Hello! Welcome to my second fanfic! This is a story based off of Chapter 5 of Nico's School Idol Diary that can be found here.

The idea of this fanfic comes from the following quote from it,

"The only thing I've wanted and thought of becoming was a true idol.

If I can dance, sing, and shine on TV, if everyone praises my cuteness, and if I can spread my best smile across Japan.

Then maybe that will reach Daddy someday.

After all, my smile is the greatest in the world.

Nobody can beat my nico nico nii~

That's why I put effort in what I want to become."

-Nico Yazawa, School Idol Diary, Chapter 5.

You don't need to read the Nico's School Idol Diary, it's just so you all know where this idea came from.

Summary: Maki finds out Nico's real reason for becoming an idol, for her smile to reach her father someday. Wanting to make Nico happy, Maki decides to find her father for her in secret. However, every person that seems to know anything about the man refuses to tell her anything. Maki undergoes her own investigation to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of Nico's father. Eventual Nico/Maki.

Chapter 1: School Idol's Diary

"Say it with feeling! Like this, Nico nico nii!"

"Maki maki maa!"

"That's no good. Do it again! Nico nico nii!"

"Maki maki maa!"

Nico huffed in annoyance. "You aren't even trying."

"That's because this is stupid," replied Maki, who was beyond done with this exercise.

The two girls were alone in the club room since Nico had insisted that Maki stay after practice for 'special idol classes'. The rest of the group was long gone, and even the sun was starting to set outside.

"It is not! And I even took the time to make your own special version." Nico frowned, "You aren't taking this idol job seriously."

"What do you mean? Whenever we perform I'm always smiling, it's just doing this kind of stuff that's embarrassing."

Nico's eyes narrowed. She turned around completely so that her back was facing the red head girl.

"No. That's not what an idol does."

Maki twirled her hair with her index finger.

"Is that so? Then what is an idol's job."

Nico turned to face the younger girl again. Her face was serious, a rare occurrence for the eccentric girl.

"Anyone can smile. It doesn't take an idol to do that." Nico looked straight into Maki's purple eyes. "An idol's job is to make others smile."

Maki's mouth went dry. The look Nico was giving her was so intense and honest, she couldn't help but blush from the situation. She swallowed, trying to compose herself so that she could give a sassy retort, but she couldn't. Her heart wasn't in it. She internally cursed the feelings that the older girl caused her to feel.

"I'm supposed to be annoyed by her…"

"Alright!" Nico declared, breaking Maki from her trance. "I've decided, you're coming home with me today! We're going to work on this until you're a true idol!"

Maki groaned. She knew better than to argue with Nico when she was this determined.

The walk to Nico's apartment was uneventful, both girl's bickered about meaningless things as usual. On the way, Nico had somehow persuaded Maki to buy her an ice cream so they took a small detour to a nearby ice cream shop. In the end, while the two girls were arguing over who got the biggest scoop they tripped over uneven sidewalk, leaving their snack to melt on the cement floor. They entered Nico's apartment arguing about who's fault it was that they had dropped their little treat.

"You can't blame the great Nico-ni! It was the floor! It plotted against us!"

"Ok, great Nico-ni, please tell me how the floor magically lifted off the ground."

Nico gasped. "You're right. Nozomi must have used her spiritual powers."

Maki rolled her eyes, stifling a giggle as she did so. Nico winked at the girl and called out to her siblings.

"Cocoro! Cocoa! Cotaro! I'm home! I brought Maki with me!"

"Onee-sama!" Cocoro, the eldest of Nico's siblings appeared with her younger siblings in tow. "Welcome home!"

Cocoro looked just as she had the first time Maki had met her. She remembered thinking that she looked so much like Nico that if they were to photograph her when she turned seventeen, they would be identical. She could only hope that the eldest of her siblings remained as level headed as she had back then.

"Onee-chan!" chirped Cocoa, running to hug Nico.

"Ah. Yes, I remember this was the eccentric one. Just like her big sister." Maki remembered Cocoa as a more tomboy version of Nico, but with brown hair instead of the striking black hair the rest of the family had. Maki wondered where she had gotten her hair from, she had never met Nico's parents before.

"Back-up dancer" said the Cotaro slowly, lifting up his hand to point at Maki.

