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"Blah" — Speech

"Blah" — Speech in another language

'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.

Meeting the Yazawas

Home

'Three days. Three. Days.' Nico slowly scrubs her plate in the sink. 'And Nozi is still feeling down.' After the incident with her par— those strangers, Nozomi has been feeling down as of lately. She would always try to act cheerful whenever she is in front of Nico and Eli, but it's difficult to hide what you're feeling when you live with them; Nico would sometimes catch Nozomi sighing and staring out the window for long periods of time.

The idol shakes her head and starts to scrub harder, 'I need to find a way to get her out of her funk. But how?' She realizes the plate is already clean and finally places it on the dish rack. She dries her hands and looks at the clock to see it's twelve o'clock. Nico walks out of the kitchen area to see Eli on the couch with the TV on; she ambles her way to the blonde and whispers, "Have you seen Nozi?"

Eli tilts her head to the second story and whispers back, "She's upstairs."

"Alright," Nico leans her hand on the top of couch so she has the view of both Eli and the stairs. "We gotta do something to get Nozi out of her funk."

"I think she just needs some time to process what happened to her."

Nico gestures with her other hand, "Is there anything we can do? Something to take her mind off of it?" Nico sighs, "I just want to see her smile again."

"We could..." Eli pauses as she thinks of something. "...go to the gym at the company. Exercise can relieve stress."

'That makes sense.' Nico nods her head, "Alright. Let's do that." Nico waves her hand and makes her way to the stairs, "C'mon, you tell her that we're going and I need to get something from my room."

"Okay." Eli and Nico reach to the top and split off in opposite directions.

Nico closes her door and quickly walks over to her closet door. She opens it to see her fan-mail box and takes off the lid. She sifts through the insides and finds the letter, "Gotcha." She places it on her bed and takes out her phone to take a picture of it.

Snap

Knock knock

"Nico?"

"Yeah?" Nico quickly stuffs the letter back into the box.

"Are you ready?"

The idol takes some of her workout clothes and closes the door. "Give me a few minutes."

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. . . . . . . .

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Muse company

"Alright I'll see you two at the gym." Nico waves at her guards.

"See you later Nicocchi."

"See you soon."

Nico jogs in a direction she hopes to be where Hanayo's office would be. 'Damn I should've asked for directions.' It seems luck is on the idol's side as the techie appears from the corner. "Yo Hanayo."

Hanayo jerks at the sudden voice and turns her head, "Oh Nico. What are you doing here?"

Nico jogs up to her, "I was getting a little restless in the house so I thought to come here and work out. But enough of that." Nico smirks and takes out her phone, "You gotta take a look at this."

"Oh?" Hanayo tilts her body to get a better look at the picture, but she face goes bright red and she covers her face with her hands, "Nooooooooo."

"Ahahahaha," Nico moves her phone up and takes a picture of this moment. Nico waits for a while as Hanayo whines in embarrassment. 'Alright that should be good enough.' She places her hands on Hanayo's shoulders, "Hey look at me." Hanayo slowly pulls her hands off of her face, "Thank you for cheering me on."

"It's..." Hanayo averts her eyes, "It's not much."

"It is to me."

"Ah-well- you're welcome."

"So," Nico drops her hands, "How's it going with Maki?"

Hanayo perks up at the name, "Ah, well there's some progress since she's open to the idea."

Nico give a thumbs-up, "Nice."

Hanayo smiles, "Thank you for helping us."

"This idol is happy to help." Nico looks at the clock on her phone, "I gotta be at the gym." Nico gives a quick hug, "I'll see you later." She jogs off in the opposite direction.

"See you Nico."

.

Training room

Nico enters the room to see Rin on one of the treadmills and Umi at the weight station. 'Hmmm, should do some cardio.' The pro idol walks to Rin's direction and steps up on the treadmill next to the rookie guard. She presses a few buttons and the treads start to move; Nico paces her speed to match with the machine's speed. After several seconds of jogging, Nico turns her head, "Hey Rin."

"Ah!" Rin stumbles but she catches herself and runs back to her normal speed, "Oh hey Nico."

"How you've been?"

"Not much. It's been simple lately."

"Nice." Nico takes a look around the room again, "Have you seen Eli and Nozomi?"

"They went inside the lock room a while ago." Rin looks to the side, "Oh there they are."

Nico looks at Rin's direction and had to hit the slow-speed button otherwise she would trip on her face; they are wearing the same thing when the idol first met them. 'Oh fuck they're so hot.' Now they are clamping on kind of gear on their bodies while Nico bites her lower lip and looks back at Rin.

