DISCLAIMER: I claim no rights to K-on!
WARNING: Rated T for safety though I doubt there will be little to no explicit content.
Servant of Love
Under the bright-lit sky, Mio found herself on a small hut, almost on the verge of collapsing. Supposedly, she was about to go home when Ritsu decided to spend the night for fear that they would fell victims under the wolves' claws.
"I thought you'll carry me back home" a certain black-haired girl complained, sitting on top of the sheets that were laid on the humble wooden floors of the miniscule manger that stood proudly in the depths of the forest.
"No sane human will venture out in the middle of the night only to become food for the hungry predators" the amber-eyed retorted while resting on the same sheet she shared with the raven-haired, her arms tucked behind her head to serve as a cushion, "not unless you want to see Great Ritsu in action?"
Mio almost succumb to the temptation to hit the girl for her clever remark but she held back when the brunette shifted her gaze to her, examining her entirety: starting from her head, down to her thin legs then back to her angelic face while grinning wildly.
"What do you think you're doing?" Mio tried to cover her chest even though she wore a decent clothe that didn't gave a slight stimulation to those people who spent the rest of their lives marveling on the beauty of the human body.
"Nothing" she sported a grin that could be easily interpreted as the one who engaged on conspiracy, ready to overthrow anyone who dared to cross swords against the extremists.
"I just saw something devious behind that grin of yours" she glared at the one whom she accused of sexual harassment by mere inspection, "and those eyes flickered remains of malice" she said while remaining vigilant, "clearly divulge your true intentions."
There was a loud burst of laughter that echoed throughout the woods, even the birds responded in panic as it flew away from its slumber brought about by Ritsu's uncontrolled laughter.
"I can't believe you had such wild imagination!" she held her abdomen while laughing loudly before she wiped the beads that formed around the corner of her eyelids.
Blood boiled down on Mio's face as Ritsu made her a laughingstock when she tried to voice out her opinion about the older girl's earlier actions. She grabbed a pillow then shoved it over Ritsu's face with the hopes of silencing the idiot... or by glorious amount of divine luck, silences her for eternity.
"Hmpph!" a smothered whimper escaped from the brunette's lips as the majestic raven-haired beauty had successfully bestowed punishment to the one who opposed Japan's iconic figure of revolutionary fashion.
Ritsu pulled the pillow away then gasped for air. For a brief moment, she felt she could join the afterlife and left her body to rot in this pitiful place unsuitable to be her final resting place. "Gosh" she sat lazily, still fazed on Mio's intent to… kill? "I thought I'm going elsewhere" she looked at the grey-orbed whose face was flushed while not attempting to stare back at the older girl.
"That's for poking fun on me" she shot a dangerous glare to Ritsu who somehow fidgeted on the fact that the beauty was capable of such stunt. She laughed nervously, wondering how such atmosphere turned into hostility with just her simple prank of teasing the steel-eyed girl with a suggestive stare. Of course, who wouldn't respond to such when every woman in the world will yield to a much drastic means to give the harasser a fate more cruel than reality itself?
Looking in different directions with just her eyes doing all the work; the amber-eyed was in desperate need to lessen the building tension between her and the younger girl. She looked at the window only to spot a glass of water beside it; the color was churning enough to invite nausea. An idea flickered in the mind of the sly girl, curving her lips into a menacing one. She foresaw her victory and now she's waiting to pull her trump card to turn the tables.
"Mio…" she tried to catch the angry girl's attention who still kept an unyielding façade, "Do you know the story… " she cleared her throat to shift her tone into a more sinister one, "of the raindrops child?"
The younger girl bit the brunette's trap; she will inevitably face the consequence brought about her sheer susceptibility to curiosity. All people fell victims when there's a slight hint of oddity on the subject and not long after, they found themselves unable to escape.
"…raindrops child?" she reiterated while her face was apparently begging for more emphasis on the subject, her steel orbs showing glints of curiosity.
Ritsu rejoiced mentally. Finally, her victim fell on the snare she prepared. All she had to do was to sew all the crap she's perfectly good at and mixed them together to create a clumsy piece of horror bullshit. 'This is it', she breathed heavily before her amber eyes turned serious than ever before.
