Tickle Party

by ohdon'tdoit

This is a commission for an anonymous client** To boost the sales of their concert, the idols decide to hold a contest where the winner could ask the girls to do whatever they wanted. But what if the winner only wants to tickle them and be tickled by them? How will they react? Maki/Nico/Honoka/OC

"I don't know, Honoka...I'm not so sure about this," Maki Nishikino grumbled, an expression of sheer uneasiness on her face as she walked alongside her two friends, Honoka Kousaka and Nico Yazawa down the street.

The orange haired idol just smiled brightly, continuing to lead the way down the street with a light skip to her step as she held a map of the neighborhood in one of her hands. She turned around to wink at Maki before looking back straight ahead. "Oh, come on! You have nothing to worry about! This is going to be a lot of fun!"

Nico nodded in agreement as she placed her hands on her hips. "Yeah, don't be such a big baby about it! Tickling isn't really a big deal."

A few weeks ago, Honoka and the others had noticed that ticket sales for their concerts were far from being sold out. For months they had been steadily rising into popularity more and more, but it was like they had reached a plateau out of nowhere. All great musicians, pop stars, and idols were bound to reach a standstill at some point but none of the girls in μ's wanted to risk losing any of their fans. They needed to come up with something fun and exciting to motivate their fans into supporting them while they worked on producing more songs and dances to premiere at their upcoming concert.

Hanayo had suggested that each of the members offer free autographs outside of a restaurant, cafe, or bookstore in Akihabara, but Umi had thought that idea was far too basic and wouldn't help promote their concert ticket sales at all. Eli thought maybe doing a random prize giveaway for their fans for anyone who bought tickets to their concert, and while that idea in itself was great, the girls had been at a loss as to what would they could do prizes. CD's were too basic. Shirts were boring, as well. What else could they have possibly used as an enticing enough prize to encourage their fans to attend their upcoming concert?

Nico was the one to come up with the brilliant idea of offering a prize giveaway that didn't include an actual prize. "I think we could offer ourselves up as prizes," she had said during their idol meeting. "Not anything lewd or anything, of course, so don't get too excited, Nozomi! But we could offer the chance for one lucky fan to hang out with three idols of their choosing for a day and do whatever is they want! We could give them a private concert, go to the arcade with them, or they could even take a million photos with us to impress their fans! They can give us a list of activities they want to do ahead of time so we can plan ahead. We're basically bribing them to buy tickets by using ourselves as prizes!"

Mostly everyone was on board with that idea. This would be a good chance to let one of their fans interact with them on a personal level; any μ's lover wouldn't want to pass up an opportunity like that, even if their chances of winning were one in a million!

There needed to be rules, though. For example, no one over the age of fourteen could enter in the contest. In order to participate, the fan needed to buy a concert ticket and then write a letter with the type of activities they wanted to do with the idols and mail it to Otonokizaka Academy, whether it be would be going with them to the movies, taking photos with them, or hanging out around town. No activity could be sexual in nature, dangerous, or anything gross but the girls wouldn't be allowed to turn down any activity other than things that could cause physical harm to them. They all knew it would be a risk and they might end up having to do something really embarrassing or really insane. They hoped no one wanted them to go skydiving or make them take embarrassing videos of themselves being goofy, but this kind of risk would end up benefiting μ's in the long run.

Days after the girls had announced their random prize giveaway, letters flooded their mailbox at the school and the concert was completely sold out in less than a week. Each of the high school idols were delighted to know that they had so many dedicated fans that were just dying to help them out with sales while also getting the chance to meet them.

"How do we choose a winner?" Kotori asked, overwhelmed by the sight of the giant bags full of letters from fans all over Japan.

"We'll have to do it just the way we promised," Eli replied. "We'll randomly select one. And we'll even livestream one of us picking out a letter so no one thinks we cheated or picked a letter strictly because it gave us the easiest requests to do."

Rin beamed brightly as she pawed at the air like a cat. "This will be awesome, nya~! I say we dump all the letters out onto the floor right now and have Honoka-senpai pick one! I can record it onto social media with my phone!"

All nodding in agreement, the girls dumped the piles and piles of letters onto the floor of their club room. They shuffled the hundreds of letters around, excited to see which one Honoka would be drawing and what adventure waited for them inside the envelope.

"All right, Honoka! Go ahead and pick one out!" Nozomi announced as Rin pushed a few buttons on her phone to get the camera rolling.

The ginger haired idol reached into the pile with a bright smile on her face. She pulled out a solid white envelope and read the name written on the front. "Here we go! It looks like our winner is someone named Sei Iori! Congratulations, Sei! That sounds like a boy's name so let's not waste any more time and see what he wants from us."

The room of girls grew silent as Honoka tore into the envelope and pulled out the letter. It was short and straight to the point and Honoka took a deep breath before reading it out loud. "Sei Iori would like to request Honoka Kousaka, Maki Nishikino, and Nico Yazawa to come to his house for a tickle party."

Almost all the girls gasped in unison, shocked over the request. "A tickle party?!"

Honoka could feel her cheeks heating up as she read the letter over and over to see if Sei Iori had left them any clues as to what he was expecting from the tickle party. It sounded innocent enough and tickling wasn't necessarily lewd or sexually inappropriate, so it followed within their guidelines. But what did he mean by tickle party?

Umi was the first to look it up on her phone. "A tickle party is when two or more people engage in tickling activities. So, basically, they just tickle each other using their hands, feet, or utensils." She immediately grimaced as cold chills ran down her spine. Umi absolutely hated even the thought of being tickled as she was extremely grateful she hadn't been selected as one of the three idols.

"Awwwwww, that sounds like fun! No fair! I want to come!" Rin whined as she finally turned off the recording device. Since none of them had expected to receive such an outlandish request, she thought it might be better to cut the video short so they could talk it all out. "I actually like being tickled and I like tickling other people. I wish he would have chosen me as one of the idols!"

Hanayo's cheeks were turning red at the thought of it. "Eeeeeek! Do you think he wants to tie you guys up and tickle you in a naughty, scandalous manner?! How horrible! Maybe it's not too late to decline his request!"

"I know you hate tickling, Hanayo, but I really don't think it's that bad of a request at all," Honoka finally said after a moment. "Tickling is fairly harmless and it can actually be a lot of fun! Plus, we promised we would do whatever our winner wanted as long as it followed our rules. What kind of idols would we be if we backed out from this?"

Maki flipped her scarlet red hair over her shoulder. "Speak for yourself. I'm absolutely not doing it. There's no way you can make me."

The purple haired busty idol came up behind the redhead, her fingers quickly trailing up and down the other girl's sides over her uniform. "You don't have a choice, Maki-chan!" Nozomi smirked, watching as Maki flinched and let out a high pitched squeal as her senpai tickled her sides. This made a few of the girls laugh, like Rin and Kotori, but there was still a lot of concern hanging in the air as to whether or not this would be a good idea.

"Tickling may not be perverted in general," Eli sighed, "but the three of you should still be careful. What if this Sei Iori isn't who he says he is at all? What if he's an old man just trying to get you three over to his house?"

Honoka tapped her chin lightly in thought. "Hmm...That's a good point. Even so, I think the three of us that were chosen should at least give Sei a chance. He could actually be a nice, fun person who just wants to hear his favorite idols laugh and smile over being tickled. I really do think it could be a lot of fun. As long as we're careful and play it safe, we'll be fine."

