As an author I fail at life. Please forgive me! OTL

Although I think my writing has gotten better...

There is also two references in this story. Please let me know if you find them.

I tried to be funny. Tried. Please, let me know what part of this story you liked best!

Disclaimer: I do not own K-on. KyoAni does... and I love Mugi.

"It has to be chocolate! Sparkling! Strawberries! Cute! ... Volcano~!"

"Any other suggestions for the cake we eat for Valentine's Day?" Mugi inquired as she glanced around the music room at the other club members-obviously unaffected by Yui's suggestion... and currently very interesting smile.

"..."

"with ... BARNACLES!"

Mio delivered a textbook perfect left hook to Ritsu's jaw. Yui continued grinning to herself with her eyes taking on an abnormal shine. The drool was beginning to seep out of her mouth. In retaliation to her previous attack Ritsu then proceeded to jump Mio and begin to tickle her not before declaring her agreement to main guitarist's proclamation concerning the cake ("Thanks captain!" "No problem private!").

Azusa desperately glanced to Mugi to find that she was ... in a dreamy state. The youngest member of the light music club tried her best to remove their keyboardist from her reverie in order to have some help, but to no avail. She could have sworn she heard the heiress mutter, "Shut up. It's getting good." It must have been the guitarist's imagination though.

Azusa then noticed the first of Yui's drool hit the table.

"Azu-nyaaaan~!"

The glint in Yui's eyes told Azusa what was about to happen. One of Mio's shoes flew by narrowly missing Yui.

...

This was gonna be a long day for Azusa Nakano.

••Bursting••

"'cause you're the only one

that can make a storm cloud break

pulling out the sun" -The Ready Set

"Well it's settled then, right? We should all bring in a little something for Valentine's Day. Although, I have no problem bringing in everything like last year..."

"No, it's okay Mugi. We definitely shouldn't let you carry the burden this year. We can work together." Mio spoke up calmly from her seat as she lifted up her cup of tea to her lips and sipped. A sedated and crumpled Ritsu sporting several new lumps on her head was sitting to her left. The blonde smiled at this sight, Azusa smiled, and Yui... continued majestically rolling across the floor while holding Gitah.

"... practice anyone?" Azusa didn't want to use her secret weapon so early in the week, but she knew that if they ever would practice that she would have to step up her game: in other words whine, pout and look a little sad.

A series of shredding quickly followed by an impressive range of hammer-ons greeted the clubroom. Yui paused to swing her strumming arm into the air (still clutching the pick) above her head and held the pose. "Azu-nyan meter charged!"

Mugi continued smiling. Ritsu and Mio facepalmed at the same time while Azusa just blankly stared for a moment before picking up her own Muttan and joining Yui to the "practice" side of the clubroom. She found herself smiling quietly along with her upperclassman and then joining her in encouraging everyone else to get up and play with them. It was either band practice or studying for their English test tomorrow. Needless to say, the remaining three members found their instruments quickly-Ritsu being first to her drum kit despite being the furthest away.

The band warmed up for a few songs and then of course moved on to play their "crowd pleaser"-Light and Fluffy Time. This was nothing out of the ordinary. Every member loved the song to pieces. It was their first big "hit" after all. Also, with Azusa in the band now the song had an extra rhythm spice to it which helped fill out the song. The girls were playing normally: Ritsu had a huge grin on her face, Mio with a shy smile as the words flowed out of her mouth, Azusa's concentrated strumming, Mugi was beaming as usual, and Yui was bouncing in place bobbing her head from side to side.

However, during the solo towards the end of the song Yui decided it was a good time to surprise everyone with her new stage trick. Right before her solo began Yui hopped onto the table that they were just drinking tea on moments ago, thus almost knocking over the entire set.

She then began.

She hoisted Gitah over her head while she was playing and slowly brought him back down and then continued downwards so that she was almost kneeling on the floor with the upper-half of her body almost completely bending backwards. With the last few notes she struck a pose and announced...

"FREE ICE CREAM FOR ALL!"

It took everything in Azusa's willpower to not just stop playing and look at her upperclassman in disbelief. Everything. Yui was getting harder and harder to ignore everyday. Azusa didn't know why. She just hoped that it didn't progress too much further.

