Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to 'Love Live!'
"It's huge…" Honoka murmured in admiration.
All of µ's were walking together, checking out the venue.
The start of the preliminaries could be any location they wanted, and although the preliminary finals were set up elaborately, it was still just a simple stage.
Now, they had a giant area dedicated just for the competition. There were signs and televisions everywhere, along with market stands so people could purchase idol merchandise.
Of course, the stage itself was the most amazing part.
A lot of groups would be performing, so the equipment was excellent. The lighting and the colors made it even better.
"I can't believe we'll be performing at a place like this…" Rin remarked as she was still in a state of shock, but Nico crossed her arms.
"Love Live is just as important as shows for professional idols!" Nico reminded the group with a confident smile, and the rest of them nodded.
Umi noticed something was amiss though as she looked around.
"Where's Hanayo?" Umi asked, worried.
After Umi pulled them out of their daze, they also realized that their reserved friend was missing.
"Hanayo-chan!" Honoka cupped her hands around her mouth to shout louder, and the other members followed her lead as they called out for Hanayo.
"Hanayo!"
"Hanayo-chan!"
"Kayo-chin!"
Just as they were about to split up to look for her, they heard a familiar, excited voice in the distance.
They all rushed toward the source of the sound, only to see an over-energetic Hanayo moving from booth to booth, looking at all of the idol merchandise.
"This isn't even in stores anymore! Where did you get this?!" Hanayo asked excitedly as she leaned in close to the person in charge of the booth, who then quickly backed away in nervousness.
Just then, a helpful hand came to aid the shopkeeper.
"I'm sorry about that, we'll be taking her now," Eli said with a scolding tone as she grabbed the back of Hanayo's shirt collar.
"Ah…" Hanayo finally realized that she lost herself in her hunt for idol merchandise, and she was swiftly dragged away by the rest of µ's.
…
"I'm sorry…" Hanayo sheepishly apologized once the group was inside the building, and Umi sighed.
"Right after we talked about not getting lost…" Umi said as she shook her head in disbelief, and then Nozomi laid a hand on her shoulder.
"It's fine now, right?" Nozomi tried to lighten the mood with a smile, and Umi relaxed.
"Don't make us worry," Maki lightly scolded Hanayo as well, and Hanayo nodded slowly in response.
"Uhm, where's our room?" Kotori changed the subject, and the rest of the group looked around the entrance hall they were in.
"Someone from the staff is supposed to show us," Eli explained as she recalled the email they received the day before.
They all scanned the area one more time, and then became confused when they couldn't spot any staff members.
First, Hanayo wandered around without telling them, now this.
The exciting day for µ's started out with trouble.
"So, we really ended up coming here again…" Erena remarked with a bit of disbelief.
After they split up with µ's, they relaxed at Tsubasa's house for a few hours, but then Tsubasa suddenly said she wanted to go somewhere.
That place ended up being the shrine.
"Tsubasa's really worried," Anju said teasingly as she glanced at Tsubasa, who smiled a bit in response.
"Sorry. I just wanted to make sure," Tsubasa said seriously, and Anju and Erena both nodded.
The three of them headed to the building, then silently made their wishes. Tsubasa's wish took the longest.
They started to walk away, and Erena sighed happily.
"You didn't even get this nervous when we performed there, so why now?" she asked curiously, and Anju put her hands behind her back as she smirked playfully.
"It's because she loves Honoka-chan, obviously," Anju glanced at Tsubasa, who laughed quietly as a small blush appeared on her cheeks.
"Well, that's part of it. But…" Tsubasa trailed off, then looked up to the sky as she recalled the worried expression she saw last night.
"It's different when it's someone else, I suppose. I was nervous when we had to go on stage, but I was still in control of how it went. Now, it's all up to them," she finished her explanation seriously, then glanced to Erena and Anju, who only gave her an astonished look in response.
Tsubasa smiled, then looked straight ahead again.
"Also, she was really worried about it, so…"
Anju and Erena smirked a bit after Tsubasa said that. It was cute how she could go from completely serious, to a worried girl in love in the blink of an eye.
"Want to go pray one more time, then?" Erena suggested, and the three of them stopped walking.
"Good idea," Tsubasa answered her happily, and they all turned around and ran back to the shrine.
"Yukiho! Yukiho, look!" Alisa excitedly called Yukiho over as they reached the entrance of the venue.
