A/N: My grave has sunk deeper with this fanfic. I'll be working on both this and Layers at the same time.

I couldn't help myself. I needed a dose of HonoxUmi...

Disclaimer: I don't own Love Live!

1 – The heart beats

She didn't think she'd wake up this late. The ginger haired girl fought back a grimace.

Umi-chan's going to scold me later. Again.

Running down the streets with a hand in her coat, Honoka tightened her grip on her school bag. Ugh…Why is it so cold? The ginger haired girl shivered slightly. Her right hand was starting to feel numb and she cursed herself for having forgotten to bring her gloves. Pushing her cream-coloured scarf further up her neck, the girl sighed, causing a puff of smoke to escape from her mouth.

While lamenting the fact that she was late again, she tried to think of an excuse for being late. She then thought better of it. Umi would immediately see through her and that would earn another set of scolding from the taller girl.

Honoka knew that it was her fault for oversleeping but she couldn't help it. No matter how many alarms she had set, she would turn it off and go back to the comfort of her bed. Even her sister, Yukiho, couldn't be bothered with her after trying she had tried shaking her for a good 15 minutes.

As the ginger haired girl rounded to a corner of an alley, she immediately spotted her two childhood friends.

It wasn't that hard to spot them – given that they stood out even among the morning crowd. Umi's long and tidy hair was unmistakeable given the unique shade of midnight blue it was in and Kotori's bird-nest-like hair was also unique in itself.

Both girls had their scarves wrapped comfortably around their necks and while Umi wore a matching plain blue coat and gloves, Kotori had on a contrasting white fluffy scarf and a dark coloured glove – one similar to Umi's. A tinge of regret rose within her and Honoka immediately wished she'd not woken up late this morning.

As she neared her two childhood friends, the ginger haired girl could already see the usual frown on the bluenete's face. Resigning herself to the torture of the blue haired girl's lecture, Honoka could only walk towards her childhood friends with her usual but sincere and guilty "Sorry, I'm late".

"Honoka..." The ginger haired girl dared a look at Umi whose eyes were twitching in irritation and mild anger.

"I'm really sorry! I overslept!" Honoka clasped her bare hands together with an apologetic bow.

Umi sighed. "That's the third time this week..."

"I'm really sorry! I can't help it! It's winter after all..."

"All the more you should learn to wake up on time!" The bluenete shot back.

"It's fine, isn't it? We still have some time before school actually starts..." Kotori, as usual, tried to calm the bluenete while trying to get the ginger haired girl out of trouble. Honoka gave the ash grey haired girl a bright smile, thanking the other girl silently.

"Kotori! You're spoiling her too much!" Umi said, exasperated.

"Let's just leave it as that first," the ash grey haired smiled sweetly. "We're going to be late if we don't hurry up."

"Alright..." Umi finally relented, as she softened a little at the gentle and and peaceful look Kotori gave her. No matter how angry Umi got, Kotori's presence and words always managed to have a soothing effect on her. Perhaps the grey haired girl was just good at handling Umi.

A twitch of irritation shot though the ginger haired girl for reasons she couldn't understand. Seeing the warm and gentle look Umi had given the ash-grey haired girl, Honoka couldn't help but feel a tinge of sadness. Umi only sported such a look when Kotori was present. She didn't think that she'd be able to cause such a warm expression to appear on the bluenete's face – the only expressions Umi wore around her were angry and exasperated ones. No matter what they did, she was the one who'd always make Umi mad, get scolded by the girl and cause the girl to sigh in vexation. They always argued – even about the most trivial things.

As such thoughts crossed her mind, the usually cheerful girl started to feel a little depressed.

Sensing that something was amiss, Umi turned to look at her childhood friend.

"Honoka…?" the blue haired girl sounded worried. She'd never seen such a dark and sad look on her childhood friend's face. It made her wonder what was wrong of all the sudden. Perhaps she'd gone too far in getting angry at her? But she hadn't even given her her usual lecture yet. So why did Honoka look so sad now? Not liking the kind of expression Honoka was sporting now, the blue haired girl touched the ginger haired girl's hands.

"U-Umi…chan…" a soft whisper from Honoka.

"Here, you must be freezing right?" Umi smiled warmly at Honoka, giving her a pair of gloves that looked similar to hers.

"Umi-chan…" Honoka looked up in surprise.

"I figured you'd be late and knowing you…you'll probably forget these." Umi tried to shrug nonchalantly but inside, she was a little embarrassed.

"Umi-chan…Thank you!" Honoka's eyes brightened as she pounced onto the blue haired girl. Knowing that Umi had thought and cared about her made her heart immensely warm and she couldn't help but throw herself onto her best friend.

"H-Honoka–"

"Thank you, Umi-chan," Honoka whispered softly, wrapping her arms around the taller girl's slim frame. "Really…thank you."

At the display of affection, Umi blushed furiously. She hadn't expected Honoka to hug her. It was also unusual for the ginger haired girl to hug her – Kotori usually was the one she clung onto. But she didn't hate the hug. Honoka's embrace had her heart pounding for reasons she cannot discern and warmth started to spread throughout her body.

She then stuttered, "H-Honoka…?"

Relishing in the warmth of Umi's body, Honoka had almost refused to let go. She's so warm…Honoka thought. I wish I could stay like this forever…

"H-Honoka!" Umi hissed into the other girl's ear.

Honoka shivered when she felt Umi's breath tickling against her sensitive ear. Her heart started to hammer against her chest, and a slight blush worked its way up to her cheeks.

"Honoka-chan…? Kotori's voice snapped her out of it and she immediately let go of the extremely red-faced Umi.

"S-Sorry, Umi-chan…you were so warm that I just…" the ginger haired girl trailed off, not knowing how she could explain to her childhood friend the feelings she'd felt when she hugged her. It was a confusing feeling – she didn't understand why her heart was racing and why she didn't want the moment to end.

"It's…okay…" Umi murmured, her face still red as she looked away. She too, was confused over heart pounding heart. How could such a small gesture make her heart race like that? What was wrong with her? It wasn't the first time Honoka had hugged her.

"Honoka-chan, Umi-chan, are you two okay?" Kotori voiced out anxiously. She'd seen the blushes on both of her childhood friend's face and got concerned over how the two friends were not making any eye contact after the hug.

"I-I'm fine…" the ginger haired girl forced a smile as she tried to calm her heart down. It's just a hug.

"I'm fine too…" Umi said.

"Then, shall we go?" the grey haired girl proposed, unaware of the raging turmoil inside her two childhood friends' heart.

Honoka made a sound of agreement as she put on the gloves that Umi lent her while the bluenete stayed silent as the trio headed for school.

A/N: Reviews are much appreciated!