Summary: All of the Light Music girls are sick except for Tsumugi, so she decides to go make sure they're alright...

Genre(s): Romance/Friendship

Character(s): Tsumugi K., Ritsu T., Mio A., Yui H.

Disclaimer: I do not own K-ON!

* But I Want To! *

It was a bright, sunny day at Sakuragaoka High School, the golden sunlight shined through the upper story windows of the Light Music Clubroom and reflected off the blonde hair of its sole occupant. Tsumugi Kotobuki sat at the single table at the back of the clubroom as she usually did, however, she was not her usual cheerful self today, in fact she felt rather down.

'I hope they're feeling better...' she thought in concern as she sipped from her cup of tea.

Tsumugi was alone today because a rash of sickness had been going around the school. She had been one of the lucky few who had not gotten sick, however, Ritsu, Mio, and Yui were not so lucky.

Tsumugi looked down at her reflection in her tea cup, the ripples from her motion causing her reflection to distort slightly. She raised the cup to her lips again and took a long sip.

'I wonder if they're being taken care of well,' she thought as her natural caring instinct kicked in, raising her spirits slightly and at the same time causing her to worry more about her friends. 'I really should check and make sure they're ok.'

With her mind made up she set her cup down, grabbed her school bag, and headed out of the clubroom door.

* K-ON! *

"T-thanks for...checking up on me...M-Mugi," Mio said between coughs as she laid in her bed with the covers up to her neck and a wet cloth on her forehead.

"I was worried about you, Mio-chan," Tsumugi replied as she smiled caringly down at Mio from her bedside chair. Tsumugi spent half an hour at Mio's house, generally she let Mio rest but happily conversed whenever Mio felt up to it.

"I should leave now, you need your rest and I was going to go see Yui-chan and Ricchan as well," Tsumugi said as she stood up and grabbed her school bag. "And..." she looked around as if someone was watching, then reached inside her school bag and set out a tasty pastry on Mio's bedside table. Mio smiled as Tsumugi winked in mock-mischief.

"You're the best...Mugi," Mio said with another cough as Tsumugi blushed at the compliment then left Mio's room, heading down the stairs and on the way passing Mio's mother.

"Thank you for checking on Mio, Tsumugi-chan, it's so nice to see that Mio has made such a caring friend," Mrs. Akiyama said as Tsumugi stopped and bowed slightly.

"Thank you for letting me see her, Akiyama-san," Tsumugi said as she straightened back up and they exchanged grateful smiles as she left the Akiyama house. Her next stop was the Hirasawa household.

"Good evening, Ui-chan," Tsumugi greeted as Ui answered the door.

"Are you here to see Onee-chan?" Ui asked as she stepped aside to allow Tsumugi entrance. She nodded in response as she entered and slipped her shoes off and slipped on a pair of house shoes presented by Ui.

"Is it ok for me to go up and see her?" Tsumugi asked as she walked to the base of the stairs.

"Well, Onee-chan has been especially sick, I think it hit her worse than any one else, but she should be awake," Ui replied.

Tsumugi smiled happily, she did not want to miss out on visiting Yui. Yui really was out of it and Tsumugi only got a few opportunities to talk to her, so she decided to leave before long, but not before leaving her a little treat. Even as delirious as Yui was, her instincts picked up on the delicious pastry and it was gone before Tsumugi had even left the room.

Ui thanked Tsumugi for stopping by as she left the Hirasawa house and headed on her way to the Tainaka house, doing her best to hurry as the sun was well towards setting by then.

* K-ON! *

By the time Tsumugi reached Ritsu's house the sun was a mere orange sliver above the horizon and the street lights had already come on. She walked up to the front door and tentatively knocked several times, then patiently waited. After five minutes of waiting there was still no response. She tried to slide the door open, and to her surprise it was not locked.

"Sorry for intruding!" she called out as she stepped over the threshold and slipped her shoes off. The entry hallway was dark but a light shined from what she guessed was the kitchen. She padded down the hallway towards the kitchen. Tsumugi entered the kitchen and looked around, the kitchen light was the only light on in the entire house as far as she could tell.

She investigated the kitchen and found a note taped to the refrigerator. The note was a list of chores for Ritsu while her family was gone.

