It's been 84 years since I updated this story, so, what better punchline than to actually NOT do an author's note and lead you into the chapter itself?
I'm not kidding either, I got nothing to say: only that I hope you enjoy the finale of Shocked.
There's one more chapter after this, but it's more of an epilogue, so this one right here is the actual finale.
But enough blabbering! Let's go!
Today was the day of the Love Live, the day that Not-Nico would finally commence her attack, her master plan to deal a massive blow to Idolhood nearing closer and closer as the groups of Muse and A-RISE overlooked the stadium the event would take place at, the wind blowing in their direction.
While A-RISE was complete, though, Muse was missing the obvious members: Nozomi, Maki, and Nico, leaving Honoka, Kotori, Umi, Hanayo, Rin, and Eli.
"Brr, w-w-why's today so cold?!" Rin spoke, hugging herself and shaking as the wind blow. "D-D-Did the fake Nico's cold-heartedness s-s-spread to the wind?"
"No, I think it's just that you took the worst time to take a bath," Umi answered. "I mean seriously, who takes a bath mere minutes before going up to a hill, where the winds going to blow to accentuate the dramatic tension?"
"B-B-B-B-B-"
Kotori promptly wrapped a scarf around Rin's neck. "Here, that should give you some warmth."
The cat-like idol moaned in delight at the warmth of the scarf, while the rest of the girls could only wonder how was it that a simple scarf could
"Anyway, as I was saying: You all took baths before heading out as well, right?"
"Yeah, but we took them early in the morning," Eli responded. "You were the only one who decided to play around and get dirty the rest of the day!"
"It's not my fault that we spent so much time with nothing to do!" Rin whined, stomping the ground. "And what's worse, the mystery shows I was watching either ended or were cancelled, leaving me without the one thing that's been keeping me entertained since this started!"
"Girls, stay focused!" Tsubasa exclaimed, getting Muse's attention. "We only have one shot to do this: One slip-up, and the impostors get away with everything!"
Honoka nodded in agreement.
"Tsubasa's right: In just a few minutes, the Love Live is going to start, the fake Nico will hijack the stadium, and whatever she does next will ruin the public's opinion on idols forever!"
Tsubasa took a step forward and continued.
"And if she gets her way, all the months, maybe years of practice we've been through, all the effort, the troubles, the dancing lessons, everything we've all been through, that will be rendered null and void!"
"Yeah, that would really suck," Rin spoke.
"That's right, it'll suck if that happens," Honoka extended her hand forward. "So, for the sake of all idols everywhere, let's put an end to this once and for all!"
The girls exchanged looks, smiled, and all put their hands together.
"Yeah!"
Nishikino Household...
Maki sat on the couch and put the Love Live on TV as Nozomi sat next to her, letting out a small yawn.
"As much as I'm happy that the Love Live is taking place at night, it's a real pain to fight back the urge to fall asleep."
"That's certainly not something I expected you to say, Nozomi."
"I know, but it's true: Even without the torture I went through thanks to... you-know-who, I'm not used to staying up so late," Nozomi yawned. "And before I forget, why do you seem so calm, Maki?"
"Me being calm is perfectly normal."
"Well, yeah, but you're staying here, watching the Love Live while the rest of our friends and A-RISE possibly risk their lives to stop Fake-Nicocchi's plans."
"I know that, but I also know that they're going to succeed no matter what."
"And besides, I called up a little friend to give them some help."
Back at the Love Live...
The bouncer at the event checked his list when a giant shadow loomed over him.
"I already told you, the trenchcoat trick doesn't-"
But as soon as he looked up, he didn't see a bunch of kids inside a giant trenchcoat, but a huge guy with a muscular, a very buttery face, and a very stern glare.
The bouncer collapsed soon after.
"Huh, that was easy," Honoka said, coming out of the tall man's back. "Thanks for the help."
"Anything for a friend of Maki."
Just then, the rest of Muse ran up to the scene.
"Honoka, has the bouncer been taken care of-"
And then the girls stopped on their tracks once they saw the giant man.
"Holy bodybuilders!"
"He's huge!"
"How come we didn't notice him until now?!"
"Girls, calm down, he's on our side!" Hlnoka spoke, taking a step forward. "This is Takeo Nishikino, Maki's cousin!"
