I'm back just like I promised! This chapter is all about Mugi since we haven't really seen her reaction to Ritsu's death yet. I hope everyone enjoys!

Disclaimer: I do not own K-On, its characters, etc.

Tsumugi Kotobuki strolled down the rows of tombstones, the way to her destination memorized after all the times she'd visited. It was mid-spring and really nice outside, though to Mugi, the weather didn't matter. It never stopped her from visiting her friend. On the days that she wasn't busy with work, teaching piano mostly, she made it her top priority to visit Ritsu. It had become a scheduled part of her life.

Mugi had stayed strong for the other girls. She had kept her emotions at bay as hard as it had been. If it hadn't been her, then who? Mugi could tell that Yui had really tried to stay strong. For Azusa and Ui. She had failed. Azusa was so distraught over the loss of her upperclassman. Her friend. An older sister. Mio, distraught over the loss of her best friend. Her love.

But Mugi had lost the same hadn't she?

At the time, she believed she was doing it for the others. Something that she knew Ritsu would appreciate. If the drummer wasn't there to take care of her band, then Mugi would take that ob. At school, around her friends, she was the comforter. At home when she was alone she wished to be comforted. But the person she wanted to fill that role was gone.

Now? Well, she didn't know what to believe anymore.

"Tsumugi?" her father's usually strong voice called through her bedroom door followed by a couple soft knocks.

Mugi straightened herself and set her pencil down. She had been going back and forth from writing lyrics and doing her homework, though she was enjoying the former more, "Yes, father?"

"Can I-" his voice cracked and he cleared his throat, "Can I come in?"

"Of course."

Seiichiro Kotobuki was a strong looking man. He held himself like he was always conducting business. The aura he gave off made him extremely intimidating, but only Mugi and her mother got to see his softer, loving side. They weren't the closest of families being that they were all very busy, but they always set aside a small part of their schedules to spend time with each other.

-Strangely as he slowly opened and closed Mugi's bedroom door his shoulder sagged and his thick eyebrows knit together in concern as he turned to his only daughter.

"Is everything okay?" Mugi quickly asked. She had never seen her father like this. It gave her a bad feeling.

Mr. Kotobuki averted his eyes to the the floor. He took a deep breath and motioned to his daughter's bed. Taking the hint, Mugi slowly stood from her desk and pushed the chair in and made her way to her bed where her dad was already seated. She sat down next to him and bumped him with her shoulder somewhat playfully as she tried to maybe lighten the mood. He shook his head.

"Dad?"

He turned to her, "I received a phone call… uh…" he rubbed the back of his neck, "It was Mr. Tainaka."

If this were any other situation, Mugi would have been happy. Instead, her heart dropped.

Mr. Kotobuki noticed his daughter's reaction and he had to force himself to keep his tears at bay. He had to stay strong, "Your friend, Ritsu…? I think she's in the band with you. I guess… something happened last night. She was hurt. Badly and-"

"Is she okay?" she asked, cutting her father off, "Ricchan's okay, right?"

Seiichiro's eyes widened. He quickly realized his mistake. Mugi understood, "I'm so, so sorry, Tsumugi," he wrapped an arm around her and held her close, "I never met her, but by the way you talked about her I knew she was special. A fantastic friend."

All Mugi could do is nod against her father's shoulder. She sniffled and pulled away, "Can you…?"

Mr. Kotobuki took the hint and gave her a small smile, "Of course," he leaned over and softly kissed her on top of her head. He rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, "If you need me for anything…"

Mugi nodded and her father turned and made his way to the door, glancing over his shoulder before closing the door behind him. She waited until the door closed to let her tears spill. Waited until the door closed to let her sobs escape. She covered her mouth to try and muffle them, but when that didn't work she laid down and cried into her pillow.

Mr. Kotobuki wiped his own tears away as he pushed off his daughter's bedroom door and made his way into his own.

Sometimes when she was at Ritsu's gravesight she would cry, sob even. If other people were there they would give her worried looks, but they understood. Sometimes she would laugh after remembering some of the crazy stunts they all pulled as Hokago Tea Time. Sometimes she would just talk quietly to the slab of granite as if Ritsu was really there.

