Act 8

The Right Choice

Umi sits by the school gates, waiting for her beloved girlfriend, Honoka. Kotori has her shift at the Maid Cafe today, so Umi will have to walk with Honoka like usual. She stands there, looking at the ground for a while until she hears some footsteps coming toward her.

"Umi-chan! Umi-chan~!" Honoka calls.

"It's about time," Umi says, "I was about to leave without you."

"Eeehhhhh?" Honoka whines. "I was one minute late!"

The archer just smirks as she softly bonks her girlfriend on the head. "Learn to be on time, will you?"

"Umi-chaaaaaaan!"

Umi giggles. "Let's go, Honoka."

The ginger pouts adorably as she links arms with her girlfriend. "You're so meaaan!"

"Yeah? So what~?"

"I'm gonna get you later!"

As Honoka rests on Umi's shoulder, the lyricist just smiles as both of them start walking toward home. It's been about 3 months since they started dating. Umi is very happy to go out with the Center of Muse as well as her childhood friend. And Honoka feels the same way. Their other childhood friend. Kotori supports them and helps them out at times when they are planning dates or having some conflicts. All in all, Honoka and Umi are a cute couple.

They arrive at Honoka's place, greet Honoka's Mother and sister and then head toward their room. As Umi closes the door behind her, Honoka twirls around happily and sits on the bed.

"Here, Umi-chan! Here~" The ginger pats the area next to her.

Umi obliges and sits next to her girlfriend. It is then that the ginger wraps her arms around the blue haired girl and leans close to the point where their lips are just inches away.

"H-Honoka?" Umi says while blushing.

"I wanna kiss you~" the ginger says. "Pleeeeeaaase~?"

"A-already doing something s-so sh-shameless?"

"Awwww, don't be like that~! It's just a kiss!"

"Well, it's definitely more than that if that's what you're going for!"

Honoka giggles as she kisses her on the lips. "That enough for ya~?"

The lyricist blushes heavily as she turns away to hide it and shuts her eyes tightly. "That's enough, yes, yes! Just...don't do anything else...mmph!" She is silenced with another kiss.

The ginger caresses her girlfriend's cheek as she starts to deepen the kiss and then gently push Umi down on her back. The lyricist cannot resist anymore and returns the favor by wrapping an arm around her girlfriend's waist, pulling her close.

Both of the girls continue kissing until they pull away in desperate need of air. They gaze at each other lovingly, holding each other in their arms.

"Umi-chan..."

"Honoka..."

They lean in, but just a few inches away before whispering in unison.

"I love you..."

And then, they kiss again. You can later hear some blissful cries of moans and such outside the door soon after. The two are enjoying each other's touch throughout the night.

*Next Day*

"Umi-chan?" Kotori says as she approaches her childhood friend. "Aren't you going to walk with Honoka home today?"

"I've got club practice," Umi says. "But do remind her that she will have to wait until I'm done. Okay? You know how forgetful she is."

"Ahaha~! I will." Kotori says with a nervous giggle.

After Umi leaves Kotori skips off to tell her other childhood friend and then leaves to go to her shift at the maid cafe again. Honoka decides to walk outside for a while until Umi is done. She knows her schedule for club practice, so taking a bit of a walk outside the school wouldn't hurt.

When the ginger exits the building, she looks up at the blue sky with a smile. The sun will be setting in an hour, so she will have to ask Umi to watch it with her when she is done with practice. She exits the gates to take a short walk, failing to notice someone standing there, watching. The ginger hears footsteps walking toward her. When she turns around, she sees a familiar short haired girl in her UTX uniform.

"Honoka-san~" she says with a smile.

"Tsu-Tsubasa-chan!?" Honoka gasps. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just in the neighborhood," the A-RISE member says casually. "Until I ran into you. What a coincidence."

"Hehe! Yep. I was going for a short walk actually and then go meet with Umi-chan after practice."

"How long is it?"

"Mmmmm...maybe 45 minutes to an hour."

Tsubasa's eyes widen a little and then her lips curve into a smile. "Well, shall we hang for a while until she's done~?"

"Eh!? Wh-why?" Honoka asks.

"Why not? Just think...both of us leaders from different idol groups hanging out together~!" Tsubasa says as she wraps an arm around the ginger. "What do you say?"

Honoka thinks for a moment. It will be an hour, so if they make it quick and be back in about 5 minutes before Umi's club practice is done, it should be no problem.

"O-okay..." Honoka says. "But we should be back at the school just before Umi-chan is done. I don't want her to think I'm being late again."

"No problem, no problem~" Tsubasa says. "Let's go~!"

Honoka walks with the A-RISE leader toward town to grab something to eat from a small shop and then sit at a nearby bench to eat. So far everything is going well. Tsubasa is just being nice, buying her two crepes for themselves and sitting together.

