Summary: Secrets have the strangest ways of coming out…

Genre(s): Romance

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

Pairing(s): Ritsu x Ui; Ritsu x Yui

Story Type: One-shot

Disclaimer: I do not own K-ON!

* Under The Weather *

It was an average, sunny Thursday morning at the Hirasawa household. The rays cast off by the golden morning sun splayed through the drawn curtains of Yui Hirasawa's bedroom and fell on her body in equal parts shadow and light. As they hit Yui's closed eyes, she tossed slightly in her sleep and groaned as the door to her room slowly swung open.

"Onee-chan, you need to get up and go to school!" Ui called out as she stepped into the room, already fully dressed in her own school uniform. Yui simply groaned again and shifted in bed, turning towards the curtained window. "Onee-chan!" Ui urged as she went over to the sleeping girl and pulled her over onto her back. Yui groaned again and Ui gasped as she saw her sister's incredibly flushed and sweaty face.

"Onee-chan! You look really sick!" Ui cried in concern as Yui cracked her eyes open and looked up at Ui.

"Ui…feel...sick..." Yui croaked out, oblivious to the fact that Ui already pointed that out. Yui tried to sit up in bed but Ui quickly pushed her back against the mattress. "Ui..." Yui whined as she blearily looked up at her younger sister. "Need to...go to...school...can't miss classes...get failed..." Yui groaned through a sudden fit of coughing.

Worry washed over Ui's face as she watched Yui cough and pant heavily under her covers.

'Onee-chan can't be absent from classes again...' she thought as her mouth twisted into a worried frown.

A golden glint caught Ui's eye and she looked over at Yui's bedside table. She spotted Yui's hairpins, glinting temptingly in the young sunlight. Ui instantly made up her mind and reached out for the hairpins.

* K-ON! *

Ui slowly walked down the sidewalk, heading towards school.

'I can afford to miss classes, Onee-chan can't,' she told herself as she brushed at her hair, Yui's golden hairpins glinting prominently. 'It feels so weird wearing her tights though...' she thought as she pulled at the black material. 'And how does she carry this heavy thing all the time?' Ui wondered as she hefted Yui's guitar case higher up her back.

"Yui!" a voice called out to Ui, yet she ignored it.

"Yui-chan!" another, gentler voice called out as well.

Ui jumped when she felt a hand slap down onto her shoulder and looked over to see the broad grin of Ritsu as the girl fell into stride next to her.

"Why didn't you answer us?" Ritsu asked as Tsumugi and Mio fell into step on the other side of Ui.

'Oh! Right! I'm supposed to be Onee-chan...' Ui mentally berated herself as she threw on her best overly cheerful grin.

"Sorry! My mind was somewhere else," Ui replied as she did her best to mimic her sister's airy voice.

"You're always that way, Yui," Ritsu said as her grin grew and Tsumugi giggled. Ui smiled and giggled herself as the girls made their way down the sidewalk.

"Are you up for practicing later, Yui?" Mio asked as the girls neared the school.

"Sure!" Ui replied as enthusiastically as possible. A look of surprise came over Mio's face.

"You're excited to practice? Yui, are you ok?" Mio asked as suspicion filled her voice. Ui's face froze in momentary fear as she struggled to recover from her slip up.

"Ah...yes...after some of...Mugi-chan's cake and tea!" Ui replied quickly, desperately trying not to sound suspicious.

"That sounds more like the Yui we know," Ritsu said jokingly as Mio's face relaxed. Ui giggled.

"I'm just feeling a little...under the weather," she said with a broad smile.

"Oh! Should you even be coming to school today, Yui-chan?" Tsumugi asked as concern filled her voice.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Ui waved off Tsumugi's concern which elicited a contented smile from the blonde. Suddenly the absence of the group's fifth member struck Ui.

"Where's...Azu-nyan?" Ui asked as she quickly searched her mental list of all the nicknames her sister used.

"Ah, she went on ahead of us," Mio replied simply.

The girls all arrived at school and changed into their inside shoes. Ui finished changing quicker than the other girls and began to walk off to her usual class.

"Yui, where ya going?" Ritsu called out as she and the other two girls went down the opposite hallway towards class 3-2. Ui halted in her tracks and quickly turned around and jogged to catch up with the other girls.

"Sorry," she said as she rubbed the back of her head.

