Honoka: Hey guys!
Nico: Why are we here?
Well... Still remember the UmiRin Valentine's Day story and lychee-ran wanted to know more about the other pairings?
Honoka: Oh yeah! So it's all about my romantic encounters with Nico-chan right?
Nico: Yeah right...
Romantic my ass. Any story featuring you won't be as romantic as you wish to be.
Honoka: Eeeeeeeeeeeeh?! Why not?!
Nico: Cause she said so.
Yeah. Anyways, this is the HonoNico side to 'Don't Worry, Love's On The House!'.
Honoka: Alright! Enya-chan doesn't own Love Live!
XXXXXX
"Haa... I swear, you really don't care about them do you?" A raven-haired woman sighed to a gravestone. Besides her, three young children were staring blankly at the gravestone.
"Mama, is Papa with us?" A girl not older than nine asked, surveying her surroundings in an attempt to see her late father.
"Maybe. He loved you three very much so he may drop by to check on you... Be sure to be on your best behaviour, especially you Kotaro." The woman's ruby eyes dropped towards a very young boy who was playing with a stick.
"Don't worry Mama, Kokoa and I will help you around the house! So cheer up!" The girl said maturely.
"Kokoro is right! Don't worry about us! C'mon Kotaro, let's go home." Kokoa held Kotaro's hand and led him down the hill.
"I'll get a job, so you guys won't have to worry about bills and food." The woman muttered to herself as she led Kokoro downhill.
XXXXXX
"Ah! Kokoro-chan! Good evening~" A ginger-haired woman greeted cheerfully.
"Honoka-chan! Good evening." Kokoro bowed to show respect for her neighbour.
"Where's your mother? I rang the doorbell just now but no one was in. By the way, I haven't see your father lately, he sure is busy huh?" Honoka scratched her head while grinning, unaware of the gravity of her words.
"Mama's working. Papa went to heaven last week so he is very free." Kokoro briefly replied before unlocking the entrance.
"O-Oh. Sorry to hear that... Are you guys coping well? Since Nico-chan's out and all..." Honoka trailed off, aware that the atmosphere has gotten awkward.
"Yeah, Kokoa's fetching Kotaro. I'm gonna make dinner so when Mama comes home she can eat." Honoka was about to reply but was cut off by Kokoa's greeting in the distance.
"Good evening. Done babysitting?" She asked Honoka who was now looking away sheepishly.
"Actually they kinda fired me... Said something about burning the kitchen when attending to their baby... Ehehe..."
"Bad carer~" Kotaro slurred out, not bothering to mince his words.
"You sure are improving with your vocabulary!" Honoka complimented, choosing to ignore the hurtful comment.
"Would you like to come inside? I'm sure you can help with making dinner. Well... Probably..." Kokoa asked, trying to make Honoka feel a bit better after messing up her job despite the babysitter being terrible at cooking.
"Sure. Let's start!"
"Okay then, please don't burn the kitchen... Mama will kill me." Kokoro dryly pleaded, slightly traumatised by a similar incident where she witnessed Honoka setting her own kitchen on fire.
"Geez, I'm not gonna burn your kitchen like how I did with the 42 others!"
"Kokoa, bring Kokoro to a safe place. I'll handle this pyromaniac." Kokoro took a defensive stance.
"Got it. Be careful." Kokoa grabbed Kotaro and brought him to a bedroom.
"Is there really a need to overreact?!" Honoka cried out while accidentally burning the fish inside the frying pan.
XXXXXX
"I'm back! How's your day?" Nico called out to her children. She was met with a reply, though not from who she expected.
"Terrible~ I got fired again! Nico-chan!" Honoka immediately burst out from the kitchen and hugged Nico's small frame.
"Uweeeeeh?! Kosaka-san, why the hell are you here?! And why is there smoke coming out from the kitchen?!" Nico exclaimed, pointing to the smoke coming out from the kitchen.
"Don't worry Mama. Honoka-chan burnt the food just now... She didn't set our kitchen on fire... yet." Kokoro came out of the kitchen, a frying pan containing burnt fish laid on it.
"O-Okay... Where's Kokoa and Kotaro?"
