AU Yeah! August 3: Single Parent
Nishikino Maki's made it out from under an oppressive struc-
ture built by her pushy and demanding parents. Now what?
AN:
I apologize that this undisciplined quasi-novella should be masquerading as a "short." Hope it's enjoyable, nonetheless.
Doing this wasn't pleasant, but like a checklist when doing surgery, it was necessary. Now that Maki was on her own, every day was a battle, and their budget was the logistics. It was currently a logistics covering the whole table in their modest apartment, and it didn't even include all the bills she would have to pay in the months ahead. She hadn't arranged for them all yet. Not even for Nico.
The little girl was asleep, and Maki had another week before things became brutal and she wouldn't be home very much. She noted that down as the first item — she'd have to budget a lot for childcare. Their nice apartment before had been such a trap. It had provided "free" daycare, which of course came out of the exorbitant rent. She reflected on the fact that Nico and her only had each other.
It wasn't a budget item, but ...
It turned out Koizumi Hanayo was still in her contacts.
"Hey," she heard herself saying. "Sorry I haven't called before. Is it a good time?"
"Oh gods! Is that you, Maki-chan?" she heard a familiar excited voice respond. However, she could also hear another voice she recognized in the background, saying, "Wow, she finally bothers to call you, Kayo-chin. What's up, I wonder?"
Maki soldiered on. "Is Rin there, too? Tell her hi."
"She says 'Hi!'," she heard Hanayo say away from the phone.
"How are you, Maki-chan? We haven't heard anything in ages except you got married ... umm kind of young for a doctor I thought ... not that there's anything wrong with that."
"I'm not very good at all Hanayo. I'm not married anymore, but I do have a daughter now. Do you want to see a picture?"
"Oh! Umm ... yes!"
Maki texted her one of Nico's recent pictures. "Look, it's Maki-chan's daughter," she heard Hanayo saying. "Ohh! Cuuuute!" came from Rin. "Ask her what her name is!"
Maki asked Hanayo to put her on speaker.
"Hi, Rin! Umm her name is Nico. And you're right, I have been a very neglectful friend. Can I just say life's been absolutely terrible and I haven't had even one free moment for a couple of years now?"
"Oh, Nico? Like the singer?" Hanayo gushed.
"Yeah, like the singer. I was never a big pop music fan, but when things were really, really dark one time, I heard one of her songs playing in the break room and somehow I felt like she understood what it was like to be where I was and ... somehow made me feel a little hopeful."
"She doesn't have many songs out yet, so I could probably guess which one. You know, that girl, she had a very hard time in life, so you're right, she's not an airhead or anything. Wait, did you name your daughter for her?"
"Whoa!" she heard Rin say. "Nico is one of Kayo-chin's favorites, too!"
"Yeah, I did. Umm, by the time she was born I was already divorced, so she's just Nishikino Nico. And she wasn't born in my parents hospital. For one thing, he was still there, and I told them it wasn't safe for me to be there, too."
"Wasn't ... safe?" Hanayo said, bewildered.
"No. The reason we got divorced as quickly as I could manage it was that he didn't stop beating me even after I was pregnant, and I worried I'd lose her. Which is ironic, you know. I didn't want to have a baby this young, he forced himself on me and didn't let me take any precautions."
"Maki-chan!" she heard Rin's voice saying. She was definitely shocked.
"Maki-chan, if it's sensitive ..." she heard Hanayo say, in her soft manner.
"That's why I called. You two are the only ones I have left, besides my daughter. I'll tell you anything. Can you forgive me for not contacting you till now?"
"Of course!" they both said.
"Anyway, everything's changed. Here's where I am living now - Shouhei Bridge Apartments number 69 on the third floor."
"What?" she heard Hanayo exclaim.
"It's not that bad. It's nice, given what we can afford, really."
"Rin, it's literally next door!" she thought she heard her whisper.
"Hanayo did you move?"
Hanayo squeaked. "M-Me? No! Still h-here."
Rin piped up. "Maki-chan will have a good surprise sooner or later." For some reason, she laughed.
"I'm glad I caught you there, Rin. Do you visit Hanayo a lot?"
"Hmmm. Rin should visit more. Maki-chan got lucky."
"B-but Rin and I are talking about that. She's going to visit more. You should visit, too!"
"In a week, I'll be pulling long shifts at my new hospital. Is it okay to visit tomorrow? And bring Nico?"
"Can you join us for breakfast? I don't know when Rin has to leave."
"You bet, we're both early risers."
Maki told them about her new hospital, and the school she'd transferred to to continue her trainee period. Her scholarships had gone away and she'd had to take out a loan, but she was making a point of needing as little money as possible, and putting most of that into Nico. Now that the pressure to be ahead of the rest was off her, she could also sacrifice some of her career ambition to making time for Nico personally. She didn't want things to turn out like they had for her with her parents.