"That load of muscles is her cousin?!" Kotori said, hiding behind Eli. "If that's the cousin, I don't think I wanna see her aunt and uncle! No offense."
"None taken," Takeo turned to Honoka. "Anyway, I'll put the bouncer somewhere else and stop any suspicious person from going inside, you girls go right in."
"Right! Thanks Takeo!"
The buff man opened the door and the girls quickly ran inside, though Hanayo made sure to hand Takeo her number before going in.
Once inside, the girls ran up to the backstage... And found all the idol groups who were going to participate tied up, and their mouths covered with duct tape.
And the ones tying them up were none other than the impostors of both Muse and A-RISE, who turned to look at the groups soon after.
"Uh, Honoka," Kotori blurted. "What's the plan now?"
Hanayo shot a glare at the A-RISE impostors, and her look grew angrier as she cracked her knuckles and walked towards the copycats.
The girls stood in awe as what followed was a brutal beating: Not for Hanayo, but from her to the impostors, who all laid on a pile as soon as she finished.
"That's for putting a stain on A-RISE's name!"
Honoka blinked twice. "Wow, Hanayo."
The girl quickly turned back to normal.
"W-What? Did I do something I shouldn't have?!"
"No, I just..." Honoka scratched the back of her head. "I never thought you'd be able to beat up the fake A-RISE and Muse on your own."
"Oh, well," Hanayo casually shrugged. "Someone has to teach them a lesson."
Afterwards, Muse and A-RISE untied the idol groups and helped them stand up.
"We were reviewing what we would do for our performances, when those lookalikes came out of nowhere and tied us up!"
"It's okay now, our friend took care of them," Eli said. "However, I'm afraid we can't celebrate yet."
"What are you talking about, nya?" Rin asked.
"You know how the plan goes, right?" Honoka asked. "First step was to knock out the impostors if there were any."
Rin scratched her chin. "And the second step would be..."
Hanayo walked up to the unconscious impostors, took out their colored eye contacts and smiled.
"Next step is to play Not-Nico for a fool."
Back Outside the Stadium...
"Yes, Takeo here... oh hi, Maki... yeah, the girls already went in and are getting ready for the next part of the plan... hah! Don't worry, I'll never let anybody get past me!"
*click*
"Hello?"
Takeo looked down to see a raven-haired girl looking up at him, looking like she had waited for a while.
So, Takeo promptly crouched down and glared at her.
"Who are you?"
The girl smirked, unfazed by the tactic.
"I'm a member of Muse."
Takeo's eyes widened as his face turned back to normal.
"Are you...?"
Back inside the Love Live...
The audience waited in their seats for the event to begin, growing more and more excited as the lights slowly dimmed, preparing everybody for the first act.
But instead of the lights turning on to reveal the first idol group performing, they remained off as a voice cackled, and the jumbotron turned on, revealing a static screen.
"Welcome, everyone, to the very final Love Live!" a female voice spoke through the megaphone, with a dramatic tone to boot. "And in this grand finale, everything you know about idols, everything you thought you knew about your perfect little singing dolls..."
The static of the screen cleared up, revealing Not-Nico sitting on a chair in a room, boasting:
"Shall be shattered into a million pieces!"
The audience gasped as the lights finally turned on, revealing Muse and A-RISE, disguised as their impostors, keeping the idol groups in place.
"From the very beginning of the industry, they've sugarcoated the true, dark nature of idolhood. Making everyone believe that idols are the very embodiment of beauty and elegance."
Not-Nico sighed.
"A truth that I wish I could call complete baloney, but truth be told, there are idols that really do fit the bill."
Not-Nico looked up, as if to stare at someone through the screen.
"But for every idol who's legitimately beautiful no matter what, there's another one that doesn't take long to crack."
At the Nishikino Household, Nozomi clutched her chest and took a couple deep breaths as Not-Nico kept talking.
"Whether it is insults, torture, or any other method use to run their patience dry, an idol can show their true, horrifying colors, destroying the very image she's worked so hard to cultivate."
Maki tried to change the channel, only to be stopped by Nozomi.
"We need to see how the girls' plan go."
Nozomi smiled.
"And besides, seeing that fake Nicocchi's plan collapse is more than worth a little trauma."
Maki frowned, but kept the channel on the Love Live as Not-Nico looked down at the idols.
"Now, these idols are not the kind who hide a dark secret. They're legitimately nice, beautiful people."
