Hello again; first of all, thank you for being patient. And second, I apologize for how long it's taken. I want to wish you all a Happy Holidays and this is my gift to all of you.
Enjoy! And see you around.
"We have a problem."
"When do we not have a problem?" Nico sarcastically replied, slightly regretting it when Umi narrowed her eyes at her. "What's going on now?"
The blue-haired threw the magazine across the table, letting it slide towards the older girl who quickly gasped at the front-page cover, a hand over her mouth as Kotori and Ryuu continued to inspect the cause.
"Oh, you're in trouble," Ryuu mindlessly commented to which Nico narrowed her eyes.
"What are we going to do?" Kotori asked.
Nico stared intensely at the cover with fear; why had she been so naïve? She had no idea how she was going to try to fix this, if there was a way.
"Should we just ignore it?" Ryuu suggested.
"But ignoring it will just lead to more suspicion," Umi pointed out. "Silence is just another way of admitting."
"What if we do another press conference?" the ash-haired girl said. "Maybe Nico-chan can deny everything and they'll just leave it like that."
"Let's not forget her mistake the first time," Ryuu reminded that Nico shot him a look.
"Oh, then what should we do?" Kotori sighed.
Before anyone could offer any more suggestions, Nico stood up from her chair, catching their attention. She stared down at the magazine in front of her before her head shot up to look from Umi to Ryuu.
"I'll fix this," she announced.
"How?"
Nico sighed, crossing her arms as she looked at the blue-haired girl. "I just will and you have to trust me."
Umi stared back at the older girl before she turned to Kotori then Ryuu. "I guess we just have to."
Maki stood mere inches from the door, her hand on the knob with no real intent to turn it. She didn't know what she was trying to accomplish when her heart wasn't even in it and that part scared her the most. She wanted to believe that she still loved playing, but she didn't feel much when she thought about it. Not even sadness was present anymore.
The redhead slowly turned the doorknob, flinching a little when she heard the click. She was one step away from seeing it after so long, hiding behind the door she had pretended for months didn't exist. She had to wonder if doing this right now was the right thing or if she was just forcing herself.
"Maki?"
The first-year jerked up, quickly letting go of the knob for it to click back into place. She turned around to find her mother standing there with a look of concern on her face.
"Mama, you're home," she said in reply, her hands behind her back to hide the nervous shake.
The older woman raised an eyebrow at her daughter's unusual anxiousness. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"No – nothing," Maki tried to chuckle, taking a few steps forward. "I was just…here." She mentally slapped herself for such a lame excuse that no one would buy.
Her mother giggled before gesturing for the first-year to follow her. Maki complied, looking back at the closed door before following her mother into the living room, tea and cookies set out.
Maki sat down across from her mother who had pushed a cup of tea in front of her before taking a sip of hers. The redhead stared at it in contemplation, her mind still wandering to the closed door she had left behind. It frustrated her how difficult it was becoming to actually do it instead of thinking about it.
"What are you thinking about?"
The first-year snapped out of her thoughts, looking up at the older woman who stared at her with a warm grin.
"It's…nothing," Maki muttered, turning her head to the side.
She knew her mother wouldn't buy such a lame excuse especially when she could feel heat radiating off of her cheeks and from the way she heard her mom chuckle, Maki knew she was caught.
"Maki, I won't force you to talk if you don't want to," she started, setting the cup of tea back down before smoothing out her skirt. "But I will give you some advice; there are different types of strengths one could possess: the strength to start, the strength to continue, the strength to let go, and the strength to stop running away."
Maki's gaze shifted to the floor, her thumbs continuously rubbing against each other as her mother continued.
"I know what you experienced has scared you, but you need to remember that life isn't always fair to us. You've come so far from the little girl who didn't know one key from the other and it's amazing how wonderful you sound playing. So you've reached a setback and you feel all your hard work was for nothing. But do you really think that that is what determines your talent?"
