A/N: Oh man, I thought I'll never have the time to continue this. As usual, life got in the way, making me busier than usual. It's a good thing that we have Christmas vacation in the second semester, giving me the time to get on with this story. I'm sorry for those who waited, so here's the third chapter, longer even with the last two chapters combined.

Do watch out for any grammatical mistakes though, I highly apologize for that.

Anyway, enough rant, I hope you all enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own K-On or any of the characters associated with it, but story belongs to me. Cover art belongs to fukutarou.

Chapter 3: Incertitude and Warmth

The soft light started to slowly seep through the window's transparency, illuminating the small confines of the room the drummer is in. The person mentioned is still sleeping soundly on the bed, not giving a care even if her blanket is strewn haphazardly on the floor, depriving her of warmth.

However, as soon as the soft warm light made contact with her face, the girl hesitantly opened her eyes and tried to gaze at the white source, well, tried. Her vision is still unfocused due to her slumber earlier, and so, the brunette rubbed her eyes and yawned loudly. She stared at the white ceiling for a while before moving her body to get up.

But, her body doesn't want to cooperate with her intentions, instead, it sent a wave of pain to her senses. That was when Ritsu realized the events that transpired last night.

'Fought, got injured, beat a-holes, chillin' at the oildrum bonfire... Yep, that sums up about everything.' The tawny-haired girl thought and sighed.

Ritsu shifted her body to a more comfortable position to relax in order to ease the muscles she overused and strained during the brawl.

After a few minutes, the girl finally got up successfully and stretched her arms to further alleviate the pain. She gazed at the window, which is the source of light, and nonchalantly shifted towards it. The drummer pushed the curtains aside, revealing a white and frosty environment outside.

'Of course, nothing too surprising here.' The ochre-haired girl stared on blankly, her eyes showing no interest at all.

The girl started to trek back to make her bed, but before that, she passed by the room's mirror and her vision soon fell onto her ragged appearance. That was when she finally realized something; she didn't change back into her sleepwear last night.

The brunette is thinking about taking a bath first before getting dressed, or just directly changing into her clothes.

'I think it's too cold to take a bath right now, so, I should just get dressed already.' Ritsu pondered while unconsciously nodding her head at the option.

She opened the wardrobe and took a black shirt with the word 'Rock' and some stars plastered on it, and fleece shorts to cope with the cold temperature. Soon after, she took off her scarf and carefully placed it aside, and began to change her clothes into more comfortable ones.

After that, Ritsu tossed the dirty clothes into the laundry hamper before picking up her scarf to tuck it back in the closet. However, upon closer inspection, she spotted that her muffler has some major tears and holes in it, voiding it of its usefulness.

The drummer widened her eyes in shock and said, "What the hell? How'd this happen? M-My favorite scarf... is ruined."

She thought back on some possibilities as to why it happened. True enough, it happened during the ordeal, but who did it?

After some wistful pondering, the girl came to a conclusion that the one who did it is the man with black hair, Shiro, whose knife tore through the light blue clothing when they were fighting for the upper hand.

"Great, that jerk ruined my scarf and this is the only freaking scarf I have right now!" Ritsu lowered her tone when she realized that her early morning ranting can disturb and awaken nearby students that are sleeping, most especially, her friends.

Even so, the brunette decided to leave the scarf topic for now, the stated item is now folded and placed on her bed. The drummer diverted her attention back to her wounds. She walked back to the mirror to inspect the bruise on her left arm; it is still darkened and swollen in terms of appearance, so she grabbed some bandages from the drawer near the mattress.

"It's a good thing that I brought some just in case." She muttered as she picked the small rolled-up medical item and began unraveling its end to wrap around the injury. While doing so, the drummer took careful measures not to apply too much pressure onto the arm to avoid any unwanted pain.

By the time she's done, Ritsu took some tiny bandage clips and plastered it onto the end of the strip to seal it in place. Her next one to tend to is the cut on her right cheek. She grabbed a band-aid from the same drawer and went to the bathroom to wash her face. After that, she peeled the band-aid and placed it onto the small laceration on her cheek.

Now that all her wounds are tended, the drummer skipped back to the closet in order to grab a gray hoodie jacket that will hide her bandaged arm.