Not-Nico smirked.
"For now."
Not-Nico snapped her fingers, and the audience looked around upon hearing a *click*, realizing to their horror there were several more impostors of Muse, A-RISE, and the other idol groups on the stadium, carrying guns and aiming them right at the defenseless audience.
"However, I'm feeling a little sorry for these idols right now, so if anybody has anything to say that can convince me to stop, I'll consider."
What followed was silence as Muse and A-RISE waited for somebody, anybody to speak up.
"What's this? In the moment that they need your help, none of you can muster the courage to say anything? Will you just sit there and watch them be destroyed, like the apathetic, idiotic sheep you are!?"
"I don't know about you, but I do have one thing to say..."
Not-Nico, the impostors, Muse, A-RISE, and even the camera of the jumbotron turned to watch the one who said that.
And to their shock, it was none other than Nico Yazawa, who promptly stated:
"Nico Nico Nii!"
The stadium cheered like crazy for the idol, while the members of Muse and A-RISE felt revitalized by the return of the first victim of this case.
Shortly after, Not-Nico turned the jumbotron camera back to her and exclaimed:
"Keep everybody standing while I deal with this brat!"
Not-Nico punched the screen hard enough to shatter it, returning the screen to static.
She also got a couple of glass shards stuck on her fist, but she barely noticed as she stood up and turned to the original Nico.
"You being here should be, no, definitely is impossible!" Not-Nico exclaimed. "You should still be hospitalized at this moment!"
"You should've checked some info about head injuries, then, you poor man's idol; The injury I got needed only two weeks to heal," Nico stated. "And now that I'm back, now that all of Muse is here, we're going to put an end to your scheme, once and for all!"
"You'd stop me from doing the idol world a favor by exposing its dark side!?" Not-Nico snapped, walking towards the idol. "I mean, think about it! Weren't you a victim of that world's shadier business? Surely that would help you understand where I'm coming from!"
"The only "shadier business" I've been a victim of has been your own," Nico proudly stated. "And believe me; after everything you've done, nobody will see where you're coming from."
Not-Nico took out some of the shards and wielded them.
"And neither will you!"
Nico backed away as Not-Nico swung the glass shard at her, until the pair came out and ran out of the control room.
While that happened, Muse and A-RISE exchanged looks and nodded, before they dropped the weapons they were using to keep the other idols hostage.
"Hey, copycats!"
The armed impostors turned to face the girls, and they immediately opened fire on them once they revealed themselves to be the real idol groups.
Fortunately, they managed to hide before there was a rain of bullets on top of them.
Unfortunately, there was now a rain of bullets on top of them.
"Okay, I think we may have missed a step!" Hanayo exclaimed. "What are we supposed to do now with all these bullets flying around!?"
"Just be patient!" Honoka answered. "Nico will help us soon enough!"
Speaking of Nico...
The experienced idol and her impostor continued to run around the building, heading towards a set of windows, revealing a surprising sight outside.
Several police cars were stationed around the building, making it so that even if Not-Nico and the impostors could get out, they would have to go through the police first.
"Great, they're already here."
Nico turned around, and with only a small amount of fear, faced against the crazed copycat in front of her.
"Now, all I have to do is make sure your plan crumbles apart."
"You? Make my plan crumble apart!? Don't make me laugh!" Not-Nico snapped, gripping the glass shard harder. "The stadium is surrounded in fear! My little copies of you and your friends have dozens of hostages, and most importantly,"
Not-Nico took a stance that made her look like a slasher.
"You're not going to live to piss me off again!"
Not-Nico dashed towards the real Nico, who smirked with confidence.
She then slightly crouched down, and jumped to the side once Not-Nico got close enough, taking advantage of the impostor's shock to kick her hand, dislodging and taking out all the shards off it in the process.
She then kicked her with her other leg, causing her to hit the ground as the shards landed on her back... or would have, had they not bounced off of her.
However, the pain from trying to stand up using her injured hand more than worked to keep her in place.
"Damn it, why does my hand hurt now!?"
"Yeah, I'll leave you to figure that out yourself," Nico stated with a smug smile. "Now, if you excuse me, I have an impostor to impersonate."
Not-Nico's eyes widened as Nico ran away.
"Wait... wouldn't that be... impostorception?"
Back with Muse and A-RISE...
