August 31: Dealer's Choice - World Swap
Nico and Maki wake up and find everyone around them acting strangely. _ _ _
Also: Nico and Maki wake up and find everyone around them acting strangely.
Surprisingly, Nishikino Hospital nyuuin-i and heiress Nishikino Maki had apparently not set an alarm, even though today was the last day of her "seven on." It wasn't a big deal, as she tended to wake up early enough to rush to work anyway, but it was an annoying sign of carelessness. Unlike her parents, Maki wasn't a workaholic. She worked five twelves and two tens and that was that. And she never left any of her 18 vacation days worth of free time — in practice that amounted to taking off two of her seven ons, as long as they coincided with one or more holidays. To make up for it, she was a well-known perfectionist. It helped that her girlfriend was the same way. Both of them knew how precious time was and how to make sure you got the most out of it.
In addition to the disturbing lack of an alarm, Maki felt something else was simply "off." She realized she couldn't figure it out without coffee, so she headed to the kitchen where it was, she could tell from the aroma as she headed in, already brewed and ready. She sipped her first cup gratefully. She was glad she had sensed her girlfriend not rousing where she lay next to Maki. She wondered why she didn't remember her coming over and spending the night, which was very unusual for the end of an 80-hour week. They wouldn't have had much time together, but it bothered Maki that she was still not awake enough to even remember her arriving.
Speaking of her girlfriend, although she had teased Honoka for her love of bread, Maki had gotten her hooked on croissants, and she put a couple in the toaster oven, first sprinkling them with water the way Honoka had shown her, since it made them seem fresh-baked. Maki had looked at the time on her cell phone and she had time to wake her up with a small breakfast, so she put a little butter and jam on the plate and carried it and the small cup of coffee into her bedroom. It was fortunate that she set it down on the end table first. When she was about to move the blanket, she dropped it, instead. The form sleeping in her bed was familiar, all right, but not at all who it should have been. Her hair and figure were correct, but she was much too small. Everyone had said her best friend looked like her girlfriend's little sister, and teased Maki about having a 'type.' In fact, it was quite obvious who the tiny woman she had been sleeping with was. Once, long ago, she had pondered a bit fearfully something like this happening, someday, but she tended to be an obsessive worrier, and it had only occurred to her a couple of times. But against all sanity, and without her having a shred of memory of it, apparently the line had been crossed. She had taken her best friend to bed. She had cheated on Umi.
Unfortunately, she had no time nor space to fall apart over it, she really did have to hurry now. The only saving grace was that she didn't feel a bit hung-over, and was well on her way to being fully awake, from the shock if nothing else. She decided to leave the croissants and coffee, but she would let Nico wake herself up. She quickly scrawled a note and left it on the end table next to what was now Nico's breakfast:
Nico. We need to talk. Not here, obviously.
And with that, she opened the door, dashed out, locked up and hurried to catch her train.
Her girlfriend was so thoughtful, Nico thought to herself, when she woke up. She had sensed her leaving quietly, so as not to wake Nico. And yet she'd made coffee and croissants — her favorite breakfast — for Nico. It felt like it was far too early to be up, though. She couldn't remember her coming over, and it would be absurd if Nico had gone to her apartment without remembering it. Well, she wasn't awake yet. She sipped the coffee which wasn't very hot any more, but was a nice gesture. She took the butter knife and cut one of the croissants and put the butter and jam in it. When she hit the light, she was surprised. Not only wasn't this her apartment, clearly, unless her girlfriend had made some major changes, it wasn't hers, either. She was still a little hazy, but it actually seemed very familiar. At any rate, it was … disturbing to be waking up, as best she could recall, having slept next to someone, in a strange place with no memory of how she got there. Nico wasn't that kind of person. She wasn't.
As she woke up more, she realized with a shudder where she was. Oh, kami-sama, she thought. We didn't. Did we? Nico wouldn't do that. Makiwouldn't do that. It was impossible. The worst part was, their friends wouldn't say it was impossible. They wouldn't even be surprised. They'd just be very, very disappointed. Except Nozomi, who would be crushed. Picturing Nozomi crying made Nico want to go back to sleep and wake up and have this all be a bad dream. Casting around for something to make sense of the whole situation, she noticed a note. It was Maki's scrawl, too. Well, yeah, Maki, not here. She wondered if she was still seeing Umi, and since she probably would have heard via Honoka if not, she was. Would Umi be visiting soon? Nico had better get up. She noticed she had nothing but the underwear and nightgown she had on anywhere in sight. Maki was bigger than her, true, but they were best friends, and Nico remembered stuff she'd borrowed from Maki in the past. She managed to pick out something that would make her presentable, and prepared to carry it into the bathing area where she planned to just use the hand shower. Yes, it would be awkward if Umi came in and Nico was using Maki's shower, but it wasn't anything she couldn't talk herself out of.
But as she was leaving, she noticed what the picture on the end table was, the one that had been moved aside to make room for the croissants and coffee. The only picture Maki had by her bed was one of her and Nico. They had their arms around each other and really looked like a couple. It could have been taken on any of dozens of occasions, innocent occasions. But why would she have that next to her bed? Did all this go deeper than Nico thought? Had Maki been secretly in love with Nico all this time, and finally — what? Seduced her? None of this made any sense.
