Part 4

It was a week later and a week closer to the Winter Festival when Tainaka Ritsu felt like the world was ending.

Yet again.

It was just after her post-dinner bath when she found out that her trademark hair accessory was missing. It was the second time this month and it seemed like just yesterday and not three months ago that she had a whole stash of hair bands in her drawer. Shaking her head, the drummer couldn't believe her luck. There was no way that she could just misplace this kind of thing. There was only one explanation for this.

"Satoshi!" Ritsu bellowed as she raced up the stairs and barged into her little brother's room.

Her brother was sprawled on his bed reading manga, but even with the outburst, his attention was completely directed towards the book in his hands. By now, he was used to his sister's undeniable crazy.

"Satoshi, did you take my hair band?!" Ritsu stormed over to the bed, yelling as she crossed her arms across her chest angrily. Her hair was still damp, a small towel draped around her shoulders. She was dressed in a loose T-shirt and short shorts, dripping all over her brother's floor.

"Onee-chan…why would I ever steal your hair band? I mean…sure, you look a lot better without it, but I know how much you like it." Without missing a beat, the middle schooler turned the page he was on, continuing with his reading.

Ritsu blinked. Did she really look better without it? Shaking her head, she pushed that issue aside as she wondered where her bright yellow head band could have gone. It was a brand new one too… "Are you sure you haven't seen it? I used to have dozens of them, but for some reason…they seem to have…all disappeared." Sighing, Ritsu put on her best thinking expression as she wracked her brain to try and solve this strange phenomenon.

Suddenly, Ritsu's ear perked up as a familiar tune reached her ears. It was After School TeaTime's first recording of Fuwa Fuwa Time, Mio's sweet soprano bringing a smile to her face. Without another word, the drummer scrambled to her own room and executed a flying tuck and roll onto her bed as she snatched up her flashing and ringing phone.

"H-Hello? Mio?" The brunette was slightly out of breath from her multitude of unnecessary movements, breathing quite heavily into the receiver.

"Ritsu? Are you okay? You sound kinda…out of breath?"

It certainly was Mio on the other end and Ritsu beamed. "I-I'm t-totally fine. What's up?"

"Oh ok. Well, I'm just calling to ask if I can come over now instead of at 9 o'clock? My mom's going out and she said she'll drop me off at your place on the way so I won't have to walk over there when it's dark."

"T-Tonight?" Ritsu' eyes snapped open as the fragments of their earlier conversation came back to her. She invited Mio over to help her memorize the play script. "O-oh yeah. Sure. That's okay. I wouldn't want poor Mio getting assaulted by one of her fanclub members walking over to my house or something."

"W-W-W-What are you talking about, stupid Ritsu?! M-my fanclub wouldn't do that…I think…"

Ritsu chuckled at the reaction she expected and received. "Well, I'll see you soon then, okay? Remember to bring the ice cream!"

"Hai, hai…Because that's definitely the most important thing I need to bring, right? Geez…ice cream in the winter? It's so like you to crave something so ridiculous! But yeah I'll see you later." Mio's voice was full of exasperation but sounds of her laughter floated over the line.

"Haha! Bye, Mio." Ritsu chimed in as she hung up. The drummer couldn't remember the last time she felt so free of worries. Sure, she had to have the entire play memorized in two days, but Mio, the Dangerous Queen was coming over for a sleepover just to help her. There could be nothing better.

Throwing herself back onto her bed, Ritsu hummed happily to herself, looking forward to spending some quality time with her favorite person. Mio was a really good person to run lines with and…suddenly Ritsu's thoughts wandered to the time in the music room just last week where everything changed. Not everything per se, but Ritsu finally realized that what she felt for Mio wasn't just friendship. However, the drummer couldn't exactly say the same for the other girl. They kissed and after, they never spoke of it again. The brunette grimaced slightly as she remembered Mio's words. Maybe kissing really was no big deal for her.

"Onee-chan! Did you find your hair band?"

Ritsu jumped up like a springboard, sitting up ramrod straight as she just remembered why she was in such a panic earlier. "Crap…" Her hands flew to the top of her head and she could feel only her rough disheveled hair. It brought her back to reality and to her previously half-crazed state. Springing up, the drummer paced the room like a mad dog, assessing the situation. Her hair was a mess and Mio was coming over.

Looking around, Ritsu assessed yet another pressing situation. Her room was a ridiculous pig sty. Clothes were thrown every which way, mismatched socks strewn on opposite ends of the room. Random magazines and CD cases littered the floor, making it rather hard to manoeuver the drummer's room. It really had been a while since the brunette had any guests over, but the mess was a little bit ridiculous. Looking at the clock on the wall, Ritsu estimated that Mio would be here in less than ten minutes.

