Misery Loves Laughter
"I thought I found true love, clearly I was looking in the wrong place."
The sun kept a tight watch over the hard working party on the rooftop of Otonokizaka High School. It would do its best to make sure they were heated, and wouldn't get too cold during their exercise. This came as an ill-received gift, leaving the group sweating and panting. "It's way too hot out here..." complained one of the girls, her orange hair barely passing her ears. "Rin..do you think all of our concerts will be in nice weather?" came the question of one of the other girls, her long violet hair tied into lower twin tails. "Well...no..." Rin replied, her voice lowering a bit, "Then why shouldn't we practice in such heat?" The taller girl counter, smiling widely. The chartreuse eyed girl gave a gentle groan, then folded her arms, "Well, how come Nico and Eli didn't have to practice, Nozomi?"
The statement caused Nozomi to gently chuckle. She knew exactly what was going on with that pair, but she couldn't tell the first year. Instead, she took a more daunting position: she placed her hands up, gently wiggling her fingers as her grin widened. This was a common sight, and Rin adapted normally, quickly covering her chest. "Any other questions?" Nozomi asked with a grin, her turquoise eyes sparkling as she watched her possibly prey. "N-no..." Rin quietly replied, backing up a bit. Even if it was only Rin who was asking questions, Nozomi figured it was best to enlist the same fear into the other girls. "Anyone else?" She asked, turning to face the other girls, all who shook their heads, except for one. Holding up a shaking hand, was a smaller girl, her violet eyes filled with nervousness. "Yes, Hanayo?" "I...u-uhh..." Hanayo gently gulped; even if she was with friends, the current issue was something that she didn't want to share. As a result, her voice was stuttering, with her cheeks as red as if she had just met Nozomi, "I need to..u-uhh..." She motioned to the door, hoping the older girl would pick up the signal. Nozomi paused and glanced up and down the small girl, then smiled, "You don't really have to ask Hanayo, go ahead." She smiled, Hanayo letting out a gentle sigh as she bowed, quickly running down the stairs.
The quickest location for her task was by the gym. After letting nature run its course, the shy brunette closed the door behind her and took a deep breath. She wasn't exactly ready to return to the heat outside, it was far too exhausting. The biggest issue of the day's practice was not the heat, but her outfit. She was in her short sleeved pale pink sweatshirt and darker pink sweatpants that came to the bottom of her knees. Sure, the whole point of sweatpants was to trap less heat, but that didn't stop her from the combination of heat and activity. Not to mention her tiny size six feet were killing her, clad in her ankle high orange sneakers. To help get rid of the soreness, she began gently walking back to the staircase, yet something caught her ear. The young brunette could hear laughter coming from the weight room. It definitely didn't sound like it was laughter from a joke, it almost sounded forced. Even more slowly, she walked towards the weight room doors, making sure she wouldn't be seen by whoever was in the room.
Peeking inside, she saw a scene that caused her cheeks to become red, as well as her face. Inside, were two familiar people to Hanayo, her older friends Nico and Eli. However, what they were doing was what caused such a fierce blush on the frail girl. Eli was on top of Nico, and appeared to be tickling the latter. Looking closer, it was indeed a small violet feather that Eli was tracing Around, what she would guess had been her back. She could hear the laughter clearly behind the door, which meant is was clear the feather was serving its purpose. Yet, the oddest thing about the whole scene was not the tickling that was going on behind the door. The weird part was Hanayo couldn't look away. Something about the scene was just so compelling to the shy girl. She couldn't identify what it was, but something just made her eyes lock on the scene.
After around five minutes later, Hanayo could see Eli retract the feather, as well as stand up. "How'd that feel?" She heard Eli say, as well as seeing Nico curl up. The shy brunette couldn't quite make out the rest of the conversation, but she did hear the important part, "No one's going to know this happened...and you won't tell anyone like I told Nozomi, right?" Eli told the smaller girl, who gently nodded as she caught her breath. This was the time Hanayo knew to make a quiet getaway. Tip toeing the first few steps, she then quickly burst out in a sprint back to the roof staircase. Leaning against the rail of the stairs, Hanayo caught her breath, replaying the bits of the scene in her head; more importantly Eli's last words, "No one's going to know this happened..." An indirect burden was what Hanayo had accidentally placed on herself. However, this was going to be easy for her. She was shy, so she didn't really talk. The brunette let out a sigh as she began walking up the stairs, then froze. What if her friends began questioning why she was gone for so long? Sure, she was relieving herself, but was she taking to long even for that? They would know something was up. Especially if her...oh no...was she blushing? They'd definitely know something was up if her cheeks were red! No one blushes from being in the bathroom!
