first, i would like to apologize for the lack of stories. anyways, this is a long overdue request. 1.) i'm not that proud of this tbh... and 2.) i'm sorry if this isn't really what you wanted to the person who requested it, but it was the only idea i had. enjoy!

Misunderstandings

"Honestly, you're hopeless, Maki." Nico told the redhead bluntly.

"Thanks, Nico, that makes me feel so much better."

The two girls sat across from each other at the wooden table situated in the middle of the clubroom, Nico holding up a paper with lines of writing on it. "Sorry, but it's true. I mean, really?" she looked at the paper and read from it, "'I get lost in blue oceans every time I look into your eyes.' Poetic, maybe, but cheesy? Definitely. You may be a good composer, but leave the songwriting to Umi."

Maki snatched the paper out of her hand and stuffed it into her bag. "For the last time, it's not a song!" Her cheeks turned a light pink as she said, "I-It's a love letter...I was really gonna give it to her this time, but if you don't like it, maybe it's no good..."

"You know, instead of writing dumb letters and notes, you could just do it the regular way. Just go up to her and say 'I like you!' and it'll all be over with! Even if she doesn't like you, at least she'll finally know."

"B-but, that's so embarrassing! Just thinking about having to look her in the eyes and say something like that...ugh!" Maki stood up and slung her schoolbag over her shoulder. "Just like the last two times, you're no help. Thanks a lot, Nico, but this is going to be my last time talking to you about this." She began to make her way to the clubroom door, but Nico jumped out of her chair and blocked the door before she could turn the doorknob.

"Maki, this is going nowhere because you're not willing to take my advice! I know you're shy, Maki, but nothing's going to happen if you let that get in the way." she held up a finger and pointed it at Maki. "This is your problem, not mine. If you want to walk out, that's fine, but you'll just be making it worse for yourself."

Silence filled the room as Maki took Nico's words in. She was completely right. This wasn't working out because of her, not Nico. She needed to actually listen to Nico and turn her words into actions. With a sigh, she muttered, "I-I get it...I'm only affecting myself if I choose to ignore you. It's just that..." she paused, "I know if I go up to Honoka and try to confess, I'll just end up running away."

Nico thought for a moment, then a small smile appeared on her face. "Then, why don't you practice on me? Pretend I'm Honoka, and you're confessing to me."

"W-what?! I can't confess to you, I don't like you like that!"

"I don't either! You're not confessing to me, you're confessing to Honoka, alright?" Without giving Maki more time to protest, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After letting it out, she opened her eyes. With a wide grin, she cheerfully said, "Hey, Maki-chan! You wanted to talk with me, right? Hurry up, you're cutting into my bread eating time!"

"Hey, Honoka does more things than just eat bread!"

Nico's smile turned into a frown quickly as she answered, "Shut up, I'm acting here!" Just as quickly, her smile returned. "Maki-chan?"

The first year sighed and decided to just go along with it. She did her best to imagine Nico as Honoka. "U-uh, Honoka...you see, I have something really important to tell you. It won't take long, so you can get back to, uh, eating your bread..." Nico/Honoka (Niconoka?) just nodded in reply, so Maki continued, "You see, for a while now, I've been feeling a bit weird around you..."

"Really? Weird how?"

Maki was about to explain everything she'd been feeling for the past five weeks, but she decided not to because it would probably take quite a bit. "Ju-just weird, okay? Anyways, recently, Nico helped me figure out why..."

Honoka chuckled. "Of course Nico did! She's so perfect, cute, and smart! She would definitely know why you were feeling that way!" Maki's image of Honoka faded back to Nico when she heard her say it, but it came back when she continued talking.

"Nico told me it's because...I-I...have a...no, I..." Maki paused to get her words together. "I like you, and I want to be your girlfriend!"

The door opened just as Maki said the words.

"Maki...?" Umi's voice caught the attention of both girls. They looked to the door to see Kotori, Umi, and worse of all, Honoka, standing in the doorway.

Maki's eyes widened as she stepped away from Nico, waving her hands in front of her. "This isn't what it looks like at all! It's just that...I was just..." I can't say it in front of Honoka, Maki thought as she tried to think of a way to explain the situation. "It's just...drama club practice, yeah! Nico and I joined recently!"

Kotori frowned. "Maki, there's no drama club here...just tell us the truth. You like Nico, don't you?"

"I don't! Not at all! Not even a little bit! Well, I like her as a friend, but...agh!" she looked at Honoka, hoping she would believe her.

Instead, Honoka just smiled and ran to Maki, grabbing her hands. Maki blushed slightly and hoped she didn't notice. "I knew it, Maki! You like Nico! I told Kotori and Umi a while ago, but neither of them believed me!" she let go of her hands and ran to Nico. "I knew you liked her back, too! Congratulations, you two!"

Umi and Kotori stepped forward and began to clap. "Congratulations, Maki, Nico. May you two have a beautiful relationship." Umi congratulated the two, her lips curved slightly.

"We're so happy for you two!" Kotori added.

Maki wanted to explain so badly, but she just couldn't say it. Not with Honoka there. Suddenly, Honoka took a few small steps back, arms behind her back and a suspicious smile taking over her lips. "Actually, I just realized I left something in the classroom...be right back!" she ran out of the room, but everyone knew she wasn't going to the classroom. Calling for her, Kotori and Umi chased after her.

The redhead let out a loud sigh. "This is just great...now Honoka thinks we're dating, and she's about to go tell everyone."

