Rin: I'm not sure this is a good idea.
Hanayo: What are you talking about?
Rin: I feel like I'm intruding on Maki-chan's privacy.
Hanayo: It's fine. We're in disguise. (the disguise that Nico used at the beginning of the anime) Besides, we've been doing it for three days now. She hasn't noticed.
Rin: Stilll…
Hanayo: Just read the reviews. I'll keep an eye on them.
Rin: ...okay…. *resigned* First...from Revengermajestyliberator. We're currently watching Maki-chan, so our First Year Corner got canceled. Also sometimes author-san writes things that are different from what she originally planned.
Hanayo: Tsubasa-san is a hassle to handle so she gets kept outside the storyline most of the time.
Rin: Uh-huh. We're still not sure what she does with Tsubasa-san, but they've been visiting lots of restaurants and stores the last few days.
Hanayo: Rin-chan, they're moving! *both follow* Okay...they've stopped at the cafe.
Rin: Can we go inside and get a drink too?
Hanayo: It is kind of hot...Okay. *they go into the cafe and get a table on the other side of a wall from Maki and Tsubasa*
Rin: Ugh...we're really close…
Hanayo: *to the waitress* I'd like a iced tea please. Rin-chan, what do you want?
Rin: A cola. *Hanayo repeats the order* Um...the next review is from TsUNaMyWaVe. We have a game based on us right?
Hanayo: Yep. I've been playing on it a lot recently. Want to see my cards?
Rin: Sure.
Hanayo: Look! *shows Rin her phone* I won this Rin-chan from an event, and this Rin-chan came from a 50 love gem draw. Oh, and this is my favorite Rin-chan! A UR Rin-chan!
Rin: *embarrassed* I-I get it, Kayo-chin. Y-You can put your phone away now…
Hanayo: If you say so. Also, I don't think Eri-chan will mess up now. Honoka-chan likes her way too much to push her aside any more. It's probably more likely that Eri-chan will beat herself up than anything else.
Rin: Eri-chan does have a habit of losing her head when she's with Honoka-chan.
Hanayo: She'll probably get in trouble with Nico-chan again if she cries to Nozomi-chan.
Maki: That sounds like Eri. *the three of them laugh*
Hanayo: Wait...
Rin: Huh…?
Hanayo + Rin: Maki-chan?!
Maki: *smirk* You didn't think I would notice you? I've seen you following me all week.
Hanayo: W-W-What are you talking about?
Rin: 'We're dooomed.'
Maki: So I've had Tsubasa-san take me to restaurants and shops rather than our usual. Now...what kind of punishment should you both get for stalking me all this time?
Hanayo: S-Somebody…
Rin: HELP US! DX
Tsubasa: *at the other table* 'I wonder when we can go to the movies or the amusement park again?'
"Eh?" Honoka had to put her glass down out of worry that she might drop it. "Eri-chan, what are you talking about?"
"Time doesn't stand still, even if we want it to. Honoka, you have to make the decision for Muse's future." Eri's gaze was painfully stern, nothing like the gentle blue that Honoka had grown accustomed to over the past week. She dropped her own gaze. Even if she was told to make a decision, she didn't know what to do! The fact that Muse would one day be separated seemed like such a distant problem that it had slipped her mind entirely. "Discuss it with the others if you want, but a decision must be made."
"Um...what do you and the other third years want?" Honoka asked hesitantly. They were the oldest and their words had the most weight on any major decision, even if Honoka made most of them. She had always taken their advice-no matter how little she got-and applied it to their next action.
"Our wants don't matter, Honoka. This decision belongs to you, Umi, Kotori, and the first years." Eri sighed, crossing her arms. "You need to make a choice soon." Honoka bit her lip, feeling like Eri was behaving like the strict student council president she had portrayed in the first season.
"And that's why I called you out to a meeting today." Honoka concluded, taking a long sip from her soda. The six of them were seated around a table at a maid cafe in Akihabara. Having finished explaining, Honoka looked each of the other girls in the eye. "So...what do you think?"
"I thought we were going shopping for the trip." Maki answered honestly, even though her answer had nothing to do with what Honoka wanted from her. Hanayo and Rin nodded in agreement with their friend. Then again, it wasn't like she had told them what the meeting was for, just to meet at the maid cafe they filmed at one time before.
"Well, we could continue the show, even if they leave." Umi said. "We have enough fans to keep go-"
"That won't work, Umi-chan!" Kotori slammed her hands onto the table, startling the girls seated around it and getting a few looks from nearby tables. "We can't do that!"
