HI HELLO HOW ARE YOU

sorry for the late update because there's a lot going on in my mind and everything is scary and i am afraid

pleaselovemybabynico

A low grumble escaped her lips as her eyes scanned on another stupid problem tall, blonde and scrawny gave her. Pencil in hand, Nico tried her best, or the best that she can ever do, to solve it. Unfortunately, solving unnecessary equations were an idol's worst enemy.

A finger tapped the back of her hand as she raised her head and met with Eli's stern blue eyes. "Nico, the sooner you solve this, the sooner we move on." The dark-haired girl made a grunt and gave a sign towards Nozomi.

A super idol like me should only use math to count the money I own.

"A super idol like you should also learn how to pass third year maths if you ever want your fans to like you." Nozomi chided. "You'll be held back a year if you keep going at it like this."

There was a moment of silence with the little gremlin thinking whether she ought to do it or not before Nico crossed her arms in defeat. Her best friend always had the right words to say to her. She closed her eyes for a bit, needing to rest her eyeballs to prevent strain. She felt Nozomi lean closer to Eli. Probably saying something about her patience about the whole tutoring.

One thing about being deaf is that although you can't hear, you can feel things come and go. Silence has always been there for Nico but that didn't stop her from learning how to adjust. She was less in one sense but she had all four left and she'd use them all to her advantage.

There was shuffling and the movement of things on the small table until a warm hand was placed on her shoulder. Nico opened her left eye and it was Eli, looking a little apologetic for some reason. Did Nozomi guilt trip her?

"Let's start over." Nico quietly obeyed. Better to get this over with. The taller one looked quite surprised she didn't put up much of a fight. Eli moved beside her again and Nozomi to her right. Nico was used being in the middle. She tried to resist at first, however she complained when she couldn't read the words upsidedown.

The same problem was raised to her again and Eli wrote the things to do step by step on the paper. It much easier to understand if words were written while doing it because there are a lot of times where her lips would much rather focus on the words that form shape rather than the problem being solved. Multitasking was difficult as it is and the occasional slip-ups of the teacher add to her confusion.

It was a trick they used. Nico was horrible at math, she will admit and it's gotten a lot worse with all the pointless math subjects. You wouldn't need to use Trigonometry or Calculus when computing the price of your grocery items. Nor would you use it when you have a handful of discount coupons.

Two hands started to work on the paper, the right one being Nozomi and Eli on the left. Both of them helped her and wrote down all the necessary steps to follow. Nozomi pointed out tricks to get it since Nico would rely more on her trusty A-B-C pencil than have her brain wrapped around one question. Eli was more straight-forward and only stops when Nozomi adds more detail to it before they proceed.

'Because the degree of the numerator is not less than the degree of the denominator, do polynomial division. Then factor and decompose into partial fractions.'

Pause.

'After getting the common denominator, adding fractions, and equating numerators, it should look like this.'

'Let x be…?'

Nozomi scribbled the process and it became clear. Nico nodded in understanding and a rush of air went past her neck. It was Eli, of course. Relieved that it wouldn't take her more to get the hang of it. They give her another problem to solve and she answered correctly. The dark-haired girl scoffed. She defeated her enemy. Proud of her work, she did her signature pose. Nothing is too difficult for the number one idol in the universe, after all.

"Sorry to break it to you, Nicocchi but that's just the first part," Nozomi signed to her. "Four more to go."

Thud.

Nico faceplanted on the table, surprising Eli when the pencil flew. I fucking hate maths, she wanted to cry. Did she mention that solving unnecessary equations were an idol's worst enemy?

"You can do- oh." Nozomi suddenly stopped and so did Eli. Nico wondered what happened. The purple-haired girl stood up and parted the curtains. Ahh. It was raining. They probably heard the sound of rain hitting the roof.

"Good thing it's a sleepover." The blonde said as she walked towards the window, looking up the dark bluish sky. "I wouldn't want to go home with that rain."