"Hanayo?" came a sudden voice, practically making Hanayo jump out of her skin. Looking up, she made eye contact with a taller girl, her violet eyes looking with her amber eyes. After a moment of silence, Hanayo let out a sigh to see it was only Kotori, her grayish-brown haired friend. "Oh no, did I scare you?" Kotori asked as she walked down the stairs to comfort her, "You're all red...are you okay?" The amber eyed girl inquired, gently rubbing her back. Taking a gulp to calm herself down, Hanayo nodded, "Y-yes...I-I'm fine..." She said, looking up at Kotori with a smile. The smile of her shy friend made Kotori warm up, smiling herself. "Kotori!" came a sharp, yet playful statement from the top of the stairs. Standing there with a smile, was Nozomi, who had her hands on her hips, "Did you scare little Hanayo?"She asked with a smirk, yet Kotori didn't really see the fun in it, "That's not funny...I feel bad..." She muttered as Nozomi chuckled, "Come on back, we're almost finished. Hurry up with your water." Kotori nodded, and it took that long for the shy brunette to realize she was carrying her water bottle. Going their separate ways, Kotori went down for her water, while Hanayo had walked back up the stairs.
The rest of practice went smoothly for her in the case of keeping the secret. She was able to hide the initial redness under her cheeks under the excuse of being frightened by Kotori, and was embarrassed when she realized what happened. At least, this was the lie Nozomi told the rest of her friends. Looking ahead in her week, Hanayo knew the hardest day for her would have been Friday, four days from now. What was on Friday? Her practice with Nico and Rin, and she was sure it was going to be a challenge to keep quiet if Nico pressured her. Why would Nico pressure her about what she saw? Hanayo didn't have an answer for that, but her paranoia was creating that scene for her.
After practice, she sat down on the bench as she took a sip of her water. "That was fun, huh?" Rin asked with a chuckle, her energetic self as always. "Y-you mean exhausting?" The brunette replied with a smile, only making her friend chuckle more. "Yeah, but that's what we go through as idols." The orange haired girl said with a smile as she winked. "And look who finally arrived~" She gently sang, looking up as both Nico and Eli had returned; only Hanayo knowing what went down. Not making any sounds or movements, Hanayo simply followed Nico with her eyes, seeing if she'd try and approach her for the possible interrogation of what she saw. Thankfully for her, Nico went right over to Maki, a girl with long red hair, and bright violet eyes.
Gently pushing up her special friend, Nico giggled and cuddled against her, "how was practice?" She asked with a smile, Maki gently kissing the top of her head, "It was fine, not as good without you though." She said with a warm giggle, making her smaller friend blush, "Where were you?" "Oh, I was just..uhh...discussing something with Eli about the future of Muse." Nico replied with a gentle smile, keeping secret what had actually gone down. Besides, if Maki had known, that'd make it even worse for Nico, because she could plan her own little attacks. Although, Nico would have been sure she could have fought back, she would have preferred to avoid that path.
"So, are you ready to go see that movie?" The small twin tailed girl asked with a wide smile. The question came with a blank response, Maki tilting her head, "We agreed on a movie?" She asked, rather confused. "Of course we did, silly." Nico replied with a giggle, figuring she was just trying to be silly, "We talked about it yesterday." The last sentence caused Maki to gently sigh, shaking her head, "No, Nico...we agreed that we'd go to the park...I told you that." The redhead explained to her partner, who quickly denied it, "No...you said that you were free, and that we could see that movie that I've been dying to see..." Nico explained, a little more stern this time with her voice. "I never agreed to that..." "Yes you did!" The red eyed girl rose her voice at her redheaded partner, causing the other girls to glance over at them. "You never said anything about the park!" "I totally did!" Maki stated, starting to get frustrated as well, "You asked me if I wanted to see a movie, I said no, that I couldn't because we had homework. But I still wanted to spend time with you, so let's just go through a stroll in the park!" Maki explained, Nico shaking her head as her voice matched her level, "No you didn't! I said Maki, let's go see that movie, it's back in theaters and we have a chance! Are you free? You said yes, and that we could totally see it!" Nico gave her side of the story, Maki shaking her head, "You always do this!" She snapped, stamping her foot on the ground.