Ritsu took one last look on the mirror to check herself out, "Wow, I look like a character from a fighting game or something." She muttered in interest. The girl chuckled to herself shortly after that, then, she struck some amusing poses in the mirror, like pumping her fist, posing into some funny fighting stances, and lastly, doing a swift but successful kung-fu kick in the air. The fighter-esque drummer cackled softly due to her stupid antics.

After her soft laughs died down, the girl wore her hoodie on, finally feeling the warmth that her body needed in this cold temperature.

Just when the tawny-haired drummer felt her mood easing up, she heard audible knocks coming from the door. Hearing that, the girl quietly scuffled aimlessly around her room, hiding everything that will possibly provide evidences leading to last night; bandages, clothes, and the scarf lying on the bunk is thrown blindly underneath it.

Seeing that the coast is clear, Ritsu went to the door and opened it slowly to reveal the visitor. Once her amber eyes caught sight of the person, she isn't surprised one bit...

...Because the so-called visitor is none other than Mio, her best friend.

"Ah, finally, you woke up. Good morning." The bassist greeted the drummer softly.

Sensing the friendly intention, the brunette wore her usual cheeky grin and greeted back, "Yo, mornin'." The ochre-haired girl motioned her head to signal her childhood friend to get inside in order to shut the door, so that the cold morning air can't get inside the small, warm, seclusions of her room.

The ravenette sat onto her mattress before speaking, "It's so obvious that you just woke up." Mio pointed her index finger at the messy bed.

The brunette scratched the back of her head, as if she was caught red-handed. "Well, I was going to fix it earlier, but you knocked on the door before I had the chance to do it." Ritsu chuckled as she sat on the wooden floor, eyeing the other girl sitting on the bed. The black-haired girl is now wearing a dark green sweatpants, topped with black sweater.

Since today is a Saturday, the bassist doesn't have any classes scheduled, in fact, Houkago Tea Time, as well as Onna Gumi, are intentionally vacant during Saturdays, so that they can all hang out together.

Mio smiled a little at her rambunctious friend's statement. She basked in the pleasant morning mood before getting back to the reason why she visited her best friend's room early in the morning.

"Didn't you hear that I was knocking on your door earlier this morning?" Mio stated, looking irritably at her best friend's dumbfound-like expression.

'Wow, she shifted gears quickly.' The drummer sweatdropped at the thought.

The girl in question started to sweat a bit at her current situation and quickly made up a lie, "Nope, I didn't." She plastered the best poker-face expression she could muster to prove her point.

She doesn't want to reveal her secret last night, most especially, not now.

Mio rolled her eyes and giggled a bit, "You really are a heavy sleeper, even in the middle of a snowstorm, but it isn't surprising at all."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Ritsu laughed and flashed her trademark grin.

The bassist smiled and said, "No, you idiot. What if the snowstorm got so bad and you still haven't woken up, what are you going to do?"

Ritsu's grin grew wider and continued, "Well, I know that you're gonna make sure that I'm still alive if that ever happens, haha!"

Mio shook her head at her energetic companion's predictable statement and rolled her eyes once more. The other girl decided her day wouldn't be complete without her daily dose of teasing and said, "Why were you knocking at my door so early in the morning? ...Is it because you got so scared of the storm?"

The dark-haired girl got a bit off-guard at the last statement and decided to retort back, "N-No, it's because I woke up and noticed that it's really cold inside my room and knocked on your door so that I can borrow your jacket for a while."

'I can't let her know that I did woke up because I got scared, or else, she'll just tease me more.' The tall girl thought strategically.

The drummer feigned sadness for a bit before resuming her teasing, "Oh, is that so? Poor Mio-chuan, I'll just make it up to you by making some hot chocolate for both of us!" She cooed. The bassist fought the urge to hit her on the head, since her childhood friend is trying to annoy her whilst making a good gesture at the same time.

Ritsu skidded to her room's kitchenette to grab ahold of the chocolate powder that is settled on the kitchen counter. After getting it, she went to the mini cupboard that stores her cooking utensils to reach for a small cooking pot. But unfortunately, after pulling it out, some of the kitchenware, which are stacked on the pot, fell onto the floor and created a loud ruckus. Soon after, a large flat pan fell directly onto her face, creating a comical gong-like sound. She tripped on her footing and fell onto her back with a very audible thud, thus, groaning in pain afterwards.

