A/N: See end of story for notes. However, please note that this story has been rated M for mature content.

Disclaimer: I do not own Love Live, its characters or any intellectual property concerned with said franchise. This story is intended for entertainment value only.

Terminal Two of Narita International Airport hummed with a constant buzz of activity. In any direction which one might care to look, one would find people moving about in their dozens and hundreds and thousands, some with suitcases, some with families. Some of them rushed about in a last minute dash to their flight while others meandered serenely, but they were all driven by their individual sense of purpose. It seemed to Kotori as she watched the faces passing by that every one of them knew where they were going and were happy to be on their chosen path. Surrounded by a sea of humanity, she sat still as a rock, allowing the waves of discordant cacophony to drown out her own raging thoughts. Subconsciously, she tightened her grip on her bag as the same unwanted questions played over and over again in her mind.

'Am I doing the right thing? Am I happy?'

She knew she ought to be. After all, she was travelling across the ocean in pursuit of an aspiration she'd worked towards since the start of middle school. Chances like this simply didn't come around very often, were once-in-a-lifetime, and Kotori was grateful beyond measure to be offered it in the first place. Over and over again, she tried to convince herself that this was the way things were meant to be. Her life in Japan was over now, the past hidden in the shroud of smoke thrown up by all the bridges she had burned and the ties she had clumsily severed. A glittering new life, sparkling like pyrite, awaited her on the other side of the boarding gate.

But this future stirred nothing in her heart. No smile appeared on her face. Instead, all she could think about was the expression on Honoka's face at the moment she told her (Umi told her, she reminded herself) and the others that she was leaving Otonokizaka, leaving Japan, leaving Muse. Maybe for a few years, maybe for good.

Her hands tightened further around the handles of her bag, driving her nails deep into her palms, hard enough to leave eight little crescent shaped marks behind. Every time Kotori thought of that moment, she wanted to cry. Honoka had been so upset. It was the only time in memory that she'd ever heard Honoka yell. If only she'd been brave enough to tell Honoka sooner, perhaps things would have turned out better. Maybe they would have parted on better terms. But no. Honoka had apologised to her (as if she was somehow in the wrong) via text and she had only just been able to send a weak apology of her own, saying it wasn't Honoka's fault. The words were not the ones she wanted to say and sounded hollow in her ears as she said them aloud. But she sent them all the same.

That was the last time they'd communicated. Kotori had run away from further possible encounters and she hadn't even had the courage to say goodbye to Honoka properly (or anyone else for that matter). Everything had ended so awfully and she knew that it was all her own fault.

"Stupid," she whispered under her breath.

Unable to stop herself from thinking, Kotori sought distraction by checking her phone for perhaps the hundredth time that day. Nothing, no message from Honoka or Umi. She'd tried calling Umi a while ago but there had been no answer. Maybe that was for the best. She had no idea what they could have possibly talked about in any case.

Umi had supported her decision to leave right from the get go. She hadn't been happy about it but she accepted it with the same calm grace that Kotori had always secretly envied. And she had been so overwhelmed by gratitude, she'd accidentally blurted out all the feelings she'd kept bottled away in the deepest, darkest recesses of her heart for... how long? Months? Years, maybe?

To her credit, the blue haired girl who seemed to have a chronic fear of anything even vaguely romantic had taken Kotori's revelations in her stride. She'd even counselled her to sit down with Honoka somewhere quiet, somewhere where they wouldn't be disturbed, and tell her how she felt. With all her cards on the table, Kotori would be able to make an informed decision.

And if Honoka didn't return her feelings at least there would be a big, wide ocean between them while Kotori got over it.

Good advice, but just as she had prevaricated and found reasons to put off talking to Honoka about her departure for just one more day, and then another and another, so it was with talking about her feelings. Just one more day, she would justify to herself. Waiting one more day will do no harm. Until it was too late, and any chance of a future they might have had together was destroyed through her own negligence and cowardice.

Kotori wasn't much given to self-deprecation normally. But after all the wrong turns and horrid decisions she'd made recently, she was finding it difficult to view herself in anything remotely resembling a positive light. Through her carelessness, she'd hurt Honoka and she couldn't forgive herself for that. Maybe it was a good thing she was going. Not for Kotori, certainly not. But maybe her leaving would somehow be better for Honoka in the long run. And if that was so, wouldn't that mean that leaving was the right thing to do?

So why did it all feel so wrong?