Luckily Rin was busy looking at them, "Ooooh, they're going to spar."

"Spar?"

"Oh right," Rin lowers her speed so she can explain, "Spar are like mock-battles so we can practice our skills." She shrugs, "They're not like the real deal but they help."

"Oh. Then why did you make it sound like something is about to go down?"

Rin tilts her head at them, "Just watch."

Nico turns the speed down to walking pace and looks back at the arena.

They seem to be a decent distance away from each other and standing still. Then they bowed and got into their fighting stance. Eli has her right leg behind her and both of arms are near her face. Nozomi has her right leg back as well but her left arm is in front while her right is near her face. They stayed in that position for some time before Eli attacked first and threw her left fist.

Nozomi steps into the attack and deflects it to right, allowing her to catch Eli's fist with her right hand. Just as Nozomi was about to attack, the blonde threw a quick punch to Nozomi's left side, making her wincing from that strike and dropping Eli's hand. Eli then lowers her body and tries to grab Nozomi's legs. But Nozomi moves her legs back and Eli misses her grab. The purplenette then grabs Eli's neck and raises her right knee, but Eli has her hands in front of face to stop the attack.

"Huh that's weird."

Nico turns to Rin, "What?" Nico realizes that both of them stopped their treadmills.

"Well, this fight is not like the rest."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Rin gestures her hands in the direction of the spar, "It's like Nozomi's fighting seems a bit off." Nico must have a confused face as Rin quickly add, "If that makes sense."

"Rin's right."

Nico jumps and quickly turns around to see Umi standing next to her treadmill. Umi continues to speak, "Like Rin said, their spars are usually not like this. It looks like Nozomi seems distracted."

'Damn it. This is not working out.' Nico looks back at the fight to see it already ended; Nozomi is on the ground with Eli on top. Nico nibbles her thumb, 'Is there anything else?' Seconds pass by before Nico's eyes widen, 'I got it.'

Clap

"Oiii!" Nico made sure she has everyone's attention. "Let's go on a mini road-trip."

.

. . . . . . . .

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Some neighborhood

Afternoon

"C'mon, it's not that bad." Nico gets out of the car following after Rin.

"It would have been safer at your house Miss Yazawa." Umi and the other guards get out of the car as well.

"Urrgh it's Nico." Nico walks with her protective entourage to a two-story house. "Besides, it's just my family." They make their way to the front door and Nico knocks on the door.

After several seconds of waiting and the door opens to reveal an older-looking Nico in front of them. When she sees Nico, she gasps, "Oh my god Nico!" She hugs the idol.

"Hey mama." Nico hugs her back.

They separate from their hug, "Why didn't you call? I would have prepared something."

"I wanted to surprise you—"

"Nico!"

Three blurs fly past her mom and into Nico, "Oof." Once she recovered from that surprise tackle, Nico looks down and instantly smiles, "Hey Cocoro," Nico pats the head of a girl wearing a skirt and blouse. "Cocoa," She pats the head of a girl wearing a t-shirt and gym shorts. "Cotarou," The idol finally pats the head of a boy wearing a shirt and loose pants.

Nico looks up but raises her eyebrow at her mom's shocked face; she looks behind to see all of her guards with their hands on their sides. The idol rolls her eyes, 'Nice first impression.' Nico steps back and waves at her mom, "So this is my mama."

Mama tilts her head, "Hello I'm Junko Yazawa."

The girl with the skirts bows, "I am Cocoro Yazawa."

The girl with the shorts gives a V sign, "I'm Cocoa Yazawa."

The boy gives a simple wave, "I'm Cotarou Yazawa."

They guards recovered and Umi steps forward to bow at the family, "I am Umi Sonoda and I am terribly ashamed for our behavior."

Rin is next, "I'm Rin Hoshizara and sorry about that."

"I'm Eli Ayase and I apologize for my behavior."

"I'm Nozomi To- Just Nozomi and please pardon us."

"Mama, munchkins." Nico waves at her guards, "These are my security agents—" Nico's eyes lingers on Eli and Nozomi, "—and my friends."

"Oh." Junko smiles, "Thank you for protecting my daughter." She ushers to the house, "Please come in. I'll make some tea for you."

After giving their thanks, everyone goes inside the house and follow the siblings to the living room. Once there, Cocoa turns to Nozomi, "So what's it like being a security?"

Nico intercepts her, "Woah now, you gotta ask if she okay with that."

Nozomi waves her hands, "It's okay Nicocchi." She turns to Cocoa, "It's a great job where I protect my clients with my friends."

"Did you do anything before this?"

"I was in the military."