The idols finally got a chance to breath when their impostors ran out of bullets, with the next few seconds giving them the idea that they didn't have any spares.
"I thought the ammo was endless!"
That also might've helped.
So, the idols ran to the backstage and guided the other idol groups to the exit.
"Okay, things were pretty intense just a moment ago, but they're about to get even more intense!" Tsubasa remarked. "So, do all of yourselves a favor and get out of here!"
"But what about you?"
Honoka turned back to the stage.
"There's some unfinished business we need to take care of."
The other idols left, and Muse and A-RISE gained smiles on their faces once they heard a microphone feedback, followed by a familiar voice.
"Attention, all Idolons!"
The armed impostors looked up at the jumbotron, whose image was still static from the destruction of the screen.
"This is your master speaking! Drop your weapons, and take off your colored contacts right now."
The impostors took a moment to think about this, before they shrugged and obliged, dropping their empty weapons before taking out their contacts, revealing their real eye colors.
"And now, since I'm too lazy to do it myself, I'll let this recording of a certain Idolon remind you all of who you used to be."
Mako smiled as the list promptly began, and for every name called out, an Idolon turned back to normal and looked at their surroundings, with more and more returning back to normal as more names were said.
"Okay, they'll be there for a while," Mako remarked. "Let's go to the control room and meet up with Nico."
The idols nodded and followed Mako to the mentioned control room, leaving the Idolons to continue their return to normality.
Back with Not-Nico...
The impostor held her uninjured hand on a wall, slowly walking towards the lower levels as she took several deep breaths, cursing Nico every once in a while.
"That damn Nico... first she heals too fast... and then she has the gall... to attack me while I'm this close to liberating all idols!"
The impostor felt a reflex in her throat, and lowered her head to barf out some blood.
"Not to mention she left me in such a horrible state!"
The impostor clutched her stomach with her injured hand and took a couple more deep breaths.
"It was a good idea to go from making those terrible images and stories to manipulation and brainwashing... now if only I had done that at the beginning, the plan would've run much more smoothly!"
The impostor took one final deep breath, and smirked.
"Oh well, at least there's tomorrow to try again."
"Yeah, I wouldn't say that."
Not-Nico looked up and saw none other than Nico standing on the hallways, hands on her hips and with a proud smile on her face.
Instead of concerning the impostor, this caused her to flash a smirk.
"You know, you could've remained at the hospital while all of this was going down. Hell, even if you had recovered regardless, you could've simply stayed at the control room and let the rest of the event play out."
Not-Nico grinned maliciously.
"Now that you're in my way, though, I'll just have to get rid of you. And unlike last time."
Not-Nico flashed a bloody smile.
"I'm going to kill you."
Nico put her hand near her mouth and laughed like a noble woman, confusing the impostor.
"You're trying to convince yourself that you'll come out of this unscathed, don't you? It's not going to work: the Idolons might have turned back to normal, but I can easily kill you by myself, even without them."
"Well, I would like to see you try," Nico scoffed. "Because without the Idolons, you're one..."
Muse and A-RISE came out of the hallway and stood by Nico's side.
"And we're ten."
Not-Nico's smiled slowly turned into a horrified frown.
"But don't worry, we're not all going to attack you at once," Nico took a couple steps back as Honoka and Eli stepped forward. "The only ones who'll attack you, will be the members whose family you dared to hurt."
Honoka and Eli took out baseball bats, causing the impostor to wince and smile in fear.
"Y-You wouldn't get violent against a defenseless girl, right?"
"After everything you've done to not only us, but our family, you have the audacity to ask that!?" Honoka snapped. "As soon as you hurt our sisters, you lost the right to plead for mercy!"
"And besides," Eli narrowed her eyes. "A-RISE told us you're not exactly unarmed."
Not-Nico narrowed her eyes in return.
"I guess there are idols that have brains as well as beauty."
Not-Nico reached for her back and took out her whip.
"Too bad I'm going to spread those brains across the walls!"
Honoka and Eli dodged the impostor's ensuing whip swings and Eli swung her bat, hitting her hand hard enough to make Not-Nico drop her whip.
What came next was Honoka and Eli swinging their weapons at Not-Nico, who managed to block most of them until one upward swing hit her right in the chin, knocking down a tooth or two.
After that, Not-Nico quickly dodged the next attack from Honoka and grabbed her arm with a single hand, though she quickly found herself lacking the strength needed to keep her in place.