A call on the tannoy briefly interrupted her thoughts, "Final boarding call for American Airlines Flight LAX1420 to Los Angeles. All passengers report to gate 32."

Glancing at her boarding pass, she realised the announcement was for a different flight, so she settled back into her seat while the tides of humanity flowed seamlessly around her. For the hundredth-and-first time, she glanced at her phone. Still nothing. The lack of a message or a call from Honoka upset her more than she could say, though she knew the radio silence was something she had herself encouraged. It had been meant to make things easier.

Instead, looking at the empty mailbox just kept causing her more and more despair. It didn't help that her wallpaper was a photo taken of the three of them: Umi, Kotori and her, back in happier times, before Muse, before Otonokizaka even. They'd been so happy back then, laughing and smiling about some silly thing as the picture had been taken by Honoka's mother. She couldn't help letting a tear trickle down her cheek at the memory (though she quickly wiped it away) as she turned the phone off. It was too much to look at the smiling faces and empty mailbox. Maybe there would be a message for her when she turned it on again in America. But even if there was, by then it would be too late.

Resting her face in her hands, Kotori closed her eyes and listened to the crowds around her, trying once again to simply stop thinking. Soon enough they would announce her flight and that would be that. Her mind continued to wander along tortured paths as time passed slowly on. Every action or omission she had made in the last few weeks was replayed and analysed to death. If only I had told her, she thought, over and over again.

"Kotori-chan!"

Kotori sat bolt upright at the sound of her name. It was quiet and far away, muffled like it called from the other side of a dream, but she would know the voice anywhere. Could her imagination be so cruel as to play such a trick on her? Just when she was starting to think that her subconscious could be that cruel, she heard the voice again, much closer this time and much more distinct. "Kotori-chan!"

"Honoka-chan!" she shouted back, standing on her seat (whacking her shin in the process) to try and catch a glance of a familiar head of hair. "Honoka-chan, I'm over here!"

People were staring at her. No doubt they thought she making an exhibition of herself, but Kotori couldn't give less of a damn. Desperately, she kept searching the passing crowd for any trace of her friend. Occasionally, she would hear Honoka's voice getting closer, but she still hadn't caught a glance of the girl herself.

"Kotori-chan, I see you! Over here!"

The voice had come from somewhere close to her left. Turning on her seat, Kotori's heart leapt to her throat. There she was, larger than life, waving at her and running, dodging a path through the crowds with all the grace and form of a bulldozer. Without a second thought, Kotori jumped off her chair, dropping her bag and almost tripping over it in the process. (When had she become this clumsy? A stray thought swiftly dismissed.) Then she was running, the sound of her footfalls pounding off the tiles like the rolling of thunder in her ears. The other people were mere obstacles now and she paid them no mind, except to dodge around them. For a moment, Kotori worried that Honoka had been swallowed by the crowd, or, for a split second, that her friend hadn't been there in the first place and she'd simply driven herself insane.

Then a gap formed in the crowd and there she was: Kousaka Honoka. Their eyes locked and for a moment Kotori's steps faltered. She had hoped beyond hope that this would happen, imagined it a hundred thousand times in her head, but now that she was actually here Kotori had no idea what to do. She'd imagined Honoka would be happy in their myriad imaginary reunions, or maybe angry, or sad. The look Honoka gave her was none of these things. She wore an expression Kotori had never seen on that beautiful face before, an expression she couldn't name, but none of that mattered. Seeing Honoka again, Kotori instantly decided that she wouldn't leave. Couldn't, not now, even if her feelings were never returned.

'I love you Honoka.'

They closed the small distance left between them at a run before colliding in a forceful embrace. Kotori started crying uncontrollably, though whether they were tears of joy or sorrow was beyond her ability to decide. "Honoka-chan, I'm so sorry," she whimpered into the fabric of her friend's shoulder.

It took her a moment to notice the telltale signs: the erratic, sharp breathing, the way Honoka held her like a life preserver. Honoka was crying too. "I'm sorry too, Kotori-chan. I-I'm sorry I didn't notice what you were going through and-"

"No, it's not your fault. I-I was… I-"

Honoka pulled out of their embrace and placed a finger on Kotori's lips. A few tears still meandered down the redhead's cheeks, but she was smiling. Kotori thought she'd never seen anything or anyone so beautiful.

"Don't go. Please stay. With me."

