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.

Beta-read by the fabulous Supreme Distraction, who also helped me with the title. :3

:::

Take a Chance

Rain poured down, droplets trailing down a window through which a lone girl absentmindedly stared through. She was curled up on her bed, hazel eyes never breaking away from the autumn scenery outside.

Her heart was heavy with mixed, raging emotions that contrasted her (currently) calm persona. Her mind raced with thoughts: some were joyous, others were agonizing.

The girl sighed as she tucked a few long loose strands of cerulean behind her ear, dwelling deeper on her thoughts as she did so.

/It had all started Monday, four days ago with a typical day at school and a letter inside her shoe-locker.

It felt so cliché to receive a letter like that in this day and age, but the cerulean-haired girl opened it nevertheless – although with some hesitation – and her heart nearly jumped out of her chest.

In bright pink colour, words –affectionate and amiable words – spelled out an unconditional love to her: Umi Sonoda.

Bewildered, hazel eyes continued to read to find a name for the writer of the confession and Umi clasped a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from shrieking. /

The long-haired girl sighed again and hugged her knees. Troubled as she had been the entire week, she couldn't deny that there was certain… Joy swelling within her as those lovely sentences came back to mind. The fact that a close friend had gathered enough courage to write down her feelings and delivered them to Umi was enough to pull the invisible heart-strings…

…And that only made matters worse. There was a dent in not only their friendship but their idol group had taken its toll because of this as well. Practice had been cancelled once already.

´It's not like I'm unhappy with her feelings… but…´

But what?

The bluette tensed. Friends and family – people in general – came to mind. Just the thought of their judgemental eyes sent a cold shiver down her spine. What solace was there to be found if society would tear them apart for being "different"?

Besides, it wasn't like she was into girls.

…Right?

`That's why I'm sitting here thinking about it, isn't it?´ the idol-group member thought sarcastically, hugging her knees tighter. There had to be something there if she was like this – something that was perhaps worth a chance?

With chance comes also risk.

Right. Even if there was a chance for her to gain happiness from this, there was always the risk that it'd be taken away just as quickly, leaving her broken and judged by friends and family alike.

Coming from a family bound to traditions, the bluette was expected to inherit both the martial-arts dojo from her father and the dojo for traditional dance from her mother. There was just too much at stake.

She buried her face in her knees. This was leading nowhere.

She needed some fresh air – rain or no.


With a dark-blue coat and an umbrella in hand, Umi wandered aimlessly around town. The air, though humid, helped clear her mind if only a little. She began weighing pros and cons, but couldn't find either option to be more favourable.

´If I was completely against it I wouldn't be here…Then again, this is my friend we're talking about.´

And that only made matters worse. This was a close friend, not someone she barely knew, and this person was in her class—not to mention the idol group! She'd be forced to quit if she rejected her friend…Unless the latter did it first.

´But since we are friends, taking things one step further would-´

The kendo-practitioner's cheeks flushed red, her heart skipping a little beat and she shook her head. "I can't even think about it…" she murmured in dismay.

But the idea of such happiness was still lingering at the back of her mind. ´It… could, I suppose, be worth it… if we try. But we'd have to keep the others in the dark.´

The others – their friends and classmates and fellow members of their idol group – what would they say?

´Even if they would support us, surely they'd be mad if they weren't told…´

The blue-haired martial artist's heart ached with guilt and she clutched her chest.

"Just what should I do?"

Just then her gaze wandered and caught glimpse of a familiar looking shop and her hazel orbs widened. This was…

´How did I end up here?´

Her eyes shifted to the door – just beyond that entryway was her friend, the author of the letter, and she felt her heart jump inside her chest in anticipation. She was just an arm's length away to knock on the door… Or should she just walk inside?

Turns out it was locked.

Umi swallowed the lump in her throat, her heart racing and her mind reeling.

This had to be some kind of sign, right?

But what now? She still didn't know what she wanted – what she desired – from this, nor had she a proper answer for her admirer.

With chance comes also risk. The risks where high, and the martial artist had a lot to lose, but...

She fished out her cell-phone, sending a text-message a few seconds later after some hesitation. It was done; the first little dip into unknown waters.

The lights went on inside and the sound of rapid footsteps could be heard until the door was unlocked and opened up, revealing a young girl with a white t-shirt, baggy pyjama pants, and ginger hair partly tied up into a side-ponytail.

Blue orbs shined with delight, a delicate flush spread across milky pale cheeks. "H-Hi."

God, she was just so cute… "H-hi… Honoka…"

The ginger girl smiled, shifting from one foot to another. "…Would you like to come in?"

Perhaps there were risks, but maybe if things were taken slowly…

"I'd love to."

Fin.