Nico huffed up her chest while twirling a lock of her dark hair from one of her pigtails around her finger. "Hmph, this will be a piece of cake! I'm not worried at all in the least. We'll just go over, let him tickle us, and then call it a day. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what we do. Our concert is sold out and our ratings are up again! We're still on the path of becoming the greatest high school idols the world has ever seen! If we back out now, we'll be known as scammers and liars who don't follow through with their promises."

Maki, still annoyed at Nozomi for tickling her like that out of nowhere, took a step away from the group, a blush on her cheeks. "Fine. What are we waiting for? Let's go meet at Sei Iori's house. His address is on the envelope, right?"

Honoka nodded, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "All right then! Let's go, girls!"

Sei had never been more nervous in his life. He had just received a phone call from the student council president of Otonokizaka High School and valuable member of μ's, Eli Ayase. She called to congratulate him on winning the competition she and the other idols had put on to boost their concert ticket sales, and Sei thought his heart was about to leap right on out of his chest when he heard her smooth voice telling him the good news.

"Congratulations, Sei Iori! You are the winner of the Big μ's Prize Giveaway! This is Eli Ayase and I'm here to tell you that you will be able to spend the day with three of our precious idols! The three idols you requested—Nico Yazawa, Honoka Kousaka, and Maki Nishikino—have already headed out to the address you listed on your letter. I am just calling to confirm you are currently home and available to have guests?" Eli asked him over the phone.

Sei nearly fainted at those words. His three favorite pop idols were heading to his house right at that very moment! After he had confirmed everything with Eli and thanked her for contacting him, Sei had gotten off the phone so he could scramble into his room and put on something other than his school uniform. A bit on the short side with dark blue hair, a round face, and a skinny physique, Sei wasn't exactly used to having girls come over. In fact, he had never had a girl visit him in his life, let alone three really famous ones. He needed to look his best but was disappointed when he found he couldn't find anything fancy or eye-catching in his closet. Knowing that he probably didn't have a lot of time to make himself look spiffy, Sei settled on wearing an orange shirt, his favorite cobalt blue jacket, and a pair of denim capris. When he checked himself in the mirror, he figured he looked as good as he was going to get with what little time he had. The only thing he really wished he could fix was the cowlick towards the front of his head that never seemed to want to go down no matter how much he brushed it.

Only three minutes passed before the young heard the doorbell ring, and the sound of its loud chime made him nearly jump out of his socks. He gave himself one final look in the mirror before quietly whispering a quick pep talk for himself.

"You'll be fine, Sei! You can do this! There is nothing you want more in the world than this so be calm, cool, and try not to embarrass yourself!"

He then dashed out of his room so he could open the door to his home and greet the three idols he had been fanboying over for months now. Even though he had just reminded himself to be calm and cool, he couldn't help but embarrass himself as he suddenly forgot how to speak. Standing on the steps of his front porch was none other than the cheerful Honoka, the adorable Nico, and the elegant Maki. He opened his mouth to say something but no words could come out. Thankfully, Honoka took the initiative and gave him a polite bow.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Honoka Kousaka. Is Sei Iori home?" The girl with the apricot colored hair said. All three girls were in their school uniforms and it was impossible for Sei not to stare at them in awe, completely star struck by just how much cuter in person they were then on the videos he often watched of them online as they performed.

Sei had to mentally kick himself to get his lips to move but he finally managed to speak as all three girls looked at him expectantly. "Um, uh….I'm S-Sei Iori," he stammered out, a shy blush on his face. "It's nice to m-meet you."

Nico and Honoka exchanged puzzled glances before the bratty pigtailed girl finally spoke. "No way! I totally thought you were a girl! You're so small and thin! And your complexion is so nice…Are you sure you're not a girl?!"

Maki rolled her eyes as she folded her arms over her chest. "Of course he's a boy, dummy. Don't be rude and tactless."

Sei gave a bashful smile as he scratched the back of his head. That certainly wasn't the first time he had someone mistake him for a girl. He had always been a bit soft-spoken and rather effeminate, but he was definitely a boy. "Yeah, I'm a guy. I do get that a lot though."

Trying to change the subject, Honoka met his stare with a bright, cheerful smile. "Well, why don't you let us in so we can get the afternoon started?"

"O-Oh! Right!" Sei gasped, forgetting his manners. He stepped out of the way to let the three girls into his home before closing the door behind him. It was a good thing his parents had a tendency to work late or else this would be a very awkward situation for him to have to explain to them. He could still hardly believe that he was the winner of the raffle but that meant the girls had to have read his letter. His heart started pounding as he could only imagine the kind of faces they made when they realized a guy like him had been chosen. He had almost wished he had asked for something more normal than tickling and he started to feel highly embarrassed over the contents that had been in his letter.

"You have such a lovely home!" Honoka commented as she stood in awe in his living room. It was a much bigger house than hers and she couldn't help but wonder what his family was like. "So are you in middle school, too, Sei?"

"Th-Thank you," Sei mumbled in a soft voice, a bit surprised she was quick to drop any honorifics attached to his name. If Honoka was bothered by the fact his letter had been selected out of everyone else, she didn't let on. She looked excited, dare he say it, and he wondered what the other two girls were thinking, too.

He glanced at Maki and saw that she was inspecting her surroundings from where she stood in the middle of the living room. She looked a bit uneasy, maybe even a bit afraid of being in a stranger's home, but she eventually took a seat on the couch to make herself more comfortable. Nico, on the other hand, was quietly examining him from behind with a mischievous look in her eyes. He hadn't noticed she had been sizing him up since she stepped inside until that moment, and it didn't help with his anxiety.

"Is something wrong?" Sei asked Nico timidly.

She scrunched up her nose at him as she took another step towards him, her pigtails bobbing up and down with her movements. "You're not what I expected. When I read your letter, I was almost expecting someone super weird and creepy looking. I mean, only boys with weird fetishes would ask for something like tickling but you're actually super normal. Kind of cute, even."

Her blunt words caught Sei off guard and he nearly tripped over his own feet as he made his way to the couch so he could sit beside Maki. "I-I hope my letter didn't weird you girls out! I just, uh, really like tickling others and being tickled. I promise it's nothing weird or sexual! It's just a fun, playful thing, you know? Like when you were kids and you liked having your mom blow raspberries on your tummy or when you'd play hide and seek from your friends and you'd scream and laugh when your friend found your hiding spot and tickled you."

"Oh, I totally get it!" Honoka said as she plopped down next to Sei on the couch so he was now sitting in between her and Maki. "I'm actually really glad you asked for something like a tickle party! It sounds like so much fun! Will you tell us everything it entails?"

Sei hadn't expected any of the girls to be happy about being tickled, let alone extremely excited about it, but Honoka looked more than thrilled to have been given this opportunity to be a part of something so unique. It made him almost relax a little bit to the point he felt comfortable talking about it.

"Well, ever since I became a fan of idols, I've had this fantasy of being tied up and tickled by one of them while also tying them up and tickling them. I know it sounds strange but it would just make me extremely happy to be able to do that," he said, eyes falling down to his lap as a nervous blush crept up along his pale cheeks. "But I won't make you do anything you don't want to! So please don't feel pressured."

Honoka tapped her chin lightly in thought. "Hmm…I've never had someone tie me up before but that does sound like fun!" She broke into a huge grin as she pictured the expression of horror on Umi's and Kotori's faces had they been here. Oh, if only she could tie up her two very best friends in the whole world and make them squeal while she tickled them!

