Her Motivation [Nicomaki]

Summary: A few years after college, Idol Nico reunites with Doctor Nishikino Maki at place she least wanted to see her, the hospital.

The red head was planning to head out for a smoke, to replenish her body its need for nicotine. And along the hallways near the exit, she caught a short raven hair limping her way out.

She looked down to the person's leg and realised how swollen it was.

Straining her ears a little, she could hear soft grumbles from the short girl.

'That's...' sighing then taking her hand out of her pockets and giving up on smoking for now, Maki stepped forward towards the girl. She scooped the girl up in her arms from the back which obviously surprised the raven haired woman.

'Wha-' before she could express her shock in words, she caught the face in front of her, recognising the person.

'Maki-chan...?' Now she was surprised in a different way. 'Damn it, I wanted to leave before I bumped into her.'

"To think that this is how we reunite, Nico-chan." Maki adjusted her hands a little, getting Nico into a fitting hold before starting her walk down the hallway.

"Hey! Put me down!"

Nico wasn't only embarrassed at the fact that she was being cradle carried. She was mad that Nishikino Maki, was the one doing so, when she was injured and helpless. Her pride was hurt. She struggled as hard as she could though the red head managed to ignore her.

"Put. Me. Down. This instant."

The raven haired woman pounded her fist against the younger woman's chest, hoping that her actions would finally stop the red head.

And it did. Though she hadn't expect what came right after it.

The red head had placed her down at the nearest row of chairs a short distance away from the helpdesk counter, and slammed both her hands at either side of Nico's head, trapping the raven hair completely. Her head leaned forward, so close, that Nico feel her breath and the smell of tobacco from her mouth.

Nico froze, her face slowly burning up. However, she tried her best to keep a straight face. She would not allow the red head to be conceited! She was the senior here!

Maki stared straight into her senior's eyes, showing her that she should just give up on running away as she wouldn't give her any chance to. After confirming that Nico had given up, for now, she took her into her arms once more, ready to start walking, but realised that she didn't actually know the room Nico was admitted to.

"Room?" the redhead arched an eyebrow at her senior who only furrowed her brows in return as her arms were crossed. "That's fine with me. I could ask the counter." Maki's eyes wander towards the counter a few metres away from them.

Not wanting to feel embarrassed any further, Nico gave in. "252."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Right."

Maki laid the short woman down her bed as she looked around and caught the mess; bandages were torn and thrown all over the place.

'Seriously…?'

Maki contemplated to head out to get the supplies for patching her senior's leg up but decided against it. It definitely wasn't a good idea to leave the woman alone. She would definitely try to run away.

Reaching out to the emergency bell hanging loosely around the plastic rails of the bed, she pressed it once before returning it to its holder beside the bed.

Turning to Nico, Maki saw that she was deep in her thoughts and even biting her nails a little.

"…So what brought you here?" Maki decided to ask as she took her place at the nearest wall, leaning her back against it and her arms folded.

It seemed that her voice managed to bring the raven haired woman out of her thoughts as she jolted from the bed. Nico squinted at the red head a little, her mouth showing discontent. Then she pointed to her leg. "This."

The red head rolled her eyes at the answer. That wasn't what she was asking, she could totally see with her two eyes that the girl was injured, which was why she even carried her.

"I can see that. I wouldn't resort to carrying you if you could walk properly you know. You're pretty heavy."

"Wha-" Maki had the raven haired woman mouth gaping at her words.

She was heavy?

That's rude. She was an idol and obviously so she had taken extra precaution about her weight, managing her diet every day. Yet the younger woman called her heavy.

"Hey, I can't tell if you're genuinely concerned. Or just trying to get at me for not having contact you because I was busy with my work." Nico felt her eyebrows twitch as she glared at the red head.

The change in the red head's expression had taken her aback and she could feel her anger towards the red head's sarcasm disappearing.

'That's not fair.' Nico thought to herself.

"I-I got into a small accident while I was at rehearsal for tomorrow's stage. T-this small injury is nothing to me."

Was she stuttering? And why wasn't being honest with the younger woman...? That she was panicking, as this injury would definitely have her stage postponed and she didn't want to disappoint her fans.

A sigh, the red head closed her eyes, she was about to say something when the door opened, a nurse entering the room. The nurse was surprised to see Maki, a doctor from another department here though she realised that she was probably the one who had pressed the bell.

"Is there anything I can help with, Dr. Nishikino?" the nurse took a short glance at Nico then back at Maki.

The young doctor nodded, leaving her spot at the wall, heading to the door. "Watch her for me, I'll be back with some supplies needed for her injury." With that, Maki left the room, leaving Nico with the nurse that was in charge of her.

Nico could feel the piercing gaze of the young nurse on her as she tried to concentrate on her thoughts once more but failing to. She gulped a little due to the tension in the room, feeling that each second was longer than usual.

'Well, no doubt she's angry at me for trying to run away. I probably got her in trouble.'

It was minutes of awkward silence until the door opened, Maki returning from her short trip of getting supplies and Nico felt that she could breathe properly again.

"Thanks, you may leave." Maki gave a small smile to the nurse who blushed red at the rare expression from the young doctor then scurried off with her head hanging down.

Nico could feel her irritation rising with the reaction the nurse had towards Maki, accumulated from the events of the day.

She was startled when Maki had knelt down, taking her injured leg into her hand gently, rolled her pants up neatly before she began treating it. As she watched Maki tend to her, she observed her expressions and she could help but be dazzled by her working figure.

"M-maki-chan." Nico's voice was soft, barely above a whisper. She felt the need to reach out for the younger woman and feel her in her touch.

"I'm do….ne?"

Maki had her head up at this point and Nico's hands that were about to reach her head, made contact with her lips instead and from the shock, she immediately retracted it. Nico looked away, hoping the red head wouldn't notice her nervous state.

"Nico-chan."

Nico felt the soft touch of a warm hand on hers and a whisper to her ears.

"I haven't forgotten our promise."

Hearing those words, the short woman turned her head, only to find Maki bending towards and hovering above her, their bodies almost touching. Then, with the other hand that wasn't holdings hers, she wrapped it around her waist, bringing them even closer and eventually pressing up against each other.

Looking down at Nico, Maki brought her face an inch away from Nico's, whispering:

"So, please do your best for your last stage when your leg gets better. I'll be waiting."

A/N: Maybe, I should start a anthology for this. I've only been able to write short stories involving injury of some sort.