"Say," Tsubasa says. "I hear...your friend Umi-san is a nice person."

"Ah...she is," Honoka says, blushing. "Why do you ask?"

"Just saying. I mean, she might be a little shy and all, but deep down, she has a kind heart. I guess that's why you two get along well?"

"Well...yes. Yes we are," Honoka replies. "She means everything to me. She's my childhood friend. What more can I ask?"

Unbeknownst to the ginger, Tsubasa almost crushes the crepe, but leaves no signs if anger in her expression. Instead, she scoots closer to her with a grin, putting the crepe aside.

"Well, Honoka-san," she says as she starts to trace her fingers on Honoka's exposed thigh. "I think YOU mean everything to me."

"Eh? Wh-what are you saying?" Honoka quivers at Tsubasa's gentle touch on her thigh.

"I've been watching you for a while." The short haired girl caresses the ginger's cheek. "And I think it's time to come out to you right now..."

"Wh-what do you me...mmmph!" Honoka is silenced by Tsubasa's kiss.

Tsubasa wraps an arm around Honoka, pulling her close while the ginger struggles to pull away from her. She has not expected this from the A-RISE leader at all. Since when in the world has she been in love with her? Tsubasa pulls away, licking her lips in satisfaction.

"Tsubasa...chan..." Honoka pants. "Wh-why?"

"Can't you tell?" Tsubasa says as she caresses the ginger's cheek. "I love you, Honoka-san. I love you so much." She leans in to kiss her again.

Honoka doesn't know what to do now. There are some people who are staring at the two kissing each other and she is trying her hardest to pull away. Tsubasa takes notice and pulls away to gaze into the ginger's baby blue eyes.

"Too much for you? Come on, let's go somewhere private then," she says.

"N-no...I...I changed my mind. I think I wanna go back."

"Huh? But we only just started..."

"I'm so sorry, Tsubasa-chan! I, um, I just remembered! I have something urgent to take care of! Bye!" She quickly bows and run off.

The short haired girl is left stunned for a bit before smirking. Even though the ginger ran off, she is not going to give up so easily. "We will meet again~"

*Meanwhile*

Umi says good-bye to club members as soon as it ended and then changes back into her school uniform. Grabbing her school bag, she exits the club room to see her girlfriend standing by the doors.

"Oh, hey Honoka," she greets. "Nice to see you on time for once."

"Oh, ummmm...yeah," Honoka says as she links arms with her girlfriend.

Umi notices the ginger's expression. "Is everything alright, Honoka?"

"Ah, y-yes, I'm fine. Don't worry. The ginger gives her best smile.

Umi shrugs as the two start walking home together. However, there is an awkward silence the whole way. Umi is starting to get a little worried for her girlfriend because she isn't talking to her nor answering her questions if she is trying to ask her questions. When they get home, both of them say their good byes and Honoka shuts the door.

The ginger runs upstairs into her room, shuts the door and plops on her belly on her bed, face on the pillow. The thought of Taubasa kissing her comes back and tears start falling from her eyes. She cannot believe she let the A-RISE leader, her inspiration kiss her like that when she already has a girlfriend. She knows that Umi would be devastated if she found out. The though of it brings more tears falling from her eyes and then buries her face on her pillow, crying.

**Later**

For the past few days, Honoka hasn't been herself lately. Umi is getting extremely worried about her as Honoka is starting to become distant from her. She will have to confront her later on. Fortunately, there is no club practice, so it will be much easier to meet with her then. Once class is over, Umi is about to approach her when the ginger runs off for some reason.

"Honoka!" Umi calls. "Honoka, wait!"

The ginger cannot hear her as she continues to run. Umi has no idea that she is supposed to meet with Tsubasa today for some tea and a chat. As much as she wants to avoid her, there was something added to the text that Honoka did not like...something like blackmail. She must have known the two were going out somehow. So, Honoka doesn't have any choice but accept the invitation. Umi decides to quietly follow the ginger to know exactly what's going on. She stealthily hides in some places in order to avoid being noticed as she follows her girlfriend. It is then that they arrive at UTX Academy, which makes Umi stunned. Why would they be here? She continues following the ginger until they arrive at the cafeteria to A-RISE's private spot. There Honoka meets up with Tsubasa. Umi hides to listen to their conversation.

"Glad you could make it, Honoka-san~" she says as she gives the ginger a hug.

"Yes," Honoka says as she pulls away. "Now, let's cut to the chase, why have you called me here? I have some important things to do."

"Oh, it will just be a second," Tsubasa says as she approaches her, wrapping one arm around the ginger and tipping her chin to her level. She then lean in to kiss her on the lips, making the ginger immobilized.

