Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to 'Love Live!'
"Tsubasa-chan!" Honoka immediately leaped forward and reached her arms out to the A-RISE member in the middle of the three, then practically tackled her as they both fell to the ground.
Tsubasa was taken by surprise and didn't know what to do for a moment as she was embraced by Honoka.
She was wondering how she was supposed to face Honoka after the performance today. She still loved her of course, but Honoka was also the person who took their spot as the winners tonight.
As she struggled to find the right words, she froze up when she heard sniffling, and finally looked at Honoka's figure to see that she was shaking slightly.
"Huh?! What's wrong?" Tsubasa panicked as she brought her arms around Honoka, then lightly hugged her. Honoka pulled away from the hug a bit so she could look at Tsubasa's face.
"I haven't seen you in so long! I've been holding back this whole time! I'm so happy…" Honoka had tears in the corners of her eyes, and Tsubasa sat there with wide eyes and a faint blush.
She'd been wondering what to do when she met Honoka. How awkward their conversation would be. She thought Honoka may end up trying to be careful about the situation and their conversations wouldn't be natural anymore.
Tsubasa lightly smiled to herself. Honoka had none of those worries. She was just happy to be able to see her again.
Tsubasa's gently brought her hand to Honoka's face, then wiped away the tears before they could start falling.
"I'm happy too."
Slowly, Tsubasa brought her face closer to Honoka's, then quickly stopped in place when she felt the stares of the other two people there. She glanced to them for a moment.
"Oh, don't mind us." Erena assured seriously as she was enjoying watching the situation with Anju.
"Don't stop at the good part!" Anju exclaimed disappointed, and Honoka's cheeks went red while Tsubasa simply laughed.
…
Just a short bit after the embarrassing scene, the four of them were seated around a kotatsu table in the living room.
"And so, we were wondering what we should do now." Tsubasa finished catching Honoka up on their conversation, and Honoka glanced down towards the floor after Tsubasa was done talking.
"Ah…" Honoka murmured awkwardly, not sure how she was supposed to respond to that.
A-RISE were all gathered here to talk about everything. Their performance at Love Live, how they felt about losing to µ's, and what that meant for them and their futures.
Honoka couldn't possibly say anything in this situation. To start with, she wasn't part of their idol group, and secondly, she was part of the reason they didn't know what to do now.
The three members of A-RISE gave each other worried glances, not sure what to do about the mood now after Tsubasa explained their circumstances. However, Anju decided to ask the question that Erena and Tsubasa didn't want to ask Honoka.
"What do you think we should do, Honoka-chan?" Anju asked softly with a small smile, while Tsubasa froze.
It wasn't that Erena and Tsubasa didn't want to know how Honoka felt. They just didn't want to ask this of her. Even though her group won the preliminary finals, she had to feel conflicted about Tsubasa's feelings.
"W-What do I think…? I'm not sure if I should…" Honoka trailed off. She didn't feel like it was her place to talk about this with them.
"Please, tell us." Anju pressed on regardless, and Honoka was forced to move her eyes from the ground and look at Anju. She was serious about this.
"I'm curious as well." Erena decided to side with Anju, curious to see Honoka's thoughts on the matter. Both because she was Tsubasa's girlfriend, and because she was the leader of µ's.
"Are you sure? I might be selfish…" Honoka was worried about giving them an irresponsible answer. She wasn't aware of their circumstances, or how they felt after losing today.
Suddenly, Honoka felt her hand being grabbed from under the kotatsu. Her eyes moved to Tsubasa, who gave her an encouraging nod.
Honoka let out a breath as she readied herself.
"I think you should continue! No, I really want you all to continue!" she answered seriously, and it caught A-RISE off guard, looking stunned at Honoka's energetic answer.
"You're all amazing school idols! To be honest, every time I watch one of your performances I get really happy. I love watching you dance and sing." Honoka smiled brightly.
"You're the reason I became a school idol, so I'd really hate it if you stopped performing!" she said selfishly, then gasped as she realized she got ahead of herself.
"I-I mean… I wouldn't like it, but it's your choice, I'd understand it if you did…" she tried to nervously correct herself, but A-RISE all smiled happily.
"What's this about us being the reason you're a school idol?" Erena asked with a smirk but glanced at Tsubasa instead of Honoka.
"Mhm, someone hasn't told us the story." Anju's smile turned into a grin as she stared at Tsubasa as she demanded answers with her eyes. Tsubasa lightly blushed as she shook her head, then looked to Honoka.
