K-ON!: Shattered Dreams

Chapter 13: Time Limit

All Ui Hirasawa could do right now is hope for the best. She had her one last chance to contact her sister, and hoped that it reached her. She was all tuckered out after that one last attempt. She had to tell Yui of the impending danger that was about to befall on her. After the outburst that Nodoka had towards Ui, she knew something had to be done, and the only way she was going to do it was without the shackles and chains holding her down. In other words, she had to bail out of here quickly.

However, it seems a repeating occurrence happens every time she's in thought about her sister. She gets disrupted every time. This time, however, the very 'princess' of all Japan decided to pay a visit to the psychic. Ui, however, wasn't intimidated at all. In fact, if the shackles weren't around her, she'd have stood ready to fight Mio right there and then. But all Ui could do was grit her teeth at the sight of the 'princess'.

"Well," Mio began, wrapping two of the iron bars that make the cell for Ui. "This is your last chance, Ui. Just tell... one tiny little detail about your sister. Just one small weakness that Yui Hirasawa has... and then I'll let you go."

"Over... my dead... body..." She muttered, in between hard, deep breaths.

"That can be arranged!" Mio said, slightly incensed. "And I'll make sure you're piling on your sister's corpse!"

"Yui won't be beaten by you! My sister is BETTER THAN YOU!" Hearing those words gave Mio that evil smirk she's known for. She then opened the cell door and went in, shutting it as soon as she's entered.

"Really, Ui?" She threatened. "Yui's better than me? Well then... we'll find out, won't we? If she survives Nodoka that is..." She slowly took her blade out and rested the tip of it on Ui's throat. "So... what makes you so confident that Yui will defeat me?"

"For one... she has a pure heart... unlike you, you disgraceful, hopeless, lifeless, emotionless waste of space!" That only managed to earn Ui a punch to her face, making her grunt in pain.

"Heh... such bravery. I like that in a girl... you fare way better than your sister. Too bad the both of you must die. You'll just get in my way if I just let your roam free."

"We won't die... we will not die this day..." Mio pressed the tip of the sword a bit further, just slightly digging into Ui's skin.

"We'll see about that, Ui Hirasawa. When I'm done with her, you'll be eating your words." She sheathed her sword, but not before giving Ui yet another tight slap to her face. She turned away from Ui and looked at one of the Shadow Guards. "You, keep a close eye on her. And don't let her fool you." The Shadow, incapable of speech, gave Mio a nod. Ui could do nothing but just glare at Mio as she walked away.

"Gh..."



Yui almost made her fight look easy. Since the start of the fight, it looked as though Yui had Nodoka on the back foot, as she kept slashing away at her. Nodoka could only block as much as she could, with the occasional heavy side slash to try and knock her off balance. However, due to the scythe's weight, it was hard for Nodoka to maneuver it as quickly as Yui could maneuver her battle fans.

Or so one would believe.

Yui kept the attack up, nearly knocking Nodoka down with a pinwheel attack, sending her body spinning as her battle fans do the work. She landed ever so gracefully onto the floor, glaring at Nodoka. "What's wrong, Nodoka-chan? Don't tell me this is all you've got!"

"Hmph. I beg to differ, Yui. Look down." Unbeknownst to Yui, she had stepped right into one of Nodoka's favorite traps. She was engulfed in a purple light, but it didn't do much to her. However, when Yui opened her eyes, she saw that she's unharmed, but there was a white ball of light floating in front of her which floated right near Nodoka.

"W-wha-? What'd you do?" Yui asked, confused.

"Yui, I hate to say it. But you literally now have 10 minutes to live. This ball of light here represents your soul. When this light fades completely... you'll die."

"WHAT!" Yui exclaimed in disbelief.

"That's why, Yui, you have 10 minutes to live... however, if you defeat me in that 10 minute time frame, I'll return this orb back to you. Though I have high doubts you CAN defeat me in that time." Yui immediately returned to her fighting stance.

"This'll be a piece of cake then!" She yelled, charging straight for Nodoka, who only pushed her glasses up.

"Don't underestimate me, Yui." Nodoka then swiped at Yui with another sideswipe, which was easily dodged. Yui, however, did not account for a reflex swing coming in. The force of the swing caught Yui and she was flung about halfway across the roof.

"G-GYAH! Tch... okay, my mista-!" Yui didn't have time to mutter a thought as she noticed Nodoka charge in, swinging the scythe wildly to do damage. She knew that if she were to get hit now, it would hurt, so she used every ounce of energy she had dodging most of the attacks. She realized she couldn't get any closer either, seeing as the scythe's range is diminishing any chance for a close range hit. Out of nowhere, Nodoka planted the blade of the scythe into the ground and used the momentum of the swing to dropkick Yui in the chest, sending her tumbling back. "N-ngh..."

"Mistake 1, Yui. Never underestimate your opponent... even if she IS you former best friend."

