"And, action!"
Bright lights filled the once-dark studio stage, almost enough to send Honoka reeling back from shock; recovering by reeling into a pirouette, the redhead called out as if she were trying to wake up the entirety of Tokyo to the cameras.
"Ohayou!"
It was the introduction deserving of belonging to the µ's Anniversary Show. It had been a year already since their spectacular Final Live, a date many µ's fans had considered the dawn of the Dark Age of Love Live (whether or not some of the idol groups were objectively better than µ's need not apply), and the production had been anticipated since then. It would be a time for the members of µ's to unite once more. Even Nico, who had found a manager and thrust herself forth into the world of idols a lá A-Rise, had carved time into her extremely busy schedule to be a part of the performance.
Nico, much like Honoka, and the rest of µ's, for that matter, was clad in her school uniform; her underdeveloped form had not changed much during her first year outside of school which thankfully gave no reason to resizing. Unlike the rest of µ's, however, she had been left on one of the two pillars in the backdrop, standing there almost in waiting for a few more lights to shine on her. A few cameras had been pointed at both of the pillars, which had on them Nico and the last person that Nico had wanted standing besides her.
Maki. It had to be Maki. The pillars were too far away for Nico to swat the tsundere, and the microphone setup had been brutal: where Nico and Maki were, anything and everything could be heard, even the slightly too-heavy breathing of the redhead besides her. She could have been quieter, at the very least. Why was she even breathing so loudly?
Nico looked around. Besides Honoka bursting with infectious enthusiasm and Maki twirling her hair between her fingers, she took note of a row of chairs: there had been nine of them, for the members of µ's to sit upon. Nozomi was busy flipping through pages of the script while Eli had been on her phone, perhaps playing that game they had a licensing deal with (School Idol Festival or something). Umi peeked over Eli's shoulder, observing Eli's game (and attempting to take a peek at the script), while Kotori was busy eating a macaroon. While this had been going on, Rin and Hanayo were quietly working on the choreography to some song they were to premiere later that event, mainly focusing on hand gestures.
After a few seconds of greetings, the sound of the back of chair hitting the floor filled the room, and fortunately, not the microphones.
"Umi-chan!" Kotori wailed out, Honoka looking over to see what was going on. Eventually, the second-year ran off to assist the other conscious second-year move Umi towards another place to help her recover. Nozomi stood up, quickly taking the reins while Honoka escorted the unconscious senior elsewhere. After clearing her voice, the buxom spiritualist looked to the camera, performing a series of gestures which she had to have learned from Eli.
"You know them! You love them! They might even love each other!" Nozomi's voice had been nasal and shameless as always, much to Nico's and Maki's collective ire. "Give it up for Nico-Nii herself, Yazawa Nico!"
The lights had flashed onto Nico, cameras were turned on and recording. Naturally, Nico had to do one thing, and one thing well. Throwing her arms up with her middle and ring fingers curled into the palm, Nico's catchphrase throughout high school and into her idol career rang through the air: "Nico-Nico-Nii!" The cameras gave her enough time to finish her regular greeting before cutting to Maki.
"...and the heir to the Nishikino hospital, Nishikino Maki!"
The lights flashed into her eyes, making the redhead squint. "Eh?" She had been busy twirling a lock of hair around one of her fingers, as per usual. She gave a wave and an "ohayou" with not that much energy to the crowd. It didn't matter to the viewers on television. This is what they expected of Maki; and this is what they loved about Maki.
"These two loving girls, your cutest couple, will be the first two to do a group activity! We might need to cut to commercials while getting them settled into their spots, but we assure you that we, as µ's, are going to give everything we can to brighten your day today!"
Another Nico-Nico-Nii rang from Nico before Eli stood up, raising her hand to signify that the scene was almost over.
"And, cut!" Eli yelled out to the three before sitting down next to Rin. Honoka ran back to the chairs and sat down, panting, next to Eli while Nozomi grabbed her script, flipping through some of the pages.
"Do I really have to work with Nico," Maki asked, drawing the ire from the graduate, "out of everyone here?"
"Maki, you saw what the poll said. Apparently you look good with Nico," Honoka reminded.
Of course she'd have to bring up that stupid poll she made online. Much like everything related to Love Live, the µ's reunion special was determined mainly by fans. Nico and Maki were, to the delight of the other seven idols, considered cutest couple on it. They had been chosen over the Garasu no Hanazono songstresses, the Anemone heart singers, and Rin and Hanayo, who had not been given anything but the televised dramatization of their year of glory, serialized throughout the Winter season as a means to further build up excitement.
"Come on, Nozomi!" Nico pleaded, the idol reaching for the paper in Nozomi's hands, only for the hostess to lift it out of Nico's reach. Nico tried jumping for it, and yet Nozomi's height advantage was too overbearing for the miniature idol. "Why can't we see the script?"
"Nicocchi, surprise is important for both the audience and contestants on a game show!" Nozomi let out a slight whine as she spoke, although mischief was evident in her voice.
"Let me see!" Nico demanded, her attempts at getting the script from Nozomi futile at best.
"I told you already," Nozomi cautioned before passing the script to a member of the camera crew, leaving her hands freed. With open palms, Nozomi curled her fingers with a mischievous smile on her face. "And if you ask again, you're asking for trouble." Nico immediately knew what Nozomi was going to do to her, and ceased her actions, taking a few steps back from her former classmate.
Maki looked back to the row of chairs, four of their companions sitting in said row. Hanayo was leaning on Rin, softly humming to one another; when they learned about the anniversary special, they had requested that Maki write a song for them, considering they never had a duet during their days in µ's. While the two were softly practicing their duet, Eli and Honoka were engaged in bouts of rock-paper-scissors to pass the time. "Nozomi," Maki asked while turning to her, "where's Umi?"
Nozomi flushed a slight pink at the question. "Well, she took a look at the script and..."
"And Kotori?" Nico added.
Nozomi paused, visibly flustered at the questions. She knew that if they knew where Umi was, and why she was there, there would be absolutely no way that they would do what the script, the fans, requested of them. It would all just have to be made out in the minds of the viewers.
