KotoHonoUmi

KotoHonoUmi is the polyship between Honoka Kosaka, Kotori Minami, and Umi Sonoda from the Love Live! fandom.

Canon
Honoka, Kotori and Umi met when they were young. Honoka and Kotori were already friends, and Umi often watched them secretly, usually behind a tree. One time Kotori and Umi (hiding) watched Honoka try to jump across a large puddle. Kotori didn't think she could do it, but eventually Honoka was able to jump across. Another time, Honoka and Kotori were playing a game with some other kids, and Umi was watching then, too. Honoka noticed her and invited her to play with them. From then the three were friends. Honoka often got them into trouble and dangerous situations, but it was always worth it. Honoka often helped Umi and Kotori to try something new they never would have on their own, and still does it into their high school years.

After hearing that their high school is going to close down, Honoka tells Umi and Kotori they should become school idols to attract students, so it won't have to close. Umi is very against the idea, but Kotori says they should give it a try. Umi joins them anyway and acts as a coach to help them get into shape, since they will be dancing. Umi also writes the lyrics for their first song and Kotori makes the costumes. Honoka acts kind of as the leader of the three.

Finally the time comes for the three to make their debut at the school festival. All three are nervous, but excited, then devastated when they see that no one showed up to see them. Honoka is able to overcome her sadness and tells them that they're going to sing anyway. Hanayo shows up, making them happy, and they perform their song, START:DASH.

While preparing for the Love Live preliminaries, Kotori tries to ask Honoka for her advice on whether she should take an offer to study fashion design abroad. She never finds a good time and eventually just decides to go on her own. Kotori becomes conflicted with her feelings and she does not want to tell everyone about it before their big show. She confides in Umi about her situation. Finally Umi straight-up tells Honoka about Kotori's decision. Honoka gets upset that Kotori didn't tell her, but Kotori starts crying because she was always trying to tell her. On the day of Kotori's flight, Umi tells Honoka that sometimes Kotori, and even herself, need Honoka to be selfish and make decisions for them, because otherwise, they never would have even become idols. Honoka goes to the airport and catches Kotori and asks her to come back and continue being a school idol with them.

Sometime after, the role of student council president and vice-presidents are passed to Honoka, Umi, and Kotori. Unfortunately, Honoka lets all the work pile up and the three have to stay after school to catch-up. Even though they work into the evening, they get into good spirits and on a roll and get it all done. On the day of the LoveLive! preliminary finals, Otonokizaka is having an open house for incoming students. The Chairwoman says that the three don't have to be there, but they stick to their commitment as the student council and oversee the event. However, the snow becomes very heavy and no vehicles can traverse the roads. With the help of their classmates, the three persevere and manage to arrive at the event venue in time.

While preparing to practice for the LoveLive! finals, Honoka just suddenly hugs Umi and Kotori, claiming she just felt like it all of a sudden. Kotori says she felt like that too, and the two proceed to squish Umi. After their performance at Love Live!, the three hug each other again with tears of happiness.

Quotes
"Eeeeh~!? I thought getting married would usually be to a guy but--- Oh well, I see. If it's Honoka and nobody wants me, I might have to get married to one of these two♪ Ehehe♡ That's true~ Umi-chan is reliable but she's also strict, Kotori-chan is kind but she's the type who only follows from behind--- Hmm, Honoka would rather be the child of these two♪ I'll have the two of them marry, and I'll become their baby♡ Uwaah, seems like that'll be a fun family!"

- Honoka's response to "If you were to get married, would it be to Umi-chan or Kotori-chan?" from Dengeki G's Magazine February 2015 issue ~μ's Member Q&A~

Songs
Honoka, Kotori and Umi are most commonly associated with  because it is their debut song and dance that was created and performed by only the three (with the exception of the music track, which was composed by Maki). It is sometimes preferred over the 9-member version because it holds much more significance with just Honoka, Kotori and Umi, as it is the song that began their school idol journey.

The three are also sometimes associated with ' which was a song used as the ending theme in S1E01 and ' which was a song from the School Idol Movie featuring only them.

Fanon
The ship sailed as a result of the three being childhood friends and all second-years. The three being the first main characters introduced, as well as being the founders of μ's are also big reasons. Their timeless friendship and foils to each other naturally made a good ship.

On AO3, KotoHonoUmi is Honoka's 4th most popular ship, Kotori's 3rd most popular ship, and Umi's 5th most popular ship. While the ship is quite popular, the ships involving only two of the three members are more common. The ship can go alongside the First-Year trio and Third-year trio.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Honoka/Kotori/Umi tag on Fanfiction.net
 * KotoHonoUmi comics on Dynasty Reader
 * Honoka/Kotori/Umi tag on Fanfiction.net
 * KotoHonoUmi comics on Dynasty Reader
 * KotoHonoUmi comics on Dynasty Reader

FAN ART

INSTAGRAM

TUMBLR

Trivia

 * Honoka, Kotori and Umi represent Land, Air and Sea respectively.
 * In the beginning, their colour combo was RGB: Honoka - red (pink), Kotori - green, and Umi - blue.
 * The three are featured on the Bokutachi wa Hitotsu no Hikari/Future style, Susume→Tomorrow/START:DASH!!, and Yume no Tobira/SENTIMENTAL StepS single covers art.

Variations

 * HonoKoto refers to the ship just between Honoka and Kotori
 * HonoUmi refers to the ship just between Honoka and Umi
 * KotoUmi refers to the ship just between Kotori and Umi
 * μ's refers to the ship between the three and Hanayo Koizumi, Rin Hoshizora, Maki Nishiniko, Nico Yazawa, Nozomi Tojo, and Eli Ayase.