Author's Note: Thought or Emphasis; Flashback; Thought or Emphasis in Flashback

I don't own K-ON! I also don't own any ointment for what's under Ritsu's wrappings.

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K-ON!: Hunters!

Part II

A silent night began at Sakuragaoka. No more did the footfalls and chatter of busy students occupy the paths. No more did bells call the end or start of the day's lessons. No more did groundskeepers tend the sizable lawn surrounding the building. The only thing making a stir was the wind, scattering pink petals into the green grasses.

It was the calm before the storm.

A light buzz, resembling the unzipping of a coat, filled the air. On the south end, not far from the gate leading outside, a small speck of light appeared. No candle, no flame, not even the moon was its source.

It simply appeared.

As the buzz grew louder, the light expanding larger, the flickering becoming a stable brightness, until...

A thunderclap.

The little light exploded, a shining, amorphous hole in space left behind.

Somewhere in the east, the phenomenon happened again. A light, a thunderclap, a hole.

Another, and another, and more showed up in all four directions.

The holes—portals—opened all over campus.

"I've never seen this many before."

In the club room, Mugi spoke for the group, watching the former whiteboard that doubled as a mystical map of the school. Yellow dots represented the portals; red, the monsters. Splotches of red peppered the screen. Two or three in one night was the usual, but not nine, each bringing one or more yōkai to the human world.

"Neither have I." Sawako stared at the oddity, adjusting the glasses that gleamed with curiosity. Though no longer in the field directly, becoming a teacher allowed her to slip back into her alma mater and help watch over a new generation of monster hunters.

She looked to the group, standing behind her beside the desk-table. "Given the situation, I want you in two teams for this, one in the north, one in the south."

"What teams?" Mio asked. While Sawako led them all from homeroom, she was the one who usually headed the group on the field. It seemed that wouldn't matter this time.

"You choose."

"I PICK AZU-NYAN!" A certain archer swiftly claimed her partner, raising her hand as if she were in class—but then looked to the girl herself. "If she wants to, I mean..."

Azusa nodded. She just couldn't say no to that face.

"YEAH! The YuiAzu Project is on the move!"

A sweat drop formed on the second half's forehead. "That sounds more like a band name, senpai..."

Mio watched them have fun, before an arm nudged hers.

"What do you say, Mio?" Roguish, expectant amber inquired. "Ready to fight with me?"

To respond, she walked off to the coat rack, turning to the right of her jacket's hook.

"Not yet, Ritsu."

To the right hung a sword, a simple katana. The sheath was much like Yui's quiver, blending in three tones. It started with a peerless black for most of the length, but changed to a band of reddish-brown after the gentle curvature, finally sliding to yellow at the sword's simple circular hilt. The katana's handle shared the same hues as the sheath, the yellow there meeting the other side of the hilt. Altogether, the design resembled a burst of sunlight in the darkness.

Mio named it Elizabeth. Sure, her parents raised an eyebrow at the foreign name—and Ritsu laughed when she heard it was being named at all, to the tune of "It's a weapon, not a teddy bear!"—but the title was always the user's choice, according to its creator, someone her parents didn't name but referred to as an "old colleague".

Judging by the rush she felt when she touched and tied Elizabeth to her waist the first time, the sword seemed to like it.

"Now, I'm ready."

Even now, she felt it connect with her; she wondered if Ritsu ever had this feeling with that... She let it subside, and turned to her team.

"Is everyone else-" She halted her question, as their weapons and bodies already waited at the door. "Alright."

She took point, opening the door.

"Let's go."

The door shut behind them as they left, causing them to miss a belated, "Good luck, everyone" from their least outspoken member of the team.

Mugi sat with Sawako, ever quiet, ever patient. She knew her purpose.

She just hoped they wouldn't need her before the night was over.


A few seconds later, on the way to the south entrance:

"So, what do you think it is this time?"

"Quit joking around, Ritsu. This is not the time."

"C'mon, Mio, it's the perfect time." She stopped her run near a cherry tree. "So what do you think? Spider-legs? Horns? Extra heads?"

Mio rolled her eyes. "Does it matter what they look like? If they're hostile, we destroy them." She frowned, looking distant. "It's what we've trained to do for years."

Ritsu sighed. "Yeah, and for all those years, what've I been telling ya?" She waited, to get no response. "You have to loosen up a little."

Mio knew that, of course, but every time she heard that, she found herself looking at Ritsu's left arm...

...just like now.

"What?" Ritsu followed her gaze. "Geez, Mio, I've been telling you that too!" With her right hand, she gently pulled up her old friend's chin. "Look at me!" They locked eyes. "It's not your fault! We were just kids for crying out loud! You didn't even know your parents were hunters!" She huffed out the frustration. "And besides..."