"You really think so?" Sei asked, surprised but relieved by her response. He turned to look at the other redhead beside him who was shaking lightly. She definitely didn't seem keen on the idea. Sei could only venture a guess that Maki hated being tickled and he wondered if he should offer her the chance to back out of the game. After all, he'd hate to make any of the girls legitimately upset…

Before he had a chance to talk to Maki about it, Nico was quickly approaching him where he sat. He didn't have any time to react before the pesky girl reached out her hands to tickle his sides, weaving them up and down his waist.

"Hahahahaha! Wh-What're you doing?! Hee hee! That tickles!" Sei started to chuckle as he squirmed around on the couch, his body acting on its own despite the fact he actually liked the frisky hands of the raven haired cutie.

"I'm just testing you right now," Nico grinned, continuing to tickle him even as he laughed and wiggled around in front of her. "I wonder how much of my tickling you can handle. I'm warning you—I'm pretty good at this!"

Honoka giggled at how cute Sei's laughter was as Nico teased him. "You did say you wanted a tickle party!" She joined in the fiasco, bringing out her own hands to dance across his tummy to make the boy laugh even harder.

"Hahahahaha! Cut it out, you two! I told you I wanted us to be tied up first! Haha ha ha ha ha!" Sei tried to speak in between laughs. Sei continued to laugh and squirm around until Nico and Honoka finally withdrew their hands from his slender body. Maki, having watched the silliness unfold beside her, simply twirled a lock of her hair around her finger. "This is so childish. I don't get what all the fuss is. Tickling isn't fun and a tickle party sounds annoying."

Both Honoka and Nico smiled evilly at each other, realizing just how much fun the two of them were going to end up getting out of this.

"So I guess we should decide who gets to go first with Sei!" Honoka announced as she looked at the other three. Maki was still her usual tsundere self and pretending to ignore Nico and Sei as the pig tailed idol continued to tease him with light pokes to his side. Honoka wasn't sure if Nico was ticklish or not but it was plain to see that she got a real kick out of tickling others. The whole time she wiggled her hands against Sei's slender waist, she had this sparkling glint of amusement in her eyes.

Maki, on the other hand, looked like she just wanted to hurry things up and get out there. Honoka couldn't help but think how funny it would be if it turned out Maki, the usually calm and mature one of the group, was super ticklish. She was acting like she didn't care for the act of tickling itself which could only mean one thing.

She really, really, REALLY hated to be tickled!

"Maki, why don't you go first? Nico and I will tickle both you and Sei," the redhead suggested with a devilish grin.

Immediately, Maki's cheeks lit up in an embarrassed flare as her eyes widened a bit in horror. "M-Me go first?!" Her composure was broken at the suggestion and her body began to shake uneasily as she sat on the couch. "I'd rather not go at all, if I'm being perfectly honest. Or if anything, at least let me go last after the three of you have had your fill of the fun. This just really isn't my type of thing. Tickling is so…childish and stupid."

Honoka could see that her friend was trying to cover up the fact she was scared of being tickled by pretending she was "too grown-up" for tickling. This made the playful and mischievous Honoka want to tickle the pretentious idol even more!

Wagging a finger at Maki disapprovingly, Honoka shook her head. "Nuh-uh! You have to do what Sei says! It's part of the contest's agreement, remember? So why don't you both sit on the floor and Nico and I will tie you up. The sooner you comply, the sooner we can get this over with."

Nico was already picking up on Honoka's scheme and she was all for it. Maki was just so apprehensive about the whole thing so it would be fun watching her laugh, or at the very least, squirm around a little! "All right! Sei, get that rope ready! I'm itching to put my handy-dandy ticklers to good use!" She snickered as she waved and danced her fingers ominously in the air, hoping to freak Maki out a little more.

Maki was already more than just freaked out. The poor girl was having an inner panic attack over the whole ordeal! Her palms were sweaty, her heart was racing, and she was starting to forget how to breathe evenly. There were very few things she hated more than being tickled and she was bound to embarrass herself in front of the other three if she couldn't keep her voice down.

Stay calm, Maki, the redhead told herself as she stood up from the couch as sat on the carpeted floor where Honoka motioned for her to sit. You can do this. If you don't react at all, they're bound to get bored and will want to switch out. All you have to do is keep a neutral expression. Don't laugh and don't scream!

While Maki gave herself an internal pep-talk, both Honoka and Nico were having Sei sit beside her on the floor so they could work on tying them up. Both of the "tickle contestants" had their hands tied behind their back so that they couldn't move their arms around. Their ankles were tied together, too, but they were currently tied loose enough for their socks to come off underneath but tight enough so they couldn't pull their legs apart.

"All right, here are the rules!" Honoka stated as Nico double checked the ropes to make sure they were nice and secure. "You can scream, you can laugh, you can cry…But you can't try to bite the ticklers or fight us! The ropes will prevent you from kicking us but please don't try to knee us in the face either!"

Nico made a sour face. "Yeah, definitely don't try to fight us or I'll have to tackle you and pin you down!"

Sei's heart was racing in his chest. He could hardly believe it; he was actually about to have a tickle party with his three favorite school idols! It was like a dream come true! He braced himself for impact, a shy blush on his blush, as he waited for Honoka and Nico to make the first move.

"First things first," Honoka smirked, "We need to get those socks and shoes off!"

Honoka sat on her knees on the floor in front of Sei's feet. He was wearing his indoor slippers and she was able to slide them off his feet with ease. Even with his socks still on she was able to see that he had small, slim feet that were even kind of feminine. It was kind of cute to think that Sei would have pretty, girly feet like her own she couldn't wait to see what they looked like under his white socks.

She took off his left sock first, slowly pulling it down until it bunched up around his ankle. She was able to slide it under the rope that held his legs closed before pulling it up and over his heel. Her slow movements made Sei gulp nervously as she undressed his foot, and once his sock was fully removed he felt just as exposed as he would have been if he were naked in front of her.

He couldn't tell what Honoka was thinking. She was examining his bare foot up close, almost as if she were inspecting it, before she worked on taking off his other sock without a word. Sei hoped Honoka didn't find his feet to be weird and ugly at all, but little did he know just how cute and adorable she actually found them to be until both socks were fully removed and set aside. Only then did she reveal her true thoughts!

"Oh my gosh, Sei!" She squealed, unable to hold back anymore. "You have got the CUTEST feet I have ever seen! I mean, your toes are so small and pinchable—kind of like a girl's or a child's! I have never seen such precious looking feet in my life!"

Needless to say, Sei had never had a girl fawn over his feet like that. He was taken aback by her reaction as his jaw hung open, and he wasn't sure if he should thank her or lower his head in shame.

"I…uh…I don't…I don't know what to say to that…." Sei stuttered out as he avoided her gaze by staring down at his lap.

Honoka just smiled at his bashfulness. "You don't have to say anything as long as you let me play with your feet as much as I want!"

Maki, who had yet to have her socks and shoes undone because Nico had been too busy watching Honoka remove Sei's, cleared her throat as she stuck up her nose. "There's no need to be weird about things, Honoka! Can't you see you're making him uncomfortable?"

Nico's full and undivided attention was on now on Maki—her very own victim. "Oh? Is it just me or do you seem jealous because Sei has cuter feet than you probably do?"

"H-Hey! There's nothing wrong with my feet! How dare you say that!" Maki snapped, blushing furiously.

