Buy Your Love

by Jstonedd

For charity and good publicity purposes, µ's will be hosting an auction where fans get to bid for a date with each member. But they'll quickly realize that they haven't quite thought it through, suddenly setting something big in motion that will change the group dynamic permanently. Nozoeli, Nicomaki, Kotoumi, Rinpana, Tsubahono, Erean

5. Finale

Last time on Love Live!:

The fan dates have begun, some seem to have fun, some are already done and my anaconda don't want none unless you got buns hon...kidding i love all girls but this story isn't about my gay ass

---

If Nozomi had to describe Aikawa Ryo in one word, it would be handsome. Her charming aura, her smooth smile and glinting eyes made quite the magnetic combination; she was effortlessly attractive, catching everyone's eyes without an overbearing presence. A bit like Eli, Nozomi thought. The blonde too was always the center of attention whether she liked or not.

Talking with Ryo was fun, the actress was easygoing and open-minded, and most importantly, educated and well-informed about almost everything. Political or social issues, whatever topic Nozomi broached, Ryo was always up to date and on the same wavelength as her, just as fired up as her about the inequalities in society and just as frustrated about the slow speed of change.

Nozomi certainly loved the innocent conversations she had with her friends, but talking with someone older than her was refreshing once in a while. She felt really lucky to be on a date with someone so mature.

---

Not understanding a thing she saw was a common feeling Nico had in class, and now abstract art had to be added to her list of incomprehensible things. No matter how much she tilted and turned her head, she couldn't interpret the art work in front of her which looked like the artist had simply tried out every watercolor on the canvas to find the right color, and before they got to paint the actual work, the white space had been used up. And then it was hung up and now had a worth of several million Yen.

Nico couldn't believe that there were people intrigued by this. Even with her low level of art skills, she would be able to reproduce that drawing. Frustrated, she turned her back on it, her gaze sweeping the room until it landed on Maki. Unlike Nico, the younger girl was drawn in to the presented works the moment she stepped inside the art gallery, and she went from painting to painting with a concentrated expression. She took her time to read through the descriptions before she would look up at the paintings again, thoroughly examining them.

Under usual circumstances, Nico would have fought tooth and nail before she got dragged into places like these, but today she didn't mind it that much. Yes, she was still bored enough to try and count the tiles on the floor before she realized that she hated math, but being here didn't feel like a waste of time to her. Even if she didn't get to talk to Maki much, she was content with simply looking at her. Because Maki looked so comfortable in this environment, her shoulders and whole stance was relaxed as she strolled through the gallery. Nico could tell that this was one of the rare locations where Maki could let her guard down.

In some ways, Maki was just one of the paintings in here. Just like that abstract drawing with the whole palette of watercolors, Maki was complicated, unique and most of all something that Nico desperately wanted to understand.

---

Tsubasa didn't think she had laughed this much in a long time. Because Honoka trying to ice-skate reminded her of a baby deer taking its first steps; her trembling legs kept folding in, causing her to fall clumsily. Luckily, Honoka was ambitious and tough, not the least bit demotivated by the fact that she hadn't managed to skate one complete round on the ice rink.

"Here, Honoka," Tsubasa said, her cheeks tinging a weak shade of red because she still wasn't used to saying her first name, but Honoka had insisted on it. She stretched out her hands, offering them to Honoka. "Hold on to them and try again."

"But," Honoka looked up with wide eyes, "does that mean you'll skate backwards?"

"Yeah," Tsubasa smiled, then blushed when Honoka let out a loud sound of awe. "It's nothing special."

"I want to become as good as you," Honoka said in determination, nodding to herself. She reached for Tsubasa's hands, paused in short hesitation before she tightly grabbed them. Apparently, too tightly, because a pained whimper escaped Tsubasa's lips.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry!" Honoka let go again, hiding her face in embarrassment. "I got nervous..."

"It's okay, I overreacted," Tsubasa said quickly, cursing herself for not being able to suppress that sound. "I'm fine, let's try again."

But Honoka shook her head, gazing at her in guilt. "You are downplaying your talents and your pain to make me feel better. When you say that skating backwards is nothing special or when you say you overreacted when it actually hurt...I don't want that. I don't want you to treat me like a kid."

Tsubasa's gaze softened. "Honoka..."

"I know I don't seem like the most reliable person," Honoka admitted, "and Umi-chan told me that sometimes people can't help but treat me like a child because of how I act. But can I ask you to see me as your equal? Please?"

It wasn't until now that Tsubasa realized how much this must have bothered Honoka. Her quirky loud character gave her a childish image, and she probably was treated as such even by her own friends. But she didn't want to be patronized, she didn't want to be underestimated anymore. She just wanted her share of respect. And Tsubasa was willing to give her all that and more.

"Honoka," she breathed, reaching for Honoka's hands and squeezing them reassuringly. "You've always been my equal. I'm sorry if I made you feel patronized, but I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

A bright smile spread on Honoka's face, and she asked, "Really? You always thought I was your equal?"

"Really," Tsubasa said with an earnest nod.

And when the words sank in, Honoka ducked her head with a blush. "Thank you."

Seeing a flustered Honoka made her own cheeks heat up, so Tsubasa cleared her throat and said, "Then, let's practice until you can skate on your own, how about that?"

Honoka gave her a big smile. "I'll keep fighting!"

---

The more time Umi spent with Anju and Erena, the more obvious it became to her that they had to be dating. Even Eli slowly caught on, feeling uncomfortable about being alone in their presence because when Umi had excused herself to the bathroom, leaving them three alone, Eli had involuntarily witnessed Erena's hand on Anju's back sliding down her body until it came to a rest on her butt. Anju showed no signs of being touched inappropriately, keeping up the conversation she held with Eli without being the slightest bit fazed. Eli deduced that she probably was used to this.

She breathed out in relief when Umi returned, sitting opposite of Erena again, and the hand was off Anju's behind. Not that it was any of her business, but there were some things she didn't need to know about other people.

The A-Rise members were easy to talk to since they all had something in common now: their school idol careers. They talked about crazy fan meetings and tightly packed schedules, talked about dance practices and weird encounters with other artists. But in the end, they came back to the topic that led them here hanging out at a cafe. The auction.

At the mention of the dates, both Umi and Eli became tense, reluctant about starting this topic again. They just wanted to forget that their loved ones were going on dates with other people.

"I don't think you have anything to fear," Anju said to Umi, who was staring at her tea cup with a stiff look. "I caught a glimpse of Minami-san's date when Erena and I were leaving, and... how do I put this lightly... They don't match."

"You saw the candidates?" Eli interjected, sitting upright. "Did you see Nozomi's?"

"Um..."

Erena and Anju shared a concerned look before Anju began in a hesitant tone, "I'm not too sure if I saw correctly, but I think I recognized Aikawa Ryo."

"Who?" Eli asked, clueless.

Umi frowned. "Isn't that the newcomer theater actress who won several awards this year?"

"Yes, that would be her," Erena confirmed, flinching when Eli knocked over her drink.

"Actress?" Unfazed by the spilled drink staining her sleeve, Eli leaned forward and stared at Erena. "What does she look like?"

"Uh..." Erena's eyes kept flickering to the mess on the table. "Befitting her roles, I suppose."

"Tall, handsome, charming," Anju added. "Very dreamy. Ouch! Erena!"

"Sorry," Erena replied without looking the least bit apologetic for pinching Anju where Umi and Eli couldn't see.

Eli buried her face in her hands, muttering to herself. Umi patted her shoulder in an attempt to soothe her. "That doesn't mean anything. Nozomi isn't the kind of person to be solely impressed by looks."

"Yes, Tojo-san does give off a very faithful vibe," Anju continued.

"Also," Erena paused, "could you please do something about your drink, it's dripping off the table."

"Erena," Anju scolded her girlfriend with a light slap against her stomach. Pulling out tissues out of her handbag, she dried the table and Eli's soaked sleeve the best she could. "Now, there's no reason to feel down, it's obvious that Tojo-san's affection for you can't be rivaled."

When Eli looked up with a hopeful look, Umi added quickly, "Yes, you have something that Aikawa doesn't have."

"An inferiority complex?" Erena muttered. She let out a quiet yelp when Anju slapped her thigh for that comment.

"Erena," Anju hissed beneath her breath, "be a bit more sensitive, can you?"

"That's rich coming from you," Erena whispered back, not caring that the two µ's members could actually hear everything they said. "You didn't seem to realize that I wanted to spend this day just with you. Instead you invited your crush and Ms Looks-Cool-But-Is-Actually-Whiny to our date."

"Uh, restroom." Umi and Eli excused themselves to the bathroom at the same time, almost knocking into each other in their hasty attempt to get up and leave.

Anju threw up her hands in exasperation. "See? Now they think they are unwanted."

"It's because they are unwanted," Erena countered, crossing her arms and looking the other way.

"What's gotten into you?" Anju pulled at Erena's chin, making her face her way again. "Did I do something to upset you?"

