The brunette yawned as she went to check her watch. It had been half an hour since they said they'd meet up with her. This didn't surprise her that much, but she'd have thought that they'd be a bit more on time. It wasn't like her Christmas break was going to last forever, and she was kind of tired of the cold already. She shivered as she wrapped her arms around her. Though she had a large, somewhat pastel green jacket on, it was faux leather, and leather wasn't very good in the cold, even with Japan's mild winters. At least the fake fur trim felt nice. On top of that, in her light brown skirt, grey stockings, and large Uggs, she wasn't exactly dressed for warmth. She made a mental note to consider finding a way to make it warmer – after all, she had made it herself, and perhaps in a moment of short-sightedness due to her own excitement of coming back home, she had mostly designed it to look good.

Her eyes wandered over the waiting area, trying to find her friends again – and this time noticing a pair of girls walking right past her, one with orange hair, the other with blue hair. The orange-haired one was practically dragging the other by the hand, scouring the insides of the airport with a look of determination on her countenance, while her compatriot begged her to slow down.

Maybe they had been here the whole time, and just didn't notice her waiting outside.

"Uhm, excuse me, are you looking for someone, Honoka?"

The orange-haired girl turned around to face her, still looking as determined as before. In her navy blue winter jacket and pink scarf, one would have thought she'd be too hot to be running around like she was, even if it was cold out. But the short side-tied ponytail was a pretty clear indication as to both her child-like nature and levels of energy. She nodded, then put her finger to her chin in thought as she recounted the details of her friend's appearance.

"Yeah! I'm looking for someone who should've come in on a flight from Paris? She has brown hair like yours, yellow eyes like yours, sounds kinda like you, wears a lot of green like you…"

Her compatriot finally managed to wring herself out of Honoka's grasp, putting her hands on her hips as she faced Honoka. She wore a similarly colored jacket with a blue scarf, and her hair was long and dark blue, straight and to her friend she seemed much more controlled and perhaps even more mature... of course, she knew better.

"Honoka! I told you to let go of me thirty minutes ago! You're going to make me catch a cold with how much you're running around!"

Honoka turned to face her friend with an embarrassed look, rubbing the back of her head.

"Sorry Umi, I'm just really excited to see her again."

The brunette sighed and shook her head as she looked at the two. Did she really look that different?

"Yeah, I believe someone like that came out like a half hour ago, Honoka. I think her name was Kotori, or something?"

Honoka pumped her fist as she heard the brunette sarcastically describe herself, while her friend seemed to catch on a bit quicker. She made eye contact with Umi and quickly put a finger to her mouth, Umi nodding in response.

"Yeah, that's her name! So, do you know where she went, then? We're her friends from high school, and we were supposed to meet up with her when she landed, but I can't find her anywhere."

The brunette smiled and tilted her head, pretending to be in thought.

"Yeah! I think she got fed up with waiting, and went back to Paris. She mentioned something about being tired of her friend Honoka always being late, and considering what happened the last time she boarded a plane from Japan by herself, she figured she'd be running in to catch her at the last minute anyways."

Honoka's look of shock and disappointment was priceless.

"S-she DID?! I-it's only been, like, a half hour! She wouldn't just do that, not on her break!"

Honoka then shook her head rapidly, once again regaining her determined expression.

"Well, if she wants me to come get her again, I'm not going to keep her waiting!"

She turned and readied herself to go into the airport, but as she started to run in, Umi grabbed her by the neck of her jacket, causing her to slip & fall back onto the bluenette, with just enough force to push Umi back a bit.

"Honoka, you really are clueless, aren't you…?"

Honoka blinked twice before turning to Umi, while the brunette giggled. It was good to see that Honoka hadn't really changed in some ways.

"Honoka… all I did was change my hairdo! I'm don't look THAT different. At least, I thought, anyways…"

Honoka blankly stared at the brunette, whose hair was in tight braid that formed into a bun at the back, before a huge smile formed on her face as she finally recognized her friend. She ran up to her, Umi letting go of her jacket as she did so, and hugged her tightly, jumping up and down.

"Oh, Kotori, it's you! I was wondering how you knew my name when I had never met you before! I missed you so much! Welcome back!"

The three finally marched towards the top of the stairs as they aimed for their first destination, a small city apartment that Honoka called home. While there was absolutely nothing special about the drab white concrete building, Honoka was nonetheless very excited, talking hurriedly as her friends tiredly followed along, the orange haired girl carrying all of Kotori's luggage with seemingly no effort.

