The cover of my–soon to be–self published, vanity fan fiction. I can’t sell it, but I can enjoy holding it in my hands.
Enjoy the final part of my fan fiction and thanks to everyone who read it, it was a labor of love!

Last time on K-ON!!!!! “Beautiful World” the old friends gathered and Yui gave her precious Gita to Nao’s daughter Miho—who would ever think Yui would part with her beloved guitar? Now in this final chapter, the girls play the Budokan realizing their dream in…

K-ON!!!!! “Beautiful World” Part 13.

Sawako had made them matching stage outfits, they were clean with color-coded short pleated skirts, white blouses and camisoles that matched the skirt color; each of the camisole’s had the “Hokago Tea Time’ logo or crest on the left breast side.

In the dressing room, Yui looked into the mirror playing with her Yaeba and straightening her red with white outfit, she kind of felt that the color would clash with Muttan—her Fender Mustang, but it didn’t matter; she kept thinking about when they were in high school in their first year—just fifteen years old and that was their goal, to go to the Budokan to perform for a huge crowd…what a joke…most of them were thirty now, it took fifteen years to get where they are at this very moment, it was a very long road, but Yui was happy about the outcome.

Teaching was over, probably for good because she had a much larger calling now. The charity was going well and Nao’s plan to expand upon it was pretty much fool-proof. What Yui missed the most was the girls—the students, the Light Music Club—the same old music storage room in which she met Ritsu, Mio and Tsumugi all of those years ago was once her home away from home and now it was left to another teacher, it wasn’t Sawako, she had taken the Brass Band this past year under the request of the principal, so the Light Music Club was left to someone else, with a band that consisted of mixed members, some were the remains of ‘Wilted Sakura’ who were the underclassmen and new members—Yui wondered what kind of music they were playing now?

Sumire held Tsumugi’s chin as she applied her eye make up very carefully; sadly, Mugi had started to get worry lines from the stress involved after the end of her piano career. Her partner was good at applying make-up—if not simply serving her former mistress of the Kotobuki household.

Sumire kissed Tsumugi on her lips gently and caressed her cheek and smiled, their road was a winding one, a difficult path to take with having to please their parents and make a separate life for themselves. Tsumugi’s father had released Sumire’s parents from their duty and oddly, he did it for free; he couldn’t accept money from his daughter-in-law; he just had to test how much she wanted her mother and father to be free from their service. Sumire’s parents had a very nice retirement and they were thankful for their daughter’s actions and the fact that she truly cared about them.

Tsumugi had finally made amends with her father for the failures she either endured or brought upon herself with the companies in which he had entrusted to her. With the last two remaining being 10-GIA, the music store and the Café, Tsumugi was happy to just concentrate on them and them alone. She was a famous rock star now, almost a pop idol—just a little different. As everything became more right with the world for her, Tsumugi began returning to her old self—happy, almost childish, cute and elegant; a beautiful smile, her thick eyebrows and bleached blonde hair, stood out enhancing her beauty.
Sumire was a bit worked over from promoting ‘Hokago Tea Time’ but her Austrian blood had allowed her beauty to endure even the most stressful situations. Tsumugi probably wouldn’t have ever bleached out her hair if it wasn’t for her young relationship with Sumire—the natural blonde—but it was Sumire’s blue eyes that hypnotized Mugi, causing her love for her to be unbreakable.

Ritsu could see that Mio was nervous; it was Sumire’s idea to make Mio the leader of the band, something that never seemed to work out very well. Every now and then Mio would excuse herself to go out the talent entrance and smoke her Kiseru, she couldn’t give it up—Mio never thought that she would start smoking, but it had become something that she enjoyed immensely. The Kiseru was getting old though and she had to find a tobacco shop to either repair it or to get a new one entirely. With the income from the band and the idol work, Mio could get a custom pipe made…maybe if it was truly something she enjoyed like she felt she did; a custom pipe was the answer.

Mio had aged in the years after college, being home-bound and nervous all the time had caused her to look tired—her big, beautiful eyes were almost sleepy looking and like Tsumugi, she had to use eye make-up to hide the issues…thirty years old and she had aging issues… Her fingers however were perfect for her Bass and even though she had a slight appearance in them of workers hands, she still had gentle fingers—the nails short like Yui’s in order to play the fret board of her instrument, however she had her nails painted with a beautiful design.