Erena stuck out her bottom lip. "You didn't even deny the 'crush' part."

"Oh, so you were serious about that?" Anju snorted in amusement, pulling at Erena's bottom lip to stop her pouting. "It's like I'm dealing with a baby." Erena bit after her fingers. "A baby with full-grown teeth."

"I just don't understand why we have to spend our day off with them," Erena complained. "Do you know how rare it is for us two to be alone?"

"I'm aware of that," Anju replied with a sigh. She leaned her head against her girlfriend's shoulder. "I'm sorry if you feel like I didn't value our time alone. I just thought it would be nice to have more friends aside from Tsubasa, who will soon be too busy with Kousaka-san."

Erena hummed, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

When Umi and Eli came back after five minutes, they were relieved to see the two A-Rise members no longer bickering, and they hoped that it would stay this way. At least for the duration of their time together.

"I owe you an apology," Erena spoke up after Umi and Eli had settled in their seats. "What I said was uncalled for even if it was the truth." She grimaced when Anju kicked her leg beneath the table. "I apologize again. It seems I lack the competence for social interaction."

"Uh," Eli smiled weakly, "that's okay, I'm not offended by what you said. It was the truth after all. For a moment, even I didn't recognize myself."

"She's not usually like this," Umi clarified, helping to rebuild her friend's image that had suffered in front of A-Rise. "Those last few days were tough on all of us. It didn't help that neither Nozomi nor Kotori wanted to tell us anything about their dates."

"Understandable," Anju said, empathic. When A-Rise had auctioned off dates, it had been nerve-wrecking for her to watch eager hands shooting up in the air to bid for Erena. In the end, a spoiled teenage girl from a wealthy family had won, and she had been clinging to her favorite idol during the whole date. Erena had been less impressed by her companion, completely annoyed by the end of the day that she swore to never participate in an auction again.

"But you can't let that get you down," Anju added. She pointed to Erena with her thumb, saying, "You know what Erena did on the day A-Rise had their dates?"

"I'd rather not talk about that," Erena interrupted, but Anju ignored her.

"She pretended she got food poisoning at the restaurant so she could leave her date early to spy on mine."

Umi and Eli slowly turned their heads to face Erena, who cringed at the judging looks. "Okay, first of all, the salmon they served there was clearly not from the freshest haul, which my stomach could tell. So I excused myself and intended to go home. I just happened to pass by."

"I was on the other side of town," Anju replied in a dry tone.

"So was I," Erena defended.

"No, you were not, and want to know how I know? Your fan kept posting about the date on every social website, so I knew what you were doing every minute." Anju blew up her cheeks. "Sharing a drink with the same straw, seriously?"

"What?"

Umi and Eli felt out of place. They wondered if it was rude to excuse themselves to the bathroom again.

Erena ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "I did no such thing as share a drink with her. And why are you telling me this now, how long have you been waiting to say this?"

"Well, I didn't want to bring this up and sound like the jealous girlfriend," Anju said, crossing her arms.

"Then I have some news for you," Erena muttered. They faced opposite ways, huffing.

"Chrm," Eli let out an awkward cough. "I think it's time for Umi and I to go. We still have...stuff to do."

"Yes," Umi added slowly. "A lot of things to do."

"Oh, please don't go," Anju reached over the table to touch Umi's hands, "I'm so sorry about how things turned out. Please don't take this wrong, I didn't invite you out of obligation or anything, I really wanted to get to know you better."

Umi carefully pulled her hands out from beneath Anju's, feeling Erena's murderous gaze on her. "And we appreciate that, we really do. But I believe you two need some much deserved time alone."

"Yes, thank you for inviting us, it was fun," Eli said, telling only a half-lie. It had been quite pleasant until the couple had started disagreeing with each other. "We should do this again some other time."

"Oh, okay," Anju gave in, disappointed. "I hope next time Erena will learn to behave herself. She looks so mature on the outside but is worse than a child on the inside. It's her oversized pride, I'm telling you."

"Yes, let's blame this on me," Erena said sarcastically. "Does this make you feel better?"

"If you finally be quiet then yes," Anju huffed.

Umi and Eli quickly put some bills on the table and got up. "Thank you for everything, we're taking our leave now."

"Goodbye!" Anju waved at them while Erena nodded to them.

The two µ's members bid goodbye and hurried out of the cafe, releasing a sigh of relief once they were outside.

"Wow," Eli breathed, pulling at the collar of her shirt. "That was something. They weren't what I expected."

Humming in agreement, Umi put on her cap again to hide her face. "I'm sure Erena just needs time to warm up."

Eli refrained from replying that Anju wasn't making it easy for Erena to warm up to Umi. "Yeah..."

"So what do we do now? It's going to be dinner time soon," Umi asked after a glance at her watch. One of the few rules of today's event stated that the dates had to include a dinner around seven pm.

"I heard there's this really good restaurant near our school that opened last week," Eli said, wanting to take out her phone to check the name of the restaurant. "Oh no." As she touched her empty pockets, panic welled up within her chest. "I left my phone on the table. I'm going back in for a moment, okay?"

Umi nodded and stepped to the side of the entrance so she wouldn't block other customers from going into the cafe. "I'll wait here."

Walking back in, Eli prayed that the A-Rise couple wasn't in the middle of fighting again. But instead, no one was at their table anymore. Their half-full drinks and handbags were still there though. And Eli's phone.

She grabbed it with a sigh of relief, then gazed around questioningly, wondering where Anju and Erena could be. She almost bumped into a waitress, who ran to a work colleague in distress.

"You won't believe this," she whispered to her, both horrified and intrigued, "some guests are having sex in the women's restroom!"

Eli almost dropped her phone.

"What?" the other waitress hissed, aghast. "No way! Do we tell the manager?"

Whether they decided to tell the manager or not, Eli would never know as she stormed out of the cafe before she could hear more of their conversation.

"Did you find your pho- " Umi trailed off when she saw Eli's expression. "Eli?"

"Let's...let's go," the blonde muttered, dragging her feet past Umi.

"Uh..." Umi gazed uncertainly at the cafe's entrance door, then at her friend again. "Did something happen?"

"You don't want to know."

---

It wasn't until Nico sat down and finally had the time to observe her opposite that she realized something was different about Maki today. Maybe it was the lighting of the restaurant that enhanced Maki's beautiful features or maybe it was just her own imagination, but Maki looked so mature. She sat upright with her shoulders straight but it didn't look stiff at all, exuding casual elegance instead. She most likely learned early on how to behave dignified in a restaurant because her parents often took her to formal dinners.

"Aren't you hungry?" Maki asked when she saw that Nico hadn't touched the menu card.

"What?" Nico blinked in confusion because she had been too busy staring at Maki to consider choosing a dish. "Oh, right. Food." Cringing at her own awkwardness, Nico hid her face behind the menu card.

Maki didn't fare much better. Despite acting calm on the outside, she too was pretending to be interested in choosing a menu while her mind was completely elsewhere. It occurred to her that Nico was unusually quiet today. Actually, she was acting unusual long before that. When Maki had suggested to visit an art gallery via text message, she had expected some form of protest from Nico, but the other girl had agreed with a smiling emoticon and asked where the address was. She still couldn't believe that Nico had voluntarily followed her into the art gallery this afternoon.

Peeking over her menu card to get a look at her date, Maki caught Nico's eyes gazing back at her and she quickly ducked her head again. "Um, do you already know what you're ordering?"

"Er, no," Nico mumbled behind her menu card, cursing herself for being so obvious about her staring. "I don't go to restaurants often so I never know what to order."

"Right," Maki breathed, remembering that Nico cooked almost daily for her family.

"What about you? Do you know what you want?"

"I'll have tomato soup as appetizer."

Nico snorted.

"What are you laughing about," Maki muttered.

"Nothing. I just don't understand your obsession with tomatoes," Nico said, chuckling. "It seems to come out of nowhere."

"Pff." Maki put down the menu card. "And I don't understand your obsession with becoming an idol."

She braced herself, fully expecting Nico to start ranting about how being an idol was her life-long dream, but nothing came.

Nico propped her chin on her hand and tilted her head, gazing at Maki with a wistful smile.

"Nico-chan?"

"I envy you, Maki-chan," Nico said quietly, still giving Maki that half-smile of hers. "I envy you in so many ways but mostly I envy your endless possibilities."

"Hah?" Maki had no idea where Nico was trying to go with this and she felt distressed that she didn't understand why the other girl seemed sad now. What had she done?

"You see, I obsess about becoming an idol because it's the only thing I can dare to put my heart into. It's the only path I can follow if I don't want to go crazy." Nico cracked a smile. "This is why I envy you. You could become a doctor. You could become a pianist. Or a songwriter or a model or anything you want because you are good at everything which gives you endless possibilities. But I...I don't have any talents at all. I'm so average it hurts."

"Nico-chan..."

