A/N: Alright, my first story! I've had so many ideas for stories but only now did I get the patience and courage to actually start one. I did plan on releasing the whole fic on one chapter and on Valentine's day, but apparently I'm a slow writer :v . More details and clarifications on the story will be at the end of the chapter. For now, enjoy the story!

CHAPTER 1: A New Year for a new couple?

Kotori has enjoyed her fair share of romance films and novels. She liked it quite a bit actually, as much as the next girl at least, if not more. She might not have the personal experience to back it up, but Kotori's pretty sure she can at least recognize the signs of attraction between two people if she ever saw it.

It comes as a surprise to her when she realizes that she can see those very signs between two of her senpais, her two upperclassmen friends in µ's, Eli and Nozomi. She should have noticed it earlier, really. It makes sense that the two of them would be very close, seeing as they're best friends, much like herself, Honoka, and Umi. However, Kotori would notice something else too, like how their gaze would linger when the other wasn't looking, or when they were subtly different when the other was there. It made Kotori pay attention to their behaviour, just to make sure that it wasn't just her imagination.

Eli was normally like her call-out during their concerts, cool, clever as well as reliable. However, in the presence of Nozomi, as well as her special brand of teasing, she seemed to be more dorky and less cool. Everyone in µ's who knew found the contrast quite cute, actually. Sometimes, Eli based her decisions and opinions on Nozomi's, like that time that Eli pushed for a love song just because Nozomi asked for it, which led to the creation of Snow Halation. She thought very highly of Nozomi, even calling her the goddess of µ's. However true it was, given Nozomi's influence in creating the group, it seemed like a compliment that was rather romantic for best friends to be giving to each other.

Nozomi was often far more mysterious and unreadable, so guessing her feelings was more difficult to decipher. What Kotori would notice, isn't what Nozomi did, or rather, it was what she didn't do. Nozomi's special Washi Washi attack was a force to be reckoned with among µ's. It was her unusual way of punishing the misbehaving and/or overexcited members of µ's. The Idiot Trio of Honoka, Rin, and Nico was quite used to being on the receiving end of it, and Hanayo and herself was a victim to it once or twice before. Even Maki and Umi weren't left unscathed, Maki was apparently groped by Nozomi before µ's had fuly formed, and in Umi's case, well, Kotori wasn't sure what exactly happened, other than that it happened during sub-unit practice, and it was something about mountains.

That wasn't the case for Eli though, she was never groped by Nozomi, not even once that anyone else could recall. It wasn't as though she didn't have a reason, Eli sometimes gets excited and childish too, especially when it involved chocolate. Eli didn't exactly escape Nozomi though, as Nozomi would double her usual teasing for everyone just for Eli, leaving her flustered and red.

Despite everything Kotori could see from the two, she still had a bit of doubt when it comes to the two. For all she knew, it might just be a misinterpretation on her part and the two of them might really just be friends, but after recalling an certain incident, she almost had no doubts that any feelings between them wasn't just purely platonic .

Kanda Shrine

A few days past New Year's, The girls had all agreed to meet at the local shrine to pray for blessings and make wishes, as is tradition. The second years had arrived after Eli and Nico got there,who was quickly followed by Rin and Hanayo, who was trailed by Maki. Nozomi was already there of course, since she was the maiden there, after all. They waited a bit for the crowd to thin out, as the lines were long and they helped Nozomi with some of the shrine work. Once most of the people had cleared out, they went and prayed for good fortune and made their wishes.

"I wished for more ramen, and for success, nya!" Rin told them.

"Can't you just get more from the store?" Nico asked.

"Eh, you can't buy success from the store, silly Nico-chan!" Rin completely missed the point.

"That's not- Ah, forget it." Nico just facepalmed.

Seeing as everyone was basically done, Nozomi called out to all of them.

"Alright, looks like everyone's done making their wish-"

"Wait!" Rin interrupted. "You didn't say what yours was, Nozomi-chan!"

"Yeah, I don't think I heard you, Nozomi." Maki said.

"Eh, my wish?"

"Yeah, It wouldn't be fair if we all said ours and you didn't, right?" Nico said

To everyone's surprise, Nozomi suddenly looked bashful.

"But…. It's embarrassing."

"Embarrassing?" Honoka echoed.

"Somehow I feel your personality switched." Nico narrowed her eyes. It was weird, seeing Nozomi be unlike herself.

"Sorry, forgive me! If I say it, I'll just end up causing problems for someone!" Nozomi tried to explain. She couldn't say what her wish was, for some reason.

"Eh?"

"Problems? Exactly what kind of wish did you ask for?" Eli questioned. Nozomi turned to face her.