Of course, the rest of the band barely bat an eyelash at Yui's random outburst, including even the easily startled Mio. Ritsu just quickly gave her "private" a thumbs up and quickly resumed drumming the song with both of her hands again.

When Mio started singing the last verse of the song Yui practically flew off the table and went to Mio's side by their cheap little microphone and mic stand. Mio smiled at her behavior having already figured what was going to happen. Mio prepared herself to sing the last bit as a duet.

"Ah~! God please~!

Grant me some miracle time~, just once!

When I finally get that chance to talk to you then afterwards... we'll see~!"

An unbelievable thought dawned on Azusa: Yui was deliberately putting in effort today.

Azusa then shortly dropped Muttan on her foot before you could even say "fluffy fluffy time"... whatever that means. But even when everyone had come rushing over to her (after finishing the song of course) to see if her foot was okay she still didn't realize

... that Yui had been looking straight at her the entire song.

"Ui~!"

An epic barrel roll was performed across the living room. Ui didn't pay it any mind.

"Mm?"

"I can't wait for Valentine's Day tomorrow!"

"Yes, I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun. That reminds me... I have to go to the store to get ingredients for dinner tonight..."

"VOLCANO!"

"That's nice, sis..."

Ui entered the food store casually and she perused the aisles with ease. She was here about thrice a week so she was definitely considered to be a "regular". She waved to the manager happily and set about with her shopping-list in hand, of course.

She had about five things left to grab on her list when she noticed the stand set up for special deals for the following day's festivities. There was a special deal on chocolate cake mix and an accompanying cookbook. Her face uncharacteristically darkened.

Cookbooks are for noobs... The usually innocent girl thought to herself.

She did consider for a second to pick up a box of chocolate cake mix, but Ui had planned to make an assortment of chocolate covered fruit this year for Valentine's Day instead. Ui quickly turned on her heel to continue her produce hunt when she noticed a fellow classmate and friend looking rather suspicious but attempting to steathily move towards Ui's location.

"Azusa!"

Said "stealthy" girl froze dead in her tracks at being caught.

"H-hey Ui..."

"What brings you here, Azusa? Surely you haven't become the domestic baking type overnight?"

The brunette blanched at being so transparent. She felt the heat beginning to rise to her face though. It would be fine as long as she could either distract the younger Hirasawa from the topic completely or just at a minimum conceal the fact that she was planning on making something for the older Hirasawa.

"Well, I thought it'd be nice to bake something for all of my upperclassmen in the Light Music Club..."

Ui's expression brightened at the mention of the famed club, "Oh, I'm sure everyone would appreciate it greatly!"

"I-I plan on making something for, like, you and Jun too."

"Oh why thank you Azusa," Ui smiled brightly as ever "expect something from me as well."

"I'll look forward to it."

Ui's eyes darted to Azusa's shopping basket which was only filled with ripe looking strawberries and white cake mix. Azusa followed her eyes and then started.

"Ah, Azusa, I see your creation will have strawberries in it! I can't wait! I have to go home and make dinner... Later!"

"Y-yeah. Later."

Safe! Ui began to walk out. She definitely made it through that conversation without even having to mention anyone by name! There was no need for Ui to be suspicious about Azusa's actions. The automatic sliding glass doors had just opened when Ui paused to turn around...

"Sis, likes chocolate cake the best y'know?"

Ui giggled at completely and utterly owning Azusa and proceeded to exit the food store merrily while Azusa's face instantly exploded into a sharp red hue. Dammit. I underestimated her. She knew ALL along. Azusa collected herself and switched the "correct" cake mix into her shopping basket.

She then was hit with a terrible feeling in her gut: if sweet and naive Ui had an inkling about her Valentine's Day plans then... did anyone else know?

It was dark in the room.

A large double-door opened suddenly. The opening was the only source of light to be had. There was a light tapping of black Prada flats on a tiled floor and then the flick of a switch. The flourescent lights in the high ceiling began to buzz along with the rooms contents and slowly unveil the sheer size of the room from the darkness. There were several different monitors and screens all throughout the room. There were shelves and shelves of electronics... all bought and designated for one purpose.

The heiress carefully scanned the multimedia room. She quickly found several cameras and stuffed them into her white, trendy, and oversized bag. She continued through the room grabbing various types of voice recorders, camcorders, and a new pair of ... night vision goggles.

