Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!

"Kira... Tsubasa? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question, Honoka. Or more importantly, why are you just sitting here? Come on."

Tsubasa grabbed one of Honoka's hands and pulled her up from the bench. Quickly, she turned around and led Honoka out of the park. They hurried down a few streets and eventually turned into an area Honoka wasn't familiar with.

Soon enough, they reached the house Tsubasa wanted. They passed through the front and reached the door. Tsubasa let go of Honoka's hand to knock on the door. After a few knocks, she grabbed Honoka again and pulled her close, making sure they were both under the umbrella and out of the rain.

"W-wha.."

Everything was happening too fast for Honoka right now. Suddenly meeting Tsubasa at the park while it was raining. Then being dragged by her almost without a second thought to someone's house. And now, she was being held this close by Tsubasa. Honoka just didn't know what to think at the moment.

"Sorry. Hang in there a little longer, alright?" Tsubasa said, giving a small smile to Honoka.

"O-okay.."

Time seemed to stand still to Honoka right now. All she could think about at the moment was how close she was to Tsubasa. Honoka felt strange being this close to someone other than her family or Muse. And it was Kira Tsubasa, no less. Because they were both under the umbrella, Tsubasa was holding Honoka right against her, their faces only centimeters apart.

Things were about the same for Tsubasa. She had acted almost instinctively at the park earlier just wanting to help someone get out of the rain. Yet, that person turned out to be Kousaka Honoka. And rather than just finding some cover from the rain, she had brought Muse's center all the way here, of all places, and with no warning. And now, she was holding her with one arm, protecting both of them from the rain. And they were so close. If she leaned in just slightly, she could...

"Ah, Tsubasa-chan. You didn't tell me you were bringing a friend along."

The two girls turned to the new voice, finally aware that the door had opened. Honoka was once again in shock as she recognized the girl, realizing whose house they had just arrived at.

"Y- Yuuki Anju?"

"Oh my, why are your clothes all soaked?" Anju asked once Tsubasa had turned and she could see more of Honoka. "Hurry, come inside. I'll get some towels."

Anju hurried further into her house. Tsubasa closed her umbrella and with Honoka they entered the house and closed the door behind them. Anju returned quickly with the towels, handing them to Tsubasa. Then she turned and disappeared into the hall again. Tsubasa handed Honoka a towel. Taking the other towel, she helped Honoka dry off. Soon enough, Anju returned once again, this time with some clothes.

"Here, you can borrow these while we dry your clothes."

"Thanks." Honoka said, taking the clothes.

"I'll show you where the bathroom is."

Honoka and Tsubasa removed their shoes, and Anju led them through the house. They reached the end of the hallway, where Anju stopped and indicated the bathroom. Honoka said a short thanks before she disappeared inside.

"Quite the catch you got, isn't she?" Anju whispered to Tsubasa.

"W-what are you talking about?"

"I'll go make some hot cocoa. You two can wait in my room when she's done. Just don't let me catch you two doing anything."

With a wink and a smile, Anju walked passed Tsubasa and headed for the kitchen. Tsubasa was left in the hall, staring after her, completely confused.

"She just says whatever she want, as always."

"Who does?"

Tsubasa turned, a bit surprised that Honoka had changed fairly quickly. Though, she was quickly distracted by another thought.

"Those clothes fit you rather well," she said.

"Ah- you think so?"

Honoka looked at what she was wearing again. It was just a simple light orange shirt and white shorts. She was confused by Tsubasa's compliment, as she didn't think the clothes were anything special.

Tsubasa nodded. "Yeah. We might have to ask Anju to let you keep those."

"If you say so." Honoka shrugged, making Tsubasa laugh.

"Come on, Anju said we can wait for her in her room."

Tsubasa led Honoka through the house and into Anju's room. Honoka looked around as she entered, a little surprised. She wasn't sure why, but she was kind of expecting Anju's room to be somewhat fancy. But Anju's room was about as normal as her own room, just not as messy.

Something in particular caught Honoka's eye, though. She walked over to Anju's desk. It was a fairly big desk, but there wasn't much space to work with. It was filled with a lot of pictures, some of which were Anju with her friends. But what interested Honoka was what most of the pictures were.

"Wow. I didn't think she would keep all of these on her desk," Tsubasa said as she came up next to Honoka.

"Tsubasa... you-"

"Yes. Anju and I dated, briefly."

She picked up one of the photos. The picture was her and Anju together for Christmas. The outfits were for their class party at UTX, which A-Rise performed a song for the occasion. She smiled as she remembered that day.

"Briefly? What happened?"

"She did it to help me get someone else's attention," came a third voice.

Both turned around and found Anju at the door, holding a tray with three mugs. She smiled as she saw the picture in Tsubasa's hands.

"Heh, yeah. That plan worked like a charm too." Tsubasa said. "They've been together ever since."

"Who are you with now?" Honoka asked.

Tsubasa put down the picture she was holding and picked up another, showing it to Honoka. This picture was Anju with another familiar face.

"Erena, huh.." Honoka said as she looked at the picture. "But, why would you need to make her jealous? Aren't you all friends?"

"Some people aren't always honest with their feelings. Sometimes they need a little push to get things going," Tsubasa said.

