Disclaimer: I don't own Love Live.

It was a cold winter day and Nozomi found herself walking home after idol practice alongside her best friend Eli. There was nothing really out of the ordinary, except that Nozomi noticed her friend seemed to be nervous and couldn't stop playing with the buttons on her uniform.

"Are you alright Elicchi? You seem really nervous about something."

"I'm fine Nozomi." Eli replied in a shaky voice.

Nozomi decided not to press as the two simply continued their walk. As the two were nearing the point they split off Eli broke the silence.

"I'm gonna come over to your place Nozomi. That's okay right?"

This caught Nozomi a little off guard. It wasn't unusual for Eli to visit her apartment, but it was odd for Eli to invite herself over like she just had.

"Well I don't mind. But you do know it is a weekday right?"

"Of course I do. I won't be over long, I just need some advice with something." Eli had a small blush on her face as she finished talking, which didn't go unnoticed by Nozomi.

"My my, what could my dear Elicchi need help with?"

"W-we will talk about it when we get to your apartment." Eli's blush brightened as she quickly looked away. Nozomi saw this as a great opportunity to tease her friend.

"Could it be that you need some of Nozomi's excellent love advice?" Nozomi playfully questioned her friend with her signature smirk.

Eli didn't answer and simply kept looking away.

"Oh. So I was right wasn't I? Who is the person lucky enough to capture Elicchi's heart?" Sometimes Nozomi couldn't help it, Eli was just to easy.

"Shut up Nozomi!" Eli shouted, obviously Nozomi's teasing had worked. "We will talk about it when we get there."

"Alright. I guess I can wait."

Eli didn't answer and simply kept on walking.

Once they finally arrived Nozomi told Eli to go make herself comfortable as she went to go make tea and grab some snacks.

While Nozomi was making the tea she couldn't help but start to think about what Eli wanted to talk about. To Nozomi it was fairly obvious that whatever it was that Eli needed help with was an embarrassing topic. Based on the reactions she was getting while they were walking, she was pretty sure that it was love that had her friend so embarrassed, and that got Nozomi excited.

Ever since the two first met, Nozomi knew she was in love with Eli. Eli was the first person to get that close to Nozomi and break through to her. Because of that she became incredibly important to Nozomi. That's why this got Nozomi excited and a little hopeful. Maybe after all this time of being together Eli was starting to see Nozomi the same way she saw her.

"Nozomi what's taking so long."

Eli's voice broke Nozomi out of her thoughts as she quickly filled some cups with the tea and brought the tray out.

"Jeez what took you so long?"

"Sorry. I just got a little distracted." Nozomi replied as she set the tray down and they both took a cup. "So what kind of advice are you looking for?"

"W-well you see. I'm in love with this girl," Eli sheepishly said, while looking down at her cup of tea.

"Oh, so I was right before." Nozomi could feel her pulse quicken and her palms get a bit sweaty.

"Y-yeah you were. I'm just not really sure what to do about it." Eli was now blushing still not looking up at Nozomi.

"So how long have you been having feelings for this girl?" Nozomi was having a hard time hiding her hope and excitement now. In her mind this was all leading to something that Nozomi had wanted for so long.

"W-well I guess it all started when we first met. We have similar personalities so we got along pretty well from the start. She is also really kind and mature, always helping out others." Eli's explained as her grip on her cup tightened.

"She sounds like a really great person." Nozomi said with anticipation.

"She really is."

"So who is the lucky girl anyway?" Nozomi could barely hold back anymore this was all to good to be true. After all those years of waiting and hoping that Eli would return her feelings she felt that now was that time. They would finally be together and Nozomi would finally get what she wanted ever since the two had first met. Nothing would have ever made her happier than to finally be able to call herself Eli's girlfriend.

"I-I-It's Umi"

"Huh?" Nozomi heard her but she couldn't believe, she didn't want to believe it. No it wasn't real she had to hear her say it again, surely it was a mistake.

"I-I said I love Umi" Eli repeated still staring at the tea in her hand.

Nozomi's mind simply went blank as she was flooded with so many emotions all at once. Everything she had been building up over the years with Eli seemed to have flooded into her all at once as Eli said those dreaded words. It felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest and torn in two right before her very eyes. She wanted to run to her bed to cry to yell to just let all of these pent up years of love and emotions out in anyway possible. All of this was caused by one simple revelation, Eli simply did not love Nozomi, and it hurt so much more than Nozomi ever thought that it could.

Nozomi knew she couldn't do any of that right now, not in front of Eli. Nozomi knew that it would be selfish to tell her now after all this time, after Eli had told her that she wasn't the one that she loved. Nozomi had to hide all of these different emotions as best she could while in front of Eli. It would be unfair to Eli to get mad at her for loving someone, even if that person wasn't Nozomi.

"Well aren't you going to say something Nozomi? I'm really not sure what I should do about it."

