Chapter 2

The morning dawned slightly later than it should have, the sun casting its orange rays across the town that was slowly waking up. It was a Saturday, meaning most of the town's youth were taking it easy at their own pace and sleeping in.

Not the case for the members of Muse though, who were all up and ready to carry out their exercise routines as per normal. All of them, minus one particular ginger-haired girl...

"Honoka! That's enough sleeping!" Umi yelled as she pulled at the bedsheet which Honoka was hiding under. "We're going to be late to meet the rest!"

"Just five minutes more..."

"Absolutely not! Kotori, say something!"

"Eeeh, but Honoka-chan's sleeping face is so cute..." the brunette went over to the bedside, sitting beside it and gently stroking Honoka's hair.

With a dreamy smile that made it impossible to distinguish whether she was really awake, Honoka snuggled further towards her pillow and Kotori's hand.

"Kotori! You're too soft on her!"

"Shh..." Kotori hushed while she leaned over her girlfriend...

If Umi's eyes weren't deceiving her, Honoka's smile seemed to widen.

The brunette blew softly into Honoka's ear.

"Uwaaaaaah!" the ginger-haired girl shot up as she began scratching at her ear desperately to get rid of the lingering sensation. "Kotori-chan, that's mean!"

"See Umi-chan, you don't actually need to yell at Honoka-chan to wake her up." Kotori's voice was absolutely innocent, as well as the smile she delivered sweetly at the other two.

The archer could only slap her palm to her forehead in exasperation at her girlfriends' antics. At least, until Honoka leapt out of bed to hug both of them. "Umi-chan and Kotori-chan both came to fetch me for training? I'm so touched!"

"... Just go wash up and get dressed."

A few streets away at the shrine, though bathed in the same rays of the dawning sun, the atmosphere was unfortunately a lot less warmer.

"Rin-chan, good morning..."

"Oh, Kayo-chin. Good morning."

The two fell into silence. After what had happened yesterday evening, there was no small amount of awkwardness between them. Rin was back to lacking her usual energy, even though she looked more awake than she normally did in the morning.

As for Hanayo, there was no hiding her eye-bags or irises that were red from all that crying she had done last night. Not without a suspiciously large pair of sunglasses anyway.

Plucking up her courage, Hanayo tried to start a conversation while fiddling with the zip on her pink training outfit. "Are you okay Rin-chan? You look a bit tired."

"Hmm? Rin's fine nya. It's Kayo-chin who looks-" Rin began to reply, only to have her voice trail off as she turned her head downwards. "Sorry Kayo-chin."

Silence, yet again. Hanayo's mind was starting to overheat from all her thoughts chasing one another, yet they were all words she couldn't possibly say to her best friend. But the tension was at least alleviated by the arrival of a certain redhead.

"Maki-chan! Maki-chan, Maki-chan, Maki-chaaaaan~" Rin began chanting the composer's name while bouncing around, before pouncing on her to slump over her shoulders.

"What- Get off me!"

The catlike girl only curled her lips in a very feline smile, teasing, "Maki-chan's blushing again so early in the morning~"

Hanayo couldn't help but feel a sting of jealousy in her heart, that Rin was practically all over Maki... when was the last time she had done that to her? Since they were kids? It had been a very long time since Rin last initiated such contact with Hanayo; such things were infrequent once they had grown up and entered high-school. The most she had done recently was holding her hand, and that was only cause of what was happening between the second-years...

"Oi! That's my spot!" Nico yelled from where she was, arriving just slightly behind Maki.

"We can all share Maki-chan!"

Tilting her head in confusion, Hanayo spoke up again, trying to ignore the growing unease in her heart. "Eh? Nico-chan, I thought your house was in the other direction..."

"Huh? I... Nico just took a detour today~" Nico blustered while making her signature pose, fooling no one. Beside her, Maki's blush only seemed to intensify as she finally managed to push Rin off her.

"Let's... let's just start with warm-ups then," the brunette concluded hesitantly.

As the four of them began their stretches the rest of the team slowly arrived, with the second-year trio last to reach.

"Sorry we're late..." Umi apologised while Honoka smiled sheepishly beside her. "Someone didn't wake up on time."

Eli smiled understandingly at them, her sapphire eyes bearing a tinge of amusement. "Well, it's fine if it's once in a while. Why don't we get started?"

