ritsu's head.
"Idiot! Don't joke around! Why are you here? You're supposed to be-!"
Ritsu turns to Mio rubbing the small bump that was caused by Mio's punch.
"I think what you might want to ask is, Why are YOU here, Mio?"
"….*gloom* D-don't tell me….DID I Die?" Mio's face drained. The thought of dying made her feel sick and dizzy.
"Yup, you died! Welcome to the after life buddy!" Ritsu smiles and sticks out her hand for a hand shake.
-silence-…
"Just kidding! You're not dead, silly! You're just-OW! Will you stop punching me? That really hurts!"
"How about you STOP joking around and tell me what's going on? Why are you here? Why am I here? What is this place?"
"Whoa! Whoa! Calm down, Miss Dangerous Queen! On question at a time!" Mio flinches at the nickname and tries to regain her composure by taking a deep breath.
*inhale* *exhale*
"*sigh*…okay then. So, first of all, am I dead?"
"nope~"
"Then where is this?"
"uh…um…well. I guess you can say it's a space between the living and the dead?...more or less." Ritsu scratches her head.
"…'More or less' you say. *sweat drop* Okay then, what am I doing here?"
"Beats me." *Ritsu goes into the 'I don't know' pose*
"What?"
"Actually, I'm not quite sure what I'm even doing here, again. Jeez~"
"….what do you mean by 'again'?"
"oh! Um…woops."
"Ritsu…what are you hiding from me" Mio takes a step towards Ritsu, you retreats as a response.
Just then, a puff of smoke comes out of now where.
"*cough* *cough* What was that?"
"*cough* oh no…it must be 'him'." Ritsu drones.
"Hello ladies~!" =w= The angel appears in between the two friends with one hand up in the air as a way of saying 'hi'.
"Wah! Who are you?"
"Hm? Oh, I'm just an A-GWAH!" Ritsu grabs the Angel by the throat and begins to shake him in a very rough manner.
"You Stupid Old man! Why In the world am I here again? And why the hell is Mio here too?"
"L-L-Let me g-go and an-and i-i-I'l explain!" The angel's eyes start to become swirls (like when a pokemon faints in battle. ;b)
Mio sweat drops and Ritsu lets go.
"R-Right then. Now first of all…"
"What? Are we dead?" Ritsu huffs and crosses her arms.
"No, you're not dead. Just um…how do I say this…'almost' dead."
" 'Almost dead'? What kind of answer is that?" Ritsu's irritation causes a vein to pop.
"Meaning that you both have experienced a 'near death' situation. But no worries, I don't think that you two will die from this."
" 'I don't THINK', you say…"
"W-wait just a second!"
Ritsu and the Angel turns their attention to Mio, who was forgotten for a minute.
"What do you mean that we 'both' experienced a 'near death' situation? I mean…Ritsu's already dead!"
Ritsu's expression turns into one of distress and guilt, as she turns her eyes to the floor.
"Hm? Oh yes, technically she *pointing at Ritsu* IS, as you say, 'dead'. But I made a deal ya see?"
"….Shut up old man…." Ritsu's voice was starting to become dangerously low.
"Deal? What…deal?" Mio's eyes were swimming in confusion and suspicion."
"Oh, that's right. I guess 'Ritsu' didn't tell you. Or more like, wasn't 'able' to tell you. Well, I guess that's my fault." Strokes his beard.
"Tell me what? What do you-"
"STOP IT!" Ritsu instantly gets the two's attention, but keeps her head low.
"….oh. I'm sorry, Ryu-kun….I just-." The angel slaps his hand over his mouth, while Ritsu's head seemed to snap around and face him with horrified eyes…She slowly shifts her gaze towards Mio who wasn't moving an inch…it didn't even seem like she was breathing.
" 'Ryu…kun'…? Did you just call…Ritsu…'Ryu'?"
"Mio…." Ritsu's eyes reflected only one emotion…pure agony. She couldn't believe that Mio had just found out her secret! 'What will Mio do? What will Mio say? There's no way that she'd forgive me for something like this.' Ritsu's eyes started to tear up as she fears the worst possible outcome.
"Ritsu…" Mio begins to walk towards Ritsu in a calm manner, but tears were streaming down the bassists face.
"M-Mio! It's not what you think! I didn't mean to deceive you or anything! I really did die in that 'accident'! But this old guy *jabs a finger at the angel* says that he 'messed up' and gave me another chance to come back!" At this point, Ritsu begins to cry and choke on her tears. "So…So I took it! I got another life! But I became a guy! I couldn't tell anyone about it! I couldn't tell anybody who I really was! Not even to my family for friends! *sob*"
Ritsu falls to her knees and watched the tears fall to the colorless ground. Her body was trembling uncontrollably. She griped onto the fabric that covered her so tightly that her knuckles turned just as white as her dress.
"*sob* M-Mio…Please don't be mad…*sob* Be-because…I…I really…" Suddenly, Ritsu feels something warm and gentle wrap around her body. The fragrance of strawberries invades her sense and her body goes limp in the person's arms.
"M-Mio?"
Mio's grip tightens and Ritsu could sense that Mio was smiling.
"Heh. It's seems that our roles have been reversed…right, Ritsu? Or should I say…"
Mio slowly pulls herself from Ritsu.
"….Baka Ryu…"
There you go! Another chapter and a minor cliffhanger to...well….keep you 'hanging'! Lol. Thanks for reading and please do R&R! I always love hearing from my fellow K-On lovers! Now that school has started, please note that the chapters will not longer come as frequently. It is beyond my control, but I'll do my best to update as soon as possible! Thank You! *Bows deeply*