Her friends stared by the window as a distraction. A flurry of raindrops continuously hit the window and Nico wondered what it sounded like. Nozomi opened her mouth and Nico looked at her lips to understand. She wondered how it all worked. Eli replied a second later with a brush of their fingertips then went back to marvel at the wet scenery. She wondered if she could do it too.

Nico focused on her surroundings. They were in Nozomi's living room. There was a tv in the corner showing animal wildlife. The volume was set to a minimum because the two hardly paid attention to it. The window was behind her. Her two best friends were flirting again. She let her hand touch the wall. It was thick but the rain poured non-stop so there were little vibrations felt. She closed her eyes and pursed her lips.

There must be something. There has to be a trick to this. Nico focused. She really did. But no matter what, it's always the same.

Nothing.

A hard lump formed in her throat and her gut twisted and churned. Nico held her hand into a fist, ready to release her pent up frustration on the thick wall. However, soft hands covered her own and she had to look. They were looking at her with wistful eyes and Eli looked at Nozomi for permission. She gazed at her with usual motherly gentleness and the gremlin pouted. Nozomi knew. Of course she did. Nozomi knew everything.

The blonde was never one for initiating physical affection but she learned that even someone as stubborn and prideful as Nico would need it. Once Nozomi gave her approval, Eli carefully pulled Nico to her lap and held her. Of course, the tiny girl struggled out of her hold but before long she gave up.

Nico rarely let anyone hold her like this but it's too much.

Everything was too much.

Too much yet too little.

Perhaps it was nothing.

It was frustrating.

The blonde opened her hand palms up and she took this as an invitation to hold them. To ground her. Let her feel. Nozomi faced her and gave her signs. She asked what she felt, she asked what she wanted, she asked what she needed.

Nico released Eli's hold and reached to touch the base of her throat. Nozomi wryly smiled. She began to talk slowly and said the same words over and over again. It was their name. It was a start. Nico sat on the floor now and Eli watched silently.

Nozomi

Nico

Eli

Over and over again.

The midget coughed. She tried.

"NnGoo –Oo –mMii."

"Nnyi –Oo"

"ngEE –Iii"

Good, signed Nozomi. Nico shook her head. It wasn't. It wasn't enough. It wasn't right. Her bestfriend noticed her trembling shoulders and soon embraced her. Letting her calm down. Nico didn't remove her hands on her neck but it was alright. Nozomi ran her hands through her silky raven hair to let her relax and Eli was there beside her, petting her head.

The purple-haired girl pressed her hands on her cheeks to let her look at her. "What's wrong, Nicocchi? You can tell me about it." Nico avoided her eyes and hung her head. Nozomi gently lifted her face to properly look at her. "Nicocchi."

"I –AnNn –ooO- sScHi –nNgG!"

Nico wasn't good at controlling the volume of her voice but it felt nice.

It felt nice when you know you're making a sound.

It felt nice when you use your own voice to talk.

It felt nice when you know someone is bound to hear you.

She let her head hung low and let Nozomi's hands squish her face. It's been a while since she felt like that. It's been a while since she's been depressed and a little envious. Maybe because she witnessed how Maki sang in the Music room. It sparked something in her. It made her want to do it too. Perhaps even better.

Nico was startled when Nozomi began to sing. It was a known song. Every child sang it when it rained. She concentrated on the way everything moved. The way her lips formed, the way her tongue made movements, the way she released air, the way her throat bobbed up and down.

And all throughout, she thought about her nerdy junior who had talents she wished she had.

"AcckkCHoooo-!"

"Nya! That scared me." Rin jumped. "Did you catch a cold?"

Maki glared at her as Hanayo handed her a pack of tissues. "Thanks," she mumbled and wiped her nose. "Whose idea was it in the first place to go out in the middle of a storm?"

"I didn't know it would be this bad," argued Rin who closed the curtains.

"There was a 47% chance of precipitation this day. You're lucky enough that your place is close by or else I'd leave."

"It's a sleepover nya! A sleepover." She reminded. "We got our hot baths and have our comfy pjs on. No need to be such a handful."

