A/N: I'm biting off more than i can chew here T.T (forgive me). To those who're following my other story, Layers, don't worry, i am not abandoning it. Really. For the past 2 months i was trying to finish off my PMMM (KyokoxHomura) story - finally finished it. This'll probably be a short fanfic that spans for around 3-4 chapters maybe?
So here's my first NikoxMaki attempt. The setting of the story takes place at the beach in episode 10 (i think) and diverges off from there.
I have a feeling there's a similar story out here some where... if there is i sincerely apologise :x
1
Clad in a pink frilly swim top and bottom, the twin tailed girl lay on the beach chair with grace; her sunglasses neatly covered her crimson eyes, readily blocking the incoming ray of sunlight. Everything had seemed perfect – save for the scowl that spotted the girl's face when she realised that her leg couldn't reach the end of beach chair unlike a certain someone who was casually lying on the beach chair next to her, leisurely reading what seemed like a novel.
For the umpteenth time, Yazawa Niko cursed the gods for giving her such a short body. Sure, she was cute – especially with her hair tied up in a twin tail but alas, she had a (almost) flat chest and no womanly curves at all – yet again, unlike the girl beside her. She'd give anything to have the figure like the girl beside her but overtime, she'd tried to accept her pitiful fate – of being small sized.
And hence, she'd developed a persona befitting of her, leading to what we know as the "Niko-Niko-nii smile" today.
The girl beside her – Nishikino Maki, was quietly flipping through the pages of her novel, seemingly engrossed in the neat lines of words on the page. Her sunglasses was pushed up to her forehead, her slightly wavy scarlet hair cascaded down her shoulder and her bare back.
Coincidentally, the red head was also wearing a pink bikini – a lighter shade of pink compared to Niko's – with white strips and a midnight blue shorts bottom with a pink ribbon decorated at the side where her left hip was.
Maki continued reading, a passive and indifferent look on her face.
Finally, Niko, who couldn't stand the silence any longer, said, "Hey, Maki-chan."
"Yeah?" the red haired girl said without lifting her eyes off her novel.
"What are you reading?"
"A Book."
"Tch. I can see that. I mean, what kind of book are you reading?"
"…a book on stargazing…" Maki finally answered.
"…Stargazing…?" Niko echoed, wondering if she'd heard wrongly. Since when was Maki-chan interested in Stargazing?
"Yeah," the read head repeated, this time, tonelessly.
"What's so fun about stargazing…?" Niko asked, raising an eyebrow. She was curious. After all, this was the first time she'd seen someone so interested in stargazing.
"…." Maki looked at Niko, her mouth opened, as if wanting to say something. It was then a stab of pain hit her head, making the red haired girl hiss inaudibly as she brought her palm towards her aching head.
A headache...out of all times…Maki groaned inwardly.
She then frowned before turning back to her book.
"Hey! Answer me!" Niko said irritably.
"I like stargazing, that's why…" Maki finally remembered to answer her senior as she bit the inside of her lip, hoping that her headache would cease soon.
A wave of dizziness crashed over Maki, making her blink as she tried to clear away the blurriness of her sight but to no avail. Crap…the world…is spinning around me…If this keeps up…I'm going to –
"…That still doesn't explain why you think it's fun…" she vaguely heard the third-year said.
"...I'm going to go back to the villa first…" She murmured softly and tiredly. I need to get to the villa before I–
"Huh…?" Niko removed her sunglasses to stare at the red head in who had started to walk away slowly.
Her mind turned fuzzy and hazy as black spots danced at the corners of her eyes. This is bad…I can't… Maki staggered a little, her book dropped onto the ground with a soft thud.
Without warning, she collapsed onto the ground.
"M-Maki-chan!" Niko was now alarmed, as she rushed up to the red head.
"Ah…haah…" Maki started to breathe heavily, her face flushed as she gasped between breaths.
"Maki-chan! Maki-chan! What's wrong?!" Niko's face was filled with worry as she tried to pull the red head up.
She's…surprisingly…light…Niko thought as she wrapped Maki's arms around her neck.