Rin told her about her college sports coming to an end. She had decided she wanted to continue, but not exactly how. Hanayo told her about working part-time at a kindergarten and participating in singing contests. Apparently, she'd practiced with Rin and they'd entered — and won, handily — a big contest near where Rin lived now. It sounded like they were almost gravitating to being partners. Maki no longer cared about propriety, so she hoped that was the case.
Maki told them she still had budgeting to do and was going to turn in early.
Because Hanayo was a shrewd guesser, it was the same song she'd heard in the break room playing when she got to Hanayo's house. Hearing the song, Maki teared up, but that was fine, since after Rin and Hanayo hugged her, Hanayo making sure not to disturb Nico, they all cried. When Nico woke up, Maki put her down and she managed to say hello to Rin and Hanayo. Maki then led her over to a floor cushion and sat her on it.
Hanayo's aunt, who had no children but adored Hanayo, had chipped in with her mother to buy a tidy little cottage. It made Hanayo have to commute a bit to teach kindergarten, but it had no rent, only property taxes. She couldn't help but think it would be ideal for Rin and Hanayo - but she hadn't been in contact with them enough to play matchmaker, even if she wanted to.
Fortunately for them all, Nico was sleepy enough that they were able to put her to sleep on a floor cushion placed in the room Rin had been sleeping in, and they could talk about serious, or perhaps dire, matters.
"She's so cute, Maki-chan!" Rin squealed.
"Yes, now that she's all I have left, I can really appreciate her."
"What happened, Maki-chan?" Hanayo asked. They'd managed to seat themselves at a little table and Hanayo already had tea ready, so she poured it for everyone.
"My parents, is the short answer. They forced me to marry another trainee, from a good family. They said they would stop me from being a doctor if I didn't obey. I had already graduated and passed my exams, so they meant they would black-ball me."
Already, Hanayo and Rin were a combination of sad and shocked.
"I thought he wanted to get in on the hospital with me once I became a doctor, but I was wrong. He wanted to end my medical career and use the marriage to take the Nishikino hospital over. That's why he forced me to get pregnant. He wasn't nice at all, so there was no attraction. Not that he cared"
"Anyway, when I got a divorce on grounds of cruelty, my parents felt I was defying them. Even though they'd told him they didn't want me to have children so soon, they sided with him. It was a real insult to my mom, because the impression was that a guy should take over the hospital, regardless. But she, even being a doctor herself, put up with it, and sided with my father."
"I started talking to the papers. Not about my situation, but just so my name would be in there. And the reporters would get to know me. It was a warning to my family. I had some money from a stipend from my parents, and I spent it hiring a lawyer. Unfortunately, the other parties, my husband and parents, could afford a full-time lawyer better than I could get."
"I think I made my situation better, though not by much. I promised my father I would ruin him if he tried to ruin me. I told his colleagues as much as I could get away with. I contacted women's organizations. I couldn't finish my trainee period at Nishikino because my former husband was still prominent there. Earlier the medical college I was at was affiliated with Nishikino, and unsure of what would anger them, so they forfeited my scholarships to their general fund and I had to suddenly take out a loan. It got much uglier after that. I decided to at least ruin the wife-beater. I told two different papers what he'd done, what he was like. I got a message from my father saying they would support my ex-husband in claims I was cheating on him. I replied with a message that I would tell the papers and the police he'd molested me as a child."
Rin and Hanayo were wide-eyed.
"No, he never was around long enough for that to be an issue. But I didn't cheat on my husband, either. Just telling you how ugly it got. Also, although he's from a good family, he's still just finishing his trainee period, so he got a very small amount of support money to pay for Nico. For my part, I have prevented him from seeing her. The same hospital I had her in has my injuries on file. I turned them over to the police. He can never see her unsupervised and has no formal visitation rights. My parents managed to keep him from getting arrested. The funny part is, he's not as good a doctor as I am, to the degree you can tell at the trainee level. So my parents are getting an unscrupulous, worse doctor who causes harm instead of healing it, and wouldn't follow their orders about having children, either. That's the price, so far, of their need to have me obey them. And if he takes over the hospital, he'll run it into the ground. Well, not my problem anymore."
"Ummm," Hanayo was having a hard time asking questions. "And when all that happened was when you heard Nico's song?"
"Pretty much."
"Well .. Umm .. Good for her!"
"Hanayo is such an idol otaku, Rin thinks she sometimes forgets why she became that way. She used to tell Rin she thought an idol's goal was making people smile, especially when they're sad or tired."
"Well ... it made me less frowny, I think."
"Good enough!" Rin said, with a thumbs-up.
