Collab with kaffinee.
We don't own Love Live.
Truce between Former Enemies
"Cotaro, Cocoro, Cocoa!" A devil called out, her long black hair fixed in wavy pigtails.
She wore a hot pink top that exposed her stomach and a red flowery short skirt, all lined with black lace. Pink gloves covered the lower half of her arms, and a black choker adorned her neck. Her fangs peeked out from under her upper lip. Across her back slung the standard weapon for devils, a long black trident, topped with a blood red color. At the place above her forehead rested a pair of black, pointy horns, just large enough to show that she was barely of age. Her spade-tipped tail dangled from under her skirt. Black, leathery wings that were longer than she was tall rested under the trident, shifting occasionally to relieve the pressure of the weapon.
"What?" Three devil kids replied in unity, running up to their elder sister. At first glance, they seemed to be identical, but there were key differences that their family unit can pick out easily. Cotaro being male, for example.
"I'm going grocery shopping!" The elder devil knelt down and ruffled each of her siblings' hair.
The quartet of devils lived alone, so the older devil had to act as a mother, even when she was quite young compared to most creatures that inhabited the pits of Hell. Or, as others call it, Devil Rocks.
"Okay, onee-san!"
"Stay safe! And remember to always…" the oldest sibling put her hands above her head, forming them into her signature hand pose, and hopped from side to side. "Nico-Nico-Nii!"
"Nico-Nico-Nii!" the three younger devils chanted happily, imitating Nico.
Nico smiled tenderly at them, affection warming her heart. "Bye!" she said, and left the house with a pastel pink purse dangling from her shoulder.
Not thirty minutes after Nico left, a bright white light flashed, and a grown man stepped into the kitchen of the small condominium, where the young devil siblings were playing.
Immediately, the man had to cover his ears with his hands as the sounds of kitchen pots and pans clanging and clashing together blasted into his eardrums. Faintly dizzy, he stumbled a bit, looking up at the source of the noise. Three kids were standing on the kitchen counter, messing around with the kitchen equipment without a care in the world. One looked up and screeched at the sight of the strange man in their home, prompting the others to do the same.
The man staggered and drew his staff, but was interrupted from any further action when a pot smashed into his hand, courtesy of a small boy with snot dripping down his nose. The intruder yelped in pain and released his staff. It dropped to the floor, and the magician hastily picked it up before the children could do something to it. He then turned towards Cotaro, bellowing in fury, and began waving his staff in the air.
"No!" Cocoro and Cocoa screamed. The two girls launched themselves towards the other two, grabbing onto their younger brother protectively. They tried tugging their brother away, but to no avail.
The magician growled in annoyance. "I only need one of you pesky brats!"
Nonetheless, he had to finish his spell before it backfired on him, and chanted hastily. Soon, the quartet vanished in a flash, three of them still screaming their heads off in fear.
"I'm home!" Nico announced, kicking open the door with a heeled shoe and strutting into the condo with her arms full of grocery bags.
When nobody responded, she was immediately filled with dread. Her siblings have always answered her before, so what could have happened this time? 'Perhaps they're sleeping?' she thought hopefully. Even so, Nico dropped her bags and ran around the house. No devil children in sight. When she entered the kitchen, she stopped in her tracks. Pots and pans were strewn around everywhere, and she got to work, fixing and organizing them neatly and precisely to tidy perfection as she inspected the kitchen.
When Nico finished, there was only one palpable reason in her mind as to where her siblings went, and, evidently, who captured them. So there she went, intending on getting them back.
Nico flew up a flight of stairs located not far from her home. At first, the steps were jet black. They slowly shifted into green, and then lastly faded into white. The stairs, located in many places throughout the world, were usually just for show, since the citizens of the lands it connected to all had wings to fly with. They were ridiculously long, so long that even winged travelers often had second thoughts about using them.
When she arrived at her destination, she immediately shielded her eyes with her hands, squinting at the pure white world, with white clothed angels moving on equally white clouds. She had literally traveled on a stairway to Heaven, often called Angel Lands by outsiders.
"Why is the color white so bright?!" Nico hissed. Still half squinting, she looked around, spotting the closest angel. A female with layered rosy-red hair that fell just past her shoulders. The angel was clad in a dress that had a pure white top and a blue and purple ombre bow resting under her chin, and a lavender skirt that was short at the front and long in the back, reaching down to her ankles. She was barefooted, and white ribbons twirled around her ankles and arms. Her white feathered wings were wider than even Nico's, and were outstretched and limp on the clouds. The red-haired angel's eyes were fixated on the writing of a scroll as she lounged on a fluffy cloud, lazily twirling a lock of crimson hair around her finger.
