A Certain Sick Senpai
"Eh…? Nico-chan caught a cold?" Orange hair bounced as a look of disbelief plastered on their face at the violet haired third year. "But she is an idiot! Idiots don't catch a cold!"
Nozomi laughed and patted her companion on the head before answering, "Rin-chan, Nico-chii may be an idiot, but she is also human. Humans catch a cold once in awhile too."
"So," the usually quiet tsundere Maki spoke up, "she's missing practice today, then?" A hint of concern plagued her words. She regretted asking that question because the moment the last words left her mouth everyone gave her a knowing look and it irked her. "I-I'm not worried or anything! Just that, it's a shame that she's missing practice when she's always the first one looking forward to showing off!"
"Okay, everyone~" Eli clapped twice to turn the attention towards herself, "we should still practice. Now, get into position," the clapping continued, "1, 2, 3, 4…"
Practice went by in a flash for some people. More like one person. The only scarlet first year. The girl who couldn't wait until it was over. Taking breaks here and there didn't help her calm down at all.
All eight members walked back inside the building and down the stairs to the clubroom. A pair of four were five steps away from each other, giving just enough space for some private talk for the mischievous third year.
"Hey, Maki-chan~" a voice whispered into the sensitive ear that belonged to a certain tsundere, "you should go see how Nico-chii is doing. I'm pretty sure she is lonely," a small grin crept up the lips of the twinkling emerald eyed friend.
"N-Nozomi!" The targeted girl jerked back in surprise, "what are you saying?" she asked when they arrived at the clubroom first.
The shorter girl opened the door and gave Maki a wink, "don't you want to see a cute weak Nico-chii?"
"A-as if I want to see something like that!" Her cheeks tinted pink and she paced inside the room, swiftly grabbing her school bag in a hurry before Nozomi. "I'm going home first!" she announced to the only member in the room at the moment before dashing out of the door and almost knocking out Hanayo who was right behind the pair. The petite girl let out a small 'kyah' as she moved out of the way.
"Maki-chan! Watch where you're going!" Rin threw some fists into the air at the direction of her running friend before turning back, "are you okay, Kayo-chin?"
"M-mm, I was just surprised Maki-chan ran out of the clubroom like that." She pushed one finger up on her glasses to put it back in place before realizing something. "Ah… wasn't Maki-chan still in her practice outfit?"
"What is it? Why is everyone at the door and not going in?" Umi asked after arriving at their destination with Kotori, followed by Eli and Honoka.
"Maki-chan is in a hurry to meet someone~" All six looked into the room to see an already dressed Nozomi sitting on the desk holding a tarot card with a smirk on her face.
The redhead didn't know what to do, so she ran out of there with all her might without even changing. Her cheeks were burning. She needed to calm down, but Nozomi's words were stuck inside her head. A cute weak Nico. Just the thought of that made her head dizzy and it was hard to think. Shaking her head to try and clear her mind didn't work and before she knew it she was already 3 blocks away from school.
'I guess I'll stop by her house, n-not that I want to. Just because Nozomi told me to go see her, that's all. Yeah, that's all…' Maki repeated the words in her head to reassure herself. 'What do you do when visiting someone sick? Buy something sweet for them?' She came across a convenience store on the way and decided she would buy a drink.
Maki entered the store, but didn't know where to go. Oblivious to the aisles, she wandered for about one minute before a clerk came up to her and asked if she needed help looking for something. "Ah, may I know where your tea is at?"
"Right this way, I'll show you where it is, miss," the nice young man replied and gladly led Maki to the fridge section of the store. "Anything else I can help you with?"
"No, that will be all. Thank you very much," Maki slightly bowed and made her way to the tea collom. "What does Nico like drinking again? Ah! This is that one tea Nico was talking about when we were in Akihabara." She grabbed two bottles just in case Nico wanted more and made her way towards the cash register, but not before her eyes caught something that looked like Nico would love to eat.
The man from before rung up Maki's items and was surprised when he was given a 10,000 yen when the total was only 550 yen. He gave her change back and placed the products inside the plastic bag before smiling at her. "Thank you very much, please come again!" He said as he handed the bag to her.
Nico's house was only 3 minutes away. Maki knew right away when she passed by the park that was close by. Even the walk to her senpai's house felt like forever. She couldn't wait to get there, so she ran the few minutes left that was in the way of letting her see her friend's face.
A little out of breath, Maki took her time walking up the stairs leading to a certain person's house. After calming down a bit, she rang the doorbell and waited for 30 seconds before getting a response from the door. It opened a small crack before closing and opening again after the chain locks were loosened.
"It's Maki onee-chan!" The eldest of the siblings exclaimed when she opened the door for her.
"Hello," she replied as she stepped inside and closed the door behind her. "Sorry for the intrusion. Is your sister home?"
