A screen capture of Azusa and Yui from near the end of season 1 of the Anime; it really captures how much Yui thinks of her junior—although, after the touching moment, Azusa slaps Yui and leaves a hand print because Yui tried to kiss her…

Last time on K-ON!!!!! “Beautiful World” Azusa found that she wouldn’t be able to play her guitar anymore due to her brain injury. A small group went to see Nao and Maki after Nao had overcame her depression caused by the loss of her unborn children—however, Nao’s pain has yet to vanish and she began hurting herself to cope.
Now, Yui and Azusa spend some time together and a group approaches Nao with good news; in:

K-ON!!!!! “Beautiful World” Part 4.

Azusa stood outside the apartment that Yui had once shared with Ui, she leaned on her cane with one hand and in her other she held the restored hard case of her Fender Mustang. Nao had done an amazing job with reviving the guitars hardware and electronics and the craftsman who restored the body did just as well. It was perfect, her Mustang was new.

The door opened and Yui smiled as she saw Jun wave from the parking lot and leave in the van, it was just a visit for Yui and Azusa; they needed to catch up and not in a hospital room.

“Come in Azu-Nyan, I made tea—I see you brought Muttan, I’m excited to play with you!” Yui said as she helped Azusa into the apartment.

“I didn’t bring Muttan to play with you…” Azusa started; she put the guitar case on the Kotatsu and carefully sat on a pillow laying her cane over her lap; she then patted the floor next to her motioning for Yui to sit. “Take a look, open the case.”

Yui knelt down and opened the latches on the guitar case and opened it; the shine of the polished clear coating on Azusa’s Fender Mustang looked amazing and Yui said, “Did you get a new Muttan?”

Azusa smiled and said, “No, YOU did.”

“I don’t understand Azu-Nyan?” Yui said as she caressed the body of the restored guitar, it was flawless; it had to be new—a different guitar?

“I can’t play the guitar anymore Yui-Senpai, it’s impossible; I tried, but…it doesn’t—‘Relax, Think, Focus—I-can’t-play-guitar-anymore…” Azusa took a deep breath and let it out, she had said the phrase that she was taught and followed it with the last thing she was saying. Azusa was able to keep her focus this time and she continued, “I am giving Muttan to you Yui-Senpai, I know you will take care of him and that is why I had Nao-Chan restore him to new. I know you love your old Gita, but there was no one else in the world I would rather give Muttan to than you.”

Yui looked at the guitar and a part of her was happy that Azusa would think highly of her to give her precious, fully restored guitar to her. But, it had also made Yui sad, knowing that she would never be able to play guitar side by side with her Azu-Nyan again.

“Do you remember our last performance? It was in the homeroom of Ritsu, Mio, Tsumugi and I—you were with us and we were playing a small concert on top of the desks…I think that show was better than the Live we did at the club, the performance in England, and even that amazing performance at the school festival. It was intimate and everyone was there, all our friends, the Occult Club girls came too…” Yui said sadly.

“Yes Yui-Senpai, I remember, it was probably one of the most fun performances we had ever done…I’m sorry Yui-Senpai, I did it to myself…” Azusa said.

“I know…everyone thinks I’m dumb and don’t see the tracks in your arms, I read your chart in the hospital when you were in a coma and it sounded like all lies. I guess I would scold you, but I love you Azusa. I am at odds with Ui and I almost lost you. I missed Ritsu; we always had so much fun together—birds of a feather. Mugi, Mio; they taught me a lot; but you taught me the most. The last time we played together was the day you were hit by that car–you and Ui both followed me to the college; I was so lucky that I had my own cheering section—then you were gone, Ritsu was gone, now Ui is gone…Sorry; I was just thinking back…I will take such good care of Muttan for you; maybe one day you can take him back and play by my side again; but, until then, you have nothing to worry about. I think Gita needs some rest, he has been with me a long time and if there is anything in the world that symbolizes you the most—it’s your Mustang. Thank you Azusa,” Yui said.

“I’m sorry Yui-Senpai; we don’t think you are dumb though, we just wanted to save you the pain…” Azusa started.

“You are here now Azu-Nyan, so there is no pain,” Yui said closing the case; she moved it to lean against a wall and went into the kitchen and brought in a pair of cups and a teapot and served Azusa and herself. “Jun tells me you moved back in with your parents?”

