"Nozomi, all I'm saying is that alcohol does things to a person that-"

"Nicocchi, I don't really understand the conversation we're having," Nozomi shook her head as she idly glanced back at the TV that was currently on mute.

Nico sighed and leant her hands on her lap, looking down. Nozomi would be a huge asset in finding out what was going on in Eli's and Hanayo's relationship, yet it was obvious she was in complete denial. She looked back up, eyes half lidded.

She couldn't blame her of course. She wouldn't want to accept it either, but if she just a tried…

"Nicocchi," Nozomi flicked the TV onto standby, "What is this really about?"

She was surprised; she hadn't expected her attention this quickly. She frowned. She didn't have all her thoughts together either. No proof, just speculation. And what she thought was serious, the most serious thing she had ever thought about accusing someone of in her life.

Nozomi was there for both of them; Nico knew this. She couldn't make her choose. But she supposed it wasn't a matter of choice when it came to abuse. And if it was, the sides were pretty much black and white.

"It's nothing. Just idle conversation, y'know?" Nico replied, abruptly standing up, grabbing her phone from the coffee table, murmuring something about a small phone call as she left the room.

She didn't look back to see Nozomi's frown, who watched her go into the bedroom, tapping onto her list of contacts and flipping down to the 'M' section.

Nico hadn't noticed that the TV in the other room wasn't switched back on. As she dialled the number, she silently begged she wouldn't get sent to voicemail, hissing a curse when she was.

'I swear to God, I'm sick of hearing this message whenever I try to make plans with her. I know she's busy, but…'

The beep snapped her out of her thoughts, "Hey, listen, I know everything in your life is pretty busy, but I need to talk to you. Alone, which means not letting Rin tag along. Call me back."

She said curtly as she hung up. Nico knew exactly who she would confide in.

Hanayo, she definitely couldn't talk to. She would brush her off at every turn, perhaps dropping subtle hints that she wanted, no, needed help. But she would never come forward about Eli herself.

Rin would be devastated if Nico was right. But she couldn't even tell her right now, if she did, Rin would probably go straight to Hanayo. Nico didn't need that, so Rin was crossed off her list as well.

Maki on the other hand, was a lot more responsible. She could definitely be told and trusted; she could even offer help and Nico needed all the help she could get. A doctor on standby was possibly one of the most important things if something happened.

Honoka couldn't keep a secret to save her life. While Nico knew her heart was almost always in the right place, she couldn't tell her. She would probably be just as heartbroken as Rin; she probably never would have dreamed of anyone in μ's being capable of doing that. She might even feel responsible in some strange way.

Kotori she had already told and she hadn't taken it well at all. It was only natural, she supposed. Kotori was definitely the nicest person she knew, alongside Hanayo. She couldn't take back what she said now, however.

Umi was definitely trustworthy. She could keep things from people and she could offer advice as well as action. She would contact her when she was more sure of things.

It was obvious she couldn't say anything to Eli. Talk to the abuser about their abuse? Especially when she wasn't even sure. She knew she couldn't just go up to someone and accuse them to their face.

Nozomi she wanted to tell, she wanted to talk to her so much. But it would be hard for her to hear. Nozomi's response would be to defend Eli, of course it would be. But she would be such valuable help if she came to accept it. She would have to if she was right. She would tell Nozomi when she was sure, definitely.

It had taken a couple of hours for her to get a call back and she had fumbled for the phone as she exited the room once again.

"Nico-chan, listen, if this is about the two of us having an affair with each other, I'm afraid that's off the table. I don't have enough time as it is."

Nico stifled a groan, but she let Maki have her fun. What little of it she had anyway…

"Okay, listen, I'm gonna let you have that joke, but I need to meet up with you. What I want to talk about is too personal to do so over the phone. So I am praying that you have some free time when you're not busy having," Nico cleared her throat, "Quote unquote, 'fun times with Rin.'"

"Yes, yes Nico-chan, I'm free tomorrow. But it can't be for too long. 'Fun time with Rin' is probably the most important thing to stop me from going insane."

