"Rei, I'm actually getting nervous." Shun said as he and Reifu walked side by side towards the shrine. They actually aimed to be earlier than the designated time. Shun didn't want to keep them waiting after all. That would actually be embarrassing on their part.

"Getting nervous from meeting other people?" Reifu asked. "That's not like you Shun."

"What are you talking about?" The brown haired boy asked. "Remember I first transferred? I didn't even talk with anyone."

"Oh right. Now, how did that go again…"

It was another normal day in Amagiri Gakuen. It actually had a middle school and a high school so it worked to most people's favors. Shun was at the window seat, eating his lunch all by himself. He never did got to make friends with anyone in his class. He was so used to Rin introducing him to people that he forgot how to actually make them without any help from others. He didn't mind it all that much though but then again, he was going to be here until high school so he should at least make one right?

As he silently ate his lunch, a blue haired boy watched him eat. Balls of sweat formed in his face as he stared at the lunch he was eating. Egg rolls, one of his all time favorite food. The boy only ate a sandwich and that was not enough to distract him from actually wanting the egg roll. But he couldn't just ask for it out of the blue right? I mean, he doesn't even know the other person.

Shun looked to the side to his his seat mate, Reifu, staring at his food rather intently. At first, he didn't know what to think of it. Did he want to eat? Or is there something else? "U-Um... " He took his lunch and offered it to him. "Do you want some? I can't exactly finish this all by myself." The brown haired boy said rather shyly.

"Really?" Reifu looked at him with expectations in his eyes. "Don't mind if I do then." He said picking an egg roll up and eating it. "Sato Reifu, nice to meet you." The blue haired boy said, feeling the need to formally introduce himself again.

"Katanashi Shun. Pleasure to meet you as well." The brown haired boy said with a smile. And that was how it all started between the two.

"Oh right." Reifu said as they recounted their memories of their first meeting. It wasn't normal but hey, that's life. They reached the local shrine and they immediately headed to pray. It was a normal thing to do. It was actually a plus to have this meeting here because they always came here to pray every Sunday.

Reifu then gave Shun his phone. "Watch one of their lives." He said as they both sat down at the bench. "They're not half bad although they didn't get on the last Love Live. I think it has something to do with one of the members passing out or something."

Shun watched, this time not just looking at Rin and Hanayo but listening as well. It was quite amazing really, how far they've gone. When they were all kids, being an idol was just the pipe dream of Hanayo but now they actually made it reality… and they're shining so brightly. He could tell that they were doing their best and he was happy for them. "Amazing." He muttered to himself. He couldn't find any words to properly describe it so he settled for that.

"Thank you." A voice behind them said causing the brown haired male to jump in surprise. He turned around to see the same violet haired girl he saw in the video. "Nice to meet you. I'm Toujou Nozomi." She was still in her shrine maiden outfit. They were pretty early after all. "Are you two Rin-chan and Hanayo-chan's friends?"

"Y-Yes we are." Shun replied nervously. "I'm Katanashi Shun." He said with a deep bow. There was a nervous air around him. Understandable since he's a little shy and, despite being quick friends with everyone in his class, finds it a little hard to introduce himself.

Reifu stood up from the bench, having not been surprised by the shrine maiden suddenly speaking, and turned to her. "Sato Reifu, nice to meet you." He said. Unlike Shun, it was either he was used to it or just didn't give a care in the world about introductions. He said his piece in a monotonous voice and ended it with a small bow.

"You two are very early. It's still an hour before our designated meeting time." Nozomi said, hands behind her back as she talked to them.

"We frequent this shrine every Sunday you see…" Shun said, not revealing his true reasons on why they were early.

The violet haired shrine maiden giggled but shook her head. "I know you two go here every Sunday. I always see you." She informed them. She is one of the shrine maidens and she comes here very early during Sundays since there's no actual training on that day. "But you never come this early. Your earliest is probably 10 a.m."

