Hi there! People who know me might be surprised at this one, since I don't usually write yuri. So, why now? Well, I'll assume you've watched K-ON since you're reading this, so now factor in my fondness for cute and you basically have your reason. With that in mind, here's the usual thing: R&R please, flames accepted just not the pairing. Be constructive! If it's shit, tell me why so I can work on it. Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own K-ON or the characters.

The uses of an axe murderer

With a final strike of the chords, the echo of the song slowly died out. The music room of the Sakura High School was, for once, actually being used to practice, rather than just drinking tea and talking.

It was one of those rare moments when the two most 'serious' members of the light music club's band Ho-kago Tea Time, Mio and Azusa, had managed to convince their friends to put aside their desire for sweets and tea and seriously work.

"Ah, that was great!" Ritsu exclaimed, stretching behind her drums.

"Yeah, that went really well," Mugi said, smiling.

"Can we have tea now?" Yui asked innocently.

"Yui-senpai, we've only rehearsed one song," Azusa protested.

She knew trying to convince Yui to rehearse more would be hard, but still she felt she had to at least try.

"Awh, come on Azu-nyan, you know you want to have some snacks," Yui said as she held out a small cake to Azusa.

Azusa stared at the cake for a short while, before saying, "Maybe we could take a break…"

Yui smiled happily and the group sat down at the table.

"You know, we really should practice more," Mio said. Unlike Azusa, she wasn't so easy to bribe.

"If I drum any more, my arms might fall off," Ritsu said, and with a grin she added, "And then there would be blood all over the music room."

Mio basically turned to stone at that thought, and Ritsu leaned in closer to her and softly said, "Liters upon liters of blood…"

Mio squeezed her eyes shut and started muttering, "I can't hear anything, I can't hear anything, I can't hear anything."

Ritsu leaned back with a wide smirk on her face. Even after years, she still enjoyed teasing her best friend.

"Ricchan, you're so mean," Yui said.

Ritsu shrugged. "Well, she's the one who gets scared so easily. There was one time where I managed to scare her to death with just one word," she said, glancing at her dark-haired friend.

"Watch this," Ritsu went on, leaning close to Mio again.

"Chainsaw," she said.

Mio shrieked and turned around, hitting Ritsu in the head.

"You know, you can go too far," Mio said angrily.

Ritsu winked at her and sat down again. Despite all her teasing, Ritsu was actually very fond of Mio. They'd been best friends for a long time, but Ritsu had wondered on more then one occasion if they might be more than just friends. She wasn't one to admit it, but she really admired her shy friend, and had always done so. Mio had good looks, was cute, smart, and a very talented bass player. A very loveable person indeed…

That night, Mio couldn't sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about Ritsu's stupid jokes about blood and chainsaws, and she nearly had a heart attack when her phone buzzed on the night stand. When her pulse had returned to normal, she opened her phone to see who had texted her.

"Look out, there's an axe murderer under your bed~~"

"Ritsu…" Mio groaned.

Still, she couldn't resist looking under her bed if there really was something there, but aside from two cardboard boxes there was nothing there. Mio lay on her back and stared at the ceiling.

Ever since she had known Ritsu, her amber-eyed friend had been exploiting her obvious fear of anything even remotely scary all the time. Even so, Mio knew that Ritsu cared about her a lot, and the opposite was also true.

She wondered idly if she would ever have the nerve to tell Ritsu that she might have more feelings than just friendship, but she knew that her shyness would never allow her to say anything like that.

She turned on her side and tried to sleep, but once again all she could think about were power tools and pools of blood.

"Ah geez," she muttered. "Thanks a lot, Ritsu…"

Even though Ritsu was the cause of Mio's insomnia at the moment, the left-handed bassist wished her friend was with her, more than anyone else. Granted, if Ritsu were there she would probably keep going until Mio hit her in the head, but her presence would calm her down just the same.

"I call Stockholm syndrome," Mio said to herself, smiling lightly now.

In her mind, she imagined Ritsu kidnapping her and telling scary stories all the while. The more she thought about it, the bigger her smile became.

"Did you get my text message?" Ritsu asked innocently when she saw Mio at school the next day.

Mio hit her in the head and Ritsu said, "I take that as a yes. Did you check?"

Another hit in the head was her reply. Ritsu smiled and stuck out her tongue. The headache was worth the mental image of a frantic Mio checking beneath her bed for a crazy murderer.

"Ricchan, what kind of cruel things have you been doing this time?" Yui asked.

"I told Mio there was an axe murder under her bed," Ritsu answered with a grin.

Then, to Mio, "Behind you, he followed you!"

Mio shivered and closed her eyes, knowing Ritsu was just kidding but feeling scared just the same.

