"I wonder where Nodoka is today?" Yui asked as she and the K-On members walked to the club music room, however today Yui hadn't seen Nodoka and that was strange since Nodoka always checked on Yui to make sure that she hadn't done anything that would harm her later on…or to just make sure that she was still on track in schoolwork. "Maybe she's sick?" Mio offered.
"No…" Yui said, "her parents said that she definitely went to school today."
"Hmm…" Azusa wondered, "I don't know…maybe she's got study to do."
"That's probably true."
"Come on I brought lots of sweets today" Mugi said cheerfully resulting in a 'yay' from Yui. They reached the club music room and opened it to find that it was a bit stuck, "that's weird…it's never stuck."
"It's probably old" Ritsu replied smiling in her usual goofy way and forced the door open but what they saw would haunt them for the rest of their lives; Nodoka was inside leaning on the wall but there were blood everywhere and there was a gaping wound on her head, her eyes were half-closed and her breathing were coming in sharp raspy breaths.
"Kami-sama!" Mio exclaimed and nearly fainted from the sight of all the blood, "what happened here?"
"Nodoka-chan!" Yui cried out going to her best friend's aid, "don't die on me…"
"Y-Yui…" Nodoka managed to gasp, "y-y-you're here…w-what happened?"
"Don't talk Nodoka," Ritsu said rushing to her and taking off her jacket and pressing firmly on Nodoka's head, "Mugi gone to get Sawa-chan and the school nurse…you're going to be just fine."
"I-I s-s-see" Nodoka gasped out, "b-but I d-don't think I'm going to make it."
"Don't say that Nodoka!" Ritsu exclaimed, "you can get through this."
"It's g-g-getting dark…" Nodoka whispered, "I th-think this is goodbye Yui…" then gasping for breath she uttered a final sentence, "you've been a good friend Yui…I'm glad I got to know you" then Nodoka closed her eyes.
"NO NODOKA-CHAN!" Yui cried out sobbing her heart out for her best friend.
"Don't worry Yui…" Ritsu said softly, "she's still alive she just fainted from blood loss."
"O-okay…" Yui said as she stroked Nodoka's face, "please be alive Nodoka-chan."
Soon Sawako and the school nurse finally arrived, they managed to stabilise her and sent her to the hospital. The police were also called and they investigated the place and interviewed everyone in the school, they managed to deduce that an intruder must have managed to get inside the school and must have gone around the school when Nodoka just had the unlucky chance of meeting him in the music room and she was clubbed with something really big, perhaps a baseball bat, and the intruder left her for dead before leaving the school. Yui and Ui were crying the whole time as they thought about their childhood friend being in hospital and attacked by an intruder while Mio was still trying to be like a mother to them, though she was doing badly at it since it was usually Nodoka who was the mother for them, the others could only stare into space as they waited for news from the hospital. Nodoka's parents had been contacted and informed about the situation and they didn't waste a moment in rushing to their daughter's side…it was almost a whole day before they got any news about Nodoka. It was Sawa-chan who broke the news, "I got news from the hospital…" she said.
"And?" Ritsu asked nervously.
"She's going to be just fine" Sawa-chan said smiling, "the doctors managed to control the bleed but she's going to need some rehabilitation before she can go back to school she'll be available after school today."
Yui started bawling her eyes out, "T-thank goodness" while Ui stood there comforting her, "I-I thought I lost her…"
"There there" Ritsu said, "everything is just fine now that Nodoka is okay and in hospital. The police are trying extra hard to find the culprit you know."
"Yeah…" Yui said poking her hand, "I know…"
"So how about we visit her today?" Mio asked.
"That's a great idea, I can bring some sweets as well as tea" Mugi agreed smiling.
"Yay sweets" Yui cried out forgetting about Nodoka, or anything for that matter, whenever sweets are involved.
"They're for Nodoka-san Onee-san" Ui reminded her making Yui pout.
"But I'm hungry…" Yui whined.