For one thing, Nico didn't feel hung-over, as she'd assume she must, since she didn't remember anything except a vague sense of waking up a little and feeling someone sleeping next to her and immediately falling back asleep. Plus — though Nico was no expert — wouldn't there be what the crime films called physical evidence if what she thought had happened, had happened? But Nico was relatively clean and not particularly sweaty. There was nothing to tell her she hadn't slept alone, except maybe the faintest scent of Maki's hair on her shoulders, maybe? Also, even if you assumed Maki was an insane mad scientist stalker doctor who had fed Nico drugs before taking advantage of her, she'd assume she wouldn't be feeling normal, well-rested and alert in the morning. And she was starting to feel that way.
"This is all crazy, nico," she said aloud. Well, all the more reason to shower and change. It was funny how well the clothes fit her. Almost as if Maki had outgrown them and was keeping them around for Nico. When she got out, she went to the kitchen and drank up the last of Maki's coffee, as well as toasting another couple of croissants. She had a few more days off, and … yeah, over there near where she vaguely remembered it being was Maki's nyuuin-i schedule. At least, it said "Dr. Nishikino's Schedule." Weirdly, several notes about a sports medicine clinic were on the marker board next to it. Luckily, after today Maki had seven days off. Nico could probably arrange her schedule to stretch her time off to the same number of days. They could discuss this. Her and Maki made a good team, normally. They could fix this.
Remember to tell Maki there was no physical evidence, she reminded herself. And to ask her about the picture. Those were the two main things. Oh, and no memory. She would have had a headache if someone had bopped them both over the head, put them in Maki's bed and taken photos, right? What about chloroform? She remembered seeing that in old crime films. Right. She was also going to bring up the Chloroform Theory. It was the only thing she could come up with that fit the facts. Yes, Nico did have a theatrical imagination, but unless Maki-chan had a better theory, that's what they'd look into.
Something made Nico imagine — and worry — that Maki would be in denial about the picture. So she carefully took a couple of pictures of it on the end table and sent them to Maki with a message:
This is literally the only picture you have in your bedroom, and it's right next to your bed. Nico does not remember doing anything last night, and there's no sign we did. Help me make sense of this, Maki-chan. You're off at seven, so Nico can meet you anywhere you say.
After a bit of thought, she added:
Thank you for breakfast. Nico had to borrow some clothes. What about chloroform and photos?
Maki would see the messages when she took her coffee break.
Maki hustled off the train and made it through the front entrance of Nishikino Hospital with a little time to spare. She saw her mother had come to the front for some reason, and waved, offhandedly.
"What's the occasion, Maki? Did you need to see us before work?"
"See?" Maki repeated, confused. Just at that moment her cell phone rang. She should have had its ringer off, so she wasn't 100% alert after all. She gestured at her mother and went back outside. It wasn't a number she recognized, and she was tempted to let it ring. After a couple of rings, she noticed she had a voicemail from the same number. Her voicemail identified it as a sports medicine clinic.
"Dr. Nishikino if you can come in an hour early, we had to reschedule You-chan for an exam this morning. Eight was the only time we could find, sorry."
Her mother had come outside as well. "Sounds like you need to go to the clinic now, Maki. Our days off start tomorrow, you should come by after work if you need to talk." She didn't seem to care one bit about Maki starting her shift on time. Everything was getting weirder and weirder. Maybe someone at the clinic could explain what was going on. If Maki had to call in sick, for once, she was starting to feel like it would be legitimate. She was also starting to feel a little desperate about meeting with Nico-chan. Just then, to speak of the imp, she got two texts from Nico. The first one made her go cold all over. She certainly did not remember keeping a picture of her and Nico on her bedside table. When on Earth could that have happened? No wonder Nico's message was so uneasy. Her second message made Maki smile a little. Then again … maybe chloroform was what Occam's Razor would warrant. If so, how terrible for Nico-chan! There really was no reason to blackmail Maki, and no reason for her to worry overly. If someone had sent Maki an extortion letter, she'd show it to Umi, and that would solve that.
She called the clinic's number back. "Pardon me, can you give me the clinic's address?" she asked, immediately. There was a pause, then: "Oh, excuse me," she heard. "It's just that — that is, you sound just like one of our doctors, Miss." Maki scrawled down the address. Fortunately, she remembered the area and the landmarks the receptionist gave her. She made her way there, arriving before the time of her "appointment." Was she consulting now? Losing this much memory was a terrible sign. Symptoms like that made a doctor even more nervous than the public, unless they were on one of those symptom websites.
The entire day was surreal. Not only did everyone there — all total strangers —act like they knew Maki, but she had a steady stream of exams all day, all sports-related. Even weirder, more than a few people mentioned Nico, asking if she was in town and would be picking Maki up. She glanced at the schedule in her office. Apparently, "she" normally got off at 5 pm. Since they seemed to know Nico here, it might be a good idea to have Nico meet her at the clinic after all. If Umi called, she might have to do some fast talking, but she could stick to the truth, mostly. Say she'd spent all day away consulting at a clinic and had arranged to meet Nico after work to do some catching up. Out of curiosity, since she started at eight, she asked if she could have permission to leave at four, given she had no appointments the last hour, and would have a half hour before that to do paperwork. Once that was granted, she texted Nico the address, and they agreed to meet up at the clinic in a couple of hours.
Maki wasn't even worrying if this 8 hour day consulting would count for a full 10-12 hour hospital day at Nishikino.
Nico had plenty of time to kill. She'd tried to stop by her mother's apartment, but the only one there had been Cocoa, and Nico caught her just leaving. Weirdly enough, she'd told Nico to "say hi to Maki for me." Nico remembered when Cocoro had had a crush on Maki, way back in high school. If Cocoa had one, too, it would be a real mess. "Not what we need today, nico," she muttered.