'Ah great, couldn't have thought of a better way to start the morning!' The drummer mentally slapped herself as she slowly rose up to pick up the utensils scattered haphazardly on the floor. Her body is still throbbing in pain as she did so.

The bassist grew worried after hearing all the commotion and spoke, "Ritsu, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I forgot that the utensils are stacked up after taking out a pot." The drummer winced silently as soon as she finished gathering all the kitchenware and plunked it back inside the cupboard.

"Do you want me to help you?" The black-haired girl began to stand up from the mattress to help, but her offer was quickly shot down by the drummer, "No, no, I'm fine, just stay there and let me do the magic."

Mio complied hesitantly, sighed and stayed fixated on her companion's bed, while trying her best to stay as comfortable as possible.

The amber-haired girl started doing her work; situating the pot onto the stove and tearing the chocolate powder open to pour its contents inside the utensil while its sweet, chocolatey aroma whiffed around the room. Afterwards, she grabbed a water container and milk container and poured it as well, then, she opened the stove to let it heat up. Next, the girl fetched for a small ladle to stir the mixture while maintaining the temperature.

Unknown to her knowledge, she was silently being watched by her raven-haired companion all along.

After a while, the hot chocolate is now ready to be served, so the brunette grabbed two mugs and tipped the hot chocolate into it. The girl grabbed the mugs and gave one to the ravenette, thanking her in response before accepting the offer.

Ritsu proceeded to sit on the bed next to her, quietly sipping on her own cup to enjoy the soothing feeling of having sweet liquid warm her body from this cold weather.

As the two enjoyed each other's company in silence, the bassist decided to break the ice, "Ritsu, I've been wanting to say this ever since earlier..."

This caught the drummer attention and spun her head towards the source, "What is?"

"What happened to your cheek?" Mio turned her face to look at the brunette to inspect her cheek closer.

'Oh crap, just when I was hoping she wouldn't bring it up, but, screw it.' Ritsu thought nervously as she tried to keep her cool in front of her best friend. She quickly thought of another excuse to cover it up, "E-Erm, I got this while I was cooking last night. I accidentally cut my cheek with the knife because the vegetable slipped out of my hand, h-haha..." Ritsu sweatdropped and scratched the back of her head.

Mio mouthed an 'Oh' in response, finally understanding the reason behind the cut. "You should be more careful next time." The bassist softly touched the other girl's cheek with her free hand, careful not to make it bleed, because that'll be the last thing that she wanted. Ritsu flinched a bit at the contact and started blushing.

"Does it hurt?" The raven-haired girl spoke gently, unfazed that their distance is too close for comfort, especially for the drummer.

Ritsu is starting to get uncomfortable as the bassist's face continued nearing hers, "N-No, not at all."

Mio continued inspecting her from her bandaged cheek, to her face, then to her hairdo. 'Now that I've noticed it, she isn't wearing her headband right now.' She thought, still unaware that her face is inching closer and closer to the latter's.

'Mio, what are you doing? Argh, this making me feel so weird right now.' The amber-haired girl's heart is now beating so fast that she can't keep her breathing stable, her face is now reddish in hue, and she almost dropped her mug due to this.

It took a few more moments for Mio to realize that her face is extremely close to Ritsu's, to the point that their noses are now touching. That was the time she finally backed away from the brunette and flushed furiously. "I-I'm s-sorry."

"Ahah, you just realized that now?" The drummer swiftly turned her face away to continue drinking on the mug, as if nothing happened. But unfortunately, her blushing face is an evidence that she hasn't recovered yet.

"I-I'm just checking out i-if your injury is bad, t-that's all." The ravenette tried to make her excuse convincing, but it faltered because she stuttered.

Ritsu finished gulping the hot chocolate and placed her cup on the bedside table before making a remark, "...And thanks to you that it's bleeding right now." She secretly teased to get back at her because of making her uneasy earlier. It is unbeknownst to the raven-haired girl that the drummer is lying, because she is on the left side of the brunette while the injury is on her right cheek and she can't see it.