'They must have left before Ricchan got sick...' she assumed as she read the list. She wrapped up her investigation of the kitchen and went back out into the hallway and ascended the staircase towards Ritsu's room. She arrived at the door and lightly knocked then slowly opened the door.

"Ricchan?" she called out quietly as she peeked her head inside. Ritsu was laying in her bed, the sheets down around her waist, half on and half off the bed, and a wet cloth that had once been on her forehead had slipped onto the pillow.

Tsumugi smiled at the cute sight and slowly tip-toed over towards the sleeping girl. She gently lifted Ritsu up and set her back fully in her bed, pulled the covers back over her, and placed the now lukewarm wet cloth back on her forehead. Despite her gentle care the motion still caused Ritsu to stir.

"M...Mugi..?" she asked weakly as she slowly opened her eyes. Tsumugi smiled down at her.

"Hello, Ricchan," she said as Ritsu sat up in her bed as best as she could. "Where's your family, Ricchan?" she asked. Ritsu yawned and scratched her head.

"Out of town, they left before I got sick," she responded before coughing a couple times.

"So you've been here alone? While sick?" Tsumugi asked as her voice filled with concern. Ritsu sneezed and Tsumugi handed her a tissue.

"Yeah, but I'm fine," Ritsu said through a stuffy nose. Tsumugi looked shocked for a moment.

'She's been here all by herself? I have to do something!' she thought urgently.

"Well if you're here all alone…I guess I can sleep over!" she said after a moment of intense thought with an excited look on her face. Ritsu was about to protest but Tsumugi silenced her by pushing her back onto her pillow and pulling the covers up to her neck.

"I'll call my father," Tsumugi said as she left the room with Ritsu watching her. Tsumugi went out into the hallway and called her father, luckily because it was a Friday night he gave her permission to stay over at Ritsu's house. Tsumugi ended the call and went back into Ritsu's room where said girl was now staring at the ceiling, but turned her attention to Tsumugi when she reentered the room.

"Mugi, really...you don't have to stay and take care of me," Ritsu said with a little more strength than before now that she had been awake for a little bit. Tsumugi went over and kneeled down next to Ritsu's bed, her brow furrowed in determination.

"But I want to! you don't have anybody to take care of you!" Ritsu could see the care and conviction in Tsumugi's eyes and knew there was no way she could convince her otherwise.

"Alright, Alright," Ritsu relented with mock-defeat in her voice. Tsumugi clasped her hands together with a look of absolute joy on her face.

"I'll go make you some soup," she said as she got up from the floor and left the room. Tsumugi put a bowl of chicken soup, simple yet effective, on to cook then took another look at the list of chores that Ritsu's parents had left and decided that she would take care of them herself.

She was halfway through completing the list of chores when the oven timer dinged. She retrieved the soup and headed back up to Ritsu's room.

"Dinner!" Tsumugi called out as she pushed Ritsu's door open with her hip, the burning hot bowl of soup in both hands. Upon her entrance, Ritsu sat up in bed as Tsumugi walked over and knelt back down, placing the bowl carefully on the edge of Ritsu's bed.

"Mugi, really...you didn't have to," Ritsu said, covering up a cough. Tsumugi said nothing and instead dipped the spoon in the soup and blew on its contents, then offered it to Ritsu while making motions for her to open her mouth. Ritsu obeyed and opened her mouth, allowing Tsumugi to feed her. They repeated this process until the bowl was empty.

"Now you should rest," Tsumugi said as she tucked Ritsu back in.

"You're the best, Mugi..." Ritsu said softly, causing Tsumugi to blush as she got up to leave the room again and headed back to the kitchen.

* K-ON! *

Tsumugi took her time doing the chores on the list this time, and once they were done she went around and generally tidied up the house. Once her work was completed she wiped the sweat from her brow as she smiled at her handiwork.

"Alright, I'll go check back on Ricchan," she said to herself as she headed back up the stairs and slowly opened Ritsu's door. Inside Ritsu was fast asleep, snoring lightly. Tsumugi could not help but smile at the cute sight as she went over and sat down on the floor next to Ritsu's bed and took a book out of her school bag and began to read.

