Back at it again.

"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.

Organizing for the West

Tick

Tock

"WHAT!?"

Nico jumps at the sudden noise around her, "Whoa."

Umi is the first one to recover, "Why do you want to hold a concert in the US?"

Nico shrugs, "Why not? I want to show my love to my international fans and with Ma— Nishikino's sponsorship, we can do it."

"It was bound to happen." Nozomi sighs dramatically, "Nicocchi won't be satisfied being Number 1 in just Japan."

Nico gives the guard a cheeky grin.

"Okay," Ryu folds his hands, "Where would you want it to be held?"

"Hmmm," Nico holds her chin as she thinks of where to hold the concert. The idol grins, "Los Angeles. Oh and I want it to be big."

Umi pinches the bridge of her nose while Ryu audibly inhales. "That's quite a big order."

Nico is quick to mollify them, "I don't want it soon. Take your time to plan things out."

Ryu is silent for some time as he mulls over the situation. After a period of silence, he finally speaks, "Can you give me some time?"

Nico raises her hands, "Like I said, take all the time you need." Nico turns to Umi, "How about you girls?"

Umi places her arms back to her sides, "I would have to talk to Honoka about this."

Nico's eyes go wide and she snaps her fingers, "Oh invite everyone to my house. I'll make food and we can talk about it there."

Umi takes a few moments to consider before nodding to the plan. She takes her phone out, "Okay."

Nico slides over to Rin and whispers, "Can you ask Maki if she can leave work early?"

"I can try."

Nico gives a thumbs-up and turns around to face everyone, "Well let's go grocery shopping so I can start cooking early." As they walk out of the office Nico turns her head toward to Ryu, "Call me if there are any updates?"

Ryu is back to his computer, "Will do."

As the crew walks to the car, Nico had a thought, "Has your company gone international before?"

Eli answers, "Sometimes but never like this."

Nico grins at that, "Good to know I'll be your first to set the new standard.

.

. . . . . . . . .

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Home

Thump

"I'll see you later tonight." Nico waves as Umi pulls the car away from the driveway. As the car disappears from the corner Nico turns to the remaining guards and raises the plastic bags in her hands, "Let's cook."

Kitchen

"Eli start beating the ground beef."

"Got it."

"Nozomi get the food mill in that drawer over there. Once you find it help me cut the tomatoes."

"Alright Nico—" Nozomi pauses at the last part, "Are you sure?" Even Eli stops and stares back at the idol.

Nico just realized what she said but she continues on, "Yes I'm sure." She claps her hands, "Now Chop chop! The spaghetti isn't going to make itself." 'Can't back out when everyone is coming over.'

The guards work on their part as Nico plops the tomatoes in a bowl and places it inside the sink. The idol rinses her hands first and then tomatoes. After that, she takes out two cutting boards and places them on the countertop.

"Here Nicocchi." Nozomi is by her side with a food mill in her arms.

"Ah place it there with a pot." Nico points at the empty area of the countertop. As the purple-haired guard sets the tools down, Nico drains the bow and places it in between them. "Let's start." Nico picks up a tomato and reaches for the knife; she hesitates but the idol takes a deep breath and pulls out the knife. 'You can do it.' Nico takes her time to cut the tomatoes into little chunks while Nozomi follows Nico actions.

As they are cutting, Nico turns to Eli, "Can you put a wide stove pot on top of the oven?"

The blonde stops beating the meat, "Sure Nico."

In five minutes the duo finishes cutting up all of the tomatoes. "Alright." Nico dumps the chopped pieces into the stove and sets the heat to simmer.

As they wait, Nozomi speaks up, "Why do you want to hold a concert over in the US Nicocchi?"

Nico turns her head, "Hmm?" But she looks back at the stove, "I thought I told you."

"We heard it but what's the real reason?"

Nico stares at the pot as it simmers and the tomatoes start to break down. She plucks a spatula and swirls the tomatoes inside. She sighs as she answers them, "While having a concert for my fans is a part of the reason of going international..." Nico turns off the oven and picks up the stove pot to dump the contents in the food mill. She puts the pot back on the stove and returns to the food mill.

The idol grips the handle and cranks the lever to strain the tomatoes. "I want to get out of Japan." She looks back to see their raised eyebrows and elaborates, "All of my life I've lived here and not once have I went outside of Japan." Nico shrugs as the sauce fills up the pot. "It happens when you're so focused on becoming the Number 1 Idol. I want to explore and experience new places and people. I want to see what their culture is like."

