WEAKEST MEMBERS OF MUSE ATTEMPT IDOL KNOCKOFF GROUP
WHY ISN'T HOSHIZORA HEADING A BOY BAND
IS NICO NI MANIPULATING HER YOUNGER BANDMATES
HOW HEFTY IS HANAYO
Nishikino Maki leaned back in her desk chair, unpleasant headlines screaming from multiple open tabs. She glanced down at her phone, no relief there. Rude comments on the 1Kiss TWIG feed as well. She wanted to throw her phone across the room. Her two best friends and her one true love aka 1Kiss were finally landing bigger venues, but they'd also landed the wrong kind of attention. The buzz was leaning bad and Maki knew from Nico's worrying how hard that could be to recover from. Their last two concerts had only had half the seats sold. Plus, even the normally enthusiastic 1Kiss fans were being exceptionally harsh about both Rin's and Hanayo's appearance and Maki knew too well how much her friends struggled. Nico's confidence was practically undentable, but Rin and Hanayo…Maki dropped her head in front of her laptop, reminded of the other times she wanted to help but couldn't...or Nico wouldn't let her. Nico...Maki raised her head, a gleam in her eye. Nico wasn't here. Nico was probably too busy trying to stitch together Rin and Hanayo's self esteem to suspect that Maki might try to intervene.
"Call Umi." Maki's voice was clear, determined. This was a problem a Nishikino could solve.
###
Nico was sitting in her hotel room, staring, at a loss for ideas. Rin had refused to even come out of the room on their afternoon off, here in Cancun. Hanayo was holed up with her, refusing to eat. Nico had gone for a run, stopped at a beautiful beach, texted a selfie to Maki with a too deeply felt 'Nico misses you." But Maki had college exams to study for. Nico would see her over Christmas and then in a few months when Maki joined them for her ronin year.
A brusque knock on Nico's door startled her. She moved to the spyhole, heart pounding, to see two familiar heads, one fair and one dark. Kotori and Umi. Nico yanked the door open and grabbed them both in a hug, before pulling back with an embarrassed cough,
"What are you doing here?" Nico glanced from one to the other, "you" pointing to Umi, "are in Japan, and you" back to Kotori, "are in France."
Kotori giggled, "We decided to have a weekend rendezvous" Kotori leaned into Umi "and see our favorite band in concert."
"How, who…?" Nico shook her head, "I don't care. Nico's just glad to have some backup. Rin's a real mess."
"Nico!" a squeak come from behind her visitors as Hanayo opened her door, "TONIGHT'S SHOW JUST SOLD OUT!" Hanayo raised her eyes from her phone to see two familiar but unexpected profiles. "KOTORI! UMI!"
"They're having a sexy tropical getaway." Nico chuckled. Umi went pale in contrast to Maki's usual flare of tomato shade embarrassment but it was almost as much fun.
Hanayo just grabbed them and held on, sobbing. Nico manuevered them all into her room so they could talk about the biggest problem.
"Rin won't even talk to me. Or even pick up her phone to watch cat videos. She's been ignoring Maki's calls as well." Hanayo sat on Nico's bed, eating the chicken rice soup Nico had ordered her.
Nico smiled, glad that Maki was trying to reach out to Rin. Nico hadn't had a chance to talk to Maki this week, their rehearsal schedule was brutal, but the Nico knew the redhead must have seen the recent rush of bad press. Maki...Nico glanced at Umi speculatively, but the dark haired archer and poetry student just smiled kindly. Nico shrugged, her attention back on Hanayo. But it was Kotori who seized on a solution, "Obviously, we need to go shopping. How long until sound check?"
Nico glanced at her phone, "Three hours."
"I already checked with the concierge about cute local shops. And the driver knows how to get there." Kotori put her hand on Umi's shoulder, "If you'll just go get Rin, we can get started."
"But our costumes are already…"
Kotori's golden eyes met Nico's and the number one idol saw a challenge there. When had she ever let what should happen stop her…
"All right, go get Rin, let's try out a new look for 1Kiss." Nico turned away to pull out a long linen shirt that nicely layered over her shorts and tank top. She also didn't want to see the look on Kotori's face. It would tell her too much. "Nico knows you'll find the best bargains."
"Uh huh."
###
Many more photographers than Nico had expected, and a crowd of fans waiting when they pulled up backstage. Rin had a gorgeous frilly skirt covered with vibrant birds and flowers, a simple white linen shirt, and the cutest slouched two toned straw cloche hat Nico had seen yet. She bought a similar trilby for Maki, since the redhead liked both hats and gifts from local artisans. Plus, knowing Rin and Maki, they'd put them to good use dressing for one of the now traditional RinPana NicoMaki seasonal double dates. Nico and Hanayo always had so much fun guessing what kind of look the two were going to surprise them with. Kotori had dressed Nico in a simple red and black dress and Hanayo had gone for sportif, with an Atlante F.C. jersey, cute shorts, and a matching 1Kiss beanie. On stage, for an additional change and shout out to the local culture, Kotori had found matching swimsuits and sarongs with vivid blue orange splashes of colors that would look better on Rin and Hanayo than Nico, but for once the idol didn't mind. Rin had been glowing as Kotori fussed over her, Nico finding the perfect matching pearl hair accessories for the three of them. The boutique owner had helpfully refused to mention prices and Kotori just flashed a card that Nico thought she recognized to take care of the tab. So she caught some video of Rin spinning happily in her new skirt and hit send, knowing Maki would feel lighter after seeing it.