Nico wasn't sure if Maki was joking or not, but she decided not to push it, "Great. But can you do this without Rin knowing?"

"... God maybe you really are about to ask me to have an affair with you-"

"Ha ha. Enough with the jokes now, this is a serious matter."

"Jesus, what is going on? Can't you just tell me?"

"No, no, face to face. It has to be face to face, I can't do it over the phone," Nico could almost hear Maki frown.

"Alright… You've got my attention now. I'll set Rin off shopping."

Nico couldn't help but snigger, "What, you mean you trust her to go shopping for the both of you?"

"Hey, d'you want this meeting to happen or not? Because I could just relax tomorrow."

"Fine, fine. I'll drop by yours at eleven?"

"Is Nozomi coming?"

"Ah… No."

"... Better make it half eleven," Maki didn't comment on the matter with Nozomi, "I'm making the most of that day."

"Hope I don't put a dampner on it. See you then," Nico said.

"Right… See you then," Maki replied uneasily.

As she hung up, Nico wondered what would possibly happen if she was wrong. But it was better to be seen as someone who once thought one of their old friends was being violent, than to only know yourself that you had been right after something bad had happened, and done nothing to stop it.

It had taken a moment for the door to actually open, and Maki gave her a small smile, "Hey. Come in," She slid her hand off the door frame and turned to go inside.

"Didn't think smoking indoors was something you should do," Nico said as she glanced at the cigarette in Maki's hand.

"It's electronic."

"So what you're saying is, you vape now?"

"God I hate that word… And I guess I do," She shrugged as she sat down in an armchair and scrutinized the e-cig, "Trying to get off the dreaded 'cancer sticks.'"

"Fair enough," She shrugged as she watched Maki take a drag and leisurely blow out the smoke, "What's it like?"

"Shit, but if it'll keep me alive for longer, I'll give it a go. For everyone's sake," She twirled it in her fingers, "But damn if I'm not irritable… Anyway," She said abruptly, "Down to business. What do you want to talk to me about?"

"Right, yeah," She leant forwarding in the chair, only pausing to gather the few words she had, "What… What would you do if you thought that… Someone you knew was being violent? As in, towards a loved one?"

"Mm," She grunted, "Well, I know what I would want to do… Whether I would be able to is another thing entirely."

"Go with that."

"Gather evidence and when I was sure, talk to the abused and get them the hell out of there. Get the law involved if I had enough. With the support of the victim of course," Maki took another drag as she eyed Nico, who looked deep enough in thought.

"Yeah, I can see that…"

"Right," Maki leant forward, "Spill it. You wouldn't come here just to ask about a hypothetical scenario."

When Nico cleared her throat and choked on her words, Maki frowned, "Hey look, Nozomi isn't doing anything, is she? Whilst I don't honestly think myself that the pure mother of μ's herself would do this, I'm going to believe you if you say it's true. And I'm fully willing and ready to lose my medical licence if she hurt you."

"No, no, Nozomi would never do that…" She trailed off to a murmur when she realised that that was probably what Hanayo thought when it came to Eli.

Maki went quiet as she let Nico think about what to say, "It's… Ah Christ, this wasn't so hard the other day… It's Eli. I think."

Nico looked up to see Maki lightly grinding her teeth, "As in she's hurting…?"

"Yeah. Yeah I think so."

Maki leant back in her chair again and murmured, "Goodbye medical licence…" She took a quick, exasperated inhale of smoke before standing up and placing her hands on the windowsill, "Tell me what you know."

Nico couldn't see her face. But she supposed that she should do what Maki asked.

"Nozomi and I went to their apartment the other day and it just set every alarm bell in my head off. Firstly, Hanayo had a red mark on her cheek. When I went into the bathroom, I went to sort out my makeup and found tweezers with dried blood on them and shards of glass, with blood on them as well. Oh, and the glass had small Russian letters on them."

