Hey hey hey. How's it going my fellow readers and welcome to another chapter of RST.

Not much to say so let's get this going.

"Blah" — Speech

'Blah' — Thoughts

[ Blah ] — Text

*Blah* — Sound effects in speech

(Blah) — Author's notes

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters of Love Live! School Idol Project. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Show your Money's Worth

Nico groggily opened her eyes and yawned as she rose up from her bed. She looks to the side to see the clock read out: 7:00 AM. 'Let's do this.' She pulls away the covers and gets out of the bed. Nico picks up the remote and turns on the TV. The first to show was a man wearing a black beret waving his hands. Click.

A fit woman was leading a dance group. Click.

Two cops are chasing a hooded man. Click.

"And today is a great day with the sun out and a cool breeze..." Nico puts the control down and stretched. After that, she goes to the bathroom to start off her day.

20 minutes later...

Knock Knock

Nico opens the door to see Eli and Nozomi carrying trays of food. "Oh breakfast. Come in." She moved to the side so the bodyguards can come in. After closing the door, Nico turns to see that they have already set the tray down the table. Walking over there, she sees her first meal and picks up a strawberry-banana parfait. "Thank you."

"It's no problem." Nozomi cuts an apple while Eli picked up a banana. As they dig into breakfast, Nozomi breaks the comfortable silence, "Nicocchi, would it be okay to discuss a few thing now?"

Nico swallowed a spoonful of yogurt, "Sure."

"Elichi and I would like to go to the stadium to look over the security."

Nico raises her eyebrow, "Who's going to be my guard?"

"We'll call Honoka to come in as a temporary guard." Eli adds in.

The idol recalls her fist meeting with the ginger, "She used to be a bodyguard right?"

"Yes." Nozomi affirms Nico's guess.

Nico mentally goes over her schedule: She would be practicing her dance routine and going over the lyrics for the first two weeks. She shrugs, "Sure. I'll have my manager take you over to the stadium."

Nozomi smiled, "Thank you for listening to our request."

"It's no big deal."

Eli has her phone out, "Where should I tell Honoka to go?"

Nico finished her meal, "We'll meet up at the office."

. . . . . . . . . .

Office

The trio walked up to the front door when a black SUV rolled up and parked. The car's engine turns off and door opens to reveal Honoka. She waves her hand, "Hey girls."

Nico waved back, "Hey Honoka."

Honoka got out of the car and walked up to them. "It looks like I came just in time."

Nozomi opens the door to let the party through and they walk up the stairs. They reached to a door with Rising Star stenciled into it. Nico opens the door and they entered. In the middle of the room there is a couch and some chairs in front of a blackboard. On the side there is a refrigerator and a coffee machine; it seems to be their break room. Farther in the room there is a table, chair, and a computer.

One man is at the table and typing on the keyboard. He looks up to see the group and stands up, "Ah Nico. Good morning."

"Morning, Ryu." Nico gestures to the man. "This is my manager, Ryu." She gestures to her guards. "This is Eli, Nozomi, and Honoka."

"Ah, you must be Nico's bodyguards." Ryu walks around to exchange greeting and pleasantries. After that was done, he turns to Nico, "Are you ready to go?"

"Wait," Nico points at Eli and Nozomi, "Can you take these two to the stadium?"

"Oh?"

Eli elaborates, "We want to look over the stadium to make sure it's safe for Nico. Are there any security guards there as well?"

"I believe so."

"We would like to see how trained they are."

Ryu was silent for a while as he looks over the group, "Who will protect and take Nico to the studios? We're in a tight schedule."

Honoka raises her hand, "I'll protect her. Just give me her schedule and I'll take her there."

"Well, I see no problems with the changes." He gestures to the door, "Shall we go?"

. . . . . . . . . .

Dance Studio

"Alright. And a 1, 2, 3..." Nico is slowly dancing the steps to master her routine while the instructor guides the idol and Honoka watches from the sideline.

