A/N: Hello, Caelion here. As I mentioned at the end of my previous K-On! fanfic, my muse can be pretty random and that might be exactly what I meant back then. I've had ~70% of this short story finished already a few months ago but whatever I needed to fill up the blank spots came quite randomly only a few days ago. While thought-through a bit more than "Crystalline", this work is still meant to be a light read without much plot going on and, timeline-wise, it serves as a sort-of continuation to the former. If you haven't read "Crystalline", you'll most probably get what's going on anyway. Nevertheless, I still encourage to read that one first :)

Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I want Ritsu to be my drummer. I seriously need one. Oh, and I do not own K-On! and its characters.

~A Touch of Comfort~

By: Caelion

*tap tap tap*

Ritsu drummed absent-mindedly with her sticks against a stack of old magazines.

It had been a week already.

Exactly a week ago, Ritsu's best friend, Akiyama Mio, confessed love to her.

Not exactly 'confessed', Ritsu thought to herself and smirked at the memory of Mio kissing her and running away right after. But the message was there, loud and clear enough for even such a blockhead (as Mio put it) like Ritsu to understand.

So I have a girlfriend now, the drummer repeated in her mind, for something that had to be the hundredth time, and giggled. She kept telling that to herself every day for the past week. Each time she would get more and more accustomed to it but it'd always bring back the joyous feeling she had after their first kiss. First and every other one that they had shared.

Which, frankly, wasn't that frequent as Mio was still too shy to randomly kiss Ritsu without setting up a proper mood and being told by the drummer that she really, really, didn't mind being kissed by her. On the other hand, the couple of times when Ritsu took initiative, and kissed Mio out of the blue, almost ended up with the taller girl fainting.

"Talk about sensory overload," Ritsu chuckled as she watched her girlfriend hyperventilating. "No need to get so worked up, Mio, it's just me kissing you," she spoke in a milder manner and started stroking Mio's raven hair to calm her down. 'She tastes like strawberries...' she noted mentally to herself.

Mio's blush deepened, as if she knew what her partner was thinking. "Idiot..." she whispered, averting Ritsu's eyes, but leaning towards her hand nevertheless.

Ritsu smiled widely at the memory from the past week. Then again, thinking about Mio always brought a smile to her face.

It was surprising yet, for some reason, Ritsu felt like it was the natural course of events. Their relationship evolving from best friends to lovers. Perhaps I've been seeing her as a potential partner all along? the girl pondered, thinking back to all the times she would get unreasonably jealous of her friend being hit on by random guys. She smirked to herself. Now I can tell them she's mine.

Feeling suddenly pumped up, Ritsu returned to her drumming and started hitting the papers with twice as much energy and speed.

"Onee-chan! What the hell!" a muffled voice of Ritsu's brother, Satoshi, sounded abruptly from the other side of the wall.

Ritsu frowned and opened her mouth to give a witty come back when a sudden ringing of her phone stopped her.

Oh, speak of the devil, the girl thought, looking at her device and seeing an incoming call from Mio. She grinned widely. "Good evening, this is Tainaka Ritsu's mansion, I'm afraid the Mistress is currently unavailable-" she spoke with a faked secretary-like voice until she got interrupted by a sound of a call being ended. "...damn," she looked at the phone again before dialling Mio's number.

The girl picked up after a couple of signals.

"Oy, Mio! Why did you end the call?" Ritsu asked, feigning a wounded voice.

"I thought you couldn't talk at the moment so I decided to call later," Mio answered with a hint of amusement in her tone.

Ritsu chuckled slightly, admitting her defeat. "'sup?" she thrown herself on her bed, facing the ceiling.

"Nothing much, I wanted to check if you did your homework."

"Hehe, I was actually counting on copying it from you~"

"...your honesty is almost as admirable as your laziness."

Rolling on the bed, Ritsu laughed, almost hearing Mio rolling her eyes on the other side.

In the end, some things between them never changed. Or did they? Ritsu grinned. "Is that really why you're calling~?" she asked in a teasingly suspicious way.

There was a short pause on the other side."M-maybe, why?" Mio suddenly sounded really embarrassed and Ritsu could only imagine how hard the girl was blushing at the moment.

"Just wondering, it's not like you to call me only to check up on my homework, Mio-chan," the drummer pressed on, smirking to herself.

Mio gasped quietly and stuttered. "I-"

Bull's eye, Ritsu thought and covered her mouth to suppress a laughter. "So, what's the real reason?"

