"Are you sure this is a good idea, Honoka?"

"It will be fine, don't worry! I've got it all figured out!"

Honoka gave Umi a thumbs up and a bright grin, her eyes sparkling with confidence. She, Umi, and Kotori were crouched at the edge of the hallway, right around the corner of the student council room. It was early in the morning; sunlight streamed into the empty school, filling the building with a warm yellow light. The three girls whispered as they debated Honoka's plan, not wanting to disturb the quiet atmosphere.

Four days had passed since Eli and Nozomi joined Muse. They still didn't know much about the two seniors, but one thing was clear: they were always together. They came to school together, ate lunch together, and left practice together. That was the problem. For Honoka's plan to work, she needed Nozomi alone. But ever since she officially joined the idol group, she always dragged Eli with her when visiting the clubroom. And Honoka couldn't pull her aside during practice, since Eli was bound to ask questions. That was the hard part. Although some of the other members would be fine with it, Honoka wanted to avoid offending Eli. Yes, she had caused a lot of problems for the group, but it wasn't entirely her fault. Sort of.

Honoka shook head, stopping that train of thought. This was about Nozomi. If she got distracted now, she might lose her chance.

"I saw Nozomi-senpai walk into the school by herself," she explained. Morning practice was on the roof this week, and she had happened to glance down at the school entrance during a break. She had recognized the opportunity immediately, grabbing Umi and Kotori and rushing down to the student council room. They made it just in time to see Nozomi close the door. Honoka had been about to follow her in when Umi stopped her. "She came in with Eli-senpai every other day this week, but she was alone today. That's why it's the perfect chance to give her the gift! Who knows when we'll get another opportunity like this! It might be the only time she'll ever be alone."

Umi frowned. "I suppose I see your point, but I'm not sure we'll be that lucky. Eli-senpai doesn't seem like the type to come in late. Especially since the only reason she and Nozomi-senpai don't go to morning practice – which we should really get back to – is because they're doing student council work."

"Well…"

"I think we should go for it."

"Kotori?" Honoka and Umi turned to the other girl, who gave them a smile.

"Honoka-chan's right. This is the only time we've seen Nozomi-senpai alone, so I think it's worth the risk."

"Yeah, yeah!" Honoka nodded vigorously, getting to her feet. "Let's go for it!"

Umi just sighed as she stood up, following Honoka around the corner. She leaned against the wall, refusing to go inside. This was all going to go terribly wrong, she just knew it. Why couldn't they have just stayed on the roof and kept practicing? Kotori joined her, giving her an encouraging smile.

"Don't worry, Umi-chan, I'm sure everything will turn out fine!"

"I hope so…" They turned to watch as Honoka took a deep breath, nodding to herself before pushing the door open.

"Good morning, Nozomi-senpai!" Honoka called as she burst into the room with a wide grin. The purple haired girl looked up in surprise at the entrance. She was leaning against one of the desks while idly shuffling her tarot cards, a smile growing on her face as she saw the other girl.

"Oh! What a surprise, seeing you so energetic in the morning. Did you- huh?" She broke off as Honoka froze, following the younger girl's gaze and looking over at the other side of the room. Eli was standing behind the desks, scribbling some notes down on the whiteboard. She had turned around when Honoka entered the room, a startled look on her face.

"Eheheh…" Honoka rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, hiding Nozomi's present behind her back and slowly walking backwards out of the room. She shut the door, and immediately muffled whispers could be heard from the hallway.

"Well," Nozomi said after a moment. "It seems it's going to be an interesting day."

"Mmm." Eli shrugged, turning back to the board and covering her mouth to hide a yawn. There was a meeting later that day, so she had come into school earlier than usual to prepare. Yesterday's practice, coupled with waking up early, had left her exhausted. She was glad it was almost the weekend. "Anyways, what do you think about—"

She paused as the door opened again. Honoka walked in again, much more sedately this time. Kotori and Umi peeked their heads into the room, too curious to wait outside.

"Um," Honoka started, glancing over at Eli. "I wanted- well, that is- you see-" She stopped herself, fidgeting slightly as she tried to remember what she was supposed to say. Nozomi gave her a patient smile, quietly encouraging her to continue.

"You can do it!" Kotori whispered from the door. "Don't give up now!" Honoka nodded, the fire returning to her eyes. She'd come this far, and she wasn't going to back down.

"Nozomi-senpai!" Honoka took big strides until she was standing in front of the other girl. She held the gift out and bowed, Nozomi's eyes widening in surprise. "Please accept this as a token of our gratitude!"

"…your gratitude?"

"You've been helping us out since we first started thinking about making an idol group," Honoka explained as Nozomi hesitantly took the box, "and we wanted to thank you for that. We never would have gotten to where we are now without your help. We all really appreciate what you've done for us, so we decided to give you this. It's a box of manju from my family's store. I helped make it myself, so I'm sure it's delicious!"

Honoka beamed, and Nozomi couldn't help but smile in return. It was a really sweet gesture from the rest of the group, but she wasn't quite sure how to respond. No one had ever done something like that for her before.

"Thank you," she said after a moment, "though it really wasn't necessary. After all, you helped me too."

"Huh? We did?"

Nozomi just gave her usual mysterious smile. "Aren't you in the middle of practice right now? You're going to set a bad example for the first years this way. We can't have the center skipping, after all."

Honoka's eyes widened. "Ah, you're right! I completely forgot! I gotta go, I'll see you later!" She spun around and ran out of the room, grabbing Umi and Kotori by the arms and pulling them along. Their footsteps quickly faded into the distance, the quiet of the morning finally returning. A minute passed before Nozomi turned to Eli, a grin slowly growing on her face.

"Don't even start," Eli warned.

"See, Elichi?" Nozomi said, her eyes twinkling in amusement. "This is what you get for being nice to people. Now I have a whole box of tasty treats, all to myself~"

Eli frowned, but before she could respond there was the quick patter of feet on tiles as Honoka ran back down the hallway, sticking her head into the room.

"One more thing! Eli-senpai! Don't feel bad, okay? Yeah, you tried to stop us from forming our group and told us that we weren't going to succeed, and it was kinda really annoying, but that's okay! Nico-senpai did the same thing before she joined, but she also stole my fries this one time, so you're better than her in my books! Anyways, see you later!" Honoka grinned and flashed a thumbs up before dashing off again, leaving Eli blinking in shock. She had no idea what to say to that. Unfortunately, Nozomi had no such problems, though she had some trouble speaking through her laughter.

"Ooo, what a compliment, Elichi! I was wrong, maybe your attitude was the right way after all!"

"Shut up and help me with these notes." Eli turned back to the whiteboard, her face turning red. Nozomi ignored her, too busy laughing at the other girl's expression and flustered voice to care about the future meeting. She was right; it was definitely going to be an interesting day.