"Aaaand stop. Good work there Nico. You made good progress on the routine." The instructor looks at the clock, "We've been at this for an hour so let's take a break. We'll get back in ten minutes." She walks to a corner of the room.

Nico was sweating and panting from all the training, "Thanks Aya." She walks to Honoka who is holding a towel and a bottle of water. Nico took the towel first and wiped the sweat off. After that, she grabs the bottle and takes a swig. "Thanks Honoka."

Honoka grinned, "No problem."

"So how's the group doing at the company?"

Honoka places a finger on her lip to contemplate. "Well Umi and Rin are still on their mission while Hanayo is helping Eli and Nozomi to increase security."

"How is she going to do that?"

"She'll look through the blueprints of the stadium to give info for Eli and Nozomi. She'll also install cameras if the stadium doesn't have them. But they have a month so that's plenty of time to prepare."

"Hmm."

"Let's see... Kotori is resewing Eli and Nozomi's suits since we got a shipment of new armor parts."

Nico took another swig. "That's nice."

"And Maki is running her hospital since no one got hurt so far."

"Well, it's good that everyone is doing well."

Honoka paused for a while and then spoke again. "Nico may I be blunt?"

Nico looks at Honoka and raises her eyebrow, "Sure?"

"This situation is... new to us. Most if not all of our clients stay out of the public light. You, on the other hand, your whole career is to be in it. Most of us are trained but we don't have experience dealing with large crowds." Honoka's eyes flashed, "But we will adapt and do everything in our power to keep you safe."

Nico puts her hand on Honoka's shoulder, "It's going to be fine. After meeting all of you and getting to know Eli and Nozomi, I trust you girls."

Honoka smiled, "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

Nico flashed her signature pose, "I'm going to be number 1 and I'm taking you girls with me."

But they were interrupted when Aya clapped her hands, "Alright breaks over so let's get to it."

Nico walks back to the center, "Back to the grind."

. . . . . . . . . .

Nighttime at the hotel...

Nico, Eli, and Nozomi are all in Nico's room. Nico gives her guards glasses of water. "So how's the stadium?"

They both thank her and Nozomi is the one to answer. "It was abysmal. The security there lacks proper training."

"There are also not many cameras covering the area." Eli adds in. "We'll probably have to go back to train them."

"Are you okay with Honoka staying with you Nicocchi?"

Nico shrugs, "It's cool. She's good company."

"Alright." Eli and Nozomi start to walk out of the room. "See you tomorrow."

Nico waves at them, "Good night."

. . . . . . . . . .

Time-skip...

In the first two weeks, Nico goes over her dance routine, songs, and her costumes with Honoka on the sidelines. On some days Nico would see Eli and Nozomi with the guards when she practices at the stadium. The remaining days are spent with Nico promoting her event. Nico also offered tickets to Kotori and Maki for the event. At first Maki declined but Hanayo was able to convince her to go and told her to take time off.

Eli and Nozomi have been training the guards at the stadium to make sure they are at peak conditions. They also made sure that they have secured getaway paths in case anything happens.

Now...

Nico and Honoka are currently waiting at the front of the hotel; Eli and Nozomi are in their rooms changing into their new suits. To pass the time, Nico looks over at Honoka, "You look pretty good."

Honoka is wearing a similar suit when they first met. "Thanks."

"Are Kotori, Maki and Hanayo there yet?"

Honoka nodded, "Yup. Hanayo is setting up in the surveillance center and Maki and Kotori are in the VIP section."

"Nice."

"Sorry we took so long." Nico and Honoka turn to Nozomi's voice. What the idol saw floored her; Eli and Nozomi are in their three-piece suits. Their black suit jackets are in one-button in which Nico assumes to allow them easy access for their weapons. She can see that they both wear black vests and white dress shirts underneath it. The obvious difference between them is that Eli has a dark blue tie while Nozomi has a dark green tie.

Nico shook herself out of a daze. "Wow, you two look amazing."

