The sun was especially bright and shining today, and 9 girls all stood on the roof of Otonokizaka High School. None of them in their school uniforms, all of them eager and ready. Rin, an energetic first year, dashed out to the middle of the concrete and stuck a bold pose. She beamed at the others.

"Who's ready for some hardcore training, nyah?" She pumped her fists, earning some smiles. Eli shook her head, telling her not to waste her energy before practice had even started and rounded everyone up in one big group. She stood before them, hands on her hips, just about to instruct the stretches. She opened her mouth to give an order, but stopped as she looked over at Honoka. The girl was obviously lost in her own world, gazing at nothing in particular.

"Honoka-chan?" she asked. The brunette snapped out of it, turning and smiling back at Eli.

"Oh! Uh, let's get to work, then!" she laughed a laugh that seemed to lack authenticity. The blonde brushed it off and began with having the girls bend over to touch their toes. After everyone was properly warmed up, Umi took over and got right to business with practicing the new combination. She clapped as she called out the beats.

"One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two- pick up the pace a little bit, Hanayo-chan! One, two, three. One, two, three." A few more critiques here and some scolding there, and soon everyone was sweating and panting like dogs. Umi kept her hands raised.

"Again!"

Umi was a ruthless trainer, and by the end of practice the girls were ready to pass out. Nico leaned against Maki as she chugged from her water bottle, the latter's face the equivalent to her red hair. The sun was hot and that only made their shirts cling to their skin and plaster their hair to their foreheads. Kotori was complaining to Umi about her sore feet, when Honoka stood up, gathering her hair in her hands to hold it up off of her neck.

"Well, I have to go now! See you tomorrow!" With that, she bolted to the door to grab her school bag and disappeared down the stairs. The members of Muse exchanged confused glances with each other, but decided to think nothing of it. Honoka must have extra work in the store these days, they assumed.

"Remember people, this will be on the exam! Your notes will become your best friend in the next month." Class always dragged on and on, and even Kotori's mind would wander a little. She yawned into the hand that held her pencil and looked down at her notebook. Algebra was a bunch of numbers and letters and weird-looking symbols. Kotori knew that Honoka struggled in this class the most; she turned to ask her if she was copying down the notes, expecting to have to wake her from a nap.

To her surprise, Honoka wasn't sleeping at all. She was actually writing in her notebook. Kotori almost jumped for joy right then and there; she was extremely proud of Honoka for finally taking this seriously! She was satisfied with the effort that Honoka was now putting into her studies and felt happy for her.

With a closer look, Kotori's face fell as well as her heart. Honoka wasn't writing notes, she was doodling and writing words that Kotori couldn't completely make out. This wasn't like the brunette. She was either trying to pay attention or unconscious at the most. Kotori frowned, sitting back properly in her chair.

"Honoka-chan…" she thought, concerned.

Honoka helped her mom carry out a huge homemade birthday cake into their living room. The members of Muse were all gathered at the table to celebrate Nozomi's 18th birthday. Nozomi's face lit up as she saw the beautifully decorated cake being placed in front of her. It was definitely lucky to have friends who were all singers, as the "birthday song" was much more enjoyable. At the end of the song, everyone clapped as she blew out all the candles.

"Happy birthday, Nozomi-chan!" Eli said in a cheerful voice, leaning in to kiss her tenderly on the lips. The girls grinned brightly as Honoka's mom cut and served the cake. Kotori spooned some and lifted it in front of Umi. The shy girl blushed furiously, but clumsily took the utensil in her mouth and ate it. Nico saw this, scrunching her face in jealousy. She decided to try it for herself, but Maki was a bit more unwilling. Hanayo accidentally dropped her spoon, and Rin dove in her lap to catch it before it hit the floor.

"Got it, Kayo-chin!" She smiled that adorable kitty cat smile. Hanayo's cheeks tinted pink as she kissed Rin on the cheek to thank her. Everyone froze and turned their heads to look at Honoka. They all felt terrible for being lovey-dovey in front of her, since she didn't have a significant other. But the orange-haired girl seemed to be perfectly content and not bothered at all. She was having a great time like the rest of them, which made them feel relieved. It was a little strange that she wasn't annoyed in the slightest, but they thought nothing more of it.

"Okie dokie, presents time!" Honoka exclaimed.

Another hot day, and Muse were metaphorically dying on the roof of the school. Umi was ruthless, but they needed to practice like this; their next performance was nearing them! Rin was laying on the ground, sweating bullets and considering what she should put in her will. The heat mixed with fast-paced dancing was not a friendly combination.

"Ack! No!" Nico cried out, shaking her hands. Her cell phone just died while she was in the middle of an important conversation! She threw it the ground, frustrated. Then she noticed Honoka using hers, and scooted closer to her.

"Hey, Honoka-chan? Can I use your cellphone, pretty please?" She tilted her head, smiling cutely. The second year froze.

"...For what?"

"I just need to text my mom."

"Text?" Nico gave her a confused look.