The younger girl slowly turned to face her mother, taking in the gentle grin on her face. Maki was glad her mother was here even if it's for a little while; always being home in an empty house all the time was too much when the silence took over. It made her feel better, knowing that despite her busy schedule, her mother still knew what to say. But it was her next choice of words that made her heart jump.
"Do you think Nico-chan would be where she is right now if she just gave up?"
Maki stared wide-eyed, taking in a few minutes to process the images of her partner in her head: all the things Nico has been through, she couldn't even imagine. She quickly stood up from her seat, saying a quick "thank you" to her mother before rushing out the living room.
She halted passed the threshold, glancing at the closed door of her studio before running up the stairs in a rush. She knew what she wanted to do and she couldn't hold herself back anymore. As hard and frustrating as it was, Maki knew she needed to push past her worries and her fears.
And what better time to do that than in the season of giving?
"Please tell me you're joking."
Nico narrowed her eyes at the second-year as Umi rubbed at her temple, staring down at the plan Nico had formulated the in the past week. Of course, she was serious; she wrote her plan down.
"Is there a problem with it?" Nico raised an eyebrow.
The blue-haired looked up at her with the most un-amused expression she could make as she replied, "I thought we were trying to avoid doing this; you're telling me all that running and hiding was for nothing then?"
Nico chuckled weakly as she scratched the back of her head, remembering all the things that had happened in the past month. "Th – that was just the usual tactic for an idol," she stated. "Never let your secrets out."
Umi sighed. "Ironic considering the fact that your plan is doing the exact opposite."
"Hey, don't forget I'm your upperclassman," Nico reminded, slamming her hands onto the younger girl's desk, catching the attention of a few several other second-years in the room.
"Yes, you remind me almost every day."
"Well, I think this is the way to go," the raven-haired stated, crossing her arms. "I know it doesn't seem ideal considering all that I've went through – "
"All that we went through."
Nico ignored this: " – but don't you think this will be better in the long run?" Umi's expression softened. "Between you and me, Umi, you didn't think I was doing the right thing the first time, right?"
The blue-haired stared into Nico's eyes, trying to read what kind of answer she wanted. But when all she could see was the slight gloominess in her eyes, Umi answered, "No, I didn't think it was the correct way to do it."
Nico grinned. "So then you agree with this plan." It was more of a statement than a question, but Umi nodded anyway. "Great, then I shall bring it up with – "
"Nico-chan!"
The sliding room slid open with a bang as Honoka hurried in, out of breath and in shock. She quickly ran through the tables towards Nico and Umi, grabbing hold of the third-year's shoulders with urgency. Nico stumbled back from impact, her eyes wide and her mouth agape.
"Honoka, what do you think you're doing?" Umi scolded as Honoka kept a firm grip.
"Nico…chan," she breathed, sweat rolling down her forehead. "They're here."
"Huh?"
It took a few seconds for the ginger-haired girl to regain enough oxygen for her to speak again. "They're here; right outside of the gates. They're looking for you and it's going crazy."
The older girl had a lot of questions about the ambiguous statement, but she started by asking, "Who's here? And why?"
Before Honoka could answer, the students in the class started to gather closer to the windows, trying their best to see what was going on as chatter started to fill up the room. Umi joined them to see what was happening, trying her best to make her way through her classmates.
"Honoka," Nico called, grabbing her attention. "Who exactly is 'they'?"
The second-year chuckled nervously, but didn't have time to answer when Umi had walked back through the crowd, a frown on her face.
"What is it?" Nico questioned. "Spit it out!"
Umi sighed. "It's the paparazzi and they want to know about yesterday's picture release."
Nico's eyes grew wide as she pushed past the second-years crowding the windows to see for herself. She smashed her face into the glass, muffled screaming coming through as she caught sight of the photographers and news reporters standing outside the gate of their school, a few teachers standing by the entrance to keep them from coming in.
She didn't have time for this; she had other things to worry about. At least she had a good week of relaxation before they came back to make her life hell.
