Having spent much of my fanfic life writing and reading stories about the beginning or end of relationships, I've recently been interested in what happens within one instead. That desire, and the cover photo, were my inspirations.
I obviously own neither LL nor the cover picture.
Enjoy~
Maki first felt the warm night air on her legs, which were the first parts of her to exit the house on that fine summer evening. She landed with a soft thud on the perfectly manicured back yard, where each blade of crisp grass stood uniform in height and spectacular singular greenness. But she could hardly make out the color of the lawn, even as she crouched low beneath her home's - her mansion's - first-floor windows. The ever deepening blue of the night sky provided less and less light, and the globe of the moon had yet to fully reveal itself to the world. For this, Maki was grateful; if she could hardly make out the verdant grass with such a confusion of light, her mother certainly would have a hard time making out her cherry head while she quickly and quietly made her way out of the yard, out of the gate, and into the empty street in front of her home.
That was easier than expected, she thought, but the night's not over yet.
She traveled light, only a small cross-body purse with her wallet, a metronome, and a stack of neatly folded sheet music annotated from the last time she secretly left her home, and the time before that. She wore beige capri pants and a white blouse, and looked refined and mature as she stood on the clean train platform. There were very few people awaiting the train into the city; the flow of traffic was the opposite, and each train that arrived let out clouds of students and workers in the vicinity of their suburban neighborhoods. Maki made her way through this crowd with expert nonchalance; she slid her body between others without once touching them, keeping her head level and her eyes forward on the prized location. Once in the hard plastic train seat she settled down. Beneath her, like a rocket, the train sped down the tracks towards the glowing lights of the city.
~!~
By the time she arrived the previously dark blue sky brighted black and the moon, now fully revealed, competed with the overwhelming glare of a city of light and sound. She walked quickly out of the station and let her body guide her naturally towards the oft-visited location. Maki couldn't help but wonder if Nico wanted to see her as badly as she wanted to see the other girl. Though summer it was, Maki's parents expected their promising daughter to spend any non-idol time studying, practicing, and absorbing the medical material they decided would be the focal point of her future. They barely accepted her professional music job as it was: a significant other - a girlfriend, nonetheless (and one with the shaky future prospect of 'idol') was out of the question.
It was out of the question for dear Mama and Papa Nishikino, but not for their daughter. Maki loved Nico - she accepted this now as fact, though the self-acceptance took some work, and she wanted more than anything to spend time with the girl in their free, but limited - sadly limited - summer days.
Without any problems Maki found herself outside of Nico's apartment building. She walked into the small lobby and towards the elevator when familiar - but - different scarlet eyes looked up at her expectantly.
"C-cotarou?" she asked. "Why are you down here? Where's your sister?" Maki squatted down and looked the child in the eyes.
"Nico asked me to buy rice so that she could cook and - and - I lost the money in the streets, a-a-and - " he sniffled.
Maki cut the little boy off. She could help, she guessed, and now Nico would owe her a favor. Maki took the child's hand and lead him to a nearby market. She wandered the aisles slowly until a great big bag caught her eye and she bought it. Now that the 'danger' passed, Cotarou relaxed and stopped his sniffling. He walked a little ahead of Maki until they were side by side in the elevator. Cotarou turned to the older girl.
"My sis has been practicing a lot, you know." he said matter-of-factly, with a kind of pride in his voice.
Maki smiled, both at the young boy's familial pride and at the thought that perhaps Nico was taking these lessons seriously. The redhead was really taking risks, sneaking out of her house like this; were she caught it could mean the end of her idol career altogether, and worse still, she might entirely lose the respect of her beloved parents once and for all. She was supposed to be - she always had been - the studious, respectful, obedient daughter and though she grew more and more as a person since joining μ's, a part of her still feared losing face. Nico was deserving of the risk, but not getting caught still beat the alternative.
The elevator doors opened into a long brown hallway that Cotarou ran down, towards the door to the apartment, and he held it open while Maki lugged the surprisingly heavy bag through, her arms slightly stinging. Maki's heart leaped when Nico entered her sight, but she couldn't let on just how happy she felt; vulnerability was weakness, as Maki was always taught. Nico stood at the stove, cooking dinner for her family. The two other Yazawa kids sat watching tv, and Cotarou joined them after Maki fully entered the home. Maki placed the bag of rice on the counter and folded her arms.
"Should you be sending a child to go buy things on their own?" Maki asked, half in jest.
Nico didn't even turn around from her cooking. "They're smart kids, they can do it."
She wiped her hands on the white apron that hugged her body and turned to Maki. She smirked. "My dinner will be your payment for that." she said, pointing to the rice.