After hearing that, the poor bassist's flushing face quickly lost color and almost lost grip on the cup she's holding.

"R-R-Really?" She shakily asked.

"Yes, really." Ritsu mentally smirked whilst keeping her poker face on, wanting where this is going. How cruel.

The drummer is carefully threading on her plan before executing it. She just needs the right timing to do it. But, in order to do so, the black-haired girl needs to finish her hot chocolate, or else, it will be a mess all over.

"You should finish your drink, it's getting cold." The tawny-haired girl nonchalantly stated.

"Oh r-right, I forgot." After finishing the drink, Mio settled the cup on the table in front of her.

The drummer grinned devilishly and as soon as the bassist sat back on the bed...

... the mischievous girl screamed at her, "MIO! The blood is all over my face!"

"KYAH!" The unfortunate girl screamed so loud, that nearby students that are sleeping suddenly woke up from their slumber, with exception of their friends.

That was the brunette's best record of frightening the ravenette as early as possible ever since they entered college...

...The best record of Mio's high-pitched scream...

...And the best record of the number of hits Ritsu received on the head after the black-haired girl found out that she was lying all along.

A very typical morning at the dormitory, indeed.

After an hour has passed, Mio stood up from the bed, her hands folded in front of her chest. She briskly turned around to face the brunette, who is currently busy reading manga on the floor, and informed her that they have practice later in the clubroom, then afterwards, she closed the door behind her.

She walked her way back to her room. Once inside, she let herself fall onto the soft mattress, sighing as the soft bed hit the full of her back.

As soon as her thoughts are recollected, she groaned exasperatedly afterwards.

"That idiot, she didn't have to do that." The bassist groaned again as her brows are furrowed together.

Mio continued to sulk in the seclusions of her dorm room, "Now, how am I going to explain to the others why I screamed earlier?"

While thinking of a way to distract herself from the earlier events, she found the best way to clear her mind and regain her composure. She hunkered down and reached for the Literature text book neatly placed underneath her bed and began flipping the page to where they last stopped the discussion. As her eyes focused on the texts imprinted on the treatise, the ravenette sat upright and fumbled for a pencil and eraser inside her desk.

The black-haired girl got up and scuffled towards her study chair and desk and started working on her assignment.

As she scribbled down notes and explanations on her textbook, her mind kept on drifting back to the incident earlier.

She couldn't help but blush again at her unusual action earlier, 'Oh my God, I can't believe I did that- No, I didn't know I did that! Our faces are so close we've almost-' The flustered girl stopped her thought right there.

Unbeknownst to the drummer, the bassist has been withholding her feelings for her ever since they were in middle school. Sure, it wasn't easy keeping it a secret from everyone, especially to her. She's very lucky that no one pestered her about it due to her shut-out personality with regards to her love life. Well, the lyrics are an exception. Up until now, she is wishing for the drummer to reciprocate her feelings as well. The raven-haired beauty is thinking of confessing to her for a long time now, but she doesn't want to risk the precious friendship the two of them have been building up ever since they met. What if she doesn't feel the same way? What if Ritsu started avoiding her after that? What if she'll never talk to her ever again?

There are so many pessimistic 'what ifs' swarming inside of her head that she doesn't want to ponder any of the possibilities for now.

Moving aside, the bassist felt a bit suspicious earlier about the drummer's laceration on her cheek. She could've sworn she sensed that the feisty brunette was just lying, because normally the tawny-haired girl doesn't carelessly handle sharp utensils while cooking, or maybe she was just getting too worried about her and overthinks things through. She doesn't know anymore, so, it's for the best to shrug it off, for now.

The black-haired girl just shook her head and retained her focus back on the assignment she's been working on.

Another hour has passed, and it's time for the Houkago Tea Time to go to their clubroom to practice for their upcoming university festival next month.

Yui, the band's resident airhead, is the first one to excitedly get out of her dorm room to visit her friend's rooms to remind them of their plans for today. The cheery brown-haired girl decided to intrude inside the drummer's room first, because she is the leader of their band, after all.

The guitarist didn't even bothered knocking as she quickly turned the doorknob and slammed the door right open, her sudden course of action scared the living daylights out of the drummer, falling out of her bed in an instant with a loud thump.