The youngest sibling and the only male of the children was the same as ever. Carrying a toy hammer with snot dripping from his nose.

Maki's eye twitched.

"Ehehehee, no Cotaro, remember, all of Muse is an idol group. No one is a back-up dancer anymore." Nico grinned mischievously, "But that doesn't mean they don't have a lot to learn from Nico!"

"Onee-chan! I'm hungry!" interrupted Cocoa, tugging at Nico's school bag.

Nico patted her head affectionately, "Ok, let me just get Maki situated, and I'll start cooking dinner. Start washing some vegetables and Cocoro, start chopping them once they've been watched. Be careful."

"Yes ma'am!" chanted the girls in unison as they rushed to the kitchen to get started on dinner. Nico turned to Maki.

"Alright, off to my room!"

Nico's room looked almost the same as it had when Maki had first entered it with the other members of Muse. There was pink everywhere. Pink curtains, pillows, stuffed animals, and even the walls were painted pink. The only difference that could be easily spotted were the posters on the walls. Gone were the altered posters with Nico posed at the center. Instead, there were the original Muse posters with all the girls evenly displayed, the true atmosphere of Muse. Maki smiled at the poster, those were true smiles they wore on their faces, there was nothing posed or fake about them. She felt a twinge of pride to be a part of such a close knit group. If she was going to be an idol, she could only be one as a member of Muse.

Nico went straight to closet and began to rummage through some boxes that were deep inside. Maki invited herself to sit on some of Nico's cushions on the floor as she absently played with some stuffed animals.

"What are you looking for?" Maki asked as she played with a stuffed bunny's floppy ears.

"Your new best friend."

"Eh?"

"Here it is!" Nico groaned as pulled out a small box from her closet. "Here." She dropped it next to where Maki was sitting.

"My new best friend is a cardboard box?"

"Not the box, but what's inside. Take a look."

Maki put the stuffed bunny aside as she picked up it up, opening it slowly. The box was heavy despite its small size. Opening it, she found small notebooks with various girlish designs on the covers. She picked one up and examined it curiously.

"What are these?"

"Notes. Notes about every type of idol there is. How to act, sing, smile, talk, it's all in these notebooks." She crossed her arms with a smug expression. "It took me years to take all those notes, and hours of watching idols perform and interview. But, it was worth it, because in that box is the ultimate guideline to becoming the perfect idol."

Dreading its contents, Maki cautiously opened the notebook she holding to the first page.

Perfecting idol characters:

-You need to choose a cute, exciting character, one that people would be attracted to.

-It's ok if the character is funny, remember, and idol's job to make other people smile!

-Practice. Practice, practice, practice. Practice makes perfect!

-Hopefully, this cute character becomes a part of you!

Maki couldn't help but think that these notes had literally become Nico's entire existence.

"I'm supposed to read all of these?"

"Of course." Nico started walking away from the red head to leave her room. "You can just go home now and read them. I need to start cooking dinner for my siblings, you're more than welcome to start reading them here too if you'd like."

With that, Nico exited the room, calling for Cocoro and Cocoa to find some ingredients she would need.

Maki sighed and flipped through the pages of the notebook in her hands. It was full of writing, complete with little doodles and additional notes written with tiny letters to fit the page. Knowing Nico, she probably memorized every detail of every notebook so she could probably quiz her on the contents if she wanted to. The bright red haired girl picked another notebook and skimmed the contents of that one too, learning that Nico had compared and contrasted the "cat character" and the "bunny character" to see the pros and cons of it. Maki smiled at the comparisons, only Nico would.

After a few minutes, she looked up from her readings, deciding it was time for her to go home. She had indulged in Nico's requests long enough, and now there was this heavy box to take home. She decided to call her father to pick her up so she wouldn't have to walk all the way to her house, which was a considerable distance away. Taking out her phone she dialed his phone number to see if was actually able to. Since he was a surgeon at their family's hospital, it was sometimes difficult to get a hold of him.

Tapping her fingers impatiently, she listened to the ringing of the phone hoping he would pick up.

"Hello? Maki?"

"Papa!" Maki was relieved. "Are you free right now?"

