"Muse is going to disband!?" Arisa stood in front of her sister, not believing what Eri just told her.

With the decision made, Eri had felt it was best to tell Arisa about it. After all, her little sister loved their group and she wanted to be the one to spill the news. This and she had known that Arisa wouldn't take it well despite the youngest Ayase knew that it would probably end like this.

"Yeah. The Love Live! is going to be our final performance." Eri confirmed while preparing dinner. "Our juniors decided it was the best... and it truly is."

Somehow, Eri was proud and glad. Proud that the first and second years not just discussed it. They had realized their own feelings, had talked about them, leading them to the decision they made at the end. Not all of them were able to do so that easily. But most of all, she was glad. Muse was not just a group of nine students. They were friends. And her juniors had made that very clear. Muse was theirs. It was something where nine entirely different individuals could be themselves and still accept each other without second thoughts. In the end, they were one.

"Well... at least Yukiho and I won't have to compete with them." Arisa giggled.

All Eri could do was to turn around from making dinner and looked at her sister in confusion. "Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean you two won't have to compete with them?"

Taking two plates from the shelves, Arisa walked over to the dining table. "We want to be school idols. So we are going to form our own group." She turned around and looked at Eri who stood there, mouth agape. "You're burning the food, Onee-chan."

Eri turned around and took the pan from the stove. She walked over to the table as well and the both of them settled down to eat.

"You know that it will be pretty hard?"

Arisa nodded.

"Idol practice and school? You're grades won't be forgiving."

"Mou, Onee-chan. I will be fine. I promise."

"I hope you will." Eri took a bite. "You having bad grades will backfire on me.", she mumbled, trying to imagine the scolding she would receive by their parents if Arisa would be bad at school under her guidance. She frowned.

"What's up?" Arisa noticed the change of her sisters expression.

"I just had to think of mom...and the speech she would give me if I let you slack off of school."

Tilting her head upwards, Arisa tried to grab the picture as well and also frowned once she saw it in front of her eyes. "Ok... one week without chocolate for each bad mark I get. That should keep me motivated."

"Are you sure? I won't back down if you're pleading for one piece of sweetness." Eri said teasingly.

Arisa just looked at her as if she remembered something. "Onee-chan?" She waited to continue until Eri looked at her. "Aren't we... forgetting something?" She motioned with her head onto the table in the living room.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Eri saw an envelope. "What if I try to forget about it?"

It was one of the days where Eri just wished for someone to cut of her head. A day where her thoughts would jump on an seemingly endless train of despair. In short: she studied with Nico and Nozomi for college entrance exams.

As if studying with materials of three whole years and graduation lingering like a shadow above her, leaving her unable to concentrate wasn't enough to drive her crazy, Nico had to ask this one question she was trying to avoid for months now and especially in the past couple of days.

"So... which college do you want to attend to?" Nico laid her pen down and looked at Eri and Nozomi.

"I don't know yet." Eri shrugged. "There are a lot of good choices and I wanted to look them up the next couple of days properly."

She hoped that no one noticed her discomfort. It was true, there were a lot of good colleges and with her grades she probably wouldn't have a problem with entering one of them. But Eri didn't plan to look them up. Not now.

"And here I thought dutiful Eri already decided." Nico mused. "What about you, Nozomi?"

The shrine maiden seemed uncomfortable, looking down on the table and avoiding eye-contact with any of them. "I would like to stay here in Tokyo, but..."

Eri needed to pinch herself in the leg to stop her from screaming for Nozomi not to continue. She had this feeling again. The feeling that this sentence wouldn't end well.

"...But there is a college in Osaka which specialized in spiritual studies. It would be perfect, you know?"

By now, Nozomi was desperately trying to avoid any kind of physical contact with Eri. She even turned her head in the opposite direction from the blonde, leaving Eri unable to see the purple heads face.

And Eri? She felt like someone just broke down the floor beneath her, making her fall deeper and deeper. She always hoped that Nozomi stayed in Tokyo. After all, that would have been the one thing keeping her in Tokyo as well. Arisa would manage just fine without her and wouldn't mind Eri being away as long as she was happy.

But with Osaka being the perfect opportunity for Nozomi to pursue what she always talked about, the spiritual stuff not just being her hobby, what could there possibly be to keep her in Tokyo?

"That means you could do what you always dreamed about, Nozomi." Eri didn't know why she said that the moment the words left her mouth. She slapped herself internally, not recognizing how Nozomi stiffened.

"Y-yeah. It sure... would be nice." Nozomi stood up. "Excuse me for... for a second. I need to... use the bathroom." And with this, she left, leaving Eri and Nico alone.

Nico looked at Eri with a frown.

"What?" The blonde asked confused.

"Oh my god... I can't believe it." Without further explanation, Nico continued her studies.

All the while, Eri was left with her own thoughts. Right now, they really would go separate ways after graduation. Nozomi being in Osaka and Eri... Well, it didn't matter how far apart they were, did it? Nozomi would do just fine. She would be able to study what she loved. Eventually she would find new friends, fall in love and be happy. And throughout the years, Eri would become a memory. Just like Nozomi would become a memory for Eri. Or that she hoped for.

The question now was, what to do with the little time they had left together? Eri knew that being close to Nozomi for as long as she could would make her utterly happy, but would make her suffer as well. She would know that there was this inevitable deadline ahead of them, making every second they spend with each other somehow meaningless. But it would grand them at least some wonderful things to think back to.

It was ironic, wasn't it? That what you desired most in the world could cause you the greatest pain existing. Eri would have laughed at that if it weren't for Nico being right in front of her and Nozomi returning.

With the hours passing by the three of them continued in silence. Neither uttered a word. Eri noticed that Nozomi's thoughts seemed to be far away. Her eyes were somehow dull and unfocused, her gaze somehow lingered on the sheet of paper in front of her while looking past it at the same time.

That was when Eri decided to be with Nozomi as long as she could bear to be.

What she didn't know at this point was, that her heart couldn't take that much and that this decision would make the both of them suffer far beyond any imagination.

AN:

I'm sorry for the long wait. As I said on tumblr, I struggled with this update (damn you, writers block). But now it's done and I hope you're still with me.

Next chapter everythings going to unfold. It's going to hurt, there will be tears... Sorry I'm not sorry.

Until we shall meet again, friends.