NicoRin
Nico and Rin sat before the TV, the former idly flipping channels as the latter sat awkwardly against the other arm of the couch. They were supposed to be watching a movie, but Maki and Hanayo were still getting snacks and it would have been rude to start without them. But for the sake of keeping their energy up, Nico had generously brought some hard candy, popping one in her mouth before offering another to Rin.
That had been ten minutes ago. Neither girl had said a word since.
From her spot, Rin spared a glance at Nico and silently sighed. They were supposed to be friends, but this wasn't an atmosphere of friendship. It was tense, charged with an undercurrent of something Rin couldn't quite identify. Rin didn't like it when things were this heavy.
She went to move the hard candy around in her mouth, but realized it had already melted away. An idea popped into her head.
"Hey, Nico-chan. I bet my tongue is bluer than yours."
"What? Are you serious? Geez, how much of a kid are you?"
Rin stuck out her tongue at the other girl. "Nya!"
Nico lolled her head over to look at Rin's tongue, and she scoffed. "Please! My tongue is way bluer than that!"
"Then prove it nya!"
"Bleh!' Nico stuck out her tongue.
"Nya!"
"Bleh!"
"NYA!"
"BLEH!"
"NYA!"
"BLEH!"
And the next thing they knew, they were kissing.
Their tongues were locked in a hot battle of dominance, breathing relegated to the back burner as they explored each other's mouths with abandon. Arms wrapped around one another in an embrace before hands began exploring bodies, both girls now on a quest to elicit the most moans from their partner.
In the back of their minds, Nico and Rin knew this was no 'proper' confession, but they didn't care. Here, locked in equal passion and affection, everything just felt right.
They were so engrossed in their kissing, neither heard the approaching steps of Maki and Hanayo until they were already in the room.
"Oh for fuck's sake," swore Maki in annoyance.
Nico and Rin broke their lip lock, hurriedly scrambling away from each other to opposite ends of the couch and trying to act like they hadn't just been trying to shove their tongues down each other's throat.
""She started it!"" they chorused, pointing accusatory fingers at each other.
Maki and Hanayo exchanged an exasperated glance and sighed.
Christmas Capers
"Hanayo."
The sound of her name being spoken caused the brunette to tense up, and she inadvertently tightened her grip on her favorite redhead before forcing herself to relax her muscles. She took in a deep, slow inhale of breath and did her best to remain passive.
"Hanayo, I know you're awake."
"No you don't," retorted Hanayo instinctively, before biting her lip in self chastisement.
Maki sighed. "What's this about?" she asked as the sounds of hushed whispers emanated from the living room. "What are Nico and Rin doing this time?"
Hanayo let out a disappointed huff in her failure to keep Maki distracted as she wrapped herself tighter around the redhead. If she couldn't keep Maki here through feigning sleep, maybe she could keep her in bed with force. "I don't know and I don't care. But I wanna stay here and cuddle some more," she replied.
The redhead raised an eyebrow, but before she could question it further, the alarm clock went off.
Quick as a flash, Hanayo leapt up and slammed her hand on the off button, before practically tackling Maki back to the bed. Maki could only stare blankly at the ceiling as the brunette burrowed into the crook of her neck.
"...Are you supposed to keep me here while Nico and Rin pretend to be Santa?" ventured Maki.
A squeak from Hanayo told her she was right on the money. "...No," denied the mousy woman anyway.
From the living room, a voice whisper-yelled, "You tied my finger to the present! Again!"
This was quickly followed by, "I'm sorry Nico-chan!"
"...Maybe," amended Hanayo. Maki only sighed. "I-It's not that Santa doesn't care," stuttered out Hanayo in an attempt to salvage the situation, "It's just that he's super busy this year so Nico-chan and Rin-chan decided to help him out."
"I know Santa isn't real," deadpanned Maki.
"Oh. Um... How did you know?"
"Before the four of us got together, Nico tried the exact same thing on her own. She almost set the apartment on fire," explained Maki. She let that sink in.
"...Oh," replied Hanayo.
"Also, mama and papa told me when I turned 18. It was the saddest day of my life."
