Sea of Lamentations › Love Live! - Eliumi fanfic

Phase 4 | The Date

(warning: mature content towards the end of the chapter! :-) you are warned,,)

Otonokizaka, the other side of archery range | 2:06pm

Muffled voices came from the archery range, causing Eli's pace to slow down before coming to an eventual stop, right before the back door. The blonde wanted to peek on the diligent Umi at her practice, to catch a glimpse of Umi in action. But little did she know, she would overhear something she wished never happened.

"As a friend, I feel the need to give you this piece of advice. Feelings shouldn't be hidden under a facade. I trust you're mature enough to understand this."

Recognising the voice, Eli's gasp nearly escaped from her , but no sound came out when Eli quickly covered her slack-jawed face with her hands. Nozomi knows about the plan, but how? Eli's shocked expression transformed into a grimace. She knew it would not be long before all of this will come to an inevitable end.

"But then again, it's just a piece of advice from me, an outsider. Feel free to disregard it."

After waiting a while for Nozomi's voice to be unheard again, Eli glanced at Umi whose expression remains flat.

Feelings shouldn't be hidden under a facade.

Nozomi's words stabbed her in her heart multiple times. Nozomi knew. She knew about the plan, she knew about the intentions, she knew everything. Fooling the school was a big achievement but fooling Nozomi is a whole new level. Taking a step forward, into the archery range, Eli made a decision. She was not going to give it up just yet.

"Umi, I knew I would find you here!"

Eli called out, a forced smile plastered across her face. Eli prayed silently that she did not act too suspicious.

"Whoops, did I startle you? I chose to use the backdoor for the element of surprise. Quick, let's go, we've got no time to waste."

In attempt to divert Umi's attention away from the previous heavy conversation, Eli held Umi's wrist tightly and dragged her out of the archery range, disregarding the sweaty sensation of Umi's hand. Observing how Umi is surprised and no longer troubled, Eli's sunken heart lifted once again. She was going to make the bluenette's troubles go away.

"W-wait, Eli! I still need to change! Where are you dragging me to? There's still dance practice later!"

"Oh no worries no worries, I got us covered so we are going to have a date. Where to? It's a secret~"

Telling a white lie, Eli swallowed hard. She had completely no plan made for their date and the only thing on her mind was Nozomi's words to Umi.

Otonokizaka, on the rooftop | 2.40pm

"May I?"

The purple haired senior stood in front of the ashen haired junior who sat quietly at the corner. During normal practice sessions, Kotori will partner with Umi for the warm up stretching exercises, since Honoka refused to do it with Umi and would rather do it with Rin and Hanayo. However, today, she is alone.

"Thank you."

Briefly thanking her senior, Kotori's words carried an underlying sense of caution. Detecting her nervousness, Nozomi laughed.

"Relax, I will go easy on you."

They started with a simple back stretch exercise. Back facing each other and arms locked together, Nozomi leaned forward while Kotori leaned back onto Nozomi's back. The lack of conversation between them made the atmosphere then awkward and difficult for Kotori to relax her back fully. Noticing this, Nozomi decided it was a perfect opportunity.