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

I don't own K-ON!. I also don't own a sword, or skills with a sword, nor a cute Japanese brunette with a bandaged arm who probably loves me.

Will Mio manage to have them all by the end of this?

You'll find out once you read and review.


K-ON!: Hunters!

Part IV

For the living, there exist two worlds: one of the humans, and one of the yōkai, creatures of strange form and supernatural power.

While normally separate and uncharted by the other, there exist places where their boundaries blur, where man and monster can meet, their past interactions the groundwork for myths and legends worldwide.

But the crossroads between the worlds are unstable, and the yōkai, like humans, are diverse and unpredictable as well.

No human has ever been known to return alive...

Until tonight.

Megumi Sokabe, former student of class 3-1, former president of the Light Music Club and former leader of Sakuragaoka High School's faction of monster hunters, stood before Mio Akiyama in the flesh.

"You're alive."

"Yes, I am, Mio-chan." Megumi smiled. "And not without a lot of work, let me tell you!"

The junior wasn't amused, her right hand still on the sheath. "What are you doing alive? How are you alive?" Her grip tightened. "And why are you doing this?"

The smile dropped. "I just told you: a lot of work. We'll get to the last question, but for now, let me tell you my story.

"See, when that dragon... lizard... whatever it was grabbed me before it ran into the portal, he didn't actually kill me—or at least, I didn't let him." One corner of her mouth turned upwards, bemused. "I suppose I should at least thank you four for softening him up, shouldn't I?"

Mio's face went unchanged.

"Well, that's rude of you. You're supposed to say 'you're welcome.'" Her disapproval got no reaction either, so she continued. "Anyway, as the adrenaline rush was wearing off, I looked back, and the door home was already sealed shut. I waited in the area, but you know how unpredictable those portals can be."

Still nothing came in reply; Megumi took it as yet another sign to continue.

"I knew I wouldn't be able to last long there in the open, so I went to find some shelter. You don't know how it felt—looking around every corner, checking every shadow for the next thing that could kill me... Ha ha." The laugh seemed weary rather than mirthful. "It may come as a shock to you, but they don't seem to like us humans on their turf.

"Eventually, though, I got used to it, and I recalled something I knew all along, something that helped me survive. What gets you through isn't the hope that someone else will help you..." A frown flickered onto her face, before the old visage returned.

She reached over her right shoulder, to the black and white-striped handle of her sword, in a plain-looking sheath. She began to pull, revealing 90 centimeters of Japanese steel—a longsword, an ōdachi.

"It's power—your own power—and the conviction to use it."

She looked nonchalantly beyond the room. "Those fools out there, they respect power. I had to kill a few to get them to see mine, but they did, enough to throw their lives away in the eyes of their superior." She recalled her sudden rise to power. "Taking out the village leader definitely helped, I'd say. Such a heavy sleeper really should have had better guards!"

The blade-holding brunette changed the subject. "So, how are things? Are you president in my place? You did seem to have a bit of a shy streak in you, so maybe you aren't, but time can change a girl, am I right?"

The interviewed finally had something to say: "I know you're certainly different... but..." She pleaded for an answer now. "Why did you do this?"

Megumi chuckled, but ignored the question. "Maybe I am different. I mean, I never thought I'd use those... animals to set up this little reunion. Something tells me you are too."

Her aura spiked, blue with a fringe of purple, sending Mio's left hand to her sword.

"You're going to..."

"Why don't you show me, Mio-chan? Show me your conviction, and your power!"

She charged.

"You really are."

The ravenette pulled out Elizabeth, a wavering resonance between them.

The duel began.

Why, Megumi?


"HAH!"

With a battle cry, a flame blasted into an oni's face. The same fist that threw it quickly penetrated the burn victim's heart, melting it and the surrounding flesh.

Ritsu ripped out her hand, shaking off the blood—not that it mattered, the heat of her cursed arm turning it to vapor.

"Geez, just how many of these bastards are there?"

Apparently, plenty, as they continued to crowd around her. Their tactic was pretty reckless, what with her deadly left hook wiping out one or two, but even the liveliest girl in the band could tire.

Deflecting one swing of a sword, roasting the arm attached, and, with a wave of her own weapon, releasing an arc of fire at him and the nearby brutes took a lot out of her.