She grabbed Mio's hand with her bandaged own.

"Remember what I promised?"

The noirette's visage softened. "Of course I do..."


"S'okay, Mio!"

Though lying in bed, the ten-year-old flexed a tiny muscle and flashed a gigantic smile.

"As long as I got this arm, I-"


"Hey, look at that."

Hearing Ritsu, Mio flashed forward to the present.

"We have company."

The two spotted a squad of seven oni, their navy-shaded skin melding well with the night in which they loved to fight; while wearing loin cloths and other garments resembling pants, none of them wore armor, perhaps as a show of confidence in their strength.

Like many of the foes the girls faced, these yōkai stood like men, a few of them slightly hunched by the weight of their own muscles. They easily approached three meters in height at the top of their bald heads. Some of their burly arms held weapons with no other purpose than to turn the target into a mass of bloody chunks.

"YOU THERE!"

One of the weapon-wielders, whose beady yellow eyes searched for a future kill, sported a single-bladed axe about the size of Mio herself on his side.

"Where is your leader?"

"Hmm... I suppose that's me." The girl was unperturbed by his arms, both muscled and otherwise. She had worked hard to force down fear for her own life. "State your business here."

"We are here to conquer."

"Of course you are." A certain brunette in the background muttered.

"You're not conquering anything." Mio continued. "Turn back while the door is still there." Just in the distance, a wispy way back still hung in midair.

"I do not think I will, human." He looked down (even further) and noted a black length at her side. "That is your weapon?"

She did not look down with him, just in case. "It is."

"HAHAHAHA!" The others began to chortle behind him, causing Ritsu to roll her eyes.

The almost leathery skin on his face tightened into a fanged smile as he gripped the handle of his favorite tool. "Little girl with your toy sword..."

He charged, his blue bicep bulging, the light glinting off the deadly edge. "I WILL SHOW YOU THE END OF A TRUE DEALER OF DEATH!"

Mio wordlessly grasped Elizabeth's hilt, her eyes shadowed. Neither of them liked that comment...

"Heh, shouldn't have called her that."

...And Ritsu knew it.

But the oni didn't know, nor did he care. He didn't see the smallest sliver of steel reveal itself. He could only see victory, and the mess he would make as he swung his axe; it and the earth met, stirring up a column of dust. Ritsu and the other beasts waited with trepidation, too interested to embark on their own missions.

In seconds, the cloud was gone, the monster now staring at a small fissure left behind by the impact—but neither blood nor corpse joined the dirt.

"Where did she-"

One of his kin informed him. "Captain! Turn around!"

He did so, only to find the girl unscathed, her sword already ceasing its soft glow and returning to the sheath.

"I... missed?"

She hadn't even turned as she replied to him.

"Not just that..."

Her blade continued to slide.

"You lost."

The sword and sheath met with a soft click, and two simple words.

"Parallel Paths."

Two dark-red parallel streaks of blood spurted from the braggart—one spanning the throat, the other the belly. Just before his body and soul parted and he turned into ash, he had just enough life left in his body to hear:

"I'm not a little girl."

The oni stared in shock at this gray-eyed beast before them. The same one as before cried out for his "C-c-c-CAPTAIN!"

"Well, guess I can start now."

"Huh?" The cyan combatant slid his vision to the right—a second too late, as a fist planted into his face.

Both he and the fist's thrower hit the ground, one grinning at the other landing on his side. It didn't last long, however, as the others raised their arms at the new opponent and forced her to leap back.

"CRUSH HER!" came one bare-handed brute.

"DESTROY THE HUMAN!" claimed one with a spear.

"GO FOR THE WEAKNESS!" Another unarmed demon charged for her left.

"Ugh, are you guys stupid, or what?" Ritsu only shook her head and raised the wrapped arm. "Didn't you just see me? I just pounded that one over there with this hand."

Said oni was just starting to rise, his cheek bruised (apparently, blue skin bruised to a plum-like purple) and face scrunched with anger.

"Apparently not hard enough, though."

Mio saw this and prepared to strike again. "Do you need some help?"

"Nah, don't think so." Ritsu's right hand reached under her left arm to a tag hidden by her shirt sleeve...

"You better back away, though."

...and pulled.

The gauze unfurled, sending out a pulse of heat that turned the grass at the brunette's feet from green to brown. As the binds and seal disintegrated, Ritsu's "injury" was revealed.

Starting at her shoulder, the slight tan she sported stopped at a sliver of pale, ashy gray, like the aftermath of a volcanic eruption.

Then, it became something else entirely—the arm's remainder consisted of a reddish-black, hardened substance resembling still-cooling lava. Cracks big and small spread throughout, creating rivers of red-orange "blood" that seemed to feed from a rupture on the upper arm's outward side.

