Reunion [NicoMaki]
Summary: Maki had been overseas for her medical studies and returned to Japan and Nico is now an idol (Super Idol). Nico and Maki coincidentally bumped into each other in the streets of Akiba one afternoon when Nico was being chased by a mob of her fans in the middle of her private time and she was trying to escape from them. From there, Nico grabs the confused Maki asking her to shelter her until the chaos settled down. At Maki's apartment, Nico and Maki starts to catch up on the things they missed about one another.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Running with ragged breath, Nico was soon reaching her limits.
"Ugh! Stop following already!" Nico shouted as she continued her escape from the crowd of crazy fans following closely behind her. She thought she would be able to get rid of them but as she passed each road, the crowd just got larger and things were getting chaotic.
Slipping her hand into the pocket of the jacket, Nico took out her phone and immediately dialled her Manager's number. After a few dial tones the called connected and as she keep her attention to the closing crowd behind her she explained the situation in a hurry. Though at the speed of her running, her words weren't coming out quite in full sentence and she was getting a little panicky over it. But thanks to the sharpness of her manager, she managed to get a grasp of the situation, telling Nico to try her best and lose the crowd while she would be sending assistance in about 5 minutes. '
Ending the call, Nico locked her phone and slipped back in her pocket before she concentrated on losing the crowd once again.
After about a minute Nico found herself struggling to catch her breath, her vision getting blur as each second passed by.
"Ghh… Gaaaaaah!" Nico started screaming as she squeezed out all her strength as she continued running ahead until she collided into something – or rather someone.
"Ugh!" Slamming head first then she rebounded from the impact, landing on her butt; closing her eyes, she embraced the impact. "Owwww! Who the hell -" Looking up as she complained, her eyes widened at the sight of a familiar face – one she haven't seen for years.
It was Maki.
Thinking that it couldn't be possible - as of her knowledge the redhead had went overseas to complete her medical studies – Nico blinked twice in a failed attempt to wake up from what she thought was an "illusion".
"Maki-chan!" Nico shouted, pointing a finger at Maki and immediately standing up.
"Nico-chan…?" Maki looked confused as she rubbed her head, sitting seated on the ground.
"Nico-chan, please give me an autograph!"
"Nico-chan, shake hands with me!"
"Nico-chan –"
Shoot! They caught up!
Hearing mixed voices Nico shot her head back and saw crowd, knowing that it was the end.
However, as she braced herself for the passionate fans, a blinding light shined and a van stopped in front of her. Noticing that it was probably the help sent by her manager, she sighed in relief. Then, with a swift turn, Nico approached Maki, helping her up.
"Ah… Thank you," suddenly Maki felt like she was being pulled and realised that Nico was already heading somewhere, dragging her along. "Nico-chan? Where are we going?" She tried to free herself but the grip on her wrist was tight and wouldn't budge. Maki wouldn't have thought that Nico who possessed such a small built would have this much strength in her – until this moment.
Maki tried to match Nico's pace and found a comfortable one that didn't had her being dragged by Nico and getting her wrist hurt.
"…When did you return?" Still holding onto Maki's wrist, Nico suddenly spoke.
"Last week…?" Maki was uncertain with her answer as Nico didn't seem to be in a great mood from the way she was acting. She hadn't planned to be meeting Nico this early and her heart sure wasn't ready. "Where are we going?" They had been walking for quite a distance but Nico didn't seem to be stopping any time soon.
"Your home." Nico simply replied, still focused on the path ahead of her.
"H-huh?!" From the shock Maki had paused causing Nico to also stop in her track when she realised the redhead didn't budge from her pull.
"What?" Maki heard a sigh from Nico. "Do you have a problem?" Turning around, Nico raised a brow, her expression showing obvious displeasure. Nico had yet to let go of the redhead's wrist and it was the first time they had met eyes for the day. Instinctively, Maki averted her eyes, a blush slowly forming on her cheeks.
She hasn't change much.
A smile formed on her lips and Nico had a frown on her face. "What are you smiling at? Well, whatever." Brushing the little distraction away, Nico turned back in front before she continued. "Like I've said, we'll be heading to your house. You'll be leading the way from here."
-x-x-x-x-x-
Nico had released her wrists when they arrived at Maki's house – Maki's rented apartment to be exact.
"Why are we here?" Nico was showing obvious displeasure once again, realising that it wasn't the place she remembered it to be. She was tapping her foot impatiently, with Maki at her door, busying unlocking it.
"Why else? It's "my home"." Maki replied monotonously, pushing the door open as it unlocked.
