Disclaimer: Love Live! School Idol Project and all characters associated with it belongs Sakurako Kimino, Arumi Tokita, and ASCII Media Works. GrimGrave does not earn money for writing fiction.

Thanks to Major Mike Powell III for proof-reading this.

Make a Move

Babump. Babump.

Her heart was racing. This was it, wasn't it?

Today was Sunday, and the Sonoda household was parent-free.

Umi took one deep breath after another in hope of calming herself, but her muscle inside her chest wouldn't cease its rapid beating.

It was futile; the young girl couldn't calm herself.

Anxious, the cerulean-haired girl drummed slender fingertips against her arms, biting her lower lip as she did. The wait was agonizing.

´It's only been a day in-between… So why do I miss her so much?´

The idol member rested a hand above her breast; the emotional pain of yearning had created a void inside her beating muscle.

Umi let out a small sigh.

Her friend- … No. Her lover- … Honoka was slightly late.

Ever since two days ago, when the kendo practitioner had decided to take a chance, her life had already changed more noticeably than she had thought it would. The friend she had known since they were children was now her… well, they weren't just friends anymore.

But it wasn't like they had done anything yet – they hadn't even kissed! With Honoka being forced to help her mother in the Kousaka Japanese Sweets shop, and Umi having kendo lessons to attend to, there hadn't been much time for anything but talking.

How long had she and the ginger-haired girl spent that day discussing? If memory served, it had progressed well into the night.

The bluette sighed. Everything had been discussed; where were they standing? Should they tell their friends and families and, if so, who would be first to know?

As much as Umi had decided to take the chance for happiness, they couldn't very well just rush right into being "lovers" – at least not physically.

So why was the kendo-practitioner thinking about her girlfriend and how she wanted to embrace her nonstop?

Milky white cheeks heated up in a flush of scarlet and Umi shook her head in a desperate attempt to clear her mind. These kinds of scenarios had begun to play more frequently in her thoughts ever since last Friday. If only Umi had just "womaned" up and claimed the ginger-haired girl's lips before she left…

Umi slapped her cheeks and let out a frustrated humming sound.

´What am I thinking?´

As if on cue, the doorbell rang loudly and, wide-eyed and overjoyed, the cerulean-haired girl bolted upright and quickly strode downstairs, towards the front door.

Her pulse was rushing.

She unlocked the door and as it gently opened up, the bluette idol member's heart nearly sprang out of her chest with elation.

No amount of mental preparation could have helped her withstand the sheer joy Umi felt as, finally, Honoka was standing before her: the idol group's leader was dressed in a pair of jeans and a light-blue parka underneath a grey jacket.

"Hi," the ginger-haired girl said with a shy smile. Her cute features were a faint hue of red. "I'm sorry for being late."

Heavens above, she just wanted to hug Honoka right on the spot. (Amongst other things, but she filed those away for later)

"I-It's alright," Umi replied. "Please, come in."

"E-excuse the intrusion…"

Cheeks ablaze, the bluette could merely motion for the ginger-haired girl to follow, tense as she was.

And being alone with the girl you lo- … cared for wasn't helping either. The room felt smaller than what it was and Umi was shivering; her mind reeled with questions, yet she dared not say anything to the girl before her.

Brown orbs met blue ones every so often before their gazes strayed from the other.

"C-Can I get you anything?" Umi finally said. "I h-have some ice-tea in the fridge…"

"Oh! Y-yes, sure…" Honoka replied. They didn't even glance at each other as the hostess got up and left for the kitchen.

´What am I doing?´ Umi mulled. ´This is ridiculous… We should be able to talk to each other! We've always been able to talk frankly to one another… Then again…´

If her face hadn't heated up before, it certainly did now. ´Then again, we haven't exactly had to talk about being lovers before!´

Desperate to shrug those thoughts off, the kendo practitioner went back to her room with two glasses of ice-tea when-

The bluette froze. Hazel eyes locked with azure ones, and she just barely managed to catch herself from dropping the glasses onto the floor, putting them on the desk without looking.

"H-Honoka… Why are you… in my bed…?"

The leader of Muse looked like a child getting caught with a hand in the cookie jar. She was on the bed, face buried into the pillow, eyes wide.

"I, uhm…" Her face was red as a beetroot. "…I'm sorry, Umi-chan! I couldn't resist! I just… I want to be close to you. But I couldn't find it in me to just hug you. It didn't stop me before, but now that we're… uhm… you know…"

Umi nodded. "…Y-yes…" Her heart was pounding. "B-but sniffing my pillow…"

"S-sorry! ... So c-can I hug you, instead?"

The blue-haired girl let out a breathless gasp. "I g-guess…"

Honoka's eyes lit up and she dropped the pillow, shyly crossing the room until she was in front of her classmate – barely any space between them – and with one last elated glance, she embraced her.

The warmth that enveloped Umi was different now that there was a new meaning behind it, but it was comfortable.

´I could get used to this…´

"You smell nice, Umi-chan," Honoka said with a muffled giggle as she nuzzled her girlfriend's shoulder.

"D-don't say weird things like that…" ´Although… she kind of smells good too…´

"Sorry…" They stood there like that for a moment longer. "Hey, Umi-chan?"

Ba-bump. "Yes?"

The ginger-haired girl hesitated. "C-can I… can I… k-k-kiss you?"

The bluette tensed. The thought had, of course, crossed her mind many a times.

But the words never came. She remained in her girlfriend's embrace, motionless with baited breath.

"Umi-chan…?"

The kendo practitioner grabbed hold of her fellow Muse member's shoulders and stepped back, creating distance between them. Azure eyes widened at the expression the blue-haired girl wore; creamy white skin was hotly red, lips trembling, and eyes shiny and heavy-lidded.

And then she leant in.

Fin.

I hope you enjoyed it as much as the first one. :3