Umi slowly walked down the hall, then paused in front of Honoka's room.

On the way to Homura, unusual thoughts sporadically filled her head. This would be her first time alone with Honoka in a while, so she was looking forward to it, but she could do without the embarrassing imagery.

Who knew that someone could get so flustered from their own imagination?

Regardless, she was happy that she'd have Honoka to herself.

Of course, she loved everyone else in µ's just as much, and didn't mind being around them either, but…

She had a separate goal in mind that she could only accomplish if it was just the two of them.

She took in a deep breath, then let it out and relaxed as she slid the door open.

"Honoka?" she asked quietly as she leaned forward and glanced around the room.

All of the built-up anxiety just deflated all at once.

Honoka was lazily sprawled across her bed, an open bag of potato chips and a manga side-by-side in front of her.

"Ah! Umi-chan!" Honoka excitedly called out as she looked toward the doorway.

However, Umi quickly slid the door closed in response.

Umi turned around and leaned back against the door with a sigh as a muffled voice repeatedly called out to her.

She felt silly for being so nervous about their meeting only to end up witnessing that sight.

But…

Umi eventually relaxed again, and a small smile formed on her face.

That was the girl she fell in love with after all.

She slid the door open once more, then spotted her energetic friend, who was now standing up.

"Umi-chan, that was mean!" Honoka quickly protested as she walked up to Umi.

"It's your fault for showing me that, you know," Umi replied vaguely as she turned her head away, and Honoka gave her a confused look.

"Huh? What do you…?" Honoka started to question, but her attention started to stray toward the basket in Umi's hand.

"Oh! Is that…?" she trailed off as her hands subconsciously started to move toward the basket, but it was quickly pulled away.

"Your mother said we should have some, but I think you've been eating too much already," Umi scolded while eyeing the bag of chips on the bed, and Honoka practically fainted.

"No fair, Umi-chan!"

…

After some persistent persuading from Honoka, Umi finally relented and said that Honoka could have some of the sweets.

They sat down next to each other at the small table in the room, and Umi watched helplessly as Honoka grabbed one of the sweets.

Umi made a mental note to make sure Honoka worked extra hard at the next practice session.

"I didn't know you'd come here, Umi-chan," Honoka said absent-mindedly as she took another bite, and Umi glanced her way.

"Well, it's not every day that we don't have school or practice, so I…" Umi trailed off as she averted her eyes.

"Hm? So you what?" Honoka prodded, and a faint blush appeared on Umi's cheeks.

"It's not important," Umi quickly tried to brush it off, but Honoka leaned toward her as she pouted.

"Eh!? Come on, tell me, Umi-chan!" Honoka insisted impatiently.

Umi leaned away in response to Honoka, but eventually realized that she wouldn't win that game.

"I just wanted to spend time with you, okay!? There!" Umi admitted quickly as her face started to grow even hotter.

She stared down at her lap, too embarrassed to watch Honoka's reaction.

Now she felt even more silly than before. If she became this flustered over a simple sentence, how was she ever going to tell Honoka her feelings?

Before she could continue thinking, a force sent her to the ground.

"I love being with you too, Umi-chan!" Honoka said happily as she held Umi in her arms, who was now panicking.

…

Umi let out a quiet sigh as she realized that she'd done it again.

She became caught up in Honoka's pace.

What was supposed to be a valuable chance for her to deepen their relationship, had now been turned into an afternoon lazing around.

Well, for Honoka at least. Umi was now attempting to come up with lyrics for a new song.

As Honoka's laptop played one of Maki's songs, Umi repeatedly tapped her pencil on the notebook in front of her.

"Honoka?"

"…hm?"

Umi knew that it most likely wouldn't help, but she still liked asking regardless.

"Do you have any ideas for the song?" she asked, a small trace of hope in her voice.

The answer came a bit delayed.

"…the sea," Honoka answered listlessly, and Umi turned her head and looked at her curiously.

"Me? What do you…?" she trailed off when she noticed the expression on Honoka's face.

She'd seen this sight many times before.

And just as predicted…

Honoka's body leaned toward the side, and her eyes closed as her head landed on Umi's shoulder.

"A-Already!?" Umi stammered in disbelief, then quietly sighed.

She quickly smiled though.

Umi jotted down some ideas for lyrics, making sure to stay as still as possible while doing so, then set the pencil down.

"Here we go…" she murmured as she shut the lid to the laptop, then brought a hand around to Honoka's side to gently lay her down.

She started to feel happy watching the various expressions that appeared on Honoka's sleeping face.

The energetic, sometimes too enthusiastic girl. The one who pulled her along when they were children, and was now leading her on another adventure.

"I love you."

Umi smiled again after she whispered her important message, then promised herself that she'd say it properly next time.

She started to stand up, but then paused to glance one more time at Honoka.

Well…

Maybe getting caught up in her pace wasn't such a bad thing.

With the plans to leave cancelled, Umi took a spot next to Honoka and closed her eyes as well.

Ending Notes:

Apologies for the slow chapter release this time around. I don't really have a reasonable excuse, I just couldn't think of any good ideas and every time I started to write I would blank out. I'm sorry.

As for this chapter, I really like this pairing, but I can't imagine Umi as the one chasing after Honoka, so we arrive at this cute moment instead. I feel like Umi's a character who is respectable, hard-working and serious, but is easygoing with others and always manages to go along with Honoka's pace regardless if she wants to or not. I like Umi a lot.

Thank you for reading as always! I'll try to make sure the next chapter comes out in a reasonable timeframe.