"I guess we'll just have to find out! Heh heh heh heh!" Nico laughed evilly as she reached forward to pull off the brown Mary-Jane shoe on her right foot. She had to twist and tug a bit, but it eventually came off and she got to set it down behind her. She then tugged off the shoe on her left foot until Maki's feet were concealed by nothing but her black socks.

The redhead said nothing as Nico slowly and carefully unsheathed her right foot from her knee-length sock. She pulled it underneath the ropes before pulling them all the way down to her toes. There was curiosity in her crimson eyes that made Maki immediately regret coming on this trip. Nico was just way too excited to sneak a peek at Maki's toes, and unable to stand it any longer, she nearly ripped them right off her before throwing them over her shoulder.

Pink, sparkly nail polish adorned Maki's toenails and the smoothness of her feet showed that she was the type of girl to often get a pedicure done by a professional. "Wow! I was wrong!" Nico enthused, poking the bottom of her right foot lightly. "Your feet are very pretty! Just like a model's!"

Maki flinched as the tip of Nico's finger made contact with the sole of her foot. Her brows furrowed at having her feet complimented since she had never received praise for them like that before. "J-Just hurry up and get this over with! I have places to be, you know!"

While Nico removed the sock from Maki's left foot, Honoka was turning her attention back to Sei. "All right! Are you two both ready for the best tickle party ever?!"

Sei shyly nodded while Maki just looked away, not bothering to react.

"Before we get started, why don't you two show me how ready you are by wiggling your toes? Come on! Do it together!" Honoka cheered the way she would do at a sporting event as she threw both her arms up in the air. "One, two, THREE!"

On the count of three, Sei started wiggling his toes for the jubilant Honoka. Maki reluctantly joined in and wiggled her toes but only because she knew Honoka would just keep pushing her until she did.

Nico was cracking her knuckles and shaking her hands as a warm-up exercise as she waited for Honoka to give her the okay to get started. "Let's get this party started!"

"Okay then…Ready! Set!" Honoka was breathing heavily, a fired up look on her face as she paused for dramatic effect. Both Maki and Sei were inwardly panicking as they awaited the final countdown.

After what felt like an eternity, Honoka finally shouted, "GO!"

On her command, Nico dove in and began to stroke the bottom of Maki's feet like she was trying to rub a stain or a piece of dirt out of the redhead's skin. Upon being touched, Maki let out a mouse-like squeak that piqued Nico's attention.

"I knew it!" The dark haired girl snickered. "You're secretly the most ticklish girl in the whole school, aren't you?!"

Maki didn't have any time to defend herself as Nico began to spider crawl her fingers up and down the soles of both her feet at the same time. In seconds the redhead was screaming as if she were being tortured which only delighted Nico even more.

"I've never heard you scream like that!" Nico teased as she picked up the pace of her fingers, having them tickle the bottoms of her feet even faster.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" Maki shrieked as she began to laugh. "AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! THAT TICKLES, NICO! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Maki's voice was so loud that Honoka hadn't even begun her torture on Sei just yet, too entertained by Maki's laughter. Nico was wiggling her fingers all over her bare feet, covering every inch of her skin with quick, fast caresses that made Maki squirm around in her seated spot on the floor.

"NO! NICO! NICO STOP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! PLEASE! THIS IS TOO MUCH! STOP IT THIS INSTANT! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAA! HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA!" Maki's high-pitched laughter only further egged Nico on, and soon the petite girl was giving it her all as she zoomed her fingers up and down, dramatically dancing them all over her friend's bare feet.

Honoka looked over to Sei with a wink. "Now it's my turn to have some fun!"

Honoka didn't waste any time pouncing in on her prey! With her fingers sticking out, she went straight for the boy's feet and began to tackle his soles with sprightly, spontaneous tickles. Without following any real pattern, the redhead started by digging her fingertips into the center of his soles before trickling her hands down to his heels where she poked and wiggled her digits across his soft skin.

Sei, although a fan of being tickled, was squirming around on the floor beside Maki as Honoka's erratic movements had him cackling harder than he had ever heard himself laugh before.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Oh, Honoka-chan! Your fingers are so fast!" Sei laughed, his cheeks turning a lovely shade of pink as the leader of his favorite idol group continued to glide her fingers up and down the bottoms of both feet at once. "Hahahaha! Ha ha ha ha!"

Sei had a really cute laugh, Honoka found herself thinking, and she continued to give it her all as she wanted to hear him laugh even harder for her. She played with the area just beneath his toes, teasing him by twisting and coiling her index finger underneath his curled toes, making the boy shift around on the floor even more.

"Your feet are so adorable!" Honoka cooed before she finally gave his toes the attention she believed they deserved simply for being adorable. "I mean, they're just so small and cute! Kind of like a baby's! Don't you agree, Nico?"

The upperclassman couldn't have agreed more with her as her eyes wandered over Sei's cute bare feet. "Yeah! Can you tell me how soft they are, Honoka?"

"Ooooooooh, they're just the softest! Like silk!" Honoka giggled before she pinched his big toe, wiggling it around and making Sei laugh more.

"Hahahaha! Stop it, Honoka-chan!" The young boy cried out. "My toes are my most ticklish part! Hahahahaha! Ha ha ha! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! HAHAHAHAHA! NO, SERIOUSLY! HAHAHAHA! HONOKA-CHAN! PLEASE STOP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH! HAH HA HA HA! HEHEHEHEHE! HA HA HA HA! HO HO HO H OH HO! HAAAAAAAAA!"

The more the idol played with his toes, the harder he laughed and laughed until his voice was rising to crescendo. The high volume of his laughter surprised all three girls as he squeaked, shouted, and whined. Honoka was an expert tickler, after all, and it was no surprise she was able to make such a soft-spoken kid explode into a furious fit of uncontrollable laughter!

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! H-H-HONOKA-CHAN! NO MORE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Sei screamed, the grin on his face stretching from ear to ear as his chest heaved up and down with his heavy hollering. "HA HA HA HA HA! HEH HEH HEH! HAHAHAHAHA! Hahahahaha! No! Please! I can't breathe! Hahahahaha! Honoka-chan! You're so good at tickling! Hahahaha! Please, have mercy! Hee hee hee! Heh heh heh! Ahah! Hahahaha! You're being so cruel to my poor toes! HAHAHAHAHAHA! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Hahahaha!"

His pleas only encouraged Honoka to give him more of her relentless tickle torture. "Oh? But isn't this what you wanted, my sweet little Sei-chan? If you didn't want to be tickled, you shouldn't have asked for it in your request! Because now I just can't stop touching your adorable feet! You make me want to keep tickling you over and over!"

She had seized his pitiful toes as prisoners in her grasp. She kept wiggling them around, dancing her fingertips against his soft skin as if she were gently trying to relieve an itch by scratching, only without the use of her fingernails. "Just wook at her cute your wittle toesie-woesies are! Oh, I could just eat them up! Nom nom nom nom!" She used her baby voice as she pretended to smack her lips together like she wanted to eat them. Her mouth didn't come anywhere in contact with his feet, but just the thought of it made Sei scream even louder.

"Hahahaha! I know I wanted to be tickled! Hahahaha! But…But…But…HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I WASN'T EXPECTING YOU TO BE SO GOOD AT THIS, HONOKA-CHAN! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE! HAHAHAHAHAHA! HO HO HO! HA HA HA HA! HEHEHEHEAHAHAHA! AHHHHHHHHHH! PLEASE PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T EAT MY TOES!"

The little redhead knew without a doubt that she was a professional when it came to tickling. With a confident grin, she zigzagged her fingertips up and down and side to side all over his soles. "What's the matter, Sei-chan? Is big sister Honoka going too far?"