The third-year pushed her way out to rejoin Umi and Honoka who had been talking about a way out without gathering attention. But from the frowns on their faces, Nico knew that the news reporters were going to be even more determined to trap her in a corner to get her talking.
"Apparently they're guarding the back entrance too," Umi informed her.
Nico clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction, putting her hand to her chin in thought. "What if we hide in school? They can't come in and I'm sure they wouldn't want to wait forever," the older girl suggested.
Umi shook her head. "They're way more tenacious about getting some sort of scoop from you," she stated. "They won't give up as easily anymore."
"You're a rising idol, any gossip about you is practically pure gold," Honoka added. "What are we going to do?"
Before Nico or Umi could reply, the entrance slid open again, catching everyone's attention as a teacher strode into the room, his eyes slowly moving around to the startled girls as they started to disperse from the window.
"Nico," the blue-haired whispered, keeping her eyes on the teacher with caution.
Nico turned to the taller girl. "What?"
"Sneak through the back entrance and run down the hall," she replied, discreetly pulling the older girl behind her, which confused both Nico and Honoka.
"What's going on?" Honoka asked in a hushed voice.
"He isn't a teacher," Umi stated, clutching on to Nico's sleeve as he scanned over them.
"Huh? Then what is he?" Nico questioned, her shoulder smashed against Umi's back as the second-year kept her close.
Umi didn't have time to respond as the man started to silently walk around the room. Nico surpassed a yelp as the blue-haired pushed her low enough to crouch behind the desk. She would have scolded Umi, but the hard look on her face told her it was best not to.
Honoka kept her gaze on the unfamiliar face as well as Umi whispered quick instructions to the both of them: "I want you two to get out of this classroom and hide. Stay low to hide behind the desks, Nico; Honoka, keep watch on her." They nodded before Nico started to crawl on all fours, Honoka walking close to be her eyes.
The raven-haired had no idea what was going on, but Umi always seemed to have a sense for danger when it was near so she didn't question it, much less doubt her. The second-years in the class watched her, but didn't say anything about her, figuring it was best not to point her out if Nico looked like she wanted to escape.
Honoka motioned for her to stop before she could take another step as the man strode past the opening between the rows where Nico could have easily been seen. It took another five seconds for the ginger-haired girl to gesture for the older girl to continue; Nico followed.
Just how long was this stupid classroom? It felt like she's been crawling forever now as she abruptly stopped yet again to take a turn into the next aisle when a pair of men's shoes stepped into her line of vision. She turned around to see Umi sitting at her desk, her eyes still trailing the silent man.
Honoka had already made it to the front, signaling for Nico to make her way towards her. The third-year hurriedly joined the younger girl before making her way to the door. She made sure the man's back was to her before she quietly stood up, Honoka behind her.
Nico slid the door open and –
"She's here!"
She stumbled back into Honoka as the woman standing by the door shouted in excitement, getting a good look at the startled girls. It wasn't long till the older woman shoved a recorder towards Nico, pulling out a notepad that was scribbled with a bunch of questions.
"Yazawa Nico, how do you explain the picture taken of you last week?" she questioned; Nico stuttered in shock, the second-years frozen in shock, as she quickly asked another one. "What can you say about your silence about your slip up in your last conference?"
As the man fumbled with his small camera to rejoin his partner, Umi abruptly stood up, tripping him in her process to grab Nico and Honoka out of the new reporter's space. She hastily pushed her out of the way, dragging the two girls out the door and pushing them into the hall.
"Nico, go find Maki and hide; Honoka, I want you to warn the others," she instructed them. "If these two snuck in, that means more will try the same thing."
"But – but what about you?" the ginger-haired girl asked.
"I'll take care of these two," she informed them. "If you see any teachers, tell them what's going on inside the building, but whatever you do, stay away from anyone you don't recognize. They're getting more pertinacious."
"What does that mean?" Nico and Honoka asked simultaneously.
"Never mind, just go!"
They slammed into each other before they ran in opposite directions, Honoka towards the third-years' rooms and Nico towards the first years', moving their feet as fast as they could. Umi shook her head in disbelief before she heard painful groaning from behind, realizing the news reporter and her photographer were slowly recovering.