"You're the one who's handful." Maki continued to shoot her daggers. "If I knew it would be like this, I would've insisted we stayed in your room rather than go on a study picnic at the park."

She figured that little bundle of energy would ask for her help in studying for her make-up test. It was only a matter of when and where they're going to study. Unfortunately because of Rin's horrible miscalculation about the weather, they ended up running blindly to her house because of the heavy downpour. Needless to say, they were soaked through the bone. Wet clothes that clung to her body, muddy boots that ruined the carpet and she lost her favourite pen.

"I'm reaaaally sorry, Maki-chan!" Rin apologized. She went beside her and rubbed her cheek all over. "I'm reaaaally sorry nya! I'll buy you a new pen, I promise." Hanayo gave her a soft smile. Maki didn't have the energy to fight anymore.

"Fine, I get it. You can stop now." She moved out of the way and sat beside Hanayo. "We wouldn't be in this mess in the first place if you just studied."

"I was busy the whole week and I didn't have the time but look," she rummaged in her bag and showed them a pencil. "Here."

"What's this, Rin-chan? It looks like an ordinary pencil to me." Hanayo examined it and handed it over to Maki. An ordinary pencil number two but the bottom part was shaved at the sides.

Rin gave a peace sign, "Nico-chan gave me her extra super-duper reliable ABC pencil." She gave it an accusing look. "I used it on the biology exam and I passed. I wonder why it didn't work the second time though."

"Oh, Rin-chan."

The redhead made a low grumble of disappointment. She had her hand cover half of her face because there was a throbbing sensation in her temple and not just because of her incoming migraine. She thought she'd only have to handle one idiot in her life but it seemed like fate had other plans.

Rin was responsible enough with her studies but if she had another way to not study because of some magical pencil some gremlin gave to her then it would be a different matter altogether. Those two would just rush through all of their exams and rely on that ridiculous ABC pencil to guess for them.

"Did you really think it would work like that?" Maki questioned exasperatedly. She wanted to break it in half, burn it to smithereens, and bury of what's left of the remains. Hanayo knew what comes after next.

"It worked on the biology exam!"

"That was a onetime thing!"

"Nico-chan passed all of her exams using that!" she continued and deflated a little. "Except for that maths exam…"

The redhead slammed her hands on the table. "You should know better than to believe that midget's unreliable advice! You literally need to study to pass and luck isn't the only factor to it."

"Maki-chan. Maki-chan," Hanayo called. "Rin-chan's just a little stressed before so she didn't get a chance to review. And you," she gave Rin a pat on the head. "Next time, don't try to run away from studying."

Maki shifted her position. She didn't want to deal with this now, "If I hear one peep out of you during the whole session, consider my help gone." She crossed her arms, showing that she's serious.

The orange-haired girl gave a mock salute. "Aye, Ma'am!"

And with that, they started.

The first few hours, things were going running smoothly. Rin was listening to her and Hanayo gave her praise. It was a simple but effective solution for her motivation. The rain hardly let up and before long, it was beginning to take a toll on Rin's concentration. Not that she could relate, she loved the sound of rain. It's where everything is quiet, where everything is calm, and where everything can be anything as long as she put her imagination to it.

Hanayo was showing signs of exhaustion because she kept on yawning and her eyes were getting droopy. Rin, however, was trying her hardest to pay attention but the mere fact that Hanayo was yawning induced her to yawn too. It couldn't be helped. After all, it was contagious.

With a tap on her wrist and a little stretch, the redhead let the two have a forty five minute break to which they gladly accepted. The duo climbed on the bed and snuggled under the cozy sheets. They invited Maki too but she refused. She wouldn't want to intrude and besides, she'd rather stare at the window, watching drops of rain hit the window.

"AackChoo-!" Ugh. She might be coming down with a cold. Maki grabbed another tissue and stuffed her nose with it. The two didn't stir from the loud noise and she was grateful for the silence that came with the weather.

It made her think about Nico, even if she didn't realise it. It was becoming more of a nuisance, really. That midget pops out from her head in the most unconventional times. Maki was starting to think there was something wrong with her. It was weird and overall a little confusing. Everything about Nico made her head hurt.