“Yes, just for now, I am trying to learn a skill, I am disabled, but not in a really bad way; I’ve been doing well with keeping myself from zoning out with a phrase I was taught—which you heard of course—and oddly, I don’t take pain medicine for my leg, I actually like to feel it hurt, besides, I don’t need to put anything into my body that doesn’t belong. I really like walking, and with my cute cane it’s even more fun. Although, being potty-trained at 26 wasn’t the most fun I ever had, especially because it was Jun who did it; I can’t believe the lengths she goes for me,” Azusa replied.

“What skill are you learning?” Yui asked.

“I want to be a nurse’s assistant so I can work with Jun, I owe her everything—I belong to her, you could say. Yui-Senpai, we are planning to move to Okinawa, there is a need in a few of the smaller areas for medical staff, so we decided that there was no better way to help others than to do this, I’m sorry that I’ll be so far away,” Azusa said.

“I see, that’s a good thing Azu-Nyan—Azusa, I hope you’ll say goodbye properly when you two leave, because I’ll miss you the most,” Yui said.

“I will, I promise. Yui-Senpai…did you know that Nao can sing, almost like a pro?” Azusa asked.

“Yes, Tsumugi told me—I don’t think she would be considered a replacement for you, but Nao-Chan can round us out…” Yui replied.

“So, you girls are going through with it–re-forming ‘Hokago Tea Time’?” Azusa said.

“We have been talking about it. Mugi has lost just about everything, but we all know she is the best pianist around. Ritsu was forgiven for not being able to complete college; I think Tsumugi felt like she was hurting her, so they finally made up after so many years. Mugi can finally sleep in peace too, she doesn’t have any nightmares anymore—I’m glad, it was hard on all of us with Ritsu and Mugi not getting along,” Yui said.

Azusa smiled and said, “I’m so glad everything is starting to go back to normal…You need to go see Nao-Chan, she is alone right now because Maki went on tour with ‘Love Crisis’ so she is probably lonely.”

“Why didn’t Nao go with Maki?” Yui asked.

“I don’t know? I can’t answer that…Sumire always went with Mugi-Senpai, so I don’t know why Nao-Chan didn’t go with Maki,” Azusa replied.

“I see…” Yui said.

*****

Nao stood in front of the sink of what had become her private bathroom; she had kept it clean to the point where if Maki looked in she would have no need to look any closer because everything shined. Nao held a pair of scissors in her right hand and looked in the mirror, she was naked…flat chested with a round, curvy butt and no body hair at all. Her stomach had a huge bruise from punishing herself with the use of a hand weight.

Nao took off her glasses and put them on the back of the sink and then took a mass of her hair in her left hand and pulled on it hard hurting herself and saying out loud. “Maybe the Kouhai’s brain is attached to her hair, so if we cut some of it off she’ll be stupid and not make the rest of us look bad!”

Nao began to cut from the left side of her long, straight black hair, it had never been long until her time in the hospital and the months of depression and grief, no one would notice. As Nao cut she cried, “I’m sorry Senpai, please stop, I’ll be a good girl, I promise, please stop…”

The doorbell rang and Nao stopped cutting her hair off, her eyes widened and she looked into the sink where less than half of her black locks had fallen when they were cut away. The bell rang again…her car was right in the driveway, no one would believe that she wasn’t home—who could it be? Sumire?

Nao quickly tossed the scissors in a drawer and then scooped up her hair from the sink and buried it in the small trash can in the corner, she then grabbed a rubber band and pulled her hair into a ponytail and left the bathroom closing the door and running to her room where she put on panties that were in a pile of clothes on the bed. Nao put a green top with pink trim on and then matching short, shorts, she then put slippers on her feet and at the third ring of the doorbell she quickly walked to the door forgetting her glasses in the bathroom.

Nao opened the left door and looked out in a blur at a group she never thought would be on her doorstep.

Ritsu wore a yellow top and shorts with low white socks and blue sneakers on her feet. Her long brown hair was held back with a pair of silver clips. Mio wore a blue top with a white camisole over it and shorts with blue trim on a white base. For some reason she was wearing thigh high socks and low cut boots, her long black hair was over her shoulders and down her back as usual. Yui wore a red sleeveless top with a big pink and white heart on the center and red shorts with white socks and really nice sneakers in red and white. Her brown hair which was about the length of Nao’s was held to one side with a pair of red clips. Tsumugi wore a purple sun dress and light shoes on her feet; her bleached yellow hair was tied up in a few spots and had gold pins in each those places.