The Cuddliest
"Kayo-chin is the cuddliest!" declared Rin suddenly as she threw herself into the brunette's arms.
Surprised, the catlike woman's girlfriends could only stare. "...What are you on about now?" asked Maki eventually.
Rin frowned but took it in stride, burrowing her face into the brunette's neck. "It's like I said. Between the four of us, Kayo-chin is the cuddliest!"
"R-Rin-chan!" stuttered Hanayo in embarrassment. "That's not true. I think you're cuddlier than I am."
"Excuse me?! No one can beat the amazing Nico-Nii when it comes to cuddles," sniffed Nico, mildly offended. "In fact..." She made a dramatic pose and pointed to Hanayo. "Hanayo, I challenge you to a cuddle off!" The before anyone could stop her, she glomped the brunette's back, eliciting a squeak.
"Nico-chan, where are you touching?!"
"Oh wow! Hanayo really is great for cuddling!" realized Nico as she made a few experimental grabs.
"I know, right?" crowed Rin in agreement. She too joined in on Nico's groping.
"Wha- Hey! Rin-chan! Nico-chan!" exclaimed Hanayo.
"Alright that's enough!" said Maki sternly as she pried the two off the mousy woman. Nico and Rin pouted, but didn't object.
Hanayo sighed in relief. "Thank you Maki-chan."
"Of course," nodded the redhead.
Then without further adieu, she pulled Hanayo in for her own cuddle.
In the end, they all agreed: Hanayo was the cuddliest.
(Not) Suffering in Silence
The sound of drilling filled the small apartment, once again causing Nico to crash her head against her arms and the counter top below in aggravation. She gave off a loud moan in suffering as she squirmed.
From the couch, Hanayo and Rin looked on in worry, clutching their School Idol Collection trading cards closer to their chests. Several seconds later, when the drilling stopped, Nico slowly raised her head and she returned to normal.
"Nico-chan?" asked Hanayo, "Are you okay?"
"No I'm not okay!" retorted Nico irritably. "All this drilling, hammering, and smashing is going to drive me insane!"
"But the renovation is all for a good cause though," said Hanayo diplomatically.
Nico scoffed. "Yeah, because Maki decided she'd rather live one floor up than find a bigger place to rent out. Seriously. We're already a week into this hell and these renovations won't be done until the end of the month! We have to live here, you know!"
"Actually," corrected Rin, "We have to live here," she said gesturing to herself and Hanayo. "You just have nowhere else to be."
The shortest girl raised a ladle at Rin threateningly. "Oi, don't sass the cook."
Rin only stuck out her tongue in response.
"Nico-chan, we all agreed this was the best way we could all live together," reminded the brunette.
"Yeah, but no one mentioned how disruptive this would be!" complained the ravenette. "I snuck up there just yesterday, and they haven't even started stripping the floors yet! Can you imagine how loud that's gonna be?"
"Did you have anything in mind then?" asked Hanayo.
"Actually yeah, I do." Nico turned to Maki, the redhead sitting on the other side of the room, reading peacefully beneath the light from the window. "Hey Maki, if you're rich enough to pay for a month's worth of renovations, why couldn't you get us some decent temp housing till the end of the month?"
The redhead didn't respond.
Rin and Hanayo exchanged glances while Nico looked on in annoyance, before the orange-haired catgirl stood and walked over.
"Maki-chan? Maki-chan!" Rin reached out and shook the redhead's shoulder.
Maki looked up and took out her earphones. "Yeah?" she asked nonchalantly. She frowned as the drilling started up yet again. "What is it?" she asked once it'd stopped.
"Hey! If you're going to have the entire top floor remodeled with us still living here instead of some temp housing, the least you could do is suffer with the rest of us!" snapped Nico.
"There's no point in us staying in temp housing if we don't need to. And why don't you just use the earplugs I got you?" retorted Maki.
"I tried. It turns out they're too good. I couldn't hear the tea kettle going off, and when I went to check on it half the water had already boiled off."
"That sounds more like a you problem."
"Oh dear," deadpanned Nico, "It looks like all our tomatoes are rotten and need to be thrown away."
