To Akira’s black and gold “Tuxedo” Gibson Les Paul Custom, Yui says “It’s Black Gita!” Well, courtesy of a friend, here is “Camo Gita” an Epiphone Les Paul Custom Zakk Wylde with custom graphics. The blue is my project Strat and the gray is my beloved Ivanka Ibanez. As you can see, “Yui” is draped over the Les Paul, how fitting.

Last time, Yui showed her worth as a teacher and an influential group formed to pull Ritsu in the right direction—this story continues now. After; a big day for Azusa and Jun—but, be warned, there are very graphic depictions; READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!

Thanks to Kerry Livgren, “Kansas” recites…

“It slips away, all your money won’t another minute buy…”

Keion!!!! (K-ON!!!!) “Dust in the Wind” Part 4.

…Still night at Mio’s:

“…Miss Nao, why don’t you begin and the rest of us will interject as needed,” Nodoka said as she made herself comfortable at the Kotatsu, she was a little surprised that her childhood friend Yui wasn’t there, but this whole situation might have been a little too deep for her to cope with. Nao looked around the group and then to Ritsu and said, “Miss Tainaka, you will be starting school next week.”

At that, Ritsu began to reply to the shocking news but Tsumugi placed her pointer finger to her lips and Ritsu remained silent; Nao continued, “Miss Kotobuki and Miss….Miss Nodoka used their influence to get you into a small local college to finish your degree, however there are a lot of rules in which you must follow; the first is that you will now be changing your major to business—it seems to be a common practice among our groups doesn’t it?”

Tsumugi turned to Ritsu and said, “I used just about every favor I had for you to get this done and Nodoka over stepped her authority as Mayor to do the same, so now you must follow the rules involved in this. First, for the rest of the semester of your third year, you must get one hundred percent in all of your subjects; this includes projects, papers and tests—everything. If you do not, then you will be asked to leave and you will never set foot in a university again, do you understand Ritsu?”

“It’s impossible! There is no way I can get perfect grades for the next few months; in all of the subjects too! Why would both of you put so much up when it’s impossible for me to do such a thing!?” Ritsu yelled flustered, she got up from the table and Tsumugi said, “Ritsu, SIT, NOW!” Ritsu looked at Mugi for a moment, she had a very stern look on her face and from there she looked to Mio who was cringing and preparing her Kiseru; Nao and Nodoka looked at Ritsu calmly and motioned for her to kneel on her pillow.

“Yes Kotobuki-Sama, I understand…” Ritsu finally replied and knelt on her pillow keeping her knees together and her hands folded in her lap.

“You will not be alone in doing this Ritsu, Mio is going to help you to study; she is going to help you to write your papers, she is going to be there for you the whole time. Not only Mio, but also Nao and even Tsumugi will be there for you—this time, you will use all of the resources that you have always had in order to succeed. It will be very difficult, but you can do it and you will have a lot of help in doing so,” Nodoka said.

“There is more though. Ritsu, you will then—if you succeed in getting through the remainder of your third year—have to keep a very high grade point average with a minimum of ninety seven percent on all of your school work, if you go below, you will once again be asked to leave–however, you will still have all the help you need,” Tsumugi said calmly.

“Next…And I’m being coached on the words I use…you have to PAY for the pain you put Miss Akiyama through. However, realistically, this is a must in order for me to heal her of her Agoraphobia. You must understand Miss Tainaka that Miss Akiyama will no longer be able to work anymore in order for me to give her daily therapy—and not just an hour, she will have to spend the entire day with me, this will be injuring to me financially and socially—as if I had a social life outside of all of you, however I would gladly give up what I had to for a positive outcome,” Nao said.

“You will have to work to support Mio and yourself while in school and getting above average grades in the process, which means that I have set up a second job for you. Ritsu, you will go to school in the morning, work at the café in the afternoon and at 10-GIA at night. When you arrive home, Mio will help you with your school work to the best of her ability—and when it comes to Mio’s intellect, you are going to have quite a wonderful helping hand. On the weekends, a group of us will assist you and on Sunday you will be off to rest. This is going to be a very rough trial for you to pass; not only for you, but also for Mio—I will take care of Nao for Sumire’s sake, but when it comes down to it, you and Mio are going to have to find what you lost and you will have to overcome a vicious challenge. Ritsu, do you understand and accept what is being offered to you?” Tsumugi said firmly.

