Hello everyone! I hope this AN finds you well!

Since I started classes, Love Live has been in my mind. I told my students it was my favorite anime and now I get Nico-nii grins as I pass in the hallways. Because of this, I was inspired to do some sort of oneshot, and what better to write about than my favorite yuri pairing?

So please enjoy NicoMaki being NicoMaki~

Maki felt her cheeks heat up until she was sure they were as red as her hair. Based on the look she got, there was probably steam coming out of her ears, too.

"...What?"

"D-Don't you "what" me!" blurted the first-year, standing abruptly from her chair. "Not when you ask me something like that out of the blue!"

"Huh? But it's not out of the blue." Black pigtails bounced slightly as the girl rested her head in her hands. Her red eyes matched perfectly with the pink of her sweater. "You're my girlfriend after all."

Now the red was spreading to her ears. "Don't say that so casually either!"

Her partner grinned like the cat that ate the canary. "Are you worried someone will find out?"

Maki didn't respond. Their relationship had been kept secret from everyone, even the other members of u's, under her request. Her partner - it was still embarrassing to think that - only agreed after a long bout of arguing, and even then she didn't care to be careful with her affection. Luckily it seemed the others just thought they had gotten close and nothing more.

"You're so cute when you're flustered."

"S-Shut up!" She crossed her arms and turned away from her. "Just for that, my answer is no!"

"Wha~t?" Nico's whine was loud, and she sat up to lean over towards the other girl. "Maki-chan's not being honest about her feelings."

"I'm being totally honest. You're so annoying."

The third-year puffed out her cheeks. "And you're stubborn."

Maki shot her a glare. "Well you're too loud."

"And you're too quiet."

"You're the one who started this!"

"But you're the one keeping it going!"

"Hey, don't come near me!"

"No! Come here!"

Suddenly Nico pulled Maki onto the table and pinned her down. The redhead struggled, trying to push her off, but the small girl was stronger than she looked. They locked gazes and glared at each other as the struggle continued. After a while, however, neither of them really had the energy to remove themselves from the situation. Eventually Maki stopped struggling and Nico's hold loosened. Their eyes met.

Maki frowned. "Why are you always looking at me?"

Nico frowned as well. "You're always looking at me too, aren't you?"

There was a brief pause. The air had been thick, but now the tension was easing up. Maybe the sunlight that came through the window helped a bit.

Then Maki smirked. "I'm only looking at you because you look at me first."

Nico grinned. "See! So you were looking!"

There was no more animosity in the air. Maki's smile was genuine as she reached up to pull her companion down into a hug. Her soft sweater and warm skin felt good in contrast to the cool air of the club room. There was a ticklish feeling around her neck where she nuzzled her, and she let out a giggle. Nico couldn't help but giggle as well.

"This feels nice," said the redhead quietly. "We haven't gotten to be together for awhile."

"Mm." The smaller girl cuddled into her human pillow a bit more. "We've been so busy with u's. It's nice to have a little time to ourselves."

They sighed together and relaxed into the embrace. Something about it felt so right, like they had been made to lie in just that way. Nico was so small that she felt just right on top, and Maki was so soft that she was the perfect pillow. Some minutes later, Maki's lips found Nico's temple. That was enough to rouse the smaller girl from her spot, adjusting just enough so she could catch her lips with her own.

Barely a second in, Maki broke away. "Hey, what are you thinking? We're still in the club room."

Nico rolled her eyes. "Psh, no one's here, Maki-chan. Everyone went home hours ago."

"That's not true. Nozomi and Eli might not be on the student council anymore, but you know how they are. What if they walked in on us?"

"Honestly, I think those two finding us is the best-case scenario."

"What's with that? I don't get you." She huffed. "Just be careful."

"O~h?" Nico's sly grin was paired with a raised eyebrow. "Is Maki-chan submitting to me after all? How strange."

"W-Well, we're...we're together, after all."

The smaller girl chuckled and her expression softened a little. "Yeah, and I'm really happy about it, you know."

"Yeah, me too."

They smiled at each other again, and after a moment Nico took the initiative and they came together again for one more quick kiss. The redhead sighed into this one and they both broke apart before sitting up and sliding off the table.

"Man, I'm hungry!" Nico exclaimed as she stretched. "Why don't we get something to eat? We should really hang out more, after all."

She had started towards the door, but stopped when she felt a tug on her sleeve. When she looked back, Maki was still blushing. She took Nico's hand and looked shyly at her.

"Yes."

"Huh?"

"My answer."

Nico looked genuinely confused.

"D-Don't play dumb." Her finger traveled up to twirl her hair nervously. "Your question before. My answer is yes."

It still took a few seconds before the words clicked. Nico nearly exploded with red, only making Maki blush more as well. That, combined with her nervous habit, nearly drove Nico insane.

"Ugh, you're so cute!" yelped the smaller girl before tackling the redhead in a hug.

"Aah!" Maki tried to push the girl off her, but her grip was locked in place. "You moron! Get off me, Nico-chan!"

"No! I'm never letting you go again!"

The redhead's protests and swats continued without pause. Barely thirty seconds of this and the third year decided Maki needed to calm down. She silenced her like any lover would, also stopping her rampage.

"Hey," started Nico as they broke apart. "I have a great idea."

Maki looked a little nervous. "That's never a good sign."

"No, really, I do. Let's go out, but there's somewhere I wanna go before we eat."

The redhead actually looked curious. "Where?"

Nico flashed a grin, reaching down to grab her bag. Maki did the same and followed her out of the room.

"Oh, just a little shop nearby~"

～X～

Nozomi chuckled and patted her companion on the shoulder. "Isn't that nice? It's good to know Maki-chan and Nicocchi are fighting for a different reason now."

"M-Maybe, but-" Ellie put a hand to her cheek. "Should we really just leave them alone?"

"Don't worry. Nicocchi knows what she's doing. I took her to that shop before."

She held up her hand to the light. Eli also held up hers, and their matching rings glittered in the light.

"Those two will be just fine."

Did you know that Nico actually said she loves Maki more than tomatoes? It's true. You can look it up.

Anyway, this fic has a ton of references and quotes in it, and if you know them then I'm proud of you. You're a true Love Liver. I recently fell even deeper in love with these two so thsi was truly a pleasure to write. I hope you enjoyed it as well!
(P.S. There's an M-rated NicoMaki fic I'm working on in reserve, so maybe if I get a good response to this it'll be published? I mean it might be anyway but support is always nice.)

Thanks a ton to GreatSnapper for doing the beta for this! I am slowly converting him to a Love Liver so I hope you can see some good stuff from him too.

I'm realizing that these ANs sound uncharacteristic of me. I don't know, I guess I'm too serious about this series. Whoops. Until next time!