Kotori couldn't have refused even if she wanted to. And why would she want to? "I'm not going anywhere Honoka-chan. I'll stay with you and Umi-chan and-"

"No," Honoka interrupted, shaking her head. "I want you to stay with me."

Kotori blinked. "…What?"

The next thing she knew, Honoka's hands were on her shoulders and she was being pulled in for what she assumed would be another hug. But Honoka apparently had other ideas. It took a moment for Kotori to realise that their lips were touching.

No, it was more than that. Honoka was kissing her!

Her eyes flew open (she wondered when they had closed) at the realisation. Up close, she could only see a distorted image of Honoka's eyes, wide, blue and staring with that same expression she'd noticed before. Then just like that the kiss was over. It had been a short, almost chaste kiss, over almost as soon as it had begun but Kotori felt breathless nonetheless.

"Honoka…"

"I want you to stay with me. I-I love you Kotori. It's only as I was about to lose you that I realised. Please don't go."

"I…" So many things she wanted to say. Things she had wanted to say for such a long time. But Kotori knew now was not the time for words. She pulled Honoka in for another longer, much more passionate kiss. Without conscious thought, Kotori licked Honoka's lips. The other girl's mouth gladly opened for her and for a moment Kotori was at a loss for what to do. Though she had imagined kissing Honoka countless times, this was her first actual kiss, and she didn't have much idea of what to do. (Or rather, she'd read plenty about what to do in the explicit romantic graphic novels she kept hidden under her bed. But all that accumulated information evaporated into mist and drifted away, leaving her clueless in its wake.) But Honoka forced her tongue into her mouth and from that moment all Kotori could do was try to keep up. She was vaguely aware that they were in public and that Honoka was making her moan with the things she was doing. But Kotori simply didn't care.

When they broke apart, Kotori became aware of three things. Firstly, she noticed that people had stopped and were watching them make out in the middle of the departures lounge. Secondly, that look on Honoka's face; she knew what it was now: unrestrained desire and longing. And that fed directly into her third realisation. She became all too aware of the ache between her legs and of a sudden dampness in her underwear.

And just like that, those graphic images she'd looked at night after night popped right back into her mind, telling her what she had to do next.

Grinning like an idiot, Kotori took Honoka by the hand and without a word started walking away from the assembled crowd. She set a fierce pace, and she wouldn't have let go of Honoka's hand for all the tea in China. (What exactly would she do with that much tea anyway?) Her friend (lover?) struggled to keep up and asked where they going. Kotori didn't answer. She couldn't. She was blinded by what she thought might be love but suspected was probably lust, and she was only barely aware of where she was even going. Besides, she had long since lost the capacity for speech, ever since Honoka had stuck her tongue in her mouth.

Before long, she found what she was looking for: the women's bathroom.

"Kotori…"

Again, Kotori didn't answer, simply shared a look with Honoka and kept heading towards that door without a break in her stride. She noticed that Honoka's pace now matched her own. They pushed (slammed) the door open together and Kotori was relieved to notice that no-one else was around. And then Honoka pushed her hard against the wall. The look her lover gave her made her unconsciously shiver with unsuppressed desire. Then they were kissing again, Honoka aggressively taking the lead while Kotori meekly and happily let her do whatever she wanted.

Honoka's hands started to wander while they kissed. At first, she slowly brought her hands down Kotori's sides. The sensation would have tickled normally but now Kotori was only aware of how much Honoka's touch turned her on. Honoka's hands reached her hips, then kept going, playing with the hem of her skirt before they suddenly changed course. Kotori felt fingers grip the lapels of her jacket as if to prevent her from escaping.

Then they were moving, staggering blindly with lips locked firmly together, but Kotori had a rough idea of where they were going. She groped blindly behind her for a few moments before finding the door to one of the cubicles. Honoka pushed her through the door and only broke their kiss to close the door behind them. The bolt slid into the lock with a satisfyingly loud click.

For a moment, they stood there, staring at each other and panting. Kotori was trembling and had been for some time. She couldn't stop. For a moment, she wondered if it was because she was afraid. The persistent throbbing between her legs soon reminded her otherwise.

"I want you Kotori," Honoka whispered, her voice a lustful purr that did things to Kotori she was ashamed to admit even to herself.

"I-I'm yours Honoka. I've always been yours."