"Comforting Umi, in the dressing room! She passed out when she looked at the script and Kotori's making sure that she's okay, nya!" Rin exclaimed for Nozomi, almost as if Umi fainting was a common occurrence.
Rin's so-called consoling made the three standing blush; Nozomi had turned a light pink and felt her skin starting to burn, hoping that the plans wouldn't unravel. Maki and Nico, however, were burning quite a bit more than Nozomi, with Nico's skin about as red as Maki's hair while Maki herself was as red as a tomato. What exactly was waiting in store if Umi was in another room with Kotori consoling her? What sadistic game show did the fans have planned?
Maki broke the awkward silence. "There is no way that I'm going to be making out with her."
"Yeah. No way!" Nico chimed in. "Nico-nii would rather kiss a frog!"
"Eh?" Maki asked, her wrist grasped by the larger hostess; whatever bitter quip Maki had for Nico had been quickly forgotten by her imprisonment. Nico's wrist was also grasped in a similar manner. Both idols were jerking their arms around in a desperate attempt to be released from their prisons to absolutely no avail; Nozomi's grip only grew tighter around their wrists. With a coy smile, Nozomi reassured the two.
"Don't worry, there's not going to be any kissing involved. After all, you two are idols. We don't want to see something so scandalous." With that, Nozomi tugged on their arms, sending them forward at a pace they were quick to follow.
"What are you doing? Where are you taking us?" Maki furiously inquired of Nozomi, which Nico was to follow.
"Yeah, Nozomi, what gives?"
"You'll see," the purple-haired girl gave as her answer, her attempts to stifle a giggle failing while she looked for the correct room number. "Let's see... three-oh-two, three-oh-three... Ah! Here we are! Three-oh-four!"
The glass wall gave Maki and Nico a bit of solace. Considering Umi's absence, there had been fears of what they had to do, especially given Honoka's poll: who knew that they would be considered the cutest couple by a wide margin, even when after graduation Nozomi and Eli had hooked up? Instead of the wide variety of impure machines that could have been in that room, there had been only a few things inside: some lights, a television set, a game console, and two controllers.
Nozomi opened the door and turned on the lights, all four walls being painted a mediocre whitish color, placing full attention on the blackened television screen. It was a moderately-small room, with a few monitor speakers so that messages from the emcees could be relayed to the contestants. Maki walked in while Nico had to be pushed in, claiming that she would do anything to make sure that she didn't have to stay in a room with her.
"Niccochi," Nozomi whispered into the smaller woman's ear: "don't you know that the cameras are rolling right now?"
Just as quickly as the bright and chipper Nico-Nii had transformed into an embittered idol expert when it was known that a camera had stopped rolling, Nico went through another transformation; her expression of being completely pissed turned into a sweet smile and whatever mannerisms had followed suit, complete with the motions and vocals of her signature Nico-Nico-Nii directed at, in practice, a camera: Nozomi was blocking her view of the camera, however. Nico couldn't push her away even if she had the strength to do so, in case her Nico-Nii facade had been shattered, "live on camera."
She walked into the room without a hassle before the door was closed on her, leaving her with nothing more than the game console and Maki, who was already sitting down with a controller in her hand. Nico mirrored the motions as she heard the sound of Nozomi's voice coming through one of the speakers.
"Hello, Maki and Nico! Can you hear me?" The two of them looked back to the wall, noting that, even if Nozomi and the cameramen were able to see them from the inside, they couldn't see through the wall: who knew if Nozomi actually was watching them or not?
"Yeah, Nozomi, we can hear you," Nico responded. "What do you want us to do?"
"You guys are going to play video games on that console."
A devious glint had formed in Nico's eyes before looking over to Maki. "You're so going down."
"As if," Maki retorted, grasping a bit tighter onto the controller. "I'd be surprised if you knew what a video game was."
Before Nico could reply, the doors opened once more, with two cameramen entering and moving to opposite corners, their cameras fixated on the idols and the screen they were observing; The rest of µ's, too, walked in, with a remote control in one of Eli's hands. She turned the television on and stood in front of one of the cameras, a wide grin on her face.
"Action."
"Hello, everybody! Welcome back to the µ's Anniversary Show!"
"Right here we have Nico and Maki, the two that you-"
Eli subtly nudged Hanayo after a moment of silence.
"Y-yes, you, the audience-"
"Have voted for as the cutest couple of all µ's, nya!"
When their names were called, Nico and Maki in turn turned around to face the camera. Maki was a tad flustered while Nico was busy introducing herself as Nico-Nii, complete with those motions which Maki found irritating to the point of bumping Nico's side with her elbow.
"Hey! What was that for?" Nico blubbered, her face, despite the cameras rolling, showing signs of anger; how dare Maki interrupt her Nico-Nico-Nii?
"You don't have to do that all the time, idiot," Maki retorted, twirling a lock of hair around her finger.
"People love when I perform my Nico-Nico-Nii! Especially at my live shows!"
While the two were bickering in the background, Nozomi continued her speech. "And now that we have them alone in this room, we're going to keep them in here with this game console for the almighty Strip Games!"
The fighting stopped. "Eh?" was the only response that a flustered Maki could give, while Nico's brows furrowed. "What's the big idea?" Nozomi paid no mind to Nico's complaints, but rather kept on going.
"That's right. Strip Games! The suggestion that you-yes you, the audience-selected from our idea polls! Ideas that y'all came up with!" Nozomi's energy reached a peak, much to the chagrin of Nico and Maki alike. "These two will be subjected to a series of short games, and whoever loses the mini-game has to relieve themselves of one piece of clothing!" Nozomi grasped her necktie, tugging on it with one hand while she fanned herself with the other. The hostess turned to the competitors; Maki was blushing furiously while Nico, quite red in the face, was looking down, cursing her genetics. Both, however, were fuming at Nozomi, and the rest of µ's. Nico released her controller, the sound of plastic muffled by carpet.
"I'm not stripping down. I'm not sure if my fans would like it." Nico's composure was faltering in front of the cameras, the only reason why she had not given Nozomi a true piece of her mind.
"Come on, Nico, you've done bikini shots in the past! Act like it's one of those." Eli defended.