Most of the groups had already performed, and now it was nearing the time for µ's to go on stage.
"It's so pretty…" Yukiho admired the view quietly.
The two of them had watched the last Love Live finals online, but seeing the venue in person was a much more amazing sight.
Alisa reached out and clasped Yukiho's hands, then started jumping up and down happily now that the day was finally here.
"Our sisters are really going to sing here, right?! It's not a dream!?"
Yukiho smiled warmly at how over-energetic Alisa was acting.
Of course, they were both worried about how µ's would do. Yukiho even admitted to Honoka at one point that she couldn't help but worry about their group.
But seeing the venue also evoked a different feeling within her.
Yukiho moved her hands away from Alisa's, then quickly reached her arm out and wrapped it around Alisa's shoulder, pulling her close as they stood shoulder-to-shoulder.
"H-Huh? Yukiho?" Alisa was confused by the sudden contact, but Yukiho quickly pulled out her phone, messed with it a bit, then held it out in front of them.
"This is to mark our goal! Once we get into Otonokizaka, we'll enter Love Live, just like µ's and our sisters!" Yukiho had a bright smile as she suggested the idea, and Alisa stared in amazement for a moment before she quickly nodded.
"Mhm! And we'll win, just like they will!" Alisa answered zealously, excited for the future.
The two of them posed in front of the Love Live signs, and Yukiho took the picture that would encourage their future selves.
"To think that we'd be holding these ourselves…" Erena remarked in astonishment, the three of them holding kingblades in their hands.
"It seems fun! Though they're a little difficult…" Anju murmured as she started to press the buttons on the bottom.
Kingblades were multi-colored LED sticks with a variety of colors, and one could even program a specific order of colors to cycle through for different stages of a concert.
"They seem pretty easy, actually," Tsubasa answered confidently, but Anju playfully rolled her eyes in response.
"Well, yours will only be on orange, so…" Anju teased her, sure of the fact that Tsubasa would never switch from Honoka's color.
However, Anju raised an eyebrow when she saw Tsubasa calmly shake her head.
"I'll support Honoka of course. But, I'll also cheer for the rest of them. They're all amazing girls, and I want to see them win," Tsubasa said clearly, and Erena smiled as she nodded.
"That's right. They beat us, so it's their responsibility to win here," Erena said happily, and Anju smiled as well.
They were only quiet for a few moments before Tsubasa gave in to Anju's suspicions.
"Of course, I also brought one of these for each of us," Tsubasa reached into her pocket and pulled out three ultra-glowsticks that were orange.
These were glowsticks that were much brighter than regular ones, but only lasted for around five minutes.
Anju and Erena both playfully sighed in unison, but they both quickly accepted the gift.
Kotori's mother was waiting by the venue's entrance.
She had become friends with the parents of the other idols in µ's, and she wanted to make sure that they'd be properly equipped if they showed up.
As she scanned the crowd entering, she spotted two familiar figures. However, she couldn't tell if they were holding anything.
She smiled a bit as she headed over to the two, then grabbed their attention.
"Excuse me…" she said quietly, and the two parents turned their heads to look at her.
"Do you need these?" she finished her sentence as she pulled out two glowsticks, one orange for Honoka, another deep blue just in case.
The other parents stared at her for a moment, then swiftly pulled out eight glowsticks each, all orange.
"We've got it covered!" Honoka's mother answered happily, and both of the mothers laughed.
"Dear, are we going to late?" the woman asked with a worried tone, and the man who was pulling her hand along smiled confidently.
"Don't worry! I made sure we'd have enough time!"
The two of them continued running with all of their energy, and once they saw the signs in front of the entrance, they breathed sighs of relief, then brought their hands to their knees as they recovered their breath.
"We made it…" she said as if a burden was lifted off of her shoulders, and the man laughed.
"Of course we did! We didn't miss the last one, and we won't miss this one!" he said full of vigor, then grabbed the woman's hand gently as they started to walk into the venue.
The woman smiled contentedly, then looked up to her husband.
"We didn't have to fly all the way here in such a hurry, you know," she said quietly, but the truth was that she was insanely happy that her husband was able to persuade their management team to let them leave early.
He looked at her in surprise, as if there was no other option than to personally come to the venue today.
