For You

A/N: So...after how many years, I finally decided to upload this. It's not much, but I had finished 75% of it before I stashed it away coz I got busy. And since it's Valentine's today, you know...hehe
My proofreader told me that it was a bit bland that my usual so I don't know how you guys would like it but, here it is. Enjoy.

Maki decided to come early to school that day in hopes of avoiding encountering Honoka on the way, but really didn't feel like going.

Honestly, who would be?

She just had a screaming match that ended very poorly, when it didn't have to. Honoka was really just worried for her, and with good reason too. It was why she had called Nico on the phone despite her busy schedule. And it was also at the very person she unleashed all that pent up frustration at. If Maki was a lesser person, she would've already complained about her terrible luck – she was frustrated over someone (Honoka), called someone else (Nico) to talk about it, got even more frustrated, and vented it all out on the person (Honoka) she was frustrated with in the first place.

Truly, what distasteful luck.

Honoka felt like she was in her very first love live.

On her first love live competition, though she felt nervous because it was their first, she was more excited because they would actually be competing after all this time. And that's what she felt now, but for an entirely different reason – she was nervous because she was going to be facing Maki after the little argument yesterday, and she was excited because she was finally going to be moving forward.

Honoka disliked being on bad terms with people she knew, especially if they were close – even more special since it was Maki, and the idea of making up with her, regardless of how it would come to be, made Honoka jittery in a stomach-fluttering-butterfly kind of way. And the first step to that was apologizing to Maki.

Though Maki had been much better than how she used to be, pushing her to open up might have been too much. She wanted to help her with what she was going through, not add to her problems. Maki must've felt cornered – being pestered to tell her problem; or if that wasn't it, then maybe she felt annoyed being told words of comfort that were empty since Honoka obviously didn't know what Maki was going through.

"I'm so dumb."

Regardless of the reason, Honoka was sure that it was her fault, so it was only right that she apologize.

That morning, she had messaged Kotori not to wait for her to school. Her friend must've been worried so she had assured her that she wasn't skipping. In fact, she had actually come to school early – in hopes of seeing Maki right away, and apologize – wanting to lessen their time of fighting even just by a second. The thought of being in bad terms with Maki any longer made her heart ache, but she didn't want to apologize through a text message, because Maki didn't deserve any less than a personal apology.

From various sources (read: Hanayo and Rin), Honoka had learned that Maki usually spent her spare time before homeroom in the music room. She only needed to wait a little as Maki entered the music room minutes after she did. And upon noticing Honoka, Maki froze. But before she could get any word out, Honoka had approached Maki, and was quick to bow.

"I'm sorry!"

And before Maki could react, Honoka was rambling how she shouldn't have said those words, that she didn't really mean what she said about her, and that she hopes that they could still be friends.

The music room was filled with silence, with Honoka staring at Maki, waiting for her answer. Meanwhile, Maki could only look at Honoka's pleading eyes, too startled to form a reply. Fearing for the worse, but still waiting patiently, Honoka didn't move but her eyes must've been displaying something else as Maki was brought back and immediately straightened to block the door.

"No. If anything, I'm the one who's supposed to apologize. I las-"

"But you did nothing wrong, Maki! I just-"

"Really. It's ok."

Honoka sighed in relief as Maki smiled at her. The tense atmosphere when Maki entered was then replaced by a comfortable silence. Maki watched as Honoka wobbled into sitting on one of the desks. She said something about the adrenaline in her body leaving and her legs collapsing in relief. As Maki stood there, she knew that the problem hadn't actually been touched. Yes, they had apologized to each other, but their confessions from their argument yesterday shouldn't be any less true, so they should still talk about them.

Maki was deep in thought. Here was Honoka, going out of her way to come early to school because she wanted to apologize for something she really shouldn't. It made her swoon - that that's how much she meant to Honoka. But it also made her reconsider things. How about her? How much does Honoka mean to her?

"At the rate that you're going, even if you do confess, Honoka wouldn't like you back!"

Nico's jab at her came to her mind, and proof was what happened yesterday. Maybe she should really just confess. As what Honoka did just now, she was the type of person to charge ahead - straight up say something honestly and sincerely. Couldn't she do that much for her?

"Honoka. About yesterday…"

"Y-yes?" From being relaxed, Honoka's smile turned tense, seemingly not wanting to continue the topic Maki opened.

"Listen, my mind might've been clouded with anger, but my words still held some truth. I know that you did those things because...I've been watching you too."

From the admission, Honoka's expression became more confused than simply wanting to stop the conversation. Maki took a deep breath before simplifying her confession.