"Wow! That sounds amazing." It seems the siblings are getting interested. "Do you have any stories to tell?"

"I do," Nozomi grins and faces Umi, "She's also from the military."

The siblings pounce on her, "Do you have stories too?"

"I-Well-That's-" Seeing Umi's flustered face is great. "Yes, but Nozomi should tell hers first."

The Yazawa trio turns back to Nozomi who chuckles, "Well, there is this one time..."

.

One hour later

(POV shift to Nozomi)

Nozomi sits at the kitchen table and sighs, 'They are definitely Nicocchi's siblings with all that energy.' Nozomi looks to the living to see everyone crowding around Umi as she narrates her time in the military. Almost everyone.

"How are you doing?" Eli sits down on the chair next to her.

Nozomi smiles, "Tired. It's like her family doesn't know the meaning of tired."

Eli nods in agreement.

Nozomi puts her head on the palm of her hand, "It feels nice to be around them."

Before Eli can say anything, Junko comes with empty mugs. "Oh, didn't see you there." Junko makes her way to the sink to place the mugs inside. She turns around and leans on the countertop. "Eli and Nozomi right?"

Eli nods, "Yes Mrs. Yazawa."

Junko waves her hands, "Oh please call me Junko. I always feel old when people call me that."

"Alright... Junko."

"Anyway, I would like to say thank the both of you for being there for Nico."

'Us?' Nozomi and Eli briefly look at each before looking back at Junko. "What do you mean?"

"I've seen the way she looks at you two. How her smiles are just a little bit bigger." She smiles, "It reminds me of the time when she was a little kid." Then her smile becomes nostalgic, "Did you know that Nico wanted to become an idol when she was a little kid?"

Unsure of answering verbally, they shake their heads.

"Nico would devote most of her childhood working toward that dream. But it was because of that devotion that she didn't have any friends. She said she doesn't care and wanted to focus on her dream. It took a very long time but she made it." Junko gestures the room around them, "Six years ago she bought this house for us and forced me to retire early."

"But I'm getting off-track." The older adult walks over to the guards, "What I'm trying to say is that Nico changed from the last time she visited us and I believe you two played a part in it."

Nozomi is the first to recover, "How... do you know?"

Junko just smiles, "Call it a mother's intuition."

Just then Nico walks in, "Hey what are you girls talking about?"

Junko waves at the guards, "I was just about to show them your baby pictures."

"What!?" Somehow Nico's face heats up and pales at the same time.

"Oh my," Nozomi giggles behind her hand. 'Nicocchi looks so cute like that.'

Then Rin's head pops from the side of the entrance, "Cocoa is setting up some games so any of you want to join?"

"Yes!" Nico grabs her mom and ushers her out, "I'm sure everyone wants to join in." Nozomi sees Nico look back give a strained smile, "Right?"

Nozomi looks over to Eli and they both smile at Nico's attempts to change the subject. The purple-haired guard gets up from her table, "Lead the way Nicocchi."

.

(Shift back to Nico)

.

"Rin I'm pretty sure that doesn't count as a word."

.

.

"How the hell did Umi get both of the blue properties?"

.

.

"There is no way a panda acts like that Nozi."

.

.

"Of course you would pick Russia as your starting country Eli."

.

.

Nico plops back onto the couch and looks up at the clock on the wall. 'We've been playing for three hours.' She looks down to see everyone else just finished cleaning and clearing the games away.

The siblings walk over to Nico and Cocoro asks, "Do you think we can watch a movie?"

Nico looks over to the guards; Eli, Nozomi, and Rin nod their heads while Umi takes a moment to consider before nodding her head. She looks back at her baby sisters and brother. "Sure."

"Yes," Cocoa pumps her fist while Cocoro and Cotarou smile.

They walk to the front of the TV and Cocoro picks up the remote. Nico looks up at the ceiling and sighs, 'I hope today was good for Nozi.' Just then she feels the couch shift from her right side; the idol tilts her head down to see Nozomi. "Yo."

Nozomi smiles, "Hey Nicocchi."

"So how was today?"

"Fun." Nozomi fondly shakes her head, "I can see where you got your energy from."

"Yeah, these munchkins can play all night if they want to." They both go into comfortable silence as they watch the siblings pick a movie. Nico takes the moment to prepare her words, "Hey."

Nozomi turns to Nico, "Hmm?"

"Just know that you have people who care for you. And if it's a family you want..." Nico looks to the side to hide her face, "I would take you in."

"Nicocchi..." Nico takes a peek to see Nozomi's eyes are watery, "Thank you... I'll consider it."

Nico smiles, "Cool."

