Maki glared at the noodle-slurping girl sat before her. No, she wasn't angry at or annoyed with Rin, though the latter was true fairly often. It also wasn't the case that Maki disliked spending time with the cat-like young woman. As a matter of fact, seeing as Rin had allowed Maki to buy her a very frilly dress (after much protest), Maki would say that this particular hangout had been very enjoyable. Even the noddles at Rin's favorite shop were delicious, despite being rather inexpensive.

The reason Maki was glaring at Rin was because of the thoughts going through her head, and not at all the ginger's fault, which was why said young woman was slurping away happily without a care in the world. Maki was upset, though in all honesty her feelings were mixed. Nico hadn't been exaggerating when she said that she knew Maki would prefer to do anything else besides attend an A-Rise concert. Still, the part of Maki that wanted to show her love for her friends through money insisted that Nico at least let her buy the concert ticket Nico would use. To her surprise, Nico rejected the idea by saying that she and Hanayo had already managed to raise enough to buy themselves tickets.

As Nico babbled on about how the possible purchases they had sacrificed to afford the tickets made them amazing and dedicated fans, Maki pondered the idea of Hanayo and Nico going to the concert together. It made sense that one idol-crazed woman would want to go with another idol-crazed woman to the farewell concert of such a popular idol group, especially one that had been their rivals during their school idol days. That didn't mean it didn't upset Maki that Nico preferred to see the concert with Hanayo instead of her. Sure, Nico was thinking of Maki's sensibilities by not dragging her to the concert of a group she didn't care for, and she would have the most fun attending the concert with Hanayo instead, but still!

'Ugh, I'm being so irrational! Why does that even upset me? Why should I care? We're all friends. We can all hang out with each other. I'm hanging out with Rin, and Hanayo didn't make a big deal out of it. Why would she; we're all friends! Not to mention that Hanayo hasn't gotten to see Nico much with how busy she is in college... And neither has Rin... And neither have I.'

Rin, having miraculously finished a heaping bowl of ramen in just a few minutes, looked up to see the same expression on Maki's face as she had before, but now with a twinge of sadness. Rin offered Maki a small smile, though she was aware that Maki was probably so wrapped up in her thoughts that she wouldn't notice.

"Maki-chan, Rin knows you wish you could've gone to the concert with Nico-chan."

Maki startled, a deep though half-hearted scowl etching itself into her blushing face. "What makes you think I would have wanted to go to that boring concert?"

"Rin also knows Maki-chan wishes Nico-chan would have let her buy the tickets herself, since Maki-chan could have definitely gotten her hands on some."

"Yes," Maki conceded, "Instead of watching the tickets sell out within seconds and paying to see a live stream in her house. How lame."

"With Kayo-chin instead of Maki-chan," Rin added with her characteristic grin.

Maki turned and glared once more, this time truly directing her fury at Rin.

"Nico finally graduated from college. She's going to become famous and won't have time for us anymore. And the way she's celebrating her graduation is by excluding everyone but Hanayo."

"But Maki-chan, what about the party μ's threw for Nico-chan, Eli-chan and Nozomi-chan?"

"Well, yeah, but—"

"And what about the party Nico-chan's family threw in their home that only Maki-chan was invited to?"

"You have a point, though—"

"And what about the actual night of the graduation ceremony when you took Nico-chan and her family to that expensive restaurant and she convinced her mom to let her sleep over at your house, at which Nozomi said you two probably—"

"Alright, alright, I get it, Rin," Maki insisted, trying to stop Rin from saying something incredibly embarrassing in such a public place. Or ever at all.

"Do you just not enjoy spending time with Rin?"

Maki felt her emotional walls crumbling at the sight of Rin's sad kitten eyes. Maki heaved a sigh of defeat, and Rin resisted a grin. She had learned many things about Maki from Nico, but her inability to resist cuteness was certainly the lesson she had learned to apply the best.

"Your girlfriend and my girlfriend are good friends, Maki-chan. That's a good thing, isn't it, nya?" Maki sighed in defeat. "Also..." Rin paused for dramatic effect as Maki sulked. "Hanayo told Rin she doesn't plan to sleep over." Rin barely held in a snort as Maki's face immediately lit up, as she looked like her tail would be wagging had she been born a puppy.

Rin turned and called for the waitress, and Maki felt her wallet take another blow as Rin ordered several more bowls of ramen. Where did the young woman hold all that food?

Hanayo was aware that there were many sides to her senpai Nico Yazawa. She had her idol persona, during which she exuded a sweet cuteness that could fill a row of teeth with cavities. She had her prideful side, which manifested itself most whenever she fulfilled her role as president of the Idol Research Club or talked about becoming an idol. She had her vulnerable side, which was evident whenever Nico recounted the tale of her former idol group formed during her first year in Otonoki. There was her maternal side, as her eyes shown with pride whenever she talked to or about her siblings. There was her childish side, too, which Hanayo had only witnessed at full strength during her high school graduation when μ's first met Nico's mother.

That childish side was on full display as Hanayo walked into Nico's apartment holding a box of glowsticks and other materials of high importance in her arms. As Hanayo set the box down and removed her shoes as quietly as she could, she observed Nico positioning pillows and blankets on and over her living room's couch. Nico was beaming, clearly proud of how well her creation was turning out. Unfortunately, when Hanayo picked the box back up, its contents rattled, and Nico startled, arms raising to cover her face and her shame.