"You really are out there today," Ritsu joked as she cheerily clapped Ui on the shoulder.

* K-ON! *

Ui dropped her bag then plopped down into Yui's desk and let out a sigh of relief. 'Being Onee-chan for a day is harder than I thought...'

Ui looked up as Sawako entered the classroom and drew everyone's attention so that she could begin class. Ui intently paid attention to everything Sawako said, both valuing the chance to learn advanced material and needing to take good notes for Yui. Ui was startled out of her concentration when she felt a tap on her shoulder and glanced back to see one of Yui's classmates holding a folded piece of paper out to her.

"From Ritsu-san," she whispered as Ui took the folded paper.

"Thanks," Ui whispered back as she unfolded the note. Ui raised a perplexed eyebrow as she read the note, which had a winking smiley face on it along with a little heart and the message:

'Still up for tonight?'

Ui looked around the classroom and spotted Ritsu, who discreetly waved at her and flashed her a grin. She found the message to be rather odd, but figured Yui had planned something with the other girls that night. She quickly scribbled 'Yeah!' on the flip side of the note and passed it back to the girl behind her.

The lunch bell rang and Ui joined up with Tsumugi and Ritsu as the pair headed up to the clubroom. Ritsu and Ui took a seat on the couch and Tsumugi immediately went over to the table to prepare tea and sweets.

"Well, shall we practice?" Mio asked the second she came through the clubroom door. Ritsu immediately slumped into the sofa as a look of lethargy washed over her face.

"Miooo~, you're such a slave driver!" she whined as Ui took up the cue and mimicked Ritsu's movements.

"Yeah! We want sweets!" Ui whined, even she was impressed at how quickly she adapted to pretending to be Yui. An annoyed look flashed over Mio's face before it softened.

"Fine, fine, cake and tea first," Mio said in defeat as she set her bass down and took her seat at the table.

"Alright!" Ui and Ritsu cheered in unison as they hopped off the couch and pumped their arms into the air.

"Yui-senpai!" Azusa called out as she entered the clubroom and spotted Ui and Ritsu heading over to the table. Ui turned and remembered she needed to greet Azusa like Yui would.

"Azu-nyan!" she cried as she hopped over to Azusa and glommed onto her, nuzzling her cheek against the girl.

"Yui-senpai!" Azusa whined as she pushed Ui off. Ui grinned as Azusa huffed and pushed past her, heading over to the table. Ui followed her and sat down across from Ritsu. The girls began to converse as Tsumugi prepared their tea and sweets.

"Yui-senpai, I haven't seen Ui-chan all day, where is she?" Azusa asked in concern.

"Oh...she's...sick," Ui offered tentatively which seemed to satisfy Azusa.

"Well, give her my regards," Azusa said kindly to which Ui smiled happily and nodded.

"Tea's ready!" Tsumugi said cheerily as she gave each girl a tea-filled cup then set out a tray of thin cake slices.

All four girls reached out for a piece of cake at once, but as Ui reached out for a particular piece, she felt her hand bump into something solid instead of soft and cakey. She looked up from her sweets-fueled concentration and saw Ritsu's hand touching her own.

Ritsu subtly traced her fingers across Ui's, in a way that looked like she was simply pulling her hand back; yet Ui could feel the pressure she applied in all the right places that elicited a heavy blush from the younger girl. Ui slowly looked up at Ritsu and saw a coy grin on her face as she casually grabbed a different piece of cake and pulled it to herself.

The entire exchange lasted only a few seconds, but it had strangely felt like an eternity to Ui and she was left frozen solid with her hand outstretched over the piece of cake.

"Yui-chan, are you alright? You're flushed," Tsumugi asked in concern which caused Ui to snap out of her stunned state.

"Oh...yeah," Ui replied absently as she pulled the cake slice to herself and began to eat in silence.

'My hand just bumped into hers…that's all,' Ui assured herself, but when she looked up at Ritsu again, the older girl shot her another mischievous grin.

When the girls finished their cake and tea, with Ui eating more than she was used to as to not raise any suspicions, Mio got up from the table.

"Alright, now we'll practice," she said as she flashed Ui and Ritsu a look that said 'this is non-negotiable.'

