So, I made a mistake in writing the last chapter. The light blue haired girl is the owner's granddaughter. The person that Anju and Honoka talked to in the last chapter is the girl's father, but the owner's son. A few details slipped my mind so I referred to them incorrectly T.T Sorry about that! It shall be fixed from now on.

Major Mike Powell III: They are from Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka. The names will come along in the chapter :3

PyoKuuPyon: Yes, yes they are ^.^

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!

Muse has made their way into town as quickly as possible. Instead of dividing the way they did the last time, they decided to keep the couples together this time around. Eli assigned each pair an area to look around, and set a time for them to meet back. Nozomi tried one last time to reason with the others, but it was a lost cause. With everything set, they all separated.

"I don't get what you're so upset about," Eli said, eyes scanning the streets.

"You're all overreacting," Nozomi answered. "Especially you, Eli-chi."

"Nozomi, the next Love Live round is soon. We can't get distracted now. Yet, Honoka left without an explanation."

"Eli-chi, the next round is a little over a month away." She stopped walking, prompting Eli to do the same. "Look, even though she left all of a sudden, I still trust Honoka. She probably has a good enough explanation for all this. But you and the others are not in the right mood to see her right now."

"But we need to practice. We were close to not making it, remember? We have to a whole lot better if we want to beat A-Rise. Don't you want to save the school?"

What's with everyone today? This is getting nowhere... Nozomi sighed. She was going to say something, but caught sight of something a little strange behind Eli. Eh? Was that shop there before?

"Nozomi, are you listening? Come on, we have to start looking."

Nozomi simply nodded and the two started walking. It was fairly quiet between them except for when Eli would suggest something related to their search. Nozomi was only paying enough attention to keep pace with Eli, but otherwise was lost in her own thoughts.

I hope no one else looks in that shop. It's probably best that I look myself.

Chino, the owner's granddaughter, had gone through all the basics the moment Anju and Honoka had arrived. The only thing left was for them to learn how to prepare all the different types of drinks. Chino was currently going over them with Anju. Meanwhile, Honoka was with Rize, the older girl with purple hair. She had something like a needle in hand, and had been playing with it in the latte for a little while now. On the surface of the latte, was the image of a rabbit.

"And... done."

"Ah, Rize-san, that's so cool!" Honoka exclaimed.

"Thanks. It's latte art. Would you like to try?"

"I want to, but I can't even draw nicely."

"That's okay. Just try something. How about Muse?"

"Well, alright."

Rize handed Honoka the needle, and Honoka started trying to write Muse in the foam. She realized it was a little trickier than she thought. She was admittedly a little nervous, and it showed by how uneasy and how quickly she moved her hands. Because of this she couldn't write Muse out properly. Rize got another latte and encouraged Honoka to try again. She got it on her second try.

"There you go. See, you did it," Rize said.

"Yeah! Thanks for the help, by the way."

"Ah, that's cute," Cocoa, the strawberry blond, said as she walked to them on the other side of the counter.

"They're ready," Rize informed.

Cocoa put the two mugs on her tray and brought them over to the two customers. Honoka watched as she brought them over, seeing the smiles on their faces as they looked in their mugs. Honoka felt a bit of satisfaction before looking around.

"Say, Rize-san. Is it usually like this? With not a lot of people?"

"Not always. It tends to be busier, especially a little later during the day. And it gets busier around certain holidays as well."

"I see."

"You'll have plenty to do, soon enough. I wouldn't worry if I were you."

"Hehe, okay!"

Just then, Anju walked around and sat in the chair on the opposite side of the counter from Honoka and Rize. She laid her arms out and rested her head on the counter.

"A-are you okay, Anju?" Honoka asked.

"Yeah..." came her slow reply. "Just... a lot... to remember."

"I-I see..." Just then, Honoka felt a tap on her arm.

"Honoka-san, it's your turn," Chino said.

"Okay."

"Honoka-chan," Cocoa called before they turned.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Do you happen to do autographs?"

Honoka just looked blankly back at Cocoa. Cocoa pointed to the table she came from. Honoka looked over, finally noticing that they were students. One from UTX, and another from Otonokizaka.

"How did I not notice that before?" Honoka asked herself.

Chino sighed beside her. "Go ahead, just be quick, please."

Honoka nodded her understanding and went over to the table. As she got closer she realized that these were two first-years. She asked them if they could keep quiet about this, to which they agreed so Honoka would sign something for them.

Nozomi stood outside of the shop she had caught sight of earlier. She managed to separate herself from Eli, saying she needed to find a bathroom. Normally, Eli saying she'll continue searching would bug Nozomi, just a bit. But it works in both their favors this time, as Nozomi wanted to sneak away from the rest of Muse. Making a note to hold it over Eli later, she walked into the shop.

