So I've been wanting to write something for Love Live lately, and this came to be! As for when this takes place, it'll be set a little bit before the series. I don't have much else to type here, so enjoy!

Date Published: 6/21/16
Word Count: 3,923
Page Count: 6

Plushies

Ever since they were children, Umi was accustomed to the ever energetic Honoka getting behind in her studies. She would forget to do a variety of her homework and classwork, or just completely push them aside so she could do something adventurous. Most of the time Honoka would end up dragging both herself and Kotori along for the ride, despite their protests. After all, they didn't want to fall out of any trees or get hit by oncoming traffic. Then the following morning she would rush up to her, head down and hands clasped together begging for the answers.

With a sigh and an ounce of annoyance, Umi always told her in a serious tone that she needed to do her work herself. That she needed to be able to balance fun and school work like other people. Of course, that didn't stop hurricane Honoka from moving over to Kotori who was much more willing to help out her friend. As to be expected, Umi wasn't thrilled with her actions, but it wasn't like she would actually get her to listen to her. Kotori wanted to help her friend out as much as she could, and didn't see the harm in letting her have the answers.

Life continued like that as they progressed through school together. Honoka would always get behind in her school work while relying on Kotori to save her. Of course, she always begged Umi first, even though she had to know by then that she wasn't going to get any answers from her. Despite all of her begging, it wasn't enough to keep her grades from sinking. By the time they reached high school, it looked as if all hope was lost for Honoka to be able to pass her finals in one piece. The orange haired girl just couldn't study for tests to save her life. That is of course if she tried for more than five minutes before getting distracted by something else. It was as if the things she read in her textbooks would just vanish after a couple of seconds of floating around her mind.

While Umi wasn't willing to give Honoka the answers on homework she should have had completed by the time they got to class, she was willing to help her study for upcoming exams. Hence, the reason why the blue-haired girl had found herself gathering some snacks in her kitchen that evening. Honoka was in desperate need of getting some more studying in before their finals considering she hadn't been keeping her grades up the whole semester. She and Kotori had been helping her out at after school for the past few days, but she still needed more help to survive the massive amount of incoming questions that would end up chipping away her sanity. Umi didn't want to turn her head to see steam pouring out of Honoka's head before it finally exploded and left her brain as a pile of goo.

So Umi decided the best course of action was to invite her over that evening so they could continue where they left off. Honoka, of course, was against spending even more time with her face in front of a textbook, but gave in after Umi gave her a very menacing glare. She had also invited Kotori to come along for the study session, but she declined because of a prior engagement she didn't want to go into detail about.

"I wonder what she's doing," mumbled the archer as she grabbed some rice crackers resting in a cabinet. She had also started to prepare tea for both herself and her guest. Honoka had arrived about ten minutes ago and was currently up in her room probably scheming up a plan to get out of studying. That girl was always good at coming up with wacky schemes that either backfired, or nearly got someone injured. She also called her a cruel, cold, callous, sea monster the moment she arrived at her front door with little tears in her eyes for forcing her to do so much studying.

"It's not like I'm doing this to torture her," she spoke as she poured the tea into two cups and placed it on the circular tray with the crackers, "It's for her best, and I don't want her to fail. She can't go through life relying on me and Kotori. Sometimes I just have to be stern with her to get things done. If I'm not, she just goes back to goofing around without a care in the world."

Frankly, she didn't like it when Honoka called her that. Obviously, she was just playing around and over-exaggerating the situation, but it didn't change that the words stung. She didn't like being called a sea monster by someone she cared deeply about simply because she wanted the best for her. She was looking out for her, not wanting to make her life miserable. She had been doing that for as long she could remember.

"At least she showed up," she spoke lightly while taking the food and drinks with her to her bedroom. Honoka could have easily stayed at home and munched away at her bread in peace while she relaxed with her sister, "Though I would have gone there myself to scold her for not keeping her word. Then I would have forced her to study with me anyway…"

Alright, perhaps that would have been going a tad bit overboard with the situation. Umi didn't like it when people broke their promises, even though she did force Honoka by giving her an almost demonic glare to promise her to come over. It wasn't like she held a gun to her head, but she still scared her into doing. It was for her best, right? She was just looking out for her, right? She was just trying to keep her from failing after all. It wasn't like she would get very far on her own. She knew Honoka barely studied or did anything she didn't want to do, without someone getting on her back to do it. It was a shame she couldn't put some of that energy into studying for a change.

