A/N: Any characters who appear in this story outside of the anime-specific ones are featured in the mobile phone game of the Love Live franchise.
Honoka wanted to cry. She didn't want to be standing here in the middle of the kendo club's practice room, decked out in full kendo gear, a kendo sword clasped loosely in her trembling hands. She shouldn't have been doing this, it wasn't right. She hadn't argued or spoken a word edge-wise when Kotori talked her into the idea. In fact, it had sounded quite viable at the time, but she was beginning to reconsider the actual likelihood of success. Honoka had beaten the odds stacked against her to become a real school idol, but the achievement she was expected to achieve here was like going up against a ten thousand A-Rises all by herself.
She had never held a sword in her life, not even a bamboo sword as completely harmless as this one. She'd never fought in a kendo match before against a single opponent, but now she was being expected to combat two at the very same time. That is to say, the two women who so wished to win Yazawa Nico over to their side: Kikkawa Mizuki and Aikawa Ryou. Kotori's plan was a match involving the three of them fighting for the right to take the third-year under their wing.
According to Kotori, and Honoka severely doubted her friend's merits as someone trustworthy by this point, Honoka herself had once been an exceptionally talented member of the kendo club before leaving to become an idol.
"I still don't feel comfortable allowing this, even if this isn't an official match." Kadota Tsurugi, a residing member of the school's kendo club and the one that Kotori had commissioned to prepare this three-way duel, stood off on the sidelines with the others. Kotori smiled back at her, having returned to her school uniform again.
"It's not even going to be close to an official match. I thought it was the closest thing to a 'battle' for Nico that I could set up, when we live in a first-world society like this."
"Well, it is safe...even if someone gets knocked down, with all of that gear, it isn't going to leave much more than a light bruise at worst..."
"Exactly!"
"Still, it's not the injuries I'm upset about! I'm upset about the lack of appreciation for the rules of kendo! There's a proper way you're supposed to do things, and having some kind of 'brawl' with very important, and very expensive, equipment is not the right way to go about it!"
"If we take time by having them duel one at a time, it will take too long."
"Yes...but still...!"
"Shut your pie-hole, will ya? Griping all the time when it isn't going to change anything!" Hanayo snapped, making Tsurugi jump. Umi, Hanayo, Rin and Eri had also gathered at the kendo club-room to act as spectators by request of Kotori, although Nozomi, Maki and Nico herself still appeared to be absent. Maki was supposed to fetch Nico wherever she may have been, but the redhead had yet to return.
Honoka groaned; it would be so much more meaningful if Nico was here to see how hard she was trying for her sake.
"D-Do you two even know anything about kendo either...?" Honoka asked Mizuki and Ryou. They were in the middle of dressing themselves in the appropriate gear.
"I used to learn it alongside my brother before I took up basketball." Mizuki replied.
"I once had to learn it for a role in a play." said Ryou.
Honoka really wanted to start crying. Why did Kotori say that she was any good at this? Was there actually a Honoka that had existed in this world before she'd appeared here and replaced her? Had that Honoka been some sort of badass who was both an efficient leader and a kendo master? Why couldn't she ever have adopted any of those skills? She wished she could have called Tsubasa, or even texted her, for some much-needed aid, but she didn't want to interrupt her while she was in class. She would have felt so much better if she had Tsubasa by her side right now.
"You know, you really are quite an adorable, young beauty yourself, Miss Kosaka." Ryou chuckled, flashing a flirty smirk as she slipped the mask over her face.
Honoka blushed. "What?"
"Are you sure you wouldn't wish to join me on the stage instead, where we can dance about under the twinkling stage lights hand in hand, moving in tandem to each other's flighty steps as our souls instead of our bodies contended with one another?"
"H-Huh...?"
"Hey, stop sucking up to her with all of your nonsense talk, you're confusing her. Besides, you're not going to be dancing for much long after I'm through with you, Miss Theater." Mizuki remarked before putting on her own mask.
"...Forgive me, Miss Basketball." Ryou offered a slight bow, although it seemed done half-assed.
Umi sighed as she huddled up against the matted wall, her knees drawn into her chest. She was disappointed.
"...Not even a little bit of bare skin..."
