AN: See end of chapter for some answers regarding your reviews

"Do I really have to wear this?" Eri looked at the shrine maiden outfit Nozomi had given her. She sighed and looked at Nico who frowned upon seeing the clothes in front of her.

"I'm with Eri. You never said I had to wear those when you asked for help." Her gaze wandered to Nozomi.

The purple headed girl stood in front of them. She looked like she was thinking really hard about something, her left index finger pointing at her chin in the process. "I didn't? I could have sworn I did."

"No, you didn't, cheater." With the frown becoming more and more prominent on her face, Nico grabbed the outfit and vanished behind a door to change. "I can't believe the others will see me like this. Everything that happens from now on is going to be your fault, Nozomi."

"Sure, sure." Said girl just giggled. "I don't know what she's afraid of. She will look cute in these clothes and our friends surely won't laugh."

While Nico and Nozomi kept on discussing, Eri couldn't help but smile. Ever since the evening where they wrote 'Snow Halation' together, Nozomi had become more and more open towards the members of Muse. Hearing her calling them friends so casually wasn't something minor in regards of the quiet shrine maiden. In fact she never named them as such even once before because the fact of having actual friends, eight of them in total, was entirely new to Nozomi. Knowing this, Eri was happy and somehow proud.

"Erichi?"

Eri was cut of of her thoughts when Nozomi called her.

"You're going to change, too? Or does Erichi not want to help any more?" Nozomi pouted.

"No. I was just thinking. I still don't know how you managed to get Nico to help you." It wasn't entirely the truth, but it wasn't a lie either. Eri really had no idea.

"When I told her we're going to need help and that it would mean a lot to me since the shrine is very important to me, Nicochi kind of yelled at me that she would help. And even though she said she isn't doing it for me... I know she actually is."

"Well, she's not the only one." With a wink Eri took the clothes and left to change. She could hear Nozomi saying that she would be outside to prepare some stuff the shrine would need later.

It took some time to get finished since Eri wasn't used to wear a traditional shrine maiden outfit. The most difficult part was the ponytail. Usually tying her hair rather high she struggled with this one but eventually got it done.

When she walked outside, Nico and Nozomi were already working. Nozomi pointed at a box with wood panels and asked Eri to bring them to where the visitors were able to hang up their wishes. The area was free at the moment. No one was praying, leaving the shrine in comfortable silence.

Eri took the plates and placed them neatly beside the wall. When she was done she took a look at some of the plates that were already in place. She smiled. There were some addressed to Muse, wishing them good luck with the upcoming Love Live or just thanking them for their hard work.

For Eri, it was still unbelievable that they managed to defeat A-Rise. They were allowed to continue their adventure as the nine of them, smiling and struggling on the way. But all of them were aware that the Love Live would be their last performance together. When Nico, Nozomi and Eri had talked about it, they agreed to ask their juniors not to mention about it until the competition was over.

But to Eri, graduation was not just the shadow lingering above Muse. Reading a plate where someone wished for his partner to be with him at this time of the year, she was remembered of an other situation she found herself in. Being together with Nozomi the last couple of days had made her forget about it. After all, she was just too happy to be with her best friend she fell in love with. But with the new year, the final countdown would start soon. And with that, the pain would grow day by day.

Sighing, Eri pushed these thoughts aside. She was supposed to be working. So she would work until all these negative feeling would fade. Even if it was just for today.

With the crowd in front of the shrine Nico, Nozomi and Eri retreated into the backyard, gathering tools and other supplies to put them back into the storage room. They were certain that the other members of Muse would find them and Nozomi was looking forward to it. Ever since Nico had complained about the outfit, Nozomi had teased her by pointing out several scenarios the girls could react. Eri just watched them with a smile.

"Ah, there she is. Nozomi-chan!"

Nozomi turned around, recognizing Honoka's excited voice and smiled upon seeing the six of them running towards her.

"Happy New Year!" Their leader greeted with a huge smile.

"You seem to be busy." Seeing the box Nozomi was carrying, Kotori stopped right in front of her.

"Just like every year. But this time we've got some helpers." Stating that, Nozomi saw Nico appearing behind them. The girl was struggling with another box.

"Nozomi! Is this supposed to be over there?" Not even recognizing the other six members, Nico slowly walked over to the group, eyes closed as she tried not to drop the box.

"Nico-chan!"

Hearing Rin's voice, Nico snapped out of it but accidentally dropped what she was carrying by surprise. She looked at them disbelievingly while Nozomi had to suppress her laughter.

"What? You here?" The raven haired girl picked the box up again, all the while watching her friends.

"Cute, nya!"

"You look exactly like a shrine maiden."

"Eh?" Took by surprise by Rin's and Umi's statement, Nico didn't know what to answer. "You think so?"

Suddenly, Maki, who wore a traditional yukata, was pushed forward by Rin. "You could be a traditional Japanese style unit together with Maki-chan, nya!"

