Right, soooo I'm terribly sorry for my fans following my other stories but I'm having a writer's block and this is for me to let out some steam.
Anyway, this story is going to an AU where Ontonokizaka highschool is not in danger of closing down so therefore there is no muse or idol groups. That's the basic gist that you need to know. Also, I'm just putting it out there but for the sake of this story, it is legal for same sex couples to marry in Japan.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Love Live and I never will. This story is purely for my (and your) enjoyment.
Enjoy your read and I would appreciate it if you left some feedbacks! Let me know if you want this ridiculous idea continued.
Pairings: Main pairing: Umi/Kotori. Side/background/hinted/mentioned/possible pairings: Eli/Nozomi, Maki/Nico, Rin/Hanayo, Honoka/Tsubasa, Erena/Anju.
-Japan, Tokyo-
"YOU'RE ENGAGED?!"
Kotori fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. She stared at the ground and completely refused to meet the gazes of her friends.
Honoka, her childhood friend/best friend/first ever friend, slowly approached and deliberately placed her hands on Kotori's shoulders. Slowly, Kotori raised her head and, for the first time, looked at how her best friend was faring with the undoubtedly shocking news. She hoped Honoka wasn't too shell-shocked or hurt that Kotori hadn't told her earlier because she herself had only found out yesterday evening.
Honestly, trust her mum to casually drop a huge bomb on her just as she was about to swallow a mouthful of rice. ("Kotori dear, would you mind passing the salt? Oh and by the way, you're engaged and you're going to marry that person when you graduate high school. So how was your day at school?")
"Honoka-chan?" Kotori squeaked, freaked out by her friend's blank stare. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to tell you but I was only told yesterday."
Kotori wasn't sure whether she should be worried or not when Honoka's face slowly split into an ear-splitting grin. "So? Who's the lucky guy?"Honoka asked eagerly. She was quickly shoved out of the way by a scowling Nico.
"Who cares about that?! What I want to know is how you got engaged before me!" Everybody ignored this particular outburst.
"Did you even have a say in the matter?" Maki asked from the corner of the room.
Kotori shook her head. "I first thought she was just joking but it was real. There was a formal contract between my family and the other family. I tried to tell her that I didn't want to marry a stranger but I don't really have any say apparently. My mum's really close with the other family and she takes contracts and things like that really seriously."
"You don't seem too upset," Nozomi observed.
"I admit I was really upset when I first heard about it but after talking over it with my mum and thinking about it for a long time, I've come to somewhat accept the situation. I trust my mum enough to know that she would never insist if the person I'm engaged to is untrustworthy in any way. I'm sure I can eventually learn to love the person at least as a friend if not more," Kotori answered levelly. Of course, she still had her doubts (she wasn't exactly known for being the most decisive person) and her romantic side wanted nothing but to throw a huge tantrum at the unfairness of it all but she was mature enough to recognise that her mum had nothing but good intentions and knew what was best for her the most. Besides, she didn't think she would ever be able to completely go against her only parent who has raised her and made sure she had the best opportunities whilst growing up.
"Kotori-chan, you're so mature nya," Rin said in awe.
"Yeah, I would never be able to accept your situation," Hanayo agreed.
Honoka smiled at Kotori sincerely and gently patted her back. "Well if you ever have any doubts, you can come and talk to us any time. We'll always be there for you, Kotori-chan! Right, everyone?" she asked, turning to the others in the room.
They all nodded with a reassuring smile. Despite all their differences, they always supported each other during tough times and had each other's backs.
Kotori felt her eyes welling with unshed tears. She quickly wiped the traitorous tears away and beamed, feeling absolutely blessed to have such wonderful friends.
"Ne, Kotori-chan," Honoka said gleefully, "does that mean I get to be your maid of honour?"
"Don't be an idiot. Obviously, I am the most suited one for the role." Nico announced. She quickly put on her best cute smile and held up her hands next to her head. "Nico nico nii! Nico nico nii!"
"I think I just threw up," Maki grumbled.
Nico snapped her head towards the first year, a glare on her face. "What did you just say?!"
Hanayo held up her palms in a placating manner, smiling nervously. "Let's not start another fight in the clubroom."
Meanwhile, Honoka, who had completely tuned out the conversation, grasped Kotori's hands excitedly with a large grin. "So, so, who's the lucky guy?" she asked eagerly. The room immediately fell silent, all waiting for the answer.
Kotori swallowed nervously. She hadn't thought about this. She had been hoping to put off this particular question for as long as possible but it seemed that it was not to be. She avoided looking into Honoka's starry eyes and instead opted to stare at the wall as if was the most interesting thing she had ever seen.