But if her opponents pushed on, so would she.

Next up was a quartet, one with a club, not that she cared. She clenched a fist, the air seeming to haze around it. Grabbing the elbow's opposite side with her right hand, she thrust forward. With a spark, a fist-sized but compact ball of flame rushed into an enemy, a round from a supernatural shotgun.

The club holder found himself missing the left side of his head.

She kept her arm outstretched; with one, two, three shots, a trio of ash piles joined the rest.

"Ha! Finally worked this time-ngh!" Maybe the left arm itself was near-numb ever since that day, but the pain of recoil could still sting the rest of her body. New moves took getting used to.

She took a breath. A second to loosen out the kinks and she'd be on her-

"RAAAAAAAAH!"

"Huh-"

BOOM.

Floating...

CRACK!

Pain.

Muscle-tearing, bone-jarring, ear-ringing pain was all on her mind, in the instant her body met the school's wall. She stumbled out of the girl-sized indent, straining to get her head clear.

Once the double-vision ceased, she could see another oni, his elbow pointed in her direction; as the ringing stopped, the pieces came together: she was the victim of an elbow charge that came at her with the force of a truck.

"Can't believe he-" Her breath hitched from a stinging right side, but she chose not to look at it, "-got the drop on me. Alright then, blue boy..." She screamed out, "HEY, YOU WANNA GO?"

"YAAH!" His running body answered for him, a fist pulled back.

She rushed with her own burning limb. "Fine then, I'll melt right through your hand!"

The punches slammed into each other, a rush of wind flattening the grass around them, but to her surprise, her arm went no further. A closer look revealed why—his right arm was armored from finger to shoulder, almost a metal mirror image of her own, and not even suffering a single scorch mark.

"Aw dangi-"

Ritsu's thoughts stopped again when the oni's other fist crashed into her abdomen, lifting her off her feet. The armored appendage proceeded to send the brunette back down to earth.

Her body didn't even get to bounce before his hand reared once more...

And came down hard.

BOOM.


A shiver went down Mio's spine, causing a slack in her guard that Megumi was almost able to exploit, if not for her head leaning back. A hair drifted its way to the floor.

As it fell, the senior's disappointment rose. "What's going on, Mio-chan? Your head isn't in this fight. You've been on the defensive all night."

"Of course it is." Elizabeth's wielder was bluffing, of course; she wanted to draw out the truth, not blood... plus, she was shaking off this foreboding sensation...

...that she may have lost something important.

The brunette frowned, figuring it out. "You're thinking about them, aren't you?"

It was barely perceptible, but Mio flinched.

"See?" Megumi saw it, and went for a mighty upward swing. "They hold you back!"

CLANG!

The junior blocked the attack, her bones shaking from the clash, but her chest was just open enough for a kick. "My old team did the same, you know. I was too busy looking over my shoulder for them."

Mio quickly rolled and recovered. Her eyes widened as a theory emerged. "Did you...?"

"What? Try to kill them?" Megumi caught on. "Don't be silly. I couldn't do that to them. They weren't totally useless. They at least took care of the small fry for me. I guess they couldn't handle doing that all the time, so they left..." She shrugged. "...or maybe it was something else. There may have been three of us, but we weren't really all that close."

Mio moved forward, her three strikes blocked almost lazily, the third locking them in place. "So, what about the four of us?" She probed as she tried to push onward, but gained little ground. "Was all of your image, how kind you were to everyone... to me..."

She could still remember the smiles her senior would give her after their spars, each one a boost to her spirits after every loss...

"...Was all of that a lie?"

"Not all of it, Mio-chan. Not all of it." The brunette surprised her junior as she pushed back. "Since day one, you fascinated me. Not Tsumugi, not Yui... and definitely not her," she didn't even like to speak that girl's name, "You. We're sisters of the sword, and we both have the drive to get stronger. I saw a little of me in you. How could we not connect, when we're so alike?"

She shoved Mio off, starting a rhythm of one-handed swipes.

"But maybe we're not so alike." Clang clang clang clang. "You don't have the same feeling I do when we clash. You don't even want to cut me, do you?"

