A/N: I definitely blame too much time spent on Dynasty Reader for this particular idea, though this wasn't the first draft that came to mind. Hope everyone enjoys regardless of where my Muse went this time.
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Honoka wasn't always known as the kind of girl to think things through the same way that Nozomi or Umi might have, but when the ginger was set on a plan her determination was legendary and it was near impossible to stop Honoka from seeking out her goals.
For the last week Honoka had been devising a plan that in her own mind seemed ingenious to the ginger, and only let slip to her friends about what she might be planning with mischievous smiles and sly looks in Nico's direction, worrying some of the other members of Muse who couldn't read Honoka's mind.
Nozomi appeared to be able to guess what Honoka was planning to do but remained tight-lipped about the matter despite both Eli and Nico whining at the violet-haired girl in-between classes, though neither girl would willingly describe it as such in front of their idol mates.
Umi understandably kept as far away from the matter as possible since she didn't want to be an accomplice to anything Honoka was planning, while Kotori was being kept busy sewing the outfits for their upcoming live, and just shared a supportive smile with Honoka whenever she noticed the ginger looking in Nico's direction.
None of the first years were in on whatever was bouncing around in Honoka's mind to at least Maki's relief, and it appeared that the old saying "ignorance is bliss" was quite apt regarding Rin and Hanayo as the duo kept to their own devices outside of idol practise.
Finally the day that Honoka had decided to enact her ingenious scheme arrived, and the ginger rushed out of the second-year classroom after final bell ahead of Kotori and Umi like a shot to her best friend's combined confusion and concern. Umi could only guess that whatever had Honoka moving so quickly could not be anything good, and decided that it was in her best interest to try and take as long as possible to reach the club room in hopes of avoiding the worst of whatever mess Honoka was going to make.
Just as she had planned Honoka was the first to arrive at the club room with a small plastic bag in hand and quickly took her seat at the long table the nine girls sat around while scheming for their next live, tucking the plastic bag partially out of sight of the other girl under the table for the opportune moment to strike and tried to feign a distraction by pulling out her phone and scrolling through any new posts from A-rise.
The other members of Muse slowly filed in after packing up and storing away their things from class, and only Maki and Nozomi took a second glance at the bag hidden by Honoka's leg before losing interest for now. Both of the intelligent girls were able to guess that Honoka had some manner of horribly ill-thought out plan in mind, and at least Nozomi looked forward to a bit of entertainment before they began practise.
Honoka wasted little time after Nico entered the clubroom to pounce at the older girl with a bright smile on her face, earning giggles from Nozomi while Nico complained about how clingy her girlfriend could be. This didn't stop the imp from returning the enthusiastic hug and hiding a smile in Honoka's hair from view of her friends and the ever-smug Nozomi.
Bouncing away from Nico as quickly as she'd arrived Honoka bent down to retrieve something from the bag she had put under the table, and almost every set of eyes in the room watched in a mixture of shock and amazement at the small rectangular box filled with chocolate-coated wafer sticks that Honoka had tucked away.
Covering her mouth to stifle her laughter at how sly Honoka could sometimes be either intentionally or not, Nozomi watched along with the other girls present as Honoka cracked open the box of pocky before withdrawing a single stick with a very wide, radiant smile on her face, and holding it out to her girlfriend.
Not completely understanding where Honoka was going with this by offering her pocky Nico obliged her girlfriend by opening her mouth and nipping at the end of the stick that Honoka had shoved in her face, at the moment only seeing it as another snack. Her mind just assumed that this was Honoka's attempt to reward Nico for something and the ebony-haired girl discarded the idea of Honoka having any deeper schemes in mind.
Four of the girls in the room watched in shock as Honoka bit down on the other end of the pocky stick without an ounce of hesitation and began nibbling her way towards Nico's lips eagerly. Nozomi was still smirking with all of the answers as she got front-row seats to Honoka being surprisingly bold in her relationship and going for a pocky kiss.
Nico was unable to react in time as Honoka made short work of the stick of pocky and closed the distance between their lips, kissing her girlfriend in front of their friends shamelessly and giving herself a thumbs-up for a plan well executed.
The kiss between the two girls was not short by any means as Honoka put her hands on Nico's shoulders to hold the smaller girl in place. This actually wasn't really necessary though since Nico was still so shocked by the attack that she had no hope of counterattacking and didn't make any attempts to pull away from Honoka.
Hanayo immediately covered her face as she turned bright red up to her ears, though the mousy brunette was obviously peeking through her fingers as the couple kissed. Rin was wide-eyed and blinking obliviously as she watched Honoka and Nico despite a small voice in the back of her mind whispered ideas about her trying this sort of thing with Hanayo and perhaps Maki.
Eli had no clue what was happening and planned to eventually ask Nozomi about it as her Japanese customs informant after practise in hopes of earning a bit of context about what she was witnessing, the blue-eyed Russian's mind completely blank at the fascinatingly gay scene before her.
Once satisfied that her plan had been properly executed Honoka finally broke the kiss with Nico and pulled back with a sly smile on her face, and it took a moment for the girls to realize that Honoka was holding a small piece of the offending stick of pocky between her lips still. When she was sure that everyone had seen the treat Honoka brazenly swallowed and began licking her lips like some kind of seductress. She certainly earned the reaction that she had been hoping for as Nico's face became even more red and the older girl was forced to turn away in hopes of hiding how shy she was feeling.
"Do you want to share some more pocky with me Nico?" Honoka purred out in a voice that none of the idols expected from the innocent sunshine of Muse, lifting up a finger and pressing it against her lips as she smirked at her girlfriend.
Everything became a blur in the room as Nico reacted by smacking Honoka for teasing her so thoroughly, Nozomi and Rin began laughing at Honoka's little trick while the ebony-haired spitfire scolded her girlfriend, and Hanayo tried to calm her racing heart after the kind of scene she had only read about in manga happened right in front of her.
Eli was the only one left standing there blinking in confusion at what she had seen, while most of the girls agreed it was a good thing Umi and Kotori had been absent from Honoka's little prank since Umi would have been scolding Honoka alongside Nico if not experiencing a meltdown because her best friend did something so shameless in such a public place.
Nico and Honoka kept the secret to themselves that after practise the two finished off the rest of the box of pocky by practising their kissing together a whole lot more, though Nico was scowling at the sly smile on Nozomi's face the next day since she had a feeling that Nozomi was able to guess what the couple had done. She was only grateful that Nozomi didn't spill the beans to the other members of Muse and just implied it to tease the couple.