"The raindrops child is an entity that lurks in the starless night after a heavy rainfall" she grinned while she enjoyed the sight of the poor girl cowering in fear, squeezing her creamy legs with her arms while her palms over her ears to block any words the brunette has yet to spit. "The child knocks on someone's door, his coat drenched in dirt and moss while begging you to deliver the object in his grasp to your daughter. One look and you know he's not human when his hands were covered with… "
"…with?"
"Curious?" the brunette leaned closer to the younger girl's steel eyes, examining fear and anticipation swirling in her irises. Mio, stiffened by Ritsu's playful advance, nodded in response.
For the umpteenth time, Ritsu cleared her throat while massaging the area where her voicebox was located. Her raspy voice earned a loud shriek when she yelled, "his hands were covered with barnacles!"
"Kyaaaaaa!"
THUMP!
The last thing she knew, the brunette fell on her rear, cupping her throbbing cheek where Mio gave her a good slap on the face, "Ite!" she cried in anguish while trying to recompose herself, cursing Mio under her breath, "What was that for?"
"That's for adding barnacles to your crappy storytelling" she rubbed her palms repeatedly, refusing to help the brunette who rolled over towards the abandoned supplies. Mio had always hated barnacles ever since she could remember and those organisms that plagued the waters should have never existed in the first place, how she wished.
She and her mother, Mayu, were completely alike that even Akihiro himself will never dare to bring up that subject to their conversations for fear that this might incur the wrath of the ladies he adored the most and ended up on a severe state as far as his imagination could conjure.
"Scary as always" Ritsu muttered while creeping her way towards the sheet to resume her position. She grabbed the pillow and tucked it between her legs while Mio watched the brunette, still on-guard, waiting for another round of swat if Ritsu insisted to play pranks on her.
Caught up with the older girl's whines, her curiosity shot up once again. Her pursed lips opened, asking "What do you mean by 'scary as always'?" her steel orbs refused to look away to the brunette whose back was facing against her. The thought of familiarity played on rewind as Mio came into an assumption that she met the brunette before and that would be a plausible explanation why there were instances that she had these vague sensations whenever Ritsu's involved, "Have we met before?"
"No way… I mean, we just met yesterday" she refused to look to Mio, her left arm her only cushion on the wrinkled sheets.
Mio, skeptical as always, leaned closer to the older girl's face - her amber eyes her only means of finding the truth behind Ritsu's words. She knew she could decipher something by looking at the part that emanated honesty in the most direct manner of all as it spoke the truth before Ritsu could coat it in words.
The raven-haired beauty moved her knees, little by little; she headed to Ritsu's position. "I am not buying that excuse of yours not until I see your eyes" she tried to sweep the stray locks hanging on the older girl's face to see the object of her intention.
Ritsu quickly raised her arms to serve as a cover to her amber orbs. She desperately resisted Mio's attempts to uncover the truth. They were playing tug-of-war only that no rope was involved but Ritsu's thin arms trying to shake off Mio's.
"Hey, what's the matter with you? Pouncing at me like that, are you that totally enthralled to my god-given handsomeness? " she blurted behind her arms, still not giving up to Mio's persistence. A wave of uneasiness could be seen on Ritsu's actions; it's really clear that she was hiding something and Mio wanted her to spit it out to clear all her suspicions.
By divine stroke of good… bad luck perhaps, Mio's foot was caught between the sheets by her constant wobbling. She fell straight to the brunette's lean body, her proud chest against Ritsu's. There was a minute of silence; no one initiated an excuse to defend themselves. They were just there, on that position that could inevitably escalate to a higher form of happiness if and only if, Ritsu was among the people who knew what rare opportunity was but she never responded to that stimulus. She covered her eyes with her arms until she broke the awkward silence, "Hey, how long are you gonna stay on top of me? I… I can't breathe…"
Mio quickly retrieved her body away from the older girl, fidgeting as she moved her legs out "S-sorry" she stuttered while a hint of crimson crept from her neck then upwards, blushing when she realized she stayed on top of Ritsu for a while, figuring out how everything felt mysterious yet familiar… nostalgic but was uncertain how all these oddities came into existence with just, once again, with Ritsu's presence.