They turned the conversation to pleasanter topics, and Maki got plenty of hugs. By the time she got Nico home, she felt much better. Back to the budget?
She noticed a note she'd written: "Bring gifts for the neighbors."
"Let's go to the store, baby. If you get tired on the way, I'll carry you." While Nico was precocious for her age, she was actually physically small, so carrying her was still never an issue. Nico nodded, and they went out with a reusable bag.
Maki decided to get little boxes of soap. They came in nice packages, weren't expensive, and were traditional. Now that money was tight, she didn't want to spoil Nico, so she got her her favorite fruit for being patient at the konbeno, and a box of ice cream to eat at home. Not only was money an issue now, she no longer had to keep up Nishikino appearances. Her family name could perish in flames for all she cared. But she put her full name and apartment number on the cards that came with the soap nonetheless.
Nico wanted to meet the neighbors too, and Maki thought it was a good idea. They first went down to number 69 on the second floor, where a retired professor lived. He appreciated the greeting, and Maki's normal usage came off as very polite. They then traveled to number 69 on the fourth floor. It turned out to be empty. Maki remembered this year Shoushei Bridge apartment building was being reviewed for earthquake proofing, and it was somewhat old. It could be people didn't want to move in to a building that could be condemned in a couple of years.
Number 70 on their floor was also empty. Not so number 68.
The woman there managed to be vivacious and tired at the same time. She told Maki the government job she had (she had another private job, apparently) was having a crisis and wanted her in early. As she dashed off, leaving the door open, she asked Maki what her little girl's name was. On being told it was Nico, she exclaimed "How interesting! My .. Oh sorry, bye!" apparently realizing she had to run.
Maki looked at the open door. Suddenly, a girl that looked very much like her mother was standing in it. "That's my mom, Kotono," she said. I'm Yazawa Cocoro. Pleased to meet you and ..." and she looked at the soap. Maki handed one of the packages to her. "Nishikino? Are you with the hospital?" Maki had to admit she no longer was. "No problem, we go to the near one anyway." When she found out Maki was a trainee there, she perked up, and thanked her for the gift.
"I made a bunch of tea, you and your child should come have some," she decided. Meeting the neighbors was something Maki had never had to do before, so she decided to make it as good as she could. "If you're quite sure ... pardon me for intruding!" Maki said. She took her own shoes off, and then Nico's.
Two other children, middle-schoolers probably, were already at the table, which was as small as hers. It would be a somewhat tight squeeze with her, Nico and Cocoro, so Maki took Nico on her lap. Cocoa and Cotarou, the two kids, said hi.
"Hello, I am your new neighbor, Nishikino Maki. And this is Nico."
"No it's not!" said Cotarou, seriously.
"No, dummy, she means that's her name, too," Cocoa said, helpfully.
"Nico is our oldest sister," Cocoro explained. "So it's really cool she has the same name. Maybe it's like in Western movies, Nico-nee-san can be her godmother!"
"In this case, I actually named her for the singer that's been out there for a couple of years."
All three children looked at each other. "You - you did?" Cocoro asked.
"As expected of Nico-nii," Cocoa said. Cocoro looked at the other two and made a shushing motion.
"Oh," she said. "Mom texted me, she's at work safely. Wait, this is good. Nee-san is going to make dinner tonight! Just a second .. Oh wonderful ... she says if you wish you and Nico can join us. We have another table we bring out, so there'll be room."
Maki realized Nico didn't understand everything you said to her, but she still asked if having dinner here was okay with her, and she nodded in response. There was lamenting only having two friends in the world, and there was not putting off people who were being friendly. Even if the person in question this time was a few years younger. Since her tea was finished, she got up and said her goodbyes. She agreed to bring Nico back with her at seven for dinner.
After the door closed, Cocoro leaned her back against it.
Holy crap is she hot! She thought to herself.
When they got back to number 68, Kotono was back. A girl she hadn't met yet, who looked close in age to Cocoro, came out wearing an apron and with a platter of food. This must be Nico, the oldest. On second look, Maki couldn't help but notice how attractive she was. Holy crap is she hot! she heard herself thinking. Which was weird. As far as she knew, she wasn't gay. Then again, her only sexual experience was with a man who was tantamount to a rapist.
"You must be Nishikino-san," the girl said, with a very sweet expression, as she set the food down. "Such a cute little girl! What's your name, honey?" She crouched down, although to be honest, she was so tiny herself she didn't have to crouch very much.
"Ni-nico!" was the response. Nico hid partway behind Maki. This was a stranger, after all.
"Ohhh!" said the older Nico, theatrically putting both hands to her mouth. "Can I .. can I show her something about our name?"
Maki had resolved to get along and it didn't sound dangerous.