Nico grew bitter. Why did Eli, Ms. Actually-has-a-mature-form, have to comment about bikini shots? Most of those didn't end well, especially in BiBi, because of the blonde ballerina practically hogging all the attention. Much like she was off-camera during the bikini shots, where the focus had been centralized upon Eli, Nico pouted.
"Nicocchi, I think your fans would love seeing you like you were in a gravure shot." Regardless of the kind words that Nozomi had given to her friend, Nico stayed quiet. However, time was of the essence; they only had two hours to complete their variety show and thus, with most of µ's already out of the room, Nozomi shut the door behind them.
Grumbling, Nico returned to her spot, grasping her controller once more.
"You're going down," Nico mumbled, to which Maki didn't answer. There was a bit of need in her voice, nearly opposite the competitive edge that Nico had when she had first said those exact words to the redhead.
"Press the power button," came Honoka's voice from the speakers. Both refused.
"Come on, if you both make it through, you win a million in yen!" Maki couldn't have cared less; one million was little more to her than pocket change. Not so for Nico, who had already pressed the button; whatever embarrassment Nico could have had would be ignored if she were a millionaire, right?
Hopefully.
Nico looked back to the screen; a line divided the screen down the middle, each with a plane in the center of it, pointing forward. Both were flying over what seemed to be the moon, with nothing more than the black sky and the radar in their corner to guide them to sanctuary. Or rather, to each other.
"Intergalactic shootout! I love this one!" Nozomi marveled. "First plane to fall loses!"
Maki and Nico both had no time to react; Nico flicked right on her control stick and somehow turned. Despite the console being perhaps a bootleg, the game itself controlled quite well. Control, however, was not enough for Nico to immediately hit a rock, causing severe damage to her craft, much to her dismay. A blip on Nico's radar continued her dread, knowing full well that Maki was in the vicinity and she knew exactly where she was. Even worse, Nico was practically immobile, a sitting duck for Maki to destroy. That is, if Maki were able to fire her weapon.
"Come on," the redhead mumbled, furiously tapping at every button she could while heading directly for Nico's plane. However, it was too late for Maki, whose plane had crashed into Nico's, causing severe damage to the redhead's plane. However, Nico's plane was in shambles, completely broken at this point in time. A quick turnaround (well, as quick as the plane could have done, or about three seconds due to its spotty condition) was all the plane could do before plummeting into the gray planet below. Nico tried pulling the plane up, only to cause it to plummet more downward before it hit the ground and exploded, declaring Maki as the winner of the round.
"Hmph," Nico grumbled as she reached for her tie, quickly undoing it before tossing it into her lap. Maki turned to see Nico performing this act before realizing something.
"Wait a minute. You're at an advantage!" Maki called out.
"What do you mean, nico?"
"I mean that you're also wearing your stupid pink vest!" This was the first time that anybody had called her out on it; nobody seemed to mind throughout the three years of high school, where the uniform was less for style and nostalgia and was actually her uniform. But there she was, wearing the vest: another article of clothing.
"What's wrong with it?"
"Do you see me wearing two vests? You have more clothes! You're at an advantage!" Of course Maki would want the playing ground to be even; she was at a disadvantage, in her eyes, at least. Nico didn't want to say anything about how, technically, they were wearing the same amount of clothes, but that would be embarrassing enough, especially to say on national television.
Nico-Nii didn't bother with a bra that day. She never did after she developed a slight rash from incorrect use of padding. She was petite enough for it to pass by on most days. A day like today, where showing skin on the line for the sake of money, was not one of her days.
"Ooh! Maki-chan doesn't think Nico's playing fair, nya!" Rin's voice gushed out of the speakers.
Nico turned to one of the cameras. "Who gave Rin the mic?"
Unbeknownst to Nico and Maki, the rest of µ's, except Umi and Kotori, were watching from the outside, all sharing a singular mic which Hanayo had at the moment.
"We're taking turns with the mic."
"Sorry, Nico-chan!" Eli stated, taking the microphone from Hanayo. The faint sounds of Nozomi saying, "washi washi," and Rin's screams from afar were caught by the mic as the former chased the latter about 10 meters before being caught. "We'll make sure to the best of our ability that you two will be left uninterrupted."
A slight emphasis on the final word in Eli's commentary drew further ire from Nico before she looked back to the television. Maki had started another round without Nico knowing, while she was busy talking with the other idols, and had managed to win once more; at the sight, Nico grew slightly distraught, but before she could say anything Maki gave commanded her to remove one particular article of clothing.
"Take off the pink vest so we're even, Nico."
Letting out a gulp, Nico brought her hands to the top button and quickly undid it, repeating the motions for every button on the vest before struggling to relieve it from her arms while wearing the blue vest, even going so far as to shrug the larger vest off of her shoulders with hopes that it would be of aid. Only after she had pulled the vest off of her shoulders and arms was Nico able to undo the secondary vest, yanking it off of her form before pouting in Maki's direction. It didn't matter; Maki had returned her attention to the game and had pressed the big red button atop the console.
Nico had ground to cover if she wanted to have any chance of making sure that she didn't embarrass herself in front of the cameras, on live television, in front of her fans. Certainly enough, whatever ground that Nico had lost was quickly recovered, at the loss of her stockings after a game in which the error she committed was more to blame on the controller than herself.
"First with cooking, now with gaming! Nico-chan's adaptability can be considered a charm point!" Hanayo's voice rang into the mic, giving Nico further momentum for her to keep going; that had been the only cheer that either Nico or Maki could hear, and considering that Maki had just lost thrice in a row, she had been bereft of her vest, stockings, and tie, which had been thrown aside with her shirt soon to follow. Fate had thrown a bit of a cruel hand, however, as Nico grew a bit carried away with her crowd of one, and she had ended up smashing her vehicle into the wall, the last place any destruction derby driver should be aiming for. With her car exploding, a quick set of buttons undone, and a vest thrown aside, both Nico and Maki were in shirts and skirts.
Nico hushed herself, grasping onto the controller as if her life depended on it; as long as she was able to destroy Maki in the next few games, until their time was completely over, then hopefully she would have a chance at keeping her decency. Yet again, she was stuck in a room with Maki, some rich kid who got stuck being totally Nico's type, but jeez, she was so annoying. Honestly, who cared about how shapely her legs were, and how pretty she looked sitting there, eagerly playing some game just for the sake of not relieving herself of any more clothing; to Nico, she looked so cute, grasping onto what seemed like another victory...