Still not pleased, Nico grumbled as she made her way into the hallway, taking her shoes off then following Maki's lead. Upon entering the living room, she settled herself on the couch as Maki switched on the lights before she headed to the kitchen.
Minutes later she returned with two cups of coffee before she sat down on the couch, leaning back into it. As she sipped her coffee she stole glances at Nico who seemed to be struggling on the idea of drinking or not drinking the cup of coffee offered to her.
"I've made it extra sweet for you." Maki said as she placed her coffee on the table then crossing her arms over chest. "You can't take bitter things, can you?"
From the comment, Nico's eyebrow twitched and she took the cup of coffee into her hands gulping it down inelegantly. Slamming the cup down on the table, Nico retorted. "It doesn't matter, does it? Now, you are going to be spilling everything."
"About?"
Grinding her teeth together, Nico was at her limit – Maki was trying to annoy her, thinking that she could avoid the serious talk by doing that. However, it would have worked if it was the past Nico. Smirking to herself, Nico cleared her throat. "Maki-chan, a trick like that won't work this time. All these years, I too, have matured." Pointing to her chest, causing Maki to raise her brow questionably looking up at her face then her chest repeatedly and Nico quickly corrected herself. "W-wait. I meant emotionally, okay? So stop giving me that look!" Clearing her throat once more, Nico turned serious. "Why didn't you tell me that you were leaving that time?"
"It doesn't matter anymore now, does it?" Maki said, as monotonous as ever.
"It does!" Nico shouted, clenching her fists together. "It does! It was the day I debuted and you promised to come to cheer on me didn't you! Why didn't you come?" Nico squeezing her eyes shut, trying to contain the emotions that were about to burst from the years she had kept them in.
"You are doing fine as an idol now, aren't you? That's all you –"
*slam*
The lid of the bottled up emotions came off and all her anger came gushing out, Nico had slammed hard on the table, scaring the redhead slightly. "Be honest already won't you! Stop dodging all my questions with your own!"
Gritting her teeth, Maki couldn't retort; Nico was right, why couldn't she just be honest and fess up? She hadn't grown one bit since back then. She was still the same old coward who couldn't be honest with herself. And because of that, she lost her love.
"I –" Maki started, her fists tight against the hem of her skirt, the calm and cool stature collapsing as each second ticked by. She was determined to be honest this time, this one time. "I didn't want you to lose your dream. You had finally managed to get a chance to debut as an idol, I didn't want to ruin your dream career. If the press media had found out that we were in a relationship, there's no way you would get out of it unscathed! You future as an idol could be ruined!" In one huge breath, Maki confessed.
She did it. She had fessed up. It wasn't that difficult was it? Just how stupid she was to be keeping everything to herself instead of sharing her troubles with Nico. Didn't she choose to put her trust in her when they starting dating back then? It was a foolish move, a past regret that she could never fix.
And by the looks of how stunned Nico was, she was probably utterly disappointed in Maki. However, she was ultimately wrong. Nico had refreshed looked on her face and that confused the redhead.
"Nico-chan…?"
"I finally got a proper answer from you." Sitting back down on the couch, Nico grinned.
"H-huh?" Maki tilted her head to the side, trying her best to get hold of the situation but she couldn't. "W-wait. What was all that about? Explain yourself!"
Sliding down on the chair Nico clicked her tongue and folded her arms. "You're dense! I'm saying that everything fine."
"What IS fine? You had an outburst moments ago telling me to fess up and the look your face was dead serious! What was ALL that about?"
Waving her hands dismissively, Nico puffed out some air. "I'm saying what happened in the past is done and there's no use crying over spilt milk. Can't you even figure that out, Maki-chan?" a smirk was evident on her face and the mocking tone she was using ticked Maki off.
"Then that was all an act?" Maki could feel her face heat up in both anger and embarrassment; if it was an act that the way she acted wasn't necessary. Just remembering it made her angrier and she was prepared to return it two folds to Nico any chance she gets.
"Yea." Nico couldn't help but snicker as she recalled how serious Maki was moments ago, thinking how cute she was even then. "Could it be… Nico's acting was so great that you believed it?"
"You-" Maki was glaring daggers at the older girl, trying not to get riled up by such cheap tricks.
"I was an idiot to believe that Nico-chan of all people would matured over the past few years!" Maki thought to herself.
"Maki-chan," Nico blowed into Maki's ears as she sneaked beside her, causing the redhead to shiver and blush from the proximity. "Welcome back." She whispered sweetly into Maki's ears.
Freezing up from the sudden intimate contact, Maki took a few seconds before she recovered.
"I'm home, Nico-chan." Maki said, smiling from the bottom of her heart.