"Now that I think about it, you do look familiar." Reifu said as he thought about his previous encounters with the shrine maidens of in the area. "Ah, you were the one who I gave that video camera to… that was my family's Christmas present correct?"

"Ah so you're the one who came here one Christmas Eve carrying a present. The son of the Sato family who was a frequent visitor to the shrine here." Nozomi said. "But yes, I was the one who accepted the video camera and I have put it to good use for all these years."

"That is good. And what of the others?" Reifu asked, wondering what kind of present the others received. Sure, he was the one who gave one present but the Sato gave several on that day, different people of the Sato family carrying each present to give out.

"They received a variety of other presents but I can easily say that everyone got a present." Nozomi replied. "Will you conduct one again this Christmas?"

Reifu shrugged. "Father has never mentioned anything about it."

"Then why not conduct your own present giving?" Shun suggested. The brown haired male had just been listening and thought that his two cents might be useful.

"I may have a steady income from my manga but I cannot provide gifts for everyone Shun. Although if there are a lot of people who would be interested in doing so would talk to me, then maybe we can arrange something. But it's going to be costly so most don't actually want to." Reifu replied. "One shrine maiden can't get special treatment."

"Oh I see." The brown haired male said. "Did you guys use your own money to buy?"

Reifu nodded. "Since our family is actually full of people who have good paying jobs at a young age, we have to buy actual expensive gifts to give to the shrine maidens. Then offer a bigger gift to the Goddess who stays here." He replied. "Failure to give gifts when the head has stated means that you are not getting paid well and must find another hobby."

"Oh my, that sounds strict." Nozomi said. "But it gives your family the thrill of giving and finding that you were successful correct?"

The blue haired teen nodded. "I do not know how you know but that is exactly the case." He said.

"Anyway, shouldn't you change by now Toujou-senpai?" Shun asked as he took a peek at his wristwatch. "It's almost time for the meet up."

"Oh? Then I'll change quickly. See you in a few." Nozomi said before walking towards the temple. Her extra clothes would most likely be there.

"Toujou-senpai is pretty interesting isn't she?" Shun asked as he looked at Reifu.

Reifu nodded. "She is."

"I wonder about the others. If Toujou-senpai is like that then…" Shun could only imagine the personalities of everyone else. There's five more that they have to meet and they could all have different personalities.

"Honoka-chan, wait for us!" A voice called out from down the stairs. The thumping of feet could be heard now. It was as if someone was running to the top.

Someone appeared from beyond the stairs. Her sun kissed hair was being blown back by the wind. Her face filled with a joyous and excited expression. "I'm so excited to meet them!" She shouted as she landed on the last step of the stairs.

"Hey look, isn't she part of Muse too?" Reifu asked as he pointed at Honoka. Soon enough an ash gray haired girl and blue haired girl appeared, not out of breath but not exactly in their best shape either. "Them too."

"Oh you're right." Shun said as he examined them carefully. "Well now… I didn't think anyone would be as energetic as our Rin-chan." He joked as he looked over to his blue haired companion with a meek smile.

"Indeed." The other male responded.

The three girls noticed the two boys who had been conversing and headed to them immediately. "Are you two friends of Rin-chan and Hanayo-chan?" Honoka asked as she looked at them both, examining them carefully.

Shun nodded. "We are. I'm Katanashi Shun and he's Sato Reifu." The brown haired boy replied, the tension earlier from introducing himself to Nozomi was gone. "It's nice to meet you." He said with a bow with Reifu following after.

"Nice to meet you too." Honoka said. "I'm Kousaka Honoka, a second year. These are my classmates and childhood friends Sonoda Umi and Minami Kotori." The ginger haired girl said as she turned to her friends to gesture to them. Then the three of them bowed.

"I suppose you could call them normal." Reifu said as he looked at Shun.

"E-Eh? Rei, you actually thought that they wouldn't be normal?" Shun asked as he looked at his best friend.