"I'm sorry, Elicchi, forgive me!"

Now very curious, Eli approached Nozomi, trying to make her say what that wish was.

"No way, say it or I'll have to use force- ah!"

On her way to Nozomi, her foot snagged on a rock, tripping her forwards and taking Nozomi down with her.

"Ah, Eli-chan! Nozomi-chan!"

As everyone expressed their surprise, Eli tried to collect herself and she realized what she done. The both of them were sprawled on the ground, Nozomi was under her and their legs were somehow tangled together. Their faces were close, much too close to each other. She could almost feel Nozomi's breath on her face as her emerald eyes gazed unsteadily at her own blue eyes. If she just leant a little closer-

"Move…" Nozomi managed to breathe out.

"Ah! Sorry!" Realizing what she had almost done, Eli leaned away from Nozomi, trying to untangle themselves.

"Hurry and get off me! Or I… I won't be able to hold myself back anymore!" Nozomi exclaimed.

"E-eh?" Eli said, stunned at what Nozomi just said.

"EHHH?" Everyone exclaimed, wondering if they had misheard or something.

"The truth is..." Nozomi began, propping herself up into a sitting position and putting some distance between her and Eli. Her face had tinges of pink, and her eyes seemed to dart everywhere except at the blonde in front of her. "My wish is... to convey my feelings to Elicchi!"

Everyone was completely dumbstruck by this revelation.

"W-wh-what? What do you mean?" Eli stuttered out.

"Eh? That means... Nozomi-chan's feelings for Eli-chan-" Honoka muttered.

"Kyahhh!" Kotori squealed at the events taking place, while Umi covered her face, muttering SHAMELESS into her hands. Hanayo gasped, covering her mouth as she did. Rin on the other hand, had a grin splitting her face but didn't say anything. Maki had a look of surprise that could've matched Nico's, except Nico had her jaw dropped, as she was seriously amazed at what was happening between her two best friends.

"Wouldn't it make for an interesting moment if things turned out like that?" Nozomi smiled like her normal self again, as if she hadn't been blushing like a new bride just a few minutes ago.

"EHH?"

"Wha- Nozomi? You were just joking?" Eli said, completely in disbelief at the purple-haired girl's words.

" Eh, it wasn't a joke. Eli-chan, I like you~" Nozomi replied with a closed eye grin. That was enough to bring Eli over the edge.

"NOOOOZOOOMIII! How could you?! It's just the New Year and - GET BACK HERE!" Eli ran after Nozomi, chasing the purple-haired girl who quickly fled.

"Kyah! Elicchi's love hurts!"

"NOZOMIII!"

Seeing as everything looked like it was back to normal, the others breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was really surprising, right?" Hanayo said.

"Seriously, Nozomi's jokes are too convincing." Umi agreed.

" What if it wasn't just a joke?" Kotori quietly said.

"Huh?" Honoka and Umi turned to Kotori, wondering what she was talking about.

"Maybe Nozomi-chan loves Eli-chan, and she just can't say it, so she acts like it was a joke to fool Eli-chan!" Kotori explained.

"Woah."

"I didn't think you thought about it that way, Kotori."

Kotori didn't reply. She was deep in thought, her mind was now filled with a great idea. She had never thought about doing something like this before, but now that she had the opportunity, it was exciting. She was going to give her two upperclassmen the push they need to take their relationship to the next level.

Umi was getting slightly worried now. She was already used to being pulled into Honoka's antics, so recognizing an idea forming in someone's head became a useful skill in Umi's repertoire. She was used to seeing a particular look in Honoka's face when she had one of those plans that were either a spectacular success or a spectacular failure, but seeing that look on Kotori?

"Kotori?" Umi hesitantly called out.

Kotori responded with a smile that sent chills up Umi's spine, and not the chills she would usually get with Kotori's smile.

Why?

Because that was a smile of someone with an idea.

A/N : Okay, that was the first chapter. I got this idea (and most of the plot/ dialogue) from a Love Live New Year's Mini Audio drama that I found somewhere. Credits to all those who translated it for the rest of us who can't speak Japanese.

This fic slightly deviates from the anime, an AU of sorts, in that sub-units are a thing and the third years haven't graduated yet. It follows the IRL release of the songs more, really (not really), So some songs might be here, some might not, like at very least the ones during and after the LL movie.

I still have some things to work out for the story, because I'm making it up the details as I go along. I'll try to write chapter 2 in about a week or two if exams don't kill me, and I have no idea how long this will be. Learning experiences and all that

Leave a review/criticism if you can! Tell me about any typographical errors and grammar issues you can find, because I hate it when I make typos.

Thanks for reading!