The girl made little hooks with her hands and said "Nico Nico nii!" like when you say "please smile!" when taking a picture.
"Yazawa Nico sends a smile straight to your heart! Love, Nico"
The last part was said while making a heart shape with her two hands.
Then she repeated the whole process using Nishikino Nico. Whether it was her goofy antics, or recognizing the girl's own name, Maki was unsure. But her daughter smiled, shyly.
At that, Nico said "My job here is done, back to the kitchen."
It so happened, as Maki was eating, there was a Nico on either side of her. The older one whispered to her, "You, on the other hand, are going to be a tough case, I think."
Cocoro tapped Nico on the shoulder then, and they went around the corner to talk about something.
"Onee-chan .. please ... dont just 'wow' her, okay?" Cocoro pleaded.
"Oho, is that the direction of the wind, now?"
Though red-faced, Cocoro nodded.
"Well, okay. No 'wowing.' But you better hurry up and tell her, or it won't be me you have to worry about. She's not someone it's hard to fall for."
Cocoro closed her eyes. "I will. Tomorrow, in fact. She said she only has free time now, so tomorrow I will ask her to get coffee. And I'll tell her then."
"I don't want to jinx this, baby, but if things don't work out?"
"Wow away, Onee-chan!" Cocoro said, but then added, "only if they don't."
When they got back, Maki noticed Nico and Cocoro switched places. Well. That was a bit obvious. She'd really have to ask how old Cocoro was. Maybe ...
She looked over at Cocoa and said, "If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"
Cocoa didn't seem to mind. "Me and Cotarou are twins - second year in high school."
Second what? Maki blinked.
Kotono laughed. "That's the Yazawa Curse for the young ones ..."
"And the Yazawa Blessing for us older ones," Nico finished.
"So, is Cocoro in high school, too?"
That girl turned red.
"No, no, junior in college, actually. We are all aware we look young. I got hit with the biggest dose though," Nico said. "You should ask Cocoro where she is on the scale. Me and Mama see it as a blessing now."
"Mixed bag," Cocoro decided. She was grateful to Nico for turning the spotlight back on her. "You get away with more with a young innocent face, but everyone thinks you have a fake ID, which is annoying. If I need to go do something at the high school I can always use Cocoa's ID or my old one, and Onee-chan used hers not long ago, so apparently she can still pass. It also means guys are more careful about hitting on you, which I am grateful for."
"Nishikino-san," she suddenly said, "I hear you only have free time right now. Tomorrow morning I have nothing to do. Have you been to the coffee shop that's three blocks away from here yet?"
"Well," Maki considered. "It couldn't be for too long, I still haven't arranged child care, so I'd have to bring Nico."
"That's fine. Oh and if you need it on a short term basis Cocoa is a good babysitter ..." At that, Cocoa raised her hand and smiled.
Maki would definitely consider it, she reflected. As for what was going on with the coffee thing, maybe bringing Nico along to remind the younger girl that she was a mother with child would help it not go too far.
"We should discuss that later if that's okay with you and your mother, Cocoa?" Maki asked. Both of them smiled and nodded.
At that point, she heard the voice of the same singer she'd heard at Hanayo's place. It was coming from one of the rooms. Cocoro stood up.
"Oh, that's an alarm I set in case I napped before dinner," she said. "Wanna see my room?" Maybe it was all the high school talk, but it seemed like Cocoro was reverting. "Umm, never mind!"
Maki decided to honor her request and stood up, making sure Nico knew she was coming back.
Bright red and tongue-tied, Cocoro led her to the room. There were several idol posters, but she noticed that ones with the name Nico on them predominated.
"Are you a fan?" Maki asked, indicating the posters with her eyes.
"Yes, well, I am, but ... a lot of this is still here from when this was Onee-chan's room."
As they left, it occurred to Maki that the singer looked a lot like Cocoro. Maybe that was part of the appeal? It made something like what she was doing more of a possible dream.
When she got back to the table, the food had been cleared and there was some cake at her place and a small cup of coffee. She made a point of catching the older Nico's eye.
"So you and your sister seem to be big Nico fans, I see. I like her too, so I noticed."
Nico looked at her, bewildered.
"Are you for real?" she asked.
Maki felt uncomfortable. What had she said that was offending the girl?
"Onee-chan," Cocoa began. "Onee-chan, she doesn't know, honest!"
"Ahhhh, sorry, Nishikino-san. My fault. I thought you were teasing me or something."
Maki was still confused.
Nico took a poster from the wall and went back to the table. She posed exactly like the Nico in the poster, right next to it.
The light finally dawned. This wasn't any old Nico. This was the Nico. No wonder she was confused, too.
"Ah, n-no," she stuttered. "I wouldn't, in fact, tease you ... I ..." and then she blurted it out. "I named my daughter for you!"
