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GAY.
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“Morning, Honoka.” Said Tsubasa, the leader of μ's rival band, A-RISE, on a phone call with Honoka.
“Tsubasa-san? Why are you calling this early in the day?”
“I just wanna talk. About something. Involving your group.”
“Ask right away! I’m always open to conversation!”
“Not right now. I want to meet you in the park.”
“Park? Oh! That park?”
“Yes.”
“Alrighty, then. Good thing today is a Sunday.”
Honoka was right. That day was a Sunday. She headed out from her house and into the streets. She headed to the park in the city, and saw Tsubasa on the bench. She sat down, and started the conversation, unaware that this meeting, not the conversation in particular, would delve so much deeper than expected.
“I want to ask you a question.” Started Tsubasa.
“Yes?” Honoka responded.
“Your sound… your performance… your lyrics.. How is it all so soulful?”
“...What do you mean?”
“How do you show your feelings to the audience so well? We haven’t been able to figure that out.”
“Well, I think it has a lot to do with our bonds, see…”
Honoka continued explaining to Tsubasa, but then… one person noticed.
It was Maki.
“Gotta say, this stroll feels nice- Wait.”
She noticed them. Honoka and Tsubasa. Sitting together. Talking. Smiling.
To Maki, this could only mean one thing.
No, no, this could mean many things.
All of which will ruin Honoka’s reputation within μ's.
Maki wasn’t really a girl of drama, so she didn’t care about spying on them to expose them. She only spied on them from a tree branch because she was interested.
“Honoka… What is she doing?”
“Oh, Maki-chan!” Someone else noticed. Who else but Nozomi Tojo.
“Uh- Nozomi!” She looked away and to Nozomi, then turned red.
“I know what’s going on. You can’t hide it from me.”
She forced Maki off the tree branch and decided to take a look for herself, where Maki got up on her back to also take a look.
“You’re not really that heavy, are you?”
“Shut up! Move an inch and I will fall off!”
“Like this?”
She shook herself for a few seconds.
“STOP! I’m getting all dizzy from it.”
“Anyways… They must be in love, right?”
“From what I have to guess, I think Honoka’s going to betray us and join A-RISE.”
“Why would she? She loves Otonokizaka more than anyone. But if they keep going… it’ll be disastrous for the two of them.”
“Yeah. So let’s shut our mouths and not get involved.”
“I like your idea. But my cards’ll have to decide on that.”
“...Okay…”
They didn’t realize someone was also spying on them from a further tree branch.
“FWAUWAUWAUWAUWAUWAUWAUWAU- AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” Nico yelled, peeking at them.
“Nico-chan! Didn’t expect to see you here, nya!” Rin noticed Nico and walked up.
“Uh…. hey.”
“What’s going on?”
“Look at this.”
Nico pointed to Maki peeking while on top of Nozomi.
“How can Maki be so insolent… Doesn’t she know-”
“They must be in love, nya!”
“NO! DON’T SAY THAT!”
“Why?”
“I don’t wanna imagine!”
“...Is it because you like Maki-chan?-”
“NO!”
“Oh, oh, I see! You like Nozomi-chan then!-”
“NO!!!!!!!”
“Aw, nya… And here I thought something interesting was going on. But I guess Maki and Nozomi being together is quite interesting in and of itself, nya.”
“Don’t they know relationships are scandalous in idol life?”
“Y-yes… I heard of that!” One shy Hanayo Koizumi said.
“Hanayo?”
“Kayo-chin?”
“If Nozomi-chan and Maki-chan are in love… That’s horrible! We must tell Honoka-chan! I’ll look for her!”
She ran quickly from the other side so as to not get noticed by Nozomi and Maki, and then saw Honoka on the bench with Tsubasa…
“H-Honoka is… WITH TSUBASA?!”
She ran back to Nico and Rin in full speed.
“It’s an emergency, emergency!”
“Emergency?” Nico responded.
“HONOKA’S IN LOVE WITH TSUBASA!”
“WHAT?!” Nico & Rin both said.
“I SAW THEM ON THE BENCH TOGETHER!”