This is not how she thought the day before Christmas would be.
Nico took a quick turn down the hall, skidding a few inches due her abrupt halt before sprinting again. She was running out of breath; was her school that big?
As soon as she made it to a familiar classroom door, she hurriedly opened it, short of breath and a bit disheveled. The first-years watched as she searched the room, finally finding red among the crowd.
She strode towards Maki, her legs a bit wobbly from her marathon run as she lazily grabbed at her hand.
"Geez, Nico-chan, when you said you would be eating lunch with Umi, I didn't think that's what you meant," Maki said, her eyes narrowed and her face red with what Nico could assume to be jealousy.
"Eh?" The raven-haired looked down at her rumpled uniform. "No; we have to go Maki-chan." She started to pull the younger girl's arm in an attempt to pick her up from her chair, Hanayo and Rin watching in confusion.
"What are you doing?" Maki inquired with a bit of irritation, keeping herself in her seat. "Lunch break is almost over. I can't leave now."
"We need to go, Maki-chan," Nico whined, continuing to pull her arm. "You can't be here right now or they'll find you."
"Who's 'they'?"
"Yazawa Nico!" someone shouted from the open doorway, catching sight of the idol as he passed by; the man held a recorder with a camera around his neck. How they hell were the getting passed the teachers and into the school?
Upon sighting Nico's hand clasped around Maki's, both frozen, the news reporter hastily brought his camera to his face to take a clear picture of the two girls. But before he snapped a photo, Rin had jumped in front, smacking the device out of his hands.
"That's rude, nya," she scolded with fiery eyes, realizing quickly why Nico was so . She tore the camera from his neck, running out the classroom with it in hand. He took the bait, following after her.
"What was that?" Maki questioned before she finally complied and let Nico pull her up.
"No time to explain right now," the third-year started, dragging her partner towards the exit, "but we need to hide until they leave. Or at least we can find a way out of this." She turned to Hanayo. "Stay out of sight and try to find the others. Speak to no one, got it?" Hanayo nodded before the two girls walked out the door.
Nico decided to run in the opposite direction she had come from, her hand gripped around Maki's. If Rin had run in the same direction, she should be distracting any other paparazzi that had found their way in.
"Nico-chan, where are we going?" the redhead asked, easily keeping up with Nico.
"Somewhere we can hide for a while," Nico answered, stopping when she was met with a decision. She looked left and right, figuring out the best path to take. They were still in the school's main area, which meant photographers and news reporters would be snooping around the classrooms to look for any of them. "Dammit, where do we go?"
Maki squeezed her hand to grab her attention; Nico looked up at the younger girl as she said, "I might have a place in mind."
Nico sighed, her head leaning against the piano's fallboard. She was deadbeat tired and frustrated; it was Christmas Eve and she didn't understand why nosy reporters wanted to spend the day chasing an unknown idol like her. She just hoped everyone else was able to hide safely; she had to thank all of them later.
The music room was quiet, just the way Nico wanted it. They were in the unoccupied area of the school, most of the rooms only used for clubroom activities, which meant that none of the news reporters would think to look in there. But they were met with three more people who had snuck into the building. Maki had kneed two of them and Nico had thrown one of reporters' recorders out a nearby window to distract him.
Nico looked at the door to make sure their makeshift cover was still up and serving its purpose. She sighed again, slamming her forehead on the board.
"Don't do that, you'll dent it," Maki scolded from the corner of the room.
The third-year grumbled, looking up at the redhead from across the room, an eyebrow raised as her lip twitched.
"Oh, sorry, if my head cracked open, its fine as long as the piano is safe," she replied sarcastically to which Maki shook her head. "Just why are you all the way over there anyway?"
"No reason," Maki quickly replied, twirling a strand of hair. Before Nico could say anything, the younger girl stated, "You still haven't told me what's going on and why the reporters have gone crazy again."