She glanced over at Rin, who was standing, and her eyes gradually traveled up the length of the first year's slender, white legs and toward her skirt, Umi's golden orbs gradually widening as she caught just the barest hint of-
Rin looked down at the bluenette. Umi's head was turned away. Scoffing aloud for no reason, Rin resumed texting on her phone. Umi breathed a sigh of relief; she'd managed to avert her eyes at the very least second, avoiding a confrontation. Still, she had seen enough to keep her satisfied for a time, even if Honoka, Ryou and Mizuki would be combating fully-clothed.
"Oh, this is just like my American cartoons," Eri readjusted her glasses. "Who knows who will have the strength, and the almighty courage, to hand out the first blow?"
Umi snickered into her hands at the word 'blow'.
Rin rolled her eyes. "Well, we better get this over with quickly, I'm getting my nails done later, and then me and that transfer student Marissa are going out to look for clothes."
"You're hanging out with transfer students now?" Hanayo asked her.
"Why not? She's a new girl, a foreign girl. Something wrong with wanting to make her feel welcome?"
Hanayo shrugged and shoved her hands down into her pockets. "N-Nothing wrong with that, it's just..."
"Just what?"
"Tch. Forget it."
"Fine!"
Suddenly, the club-room doors burst open, as if pushed by a violent gust, but it was even worse than that; the student disciplinary committee, or the 'student militant police squad' as they were sometimes referred, had managed to catch wind of the event themselves.
"Stop right there!" Fukuhara Mikoto blew on her whistle. "This is...this is not only an abuse of school property outside of the designated club schedule, but it is so many other issues that I'm going to need to break out the rule book just to list them all off!"
"Now, now, Mikoto, it's not nice for you to start throwing accusations out so wildly. I'm sure they have a good reason." Sakamaki Chizuko stroked the much smaller girl's head, as if she were petting a feisty animal in an attempt to calm it down.
Shiga Hitomi started cracking her knuckles when she saw the three girls clad in kendo gear. "It looks like we have some kind of fight going on, doesn't it?"
"Indeed it does!" Mikoto agreed with her.
"This...this is..." Tsurugi looked over to Kotori for some aid, but the silver-haired girl remained silent, literally looking away so their eyes would not meet.
"I want to get in on this!" Hitomi said, a remark that surprised everyone in the room, from the school idols to Hitomi's own companions.
"W-What? Shiga Hitomi, I refuse...!"
Hitomi placed a firm hand onto Mikoto's shoulder. "It won't take too long. I'll round them up for you, okay?"
A hot blush spread across Mikoto's face with the speed of a wildfire. "O...Okay...fine! Fine, if you have to fight, then do it quickly!"
"Thanks!"
Chizuko giggled behind Mikoto's back as Hitomi stepped onto the mat. "You like the bad ones after all, don't you, Mikoto? Is that why you joined the committee, to pick up girls?"
"I'll...I'll have to write you up for throwing slander like that, Chizuko! Y-you better watch your step!"
Honoka was genuinely suffering a panic attack right now. "What? What? What? I have to fight THREE of them now? What?"
"Don't worry, Honoka! This way it makes things more even!" Kotori called from the sidelines.
"I don't want things to be more even, I want things to be more fair!"
"Hey, this isn't any better for either of us, you know!" Mizuki pointed out, upon which Ryou nodded in agreement.
"You three yapping about something?" Hitomi stepped forward, wielding a red baton covered in nubs likely meant to resemble spikes; it was very much in appearance to the spiked clubs wielded by the Oni of ancient Japanese folklore. It didn't look particularly dangerous, but it would likely not be very fun to be struck by it either without the kendo gear protecting their bodies.
"What are you doing?" Ryou asked when she noticed that Hitomi wasn't wearing the equipment.
"I'm not even going to bother putting on the gear or getting the right weapon. All I need is this," she pointed at her baton, "And this!" she thrust a thumb at her own chest.
"A real show-off!" cried Mizuki.
"Ahh..." Honoka was even more terrified of her than the other two, if she's really so confident to win a kendo match without any of the officially-sanctioned gear.
"My, my, how attractive," Ryou sneered behind her mask.
Mikoto and Chizuko moved over to the side of the room where the rest of the spectators stood, although the former tried to make it seem like it had been by a very begrudging decision that they were standing in this specific spot. They would wait until Hitomi had finished subduing the unruly ones, then they would take the rest away, as long as they were willing to go without a fight.