Although she was nervous, she knew that she owed Nao for everything and she would be the lead singer as she was forced to be by Sumire—Sumire really did know what she was doing, they were so successful, more-so than their friends ‘Gang of Girls’ and ‘Love Crysis;’ it was an amazing feeling! Mio would do her best, her voice was still powerful and fresh and her skill with her Bass was uncanny, she had really re-taught herself to play exceptionally well, and she would give the fans a great show this evening.

Her friends were really grilling her now Ritsu thought; they wanted her to make amends with her parents, she couldn’t do that, it was ridiculous that she was thrown out onto the street with barely anywhere to go. Always below the rest of her friends—except Nao, Ritsu lived very poorly and was indebted to a lot of people. Her brother Satoshi meant the world to her, she loved him so much that she was embarrassed to even tell her friends what the extent was. Ritsu didn’t have a complex like Ui did when she and Yui were younger; it was more of a strong family love that she couldn’t explain. Although she was the elder sister, she almost worshiped Satoshi and would hug him tight and cry in his arms which he couldn’t stand because it brought back memories of when he was taking her to a motel after she had sold her Hip Gig. It was very painful for him that his strong, cheerful sister had become so broken in his presence. Their relationship growing up was normal, but it was that one single moment where Ritsu let out all of her pain that sealed their life-long relationship that even brought his wife to tears. Ritsu had forced Satoshi to take half of her profit after the charity which overwhelmed him, he had never dealt with so much Yen before, causing him to take his wife and child to a better area and use every coin wisely.

Ritsu had become a lesser presence in the band as their fame became greater, she didn’t want Mio to hit her anymore, it really did hurt and she felt bad that she was always teasing her true friend. Ritsu’s cheerfulness was still there, it may have been forced or fake in other ways—however it was also very real. She spent a lot of time outside the bands charity doing some of her own, she understood having to watch how Yen was spent—always called cheap and a miser, Ritsu was simply not on par with Mio and nowhere near Tsumugi. Yui had always been secure; she was just as well raised by Ui, and always had what she needed. Ritsu earned her Hip Gig at the end of junior high, where Yui asked her parents for an advance in her allowance…So, she had to look out for others now that she had so much—too much, even giving half to Satoshi left her with more than she would ever need and she split all the living expenses with Mio.

The dressing room was comfortable for her Ritsu thought, she was surrounded by the people who meant the most to her, her friends, and it was not going to be too much longer before they would be on the Budokan stage, it was her idea, and now it was going to be real. She looked around…at Yui in front of the mirror playing with that weird tooth implant, Tsumugi and Sumire making out in front of everyone which was just against cultural rules, but who cares anymore? And Mio coming in and going out to smoke…of course Nao wasn’t there waiting nervously with them, she was out there…

“Utada-San is singing ‘Heart Station,’ oh Kami-Sama, she’s actually singing it right next to me!” Nao thought as she watched Hikaru Utada perform on the lavishly detailed stage of the Budokan, she was the only one who went out to see the performance, she had to see Utada live. Nao had a very strong physical and sexual attraction to the pop star, she knew she could never have anything come of it, but she looked out to the stage as though she were a fanatical school girl. Nao was very nervous, this was the tea time girls dream to play the Budokan, something usually done alone, not with an opening act, but they owed Utada for somewhat ‘discovering’ them; plus, Nao needed to see her live again.

Nao looked out to the front row of the audience, it was a bit dark and was illuminated with many glow sticks shaking in unison, however the stage lights allowed for the front row to be visible; she could see Nodoka without her body guards and looking relaxed for once, there was Sawako, Ui, Jun, Azusa, Satoshi and his wife, and then a large grouping right behind them of Akira, Ayame and Sachi—Aya, Shiho and even Maki; all of their parents except for Ritsu’s and Nao’s brothers, their girlfriends, her mother and then front and center between Jun and Azusa was Miho, she would get the night off to watch and enjoy the show as a stagehand would assist her during the show.