Nico looked back to the screen, seeing that she had given herself a massive disadvantage by staring for five seconds. Nico brought her attention back to the game, barely able to surpass whatever advantage Maki had been given by her incompetence, much to the delight of the idols watching behind her.'
"Great televisionya!" Rin raved.
"Come on, Maki! Fight on!" Honoka cheered.
"Nicocchi's showing off again!" Nozomi cajoled.
It didn't matter about who was cheering for whom, in the end; the microphone picked up mainly Rin's chants while Nico ended up successful during the tense round. Maki, who caught wind of Nico's peeks at her, decided to give her rival a bit more to worry about. Nico had expected for Maki to stand, to rid herself of her skirt, and to sit back down. Much to her chagrin, the shirt came off.
This hadn't been the first time that Nico had seen Maki like this-BiBi had to do quite a few swimsuit shots for album covers and publicity photos to attain further coverage-but it irritated her nonetheless. Maki, at the very least, had enough to fill that stupid dark red bra she'd been wearing. She had been two years her junior and yet she had a chest much more developed than Nico's. It was irritating, to say the least; why did someone two years younger than her have to be like that, what with how her skin had no visible marks on it, how her waist was somehow smaller yet how her hips were larger, with breasts that can fill out a bra that cute?
Even as the next match started, a racing game, Nico had felt the pangs of jealousy rushing through her, dictating her gaze occasionally from her screen to the chest that she only could dream of having. What she would give to have a chest that cute and perky, to be able to do gravure shoots free of embarrassment that she's too small. There was really nothing that Nico could do about it but stare, sometimes looking back to see that her car had been smashed into a wall or careening off into an abyss. Maki's driving, albeit sloppy, didn't contain the same complete mess of errors that Nico's did; Nico hadn't even been looking at the screen when Maki passed the starting line for the final time, signaling her victory.
Nico stood up, eliminating her skirt with a quick unzip; the garment fell to the ground and revealed the sight of light, almost pastel, pink panties covering her nethers. She then sat back down, hunching forward as if she were doubling down on her game. There was no reason to her to do anything but ensure total victory at this point. Probably in Nozomi's stupid script there would be enough rounds for both idols to be in nothing more than their lingerie. Considering everything, that would only be two more rounds. Hopefully, both will be Nico's for the taking.
And with the next game being a simulation crane game, that is exactly what Nico would be doing. At least, in her mind. Nico and Maki would be alternating turns on who would be trying to pull the correct prize from the crane, and whoever would win said prize would be the winner. At least said prize was easy enough to find, considering it was the only object made of gold in that machine. Luckily, Maki went first.
The first few turns had been comprised of both idols struggling to pull the damned thing out of the mess of toys which surrounded it. Nico, however, ended up a bit lucky after a few turns, being able to dig the open claw into the sides of the golden teddy. Clutching onto the toy, she slowly lifted it by the head, an ecstatic smile forming on her face as she watched the crane move towards the exit. As it did so, Nico smiled, watching as the toy dropped onto the side of the chute, perfectly balanced on the clear, plastic wall for just enough time for it to be Maki's turn.
The crowd's commotion outside turned silent at this, the sounds of quite heavy breathing filling the mic as Maki ended up "winning" the mini-game.
Nico gasped. There had been nothing that she could possibly do to consider recovering. Her time as an idol had been short-lived, and she had loved every live show that she had done, with not only µ's, but as a solo act. She believed it to be over, a wave of grief rushing through Nico's body.
"Well, I won."
The crowd turned to enough outrage for Eli to have turned off the mic as Maki jeered, but she had been right, according to the screen. All eyes were on Nico, however, as she slowly accepted her fate, undoing every button to her shirt, slowly shrugging it off of her shoulders, wishing her career a good-bye as the garment fell to the floor.
"N-N-Nico-chan's not wearing a bra!"
Rin covered Hanayo's eyes while the rest of the idols reeled from shock at the sight; the cameramen had been sent into a frenzy at the sight of Nico-Nii, one of the most well-known of idols, bereft of something as necessary as a bra. Did she not know that she'd need one for today? Even if, in Nico's defense, she didn't wear one, this was on national television: not only the sight of Nico's bare back, but also cameramen pointing their cameras away with flustered crew doing whatever they could to desperately alleviate any further viewing of this program.
"Action!" A cameraman yelled from the outside, directing the other five idols to actually do something to prevent time from being lost on the program. Due to the popularity of µ's, even to this day, there had been no need for commercials. Honoka, naturally, decided to take the reins.
"Good morning!" Honoka spoke, nearly yelling at the camera. "Sorry about that! We didn't realize what would happen. Anyway," the redhead led the group away from the room, the cameramen pointing at them as they voyaged to where Nozomi had given her introduction to the volatile lovers. She had been able to improvise her way through the studio, with the rest of the group giving short quips about things such as a bit of chipped paint on the wall.
As Honoka stopped, she kept talking before introducing the next segment. "Anyway, next, we have..."
There wasn't anything that could be done, considering the four who had left: Nico ensured that there couldn't be anything relating to the third years, Maki's absence did the same to the first years (not to mention that both Nico and Maki were part of BiBi, alleviating all of their possibilities).
"...we have..."
Umi eliminated any second-year and Lily White skits and songs.
"...um, we have..."
Kotori had ruined any chance of Printemps to shine through. Rin and Hanayo's song had been slated for the end of the program, in which there would be the most people: it was the only segment with a particular time slot. Honoka, with no more options, turned to Nozomi.
"Do you have your tarot cards? Maybe you can read a few people's fortunes by telephone!"
Before Honoka could finish the question and explanation, Nozomi's stack of cards were in her left palm. "I'd love to!"