It was hard to talk in between such loud, heavy laughter but Sei somehow managed to do it as he shook his head. "N-No way! This is...This...HA HA HA HA HA! This is SO MUCH FUN! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

His outburst made both Nico and Honoka erupt into a fit of giggles on their own. Although they had just met him, the two of them were already becoming increasingly fond of the winner of their competition. He looked like the kind of kid they could have fun with outside of school on a regular basis. Maki would have agreed as well although she wasn't the type to admit something so strange out loud. Not to mention she was pretty occupied at the moment trying to get away from Nico's relentless fingers as the twin-tailed cutie began her tickle attack on her bare feet once more.

"N-Nico! No more! Please! I'm begging you!" The tsundere shouted as the tiny girl's hands began playing with her toes once more. Nico was wiggling them back and forth while also making sure to rub the area underneath her toes which Maki proved to be rather ticklish at. Maki was just no match for Nico's mischievous finger tips as both of her feet were ravished so forcefully with lots of fast, erratic caressing.

"Ha ha ha ha! Nico! Pleeeeeeeeeeease! HA HA HA HA HA! Why won't you stop?! HA HA HA HA HAH AH HAHAHAHAHAHA! HEE HEE HEE HEE! HA HA HA HA! THIS ISN'T FAIR HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Her laughter sounded more like a cry of help than Sei's lighthearted laughter, but both Honoka and Nico were equally amused by the reactions of the two.

"Okay, okay, I think it's time we gave Maki a break! What do you think?" Honoka suggested as she wiped a tear from her left eye. She hadn't realized how much she had been laughing just from wiggling her fingers all over Sei's small, soft, and adorable feet. This was more fun than she had counted on having and the best part was that they weren't even halfway done yet!

Nico was a bit hesitant to release her vicious torture on Maki, but the poor redhead really did look like she was about to burst out into pained, embarrassed tears. It was obvious the uppity girl really didn't like having her feet played with and, despite her roaring laughter, she looked utterly miserable. Her ears were red and watery while her cheeks were stained with a blush redder than the petals on a rose. She really did need a break, Nico figured, and the petite girl finally pulled her hands away from Maki's precious feet.

"All right, all right. Why don't you and I switch? I suppose I could let you tickle me," Nico rolled her eyes as she reached around Maki's waist so she could begin to untie her from the ropes that held her hostage to this whimsical game.

"About time!" Maki let out an exasperated sigh of relief as the color of her face finally began to shift back to its usual ivory shade as she wiggled out of the ropes once they were loosened. "Were you trying to kill me, Nico?!"

The pesky idol didn't bother to respond as she worked on removing the restraints around Maki's ankles until the other girl was finally free. Maki clumsily scrambled to her feet, eager to get away from the ropes that had bound her, until she sent a fiery glare in Nico's direction. The intensity of her gaze reminded Nico of purely vengeful flames and she gulped nervously, realizing she was in deep trouble. Even so, she refused to let her fellow idol intimidate her. Nico wasn't afraid of anything, not even of being tickled!

"I'm going to make you pay for humiliating me, Nico!" Maki huffed before she turned to look at Honoka who had also made sure to give Sei a quick breather and leave his feet alone. Sei was breathing heavily, his face a bit flushed, and it made Maki want to save her vengence on Nico for later. "Honoka, I would like to tickle Sei first, if that's all right. I can't say I've ever actually tickled anyone so I want to use him as a practice partner so I can perfect my technique before I give it my all for Nico."

It was impossible for little Nico to keep herself from sighing in relief. Judging by the fire in Maki's eyes a second ago, she wasn't sure if she was quite ready to handle the revenge her friend was wanting to dish out. "Sounds good to me! Plus, I wouldn't mind letting Honoka tickle me. The way she made Sei laugh really hard was pretty cute but I bet she isn't tough enough to get a single peep outta' me!"

Honoka was almost impressed by Nico's cockiness. Almost. "All righty then! Challenge accepted! Are you ready to beg for mercy? I bet you won't even last one minute being tickled by my ferocious fingers!"

Nico wasn't about to show fear in front of them, especially considering there was now a boy sitting next to her. Maki was busy tying Nico up in the same fashion as she had been earlier, and the redhead had even made sure to tie the ropes around Nico's ankles extra tight.

"Hang on a second, Maki! You forgot to take off Nico's socks," she scolded the amateur tickler who blushed shyly in response to her remark.

Since Nico's shoes had already been taken off earlier, all Maki needed to do was remove the thin, black, silky socks from her slender legs. She pulled down the left sock first before removing the right, taking note of how soft Nico's legs were, until her little baby feet were exposed.

"Wow, Nico. Your feet are even smaller than mine," Maki commented, both amazed and jealous at how cute her friend's feet looked. Nico wore bright ink nail polish with glitter on them which was just like her.

Nico was rubbing both of her feet together as if she were attempting to warm them up. "Stop being weird, Maki! Quit staring and switch places with Honoka already! I'm ready to get this party started!"

Not amused in the least by being called weird by none other than Nico, the two redheads switched places until Maki was now seated in front of the tied up Sei. She wasn't used to being around boys within her age range and she felt a little awkward knowing she was about to touch him and his feet. Upon further investigation, she noticed that Honoka was right-he really did have soft looking feet that were very feminine and cute looking. She couldn't resist reaching out to lightly draw her finger from the tip of his big toe down to the base of his heel in a slow motion, making the young boy shiver in anticipation from her gentle, timid touch.

"H-Hey! You didn't count down first!" Sei piped out which made Maki abruptly pull her hand back, horrified at how she couldn't hold herself back from touching him. She muttered a quick apology before Nico took the spotlight.

"Enough goofing around! I'm ready to be tickled!" Nico declared as she wiggled her toes tauntingly at Honoka. "But first, Sei, why don't we give ourselves a good-luck chant? It'll help hype us up for the incredible fun we're about to have!"

Sei was both shocked and impressed at how Nico was taking this. She didn't look scared, nervous, or hesitant to be tickled in the least and he couldn't tell if she was legitimately excited about being tied down and tickled or if she was just putting on a facade. "What kind of chat do you have in mind?"

Nico's eyes sparkled. "Glad you asked! Now repeat after me... Tickle tickle tiiiiiiiiiii!" The octaves of her usual tone were raised five times higher as she put on her best Nico-Nico-Nii act ever! "Tickle tickle tiiiiiiii! We're going to get tickled on our tickle tickle feeeeeeeeeeeets!"

Sei watched the tiny girl beside him sway from side to side with a cute, peppy smile on her face as she wiggled her toes about. Repeating such a girly, cutesy chant like that made him feel intimidated and even a little embarrassed, but somehow he really didn't want to let Nico down by refusing her request.

"O-Okay...Here goes nothing..." He mumbled softly before clearing his throat. "Tickle tickle tiiiiiiiiii! We're going to get tickled on our tickle tickle FEEEEEEEETS!" He tried his best to impersonate her high-pitched, charming voice and all three girls couldn't help but giggle at how adorable he sounded imitating Nico.

"Oh, gosh! I can't stand it, Sei! You are the cutest boy I've ever seen!" Honoka commented.

Nico elbowed him playfully. "Maybe we should let you join our idol group! You'd make a great addition!"

He wasn't used to having friends who could easily and comfortably tease each other without anyone's feelings getting hurt, but he had to admit that it was pretty nice. "I don't know…I mean, I'd hate to be the most popular idol in the group with my pretty voice."