Maki was still embarrassed by the time she went for coffee with Cocoro.
Nico had been so charmed, she'd given Maki a signed copy of her second, most recent album. Apparently, during and after high school Nico had been a part of several groups - Smile Swallowtail Ear, Muse, A-RISE - and had only gone solo a couple of years ago, when Maki heard the inspiring song off her first album. She signed it "To my god-daughter and her charming mother."
Nico had made a point of having Cocoro sign the album, too. When Maki blinked at that, Nico drew her attention to three songs on the album. "I'll try to always have at least one song with lyrics by Cocoro," she explained, "and this one has three. Since there are some cover versions, she and I split the lyrics on the originals."
Cocoro had looked happy, but embarrassed, as Nico explained that. At that point, Maki's Nico had started to fall asleep, so she had said her goodbyes and gone home.
She and Cocoro had had a pleasant coffee outing so far, and they were lingering over their second cups.
From how red Cocoro turned, she realized what the girl was going to bring up.
"Nishikino-san, would you consider dating me?" she asked.
It was more straightforward than Maki had anticipated.
"Hmm ... give me a minute," she replied. Then:
"Well I have certainly not ever thought of dating another woman ... you are very pretty and charming, no doubt about that. Still, I should be honest, right?"
Cocoro nodded.
"I hope this doesn't cause problems, but I think I have a little crush on your older sister. And I also don't know when I'll have time to date anyone, really."
Rats, Cocoro thought. I was too late. Well, to be fair, her Onee-chan had done her best not to steal her away. It just hadn't been enough.
"Ah. It's a very crushing disappointment, since my crush on you is not little. But I should say ... if I like you, Onee-chan will like you, too. We are pretty similar in these things."
"Oh no, has she stolen a lot of girls from you?"
"No. I mean, not really at all. For one thing, she was usually honoring a no-date contract of some sort. And she didn't, like, come to the high school or college and start hitting on anyone. But she could look at the albums and tell me which ones I liked, because she did, too. More like that."
"So was it at first sight?" Maki asked.
"Totally. I mean, when you left us the soap, I was like shuddering and thinking 'Holy crap is she hot!'" Cocoro admitted. "So possibly it's just me being dazzled by your beauty."
Maki laughed. "Okay, not laughing at you but ... when I first saw grown-up Nico? Those were my exact thoughts. So I must be dazzled, too."
"You probably noticed her giving me my shot, huh?"
"It was easy to spot, yeah. I would probably not mind spending time with you, Cocoro, but I didn't want to lead you on."
Cocoro cried a little, and Maki hugged her. Then she said, "Time for me to be a little more social at college, so I don't dwell on it, I think."
Maki looked at her understandingly.
"But let's not let this be in vain. Onee-chan has never dated. You've never dated a girl. You're suddenly attracted to one. You're both insanely busy, but that means you will know how to work people you care about into your schedule. You should go for it!"
"Go for it?"
"If I could do this, you can. Here's Onee-chan's private cell number. Don't reveal it even under torture!"
"Oh, I meant to ask you about that!" Maki cried. "How the heck does she get away with coming here? Why isn't the press hassling her?"
"Well, the short answer is that we phone her if they come around, and she changes her visit day. Her family apartment is listed in her bio, but she has her own little apartment a few train stops away. So no one thinks she hangs out here as much as she actually does."
"But if she's been successful with her groups and solo work, why do you still have to live here?"
"A lot of reasons. The first two groups made very little money. She was only an associate of A-RISE. With the money she did make, Nico created a fund to put us all through college, first, if we needed it. Second, we were working on winding down mom's hours so now she works less than 40 hours a week instead of almost 60 if you count commuting. But the apartment is still close to both of her jobs. It's also sentimental, cuz it's the apartment our dad got us. Only Nico and I remember him, and he's real blurry to me. Nico was a daddy's girl, so when he died it really did bad things to her and mom in particular. The rest of us just felt incomplete growing up with only one parent — not that we didn't grow up okay, so don't worry about your Nico, or anything."
"We're actually moving some time this year. We're worried Shouhei Bridge is going to be condemned for not being quake-safe anyway, so it seemed like a great idea. It's only now Nico can afford to move us as a family. We're very close, we had to be to survive."
Maki suddenly remembered Hanayo telling her that Nico had had a hard time growing up. That seemed to be the case. And come to think of it:
"Oh, I think one of my friends realized I'd be your neighbor. And she seemed to know Nico would visit a lot. She and another friend were snickering when I told them where I'm living now."
"Haha and she didn't tell you anything, right? How mischievous! You know, the real idol otakus would notice that Nico admitted she still visited us a lot in one or two of her concert videos."
"That'd be her. She also told me that the song I found so inspiring came about because Nico knew what it was like to be in a terrible place."
