Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!

A cold wind swept through the town. People quickly moved in and out of shops, seeking shelter from the winter weather, and doing their best to find what they need for the holidays before they're sold out. Buildings up and down the street were decorated, but most of the lights were only just being switched on as the day crept into the evening.

In one of the tall buildings, several stories up, one girl overlooked the rest of the town as it made its daily transition. She admired the view and the brilliance of the lights as her two friends remained on the couch.

"So how are things at the university?" the older one asked.

"Fine, everything is fine so far," came the younger one's reply.

"Your studies are going well?"

"Yes."

"How far are you and Arisa-chan?"

"Wha- Onee-chan!"

Honoka laughed at her younger sister's reaction. Arisa, hearing her name mentioned, left the window view to rejoin the Kousaka sisters on the couch. She wrapped her arms around Yukiho from behind.

"That's a secret," she winked at Honoka.

"Aww," Honoka pouted. "But you can tell me!"

"We've been hard at work studying. But Yukiho-chan seems to know a lot about-"

"Shh!" Yukiho turned to cover Arisa's mouth before she could say anything further.

Honoka laughed again. "Ah, you two are so cute!"

"Ara ara, what's going on here?" came a new voice. The three turned to see the newcomer in the room.

"Ah, Nozomi-chan.," Honoka said.

"Hello," Arisa smiled.

"Hello girls. How have you two been?"

"Well, Yukiho-chan could be better right now."

"And whose fault is that?" Yukiho said. Arisa responded by tightening her hug on Yukhio, which got her to relax again.

Nozomi giggled. "Ah, I brought you all some hot cocoa," she said, setting the tray she was carrying onto the table.

"Ah, thank you," Yukiho and Arisa said, grabbing two of the mugs.

"Thanks, Nozomi-chan," Honoka said, getting up to reward Nozomi's efforts with a kiss.

"My pleasure," Nozomi said. She imitated the younger couple by pulling Honoka in for a hug.

"Ah, mou.." Honoka said, smiling up to Nozomi as she rest her head on the older woman's shoulder.

"Ah, Yukiho-chan. Arisa-chan," came another voice. The four turned to look as Kotori walked into the room.

"Kotori-chan," Yukiho said.

"Hi, Kotori-chan," Arisa said.

Kotori smiled. "Will you two be joining us for dinner?"

"If it's alright with you all," Yukiho said.

"Is it your turn to make dinner tonight?" Arisa asked.

Kotori had walked in tying the back of her apron. "No, but I'm going to help tonight. We actually have others coming over to discuss things over dinner."

"Who?" Yukiho asked, looking to Honoka.

"Some of the people that own the venue we'll be doing our Christmas Live at. We have to finalize some details." Honoka explained.

"Yup, and we also have A-Rise coming over," Nozomi added.

"A-Rise?" Yukiho said, surprised. "Why?"

"They said they wanted to help," Kotori said. "Though they didn't really say why."

"I might be able to guess.." Yukiho whispered under her breath.

"What was that?" Honoka said, barely catching the sound.

"N-nothing," Yukiho said, dismissing the thought.

"Anyway...Nozomi-chan. You need to share," Kotori said, then walked up to the other side of Honoka to give her a hug as well.

"A-alright alright," Honoka said. "Little bit of breathing room, please?"

Nozomi and Kotori laughed before they released Honoka. She took an exaggerated breath.

"Much better. Now.." she turned to Kotori and gave her a kiss.

Kotori smiled and then took hold of one of Honoka's arms. Nozomi took hold of the other. Yukiho and Arisa smiled at the scene in front of them.

"You know.." Yukiho said. "I'm still surprised you managed to pull this off for this long, Onee-chan."

"Eheh," Honoka smiled. She pulled Kotori and Nozomi closer. "It wasn't easy, but it was definitely worth it."

The door to the stairway opened, and three figures came in. They were somewhat covered by the bags they carried in, but the blond, red, and blue hair colors told enough.

"Hard for you?" Eri said as she placed the bags she carried down. "It was hard to focus on our studies while still spending time with you."

"Eheh, welcome back," Honoka said. Nozomi and Kotori released Honoka so she could go and give Eri, Umi, and Maki a hug and kiss each.

"She's right, you know," Umi said. "It wasn't easy for us either."

"Well you did choose to get done as fast as possible," Nozomi responded.

