I don't own the characters or anything about this fiction except the plot and some OC's.

CHAPTER 1: Disappearance

"Kotori-chan! Umi-chan! I am heading back home first okay?!" Honoka Kousaka called out to her friends who were still inside Nozomi's apartment. The three had finally graduated and the former members of the µ's decide to celebrate it in their senior's apartment. Her two best friends were at the door as she exited the place while the others were having fun watching movies.

"Hey, wait a minute, Honoka! Couldn't you just sleepover like us? It's pretty late already." Umi suggested to her ginger haired childhood friend. She was pretty worried about her going home alone since it had already passed midnight.

"Sorry, I can't! The package I was really waiting for came this evening and I can't wait to check it out!" Honoka scratched the back of her head as she faced her dark haired friend. The two still insisted that she could do that the next day but she declined. She was really in a hurry. Kotori walked closer to the ginger haired girl and gave her a warm tight hug. "Be careful, okay? See you tomorrow?"

"Mmn! Let's meet up at the park where we first met! I have something I want to tell you two." Honoka said as she separated from Kotori and looked at the both of them with a smile. She received two nods in return and she walked herself out, though not without waving cheerfully at them as goodbye.

Honoka was smiling quietly as she walked down the street and looked at the night sky. She then stopped and walked inside the park where she planned to meet the other two for the next day. She just stood in the middle of the place while contemplating.

She was thinking about the package that she ordered. It was two silver rings that she saw online when she was looking for a graduation gift for her two childhood friends. The rings were identical in looks and it had small gems attached on it. The gems were both blue and emerald which reminded Honoka about the two girls.

Warmth but with a tinge of sadness fluttered in her chest when she think about those two. Honoka already knew that she was in love with Kotori and Umi. Yes, the both of the two. She might be oblivious to a lot of things but she paid attention the most on Kotori and Umi now. It was what she had learned to do after that terrible fight on their second year for the first Love Live. She didn't want there to be another chance to lose her best friends once more.

It was how Honoka found out that she was in love with the two of them. She couldn't stop herself from noticing Umi and Kotori's beauty. Her heart would race around the two and her eyes would follow them whenever they would be together. She was also at peace when the three of them were in one place. She even tried to stop herself from touching them because she knew that both of the girls were in love with each other.

There were signs in their subtle words and actions. In the way Umi interacted with Kotori and its difference with Honoka. The way that the two of them would always be together and do couple of things that made Honoka felt like a third wheel at times.

It was really saddening for Honoka but she had already accepted it. It sometimes hurt her in the heart but it was just fine for her, time will pass and one day she could move on from them. She masked her smiles with them and for them. All she really wanted was for them to be happy.

That is also another reason why she bought the rings even though it had cost her all of her allowance. Tomorrow, Honoka plans to confess to Umi and Kotori about what she feels even though she knew she would be rejected. She just wants them to know before they get separated by circumstances like college.

Throughout all this thinking, Honoka didn't notice the shadows that had been following her. Stealthily, when the ginger haired girl sat at one of the benches of the park, they approached her. Honoka finally noticed but it was too late. A handkerchief with sleep-inducing drug was placed on her face as she struggled under the holds of the strangers.

It was all in vain because the drug was already in her system. She blacked out with her thoughts filled with her two best friends.

'Kotori…Umi…' were her last thoughts as her consciousness fades into the darkness.

Kousaka Residence

Yukiho woke up early in the morning and went to downstairs only to see her mother cooking their breakfast. "Good morning, Mom. What's for breakfast?" She asked as she sat on one of the chairs on their dining table.

"Oh, morning. It's just some sunny side ups. Could you please wake your sister up?" Her mother said as she fried the eggs on the pan and placed the cooked ones on a plate. Yukiho nodded and walked upstairs once more before knocking on her older sister's door.

"Nee-chan! Wake up! Breakfast is already done!" Yukiho said loudly while pounding on the door. There was no answer to her call so she thought that maybe Honoka overslept once again. She tried once more before getting peeved and finally slid the door open. Yukiho was quite shocked that her sister wasn't there. Maybe she really did slept over with her friends at Nozomi's apartment.