She checked her email from her agent. Apparently, each and every project she'd been working on had been cancelled and replaced with a new one she'd never heard about. Well, why should her work life be any less bizarre than her personal life? Something called the "Brave Love" tour seemed to be the main event her agent wanted her to gear up for. Her new theory to replace the Chloroform Theory was that she, and probably Maki-chan, had accidentally chased a talking rabbit down a hole. Or, with any luck, she was still asleep. In her own bed. Alone. Or with Nozomi. It beat "committed to a mental facility with hallucinations and delusions" decisively.
She noticed she needed to go to the agency to fill in some paperwork. It was at the front reception area when she arrived. As she signed the first one, the secretary cleared her throat. "Nico, you are the one insisting on consistent legal representation. I will remind you these are legal papers, so you must sign them with your married name of Nishikino in the wards you have marriage certificates filed, and anywhere in Hokkaido. If you're feeling tired, just use your hanko." Sure enough, her chop now said Nishikino Nico.
Nishikino Nico. Her. Nishikino Nico.
This made Maki keeping a picture of them by her bed comparatively normal. Japan wasn't like America. Was it? You couldn't go off, party, have a lost weekend and wake up married, right? Right?
She suddenly needed to hear Nozomi's voice, she decided. "Hello?" she heard. "Nozomii?" she replied.
"Nicocchi, is something wrong?"
"I love you Nozomi. Can I come see you?"
"Well, Nicocchi, of course, what is your best friend for? But you are so sentimental, you haven't been drinking, right? It clouds the eyes of the soul, although it does relieve stress. … Nico, is something going on with you and Maki-chan?"
"Maki-chan?"
"Yes, you know, beautiful, cool, tsundere, makes Nicocchi swoon …"
"I swear we never did anything, Nozomi. We were both out cold, is all."
"What are you talking about, Nicocchi?"
"Umm," began Nico, completely confused, "What is Nozomi talking about?"
"Nozomi is talking about a similarly weepy and sentimental and troubled phone message Umi-chan got a little while ago from Maki-chan. If you two are having some kind of trouble …"
"No!" said Nico, a little too forcefully. "In fact, we're going to discuss it after Maki-chan is done with work. But …but Nico just wanted to hear Nozomi's voice."
Nozomi laughed out loud at that, but then, apparently, gathered her wits and said, more soberly, "Wow, a sweet and sentimental Nicocchi. It's a good thing whatever you've been doing you've been sharing with Maki-chan, or she would tease you for years, you know, Nico."
"You're right, Maki is in no position to throw stones, nico."
"Oh ho!" Nozomi chuckled.
"I swear, Nozomi, I would never cheat on you."
"Never what, Nicocchi?"
"I have never cheated on Nozomi and I never will."
"Nicocchi, the only one who logically could cheat on me is Elicchika, you know."
"Eli? What do you mean?"
She heard a voice next to Nozomi's phone. "Nozomi, I'm gonna take a shower, see you in a little while."
It sounded like the aforementioned Eli.
"Elicchi, this sounds like an important conversation, or I would join you. Ah, look, she still blushes."
"Nozomi!" Nico said, raising her voice a little. "You're … you're with Eli?"
"Yes, Nico, you act like you're shocked?"
"Oh God. Maybe … maybe that's why I was with Maki. Because you were with Eli," Nico continued, in a much quieter voice.
"Well, yeah, more or less. But why does Nicocchi want to dredge up the past all of a sudden?"
"The past? The past?" Nico said, getting more agitated.
"Now I know what Umi meant, Nicocchi. She said when she called back, Maki was all lovey-dovey with her for some reason …"
"For some REASON?" Nico said, even a bit louder.
"Nicocchi. Calm. Down."
Somehow, even when Nico was heartbroken and furious with her, Nozomi could still make her stop ranting.
"Anyway, then Maki-chan got all jealous of Kotori-chan. And she just got defensive when Umi asked if she'd talked to Nico."
"So … so Nozomi doesn't … doesn't love Nico any more?"
"Nicocchi, you are so loved. But speaking as someone who loves Nicocchi, I say you had better talk all this out with Maki-chan."
Nico was broken, and defeated, and it showed in her voice. "I guess you are right about that. Goodbye, Nozomi."She ended the call.
When Nico arrived at the clinic, precisely at four, she looked like Maki felt. Apparently, Honoka had phoned her, worried. In the course of their miscommunication, Nico had learned that all the Mu's girls had played musical chairs with their "Love Lives," and Nico and Maki had fallen on their butts. Honoka was with Kira Tsubasa, and according to her, they were the leaders of Mu's and A-RISE. And Todo Erena and Yuuki Anju had hooked up. Umi was with Kotori, Rin with Hanayo, Nozomi with Eli, and apparently, "We're a couple, according to Honoka."
"Nico-chan, it's a little worse than that. I looked at my file today in the sports medicine clinic where, apparently, I now work. You are on file as my next of kin. It says we've been married for years."
"Well," Nico said thoughtfully. "That would explain the signature."
When they got together, their friends wondered if Sonoda Umi and her girlfriend Nishikino Maki would be able to put up with each other for long. They were both seen as rigid, uncompromising, prudish, driven and unforgiving girls, what Americans called Type A. In actuality, the fact that they were both reliable, organized and motivated made their relationship flow quite smoothly. Both of them were too busy for full-time togetherness - Umi had already taken control of the day-to-day operations at the Sonoda doujou, and Maki was working as an assistant at the Nishikino family hospital while she waited to see which internship offer she would take. Several of the better hospitals wanted her, so it wasn't troublesome for Maki. While Umi had stayed over, they hadn't quite moved on to doing things without any clothes on, entirely due to Umi's modesty and caution, but lately, even Umi had become excited over the idea of going further on Maki's next birthday.