Kotori had only said what she'd known for a long time, but the words seemed to have a different effect on Honoka. She noticed Honoka's eyes wander up and down her body, stopping frequently at her breasts and even more where her skirt had ridden up during their journey to the cubicle, showing off far more thigh than would normally be considered appropriate. Kotori took a certain pleasure in the expression that crossed her new lover's face. But then Honoka suddenly looked sheepish, embarrassed even. Not the reaction Kotori wanted, not now. She wanted this now. Once, she might have let this go, but after coming so far, there was absolutely no way Kotori was going to let Honoka back out without a fight.

It took less than a split second to remember one of her favourite scenes from one of her dirtiest romantic novels. She emulated it, lifting the hem of her skirt to show her lover her sodden panties. "All yours, Honoka-chan."

It had worked like a charm in the novel and it seemed to be having the same effect here. Honoka didn't seem able to tear her eyes away from the sight on offer.

"Kotori…"

Then there were no more words. The girls collided in a violent kiss and this time Kotori felt no compunction about letting her own hands wander. Her left hand was trapped between their bodies, groping whatever it could reach, namely the closest of Honoka's breasts. The other was wrapped around her lover's back, helping Kotori to stay upright. She put her hand up the back of Honoka's blouse, touching bare skin, feeling goose pimples rise under her fingertips and more moans in her mouth; it was all as sinful as it was wonderful.

Honoka's hands weren't idle either. They fumbled ineffectually with the front of Kotori's blouse, undoing buttons more by luck than by skill. Soon enough (though not nearly fast enough for Kotori's liking), all the buttons came free. Not a single self-conscious thought crossed Kotori's mind as she shrugged her blouse and jacket off onto the floor. She was too busy losing herself in Honoka's mouth. She felt Honoka's hands ghost over her back and tug at her bra strap. It took even longer for Honoka to unhook the bra than it had to undo the buttons. Honoka's moans grew more and more frustrated the more she fumbled, but eventually she managed to unhook the damn thing. Kotori smiled against her lover's lips.

Then before Kotori could do a thing, Honoka broke the kiss and pulled the bra away in one swift motion. She mewled in displeasure at the loss of contact, until Honoka started kissing her neck and fondling her bare breasts. Honoka wasn't gentle – she pushed Kotori hard against the cubicle wall, pinning her in place with her body weight while she bit down on her neck and toyed with her nipples. Kotori's pleasure defied description. She knew she was moaning loudly but didn't (couldn't?) even attempt to stifle her voice. Repressing moans rapidly became impossible anyway when Honoka's mouth trailed its way further down her neck, kissing and licking every bit of skin it could reach. All the while, Honoka kept looking at her with that look. Kotori could only smile weakly and try to stay upright, moaning all the while. She noticed Honoka flash a devilish smirk before taking one of Kotori's nipples in her mouth.

Kotori couldn't help it. She screamed, not caring if every single person in the airport heard her. It was impossible to say how long Honoka did these things with her mouth. Time lost all meaning in the cubicle. But she needed more.

"H-H-Honoka…" she whimpered, the power of speech returning to her in fits and starts. "P-please…"

"Please what?" Honoka asked, her voice slightly obscured by the nipple in her mouth.

It was all too much. "P-please… please f-fuck me Honoka!"

Honoka seemed taken aback, maybe because she'd never heard her friend swear before. But she only hesitated a moment before obliging. Kotori's skirt soon found itself around her ankles, her panties following a moment later. Honoka began to kiss her neck again while her left hand started to rub slowly between Kotori's legs. Her ministrations were clumsy at first, but gentle. It didn't take long for Honoka to find out where Kotori liked to be touched the most; she let the moans guide her fingers. Then Kotori noticed a finger probing at her entrance while Honoka's other hand continued to play with her clit.

Blue eyes sought permission.

"Yours... remember..?"

The finger slid in and stars exploded behind Kotori's eyes. Another digit soon joined it, Honoka thrusting them both with abandon deep into her lover's pussy. Kotori didn't stop her, didn't want her to stop, she wanted her to keep going forever. But she was already so ridiculously close. She was… she was going to…

"H-Honokaaaaa!"

Just like that it was over. Waves of pleasure crashed over her, one after the other, leaving behind a broken shell of a woman, barely able to stay upright. She smiled weakly at Honoka, who smiled back.

"I guess this means you're not going now."

"S-Shut up and kiss me." Honoka leaned in just to do that and began to pull out the fingers that were still lodged deep in Kotori's pussy. "No," Kotori said weakly, placing a hand on Honoka's wrist, "keep them in there. For now. Please."