"Apparently Kokoa-chan brought Kotaro-kun to a 'safe' place where he won't be in danger. I'm not dangerous! Right Nico-chan?!" Honoka shook Nico until she felt sick to her stomach.
"Tell it to the other kitchens you burnt! Anyways, why are you here?! You still haven't answered this question!" Nico asked again, slightly impatient as she was looking forward to having her dinner.
"Ah! I was invited by Kokoa-chan to come in! Can I sleep over today?" Honoka cheerily replied, to which she earned a smack from Nico.
"What the heck?! Eat your shitty piece of charcoal and go back!" Nico puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.
"Eeeeeh?! Fine..." Honoka dejectedly went towards the pan of burnt fish and gulped in down, miraculously not choking on the fish. "See ya tomorrow..."
"Wait wait wait! You actually took that seriously?! You can stay, tell us if you feel sick later. That fish tastes quite nasty right?" Nico sighed, patting the taller woman's head.
"R-Really?! Yahoo~"
"Kokoa! Kotaro! Dinner's edible!" Kokoro called out, a signal which immediately brought the other two siblings to the table.
"Honoka-chan didn't burn it?" Kokoa asked in disbelief.
"Burner~" Kotaro pointed a finger at the ginger-haired woman.
"She did. She's staying over again so try not to let her burn anything down..." Nico informed her children.
"Shouldn't you tell them to behave themselves?! What do you mean by burning stuff?!" Honoka retorted, slightly peeved at Nico's instruction.
"Kosaka-san, you are aware that you act as childish as them right?" Nico replied, chewing on a piece of half-burnt meat. "And did you touch this piece of meat?!"
"Sorta for both...? Ehehe..."
"Play~" Kotaro slurred, looking at Honoka.
"Yeah! Let's play later!" Kokoa agreed. "Sis, what about you?"
"Hmm... I'll pass, I still have to do the housework. You three enjoy." Kokoro replied.
"Kokoro, go enjoy yourself. I'll get Kosaka-san to do it later."
"Uweeeeeh?! Why?"
"For burning my meat." The three children laughed at their mother's retort and Honoka's reaction to it.
XXXXXX
"That was tiring..." Honoka sighed as she collapsed to the ground.
"Good work Kosaka-san. Thanks for helping out, go sleep in my futon." Nico replied, not looking away from the computer screen.
"Aren't you gonna sleep? Anyways, we've been neighbours for five freaking years! Call me by my name already!" Honoka complained, now with a more serious expression on her face.
"No. Regarding your name, I would prefer it if there was some distance between us. Don't take it personally." Nico's gaze averted away from the monitor and towards Honoka.
"Is it because I'm always setting things on fire?"
"Not at all. Now go to sleep."
"I feel bad for sleeping here... How should I pay you rent?"
"Focus on paying your own. You can barely pay yours."
"But I have to!"
"... Fine. Babysit my kids and I'll let you stay here as often and as long as you want."
"That's easy, I can do it!"
"You sure?"
"Don't worry, I'm a babysitter!" Honoka struck a heroic pose to prove her point. Unfortunately for her, the only reaction from Nico was one of skepticism.
"Just don't burn my kitchen... Oh and being a babysitter has nothing to do with whatever you've just said."
XXXXXX
"Kotori-chaaaaan! How are you doing?" Honoka jumped on to a grey-haired woman's back.
"Honoka-chan! I'm good, you?" Kotori chuckled slightly before moving away from Honoka.
"Eh, not so good. But better than Umi-chan! She's now a NEET!"
"She's actually working... Never mind her, what's wrong?" Kotori expertly brushed Honoka's remark aside and asked about Honoka's life.
"I'm blacklisted. People are saying on the Internet that I'm a lousy babysitter! Only Nico-chan is willing to hire me but I don't get money..." Honoka sighed as she explained her situation.
"I'm sure it'll be better soon. How does she look like anyway? Neither me nor Umi-chan has any opportunity to meet her..." Kotori consoled Honoka for her plight.
"Well for starters she kinda short... Nico-chan has these blood red eyes and has black hair... What else...? Ah! She had her shotgun wedding at 17-oof!" Honoka was smacked by a book.
"Do you have to tell her that?! Geez..." Nico sighed to herself before throwing the book at Honoka.
"Ow! My head!" Honoka rubbed her head due to it being sore from the impact.
