Last time on Love Live!: i don't have a quirky summary ready, but rest assured that a lot of gay stuff happened and there's more to come

Kayochin, have you seen my comb?" Rin's voice carried over from the bathroom into Hanayo's room.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I thought that was mine," Hanayo called back after a closer look at the comb she was using. "Do you need it right now?"

"No, it's okay. You can give it to me once you're done."

"Thank you," Hanayo replied, continuing to brush her hair until no single strand stood out anymore. She took a deep breath and tried to give herself a confident smile in the mirror, but her facial muscles were too cramped to produce a natural smile, and she ended up scaring herself because her twitching mouth and wide-eyed stare wasn't the most charming combination.

"R-Rin-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"What if..." Hanayo's gaze fell. "What if my fan will think I'm boring? I don't know what to talk about, I'm so nervous around strangers. The only one I always feel comfortable around with are you."

When she didn't get a reply, she assumed that Rin hadn't heard her. She sighed and turned away from the mirror. Maybe it was better not to start talking about the same old topic again, but she couldn't help it, her heart wouldn't calm down and neither could her mind. The thought of disappointing a fan lasted heavily on her, making it unable for her to go about this date in a carefree manner like Rin did.

Unlike Rin's date, who was a young hyper boy with an outgoing personality, Hanayo had been matched up with someone of a similar character to hers. A few years older but still looking like he was underage, Hanayo's date was a reserved man whose gaze was directed at the ground most of the times. And whenever he did look up, he would peer over his glasses that were sitting low on the bridge of his nose, blinking rapidly in insecurity.

She didn't expect him to be someone who could initiate conversations and know how to keep them alive and interesting. Long, awkward silences with halfhearted questions in between, that was something Hanayo predicted for today.

"Kayochin."

Startled, Hanayo dropped the comb and turned to the door, watching Rin enter the room with a towel messily wrapped around her wet hair. The shoulder parts of her shirt were soaked and water drops trickled from her hairline down her forehead and cheeks.

"Rin-chan," Hanayo breathed, then rushed over to her girlfriend with the intention of properly drying her with the towel, but Rin grabbed her hands and held them tightly. "Kayochin."

It was the serious tone in her voice that made Hanayo freeze, and she looked her in the eyes. "Y-yes?"

Rin squeezed Hanayo's fingers, saying quietly, "I don't like it when you talk lowly of yourself. It makes me sad that you don't see yourself the way you really are – cute and pretty and awesome -"

"But that's only how you see me," Hanayo whispered.

"And everyone else!" Rin added with emphasis, holding up their intertwined hands. "Why would I lie about this? I'm not saying it to make you feel better – well I do, but that's besides the point – I'm also saying it because it's true! If we call up Maki-chan or Nozomi-chan or anyone really, they will tell you the same!"

"That's – that's not necessary," Hanayo stuttered, "I'm sure they're too busy right now..."

"That wasn't the point either," Rin vehemently shook her head, causing a few water droplets to fly left and right, "I just wanted to say that everyone thinks so. Kayochin, don't talk about how boring you are, talk about how interesting you could be! Everyone has a fascinating side, but it's only as interesting as they make it seem. I know you're trying to be modest, but it's blocking you from showing your awesomeness."

"Rin...chan..."

"So let's get you into some cute clothes and make you so pretty that your date won't know what will hit them!"

"Ribbon."

"Here."

"That's yours, Nozomi."

"Oops, my bad. Here."

"Thanks." Nico parted her hair in the middle, about to tie them up into pigtails when she paused. "Should I let my hair down today?"

"If you want to," Nozomi absently mumbled, focused on braiding her hair to the side but she couldn't get them to stay neatly interwoven.

Nico saw her friend struggling and sighed. "Come here, let me do that for you. It's painful to watch you being clumsy."

"Really?" Nozomi's expression lit up and she walked over to Nico, plopping down on the bed next to her. "Thanks."

"Hm," Nico hummed, her swift fingers braiding Nozomi's hair with far more precision and speed than the other girl.

"You're good at this though I've never seen you braid your hair before," Nozomi remarked, watching themselves in the mirror.