"I'm not blaming you," Nico added quickly, realizing that the mood had gotten heavy because of her. She forced a smile. "It's just, your question about why I want to be an idol will be something that I'll hear a lot of times until I can stop them by being successful. Until then, I'll have to justify my dreams again and again. But you, Maki-chan, if you choose to study medicine, no one will ask you in a condescending tone why you want to become a doctor. No one will tell you that it's a childish dream."

Maki opened and closed her mouth, at a loss over what to say. She wanted to comfort Nico, tell her that her dreams were valid too and that she should chase them, but no sound came out. It was the first time Nico had looked so vulnerable yet mature in front of her.

"I'm sorry, I ruined it," Nico cursed, holding her forehead. "I didn't mean to say all that, I just got really scared of the future. I don't want to graduate because I'm scared to find out who I am without µ's. I'm scared to find out that I was a nobody who rode on the others' coat-tail."

"No, that's not true," Maki finally managed to say, bursting out with words straight from her heart. "You're Yazawa Nico, the cutest school idol of all, and you matter! Not just to the fans, but also...but also to me!"

Nico's eyes widened. "Maki-chan..."

"And I don't think you're average at all," Maki continued, feeling her cheeks flush, "you can do so many things that I can't even dream of. You have a natural talent for being an idol because you know how to handle the press and the fans, you're not nervous at all. But I, I can't even smile in front of a camera."

Stunned, Nico wordlessly stared at Maki.

"So what if our dreams are childish," Maki added softly, her hand on the table sliding forward until it met Nico's halfway, shyly touching her fingertips with her own. "They are dreams after all. They are meant to make us feel excited about life like kids are."

Nico swallowed, glancing at Maki's hand that was in reach. "You're so smart it scares me." And she gave herself a push and let her fingers cover Maki's.

Both Maki and Nico stared down at their laps, feeling their cheeks burning, but they refused to break the physical contact.

"You're scared by a lot of things," Maki said, trying to sound mocking, but her nervous voice couldn't deliver her intended tone.

"Yeah," Nico shakily breathed out, wondering how a simple hand touch could bring her mind to a standstill. "Are you not?"

"Scared? Of what?"

"Like, the future."

Maki stared at their touching hands. "Probably not as much as you are. I still have two years in high school left."

"True," Nico muttered. She squeezed Maki's fingers. "You better enjoy your time there. Make tons of beautiful memories."

"Why?" Maki noticed how small Nico's fingers were in comparison to hers. But so warm and comforting.

"Do you even have to ask," Nico said, smiling. "It's to counter the sadness over us third years leaving!"

Maki's expression froze. She pulled her hand out from beneath Nico's.

"Maki-chan?" Instantly missing her touch, Nico worried about having said something insensitive again, which happened more often than not.

"You had to go ahead and say it," Maki said lowly, playing with the tablecloth. "As if I could forget that."

"Oh," Nico breathed, finally understanding what was going on. "I'm sorry, it slipped out."

Realizing that she hadn't been the only one to fear her graduation, Nico felt warmth spreading throughout her body.

"Hey, Maki-chan."

Maki slowly looked up, her expression troubled.

Nico did her signature gesture and sang, "'Nico nico nii, it's Yazawa Nico calling, so you better pick up with a smile, Maki-chan.'" Nico lowered her hand, grinning. "I'll make this a ringtone just for you. Consider it a graduation gift, from me to you."

And she achieved her desired result; Maki couldn't help but smile at the silliness Nico displayed.

"Aren't graduation gifts supposed to be for the graduating?"

"Maki-chan," Nico whined, "don't be so strict about it. Do you not want it?"

"I didn't say that," Maki replied far too quickly to sound casual about it. She realized her mistake when she saw Nico smirking. "Stop that."

"Stop what," Nico pretended to be clueless, her smile so smug Maki wanted to pull it off her lips. With her own lips.

"That," Maki gestured roughly to Nico.

"But you're pointing to all of me," Nico pouted. "Are you telling me to stop being Nico?"

"Urgh," Maki muttered, but found it difficult to get angry at the other girl. In the end, she gave in to Nico's innocent puppy look, a small smile forming on her lips. "You're unbelievable."

Nico's expression lit up. "But I got you to smile. And if I can make people smile, then I've done my job as an idol."

Maki's gaze softened. "You'll be a great idol."

Feeling embarrassed because Maki had gotten serious all of sudden, Nico tried to say in a confident tone, "Of course!" but it came off squeaky. She cleared her throat. "I'll become the number one of super idols, you'll see."

It hadn't been always easy to deal with Nico's idol persona, but now Maki found it quite endearing. She smiled softly when she said in a genuine tone, "I can't wait."

---

She tried to be subtle about it, but knew that her date must have caught on to her nervous glances at her watch by now, which didn't stop his monologues though. Kotori counted the minutes until she could say goodbye and never see that fan again, but time seemed to play a cruel joke on her and run extra slow today.

Just when she thought about excusing herself to the bathroom for the third time since they had arrived at the restaurant, she felt her phone vibrating in her handbag. Out of politeness, she ignored it and pretended to listen to whatever her opposite had to say, but her phone kept vibrating. Even when it stopped, it was only a short pause before it kept making noise again.

"Excuse me, I'll have to take this one," Kotori said, taking her phone and getting up to speak elsewhere. Her date looked up in confusion, disgruntled that she would stand up and leave in the middle of him retelling his story of how he fought hard in an online auction to win a super idol collection box.

Kotori's phone was still vibrating, receiving an incoming call from Rin.

"Rin-chan?" Kotori asked when she picked up the call.

"Finally!" Rin exclaimed on the other side of the line, her voice high and distressed. "What took you so long? Actually, never mind, it's an emergency! Honoka-chan got sent to the hospital, she broke her leg when she went ice-skating!"

Kotori blinked. "Eh?"

"There is no time for 'eh'," Rin said urgently, "you need to come right now, she needs all the support she can get!"

"But..." Kotori was about to reply that she couldn't leave her date just like that when she realized that she didn't care. Actually, this was her chance. Her chance to leave her date early with a good reason. "Which hospital?"

"I'll text you the address! Hurry!" And Rin hung up.

Kotori knew it was wrong to feel even the slightest bit of happiness in this moment. Despite worrying over Honoka's well-being, she also felt relief at getting to ditch her incompatible date now. She hurried back to their table and grabbed her coat hanging on the backrest of her chair.

"What's wrong?" her date asked. "Do we have to leave for somewhere?"

"I'm so sorry, but Honoka-chan got into an accident, I need to leave now," Kotori explained, quickly putting on her coat and picking up her handbag.

"What?" he spluttered, standing up. "No, you can't leave now, dinner is going to be served soon!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't think about food if my best friend is hurt," Kotori shook her head.

"No, I don't believe you," he replied angrily. "You've been staring at your watch the whole time. And now you're making up some excuse to leave!"

"This is not true!" Kotori already felt stressed enough about Honoka's situation and now she had to listen to false accusations too. "Honoka-chan needs me!"

"But why you?" he asked with a frown. "µ's has nine members, doesn't it? You don't really need to be there as long as the others are. What difference can you alone make by being there too?"

Her handbag slipped through her slack fingers. Feeling her eyes starting to burn, Kotori faced the ground.

It hurt. She didn't think it would hurt this much, but his words brought back painful memories where she had questioned her own place in µ's. She knew she had her important role as the costume designer, but was that everything? Was that everything she was needed for in µ's? Or was she replaceable without her talent in the fashion department? Did her presence not matter otherwise?

"Take that back," a voice spoke up next to Kotori, dark and angry.

Kotori jerked her head up, revealing eyes brimming with tears as she stared at the person next to her. "Umi-chan..."

Umi's voice had always been one of the stronger and deeper ones among the members in µ's, but in an infuriated state, it was so powerful it could send shivers down a grown man's spine.

"Sonoda Umi?" The fan stared at Umi in disbelief, feeling goosebumps breaking out on his skin when he was met with a dark glare. "But - where - how?"

"Do you have trouble understanding me?" Umi growled, her wrathful expression causing her opposite to flinch.

"Umi-chan," Kotori whispered, wiping at her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Umi's expression instantly softened when she faced Kotori. "I came to pick you up." She turned back to the staring fan, her aura darkening again. "But I'm not going to leave until I hear an apology. You will tell Kotori that you are deeply sorry for what you said."

"But I didn't even say anything offensive," he countered, not understanding the situation at all. "She started crying on her own! I just asked her what difference it would make if she didn't go."

"And you're going to apologize for that." Umi narrowed her eyes at him. "µ's would be nothing without Kotori. She makes all the difference."

"But..." the fan stuttered, exasperated, "I paid for that date! I paid a lot of money for it, so she can't leave now!"

"I will compensate for it," Umi replied calmly. She handed him her phone. "Give me your number and I will contact you tomorrow about the sum of your reimbursement. Consider this a fair offer."