"Serve you right for saying that!" Nico snapped. "Sorry to interrupt uh..."
"Minami. Kotori Minami, it's nice to finally meet you!" Kotori introduced herself, extending her hand. Nico accepted her hand to shake, a smile on her face.
"It's nice to meet you too Minami-san. Where are you headed to?"
"Kotori-chan and I planned to head over to Umi-chan's house!" Honoka burst out, already recovering from Nico's impact.
"Yeah! Would you like to join us Nico-san?" Kotori asked.
"Sure, I still have two hours before picking Kokoro up..."
"Oh yeah! I've totally forgotten about them!" Honoka exclaimed, her head buried in her hands. Nico sighed while Kotori let out a small chuckle.
"Shall we head over to Umi-chan's house?"
XXXXXX
"Woah... You mean Umi-san lives in a house THIS big?!" Nico gaped in both awe and envy.
"Umi-chan was brought up in a traditional family, so it's natural for her house to be big." Kotori explained, ringing the doorbell. Moments later, a blue-haired woman opened the gates.
"You guys are finally here. Who's this?"
"Hehe! Meet Nico-chan, my very awesome and reliable neighbour!" Honoka grandly introduced with exaggerated hand gestures.
"It's nice to meet you, my name's Nico Yazawa." Nico bowed towards Umi.
"I'm Umi Sonoda, Honoka's and Kotori's friend. Please do come in." Umi led the three woman into a room with a view of the koi pond before leaving the room to get refreshments.
"Woah! The pond's not stagnant at all!" Honoka exclaimed, noting down that Umi wasn't that much of a NEET since she had to go out in order to clean the pond.
"I don't want to know what's going through your mind. Anyways Nico-san, I'm terribly sorry if Honoka has been imposing on you..." Umi apologised, setting down a cup of tea for each of them.
"Umi-chan, don't be mean~" Kotori defended Honoka but the look on Kotori's face betrayed her words to defend Honoka. "Anyway Nico-san, what do you work as? We are interested in you as Honoka-chan always have things to say about you every time we meet."
"Me?! Uh... I'm actually a librarian at the local library... Not much job options to choose from since I graduated without going to college..." Nico trailed off, remembering the time when she found out about Kokoro.
"I see... How is Honoka? We don't exactly meet up a lot so I'm wondering if you could fill us in...?" Umi asked, shooting a glance at Honoka who was busy chasing a butterfly in the garden like a five year old.
"Honestly, she's probably in deep trouble. She's barely able to pay rent for her house, her babysitting turns out to be a Honoka-sitting and the fact that she burnt quite a number of kitchens makes her life even... Well you get the idea." Nico sighed. Kotori and Umi looked at Nico with utter disbelief as they processed Nico's observations.
"I-Is that really true...?" Kotori was the first one to speak up, concern etched on her face.
"Yup, I live from day to day." Nico affirmed, her eyes shifting into a disgruntled look. "Why? What do your faces mean?"
"Well Nico-san... Though we know about her babysitting problems we didn't expected it to be THIS bad. And she can barely pay her rent? Urgh... I knew we should have made her live with me..." Umi groaned, oblivious about Honoka standing right behind her.
"Why? What's wrong?!" Nico asked, as though she was interrogating a suspect.
"Hmm... I shouldn't really be telling you this but... Her family died 5 years ago and Honoka-chan was left with many debts. She sold her house and her family's Japanese sweet shop which gave her enough money to pay the debts. However since she doesn't have a place to live Umi-chan proposed that Honoka-chan move in with her which she declined..." Kotori explained, unaware of Honoka's presence nor her darkening expression.
"But she had rented the apartment beside mine! Wait, how come it doesn't show on her face?!" Nico pressed on.
"Cause I don't want to bother anyone about my problems!" Honoka suddenly shouted, raw anger evident on her face. The three women turned around to face Honoka, a shocked expression on their faces.
"Yeah, I know I'm in a slump. I know I'm out of a job and I'm gonna kicked out soon. But that doesn't mean you can blab my messed up life to others nor does it mean I need your bloody charity! Know what?! I give up!" Honoka ran out of Umi's house, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"H-Honoka! Wait! Oh god damn it..." Umi massaged her temples, trying to calm herself down.