"F-former? Nodoka, you've always BEEN my best friend!"

"THAT'S A LIE AND YOU KNOW IT! You wouldn't have abandoned me like you did! I've never heard from you in a long time, then suddenly you came back and don't even bother coming back to me!" Hearing all this had made Yui realize. She hadn't really been in touch with anyone from school, Nodoka in particular.

"Nodoka... look, Nodoka, I just want to get some answers. I want to get rid of this Hour and stop Mio!"

"If Mio's so important to you, then defeat me, Yui! You only have 8 minutes left! WORK FAST!" Yui immediately charged at Nodoka the moment she said that, knowing beating her best friend now would knock some sense into her...



Security had tightened in the prison cells, thanks to Mio, of course. Since she had promised the deaths of the Hirasawas, she needed to make sure Ui didn't escape. The captive could only look around for the moment, seeing the bigger, knight-like Shadows patrolling her area mostly.

'I have to get out of here... for Yui's sake and mine.' She thought to herself. She looked around and tried to think of an escape plan. A sudden realization hit her a minute later, and she recalled the moment Mio spoke to one of the Shadow guards. They understood her without thinking. So she had to put her theory to the test.

"U-umm... excuse me?" She called out in an innocent manner, getting the attention of one of the Shadow guards, who looked at her with its ominous yellow eyes. "Umm... my shackles are a bit too tight, and it's not really comfortable... you wouldn't mind loosening it up for me, right?" And thus, her theory was proven true. They'd listen to anyone with a request, as she saw the guard faze through the cell and attempt to loosen up the shackles by unshackling her first.

Big mistake.

Before it could even realize, Ui used her psychic powers to smash the Shadow guard into the wall, instantaneously destroying it. She then turned her attention to the cell, bending two of the bars so that she could have an opening for her to escape. The surrounding Shadow guards came in to stop her, but they were easily destroyed with a mind crush from Ui. She immediately booked it and ran out of the prison area. But she wasn't leaving without the one thing that was taken away from her prior to her capture, which was her weapon.

Sneaking around Akiyama Towers, however, was not her idea of an escape, but she had to do it if she wanted to get her weapon back. So in true Solid Snake style, she hid behind walls and kept a sharp eye for any hostiles. The added boost of her telekinesis helped as well. She went from cover to cover keeping herself unseen from the Shadow guards around the Tower, and there were plenty to begin with.

Alas, she had reached the storage room. Most likely, this was where Nodoka had stored Ui's possessions. However, there was heavy security as usual. Two heavy armor Shadow guards were blocking the path to the storage room. Acting swiftly, if her theory was proven right once, they'd be proven right again, as she used her mind powers to levitate a small paper ball on the ground, tossing it across the room. They took the bait, following it like a bunch of goldfish, which prompted Ui to sneak right into the storage room. Once again, using her psychic powers, she could scan the room to pinpoint where her stuff was. The moment she found it, she opened the locker containing her things.

"Jackpot." She whispered. The first thing she grabbed was her weapon of choice. She had been training with this for only a few weeks, yet she has gained the skills rather quickly. Her weapon of choice? Tonfa. The moment she grabbed it, her Number shined for a split second. "Well... I had to accept it one way or another... well then, Ui Hirasawa, Number III... shall we leave?" She said to herself. A few minutes later, she blew a hole for herself to escape, which sounded the alarms. It definitely would not go down well with the 'princess'.

Ui ran as far as her legs could take her, and that was pretty far away from Akiyama Towers. She stopped in an alley to catch her breath, as she had been running a good distance away. "The Shadows couldn't have caught up with me... phew." She said between breaths. However, she knew the business at hand, and that was finding her sister. She mustered up some strength in her mental power to scan the area. "Onee-chan... I'm coming." She pictured her sister in her head as she kept scanning the area, but she detected someone coming straight toward her. She immediately prepared herself as the target approached her.

"U-UI!" The younger sister recognized the voice. "How'd you get out?"

"It's nothing, Azusa-chan. But listen, we don't have much time. I need to find my sister, quickly!"

"Well, she went off to rescue you, Ui. If you got out before she reached you, something must have happened to her." Azusa told her.

"Which direction did she go?" Ui asked, concerned.

"She probably ran off that way straight to Akiyama Towers." Azusa pointed out to Ui the general direction of where Yui went.

"Right... and what are you doing out here?"

"I'm looking for Ritsu-senpai. She hasn't come home all day."

"All right, Azusa-chan, you keep searching for her. I need to save my sister!" Almost immediately, she levitated herself with her psychic powers and headed in that direction. Her mind was still wrapped around her sister's safety. 'Onee-chan... please, be safe. I'm coming to save you... Nodoka's a different person than she used to be. Don't take her lightly.' She thought to herself.

Ui's mission to save her sister and defeat Nodoka was on!