"Do what?!" Nico snapped back, actually making Nozomi place her arm out in front of her and gently move her back, "Try and spend time with you?! With my own girlfriend?!" She demanded an answer, Maki turning away, "You don't give me my own space! You're always on top of me every time we're together! Even when we're not, you're blowing up my phone!" "I've never blown up anything of yours!" The duo was practically screaming at each other now, Nozomi aiding as a barricade between the fire. The rest of the girls couldn't help, too much in disbelief such an event was taking place. "Do you have any idea how much I give up for you?!" Nico asked, pressing herself against the barricade of Nozomi's arm. "You don't give up anything!" Maki snapped back, "You're like a little six year old with her toys!" "Bullshit!" "I've written you all those little songs, and you've given nothing to me back!" The redhead yelled, her violet eyes becoming red rimmed with tears. Nico gently gasped, a bewildered look coming onto her face, "Oh, I'm the inconsiderate one?! Do you have any idea how considerate I am to you?!" The twin tailed girl demanded on the girl, Nozomi attempting to calm her, "Nico, ple-" "No, Nozomi, you keep quiet!" She snapped, looking up at Nozomi, then back at Maki, "I force myself to listen to those little songs of yours. You want to know why it's forced? Because you are terrible at playing the piano!""Shut up!" came the scream of Maki, silencing out the group gasp of everyone.
Maki was now in tears, clenching her fist and teeth as her cheeks were a bright red, "If that's really what you believe, I can't believe I ever dated you!" She shouted back, Nico raising her eyebrow, "Dated? Oh no, you are not about to-" "Nico Yazawa, we are through!" Maki shouted, summoning another sharp gasp from the group. "You can't break up with me! I've already broken up with you!" Nico shouted back, "I'm the leader of Muse! You're nothing to me!" At this point, Maki bolted off the roof, running down the steps. "Maki!" came the call of another girl, Honoka, who darted down the stairs after her. "I never loved you anyway!" The red eyed girl shouted one last time, before ripping away from Nozomi. She ran to the edge of the rooftop, leaning against the bars as she burst into tears.
Everyone else was silent. Eli, who always knew what to say, was silent...Rin, the energetic girl who always had something to say...was silent. No one knew what to do in this kind of situation, it had never happened before. A tongue-lashing, then the end of a relationship; had left two girls in tears, and everyone else confused and silent. The silence was broken as Nozomi put her hand up, turning to her friends, "I'll handle her...just..go do whatever you planned on doing, alright?" She requested, everyone nodding. No one wanted to leave, they wanted to make sure their friend was alright. Yet at the same time, they trusted that Nozomi would be able to comfort her. So, one by one, they slowly departed the rooftop, off to attempt to finish their day after the event.
Slowly approaching the emotional wreck of Nico, Nozomi gently knelt down, "Nico...it'll be-" The violet haired girl was cut off, Nico quickly throwing her arms around Nozomi, bawling profusely into her shoulder. "Shh...shh...it's alright..." Nozomi promised, gently rubbing her back. If there was something Nozomi hated, it was seeing her friends crying. "Wait..." Nozomi thought to herself, focusing more on the distance, allowing herself to think clearly. Earlier today, she had read her own fortune with her special cards. The Nine of Swords was her fortune, a card she understood meant bad things. "The carving on the bed shows the violence that led to the current situation, and suggests that someone you love may have been involved in battle" she recalled in her mind. Nozomi closed her emerald eyes, clutching Nico tighter. This was that fortune, and that battle wasn't physical, but the one she had was much worse: an emotional battle. "It's going to be fine...just let it all out." She urged her friend, her shoulder now damped from the crying. She knew very well that it would be a while before Nico would tire herself out, and she was ready to wait as long as it took.
Miles away, as if a young child chasing a frog, Honoka was on a chase for the other causality. Honoka panted as she took a break, leaning her hands onto her knees. She knew exactly where Maki would end up being, but she needed to be there as fast as possible. Practice wasn't helping her, as it still had its hold on her body, weakening its ability to run. Honoka didn't care, though, she had an important friend in distress, she wouldn't let her short of breath stop her. Taking one more deep breath, she took off again. Her ginger hair began dancing in the wind, not letting its side tail hold it down; her blue eyes focusing on the task at hand. It had taken her a little while, but she finally arrived at Maki's houses.
