The Lone Muse: Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Love Live!

I was lying on my bed reading a magazine, when my phone started ringing. Checking the caller ID, I saw it was Tsubasa. I smiled as I hit the accept call button and held the phone to my ear.

"Hi, Tsubasa."

"Hey, Honoka."

It was nice hearing her voice again. We texted each other every day, but we hadn't actually spoken to each other since the day we went for a run.

"What's up?" I asked her.

"Nothing much. What about you?"

"Just lying on my bed, reading. I'm so bored…this is the first interesting thing I've done all day."

"Well…if you're not busy, do you want to do something later?"

My heart quickened. "Sure!" I said, fighting to keep the excitement I felt from my voice.

"Wow. You sound really excited." Tsubasa said, laughing. I could feel myself blushing.

"Yeah, yeah. What do you want to do?" I said, grinning.

"I don't know. Want to meet up and make some plans?"

"Sounds good. Why don't you come over to my house?"

"Okay. Your family owns that Japanese sweet shop not too far from the shrine, right?"

"Yeah. What time do you think you'll be here?"

"Maybe in an hour or so? Does that work?"

"No problem! See you in an hour! Bye!"

"Bye!"

I hung the phone up and rolled over to look at the ceiling. Tsubasa is coming over! To my house! I can't believe it! I grabbed a pillow and rolled around on my bed, trying to contain my enthusiasm, and failing miserably. I stopped when I heard my bedroom door open.

"Honoka? What are you doing?"

I turned towards the door to see Yukiho staring at me, wide-eyed.

"Oh...um…a friend of mine…is coming over." I said, laughing nervously.

"Honoka, you've had plenty of friends over, but I've never seen you…do that. Who…is it?" She said, still staring at me.

I blushed. "N-nobody…" I said, averting my eyes.

Yukiho came in and crouched next to my bed. "Ooooh…does somebody have a crush?" She said, giggling.

"N-no!" I knew my face betrayed me, as I could feel it grow even redder. I honestly didn't know if I DID have a crush. I guess it makes sense though. How excited I got when she called. Turning red when Yukiho asked me if I had a crush. I guess…I like Tsubasa. But I certainly can't tell Yukiho that. "Anyways…i-it's none of your business!" I exclaimed, trying to hit her with a pillow, something she easily avoided.

She laughed. "You SO have a crush on somebody! Who is it?!"

"N-nobody! Go away!" I yelled, covering my head with a pillow. I peeked out to see Yukiho stand up and skip out of my room, giggling to herself. Groaning, I got up out of bed and looked around my room. There were books and magazines strewn across the floor and a pile of dirty laundry in the corner. I sighed and started to clean my room.

A half-hour later, I surveyed my now-clean room. Everything looked to be in order, so I decided to take a quick bath. As I soaked, I thought about what to do with Tsubasa. I'm still not sure if it's a date though. I don't want to suggest something date-like, and have it turn out to not be a date. Maybe we should go see a movie or something. That way, it can either be a date, or just hanging out. I nodded. Yeah. That sounds good. Having decided, I got out of the bath and got dressed. After I got dressed, I sat around watching TV, waiting for Tsubasa to arrive. Not long afterwards, I heard somebody knocking at the door.

"I'll get it!" I shouted, nearly running to the door. I took a moment to calm myself before I opened the door.

"Hi, Honoka!" Tsubasa said, smiling, her eyes sparkling.

"Hi!" I replied, smiling back. "Come on in!"

As Tsubasa walked past me, I could smell the shampoo she used. My heartbeat quickened. Wow. She smells really nice. I closed the door, and led Tsubasa to my room. I sat her down and excused myself to go make some tea. After I left, Tsubasa sat in my room quietly, observing her surroundings.

Hmm…Honoka's room is a lot neater than I thought it would be. I thought she'd be more of a messy person. Unless… I stood up, making sure no one else was watching, and crept over to Honoka's closet. Opening the door, I saw stacks of books and magazines precariously shoved into the closet. I smiled. So she is a messy person. She just cleaned up. For me… I blushed. A slight movement by Honoka's bedroom door caught my attention. The door was cracked open, when before it was shut tight. Pretending not to notice, I watched the door. After a second, I figured whoever was on the other side of the door must not be able to see me, so I tiptoed along the wall towards the door. Pausing next to the door, I took a deep breath, then stepped forward and opened the door.

I was busy spying on Honoka's room, when suddenly the door slid open. I jumped back in surprise, releasing a little yelp. Shocked, I looked to see who had opened the door. I didn't recognize the girl standing in the doorway, but she DID seem vaguely familiar.

"I'm sorry! Did I scare you?" The girl asked me.

"N-no! I'm good." I said to her. "Do I…know you?" I said, after studying her face.

"I'm Tsubasa Kira. Nice to meet you," she said, extending her hand.

"T-Tsubasa Kira? From A-RISE?" I said, stunned.

She nodded and smiled, her hand still extended. Shocked, I reached forward to shake her hand. "Yukiho Kousaka. Nice to m-meet you too."

THIS is Honoka's friend? I can't believe she didn't tell me! Tsubasa Kira is in my house! I should call Arisa and tell her! "Excuse me, Kira-san!" I said, before dashing off to my room.

"So…that would be Honoka's sister." I said to myself. "I can see the resemblance…" I laughed quietly, shaking my head. As I was finished exploring Honoka's room, I sat back down and waited for her to return.

I can't believe it took me so long to make some tea! I hope Tsubasa isn't bored! I thought to myself, as I rushed back to my room, the tea I made balanced on a tray, along with some sweets from the store. I entered my room, and found Tsubasa flipping through a magazine. She looked up when I came in and smiled. "You're back!"

I laughed nervously. "Y-yeah, sorry it took so long!"

She shook her head. "No problem." She craned her neck to see what was on the tray I was holding. "Those sweets look really good."

I came in and set the tray down on the table in front of us. I poured us tea while Tsubasa inspected the sweets. "So…what do you want to do?" I asked her.

She looked at me and shrugged. "I don't know, what do you want to do?" She said, and returned her attention to the sweets.

"I'm not sure. I thought it might be nice to see a movie or something like that. Or we could have a picnic…I don't know."

"I think…a picnic sounds like fun…" she said, twirling her hair.

The way she said it immediately made me blush. "O-okay." I checked the clock, and saw it was noon. We have plenty of time. We finished our tea and the sweets and then we stood up to leave.

"Thank you for the food, Honoka." Tsubasa said.

"Oh, no problem." I replied.

"Well, you ready to go?" She asked me.

I smiled. "Yep! Let's go!"

I was going to knock on Yukiho's door to let her know we were leaving, but I heard her talking excitedly on the phone, so I didn't bother her. We said goodbye to my mother and left. Outside the house, Tsubasa turned to me.

"Your sister seems nice, Honoka."

I paused. Uh-oh. Yukiho found out who came over? And…does she think…that Tsubasa is the person I like? …Not that she'd be wrong…I guess... I just nodded.

"Well…should we stop by the store?" Tsubasa asked me.

"Yeah, we should get some food." I replied.

Tsubasa nodded. She seemed to be lost in thought. I waited for her, and I was left speechless when she suddenly snaked her arm through mine. My face turned bright red in an instant. I looked over, and saw that her face was in the same state as mine.

I guess that answers my question…

I smiled and started walking, excited to see how the day would go.