The door had shut behind them, leaving Nico and Maki alone in the room. An awkward silence had filled the space between them, complete with nobody else being inside; hell, nobody dared observe that room anymore, as if there were a quarantine. Nico's arms had been crossed in front of her chest, the controller on the ground, such that her junior didn't have to see anything lewd. And, of course, the cameras could have picked up a glimpse of Nico, the innocent super-idol Nico-Nii, nude, which could have caused massive scandals which would end her career as a solo artist while threatening the entire Yazawa bloodline and anyone who dared make contact with them, or worse, attempt to defend them for nothing more than a wardrobe malfunction. Not to mention the lawsuits.
In spite of Nico's life apparently draining from her eyes, Maki slipped on her shirt, buttoned it up, and walked to the door. Opening it, she peeked outside, seeing that there had been nobody looking into the room; all of the idols were elsewhere and the cameramen followed them, leaving Nico and Maki alone in a room together. Maki smirked as she closed the door, returning to the controller which she had left behind. In truth, she had made a return to turn the console off, the colors of the television screen quickly flashing away and turning black.
"Hey! What was that for?" Nico quipped, her hands moving to her hips, forgetting that she had been topless: her tiny chest was topped appropriately by rather small areolae, about a dime in size, each nipple peaking not far from her chest. Maki took a defiant stance to her senior, her eyes closed and general gaze pointed away from the idol; Nico was indecent, not something for her eyes.
"We're done here. Get dressed."
"Come on, you're no fun! I need to beat you at this!"
Maki sighed. There was absolutely no way out with Nico. They always ended up like this, butting heads over what they wanted to do, throwing potshots at one another; they never really knew if they were performing whenever they saw one another. It always annoyed Maki how she couldn't stop thinking about how irritating Nico could be at times; she was always on her mind, and, according to a few conversations before practices, Nico had thought pretty much obsessively about Maki.
"I didn't carve out some time in my schedule for you to end the fun early!"
"Eh?" Maki froze, barring the motion of her hand moving to twirl a lock of hair. What on Earth did Nico even mean by what she was saying? She understood that Nico, as an idol, had practice sessions which made µ's, legends of school idols, practice sessions look like the break of a job orientation, and that the only reason she had wanted to do this special was because she wanted to respect her roots as a member of such a distinguished group-it had been what made her transition into the world of real idols actually a reality-but the fact that she had singled out Maki in particular seemed strange to the redhead. Was this the only event that they were participating in? Why did she even care?
Nevertheless, Maki sat down, letting out a sigh before undoing her shirt such that the playing field was "even" once more: Nico would have complained that she kept the shirt on much like she gave the idol flak for wearing the pink vest.
"Jeez, you're annoying. Three more rounds, and we leave."
"Deal."
The rounds had passed without much of a fanfare (which, in truth, had been provided mainly by the now-absent rest of µ's), and Nico had been victorious in both of the events. The first was not much of a show for Nico-it only showed that she had the decency of matching her lingerie-and the second victory had been something that Nico had been waiting almost too enthusiastically for. Nico's display of enthusiasm, especially as she had been bare-chested, left Maki red at the cheeks as she reached behind her back to undo that stinking strap. Nobody must know about this, except for Nico.
"Isn't it kinda fun thinking that someone might be watching us?" Nico questioned, having grown quite comfortable being topless.
"What are you even talking about?" Maki asked her while her bra hit the floor, her relatively-ample bust now exposed to the petite idol's envious, hungry gaze. "Everyone lef-eh!?"
Nico's fingers, at that moment, crossed the forbidden line; she had touched Maki's hip. Oh, great. Nico was going to start acting all cute and flirty to her. She knew how much it annoyed her, pretending to be absolutely cutesy, but there was something slightly different about it. Maybe it was because they were barely wearing clothes, all alone, in a room to themselves; Nico really didn't need to show off how angry she was at the rest of the world. Nico had seemed to have dropped the bitterness from her tone, almost as if her abrasive personality was what she had been faking. Perhaps this was how Nico was before her first idol group failed; but what did Nico see in her that brought up such a sickening cuteness? She'd been annoying either way, but there was something about how she leaned in, how her eyelashes fluttered as she subtly planted herself into Maki's lap, which drew a breath and a blush from the redhead.
"Nico..." Maki groaned in a feigned anguish as the brunette grew closer, her touches to the redhead slowly crawling up the side of her form. "What are you doing?" Nico didn't care much, really; she had figured that, considering their limited time together, before she would be caught up in the whirlwind of idol practice sessions and concerts, to spend her time with Maki how she wanted.
"Something I've wanted to do for awhile now," Nico replied before planting a quick kiss to Maki's lips, immediately reeling back as to expect the tsundere to send a hand immediately across her face. Even if rage had been boiling in Maki's veins, Nico would soon add a bit to the imaginary fury. "You're pretty cute when you're mad."
Maki had been fuming from Nico's antics, and there was something inside of the femme that had wanted to slap her across the face, knock the pretty little idol's lights out. Yet, there was something about her. Something which just couldn't let her leave a mark like that on the idol.
Another mark would have to make do, and Nico reflexively distancing herself gave Maki an idea: leaning into the idol's collarbone and biting there. Nico yelped, nearly squeaked, at the action, the only thing stopping her from yelling the soothing of the redhead's lips against her new mark.
"W-what was that for?" Nico asked, almost a whine. Maki didn't respond, bar for her release. Nico was definitely marked: the expanse of pale of her upper torso had been interrupted by white teeth marks, a slight reddish-purple discoloration inside the teeth marks, a faint nude gloss surrounding it.
"There. A mark to remember me by. Can we leave now?"
"Only one?" Nico asked with a feigned, syrupy cuteness which made Maki silently dry-heave. She couldn't dare look into the idol's eyes; her eyelashes were probably fluttering in some dumb attempt to flirt, just for the sake of getting a kick out of her. Thus, she looked to the ground, a certain slightly-sheer pastel pink enrapturing her peripheral vision.
For fuck's sake, she's actually into this? Maki flushed further red at the realization. Nico's legs spread slightly. Maki flushed further. Nico knew.
Nico knew exactly what she wanted, and she'd get exactly what she would want.
Pushing on the stunned redhead's shoulder, Maki lost her balance, her back hitting the ground with a yelp filling the air. Before she could recover, Nico leaned in to eliminate whatever space there was between them. Even worse, Nico aligned her collarbone, again, with Maki's lips.