"E-Eh? Why not, Kotori?" Umi tugged on Kotori's shirt, glancing around the cafe. "Also, sit down please!" With a huff of annoyance, the brunette sat down again.
"Muse is nine members! Any less than that won't do!" As if irritated with Umi's inability to comprehend that, Kotori proceeded to stare pointedly in the other direction.
"But we did Muse with only six before…" Hanayo pointed out, referring to the time when the second years had gone on a school organized field trip.
"That's different." Honoka said, finding that she agreed with Kotori's point. "We didn't leave the group completely. Eri-chan and the others, they're going to graduate. At that point, they can't be school idols anymore. So I guess the real question is not whether we'll continue making a show. It's whether or not we're going to go pro."
"Like how A-Rise wants to go?" Maki asked.
"When did you find that out?" Rin cut in before Honoka could give the red-haired first year a response. "Oh, was it through Tsubasa-san?"
"I spend much more time with A-Rise than you know. Oh wait, you already know that. You were following me when I found that out!" Honoka tried calm down Maki before she got too out-of-control.
"If we want to continue including them in Muse activities, we will have to dedicate to becoming professional idols. But I'm sure that everyone is in agreement about that matter." Umi shook her head, and after a few seconds, the other girls followed suit. They all had their own plans for the future, ones that didn't necessarily include becoming idols. "So we won't even consider going pro."
"But we could still continue the show." Umi pressed, still failing to understand why Kotori was against it.
"We can't." The bluenette looked confused. Before she could ask another question, Honoka continued. "It has nothing to do with the fans or whether they'd like the show. I can't continue a show without the three of them." Umi finally understood and fell silent. "Everyone agree? Then we tell them our decision, at the end of the trip."
"Nico, did I do something wrong by telling Honoka?" Eri traced a heart shape in the snow with her finger, then slashed through it, creating a heart that was split in half.
"No. You had to tell her at some point." She wiped the shape away with her other hand, leaving the snow a blank surface once again. "Besides, it's their decision. One of them had to start thinking about it. She's the most reliable out of all them."
"I think Umi-chan's more reliable."
"You're not helping Nozomi." Nico sounded expasperated. Eri wrote the first character of Honoka's name in the smooth snow and sighed. "And when are you going to help us?! The first years are kicking our butts!" The third years were holding a snowball fight against the first years, and they were losing since Eri was just squatting at the back of their fort, drawing in the snow.
"Maki-chan's building a snowman though." Nozomi pointed out helpfully as she lobbed another snowball. It fell short of the of the opposing fort by a few feet.
"Again. Not helping." Nico pitched her own snowball at the other fort; it sailed right over the snow wall as the target (Rin) ducked behind it. "I get that you're upset that Honoka's been ignoring you-" Eri felt the stab of an invisible knife at Nico's words. "-but hasn't she been working hard, helping in whatever way she could to speed up the song progress? Maki-chan's finished, and Kotori's almost done. It's the last day here. Just be patient." Nozomi tapped Nico's shoulder, looking at the other fort with wide-eyes. "Not now, Nozomi. I'm trying to get Eri to help."
"Nico-chi, I really think you should look!" Nozomi said, an urgent tone in her voice.
"Okay, okay. What is it?" She turned just in time to have a partially finished snowman knock her to the ground. "Nozomi."
"Yes, Nico-chi?"
"Next time...just tell me to move or something." Nico got slowly to her feet, appearing calm despite the fact that the other team had just heaved an entire snowman at her face. It didn't stay that way for long. "YOU IDIOTS! THAT COULD SERIOUSLY HURT SOMEONE!"
"But you're fine, so it's all good, right?!" Hanayo retorted, packing another snowball to throw. Maki had set to work on yet another snowman after her first had been used for ammunition. Nico growled, turned to Eri and dragged her to the middle of their snow fort.
"You're helping. Make a snowman, or just a giant snowball for me to chuck at them! Nozomi, keep doing what you're doing!"
"You mean, throwing so lightly that the balls don't even reach the other fort?" Nozomi asked, seeking confirmation.
"Yes! I mean-no-what the hell have you even been doing?" The purple-haired third year shrugged.
"I don't want to hurt them." Nozomi tossed a ball lightly in the direction of the fort and it fell halfway on its journey.
"Am I the only one taking it seriously on our side?!" Nico shouted, irritated with her predicament. Eri started scraping snow together into a small mound, picked it up, and started shaping it into a snowball. With accuracy that came close to Umi's deadly aim, Eri hit Hanayo in the chest when the first year wasn't expecting it. "...okay, nevermind. Eri's finally into it. Nozomi, you make the giant snowball."