Rather than reveal the truth, she continued to pry it from her. "Why do you want to cut me, Megumi? This makes no sense!"

"Must I repeat myself? You're special to me, Mio-chan!" She leaped back, breaking the lock; it was all as if she was toying with her. "When I trained with you, when I fought with you, when I was on the other side fighting for my life... to this very day, you were on my mind. Seeing you again was all I really wanted."

"So... all this was to fight me?" If not for the risk to her life, she'd have stood there dumbly. "What's happening out there, these yōkai I've cut down, why I can't feel anything from the team..." The thought of what that meant made her blood run cold, and she struggled to ignore it. "All of this is because... you're obsessed with me?"

"Obsessed? Well that's a strong word. I mean, I know I want to swing my sword down on all of you for abandoning me, but at the same time," her face softened, "I just want you right here beside me." She put a finger to her chin, pouting. "It's all sort of mixed, really."

The gray-eyed girl's brow furrowed, emotions mixed within her as well: confusion, betrayal, anger, worry...

But for the moment, one managed to prevail over all:

Disgust.

"You're insane."

"I... don't quite know what I am..." For an instant, Mio thought she saw that student that taught her two years ago, also disgusted of what she had become...

...but she shook it off. She had to remember that that old Megumi was an illusion.

"...but I know you're weaker as long as you stay with them." The world-crosser looked from the ōdachi to the katana. "Your sword, your soul, just isn't as keen.

"Is it me, I wonder?" The brunette blade mistress' head tilted in curiosity. "Is that it? Are you afraid to hurt your dear senpai?" She had an idea. "I wonder if that would change if the rest of them died?"

Mio's body became stone.

"My little army is probably mashing them into paste as we speak, you know."

The noirette began to shake as the images came to mind.

"Yui... Tsumugi..."

Her steel eyes shadowed.

"...Ritsu."

Megumi found herself jumping out of the way of blue-and-silver energy-laced air, a wave that ripped up the wooden floor as it blasted past.

Mio had Elizabeth retreat into her sheath, the glow disappeared.

"Ooh, the Path of Destruction." She whistled. "It seems I struck a nerve!"

"I don't know if this truly is the real you, or if you actually got worse in your time over there." Mio glared, her voice soft, but strengthening. "At this point, I don't care anymore. But I do know this..."


"Ricchan... I'm so sorry." A ravenette sobbed at her bed's right side. "It's all because of me."

Technically, her parents had a hand in it; in a town not far from Sakuragaoka's location, an infestation of fire-based yokai, ape-like creatures with bodies of fur and magma, was exterminated by the Akiyama duo. Among those saved, the Tainaka family was quite grateful, and offered to do any favor in return.

It seems the husbands had crossed paths before, having been friends in college (yes, even monster hunters got educations), and the Akiyamas called up the favor soon enough: for their daughter Mio to stay with the Tainakas instead of with a babysitter during the long missions, so she wouldn't be lonely.

Ritsu spoke loudly to the shy left-handed girl with the pretty hair, and they'd been friends ever since.

But now, the actions of the Akiyama girl's parents had come back to haunt her.

One of the beasts escaped, sleeping and healing for years in the caves of the mountains not far from the small town. It craved revenge for the rest of its clan, remembering the face and name of the humans who killed it.

When it saw her, saw the features of the male and female in their child, it acted on its rage, biting and injecting its fiery poison into the only obstacle between it and vengeance.

It lost the battle to a sharp rock smashing its skull, but still left its mark, which Ritsu now held under the wrappings.

Mio wouldn't know the history behind this attack for another two days, when her parents returned, but knew this: "If I wasn't so scared and didn't freeze up like I always do, I could've run, or kicked him off you, or... or..." She sniffed, and mustered up some bravery. "Or I could've fought him myself!"

"Fight him yourself..." Her hair loose after getting up from bed not long ago, it veiled Ritsu's eyes as she contemplated such a thing...

until she laughed in Mio's face.

"HAHAHA! That's not like you, Mio." She informed her of the universal law. "Everybody knows you're the shy one, and I'm the brave one!"

The noirette's mood plummeted further, but she took a stand anyway.

"But... But I wanna be brave too!" She begged. "And I want to be strong, like you! Then..." Her voice fell to a murmur. "Then you won't have to get hurt again for someone like me."

