A/N: I've had this idea in my head for quite a long time, and I finally got around to actually writing it. I cannot promise anything, but I will try to update frequently. Hopefully..?

Also, this chapter is small because it's the prologue, the following will most likely be longer!

Prologue: Collision

"Maki, Nico, you two are not in sync at all!" Umi shouted at us for the ninth time today. She turned off the music and called us over, ready to scold us.

Everyone stopped and stared in our direction, wondering why Umi stopped the music. Eri understood what happened, so she decided to take over her place for a while. She made the others do some stretches, despite Honoka's loud displeasure.

Nico glared at me as we made our way to Umi. "It's your fault, for not keeping up with me." I rolled my eyes and turned my focus on Umi. I was not in the mood to deal with Nico. I was too exhausted to even pay attention to her.

"Does it matter whose fault it is?" Umi sighed. "Love Live is just around the corner, and all of us are working hard." She gestured to everyone else who had just started stretching.

"We are, too." I cut Umi off, feeling slightly annoyed at her implying that we don't work hard enough. "We work just as hard as everyone else."

"I-I'm not saying you don't.." Umi trailed off, taken aback from what I said. I bit my lip to stop myself from saying anything else to avoid starting a fight.

"Then what?" Nico quipped at the blue haired girl, surprising both of us. "What you said clearly implies that we don't care about pr-"

"Now, now, Nicocchi, there's no need to get mad." Nozomi approached us and placed a hand on Nico's shoulder. "Let Umi talk." Nico growled but remained silent, allowing Umi to speak.

Umi cleared her throat and glanced at me then Nico, thinking about something. "I think..." She started and then nodded to herself. "Yeah... You two will have to stay back after we're done to perfect the dance."

"Why me?" Nico whined and pointed at me. "It's her fault, not mine!"

"What's with that? I don't get you." I sighed, twirling my hair around my finger. "Why don't you just admit that you haven't learned the dance?" I teased Nico even though I knew that it was my fault we were not in sync. I just loved pissing her off.

"I have learned it!" She shouted and walked away. I easily hid the smirk that was threatening to break my poker face.

Nozomi sighed. "I'll go talk to her." She said before going after Nico.

"Maki." Umi called to me when Nozomi left. "I'm sorry about what I said, but you two really need more practice."

"It's fine, I understand. We'll work on it today." I promised, even though I really wanted to just go home and rest for a while.

"Great! Let's go back to everyone else now, we should rehearse the entire song a couple more times."

After Nozomi and Nico were done with their talk, Umi took over Eri's place and we started dancing once again. My sluggish movements were not fast enough to keep up with Nico's pace but Umi decided to let it slide. She figured we would fix it later on our own.

About half an hour later, Umi finally signaled the end of today's practice session. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off their faces with a towel. Feeling my legs weaken, I immediately took a seat on the floor, next to my school bag.

"Finally!" Honoka exclaimed, happy to get some rest from the 'demon' Umi. She grabbed her water bottle from her bag and spilled some on her face before drinking the rest. Rin and Nico did the same and then they all lay down on the floor to rest their aching muscles for a while.

"Aw, I don't have any more water.." Hanayo whined as she examined her empty water bottle.

"You can have mine, Hanayo." Eri threw her own water bottle to Hanayo, who barely caught it. "I didn't drink any yet."

Hanayo's eyes shone like she had found a rare treasure as she opened the water bottle. "Thank you, Eri-chan!" She happily gulped the water down and then sat next to Rin, who immediately rested her head on her shoulder. I smiled at that small exchange between the two.

Nozomi suddenly clapped her hands together to grab everyone's attention. "Who wants to go for parfaits?" She suggested and everyone but me, Nico and Umi raised their hands.

"I have archery practice in a while, so I can't join you guys." Umi explained sadly. "Maybe another time."

"Umi-chan, noo! Join us!" Honoka whined in an attempt to convince Umi to skip club activities, but she refused. Kotori giggled as she watched Umi scold Honoka for trying to make her skip.

Rin suddenly looked at me, confused. "What about you, Maki-chan?"

"Me? I have to stay back and practice. Umi's order."

"Eeehh?" Rin pouted and went over to Umi. "Umi-chaaan! Why does Maki-chan have to stay back?"