"Aaaaah! This is terrible! W-What if she tries to do 'that' again?!" Kotori panicked.
"You two, calm down! What do you mean by 'that'?" Nico slammed a fist on the table, silencing Kotori.
"Suicide. Honoka has a record of committing suicide and judging by her choice of words earlier... I think she's going to kill herself again." Umi cast a downward glance, not looking Nico in the eye.
"What?! Oh shit. What time is it?!" Nico searched for a clock but to no avail. Before she could murder anyone, Kotori informed her of the time.
"5.45 pm. Is there anything- Oh wait, you mentioned that you need to pick a Kokoro up..."
"Shit shit shit... If I save Honoka, Kokoro will be waiting for me for a long time. If I go back with Kokoro first, who knows if Honoka..." Nico stopped, not wanting to think about what would happen if the latter came true.
"I'll go pick up Kokoro. Where is she?" Umi offered, panic shown on her face.
"The local elementary. If possible, follow her back to my apartment and take care of my kids. I'll go find that idiot right now." Nico dashed off with Umi following suit.
"I hope Nico-san can help Honoka-chan..." Kotori said to no one before chasing after Umi.
XXXXXX
"Oh man... Where the hell is that idiot?! God damn it... Don't tell me..." Nico dashed towards Honoka's apartment, hoping that Honoka didn't loop a noose around her neck. Before she could attempt to ram down the door, she heard noises coming from her own apartment.
"Ahaha! Honoka-chan, you're quite good with kids!" Kokoro remarked.
"Surprise~" Kotaro's voice slurred out.
"Honoka! There you are!" Nico unlocked the door to her apartment and burst in.
"Ah Mama! Honoka-chan picked Sis up and us too! She even bought dinner!" Kokoa informed, a grin plastered on her face.
"Ehehe~ You finally called me by my name!" Honoka grinned, a tear falling out of her eye.
"You. My room. Now." Nico curtly ordered before heading to her room with Honoka following suit. Once they were in the privacy of Nico's room, a slap was delivered across Honoka's right cheek.
"Ow! What do you do that for?!"
"You bloody idiot! Suddenly running off and threatening to commit suicide! Your friends are freaking worried about you and-" Nico's rants were silenced by a kiss from Honoka.
"I did want to commit suicide Nico-chan. But as I ran, I thought about you and the kids. You guys make my life more colourful than anything I had before. Yeah, I know I'm hopeless and just a depressed woman who turns to suicide just to solve her problems. But..." Honoka sucked in a breath as she composed herself to say her next line.
"I'm still a woman in love Nico-chan! And a woman in love will put herself above her own problems. That's why-" It was Honoka's turn to be silenced by a kiss.
"I get it already Honoka. However, I want to stabilise my career before diving into romance again. Wait for me okay? I promise, I'll be you knight in shining armour one day." Nico promised, crossing her heart out of habit from promising with her kids.
"Really? Then I better start working again to secure the kiddos! I'll wait Nico-chan. I'll wait till the end of time. No, make that until you get over Kyo-san..." Honoka replied, bringing Nico's hands into hers. It would be a touching (and cheesy since both spouted some weird confessions) scene if it was devoid of three hungry children interrupting that moment.
"Mama... Are you done yet? We're hungry!"
"Ah! Coming coming!"
XXXXXX
"Let me get this straight, you ran off and tried to commit suicide but instead decided to pick up Nico-san's kids?!" Umi questioned, a dark aura forming around her.
"U-Umi-chan!" Kotori cried out, trying to prevent a disaster from happening.
"Yes I did. It's irresponsible of me and I'm fully aware of it." Honoka admitted, a look of guilt flashing across her face.
"Glad that you know it. Anyways, how did your inappropriate question go about?" A look of confusion appeared on Honoka's face, not fully comprehending Umi's question.
"I told Umi-chan about your crush on Nico-san!" Kotori chirped, beaming happily.
"Well... I guess I got a happy end. Hey Kotori-chan, is there any of your students that need babysitting? I could use some cash since my apartment doesn't cost much..." Honoka scratched her head, making her hair messier than before.
"I think I could ask around. Where are you staying at?"
"Nico-chan's! She allowed me to live with her!"