Just then Eli come from the other room and sits on Nico's left. "Everything has been put away."

"Thanks Eli."

"No problem." Eli shifts in her seat to get comfortable.

The lights turned off as the movie starts on the screen. Nico looks around to see where everyone else was sitting. Slightly to the left Rin and Umi are sitting on a couch. On her right her mama sits on a couch while her siblings got an air-mattress on the floor in front of the TV. With everyone situated, Nico leans back on the cushion and watches the movie. Twenty minutes into the movie Nico's eyes start to droop. 'Arrgh... Must...Stay...Awake...' But it was all for naught as Nico's vision is surrounded in darkness.

.

Psst

.

"Hey."

.

"Huh?" Nico mumbles as she slowly opens her eyes; the first this she see is her mom in front of her.

"Hey sleepyhead." Junko whispers, "The movie is about to finish."

Nico looks to the screen to see explosions everywhere, "Oh." She looks back to her mom, "Thanks mama."

She has a weird smile, "No problem Nico." She goes back to her couch.

The idol looks to her left and right to see her guards asleep. She softly shakes their thighs in the hopes they don't react... violently.

Luckily they slowly woke up, "Hmm?" They look around in the darkness.

"Hey," Their unfocused eyes on Nico, "Movie is about to be done."

Eli rubs her eye, "Thank you Nico."

Nozomi quietly yawns into her mouth, "Thanks Nicocchi."

Just then the movie ends and the credits roll up. Nico sees her mom walk to the side of the wall, "Alright everyone close your eyes. I'm going to turn on the lights."

Nico closes her eye and after a couple of seconds the lights hit her eyelids. After several more seconds Nico opens her eyes and the lights are not as blinding as it would have been. Everyone gets up and stretches their tired bodies. Nico walks up to her family, "Today has been very fun with all of you. Now I gotta go back and keep my title as the Number 1 Idol."

"We got your back big sis."

Nico pats their heads and then walks over to hug her mom. "Thanks mama."

Mama hugs her back. "We'll always be here for you."

The guards all bow with Umi speaking out, "Thank you for your hospitality."

Her mom waves her hands, "Oh please none of that. I'm happy to have you all here."

Nico and her guards walk to the front door; she gives a wave to her family, "I'll come by again."

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. . . . . . . .

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Home

"Nicocchi are you dressed up yet?"

"Give me a minute." Nico picks up a blouse and slips in it. As she was finishing up, her phone vibrates on her nightstand. 'Who could it be this early?' Nico picks up and swipes her phone; it was a message from her mom:

[ Hey Nico I didn't think last night would be a good time but here's something for you. ]

Would you like to open this file?

Nico raises her eyebrow but presses the yes button. Hey eyes nearly pop out as her phone shows her the content; it was a picture of her sleeping with the TV screen lighting up her face. But that wasn't what shocked Nico; Eli's head was on top of Nico's head while Nozomi's head was leaning on the idol's shoulder.

Nico quickly types out a response: [ Why did you take a picture? ]

[ The three of you looks so adorable that I couldn't miss the opportunity. ] [ And you should cherish them. ]

Nico sighs but she has a small smile: [ I know mama. ]

[ Good. Now dazzle the world. ]

[ I will. Love you mom. ]

[ Love you too Nico. ]

The idol presses a few buttons:

Would you like save this file?

Yes / No

'Hell yes!' Nico pockets the phone and checks her figure with the mirror. With nothing out of place, Nico walks out of her room. She sees Eli and Nozomi waiting downstairs near the front door. They look up to see Nico and Nozomi is the first to speak, "You look good today Nicocchi."

Nico grins as she walks down the stairs, "You too Nozi."

Eli opens the front door and looks back, "You ready?"

Nico smiles, "Always."

.

Fin.

Nico's break just finished while mine is just starting.

Also: WOOHOO! Summer is here and I am ready to write.

Notes:

-Sorry if the chapter seems janky; I just finished school so I'm trying to get my rhythm back.

-The reason the mini fight scene seems simplistic is because I'm trying to make it from Nico's POV... I also thought of it on the spot.

-Sorry I didn't do much with the Nico's siblings; it's kinda hard when they share the same voice actress.

-Can you guess the games they are playing?

Alright lovely readers I have an announcement to make:

I want to finish this story by the end of the year. Last semester made me realize how busy it's going to be. After this year, I'm going to be super busy trying to finish my degree. I'll do one-shots here and there but I won't be able to focus on multi-chapter stories (except Chronicles of the New World since it's a collection of one-shots).

Thanks for reading

Constructive criticisms are appreciated

Bravo Tango out.