With a sigh, Umi mumbled lightly as she stood outside of the door to her room while looking down at the snacks, "Perhaps I am acting like a sea monster." She just wanted to help her out like any long term friend would, but perhaps she was going too far, "I don't want her to hate me because of this."

Of course, she didn't hate her at that moment. She wouldn't have come if she hated her. Actually, she had a hard time imaging Honoka hating anyone considering how friendly she was. Yet those feelings of companionship could easily transform into revulsion if she kept on pushing her. If she kept on glaring at her like some kind of monster because all she wanted was for her to pass her exams for a once, things could begin to change. For all she knew, those feelings of hers could already have already shifted because of the way she had been treating her the past few days.

She pulled her head away from the tray and proceeded to open the door. She couldn't just stand there all evening after all. The tea would just grow cold, and nothing at all would be accomplished. Besides, she couldn't let her mind dance with such theories she had no proof to back up with. She was surely just overthinking things. There was no way Honoka could end up hating her simply because she was so adamant about helping her pass her exams. Just the thought alone felt like knives were being jammed into her chest, and she didn't want to think about such things any longer.

As the door slide open, her eyes landed on Honoka who was currently sitting on the floor with two stuffed animals on the low table before her. She had a peaceful look in her eyes and didn't seem annoyed what-so-ever for being at her home to study. Quite the opposite of how she appeared when she arrived at her front door.

"What are you doing Honoka?" Umi asked as she walked into the room and placed down the tray on the low table. The two critters before Honoka was a stuffed panda, that belonged to Umi, and an orange dinosaur that she recognized seeing in Honoka's room before.

"Well, I was getting bored waiting for you, so I decided to have some fun before we started to, unfortunately, study," explained the orange haired girl while she picked up her dinosaur plushy, pulled it to her chest, and wrapped her arms around it lightly.

"Okay, but why did you bring your stuffed dinosaur with you to a study session?" she asked calmly with a pinch of confusion before she sat down across from her, "And why did you take my panda?" Honoka was known for doing some random stuff, but she could never come to understand how she could possibly come up with her random ideas. Even so, she appreciated her wacky schemes. While she liked having a normal and calm life, Honoka added a spice to it that no one else could. She allowed her to do things she would had never thought of doing on her own. While for the most part they were things she never wanted to do, they did leave her with an unforgettable memory.

"I brought my dinosaur with me just because I felt like it I guess. I thought I could play with her if I got bored or something. Oh, and I saw your panda and brought it to the table, so she would have a fellow plushy to play with," she explained energetically while chuckling a bit. She removed one of her arms from around her dinosaur to grab the panda and held it out if front of Umi.

"Alright then," she responded as she grabbed her stuffed panda from Honoka's hand and placed it on the edge of the table. She thought it was odd, but whatever. It was Honoka being Honoka after all. She did things that confused her all of the time, but never anything that made her want to pull her hair out, "Did the two get along okay?" she asked for no real reason while grabbing one of the glasses and taking a sip of the tea.

"Now that they did," she responded while grabbing a rice cracker with her free hand, "She was a little scared at how serious your panda is, but that's okay," and with that she began to eat her snack, "They still managed to have fun together."

"Is it okay that my panda is a little too serious?" she asked while glancing down at her plush panda. It was obvious that Honoka was comparing the two of them and their interactions between their stuffed animals, be it intentional or not. Granted, she thought a dinosaur would be fiercer than a panda, but whatever. It wasn't like the personalities of the animals reflected the owners of the toys.

"Well…" started Honoka before taking the last bite of her snack, "It does get a little annoying after a while, but all is good because her heart is in the right place. The panda knows how stupid the dinosaur can get, and just wants to make sure things go well for her."

"Yeah, that does sound about right," replied Umi with a slight smile before continuing onwards, "My panda can get worked up easily, but she just wants to make sure nothing bad happens to the dinosaur. She wouldn't know what to do if something bad happened, so she does whatever she can to help her out. So that's why she's doing her best to make sure she doesn't fail her finals."

