For a pic showing close to the outfit that's used toward the end of the chapter, check out my Dropbox. Link is on my Fanfic profile.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!
The following week was the week leading up to the next round of the Love Live competition. As usual, Muse was having their regular meeting of the week before they went into practicing. The atmosphere was quieter and more serious than usual. Everyone knew it was almost time.
"We slacked off a bit, but now we have to get serious," Eli told the rest of Muse.
"The next round of Love Live is getting closer," Umi said.
"That's right. From now until the competition is over, we'll be working extra hard."
"Does that mean Eli-chan is going to make our practices twice as hard?" Hanayo asked.
"No, Hanayo," Nozomi answered. She smiled. "She's going to make it five times as hard as usual."
"T-that sounds a bit scary even for Eli-chan," Kotori said.
"It can't be helped though, right? This is for more than just us. This is for the whole school," Maki pointed out.
"She's right," Nico agreed. "We have to do it for all our fans."
Just then, the door opened and they all tuned to look as Honoka entered the clubroom.
"They gave us permission to stay an extra hour for practice until Love Live is over," Honoka announced.
"Good. That will help us out a lot," Eli said.
"Eh? You're making us stay later every day?" Rin asked surprised.
"I didn't know about this..." Nozomi said.
"Isn't that taking things a bit far?" Maki asked.
"Wait, everyone," Honoka said, getting the others to calm down. "It was my idea, not Eli-chan's."
"Honoka? You asked for this?" Umi asked surprised.
Honoka nodded. "The next round is soon, and we've fallen behind on our practices because of a certain problem before."
The others were silent, knowing exactly what Honoka was talking about.
"We still need to help save the school. And if we want to do that, we can't waste any more time. We have to practice hard. We still need to win Love Live."
"Well, when Honoka-chan's this serious, it's hard to disagree," Kotori said. The others nodded in agreement.
"So it's settled then," Eli said. "Bring the music, Maki. Let's get started with practicing."
Muse went ahead while Honoka stayed in the clubroom to change. She met up with them on the rooftop. They warmed up with stretches before Eli made them work harder than ever before during practice.
Honoka had messaged Tsubasa ahead of time that she would be late out of practice, so she didn't go to the spot they usually met after school. Instead, Honoka went straight to Tsubasa's house.
The walk was somewhat painful for Honoka. Her muscles were sore from the extra hour of practice, along with Eli's usual practice regiment. Also because she had to walk alone this time around, and the silence was also torture for her.
She finally made it Tsubasa's house. She knocked on the door and waited. When there was no answer, she knocked again, a little louder. "Come in," she heard Tsubasa yell from inside. Honoka turned the doorknob to find the door was actually unlocked. She let herself in and locked the door behind her.
"I'm in the living room," came Tsubasa's voice.
She removed her shoes and left them at the front, then made her way to the living room. When she stepped inside, it looked as if Tsubasa had collapsed before she reached the couch. Her upper body was laying on the couch, but she was mostly on the floor.
"T-Tsubasa?" Honoka rushed over and kneeled beside Tsubasa. "What happened? Are you okay?"
"Don't worry, I'm okay," Tsubasa said. "Just tired from practice."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. Now stop worrying."
"Never," Honoka said, smiling. She lifted Tsubasa onto the couch and laid her on her stomach. Then she sat on Tsubasa's back.
"Honoka? What are you doing?"
"Helping you relax."
Before Tsubasa got to ask, Honoka placed her hands on Tsubasa's back and started massaging her. Tsubasa instantly felt a lot better, as if she had been relaxing all day.
"When did you learn how to give massages?" she asked.
"I didn't really learn. Kotori-chan just showed me a little bit during lunch," Honoka explained. "Does it feel good?"
"It's very nice." Tsubasa said.
Honoka was glad to hear Tsubasa say that, and continued with her massage. Tsubasa felt completely relaxed under Honoka's control. The weariness she was feeling earlier went away, all the pain seemed a lot more bearable now.
"So, A-Rise is also practicing harder than before?" Honoka asked.
"Yeah.. It's what we all agreed on before. It took a lot more out of me than I thought it would, though."
"That's surprising. You usually take better care of yourself than that."
"What about you? Isn't Muse practicing for an extra hour everyday now? Aren't you tired or anything?"
"Now that you mention it, I was kind of sore on my way over here. I think I completely forgot when I saw you on the floor looking exhausted."
"I-I see..."
There was a few moments of silence while Honoka continued to massage Tsubasa.
"We're not going to get as much time together for a while, huh?" she asked.
Tsubasa thought about it. "Maybe not... We are in competing groups after all..."