"What if the one mark goes away?" Nico whimpered, keeping her balance even as Maki's hips started bucking with the sole purpose of getting this gnat off of her.
"Nico!"
"Please? One more?"
Maki gave her a mark, silently praying that this would be the end of Nico being infinitely more annoying than usual; that is, until Nico's taste hit her palate. As annoying as she was, she tasted good. How her faint perfume gave a sweet backdrop to the slight, salty tang of her skin; the soft moans which Nico gave of her approval...
No way she was actually getting interested in continuing, though, she reassured.
As Maki released, she let out a sigh, not realizing that she had been on Nico's skin for so long that she needed to take a breath. Yet, there was her mark, once more. The teeth marks were much more faint, an oddity considering how much darker the mark she left upon the pale idol.
"Maki..." Nico's voice, as nasal and irritating as it was, was wanton and full of need, her hips grinding upon Maki's midriff, leaving a particular heat against her lower torso.
For fuck's sake, she's actually into this.
"What do you want, Nico?" Maki asked, her irritation mounting at Nico in heat. Nico was resting on Maki's thighs, practically, as she leaned in to reciprocate Maki's marks. Nico aimed a bit low and closer to the center of the body.
Nico stared at Maki's bosom for a few moments, letting out an almost dreamy sigh as she brought her hands to her chest, giving each breast a soft squeeze. Maki's size was large enough to be about moderate handfuls, but not so much that it spilled out from between her fingers; it had been a perfect size for her. Palms grinding against the redhead's nipples, Nico brought herself up to steal another kiss from Maki, this time at the dip of her collarbone, right above her sternum. Chin against cleavage, Nico suckled, the redhead's moans vibrating beautifully against her lips. After a bite at her skin, Nico pulled off, revealing a mark very much similar to how the redhead had marked her.
Her hands had pulled back at that time, index fingers and thumbs busy tweaking at the redhead's nipples with the same amount of awe that she had given to the entire breast. Pulling away from one in particular, Nico leaned in to suckle upon her chest, letting the fullness of Maki's bosom mesh with the curvature of her lips. Nico suckled harder as she brought her hands to Maki's hips, giving her a bit of leverage such that she could pull herself closer to the redhead. Feeling Maki's heartbeat against her lips, the idol kept suckling at the pianist, darting her tongue against the erected nub atop her darling's chest.
Maki let out a gasp at the release, bringing her hands to Nico's shoulders in an attempt to distance herself. Nico's shoulders were absolutely freezing or, considering how red her hands were, she had grown excessively hot. Perhaps so; warmth had spread through her as Nico attempted to make a mark on her. Right. A mark. Maki's grasp couldn't contain Nico moving downward; she had expected Nico to attempt to even up her marks, but apparently that was not the case: Nico had found herself pressing her abdomen, inhaling deeply. Perhaps she had inhaled her own scent. It wouldn't explain Nico kissing right above her pantyline, however, sending a frenzy of butterflies through her lower body.
"You should feel lucky." Maki looked down to the imp relishing her time at her quivering abdomen. "Most people would kill for a kiss from Nico-Nii, let alone something like this," Nico commented, a hand pressing at her clothed womanhood to give a squeeze. Never mind that Nico was an idol. Who would want something like this from someone like her?
"Nico!" Maki whimpered. "Stop playing games..."
Ah, fuck it. Maki wanted it. Why did someone so annoying have to feel so good?
At Nico's angle, directly in front of Maki's undergarments, she knew the full extent of how much Maki had wanted it. Pulling back from Maki's underwear, the brunette brought her palm to her nose, letting in a deep inhale. Maki's scent, much like Nico's on the redhead's abdomen, had wafted onto the skin, sending Nico almost on edge. She knew that her panties weren't supposed to be that dark of a shade of red, and even worse, the panties weren't supposed to show that much of Maki's womanhood. It shouldn't dip between her outer labia like that, nor shouldn't it give an idea of Maki's erecting clitoris would be. It shouldn't smell so hot, so bitter, so deliciously Maki. It shouldn't be showing how red Maki was between her thighs.
It shouldn't be on Maki anymore.
Nico tugged down on Maki's panties, pulling the waistline below the flare of her hips before some of the garment pulled away, revealing that Maki had prepared for today. If not, then she randomly shaved herself bereft of hair on her Venus mound. As if; not even the idols she worked with had a tendency of doing that. Not even she did it unless there was a reason.
"You must have been really waiting for this," Nico commented as she slowly pulled down the garment, the sound of wet garment clinging to wet skin filling the air much to Maki's embarrassment and Nico's delight as she pulled the garment clean off of the femme, taking note of the strands of fluid clinging desperately together Maki's most sensitive area and her undergarments. A quick tug down interrupted their serendipity, tearing immediately as Maki's panties soon found purchase flung somewhere in the room. Nico didn't care, and according to Maki's facial expression, she didn't seem to mind, either. Considering Maki's instinctual parting of her legs, her hands busy toying with her bosom, and the heavy panting coming from the tsundere, there was nothing else that Nico needed to do.
"You look so cute when you're in he-"
"Shut up! Shut up!"
Maki only stopped her complaints about Nico talking with a bite to her lip, knowing well that she might be drawing attention if she were yelling too much. Besides, she'd be giving Nico too much of a show. For the better, anyway. Nico giggled, moving up to the femme's lips to steal another kiss from the redhead.
What Nico didn't expect, however, was how needy Maki's lips were for her, the collision of their lips leading to a delicious meshing which she believed couldn't be improved. When Nico's fingertips grazed against Maki's clitoris, causing the redhead to moan directly into her mouth, she reciprocated. Maki felt absolutely magical at this point. How Maki's hips bucked against her fingers, how she could feel the redhead's heartbeat from how her labia pulsed, how slick her fingers grew from massaging the redhead: the tactile euphoria forced Nico to keep going, planting her palm against her outer labia while attempting to stir her inner labia with her slicked middle and ring fingers.
Maki, alternatively, felt as if heat had filled every cavity of her being, the stimulation of her womanhood not exactly opened and stimulated causing slight unease in her form. What was worse was that she seemed partially unable to speak; partially from the ecstasy, and partially because Nico would respond with some dumb, dis-arousing commentary, even with their lips together.