Nico chuckled weakly, running the back of her neck as Maki found nothing to be funny. The raven-haired cleared her throat, realizing the serious expression on her partner's face.
"I may have…messed up again," she muttered.
"What? I can't hear you."
The older girl huffed. "I messed up again."
"What'd you do?" Maki questioned, crossing her arms and legs.
Nico averted her gaze, deciding to look out the window instead in hopes that it could help her tell Maki. It was part of her plan not to tell her and she wouldn't have found out since she didn't care for celebrity gossip anyways. But her plan flew out the window when the paparazzi had infiltrated their school.
"Do you remember when we went to the amusement park?" Nico started, her eyes on the glass window.
"Yeah, what about that?"
"Do you remember the last ride we did?"
"Yes."
"Do you remember – ?"
"Nico-chan, I remember everything, so just get straight to the point," Maki interrupted her with an impatient scowl.
The third-year sighed again. "Well, I was wrong," she admitted with slumped shoulders, cutting Maki's next words off. "We were caught…in the Ferris wheel."
Maki stared at her in thought, wondering just what Nico meant. But when the memories flooded back into her brain, she shoved her face into her hands, internally screaming. Nico watched with guilt, her eyes shifting from Maki to the floor as her thumbs fiddled nervously.
It took another minute until Maki looked back up to Nico. "How much did they see?"
"Not much," Nico told her. "It's not too clear of a picture; it could honestly be anyone, but it wouldn't have made it to the front cover of a magazine if they half-knew it was us."
"Wait! It's on a front cover?" the redhead asked, her eyes wide.
Nico bit her lip as she nodded and Maki buried her face into her hands again. "What are we going to do?" the first-year murmured.
"We – well, I had some sort of plan," Nico said.
Maki looked at her again. "Just what kind of plan?"
"You…might not agree with me."
This made the younger girl even more curious as to what Nico came up with. "What did you plan, Nico-chan…? And you better not say – "
"I was going to outright say it; that you're my partner."
Maki abruptly stood up, stomping towards the frightened third-year. She grabbed her collar to lift her off her seat, her teeth clenched. "What would that solve? They'd just keep following us and ambushing us for more gossip on our relationship. Don't you think that's inconvenient? You may want to be in the spotlight, but I'd rather not be put on the front cover of magazines or have my words mixed around in an interview. That plan is stupid!"
Nico pushed the taller girl's hands off of her, her angered red eyes staring back at her. But something about the slight frown on her lips told Maki that she wasn't entirely upset.
"You think I like doing this too?" she retorted. "I thought I should do this, not for me, but for you, Maki-chan." Maki jerked up. "You shouldn't be caught in the crossfire of any mess I've made, but you are because you're my partner. And you will be for the rest of your life. I thought if I finally just admit it, they wouldn't be so pushy about it. So I'm sorry my plan is so stupid."
The way Nico spat her last word sent a twinge of pain in Maki's heart. Nico trotted around the piano to let herself cool down, stopping when she finished two trips, leaning against the window.
The younger girl stared at Nico's back for a few seconds before trying to pull her back away from the glass. The raven-haired resisted at first, but after the fourth tug, she turned around to follow Maki.
It wasn't until she saw the fallboard swing open did she realize that she had been seated on the piano bench and that Maki had opened the piano.
She turned to the redhead. "Wh – what are you doing?"
Maki grinned. "I'm fulfilling my promise," she simply stated. She turned back to the instrument with anxious eyes; she actually arranged a new song, but playing it was a different story. She was never able to open the door to her piano or walk into the building of Mori-sensei's studio; this was her first time in months that she had actually been near one and the thought of playing it scared her.
Her train of thought broke when she felt a hand squeeze hers to comfort her. She looked at Nico who smiled at her.
"You can do it, Maki-chan; I believe in you."
And when she leaned down to peck Nico on the lips before shakily placing her fingers on the key, Maki knew even in the silence, music was still all around. It's just this time; she'd be the one making it.
Sorry for any errors.