Request by ch3n.
Prompt: Eri always behaved like a gentleman, accepting any and all love letters from her fellow students. However, Nozomi feels bothered by it and starts giving Eri the silent treatment. And Eri, hopelessly oblivious, thinks that Nozomi doesn't love her anymore. Their relationship is saved by another couple.
Disclaimer: I do not own Love Live.
Warning: I did not follow the prompt completely. I apologize.
Eri had many fans. Well, she did too, but that wasn't the point. Where she would turn the love letters of her admirers away as gently as she could, Eri would accept them. She didn't hate the side of Eri that made her accept the confessions, she admired Eri's ability to take them without complaint. But she still wished to be the only one Eri considered important. She would never admit it aloud, but she knew she was still insecure about not being left behind by the person she loved. Yet, she didn't have the courage to confront the blonde about the situation. She decided to go about another way to find out what was going on inside Eri's mind.
She opened her locker and love letters fell out in a flood. She ignored them at first, searching for the post-it note that should have been in her locker. It was a game between herself and Nozomi, to leave post-it notes in each other's lockers, and it was Nozomi's turn. But look as she did, she couldn't find the post-it that should have been there. She wondered if it had fallen out with the letters and scooped all of them up, putting them into a bag that she always carried for this particular reason. She took the bag to the student council room, where she could sit and examine the contents of each envelope in peace. To her surprise, Nozomi wasn't in yet, which confused her. Nozomi was always there before her. She shrugged. She would have to wait until class started before seeing Nozomi.
She was sitting in the classroom, waiting for class to start. Eri was most likely in the student council room, considering that it was their morning routine. But she had already put her plan into action, and that meant no talking to Eri. It would be hard on both of them, but she was pretty sure that thick as her friend was, Eri would realize the problem soon enough. She would just have to hold out until Eri figured out why she was giving her the silent treatment.
When she had walked into the classroom, she had spotted Nozomi right away and walked over to greet her friend. But Nozomi simply turned her head away, making an adorable pout in the process. She got the message and took her seat behind Nozomi's. She would wait as long as she had to before Nozomi talked to her again. Unless…Nozomi wasn't in love with her anymore. That would be bad and hard to deal with. She seriously hoped it wasn't that.
She frowned into her hand, hearing Eri take her seat behind her. That wasn't how it was supposed to go. Eri was supposed to have continued trying to talk with her, not give up right away. Maybe because class was about to start? But it didn't matter. There would be plenty of more chances to ignore Eri throughout the school day.
At the lunch bell, she leaned forward to ask if Nozomi wanted to go eat lunch together. When the other girl didn't respond, she tapped on Nozomi's shoulder. She got brushed off as Nozomi stood up and walked to the door without another word. Dumbfounded, she sat in her seat for a few minutes in shock. Niko came in to the classroom from her own and asked if she could eat with her. She nodded, still in shock. She ate the food, but later couldn't remember what she and Niko talked about, nor could she recall what she ate.
She found the second years where they normally were and joined them for lunch. Thankfully, none of the three questioned why she wasn't eating with Eri that day. She ate in silence, listening to the energetic conversation of her juniors. Maybe she should have a talk with Maki later, since she knew that Honoka got plenty of letters herself. She wondered how the first year dealt with the influx of letters on a daily basis.
Nozomi was still ignoring her and she still didn't know why. She hadn't done anything wrong, of which she was ninety percent sure. It was afterschool practice now and Nozomi still hadn't acknowledged she was there in any way. Currently, the object of her interest was talking with Maki. What if Nozomi was actually interested in Maki now?! The thought alone made her chest hurt, but if Nozomi wanted it that way, then she would let her do what she wanted. She wondered how Honoka was doing if Maki was being taken away from her by Nozomi and decided to approach her junior.
It turned out that Honoka told Maki that she loved her at least once every time they saw each other so the first-year wasn't particularly worried about losing her love. Maki even went far enough to suggest that she be more honest to Eri. She put Maki back in her place though, since Maki was the least honest of them all. She might tell Eri, or she might not. It all depended on her mood when they walked home. They always headed the same way, and to change it suddenly meant she would have to explain to Eri why she was headed a different from normal.
She had never felt so stupid in her life. Why did she even think Honoka and Maki split up in the first place? At least Honoka hadn't made fun of her. Maybe Nozomi would talk to her on the way home? Honoka mentioned that it might have to do with the love letters but she really couldn't see how love letters were connected to her current problem with Nozomi. If Nozomi would only talk to her… Not hearing Nozomi's beautiful voice directed at her had left her lonelier than she would have originally thought.
She was waiting for her companion to speak.
She took the initiative.
"Why have you been giving me the silent treatment all day today?" Eri asked. They were under the train tracks, a good place as any to have a conversation without being overheard by strangers.
"Who knows?" Nozomi responded. She continued to walk, only noticing that Eri wasn't coming after a few steps. She paused and turned back to her best friend.
"I'm sorry…if I did anything to offend you." Eri apologized, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "J-Just don't ignore me!" Nozomi stood still, frozen to the spot, as Eri started to cry.
She knew it. She could not be honest with herself. "Sorry, Eri-chi…" I'm sorry that you're in love with a coward like me. She ran away from the tracks, leaving Eri to cry by herself. She ran home to her apartment, entered, and locked the door behind her.
She continued to weep, for the loss of Nozomi's voice. Alone, she cried until all her tears had dried up. Nozomi must have gone home by now, and so should she.
Yay! One-shot done!