The read head just blushed. "A unit?"

While Nico and Maki imagined themselves wearing some kind of traditional dress while holding a big fan in front of an traditional japanes castle, their blushes just increased.

"That's it." Honoka liked the idea instantly, looking determined.

"That's not it!" Maki exclaimed.

"Yeah! We are not working in a cabaret!" Nico agreed.

Right now, Nozomi tried really hard not to start laughing at her friends behaviour. But when Eri appeared to, she forgot about it. Every time the blonde would appear in front of her eyes, Nozomi would be in awe. And apparently she wasn't the only one thinking that Eri looked absolutely stunning.

"Guys." Eri greeted them while walking up to them.

"Eri-chan!" Honoka exclaimed while the rest was in awe.

Hanayo was the first one to comment on Eri's outfit. "So cool!"

"Isn't she just gorgeous?" With Umi being the second one.

"Eri-chan, take a picture with me, nya!"

"I can't. I'm busy right now." Apologizing to the her juniors, Eri turned back to Nozomi.

Nico on the other hand just stood there with a weird expression on her face that screamed 'Unfair'. After all, she was wearing the exact same outfit.

"Nozomi, hurry up." Remembering her best friend that they were supposed to be working, Eri walked towards Nozomi, followed by Nico.

The purple haired girl just nodded slightly and addressed the rest of Muse. "See you later, ok?"

The three of them walked further until they were able to see the crowed in front of the shrine. Just when Eri was about to start a conversation with Nozomi, she heard Arisa running towards them.

"Onee-chan!" Arisa jumped in Eri's arms and embraced her tightly before taking a step back to look up to her big sister, all the while having her arms around Eri's waist.

"Arisa. What did you wish for?" Eri asked out of curiosity.

With a huge smile and bright eyes, Arisa anwered. "I want to be accepted at Otonokizaka and become a part of Muse."

Eri was taken aback by her sister's answer and had to gather herself for a second before being able to force a smile that looked genuine. "Really?"

Arisa seemed to notice the discomfort and dropped her arms. She decided to not push the matter further and turned around. "Yukiho is waiting for me. I should go." With that, she ran back, leaving the three third years alone again.

The former light atmosphere became tense all of a sudden, all three of them being remembered of the inevitable again.

Nozomi was the first one to break the silence. "Maybe we should talk about the future with the others?" She looked at Eri and Nico.

"Right..." Closing her, Nico sighed.

Eri stayed silent. If Nico and Nozomi would look into her eyes right now, she was sure they would be able to see the struggle she had to fight internally. She looked straight ahead, but her gaze was unfocused. In a rush, everything she had tried to suppress the whole day came back. The insecurity, the doubt and above all the pain. The pain of losing what was dear to her.

She wasn't referring to Muse.

And with a glance to her left, Eri made sure that the one thing being dearest to her was still by her side.

It was still dark outside. Looking out of her window, Eri was able to see the few stars that didn't vanish under the bright lights of Tokyo.

She had returned a couple of hours ago, three maybe. She had said her goodbye's to Nico and Nozomi when they had parted in front of the shrine. She had walked in silence, her thoughts wandering in every possible direction. Most of them ended with her shaking her head to get rid of all the negative things they gathered along the way.

She hadn't been able to concentrate on her work entirely. Every now and then her gaze had lingered on Nozomi, resulting in this all too familiar pang in her chest.

Now she couldn't fall asleep and found herself in her room, lying on her bed underneath the stars, thinking about it over and over again.

She turned around and forced her eyes shut but to no avail. When she opened the again, she looked at the tiny piece of paper she had with her when she travelled back to Japan.

She took the paper and reread the lyrics she had thought of. Looking for a pen Eri rolled on her stomach and started writing again, hoping it would have the same effect like it had back in Russia.

With this clichéd sadness and clichéd pain,

I barely hold back tears and watch the stars

They shine brighter than usual, and seem to fall

As they quietly illuminate me...

AN: That's chapter three for you. I apologize for the long wait, especially since the chapter's mostly about stuff that actually happend in the anime. But I felt like this scene was too important for this story to be left out AND it's like the prelude to the really sad stuff (Eri and Nozomi, I'm so sorry for doing this to you).

NozoeliTrash: Oh my god, I still can't believe you favored my story (I love your story). Well... the kiss... maybe there will be a kiss, maybe not. There is just one thing I'm sure of: It won't happen anytime soon. And believe me, NozoEri kinda ruined any other ship outside of LL I had, because I started to compare those to NozoEri... So, that's that. '^^

venz07: I feel sorry for you... I hate myself for what I am going to do and you just left your emotions in my hands... How about we depart with the train of despair together? xD

everyone else: Thank you for following. Thank you a thousand times. It's the reviews, the favorites and the followers that keep me going. You're awesome.

Until next time.