"How do you know I even want to eat your food?" Maki responded, eyebrow raised.
This back and forth of semi-sarcasm was par for the course between the girls, and something they both enjoyed - they both found necessary, really, as people who built strong, confrontational personalities to protect the soft, emotional hearts each held inside like precious jewels. Vulnerability was weakness. Emotion was ripe for criticism. Softness painted a target on one's back. But together, both knowing of those precious, hidden jewels each held, the harsh words and abrasive attitudes were an unspoken in-joke, an ironic sort of the lovey-dovey discourse their friends Rin and Hanayo exemplified in their own romantic relationship.
Maki took a seat around the island-counter-table, its hard surface the center-point of the Yazawa household.
"I brought the music from last week again, but I made some notes that might help you."
"Thanks." Nico nodded, back to cooking the beef for dinner, now also adding water and rice to the much-used rice cooker beside the stove. "We'll practice after dinner, alright? My mom's gonna be late again, so I've gotta feed the little ones."
Maki made a vocal confirmation and looked around the apartment. It was small, not even the size of a few of the rooms in her house combined, but the controlled clutter, the well-worn furniture full of dings and dents, the warm atmosphere and childish laughter from the living room felt more comfortable and lived-in, more natural, than the cold, neat, sterility of Maki's frequently empty household. A pang of sadness hit her heart; she would have traded her wealth for this kind of life if it was up to her. In the corner of the living room, where the young Yazawas laughed was the stand-up keyboard Nico saved up for months for, all silver with plastic keys of night and day hues. To Maki, used to genuine grand pianos of wood and heft, the keyboard felt weak. But Nico wanted it badly. Even more, she wanted Maki to teach her how to play the piano, and so for the past few weeks Maki had been doing just that: going out once a week to teach Nico music and, maybe more importantly, spend time with the girl she loved.
"Oi, dinner time!" Nico called into the living room. Without protest her siblings ran in and immediately began setting the table; Maki felt useless and oddly inferior to the industrious Yazawas. They took their seats around the table (leaving the seat across from Maki free for their beloved older sister, although neither teen had the guts to ask for this set up). Nico brought the food to the center of the table and took a seat. Rings encircled her tired eyes, but their strong scarlet luminance wasn't dulled at all, and the wide smile on her face protested that supposed tiredness.
"My little idols did a great job setting the table," she smiled to all of the children around her, and they beamed back. "Now, let's eat!"
~!~
The dinner over and their stomachs full, the three younger Yazawa children returned to their rooms ready for bed. Nico tucked each in and closed the door behind her quietly; it clicked almost inaudibly. She stretched, cracked her knuckles, and sashayed towards Maki, who sat reading something on her phone. Maki looked up at the girl when her shadow fell upon the phone screen; Nico's physical size notwithstanding, the small girl had quite the large presence. Maki stretched out her hand to bring the girl closer, for a hug or a kiss, but instead was herself pulled up by Nico's surprising strength.
"Wha - " she began.
"I really want to show you that I've been improving, Maki. Come on."
The redhead couldn't complain and let the small, soft, and yet commanding girl lead her towards the keyboard in the corner of the room, which stood on thin legs not unlike Nico herself. How could she protest, really? Although this skill was something for herself, Maki understood that it was also her girlfriend's excuse to grow closer, to have a 'thing' the two could call their own private hobby. The reasoning was romantic, and to Maki this proved to be enough.
Nico sat down on the bench and moved to one side. "Here," she patted beside her. "I made room."
"How else was I going to help you play?" Maki smirked as she sat. Their thighs, their sides touched intimately on the small bench; neither girl could hide the blush such warm, welcome contact made. Maki cleared her throat and took the folded sheet music from her bag and smoothed it out before placing it on the small stand on the keyboard. White projected itself, with red and blue ink where either girl annotated the musical composition, a group effort. The song she had Nico working on was a new arrangement of their groups well-loved "Snow Halation", one with 'more' going on - slower and less pop-like. Nico placed her confident fingers on the keys and Maki prepared the metronome.
"Ready?" she asked.
Nico nodded in response, and Maki started the device. The ticking box counted off 1-2-3-4 in time, while the small girl's fingers traveled the road of black and white beneath them. She's gotten better Maki thought. Already knowledgeable on music theory thanks to her profession as, and obsession with, idols, Nico caught onto tempo and rhythm and and melody easily. The problem lied elsewhere.
"Uh, no, not that key - this one." Maki corrected. Nico's fingers stumbled over themselves a few times more and she huffed in exasperation.
"I know, I know. Let me try again."
