Author's Note: This chapter is so difficult. Enjoy and thank you for reading.

The bell chimed as lunch time passed. The infirmary was as silent as an empty room and yet, the collapsed girl was sleeping so soundly. The brunette by her side was yawning as the warm breeze blew inside from the small opening of the window. She had opened the window a little bit so the room won't be stifling before she returned and held Mio's hand.

You really have big hands. Warm.

Just as Ritsu's hand went to touch Mio's forehead, Mio's eyes fluttered open. As her mind registered what happened, Ritsu retracted her hand but her other hand still held onto Mio's. Mio looked groggily at her childhood friend with a confused expression.

"Just wha-"

"You passed out in class. We're in the infirmary," Ritsu replied even before Mio completed her question.

Just as Mio was about to relax, she noticed that her right hand was entwined with something so she tried moving it in vain. Ritsu realized this and hesitantly released her hand.

Mio shook her head and a blush flitted through her face as she said," Don't."

Ritsu was unsure what Mio was talking about but realized it soon after. As per request, she confidently took Mio's hand in hers. Mio squeezed her hand lightly, a sign that she was comforted by it. An anchor that kept her to reality. The fact that she was not alone. No words were exchanged as they maintained the silence.

The only sound they can hear was that of the wall clock, ticking with all its might. Counting every minute and every second of the time. The time they spent together from when they were young. All the hardship and fun they went through together. After Ritsu had helped Mio to read her winning essay, they were always together. They both felt that as long as they joined hands, they can overcome everything and face the world without fear. The feeling was mutual.

"Mio-chuan~ I'm starving," Ritsu whined as her stomach rumbled.

Do you really have to ruin the moment? That's so like you.

Mio sat up and replied," Then, let's get lunch together."

"Really..? Are you sure?"

"Un, I'm okay now."

Ritsu helped Mio get up from the bed and supported her in fear that Mio might be unsteady on her feet. To her surprise, she was the one on the way to hit the ground and déjà vu passed her mind as she froze midway. Mio had prevented her from falling as she held Ritsu's hand tightly. Mio pulled her up and reprimanded her.

"You're probably the one that needs help, and not me. That's dangerous you know! You might as well break your nose on impact with the floor."

"How cruel, my 'Dangerous queen'. My feet feel numb because you made me sit on the chair for long hours!"

"Whatever do you mean?" Mio said with pure curiosity.

What did I say to her?

"Oh? The bassist didn't remember? Well, let this cool drummer tell you. When I tried to leave the infirmary, you extended your hand to grab the hem of my skirt and said 'Don't go!' You're so cute that I can't resist," Ritsu explained as she mimicked Mio in a 'moe moe kyun' way.

Mio's face flushed several shades of red and buried her face in her hands, releasing Ritsu's hand in the process. Without support, Ritsu was wobbly on her still-numb feet and fell to the floor on her bottom. In a frenzied state, Mio hit Ritsu's head as usual.

"Ouch! Can't you be kind to me sometimes?" Ritsu joked as she grinned from ear to ear.

"Mou, Ritsu!"

After Mio calmed down, she helped Ritsu up with a deep blush still intact to her face. At the sight of this, Ritsu just gave Mio a small sincere smile. However, that only made her blushed even more.

"Mugi's right. You do look like a boy," Mio commented as Ritsu's bangs fall down her forehead.

"Eeh?! Where's my headband?" Ritsu shrieked. In a spur of moment, her cheeks indeed turned red a little on the comment.

On the floor, the remnants of her headband were lying on the floor. Apparently, the headband broke into two as she accidentally stepped on it.

"AH! My precious headband!"

After a lot of convincing, Ritsu accepted the fact that she can no longer wear the broken headband. She tore a paper and wrote," RIP my treasure." Then, she threw the pieces into the bin along with the paper.

So, out they went. Ritsu seemed paranoid without her usual headband and was worried that people may see her with her bangs down.

"You know, you don't have to be concerned about it. I think you look cute just as yourself. You're always honest and sometimes irritating but that's what I like about you," Mio said as she looked at anywhere except Ritsu's face.

Blush formed at both of their faces. They continued on walking in silence to the cafeteria and when they arrived, the crowd of students went silent. They were the centre of attention- Mio because she's quite famous as a bassist and Ritsu because barely anyone recognized her with her bangs down.

"Ah! Mio-chan and Ricchan! Where have you been?" A familiar voice shouted at them.

The students around them seemed to be surprised at the mention of Ritsu's name and they went 'That's Ritsu?' Floods of compliment washed over the horde of students about how Ritsu resembled a boy and how she looked cute and several other things that she can't bear to listen without blushing.

"Yui-chan, they were in the infirmary remember?" Mugi replied.

"Oh! Yes, we are going to bring them the food alright but they're here already."

Without a word, Ritsu dragged Mio away from the cafeteria in haste. Her appetite was gone now that she became the main attention.

She headed to the rooftop and took a deep breath of the fresh air as she took a seat. Mio sat by her side and looked up to the sky. Footsteps can be heard going to their direction before a duo appeared from the door with food in their hands.

"We brought food!"

Mugi prepared the tea from a flask and served them to the others. Even with her appetite gone, Ritsu can't turn down Mugi's tea. The fragrant itself persuaded her to drink it. Besides, tea helped with her nerves and she needed to calm down. As the Light Music club, they've always eaten lunch together no matter where and they enjoyed the food with bits of chatter. It was just the normal routine they had but then, Yui pointed out something that Ritsu had been avoiding.

"Ricchan, you can't hide forever. There are still the afternoon classes," the air-head stated.

"SHUT UP!"

Her scream echoed loudly and the nearby birds scampered away as far as possible.