"W-well what do you really need my help with you already know that you love her." Nozomi was holding back the tears as best she could.

"I'm just not sure what I should do. This is all very new to me."

"I think you should just confess, and I think you should do it quickly." Nozomi's words were coming out more harsh than usual as she attempted to stifle her emotions.

Eli was a bit shocked at Nozomi's tone but went on. "Do you really think so? I mean what if she doesn't feel the same way about me?"

"Well you love her don't you?"

Eli didn't answer and simply nodded her head.

"Then tell her. You wouldn't want to live with the regret of not telling the one you love your feelings. Right?" Nozomi was simply trying to end this conversation as quickly as possible. She needed to get Eli out before she broke.

"I-I guess you're right I think I will tell her." Eli's voice was full of determination as she turned to Nozomi and gave her a hug. "Thank you Nozomi for helping me with this."

This was almost to much. She couldn't do it anymore her mask was falling and she needed to get Eli out quickly. So Nozomi pushed out of the hug which surprised Eli.

"Don't worry about it. But I think you should get home I need to make dinner, and I'm sure your sister is wondering where you are."

"I guess you're right I should get going."

With that Eli set her cup on the table and got up walking toward the entryway with Nozomi following not to far behind.

"Thanks again Nozomi, and I think I'm going to tell Umi how I feel as soon as possible." Eli's voice was full of excitement which only added to the despair that Nozomi was currently attempting to hide.

"Yeah you should tell her. I'm sure that things will work out." That was all Nozomi could say.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow than. Hopefully I will have some good news after school."

Nozomi didn't answer, she couldn't trust her voice. So she simply bowed her head slightly as Eli went out the door.

As soon as the door closed Nozomi shambled to her room and laid on her bed, not even bothering to turn any lights on or to get out of her school uniform. She simply curled up under the sheets and began crying letting out all of the emotions she had been holding inside for so long.

At first Nozomi was angry, not at Eli or Umi, but at herself. She felt like this was her fault for being such a coward all these years. Maybe if she could have worked up the courage to tell Eli how she felt none of this would be happening. She thought back to the advice she had given Eli and couldn't help but see the hypocrisy. She knew she had no right to give that advice, to tell Eli to just simply confess and not live with regret, because that was exactly what she was doing right now.

A small part of Nozomi was also incredibly jealous. How could some girl Eli hadn't even known for a year come in and take her away. That small part of Nozomi wanted her to hate Umi and hoped that their relationship wouldn't workout. Maybe if Umi rejected Eli she would come back, and Nozomi would be there to comfort her. That maybe if that happened Eli would finally be able to see just how much she cared for her, and they could finally be together. But she knew these thoughts were selfish and simply unfair to Eli and Umi. She knew that you can't control who you fall in love with, even if it hurt her so badly.

Finally she was simply overwhelmed by sadness and depression. After all these years she finally knew that the girl she had loved for so long, loved someone else. She felt inadequate, maybe she simply wasn't good enough for Eli to notice her that way. She knew that she would never be anything more than Eli's best friend. That after all these years of trying to get Eli to notice her she had failed, and now Eli loved another.

She didn't move for hours, she simply laid on her bed and silently sobbed alone. She couldn't bring herself to make any dinner or change into her night clothes. She simply wanted to wallow in her own depression and to just be alone. To cut out the outside world and not let anyone in, or let anyone know of the pain she was feeling.

Nozomi was beginning to feel herself drift off into sleep, but not before a slightly comforting thought entered her mind. She knew that she wouldn't be the only one that this would affect so deeply. There was another person who would feel the same way she does once she hears the news. Maybe that made her selfish, that the thought of another person suffering the same emotions made her feel better. Or it could simply be that Nozomi found a bit of solace knowing she wouldn't be the only one feeling this pain. It was like she would have a comrade in her sadness and that seemed to ease her emotions at least a little bit. She would have someone who she could confide in, and maybe they could help each other. Because she knew Honoka wouldn't take this news well either.

A/N: Well hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of my first multi chapter story. This chapter ended up being a bit shorter than I originally wanted, but I think it turned out okay. This is an idea I've been kicking around for a while and wanted to see where it would go. So let me know what you think and maybe where you might wanna see this go. I've really only got some major plot points I'm going to write to, but everything else will be chapter by chapter.

Also I guess I should mention that though other pairings are going to show up, I'm only going to focus on HonoNozo. It's a pairing I actually really like for some reason. I guess I always thought the idea of the leader of muse and the mother of muse being together was always really sweet to me.

As far as update go I'm not sure how busy I'm going to be. But hopefully I can get at least a chapter out a week, though I really hope that I can go a bit faster than that.

Also when I write I'm always listening to an album so I figured at the end of each chapter I'll mention what I was listening to. Because it can have an affect on how I'm writing and some might find it interesting.

Chapter album – Changes by Charles Bradley