"From the top." Maki reset the metronome; Nico began again. Her problem playing piano didn't stem from a lack of talent - instead it rested entirely on the fact that Nico's fingers and hands were not as flexible, as trained for exactness, as the rest of her body. She moved and danced on staged with practiced precision but this didn't require the dexterous hands and nimble fingers that the piano did.
Nico stumbled again and slumped over the keys. "And here I thought I was getting better."
"You're doing better than last week already. Do idols really give up this easily? Huh. How can an idol bring anyone happiness if they quit so quickly?" Maki asked.
"Idols never give up. I was just resting my fingers is all."
Yet again Nico started the song. This time she glared at the sheet music and played with burning determination. At the chorus her slender fingers slipped once again but she powered on and played through the rest of the song well. With emphasis, the last note of the song rang out through the quiet house. Nico looked at Maki smugly.
"Now what do you have to say, Maki?"
The redhead played along, crossing her arms and giving Nico an aloof pout. "Hm...better, but you'll never be able to perform in front of an audience like that."
"I already play in front of audiences."
"You know what I meant, Nico."
Silence passed between them as they stared at one another, and then they laughed with wild abandon. The girls held onto one another for support, their laughter filling up the sleeping apartment and their hearts all the same. Maki wiped at her tearing eyes when their giggling winded down.
That was better than usual," a few giggles escaped again. "I guess I can't say that you haven't been practicing."
"Do I get a reward?" Nico asked, her head held high.
Blood rushed to Maki's face, mimicking the color of her scarlet hair. "W-what kind are you looking for?"
Like a predator, a cheetah, the twin-tailed girl moved her face closer and closer to Maki's. "The kind two people in a relationship shouldn't be blushing over." she smirked. Maki's lips quivered - from fear or desire she didn't know, but the effect was the same.
"I-it's not my fault that I was raised innocently. Unlike someone in this room." she stuttered.
"Innocent? You? Who was the one here who tried to remove my shirt -"
Bang! The door to the apartment opened with a sound like a gunshot. Maki and Nico, who had both continued inching towards one another, whose hands had unconsciously found their counterparts, suddenly flew back and disconnected, disengaged.
"I'm home!" Mrs. Yazawa announced to the household. "Is Maki here? Or are you practicing alone again, Nico?"
Maki coughed to clear her throat a few times; she tried concealing her blush, to a small success. "Hello, Mrs. Yazawa."
"Hello girls." she busied herself taking off her shoes and coat and headed to make herself the dinner that Nico put aside.
With a sigh Maki stood up; the night was over, the mood was dead, and this wonderful time alone came to an end. "So, Nico, I'll see you tomorrow at school to practice our routine. Make sure you keep play-"
Nico's hand, like a vice, gripped Maki's wrist. The older girl lowered her voice. "Please, don't go home yet". She never stopped staring into Maki's eyes. Their scarlet shine proved mesmerizing, enchanting.
Maki glanced at her watch: it was nearly 11:00, and adding both walking and train time she needed a buffer of at least half an hour to get home. Could she risk it? There was a good chance that her mother would do nothing more than say goodnight from outside the door, but her father nearly every night gave her a good night kiss on the forehead when he came home from work, anywhere between 3 and 5 in the morning.
She hesitated a moment more. "Sure." she finally answered "But not too late. I have to be home before morning."
When Nico smiled - wide, genuinely, with the joy of a child - Maki knew that her decision was the correct one. Any punishment would be worth seeing that smile.
"We'll be back Mom!" Nico called as the girls exited the home. Their hands found one another's easily, fingers intertwining like ivy 'round a lattice fence.
"Where are we going?" The redhead asked. She abandoned control to Nico; the girl deserved it for pleading so needfully.
"Just wait. Patience is a virtue, Maki~."
Nico lead the girls down a few hallways, whose beige carpet and low lighting couldn't help but remind Maki of a hotel. For this she reprimanded herself - not everyone could live in a mansion.
From these hallways Nico pulled Maki up a few flights of stairs. They moved slowly, the click clacking of their shoes on the cement steps being the only sound besides their breathing. The air in the stairwell was surprisingly cool and Maki was glad for the summer night and its welcome warmth when finally the girls reached the roof of the apartment building. It was comfortably quiet there; not another soul around. The sounds of the city below hardly reached the girls while so high up, and was further canceled by the hum of the central AC fans there on the roof - the monotone spinning of which was easily ignored and forgotten. Above, the moon like a light bulb dangling on a string shone bright in the center of a still, starless darkness. Nico let go of Maki's hand and walked to the railing that surrounded the roof, the only safeguard from death by impact. Maki followed her unsteadily.