Nico nodded in agreement. "Yep, I bet the whole world knows by now."

With a groan, Maki looked over at Nico and pointed an accusing finger at her. "You! Why didn't you jump in and explain what was going on?! This could've been resolved easily if you just told her what was going on!"

The petite idol crossed her arms over her chest. "Excuse me?! I didn't see you explaining anything to her! Besides, how am I supposed to tell her something like 'Oh, you see, we were practicing so Maki would finally be able to confess to you'?! You're supposed to tell her that, aren't you?"

"At least I was trying! You just stood there saying nothing!"

Nico let out a sigh as she headed for the door. "Whatever, Maki. I'm not going to fix this for you. You have to explain to Honoka what was going on."

"H-huh?" Nico ignored her and left the clubroom. "Ugh!" This is great, just great, Maki thought, Honoka thinks I like Nico. I knew this was a bad idea. Now Nico won't even help me out, and I have to fix this all by myself...

The second Maki walked into the school building the next day, she was receiving congratulations from everyone. "I knew you two liked each other!" "You have so much chemistry on stage!" Why did people think she had chemistry with Nico...? Sure, she considered her a close friend, but frankly, she had no romantic interest in her. She only had her eyes on one girl, Honoka. Even teachers were talking about their students' new relationship. Word gets around fast when Honoka's the one telling people...

To make matters worse, Muse was already planning a date for them!

"They should go to an amusement park, nya!" Rin suggested with a wide grin.

"No, they should go somewhere simple." Umi thought for a moment before adding, "Lunch and a movie is a classic date."

"Sounds nice, but Nico and Maki aren't such simple people. Why not to one of their houses?" Eli chipped in with her idea.

"That's moving way too fast, Elichi! It's only their first date!"

Kotori opened her mouth to give another suggestion, but was interrupted by Honoka. "Guys, wait! It's their choice where they go, not ours! We should hear their opinion, right?" Wow, for once Honoka's the voice of reason, Maki thought. "What do you guys think about those places? Which one will you go to for your date?" Maybe not so much.

While Maki tried to think of words to say, Nico spoke. "Well, those places are nice date spots and all, but I don't think we'll be going to any of them. Right, Maki?" she looked over to Maki, who nodded and smiled gratefully. Maybe she really was going to help her!

As she nodded in agreement, she said, "Right."

"Huh? Why?" Honoka asked. "Do you want to go somewhere else?"

"It's not that, either." Maki said with a shake of her head. She waited for Nico to jump in and explain, but when she glanced over at the third year she was looking back at her expectantly. So Nico wasn't going to help her after all. "I-It's because...we're not going to go on any dates."

Everyone in Muse excluding Nico and Maki had puzzled expressions. "Huh? But you two are dating! Couples are supposed to go on dates! If you don't know where to go, we have plenty suggestions!" Honoka smiled. "Like the beach, the shopping district, a restaurant, a-"

"Honoka, we're not going on a date because we're not dating! Everything you saw back there was a misunderstanding!" Maki blurted out.

"What...? But yesterday I saw you confess to her and ask her to be your girlfriend. I know I'm not that smart, but even I can't misunderstand that! At least, I don't think I can...heh..." the ginger smiled a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Well, yeah, technically I did, but...the truth is, I was..." she paused, took a deep breath, then loudly said, "I was pretending she was you! Honoka, I was practicing my confession to you with Nico. I like you, not her!" Immediately after confessing her feelings, her cheeks and ears turned the color of her hair. She hid her face with her hands and wanted to run out the room. She just confessed to Honoka, and not even while they were alone! She probably would've dashed away if Honoka didn't respond so quickly.

"R-really?"

"Yes," Maki replied in a small voice, all she could manage to say.

"I-I like you too, actually..." the embarrassed girl uncovered her face quickly when she heard the words, eyes wide and cheeks still red. Honoka's own cheeks had turned a light shade of pink. "The only reason I never told you was because I thought you liked Nico the entire time. Yesterday just proved it to me, so I decided to ignore my feelings. T-this makes me so happy, Maki..." she gave a small, warm smile, very different compared to her usual cheerful smiles.

"M-me too..." Maki returned the smile.

"Finally! You two confessed to each other!" Maki would've expected the words to come from Nico, but definitely not from Kotori.

Maki looked over at the brunette. "Huh? You knew I liked her? I only ever told Nico about that!" she looked over at Nico, who had a mischievous grin on her face. "Nico, what's going on...?"

She feigned innocence. "What~?" Maki just glared at her, and she chuckled. "Alright, alright. Yesterday, after Honoka told everyone, I told everyone else in Muse what was really going on. I told them to pretend that you were planning a date for us so you would finally tell her the truth. As you can see it worked. Now that I've explained everything, I think I deserve a thanks..."

The redhead gave a genuine smile. "Thanks, Nico. I really owe you one."

Muse gave the new couple congrats and began to plan an actual date for the two of them, despite Maki's protests. As the rest of Muse began to discuss popular date spots in Akiba, Honoka and Maki sat next to each other.

"You know, Maki, I'm really glad all of that was a misunderstanding. I really thought I'd lost my chance..."

"I just wish I had the guts to tell you then and there. Then, we probably would've started dating yesterday."

"Yeah. Actually, when I saw you confess, I just wanted to go up to you, tell you everything, and do this..."

Maki almost passed out when Honoka kissed her.