"I- I just w-wanted to-" now, Mio sounded extremely flustered.

"Wanted to~?"

"Fine, idiot! I just wanted to hear your voice!" Mio almost shouted.

"...oh," the drummer stopped rolling and stared at her ceiling with a dumbfounded expression. A small blush started gradually creeping on her face. Then, she burst out with warm, joyous laughter.

"...d-don't laugh! I'm going to end the call!"

"No, no, it's not that," Ritsu reassured softly after she calmed down, still having a wide smile. "It's just, Mio, you're really cute, you know?"

"...y-you're teasing me again, r-right?" Mio's voice sounded somewhat uncertain and embarrassed.

"No, I swear I'm serious!" the shorter girl exclaimed, placing an open palm on her chest before remembering that her friend couldn't actually see her.

For a few seconds, Mio fell quiet. "...t-thank you," she spoke finally, almost whispered.

"I'd give you a hug right now if you were near me," Ritsu remarked, somewhat playfully.

The answer was calm, steady breathing, and a happy hum coming from the other side. "Oh right, have you heard? There'll be some kind of maintenance at school and the classes got cancelled on next Friday," Mio picked up again after a while of silence.

"Whoa! That's great news!"

"Indeed, I thought that maybe we could talk to others and use it for some extra band practice-"

"Wanna go on a date?" the drummer interrupted unceremoniously.

"..."

Suddenly, the line fell strangely quiet.

"Oy, Mio, you still there?" Ritsu questioned, receiving no answer.

The tawny-haired girl started getting impatient when, out of the blue, sounds of hassle and a series of stomping occurred on the other side.

"...Mio-chan, are you all right?" Ritsu heard from the phone.

Confused, she glanced at the device.

"Um, hello?" a familiar voice rang out suddenly from the speaker.

"Akiyama-san? What happened?" Ritsu answered, immediately recognizing the voice of Mio's mother.

"Oh, it's you, Ritsu-chan. Mio-chan...she...fainted," the woman replied with bewilderment.

Ritsu gaped at the ceiling before putting a palm to her face. "...I should have seen it coming..." she said to no one in particular.

Nevertheless, when warm Friday morning came, Ritsu found herself standing at the doorstep of Akiyama household, facing flustered Mio dressed in a pair of jeans shorts and a loose shirt holding only on her right shoulder.

Ritsu's attire was similarly casual as she wore a simple t-shirt and, what was more unusual of her, a skirt. Her trademark headband was also missing, allowing her hair to fall gracefully on her forehead, making her brush away the loose strands every now and then.

"You look...girly," Mio noted after seeing her girlfriend.

The shorter girl answered with a sly grin. "Some of your lyrics told me you'd like that," she spoke in a teasing manner.

Mio blushed hardly in return and averted her eyes. "I...do like it," she whispered before a timid smile appeared on her face. "You look adorable..."

It was Ritsu's turn to blush. "Y-you mean it?"

"Mm," Mio looked the other in the eyes and nodded, gaining a bit more confidence.

They shared a brief smile before Mio stepped out of her house and closed the door.

"So, do you feel like going anywhere particular today?" Ritsu asked as they started strolling towards the nearby main road.

The bassist pondered for a while. There is one place, but... her thoughts trailed to the city's biggest park where couples could rent small boats and float by themselves around a lake. It's way too embarrassing... she blushed lightly. "N-no..."

"Huh? You sure?" Ritsu eyed Mio carefully. "You look like you do have something on your mind," she remarked before gently taking Mio's hand.

"R-Ritsu!" Mio stuttered suddenly, looking around self-consciously. "People are watching..." she murmured, noticing curious glances coming from other pedestrians.

Ritsu's reply was simple. "So?" she looked at her date, now slightly surprised. "Don't we hold hands every day?"

"B-but..." we're not on a date every day...

As if sensing her friend's anxiety, Ritsu smiled and started stroking the girl's palm reassuringly. "Don't worry, it's not like they know we're dating."

With Ritsu's words, Mio calmed down a little. I guess she's right, I should stop being so self-conscious, she mused, casting a glance at the drummer who was humming a cheery tune as they kept walking, and smiled on her own. Still, taking a ride on that boat feels like too much for now...

"Oh, Mio, look!" Ritsu stopped abruptly, pulling the raven-haired girl out of her thoughts. "They opened a beauty parlour here," she pointed at a large sign to their left.

The bassist chuckled. "You noticed only now? It's been here for quite a while."

