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ezzydean · 3 years

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barycenter

for @notsuchasecret

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5+1? Nah. 8+1

8 times a friend cared for/comforted Rei and 1 time he comforted a friend.

(barycenter: the common center of mass around which two or more bodies revolve)

Nagisa It’s been a long day. One of the longest he’s had in years. And somehow he still has hours and hours left of it. The math of the day just isn’t adding up but he honestly can’t be bothered to figure out just how the last two hours have actually managed to last approximately fifteen years. Or maybe it’s the last fifteen years that have actually lasted two hours. He’s not even sure which way it should go.

Not much makes sense today.

He’s pressing his fingertips against his eyes, glasses abandoned on the table about twenty minutes past half a year ago, when he hears soft footsteps padding down the hallway towards him.

“Oh, Rei-chan,” Nagisa breathes out.

Then there’s cool fingers running through his hair and a warm body settling into his lap and the smell of Nagisa’s apple scented body wash filling the air between them and it really says something about his day that he doesn’t even attempt to flail, flounder, or protest Nagisa invading his space in any way, shape, or form.

He tips his head forward, nose resting against Nagisa’s collarbone, and wraps his arms around Nagisa’s waist.

Sometime between a half hour and nine years later he relaxes with a shuddering breath and Nagisa hums softly.

“Next time call me before it gets this bad,” Nagisa murmurs.

Rei nods in agreement even though they both know he’s far too stubborn and sometime in the next seventy-whatever month-hours Nagisa will pad down the hallway and spot Rei bent over the table, too tired to function anything remotely close to properly. But that’s okay. Because when he does Nagisa will pull him apart so gently and help put him back together with gentle fingers and bright smiles.

Rin “Hey.” A warm body drops into the booth next to him.

“Hello, Rin,” he replies politely.

“What’s eating you?”

He glances over and meets Rin’s curious gaze for only a moment before he goes back to staring blankly at the menu sitting on the table in front of him.

“Nothing.”

Rin scoffs. “Forgive me if I don’t believe that,” he says. He snatches the menu and grumbles about the ridiculous prices and the silly names and other stuff that Rei barely listens to. He listens to the rise and fall of Rin’s voice. He catches the easy shrugs and hand gestures as he rambles. He feels the way Rin leans against him to half-whisper something to him and then just never quite sits all the way back up.

He simply exists for a little while and lets Rin pull him along in his wake.

By the time the others join him he feels less untethered, less ready to float away at a moment’s notice, and he presses his shoulder against Rin’s in silent thanks. Rin grins a ‘you’re welcome’ in return.

Makoto Sometimes he just gets so incredibly, unreasonably, unfairly cold. When it’s the middle of winter and there’s snow on the ground he can understand it. But in the tail end of summer when the sun is high in the sky and the ground itself seems to throw off heat it’s a little ridiculous.

But ridiculous or not here he is, sitting on the beach and watching his friends chase each other around and laugh and have fun while he sits in the sun and shivers.

A shadow looms over him and Rei leans his head back. Makoto smiles down at him and gestures to the ground next to him.

“May I?” Rei nods with a slight smile of his own. Leave it to Makoto to ask permission before sitting next to him on the beach when they had been squished together in Sousuke’s frightening excuse for a vehicle less than an hour ago.

They sit shoulder to shoulder and watch as Rin and Momo attempt to pull Haru under the water while Gou and Seijuurou egg them on. He’s not entirely sure where Ai and Nagisa have gotten off to but the last he saw of them they had their heads bent together, laughing as they clearly planned something.

A shudder runs through him and he huffs in irritation.

“You know,” Makoto says suddenly. “It still takes me awhile sometimes.” Rei makes a questioning noise. “To get in the water. To be comfortable enough to remember that especially with everyone else here I’m safe.”

“It’s not really that,” Rei says. “I just get so cold sometimes.”

Makoto shrugs. “The water isn’t the only thing they keep me safe from,” he says as Haru dramatically pops up in the water, sending Rin and Momo swimming away from him as fast as possible.

Rei scoots a little bit closer until Makoto laughs and wraps his arm around Rei’s shoulder, pulling him tight against his side and Rei sinks into the warmth and refuses to move even when Rin stumbles up to them a few minutes later and flops across them, soaking them both.

Gou “For someone so smart,” Gou says as she tucks the blankets up around his shoulders, “you’re pretty stupid sometimes.”

Rei does his best to pout at her. Not that it really does much. He doesn’t have Nagisa or Ai’s puppy dog eyes and even if he did he’s pretty sure Gou wouldn’t be swayed by them.

“Not like I was trying to catch Haru’s cold,” he mumbles. At least that’s what he tries to say. He’s not sure how much of it comes out the way it’s supposed to. The fond look Gou gives him really doesn’t help him figure out if the words all came out in the right order or not.

His everything hurts.

“You’re lucky you’re adorable. And my mom loves you so she sent over soup and gave me a list of stuff to buy for you. Even though I’m pretty sure by now I know how to handle a stupid boy getting a stupid cold.”

“I am lucky,” he rasps out.

Gou smiles and brushes some of his sweaty hair from his clammy forehead.

“Yeah. But I suppose we’re lucky to have someone like you too. So we’re all pretty even in the end.”

Sousuke Logically he knows that he’s lucky they caught it this soon. That he’s here mostly for prevention and not for rehab. It still doesn’t stop his hands from shaking ever so much as he makes his way into the clinic for his third appointment for his shoulder.

“Rei?” Somehow the thought never occurred to him that this might be the same clinic that Sousuke visits for his own shoulder.

His hands shake even more and he curls his fingers until they’re clenched fists hanging at his sides. He tenses his jaw and refuses to let himself give in to the tears that suddenly try to overwhelm him.

Sousuke glances over his shoulder. “Hey Ayame,” he calls out. “Ryuugazaki is here for his appointment but we’re gonna go for a quick walk beforehand okay?”

He doesn’t look at the receptionist, a lady who has the kindest eyes Rei has ever seen in his life, doesn’t listen to whatever she says to Sousuke in reply. He just lets Sousuke settle his hand in the middle of Rei’s shoulders and guide him carefully outside.

“I get it,” Sousuke says eventually. They’re about three blocks from the clinic and Sousuke’s hand is warm where it’s still resting between Rei’s shoulder blades. “It’s a lot and it’s kinda frightening. Especially since we’re, you know, not creaky old men. We’ve still got a lot ahead of us. People like you and me we’ve gotta be careful.”

He could be talking about their shoulders. But Rei is pretty sure Sousuke is talking about something far more internal. Something far easier to bust and something that is much, much harder to repair when it does. He nods and takes one last deep breath before they turn and head back to the clinic.

He’s not even remotely surprised when Sousuke is sprawled in the waiting room flipping through a magazine when Rei finally finishes his appointment.

Momotarou Some days you just can’t win. His bag strap broke this morning. He stepped in a puddle less than five minutes after leaving. He dropped his glasses and scratched the lenses. He forgot his lunch on the counter and he’s pretty sure his stomach is trying to eat itself even though it is physically impossible to do so. And now he’s sitting up with a wince and glaring down at the rather impressive scrape he now has on his arm. Because of course his shoes came untied without him noticing until he literally tipped over his own feet.

A hand appears in front of his face and he tilts his head up until he sees a familiar face.

“Come on,” Momotarou says with a friendly smile. “My place is just a few blocks away. We’ll get you cleaned up.”

He can do it himself. His own place is only a few blocks in the other direction. But he lets Momotarou pull him up by his uninjured hand and tug him down the block and lead him to his apartment and push him into the bathroom. The first aid kit Momotarou pulls out is extremely well stocked and Momotarou laughs when he sees the look on Rei’s face.

“Yeah. I’m not the most graceful of people out of the water,” he explains as he wets a cloth and gently wipes at Rei’s arm. “So when I moved out on my own my parents bought me a good first aid kit and then my brother and sister both bought me extra supplies.”

Rei simply nods and lets Momotarou clean his arm and carefully apply antibiotic to it.

“Something wrong?” Momotarou is staring at his arm with a frown.

“No. I just don’t know if I have a bandage big enough to cover the whole thing and I don’t want you to rub it on something on accident.”

Rei glances down at the scrape. “Then give me two bandages,” he says. “Or wrap it in some gauze. It shouldn’t take long to start scabbing up a bit.” Momotarou’s eyes dart from the scrape to the first aid kit to Rei’s face and back again. “If it’ll make you feel better I’ll even stay here a bit before going back outside.”

Momotarou scrunches his face and then nods. “I think that sounds okay.”

“Thank you, by the way,” Rei remembers to say as Momotarou loosely wraps a piece of gauze around his arm. Momotarou grins at him, accepting the thanks with a wink.

Seijuurou “You’re never going to be perfect. None of us are.” The words are surprisingly comforting. Or maybe it’s Seijuurou’s hand warm on his knee as he talks Rei back from the edge of a potentially epic meltdown. “You’re never going to be Tachibana but that’s okay.”

The captaincy had been weighing heavy on his mind and even heavier on his shoulders and instead of giving into the temptation of letting it boil over into frustration and irritation and taking it out on the others Rei had cut practice short and started walking. He’s not quite sure where he is or why the former Samezuka captain was there but he was thankful just the same because Seijuurou had taken one look at him and led him down a sidewalk to a bench, sat him down, and started talking.

About his own blunders as captain. About his rambunctious teammates. About not only training and going to school with his teammates but living with them as well. About how he learned the hard way that he could count on his team to support him.

“You have a good team and, more importantly, good friends. Let them help you. Lean on them if you need to. Hell you have my number still right?” Rei nods absently. “Give me a call if you need. Or call Tachibana. I know I’d be more than happy to help and I’m sure he would too. Just remember. They’re your team now. You’ve gotta figure out what works for you.”

He sits there and lets Seijuurou talk and talk and talk. He does wonder, briefly, when he started being acquaintances with so many talkative people and then promptly pushes the thought aside because he knows exactly when. It was when he joined the swim team.

It was when he made the choice to change his entire life by stepping out of his comfort zone without looking for a net to catch him should he stumble.

Aiichirou They’ve exhausted all their usual topics — classes, their teams, their last meets, their current training regimens — and are simply listening to each other breathe through the phone. He hadn’t expected to find such a close friend in Aiichirou when they had exchanged numbers. Though he probably should have. They both had such big shoes to fill, such amazing captains to follow with their own captaincy, it’s not really that much of a surprise in the end.

“I just don’t know for sure,” he finds himself admitting, breaking the silence.

“About what?”

“Anything,” he says before he can talk himself out of it. “University. Getting a job. Even graduating high school feels a little bit daunting right now if I’m being honest.”

Aiichirou laughs tiredly. “I hear you on that. I’m still not sure if I want to keep swimming competitively in university. I love swimming but, yeah. I just don’t know.”

It’s refreshing to hear it from someone else. Someone who has been dealing with a lot of the same responsibilities and pressure as he has. Trying to balance being a captain on top of school work on top of maintaining friendships.

“But,” Aiichirou interrupts his thoughts before they can wind him up they way he was before he called. “But. It’s okay. Because we’ve got everyone. And it’s okay if we don’t know what we’re doing yet so long as we keep on moving.”

Rei lets the words rattle around in his head for a few minutes, once again listening to Aiichirou breathing, before the words really sink in.

“Have you been reading Nagisa’s inspirational quote of the day texts again?”

Aiichirou laughs and starts talking about the quote Nagisa sent him last week and Rei smiles.

They’ll all figure it out in the end. Because they’ll get there together.

+1 Haruka It’s not unusual to open Haru’s door and find all the lights out and a general feeling of almost abandoned floating through the air. Haru has lived in the same place for years and years but it just always has a semi-permanent feel to it. Like he’s just waiting to pack up and leave it all behind.

Rei has never really been able to understand it. Heck he’s lived in a dozen different places in the last five years and even the shittiest, most temporary apartment felt more lived in than Haru’s place.

Maybe it’s just the dust accumulating on every flat surface because Haru hates cleaning that gives it that feeling. But Rei really doesn’t think that’s it.

Haru lets out a huffy little noise when Rei prods at him with his foot; he’s never understood how Haru manages to fall asleep in the middle of the floor without even a blanket or pillow.

“You know,” Rei says, “it’s okay to stay. To make this place yours.”

“It is mine,” Haru mutters.

“Then get rid of your parents’ ugly tapestry on the wall and put up one of your paintings and stop simply existing here.”

It’s harsh, harsher than he’d usually be with any of his friends, but Haru has always brought out something in him — something a little more raw and fierce and possessive — than any of the rest of them.

Haru scoffs softly but he also reaches out and wraps a cool hand around Rei’s ankle, thumb rubbing gently over the skin, as he considers Rei’s words.

“You’re right,” Haru says eventually, voice tiny in the darkness.

“I usually am,” Rei replies.

“I don’t want to pick the painting though.”

“We’ll pick one for you. It’s what friends are for.”

#free!#free! writing #ryuugazaki rei

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kusunogatari · 4 years

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[ ObiRyū October | Day Fifteen | World War ] [ @abyssaldespair ] [ Uchiha Obito, Suigin Ryū, Nohara Rin, Hatake Kakashi, Namikaze Minato ] [ Verse: A Tear in Time ]

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They are only children. And already they know war, and loss.

Within the first few weeks of reaching chūnin rank, Ryū’s team is devastated on the battlefield. Her two male teammates, barely crowning into puberty, are slaughtered by Iwa nin before her sensei arrives to dispatch them. The jōnin woman finds her huddled in a doton mound one of them had crafted to keep her safe, in shock and trembling.

Without a team, she is instead shuffled into the hospital full-time to make use of her medical training and kekkei genkai. Occasionally Rin is there too whenever her team is off assignment, but it’s rare. Yet she still makes an effort to keep an eye on her friend whenever there’s a chance. It’s rather easy to tell that the deaths still weigh on Ryū’s mind, even weeks after the losses.

It’s the day she decides to turn in her resignation of her shinobi rank that Ryū receives news. A cell has temporarily lost a member due to illness, and given her similar role (and the importance of the mission), she’s to fill the vacancy until they recover.

What takes her aback is who she’s to fill in for.

“Are you okay?”

Looking up from her hospital cot, Rin smiles sheepishly. “Yeah...mild case of pneumonia. I’ll be all right, but...I need to stay back and recover. They can’t delay the mission, and given how stretched thin everyone is, no one else is available.”

Concern knitting her brows, Ryū crosses the room and sits beside her.

“...look, I…” The Nohara hesitates. “...if you don’t want to fill the spot, please don’t. But...you were the first person I thought of. I know you care about those two dummies as much as I do. I...I trust you with them. And they need a medic to keep them patched up, ne? But...if you’re still not sure about keeping on as a kunoichi, then I don’t want to pressure you. I know you got...really shaken up.”

Ryū heaves a soft sigh, gaze dropping to her lap. “...I do want to resign, but...I’ll do it. I don’t want you to worry about them. Once that mission is over, I’ll tender my resignation.” She manages a hint of a smile. “But I better do this, first.”

“Thank you. I’ll rest a lot better knowing they’re in your hands. Besides, you know how they bicker. You’ve always been a good peacekeeper,” Rin notes sheepishly. “I know it’s rather short notice, so Minato-sensei can fill you in on the details before you go. It’s pretty straightforward, but also really important.”

A curt nod flutters Ryū’s ponytail. “You can count on me…!”

With her acceptance of the mission, the rest of team Minato gathers to discuss their strategy and adjust to their new temporary teammate.

“Thank you for signing on, Ryū-chan,” Minato first offers sincerely. “It’s critical we pull this mission off.”

She simply nods in reply.

Kakashi eyes her a bit warily. “Not going to freeze up on us, are you? Are you fit for active duty after losing your team?”

“Oi, Bakakashi!” Obito cuts in, curling a fist. “Don’t be such an asshole! I doubt you’d be so tough if you lost me and Rin, huh?”

“Rin, maybe,” Kakashi counters sourly, making the Uchiha puff up in indignation

“I’ll be fine,” is Ryū’s quiet assurance, trying to cut off the impending argument.

Kakashi doesn’t look convinced, but doesn’t counter her.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Minato instead offers sternly, shooting his underling a warning look, “so long as you two do your jobs and keep the medic safe. Just remember the training you’ve done with Rin, and apply it to Ryū. If we lose our medic, we’ll be in trouble.”

Obito sniffs stubbornly. “Don’t worry, Ryū - I’ll protect you!”

“You barely protect yourself,” Kakashi mutters under his breath.

But before another fight breaks out, Minato orders a few rounds of practice to both reintroduce Ryū to combat, and ensure the three of them can synchronize. It begins a little shakily, but soon enough her reflexes brush off the dust. The boys, though still at odds with each other, manage to pass Minato’s expectations.

“We meet tomorrow at oh-five hundred hours by the main gate. It’s a good trek to Kannabi-kyō, so be prepared, but don’t overpack.”

The three of them nod as the squad leader takes his leave.

“I’m gonna pack early,” Kakashi then announces before doing the same.

Once he’s gone, Obito lets out a heavy exhale, hands weaving behind his head. “Sorry about him, Ryū. He’s just a jerk. I can’t believe he questioned you like that!”

“Well, it’s...a legitimate concern,” she murmurs in reply. “If I’m still traumatized, it could compromise me in a critical moment.”

“But you’re the medic! It’s our job to protect you! Just like we do with Rin,” he huffs, tightly crossing his arms with a scowl. “Kakashi knows it, and still said that. He was just saying it to be cruel! I almost punched him…”

In spite of herself, Ryū gives a small giggle. “You don’t need to punch him. You guys need to get along, ne?”

“We’d get along better if he wasn’t such a jerk.”

She smiles wearily. “Well...we’ll get this mission done, and then Rin should be back on her feet. I’m sure Kakashi’s just unhappy at her being traded out. It can’t be easy having an outsider on your team, ne?”

“But you’re our friend, too!”

“Maybe...but teammates are different. You have to mesh in a different way, ne? I mean...lives are at stake on missions. You have to be fully confident in them beyond just being friends.”

Obito’s cheeks puff slightly. “...why are you making excuses for him?”

“I’m not, it’s just...how it is.” Ryū glances aside, slightly somber. “...I’m nervous, too. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve been in the field, and...while I trust you and Kakashi, we haven’t really fought together. It won’t be the same as it was with my teammates…”

At that, Obito hesitates, clearly not sure how to approach the subject. “W-well...it’ll be okay! We’ll go to Kusa, take out that bridge, and be back before you know it! Then all of us can be happy it’s done.”

That brings a smile back to her face. “...you’re right.”

In truth, part of her is bittersweetly happy. After all, she’s been fond of Obito for a while now. Even if it’s a mission, a little time around him is...nice. And Rin knows as much. Part of Ryū wonders if her friend had that partially in mind when she chose her as her fill-in.

Even if Ryū knows, in the long run, Obito would rather be with Rin.

His crush on his teammate is obvious to...pretty much everyone in their year. But Ryū decides to content herself with what she’s allowed.

She won’t let them down…!

Five a.m. comes early, butterflies of nerves hatching out in Ryū’s gut as she approaches the gate. She’s third to arrive, only Obito still missing.

Rin always talks about his tardiness.

“Maybe we should just go without him,” Kakashi mutters.

Neither Ryū nor Minato bother to counter him, knowing it won’t do any good.

“I’m coming! Wait guys!”

“Obito!” Ryū calls as he approaches.

“About time you showed up - let’s get going.”

Obito scowls at his teammate, but doesn’t retort at Ryū’s pleading look for peace.

The moment they leave the village behind, the tension begins to build. A nervous silence falls between them. Minato leads, Ryū behind him as Obito and then Kakashi bring up the rear.

“You have talent in the sensory, don’t you Ryū-chan?”

“Hai.”

“Try to keep those senses spread once we get far enough out. Any additional warning to people nearby will make a difference.”

Swallowing tensely, she nods.

As they approach the border, however, talk begins to break out.

“So...now that Kakashi is a jōnin, he’ll be taking over as squad leader for this mission. I’ll be splitting off to complete my own task.”

Ryū stiffens in surprise - she hadn’t heard about his advancement. “...congratulations.”

“Rin told me to give you this,” Minato then offers, holding out a medical pouch. “And this kunai is from me.”

An awkward silence falls as Kakashi looks expectantly to Obito.

“I...I didn’t get you anything, mister sour attitude,” he rebukes, crossing his arms.

“Then you can do something else: carry my stuff.”

“Yeah right! I’m an Uchiha! I don’t just -!”

“Guys, please,” Ryū cuts in wearily.

“Come on...let’s go over the plan.” Minato draws out a map, detailing their assignment to get behind enemy lines and destroy the Kannabi bridge while he engages the front line.

But before they can reach their splitting point, an Iwa nin makes a strike.

Kakashi, always forward, begins attacking on his own despite Minato’s warning. Ryū and Obito both hang back...only to have a clone nearly reach them.

If not for Minato, it would have.

But once the fight is over, Kakashi retrieved with a shunshin by Minato, Ryū works on a wound in his shoulder.

“That was foolish,” she quietly notes before Obito can intervene.

“It got the job done.”

“And required Minato-sensei to haul you back.” Silvers lift to Kakashi’s face, not backing down from his glower. “...you forget, he won’t be with us soon. You won’t have him to fall back on.”

“Tch…”

As Obito and Kakashi begin to bicker, ignoring her calls for peace, Minato lectures them both. “I know we’re not our usual team...but teamwork is still our greatest weapon. Don’t forget it. Ryū, get Kakashi patched up...we’ll travel a bit further, and then rest for the night.”

Once evening falls, Minato volunteers for first shift, Kakashi second. Ryū lays out her bedroll, pausing as she notices Obito approach the squad leader.

...you were right, Rin. Things are still so tense between those two. They need YOU here, not me… Gaze averting, she sighs and hunkers down, asleep as Obito and Minato speak.

Come morning, Ryū finds Kakashi’s wound satisfactory. “If you’re not careful, it can still reopen.”

He just grunts in response, pulling his top back up over the bandages.

“All right...from here on, we split,” Minato remarks gravely. “We’re further into enemy territory now...you’re sure to encounter larger numbers. Be on your guard.”

The trio nod, and then take off while Minato flickers.

Kusa’s giant bamboo forms an eerie landscape, the endless expanse of green stalks making judging distance difficult. Ryū does her best to keep her senses piqued as her eyes falter.

And then, Kakashi raises a hand to stop them.

At the fore, an Iwa nin launches bamboo spears, Obito blocking with katon. He and Kakashi ready themselves for battle, Ryū taking a defensive stance.

It’s then she notices a second chakra...but her reaction is just a little too slow.

“Gyah!” A cry leaves her throat as the butt of a hand chops at her neck. Her vision flickers, and then cuts out as she’s knocked unconscious.

Just before she fades, she hears the boys shout in defiance.

From there...things get strange. Immediately, she can tell she’s in a genjutsu. The weird, distorting shapes and wavering voices attempt to wear at her mind and dig at any information held within. But she can’t let anything slip...she can’t let them down…

Outside the illusion, her face twitches, eyelids flickering and mouth moving as though speaking. But nothing leaves her lips, brows furrowing.