"Huh? Somebody like you?" Ritsu's eyebrow raised. "But I like you!" She smiled. "You're my best friend!"

The other girl snapped, "I'm your only friend."

"That makes you extra special!" The brunette raised her left arm. "And this is special too, cuz I got it saving you! It's like a battle scar!"

Ritsu's words made Mio's heart feel... warm, light, fluffy—but that arm! She could barely resist staring, the mere sight of the limb weighing her emotions back down.

"Your arm is all messed up because of the poison." She explained. "I heard the special doctors say you can't ever take it off." She quaked with emotion. "If you do, you could die..."

"But Mio-"

"YOU COULD DIE, RICCHAN!" She let it out. "BECAUSE OF ME, YOU COULD DIE!"

Ritsu hated seeing Mio cry. She usually solved that problem by punching whoever messed with her, but this was different. The only thing she could think of was beating up another one of those monst-

She had an idea.

"Ne, Mio..." The noirette's head raised as she wiped away a tear. "My arm's got some kinda power, right? Cuz, well.. I can feel something different about it."

"Yeah, I guess so." She almost froze up then, when Ritsu first stirred in her sleep, then started to scream... "You almost set your whole room on fire."

"And I can still use the arm, right?" She wiggled the fingers, moved the whole limb around.

"Yeah..." Mio was still unsure where she was going with this.

"Well then... I'm gonna use it!"

She shot from her chair. "WHAT?"

"Mmhm!" She nodded. "I bet there are all kinds o' things like that monkey out there, and I'll kill 'em all with this."

"What are you gonna do? You're just a kid!"

"Not when I'm grown up," she countered. "And by then, I'll be a hero, so nobody else gets this if they don't want one."

"But what if-"

Ritsu suddenly grabbed the shy one's hand and looked straight into her friend's eyes, the latter unable to look away before such determination.

"S'okay, Mio!"

Despite the bandaged cuts and scratches on her face and legs, despite the sweat on the mattress, despite the gauze from shoulder to finger, she flexed a bicep and gave a big grin.


The oni stood aghast as the ground rumbled. A red-orange energy gushed forth from the hole, the crater now resembling a volcano.

A demon emerged from the eruption. Her body was engulfed in the flame-like aura, the blood on her cuts sizzling and evaporating. Most blood came from her right side, the dislocated, deadened arm she carelessly jammed back into place by the rock-like left limb. Once missing a hand, it had bent and warped until the missing piece was restored, but still seemed to stir, infrequently spiking as the currents madly coursed under the surface.

Her broken headband left behind, her hair shot skyward. Her eyes were nothing but whites, the power cloaking her seemingly acting beyond her will.

The oni refused to defer to this reborn foe; he came at her again, fist reared for one more strike.

She calmly outstretched her left hand...


"As long as I got this arm, I'm not gonna die!"


… and caught his right with no effort.

"Impossible!" was all he could call his metal arm turning to slag before his eyes. "M-m-my arm is... unbreakable!"

He was too shocked to move the other, making him an easy target-

"No..."

-for when she inhaled-

"NoooOOOOOOO!"

-and screamed out a torrent of fire.


"...They'll survive." She pointed her katana to the enemy. "And so will I."

"Oh? You're so sure?" Megumi certainly wasn't. "Didn't I tell you hope was pointless? What, did you make some childish promise too?"

"A promise..." Mio smirked. "Yes, we did, Ritsu and I."

Megumi's smile may have helped her through her first year of hunting, but Ritsu's very presence had helped her through the past eight years of her life. Mio wouldn't give that time up for anything, and she wanted to share more with her. That meant getting stronger—not just for herself, but for the both of them.

"Ugh, her." The senior muttered. "She always got between us. Always asking questions, always wondering if she could have a few rounds with me... damn tomboy didn't know how to ask nicely either." A tiny grin came to the older brunette's face as she imagined giving her an attitude adjustment. "If she's not dead already, I think I'm gonna handle her my-"

It would seem she didn't learn after the first time she spoke of Ritsu that way; with those words, her junior was in her face.