Each of them had their instruments with them, Mio carried her Bass in an old gig bag, Mugi had her keyboard in a hard case with a heavy strap over her shoulder, Yui carried a hard case that was not the one for her Les Paul; it was the Mustang. Ritsu had a drum stick case only—Maki’s drums were set up on the stage, they were not the kit she used for touring, so they remained on the home stage all the time.

With the group was Sumire, she wore a white blouse that wasn’t long enough to cover her stomach and was only buttoned enough so her bra wouldn’t show, she also wore a white short skirt with pleats in it and on her feet she had black boots. Sumire’s blonde hair was set like Mio’s but had a pair of gold clips to one side. Her blue eyes were so bright today, she even had her smile—the calming smile that made Nao want to make out with her, but that was far from Nao’s thoughts right now.

Nao looked at the group and quickly stood straight and folded her hands in front and said, “Hello Senpai’s, hi Sumire…do…do you want to come in?”

“Where are your glasses Nao-Chan?” Sumire asked concerned.

“Oh, I must have left them in my room…I’m sorry to have made you all wait, it was impolite and it’ll never happen again, I promise,” Nao replied.

As everyone entered, Ritsu said, “If you were in the bathroom, you can’t help it—I bet you’re pooped!”

Mio smacked Ritsu in the head and said, “Hey now, you’re a guest!”

“Sorry, sorry!” Ritsu replied in a breathy voice.

Tsumugi giggled and so did Yui; it was just like old times with them.

“I’ll get slippers for everyone Nao-Chan, go get your glasses,” Sumire said.

Nao nodded and quickly returned to the bathroom and lifted her red, half-rimmed glasses from the sink and put them on, she closed the door and then returned to the entrance where everyone was taking off their shoes and sliding their feet in the slippers that Sumire handed out from the low shelf by the door.

The girls had leaned their instrument cases against the wall by the door and after getting their slippers they gathered around Nao who looked to each of them and said, “What’s going on?”

“We are here to audition you to be a part of ‘Hokago Tea Time,’ if you pass the audition, then you will join us—you know, playing in dives, and even do a Live House or 12 and owe them money for when not enough people come out to see us! Mugi said she’ll pay for it if that happens, so everything is peachy!” Ritsu said happily.

“Why me Tainaka-Senpai?” Nao asked softly.

“Why you, we hear you can sing better than Yui…and you have Sawa-Chan’s guitar that we had to lug around…” Ritsu said and Mio smacked her in the head again. “I told you, we are guests!” Mio said firmly.

“I’m, sorry, I’m sorry…” Ritsu replied bowing quickly. It was all harmless, but Mio still felt at their age that they should be more mature than when they were younger.

“If Naoko-Chan can sing better than me, then she should be the front and lead guitar,” Yui said.

“Nao-Chan, we talked about it already…As you can see, Yui has Azusa’s guitar, the one you just restored. Her outlook is a bit different and she wants to take Azusa’s place; so although I am much more willing to stand at the front and sing, I feel that what Mugi, Sumire, Azusa and Jun told us about your vocal skill makes it more worthwhile to start with a new leader. I was able to come up with two songs which are pretty…uh…mature sounding, compared to what we did in high school, but I think we all know its obvious that you can do better,” Mio said.

“I see…I’ll do whatever you all tell me to Senpai’s, just instruct me and I will obey,” Nao replied folding her hands in front of herself and bowing.

“Well, if you’ll obey us, then I guess you need to drop ‘Senpai’ from our names, not to mention calling us by our first names, so I’m Ritsu, this is Mio, Yui, Tsumugi or Mugi. Do you understand Kouhai?” Ritsu said in a joking tone.

“I…I can’t do that Senpai, I’m not allowed to, I’m sorry to disobey Senpai, but I just can’t address any of you improperly,” Nao replied softly.

“How about this, we make a compromise; We really want you to use our first names because it makes US very uncomfortable when you call us Senpai, and use our family names…So, from now on, I want you to call me Miss Mio, then you have Miss Ritsu—that sounds funny—Miss Yui, and Miss Tsumugi; which you were calling her before, I don’t understand what happened with that?” Mio said.

Before Nao could reply, Yui took Nao in her arms and said, “We would very much like it if you were to join us. I really love what you did to the Mustang and how you have helped us when we needed you…let’s take the ponytail out, you look so much cuter with your hair down…”

“NO DON’T!” Nao cried out as Yui slid the rubber band out of Nao’s hair, when it fell, all gathered could see how it was shorter on the left side than the right where it was really long. Nao looked away and Yui said, “Yeah…I did that to myself once…it was right before the year book photos and I chopped my bangs off—did you sneeze when you were trimming your hair too?”