"It's nice up here, you know?" Nico asked.
"Yeah." Maki gulped nervously.
"I bet it sucks for you to be unable to see Nico-Nico-ni all the time."
"You missed me too Nico; you can't hide that fact."
"I think we can both agree that seeing one another only during idol practices, or these once-a-week piano lessons, just isn't enough." Nico said after a small silence.
"That might be the first thing you've said that I could 100 percent agree with."
"What about that 'I wanna go out with you' business from the beginning of the summer?" Nico was back to smirking, and Maki back to blushing.
"You're older than me. I was coerced."
An even larger smirk spread across Nico's face, a hawk descending on its prey. "Once again, which of us tried to strip me the last time we ki - "
"Fine! Fine!"
Nico 'hmmph"ed victoriously. Another silence befell the girls. Maki clung tight to the cold railing and looked down. What a height! What a fall that would be! As cars zoomed past below (head and taillights like rails of hard color), Maki wondered at the statistics: how many of these people, innocent and guilty alike, might get into an accident? How many of those would end up in the hospital under the care of her father - who would hold their life in his hands. Was that pressure, that power, something she wanted at all? All summer - most of her high school career, really - Maki had been tasked with studying medicine by her parents, but it was beginning to dawn on her that this was not what she desired in life. At the moment, shortsighted though it may be, what she desired was a career in music and (more pressingly, more passionately, more powerfully) the twin-tailed hurricane beside her.
"Did you really sneak out tonight?" Nico asked.
"Well I wasn't lying to you, if that's what you're asking. My parents would never approve of me being out this late for no reason, not when I have more 'important' things to do."
"I'm glad you came out tonight." Nico said quietly, in a voice soft and genuine, in a way that Maki was unused to coming from her girlfriend.
"Y-yeah?" she stuttered, face red. "Well, enjoy it. I wouldn't do this for just anyone."
Nico laughed heartily at Maki's attempt to keep the air of aloofness she wore day in and day out. It'd crack sooner or later, and maybe then could the redhead let loose her true feelings.
Maki, tired and emotionally stressed, sat gingerly on the lip of the roof with her back pressed hard against the iron railing's solid bars. If she didn't look down the height was not so frightening. Nico followed suit; she gripped Maki's hand and intertwined their fingers - one set used to the rigors of the piano, one acclimating themselves to reach even a piece of that skill in the hopes of impressing the other, in the hopes of proving their worth. Unbeknownst to Nico, however, Maki already admired the girl simply for trying - among other things that Nico did to make her heart flutter in her chest like a frantic butterfly.
That warm summer night revealed with power a frightfully large yellow moon in a dark, cloudless sky. Maki, as she always had, looked to this celestial eye respectfully as though it were a guardian muse that came and went as it pleased. She wrote her best music under its tutelage.
Neither Maki nor Nico looked at one another while they sat side by side, and matching blushes painted their faces. Although they'd been dating since the summer's start, and were close-knit idols before that, this closeness was not what either was accustomed to. Maki turned to Nico quickly but looked away just as the black-haired girl moved to look in response. It was difficult for Maki to deal with having Nico so close, despite desiring the girl when she didn't have her. Playing on the piano with the girl was one thing - they had a distraction there. But on the roof of Nico's apartment existed at that moment only two people. A frightening prospect for someone like Maki.
"What are your plans for tomorrow?" Nico asked out of the blue. "Not that I care."
Maki rolled her eyes, but gripped the girl's hand tighter. "I don't know. There's all that medical stuff I'm supposed to study, but...well, it might all depend on if I get caught sneaking back into the house."
She separated her hand from Nico's and checked her watch - it was well past 12 now, and she needed to get home. Her hand felt empty, wrong, without Nico's clasped tightly within it.
"I have to go now, Nico." she stood up and dusted herself off; Nico followed suit.
"I'm sure you're going to miss being in the sparkling presence of Nico-nii." she joked. Maki ignored the girl and started for the stairs. Nico followed, pouting.
"I just have to get my purse from your table, alright?"
They arrived back at Nico's apartment in no time, and after grabbing her belongings Maki stood in the hall just outside the dark doorway. The rest of Nico's family rested deeply within the darkened apartment, and Nico stood within the inky blackness looking out at Maki expectantly; the redhead stood with her back to the hallway lighting and was illuminated from behind in Nico's eyes, her red hair flaming with an aura not real but real enough.
"Well, I guess I''ll see you at practice tomorrow." Maki averted her eyes from Nico's, mostly out of nervousness, and partly out of shame.
