I owe you all an apology. But please read until the end.

*Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!

"Umi! Kotori!"

The two second-years turned around.

"Nozomi-chan! Eli-chan!" Kotori called back, waving as they waited for their seniors to catch up.

"Did you two get a lot of rest this weekend?" Eli asked.

"Yes, mostly," Umi answered. "We just stayed at my house most of the time."

"It's relaxing at Umi-chan's house," Kotori added. "Except when she becomes all serious. We had to do all our assignments the morning after Love Live."

"You're the one who suggested we worked together for school work," Umi said defensively.

"Well, yeah, but that's because you were so shy back then. I couldn't get you alone to myself and give you kisses."

Umi rolled her eyes, but turned to give Kotori a kiss. Both Nozomi and Eli laughed.

"Looks like that isn't a problem anymore," Nozomi said playfully.

"Nope!" Kotori said cheerfully while hugging Umi tightly.

"By the way, you two remember about today, right?" Eli asked.

Umi nodded. "After our meeting for Muse, we'll follow you two to the Student Council Room."

"I still can't believe that you managed to get Honoka-chan to become your successor," Kotori said. "How did you do that?"

"There's a condition to it," Nozomi answered. "But we'll let Honoka too everyone herself later today."

Eli nodded. "But for now, class is about to start. So we'll see you both later."

The four ended up inside the building. They said their goodbyes before splitting up and heading toward their classrooms.

Muse got together in the clubroom after school. Kotori and Umi were the last to arrive.

"Sorry we're late," Kotori said as they walked in.

"It's fine," Nozomi said. "It's only been a few minutes."

"Say, where's Honoka-chan?" Rin asked.

"We're not sure," Umi answered. "She didn't come to class today."

"She didn't huh?" Eli said.

"Relax," Nozomi said, placing a hand on Eli's shoulder. "I'm sure she isn't skipping school or anything. There's probably a reason she's out."

"Yeah... I guess you're probably right."

"Speaking of that," Maki said, "you two still haven't explained what happened with Honoka."

"Yeah, and how you got her to agree to be the Student Council President," Nico added.

"It was sort of an agreement," Nozomi said. "But she should be the one to explain it herself."

"Though it looks like you all will have to wait a little longer before you get to hear about that," Eli said.

"Well, hopefully that's just until tomorrow," Hanayo said. "I've been really curious lately."

However, Honoka didn't she up to school for the next three days either. They didn't worry too much, because their official activities for Muse wouldn't begin again for a while. But they were starting to get suspicious. Even if she was upset about something, Honoka still would show up to class. They decided that something more serious was happening.

On the fourth day, Muse decided to stop by Honoka's house. She had not responded to any call or message they sent, yet they had some kind of feeling that she'd be there anyway. Muse met at the clubroom after school so they could leave together. They took their time walking to Honoka's house, and as they turned the corner, were quite surprised to see who was also making their way toward the house.

"What a surprise to see all of Muse here," Anju said as they met up in front of the shop.

"Surprise, or maybe coincidence," Nozomi said.

"Tsubasa hasn't been at school all week," Erena explained. "The only message we got from her was that she was going to visit Honoka. And that was on Sunday."

"It might be a coincidence after all," Eli said. "Honoka hasn't be to school all week either, but she hasn't messaged any of us."

"Well then, how about we get to the bottom of this?" Nozomi suggested, gesturing to the door.

No one disagreed, and they all made their way inside the shop. They came in to the startled figure of Honoka's mom.

"Oh my," she said. "What are you all doing here?"

"We came to see if Honoka-chan was here," Kotori explained. "She hasn't been at school all week."

"Oh... So none of you have heard?" Honoka's mom asked.

"...Heard what?" Umi asked, starting to worry.

They saw her expression sadden by a lot. "Yukiho-chan," she called.

Honoka's sister appeared from the back. "What is i-" she started to ask before she saw everyone. "Oh..."

"Can you take them to your sister's room?" she asked.

Yukiho sighed. "Fine. Follow me, and be quiet."

She didn't wait for any response and turned back around. The others exchanged confused looks as they followed Yukiho into the back where the bedrooms were. Yukiho stopped in front of Honoka's room, taking a long pause in front. She let out a long sigh before knocking on the door.

"The others are here," was all Yukiho said.

There was a pause before any reply came. "Alright, you can let them in," came a sad sounding voice from inside.

Yukiho had her back turned to the others during this. She only cracked the door open before she turned back around. She rushed back the other way as quickly as possible. Though, everyone noticed in time that she had tears streaming down her face. Almost nervously, Kotori opened the door wider and led the group into the room.

Honoka didn't have the biggest room to begin with. On any other day, the twelve of them could have probably all fit inside somewhat comfortably. But today was different. The room was a complete mess, and just walking inside required careful effort. Everything from clothes, to books, to bags, were scattered around the floor. Even for Honoka, this would have already been a concerning sign.

