Nao and Sumire as maids for the Light Music Club!  Sawako liked to play dress up and use her girls as the models–maybe instead of becoming a teacher, she should have been a fashion designer?  This image is Anime style, it even looks official.  There is no signature and I don’t know where I got it on the vast Internet, but I love it, so that is the credit I’m giving.

Last time on K-ON!!!!! “Beautiful World,” Nao finally breaks free from her private hell with thoughts of her past and those who were there for her. Now, Jun and Azusa return home and a small group of friends gather in:

K-ON!!!!! “Beautiful World” Part 3.

Jun opened the door to the apartment that she shared with Azusa and they both entered walking slowly. Azusa steadied herself with a red translucent acrylic cane that had golden stars embedded throughout the shaft. The grip was clasped comfortably in Azusa’s small hand and the bottom of the cane had a black rubber foot.

Azusa wore the most revealing outfit she had in years with snug pink shorts, knee socks so she could cover the huge scar on her lower right leg, a tube top in orange with a black low back short sleeve top that had a metal ring at the upper half just below the rear of her neck line that allowed her once scarred back to show. Azusa had her long black hair in a few tails with front and side bangs and when she entered she kicked off her sneakers.

Jun wore her nurses’ uniform and when they got in, she unclipped her ID and tossed it on the dining table and turned to Azusa who stood in the living area looking at her red Fender Mustang.

“What’s it going to be Azusa? Are you going to play now or do you want to get settled?” Jun asked?

“I don’t know; I’m actually afraid to, what if I can’t play my guitar? I can understand being a little rusty, but under normal circumstances that would go away once I played for a bit, but what if I just can’t do it anymore?” Azusa replied moving closer to her Mustang and leaning on her cane.

“I’ll plug it up for you Azusa, I want you to play…we need to go to Nao and Maki’s place, we were invited and I told them it was ok even though its your first day home; Sumire and Tsumugi will be there too,” Jun said.

“Yes Jun-San,” Azusa said, she went over to a chair without arm rests and sat down then leaned her cane close to her against the wall. Her right leg hurt a bit, but it felt so good to feel the pain in a limb that she couldn’t feel for years.

Azusa’s strength was so much better than it had been and there was some muscular form to her legs after all of the physical therapy, it felt good to move on her own–to sit without being braced by Jun, and to wear panties and not a diaper.

Jun was still a bit cold to her, but Azusa knew she deserved it, so she allowed Jun to treat her as she wished.
After plugging in the amp and the guitar, Jun handed it to Azusa and adjusted the volumes and said, “I have to go change, play as much as you want, don’t stop if you make a few mistakes and remember, if you feel yourself losing focus, take a few deep breaths and recite the phrase that you were trained to; understand Azusa?”

“Yes Jun-San, I understand,” Azusa replied.

“Good, I won’t be long,” Jun said then left the room to change. Azusa slung her guitar over her shoulder and strummed the strings, she then went through a standard practice battery; then began to play a Jazz riff, the first thing her father had taught her after she learned the chords.

Azusa continued to play the most familiar rhythms that she knew and mid strum she began the intro to ‘Fuwa Fuwa Time’ playing faster than it normally would be and starting to smile as she performed the actions. Azusa then began altering the song to the full version that she played with ‘The Wakaba Girls’ and continued down the song until the end where she changed the tune to ‘Over the Starlight’ in mid strum and began singing as she played. Nao had written this song for her and it was so upbeat that it made Azusa smile brightly. Her fingers moved quickly and as she was getting more and more into it she could hear the mistakes…mistakes that she didn’t notice before with the other songs, so she stopped and started again just playing the music without singing.

Azusa’s eyes began to wander and her fingers began to fail as they pressed the strings on the fingerboard and strummed the strings between the pick-ups and that was when Jun came in and knelt down and stopped her, placing her hand on Azusa’s right hand and holding it still.

