#cyberbullied by the youtube 'you may also enjoy' section

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How to Handle a Nico: How to End a Date

Primary Pairing: NicoMaki Secondary Pairing: NozoEli Words: ~4.4k Rating: T, I guess Time Frame: Late in Maki's 1st year and Nico's 3rd year in college. Story Arc: "First Date" Morning Preperation First Date How to End a Date

List of all HtHaN scenes

Author’s Note: Well, this ended up being a heck of a lot longer than intended. Not complaining, mind.

“You’re kidding right?” Maki said in disbelief. “Hanayo said that?”

“Yup.” Nico confirmed with a nod before opening the door to the apartment complex.

“Hanayo.” Maki repeated, moving past the other girl who was holding the door for her.

“Mmhmm.” Nico let the door close behind her and bounced the few steps over to catch up. “You’ve seen her when she gets serious about idols.”

“Well yeah, but…”

“She’s even more intense online, but always civil and polite.” Nico explained. “And she doesn’t take kindly to cyberbullies. She and I had a few heated encounters back before we both joined µ’s; back when I was a bit more…” She hesitated as she considered the right term.

“Troll’ish?”

The older girl balked. “Maki-chan knows that a troll is?” She feigned extreme surprise.

Maki returned a deadpan stare. “I know of them because people have talked about them, but you know how little time I have for all that forumy, gossipy, socially media stuff.” She flipped her hair as though to physically represent her dismissal of what she felt to be rather droll pastime.

Nico smirked at the other girl’s choice of words. “A~nyway,” She continued. “Etsuko and I used to be a kind of team…”

“A troll team?” Maki raised an eyebrow.

Nico pursed her lips at the interruption but otherwise ignored it. “I mean it wasn’t anything official; we didn’t have any sort of special agreement or anything. But we were both highly critical of idol groups and would often play off each other’s comments. I suppose we may have taken things a bit too far a few times.” Nico sighed at the memories. “But all that changed when you guys dragged me into µ’s.”

“Dragged?”

“Kicking and screaming.” Nico grinned.

Maki rolled her eyes.

“So Etsuko took it as some sort of traitorous act when I started singing µ’s praises instead of bashing them.” Nico shrugged. “And apparently it was some sort of grave injustice when we started getting popular while she was still struggling.”

“And you said she’s always been like that?”

“A jaded jerkass? Pretty much.” Nico nodded. “It’s probably why she and I got along at first. But then things changed.”

“And now she’s gunning for you?”

“She’s always been gunning for me, well for µ’s in general, really.”

“And how come I’m only now hearing of her?”

“Because Hanayo and I didn’t want to raise a fuss about it. She mainly stuck to slinging barbs in the comments sections of our videos on YouTube or threads about us on the forums; she never confronted any of us in person.”

“I see…”

“I mean I saw her in the audience of a few of our lives, but she always left early and never did anything.”

“Strange…”

“Nozomi found out about her at some point.”

“Of course…”

“But by that time, we had enough fans backing us up that her negative comments were quickly buried and her more threatening ones were reported and deleted. So again, we just didn’t feel it necessary to stress out anyone about it.”

“So meeting her today…”

“Was just a coincidence.” Nico shook her head. “A really unfortunate coincidence. So like I said, you’ll probably see her skulking around as I continue to shine as an idol, but so long as she sticks to online stuff, it’s best to just ignore her.”

“She confronted us today in person.”

“It was just a one-off.” I hope… “Don’t worry about it.”

“Alright…”

“Well, here we are.” Nico said as the pair arrived at the door to her apartment. She turned to Maki with a smile. “Thanks for coming with me today, I had a lot of fun.”

Maki returned the smile. “I did as well.”

“And thanks for an amazing dinner. We should go there again sometime.”

“Definitely.”

“But next time I’ll get the check.”

“It was my idea to go.” Maki pointed out. “Don’t worry about it.”

“It’s only fair.”