"What do you mean? Of course we have to see our daughter in person for the finals," he replied matter-of-factly, and the woman tilted her head in confusion.
"Huh, but Tsubasa's group won't be singing…" she reminded him, but he quickly shook his head.
"No, I meant our other daughter!"
The woman realized what he meant, then laughed quietly as she moved closer to him as they walked.
"Dear, Honoka isn't our daughter yet."
A little bit after everyone arrived at the venue, all of µ's were standing in the hall near the entrance to the stage, already wearing their costumes. They could hear the cheers from the audience, and they were all excited to go on stage.
"There must be a huge audience out there…" Kotori remarked quietly as the sounds of the cheers drowned out her thoughts, and Umi smiled.
"I hope you're excited. When you and Honoka invited me to join µ's, I was always nervous, but now…" Umi thought back to just how nervous she was during their first performance, then she looked behind her at the rest of the µ's members.
"Now I can't get enough of it. Performing in front of everyone makes me really happy."
Kotori smiled happily at Umi's words, and Hanayo changed the subject as she messed with the frills on her costume.
"Do I look fine? Is this cute?" Hanayo had a hint of worry in her voice. As this was the final performance for µ's, she wanted it to be perfect.
Rin excitedly gripped Hanayo's shoulders as she looked at her with a smile.
"Don't worry, you look super cute!" Rin eased Hanayo's worries, then did a quick twirl around as she laughed.
"What about me?"
"You're cute too!" Hanayo answered happily with a small blush.
Nozomi watched the exchange, then looked to the rest of the group with a playful expression.
"I'll be performing like a star, so you all better be ready!" she warned them energetically, trying to make sure everyone in µ's was fired up for their performance.
As the rest of them stared at Nozomi due to her sudden challenge, Eli smiled.
"Then I'll try to steal the spotlight as the center. It's our last performance, after all!" Eli answered Nozomi's challenge with confidence, and Nozomi smiled back.
Rin watched the challenge start to unfold, then excitedly held on to Maki.
"Maki-chan, we can't lose to them!" she insisted eagerly, and Maki nodded as she looked at Nozomi and Eli.
"Don't think we'll go easy on you just because you're third-years," she warned them with a smile, then glanced at Nico, who hadn't spoken yet.
"That especially applies to you, 'Miss Number one idol in the universe,' Nico-chan," she singled her out playfully, and Nico laughed.
"Don't forget what you just said. You haven't seen what we can do when we get serious," she accepted the challenge, then glanced to Nozomi and Eli, who nodded back at her.
They all laughed for a short moment, then Umi reminded them of what they had to do.
"It's almost time," she said simply, then they all turned their gazes toward their leader.
Honoka looked at their expectant expressions one by one, then smiled.
"Everyone, let's show them everything we've got! Let's put all of our feelings, emotions, and gratitude into our performance!" she said energetically, then reached out her hand and extended two fingers, starting the µ's tradition.
The rest of them quickly did the same, then waited patiently for Honoka's next words. However, she wasn't speaking.
"Honoka?" Umi asked quietly as she threw a curious gaze her way.
Honoka looked softly at their hands.
"I just don't know what to say," she admitted easily, and the rest of them looked at her with confusion.
"What do you mean?" Nico asked, a bit worried, but Honoka shook her head.
"I really don't have anything to say. We've already talked about everything we need to do, and now we're all joined together. We're all feeling and thinking the same things, right?" she asked happily as she looked at the rest of the group, and they all gave her a small smile in response.
"Right," Nozomi confirmed it, then Honoka took a deep breath as she readied herself.
This was µ's. This was the group that had joined her and had been by her side this whole time.
It was time to show everyone.
"This is µ's last performance! Let's give it our all and make it amazing!"
Honoka then moved her gaze down to their hands again, and then started what everyone had been waiting for.
"One!"
"Two!"
"Three!"
"Four!"
"Five!"
"Six!"
"Seven!"
"Eight!"
"Nine!"
"µ's music start!"
"Ah, I think I got it!" Anju said excitedly as she figured out how to set up her kingblade, and Erena looked at her in amazement.
"Just now!?"
Tsubasa laughed quietly, then they all turned their heads in surprise as the lights on the stage dimmed.
Music started to play, and the platform rose to reveal µ's in their costumes.
"S-So cute…" Anju murmured in amazement, then Erena held a finger to her own lips to tell her to be quiet.
