*I do not own any of the characters, setting, or anime. Nothing but the fanfiction plot is my property*
*Hello readers! I am back once again! I am so sorry for the long delay, since the end of the school year is driving me crazy, and my grades were unsatisifying, and I am just a horrible procrastinator. Gomen o ! But anyways, I am back again for another crossover for my 13th chapter of "Light Music and Classic Literature!" This time, I'll be mixing in Sket Dance, which is a school comedy anime that I highly recommend. It was one of my top animes that made me laugh almost 24/7 (The first was K-On!). This chapter might give you some details about Sket Dance, so enjoy!*
***Sorry, I almost forgot to mention, arigato to all of the people who followed, favorited, and reviewed my fanfic! Here are my replies:
Guest: Arigato gozaimasu!
Guest: I love watching alot of anime, so that pretty much inspires me for alot of my chapters. Arigato!
xiodan56: Arigato for your support!
CrybabyFan: Your comment really made me laugh! XD
yuiharime: I'm glad you like it! Keep on reading for more shipping moments!
LorenzoAmore: Arigato! I've always enjoyed the Touma x Mikoto scenes so I had to put it on!
Grunhilde34: Arigato for the suggestion! I'll try to fit that in the next chapter!
Once again, thank you so much! Reading these reviews have improved my day 100%! Seeing that many people enjoy reading my story really makes me happy! Thank you!***
One perfectly normal day, all the Classics club members, Mugi, Ritsu, and Yui were enjoying their tea time and snacks as usual when Azusa came bursting in.
"Senpai!" she started to exclaim breathlessly. "There's something wrong with Mio-senpai!"
Almost all of them stood up.
"What happened?" Mayaka asked, worried.
"Is she hurt?" Mugi wondered, putting on a hat from a nurse costume.
"Where is she?" Chitanda questioned at the same time.
"Is she kidnapped?!" Ritsu exclaimed, pretending to be serious.
"Is she hungry?!" Yui grabbed a cream puff protectively.
Azusa glared at Yui and Ristu.
"Yui-senpai, Ritsu-senpai!" she scolded them. "This is not a time to be joking around! Mio-senpai looks really troubled!"
Satoshi raised an eyebrow. "Troubled?" he repeated. "In what way? Love problems?" He gave Oreki a sly glance which Oreki returned with a What are you looking at? glare.
"Calm down for a minute, Nakano-san," Mayaka told her. Azusa obeyed. She sat down looking worried for her upperclassman.
"So when I was walking down the hallway, I bumped into Mio-senpai. I greeted her, but instead of answering, she just walked past me as if she were in a trance. Later, I thougth nothing of it, until I saw her talking to another male upperclassman that was almost a head larger than her. He seemed to be taking out a picture that I couldn't see really clearly, but I was immediatly worried since Mio-senpai was shaking. She seemed so small and scared, different than when she's talking with other male students. When the upperclassman walked away, she suddenly just collapsed on the floor, and I ran over to help her. She was really pale, so I asked her what was wrong, but instead of answering, once again, she just whispered, 'Please leave me alone.' Then, I ran over here."
Azusa looked over to Oreki.
"Oreki-senpai, I know you don't like doing this, but please help find out what's wrond with Mio-senpai!" she begged him. Oreki looked at Azusa, who looked like she was going to cry. Then he looked at Mugi, who was now sitting and looking down sadly. He glanced over at Yui, who actually looked concerned. Then, he looked at Chitanda and Mayaka who had serious expression. Ritsu's expression looked pained and as fearful as Azusa's. Oreki remembered that Mio was Ritsu's best friend. Satoshi gave Oreki a look that said, What are you going to do now? Instead of giving his usual rejection and complaints, he nodded and replied, "I'll try my best."
All at once, everybody's expression suddenly lightened up with hope. Oreki gulped, hoping that he wouldn't come to a disappointing conclusion.
Picture... Fear... Trance... he thought, stroking his hair. Could the upperclassman be threatening her with the picture? That is most likely what happened, considering the fact that Akiyama-san gets embarassed quite easily. But, what is she threatened to do? Come to think of it, wouldn't it be considered bullying? Wait a minute, what does this guy even look like?