Maki rolled her eyes. "Like you would waste food like that. Besides, I can always get more."
"Seriously?" snorted the ravenette. "The last time we went to the market I turned my back for two seconds and you were gone. I had to pick you up at the lost children's area."
Maki's blush was luminescent as she looked away. "...It was a good lollipop," she defended weakly.
"Oh!" said Rin as her eyes lit up in realization. "So that's why Nico-chan got you a bell collar!"
"Um, actually Rin-chan, that's a sex thing," corrected Hanayo.
The redhead couldn't help but sigh as Rin pondered the implications of that statement. "Look," she said, addressing Nico as she stood, "You're the one who's all about frugality, so us staying here during renovations is just me being thrifty. We can tolerate it, so we shouldn't have to pay to do anything about it. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go wash up before dinner." And with a hair flip of finality, she started towards the bathroom.
"Maki-chan," called Hanayo, "You can't use the bathroom right now. They shut off the water."
Maki froze. "...What?"
Beside the brunette, Rin nodded. "Yeah, we got a letter earlier today saying they needed to shut off the water until tomorrow, nya."
"Why else did you think I started cooking dinner at 2:30 in the afternoon?" scoffed Nico as she adjusted the stove's heat.
"...that means we can't take any baths," observed Maki.
"It also means we need to buy something at the convenience store every time someone needs to use the restroom," griped Nico.
Rin grimaced. "Rin doesn't want to use that bathroom," she winced. Hanayo put a soothing hand on her shoulder and pulled her in close for comfort.
"We also can't have sex," said Maki.
"What the heck?!" exclaimed Nico, "I mean, yeah, not unless you want everyone to be able to smell who was doing who, but that kinda pales in comparison to our other problems, don't you think?!"
Hanayo nodded. "Especially since they're going to keep shutting off the water periodically until the renovations are done," she added. With those words, Maki's head slumped.
Sighing, the redhead turned to Nico. "I'll see what I can do."
The after school navigators exchanged a round of looks. Nico smirked. "Why Maki, you thirsty little-"
"Shut up."
It's Not a Competition; Oh Wait, Yes It Is
"It's time to settle this once and for all!" declared Nico, "Which of us is the cutiest panther!"
Maki scoffed. "It's 'cutest', not 'cutiest'," she corrected.
"Does that mean you forfeit?"
"Hell no!"
"Rin wants in on this too nya~!" decided the catgirl.
In response, Nico and Maki exchanged unsure glances.
"Come on!" pleaded Rin, "Panthers are cats, right? I'm a cat! And I've filled in for Eli-chan before!"
The two panthers turned their backs and deliberated in hushed whispers before reaching a decision. "Okay fine," said Nico, "But only because we need someone to fill in for Eli and you've already done it once."
"Yay!"
"Now all we need is a judge," said Maki, turning to the last member of their little group.
"M-M-M-Me?!" stuttered out Hanayo.
"Of course! You're the fairest, most unbiased judge we could ever hope to have," praised Nico unabashedly. She bounded up and wrapped herself around one of Hanayo's arms, cuddling up to the girl.
"Nico-chan? This is a little..."
"Kayo-chin is the cutest judge~!" exclaimed Rin, doing likewise to Hanayo's other arm.
"Eh?! Rin-chan too?!"
"So? Hanayo?" asked Maki as she sauntered up to the brunette. She pressed herself closely against Hanayo's chest, a hand lifting Hanayo's chin as she gazed intensely into pink irises, leaving the brunette a blushing and stuttering mess. "Which of us is the panther you have eyes for?"
"S-S-Somebody save me!"
But nobody did, and the panthers pounced.
AN: And thus concludes the second chapter of the NicoMakiRinPana extravaganza! I wasn't sure I'd make it this far, lol!
Anyways, about Rin substituting for Eli... If you don't know, Eli's seiyuu couldn't attend one of their Lives so Rin's seiyuu filled in for Diamond Princess no Yuutsu. On a related note, Nozomi's seiyuu filled in during Love Novels. That's not likely to come up in this story, but hey, the more you know.