Nico who insults her at a daily basis. Nico who teases her about everything. Nico who goes into the music room uninvited to listen to her play. Nico who watches her every move and gives praise. Nico who gives her milk cartons everytime she finishes. Nico who talks about her outrageous dream.

And Maki who wishes that she would be able to reach it someday.

Her hands slowly crept on her neck and her cheeks burned at the memory of it. That midget's hands were small compared to hers and she could vividly remember the smell of her fruity hand lotion. Ugh. Stop, Maki. That's too much. She was too focused at that time. Too distracted by the melody and the song.

"Ahh… Aaaahh…" she felt little trebles but other than that, she couldn't fathom what was running inside Nico's brain. "Aaaahhh…" there was little to no difference in what she had felt before and the growing curiosity was eating her inside. Is it because she's not doing it correctly? Or perhaps there was a certain part needed to be touched? Maki wanted to know.

However, before she could even remove her hands, the alarm rang. The 45 minute break was up and it was time to study once more.

"Nyaaa," the orange-haired girl rubbed the drowsiness in her eyes, Hanayo followed soon after.

Hanayo tilted her head. "Maki-chan? Does your throat hurt?"

She coughed and took another tissue. "I-it's nothing. It's nothing." She hoped she didn't get down with a cold.

"Nicocchi, remember what you learned." Nico hummed in return.

"And try to answer them this time." Eli added. They took her trusty ABC pencil when her back was turned. They'll return it once everything is over. The dark-haired girl opened her palm and made it twitch, like saying 'return it to me'.

"Yes yes." Eli conceded. "After."

The re-take exams were held after class and all the other students who failed gathered at specific classrooms. Her two best friends would wait for her like they always do and left her waiting out in the hallways. Nico held her breath. This was it. She was prepared for it. She even had the formulas written on a small paper. Of course, if those two find out, she'll never hear the end of it but drastic times call for drastic measures and Nico was skilled in this line of work.

With the paper perfectly hidden inside the sleeve of her cardigan, she waited for the teacher to bring them inside to start.

"Ahh-!" Something heavy hit her back and it's a good thing Nico has quick reflexes or her pretty face might've met with the dirty tiled floor. Who dared to defile Nico Nii's adorable face like that? Her hand was already closed tight in a fist, ready to deliver divine punishment on whoever had the gall to almost knock her down but halted as soon as she saw Maki's unruly red hair.

The junior rubbed her temples and her face was flushed, not to mention that her ribbon was unkempt and her hand was incredibly warm. Maki looked surprised when she saw her and gave a hefty sigh. The first-year squinted at her, looking thoroughly confused. She then stood a little straight and stretched her hands. "Sorry," she signed. "I need to go home now."

No insult.

No stuttering.

No twirling of hair.

Her nerdy junior sidestepped around her and dragged her feet towards the staircase. Weirdo. Nico noticed that Maki was going the wrong way and her legs were almost buckling by her weight. She looked around and checked the time. Ten minutes. Just ten more minutes until the test starts.

If Nico weren't so concerned about her behaviour she would've just left her alone but being the best upperclassman and the best role model, she would gladly do whatever she can to help. So she took out her notebook and wrote details then gave it to the teacher before scurrying off to the redhead. "Nico-chan?" she coughed in her hand and sniffled.

You look like shit.

"That's none of your business. Go to class." She ordered, lacking the usual bite.

She scribbled again, Not until I take you to the infirmary.

Maki pushed her away. "I'm fine. I just need to go home."

Nico pointed the other way with her thumb. Home is that way, idiot. You don't even know where you're going so I suggest you stop fighting me and let me take you to the nurse's office.

"Fine. Just shut up, please. My head's about to burst." She said in defeat. An easy win for Yazawa Nico.

She took her arm and led her to the infirmary. Boy, Maki was in bad shape. Even Nico felt the unwanted heat radiating from her body. With two more minutes, she hastily explained to the nurse about her condition while laying her down on the bed. Maki was out like a light. She ripped a piece of paper and wrote something then stuffed it in her hand.