"She really does. Not only our father dying and us becoming poor, and mom having to work all the time and Nico being the mom ... the first group, Smile Swallowtail Ear was just a different reading of their names, Nico, Ageha and Mimi. It was a purely high school idol group, but it was popular. They got on compilation albums with other groups and got some press. The other two girls quit once the pressure got too insane. They still all get royalties when someone covers one of their songs. But Nico went completely depressed when they quit. She gave up trying to be a performer and kind of just wallowed in despair. When another group started at the same school, Muse, they sought her out as a veteran, and she told them it was just a pipe-dream. Anyway, somehow they persuaded her to help, and they were able to stretch their popularity out even after most of them graduated. That's what brought attention to her and let her collaborate with A-RISE and then solo. But for a year or so, she really gave up hope, I think. That's what that song is about. Don't jump to conclusions that life can't possibly get better, no matter how bad it is."
They were about to leave, but Cocoro was still fidgeting. "I don't suppose I could get one kiss, could I?" she finally asked.
Wordlessly, Maki gave her one.
"Oh. Wow." Cocoro said. "Okay, thank you. Hmmm. Now I think you should text Onee-chan. Soon."
At least when they parted ways, Cocoro was smiling. "Don't forget to tell her that you were 'pre-wowed,' Maki-san!"
It turned out Nico's window of availability was similar to Maki's. She admitted, once they'd texted back and forth a lot, that she was really interested in Maki, and would be happy to see her namesake again. So, though they both felt bad about Cocoro, they went on a date a day after her confession. Cocoa had to study, so Nico was being watched by her at the Yazawa home. Cocoro was staying with a friend in the dorms, and re-establishing ties with girls she'd been interested in in the past, according to what she'd told her little sister.
Maki was on a budget, but Nico's budget was larger, so she paid for most of the date. They had such a good time, by the time they made it back to number 69, it was pretty clear they were enchanted with each other.
"I don't know how this works," Nico admitted.
"Neither do I," Maki said.
"Do you think this is a sexual kind of thing?"
"Ummm ... mmm hmm," Maki said. They'd both had a moderate amount to drink, so she nodded in a decisive but tipsy way.
When they went into Maki's bedroom, they both stripped. Nico was frozen in admiration of Maki at first, but then looked embarrassed. Without any clothing, she really looked like a young teenager.
"Sorry I don't have much," she said.
"Mmmmm you're so pretty!" Maki said, not really paying attention to what Nico was saying.
Relieved, Nico replied, "Yeah, we'll go with that."
They got in bed together and just kissed and cuddled at first. Later on, Nico told her, "Made you smile! Even the tough cases eventually surrender." Maki was too busy smiling to comment.
The next morning, when they went to get young Nico, they were hand in hand. Kotono had already left for work, and they knew Cocoa would have to get ready for school soon. Cocoa looked at their hands significantly, but she smiled. As Maki paid her for caring for Nico, she told her the girl had behaved like an angel.
Nico surprised Maki. After she ran forward and hugged Maki, she turned and did the same thing to her older namesake.
"Nico-nii is really good with kids, Maki-san. We're living proof!" Cocoa exclaimed.
Nico the older was charmed when she found out that Nico-chan had remembered most of her Nico Nico-nii phrases. "Smart kid," she said.
None of the other trainees were single parents, so the first week for trainees at her new hospital was geared to impossible, stress-filled hours. Maki had had to stretch her resources to pay for child care. She'd also had Cocoa babysit as much as possible, and even left Nico with Hanayo for a day.
Knowing what it was going to be like, her father decided she would be vulnerable to another campaign of bullying. He spread the word that Maki had been a careless trainee, and used drugs on the job. He even involved her ex-husband, giving him Maki's address and schedule. Maki managed to get the police to restrain her ex-husband, and she requested that another case be opened for his abuse of her. She point-blank told the police official that her father had been obstructing justice and probably corrupting the police in keeping him from being prosecuted. She also filed a hundred-million-yen lawsuit against her father and Nishikino hospital, and sent a letter to the hospital board detailing why her ex-husband should never be allowed to take the hospital over. The board agreed with her, and her father dissolved the board in response. But when he reconstituted a board, to stay certified, it was unlikely they would rule any differently. Meanwhile, the lawsuit had no chance of proceeding, but her lawyer, when she could afford him, had told her any lawsuit big enough to get in the press had its own value simply on that basis.
In general, the word was spreading that there was civil war in the Nishikino hospital family, and that was good for Maki. She contacted her mother and asked why she was abetting such obvious villainy. Her mother's response was that she had put up with suffering for the sake of the hospital, and Maki should, as well. She told Maki she had been spoiled. Maki pointed out that her ex-husband had sought to end her career and eliminate her from control of the hospital. What possible benefit could they be getting out of any of this?