“I told you to take deep breaths and recite the phrase…Azusa look at me,” Jun said, then held Azusa’s chin, her friends eyes kept wandering and finally she focused on Jun, she said, “This doesn’t mean anything, I performed all of the full version of ‘Fuwa Fuwa Time,’ I played some other tunes, it doesn’t mean that I can’t play and you know it Jun-San…” Jun tilted up Azusa’s chin and said, “It sounded good at first, but it became messy, I’m surprised that you didn’t notice…If you think you did fine, tell me…live on stage, do you really think anyone will stand for it—no one is going to say ‘aw, how cute, you can do it! Fight Azu, Fight!’ They are going to scream and holler and you’ll end up just like Tsumugi. I’m sorry Azusa, but it’s just the way it is, you did it to yourself, there is no one else to blame.”

“Yes Jun-San…you are right. I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I would do if this happened, I think…I think we need to talk about things, but I want to first ask your permission to spend some time with my parents, I want to move back home—just for a bit. This way, you’ll have your space and can work at the hospital, and I can have time with my parents. I remember one thing and only one thing that I said to you Jun-San…I said; tell my parents that I love them…” Azusa said.

“That’s right, you did, I’m glad you remember that. Azu, we’ll make arrangements to get you back home to your parents and we’ll talk about the next step of your life. I’m really sorry Azu, but I’m glad that you understand that this isn’t the end—am I right or are you going to kill yourself when your mother and father aren’t home?” Jun said.

“No Jun-San, I just want to spend time with them for awhile, I know that you were planning on moving away from the mainland to Okinawa and I think that I would like to join you, so I want to spend time with my parents before I leave and I want to spend time with everyone else too because I am really grateful to you for saving me and I know I can’t live without you, so just for now ok?” Azusa said.

“Yes Azusa…I guess I can move in with my brother Acchan…Atsushi…until then. I hope his family doesn’t mind, its been a long time since I saw him, I feel bad asking out of the blue for a room, but I was a real ‘sis-con’ wasn’t I?” Jun said.

“You were, I remember in high school, we thought he was your boyfriend…Shall we go?” Azusa said.

“Yes, we shouldn’t be late, I can’t wait to see Nao and Maki again, I’m so glad she’s ok now, just do your best not to let Nao-Chan on to the fact that you overdosed; Maki said Nao has been submissive-aggressive since this morning, a weird combination, so you need to keep her from becoming aggressive, and I think if she realizes that an infection didn’t give you brain damage, she’ll get aggressive. Keep in mind, when Nao graduated from high school, she was number one in the entire school and it was the same with Tokyo University, number one in the entire school; the rest of us are dumb compared to her, so be careful,” Jun said as she took Azusa’s guitar from her and placed it in it’s hard case and hefted it, she then shut down the power to the amp and helped Azusa to her feet and handed her the fancy cane and said, “I think asking Nao to restore your guitar will give her something to do to take her mind off of everything for a bit, that was a good thought on your part.” Azusa smiled her reply, she hoped that Nao would like to do something she enjoyed, months of depression and grief was damaging to the persona.

*****

They had all arrived at just about the same time at the large beach front home that Maki shared with Nao and stood at the front double doors talking for just a bit; Tsumugi fussed over the fact that Azusa was standing with them, but finally Sumire knocked on the door and rang the door bell with Jun next to her.

Jun had changed from her uniform to brown shorts and a green top that hung off her left shoulder; she had low-cut, colorful socks and sneakers, her long brown hair in a pair of frizzy tails.
Sumire and Tsumugi were outfitted in some costly light dresses with embroidery of flowers and leaves; they almost looked like twins in that aspect except for the fact that Mugi wore purple and Sumire white.

The door on the left opened and Nao stood with her hands folded in front of her and bowing forward with her eyes to the ground. Nao wore a glossy black and white vinyl French Maids uniform with the bottom of the dress slightly puffed out by the white crinoline underneath. Her mid-back length black hair was in twin tails with center and side bangs and her red half-rimmed glasses sat at the end of her nose.