The man stared at the phone in his hands. Then he slowly looked up at Umi. His gaze traveled to Kotori next. She turned her head away to hide her red eyes.

He sighed and handed Umi her phone back without typing anything into it. "I'm sorry."

He bowed deeply in front of Kotori. "I'm deeply sorry for upsetting you. I hope you can see me as your loyal fan again."

Kotori smiled weakly. "It's okay now. I'm sorry too that this date didn't turn out to be what you imagined."

"No, it's fine," the fan muttered, his gaze flitting to Umi before it landed on the ground. "I never stood a chance anyway."

Annoyed that he thought to have a chance to begin with, Umi fought hard to keep down her urge to make him apologize again. Instead, she picked up Kotori's handbag from the floor and slung it over her shoulder. "Let's go."

They left without glancing back, leaving behind a devastated fan who lifelessly slumped down in his seat, not looking up when the ordered food finally came.

"Are you okay?" Umi asked in concern the moment they stepped outside the restaurant. She stretched out a hand, wanting to wipe away the rest of Kotori's tears, but pulled back in the last moment, embarrassed that she had done that without thinking.

Seeing the faint blush on Umi's cheeks was oddly soothing for Kotori. This way she knew that Umi had turned back to her usual self, so unlike the girl whose intimidating aura was a terrifying force to be reckoned with.

"I'm okay," Kotori breathed, nodding with a smile, feeling incredibly happy to be with the person she had thought of all day. But her smile froze when she remembered something. "Honoka-chan! We have to go see her, Rin-chan should have texted me the address of the hospital by now, we should-"

"Kotori," Umi gently interrupted, touching Kotori's arm. "Honoka is fine."

Kotori lowered her hand that held her phone. "Eh?"

Clearing her throat, Umi faced to the side in embarrassment as she explained in a meek voice, "I happened to pass by this restaurant and saw you sitting inside...you seemed like you didn't want to be there at all, so I called Rin. She sounded excited about the challenge to make a convincing call."

"You did this for me?" Kotori stepped closer to Umi. "Oh, Umi-chan, you gave me quite a shock, you know. Why didn't you clue me in?"

"Because I know you," Umi said, avoiding Kotori's gaze now that she was so close. "You would feel too guilty to leave otherwise." She lowered her head. "I'm sorry I decided that on my own."

"No, I," Kotori swallowed, "I'm so happy I could kiss you for saving me from that horrible date."

"K-kiss?" Umi stumbled back a few steps, overwhelmed by the possibility of receiving a kiss from the one she loved most. She was nowhere near prepared, she hadn't brushed her teeth or researched on how to properly kiss, she also didn't want to disappoint Kotori with her inexperience.

But her shocked reaction didn't seem like a happy reaction to Kotori. Her smile turned sad. "But Umi-chan probably wants to save her first kiss for someone she likes."

It took Umi a few seconds to process those words before she burst out, "No, you got the wrong idea!" She stared at the ground, every bit of her face was bright red, even the tip of her ears were burning. "I...I wouldn't mind...giving you my first k-kiss...because I...really like you, Kotori."

"Umi...chan...?" Kotori was speechless. She knew Umi was incapable of joking about these things, so it could only mean one thing. "Umi-chan!"

Kotori jumped at Umi and engulfed her in a tight hug, squeezing the other girl as close to her as she could. "Umi-chan, I like you too!" She felt tears rolling over her cheeks again, but this time every drop of them was filled with happiness.

"Kotori," Umi breathed with a smile, putting her arms around Kotori too and snuggling against her.

"I," Kotori sniffed, burying one hand in Umi's hair, "I couldn't concentrate at all today. I thought about you all the time, wondering if you thought about me too."

Umi closed her eyes. "Of course I did. You were all I thought of, not only today but these past days too. I was about to lose my mind if Eli and Anju hadn't helped me."

Kotori put her chin on Umi's shoulder. "Anju helped you?"

Umi chuckled. "More or less. She provided great entertainment which was a helpful distraction. Now that I think about it, her fights with her girlfriend were quite amusing too."

"Girlfriend?"

Umi cursed quietly. "I should not have said that. I was in no position to reveal that about her."

Kotori leaned back so she could look Umi in the eyes. "She has a girlfriend?"

Uncomfortable about saying more because it felt like going behind Anju's back, Umi just nodded.

"Is it Erena?" Kotori asked again, her eyes widening.

Umi nodded again.

Kotori suddenly felt a lot lighter. She giggled, hugging Umi tightly again.

"Kotori?"

"Umi-chan, I like you," she sang, "I like you, I like you, I like you!"

"Kotori..." Embarrassed at first, Umi gave in and chuckled at the cuteness. "I like you too."

---

Eli still found it hard to believe that coincidence made them walk past the restaurant where Kotori had her date. Even more incredible was the fact that Umi had sensed her presence and stood still, looking through the windows inside the restaurant to see poor Kotori being miserable on her date. If Nozomi were here right now, she would tell Eli that the spiritual power of their fated love had brought them together.

But what did this mean for Eli and Nozomi? That their relationship was never meant to go beyond friendship? After all, nothing seemed to go right these past days and Eli also had no clue where Nozomi's date could be.

She was unsure of where to go next. When Umi had been determined to get Kotori out of her date, Eli had said goodbye, lying about not feeling well. Truth was, she wanted to avoid becoming the third wheel once Kotori joined them. And she had the feeling that her presence would only hinder the progress of their relationship. So she told Umi that she would go home for today and deal with things tomorrow.

But she couldn't go home now. Somewhere out in this city, Nozomi was on a date with someone attractive, successful, intelligent and charming, and Eli kept telling herself not to think too much into it. It wasn't like Nozomi was going to replace her. Ryo had nothing on their deep friendship, all she had was more money, more maturity, more awards, more fame, more life experience...

Eli forgot where she had been trying to go with this. But if that had been an attempt to lift her spirits, then she had failed.

Why was it even so hard to find out where they were? Weren't they both supposed to be a little more known around the area?

Eli stopped dead in her tracks. She might have to change her signature line because she sure didn't feel clever at all.

Taking out her phone, she browsed through social network sites to get a clue on Nozomi's whereabouts. The results didn't disappoint, showing pictures with captions of their locations.

Frowning, Eli zoomed in on a blurry picture that had been secretly taken by a fan. It was no doubt them and despite the blur, she could tell that they were engaged in a lively conversation.

Maybe checking up on them wouldn't hurt. The restaurant wasn't too off her way back home too. Just to make sure Nozomi was really having fun and didn't need to be saved from a boring date like Kotori.

---

"But it turned out that the food was just a prop which she only found out after biting into it," Ryo managed to get out between laughs.

"Oh no," Nozomi laughed in response, holding a hand in front of her smiling mouth, "that so reminds me of Elichi when she tried to eat a piece of plastic chocolate."

"Really?" Ryo chuckled. "That's hard to imagine."

"Isn't it?" Nozomi agreed, grinning. "She seems so smart and cool but sometimes lacks logical thinking."

"Don't let her hear that," Ryo said with an amused smile.

"Oh, Elichi can bear that bit, she knows she can't fool me with her cool act." Nozomi smiled into her drink, her gaze becoming distracted.

Ryo tilted her head. "You like her a lot, don't you."

Taken aback, Nozomi looked up into a knowingly smiling face. Ryo gave her a wink. "She was on your mind the whole time, right? Whatever we talked about, it always led back to her."

Embarrassed that she had been seen through, Nozomi lowered her head. "Ah, I'm sorry, it's not that I don't enjoy -"

"No, it's okay," Ryo interrupted gently. "I actually feel a little bit guilty about this date. I hope Ayase-san doesn't take this wrong, I just wanted to talk to you again and thank you for what you have done for me years ago. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be where I am now."

"You flatter me," Nozomi blushed, waving Ryo off. "But it was only fortune telling, not future telling. You did the rest yourself."

"But still," Ryo protested. "You don't know how much your advice meant to me. It gave me strength to keep fighting and now I'm here where I want to be."

Three years ago, when Nozomi started helping out at the shrine, she would also read fortunes for the people visiting the shrine if they wanted it. What began as a playful offer to entertain the visitors soon earned her a reputation as a goddess because her predictions turned out to be more accurate than not. Some people would visit the shrine solely to get their fortunes told by Nozomi.

Aikawa Ryo, twenty years old during that time, went to the shrine to pray for a sign on how to continue her life. After a failed debut and two years of playing minor roles and substitutes, she had little faith left that theater was the right path for her. Depressed about the thought of abandoning her childhood dream, she kneed before the shrine and prayed for things to become clearer to her.

Her epiphany came in the form of Nozomi, who held out a hand to her and helped her get up from the ground. Despite not being asked to do so, Nozomi pulled a fortune card and said if Ryo wanted to near her goal, she needed to keep moving forward. She was only in the business for two years, she was still young and eager to learn and improve. Giving up now would be forfeiting before the battle even begun. Ryo needed to keep her head up and eyes open if she didn't want to miss out on opportunities.

