Everything had been great for the 3rd year student of Otonokizaka High and member of the school idol group μ's Nico Yazawa: they were doing great with their singles, her grades had just gone up (thanks to Nozomi's rigorous study program) and for a month and half now, she had a smoking-hot redhead girlfriend Maki Nishikino.

Everything had been great for the 3rd year student.

Despite how bashful Maki was about showing affection in public, she had no problems when it was just the two of them. In fact, Maki was quite fond of the idea of hugging, cuddling and kissing whenever they got a chance and were alone, whether they were in the clubroom, the music room or in their bedrooms and Nico has absolutely no issues with that. After the first week of kissing, Nico actually considered herself pretty good at it.

But it all changed since last week.

For about 5 days now, every time Nico parted her lips from her girlfriend's, instead of seeing a blushing face accompanied by a small but oh so satisfying smile, she found a frown in her face. It was a tiny one but it was still there, Nico could see it as she had learned everything about Maki's expressions in the course of 5 weeks of being basically glued to her.

That pout managed to break the confidence Nico had built up about her kissing skills. What confused her the most is that it had come out of nowhere: just one day, after kissing once, Maki wasn't her usual, but hey, whatever, maybe she had something in her mind that's bothering her just for that moment, right? Right? But it just kept happening after each kiss, over and over again with that same pout. It made Nico doubt herself: had she done something to upset her, like school? Her grades had just improved, so if anything she should be getting rewarded. Did something happen in Maki's life? No, she would've known about it already. Did she forget to brush her teeth? Heck no, Nico brushes her teeth three times a day to keep her Nico nii smile as perfect as always. Maybe dentists were right about flossing every day.

But whatever it was, she was going to find out today. Her mother had taken the little ones to the amusement park for the whole day so Maki was going to come over for a home date.

Nico now had Maki sitting next to her in her bed. They both were enjoying a comfortable silence and each others' presence while holding hands. The mood was just right so the raven-haired girl decided to take the lead and turn to Maki and slowly leaned towards her. Nico felt how Maki gently squeezed her hand as their lips touched; the kiss was soft, sweet and warm. She had no regrets about sharing her first kiss with the heir of the Nishikino hospital. Or her second, third, fourth of twenty sixth kiss. After each one of them she felt her heart flutter, her cheeks getting warmer and her lips curve into a smile.

But all of those butterfly-in-your-stomach feelings are thrown out of the window when Nico leaned back and saw the girl she has just kissed frowning.

"Okay Maki-chan!" Nico suddenly raised her voice, making the redhead jump in surprise "You're gonna tell me what's going on!"

Saying that Maki was confused was an understatement "E-eeh?! I-I don't understan-!"

"Don't give me that Maki-chan! I know that you know what I'm talking about."

"I-I really don't-"

"You've been frowning every, single, time we kiss all this week! Did you think I wouldn't have noticed?!"

"I-i… I haven't meant to…"

"What's been bothering so much then?!"

Maki looked down and went silent. She took a deep breath and turned away from Nico before mumbling something that she didn't understand.

"What was that?" Nico got a bit closer to try to understand what she was murmuring.

"… paste" Was the only thing that Nico heard when Maki mumbled again but just a bit louder.

"… Paste? What?"

Maki sighed and took another deep breath as if she was bracing herself for what she was about to say.

"You changed your toothpaste, didn't you?"

"Uh… yeah?" Nico didn't see how this had to do with anything.

Maki went silent again for a few moments before speaking again "I don't like it"

"… What?" Nico quite didn't process what she had just heard.

"I said I don't like your new toothpaste!" Maki grumbled "K-kissing you isn't the same!"

Nico didn't say anything for a good few seconds. Maki grew worried of what she had just said until her girlfriend flopped down on the bed with a loud groan.

"Oh my Goooood, fucking toothpaste! And here I was worried I had fucked up with something and upset you! But it was just because I changed brands of my stupid toothpaste!"

"H-hey! It is upsetting! I liked it! I-it made your kisses t-taste good…" Maki's voice grew smaller with each word.

There was another moment of silent before Nico groaned again and wrapping it up with a relieved sigh.

"Well that's one huge weight off of my shoulders. I seriously thought that out thing was going to end"

"Don't be dumb, I wouldn't dump you over toothpaste"

"Well, you sure did a damn good job at making it look like you were"

"… Sorry" Maki apologized, slumping as she began to feel dumb about this whole ordeal.

"… So why did you change toothpaste…?" The redhead asked after a brief moment of awkward silence.

"They stopped selling the three-pack set at the supermarket and the individual packs aren't worth it, they're too expensive for just one toothpaste so I had to switch to the generic brand" Nico explained, still laid down in the bed.

"Oh" Right, money was an issue for a lot of people. She had to remind herself that more often "… I'll buy it for you. What brand is it?"

Nico raised an eyebrow and leaned up a little, putting her weight on her elbows "What?"

Maki flopped down next to her girlfriend and turned towards her "I said that I'll buy it for you, but you have to use it"

Nico chuckled and leaned back down, turning her body to Maki and putting her arms on Maki's sides "Sure" she said with a smile before getting closer for a kiss. Instead of feeling Maki's lips on her however, she felt Maki's finger pressed on her lips

"Not until we go get your toothpaste" Maki smiled before kissing Nico's cheek

"… Wanna go to the supermarket?"