Honoka ended spending the entire weekend at Kotori's house and she had a lot of fun with Kotori. But now that the weekend was over it was time to go back to school and Honoka was lees then thrilled. Honoka knew that going back to school meant that she would have to face Umi and she wasn't sure if she was ready to confront Umi yet. Kotori noticed that Honoka wasn't even trying to get ready for school.
"Honoka, you need to get ready for school" Kotori said
Honoka didn't even move, she just lied there on the bed refusing to move. This confused Kotori because Honoka was lively and active over the weekend but now she just looked depressed just like she was on the day Umi said all those hurtful things to her.
"Honoka, let's get ready for school" Kotori said
"I'm not going to school" Honoka said
"Why don't you want to go to school?" Kotori asked
"Because I don't want to face Umi" Honoka said
"Honoka you don't have to worry about Umi right now" Kotori said
"It's not just Umi, it's everything that Umi said as well. I'm not sure if I'm a capable leader, what's even worse is that I'm the student council president but I never did anything. I'm just failure at everything I do and I end up dragging other people into to my problems, I'm just big burden to everyone. All this time I've been dragging other people into my plans without hearing their opinion. I'm so selfish. I can't do anything by myself" Honoka said
"Did Umi's words make her less confident? That must be it" Kotori thought
"Honoka, I don't think you're a burden at all, in fact having you around makes things more fun. Your ideas are always interesting and fun. You don't drag people along with you, you make people want to follow you and support you. I think that you're very selfless person because when you heard that the school was going to close down you could've just ignored it and continue on with your school life. But you didn't, you wanted to save the school. You brought all of us together and all of us became friends. You're not a failure because you were able to save the school from closing. Please don't think of yourself as someone who can't do anything because there things that you can do, so please have faith in yourself" Kotori said
Honoka looked at her with shocked expression because she never thought that Kotori had this much faith in her. Kotori gave Honoka a smile and then she held out her hand towards Honoka.
"Come on, let's go to school" Kotori said
Honoka smiled back at Kotori and took her hand. Both girls left Kotori's house and were on their way to school. They arrived and luckily they didn't run into Umi yet. They went to class and soon it was time for lunch and both girls went to the roof. Since Honoka didn't have a lunch with her Kotori shared some of her lunch with Honoka. Honoka was really happy that Kotori was sharing her lunch with her. Lunch was over so the girls went back to class. School was out and now it was time for both girls to head to the student council. Honoka was still a little discouraged but Kotori was able to give Honoka enough courage to go to the student council and get some work done. They made it to the student council room and they saw that Umi was already there. Umi looked up and saw that it was Honoka and Kotori that entered the room.
"It's about time that you two showed up, are you ready to get to work" Umi said
Honoka was hiding behind Kotori, she was still afraid of Umi right now.
Knowing that Honoka didn't want to speak to Umi right now Kotori decided to speak for her.
"We came as soon as we could" Kotori said
"It doesn't change the fact that you were late" Umi said
"Being late is better than not showing up at all" Kotori said
"Try to make it on time next time" Umi said
The three girls got to work immediately and none of them said a single word to each other. They've been working for at least an hour and Honoka decided to take a little break. She wanted ask Kotori if she wanted to take a break but hesitated because Umi was in the room and Honoka was afraid that she would get another tongue lashing. But Honoka remembered that Kotori wanted her to have faith in herself, so Honoka decided to speak to Kotori no longer caring if Umi was in the room or not.
"Kotori do you want to take a small snack break?" Honoka asked
Kotori turned towards Honoka and smiled.
"Sure, I think we all deserve a break" Kotori said
"We need continue working so sit back down and stop goofing off so we can take this job seriously" Umi said
Honoka decided to speak to Umi since she knew that she couldn't avoid her forever.
"Umi, it'll just be small break" Honoka said
Umi glared at Honoka at gave her a cold hearted reply.
"Work hard on something else besides our idol group. If you're going collapse again then at least collapse doing work for others instead of yourself" Umi said
"UMI! DON'T SAY THAT!" Kotori shouted
But it was too late, the damage had been done. Honoka had heard what Umi just said. She was shaking and had tears running down her face.