Her life was simply fucked up, Nao thought, it was so horrible growing up and as an adult, but now at twenty seven, things were different, she had the kind of family that she always wanted, there was no reason to be married, she had a wonderful child—Miho was almost sixteen, she was the president of her Light Music Club, she had learned the electric guitar—Gita—Yui’s precious guitar…and she was happy. Miho was pretty mature, yet still a child; she had surpassed every thought others had about her and her intelligence; even though it wasn’t great, it was enough for her to be average and to do well to where she wasn’t in the bottom rung of the school.

There was love all around both Nao and Miho now, a huge group of people who would always look out for them; even though Nao’s genius allowed her to easily take care of herself, she wanted the group around her and her daughter, having people and family around was always a good thing and it made every day better for them both.

As Utada took ‘Heart Station’ to a close, Nao clapped her hands and returned to the dressing room, to be with the girls one last time before their performance.

*****

Carefully placed fireworks and explosions went off at the front of the stage and when the smoke cleared ‘Hokago Tea Time’ was posed to perform. The positions remained the same with Ritsu in the rear at her Yamaha Hip Gig drum kit, Mio in the front holding her left handed Fender Jazz Bass, Yui to the left with Muttan, Azusa’s Fender Mustang and Tsumugi behind her with her Korg Keyboard. On the right was Nao holding her Roland G-707 and wearing Miho’s pink headphones, she wanted the higher-end audio monitoring for a show like this and Miho obviously didn’t mind.

The crowd began cheering and waving their multicolored glow sticks as Ritsu started hard on the drums and the band went immediately into ‘Don’t say Lazy’ which was one of Mio’s greatest songs. The girls decided to stick mostly with the ‘Hokago Tea Time’ catalog of songs and put in a few of Nao’s from her ‘Wakaba Girls’ days. As they looked out to the audience, they could see their personal cheering section which caused them to smile—except for Mio who had to keep her voice powerful for the song.
Once the first song was over, Mio began introductions; she said, “Thank you! We are ‘Hokago Tea Time!’ Each of us would like to thank YOU, the fans for your continued support of us. Our charity has become strong, and we have many to thank for that.”

Nao had pulled one of the large cups of her headphones from her left ear leaving the right one in place; she needed to hear Mio and wanted to fully hear the roar of the crowd. She said, “After all of the things that each of us has been through, we will always be thankful and appreciative of YOU, our fans, we love you so much and we are honored that you continue to listen to our music and come up to us without fear of being rejected some fan time, that is what each and every one of you mean to us.”

Yui strummed her guitar a few times and said, “Does everyone like my Yaeba!” The crowd cheered and Ritsu sighed, why was Yui so obsessed with that weird thing? Yui continued, “We want Azu-Nyan to come up on stage and play with us, it was part of her dream since high school too, so I want every one out there to call out, ‘Azu-Nyan, Azu-Nyan’ until she joins us on stage!”
This was horribly embarrassing to Azusa, but after a lot of chanting and Jun and Ui pushing her along, Azusa nervously was led on stage by the security guards; she went and stood next to Yui who handed the Mustang to her and said, “Play a song with us Azu-Nyan!”

Azusa thought for a moment, although she had her condition under control, she had not touched a guitar in a while, but the crowd…they wanted it…
A stagehand gave Yui, Nao’s Gibson SG which was set up similar to Gita her former Les Paul, so she would be capable of playing it; the guitar was hooked to an amp and Nao re-adjusted her headphones and changed the settings for Azusa’s song, she knew which it would be… Mio moved aside to give Azusa the microphone after adjusting it to her short height. Azusa then stood in front of it and thanked the girls and the crowd and then the girls stuck into ‘Over the Starlight.’

It was strenuous for Azusa to play and sing at the same time while keeping her concentration which for the first time in a long time, it wasn’t so bad, she began to enjoy the upbeat rock song and played it well—like getting on a bicycle—and the crowd was into it too, they cheered and made their glow sticks dance and before she knew it, the song was over.
Azusa felt like a star, she was on the Budokan stage with ‘Hokago Tea Time’ and she performed her song that Nao had written with the ‘Wakaba Girls’ it was like a dream come true…being spoiled, hugged, and loved by Yui, Mio, Tsumugi and Ritsu was all real, she really meant the world to them…Nao was smiling, it was rare because she always hid her braces…it was caused by two things, seeing her Senpai perform again and having her daughter in the audience, it was such a privilege.

