A/N: Hello peoples! HonoMaki forever! If you don't like this pairing, please go back to the selection of Love Live fanfics.
It's never explicitly stated, but I think it's obvious what they've been doing behind the others' backs. Thus said, please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Love Live or any of the characters. Though I would like to.
If there was one thing that Muse, excluding Honoka and Maki for this, didn't understand about their easy-going leader, it was the way she could ask favors of the red-haired tsundere without said tsundere giving an angry retort. It didn't make sense, especially since Maki didn't really do favors that often. To Rin and Hanayo fell the duty to ask Maki, since they were in the same class, why did she favor Honoka above the rest of them. At the same time, Kotori and Umi would ask Honoka how come Maki favored her.
"What do we need to talk about that you had to drag me behind the school?" Maki fixed the other two girls with a questioning stare. It was after practice and Maki wanted to head home. The other two, mostly Rin, had dragged her behind the school right after she had finished changing into her school uniform.
"Well…uh…" Hanayo fidgeted nervously. 'Why do we even have to ask her? Isn't it up to her what to do? I feel like I'm treading into her personal information if I ask…' As these thoughts ran through Hanayo's mind, she didn't notice that Rin didn't think along the same line.
"We want to know why you almost always do whatever favor Honoka-chan asks of you-nya!" Rin blurted out. "It's like something will happen to you if you don't-nya!"
Maki flinched, a small blush rising in her cheeks. "I-i-it's nothing! It's none of your business anyway, whether or not I decide to do favors for Honoka!"
"Actually, it is. Everyone has noticed." Hanayo spoke up, having gained courage as Maki became flustered.
"…I didn't think it was that obvious…" Maki whispered to herself.
"What was that-nya?" Rin asked curiously.
"Nothing!" Maki responded quickly, making the other two suspicious. "I just remembered! I have to go to the hospital!" With that, the red-head made a hasty retreat, leaving the other two staring after her.
"Didn't she stop going to the hospital after we all decided to become professional idols?" Hanayo asked Rin.
"Yeah-nya."
"So what did you two want to ask me?" Honoka asked, skipping slightly ahead of her two childhood friends as they walked home from school. Umi decided to shoot straight to the heart of the matter.
"How come Maki does you favors when she doesn't really do them for anyone else?"
"How come you ask…" Honoka trailed off. 'She's actually going to give us an answer?' Umi and Kotori thought at the same time. "I can't tell you that. Sorry!" Umi facepalmed and Kotori gave a nervous laugh.
"Why not, Honoka-chan?" Kotori asked.
"She told me not to." Honoka said simply. "But even if she had let me, I wouldn't tell you. It's precious to me and I won't let anyone else find out." The three of them walked in silence for a while, Honoka still slightly ahead.
"What do you think she does to Maki?" Umi whispered to Kotori.
"I don't think it's anything bad, if Maki-chan hasn't done anything about it." Kotori whispered back.
They soon arrived at the point they would have to split up to head home.
"Don't forget we're all meeting at my house tomorrow! Bye-bye!" Honoka ran off, pulling her cell phone out as she went. This caused the two she left behind to exchange confused looks before they too went home.
Maki walked up to the sweet shop Honoka's family owned and stopped. 'We're all supposed to meet here today, but why did Honoka text me to come early? Well, I'm here so I might as well go in…' She rang the doorbell to the house entrance. Honoka opened the door before the doorbell had finished ringing, giving the impression that the ginger had been waiting for the red-head to show up.
"Come in, come in!" Honoka almost pulled Maki in instead of waiting for her junior to walk in.
"Pardon my intrusion." Maki said the standard phrase, surprised that none of Honoka's family appeared to be at home at the moment. "Where's your family?" She asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
"They're all out at a festival. I didn't go because everyone was coming over today. Let's go to my room first!" Honoka practically dragged her guest up the stairs and into her room.
"I've been meaning to ask you…why did you tell me to come early?" Maki asked as she took a seat on the floor and started examining Honoka's manga.
"I wanted you to do something for me!" Honoka said in a 'duh' sort of tone.
"Depends on what it is." Maki said.
"Can you give me a massage? My shoulders feel kind of stiff…" Honoka rubbed her shoulders and gave Maki a grin.
"I don't want to. If you wanted a massage, you should ask your younger sister." Maki responded, pulling a manga from Honoka's bookshelf and reading the back cover.
"I want a massage! I'll do that to you if you don't!" Honoka threatened. Unbeknownst to the two of them in the room, the rest of Muse had gathered just outside the door and were listening to the conversation as they hadn't managed to get any information the previous day.
"What's 'that'? Umi whispered.
"Who knows?" Nico responded in an equally low voice.
"Shush. They're continuing." Nozomi said.
"I don't care." From the sound of her voice, it seemed that Maki had stood up.