"Oreki looked up for a moment. "Nakano-san, do you know what this guy looks like?" he questioned.
Azusa thought for a moment. "I think so," she replied back, uncertain. "He had short, kind of spiky, black/brown hair, a head larger than Mio-senpai as I mentioned before, and wears his uniform unproperly."
Oreki looked at Satoshi. "Remind you of anybody?" he asked the "human database." Satsohi gave it a long thought, but sadly couldn't come up with anybody.
"Sorry," he apologized. "It doesn't ring a bell."
Suddenly, Mugi smiled. "I know!" she exclaimed. They all looked at her.
"You know him?" Mayaka asked hopefully.
Mugi shooked her head. "No, but I know a club that might know," she replied. Chitanda realized who she was talking about.
"Kotobuki-san, are you talking about the Sket Dan?" she asked, suddenly growing excited. Mugi nodded back happily.
"They'll be able to help for sure!"
Satoshi gave a grin. "Let's go find them now, then!" he jumped up and started runnning for the door. Everybody followed his example, without any questions, even the energy conserving Oreki.
A couple minutes later...
"We'll be glad to help!" the spiky black haired boy wearing a red horned hat and goggles exclaimed. The two clubs had just explained their situation over to the Sket-Dan.
"Switch-" before he could finish, "Switch" replied, "ALREADY ON IT." "Switch had more smoother hair than the other club member, and wore glasses. He spoke with his laptop, but didn't smiled. Even the normally curious Chitanda was too worried to question it. After a couple seconds, Switch gave a thumbs up and said,
"FOUND IT!" he started to read the profile.
"TABUCHI SHIMEI, A 3RD YEAR GANGSTER AT THIS SCHOOL. NOT MANY PEOPLE KNOW THIS, BUT HE TAKES MANY PICTURES THAT GIRLS DON'T WANT TO BE SPREADED TO USE IT AS BLACKMAIL MATERIAL TO GET MONEY OUT OF THEM."
The last member, a blond girl with short hair and a tomboyish look, picked up a hockey stick, swung it around, and then cheerfully said,
"Okay! Now that we know who this bully is, I'll go find him and beat around him for a while."
For a moment, they all looked at her in shocked silence until the red horned hat boy shouted out,
"HIMEKO! Don't go saying that you'll beat someone up like it's normal!" Himeko looked at him surprised and disappointed and said,
"Ehh?! Why not, Bossun?"
"Bossun" looked at her, exsperated, and exclaimed out hysterically,
"Because that won't help us at all!"
Himeko put on a pouting face but muttered, "Fine..."
"So, um... what should we do?" Azusa stammered. Himeko's expression suddenly turned serious.
"Well, first of all, this is obviously a case of bullying," she began. "Encourage your friend to tell you guys about her problems. She will probably refuse to tell you at first, but be persistant and keep insisting that she tell you. This isn't a simple problem that can be easily solved. Once you know what the problem is, come back to us and we'll help you solve the rest. Okay with you, Bossun, Switch?" she looked back at them as they nodded. Mayaka sighed with relief.
"Thank you so much!" she bowed, with the others following her example. The tense mood evaporated and Bossun grinned.
"No need to thank us!" he gave a wide smile. "After all, we are the Sket Dan!"
A few minutes later, the gang gathered around.
"So how should we ask her?" Satoshi questioned. "I doubt that she'll just tell us straight-out."
Mayaka raised her hand. "I have a suggestion," she announced. "What if we all ask her individually? That way, she won't be able to refuse us all at once." Everyone agreed with the plan, thus Project MIO T. (Mio Is Obviously Troubled) started.
First, the group decided to let Yui ask first, already knowing that it wouldn't end well.
"Mio-chan! Mio-chan!" Mio heard someone calling her and immediatly forced a smile.
"Hey Yui. What do you need?" she asked curiously. Yui took out a piece of paper and gave it to her.
"Here you go Mio-chan!" she said cheerfully. "I wanted to help you solve your problems, so looked around and I heard from the occult club that if you have anything that's worrying you, you can write it down on a piece of paper and rip it up!"