Honoka sighed as she finished up. She moved Tsubasa a bit so she could lay on the couch next to her. They immediately were wrapped in each other's arms.
"It doesn't help that we can't spend the night together either," Honoka said.
"Well, we'll just have to make the most of our little time together this week," Tsubasa said.
She gave Honoka a kiss lasting a long time, only pausing when they needed some air. Tsbuasa decided she would do something to help Honoka feel better as thanks for the massage. Though she couldn't give a massage herself, there were other ways. She asked Honoka if it was okay before she began. They both had an enjoyable time before Honoka had to leave.
Just as they expected, Honoka and Tsubasa ended up spending less time than they wanted together with the way everything was working out. They only got to see each other for an hour or two each day for the rest of the week.
The next round of Love Live was at the end of the week. An incredible performance saw Muse through to the final round of the regional round. This put them up against A-Rise for a spot in the final event. For now, though, Muse enjoyed some much needed and well deserved rest the following day. Most of them got together and spent the day together relaxing at Nozomi's apartment.
The only exception was Honoka, who spent the day resting at home so she could meet with Tsubasa later that night. They decided on going out somewhere for dinner, as neither home would be private enough. It was also a good excuse to go on a little date, and with the little time they had together this week, they were more than willing to work with that.
They picked a new restaurant that had recently opened in town. Tsubasa had gotten the recommendation from one of her classmates. It was a nice restaurant, so the two of them wore dresses. Tsubasa's was purple, with a purple choker collar and gloves with intricate designs in black. Honoka's was cream with bows on the two shoulder straps.
When they first walked in, they were somewhat surprised that it wasn't full. They found out that tonight was reservations only. Luckily for them, Tsubasa's friend had handled that for them beforehand. With their entry cleared up, they were led to a small booth for two. It took a few minutes for them to look over the menu and decide on something.
"You should really thank your friend for this," Honoka said after their orders were taken care of.
"Definitely." Tsubasa looked around. "This is quite a fancy place."
"Yeah... I feel a bit out of place, really."
"Me too. But at least we dressed appropriately. It helps a lot."
"Speaking of which, you have a great taste in dresses."
"Why do you say that?" Tsubasa hoped the blush on her face wasn't apparent.
"Because, this extra dress you had is amazing. I really like it." Honoka looked at her dress again, appreciating it more.
"You look amazing in it as well." Her face was pretty red now.
"T-thanks." So was Honoka's. "It's funny. This dress fits me perfectly. Almost like you had it picked out specially for me."
"Y-yeah. What a coincidence..."
"Tsubasa? Did you get this just for me?"
"O-of course not." She looked away.
Honoka raised an eyebrow. "Well?"
"... It might be possible that I've had this dress for a while, and have been waiting for a reason for you to wear it..."
Honoka smiled. "You're incredibly sweet, you know that?"
"I-I'll only believe that since you're the one saying it."
Shortly after, their food came. They ended up not talking much while they ate. Their food was even better than they were expecting. They couldn't stop for long enough to really say anything. It didn't take them too long to finish. Wanting a little more, they ended up ordering desert as well.
"Honoka..." Tsubasa said. "There's something we really should talk about."
"Is it about Muse and A-Rise going against each other to get to the finals?" Honoka asked.
"Yeah..."
Honoka sighed, knowing they'd have to discuss this eventually. "What do you think we should do?"
"Well... It would probably be best if we didn't see much of each other until after the next round is over."
"You... might be right... We haven't gotten to spend much time together lately."
"I know... But it's probably what everyone else would want."
"Yeah..."
"But, I think this time, we should be a bit selfish, and not do what the others would want."
"Wait, you mean..."
Tsubasa smiled. "I'm thinking of staying over for a few days at your place. What do you say?"
"I would've made it happen even if you didn't ask," Honoka answered, smiling back.
"Great. Shall we go, then?"
Honoka agreed, not wanting to waste any more time than was necessary. They paid and left the restaurant, heading to Tsubasa's house first. She had already prepared what she needed earlier, and had gotten permission from her parents as well. After quickly grabbing her things, they hurried to Honoka's house. They went straight for her room and, while still in their dresses, started making up for lost time.
Hey guys, nobodD here!
I'm so terribly sorry . I have no excuse for this being so late. I hope the chapter was still okay to read, though. Let me know your thoughts. We're slowly approaching the end, but I won't give an amount of chapters till the end.
If you haven't seen from my other story, my next semester of college started today. I know this means I'll most likely be slower with my stories, but I hope people will still stick around. I made sure to get this done now while it's the first week and not much was assigned yet.
I hope to see you around~