A small tribute to Anisama 2015 (which was the source of inspiration for this story)

It's unusual for Umi to go in the opposite direction of her home after school. She receives a message from her Father that a family friend of theirs asks for her help at their dojo... across town. Being the dutiful daughter, Umi leaves right when the bell rings, apologizing to Honoka and Kotori about skipping practice.

She walks along the sidewalk, tapping the strap of her book bag absentmindedly. Everything with Muse is fine at the moment, but she knows that if they want to be one of the best, they need to improve. She hums quietly to herself as she thinks about her own progress. Her dancing is definitely better, Eli makes sure of that. Her singing though... She's unsure if she really improved or not. Maki insists she has, but the first year is also busy juggling composing, Muse, and her duties at her family's Hospital that Umi has not practiced with her alone in a while.

With a slight bob in her head, Umi vows that she will concentrate on her singing. But the question was how will she...

Her head slightly perks up as her thoughts is interrupted by a beautiful voice that is singing a somber song. Curious, she stops walking and looks around for the source. Her eyes fall onto the riverbank that was down the small hill off to the side.

A girl, just a tad taller than her, with long blue hair a shade lighter than hers, is singing out to the meandering river on the bank.

Umi is silent as she watches the girl with a soft expression. Her voice is powerful and the way she sings the song, Umi can feel all the emotion she puts into it. It was... beautiful. Umi is moved, the feeling is the same when she first watched Eli's ballet dance as a child.

The singing continues for a few more minutes, until it stops, and Umi finds herself staring at chocolate eyes as the girl on the riverbank notices her now. Umi snaps out of her small trance, and feels heat rush to her cheeks. She shouts a rather hastily apology, stumbling down the hill and goes up to the girl, repeatedly bowing and apologizing again.

"I-I-I'm so sorry, I-I didn't mean to stare, I-I was so entranced by your voice, and... and..." words start tumbling out of her mouth as Umi continues bowing to the girl out of sheer embarrassment.

A soft laugh flutters into her ears and she is stunned. Slowly, Umi looks up at the girl, her mouth slightly opened. The girl is waving her hand slightly, her own soft blush grazing her cheek but is smiling a little. "I-It's fine, I-I'm used to it." She mumbles quietly.

An awkward silence fits in-between them and they both shuffle awkwardly at the same time. "I-I um..." Umi starts, trying to look anywhere but the girl, as she rubs the back of her neck. "D-Do you practice here often?" She blurts out, thoughts scattered at the moment so it was hard to find something coherent. She sees the girl blink in response from the corner of her eye.

"I try to." The response is short and sweet. Umi finally looks at the girl again; she's looking out to the river, a somewhat melancholic smile on her face. "The river is calming and peaceful that it seems like the best place to sing. This place is also... special for me." She mumbles, and Umi slowly nods in response as she follows her gaze.

"Your voice is very pretty." Umi finds herself saying. The girl next to her laughs quietly again, "Thank you. I dedicate everything to singing." The response moves Umi, and she looks at the girl. "W-Would it be okay if I hear you sing again?"

The girl blinks in response, but checks the time on her phone. "Ah. I would love to but it looks like I have some work to do. I should be here next week, same time." She says before pocketing her phone. Umi just nods, "That works."

She waves as the girl goes up the hill and disappears along the path. She realizes she never caught her name. She then remembers she was supposed to be at her family friend's dojo a half an hour ago.

The week passes by quickly. Balancing practice with Muse, Archery Club, and errands that her Father is making her run often now, makes Umi quite the busy girl. However, because of her tardiness the week before at her family friend's dojo, Umi makes it up to them by going all across town to help the dojo again.

She plans her time more accordingly, so she wouldn't be an hour late and has time to listen to the girl sing again. When Umi arrives at the riverbank, the girl is already there, warming her voice up. She greets her with a smile.

"Have you been here long?" She asks as she puts her bag down and stands next to her. They both stare at the river now. The girl shakes her head, "I just got here myself."

A much more comfortable silence blankets them. There is no need for words, as they both knew why they were here again. The girl shuts her eyes, and opens her mouth, beginning her song. Umi watches the river flow as she listens to the girl's song. It was beautiful, yet oddly familiar. Umi can't put her finger on where she has heard this song before.

