Disclaimer : I do not own Love Live!
Kotori and Umi were sitting in the clubroom. They have to wait for about fifteen minutes before they could start searching around the school, trying to find any guardian to give them clue about where the treasure was. Once in awhile Kotori took a peek at the bluenette who sat beside her. Her brown eyes were glowing. Somehow she looks like she was really fired up with this game they played.
"Umi-chan, don't you need to rest? You could have declined this game you know." Kotori turned her head aside, asking the girl beside her.
"It's impolite to decline when Hoshizora-san has invited me directly. Beside it's a good chance to know more about myself." Umi answered, gazing straight ahead with eyes full of passion.
She's really like Umi-chan. Kotori giggled. She recalled how they ended up in this situation.
"Let's play the treasure hunter nyaa~"
"What kind of game is that?" Hanayo tilted her head in confusion.
"A game I made myself! The rule is simple, one person is going to be a pirate, and the rest of us will be the guardian who guarding the treasure. The pirate may choose one of us to be her subordinate. The rest of the guardian will hide around the school and when the pirate encounters one of them, she will be given a question. If she answers it correctly, the guardian will give her a piece of paper which will lead her to the exact location of the treasure. And if she's wrong, she'll be punished nyaa~" Rin explained the rules to everyone in the room cheerfully.
"And what is the punishment?" Maki asked and stopped twirling her scarlet hair, seems interested.
"Rin will let every guardian think about it themselves~"
"Sounds fun!" Honoka shouted.
"In other word, the pirates have to answer correctly the question given by all the guardians and only after that she will find the location of the treasure right?" Nico asked and Rin nodded in response.
"I never knew that Rin could have an amusing idea." Nico whispered to Maki.
"She is Rin after all, she's unpredictable sometimes just like Honoka." Maki answered looking at her said friend and smiled.
"Well, since we celebrate Umi's discharge, Umi should be the pirates then! You're alright with this right?" Eli looked at the bluenette.
Umi paused for awhile. She looked unsure. Just when Kotori was about to protest for Umi, the bluenette smiled and then she opened her mouth. "I will accept your challange!" Umi answered enthusiastically.
"Now, choose the person who will accompany you, you should choose carefully~" Nozomi said playfully.
"I choose Minami-san." Without hesitating, Umi answered immediately while looking at the girl beside her. She's too fired to realize that there's a faint blush on Kotori's cheeks.
"I have a question, is there a time limit?" Umi shifted her eyes back to Rin.
"Obviously you have to find the treasure before the school is closed nya!" Rin answered.
"Around two hours eh…" Umi muttered to herself.
"Since everyone already understands the rules, let the game begin!" Eli said, followed by excited shout from the other members.
And that's concluded how they were end up in this situation. Not like before, the clubroom is really quite now since the other members has left already to hide, leaving the two of them alone. It's not that Kotori disliked it. In fact she's enjoying the time she spent with the bluenette alone. Even though they were just sitting and do nothing and she could feel the awkward silence between them starting to get to her nerve. Not that the Umi she remembered would do anything anyway. As long as she remembered, they never did anything further than a kiss on the forehead or the cheeks. She remembered the first time Umi kissed her. In her room, Kotori was working on a costume for their next PV and Umi helped her. Since it was already late, Kotori insisted that Umi should sleep over at her house that night, and of course Umi couldn't refuse it. After they finished, they sat by the bed and chatted for awhile. Even though they were only chatting, it's a precious time for the both of them. After all that works before, soon Kotori felt tired. She yawned and leaned her head to Umi's shoulder, making the older girl blushed. Fortunately for Umi, Kotori didn't realize it. Kotori closed her eyes, letting the sleepiness took away her consciousness. Before she completely fell asleep, suddenly she could feel a soft and warm sensation on her forehead. When she opened her head, she could see that Umi was leaning closer to her and kissed her forehead.
"I love you, Kotori." Umi who hasn't realized that Kotori was awake, stroked Kotori's hair gently.
"I love you too, Umi-chan." Kotori responded, making the older girl startled and immediately back off with blushing face.
"Ko-Kotori, you were a-awake?!" Umi said surprised, her whole face is red like a boiled lobster.
"Hmmm! You know Umi-chan, you should do it when I was awake~" Kotori said, teasing her girlfriend.
"No-not in a million t-time!" Umi pause for awhile and then she started speaking again. "I just d-did something in-indecent…" Umi covered her face with her hands, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Umi-chan you are so cute!" Kotori couldn't help but embrace her beloved girlfriend tightly.