"… So unfortunately, I don't have any elevator access, so the six-story climb is a bit tiring at first, but it works really well as practice on days where the weather is bad! So, I ended up getting super used to it super quickly, and now it's like my favorite place to train besides the shrine!"

As they finally reached the top of the stairs, Kotori collapsed onto the side of the wall, Umi herself leaning on her knees. Honoka herself was breathing a bit heavily, but otherwise unfazed.

"I never thought… I'd see the day… where you were… fitter than me… Honoka…" Umi raggedly spoke between short breaths. Kotori seemed almost ready to faint, but she smiled and finally stood back up normally. Umi followed suit afterwards.

"… It's great that you found a place to live though, Honoka!" Kotori commented as she looked over the balcony onto the snow-covered city that sprawled out in front of them. "I'm lucky that I was able to get into the dorms at my school myself. I can't imagine living in a place like this and having to take buses to school all the time."

"Well, I'm learning to drive, but I don't really have enough money to afford a car yet. Mom's been saving up some money, too, but I don't want her to pay for all of it herself. Anyways, down this way! It's room 583!"

The three walked down the long hallway, passing an older mother and her young child along the way as they made their way to Honoka's apartment. Though there wasn't much to it, you could recognize it somewhat by the small plastic wreath hung out front, wrapped in a cheap orange satin ribbon. Honoka stepped out in front of her two friends, messing around with the lock and muttering under her breath about how they still needed to come and fix the darn door, before finally unlocking it & pulling it open, stretching her arm out & swinging it in a motion of welcoming.

"Well, it's not much, but here's where I call home!"

The two walked into a small hallway, a kitchen to the left and a bathroom to the right, with a living room a little bit behind those two. As they walked forward, they could see that the kitchen was filled with tons of notes, in what seemed like four different styles of handwriting, all messy to some degree. A picture of the three of them from their time in high school was visible over the sink, which had a couple of pots and a pan soaking in it.A thin rectangular opening that acted as a window into the kitchen from the living room could be seen, too. In the living room, there was a simple bed, with an extra bed laid out on the ground and a blanket and pillow situated besides a small couch. Next to said couch was a desk, where Honoka's old pink laptop was propped, along with many books and her old book bag hung over the back of a chair. Near the laptop was a picture of them, their other friends, and many other people, from a few years back when they had all achieved something amazing.

Umi began removing her blue jacket, a simple white sweatshirt underneath. A small fridge, with a calendar on it – Kotori noticed today's date had a massive red circle and arrows pointing to it – was visible from behind as they stepped into the living room.

"Wow, this is a really nice place, Honoka." Umi remarked as she looked around, putting down her own bag as she sat on the couch. "I was expecting dirt on the floor and cracks in the ceiling, knowing you. Good on you for managing to handle living on your own like this."

"Well, I'm not REALLY here on my own." Honoka answered as she followed in after them, removing her own jacket, revealing a pink long-sleeved shirt with a bright orange sun design on it. "The others come here a lot, too. And normally Hanayo-chan and Rin-chan are here with me, so they help cover the rent too, but since it's their first Christmas break from college, they're spending it at Hanayo's place instead."

"I never thought you'd be so concerned about money, Honoka", remarked Kotori as she sat down next to Umi. "But, I guess that's what happens when you go to college and have to pay for everything yourself, huh?"

"Yeah, though at least the Love Live scholarship stuff covers school, so the biggest thing's not a worry." Honoka responded with a pout as she moved into the kitchen, grabbing a pot and some tea bags. "And I'm not doing that badly since I started working a bit to make a bit more money so I'm not as reliant on mom and dad. Hey, how do you guys want your tea, anyways?"

"Just plain is fine for me, Honoka." Umi responded, while Kotori added, "Milk and lots of sugar for me, please! Paris has spoiled me a bit when it comes to tea."

"Man, Kotori's like all fancy now, with her crazy hairstyle and milk tea and slight French accent!" Honoka reacted with awe as she started boiling the water for the tea. "Y'know, milk tea's not supposed to be all that good for you, apparently. Milk destroys all the good stuff in the tea, or something like that, I heard. I've just been doing sugar myself, trying to get to Umi's level where I can just enjoy the tea as is, but it's so bitter! I can't handle it!" She whined with a pout, Umi chuckling.

"Well, my family never uses sugar since it's not traditional, so I got used to drinking it without anything else added from a young age. I remember when I was a kid, though, I hated it."

The three chit-chatted about various things while the tea was prepared. Finally, Honoka came out with their cups, handing Kotori her milk tea before staring intently at the other two cups to figure out which one was which. After finally figuring it out and handing Umi hers, Honoka went to her computer chair and sat down, facing the other two.