"N…Ni..Niko…chan…" Maki muttered, "I…I'm sorry…I feel…dizzy…" My conscious… ah… is… fading…
"Hey, Maki-chan! Maki-chan!" Niko put her hand on the girl's forehead before exclaiming, "You're burning up!"
The black haired girl cursed before shouting over to the rest of her idol mates who were still playing beach volley ball, "Hey guys! Maki has fainted!"
All 7 of them halted in their tracks, their eyes wide open before rushing over to where Niko and Maki were.
"What's wrong?" Honoka asked, concerned for her friend.
"She's having a high fever. I think that's why she fainted." Niko explained.
"She…didn't tell us…" Umi said quietly.
"I bet she just didn't want to bother us or worry us…" Kotori sighed.
"Or…maybe she's just too shy to tell us the truth…" Nozomi frowned.
"Either way, I'm bringing her back to the villa. Can you guys help me search the area if there's a clinic or hospital nearby…?" Niko asked
"Rin-chan, Hanayo-chan, Honoka-chan and I will help look around," Nozomi decided before looking at Niko and the unconscious Maki.
"Thanks…Nozomi…and Eri, help me carry her back to the villa…" Niko requested softly.
Eri immediately went over to help Niko.
"Then…Kotori and I will search the villa to see if there's anything there we could use to help Maki…" Umi said.
"Okay." Niko nodded as the rest of them went back to the villa.
Back in the villa
Niko was now sitting next to Maki in one of the empty bedrooms.
The red haired girl was lying on the huge bed, almost peacefully save for the pained look on her face. Her cheeks were also slightly red, possibly due to the fever.
The twin tailed girl's heart clenched at the sight.
An uneasy feeling settled in her for reasons she could not decipher as she continued to observe the smooth and pale features of her junior who didn't seemed like she'd be awake any time soon.
The scarlet haired girl now wore a white large sized shirt over her swim attire. Eri had wanted to change the unconscious girl out of her swim attire for fear that her cold might worsen but Niko had talked the blonde girl out of it – she had a feeling that when Maki woke up, she'd had a fit knowing that someone had changed her clothing. Hence they settled for a shirt they found in the bedroom.
Kotori and Umi had searched all over the house and managed to find a several cold medicine lying around the kitchen cabinets while the Nozomi and the others who went to search for a doctor have yet to come back.
A sudden groan cut off the twin tailed girl's thoughts and Niko's head snapped back to the sick girl.
"Maki-chan…?"
The said girl pressed her palm against her temple and blinked, feeling a little disoriented as she sucked in a breath.
"N...Niko-chan…?" she croaked out.
"Are you okay?" Niko immediately asked, worried about the red haired girl.
"I…I still feel a little dizzy…" Maki admitted quietly.
The black haired girl narrowed her eyes and said, "Why didn't you tell us you had a high fever?"
"F-Fever…?" Maki repeated, a little confused.
What? She didn't know she was sick? To think she came from a family of doctors… Niko sighed. "You collapsed 'coz you had a fever."
"Ah."
"Don't 'ah' me. Don't you know how worried I was?!" Niko burst out.
"You were worried about me?" Maki repeated.
"Well yea! I'm worried about – " Niko's eyes widened when she realised what she'd just said. Twice. "I-I'm mean, we are all worried about you…"
"Oh?" Maki raised an eyebrow before a smile crept up her face. "I see." And then she added, "Thanks, Niko-chan. You're the one who brought me up here right?"
"Y-Yea…E-Eri carried helped me carry you…though…" Niko mumbled.
Silence fell upon the room and neither girl said anything.
"There's a cold medicine on the– " before Niko could finished her sentence, Maki suddenly gasped out.
"Maki-chan?"
The red haired girl's head started to spin again, and everything around her started to duplicate itself. Her breaths came out shallow as the acid in her stomach seemed to be doing high level somersaults.
She could faintly hear Niko's worried shouts but just as she was trying to assure her that she was just dizzy again, bile rose up her throat and all other thoughts in her mind was gone, save for trying to get to the bathroom without puking her guts out onto the floor.