With the time constraint, the girl sans headband had only one of two options. She could either clean her room or waste time looking for her phantom hair accessory. It wasn't like Mio hadn't seen her with her bangs down before, but it had just been a while since then and maybe…Ritsu was just not used to being so...exposed in way.

Sighing loudly, Ritsu gave in to logic and started throwing her dirty clothes into the laundry hamper.

"R-R-R-Ritsu?" Mio's jaw dropped as a stranger answered the door. She knew Ritsu was sensitive about letting people see her with her hair down and the bassist finally knew why. If Ritsu walked down the street with her hair down, she would have to beat girls off left and right. Mio never knew how…how well Ritsu could pull off the messy rockstar look.

"Y-Yeah, Mio? Are you gonna come in or just stand out there and stare at me all night?"Ritsu blushed under Mio's stare, twirling a lock of her messy hair absent mindedly. Her best friend was still standing at the door, bundled up in her winter coat.

"O-oh..S-sorry about that." Mio broke her gaze, coughing slightly as she entered the familiar warmth of Ritsu's house. A small tub of Ritsu's favorite red bean ice cream was in her hands, melting as the seconds passed.

After the customary greetings and formalities with Ritsu's parents, the two girls made their way up to Ritsu's now clean room.

Mio settled down in front of Ritsu's bed, sitting on the floor as she set the ice cream on the coffee table in the middle of the room. There was a slight awkwardness as Mio kept her eyes on Ritsu, surprised that her friend's hair could grow out so much in just a couple of months. Did she not cut her bangs on purpose?

"W-what is it? Why do you keep staring at me, Mio? It's making me feel kinda…nervous." Ritsu bit her lip as she plopped down onto her bed, her cheeks red with embarrassment. She squirmed uncomfortably as Mio just kept staring, those big blue eyes looking on in light amusement and something else that the drummer couldn't put her finger on.

"It's just that…" Mio paused, standing before she seated herself beside Ritsu on the bed, looking right into the brunette's wide golden eyes. "You just look so cool with your bangs down. You look…really…" At that, the bassist trailed off, catching herself from saying something really humiliating.

"W-Whatever…" Ritsu grumbled as she stood, putting distance between her and Mio as she busied herself with something unimportant. She might've been uneasy at Mio's reaction, but deep down, she was actually really happy that the other girl felt that way.

"So, Ritsu, shall we get to work? I know it's the weekend, but we should finish this up as soon as we can." Mio stood up as well, walking over to Ritsu's desk. As she crossed the expanse of the small room, the bassist brushed past the shorter girl, their arms touching for a split second. The contact was just for a second, but it made Ritsu shudder, a strange feeling shooting up her spine.

To the drummer's horror, Mio noticed that little action, turning to Ritsu quizzically.

"Are you cold? Maybe you should put on a longer pair of pants?" Mio's gave the other girl a quick up-down, wondering why she was wearing short shorts in the middle of winter. Sure they looked quite nice on her, but a girl could really catch her death of cold from that. Even though they do say that idiots don't catch colds…

"Y-yeah, yeah…I'll do that later. I just got out of the bath, so I wasn't really thinking." Ritsu grabbed the scripts form her desk, handing one to Mio as she flipped through the thick stack of loose pages. The brunette was trying to distract herself as she could still feel Mio's scrutiny burn into the bare skin of her legs. She felt rather self-conscious now, something foreign to the usually confident club leader.

"Okay, so let's get started!" Mio was a little bit too enthusiastic about spending her Saturday night helping her friend memorize a play, but she wasn't a typical girl.

"Agh…Mio, how can you be so pumped up about this?! Just looking at how much I have to read is giving me a headache." Ritsu sighed, already exhausted before attempting to tackle this great feat.

"Don't worry, Ritsu. It'll all be worth it in the end. I mean, how will you feel if Yui has her lines memorized better that you? I know Yui's kind of a genius at some things, but you do know what I mean, right?" Mio raised an eyebrow at Ritsu, coaxing the drummer's competitive side to come out.

Sighing again, Ritsu plopped down beside Mio, letting her head loll back against the frame of her bed. "I hate how you're so right. I don't want to lose to Yui, so I'd better use my secret weapon while I have access to it."

Mio looked over, puzzled. "Secret weapon?" The bassist blinked in confusion, wondering what the girl could ever mean.