"Well, our time together wasn't bad either. I actually quite enjoyed it," Anju said as she made her way to the desk. She set the tray down and handed a mug to Tsubasa. As she handed Honoka a mug, she leaned close to her ear and whispered, "She's quite the kisser as well, just so you know."

"W-wha?" Honoka was surprised that Anju would tell her something like that.

"Hm? What did you just tell her?" Tsubasa asked.

"Oh, nothing," Anju said with a smile.

Tsubasa gave her a confused look. Honoka decided to leave it be and took a sip from her mug. Since she arrived at Anju's house, she kind of forgot how cold she was feeling earlier. She was reminded of that, as her drink warmed her up and she started to feel relaxed. A gentle sigh escaped her lips.

"Heh, glad you like it," Anju said, amused by watching Honoka.

"Feeling better?" Tsubasa asked.

Honoka nodded. "I feel fine now, thanks."

"I put your clothes into the dryer. When they're done I can let you borrow an umbrella if it's still raining," Anju said after taking another sip from her mug.

"Thanks. Sorry for imposing on you like this."

"Oh it's no trouble. It's not like you had a choice anyway."

"Hey now, she was sitting alone in the rain, letting herself get soaked," Tsubasa said defensively. "I wasn't going to leave her like that."

"Oh I know." Anju grinned. "Lucky you it started raining, huh?"

"H-hey!"

Honoka watched as the two friends continued their exchanged. Even though they weren't saying details, she knew they were talking about her. She starting spacing out as she drank more of her hot cocoa, but was shortly interrupted.

"So, Honoka," Tsubasa said. "Can I ask you something?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"Well.. it's about earlier. Why were you crying at the park?"

Honoka froze. She wasn't expecting Tsubasa to bring that up right now.

"A-ah.. Uh..." she stuttered.

"You were crying earlier?" Anju asked, completely surprised to hear this.

"Y-yeah.. I was..."

Honoka was hesitant. She didn't really know if she wanted to tell them what was on her mind lately. Not that she didn't trust them, but she would rather not go back to thinking about those things right now.

"It's alright if you don't want to talk about it," Anju said, as if hearing Honoka's thoughts.

"Yeah, we were just making sure you're okay," Tsubasa said.

"Thanks." Then she decided. "I was helping the others in Muse find partners and be happy. It was nice at first, until I realized that I was kind of the odd one out. They all had each other, but I didn't have someone like that. Today was one of those days I just my feelings out. Though, usually no one is around to notice."

Tsubasa and Anju exchanged silent glances at each other. Neither really knew how to respond after hearing Honoka.

"O-oh.. I'm sorry.." was all Tsubasa could say.

"Ah, no no. It's alright," Honoka said quickly. "It's a small price to pay for everyone else's sake."

"Are you sure?" Anju asked. "That sounds very painful to deal with every day."

"Yeah, it's nothing! I'll be fine. I'll be..." Honoka trailed off.

"Honoka, you don't have to act strong in front of us," Tsubasa said. "If it's hard on you, just say it. Otherwise you'll end up just like you were at the park earlier. And I'm sure that the other members of Muse wouldn't want to see you in so much pain."

Honoka lowered her head. Everything Tsubasa said made sense. Yet she wasn't really sure how she should act, either. She's never experienced something like this before.

"Uh.. Honoka?" Honoka being silent with her head down made Tsubasa nervous.

"You're right," Honoka said finally. She looked back up at Tsubasa and smiled. "Thanks, Tsubasa. That helps a lot."

The girls sat in silence for a few minutes as they finished up their drinks. Anju mentioned that Honoka's clothes should be dry, so the three girls left the room. Honoka retrieved her clothes and changed in the bathroom again. Once she was done, they went to the front door.

"Sorry again for intruding all of a sudden," Honoka said as she finished putting her shoes on.

"It was no problem at all. Here you go," Anju said, handing Honoka an umbrella. "Don't worry, I'll have Tsubasa come pick that up another time."

"Why me?" Tsubasa asked. "It's y our umbrella."

Anju just smiled and patted Tsubasa's shoulder. Honoka giggled before opening the door.

"Well, thanks for today," Honoka said.

"Have a safe trip," Tsubasa said.

Honoka waved goodbye and closed the door behind her. Right after, Anju handed Tsubasa her umbrella.

"What are you doing?" Tsubasa asked.

"Go walk her home," Anju said simply.

"W-what?"

"Hurry, before she gets too far."

"Wait, but we planned to hang out today."

Anju smiled. "Come on, we both know which of the two choices you'd rather pick right now." Anju finally just started pushing Tsubasa toward the door. "We can hang out another day. Now go."

"Alright, alright. Sorry."

Tsubasa left the house, opened her umbrella, and ran after Honoka. Anju watched from inside, a smile still on her face as she watched her friend go.

"You weren't the only one with plans," she said, as she saw someone walking toward the door.

"Was that Tsubasa just now?" Erena asked.

"Why yes. But you can ask her about that tomorrow."

Erena barely closed her umbrella when Anju pulled her into the house and closed the door. They quickly made their way to Anju's room, to share some quality time together.

Hey guys, nobodD here!

Originally I had the idea for this chapter placed somewhere else, where it would be just Honoka and Tsubasa. But then I saw an opportunity to get some more back story in, as well as have a little fun X3

This took a little longer than I wanted it to take to publish, but I hope you all still liked it. We'll get into more cheerful stuff soon, I promise X3

Thanks for reading, and see you next time~