Once done with the food mill the idol pours the sauce onto multiple metal trays. "That's why I'm hoping Ryu can pull this off," Nico places the trays into the oven and sets the temperature at low heat. She turns to Eli and Nozomi, "I can meet my fans and experience a new world."

Nozomi nods at the answer, "I see."

Eli nods as well, "I understand Nico. Before I settled here in Japan I would travel to other countries like the US and Hong Kong. It was truly an amazing experience there."

"Oi," Nico lightly punches Eli's shoulder, "You're making me jealous." All of them chuckle at that. "Right. Let's finish this on time."

.

Evening

Bzzt

Nico looks at her phone to see a message from Honoka: [ Hey we're coming to your house in 20 min. ]

She pockets her phone and pokes her head out of the kitchen door to see Eli and Nozomi sitting on couch. "Heyyy." They turn to Nico. "They're coming in about 20 so let's set the table up."

"Alright / Okay Nicocchi." They walk over to the dining table.

Nico opens a drawer and picks up a stack of plates and looks over her shoulder, "The table should be able to extend so look under the cover."

It seems they found the feature since Nico hears Nozomi's voice, "...Ohhh that's neat."

With everything secured, Nico walks to the dining area to see the rectangular table longer than before. She sets plates down and counts the chairs. 'Shoot we're one chair short.' The idol turns to the blonde, "Eli there should be an extra chair in the garage."

Eli nods, "Got it." She walks to the garage.

Nico places the dishes and utensils on the area that is in front of the chairs. Just as she finished setting them down, Nico sees Eli coming in with a chair; she points it to the space at the end of the table, "Right there should be good." The blonde places the extra chair as instructed.

Nozomi takes out her phone for a moment and then looks up, "They're here Nicocchi."

"Nice." Nico claps her hands, "Can you two get some drinks?" They both nod and walk to the kitchen while Nico makes her way to the front door. She reaches over and opens the door to see everyone from the company plus Maki. "Heyyy."

"Hey Nico."

"Yo Nico."

"Hello Nico."

"Hi Nico."

"Good evening."

"Thank you for having us."

Nico waves them in, "Come in." They come inside the house and take off their shoes. After that they follow Nico as the idol leads them to the dining table, "My special idol food is ready and hot." She looks over her shoulder and grins, "Just like me." They chuckle as they take their seats. Nico notes that the glasses are filled with drinks and so she gives a thumbs up-to the duo.

After pushing her chair in, Honoka looks at Nico, "So what's today's menu?"

Nico grins, "Spaghetti." She then raises her eyebrow when Maki's eyes widen. 'The heck is that about?' "Anyway food will be out soon." With the help of Eli and Nozomi, Nico pours the steaming pasta on everyone's plate. Making sure everything is in place, Nico then clears her throat, "Everyone." She has their attention, "I would like to honor this dinner to everyone." Nico nods at the doctor, "Especially you Maki. Because of what you did you saved my career. Thank you."

"Yay go Maki!" Everyone claps for the doctor.

Maki's cheeks match her hair color, "It's nothing."

"With that out of the way," Nico sits down at the end of the table. "Let's eat." And so everyone begins eating and talking. In the middle of dinner the idol notes that Maki's eating style is a little... aggressive. She leans to her right and whispers to Hanayo, "Does Maki like spaghetti or something?"

"Hmm?" Hanayo looks to Maki and back to the idol, "Oh she really loves tomatoes so she would love spaghetti as well."

"Ohhh. That's nice to know." Nico goes back to eating.

40 minutes later...

With the help of Eli and Nozomi, they cleaned the dishes and letting them dry. Nico walks toward the living room while patting her stomach, "Ahhh that hit the spot." She sees Maki, Rin, and Hanayo on the big couch. Kotori and Honoka are sitting on the smaller couch while Umi is leaning against said couch. "Right." Nico stands in front of the TV, "I'm sure Umi and Rin told you about today so I'm going to ask you..." She looks at everyone, "Will you go with me to America?"

"It's not our first time going overseas," Honoka states as she gets up and stands in front of Nico. "But never like this. Especially on this scale." The president then smiles, "Buuut there's a first time in everything." She holds her hand, "I've talked with everyone and we agreed to help you."