Clamping her hand over her mouth, Maki stumbled off the bed and as quickly as her disoriented self could let her and dashed into the nearest bathroom before she lurched over the toilet bowl and started retching.
Maki could feel someone rushing into the bathroom. She had no doubt it was Niko. In all honesty, the red head didn't want anyone to see her in such a weak state but before she could attempt to chase the twin tailed girl out, Niko had burst into the bathroom, worry evident on her face.
"Maki-chan! Are you okay?"
Maki shook her head tiredly and when she tried to open her mouth to speak, a wave of nausea hit her and she started to heave again.
Niko immediately knelt beside the girl and rubbed her hands against Maki's back soothingly while Maki threw up miserably.
Niko was worried. The disheveled and weak look on Maki's face when she entered the bathroom had shocked her. Seeing the red head slumped down beside the toilet bowl and using the sink as a support, Niko's heart clenched once again as a set of unbearable feeling coursed through her. She badly wanted to do something to alleviate the pain Maki was feeling.
She could see that Maki was suffering. Her face was of an unhealthy colour and haggard, while her lips were dry and pale. Her usually vibrant violet orbs were glazed over with a distant look in her eyes.
"Maki-chan?" Niko said softly.
Maki gave no response as she weakly grasped the sink, trying to pull herself up.
The red head took one staggering step forward and realised that her vision was blurring again.
Niko put a warm hand on Maki's shaking shoulder just as the girl fell forward clumsily.
Slowly, Niko wrapped Maki's arms around her neck and skillfully carried her out of the bathroom and into the bedroom.
When Maki was safely back in bed, Niko had promptly forced a cold relief pill into the red head's mouth with some water as well as an anti-nausea pill that she managed to find in the house.
When Maki's eyes finally opened slowly, Niko was up on her feet immediately.
"How are you feeling?"
Maki grimaced. "Like hell. But a lot better than before."
Niko nodded. Maki's face had some colour back – though still a little pale.
She hadn't realised it before but when she turned to look at Maki, she realised that she shouldn't have picked out a thin white shirt for Maki. The shirt had stuck closely to Maki's sweaty but pale skin and Niko noticed, with a furious blush, that she was now able to see Maki's swim top – or rather, her bikini.
Quickly, the twin tailed girl averted her gaze and turned away immediately as her heart started to thunder against her chest, an indescribable feeling almost overwhelming her.
Crap. Why do I feel –
"Niko…chan?" Maki asked uncertainly.
"Y-Yes…?" Niko stuttered before cursing herself inwardly for the stutter.
"I was just wondering, did you put on the shirt for me?"
Niko nodded slightly as she dared a glance back at the girl.
"Ah. Thanks…" Maki said, blushing slightly. No doubt she was glad that Niko at least let her wear a shirt over her swim attire. She was also glad that they didn't attempt to change her out of her swim wear. At the thought of having Niko change her out of her swim wear and into proper clothing, her cheeks burned brighter.
When Maki blushed, Niko thought her heart was going to explode. She's so cute. Niko thought, heat rising up her cheeks as her eyes travelled from Maki's reddened face and unconsciously down her smooth neck and her chest, held tightly by her bikini underneath the thin white fabric that hugged her figure closely.
Damn. I have to stop that…
"I'll…go check and see if the rest had returned…" Niko fumbled for an excuse as she stood up quickly, deliberately not looking at Maki.
"O-Okay…" Maki said, though a disappointed look remained on her face. For some reason, she really didn't want Niko to leave the room. Not that she'd admit that to the said person in front of her.
Hurriedly, the twin tailed girl left the room and walked down the hallway, her face red.
When she reached the staircase, the petite third year slumped down against the railing of the stairs, a hand covering her flushing face.
Why am I…
At the same time, Maki, now alone in the room, held her hand close to her heart and whispered softly, "Why am I…"
Why am I looking at her that way?
"Why am I disappointed that she's leaving the room?"