The brown-haired girl didn't waste any moment as she hollered at the poor brunette, "Ricchan, hurry up and get up! We have to practice, I can't let Azunyan down because the festival's next month. Yosh!" Yui bolted her fist high in the air as she went to the other's rooms to receive the treatment Ritsu got.

Ritsu groaned as she picked up the manga she was reading and flung it on top of the bunk, she scratched her head in annoyance and painfully got up.

"Geez, just what has gotten into that airhead?" She wasn't fazed when she heard Mio's surprised yelp next door.

The tawny-haired girl went over to the room's opening to shut the door before changing her shorts into jeans. She grabbed a pair of socks from the drawer before wearing them over her feet. Afterwards, she scurried over the side of the bed to look for her boots, after successfully locating it, she briskly put them on. Next, she picked up her yellow headband on top of her drawer and proudly donned it.

The drummer went to her desk to grab the keys and her drumsticks before shuffling away from her room, making sure to lock the door before fully leaving.

She nonchalantly walked towards the guitarist who is making a lot of noise in the hallway shortly before head-locking her, abruptly stopping the commotion.

"Private, what's all this about, huh?" Ritsu rubbed her knuckles on top of Yui's head to squeeze out information out of her.

The brown-haired girl giggled in response before replying, "Captain... we have to go to the clubroom to p-prepare for battle... we can't let our subordinate down..." The guitarist continued acting like she was being strangled and resumed her dramatic speech, "...I promised Azu... I mean... our subordinate that we will do our best for the fes... battle..." The actress coughed before feigning death by closing her eyes.

Ritsu decided to play along, so, she crouched down while cradling the fallen brunette before theatrically speaking, "N-No, I murdered... Private... no... why... does the world have to be so cruel!" The so-called Captain shot her head up to increase the dramatic effect. She feigned her sobbing while the guitarist still has her eyes closed and her head slumped on the drummer's lap.

Their act didn't go unnoticed, though.

"Just what are you two idiots doing?" The bassist inquired monotonically as she leaned on the wall, eyeing their usual act amusingly. The keyboardist is just watching in the sidelines while smiling warmly with her eyes twinkling in interest.

The guitarist finally opened her eyes in shock and quickly stood up, "Ah, I almost forgot to bring Gitah!" Yui quickly dashed towards her room to grab the said guitar.

"I didn't expect that answer." Mio sighed as she adjusted the strap of her bass guitar case, housing Elizabeth in it.

"Well, that's Yui for ya." The drummer rose up for the umpteenth time and placed her arms behind her head, but unfortunately, her action caused her left arm to constrict in pulsing pain. The girl procured a visible pained face before briskly disappearing.

Her hurt expression didn't go unnoticed as well.

"Are you okay?" The raven-haired girl's face showed a hint of worry, but she stayed put in her place.

"Yep, Yui's head is heavy that my arm went numb, haha!" The tawny-haired girl chuckled and merely lied to brush it off to avoid attention and ease off the bassist's worried stare.

Surprisingly, the bassist bought it and giggled alongside the drummer.

As if right on cue, the guitarist got out of her room, with Gitah strapped on her back, and sprint walked away from them, making her destination towards the stairs before hollering at them once more, "C'mon guys, let's go!" Yui didn't even bother waiting for her bandmates, for she already descended down the stairs.

"Damn, she's so pumped up about it." The tawny-haired girl sweat-dropped as she mindlessly twirled the one of the drumsticks in her hand.

The bassist, extremely eager to go to the clubroom as well, didn't want to waste this rare opportunity of the guitarist in the excited mood to practice. She wanted to go there as fast as possible in order to catch up with Yui and spend more time honing their musical skills.

"Come on, Ritsu, let's go." Mio grabbed the brunette by her left arm, which is the one that she has been trying to avoid any physical contact with due to the excruciating pain it inflicts. The raven-haired girl forcefully dragged the ochre-haired girl with her towards the staircase.

The drummer screamed internally as she bit back her urge to wince in pain. The only option she can do right now is to bite her tongue and hope for her raven-haired companion to cease her discomforting grip on her poor, bruised arm.

