Major Mike Powell III: Heh, try as I might to keep these parts fun and silly, I do have to bring the marriage thing up again, as it's kinda important to the ending, haha. And I don't know about you, but I'm excited for a bit of Yukiho spotlight.

DschingisKhan: This is quite an interesting question you ask. As I can't reveal my plans, I unfortunately can only ask you follow along to the end. This is a Honoka harem, so it largely revolves around Honoka. Though, hopefully once the individual character chapters are over, the bigger story chapters will be to your liking.

*Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!


She tried her best, but once the curtain was moved, it was all over for her. The morning light flooded into the room, effectively dispelling whatever remnants of sleep there were. Deciding now was as good a time as any to start her day, Honoka sat up and stretched. As she did, she felt warmth press against her back, as well as wrap around her from behind. Soft lips touched her cheeks, the kiss lingering long enough for Honoka to spot a familiar head of red hair.

"Someone's in a really good mood this morning."

Those lips left her cheek and, as Honoka expected, stopped by her ear.

"Just treating the woman I love the way she deserves to be treated."

Honoka giggled as the warm air tickled her ear. She was finally released, and Maki moved into view as she sat facing Honoka on the bed. Honoka couldn't help but smile, a bright yet playful smile to match the redhead's sitting in front of her.

"Good morning, Maki-chan."

"Good morning, Honoka. Did you like?"

She nodded. "Of course. Though, I was a bit surprised, since you're usually humming when you come to wake me up."

"Well, I need to rest my voice a bit if I'm going to be using it tonight."

"Tonight, huh? Does that mean…"

Maki nodded, her smile somehow growing a bit. "Yes, I finished a little song, just for you."

Once more, Honoka's expression quickly matched her young lover's. "I can't wait to hear it."

"I'm glad. Oh, but don't misunderstand, this isn't your Christmas gift. I already got you a gift, this is just because I love writing you songs."

Honoka was glad Maki chose then to get up and start walking toward the door. She, just like the rest of Muse, would've caught the very subtle twitch in her expression at that moment. Maki stopped at the door and turned back to Honoka.

"Well, I'll head downstairs first. Coffee should be ready."

"Okay, I'll be down in a few minutes."

With a nod, Maki left the room. Honoka quietly let out a sigh, unable to believe herself. Sure, she's been busy lately, planning with Umi and Eli for the concert, meeting with other companies, and Muse's rehearsals. But it wasn't like her schedule was always full. Even just recently, she's had days to herself here and there.

So how did she forget about shopping for Christmas gifts?

She shook her head, a smile tugging at her lips. She already knew the answer to that, but decided there was no use dwelling on it now. She had two days before the concert, and her schedule was tight as it was. Umi planned for a slightly early lunch yet a later dinner, so that they can rehearse for most of the next two days. That meant she had a few hours after breakfast she could use.

"Way to go, Honoka…" Another sigh escaped her lips. "Guess I better not waste any more time."


To say the others weren't pleased when Honoka told them she would be out for the morning once again was a huge understatement, especially since she couldn't give them a good enough reason that she needed to go. Yet despite their protests, they showed no intention of stopping her. After having a small breakfast, Honoka left the house as quickly as she could, trying to avoid someone asking to accompany her. She was technically successful, though she wasn't expecting someone to be in her car ready and waiting for her.

Though if she was to believe Yukiho's stories, then she wasn't too surprised that it was Arisa.

"So, where are we going?" the younger Ayase asked as she stared out the window.

Honoka sighed, deciding she might as well come clean at this point. "Christmas shopping."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Arisa's head snap to look at her. "What?"

She chuckled. "Yup. With everything else going on, I forgot to get everyone presents."

"But… But you've only been busy recently, right?"

"Have you dated eight girls before? You don't get a lot of time to yourself at all."

"I… I suppose that's true…."

Arisa still couldn't believe what she just heard. Sure, Muse is popular and they're probably busy a lot of the time, but it's not like they always have to perform or make public appearances. Even if Honoka was as absent-minded as she was in high school, she has Umi and even her older sister planning things for her. Surely she gets days to herself, right?

Then a thought crossed Arisa's mind. She was one of the few people that knew of the Muse's love for Honoka. They live together, spend time together every day, keep her busy, that they should know Honoka hasn't had time for this. And they all love her so much, they probably wouldn't mind, right?

Honoka happened to look over, catch Arisa's expression change as she pieced her thoughts together. She had a hunch what was going through the younger Ayase's mind, and decided to elaborate.

"No, they wouldn't mind if I didn't get anything. But they're always doing things for me and never asking for anything in return, well aside from a kiss or something. It'd be nice to do something for them for a change, since they usually don't let me."

"I see…"

Arisa's eyes fell to her hands resting on her lap, a smile on her lips. She could understand how the other Muse were, as she treated Yukiho in a similar fashion. And Yukiho had said and done something similar just last year, surprising her with the necklace that was hidden underneath her sweater. Not that she questioned it before, but it still helped shine a light for Arisa as to why she felt so strongly about Honoka all of a sudden. The Kousaka sisters were something special, and she felt herself pulled toward the older sister just like she had the younger.

A comfortable silence fell between them the rest of the way. Eventually they arrived, Arisa recognizing it as one of the bigger shopping centers in the area. As she stepped out of the car, she wondered why Honoka decided to go here. Though she quickly realized it was the furthest from the house. She joined Honoka as they began walking toward the entrance.

"So, do you have any idea what you'll get them?"

"Nope."

"… Do you at least have a plan?"

"We have plenty of time to walk around. I'll just buy as I see things that I think they'll like."