Shocked to hear that Nozomi seemed to know her profession without having told her anything before, she left the shrine. But the next day she came back and asked Nozomi how she knew. The younger girl smiled at her and said she liked Ryo's performance in a play she had seen. If she auditioned for roles she would feel more comfortable in, she would be stunning for sure.

Ryo realized that all the plays she had been auditioning for so far were from big productions. They already had specific characters in mind and she never fit those, but because she had potential, she got minor parts.

So she redefined her dream, splitting them up in steps and she went for small indie productions where she was given more freedom to express herself. She soon found herself shining in roles meant for male leads and she took the marginal scenes of theater by storm, becoming a name to be reckoned with. The big productions became aware of her too, realizing her potential to pull in younger crowds to the theaters. Soon, she received an offer to star in a play written with her as the lead in mind and this play was her breakthrough, garnering even the attention of mainstream media. It had been a good year for her, winning every award there was to win.

And today, she sat opposite of the person who gave her the much needed push. "All I could see was my goal. But I didn't think about the steps I had to take to get there. This is why I want to thank you for making me see them when I tried to fly past them."

Nozomi would be lying if she said she had known all along that Ryo would succeed. But she had believed in her, believed in her doing the right thing. It made her incredibly happy that her words had helped someone else become happy too.

"I'm really glad," Nozomi said genuinely, smiling. "But I'm sure you would have eventually gotten there."

"Who knows how many years that would have taken," Ryo joked. "I have to use my best years now, don't I?"

"Very true," Nozomi agreed.

"By the way," Ryo said, leaning in closer. "It's been bothering me for a while but...I think someone's watching us."

Nozomi knit her brows. "Isn't that normal for you?"

"No, not like curious staring the way fans do," Ryo shook her head. She glanced left and right before she continued, "It feels more intense. Like I'm being judged."

Nozomi looked around when she saw a flash of blonde hair outside the window. She pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes. "Excuse me, but I need to go outside and make an important phone call."

"Oh," Ryo said in surprise, "okay. Take your time."

As Nozomi stepped outside the restaurant, no one was to be seen in the dark.

Nozomi sighed. "I don't know why you don't trust me."

Appearing from around the corner, Eli slowly walked closer.

"I do trust you. More than anyone."

"Then why are you here?" Nozomi realized she couldn't be really irritated with Eli when her expression reminded her of a wounded puppy.

"I just wanted to see if you were alright," Eli muttered, looking to the side when her words sounded like a lame excuse spoken out loud.

Nozomi chuckled in amusement. "And? Do I look alright?"

Eli slowly faced her, seeming almost shy about meeting her gaze. "No."

"No?"

"No," Eli confirmed. "You don't look alright. You look gorgeous."

Speechless for a few seconds, Nozomi ended up laughing. "Oh, Elichi, charming your way out of an apology now, are we?"

Eli smiled sheepishly. "And? Did it work?"

"Obviously not if I called you out on it," Nozomi chuckled. She took a step closer to Eli. "Tell me. Why are you really here?"

Running a hand through her hair, Eli sucked in a breath when she didn't quite know how to formulate an answer. "I wanted to see you."

"Oh?" Nozomi's eyes sparkled in amusement. "Don't you see me almost everyday?"

"That doesn't matter," Eli's voice became quiet. "I needed to see you today."

Nozomi was close enough to pull at the hem of Eli's jacket. "Only today?" she whispered.

Eli swallowed, struggling with herself over the next few words. "And every day after."

Both stared at the ground between them, blushing to the tip of their ears.

"I'm not too sure if I like this smooth-talking side of yours," Nozomi muttered, pulling Eli closer by her jacket.

"Eh?" Eli felt her body temperature rising when she realized how close she was to the other girl.

"I won't forgive you if you use that on anyone else but me," Nozomi whispered, placing one hand against Eli's cheek. Her touch caused the skin beneath her fingertips to burn even brighter.

"I won't forgive myself if that was the case," Eli replied quietly, leaning into the touch.

"What a sense of commitment," Nozomi breathed, caressing the soft skin. "You sometimes put up such a hard and dutiful front, I think you could have been a soldier in another life."

"Nozomi," Eli muttered, her eye lids fluttering when her opposite stepped closer, their faces only few inches apart.

"You still haven't told me why you're here," Nozomi whispered.

"But you already know." Eli closed her eyes. "At this point, we can't go back anymore, can we?"

"Why? Do you want to?"

And Nozomi stepped away from Eli, retracting her hand. Eli's eyes fluttered open in confusion at the missing physical contact. "Nozomi?"

The other girl had her back turned to her. "The truth is, I have a hard time reading you, Elichi."

The blonde didn't understand where this was suddenly coming from. "But you know me best. You always know how I feel, even before I do."

"Because sometimes your expressions are honest when your heart is not," Nozomi said with a weak smile, gazing back at her over her shoulder. "But right now, I can't tell which part of you is not being honest with me."

"Eh?" Eli touched her own face as if she wanted to feel for herself if her expression was honest or not. "I don't understand..."

Nozomi lowered her gaze. "You still can't bring yourself to say why you came to see me. 'We can't go back anymore'? You talk like you are regretting this."

Eli felt her heart sink.

"It's because I do," she burst out in frustration, grabbing Nozomi's wrist and pulling her back around. "I regret not telling you sooner about how I feel, I regret letting it come to this where I'm just a coward waiting for your date to be over." Eli sniffled. "I regret not being your first date."

Stunned about the passionate reaction, Nozomi's eyes flit across Eli's face. "Elichi..."

"I'm sorry," Eli muttered, lowering her head. "I wanted to wait until this was all over to tell you how I feel. But seeing you in there, laughing with her, it made me realize...when was the last time I made you laugh? When was the last time you came to me to talk about something that meant a lot to you? I worried about not being that person for you anymore. I worried about being a terrible friend."

Eli intertwined their fingers. "And if I can't even be a good friend, then I don't have a chance at becoming...more."

Nozomi squeezed her fingers. "Silly."

"Eh?"

Smiling at her, Nozomi brought up their hands to kiss Eli's knuckles. "You are silly for worrying about these things when you could worry about other things."

Eli's heart raced when Nozomi's full lips kissed her fingers. "Other things to worry about?"

"As in how to kiss me if you don't stop talking." And Nozomi tilted her head up to bring her lips against Eli's, slinging an arm around the blonde's neck to pull her closer.

Wide blue eyes stared at closed ones before they fluttered shut; Eli placed her hands on Nozomi's waist and deepened the kiss by slightly tilting her head to the side.

Eli's mind was wiped blank. All memories of the past few days were erased, gone, replaced by only one thought: Nozomi. Her lips, her tongue, her breath, her skin, everything revolved around her, Eli couldn't think of anything else in that moment. She could feel herself getting breathless but refused to be the first one to break the kiss, refused to stop something that should have happened a long time ago.

"Oh, oops."

But someone else stopped their kiss for them.

With her mind still foggy, Eli didn't recognize the person who had just walked out of the restaurant. Realizing they had been close to making out in a public place, Eli flushed deep red and asked herself how that could happen.

"Ah, I'm so sorry, Nozomi took a while so I worried that something happened, but seems like I should have waited just a moment longer."

Ryo rubbed her neck in embarrassment. Nozomi buried her red face against Eli's chest.

"Er..." Eli patted Nozomi's head. "It's okay. I should have been the one to wait a moment longer."

"No, it's fine, I'm glad you two sorted it out," Ryo said with a smile. "I've been worrying about you getting the wrong idea. I didn't want to ruin things for Nozomi."

"Eh?" Eli looked down on the girl in her arms. "Nozomi?"

"Sorry," Nozomi mumbled against Eli's chest, "I might have talked a lot about you today."

Ryo extended a hand to Eli, who took it in confusion. "Congratulations! Or as you like to say, 'harasho!' for getting your girl! Nozomi is a prize for sure."

Eyes lighting up, Eli grinned widely. "I know, right?"

"I would say we have to drink to that. It's on me," Ryo said with a wink.

The blonde turned to Nozomi. "I like Ryo. Let's keep her."

Still blushing, Nozomi muttered, "I'm glad you two are bonding over me."

But even with her face hidden, both Eli and Ryo could tell that Nozomi's expression couldn't be happier in this moment.

---

"So the stove was on fire, I was freaking out, Kotarou was hanging upside down and I still had melted chocolate all over my face," Nico gestured wildly to visualize her story, her exaggerated motions making Maki involuntarily laugh. The older girl was in the middle of retelling an incident not too long ago involving clumsy siblings and failed cooking attempts, and every sentence brought a smile to Maki's face.

"And that was a usual day in the life of the Yazawa family," Nico concluded, pleased that she could entertain Maki enough to make her smile.

"Sounds wild," Maki replied with a chuckle.

"It sure is," Nico agreed. "You should come visit some day and see for yourself."