Ritsu became nervous, the thought of working nonstop from sun up to sun down, having to get grades reserved for people like Mio—honors…but, then there was the sacrifice from Nao, neither of them were friends with Nao up until Tsumugi and Sumire wed…why was she doing this, why was she making such a sacrifice? The weight began to set on Ritsu’s shoulders and she scrunched down in her kneeling position and began to cry to the silence around her, the guards at the door not moving like the soldiers in England, Tsumugi, Nodoka and Nao looking at her awaiting her answer and then there was Mio, tears streaming down her cheeks and smoke passing through her lips as she held her long, thin pipe in her left hand.

“Yes Kotobuki-Sama, I understand, and I will accept the gracious privilege from all of you. But, please Nao, help Mio to leave this place, I don’t want her to be a prisoner anymore, do it for her, not me…I’m so sorry for everything…” Ritsu said as she cried to her old friends.

Tsumugi stood up from the Kotatsu and made her way to Ritsu, she sat down behind her and wrapped her arms around her small friends body and said, “Ritchan, everything will be OK, I promise, just don’t give up. You have to go see Yui, she needs to see you, she’s been so sad ever since she lost you. Don’t avoid us anymore, no matter how tough any of us—especially me–are on you, we want what’s best for you. Ritsu, you are going to live with Mio now, I’ve spoken to Satoshi and he will help you to move your things, he was very thankful to all of us for giving you this chance, so don’t let your brother or any of us down…and you have to go see Yui, it’s a must.”

Ritsu nodded with her tear-filled eyes closed and said, “Yes Kotobuki-Sama, I will go see Yui-Chan, I promise, and I promise I won’t fail any of you, no matter how hard it is, I promise.”

Tsumugi smiled and said, “I’m glad…you start at 10-GIA on Monday evening at six, don’t be late and wear something fitting.”

“Yes Kotobuki-Sama, I won’t let you down…” said Ritsu.

Another Day:

The following has some extremely graphic depictions, reader discretion is advised!

Azusa lay naked in her bed on her stomach as Jun massaged her shoulders and back, she caressed the short black hair off of Azusa’s neck and rubbed deeper into her upper back. Azusa breathed softly feeling relieved from the stiffness of having to use her upper body to get from a stationary position to her wheelchair and pushing herself by rotating the wheels when Jun couldn’t.

Azusa’s upper body had severe scarring going from her shoulders to just below her elbows; this was caused by road rash and bones piercing through her skin after the impact of the car against her body. Azusa was dragged for a few hundred feet before the driver came to a stop and by that time the bones had forced their way through her legs in multiple places and her back was broken. The scars on her legs were large and like the ones on her arms, the skin was filled in with grafts which left a nasty-looking grid pattern behind when the wounds finally healed.

Azusa’s lower back had long incision scars from the operation that was given to try to repair her spine, an operation that failed and left her without feeling below her waist without a chance of ever recovering.

Although it was uncomfortable for Jun to run her hands over the deformities of the heavy scarring, she would do anything for Azusa; she was there when the ambulance had brought her in. Jun was in her first year as a nurse and was at the emergency room at the exact moment—she remembered seeing Azusa in pieces, her bones sticking out of her small body like the quills of a porcupine and blood gushing from the countless wounds…the four foot eleven woman was going to die, the fact that she was still alive, if anyone could call what Azusa was currently doing living; was amazing.

Azusa and Jun both were Buddhists, but religion meant nothing when they woke up every morning to the same rituals. Jun had to clean her friend, dress her and prepare her meal and then be prepared to help her with her toilet needs. Most of these things were easily able to be accomplished by Azusa herself, but sometimes the horrific pain that she lived with got in the way of doing simple things. Azusa was taught to take care of herself and handle mostly all of her needs, but Jun had given herself to her friend and spent years taking care of her and would spend as long as she had to in order to be sure that Azusa was never alone—she couldn’t imagine what it was like for her, but Azusa never showed anyone her feelings at all.