“That’s fine but…” Maki paused for a moment before continuing at a lower volume. “I’d rather you just cook for me…” She admitted.

“Well I suppose I could do that.” Nico’s smile grew. “But I’d probably have to cook like five or six meals to match that price.”

“I’d… be alright with that…” Maki’s hand reached up to twirl a strand of hair.

Nico couldn’t help but laugh at that. Truth be told, she loved the fact that Maki liked her cooking so much. Still giggling, she started fishing for her keys in her purse. As her fingers found the collection of trinkets on the ring, a thought crossed her mind. Was it too soon? Technically, this had only been their first date, but considering the circumstances, maybe an exception was in order? She fidgeted with the keys as soon as her hand was back out in the open and immediately chastised herself for it; Maki wasn’t the type to pick up on subtle gestures like that. If Nico wanted to do this, she would have to be more blunt. But what did Maki want to do?

Nico stole a glance at the redhead beside her. The younger girl was on the tail end of recovering from her mild embarrassment from her recent admission. As such, she was standing quietly, her attention not seeming to be focused on anything in particular. Nico’s gaze moved down from lavender eyes to lips that had just a bit of sheen to them… Did Maki’s RA suggest the use of gloss?

Unconsciously, Nico licked her own lips.

“Hmm?” Maki blinked, apparently having caught the motion.

Nico’s heartrate spiked as her eyes met Maki’s. By the gods, why couldn’t she move forward? The movies always made it look so easy; the girl just flutters her eyes, tilts her head up and the guy leans down and… When did Nico actually take that step forward? She didn’t remember doing that. She heard Maki’s breath hitch. Did she know Nico’s intentions?

Wait, what was the proper procedure? Should she ask first? Should she just take the lead like and grab Maki? Nico’s mind whirled. She had read dozens of different methods claiming to be the right way to do this and she couldn’t remember a single one.

Just do it already!

Soft.

Nico heard a gasp and her eyes snapped open. When had she closed them? Her vision focused in time to see Maki stake a step back as her hand flew to her mouth. Her eyes were wide in panic.

Oh no… Had she taken things too fast? Nico couldn’t even remember the entire thing clearly; it really had occurred to fast. But there was a residual tingle on her lips and she resisted the urge to touch them.

“I’m sorry…” Maki uttered after an awkward moment of silence.

Nico blinked. Maki was apologizing again? “What?”

“It’s j-just you were…” the redhead started to stutter. “And I th-thought… uhm… maybe I…”

So she had discerned Nico’s intentions. Perhaps she wasn’t as dense as Nico tended to think. “It’s fine, Maki-chan.” The raven-haired girl assured, closing the distance between them. “I was worried I scared you.”

“No.” Maki shook her head slightly. “Actually… uhm…”

“Do you want to maybe…” Nico couldn’t help a fair bit of hopefulness in her tone “try that again?”

“…” Maki merely nodded.

Without another word, Nico reached up and placed a hand on Maki’s cheek, smiling as the taller girl pushed a little into the touch. She drew her hand slowly back towards herself and the redhead followed obediently. Oh gods, this was really going to happen. Maki’s eyes fluttered shut as the distance between them was reduced to mere centimeters.

Oh gods. Oh gods…

Everything within Nico was on high alert, determined not to miss a single sensation as she had so carelessly done the first time.

Contact.

And there it was. Nico was kissing Maki. She was finally kissing the girl she had dreamed of kissing for years. And it was glorious… but…

…

Now what?

What was the next move? Maki was motionless; not tense, but definitely not relaxed either. It was up to Nico. But what?

More.

Closer. More contact.

With that thought in mind, Nico rolled up onto her toes to push upward and deeper into the kiss. She would not soon forget the sound Maki made in response and it caused her to slip both arms around the taller girl’s neck and to pull her down. Finally, Maki took the hint and wrapped her arms around Nico’s lower back to press their bodies closer as well.

So this was what Hollywood made such a big deal about? Nico understood now.

Air.