Some of these technologies were meant to be hidden as they were small and easy to hide, others such as the voice and camcorders were disguised beautifully as flowers to be put in a special flower vase (the power source). Obviously, the flowers were white lilies. Tsumugi was almost tempted to buy the "rose version" for the romantic day, but the blonde figured that she must remain true to her religion... Yuri.

And as for the night vision goggles... true maidens of the lily must know when to be sneaky. Mugi gleefully continued to stuff electronics into her bag for tomorrow. She would have to come to school early tomorrow in order to set everything up, but that didn't matter to her. She had to capture those moments after all... hehehe. She stroked her famous Kotobuki eyebrows. They not only just carried a unique shape... they also sensed Yuri vibes. Yes! It was the destiny of a Kotobuki to become a disciple of Yuri!

She decided that she should celebrate the arrival of the highly-anticipated goggles somehow. She quickly assembled and plugged the goggles into their charger. She checked her phone for the time (almost six) and Mio's address and decided that at eight o'clock that she would set out for her field test celebration.

Azusa announced her return home and slipped off her shoes with a small sigh. This did not go unnoticed by her mother who noted the shopping bag as well as the sigh. Azusa, meanwhile, was fumbling to get her shoes off without using her hands. She didn't see her mom only raise her eyebrow in response to all of her daughter's actions.

"Mom, is it alright if I use the kitchen to make stuff for my classmates?"

"Go ahead." The youngest member of After School Teatime padded into the kitchen and placed the shopping bag on the island. She went over to the cupboards to take out a large bowl, and an egg beater. She set a baking temperature to the oven and then walked over to her family's refridgerator and removed a carton of eggs. "Making something for someone special, honey?"

Azusa almost dropped the entire carton. "I-I have no idea what you're talking about..."

"I'm sure your nice air-headed friend will appreciate whatever you make..."

Azusa proceeded to choke... on air. The action a mystery to Azusa herself.

"M-Mom!" (Okay, seriously? Even her mom knows?)

Why did it matter if people knew she was baking a cake specifically for Yui? Why was she so nervous, almost apprehensive, about the entire thing? It sort of felt like she was living a life often described in Mio's lyrics and poems: sparkling, bubbly, nervous, but happy. Such strange sensations and feelings...

It was new.

It was weird.

It was... kinda... nice...?

Ritsu had a long day at work and it was obvious from the way she slammed the front door as she entered her home. Her hair was messy from rolling the windows down and her blouse was half undone. The meeting went about an hour overtime which left Ritsu to catch the full brutal hell of rush hour traffic. Her throat was dry. She had a headache. All she wanted was a warm dinner and-

"Whoa! M-M-M-Mio! Wh-what do you think yo-you're doing?"

Mio stood by the entrance wearing a frilly pink apron. She had her hands clasped behind her shyly and a blush was on her face... most likely because Mio was only wearing the apron. She continued to fidget under Ritsu's astonished stare.

"Would you like dinner, a bath, or... me?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

The staring contest ensued. Ritsu didn't understand what brought this on, but God she wasn't complaining. The only issue was that while Ritsu's brain was too busy short-circuiting, Mio took the silence as a negative response. Ritsu was enjoying herself, but Mio felt awkward. Very awkward... and drafty.

"Um... Ritsu..."

"Get naked for me, por favor~!"

"..."

Silence only greeted Ritsu as she took in her environment: their classroom. Some of the students were attempting to suppress their chortles. Sawako was not pleased. Yui was smiling as always and bouncing in her seat. Mio looked scarred for life and embarrassed, as if she knew what the dream was about.

Mugi had promptly fainted.

Ritsu sat back down quietly after realizing she stood up moments before she woke up. She had the decency to be somewhat flustered, but she wasn't sure what exactly she did in her sleep to draw everyones' attention. To make things even more annoying, she was already forgetting her dream too, which was a shame because the drummer had a feeling that it was a really good one.

Sawako cleared her throat.

"Now, I know today is Valentine's Day and all, but must you have dreams like this in class?" Forget about asking her not to sleep in class. That was a completely lost cause and a total waste of effort on Sawako's part, but at the very least...

"What d'ya mean?"