Mio gave a silent groan, realizing that Yui probably noticed her strange behavior. Hopefully its only her, she thought. I don't want the others worrying about me and end up getting tangled in this mess.
To Yui, she gave a little laugh. "Thank you, Yui," she replied. "I'll keep that in mind if I have any problems. I have to go now. Bye!" Yui watched her walk away, feeling a bit uneasy about her behavior. The others, who were spying on them, sweatdropped. It was just like Yui to do something as clueless as that. Maybe Mugi will get a better result.
"Mio-chan!~" another voiced called out to her. Mio turned around, finding Mugi holding out a box.
"Hey, Mugi!" she greeted back with another false smile. "What do you need?"
Mugi presented the box. "Open it!" she said cheerfully.
Mio opened the box, revealing two slices of cake. Both were a slice of strawberry cake. While one had a decorative piece of chocolate that said, "Eat your worries away!", the other said, "You can talk to us about your troubles anytime!"
"Um... Thank you, Mugi..." Mio gave an awkard laugh.
"Don't hesitate to tell us anything that's troubling you!" she gave her a bright smile.
"Uh.. sure..." Mio replied. "I'll be taking my leave now."
In the background, the eight students stared at Mugi, wondering how she got such a... creative idea.
Next, it was Azusa's turn. Azusa walked up to Mio and started to say,
"Um.. Mio-senpai, can I talk to you for a minute?"
Mio looked at her underclassman and smiled. "Sure, Azusa. What do you need?"
"Mio-senpai, we know something is bothering you," she said with a determined look. "Please tell us! We want to help you solve your problem, whether it's bullying or a threat. You don't need to handle it alone!"
Mio's smile faltered at the word threat, but didn't hesitate to say,
"Thanks, Azusa, but you don't need to worry about me. I can handle it myself." Despite Mio's reassurance, Azusa didn't feel more relieved. Unfortunately, their conversation ended, leaving Azusa more worried than ever.
The whole group agreed that Ritsu's words might be the most affective, as she was Mio's childhood friend.
Mio was exiting a classroom door when she noticed Ritsu standing in front of it, with a serious expression. Mio sighed, knowing what this was going to be about. She was about to once again brush her aside, when Ritsu asked,
"What's going on?"
Mio stared at her for a moment, before replying. "What are you talking about?" she asked, trying to avoid the question. "Nothing's going on."
"Mio, I've been your friend ever since elementary school," she pointed out angrily. "I can easily tell when something's bothering you or not. Your acts won't work on me."
"It's nothing that you'll need to worry about, Ritsu," she retorted. "Trust me, you don't want to get wrapped up in my mess."
"I will if you refuse to tell me what's going on!" she argued back.
Mio ignored her and walked out.
"You don't need to face everything alone, Mio!" Ritsu called out to her, with a choking voice. "You have all of us standing next to you!"
Mio froze in her steps. She wanted to run back and beg them for help; she wanted to tell them her problems; but she has to fight this problem herself. It's her own fault anyways. "Thank you, Ritsu, but I'll be fine!" she replied without looking back. And she continued on her way.
Now, it was Mayaka's turn. "I'll do my best!" she said, determined.
Which brings her here, standing in her and Mio's classroom, with the black-haired girl.
"Ibara-san, if you're going to be questioning me about my problems, it's nothing. I'll be fine," she immediatly said, already knowing what the sudden invitation was about.
"Why won't you tell us what's wrong, Akiyama-san?" Mayaka shot her question. "We're all willing to help you, even the human sloth! Everyone is worried about you! "
Mio looked away. "Don't worry," she insisted. "I'll be fine. You don't need to worry about me, but thanks anyway."
Mayaka was still unsatisfied with the response, but there was nothing she could do about it.
After Mayaka's failed attempt, it was Chitanda's turn.
"Um... Akiyama-san, I know that you don't want to worry anyone about your problems, but please, we all want to help you!" Chitanda told her desperately. "If we all work together, I'm sure that we can help you!"
Mio gave her a smile, looking more and more false the more she uses it. "I'm sure that you guys can help me, but don't worry about it. I'm fine."