"Hehehe…I'm glad you asked, Mio-tan, because the answer is right here!" Ritsu pointed a finger right at Mio's face, the tip of her finger touching the taller girl's perfectly straight nose.

Bursting out laughing, Mio swatted Ritsu's hand away, falling back slightly. She held onto her side as she giggled uncontrollably. "Y-You're so ridiculous! No wonder you and Yui get along so well!"

"Achoo!" Yui sneezed harder than she ever had. "Aghh…."

"Here, Yui-sempai." Azusa handed Yui the tissue box, offering the girl a sympathetic smile as well.

Blowing her nose, Yui sniffled. "Thanks, Azu-nyan…Ugh…that hurt." Leaning back against Azusa's couch, the girl squeezed her eyes shut wrinkled her nose. "I don't know why I'm sneezing. I'm not even sick!"

"Haha…maybe someone's talking about you somewhere, sempai?" Azusa smirked as she took her spot beside Yui, picking up the highlighted pages that she had been going over with her upperclassman for the last hour or so. Azusa had been kind enough to let Yui come over since Ui was over at Jun's house working on a science project for the night. It wasn't like Azusa wasn't craving company either. Her parents were out of town performing and her house did get lonely sometimes.

Yui suddenly stopped at Azusa's words, turning to the younger girl with pure shock written on her face. "People. Are talking about me? Does it mean that I'm that popular already? Maybe our Budokan dreams are going to come true soon!" The lead guitarist's eyes sparkled with their usual delusional charm and the twintailed girl couldn't help but giggle at that.

"Sure, sure. I'm sure that's the case, Yui-sempai, but are you sure you're ready for your class practice on Monday?" Azusa flipped through the pages, wondering if Yui really had the attention span to memorize so many lines. She was surprised that the airhead had gotten the role in the first place.

"Let's just take a break, Azu-nyannnn." Yui slumped over, wrapping her arms around Azusa as she nuzzled her face into the crook of the other girl's neck.

Azusa frowned, but didn't push Yui away. It was a cold night and the warmth was somewhat…welcoming. It was nothing unfamiliar, but she knew it meant something different to her beloved sempai than it did to her. Leaning into Yui's hold, the petite girl returned the hug, brushing her lips against Yui's forhead, ghosting a soft kiss against the other girl's skin.

"Hehe….that tickles, Azu-nyan." Yui tightened her hold on the girl, shuddering at the sensation of Azusa's lips against her.

The moment Azusa realized what she had done, she mentally chided herself, wondering how she had gotten herself into such an intimate position with her favorite upperclassman. Yui was too touchy. She was too supportive of the whole skinship between sempai and kouhai, but that's all it was. The brunette had said it on many occasions herself. Skinship.

Wriggling out of Yui's hold, Azusa stood, excusing herself with a lame excuse as she scrambled upstairs. She felt like her heart was about to burst, her head starting to pound.

"Azu-nyan?" Yui was left alone on the couch as she called after her, wondering if she had said something or done something to upset the younger girl. The older Hirasawa sister might have seemed a little dense on the surface, but she was more perceptive than people gave her credit for. She had an inkling why Azusa was acting the way she was, but she wasn't completely sure...just yet.

"Mio, I'm done. Totally and utterly done. I can't take this anymore! Let's take a break." Ritsu was sprawled spread eagle on her bed, her face buried in her pillow and her words muffled and unintelligible.

"Mhmm…" Said bassist had a spoon in her mouth, licking off the remnants of the ice cream that they had opened a while ago. The small tub was nearly empty, just an inch of sweet liquid pooling at the bottom of the container. Mio was still reading the script, getting absorbed into the story. She didn't know how many times she had read the book, but the play version was different and rather intriguing.

"Mio! I thought my secret weapon could help me breeze through this, but she's gone and betrayed me, has she?" Ritsu jumped up, pointing her finger again at Mio, but accusingly this time.

Without looking up from the script, Mio smirked at Ritsu's actions. "Pointing is bad manners, Tainaka-san."

Ritsu gasped as she feigned an over exaggerated expression of shock. "Well, Akiyama-san. Finishing all the ice cream is bad manners as well!"

Mio rolled her eyes, flipping the page as she continued reading. "It was me who brought the ice cream anyway."

"And it's your waistline's that's going to grow anyway." Ritsu chuckled as she blew a raspberry at Mio childishly, mocking the girl.

Mio's face paled and her hand slacked, dropping the spoon. The bassist's eye twitched slightly and the play was momentarily forgotten. Now, thoughts of exercise filled her head as she realized that she single-handedly finished more than half the tub of red bean ice cream.