"Crying already? If you were raised the way I was then words like this wouldn't have affected you, I guess you were raised by a weak family, I was raised by a strong family. You're weak and I'm strong." Umi said
Kotori had heard enough and slapped Umi straight across the face. Kotori was really angry this time. Honoka couldn't take it anymore and ran out the room in tears. Kotori went after her, completely ignoring Umi. The chase went leaded to the girls' bathroom but Kotori was able to catch Honoka before she could lock the bathroom stall like she did last time. Kotori hugged Honoka so she could comfort her.
"Honoka don't listen to anything that Umi just said, your fine the way you are" Kotori said
Honoka was sobbing into Kotori's chest. Her uniform was wet from Honoka's tears. Seeing Honoka like this really broke her heart. She hated seeing her best friend in pain like this. Umi's jealousy was out of control. If Umi keeps bullying Honoka like this, then Honoka will lose even more confidence in herself. Kotori was afraid that Honoka would lose her ability to smile and laugh and that was something that she didn't want to happen. She wanted Honoka to be happy not sad.
"I really am weak" Honoka said
"No you're not, you're strong" Kotori said
"How do you know?" Honoka asked
"Because you can smile through anything, and that a sign of someone who's very strong. You don't need to be anything like Umi. You just need to be yourself" Kotori said
Honoka was looking at Kotori with teary eyes and Kotori was giving Honoka a smile to tell that everything would be ok.
Honoka soon felt her beat really fast and was looking at Kotori with a blush on her face. Kotori was looking Honoka and realized that Honoka looked very cute right now. Both girls felt their hearts beating twice as fast.
"Kotori, you look prettier than usual right now" Honoka said
"Honoka, you look cuter than usual right now" Kotori said
Both girls realized that they had fallen in love with each other because the fast heart beats that they were experiencing right now was a sign that they had a crush on each other. Both girls were leaning towards each other's faces and soon their lips made contact with each other. The kiss lasted for a few seconds before the finally separated. Both girls felt really happy right now.
"Our first kiss and it feels wonderful don't you think so" Kotori said
"Yes, I do think feels wonderful" Honoka said
The two girls decided to kiss again this time it lasted for at least a minute.
Umi was on her way to the restroom and when she was about to enter she heard some moaning. She looked in and was shocked at what she saw. She saw both Kotori and Honoka making out. Umi was frozen in place. But she soon broke out of her stoned state. She was angry because Honoka was stealing the girl that Umi loved for so long. Umi decided to teach Honoka a lesson. Umi stormed into the bathroom. Both Kotori and Honoka heard her footsteps and saw that Umi was headed straight for them. Honoka was scared because she didn't want Umi to discourage her anymore. Umi soon ran up Honoka and gave her slap across the face which knocked Honoka to the floor.
"UMI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Kotori yelled
Umi ignored Kotori and focused all of her attention on Honoka.
"Do you like stealing from others?" Umi asked
Honoka was still recovered from the slap that Umi gave her but she still heard what she said.
"What do you mean by that?" Honoka asked
"You get everything you want without putting much effort in them and that really pisses me off" Umi said
"I don't know what you mean!" Honoka said
"I deserve to be with Kotori because I had crush on her for a long time now. But I found you making out with her right here in the bathroom, you just like to steal everything from me don't you?" Umi explained
Kotori was shocked to hear that Umi had crush on her.
"No! I'm not trying to steal anything from you!" Honoka cried
"DON'T YOU DARE LIE TO ME!" Umi shouted
"UMI! STOP IT!" Kotori yelled
Kotori got in front of Honoka held her arms wide while she was facing Umi.
"You need to stop bullying Honoka right now! Do you realize that you're making her lose confidence in herself every time you bully her? You need to stop hurting her feelings or else Honoka might never smile or laugh again. A Honoka that doesn't smile or laugh is a miserable Honoka" Kotori said
"She needs to learn that people who work hard deserve more credit!" Umi said
"Honoka may not be the hardest worker but she can really work hard once she sets her mind to it" Kotori said
"She doesn't deserve to be with you, come with me instead" Umi said
"I can't be with someone who's a bully" Kotori said
"Suite yourself" Umi said
Umi left bathroom and left the two girls alone. Kotori turned towards Honoka to see if she was alright. Honoka was looking at the ground. She was shaking and tears were coming out of her eyes. Kotori sat down in front of Honoka and gave her another comforting hug and Honoka cried into Kotori shirt. Kotori decided that she was going to protect her new girlfriend against any type of bullying. Honoka was that her new girlfriend was there to give her comfort when she needed.