*Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!
The walk for Tsubasa had seemed very normal. It was a peaceful night. Honoka hugged her arm the usual way she did when they were alone like this. Tsubasa was recalling her day for Honoka. She went over what they covered in class, though she knew Honoka wasn't very interested in that. She also mentioned A-Rise was starting to prepare for Love Live. Honoka listened and responded in her usual happy tone.
However, Tsubasa was in for a surprise when they reached her house. Once they were in her room, Honoka immediately ran into Tsubasa's arms. Honoka broke down, burying her face into Tsubasa's chest and crying. It took Tsubasa a while to calm Honoka down enough, but finally she did and Honoka explained what had happened earlier.
"I see..." Tsubasa said, wiping another tear from Honoka's cheek.
Honoka nodded. "I said such horrible things to everyone... What kind of friend am I?"
"Hey..." Tsubasa pulled Honoka close. "Overreacting doesn't make you a bad friend or anything."
"But... I made Eli-chan cry..."
"Look. If you didn't say anything at all, then things might end up like the practice issue before. And that would've been worse for all of you, right?"
"Well... I guess so..."
"See? So don't worry so much. Just try and apologize to them tomorrow. That's all you can do for now."
"I guess you're right... Thanks, Tsubasa-chan."
"Of course. Do you feel better now?"
"Yup! A lot better now."
Honoka had been sitting on Tsubasa's lap, but got up now so she could hug Tsubasa and give her a kiss, which lasted a while. Tsubasa slipped in just enough air before Honoka pressed in for another kiss. After a few more kisses, Honoka had Tsubasa pinned on her bed, and Tsubasa felt Honoka's hand leave hers in favor of another place on her body.
Despite all her efforts, Honoka was far from calm the following morning. She would follow Tsubasa's advice and try to apologize to the other Muse. But most importantly, she needed to apologize to Eli first. She wasn't sure if Eli would even give her another chance, which is why she was so troubled right now.
Honoka wasn't aware of much of her surroundings as she made her usual morning walk to school. It was only until she made it into her classroom and the bell rang that she realized she had almost been late. She noted that Umi and Kotori had taken notice of her as she walked in, but made no effort in approaching her. Whether it's because class was about to start or they were planning on avoiding her, Honoka couldn't know for sure. Maybe her leisurely pace this morning actually worked to her advantage.
Classes went like normal, for the most part. Honoka's focus had generally been better since dating Tsubasa, as Honoka actually listened to her when she said she didn't want Honoka slacking off anymore. Though right now was more of a reflection of her old self. She had no interest in what lesson was being taught right now. She couldn't even tell you which subject they were in right now. However, a very rare visitor made an appearance, which caught the whole class by surprise.
"Ah, Toujou-san," the teacher said, causing Honoka to look up.
"Good morning," Nozomi said. "Sorry to interrupt, but do you think I could see Kousaka-san? The Student Council President would like her for something."
"Ah, of course. That's fine."
Honoka's heart probably skipped a beat or two upon hearing Nozomi's words. She felt the gaze of everyone in the room on her. If she was worried before, she was close to having a panic attack now. She kept her composure though, nodding to Nozomi and getting out of her seat to leave the room.
"Relax, Honoka," Nozomi said softly as they walked through the quiet halls. "Nothing bad will happen to you, I promise."
Nozomi quickly saw that her words were having no effect on the ginger. Honoka's eyes remained glued to the floor in front of her, and she remained completely silent. Nozomi sighed. She wasn't even sure if there were truth behind her words, as Eli wasn't very easy to talk to yesterday either. It was the first time that she could remember that she wasn't able to easily read the blond. But she had hoped saying those things would encourage Honoka, or at least relax her a bit.
The rest of the walk was silent between them. They reached the Student Council Room, and Nozomi gestured for Honoka to stop, and finally Honoka took her eyes off the floor to look at her senior. Nozomi put a finger to her lips, signaling that she wanted Honoka to stay quiet. Once Honoka nodded her understanding, Nozomi knocked three times on the door, then waited. Come in, they heard from the other side. Nozomi held out her left arm to keep Honoka from moving, opening the door with her right.
"Ah, Nozomi," came Eli's voice.
"Hi there, Eli-chi," Nozomi greeted in her usual manner.
"So what was the reason for excusing us from class? Don't tell me you want to do those things here at school."
"Ah, none of that," Nozomi said. The arm she had used to keep Honoka from moving now grabbed the ginger and gently nudged her into the room.
"E-eh?!" Eli said, completely shocked upon seeing Honoka.
"Sorry, but if Muse is going to pull through for Love Live, all nine of us need to be working together. And that means you two have some things that you need to work out. Neither of you are leaving this room until you two came make up and finally reach an understanding."
Nozomi went back out the room and shut the door before the other two had time to recollect themselves. Because the room was silent, they noticed there weren't any footsteps leaving, meaning Nozomi was still there, guarding the door.
No escaping, Honoka thought dully.
Slowly, nervously, Honoka turned back to face Eli. As she gazed upon the Student Council President, she got to see the full effects of her previous actions. Eli couldn't look Honoka in the eye. There was no trace of the usual composure or confidence in her expression. Eli also looked like she barely got out of bed this morning. For all Honoka has been worrying this morning, it looked to be a lot worse on Eli.
"Eli-chan?"
"H-huh?" Eli's voice shook. "W-what is it?"