"Oooooooooh! You're acting mighty tough for a guy who's about to throw out his vocal chords once Maki has her way with you!" Honoka smirked, enjoying their playful banter.

Maki nodded, unable to stifle her own snicker. "Yes, it would be in your best interest not to underestimate me. I will not show any signs of mercy. Are you ready to count down for them, Honoka?"

"Yes! Let's do it!...Three...Two...ONE!" Honoka shouted before jumping straight into the action.

Since Nico had been nothing but arrogant since the start of their tickle party, Honoka wasn't about to hold back at all. She didn't go easy on the girl. No, no, no, in fact, she was immediately jumping into the most intense kind of tickling she could come up with to see just how quickly she could break her friend and make her scream!

Honoka's fingers were faster than a speeding train as she spidered them up and down the soft soles of Nico's bare feet. Nico was flinching from the direct contact of Honoka's fingers and let out a squeak as the other girl ran her fingers up and down in a crossing motion.

"Hee hee! Hee hee hee!" Nico giggled already. She had tried to keep her trap shut as Honoka's dashing fingers kept crawling up and down the bottoms of her feet, but she was already finding herself unable to hold back any giggles.

"Hee hee hee! Is that the best you got, Honoka-chan?! Hee hee….heeeeeeeee…..heee…..Ha ha ha ha! HA HA HA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHA! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HAHAHAHA HA HA HA HA HEE HEE HEE HEE! Oh no! OH NOOOOOOOOOO! You're making me laugh so hard! HA HA HA HA HA HA! HONOKA! HOW DARE YOU BE THIS GOOD AT TICKLING! HEE HEE HEE HEE! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

Although Honoka had expected to elicit a few laughs from her friend, she hadn't counted on Nico being the loudest of them all so far! She was so surprised to have Nico squealing on the floor and squirming around as if she were trying to break free.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA! PLEASE, HONOKA! I GIVE UP! I GIVE UP!" Nico shrieked, surrendering in less time than Honoka had expected. Even though Nico was quick to give in and beg for the other idol to stop, Honoka wasn't going to let Nico get away that easily.

"Really? You already want me to call it quits?" Honoka teased as her hands continued to give her feet an onslaught of tickles. She inched her fingertips all over the girl's heels but found she was particularly sensitive in the dead center of her feet. Nico had her feet arched and toes spread out as Honoka dug her fingertips gently in the middle of her feet, making her scream even loudly.

"YES! YES! YES! NO MORE! HEE HEE HEE HEE! HONOKA, I SURRENDER! YOU CAN STOP NOW! HA HA HA HA HA HA! HAHAHAHAHAHA! HEE HEE HA HA HA HEE HEE HEE! HA HA HA HA HA HA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Her shrill voice could probably be heard across the whole neighborhood, but Honoka refused to give into Nico's demands and give up just yet.

Maki was watching Honoka attack Nico's feet so maliciously and unforgivingly, almost feeling sorry for her. "Oh, goodness. I don't even think my laughter was as loud as hers. At this point, will there even need to be a reason for me to get revenge on her? She's suffering enough as it is already."

A comment like that would have normally irritated the feisty idol to no end, but Nico's position at the moment was just far too vulnerable and she couldn't even speak coherently without going ballistic with laughter.

Sei was enjoying Nico's cute and childish reaction to being tickled, but he was ready to see what Maki had in store for him. "Shall we start, too?" He asked with a shy smile and suddenly Maki was reminded she had a job to do, too.

Nodding once, Maki leaned in and began to plan out her first move of tickling. Unlike Honoka who just poked, wiggled, and danced her fingers everywhere she saw fit, Maki wanted to have a more methodical approach to tickling Sei. Instead of growing straight for the feet like she could have done, she decided to catch the young boy off guard by instead going for his ribs.

Her gentle fingers were slowly running up and down his sides, poking at the delicate ribs of his waist and making him twitch and flinch. "H-Hey! Heh heh heh! That tickles!" Sei chirped out to which Maki found herself getting all worked up and embarrassed once again.

"Th-That's the whole point of this stupid game, isn't it?!" She snapped, increasing the speed of her hands a bit until she was prodding at his ribs at an alarmingly quick pace, making Sei laugh a bit harder.

"Heh heh heh! Ha ha ha ha! Hahahahaha! You're not too bad at this, Maki!" Sei chuckled, enjoying the way her clumsy fingers felt until she got too close to his tummy. He was very ticklish on his stomach and the second her fingertips came close to his bellybutton, the boy came undone. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OKAY! OKAY! YOU'RE REALLY GOOD AT THIS! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! HAHAHAHAHAHA! Ohohohohoho! Hahahahaha! HAHAHAHAH! HA HA HA HA HA! Hahahahaha! Heh heh heh! Hahahahahaha! Maki, wow! Maki, please! Okay, okay, okay, okay, I give in, too! You're REALLY good at this! Hahahahahahaha!"

To hear such praise made the redhead's heart skip a beat. Here she was getting up close and personal with a young boy and making him laugh even harder than Honoka did. Receiving such a compliment like that made her feel, dare she say it, proud of herself as a tickler!

She gave his stomach a few more tickles, watching him wiggle and laugh with tears pouring down his cheeks before she decided to give his feet plenty of attention. She started at the balls of his feet, lightly brushing her digits diagonally along his skin until she came up to his toes. They were soft and squishy and Maki squeezed each of his adorable little toes until he was laughing so hard that he couldn't breathe.

"Hahahahaha! Oh, Maki! Won't you have some mercy on me?! Ha ha ha ha! HAHAHAHAHAHA! Hee hee hee hee! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" It was a miracle Sei's voice was matching Nico's ear-splitting squeals of laughter, and Maki and Honoka were giggling in sync at how similar their laughter sounded when the two of them gave it their all during tickling.

"I want to switch," Maki told Honoka as she eased up on the boy sitting in front of her. He needed to catch his breath even though it was rather obvious that he had been enjoying the way Maki's fingers felt all over his tiny body. "I think it's high time I get Nico back for what she did to me."

Nico had been trying really hard not to go crazy over Honoka's tickling-especially when Sei wasn't going nearly as ballistic as her-but she was a bit more ticklish than she had initially counted on being. Not that one could even control their ticklish meter, that is, but that wasn't the point. "Come on, Maki! Can't we switch roles completely already? I want to tickle Sei!"

"It's time for my revenge," the tsundere redhead said with a sadistic twinkle in her lavendar eyes. "Pay back time!"

Honoka scooted out of the way so Maki could have her time to shine. She and Sei sat this round out as they both turned their full attention to the scene unfolding before them. Maki went straight for the kill as she hurried her hands towards Nico's tiny waist.

"W-Wait! D-Don't tickle me there!" Nico squeaked out as her friend began her onslaught of tickles. "Hee hee hee! Maki! Maki! No! Don't! HA HA HA HA HA HA! HEE HEE HEE HEE! HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

Maki had her fingers gliding up and down Nico's sides as if she were trying to trying to play an instrument. The noises Nico was making was far from melodic but Maki was enjoying it all the same. Every poke, pinch, and wiggle of her fingers against Nico's ribs had the petite girl howling with laughter and screams.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOP STOP STOP STOP! EEEEEEEEEEEEK! MAKI! NO! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! MAKI, PLEASE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! F-F-F-FORGIVE ME FOR EARLIER! HEE HEE HEE HEE! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

So far, that was the loudest any of them had heard her squeal so far!