Umi looks over and her eyes widen at the sight of the two of them kissing. She tuns back to her hiding place, clutching a fist to her chest. She wanted to think she's dreaming, although, this seems much too real for her. She can hear soft moans from the two of them, making it worse for the blue haired girl. She turns er head to see Honoka embracing the short haired girl while continuing to kiss her until they pull away to catch their breath.

"Honoka-san~" Tsubasa swoons. "I love you. I love you so much~" She kisses the ginger without giving her a chance to speak.

Umi cannot bare to watch it any longer. Standing up, she jumps from her hiding place and shouts, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"

Tsubasa pulls away, smiling. "Ah, Umi-san. Glad to have you join the party."

"How...how dare you lay a finger on my girlfriend!" Umi stomps over to shove the short haired girl away and hold Honoka in her arms.

"Umi-chan!" The ginger immediately wraps her arms around her lover.

"So you two really ARE going out," Tsubasa says. "How nice."

"Yes we are," Umi says, glaring at the A-RISE leader. "Why are you trying to take her away from me?"

"Why? Because I love her."

"I love her more than you do!" Umi says. "So stay away from her, you got that!?"

Tsubasa only chuckles. "You can tell me that all you want, but that still doesn't stop me from having her." She shoves Umi away, making her let go and grabs the ginger. "Can't you see? She's been avoiding you for the past few days, right? And that's because she's done with you. She can't be with you anymore."

"What...what...?" Umi is shocked to hear this. "Honoka...Honoka would NEVER do something like that! You're lying!"

"Am I?" Tsubasa pulls the ginger closer to her. "All I'm saying is that you two have been quite distant from each other for a while."

"That doesn't give you the right to assume that we're breaking up!" Umi shouts.

"Then let me ask you this: do you really love Honoka-san?"

Heavy tears fall freely from Umi's eyes as she puts a fist on her chest, taking a step forward. "Yes! Yes, I love Honoka! More than anything in the world! She...she means everything to me!" She closes her eyes, gritting her teeth to stop herself from crying , but to no avail. "I love her from the bottom of my heart, like you wouldn't believe! I'm always there for her! I'm there when she's sad, or has problems! I always come to her when we have conflicts! I'm there for her every day! Because she's also my childhood friend! Because of her, I fell in love with her! She's the reason my life was shining! She brought light to my shy spirit! She's the only one that I care about! No one else!" She drops to her knees, hugging herself. "S-so please..." She cannot speak anymore from the heavy tears falling from her eyes and just starts crying.

Honoka shoves Tsubasa away and hugs the blue haired girl, crying. "Oh, Umi-chan! I love you too! You have no idea how happy that makes me when you said that! I...I love you the most as well! You've...you've been truly by my side at all times ad I'm very grateful for that! So...so...Umi-chan...I will never leave you! Not ever!"

"Oh, Honoka...!" Umi returns the embrace, sobbing harder than before.

All Tsubasa could do is just smile and clap her hands loud enough to get both of the girl's attention. "Bravo, you two. Bravo."

"E-eh?" Umi pulls away with a confused expression. "What are you talking about?"

All of a sudden, Anju and Erena appear from both sides, giggling.

"Success!" Anju cheers.

"Our plan worked perfectly~!" Erena adds.

"Come again?" Honoka tilts her head to the side.

"Fufu~! This is all an act, Honoka-san~" Tsubasa says. "I never really wanted to steal you away from Umi-san in the first place."

"Tsubasa just wanted you two to show each other how much you love one another," Anju says. "You two haven't been showing it for a while, as Tsubasa noticed."

"Huh? I thought we always show our love for each other," Umi says. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Mmmm, yes you were. But I was also testing you to see if you were willing to take back the one you love," Tsubasa says. "Things like this can happen, you know."

"And that's a fact," Erena adds. "You'll never know who might be after Honoka-sanand take her away from you."

"So from us A-RISE members," Tsubasa says. "I wish you two great happiness."

Honoka brightens and stands up. "Really? You mean that~?"

"Of course~! I truly support the two of you."

"Oh, thank you, Tsubasa-chan~!"

Umi stands up as well, wiping the rest of the tears. "Thank goodness."

Honoka excitedly links arms with her beloved. "So, Umi-chan~! Let's go! But first..." She cups both hands to her cheeks and kisses Umi on the lips.

The blue haired girl immediately returns it, embracing her tightly. The three A-RISE members just smile at this wonderful sight. Both Umi and Honoka pull away and resume linking arms with one another.

"I love you, Umi-chan~!" Honoka says.

"And I love you, Honoka," Umi replies.

As the two leave, Tsubasa just watches them with a blissful sigh. Anju and Erena turn towards their leader.

"You okay?" Erena asks.

"Somehow...even though I let her go...I can still feel Honoka-san's lips..."