A couple of hours passed by as Tsumugi read her book until her concentration was broken by Ritsu stirring from her sleep. Tsumugi turned and knelt so she could check on Ritsu. Ritsu's face was very flushed and her eyes were open but they were unfocused as if she was looking at nothing. Tsumugi gasped and placed her hand against Ritsu's forehead.

"Oh my! you're burning up, Ricchan," she said with worry evident in her voice. Ritsu seemed to turn her attention to Tsumugi when she felt the contact.

"M...Mio?" she asked weakly.

"Ricchan, it's me, Mugi," Tsumugi replied as she worried over what she should do. Ritsu weakly lifted her arm up and placed her hand on Tsumugi's cheek, causing the blonde to freeze in place and blush intensely at the contact.

"Mio...I have to...tell you something," Ritsu said weakly as she rubbed her thumb against Tsumugi's cheek. "Don't...hate me Mio...but I...I love you!" Ritsu continued as her hand began to tremble even more. Tsumugi was shocked beyond all belief, even in her wildest fantasies she had never thought it would be true that Ritsu was in love with Mio. She lost focus of reality as a blissful blush entered her cheeks, unable to keep her fantasy reflex from triggering...

…It was a bright sunny day, so bright that the light blocked out everything except for the two girls standing, facing each other. The two girls came closer together and held each other's hands.

"Mio, I love you!" Ritsu cried as tears flowed down her cheeks. The air began to sparkle and the bright background took on a pinkish hue.

"Ritsu...I love you too!" Mio cried back as tears began to flow down her cheeks as well. Both girls came together and held each other tightly, then looked into each other's eyes. They slowly began to lean closer together, their lips slightly parted, eagerly awaiting the contact of the other's…

…Tsumugi was so wrapped up in her fantasy that she did not feel herself being pulled down by Ritsu, neither did she notice that Ritsu had closed her eyes and was leaning up as best she could. She was only torn from her fantasy when she felt the soft warmth of Ritsu's lips against hers, and her weak yet determined attempts to kiss her.

Tsumugi was shocked and could not move, but after a moment she felt herself kissing back, which only shocked her more. After a few seconds she regained her senses and practically leapt away from Ritsu, a heavy blush smeared across her face, panting heavily from shock and the experience of her first kiss. She watched as Ritsu's eyes closed and she fell back into a fevered sleep.

After the shock of both Ritsu's revelation and her first kiss wore off, she calmed down and touched her lips, then sighed a small happy sigh as she smiled at the sleeping girl.

'I can't wait until Mio-chan finds out!' she thought then giggled happily.

* K-ON! *

"Have either of you seen Mugi lately?" Mio asked with concern in her voice as she glanced at the two other girls sitting at the Light Music Clubroom table with her. Ritsu and Yui looked at each other before Yui spoke up.

"Mugi-chan came and visited me when I was sick a few days ago, she even left me a snack!" Yui said as she smiled happily.

"Me too," Ritsu and Mio said in unison, causing both of them to blush.

"She stayed at my house and took care of me," Ritsu said rather quietly as she lowered her head causing Mio to quirk an eyebrow.

"Do you think she's sick and you could be responsible?" Mio inquired as Ritsu raised her head slightly.

"Oh...Oh! Yeah…it could be that," Ritsu said as she grinned in mock-innocence and rubbed the back of her head.

* K-ON! *

"Tsumugi-ojou-sama do you need anything?" A Kotobuki household maid asked as she entered Tsumugi's room.

"No...no, I'm...alright," Tsumugi replied through several coughs and a sneeze as she waved the maid away.

"If you require anything please do not hesitate to call upon me, Tsumugi-ojou-sama," the maid said as she backed out of Tsumugi's room with a bow. Tsumugi slid down into the covers and pulled them up around her chest.

'I'm just glad I could help Ricchan get better...' she thought with a smile and a blush as the memory of her first kiss passed through her mind.

'Maybe now she can get some alone time with Mio-chan,' she thought with starry eyes. Her mind went into fantasy mode as she fell asleep, filling her sleep with happy and exciting dreams.

END

Author's Commentary: Well I hope you all enjoyed reading my story! I know many of you are probably thinking that the Ritsu/Mioness is so heavily implied that it should be Tsumugi x Ritsu and Ritsu x Mio, well I still say it's just "heavily implied" because the only actual interactions were between Tsumugi and Ritsu. All feedback is happily welcomed!