"Oh wow, Maki's even better than I gave her credit for!" Honoka grinned.

Sei nodded. "I actually think she was going a lot easier on me than she is being with Nico now. Either that or maybe Nico is actually more ticklish than I am."

Maki was alternating between tickling Nico's highly sensitive torso and her feet, making sure she wasn't leaving any ground uncovered. She dug the tips of her fingers into the bottom of Nico's feet, wiggling them around as if they were a worm, until Nico was thrashing about on the floor, unable to take any more of Maki's sinister tickle attack.

"OKAY! I GIVE IN! YOU WIN, MAKI! HA HA HA HA HA HA! NOW PLEASE JUST STOP ALREADY! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HEE HEE HEE HEE! HA HA HA HEE HEE HEE HEE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Maki ignored her squealing for at least another long, thirty seconds before she finally let the poor girl breathe and take a minute to regain her composure.

"Did you learn your lesson?" She asked with a smirk as she cocked her chin up in a haughty matter.

Nico didn't respond to Maki's question as she inhaled deeply, a blush on her face from just how humiliated she felt from being so loud. Honoka was already working on the ropes that bound her, freeing the poor girl so she could finally move around.

"So I guess it's time for Nico to tickle Sei?" Honoka asked as she glanced at Sei to see he was eagerly awaiting his turn again. She had never seen someone enjoy being tickled so much, even when all of the air tended to escape his lungs whenever he laughed really hard.

"Don't forget, Honoka. I get to tickle you now, too," Maki reminded her.

"How could I ever forget?" With a sheepish grin on her face, Honoka sat on the floor beside Sei and allowed Nico to tie her up nice and tight so there was no chance she could break free.

If Sei was being honest, he couldn't wait to see what Nico had in store for him. Their fun-filled afternoon of tickling had been the most excitement he had experienced in a long time and he only wished it could go on forever and forever.

When Honoka was nice and ready with her legs outstretched and feet exposed to Maki's relentless hands, the next round was ready to start. Maki started off with Honoka slowly and gently as she caressed her friend's bare soles with feather-like touches, making her victim twitch and flinch with every touch. She was simply warming up by starting off slow before she began to build up her speed. Before Honoka knew it, Maki was scrambling her fingers up and down her soles as if she were gently trying to scratch an imaginary itch on Honoka's feet.

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha! Hee hee hee hee! Th-That tickles! Hahahahahahaha!" Honoka started off with light laughter until Maki reached her maximum speed. After that, all hell broke loose! "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HA HA HA HA HA HA! OH MY GOODNESS! MAKI! MAKI, PLEASE STOP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HEE HEE HEE HEE HO HO HO HO HAHAHAHAHAHA! HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!"

Sei was chuckling to himself over how cute Honoka-senpai sounded when she laughed. He was so distracted by listening to the girl beside him holler and giggle that he had almost forgotten he was Nico's next target.

"Are you ready for the tickle monster?" Nico laughed devilishly as she crawled over to where the boy was sitting until she was perched directly in front of him. She gave him her best wicked smile, eliciting a few frightened shivers from Sei as he watched her slowly trail her finger down from the tip of his big toe to the ball of his heel.

"The tickle monster?" Sei questioned.

Nico nodded her head twice. "Oh, yes. Haven't you heard of the evil tickle monster? She feeds off the laughter of little boys and she won't stop even when they beg for mercy!" To tease him even further, she reached out two of her fingers to scratch under his chin like he was a cat. "I don't think you can handle the tickle monster, but she is on the prowl and ready to pounce!"

Sei wasn't given any time to say anything else before Nico started attacking his feet with her finger tips. Unlike Maki, she didn't start off slow. She was already racing her small fingers all over his soles at her top speed until Sei was shaking and wiggling on the floor beside Honoka who was still being tortured by Maki's hands.

"Wow, Nico! HA HA HA HA HA! You really are a tickle monster! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Sei couldn't resist laughing as Nico crawled her fingers up and down his feet like tiny spiders. "Hahahahahaha! HA HA HA HA HA HA! Ha ha ha ha ha! HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"

Nico was eating up his laughter and giggling along with him. "Oh, yes, little boy! You should fear the tickle monster because she won't ever stop! Mwahahahahaha!"

Sei's feet were being covered with tickles all over. Up and down, side to side, Nico was giving him the best tickle session out of all of them. He couldn't stop laughing as he jerked his head back, unconsciously reaching for Honoka's hand to hold it while Nico the Tickle Monster had her fill.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HEH HEH HEH HEH! HAHAHAHA! HA HA HA HA HA! THIS IS TOO MUCH! HAHAHAHAHAH! BUT I WON'T LET YOU WIN, EVIL TICKLE MONSTER! I'LL KEEP PERSEVERING! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

While Maki continued to dance her fingers all over her feet, Honoka felt Sei's hand squeeze hers tightly and she gave an affectionate squeeze back to let him know he wasn't alone in this. "Hee hee hee! Maki, I'm at my breaking point! Hee hee hee hee hee! Hahahahahaha! HA HA HA HA HA HA! HAHAHAHAHAHA! HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE! EEEEEEEEK!"

Honoka and Sei were laughing in unison as the pair had their feet tickled over and over for what felt like an eternity. Just as the boy was about to tap out and surrender to Nico's merciless hands, he felt the twin-tailed cutie pull her hands away. His eyes had been closed tight throughout the whole ordeal, his cheeks damp from the uncontrollable tears that had slipped down his face without his permission, and he finally opened his eyes to see why she stopped.

What he saw when he opened his eyes was Nico lying on her back, her own feet up in the air before she firmly pressed her soles against his. "The tickle monster strikes again! The tickle monster wants to play a game of footsie!"

Having the girl's soft feet play patty-cake with his own bare feet was enough to make Sei laugh uncontrollably once again. "OH, NO! NOT A GAME OF FOOTSIE! THAT'S MY BIGGEST WEAKNESS! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE! HAHAHAHAHA! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! HAAAAAAAAA! HAHAHAHAHAHA! HA HA HA HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!"

If Nico had known that playing footsie was going to get that kind of reaction out of him, she would have brought out her trump card a lot sooner! She was rubbing her feet against his, laughing along with him. "The tickle monster won't ever stop! The tickle monster will prevail! Hahahahahahaha! Hee hee hee hee hee hee! Tickle, tickle, Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

Maki had given Honoka a short break so she wouldn't faint from the lack of oxygen, and she could see that Sei was reaching his limit. Any minute now he would be succumbing to Nico's treacherous tickling, but she knew he was stronger than that.

"Don't give up, Sei!" She encouraged him as she held his hand even tighter. "You can do this! You can overcome the tickle monster!"

It was amazing that he could hear Honoka's sweet voice over his own loud laughter, but he had somehow heard her all the same. "HA ha ha ha ha! HA HA HA HA! I can't, Honoka! I can't defeat the tickle monster! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS IS TOO MUCH!"

Nico's footsie game was his greatest challenge yet, and Sei had no choice but to call it quits and surrender. He was getting dizzy from all his screaming and his throat was feeling scratchy. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! I GIVE UP! I SURRENDER! NO MORE, NICO! NO MORE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Nico wanted to keep going, especially because she was enjoying the game of footsie, too, but she could tell Sei needed a break. She scooted away from him so their feet were no longer touching just as Maki finished up tickling Honoka.

"Wow! What a rush!" Maki said with a huge smile on her pretty face. "I never thought tickling someone could be so invigorating!"