Wordlessly, Honoka leaned forward and took Kotori's lips with her own while she re-buried her fingers in Kotori right down to the knuckle. For her part, Kotori let out a loud moan, muffled only by the lips on her own. This time, Honoka was much gentler, holding her as if she could shatter into a million pieces at the lightest application of force. Kotori was so deliriously happy that she wouldn't have been surprised if that actually happened.

Childish disappointment flared within her when Honoka pulled both her lips and fingers away so minutes (hours?) later.

"I was meant to take you back to Otonokizaka. Eli-chan thought it would be a good idea to perform. Guess I got kind of carried away though."

Kotori smiled. "I don't care. I really enjoyed it. Never thought my first time would be in a public bathroom though."

Honoka seemed to redden at that. "I-I'm so sorry, Kotori-chan. I didn't think. Your first time should have been special and I took that away from you. I'm sorry, I'm so-"

Kotori didn't let Honoka finish. She pushed her against the opposite wall of the cubicle (taking care not to trip over her own discarded clothing) and gave her some of the dominant treatment that Honoka had treated her to just a few minutes before.

"It was special," A kiss, heartfelt and longing. "Because," another kiss, shorter this time but no less passionate, "it was with you. I've fantasised about this for months."

Honoka looked at her with an expression of bewilderment. "You've been fantasising about doing it in an airport bathroom?"

"Not that part, silly. Fantasising about you. Oh, I didn't say earlier, but you know I love you too, right?"

"How dense do you think I am, Kotori-chan?"

"I guess it was kind of obvious after..." Kotori conceded, letting her voice casually drift away. "I'm sorry that you didn't get anything out of... that."

"What are you talking about? I got to make you... well, you know. I got plenty out of it. I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight now. I'll be too busy thinking about it."

"Unless I'm with you... to take your mind off it." Kotori wondered when she'd become so bold. She supposed being fingered in a public restroom had a way of making her more brazen.

That lustful look returned to Honoka's face. "Umm..."

"Unless you'd like your turn now..."

The bathroom door banged open. "I-If you two are finished now," called a familiar, rather distressed voice, "can we get going please? Before security gets here."

Even on the other side of the cubicle door, Kotori could feel the heat of her friend's blush. "Sorry, Umi-chan. We'll be out in a minute."

With a noise that sounded somewhere between a grunt of affirmation and a strangled yelp of embarrassment, Umi left the room again. No doubt she'd heard enough to feel incredibly awkward around the two of them for the next few weeks. But that was tomorrow's problem. Right now, Kotori simply surrendered to her feelings of bliss and pulled Honoka into a bone-crushing hug.

"We probably should get going," Kotori said after a few moments. "Could you help me with my clothes?"

As quickly as possible, Kotori redressed and tried as best as possible to fix her hair in the mirror. But for all her efforts, she couldn't rid herself of the stupid, sated smile plastered all over her face. Not that she even wanted to.

"I hope Umi-chan isn't going to be upset with us," Honoka groaned, hugging Kotori from behind while she arranged herself in the mirror.

Kotori laughed. "She won't be. She tried to get me to tell you how I feel lots of times. She wants us to be happy. But... I don't think she wanted to hear how happy you can make me." They smiled at each other in the mirror. "I'm ready. Shall we go?"

They held hands as they walked through the door back into the departures lounge. Wordlessly and without looking directly at either of them, Umi thrust the bag that Kotori had abandoned earlier into her hand (how had she found that?) and started making for the main entrance. Running to catch up, they ignored the people who were staring at them and split up to walk on either side of their tetchy friend.

"Thanks for coming, Umi-chan," Kotori said, taking her friend's hand. "It means a lot to me."

Honoka took the bluenette's other hand. "And thanks for talking me into coming here, Umi-chan. I owe you one. And we both love you." Kotori nodded in agreement.

Umi grunted again without looking at them. "I love you both too. But... please don't do what you were doing... where I might be able to hear you again. Ok?"

Kotori exchanged a wink with her lover over Umi's head. "Deal," they agreed.

A/N: I'll keep this short. Basically, thank you for reading. It's slightly embarrassing that the first fanfic I've published in almost six years is HonoKoto yuri lewdness, but there it is. I know Umi wasn't originally at the airport in the anime, but since this is a reimagining of the scene, I thought it would be fun for her to be there too. Also, sorry for the copious use of parentheses (I'm not sorry). And that's about it. Bye bye.