The concert was a SCREAMING SUCCESS. Both Idols and the audience were hoarse by the end. TWIG was buzzing with shots from the concert, Nico pulling fans on stage to dance, livestreaming on TWIGTube with the screaming audience in the background, Rin down in the front row, teaching everyone their latest dance steps, her face ecstatic. That's what the people wanted to see, Nico thought as a stream of hearts and comments raced across the screen of her cell. This was the energy boost 1Kiss needed. This was who they were.
###
Maki grinned at her laptop screen. Rin was bouncing up and down on her hotel room bed while Hanayo was unwinding with a bath.
"It was AMAZING, Maki. The best night ever. The crowd knew ALL THE SONGS, even the new ones. Sold out, people lined up at the back." Rin flopped back onto the bed, "Now I know why Nico's so addicted to making people smile."
"That sounds...fun."
Rin snorted and rolled up, "Oh Maki, you know you would have loved it. And Nico practically glowed."
Nico always glows, Maki thought as she frowned at Rin, "I'm fine here."
Rin shook her head, "You can say you miss music, Maki. It's okay."
Maki sighed, "I do miss all of you."
"Maki must be lonely." Rin started bouncing again, "So write us a song for the next concert."
"Write your own."
"Hey, you wrote Hanayo a rice song, where's my ramen song?"
"And how catchy will that be in Central America?"
"Ramen is an international sensation. Students love ramen, students love 1Kiss...instant hit."
Maki couldn't hide her grin. It was great to hear Rin being obnoxiously, stupidly, wonderfully Rin, "Sure, sure...keep telling yourself that."
"I will. AND I'll tell you and Kayo-chin and Nico and Umi and Kotori and..."
As Rin rattled off an ever growing list of names, Maki's phone buzzed. Nico.
Nico: Exhausted, but had a wonderful concert. Nico can hear Rin through the wall so you've probably heard how it went ヾ(≧∇≦)ゞ
Maki: Yeah, she's trying to get me to write a ramen song.
Nico: Hey, we did well with a burger song once.
Maki: d(-_^)
Nico: really great that our biggest fan club donated tickets to local fans.
Maki: oh did that happen, that's cool.
Nico: And Kotori picked out the cutest outfits,
A selfie of Nico in bed, sheet barely pulled up flashed across Maki's screen.
Nico: Not that I'm wearing it now (⌒.−)＝
Maki blushed.
Maki: Rin sent me a snap of you onstage. It's my new screensaver.
Nico: Stalker.
Rin had moved from ramen to the hats Kotori had found them. Maki made encouraging noises as she continued her conversation with Nico.
Maki: Maybe. I miss you.
Nico: I miss you.
Nico: But Nico needs to sleep now. Rin plans to drag us and Umi and Kotori to the beach for breakfast.
Maki: If she's stopped talking by then.
Nico: (°o°)(°o。)(。o。)(。o°)(°o°)(°o。)(。o。)(。o°)
Nico: Maki…
Maki: …?
Nico: Nico will thank you properly when I see you.
Nico: But don't ever do that again (｀^´)
Maki laughed. Of course, Nico knew what she'd done. Nico knew everything. Rin startled out of her story, asked "Maki?"
"Sorry, just texting Nico. Keep going. She's looking forward to breakfast on the beach."
Rin bounced up, "It's so weird being on this side of the Pacific; it's like the world is backwards."
Maki shook her head at the silliness of Rin and typed a response to Nico's jab.
Maki: I won't have to. You're the number one idol trio in the universe after all.
Nico: And don't you forget it.
Maki: (#^.^#)
Nico: (● ∀ )
Nico: See you soon.
Maki: Not soon enough.
Nico: True. Have sexy dreams about Nico (๑ 3 ๑)
Maki: I don't sleep ┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘
Nico: Silly Maki （＾。＾；）
Maki: *shrugs*
Maki slid her phone to the side and focused on Rin, who was winding down the perfect beach breakfast list. "So tell me about Nico."
"Oh, she was so wow, Maki, from the first step on the stage. It was like she was drinking the energy in the air. I'll send you her solo."
"Cool."
"So how's your studying going?"
Maki groaned, "Slow…"
"You can do it. You're the smartest person I know."
"Thanks, Rin."
Her phone pinged at her. A 1Kiss alert.
Rin For The Win in Cancun.
"1Kiss bops into audience hearts with their cutest looks yet. Is Muse designer Minami Kotori responsible for the redesign? Local eco friendly fashion is a big win for the planet and 1Kiss with their biggest crowd ever."
Yep, Maki thought, they'd do just fine from here.
"Hey, Rin. Check your alerts."
"Ooohh, they used a really great snap of Kayo-chin."
"Yeah, she should make the local jersey a thing. Lots of crossover fans."
"Ooohh, good idea, Maki-chan. I'll tell her. And I know all the teams."
"Yeah."
Maki put away her books. Time to talk women's football with Rin. She could stare at the selfie Nico had sent her later. Some nights were girlfriend nights, Maki thought, but sometimes it was nice to just vent and ramble with Rin, whose eyes were gleaming life bright again.
"So who's your fave Atlante player?"
"We actually met a whole bunch of fans, Maki, when we went to dinner after the concert. It was so cool. Let me tell you what happened when Nico…"
Maki settled back on her couch, happy to hear stories about her three favorite people conquering Cancun. With maybe a little help from her, Maki thought, hugging a Nico sized pink pillow, glad to still be part of it.
A/N: I've been missing 1Kiss and going back through my files and found this mostly finished bit of business so I polished it up. Enjoy.