Realizing that she had just invited Maki to her home, Nico covered up her nervousness by taking a sip from her drink. "Only if you have time to come, of course..."

Maki couldn't tell why this casual offer made her so happy. Nico's home was nothing special, small even with five people living in it, and the younger siblings were loud and rowdy and attention-seeking. Maki didn't even like little children. But her heart pounded at the thought of entering Nico's room, discovering more of her personal life and getting to see a part of her that no one else knew.

Feeling herself getting excited, she didn't manage to suppress her eager tone, raising her voice, "I'll come." Her eyes widened. "T-to your house, I mean!" she added quickly, cheeks burning. "I'll come to your house someday."

She wanted to hide her face behind the menu card again, but it had already been collected by the waiter.

The ambiguous mistake wasn't lost on Nico, who did Maki a favor by ignoring it, mostly because she felt herself getting warm at the thought. Clearing her throat, she mumbled, "Good, that's settled then."

Maki couldn't believe that she had let out something so embarrassing again. Just when things had been running smoothly for her the past twenty minutes, she fell right back into her awkward zone.

While Maki was battling her own embarrassed feelings to stay calm, Nico was struggling too. Struggling to keep her mind clean of dirty thoughts which were most definitely inappropriate for her to have right now. They were on their first date for heaven's sake, Maki was two years younger too and still such an innocent child despite looking mature. She believed in Santa after all. But what Nico was thinking about would get them both on the naughty list.

"Ah, excuse me," Nico shot up from her seat. "Restroom."

Overwhelmed by the sudden reaction, Maki stuttered, "Oh, okay." She saw Nico's torn expression and flushed cheeks. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Nico nodded, avoiding Maki's concerned look. Now she felt even worse for worrying Maki over nothing.

As Nico walked away in great strides, her long hair billowing behind her, Maki noticed her walking in a different direction from where the restrooms were supposed to be. She was heading outside.

Maki jumped to her feet, running after Nico before she realized it, feeling something cold gripping her heart and threatening to crush it, shaking her to the core and numbing her mind.

Why would Nico lie and try to leave? Was Maki really that awkward that Nico couldn't bear to be in her presence for one second longer, willing to leave without taking her handbag and jacket because she knew that Maki would take them for her?

She knew she wasn't whom Nico expected to go on a date with, she knew her character was difficult to deal with and she often did things she couldn't explain herself either. But what had she done this time? Did her slip of the tongue disgust Nico so much that it was the breaking point?

Maki pushed open the door and stumbled outside, looking left and right for the other girl.

A few meters further, Nico was pacing up and down the boardwalk, holding her head and muttering to herself. Maki slowly stepped closer.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Maki heard the raven-haired girl curse. She clenched her fists.

"You didn't have to lie," she said coldly.

"Whoa, Maki-chan?" Nico exclaimed in shock, turning around. "When did you – what are you talking about?"

Maki stared at the ground, feeling herself getting too angry to speak because her throat was dry and her eyes were tearing up. "You didn't have to lie about wanting to go on this date. I'm just a bother to you, aren't I? This whole date was just a bother to you."

"What?" Nico's arms fell slack to her sides. "I don't get it."

"That's what I want to say," Maki said, looking up to reveal her hurt expression. "I don't get why you can't be honest with me and just tell me that you didn't want to go on this date. But instead you put up a sweet face and then try to escape in the middle of it!"

"Escape?" Nico repeated, realization dawning on her. "Oh, Maki-chan..." Her eyes softened. "I didn't try to escape or leave."

"Then why did you lie about going to the bathroom?" Maki countered, wiping at her eyes.

Nico bit her bottom lip, conflicted. She couldn't possibly tell Maki the real reason.

"I see," Maki muttered, turning around. "I'm going back inside to pay the bill."

"Wait, no," Nico got a hold of Maki's wrist, who tried to shake her off, but Nico didn't let go. "Who knew that Maki-chan could be such a crybaby?"

"Hah?" Maki turned back to Nico. "Who are you calling a crybaby?"

Seeing part of Maki's usual self returning, Nico smirked. She pulled at Maki's arm. "You. You are."

"You little..." Maki hissed, but her eyes widened when Nico suddenly took a step closer, grinning at her up close. "Nico-chan?"

"Say, Maki-chan," Nico whispered, her hand sliding down to grab Maki's hand. "Would I really be here right now if I didn't want to be?"

Maki swallowed, turning her head to the side.

Nico's smile softened when she realized that Maki could be insecure too despite trying hard not to show those moments of doubts. "I'm sorry," she said lowly, looking down on the ground. "I just went outside to clear my head but I didn't want you to worry, so I lied. But you're also at fault."

"My fault?" Maki said, incredulous. "How is this my fault when you're the one running out without explanation?"

"Because you made me," Nico muttered, unsure how far she was willing to go with the truth. "You were too cute and I couldn't help myself, so you better take some responsibility."

Maki opened and closed her mouth, staring at Nico with wide eyes. When half of the words sank in, she blushed, but stayed irritated. "Seriously? You are using the 'take responsibility' line on me?"

Nico pouted. "It didn't work?"

Maki couldn't believe this. She couldn't believe how Nico managed to both irritate and placate her, driving her mad with both cuteness and insolence. She couldn't decide whether she wanted to silence Nico with a kiss or a choke hold.

"In what universe would this work," Maki hissed, trying to shake Nico off again, but it only made the other girl step closer.

"In this one," Nico said, sticking out her bottom lip and looking up at Maki with an innocent look. "Forgive me?"

"Urgh..." Maki became still. How she hated herself sometimes. "Maybe."

"Only maybe?"

Maki grit her teeth. She had to stay strong or she would never hear the end of it. "Maybe."

"Then," Nico paused, mustering up all the confidence she had, "will a kiss earn me your forgiveness?"

Maki froze. Her wide eyes bore themselves into Nico's, unblinking and unwavering. "Eh?"

Feeling heat crawling up her neck, Nico knew there was no going back now. She swallowed. "You heard me, Maki-chan."

Maki had trouble breathing. Her mind told her to run. Her heart also told her to run because it feared it wouldn't survive a kiss without exploding. But her body went against all caution and leaned forward; her eyes were closed and her head tilted before she knew it, pressing a tentative kiss to Nico's lips that lasted one second. But that one second was enough to send a shock through their bodies, making them jump apart again.

Maki stumbled backwards, covering her mouth with her hand. She couldn't believe what she had done.

Overwhelmed herself, Nico touched her lips, not having expected a bold Maki at all. Maybe she had gone too far with her teasing.

"I – I -"

"Um, you-"

Both found it incredibly hard to look at each other now, stammering and averting gazes.

Nico's plan backfired. What seemed like a witty idea in her head didn't have the impact she thought it would have in reality. No, it had far more impact than she had bargained for, her head was wiped blank with a single kiss and all she could think about was getting another one to keep her mind blissfully empty, only filled with happiness and warmth and the feeling of Maki's lips against hers.

"M-Maki-chan?"

"Y-yeah?"

"Are you still mad?" Nico asked, hesitant.

Maki had forgotten what she was supposed to be angry about. What had they even been talking about before the kiss? Words seemed so irrelevant now that they had discovered a different way of communicating, a much more enjoyable way of communicating.

"Yes," she suddenly said, stepping closer to Nico again.

"Eh?"

"I'm furious," Maki muttered, grabbing a fistful of Nico's cardigan and pulling her closer until they were nose to nose. "You need to earn my forgiveness little by little." Their foreheads touched. "Kiss by kiss."

Nico sucked in a sharp breath. "How many kisses?"

Maki closed her eyes. "So many."

Closing her eyes too, Nico let out a breathless chuckle. "That's a lot you're asking for, Maki-chan. I'm not too sure if I can keep up with that spoiled butt of yours."

"You will," Maki breathed. "Because you like that spoiled butt of mine."

"Wow," Nico suppressed a laugh, intertwining their fingers. "I'm definitely not a good influence on you."

"You're right. I'm talking too much."

And Maki closed the little gap left between them by gently pressing her lips against Nico's, hesitant and shy, unsure over what to do in a kiss that lasted longer than one second. She had seen some kissing scenes from movies where they were tilting their heads left and right, but how would she know which way to move?

Nico could feel that Maki was thinking too hard on how to kiss while neglecting the actual kissing, so she placed her hands on Maki's cheeks and pulled her closer, guiding her to complement her own movements.

Both quickly learned to match each others' pace after a clumsy start where noses bumped and teeth clashed; but once they realized that the other wasn't going to disappear any second, they slowed down and took their time finding a rhythm both could fall into. There was no need to hurry.

"Nico-chan..." Maki said breathlessly, putting her hand over Nico's that was still holding her cheek.

"Hm?" Nico hummed, not trusting herself to speak.

Maki swallowed. "Would you...would you go on a second date with me?"

Nico blinked rapidly.

