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Honoka had thought very little of being a princess; that is, until Maki unintentionally gave her an idea for her concert with Karin and Riko. Following the show and her and her friends' journey of trying to figure out the kind of princesses they wanted to be, it was all she could think about. She reasoned she hadn't been this transfixed on anything since she was first pulled into the school idol world, or at the very least, since the unfortunately disastrous school festival performance.
For reasons she couldn't explain, her short time as a princess captivated her. The likelihood that she, Karin, and Riko would be able to perform such a show again was slim, what with their own groups to attend to, yet still she longed to experience that day again. Was it the chance to perform with her friends outside of μ's, or something more?
Well, the reason why didn't really matter. What did matter was doing something about this impulse. Fortunately, Karin gave her just the opportunity with a surprise phone call one afternoon.
Glancing at the dress hanging in front of her closet, Honoka sighed. "You know, I kinda miss being a princess. I had so much fun with you guys!"
Chuckling, Karin replied, "Who ever said you had to stop?"
"What do you mean?"
Honoka could almost see Karin's smile, a mixture of mischief and delight. "Come to Nijigasaki tomorrow after school. Make sure you bring your dress with you."
Well, that was easy. Still, Honoka was curious about what Karin was planning. They had grown to become friends over the past couple of months, though Honoka felt like she was always learning something new about Karin. Making new friends was always so much fun for her. As much as she loved Umi and Kotori, as well as all of μ's, it was a nice change of pace to dive into uncharted waters. Nijigaku in particular had really piqued her interest lately. Right before her eyes, school idols were already evolving into something even more fantastic. Between Aqours' experimentation with different genres and Nijigaku's focus on letting its members shine individually, there was never a dull moment at their concerts, or with the girls themselves.
With an overwhelming love for school idols guiding her attention away from Karin, Honoka ended up bingeing concert videos for half the night. It wasn't until a Nijigaku video showed up in her recommended - and Yukiho reprimanded her for being so loud (Honestly, Yukiho, how could she not cheer along with the crowd?) - that she recalled Karin's words. Fortunately, her dress had already been hanging in her line of sight. There was no way she'd forget it the next day.
Honoka would be the first to admit that her memory was...not that great...though just as she thought, she didn't forget. (Though she did end up leaving behind a few notebooks and a textbook that she took out of her bag to make room for the dress.) Umi scolded her, and Kotori had to be the one to lend her a pencil and some paper. She tried to do it behind Umi's back, and failed. Miserably. Umi could never stay too mad at them, though.
When school was finally over for the day, Honoka grinned from ear to ear and practically danced out of Otonokizaka, barreling down the steps to the main road like her life depended on it. Nijigasaki was fortunately a short walk away; she wasn't sure she could contain her excitement much longer. Whatever Karin had planned, she was ready!
After waving to Ai and Rina as they left campus, and losing a bit of her dignity as she had to ask Setsuna, who was fortunately nearby, where the clubroom was again, Honoka arrived, out of breath, but ready and raring to go.
"I still can't believe just how big it is here!" She exclaimed as she fell to the floor.
Karin giggled as she extended a hand to her, helping her back onto her feet. When Honoka looked up, she realized Karin was already in her gown. It was an outfit so unlike her usual style, yet it suited her perfectly. As to be expected of You, these dresses fit them, as well as Riko, perfectly, literally and metaphorically.
"You're earlier than I thought you'd be."
"Today felt so long!" Honoka whined. "I just wanted to see what you had planned."
"I'll let you get dressed then," Karin replied. With a wave, she exited the club room. Once Honoka heard the door lock behind her, she opened her bag and retrieved her dress. Once she was settled, she knocked, letting Karin know it was okay to come back in. In the instance between the knock and Karin coming back in, Honoka glimpsed at herself in the mirror and did a little twirl, customary for whenever she tried on any new costume, though something about this one felt different.
Karin held her hand out once more. "Shall we dance?"
Beaming, Honoka accepted the gesture, and gasped as Karin took her by both hands, guiding one to her shoulder while she held the other. "T-This isn't what I thought you meant."
"Do you want to stop?"
Honoka shook her head. As they began to circle around the clubroom, she said, "It's so cool that you know how to ballroom dance! When did you learn?"
"When my modeling career really started picking up," Karin said. "I didn't really have a reason to. I just thought it might help, considering my image and all."
Honoka, so impressed by this, momentarily forgot what she was doing and accidentally stepped on Karin's foot. Karin winced, and Honoka recoiled. "Agh, sorry! I always knew I'd have two left feet with this kind of dancing. How is it so different?"
"Don't think of it as a different kind of dancing. Just imagine you're on stage with μ's. If you had to pick one of them to be your prince, who would you pick?"
"Oh, boy... Ooh, Eli-chan! She's so cool... Or maybe Umi-chan? I know I can always count on her. Kotori-chan, too! Ah, what about Nico-chan? Or Maki-chan! Or-"
Karin laughed. "You really love them all so much."
Giggling, Honoka replied, "Of course! They mean everything to me. Karin-san, you can't make me choose just one!" As she spoke, unbeknownst to her, her steps aligned more with Karin's. Honoka might not have noticed, but Karin did. Even in the absence of μ's, they were still giving Honoka strength. "Though," Honoka continued, "you make me a pretty good prince yourself."
"Who needs princes?"
Karin leaned in close, gingerly dipping Honoka, who gasped in shock at the sudden gesture. With Karin staring her down with a smirk, Honoka was utterly powerless; her face turned as bright red as Maki's hair. Karin had stunned her into silence, and had to take the lead in guiding her back up. After an awkward silence, Karin asked, her voice pitching a little higher, "Are you okay?"
Honoka nodded. "Sorry, you just surprised me! You're so amazing."
Now it was Karin's turn to blush. "H-Huh? Hearing that from you... That really means a lot." Even more flustered than Honoka had been, Karin stepped back, her arms awkwardly crossing over her chest.
"Thank you for doing this," Honoka said. "Dancing with you is so much fun! I'd love to do this again."
"Maybe next time we can invite Riko."
Honoka enthusiastically nodded. "I'm sure she'd love to join in!"
Seemingly done for the day, Karin did a little curtsy, which Honoka copied with a giggle.
She almost couldn't believe how much time had passed as she and Karin left the school, their dresses exchanged for their uniforms once more, just as Cinderella's dress changed back at the stroke of midnight. As they began to walk home together, Honoka couldn't help but start thinking out loud. "Princesses are a lot like school idols, aren't they? We all have our own unique charms, so there's no right way to be a school idol, or a princess, I think, as long as you're happy and make others happy!"
"Well," Karin said, "I think we both achieved our goal today. One of them, at least."
Honoka nodded. "Right, you mentioned that you wanted to be a princess who could protect everyone. That's such an admirable goal!"
"Honoka, you're honestly too pure for this world," Karin replied, giving her a little pat on the head. "I think you should convince μ's to do a princess theme. You'd all be so cute."
"Ehehe, you think so?"
As soon as she walked through the door to Homura Bakery, Honoka ran upstairs to her room and texted Umi. [I have an idea for a new song! Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ]
Thank you, Karin-san.