Eli smiled slightly, "Thank you."

Nozomi smooths her jacket, "Why thank you, Kotori really outdid herself."

But Nico was curious about one thing, "Can you move in that? I heard that suits feel stiff."

"Oh yeah." Nozomi demonstrated that she has a large range of motion in the suit.

Honoka smirked, "You underestimate Kotori's skill."

Nico chuckles, "Alright alright."

Eli opens the back-seat door of the SUV and offers her hand to Nico. "Shall we go?"

Nico accept her hand and climbed in. "Let's."

. . . . . . . . . .

Stadium

The SUV rides up to the stadium's side entrance. There are barriers dividing between the guards and fans. Once the car stops, Eli, Nozomi, and Honoka got of the car; they quickly look around the area. After confirming the area is safe, Eli opens the door and Nico steps out.

"Oh my god it's Nico!" The crowd goes wild over their star.

Nico went into her signature pose, "Nico-Nico-nii is happy that you all came today." Somehow the crowd even went louder.

Nozomi leaned in and whispered, "We should get going Nicocchi."

Nico nodded, "Alright." She waves at the crowd, "See you soon and have a good time."

Nico and the guards walk through the door, but they still can hear the cheering. Honoka glances at Nico, "Your fans really love you."

Nico smiled, "Of course. My goal is to make everyone smile."

"A noble goal." Eli comments.

Nico beams higher under the compliment as they reach to the dressing room. Nico turns to the other two guards. "You two keep watch out here." Nico, Honoka, and a team of designers go in.

They nodded and took positions at the front of the door.

(Shift to Eli's view.)

Eli slowly scans the area as Nozomi leans against the wall. After a while Nozomi turns to Eli, "Why do you think Nico told us to wait outside?"

Eli shrugs, "Probably because there would be too many people in the room."

"Then why not one if us to go in with her?" Nozomi smirked, "You should've gone in since you're the cute one."

Eli blushes and sighs; she continues to look ahead to avoid Nozomi.

Nozomi was relentless, "I mean you're really cute when you smile."

Before Eli could be teased any longer the door opens. Eli turns around and her eyes widened slightly at Nico's costume. Her hair is in twin-tails tied with flowers and pink ribbons. She is wearing a white sleeveless blouse with a big ribbon at the front collar. On her arms there are detachable white sleeves that reach up to her biceps. Looking lower, Eli sees a frilly skirt that reaches just below her knees with the color scheme of pink, red, and gold. To finish off the look, Nico has knee-high stocking and red 3-inch heels.

Nico looks at her guards, "I wanted to surprise you two."

Nozomi snaps her fingers, "So that's why you want us outside."

Nico poses a little, "So what do you think?"

"You look really cute Nicocchi."

Eli snaps out of her daze as they wait for her answer. She blushes a little and try to not look at Nico's eyes. "You... look really nice."

Nico smiles, "Thanks."

Honoka pops from the back, "I gotta say that the costume looks really nice. I bet that Kotori will like it."

Nico looks back and smirks, "I'm going to dazzle everyone. Let's go."

The three guards escort the idol to the backstage of the stadium. Once there, they see many people working to make sure everything goes to plan. Honoka goes over to a few guards and starts talking to them. Nozomi stays with Nico while Eli trails behind. Eli pulls her jacket's lapel up and whispers, "Hanayo do you read me?"

"Reading you loud and clear."

"How are things on your end?"

"The cameras are working well and the exit routes remain clear."

"Good. Keep me posted if anything changes."

"Roger that."

Eli focuses back to Nico and sees that Honoka has joined back the group. She walks over and joins them as well. It seems that Nico is about to go on stage. "Good luck Nico."

"Thank you. I'll show you all why I'm Number 1." She struts to the center stage. "What's up my lovely peeps!"

The crowd roars.

"Thank you. Without you, I wouldn't be here. Let me show you my thanks." She goes into her signature pose. "Nico-Nico-Nii."