"Maki and Nico need to practice the dance because their movements are not in sync yet." She explained and everyone mouthed an 'oh' in disappointment.

"Then, Umi-chan, Maki-chan, Nico-chan, make sure you join us next time nyaa!" Rin exclaimed as she ran out the door, eager to leave.

"Rin-chan! Wait for me!" Hanayo called for the energetic girl who was already gone.

"Let's go after her, Hanayo-chan!" Honoka exclaimed, grabbing her hand and going after Rin.

"Shall we go too?" Kotori suggested as she slid her school bag over her shoulder. "Yeah, let's go." Eri replied and the rest nodded. They waved to us and started leaving.

Umi stopped at the door and turned back as if she just remembered something. "Maki, Nico, I want your dance to be perfect by tomorrow. Alright?" She warned us and then left without waiting for an answer.

I sighed as I glanced at Nico. She had already gotten up and was waiting for me to follow her. Does she ever get tired, I wondered.

"C'mon, Maki-chan." She grabbed my hand and pulled me up. "It's time for the great Nico-nii to teach you how to keep up with her!" She smiled as she did her 'Nico Nico-nii' signature pose.

I couldn't resist a comeback. "You don't need to, I'm fine."

Nico's smile instantly fell and so did her pose. She crossed her arms and huffed, "Why don't you just admit that you can't keep up with me?"

Once again, I couldn't resist. "Because that's not true." Even though it was true.

Nico narrowed her eyes, glaring daggers towards me. "But it is."

I tried to look indifferent, twirling my hair around my finger. "I don't know what you're talking about, Nico-chan."

"Ughh!" Nico shouted, "You know what, Maki-chan? Until you admit that it's your fault, you can practice on your own. I'm leaving!" She growled as she grabbed her bag and started walking towards the door.

It was the first time Nico-chan backed down on an argument so I stood there for a minute, confused. When I regained my composure, she was already out the door, heading for the stairs. My body moved on it's own and I went after her, trying to stop her from leaving. We still had to practice after all.

I attempted to grab her arm as she was about to descend the stairs, but I startled her.

Nico, surprised from my sudden action, lost her balance and tumbled down the stairs.

At that moment, it felt like the entire world froze around me, including myself. The only thing I could hear was my heart beating so loudly that I thought it would burst. I could only stare in horror at Nico's unmoving body laying on the cold concrete stairs.

Soon, blood started streaming down her head, onto the stairs, and I was violently shaken out of my stupor. I sprinted down the stairs and shook her shoulders lightly, hopelessly waiting for a response. "Nico?!" I shouted, wishing that my voice would wake her up and she'd say something. Anything.

Despite the fear, the still rational part of my brain screamed at me to check her pulse, to see if she was alive. I gulped audibly as I pressed my trembling fingers on her neck, trying to find her pulse point.

It was faint, but it was there. She was alive.

It slowly came to me that instead of sitting there like an idiot, I still had to call the hospital. I took her cellphone from her jacket and typed the number; incorrectly many times because of my shaking hands. I cursed at my miserable attempt at staying calm.

After I finally typed the number correctly, a nurse answered immediately. I tried to explain the situation as clearly as possible. My voice was weak and uneven, sobs threatening to escape me, but the nurse somehow understood the situation. She gave me some instructions on what to do until the ambulance showed up and then hung up.

I mechanically performed what the nurse had requested, the reality of what happened finally dawning on me. This was Nico. This bloody and pale body on my arms was Nico. And it was all my fault.

When the paramedics arrived, they asked many questions. But I didn't hear anything. I stood there motionless, just staring at Nico with hollow eyes, completely shutting everything else off. I was trapped inside a nightmare, and the only way out was Nico being safe.

Immediately upon reaching the hospital, the doctors rushed to take Nico to the emergency room and forced me to stay outside. I would have fought my way in, but I was too powerless. Physically, and mentally. Instead, I went to sit on a chair right out of the surgery room.

I hugged my knees close to my chest and I finally allowed myself to cry. I didn't care if anyone saw me. I didn't care about anything anymore.

Nico was in there because of me. Because of my stupid pride... Because I started an unnecessary argument... and didn't back down.

..Because I... pushed her...

I tried hard -to not sing in the end- to avoid/fic any grammar and spelling mistakes since English is not my first language, but I might have missed some OTL