"My sisters sometimes want me to braid their hair, so I learned it," Nico muttered, putting a hair clip on the end of the finished braid. She patted Nozomi's hair proudly. "All done. You look good."

"You're going to make me blush, Nicochi," Nozomi said sheepishly, giving Nico a playful shove.

"Hey, don't mess up my hair," Nico jumped off her bed, beginning to march back and forth in her room until she suddenly looked up with a tense look. "Oh no."

"Nicochi?"

Nico turned to Nozomi, her expression stiff. "It's starting to sink in."

Nozomi furrowed her brows. "That you're going on a date with Maki-chan?"

"Oh my god," Nico held her forehead, her breath getting shorter. "I'm going on a date with Maki-chan."

"That's a bit late for you to realize."

"Not helping... Nozomi." Nico came to a stop in front of her mirror, gazing at herself with a panicked look. "I can't meet her looking like this. What have I been doing the whole time? I don't look worthy, I don't look like I'm worth a 400,000 Yen date, I need to start saving up to pay off that debt -"

"Nicochi." Nozomi hugged her from behind, and Nico became still. "I bet Maki-chan is driving herself crazy right now over what to wear to the date."

Nico gazed uncertainly at Nozomi through the mirror. "Maki-chan would already have an outfit planned days ago."

"Hm," Nozomi chuckled, lowering her chin on top of Nico's shoulder. "Seems like I know Maki-chan better than you do."

"Pfft, as if," Nico muttered, but didn't sound quite as confident as she wished to. And when she caught Nozomi's knowing grin in the mirror, she faltered. "Maybe. But don't think you've won this round or anything."

Nozomi laughed, squeezing Nico one last time when she was sure that the shorter girl had calmed down, and let go of her to finish the preparations for the date.

"How come you're not nervous at all?" Nico asked, envious of Nozomi's placid behavior.

"Well, unlike you, I'm neither romantically nor sexually interested in my date so -"

"Forget I asked," Nico interrupted. But she somehow felt comforted by the fact that Nozomi was able to irritate her in any situation. No matter what kind of circumstance, at least one thing remained constant.

"What kind of person is your date anyway?" Nico asked when she realized that Nozomi hadn't told her any details about her date yet. "He must be really disappointing if you haven't told me about him yet."

"Actually," Nozomi grinned at her, "she is a very accomplished person. And I'm quite glad to have her has as my date because it could have turned out to be very different."

Nico's eyes widened in surprise. "What's she like?"

"Hm," Nozomi thoughtfully hummed. "Tall. Impressive proportions. Very attractive, I would say. And charming."

"Sounds a bit like Eli," Nico replied when she went over the description in her head.

"Oh, she looks nothing like Elichi," Nozomi chuckled, waving dismissively with her hand.

"Now you've made me curious," Nico crossed her arms. "Do you have a picture of her?"

"Well, no, but I have a name and if she didn't lie about being an award winning theater actress, then the internet should be able to provide -"

"What?!" Nico almost tripped on her way to grab her phone from the nightstand. "Name, right now!"

"Uh, Aikawa Ryo?"

Nico entered that name into a search engine, muttering beneath her breath, "She can't be that famous if no one's reporting it."

"Well, working in theater doesn't get you as much exposure to media as idols do."

"Oh, wow," Nico breathed, narrowing her eyes at the phone screen. Someone was not going to like Nozomi's date. "She could have been a great idol with that look..."

Nozomi hummed in agreement, brushing her hair to one side and smoothing them out. "I think I'm done. How about you?"

"Uh," Nico threw her phone on the bed, no longer caring about Nozomi's date because her own was far more important. She gestured to her head with hectic motions. "Hair down? Hair up?"

Nozomi grinned in amusement, wishing a certain redhead could see Nico right now. "I'm sure either way is fine."

"Nozomi," Nico whined, "make this decision for me, please."

"Fine, fine," Nozomi beckoned Nico to come closer. "Hair down today it is. Makes you look more mature." And she used her brush to comb through Nico's long and sleek hair. "Still nervous?" she asked softly when she noticed Nico's stiff shoulders and tense muscles.