"Don't be selfish Onee-san" Ui chided her but in a soft tone as usual, "Nodoka got hurt remember."
"I know…" Yui said as she hummed a tune, "maybe I can nab some from her."
"You never change Yui" Mio sighed, "okay how about we meet up at the front gate after school and from there we can get to the hospital and visit Nodoka."
"Okay" Yui said and they dispersed for the day, however for Yui it seemed that the day simply dragged on and she almost jumped out of her seat when the bell sounded that marked the end of school. She literally flew towards the entrance to the school gate, much to the amusement of the other students and staff but they knew that Yui cherished Nodoka a lot so they didn't really think it was that weird and simply hoped that Nodoka would recover from the attack.
Soon the other members including Ui arrived at the gate, "Are you ready?" Mugi asked making Yui nod and she ran on the spot, eager to go to the hospital, "come on, come on we're going to miss visiting hours."
"Calm down Yui" Ritsu replied, "sheesh…was she like this the whole day?"
Ui nodded in reply, "Yes she couldn't sit still throughout class, she kept looking up at the clock and once she nearly ran out when she couldn't hold it any longer."
"Geez Yui…" Mio chided, "you should act a little mature you know?"
"I know…" Yui said despondently, "I'm really worried about her that's all."
"I know" Mio replied softly, "so are we…come on or visiting hours really will be over."
"Eh! It will?" Yui said, "Nodoka-chan!" Yui then ran at full speed towards the hospital leaving the others sweat dropping at the sheer speed that Yui was simply going, until she almost collided with a car then they started running after her in case she did something really stupid and got hurt. They finally arrived at the hospital without any incident or without Yui doing something stupid, it was eerily quiet like a graveyard and there were hardly anyone inside, "it's really quiet" Ritsu commented.
"It is a hospital Ritsu" Mio said, "what did you expect?"
"I don't know" Ritsu said shrugging, "I expected lots of patients with blood spurting out, broken legs, rebars impaled in them" she was obviously trying to scare Mio, which worked as she was trembling in a secluded corner of the hospital. Ritsu grinned and said, "see…you are still scared" only to be rewarded with a smack to the head.
"IDIOT!" Mio yelled out, "you're in a hospital and you still act like an idiot."
Ritsu chuckled as she rubbed her sore head, "I thought it would brighten the mood."
"Ma ma" Mugi said trying to calm both of them down, "let's just go to Nodoka's room and see how's she's doing. It seems Yui is impatient" pointing to Yui who was jumping up and down from frustration while Ui was trying to calm her down to no avail.
The trio soon met with the Hirasawa sisters, "What were you two doing?" Yui asked in a rare moment of maturity which surprised Mio and Ritsu…until she started to ask if tea was going to be served to which Mio could only sigh in despair as Yui reverted back to her old air-head self. They went to receptionist and asked where Nodoka would be, "she's on the third floor in room 333" the receptionist replied.
They took the lift to the third level and soon arrived in room 333, "Excuse our intrusion" Mio said and soon Nodoka's mother arrived, "who are you? Oh Yui-chan…and Ui-chan as well, so you must be the Light Music Club."
"Yes we are" Azusa said bowing, "I'm Azusa" the other members then introduced themselves, "hello everyone" Nodoka's mother said, "I'm glad that you're all here."
"How's Nodoka-chan?" Yui asked without any regards for protocol.
"She's…" Nodoka's mother then looked away, "she's different Yui…she's not the Nodoka you knew."
"What do you mean?" Ui asked, "is she okay?"
"She's okay but…perhaps it would be best if you see for yourself" Nodoka's mother then went to Nodoka, "Nodoka-chan, there's some friends who want to see you."
"Okay" Nodoka's voice rang out and soon Nodoka's mother gestured for the others to come in. As soon as Nodoka saw Yui and Ui she cried out, "Yui-chan and Ui-chan, good evening!"
The others stopped in their track… 'Yui-chan? Ui-chan?' the others thought simultaneously as they had never heard Nodoka ever call Yui or Ui using the –chan prefix.