The reactions were mixed by everyone, Tsumugi thought it was cute knowing that Nao was close with Sawako and figured she was just modeling one of her outfits. Azusa and Jun both agreed that something was very wrong; Submissive-Aggressive huh?
Sumire thought Nao looked cute, however, she was also close friends with Nao and knew a few of her secrets, so she moved closer to Nao and gently stroked the glossy short puffy sleeves of the vinyl dress, she then whispered, “Are you okay Nao-Chan?” Nao stood straight when Maki opened the right door and stopped her from replying to Sumire.

“Naoko, greet our guests,” Maki ordered in a firm voice.

“Yes madam, welcome, please come in, if I may take your belongings, please leave them with me,” Nao replied still remaining in the same position.

The girls entered, however, Sumire wasn’t satisfied and stopped and caressed Nao’s back, her hand slid over the smooth vinyl of the dress and she said again, “Nao-Chan, are you okay?”

Nao nodded and Maki finally said, “It’s play, relax Sumire, everything is fine.”

Sumire nodded but looked back at Nao again. In high school, Nao and Sumire fell in love with each other, it wasn’t a sisterly love either, they had begun spending a lot of time together away from school and even their Light Music Club. There were many sleepovers and on one they had made love and were inches from intercourse. Wanting to remain friends forever, they had stopped and agreed that they would be the best of friends and find other people so they could have a sisterly relationship instead of a romantic one.

At this point, Sumire was a bit concerned even if Maki said it was just play that was going on now—what Jun, Azusa and Tsumugi didn’t seem to notice was the black leather collar with a single steel, heart-shaped ring at the center of Nao’s neck—this was something that Tsumugi had seriously gotten into and Sumire would dominate her wife often—it had appeared that Maki had done the same to Nao…another thing that Sumire knew Nao liked, but not so public with such close friends.

Nao closed the doors and followed everyone into the living area where she took the guests shoes and gave them slippers and then helped them all to the large oak Kotatsu where they all knelt, except for Azusa who sat, on pillows.

Nao took Azusa’s cane and smiled at her, she then stopped and stared, looking into Azusa’s eyes, she said, “You look good Senpai…”

“Naoko!” Maki said firmly, “No speaking to the guests without being spoken to.”

At this point, Nao’s mind began to wander, almost like Azusa in a way; however, she wasn’t spacing out, she was thinking a million miles a minute.

“Don’t speak unless you are spoken to Kouhai, keep your mouth closed Kouhai, you will obey Kouhai!” Junior High, the elder girls…she could hear their voices so clearly…

“Yes Senpai, I’m sorry Senpai, I will obey Senpai…” Nao always answered them, she was…

She could feel someone’s arms wrapped around her, it was actually Azusa; she got up from her pillow without the use of her cane which Nao still held.

Maki stood in shock, she said, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry Naoko—Nao…What’s wrong?”

“It’s ok—ohhhh, I need my cane please Nao-Chan.” Azusa said starting to cringe from the pain in her leg, so she took the cane slowly from Nao’s hand which released it subconsciously. While putting her weight on the cane, Azusa used her other arm to embrace Nao closer to her.

“Take a deep breath and I want you to look down at me Nao-Chan…I don’t think you are over your loss…” Azusa started.

“No…there is so much loss Nakano Senpai—Ma’am…I…I didn’t mean to speak, I’m sorry Senpai…” Nao said staring at Azusa.

Nao ran her hands down Azusa’s bare lower arms and she stopped suddenly and her facial expression changed drastically, “Mother fucker! You fucking overdosed on fucking drugs you stupid bitch! I had my children run down my legs and soak my panties and you tried to kill yourself! You stupid little fucking bitch! You have fucking tracks in your arms–AND DON’T SAY IT WAS BECAUSE YOU WERE HOOKED UP TO IV’S, BECAUSE THAT ISN’T WHAT CAUSED IT, AN INFECTION IN YOUR URETHA ISN’T GOING TO CAUSE BRAIN DAMAGE, HOW STUPID DO YOU THINK WE ARE!!!!!!!”