Chitanda looked uncertain about the answer, but knew that Mio couldn't be pushed. "If you're sure about it, I won't bother you about it anymore, but if you feel that you need someone to talk to, we're all more than willing to listen."
Mio nodded. "Thank you, Chitanda-san, but I'll be fine." Chitanda was confused. Something was wrong with her statement, but before she could figure it out, Mio was gone.
Satoshi stood up. It was his turn now. "I'll do my best!" he announced confidently.
"Hey, Akiyama-san! How're you doing?" Satoshi greeted her cheerfully.
"Oh, hello Fukube-kun. I'm fine, why do you ask?" Mio worded her reply carefully, knowing right away that he had some kind of trap to make her confess her worries.
"Well, you were looking a bit troubled, so we were all worried about you. Then, he quickly changed the subject. "So have you heard about Tabuchi Shimei, an upperclassman?"
"T-Tabuchi Shimei?" Mio faked confusion. "Who is he?"
"Rumors are spreading around about how he blackmail students, mostly girls, to give him or people in his gang, money."
"Wow, I didn't know that," Mio gave false shocked expression.
"Well, if you know anyone who's his victim, tell them to talk to their friends or ask for help," Satoshi gave a huge grin. As Oreki watched his friend, he face palmed. Satoshi, you baka! he thought. You're making it really obvious now!
Mio wasn't sure how to respond. "Um... thanks, Fukube-kun. I'll be sure to tell them," she said before leaving.
"Your turn, Oreki!" Mayaka looked at him sharply. "Don't blow it." Oreki rolled his eyes as he walked out.
It was finally time. Mio started to grab her school bag and another mysterious bag. She walked out of the school building, but then, stood in front of another figure.
Without turning around, she stated,
"Oreki-kun, thank you for your and everyone else's concern, but like I said-"
"'I'll be fine,' right?" Mio's eyes widen and slowly turned around. Oreki was glaring at her with his green eyes. Her eyes lowered.
"Please, don't worry about me-"
You claim that you have no problems, but with your behavior, that's unbelievable," he interrupted her. "If you were problem-less, you'll be saying 'I'm fine,' not 'I'll be fine.' You were stuttering when Satoshi mentioned Tabuchi Shimei. Your so-called smile was obviously fake. You avoided answering 'What's wrong?'. You always gave a short answer and seemed like you were in a rush. Therefore, you know who Tabuchi Shimei is, you are in a rush, most likely to see someone, and you have a problem that you don't want to drag anyone in. Did I miss anything?"
Mio sighed. Smiling and laughing out of it was out of question now. It was time for plan B.
"I'm sorry, Oreki-kun, but there's no way to say this politely, so I'll just say this once: It's none of your business, so stop caring about it!" she said coldly. "Now, if you'll excuse me now-"
"'I want to help you solve your problems'- Hirasawa-san," Oreki quoted.
"'Don't hesitate to tell us anything that's troubling you'- Kotobuki-san.
'We want to help you solve your problem, whether it's bullying or a threat. You don't need to handle it alone'- Nakano-san.
'You don't need to face everything alone, you have all of us standing next to you'- Tainaka-san.
'We're all willing to help you'- Ibara.
'If we all work together, I'm sure that we can help you. If you feel that you need someone to talk to, we're all more than willing to listen'- Chitanda.
'we were all worried about you'- Satoshi."
As Oreki listed what each club member had told her, Miotried to hold in more and more tears until one finally dropped down her cheek. Oreki noticed her sudden reaction and stopped for a moment.
"Oh, uh... sorry, was that a bit too harsh?" he looked away awkardly.
Mio wiped her eyes. "No, it's fine," she sighed. "I guess there's no point in keeping it a secret now." Then, she took a deep breath. "I'll tell you everything."
*And that's the end! I have decided to make this a two-parter, since it is obviously going to be long. I know it's a bit cruel after being MIA for almost/about 2 months. Once again, Gomenaisai! I am really busy dealing with school work and life problems, so I can't always update quickly. Once again, please R&R! Peace out!*