However, the more concerning scene was the bed. They saw Honoka laying in her bed, bandages around her head and the upper part of her right arm. Most of her body was under the blanket. But fortunately, or unfortunately, it wasn't covering one of her legs, which was wrapped up as well. Sitting on the bed next to her, holding Honoka's hand with both of her own, was Tsubasa. Her hair was a mess, and her clothes were wrinkled in many places. Her eyes shown traces of weariness, as well as newly made tears.

"What... what happened?" Umi asked. The others were too shocked to speak.

"She saved me," Tsubasa said, not taking her eyes of Honoka. "She pushed me out of the way of a truck. But she... wasn't so lucky."

"Is... is she..."

Tsubasa shook her head. "She's alive. It's a miracle her injuries weren't worse. She was only in the hospital for a few days, just to be safe."

"I... I see..."

Honoka started to stir uncomfortably, which instantly snapped Tsubasa's attention back on her. After she was quiet again, Tsubasa relaxed very slightly.

"Do you all mind waiting in the other room for a bit?" Tsubasa asked. "I need to take care of something privately."

They agreed, and left the room to walk down the hall. They waited for nearly twenty minutes before Tsubasa had come out and told them it was alright for them to come back in. Once they returned, the room had been somewhat cleaned up. Most of the stuff on the floor were put away, except for some of the clothes which were piled on the table. They also noticed that Honoka was wearing different clothes before Tsubasa had put the blankets back over her.

"How long have you been doing this?" Maki asked once they were all settled in the room again.

"I've been with her almost the entire time since the accident," Tsubasa answered. "The only times I couldn't was when the doctors weren't letting anyone stay in her hospital room. And sometimes when I make her food when her family is out."

"That explains why neither of you have been in school..." Eli said.

"How is she?" Hanayo asked. "Is she going to recover?"

Tsubasa nodded. "Her injuries were far from fatale, lucky as that is. As long as she rests for the appropriate amount of time, she should be close to normal in a few weeks. The braces are just to ensure nothing possibly injures her more."

"That's incredible that she wasn't hurt as badly as she could've been," Nico said.

The whole room was silent for a few minutes after that. Everyone either watched Honoka as she lay there, or they couldn't bring themselves to look and stared somewhere else. The only exception was Anju, who had her attention on someone else.

"Tsubasa..."

Anju's word caused the others to look at the girl. Tsubasa had tears running down her face again.

"H-hey," Erena said nervously. "Are you-"

"It's all my fault," Tsubasa said. "If I was actually paying attention, if I had been more careful, none of this wouldn't have happened. I wouldn't have been in danger, and Honoka-chan wouldn't have had to risk her life to save me."

At that, one of the girls got up and took a seat next to Tsubasa on the bed. It wasn't Erena or Anju, who the others thought would've been the first ones to comfort Tsubasa. Still, Eli placed a hand on Tsubasa's shoulder, and wore a soft smile.

"Hey, things happen," Eli said. "But the important thing is that you stayed by her side. You took care of her, even when you didn't have to."

"But... It's my fault this happened. I needed to take responsibility."

"That's not right," Nozomi said. "You can't keep blaming yourself for this. Do you think Honoka would be happy with the way you're talking right now?"

"Well... no... but-"

"But nothing. You should be happy that Honoka did this for you, and that she wasn't badly hurt either."

"She's right," Eli said. "Sure, it would've been nice if we were told a little earlier as well. But the point is, we're very thankful that you didn't leave Honoka alone. That you dropped everything to take care of Honoka yourself. You two really are perfect for each other."

"Eli..."

Tsubasa couldn't hold it in anymore. She buried her face into Eli's chest and really started to cry. Eli just smiled, closing her eyes as she embraced Tsubasa. Everything remained still for a few minutes, until Tsubasa had started to calm down again. Once she felt better, Eli let go of her and she sat up again.

"So... what's going to happen now?" Rin asked. "We still have the final round of Love Live."

"Honoka-chan should be recovered before then," Tsubasa said. "But, she's not going to be able to perform as hard as you usually do. She's going to have to take it easy."

"That's something we'll worry about more when the time comes," Eli said. "We have some time before we have to start preparing, anyway."

"What about you, Tsubasa?" Nozomi asked. "What are you going to do?"

"I'll stay with her so that she recovers as quickly as possible," Tsubasa said. "My parents will take care of my school situation."

"So, you'll be taking responsibility for her then?"

"I thought you were telling her not to blame herself?" Hanayo asked.

"I don't think that's what she meant by responsibility," Anju said, catching on.

"I... I plan to, eventually," Tsubasa answered Nozomi. "It's something I definitely want to do."