But, as a few more moments have passed, Mio's tight grip on her arm didn't loosen, thus, increasing the painful throbbing sensation in her limb. The feeling is starting to bother Ritsu very badly, she could just forcefully whisk away her arm and tell her that it's injured, but, that would blow away her secret. She's got to do something to avoid skepticism and discomfort.

So, the next thing the drummer girl did, she gently tugged her arm away from the bassist's clutch and slyly grasped the girl's hand and intertwined it with hers.

The sudden action caught the tall bassist off-guard, swiftly looking at the said action and flushed a little bit. She then moved her gray eyes to her friend's unfazed face, who is looking straight ahead.

The drummer showed no signs of sheepishness, the girl just kept her poker face on to mask her true intentions away from her.

The trek towards their destination is quiet, accompanied with breathy huffs and puffs along the way. Their hands are no longer intertwined, but clasped together, as if not wanting to let go of each other.

The blonde-haired ojou-sama is enjoying the perfect view with a pleasant and satisfied smile plastered on her face, as she was quietly walking behind the drummer and bassist.

Luckily, Houkago Tea Time is the only band inside the clubroom, so they have the space all by themselves. No one can distract them whilst they're practicing, which is a lot in their favor.

The guitarist is already stationed in her place, as well as the bassist and keyboardist. All that's left is the drummer, who is still slumped on the couch lazily as she waited for her bandmates to fully prepare themselves with their instruments. Since there is a drum set specially placed inside the room, she doesn't have to worry about her instrument.

But, what is really dwindling her confidence away is her injury on her left arm. She's afraid that it'll blow her cover once they start the practice.

She questioned herself as to why she didn't back down earlier when she had the chance?

'I'm an idiot, that's why.' The brunette answered her own thought and sighed exasperatedly.

The main question is, why is she even hiding it in the first place?

Not that it'll do her harm once her friends knew about it,but the hard part is explaining how and why it happened.

Well, the only thing she can do in this trapped situation right now is to pray for Kami-sama to guide her whilst their jam session is on-going, most especially, her drumming.

Ritsu unwillingly got up and sluggishly trudged towards the drum set before settling down.

"Let's play Fuwa Fuwa Time first, minna! But, I'll be the one to sing, Mio-chan." Yui faced the unfazed bassist apologetically before looking at the drummer, awaiting for the starting signal of her drumsticks.

The tawny-haired girl nodded before counting down with her drumsticks, albeit hesitantly, "1, 2!" Her voice rang inside the clubroom shortly before being followed by quick and energetic strums from the guitarist, then, followed by the bassist, keyboardist, and the drummer.

Their instruments blended together perfectly in sync with the song and this is fully in favor of the brunette as she forced herself to pound onto the drums with her usual strength to avoid any supposition from her friends whilst they're playing.

The brown-haired girl leading the song is still the same, her innocence can be seen by the way she plays the guitar; naive fingers dashing through the fretboard every now and then to explore and learn. The ravenette's way of playing is shy and reserved, despite that, its deep bass sound is always there to support the other tones and highlight them in place. The keyboardist is still calm and collected in terms of her playing; her serene gracefulness is projected by her fingers waltzing on a key before dancing onto another. Lastly, the drummer's playing is still rushed, but it is brimming with energy and enthusiasm to lead the other sounds to the way it is supposed to be.

But, in the midst of that, the drummer is just enduring something and is trying her best to remain in sync with the others.

'Damn, my left arm hurts like hell!' The drummer gritted her teeth in pain as her hands continued hitting on the cymbals and drums like there's no tomorrow. It is a good thing that she is positioned behind the others, so no one can check up on her and make a fuss about it.

The light and fluffy lyrics, as well as their synchronized instruments, rang and vibrated inside the room for a few more minutes until it was finished.

In the case of the drummer, the bittersweet torment is over, for now.

The chocolate-haired girl huffed as the strings of her cherished guitar finally ceased its reverb. She looked up and flashed a heart-warming smile to her bandmates for a good song warm-up. After a few more moments, the girl finally spoke up, "Mio-chan, how about we play Fuyu no Hi right now?"