“Maa, maa...a tough one. We might have to try something else. In the meantime...I think there’s someone outside you need to take care of.”

“Just give me a moment.”

Crouching in front of Ryū, the nin yanks her head back by her ponytail. “Stubborn little brat...but I’ll fix you.”

The feeling roughly translates through the illusion, a twitch running through her body.

But the next thing she knows, the genjutsu breaks like glass. And in front of her crouch Obito and Kakashi: one with awakened Sharingan, the other with a wounded eye. “You -?”

“Come on, we have to get out of here!”

“Not so fast…”

At the entrance of the false cave, the last Iwa nin smirks. And with a pulse of chakra...the structure begins to buckle.

“RUN!”

Knees shaky after being bound, Ryū nonetheless sprints alongside them to the exit. Thirty paces, twenty, ten -!

“Ah!”

Skidding to a stop, she spots Kakashi downed by a stone, Obito retreating to fetch him. Above them, a chunk of stone lurches downward.

It all happens in a blink.

Suddenly, she’s no longer in the cave. Instead, a snowy mountain rests beneath her feet, a wind threatening to chill her to the bone. And above her, barreling down the slope, an avalanche threatens her doom.

She is calm.

And then a voice leaves her throat...but it’s not her own.

“Bōei no Kabe!”

With a peal like a great bell, the stone crashes down upon them.

But it does not crush them.

Hands raised, Ryū stares up at the boulder a foot above her face, chest heaving and chakra immediately dipping dangerously low. Over her palms, spreading in an arc, a wall of her iridescent white energy glows.

Obito, Kakashi braced against his shoulder, gawks.

“We...h-have to move…!” she grunts. “I-I can’t…!”

He shakes his head to clear it. “Can -? Can you open a hole?”

Trembling, Ryū lets one of her hands lower, the effort threatening to tear her muscles. At her urging, part of the chakra wall gives way. Dust immediately floods the space within, all of them coughing. “Go…!”

Helping Kakashi up, Obito then crawls out, turning back to Ryū. “Here! Take my hand!”

She reaches, fingers stretching just within his reach. With a yank, he tears her out from under the rock just as her chakra fades.

It falls with an earth-shattering crunch.

Utterly limp with exhaustion, Ryū finds herself landed atop Obito. “Nn…”

“...Kakashi...we gotta -!”

“Persistent little brats, aren’t you…?”

The boys tense as reinforcements arrive.

They’re surrounded.

In his hand, Kakashi grips his gifted kunai. “Obito...take Ryū, and get out of here.”

“But -?!”

“Just go!” With a heave, Kakashi throws the blade, which lands in the center of the crowd.

And with a plume of vapor, Minato materializes, drawn by the seal.

“Wha-?”

In a blink...all the Iwa nin lay dead.

Landing beside the trio, Minato’s expression is hardened with battle. “...what happened? Ryū’s chakra feels dangerously low.”

With the realization of safety, however, Ryū loses her grip and passes out.

“- could have been killed -!”

“- can’t believe it…”

“- should heal if you -”

“Mm…” Brow twitching, Ryū forces her eyes to open.

Above her is a rather familiar ceiling.

Hospital.

Mind in a fog, she blinks bleary eyes.

“She’s awake!”

Turning, Ryū can’t even muster the energy to jolt as Rin latches onto her. “R...Rin…?”

“Oh thank goodness...you’ve been out for so long, I was worried! What did you do that drained your chakra so badly?”

“...I -?”

“Rin, you should let her rest, awake or not,” Minato chides from the doorway. Beside him, both Obito and Kakashi strain to see into the room.

“But sensei -!”

He sighs. “...just don’t stress her. She’s still recovering, all right?”

“...hai.”

As he leaves, the boys make their way in.

“You okay?” Obito asks, expression tense.

“I’m...really tired…”

“Sensei said your chakra system got damaged from that technique you used,” Kakashi offers. “It pulled almost all your chakra immediately. You didn’t tell us you knew any barrier ninjutsu.”

At that, her brow furrows. “...I...I don’t.”

“...but -?”

“Maybe we should talk about all that later, ne?” Rin offers in a hushed tone. “You heard what sensei said: don’t stress her!”

Kakashi, chastised, actually quiets.

“...well, either way, you saved our lives,” Obito then offers quietly. “That doton would have crushed us if it weren’t for you.”

“See? I told you guys I picked the best fill-in for me, ne? Ryū was exactly what you needed!”

“Hatake-kun?”

They all look to the door where another medic stands. “Yes?”

“It’s time for you to prep for your surgery.”

Ryū frowns. “Surgery?”

“I’ll go with you,” Rin offers. “Get some rest, Ryū!”

Having no chance to reply, she just watches them go.

“...so, uh…”

Her head turns to Obito, still standing beside her cot.

“How much do you remember? I heard you might be a little fuzzy since you got so tired.”

“There’s...bits and pieces. I...remember the stone, and it falling, but…” Again her brow furrows. “...I used a barrier…?”

“Yeah! Stopped the rock just above our heads - it was amazing!”

“But I don’t know any barrier jutsu, Obito. I…”

“Maybe you...overheard it somewhere before?”

For a moment, her mind flickers back to the snowy scene she’d witnessed. “...there was...something, but…”

“What?”

“...it was like a memory. But it wasn’t mine. I was on a mountain, and snow was falling on me...and I used that jutsu. But that was the first time I remember hearing it.”

“Eh…?” Obito blinks. “A memory...uh...oh! Maybe it was one from a past life, huh? I mean...if you believe in that kind of thing.”

“...I don’t know.”

“Well...you used it, either way. And then you let me and Kakashi out. I pulled you up, and the whole thing collapsed! Then Minato-sensei found us with Kakashi’s new kunai, and...we finished destroying the bridge, and came back here. You’ve been asleep for three whole days!”

The very thought makes her tired. “So...we did it. The mission was a success.”

“Yup! And Rin’s all better, so...you can retire like you wanted to.”

She pauses. “You...know about that?”

“Well, uh...Rin kinda let it slip when we got back. Something about how you were so close to quitting, and then she ‘dragged you into this mess’, as she put it. I think she felt bad...but...she was right. If you weren’t there, we might’ve died.”

“...and if Rin was there, maybe you wouldn’t have ended up in that position to begin with,” she replies bitterly.

“Well...maybe. But the point is, you still saved us. So...thank you.”

“If I hadn’t gotten grabbed, then -”

“Ryū,” Obito cuts in. “It happened. But it turned out okay. That’s what matters, right?”

She doesn’t reply, head turning to look up at the ceiling.

“...listen, uh…” He pauses. “...Rin, she...she kinda rambled when we got back. And, er...your plans to quit weren’t all she said by accident.”

A horrible knowing builds in Ryū’s gut.

“...I’m a pretty lucky guy to have two really cool medic kunoichi who care about me. I know Rin doesn’t see me like I saw her. For whatever reason, she still thinks Kakashi’s all that and more. Dunno why, he’s such a pain...I know I wouldn’t wanna date him...”

Ryū’s eyes close.

“But uh...y’know...it was really cool getting to do a mission with you. Even if it got kinda scary there toward the end. So I thought, y’know...uh…” He fumbles for a moment. “...maybe...some other time, we could...do something else? Together, I-I mean? Like...er…”

Greys fly back open. Is...is he…?

“...well, I dunno if you’d want to. And maybe now’s a really...bad time to ask. But I just -”

He cuts off as Ryū turns to him, her expression tinged with a tired hope. “You wanna...go out with me…?”

Jolting, Obito flushes pink. “Y...yeah! I guess that’s what I’m...trying to say, heh. Would -? Would that be...okay?”

Slowly, a relieved smile pulls at her lips. “...yeah. I...I’d like that.”

“...okay! Uh...cool! Then...then I’ll just...plan on that! B-but you gotta get well, first! Um...do you like flowers? I could bring you some flowers, or -?”

“It would just be nice - if you have time - if you could...stop in and say hi…?”

“...yeah! I can do that!” He flashes a nervous smile. “So, uh...I’ll let you get some rest, okay? And I’ll...see you tomorrow?”

“...okay.”

“Okay. Cool.” He starts backing out of the room, giving a little wave. “...bye!”

Ryū gives a soft snort, watching him go.

“...bye.”

GUH It’s late and I’m exhausted but here we gooo. Meg suggested using this prompt for something same-gen during the third war with everyone as kiddos, and...I kinda latched onto that, ahaha~ Cuz I love smashing canon with a hammer xD I planned to used PART of this in another drabble, but...I think I can still do the other one and fudge it a little. Cuz it’s still different enough to count, but...ye xD Ryū’s bloodline is silly and complicated BUT one thing about it is the retaining of bits of memory from past lives. And I already have it established that - in life or death situations - these tends to hit them with snippets to help keep them alive, as part of ANOTHER aspect of their bloodline, but...that would take a while to elaborate. In short, the memory thing isn’t an asspull, it’s part of her clan’s lore, I promise :’D She saw a time when one of her ancestors used that technique, and thus “learned” it (partially) and used it herself to stop the boulder. Cuz again, canon is smashy smashy lmao But yeah, I’m rambling cuz I’m VERY tired, so I best go sleep~ Thanks for reading!

#obiryū october #abyssaldespair #uchiha obito #suigin ryū #nohara rin #hatake kakashi #namikaze minato #a tear in time [ canon verse ]

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cyb-by-lang · 4 years

Text

The Callout

Since I totally forgot to ever do anything for @writer-and-artist27 in response to all the art she’s sent me over the last few months, I decided winter was a good time to work on something really quick. Thus, a one-day gift fic.

Especially something that encourages my preferred The Sea and Stars ‘ship. :p

This takes place in The Sea and Stars, a crossover with CYB and Civilian Pianist, wherein a whole buncha people are not dead and there’s more than one SIOC running around.

In terms of ships and romance arcs, this is quite possibly one of the most ironic things Kei has ever participated in.

It was a sunny December day in Konoha when Obito Uchiha pounded on my front door. Normally, this wasn’t much of an issue. I kept snacks in the house for exactly this reason. It encouraged my and Hayate’s friends to visit through the expectation of food. Teenagers were a little like vultures that way. Mom only had to help me with the fiddliest parts of candy-making.

“Kei, come on!” Obito shouted from the front step of the house. His voice drifted in through the open window. “I know you’re not busy!”

The fact that he was correct did not, in fact, make my mood lift.

I sighed inwardly and went to the door, opening it just in time to almost catch Obito’s knocking hand with my nose. Luckily, he stopped in time. “Whoa, okay,” I said while he overbalanced just a bit. As he recovered, I followed up with, “What the hell is going on?”

“Um.” Obito stuffed his hands into his pockets, suddenly shy when confronted by my grumpy face. “Can we talk inside? You’re our team’s medic, so…”

I looked Obito up and down. To my chakra sense, his internal flame bobbed uncertainly as though in a high wind. Behind his goggles, his expression was a mix of nervous and potentially nauseous, with the thinnest sheen of sweat over his face. His collar was loose, as though he’d fussed with it, and he shifted from foot to foot like he’d burned them.

I stepped back from the door and ushered him inside. He was so discombobulated that he almost forgot to take off his shoes before making his way to the living room. He shed his jacket before crawling under the kotatsu like some kind of worm. Maybe a bear cub in search of a hiding spot.

“Is someone here?” Mom called, from all the way across the house. She’d been carefully pruning a potted indoor rose in the kitchen when I wandered off to put out fires.

“It’s just me!” Obito replied from his heater blanket spot.

I sat down on the next corner and stuck my legs underneath the quilt.

“Obito-kun?” Mom stuck her head out of the kitchen, expression full of concern. Her gardening scissors were still in one hand. Obito was well within her sensing range, and she was more precise than me. She was basically capable of reading minds.

“I can handle it,” I said to Mom, to keep Obito from having to lie to her. I, for my part, didn’t know I was lying. Couldn’t, since I didn’t know what the problem was.

Mom subsided, though she wasn’t convinced. She retreated with a mild, “Don’t mind me, then. Food’s on the stove.”

And on the table. Like any self-respecting traditional home, we had oranges on the kotatsu to stave off colds and scurvy. And dorayaki, because I’d been assembling them when Obito popped by. The stack of small pancakes were kind of hard to miss.

Obito wiggled a bit out from under the table to inspect the sugar on display.

“So,” I said, as he snatched one of the finished treats from the pile. “What’s eating you?”

“Eh?” Obito managed, around a mouthful of pancake. He chewed quickly, then swallowed. There were crumbs around his mouth. “Um, sorta. Like a medical thingy.”

“And you’re not going to Rin about this?” I asked.

“I tried,” Obito said, pouting. “But she’s busy with her medic training stuff right now, so I came here instead.”

Well, at least being second fiddle to Rin in terms of medical expertise was pretty common. And if Obito wasn’t comfortable heading to the hospital, that was pretty much my role in life at large.

“It’s really freaking me out,” Obito said, even as he picked another dorayaki from the pile. “Kei, I think it’s got something to do with Tomo-chan.”

“With Tomo?” I stared at him, even as my hands kept up the dorayaki assembly procedure. Red bean paste, custard cream, chocolate (originally received as a gift from Tomoko), and then chestnuts. In that order. Variety was key. “What, like she’s poisoning you?”

Obito snorted. If he’d been chomping through dorayaki as fast as I was making them, crumbs would’ve flown out of his nose. “I’d sooner accuse you. Tomo-chan doesn’t have a mean bone in her whole body.”

Accurate. “So, what are your symptoms?”

“Not even gonna defend yourself?” Obito asked, hiding a grin under pretend offense.

I shrugged. Instead, I pointed the spatula I was using in Obito’s face like a sword and said, “Spill, or I can’t help you.”

“Um…” Obito squirmed under my gaze. Sitting up, he could hardly avoid my scrutiny unless he was planning on hiding under the quilt like a five-year-old. And he’d be well within kicking range then.

“Obito,” I said with thinning patience.

“Hey, don’t rush me!” Obito protested, when I made a stabbing motion with the spatula. A little under his breath, he grumbled, “Tomo-chan doesn’t threaten me when I hang around her.”

“And yet you’re here,” I shot back. While Obito mumbled and kept refusing to talk, I settled back into my rhythm of assembling pancake sandwiches. Which was basically what dorayaki were. In a calmer voice, I said, “Seriously, what’s the story?”

“So…” Obito curled a little in on himself, slumped across the tabletop. With his head pillowed by his arms and the plate of dorayaki in front of him, he focused on the sweets instead of meeting my eyes, even through goggles. “You know I’ve been spending more time over at the café, right?”

I nodded. There were basically four places that Obito frequented, besides his apartment in the Uchiha district. One was my house, because my family had gotten as close to adopting him as non-clan shinobi could over the years. Aside from the training grounds and Sensei’s house, the main other refuge for Obito was the Hoshino-run hotspot in the middle of town. And since Sensei was on a mission and there were no scheduled team training sessions for the month, Obito spent a lot of time at the Nagareboshi Café.

“So, the trouble started there?” I prompted, since he’d fallen silent to let me think. Or let himself think. Either-or.

“Kinda?”

I nudged the plate closer to his nose.

“You’re awful,” said Obito, but bit one in half anyway. After swallowing, he explained, “Do you ever see people you know in your dreams?”

I didn’t exactly dream normally, but I definitely experienced something like that. “Yep. Why?”

“So do I, basically all the time.” Obito dropped his chin to the table again, half a dorayaki in his hand. “Like, sometimes Kakashi gets his ass kicked by like a talking marshmallow or something. Or I dream about finding cats, or like sometimes I’m looking out onto a river when the water keeps going up past my feet and I can’t run.”

“Pretty sure that last one’s a nightmare,” I said.

“Yeah, probably.” Obito cleared his throat. “And like, uh, sometimes the dreams are less super weird and more, uh… not.”

I kicked him under the table.

“Ow! Kei, I’m getting to it.”

“You’re circling the drain,” I told him.

“Sheesh, see if I ever tell you secrets again,” he griped. “Kakashi’d at least just make fun of me once.”

I waited.

“Okay, okay, I wouldn’t cut you off like that,” Obito admitted. He sighed mightily, making me raise both of my eyebrows. That was certainly odd for a teenage boy on as much sugar as he’d just consumed. “You know how I was nervous coming here? Like, I can feel myself just break out into a sweat when I’m anywhere near Tomo-chan.”

“You don’t say,” I told him flatly.

Obito pretended I hadn’t just decided to be sardonic at him. “And lately, I’ve been having these weird thoughts. And they’ve been crossing over into dreams.”

I assembled more dorayaki and gestured for him to continue.

“You know how Tomo-chan hugs…basically everybody?”

Having owned the title of “most frequent recipient of Tomoko hugs” five years running, I nodded. “Hard to miss.”

“Right.” His face turned faintly pink. “I’m making it weird, I think.”

“Weird how?” I asked, though the hamster wheel in the back of my head was starting to turn. “Has she been doing it differently?”

“No, it’s more like…” Obito stared down at the table. After a second or two, he pried his goggles from over his eyes and placed them atop his headband’s metal plate, rubbing at the marks it left in his face. “It’s like… She’s really warm.”

Well, duh.

“And, uh…” The tips of Obito’s ears reddened, too. “She’s soft, so when she hugs me, I don’t…really want to let go? But I have to when she does, or else it’s weird. And I guess I’m noticing more when she sticks her face here.” He rubbed awkwardly at where his neck met his shoulder, as though feeling phantom sensation. “And when she does, I can’t help but just want to hang on so it doesn’t end so fast, and then the first thing happens again.”

I resisted the urge to reintroduce my palm to my forehead with a loud smack. Because this? This was getting into the kind of territory that I’d never been completely comfortable with.

Teenage crushes.

Joy of fucking joys.

Still, because I was the big sister friend, I said, “So, how long has this been going on?”

“Um, a couple weeks.” Obito met my gaze. “At first, I figured I was just allergic to something and needed to figure out what.”

“That clearly didn’t pan out,” I said.

“Well, it was pretty obvious it wasn’t gonna once the dreams kicked in.” Obito made a face. “I mean, I’ve had…”

“Weird dreams?” I filled in, my voice still dry.

“Yeah,” Obito mumbled. He’d managed to push the blush away, but now it was back with a vengeance. “I, uh, don’t get them about Rin anymore. And I thought…” His hands wrung together.

“Obito, the only person who doesn’t know about your huge crush on Rin is Rin.” Well. Actually… “Unless it’s gone now?”

“I mean, I still like Rin,” Obito said immediately, almost frantic. “But—But maybe not the same way?” His voice dropped into a whisper as he ducked his head. “I mean, I don’t get all weird around Rin anymore, do I?”

“You’ve followed Rin around like a puppy since I’ve known you,” I said, setting the spatula aside. I planted my elbow on the table and leaned on it, tilting my head to try and peer at his face. “Like, you couldn’t’ve made it more obvious if you ran around wearing a shirt that said ‘Obito Loves Rin’ on the front and ‘I’m Obito’ on the back. You’re not gonna be any less obvious if the crush latches onto Tomo instead.”

Obito made a funny gurgling noise in the back of his throat.

I heroically resisted the urge to grab Obito’s goggles, pull, and let them snap back onto his head with enough force to bowl him ass over teakettle backwards. He didn’t get to escape this conversation by melting into goo after having dragged me into it.

“She’s my friend.” Obito’s voice was more a wail than anything. Just quiet and muffled by the table. “I’m making it weird and I can’t make it stop!” Miserably, he added, “Maybe it’s because like…some part of me doesn’t want it to, and I can’t make that stop either.”

I considered the embarrassed ball of whining teenager my mostly-brother had turned into. “So… We’ve successfully figured out that you have a huge crush on Tomo. And that you totally lied to me about not being able to go to Rin.”

Obito didn’t protest.

“What are you going to do about it?” I asked.

“I don’t know.”

“The whole ‘hold my feelings in until I die of old age or Rin’s crush on Kakashi wears off’ method didn’t work for the last one,” I pointed out. It cut very close to an unpleasant potential future I didn’t want to think about, but maybe making a joke of it would take the edge off. “Might wanna try something different for this.”

“Your advice sucks,” Obito said, glaring at me.

“Tomo wouldn’t notice your crush unless you asked to kiss her,” I went on, fairly mercilessly. “Do you want to?”

Obito more resembled a tomato than a shinobi. “Kei!”

“That’s not a ‘no,’” I said.

“No, it’s not a ‘no,’ but you can’t just ask someone that!”

“Why not?”

“You just can’t!”

“That’s not a reason,” I said, crossing my arms.

Obito jerked his head away, visibly biting his lip. His flush faded quickly this time.

“What is it?” I asked.

“We were both there when she talked about Tai,” Obito said finally, and my stomach sank a little at the name.

I’d decided if I ever got my hands on Tomoko’s shitty former friend, I’d rip his hair out by the roots. In the meantime, speaking the name of that person felt like admitting there was a chance I wouldn’t be violent.

Obito apparently didn’t believe in unpersoning someone and letting the memory die a cold, lonely death.

“I-I can’t break her heart like he did.” Obito’s earnest expression was a little heartbreaking. “I just can’t.”

“Do you think you’re going to?” I asked.

“Well, I mean, Tai hurt her without knowing. I can’t know if I don’t know, you know?” Obito talked in circles when uncertain, like it put off the answer until a time when he wouldn’t be on the spot.

No such luck for him. “The guy used Tomo as a punching bag. You have the basic capacity to ask people what’s wrong and change your behavior to avoid hurting people.” If there was a thread of vibrating rage cutting through my words, Obito likely didn’t hear it. “Don’t compare yourself to that scumbag.”

“He was Tomo-chan’s friend first, though. And that’s a—”

“Hey,” I interrupted. “Do you think I’m going to hurt you?”

“No?”

“Or Tomo? Or Kakashi or Rin?” I rattled off, faster.

“No!” Obito looked offended on my behalf. “Who’s saying stuff like that?”

I sliced through the air between us with one hand, silencing him. “Obito, you aren’t him. If you can’t trust yourself to be considerate, that’s one thing, but this isn’t even you talking. You’re letting fear run away with you.”

“Tomo-chan deserves better than—”

I grabbed Obito’s dorayaki out of his hand.

“Hey!”

“You don’t get this back until you stop talking like that,” I informed him. “Don’t even think you’re faster than me.”

“You’re just saying that because I don’t have my Sharingan yet!”

And he would, eventually. But that wasn’t now.

“And since you don’t, you’re just gonna have to listen to me,” I said, gesturing with the half-a-pancake. While he glared at me, I asked, “Do you like Tomo?”

“You know I do,” Obito snapped.

“Do you ever want to hurt her feelings?”

“Of course not!”

Well, then maybe he’d forgive me for being rather rough with his right now. It was the angriest friend pep-talk I’d given in my life, and it was still in progress. “Then what do you want to do? You, not that asshole’s whiny ghost.”

“I—” Obito hesitated. He lost steam.

“You aren’t him.” I dropped the dorayaki back on the plate. “You’re Obito.”

“I…” Obito swallowed, as though his mouth was suddenly dry. “I want to hold her hand. I want to hug her. I just… I hope she’s happy with me around.”