"Let's sleep, Mio" the older girl said in a muffled tone, the pillow tucked previously on her legs was now on the back of her head while her face buried on the sheets, "we'll return home once the sun has risen."
The younger girl obliged to the brunette's request. She grabbed her pillow and stuffed it beneath her head as she tried to suit herself. She watched the brunette's back before she uttered the usual thing to do before going to sleep, "Oyasumi."
"Oyasumi."
Morning came; the sun's light peeked on the hut's glassless window that awoke the raven-haired beauty. She sat up while rubbing her eyes to clear out the cloudy vision she got from a good night sleep. She glanced at the girl who's sleeping peacefully, vulnerable yet charming. She drew closer to Ritsu's position, commencing the interrupted plan from last night. She gently brushed off the older girl's strands to take a good look to Ritsu's face. She glided her soft palm until it met a slight lump on the corner of the brunette's right brow -another scar besides her neck.
Why does she have scars every time I did something out of my curiosity?
Her little musing got disrupted when the brunette smiled lopsidedly, "I see… curious as always, Ms. Dangerous Queen" then a loud thump followed after. Ritsu, again, fell on her rear. She complained, "What's with this morning greeting?"
Out of impulse, Mio gave Ritsu an early swat for a greeting, for surprising her while got lost on her thoughts. She doesn't know why her instincts and reflexes were functioning well when all she used to ward off her admirers were her overutilized excuses.
She apologized then repeatedly bowed her head to ask for forgiveness but Ritsu just laughed it off like how they first met in their house. The brunette stood from her rear and pulled something out from her pocket.
"Here, have something before we head home."
She threw a red fruit and a bottle of water to Mio and the latter had just caught it in time. The steel-orbed stared at the apple, watching her reflection shown in the fruit's skin. She thanked the girl but instead of eating the fruit, she hid the apple by tying a knot on the hem of her shirt, exposing her navel on the process. She tied her hair into a long ponytail, leaving the other strands beneath her face untied. She was, for a moment, looked even more stunning when her neck was exposed and the proof was Ritsu's immediate reaction: frozen… while drooling.
Mio never overlooked such abhorrent reaction; being turned on just because she tied her hair similar to a practitioner of bushido arts. She gave Ritsu an accusing look to which she automatically came up an excuse, "You got it all wrong, Mio" she scratched her head out of habit, "I… I got this from my sleep!"
Nervous, she jumped towards the doorstep then whiffed the fresh air of the tranquil forest. She turned around before she offered her hand to the younger girl, "Let's go." She crooked a smile that prompted Mio to smile in return; this time, she wasn't that reluctant anymore. With barely two days, their friendship has blossomed to this point - a friendship between two different individuals with different circumstances and clashing personalities.
Cold mist enshrouded the area, reducing their vision to obscurity. The older girl had to rely to her instincts as they walked upon the road full of uncertainties, not knowing what danger lies ahead when they miss a step.
"Hey, do you by any chance, know the shrine by the woods?"
"Shrine? Was there even one?" she arched an eyebrow as the brunette carried the steel-eyed on her back, kicking the dried leaves away, entangled on the base of her wooden slippers.
"Yes" Mio asserted while she took a peek on the direction Ritsu's going, squeezing her chest on the brunette's modest back, "the shrine of the village's Gisei-kamisama."
"That weak of a god? Was he even worshipped these days?"
"I don't know" Mio responded, dejected though she hoped that the brunette knew something about the deity but it seems that Ritsu took no interest with regards to the topic. Not even close from quitting, she came up with another question, "Then do you perhaps know a pile of stones fashioned in a way similar to a cradle?"
Ritsu burst out of laughter, the idea of a cradle as a shrine was too ridiculous. Her strength gradually slipped, almost losing her balance while all the while Mio was in danger of grazing her knees because of Ritsu's action.
Good thing Ritsu finally settled down after her unladylike outburst, she apologized but her tone wasn't convincing - there's still a hint of mockery in her apology. "I'm sorry" she restrained herself from laughing because she knew she'll be awarded with a new lump on her vulnerable head, "it's just that I find the description of a cradle as a shrine too funny. But I know the place where you could find the cradle shrine you're looking for."
