A/N: Hi! :3 Exams are finally over and i'm as free as a bird :3 well not for long...but still, i have some time in/on my hands for now. I wanted to write something more dramatic but hmmm... and i just realised it's actually "Ericchi" but -sighs and shrugs- it's a hassle to change it now. Maybe some day... Oh yea, just a slight note here; the lyrics for the chapter was taken from a song sung by none other than μ's themselves. Nozomi sung a full version of it (solo) in one of her albums under Nozomi Kanaetei think.

3 – The next afternoon

Nozomi

Nozomi knew what Maki was driving at but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Though Maki might not fully understand the situation, she was right.

"You actually want to get along with everybody else, but you can't bring yourself to express that. If you keep that up, you won't be able to let everyone know how you feel." That was what Nozomi had told her when they had the summer training camp.

In other words, Nozomi wasn't able to express herself properly due to the overflowing and improper feelings she had for her best friend. If Nozomi keeps this up, she wouldn't be able to let Eri know of her feelings.

She knew that she was worrying the blonde with the way the blonde's forehead always scrunched into a worried frown every so often as she peeked over her laptop to observe the purple head.

Up till now, Nozomi had never thought of confessing. She only thought about how she shouldn't let her best friend know about her feelings due to the improper nature of it. Both of them were girls and Eri was most probably straight. She would withhold her feelings until graduation. By then, her love for her best friend might have faded away.

However, Maki presented another choice for her. Confession. Did she really want to let Eri know about her feelings? Would that destroy the current relationship she had with her? Nozomi wasn't too sure what she should do now though the idea of confessing seemed more appealing to her.

Could she risk it?

She knew that Eri valued their relationship a lot. She'd been through thick and thin with the blonde and Eri often relied on her. What would happen when she wrecks this valuable relationship with an unrequited confession?

In short, Tojo Nozomi was still confused though the issue of having her best friend finding out about her feelings was shoved aside in place of the dilemma of a confession or not.

"Nozomi-chan?" a voice broke off the purple head's train of thought.

She blinked and turned to the voice, "Yea, Kotori-chan?"

The said greyish-brown haired girl blinked and asked, "Which part are you singing solo? Umi-chan and I have to decide on the choreography for everyone soon."

Nozomi looked at the lyrics that Kotori was holding and read out,

"If these feelings catch a ride on the wind and tickle your ears
You should be able to hear my warm and sweet thoughts"

"I won't forget how my heart pounded"

"Mm, Okay!" Kotori said cheerfully, oblivious to the older girl's inner turmoil as she trotted off to Umi's side.

Nozomi sat staring into the wall of the club room, her thoughts once again occupied by a certain blonde.

Out of the corner, she could vaguely hear Hanayo fan-girling over A-RISE's latest MV with Rin trying to calm her down.

Most members of μ's were gathered in the air-conditioned club room, save for one person – Nozomi's love interest. It so happened that Eri was called to the Chairman's office right after lessons ended.

Seeing the dazed look on the purple head's face, Maki walked up towards her senior and asked softly, "Nozomi? What's wrong?"

Nozomi snapped out of her daze, "N-Nothing. I was just thinking about something, that's all."

"I see…about Eri? I don't know what happened but…you'd better fix it soon. You wouldn't want it to affect μ's activities right?"

Nozomi almost choked on her saliva.

"You…look…kinda weird. Are you okay…?"

"Y-Yea," Nozomi frowned slightly, wondering what the red head would do if she actually knew the truth.

It was then Honoka came bouncing towards them.

"Nozomi-chan!" Seeing the look on the older girl's face, the ginger-haired girl frowned a little, "Hmm, it's weird to see Nozomi-chan that deep in thought."

"Huh?" Nozomi looked up at the younger girl in surprise.

"Usually when Hanayo-chan goes nuts over the other school Idols and Rin-chan can't stop her, you'd step in and…" Honoka gulped fearfully, as if remembering something traumatic as she half raised her hand and made a grasping motion.