"Okay, Nico-chi!" Nozomi cheerfully retreated to the back of their snow fort to start working. Eri packed another snowball, eyeing the first years to see which she should hit. She would put faith in Nico's encouragement (if it could be called that) and play until Honoka came back to her.
They ended up losing to the first years, though Eri still couldn't figure out what the critera was for being victorious even after the snowball fight had ended. She assumed they had lost because Nico was completely tired out from yelling at the first years through the entire fight, though it wasn't really clear. She didn't care enough to confront the younger girls on their arbitrary victory and just accepted their loss. Now all six of them were heading to a much needed bath.
"Oh. Umi, Kotori, you're done now?" The two second years gave a thumbs-up. They had beaten the rest of the girls to the outdoor bath, but it was big enough for all nine of them to fit if they wanted to. "Where's Honoka?" She didn't see the last second year.
"Huh? Everyone's here-ah!" In typical Honoka fashion, she tripped over something in her hurry to get in the warm bath. Nico and Nozomi parted to let the second year fall into the water, splashing those who hadn't gotten in yet. They were splashed again as Honoka broke through the surface, her ginger hair dripping wet from the unplanned submergence. "Uh...sorry?"
They seemed subdued, the first and second years, as the nine of them sat in the bath together. Especially the first years, since they were normally so energetic and talkative. They kept glancing at Honoka for some reason, so Nico finally broke the silence. "Have you come to a decision?"
"Y-Yeah...I-I mean, we-have." Honoka took a deep breath, then looked up. Her gaze was filled with determination. "After you leave-"
"Muse will disband!" The other five girls joined in alongside Honoka. Eri blinked; not a single trace of hesitation could be seen in any of them. They had made their decision, just like she and the other third years had wanted.
"Are you sure?" But she couldn't stop herself from asking the question. "You can continue even without us there."
"That's not true!" Honoka retorted immediately. "I-Muse only exists-for me that is-when all of us are there! That's why! I won't stay in a Muse when any of you are gone!"
"Muse has changed all of us. So it belongs to all of us." Maki chimed in, taking over for Honoka who seemed to have run out of things to say for the time being. "And to no one else but us because we put in the work to make Muse what it is right now. Remember when we first started out? I know that if anyone had told me that I'd be composing music for this group, I wouldn't believe them!" She had been such a spoiled child back then that no one would have forseen her current role in Muse.
"And then I roped you into my pranks on Rin-chan! We would pull really elaborate ones, or just drag her on our missions!" Hanayo added. "But I wouldn't have talked to you if it wasn't for Muse bringing us together...and Honoka-chan's manga!"
"Think of all the trouble you both put me through!" Rin complained loudly, though she was smiling at both of her friends. "We got kicked out of at least three places, and Maki-chan's family had to handle a lawsuit because of us! Not to say that they weren't fun though…"
"We had lots of fun too, didn't we?" Kotori piped up. "I could really feel everyone's hearts coming together when we worked together on songs or choreography~ It was so much fun!"
"Enough that I didn't want it to end. Ever." Umi picked up where Kotori had stopped. "I truly wanted to keep spending my free time with all of you, following whatever silly plans came up."
"So...they became our memories of Muse. All of our time together has culminated in our chance to win Love Live. And afterwards, Muse will disband so our time together isn't tainted by a want to remain famous." Honoka struggled to smile with the tears that were pouring down her face. "That is our decision. To keep Muse as it always has been."
Nico: They really are good kids.
Nozomi: What makes you say that all of a sudden, Nico-chi?
Nico: Nothing really. I just didn't expect them to have that sort of reasoning for disbandment. But I guess it makes sense.
Nozomi: You don't want to leave them either.
Nico: Heh. You can see right through me.
Nozomi: *smiles* I'm your girlfriend, after all.
Nico: So...you. Moping back there. What's up this time?
Eri: I just realized...we did absolutely no practice on the choreography or singing while we were on the trip. And Love Live is coming up. Will we really be okay?
Nico: ...wow. It's not a Honoka-related question for once.
Eri: I heard that.
Nico: That's why I said it. I'm sure we'll be fine though.
Nozomi: As seniors, we have to trust in our juniors to make their decisions, don't we?
Eri: I suppose so…
Nozomi: So don't worry about it.
Nico: Let's just focus on making it the best memory for Muse.
Eri: I guess you're right.
Nico: Great. Now that that's out of the way, could you leave? You're kinda intruding on our personal time.
Eri: R-Right! Sorry!