"Teehee…I bet you didn't think about that, did you, Aki-ya-ma-san?" Ritsu sounded out all the syllables in Mio's name in a sing song fashion. She smirked smugly while bouncing up and down on her bed.

"Grrr…Ritsu, you dummy!" Mio jumped up onto Ritsu's bed, snatching up the pillow as she pummeled the drummer with the soft object. The black haired girl tried to rid herself of those thoughts of gaining weight as she beat her best friend. Her skirt wasn't fitting so well these days and her shirts were getting tighter….

"Haha! Beating me up won't help you shed those pounds, Dangerous Queen!" The drummer laughed harder and harder as she shielded herself from Mio's fluffy pillow assault.

"Agh! It's your fault. In. The. First. Place!" With her words, Mio swung harder and harder, but on the last blow, Ritsu dodged it a little too skillfully, and Mio lost her balance with the weight of her attack.

"M-Mio!" The brunette let out a yell as the fifty four kilogram girl landed on top of her, smothering her against the mattress. The pillow went flying and Mio's face landed hard against Ritsu's shoulder.

"Ow…"

Scrambling onto her elbows, Mio propped herself up, ignoring the pain radiating across her right cheek. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, Ritsu. Are you okay?" The bassist was semi-straddling the petite brunette and Ritsu's bare thighs were trapped between Mio's knees. Their chests were nearly touching, Mio's long black hair spilling over her shoulder and onto Ritsu's cheek.

"I'm…fine." Ritsu just lay there, paralyzed as she felt Mio's body hovering only inches above hers. She averted Mio's gaze, avoiding looking at Mio's disheveled hair, her flustered face. The drummer had tried so hard this week to make things normal, to make things seem like they were okay, but now, things were definitely not okay.

"I really didn't mean to do that…I'm so sorry…." Mio's voice trailed off but the tall girl showed no signs of getting up anytime soon. She just stared at Ritsu's flushed face with increasing curiosity.

Noticing Mio's silence and her burning stare once again, Ritsu was thoroughly perplexed as to why her friend was still on top of her. "M-Mio…Is something wrong with my face? All night, you've been staring at me like you've never seen a Tainaka Ritsu before..." Ritsu mumbled her words, wondering if it was her imagination or if Mio's face was getting closer to hers.

"I just…like how you look with your bangs down…that's all." Mio found her heart pounding harder and harder against her ribcage, her pulse racing off the charts.

"T-Thanks…"Ritsu turned her head slightly, her eyes meeting Mio's. There, she saw those blue eyes darken, the bassist looking more mature than she ever had, her tousled hair adding to the effect.

"You should leave your hair down more often. You just look really…" Mio swallowed hard, her breathing starting to become erratic. Something inside her was keeping her there, trapping Ritsu underneath her. It seemed like only yesterday that the tables were turned, where Ritsu had pushed her against the music room's table and…

"Mio, we shouldn't-"

Before Ritsu could say anymore, Mio interjected. "I-It's okay. It's just…just a kiss, right?" Mio smiled rather forlornly, a smile that didn't seem to reach her big blue eyes. Something about this was just so sad, but Mio didn't understand why her heart ached so much.

"Don't do this. Mio, we…" Ritsu couldn't believe the words coming out of her mouth as she tried to wriggle out of the other girl's grasp. She could tell what the bassist had in mind and she wanted it, but she knew it was wrong, just so wrong.

"It's okay, isn't it? We're both girls so…it…it doesn't count." Mio remembered those words from someone who told her that not long ago. They seemed empty back then and even more hollow now. She finally understood why Sokabe-sempai spun those lies so she would kiss her. It was the same now. Plainly and simply, Mio just wanted to kiss Ritsu right now. There couldn't be anything to it. It was…just a kiss.

Just a kiss.

Ritsu's mind was full of conflict. Here Mio was, offering her what she had been craving for so long and all she wanted to do was reject it and give into her desires all at the same time. She knew that the bassist didn't feel the same way. She couldn't. Ritsu had been in love with her for so long and there was no way that Akiyama Mio felt the same. It was like she had said. They were both girls. It didn't count.

"Ritsu…" Lips parted slightly, Mio swallowed hard, Ritsu's name rolling off her tongue quite breathily.

"Mio, I…" Ritsu just stared at Mio's flawless face, her eyes roving over the black haired girl's dainty mouth. It was just too tempting.

