K-ON!: Shattered Dreams

Chapter 17: Cruelty Act, a Heart of Cold

Nodoka Manabe and the word 'patience' usually fit in a sentence. After all, she had been the student council president for a long time. Therefore she needed the patience to tolerate anything in the world coming from her classmates or schoolmates. But with Mio, she could forget about patience. As such, she barely had any when she had to tolerate Ritsu. She had to stop every 10 minutes to silence her every time she spoke.

She breathed a heavy sigh of relief the moment she stepped into the Towers, dragging the dead weight that was the certainly bruised up Ritsu. She immediately took her up to the highest floor of the Tower and then tossed Ritsu onto the floor harshly, completely aggravated by her antics. Ritsu groaned in pain when she landed roughly onto the floor. Adding insult to injury, Nodoka kicked Ritsu's hurt knee again.

"G-GAH! What the Hell's wrong with you, Nodoka! This isn't how you act at all..." This only earned her yet another kick to the stomach. "OW!"

"I don't care what people say about me anymore. I had to take a lot of their complaints and requests. No more. No more will I be subjected to that! I'm not going to be taken advantage of!"

"My, my, isn't Nodoka pissed today?" A returning Mio said.

"And where have YOU been, Mio?" She asked, sounding very annoyed at this point.

"Oh, just chasing off some rats. What's your excuse?"

"I got what you wanted." She points to Ritsu, her target. Mio had a creepy smile on her face when she saw her delivery.

"Ohoho... I'm going to have so much fun with you, Ritsu."

"That's... not really what I had planned for a housewarming party." Ritsu cheekily said, which, once again, earned her another kick to the stomach.

"That's enough out of you! Learn some respect."

"Now, now, let's not break the toy. Nodoka, could you be a dear and make sure to rats try to chase us?" Mio ordered. Nodoka, still exasperated, grumbled as she left through the front door. Once she left, all that was left for Mio is her best friend, Ritsu, and how to deal with her.

In Ritsu's perspective, however, it was a completely different story. That same feeling of death that hit her last time returned. It was almost as if she was brought to the Devil itself. But being the spunky girl she was, she could not show any fear, even in front of someone who could kill her in a blink of an eye.

"Heh... nice place, Mio. Who does your interior designing? Never mind that... so what's the meaning of all this, bringing me all the way here?"

"Simple, Ritsu..." She soon walked closer to her best friend, cupping her chin. "I just want to spend some quality time with my best friend. And what better way than to bring you here, Ritsu?"

"Does this 'quality time' mean you're just gonna beat the living Hell out of me?" Promptly, Mio lands a hard punch right to Ritsu's gut, causing her to drop to her fours in pain. "G-gh... k-knew that was coming..."

"Oh, Ritsu, you know me too well." Mio said, stomping on Ritsu's left hand, causing her to groan in pain. She went over to her right hand next and stomped on that, trying to hurt her on every one of her body parts. When she reached her injured leg, however, Mio stomped on it extremely hard to deal some excruciating pain to it, forcing her to scream out in pain again. "Ooh... music to my ears."

"A-agh... you heartless woman... g-gh..." She said, but it wasn't like she could do anything to help her cause, considering she was laid out on her belly taking in all this punishment. She then gets pulled up by the hair, forced to stand up.

"You're slow on that front, Ritsu." Mio puts Ritsu in a rear-naked choke, trying to further her suffering as the drummer tries desperately to break out of it.

"N-nkh... s-so what? You're just gonna keep beating me up here? That's the reason you brought me here?" In response, Mio tightened the hold that bit more, increasing the pressure around her throat.

"Now if I wanted to make you suffer, why would I do it so unglamorously? Besides, I brought you here because I want you to hear me out..." She brought her head down to Ritsu's ear, whispering into it. "You hate Yui, don't you?" Ritsu's eyes widened. She immediately elbowed Mio just to get away and distance herself away from her.

"Tch... what makes you think I do, huh? And what's it to you anyway?" She asked, being cautious of Mio's movements to make sure she's not planning to strike at her.

"Oh Ritsu... I know you. You came here all on your lonesome just to get at me, even with that injury. Valiant... but don't you think it's reckless of you?"

"You're asking that to the WRONG person, Mio." She tests out the area. Sure enough, she can neither ignite her hands, nor create anything fire-related, which meant she was a sitting duck once again. "Tch..."

"And I know... since you're here, you've obviously had a little tiff with Yui. So you thought that you'd get rid of me to show her... right?" Ritsu was slightly dumbfounded. It was as if Mio's been reading her mind all this time. But she couldn't really deny it anymore. Mio was right, so all she could do was look away and give a slight nod. "See? I knew it all along."

