K-ON!: Shattered Dreams

Chapter 2: Ritsu - Criminal

Ritsu's theme - Theme of Cody from Super Street Fighter IV



"So, having fun on the outside, you two? I'm sure you did." The person said, lighting a fire on her finger. Yui and Azusa got up from that last attack, still a bit shaky.

"I-is that...?" Azusa asked, looking at the now-lighted up figure. "R-Ritsu-senpai?" The drummer was wearing the outfit she used for the 'Don't Say Lazy' video.

"Ricchan! W-what're you doing?" Yui frantically asked, demanding an explanation from the drummer of the HTT.

"I should be the one asking you that, Yui. NOT YOU!" She throws another fireball at Yui. This time, Azusa jumps in spinning her polearm to dissipate the attack. "Hehe... you two have gotten better since the last time we spoke."

"Ritsu-senpai... what's gotten into you!" She yelled at her senior.

"SHUT UP!" Ritsu barked back, intimidating Azusa slightly. "You don't even know what life's like on the inside! I've had to suffer for all this and for WHAT! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! This place has turned into a dirthole, and suddenly I'M the one who's held responsible! Are you kidding me?"

"Ricchan, calm down, please! You got us all worried... what're you doing?" She asked worried sick. Hearing the voice of the guitarist, she dropped her attack and stepped off the railing heading toward them.

"What am I doing? Simple... I want answers. Answers as to what happened to this place while I got locked up. Answers as to why that concert went the way it did. I'm pissed off it ended up this way, but it's happened! Akiyama Mio is now the big-shot of Japan. She owns EVERYTHING now, and we're just little chess pieces on her chessboard." Yui was a bit confused.

"W-wait, Mio-chan took over all of Japan? How did that happen?"

"Uh, HELLOOOOO? Earth calling Yui! That's what happened! I don't know how she did it, the next thing I knew when I got out was that Mio took ALL of Japan. She's being worshipped as a Goddess right now, and I'm not gonna stand for it! What I'm gonna do is get up to that tower and show her a thing or two! Leave me locked up why don't you, huh!" Aside from all this however, Azusa could notice Ritsu having a bruise right on her eye.

"Ritsu-senpai, what happened to your eye?"

"Oh, THIS sucker? You'll NEVER guess who socked me right in the eye. Go on, take a stab." She said, but Yui and Azusa had absolutely no clue as to who did it. "Nodoka Manabe. And I thought she was the sweet girl in the whole school. Instead, she knocked me right in my eye. Hurts like hell now!" She clutched her eye a bit.

"Azu-nyan, go get something to fix up her eye, and quick. The drug store should still be open." Yui ordered, and Azusa just obliged, running down to get medication for Ritsu's eye. While she went down, Yui had not taken her eye off of the drummer, in case she tried to pull a sneak attack on her. Ritsu just smirked.

"Why are you giving me that look, huh, Yui? Don't tell me you've lost your smile. I don't blame you. After the mess that's gone down, too many people I know have lost their smiles... though I just can't believe you happen to be one of them." All Yui could do was just keep glaring at her.

"A lot has happened since that incident, Ricchan, and I don't wish to be reminded of it anymore. I'm more interested in what happened to YOU." Yui being assertive didn't play too well with Ritsu.

"I was worried about how the rest of the band was doing while I was stuck in a prison cell. I only got out no thanks to this." She snaps her fingers to summon a fire and let it rest on her hand. "I don't know how I got this power. Must've been given to me somehow, but I don't know."

"And what about Nodoka? What did you do with her?"

"Nothing. She was authority now. That and she's another one of Mio's pawns. She's controlling the police too, that vixen." She then remembered her time in jail...



~Flashback: Ritsu's time in jail~

Hokago Tea Time's drummer leaned against the wall of the cell she was thrown in, playing 5 Stones with the rocks on the ground, and there were plenty to go around. She got bored quickly, and looked up at the ceiling. The coldness of the floor didn't really help much with her condition. She sat there in her 'Don't Say Lazy' video outfit, wondering 'How did this all go wrong?'

Her thoughts were interrupted though as she heard the footsteps of a few guards, smacking their batons against their hands. They had to make sure the prisoners weren't being too rowdy in the middle of the night, lest they wanted to have their skulls cracked by burly guard's baton.

Ritsu, bored out of her skull by now, threw a rock at one of the guards, hitting him dead in the eye. She chortled as she watched the guard holding his eye in pain, and continued even with the guard glaring at her with his free eye. "What's the big idea, wench! You itchin' for a beatin' or somethin'!" The guard threatened, but the spunkiest member of the HTT wasn't about to be fazed by the guard's threats.

"Why don't you come in here and take your shot? If you dare, that is." The guard was very pissed off at Ritsu and was about to open the door, but someone stepped in to stop him.

"Officer, what seems to be the problem?" Ritsu recognized the voice immediately. She somehow couldn't believe it, but it's someone she trusted, or rather, she used to trust.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Nodoka Madabe." She glared back at the cold, hard stare of the former Sakura High student. "So, who's paying you to be a corrupt officer, hmm?"

"Corrupt?" She said as she pushes her glasses up. "I believe you're mistaken. This city's police force is at its finest. No one is 'paying' us as you say."

"No, no, I believe YOU'RE sorely mistaken. If anything, the police would know there's NO evidence linking me to the tragedy that was the Hokago Tea Time concert. So I was wrongfully turned in to the police. In fact, you guys just blindly grabbed the first person you could, and that was ME... which leads me to believe that SOMEONE might have paid you off to lock me up." But a stomp of the ground from Nodoka attempted to silence her.

"SILENCE!" She bellowed. "I won't have these lies spread by a criminal, Tainaka Ritsu!"

"Ooh, I'm so scared." Ritsu said in a sarcastic manner. "Why don't you come in here and do something about it?" She picked up one of the rocks she was playing with and blatantly threw it at her. It connected with her head without much resistance. This would set off an anger not even known within the halls of Sakura High. Nodoka turned to the guards.

"Officers, please leave immediately." She ordered, which prompted the disgruntled guards to leave the premises immediately. She then took the keys, unlocked Ritsu's cell door and entered, locking it back.

"And suddenly Nodoka wants a piece. What will she do, throw a book at me?" Ritsu was sorely mistaken, as a blatant kick to her stomach made her realize. "U-UNGH!"

"Are you underestimating me, Tainaka Ritsu?" She pushed her glasses up, before immediately punching her in the eye. She continued beating into her over and over.



"And that's how I even got this eye." Ritsu said. Yui seemed more worried about what's happened with her best friend, Nodoka.

"I-I... I don't believe this at all..."

"Oy, Yui, heads up. One of these days you're gonna have to put her down like the dog that she is." Offended, Yui walked over and slapped Ritsu. The drummer just took the hit, but her expression immediately changed after that.

"Do NOT insult Nodoka like that, Ritsu. She may have done horrible things to you, but she's still my best friend!" A smirk then placed itself on Ritsu's face.

"You got some nerve to be slapping me like that, Yui... I like that. But..." At that moment, she grabs Yui's hand, her grip tightening. "You don't mess with Tainaka Ritsu and get away with it. Now you're gonna find out what the fires of Hell feel like, Yui!"

"Not on your life, Ricchan." Immediately, she grabs her battle fan with her free hand and attempted to slice at Ritsu. Seeing the impending danger, Ritsu immediately let go and pushes Yui away, getting some breathing space.

"Hehehe... this should be interesting." She reaches around her back and takes out a pair of Sais, spinning them around as if she's had them for a long time. "BRING IT ON, YUI HIRASAWA!"