The stagehands moved quickly, first taking the Gibson SG from Yui and then preparing for the next song and calling over the security guard to help the tea time girl’s guest back to her seat. Azusa gave Muttan back to Yui after they hugged and Azusa thanked the crowd.

After everything calmed down a bit the band began performing a long line up of their songs with ‘Fuwa Fuwa Time,’ ‘Brush Pen, Ball Point Pen,’ Singing’ and ‘U&I’ being the first run. At this point, Mio, Yui and Nao had each performed vocals.

The second run of songs was about to begin and Tsumugi said, “It is so great to be upon the Budokan stage, we even had the chance to play with Azusa-Chan; now its time for one of my own songs…’Honey Sweet Tea Time!’”

Tsumugi started into the vocals by humming the tune at first to the piano setting on her keyboard; the other girls then entered with their instruments as Mugi sang the song in which Mio had helped her write to Tsumugi’s own tune. The reception was astounding and they moved on trying to get Ritsu to sing something, but she wouldn’t even though her singing voice was very pretty and fun.

The show was very spectacular and as it came to an end, Hikaru Utada had come out as Mio stepped to the side of the microphone. Nao became giddy as she changed her settings for the one song in which Utada didn’t perform in her opener for them and that was…

Beautiful World, By: Hikaru Utada. (PLANiTb Acoustica Mix).

If I could have just one wish
I’d like to sleep next to you
It doesn’t matter where
Beautiful world
I look only at you, without hesitation
Beautiful boy
You don’t know your own beauty yet

Their lives as famous musicians and idols had truly began after so many ups and downs; never did these girls think that for one minute that their slice of life would have ended at anytime. Yui had lost her sister for a moment but the two of them made amends and confronted their parents for being almost neglected in their teenage years—having Ui just as well raise her elder sister was simply too much, it was something that caused a pain so deep that it all came up in a single burst. They were sisters, loved as family should be and their parents…well, they understood what their children had felt—holidays were better now and the family of four, now six, was much happier than they have ever been. Both Yui and Ui were at peace with their lives; Ui married with a child and Yui part of something so powerful that she hoped it would never end.

It’s only love

Asleep or awake it’s like a shounen manga
I hate myself for being such a dreamer

Azusa and Jun had made their troublesome and difficult life into something that they could be very proud of, they were First Responders and nurses and that gave them a greater sense of being human. Jun had always been selfish and Azusa had suffered in ways that were unimaginable, she understood that her life was important to others and there was a great reason to live…she had also performed live in front of a sold out crowd at the Budokan…Azusa was not forgotten, even in their greatest moment of fame by her friends, her Senpais of ‘Hokago Tea time.’ This moment was special, and both Jun and Azusa were happy that they were able to be a part of it.

I don’t know what I want
I just want it, as warm tears run down my cheeks

There’s nothing I want to say
I just want to see you once more
I can’t say what I want to say
Maybe I’m just a coward
But I don’t mind

Tsumugi and Sumire had finally been able to get in a position where they could work together; the life of an entertainer was wonderful even if sometimes rough. Sumire had no desire to professionally play the drums anymore, however she had a kit in the home she shared with Tsumugi and it allowed her to relieve her stress when she needed to. Ritsu was the bands drummer, she wasn’t going to take her place for any reason. Tsumugi had a better relationship with everyone now, from her family to her friends, she was no longer the lone performer anymore and that made her happy–she could be part of the band again; it was the way it was supposed to be.

If I could have just one wish
I’d like to sleep next to you
It doesn’t matter where
Beautiful world
I look only at you, without hesitation
Beautiful boy
You don’t know your own beauty yet

Mio was free, free from being imprisoned in her mind and physically, in her home. She was scared, she always was—a cry baby, and she didn’t like painful stories or gore…simple cuts even freaked her out; but that became the norm yet again. Ritsu had become much gentler. Ritsu had finally stopped talking like a guy—using the speech patterns that she had for so many years, she had become more refined in such a way that she would only have her legs parted while playing the drums and not sitting out in public or on a train seat like she did in her younger days. The relationship between Mio and Ritsu was very strong, it was life-long at this point and they both were happy with the living arrangements; even though the press was starting to report that they were sexually involved like Tsumugi and Sumire…however, both Mio and Ritsu; and everyone who cared about them knew how it really was and that was all that mattered. They were happy; this was exactly what they wanted. ‘Hokago Tea Time’ started with Ritsu and finished with Nao, one day they would look back and really think about how the band had changed over the years, but for now, they were living their dream.