Even though the older girl was irritating, she couldn't help but feel happy being close to her. It was something she had missed the whole time she was overseas - the older girl had occupied her mind.
She was completely in love with her and she had wanted to try again – having a relationship with Nico.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Stretching her arms, Nico felt rejuvenated – a bath after all that sweating from the running she did earlier made her feel more alive.
"Maki-chan ~" Nico called out to the redhead, in the bedroom.
"…What?" Maki replied coldly; actually she was pretty nervous on the inside. The fact that Nico was in the bath in her HOME made her heart beat faster.
"Could you lend me some clothes? I wouldn't want to be wearing those clothes that reek of sweat after a bath." Nico cringed a little from the thought of it.
After digging through the pile of clothes she had, Maki found something suitable for Nico - though it was likely to be too big for the older girl –. She walked into the bathroom and there was Nico's outstretched arm. She passed it to her then went back out of the bathroom.
Sitting down by her bed, Maki surfed the net on her phone as she waited for Nico to get out of bath.
It got pretty dark outside after all the chatting they did for hours to catch up with one another. Maki had told Nico about her experiences overseas and the fact that she quitted the piano even as a hobby while Nico told her all about her idol live and some details about the other members of Muse. It seemed that Nozoeli had become quite the sappy couple, Rinpana being as friendly as ever, KotoUmi having a really stand-still relation and Honoka in a happy relationship with Tsubasa who quitted A-rise after graduating from high school and going on a solo career.
Maki fidgeted around with her phone, becoming startled by the sudden the ringing of a phone. Looking around, Maki searched for the source of the sound and found Nico's phone on her side-table. Staring at the phone intently, Maki hoped for the ringtone to die down but after the first call ended, the phone rung again.
Twitching her eyebrows, Maki was tempted to answer the call even though that would mean that it was an invasion of privacy.
Just as she was about to pick up the phone – throwing away all her hesitation – the bathroom door slid open and Nico walked out of it, humming a melody unknown to her.
"Maki-chan?" Nico raised her brow at Maki whose hand was frozen half way in the air. "What are you doing in that weird pose?"
"N-nothing!"
Maki quickly retracted her hands and went back to fidgeting with her phone – but she was giving Nico glances and the older girl could totally feel her eyes following her.
Ignoring the strange reaction from Maki, the older girl picked up her phone upon realising the LED flashing and unlocked her phone to see two missed calls. Swiping the screen, Nico returned the call and tapped her foot, waiting for the call to connect.
Once the line was connected, Maki realised Nico was narrowing her eyes further and further until... "I'm fine alright! Stop nagging already! I'm staying over at Maki-chan's place till morning, you can pick me up tomorrow."
Taking the phone off her ears, Nico quickly ended the call, her shoulders slumping in relief.
It was until seconds later that Nico walked over to Maki's side and sat down beside her on the floor. With a confused expression, the redhead was looking at her in hopes that the older girl would give her an explanation over what just happened.
"Just my dumb manager. Nothing for you to worry about."
"Right. So what's the about staying over at my place?"
"It's precaution. Just a precaution." Taking the towel from her shoulders, Nico started drying off her hair. "It's not like I want to spend the night with you after missing you for a long time or something. Don't get the wrong idea." From the corner of her eyes, Nico could see the redhead turning red and she gave a smirk.
The next morning quickly came and Nico left straight after breakfast, meeting her manager right at the door and was dragged away. As pathetic as the sight seems, Nico was an idol – a very famous one at that.
Returning to the living room, Maki plopped down onto the couch, unlocking her phone and staring at it; her wallpaper was that of Nico sleeping face – a normal one, not with the nico nico ni pose she always did - which she managed to get a sneak picture of in the morning since she had woken up earlier than the idol.
Smiling to herself, Maki was contented with spending the night with Nico. Though it was only but a start of their new relationship – or was it?
Hm? Come to think of it… After all that talk we had… she never mentioned anything about US.
-x-x-x-x-x-
A/N: I got a sudden inspiration to write about NicoMaki at 2 am last night and this is the result of it. Nothing much really happens – despite having 2500 words - and the story didn't turn out like I wanted it to. The content is turns pretty… angst? - I wonder what's the right word – near the middle. Well, I could only blame myself for being rusty at writing after a huge period of writer's block and stuff. Hope you enjoy it… a little at least?
Okay, enough of depressing moments. I tend to get depressed much although anime do cheer me up a great deal so no worries!
I've recently decided to post my stories too on tumblr (maybe not all, some) but well, feel free to check it out at - devotedtowmatsui.
Thanks for reading!