"I know our first one isn't officially over yet and maybe it's too soon to ask for a second one, but I just wanted to -"

Nico stopped Maki's nervous rambling with a kiss, only parting when she could feel Maki relax.

"You're troublesome one," Nico muttered, smiling. "Your confidence comes and goes."

"So..." Maki frowned. "Was that a 'yes'?"

Nico grinned. "What do you think, you super smart one?"

Maki's expression loosened with a small smile. "That I have a chance with the super scared one?"

Nico pretended to pout. "Your chances are sinking with every word."

"Right," Maki laughed quietly, "then I'll stop talking."

Nico pulled Maki in by the shoulder. "And I know just the way to use your mouth productively."

---

"You were worried about that?" Umi asked softly. "Why didn't you just ask me if the rumors were true?"

Kotori pouted, leaning her head against Umi's shoulder. Umi adjusted her sitting position on the park bench to offer Kotori a more comfortable head rest.

"It's not like you don't know your reaction."

Umi blushed. "Yes, but I would have told you the truth."

"I was afraid of the truth," Kotori admitted in a quiet voice. "We've been friends for so long, I didn't know if you could see me in a different way."

"And I felt guilty about seeing you in a different way," Umi said, ducking her head. "I was supposed to be your friend, but I had other feelings for you too. I didn't want you to think that I spent time with you for any other reason than that I like being around you."

"Oh, Umi-chan, you can be so silly sometimes," Kotori laughed quietly, squeezing Umi's arm that was linked with hers. "Admirable, but silly."

Umi grumbled in disagreement but didn't reply.

Giggling, Kotori snuggled closer against Umi, half lying on her. "You're so warm, Umi-chan."

Umi swallowed in nervousness, feeling her hands getting clammy. Their faces were close, if Kotori tilted her head up and Umi tilted hers down, they would meet halfway in a kiss.

"K-Kotori?"

"Hm?"

"Can I-" Umi's voice became smaller. "Would you allow me to kiss you?"

Tilting her head up in surprise, Kotori held her breath when her mouth almost touched Umi's. Her eyelids fluttered shut, her heart started beating faster. "Please do."

She waited for soft lips to sink down on hers, but nothing came, feeling only Umi's shallow breathing ghosting over her skin. She opened her eyes in confusion. "Umi-chan?"

"Please give me a moment," Umi whispered, her cheeks flaming up as she stared at Kotori's lips in concentration.

Kotori giggled at the cute sight. She slung an arm around Umi's neck. "Don't think, just feel." And she pulled Umi in for the kiss she had been waiting for, moaning at the soft contact.

Umi felt her head spin at the sound, instinctively tilting her head to get more of Kotori, to get more of that sound coming out. Her lips tasted sweet, it had to be her favorite cherry lip gloss.

Both were inexperienced when it came to kissing, their lips were gliding against each other in a slow and experimental dance, but with time they became bolder, learned each others' rhythm and pace, and Kotori found herself climbing on top of Umi's lap without registering it.

Umi only noticed Kotori sitting on her when they paused to gasp for air. "K-Kotori..."

Even if it was dark now and they were alone, it was still a public place. Anyone could pass by any minute.

"Don't worry," Kotori said breathlessly, leaning in for another kiss, "no one will come..."

Umi's phone began ringing and vibrating in her jeans pockets.

"It – it might be important," Umi stuttered when Kotori kissed her behind her ear, but she couldn't bring herself to stop the other girl because it felt too good.

"I didn't say you should ignore it," Kotori giggled, stopping her teasing to hug Umi.

"Honestly, Kotori..." Umi took out her phone and checked the caller ID before she accepted the call and switched to speaker so Kotori could listen too. "Rin, what is it?"

"Umi-chan..." A sniff rang out. "Honoka-chan, she...she really broke her leg this time."

---

"Unbelievable," Umi muttered, pacing up and down in the waiting area of the hospital. The room was packed full. Aside from other visitors, all members of µ's except for Honoka plus the three members of A-Rise were present.

"I'm so sorry," Tsubasa kept repeating with her face buried in her hands. "It was all my fault."

"My, my," Anju said with a sympathetic look, patting her friend's head while Erena asked, "How was that your fault?"

"Yeah, I bet Honoka did something rash without thinking again," Maki muttered, but her tone contradicted her worried look. She was holding Nico's hand, who agreed. "She's all over the place, that girl."

"No, it really was my fault!" Tsubasa insisted.

Eli shared a glance with Nozomi before she asked, "Then, what happened?"

"Ah..." Tsubasa looked to the ground. "We, uh...we were..."

"Oh no," Erena muttered, facing away. "I don't think we're going to like this."

"What?" Rin asked in confusion. Hanayo tilted her head questioningly.

"It's not a matter of whether we're going to like this or not," Umi said sternly. "We need to know if Honoka is alright, so please, enlighten us."

"Umi-chan," Kotori whispered and tugged at her sleeve to get her to calm down. She was talking to the leader of A-Rise after all.

"We were taking a walk, visiting our local shrine," Tsubasa began, looking like she was getting a stomach ache. "And we stood by the stairs when it happened. When she fell down the stairs."

"Hah?" Maki let out in disbelief. "Not even Honoka is clumsy enough to just fall down the stairs by standing next to them. What are you leaving out?"

"Hey, that's A-Rise you're talking to," Nico muttered, still nervous about being in the same room as the people she admired.

"Maki is right," Eli added. "We can bear the truth."

Tsubasa pinched the bridge of her nose. "We...we were kissing when Honoka-san stumbled to the side and fell."

Ten pairs of eyes stared at her in disbelief.

Erena ran a hand through her hair and sighed. Even Anju knew nothing to say, helplessly continuing to pat Tsubasa's head.

Hanayo's mouth was open in a silent squeak while Rin gaped at Tsubasa.

Maki turned her face to Nico, raising an eyebrow and wordlessly asking her if that was seriously the idol she admired. Nico held her forehead with a pained look.

Umi looked like she had found out something she didn't want to know and Kotori knowingly rubbed her arm. Eli's eyebrow twitched. Only Nozomi seemed to be amused by the news.

"Um, excuse me?" A doctor entered the room with a clipboard in his hands. "Who of you is here for Kousaka-san?"

"We are," eleven voices rang out in unison, startling the other guests. The doctor blinked. "I'm sorry, I can only allow two guests at a time."

"Then Kotori and I would like to go first," Umi said, raising her hand. Nobody protested, knowing that the second years shared a special bond since their childhood. They followed the doctor out of the waiting area and into a patient's room.

"Honoka!"

"Honoka-chan!"

Aside from having her leg in a cast, Honoka seemed fine as she perked up at the voice of her best friends. "Umi-chan! Kotori-chan!"

"How are you feeling?" Kotori asked, sitting down on a stool next to the bed and taking Honoka's hand.

"I'm fine," Honoka replied with a sheepish smile. "Just can't move my leg."

"Honestly," Umi said, shaking her head, "we heard how you fell. And I don't know whether to feel pity or to be angry because you're going to miss our next live."

"Then I choose pity," Honoka muttered. She blushed. "Tsubasa-san told you how I fell?"

"They forced her to," Kotori came to Tsubasa's defense. "She didn't want to tell."

"Which I can fully understand now," Umi said with a grimace.

"It was dark and I was overwhelmed and I just wanted to take a step back and breathe, but then I forgot we were standing by the stairs," Honoka rambled, trying to justify herself.

Umi sighed. "You're lucky you didn't break more than that."

"Yeah, yeah," Honoka waved her off, suddenly pausing. "Umi-chan, since when are you wearing lip gloss?"

"Eh? I'm not..."

Honoka quickly looked between Kotori and Umi, a knowing smile spreading on her face. "Oh, don't tell me..."

"What?" Umi said, uncomfortable, and Kotori blushed.

"Finally!" Honoka exclaimed, sounding excited and happy. "You two kissed! Are you girlfriends now? Can we go on double-dates now?"

Umi hid her flushed face behind her hands. Kotori was less embarrassed about it, happy that Honoka was genuinely excited for them. It always felt good to have the support and blessing of a best friend. "Double-dates? I take it the date with Tsubasa-san went well then?"

"Yeah," Honoka breathed, giggling. "I learned how to ice-skate today too. Being with her is so much fun!"

"We're glad," Umi said softly. "We'll let the others see you now, but don't get too excited, you need to rest."

"Yes, sir!" Honoka joked, saluting her. "Bye bye!"

They promised to come back tomorrow and left the room, meeting Nozomi and Eli waiting outside already.

"How is she doing?" Nozomi asked.

"As usual," Umi chuckled. "A broken leg doesn't stop her from being Honoka."

"That's good to hear," Eli said with a laugh. "See you later."

Eli and Nozomi entered the room, seeing Honoka greet them with a grin.

"Look who's popular." Eli's eyes landed on the leg cast. "Somehow I'm more surprised that this is the first time you've broken a bone."

"Hey," Honoka protested with a pout. "Injured person over here."