She quickly realized as she walked in that it was a coffee shop. She saw that that it was far from busy, and thought she'll have an easier time finding who she was looking for. And it didn't take long to find out that her suspicion was correct.

"Welcome to The Rabbit House," Honoka said before she caught full view of Nozomi. "Eh? Nozomi-chan?"

"Hello, Honoka," Nozomio said, smiling.

"I... Uh... This isn't-"

"Honoka? Did you already forget what to do?" Anju joked as she walked over. Then she noticed Nozomi. "Ah- You're-"

"I know who I am, thank you," Nozomi interrupted. She looked at Honoka. "Can I have a table in the back and hard to see from the window? I want to talk to you."

Honoka only nodded, and showed Nozomi to a suitable table to her request. After she went to ask Chino if it was okay, which Chino didn't mind only because business was slow today. Honoka apologized a few times before she returned and sat down with Nozomi.

"Look, Nozomi-chan, I can explain! I was just-" Honoka began in a hurry.

Nozomi cut her off. "Honoka, stop. I'm not mad at you or anything."

"...Eh?" Honoka was almost too surprised to be relieved.

"The others are here trying to find you. But I'm not mad at you. So please, just relax."

"Nozomi-chan..." Honoka wiped away a stray tear. "Thank you."

"Now, explain to me what you've been up to."

"Well... um... I've taken a part time job here... eheh."

"Yes I can see that. Honoka, relax, you can trust me."

"Sorry. Well, I took a part time job because I want to do something nice for Tsubasa-chan."

"Something nice for Tsubasa-chan, huh?" Nozomi stressed the chan part enough for Honoka to blush.

"Y-yeah. She helped me out so much, and she's always doing nice things for me and spoiling me. So, I wanted to do something in return, to show her I appreciate it and care for her. Anju then had this idea, since she wants to do nice things for Erena, too. So, starting today, we'll be working here."

"I see... As sweet as that is, it wouldn't have gotten through ones like Eli-chi or Umi with how far into Love Live we are. I can understand why you didn't say anything."

Honoka nodded. "Well, also because we want to surprise Tsubasa-chan and Erena. So we've been keeping this a secret from everybody."

"Makes sense... But, you realize it'll be hard on both of you when Muse and A-Rise start really training hard."

"I know. It's only temporary until Love Live is over. After that, we'll more officially be working here."

"I see. Well then, I'm glad that you've thought and planned ahead, somewhat. And don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

"Thanks, Nozomi-chan."

Nozomi smiled. "Now then, about my order..."

Nozomi made sure it was clear for her to leave the coffee shop later. Almost as she did, she got a text message from Eli, reminding her to meet back with everyone.

"So, anything?" Eli asked the group.

"Nope, nothing," Umi said, a bit annoyed and disappointed.

"We couldn't find her or any clues," Maki reported.

"Same thing, nya," Rin said.

Nico sighed. "Well, looks like we wasted the day."

"Well, it didn't matter in the end," Kotori said. "We can't practice properly without Honoka anyway."

"Yeah... By the way..." Eli looked at Nozomi. "What were you doing the rest of the time."

"Ah, well I thought I saw Honoka, but it turns out it wasn't her at all. Then I got a little distracted in a hobby shop.," Eli said

"I see..." Nozomi could tell Eli was disappointed.

"How about we all go home," Nozomi suggested. "If we stick around any longer, we might all just start getting upset."

"Maybe Nozomi-chan is right," Hanayo said.

"Alright..." Eli sighed. "We'll call it a day for now then."

Nozomi hugged Eli. "It's okay. We tried, right?"

The eight of them left town. The others were having a conversation, but Nozomi was unusually quiet again. She was lost again in her thoughts, plagued by a single line of thought.

I'm so sorry, Eli-chi. I don't want to lie to you, but it's probably better this way.

Hey guys, nobodD here!

So in the end, I decided to just use their names. I was going to wait a bit to see what people's opinions were... but no one said anything *shrugs*. I'm not creative enough anyway so I probably couldn't have come up with names xP

Nozomi is so nice... (in my writings anyway). hehe.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter still. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts in the reviews. I'll also answer questions if you have any.

Eli: Hey, can you try to keep it down. The others are sleeping already.

Ah, sorry about that. *Quieter* Anyways, it's lucky for me that it was only the first week of the semester last week. Had some ideas and managed to get these last chapters for you all.

Eli: But you'll be responsible about your assignments this semester and not prioritize FanFics, right?

Hai... mostly.

Eli: I heard that.

Well before something happens, I'll see you all next time!~ *runs*