.

..

…

"…aaaahhh…." Maki woke up in a cold sweat. She couldn't breathe because her nose was clogged and her headache got worse per second. The covers parted and the nurse read from her clipboard.

"Nishikino-san, right? Your friend brought you here," she tapped the board. "Going to school with such a high fever is a bad idea." She lightly scolded. She handed her a bottle of water and some pills. "Take these and rest for a while. When you're feeling a little bit better or if your friend comes back, I'll let you go." And with that she closed the divider again and Maki was left with her unbearable headache.

She faintly remembered saying goodluck to Rin, Hanayo was at the library returning a book and before she realized what was going on, she bumped into Nico who possibly carried her to the infirmary. Her hand felt itchy and she found a piece of paper.

I'll get back to you later, nerd.

She folded in properly and tucked it in her pocket. There was no doubt that Nico wrote that. She was the only one who called her nerd anyway. She downed the pills and water and decided to rest.

She should've listened to her mom this morning when she told her to take a day off but the thought of being alone in the house seemed a lot worse than going to school with a little bit of fever. Although, a little fever was an understatement because it has gotten worse throughout the day. Her friends were quick in noticing her odd behaviour but she brushed it off, telling them it was just because of the food she ate. The two didn't press on further knowing that Maki would insist on her reason.

There was a knock and the door slid open. Soon enough, Nico came into view with a pissed off look on her face. The junior made the same equally disgusted expression. What's gotten her so riled up about?

Glad to see you're not dead yet. There was a huff.

"Glad to know you didn't finish me off when you had the chance." Nico seemed relieved with what she said and sat on a chair beside her. She had a plastic bag with her and rummaged in it to find normal looking juicebox. She handed it over with morbid disgust. Maki begrudgingly accepted.

I pressed the wrong button. You can have that.

Upon closer inspection, the ordinary juicebox wasn't ordinary at all for it was a box of tomato juice and her eyes went wide with surprise. "Where did you get this?" she began to sip its contents, much to Nico's dismay. She wrote on her notebook and showed it to her.

Are your tastebuds okay? That thing's nasty.

"How dare you diss tomatoes like that. It tastes perfectly fine." Maki defended. Nico wanted to hurl.

Then their started their usual banter but unlike most days, the redhead had little energy to put up with the gremlin's infinite amount of annoyingness. Nico soon noticed her junior's well-being and rested her forehead with hers. Too close. Too close! Maki jumped and both collided in a very painful way.

"You can use your hands, you know!" she hissed. "There's also a thermometer!" Nico growled.

Without warning, the gremlin's hand made its way to her neck to feel. The junior had a hard time to breathe even more so with Nico checking her fever like that. Any normal person would just use a thermometer. Why is there a need to touch her like that?

Maki had half a mind to slap her face but Nico was making it difficult for her since she was staring again. The foreign feeling was bubbling in her chest and the atmosphere changed drastically similar to what happened a week ago in the music room. The midget was looking at her lips, studying the shape, and her hands were carefully placed on her neck.

"Nico-chan, you're too close." Very close. There was a line between what's okay and what's not and she had crossed it. She was feeling lightheaded, her throat was dry and her face was sweaty. There was a hot sensation in her chest and it wasn't because of the fever.

Their eyes met briefly and Nico opened her mouth to say the next words.

"-EeaA-ssS MEe -HaAU –ooO- sScHi –nNgG."

if yall watched koe no katachi or gangsta, you should probably know what deaf people sound like.

not gonna sugarcoat but yes, they do sound weird. as in VERY weird. it's hard to explain in words but yes.

if you dont get what my babu is saying it's this "Teach me how to sing."

if there's anything wrong, please dont hesitate to tell me. this has been squeezed from my brain for 2 weeks and i dont even know if it's making sense? lmao

thank you very much for all the reviews/follow/fave

i read them everytime and im very thankful for everything that you alll wrote there.

thank you for reading and putting up with my rants. have a wonderful day aye