Tsubasa smiled, then mentally recited her wishes that she made at the shrine.
Tsubasa, Erena and Anju glanced at each other for just a short moment, then they all turned on their kingblades as µ's started to perform 'KiRa-KiRa Sensation!' for the whole audience.
The girls of µ's lined up as the audience started to loudly cheer once their performance ended.
Each one of them had bright smiles on their faces as they watched the crowd, then they all glanced to each other as a signal.
Honoka started their farewell.
"Thank you so much!" she shouted sincerely, then one by one, they all announced their names to the crowd.
After everyone said their name, they all held the hands of those next to them, and Honoka shouted the name that they all didn't want anyone to forget.
"Otonokizaka Academy school idol group, µ's!"
"Thank you so much!" they shouted in unison as they bowed, and the crowd started their shouts of excitement once again.
"That was amazing…" Erena murmured, completely awestruck.
"They definitely won…" Anju quickly agreed, her eyes glued to the spot on the stage that µ's were just standing on.
Erena glanced at Tsubasa, who had been quiet for a while, and was surprised to see tears forming in her eyes.
"T-Tsubasa?!" she called out worriedly, and Tsubasa jumped a bit in surprise as she realized she was starting to cry.
Tsubasa quickly wiped away the tears that were forming, then gave a small smile.
"It was just amazing…" she started to explain, then quickly shook her head as she decided to be honest with them.
"Sorry. That's part of it, but to be honest…I was just wishing that we could have been up there as well," she corrected herself with a hint of sadness in her voice, and Anju and Erena looked at her sadly.
"Tsubasa…" Anju whispered, not quite sure what to say, but then Tsubasa suddenly looked at both of them, full of newfound energy.
"Hey, let's start it!" she suggested excitedly, and it only took a few moments of thinking for Erena and Anju to understand what she meant.
"But they haven't announced the winner yet…" Erena reminded her, but Tsubasa smirked as she looked at Anju.
"Well, it's just like what Anju said, there's no way they could lose."
Erena and Anju glanced to each other for a second, surprised at Tsubasa's insistence, but then they both sighed happily as they decided to go along with it.
"Sure," Anju agreed, then the three of them looked back at the stage as they raised their glowsticks once more.
"Encore!" they started the chant in unison, and those nearby quickly followed their lead.
At the same time that was happening…
The members of µ's were in a nearby hall, and they couldn't stop themselves from tearing up after their performance.
They sang their hearts out, and they were overjoyed that everyone was cheering for them.
They worked hard to get all the way to this stage, and they gave a performance that nobody would forget.
However, it was also their last performance.
As they all held each other, the chanting from the crowd became loud enough to reach their ears.
They looked through the window and watched the crowd with amazement.
At first, they all thought that they simply misheard the chanting. But as the sound only grew louder, the message became clearer.
Honoka couldn't stop herself from fully crying.
The group all held the same feelings in their hearts as they hugged each other, but they quickly snapped out of their daze as they heard someone running toward them.
They turned to face the person, and it was one of the Love Live staff.
"Sorry for the sudden notice…" the woman said quietly as she collected her breath, tired from sprinting all the way to where the girls were.
They looked at her patiently, and she quickly stood back up as she faced them with a small smile.
"Do you girls think you can get ready now?" she asked them happily, then nodded toward the crowd.
Everyone in µ's instantly understood what she meant, and Honoka quickly wiped away her tears as she smiled brightly.
"Come on, everyone!" she shouted energetically as she started to run toward their changing room, and the rest of the group excitedly followed her.
They quickly changed, and the crowd exploded with deafening cheers as µ's came back on stage to perform 'Bokura wa Ima no Naka de.'
Ending Notes:
Hello everyone!
The chapter where µ's delivers their last performance has finally arrived. I hope you all enjoy it.
Credit goes to Shiroi Hakuto and his small series 'Tsubasa-sama is a Love Liver!' for the idea of Tsubasa's moment after the performance ended (and for also teaching me the term kingblade.) It's a very short two-part series about the idea of Tsubasa being a total fangirl of µ's, I recommend it to anyone who's a fan of TsubaHono, it's very cute.
I'm personally excited about the next few chapters, but also a little worried if I'll be able to give this series the ending it deserves, so I hope I'll be able to make them satisfying for everyone reading this story.
Thank you as always!