The crowd imitates her, "Nico-Nico-Nii."

Nozomi playfully shakes her head, "Where does she get all her energy?"

Eli checks her gear one more time: She opens her jacket and touches the right side of her hip; her baton is secured in its holster. She lightly pats the backside to feel a couple heavy-duty zip ties. After that, she traces her jacket. 'Kotori really outdid herself. I could barely feel the stiffness.' Done with her gear-check, Eli stands vigil as Nico dance and sings for her fans.

Two hours later...

Eli could see Nico sweating and panting, but the idol stood proud. Nico raises both of her arms to the air. "Thank you for coming tonight!" She walks to the backstage where all three guards are waiting. Eli has a towel and bottle of water in her hands. "That was a great performance Nico."

"I can see why the fans love you." Nozomi chimed in.

"Thanks." Nico accepts the towel and bottle of water. "Let's go back to the hotel and celebrate with everyone."

"I'll be sure to tell everyone." Honoka said as Eli and Nozomi ushers Nico to the exit.

But a gate opens and fans come pouring through. The security was able to form a line in time and prevented the fans from passing.

"What the fuck?" Honoka swears. She turns to the group. "Take Nico to safety." She then points to an extra group of guards standing there. "You. Do your job and don't let anyone through."

Nozomi and Eli lead Nico back to the hallways; Nozomi is at the front while Eli is behind Nico. Eli has one hand on Nico's back while her other hand is clutching the lapel of her jacket. "Hanayo, route A is compromised. We're moving to route B. Any changes?"

"No changes. Just a couple of janitors in the hallway."

They make quick time as they pass through the hallway. As Hanayo said, there are a couple janitors sweeping the floor. Just as they were about to reach the door, Hanayo's voice crackles in Eli and Nozomi's ears. "Wait I don't recognize the janitors' faces."

Eli eyes widened and she twists her head to see one of the 'janitors' has a broom raised over his head ready to strike Nico. Adrenaline pumps through her veins instantly, Eli grabbed Nico's waist and pushed the floor as hard as she could. They both flew and the broom barely missed Nico's head.

Nozomi reacted instantly and raised her leg to kick her heel into the assailant's shoulder, sending him flying back. Nozomi takes her retractable baton and swung it out, letting it extend to its full length.

Eli pushed herself up and helped Nico onto her feet. She instantly took her baton out and looked for the other assailant. But he was nowhere to be seen and a door was opened where they were 'cleaning.' A door opened to her right side and the man charged through with a kitchen knife. Nico yelped when Eli pushed her back as the man missed them. "Nico stand back."

The man steps forward to thrust his knife forward. Eli steps to the left with her left arm catching the man's forearm and veered the knife to the side. She then thrusts the baton into the man's armpit, forcing the man to flinch back in pain. Eli pivots her legs and slams the end of the baton into the man's wrist. The force broke bone and he dropped the knife.

Eli placed her foot on the knife to slide it away and the she raised her leg up to slam it down on the back of his knee; the man crumpled like a house of cards. Eli instantly places her knee on his back but the man struggles to get her off. She stabs the baton into his kidney, ceasing any resistance. Eli dropped her baton and took her zip tie to bind his hands.

The man glares at Nico and hissed, "Fucking bitch doesn't deserve—" Eli punches his kidney again to shut him up.

Eli looks up to see Nozomi already finished her opponent and tied him up. The blonde picks up her baton to retract it and placed it back to the holster. The door from where they came from opens with Honoka and a team of guards behind her. It seems Hanayo called Honoka. "Go! Get her out here. We got this."

Eli takes the lead as Nozomi leads Nico behind her. She opens the door to see their car with a team of guards securing the perimeter. Eli goes to the driver side as Nozomi ushers Nico to the back. Once they buckled up, Eli takes off. Eli would occasionally look at the rear-view mirror to check on Nico.

Nico's whole body is shaking, "Holyshitholyshitholyshit."