Nico released a long sigh and closed her eyes, frowning. "I don't think there was one second where I wasn't nervous these past days."

Surprised, Nozomi stopped brushing Nico's hair. "I didn't notice."

"Well," Nico rubbed her neck, facing to the side, "it's because you helped a lot...you know, when we had that talk...so thanks. Also you being here right now stopped me from going crazy."

"Oh, Nicochi." Nozomi hugged Nico again, touched by the honesty the other girl displayed. "Now you only need to be this honest toward Maki-chan!"

At the mention of her upcoming date with Maki, Nico felt her throat getting dry and a wave of nausea caused by increasing nervousness befell her. "And now I feel sick."

Half an hour left and she still hadn't decided on an outfit. How could it be that she couldn't find anything suitable to wear in a walk-in closet full of clothes with their price tags still attached? The heap of sorted out clothes on the ground shaped a small mountain by now and it grew every few seconds when another unqualified piece of clothing flew on top of it.

Maki let out an irritated groan when even her favorite dress didn't appeal to her anymore, looking mediocre and boring when she picked it up. It used to be her lifesaver when she didn't know what to wear; perfect for formal dinners with her parents and their colleagues, for events sponsored by her parents' business partners or for any other type of galas.

She threw it over her shoulder with a sigh.

"Maki."

"Bueh?" Startled, Maki did a quick turn and saw her mother enter her closet, or what she assumed was her mother since the person's head was covered with the dress she had carelessly thrown behind her. "Oh..."

Her mother pulled the dress off her head, then smoothed out her hair while giving Maki a stern glance. "What did I tell you about throwing clothes around?"

"Not to," Maki replied in a quiet voice.

"Then please put it back where you took it from," her mother said, holding up the dress for Maki to take, but before her daughter could grab it, she retracted her arm.

"Mama?"

"This..." The older woman stroked the fine fabric of the dress. "This was your favorite. You always looked so pretty in it." She looked up with a sad smile. "Why do you not like it anymore?"

Alarmed by her mother's expression, Maki shook her head and said, "I still do! But...I don't think it's what I should wear today."

Her mother carefully put the dress on a hanger and hung it on a clothes rail. "I haven't seen you this stressed about choosing an outfit before. This date must be really important to you."

"I...I..." Maki pressed her lips together, fixating her gaze on the ground. Of all the people to see her like this, it had to be her mother. She was already nervous enough about going on a date with Nico, she didn't feel like explaining to her mother why she was this nervous. She feared she wasn't going to make it to the date without dying from embarrassment beforehand.

"How about this?"

"Huh?" Maki looked up in confusion.

Her mother held up a purple blouse and a black skirt, tilting her head. "This is your favorite combination. Or is that a thing of the past too?"

Maki didn't understand. What was her mother trying to do? Aside from obviously giving fashion advice. Why wasn't she asking the question that Maki had been so sure of hearing?

"I guess that still works," Maki said uncertainly, taking the two pieces of clothing from her mother and hugging them close to her. "Thanks."

Her mother smiled warmly, reaching out to brush a strand of hair behind Maki's ear. "Have fun, my dear." She pressed a loving kiss to her forehead. Maki closed her eyes, suddenly feeling transported back into time when she was ten years old and so nervous before piano recitals that her mother always comforted her with a kiss on the forehead.

As the older woman turned around to leave, Maki's eyes fluttered open and she called out, "Mama -"

Her mother stopped and looked behind with a patient expression. "Hm?"

"I..." Maki cleared her throat, looking to the side. "Thank you."

Maki's mother smiled. "You're welcome. I know the last thing you need right now are questions from me. Sometimes a mother is better off not knowing everything."

Maki hid her face behind her purple blouse. "Yes, Mama."

It wasn't like she had anything shameful to hide, but at the same time, she wholeheartedly agreed that both parties would prefer not knowing everything about each other.

"But, don't think you are spared from questions once you are home," her mother suddenly added, smirking. Maki paled. "I want to hear all about that date when you're back. Now, get dressed or you'll be late."