"E-Eh?!" This caught the tall bassist off-guard. She shook her head, waved her hands frantically, and kept on loudly denying the suggestion while her face is burning bright red.

"Maa maa, it certainly has been a while since the last time we played it and besides, today is the perfect season for it, ne?" The fair-haired keyboardist spoke her opinion in a gentle manner in order to coax the bassist to agree as well.

The tawny-haired girl, on the other hand, is busy stretching her arms high in the air to sooth the still throbbing pain that she wasn't even tuning in to their conversation.

Yui clasped her hands together and mustered the best puppy eyes she can perform and pleaded to the ravenette relentlessly, "C'mon, Mio-chan, please, please?~"

The bassist tried to pry her eyes away from the guitarist to avoid giving in to her non-stop pleadings. She folded her arms, her blush still visible on her face and eyed the drummer sitting on the drum set at the back.

Ritsu's hands are now clasped behind her head as she mouthed a 'What?' at her direction after noticing that the raven-haired girl is staring at her.

Since the drummer doesn't seem to mind about the abrupt suggestion, Mio finally gave a nod to the guitarist, and the latter is now jumping up and down in excitement.

"Yay! I'll be the one to sing again, Mio-chan!" Yui smiled widely as her back faced her bandmates, yet again.

"Okay, that's good." Mio sighed and took a deep breath to relax her heart rate back to normal.

"Ricchan." The brown-haired girl called the drummer to start the signal once again.

"What?" The ochre-haired girl asked again for the second time. She is currently clueless about the next song they're going to practice next, because, she was too absorbed exercising her limbs earlier.

"We're going to play Fuyu no Hi next, are you ready?" Mugi spoke for the guitarist.

"A-Ah, yeah, sure..." She flexed the drumsticks in her fingers as she readied herself for the cue.

'But why play that song all of a sudden?' She nervously counted down, then struck the drums afterwards.

Yui's childish voice echoed across the clubroom, unfazed by the lyrics she's singing. The bassist secretly threw a few glances at the drummer every now and then to see her expression with regards to the song. Too bad the latter is currently occupied with her own problem right now to even notice grey orbs eyeing her observantly.

Well, it seems like it, but deep inside, the drummer is sheepishly brushing off the lyrics out of her mind in order to avoid a certain memory years ago.

The song finished after a few more minutes, it was a very nice and heart-warming song in the midst of a chilly winter day.

But, putting that aside, the tawny-haired girl could've sworn that she felt her left arm throbbing harder, she can compare that to the feeling of finishing a ten meter sprint in just a minute; heart pumping so fast, that her whole body is pulsating alongside the heartbeat. Except, her body isn't throbbing wildly, just her arm.

They took a short break before resuming the session, it's a shame that the keyboardist didn't bring her tea set today, the main reason is for them to focus more into their practice without having to worry about their precious tea time.

They continued their practice with five more songs in line: Gohan wa Okazu, Samidare 20 Love, U&I, Fude pen Boru pen, and Curry Nochi Rice, with the guitarist and bassist switching lead roles alternatively in each song.

But, as each song passed by, they could not shake off the feeling that the drummer's rushed beats are getting sloppier and weaker until they reached the end of the song list for that day.

After packing up their instruments in their respective cases, Houkago Tea Time took a seat on the couch inside the clubroom, still worried about a certain drummer.

"Ricchan, I've been wanting to ask this question ever since we're at the dorm earlier; what happened to your cheek?" The fair-haired ojou-sama curiously glanced at the said person, her formerly pleasant face now tinged with a hint of worry.

'I sense déjà vu all over.' The drummer recalled the time when the bassist asked her the same exact question earlier inside her dorm room.

"Yeah, what happened to your face, Captain? You look like a gangster or something." Yui poked Ritsu's injured cheek repetitively until the tawny-haired girl got annoyed and swatted the offending hand away.

"Shush, Private! Anyway, I explained this to Mio earlier, so, she'll just tell you." The brunette, with her arms crossed, nudged the black-haired girl to oblige to her request.

The bassist sighed exasperatedly and spoke, "This baka right here got too careless with her cooking last night that she accidentally injured her cheek."

The guitarist and the keyboardist mouthed an 'O' in understanding, well, the guitarist barely understood but still nodded in acknowledgement.