"Well, I suppose I can still make characters out of them…" Reifu muttered to himself and continued to do so, contemplating on what to do with his manga.

The brown haired male teen smiled. "And he went to mangaka mode." He said before looking at them. "Sorry, Rei sometimes goes to this mode when he thinks of something. He'll come back sooner or later." He said with a light chuckle.

"Sato-kun's a mangaka?" Honoka asked, curiosity once more filling her eyes.

Shun nodded. "He's the author of 'Is this Love?'. He actually wanted to have his original name posted but a little problem occurred so his fake name was taken instead. He's Orimoto Kakushi."

"E-EH!?" Honoka exclaimed before grabbing Reifu's hand, shocking him out of his thoughts. "K-Kakushi-sensei! I'm a big fan of your work. I have all the volumes of your manga and I'm really happy to see you in person!"

"Honoka-chan likes to read a lot of manga you see." Kotori explained to Shun who was beside her. "One of her favorites was written by Orimoto Kakushi. She became a fan of his work ever since."

The blue haired teen nodded. "Yes, it's good to see an enthusiastic fan as well. Thank you for continuing to support me in my profession." It seems that his gratitude was truly sincere despite his monotonous reply.

Honoka let go of his hands and then twirled back to her best friends. "To think I would meet Kakushi-sensei is a real blessing!"

"I did not think that someone could draw so well could only be a first year though." Umi pointed out as she looked at Reifu. "It is true that Maki is good at a lot of things despite being the same age as you but not everyone is that talented."

"Says the heiress to the Sonoda family dojo, grade A archer, traditional dancer, flower arranger and school idol." Shun said with a smile.

Umi blushed, the sudden compliments took her completely off guard. "H-How did you know that?"

"Even if we are talented, we can still get outshone by those who work hard." Reifu said. "I already saw your face on the local newspaper and a magazine, Sonoda-senpai. You are quite famous."

"And we're not exactly blind to Akihabara's legendary maid too. We might not know much about school idol business but we at least go out." Shun said with a chuckle as he looked at Kotori. "They are such an interesting bunch aren't they Rei?"

"Ah, so the second years have arrived." Nozomi said as she walked back to the group. "You're pretty early today, Honoka-chan."

"Nozomi-chan! You were here all along?" The ginger asked as she hopped to the byzantium haired girl.

The girl nodded. "I had the pleasure of meeting these two earlier than the others." She said as she gestured to Reifu and Shun. "Although this isn't my first interaction with Sato-kun."

"Now I wonder where Maki-chan and the others are." Kotori wondered. How come they, of all people, would be late?

"Nico-chan isn't here too. Did they decide to go together?" Honoka wondered as well.

As if on cue, the four arrived with Rin talking with the others and leading them. "What took you guys so long?" Umi asked as she looked at the new arrivals.

"Nico-chan took too long nya~" Rin replied.

"W-Well, I can't help if I need to help around the house!" Nico exclaimed as she crossed her arms.

"At least we're all here right?" Kotori asked, smiling at them brightly.

"I guess we have to introduce ourselves again huh?" Shun asked before looking at Nico. "Nice to meet you, I'm Katanshi Shun." He said with a bow.

"Sato Reifu." The blue haired male said with another bow.

Nico looked at them before putting on her best smile. "My name is Yazawa Nico~" She said. Then performed her original 'Nico-Nico-nii~' in front of them. "If you don't know, I'm actually a third year."

"What an interesting character." Reifu said before looking at Shun. "Yes, it was a good idea to come here. Now I have to go back to create my manga." He said before walking away.

"Oi, wait." Shun said before pulling on the back of the collar of Reifu's shirt. "We're supposed to get to know them better remember? So you can't just bail."

"I see." The blue haired male stayed. "Then where is the other one? They were nine correct?"

"Eri-chi had some business to do." Nozomi explained for the absence of the Russian.