She gave her daughter a thumbs up, then walked away humming, leaving behind a frozen Maki.

Just when Maki thought her mother had released her of one problem, she just gave her one more thing to worry about.

It was time. Eyeing herself in the mirror with a blank look, Kotori put the finishing touches to her make-up before she put aside her powder brush and closed her make-up kit. A long sigh escaped her, making her shake her head at herself. She couldn't bear to see her reflection anymore, tired of seeing the emptiness in her eyes that couldn't be less enthusiastic about the upcoming date.

Her date was a lanky man ten years older than her, the founder of a small but blooming engineering office, which allowed him to spend some of his profit on his greatest passion: school idols. He seemed to be a decent person with no harmful ulterior motives, but there was not the least bit chemistry between them, apparent since their first short meet after the auction. Kotori didn't look forward to spending most of her day with him, knowing it was going to be awkward and dull because they had nothing in common to talk about.

But despite her heavy reluctance about going to that date - even going so far to consider making up an excuse about being sick - she had spent two hours on putting together a cute outfit and applying perfect make-up. But her thorough preparations weren't for the fan or the inevitable paparazzi she was going to meet today.

She wanted a certain person to see her in her best dress, making them wish they were her date instead. She wanted them to feel a painful yearning in their heart the same way she always felt when she saw them.

She just wanted them to feel something. Anything but indifference about her going on a date with someone else.

Honoka squinted her eyes at herself in the mirror, gasping when she discovered a pimple on the right side her forehead. Her first reaction was to squeeze it, but common sense made her fingers stop right before they touched the red spot.

"Why now," she whined, holding her head in panic, "what should I do?"

Her eyes landed on her watch and she gasped again, she was going to be late if she didn't leave right now.

"I'll just-"

She brushed her bangs to the side, hoping to cover the pimple with her hair.

"Now I look weird," Honoka muttered, picking at a few strands of her hair to make her new hair style look more natural, but the more she fumbled, the messier it got. "Argh, forget it. I'm going to be late."

She let out an angry puff, blowing up her bangs in the process, and they fell back into their usual position. She hoped Tsubasa wouldn't notice. But even if she did, she wasn't the type of person to point it out, so Honoka wouldn't know whether the pimple was much of a bother or not.

There was no use in thinking about these things, it was too late to try and change anything about her appearance. Honoka sprinted down the stairs, almost tripping on a step but she managed to catch herself, not letting that short moment of fright slow her down. She couldn't allow herself to show up late to a date that Tsubasa had paid half a million Yen for. But above all, she didn't want to put off the girl she liked with her tardiness.

She hadn't felt this excited since her last live.

"You know, when you said that everything would change today, I expected you to have a great plan of some sort."

"Are you implying that my current plan is no good?"

"Well...we look suspicious right now."

"That's because you won't stop glancing around like you're a wanted criminal, Umi."

Umi pulled down her cap, creating a shadow that hid her eyes. "That's because I feel like a criminal. Why do we even have to disguise ourselves?"

"Why do you think?" Eli muttered, pushing up her large sunglasses that kept sliding down her nose. "We are supposed to be too busy to spare a complete day for a date, which is the official reason why we weren't up for auction. But if they see us hanging around, another scandal is sure to come."

Umi exhaled with a sigh, crossing her arms. "How did it even come to this."

Eli ignored her friend's complaint, glancing at her watch. All dates would officially start around three in the afternoon, which was the only rule that applied to everyone. But the choice of locations and activities were up to each pair's imagination.

"How do you even know if Nozomi is going to be here?"

Leaning with their backs against the wall of a building, they were hiding just around the corner of the local shrine where Nozomi usually helped out. Everyone who passed them made sure to give them a wide berth, afraid to get mixed up with the two suspicious looking persons whose faces were either covered by sunglasses or a baseball cap.

"She will be," Eli replied, "that's the only thing she told me about the date. That they are going to meet up here."

Umi felt uncomfortable about the whole situation. "Eli, what we are doing right now...isn't that stalking?"

"That's..." Eli cleared her throat. "I just want to make sure she's not meeting up with a creep. It's her fault that she didn't tell me anything about them. But as soon as I'm sure that she'll be safe, we're gone."