Umi claps when the girl finishes singing, and she nods her head as thanks. "I really like the song, did you make it yourself?" Umi asks curiously, perhaps she was also a lyricist? The girl shakes her head, "I didn't. Someone at my agency creates the song and my Producer gave it to me." She says with a small smile.

Umi blinks, her agency? Her Producer? She's confused, and the girl laughs a little. "I'm sorry if you're disappointed. You write your own music, for Muse, correct?" Umi freezes, her eyes widen and her mouth gaping a little in shock. Was she that recognizable? "I... yes?" She finally responds.

The girl laughs again, "I thought so. I thought you looked familiar. Sonoda Umi, right?" Umi nods dumbly, the look on her face telling her everything she's feeling at that moment. The girl blinks, slightly bowing her head. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. I've watched some of Muse's performance myself. The music, while it's not my necessarily my taste, is nice."

Umi suddenly feels a bit clammy and a small blush is rushing to her cheeks. "T-Thank you." She bows politely. The girl continues on with a smile, "A few of my friends love your performances." Her voice trails off, as she's mumbling about how 'Haruka and Ganaha-san know all the dances by now because they warm up all the time to them'...

The blue-haired lyricist is slightly confused, but says, "I-I didn't catch your name though."

This makes the girl look up in response, blinking, before she bows her head again. "M-My apologies. My name is Kisaragi Chihaya."

"Kisaragi-san, then." Umi repeats the name a couple of times to herself in her head. It's oddly familiar, just like the song that Kisaragi just sang a few minutes ago. Chihaya waves her hands again, "Chihaya is fine. We're not that far apart in age." She says, feeling a bit embarrassed at the formality.

To ease the tension in the air between them, Chihaya smiles at Umi. "How about one more song to pass the time?"

Umi is barely on time and makes a mental note to just phone ahead next time.

It rains a few weeks later, and with no other spot to practice at Otonokizaka, Muse is holed up in the Idol Research Club, doing their own thing. Umi feels bad for skipping out on a few practices now, so she spends the rainy day with the others, reading. Umi glances up from her book to see what the others are doing.

Honoka and Rin is looking at an assortment of cute things on the computer; Eli, Nozomi and Maki is doing school work at the end of the table; Nico and Hanayo is flipping through a magazine article about idols; and Kotori is sitting next to her, humming a soft tune to herself while doodling a new costume design concept.

Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Umi's gaze returns back to her words and she continues to read silently.

In the quiet atmosphere filled with soft whispers and murmurs, Umi can feel something is... odd. Brown eyes slowly look up, catching violet and red that stares at her. Seeing as they were caught, Hanayo makes a small 'eep' sound and Nico's eyes tear away from the blue-haired girl back to their magazine. Umi's eyes narrow slightly, but brushes off their looks and returns to her book.

It's not until she flips to the next page, that she absentmindedly looks up again, and catches Nico and Hanayo staring at her again. They repeat the same actions as before, but Umi sighs as she puts the book down and stares hard at the two of them. "Is there a problem?" She asks, her tone coming out more annoyed than she meant it to be.

A look of worry crosses Hanayo's face, as if she and Nico were caught red handed stealing something. She frantically looks around, seeing the others still in their own little bubbles, before she returns her shaken look to Umi. She shakes her head slowly, "N-N-Nico-chan and I were umm..." She fidgets, unsure of how to word what they were doing. Knowing that she wasn't going to get a proper response, Umi looks at Nico to see if the third year would say something.

Nico lets out a surprised squawk. "We just... We just can't help but notice the uncanny resemblance you have to an idol." She manages to sputter, before shoving the magazine that they were flipping through across the table to Umi.

Umi's eyes stare down at the magazine page, and is met with a familiar girl with long blue hair just a shade lighter than hers and dark brown eyes. Her mouth opens in surprise and her eyes widen.

Rising to the top! An exclusive interview with 765 Pro's Genius Songstress!

"Chihaya-san?!"