Sei's head had slumped against Honoka's shoulder as he leaned on her for support, their hands still locked. "Ha….ha….ha…..That was insane. The tickle monster was just too much for me."

Honoka giggled sweetly as she nuzzled her cheek against the top of his head. "It's okay! You did your best. Now it's your turn to tickle all of us and give us a taste of our own medicine!"

Definitely liking the way that sounded, Sei and Honoka were finally freed from their restraints so he could be the one to finally do the tickling. As he finished tying up the three idols, he stepped back to look down at them with a sad, embarrassed smile on his face

"I'll be honest…I'm probably not going to be very good at this. I've never really gotten the chance to tickle anyone before. I'm not sure if you can tell but I've never really had a lot of friends," Sei said, eyes falling to the ground as he found it difficult to look any of the girls in the eye. "So as much as I've always wanted to have friends to play around with and have tickle parties with, I've never really had the chance. All the kids in my class make fun of me for being quiet but I'm just not really good with dealing with people."

All of the girls couldn't help but sympathize with him in their own way. Honoka had Umi and Kotori growing up but if it wasn't for them, she'd have never had the courage to be able to simply be herself around people. Nico had always been surrounded by lot of friends because of her bubbly personality, but it was hard for her to ever make an intimate connection with anyone because she always felt like she was putting on a front; a fake, cheerful façade that she had to wear twenty-four/seven until she met the other girls in the group who loved her for who she was. Maki, however, related to Sei the most. She had always been a bit of a loner before she joined the idol group, scared to talk to anyone or get close to anyone because she always had impossible standards to live up to.

"I know what it's like to not really have a lot of friends," the redhead said softly. "Before I joined Muse, I didn't really have anybody to really talk to. I never wanted to admit it, but I was lonely a lot."

Honoka, who had been sitting in the middle of the other two girls, nudged Maki gently with her elbow. "Well now you have all of us so you never have to feel alone, Maki!" She then turned to look at the young boy standing in front of them, a reassuring smile on her face. "And now, Sei has us, too! I don't know about you two, but I want to come over and play with him again sometime. What do you think, girls?"

Nico was trying hard not to seem too eager as she shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, I guess it could be fun to have another tickle party," she said before she wiggled her toes in Sei's direction. "That is, as long as he's okay if the tickle monster comes back out again! Her appetite for laughter and tickles is never satisfied!"

"I wouldn't mind coming back to hangout again, either," Maki agreed. "Today has been rather fun, I must say. Would you mind if we came over again, Sei? Maybe next weekend, that is, if you're not busy?"

Sei's face lit up at how excited the girls were to have him as a new friend, and he was touched by their kindness. Growing up, he had never really met anyone he could have so much with and be himself around with, but it seemed that Honoka, Maki, and Nico all seemed to enjoy his company just as much he enjoyed theirs. They had only been playing together for a short while, and yet it felt like he had known them for years. Tears stung the corner of his eyes but he quickly wiped them away before they had a chance to slip down his cheeks, not wanting them to know just how happy their words had made him.

"Honoka…Maki…Nico…" He said, a happy streak of red dusting over his nose, "Thank you all so much for today. I would love to have you over again! And you can bet I will be at all of your concerts, cheering you on and wishing you all the success and happiness in the world!"

Honoka and Maki giggled happily but Nico only let out a "hmph" at his words. "Enough with the mushiness already!" She sneered before breaking into a cocky smirk. "Let's get on with the tickling! We don't have all day, mister!"

Sei had almost forgotten that the day wasn't quite over yet. The three girls were still sitting on the floor with their hands tied up, all wiggling their toes at him in a taunting manner as they waited to see what he stored up his sleeve. Even Maki, who had hated being tickled at the beginning of the day, was now excited to see what Sei had in store for her. Nico was determined to outlast the other two; she was the great and mighty Tickle Monster, after all! As for Honoka, she was just happy to see that Sei was finally getting out of his shell and was able to get to do the one thing he had been wanting to do for a long time—tickle his friends!

Sei started off tickling Maki, and because he was kind and knew she was still pretty new to being tickled, he started off slow and gentle. He trickled his fingers from her toes down to balls of her feet like timid raindrops, drawing out a few giggles from her here and there before picking up his pace until it was like a thunderstorm of lightning fast tickles up and down her soles.

"Hahahahahaha! Oh, please, Sei! Don't be too hard on me! Hahahaha! Ha ha ha ha! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Her laughter was soft at first before her voice grew louder and louder. Not wanting to make her tap out just yet, he switched to Honoka who was seated comfortably in the middle.

He knew she liked being surprised so he didn't give her any warning or even a warm-up session before he made a beeline straight for her toes. He pinched and wiggled them around playfully, making Honoka squirm around in her seat as she laughed uncontrollably.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Oh my gosh, Sei! HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE! Are you sure this is your first time tickling someone?! HA HA HA HA HA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She squealed in delight. He had left her toes alone so he could give the center of her feet some attention by criss-crossing his finger tips over her feet to trace invisible X-marks on her soles. Honoka responded to his unpredictable caresses with even louder and harder laughter.

"HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HA HA HA HA HA HA! Wow, Sei! HAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm impressed!" It was hard for her to try to talk in between laughter, but she wanted him to know he was doing a great job and that there was no need for him to hold back. "Hahahahaha! Keep going! Keep going!" She cried out, thrashing her head from side to side, nearly bumping into Maki and Nico who both shot her an irritated glare.

"Hey! Don't be a tickle hog! It's my turn now!" Nico snapped at Honoka before turning to look at Sei, a challenging glimmer in her big, bright eyes. "Give it all you've got, Sei! Don't you dare disappoint me!"

Sei left Honoka's feet alone so he could focus on Nico and give her what she wanted. He jumped straight into it, zig-zagging his fingertips up and down and side to side to cover every inch of her feet.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE!" Nico burst out into giggles as her new friend scraped across her soles with his fingertips with touches as gentle as a feather but as quick as a speeding bullet. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! OH NO! THE TICKLE MONSTER HAS MET HER MATCH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Sei laughed along with her as he dashed his fingers as quickly as he could across Nico's feet before, jumping back to Maki. He kept this up for a bit, jumping from one idol to the next so each girl was receiving the same amount of tickle attention. Just when one of the girls was about to give in, he'd give her a break by moving onto the next one, keeping them all on their toes! His methods were sharp yet unpredictable, fast yet precise, and despite this being his first time, it was plain to see he was a master tickler!

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HA HA HA HA HA! THIS IS GREAT!" Honoka squeaked out like a happy little mouse.

"Ahhhhhhhhh! I can't take it anymore! Hee hee hee! HA HA HA HA! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Maki shrieked, her body wiggling around all over the place as Sei no longer showed her any mercy.

Nico was, unsurprisingly, the loudest of them out all she shouted, wailed, and giggled all at once. "AHHHHHHHH! HEHEHEHEHEHEEHEHE! HA HA HA HA! THE TICKLE MONSTER HAS BEEN DEFEATED! WHAT EVER WILL SHE DO?! HAHAHAHAHA! SHE MUST FIGHT BACK! SHE MUST CLAIM HER TITLE BACK! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The four friends continued the game of tickling for hours, never wanting their excitement to end. Even though the day would eventually have to come to a close with the setting of the sun, they all knew this wouldn't be the last time they had a day like this. Tickle parties were just too fun for this to be the only one, and maybe even the other idols could be convinced to join in the next one!