Crashing Into You
Scenario: Takahashi Satsuki / Satsunyan
Execution: Divine Vengeance
A/N: NicoMaki time! First shot at anything from Love Live, so please don't sue me for OOC-ness ;_; I tried. [insert star here]
Nishikino Maki let out a sigh.
It was the first day of high school, and the youth was anything but enthusiastic on her trek to the building where she would be cooped up for several hours with a few merciful breaks in between.
"Oh well," Maki muttered to herself as she took another reluctant step forward.
The morning was a rather gentle one, not too hot or too cold. It was the perfect weather for one to leisurely stroll to school provided they had enough time, which Maki did. She began humming a random tune quietly to herself, determined to enjoy this peace while it lasted.
It didn't.
Maki rounded a corner and, in a split second, found herself stumbling forward with her face about to greet the concrete floor. Luckily, the student caught her balance by flailing her arms wildly, somehow maintaining her grip on her bag as she fought to not faceplant magnificently.
"Hey!" a voice shouted as Maki regained her sense of up and down.
Looking down, the teenager blinked as she noticed a girl sitting on the ground right before her.
"Thanks for running right into me," the girl said sarcastically. Her twintails bobbed as she squinted up at the red haired student. She almost looked as though she was about to stick her tongue out.
"Sorry," Maki mumbled. "Didn't see you." She offered a hand to help the stranger up, but it was rejected.
"Watch where you're going then." The girl quickly stood up without assistance and dusted off her skirt before picking up her bag.
Maki's eyes narrowed. There was something about this girl's tone that ruffled her feathers and she couldn't stop herself from saying, "Maybe you shouldn't crouch on the ground right at a corner."
The girl, who had been about to walk away, stopped and turned around with an irritated smile. "Well, excuse me for wanting to tie my shoelaces instead of tripping like someone did."
"I tripped because of you," Maki shot back, frowning.
"Then you should have watched where you were going," the stranger argued.
Maki sighed, getting the distinct feeling that this particular discussion would go in circles until someone gave up. Not willing to sour her morning any more than it already had been, she sighed again and said, "Okay, okay, I'm sorry."
"Good."
With that, the twintailed girl spun on her heel and began marching in the direction Maki had been heading.
"Shortie," Maki muttered, making sure the girl wouldn't hear, as she stuck out her tongue.
Today was not off to a good start.
Praying to the heavens, Nishikino Maki set out for her second day of school. While yesterday had gone by without a hitch sans her rather haphazard morning, it didn't hurt to hope that today would be equally smooth.
This time, on her path to school, she made sure to watch the path before her carefully in order to not run into more pesky people. As she turned yesterday's corner safely, she let a smile slip onto her face. She inhaled the fresh outdoor air as she browsed her mental library for a song to sing on her way to school.
And then something hurtling at what must have been the speed of light smashed into her from behind.
Maki stumbled forward, nearly tripping and falling over. Her arms swung out wildly again, reminiscent of yesterday, as she fought to not kiss the ground. When she finally managed to stand upright, she quickly whipped around to see who her assailant was.
Standing before her was the same girl from yesterday.
The girl was panting as though she had run a marathon, her hands placed on her knees as she fought to catch her breath. Her head was down so Maki couldn't see her face, but the twintails were instantly recognizable and Maki fought down the scowl growing on her face.
Unable to resist, the red head snidely said, "Watch where you're going."
"I was… but… you… were so slow…" the girl panted out. She then took a rather deep breath for someone of her small stature. Exhaling slowly, she seemed to have regained control of her breathing. "I called out to you, but you completely ignored me!"
"I didn't even hear you," Maki said, a pout growing on her face.
"Pay attention to your surroundings then," the black haired girl shot back, glaring in disapproval.
"You could have ran past me," Maki said in defense. "Shortie," she added on for bite.
"Hey! Show some respect to your elders!" the 'shortie' demanded angrily, pointing a finger.
Maki blinked. "You're not a first year?"
The girl nearly facepalmed. She looked as though she was about to stomp her feet before she took another deep breath to calm herself. Drawing herself up as tall as she could, the girl proudly declared, "Yazawa Nico, third year!"
Maki continued blinking as she stared at the girl. However, before she could laugh or reply, Nico's eyes suddenly went wide.
"Ah! I'm going to be late!" Nico exclaimed as she recalled why she had been running in the first place.
"School doesn't start until–" Maki's words were barely out of her mouth before a hand cut her off.
"Can't talk, gotta go!" Without waiting for Maki to catch up with the situation, Nico promptly dashed away.
Tilting her head, Maki noted that she was rather fast on those short legs of hers.
Nishikino Maki yawned widely. She had stayed up rather late last night, as high school students are wont to do. As she blinked away the tears that gathered in her eyes from her yawn, she stretched her arms high above her.
Maki's eyes were drawn to the sky and she noticed that there were quite a few dark clouds gathered a distance away. For a second, she wondered if she should have brought her umbrella before quickly dismissing that thought.
As her gaze returned to normal heights, she noticed a very familiar corner. Her eyes narrowed as she stopped right before the turn. Her thoughts immediately flew to the upperclassman that she had been running into lately.
Maki looked up to the sky as she wondered if that girl would be just around the corner today as well. Blowing out a puff of air, the red head shook her head. There was no way that girl would be here today as well, right?
Maki was quickly proven incredibly wrong as she took a firm and daring step around the corner only to crash into someone crouching on the ground again.
"Hey!" Yazawa Nico exclaimed in exasperation, tipping over and falling onto her butt. She glared up at Maki and gave her the evil eye.