After ten long seconds of suffocating silence, Kotori blurted out, "It's not a boy."
If it was possible, the silence that followed was even more suffocating. Despite not looking at her friends' expressions, Kotori could feel the stares burning into the side of her face.
"I was also surprised…?" Kotori offered weakly. She was willing to do anything if it meant ending the painful silence.
"My, my," Nozomi whispered, a sly smile gracing her lips.
"…"
"…"
"…WHAAAAAT?!"
000
-England, London-
Umi sneezed, her hands quickly coming up to cover her mouth. She frowned. That was the third time she had sneezed in the last five minutes.
"Maybe I'm catching a cold," Umi muttered worriedly. She hated catching flus.
"Or maybe someone's talking about you," a familiar voice commented from behind her.
Umi turned and smiled at the figure standing over her. "Good afternoon, Eli. Your classes finished later than usual today," she said.
The blonde sighed and sat down next to her on the bench, passing Umi a drink. "Tell me about it. Mr Williams just kept going on and on about Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development. Almost everyone was asleep during his rant, a fact that I'm sure he has noticed."
Umi chuckled, taking a sip of the cool lemonade. "That sounds like him. He is always informing the class about his newest discoveries online. I don't think he registers that most people do not take vigorous interest in his topics. In any case, shall we head home? I believe it's almost time for dinner."
"Yeah sure. Arisa's probably waiting for us anyway," Eli said.
"I suppose I will have to brace myself for the usual bear hug I receive the moment I step into the house," Umi said with a fond smile.
Eli rolled her eyes. "How come you always get the massive bear hug when I'm her blood sister? I swear that girl loves you more than me," she said with a huff.
Umi laughed, knowing that Eli wasn't really jealous and was merely joking. Ever since the Ayase siblings have been adopted by Umi's father, the three girls have bonded like true siblings and always got along with each other extremely well. Umi and Eli had their fights from time to time but in the end, they always sat together and were able to laugh and move on from their disagreement. During the initial month of living in the Sonoda residence, Arisa had become incredibly attached to Umi and always looked to her for advice. Of course, Arisa still looked up to Eli and adored her older sister but she seemed to especially enjoy spending time with both Umi and Eli. Instead of being jealous, Eli was happy for her little sister and was secretly glad that Arisa wasn't always crying over their grandmother's death. When Eli was nine and Arisa was four, their parents died in a car accident and their elderly grandmother had taken them in. Two years ago, when Eli was fifteen, their grandmother died from a heart attack and when no relatives could be found, Sonoda Hiroki, a close friend of Eli's dad, had stepped in and taken them under his wing.
"We're home!" Umi and Eli announced, taking off their shoes as per Japanese tradition. Despite having lived in England for most of their life, their roots were in Japan and Umi's parents had made sure to educate them on everything that was related to Japan. English was banned inside the house and they were subscribed to Japanese channels on their television. Umi and Eli were pretty much experts at Japanese culture but Arisa, being four years younger, had a slightly harder time grasping some of the mannerisms.
As soon as they had announced their arrival, the sound of footsteps rushing down the stairs could be heard and Umi was, as predicted, was tackled into a bear hug.
"Welcome back, Onee-chan, Umi-neechan!" Arisa beamed, moving onto give Eli a massive hug.
"Hey Arisa," they replied with amusement.
"Umi-chan! Eli-chan! Arisa-chan! Dinner's almost ready!" Umi's mother Sonoda Ayaka called out. "Hurry up and set the table!"
"Coming! Just give us a second to get changed!" Eli shouted.
Once they were changed into their casual clothing, they hurried downstairs to set the table. When Hiroki joined the table, they began to eat.
Dinner at the Sonoda household was always a boisterous event. Despite living in a traditional and somewhat old fashioned way, their personalities were anything but reserved and each member of the family was lively and fun, making any sort of family gathering an exciting experience. When it came to training, Hiroki was stern and strict and completely serious but when it was just with his family, he was kind and always cheerful and smiling. Ayaka on the other hand, had a mean sense of humour and always kept their conversations light and hilarious. Combined with Arisa's boundless energy and Eli and Umi's light banter, there was never a dull moment when they were together.
As they were about to finish dinner, Hiroki called for silence, stating that he and Ayaka had an announcement to make.
"We're moving back to Japan next month," Hiroki said.
Umi and Eli's eyes widened with surprise. Eli glanced at Umi, silently asking whether she was aware of this news and the dark haired girl merely shook her head, her expression full of shock and confusion.
