K-ON!: Shattered Dreams

Chapter 9: Fated Awakening

The shade of oozing green was ominous, as it usually signaled the Dead Hour. No one was around, as usual, and rightfully so, since no one wants to be around in this Hour. No one would have survived the dangers within this Hour... not unless your names were Yui Hirasawa, Tainaka Ritsu, Azusa Nakano and Jun Suzuki. They had no choice but to trudge through this horrid Hour. And now with Tsumugi on board, they had to make it back to the Hirasawa household unscathed... though that was easier said than done.

Azusa darted in front first, to check the road ahead at the junction to make sure the coast was clear. She scanned the area as quick as she could, then signal with a thumbs-up motion. This prompted the rest of the crew to quickly move ahead whilst making sure Tsumugi didn't stray off. But just as they did, though, Ritsu saw something just behind Azusa.

"AZUSA! LOOK OUT!" When Azusa turned around, she saw 3 huge shadows, all about ready to pounce on her and squish her.

"Oh no you don't!" Thinking quickly, Azusa managed to launch one of them off at the last minute with her naginata, jumping up and then knocking that one into the other two, destroying all 3 at the same time. "Well... that takes care of that. Those shadows are starting to get persistent."

"Really, you don't say?" Ritsu said, as she has a small Shadow stabbed on the tip of one of her Sais. The Shadow disappeared after suffering enough.

"Ritsu-senpai, that's just disgusting." Azusa said after what she witnessed.

"Well, sorry. I'm not the easily sickened one." Ritsu spun her Sai for a moment.

"Guys, this is no time to stop and smell the roses. We gotta get Mugi-chan safe and sound to my place." Yui interrupted, but Ritsu can notice the fizzle she's made with her hands.

"Oh shut it. You fried 20 of them with your bare hands just now."

"It was out of self-defense. They were going after Mugi-chan, I had to do something." Yui's focus was interrupted by a sword slash. She looked over Ritsu's shoulder to see Jun slicing another 2 Shadows in one slice.

"If you two have time to talk, you two have time to move and fight." Jun said, sheathing her sword back.

"...God damn Kunoichi, making all that wisdom crap." Ritsu scoffed.

"Those were barely Confucius level lines, Ritsu. Get a grip." Yui said, walking along.

"...Easy for you to say." Ritsu looked back to see Tsumugi trailing behind. "OY! MUGI! Stop standing around and hurry it up!" She shouted which nearly jolted the keyboardist. It was easy to tell that Tsumugi was still new to this Hour, so it was no surprise to Ritsu that she'd be quaking in her heels.

"S-sorry, Ritsu." She apologized, before running back to the group, but just as she nearly reached Ritsu, a bunch of soldier-type Shadows appeared. "GYAAH!" She screamed.

"God, this is annoying!" Ritsu jumped in front of Tsumugi to protect her.

"B-behind us!" Tsumugi called out, noting the soldier Shadows surrounding them both.

"That just pisses me off!" Ritsu said, flaring up. Her whole body now had a red aura surrounding her. "Tsumugi, whatever you do, DON'T move." Ritsu breathed in for a second as the soldier Shadows started closing in on Tsumugi. She had anxiety in her now, waiting for Ritsu to even do something about them. She knew they were targeting her, but she had to do what she was instructed and that was not to move at all.

"Uhh, Ritsu, any time now!" Tsumugi pressured her, all worried that Ritsu might not do anything.

"...NOW!" In a split second, Ritsu jumps up into the air, engulfing herself in flames and then starts discharging flame shots all over the place, but mostly targeted at the shadows. In one fell swoop, all the shadows were hit hard and disappeared, dying off. The drummer landed gracefully onto the floor. "...and you were worried, why?"

"You always come in late, as usual." Tsumugi added. Ritsu pulled the keyboardist away to join up with the rest of the band, who were far ahead of them, stopping at a junction to wait for them.

"The plaza's up ahead. That means we're getting close to your house, Yui." Azusa informed her leader.

"Something tells me we're gonna have a LOT of Shadows to deal with once we get there." Yui said, as she checked on everyone, but paid especially close attention to Tsumugi. "Hmm... all right, let's all move out before anything ELSE happens." But just as she said that, the moment she turned around, she was immediately pounced on by a ruthless Shadow, bearing its sharp claws trying to tear Yui into pieces. "GAH! G-GET IT OFF ME!" She said, as she tried her best to keep the claws away from her own chest.

"I GOT IT, YUI-SENPAI!" Azusa said, running in to save her senpai by knocking the Shadow off of Yui, and then slashing at it with her naginata, causing it to disappear in a pool of darkness.

"Phew... that was close." She gets pulled up by Azusa. "Thanks a lot, Azu-nyan."

"No problem. All in a day's work as usual. Now let's get going." She said, dashing forward first like the scout that she is. The group followed her.



After about 10 minutes of scouting the plaza, the group decided to rest for a bit in an alley just outside the Plaza. They needed to go through it in order to get to Yui's house and a bit of break from this Hour's roughness is just what they needed.