Maki shivered, what was happening to Nao? She took hold of her wife quickly and firmly said, “Don’t talk to her like that Nao.”

Nao was physically weak, especially compared to Maki, but she pushed her partner away and then stood in front of Azusa who was in shock caused by Nao’s words. She was joined by both Jun and Sumire and they watched as Nao took off her glasses with her left hand and slapped her face hard with her right.

Nao dropped to her knees and cried, “I’m sorry Senpai, I’m sorry Senpai, I’m sorry Senpai, I’ll be a good girl I promise Senpai, I promise, I promise…”

The girls were all in shock and Tsumugi took Nao in her arms and said, “Everything is going to be okay, don’t bottle up your pain and don’t smack yourself…Let’s be stupid and believe that our beloved Azusa-Chan didn’t try to kill herself; only Yui believes that an infection caused the damage to her brain, let’s keep it that way. Please Nao-Chan, you have a loving partner who only wants you to be safe and happy, no one wants you to hurt anymore…”

Sumire started to cry, she couldn’t stand seeing Nao hurting in any way and this caused Nao to look up at her and say, “I’m sorry Sumire, I’m still hurting and I…I made a mistake…I’m okay, I just need a minute and everything will be fine. Maki, I’m sorry, but I don’t think we can play like this anymore today, I’ll wear the dress, but I don’t want to play. I’m tired from being up at 3 in the morning…Please Miss Maki?”

“Yes, that’s fine, I’m sorry to have rushed you like this Nao…Uh…here, we need a pillow for you at the Kotatsu…” Maki said nervously as she went to a corner where a bunch of pillows were piled up and grabbed a plush one and set it next to Sumire for Nao to kneel on. “Everyone sit, sit!” Maki said quickly and all assembled followed suit. Maki went to retrieve a tray with a teapot and added Nao’s favorite cup and passed around everything for the girls who began to talk ignoring the fact that Nao had clearly shown that she was upset and in pain, if only to keep the mood in the room positive.

Azusa had never been more focused since she had woken up in the hospital, she couldn’t believe that Nao would smack herself and she could still hear the loud crack from the impact. Nao’s cheek was red and Azusa looked at her as she spoke with Sumire who was absentmindedly touching the glossy dress that Nao wore—was there a collar around Nao’s neck?

“Azu, you wanted to ask Nao-Chan something?” Jun said suddenly as the conversation between Sumire and Nao had come near an end.

“Yes, Nao-Chan, would you be able to do a repair job on my guitar for me?” Azusa asked.

“Yes Nakano-Senpai, I’ll do anything you tell me to,” Nao replied softly as Maki sat on the pillow next to her.

“Well, I don’t want you to do what I tell you to, I can and will pay you for it,” Azusa said.

“What do you wish me to do Nakano-Senpai?” Nao asked.

“I want my guitar restored to new. I want all of the electronics replaced with genuine Fender parts and I want the body restored to new. Jun and I brought it in the van,” Azusa said.

“Yes Nakano-Senpai, I’ll be happy to restore your Mustang for you—but I have to give the body to the man who restored my Roland, he did a great job; I’m unable to do so, but the rest won’t be a problem. Same color?” Nao asked.

“Yes—same finish as new, the Fiesta red and the headstock the same with the ‘Fender Mustang’ lettering,” Azusa replied; Jun was really happy that Azusa was able to focus consistently at the moment—and also talk with Nao without discomfort. Jun, Azusa and Sumire had never seen Nao do such a thing, so the guitar talk seemed to be calming, that and Sumire molesting Nao’s dress in the presence of both Tsumugi and Maki.