Ritsu scratched the back of her head. "Hahaha, really?" she let out an embarrassed laughter. "Anyway, wanna go in?"

Mio's eyebrow went up. It's not like her to visit such places... "Well, my nails could use some treatment-" she said and, before she managed to say anything else, Ritsu quickly dragged her in.

It took a good hour before they left the parlour.

"Whoa! Shiny!" Ritsu exclaimed after she straightened out her fingers and carefully inspected her nails. "I think the last time they looked like this was when I let you play with them," she mused, grinning at her girlfriend.

Mio giggled with amusement, remembering her old habit of painting Ritsu's nails whenever she was bored. "I told you they look pretty like this," she remarked, still smiling.

Ritsu nodded and clasped her hands behind her head as they started walking. "Maybe I should let you take care of them for me again," she chuckled. "Hey, show me yours," she turned to Mio suddenly, taking her hand and bringing it close to her face.

A bit surprised by the action, Mio blushed slightly at the gentle touch.

"Wow, yours look fantastic," the shorter girl complimented, stroking Mio's fingers softly in the process, to which the girl responded with a meek 'thank you'. "I like the colour, too," she continued without stopping the caressing. "Baby pink suits you."

Mio felt her heart going faster at the gentleness of Ritsu's words and gestures, and a feeling of her warm breath against her fingers. Get a grip, get a grip, she's not doing anything out of ordinary, the girl chanted mentally to herself while feeling all of her blood rushing to her face. "W-why didn't you have yours coloured, too?" Mio asked finally in hopes to distract her mind from the oh-so-simple, yet strangely blissful, sensations.

"Nah, that doesn't suit me," Ritsu chuckled at the question while scratching the back of her head, letting Mio's hand go in the process. "It fits you more, I think."

"Oh..." Mio answered, perhaps a little bit too distantly, when she felt the warmth leaving her palm and fingers.

"I...guess you could always colour them for me if you want."

Pulled back from her trance, Mio returned the smile her girlfriend had. "Sure," she replied as they started walking again. It didn't take long before she felt Ritsu's fingers brushing lightly against hers, but this time she was the one to take a gentle hold of the drummer's hand.

"It's so hot...I'm melting!" Ritsu whined to no one in particular.

"So is your ice cream," Mio calmly noted.

"Oh!" Frantically, Ritsu started licking the dripping liquid off the cone she was holding.

Mio chuckled, slowly taking a bite of hers, and leaned back at the bench they sat on. It was a nice spot in a shade they managed to find in a nearby park after treating each other to some ice cream and, since they'd been walking around for some time now, they could both rest and relax a bit.

"So, what could we do now?" the drummer asked after dealing with her situation.

"I don't have anything particular in mind, how about we stay here for a while? It's a nice place," Mio suggested and, after looking around, added, "and there's no one around, too."

Ritsu raised her eyebrow. "Does it mean..." she smirked and put her face closer to Mio's. "Mio-chan wants to do something indecent with me when no one's looking?" she said in a low, teasing voice.

The reaction was just as expected.

"Wh-wh-what are you talking about?" Mio looked at her girlfriend and drew back a little, feeling her face gaining colour darker than the strawberry ice cream she was holding.

Ritsu chuckled in response and leaned forward, gently connecting her lips with Mio's. "You taste like strawberries," she noted after pulling back, meanwhile the other girl stared absent-mindedly at nothing in particular with a hot flush on her cheeks.

They spent a while longer on the bench, enjoying their desserts, before Ritsu noticed that Mio was casting somewhat frantic glances around her. "What's wrong?" she asked warily, looking around herself, but there was no one there except for a few people taking a stroll.

"I- I keep thinking what if s-somebody saw us," Mio stammered quietly.

Ritsu's brow went up for a moment before she got that Mio was referring to their earlier kiss. "Oh, that? Don't worry, I made sure no one was around," she patted the bassist's back before standing up. "Let's go, maybe a change of place will do you some good."

Eventually, they ended up going to a nearby amusement park. Somewhat early afternoon time made the queues as little as possible and they had most of the attractions available in an instant ("I am not going into that house! W-well, maybe if you promise to keep holding my hand..."), resulting in a few hours spent on having fun together ("Look, Mio! We can see the whole city from up here! Mio? Mio! Damn, I should have thought you're afraid of heights...").

Finally, the time had come to call it a day.