"I hadn't heard about that until now either, so I'm interested."
"Ah! It's not really anything int-" Honoka tried to explain away, but Tsubasa leaned in closer with a serious expression.
"Very interested."
Honoka blushed again while Anju and Erena quietly giggled at the sight.
Through some stammering and having to repeat some parts when asked, Honoka explained to them what led to the forming of µ's. How she learned Otonokizaka was going to be closed down, what she felt when she thought about having to switch schools, and when she saw her mother reminiscing about Otonokizaka by looking through her senior yearbook.
Then she talked about learning about UTX from her sister Yukiho, and how she visited there to see what made their schools so different. It was then that she saw A-RISE's performance of 'Private Wars' on a screen displayed in front of the school and was inspired to try to create her own idol group.
The members of A-RISE listened with surprise, and as Honoka finished, they were momentarily stunned.
Suddenly, Anju fell down and looked to the ceiling, while the three others immediately looked at her with worry after she fell.
"You mean WE'RE the reason we lost?!" she exclaimed with disbelief, and the other two members of A-RISE froze.
"Ah…" they murmured in unison.
…
The members of A-RISE laughed about it afterwards while Honoka didn't know how to respond, awkwardly fumbling for an answer.
"So you're the same as us." Tsubasa said softly, while Anju and Erena smiled and Honoka looked at her with confusion.
"Huh?"
Tsubasa glanced to Erena and Anju for a second, then smiled as well as she brought her gaze to Honoka.
"We don't want to stop performing either. We were a little lost on what to do after losing, but in the end, we decided we love performing more than anything else." Tsubasa said warmly with a shrug, and Honoka smiled happily.
"You guys…" she started, but then quickly paused as something clicked in her head.
"So…you all already agreed on what you wanted to do before you asked me…?" she tilted her head, and Anju giggled innocently.
"Yup!"
Honoka hung her head in embarrassment and was then patted on the back by both Tsubasa and Anju.
…
After Honoka was consoled, the four of them talked about various things, then Anju had an idea.
"Earlier, you said your sister was going to attend UTX, right?" she asked to make sure, and Honoka looked at her quizzically.
"Yes…she didn't want to come to Otonokizaka because it was going to close down. Why?" she asked, but Anju smirked.
"Then…"
Tsubasa didn't like the sound of this.
…
After a few minutes, Tsubasa and Honoka walked back into the living room.
Tsubasa was now wearing Honoka's Otonokizaka uniform, and Honoka was in Tsubasa's UTX uniform. Anju looked at the two with amazement, while Erena walked up and gently placed a hand on Honoka's shoulder.
"Please transfer to our school."
Honoka waved her hands in front of her as she shook her head, denying the possibility while Tsubasa laughed.
While Honoka was flustered, she felt a hand gently grab her chin and turn her head. She blushed as Tsubasa was just a few inches away, looking at her with a passionate expression.
"My honey Tsubasa-chan, I love you. Hold me close to you, baby."
Honoka almost exploded with embarrassment as Tsubasa attempted to impersonate her with an American accent, and Anju playfully acted as if she was going to swoon.
"I-I don't act like that!" Honoka loudly defended her dignity.
…
After the fake American Honoka personality was dismissed without a second thought, the group continued their light teasing and fun conversation. This was the first time Anju and Erena were able to talk to Honoka like this, and they were going to make use of it.
"Honoka-san, how does Tsubasa act when she's alone with you?" Erena asked curiously, and Anju raised a brow as she glanced to Tsubasa, who looked like she wanted to silence Honoka.
"Tsubasa-chan? Well she's actually-"
"Don't tell them." Tsubasa quickly cut her off, not wanting Anju and Erena to have even more ammunition to tease her with when they were practicing at UTX.
Anju lightly grabbed onto Tsubasa, trying to hold her in place as she gave Honoka an innocent smile.
"What were you saying?" she mischievously asked as Tsubasa wriggled her body to try to escape Anju's hold. Erena gave Anju a quick thumbs up.
Honoka nervously laughed as she watched Anju and Tsubasa's fight, but then decided to continue explaining anyway.
"She's amazing! She's very sw-"
Tsubasa broke out of Anju's grip and brought her lips to Honoka's, cutting her off with a kiss as Erena and Anju stared in shock.
She broke the kiss shortly after, then gave the blushing Honoka a playful wink.
"Don't tell them," she repeated with a smile, and Honoka slowly nodded.
"So close!" Anju groaned as she missed her chance, and Erena looked disappointed as well.