Ritsu's self-control crumbled and she arched up slightly and closed her eyes. She met Mio half way, their lips meeting with a different kind of eagerness than the first time. The drummer snaked her arms around Mio's neck, bringing the girl closer as she crushed their bodies together. Now, it was more desperate, more raw and full of passion and there was nothing innocent about their kiss.

Mio wanted more and she pushed further into Ritsu's mouth. Their tongues met and Ritsu let out a soft moan, causing a jolt to run up the bassist's spine. All Mio could think about was how much she wanted Ritsu and how good kissing her best friend felt. It was nothing like those times with Sokabe Megumi. Everything was different. It didn't make sense to her why her heart beat so fast when Ritsu was around, why it felt like there were butterflies in her stomach every time Ritsu smiled at her.

The two girls continued, entangled in each other's limbs as they lost themselves in their own world. Their reasons for resisting were oh so different, but their reasons for continuing were, unbeknownst to both of them, all too similar.

"Azu-nyan, are you okay?"

A knock came at the bathroom door and Azusa quickly tried to wipe away the angry tears that were streaming down her face. "Stupid…" The girl chided herself for being so obvious, for being so…so worked up by Yui's simple skinship. That's all it was. It was just skinship.

"Azu-nyan?"

Yui was concerned. Azusa could tell. The core member of their light music club always acted like a doofus, but sometimes…

"I-I'm okay. I'm fine, Yui-sempai." Azusa called out as she wiped the last of the salty streams that streaked her face, turning on the faucet as she washed her face with cold water.

After a couple of deep breaths and a few practice smiles in the mirror, Azusa unlocked the bathroom door and opened it to face the cause of her heartache.

For a second, the two just stared at each other wordlessly. Yui had an expression of genuine worry on her face, one that Azusa had never seen before. The shorter twintailed girl had a weak smile on her face and it faltered as her chest continued to tighten at the sight of her beloved sempai. After a brief silence, Yui moved closer, but reflexively, the younger girl jerked back and she instantly regretted it. The next expression that filled the brunette's face was one of hurt, of rejection.

Again, Azusa's chest tightened.

"Yui-sempai, I-"

Trying again, Yui took a step forward, not letting Azusa escape this time as she smothered the girl in a bear hug. "I'm sorry." Yui's words were muffled into the crown of Azusa's head. The younger girl could feel the faint sensation of Yui's lips mouthing the words.

Azusa's arms were slack at her side, feeling tears well up in her eyes. Why did Yui have to be so kind, so gentle, so loveable? It just wasn't fair.

"I'm so sorry, Azusa…" Yui continued to apologize as she stroked Azusa's head softly, her hands running through the girl's hair.

Azusa bit back the tears as she reveled in the way Yui said her name. Closing her eyes and relaxing into her friend's arms, she wondered why she was being such a drama queen. That was Mio and Ritsu's department. Not hers.

"Will you tell me what's wrong?" Yui continued in a gentle voice and Azusa finally saw the girl as an older sister. She seemed unreliable, but she was really just the opposite.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Azusa fought back the tears, finally returning her sempai's hold as she snaked her arms around Yui's waist, clinging to her like she was going to disappear.

The seconds that passed seemed more like minutes and Azusa was more determined than ever to fix things. She didn't want her and Yui to end up like Mio and Ritsu. She needed to let Yui know how she really felt about her, how hard she was struggling to keep her feelings at bay. Azusa didn't want to hide behind excuses, behind 'just skinship'. She need to let Hirasawa Yui know how she felt.

Letting go momentarily, Azusa separated them enough so that she could look into Yui's warm honey coloured eyes. She smiled genuinely this time, reaching a resolution. "I'm sorry I made you worry, Yui-sempai. None of this is your fault. Trust me." Bringing the taller girl close, Azusa clung to Yui again, drinking in her scent as she just enjoyed the other girl's warmth for the moment. She continued on, but her words were heavily muffled into Yui's sweater. "I-I'll tell you, Yui-sempai, but…just not today, okay? Soon…I promise."

Surprisingly, Yui caught the faint whisper of Azusa's words, nodding as she began to understand the situation a bit more.

A/N: Lol. I bring you drama. I don't know what happened to my happy go lucky K-ON characters. They may be on vacation. Rushed and frantic typing. I hope this isn't too OOC and too heavy for K-ON. Minimal proofreading due to it being 2:30am with me having to get up early for work soon. Oh well. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Please review! Praise and criticism both accepted although I would rather much prefer praise over criticism. They both help me grow as a writer though, so bring it on. :)

Thanks for reading :)