The Friend-Date
When Niko asked me to go on a "date," things were very rocky for Muse. We weren't completely sure we could count on either Kotori or Honoka, and there was dissension spreading. Niko, no doubt, saw a repeat of her ordeal with her first idol act looming. I couldn't figure out at the time why she thought us going on a date would make her (or me) feel any better. She eventually said it was a "friend-date" not a romantic date. It was interrupted at the end by a group phone call about the future of Muse, where most of our issues were sorted out. I should have noticed that no one at all questioned that Niko and I were out together while everyone else was in their own homes, in bed. But I wasn't noticing anything. We first years had seen a film once with hyenas diving on a carcass, and that's what Niko and I were like with our phones when they rang, interrupting a very tense moment.
I supplied the "friend" part. I dressed down as much as I ever have. Niko supplied the "date" part. She was dressed up in a very pretty, elegant dress and pumps, with a pretty necklace and her hair home-styled but still styled. We were quite the mismatched pair, so I grumbled, but Niko was happy because she was about as tall as me. We went shopping, caught a midday movie, and then went to eat at a place in-between the styles we were wearing. Then we were walking in the park, as the sun set. It was one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. The light caught Niko's face and made her look ethereal.
There was some foreigner with a very expensive camera snapping people in the park. Since he was a foreigner, I wasn't too concerned that he'd accidentally or deliberately capture us. Who cares what foreigners see? But just then, something happened without any conscious thought by me.
Suddenly, I had grabbed Niko and kissed her, kind of forcefully. Niko's eyes went wide with surprise, then she lowered them and submitted to me. I wouldn't say she kissed back vigorously or anything. I held the kiss for a long time, again, not really thinking anything. Then I finally released Niko, who looked away. We were there for a few minutes unable to say anything when our phones rang. We walked over to the bathrooms where the light was better and it was safer. Saved by the bell.
By the way, later Kotori showed me some pictures shot in Japan by a photographer from Ibiza in Spain. One of them was set in the park at the time we were there. Sure enough. Even Kotori didn't know it was us. The light from the setting sun had been angled so it looked as much like an oil painting as a photo.
The caption made me jump. "Lesbians in the park." "A tachi fiercely kisses a much younger neko in the park at sunset. The neko is all dressed up for her first date. The tachi is casual and manly." So I was a tachi who favored middle-school nekos? I wanted to snort, but there was some truth, wasn't there? Anyway, I secretly got a print of the photo from the photographer's service. I still have it.
So anyway, Niko said, maybe I didn't want to talk about it, but dream-me clearly did. One of the reasons I'd agreed to go on a date with Niko was all the teasing we got, like "just go out already, you two!" And I guess they'd been right. "That was my first kiss, Maki," Niko told me.
Upset, I said it had been mine, too. Niko said that she didn't think bickering friends was going to be enough for her anymore. In the past, I'd been very reluctant to think about Niko that way. But that evening heading home, I saw a more mature and serious Niko and I decided. "Let's go out for real then. No more friend dates." No more friend dates, she agreed. And just like that NikoMaki was real.
I printed out a text conversation I got from Sonoda Umi, and I will paste it in here:
Maki:
Rin and I talked, one on one. She's very different when Hanayo, Kotori, Honoka etc. aren't around. No doubt, I am the same. First, we wanted to remind you that dreams go all kinds of places and it takes a while to get what their message is. But even if it meant that Maki-chan had feelings for Rin or Umi, we agreed the only thing we would feel about that is flattered. Because Maki-chan is a beautiful, elegant, attractive girl and we love her a lot. Also, even the ones in Muse not good at secrets were sobered by hearing what Maki said, and they aren't going to talk about it outside of Muse. If you are worried about Niko-chan, she is worried about you - too worried to be jealous. It was very striking how quickly and decisively she decided to go with you and help you. If you become a couple or if you don't either way we support you, always. I don't think the love I saw in Niko's eyes as you left is shameful at all. I am a little envious of you, Maki-chan.
I am going to be writing a lot in this nikki today. I visited Niko in the hospital. She's gotten used to chronic pain and surgery and hospital stays. It's very sad but she is very brave now. Nozomi is back in college with Eli, but I can count on a lot of people - Rin and Hanayo and Kokoro anytime, Honoka, Kotori and Umi most of the time, even Alisa and Yukiho some of the time. Mrs. Yazawa will always cooperate, she recognizes someone over-working for the ones they love when she sees it.
Come to think of it, next week I want Alisa and Yukiho to visit with me. Niko can meet her future kouhais and then they can leave and I can start observing as Niko has her first PT session.
Anyway, I brought the reading I was doing on Niko's condition with me. I brushed it off as pre-medical reading. She asked me about retrograde amnesia and the hippocampus - she read the kanji as "seahorse." Then we discussed anterograde amnesia and how sad that is. When The Day comes and we tell her everything, she'll realize I was studying her. Niko could only glance at the page I had open but she asked me about Ribot's Law. She's smarter than she gets credit for, but also incredibly nosy. Says the girl who has her diary.
Next week I observe, when I can, her physical therapy. There are at-home things a visiting therapy worker can do that I can probably do. They know I am the daughter of two doctors, preparing to study medicine, and familiar with medical rules and hospital procedures. IF they say I am unlikely to harm Niko helping her at home, that's what I'll do. If some of it needs a real physical therapy worker, the money is already there. I just want the practice. And I want her used to me, not shy or uncomfortable.
PT is painful but it's also tiresome. After a month or two, it becomes dreaded, and that's when we need to be on good enough terms that I can force her to carry on. The initial therapy will be before The Day and before she goes to school. After that? I think that's where the cruel but inspiring Muse videos will help. That's where you need to be again, Niko.
Completely switching subjects.