It wasn’t like Obito could read chakra yet, but… “Believe me, she is.”

Obito huffed a laugh. “You’d know, I guess.”

More or less. “Do you want to help her be happy?”

“I do.” Obito knew that for sure, at least. “I just don’t know how to…do that. I think all I do is scare her.”

I mean, your potential scares the hell outta me, but that’s not exactly the point, I thought. “What Tomo’s scared of is people getting hurt. You definitely included. Which, given our jobs, is kinda part of the package.”

Leaving aside the question of foreknowledge, shinobi life was genuinely dangerous. Tomoko knew damn well that people around her could get hurt or killed without any chance for her to weigh in until the crisis was over. If she couldn’t accept that, Tomoko would’ve kept her head down from the start.

“You can’t control stuff like that,” I said, after a bit of a pause. I leaned forward on my elbows. “But you can control your own actions. Again, what do you want to do?”

Obito’s gaze darted around. “You’re sure I can’t just not say anything…?”

“Oh, you could do that. It just didn’t work the first time,” I said lightly. “So, pick your poison.”

“You suck,” Obito complained. “How the hell did I get stuck with such a jerk for a best friend?”

“Oh, like I’m the one who’s making your life difficult right now. That’s all you.”

Obito blew out a frustrated breath. “So like…if I wanted to tell her, then, what do you think I should do?”

I shrugged. “Something totally not subtle at all.”

“Sensei says I don’t know what ‘subtle’ is,” said Obito, “but you’re the one who keeps trying to use explosive tags in sparring matches.”

Pff, whatever. I hadn’t gotten close to actually tagging Sensei yet. “Don’t turn this back on me.” I drummed my fingers on the table. Without apparently noticing, Obito did much the same on his arm as we thought. Finally, I said, “If you’re gonna do this confession thing, you have to make it absolutely clear. Tomo throws around ‘I love you’ hard enough to concuss bystanders, so just throwing her phrasing back is gonna get you nowhere. Like, make it really clear.”

Obito buried his face in his hands. “Why did I come here for advice?”

“Because I know Tomo better than anybody ‘cept maybe her parents?” And her split personality fragment. Without letting him respond, I said, “You might have to try more than once. But I swear, if you let her leave with some kinda goofy misunderstanding, I’ll throw these things at you until you fix it.” I pointed at the dorayaki, then crossed my arms with an even more stubborn air. “I am not putting up with unresolved crush drama.”

“Should I just get a bunch of roses?” Obito asked, half-sarcastically. He measured what’d probably be a solid two-dozen blooms in a bouquet, if he hadn’t just been holding empty air. “Maybe then she’d get it?”

“If they’re red, probably?” I wasn’t exactly a member of the hanakotoba club or anything, but I did know that different flowers had different meanings. And that Tomoko would read anything as platonic if at all possible.

“And if I yell ‘I’m in love with you!’ in public?” Obito went on, now apparently finding his footing.

“You say that, but she got up in the middle of the stands and said pretty much the same thing during the Chūnin Exams, while waving a huge flag.”

“Oh shit. I forgot for a second.” Obito’s blush was back.

“Like I said. Do not leave room for interpretation. Or misinterpretation.” I finally reached out and patted his shoulder. “Good fucking luck, man.”

Obito groaned. “Now that you’ve said it, I know I’m gonna need it.”

“You two had better not include cursing in your master plan,” said Mom from the kitchen. Like she hadn’t been there the whole time, listening to our ongoing drama. She stuck her head around the corner again. “Tomoko-chan deserves better than that.”

I gesticulated with both hands and a spatula. “But does she deserve better than Obito?”

Mom looked Obito up and down like I had, and he looked like he wanted to sink into the floor and disappear.

“You suit each other just fine,” said Mom.

“That’s what I said!” I pumped an arm in victory.

“I can’t take much more of this.” Obito still accepted the pile of dorayaki when I shoved them at him again. “Why is being in love so stressful?”

“Dunno. But hey.” I patted his shoulder a little more gently this time. “You’ll be cute together.”

“Please shut up.”

“Never.”

--------

The promised day was really just about a week later, because finding roses in winter was more annoying than it really had to be. We talked to Kakashi about it, got nowhere, and then went to Kushina in desperation when he told us to basically fuck off and leave him alone.

She pointed us at the Yamanaka clan, because she had most of her shit in order.

Then.

The day.

Arrived.

It was like watching a slow motion train wreck in the middle of Nagareboshi Café.

And Obito tried.

“Tomo-chan,” he began, hiding the bouquet with little success behind his back. “I—I love you.”

Kakashi rolled his eyes.

I sighed through my nose.

“I love you too, Obi!” Tomoko said, because of course she did. It didn’t take a Hyuga to notice that the words hadn’t sunk in properly, merely being interpreted as another sign of friendship. “I’m really glad we’re friends.”

“Ouch,” said Kakashi, inaudible to the goofball couple.

I twitched with the urge to kick him under the table, but too many parents were in the immediate area. I’d probably get yelled at almost instantly.

“So, um, I got you this bouquet…” Obito trailed off a little uncertainly. “To, um, thank you for everything.”

Kakashi looked like he shared the urge to facepalm. Obito had lost the thread a little.

Our observation wasn’t all that subtle by shinobi standards, but Tomoko didn’t exactly know that we were here for a specific event. She just figured we showed up for the free food, which was fair.

At least her focus was still on Obito.

“This is painful,” my dad muttered, only to be elbowed from both sides by my mom and my brother. “Ow!”

Tomoko’s expression lit up. “They’re beautiful. I think there’s a vase to put them right… here…”

“They’re red roses,” Obito said, with the slightest tinge of desperation for her to get the message.

“Yeah, th—” Tomoko froze mid-word like a badly buffering video. “O-Obi? This is—um—eh?” Her voice pitched upward, tossed in wild waves of stammering emotion, as her big blue eyes locked directly on Obito’s crimson face. “Eh?!”

“I, um…” Obito and Tomoko at least matched. Any redder and cars would treat them like traffic lights.

If there were any cars around here, anyway.

“Wh-when I say ‘I love you,’ I mean I’m in love with y-you,” Obito said. “In c-case that wasn’t clear!”

Tomoko squeaked. “I—Obi?!”

“He thinks you’re super cute!” Dad yelled from the back of the shop, before Hayate hissed at him to stop helping.

“B-but—” She sounded one step short of hyperventilating, so I started to slide out of my seat. Maybe I’d be needed, medically. Like, for once in this entire sequence of events.

Kakashi stopped me immediately.

Better let the kids sort it out.

“Ohgod,” Tomoko said frantically, “I—I—I thought you liked Rin?!”

Oh, great. I could feel Obito’s chakra flicker uncertainly. Way to shoot yourself in the foot, both of you.

Tomoko’s feelings weren’t difficult to parse out. There was a little happy balloon in the middle of a whole rat’s nest of sharpened punji stakes. It drifted close to popping itself on such insecurities as “canon compliance” and “but he’s not into me” any direction it turned.

“Not me,” she half-mumbled, only a short hop from denial to the dangerous zone of actually hurting Obito. “Wh-why me? I-I mean—”

Not even Tomoko could miss the way Obito’s face fell, even as he gently took her bouquet-occupied hands in his.

“I-I mean, I’m honored—b-but I—” Her head jerked away from his face and toward the piano. She vented all of her feelings through ninshu, so not having the release valve was probably making her even more nervous. “A-are you sure? About me?”

“I’m sure about me,” Obito said, his voice a little faint. “B-but now I’m less sure about y-your feelings.”

“D-don’t be!”

“This is actually, legitimately painful,” Kakashi muttered.

I thought that over and decided I agreed. Sheesh, the secondhand embarrassment was thick enough to cut. It was gonna fall and smother the lot of us. “At least it’s not you over there, right?”

Kakashi snorted, his chakra buzzing with the agitation of someone trapped in a social situation ANBU would kill to escape.

Tomoko let out a hiccup. Though she was careful not to squeeze the bouquet too hard in case there were thorns hidden somewhere, she gripped Obito’s hands back with enough force that their knuckles went simultaneously white.

Hope buoyed Obito’s chakra. “T-Tomo-chan…”

“I-I do like you, Obi. I just don’t know how much I do compared to you.” While Tomoko spoke in her sincere way, I made a mental note to buy a spray bottle. She needed some kind of way to discourage negative self-talk, but now wasn’t the time. “But, um, I’m willing to find out more with you by my side.” Her voice tilted upward, not quite a question. “If that’s okay?”

“Definitely.” Obito beamed.

Tomoko matched that smile.

#the sea and stars #keisuke gekko #obito uchiha #hoshino tomoko #kakashi hatake #miyako gekko #wataru gekko #gift fic #snippets

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pain-somnia · 5 years

Text

A Tale of Two Carps

Characters: Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Fam, mentions of KakaRin, and a little SasuSaku (they babey) Rating: K+ Disclaimer Day’s Notes: Happy Bday to our fave boy! I originally plotted this out as a backup fic for @a-year-of-naruto a seasons themed general Naruto zine. I just really wanted to write some Modern AU Uchiha family fluff, so here’s some 17 year old Obito doting on his baby cousin, 3 year old Sasuke around the time of Kodomo no Hi (Children’s Day) I hope you enjoy the fic and make sure to check out my spotlight and all of the other contributors.

A Tale of Two Carps

The classroom’s curtain fluttered when the breeze rolled through the window. The students were supposed to be using their break time to prepare for their test but the coming holiday was on their mind.

“Obito,” Kakashi pulled his manga away from his face to look at his friend properly, “not that I care, but what are you doing?”

“Shit!” Distracted, Obito pricked his finger with his needle. He sucked on his index finger and then wiped it on his pants before getting back to the blue fabric on his lap.

Ignoring Kakashi, Obito returned to his work of embroidering on the fabric on his lap. The days were closing on him and he had to finish his project before the fifth of May. School really cut into the time he could have been using. Instead he had to deal with the bombardment of exams they were being given before their holiday break.

“It’s a windsock!” Their class representative and best friend, Nohara Rin, supplied after examining the nylon material. “Are you making a koinobori?”

Obito nodded his head enthusiastically, grateful that the carp was obvious in the design. He continued stitching the pattern of the scales, glad that his first attempt was coming along so well.

“Aren’t you a little old to hang a windsock?” Kakashi asked before hiding his face behind his manga again.

“It’s not for me,” Obito rolled his eyes, “it’s for my cousin! I noticed his windsock was looking a little beat up so why not make a new one?”

“This is a lot of fabric, Obito.” Rin lifted one end of the nylon attempted to stretch it out. “And you’re hand sewing all of this? How big is it?”

“About as tall as Sasuke-kun.” Obito hummed and went back to sewing sequins to the scale pattern. He hoped the sequins would catch the sunlight and shimmer as the windsock waved with the breeze.

“Oh, the younger brother, right?” Rin pulled a seat closer to him and assisted him in attaching the sequins.

“Of course,” Obito scoffed. “Why would I make one for Itachi?”

Kakashi curled himself inward, attempting to block out the lecture Rin was giving Obito about how he favored his youngest cousin too much. Sasuke had been born when they were in their third year of middle school and even now that they were high school seniors, Obito continued to spoil his baby cousin.

“I mean, how can you say no to that face,” Obito cooed every time he got called out for it. It wasn’t as if Sasuke asked for anything, but it didn’t stop Obito from showering the toddler with affection.

Most of the students were excited for Golden Week to take a break from school. Obito was looking forward for the holiday break because he could spend as much time as possible at his Uncle Fugaku’s house which meant more time around his favorite relative.

“Sasuke!” Obito squatted down so that he was at eye level with Sasuke and opened his arms wide to intercept a hug that wasn’t coming.

“Why is Obito-nii here?” Sasuke pouted, gripping tightly to the straps of his backpack. “Where’s kaa-san?”

Obito hung his head in defeat. It was always the same reaction from him whenever Obito showed up.

“I even ran all the way here,” Obito muttered at the ground.

“He’s leaving without you.” Kakashi kicked his rear to get him moving. Obito yelped and rubbed his rump. Rin giggled into her hand before coughing and turning to scold Kakashi.

“Wait, what?”

Ignoring his best friends interaction, Obito spun around to find his baby cousin walking ahead with a blonde woman and her rose gold haired child.

“Wow. He even got a little girlfriend before you,” Kakashi drawled.

“Shut up!”

Obito watched as the little girl rambled enthusiastically and waved her hand around talking to both her mother and to Sasuke. Sasuke wouldn’t speak but would nod or shake his head at certain intervals. Obito’s eyes traveled down to the joined hands of Sasuke’s friend and her mother.

I should be doing that too. Obito stood up and dusted off his pants, strengthening his resolve.

“Well, we’re off to our date. Good luck with the cousin, Obito.” Rin patted him on the shoulder reassuringly. Kakashi put his hand on Obito’s shoulder and stared at him for a moment before shaking his head.

“You could be more supportive, Kakashi,” Obito grumbled. He adjusted the strap of his messenger bag for school and the strap for tote bag he used to carry his windsock materials on his shoulder and sped up to catch up to Sasuke.

“We hold hands when walking near the street, Sasuke-kun.” Obito waved his hand cheerily in front of Sasuke, urging him to grab it.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his older cousin and then shook his head. Instead he reached for his friend’s hand and held onto it.

“Don’t be weird, Obito-nii.”

Obito hung his head in defeat again. He loved his little cousin, but gods was he a little shit.

“I’m sorry,” the little girl called out to Obito, misunderstanding the situation. “I only have two hands.

“You can ignore him, Sakura.”

One could only hope that Sasuke got better as he grew up.

After Obito and Sasuke split ways from Sakura and her mother who lived on a different street with more modern houses, he was finally able to take hold of Sasuke’s hand for the rest of their walk to Sasuke’s house. Obito took out his copy of the house key and unlocked the door.

“You can go now, Obito-nii.” Sasuke waved him off as he sat down at the genkan and removed his shoes.

“Oi. I’m here to babysit.”

“I’m not a baby!”

Obito sighed and slipped out of his sneakers and into the spare slippers he used whenever he visited. He could only hope that Itachi came straight home from his elementary school and helped with Sasuke. With his luck it was more likely that Itachi and Shisui would stop by the park on their way home.

“Let’s get you washed up and changed into some house clothes and I’ll make you something to eat.”

“Onigiri?” Sasuke asked hopefully, unpacking his bento box from his backpack to hand to Obito.

“Yeah, I guess that can be a snack.” Obito set the timer on the rice cooker so that the rice would be ready after Sasuke was washed up and changed into his sleepwear.

It was a struggle to get the toddler to settle down for a shower and then bath. By the time Obito was able to get Sasuke cleaned up for a bath he was completely soaked as well. He set his clothes to wash and dry in the connected laundry room and bathed as well.

“I want Roar-chan.”

“Roar-chan isn’t waterproof, Sasuke-kun.” Obito reached into the bucket of bath toys by the bath and handed Sasuke a toy tugboat.

“Where were Kaka-nii and Rin-neechan going?” Sasuke asked, dragging the toy across the surface of the water.

“Kakashi promised he would take Rin to a café last week and she’s cashing in on that today.” Obito leaned back, sinking his body further into the water.

“They were holding hands.” Sasuke dropped the toy and formed a water gun with his hand and squirt water at Obito. “I do that sometimes too.”

“Oh, yeah? With who? Sakura-chan?”

“Maybe.” Sasuke shrugged but averted his gaze. Obito laughed at the redness of his ears and Sasuke splashed water at him.

“Okay,” Obito coughed through the waves of water, “time to get out. Don’t want you to overheat.”

Obito changed into some of his uncle’s sweats and left Sasuke on his own to change into his pajamas. He insisted he was fine on his own without Obito’s help so that left Obito with making something for him to eat. He had just finished forming all of the rice balls when the front door opened.

“I’m home.”

“Itachi-niichan!”

“Hey Itachi, go wash your hands and━what the hell happened to you!?”

The eight year old stood in the gekan covered in dirt. Shisui stood right next to him, covered in even more dirt, if possible.

“Take off your shoes and socks and head straight to the bathroom,” Obito instructed them, snatching their backpacks before they could take them into the house and ruin Auntie Mikoto’s floors. “Shisui, don’t you have your own house?”

“Don’t you?”

“I’m babysitting!” Obito snapped, dusting the backpacks in the doorway.

“I’m not a baby!”

This is going to be a long afternoon, Obito groaned inwardly, picking up the discarded dirty socks and shoes.

Once Itachi and Shisui were soaking in the bathtub, Obito was able to sit Sasuke down to eat his onigiri. Sasuke wasn’t as quiet a kid as Itachi but when he sat down to eat he focused on the task in silence. Even with how quiet it was, Obito preferred it over his own home. He had been adopted by his great-uncle after his mother passed away during his first year in middle school but he was almost never home. Uncle Madara was far too busy with work and was only around for important holidays.

“I’m finished,” Sasuke announced setting his cup of barley tea down. He helped Obito clear the chabudai and then moved to the living room with a box of building blocks.

“Can we watch TV?” Shisui entered the living room, dressed in a pair of Itachi’s pajamas. Despite the two year gap between the two boys, Itachi’s clothing fit him well enough.

“Don’t you have homework?” Obito questioned him from where he was doing his own homework, a few feet away from where Sasuke was building a skyscraper.

“You’re never this strict with Sasuke,” Shisui complained.

“Sasuke-kun is three. He doesn’t get homework yet.”

“Yeah, I’m three.” Sasuke smiled smugly at Shisui.

“Only for two more months,” Shisui grumbled before turning to grab his backpack from the genkan. “Your cuteness will run out one day, twerp.”

Obito got up and set down a plate of onigiri for him and Itachi when the two of them took out their workbooks.

The scratching of pencils on paper and the sound of Sasuke babbling as he played caused a tingle to run from the back of Obito’s down his neck. It was a soothing feeling, pleasant as he flipped through his math workbook.

He could do this, just this, everyday for the rest of his life.

“I’m still hungry.”

“You have two hands don’t you, Shisui?” Obito rolled his eyes but got up anyway to see what else he could scrounge up from the contents of the fridge.

“Thank you, Obito-nii!” Shisui sang out.

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Thank you so much Obi-kun.”

“It’s no problem, Auntie.” Obito sandwiched his cell phone between his ear and shoulder as he opened up his umbrella. “As long as Haruno-san calls the daycare it should be fine. I’ll see you when you get back from work.”

Obito ended the call and slipped the phone into the pocket of his hoodie. It was unusually cold but that’s how it got when it rained sometimes.

“What was that about?” Kakashi asked, shaking out his own umbrella. With Rin busy with library duties the two of them were left to head home on their own.

“My aunt’s friend had an emergency at the shop she owns with her husband, so she can’t pick up her daughter from daycare. I don’t mind babysitting her, she’s a cutie.”

“What’s up with you and toddlers?” Kakashi questioned as they made their way to the daycare. “First it was old people, now it’s babies?”

“Pre-schoolers are much better than the elderly. I might wanna be a daycare teacher.”

Kakashi walked with him until they reached the daycare and then he split ways, heading home in a different direction.

Oh my gods! Too cute.

Sasuke and Sakura were both wearing raincoats and boots. Sasuke’s coat was dinosaur themed and the green hood had blue spikes while Sakura’s was yellow and covered with ladybugs. She even had a matching umbrella that looked like a giant ladybug.

Little kids got all of the best stuff.

“Where’s my umbrella?” Sasuke demanded.

“Ah, shit.”

Sakura gasped at the curse and Obito slapped his hand over his mouth. Uncle Fugaku was always getting on his case for watching what he said in front of Sasuke during his impressionable years.

“I didn’t have time to pick it up, Sasuke-kun,” Obito explained quickly, hoping that the more words he said would cover his slip up. “We’re just going to have to share.”

Sasuke’s face scrunched up and he said, “No thanks,” before he opened up Sakura’s umbrella and held it up over their heads as best as he could.

“Little shit,” Obito muttered under his breath in disbelief. Just once it would be nice for Sasuke to be a little kinder to him.

He followed right behind them making sure they stayed a good distance away from the curb. They reached the road they needed to turn onto when the little kids continued walking straight ahead.

“Guys, we turn right left here.”

The two of them stopped and looked up at Obito. It was starting to get unsettling how Sasuke looked up at him impassively.

“We’re going to the conbini,” Sasuke explained as if it was obvious.

“Now why would we do that?” As far Obito knew Sasuke didn’t carry money on him because his aunt and uncle kept his allowance in a coin bank.

“You’re going to buy us ice cream.”

“Say what?” Obito looked from the firm stare Sasuke gave him to Sakura’s beaming smile. He turned back to Sasuke and reminded him that he didn’t even like ice cream.

“I like lemon-honey popsicles.”

“Your mom makes those,” Obito reminded him. “And she doesn’t like it when you eat junk food.”

“My mom also doesn’t like it when you use bad words.”

Was he really getting shaken down by two toddlers? Where the hell had he even learned about blackmail from? Obito stared long and hard at his baby cousin.

“Fine.”

“Sakura likes Häagen-Dazs.”

“I’ll hug you.”

“A fruit popsicle is fine.”

“It better be.” Obito opened the door to let them inside the convenience store. “I didn’t even know you knew how to pronounce Häagen-Dazs.”

Obito made sure that Sasuke and Sakura took a bath when they got to his uncle’s house and changed them both into warm pajamas. The last thing he needed was one of them getting sick on his watch.

He was sure after their snack at the conbini that their appetite was ruined and didn’t bother making anything to eat. He was sure that they wouldn’t be hungry before Itachi decided to show up.

With the two of them playing in the corner of the living room, Obito sat on the floor and leaned back against the couch. He tugged his tote bag closer to him and took out the koinobori he had been working on. It was almost finished and he could give it it’s last few touches before his aunt and uncle came home.

Sasuke was a brat, but Obito considered him his brat. He was still a child himself when Itachi was born and Itachi was odd from the start. He didn’t spend much time his younger cousin, not until Sasuke was born.

Sasuke was a difficult pregnancy for Auntie Mikoto and born prematurely. She was weak after the birth and Obito had nothing to do, not wanting to go to an empty house. When Auntie Mikoto returned home from the hospital with Sasuke, Obito made sure to visit every day after school and on weekends to help around the house.

So Sasuke was a brat and could try being a little nicer to people that weren’t his older brother or Sakura, but he was a big part of what made Obito feel at home somewhere.

“What’s that?” Sakura had shuffled over from where she and Sasuke had been playing and started gently poking at the shiny sequins on the windsock. Curious as well, Sasuke had wandered over and picked up one of the windsock and examined it.

“It’s a koinobori!” Obito spread it out on the floor to show off it’s carp shape. “I’m making it for Sasuke ‘cause his old one got damaged last year and looks a little beat.”

“But I already have a koinobori.”

“You can’t use that one, silly.” Obito ruffled Sasuke’s messy spikes. “It won’t hold up against the wind.”

“No, I have a new one. Tou-san bought it the other day. It has lightning patterns on the scales.”

“He...he did?”

Obito looked down at the finished koinobori and frowned. He was so excited about making the windsock that he hadn't considered that his uncle would replace the old one.