Slipping off her shoes at her door, Honokoa slowly walked to the room; the sound of crying growing more and more audible. With those cries increasing in volume, Honoka's frown became deeper and deeper. Slowly, she pushed the door open, preparing for the terrible sight she'd have to see. The sight was just as depressing as the young teen had thought it'd be. The young redhead was collapsed on her bed, hugging her pillow as she hollowed into the nighttime essential. "Maki..." Honoka slowly spoke, gently rubbing her own arms, "G...go away!" The redhead shouted at the blue eyed girl, refusing to pull her head up from the pillow. "I'm not just going to leave you like this..." The girl stated, her blue eyes filled with a serious expression. To prove her refusal, she walked closer, gently sitting on the bed with her.
"I can't believe she said those things to you..." Honoka slowly said, starting to gently rub her lower back. Whether or not it was supposed to be an attempt to help her, the statement only made Maki start to cry worse. "Shh..." Honoka gently pleaded, rubbing deeper into her back, "I...I...l...loved her!" Maki stated through her cries, Honokoa gently shaking her head, "Maybe...she's not worth it..." The reply made Maki take a sharp inhale, sitting up from her bed as she shot an amazed look at Honoka. This allowed the orange haired girl to get a full look at the aftermath of her fight. Her violet eyes were beat red from her tears, which still trailed down her cheeks, which had matched her hair, which had fell down her face for comparison. The sight made Honoka retract back a bit, Maki taking heavy breathes, "H...how could you say that?!"
The girl with the side tail gently adverted her eyes away, then sighed, "Because she doesn't appreciate you...like I do..." Her voice trailed off as she drew a circle into the bed with her nail. Maki paused, still trying to understand what she said, "w...what/" She asked, Honoka gently biting her lip, "When I first met you...back at school...seeing you play the piano..." She slowly explained, her cheeks starting to grow red, "I...might have grown a crush on you.." The redhead stayed silent, her tears slowly starting to come to a halt, "and you waited until now to tell me?" She asked, wiping her eyes to rid them of the rest of her tears. The blue eyed girl gently shrugged, slowly returning her eyes onto Maki's, "You just...seemed so happy with her...I didn't want to ruin that..." She explained, gently shrugging again, "I just...wanted you to be happy...and you were...but now that you aren't..." Honoka bit her lip, then sighed, Maki staring in silence, "I just couldn't believe what she said to you...about you being bad at the piano...and about her being the leader of Muse..it's just n-"
Honoka was silenced; what had silenced her? Maki did, by gently pressing her own lips against Honoka's own. After holding it for around five seconds, allowing the ginger haired girl's eyes to widened and her cheeks grow a bright red, Maki pulled away. "That's...a nice way of telling me to be quiet..." The blue eyed girl quipped with a sheepish chuckle. The redhead hadn't smiled, though, yet her cheeks were red, "I can accept your love..." The violet eyed girl slowly said, "But I just can't smile yet...it still hurts.." She muttered, looking down. The kiss had injected life into one of them, as Honoka couldn't keep herself from smiling.
"Come on...you've stopped crying...what's left to do but smile?" She asked with a gentle chuckle of her own. Maki gently shook her head, "Not yet...I just need to-EEK!" The redhead was cut off by a squeak, Honoka smirking as she gently prodded Maki's side. A silence fell between them once more, before Maki shook her head, "No.." She said, yet Honoka smiled, "You need to smile!" The ginger haired girl stated, gently pushing Maki back onto her bed, straddling her waist. "L-look...I get you want me to smile, but this is not the way to-" Maki was cut off again as she had to resort to biting her lip. Honoka smiled, her fingers gently trailing from her sides up to her ribs, "This is the easiest way to get that pretty smile from you." She cooed as Maki gently groaned, her lips perking up into a forced smile.
"There it is~" Honoka giggled, sliding her fingers over the cloth covering her stomach, which made Maki squeaked again, "Oh gohohohohohohohod, nohohohohohoht my behehehehehehehehelly." She pleaded, yet knew Honoka wouldn't just stop. "But that giggle of yours is just too cute." The ginger haired girl smiled, gently rolling up Maki's shirt to expose her pale stomach. "Even your stomach is pretty." The blue eyed girl complimented, making Maki blush a little deeper. Slowly, Honoka began gently running her nails across the smooth skin, watching as it tensed up and sucked in. "Ehehehehehahahahahahahahahahahahahha!" The redhead quickly strung up a small string of laughter, starting to gently wiggle underneath her. Maki didn't want to admit it, but something about this felt...different. Sure, Nozomi had tickled her all the time, Nozomi tickled everyone; but this gave her a different feeling. Her fingers caused a feeling of safety...a feeling of caring...and most importantly, a feeling of love. This was a feeling she had never actually felt with Nico, it was a brand new feeling.