Honoka's face quickly brightened up after hearing those meaningful words, and proceeded to move her dinosaur away from her chest and stretched it towards Umi. She then began to speak while shaking the toy up and down a little bit, "Why thank you! I appreciate how much panda cares for me! I know I can cause a lot of problems, and I can complain a lot, but I really do appreciate all the things she does for me! Without her around, I don't know what type of life I would have right now! I'm sure though that life wouldn't be nearly as meaningful without her by my side!"

Umi stared at the toy for a few moments, thinking over what Honoka said. She could feel her face warm up at those kind words, and her heart beat a little quicker. It was wonderful to hear such things, though she would have liked it more if Honoka wasn't waving her toy around to explain her feelings. Even so, it made her worries from earlier fade away into oblivion. She had nothing to fear it seemed. Honoka understood she could be overbearing at times, but it was for well-being. Umi did the things she did because she cared, not because she wanted to torture the orange haired hurricane. She then glanced downwards to her plushy and picked it up. Following Honoka's lead, she placed it towards her and started to speak. Honestly, it felt a little stupid to do so, but oh well.

"Thank you very much dinosaur. I'm sorry for the times I was excessively forceful, but I'm happy you understand that I'm doing this for your sake. So no matter how cruel I can come off as, I'm doing it all for your own well-being because of how important you are to me. I just hope that won't change the way you see me."

"Hehehehe, if you keep on saying things like that I'll start to blush!" declared Honoka as she shook the plushy, though Umi could see a shade of red crossing her cheerful face, "Oh, and no need to worry! No matter how scary you might come off as I know you're just doing what's best for me! I mean, you just want to keep me from failing!"

"That's good to hear," she replied with a happy smile. She didn't want to ruin what they had because she was pushing her too far for the sake of her grades. She wanted to help her, but she didn't want to lose all of what they had over it, "So no matter what, you'll never hate me for the things I do?"

"Of course I couldn't hate you!" declared Honoka loudly while shoving the stuffed dinosaur closer to Umi's panda, "I could never hate someone I care about! She's doing all of this for me after all. She could be doing something she wants or studying by herself, but she's taking so much time out of her schedule just to make sure I don't fail! She could just tell me to do it myself, or for me to screw off, but she just wants the best for me!"

From those passionate words, Umi knew that there wasn't any reason for her to worry. No matter how much she glared at her to get things done, she would never hold it against her. No matter how scary she might come off as she knew there was no malicious intent behind it. She understood she behaved the way she did because she wanted to make sure she would get something done. With a sigh of relief, she began to speak once more through her panda, "I'm very happy to hear that. So no matter what, you'll understand I'm doing it because I care?"

"Hehehehe, that's exactly how I see!" she replied while giggling with the usual goofy grin plastered on her face.

After the dinosaur's satisfying comment, Umi placed her stuffed panda into the table once more and began to speak, "Alright then Honoka, I think we've had enough of goofing around. We need to get to studying before it gets too late."

"Awwww," mumbled Honoka while pulling her plushy to her face, "But I was having so much fun Umi-chan! Can't we play around a little longer? Please? All we did today was study and I need to use my energy on something fun for a while!"

"Come on Honoka, this sea monster wants to make sure you don't fail," replied Umi with a serious look in her eyes, but her voice held a hint of playfulness, "So let's get to work, okay? Then when the exams are all over, we can go to do something fun together. You, me, and Kotori can go out for a whole day and do something together."

"Okay, but whatever we do better be super fun! I want to be able to glue my sanity back together some way after we do all of those stupid tests!" declared Honoka loudly while clenching her left fist tightly. It was as if she suddenly became filled with determination just by the mention of having a fun day out with her friends. Perhaps she should mention doing fun things to get her motivation up more often. That, or just bribe her with food. That could work.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure we do something fun together," and with that Umi stood up and walked over to her school bag laying on her bed and pulled out a couple of her textbooks. It was going to be a long evening, but after the finals were completed, they'll be free to enjoy themselves. That is of course if Honoka didn't fail.

It had been two and a half hours into their study session when Umi had noticed that Honoka hadn't asked her any questions in a while. While she was there to help her, Umi still wanted to get some studying in for herself. So after two hours of watching her like a hawk to make sure she was actually doing something, she decided to leave her alone for a while. Yet she didn't expect her to be so quiet since she was usually as talkative as a parrot.