"Just keep that mouth of yours shut. You're annoying me... so what's it to you, huh? Yeah, I did get into an argument with Yui. So what?" This was just an opportunity for Mio to reel Ritsu into her arms, once again grabbing Ritsu from behind, but this time out of endearment instead of torment.

"So... I was hoping that... with your power, we'd get rid of Yui... and then her friends... and then we'll take over this world, no?" After hearing that, Ritsu just couldn't believe it. Worded right, Mio was actually asking her to join forces. Hearing this ridiculousness, Ritsu grabbed Mio's arm and tried to squeeze it.

"You'd think... I'd betray Yui and the rest of the crew over a stupid argument about you? In the end, Mio, the outcome's still the same... you're STILL going to die!" In a swift move, she quickly flipped Mio over her head, letting her go and backing off to get away from Mio before she tries anything again. Mio landed with a hard thud onto the ground.

"U-ungh... well, Ritsu... that was good... it's to be expected of my 'best friend'." Mio quickly gets up, but instead of turning around to face her, she just dusted off the dirt on her shoulders. "Well then, I'll have no worries about you boring me out there on the battlefield... you're free to go."

"...Huh?" Ritsu was puzzled by Mio's statement. "Free to go? What, no intention to kill?"

"Not really... but I do want to leave a... parting gift." She walked up to Ritsu, staring into her eyes. "It's something I should have done some time ago, Ritsu..." She said with her voice soft and tender. In the span of two seconds, Mio embraced her best friend and lip-locked her, giving her a tight, passionate kiss. Ritsu was slightly stunned by this, but slowly, the warmth she felt in Mio's kiss slowly made the feeling dissipate. What she didn't realize, however, was that this was just the beginning of something far more sinister.

As soon as Mio broke the kiss, she licked her lips, savoring the taste of her best friend's kiss. Ritsu was still slightly stunned, but she had that face of enjoyment. "Never thought... I'd be kissed by the enemy..." She said, but the moment she tried to step away, she couldn't. Something had been locking her into place. When she looked down, she found that her feet had been encased in ice. "What in the... you piece of...!"

"Hoohoohoo... you're just as dumb as you look." Slowly, the ice started encasing the rest of her body, starting with her legs, and then going up to her thighs, and then her lower body.

"...tch... I'll freaking... get you for this, Mio... I'LL FREAKING KILL YOU!" She points at her threateningly. At that point, however, her upper body was slowly being encased as well, freezing her in that pose. "G-gh..."

"Well... that is, if you CAN get out of there... I highly doubt you can." The sinister Mio watched Ritsu be fully encased in ice, becoming an ice statue for her amusement. She glared into Ritsu's eyes. The cold stare was evident. "You only have 24 hours to live, Ritsu... best say your prayers while you're still in there." She whipped out her cell phone and proceeded to call Nodoka. "Oh, Nodoka, are there any rats outside?"

"No, Mio... the streets are quiet tonight." Nodoka answered.

"Then go out on patrol... and find a perfect spot for us." She ordered, hanging up on her the moment she gave it. She turned back to admire her latest work of art, but lo and behold, she found yet another one of her targets waiting for her. "...who invited you, Yui Hirasawa?"

"You did, Mio. You have my sister to thank for that. She told me you wanted me... so I'm right here."

"That little brat... well, I did tell HER not to follow me, and not you... so it's all fair game." She showed her the frozen Ritsu. "Do you like my newest masterpiece?"

"You're so conceited, Mio."

"Why don't you give Ritsu your last goodbyes, Yui? She's going to die anyway, and there's nothing you can do about it." Yui glared at Mio, before shifting her focus back to Ritsu, whose eyes can be seen moving, looking at Yui.

"No... I'll just give her a piece of advice. If she claims to be so good, she'd be able to get herself out of there." She winked at the frozen statue, and then re-shifted her focus back to Mio. "Now, I believe this is the first time we've ever spoken like this, correct?"

"Hmm... you're right. We've never really seen eye-to-eye like this. It feels awkward... I didn't have time to give you a present. Oh well, this ice statue should suffice."

"...No thanks. But you know what would be a great present?" She asked, promptly cracking her knuckles. "If I beat you right here, right now." The sound of a challenge brought back the smirk to Mio's face, and she's relish this challenge in particular. Considering it was Yui who's issued it, she wet her lips, taking further interest.

"Oh how I've waited for this day, Yui Hirasawa... that you'd fall right into my arms... by the way, I hope you're keeping that Legends Guitar of yours clean, because I'm going to take it from you." She drew her katana, readying herself in a fighting stance.

"So you're after it too... I'm not surprised. But you'll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands if you want it, Mio!" She took out her battle fans and got into her own battle stance, glaring straight at Mio and watching for any sudden movements.