“To think that even Honoka is on this…” Nico responded.
“Wait. This means Nozomi-chan and Maki-chan are only curious about it like us, nya.”
“NO!” Hanayo and Nico yelled.
“Why did Maki get on top of Nozomi? That would make no sense!”
“Well… that’s…”
“I know you like climbing on people, but we’re talking about Maki! Maki! That Maki!”
“...You’re right… It’s all a lost cause.”
Behind them, another two were peeking.
“Do you know what’s going on?” Eli said.
“No idea.” Umi responded.
“Ugh. And I tell them to practice on the off day.”
“To be fair… we’re kinda not practicing ourselves.”
“Well, don’t you have kyudo?”
“Fair… wait, doesn’t this mean you’re the one slacking off?”
“I do practice. This is just on my off time.”
“Hello everybody!” Kotori waved, in a maid outfit.
“Kotori-chan!” Umi happily welcomed her.
“Minalinsky- I mean Kotori-chan!”
“What are you guys doing?” Kotori asked.
“Check this out.” Umi responded, pointing at three girls from their groups peeking at something.
“Oh, that’s strange. Think we should talk to them about it?” Kotori suggested.
“I think it’d be best if we let them figure it out.” Eli responded.
“I’m going!”
“Please don’t.”
“I heard Honoka-chan is here too! I need to see her!”
Kotori ran off.
“Honoka?” Eli said.
Kotori was seen by the group with Nico, Rin and Hanayo.
“Kotori?” Nico noticed.
Then by the group with Nozomi and Maki.
“Kotori?” Nozomi noticed, moving slightly as to cause Maki to fall off.
“OW!”
“Oops, sorry.”
And to Honoka and Tsubasa…
“I guess I still don’t get how you guys function. Maybe we are destined to be overshadowed by you. If that’s the case, we’ll continue supporting you as we always do, so goodbye!” Tsubasa waved and left.
“Honoka-chan!”
“Kotori-chan! Good timing!”
“Do you like this outfit? Will it be cute? You know… for our next performance?” Kotori showed her an outfit she made the other day.
“Yeah! It’ll be cute! Wait… where are we performing?”
“Just a video! I want to do a video!”
“But we have to practice for the Love Live finals…”
“How about after it ends?”
“Huh? Didn’t we agree on disbanding after that?”
“Just one more!”
“Alright, alright. But I already had a song planned for that-”
“Let’s do both!”
“Kotori-chan… Yes!”
Honoka then looked and noticed Maki and Nozomi spectating.
“Maki-chan? Nozomi-chan?”
“You found us out.” Maki said.
“It’s time to read our fortune to determine what went between you and Tsubasa.”
“Huh? Me and Tsubasa? What are you talking about?”
“The conversation looked quite… intimate.”
“Intimate?”
“Nozomi, Maki… EXPLAIN YOURSELF!” Nico finally jumped out, and pointed to the two girls.
“Huh? What are you talking about?” Maki responded.
“You can’t hide it from us! And… Honoka!”
“What?”
“Do you know that you three will make us disband before the finals?!”
“How so?” Honoka responded.
“...Hmph. I’m not arguing with someone who still doesn’t get it.”
“What’s going on?” Eli said.
“Ericchi! Seems that Honoka is in some sort of relationship with Tsubasa.”
“Huh? Really? Is that true, Honoka?”
“What are you guys talking about? I don’t understand. Is being a friend with another idol leader taboo or something?”
“No, it’s just… well…”
“Can you all just shut up?” Umi said.
“Eheheh… You heard her.” Honoka pointed to Umi.
“We haven’t heard her.” Nico responded, looking confident.
“Oh, you definitely heard me…” Umi crawled to Nico’s back
“EEK!”
“I think we should meet in the clubroom to understand what happened.” Eli said.
“Without our uniforms?” Honoka responded.
“We can do it tomorrow.”
“Alright! Does everyone agree?”
Everyone reluctantly shook their heads.
They were all blushing.
They went back. Monday couldn’t come any sooner. Each and every one of them was coming, completely red on their face. They knew what was about to happen. The students couldn’t help but comment.