Umi felt the need to point out that Eli's well-meant intention didn't change the fact that what they were doing could be already considered as creepy. But before she could give in to her urge, she was distracted by her phone vibrating and ringing in her jeans pockets. Eli raised her eyebrow, wordlessly saying, 'Really, now?'

"Excuse me for a moment," Umi mumbled, taking out her phone to see who was calling. She almost dropped it. "It's Anju! What do I do?"

"Why is she calling you?" Eli asked in a whisper, narrowing her eyes at the name displayed on Umi's phone.

"How am I supposed to know?" Umi replied in panic, holding her phone at a distance like she was afraid of getting bitten.

"Just take the call!" Eli urged, becoming nervous herself because the ring tone was increasing in volume, garnering the attention of everyone who walked by.

"Er," Umi finally pressed a button to accept the call and brought her phone to her right ear. "Sonoda Umi here, hello?"

"Ah, Umi-san, sorry for bothering you, is now a bad time?" Anju's light voice filled the line.

"Uhm," Umi's answer came delayed because she was shortly distracted by Eli pressing her own ear against the phone, sticking too close to Umi's side for her liking. "No, now is perfectly fine. I have no pressing matters at the moment."

Eli grumbled in disagreement, but didn't speak up.

"Perfect!" Anju said in delight. "Erena and I were wondering if you were free on this beautiful day? I know the chances of you not being busy are low, but since today is where most of µ's are going on a date, I figured, why not try it? Of course you are welcome to invite Ayase-san too."

"Oh?" Umi was overwhelmed by the offer, not used to making plans with people outside of µ's. She met Eli's expectant gaze. "Can I...can I write you back once I asked Eli?"

"Of course! But don't let us wait for too long!"

"Yes, I will reply as soon as possible," Umi said, clearing her throat. "Thank you very much for asking. I'm very happy you considered to seek my company today."

"Oh, it's nothing," Anju laughed, "now that our leaders are dating, we might as well start getting to know each other."

Both Umi and Eli thought that they either had misunderstood or that she had made a mistake. But before Umi could correct her, Anju continued, "Then, Umi-san, I expect an answer in a few minutes! Hope to see you soon."

"Yes, thank you, I will reply soon."

When Umi hung up, she suddenly felt more nervous than before taking the call. "Eli, I can't meet them alone. You have to go with me."

"Eh?" Eli pushed up her sunglasses. "Why don't you just say you have no time?"

"That's lying," Umi said with a frown. "And I don't lie. Also, you made me an accomplice in your questionable plan, the least you could do to repay me is going with me."

"The plan!" Eli seemed to remember what they were even here for, and glanced around the corner of the building they were hiding behind. "Still no one there."

"Maybe your information is incorrect?" Umi suggested, crossing her arms.

"I don't -" Eli was interrupted by a ring tone going off. "What is it now!?"

Umi defensively held up her hands, showing her phone which was off.

"Oh." Eli fished out her own phone, humming in surprise when the screen displayed a name she hadn't expected. She accepted the call. "Nico?"

"Listen, I'm on my way to the date now, so I don't have much time to talk, so you better listen carefully and you better not interrupt," Nico said impatiently, and Eli had to strain her ears to filter her voice out of the background noises of a rattling train and people talking. "Nozomi's not going to meet her date at the shrine, so you can stop waiting there for her like a creep-"

"I'm not -"

"Shush, didn't I just tell you not to interrupt?" Nico growled. "Anyway, I figured you would do something like this when Nozomi said she hadn't told you anything about her date yet. Said something about not wanting you to get the wrong idea? But to be honest, I don't get her at all. You totally got the wrong idea, am I right? No, don't answer this, I know."

Though Eli was beyond annoyed, she couldn't hang up. "Nico..."

"Yeah yeah, sorry," Nico said dismissively. "So Nozomi and I were preparing together for our dates, that's when I found out who her date actually is, and before you freak out, let me tell you that she – according to her own words – is neither sexually nor romantically interested in her date, so don't go crazy -"

"Who is it?" Eli interrupted, too tense to keep her voice down. Umi took a step back.