"That can be arranged, Yui... and I'm sure Number I will be pleased." Yui's ears perked up a bit, hearing that from Mio.

"You know who Number I is?"

"Of course... but wouldn't YOU like to know it? Defeat me, Yui... I'll tell you who it is." Mio challenged, with that sickening smirk still evident on her face. Both of them glared at the other hard. This was finally the moment. The two of them would finally be able to square off... or so they thought. As Mio took a step forward, a light shone in from in front of her, blinding the hooded one and Yui. Both of them tried to cover their eyes, with Mio looking away from it entirely. Yui tried to look, as a figure started to materialize from it.

"No... you won't use me for this!" Yui heard the voice coming from the figure, and it's unmistakable. The figure, the uniform, the voice, it was all too familiar for Yui. She finally managed to get a clear view of the figure.

"M... Mio?" She called out.

"It's me, Yui, the real Mio! Listen! Get out of here now! She's planning to trap you here just like she did to Ritsu! The Number I made this fake me to fool you!"

"Wait, you know the Number I?" Yui asked her quickly.

"Yes, and she's gunning for you Legends Guitar! She's... AAAAAAAAAGH!" Before she could finish her sentence, Yui saw her being grabbed by what looked like tendrils, snagging her and dragging her back into the darkness by her throat, cutting off her air supply.

"MIO!" Yui yelled, trying to reach for her arm at least, but the light had dissipated, and she was grabbing thin air. All she could see was a hunched-over hooded Mio.

"G-gh... so she had some willpower left... h-heh... no matter... she'll stay in the darkness like she's supposed to..." Without any warning, the hooded Mio shot out ice needles right at Yui, barely giving any time for the guitarist to dodge. Yui made a mad rush for the window she came through, getting nicked once or twice on the arms by the ice needles. "I'LL GET YOU, YUI HIRASAWA! BY HOOK OR BY CROOK, I WILL GET YOU!" She screamed out, incensed after Yui had found out of this shocking revelation. She also had questions to answer herself. Why wasn't she able to suppress the real Mio this time around?

Her thoughts were interrupted as Nodoka slammed the door open. She examined the room to see that the whole place had been iced over. She could only conclude that the hooded Mio got ticked off. "Mio..." The hooded one glanced over at her subordinate when she heard her voice. "What... happened here?"

"It doesn't matter..." She replied, appeared to have calmed down after the whole debacle. "And did you do your job?"

"I did... but then I came back and... well, here you are." Mio grabbed Nodoka by the collar, pulling her in violently.

"Tell me... TELL ME WHERE WE CAN FINISH THIS!" She yelled, her calm instantly broken.

"G-gh... S-Sakurakou High School... what better place to finish Yui and her crew off than right there?" The smirk that hooded Mio trademarked returned.

"Hehehe... perfect. That will be their graveyard. Everyone will know that their favorite little band died at their own school."

"T-THAT WON'T HAPPEN, YOU... AAAAGH!" The real Mio, still inside of the hooded one, yelled in pain as she was dragged deeper down into darkness.

"Like you can do anything about it, me... Nodoka, deliver the message."

"...At your service, Mio." She headed out the door and left, perhaps headed to the Hirasawa house to deliver that message. The hooded one, at her own will, re-summoned the real Mio at her own will, being held by the dark tendrils so as to not let her escape. Her struggles to escape those tendrils have caused her to tire, so she was left panting and trying to catch her breath. To worsen it, the hooded Mio wrapped her fingers around her throat, strangling her.

"N-ngh... y-you'll... never get away with this... you're... just a copy of me... that the Number I made...! But now that Yui knows... she won't relent at all." Before she could continue, she was met with a straight punch to her cheek, causing her to groan in pain.

"And just what makes you think you can do anything to stop me? Hmm? I think you need another punishment... time to return to darkness, Mio." The hooded Mio grabbed the real one and forced her to come close, as if sucking her into her.

"N-NO! LET GO OF ME! I-I'M NOT GOING BACK THERE!" But slowly, Mio was fading right into the hooded Mio, being dragged back into darkness. She screamed at the top of her lungs before being completely sucked back in. The hooded Mio let out a satisfying moan after 'consuming' her before giving off that trademark smirk.

"Well guess what? I'm going to have fun playing with the corpses of your friends, Mio... it'll make HER so much happier." She said in a rather chilling tone, grabbing her katana and then heading for the statue of Ritsu. "There there, Ritsu... you just sit tight and let the big girls play..." She caressed the statue, with the somewhat alive Ritsu looking from where she's frozen. She headed straight out the door. "Well then, time to have a little fun, Yui. Hehehehe..."