“Hey, did you notice that μ's has been acting weird as of late?”
“Yeah, yeah. Something fishy’s going on… I don’t think we should get involved.”
“What if they all love one single boy and are fighting over him? It’s a boy’s perfect harem!”
“What if they’re in love with each other?”
“...Woah… That’s dangerous.”
“Homophobic much?”
“I’m not saying I condemn the idea… It’s just with them specifically… it’s dangerous.”
No one knows who these girls are. And no one from μ's really heard the gossip, since it was pretty well hidden. And after school was done, they all crawled inside the club room and closed it.
“Everyone.” Umi said.
“Yes!” Everyone in the group responded.
“We should settle this once and for all, regarding the internal relationships within the group and how we deal with them. We cannot stay like this forever, or else we’ll lose the finals.”
“I know! But it’s too embarrassing!” Hanayo responded.
“...Don’t make me embarrassed. Ugh.”
“Sorry!”
“I-It’s okay… um… Honoka?”
“Yes, Umi-chan?”
“Can you… come up?”
“Uh… Can I… can I not?” Honoka responded, sweating.
“You’re less red than I am…”
“I guess… Fine, I’ll get up.”
Honoka moved towards the whiteboard, and looked at the paper Umi gave to her.
“As the leader, it’s up to me to settle the issue of internal relationships in μ's once and for all. So, let’s begin… First off-”
“I have a question!” Nozomi raised her hand.
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Can you drop the whole teacher thing? It’s pretty irritating.” Maki responded.
“Aw, but Maki-chan! I-”
“No one’s stopping you, though. Pathetic, you pretend like I'm the one to give you permission.”
“Sorry, Maki-chan! Anyways, what was your question, Nozomi?”
“Are you in a relationship with Tsubasa?-”
“No.”
“...That was quick.”
“We were just talking about… I can’t remember what it was, but Tsubasa said she didn’t understand any of it.”
“There, it’s solved, let’s go on the roof and train-” Maki was prepared to leave until…
“I don’t think it’s over!”
“Huh?”
“Nico-chan, come up.”
“I don’t wanna.”
“But you can’t be shy right now!”
“No.”
“But-”
“If you keep saying ‘but’, then I’ll do it.”
“...”
“...”
“But-”
“Fine, I’ll get up…”
Nico got up and stood right next to Honoka.
“Maki…”
“...Huh? What are you trying to do?”
“You know what I'm trying to do. Admit it, or else…”
Maki’s face turned into a tomato. A juicy, ripe tomato. Nico wasn't doing too well either.
“Y-you idiot! D-do you really want to ruin-”
“My what?”
“...Uh. Is it about why I climbed on Nozomi?”
“...Yes.”
“I wanted to see what Honoka and Tsubasa and up to, and y'know, Nozomi’s pretty long otherwise.”
“...Well. This is it. Honoka-chan, we're done, so could we please practice now?-”
“No.”
“...Fine. I'll sit back down.”
“Now, for the question I've been waiting to ask.”
“Honoka? I wrote two to you…”
“Trust me, Umi.”
“Ehhh????”
“Honoka-chan…”
“Anyways.” She gulped “Are any of you… in a relationship?” She shook her head down and blushed.
Everyone was shocked. It feels like the taboo has finally been broken for this group. But there was something Honoka needed to clarify further, as if this wasn't already a wild thing to say.
“...More specifically, are any of you in a relationship with a person from this group?”
As everyone was silent, Nico immediately left.
“So… your answer?” She responded to them, smiling.
“How about your answer?” Maki responded.
“Umm… that's… you know how the leader answers these types of questions the last, for suspense?”
“...Fine. My answer is I won't tell you.”
“Yeah, same… I think.” Hanayo responded.
“I think I'm gonna go with Kayo-chin on this one, nya…” Rin responded.
“Can't tell.” Eli responded.
“Me neither.” Nozomi responded.
Lastly, Kotori and Umi shook their heads in denial.
“Well… That settles it! Alright, to settle the issue of relationships once and for all…”
She writes on the whiteboard.