"Wh-who-!"

"Oh, s-sorry, Nico-chan. The door was open, a-and you looked like you were having so much fun that I didn't want to disturb you."

Nico slowly lowered her arms and crossed them over her chest haughtily before sighing and lowering them completely. She couldn't ignore how hot her face was.

"I thought it would be fun to watch the show in a pillow fort. It's childish, isn't it? If you want I can just–"

"No, it's fine, Nico-chan! Ah, look."

Hanayo raised the box she held prominently before her. "I brought some glow-sticks! I had some of various colors but since we lost our chance to buy the tickets, I splurged on some color-changing glow-sticks, plus lots of other things!"

Hanayo power-walked to the couch and sat down on the cushions on the floor and under the blanket canopy, and Nico followed. Hanayo set the box on a pillow between them and opened the box, revealing the glow sticks and other A-Rise paraphernalia. Hanayo's eyes shown and she didn't stutter once as she went through each object individually, Nico oohing and aahing at all the right moments to make Hanayo even more excited for their evening to come. Somehow the conversation took a turn and found Nico and Hanayo going through an A-Rise fan forum on Nico's laptop, and as a result, the duo was almost late to join the stream. As the screen was buffering—as a recent college graduate, Nico couldn't afford amazing wi-fi—Nico rushed to the kitchen and reappeared with bowls filled with various treats, and one very large bowl full of rice. Hanayo only managed to gush about the rice's texture and flavor for a minute before the stream began and Nico loudly shushed her.

For almost two hours, the two idol fans watched what they were sure was the best performance A-Rise had ever done. After meeting them and hearing about Honoka's encounters, Nico had become disillusioned with A-Rise. It seemed to her that they performed because they were good at it and not because it was their passion. However, both Nico and Hanayo had witnessed the three girls' slow transformation throughout their professional idol career. They had truly grown out of their stage personas and into true artists and performers.

Hanayo couldn't resist glancing over at Nico. It was obvious that Nico wasn't too different from them. At first, no one in μ's took Nico seriously or saw her Nico Nico Nii to contain any genuine joy. Performing as μ's had changed them all, however, and Nico's smiles were always genuine on stage. She sparkled like none of the other members of the school idol group could.

Hanayo had changed too, she realized. Before she joined μ's, her love for idols had been nothing more than admiration mixed with jealousy and longing. μ's had given her the opportunity to shine alongside all her friends. Her confidence grew, and she remembered walking off the stage after performing Nawatobi for the first time, and marveling at how she had just performed a solo song without fainting.

Hanayo jumped as she felt something land on her shoulder. She turned to see a blanket draped over that shoulder, and turning to the other direction, she saw Nico grinning at her. Hanayo could hear cheering, and realized she had missed the final song.

"Thanks for spending this time with me," Nico said, affection and friendship glowing in her ruby orbs. Hanayo couldn't resist giggling, yawning as she leaned against Nico's shoulder.

"No, thank you. For starting the Idol Research Club. For joining μ's. For teaching us what it truly means to be an idol. You're definitely going to be the best idol in the entire universe."

Maki and Rin were greeted by quite the sight when they walked into Nico's apartment that night. Backs against the sofa and blanket draped around them, the two former idol club presidents had fallen asleep seated on the carpeted floor. Maki's body stiffened as if bracing itself, but to her surprise, she felt no pangs of jealousy or feelings of spite. Instead, her expression softened at the display of adorableness was that was before her. Rin grinned as she saw the smile on Maki's face. She decides to make the first move.

"I think it's time for us to go."

Maki was surprised as Rin entered the picture, gently lifting the blanket off Hanayo and lifting her up bridal-style.

"Could you pick up Kayo-chin's stuff Maki-chan?"

Maki walked over and picked up Hanayo's glowsticks and other processions, stuffing them quickly in the box they had come in. She gently placed the box on Hanayo's stomach before walking over to the door and opening it for Rin. The cat-like woman grinned once more before walking out the door. Maki followed them out and opened the door to Rin's car. She watched as Rin gently placed Hanayo inside, fidgeting as she held the passages seat's door handle tightly. Rin fastened Hanayo's seatbelt and straightened herself out to watch as Maki nearly slammed the door closed before catching herself and gently nudging it closed.

"Eager to return to your Nico-chan?"

Rin asked with the biggest grin of the day in her face. Maki huffed and crossed her arms, and Rin giggled at the slightly blushing redhead.

"Good night," Rin called out behind her as she quickly made her way around her car and into the driver's seat. Maki called out a quick goodbye as she sprinted back into Nico's apartment.

Nico remained where she was, half her body covered in the blanket she had even sharing with Hanayo. Maki copied Rin as she uncovered her beloved and carried her up to her bedroom, laying her down gently. Maki sat down next to her, arguing with herself on whether or not she should stay the night at Nico's apartment. On the one hand, she would have to get up extra early in order to get her belonging from her apartment before class. On the other hand... 'Why don't we already live together?'

Maki scrambled to take off all her clothes save her underwear and set them down on the desk chair, nearly jumping into the bed next to Nico and hugging her tightly. Immediately after her revelation, the image of herself coming home from the hospital at the crack of dawn to find Nico home from an idol tour already asleep on their bed popped into Maki's head. She smiled widely as she imagined their future together, and when Nico awoke the next morning, Maki was still smiling softly, even in her sleep.