"Yeah, text." Honoka scooched away from Nico. Nico scooched closer to her. Honoka did it again, and so did Nico. The third year extended her arm to just grab the phone and Honoka shot up and broke out into a run.

"Honoka!" Nico whined as she ran away. Nico looked back at Muse, frustrated. How odd. Everyone was thinking the same thing: Why didn't Honoka want Nico to see her phone?

3 first years, 2 second years, and 3 third years stood together at the entrance to Otonokizaka. No words were spoken for the first few minutes, then Eli decided to break the silence.

"I think… we're all worried about Honoka-chan. She's been acting strange lately." The rest of them nodded in agreement. Eli readjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder.

"It seems as if she's hiding something, but what could it be? We don't want to jump to conclu-"

"I hope Honoka-chan is okay!" Rin interrupted, bursting out into tears and grabbing onto Hanayo. Eli pressed her lips together.

"We should go to her house and confront her. It seems like our best option, considering she'd probably just run away if we tried talking to her at school or during practice," Nozomi suggested. No oppositions, and they were on their way. They all hoped Honoka wouldn't be angry or upset with them.

It was Yukiho that answered the door, leaning against the frame. She seemed like she was expecting the 8 of them to arrive, but she tried to stall them.

"Why do you want to come inside? The weather is so nice today." Nozomi took a step closer to Yukiho, closing in on her and lifting her hands.

"If you don't let us in, I'm going to have to punish you," she said, smirking down at her. The younger girl immediately jumped back, face colorless. She protectively wrapped her arms around herself, ultimately letting them all inside. Yukiho followed close behind the girls as they went up to Honoka's bedroom.

"Wait! Don't-" Nico threw the door open before the little sister could finish. The scene before them was shocking, confusing, and Kotori clasped a hand to her gaping mouth.

Tsubasa Kira, the center for their rival idol group A-Rise, had Honoka lying on her back on her bed. She was sitting on top of her, undoing the other's shirt buttons as her own had been tossed to the side.

"You!" Nico pointed an accusing finger at Tsubasa. "You're taking advantage of Honoka-chan!" The A-Rise idol whipped her head to look at them, green eyes widening as she scrambled off of Honoka and pulled up the blanket to cover her neon pink bra. The members of Muse stared at Honoka as she slowly stood up, adjusting her shirt.

"Yukiho…" she whined. "I told you not to let them in!" A few moments of silence passed, and the one thing on everyone's mind was "What?" What was going on? What was Honoka talking about?

"Honoka-chan… I think we deserve an explanation," Eli said, voice low, crossing her arms against her chest. The brunette scratched the back of her head as she let out a nervous laugh.

"Well…" she squeezed her eyes shut. "...Tsubasa-chan and I are dating!" She yelled it like she was letting something out that had been tucked away inside for a while. She opened one eye to see everyone's surprised expressions. The members of Muse looked at a blushing Tsubasa, then back to their fellow idol.

"I-I didn't tell you because I thought you guys would hate me!" Umi sighed, looking relieved.

"Honoka, we were so worried about you. You really didn't have to keep this from us. You're our best friend, we could never hate you!" Honoka ran to the 8 of them, attacking every girl into one huge group hug. She was incredibly grateful that they had not been disapproving! After pulling away, Nozomi took a step toward Tsubasa, who had put her shirt back on. The taller girl held out her hand for the other to take. She did so, standing up off the bed.

"Welcome to our family," she said, smiling warmly. Tsubasa then felt her hand being crushed.

"Hurt our Honoka-chan and those fine breasts of yours will meet the same fate as your hand." The A-Rise center shrunk underneath Nozomi's threat, nodding quickly. Eli came up to them, hooking her arm onto Nozomi's to get her to stop scaring Honoka's girlfriend.

"Do Anju and Erena know?" she asked gently. Tsubasa shook her head, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"No, they don't. I had the same fear as Honoka, actually."

"We can tell them, all together if you'd like." An exchange of smiles, and the air in the room felt lighter.

"We should celebrate!" Rin jumped up, excitement pouring out of her. With that, an impromptu party fell into play, the rest of A-Rise were called over, and the idols all forgot their rivalry as they battled each other in Just Dance. 12 idols all in Honoka's room, talking, dancing to loud music, and snacking on the sweets from downstairs. Honoka considered herself lucky that she had such amazing friends, and wondered why she even doubted them in the first place. Tsubasa found her in the sea of girls, taking her hand and pulling her close.

"I'm really glad they were okay with it."

"What?"

"I said I'm really glad they were okay with it!"

"What?"

Tsubasa rolled her eyes and leaned in to kiss Honoka on the lips. The other girl was surprised, but then relaxed and kissed back. A "woohoo!" was heard from the other end of the room, making the girls smile. Yukiho passed by them with shot glasses full of soda, pretending to be sick. Honoka pulled away, then wrapped her arms tight around the other.

The rest of the day was spent like this; a whole bunch of gay idol girls playing a dancing video game (which Eli refused to partake in) and consuming unnatural amounts of sugar. Yukiho just wished Arisa was there too.

The End!