“Mugi, you like to play hair dresser, why don’t you fix it for Nao-Chan,” Ritsu said after Nao didn’t reply to Yui.

“That sounds like fun! We can have a girl’s night and do each others nails and hair and…” Tsumugi started to say; Mio cut in with, “I think we are a little old to play sleep over, but can you do something for Nao-Chan?”

“You are never too old for a sleep over, and yes, I can fix Nao-Chan’s hair,” Mugi said.

“Thank you, we can do it in the kitchen, I’ll get scissors and a towel, I’m sorry to put you through so much trouble Miss…Tsumugi,” Nao replied.

Nao went towards the guest bathroom to get what she needed and Sumire followed as the girls looked to each other having a feeling that Nao’s hair being cut was no accident, even Yui knew better.

“You did this to yourself, I know you did…we all know you did, they just won’t say it. These elder girls are like Miss Mariko, they are kind and gentle, and friendly, you don’t have to submit to them, you just have to smile and have fun…I remember what you told me about Junior High, you had the elder girls cutting your hair off, that’s why it was short or shoulder length all through high school and since then…Are you hurting yourself Nao? Look at me Naoko!” Sumire said firmly.

Nao turned and faced Sumire and looked up at her, she was so tall compared to Nao, she said, “Yes, I am hurting myself because there is no one else to do it. Before all of you came I was being punished by my Senpai’s and they cut my hair off until you rang the doorbell. If Miss Tsumugi wants to fix it that’s fine, I won’t touch it again.”

“Do you know what you’re saying Nao? You are being punished by your Senpais? How, there is no one here but us. Nao, you lost your children, everyone feels for you, everyone is sorry for you, but it’s been months, and we thought you were OK and would just remember them as you would with anyone who’s passed away, what is causing this? You slapped yourself in front of us after you scolded Azusa for trying to kill herself—that made sense, but hitting yourself did not. Maki is worried about you, do you know that, she loves you so much, yet she is scared that you might do the same thing that Azusa did, except you won’t fail in your attempt…Look, Mugi is going to cut your hair to about shoulder length as it always was, you are going to take my gold clips to restrain the left side as you always did, and then we are all going to go to the stage room and you’ll play with them. You don’t have your license anymore, so you can’t get a job in your field, you just go around this huge house cleaning all the time and have no company. I’ve had enough Nao, you are going to join ‘HTT’ and make true lifelong friends, do you understand Nao, I’ve had it with you; now do everything I told you too!” Sumire said.

“Yes Saitou-San, I’ll do whatever you tell me to, I’m sorry that you had enough of me, I don’t blame you—but, sometimes people cope in their own way. Do you know what it took me to get Miss Mio out of her apartment; do you know what it was like listening to Miss Ritsu whine about how she hurt Miss Mio and everyone else? I never want my license back, I don’t want to sit there anymore and listen to peoples little, worthless problems—what you need to feel Saitou-San are the cells of your children running down your legs and soaking your panties when you have an Agoraphobic in your presence you promised to keep safe…You need to feel what its like to be tortured by elder girls, to be beaten up, to be abused, to have your hair cut off while you are being held down and crying, begging for them to stop–and your mother does nothing because she is grieving for her husband and can’t handle having five kids to raise…it was put on me to do, and you know it Saitou-San!” Nao cried.

“I do need to experience your pain don’t I; to know what you are feeling…I never really did…I was home schooled until high school and grew up with a wonderful big sister—then I married her…I was taught to be Mugi’s maid and servant, but then after our marriage I was set free from it and our relationship is reversed—it’s perfect, I have a huge slice of life, better than anyone else…and you’ve been shit on Nao-Chan…In high school…when we almost had intercourse, we shouldn’t have stopped, I think things would have been so much different, don’t you?” Sumire said.

Nao lifted a towel off of the bar on the wall in the bathroom and then took the scissors out of the drawer in which she tossed them earlier, she turned around and said, “No Sumire, we never should have kissed in the first place, and that was your fault; I loved you as a sister and as family, you wanted to fuck me…small and weak, adorable and so kawaii…I did it because I knew you loved me, I had to pay you back for keeping me safe through the rest of high school…just be my sister Sumire, and give me my privacy, I should be allowed to deal with my issues in my own way. I will let Miss Tsumugi fix my hair, I will have fun with the girls, I will address them as they have ordered me to, I will play with them on stage, I will do my best and audition and join them in the dives and Live House shows. But, when I close the door, I expect my privacy and I don’t want any questions asked, understand Saitou-San?”