"So, Kotori, you should tell us about your school! How's Paris? What're the other students like?" Honoka questioned with interest.

"Oh, it's not too bad… Not really too many other Japanese students there, but the few there are all know me from our New York trip. It's kinda weird that my friends there are also my fans, but it made settling into a foreign school a lot easier than I thought it'd be!" Kotori explained with a smile. "Paris itself is… nice, but not what I expected. Once I finally got to travel around it a bit, I realized it's not quite the beautiful place I had thought it'd be. The disappointment was a problem, but only for a little bit, thankfully. I was worried I was going to end up with Paris Syndrome or something."

Honoka nodded constantly through Kotori's response, stopping and looking a bit confused as she mentioned Paris Syndrome.

"Paris Syndrome, huh? Never heard of it. Is it where you just turn as French as a baguette or something?"

"No, that'd be ridiculous, Honoka." Umi responded as Kotori giggled, before she herself explained, "No no, it's where people coming to France become shaken up by culture shock when they find out Paris isn't the place it's cracked up to be. It apparently affects a lot of Japanese tourists, though I didn't really know it existed until I got there-"

"Oh! Kotori, did you meet any French maids there? After your little stint as Minalinsky, you'd think you'd be in good company with them!" Honoka interrupted, her eyes practically sparkling from how excited she was at the idea. Kotori didn't humor it with a response, instead quietly sipping her tea and letting the awkward silence sink in and inform Honoka she wasn't going to have anything to do with maids anymore. Honoka looked down at the ground a bit awkwardly, before transitioning over to Umi, who was just sipping her tea quietly as the two talked.

"… So, Umi, what about you? You've barely told me anything about your life."

Umi put down her tea on her lap, breathing in a bit before starting.

"I started doing commissions for people over the internet, where I write songs for them and get paid for it. Not a whole lot, but it makes a bit of money for myself, which is good."

"You sure it's not just so you have an excuse to keep writing lyrics, Umi?" Honoka teased as she leaned in towards Umi, a big smirk on her face. "I thought you said you were going to stop when school was over and become a 'proper' writer."

Umi became more than a little flustered, her eyes darting all around her as she struggled for a response.

"W-well, I'm still planning on becoming a journalist, b-but of course it's for the money! And it's practice, too! And, and I never said I was going to STOP, so much as slow down on it, that's all! You're just putting words in my mouth!"

"You're not denying you like it, Umi." Honoka continued, leaning in even closer to Umi.

"THAT'S because you never once accused me of it, and I never said that wasn't true! I-I just have other, more sensible reasons for it, okay?"

"So there! You're doing it because you like it!" Honoka announced triumphantly as she stood straight up, pumping her fists & causing Umi to jump a bit, miraculously managing not to spill her tea all over her lap. "I knew it! You're so easy to figure out, Umi!"

"Says the girl who didn't recognize her best friend because she changed her hair style." Kotori remarked smugly. Honoka's expression dropped as she was reminded of this, and having been properly humbled, she sat back down. Umi simply sipped her tea again.

"… But yes, otherwise there's not really anything to talk about. I'm trying to focus on my studies, and with all of the writing I need to do for my English degree, there's not been a whole lot of time to just write for fun. It's a good excuse to get it in."

"Yeah, I agree, Umi!" Honoka added energetically as she nodded approvingly. "It's cool that you can make money doing something you like! I could only get work at a WcDonald's, so all I do is boring stuff."

She looked down to the ground, before looking up again and perking up.

"Well, it can't be helped, right? Not everything we do can be great and awesome, right?"

Kotori nodded and commented reassuringly, "So long as you don't stay there forever, even a boring job's okay. You might actually learn some discipline there."

Honoka nodded, and the trio grew silent for a bit, their tea finished. By now, the sun was setting, so Honoka collected the little cups she had given out, turned on the lights, and went back to the kitchen.

"Alright, I'm gonna get to cooking, okay? Since the big day is tomorrow and all, I don't wanna go out tonight, and besides I gotta show you guys my cooking! I'm no master French chef like what Kotori probably eats on a regular basis, but you'll see how good I am!"

"Not every chef in France is amazing, Honoka. The ones at the school are actually quite bad, and I'd like some homecooked food for a change anyways." Kotori simply responded.

"When'd you learn how to cook?" Added Umi. "Last time I saw you, all you could make was mochi."