"Wait, what are you three talking about?" Maki asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about yet," Nozomi said, smiling to the read head. She looked back to Tsubasa. "I'm glad to hear your decision. Though, I think someone else is even more happy."

Tsubasa was about to ask Nozomi what she meant, but she felt something tug at her shirt. She turned around.

"Honoka-chan, you're awake," Tsubasa said, smiling. She took Honoka's hand in hers again.

Honoka managed a weak smile. "I'm awake."

"Look, everyone came to visit you."

Honoka took a slow look around her room. Everyone was smiling, glad to see that the ginger had woken up and was really okay. Everyone moved a little closer.

"Honoka-chan!" Kotori cried, throwing herself onto Honoka and hugging her.

"K-Kotori," Umi said. "Be careful!"

Honoka managed a soft laugh. "It's okay, Umi-chan. It only my legs that hurt much."

After Kotori hugged Honoka for long enough, she let go and took a spot on the bed. Rin was the other one that showed her happiness by hugging Honoka. After she was done, Tsubasa helped Honoka sit up, then took her spot next to Honoka while everyone else took spots on or around the bed.

"It's nice for you all to visit," Honoka said.

"Well, we were getting suspicious after you didn't show up to school all week," Umi said.

"Eheh... Sorry."

"Why didn't you message any of us?" Kotori asked.

"Well I only got cleared the other day. And I haven't felt that well until yesterday. I don't even know where my phone is."

"Now that you mention it..." Tsubasa said. "I think it's with the bag you brought for Love Live."

"You mean this one?" Nico asked, picking it up from the bedside.

Tsubasa nodded, and Nico handed her the bag. She fished through it for a couple seconds until she pulled out both hers and Honoka's phones. They turned them on and started looking around.

"W-wow..." Honoka said, shocked at the amount of missed calls and messages she had.

"W-we're sorry we worried you," Tsubasa said. Even though it was only Anju and Erena, the amount of missed calls she had was nearly the same as Honoka.

"It would've been nice if one of you remembered about your phones," Eli said.

"Well, everything was fine in the end. So no harm done," Nozomi said. "Anyway, I think we've overstayed our welcome. You probably need more rest."

Honoka shook her head. "I feel a lot better that you all are here. I don't mind if you stay a while longer."

"Eh? Are you sure?" Hanayo asked.

"I think it's fine," Tsubasa said.

Muse and A-Rise had stayed for a few hours to keep the recovering pair some company. Upon hearing and seeing their daughter and sister was doing better, Yukiho and their mom's moods drastically got better as well. The mom even offered to make dinner for everyone since they were staying a little longer. Whether it was coincidence that Honoka was feeling better when they showed up, or they actually had something to do with it, she didn't care. Her daughter was up and smiling again.

Everyone had left after dinner, though they said they'll try and visit again tomorrow. It was started to get late, so Tsubasa just changed her and Honoka into pajamas. She turned off the lights and climbed into bed. Honoka had to lay on her back, but she didn't mind as much with Tsubasa next to her.

"Seems like I won't have to worry about your getting better anymore," Tsubasa said.

"Eheh, I guess not."

"I guess that visit was really what you needed."

"I think it helped, but that's not the only thing."

"What do you mean?"

"Take responsibility, huh?"

Tsubasa was thankful the dark hid her blush. "Y-you heard that?"

"It was the first thing I heard when I woke up."

"I... I see."

"As long as you're fine spending the rest of your life with someone like me..."

Tsubasa got up so she could silence Honoka with her lips. Even though it was dark, they knew they were looking each other in the eyes.

"Are you kidding?" Tsubasa said. "You're one of the only ones I want to spend the rest of my life with."

"Ones? I like the sound of that."

Hi guys, it's me again.

Let me formally apologize, as well as explain a few things.

First, I've had this planned for a while now. Although it was only a suggestion before, it was something I thought could be a really good ending. After the first resolution, I knew I needed something else to help finish this story. I personally felt like this was slowly turning into a mindless fluff story, and I've been told so as well.

Still, it was a very, VERY sudden twist to the story. Seeing the reactions now, the move was very uncalled for. I can only hope I didn't shoot myself in the foot for this, but the damage has been done. You have my sincere apologies for not at least setting up a little better, and instead seemingly springing this on you out of nowhere. Take it as you will.

While the original request was a bit more dramatic, I couldn't bring myself to severely injure Honoka. Because trust me, it's as hard for me to write these scenes as it is for you to read them. Maybe even harder. But I did want to stick with the idea. In the end, that meant she somehow avoided very fatal injuries.

Otherwise, I hope and pray this chapter somewhat makes up for the sudden dramatic turn I made you all go through.

This is the main story's end. But there will be one last chapter for the epilogue. If you're still around after last chapter, I thank you. The amount of backlash I got really worries me though. I promise, no more drama.