Honoka took a deep breath. "Look... I... I'm sorry for what I said to you yesterday. It's just... that some of the things you were saying weren't true. I know it's because I've been keeping secrets, but it still hurt for you to say some of those things when you didn't know. And... I ended up losing my temper. I overreacted, and said horrible things I shouldn't have said... I'm sorry, Eli-chan. I'm sorry for what I did."
Eli didn't respond right away. There was quite a long silence that followed, and it started to make the ginger nervous again. Eli seemed to be considering a lot of things.
"I... I appreciate the apology... But after yesterday... I can't just easily forgive you," Eli finally said.
"Oh... Alright... I understand..."
"That's not to say I won't forgive you. It's just... I think you need to prove yourself to me this time."
"What do you mean?"
"Well first off... Why did you run off the other day? What are you hiding? I want to know."
Honoka sighed. "I'll tell you. But please, you need to keep it a secret, at least for now."
"It depends what it is."
"I got a part-time job, and my first day was the other day."
"You wha-" Eli was about to yell in surprise.
"Shh!"
"Why would you get a job when we're in the middle of Love Live?"
"I thought we would have a bit of a break until we started really practicing again. They were going to let me miss a few weeks when we started practicing seriously, so I thought it would be okay."
"Okay, but why do you even want a part-time job?"
"I want to be able to do something nice for Tsubasa-chan. And I don't want her to find out until then."
"So you didn't tell any of us to keep it a secret as possible?"
Honoka only nodded. Eli seemed to be heavily thinking about something again. The extended pause made Honoka start to think that Eli is probably not happy with her reasons. After a little longer, Eli took in a deep breath.
"Alright then..." she said. "I understand."
"You understand... what?" Honoka asked.
"What it is you've been doing, and why you've acted a little differently lately. You don't have to worry, I won't tell the others about your secret. And, now I forgive you, Honoka." And then Eli finally smiled.
Honoka fell to her knees, a huge wave of relief over her. "Mou... don't do that Eli-chan. You were scaring me there for a bit." Honoka managed a smile as well. "But, thank you."
Eli crossed her arms. "Don't thank me just yet."
"...Huh?"
"I forgive you for keeping a secret. But I still need you to prove yourself to me that something like this won't happen again."
"...And how do I do that?" Honoka had a really bad feeling about the answer.
"Well, Nozomi already has something worked out."
"Nozomi-chan?" As Honoka said her name, Nozomi finally opened the door and came back in. She turned around to her spiritual senior. "Wait, so you did tell her?"
"Tell her what?" Nozomi asked, smiling.
"Nozomi wouldn't tell me anything," Eli said. "But she did say she had a plan to fix Muse."
Honoka's eyes fell to the floor. "So I was set up."
"Well you did keep a secret from me," Nozomi said playfully. "But never mind that, let's get back to your apology. You know that we'll need successors once we graduate, right?"
"Become the Student Council President next year?" Tsubasa repeated, completely surprised.
Honoka barely managed a nod. "Nozomi said I need to show I can be trustworthy to the two of them again. If I can handle the responsibility, they'll be convinced."
"I see... Have you had to help them the entire week after practice?"
"Y-yeah, after practice."
"I guess that explains why you came in and collapsed onto the bed."
Eli and Nozomi kept true to their word, not telling any of the others about Honoka's extra activities. But in exchange, every day after her time at The Rabbit House, the two of them would come to Honoka's house. They brought a set of work that Honoka had to finish before they left that day. As a result, she couldn't see anyone, not even the other Muse, during that time period. This was the first time Honoka and Tsubasa got to be together in two weeks.
"Practice is only going to get harder on Monday, too..." Though she actually meant that they were going to start practicing again.
"Aww, it'll be okay. I know you'll be able to handle it just fine."
"Thanks... That's nice to hear." They shared a kiss. "Hey, are you doing anything tomorrow?"
"I don't think so. Why?"
"Let's do something together. A-Rise is probably going to be practicing really hard soon too, right?"
Tsubasa nodded. "Guess it'll be our last chance to spend together until after this round, huh?"
"Yeah... So what do you say?"
"Of course, I'd love to."
"Great! Come by my house at noon tomorrow."
"Alright, now..." Tsubasa crawled over to where Honoka was laying. "Can we please do something now?"
"Now? But I'm still tired."
"After what you did last time we were together, you don't expect me to wait do you?"
Honoka smiled. "Well, as long as you're leading this time."
Tsubasa smiled back. "Leave it to me."
Hey guys, nobodD here!
So I was a bit wrong about my weekly workload, haha. But I managed to finish this chapter for you all in the end. Sorry about the delay, but I do what I can.
Honoka: What's with all the referencing?
I'm trying to keep it rated T. Like you need any details anyway.
Honoka: Hey!
I'm kidding!
Honoka: *Sighs.* Anyway... So the surprise is finally coming next chapter?
Yep. We got that, then we have to wrap up this whole Love Live thing, and then...
Honoka: And then... what?
... Nothing.
Honoka: What are you planning?
It wasn't my idea I swear.
Honoka: What in the world are you talking about?
Yukiho: Here, you might want to read this.
Where did you get those papers?
Yukiho: You left them on the table.
Honoka: Eh? Chapter notes? *starts reading*
Uh... *Hurriedly* Well I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Let me know what you think and I'll see you next time! *runs*
Honoka: What is this?! Why you-! *chases*