Mugi didn't know what her reaction would be when she get there today. She never did.

She expected a lot of things to happen.

Most of those things weren't good.

When she did arrive at Ritsu's sight there was another person there. Mugi recognized her immediately, "Sawa-chan?"

The woman turned around at her name. She lifted her glasses to wipe away stray tears, "Oh, Mugi-chan!"

They embraced.

"We missed you the other day," Mugi commented, smiling at her former teacher and friend.

Sawako nodded sadly, "I know. I'm sorry about that. I was really planning on joining you guys, but something came up."

The blonde shook her head, "It's nothing to worry about."

They stood side by side as they stared at the gravestone, "How are the girls?" Sawako asked.

"Everyone is doing really well. Mio-chan's been really busy with work and Azusa-chan with college. Yui-chan is… well Yui-chan is Yui-chan I suppose." Mugi answered with a giggle, though, it was still weird to leave Ritsu out of a conversation like that, "I know she's still playing Gitah."

Sawako smiled, "Well, that's good," she turned to her former student, "What about you, Mugi-chan? How are you?"

Tsumugi sighed, "I'm… doing well." Recently Sawako had been the person that Mugi talked to. She had always looked up to the teacher, "I think that being around the others lately has really helped. I missed them and I hope we can do it more often."

Sawako was visibly relieved, "I'm happy to hear that." She walked closer to her granite stone and laid her hand on it, "I was really worried about all of you. Ricchan had been the one to bring the group together..." she lightly patted it with a smile on her face, "I should have known though."

Mugi understood what the older woman was trying to say and she nodded in agreement. It was a worry that had crossed her mind too. Afraid that the loss of one friend would cause the loss of all. It hadn't happened though and for that, she was so incredibly grateful, "Ricchan's watching over us."

"O-oh you bet she is," Sawako laughed, "There's no way she would ever leave you girls."

"You too Sawa-chan," Mugi turned to her with a smile, "You meant a lot to Ricchan too."

Sawako blushed, "I better have! After putting up with all of her shit…" she trailed off, but the smile was still on her face. She jumped when her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. She apologized to her companion and quickly pulled her phone out of her back pocket to read the text message. Mugi watched her type a reply, "It's Norimi…" Sawako told her, putting her phone back in her pocket, "I better get going."

"Okay. Well, it was nice seeing you, Sawa-chan," she said and they leaned in to share another hug, "Tell Norimi-chan I said hello."

Sawako pulled back with a smile, "Of course. Let me know when you girls are getting together again. I'll make sure to join you."

"Will do."

Before she left, Sawako turned to Ritsu's gravestone and quickly paid her respects a final time. When she was finished she gave Mugi a wave goodbye and then she was off in the direction of the exit. Mugi watched her go, a smile on her face.

After deciding to have a little fun with her new "ghost" body, Ritsu set off to raise a little hell. Mio wasn't home to bother so she would just have to find someone else to mess with and make something out of being invisible to everyone. She strolled down the street, hands behind her head when she quickly decided that the best place to do a little bit of haunting would be none other than the cemetery.

Once she arrived, she was quickly drawn to her own site. Something about it was comforting to her, though the reality of what was happening set in as well. She ran her hand across the smooth surface of the granite, "Hey… me," Ritsu greeted with a soft chuckle. The cemetery was pretty empty so she hoisted herself onto the stone and leaned back to look at the clear sky as she waited for someone to walk by.

Ritsu must have nodded off because at the first noise she heard, she jumped, "Aren't I supposed to be the one doing the scaring?" she asked herself with a pout.

"Oh, Ritsu…"

Her name caught her off guard, but she quickly realized that the person had stopped in front of her. A familiar person.

Ritsu grinned, "Sawa-chan!" Her teacher hadn't changed a bit the girl realized. It felt almost as if she'd never left.

Sawako smiled back as if she had seen her, "You were a total pain in my ass, you know that?" she asked quietly.