As much as Nico wanted this moment to continue indefinitely, apparently her body still needed oxygen. Reluctantly, she pulled away and immediately started breathing heavily.

Now there was a sight she had never seen before. Maki’s eyes were completely unfocused and she seemed to be looking almost through Nico as they both recovered. Nico was aware that she was probably staring, but she didn’t care, she wanted to enjoy this.

Then Maki’s eyes changed. Focused and frantic, they searched the area as her cheeks reddened. She let go of Nico and stepped back, still glancing about.

Nico was about to ask about the problem when it hit her; they were still standing outside her apartment. In the open. In public. Where anyone could see. And right after she had just vehemently denied to Etsuko that the two of them were dating. And after reminding Maki that they would have to keep their relationship a secret. Nico couldn’t help wincing as she also scanned the area for possible witnesses. Geez, she was going to have to be more careful in the future or she wouldn’t be an idol for very long.

“It’s alright, Maki-chan.” Nico finally spoke up, placing a hand on the other girl’s shoulder. “I don’t think anyone saw us. This place is pretty quite this time of night during the week.”

“I’m sorry.” Maki responded.

Nico shook her head. “I said it’s fine. We’ll just be more cautious next time.”

“Next time…” Maki’s hand moved again to her lips.

“Of course next time.” Nico couldn’t help smiling. “I’m looking forward to a lot of next times. And you should to.”

“Who said I’m not?”

“Nobody. I was just making sure you know what a privilege it is to do such things with the No. 1 Idol in the Universe.”

“Good night, Nico-chan.” Maki deadpanned, before turning.

Ask her! Ask her now!

“Maki-chan.”

The redhead paused.

“Do you, uhm…” Nico paused. “Do you want to stay here tonight?”

Maki turned, and was is Nico’s imagination or did the redhead almost skip on her way back? Either way, there was no mistaking the smile on the younger girl’s face as she came to a stop in front of Nico.

“So, I’ll take that as a yes?” the older girl couldn’t help a bit of a teasing tone.

Maki blushed a little. “Yeah. Yes. I mean…”

“Alright,” Nico replied, digging for her keys again. When did she put them back in her purse? “Let’s see what Nozomi and Eli are up to.”

“They’re here?”

“Probably.” Nico shrugged. “Is that a problem?”

“Not really…”

“Eli only has a few early classes during the week, so she usually stays here when she doesn’t.” Nico sighed. “But knowing Nozomi, she’s probably already told Eli about us. So even if Eli did have early classes, they’d both probably want to be here tonight so they could be the first to congratulate us.”

“I see.” Maki chuckled at the realization that they were probably in for some teasing, but it was nice to know their friends cared about their wellbeing. “Then I guess we shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

“I suppose.” Nico finally slid the key in the door and unlocked it. “Let’s get this over with.” She opened the door and entered with Maki in tow. “I’m home.” She said as soon as the door closed.

“Welcome back, Nicocchi.” Nozomi responded from the living room. A moment later, her head poked out from around the corner. “Ah, Maki-chan’s here too!” She grinned. “Welcome! How was the date?”

“It was amazing.” Nico’s voice slipped up almost an octave. “But when you consider that the likes of Maki-chan and I were involved, that much should be obvious.” She made a dramatic show of indicating herself and her girlfriend.

Maki opened her mouth to offer her standard rebuttal, but closed it when she realized Nico had uncharacteristically included her in her bragging. Instead she smiled and said, “It was fun.”

“So I heard the good news.” Eli said, walking into the entryway. “Congratulations, you two. You know you had us all worried there for a while there.”

“Sorry…” The new couple responded in unison.

“But you made it through and are together now.” Nozomi laughed. “That’s what’s important.”

“Oh, we did run into Etsuko…” Nico turned towards the purple-haired girl.

“Oh dear.” Nozomi placed a hand on her cheek. “Did she figure it out?”

“I denied it, but we’re going to need to be careful.”

“So no more kissing in the hallway?”

“What?!”