Umi had a harder time than Maki admitting she preferred women. Maki said it was a relief - the o-miyais she had already been forced to go on were with worthless social climbers who wouldn't have honored the Nishikino rules for running the hospital anyway. But while she hadn't been willing to offend her best friends, Kousaka Honoka and Minami Kotori, the fact that Umi had enjoyed their kissing and cuddling antics in middle and high school had actually been secretly a little shameful for Umi. After all, what most people did was both normal and proper, by definition, and that was how Umi, the quintessential Yamato nadeshiko, was raised to behave, at all times.
Still, a genius who skipped a grade in school and finished college two years early, the scion of the most prominent medical family in Japan could scarcely be considered improper as a partner. Umi and Maki had both had romantic fans at Otonokizaka, and if she was honest, they themselves were in no way immune to the cool beauty each of them possessed. Eli had once joked that if she and Umi dated there would be a trail of broken hearts across Otonokizaka and the same was true, to an extent, for Maki and Umi. Umi had always wondered if Maki's best friend, Yazawa Nico, and Maki had taken their friendship a little farther. Especially when Nozomi had taken up with Ayase for a while and Maki had been consoling her. But it wasn't a question Umi had ever been comfortable with asking.
She knew Nico and Nozomi were already having any kind of sex they felt like, though Nico was keeping it top secret. Umi was a little surprised, though, thinking about it, she shouldn't be, that Nico was good at keeping up appearances. They had gone over the history and videos of Nico's first idol group, and Mu's had had to admit that the only thing that went wrong was a combination of bad luck, the newness of the project, and that Nico was the only heavily motivated member. She really hadn't done anything wrong. It was a grudging admission to make given Nico's original reputation in Mu's. It was all the stranger because she hadn't bragged about it or defended herself ever when discussing it; Maki and Nozomi said even two years later it was too raw for her.
Maki hadn't called in a couple of days. Normally, Umi or Maki would visit each other at least three days a week. Umi knew today was the last day of seven twelve-or-ten-hour days for Maki. Normally, she'd get at least a text wanting to discuss their plans for the weekend. She tried to remember when Maki's usual break was, so she could phone her and talk. Just as she was pondering that question, she got a call from Maki's mother.
" Sonoda-san. Sorry to bother you, but I am glad I was able to reach you. Have you seen my daughter recently?"
" Dr. Nishikino. No, I was going to call her, in fact. During her break."
"Well, she hasn't shown up at all, and when I called her number, it went to messages."
Now, that was completely unlike Maki. "I will try now, if you wish," Umi offered.
"Please do," Maki's mother replied.
Unfortunately, it went to voicemail as well. She had a number for Nico that had "(Private)" In her contacts, but the situation warranted it, so Umi texted Nico:
"Nico this is for Maki:
Are you all right? Your mother says you never arrived at the hospital. I haven't heard anything from you, and our calls are going to message. Please message or call back as soon as you can."
It was a mystery now, and although Umi was always brave and stoic, even she was a little uneasy.
It was almost two hours later that she got a reply text from Maki's number:
"Umi. My mother should know I turn off my phone until half past eight. Since you probably wouldn't know, I am letting you know for future reference. Also, why did my mother want me, and why is she conveying that through you? Couldn't either of you reach Nico if it was urgent?
Then another:
If you know why my mother wants to see me, please reply. Nico gets an earlier start than me, so you can message her - I wouldn't call - even a bit before eight and she will usually reply. I think you have her private number, but if not I can email it to you."
She phoned Maki immediately after she read the text.
"What on earth is going on, Maki. Why would we need to go through Nico to talk to you?"
"Well, i don't have any secrets from Nico, I never have, except presents for her birthday, which is not now. I even remind her of our anniversary."
"Why would you do that?"
"Do ... what?"
"Remind her of our anniversary?"
"Umi, I have no time for jokes, I am heading to the clinic and picking up some breakfast on the way. Nico had to head out early today. Sorry, bye."
With that, the connection went dead. Maki was behaving completely crazily, and it was more than a little unsettling. The only clue she had was all the Nico talk. Well, she was Maki's best friend. In fact, Umi had been jealous more than once of how well Nico seemed to know Maki. At least she could take advantage of that for once. Well, not for once, she had to admit when she had been shopping for presents for Maki, she usually broke down and asked Nico for suggestions. And the first time Maki came over for dinner, she'd asked Nico what Maki's favorite foods were. Luckily, Nico had told her as long as it had tomatoes she couldn't go very far wrong. But that was woolgathering. Maki had suggested she text Nico, hadn't she?
"Nico. Maki still hasn't shown up at the hospital this morning. When I contacted Maki, she said to send messages through you in the morning for some reason. Is something wrong with Maki? She doesn't seem to be herself the last couple of days."
Sure enough, as Maki had promised, Nico replied within a few minutes.
"Did Maki's mom say why she wanted to see her at the hospital? Maki didn't say anything about that to Nico. She's probably on her way to the clinic by now," the text said. Then a longer one arrived:
"Sadly, Nico couldn't make her breakfast. Nico must go, today is a busy day, and for some reason the producer Nico is supposed to meet is not there at the agency, What a headache, nico!"
Nico wasn't making much more sense than Maki today. Were they up to something? If Umi didn't know better, she'd almost suspect they'd been drugged, she thought to herself. Well, fine:
"What is the address of the clinic? Is Maki okay?"