"Actually, I am in love with you. And before you even say anything, let me finish, ok?" Maki received a hesitant nod, before she took a deep breath and continued. "To start, I want to clarify that Nico and I did not like each other that way. You guys just kept on pushing us together, so we decided to just stop on correcting you. Also because I wanted to move on from you."

"Huh?" Honoka could not help but let out a questioning gasp at the admission. Maki faced Honoka to answer before eyes unconsciously roamed the room again.

"I've actually liked you since the first time you saw me play in here. Then it just continued to grow after that. But...since I am...not that good around people, and I didn't want to cause unnecessary problems with μ's, so I wasn't able to tell you."

The room was filled with silence, and Maki wasn't sure whether to continue or just let Honoka decide for her. She wasn't sure what else she needed to say, and it didn't help that Honoka wasn't saying anything. Deciding to peek at Honoka's reaction, Maki was surprised to see her teary-eyed.

"I'm sorry! I didn-"

"Is this true? I'm not just dreaming, am I?"

Without knowing, Maki had approached Honoka, and was already wiping a tear before it could even go down her cheeks. Maki couldn't help but smile at Honoka's reaction - crying with a smile. She tried to pull Honoka to her chest, but was pushed away. Worriedly, Maki asked, "What's wrong?"

"I'll get your uniform dirty."

Maki couldn't help but giggle, her worry leaving her as soon as it came. So instead, she pulled out a handkerchief to wipe her tears. If she could help it, she doesn't want to see any more tears on this girl's face, except maybe if it has a smile with it. And hopefully, this was the first step to that.

After a few moments of silence, Honoka looked up to Maki. "So...does this mean that we're together now?"

"Only if you want us to be."

In a room with a veranda overlooking the sun setting along a sandy beach, a red-haired woman sat on a bed, adjusting the straps of her heels. It had been ten years since she got together with her partner, and during their time together, especially the years between then and now, she had made up her mind to make her the happiest, because she made her just as happy.

Doubts of what Maki wanted to pursue in the future cleared up, not only because of the want to spoil Honoka with everything she could give her orange-haired partner - not that Honoka actually asked her for anything, but Maki really just wanted to surprise her with such gestures. Honoka truly just made her so happy, so inspired, so loved.

In the almost-ten years that they were together, Honoka made her day as complete as they could be. Although it was a little bit difficult considering that she was a year older, Honoka made sure to make Maki feel that there were two people in their relationship. When Honoka told Maki that she wanted to travel and continue singing, Maki had thought that she was breaking up with her.

Her worries turned out to be unfounded when Honoka told her that she was actually unsure on whether or not to continue with it since she noticed Maki get upset. She told her how she had also wanted to become a primary school teacher - that she could simply teach at a nearby school so they wouldn't have to be that far apart.

Her heart melted at the gesture. There she was, thinking that Honoka was breaking up with her, when she was willing to sacrifice what she wanted to do for something a little less than what she liked. Maki had stopped worrying and decided to support and trust her. Honoka could continue the music they both loved for the two of them. It was at the same time that she told her that she'd decided to live up to her parents' expectation of continuing their hospital.

Between Honoka's singing career, and Maki's college education, their relationship had some bumps and turns, but neither was willing to give up - not on them. And depending on who was asked, they were either too selfish or stubborn for them to fall apart - too selfish to let the other go, or too stubborn to actually let go. Sometimes both. And it worked - Honoka made sure to visit Maki at least once every two weeks, if she was out of the country, while Maki made sure to attend a gig or concert, provided it was within the country.

Maki let out a soft giggle from a memory. She was down with a cold from lack of sleep after her exams, and Honoka had rushed to her home as her very own mother called for her because she was too busy at the hospital. It had been a stressful five minutes as Honoka kept on forcing herself inside her room, while Maki kept the door shut because she didn't want to possibly pass her cold. In the end, Honoka ended up having her way since Maki was too weak, and not because she missed her. Thankfully, Honoka didn't catch the disease as she had a concert the night after, though it did take her 30 minutes to convince Honoka not to simply postpone the concert just because Maki wasn't in full condition yet.

Maki stood and left the room as she deemed herself presentable. She had taken a leave from the hospital, and had invited Honoka for a short trip to Hawaii. They had agreed to meet in a restaurant she had a reservation for tonight since Honoka had felt like wanting to surprise each other.

Walking towards the restaurant, Maki felt for the small box in her purse for the nth time that day.

"Hopefully, this is enough for a surprise."

A/N: And that's that. Truly complete this time. Thanks for reading my work. Continue to support the ship! Til next time.