The name tumbles out of her mouth as Umi feels like her entire world is turned upside down. Hanayo's eyes is sparkling at the name, "Chihaya-san and 765 Productions are making it big now! I've heard they were struggling a little but with two full-fledged Producers now they're better than ever!" She falls into a huge and excited discussion with Nico about the rise of 765 Pro.

Everyone else is still in their own world.

Umi continues to stare at the picture in the magazine of the girl she had listened to for the past few weeks.

Who knew she was a genius.

"Y-Y-You're 765 Pro's Kisaragi Chihaya?!"

Chihaya blinks as those were the first words that come out of Umi's mouth when they see each other the next week by the riverbank as usual. Umi holds up the magazine article (that she had to literally beg from Nico to borrow), the page opened to the interview that Chihaya did the week before. The blue-haired songstress laughs as she rubs the back of her neck, slightly embarrassed. "Y-Yes."

"W-Why didn't you mention anything before?!"

"Y-You never asked?"

Umi immediately shuts up, as she seems to get it now. "Your songs... Your voice... Your name... No wonder why it seemed so familiar..." She starts as she's staring between Chihaya and the magazine picture now. Chihaya is starting to feel a bit self-conscious now at the stare and has to interrupt.

"I-I enjoyed our conversations and the singing, it felt... normal." She careful says, making Umi blink as another realization hit her. Their time together was probably on the level of 'normal' for Chihaya. Like they were friends. It was probably something Chihaya did not have often as someone in the actual Idol industry. She probably didn't have the luxury as they did as school idols to just sing and dance with their friends... It was a much different world when it came to Idols versus School Idols.

"I-I'm sorry." Umi finally sputters out, bowing. "I-I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable it just... caught me by surprise." She admits. Chihaya is shaking her head, "There's no need for an apology. I would be surprised too." She says with a small laugh as she tries to put herself in Umi's shoes. The two start to laugh as they finally relax.

Chihaya has a thoughtful look on her face, "How about we change things up. Why don't you sing, Sonoda-san?" Umi freezes and suddenly feels embarrassed again. She never sang in public unless it was a concert, and the last time someone asked her to sing a part of a song... Well, she was no where to be seen for the next few minutes. However the rational part of her brain reasons with her, saying this was a good opportunity to actually improve and learn something from someone with a lot of experience. "S-Sure."

She turns to face the river, and closes her eyes. She takes in the air around them, the sounds of the running water and chirping birds while feeling the cool wind tussle through her hair. She opens her mouth and starts to sing.

By the time she finishes singing and takes all of the advice Chihaya gives her, a young man in a suit is at the top of the small hill, calling out to the blue-haired songstress. Chihaya frantically looks at the time, realizing that her next job was coming up. "I'll see you next week, Sonoda-san!"

Chihaya calls to Umi, before running over to the man who's waiting for her at the top of the hill. "I think we should kidnap Sonoda-san and then we can have you at two different jobs at once!" Umi hears the man saying as Chihaya joins him, in good humour. A huff comes from the blue-haired songstress, "Mou! That's rude, Producer! And dumb too! Have you been around Ami and Mami too much, again?!"

She listens to Chihaya and the young man playfully banter as they disappear down the path. A small smile spreads across her lips, maybe being in the idol industry wasn't so bad.

Chihaya isn't at the riverbank the next week.

Or the week after that.

Umi furrows her brow a little as there is no one at the riverbank for a third week in a row. She did hear from Hanayo and Nico that 765 Production was working hard after one of their units was nominated into Idol Academy, a prestigious award ceremony for Idols all across Japan. So she figured Chihaya was busy with that just around the corner...

When she enters the club room the next day, she spots Hanayo and Nico staring intently at the computer screen, their faces contort in horror at whatever they were reading. She could hear whispers coming from their direction of "NO way!" "With the Idol Academy so close!"

Umi walks over, peering easily over both of their shoulders and blinking. "What are you two looking at-"

She stops as the words in bold stick out right at her.

765 Pro's Kisaragi Chihaya collapses during rehearsal! Has the Genius Songstress voice disappeared?!

Her mouth hangs open in surprise and her eyes start moving suddenly as she reads the article on the screen. Nico and Hanayo is too busy talking to each other to even notice the blue-haired lyricist standing there with a stunned expression on her face.

"Umi?"