“You can have it anyway. Not like I need one.”

Obito sighed, resting his chin on his fist as he watched the two kids run off with his koinobori. It might not be serving its original purpose of celebrating Sasuke on Children’s Day but at least Sasuke was using it for something.

Uncle Madara was busy yet again even though it was Golden Week.

Obito used the days off from school to camp out at Kakashi’s place. During the day he split his time between hanging out with his Aunt Mikoto and Sasuke and helping restore the community garden. Apparently Shisui, Itachi, and Shisui’s friend Iruka had attempted to dig a tunnel system of sorts but none of the adults had caught them. Obito only knew because he found a necklace that could only have belonged to Itachi in the wreckage.

Now that it was the fifth of May, Obito had to meet up with his family at his Uncle Fugaku’s house to help his aunt make the sticky rice cakes with red bean jam and sticky sweet rice treats used to celebrate the holiday. He was sure that he would probably end up eating double portions of them again because Sasuke always gave them to him. It seemed that Sasuke was going to be one of those kids that didn’t like sweet foods.

“Huh?’

Entering the gate to their house, Obito noticed something sparkling from the corner of his eye.

“Just in time,” his Uncle Fugaku grunted. “Come help me with these.”

Uncle Fugaku held up the windsocks he had taken out to hang off of the side of the house. In his hand was one black carp, one pink carp, one red carp, and one sparkly, sequined blue carp.

“That’s the carp I made.”

“Yeah. We sent the one we bought to the daycare center.” Uncle Fugaku handed him a rope and together they knotted the kites.

They set up the pulley and yanked on the rope until the wind caught the flying carps. Just as Obito had hoped, Sasuke’s carp shimmered as it fluttered in the wind.

“Sasuke insisted we hang up this one up.” Fugaku clapped Obito on the shoulder and nodded towards the house, inviting him in. “He said that it was special. Didn’t matter that I got a carp with lightning like he asked me to.”

Sasuke was a brat, but he was a lovable one. Obito would gladly eat all of his sticky rice cakes for him. Maybe he’d make him some onigiri instead.

#uchiha family #sasusaku #day!fics

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thefifthclown · 5 years

Text

Part 1, Chapter 6-That’s Why I Told You to Escape; Scene 2

Fifth, Pierrot, pages 185-189

Once more a string of serial killings occurred in Rolled.

October 2nd.

Lower house congressman Elman Ordovan was murdered in Rolled’s 11th district.

He was the man who had pushed the most strongly for Julia’s resignation in parliament.

November 21st.

The body of Saintes Faraux Newspaper reporter Isidor Anguel was found in Rolled’s 2nd district.

He had knife wounds in his abdomen.

According to his colleagues, he was following up on the president’s scandal.

December 8th.

World Police investigator Jean Marcel went missing.

Two days later, on December 10th, a waterlogged corpse was found in the Orgo River. It was confirmed to be Jean.

He had been conducting an investigation into the cases of Elman and Isidor.

--Ayn’s thoughts whirled as he rested his eyes on the investigative documents before him in the inn.

He had once more returned to the city of Rolled. By all rights he should have come here much sooner.

As the case caused by “Fifth, Pierrot” was far from resolved.

Rin Chan had cooperated with the investigation, but had remained close-lipped on “Fifth, Pierrot”. She had told them that Pierrot had always worn his white makeup while she’d been in his clutches, and so she couldn’t really learn his face. Ayn didn’t know if that was true or not, but as long as she wasn’t a suspect he couldn’t afford to question her too harshly.

And the other person who knew the truth—Bruno, or rather Kaidor Blankenheim, had been killed before he could tell them everything.

The World Police was of the opinion that this too was the work of “Fifth, Pierrot”, but Ayn and Willus weren’t completely sure on that.

First, the modus operandi was different. “Fifth, Pierrot” generally committed his crimes away from prying eyes. But Kaidor’s killer had boldly slipped into a World Police facility of all places and killed him while evading surveillance.

Another difference was that the weapon used in Kaidor’s murder was not a knife. The wound was much wider than with the prostitutes, and his body had been completely stabbed through. It was likely a weapon with a longer blade than a knife.

Of course, as the circumstances of Kaidor’s case were different from that of the prostitute killings, it was possible that Pierrot had changed his methods.

Willus was currently pressing forward on that investigation.

Ayn had returned to Rolled in order to investigate into the serial killings that had once more begun in this city.

None of the current victims were prostitutes. A politician, a reporter, a policeman—The jobs were all different.

For that reason he couldn’t be completely sure that this string of murders was the work of “Fifth Pierrot”, but at the very least it was extremely likely that “Pere Noel” was involved.

Among the victims, both the politician and the reporter were people who had been dangerous to the president.

Taking only motive into consideration, one would arrive at the conclusion that it was either someone wishing to protect the president or the president herself that was carrying out these crimes.

However, the president had a strong alibi for each of the cases. At this point, she was under observation at all times. It would be very difficult for her to carry out the murders without anyone catching her.

Well then…What should I do first?

Rather than investigating into what had already transpired—perhaps it would be better to try and determine who the killer would target next. He had suspected that would lead him to some potential suspects.

All the people being targeted were either those that were a hindrance to the president, or those that were looking into the killer.

There were a fair bit of candidates there. It would be difficult to protect all of them, even if he called in reinforcements.

They couldn’t let there be any more victims.

Someone needed to catch the killer.

I need to think on this…What would be the best course of action.

But no good ideas came to mind.

--He decided to get some fresh air in the room. He opened the window and gazed at the scenery outside.

There were people lined up before a building he could see in the distance.

It was Milanais Theater. It seemed there was some sort of event going on there tonight.

Milanais Theater huh?

Ayn abruptly remembered something that had happened long ago.

Ayn had once had the bitter experience of letting a culprit get away.

It actually wasn’t that long ago; four years back. At the time Ayn was an officer newly hired on in Rolled.

There, he participated in an investigation to chase down a certain criminal. It was also the first time that he’d met Heidemarie.

The name of that criminal—was that of Pere Noel’s assassin, “Fifth, Pierrot”.

Naturally, it was a different person from the “Fifth, Pierrot” they were pursuing now. However, Ayn couldn’t help feeling like there was some connection between him and the existence of “Fifth, Pierrot” even so.

In that investigation four years before, Ayn had made a blunder. He’d caught sight of “Fifth, Pierrot”, and then allowed him to escape right under his nose.

This time…I’ll catch him for sure.

Ayn moved to close the window, having strengthened his resolve.

Just then, something came shooting his way with a great deal of force.

“Wha!?”

Thinking that a bird might be racing towards the window, Ayn hurriedly moved away.

It entered the room and then struck the wall.

“What’s this…?”

Ayn timidly approached the item stuck into the wall.

It was a small clump of lead. When he pulled it out, the lead cracked open and something fell from inside.

He scooped it up. It was a piece of paper, curled up into a cylinder.

When he opened it, this was written inside:

To Ayn,

Wait tomorrow at 2AM in front of the Abelard estate in the first district.

Heidemarie.

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oumiyuki · 5 years

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Look At Me!

Summary: In which Honoka spends too much time with each and every other Muse member, and Nico snaps; demanding attention.

Pairing: Honoka x Nico

Genre: Romance, Slice of Life

Author Notes

Let me make it. Let me make it. Let me make it for Nico’s birthday..!!

..!

May you enjoy~! XD Nico-nico-nii~

Nico has always been a perceptive girl. She would notice the people around her; when they are messing around or in need. Lately…Nico finds herself noticing everything about the Leader of Muse, Kousaka Honoka.

There’s no surprise there as Nico loves Honoka. Nico loves her girlfriend and would notice every little detail from the change in ribbon for the day or the crumbs by her mouth. Nico would know.

The only “problem” Nico has with her attentiveness to the bubby and all-round adorable existence called Honoka right this moment would be that… Honoka’s attention wasn’t on her.

Nico grimaces from her centre seat in the clubroom as she watches her girlfriend leave her seat to drape herself all over Kotori with a whine for help. “Kotori-chan~ Help me with this math homework…~ And English homework…!” and under her breath, “If it’s Umi-chan, she’ll go demon coach on me…”

Kotori giggles and pats Honoka’s head. “Sure thing, Honoka-chan~”

“Yay!” Honoka cheers and gives Kotori a bear hug full of gratitude.

Seriously Honoka? I could teach you English or Math…

Nico stops midthought.

I can’t. But still!

It doesn’t stop with Kotori stealing Honoka’s attention from Nico. It never does.

Nico was sweaty and panting and taking a good amount of water into her system after Muse’s dance practice when she catches in her peripheral the gingerhead with Muse’s dance coordinator-and-instructor.

“Umi-chan, Eli-chan. I need a favour from the both of you…” Honoka began in a serious tone.

Nico’s ruby eyes never once left the trio, and Honoka mostly as she drank her water.

“I want to get additional dance practice with the two of you…If you don’t mind? I wanna get these dance steps right and as soon as possible!” Honoka moved her body, trying the steps once more but tripping a little.

More practice huh…

Nico stepped towards Honoka’s direction immediately when Honoka almost fell; even if Nico would be too far or too slow to catch Honoka, she wanted to lurch forward. But since Honoka kept her balance after, Nico sighed a sigh of relief.

Be more careful, Honoka!

“Ehehe…See?” Honoka rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly for making mistakes already.

Umi and Eli exchange a glance before nodding, agreeing to Honoka’s request as they were always proud and extra motivated by Honoka’s passion and determination when it comes to school idol activities. So they were more than happy to help Honoka with dance practice.

You know…

Nico capped her bottle of water loudly after the third day of Honoka having additional practice and a realization hit her.

You know you can look for me to be your dance partner right, Honoka??

“Are you okay, nya?” Rin looked over concerned at the loud noise and an annoyed looking Nico, though she thinks Nico tend to look annoyed.

Nico shakes her head. “I’m fine…”

The Universe Number One Idol stole a longing glance at Honoka working her hardest on the other side of the roof for a long time before heading home.

…

Do your best, Honoka.

Nico will still support Honoka with her decisions. And she doesn’t admit aloud very often or at all; but she admires Honoka’s tenacity as a school idol. Nico smiles on the way home that evening.

Studying subjects that Nico can’t teach Honoka; fine, she accepts that Kotori does a better job at it. Dance practice with the dance instructors themselves; fine, she loves being able to see Honoka working so hard anyways.

But!

The world isn’t kind enough to let Nico not be jealous and upset that Honoka was spending a lot of time with Hanayo and Rin instead of her.

On a nice day after school, “Let’s go for the all-you-can-eat sushi buffet, Hanayo-chan!”

That’s cute, Honoka. But I’m sure Umi will stop you-

“Let’s!” Hanayo cheers along and the two left with no Umi in sight.

Wait, what?

On another good weather after school, “Ramen tonight, nya!” Rin jumps up in her seat with an excited grin which the gingerhead matches.

“Yeah! Let’s challenge the mega-super-duper-ultra-large ramen bowl, Rin-chan!” Honoka was starry eyed and almost drooling at the thought of lots and lots of ramen to slurp down.

“Tension’s rising, nyaa~” Rin laughs with her fist pumped in the air and the two left the room.

Nico’s eye twitches each time that she’s going on dinner dates with Hanayo and Rin instead of her. Sure, she always complains about the carbs and calories…a lot. But that doesn’t mean Honoka should give up asking her out on food dates! She wouldn’t mind tagging along with her shenanigans with Hanayo and Rin! But don’t leave her out.

Who leaves the Universe’s number one idol out!?

Nico doesn’t want to talk or think about the case with Nozomi which she could not help but stalk Honoka the entire day to find out what’s going on; she didn’t really find out what Honoka was seeking Nozomi’s advice for. But she knows that Honoka spent a day with Nozomi instead of her. And asked for help from Nozomi instead of her.

From Nozomi!

Nico had enough. Nico couldn’t stand that Honoka’s attention, her girlfriend’s attention kept being stolen by another Muse girl! And Nico was feeling lonely. So, Nico gets Honoka alone in the clubroom and kabedons the gingerhead, glaring angrily at her girlfriend who was helpless and clueless to what’s happening.

Look at me, Honoka!

“N-Nico-chan..? Is something wrong..?” Honoka blinks consecutively, a worried smile playing on her lips.

Look at you! So clueless even now.

Yet still so cute. Was an afterthought that Nico could not help but have.

“Is something wrong…you ask? Of course there is! I am mad right now. Very, very mad right now.” Nico growls through gritted teeth as she bobbed up and down from trying to tiptoe to be taller than Honoka but to no avail. Nico gives up doing that after the umpteenth time.

“Why are you m-mad, Nico-chan? Did I do something..?” Honoka’s eyebrows furrowed in thought and her lips curled upside down in a frown directed at herself.

Nico sulks pointedly at Honoka for a long time as she observed how the gingerhead was apologetic and genuinely sad despite not knowing what she have done or not done. On normal days, Honoka’s puppy look could easily get Nico’s mind of steel to fall, so it wasn’t surprising that in this moment of their faces a mere 5 centimetres away, Nico’s anger crumbled mostly.

Seriously. When did it become so hard to stay mad at Honoka?

Nico sighs deliberately. “You have been spending too much time with other girls.”

“Other girls..?” Honoka repeated dumbly.

Nico kept the glare. “Yes. The rest of Muse, Honoka. You go on dinner dates with them. You give extra time to Umi and Eli. You hug Kotori like she’s your girlfriend not me. What’s that about?” Nico shook her head in disbelief, her twintail swinging from side to side from the force.

The only saving grace is…

“Only Maki isn’t stealing you from me.” Nico shifts on her feet to reposition herself, though her hands never leave the wall where she has Honoka trapped.

Honoka blinks once. Then there was a pause as her eyes shift sideways. Honoka swallows loudly. Nico took in all of these nervous reactions with her lips a set line.

Don’t tell me…

“Actually…Nico-chan… The truth is these days, I sleep with Maki-chan every day!” Honoka does a bow of apology which knocks her head into Nico’s before she pulls back to say sorry again but this time Nico leans back so she doesn’t get a head injury from Honoka’s clumsiness.

“What. Wait. What do you mean by that?!” Nico was bewildered by the sheer sentence.

Maki who happened to walk in on her seniors’ lover’s quarrel reacted the same way as Nico did; bewildered and affronted, but she actually knew what Honoka was referring to so she was relieved she wasn’t doing anything bad. “Honoka, don’t say things in such a misleading manner.”

“Maki!”

“Maki-chan!”

Maki twirls her hair and rolls her eyes. “Don’t look at me. Explain yourself.”

Nico returns her gaze on Honoka again. “Explain.”

Honoka sweatdrops but nods. “I have sleepovers at Maki-chan’s place to learn how to play the piano…”

“Why would you need to learn to play the piano?” Nico shook her head in disbelief; that the gingerhead has been having sleepover’s at Maki’s without telling her, and have been trying to pick up piano without telling her.

Is this because of her desire to be more useful again? Why can’t she understand that she’s doing more than enough for all of us already?

Honoka bites her bottom lip, once again organizing her thoughts and wondering if she should be entirely honest, which was a tough job considering how Honoka was always honest. “Because…”

Nico cocked her head to the side, getting rather annoyed that Honoka couldn’t just tell her everything right away. Was there anything she needed to hide from her Universe Number One Girlfriend?!

“Forget it. If you can’t tell me…so be it.” Nico turns to walk away but Honoka hurries to wrap her arms around Nico’s waist.

“Noooo, wait! I’ll tell. I’ll tell. Don’t get angry and leave me, Nico-chaaaaan.” Honoka sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

Nico tries to push Honoka away but turning around allowed her to see Honoka’s moist blue eyes. Nico pushes half-heartedly.

If you’re gonna tell, then hurry it up. It hurts me to see you sad, Honoka.

“I…I want to surprise Nico-chan on your birthday with a new song made by me…” Honoka sniffles sadly. “But…But Maki-chan told me it isn’t easy to compose music just because I can learn the piano…”

Well, duh.

“I really want to though! So Maki-chan agreed to teach me…That’s why I forcefully went on sleepovers at Maki-chan’s place…” Honoka lowers her head ashamed but her hold on Nico was strong.

So it was all your doing huh… Figures Maki wouldn’t attempt to steal you away from me, or agree to daily sleepovers.

“Nico-chan…I’m sorry for not paying you a lot of attention! But I just…wanted to do something special for my special someone…” Honoka’s small, soft and vulnerable tone, her shimmering blue hues, and that warm grip on Nico was more than enough for Nico to cave.

“Yeah…Yeah…” Nico sighs and looks away as pink dust her cheeks. “So do I get to hear it tomorrow? Or did you fail to learn it?”

Even without Honoka playing the piano for me on my birthday…I’d be happy with just spending time with her.

Honoka slides up a little and nods earnestly. “I can play Happy Birthday and Aishiteru Banzai now! At least…a bit of Aishiteru Banzai…” Honoka flashes Nico an excited but dorky smile; teeth on her bottom lip and eyes filled with silly pride mixed with adoration.

Nico huffs though her nose as she put her hands around Honoka’s back. “Again. Tomorrow..?”

Honoka realizes she didn’t answer Nico’s earlier question and she nods rapidly with a huge smile on. “It’s a date!” She pecks her girlfriend’s cheek before returning to that big, goofy ‘forgive me, I love you’ look.

Nico shakes her head, her own smile impossible to wipe off. “Yeah…It’s a date. And don’t you dare give a second to another girl on my birthday.”

Honoka embraces Nico with one hand and brought the other up in a mock salute. “I won’t!”

“Good.” Nico grins at Honoka before breaking into a laugh with her girlfriend.

My birthday is going to be a good one with Honoka.

Author Notes

I made it, yay! \^w^ My 100th LL!SIP story on AO3!

Nico-nico-nii~ hehe~ XD

I have a thousand and one story ideas I wanted to work on for Nico’s birthday, but my brain decided ‘no, no, let’s come up with a new one!’ so I was left with lesser time to complete this. XD hahas.

But well, that means more Nico stories next time ;D

I hope y’all enjoyed this! Maybe I’ll write a continuation where Honoka gives all her attention to Nico! ;D And her renewed lyric of Aishiteru Banzai: I love Nico version :P

Leave a comment if you like! (Let’s Nico-nico-nii the day with lots of smiles! :D that’s Nico’s and my wish for all of y’all ^w^//) hehe~

See you next story!

#hononico #nicohono #yazawa nico #kousaka honoka #fanfiction #fanfic #love live #love live school idol project #happy birthday nico 2019 #muse #minami kotori #nishikino maki #ayase eli #sonoda umi #koizumi hanayo #hoshizora rin #toujou nozomi

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millicent231-watt · 5 years

Text

(Free! Scenario) Getting A Pet

A/N: Got a request or an idea? Leave it below in the comments!

Haru

"Y/N." I hear Haru say. I turn and smile. "Yeah? What is it Haru?" I ask and he sits next to me on the couch. "I want a pet." He says and I smile. "Yeah! We could get a dog, or a cat or-" "I want to get a fish." He says and I sigh. "Haru, don't you want something more exciting? Something you can play and interact with?" I ask and he shakes his head. "It's too much work." He says and I sigh. "Alright, a fish it is then."

As we enter the pet shop, I gasp as I see a sign that I hoped Haru didn't see. A sign saying they now sold turtles in store. "Haru, I've got a great idea!" I say before grabbing his hand and pulling him to the turtles. "How about a turtle? They swim like a fish does, but you can also interact with them!" I say and he places a finger on his chin, kneeling down to get eye level with the baby turtle. "Hmm, okay." He says and I gasp before jumping up and down excitedly. "Yes!"

Makoto

"Mako! Let's get a kitty!" I say as I hold onto his arm. "What? Why all of a sudden?" He asks and I shrug. "I don't know, you take good care if the stray cats so I thought it would be a good idea." I say and he sighs. "A cat is a lot of work." He tells me and I pout, giving my best puppy dog eyes. "Pleeeease?" I ask and he sighs before ruffling my hair. "Alright, but I'm not looking after it all by myself." I smile and shake my head. "You won't! I'll help you cause I love you!" I say before hugging him tightly.

Time Skip

"Aw, look at this one Mako!" I say as I pick up a little brown and white kitten. "You like that one?" He asks and I nod. "Alright. Let's get her." He says with a smile before we buy the kitten and take her home, thinking of a name on the way. "This is your new home Aiko!" I say to the kitten, who just mewls in response.

Nagisa

"Y/N-chan! Why can't we get a pet?" Nagisa asks me and I sigh. "For the last time Nagisa, you wouldn't look after it enough, then it'll become my pet, not ours." I say, finishing off the magazine I was reading. "But I promise I will!" I sigh again and stand up. "You know what? Fine, but I'm choosing it. You stay here." I say grabbing my things and making my way out onto the street. I see a street vendor and smile, asking if he stocked a specific item, or if he knew where I could get one. He tells me another shop name and I thank him before walking there.

Time Skip

I smile proudly at myself as I look down at the itty bitty pet in my hands. "This'll show him." I say, hiding it behind my back as I knock on the door. "I'll get it!" Nagisa yells before pounding footsteps thundered out from the house. The door swung open and I smile. "Y/N-chan! What pet did you choose?" He asks after leading me to his room. "Something you'll love." I say with a smirk. He gasps and puts his hands out, closing his eyes and looking away. I place the pet on his hand and try to hold in my laughter. "Huh? This doesn't feel like an animal." He says and I smile. "If you can't guess, open your eyes." I say with a sly smile on my face, waiting for his reaction. I see him peek out the corner of his eye before pouting. "This is not what I meant by a pet!" He complains and I laugh. "What? A Tamagotchi is a great way to begin owning pets. Maybe next we could get a pet rock!" I stutter out before bursting into tears of laughter. "It's not funny Y/N-chan! I was really excited!" I sigh and hug him. "I know, sorry. I just don't know if we're ready for the responsibility of owning a pet. Maybe another time." I say and he sighs, starting up his 'pet'. Let's just say he spent more time with his 'pet' than with me on our sleepover that night.

Rei

"How about a parrot then?" I ask Rei as we discussed the idea of a pet. "No, too much mess and too much hassle." I sigh and lay my head on the table. "We've exhausted every other option Re-" I gasp and sit up. "How about a lizard?" I ask happily before he places his finger on his chin. "Well, they are relatively small and they wouldn't get food all over my room. Alright, a lizard it is then." He says with a smile and I cheer before hugging him tightly. "Can we get a chameleon?" I ask and he chuckles before rubbing my back. "Sure." He says softly before kissing the top of my head. I giggle and kiss his cheek. "Thank you!"

Rin

"How about this one?" I ask Rin as we walked through the pound, trying to find a nice dog we both liked, which wasn't an easy task. I wanted something small and cute while Rin wanted something huge and menacing. "Nah, too small. What about him?" He asks pointing to a Doberman. "Rin, no!" I whine and he sighs. "Alright, alright. Even middle here, how about her?" He asks pointing to a kelpie cross. "Hm, she is cute..." I say as she begins licking my hands in excitement. "And she's cool. She's perfect, babe." Rin says and I smile. "I love her. Let's get her." I say before we tell the owner which one we wanted. "You two chose a good one. She's really friendly, especially with couples and family who have kids." He says and I smile at Rin, who winks back before putting her collar on. "Come on girl, time to go home." I say after paying the man. "What're we gonna call her?" I ask as she curled up in my lap once we got home.