Ritsu rubbed her head nervously. "Sorry, I suppose that wasn't the best date in your life, huh?" she asked after they left the amusement park.

Mio looked at her girlfriend with surprise. "What do you mean?" she asked, tilting her head, before she smiled at the drummer. "Idiot, it was a great date," she playfully flicked Ritsu's forehead. "After all, I got to spend the whole day with you," she added, blushing lightly.

Chuckling, Ritsu rubbed her forehead before she got a more serious look. "Still...we didn't really get much time to spend with each other alone. You know, just the two of us and no one around."

The bassist gasped quietly. All alone with Ritsu... she felt her blush deepening. Come to think about it, they hadn't really had any opportunity for that since her confession a week ago, not counting the few moments they had before or after the club activities.

Then, as if to answer the bassist's thoughts, Ritsu gasped lively. "Oh! How about we go to my place?"

Mio raised her eyebrow, suddenly brought back from her reverie. "Aren't your parents there?"

"Nope, they're both in business delegation."

"What about Satoshi?" the taller girl kept probing.

"Out with his friends after school."

"So..." Mio felt she was starting to blush, realization dawning at her. "We'd be alone?"

"Yep."

"All alone?"

"Yeah."

"Just the two of us?"

"Yes- M-Mio? You okay?" Ritsu quickly put her hand to the forehead of the other girl whose face was rapidly gaining bright-red colours.

Calm down, calm down, calm down, "Ah, y-yes! I'm fine!" Mio replied quickly, taking a step backwards and accidentally tripping in the process. She gasped as she felt herself falling back and started bracing for impact when suddenly a hand caught her wrist, stopping the fall. "T-thanks," the girl stuttered when Ritsu gently pulled her back into balance.

"Worry not, I got you," the shorter girl grinned. "But, are you sure you're okay?" she asked again, observing Mio's flushed face. "It's fine if you want to go home and get some rest."

"I'm okay!" Mio turned around to hide her blush. "Now, let's go, shall we?" she quickly grabbed Ritsu's hand and directed their footsteps towards the drummer's house.

Ritsu raised an eyebrow at the action but complied without a word.

The rest of the way passed in relative silence as neither of them spoke.

"Want a drink?" Ritsu asked after they entered her empty house.

"Um, yes, please," Mio followed her girlfriend in quietly, looking around.

Although nothing had changed inside the house, and Mio had visited it so many times she almost knew the place by heart, the atmosphere inside felt incredibly different with just the two of them in.

"Let's go to my room," Ritsu nudged gently, emerging from the kitchen with two glasses of lemonade in her hands.

The bassist noticed how stiff she was feeling only when they both sat down at a small table in the middle of Ritsu's room. "So...um..." she opened her mouth but didn't really know what to say. The girl jerked slightly when she felt something warm touching her face. Turning to Ritsu, she noticed the drummer's fingers brushing against her cheek.

"You look nervous, Mio, what's wrong?" the shorter girl asked softly.

Mio opened her mouth again, this time with surprise. She's not going to tease me about it? Then, she closed her eyes and leaned against the caressing hand slightly. "Nothing, not any more," she whispered, feeling Ritsu resting her forehead against hers.

"Mio..."

It wasn't long until Mio felt the hand cupping her cheek and a pair of silky-soft lips pressed against her own. It was as if her mind exploded. She suddenly felt light-headed again upon tasting Ritsu's lips, feeling them moving and caressing hers. A bit hesitantly at first, she responded by mimicking the drummer's actions. Suddenly, her heart skipped a beat when Ritsu's tongue slid slowly against her lips and entered her mouth.

But seconds after, Ritsu pulled back, leaving the bassist panting shallowly with her eyes still closed.

"Relax," Mio heard a loving whisper near her ear that sent shivers down her spine. "It's just me," with that, the hand that was resting on her cheek slid down and a pair of arms wrapped tightly around her.

Mio slowly leaned against Ritsu, hiding her face in the crook of the shorter girl's neck while returning the embrace. She pulled her closer, as if trying to melt into the hug, still feeling her heart pounding in her chest. Had Ritsu felt it, too? She didn't know, but soon she heard Ritsu sighing contently as she started stroking the bassist's long hair.

Mentally, Mio chuckled to herself. Just what was I getting so nervous about, she thought, embracing Ritsu tighter and immersing herself in blissful warmth of her body.

Minutes passed before the two of them moved, pulling away from each other slightly.

"Still feeling giddy?" Ritsu chuckled lightly, poking Mio's cheek playfully.

