A/N: I'd suggest reading the A/N at the end of the chapter for more information about my recent absence. It goes into more detail then I'd like to put at the start of the chapter.

This is an AU where Honoka is the same age as Maki, and there are no plans for the girls to become school idols, though I have plans for all members of the cast of LL!SIP to appear. None of the other girl's ages are being changed at this time.

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Love Live! School Idol Project. But please consider supporting the official release through sites like Crunchyroll, or by purchasing the DVD/Blu-ray at your local stores or online.

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Honoka Kousaka had known that she wasn't a normal child from a young age, thanks to several hints that clued the otherwise oblivious youngster in. She found that she got tired very quickly and easily when active, went to visit the doctor quite often (at least compared to a few of the other children that she got to speak to in her neighbourhood), and often felt as though there was a large rock on her chest making breathing difficult after exerting herself.

None of these things were able to stop the ginger's bright mood from shining through though, even though her parents held her back from attending public schools for her own safety and fear of Honoka making herself sick.

A great silver lining at least in Honoka's eyes was the fact that through visiting the very nice doctor often enough, the ginger manages to make a great friend who cared enough about her health to watch out for Honoka where she would otherwise ignore the signs that she might be overdoing it.

Maki Nishikino had been very mature and well-educated for her age even as a child, and noticed that Honoka came to visit her families hospital often in short order, enough that she asked her mum about it.

This led to a conversation where the mischievous doctor Nishikino told her daughter in the most mature voice she could manage without breaking into a laughing fit, that she was putting Maki in charge of watching over Honoka's health and making sure that the girl didn't overdo it. Logically the young girl took the orders seriously, and began following Honoka around like a guardian spirit, helping to solve the problem of both girls' loneliness.

Maki became a common sight around the Kousaka residence as a quiet presence looking out for Honoka as she cheerfully held her new friend's hand and dragged her along in the ginger's adventures in a mixture of shy reservation and stubborn impassiveness when Honoka suggested doing something that Maki didn't believe would agree with her friend's body.

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As the pair grew older Honoka became more interested in the idea of attending a public school, since she heard stories from neighbours about how amazing it would be and all of the new friends that she might be able to make with her sparkling personality and radiant smile.

Though her parents were hesitant about allowing their eldest daughter to attend school out of fear that she might overdo it, Honoka's begging persisted, leading the two families to get together and try to devise a plan to look out for Honoka's health while still letting her have the educational experience that she needed for her mental development.

A plan was eventually worked out, and after a meeting with the headmistress of Mrs. Kousaka's former high school, who was also a childhood friend of both she and doctor Nishikino, it was decided that both Honoka and Maki would be allowed to attend Otonokizaka high.

Honoka's excitement could almost not be contained when she was told the night after the meeting with the headmistress as she held onto Maki's hand dependently, more due to Maki's fear of the ginger bouncing away and overdoing it, but both girls enjoyed the warmth of their fingers intertwined as they listened to Mr. and Mrs. Kousaka explain to the girls their simple plan to let Honoka attend high school.

Once safely back upstairs in her room, Honoka's energy all but exploded as she did a small spin and smiled from ear to ear at her best friend in excitement "can you believe it Maki, I'm going to get to attend high school!"

Maki had taken a place on the edge of Honoka's bed while the ginger closed the door to her room, and the auburn had a small smile as she watched her friend's almost boundless energy and excitement "it's not that difficult to believe Honoka" she tried to reason with the ginger despite her own smile.

"But Maki!" Honoka whined as she suddenly appeared in Maki's face with a pout, kneeling in front of the auburn "it's high school, I never thought that mama and papa would let me attend because of my condition."

Rolling her eyes at Honoka's logic, Maki was more reserved as always about the matter "it's only because they managed to convince mama to sign on as the school's nurse. Having her there means that we'll have someone on hand in case you overdo it, or your condition acts up."

Honoka got back to her feet and stepped away from Maki once more as the auburn's comment bounced through her head for a few minutes. It didn't take long before Honoka's own logic took over, and she looked over her shoulder at her best friend with a radiant smile "but I already have a super-talented doctor-in-training looking out for me, hee hee" she teased, earning the reaction she had wanted.

Maki's face lit up in a brilliant shade of red that almost matched her hair when she realized what Honoka had said, the ginger's teasing and honest confidence in Maki's abilities always making her best friend blush, since Maki knew that Honoka believed everything she had said.

The mood over the room shifted as Maki jumped from the bed and stormed up to Honoka, who noticed the change and tried to back away nervously. She wasn't fast enough to outpace Maki though, as the taller auburn got right into her face.

Maki lifted up both hands and used them to squish together Honoka's cheeks with an accompanying glare on her face, her violet eyes staring holes into the ginger "don't tease me like that you idiot" she scolded her best friend only partially as a joke because she had grown used to Honoka's games as they got older and spent more time together.

Whining about her abused cheeks, Honoka didn't try to pull Maki's hands away as one might expect, instead fighting back giggles at how silly Maki could sometimes be despite her usually very mature and adult personality.

Neither girl stopped their games until Honoka's younger sister began banging on the door complaining loudly about how noisy the two were being while she tried to sleep after a day out with her friends, and the upcoming new year of school.

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A/N: Oh my god I can't believe how long it's been. I'm really sorry everyone, I didn't intend to take a roughly five month break from writing that dragged into the new year, but somehow it just sort of happened.

Between November and December being some of the busiest times of the year for my family (and not just because of Christmas), and my odd inability to just sit down and put pen to paper (rhetorically-speaking) for the duration, at best all I've been able to do was write out a few rough drafts for different ideas in my notebooks (including this one) amidst a goal of clearing out my video game backlog (which just continues to grow as I find more games for cheap on Steam, PSN, Xbox Live, and at my local second hand game shop.

All I can really do is offer apologies to everyone who has been waiting for updates to my various stories, and admit a hope that I can get back into a comfortable updating schedule (using my definition of the term "comfortable," for those of you already aware of my habits).

Anyways, back on topic to the story, this was probably one of my most fleshed-out rough drafts that I've been working on, and I was very eager to begin working on it since I love the idea of the relationship between Maki and Honoka with their contrasting personalities.

Since I'm not that familiar with different types of mental and physical deficiencies (despite having an older sister whose a nurse and had to study a lot of that stuff) I haven't really tried to specify what Honoka's diagnosis is, so just keep in mind the symptoms, and if anyone can help out I'd really appreciate it.

This chapter was a bit on the short side more because it was set-up for the adventure ahead, though I probably won't top out on more then maybe 10 pages for each chapter since this is going to be more of a slice of life plot where I play more with the girls personality traits interacting then any kind of real overarching narrative.

Until next time everyone, love you all!