"You're here again?!" Maki said in shock before sighing and placing her hand over her eyes. "I should have known…"
"Geez, can't you learn to watch– Hey, don't go, Mr. Scruffykins!" Nico, who had been about to scold the younger girl, suddenly got up from her sitting position and reached out to the third presence at that particular intersection.
A rather large and fat black cat meowed loudly before hissing at the two girls. Its tail was fluffed up as it bared its fangs at Nico's outstretched hand.
Maki slowly raised an eyebrow as she gazed at the hissing animal. "… Mr. Scruffykins?"
"Yeah, this cat– Hey, he's your kind!"
"Wha..." Maki stared at the two, utterly befuddled. She furrowed her eyebrows, wondering if she was being insulted. "Are you calling me fat or something…?"
Nico rolled her eyes. "No, but just look at him! C'mere, Mr. Scruffykins!"
The cat continued hissing but gradually lowered its intensity and allowed its fur to lay flat as it slowly approached Nico. The older student smiled, rather pleased, as the cat finally relented and allowed a hand to pat its head.
"See?" Nico prompted happily.
"No," Maki said flatly. There was a nagging voice in her head that said it had an idea as to what Nico was referring to, but she violently shoved that voice aside.
Nico sighed as though she was tired of explaining something to a five year old. "C'mon, come pet him," she said instead of clarifying.
"I'll pass," Maki said, crossing her arms.
"Scaredy-cat," Nico teased.
"A– Am not!" Maki argued back, pouting.
"Then come and touch him!"
"Ugh." Maki sighed loudly. She was locked in place, wondering if she should give in to the taunt or not. Finally, she raised a reluctant hand and moved it towards the cat.
Mr. Scruffykins instantly flared up and resumed hissing loudly, raising a paw as though it was about to attack the poor red head. A finger then bopped him right on the nose.
"Bad Mr. Scruffykins," Nico scolded. "She won't hurt you." The cat either did not understand or did not care for the twintailed girl's words as it continued hissing and began backing away.
"See? He doesn't like me," Maki mumbled, lowering her hand. At her words, the cat immediately turned around and dashed away.
Nico let out a puff of breath as she stood up from the ground before promptly patting Maki's back extremely hard. The teenager stumbled a few steps from the impact before looking questioningly at Nico.
"Bah, this guy doesn't know how to deal with his type," the upperclassman said dismissively. "C'mon, let's get to school."
Maki opened her mouth to say something to her fellow student. However, Nico began humming a song and Maki quickly changed her mind. Pouting, she followed the shorter girl as they resumed their trip to school, cats be dammed.
Nishikino Maki sighed for the twenty-sixth time this morning.
She looked down the street before dropping her gaze to her shoes. Not even a few seconds later, she checked the street again before staring at her feet once more. The student shifted her weight from one leg to another as she waited at a familiar corner. She examined the concrete floor as though it was the most fascinating thing in the world.
"What in the world are you doing?" a familiar voice cut in, causing Maki to jump.
Yazawa Nico tilted her head and raised an eyebrow as she rounded the corner at a thankfully normal pace, causing no physical mishaps this lucky day.
"U– Uh…" Maki's eyes shifted around, avoiding eye contact as she stammered. "Well…"
"What is it?" Nico asked before a smirk came across her features. "Don't tell me… you were waiting for me, weren't you?"
"N– No!" Maki shot back instantly, her face starting to mirror her hair color. "I– I mean ye– I mean maybe!"
Nico sniggered. "Well?" she prompted.
Maki squirmed slightly under her upperclassman's gaze as she looked to the floor. "Well… I– I was thinking…" she started before trailing off.
"You were thinking…?" Nico asked.
"M– Maybe…"
"Maybe…?"
Maki took in a deep breath before suddenly letting all her words fly in one go. "I keep bumping into you– literally– every day, and it irritates me, so can we just go to school together from now on?"
There was a moment of silence.
Maki internally groaned and felt like dying of embarrassment. She hoped her face, which was incredibly hot by this point, would just catch on fire so she could burn to ashes and fly away.
"… You like me, don't you?" Nico asked with an even wider smirk.
"W– Wha– What?!" Maki sputtered, bewildered.
"I mean, why else would you want to walk to school with me, hm?" Nico continued, smiling conspiratorially.
"L– Like I said! We keep bumping into each other so we m– might as well!" Maki practically shouted at the shorter girl.
"Riiiight. It's not because you want to spend more time with me. Got it," Nico grinned smugly.
"I– It's not like that!"
"It's fine to admit that you just want to be with Super Senpai Nico-chan, you know~"
"What's so super about you?!"
"My super kind personality!" Nico asserted as she struck a rather awkward pose with both hands showing the peace symbol, though Maki was sure her "Super Senpai" thought it was cute.
Maki huffed and crossed her arms, shaking her head. Nico took this as a chance to further tease the girl.
Pretending to be serious, Nico asked, "Do you hate me then?"
"I don't hate you!" Maki instantly replied. Realizing what she just said, she blushed furiously as she quickly added, "Doesn't mean I l– like you or a– anything!"
At this point, Nico just burst into laughter from the look on Maki's face. The younger girl pouted and looked to her side, wondering where to dig a hole to crawl into.
A tug on Maki's sleeve made her look back at Nico. Without giving a definite answer, the twintailed girl merely continued grinning before she began pulling Maki in the direction of the school. Following the pull on her sleeve, Maki followed obediently, glad that Nico was facing away from her.
If Nico saw the smile spreading across her face, Maki was sure she'd die of shame.
A/N: So there's that LOL It was pretty fun to write, so I hope it was a fun read as well. Comments are welcome, as always. Thanks for leaving words of encouragement, and as always, thanks for reading!