The sandy haired girl leaned forward on her hands and rolled her eyes, "You say that every time you visit me," she answered with a laugh as if they were having the conversation in person. She had heard all of her friends' and her family's prayers yet she made sure to listen to everything Sawako was saying. She felt giddy sitting there and seeing her teacher. Hearing her talk.

"Stupid, selfless brat," the woman muttered, "always putting others before yourself. I think that's something the girls and I really miss." She shook her head, "You better still be playing drums. You went through so much to put Hokago Tea Time together and you're so passionate about music…"

Ritsu's smile hadn't faded from her face as she listened to her teacher talk, "No worries, Sawa-chan. There's no stopping me." Her attention was averted when a head of blonde hair appeared behind Sawako and called out her name, "Mugi?"

The two caught up and Ritsu watched on. Something about Mugi worried her. It wasn't the same Mugi she had seen the day before when Mio was spending the day with her. Something was off.

At some point into their conversation, Sawako's phone vibrated and she bid both Mugi and her goodbye. After the woman left, Mugi turned to Ritsu. She was silent for awhile and Ritsu tilted her head. Her friend didn't look much different either, though somehow she had gotten prettier if that was possible. Like a princess.

"Me and Mio had the chance to spend time together yesterday," Mugi started, "It was really fun. I'm just so happy that after everything… we're all still friends. I was so scared to lose everyone, but how could I think that? Our friendship is unbreakable. The bond you created is permanent," Mugi giggled into her hand, "I mean your enthusiasm is what drew me to you. The bond that I saw you already shared with Mio… I wanted too. To be a part of something as incredible as that and my wish came true."

"Mio she…" Mugi paused to wipe a couple new tears from her face, "I was the most scared for Mio. She was so… broken, Ricchan. If only you could have been there for her. I tried to be. But then we almost lost her two," she choked up, "I thought I failed you. Failed her."

Ritsu shook her head, "You could never disappoint me, Mugi." She wished Mugi could hear her.

"But I don't think you'd feel that way. And Mio's cleared up any doubt I had," her phone lightly pinged and she checked it, "Oh, I have a lesson soon," she placed her cell phone back in her purse, "I teach kids piano now, Ricchan. It's so fun! It's so rewarding to bring the same joy to the kids as I f elt when playing with the band. Playing with you. To be honest, I don't feel the same way anymore when I play, but I make sure to think back to when we all used to play together. It helps."

Ritsu furrowed her eyebrows, concerned.

"I just…" the blonde couldn't help herself and she was in tears, "I loved you so much… but Mio and before I… you were gone," she was shaking.

Ritsu quickly jumped off her perch and wrapped her arms around Mugi, "Please don't cry, Mugi…" she comforted her the best she can even though she wasn't there to do it in person, "I'm so, so sorry."

"I just miss you so much. We all do."

The sandy haired girl nodded against her friend, "I know. I'm right here, Mugi. I never really left and I'm not going anywhere," she laughed, "You guys are stuck with me."

Ichigo ran down the street as fast as she could. It was late and there weren't very many people outside, but that didn't stop her, "Someone help!" she called out to anyone who could hear her. The couple people who were still on the streets turned to the high school girl with wide eyes. Her adrenaline was pumping and she was still in shock so it took her a few seconds to realize that someone had went to her in concern.

They were lightly shaking her, "Miss? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Ichigo shook her head and tried to catch her breath, "No…! There's a girl… my friend she…"

Her plea was halted when she heard the flat sound of a gunshot rang out into the night.

Ichigo's heart dropped.

What did you guys think? Mugi's been the hardest to write so far, so I hope this was okay.

While doing some research for this chapter I read that in Japan, 99% of people are cremated, so let's all just disregard what I said about Ritsu's funeral a couple chapters ago.

I'm still planning out the next chapter so I can't really give any teasers. Any questions, comments, or whatever please drop a review or feel free to PM me. I've made it my goal to reply to all of you who do. Thanks for reading and I'll be back soon,

- PJatO98