Yui still adored her but knew to be careful when she got affectionate, Azusa had hoped that her situation would be all the excuse she needed to keep Yui from hugging her and calling her Azu-nyan all the time, but it didn’t work…Yui’s affection wasn’t a bad thing, but Azusa wasn’t in high school anymore and really became embarrassed when Yui would show affection to her in her way, especially in public.
Ui was different, she was one of her best friends for years and she even stood next to her in performances, however, Ui had become distant from Azusa, something that she could never imagine happening because Ui was a caring person—almost like a mother, so why was she always so close but so far away?

Tsumugi and Sumire were just there, they were hardly around with Mugi’s schedule which Sumire usually followed so Azusa never really thought about them or considered their detachment from her. Apparently, Tsumugi lived with a waking dream that went through her mind often so Azusa just used that as an excuse for Sumire spending so much time with her partner or wife.

Mio and Ritsu were gone, Mio couldn’t come out to see her and there was no elevator to get to her apartment room, as for phone calls, there weren’t any, she hadn’t seen Mio since she got out of the hospital and the graduation. After that, Mio was not heard from or seen by Azusa and it hurt because Azusa admired Mio so much—but, Azusa knew why Mio was avoiding her, it was because she was probably frightened by her appearance now—she thought using the covering of her clothes to hide the scars would be enough, but it also must have been that Mio was freaked out by her being wheelchair bound—she understood and knew Mio all too well to judge her on this matter.

Ritsu…she was in the club the other night, Azusa could see her by the door, the waste of life she had become, poor and reliant on her brother—the smile and foolishness was gone, the strength that little five foot tall girl had was gone, she was nothing but a shell of who she used to be up to the end of her third year of college. Azusa wasn’t upset at her anymore, but at the same time she felt a slight piece of anger when she thought of how they were all broken up by her actions. Ritsu was the glue who held them all together, her kindness, her personality as a whole, she was the leader, the one who really looked out for everyone and she failed the group of friends…Azusa didn’t want to think about Ritsu anymore, but she did want to talk to her, it was about time that she stopped avoiding everyone except Mio and those who forced their way in to speak with her.

It was Nao, Nao was now the glue holding everyone together, she was the mother of a bunch of screwed up girls, she had put so much into trying to unite both groups and it was wearing on her; the stress of trying to keep them all together. In reality, Sumire was her closest friend, she was the only one Nao called by her first name and Azusa could see how close they were when Tsumugi wasn’t around. Nao knew that Sumire was married, so if her friend had to choose between her and her partner, she knew it would always be Tsumugi. As for the others…it was Ritsu whom she spoke with the most, the one on the outside—her goal was to bring Ritsu back in and she was failing everyday, but she tried and tried again and probably wouldn’t give up until both groups were together again…oh, the weight on her small shoulders…

Jun lifted Azusa and turned her over on her back where the front of her body was amassed with even more scarring. Her small breasts were fine, there was next to no damage upon entering the hospital except for a few scratches, it was her stomach area and sides that were a mess where many of Azusa’s ribs had torn through her skin.
Jun examined Azusa and then applied baby powder to her groin and diapered her; she then pulled on a thin plastic panty and covered Azusa with the sheet on her bed up to her neck.

“So, we are finally recording today, what outfit do you want to wear? Or should I choose?” Jun asked sitting on the bed next to her friend.

“We are taking photos for the album right?” Azusa asked.

“Yep, so how about all black so your Mustang shows up brightly?” Jun replied.

“That could work, how about the long skirt with the zipper up the side and the long sleeve top with the low neckline, I think that would look nice–knee socks and boots, maybe? I know it’s hot, but the recording studio does have air conditioning,” Azusa said.

“OK, that sounds good, and how about if I pigtail your hair and comb your bangs, that way you won’t have your usual braids,” said Jun as she went to a dresser and looked for the top and skirt.

“What do you think Nao is going to wear?” Azusa asked.

Jun giggled and said, “Dee, dee, da, da, da, da! Nao is going to look like a Raver, she had Sawako make her some translucent green and pink vinyl; a corset, skirt and…something else and she even picked up new headphones to go with it.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me, then maybe I need more color, but it can’t be red so it doesn’t clash with Muttan. Hey, lend me your green camisole to wear over the black top, that would work…I can’t imagine what Nao is going to look like, this is going to be so fun!” Azusa said happily.