"Umi-chan?"

She looks down, noticing Nico and Hanayo staring at her. She looks at the computer screen again, and then back at the two. Suddenly, she places her hands on Nico's shoulders (the latter crying out in surprise at the sudden action), "Nico. You send flowers to idols right?"

"Y-Y-Yes?!"

"... Teach me how to send flowers."

"I don't usually go to this shop, but I've heard good things from it. It's also easier to use a flower shop in Tokyo if you're trying to send flowers to 765 Pro..."

Umi nods at Nico's explanation as they enter a flower shop called 'Flower Shop Shibuya'. They're greeted by a young girl with long brown hair, who seems to be running the shop at the moment. Nico crosses her arms as Umi stares at all the flowers surrounding them.

Umi has no idea what to choose. Nico raises a brow, "Umi?"

She looks up in surprise from the rose that she picked up and is marveling over it. The black-haired twin tail girl sighs, "Don't tell me you have no idea which flowers to pick..." Her response was a nervous chuckle. Nico sighs again.

"Is there something you are looking for?"

The two look up as the shop keeper, the young girl, walks over to them. Umi is about to shake her head, but Nico nods before Umi can even do or say anything. "My friend is looking for some flowers to send to someone who is ill."

Umi looks away, slightly embarrassed, but nods in agreement with Nico. The brunette has a thoughtful expression on her face, before she shifts and pivots herself, hand gesturing towards a batch of white flowers. "Why not Anemones, then? They represent hope and anticipation."

"That's perfect!"

Umi excitedly says and she and Nico follow the girl to the counter to fill out a card and the information on where the flowers were going to.

To Kisaragi Chihaya,

With hope for a quick recovery and anticipation for your victory at the Idol Academy.

Sonoda Umi

The next few weeks still pass by quickly for Umi. Even though she doesn't spend as much time by the riverbank, she still passes by to watch the water run. It's become somewhat of a habit because she still goes to the same spot even after a long after-school practice session with Muse. Sometimes she even stays for an hour or so to sing.

During another one of their practice sessions, Nico and Hanayo are away from the group that is currently stretching, crowding themselves around Hanayo's phone. Umi, curious, wanders over to them, "Hanayo? Nico?"

They're too wrapped up in constantly staring at the phone to hear Umi call out to them. When Umi goes to look over their shoulders, they suddenly cry out in joy. "They did it!" "765 Pro Won!" Umi stumbles backwards, to avoid flailing limbs that is in the air in joy.

They finally notice Umi's presence, and show her Hanayo's phone with a huge grin on their face. Umi watches as the Idol Academy trophy is given to one tearful, Kisaragi Chihaya.

A smile sweeps across her face, and Umi barely hears Eli's call for them to hurry up and finish warming up so they could start practice.

When Umi arrives at the Idol Research Club Room the next day, she hears loud and frantic chatter from the outside. Her brow furrows, "What is the problem now..." She mutters to herself, before placing a hand on the door knob and opening it slowly. "What are you-"

"I-It's real right?!"

"I-It's real! That's 765 Pro's stamp! It looks like their logo, here, see, see!"

"W-Why is a package from 765 Pro here?! A-Are they scouting us? Y-You know they would only scout me right?!"

"But Umi-chan's name is on it!"

"Did they mistaken her for Kisaragi Chihaya?!"

Umi's question doesn't even leave her mouth as her presence is known in the club room now, and the members of Muse stares at her. She stares back at them, but notices a small package in Honoka's hands. "What's-"

"Umi-chan!"

She's suddenly taken by the arm and shoved into a chair, the package put in front of her. She stares at the package, 'To Muse's Sonoda Umi' and the address of Otonokizaka is written nicely on it, and in the corner was a stamp and address to 765 Productions. Her brown eyes slowly look up, and notices everyone staring at her in anticipation.

"I-I um... Kisaragi... Chihaya... and I are umm... Friends..." She mutters, and astonished looks cross the rest of the faces of Muse. It's silent for a few minutes, before everyone is asking a million questions. It's all a jumble mess to Umi.

"She's being scouted! Umi is being scouted!"

"What's going to happen to Muse now?! Muse isn't the same if Umi-chan leaves!"

