A/N- Happy Valentine's Day~
Nico looked up at her junior, eyebrows raised in surprise.
"You want to... use my kitchen?" She asked.
"Y-Yes?" The redheaded girl replied, obviously nervous, but with no indication of why.
"Don't you have, like, a massive kitchen at your own house?"
"It's... a staff kitchen. Mama told me not to go in there."
A weird vibe possesed the air between them, causing both to shift uncomfortably.
"O-Okayyyy then. Come in if you want, I guess."
The plastic bag crinkled loudly as Maki awkwardly heaved her supplies up onto the countertop. The two girls stood in silence momentarily, unsure of what to do next.
Nico and Maki had never really hung out before. Sure, there was school and practice, as well as the occassional off-site group meeting. But they hadn't been out together, just the two of them before.
Hence, the inevitable awkwardness.
From the high stool she sat at, Nico saw a hand hesitantly slowly creeping towards the bag out of the corner of her eye. She couldn't help but burst out laughing at the younger girl, causing her face to burst into flames.
"I-Idiot! Stop laughing!" She complains, but the raven haired girl couldn't seem to stop, if anything age just laughed harder. Maki felt a bubble of laughter come up in her throat, but she pushed it down and scowled instead.
"Whatever. Just let me cook." She said irritably, turning away to hide her blushing face.
"Clink more quietly."
"Huh?"
"Clinking! Stop clinking the bowl!"
Maki looked up from her mixing and put down her spoon, giving the other girl an exasperated look.
"Much better!"
"WHAT THE HELL NICO. I HAVE TO STIR IT. IT'S IN THE INSTRUCTIONS. DEAL. WITH. IT."
"But see, Maki-channn, now that you've stopped stirring, there's no more annoying noises!"
"I don't know, I can think of another annoying noise that's right here."
"..."
"..."
"That was pretty rude, you know. You're lucky I'm such a kind senpai, forgiving you like thi-"
"JUST LET ME CONTINUE WITH THE RECIPE ALREADY!"
Her hands trembled as she slowly opened the fridge door. It was the moment of truth, so she'd sent out Nico in case she failed so age wouldn't get laughed at. Not that it would. She'd followed the recipe as best she could, and even with her limited cooking experience she had faith that she'd achieve good results.
After all, she was Nishikino Maki. She was always near the top of all her exams, she could compose songs and sing exceptionally well, she could do anything.
Except cook, it would seem.
The tray of mushy, deformed chocolates slid out of her hands, clattering as it hit the floor and sent sweets flying across the room. She felt tears prick at her eyes as she sunk to the ground.
Why. Why couldn't she do this.
"Maki? I heard a crash..." Nico trailed off, seeing the mess surrounding the crying girl as she cried, curled into a ball in the corner of her kitchen as cold air blasted from the still open door.
The younger girl tensed as she heard the steps get closer and closer, folding herself up as small as possible and covering her face with her hands. She was mortified to be seen like this.
"Maki-chan."
There was no response. She had already figured out the situation, and was annoyed at the overreaction. She walked closer and tried to peel her hands away from her face, but she was resisted.
"Maki-chan." She said again, this time more coldly. "Get up."
Maki raised her eyes defiantly to the blood red orbs looming above her, only to be met with hostility.
"What." She said. Her voice was raspy after her crying, which was embarrassing.
"Just because you can't cook doesn't mean you have the right to trash my kitchen and collapse in a heap."
"I'm sorry." She said cooly. But then her temper got the best of her. "I'm sorry that I ruined your day by coming to visit you. Get out so I can clean up, then. Or do you want to supervise me in case I do it wrong or make an annoying noise?"
Nico continued to glare at her, arms folded over her chest. "You know what? Just leave." Maki opened her mouth to retort but was cut off. "Get of my house."
The redhead stared at her for a moment, before walking out of the room. Her steps increased in pace, echoing off the walls, until the door slammed, leaving Nico alone to deal with the guilt already mingling with the anger.
"Sooooooo," Nozomi wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at the dark haired girl. "Did Maki stop by yesterday?"
Nico had been about to get up and leave to go to lunch, but now she was frozen by her friends words.
"Ah, you see, Maki was asking me for advice for a certain Valentine's day present for a certain boobless girl I know," she continued. "So I sent her off with a plan in your direction~"
The smaller girl was stuck for words as her mind turned into a whirlwind of thoughts. Valentine's Day... present... Maki?
She recoiled in horror as realisation struck her right in the heart. She took a step forward, followed by another, and then she was running towards the exit, towards the school gates. Nozomi could be heard running and calling after her, but she was too fast, too guilty, too determined to make things right. She was unstoppable.
"Maki?" A voice called softly into her unusually dark room. She turned, spying her mother peering in from the doorway.
"Mama?" She croaked. It was lucky, in a way. All the crying had made her voice a lot more convincing when she claimed to be sick this morning. Lucky, in a depressing and twisted way.
"Are you feeling any better?" Worry creased her mother's face.
"Y-yeah. A bit." She said, feeling a little sad that she'd caused such an expression on her Mama's face.
"I'm going to bring you up some tea, alright? Fluids will help flush the bug from your system." She nodded, already turning away.
There were muffled voices coming from the hall. "Okay. I'm sure it'll cheer her up. Go right ahead." Her door opened and shut quietly as someone entered the room. Maki turned to see who it was.
She froze instantly.
With the guiltiest face imaginable, there stood Yazawa Nico, holding a box wrapped and tied up with a bow.
"Wha-"
"Forgive me for yesterday! I'm so sorry that I flipped out at you and that we fought and then I kicked you out..." Nico suddenly remembered the box in her hands. "Oh yeah. T-These are for you. Sorry they aren't handmade, I ran out of time..."
Maki looked at the box, her face crumpling. "B-but," she whispers, all traces of tsundere wiped away in her pain. "Yours d-doesn't mean the same thing, does it? It's just an apology."
Nico stared at the wall behind her junior uncomfortably. "M-Maki..."
Her amethyst eyes filled with tears again as she turned away. Her breath hitched in her throat, jerking her shoulders.
"N-No! Don't cry, Maki-chan!" Nico pleaded, her own voice thick with sadness at the sight of the crying girl. "I..." she screwed up her courage and took a deep breath in and out. She had to tell her now, or everything would be ruined. "I LOVE YOU, MAKIIIII!" She sobbed, throwing herself onto the bed and curling up next to her stunned crush.
They lay there for what felt like hours- Maki frozen as she tried to process the new development and Nico in a tiny ball next to her.
The redhead rolls towards her, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her into her body, stroking her hair with one hand and shakily intertwining her other with her seniors. The bittersweet aftertaste of the situation was overwhelming.
"I love you too," she whispers to the raven haired girl. "Idiot."