Suppressing a gasp, Megumi shielded herself, the subsequent blows coming faster and faster. Somewhere in the middle, she managed to catch the shine in the steel orbs glaring her way, and her maddened, slightly frightened heart filled with glee.

"There it is..."

The swords were nothing more than blurs as they both picked up the pace.

"That's it!"

The ringing of weapon against weapon was near-constant now, but the the brown-eyed blade-wielder was too excited to hear it.

"Your conviction!"

Megumi got out first, the smallest burst of spirit energy blasting her feet back. She decided to use a little more: with a pulse, the air rippled, and duplicates of the former queen of the school appeared.

"I'm so happy to see it, Mio-chan!"

Mio matched her, the team five to five.

The Path of Confusion lay before them both.

"I'm getting really sick of you calling me that."

Brown and black streaks crashed into each other, launching themselves from the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling. With every collision, the sounds of metal to metal sang. Drops of blood scattered on the surfaces, any pretense of defense dropped the minute they started this new dance, made this new music.

Two minutes later, both girls came back down to earth. With Megumi already having appeared battle-worn, one might be unable to notice her damage at first glance. Still, her old jacket-cape looked like it sported a few more holes, and a few red lines marred her arms and a leg. The bang in the center of her forehead was also in pieces. Mio, meanwhile, found the forearm of her right jacket sleeve in tatters, and the most troublesome blow was received over her left eye, the blood she stubbornly swiped away with her good sleeve before it obscured her vision.

The former mentor's chest heaved as her body demanded air, the gasps breaking her speech. "Done... already, Mio-chan? You can... still... join me, you know. One... chance, before this ends."

The Akiyama suffered from the same affliction. "About... two years ago, I might have... loved that. But... tonight," her eyes became steel slits. "I'd rather die."

The world-walker grew incensed. The only one in years to ever show her a challenge, to earn her eye in more ways than one, and Mio spat in her face?

"Fine then..."

She rushed towards the object of her affection-turned-ire, her longsword hungry for another bite of flesh.

"I'll make that happen!"

Mio placed her katana back in its sheath, but her hold on the handle stayed. Curiously, Elizabeth's container was detached from her master's waist.

"I do have... conviction, Megumi..." Her breath steadied. "And I have power too. Just enough left to defeat you."

The ex-leader saw her replacement take a step.

Then she was gone, causing the senior to halt her run.

"What?"

She would have looked around to search, but her body suddenly failed to listen to her commands.

That sword going through her back may have had something to do with it.

"I finally figured it out, Megumi." A whisper came to the wounded girl's ears. "I suppose I owe it all to you. If you hadn't have pushed me to my limit tonight, I might not have had to do it."

Her brown eyes widened.

"You really did it..."

The foreign energy trapped in her body burst away, a sextet of lines breaking the floor from the epicenter; an overhead view would appear to make out a six-point star.

Mio finished it for her. "The Six-Path Strike."

Megumi's legs succumbed to gravity, then the upper body followed. As her head kissed the ground, she was just aware enough to realize there wasn't as much of a pool of blood as there should be.

"You used... the blunt end?" She managed to groan out.

"I never did like blood." The gray-eyed girl flipped the blade back around. "Besides, if I cut you up too badly, I don't think the others will believe me when I tell them this."

The second she heard the click of sword and sheath, blackness swept over the swordswoman Sokabe's mind. She didn't even get to say that her anger was gone, replaced by a strange pride in that her junior had surpassed her.

Mio wouldn't have cared anyway-

-or heard it, as her exhausted body fell too.

She did not have the strength to look up as a shape retrieved her. Lips moved, but the message was muddled.

"...out of here, and get to work on..."

Her vision blurred, but she swore she saw dozens of... paper men?

Oh, right... Sawako-sensei's shikigami.

"...orry, Mio-chan... be okay soon once... room."

Be... okay? Even her thoughts were tired. I guess it's safe enough to get some rest, then...

She claimed her reward: a few hours of sleep.


"How is she?"

They had finally returned to the homeroom, Mugi having done her work on them all; it had taken longer than usual to heal the others, since she expended much of her energy to keep one of the girls from death.

"She'll live." Sawako spoke solemnly, her glasses off as she rubbed her temples. Thank the gods for leftover tea; she and the band currently drank it to take the edge off.