"Well, being forced to live on your own kind of does that to you." Honoka responded from the kitchen as she started collecting the things she'd need to start. "Besides, I had Nico help me out, since she's super good as a cook and all! Though, it took some convincing, she wouldn't admit to knowing how for like two days. And Hanayo taught me how to make rice, too! She's super good at that!" Honoka added as she reached into the fridge to pull out a large bowl of perfectly cooked white rice. While Honoka focused on cooking, the other two started talking amongst themselves.

"… Honoka's really growing up, huh." Umi started. "It's hard to believe it's only been two years since she graduated."

"Well, you know how Honoka is. When she really puts her mind to something, she can do anything." Replied Kotori. "It's great to see that she's got so much energy now though. She's practically like her old self."

Umi started to say something, but shook her head. She decided she'd bring it up later, when she could ask Honoka directly. Instead, she turned to Kotori and said with relief, "It's good to hear you've been handling the transfer well. I'm glad that you still got a chance to study abroad, especially in a fashion haven like Paris."

Kotori nodded and responded, "I'm glad my mom let me after what happened last time! She was so mad at me for bailing at the last minute on that flight… I'm surprised she was even okay with μ's' existence after that. But, moms are weird like that, I suppose. It's been great to study costume design there, there's inspiration absolutely everywhere, and I've even gotten the chance to make my own outfits, like the one I wore today!" She smiled broadly and proudly, whilst Umi was a little surprised and simply responded with an, "Impressive." Kotori then leaned back onto the couch, looking up towards the ceiling.

"But I have to admit, I miss Japan a lot, too. They're both cities, but Tokyo and Paris are so different, and I miss this atmosphere and these people. And even if I have friends over there now, I miss everyone here a lot. I'm really glad Honoka reached out to everyone and made sure we all had each other's emails, because otherwise it'd be a lot harder without her encouragement."

"Yeah, I know how that feels, and I live in the same city as her." Umi responded. "She keeps everyone motivated and focused, I think. It's really like when we were still in μ's in a way, with her telling everyone to never give up, and constantly sending us emails about the little things that happen during her day, and always seeming to know just what to tell those of us who're struggling and when…"

Umi paused before continuing. "I wish I knew what she was actually studying for, though. I worry that she's still undecided sometimes."

"Well, being undecided is fine, too. That's what I think, anyways." Kotori reacted as she always did, as she looked warmly towards Honoka, who was busy frying tofu on the stove. "Honoka will find out what she wants to do with herself, I'm sure of it. She always manages to."

The two were quiet for a moment, before Kotori got up and started unpacking her things. As one might expect, there were a lot of clothes, pretty much all of them color coordinated and matching Kotori's preference for green and grey. Having forgotten to in the earlier excitement, she finally removed her jacket, revealing a thick tan turtleneck sweater underneath. She wasn't as used to this cold as Umi and Honoka were, and she still sort of shivered as she came back to the couch. By then Honoka had finally finished cooking, and proudly came out with plates filled with white rice, fried tofu, and leftover curry from the last time she had cooked – not that they would really know. Normally it'd be leftovers night for her, Hanayo, and Rin anyways, and they all liked it, so Honoka was certain that they'd enjoy it too.

"Alright, dinner's served! As they say in France, bone apple teeth!" She announced proudly.

"It's BON APPETIT, Honoka." Kotori corrected as she reached out for her plate. The two quickly began eating, and to their surprise the food was actually quite tolerable. A little bland, Umi noted, but otherwise quite good for someone who wouldn't have been able to boil water for noodles just a short time ago.

"Honoka, I'm impressed, at this rate you're going to be a master chef in a few months!" Kotori complimented through her stuffing her face. "Maybe if we can get you to France, we can make that weeks!"

Honoka rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "I-it's not that good, Kotori, but thank you! It was a lot of work."

"Are you sure it was a lot of work?" Umi added critically. "To me, it just seems like you gave us some leftovers and called it a day."

Honoka looked surprised at Umi's accusation, Kotori looking along with interest. "How could you tell it was leftovers!?"

Umi smirked, and hit Honoka on the top of her head with a quick chop. "Because you just told me, Honoka!" Kotori giggled at their little scene, glad to see that this aspect of them hadn't really changed.

After they finished their meals, Honoka went & dumped their plates in the sink, saying that she'd get to cleaning them some other time and she'd rather spend as much time with her friends as she could. When she got back, bread in hand like always, Umi decided that would be the right time to ask Honoka what she had been thinking about. After taking a deep breath, she spoke.

"…Did you ever figure it out?"

Honoka stared at her, bread half-eaten and stuck in her mouth. "Whaddya mean, figure it out?"