With her reassurance, Mio felt slightly happy that she could finally visit the place her father used to frequent during his pesky days before he matured into a fine man but his childish qualities were still retained.
"Wanna see that cradle?" the older girl said, implying that she could take the raven-haired if she desired it.
Instinctively, she replied to the brunette with faint enthusiasm despite Ritsu knew deep inside Mio's heart that she wanted to see the shrine badly.
"What brings you to visit those rocks?" Ritsu asked curiously, trying to elicit an answer from Mio who has yet to reveal her true intentions.
"It's for my father's sake. I just wanted to see for myself why he was really inclined to that god. Maybe, I could find something vital in relation with his unfaltering belief towards Gisei-kamisama."
"I see… so if you don't mind at all, wanna go on detour? I know a shortcut that will lead us straight to the other end of the woods" she smiled widely as the older girl could sniff a good adventure up ahead. With her foolhardiness, she's what you call the eccentric among eccentrics and the fool among fools; because danger, no matter how desperately human tries to avoid such occurrence, was nonexistent in Ritsu's lexicon.
For her, what mattered most was a good source of entertainment and a decent amount to ease her boredom. Risk was an efficient criterion to evaluate the degree of susceptibility towards injury. She held firm on the belief: No pain, No gain. And this was something alarming, because she took the saying by heart… and by heart, she meant it literally.
"We just need a little rowing till we get to the other side. You saw that lake when we're on top of the hill right?"
"I suppose you meant that one with crystal-clear water?"
"Yup, that one" she nodded to agree with the younger girl's assumption, "there's a small boat over there and it's not currently in use. We'll use that to reach the other side of the forest."
Because every second meant a lot for her, Ritsu didn't further waste any time. She quickened her pace: long footsteps and a little bit of hopping. Despite her protest, Mio tightened her wrap around Ritsu's neck as her legs and bust pressed on the brunette's body. The grey-orbed felt that this was just part of the amber-eyed girl's scheme: fanservice in the form of innocent piggyback riding. Never in her life did she experience some sort of playful advances from the same individual for Mio, an elusive beauty, shunned the boys around her and she knew quite well if girls were taking advantage of her status. She had no real friends to begin with until she joined the light music club which consisted of unique individuals whose goal was to have good time with tea and snacks. But what her heart needed the most was not the sugary stuff but a bestfriend or a lover whom she could strip her pretentious façade that she had worn ever since her introduction to stardom.
The mention of a lover sent blood to accumulate on her rosy cheeks and she squealed mentally when she realized she had these thoughts along. What's the point of wishing underneath the stars if she never wished of such? There's a truth in the belief that women are affectionate beings and it wouldn't be surprising if they are more emotionally-inclined than logic. Because women, by nature, are loving individuals and their maternal instincts what separate them from men.
Not long after, they reached their destination with Mio who was completely enticed by the image before her: cotton candy clouds up above while the birds glided over to catch their prey on the crystal-clear water, leaving the victims to face the cruelty in the name of survival; the willow tree rustled as the gentle November wind blew its leaves. Peace has taken its form in this place and what was left to do was to cross these waters and reach the other end where the shrine stood humbly.
'Beautiful' she thought while her raven strands swayed westward in response to the wind.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
She was taken aback by the brunette's words who seemed to know what the steel-orbed was thinking.
How could she figure out what's on my mind?
"It's because you're easy to read" she scoffed, her amber eyes flashed smugly.
"What are you? A mind reader or something?"
"Not even close to that" she smiled confidently as she declared the reason behind her fearsome ability, "it's because I can feel your heartbeat pounding excitedly every time you see something stunning" she continued, "Behold! The Great Ritsu is the only being on earth who could read someone's heart even in a thicker stratum of adipose tissue!"
Mio felt insulted by Ritsu's bogus ability… and by describing her chest as layers of fat compressed in two bountiful mounds. Tactless as she might be, the brunette was torn between bringer of good news and mislead. She, an eighteen year old with boyish tendencies, was undeniably Mio's newly found chopping board of choice as she earned another prize on her head to which the members of the Mio occult will never hesitate to throw their lives in the line even just for a second… for this benediction bestowed by none other than their goddess herself.