“Your lips are swollen.” Nozomi said with a wink. “So are Maki’s.”

“Who is Etsuko?” Eli asked, trying to change the subject to spare her friends further embarrassment.

“She’s complicated. I’ll explain later, Elicchi.” The spiritual girl turned her attention back to the other pair. “But you’re right, Nicocchi, we should only tell those we trust.”

“The other will want to know.” Eli pointed out.

“Honoka and Rin are the only two that concern me.” Nico admitted.

“Hanayo-chan knows the idol industry and will keep Rin-chan under control.” Nozomi pointed out. “And Honoka-chan has successfully kept her relationship with Tsubasa-chan under wraps this long.”

“Fair point, I suppose.”

“And you should probably tell your parents.” Eli said.

Nico scoffed. “I think Mama’s assumed as much for years…”

“But you should still confirm it for her, at least.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“What about you, Maki-chan?” Nozomi asked.

“I’m… uhm… meeting my parents for dinner on Sunday.” Maki reached up to twirl her hair. “I suppose I could probably tell them then.”

“Good, so that’s all settled. Now, come join us,” Nozomi motioned toward the living room, “we were just about to watch the next episode.”

“I kind of want to get changed first.” Nico admitted, pulling at a tighter part of her dress.

“Uhm…” Maki looked down at her own blouse and skirt.

“I might be able to find something that will fit you.” Nico said thoughtfully.

“If not, you can borrow something of mine.” Nozomi offered.

“I’ll… see what Nico-chan has first…” Maki replied, turning her gaze down.

“That’s fine.” Nozomi grinned. “The offer stands, just in case.”

“C’mon, Maki-chan.” Nico grabbed her girlfriend’s hand. “Let’s see what we can find for you.”

“I’ll make some tea.” Nozomi offered. “But don’t take long.”

“What do you mea… never mind.” Nico shook her head and moved down the hall.

“If you’re not back in a half hour, we’re starting the show without you!” the spiritual girl called after the departing pair.

Nico made a rude gesture in return before closing her bedroom door.

“Why would it take us a half hour to ch…” Maki started asking before realizing the answer. Immediately, her face flushed.

“It’s Nozomi, Maki-chan.” Nico moved to her dresser. “I can’t believe it took you that long to figure that one out.” Geez, she figures out the whole kissing thing then goes right back to being clueless. What am I going to do with this girl? “Here.” She said, turning and holding out a sleep shirt. “This one has always been a little big on me, but I think it will fit you fine.”

“Th-thanks…” The redhead accepted the garment but continued to blush as she stood motionless.

Maki had yet to move by the time Nico retrieved one of her favorite sets of pajamas for herself. “What?” the raven-haired girl asked, turning to find her girlfriend staring at her.

“Uhm…”

“Too pink for you?” Nico raised an eyebrow.

“N-no, the shirt is fine, but…”

Oh. “You don’t have to change here, Maki-chan. You know where the bathroom is.”

“Yeah… uhm… I’ll… be right back…”

Well that reaction probably rules out moving past just kissing tonight. Nico shook her head as she watched her girlfriend leave. Of course with Nozomi and Eli here, I’m not sure how keen I am on it either. Then again, I have to listen to them all the time. Turnabout is fair play, right? Nico sighed and proceeded to change.

A few moments later, Nico regretted thinking she shouldn’t push to progress things. The sleep shirt she had loaned Maki fit her well. Too well. The style was definitely a bit on the cute side compared to what Maki normally wore, but pink suited Maki probably more than she herself would admit. And while it wasn’t quite as short as some of the stage outfits they used to wear, it was definitely shorter than the sleepshirts she usually wore. As such, between the two outfits Maki had borrowed for the day, Nico was being provided with a plethora of pleasing perspectives.

“Nicocchi, Maki-chan, your tea is on the table.” Nozomi said as the pair entered the living room. Having pointed out the beverages, the spiritual girl took her position beside Eli on the loveseat.