"Yes, I just got home. Where are you? Your mother says you haven't come home yet and it's already dark. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm at my friend's house. We uh, had some extra practice to do."

"Oh ok, for your singing group?"

"Yeah, that one."

"You should be coming home now, do you need me to pick you up?"

"Yes, please! I'm at Nico-chan's house. Nico Yazawa. Bring Mama with you, otherwise you'll get lost and take hours to get here. You know you're terrible with directions. I'll text you the address."

"Nico Yazawa? You've never mentioned her before."

"Of course I have. She's a member of Muse, you probably weren't paying attention."

Dr. Nishikino laughed. "Ok, then. I'll be heading over now, be ready."

"Ok, bye. Love you."

"Love you too, sweetie."

Maki hung up, and promptly texted her father the address. She didn't know why she had it memorized, but ever since Muse had visited the apartment she could never forget it.

After about fifteen more minutes, she decided to get up.

"I better go wait for Papa in the living room. Oh, Nico-chan's cooking smells so good…"

Pushing herself off the floor cushion, she saw something bright out of the corner of her eye. Inside the closet was a bright pink notebook with a large red heart in the center of the cover.

Intrigued, Maki walked over to pick it up, thinking that it must have fallen out of the box when Nico had pulled it out.

"No, wait. The box was closed…it couldn't have fallen out. Oh…"

Picking it up, Maki noticed that it wasn't just a notebook. It was a diary. There wasn't just one lock that sealed it shut, there were two. Two separate key holes to ensure its privacy.

"Two keys to lock it? That seems a bit much…"

Her curiosity got the better of her. She slipped the diary into her school bag, double checking that she was indeed alone in the room. Knowing that she didn't have much time before her father would arrive she quickly scanned the room for any possible places to hide diary keys.

"What am I doing? Why do I even care about this…"

"Maaaaaaakiiiii-chan! Your dad's here at the door!"

Maki froze. This was her chance to put it back. It was now or never, and she knew what the right choice was. But as she reached into her bag to take the diary out, she just couldn't.

"I…I want to know more about Nico-chan…there is just so much about that I don't know. I want to understand her, to know her. Maybe then, I'll be able to sort these feelings of mine."

Leaving the diary in her bag, she walked out of the room, carrying the load of notebooks in her arms. When she entered the living she found Nico talking to her father who was standing at the door. Her father's face lit up at the sight of her and he quickly walked past Nico to help with the heavy item Maki was carrying.

"Whoa! What's this? It's heavy!" although, even as he spoke, Dr. Nishikino was effortlessly tucking the box under one arm."

"Maki's homework." Nico's expression couldn't be more smug.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then Nico-chan! Bye Cocoro, Cocoa, and Cotaro" Maki followed her father out the door.

Once seated in her father's car, Maki noticed something odd.

"Where's Mama?"

"Oh, she was too tired to come, so I came alone."

Maki frowned. "Then how did you get here so quickly? You're always get lost, even when using the most direct route." She looked around at the outside environment. "And Nico's apartment isn't even that obvious either."

The man laughed loudly. "Please Maki, give me some more credit, I can find my way around sometimes."

The young teen decided to shrug it off, deciding that these details weren't important. She leaned forward to adjust the radio frequency, stopping when she heard a soothing piano solo. Closing her eyes, she lay her head back against the head rest, thinking about the day's events, smiling at the thought of Nico's antics. Sure she had wasted money on fallen ice cream, but the memory of Nico's face as it happened was priceless. Memories like that are precious, Maki decided when she joined Muse that she would create as many of these memories as possible. She could just feel her once cold heart growing soft, but perhaps that wasn't such a bad thing.

"I wonder what Papa and Nico were talking about before I got there…Wait." Her amethyst eyes shot open in realization.

"Papa, how did you know which apartment number was Nico's? I know I didn't send it to you."

The young girl pulled out her cell phone to skim the message she had sent.

"No, I didn't. Papa, how did you know?"

Her father was silent for a moment. He kept his eyes on the road as the hands positioned on the steering wheel clenched tightly. Finally, he responded.

"I looked it up."

"Looked it up?"

"The hospital records. Yazawa-san goes to our hospital along with the rest of family. So, I just looked it up on the hospital database. Her complete address was listed there."