"Don't think of me too much - although I know that'll be hard for you." Nico teased, now averting her eyes as well. Awkwardness like a miasma covered the girls, filled their lungs with its moldy odor and heaviness. Maki's mind buzzed with unspoken desires and unutterable feelings; she longed to leave and yet wanted nothing more than to stay, and like a volley of bullets these conflicting needs broke out into unseen war.
"So..." Maki started.
"So...," Nico, at the same time, began as well. "do you want a, uh..."
"I mean, isn't that customary? Or..."
"I think you should...to me...but then - "
"I'm leaving your house, so the responsibility lies..."
They both fell silent, but their eyes - a shining scarlet, an adamant amethyst - said more than those faulty lips ever could.
The older girl moved first. She captured Maki's wrist with a grip stronger than her small frame might attest to, and pulled her close before being reminded of their noticeable height difference. Her head barely reached the redhead's throat - and as milky white and alluring that was, she instead longed for Maki's lips.
It took a moment for the Maki to understand the issue, but she bent lower as Nico tiptoed to her max height; their lips met, soft and charged with an energy that was powerful and frighting because that very power threatened to overtake them both. They kissed and the rest of the world fell out of focus, out of importance, out of reality. The moon itself could have fallen out of the sky and neither Maki nor Nico would've noticed.
They separated, and the tide-pool of their feelings - emptied back into the ocean with a kiss - filled immediately again and threatened to overflow. This kiss was not their first; that happened unexpectedly after a particularly sarcastic set of remarks at practice caused them to almost get caught while they kissed from an abundance of feelings - but it was the most intoxicating embrace either girl had ever fallen under. The clock ticked on, and the probability that Maki was going to leave lowered with every step of the second hand.
Maki took a deep breath. She stepped back from the door frame, from Nico, and hid her red face behind her redder hair.
"I...uh, I'm going to be late getting home if I don't go now." she took a few more steps back. "I'll - I'll see you tom-"
Nico didn't let Maki finish. She didn't want to hear those words come out of her mouth. "Stay, Maki. Please."
The scales of importance seemed to float before Maki's eyes. On one side, there was the distinct possibility that she'd be reprimanded for sneaking out. On the other, Nico was in her life now - things might change in the future, and the redhead thought that they should take advantage of all the time they had together whenever the chance arrived.
They exchanged charged looks.
~!~
"Shh." Nico ordered, pulling Maki by the wrist in the darkness of her sleeping apartment. Tiny snores sounded out through the home, small birdsongs. Maki could barely see, and despite having visited before still didn't know the layout of the home; she relinquished control to Nico for the second time that night, a task that was harder than she would've liked. She walked gingerly over forgotten toys and around sharp cornered tables, chairs, and walls.
"Ow!" she whispered loudly, as her toe forcefully met the corner of a particularly hard chair leg.
"Shh!"
Maki shot her an angry look - a rather inefficient tactic in the dark.
They made it to Nico's room without further issues. With the door closed, they were free to turn on the light and speak a little louder. Nico's room felt small, almost closet-like to Maki, who was accustomed to a much wealthier lifestyle.
I'm terrible she thought after catching her own observation. Since joining μ, and since dating Nico especially, the redhead attempted to stop judging her friends so harshly. This was an important change for her, but a hard one nonetheless.
Now that they were alone, now that the worry of Maki's punishment was accepted - now that they had freedom until morning ironically neither girl knew what to do. They had a night together until the sun rose and reignited the day. So many possibilities existed, but the ideas seemed stopped up and lost.
Certainly they could...no, Maki went red-faced at the thought. It was too early in their relationship for that, despite what she sometimes caught herself daydreaming about when her mind wandered. But even disregarding that temptation, the night was still theirs for the taking.
The little black-haired imp sat on her bed and gestured for Maki to follow suit. Maki lowered herself somewhat nervously, and crossed her legs when she was fully planted on the soft twin-sized bed. She looked at her knees nervously, but kept her face composed - a process Maki perfected from a young age.
"No ideas?" Nico asked.
"No. You?"
"I can bring in some snacks and we can play a game or something." Nico offered. Maki shrugged, but agreed.
Nico jumped up to get snacks, and in those minutes between her departure and return the redhead questioned herself. There's sure to be hell to pay in the morning she thought. It bothered the girl that she was 'wasting' this opportunity - and the eventual punishment - on an uneventful night instead of on a more worthwhile time, some day when she and Nico had a plan, or a place, or a reason to defy her well-meaning but overbearing family. As it stood she felt disappointed that she couldn't think of any way to make this night worth it, for lack of a better term.