“Why do you want to suddenly restore your guitar Nakano Senpai?” Nao asked softly.

“Oh, well, I thought I would make my Mutton look as good as I do, to reflect the physical changes…” Azusa said.

“You can’t play it anymore can you Nakano Senpai?” Nao replied.

“No, I can’t, not well anyhow. I want to restore it so I can let it go, I’m sure my mother or father will play it for me; it’s fine as a Jazz guitar…” Azusa said.

Maki looked around nervously; she knew what she had to do to make the looming anger and gloom disappear, so she stood up and said, “Everyone, I think Nao would like to do a song for you. Is that OK Nao, would you perform for them? I can back you with the drums if you want.”

“Yes Miss Maki, I would like that very much,” Nao said standing and helping Sumire to her feet.

“Nao-Chan, are you going to play something new?” Sumire asked.

“You’ll see,” Nao replied as the group made their way to the recording stage. Everyone entered through the double glass doors and took a seat on pillows on the floor.

Maki sat at her drums and lifted a clear cylinder of foam, orange ear plugs off the floor by her Floor Tom and took out a pair and replaced the lid and the container on the floor. Maki rolled the plugs and put them in her ears and then retrieved her sticks from a case as Nao readied herself. There was a guitar on a stand that was covered with a cloth—almost like a blanket; she took off the cover revealing a vintage Gibson SG guitar in a cherry/brown with a brown fingerboard. At this point, Tsumugi and Azusa’s eyes widened at the sight of it and at the same time they cried, “That is NOT Sawa-Chan’s guitar is it!”

Nao slung the SG over her shoulder and walked up to the microphone after jacking into and adjusting the amp and said, “Yes it is, it was my first guitar, I was able to restore it to almost new and even got the mold smell out of it. She said you guys sold it about 2 years before she gave it to me and it hung in 10-Gia for the whole time, so she was in there one day and bought it back, then gave it to me. The fingerboard is made of Jacaranda, it really restored better than I thought it would. The condition was great so I just cleaned it up and replaced the hardware and electrics. Do you know how old this thing is! I love it!”

“We know all of that Nao-Chan, do you know what we went through with it? We all got turned on by the money it brought and we became greedy monsters over splitting it—Ritsu almost ate the receipt!” Azusa said flustered.

“Now, now, now, now, now, now, Azusa-Chan, at least it went to someone who could appreciate it and ‘make the guitar happy’ as Sawa-Chan said,” Tsumugi replied.

“Nao-Chan fixed it up pretty quick and was playing it all the time in the club, even Mariko-Senpai was impressed—she joined first after you Ui and Jun graduated, then we got a couple first years and we were set. Of course Sawa-Chan was there for the snacks and tea everyday, but she started to change from how she was when Nao-Chan kept going to her for help. Mariko-Senpai was our singer, Nao played that guitar and wrote all of our songs and even did some of the mixing still; while the first year girls were a bassist and one played a Saxophone, our group really had a great sound to it, I’m surprised none of you ever came to see us, especially during the festivals. In our senior year we got a new singer because Mariko-Senpai graduated and the rest of us were the same. We did break up after we graduated and the Light Music Club changed often from that point. We did go see the girls play until they graduated, but eventually College did take over in the later years…well, Nao-Chan graduated with a doctorate in 2, but you know…” Sumire said.

“Sorry, we didn’t mean to not come, it was a mistake, but to be honest, we were busy with some major issues; that is probably one of the reasons we wanted the two of you to join us when we reformed “The Wakaba Girls,” Azusa said.

“Are we going to go down memory lane or do this thing, Naoko—‘Boys of Summer!’” Maki said.

“Wait, Nao is going to sing?” Jun said.

Nao and Maki began the song—an English song, only Tsumugi would get most of the words, she had improved her English heavily as part of her business degree. Sumire learned a decent amount, but Azusa was choppy since high school and Jun had a limited vocabulary, but regardless of that, Nao couldn’t sing, was this supposed to be torture? The music sounded good though!

