Unexpected Arrival

Chapter 3

"What the..." Ritsu's eyes widened, golden orbs focusing on the furry appendages adorning the figure's head.

"Are you a...girl?"

The long haired girl bared her teeth at Ritsu, and Ritsu took a step back, startled.

"Uhh..."

Reaching up, the girl violently threw her hoodie back up over her head, ears laying flat against her skull. Turning away, she shoved her hands in her pockets.

"W-wait!" Ritsu took a step toward the girl, reaching out to her to stop her.

Glancing over her shoulder, the hooded girl glared at her from underneath the edge of her hood, baring her teeth again. Her face was cast in shadow, but the glint in her eyes was matched only by the glistening of her sharp fangs.

Confused, Ritsu faltered. Her hand fell to her side, and she tilted her head to the left slightly, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Without looking back, the girl broke into a jog, taking off down the street.

"Hey!" Ritsu brushed her hair out of her eyes, and trotted to the front of the house. Looking down the street after the fleeing figure, she watched her recede into the distance.

"HEY!"

No response. The hooded girl fled around the corner and out of sight, leaving Ritsu sighing in her front yard.

"The hell was that about?" She mumbled to herself, running her hand through her hair then rubbing the back of her neck. Walking back up the driveway toward the front door, she entered her house, curious as to what she had actually seen.

Was it some kind of cos-player, maybe? Was there a hidden camera that had recorded their interaction?

"Nah, that's stupid." She muttered. Heading back toward the basement, she sat back down at the drums. Picking up her sticks, she began tapping out a simple, mellow rhythm. It was all over the place though, her mind occupied by what she had seen.

UA

"Damnit, Yui, practice!" Azusa cried, letting her guitar hang from it's strap around her shoulders, closing her eyes and rubbing her forehead in frustration.

"Mmm, but Azunyan, these cookies your mom made are delicious!" The brown-haired girl said, sitting on the bed with a plate of cookies in her lap. Crumbs decorated the bed and her lap, making Azusa cringe at the thought of cleaning it up.

"Besides," The girl said, swinging her legs idly as she took another bite. "I like watching you play. You're inspiring. Play that part for me again?"

Azusa contemplated it, glancing sideways at the girl who was looking at her with such a sweet smile on her face.

"Fine." Azusa finally said. "But only because I need to practice this part again anyway." She had put extra emphasis on 'practice', but Yui had completely ignored it.

Turning her amp up a bit, she got her guitar comfortable against her hip, then began. A high pitched whine filled the air, then grew in pitch as Azusa slid her finger up the fretboard. Swiftly sweep-picking her way up and down the fretboard, she stuck her tongue out in concentration, earning a giggle from Yui that went unheard over the music from the amp.

The part she was practicing wasn't long, and Yui watched in fascination as Azusa tossed her head back, getting her hair out of her eyes as she coaxed a few more high pitched squeals from her guitar. A second later and Azusa stepped on her effects pedal, turning her guitar to clean and playing another fast paced part, trying not to stumble over the closely spaced notes on the fretboard.

When she was finished, Azusa let her guitar fall from her grasp, bumping lightly against her waist as she raised her gaze to Yui.

"Okay, now your turn."

Yui slowly set down the plate of cookies, glancing longingly at them before picking up her guitar.

Positioning her fingers just so on the fretboard, she raised her right hand to strum. Azusa watched, eyebrow raised slightly, ready to judge her performance, when-

"Maybe after a few more cookies." Yui said, turning around and reaching for the plate, guitar forgotten. She missed Azusa's sigh of defeat and the shaking of her head, resigning herself to forever practicing alone from now on.

"Say, Azunyan," Yui said, turning around with another cookie in her hand, "Would you like to go out somewhere tonight?"

The question interrupted Azusa's current train of thought, and she stopped fiddling with her volume knob, looking up in surprise.

"Go out?" She echoed. "Where?"

Yui shrugged, sitting down on the bed again. "Anywhere you want."

Azusa thought about it, gazing at the girl sitting on her bed.

"Hmm...maybe." She allowed. A smile formed on Yui's face, and she picked up another cookie.

"I'll change that into a yes."

UA

"Will they be home any time soon?"

"I'm not sure, Mugi." Ritsu replied, tilting her head to hold her cell phone between her shoulder and ear as she twisted the lid off a jar of grape jelly. Moving toward the counter, she set the jar down and grabbed a loaf of bread from on top of the microwave.