The reply was helpful, Nico sent the address and the number of the front desk. Umi decided this needed to be investigated in person. However, it was still bizarre, as it ended:
"Is Umi okay? Maki was fine when Nico saw her last night. Nico has been making sure Maki gets enough sleep and this is the first day in a while Nico couldn't make two meals for Maki-chan."
Well. That was, if true, actually a little weird and improper, by Umi's standards. If she was visiting Maki and cooking for her every night, that went beyond "best friend" territory and into the "don't spend more time with my girlfriend than I do" region. Maybe a little hint would be good:
"Is everything okay with Nozomi, Nico? Something we need to know about?"
"I saw her this week, and she seems fine. But you really should ask Eli. I know she's busy, but ... actually, why not ask Nozomi yourself? She doesn't mind chatting with you, you know."
The tone of the text was strange. You'd think there'd be some sort of complaint after "you really should ask Eli." Was Nozomi starting to cheat on Nico? Even emotionally? Umi knew there had been some sort of drama with Nico, Nozomi and Eli before Umi, Kotori and Honoka arrived at Otonokizaka. Eli and Nico were both professional about it, but Nico definitely moved a little closer to Nozomi when Eli came to practices. Things like that.
Umi's schedule at the doujou could be as flexible as she wished to make it, honestly. There would be no issues with a visit to this clinic - a sports clinic, she noted from looking up the address online on her phone. Actually, that was a relief. If Maki were gravely ill she might go to a different hospital to preserve her privacy, but it would not be a sports medicine clinic.
Come to think of it, Maki had said she shouldn't directly phone Nico, but this was a special circumstance. Nothing was adding up, all of a sudden, and she needed more information, more directly. Umi placed the call.
"Hello, Nico. Sorry to bother you, again, but you have, actually seen Maki-chan recently?"
"Umm, yes, of course, Nico already said she saw her last night. Is something wrong?"
"I am calling because her mother, Doctor Nishikino, called me when Maki didn't show up at the hospital this morning."
"So your text said. Umm, just a second," she heard.
"Maki hasn't got any notes or anything on her wall schedule for today. Why did Mama Nishikino want Maki to come to the hospital, nico? If Maki's mom calls at noon, that is Maki's for-certain break, and she can come by the hospital by six, since she leaves the clinic at 5:30."
"To work, Nico. Doesn't the schedule say it's her last day on of seven?"
"Umi-chan is confusing the Nishikino doctor-parents schedule on the wall with the doctor-daughter's schedule at the clinic. Maki only makes notes if something changes."
"The clinic, again? What is this place, Nico?"
"The sports medicine clinic in Toukou, that's where she works, Umi-chan. She's probably getting breakfast on the way, Nico has to leave for the agency early today."
"Leave where?" Umi was confused. Not only the clinic, but Nico leaving sounded like she was spending the night with Maki.
"Our apartment?" Nico also sounded puzzled.
" Your family apartment?"
"No, baka," Nico said, chuckling. "Me and Maki-chan are still where Maki was renting by herself. It's located well and it doesn't cost much. I thought Umi-chan knew that?"
"I think Maki would have let me know she was getting a roommate, Nico!"
"Don't be silly, Umi. Nico appreciates your discretion, but the truth about me and Maki-chan is old news now. You don't have to pretend we're just roommates. Nico doesn't kiss all her roommates in the park and get caught by paparazzi, you know. Well, Nico has to go, Nico sends love to everyone, Umi-chan. You should go see Maki-chan at the clinic, its 5-9 chome Toukou and Maki-chan's main break is at noon. If Mama Nishikino needs to see Maki-chan, she should phone her then, too. Maki can visit the hospital after six. It sounds like you need Maki for something, but Nico is too busy today to play post office."
With that, the line, again, went dead. The words "kiss ... her roommate" were paralyzing Umi's thoughts, going around and around in a vicious circle, so she almost didn't notice that she'd been disconnected.
Toujou Nozomi woke up with a bad feeling even before she looked at her messages. For one thing, Nico had texted her that she would probably be visiting, but might be working too late to come over. That was fine, but normally, she'd have a text waiting when she woke up. She seemed to have a lot of them from … Umi? Which she wasn't going to deal with for a few minutes. Another reason for her mood, undoubtedly, was the ongoing effects of her experiment with doing two hatsumode - one at her shrine, one at the neglected shrine near hers. She had been feeling especially spiritually powerful that New Year's morning, and she'd always wanted to see how the other shrine felt. The four of them, she and Nico and Umi and Maki, had all made their wishes. As it so happened, Nico and Maki had had some sort of argument and fallen behind their girlfriends, so Umi and Nozomi had tossed in their money together, and Nico and Maki had followed up later. All of them had wished for roughly the same things, love and harmony in the new year. It was a safe wish and typical for young lovers. Weirdly enough, there was a dusty pile of fortunes near the shrine door. They had found an old box and put the fortunes in and each drawn one. Nico and Maki got "great blessing," and Umi and Nozomi had gotten "Terrible curse." It was the very first bad omikuji Nozomi had ever drawn. It had dampened her mood for months afterward.
Normally, those two things would have been enough to inspire uneasiness, but they weren't everything that had Nozomi upset.
Nozomi had fun seeming omniscient, and she wasn't ashamed to cheat a little. One of the things she'd done to amaze Nico was to secretly register Nico's phone on a web site that finds cellphones. When she hadn't heard back from Nico last night, out of curiosity she had searched and found out that Nico was at Maki's apartment, rather late. Fortunately, Nico was at home now. According to their plans, Nico should be here already, so they could go to breakfast together. Nico had been so tired lately — perhaps she slept through he alarm? Phoning might be rude, but texting wouldn't wake Nico if she had her phone's ring off. Also, the location wasn't precise, so maybe she was already leaving.