Nico returned juggling chips, cookies, water, and various other sweets and snacks; Maki was shaken out of her reverie.
"I didn't know what you wanted, so I just grabbed a bunch." she tossed the food at Maki, who barely caught half of it.
"Hey!"
"Sorry. Gotta set up the game, you know?"
Maki bit down on a salty chip, pouting.
"And done!" Nico nodded affirmatively. "Get ready Maki."
"Wha-?"
Nico, like the chips, tossed a controller in Maki's direction. This time Maki caught it, but still she glared. "I swear, Nico - ". As usual, the older girl was already moving onto her next task and ignoring Maki's grumbling.
"Avert your eyes, Maki - unless you don't want to." she chuckled.
Before Maki could even register what she heard, Nico began to change her clothing in the corner of the room; Maki looked away, if only to prove to herself that she could, that she was not entirely under Nico's spell yet - but not before glancing a little too long in the span of a second at Nico's smooth, bare back.
"I guess you're more innocent than I was lead to believe." Nico teased, laughing a bit at the end. She had let her hair down out of its trademark twin-tails, and it hung down her back with surprise softness. She wore a light long-sleeved shirt and pink shorts, the picture of comfort.
"I'm not even going to to take you seriously." the redhead rolled her eyes despite the blush on her face. "But could I borrow something to sleep in?"
Nico handed her a large hoodie and shorts. "This is all I have that'll fit you.
The redhead, valuing her privacy and avoiding temptation, quietly headed to the restroom to change. It felt nice to have a minute to herself, to prepare for the night ahead. She'd never done this before; a one-on-one sleepover wasn't possible when she spent her childhood practicing the piano nonstop and feigning aloofness at all other times. The sleep-overs with μ were inherently different too; focused on training, and of course there were nine girls, not just one. Here she needed to prepare herself mentally and emotionally to be alone with Nico, her girlfriend. What a term! What a change in Maki's life! Never could she have imagined that she'd be so helplessly in love - and with someone like Nico, nonetheless. To clear her mind Maki focused hard on folding her clothing. She took a deep breath, smoothed out the black sweater, and carefully returned to the room. The first sight granted to her when she closed the door behind her was Nico's wonderful smile.
~!~
Two hours passed in a kind of wonderfully boring bliss that Maki never thought possible before. Nico, like a monkey, lazily embraced Maki from behind: her arms under Maki's, her legs wrapped 'round her waist, her head in the crook of the other girl's neck. They both stared at the television. A sinister sound rang out; Maki pursed her lips and handed the controller to Nico.
"I died again - you try to beat this boss."
"Watch how a real pro plays."
Maki jokingly scoffed. This is nice she thought. Nico's warmth and scent engulfed the redhead, try as she might to stay somber, serious, and aloof. With a growing joy she realized that this - this situation, this happiness - was what she'd been searching her whole life for in any relationship she had with others. To her parents, Maki appeared to be an obedient, dutiful daughter. To her classmates the girl acted distant, superior, and feigned disdain in order to protect herself. With μ, her closest friends, the redhead still had to accept her place as the reasonable realist vainly attempting to rein in the dreamers with whom she surrounded herself. And yet, out of all of the people she'd ever met it was Nico - haughty, prideful, ambitious, secretly sweet Nico - who allowed her to be herself in any way she so desired.
"Oi, this game is impossible." Nico complained. "Chip me, Maki."
"Chip yourself." came the response, although Maki obediently fed the girl a snack.
After a pause Maki looked at the alarm clock on the desk by Nico's bed. It read almost 3 am.
"It's that late already?" she said aloud.
"Huh?"
"I think it's time we go to sleep."
Nico stretched and yawned. "Not a bad idea."
It took only a few minutes to save the game, clear the bed of snacks, and ready themselves for seep. A large open window sat above Nico's bed, its blinds slotted and admitting in the light of the moon - a taciturn eye gazing down at them. Its light, pale but powerful, painted the bed. Nico fell onto the mattress first with a dramatic flourish, keeping to one side. Flashes of her large bed - much too large for one person - back home filled Maki's head. Like the earlier thoughts of her room, Maki shook these memories away. She had to focus on tonight, on the task at hand. Breathing deeply, clearing her mind, Maki lowered herself onto the remaining half of Nico's bed. Although neither girl was all that large the two near-adults took up the entire space offered by the mattress. Nico turned to face the redhead after she fully settled down.
"If you end up leaving early, wake me up before you go, alright?" she asked.
"I've stayed this long," Maki smiled. "At this point, going home early wouldn't save me anyway." Although her voice had an air of levity, Nico could see the worry in those purple eyes despite the darkness.