"That's nice and all. Now can we just drop the topic of romance?! Geez... I still can't believe that you got an answer even though it was at a bad time..." Umi sighed, taking out her phone before grimacing. "I hate her..."
"Okay okay! Contact me once you have an opportunity! See ya!" Honoka left the cafe, leaving Umi and Kotori behind.
"You think Nico-san is a good match with Honoka? I mean, she doesn't seem like the type who would go well with Honoka..." Umi asked, her eyes going back to Kotori's.
"I'm positive Umi-chan. Honoka-chan is always happier when she's talking about Nico-san." Kotori affirmed, silently happy for Honoka's change in life.
"Then that's great. Let's have a girlfriend-less party later, drinks are on me."
"Sorry Umi-chan, I'm going out with my sister." Seeing the horrified look on Umi's face, she clarified her rejection. "I meant we wanted to hang out afterwards as a sisterly thing. Our moms just got married you know."
"That's a relief... I thought I'll be the only one left on the shelf..."
"You aren't disgusted by the possibility that I'm committing pseudo-incest with Maki-chan?"
"She's a good girl plus so long as you're happy, whoever you go out with is fine."
"I see! See you around Umi-chan!" With that, Kotori left the cafe.
"Maybe Eli will hang out with me..." Umi sighed before taking out her hand phone to call Eli.
XXXXXX
There were many people in Akihabara doing their last minute Christmas shopping, including a single mother of three kids and girlfriend to a particularly hopeless babysitter. Despite being cold, Nico still went on shopping, in hopes of finding a perfect present for the four people she hold dearest to her heart. Eventually, she did find something for all four of them and a little something for Kotori and Umi since they assisted her in finding Honoka (sort of) a few months back. With a sigh, Nico went back to her apartment and opened it, not expecting being tackled by her three children.
"Welcome back Mama!" Kokoro greeted, hugging her mother's petite frame.
"Merry Christmas!" Kokoa said, getting off her mother's body.
"Present~" Kotaro slurred, being straight to the point as usual which Nico didn't mind. She ruffled his hair before standing up to greet her girlfriend.
"I'm home Honoka, how's the kid?" Nico asked, wondering if the child that Honoka was supposed to babysit was fine. Thankfully, Honoka replied with positive results.
"Yeah! I had Umi-chan and her pity buddy to help me take care of that rascal!" Honoka pecked Nico on her cheek before leading her towards the living room where Umi and a blond-haired woman were seated.
"Merry Christmas Nico. This is Eli, I hope that we aren't overstaying our welcome..." Umi introduced the blond-haired woman, Eli, to Nico.
"Good evening Nico. Nozomi and Kotori were busy so we couldn't invite them." Eli said, holding out a box that seemed to be a Christmas present.
"We brought presents for you and your children. We hope you like it." Umi explained, holding out a sack of presents, one each for the Yazawa family. "You know her?"
"Yup, met her through Nozomi." Eli replied, giving out a present to Kokoro.
"Both of you are so nice! Thank you very much!" Kokoro exclaimed, grateful for the presents Eli and Umi bought for them.
"Scary lady's nice~" Kotaro slurred before picking up the present from Eli's hands.
"I apologise for his bluntness..."
"It's fine." Eli picked up a pink box wrapped with a black ribbon and gave it to Nico. "Your present."
"Thanks Eli. Since you guys are here, want to join us for dinner? I left some leftovers which aren't exactly leftovers from yesterday's dinner..." Nico asked which Umi nodded. This question however, perplexed Eli.
"... Why is it not considered leftovers if it was from yesterday's dinner...?"
"Cause should Honoka burn anything, we still have those leftovers as emergency rations."
"Yeah! They're our rations!" Kokoa quipped in, still overjoyed in receiving her present.
"Speaking of which... Why hasn't Honoka said anything...?" Umi asked. Five heads turned to Honoka, who was being consoled by Kotaro.
"Nico-chan forgot about me... Umi-chan and Ms 'Playgirl who can't get a date' didn't get me anything and Nico-chan still hates me for burning stuff..." Honoka sobbed. Kotaro sympathetically patted her head while muttering some consolations, the longest sentence he has ever uttered.