"It's your fault..." Mio replied, trying to sound serious but failing and smiling nevertheless. "You're doing this to me," she added, leaning forward and quickly pecking Ritsu's lips, her face covering with pink blush right after.

Ritsu only giggled at the action. "Hey, feel like watching something?" she picked up suddenly, standing up.

"Why not, as long as it's nothing scary."

"Nah," the drummer waved it off. "I feel like watching some good comedy. What about you?"

Mio nodded happily, following Ritsu to the living room to pick a movie.

They sat down on a couch after popping the disk into a player. It was already getting dark enough to create a nice atmosphere inside the room and, with the TV being their only source of light, they could only see each other's outlines.

Ritsu reached out and casually put her arm around Mio to which the other girl responded by leaning against her and resting head on her shoulder.

Everything else lost its importance.

Sitting on the couch, Mio yawned suddenly and rubbed her eyes, shielding them from faint lamp light, same moment when Ritsu came back to the living room.

"Tired?" the drummer asked softly, holding two mugs of tea in one hand and a bowl of strawberries in the other.

The other girl nodded slowly.

She's so cute, Ritsu thought and smiled warmly, putting the food on a table and sitting near Mio. "Here," she patted her lap invitingly.

Mio looked at her girlfriend with her lips parted in surprise before they curled upwards. Then, she lied down on her back and rested her head on Ritsu's comfortable, as she quickly concluded, and warm lap. Her smile widened when she felt Ritsu's arms wrapping around her immediately. She saw the drummer's face upside-down above her own before the shorter girl bended over her and planted a chaste kiss on her lips.

Contently, Mio closed her eyes and, when the kiss ended, she nuzzled one of Ritsu's arms.

She was about to fall asleep when...

*Groooowwwwlll...*

Mio blushed beet-red in an instant but the colour only deepened when she heard Ritsu's laughter coming from above.

"W-what..." the bassist stuttered in embarrassment.

"Nothing, nothing, I just remembered we were supposed to have a dinner at my place," the shorter girl replied in between her chuckling. "I'll go cook something."

As she was about to get up, she felt Mio grasping her arms. Ritsu looked at her questioningly.

"Don't go..." Mio whispered, averting her eyes.

Ritsu gaped at her, speechless, for a second before she grinned slyly. "Does Mio-chan like my lap so much she'd rather stay hungry~?" she teased.

Mio blushed but didn't answer. She didn't have to, the drummer knew what the answer was anyway.

Ritsu's expression turned from a teasing grin back to a warm smile. Still holding her girlfriend with one hand, she slipped the other one out of her grasp and reached for the bowl of strawberries. "One, two, three, open your mouth for me," she hummed, brushing the fruit against Mio's lips.

Mio chuckled at the corny rhyme. "Am I your child now?" she asked but complied nevertheless.

Carefully, Ritsu put the strawberry inside Mio's mouth. "You certainly wouldn't get far without me~" she grinned.

"Hey, that's my line," the bassist frowned before breaking into laughter along with her girlfriend. "Though..." she spoke more seriously after they stopped laughing. "It's probably true."

"Hm? What is?"

"That I wouldn't get far without you. After all, I..." Mio's voice trailed down as she talked, eventually turning into an incoherent mumble.

"I like you, too." Ritsu's quiet whisper reached the bassist's ear. "No, I l-love you, Mio."

They stared into each other's eyes before the distance between their lips slowly closed again.

"You still taste like strawberries..."

"..."

"..."

"It's because you fed me to them. Don't complain."

"I'm not. I like strawberries."

"Then...kiss me again."

THE END

A/N: Thank you for reading, I hope it was a time well-spent and that this short story warmed up your heart a little on this winter evening (it's been quite cold here). Or whenever you're reading it. Feedback is, as always, much appreciated so feel free to comment or message me your thoughts :)

One more thing that I'd like to mention; as you probably noticed, I like girly Ritsu. Now, don't get me wrong, I think she's quite tomboyish most of the times but there were a couple of scenes in the anime that showed she does have a somewhat feminine side to her character, too. Though I believe she's not quite comfortable with showing it to anyone aside from Mio, I also think she does get a hint that Mio likes this side of hers and tries to expose it to her, even if just a little bit.

The 14th of February is fairly soon and, if my exams allow it, I'll try to finish another romantic story I've come up with for that occasion, although it won't necessarily be Valentine date-themed *grins*.

Until then, take care and see you around!