A/N: I don't own Love Live! and I don't profit from writing fanfics since this is free reading material. Please be easy on me though since I am not perfectly a Nazi in English.

I know I have Love Marginal to write and finish, but this idea actually came around while I was drawing Umi in kimono and I liked the idea...so, had to write this. And I'll say it, this will be an ongoing fanfic just like Love Marginal, but this is an AU, so be warned on the characterization.

Anyhow, let's start the fic. See you at the end.

Prologue

She growled and hissed, running as fast as she could away from her perpetrator deeper and deeper into the forest, not wanting to continue their violent encounter any further than necessary, already knowing her limits as she cringe in pain and held her side in a futile attempt to stop the wound from bleeding further.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Whoever had attempted to snipe her down with a thin lethal knife was seriously planning to kill her had her senses failed to give her warning alarms as she didn't expect to suddenly get targeted out of the bloom in the middle of the night.

No one was supposed to know that she would usually take her strolls at this time of the night—no one that she wasn't close to at least. She even thought that she was safe for the whole day, whatnot after the uneventful day she had gone through even amidst the heavy loads of training and duties, but having this happen to her had proven that she shouldn't have let her guard down.

Out of nowhere from several unknown directions, knives flew towards her, the air shifting around her dangerously as her sense alarmed, her ears twitching at the distinctively familiar sound of the wind being sliced in half due to the speed of the knives propulsion.

Quickly acting out on pure instinct, she launched herself up and grasped the branch of a nearby tree and climbed up to the highest and safest point with the aid of her sharp nails to keep her grip secured, listening intently as the knives hit the barks of the trees, some landing on the ground with a loud noisy clatter.

'Attempted assassination…huh?' She thought bitterly, glaring at the knives from her peripheral view before she jumped off her safe haven and landed on the ground in a harsh ungraceful manner that she would have begrudgingly thought unfitting for someone of her status—but she doesn't, because there's no time to do that.

'Honoka would probably laugh at me right now if she saw how poorly I landed…' A small smile quirked up her lips before it returned to a tight line, shaking her head as she sprinted off. Pushing back any unwanted thoughts that could disrupt her concentration.

Either way, there was no way she'd ever tell her best friend that, there was a lot of her appearance to keep, not just in front of her, but everyone in the tribe. It was better to leave things unspoken and unknown than to spill words that are surely bound to cause an array of webbed problems and chaos. But even for someone of her status, she didn't held that much important information, in fact, she didn't know anything other than the basic statuses inside the community and the conflicts between them and another neighbouring tribe.

So why was she being targeted here? Even if her status had left her an eyesore for the other tribe, there was no reason for them to attempt to kill her, she didn't poses any threat—her father was an even greater threat than she could ever be in terms of power, charisma and status alone.

The young female took a quick glance over her shoulder as she gritted her teeth, trying to take even the smallest glimpse of the assailant, but the darkness inside the forest forbid her, it wasn't surprising considering how deep this place is. There's barely any light that came from the quarter moon, and even if she could see in the dark, her sight had its limits.

The only likely suspicion she could pose is that whoever her assailant was sure had the power to send those knives flying at her direction, likely highly skilled in wielding knives and had a good precision. She'd have been gouge in every part of her body if she hadn't climbed that tree, in fact, she would have commended her enemy out loud out of being deeply impressed had she not been a target for death's awaiting palm.

She wouldn't let herself be subdued by her pursuer, even if it meant crossing the border of her tribe and into restricted bounds.

Looking forward with narrowed shining amber orbs, she stepped on the ground hard enough as she secured her position and bent down before propelling herself forward as she jumped high enough to grasp the branches of the trees and lift herself before stepping on the branches then leaping off to perch again on another branch, doing the same process all over again as she tried to maintain the distance between her and her assailant, if only for a few minutes at best while she tried to rack her head for any idea on how to escape this sticky situation.

"If I had my bow and arrow I'd have retaliated by now!" She hissed angrily, dodging branches after branches as she leaped on another, cautiously looking around the area for any traps along the way while she dodge another knife from piercing her arm.

It wasn't preferable that she was the one being sniped down, but it was better than going into a hand-to-hand combat. She didn't want to engage in a pointless combat without knowing how skilled her enemy is in that area. Even if she could defend herself properly, she was well aware that she could only last for a short period of time, the ache on her side reminding her of the handicap she's carrying.

Thankfully the knife wasn't poisoned and her wound wasn't that deep enough, had it been she would have ended up lying on the ground, cold and dead. However, that didn't mean that she could continue on running away without it taking toll on her body. She was already getting exhausted each minute that passed as she continued her futile attempt to outrun her assailant. Her body was protesting as she felt a heavy wave of fatigue hitting her, the scent of fresh copper didn't help either as it invaded and filled her nostrils, making her want to whine.

She was already at her limit.

Knees weak and concentration broken in brittles due to exhaustion, her foot slipped when she was about to land on the branch, making her fall off and plummet down the ground, landing onto the earthy surface with a loud painful thump. A cry of pain ripping out of her throat as she grasped her wounded side, panting at the shot of hot searing pain coursing through her body after the fall.

She bit her bottom lip, hissing, closing her eyes tightly, enduring her body's beaten condition and tried to roll herself onto her side and stand up, hoping to continue on running away, but the pain coursing through her body was proving to be too difficult to ignore, it almost felt like she had broken a bone or two somewhere.

