The Girl in the Mirror

By Major Mike Powell III

The time was almost upon them. In just a few more minutes, they would step out and stand on the stage.

The debut of the school idol group Muse was almost upon them.

Thousands know how that story plays out in the grand scope of things, yet that is all in the future, or perhaps in the past?

Either way, in the backstage area, in the changing rooms…

"Uwahh~! Kotori-chan, this is amazing! These outfits you made are so cute!" Kousaka Honoka's boundless energy and appreciation made the praise even more encouraging for her childhood friend, Minami Kotori. The girl's heart fluttered and her beautiful face was blushing with humility. She looked radiant as she replied, happy smile and all.

"Thank you, Honoka-chan! But really, you make the outfit look amazing! It's because of you, I…" The long-haired girl then looked adorable as she averted her golden gaze in a clearly shy fashion.

Honoka's beautiful baby-blue eyes shone as she looked at Kotori, drinking in the sight of her childhood friend in her cute-as-can-be green outfit, twiddling her thumbs above her chest. She even pushed the toes of one of her shoes back and forth on the floor.

"You're ~so adorable, Kotori-chan~" Honoka cooed, sauntering over to the ash-brunette. Kotori's golden eyes stared into her ginger partner's baby-blues as Honoka wrapped one arm around her tiny waist and gently cradled Kotori's gentle, blushing face with her free hand, lovingly caressing her blushing cheek with the back of her fingers.

"Honoka-chan…" Kotori breathed, her eyes lost in the endless blue depths of Honoka's eyes. She gasped ever-so-softly when she felt the pink-clad ginger stroke her upper lip with the pad of her index finger…before the girl closed the already-minimal distance between their faces to brush her soft, plush lips against Kotori's own in a delicious, soft, gentle kiss.

The girl clad in green eagerly melted into the kiss, wrapping both arms around Honoka's neck, tilting her head to get a better kissing angle. She even bent her knee backwards in a rather classic pose as she and Honoka smooched.

A tiny string of saliva joined their lips as they pulled apart.

"That was a promise for later, Kotori-chan. Whether we succeed or fail today, you are getting a reward for putting so much effort into our outfits, alright~?" Honoka purred, giving Kotori another, quick and chaste kiss.

The ash-brunette stood there, dazzled by her friend's smile, but soon snapped back to normal and nodded with an enthusiastic "Un~!", even jumping where she stood.

"O-Oi, you two! You know I can hear everything, right?! How can you act like that in a moment like this?!" came the exasperated, outraged voice of Honoka and Kotori's other childhood friend, the third member of Muse, Sonoda Umi. The bluenette was still in her changing room. The two lovers sweat-dropped and pulled away, yet well within arms' reach.

"You two dummies! If you're going to flirt, at least wait till I get ready! Mou! You shameless girls!" The bluenette's scolding tone made her friends look each other in the eye and giggle.

"Alright, alright, Umi-chan~" Honoka cooed, looking at the changing both. "Then, come out so we can see how you look in the outfit Kotori-chan made for you, and then flirt with you together!"

"…" Neither girl could actually see Umi, but they were as sure as can be that the blue-haired archer was a blushing mess behind the door.

"…O-Ok." The whispered reply barely even reached Honoka and Kotori's ears before Umi stepped out of her changing booth.

"S-So? How do I look?" The bluenette chirped with a smile, twinkling amber eyes and all, a silly, cute pose…and the smile on Kotori's face became awkward as she sweat-dropped, while Honoka's face changed drastically from a radiant smile…into an unamused face.

The way Umi came out would have had a much more credible effect if she were not…

"Umi-chan, seriously? Take those off right now!" Honoka commanded with a voice that nearly made Umi herself swoon, while Kotori did not even try not to swoon where she stood.

"Ahhh, mou! I knew it! This is still too embarrassing!" Umi whined. Honoka facepalmed and walked up to Umi, placing her hands on her soft, womanly hips. Umi stuttered a "H-huh?" before Honoka leaned in and claimed her lips with a smoldering kiss that had her breathless and flushed with passion after Honoka pulled away…and then, the P.E sweat pants that Umi was wearing when she stepped out of her changing room were already down and off of her slim, lovely legs encased in the fine white stockings of the outfits Kotori made for them.