Nozomi blinked before bursting into laughter.

Honoka-chan's right. Usually I'd do that but I'm too pre-occupied by my thoughts of…Eri-chi to think about that. Perhaps I should…

Nozomi smirked and immediately, Honoka and Maki knew what the purple head would do in the next few seconds. The two stepped out of Nozomi's way as quickly as possible and Nozomi started to creep up against Hanayo.

"I can't believe it! Ah~!" Hanayo was still squealing, totally oblivious to Nozomi's stealthy approach.

Before Hanayo could shout anything further, Nozomi grinned evilly before placing her hands onto the first year's chest and squeezed.

Hanayo screamed out and immediately surrendered, "Okay! Okay! I'll stop! Please stop that, Nozomi-chan!"

Nozomi licked her lips, and said, "Are you sure you'll stop?"

Hanayo nodded vigorously.

Nozomi groped her again and Hanayo squealed out in a strangled voice, "I promise!"

The purple haired girl was about to let go of her victim when the club room door opened. The girl standing at the door looked at her in surprised before her eyes drifted to where Nozomi's hands were. For a second, she thought she saw a flash of hurt reflected in the blue orbs. Just as quickly, it was gone, replaced by an unreadable expression.

"Eri-chi…"

Eri

Eri's heart pounded rapidly against her chest again. A dull ache settled in her heart the moment she opened the door and saw her best friend's hands grasping Hanayo's breast.

This shouldn't bother her but it did. Nozomi was always doing this sort of stuff and the blonde was sure that Hanayo must've gone uncontrollable from the excitement of seeing her favourite school Idol's MV and Nozomi had stepped in to stop the first year. Yet it irked her.

Both of them were now staring at each other and even the rest of the μ's realised that this was not normal as everyone stopped their activity to stare at the two. There seemed to be a growing tension between the two though no one knew why.

Eri finally said, "What are you doing, Nozomi?"

Nozomi immediately let go of Hanayo and said quietly, "I was just stopping Hanayo-chan since she was too excited about A-RISE's newest MV."

Eri said nothing as she walked into the room and put her bag down.

The heavy silence that suddenly loomed into the room caused the rest of the μ's to glance at one another uneasily. They hoped that the two of them didn't get into a fight. But when thought about it again, it seemed unlikely that the two best friends would even fight.

As for Maki, she noticed something the rest of the μ's didn't notice. Something had felt off about the tension between the two. It's not one of anger between two best friends who just had a fight. It's more of an awkward tension where one doesn't know what to do or how to act in front of another. Maki couldn't remember the two best friends having such a problem before. She thought perhaps something had happened between them. Judging by how they are acting now, it's probably something really embarrassing. She wanted to break the silence but given her personality, she won't be able to do so. Especially not when she's still a little shy about stuff like that.

Unable to stand the silence anymore, Honoka finally said, "Eri-chan, why did the chairman want to see you for?"

Eri turned towards Honoka and said, "Just some Student Council stuff. She wants to know who's gonna take over the Student Council after I graduate."

"I see…" Honoka nodded slightly.

Before Eri could say anything, Nozomi immediately said, "I gotta go now. I'm helping out at the Shrine today."

"See ya!" Honoka waved while Eri just nodded, as she found her eyes following the purple head.

The rest of the μ's bade Nozomi good-bye as she grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

Ah…She's escaping…Maki thought to herself as she watched her senior turned the door knob.

"N-Nozomi!" a certain voice stopped the purple head.

She turned around, not meeting Eri's eyes.

"Nozomi, can I meet you in the Student Council Room tomorrow morning before lessons start?"

Surprised but figured that Eri probably had something important to tell her, the purple head nodded as she left the club room.

A/N:

Bad one: does this chapter answer your question? :3 Maki doesn't seem to know but that might change, depending on the next few chapters. Or at least that's what i hoped i had portrayed here... if i didn't, i might have to brush up by writing skills...

Hmmm...