Honoka and Eli swung their bats again, this time hitting Not-Nico hard enough to send her flying... over the barricade set up by Muse and A-RISE.
As soon as they realized their mistake, Eli and Honoka ran after the impostor, only for her to stand up and flash one more bloody, condescending grin.
"Goodbye, whores!"
Not-Nico cackled maniacally as she ran away, the laughter growing more distant as she left the girls' field of view.
"Wow, what a potty mouth!" Rin snapped.
"But most importantly," Eli said. "She's getting away!"
Nico and Kotori exchanged looks, then smiled before they answered in unison:
"No, she's not."
Not-Nico found out what they meant once she ran out of the stadium to run into not only Takeo, but also several police officers, all aiming their guns at her.
"Raise your hands or we'll be forced to shoot!"
Not-Nico immediately obliged and raised her hands, catching her breath as a woman walked into view, just as some of the officers ran up to Not-Nico, ready to arrest her.
This woman was Principal Minami, who folded her arms with a disapproving look as Not-Nico seemingly recognized her.
"You! What do you-"
As soon as the impostor took a step, the officers readied their aim, reminding the copycat of her current position.
Sometime Later...
Not-Nico had her hands cuffed as the idols said goodbye to Takeo.
"Thanks a lot for the help, Takeo," Honoka said. "You didn't do much, technically, but we couldn't have gotten inside without you."
"It's okay, anything for a friend of the family," Takeo answered with a smile.
Then, he turned to Hanayo.
"Also, about this number you gave me. I'm flattered, but I have a girlfriend back home."
Hanayo blushed and frowned, until Takeo crouched down and put his massive hand on her shoulder.
"However, if something ever happens to you or Maki, you can call me, and I'll come to help you."
Takeo removed his hand, revealing he had placed his phone number on Hanayo's shoulder.
And as she grabbed and looked at the number, Takeo promptly ran out of the stadium and into the mountains, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.
"He's not planning to run all the way back to his house, is he?" Nico asked, slightly concerned. "'Cause even if he goes to Maki's house, we're quite a few miles away from the city."
"I don't know, I think he looks like he could make the trip and back," Kotori shrugged.
And then, a familiar car arrived at the car stop: the Nishikino family car, where Maki walked out just as the girls ran up to her, including an overjoyed Nico.
"Maki!"
The redhead spread her good arm and smiled.
"Nico!"
The redhead and the raven-haired girl shared a deep hug, with Maki patting Nico's back before the duo separated.
"Are you okay?" Nico asked with a concerned tone.
"Yeah, my arm will take a little longer to heal, but besides that, I'm fine," Maki answered with a nod. "How about you? How do you feel?"
Nico smiled.
"Fantastic now that you're here."
"And I'm not alone."
Nozomi was next to walk out of the car, now looking a little bit healthier than before.
At least until she looked at Nico, causing her to hide behind Maki as her hair became disheveled once more.
"It's going to take her a little longer to get used to you again, Nico."
"It's alright, it took me a long while to get better too," Nico folded her arms. "And I bet you want to see my impostor being arrested."
Before she even got an answer, Nico pointed at her impostor being arrested, and as she was kept restrained, the girls approached her a bit, including Maki and Nozomi who caught her attention.
"Well, if it isn't Tsunami and Maki," Not-Nico scoffed. "What, do you want me to end destroying you?"
Maki, however, was having none of that.
"You speak quite proudly for someone who's about to be taken to jail."
"You speak as if that was guaranteed to be the end of me," Not-Nico countered. "It may take a while, but I'm going to get out, and I'll finish what I started once I do."
The police raised an eyebrow at the fact the impostor had just told them she was going to try to escape, a fact she was oblivious to as Maki smiled and pointed out:
"You know, after everything you've done, I wouldn't be surprised if the judge decides to give you the chair."
Not-Nico rolled her eyes.
"Oh no! Not the chair! Anything but the chair!"
Then she dropped the sarcastic tone.
"How is a dumb old chair going to make me pay for what I've done? What, am I going to be forced to sit down to death?"
Maki flashed a smug smile.
"In a sense."
Not-Nico's eyes widened, then groaned and rolled her eyes before she snapped a look at Principal Minami.
"As long as it keeps me away from that overgrown diva over there, I guess it's better than nothing."
Muse turned to look at Principal Minami, who promptly looked away.