That wound, the reminder of her sacrifice that fateful day, became Ritsu's greatest weapon.

That wound, and the rivers of hot liquid spawned from it, ignited the air—and spread infrequent arcs of fire all over the limb.

"It's about to get hot around here!"

The noirette had seen this before, and had heard it before too. "Ugh, that line is so corny."

"Really? I'm the corny one, Miss Call-out-my-attacks?" The one-armed menace forced her face into a serious glare. "'Parallel Paths'." She backed out of Mio-mode with a smirk. "You sounded like an anime character—whoa!" She dodged a club, sending a burning palm into the user's forearm and setting it alight.

"Grrr..." Ignoring the screams of the enemy, Mio resisted the urge to give Ritsu's head a lump...

No! There's no time for this!

She forced the impulse down—for now (she could always do it later). "If you don't need me... I'm going to check somewhere else." She didn't need any special abilities to know, "Something's not right about tonight."

"I hear ya. There's gotta be someone leading them all, 'cause these guys are total idiots!" Seeing that she provoked one to the front, the brunette focused heat into her hand, leaping up to intercept an incoming spear. "ORAH!" One chop, and the sound and smell of splintering firewood filled the air.

Mio began to run, but paused. One oni thought this was the opportunity to grab her and smash her in his hands—a foolish mistake, as Elizabeth removed those offending objects before going for a leg, then the head.

Ritsu sensed her hesitation (under the minor spikes of killing intent, of course). "I'll catch up, okay?" A flaming jab penetrated the now staff-holding oni's chest, downing him in one blow.

Her partner murmured, "Fine..."

—and turned back with stormy eyes, a gaze Ritsu still felt through the still fading ash cloud.

"But if you die, I'll bring you back and cut you down myself!"

For an instant, Ritsu almost looked afraid, but quickly retorted all the same. "Yep. Anime character, and a tsundere too."

Mio groaned.

That urge to punch just went up a notch.

Just focus on the enemy, Mio... just focus on the enemy.

The debris gone, Ritsu could now see the black-haired beauty walk away, with a bit of terse anger in her step.

She smiled; the brunette's trick to get Mio's mind off of her worked. Don't worry about me. We're both plenty strong, right?

With a bit of concentration, she formed a fireball in her hand, thrusting it at another demon, who managed to swat it away with his man-sized broadsword. She rushed in while he was open and went for the uppercut, which sent him sprawling to roll out the flames on his chin and torso.

Her confidence surged. I'll be right next to you real soon.

"HEY, IT'S A HUMAN!"

She turned around—to see a group of fifteen new friends headed her way.

...Or not.

"Alright then..."

Any doubt, any fear hid behind the curtain of her playful-turned-maniacal grin. With another pulse of heat and a stomp, she opened her arms and stance wide.

"BRING IT ON!"


A figure walked a silent hallway, undetected after slipping in with another group of its comrades—well, the figure certainly wouldn't call them that. It had other, less flattering names for them.

Its hand glided across a trophy case, not even minding the light layer of dust; it had seen far worse where it had been prior to tonight. The glint in its eyes as it looked at the awards seemed almost nostalgic, though it recognized none of the names.

The figure walked on, knowing that some of the squads outside would follow it inside eventually. They may have had brawn, but weren't exactly the perfect fighting force; inevitably, there would be stragglers and wanderers, especially as the death toll rose. The figure was surprised their little village stayed together as long as it had, even before the figure took over.

It entered the door to a room. Unlocked? How sloppy of the caretakers. Someone like itself could barge in and use the place for any old purpose.

The purpose it had, for example.

Nice and spacious, the ground free of obstructions...

This room would do nicely.

It had waited a long time for this. It only hoped the object of its interest was ready.

It inhaled...

and released.


Mio flicked off the blood of another four opponents, easy to do when your sword is coated with your own soul's energy.

The resulting ashes blew away with a gentle breeze. A fissure remained in the ground in front of Mio; she put a little too much power into that attack.

Just as she sheathed her blade, she felt it.

She was one of the few humans who had the sense, even if her perception was imperfect. It was imprecise when it came to the oni, there being so many, but this one was so outstanding, so unique...

Her hunch was correct.

"I knew it."

She headed back toward the school, to face the threat within.

To be continued...


Well, this chapter ended up longer than expected. I was thinking it'd be five pages, but it seems I almost doubled that once I realized I needed a proper beginning.

To recap: Mio's a slash-and-sheath swordswoman, Ritsu's a scorching-hot southpaw, and the oni are spit outta luck. Betcha didn't expect that, huh?

Pretty sure "swordswoman" isn't a word, but I'm using it! A female swordsman has to be called something, right?

As for The YuiAzu Project, you'll have to see them next time. Things will happen, so stay tuned!