Nico smiles and accepts the handshake, "Thank you." But her mind does a back track, "Everyone?"

Honoka's eyes flicker to Eli and Nozomi before going back to Nico; she smiles and whispers, "I know they would help you for sure."

Nico's cheeks turn pink but she fights it down. 'Damn it.'

"So we have a few plans if your manager convinces the investors to go through with the concert." Honoka tilts her head toward the bigger couch, "Then again I'm sure Maki here can pay it by herself."

Maki shrugs, "I guess."

Nico shakes her head at the doctor's nonchalant gesture. 'Jeez.' "So what's the plan?"

"I have a few contacts in the US that can help us with licenses, certificates, a temporary base, and other things."

Nico nods at how much they prepared for this, "That's cool."

Umi joins in, "Another plan is that the two of us travel to the US ahead of schedule." Seeing Nico's confused stare Umi elaborates, "International security agents must pass a test to earn a certificate that allows us to perform our job and in certain countries carry firearms."

"But why two?"

"This option cuts our manpower only in half rather than all of it. The two who went ahead can guard you while the rest of us can take the tests for the certificate." Umi shrugs, "Another option is to hire guards native to the country but I wouldn't recommend it."

"Hmmm." Nico taps her finger on her chin before shrugging her shoulders, "I guess."

Eli finally joins in the conversation, "So what kind of certificates are we looking for?"

Everyone from Muse huddle close to talk about which certificates to look for in the US. Nico looks over to see Maki leaning back on the couch; Rin and Hanayo got up from their seat to join with the Muse group. The idol slides over to the seat next to the doctor, "Yo."

"Hey."

"Thanks again for sponsoring me Maki."

Maki shrugs, "It's no problem."

"If you want anything let me know."

Maki shakes her head, "You don't have to."

Nico smirks and takes out her phone, "You sure?" The idol shows Maki a picture of Rin in a cute dress.

Maki's eyes go wide but she averts them and starts to twirl a lock of her hair, "How did you get that?"

"Me n' Kotori were trying out some dresses and I persuaded Rin to join us." Nico shrugs, "If you don't want it that's okay."

"Wait." Maki slowly pulls out her phone.

Nico grins as they exchanged numbers so Nico can send the picture over to Maki. "You know, I could get more pictures with Rin and Hanayo in cute or sexy dresses."

Maki goes silent at the tempting offer. After a few moments Maki finally mutters, "...Please do."

"Thank you for your patronage." Nico leans back and watches the girls discuss their plans for America. "Oh," She turns back to Maki, "Since you're sponsoring me do you want your logo on my costume?"

.

. . . . . . . . .

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Producer Office

Several days after dinner

Nico is the first to enter the room followed by her usual crew but this time Honoka and Hanayo joins the party. "Hey Ryu what's the news?"

The man looks up, "Ah Nico." He looks over to newest additions, "Hello Honoka and you must be Hanayo."

"Yo / Hello." They wave at the manager.

Ryu looks back at the idol, "Good news Nico. The investors are on board for the US concert."

"YES!" Nico pumps her fists into the air. She turns around to high-five or fist-bump her friends.

After the mini-celebration Honoka steps close to Ryu, "Since it's a go, we have some plans that we should talk about." Ryu nods.

Just as Nico was about to join in, she feels a tap on her shoulder; she looks behind her to see Eli and Nozomi standing there. The idol turns around and steps closer to them, "What's up?"

The duo shares a look before Eli steps forward, "Since the concert is approved, we decided that we should the first to go."

Nico feels a knot in her stomach, "What? Why?"

This time Nozomi answers Nico, "We want to be the first ones to be there for you Nicocchi. With all the training and certificates done, we can show new places to you."

"I..." The explanation calms Nico somewhat, "Alright. But you better show me the best places over there."

Eli smiles and nods, "Of course."

Nico sighs and hugs the both of them, "I'll miss you two."

They return the hug, "Ditto for us Nicocchi." They separate and join the others in organizing a plan for the concert.

.

And fin.

welll shoot... oh well "Operation Take America" is a go. We are very close to the end of this arc and I'm getting excited. See ya next week.

Also Happy Belated Birthday Nozomi; sorry I forgot about it.

Thanks for reading

Constructive criticisms are appreciated

Bravo Tango out.