“What are we watching?” Maki asked, taking the spot next to Nico as she had the night before. She blinked and tilted her head in response to Nozomi’s smirk.

“Same thing as last time.” Eli explained, aiming the remote to start the show. “You didn’t miss much; the last few episodes didn’t really have much to do with anything.”

Maki quickly found she couldn’t concentrate on the show as her attention kept drifting over to Nozomi, who kept leaning more and more against Eli, eventually sliding all the way down so she could rest her head in her girlfriend’s lap. She glanced at Nico out of the corner of her eye. As embarrassing as the concept seemed, she could not deny a strong desire to mimic the spiritual girl. But how would Nico react if Maki were to do that?

Without her bidding, Maki’s body suddenly shifted just enough to lean against Nico. Her girlfriend responded almost immediately by sliding an arm around her shoulders. Maki felt herself tensing and willed herself to relax. Nozomi might tease her later, but they were mostly in a private setting. This much was fine, right?

Nico pulled her closer and Maki felt her head resting against hers. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Nozomi drifting off and felt a small pang of jealously at the degree of comfort the other pair had with one another. She leaned a little closer to Nico, who responded by pulling her again.

For the life of her, she could not remember how it happened, but suddenly Maki found herself doing exactly as she had imagined; mimicking Nozomi. Oh gods! Her head was in Nico’s lap! Oh gods! A wave of panic shot through Maki and with it came the desire to bolt up and run out of the room.

And then it was gone.

Nico’s hand brushed Maki’s hair up and over her ear and Maki released a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. Every thought of moving away from this position vanished and was immediately replaced with a sense of calm. Maki understood exactly why Nozomi was on the verge of falling asleep. With Nico’s hand running through her hair, across her shoulder and down her arm, Maki felt she could almost purr. She no longer cared about the show as all of her attention was focused on Nico’s gentle touch.

Nico leaned down just enough that her lips almost brushed her girlfriend’s ear. “Time for bed, Maki-chan.” She murmured.

Maki stirred and muttered something unintelligible.

“You two sleep well.” Eli said, guiding a half-asleep Nozomi towards her bedroom.

“You too.” Nico replied with a smile.

“What time is it?” Maki muttered, slowly sitting up.

“Like I said, it’s time for bed.”

“Oh…”

“C’mon, let’s get to bed.” Nico said, taking her girlfriend’s hand.

“Nnn…” Maki replied.

Nico chuckled at a mild sense of déjà vu as she lead her girlfriend down the hall. Just like the night before, Maki staggered towards the bed and collapsed onto it. As Nico crawled on bed as well, she couldn’t help wondering if Maki would fall asleep before she could get the blankets over them again. However, Maki proved Nico wrong as she rolled onto her side to face her girlfriend. Well, almost wrong; her eyes belied her energy level.

“I’m sorry.” Maki said softly.

“What?”

“I’m sorry.” The younger girl repeated.

“You’ve been apologizing a lot to me lately, Maki-chan.” The raven-haired girl pointed out. “What are you apologizing for this time?”

“For calling you an idiot.”

“What?”

“For yelling at you about your grades and nosing around in your business.” Maki seemed unable to hold Nico’s gaze, be it though embarrassment or lack of energy, Nico couldn’t quite tell; probably both.

Nico scoured her memory for… oh… that… “I was upset.” She admitted. “And in pain. And on pain meds. I’m not entirely sure why I said all that.”

“But you were right.” Maki insisted. “I do yell at you over your grades. And I do…” She paused. “I do call you an idiot.”

Nico sighed. “Like I said last night, Maki-chan, I was upset about a lot of things then, and I took it all out on you. I know why you care about my grades, and I don’t actually think you nose around too much in my business.” She smiled. “And as for the whole idiot thing, I know you don’t actually mean it.”

Maki wrinkled her brow. “You do?”