“I guess I need to put something better together too, I was going to go with something off the shoulder as I usually do, but my color scheme won’t match. I wonder what Ui and Sumire are going to do? We should have talked about this,” Jun said.

“If we talked about it, then Sawako would make us matching costumes—something that MOST of us were usually against depending on what it was. Nao was once against certain things, but lately she has been Sawa-Chan’s model…she does look Kawaii though,” replied Azusa.

Jun tossed the outfit, including her green camisole on the bed and it landed on Azusa’s covered legs, she apologized and Azusa laughed and said, “I didn’t feel anything—that gets old really quick…”

Jun frowned and apologized again, then said, “Before getting you dressed I need to give you your needle; we are doing about ten hours today right?”

“Give or take, Sumire and Nao are paying for it, so they said it was going to be ten hours worth of time. I think that’s enough for the photo shoot, and the recording of the whole album. I went over all the details with the printers and Presses about a month ago, so its all up to us giving them the media and we should have…let’s see…a special edition CD set with the photo book and some special items enclosed, a single of “Answer” with “Fuwa Fuwa Time,” the photo book alone and the full album alone—all of this is also courtesy of Sumire and Nao—I think we should pay for dinner tonight,” Azusa replied.

“We can’t pay for dinner Azu, Nao already made reservations at a fancy place and got us a private room and then we have a reservation at a Karaoke bar for dessert and drinks and a lot of singing…I’ll let you tell Nao-Chan that she’s not allowed to sing!” Jun said with a laugh.

“Gee thanks…Then, what can we do?” Azusa said.

“I picked up some good tea and cakes and Ui is making lunch, so that is what we’ll do. We don’t have the finances like Sumire; and Nao does pretty well even though our groups are free customers—she could make bundles off of all of us with each session, but she doesn’t, she’s so kind. Let us just say thanks a bunch of times and everyone will be happy,” replied Jun.

Jun finished preparing a syringe by drawing fluid from a small bottle into its shaft; she sat on the bed next to Azusa and pulled the sheet down to her waist. Jun looked at both of Azusa’s arms and said, “You really need to heal for a bit, I should just plunge it into your butt—just kidding, sorry it wasn’t funny…”

“Do what you want, I’ve never argued with you on this, but that just seems so embarrassing, I won’t feel it though,” replied Azusa.

“Here, I found a spot, although you’re starting to bruise, but, you won’t last ten hours and then some without this. Keeping your balance has got to be hard enough, but that seems to be what you learned the most in your training—I still think you should wear a harness when sitting; and that is my medical opinion,” Jun said as she used a cotton ball with alcohol to clean where she was going to give Azusa the injection, she then pushed the needle in and slowly pressed the plunger down injecting the medicine into her friend.

“Eight hour pain killer, and not the kind that does nothing but gives some relief…your back won’t hurt a bit or anything else for that matter; but you won’t be stoned so you can play your Mustang and sing without issue,” said Jun applying a bandage to the spot after removing the needle.

“A harness? I might have the body size of a child, but like hell I am one! I didn’t spend months learning to cope and achieve balance while sitting to wear a harness Jun, I’m restrained enough without having the use of my legs, I don’t want my upper body to be worthless to,” Azusa said angered.

“I didn’t mean it that way, honest, I’m just worried…you’ve been tired lately and I’m so worried that you’ll fall over, don’t be mad at me, I am seriously only looking out for you, you know that Azu,” Jun said feeling upset.

Azusa smiled and said, “I know Jun, and I’ll always love you for everything you’ve done for me…now please get me a bra and help me get dressed, I’m tired of laying here naked with…this THING on.”

“I can’t cath you today, your urethra has been red, I’m concerned about infection, I’m really sorry about the diaper, its thin, no one will notice it, and no one will care,” Jun replied.

“Just…just help me get dressed, we’re going to be late,” Azusa replied blushing.

The weight on Ritsu’s shoulders has become very heavy, but she knows that this is her only chance to make things right between her friends. Azusa and Jun have an exceptional caring relationship, the kind of rare friendship that only girls can have.
Next time, “The Wakaba Girls” begin their journey in recording their first album; catch it next Thursday, be there for K-ON!!!! “Dust in the Wind” Part 5!!!!

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