Nozomi opens a soda can and offers it to Nico. "Here. Drink this."

Nico accepts and takes a sip.

Nozomi tilts the can, "More."

After Nico is done with the can, Nozomi takes it to place it in the cup-holder. She then rubs small circles on Nico's back and assure her to take some of the shock off. It was silent in the car except for Nozomi's whispers. After some time, Nico finally looks up and catches Eli's eyes at the mirror. She smiles slightly, "Stop pinching your eyebrows. You're going to get wrinkles."

That dissipates some of the tension in the car. Eli smiles softly, "We're almost at the hotel." A few minutes pass by in comfortable silence when they finally reached the hotel parking lot. Eli is the first one to get out and quickly scans the area. Seeing no threat at the moment, Eli nods at Nozomi and turns off the car.

Eli walks ahead while Nozomi and Nico are behind. When they reached the front door Nico stops. "Nico?"

Nico takes a deep breath and straighten her posture. She then plasters a smile and strides into the hotel lounge. Eli and Nozomi look each other for a moment before following Nico. Once inside, Nico walks and greets the staff; she would smile and wave at them. They made their way to the elevator and Eli pressed the button to the floor they are on.

As the doors closed, Nico sighed and leaned heavily on Eli; Eli instinctively wrapped her arm around Nico and easily kept her up. "Nico?"

"Just tired." Nico mumbled.

Ding

Nozomi took point and made their way to Nico's room and got in. Nico slowly peeled off of Eli and ambled to the bathroom. Eli made to follow but Nico raised her hand. "It's okay. I'm just taking a shower."

Eli nods and Nico closed the door. Eli waits until she hears water and takes out her phone to call Honoka. Ring. Ring. Honoka voice comes through, "Eli?"

"Hey Honoka. What's the situation over there?"

"Things have settled down and the assailants are taken to the police. They told us we'll be first to know who they are, but I'm having Hanayo to look for more info on them."

"Alright."

"...How's Nico?"

Eli looks at the bathroom door for a moment and looks away. "She's shaken but other than that she's fine."

Honoka sighs, "That's good. Also I'll talk with Ryu to make sure she gets some days off."

"Alright."

"Right. I'll call you when Hanayo got something." The call ends.

Eli relays the discussion to Nozomi. After she's done, Nozomi comments, "I'm a little curious on who they are."

"For now, we'll have to wait."

The water stops and the guards wait several minutes before Nico open the door and walks out; she's in her pajamas and has her hair down. Nozomi goes by her side and helps the idol to the bed. "Have a good night Nicocchi. We'll be outside."

"Wait." They paused. "Can you two stay here? I mean, the both of you are already here so there's no point of going outside."

Eli looks at Nozomi and can tell that Nozomi can see through Nico as well. But she doesn't push it. "Of course."

Nico quickly turns around and pulls the cover over her head. "Alright. Well, goodnight you two."

"Goodnight Nicocchi." Nozomi sits on the couch.

Eli pulls a chair and placed it near the bed to sit down. "Goodnight Nico."

.

And fin for now.

Man, this is the first time I wrote an action scene so I hope I did well.

Now for some notes for the story in order:

-For the dates of this story it will be loosely similar to real life. That way the timeline is somewhat comprehensible and I could add in holidays or birthdays into the story.

-I actually don't know how busy idols are. I don't know if they have a team of managers or just one.

-Seeing ladies in suits is just too sexy for me.

-You might have noticed that the concert scene is very similar. That's because I had an inspiration when I saw Taken. Unfortunately I don't have much reference beside games and TV shows. I wonder if there is anything out there that shows a bodyguard's life.

-Another thing I tried to do is to have Eli see Nico break character and try to recover; I hope that it was conveyed well.

With that out of the way, let's talk about this story. I think I'm repeating myself, but with school and other stories, the updates are going to be inconsistent.

Thanks for reading

Constructive criticisms are appreciated

Bravo Tango out.