"What a coincidence. President's busy too. I heard he wanted to come with us so he could meet Muse as well." Shun said.

"So, where do we go now? I don't think staying at the shrine will do anything." Maki pointed out.

"We'll just have to let the guys decide it." Honoka said with a smirk.

"Agreed. Wherever they'd feel comfortable." Nozomi said with a nod of approval.

"Then… how about that place?" Reifu asked as he looked at Shun.

"There?" Shun asked. "But we don't have any food to go with it so it's not really the best place to go right now."

"We could always buy as we go there." The blue haired male pointed out. "Of course if it's alright with them." He said as he looked at the others.

"Wait… where exactly are we going?" Nico asked, bewildered at the topic since the two boys were so vague about it.

"To a secret park we often frequent to." Shun replied.

"Wow, it's so pretty." Kotori complimented as they arrived at the park. It was a little out of the way but it overlooked a portion of Tokyo. Trees surrounded the small field with a cherry blossom in the middle but it wasn't blooming yet.

"Wait 'till you go here in summer." Shun said. "The cherry blossoms scatter across the sky… a perfect sight."

"How did you guys discover this place?" Umi asked as she looked around.

"You could say we stumbled on it by accident…" Reifu said before pointing to the top where there was the main road. It had a hill heading down to where they were. "Literally."

"We actually fell from the top." Shun said with chuckle.

"Now that I think about it, Shu-kun, you're not in crutches anymore?" Hanayo observed. She didn't notice it earlier but there was a lack of cast and crutch.

"Uh, yeah. Apparently, my leg healed a little faster than expected." Shun admitted. "It wasn't really all that broken after all. My parents just overreacted and requested to have it in a cast." He said, a little embarrassed by that fact.

"So what exactly do you guys want to learn about us?" Reifu asked as he plopped down on the ground. "Technically, we can answer anything you ask us… right?"

"I suppose. If it's just some basic questions and life stories, then that wouldn't be a problem." The brown haired boy agreed as he sat down next to Reifu. The girls began to sit down as well.

"Hm… then where do you guys live?" Honoka asked.

Reifu pointed towards the portion of the city that they could see. "The apartment over there, near the Nishikino household." The Nishikino household could be seen perfectly from where they were and so the apartment was visible as well.

"Now that I think about it, there's nothing much we can ask about you guys." Umi pointed out. "You know, besides how you guys met Rin and Hanayo."

"I went to the same elementary school with them and our houses were nearby." Shun replied.

"I met Shun and in turn met them two years ago." Reifu responded as well.

"Then do you guys watch Muse?" Kotori asked, tilting her head to show her curiosity.

The brown haired boy shook his head. "Not really. I didn't know about the group before the accident. The only school idols I ever saw was A-Rise and that was because I pass by UTX every now and then."

"Neither have I. I discovered you guys when another friend of mine showed it to me the day when I visited Shun at the hospital." The blue haired male explained.

"Eh~ that's too bad." Nozomi said. "So, are you going to watch us now?"

"I guess…" Shun replied. "I mean, you girls are good at singing and all." He admitted as he rubbed the back of his head, a tinge of red on his face with his eyes avoiding the girls' gazes.

"Listening to you girls isn't half bad." Reifu said with a shrug. "I agree with Shun, you girls have talent… and your feelings those who listen who hear it, even through the internet."

The girls smiled at each other, glad that they were actually being praised even after their failure to get into the Love Live.

"Is there anything important we should know about you?" Umi asked. This was the most efficient way to find out more about the boys.

"Well I'll just go with my personal info then. I'm 15 years old, biologically male, obviously. If one must know my sexuality, then I'm straight. I'm pure Japanese, born in Okinawa but moved here to Tokyo after three years." Shun replied, his hand on his chin as he tried to think of things about him. "I hate bitter things I guess. I'm pretty much an average student at Amagiri. I think that's all…"

"As for me, I'm also 17 years old, biologically male, straight, Japanese, born in Kyoto but moved here upon request of my father." Reifu said, mimicking Shun's order. "I'm a mangaka but almost no one knows it."