Souske

"Hey, Sou?" I ask and he pauses the movie we were watching, Happy Feet. "Yeah, babe?" He answers, putting his arm around my shoulders. "Do you think we could get a bird?" I ask and he chuckles. "We can't get a penguin Y/N." He says and I pout. "Next best thing then?" I ask and he raises an eyebrow. "And what would that be?" he asks and I smile. "A pair of lovebirds." I say and he smiles. "Sure, why not?" He says and I gasp. "Really?!" I ask and he shrugs. "I mean people already call us lovebirds, so why not?" He says and I giggle and hug him tightly. "Thank you sooooo much!" I say before jumping up and grabbing my purse. "C'mon! Let's go pick some!" I say, grabbing his hand and pulling him up. "Alright, alright." He laughs.

Time Skip

"How about these two!" I say happily. I had found the perfect pair. One had a teal colour face and tail, while the other had a(n) (eye colour) face and tail. "Hm, not a bad pick Y/N." He says before calling the man over and asking him to hold the birds for us while we take all the essentials home. "We'll come back in a few minutes to pick them up, we just need to set up the cage and everything." Souske say and the man nods. "Of course, of course!" He says and I smile happily as Souske pays for everything. "I feel bad for letting you pay for it all." I say as we carry our stuff out to the car. "Don't sweat it, babe. It's all for you, so I don't mind." He says, making me blush. "Now, let's go get everything set up so we can welcome our two babies to their new home." He says, making me nod and giggle.

#free!#free! iwatobi swim club #free! eternal summer #haruka nanase #makoto tachibana #nagisa hazuki #rei ryugazaki #rin matsuoka #sousuke yamazaki #x reader #reader insert

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lonelypond · 5 years

Text

Midnight Question

Love Live, NicoMaki, 2.2k, 1/1

A/N: This is perhaps the start of an AU that takes some themes from my Idol Protection Program AU, throws in a dose of Terrace House, and Maki gets to choose music instead of medicine. And the future will factor in the second season of Love Live Sunshine.I also wanted to write something short for our favorite redhead's birthday, I just finished it a bit early. I'm posting it so I don't talk myself out of it. Now back to jazz.

Summary: Otonokizaka Second Year student Nishikino Maki runs into some academic trouble. What's behind her slump?

Midnight Question

R: Hey Maki Maki, what’s up?

Nishikino Maki picked up her phone, frowning. She’d just seen Hoshizora Rin at school and her goofy ginger BFF and Rin’s girlfriend, Koizumi Hanayo were planning to hit three different ramen shops tonight to celebrate Rin’s highest grade on a project ever. So there should be no time for interrupting Maki with casual chatter.

M: Working.

R: Studying?

Maki hated lying so she didn’t. She also didn’t clarify. She did hit pause on the track she’d been composing on her Korg synth.

M: Not exactly. Aren’t you and Hanayo restaurant touring tonight?

R: We are. Just resting between bowls. And we want to know why I got a better score than you on the project.

M: You worked hard, Rin (^^)ｂ

R: You didn’t.

Maki didn’t reply.

R: Do you miss Nico that much ╥﹏╥

Yes, Maki missed Yazawa Nico, her very busy, very talented girlfriend, and member of last year’s Otonokizaka graduating class. Contrary to the opinion of her family and friends, that was not why Maki, the pride of the Nishikinos, former top student was now treading water smack in the middle of her class. But letting them think Maki’s academic slump was about Nico kept them from getting too nosy. And Nico, now an executive producer and rising star resident of the 𝝁’s inspired inaugural season of Idol House, had been too busy to ask about Maki’s schoolwork. Maki made sure Nico was thinking about other things when they had dates. Because Maki was too often thinking about other things and too little anywhere near Nico. And now, thanks to Rin, Maki felt a wave of longing, to have Nico sitting there, headphones slotted in next to Maki’s, listening to Maki’s latest creations, suggesting a chord, occasionally reaching over to run her fingers across Maki’s neck, ruffling hair, glowing at Maki when the tune reached its full potential, leaning in now that Maki had...but that was fantasy Nico. Actual Nico met Maki for burgers and midnight makeout sessions every couple weeks when she was free and in Tokyo. As discontent started to froth in Maki’s stomach, her phone buzzed her out of the Nico haze.

R: So that’s a yes. Call her.

M: It’s more complicated than that.

R: ＝(￣□￣;)⇒ WITH NICO? WHAT HAPPENED? IS IT THAT AKI-SAN GIRL.

M: No, no Rin, don’t start rumors. Nico’s fine, just busy. So am I. We text everyday.

R: (⊙︿⊙✿)

Maki sighed.

M: Enjoy your night. I’ll tell you sometime soon. EVERYTHING’S OKAY.

R: If you say so (๑´╹‸╹`๑)

R: We’re here for you, you know, me and Kayo-chin (っ⇀⑃↼)っ

M: I know.

M: ₍ఠ ͜ఠ₎ Thanks

R: Get some sleep, Maki-chan ꒰◍ᐡᐤᐡ◍꒱

Maki put her phone down. Don’t think about Nico, she told herself, get back to work.

###

Hours since the Rin text chat...Maki reached up to slide her headphones off. Her parents were probably at the hospital, she might have eaten something, what time was it? Sadly, ramen sounded good. Rin would probably know what Maki could keep up here with her electric tea kettle that wouldn’t taste like cardboard and worms. Prep for college. Maki shoved her seat back...college, more books, less Nico, and another year of high school still…

The NicoTone...Maki glanced at the text.

N: Ladder

Nico was here. And not at the front door. It had been half a year since Maki had snuck Nico into her room this way...Maki pulled open her bottom desk drawer. Yep, the fire ladder was still there. She took it to the window, made sure it was braced, and lowered the rungs, watching out the window as Nico scrambled up. The tiny singer pulled herself up, swung her legs over the window, and then sat back, “Hey.” Her long, black hair was pulled into a ponytail under a pink 𝝁’s ballcap, she was wearing a loose gray sweatshirt over a black bra, capris leggings that looked like Samurai armor, and pink kicks. Sporty casual. A big switch from the business formal Maki had gotten used to seeing her in when they'd meet after Nico finished all day meetings.

“Nico?” Maki impulsively hugged Nico, a sweaty, tempting musk pushing sleep even further away. Then Nico wiggled loose.

“Good guess...now why are you flunking out of high school?” Nico’s eyes were narrowed and much darker, both in color and mood.

“I’m not flunking…” Maki balled her hands into fists, “What did Rin tell you?”

“Her grades are higher than yours and you miss Nico so much you cry yourself to sleep every night.” Nico pushed herself out of the window, examining Maki’s laptop and synth setup curiously. “Got any snacks up here?”

“In my backpack.” Maki pointed, exasperated. The 𝝁’s rumor mill aka Lily White, Rin, Nozomi, and Umi, continued to function at rocket speed. “I don’t cry myself to sleep.”

Nico grabbed Maki’s backpack, bounced onto Maki’s bed, made herself a nest in the pillows, and started digging for calories. “So Rin DID score higher than you?”

“Yes.” Maki sat, closing tabs on her laptop.

Nico whistled, “Do your parents know?”

“Not yet.”

“Are they also going to call Nico up and accuse her of neglecting you?” Nico’s eyes were brighter but not happier.

“I told Rin we were fine. Look!” Maki slid her desk chair closer to Nico, offering her phone.

Nico unwrapped a cupcake with one hand, Maki’s phone in the other, her voice suddenly chilling.“Why are you texting Tsubasa? About lyrics?”

Maki froze. “Uh…” Oh right, you could see at least 6 ongoing conversations from that screen.

“Uh?” Nico bit into the cupcake, threw Maki’s phone down the bed, and spoke while chewing, “It’s no wonder you don’t miss Nico. Everyone’s ‘texting’ you.” She pulled a pillow in front of her, between them, chin pushing down into it, mouth twisted, eyebrow raised, “I thought the latest A-Rise song sounded 𝝁’s nostalgic....it’s not just because Tsubasa’s mad crushing on you or Honoka or...is it.”

“Tsubasa’s not crushing on…” Maki leaned from chair to bed.

“Maki.” Nico’s voice snapped.

Maki had a sudden thought and put her knees on the bed, crawling Nico-ward, “Do we have to talk right now?” Maki paused, feeling a little silly but somewhat feral, and decided to go all in with a wink, shaking her head, curls bobbing, eyelashes fluttering, coyly gazing at Nico, which rated an eye roll from her visitor, “I’ve missed you, Nico-chan. You look so cute on my laptop screen.”

Nico snorted and dropped Maki’s backpack to the floor, “Watch Nico on a bigger screen. It’s worth it. You’ll be saying sexy.”

“Sexy.” Maki mouthed it slowly, tongue flicking, desperate, close enough to Nico that she could feel her girlfriend’s breath on her lips, and then Maki forgot she had any kind of plan and surged forward. Nico was here, close enough to…

And Maki was flipped, Nico had taken the moment when Maki scrambled forward, off balance, to drop the redhead to the side, rolling Maki on her back after a brief wrestle, and straddling her waist, “Nope. Nico came to talk.” Nico only sounded slightly smug.

Maki pouted, Nico laughed, “Nico missed Maki” and there was a quick kiss and Maki surged up, but Nico had her solidly pinned, “but Nico seems to have missed Maki turning into a two timing delinquent.”

“I AM NOT.” Maki couldn’t help it, she shouted, and Nico’s finger was on her lips.

“Shush.”

“I am not two timing.” Maki could feel her jaw clench.

A sigh, “I know. What are you doing?”

“Writing music.”

Maki was watching Nico’s face and she would have sworn Nico was angry, but her voice was full of casual disinterest, “For A-Rise?”

Maki was getting uncomfortable. She was only wearing boxers and a tank top and Nico was very warm and actually touching her. And Maki had had too many dreams that started like this recently. It was why she’d given up sleeping. She wanted Nico to shift, to a more advantageous position for...conversation, but no, Nico was persisting in using her like a tatami mat. All while Nico was being silent and judgy and thinking. Maki was too much a bundle of nerves not to be pacing right now. Which Nico knew. And yet, here she was, cold bloodedly dropping one hand on Maki’s shoulder, the other on her hip to discourage fidgeting.

“Nico…” It wasn’t a whine, not really...

“Writing music for…” Nico’s chin jutted with the verbal nudge.

“A-Rise...a couple of singers they know...I haven’t been doing it for long…” Way to sound confident, Nishikino, Maki thought as her voice quivered.

A staring match. Maki still thinking Nico might be mad, the eyebrow was at low grade twitch level, but Nico’s voice remained terribly, terribly calm.

“And Nico is the last to know.”

“No one knows, Nico-chan…”

“Tsubasa does…” Ah, now we were mad, Maki realized, as Nico pounced forward, causing Maki’s heart to race with wild hope, but then Nico just pushed up and was back sitting in the window, arms crossed, before Maki could react. “You could have written a song for Nico.” Finally, impatience cracked Nico’s tone.

“I did, before…” Maki pointed to the laptop, “You can listen to them…”

Nico’s eyes widened, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You’re talking to professional producers now.” Maki knew she sounded petty, but it had stung, the first time she saw Nico working with a talent the Idol House producers had set her up with, “And you didn’t ask me to.” Maki also knew she sounded bitter, but this was a grudge she’d been holding in for the past three months of filming. “You and Papa made sure I have nothing to do with Idol House.”

Nico dropped her head, then sprang to her feet, Maki watching fascinating as the genuine YAZAWA NICO raged across her bedroom, hands flying, voice cracking, nearly hopping with rage, “I WAS LETTING YOU BE A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT.”

Maki wasn’t sure if her parents were home and she didn’t care. Nico was here and she was finally noticing Maki the musician again, “THAT’S NOT WHAT I WANT.’

“YOU’RE NOT EVEN 17 YET.”

“I KNOW WHAT I WANT.”

Nico hesitated, hands hovering by her side, she and Maki were nose to nose and her eyes were deep ruby temptations but Maki dug her nails into her palms.

“WHAT?” Nico inhaled, “WHAT DO YOU WANT, MAKI?.”

“YOU. I WANT YOU.”

Shocked, Nico retreated back to the window, “You want to be Nico’s child bride?”

“Yes.” Wait, Maki wasn’t a child, that was annoying, but Nico said bride, was that a proposal…

Nico watched Maki for a minute as the redhead raced through thoughts, paying no attention to her, then spoke at a normal volume. “That wasn’t a proposal.”

“Oh.” Maki thought for another minute, grabbed Nico’s hand, dragged her over to her desk, yanked open a drawer and pulled out a jewelry box, “This is. Marry me, Nico-chan.”

The ring was platinum, with a cluster of pale pink gems designed to look like cherry blossoms. Maki had seen the ring at an art fair and knew it was meant for Nico’s hand. Like Nico, it was unique, an original, the designer had only made one, beautiful, striking, irreproducible, breathtaking, lustrous, every adjective that suited Nico. Was Nico crying?

“Nico-chan?” Maki whispered, maybe she was down on one knee but it was only to see if Nico was crying, taking off the ball cap, gently sweeping strands of Nico’s silky hair back.

“You’re impossible.” Nico was bawling. Her outbursts no longer terrified Maki as much as the first few times, but it did make her cautious, Maki put the ring box on her desk, and took Nico in her arms, sitting them both on the bed. Nico had her head on Maki’s shoulder. Maki could feel her skin getting wet, although Nico’s crying had turned silent, “What is Nico going to do with you?”

“Marry me.” Maki suggested, kissing Nico’s hair. “We run away together, I write songs for you, you sing, we tour, we teach our children all the words to the 𝝁’s songs…”

“Children?” Nico sat up.

Maki shrugged.

Deft, delicate fingers stroked Maki’s hair, Nico whispering in her ear, “Nico needs to visit more. You daydream too much.”

Maki just hummed, squeezing Nico tighter, enjoying the sable hairs tickling her nose, and the fruity shampoo Nico always used. “Just enough.”

Red eyed with crying, Nico tried to recover some of her dignity, tapping Maki on the shoulder, “Nico’s songs need to better than Tsubasa’s.”

Nico hadn’t said no. Nico hadn’t said no. Maki giggled, silly and triumphant. “Of course they will be, they’re Nico-chan’s,” With the gentlest of touches, she turned Nico’s head so their lips were practically brushing, and with the softest of whispers, confessed again, “So am I.”

#nicomaki #Nishikino Maki #Yazawa Nico #Hoshizora Rin #author is a raging sentimentalist #etc #hello there

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ryqoshay · 6 years

Text

How to Handle a Nico: Olympic Idol

Primary Pairing: NicoMaki Words: ~1k Rating: K Time Frame: Late in Maki’s college career and early in Nico’s idol producer career. Story Arc: Stand Alone

List of all HtHaN scenes

Author’s Note: First this post rolls across my dash, then @emitsunosaurus-rex was kind enough to translate Soramaru and Pile’s tweets! And the spark of inspiration was lit. Thus, I’ve brought both the real world event from the Olympics and the Twitter responses into the HtHaN world.

No1Idol: Maki-chan!

NishikinoMaki: What do you want, Nico-chan?

No1Idol: Can you do Nico a hu~ge favor?

NishikinoMaki: I'm in class

NishikinoMaki: What do you want?

No1Idol: Check your Twitter feed

NishikinoMaki: What the heck?

No1Idol: Just do it

No1Idol: Please, Maki-chan!

NishikinoMaki: Fine

Maki glanced around the classroom quickly to make sure nobody was paying attention. Once certain that she was safe, she opened the app.

Nico-nii: Eh!? Nico Nico Nii!? Are you sure she said Nico Nico Nii!? Nico Nico Nii!!?

I haven’t watched TV because I’m at work, so please reply!! LOL Really, Nico Nico Nii!? Is it true, Nico Nico Nii!?

What the heck? It was times like this that Maki truly did not understand Nico. Her Nico Nico Nii thing had appeared on TV somewhere? In and of itself, it was strange, but to also assume she knew something about it just pushed things that much farther beyond Maki’s ability to comprehend. Well, comprehend beyond just Nico being Nico. Again.

NishikinoMaki: I don’t get it

NishikinoMaki: Who are you talking about?

No1Idol: One of my employees just said that someone on our curling team did my signature Nico Nico Nii when they got their medal!

No1Idol: But I can't find a replay clip of if anywhere yet

NishikinoMaki: Not for lack of trying, I assume

No1Idol: I'm at work, Maki-chan

No1Idol: I can't spend all day scouring the web for people mimicking me

No1Idol: Even if it is a famous Olympian medalist

NishikinoMaki: Uh-huh…

Maki sighed and opened a different chat window.

NishikinoMaki: Have you been watching the Olympics?

NyaCat: nyabsolutely!

NishikinoMaki: Did you happen to see today’s coverage of Japan’s curling team?

NyaCat: you mean the part where chinami yoshida did the nico nico nii thing?

NyaCat: that was so nyawesome!

NyaCat: nico-chan is going to be so happy when she sees that!

NishikinoMaki: Thank you, Rin

NyaCat: you know maki-chan i was going to respond to her tweet to tell her

NyaCat: but i think shed like it better if you responded

NishikinoMaki: Me? Why me?

NyaCat: cause youre her girlfriend maki-chan!

NyaCat: duh!

Maki sighed. Of course, Rin was right. She chastised herself for falling on old habits and not realizing it herself.

NishikinoMaki: Yes

NishikinoMaki: You're right

NishikinoMaki: Thank you again, Rin

NyaCat: always happy to help maki-chan!

So it was real after all. Mako found herself smiling. Rin was absolutely correct, this would make Nico's day, possibly her week. She switched back to her Twitter app.

NishikinoMaki: Yes, Nico Nico Nii!!!

The response was immediate, back in chat.

No1Idol: Thank you Maki-chan!!!

No1Idol: Where did you find the clip?

No1Idol: Please link it to me!

No1Idol: Please!

No1Idol: Please Maki-chan!

No1Idol: Don’t make me beg.

Maki stifled a laugh. You are begging, Nico-chan. She thought to herself.

NishikinoMaki: Sorry, I don’t have a link

NishikinoMaki: I just asked Rin because I knew how closely she has been watching our teams

No1Idol: Oh, alright

No1Idol: Thanks again for that

No1Idol: I guess I'll look for clips again later when I get home tonight

Maki pretty much knew the answer but had to ask anyway.

NishikinoMaki: Is it really that important?

No1Idol: Of course it is, Maki-chan!

Maki could easily imagine Nico putting a hand on her hip or puffing out her chest with pride.

No1Idol: This means Nico-nii is famous!

NishikinoMaki: You mean the No. 1 Idol in the Universe isn’t already famous?

Maki couldn't resist the smirk that came to her lips.

No1Idol: Of course Nico is famous!

No1Idol: Nico is just more famous now!

NishikinoMaki: Ah, I see

No1Idol: And maybe this is the first step in getting idoling into the Olympics!

What. Maki blinked at her screen. Had she read that correctly?

NishikinoMaki: Idoling?

No1Idol: The sport of being an idol.

NishikinoMako: Being an idol is a sport?

No1Idol: Obviously!

No1Idol: Probably even more so than some activities that are already considered a sport!

No1Idol: And you know the Olympics already has synchronized swimming and figure skating and gymnastic floor routines and such

No1Idol: Idoling would fit right in!

NishikinoMaki: And naturally, they would call Nico-chan first

No1Idol: But of course!

No1Idol: Nico is the No. 1 Idol in the Universe!

No1Idol: Nico Nico Nii!

NishikinoMaki: Idiot

No1Idol: You love it

NishikinoMaki: Maybe

No1Idol: Oh, and maybe Egao could become an Olympic sponsor!

No1Idol: Just think of the exposure we could get with that!

NishikinoMaki: Just think of the expense to compete with the existing exclusive sponsors

No1Idol: Maki-chan!

No1Idol: Why do you have to ruin a girl's dreams with reality like that?

No1Idol: Let Nico have her dreams!

NishikinoMaki: Right

NishikinoMaki: Sorry

NishikinoMaki: Well who knows, maybe one day idoling will become a sport

The word still sounded strange to Maki.

NishikinoMaki: Maybe you should look to see what connections you have

NishikinoMaki: Never hurts to get the idea in the heads of the right people

No1Idol: Good idea, Maki-chan!

No1Idol: I’m going to do that right now!

NishikinoMaki: I thought you were busy at work

No1Idol: I am!

No1Idol: And this is work!

NishikinoMaki: Right…

No1Idol: I am an idol producer!

No1Idol: I must look after the interests of the idols in my employ

No1Idol: I must help expand and improve the idol industry

No1Idol: Getting idoling declared as a sport is a small step

No1Idol: Getting idoling into the Olympics would be a fantastic leap

Maki smiled. There was a time when she had felt that Nico was merely obsessed with idols as a wannabe, but over time she had come to appreciate the older girl’s honest and steadfast dedication to the craft. Even with the setbacks she had endured over the years, Nico continued to dream big and push forward toward new and amazing goals. And despite the teasing, Maki knew she would support Nico in her endeavors however she could.

NishikinoMaki: I know you will do whatever you can

NishikinoMaki: Good luck, Nico-chan

No1Idol: Thanks, Maki-chan

No1Idol: See you tonight?

NishikinoMaki: Definitely

No1Idol: Have fun in class

No1Idol: Love you!

NishikinoMaki: I love you too, Nico-chan

Maki returned her attention to her class, pleased that her girlfriend’s fame had grown yet again.

Author’s Note Continued: I believe this is now the second real world event I have brought up in HtHaN. I’ve tried to guesstimate where the timeline of the story and the real world align, and this is where I have determined things to fit. I hope that I am at least somewhat close.

That said, thanks again, emitsunosaurus, for providing the translations!