"D…Damn it…" She snarled; panting heavily while she lied on the ground, soiling her beautiful midnight blue kimono, not only with blood but also dirt and bits of dead crunched up leaves. Her hair was also disarrayed, her side ponytail almost falling apart enough to spill her lustrous deep ocean blue tresses around her like a puddle or blanket.

"I…can't just stop here, not…yet," She closed her eyes and gathered her resolve, only to end up gnashing her teeth tightly together when she attempted to roll on her side again—the side where her wound was—stifling a whimper from parting her lips.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Just give up now and everything would be much simpler, Umi," A voice warned from a distance—cold and monotonous but familiar to the ears of the other female. It sent a shiver down her spine, shock written all over her face as she processed what she heard.

She finally had a name to her assailant, but putting the identity of that person to this assailant of her's, she just couldn't help but feel a wave of hurt pang her heart.

She'd never have guessed for her to be the assailant, but then again, it only seemed befitting that she was the one who's here to kill her especially after what happened between them. Besides, who else could ever have that voice that sounded like silk and velvet to her ears? There was only one person that she knew with that distinct quality and there would never be anyone else who could possess that kind of voice, especially someone who specifically holds a grudge towards her.

She wanted to laugh bitterly at that moment, but her stomach kept turning painfully and a bitter taste starting to rise up her mouth, it was an impossible feat without wanting to throw up. Instead, she faced towards the direction of where she heard the voice of her assailant—to where she's standing—frowning.

"You know just as well how stubborn I can be just as you are yourself…" Umi murmured, making direct eye contact with glimmering azure orbs, taking in the beautiful features of the older female standing a few feet away from where she lied on the cold ground.

Dressed in the same traditional kimono, though coloured in a brighter shade of blue that ended just above her knees, the young female was more than just beautiful—she looked like a Goddess with a crown of golden soft tresses pulled up in a high ponytail, tied using beautiful ribbons in a mix of black, blue and white. A flower was perched on the middle of the ribbon, standing out but blending well with the blonde's hair colour. The flower was forget-me-nots—a very symbolic flower that held a message that somehow felt like it was mocking and accusing her.

Apart from the classy expensive looking kimono she wore, the blonde also wore a white fur coat that ended only up to her forearm which hung loosely over her shoulders, making her look ethereally pure, it was combined all too well for her figure alone, but outer appearances can be deceiving—Umi knows that well enough that it makes her want to sigh at such irony.

She was anything but pure—they both know that, if it was just based from their memories and experiences alone together.

"Heh—for someone who's been beside you for so long, I've already long memorized how you act, I just hope that you still have half the mind to process that what you're doing isn't going to help you at all," The blonde curtly answered, adjusting the thin knife she held in one hand while putting the other back to the leather case strapped on her left thigh. Umi merely stared head on just as the blonde took a cautious step forward, eyeing her with watchful eyes.

"Is surrendering and getting killed by you going to help me either…?" The young blue haired female weakly asked, albeit wistful as she kept her eyes upon the blonde, never intending to look away in a challenge.

"Not really, but at least it will end your suffering," The older female shrugged, offering a cold hearted smile to her victim while she waved her free hand nonchalantly, "besides, it's not like I care if it helps you or not, as long as I finish this."

"I see…though I don't know if I would believe you…you've always had the knack to act indifferently when you have to," She whispered quietly, as if talking of a secret from an event that occurred a long time ago.

It would have fooled Umi to believe that the blonde could really careless because she knew for certain that she still cared—too much—that the briefest hidden emotions behind those dilated azure orbs were all too noticeable to ignore, even for someone like Umi who had vowed to end their relations once and for all in front of her whole tribe.

"Say it as you wish, but you know that only I know the truth," The blonde hissed, gripping the handle of the knife tightly, her other hand shooting straight to grip the thin neck of the younger female, sharp nails grazed soft porcelain skin in a taunting manner enough to draw blood had she buried her nails in the other female's flesh.

'Is this your way of trying to convince me?'

Umi let out a small dry chuckle between gasping in pain and breathing slowly. Closing her eyes, Umi tried to relax her sense, hoping to ease the pain by being lax and letting the fatigue slowly numb her body.

This situation somehow had left her feeling triumphant inside though, even if it's in a situation that would cost her own life since for all she could see this as was definitely a charade—a stupid game that they still kept playing to fool each other just so to hide something of what was once there and what they once held dearly between them, the bond that had been forged and torn all for not, all because of a gruesome conflict and the stupid mistakes between their tribes.

Opening her eyes had proven to be difficult what with the fatigue and pain in her body making her want to yield, but she looked straight back into dilated azure that held confusion and bewilderment, the very same eyes that she stared into when she was worried or troubled during their younger days together.

Lips parting, amber orbs unwavering in the reflected resolve inside her heart, she murmured her response in the middle of the quiet cold night, lying down on the ground, bleeding, with her assailant above her holding a knife that hovered just above her face.

Not the kind of perfect reunion scene she'd love, but all the same, it somehow fit well, especially when it's about both of them.

"You're a really bad liar—"

"—Eri…"

A/N: That ends the prologue. Try guessing what tribes Umi and Eri came from, though I haven't really given an obvious clue what it is...guessing and wondering isn't bad.

And I think based from this prologue people might think that this is an EriUmi fic...well, this is also a KotoUmi, NozoEri and HonoMaki fanfic. I won't go around saying who's the main pairing, but there is EriUmi for sure.

This prologue is longer than Love Marginal's by 500 words, btw, which I find really funny for some reason.