"Where are you, Nico?" was short, and to the point.
Didn't she turn her phone off last night?
Nico reflexively reached over to ... where was the end table? Anyway she found her phone next to her pillow — how long had it been since she did that? Not since leaving her ... wait, this bed wasn't hers and Maki's either.
"I must be more tired than I thought, if I visited Mama and took Cocoro's room and don't even remember," she said out loud. She was especially bothered by that last part. She usually bunked out on the couch or a spare futon - 21, nearly 22 was too old to be displacing your high-school aged sister.
After a text from Umi for Maki, something confusing about Nishikino Hospital, the latest text was from Nozomi, and it was cryptic. "Where are you, Nico?" Great. Now, after apologizing to Cocoro, she'd have to apologize to Nozomi for whatever appointment they'd made — which Nico had absolutely no memory of whatsoever. Today was a day for making Nico's head smaller.
When she thought about it, Nico realized Nozomi came first. After all, she was somewhere waiting for Nico, who was obviously very late. She looked at her phone and wondered. Wasn't it a bit early? They were probably going to breakfast.
She didn't have the nerve to talk to Nozomi and admit she was spacing things out. Nico screwed up her courage to text:
Nozomi, Nico is sorry, she doesn't remember that we were meeting up, or where, or anything. Nico is very tired, gomen. Where should Nico go?
After that she headed for the main room of the house.
"So sorry, Cocoro!" she said when she saw her sibling at the table already.
"I thought we'd cured you of apologizing over that, Onee-chan," Cocoro said with a smile.
"Seriously," said Mama Nishikino. "Your sister and I are rarely both there except to sleep, with my schedule and all. And after she graduates, she will have to get used to sleeping on a futon occasionally when she's in the dormitories at college."
"Ah," Nico said, "so you bunked down in Mama's room?"
"Are you alright, Nico?" Cocoro asked. "You know it's Mama's and mine both, just like yours is yours and mine both. Not like I could sleep with you on the computer all the time, anyway."
"Your sister has been so tired, lately, Cocoro. Don't think I don't know the symptoms, Nico-chan!"
It was true, Nico reflected. She was wearing herself out just like her mother did. When she got back to their apartment, she'd have a long talk with Maki, then with her agency. At least some of her projects had to be cancelled, if she was starting to forget things out of fatigue.
Without paying any attention, she'd eaten a little and drunk a little coffee when she got Nozomi's text:
"Nico we're overdue for breakfast so I called ahead and made it a brunch instead in an hour. Be there, we have a lot to talk about. I have a bad feeling about something."
Nico swallowed a mouthful then turned to her mother and admitted, "Nico must really be forgetful. Sorry Mama but Nico, I guess, is to meet Nozomi for breakfast, so Nico shouldn't eat any more."
Nico hadn't taken much, fortunately, so she scraped a little into the mushroom compost bucket and washed her plate. She'd thrown on the best things she could in a minute or so before leaving her room, so she just kissed Cocoro and her mother on the cheek and dashed out. It would take her quite a while to walk to the cafe, but it might take longer to figure out how to get there with trains and buses — it wasn't an address she recognized.
She texted Nozomi that she was on her way and apologized again for forgetting. It was probably time to deal with Umi's text as she walked. As she'd thought, it was too confusing. She copied it to Maki's number — she ought to be up around now, anyway, and Nico couldn't make sense of it.
Nonetheless, she ended up getting texts from Umi anyway. Had she and Maki really kept Umi out of the loop? She didn't think so. If she wasn't nervous about offending Umi, she might have suggested that Umi was overtired and needed to slow down, too. She hoped Umi followed her suggestion to meet her at the Nico went to meet her after work — and wasn't she going to leave early today? She wished she hadn't fallen asleep in her family home so she could check Maki's clinic schedule.
When Umi took the next step of phoning Nico, it seemed like that finally got her off of bothering Nico and back to whatever was so urgent for her and the Nishikinos to discuss with Maki. Maybe, since Maki was a sports doctor now, she needed help with the doujin?
Or maybe Honoka wanted a small reunion sooner than the big one they'd planned? Nico could see her working on Kotori to work on Umi to contact Eli and Maki, since they both considered Umi the "serious" member of Mu's. Unless it was really small, Maki would probably not want to go along. But Nico could negotiate. She'd been feeling nostalgic about Mu's lately anyway.
She couldn't help but notice Umi had a very strange tone after they spoke for a while. Maybe this was just everyone's strange phase of life. It was a little discouraging — married almost two years to the love of her life, successful in her career, but things still felt precarious. She even told Umi she was on her way to her agency, forgetting she was walking to meet Nozomi for a late breakfast. Take yourself in hand, Nico!
Why on Earth was Nico walking to meet her? All you had to do was take one train from the station near the Yazawa apartment in Shouhei Bridge, then it was a ten minute walk to the cafe. Good thing I changed the time so much. So Nozomi thought to herself. Her girlfriend was acting strangely, and if it was due to fatigue, something should be done.
Meanwhile, she looked at her texts from Umi. Apparently, Maki was acting strange, too, far stranger even than Nico. Not even showing up at the hospital, going to some clinic instead, telling people to talk to Nico instead of her …
Umi thought Nico had stayed overnight with Maki, but at least Nozomi could reassure her on that score. They agreed that Nozomi would quiz Nico over breakfast and Umi would try to catch Maki at this clinic over lunch and do the same with her.