"Yeah, I dunno." She spoke again, reaffirming her previous comment. "You should just come over though, I'm bored out of my mind. Hey, wanna go see a movie or something?"

There was a slight humming on the other end of the line as the blonde thoughtfully tapped a pencil on her bottom lip.

"Yeah, sure." She finally replied. "What did you want to see?"

Ritsu pulled two slices of bread from the bag and tied it up, tossing it back onto the microwave. Turning around, she didn't see the bag list slightly to the side, before rolling off the microwave onto the counter.

Tossing them onto the counter in front of her, Ritsu dug through the drawer for a knife.

"We can see what's playing when you come over." Ritsu suggested. A sound of confirmation was heard before Ritsu switched the phone to her other ear; her neck was starting to hurt.

"Yeah, okay." Mugi said. "I'll get ready and come over. Is the-"

"Sorry Mugi, just hold on a sec, okay?" Ritsu said, "I think I heard something outside."

The blonde fell silent, and Ritsu lowered her phone to the counter.

Was she hearing things?

She paused for a second, then a faint sound from outside reached her ears. Immediately, her thoughts turned to the strange girl from earlier, and she took off, leaving her phone sitting on the counter, sandwich forgotten.

Yanking open the front door, she hopped down the steps, looking around expectantly. Her tawny hair brushed against her forehead, and she reached up, pushing her bangs out of her eyes. Just as she had thought, there was a glimpse of someone disappearing around the corner of her house.

Grinning, she took off down the path that lead to her backyard, and when she rounded the corner, she was pleased to see that her hunch was correct. The mysterious girl was back!

"Hey, you!" Ritsu called.

The hooded girl appeared to have heard her apporaching this time, and turned around even as Ritsu called out to her.

"Are you looking for that rabbit? It's long gone, you know." Ritsu said conversationally. The girl merely stared at her, not showing any reaction at her words.

"They come and go. It's not often you see them, but not rare either, if that makes sense." Ritsu continued.

Still no response.

"Are you hungry? I have food in the house." Ritsu took a slow step toward the girl. Her only reaction was to stiffen slightly, and mirror Ritsu's movement, but in reverse. Taking a step back, the hooded girl brought her hands up to waist level, as if preparing for an attack.

"Hungry? Food?" Ritsu questioned. Taking another step toward the girl, quicker this time, Ritsu was rewarded with a loud hiss as the girl reached out lightning quick, leaving a fresh set of scratch marks across the back of her palm.

"Ow, what the hell!" Ritsu exclaimed, looking at her hand in confusion. Blood started to seep through the lines in the torn skin, and she shook her hand, trying to stop the pain.

"Enough of that." Ritsu said, feeling irritated at the pain in her hand. Moving toward the girl, who was clearly on the defensive now, she reached out and grabbed her by the hoodie, turning around and dragging her toward the house.

"I'm gonna fix my hand, then make you food. And if you scratch me again I'll break your hand off." Ritsu said, clenching her teeth together as a sharp pain began making itself known.

The girl tried to twist away, but Ritsu had a hold of something under the hoodie, and she gave it a sharp pinch and a twist, earning a whimper from the girl as she immediately stopped struggling.

Dragging her to the back door, she flung it open and pulled the girl inside. Closing the door, she finally released the girl as she moved toward the counter and her nearly-forgotten cell phone.

"Sorry Mugi," She said, picking it up. "But I found a stray...nger outside of my house. Pretty weird stuff. Anyway, you wanna come over?"

"A stranger? Sure. I was getting ready while you were gone, I have you on speaker-phone. I'll head over right away, okay?"

"Alright, see you soon."

Ritsu clicked the phone shut and set it down. Sighing and turning around, the movement startled the girl standing in her kitchen. Stiffening slightly and turning her gaze to Ritsu, the girl once again bared her pure white fangs.

"Whoa, calm down there. I'm not gonna hurt you. I just wanna know why you're messing around in my yard. You ruin my mom's garden, she'll have my head, ya know?"

The dark-haired girl didn't seem to register the words; she stayed completely still and her wary gaze never left Ritsu.

Another sigh escaped the tawny-haired drummer. This was turning out to be quite the handful.

A/N: I didn't mean to make it this short; work is, as always, draining my time. Hope to have another chapter up sometime soon, and I hope to see an influx of Christmas-themed quality Mitsu fics flood the fandom. Maybe, if I have time, I'll even contribute one of my own. Who knows, eh?

Read and review, please!