Mikoto looked Hanayo over once. "So you're still going to reject the school dress code even after all of our previous talks, Miss Koizumi?"
Hanayo glared.
"You too, Miss Hoshizora. I can't say that I approve of all of the make-up and hair-clips you wear in excess either."
Rin bit down on her lower lip.
Hanayo, cupping her hands around her mouth, shouted over to the idol group's center, "Hey, Honoka! Kick their asses! All three of 'em, but especially the chick on the disciplinary committee!"
"You can do it, Honoka! Beat 'em up!" Rin joined in.
The two trouble-making girls flashed cheeky grins back at Mikoto, who silently started to fume to herself. Chizuko led her away by the hand.
Honoka sniffed. She was glad that (apparently) Rin and Hanayo were supporting her now, but this was still something far out of her league. This was not going to be a kendo match for her, or for anyone. It was just going to be a senseless, rule-less fight.
'That Chizuko girl...her boobs are huge...not as big as Nico's, but still...' Umi was already feeling smitten.
Finally, the match began, but it was not christened with a starting gun or a ringing bell. It simply started, as would be expected for a four-person match of contention that had no ground in sportsmanship anyway. Kotori had probably planned it to be this way, Honoka thought dishearteningly. Almost immediately, Mizuki, Ryou and Hitomi lunged for Honoka at once; they were all well aware that she was the 'weakest link' here in this four-person duel. Honoka raised the bamboo sword and steeled herself to be pounded upon. She was afraid she'd end up with her bruises, her skin had always been sensitive. The poor second-year shut her eyes so she could brace herself; she had no idea why Kotori had to suggest something so cruel, or why she'd let Kotori talk her into it in the first place. Honoka was no great leader nor was she a great kendo swordsman. She could barely hold up the shinai while wearing such a heavy, stifling armor.
There was no way she could win...even though...she so desperately wanted Nico to stay in the club...she didn't want it to end...she didn't want to have to disband...and lose her friends...her precious friends...
Nico! Maki! Rin! Umi! Eri! Hanayo! Nozomi! Kotori!
"Ah!"
Honoka swung out in front of her as her first and likely final draw; she was not aiming for anyone in particular, but simply hoping she would make a hit.
Ryou dropped to the mat. Mizuki and Hitomi both stopped to look down at her, equally stunned as they were.
"The ethereal stars of heavens above..." Ryou choked out as she shakily raised her arm, reaching out to the ceiling, "They're beckoning me...to join them..." and then she lost consciousness.
Honoka was panting heavily, even though she'd done no more than a single swing of her blade. She was trembling. Something...something had awoken inside of her, for that moment. In fact, she was quite sure that it was still awakening.
From off on the sidelines, Kotori was smirking to herself as she tapped away on the keys of her cellphone.
Maki looked at the time on her phone. She was already late to the kendo match, but she'd yet to locate her friend. Not even sending texts or trying to call seemed to work.
"Nico!" Maki shouted out loud, showing a profound lack of concern whether or not she might get in trouble for causing a disruption. There was no need to worry after all; the school day had ended, the only ones remaining behind were the students attending clubs or the disciplinary committee keeping tabs on things.
Maki had checked the bathrooms, the front gates, the alpaca stables, the lunchroom and the gymnasium. She'd checked almost everywhere she could think of, all except the one place that she had the best inkling she'd locate the missing Yazawa at. In truth, Maki was afraid of confronting Nico. She was terrified to hear her friend's reasoning for wanting to leave the idol club, that it might actually have something to do with their long-standing friendship.
A sigh escaped Maki's lips. She was being immature, even for her age. She needed to talk to Nico and not only bring her to see Honoka fight for her sake, but to understand her friend better, to get closer like they should have become after all of these years.
'She's probably on the school roof,' Maki thought to herself, hurrying for the staircase. Nico had always loved high places, something that neither Maki nor Nico herself had missed the irony of. If Nico wasn't there, then there would be nothing that the redhead could do. Everything Honoka and Kotori had planned would end up resulting in absolutely nothing at all.
Nozomi peeked out from behind the corner. She'd heard Maki shouting, and of course, wanting to be a good friend, she felt it was her duty to follow and find out what was wrong. As a third year student, it was up to her to help her underclassmen when they were experiencing troubles.
She just hoped it wasn't romantic troubles. She had no skills in such things, not of the girl-on-girl variety either.