Nozomi was particularly interested in Nico's "joke" about her being Maki's kissing roommate.
She was starting to get mad, but the uneasiness was growing even faster than her irate temper could keep up with. Since she was traveling to the cafe in a sensible way, she had time for a half hour of meditation, so Nozomi sat in zazen.
When Maki woke up, she had a very strange text from passed on to her by Nico — who, by the way, was missing.
Later, during a break, she phoned Nico. She had apparently gone to her family's apartment late, even after Maki fell asleep. Even weirder, she claimed she didn't remember doing so, or why. She told Maki she had apparently spaced out an agreement to have breakfast with Nozomi, which they had changed to a late breakfast after Nozomi had to wake Nico with a text. Nico had gotten strange texts and a phone call from Umi, and, comparing notes, they had no idea what she was upset about or even up to.
The cafe that Nico was meeting Nozomi in wasn't familiar to either of them. Nico told her she'd been dealing with Umi while walking, so the time wasn't wasted. She warned Maki that Umi was going to meet her at noon. Honestly, it would be a relief, she decided.
For whatever reason, the whole clinic had decide to prank her — which was a definite "don't" for Maki in a clinic setting. First, they expressed surprise she was there at all, and acted like she was doing them a favor by showing up!
Then, other doctors had all her regular patients! Fortunately, some got busy and passed them to her when she asked them to. Then they marveled that she knew the cases she took intimately and handled them with perfect efficiency. It was an open secret that Maki was, in baseball terms, a heavy hitter who had chosen them over her family hospital mainly to stay close to her wife. Why anyone would be surprised at her performance at this late date escaped her. It wasn't her birthday, nor, quite, April Fool day, so … But more and more of her patients were asked if they wanted to see her and agreed — it seemed more from her being a Nishikino than remembering she was their regular physician.
The strangeness of the day — for instance, the clinic director called Nishikino Hospital to thank them for lending Maki to them and she thought she heard her mother say she had no idea what Maki was up to — wore on her. Even if Umi was acting strangely, too, a familiar face would be a relief.
Since Nico was probably still walking, she texted her to make sure she asked Nozomi if she had any idea what was up with Umi.
Nozomi had many habits she never explained, or, often, even mentioned. One of the most secret was that she only wrote in her journal once a month. At first, it was an accident. She'd neglected it for two months or a little more. When she opened it, there was one entry only a month old. If the apparent sleep-writing wasn't odd enough, it talked about things Nozomi didn't understand. One thing it speculated about was whether Honoka would want to involve her and Nico in a concert series she was planning
for some of the orphanages in Tokyo. It was only two days after reading that entry that Honoka had, in fact, called Nozomi about it.
Nozomi was not easily spooked by the mystical. She made a practical decision to only open the journal once a month and write in it. If there was something supernatural going on, she wondered, did that mean another Nozomi somewhere was equally mystified by her messages?
She wasn't disappointed. Apparently "Nozomi 2" had done two hatsumode this year, one at the neglected shrine near hers. Nozomi would never go near that thing for any reason. She had a sinking feeling her diary pen pal was a hubristic idiot.
Then, another chilling thought. Nico's weird phone call. What if Nozomi 2 and her Nico were an item? After all, they had been, in high school. Had her diary, or Nozomi 2's shrine visit, somehow thinned the barriers between the worlds? If so, then the Nico that phoned her might be a "slider." She might be really heartbroken if Nozomi and her were a couple. It would explain a lot.
And if that was a possibility, maybe Maki's phone call to Umi had a rational explanation, too. Well, rational by Nozomi's standards. Well, this was all science fiction until she'd had a good talk with intelligent, skeptical Elicchi. Then again, writing an entry was probably a good idea. In the best case scenario, it might wake up her conjectured counterpart to the problem they both had.
Umi was worried about her friends. She knew there was no chance she'd cheat on Kotori with Maki, nor would Nozomi with Nico, but the way the two were fawning on them, and hinting at more, was a terrible sign. They were the only members of Mu's to take the step of getting married so far, though Anju and Erena had followed suit in A-RISE not long after. It would be tragic if they were the first to break up. Both were proud and stubborn girls, no doubt about it. But perhaps with all of their musical friends, and maybe others, they could talk them into couples' counseling.
Tomorrow, she would ask Nozomi to meet up with her to figure out what they were doing. She could see no other choice but to tell Kotori about Maki and Nico, lest their problems spill over into Umi's own relationship. Kotori was quite fond of Nico, but she had been a little wary of Maki since so many people "shipped" her with Umi in high school.
Speak of the devil. Nozomi texted her asking to meet up tomorrow. Good. But it was curious. Nozomi was practically begging her to "keep an open mind." Well, fine, as long as it didn't involve Kotori. When a Sonoda made a commitment, nothing and no one could get them to abandon it. Nozomi had a tendency to be too casual about sexual matters. Even Nozomi was probably not suggesting something like a threesome — where did that thought come from —but in honesty, you couldn't declare absolutely she would never think like that. Well, another thing Sonodas didn't do was undermine an ally, so she cleared her traitor's thoughts away and agreed on meeting Nozomi for breakfast.
She was almost afraid to open the old journal. But as she'd expected, there was an entry there she hadn't, as best she could remember, written.
COULD IT BE, MY IDIOT TWIN, THAT YOUR SHRINE VISIT SWAPPED MAKIS — AND WHATS REALLY VITAL — SWAPPED NICOS? I DONT CARE WHAT YOU DO, I WANT MY BEST FRIEND NICO ***BACK***.