"I don't suppose you have any of those cakes left over in that suitcase of yours, Mugi?" Ritsu asked.

"Sorry, no cakes this time. I don't have access to them anymore since I've been orphaned, so... sorry." Tsumugi dejectedly said.

"Aw, man!" Ritsu's disbelief was clear as crystal. "It's been awhile... I mean, the tea's been great and all, but it sucks not to have cakes."

"I know... sorry. I'll get some at the nearest store when we get home, okay? I promise." This perked up Yui the most.

"OKAY! We're getting across this Plaza right now!"

"You're suddenly enthusiastic, senpai." Azusa commented.

"Yeah, well don't get TOO excited just yet. Look at that." Jun pointed to the Plaza. The whole place was swarming with Shadows, and in the middle, there was a towering Shadow looming. "And I'm willing to guess that he's the boss." Just like she said, the tower is generating Shadows.

"Good call." Yui said, peering from the wall to look.

"So what's the plan, fearless leader?" Ritsu asked.

"Simple... we can't let that thing generate any more Shadows, so we need to get rid of that. I'm going to protect Mugi-chan." She said, as she turned to give out the rest of her orders. "The rest of us are gonna bring down those Shadows and that tower. Got it?"

"Got it." The rest of the team acknowledged, preparing them for what was to come. As for Tsumugi, she just had to tag behind Yui the entire time.

"Mugi-chan, remember what I said. Don't trail off too far behind."

"Okay, Yui... can I just say... you've grown up since the last time we've spoken."

"Aww, thanks, Mugi-chan." Yui said, though a bit too easily flattered.

"Hey, there's no time to get flattered. We got work." Jun urged.

"Right. Ricchan, you're up!" She called out, signaling Ritsu to start the operation.

"Say your prayers, you stupid shadows!" She yelled, holding up what almost looks like a meteorite in her hand and flings it in the direction of the Plaza, destroying as much of the Shadows as possible. Her main target was the looming tower.

"GO! GO! GO!" Yui shouted, signaling them all to charge the Plaza. Jun and Azusa went in first, Azusa covering her thanks to her wind spells, ripping apart and tossing Shadows in the air for Jun to slice through with her katana. Ritsu, in a blaze of glory, fire-dashed her way into the Plaza, whilst setting the Shadows that runs into her ablaze.

"YEEHAW!" Ritsu screamed out as she burned the Shadows asunder. Yui, however, didn't have the pleasure of defeating every single Shadow she saw. Instead, she was to hold back on the fighting and attack only when necessary. The safety of Tsumugi was more important than defeating everything in her path. Her workload was piled up as it is, but tacking on the Shadow Tower in the middle of the Plaza only meant more difficulty in protecting her.

"Mugi-chan, stick close!" She said. The keyboardist nodded as Yui started running, dashing for any safe route she can find, with Tsumugi following behind and sticking close. Yui didn't have much room for error, but she had plenty of room for fighting, as she bashed through any shadows with her battle fans. Sometimes, she had the indefinite assistance from Azusa, Ritsu or Jun.

Azusa held her own against the bigger shadows. She'd always been pit against bigger and tougher enemies. Her nimbleness, however, allowed her to conquer these obstacles. Along with her wind abilities, her speed increases, and also grants her the power to control wind the way she wants to. It's pretty nifty when right in front of her she has to handle about 9-10 fat Shadows. "Size doesn't matter when it comes to me!" She said as she twirled her naginata in full motion above her head, slowly generating a huge gust of wind. The Shadows, having no mind of their own, try to charge at her, hoping to stop her. But their futile attempts were thwarted when that huge gust of wind turned into 3 separate tornadoes, as they danced around Azusa and shredding through the Shadows like a hot knife through butter. Though impressive, Azusa knew she had to keep the mission in mind rather than be impressed.

Ritsu had a more direct approach to this. Despite being the most reckless person on the team, she always goes in head first without thinking, and 99% of the time, she's usually successful. She let out a trail of fire and controls them, making them 'dance' around her enemies, before uniting the flames to destroy them. As she fought, she always had a near-sick grin on her face, a sign that she's enjoying the fights she's been given.

However, even with Jun as backup to rid them of any stragglers, they found themselves completely outnumbered, and with Yui placed on a handicap, Azusa knew the situation was grim.

"Damn it, this isn't looking good!" She said as she sliced another few shadows that were in her way. "RITSU-SENPAI, GET TO THAT TOWER!"

"I'm on it!" Ritsu then leaped off the back of a tall shadow, igniting her Sais with flames and tried to bring down the tower in one fell swoop. On her downward spiral, she sliced through the tower with relative ease, landing on the other side and looking back. To her fear, however, the slash marks she gave to the tower immediately covered itself. "...tch, how annoying."

"That didn't even dent it? Shoot..." Yui found herself backed up in a corner, and was forced to converge with the rest of her friends who are also being backed up by the sheer amounts of Shadows coming for them.

"Gh... and that tower is not gonna go down easily." Jun assessed.

"Never mind that! Spread out and get rid of them!" At Yui's orders, the group had to spread out and try to fight off as many Shadows as possible.