Maki's hand went to tap some imaginary ashes from the end of the e-cig out of habit, "I am going to put this down very slowly, because I am very close to snapping it," Maki stated rather calmly as she placed it down on the sill, "And they cost too much."

"R-right…" Nico didn't bring up the fact that she had plenty of money at this point.

Maki spun around with a face like thunder, "You swear that you're not imagining things? You swear that everything you're saying is true?"

"I wouldn't lie about this kind of thing, Maki-chan."

"... I know. I just don't want to believe it. This is why you didn't want Rin here, isn't it?"

Nico nodded and sighed, about to say something before Maki growled in anger.

"God dammit! Out of everyone this could have fucking happened to, it happens to-!" She pushed off from the windowsill, then grasping at the roots of her hair. She suddenly exhaled and stopped in her tracks, "As I said, lack of cigarettes is making me irritable…" She murmured, "Nevermind. Do you have a plan?"

"Hah?"

"Do. You. Have. A. Plan." Maki deadpanned, having since picked up the e-cig again.

"Well… To tell the truth, not really," She admitted, "The only thoughts I've had are to tell the people I think can handle it."

"And those people are…?"

"Kotori already knows. You're the second one I've told, I'll tell Umi when I'm more sure of things…"

"So… You know exactly what you're accusing Eli of? How serious it is?"

"Of course I do. Listen, Maki-chan… You're taking this harder than I thought you would… I know it's probably not my place to pry, but… Is everything fine?" Nico asked hesitantly, seeing Maki tense up.

"... When I was in university," She began after taking a frustrated drag of flavoured smoke, "I did a little bit of research on the human mind… And what could affect it."

Nico tilted her head and frowned as she carried on, "I came to the part about abuse. I began to connect some of the emotionally abusive behaviours to the way my parents used to treat me. I… Could have been wrong or overreacting but… I was pissed at the time."

She chuckled bittersweetly, "I still took their hospital, their money and I'm pretty happy now, but… Can't help but feel shitty sometimes."

"Listen, Nico-chan. Hanayo is the last person on this fucking planet who deserves something like that to happen to her," This time, as Maki brought up the e-cig, her hand was shaky, "I do not give a shit if it's the person who used to be in our subunit, or some random person she thought she would be happy with. If what you're saying does turn out to be true, I will wring the bitch's neck myself."

"Maki-chan, I think you need to get some rest," Nico sighed as she stood up and looked down at Maki's tired face, "You really don't look good."

"I'm fine." Maki replied curtly with a twitch of the fingers curled around the e-cig, "You caught me after a bad day. That's all."

"Hey, listen," Nico crouched down in front of her and brushed the hair out of her face, "You're tired, you're irritable, I have no idea how Rin will deal with you when she gets back. You need to sleep or something."

Maki puffed the smoke out of her nose, "I… I guess." She said weakly, suddenly grabbing Nico's arm as she turned to go back to her seat, "Tomorrow, we're going to their apartment building and talking to their neighbours to find out if they've heard anything."

"But-"

"No, no fucking buts! We have to figure this shit out before it gets worse. And if we're wrong," She sighed as she let go, "Then I'll thank some non-existent entity in the sky."

Nico was about to say something before the door began to open and Rin popped through, "Hey, Maki-chan are you oka-" She stopped and glanced between the two of them, "Nico-chan's here too, nya?"

"I just decided to drop in," Nico said, standing and receiving the enthusiastic hug Rin jumped on her with. Maki rubbed her eyes and managed to sort out her expression as Rin barreled into her when she was done with Nico, "I was pretty much about to go."

"Aww, okay…"

"Hey, we'll have to arrange something with everyone else," She patted her on the back before walking backwards towards the door, "I'm sure everyone'll be up for it."

"Sure! See you Nico-chan, nya!"

Maki grunted and waved her hand as she adjusted in her chair, "See you."

Nico sent her a sympathetic smile as she slid out of the door and headed off, pulling out her phone as she walked.

'Sure. I'll go to their apartment complex with you tomorrow.'