"Yeah... in a way, you asked for the extra work," Kotori chimed in.

"And whose idea was that?" Arisa asked.

Umi and Eri turned to look at Maki. She started playing with the end of her hair. "I.. thought it would be better so we could have more time with Honoka-chan..."

Honoka, who had got to Maki last, hugged her tighter after her kiss. "And you all pulled through in the end, right? So everything was worth it, right?" she smiled.

"I suppose you're right," Eri agreed finally. Then she looked to Yukiho and Arisa. "By the way, what are you two doing here?"

"We wanted to come by and see everyone again while we had time," Arisa said. "Especially now, when it's hard for anyone to see Muse in private. Now.."

Arisa ran up to give Eri a hug. Eri smiled and hugged Arisa back. Just then another person stepped into the room.

"Ah good, you're back," Nico said. Like Kotori, she was wearing an apron. "Can you bring those into the kitchen? We should get started soon."

"Ah, right."

Eri, Umi, and Maki picked up the bags they brought in and carried them past Nico. As they left, the front door opened once more, and the final two Muse members came in.

"W-we're back," Hanayo said. Though she was bundled nicely, she was clearly still cold.

"Ah, welcome back." Honoka quickly moved and gave Hanayo a tight hug.

"T-thanks." Hanayo was still shivering.

"Here, sit down. You can have some of my hot cocoa."

Honoka led Hanayo to the couch. Hanayo sat down as Honoka handed her the mug.

"Ah.. much better.." Hanayo said, feeling the heat start returning to her.

Honoka sighed in relief, then went over to give Rin her hug and kiss. "How'd it go?"

"Great!" Rin said cheerfully. "We managed to pass everything out."

"That's great! Aren't you cold too?"

"A little.. but not anymore." Rin smiled.

"Well, I think I should go help Nico start with dinner," Kotori said, then turned to walk where the others disappeared to.

Honoka, Nozomi, and Rin joined Hanayo on the couch. They snuggled together to help Hanayo warm up. Arisa and Yukiho smiled as they looked from their end of the couch.

"Five years, huh?" Arisa said to Yukiho.

Yukiho nodded. "Yeah.. I still can't believe it."

"Well," Nozomi said, hearing the younger girls. "Nothing's impossible for our Honoka-chan."

"Nozomi-chan.." Honoka blushed slightly, despite being used to these comments from the rest of Muse already. The others around laughed.

The television, which had been on the entire time but ignored up until now, started playing a familiar song. The channel had been sitting on station focused on idols, and at the moment they were playing some of Muse's songs. To fit in with the season, Snow Halation was next up. The six girls looked to the TV as they heard the song. Honoka smiled.

"We've been through a lot since then, huh?"

Muse has done a lot since that summer day. Honoka's biggest wish from that point was that they stayed together as Muse, and everyone made choices for that. As each of them graduated, Eri, Umi, and Maki had continued on with school, so they could help Honoka with most of the business decisions and organizing Muse. Nico, Hanayo, and Kotori focused on fashion and their fans, looking to see what everyone would like and what would improve Muse's image. Rin and Nozomi helped with taking care of everyone, making sure everyone was both physically and mentally healthy, and supported the others. Once Umi, Eri, and Maki finished, Muse then focused on their idol career.

It was through all this that Honoka kept everything going smoothly. She really enjoyed being an idol, but Muse also helped her to keep everyone connected, and minimize their fighting over her. To this day it was rare that some disagreement happened between them. They couldn't be any happier.

"So, Onee-chan..." Yukiho said. "About what Mom wants of us..."

"Don't spoil the moment, Yukiho-chan."

The others gave the sisters confused looks, not understanding the secret exchange. Before they could ask, Honoka told them it wasn't anything she wanted to talk about, and they left it alone. After all that Muse went through the last five years, bringing that up right now might undo everything.

Even if it was Honoka, who miraculously pulled off these relationships, marriage was another thing entirely.

Well guys, that's it for this story.

Not exactly the cleanest ending, but it's hard to end a harem story cleanly xp

Thanks again so much for following along with this story. I had a lot of fun with this project. I apologize it slowed down toward the middle. But all in all, it was a fun experience.

Would you like a similar story? Or a sequel? Or was one enough? X3

Also, PM me if you guys have any one-shots you might want to see from me. I need a slight break before I go into another story X3

I don't really have much else to say. So I'll see you for my next fanfic~