"But I thought Sato-kun was a first year?" Honoka asked, wondering about his odd age. He was actually older than her even. He was about the same age as Nozomi and the rest of the third years. It was really surprising since most schools don't hold people back because of horrible grades.

"I am." The blue haired teen replied. "It's just that a lot of things happened which led me to be held back by two years."

Shun looked at Reifu before looking at the others. "Well it is pretty obvious considering his height and build. And his story is kind of... well a little depressing so he doesn't share it that much." He explained for his friend. And with that, they all grew silent either wondering what happened to him or feeling guilty that they may have made Reifu uncomfortable.

"Did you know that some people think that my family often goes abroad?" Reifu asked. It was out of nowhere and no one replied, wondering why Reifu asked that. Then it finally clicked, even with Reifu's monotonous tone and poker face, he was actually trying to alleviate the mood. But before anyone could actually speak, he continued, answering his question. "We actually don't do that often despite my parents being big shots. Only my sister does it mostly because she's a game designer." He continued. Everyone smiled at each other, seeing that the teen wasn't at all bothered with their earlier question so they continued talking.

They started to talk about idle things such as what was going on in Amagiri and such. Honoka had specifically asked if she could get the next volume earlier than the release date from Reifu only to be smacked in the head by Umi for being disrespectful. Despite this, the mangaka said that he would ask his editor if it was possible making the ginger haired girl happy. The topic shifted to Shun and Maki's incident prompting the latter to explain what happened again but with the help of the brown haired boy, the others were able to imagine the scene more vividly.

Then the conversation moved to their missing companion, Eri. The girls took turn describing the quarter Russian to at least give the two a look at her personality. They have seen her in their lives so they knew her appearance. But it would have still been better if the person herself was there so Shun and Reifu could actually wrap their heads around her personality.

"It's almost time for lunch." Reifu said as he looked at the sky before standing up and dusting himself off.

Shun looked at his wristwatch and nodded. "It's true. It's almost 12 you know?" He said as he jumped up. "Well, where do you girls want to eat? It's our treat." He offered with a smile. The least they could do was also pay for them since they were the ones who want to eat.

"That late already?" Kotori asked. "That means we've spent almost two hours here."

"Eh? Free lunch? Are you sure?" Honoka asked, not really wanting to put the burden of the bill on the guys.

"We're sure, right Rei?" The brown haired male looked to the larger man who nodded. "Come on, let's go around Akihabara and just tell us where you want to eat." He said confidently with a grin on his face.

The girls followed the two guys out of the secret park and back into the city. Admittedly, the had truly enjoyed their time with them. They were nice. Shun would usually retell a story and have Reifu back him up. Oddy though, they never asked anything about the girls of Muse unlike what they did. They guessed it was because the guys respected their privacy and probably because they were content to know their names, age and school.

"Katanashi-kun and Sato-kun are really nice." Honoka whispered to the others since Shun and Reifu were walking ahead of them.

"Not only did they let us go to their 'secret park' but they also offered to pay for our lunch." Kotori said. "You have really good friends Hanayo-chan, Rin-chan." She said with a smile as she looked at the two.

Rin giggled as if she was the one being praised instead of the two in front of them. "Well, Shu-kun's mother always taught him to be a gentleman ever since we were young." She admitted.

"Reifu-kun's always been like that. He may not look like it but he's really nice." Hanayo said as well. "Although he might space off every once in a while since he's thinking about his manga."

"Isn't that the President?" Shun wondered loudly, pointing at the other side of the street. Everyone turned to look at where he was pointing.

"Eri-chi?" Nozomi gasped as she saw the familiar blonde. Indeed, inside the family restaurant were two people. Kei was sitting opposite of Eri as they spoke with each other, smiles on their faces.