"Well, even if I told you their name, it's not going to tell you anything, but once you see them, I want you to stay calm -

"Just tell me who it is!"

The line went silent for a few seconds, then, "I guess I do understand now why Nozomi kept it a secret from you...you're way too tense about this! Oh, my station's next, have to get off now."

"No, wait," Eli grasped her phone tightly, "at least tell me what I should expect!"

"Eli," Nico sighed, "I've been the third wheel to you two guys long enough to know that there's nothing that could get in between you. You want to know what to expect? Nothing. Because nothing will change, Nozomi will still like you and you will still like her, so I swear to god, if you don't pull yourself together after today and confess already, I'm going to do it for you!"

"Nico..."

"Ah, crap, I really need to go now!" The line crackled, and Nico's voice became fainter. "Listen, Eli, it will be alright. I know it probably doesn't sound convincing from me considering...stuff...but I'm set on changing that. Nozomi helped me a lot and I want to help her too by helping you first. I know I'm not as tactful as her, but if it gets the message across, I've done my part. So don't do anything stupid, just believe in Nozomi. You've got it, Eli. Hanging up now."

And the line went dead. Eli stared at her phone, hoping Nico's voice would suddenly come out of it again, telling her more words of reassurance.

Umi cleared her throat. "So I take it Nozomi won't come?"

Eli sighed in defeat, putting her phone back into her pockets. "Let's...let's meet up with A-Rise."

"Eli?" Umi stretched out a careful hand, and when Eli didn't flinch back, she gave her shoulder a comforting touch.

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this," Eli said, shaking her head. "You were right, this plan was no good. It wasn't even a plan, just... a sad attempt to stop feeling helpless."

"Hey," Umi whispered, nudging Eli's arm to make her look up, "we're not allowed to be cowards anymore, remember? Maybe it was too ambitious to aim for a complete change today, but let's start by moving on. Let's have fun and wish the others to have fun too. And once they're done, we have no more reason to hold back. But for now, let's find a way to pass our time without driving ourselves crazy."

Eli slowly nodded, giving Umi a thankful smile. She playfully tipped Umi's cap. "You sometimes have more of an upperclassman feeling to you than I do, Umi."

"Are you saying I'm old," Umi deadpanned.

"Eh - ?"

"Just joking," Umi chuckled, dodging Eli's hand that aimed to pinch her. "Besides, I already wrote Anju that we were going to meet her while you were phoning with Nico."

Despite the long sigh she released, Eli was smiling. Thanks to Umi and Nico, the feeling of helplessness was gone and a heavy weight had been lifted off her shoulder. Whatever would come next, she knew she wasn't alone, and that made the future less scary.

"Tsubasa-san!"

Still quite a distance away, Honoka came running while wildly waving her arm, calling out Tsubasa's name which made everyone's head turn toward her. Tsubasa blushed but happily grinned, pleased that Honoka was enthusiastic as ever.

"Tsubasa-san," Honoka said out of breath once she stood in front of her, wiping at her forehead. "Am I late? I'm sorry, I forgot the time when I was getting ready and I really hope you didn't have to wait long."

"I just got here myself," Tsubasa said with a smile.

"Really? You're not just saying that to make me feel better? Because Umi-chan said that this is what most people do," Honoka said, frowning.

"Sonoda-san may be right about this, but I truly arrived here just a minute ago because I was held up by a few fans who recognized me," Tsubasa replied with a chuckle, grinning when Honoka's expression brightened.

"Lucky," Honoka cheered, then looked around with curiosity shining in her eyes. "So what are we going to do first?"

Being with Honoka always felt refreshing because the other girl was so full of energy and life, it was hard not to be affected by her bubbly aura. Even when she was already in a good mood, Honoka always managed to raise her level of happiness even higher.

Unable to contain her excited smile, Tsubasa pointed behind her.

"Have you ever skated on ice?"