"Ah, he's getting closer!" Ritsu went on.

Mio shook her head and ducked into a small ball. "Oh no, another axe murderer came in through the window!"

Mio squeezed her eyes shut and tried to ignore Ritsu, who was apparently only warming up and just kept going.

"The new one chopped the other down! And now there's blood everywhere," she said.

Ritsu was really enjoying the tormenting of her friend, especially since it was working so well right now.

"Ricchan, shouldn't you quit by now?" Yui asked, starting to feel sorry for Mio.

"Nah, she'll be fine," Ritsu answered.

Right at that moment, though, Mio just fell over.

"Whoa, Mio! Are you okay?" Ritsu yelled, quickly kneeling down beside her friend.

"She fainted," Mugi said. "We'd better get her to the infirmary."

Ritsu nodded quietly, pale as a ghost now. She'd never expected Mio to actually faint from her teasing, and she certainly hadn't intended for that to happen. She helped Mugi and Yui carry Mio over to the infirmary where the nurse told them she was fine.

When Mio was in a bed, Mugi said, "Hey Yui, maybe we should let Ritsu be alone with Mio for a while."

Yui just nodded and followed Mugi out of the room. Ritsu stayed behind, sitting next to Mio's bed waiting for her friend to wake up. Each passing second made her more nervous, but fortunately Mio woke up quickly.

"Unh, what happened?" Mio asked after seeing Ritsu.

"You…you fainted," Ritsu said softly.

"Mio, I…I'm sorry…" she whispered.

Mio shook her head. "Don't worry. It's my own fault for oversleeping and skipping breakfast."

Ritsu didn't reply, for once at a loss for words.

"You scared me to death," she said eventually, looking into Mio's blue eyes.

Mio smiled weakly and said, "Well, now you know how it feels."

Ritsu chuckled. Now that Mio seemed to be okay again, the color was slowly returning to her face.

"Yeah, I guess I do," she said.

She was really glad that Mio wasn't hurt or anything, and apparently the relief showed more than she knew, because Mio said, "You look like you've been chased by an axe murderer."

Ritsu smiled, but she felt uneasy to have Mio mention that. After all, it had been that stupid joke that caused her to collapse.

Mio noticed and softly said, "Wow, I never knew you worried so much about me."

Ritsu looked at her and said, "Of course I do…Mio, you're my best friend and you have been for a long time. Seeing you collapse like that…" She shivered.

Mio smiled. Ritsu's concern made her feel a wave of affection for her friend. "Don't worry, I'll be fine," Mio said.

If Ritsu hadn't been right in front of her, looking like she was about to cry, she wouldn't have believed her friend could be so emotional.

"Mio…do you hate me now?"

Mio sat up and shook her head. "Of course not. You're my best friend too, you idiot."

Ritsu smiled and got a distant look in her eyes.

"What is it?" Mio asked.

"Well…I think…I think you might be a little more to me than just my best friend…" Ritsu said, a blush appearing on her cheeks.

Mio blushed too and she felt her pulse quicken.

"Are you saying…?" she began.

Ritsu slowly nodded. "Yeah…Mio, I think I'm in love with you," she said.

Mio couldn't believe her ears. Had Ritsu just said she was in love with her?

"Ritsu, I…"

Mio was interrupted by her friend's finger on her lips. She looked up with confusion shining in her blue eyes, but she quickly found out why Ritsu had silenced her.

The drummer leaned in close to her and pressed her lips to Mio's.

Mio hadn't expected that and she stiffened, but it wasn't long before she relaxed and closed her eyes, kissing Ritsu back now. Her lips felt so soft beneath her own…

Way too soon, the kiss was over. Ritsu blushed heavily, and so did Mio.

"Ritsu…" Mio said.

Ritsu looked up.

"I don't think I'm in love with you…"

Ritsu winced and sighed. Was it one-sided after all?

"I know I'm in love with you," Mio continued.

Ritsu's eyes widened and she looked at Mio with her mouth hanging open. Mio laughed at the cute expression on her friend's face.

Ritsu laughed with her now. She had never felt so relieved before.

"You know, that's the second time today you scared me to death," she said.

Mio just gave her an innocent smile. Ritsu couldn't help but feel really happy when she saw that.

"Ah well, I guess I deserve it," she said.

"You'll be better soon, right?" she asked, serious again.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to eat something," Mio replied.

"I'm glad to hear that," Ritsu said happily.

Then a mischievous gleam appeared in her amber eyes. "I think the arm of that axe murderer is still in the classroom, why don't you eat that?"

Mio shivered and hit Ritsu in the head, causing her to fall off her chair. Everything was back to normal…