Anju quickly switched gears though.
"Honoka-chan, your family has their own bakery, right?" she asked with a slight head-tilt, and Honoka snapped out of her blushing state from Tsubasa's kiss.
"Yeah we do, Yukiho and I even help out sometimes if they're busy or we're free. Why do you ask?"
Anju clapped her hands together, then looked at Honoka with a smile.
"Could you teach me how to bake something, then?"
Tsubasa appeared confused as she looked at Anju, but Erena understood and smiled.
"Eh? Right now? Do we even-" Honoka was surprised, but Anju quickly stood up and started to lightly shove Honoka towards the kitchen.
"It's fine, it's fine! Tsubasa should have some stuff lying around."
"Ah, w-wait! What are we even making?"
Anju thought about Honoka's question for a short second, then laughed.
"I don't know!"
"Ehh?!"
While Honoka and Anju started on making cookies, Anju donned in an apron with an intense expression like a student trying to learn from her respected sensei, Tsubasa watched the two with an amused expression, then glanced to Erena.
"I didn't know Anju wanted to learn how to bake sweets," she remarked, and Erena quietly laughed.
"I don't think she does." Erena responded, then glanced to Honoka. Although Anju basically forced her into teaching her, she looked excited and happy that they could work together and was being very patient with Anju's questions.
Tsubasa raised a brow, then followed Erena's gaze as she started to watch the two in the kitchen once more.
"If she doesn't, then why did she ask Honoka?" Tsubasa was clueless as to what Anju's plans were, and Erena smiled slightly.
"She wants to see how your girlfriend is." Erena explained, which caused Tsubasa to look in her direction with bewilderment.
"What do you mean?"
Erena sighed softly, then a happy expression formed on her face as her eyes followed Honoka's back.
"Our leader suddenly runs off and gets a girlfriend, then can't stop talking about her when we're not practicing. Of course we'll want to see her for ourselves."
Tsubasa stared in amazement for a moment as Erena spoke, then quickly smiled as she glanced back to the kitchen to watch the two of them again.
"I see."
Honoka sighed in relief as she pulled out the tray of cookies, then saw that they turned out great. She held the tray, then looked at Anju with a bright smile.
"Look Anju-san, they're perfect! You're amazing!" she said with enthusiasm, but Anju was smiling as she looked at Honoka instead of the tray.
"No, you are." Anju replied innocently, but Honoka got confused.
"Huh? But you're the one who made them…"
Anju giggled softly.
"It's fine if you don't get it." Anju turned away and started to happily walk back towards Tsubasa and Erena, while Honoka tilted her head as she didn't understand.
"Buy the ring." Anju said in a whisper as she sat back down with the two of them, and Erena immediately laughed while Tsubasa smirked.
"Did she pass?" Tsubasa asked, and Anju looked surprised as she raised a brow.
"How did you…?" she started, but quickly realized the answer as she looked at Erena, who suddenly averted her eyes in order to not reveal the truth.
After the four of them ate the cookies, it was time for Anju and Erena to leave for the night. They all stood near the entrance as Anju and Erena put their outside shoes back on.
"Honoka-chan, you can come crying to me when Tsubasa does something wrong." Anju placed a hand on Honoka's shoulder to assure her, while Tsubasa looked at her with disbelief.
"Traitor." Tsubasa said jokingly as she grabbed onto Honoka to pull her close, and Erena and Anju both smiled.
"Bye-bye!" Anju called out as the two of them left the house, and Tsubasa and Honoka waved back at them as they walked away.
"Tonight was really fun!" Honoka called out, and the two of them glanced back at Honoka for a short second, then waved back as they left.
Tsubasa closed the door, and Honoka laughed happily as she thought about the entire visit.
"They're really fun! You're all very close," she smiled happily but is then taken by surprise when Tsubasa suddenly pressed both of her hands to the wall behind Honoka, and Honoka was trapped between Tsubasa's arms.
"T-Tsubasa-chan?!" she panicked as her heart started to race, then looked to Tsubasa's face, who was looking back at her with a serious expression.
"We need to make up for lost time," she answered with impure intentions.
"Ehh?!"
ENDING NOTES:
Hello everyone!
Throughout these chapters, Anju and Erena have had development, but never really had the chance to talk to Honoka in a relaxed setting. I wanted to use this chance to expand on their personalities, as well as clear up the feelings created by the preliminary finals.
Thank you to everyone who is reading this story! You all honestly don't know how much I look forward to writing this when I know people will be able to read it and hopefully enjoy it.
