Foolish Lovers
"Stupid Nico-chan!", Along with this phrase, Maki smashed down a couple of keys on the grand piano in front of her. The notes she played were an audible representation of her rage. The piano expressed what Maki couldn't put into words but that didn't mean she didn't have anything to say.
Maki continued playing while whaling out insults in a melody that surprisingly went along with the tune that resonated from the stringed instrument, although, her voice was slightly off pitch due to her intense emotions. Despite that and the fact that the profanities she sang were not so pleasing to the ear, her little performance was overall well done.
The pissed off first-year let out a sigh after she played the last set of chords and as she did a door opened suddenly. Standing at 154cm tall in the doorway was a little girl with a big personality.
Maki gasped a bit in surprise. She expected her girlfriend to show up at some point but not this soon.
"Who do you think you are running away from me like that?", Nico spat as she menacingly locked eyes with the one she was angry with.
The target of Nico's anger flinched and immediately verted her eyes in another direction. It didn't matter what she was looking at as long as it wasn't Nico.
Maki, who was firmly planted on the wooden piano bench, stayed silent as she thought about why she was in the situation she was in now.
[10 Mins. Ago]
The 9 members of Muse had just finished one of their practice sessions on the school's lofty roof. As expected after such a physically strenuous act, the students were exhausted and Rin, being as vocal as she is, reminded everyone of the obvious.
"That was some tough training we did. Nyaaa, I'm so tired!"
"Who isn't?" Maki replied in her usual snarky voice.
"I could really use a nap right now.", declared Rin as she sprawled out in a remarkably felined fashion that was not out of character for someone like her.
"Wow Rin, you really look like a cat right now!", Kotori noted.
" Doesn't she?", Hanayo said, "It's adorable! She sleeps like that sometimes too."
"Maki has some pretty cute sleeping habits as well.", chimed Nico who had a proud aura similar to that of someone who was bragging about their pet. "She clamps onto you like a sloth does with a tree branch and doesn't let go. I've tried to pry her off before but she just mumbles my name and holds on tighter. It can get kinda annoying but it's still so cute."
Maki's eyes widened further and further and her blush deepened several shades of red as each word left Nico's mouth. She didn't have an opportunity to interrupt because she was so in shock. Her brain finally processed everything that Nico said but it was too late. The damage had been done. Her body went into autopilot and she ran out the door and flew down the stairs to the music room where she was able to get a grip on reality.
Everyone else just stared at the rooftop door with their jaws dropped. The only person who had a clue as to why Maki reacted that way was Nozomi who thought it would be in everyone's best interest to keep her mouth shut, at least until she consulted her cards. Her mouth wasn't shut literally though. It was gaped open just like the rest of the girls' were.
The first person to speak up was the ordinarily quiet Umi who simply said, "What just happened?"
All of them gave a confused look until Honoka blurted, "Maybe she went home to go take a nap?"
That comment was just ignored. Nico let the group know that she was going to go find Maki to confront her about this which led up to the current moment in time.
[Present Time]
"Ahem! I'm talking to you! Why did you just get up and leave all of a sudden?"
Maki knew it was pointless to give the silent treatment but she did it anyway because she was too embarrassed and upset to say anything reasonable.
"Look", said Nico with a stern face, "I'm not leaving this spot until I know what the hell happened up there."
With a defeated look Maki hissed, "Fine, just get in here before anyone notices us." It was ironic that this was said by someone who was singing at the top of her lungs just a minute ago.
Nico cautiously made her way to the piano bench and took a seat next to her girlfriend who was still blushing fiercely.
There was no eye contact between the two of them as Maki explained that what Nico said was very personal and that it gave big hints that they were dating. She wanted to keep their relationship a secret for whatever reason and Nico respected that but today her tongue slipped and she said something inappropriate.
"Um, I'm sorry I guess...but it's not my fault that you are so cute. If you're gonna blame anyone blame yourself, or Rin since she was the reason the topic got brought up in the first place.", Nico said matter-of-factly.
Maki broke the self issued "no eye contact rule" and shot Nico a glace that said, "Seriously? Did you really just say that?"
Nico tried to get out of it by doing her "Nico-Nico-Ni!" thing but Maki's expression never wavered. If anything she got even more pissed off.
"I know you're mad but really, why does it matter if anyone finds out about us? Hanayo said something similar.", said Nico who was doing her best to make excuses.
"Yeah, but her and Rin are childhood friends so it's normal that they have seen each other sleeping but we aren't like that." Maki said defensively.
"I suppose that's true but you still never mentioned why it would be a bad thing if people knew we were together."
Maki was rendered speechless by Nico's response.
"Thought so", Nico said with a smirk. She believed that she had won the argument and was now doing a victory dance.
"Sit down!", Maki demanded. "I still haven't said anything yet."
Nico rolled her eyes since she knew that whatever Maki had to say was pointless but she complied anyway and sat back down on the bench.
Maki continued by saying, "Now that I think about it there really isn't any specific reason that we need to hide our relationship from the others but what you said was uncalled for...I do not cling onto you like a sloth either..."
"Yes you do. And you snore. I didn't tell anyone that but I very well could.", replied Nico who had a sly looking facial expression.
"You better not! If you do I will tell everyone that you take hundreds of pictures of yourself every day with your phone and that you even had a couple of them printed out and framed.", was Maki's comeback.