“Well, you’re not always easy to read, but I think I’ve figured out at least that one. I do my idol thing, you call me an idiot, I say you like it, you say maybe, and we go on from there.” Nico chuckled. “It’s just a weird thing we do. I don’t even remember when we started doing that, do you?”

“Not really…”

“It’s not important.” Nico shrugged. “Anyway, a lot of my frustration over the last few years has been dealing with the fact that I wanted to date you, but not having the courage to ask and knowing you were to dense to do anything.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing.” Nico reached up and gently swatted Maki on the head. “It doesn’t matter now. We’re dating now. We’re together now. We just got back from our first date! Heck, we just had our first kiss! And I can’t tell you how happy I am after all that.”

Maki felt a smile come to her lips.

“So let’s not end the day on a sour note by dredging up all that stuff from the past few weeks. We have plenty of time to talk about all that and figure out that stuff later, alright?”

“Alright…”

“Good. Now come here.” Nico reached out and pulled her girlfriend into a hug. Maki reciprocated the hug immediately. “Better?”

Maki nodded, but after a moment, Nico felt her starting to pull away a little. She was just about to pull Maki back in when she felt the other girl slide her cheek against hers.

“Maki-chan?” Nico asked as the redhead pulled back just enough that they could catch each other’s eye for a moment before moving forward to bump their noses together.

Was Maki not-so-subtly seeking another kiss? Nico had intended to merely hug and maybe change the topic of conversation, but a kiss was definitely a more positive way to end the night. She tilted her chin up and almost gasped in shock as Maki quickly moved to capture her lips. Barely a second later, Nico felt something else brush against her lips. Was that Maki’s tongue? By the gods, was the girl who had balked at their first kiss and practically had to be walked through their second, now taking the lead on their third? What the hell?

Still, Nico was not going to pass up this opportunity and opened her mouth to allow Maki access. Forget the sound she made earlier, the moan Maki released then was ten, no twenty-five times better as their tongues danced against one another. Maki’s fingers threaded through Nico’s hair before pulling her deeper into the kiss and it was Nico’s turn this time to pull their bodies closer.

Bliss.

This was pure bliss.

Once again, Nico had to force herself to pull back. She giggled as Maki whined and leaned her head forward. “Just a moment, Maki-chan.” Nico placed a finger on her girlfriend’s lips. “Nico has to catch her breath.” She took a deep breath and smiled. “So Maki-chan really likes kissing Nico, huh?”

“You don’t like it?” Maki pouted in response.

Nico had to contain a bout of laughter for fear that it would be heard through the thin walls of the apartment. “No, that’s not it. I liked it very much. But how are you not out of breath?”

“…” Maki merely blinked.

“Well, whatever.” She was as ready as she thought she could be. “C’mere.”

No less than half a dozen kisses later, the two finally turned in for the night.

Warm.

Really warm.

But also soft. Why was it so…

No, Nico knew exactly why it was so warm even before she opened her eyes. Maki was using her like a teddy bear. Again.

“No…”

What?

“Nico-chan…”

Oh for the love of… Was Maki fighting with Nico even in her dreams?

“… is mine…”

What.

“My Nico-chan…” Maki’s embrace tightened. “Mine…”

Wait… Maki wasn’t hugging Nico like a teddy bear. Maki was hugging Nico… like Nico.

Nico had to resist laughing at the realization. Maki being possessive didn’t surprise her in the least, and to be perfectly honest, it didn’t bother her either. On the contrary, Nico found she liked it. But now she definitely needed to tease Maki about this.

Unlike the previous night where she had been too nervous and excited when Maki had hugged her in the middle of the night, Nico relaxed into the embrace this time. Smiling, and snuggling into her girlfriend, she let sleep overtake her again.

Author’s Note Continued: I suppose this probably could have been two, maybe even three scenes, based on how I’ve been writing most of this story thus far. However, there were two - technically three - things I wanted to include in this scene; four if you include the redo of the end of Forgiven.

I may come back to revisit this scene and touch up a few parts later, but for now I just needed to get the ideas out of my head and onto digital paper.