"You leave me no choice then." One of them walked over to the door. The lock clicked shut.
"What is that for?" Maki scoffed. "I thought we were alone here."
"I don't want anyone interrupting." Honoka said. They were silent for a while and the gathered girls exchanged confused looks and pressed closer to the door.
"W-wait!" Maki was sounding scared now. "It was just a joke, Honoka! Come on, don't be like that, I'll give you a massage, okay?! Honoka, don't please!" The girls outside listening in now exchanged horrified looks as they heard a sound like a body falling onto a bed.
"Too late, Maki-chan~" Honoka said in a sing-song voice.
"Please! No! Senpai, please don't do it!" Maki sounded like she was on the verge of tears now. Hanayo had her hand over her nose, probably hiding a minor nosebleed. Maki screamed; there was no way that Honoka would have screamed in that situation. The scream was quickly silenced.
"Keep quiet. We don't want anyone to get the wrong idea." Honoka commanded. Hanayo had started bleeding freely from her nose. Nico was disgusted though.
"What are they doing in there?!" Nico hissed, keeping her voice low. Nozomi was still smiling happily as she slipped her hand into Eri's.
"Maki-chan's becoming an adult, I think." Nozomi said. At that, Umi fainted.
"Umi-chan! Hang in there!" Kotori grabbed Umi's hand.
"I can't anymore…It's too embarrassing…" Umi said weakly.
"That's a good girl. You like this don't you?" Honoka's low voice sounded somewhat seductive. A whine, presumably from Maki, reached the listener's ears.
"Whoa. Is this how she tamed Maki-nya?" Rin asked to no one in particular.
"Shouldn't we stop them before it gets out of hand?" Eri asked, also to no one in particular. No one answered either of them, they were too interested in listening to what would happen next. Eri sighed and knocked on the door, for the sake of Hanayo's and Umi's health. They heard Honoka sigh.
"A little longer and I would have got you…" Honoka seemed to complain. They heard a soft creak as Honoka stood up, or attempted to, from the next sentence.
"Let go of me, Maki-chan! I can't unlock the door with you clinging like that!" A response went unheard by the rest of Muse as they rushed to look like they had just arrived without hearing anything at all. Rin had to wipe up Hanayo's nosebleed, while Kotori arranged Umi so that the bluenette appeared to be standing on her own when she was actually leaning on her friend.
Honoka unlocked the door and slid it open with a bit of difficulty. The other seven girls found that the difficulty was caused by Maki, as the red-head was hugging the ginger from behind. Her face was buried in the back of Honoka's shirt.
"Come on in~" Honoka waved them in. On the way in, they all glanced at the bed in turn, and noticed that it showed signs of someone being pinned down.
"Just sit down where ever." Honoka told them. She sat down on her bed, Maki by her side, though the red-head had yet to look at the others.
"So what are we meeting for?" Eri asked a bit awkwardly.
"No real reason~ I just thought it'd be fun for us to hang out like normal friends!" Honoka smiled. She started to stroke Maki's hair absent-mindedly with the hand that had previously been used to keep the first year close to her. This did not go unnoticed by the others, nor did the fact that Maki was still not looking or talking to any of them. Rin shrugged it off and searched Honoka's shelf for the manga she had been reading the last time she had visited.
"Oh! I'd better go get some tea and snacks!" Honoka jumped up. Maki, startled by the sudden moment, grabbed onto Honoka's arm.
"Don't leave me…" She whispered in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, but barely. Her entire face was red and she looked at floor as she spoke.
"It'll just be for a little bit!" Honoka pulled her arm free and left the room. All attention was on Maki, wondering what the girl would do next. Maki refused to meet any of their gazes. She grabbed one of Honoka's pillows and hugged it to her chest.
"So…what are you doing here before the rest of us, Maki-chan?" Hanayo asked nervously, not wanting to alert the red-head to the fact that they had been listening in.
"Honoka texted me yesterday, telling me to come early." Maki spoke into the pillow, muffling her voice.
"Are sweets okay? It's all that we have at the moment…" Honoka came back in, carrying a tray with tea and some of the Japanese sweets her family sold.
"It's fine (-nya)!" They chorused. Soon, all of them were engrossed in eating and just chatting that they didn't notice when Honoka gave Maki a short but sweet kiss.
"Your parents won't be home for a couple days, right?" Maki nodded mutely. "Would you mind if I stayed at your house during that time? We can't continue if my family's here."
"Fine, but it's not like I need you to continue." Maki's eyes revealed the desperation that she couldn't voice out of stubbornness.
"Hai, hai." Honoka smiled at her friend. 'My girlfriend.' She corrected in her mind.
I have another Love Live story out there, though it's HonoNicoMaki. I would appreciate it if you go and read it (shameless self-promotion) but you don't have to if you don't want to.
Please review and tell me what you think about this story!