"Oh god..." Maki was able to muster out, her breathing very much uneasy. Nico pulled away from Maki's lips, kiss-swollen, to suckle upon the redhead's neck: to finally leave a mark on her. As she marked Maki, the digits went into the redhead, to the second knuckle.
She was surprised. Apparently someone as cold as Maki had needs more than once a year. Yet again, how could someone so cold look so hot?
"Oh god, fuck..." Maki hissed; and when Nico looked up, she saw something which she adored. Typically knitted eyebrows were relaxed, violet eyes wide open and slightly rolled back, and her mouth parted, almost in the shape of a lazy circle. "Ah fuck, Nico..."
Nico didn't need any more words and in truth she didn't want to do anything other than give. Nico's fingers plunged in and out of the femme's core, attempting to find exactly what Maki had liked; finger angle, speed, how far she could thrust: all were variables which Nico had attempted to change inside of her. She couldn't do much in terms of rotating her fingers, however: two was Maki's limit. Every other option seemed to do nothing, however; Maki's moans seemed to be the same level. There was no moan which sounded of, "oh, fuck, Nico, that's it. Keep doing just that.", but rather she heard only moans which were along the lines of, "Nico, this feels great. Ah, fuck."
Until that one. The one where Nico scraped slightly inward with her fingers, trying her best to give her digits a bit of breathing room in the tight confines of Maki's insides. Maki's moan had bubbled from her core, her lungs filling with bliss as her entire being had melted for one moment. It had felt as if she was being exorcised of the lust inside of her, Nico's digits attempting to force some hex out of her. It had flooded her brain, her blood, and reached bliss-filled lungs. With one exhale, a shaky, genuine moan had left her, her mouth opening up into a dumb smile, her eyes on the verge of tears. It was loud (to the point of Nico needing to kiss Maki to quiet her down) and passionate, almost as if all of Maki's irritation to Nico, and why she kept her around somehow, was worth it. It didn't hurt that Maki ground rougher on Nico's palm.
Nico kept scraping like that, against the quivering and squeezing that Maki gave in opposition. It was clear that the redhead wasn't even thinking straight; all of the heat that rushed through her, all of the pleasure of being filled in such a manner had spread through her entire body, clouding up her eyesight and causing her body to almost freeze in pleasure, the build-up that had been pent up in her starting to crash like waves. Unfortunately, before Maki could even consider letting out her sweet release, Nico had pulled away from her, even able to evade Maki's closing thighs attempting to envelop her hand. Nico lowered herself, giving teasing kisses down Maki's jawline, neck, and torso before the latter could complain; Maki, thank goodness, was reduced to whimpers and moans even at something as delicate as a kiss between the breasts. Maki was in a complete haze, one which would be broken by a certain brunette handing her a game controller.
"Play. Just play," Nico commented before returning between Maki's legs. Confused, the blissful redhead started playing, her abilities to do anything made difficult by a strange warmth playing with her core. Maki let out a heated breath as she lowered the controller slightly, her tongue lolling out in bliss. Maki held the controller, not performing a single input; she didn't even realize that Nico had slipped between her legs, her face between her thighs as she looked at the femme's glistening core. With an inhale, Nico brought her lips to Maki's core, her tongue darting across the slick skin. Maki's flavor filled her mouth, and despite how bitter and salty she had tasted, it had delighted Nico's palate much like a candy would, lapping deliciously at her vulva, with special attention to her clitoris.
Despite the adoration that Nico had for Maki's womanhood, the sounds of the video game enticed the brunette, and when Nico pulled back, Maki's hand took the reins of Nico's tongue, rubbing at her bundle of nerves.
"You idiot! What are you doing playing games?"
"Hold on!" Nico commented, quickly reaching the finish line on one of the racing games. The controller hummed, buzzing in Nico's palms, as a devious smirk came to the femme's lips. This was what Nico needed; this was also what Nico believed Maki needed, and not her hand, the one which had two fingers inside of her.
Nico stared in awe, observing how Maki's fingers gracefully slipped inside of herself, pushing herself in to the knuckle as she used her free hand to cup one of her breasts. Maki's body had seemed to contort slightly, her hips pushing especially into her wrist in a desperate attempt to get herself off just a bit more. The blushed tomato parted her lips as she squeezed her breast, beckoning Nico closer with a breathy recitation of her name amongst the sounds of her fingers squelching against her insides. With the beckoning, Maki's hand had pulled out, fingers quite slick with fluids as she brought her digits to her enflamed clit, the bundle of nerves reacting happily to the newfound stimulation. Nico had been spellbound, attempting to remove the hand which had found purchase in her own underwear before she saw the redhead spraying fluids from her crotch, landing directly onto the tomato's hand before she pulled away in a pretty cute afterglow.
"Maki!" Nico fumed, wanting to initiate Maki's climax.
"What? As if you were going to do anything about it."
So much for trying to use the controller as a makeshift vibrator. Letting out a huff of air, she tossed the controller aside, since it had lost its usefulness. "I'd like to see you do better, Miss I know everything about everything!"
"Okay, fine, lay down."
Nico laid down, letting out a huff as she brought her hands to her waistband, only to be with the feeling of the imprint the waistband left on her skin; only by extending her fingers did she meet up with the pianist's hands, complete with a snide comment.
"You're so greedy," the redhead complained as she brought the undergarments to Nico's knees, the hot, slightly translucent garment clinging onto warmth for as long as it could, immediately smearing one of Nico's legs. Maki looked up as she finished pulling the garment down to her ankles, the youthful vulva of her companion showing the idol's greed in the form of slick fluids coating its entirety. Nico leaned forward, immediately grasping Maki's locks to force her into her womanhood, her right cheek now slick with fluids as she observed the pink, near-pulsating flesh above her. Maki, to her dismay, brought her lips to the brunette's clitoris while bringing a hand to her entrance, twin fingers slipping past Nico's vulva and into her entrance.
Nico, somehow, forgot that the woman below her, the person she spent most of her time annoying in µ's, the worse half of the "cutest couple," was a pianist, with beautifully long, slender fingers. Long, slender fingers that slid all the way in, reaching into places that Nico normally couldn't reach by herself without any external aid. Nico trembled from the femme's digits inside of her, her convulsions against the fingers amplified by Maki's tongue. Nico's shoulder blades lifted from the carpet, her face slightly strained as it convulsed into perverted pleasure.