The girls all jumped up from the table and went over to prepare their respective instruments. Ritsu walked past Ui on her way to her drum kit as the younger girl was distracted with setting up Giitah. Ui nearly jumped as she felt a pressure glide across her behind, causing her breath to hitch and a shiver to fly up her spine. She looked back with a deep blush on her face and saw that the other girls were still distracted with preparing their instruments, and Ritsu was already seated at her drum kit. But, as she looked back at Ritsu, the heavy blush still prominent on her cheeks, Ritsu gave her a sly wink.

'I-I guess this is just how they act with each other...' Ui reasoned as she turned back around and tried to suppress her flush. The girls began to play, apparently unaware of the exchange between Ui and Ritsu. Ui toned down her playing so that she sounded as bad as Yui usually did as to not raise any suspicions.

"That was great, Yui," Mio complimented as the song ended. "You've gotten better," she continued as Ui smiled and rubbed her head shyly at the compliment. The end-of-lunch bell rang soon after, causing the girls to quickly pack their instruments up and hurry off to their classes.

* K-ON! *

The last bell of the school day rang out as the last vestiges of the setting sun shined through the classroom windows. Ui sighed happily as the girls around her packed their books away and slowly left.

'What a day...' Ui thought, though a small smile broke across her face. 'But it was worth it for Onee-chan,' she thought as she got up and packed her own books away. When she turned around, she nearly ran smack into Ritsu's broadly grinning face.

"Ready to go, Yui?" she asked happily as Ui recovered from her sudden fright.

"Oh, Ricchan, uh...yeah!" Ui replied quickly as the passed note from earlier that day returned to her mind. Ritsu grabbed her hand and started pulling her out of the classroom.

"Almost thought you forgot," Ritsu joked as the two headed down the hallway, out of the school, and began their journey down the sidewalk. "I'm glad that Mio and Mugi left before us," Ritsu said as she continued to hold Ui's hand as the pair walked down the sidewalk.

"Y'know, Yui, I had a lot of fun last week," Ritsu continued as a blush began to spread across her cheeks. Ui did not know what Ritsu was referring to, but she vaguely remembered Yui coming home late last week and that she had been especially happy for the rest of that night.

"I had fun too," Ui replied cheerily which caused Ritsu to grin happily as she squeezed Ui's hand tightly.

The girls soon arrived at their destination: a maid cafe near the school. Ui blushed as the pair entered the cafe and a cute, uniformed girl greeted them and showed them to a booth.

"I still say Mio should work here," Ritsu commented lightly as the girl took their drink orders and left.

"She is cute," Ui replied as Ritsu leaned forward, propping her chin up on her elbows on the table.

"Well, you know why we came here," Ritsu said which caused Ui to immediately start to mentally panic.

'But I don't!' Ui cried in her mind as her brain raced to come up with possible ways to avoid revealing her true identity. However, that was not necessary as Ritsu continued.

"So, did you think about it?" Ritsu asked as she tilted her head to the side curiously.

"Um...yeah..." Ui replied slowly as she strained to sound confident.

Ritsu's face instantly lit up in excitement. "And? What do you think?" she asked happily.

'I should be as broad as possible...' Ui resolved. "I...think it's a great idea," she replied as she grinned broadly to cover up her nervousness.

"Really?" Ritsu asked as her excitement seemed to boil over.

Ui was taken aback slightly but simply nodded. She closed her eyes and internally let out a sigh of relief at having avoided a disastrous outcome. However, Ui's eyes shot open as she felt something soft and wet press against her lips. Ui's eyes quivered in shock as she saw that Ritsu was now leaning across the table, her eyes closed and a deep blush in her cheeks as she intently kissed Ui.

Ritsu opened her eyes and saw the shock on Ui's face then pulled back, sitting back into her side of the booth.

"What's wrong, Yui? You just said you wanted to be open about us," Ritsu asked in confusion.

"'U-us'?" Ui stuttered as her brain worked to comprehend what had happened. Ritsu giggled as if Ui was trying to be funny.

"Yeah, of course, Yui! You're the one who wanted to date," Ritsu replied light heartedly.

'D-date? Ritsu-senpai and Onee-chan are...d-dating?' Ui could not believe what she was hearing.

"I-I just remembered...U-Ui wanted me home early, b-bye!" Ui said quickly as she jumped up from the booth and rushed out of the cafe, trying desperately to stifle her blush as she left a confused Ritsu behind.