#NicoMaki #Nishikino Maki #Yazawa Nico #How to Handle a Nico #Love Live #fanfic #Winter Olympics #Curling #Nico Nico Nii

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yaboymikleo · 7 years

Note

full list of makoharu headcanons if u want pls i love makoharu

BOI I FUCKIN GOTCHU.-Haru's first kiss was with Makoto when they were kids and they saw Makoto's parents kiss one day.-So this is based off of something my friend said, but we all know that Makoto is pretty oblivious to obvious things. Headcanon that one time when they were younger Makoto started feeling sick and was bleeding down there and called Haru like "HARU I JUST GOT MY PERIOD HELP" and both of them were freaking out trying to figure out how to insert a tampon when Makoto suddenly passed out and they took him to the hospital and realized he just had a really bad kidney infection.-Headcanon that ever since Haru almost drowned, Makoto has always felt a need to protect him.-Headcanon that in femverse Makoto called Haru crying saying she got her period and Haru came over and made her soup and watched movies. -On the same topic, Fem!Haru doesn't show it when she's bloodbending but Makoto can always tell so she always brings her lots of things like Midol and a heating pad to make the week less painful.-Headcanon that both Haru and Makoto are really scary when they're mad. (Actually on Haru's part this is canon but I wrote this long before episode 9 came out.)-Headcanon that whenever Nagisa makes the group watch a scary movie, Haru holds Makoto's hand the entire time so he won't get scared.-Headcanon that one time Makoto pulled Haru out of the bathtub when Haru wasn't wearing his jammers and he still hasn't returned from the embarrassment (yet he still helps him anyway).-Headcanon that the reason why Makoto has to come to Haru's house every morning is, not only because he wants to see him, but because Haru will just stay in the water if he doesn't come to get him.-AU where Makoto and Haru are married and they adopt a daughter and Haru insists they name her Saba.-Headcanon that Makoto's first love was, and has always been, Haru.-Headcanon that Makoto is actually fucking incredible in bed (ahem, this is Tatsun's fault damn the drama CD) but is always like "OH MY GOD ARE YOU OKAY I'M NOT HURTING YOU AM I??? WE CAN STOP IF YOU WANT IT'S NO BIG DEAL", and Haru seems passive like he always is because he's so quiet, but breathes and moans a lot.-Headcanon that one time in middle school Kisumi was playfully flirting with Makoto to piss off Haru, and then kissed him to which Makoto got so flustered they almost had to take him to the nurse but instead Kisumi had to go to the nurse because Haru punched him in the face.-Headcanon that Makoto and Haru occasionally sneak out to the pool and skinny dip and do cute boyfriend things like kiss underwater and shit.-Headcanon that Makoto and Haru watch the stars together and Haru will lean his head on Makoto's shoulder and Makoto will place his hand on Haru's and they just stay like that without speaking and aSDFGHJKL.-Headcanon that sometimes the main five play truth or dare at Haru's house and that's the story of how Makoto and Haru had their first kiss together.-Headcanon that Haru discretely kisses Makoto in the club room whenever Nagisa and Rei aren't looking.-Headcanon that Makoto and Haru have a little girl when they're older and she sits and puts Makoto's hair in ponytails and paints his toenails and ASDFGHJKl-Headcanon that Makoto and Haru used to take baths together as kids.-In the Future Fish AU, headcanon that Rin teased Haru about wanting to be a mermaid when he grows up so Makoto said he wanted to be a fireman so he could help save people and spray water on Haru when he needed it.-Headcanon that, being neighbors, the Nanases and Tachibanas were actually quite close, which is how Haru and Makoto met.-Headcanon that when the two first met, Makoto was very shy around Haru at first.-Along with that, headcanon that Makoto was actually rather shy as a kid.-This is actually technically canon, but headcanon that Makoto has an ear pierced and will occasionally wear an earring. Haru likes to play with it.-Headcanon that Makoto and Haru go on dinner dates every Friday.-Headcanon that before Haru leaves for training and Makoto leaves for class, Makoto always comes to help Haru out of the bath and gives him a goodbye kiss.-Headcanon that Haru is demisexual, meaning he's attracted to people whom he has a very deep connection with, ie Makoto. Makoto is Harusexual. That's it. Granted, I can see both of them being asexual.-Headcanon that Makoto is a really ridiculously good singer and Haru loves to listen to him.-Going off of that, headcanon that Haru likes to lay his head on Makoto's lap as Makoto sings and strokes his hair.-Headcanon that Makoto cries during sex.-Headcanon that in relationships, Haru is very clingy (but in a good way).-Headcanon that Makoto and Haru's first kiss was at Haru's eighth birthday party. He didn't have a gift for him, so instead he kissed him. -Headcanon again that their first kiss was when they were very little, after having met in kindergarten. Haru was playing at Makoto's house and they saw Makoto's parents kiss and Makoto's like "Mommy, why do you and Daddy do that?" and she laughs and says "because that's what you do when you really love someone" and when she walks away Makoto pokes Haru and is like "I love Haru-chan a lot, so can I kiss Haru-chan?" and Haru nods and quickly kisses him and they just giggle and go back to coloring. Makoto's mom snapped a picture of it.-Headcanon that Makoto and Haru like to slow dance in Haru's apartment late at night like the saps they are.-GOD I HAVE SO MANY FIRST KISS HEADCANONS FOR MAKOTO AND HARU. Headcanon that the entire swim team was rooting for the two to get together; and one day, Makoto and Haru were alone in the club room as Makoto was telling a story and met eyes for a moment after Makoto was finished and stared at each other for a few seconds before Makoto leaned down and kissed him. Little did they know Nagisa, Rei, and Gou were watching them. And you better believe they bursted into the room to congratulate them when it happened.-Headcanon that hARU HAS TO STAND ON HIS TIPPY TOES TO KISS MAKOTO WHICH IS SERIOUSLY THE CUTEST THING EVERz-Headcanon that the Tachibanas and Nanases totally ship their children.-Headcanon that Haru not only stayed after his parents left because he wanted to stay with his grandma in his hometown, but also because he didn't want to leave Makoto.-Headcanon that Haru loves helping Makoto with the twins.-Headcanon that Haru is a very light sleeper, whereas Makoto is a heavy sleeper.-Headcanon that- because it is inevitable that Makoto and Haru will eventually get married- they both cried when their babies (twins) were born.-Headcanon that Haru likes to curl up in a fetal position when he sleeps, and Makoto lays on his back. Most of the time they snuggle, though.-MORE MAKOHARU FIRST KISS HEADCANONS. Headcanon that the two we were walking home together after going out to dinner after swim practice and it started snowing and as they said their goodbyes at the bottom of the steps leading to Haru's house and Haru kissed him (to which Makoto reciprocated) very gently and I'M SORRY I REALLY LOVE CHEESY WINTER KISSES OKAY.-Headcanon that Haru doesn't like coffee, but Makoto lives off it.-Headcanon that Haru has scared the living shit out of Makoto by falling asleep in the bathtub...more than once.-It's canon that Makoto and Haru have known each other their whole lives, so headcanon that their mamas used to let them have playdates as babies.-Headcanon that Haru was a really cute baby. That's it.-Headcanon that Makoto goes to every single one of Haru's races, no matter how far away they are.-Headcanon that Haru has an unusually small mouth and, likewise, thin lips. Makoto thinks it's cute.-Headcanon that Makoto is self-conscious about his body; although Haru loves him anyway-Headcanon that Haru gets extremely clingy when he's tired and will latch onto Makoto like a leech.-This is technically canon, but headcanon that Haru is /very/ protective of his friends, especially Makoto.-Headcanon that, although Makoto had a huge growth spurt in middle school, Haru's voice changed earlier than his.This isn't even all of them I have like 700 more but I'm too lazy to dig them out from my notes on my phone lmao.

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mackinmacki · 7 years

Text

An Extreme Kind of Love, Ch. 5

Rating: K+

Word Count: 3898

Summary: It’s the final countdown. Hopefully it’s not on Maki’s life.

Pairing: HonoMaki, UmiRin (background)

Notes: And here we are, the final chapter! Like I said before, there’s at least more idea I have for this AU, but for the main storyline, this is it.

Link: (FFN Ch. 1: Love Hurts) | (FFN Ch. 2: Extremely Stupid) | (FFN Ch. 3: Snowblind) | (FFN Ch. 4: Flying High) | (FFN Ch. 5: Like a Stone)

"You know, I knew this would happen." Umi shook her head as she watched Maki pace around the living room, looking abnormally pale. "When you aren't upfront with the truth, these kinds of things are going to happen."

"I know, I know! Shut up!" Eventually Maki's pacing stopped as she sunk down to her knees, wrapping her arms around her stomach. "I think I'm going to throw up..." Immediately Umi came over to her, going down to gently rub Maki's back.

"Breathe, Maki, breathe. Just take slow, deep breaths. You're not going to throw up." Her words worked in calming Maki down slightly, though she still looked out of shape emotionally. "I know you said you would go skydiving with Honoka, but I'm sure she would understand if you backed out."

"Gods, I can't do that!" Maki protested, pressing her palms against the floor. "Our relationship has gotten so much closer, I... I can't do anything to jeopardize that." She really was obstinate. Umi could only sigh at how much risk Maki was willing to take just to be with Honoka.

"Maki, you're scared of heights. You can't go freakin' skydiving." This time it was Eli who chimed in, which was a relief to Umi. She had a feeling that Eli was still sore over Maki and Honoka's 'fun time', but at least she was being reasonable. "People die doing that all the time." That was not helpful.

Maki's eyes widened as she jumped back onto her feet, nearly knocking over Umi as she resumed her pacing. "Oh Gods, I'm gonna die!" Her eyes glanced around the room frantically as she hugged herself tightly. "I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die!" Before Umi could console her again, Maki ran out of the room and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. It didn't take long before Umi was cringing at the somewhat-muffled sound of retching.

"Eli, you are absolutely no help!" Umi huffed, wanting so badly to slap Eli at that point. "Why'd you tell her that?"

"What? You want her to die or something?" Eli shot back, crossing her arms. "We both agree this is a stupid idea. Why not discourage her from doing it?"

"You didn't have to be so blunt about it, though." Sighing, Umi pulled out her phone. "I'm going to see how often terrible things happen while skydiving. Maybe it's not so bad." While she was going to do her best to stop Maki from doing this, if she was going to remain stubborn about doing everything Honoka liked, Umi could at least find something comforting to say statistics-wise.

At least the statistics looked good. There weren't that many accidents, and most of them were due to human error. If she knew Maki, she'd be repeating every single instruction multiple times to make sure she did everything right. That was somewhat comforting. With that information in hand, she walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Maki?"

The only response she got was further retching. "Maki, I promise you you don't have to do this. If Honoka cares for you like you care for her, then she'll understand that you can't do this."

"I know, I just... I can't." Her reply sounded feeble, made worse by the obvious discomfort she was in. "I can't lose Honoka to Rin."

"Maki..." Umi sighed, hearing hints of jealously creeping into Maki's tone. "Rin is Honoka's friend. She wouldn't take Honoka from you."

"Why not? She's so much better-suited for Honoka than I am. They're... They're perfect for each other."

"... Look, Maki, if you're really going through with this, then I can at least tell you that there aren't a lot of casualties when it comes to skydiving. Most problems stem from human error, so as long as you pay attention, you should be fine."

"Th-Thanks, Umi."

"Of course." Umi stood up and walked back to her room, a guilty feeling forming in the pit of her stomach when she heard soft crying coming from the bathroom. She wished that she could do more for Maki, but she didn't know what.

That night, Maki laid in bed and stared up at the ceiling, still feeling sick to her stomach. She had cried herself out hours ago, but now fear had completely taken her over. Why couldn't she be as fearless and carefree as Honoka was?

She rolled over onto her side and grabbed her phone, shielding her eyes from its harsh light until she could successfully lessen the brightness. Opening up her notes, her fingers hovered over the internal keyboard as she debated whether or not to write her last will and testimony. Was there anything she had that was worth enough to bequeath onto someone? Probably not. Sighing, she put her phone back and resumed staring at the ceiling.

Despite Umi's assurance, she was positive that this would be the event that ended her life. At least she could go out knowing that she'd done everything she could to keep Honoka. Though when she died, she wouldn't be there, obviously... and then Honoka could just get with Rin anyway... Oh Gods, what was she doing?

Maki grabbed the pillow from beneath her head and covered her face with it, screaming into the softness. Why had she agreed to this? Why couldn't she say no to that beautiful bread-eating girl? She could almost hear Eli mimicking the sound of a whip. Why was she like this?

Once again she grabbed her phone, this time to do further reading on skydiving. Since she was way too deep to ever believe she'd back away from such a stupid idea, she would just have to do research until she was completely confident that she could do it. Eventually, however, she ended up watching videos about failed skydives and the awful events and deaths that had happened over the last few decades. The fear was never-ending.

When she finally fell asleep, she dreamed that she was falling out of a plane, down down down, screaming silently as Rin's laughter rang in her ears. She woke up crying before the sun had even risen, and her fear kept her from going back to sleep. "I'm going to die..."

On the drive there, Maki tried her best not to show how nervous she was, which was hard due to all the shaking she was doing. Luckily she didn't feel like throwing up anymore. Maybe that was because she had thrown up the unfilled contents of her stomach that morning. Though she'd ended up deciding not to write her will, she did do something she normally didn't do: tell her parents that she loved them. She also gave Umi a hug before leaving, since she'd been awake to see Maki off.

Even with Honoka there, Maki didn't feel comfortable. Her entire mind was filled with the specter of death, ruining any chance she had of enjoying what could very well be her last moments on Earth with her girlfriend. There was no denying it: she was downright terrified.

When they got inside the building, she was surprised to find that they were almost immediately sent to gear up after a minimal tutorial. She was not prepared for this, not in the slightest. "H-Honoka, don't we need more instructions?"

"Nuh uh. We're going with instructors, Maki-chan. They'll be doing all the work for us. We just get to enjoy the ride!" Instructors? Maki remembered reading about tandem jumping, but for some reason she'd just assumed they'd be jumping solo. If they didn't actually have to do anything, maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

Her cautious confidence continued as they boarded the plane, even allowing her to remember to get really close to Honoka in order to 'protect' her from Rin. This lasted until the plane started to take off, and her confidence plummeted the higher they got into the air. Though this wasn't the first time she'd been on a plane before, that time she'd had the ability to knock herself out with pills. Those weren't available to her now. Her grip on Honoka's arm tightened significantly.

"Ow, baby, that hurts."

"S-Sorry." Maki quickly removed her hands, trying to ignore the concerned look on Honoka's face. She couldn't back down now. Besides, if the instructor was going to do all the work in the tandem jump, then she didn't have anything to worry about. Unless something went wrong that the instructor couldn't control, and the parachutes failed, and they went crashing down to the unforgiving ground below. Oh Gods, she was going to die.

She barely registered the pilot telling them that they had reached the proper altitude, and that it was time to prepare to jump. It wasn't until Honoka stood up next to her that she realized something was going on, and she got up to join them. When she realized what was happening, her stomach dropped.

Standing next to Honoka, she watched with trepidation as Rin was the first one to go. She got strapped up with the instructor, then waved to the two of them before jumping out of the plane. Honoka looked a lot more excited about what was about to happen than Maki did about... well, anything.

In her mind, she tried to force herself to think of everything positive, while shunning all the negative. Since she was going to be jumping with someone else, she wouldn't have to do any work. They obviously knew what they were doing, so the risks were minimal in nature. Of course, she was still scared of heights, and would probably embarrass herself with all her screaming, but it wasn't like Honoka hadn't heard her scream before. There was also the whole 'don't let Rin look better than you' deal to consider.

Despite all that positive thinking, her brain kept coming back to her fear of heights. Being in a plane terrified her, and this was hitting all the right notes to drive her insane. The only reason that she hadn't dropped down and curled up in the fetal position was because Honoka was there, and she didn't want to embarrass herself. However, as the time for her to jump was drawing closer, her rational grip was slipping away.

"Maki-chan?" She turned to find Honoka was still looking at her with concern in her eyes. There was no way she wanted Honoka to think there was something wrong, so she forced a smile and started to walk towards the front of the plane. "What are you doing?"

"I-I just want to see the... th-the view." She certainly did not want to see the view, but she was holding onto the thinnest of hopes that looking down with everything on the line would magically make her feel more reassured, and she could convince herself that she could do this. Slowly she placed a hand on the side of the plane and inched closer to the edge, peering down until she could see the sky beneath them. The ground looked so much smaller than she imagined. She felt faint.

Her stomach felt like it was doing backflips as her knees became weak, and she probably would've fallen down - and out of the plane - if someone hadn't grabbed her and pulled her back. When she looked up, she realized it was Honoka who had grabbed her.

"Maki-chan! What happened?" The concern that had been in Honoka's eyes had graduated into full-on worry.

"I... I can't do this." She hadn't meant to say it: it just slipped out.

"You can't do this? Do what?"

"Th-The jump. I... I-I can't do it." She began trembling, her breathing quickening as she let her fear overtake her. "I-I can't do this, I can't, I can't! I-I'm gonna die!"

"Maki-chan?!" Honoka put her hands on Maki's shoulders and held her tightly. "Baby, you're not gonna die! What's wrong? What happened?"

"I... I..." The further away from her near-fainting experience she got time-wise, the calmer Maki's breathing became. It eventually reached a point where she could actually speak without breaking out in hysterics. "I, uh... I-I'm afraid of heights." Her voice came out as a whisper, which Honoka had to strain to hear.

"You're scared of heights?" It didn't seem like Honoka understood. "But then why would you come up here?"

"B-Because..." Maki sighed and took a deep breath. There wasn't really any way she could hide it now. She was going to have to tell the truth. Internally, she cringed at the reality that her relationship could end right then and there. "Because I love you, Honoka. I would do anything to make you happy. Even..." She gestured towards the open door of the plane. "Even something that terrifies me."

Honoka looked guilty the more Maki spoke. "Maki-chan, I... I had no idea. I'm so sorry-"

"Wait, there's... there's more." This was going to be the hardest part to admit. "I... I didn't want you to come here alone with Rin."

"Huh? But Rin-chan and I are best friends. She really wanted to come!" Honoka gave Maki a grin, having not understood what Maki was getting at. "I didn't think you'd want to have some 'alone time' all the way up here."

"Th-That's not what I meant!" At least she wasn't thinking about being scared, though she hadn't planned on feeling embarrassed in this way. "I... I was jealous of her, alright?"

"Jealous?" It still didn't seem like Honoka understood. "Of Rin-chan? Why would you be jealous?"

"Because she's better for you than I am!" Oh Gods, why did she say that? "She's... really into all of this extreme sports stuff, and she's good at it too. I'm terrible at all of this, and you know I am. I'm scared of heights, I... I can't even stand on a skateboard without wiping out. You two have been friends for so long, and you share so many of the same interests. I know I can't compete with that, and... and I was so scared that if I didn't at least try to do all of these things you liked, you'd realize that she's so much better than I am and... a-and leave me."

She had to take a breath after spilling out everything that she really, really shouldn't have been saying. If she had just been able to not lose her cool, she would've been fine, but it was too late now. She'd systematically destroyed everything, and now she was going to look up and be forced to watch as Honoka jumped out of her life.... from a plane. When she looked up, however, she was shocked to see tears in Honoka's eyes.

"H-Honoka?! Why are you crying? I was supposed to be the one crying!"

"I-I'm so sorry!" Honoka pulled Maki into a tight hug, catching her off guard. "I should've noticed that you were feeling uncomfortable! I didn't mean to take you on all these crazy adventures and scare you so much. I'm a terrible girlfriend!"

"Wh-What? No! No, you're a great girlfriend! An amazing one! That's why I did all of this... Because I didn't want to lose you." All that effort, all to watch it blow up in her face. Pathetic. One of their guides came over and tapped on Honoka's shoulder to get their attention.

"Excuse me, but are either of you going to be jumping?" Honoka and Maki looked at each other. Maki could tell from the indecisiveness in Honoka's eyes that she wanted to stay there with her instead of doing the jump, but the last thing she wanted was to be a wet blanket. She shook her head and gently pushed Honoka forward.

"You should do it, Honoka. Don't let me hold you back, okay?" She tried to smile, but it looked more like someone had just stepped on her foot and she was trying not to show how much pain she was in. That didn't seem to soothe Honoka any, but she just nodded and moved towards the instructor.

"Will you... meet me down there? Not by jumping or anything, I mean. Just... When I land, will you still be there?" Maki could only nod wordlessly. Honoka gave her a small smile, then Maki watched as she got in tandem with the instructor and, with one final wave, disappeared from the plane.

Maki sighed deeply and laid down on her back, shaking her head sadly. This definitely was it. When she got down there, Honoka was going to break up with her. There was no way she could get into another relationship, especially not with anyone as wonderful as Honoka. She could only imagine the teasing she would get from Eli when this came out into the open. She felt absolutely wretched.

All the way back down to the ground she moped, feeling alone and empty. She didn't even want to leave the plane once it touched down, but she reluctantly got up and exited. From where she was, she could see a few people standing around an empty field. She knew that Honoka, Rin, and their instructors would be there, but there seemed to be more people. Sighing, she knew that she had to face the music, so she slowly trudged towards them.

As she got closer, she quickly realized that the extra people there were Eli and Umi. That just made her feel worse. She didn't want them there to witness her utter embarrassment. Since she wasn't there, they already would know that she hadn't done the jump. Every step she took towards them felt like she was walking to the electric chair. Might as well just get it over with.

She hadn't yet reached them when Rin noticed her and pointed towards her. Suddenly everyone was staring at her, making Maki feel self-conscious. Did they all have to look at her at once? Soon enough, she was standing in front of all of them, staring at her feet as she waited for her metaphorical death sentence.

A pair of hands landed on her shoulders and squeezed gently. She knew it would be Honoka, and when she looked up, her guess was correct. "Maki-chan, before you say anything, I want you to know that I am really sorry for not realizing what was going on. I don't want you to feel bad, and I also don't want you to do things you're uncomfortable with just to please me." She smiled at Maki's wide-eyed expression. "I love you for everything that you are, for your own interests, your smarts, your... your everything!" Laughing sheepishly, Honoka leaned in until their foreheads were touching. "I don't need you to do something that scares you just to be with me. I'll love you even if you just want to sit on the couch and study all day."

That wasn't at all what she expected to hear. She had expected the absolute worst, but this wasn't even bad. The entire walk there, she had been thinking about how she would deal with it - badly, assuredly - so to hear this short-circuited her brain. She didn't even know how to react to it, so she responded in the only way she could: by falling into Honoka's arms and crying.

Laughter rang in her ears as Honoka's arms wrapped tightly around her, but it wasn't a mocking laugh. It was a soft, pleasant laugh, and Maki let herself be held tightly in Honoka's embrace, crying against her shoulder. She wasn't going to lose Honoka after all. They were going to stay together, and she still loved her even after all of that. Her body was shaking, but she wasn't feeling miserable anymore. Relief was washing over her.

When her crying had finally subsided some, Honoka lifted her head up so that they could look in each other's eyes. "And as for Rin-chan, she's my best friend. She'd never put the moves on me, especially when I've got the best girlfriend in the world." Then she placed her hands on Maki's cheeks and pulled her in for a deep kiss, filled with every ounce of love she could muster.

Normally Maki would be incredibly embarrassed by the very open display of affection, but right then she couldn't care less. Honoka loved her, and still wanted to be with her. That was worth at least one public kiss. She wrapped her arms around Honoka's neck and held on tightly, returning the kiss that she never wanted to end. Forget the electric chair: she had been given a stay of execution.

When they finally broke away from the kiss, both of them had huge smiles on their faces. Rin clapped for them, her cheers embarrassing Maki, but not enough to take away from this wonderful moment.

"Aww, where's my celebratory skydive kiss?" Rin pouted, looking over towards Umi. "Umi-chaaan!"

"Wh-What?" Umi jerked up in surprised, staring at Rin. "Wh-Why would you think I'd kiss you out of the blue like that?" A blush grew on her cheeks as she fidgeted slightly. "E-Especially without even asking me out on a date or anything." Rin grinned broadly, crossing the short distance between them.

