Nico stared into the darkened storefront window, not recognizing the girl she saw reflected in it. Fortunately, she could take as long as she wanted; few were on the streets at this late hour, and fewer still would be while the storm clouds loomed.

She struck her signature pose and watched the girl in the glass do the same.

Ah, that explained it. That girl, with her forced smile and tired eyes couldn't be an idol like Nico. After all, she still had a bit of time before μ's' final shows were finished; she was still an idol, she told herself, and she would hold on until the bitter end.

As that end drew closer, she had found herself growing increasingly restless. Tonight, staying up to make sure her siblings were asleep became staying up for one more video, which turned into a quick practice session; when even that failed to dispel her nervous energy, she couldn't help but seize her umbrella and step out in hopes of clearing her mind.

Seeing the town emptied entirely was a surreal sight; it was rare already for Nico to be alone in her own home. Still, it wasn't unwelcome; she wanted some solitude and this would work well. Being on her feet would tire her eventually, and it was near silent, but not lacking the gentle ambiance of the first raindrops hitting her umbrella.

Perhaps, she thought, the rain would would pick up and distort the reflections just enough that she could ignore them. It was tiresome enough seeing herself on the posters, on the websites that eagerly discussed what was next for μ's, not knowing the bitter truth.

She began to pick up speed, rushing to nowhere as the wind picked up.

Worrying was silly, she told herself. She still had hundreds of hours. That was enough time to strengthen friendships, enough time to make new ones, enough to create something beautiful, enough to make new memories.

But barely enough for a handful of performances.

All Nico could see were the seconds ticking away, like raindrops falling.

This had to be impossible! Her days of waiting in the club room alone already seemed like a lifetime ago, yet her time with μ's had slipped through her fingers. Each step she took down the road was both the longest and shortest in her life, and time laughed on.

Sometimes reality was stranger than fiction.

No matter how she seemed to twist and turn, a few raindrops would always find their way past the umbrella and hit her. She turned back, looking to escape, but found only unfamiliar paths. Nico had always considered the streets of Akihabara to be a second home to her, but tonight was not the night to return to them.

She broke into a run, searching for any sort of landmark.

The wind and rain were slowly escalating to match her urgency as she ran though the city of mirrors. Another flash of herself greeted her beneath each streetlight and with each flicker of lightning, deliberate as she was about trying to ignore them. Ahead, the concrete wound with a serpentine bent, rainwater hemorrhaging from the cracks and protrusions. The slick, unfamiliar street connected to yet another, and sent her stumbling to a halt as she grasped for balance.

An unfamiliar girl once again looked back at her from the windowpane. The girl clutched feebly at her umbrella, staring with a dull expression, one of longing, one of a person without home. Something cracked inside of her to admit it, but this girl, with her tired eyes, who couldn't even force a smile anymore, was an idol. This girl was her.

"What am I supposed to do?"

For years, her current position had been her dream. "You'll put smiles on all their faces," she had told herself. Not once had she entertained the possibility that it would come true, only then to turn to dust before her eyes. She hadn't prepared.

She had a résumé, but would anyone want her solo?

Would she be able to find a contact in the industry?

Would she even want to continue if it meant leaving the rest of μ's?

Nico sighed and turned away, continuing slowly. At least she was starting to make some progress; Otonokizaka could be seen staring proudly down in the distance. If she kept moving towards it she would surely have to cross a familiar area and be able to regain to bearings.

She slipped through back-alleys and unfamiliar paths, apathetic, unable to take her eyes off the school.

There!

A familiar park stood in the distance. In the shadow of Otonokizaka, Nico drew closer. It seemed she had become hopelessly turned around at some point in the night; she now had to go through it just to return to her apartment. Still, she would have gone through anyway, if only to experience that aching nostalgia. It was a stone's throw from the school, and μ's had gone through it countless times.

Was that all really mere months ago?

Even before they entered her life, she had regularly gone there herself; she had nowhere else worth going before.

And once she was out on her own in the world, what would become of it?

Would she walk past and see the wrong smiles, hear unfamiliar laughter?

Would she watch the students spilling out from above and search in vain for eight friendly faces?

Would she look up from it and see the darkened window of what was once their room?

Nico stopped in front of another storefront.

Or would she be too weak to even return?

A familiar girl now looked back at her with a look of undisguised anguish. Slowly, she allowed the umbrella to slip from her fingers as she turned and closed the distance to the park.

Lightning split the sky open to release an overwhelming downpour - a cloudburst - as the wind howled back to life, driving it into her and soaking her utterly in seconds. Nico thought that was for the best, however.

The job of an idol was to make their spectators smile; it simply wouldn't do to see one cry.

A/N: I think you can see where all of this is going. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.