"I'll take my share of the responsibility if you get in trouble."
"I appreciate it."
They went quiet then. Not a sound, bar their breathing, was heard. Maki stared up at the ceiling; Nico laid on her side facing Maki and in no time at all the older girl fell asleep and left her guest in order to join the land of slumber.
Maki didn't know what fate awaited her in the morning. It could be as severe as being forced to leave μ, or as lenient as a light reprimanding. Considering how lucky she felt with the way her piano date had gone (well enough to get her there, to Nico's bed) the redhead almost dared to be optimistic about the future.
In the morning, let come what may, she resolved. I'll deal with it when it arrives.
In her sleep Nico inched closer and closer to her bedmate; her head rested on Maki's outstretched arm. The redhead fell asleep not long after, more happy than she felt in a long time.
The morning arrived golden and singing. Through the slotted blinds above the bed the sun's rays speared the prevailing darkness in the room - but only partially. It was still rather early in the morning, and the shafts of light could not fully pierce the remaining shadows around the bedroom. Although she hadn't been asleep for nearly as long as she'd like, Maki awoke quickly and completely, without any hope of returning to sleep.
She noticed nearly immediately that, in her sleep, Nico rolled even closer; she was curled tight into the redhead's side - not unlike a cat - with her head unknowingly propped up on Maki's chest and the rest of her body held fast on Maki's numb arm, stiff, pinned-and-needled from lack of blood flow. Maki didn't know whether to revel in this lovely closeness or get annoyed at the dead weight on her arm. Love and annoyance; a fitting description of how she felt towards the little upperclassman. She tried to slowly pull her arm out from its fleshy prison, a task proving more difficult than she could have imagined. Nico simply didn't want to let go. For every shuffle of Maki's arm, Nico unconsciously moved further into the girl's space.
"Oi, Nico - move." she whispered through her teeth. With one strong pull, a magician disrobing a tablecloth from its table, she managed to free her arm. She clenched her fist a few times trying to bring back its circulation. As softly as she could she rolled Nico off of her chest as well, and separated from the girl entirely.
The redhead next checked her phone. Maybe they tried to contact me she wondered. But upon waking it up she discovered not a single call or text from either Mama or Papa Nishikino. All that greeted her was her phone's wallpaper: a picture of her and Nico a classmate of theirs took after one of their live shows. In the photo Maki and Nico had their arms around each other's shoulders; they smiled despite exhaustion, and supported one another lovingly.
The lack of any attempted contact from her parents unnerved Maki more than if there was an increasingly desperate and angry chain of missed calls and texts; either her parents were so angry that they refused to contact her, or they still, miraculously, had no idea that she spent the night out. Hoping (or relying) on that latter possibility could prove foolish, but for the first real time in her life Maki was prepared to be foolish - she'd been happy with the results this far, if the night with Nico meant anything at all.
As for Nico, Maki couldn't help but notice how cute the girl looked; her hair down and the usual smirk or grimace replaced with the blank, carefree expression of those in a comfortable sleep. A tug, a pang of desire rang through her heart and she pulled up her phone's camera. She moved slowly, not wanting to wake the girl, and lined up a shot of Nico's sleeping face.
If only her sound hadn't been on!
In the silence of the morning and the deep quiet of Nico's apartment, the camera shutter sound might as well have been a cannon. Embarrassment stained Maki's face as scarlet as her hair; Nico woke up just then, training her eyes on immobile, embarrassed Maki. A smirk spread across her lips; this scared Maki more than anything else the girl could have done.
"Well now, Maki."
"G-good morning."
"What were you doing just now, huh?"
"N-nothing. Don't flatter yourself." she turned her face away, still red.
"Let me see your phone, then." Nico raised a hand to grope for the device.
"N-o-o-o-p-e." Maki held the phone higher than the girl could reach.
Maki turned back and, just like the night before, they broke into joyous laughter. Maki reveled in this lightness, which continued to eradicate the worry she felt over her possible punishment. I'm glad I stayed she confessed to herself. She kept these thoughts from Nico; couldn't have the girl know she had that much power over the redhead - after all, she already had Maki's heart.
Nico rolled out of bed, grimacing at the time. It was barely 8 am and they'd hardly fallen asleep before 3 am that same morning.
"Any ideas for breakfast?" she asked, not moving from her spot on the floor.
"Am I staying for breakfast?" Maki asked.
"That's up to you, isn't it?"
Maki weighed her options: if she hadn't yet been caught then she was pushing her luck by not heading home as soon as possible; if she had, then staying out longer meant nothing - she'd be punished regardless.