Nao started on the vocals and her calm gentle voice filled the room causing a great surprise to all gathered. Although the words were mostly foreign to them, those who could understand them were enraptured by the huge improvement of Nao’s ability to sing, she sounded so beautiful.
Nao and Maki copied the song as close to the original as possible with what they had and their audience listened, enjoying the show wholeheartedly.

At the end, the girls clapped for the two performing for them and fussed over Nao’s ability to sing so well.

“Sea of Love,” Nao said into the microphone and began playing the tune on her SG guitar as Maki added a beat. This song was an ‘oldie’ from the States and was quite a challenge for anyone to sing, however Nao was once again showing what hard work and training could produce and at this point, Tsumugi and Azusa looked to each other and nodded a private message.

When the girls finished, the group in the audience stood up and clapped, they were overly impressed and Azusa, Sumire and Jun had all apologized to Nao for always teasing her about her lack of Karaoke skills.

*****

The day had finally ended and Maki was getting ready for bed in the room she shared with Nao. Nao on the other hand was in the guest bathroom once again, she had the door closed and even locked, something that she had installed herself because she needed privacy.

Nao stood in front of the sink wearing green pajama pants and a pink camisole, her mid-length straight black hair down her back and over her shoulders. Nao set her glasses and then squatted down and opened the sink cabinet and reached into the back for something—what she brought out was a 15 pound dumbbell that was solid metal with a rubber coating. She looked at it as she stood up and then looked in the mirror once again. Taking the weight into both hands, Nao closed her eyes and said in a whisper, “I’m sorry Nakano-Senpai, I’ll be a good girl; I had no right to speak to you in the manner in which I did. Miss Maki, I’m sorry that I failed to give you children, it’s my fault, and I need to be punished for it…I’m so sorry!” Nao thrust the weight into her stomach as hard as she could with both hands causing her to let out a gasp of air in a silent scream of pain, she fell to her knees and then after a moment of crying silently, she stood up and said in a struggling voice, “I’m sorry Nakano-Senpai, I’m sorry Miss Maki, I’ll be a good girl, I promise…” She then thrust the weight into her stomach again, this time her legs gave out as she lost all breath and let out a strained groan caused by the pain; tears ran down her cheeks and she stayed on the floor a bit longer than the first time.

Nao finally was able to move and she put the weight into the back of the sink cabinet and covered it, hiding it behind cleaning supplies. She stood up and opened the medicine cabinet and took out a wrapped bar of white soap and looked at it. She didn’t want to deep down, but she had to, it was the only way she could be corrected for raising her voice to her Senpai—if Azusa knew what Nao was going to do, she would be horrified.

Nao unwrapped the bar of soap and ran more than half of it under the water faucet, when she felt it was enough, she turned off the water and looked at the bubbles forming on top of the area in which she wet.

“I’m sorry Nakano-Senpai, I will never raise my voice to you, I will never talk back to you, I will never use improper or disrespectful language to you ever again,” Nao said quietly and then opened her mouth and pressed the bar of white soap in until she couldn’t get it in any farther. Nao closed her mouth on the soap and stared at herself in the mirror as she said her apology to Azusa over and over again in her mind.

Fifteen minutes had passed and Maki came to the door as Nao choked on the soap and took it out of her mouth, she could hear Maki outside and she spit out a lot of white saliva and then tried to rinse quickly.

“Naoko-Chan, are you OK? Finish up and come to bed all right? Naoko?” Maki said

“Yes Miss Maki, I won’t be long…” Nao replied in a monotone, staring at herself in the mirror, her glasses had slid to the end of her nose and her eyes were full of tears, her nose was running and white soapy saliva dripped from her lips…

Next time on K-ON!!!!! “Beautiful World,” Yui and Azusa catch up and word of Nao’s singing reaches the ears of an old group of friends; in part 4. Be here next Thursday!

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