"Now, now," Nozomi chuckled, "we're relieved to see you being mostly healthy. Aside from a broken leg."

"Do your parents and your sister know?" Eli wondered.

"Yeah, they're on their way." Honoka grimaced at the thought. "My mom is going to be so mad at me."

"She's only worried, she'll forget her anger once she sees you," Nozomi placated her, giving her a smile.

"Maybe," Honoka muttered. Suddenly perking up, she looked at Nozomi with a curious expression. "How was your date? I heard you were meeting up with a theater actress."

Nozomi grinned, shooting Eli a teasing look. "It was fun. She was attractive, intelligent, educated, well-mannered -"

"Yeah, yeah, she was amazing, I get it," Eli interrupted, rolling her eyes. "I can't even be mad at Ryo."

"Why would you be, Elichi," Nozomi said playfully, winking at her. "You know who I really like."

"Nozomi!" Eli muttered in embarrassment, not wanting to discuss this in front of Honoka.

"No, you too?" Honoka gasped. She smiled widely. "Something happened between you two! Did you kiss like Kotori-chan and Umi-chan did?"

Blushing, Nozomi and Eli shared a fond look. Honoka suddenly felt like intruding on a private moment.

"Wait...they kissed?" Eli asked, referring to Umi and Kotori.

Honoka nodded with a grin.

"Today seems to be a special day," Nozomi chuckled. "I noticed Nicochi's swollen lips earlier."

"No," Eli whispered in disbelief. "Her and Maki?"

Nozomi nodded. Honoka laughed to herself. "Are there only couples in µ's now?"

"Well, Rin-chan and Hanayo-chan were already dating before, so..." Nozomi trailed off when she saw Eli's shocked look. "You didn't know?"

Eli turned to Honoka, who looked just as surprised. "Really?"

Nozomi grinned. "I see, µ's awaits a colorful future."

"What does that mean, Nozomi-chan?" Honoka asked in confusion.

"Nozomi?"

But Nozomi just put a finger to her lips and winked.

The past few days were filled with ups and downs for everyone in µ's, but in the end, everything had worked out fine for everybody. They were all little bit wiser, a little bit more confident than a week before and they would work hard to keep their happiness in place now that they had found it. And somehow, they all weren't too surprised that an event which was based on one of Honoka's wild ideas would come to an end because of Honoka.

The auctions didn't teach them more than they already knew, as in that love couldn't be bought, but it made them aware of their feelings, made them acknowledge them and act on them. And even Eli, Umi and Maki, who were against the idea in the beginning, were now ready to embrace this memory as something that changed their life for the better.

µ's had always prided themselves on chasing after dreams because they wanted to. Who said that it was any different when it came to love?

---

EPILOGUE

---

"Due to some recent changes in our group dynamic, we need to set a few rules," Umi began, standing in front of the whiteboard while the rest of µ's were sitting at the table. "First of all, Nico, stop touching Maki's leg beneath the table. Yes, I saw that."

Blushing, Maki stared at the table while Nico pulled her hand back with a 'booh'.

Umi wrote down the first rule on the board.

No inappropriate display of affection during club activities

"Question," Rin raised her hand. "What counts as inappropriate?"

"Kisses longer than one second, anything beyond kissing, hands where I can't see them," Umi listed. "The rules are a work in progress, I will add things where I see fit. Now, the second rule."

No inappropriate couple activities in the club room

"Did you read that, Nozomi?" Umi pointedly asked. "The next time you want to 'check Eli's bra size', please do it somewhere else."

Nozomi grinned innocently while Eli buried her face in her hands when everyone looked at them.

"Question," Nico spoke up. "What counts as inappropriate in this case?"

Umi massaged her forehead. "Nico, please use your common sense."

"Not available, what else do you suggest?" Maki asked. Nico glared at her.

"Do I really have to give examples?" Umi said in disbelief. "Fine. Do not make out on the table. Right, Nozomi, Eli?"

Eli sank deeper in her chair while Nozomi smirked.

"Cuddling in the club room is okay, Rin, Hanayo," Umi continued with an approving nod to the first years. "But I draw the line at naked cuddling. Luckily, I haven't walked in on that before. But, I'm not finished, Nico," Umi raised her voice, "for the last time, no fondling beneath the table."

"Wait, wait, wait," Nico protested. "What is this double-standard, I clearly saw Kotori's hands on your thighs the other day."

Umi's cheeks reddened, but her stern expression didn't change. She faced Kotori. "The same goes for us too, Kotori."

Kotori pouted.

"Anyway," Umi cleared her throat, forcing herself to look away, "let's move on to the next rule."

No canceling practices for couple activities

"But I'm proud that this hasn't happened so far," Umi commented with a smile.

"Um..." Hanayo hesitantly began, looking around. "Where is Honoka-chan?"

The sitting µ's members stared up at Umi in fear.

"No, that's okay, she gave me a prior notice that today is Tsubasa-san's birthday," Umi replied. "Which reminds me to improve this rule."

She added three words to the third rule. No canceling practices for couple activities without prior notice

"Good," Umi said, glancing at the whiteboard. "Does anyone else have suggestions?"

"Yes," Maki raised her hand. "I want to introduce 'No touching me when I'm trying to write a song'."

"What?" Nico said defensively when everyone's eyes fell on her.

"Fine," Umi sighed, uncapping her pen and adding a new rule.

No touching Nishikino Maki when she is trying to write a song

"Nicochi gets her own rule?" Nozomi chuckled. "How nice. But it has less to do with the others, doesn't it?"

"That doesn't matter," Umi answered with a head shake, "if it can improve the performance of our club, then we will need it."

"Then I would like to suggest one too," Nico said, sitting up in her seat. "'No making out in the student council room'. Last time I went in there for club business, I thought Umi and Kotori were one person."

Because Umi was too embarrassed to talk, Kotori spoke up, "But that has nothing to do with µ's activities, Nico-chan. It doesn't hinder our performance as a club, does it?"

"I agree," Umi nodded.

"Double-standard!" Nico exclaimed while Rin called out, "Unfair!"

"My, my," Nozomi laughed while Eli shook her head, saying in a serious tone, "Umi, I expected more from you."

Umi gave in and scribbled on the whiteboard again.

No inappropriate display of affection in the student council room

Kotori stuck out her bottom lip, unhappy about the newest rule.

"I'm sure Honoka would agree," Eli said.

"Yes, yes," Umi muttered. "Any other suggestions?"

The members all shook their head when Maki suddenly flinched in her seat.

"Okay, that's it," Umi growled, turning back around to the whiteboard to furiously write down the next rule.

Yazawa Nico does a hundred push-ups every time she touches Nishikino Maki inappropriately in the presence of other µ's members

"What the hell is with this specific rule," Nico protested, pounding the table with her palm. "Why doesn't this one follow the pattern of the other rules?"

"Because you don't follow the other rules," Umi said with a dark look, and Nico leaned back in her chair, becoming quiet.

"Umi-chan," Kotori said gently to calm her girlfriend down. "Maybe the last one went too far."

Nico nodded eagerly.

"Okay, then," Umi cleared her throat. "We're voting."

"What?" Nico hissed. "You can't vote on that."

"Of course we can. Everyone in favor of voting on that, please vote."

"Wait a minute -"

All hands except for Nico's were up. She stared at Maki in disbelief, who pointedly ignored her.

"Next, all in favor for the last rule, please vote."

Maki's hand shot up first, followed by Umi's and Eli's. Rin and Hanayo hesitated to vote but in the end raised their hands too when Maki gave them a pleading look.

"That's enough votes to enforce this rule," Umi announced. "The rules are now valid for every club session. Breaking the rules will result in immediate punishment. That's all for today, the club meeting is over."

As the other members got up to leave, Nico was still in her seat when she raised her hands and shouted, "Objection! I want a revision of those rules."

"Objection overruled," Umi countered. "But I'm glad to see your hand up in the air and not on Maki's lap for a change."

Nico gave up, sinking down in her chair as everyone walked past her. "I see, everyone's conspiring against me."

"Well, I gave you enough chances," Umi said, pausing at the door. "But I can see why it must be difficult for you to hold back. Maki is a very attractive girl."

"Right?" Nico agreed. "Wait a minute. Why are you saying that in such a weird tone?"

And Umi did something that unsettled Nico even more. She winked.

"Hold on a moment, what does this mean," Nico shouted after her even when she had left. "You already have Kotori! Why did you say that about Maki-chan? Umi? Uumiii!"

---

AN: Writing the interaction between the characters has always been fun but writing it in crack!fic style sets me on fire and the epilogue part was more self-indulgent writing than anything. Anyway, this story is my first in the love live fandom and surely not my last, I already have a new one in progress and there's a line in this chapter that hints on the topic of my next LL fic

I hope you continue to support me! Big thanks to everyone who reviewed, I loved reading long essays on my fic as well as a simple 'nice' because that's the only way I know you liked it :) See you soon!