Arisa smiled. Although she wasn't quite as intimate with Honoka as the others, even she could say that sounded very much like her. Honoka snuck a glance, a more playful smile touching her lips.

"You'll be helping me as well, right?"

"Of course!"

While at first Honoka wanted to do this alone, Arisa proved to be both helpful and entertaining. After all, it was no secret to either of them why the younger girl was putting a lot of effort into helping. Arisa was pointing out things that caught her eye often, asking for Honoka's opinion. While her choices were close more often than not, Honoka held off on them, wanting to find just the right gifts for the others. Arisa was never discouraged, continuing to make suggestions as they wandered around.

About an hour in, as Honoka was deciding between two notebooks held in either of her hands, Arisa heard her phone's notification tone. She pulled it out of her pocket, turned the screen on, and almost let out a gasp. Yukiho's name was displayed, along with a short message asking where she was.

She mentally sighed, realizing that in her haste to follow Honoka, she forgot to tell her current girlfriend that she would be out for a bit. She quickly typed out a response to reassure the younger Kousaka, adding a few hearts and hoping that would look normal enough. She returned her phone to her pocket, seeing Honoka still deciding between the two notebooks. Arisa hesitated briefly before deciding now was probably the best chance she had.

"Hey, Honoka?"

"Hmm?"

"How did you do it?"

Honoka looked away from the notebooks, giving Arisa a confused look. "…How did I… what?"

"Well, with the other Muse… How did you stay together for so long, considering-"

"Arisa-chan."

Arisa stopped, mostly out of surprise that Honoka interrupted her. The Muse leader touched a finger to her lips to ask for silence, her eyes searched around them. Honoka showed what looked like her usual smile, but Arisa somehow knew it wasn't, and realized she had made a mistake.

"Muse stayed together because of everything we went through. We tried our hardest to win Love Live, to save our school. So of course going through that, we weren't going to disband just like that. Right?"

"R-right. That makes sense." She lowered her head. "Sorry…"

"Don't worry about it. You're not used to worry about attention at all times."

Arisa looked up to see Honoka's more genuine smile back. She found her own smile quickly return to her.

"Must be hard on you."

"It usually is. Although I'm surprised things have been peaceful, even if it's only been an hour."

And as if right on cue. "Hey, isn't that…"

Honoka sighed, giving Arisa an Are you serious? look, causing the younger girl to laugh. She turned to see two girls heading down the aisle toward them. Both girls had matching emerald eyes, but the taller girl had long black hair, while the shorter had red hair wore in pigtails.

Arisa watched behind Honoka as the two girls talked with the Muse leader. The taller girl spoke excitedly, a bit more than the younger, who gave off a bit of a shy and timid impression mixed with her excitement. Arisa couldn't help but smile, able to completely understand how they must be feeling meeting their idol in person.

It turns out they were sisters in their own school idol group, so Honoka gave them some advice and encouragement. They also mentioned the name, but Arisa didn't quite catch it, as her mind started wandering to other things. Though she noticed once the sisters finally left, and she and Honoka returned to their shopping. Though, it seemed that encounter took quite a bit of time, as they only had about half an hour before they needed to return home.

Aside from the cashier exchanging some words with Honoka, indicating Honoka came here once in a while, the rest of their time went uninterrupted. There was silence between them as they returned to Honoka's car. Once they were both inside, doors closed, and engine starting did Honoka finally break the silence.

"It's wasn't that hard, actually." Arisa looked over, confused, so she clarified. "Your question earlier, about how we stayed together for this long."

"Really? No fighting or anything?"

Honoka shook her head. "What I said earlier wasn't just a cover. We were already pretty close just because of Muse. They never hated each other, they just competed over me. So when I asked them to get along for my sake, and also so we can stay as Muse, there was almost no issue."

"That's… pretty incredible."

"I think so, too." Honoka smiled. "The key was the bonds we had together before. If we weren't close just as Muse, it might not have worked out."

"I see… Then, maybe I should give up this crazy dream."

Honoka looked over. "Dream?"

Arisa nodded. "You see, I thought it was something you've been doing that kept this going. Something special about you that the other Muse followed. I thought if I could date you, I might be able to figure that out, and maybe be more like you. But after spending time with you today, and hearing what you said just now, I realize that I was guessing wrong."

"So, what are you going to do now?"

She turned to Honoka, smiling. "I'm going to just be myself, and focus on my relationship with Yukiho-chan."

As she backed her car out of the stall, Honoka smiled. "I think that's a wonderful idea."


Hey everyone, nobodD here!

First off, Happy New Year everyone! I hope you enjoyed your holidays. Here's to 2018, cheers!

So, Arisa's chapter. Bet the ending surprised you, didn't it? And actually, it surprised me, too. Way back at the start of this story, I had intended for Arisa to be part of the harem. But recently I thought over the whole story, and have been making changes with the way I want this to end. Because of that, I changed what Arisa's role is, and it allowed this chapter to work. I think it'll be better for her in the long run. She hasn't had many mentions up until this point, but this will allow me to include her more going forward, especially when the last of the character chapters finish and we start getting into the bigger story. I'm excited about it, though secretly hoping it'll all pay off.

Only two more characters haven't had their alone time with Honoka yet. And while the beginning scene was to set up Honoka going gift shopping with Arisa, it also gives away who the next chapter is about. So look forward to that.

And if you caught the cameo toward the end… Yes, I did that. I played with the idea of including all of them, since apparently the time gap fits decently enough, but never really could think of a way to. We got two at least, so that's something, haha.

Hope to see you again~