Yui, addressing Ritsu's question, stood up triumphantly. "Captain! You were all like 'get-"

Mio pulled Yui back down strongly, practically toppling her fellow vocalist. Mio's face was red from recalling the memory. Ritsu's head cocked to the side in curiosity about her best friend's strong reaction. The club president decided that she would ask the bassist later though. She hummed to herself once she arrived to this decision and settled her head back into her crossed arms resting on the desk. She shifted so that her cheek was resting on top of her hands. Why would the Great Ritsu waste time being awake in English when there was still ten whole minutes left?

Sawako stood there, dumbfounded.

"What am I? Invisible...?"

The class returned to normal moments later. Of course, "normal" being Mio resuming to hold down Yui so that the guitarist would not try to lick chalk off the chalk board. ("I bet it's tasty Mio!") Mugi, thankfully, also regained consciousness. She joined in along with the rest of the class (eventually) in restraining Yui.

Everyone decided that day that allowing for Yui to eat a copious amount of chocolate all at was once was a bad idea, even if it was a "special occasion". Lunch didn't even start until next period and the Yui was already this hyper.

Mio looked out the window to see if Azusa's class was outside to distract herself a little.

The bassist had already had a very rough night previously. She could've sworn she heard the sounds of heavy breathing just outside her window last night along with a few flashes, but she was too terrified to check. She didn't fall asleep until after midnight.

Her gaze wavered slightly as she took a great big yawn, she spotted Ui, but saw no traces of her younger band mate. No one had seen her yet today and Mio wasn't sure if it would be appropriate to start worrying yet. Yui seemed okay though, surprisingly. Although at the rate that she was consuming chocolate at... by the end of the day when they would have practice... Azusa was in for it.

It was a very rare occurence.

Azusa was running late.

She first had to find a place to keep her cake for Yui refrigerated then the second-year had been running around all day in between classes and even during lunch to distribute her smaller creations (chocolate cupcakes) to all of her friends. For her three Light Music Club upperclassmen she left a specially wrapped cupcake in each of their shoe lockers for them to find at whatever point throughout the day. Earlier in the day Azusa had completely blanked on giving Ui her cupcake as the Hirasawa had also made many sweets and was distributing them to everyone in their year.

Azusa shuddered at the thought of making and baking so much. Ui did all of that and made Yui "some" as well? That girl was truly a saint.

By the time she had located and then actually made it to Ui, it was already ten minutes into their "practice" time. Azusa could hear the sarcastic jeers of Ritsu now (and also the responding punishing slap for being mean to their underclassman from Mio). Unfortunately, Azusa was still not ready yet to go to her club. She made a turn down the hallway and headed for the staff area. She was really beginning to feel her nervousness accelerate in her stomach. It had already been bad enough this morning.

She politely entered the staff lounge and made her way over to Sawako's desk silently. There wasn't much loud noise, but there were light sounds of conversations between teachers and students in the background to accompany the sounds of typing or writing. Azusa looked up from her feet to be met with the face of a smirking Sawako.

"'bout time you showed up!"

The youngest member of After School Tea Time pretended to not notice this remark or the creepy smirk that came along with it. She just bent down to the mini fridge under Sawako's desk and opened the door and carefully removed her chocolate cake masterpiece from it.

"Yui just came by totally depressed that everyone in the club got chocolate from you except for her. She thinks she did something to make you upset... but we know that's not the case is it? Well, I suppose it's the opposite..."

CLUNK!

Azusa hit her head on the table, but she was far more concerned about the feeling of her heart dropping when she heard about Yui's sadness. She didn't for it to seem like that! She really hoped this cake made up for it... what would she do if Yui was mad at her? She continued to ponder this for a minute but then her aching head brought her back to reality and back to the reason why she hit her head to begin with...

"Does everyone know?" That she baked a cake especially for Yui. That she feels the closest to Yui than anyone that she's ever met. That she trusts Yui more than anyone in this school. That-

"You're madly in love with Yui...?"

CLUNK!

The top of Azusa's head familiarized itself with the underside of Sawako's desk again.

Waitwaitwait... what was going on here? Just because she was a little, okay, maybe very nervous about this whole "cake thing on Valentine's Day" and that every time she looked into Yui's eyes she felt a little light and fluffy...

All brain processes momentarily stopped.