"S'kay... Scary lady and blue lady don't have Mama, you have Mama." Nico froze and turned to look back at Eli and Umi. What greeted her was a dark aura enveloping around the duo, scaring Kokoro and Kokoa.
"... I'm sorry for not getting a date despite being so charismatic..."
"That boy of yours sure has a vast vocabulary..."
"Urk... Someone get them to a safe place!" The two sisters immediately dragged Honoka and their brother off to a safe place while Nico tried to diffuse their growing anger. After 15 minutes, Nico had successfully diffused the single duo's anger.
"Uh... So can we come out and eat the food? I'm starving." The root of the problem asked, not realising that she was the cause of the problem.
XXXXXX
It was currently Valentine's Day and love was in the air. Ever since the day their love for each other was revealed, they have gotten more comfortable with each other. One notable example is Nico adding a 'chan' after Honoka's name.
"Hey Honoka-chan! Pass me the damn eggs!" A raven-haired woman shouted at Honoka, who was busy ransacking the cupboards for the eggs.
"Where are the eggs Nico-chan?!" Honoka cried out as she fell from the chair she was standing on to search for the eggs.
"In the fridge! Oh god damn it... Are you alright?" Nico asked worriedly, stopping what she was doing immediately to check on Honoka.
"I'm fine... I'm sorry that I can't help you with feeding your kids..." Honoka cried uncontrollably, making Nico soften her expression into one full of relief.
"That's okay... What's more important is that you're fine..." Nico cupped Honoka's cheek tenderly before leaning in to give a kiss. Unfortunately for Nico, one of her kids entered the kitchen.
"Mama! Kokoro and Kotaro found some cookies under the table so you don't have to cook for us! We feel bad that we're disrupting your time with Honoka-chan so please excuse me!" The little girl went back to where her siblings were, leaving the HonoNico duo stunned.
"Uh Nico-chan? Where did Kokoa learn all that?"
"Maybe when Kyo is still alive...? Either way, she's always the perspective one among those three so I wouldn't be that surprised..."
"I see... Shall we continue with the lunch?"
"Sure, if you're feeling fine..." Nico helped Honoka up before continuing with cooking. As Honoka knew that her cooking skills aren't as good as Nico's, she settled with helping out with grabbing ingredients and washing up later.
"Wait... What does she mean by 'disrupting'?! We weren't doing anything lewd!" Honoka asked, suddenly realising that Kokoa's sentence was illogical under their circumstances.
"Uh... She is already suspecting us... doing those activities... every night..." Nico trailed off, her face heating up. Before Honoka could say anything, a voice boomed throughout the kitchen.
"I KNEW IT! YOU TWO ARE F-" Kokoa was silenced by her elder sister, her mother and girlfriend gaping in horror.
"L-Language Kokoa! Anyway... E-Enjoy!" Kokoro hurriedly dragged her sister back to the living room, Kokoa kicking and protesting.
"Yeah... Perspective..." Nico uttered sheepishly, noticing a faint smell in the air. When she turned back to her food, she noticed Honoka touching it with a spatula.
"I swear I was only touching the bacon! I didn't expect it to combust into flames!" Honoka defended, not looking at the now burning bacon.
"You..."
"Um... I love you and Happy Valentine's Day?" Nico sighed before saying something she never failed to repeat every time Honoka attempted to cook.
"For the last time Honoka-chan... GET THE HELL OUT OF MY KITCHEN!"
With that, Honoka was kicked out of the kitchen, never again allowed to be in its premises unless it's for washing up.
XXXXXX
Honoka: Mu... I'm not THAT bad at cooking...
Nico: Enya knows that. She's just using you for humour.
Yup. Come to think about it, this is probably my first story that doesn't start off in a light-hearted manner...
Nico: I think it was okay. Just that your writing skills sucks.
Uh... Haha... That and there's some language that underaged readers shouldn't be picking up from... Mainly Nico's lines but still, don't be a pottymouth like our dear idol.
Nico: ... I resent that. And please remember that the suicide part is all made up.
That's right! It's all made up, nevertheless I apologise if it offends any of you readers some way.
Honoka: Whatever!
Nico: What do you mean 'whatever'?! This is a serious issue at hand here!
Uh... Please give some reviews and criticism on this story! Thanks for reading guys!