It’s only love

I’ll try anything
And if I lose, it’ll still be an experience

I don’t need a newspaper
It doesn’t have what’s important
How’re you doing lately?
If you’re doing well
Then that’s fine

It was never Nao’s dream to play the Budokan, she was in a different era of the Light Music Club of Sakura High, but, she was part of ‘Hokago Tea Time’ and would follow them in their dream by doing her best with them. Now, she was living her own dream…the one where she performed live with Hikaru Utada—and her favorite song too! But, there was more, her dream involved a happiness that no one could ever take from her and that was having her daughter Miho by her side. Miho cheering in the audience with the mass of family and friends was so wonderful. The marriage to Maki was a good experience; however everything went wrong with her life after the ceremony. Nao knew she hurt Maki mentally and all she could do was pay her back in Yen for the house, car and the cash and other financial giving’s after their divorce. Nao had made peace with all of the girls of ‘Love Crysis’ and being able to talk with Shiho was actually kind of nice, instead of having a negative vibe between them all the time. All that mattered to Nao was Miho, she would do well enough in school to get into a college that would take her to new and better places—and, if after that she wanted to become a musician, then so be it, Nao would support her daughter in doing anything that made her happy, because Nao loved Miho so much and with all her heart.

If I can’t see you til my world disappears
I’d like to sleep next to you
Anywhere is fine
Beautiful world
As the fleeting days pass
Beautiful boy
There’ll always be ups and downs

If I could have just one wish
I’d like to sleep next to you

The crowd cheered wildly as more fireworks and explosions went off at the stage area, there were even pink ones thrown in for Yui. The girls set their instruments down and formed a line with Utada in the middle and bowed to the audience. Hikaru Utada had left them to their own glory and the girls of ‘Hokago Tea Time’ bowed again as a group and cried their thanks to this wonderful audience who gave a standing ovation to the all girl rock band whose charitable, fan-friendly, caring personalities had led them to where they were today.

*****

A long black car drove slowly through an old and kid-crowded neighborhood, stopping in front of a dilapidated single family home with a slatted sliding entrance door. There was an old family sedan parked in a carport and some kids ran by the limo looking in awe.

The driver stepped out after fully parking and opened the rear door. Ritsu got out; she was dressed in a bright yellow parka with a fur trimmed hood with drawstrings that swung around with puffy pom poms and a large circular patch on the left shoulder of the sleeve, she wore a white blouse with a yellow bra top under it and a green pleated mini skirt with yellow panels between each of the folds, there was also a real gold chain belt hanging from her hips. Her legs were mostly covered with green thigh high socks and she wore glossy yellow vinyl Mary Jane shoes on her feet with a two inch lift in the soles. Her hair was short and held back with a real gold headband with the front of her hair below her chin and as it went towards the back of her neck it was shorter like a wedge.

The driver closed the door and stood by the car as Ritsu went up to the house, she stepped carefully as she wasn’t used to the extra lift in her shoes, it felt good to be taller—she told Yui she would get taller when they were on a trip in high school.

The slatted door opened as a commotion could be heard outside of the house and a couple stepped out looking at the girl in yellow and green, the look on their faces was sadness especially the woman—her mother.

Ritsu stood in front of her parents and looked up at them, she was still shorter even with the shoes, she then folded her hands in front of her and bowed deeply and then straightened and said, “Mother, Father…I’m home…”

Ritsu’s parents quickly embraced her and her mother cried and her father apologized…finally, she took her friends advice; now, truly, all was right with this Beautiful World…

THE END

BUT WAIT!!! THEY RETURN!
Be here New Years Day, January First, 2014 for the K-ON! New Years Special!

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