Pairing: Tsubasa X Honoka (2)

Chapter: Consideration

Rating: T

Summary: In which Honoka and Tsubasa swaps body (again). Can be read as a continuation from Ch.40

When Tsubasa stares into the mirror and sees a reflection of Kousaka Honoka reflecting back at her, the leader of A-RISE feels her heart sink as she realizes that once again, she has swapped bodies with her crus—rival.

It takes her five seconds to fully register the implications of it— that for some strange reason, she and Honoka have swapped bodies (for the second time), and that the ginger haired girl is now probably in her body right now.

It takes her yet another full minute to finally realize with growing horror where and what she was doing just before they switched bodies.

Honoka wonders if the Gods have a sense of humor— she didn't think she would find herself in this predicament again, and honestly, she doesn't know whether to thank the Gods above or to curse at them.

Swapping bodies was one thing, swapping bodies with her (maybe) crush was another— but swapping bodies with her (maybe) crush when said (maybe) crush appeared to be changing her clothes was a whole new ball game altogether.

The fact that her cheeks are burning doesn't help matters.

This is Tsubasa-san's underwe—

Honoka forcibly cut her train of thoughts, trying to avert her gaze (and failing) from the full length mirror before her.

Tsubasa's face is practically red by now.

It took a whole five minutes for Honoka to finally stop panicking and to have the sense to look around her— no, Tsubasa's room to find a shirt to cover herself up.

She hastily grabs a random orange shirt that was lying on Tsubasa's bed, putting it on in record time.

Right. She should contact Tsubasa.

Honoka easily finds Tsubasa's mobile phone lying in between sheets of paper scattered all over her desk and when she tries to unlock the phone, she realizes that she has no idea what Tsubasa's passcode is.

"Is this Honoka-san? It's Kira Tsubasa here." Tsubasa finally decides to call her own mobile phone to get in touch with Honoka. She's lucky that Honoka's phone was in her pocket, and she thanks the heavens that Honoka was at home, fully dressed.

"Y-Yes!" comes the familiar voice from the phone. Tsubasa clears her throat and lets out a sigh. "It looks like we've swapped bodies again so I'll head over to where you are now. Is that fine? We'll figure out what to do when I get there. You're still in my house right?"

"Um, yes…" Honoka answers.

"Great. I'll be there soon." Tsubasa says before she ends the call.

Rubbing her palm against her temple, Tsubasa wonders if the Gods above are playing an elaborate prank on her. The first time they swapped bodies, Honoka had inadvertently found out that she has a crush on her. And now, Honoka had probably seen her almost nak—

Tsubasa immediately squashes her line of thought, face hot. Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about—

"Onee-chan?" A voice calls from outside of Honoka's room and Tsubasa jolts with a start. Did Honoka have a younger sister? Tsubasa has no idea how she should respond but figures that the longer she stays there, the higher the chance of her being exposed.

"I'll be heading out for a while to Tsubasa-san's place!" Tsubasa decides to say instead and before Honoka's sister could say anything else, Tsubasa is already out of the house.

"Sorry, Tsubasa-san. I wanted to call you but your phone was locked with a passcode…" Honoka trails off but Tsubasa shakes her head.

"It's fine, don't worry." Tsubasa offers a small. "It's not the first time but… It still feels strange to be in someone else's body."

"Mm," Honoka says absently. Now that Tsubasa is in the room, they should be fine. But there is this strange tension between them— a white elephant in the room that neither knows how to address.

The last time they met was during the first body swap and before they parted, Tsubasa had confessed to her and kissed her against her cheeks.

Just thinking about it causes her to be flustered again and she buries her face into her hands. She has no idea what to think, much less do. She tried to figure out how she felt for the past few weeks but it had only made her even more confused. She wants to give Tsubasa a proper answer but first, she needs to get her own feelings sorted out. She likes Tsubasa, that's a fact. But whether the 'like' is the same as Tsubasa's is something she is still unsure of.

"Hey, Honoka-san." Tsubasa suddenly says, causing Honoka to almost flinch.

"I know I might have made things awkward between us last time and despite the situation we are in, I want to let you know that I'm serious." Tsubasa pauses, before a rueful smile crosses her features. "I really like you, Honoka-san."

"Tsubasa-san..." Honoka bites her inner lips, hoping that there's something that she can do for Tsubasa. She knows that things like feelings can't be rushed but still—

—that's it!

"Tsubasa-san! Why don't we go on a date?"

At Honoka's unexpected suggestion, Tsubasa can only stare at the other girl in surprise. "Huh?"

"A date! We can just hang out for the day and see where it takes us! I know I may be a little slow sometimes but I really want to give Tsubasa-san a proper answer. And I think a date would help. Besides, don't you think it's fun if we go out in each other's bodies?" Besides, it isn't as if them being at home would achieve anything either.

At how serious Honoka looks, Tsubasa can't help the small smile on her face. The leader of Muse is really something else, Tsubasa thinks. But that's what makes Honoka Honoka. Going out on a date with their swapped bodies is probably something only Honoka would think of.

"Sure," Tsubasa's smile finally widens. "Let's go then."

"Yes!" Honoka grins and once again, Tsubasa finds her heart warming at the sight. Even being in another person's body doesn't really deter the ever optimistic and cheerful girl.

The girl who's always steadfast, always ready to take on new challenges with a smile, who has easily captured Tsubasa's heart.

Honoka doesn't have to take her so seriously, and even if she was rejected, Tsubasa would've understood. But Honoka wants to find the answer for herself, and knowing that she takes Tsubasa's own feelings into huge consideration is already enough for her. Being able to go on a date with Honoka is also a plus, and Tsubasa thinks that even if she's rejected after the date, she wouldn't have any regrets.

A/N: Happy 9th anniversary Love Live! Yeah I can't believe I'm still alive either. LOL. This was something I kind of wanted to finish up, even if people aren't really interested in this anymore. Ngl I miss Muse a lot even after I stopped catching up with Love Live stuff in general.