"Aha!" Nico shouted. "An angel!" Summoning a ball of shadow, she quickly charged it up, then aimed and threw it at the unsuspecting angel. She swiftly grabbed her trident from her back, ready for battle.
The stranger, sensing imminent dark energy, turned around and stared at the shadow ball approaching her. "Eh?!" she scrambled off her cloud, great white wings flapping wildly as she dodged the attack, getting her bearings back. "What the hell?!" she exclaimed, glaring at her assailant.
"Don't dishonor my home!" Nico snapped. "I live in Hell!" Her hands tightened around her trusty weapon.
"A devil?" the girl realized, observing the dark aura that surrounded the girl that contrasted drastically to the white background of Heaven. "Aren't you, like, twelve years old? What are you doing up in Heaven?"
"I'm much older than that!" Nico gasped in shock, losing her composure. She was a devil! Twelve years was the age of an infant! She shook her head and regained her composure. "Don't play innocent with me!" she accused, jabbing a finger toward the angel, losing her composure again as she thought about her siblings, who were spirited away to who-knows-where. "I know you angels kidnapped my siblings!"
"Eh? Your siblings?" the redhead frowned. "Angels are pure-hearted. Otherwise we would become Fallen. Why would we commit such a crime?"
"You know the worlds of Heaven and Hell have been at war for a millennia!" Nico pricked her lip with her fangs in worry. The angel was right, though. If an angel went against any of Heaven's major laws, their wings would be stained black as a sign of guilt, and the Fallen angel would be exiled. Likewise, a Cleansed devil's wings would be bleached white, and they would be exiled as well. Cleansed and Fallen were forced to live in an unknown, wicked land until their wings were released from guilt, and enable them to return.
"Yes," the angel conceded, "but nobody up here would stoop so low as to abduct a child."
A moment passed before Nico deflated, tears welling up in her eyes. "I guess you're right… I just wanted someone to blame it on." She sniffled weakly.
The angel started forward, a look of sympathy on her face, but suddenly a flash of white shone close by. "Perhaps you should blame it on me," a low voice said.
"What?!" Nico whispered in surprise, looking at the cloaked stranger that appeared in front of her. Was he the one that took her siblings?
"I only required one of the devils, but your annoying siblings wanted to stick together," the man said crossly.
Nico's eyes narrowed in anger, beginning to charge at the man, but was forced to stop when she felt a pair of slender arms wrapping around her waist.
"What are you doing, angel?!" Nico snapped. Her wings flapped around uselessly and occasionally smacking the angel.
"My name is Maki! And it's too dangerous! Don't go charging into peril so recklessly!" She grunted. "And stop hitting me!"
"Yes, listen to your girlfriend," the magician said in a mocking tone.
"Shut up! She's not my girlfriend!" The two yelled in unison. Maki let go of Nico's midriff and the two girls faced each other. "You shut up, too! No, you shut up!" the bickering pair turned away from each other, crossing their arms at the same time, momentarily forgetting about the magician. "Hmph!"
The magician rolled his eyes at the immature duo. "Ah, young love… Anyway, can I just capture you now? I don't have need of yet another devil, so move aside." He headed towards Maki and reached out his hand, intending to grab the angel's wrist.
Maki turned around, smoothly and effortlessly blasting him with light magic. The man stumbled backward, his eyes blinded. Without wasting another second, the angel and devil teamed up and attacked the lone magician. Nico did most of the fighting, inflicting dark magic on the man's body and trying to stab him with her trident, while Maki distracted him from any attempt at attacking with striking white light.
"Aaaahhhh!" Injured and temporarily sightless, the magician scrambled from the heated pair. "You'll regret this!" he yelled as he teleported away, cursing all the while.
Grinning slightly, the angel and devil high-fived in victory, forgetting about their earlier dispute.
"I like someone who can defend themselves," Nico said appreciatively. It was rather impressive that an angel knew offensive magic, since they are known for outstanding healing and shielding magic.
"Thanks. I primarily specialize in healing, though," Maki graciously said, "Also, you haven't told me your name yet."
"My name is Nico," the devil answered. "Nico-Nico-Nii!" she danced around.
Maki stared at Nico blankly. "… That is ridiculous."
Nico flushed, stopping. "Shut up!"
"Anyway," Maki began, "I want to get back at that magician for attempting to seize me. Since he is human, it's likely that he commonly stays in Earthland, so I'm going to look there. Care to come with me in my pursuit in tracking him down?" she asked, holding out her hand for a truce.
"… Yes," Nico accepted, grasping the other's slim fingers.
The two polar opposites shook hands, provoking the commencement of an incredible bond.
Maki is wearing her idolized White Day/Angel outfit.
Nico is wearing a mixture of her unidolized and idolized version of her Little Devil card.