Ritsu looked over, her arm once again in bandages, having had multiple copies of the same seal in reserve from yet another "colleague" of Mio's parents. "She hasn't left her side this whole time."

Indeed, a large cat lay to Yui's right, only the team's healer able to get close enough without facing growls. The flames on her tails had dimmed, but her anger and anxiety would never truly end until-

"Mmmh."

"YUI!" The crowd moved together, but one already took the lead: the feline watching the patient's upper half rise.

Chocolate orbs opened, blinking frequently to clear up the images. She eventually managed to center on a big shadow with a pair of slitted eyes, eyes that seemed... familiar...

"Azu... nyan?"

The shadow pounced, changing shape in mid-air. Yui felt a weight plow her back into the bed. "Oof!"

"Oh, she shouldn't be so rough with her!" Mugi worried, about to get up from her seat. "Yui-chan's wounds are still healing and-"

A hand settled on her shoulder, from none other than their favorite teacher. "Just let them be, Mugi-chan."

The hairclipped brunette finally sat up again, looking down to something wrapping its arms around her torso. The new girl's hair was long enough to fall down to cloak her unclothed body, her head deep in Yui's chest. The sound was muffled, but the upbeat upperclassman still heard a name only one person ever called her.

"Yui... senpai."

"Hi, Azu-nyan." Yui stroked her junior's head to soothe her heart. "Was I gone long?"

"Too long, senpai." She muttered with a voice made hoarse with happy tears. "I thought I'd never see you again."

Her arm looped around the kitten kōhai's shoulders, pulling her in. "Sorry for making you so sad."

"I'm sure you are." Her voice tried hard to affirm itself. "And that's why I want you to do something in return."

She shoved herself back from the archer's embrace, took a deep breath... and screamed.

"TELL ME YOU WILL NEVER DO SOMETHING SO INSANE EVER AGAIN!" She grabbed Yui's shoulders, looking into her eyes. "Promise me!"

The formerly injured took a moment to think about it. "Hmm..."

Finally, Azusa would get Yui to act a little more rational for once-

"Nope!"

"...what?" Her jaw hung agape. "But... why?"

The senior's smile was stunning.

"Well, I can't let my Azu-nyan die, can I?"

"Y-y-your... Azu... nuh?" The killer cat of just moments ago was reduced to a babbling mess.

"Hee hee, you're so cute when you're like that!"

Her face was cherry red as it reclaimed a place in Yui's bosom.

"Mou... What am I going to do with you?"

While Mugi stepped off to the side to get some tissues for a nosebleed she was too otherwise entranced to heal, Mio and Ritsu shared a giggle.

"It almost reminds me of us." The noirette sat in a chair at the desk-table. She was still a little weak in the knees, but she'd be fine by morning.

"Yeah, except you didn't hug me, though." She smirked slyly. "I distinctly remember you punching me on the head and calling me 'stupid Ritsu' for promising I wasn't gonna get myself killed using this thing." She pointed to her wrapped weapon. "That was the first time you ever hit me, wasn't it?"

"You're right. Which reminds me..." Mio prepared a fist and...

POW.

"...why? And-" Ritsu touched the new lump on her head, "–ow! How do you still have enough strength to do that?"

"That's for making me think you were dead." She chose to pass on the second question, not really knowing the answer herself. "What happened to you back there? I wasn't even using my sense, but I knew something was up. I could feel it."

"I dunno." Ritsu realized the time she was talking about. "One minute I was down, then I saw fire, and the next minute, I just... won." Her voice quieted. "I think I saw you, too."

"Well," she was unsure how to respond to that. "I suppose we should both be grateful for that second wind."

"Yeah."

It was a mystery neither of them would solve tonight, so they let it drop.

Still, they knew they'd have to talk about the other battle eventually, so Ritsu took charge. "So... about Megumi-"

"That chapter of our lives is over." Mio tried to assure. "The memories, the old her, all of that is gone—has been gone for almost two years. Besides, she's out of our hands now." According to their teacher, the authorities, and not the usual police, handled her. In fact, Yui was being brought up to speed on the matter right now, her eyes gigantic at the recent events, but soon accepting them for what they were; it always amazed the group how well she could handle new things.