“Yes Nao, I understand; I’m so sorry you are hurting so much, I hope you find a way out and stop hurting yourself…If they make you wear cat ears, just go with it, ok?” Sumire replied.

“Yes, I’ll do whatever they tell me to,” Nao said as she and Sumire made their way back to join the others in the kitchen.

Tsumugi took the towel and scissors from Nao and Yui pulled out a chair and set it to where Nao could sit comfortably and Tsumugi could work. Nao sat down straight and folded her hands in her lap after taking off her glasses and holding them in her right hand. Tsumugi wrapped the towel around Nao’s shoulders and neck and then fluffed out her hair.

“I can make it about the length you always had it; it looks like it’s too short on the one side to style—no headbands Ritchan!” Mugi said noticing Ritsu about to chime in.

Nao was quiet while the girls talked as Tsumugi repaired the damage Nao had done to her hair, she was able to get it even just under Nao’s jaw and chin; she then combed it out and split it in a part and Sumire handed both of her gold clips to her wife and Mugi locked back the left side of Nao’s locks.

“The Nao special is complete!” Tsumugi said with a salute. “Roger Captain!” Yui replied; “Nao is ready to go!” Nao attempted to giggle at how silly these 27 year old girls were.

Tsumugi removed the towel from Nao and began cleaning up. Nao stood up and put her glasses on, then said, “Thank you Miss Tsumugi.”

Yui and Ritsu began overwhelming Nao by affectionately taking her into the large living area where there were mirrors set for proper Feng Shui and Nao looked at herself and the bright gold hair clips that Sumire gave her; she blushed and thought she looked pretty for once.

The girls grabbed their instruments and Ritsu who had the least pushed Nao along to the stage room with the help of Sumire saying, “Its time for some rock and roll…what are we starting with? Fuwa Fuwa Time! NO! My Love is a Stapler! NO! Brush Pen Ball Point Pen! Let’s see Nao-Chan do the beginning riff!”

“Ritchan, Should we start with something so difficult?” Yui asked in a lively manner. “She’ll do it better than you with THAT guitar…ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!” Ritsu screamed in a comical fashion…Mugi, Mio and Yui all began chanting ‘Finish it, finish it!’ as they got to the stage room. Sumire started laughing and finally even Nao couldn’t help but to giggle loudly.

After setting up, the girls looked to Nao who was finishing with her Roland set up, however she lifted the Gibson SG from its stand and left her Synthesizer alone. Yui stood to the left with Tsumugi behind her with her KORG Triton keyboard set up on a large stereo amp. Next to Mugi was Ritsu on Maki’s drum kit, she looked to the floor and saw the container of earplugs and then back to her sticks waiting to get started. Nao looked back and said, “If you don’t want the earplugs, I have headphones that will cut out the sound?”
“I never actually protected my ears before, so it’s probably too late?” Ritsu replied.

“That’s right, Ritchan is deaf, that’s why Mio hits her all the time!” Yui said with a laugh as she worked the switches on the red Fender Mustang, this would be the second time she played it fully, the first was after Azusa had left her apartment, she took it too far and her neighbors were banging on the walls for her to turn the volume on her amp down, now she could do what ever she wanted.

“I’m not deaf Yui-San; I do get a ringing every now and then though…” Ritsu replied.

“Just use the earplugs Ritsu, stop avoiding that you are getting older and just do something right for yourself for a change,” Mio said.

“OK, Ritsu replied and took a pair of foam, orange plugs from the canister and rolled them and put them in her ears, she covered them with her hair.

Nao had to remain on the right of the stage even though they wanted her to be at the front, this was due to the work station that she had setup and the two guitars; which meant that Mio would be front and center, her least favorite place, but it was the way it had to be.

“Ready Nao-Chan?” Mio asked softly as she saw Nao put the two papers down that she was looking at, one had the guitar TABS and the other, the lyrics to ‘Brush Pen Ball Point Pen’, she looked at Mio and said, “Yes Miss Mio.”

Everyone looked at each other and with Sumire in the audience, Ritsu counted them off by clashing her drum sticks and Nao began the difficult beginning riff to the song.

Nao was really amazing, her photographic memory allowed her to memorize all of the lyrics and the lead guitar chords; she played and sung with the precision of a pro. Nao could tell that Mio was still rusty with her bass and Ritsu was not only rusty, but a bit out of control with the drumming, but she altered what she had to for their sake and the sustain of her SG allowed for the song to sound amazing, as though it were Yui playing it on her Les Paul.