What could Nozomi say. With slightly trembling hands, she wrote, simply:
I'll try.
AN:
Sorry this is inconclusive. These entries aren't meant to be novels, just a small slice of AU worlds. As compensation, I am adding the outline and details of said worlds.
Worlds
World 1 "Our world"
• Nico successful idol
• Maki works at sports medicine clinic specializing in injuries like Nico would get.
• Umi is with Kotori
• Eli is with Nozomi
• Honoka is with Tsubasa
• Anju with Erena
• Rin with Hanayo
• NicoMaki married on Maki's 18th birthday in Hokkaido and they got certificates all over Japan - almost two years ago.
World 2 "Shrine World"
• Nico successful idol but a little less than in World 1
• Maki working at Nishikino Hospital working towards taking over
• Umi took over family dojo
• Nico is with Nozomi
• Nico had affair with Maki in HS when Nozomi was off with Eli
• Nico and Nozomi reconciled
• Nico is afraid they're repeating history
• Umi and Maki together since Umi's last year in high school, but they still haven't done everything, even though it's been years.
• Umi decided to have no limits after Maki's next (20th) birthday, when she can drink.
• Nozomi, Maki, Nico and Umi made a second hatsumode at the neglected shrine. Nico and Maki fought over something and fell behind, so Umi and Nozomi, Nico and Maki, were paired when they made their wishes.
• Nothing happened to Umi or Nozomi, but a month or two later, Maki and Nico swapped universes with their counterparts.
• Eli is with Hanayo
• Kotori is with Honoka
• Tsubasa is with Anju
• Erena is with Arisa
• The leader of A-RISE is Erena (Not Tsubasa)
• The leader of Mu's is Umi (Was Nico, then Eli jointly with Umi)
• Rin is with Yukiho
Sections
Maki 2 in World 1
• Finds Nico in bed with her
• Leaves NOTE for Nico
Nico 2 in World 1
• Wakes up in Maki's apartment with no memory of how she got there
• Sees a couples picture of her and Maki on Maki's bedside table
• Panics but then sees no evidence of sex at all.
• Sends Maki two TEXTS
Maki 2 in World 1
• Discovers she's not expected at the hospital
• Discovers she's expected to work at a sports medicine clinic
• While working all day there, arranges to meet Nico after she gets off — an hour early as she came in an hour early.
Nico 2 in World 1
• Discovers all her idol work has been changed and she has to meet up with her agency
• At the agency, discovers her last name is now Nishikino
• PHONE with Nozomi, finds out Nozomi is with Eli and Umi is with Maki.
• Wants to meet up with Nozomi, but Nozomi convinces her to go ahead and meet up with Maki first.
Maki 2 in World 1
• Nico arrives at clinic, talked with HONOKA
• Nico found out from HONOKA that all their friends have swapped partners (to the degree they had one) and that she and Maki are together. Furthermore, that Honoka led Mu's, and Tsubasa, A-RISE.
• Maki tells Nico she's listed as Maki's wife in the clinic's employee records.
Umi 2 in World 2
• Mama Nishikino calls to tell her Maki didn't come to the hospital and her phone is off.
• Umi can't get through to her, either, so she TEXTS Nico with a message for Maki
• Maki TEXTS Umi back, irritated, and tells her normally she should let Nico deal with things if she's free and Maki isn't.
• Umi PHONES Maki, who is still irritated and reaffirms that Umi should go through Nico while Maki is working, before hanging up on her.
• Nico replies, confusing Umi and raising suspicions that Nico is after Maki.
• Umi PHONES Nico and finds out where Maki is, but her suspicions are further aroused by the call.
• And finally confirmed when Nico tells her she kissed Maki in the park, and got filmed by paparazzi.
• At which point Nico hangs up on Umi, too.
Nozomi 2 in World 2
• She went to the version of the neglected shrine in World 2 but now feels that was hubris.
• Because they were quarreling, Nico and Maki fell behind their girlfriends, Nozomi and Umi.
• So when they prayed for good luck in love, Nico and Maki were together.
• Nothing happened to Nozomi or Umi (who both got terrible luck fortunes) but Nico and Maki (who both got great luck fortunes) eventually swapped with World 1.
• She ignores messages from Umi 2 because she has no messages from Nico, even though they are supposed to be heading to breakfast soon.
• She notes that Nico's phone now is near where she lives — maybe Nico's just now leaving?
• TEXT to Nico
• Umi will grill Maki. Nozomi will grill Nico.
• Both of them are wondering: Are they having an affair?
Nico 1 in World 2
• Wakes up in her family home
• TEXT from Nozomi asking where she is
• Nico and her family believe she's overworked and forgetful
• TEXTS and CALL from Umi baffle her
• She TEXTS Maki and then calls her
• She warns Maki Umi intends to meet her at the clinic for lunch.
• She tells Maki she's walking to meet Nozomi at an unfamiliar cafe.
Maki 1 in World 2
• Maki is baffled by the TEXT and by Umi and her mother
• Also baffled that Nico disappeared overnight
• Also baffled at the clinic, where people venerate her but act like they don't know her.
• Plans to quiz Umi about what's going on.
• Asks Nico to do the same with Nozomi.
Nozomi 1 in World 1
• Gets strange call from Nico
• Discusses situation with Umi
• Opens her journal and figures out what's going on
• Leaves nasty note for Nozomi 2
Nozomi 2 in World 2
• Reads note in her journal
• Resolves to try and fix things
Story ends (for now).