Umi looked at Honoka, seemingly a bit miffed that Honoka didn't understand her. "You know, what you're going to study? After how our last year of high school went? I'm still worried, you know."

"Oh. That." Honoka replied non-chalantly, seemingly unfazed.

"'That'? You can't just brush things like that off, Honoka!" Umi responded as she stood up, a little angrier this time. She then sat back down immediately, not wanting it to get out of hand. "We hear so much about you and your life, but we've never heard anything about what you're studying, or how well you're doing in school, or what your thoughts about it are. All we know is you decided to go to college." Umi looked down to the ground, and Honoka's expression softened a bit as she started to understand.

"After what happened in our last year of high school, I've wanted to make sure you find out what you're doing. You were just so… lost."

Honoka nodded. "Yeah, I getcha… I was a real mess back then, huh? I lost my way for a while." She muttered a little, forlorn. Kotori nodded as her face darkened; she remembered that time too well.

"But, don't worry Umi! I don't plan on keeping you guys in the dark forever, I was just… waiting!" Honoka asserted, adding more of her usual encouraging cheer to her voice this time. "I do have a plan, and I know what I want to do when this is over."

Umi and Kotori looked pleasantly surprised, and though Umi started to speak, it was Kotori who first blurted out, "So what're you studying, then?"

Honoka smiled proudly as she stood up, putting her hands on her hips.

"I'm studying to be a producer!" She exclaimed as she reached out with her left arm & then pulled back, clenching her hand into a fist.

Silence followed the second statement, as Honoka looked very pleased at herself, whilst her friends looked excited, then a little confused. Umi then added, "What sort of producer do you want to be? There's a lot out there."

Honoka then looked a little embarrassed for a moment, before smiling and saying, "Well, a producer of idols, of course."

Silence as the two just stared at her. Honoka stared back, her expression slowly turning from satisfaction to confusion.

"What? Did I say something weird?"

Umi shook her head.

"No, I'm just..."

"Are you sure you want to go back to being an idol?" Kotori interjected, with a worried tone. "We know how things went our final year. Are you still not over μ's?"

Honoka's face lit up as Kotori mentioned this, and she shook her head in response.

"No, I've accepted it. I'm not planning on bringing μ's back. I know we can't do that. But, I've thought about it a lot." She smiled as she looked to the ground.

"You guys know me. I didn't really do anything, or have any direction in life, until we decided to become school idols. I learned I can express myself through music better than through words." She reminisced warmly. "But for a long time, I thought that once that was over, that was all I was ever going to be able to do. And you know how that went. And it's been some time since then."

She walked over to her computer desk, picking up the photo she had there.

"I never stopped thinking about those years. And I spent a long time trying to move on, to find something else, and I couldn't. But then I realized it over the summer! With everyone else's help!"

She spun around, her eyes sparkling. Umi rolled her eyes slightly, as she had put up with more than one of Honoka's spirited cheesy rants before, but she was happy nonetheless that she might've found an answer. Kotori, more caught up in Honoka's speech, asked with bated breath, "What? What'd you realize?!" Umi chuckled, glad to see that they could still get like this.

Honoka smirked as she pumped her fist, resting her other hand on her hip, photo still in hand.

"Just because I can't go back to being a school idol doesn't mean I don't have anything! I can inspire others to be greater than they thought was possible!"

Umi sighed with relief, and said, "Took you long enough to realize it. Any of us could've told you that, you know."

"Everyone DID tell me!" Honoka quickly responded. "I just... didn't realize it. But also, I know there's more I can do with idols, even if I'm not one myself. So... I have a new dream now! To become a producer, and to start my own studio – somewhere where I can let other idols shine as brightly as we did! If I can succeed in doing that..."

Honoka trailed off as she looked at her friends, who now got up and hugged her.

"It's great that you figured out what you want to do, Honoka." Answered Kotori, before giving her friend a wide smile.

"Indeed, but you know that's a lot of work, right?" Added Umi. "It's not that kind an industry to get into, especially as an entirely new studio. You've got a big mountain to climb there."

"Oh, I know, but I have a plan!" Answered Honoka. "I've got connections, you know?"

The two looked blankly at her, before Honoka winked & smiled at them. At that moment, they understood.

"So that was your big announcement tomorrow, huh?" Asked Kotori.

Honoka nodded. "Keep it a secret, alright?"

The three giggled together. Honoka always had big, crazy plans like this… and yet,they knew from personal experience that the plans always worked out. As the photo Honoka had picked up slowly fell to the ground, the three were reminded of where the last crazy plan of Honoka's took them.

Following along for another one might not be that horrible.