Remembering that, Kotori smiled to herself. Fifteen minutes has passed and now they already started walking around the school. While they were walking, another fifteen minutes passed but they haven't encountered any guardian yet. Soon they realized that walking aimlessly like this won't get them anywhere. The school was a big place to hide. Therefore there were only the two of them. Even if they split up, Umi was the only one who has the rights to answer the question given by the guardian so it won't help that much. Kotori looked at the older girl beside her. Umi was frowning. Even though she didn't say it, her face was saying something like 'this is harder than I thought.' Kotori wanted to help the bluenette. She thought of any possible place that may be used as a hide out by the other members. Suddenly an idea popped to her mind.
"Umi-chan, why don't we start searching from outside first?" Kotori offered to the bluenette.
"Do you have some place in mind, Minami-san?" Umi stopped, looking at Kotori.
"Well you could say I have~" Kotori smiled playfully.
In other parts of the school two people were sitting side by side, trying their best to hide their presence.
"Kayo-chin, why did we hide in this place?" Rin asked the brunette beside her, still didn't understand why she choose that place.
"Because this is the safest place to hide, beside those guys will protect us perfectly so Umi-chan will be having a hard time to find us." Hanayo answered as quiet as she could to Rin. Faintly, they could hear something like chewing sound.
"By the way Rin-chan, how can you come up with the idea for this game?" Hanayo asked her childhood friend.
"You see Kayo-chin, yesterday Rin read a comic about pirates, and then Rin thought why don't we played something like treasure hunter game, I'm sure it will be fun! And that's how Rin came up with this idea nya~" Rin explained proudly.
"Eh? So this has nothing to do with bringing back Umi-chan's memories?" Hanayo looked surprised and the latter just smiled innocently. After several minutes, they could hear some footsteps walking toward their direction. They both immediately covered their mouth with their hands, trying not to let out a sound. They tried to take a peek and saw that it was Kotori and Umi.
"How can they're here already?!" Hanayo let go of her hands that covering her mouth, whispering to Rin in panic.
"I don't know! Maybe Umi-chan is an esper now!" Rin whispered back.
"Haaa~ it's been a long time since the last time I came here~" Kotori said while walking to the one of the alpacas.
"Minami-san… is there a particular reason why we come here?" Umi asked the younger girl confusedly.
"Because they're cute~" Kotori looked at the alpaca closely and starting to enter her dreaming state.
"They're… cute? Mi-Minami-san, I don't think it's a good idea to get that close to them, you'll get bitten!" Umi stepped back.
"It's okay Umi-chan." Suddenly the alpaca with white fur in front of Kotori licked her face, making her surprised and taken aback.
"Wh-what should I do? I-I'll take my bow and―" before Umi could finished, the other alpaca with brown fur let out a loud noise, indicate that the alpaca was angry.
"You shouldn't do that!" A voice could be heard from inside the alpaca's enclosure.
"Hanayo-chan? Rin-chan?" Kotori looked at her juniors. Hanayo and Rin stood up trying to calm down the alpacas.
"There, there…" Hanayo stroked the alpacas carefully.
"Umi-chan it's wrong to shot this alpacas!" Rin said to Umi.
"I-I just―" suddenly Umi froze, making the others confused.
"Umi-chan, is there something wrong?" Kotori was the first one to ask.
"Isn't something similar like this… happened before?" Umi put her hand on her forehead, looks like she remembered something. But then her head starting to hurt and she wince in pain.
"Umi-chan!" Kotori immediately ran to the bluenette to help her. "Umi-chan, are you okay? If you're not feeling well, let's stop this game and go home, okay?" Kotori said to the bluenette worriedly.
"I'm okay Minami-san. Let's continue this." Umi shook her head and smiled, asking Kotori to keep playing. Kotori couldn't do anything and so she nodded in return. If Umi was this determined to clear this game then all she could do was accompany her until the end. After the alpacas calmed down, Hanayo and Rin get out and they walked to Kotori and Umi's direction.
"Since you already found us, we'll give you the question." Hanayo said.
"May I ask a question first?" Umi interrupted. "Why are Hoshizora-san and Koizumi-san together? Aren't you supposed to hide by yourself?"
"Rin was afraid to hide by herself, so she followed Kayo-chin nya! Ehehe~" Rin smiled with a little hint of embarrassment on her face. Umi couldn't help but smiled herself.
"Here is the question, what did the ocean say to the beach?" Rin asked the bluenette. Umi paused for a while. She tilted her head thinking. Kotori did the same. After several minutes, Umi smirked to herself, like she was already found the answer.
"The answer is nothing. The ocean never said anything to the beach, it only waved." Umi smiled.