"Ehhh?! Ho-Honoka, you idiot! That wasn't fair!" Umi's hands flew to her skirt to try and somehow will it to grow longer to cover her thighs. Needless to say, she failed miserably.

"Umi-chan, come here," Honoka commanded, this time with a far more kind and gentle tone. Umi looked as embarrassed as ever, yet she did not pull away from her ginger-haired beloved's grasp on her wrist, letting Honoka pull her to the nearby full-body mirror. She could not help but bite her lower lip and close her eyes in the process.

"Uhhh…Ok…Honoka, what do you-?" The girl hesitantly opened her eyes and saw her reflection looking back at her, with Honoka gently, securely holding her by the waist from behind. Also, Kotori stepped up to join her girlfriends, lacing her hands on Umi's right shoulder, her reflection looking at the three assembled childhood friends.

Umi gasped.

"Is…is that…us?" The girl with the "Ocean" namesake whispered in awe, looking into the mirror, the reflection of the image of loveliness that were her two best friends and lovers, and Umi herself.

"No, Umi-chan. That's us and you~" Kotori purred into Umi's ear and finished by gently kissing the tender skin of the girl's earlobe. The bluenette shuddered pleasantly and moved one hand to grasp Honoka's and another to grasp Kotori's.

"You see that girl in the mirror? That's you, Umi-chan. You look dazzling~" Honoka purred in Umi's other ear. The girl's face exploded with a searing-hot blush, looking as bashful as can be.

"Don't you think it's only fair that we share your beauty, your amazingness with the world, hm?" Kotori chirped, moving her face into Umi's line of sight. Twinkling gold gazed with adoration and sincerity into hesitant, warm amber as she spoke.

"M-Mou…Kotori, you…" Umi could not hold the girl's gaze for long before looking to the other side…and this time, there was Honoka smiling away at her.

"You are ours, Umi-chan, but it's only fair that we give the fans some love of our own, no~? And don't forget: even if we don't succeed…" Honoka then gently brushed her lips against Umi's, a quick, encouraging kiss.

"We will go home together, knowing that we gave it our best shot. And we will still be yours, Umi-chan~" Kotori cooed like her namesake, cupping the bluenette's chin to turn her face her way and then, give Umi a smooch of her own.

Soft, loving, warm. Encouraging.

After it was over, Umi opened her eyes to look back at her reflection.

"…" The bashful, embarrassed look was gone. Now, there was only resolve. "Ok. Let's do it. Let's give it our best. No regrets, right?" She smiled gently at her reflection, and then turned her back on the mirror to hug her beloved friends by the waist on either side of her.

"Thank you, Kotori, Honoka. I love you girls so much. Now…let's just go out there and get it done…before I lose my nerve," she could not help but whisper that last part. Honoka nor Kotori laughed. They simply gave affirmative noises and hugged Umi in return.

Then, the buzzer that indicated that only one minute remained before the curtain was meant to rise echoed in the changing room.

Honoka, Umi and Kotori held hands as they gave each other quick good-luck kisses and stepped out to sing "Start Dash!".

Thousands know what happens afterwards, but what happened in the backstage changing room? That was Honoka, Umi and Kotori's secret…at least for the moment.

~Love Live!~

FIN

Author's Note: 'Eyyy there, my darling Muse fans and lovers of threesomes within Muse~! o.o7

So…yeah, here I am with a brand-new HonokaxUmixKotori one-shot, and as you can tell, yes, it's a spin-off of YuriChan220's first ever "Love Live!" story, "Backstage Love". Though, I have to say that this is what I initially wanted that story to be, but I was simply lazy, too damn lazy to get the job done myself, so I asked her to write that story for me.

Needless to say, I finally got off my lazy ass and wrote it. LOL So, there's that.

Either way, I hope that you guys and girls enjoyed this little piece set in episode 3 of season 1, and will leave me a nice review as a reward for my efforts. Also, I recommend the story I mentioned earlier, "Backstage Love" by YuriChan220 if you want to get both "sides" of the story, if you will. :3

So, yeah, Muse Second Years Trio is best OT3 in Muse. 8D

Semper-Fi! Carry on!