"The only reason you had to marry that man is that you refused to pick from the ones we had you meet, Maki. You could have had a long engagement, but you said you didn't care if you got married, you were too busy with your studies. All the families with eligible sons weren't very happy with that. When I picked your father out from the men your grandparents had me meet, I made sure it was someone who would give me time to finish my training. That man we pushed on you brought us a lot of clout, and a lot of good deals on medical equipment. His family helped us keep the hospital prosperous. Did you ever even tell us you disliked him? Or even get to know him? If we had left it to you, you would never have even gotten engaged. Or at least not to a man."
Maki asked her what she meant by that.
"We knew all about your little friends that liked to kiss other girls. Completely unnatural."
"You mean my cousin? Why are you bringing her up?"
"Yes, your favorite cousin, the lesbian tramp. If you're not going to appreciate men anyway, dear, then why should we care which man you marry, if you don't?"
"Both of you should have been sterilized, and banned for life from adopting anyone. You're not parents, you're monsters. But thanks, 'mother,' for reminding me about Riko."
She ended the call to her mother and texted her cousin, who, like Hanayo, was still in her contacts, even though Maki had neglected her. Shockingly, she already knew Maki's entire situation.
"Here's the deal cousin I know nico and tsubasa pretty well and may i say you have one of the most sought after girlfriends out there you go maki."
"also that nutty lawsuit of yours is gonna be jumped on now tsubasa isnt rich but she and nico have some money your nutty parents are in for a shock heres the number for the lawyer they just got you also be sure to ask nicos mom about your mom big surprise there love you cuz"
Maki didn't have time to process all of this. She would barely make the train to get Nico at daycare. Unfortunately, the week she'd had had taken its toll, and Maki collapsed by the employees' exit.
Nico waited at the daycare until it closed, then had to wait outside with a janitor. The daycare staff had Hanayo as a backup number, but she'd turned off her phone for a musical event. Maki's phone had no response, either, and when they called the hospital she worked at, they said she'd collapsed. They gave the daycare another emergency contact for Maki, her neighbor, Yazawa Kotono. It was another hour before the girl named Cocoro came walking up to get her. Nico ran over to her, grabbed her, and cried loudly.
Although Maki had left a spare key in the Yazawas' apartment, there was no point in leaving Nico in an empty place. The Yazawas fed her and comforted her until she fell asleep in Cocoa and Cotarou's room.
Maki didn't want to criticize her new hospital — in many ways, they'd rescued her from a terrible situation. But as she recovered in her hospital room, the chief of training apologized, anyway. He asked Maki what had been going on. He cringed when he learned that the Nishikino patriarch had used Maki's situation to further stress her. He told her he was embarrassed that they had done nothing whatsoever to accommodate her child, even though they knew she was a single parent cut off from her family.
Maki reassured him. She was upset that the whole situation had endangered her child, of course, and probably made her less effective as a trainee. But she had no desire to be seen as a problem doctor. She was going to be consistently reasonable here because that way the contrast with how she reacted to Nishikino hospital would be highlighted.
As compensation, the trainee director told her, she would get eighty hours of child-care leave this year, and their apologies. They realized Maki wasn't trying to get ahead by being compensated, but needed as much spare time as she could acquire to raise her child. Maki had been such a good trainee, on balance, that the director hoped they could lure her to stay on as regular staff, in fact.
After the director left, new people came in. One Nico was carrying another, and Kotono was with them. Nico gently placed little Nico next to her mother. The girl hugged her tightly and started to cry. Maki felt horribly guilty, but when Nico almost immediately fell asleep, she felt better.
"Maki-san," Kotono said. "I am going to show you a magic trick. I am going to make your mother's anger disappear." She winked at Maki. "Your mother had a cell phone when I knew her, and it turns out she's the kind that never lets go of her number."
"Kikuko! How you been? This is Kotono. Look. Either you tell your daughter about your high-school GIRL-friend, or I do. Handing it over to her right now!"
"Her name is Noriko. It's Minami Noriko now. She was the headmistress at your high school," Maki heard. Her mother sounded exhausted.
"How could you possibly say what you did to me? How on Earth?"
"I wanted you to not fail. Look what your father and I achieved, against the odds. We built a great hospital. The hospital I inherited was a mere clinic by the time we took it over. We've saved countless lives, Maki. We've healed the sick. And we did it without reducing people to beggars. Because I listened to your grandparents, Maki, after I graduated, we did all that. We had you. We gave you the best medical preparation anyone could ask for. And Noriko got Kotori, and she got to preserve the school we both loved. Real life isn't like a shoujo novel."