"Hey, Honoka? How are you doing?" she asked without taking her eyes away from the textbook before. She never received an answer, so she decided to ask once more, "Honoka?"

When she once more gained no response, she pulled her head away from her book to see Honoka with her arms and head resting on the table with the textbook laying against of her head.

"She fell asleep. How am I not surprised?" mumbled Umi lightly with a sigh. She should have known that was going to happen when she became oddly silent. Honoka was only quiet when she had to be, or if she was fast asleep. She should have brought more snacks, that might have been able to keep her from falling asleep. Honoka had munched on them the whole time, so that must have kept her awake besides talking with Umi about the passages or questions.

Without another word, Umi got up from where she was sitting and walked over to her childhood friend. She pulled the book away from her head and revealed a blissfully asleep Honoka. There were no traces of annoyance or stress on her face, just unadulterated happiness for being able to finally get a break from studying. For a moment, she was surprised she wasn't dreaming about studying considering how much she had done that day.

"What am I going to do with you?" spoke Umi softly before taking a seat next to her friend while watching her peaceful face. She was always a wild ball of energy, bouncing from one place or idea to the next in a blink of an eye. It always left her and Kotori a little bit behind, trying to catch their breath all the while trying to get the hurricane to stop for just five seconds so they could take a little break. Yet when she was fast asleep, it was hard to imagine her being so hyperactive all of the time. She looked just so calm as if she had no cares in the whole world.

Normally she would have woken her up so they could get back to work, but she decided it would be okay for her to get some rest instead. She had been pushing her for the past few days, so she deserved a break. If she managed to wake up before it was time for her to head off home, she would get on her back to get her back to work. If she stayed asleep, then she would just have Honoka pick up where they left off the following day. She didn't want to wake her up when she looked so peaceful for a change.

"You can be such a handful at times that I wish you would stay calm like this more often," she mumbled lightly before she started to move closer to her sleeping body. She wasn't sure why, but she felt as if something was pulling her in. A type of magnetic force she couldn't see and couldn't comprehend at that point in time. She managed to pull back from it for a moment, which allowed herself to ponder just what the heck she was doing. Yet the force and the sweet smell emitting from Honoka's bright hair pulled her back and she continued onwards and gave her a kiss on the forehead, "But if you were like this more often, you wouldn't be the Honoka I know after all."

When she started to pull away, she instantly felt her face heat up and embarrassment floated around her stomach. She didn't know why she felt the urge to do that, but she didn't feel any guilt from doing so. She then mumbled to herself lightly while touching her lower lip with her index finger, "Just what am I doing?" Umi continued to stare down at Honoka's sleeping figure and gave her a sincere smile she would never know about, "The things this silly girl makes me do. I don't think I'll ever understand what she does to me."

With those genuine words, Umi stood up and noticed that her dinosaur had fallen out of her lap sometime during the time she fell asleep and was laying on next to her right leg. She picked up the soft orange toy and stared at it for a few moments before placing it on the table next to Honoka. She then walked back over to where she was sitting before and picked up her panda. After allowing her eyes to linger on it for a few moments, she walked back over to the other side of the table and placed it next to the dinosaur.

"This way, they can have fun together," she spoke while letting out a light chuckle before walking back to where she was sitting earlier. She sat down and stared at the two toys sitting next to each other, and then to Honoka's face. The scene before her was filled with a simple form of happiness. A happiness she never wanted to lose no matter how much time passed her by. She wanted to hang onto it for as long as she lived and to never allow anyone take it away from her. All she did after thinking such things was smile happily with a soft glimmer in her eyes at the toys and the girl before returning her attention to the textbook on the table.

And that's that! I came up with the base idea thanks to two cards in School Idol Festival. I liked how Honk and Umi had stuffed animals in their unidolized cards for Yume no Tobira, and I wanted to write a story that incorporated them somehow. From there I let the creative juices flow, and the story turned into this. For a while I didn't really like what I was writing, but I'm happy with the end result. I hope they aren't out of character of course. I hoped you enjoyed this and of course I would appreciate it if you would leave a review! Now back to the Eli Rin Score Match...