Then Kotori walked up to her.
"Mom, do you know who Nico's impostor is?"
Principal Minami kept quiet, and the police put Not-Nico on the police car as Maki approached her for one more question.
"Before we never see you again, I'm pretty sure there's one thing everybody wants to know."
Maki narrowed her eyes.
"Who are you?"
Not-Nico remained silent for a moment, then chuckled.
"Wouldn't you like to know-"
"Ranko Kanzaki."
Not-Nico's eyes widened as she processed the name that was said, and who said the name: Principal Minami, who was looking sternly at the copycat.
"How... how did you... who told you?..."
A rage surged through Not Nico.
"Who told you!?"
The police restrained Not-Nico as she barked at Principal Minami, who walked towards her.
"I ditched that name years ago! Erased every memory of it, destroyed anything that could remind of it, and abandoned the place where I was born just so I wouldn't hear it again! So how did she find it?! Who told her my real name!?"
Maki touched Not-Nico's nose.
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
With that said, the impostor was kept in the police car and it rode off as everybody promptly bid farewell and left, the Idolon threat finally taken care of...
Sometime later, at the principal's office, Principal Minami looked through the window at the sunny day, finally getting a chance to relax after the madness that had happened a few weeks ago.
And then Kotori came through the door.
"Mom?"
The principal's smile remained as she flipped her chair around.
"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting something important, but there's something the girls and I have been asking Not-Nico was arrested."
The principal raised an eyebrow.
"She seemed to know you, and judging by her reaction when you said that name, you knew her too. So, how can that be?"
Principal Minami took a deep breath.
"Your friends came with you?"
The rest of Muse burst through the door, hitting the ground face-first.
"They want to know the story too."
The principal took a deep breath as the rest of the idol group walked up to her, and she chose to explain herself.
"A long time ago, I was part of a group of idols. I don't remember much about that group, besides the fact that we were popular for a little while."
Honoka asked. "What was the name of this group?"
"Cinderella Girls."
"Oh, I heard about that group!" Hanayo said. "Apparently, they were a popular idol group before they all grew up too old to be considered marketable."
"Most of us grew too old to be considered marketable anymore," Principal Minami frowned. "Ranko, however, was left off for a different reason."
"She used to be something of a "chuunibyou," constantly talking about how she was a vampire lord and other bizarre things. However, we tolerated it, and her fans loved her for it, seeing a piece of themselves in her."
Principal Minami frowned and rolled her chair again, facing the window once more.
"One day, Ranko just... snapped. She stopped using her excentric way to speak, she stopped dressing like a gothic lolita, and seemed to want to forget ever thinking of herself as a vampire."
Principal Minami lowered her eyelids.
"Eventually, she got into quite a lot of scandals, and her popularity plummeted."
"And she was laid off thanks to those scandals?" Umi inquired.
"Well, she wasn't so much "laid off" as she ran away from the studio before she could pay for the scandals. From there, nobody heard from her again until she reappeared as... well, you know."
Kotori frowned. "Mom-"
"That's all I'm willing to share with you girls," the principal stated. "Go back to your classes, or if those are done, go to the clubroom."
The girls nodded, and left the office, walking to the clubroom as they shared a few words.
"Poor Principal Minami, to think the person behind this disaster was one of her old friends," Eli remarked.
"And to think she chose me to impersonate of all people," Nico added. "She should've known she was going to be found out as soon as she failed to live up to my standard."
"Then again, she didn't exactly seem like a stable person in the first place," Hanayo remarked. "Maybe she chose to impersonate you by chance, and would've impersonated anybody else if she hadn't found you first?"
"That just makes me wonder how she found out about me in the first place," Nico answered, before she turned to Honoka with a stern look. "And Honoka, what's with that smile on your face?"
Everybody focused their eyes on Honoka as she took a deep breath.
"I'm just thinking about how everything is finally over: the threats, the impersonations, it's all over now."
The idols smiled as they realized Honoka was more or less right: the Idolons were no more, the school was no longer going to get a bad reputation after the arrest of Not-Nico, things seemed to be mostly fine overall.
Sure, some things were still uncleared, but the main problems seemed to have been fixed.
"So, I guess things are going to go back to normal now, right?" Eli asked.
Honoka stopped on her track, turned to her friends and, keeping the smile on her face, shook her head.
"Not quite."