"Aaaaaaah how could Umi-chan answer it so easily like that? It takes a whole day for Rin to figure it out!" Rin fell to her knees meanwhile Hanayo couldn't say nothing more and all she could do was clapping her hands and helped Rin to get up.
"Umi-chan you're amazing!" Kotori said to the bluenette and the latter only smiled victoriously.
"As promised, here is your reward." Hanayo handed them a piece of paper. Umi took it and she read it.
"The place where… Only that?" She seems disappointed.
"We're not even closed to the location." Kotori frowned.
"Hehe you have to search for another guardian to find out nya~" Rin said, regained her cheerfulness.
Umi clenched both her fists, already pumped again. "Let's go Minami-san!" she said to Kotori and the latter nodded in returned.
"Well then see you later, Rin-chan, Hanayo-chan~" Umi and Kotori started walking again.
"Good luck Umi-chan, Kotori-chan." Rin and Hanayo said in unison, waving their hands to the silhouette that starting to faded.
"Maki-chan, why are we here? Why don't we find a better place to hide?" Nico asked the junior who sat in front of her.
"Because it's troublesome." The younger girl replied while twirling her scarlet hair.
"Maki-chan, you didn't put so much thought into this." Nico pouted.
"Of course I did! It's just that maybe by coming here Umi will remember one thing or two, because she used to come here a lot to practice." Maki let out a sigh.
"If that's what you think it's okay then. But Leave the question to me!" Nico walked closer to Maki and patted her in the head.
"F-fine…" Maki turned her head, hiding her blushing face.
Umi and Kotori were now entering the school building again. Kotori has suggested that they should check the music room, because Maki would probably be there. Umi looked at the clock. They have spent an half an hour alredy. She quickened her pace, followed by Kotori. After they arrived in front of the music room, Umi opened the door only to see Nico and Maki was facing each other with their faces really close.
"Yazawa-san and Nishikino-san… what are the two of you doing in the same place? Aren't you supposed to hide by yourself?" Umi repeated the question she asked for Rin and Hanayo. Both Nico and Maki surprised and they started acting awkwardly.
"W-well you could s-say that we decided to f-form an alliance! Aha ha ha…" Nico stuttered while Maki just turned her head aside hiding her embarrassment. Umi just tilted her head in confusion. Fortunate for them that Umi was oblivious to whatever they're going to do. Umi walked in to the music room followed by Kotori behind her.
"Alright then it's time for the question, are you ready?" Nico said to the bluenette and she nodded in responses.
"What has many keys but can't open any doors?" Nico asked. Once again, both Umi and Kotori tilted their head, trying to find the answer. Five minutes has passed and they still couldn't answer it. Umi looked around for a change of situation when suddenly she saw something and smiled.
"Oh, it seems that you already know the answer?" Nico who noticed Umi's smile raised her eyebrow.
"The answer is that." Umi pointed her finger to the thing behind Maki. Maki and Nico both turned around and then they looked at each other.
"You're right, the answer is piano." Maki said giving her a piece of paper that will lead her to the location of the treasure. "I told you that it was too easy." Maki shifted her eyes to the raven-haired girl and let out a sigh.
"Well thanks to you I couldn't think of anything else!" Nico protested.
"What does that even mean?!" Maki shouted in return.
"Since you are the only one here before, I couldn't think anything else but something that related to you!" Nico answered without thinking, making the younger girl blushed.
"S-stupid! We're talking about Umi here n-not me…" Maki shifted her gaze. Realized what she said earlier, Nico's face started to reddened as well.
Watching Maki and Nico in front of her, Umi leaned closer to Kotori and whispered. "Do the two of them always like this?"
"You could say that." Kotori smiled. "Umi-chan, what does the paper say?" Kotori asked the bluenette.
"The goddess… The place where the goddess?" Umi tried to figure it out but she still couldn't find the place that fit that description. "We need more clue." She said.
"Who's the members you haven't found yet?" finally Maki regain her composure and asked Umi and Kotori.
"We haven't found Honoka-chan, Eli-chan, and Nozomi-chan." Kotori said while counting the other members who remained.
"You better hurry. You only have one hour left." Nico said looking at the pair. Umi nodded.
"See you later~" Kotori and Umi walked to the door and left the two of them alone.
Nico then walked closer to her junior. "Shall we continue where we left out?" Nico said teasingly.
"S-stupid…" Maki answered.
In another room, Eli and Nozomi sat side by side, discussing something.
"Do you think that this game will help Umi remember something?" The blonde asked the girl beside her.
"I don't know…" Nozomi looked down. "Elichi, if you forgot something what would you think that will be the trigger to make you remember again?"
"I think… It's something related to…love?" Eli answered, looking unsure.