"Why is Kei and Eri together?" Maki wondered before Honoka had a… great idea.

"Let's go in!" The ginger haired girl suggested. The others could only follow as she went in to eavesdrop.

"We'll order our food then." Shun suggested as they got inside. The girls gave their orders quietly and then proceeded to sit down, out of sight from the two but they were still able to see them. Shun and Reifu left for the counter and the girls strained their ears to hear.

"Oh? You're going to meet Amagiri students today? Interesting." Kei said before taking a bite from the cake in front of him.

Eri nodded. "Yes. I suppose they're still with them right now."

"You're friends with Maki-chan right?" Kei asked as he leaned back to the chair with a glass of lemonade in his hand. "Then that means you were going to meet with Katanashi Shun and Sato Reifu with the former being the one who saved Maki-chan."

"Is that so?" Eri asked as she continued to eat. "Do you know them?"

Kei nodded. "Shun and Reifu sometimes help around the Student Council when they have the time and if we're loaded."

"The rest of Muse are also like that." Eri said, speaking fondly of her group. "They sometimes help out when Nozomi and I are busy."

"Good friends aren't they?" Kei asked with a light chuckle.

"Shouldn't we go to the main topic of the day?" The blonde asked as she placed multiple documents on the table.

The red haired male nodded. "I'd be more than happy to finally get to that subject… but I know that other people are here."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Eri asked. Of course there were other people here, they were in a restaurant after all.

"Sometimes, synesthesia can really be useful." Kei said before standing up with Eri following him. He leaned on the small wall that served as the girls', Shun and Reifu's cover from them. "You really think you can hide from me? Maki-chan, Shun, Reifu?" He asked with a smile.

"What are you guys doing here?" Eri asked as she looked at them, bewildered by their presence there.

"Ehehe… busted." Nozomi said.

"Your synesthesia is still at its finest Kei." Maki said, her arms crossed as she looked her friend in the eyes. "Your sense of memorization is amazing too. I mean, this place must be painted with all sorts of colors right?"

"True. It actually hurts my eyes, given how vibrant the others are." The red haired male said before looking at the others. "Well then, I don't think I have met some of you so I'll introduce myself. My name is Takamitsu Kei. Amagiri Gakuen's Student Council President. A pleasure to meet you all."

"So then Eri-chan's business is with you Takamitsu-kun?" Honoka asked. "Then why was she so secretive about it? Don't tell me…"

"I'm her boyfriend?" Kei said in an asking manner. "No, nothing like that. It just involves the school."

Nozomi looked at Eri, having not heard of this one before despite being the Vice President. "Eri-chi, what is he talking about?"

"Nothing." The blonde replied, looking away from her friends.

Kei smiled at Eri's response. "Now, now, Eri-senpai." He started. "I know that we wanted to keep it a secret but we just got busted so I think it's safe."

"But…" Eri seemed to want to argue about it but sighed and gave up. "Fine."

"Thank you, Eri-senpai." The red haired male said before gesturing the others to sit with them at the table they were at. The others sat at another table though but still could hear and see the main group. "I'll give the stage to you senpai."

"Well basically, we want to have an event that would join the two schools wherein both Amagiri Gakuen and Otonokizaka are required to participate and work together to make it a success." Eri said. "We brainstormed of things that we could do and we agreed on one thing."

"To make a cultural festival."

A/N: Rewatching Love Live has given me more inspiration than ever before! Well, now I know what I'm going to do for a while.

lol: What sounds like something? Eri and Kei's conversation through the phone?

juririn: Thanks for reading my stories then. And you were actually right, since Kei is the student council president of Amagiri, it was highly likely that he was one the other side.

Makironiandcheese: Well it was interesting for me to write so I hope it was interesting to read as well.

TsUNaMyWaVe: Kei is a pretty happy-go-lucky guy most of the time.

Rena Bodewig: I just love Kei too much to give him a normal life. Yeah, I'll see this story to the end.