I hope nobody's watching! Maki feels too good!
Maki's free hand reached up Nico's side, fingernails digging into her skin to leave four white paths from each fingernail, eliciting an elongated squeak from the smaller idol and a sound which nearly represented a giggle from Maki. Before Nico could even clear her head of her haze enough to comment, Maki had found purchase on what little chest Nico had, her thumb and pinky respectively rubbing at the smaller girl's nipples. Nico threw her head back, her haze renewed, returning her back to the carpet with a breathy gasp; why did she have to be sensitive on top of being small? What was perhaps worse was that Maki took this to be positive, her fingers' distance shifting every so often such that she could toy with Nico's quasi-budding chest however she pleased, each squeeze Nico's walls provided to Maki giving further reason to toy with her.
Nico's breathing hitched, Maki pulling away for a moment to observe the tiny idol squirming around her fingers. Curling them, she felt a slightly rough patch in otherwise her smooth, fleshy insides; Nico had pushed herself slightly, hips and stomach slowly starting to rise as she curled and uncurled the fingers inside of the idol, the redhead leaning in to plant a kiss upon her heaving lower abdomen, leading up towards her understimulated breasts.
Maki's lips felt heavenly on Nico's chest, the warmth her lips had provided causing her eyes nearly to roll back into her skull in bliss. As Maki's tongue darted across her chest, Nico started to squirm, her body definitely unused to the heat her lips had provided. As tiny as it was, Maki had ensured to give her nipple the proper attention and care she could give, resulting in a whine from the idol. Nico had started seeing white, her hearing impeded by the sounds of her heartbeat pulsing in her head, the only word that she could provide to the redhead, "more."
Maki's attempt to oblige was the insertion of a third finger into Nico. Pulling her fingers back from the idol (and naturally Nico's hips' motions intensifying as she attempted to reach for something that wasn't there), the redhead made an effort to steady Nico's midsection by planting her free hand on her butt; and when the motions stopped, Maki made an attempt, Nico's entrance immediately fighting her fingers as index and ring attempted to push through her, with barely any avail; rather, Maki's fingers buckled, the entirety of her middle finger pushing into her as her knuckles collided with Nico's vulva, a shriek coming out from the small idol which unfortunately led to Maki biting at the sensitive nub.
"Maki, please! Not so harsh! I'm too close!"
"I'm trying, Nico!" Maki replied, slipping a second finger into Nico, the smaller idol giving a placid sigh as the cycle of grinding against the pianist's oscillating hand began once anew.
Nico's eyes shut, the strength in her legs faltering immediately as her butt hit the floor. Her core squeezed tightly against Maki's fingers as an elongated screech came from her, Maki's fingers slipping out of her along with a jet of clear fluid, coating her hand and staining the carpet below. Nico's lower body lifted, her squeal reaching the end of a crescendo. At the end of her fluids squirting from her, Nico's lower body fell to the ground, Maki hovering over her as she ensured that Nico was alright. Nico's eyes slowly fluttered open, the sight of a nude Maki straddling her leading the smaller idol to reach for her lover.
"Maki..."
"Don't expect something like this again, you hear me?"
Nico nodded, grasping onto Maki's hair to pull her into one final kiss, her legs wrapping around the larger woman's waist. Nico didn't really care as she basked in her afterglow, holding onto her friend, spreading her warmth to the redhead with much more effectiveness than her Nico-Nico-Nii would have to anybody. Cheek nuzzled against shoulder, Nico had almost spoken, before she heard the sound of the door opening, followed immediately by the sound of a tall archer's body hitting the floor.
"Umi-chan!" It was Kotori. Immediately both idols stood up and helped each other get dressed, the thrown garments quickly being pulled back into the area between them as they put their clothes back on, attempting to look as clean as possible to the rest of the idols, who certainly were coming back to the room considering Kotori had wailed for the second time today about the exact same thing. Bra, panties, stockings, shoes, shirt, skirt, vest, second vest, tie: each uniform was thrown on as quickly and diligently as someone with two (or three) years of experience dressing in such outfits.
Certainly, as Maki and Nico peeked out of the door, the rest of µ's had arrived, barring Rin and Hanayo (who were singing their duet), with Honoka and Kotori relocating Umi for the second time that day.
"It looks like somebody had a bit of fun today," Nozomi teased.
"Eh?"
"We did not, Nozomi!"
What had followed was the most difficult washi washi of Nico's life, Nozomi's hands immediately clutching onto Nico's sore, stimulated breasts. Nico quivered, a natural response to the spiritualist's antics, as she bit her lip, desperate not to scream and ruin the singing that she heard in the background.
"Why do you keep doing that, Nozomi?" Maki asked, raising an eyebrow to the fondling woman in distaste. Nozomi, thankfully, stopped, much to Nico's delight.
"Oh, sorry, Maki. I was just punishing her for lying."
Whatever. It had been obvious. Nico and Maki both had been completely flushed red from their time together, and perhaps had spent a bit too much time with one another. Eli was jogging in place such that she, too, could be a shade of red, perhaps to improvise some sports-related variety sketch that BiBi had to do. However, the scent of Nico and Maki definitely gave it away; they smelled different than how they smelled after practice, almost as if there was a bit more musk to their scent relative to sweat. At the very least, whatever makeup Nico and Maki wore didn't fade due to their promiscuity.
"How far are we through the script?" Maki asked.
"We're just about done with everything. We just need to do a BiBi sketch and then we're finished for the day." Nozomi replied.
"Considering how red you two are, it'll hopefully be about sports," Eli added between huffs.
All ears had been fixated on the vocal cadence, signaling the end of Hanayo's and Rin's duet. As the music cut, Honoka started walking towards the stage, clapping loudly; Eli and Nozomi followed, with Nico and Maki standing there for a moment, slightly confused. After a moment, they started clapping, walking with the rest of µ's to complete their anniversary special.
As they walked, Nico gripped onto Maki's hand.
"What now?"
"Do you think we'll do another anniversary show next year?"