"Pancakes." Maki finally settled on. "Make some of those."
"Sure, come help me."
"Can I shower first?" Maki asked. "I'm going to leave right after breakfast."
"Go ahead - I have to wake up the kids anyway."
Maki went to take a shower, while Nico readied her brother and sisters in her mother's place.
After the shower Maki put on the clothes she wore the night before. She hoped they were casual enough to support the lie that she left her house early for a long walk that morning, assuming she was found sneaking into her home. And yet, despite the worry she found herself caring less and less about the possible consequences the more that she came to appreciate the night she shared with her Nico-nii.
Nico's brother and sisters were already seated around the table when Maki returned to the kitchen. Her mother was nowhere to be found.
"Where's your mom?" Maki asked. She stood a few feet away from Nico, who seemed to be focusing more deeply on the breakfast in the pan than she should - her tongue forced itself through her lips in a show of deep focus.
"Work." Nico finally answered, having finished whatever precise work she was doing in the pan. "I make breakfast every morning for us."
Maki, like during dinner, felt strangely useless. She couldn't cook for her life - and even if she could, the only responsibility for her to cook would depend on whether she herself was hungry, and not on three children like Nico.
Underneath all of her posturing, Maki thought, is a very good person.
Nico was kind enough to hand the plates of large, wonderful, steaming pancakes to all of the people around the table. Maki was last, and when she was handed the plate she immediately understood what Nico focused so hard on: her pancake was shaped like a heart. For the second time that morning Maki's face beamed red.
"Hey!" Cotarou said. "How come Maki gets a special pancake?"
Nico, opposite the table from Maki, smirked her trademark smirk. "Well Cotarou, some people are extra grumpy, even as idols. So I had to do a little extra to get them to smile." But she sent Maki a wink, and the redhead looked away in scarlet embarrassment. Why did she find everything about Nico so cute?
To feel as though she wasn't totally useless, Maki collected the plates on the table and cleaned them.
"I can't have myself indebted to you." she explained after Nico asked why she was cleaning up.
"But you already are, my dear Maki."
"How so?"
"You owe me a sleepover at your house now."
"Ha. You're hilarious." came the caustic reply. Maki hadn't ever had a sleep over at her home, the μ beach-house-training-session notwithstanding. She turned back to the dishes.
"We'll see, Maki." And yet another one of Nico's trademark smirks plastered itself on her face. When she walked away to deal with her siblings Maki stopped hiding the grin she tried so hard to fight when Nico was around.
Quickly the sun moved higher in the sky and the morning advanced. It was warm outside while lacking the previous night's breeze; the heat was already beginning to feel oppressive. Maki and Nico didn't seem to mind this as they rode the elevator down to the apartment lobby, standing shoulder to shoulder and holdings hands with the gradual, growing disappointment of having to separate soon. The ding of the last stop was a baleful sound.
At the entrance to the lobby the girls stood facing one another, not unlike when they stood at the doorframe to Nico's apartment. And just like that last time, Maki wanted nothing more than to stay with Nico even if she knew she had to go.
"Will I see you at practice?" Nico asked. "Or are you going to be in too much trouble to show up?" she half-joked.
"I'll make it to practice somehow. Umi'll kill me if I don't. I'm not sure when I can make it here again, though."
They fell silent, but before Maki could say "bye", she, for the third time, felt Nico's strong grip on her wrist. Nico pulled her down to face height and kissed her, pressing her lips against Maki's in a chaste show of affection. There was something powerful in the kiss, where a tsunami of passion was barely held back, the slightest splash making it through if only to prove just how much love Nico had within her for Maki - how hard it was to hold back and let the girl leave. How much, perhaps, she was saving for another day. They separated all too quickly.
Maki backed away and cleared her throat. Her face was flames, red with embarrassment and longing. "W-well now you're just trying to make me late." she barely managed to say, taken so far aback that she didn't know how to respond. She defaulted to feigned disinterest, to little success.
"See you in a few hours! Not that I think you could forget me after that." the older girl called after her. Maki, already far down the road, lifted a hand in response without looking back.
With the morning sun growing ever stronger above her head Maki felt a budding sprout of confidence in her heart. The night solidified, strengthened her relationship with Nico. Maybe she could use that confidence to finally speak her mind to her parents about her disinterest in medicine, or to explain why she stayed out all night.
Maki did not know what awaited her at home; perhaps nothing did. But she felt much more at ease than when she first arrived at Nico's the previous evening. She loved the girl, and even if she was caught she knew that she didn't regret her decision one bit.
Let come what may she resolved. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
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