"Oh my, the cool and cute Elichika have grown up already, somehow I'm feeling lonely~" Nozomi teased the younger girl only to be amused by her reaction.
"Geez No-Nozomi!" Eli turned her reddened face, her hand on her chin.
"Ahaha my Elichi is so cute~" Nozomi keep teasing the blonde for awhile.
Umi and Kotori were walking around the school. "Only three more left right?" Umi asked Kotori who walked beside her.
"Hmmmm." Kotori nodded. She paused for awhile and then started speaking again."Umi-chan, I think I have an idea where to find Eli-chan and Nozomi-chan." Kotori smiled brightly.
After they left the music room, they wandered for a while before finally they head straight to the student council room. Kotori was sure that Nozomi or Eli would be there. Since Rin was together with Hanayo and Nico was together with Maki, somehow she had a hunch that Nozomi will be together with Eli. When they arrived at the student council room she was right. She could saw Nozomi and Eli sitting.
"Ah hello there Umi-chan, Kotori-chan! We have been waiting for you~" Nozomi said cheerfully. Umi didn't bother to ask why they were together anymore, so she just said straight to the point.
"We have found you, so what is the question?"
"Umi really is fired up." Eli giggled. "Okay, here is the question. What is the thing that the ocean likes the most?" Eli asked while smiling, confident that her question will be hard to answer. She was right. It's already been fifteen minutes but Umi still couldn't answer her.
"It's a hard one…" she muttered to herself, eyebrows frowning. After about twenty minutes, finally Umi decided to try her luck.
"The answer is sun." Umi said, looking at Eli and Nozomi.
"Wroooong~" Nozomi said teasingly. "The correct answer is a bird." Nozomi smiled mischievously at Kotori.
Realized the meaning of the question, Kotori's face started blushing furiously. Nozomi and Eli giggled, amused by Kotori's reaction. Meanwhile Umi was confused, didn't really understand what happened.
"Since you failed to answer the question, you have to be punished." Eli said to the bluenette. Umi gulped, afraid of the punishment that about to come.
"The punishment is, you have to kiss Kotori-chan~" Nozomi smiled slyly.
"Eeeeh?!" Both Umi and Kotori surprised.
"Toujou-san, there's no way I do something like that to Minami-san! Not to mention in front of other people!" Umi protested with all of her might.
"It's your own fault that you didn't answer our question correctly~" Nozomi said teasingly.
"B-but!"
"No more buts― now you should hurry up Umi, the time is tight." Eli said while trying to hide her smile. Kotori looked at Umi. The older girl faces already bright red like a tomato and she could feel hers too. Umi walked closer to Kotori
"I'm sorry, Minami-san…." She leaned forward and closed her eyes.
Kotori could feel that her heart beating really fast, almost like it was going to burst. She never imagined that her first kiss will come like this. She closed her eyes too, waiting for the contact from Umi's lip to touch hers. But then all she received was a quick peck from Umi on the cheek.
"There, I've done it." Said Umi, her face was still red.
"Eeeeh, why didn't you kiss Kotori-chan on the lips?" Nozomi seems disappointed.
"You never said that I have to kiss her on the lips." Umi answered. Kotori didn't say anything. She was too surprised to react to their conversation.
"As I expected from Umi." Eli giggled. "Here, this is your reward for doing your punishment." Eli gave her a piece of paper.
"Dances and sing...? The place where the goddess dances and sing?" Umi paused for awhile, thinking. Suddenly one place comes to her mind and then she smiled. "Looks like I know where the treasure is."
"But you have to remember, there's a final guardian who guard the treasure." Eli reminded them.
"You better hurry, your time is almost up~" Nozomi said playfully.
"Let's go, Kotori!" Kotori who hasn't moved for awhile finally come back to her sense when Umi holds her hands and drag her out of the room, leaving Eli and Nozomi behind.
Didn't she just call me Kotori? Kotori looked at the bluenette who still running while holding her hands. Seems like she didn't realized what she said earlier and what she do right now. Umi was holding Kotori's. Kotori smiled to herself.
Umi-chan is really Umi-chan after all.
A/N : Hello it's me again~ thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! I apologize for any mistakes and typos. And we have another alpacas scene, it's another reference from season 1 episode 4. And if any of you confused by NozoEli's question, Umi means the ocean while Kotori means the bird :D
Rena Bodewig : Because Umi-chan is still Umi-chan after all haha :p I've add some hints in this chapter although I'm not sure if it was clear enough ._.
Since I'm having exam starting next week, I think that the next update will be late for a week or two, I'm apologize for that
Well then, see you next update~