"Oh." Maki frowned. "How did you know Nico went to our hospital? Do you know her?"

"No, I just assumed she did. Our hospital services almost everyone in the city."

"Oh…I see."

Maki entered her room feeling exhausted. She felt guilty for being suspicious of her father, even though she didn't even understand what she had exactly been suspicious of. His explanation made sense, so she easily let it go. She plopped on her bed, taking her school bag with her. Turning over, she reached into it, pulling out the real source of her guilty conscious, the diary.

There was still the locks to consider. There was no way she could open it without breaking them.

"Maybe I'll try to pick the lock." She shook her head. No, that wouldn't do.

"Or maybe it will…how hard can it be?" Maki began to search for a hair pin, she had seen in movies that people often picked locks with something as simple as a paper clip or a bobby pin. Of course, movie logic isn't always the most reasonable, but at this point anything was worth a try. Finding the paper clip first, she gave it try.

The locks didn't even last a minute.

Click!

Click!

"Must be a very cheap diary then." That could be the only explanation.

The normally cool headed teen took a deep breath and opened the diary to first page.

Property of Nico Yazawa

Gifted by: Kotaro Yazawa

Date received: July 22, 2006

"Kotaro? Isn't that the name of her little brother? But 2006? That was nine years ago…and Cotaro is only about four or five now…so he couldn't have been the one to give this her. But Yazawa…so it must family then. July 22 is Nico's birthday too, so it must be a gift."

Maki flipped the pages skimming its contents. The first few pages hardly had any writing in it, and the handwriting was messy and sloppy. From the looks of it, Nico had written those when she first received the gift, making her about eight years old at the time. There wasn't anything worth mentioning in the first few pages, just Nico talking about her daily life at school and how she loved to sing.

But then, the quality of the journal changed. Gone was the childish writing, the unsteady hand of a child. It was replaced by more mature language, experienced, clearly done by someone older. The date of the first entry with this new format was July 22, 2010. Nico was now twelve years old, old enough to write within the lines of the pages. Twelve years old is a prime age for girls to spill out their deepest secrets into a trusting journal. Maki knew that now, she would find out many things about her older friend. The guilt inside of her awakened again with a vengeance. But as the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. Maki could only hope that Nico wouldn't kill her if she found out.

Dear diary,

Now that's a cheesy start to this isn't it? Jeez, just looking at my previous entries make me cringe from embarrassment, but what can you do? I was only eight years old, you have to cut me some slack. Anyways, let's get to the point. Today, I turned twelve. Do you know what means dearest diary of mine? It means that it's prime time to be starting my career! What career starts at twelve? The best and only one for me! Becoming an idol!Although, a lot of girl's become idols at even a younger age. That's ok, I don't need that kind of head start. Daddy always said that my smile was the greatest in the world. I'm sure he still thinks that even if he's not around anymore. Daddy left us a little while ago, and Mommy just found out that she's pregnant. I'm going to have another younger sibling, isn't that just great? Money is going to be tight now that Mommy is single mom, but I have faith that we'll make it ok! After all, idols have to remain positive right? I miss him a lot, but if I can make him smile then I'll do my best! The only thing I've wanted and thought of becoming was a true idol. If I can dance, sing, and shine on TV, if everyone praises my cuteness, and if I can spread my best smile across Japan.

Then maybe that will reach Daddy someday.

Maki's eyes widened. Daddy? Where was Nico's father?

"Come to think of it, I don't think Nico has ever mentioned her father before…he must have left them…with his wife pregnant…how awful."

Maki finally knew the reason Nico had been so persistent in becoming an idol. She wanted to find her father. While Nico did enjoy being an idol, there was always that extra push to be great, to be noticed and recognized. Wherever her father was, if Nico was famous enough, he'd see her, and that's all she ever wanted. Maki couldn't imagine being in her position. What would she do? What if her piano playing could bring a smile all across Japan? What if, if her father had walked out on her and her mother, she could still make him smile? She knew one thing for certain. She would still want to see him again, she could never hate her own father. So, she made a decision.

"I'll find Nico's father, in secret."

And that's the first chapter! Please review! I hope you enjoyed it and I'll try to update as soon as possible.

Thank you for reading!