"May I ask why?" Umi inquired politely. After all, she had been taught to speak politely and mind her manners all her life. It was ingrained to her brain and her body.
Ayaka smiled. "You know you're engaged right, Umi-chan?"
Umi nodded slowly as a small blush coloured her cheeks. She had been told this information few years ago but she still had a difficult time getting used to it. Her mind quickly flashed to the person she was engaged to: Minami Kotori. Umi's parents and Kotori's parents had been close high school friends and when they found that both couples were expecting a child, they impulsively decided right then and there to join their families together by marrying their children when they reach the appropriate age. Umi still couldn't imagine what her parents were thinking at the time to cause them to agree to such a crazy idea but a contract was a contract so there was no way of avoiding it.
"Well Hiroki and I had a talk with Kaori-chan and decided that the time has come for you and Kotori-chan to really start getting to know each other. Your marriage is only two years away and it would be awkward if you didn't know anything about each other right?" Ayaka reasoned with a bright smile.
Umi felt as if she was about to throw up. She was only 16 for goodness sake. Wasn't it too early to talk about marriage? Sure, she had known for a while and sure, she had accepted the situation (because what else can she do?) but that didn't mean she was ready for all of this. In fact, she had hoped that it would be forgotten and never brought up again but she was sorely disappointed. She carefully avoided making eye contact with anyone in the room. "But I already know her," she protested with a small voice.
When she was young, her parents would often take her to Japan to meet up with the Minamis. She had already talked to Kotori a few times and had played with her. So what if it was a long time ago when they both didn't know what marriage even was? It still counted.
Ayaka merely gave her a flat stare, as if saying "Really, Umi-chan?"
"Well, it sounds like fun. I've always wanted to go to Japan," Eli said with a small smirk. Umi sent her adopted sister a deadly glare. You're supposed to be on my side!
"Ooh! Ooh! Me too! Me too! I want to go too! Will we get to go to school in Japan?!" Arisa added excitedly. Umi sent her other adopted sister a betrayed look. Not you too, Arisa!
Hiroki cleared his throat. "Umi, you will be inheriting our dojo after you graduate university and as the future head of the household, you need to have someone supporting you. You need to have an established trust between you and your partner and for that to happen, we are going to move to Japan permanently," he said with a serious expression, conveying just how serious he was about this matter.
Umi stared into his father's eyes and after a few tense seconds of silence, she sighed and conceded. "Yes, father."
Ayaka clapped cheerfully. "Well, now that's settled, let's clear the table!"
"I'm sooo looking forward to this," Eli said with a grin. "Aren't you excited, Umi?"
If Umi was any less of a polite human being, she would have replied with swear words that would make even sailors blush. But because she wasn't anything short of polite, she merely answered with a silent glower.
Arisa, oblivious to what was truly going on, excitedly hopped up and down. "I'm really excited! Japan is the best! I'm gonna try all the food there!" she exclaimed with a happy grin.
Umi's expression softened at the adorable sight and she patted Arisa's head. "Of course," she said.
Later in the evening, as she was climbing into her bed, she silently prayed that she would be able to leave behind her awkwardness and come off as a normal human being who was able to have social interactions without fainting from embarrassment. Stuttering like an idiot before passing out wouldn't exactly make the best first impression on her…fiancée? Was she allowed to call her that? Well, Kotori was technically her fiancée. They were engaged after all. Though neither of them had any choice in the matter.
Umi groaned in frustration. Her mind was flying all over the place. She just hoped that Kotori wouldn't hate her for being the unwanted(?) fiancée.
I shouldn't be losing sleep over this.
She closed her eyes, attempting to fall asleep. After all, sleep was an essential ingredient for better performance the next day.
…But what if we don't end up getting along? What if… OH MY GOD! What if we have to k-k-k-k-ki-NO! Stop thinking about it!
She stared into the darkness, her face flaming red from embarrassment. A small, evil part of her brain whispered, But you know you have to eventually kiss. You're expected to live together and be a family. A couple.
Her eyes widened. Live together?! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. Stop thinking, stop thinking. Get to sleep!
Umi and Kotori, sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in the baby carriage.
OH MY GOD! A BABY! Are we expected to have a baby?! How?! It's not like we can just have s- STOP THINKING! Indecent thoughts go away! I'm really need to go to sleep.
Well, even if you're not going to have a baby, you can still have se-
LALALALALALALALALA I can't hear anything! I'm not thinking anything! I'm not- GO AWAY, INDECENT THOUGHTS!
…I'm not getting any sleep tonight am I?