“Let's be friends in public, and in private… whatever we want! But if any of us are in a relationship, we shouldn't leak it. Or else μ’s will die instantly. Understand?”
“Yes!” Everyone but Nico (because she left) responded.
“Hm! Now, back to this bread!” Honoka grabbed some melon bread, and ate “This bread is yummy!”
“Honoka…” Umi looked at her with an unsure face.
So, when everyone left with someone else thereafter, nobody questioned it, or at least tried to question it. It would go against the currently established dynamics of this group.
“So, Umi-chan and Kotori-chan… When will you marry?”
“You've been waiting to ask us this, huh?” Umi responded.
“Yes. I'm kinda just curious about your whole dating thing you've been doing recently!”
“Uh, it's not!- But we!- HONOKA-CHAN, JOIN US!” Kotori ran up and held Honoka’s hand.
“Kotori-chan… I'll think it over.”
Meanwhile…
“Ericchi.”
“Huh?”
“We barely survived that one, didn't we?”
“Survived what?”
She stopped and pointed toward the river. She then took out her cards.
“I drew the moon. This means that secrets will be hidden for the rest of eternity.”
“Yeah. Although… what did we survive again?”
“The thing…”
“Wait, don't tell me…”
“...Maybe for some other time.”
“Sure. I'm fine with that. Let's have fun after we graduate. Together. Forever.”
“Ericchi…”
“...You're so cute…”
“You too…”
Meanwhile, Rin and Hanayo were walking together, but Maki stood by their side. Nothing appeared abnormal in this group, until Maki saw Nico.
“...I have to go.” Maki said.
“Maki-chan!” Rin responded.
Maki left.
While Rin was distracted, Hanayo gave her a light kiss on the cheek.
“Eh- Kayo-chin?!”
“I love you…”
Hanayo smiled, so Rin didn't have a choice but to smile at her girlfriend.
“...Those two must be dating. Rin and Hanayo.” Maki said.
“Who's dating?”
“Nico! W-what?”
“You wanted to see me, right?”
“No. I just… wanna tell you… about the relationship dynamics in μ’s from now on…”
And so Maki told her.
“Okay, that makes sense.”
“That’s basically what we agreed upon, but yeah…”
“...Don't tell me you’re thinking of it.”
“Of course not, idiot.”
Maki blushed and walked away. Nico approached her from behind.
“Nice to see that my Maki is still the Maki I know!”
“Whatever! Wait, are we walking back home together now or…?”
“Well there's no one else, and it's boring to be by myself…”
“Sure then. We'll do it.”
Months later, as Honoka, Umi and Kotori were preparing to pack everything from the club…
Honoka had a crazy idea.
“About the conversations we had.”
“Yes?” Umi responded.
“Should we put the relationship thing in there?”
“N-no- Why?!”
“So other groups don't get stuck in the same dilemma!”
“No! Just- No! We don't want other groups to find out about this!”
“I have an idea! How about we tell the story of the circumstances that led to the meeting? They could be forced to do a meeting similar to us early on!”
“That works, I guess.”
Years passed…
In Uranohoshi’s high school idol club in Uchiura…
“...And they all were confused about their relationship status. Doesn't that sound cool?!” Said Chika, on the phone with the leader of their rival band Saint Snow, Sarah.
“Yes. So… what's your request here, exactly? You said you had one.”
“What if we do it? You know, you go sit with me on a bench, so everyone else can spy on us. Sounds fun, doesn't it?”
“Chika. You know that we're in Hokkaido, right?”
“Whenever you feel like coming to Hokkaido, we'll prepare a private talk-”
“So that's why you locked yourself in the idol club room and gave me the keys, zura.” Hanamaru responded, sending Chika into a frenzy. Chika closed the phone.
“Keep it a secret, okay?”
“I'm afraid not, zura. I will not let your plans unravel, zura! My bond with Yoshiko- I mean Yohane is special, zura!”
Years later. At an area near Yuigaoka.
“Oh hey, I got an email from SunnyPa! Must be the story I told them about!” Kanon said, and then opened the message. It read: sorry kanon lol we’re not doing that.
“Thought so.”
She went back to sleep.
THE END