Volume 3, Chapter 6

Volume 3, Chapter 6 is a chapter of the third Volume of the K-ON! Manga by Kakifly.

Summary
One day at the Sakuragaoka High School, Yui is seen brooding over a piece of paper.

Her friend Nodoka approaches her while asking about her problem. Yui tells her that she can't decide about her future plans which shocks Nodoka since the deadline for this task passed long ago. Nodoka worries about Yui ending up as a NEET like she did once before. Yui sees the danger behind Nodoka's words but starts accepting her fate. Nodoka stops her from writing it down, so Yui asks about Nodoka's choice which is a very ambitious university, a bit to Nodoka's anxiety. Nevertheless, Yui decides to go there as well since she wants to be with Nodoka in the future as well.

At that moment, Mio, Ritsu and Tsumugi join them. Yui asks about Mio's choice, to which Mio tells her that she plans to take a recommendation, a privilege that is only given to the school's best students, allowing them to skip the entrance test of any university. Yui instantly decides to ask the school about one too, despite not knowing what it is about. Daunted, she asks Mugi about her choice which is the J. Women's University, a very prestigious choice according to Mio.

Ritsu wonders about Mugi's decision to join a an all-female university, to which Mugi tells her that she simply follows her father's advise. Seeing Mugi's enraptured smile, Mio and Ritsu both presume that this might not be the only reason. Yui decides to join the university as well but is stopped by Nodoka. She then asks the last of the group, Ritsu, about her choice. Ritsu tells her that she wrote "undecided" since she has no clue yet, leading Yui do so as well. Both proudly declare that a piece of paper can't decide their future, just as their homeroom teacher Sawako Yamanaka angrily orders them via the school's loudspeakers to come to the faculty office immediately. After they reluctantly did so, Mio and Nodoka commend each other for always taking care of one of the two. After starting to talk about the two a bit more, Mugi eagerly offers to continue the conversation in the Light Music Club's room. Arrived there, Nodoka starts talking about the past she shared with Yui and how often she got troubled by her.

After listing many of Yui's past blunders, she ends her recalls with expressing her gratitude to the Light Music Club who is mainly responsible for Yui's positive changes in the last two years. After Nodoka bid farewell, Mio thinks out loud that she is like a "mommy" which amuses Mugi. The next day, Yui is still as clueless as before, so Nodoka tells her to take it easy and start with a general idea of anything she likes. Yui and Ritsu both come to the same conclusion and head towards the faculty office. However, their plan to become "musicians" is rejected by an annoyed Sawako. After reporting it to their friends, Nodoka loses it and starts laughing without end.

Trying to make the best of the situation, Yui claims that she did it all on purpose to amuse Nodoka. Disaffected, Mio scolds her for her inscrutable ways of thinking.

Trivia

 * The names of the universities Nodoka and Tsumugi plan to join are abbreviated in both the Japanese original and the English translations.
 * Nodoka's choice is called "K大" which could stand for "Kyōdai", the abbreviation of "Kyōto daigaku", the Japanese name of the Kyoto University. Based on this assumption, Nodoka's aniexty could be explained with the fact that the university is one of the highest ranked universities in Asia.
 * Tsumugi's choice is called "N女子大" which could stand for "Nihon joshi daigaku", the Japanese name of the Japan Women's University. This is further supported by the fact that the "N" (possibly standing for "Nihon") in the original name was translated to "J" (possibly standing for "Japan") in the English version.