Yui, Mio and Ritsu were impressed with Nao’s vocal ability and they continued with ‘Fuwa Fuwa Time’ after the song had finished. Nao knew all the music, but she never sung it, however, she knew the words from hearing Azusa for the few years as ‘The Wakaba Girls.’ Once that song was finished, Nao played and sung her song, ‘Answer’ which she had to have the girls wing it with the music, but everything went well. The girls had to break and Yui, Mio and Nao put their instruments in stands and they all gathered on the pillows on the floor by Sumire.

“Well, Nao-Chan, you pass, you are probably better than all of us, although I still think Mio has a better, more powerful voice than you do; Yui too, but I think you’ll do great as our front and lead guitar…no objections Yui?” Ritsu said.

“No, I think I like taking Azu-Nyan’s position, I’ll sing if you ever want me to, but I think Mio and Nao can have that honor. I know I whined about losing my lead position to Akira in college, but I understand now—however, this time it is my choice, so I’m happy to welcome Nao-Chan to the band.

“Great Nao-Chan! I’ll go make tea,” Sumire said.

“I can help Sumichan!” Tsumugi said quickly.

“No, you stay with them and talk with Nao, I’ll take care of the tea,” Sumire said and stood up and left the stage room for the kitchen.

“Well, I guess its just as well; Sumire makes better tea than I do, I hope she brings cakes,” Tsumugi said.

“We have cake, I’m sure she’ll find it…Thank you for thinking highly of me and allowing me to join your band, I really missed playing music. Um…if you want, I have a bunch of plush Futons that I can set up and we can camp out here for the night? If not, there are plenty of rooms with comfortable beds?” Nao said.

“I like the slumber party idea, plus we’ll be able to hang out with Nao-Chan…is it true you can play Utada’s ‘Beautiful World?’” Yui said.

“Yes, I learned how to play the song and sing it from Miss Yamanaka, then I spent months listening to both versions on a loop for the months after my…you know, so I perform it almost as good as her…Maybe I’ll get to meet her if we make it big?” Nao replied.

“We are going to have a bit of assist from ‘Gang of Girls’; Akira, Sachi and Ayame, who you met at your wedding, they have always been good to us. But, for now, we have to start at the bottom, but we do have connections and I’m sure Akira and Maki will be able to help us along. We are lucky because of this, so we better be careful and follow their directions regardless of our prior experience,” Mio said.

“What about Sumire, is she going to be a roadie?” Nao asked.

“No, I’m your manager now, this way you all can trust me to get you in the right direction. I was three years behind Mugi, but I took business courses and I’m prepared with the knowledge that I learned. I spent time with Mugi’s former Manager and agent and learned a lot—their loss. Enjoy the tea!” Sumire said as she came into the room and served up her perfectly made tea that caused the tea leaves to jump in the cup, she also had sliced a chocolate mousse cake that Nao and Maki had and served that as well. Sumire sat close to Nao and Tsumugi and they all enjoyed their snack.

Once they were finished, they worked together to set up the Futon mats upon the floor and Nao collected pillows from a linen closet and handed them out, she then tossed blankets or sheets upon the mats depending on who wanted what, it was very warm out, but the air conditioner was keeping the stage room comfortable.

The girls lay in their beds in the dark with the instruments set up on the stage, Nao lay on her side and looked around, her vision blurry without her glasses, she felt calm and happy; this was so much fun.

“…Skulls…” Yui said and Mugi broke out laughing as did Yui.

“Lycopene!” Ritsu remarked causing more laughter to ensue; even Mio and Sumire couldn’t hold back.

“Lyco-Pene!” Mugi said causing everyone to break out laughing, even Nao, it was silly, but it really calmed her.

Although Nao loved Maki, she felt so lonely and trapped with it just being the two of them and her mind always kept her pain on top and she remained depressed—being with the now, New, ‘Hokago Tea Time’ had caused Nao to feel the friendship that Sumire was talking about…But, deep down, the pain remained and Nao wanted to hurt herself, but for now, with all of this company, she would keep that need inside and allow herself to enjoy her new company and new band. This was the true, long-awaited revival of ‘Hokago Tea Time’…Nao would do anything that was necessary to make it successful.

Next time on K-ON!!!!! “Beautiful World,” Part 5. Nao visits Ui who is now married with a child on the way. Each attempts to cure the other of their issue…the strained relationship between Yui and Ui and Nao hurting herself. Will either be successful? Find out next Thursday!

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