And so the members of Muse began their training, running up and down the shrine steps in pairs. It was starting to get pretty late in autumn, and the cold early-morning wind provided much relief to the girls who panted as they continued their laps. It was tough training like that every day, but that was just part and parcel of being a school idol, wasn't it?

They were aiming for the top, after all.

"Ahh we're finally done..." Honoka breathed a sigh of relief as she collapsed at the top of the steps alongside Kotori. "Somehow it feels like I never get any stronger no matter how much I run every day."

"You would if you could just cut down on the amount of sweets you eat. I swear Honoka, with the amount of calories you take in everyday, you won't be able to fit into our costumes if it wasn't for our training," Umi retorted sharply, her hands on her hips while standing over the other pair.

Honoka only pouted in response. "Umi-chan always nags at me for every single thing. So are you two coming over today?"

"Mm!" Kotori responded, climbing back onto her feet. "Since we're not having dance practice today we'll be helping out at your family bakery."

"Oh? Sounds interesting. I don't know much about Japanese sweets..." Eli interjected.

The ginger-haired girl scratched the back of her head, grimacing. "Actually there's not a lot to do... that's why I only asked Umi-chan and Kotori-chan. Sorry. I'll invite all of you over to help during the New Year rush!"

"Ah it's okay, I'm sure you girls have it well on hand today. We do have to work on our revision anyway."

"That's right, we wouldn't want to intrude on you three~" Nozomi added with mischief in her voice.

"We're just making sweets! Sweets! Let's just get going," the archer sighed as her palm met her forehead for the second time that day. Some days, it was really hard for her to be the sensible one amongst all these girls.

Over on the other side, the first-years were debating on the plans for the rest of the day after listening to the rest.

"Ah, that's sad. Rin wanted to try making Japanese sweets too... it sounds fun nya!"

"Well, Honoka-chan did say she'll invite us over closer to the New Year. We'll just have to wait till then," Hanayo responded softly. "Rin-chan, do you want to go to town with me today? A-RISE's new song is being shown later in front of their school building and I have to go catch it no matter what."

"Eh? That... Sorry Kayo-chin. Rin has other things to attend to. Rin will see you on Monday okay?" the orange-haired girl only apologised awkwardly before dashing off into the streets, even before Hanayo could call out after her.

Rin-chan always accompanied me whenever I asked something this selfish of her... I guess she really hates me after yesterday... Negative thoughts began sprouting up in the brunette's mind once again, swirling in her head. Until a timely interruption by a twin-tailed girl putting an arm around her shoulders.

"There there Hanayo, let the awesome super high school idol Nico-nii accompany you instead~ But we better get going, the broadcast in front of their school starts in a couple of hours and we still need to change."

Taking a glance at her phone for the time, Hanayo let out a shriek of alarm before running off towards the nearest train station with Nico right beside her, somehow running even faster than they had during training.

"Those two really never change," Maki muttered to herself while twirling her hair around her fingers. But that was alright, she was sure she could find a way for Nico to make it up to her later. Gathering her belongings, she started on her way home. "See you two later."

Which left only the team's blonde and spiritual girl, standing in the shadow of the shrine.

"Everyone's excitable as always, huh?" Eli tried to laugh it off, but her forced laughter soon died down. "Never mind. Something happened between Hanayo and Rin, don't you think?"

"Maa, they're beginning to move towards their destinies," Nozomi produced her well-worn tarot deck from her bag, drawing two cards at random. 'The Hanged Man', and 'The Sun' reversed.

"So?"

The spiritual girl had a wry smile on her face while she put the cards back in her bag. "Well, I think we do have some time before we step in. We're not the only ones around to help them anyway."

"That's... good. Did you bring your notes?"

"Of course~"

"Alright, let's head back to my place then. We only have a few months left to cover all this material from the last three years," Eli sighed as she began walking down the streets, with Nozomi matching her pace by her side. "You're by no means weak in anything Nozomi, but you're smart enough that I won't let you get away with scoring more than a few marks below me."

"How scary, Eli-chi~ Are you going to punish me if I do?"

Eli felt her face heating up, despite the cool morning air. It was an effect that Nozomi had solely over her, and one that the violet-haired girl never hesitated to invoke.

"... Don't say things that can be easily misunderstood!"