* K-ON! *

Ui wandered aimlessly through the streets, slowly making her way home. She was still in a state of shock over the evening's revelations.

'Onee-chan and Ritsu-senpai..?' Ui thought absently as she pressed her fingers to her lips, thinking back to the kiss she had received earlier that evening.

"I'm home," Ui called out exhaustedly as she entered her house.

"Ui..!" Yui's weak but excited voice floated out from the living room as the hyper girl came into the entry hallway. Ui quickly removed Yui's hairpins and pocketed them before Yui saw. Yui smiled happily, though her face was still flushed from her sickness.

"O-Onee-chan..." Ui replied awkwardly as Yui came over and hugged her, though Ui nearly cringed away from Yui. She still had not come to terms with what she had learned.

"Ui...why are you wearing my tights?" Yui asked curiously as she looked down at the tights Ui was wearing.

"Oh...it was cold today, so I borrowed them," Ui offered. Yui giggled and hugged Ui tighter.

"I missed you, Ui~," Yui said cutely. A smile broke across Ui's face as she hugged Yui back.

"Were you ok by yourself, Onee-chan?" she asked softly. Yui simply nodded in reply. "Well, you shouldn't be out of bed, c'mon lets get you back to your room," Ui said then helped Yui up the stairs and back to her room.

"Thanks, Ui," Yui said as Ui helped her into bed and tucked her in. Yui happily gazed up at her little sister before quickly falling into a deep, contented sleep. Ui gently parted Yui's hair as she smiled down at the cute face her sister made in her sleep.

'I don't know what I was thinking,' Ui mentally scolded herself. 'I'm fine with whatever Onee-chan wants, as long as she's happy,' she thought happily as she stroked her fingers down Yui's cheek. Ui smiled and headed out of Yui's bedroom, but not before discreetly replacing Yui's hairpins back on her nightstand.

* K-ON! *

The next day arrived quickly as the morning sun peaked through Yui's window. As soon as the light glanced across her eyelids, they slowly opened. The groggy girl sat up in bed, yawning and rubbing her eyes. She jumped up out of bed and stretched.

"I feel so much better!" she said cheerfully as she quickly changed into her school uniform and headed down the stairs. She instantly became hypnotized as the smell of breakfast reached her nose.

"You're up early, Onee-chan," Ui said in surprise as Yui's nose led her into the kitchen.

"Yeah! I feel so much better today!" Yui said excitedly as she gave Ui a morning hug then began drooling over the food that she was preparing.

"Onee-chan, breakfast will be ready soon," Ui lightheartedly scolded with laughter in her voice.

Yui pouted then left the kitchen and sat impatiently at the living room table. Ui served breakfast and the two girls happily ate breakfast together. As the girls conversed and laughed, Ui's mind kept drifting back to what had happened the night before as she looked at Yui's laughing face; but she simply tried to push it from her mind. Once they finished breakfast, the two sisters headed out to school.

"Yui!"

Ui froze in place as a familiar voice reached her ears. Ritsu came running up to the two girls, and once she reached Yui, she planted a loving kiss on her cheek which caused the hyper girl to blush heavily.

"Ricchan!" Yui greeted excitedly as some of the color drained from Ui's face. "What was that for though? I haven't thought about that yet," Yui said in a failed attempt to be vague, even though Ui already knew, anybody could have figured out the obvious.

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that, Yui," Ritsu said. "What was up with you last night? You said you wanted to be open about us, but then you just ran off like that," Ritsu continued as she grabbed Yui's hand automatically.

"What do you mean? I was sick all day yesterday," Yui replied as she tilted her head in confusion.

"What? But...we went out last night, just like we planned," Ritsu replied with an equal amount of confusion. Ui remained particularly silent as a deep flush came into her cheeks and she began to tremble more and more as her lips recalled the previous night's events.

"But, I was home last night," Yui replied.

"Then how were you at school all day..?" Ritsu trailed off as she slowly looked over at the silent and blushing Ui. Yui followed Ritsu's gaze over to her little sister.

"Ui...did come home late last night," Yui said slowly.

Ritsu and Yui turned to Ui in unison as realization dawned on them. Ui blushed even more profusely as the school bell rang in the distance, signaling the start of a brand new day…

END

Author's Commentary: Hope you all enjoyed reading this unusual, yet awesome pairing! All feedback is happily welcomed.