"Mm, she's sleeping in her room," said Cocoro. "Thank you for coming all the way out here to see Onee-chan. She'll be very happy that you came to see her."
"Maki onee-chan!" Cocoa rushed over to hug her by the legs, followed by Cotaro silently hiding behind his sisters.
"It's nice to see you two as well. Oh yeah, I brought pudding for everyone, if you would like to eat it with your siblings while I go and check on your sister," Maki reached inside the plastic bag and handed Cocoro three of their share.
"What do you guys say to Maki onee-chan?" Cocoro asked and the three of them simultaneously thanked her before going to the kitchen to eat their pudding.
The older girl smiled as she saw how happy they were by the mere thought of pudding. She was glad she bought it when she did. Now to see if the older sister would react the same way. 'N-not that I want to see her happy or anything over pudding.'
The redhead knocked on Nico's door before entering. She was still sleeping. The first year stared at the sleeping face of her friend and gulped a little too harsh. 'She's sweating, yet she looks so… c-cute…' Putting her bags on the floor near the bed she grabbed the towel that was on Nico's forehead and noticed it was warm. "How long have you been like this, Nico…" She muttered to herself before getting a new cold damp towel to place on her forehead again, moving raven locks away from her face.
"Ma… ki-chan…" a weak voice was barely audible, but the said girl stopped everything and put all of her attention on the one in bed.
"You're awake?" she sat down near the bed and unconsciously grabbed the girl's hand. "How do you feel, Nico-chan?"
"A little… better now," she answered meekly and opened her eyes to meet purple orbs staring back at her. Her eyes gradually grew bigger by the second and she slipped out of Maki's hold. "I-I thought I was just dreaming… you're actually here…?"
Maki then realized she was holding Nico's hand and apologized for doing that without asking, Nico just replied with 'It's fine' to her. "I guess you're okay now. I'll just leave these here for you and be on my way." Before her kouhai stood up Nico grabbed her hand and told her to stay. "... you sure? You don't mind me being here?" The weak girl shook her head. "Okay, I'll stay for awhile then." Maki situated her position and gently squeezed her hand. "I brought you tea and something to eat. Pudding... since I don't know how to cook, it'll be hard to make something for you to get better. Sorry."
"Why are you apologizing, Maki-chan? It's fine. Don't worry about me~ I'm Nico Nico-nii, remember? The super idol! I'll get better in no time."
"Since you can make that kind of remark, I'm guessing there's nothing to worry about then." Maki chuckled as Nico tried to do her signature move with one hand.
"Ah! You laughed! That's a first. I haven't seen you smile before. It's really… cute," Nico sat up, causing the small towel to roll off her forehead and land on her lap. "I haven't realized this before, but you're cute when you smile, Maki-chan."
"Eh…" the redhead was speechless when Nico caressed her cheek and leaned in so close to her face. Her mind couldn't process what was going on. Maki squeezed her hand again when she felt soft lips come into contact with her own. Nico was kissing her. The prideful idol Nico was kissing Maki.
Amethyst orbs quivered before closing and she leaned into the kiss, not knowing what was going on but not wanting the feeling to go away either. It felt right. It felt good. It felt like it was something she hasn't felt before. When Maki wanted to go further with the kiss a knock on the door brought her back to reality.
Both girls parted from each other like a magic spell being undone. Neither meeting the other's eyes.
"Onee-chan! Are you awake yet?" Cocoa's voice muffled through the door.
"I am. Are you enjoying the pudding Maki-chan brought?"
"Mm! It was really good! Maki onee-chan is really nice! I wish she was also our sister as well! Anyway, have a good time with Maki onee-chan before you rest again!" Her voice seemed to have faded like the wind as she ran the other direction.
"I-I guess you should try the pudding I bought?" Maki suggested and took it out of the plastic bag next to her.
"M-mm," Nico averted her gaze.
"I even bought that tea, too," Maki continued, "I remember you talking about them last time."
The sick girl looked down at the contents in her friend's hand. "Ah! That's my favorite tea! And I love chocolate pudding! Thanks Maki-chan, I didn't know you went through all the trouble to buy these for me. You didn't need to."
"I wanted to… Nico-chan," Maki replied.
The smaller girl didn't need to hide the blush creeping up her neck to her cheeks since her face was already flushed from being sick anyway. It was a plus for her. "Oh yeah, I just realized, you're wearing your practice outfit. Did you rush over just to see me?" Nico's old habit of teasing is back.
"I-I didn't! I just forgot to change, that's all! Geez, it's not like I wanted to come see you right away, idiot!"
The next day during μ's usual practice on the rooftop there were two members that were missing from the group.
"Maki-chan catching a cold is very rare! She's never sick!" Rin stated matter of factly.
"It just means that things went according to plan and they both got what they wanted, thus leading Maki being sick," responded a certain violet haired female who grinned from ear to ear like she knew what happened. But of course, Nozomi is the only one who would know everything after all.