"Ite!" she almost cried from the impact, "what's wrong with you?"
"That's for insulting my chest."
"But I never did!"
"Yes you have" Mio insisted, "I suppose that's because of woman's jealousy taking part on this petty argument, am I right?"
"No way" Ritsu tried to sway Mio with the best of her abilities, "I have a decent bust too if I'll take these binders off. No way would I desire something bigger when all those layers of fat will sag when we hit the elderly population!"
Three.
Two.
One.
A jet crash landed on the poor girl's lumpy head, creating a fissure between the just newly-created slopes. The Dangerous Queen was a being to be feared that not even the sliest of all will win from her divine weapon - her fist.
"N-no more!" she wailed for mercy, "I surrender!"
Mio loosened her fist, unclenching it as the amber-eyed had already waved the white flag of defeat but her other fist was set to launch whenever the brunette will attempt to tease her or make any uncivilized comments with regards to Mio's physical gifts.
"L-look!" Ritsu blurted out, "there's a boy in the middle of the lake!"
"Was there?" her steel orbs failed to believe.
"Y-yes!" sweat dropped into the brunette's forehead down to her neck, "He's drowning, gotta save him before it's too late!"
Mio saw nothing not until she heard a rumbling splash of water and then she saw a hand, waving on the surface, begging for help.
She gasped under her breath; the image of imminent death took over her mind if no one will attempt to save the boy. Panicking, she unknowingly commanded the amber-eyed despite she had never called her by her name, "H-help him!"
Without falter, Ritsu carefully settled Mio down on the shades of the willow tree before she leapt to the waters then swam her way towards the drowning boy. She increased her speed with the hopes that she could reach him before it's too late.
His waving came into halt when the boy finally lost the struggle; he sank gradually before his hand could no longer be seen in the surface. Immediately, Ritsu dove down and for a moment, gone were the two in Mio's eyes. The raven-haired prayed, trembling in fear, 'No' she thought, 'I don't want to see people dying again!'
The trauma from the accident haunted Mio and right before her eyes, another tragedy was about to be welcomed by her feeble heart. 'What's taking Ritsu so long?' she cringed as her palms unconsciously held her head while she was looking on her shirt dampened by her tears. 'They should have resurfaced by now!'
Mio almost lost herself but was taken aback when her faintest hope flickered upon the sound of gurgling bubbles. She looked attentively on the waters, waiting for the two to reemerge again.
"Uwaaah!" Ritsu gasped for air, pulling the boy to the surface. She held the boy by wrapping her left arm on his chest while her other hand do the maneuvering. She hastily swam towards Mio's direction before she settled the boy on the ground.
The steel-eyed wanted to help but she froze on the sight of the seemingly lifeless body before her. She also had issues with regards to boys because her entire life was spent with boys who brought nothing but difficulties. They were the beings least trusted by the younger girl that's why she decided to pursue her highschool in Sakuragaoka - to evade the people who kotowed on their family's influence and to relieve herself from those pestiferous confessions and advances that disturbed her tranquility.
The older girl attempted to resuscitate the boy. She repeatedly compressed the boy's chest before she propped her mouth against his, attempting to revive him by her constant exchange of air. With her vigorous display of effort, the amber-eyed succeeded and the boy spat out the fluid that had entered his lungs.
Ritsu leaned back while her fists help up high in the air, "Yosha!" she bellowed upon the exhibition of her bravery "Glad that I made it in time before everything goes wrong!"
A sense of relief escaped from Mio's lips as she saw the two already far from being candidates towards the next life.
"Hey, kid!" Ritsu called out the recipient of her valiancy, "what were you doing in the middle of the lake? Kids should not play without their parent's supervision."
The boy exchanged glares before his gaze turned soft upon the realization that his savior had asked for his reason, "Thank you for saving me but I wasn't playing in the waters, mind you."
Ritsu raised an eyebrow then she tucked her arms to continue her question, "If that's the case then, why did you risk yourself on that lake?"