Tsumugi couldn't do anything to help... at this rate, she knew she was going to lose herself and her friends. Her panic level was reaching an all time high... but all she could was watch her friends fight.

'There's got to be something I can do... but... what CAN I do?' This thought ran through her head a bunch of times. Her thoughts were interrupted however, when a lone shadow broke through Azusa's defense and tried to attack her.

"MUGI-SENPAI!" Azusa called out, warning her. Tsumugi almost cowered in fear until...

'May you be blessed with this power, young one...'

Tsumugi thought the Shadow had hit her, but when she peered her eyes open a little, she noticed the shadow had been pierced by an earth spike. Looking around, she realized none of her friends use the earth element.

'What... was that?' She asked herself. Then she noticed the earth spikes started coming out from underneath the Shadows that were surrounding her and her friends, destroying them instantly. The girls, a bit surprised at what's transpired, turned to the young keyboardist.

"Was that... you, Mugi-chan?" Yui asked, walking back to her. She then saw her hands have a strange gold aura around them. "Mugi-chan... this is...!" In a flash of light, both of Tsumugi's hands were covered in tight, MMA-style gloves. They were iron-clad as well, so she would pack an even bigger punch.

"Whoa-ho, is this Mugi's awakening now?" Ritsu asked, rather impressed. Jun ran over to check on those new gloves of hers. Sure enough, her Number was there.

"VI... the Sixth. It's official now... that means we don't have to worry about her disappearing at all." Jun confirmed, but Tsumugi knew their job wasn't done.

"Still, there's a Tower we need to destroy, correct?"

"Wow, ANOTHER straight-to-the-point person. As if we needed another one." Ritsu grumbled. Yui placed a hand on her shoulder.

"That's right. Then we can head home."

"Then allow me." Thinking of what she can do with her new power, she touched the earth with her hands, shutting her eyes and focusing her power. "I... can see... I can feel the Tower's weak point." As she kept scanning, she could 'feel' her new power working, sensing the weak point of her enemy. "Found it!" In near-Ritsu fashion, she went in all guns blazing. The rest were slightly confused, but realized the dangers Tsumugi's going to go through and ran after her.

"HOLD UP!" Azusa shouted. Tsumugi wasn't listening. Her eyes were set on that Tower alone. She ran and jumped up into the air, aiming a punch to the ground, which in turn caused an earth spike to pierce the ground and hit the Tower from the underside, toppling it over.

"Now! Attack the bottom of the tower!" Tsumugi shouted. At her command, the girls immediately pelted away at the Tower's bottom, essentially overpowering it and destroying it in seconds with their powers combined. As such, with the Tower destroyed, the Shadows around it are destroyed as well. The first to have that breath of relief was Ritsu.

"Thank god... sheesh, you'd think they'd ease up a bit, but no, they just kept coming."

"Well, at least they're gone now." Yui then approached Tsumugi, patting her on the shoulder. "You did great, Mugi-chan. Welcome back to the team."

"Thank you, Yui. I'll do whatever I can to help."

"Yeah yeah, that's great and all. Now can we PLEASE go home already? I'm tired as heck and I need to SLEEP." Ritsu griped, stretching her body out indicating that she is indeed sleepy.

"...Subtle, Ritsu. Very." Azusa commented.

"Oh shut it, Azusa." Ritsu retorted, getting a hearty laugh from Azusa and the rest. That being said, however, the crisis was averted, and Yui had gained a valuable member of her team. The girls then headed back to the Hirasawa house to take their well-deserved breather.



However, as the girls left, a certain Princess had been watching over them in the comfort of a rooftop of a tall building.

"So... they've gotten stronger now." She said, the wind breezing through her hair as she let her hood down. She heard the footsteps of her subordinate, Nodoka. "You're late."

"Can you blame me? They had me lock up the station. Paperwork plus staying THIS late just to lock up the station equals me being late." Nodoka said, annoyed. "Seriously, things only get tougher when it hits midnight around here."

"Next time, clock off early, idiot."

"Tch... so... Tsumugi has joined them?" Nodoka asked her leader.

"Yes, and she's a Number too... which makes things that bit more difficult... but Tsumugi has such a soft heart. I'll be sure to rectify that in the long run." Mio replied, clenching her fist.

"But what about your main target?"

"That will wait for a while. For now..." She turns to Nodoka and cups her chin. "Could you be a darling and do me a favor?" Her very sexual gestures made Nodoka blush.

"Y-y-yes, ma'am?"

"Torture Ui Hirasawa and get every bit of information about her sister you can get out of her. I don't care how you do it. I don't even mind if you use that 'Doom' thing."

"Y-you know... I don't use it lest I need to." Nodoka said, averting her eyes away from her boss. Mio then backed off, clearly noting that Nodoka doesn't like what she was doing.

"Then do what you must. Get to it." The student council president nodded.

"Yes, ma'am." She replied, disappearing into the night. Mio continued to look on at the celebrating crew, but her eyes were more focused on the leader, Yui Hirasawa.

"That's right... I'll be sure to rectify things..."