The younger sister told this to their mother who replied with a worried look. "But, yesterday, she was so excited to come home because of the package that was in her room. She sent me a text too that she was coming back already. Where could that girl be?" The mother of the two sisters sighed at the end.

This left Yukiho with a heavy feeling in her heart. She called her sister's phone but it was unattended no matter how many times she tried. "Onee-chan…" She muttered with a worried look on her face. "Maybe we can ask Umi-chan and Kotori-chan. I'll give them a call."

The other two had received a call from the younger sister of the Kousaka household and they answered that she wasn't with them either. This worried the two girls' hearts because they were the one that went to see Honoka off. The µ's former members also tried to contact their leader but it went unanswered.

Then, they decided to look for the ginger haired girl all over the town but they couldn't find her. The friends had separated into pairs to look for their leader and friend. Umi and Kotori were walking by the park where Honoka decided to meet them before the night. Their hearts were already pounding hard from worry and also looking for their friend within almost half a day already passed. Still there was no sign of her.

Kotori then went to sit down on a bench in the park to rest and Umi sat beside her. "Where could she be, Umi-chan?" The ash brown haired girl asked the blue haired girl. She reached for her hand and it was squeezed back. "I don't know, Kotori. I just…I wished I just convinced her to stay more. This…wouldn't happen if I did."

"No… It's not your fault, Umi-chan!" Kotori said this to her best friend with her head facing the ground, hand tightly squeezed back. "Maybe Honoka-chan just went to some friends to sleep...and…That's!" The girl suddenly stood up and with their hand still together, she dragged Umi to stand too.

"Kotori? What's wrong?" The blue haired girl asked her best friend, anxiously. She was pulled to the bench at the middle of the park. Finally, she noticed what Kotori was looking at. It was a very familiar blue phone lying on the ground. The two girls stopped in front of the cellphone and Umi picked it up.

"Isn't this…Honoka's phone?" Umi opened it and saw all the missed calls for the ginger haired girl. Her heart was throbbing loudly and she was thinking fast what this could mean. It seems that Honoka was there in the park but she somehow dropped her phone on the ground.

"Umi-chan…" Kotori's voice was filled with worry as did her amber eyes. Her hand was squeezed once again. "Honoka would never leave her phone somewhere like this."

Of course, the blue haired girl knew that as well. Their childhood friend was not that stupid to leave it out late at night. Earlier that night, Honoka remembered she had not taken her cellphone and went back in the apartment when she first left. That was why Umi and Kotori were the only ones who went to see her off for the second time.

"…She probably just dropped when she passed by. She should be fine, Kotori." Umi assured her friend even though she too doesn't believe her words.

Few weeks have passed and they couldn't find Honoka Kousaka. The Kousaka Household had already reported her disappearance to the police and the former µ's had made a public appeal for this. Still, there was no sign of her.

The police had already checked the traffic cameras but all they found in the videos close to the park was a black van passing by after three hours of Honoka entering the park. They also think that the van had the girl in question but there was no clues to the van since it was a basic family car.

The Kousaka family and all of Honoka's friends went to search for her too. It left them frustrated and in despair. Umi and Kotori went to sleep in Honoka's room during this time. They also found the package that Honoka was excited for and opened it, thinking that it was a clue.

They cried when all they found was two rings that they knew Honoka was planning to give to them.

Somewhere…

Blue eyes attentively around her surroundings as she crouched inside her cage. There were a few people with her who were either crying or had finally lost hope. The ginger haired girl couldn't …wouldn't, lose hope here. Even though she doesn't know where she was or what's happening, she had to get back to her home and her friends.

Of course, she was terrified for the first few days. She was confused, sad, and angry, then finally determined. She steeled her heart and was cautiously planning her escape. She would survive no matter what and she would get back home no matter how long it would take.

In the current situation, she can either wait to be saved or make her actions to get back home. This ginger haired girl isn't the type of girl to just stand around too.

Because, Honoka Kousaka must only look forward and face the music no matter how dim it is.

This will be about Honoka because I like her the most and I find it sad that she was always left out of the pairings for µ's. I know she is paired with Tsubasa and I do like that too but I want to do this first.