"I don't care. It's good to have self appreciation."
"Self appreciation? More like self indulgence."
The two bickered back and forth for a little while but it ended with an apology from both parties.
"Sorry for running off like that. I burned a few calories doing so, so I guess I'm not sorry.", was Maki's "apology". She genuinely felt guilty for what she did though but she could never tell Nico that because...well...you know, tsundere logic.
Nico acknowledged the apology by interlacing the fingers of one of her hands with Maki's and lived up to her name by cracking a smile.
For the millionth time today it seemed like Maki got embarrassed but by the power of love she was able to get over it. She took Nico's other hand and held it the same way Nico was holding hers.
They brought their faces close together for the inevitable make up kiss.
This wasn't just a regular kiss though. Things got really heated. Nico made another slip of the tongue but this time instead of saying something she wasn't suppose to she literally slipped her tongue into Maki's mouth. This action startled Maki, making her emit a small gasp similar to the one she made earlier when Nico was standing in the doorway.
Nico pulled back to see what the problem was but Maki forced her back into the kiss with even greater force.
Meanwhile, up on the rooftop Nozomi set up her tarot cards so that she could do a fortune telling on whether or not she should tell everyone about Nico and Maki. She didn't even know for sure whether or not her predictions were true but she hoped that doing this would give her some insight.
As the others were resting Eli noticed that her best friend/girlfriend was playing with her cards again. Eli didn't understand Nozomi's obsession with them but if they meant that much to Nozomi then they meant a lot to her too.
"So, what are you troubled about this time?", Eli curiously questioned the spiritual girl.
"I'm sorry Eli-chi but I'm afraid I can't tell you right now.", Nozomi answered.
"It's not about me is it?", Eli questioned again but this time with more concern.
"Don't worry Eli-chi, I already know everything about you, even all of your charming quirks that only I get to see.", said Nozomi followed by a small giggle.
Eli just blushed and said, "Um, sorry for disturbing your card reading. You can continue now."
"Alright then! Spiritual Power activate!", exclaimed Nozomi as she drew "the fool" card in an upright position.
"Huh, well I guess they are fools...", whispered Nozomi in a concentrated voice.
Eli tilted her head and wondered, "Who is she talking about?"
"The fool means new beginnings so maybe it would be good to inform them of this new information so they can begin to support Nico and Maki but I think I'll try another card just to make sure.", was what Nozomi was thinking right before she drew "the lovers" card which was in an upright position just like the previous card was.
Nozomi agreed with the results and she had the rest of the girls circle around her so she could tell them of her findings.
"Listen up everyone!", Nozomi ordered. "The cards told me that it was okay to tell you that Nico and Maki are in a romantic relationship."
"Oh, that explains everything!", 4 of the girls said as they had a "eureka moment".
Rin and Honoka were sleeping but Nozomi didn't bother to wake them up since they wouldn't understand that the NicoMaki news was at all related to why Maki ran away and it was useless to try to explain it to them. They would eventually find out about Nico and Maki's not so secret secret anyway.
After everyone packed up and left Nozomi crept down to the music room and peaked through the door ever so slightly. What she saw was a spectacular sight that she knew all too well from her experience with a certain Russian girl. The details will be omitted since there have been reported cases of fatal blood loss and the contraction of diabetes from eyewitnesses who have seen similar scenes.
Once Nico and Maki finished up Nozomi barged into the room. She was contemplating interrupting them in the middle of it but she decided that doing so would be kind of rude considering that the couple just had a fight. She also had the idea of video taping them and showing it to them afterwards but in the end she concluded that just watching them was good enough for her.
"Gah! Nozomi, what are you doing here!?", yelled a not so pleasantly surprised Maki.
"I'm just checking on you two. Is everything patched up now?"
"Uh...w-what?...h-how did you?...", stuttered Maki who had a little too much stimulation for the day, both mentally and physically, to answer the question.
"I'll be blunt here. Nozomi, how much did you see?", asked Nico who was more composed at the moment than the composer was.
"Stupid Nico-chan!", was all Maki was able to say before she went into shock for the second time today. Nozomi swore that she could see visible steam coming from the red-head's ears as she practically fainted into Nico's arms.
"Enough to make me satisfied.", said Nozomi with a perverted grin.
"What's that suppose to mean!?", growled the furious Nico-ni as she sat down on the floor and carefully placed Maki's head onto her lap so the poor kid could recover. Nico's motherly instincts were still kicking in even though she was this angry.
"Who knows?", replied Nozomi as she started to walk away.
"Hey, you better not have done what I think you did while you where watching!", shouted Nico.
"And what would that be Nicochi?", trolled Nozomi.
"You know damn well what I mean!"
"I don't. Would you please tell me Nicochi?"
At this point Nico was playing with Maki's hair just like how Maki herself does when she's nervous.
"Ugh, what am I gonna do with you...You were...you were...damn, I can't say it.", cried Nico.
"Nicochi, how are you embarrassed about saying a single word when you were just "doing it" with Maki-chan, and at school of all places?", asked Nozomi in a teasing manner.
"Stupid Nozomi!", was the last thing Nico said before she collapsed due to the combination of the day's stress and Nozomi's final blows. Both tsunderes were now K'Oed on the floor.
"Oops, I think I broke the foolish lovers."