Kotori wasn't someone to think overly mean thoughts, but she couldn't help herself, she didn't think she had ever been this bored. Contrary to her expectations, her date turned out to be very talkative, but the conversations they had were too one-sided to even call them conversations. In fact, the only thing she was contributing to their topics were 'mhm's and 'ah's and 'really?' while he talked non-stop of his idol merchandise collection.

She wondered if the other members were having more fun than her.

It wasn't easy at first. Hanayo and her date were both prone to stuttering as soon as they were nervous, and none of them could look the other in the eye for the first ten minutes. But the ice was broken when the guy mentioned his Blu-ray collection of the nation's top idols and their concerts, and Hanayo was instantly struck by her idol-obsessed persona.

Seeing her eyes flame up with passion ignited his own, and both overcame their shyness to eagerly discuss a topic they couldn't get enough of.

–

Rin didn't have those start-up difficulties, getting along with her date from the very first second. They had chosen an arcade as their location, and they quickly bonded over slaughtering virtual zombies and crashing each others' cars out of race tracks. It was a lot more fun than she had expected.

The last time Nico had felt this stressed was a month ago when exams were coming up and she had procrastinated studying until the very last minute. Her stress hadn't been visible from the outside as she had leisurely gone about her days, avoiding her responsibilities with an innocent smile, but innerly she had felt like there was a ticking time bomb inside her chest about to implode. It was a strange thing how she managed to be both calm and stressed before exams, spending her time looking up videos of idols when she knew there were like a thousand things she had to do first.

The kind of stress Nico was feeling right now was different but just as terrifying. She was about to go crazy because she couldn't find Maki at the location where they were supposed to meet up.

Maki was a punctual person, and even if she did run late, she would have notified Nico. So it had to be Nico who had managed to somehow land at the wrong location. And that was what made her stress levels shoot up.

Nico went through the chat history between her and Maki, hoping she hadn't read the address wrong. Then she looked up at the building in front of her. And glanced down at her phone again, frowning.

She was quite sure that she had arrived at the right art gallery unless there was a second one with an identical name, but she dismissed that thought.

She tightened her grip around her phone when a wave of fear struck her. What if Maki had gotten into an accident on her way here? How was Nico going to know if she was alright?

Nico quickly dialed Maki's number and pressed her phone against her ear, praying to hear the voice that had sung its way into her heart and made it a mushy mess.

"Nico-nico-nii, it's Yazawa Nico calling, so you better not let me wait and pick up, nico!"

Nico slowly lowered her phone and turned around, coming face to face with Maki whose cheeks were flaming red and whose eyes were wide open in panic.

"Nico-nico-nii, it's Yazawa Nico calling, so you better not let me wait and pick up, nico!"

Nico glanced at Maki's handbag where her own voice was coming from. Maki was still frozen stiff, unable to move.

"Nico-nico-nii, it's Yazawa -" A short beeping noise, then, "Nishikino Maki here. I'm obviously not available right now, so if there's anything important to say, leave it in my mailbox or just write me."

Maki's phone finally became mute when the call was disconnected.

"Uhm," Nico felt her own face starting to heat up, "nice ringtone?"

Maki opened her mouth, but no sound was coming out and after several tries, she finally spluttered, "I – I didn't know that – that this is my ringtone when you call, I honestly have no idea how that happened -"

"Ahh," Nico sighed when she understood. "I remember now. I recorded that for Rin because she wanted a personalized ringtone from everyone in µ's."

"Rin?" Maki's eyes widened in surprise before they narrowed again in a grim expression. "Rin..."

So that was why Rin had insisted on playing with her phone a few days ago.

"I can't believe it," Maki hissed through gritted teeth, glaring at the ground and willing her cheeks to stop burning, "I will kill her."

Nico let out an awkward laugh. "Maybe not, µ's really doesn't need a murder scandal..."

When Maki didn't look up, Nico muttered sheepishly, "Sorry, didn't know why I thought that would be funny. So...wanna go inside?" And she pointed to the art gallery behind her.

Still red faced, Maki stiffly nodded, stomping past Nico without looking up from the ground. Nico stared after her, then silently cursed herself for being so awkward that Maki couldn't relax around her. The date was going to be disaster if she didn't think of something soon.