"... like a marshmallow." (Wait. Didn't Mio write that song after a sleepover with Ritsu?)

"Whoa! Kid, are you okay? I didn't think that you hit your head that hard to be spouting stuff like that." The other teachers looked over from their seats in the lounge to see where the rough voice was coming from. Sawako immediately reverted back to teacher mode and smiled modestly.

"... I."

"Yes?"

"... gotta go! Bye!"

Azusa bounded out looking much like a cat pursuing a mouse. However, that could only be further from the truth. Azusa wished she was at least a little more composed. Her hands were sweaty. Her head still hurt. Her heart had probably reached like four hundred beats per minute. Needless to say, she sort of felt like a trainwreck about to happen.

She stood outside the door to her clubroom. It seemed to be eerily quiet, but it was probably just her.

...

Okay, so maybe she really likes or just admires Yui or something. Maybe Sawako was just trying to tease her. Maybe she just stayed up until two in the morning to make sure the cake was absolutely perfect because she was a perfectionist... not that it had to be perfect because it was for Yui or anything. It's not like... well, she definitely doesn't look forward to going to practice every day because she gets to be with Yui. No, definitely not. She wasn't drawn to the club by Yui's energy and happiness on stage either. No way. That's just ridiculous. It's also just purely coincidental that Azusa always feels at peace in Yui's presence and that when their eyes connect her spine tingles. She has neverhugged her pillow close to her body at night and wished or pretended it was Yui. She definitely doesn't miss Yui when she's absent from school. She definitely won't miss Yui every. single. day. after she leaves Azusa behind and goes off to college.

Azusa shook her head and sighed. She could deny all she wants (and thus denying a lot of her life itself), but who was she kidding?

She knew she loved her.

Probably from the very start.

Her own advisor had unknowingly opened the Pandora's box of her heart. (Sounds like Mio's lyrics) So much angst came with this realization paired with fears for the future, but despite all of that the strongest feeling she was left with (other than love) was hope.

Azusa could feel how red her face was but she wasn't about to let that stop her.

She took a deep breath and placed her hand on the door.

The air of the room was pretty bright and cheery as the four upperclassman waited patiently for Azusa to arrive they had some tea and talk. When said underclassman entered the room quieted down quickly and all four looked at her as she approached. Azusa gulped. Yui looked really sad and depressed which was very tragic for Azusa to witness (especially seeing that she was technically the cause), but what really concerned Azusa at the time was that Mio, Ritsu, and Mugi were wearing identical knowing smiles.

Generally it was just Mugi that did.

Azusa approached warily much like a frightened animal. She could feel her hands trembling beneath the cake. The uncertainties building up... what if she couldn't do it? What if-

"Azu-nyan?"

At the sound of her nickname her eyes widened and she looked up from her cake... right into Yui's somewhat watery eyes. There was an unidentifiable sensation just then, right down her spine.

"Y-Yui!"

".. are you mad at me or... something?"

"N-no! Of course not I just..."

Meanwhile, back with the other members of After School Tea Time (still seated at the table), Mugi was video recording with one hand and drinking tea with the other. Ritsu was just about to pass a "Moe moe kyun~!" statement on the present situation, but Mio foresaw it and whacked her in retribution. Mio didn't want this important moment to be ruined. She looked down to her left at a half-collapsed Ritsu, she felt kinda badly for hitting her so hard so she whispered an apology and rubbed her head tenderly. Ritsu mumbled an acceptance and with that Mio realized what she was doing and quickly drew her hand back-blush across her cheeks. Mugi was too focused on the "big game" to notice this divine moment. The extra cameras she planted in the clubroom last month would pick it up anyway.

Azusa fumbled badly with the cake and her words. She decided to go with an action and then follow it up with an explanation so she would have time to recover her speech skills.

She carefully undid the tin-foil that concealed the cake and felt relief wash through her as she saw Yui's eyes widened and heard her gasp. It was a chocolate cake, iced with chocolate icing, topped with strawberries, and in icing letters on top it read: "Yui, Happy Valentine's Day! Love, Azusa". At the moment she could have sworn she heard a voice say, "I love my fucking life!", but it came from Mugi's direction and there was no way the upperclassman would ever speak using such language.

Little did Azusa know.

"Azu-nyan made this all just for me?"