Umi finds Honoka's hands on her shoulders, and is shaken vigorously now. "Umi-chan! You can't leave us! I'm so sorry! I'll work ten times harder now! I'll stop eating bread every day! I'll stop falling asleep in class! Don't leave us!"

She's almost sure a headache was going to come later on. Umi finally snaps, shouting "Stop!" before anyone else can start trying to convince her to not leave. The air is still and silent as everyone exchanges nervous glances at each other. Umi sighs as she places her hands on top of Honoka's and slowly moves them off her shoulders. "Honoka." She starts sternly, making the ginger-haired girl snap up in attention.

"I promised you and Kotori," She gives a look at the ashen-gray haired girl next to her, before looking at the rest of Muse, "That I would see through this until the end with you two, didn't I?" Her voice becomes soft and hush.

"I'm not leaving."

Sighs of relief spreads across the room and everyone finally relaxes. It takes a few minutes as everyone settles around the table while looking at Umi to continue her story. Umi looks at the package, before returning her gaze to the rest of Muse. "I ran into Chihaya-san a few weeks back, and we've kept in touch since then... I didn't think she would send something to me though..."

Her eyes fall downward to the package again and Umi finds herself picking it up and turning it in her hands a little. Everyone is looking at her in anticipation again as Umi starts to open the package.

Inside the package is a white envelope and a Blu-ray box of 765 Pro's last concert. It was a collector's edition with signatures of each Idol at 765 Production signed all over it. Umi can't even begin to read anything on the box set as it's taken from her hands almost instantly.

"N-N-N-N-Nico-chan, this is... this is...!"

Hanayo and Nico fret over the box set, excitement tumbling out of their mouths. "It's signed and everything! I barely got my order in to get a copy of this!" "I didn't even get a chance to buy one, it was sold out in 2 minutes I heard!"

Rin joins Nico and Hanayo shortly. "It looks like we can sell it for a lot of money, nya!" She grins, imagining all the ramen she could buy with all that money. Nico and Hanayo cry out in sheer surprise at the suggestion, and start to push Rin away from them.

Umi laughs weakly as the three of them start a discussion on the pros and cons of selling such a valuable piece of merchandise. She looks at the white envelope and opens it slowly. She pulls out a letter that was addressed to her, and starts reading it.

To Sonoda Umi,

Thank you for the Anemones and kind words. Your kindness and friendship over the last few weeks are unforgettable to me. This is the only way I know how to repay you for everything.

Please accept this.

Kisaragi Chihaya

Behind the letter, there's 9 tickets to 765 Pro's next live.

Umi swears she is going to deaf with the amount of screaming that happens as she holds up the 9 tickets.

"Congratulations on your live performance."

Umi greets Chihaya brightly as she arrives at the riverbank the next week. She holds up a bouquet of colourful flowers with a bashful grin on her face. Chihaya blinks in surprise, but laughs as she takes it with great care. "Thank you. I'm glad Muse came. Haruka, Ganaha-san and the others were thrilled."

Chihaya slowly turns the bouquet around as she stares at the assortment of flowers. "There's quite the bunch in here. Do they all mean something?"

"Friendship."

Umi blurts out with a small smile. "Shibuya-san helped me pick them out. Who knew there were so many flowers that represent friendship..." They share a laugh together as Chihaya thanks her again. They both look over at the running river again. Once again, no words needed to be shared, as they both knew there was one thing they came here to do.

Honest feelings tie us all together...

Umi's eyes widen as she looks at Chihaya who starts to sing a very, very familiar song. She breaks out into a smile at the look the blue-haired songstress gives her, and joins in as well.

Even when we're being serious we're clumsy, our hearts clash...

"Hello everyone! Thank you for coming out today! I am very excited to say that we are joined by some very special guests..."

Before the iDOLMASTER fans start jumping on me saying that the timeline doesn't make a lot of sense, I used the plot of iMAS 2 (although I tweaked Chihaya's story a little) to go in parallel with Love Live. I had it set before to a timeline where 765 Pro was famous, but felt like I wasn't able to do a lot with Chihaya and Umi's interactions. I hope you liked the little cameos I put in and enjoyed the story! :)