She couldn't go too deep with her thoughts though, as her eyes quickly widened up, "EHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH GOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOD!" Her deep thoughts were interrupted by Honoka' who "accidentally" slipped a finger into her navel. "Oh? Is your little bellybutton ticklish?" The blue eyed girl teased, swirling her finger inside the crevice a little faster. "YEHEHEHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAS!" Maki cried out through her laughter, bucking underneath her new lover. Honoka giggled, her cheeks a bright red as she continued to do her best to make her new partner laugh. Watching Maki squirm underneath her, with that face of hers red and laughing, was just a blissful sight for the young second year. She didn't want to be doing this work, all of a sudden, she just wanted to watch her laugh.
Bad move. She let up on the tickling, Maki suddenly sitting up as she grabbed Honoka's shoulders, forcing her to lay on the bed next to her. Panting, Maki grinned as she quickly got up, straddling Honoka's waist now. Snapping back into reality, Honoka gasped as her eyes widened, "W-wait, Maki...i just w-wanted to make you smile..." The redhead smiled and nodded, "I know you did...and now it's your turn." She said with a giggle. Sliding her hands under the girl's blue top, she started to wiggle her fingers against the red cloth covering her ribs. Letting out a squeak as she tensed up, Honoka clenched her eyes shut as she began giggling, "Oh nohohohohohohoho, I'm alrehehehahahahahady smihihihihihihihling!" She protested. "I know, but now I want to hear your laugh." Maki explained her plan with a smile, moving down as she began tickling across her cloth covered stomach. "Ehehehehahahahahahaha, thahahahahahahat tihihihihihihickles!" Honoka stated, her redheaded lover chuckling, "I know it does, that's why I'm doing it." She smiled, now sliding her hands under her red shirt to reach her bare skin. First, she started to gently rub Honoka's sides, getting a feel of the soft skin. Maki smiled and blushed, which was immediately matched by Honoka.
"I love it when you laugh..." The redhead said with a smile, Honoka blushing deeper, "I love all of you..." The ginger haired girl replied as Maki blushed, "Now let me hear that lovely laugh of yours." She said, starting to wiggle her nails against her bare ribs. Honoka jumped gently and squeaked, starting to gentle laugh, "Oh gohohohohoahahahahahahahahad! The skihihihihihihihihihihn tihihihihihihckles more!" She said, gently wiggling under Maki. The redhead smiled and nodded, moving her fingers up as she dipped them into the hollows of Honoka's underarms. "EEK! EHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA! NAHAHAHAHAHAHT THEHEHEHEHEHERE!" The blue eyed girl pleaded as her laughter shot up, trying her best to hold her arms down. "But your laugh is so cute!" Maki cooed with a grin, doing her best to keep her nails working in the trapped space. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHD! TIHIHIHIHIHIHHIIHIHICKLES!" She stated again, starting to wiggle a little more.
Once more, Maki found herself in the same position Honoka was previously. She was stuck in the awe of how adorable Honoka was in her laughter. The tickling slowly came to a stop, letting Honoka catch her tired breath. Leaning forward, Maki pressed her lips against Honoka's once more, this time keeping them there. The feeling once more as a brand new one, something Nico had never given her. "I love you, Honoka..." Maki said with a deeper blush, "I love you too, Maki..." came her reply, as they locked lips once more. "How about...tomorrow after practice...we go for a walk in the park." Honoka suggested, gently grinning as Maki giggled, "I know a movie we can watch...it's a great one." She winked, giving Honoka a kiss on the cheek, "It's a date, then." Honoka declared, with the redhead nodding.
"I thought Nico was my perfect match, I thought we were destined to be together forever.." Maki thought to herself, "I thought I had found love...clearly I was looking in the wrong place. For all I care, Nico can go play in traffic, I've found my perfect match, for real this time."
With the relationship of Nico and Maki now a shattered dream, has it given birth to two new relationships? Honoka and Maki have started theirs, but does Nico have a chance of finding her new love? How did things turn out after Nozomi had comforted her? Only time could tell.