"... ye-yeah..." Azusa had to break eye-contact and she looked away shyly.

"I'm... I'm so happy! This is just what I wanted!"

"Ny-Nya!" Azusa reflexively answered as Yui pounced on her to give her a bear hug, also causing the underclassman to drop the cake in the process.

Thankfully, Ritsu slid between the two just in time to catch the cake. She turned around from her position and gave Mugi and Mio a thumbs up sign. Mio mouthed back to her "good job". Ritsu reddened. What happened to her best friend who had a sarcastic comment for her every action? Mugi stroked her eyebrows inquisitively. This odd action was ignored.

"The cake is a nice too though," Yui happily said while still hugging a crimson Azusa.

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"Well, I wanted a chocolate cake," Yui ran her fingers through Azusa's dark hair, "with strawberries," she gently rubbed her thumb along Azusa's cheekbone coming close to the younger girl's eyes, "and with a fiery volcano temper and warm heart." She nuzzled into Azusa's neck happy with her own explanation for what she desired for Valentine's Day (unaware of the fact that she was appearing like a total stud muffin with that little speech).

Azusa was at a loss. A complete and total loss.

"Basically Azusa, YUI WANTS TO TAKE YOU HOME AND EAT YOU!"

Mugi had decided to provide clarification.

(Through a speedy joint-effort Mio and Ritsu hushed the raging Mugi up and pulled her back down to somehow preserve the moment. Azusa and Yui were kinda lost in their own weird world anyway.)

As the hug continued Azusa began to ponder what would happen next? Should she confess right here, right now? Later? When they're alone? She was so tense and nervous thinking through all the different scenarios that she started trembling like a leaf. As Yui was still holding her she obviously noticed this change in action.

"Aww, Azu-nyan is something wrong? Yui will make you feel all better!" Mugi in a complete trance distractedly knocked over Ritsu (who was apparently in the way) and began to utilize the zoom function on her camcorder.

Yui loosened her hold a bit on Azusa so she could pull back and see the girl's face. Azusa hesitantly looked up to make eye contact. Yui's face broke into a grin while Azusa's simultaneously turned red. Yui began to lean into Azusa...

slowly,

(Azusa closed her eyes and practically stopped breathing.)

slowly,

(Mugi did stop breathing.)

slowly,

(Ritsu finally recovered from her latest attack only to be knocked out of the way again by a neurotic Mugi.)

slowly,

(Mio suddenly got new inspiration for a song. A... sapphic song?)

Contact was made...

with Azusa's forehead.

"There all better! Time for cake!"

Yui released her grip on the other guitarist and started walking back to the table where the chocolate cake lay. Everyone at the table pretended that they weren't watching and randomly started idle chatter amongst themselves in order to not arouse suspicion. Mugi had already hid her camcorder expertly, yet also with disappointment at the outcome. However, she wasn't nearly as disappointed as...

"Yui!"

There was no way that Azusa had let herself get this worked up for that to be the conclusion. She knew how she felt and it was Valentine's Day after all. In other words, it was do or die time. Azusa was not about to settle for a little kiss on the forehead. Maybe yesterday she would've. Not today she wasn't. Not ever again.

"Mm? What is it Azu-mmf!"

It was short and sweet, but it definitely got the message across. Yui and Azusa held eye contact both of them blushing pretty heavily. Neither of them could really manage to put their thoughts in proper order let alone communicate them. All they knew was that they were both happy and-

"Whew! Is it hot in here or is it just me?"

"R-Ritsu! Not now!" Mio cried.

Mugi was unresponsive.

Yui grabbed Azusa's hand suddenly and meshed their fingers together embarrassing but pleasing Azusa at the same time. They glanced at each other again before walking to the table and sitting down together quietly. Mio smiled at them happily with a light blush gracing her features. Ritsu grinned and gave them a thumbs up. Mugi was still out cold still clutching the camcorder as if her life depended on it (actually debatable).

After Mugi was admitted to the hospital the rest of the Light Music Club spent the remainder of the day back at Yui's house. They spent their time playing music, getting yelled at to be quiet from the neighbors, eating Ui's chocolate goods, and eventually sleeping over.

Everyone was all so happy that things worked out for the guitarists-all their hearts practically bursting (and Mugi's nose bursting with blood).