There was a decent minute of silence before he uttered, "I was trying to get something that was submerged in the waters" he blushed before he continued; "it's supposed to be a present for Aika-chan."
A wide smile etched in the brunette's visage as the thought of puppy love had entered her playful mind. "Uhuh… a present for your girlfriend, huh? Youngsters these days…" she rubbed her nares similar to an old geezer who reminisce his perverted days, "so how far did the two of you go?"
One swoop followed after Ritsu's malicious inquiry, her face met the ground when Mio gave her a good lecture by her fist, "That's not a nice way to phrase a question, idiot."
"I was meaning to ask the boy if they held hands" she raised her head, her face covered in filth, "Don't tell me, you meant it that way, Mio?"
Sly as always, Ritsu never gave up though her question could be taken somewhat inappropriate and something deceiving. She really wanted to hear the boy's answer no matter what because she, the Great Ritsu, proudly acclaimed herself to the title as Aphrodite's servant of love.
"Spit it out, kid" she nudged him by her elbow, "Oneechan wants to help you and Aika-chan get closer than ever before." She stood with a proud gait with imaginary sun rays flashing behind her back, "For I, your Ritsu-oneechan, will not overlook the matter when it comes to love regardless of age!"
The boy took a moment to study the girls in front of him, trying to find something worthy of his trust after all, a stranger who offered help was way too suspicious… like he was bound to suffer from deceit if he gave his approval but what struck him to cede to Ritsu's charisma was the brunette's eyes - eyes that glowed reliability despite her flashiness.
Mio sighed that she should partake on the older girl's quest to become the female version of Cupid. Her knack on going to all sorts of trouble was a trademark of the amber-eyed and that reminded Mio of the similarity between Ritsu and her late father.
She and Otosan…
"Oy, Mio" a hand waved continuously in front of her face as the new messenger of love tried to catch her attention, being once again lost in the vast sea of thoughts - a bad habit of hers. "You, okay? Wanna cool first?"
"No, I'm fine" she gave a reassuring smile, "I was just thinking about something."
"Oh, I see…" Ritsu titled her head to observe the girl for a while before she squealed out of excitement, "Hey, this boy admitted that he loves Aika-chan!" then she leaned closer to Mio's ear to whisper something, "and what's more, he told me that the two of you looked alike each other. Beau-ti-ful, he said."
Steam escaped on Mio's face, vaporizing as it reached the level beyond control. The word 'beautiful' appeared trite - its meaning has lost its essence when she usurped that very definition but the way Ritsu delivered it made her heart skip a beat, worthy to be compared to a man whose expertise was solely on utter seduction.
"Got carried away, huh?" she continued her teasing to the now-blushing Mio who was averting her gaze from the two. 'Baka' she thought.
"Oh yeah… got a name, kid?" Ritsu asked the lad who was busy drying his clothes. Looking closer, Mio realized that the boy was wearing a brown jumper, two belts clasped past his clavicles before it intersected on his vertebra. He wore boots while he left the laces untied. What's more surprising was he looked someone familiar… someone who loves pastries more than anything else… someone like Hirasawa Yui.
Yui?
The way he fashioned his hair was similar to her airhead friend and those round chocolate eyes almost got her to assume that the guitarist was playing pranks on her but she knew it was impossible when Yui was on her second semester on her freshman days together with Mugi.
"My name is Takumi" he bowed in respect, "nice to meet you, Ritsu-oneechan" then he shifted his gaze to the beauty hidden in the shades, "…Mio-oneechan."
She froze upon hearing the word 'Oneechan.' Mio least expected something so intimate when all she was addressed by the people around her only consisted honorifics that defined her social status.
"Nice to meet you too" she nervously replied until Ritsu interrupted the exchange of pleasantries with her impatience.
"Okay, Takkun" the brunette gave the lad a nickname without his permission, "so what's with that gift of yours?"
Takumi explained that the gift was a pocketwatch he co-created with his late father, a clockmaker and a famous artisan before he died from tuberculosis. He said that he lost it when the storm hit the area unexpectedly when he travelled by a small raft, unsuccessful to deliver it to the girl before her birthday.