"Anyway, are you okay? You look like you lost your energy by the time we reached Curry Nochi Rice." Mio gazed at the brunette with concern etched on her face. Who wouldn't be worried if the drummer suddenly lost her trademark vivacity all of a sudden?

"Yeah, I'm fine. I kinda feel sleepy today, heh." Ritsu casually fibbed for the umpteenth time, all the while sheepishly rubbing the rear of her head.

Mio stared at her for a few seconds, as if finding something from her, before talking, "Well, if that's the case, we should head back to the dorm now." The ravenette bassist advocated to everyone in a no-nonsense way.

All of them slowly rose from their seats while picking their instruments up and slinging over their shoulders. The clubroom feels lonely and empty without the other members, especially Onna Gumi, their rival band. Even their club president, Kana Yoshii, isn't here at the moment.

"It's kinda weird that Akira-chan and the others haven't arrived yet." The airheaded guitarist concluded and pouted, sulking of not having anyone, more specifically, Azusa and Akira, to hug and pet about.

"I heard they went back home for the weekend." Mugi mused softly, despite the irony of carrying an extremely heavy keyboard on her shoulder.

"Hmm, that explains why." Ritsu hummed in response, perfectly blending in with the others even after her shortcomings earlier.

"Our songs feel incomplete without Azunyan backing us up." The chocolate-haired girl sulked further, having no other choice, she childishly hugged the keyboardist, with the latter giggling in response. At least, Yui is now comfy of having a very warm person chipping away the emptiness she's feeling right now.

"For now, let's all pray that she passes her entrance exam next week with JWU as her first choice." The ravenette spoke maturely but monotonically, seemingly and discreetly preoccupied with something that even the others didn't notice.

"Azunyan, do your best, ne?" The brown-haired girl, now detached from Mugi, smiled and clasped her hands and subtly prayed for their dear kouhai to truly pass the entrance exam with flying colors.

They all got out of the clubroom and started walking back to the university's dorm.

Their dormitory is a bit far from the clubroom, taking them twenty minutes just by casually walking, but in spite of that, they enjoyed each other's company, followed by typical bantering coming from the drummer and the guitarist. In the midst of their trek back to the dorm, the snow started falling again, although it is gentler than last night. The brown-haired girl tried to catch some snowflakes with her mouth, resulting in a frosty sensation inside her mouth, but in a good way. Meanwhile, the brunette sprinted around, basking in the chilly atmosphere with her hands sprawled widely to get snowflakes more efficiently. The duo's actions caused both of them to burst in fits of laughter, soon followed with giggles coming from the blonde-haired keyboardist, and a warm smile making its way on the bassist's face.

It didn't take long for the drummer to shiver due to the cold weather today, so she threw her thick hoodie over her head and shakily stuff her hands in its pockets. She realized something while they're shuffling across the frost-covered pavement; she's the only one without a muffler on.

The raven-haired beauty noticed this, so she walked closer to the girl and mustered up the courage to do the next daring step.

.

.

.

Mio slowly unraveled her scarf and wrapped it around Ritsu's neck. The latter was surprised when something warm enveloped her neck. She looked up to see the bassist smiling at her with a reassured expression. The drummer looked at her shortly before giving her a toothy grin in response to the kind gesture.

The two of them felt more connected that time.

A/N: Whew, third chapter done! I hope this'll make up for two months of inactivity. If anyone noticed, I decided to blend in some Japanese words/phrases (which are italized, btw) with their English speeches so that I can get some sort of Japanese vibe from them.

As soon as January starts, I'll be extremely busy again, so don't expect an update from me soon. So much for finishing this story by this month. :(

Anyway, Happy New Year and Happy Holidays everyone! May the New Year give prosper to everyone for new fanfic ideas! (especially Mitsu) *bricked*

Extra notes: Onna Gumi, or Gang of Girls in its English equivalent, is HTT's rival band in K-On's Official College Arc. If you don't know about it yet, do check it out so that you don't feel clueless when I add more characters in the later chapters.

If you don't know the meaning of some Japanese words I added in this story, just remember, Google's your friend. ;)

Lastly, be sure to follow/review, it helps me out a lot and I highly appreciate it. B)