"Glad to hear that, but... are you sure she's out of your hands?" Ritsu attempted to reach out. "If you need to let it out, I'm right here."

"It's weird, but... I really... don't. I'm kind of a little worried about that, if I'm getting a little too cold when it comes to all of this." The ravenette sighed out that minor frustration. "But you being here means a lot to me." Her voice softened. "It always has."

"Well, I think the fact that you're worried means you got plenty of heart left! And, uh..." The amber-eyed loved one scratched the back of her head. "...Thanks. You..." The usually headstrong fighter suddenly couldn't look at her teammate. "You mean a lot to me too."

I hope so, Mio thought as she gathered herself for what came next.

"I can thank Megumi for one last thing before I beat her, though."

A brow raised. "What?" Mio's head bowed, once again, made it hard for Ritsu to read her face.

"She taught me that sometimes, it's okay not to hold back."

She stood, a little wobbly on her feet. Her friend quickly sprouted up to assist her.

"Whoa, Mio, take it easy! You could hurt your-"

It all stopped.

Her words, the room, her mind, everything melted away but her heart, which pumped like she was in battle all over again, and the girl whose lips made their way onto hers.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself as articulate as another certain student in the room moments ago.

"...muh?"

"I've been wanting to do that since middle school, but I never had the courage. I was always afraid it would change too much, that it would risk too much." Ritsu was silent, so she went on. "But I realized tonight that we've always been changing, always taking risks, and I needed to take this plunge before we almost die again."

The friend and not-a-secret crush still stood there, amber vision shooting into the distance. Her right hand was on her lips, her mind seemingly trying to grasp onto the sensation.

"Well?" Mio grew frustrated as the silence stretched on. "Aren't you going to say something?" Tears threatened to bubble to the surface. "If you don't feel the same way, just tell—mmph!"

Judging by the kiss that made the gray-eyed girl's knees even weaker, Ritsu handed her feelings back tenfold.

Sawako handed the frozen Mugi more tissues for the new nosebleed.

"I wanted to tell you first, but you beat me to it." the bandaged brunette explained as the two parted for needed air. "I thought I was supposed to be the brave one?" She gave a fake pout. "I was gonna make a love letter and everything, too."

"Shut up." The noirette softly smiled, wrapping her arms around her new girlfriend. "Stupid Ritsu."

"You're just gonna keep on calling me that, but you still love me, don'tcha?"

"Yes, I will, and yes... I love you, Ritsu." Her cheeks reddened, the first time she ever said those words, words she never thought would come out in the open.

"Love you too."

Mio could have leaned on Ritsu forever, tired body or no, but knew that there were others in the room. "We'd better get back to-"

"Hey, Azu-nyan! I just realized—you're naked!"

Quiet.

"...Azu-nyan?"

"Let me guess: Yui and Nakano?"

A sigh. "Yui and Azusa."

"Azu-nyan, wake up!"

And so the night went, the girls marking another daily mission accomplished. Of course, there would eventually be more yōkai to fight, more skills to learn, and more adventures to have, but none would quite leave a mark on the young hunters like the events of this Monday night. Facing both monsters and their feelings had brought them all a little closer—even Mugi, whose own spirit leaped to see others happy.

They could only be amazed at what Tuesday night would bring...

END


That chapter was a monster! For some reason, my final chapters are always so much longer than the others before them... oh well. It's done now, so quit riding me about it!

...Just kidding, guys; you know I thrive on your feedback.

For those wondering: I based the concept of shikigami on the little creatures in the anime Kekkaishi, one of the shows that inspired this story (as did Bleach and probably others). The creature that poisoned Ritsu is loosely based on the Gohma Howler in the video game Asura's Wrath (it's like an awesome anime DVD box set in one game—I recommend watching it on YouTube).

To those who followed and reviewed the story, to those who simply looked at the story without actually saying a word because they were in awe, even to those who said, "Oh HECK no, I know Yui ain't dying on me!", I thank you for your time and interest. Making other people smile was a great way to spend this summer.

For another supernatural story with Ritsu and Mio, I suggest my other full-length K-ON! fanfiction, "Howl!" For some lighter reading, I also made a gender-bending one-shot titled "Punching Bag!".

Until we meet again, readers.