"I am now curious to what Aika-chan looks like apart from she shared the same face as Mio's" Ritsu rubbed her lower jaw while looking at the boy with piercing amber eyes. "Got any like a picture?"
"N-" he wasn't able to finish his sentence when the older girl snatched something out from his pocket. "Aha, a locket!" she blurted as she raised the object up, the sun made it glow as it hit its rays. She opened the locket only to see a girl in twin-tails while her eyes clearly expressed the innocence and sheer joy as she held a clover.
"Woah, a spitting image of Mio!" her eyes widened in disbelief. Curious, the raven-haired took a peek on the picture when the amber-eyed gave her a chance to see the photo in her own steel eyes. The younger girl almost agreed only that the girl on the photo was too petite for her size.
The boy tried to retrieve the locket out from Ritsu's hand, embarrassed that the subject of his affection was seen by these very girls. "S-stop! Give it back to me!" beads almost took its form on his lids.
"Oh, here" she carefully settled the object to the boy's palms, "sorry for borrowing it."
'No, you almost stole it' Mio mentally disagreed with the brunette's definition of borrowing. The older girl took a few noble steps close to the edge before she turned around with a wide smile and amber orbs that beamed fervently, "Mio, watch me as I'll retrieve the object and become a servant of passionate love and justice."
A/N: First and foremost, I would like to extend my gratitude to the following people:
-Gia B87: Hahaha... :) Thank you very much. Well, I should agree that there's a story behind all scars and uhhmm... well regarding the identity of the other damsel, it will be revealed in the future chapter(s). The meteor shower scene shouldn't be as it is, the idea has arisen from the fact that the supposedly original scenario came into conflict with the timeline and that's why, out of desperate need to thank Mio, I decided to go with stargazing. No, I should be the one thanking you for reading this story right from the start, it was impossible if not because of you readers.
-Raine1o1: Thanks. :) I really am thankful for adding this story to your list. Thank you for pointing out my mistakes too, I really appreciate it. I was frantically looking for that 'in' and thank heavens, I saw it when Ritsu was going to offer Mio a piggyback. No, you're great on your own. I love that C.C of yours. So even here, I'm gonna nudge you to write the continuation. :)
-P3uke: Thank you. I'm still on the process of learning from writing especially when I had just started out. Hopefully, you'll find the succeeding chapters.. uhmm.. okay or.. maybe not. :)
-Zirracat: Thanks. I am still quite unsure with my writing style because I had a serious case of using run-on sentences. So I would like to apologize if you'll encounter grammar mistakes and punctuation errors along the way. With regards to the granny, there will be a chapter dedicated just between the two of them with little flashbacks, I think.
-maye-chan: Hi, thank you very much. I don't know what to say but I want to thank you for dropping a review as well as adding this to your list. I already have the ending on hand. This is supposedly fifteen chapters or less, I believe (*gasp, that's still a long way to go).
-megaspaceout: Yes, you! :) Thank you very much for adding this to your list as well as for your words of encouragement. Hope you'll still read the succeeding chapters. :)
-TunaFish1997: Thank you following this story. :)
-To you readers out there: Thank you very much for reading this overly-clichéd title. :)
I would like to apologize for the sluggish update because school got me a handful of torturous paperwork. So to compensate for it, I made this chapter a little bit longer and well… I don't know if you'll call this a cliffhanger or plain stupid but this was just one of Ritsu and Mio's adventures in an unnamed place somewhere within the boundaries of Japan.
Another one worth apologizing… update will take much longer than usual because… well… uhmm… I have to study for prelims otherwise my allowance will be greatly reduced with due respect to my performance.
Oh, this chapter. Well… Mio was very suspicious of Ritsu's motives and the fact that she felt she knew the latter but was pretty unsure about it; so the questionable closeness or advances may be attributed to that hypothesis. Friends in just two days with that much closeness? Oh crap, I can't make something like that when in reality; it took me months or years to befriend people around me. (*uses the power of fiction as an excuse, cough cough.)
Thank you very much for reading. Reviews are greatly appreciated and rants are welcome too.
Uhmm.. well, sixth is up. :)