"Honestly, I suppose you're no worse than Nico's awful companies with their no-dating rules. But gods, the hypocrisy of it all. And in the end, what you two did to me has all but ruined your achievements already."
"I won't even bother to ask who the Nico that's not you daughter is, honey. What do you want?"
"What do I want? I'm not blackmailing you, mom. I'm .. I'm upbraiding you."
"I understood that part. I repeat, what do you want? You've put your father in a very vulnerable position. He'll do as I say. I have the family connections, and the hospital is very precarious, especially with a new board. Do you wish to be reinstated here as a trainee?"
Maki's bitter laugh answered that one.
"So what do you want?"
"Isn't it obvious? Get rid of him."
"Ah. Yes, he really is the cancer on the hospital, isn't he? Well, keeping him from being arrested has given us such a bad reputation, anyway. What else?"
"I've gotten extra legal help on the lawsuit ..."
"We were so informed. You probably won't stand a chance of winning, but it could hang in the courts until it ruins all of us. But you've already been mostly ruined, haven't you? Dropping down to where you and Nico are on government assistance would probably be a relief, if anything. Don't mind me, just thinking out loud. Why did you bring that up?"
"I'll settle for what you cost me in scholarships. Scholarships I earned, and that were stolen from me illegally and unethically. That's all in the lawsuit. I'll use some of it to pay off the loan I had to take."
"That's no more than twenty percent of what you were asking for, after all. And the hospital won't have to admit fault. So it's a bargain. We'll talk again after I've made progress, but it won't be a very long wait. Get well, Maki. Your father and I both went through this. We knew we had to be twice as good as anyone else if we were going to make real changes in our medical careers. We both knew what it was like to wake up on the other side of the chart in our training period." She ended the call on her end.
Maki shook her head. Her parents were a pair of fanatics. She couldn't help but contrast them with the loving, if poor and uninfluential, Yazawas. It takes all kinds to make up a world, of course, but Maki was realizing she was more of their kind than her own family.
The fanatics moved fast. Her ex-husband was arrested the next day. Both of her parents made statements to the police. Her father's statement didn't mention his own obstruction, or explain the long delay, but to his credit, he didn't make up something to throw all the blame on the arrested trainee. He simply ignored the issue.
The day after that, the lawyer Nico and Tsubasa had gotten her presented her with a settlement agreement. Her mother, presumably, had added back in compensation for emotional distress. That put the hospital on the hook a bit for negligence, but the lawyer said it would also make the settlement not look like a whitewash. The terms would be disclosed to the public, after all.
After the Yazawas moved out, a few train stops away, number 68 was empty. Maki was able to rent it at a steep discount. It was common knowledge the building hadn't passed its earthquake testing, so any rent was better than none.
Nico and her friends visited whenever they could. Maki met Eli, Nozomi, Honoka, Kotori and Umi of Muse, and Tsubasa, Erena and Anju of A-RISE.
When Kotori met her, she said, "Please give thanks to Japanese homophobia, Maki-san! It's the only reason you and I are here!" and winked. Maki remembered belatedly that this girl was her mother's lover's child. When Maki just stood there, shocked, Kotori kissed her on the cheek and went inside.
They were even visited by Mimi and Ageha from Nico's original group. Hanayo was a frequent visitor for Maki and her child, usually accompanied by Rin. The idol fan was in seventh heaven being able to hobnob with so many names and faces she'd only seen at a distance at a live, or even only on video. Number 68 was used for spillover. Once, when Cocoro had been drinking too much, Maki let her in to number 68 and she eventually passed out in her old room. Although she'd long since moved on to other people, Maki was a little sad to hear the drunk girl reveal she still had a little torch for Maki. One of the idols visiting in number 69 said she'd be up late - Maki and Nico's room was soundproofed precisely because of situations like that — and promised to check up on Cocoro periodically. In the morning, when she woke the girl up and yawned and went to sleep in the same bed, Cocoro was touched. From what Maki heard later, the two had at least become close friends, if not more.
The day the building was condemned and everyone got their eviction notices, they had an "earthquake party." Everyone jumped around so much it probably constituted a second earthquake test all by itself.
The small housewarming when Maki and her child moved into Nico's apartment, on the other hand, was a quiet affair. Everyone there, even the two high-school Yazawas, toasted Nico and Maki with both beer and whiskey, though Cocoa and Cotarou had much smaller amounts.
Another toast came when Rin and Hanayo said they would both be living in Hanayo's house soon. Despite all the fluffy feelings, Nico had declared she wasn't going to cry, and stuck to it.
Maki heard a noise. Her little girl had wandered out in her panda pajamas. Having observed the last toast, she decided to get in on the action. She did a perfect Nico Nico-Nii from start to finish, then bowed.
"Okay, now I'm crying," Nico said.