"Alriiight, Umi-chan. Ya wanna go out with me this weekend?"

"Wh-What, no location or anything?" Umi crossed her arms, though she was smiling slightly. "How do I know what I'm getting into?"

"Dinner, a movie, going to the animal shelter and looking at all the adorable cats." Rin ticked off the places one by one. "So whaddya say, Umi-chan? Will you go on a date with me?"

"Mm... Alright then. It's a date."

"Yayyy Umi-chan!" Rin clapped her hands in excitement, then jumped right into Umi's arms, sending both of them toppling to the ground below. "Nyaaa!"

"Aaaa! Owww, Rin, be carefu-" Her words were cut off by an eager kiss from Rin, and rather than try to keep up her admonishing tone, Umi just shrugged her shoulders and kissed her back.

"Okay, now where's my prospective relationship?" Now it was Eli's turn to wonder why she wasn't getting kissed like everyone else.

"I'm sure someone with your beauty and confidence can find someone, right?" Maki grinned at Eli, who just stuck out her tongue in reply.

"Just you wait. It won't be long until I'm the one making you all feel awkward by making out in front of you." Eli could only sulk for so long before grinning and clapping Maki on the shoulder. "Glad you didn't die, roomie."

"Yeah, I am too." Maki laughed as well, leaning into Honoka as the three of them watched Umi and Rin wrestling tongues on the ground. "So, did your date start already, Umi?" Pulling away from the kiss, Umi waved her hand dismissively at Maki, a blush still on her face.

"No one said you had to look!" Then Rin captured her lips again, and Umi was distracted once more. Eli pretended to gag while Maki just smirked and pressed closer to Honoka, enjoying the warmth and security she felt in her girlfriend's arms. For once she felt completely sane and happy instead of being burdened by fear and jealously. It felt right.

Taking Honoka's hand in her own, she smiled at her partner, who shot her a smile right back. Everything they had gone through had been just like Honoka herself: insanely extreme. That was okay, though. After all, her own love was just as extreme.

#love live!#HonoMaki #UmiRin #ayase eli #kousaka honoka #sonoda umi #hoshizora rin #nishikino maki #my writing #extreme sports au

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lonelypond · 6 years

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IDOL PROTECTION PROGRAM: Driving Lessons

Love Live, NicoMaki, 1.1K, 14/?

Idol Nico and Doctor Maki have taken their daughters, the name Kurosawa, and fled Tokyo and fame to raise their family in a quiet seaside resort. Characters not mine, shenanigans are, your mileage may vary.

Summary: Nico's excited about teaching Dia to drive, but Dia seems a bit too calm.

DRIVING LESSONS:

Everyone was home in the Kurosawa household, enjoying a cool Spring afternoon, having tea outside in the garden. Ruby and Maki had their heads bent over a game of backgammon, Nico was curled up on a bench, smiling at her two favorite redheads, and Dia was leaning against her favorite tree reading.

Ruby laughed as she rolled the doubles she needed for the second time in as many turns and Maki groaned theatrically, not fond of losing even with her daughters. Nico wondered if there would be a comeback from her determined wife and turned to their firstborn.

“Now that you’re 17, Dia, we’ll have to start thinking about teaching you to drive. Guess I should take the NicoMobile out and make sure it’s running properly.” The NicoMobile was a Daihatsu Copen mini sportscar with a custom pink paint job and a top of the line stereo system older than both of their daughters ages added together.

Dia froze but didn’t look up from her book. Maki watched curiously as Nico got more excited, up on her feet, organizing things around the tea house. “I remember when I taught Cocoro in it. Every Yazawa has learned how to drive in it, even…” Here Nico bounced behind Maki, “your Mama.”

That got Dia to look up from her book. As Maki rolled her eyes and prepared for the usual “you’re a Nishikino, Nico-chan” rant. But Nico didn’t stop to breathe in her enthusiasm.

“We used to go for drives all the time, when Nico wasn’t on tour and your Mama needed a break from her books. So Maki-chan practiced for her license under my extremely responsible tutelage.” Nico hugged Maki, who muttered something about distractions, saying that sort of thing with a straight face, and misdefining responsible. Nico ignored it all. Dia was still processing. Ruby continued to plot her next moves.

“Really?” Finally Dia spoke, sounding shocked.

“Really.” Nico kissed the top of Maki’s head as the redhead fumbled the dice, “Maki learned a lot in that car.”

Maki blushed at high school memories she was NEVER sharing with her daughters. Cocoro and Cocoa already knew too much thanks to an eavesdropping habit. Time to swerve the conversation out of Nico’s control, “There’s no rush for Dia to learn, Nico-chan. There’s bikes and buses. And I don’t mind driving her around when she needs it.”

Dia closed her book and picked up the tea tray, ready to take it into the main house, “No rush at all, Mom. Isn’t the car in Tokyo, anyway?”

Ruby’s rolls continued their streak and she gleamed happily as she took her last piece off the board, “I win, Mama!”

“I want a rematch.” Maki grumbled as Nico cheered for Ruby, car talk forgotten for a moment.

The next evening, Maki had asked Dia to accompany her on the koto so they could practice a traditional composition she’d been working on. When Dia had decided to learn a Japanese instrument, Maki had decided to trade her Western flute for a shakuhachi so she and Dia could bond over music.

For an hour, the two of them played together, working over the piece, Maki taking Dia’s suggestions on the best way to solve a few of the less smooth sections. When they took a break, Maki stood and stretched. Playing a flute was so different from the piano. Picking it up again was always a challenge. But she treasured the chance to create something together with Dia, while Nico and Ruby were in the kitchen, putting together a family feast for the evening meal. Maki would never get tired of these rare, quiet weekends she and Nico could spend with their girls. Too soon, Dia would be off to college.

“Dia?” Maki sat down next her daughter, fidgeting with her flute.

“What’s wrong, Mama?” Dia picked up on Maki’s hesitancy and wondered what was bothering her.

“Why don’t you really want to learn to drive?” Maki blew a few quick notes, not making eye contact.

Dia played a few notes to match Maki’s.

“I won’t tell your Mom, if you’re worried about that. You can talk to me.” Maki offered, putting an arm around Dia’s shoulders.

Dia paused, then took in a deep breath and turned, looking straight at Maki, “Do I have to learn on the Copen. It’s so tiny and....” Dia frowned, “cutesy.”

Maki snorted, doubling over, her grip on her daughter tightening, Dia being pulled along with the movement. “You don’t...want...to..drive...the Nicomobile?!?!?!”

“Ruby couldn’t talk about anything else last night, how excited she’d be when she was old enough, how ‘adorable’ it was.” Dia leaned into her mother, “And I...I love Mom…”

“I know you do.” Maki smiled, hugging her daughter.

“And I love hearing her stories....and I loved when I was a child and she drove me to Tokyo to fashion shows in it.” Dia fidgeted, beginning to retune the koto.

“But you don’t want to be the next Yazawa to learn in it.” Maki glanced toward the house, wondering how to smooth this over.

“No.” Dia’s answer was muted but firm. “None of my clothes would work.”

Maki didn’t laugh as hard as she would have if Nico had said that. And Nico would have said that...and had, about many things. Just not the NicoMobile. Maki kept her response to a slight grin and a soft chuckle.

Dia glanced up, green eyes worried under her bangs, “Mama?”

“We’ll talk to your grandmother. And maybe Santa-san. Surely we can come up with something.”

“Really?”

Nico’s voice came from the house, perky as ever, “Come on in, you two. We’ve made most of your favorites.”

Which meant Maki was getting some form of pasta and Dia was getting her favorite matcha and chocolate pudding dessert.

Maki stood, pulling her daughter up with her, “I promise. I’ll take care of it. Just humor your Mom for now.”

Dia nodded earnestly and Maki let her lead the way into the house while Maki considered if a nostalgic drive in the Copen would put Nico in a good enough mood that Maki could suggest that her parents wanted to to give Dia a new car for Christmas. She’d have to talk to Rin about hosting a sleepover for Dia, Ruby, and Kaito soon. The children hadn’t gotten together for a few months and that would give her an evening free to persuade Nico.

And with another road trip in Nico’s beloved (and adorable, not that Maki would tell Nico or Dia that) sportscar planned, Maki bounded toward the house, ready for a taste of Nico’s food made with love. And tomatoes.

A/N: I'm about 2K into the next Casual Lunacy chapter, it's too hot, politics here is full of f*c$wits, and I needed something fun. So I wrote this.Vroom ; )

#nicomaki #Idol Protection Program #nishikino maki #yazawa nico #kurosawa dia #kurosawa ruby #family fluff #driving #cars vroom

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lonelypond · 7 years

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CROSSROADS

Love Live, NicoMaki main pairing, New 1Kiss AU story, 7K

1Kiss (NicoRinPana) has been on tour for 6 months, Nico and Maki’s 5th anniversary is approaching and Maki finds herself struggling with both school and the absence of Nico. So she gets talked into going out with some schoolmates, which only makes the situation worse. More intense than my usual 1Kiss style, but I wanted to figure out the Maki doctor-music equation. And There’s a playlist.

LOST

1Kiss had been on tour for six months. Maki stared at their website. Winking and cheering for their fans were the grinning, vibrant faces of the three people closest to her in the world. Also the three people furthest from her in the world currently. Currently. Currently dancing their way across Canada, then swinging down to the US, then back to Europe. Another three months. While Maki sat here, alone, in classes, bored, useless, dreaming about … Maki shoved her textbooks into the laptop and stood, stomping, nearly screaming. She’d tried connecting with Nico tonight, but no response. And she’d been … out … last night, when they usually had their weekly catch up on everything call. One they’d never missed until yesterday. Well, Nico had been available …

Maki stopped, hands tearing through her hair. So much was racing through her head, and she hated not telling Nico. But Nico wasn’t here, and how could she explain it. Even through the laptop, the past few weeks, she’d seen it in Nico’s eyes, how worn out Nico was from Maki’s loneliness, the aching, the worries, the pit that Maki saw in front of her instead of a future. And as far as Maki could tell, Nico didn’t ache, didn’t tremble on the edge of a precipice, no, Nico was busy, active, happy, achieving her goals, losing any discontent in dance and busyness, and letting sharp, well-dressed reporters take her out to expensive restaurants for interviews.

Her phone. Her mother. Not a conversation Maki wanted to have. And a text message. Not from Nico, from … oh, Maki hung her head. After last night, she should have a headache, but instead, there just seemed to be anger throbbing in her skull, she just wasn’t sure what or who it was directed at. And Nico was in Toronto, probably being feted by someone who actually took the time to listen to her.

A knock, polite, then a pause and more determined. Maki groaned and opened the door. A very stern Umi stood on the sill, golden eyes concerned, umbrella dripping. Of course, it was a rainy day, all things ended in grey.

“Umi.” Maki stepped aside; Umi removed her boots and followed Maki into the apartment.

“Have you been on your computer?” Umi asked.

“Not really. Why,” Maki collapsed on her couch in front of her computer, back to disinterested.

“Kotori was right,” Umi muttered.

Maki’s head snapped up. “What did she say.”

Umi frowned. “That you needed to be hit upside the head by a dose of reality.”

Maki laid back. “Is that like rain? Will it drip on my floor like you?”

Umi ignored Maki, crouching in front of the laptop and typing, then she dumped the laptop on Maki’s chest.

Maki focused. There she was, last night at the club, in full color, oh God, she really did wear that dress, Nico-chan would kill her, and there was Yasu, sitting next to her, head on Maki’s very bare shoulder, shot glasses lined up in front of the bar, and then again, there they were on the dance floor, with Mi and Eiko …

“They’re my classmates,” Maki explained.

“Studying hard, I see.” Umi found another page, which had a helpful written clue, “Nishikino heir takes over club for wild night with girlfriends.”

Maki sat up, placing the laptop back on the table, and spoke carefully. “Yasu was having trouble with her boyfriend. She needed a distraction and a sympathetic ear.”

Maki’s phone buzzed again. Her mother. She ignored it.

“I have a dear friend who is having trouble with a romantic partner as well.” Umi’s voice was sharp. “I talked to her last night because she was worried. And crying.” Umi sat next to Maki, “This is information I was forbidden to share with you,” Umi had a look worse than any sad puppy Rin had ever sent a pic of, “but you are also my friend.”

“Why did Nico-chan call you?” Maki felt a few old resentments simmer, even as she realized how ironic that might seem in this situation. But jealousy is a hard habit to break.

Umi never pulled any punches. “I believe she said she tried to call you.”

Maki’s phone vibrated again. Umi snatched it. “Possibly just as your mother is now.” Umi handed Maki the phone. Maki typed in her passcode.

“Mama, I can’t talk now. I’m sorry. I’ll call you tomorrow.” Maki listened for a moment. “No I’m not alone … no, not … Umi’s here.”

“What happened?” Umi poked.

Maki shrugged.

“Maki.”

Maki closed her eyes, willing the tears not to start. “It’s just too much.”

“What is?”

“School, Nico being away, seeing her talk to people, flirt with everyone, sing … do EXACTLY what she’s always wanted while I’m …”

Umi was relentless. “While you’re …”

“Here. I’m here. Stuck.” Maki stood and shoved the table with her shin. Umi recognized the temper flare and grabbed the laptop before Maki tossed it anywhere or put her bare foot through the screen.

“Ah.”

“You don’t understand,” Maki snarled.

Umi stood. “Honoka and Kotori spent two years in France.”

“It’s not the s …” Maki halted, still not entirely sure what the combination of Umi, Honoka and Kotori meant exactly. If Umi had been anyone else, she might have raised an eyebrow at Maki’s hesitation. As it was Umi, she just waited, solid and unquestioning until Maki continued, “I’m frustrated.”

“With Nico?” Umi prodded.

Maki shook her head and decided to grab a cold coffee from the fridge. Maybe that would cut off the headache that was actually starting. She couldn’t remember exactly what she’d drunk or said last night, she just had an empty, foreboding twist in her gut that Yasu now had more information about Maki and Nico than either of them would be comfortable with. What had possessed her?

Umi repeated her question. “Are you frustrated with Nico?”

Maki banged her head into the closed door of the refrigerator, and decided to just be raw, it was how she felt anyway, and she might have told someone who was practically a stranger yesterday so why not share with a friend. “With not being able to to feel her breathing, to touch …”

Umi was silent. Maki glanced to the side. Umi looked physically pained, but she whispered, “That’s what Nico said.”

Maki stood, shocked. “What do you mean?”

Umi couldn’t look Maki in the eye. “I asked Nico what she thought was wrong, and that’s what she said, that you were probably frustrated.”

Maki’s lip curled. “Because she isn’t …”

“Wrong.” Umi’s eyes were steady and warm but unyielding. “Do you know why Nico called me?”

Maki shrugged. Why care anymore.

“I’ve been helping her with meditation and designing workouts to deal with …” Umi twisted her hands, looking away again, “excess energy. We talk every couple of weeks. She seems to be enjoying rock climbing. Most hotel gyms have a wall.”

Maki’s jaw dropped. Nico had mentioned a while ago that Umi had helped her develop a workout program. Maki had puzzled over that for a few days, especially since 1Kiss had a personal trainer.

“Nico’s going to start learning kendo when she returns to Japan. She works very hard.” Umi sounded proud of her pupil. Maki was still processing.

“So neither of us is happy,” Maki concluded, after slowly working through Umi’s revelations.

Umi raised an eyebrow. “There is no single component to happiness.”

Maki popped the tab on the coffee and chugged it, the chill waking her up a little.

Maki’s phone rang. 1Kiss’s first Hot Chart topper, “Cute Girls Kiss.” Hanayo.

“That’s Hanayo.” Maki tossed the can aside.

Umi nodded, resting a hand on Maki’s shoulder. “I’ll be going. I am available if you need to talk.”

“Thanks, Umi,” Maki smiled, a little.

Umi nodded. “You are welcome, my friend. Take care.”

Maki grabbed her phone. Hanayo had called again after getting the voicemail.

“Hello.”

“Maki-chan!” Hanayo sounded relieved.

“I tried to call Nico-chan today,” Maki blurted out; Hanayo didn’t respond. “How is she?”

Maki heard Hanayo exhale, she imagined the lavender eyes looking concerned over glasses. “She’s mad. And confused and worried. Rin is trying to cheer her up. Rin and I are worried about both of you.”

Something about the gentleness is Hanayo’s tone triggered tears Maki had been holding in for she’d forgotten how long.

“Maki-chan?”

“Just don’t … ask … I’m sorry … I just … I can’t talk right now, Hanayo.”

There was a long silence. “Call Nico-chan.” And Hanayo ended the call.

Maki did. Some days, following simple directions was better than having to dive into a whirling, stormy, rock- and siren-strewn strait.

“Maki,” Nico’s very controlled voice lashed painfully across all the raw emotions digging tears down Maki’s cheeks. “Are you all right?”

“Y … yes.”

“Good.” Nico’s voice was so cold. “I don’t have time to talk right now. Try not to let photographers get shots of the next set of girls you have draped over you. The questions cut into our sound check.”

“Nico-chan …”

A knock, hard and persistent. Nico heard it. “Have a date?”

“No … of course not, I don’t know …” Maki looked confused, between the door and the phone.

“Answer the door, Maki-chan.” That was the tone Nico used when she thought Maki was being hopelessly inept. This minute Maki was proving her right. She went to the door.

“Mama?” Maki heard Nico chuckle in her ear as she stared at her mother, who looked stern.

Nico snorted. “Call me back when you’re not grounded,” and she ended the call. Maki’s mother swept into the room.

“Was that Nico?” Accusations hovered.

Maki nodded. Nothing was going to help with the headache. Certainly not anyone she knew. And who else would show up next. Cocoro? Oh … Maki felt a bit pale.

“Maki?” Her mother put a hand around her daughter’s waist, noticing the sudden shakiness.

“I have to go to the Yazawas for dinner.”

Her mother’s smile was grim. “Well, at least you’ll stay sober.”

“Mama!”

“Care to explain yourself?”

Maki opted for a kitchen chair. Her mother sat across from her.

“It was a late study session. Yasu was having boyfriend troubles, I was …”

“Missing Nico.”

“Yes.”

Her mother put a hand over Maki’s. “You know that’s not a solution.”

“There isn’t a solution.” No one was giving Maki any time to think. And she didn’t want to.

“Do you have class?”

Her phone said she’d missed her exam. “No.”

“Do you want to talk about anything?”

“No.”

“Do you want a plane ticket to …” her mother hesitated.

“Toronto.” Maki finished the sentence without having to think about it, and then met her mother’s worried eyes. Was this some kind of a fever, this aching feeling of being without Nico, would it go away in time, was there a cure?

“Well?” There was no sympathy in her mother’s glance.

Maki put her head on the table; the tiles felt cool. Nico had vetoed Kotori’s choice of wood and made Maki buy a table with nature scenes brushstroked across ceramic tiles. She’d been surprised by Nico’s choice but loved it. “No.”

“What do you want?”

“I don’t know.”

Her mother patted her hair. “When were you last happy?”

Maki’s response was, once again, automatic. “Touring with Nico.”

“Do you just want to follow Nico around?” Her mother sounded curious, not disappointed. That was unexpected.

“No.” Maki raised her head, energy coming back, “It was … we explored, we sat next to each other on trains, looked up cool museums, stared at different stars, Nico told me everything about her days, she set up master classes for me in practically every city, we curled up on sofas together watching silly things, I played pia …” Maki felt energy charging. “There was music.”

“Right.” Her mother nodded, a suspicion confirmed. “Have you eaten?”

Maki shook her head.

“Get changed. Let’s go get some food in you.”

“Okay, Mama.” Almost meek.

Her mother hugged her daughter impulsively as soon as Maki stood, before she could flee.

“Mama!” Maki struggled.

But Nishikino-sama refused to release her daughter. “You need to talk to Nico.”

Maki chuckled a little. “She said to call after I was done being grounded.”

No amusement tinged her mother’s voice. “You’re not 16. Don’t act like it.”

Cocoro glared, Cocoa was still for the first time Maki had ever seen, and her question was subdued. ‘Is your new girlfriend prettier than Nico?”

Oh gods, Maki would have prefered to face Nico’s phalanx of paparazzi. Nico’s mom stood at the end of the hallway, arms crossed, waiting.

“N … no …” Cocoro and Cocoa continued to present an unyielding wall of Yazawa disdain. Maki straightened up. “They were only my classmates.” Maki held out a box of extremely expensive French pastries. “I brought dessert.”

The younger Yazawa sisters turned in unison and went into what used to be Nico’s room, closing the door before Maki could say anything else. Inside, it was still aggressively pink, although most of the pillows had migrated to Maki’s apartment. Their exit left Nico’s mom. And a very very heavy silence.

“I regret that Cocoa and Cocoro saw those pictures.”

“Wouldn’t it be wiser to regret being in that situation?” Deceptively mild, not a safe question to directly respond to, Maki knew.

“I intend to avoid similar situations in the future.”

“Good.” Nico’s mom tapped a foot, “My daughter is very upset. She thought better of you. So did I.”

Her own mother had said something similar. Maki had thought it herself, staring in the mirror, seeing a near stranger, before heading out for this dinner. She had once thought better of herself. She had once felt in control. There had once been cool breezes, and Spring days, not stormy, drenched emotional avalanches.

“Maki?” Nico’s mom sounded worried. Everyone sounded worried. Except Nico. Nico had sounded livid.

Honesty. Default to that. At least then everyone would know where she was. “It’s been hard.”

There was a small flare of sympathy mixed in a swell of sadness in bright crimson eyes.

“Nico’s been trying; I’ve been trying, but I don’t explain things very well. And I know she’s getting discouraged because I keep …” Maki palmed the wall, but not hard enough to disturb the girls inside Nico’s room. “I keep getting low.”

Another silence, but then Yazawa-sama came toward Maki, taking the box out of her hand, “Cotarou has a new game to show you. He’s been waiting.” A pause. “And Nico never gives up on anything she loves. You know that as well as anyone.”

Maki felt the tears again, but this time they were a cooling relief, not another fever symptom.

NO SLEEP FOR NICO

Maki tried again, a third time. Nico’s phone had gone to voicemail. Maki quickly did the time difference; thirteen hours behind, Nico had had to travel back to Toronto after a concert, she’d probably still be asleep.

And there it was, Nico’s voice, grumbling and sleepy. “Maki-chan, Nico needs sleep.”

Maki opened her mouth to say “I”m sorry” or “Are you mad” or anything, but nothing came out.

“Maki-chan? Are you there?” Nico yawned. “Is this a prank call?”

Maki still got nothing out, Nico’s sounded like she was going back to sleep. “If you want to talk, or cry, or break up, text Nico, please. Nico will read it when she’s awake.”

“N … No …” Maki yelped.

“You mean Nico. You have my number.” And the call cut off.

Maki stared at her phone. Even for asleep Nico, a person Maki had probably too much experience talking to, that had been cold. Talking to Nico without Nico here was impossible. Nico was hard enough to read. And she was angry. And when Nico was angry, she shut down. And Maki just wanted to hug Nico and never let go. Sure, next week, Maki planned to fly to Canada, to meet Nico for their fifth anniversary. But at this rate, it would be a nonevent. Text something, anything to Nico, Nishikino, she ordered herself. Communicate.

M: (´･_･`) Sorry about the call; I just wanted to hear your voice. And talk to you. About being an idiot ((_　_* I love you, Nico-chan ♥(ˆ⌣ˆԅ) I miss you (⋟﹏⋞)

M: That’s about me being an idiot ●﹏●. Nico-chan is wonderful (★≧▽^))★☆

A reply text.

N: Call Rin if it’s an emergency. (｡v_v｡)

“Call Rin if it’s an emergency.” Maki stared at the screen. She was scared. Was that an emergency? Maki sat on her couch, staring … was there a song for this? Shuffle. Beverly “I Need Your Love” Universe getting in a gut punch on a bad night. Might as well turn up the volume. Maki threw herself back into the couch, the ceiling her new target, trying to picture Nico, to remember what lying next to Nico felt like, what laughter was … why had she gone out last night? To get someone to pay attention? To get Nico to pay attention? Well, that had the opposite effect. Nico was throwing up walls. Or was Maki just bored … and dangerously, recklessly tired of the same nights, the same conversations, the same worries and aches. The repetitive solitude. Now she was crying again. Pointless. No one to notice the tears. And Nico across an ocean, growing colder.

Maki sat up as the song looped again. Nico would be in Toronto for the next couple of days, 1Kiss was using it as their base as they toured that region. Time to get on a flight and see Nico. It had been too long.

BAD TIMING

Rin had told her this was a bad idea, twice. And texted her. ALL CAPS. Maki didn’t care. She’d left her luggage in her suite at The Hazelton, changed into a nearly see-through shirt she knew Nico found irresistible, threw a hoodie over it, tucked her tailored trousers into boots and flashed ID at security at the concert venue. Nico-chan’s dressing room, check. Now to wait. Rin had said this was their biggest crowd ever, made sense with Toronto’s rep as a diverse, multicultural hub. Maki had enjoyed visiting here once with her parents and looked forward to exploring it with Nico, if she could … Maki sat in front of the makeup mirrors and noticed a frame with a picture of herself, taken at the beach last year, that she didn’t recognize. Maybe that meant Nico hadn’t gone completely …

The door opened, and Maki recognized the exhausted sigh.

She stood. “Nico-chan!”

“W … w … what …” Nico spluttered. Her costume, what little of it there was, clung to her, sweat was dripping off the tip of her nose, her eyes were brilliant rubies held siege by tired red lines, and her lips … Maki couldn’t help staring. And then Nico was right in her face, finger shaking under Maki’s nose, and all Maki could feel was amazement that Nico was so close, smelled so good, and Maki stepped forward, a move Nico anticipated from a familiar glazed over look in the amethyst eyes. Nico dodged, and Maki stumbled.

“You can’t be here, Maki-chan. No one can be in Nico’s dressing room after a concert. Nico needs her space.” Nico’s jaw was so tight Maki was surprised not to hear teeth being ground down. “That’s how rumors start.”

Maki knew what that was a dig about as Nico muttered, “Nico is going to have a long talk with Rin and security.”

“I’m sorry, Nico-chan.”

Nico shook her head. “Nico doesn’t want apologies. Nico wants you to be somewhere else. Tokyo, where you’re supposed to be. Or in your apartment, when you’re supposed to be, talking to Nico.”

“I”m here now. Talk to me.” Maki felt like dropping to her knees, surely Nico must see the plea in her eyes.

“No.” Nico turned away.

Maki pulled the smaller woman into an embrace. “Scream at me if you want, Nico-chan.”

Nico froze in Maki’s arms, and as soon as the redhead gave up and released the embrace, she stepped back, arm slicing through the air between them.

“This is Nico’s biggest concert ever, best concert ever, audience crazy for Nico, and she can’t enjoy it because Maki is in Tokyo with women crawling all over her, except Maki’s in Toronto, NOT LISTENING TO NICO.”

Maki’s eyes were wide. She’d seen Nico angry before, but this Nico didn’t seem to have any warmth left at all. It was all cold, loud rage.

“N … Nico … I never … I’m s … Nico-chan …” Maki floundered, then found something to save the moment, “I just needed to see you.”

“Hmmpphh.” Nico glared, reaching behind her to tear off her mic pack, throwing it at Maki, then came her heels. “You need to see Nico, how much of Nico do you want to see …” And then her arms went up, and her shirt … Maki fled to the hall, chest tight, breathing impossible, brain stalled.

“Maki-chan?” Hanayo’s voice was a softness in the echoing confusion. She and Rin had a furtive aura, caught lurking.

Maki’s eyes looked lost. “Nico-chan hates me.”

“Yeah,” Rin agreed, Hanayo frowning at her. Then there was the sound of something slamming in Nico’s dressing room.

“Someone who hates you wouldn’t be that upset,” Hanayo offered, sliding her arm through Rin’s.

“So she’s mad?” This was galaxies beyond any previous rage level.

Rin and Hanayo exchanged a look and then Hanayo spoke. “She’s hurt. And scared. And worried. We all are. Nico looks forward to your call every week … and she thought something had happened to you. And then …”

Maki felt queasy. One impulsive decision, so many ripples, so much hurt. Another slam. Rin shook her head at Maki. “And Nico’s mad. Really really mad. So mad.”

“Want to wait in our dressing room?” Hanayo was ever kind. Maki appreciated the offer, but Nico was going to have to go through her to get anywhere else. They had to talk.

Maki sat next to the door, knees pulled up to her chest. “I’ll wait here.”

Hanayo nodded; Rin chopped her on the head. “Don’t be a jerk, Maki-chan. We love Nico-chan.”

“So do I.”

ATTENTION

Maki might have nodded off, but just for a moment. Nodded off, but never got comfortable. How could she get comfortable when Nico was on the other side of the door, as furious as Maki had ever seen, because Maki had shown up. Maki leaned back against the wall, stretching her arms, listening for Nico. And the door ripped open, and Nico stomped by and a duffle bag as large as the Idol thumped into Maki’s shins.

“Do you have a car? Nico is starved,” Nico hissed. Maki grabbed the duffle and raced after Nico. She took Nico’s arm and guided her to the door.

“It’s been waiting.”

The concierge had arranged a driver and a nicely sportif car that fit the Toronto downtown aesthetic. Maki figured Nico didn’t need a limo screaming “look at me.” Since 1Kiss had actually started having fans who came up to them on the streets in nearly every city they visited, Nico had become a little more appreciative of privacy protections.

Maki opened the car door, and Nico slid inside. She put Nico’s bag on the front seat and greeted the driver, “Back to the Hazelton, please.”

“Of course, Ms. Nishikino.”

Nico had her arms crossed over her chest, staring out the window and refusing to look at Maki. Maki slid an iPad across Nico’s lap and handed the Idol her phone. “There’s the menu. Order whatever you want, even if it’s not listed, and have them bring it up to the Bellair Suite.”

Nico turned, her eyes wide for a moment, then she “hmmpphed” and turned her attention to the menu.

“The desserts are excellent. And they’ll deliver breakfast if you want it.”

“Nico can read,” Nico grunted.

Maki pressed against the door, giving Nico space, and watched couples walking down the relaxed sidewalks, wondering if she and Nico would ever be that casual together again.

Nico placed her order, but Maki was too lost in thought to pay attention. What had brought her here? Why had she agreed to go out with Yasu? A reckless mood, the kind that surged when her outlook was dark, nothing was challenging her, and nobody was there to … Nico, when Nico wasn’t there to be Nico. Vexed, physical frustrations too closely mixed with this feeling she kept getting, that nothing was resonating and medical school was a labyrinth leading away from everything and everyone she loved. Her mother had pressed the “did she see her future at the hospital” question, and Maki had for the first time demurred. Not because she couldn’t see her future taking over the family business, but because she couldn’t sense a path forward into that future at all. She could easily see the white lab coat and the clean floors and the fluorescent lighting that would make her eyes twitch from too many late nights, but she couldn’t feel herself taking the step forward into that hallway, some echo behind her turning the present into stone she couldn’t carve her way free of.

The car stopped. Nico hopped out. Maki pulled Nico’s bag out of the seat and swallowed, best to make no assumptions. “Thank you. Ms. Yazawa may require a ride back to her hotel.”

The driver nodded. “Just let the concierge know.”

Maki slung Nico’s bag over her shoulder. Nico was wearing a cute pink and black over-sized varsity jacket with a 1Kiss logo on the back and pink Chuck Taylors.

“I’m on the fourth floor.”

Nico followed silently, until they got to the room. When they got to the first sitting room and Nico saw through to the second, she whistled. “This is big enough for me, Hanayo-chin, Rin-chan, and the rest of the crew.”

“There’s only one bed,” Maki said automatically as she placed Nico’s duffle on a couch, and turned to see Nico’s eyes flash at her.

“Nico will take that car now.”

Maki felt herself flushing. “I … I didn’t … I know … I wouldn’t …”

“Good.” Nico sat on the end of a tan couch, staring wistfully out a window at the night sky.

“There’s a balcony, if you want to see the skyline. And a kitchenette. That’s why I picked this suite,” Maki explained rapidly.

“So you could cook?” Nico didn’t even turn to raise an eyebrow at Maki, but her tone was dubious enough to get the message across.

“N … no.” Maki stepped into the other room. “I’ll check on your food.”

Nico had ordered more than enough food for both of them, so they sat at the table, opposite each other, chewing slowly, no words to share. Nico really was starved, Maki thought, noticing as the color came back to Nico’s cheeks.

“Is this show more difficult than the last?” Maki wondered, forgetting for a moment there was a reason for the weight of silence between them.

Nico looked up from her cookies and milkshake, startled.

“I haven’t gotten to see a performance yet,” Maki admitted.

Nico’s lip was a snarl. “Right, Maki-chan was too busy being a diligent student to pay attention to how hard Nico works.”

Maki’s voice had a tremor. “You were a continent away while I had school. And my break is about to start.”

“From Nico?” Nico pushed the shake away and crumbled the cookie.

Maki felt like slamming her head into the table. “From school. Not from Nico.”

“It looked like a break from Nico to me.” Nico’s pace was matter of fact, her tone frigid.

Maki stood, discouraged by bashing uselessly at Nico’s emotional fortress, hands gesturing wildly in the air. Balcony. Door. Fresh air, she needed fresh air, and space, and a minute to think if they were going to have this talk with Nico in sniper mode. But Nico wouldn’t give her that minute.

Nico stood, her voice finally afire with the emotions she’d been tamping down. “Tell me, Maki-chan. Why? Were you that lonely?”

“No!” Maki yelled. “NO!” A moment, a huge breath, and then right back at Nico, throwing all her own emotions into a desperate parry. “I wasn’t lonely. I wasn’t attracted. I was just … I just …” she felt the damn tears starting again, “I was just lost, Nico-chan.”

“So you don’t call Nico AND you went out in your sexiest dress with not one but three women Nico doesn’t know. Did you find anything?” Nico was small, and coiled, and fierce, all the astounding Nico Ni energy and charisma hammered into a perilous, cutting edge.

Maki stepped out on the balcony, tempted to close the doors behind her and just scream. She deserved this, Nico had a right to ask all those questions, but it wasn’t anything about anybody else … it was about this feeling, this empty, this inability to express herself. She found the fingers of her left hand in front of her, slamming through the air as if she were seated at a piano. A tune in her head. Ravel. Slamming through “The Left Hand.” The start. The darkness. She needed the release. And a piano, not a damn kitchenette. And she needed Nico.

Nico was in the door of the balcony, chic in black shorts and an off-the-shoulder white lace tunic, one hand on her hip, one resting against the doorframe. The picture was one Maki had been dreaming about for months. Nico was breathtaking. And heartbreaking. Maki couldn’t touch her. Couldn’t reach for her again. Maki couldn’t articulate her feelings, physical expressions were too inexact. Not touching Nico was too painful. Nico was so close, sharp angles and soft curves glowing in the light, silky hair blowing in the wind, her sweet, sweaty, fruity smell a pull, but her eyes had no welcome or warmth. All crimson challenge, a challenge Maki was no longer prepared to meet. A challenge Maki was no longer worthy of.

Maki glanced away from Nico’s intensity, arms wrapped tightly around her own torso, holding everything together for just another minute, until she could flee. “I’ll get another room. Or you can call for a car. I’m sorry I interrupted your night. It was good to see you.”

And tears. End scene. Rush past the woman you can’t bear to either be near or apart from and then practically fall to your knees when she puts out a gentle hand to stop you.

“Maki-chan.” It was a demand. “Tell me.”

Maki had dipped to Nico’s eye level in her moment of collapse. The ruby gems were dark, a mix of emotions too intense for Maki to process behind their shadows. Nico’s hands were under Maki’s arms, and the small woman pulled her inside, to the couch. She settled Maki down and then sat catty-corner next to her, legs tucked under.

“Tell me,” Nico urged.

Maki rubbed her eyes. “My mom asked me if I just wanted to follow you around.” Maki’s eyes impressed on Nico the urgency and truth of her next statement. “I don’t.” A breath. “Well, I do want to be with you … but it wasn’t just that.’

Nico nodded, still listening. Maki pushed her hands into her the couch at her sides. One barely brushed Nico’s knee, but Nico remained steady. The weight on Maki’s heart lightened.

“I hate school.” Maki just said it. Out loud. For the first time.

“Wh … what?” Nico shook herself, shocked.

Maki turned, and spoke louder. “I hate school.”

Nico tilted her head, cautious. “Does Maki-chan not want to be a doctor?”

Maki breathed out, rapidly and loudly. “I don’t know …”

Nico’s voice was gentle. “Did you tell your mom?”

Maki felt the tears again. “N … No.”

Nico hesitated. “Did you tell your ‘friends’ while Nico was worrying about you?”

Maki stared at Nico, surprised by the cynicism in Nico’s voice.

“N … no, Nico-chan. I don’t even remember anything I talked about. I just wanted … to not talk for once.”

“You looked like you were saying a lot,” Nico drew her hands together, pulling back.

That was it. Nico was never going to get past whatever she thought Maki had done. Maki propelled herself from the couch, heading for the door. She couldn’t go through this over and over, all night, throwing herself at Nico’s defenses. And then Nico caught her, arms as strong as Maki remembered, and Maki stopped, overtaken by sensation and hope.

“What do you want, Maki-chan?” Suddenly, Nico only sounded curious, her head pressed into Maki’s back as she tightened her embrace. Maki felt herself relax, just a start to the thaw. And then everything came out in a flood.

“You. Music. Freedom. Not stupid classes and stupid teachers and people who want to know all about me. And you. I just …” Maki couldn’t be still any longer.

Nico, arms still around Maki’s waist, walked Maki to the table. “Nico will make tea. Maki can keep talking. Nico will listen. Or Nico will not listen if Maki doesn’t want to talk.”

Maki let Nico sit her down. She was shaking. Nico kept her arms wrapped around Maki’s shoulders, whispering, “But I’ll be right here, Maki-chan. It’s okay. Nico loves you.”

“Nico-chan.” The sobs started, and Nico pulled Maki’s chair around so she could hold the hysterical redhead, continuing to murmur endearments into Maki’s hair.

Then there was calm. Nico was kneeling on the ground in front of Maki’s chair, forearms resting on Maki’s thighs. “Maki-chan,” she urged, her voice tender.

“I … I’m sorry.” Maki stared over Nico’s shoulder.

Nico giggled. “Maki-chan is cute even like this. Nico is just glad to be the one Maki is crying on.”

Maki grabbed Nico and pulled her onto her lap, hugging the air out of Nico.

“MAKI! Nico needs those ribs. I have a show tomorrow.”

Maki refused to let go, although she did ease her grip.

Nico put both hands on Maki’s cheeks and pulled her in for a lingering kiss before chirping cheerfully, “The Number One Idol in the Universe has a genius for a girlfriend. We can figure this out.”

Maki wasn’t really listening, her head buzzing and her lips tingling. Nico recognized the fugue state and stood up. “Maki-chan, Nico is making tea, Maki-chan is talking, telling Nico what’s been going on without Nico, then there will be more kissing.”

Maki grabbed Nico’s hand. “Promise, Nico-chan?”

Nico grinned, “Guaranteed.” Nico kissed the palm of her lover’s hand, and Maki took a deep breath as Nico started filling the electric kettle at the sink. “Go wash your face, Princess, you’ll feel better. Then Nico will rescue you again.”

Maki nodded. Cold water would help. And maybe the balcony. “Bring the tea outside?”

Nico saluted with a wink. “You got it, Maki-chan.”

RELEASE

Nico took longer than expected, but she also brought out the leftover doughnuts. “Eat something, Maki-chan.”

Maki didn’t really like the sweet, but food made her feel a little less shaky. “Thanks, Nico-chan.”

Nico nodded, her tone serious. “So now that you’re a fugitive from Tokyo, what are you going to do?”

Maki sniggered. “I am not a fugitive, Nico-chan.”

“Here you are, on another continent, hiding from school. And cute girls. Because you know Nico will protect you.” Nico leaned back against the balcony, hands on her hips, chest proudly puffed out.

Maki chuckled. Laughing was so much better than crying. “They aren’t cute. Nico-chan defines cute. But Nico-chan always does save me.”

Nico’s nod of acknowledgement was quick, and she pecked Maki on the cheek as a reward before sitting in the other chair. “You used to love school.”

Maki-chan shrugged. “School was something you had to do. It was okay. And then there was μ’s.”

Maki had such a sweet smile remembering μ’s that Nico fell in love with the hidden softness of an imposing, impossible-to-ignore stranger all over again. “Third year must have been tough, eh, Maki-chan?”

“I had cram school and exams to study for … it passed.” Maki lowered her head, trying not to sink back into memories of solitude and sadness. But then Nico’s voice threw her a lifeline.

“Do you want to be a doctor?”

Maki leaned back, staring intently into the sky as if to divine an answer from the stars. “I like the hospital. I grew up there. I want to help people.”

Nico’s comments were gentle, trail signs to help Maki find her way out of darkness. “Maki knows Nico helps people. Besides Maki-chan.”

Maki reached out a hand, squeezing Nico’s. “Nico-chan is the best, always wanting to make people happy.”

“You can too.”

“How, Nico-chan? Write songs for 1Kiss? Idol music makes people smile, it doesn’t actually heal them.” Maki did miss writing for Nico and 1Kiss occasionally, but she’d been happy to move on to new adventures when college had started.

No one should sound that weary at 20, Nico decided. No wonder Maki had tried and – being Maki – failed miserably at a wild night on the town. Hanayo had done better when she turned 20, Nico still shuddered at the memory of the look on Rin’s face when a drunk and dizzy Hanayo had bumped into one of her favorite Idols at an afterparty. Rin and Nico had been roommates for a few nights after that.

“First of all, Maki-chan,” Nico stood, perching on the balcony edge and facing Maki, “Nico’s smile and voice DO have healing powers. Don’t insult Nico. You know better.”

Maki muttered something, eyes half closed. Nico decided not to push the redhead on that point. She’d get an apology later. The thought made her grin, dangerously, and Maki began to look wary.

“Isn’t dead guy music good for your brain?” Nico wondered. Maki knew the “dead guy music” reference was her fault, from what seemed like a very long time ago, but Nico had latched onto it far too strongly. “It always puts Nico to sleep.” Then Nico posed dramatically, finger in front of pursed lips. “But didn’t Nico read somewhere that music therapy helps depressed patients and stroke victims get better?”

“Classical music and music therapy are two different things. Too many people think music therapy is just entertainment and has no clinical value.”

“Can’t Maki-chan do both? Help people with songs instead of scalpels? Change people’s minds?”

Maki leaned forward, flummoxed. “I don’t know, Nico-chan. I never thought about it.”

“Well,” Nico stretched out her arms, lacing her fingers together, “Maki-chan can take some time to consider Nico’s insightful suggestion. Nico will be here to consult.”

Maki hmmmmed and nodded. Nico sat opposite, watching Maki’s amethyst eyes slowly regain their sparkle as ideas danced across them. Then she leapt, sitting across Maki, pushing the redhead back into her chair. “But for now, Nico-chan needs someone to carry her bag for the rest of the tour. Want a job?”

Maki grinned, her heart doing flips in her chest, her lips moving closer to Nico’s. “I’m terribly expensive.”

The sigh in response was dramatic, and, of course, perfectly suited the mood, “Nico knows.” Nico leaned in, one hand tracing a line down the front of Maki’s shirt. “And Maki knows Nico finds that shirt terribly tantalizing.”

Maki shivered as Nico’s hand roughly brushed across a breast. “Nico-chan’s vocabulary is impressive.”

Nico’s hand slid under the shirt, her mouth hovering near Maki’s ear. “Nico has had far too much time to think about Maki.” Nico’s fingers began deftly unbuttoning, as Maki found herself straining to get closer to Nico, but then both Nico’s hands were stroking lightning over Maki’s skin, and the stars were spinning, and Maki was collapsing back into the chair, Nico’s agile lips a sharp, spiking pleasure as they darted from lips to throat to shoulder and back.

“Nico-chan,” Maki gasped as Nico’s knee slid into the chair, Nico leaning her weight into a kiss that dissolved Maki into waves storming against Nico, who met every surge with renewed vigor. They were going to be on the ground soon, rolling up against the balcony wall, Maki knew, and she was going to be screaming Nico’s name so loud it could be heard over the crash of Niagara Falls, and then Nico pulled her up, and somehow Maki fell through three rooms into a bed and Nico was there, everywhere, hands and lips and legs and …

Nico-chan … Maki sat straight up, silky sheet draped over most of her, suddenly awake and fearful that none of tonight had happened. But she felt Nico, right there, solid, next to her, one eye open.

“Maki-chan?”

“Sorry. Just a bad dream.”

Nico nodded, patting the bed next to her. “Come back to sleep, Maki-chan. I missed holding you.”

Maki stared down at Nico, black hair across her eyes, half a sleepy smile. “I love you, Nico-chan.”

“I love you.” Nico reached up and pulled Maki down into a kiss.

Maki remembered something and hesitated. “Nico-chan?”

“Yes?”

“Umi and Honoka and Kotori … what exactly … Umi said …”

Nico looked more awake – and cautious. “Nico-chan will explain it when Maki is older.”

“Nico-chan,” Maki chided her lover.

“Nico needs her beauty sleep.” Nico closed her eyes.

Maki grabbed a pillow, trying to sound threatening. “Nico-chan.”

Maki thought Nico had fallen asleep again, but suddenly Nico’s arms were around her waist, and Maki found herself, once again, pushed into the bed, Nico’s eyes a fiery mix of mischief and thirst. “Fine, If Maki won’t let Nico sleep, Nico will do other things.”

“Nico-chan …” Maki couldn’t look away, breathless and melting again. And then Nico leaned in, kissing her, and that feeling came back, the flood of confidence and surety, as she and Nico crashed into each other, a crescendo of motion and inspiration and love.

#nicomaki #love live #fanfic #1Kiss #1Kiss AU #nishikino maki #yazawa nico #writing

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