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(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.

Recuperate

(Nozomi's POV)

It wasn't until a day later when John and another person walk into their hospital room. John waves to the guards, "Hey Eli. Nozomi. How are you two doing?"

Eli nods, "We're doing fine."

Nozomi nods as well, "Same. So what are you doing here?"

John gestures to the man next to him, "This is Tim Jones. He is a federal investigator assigned to this case. He has some questions for you two..." His eyes flicker to their bandages, "If you don't mind."

Nozomi and Eli nod to each other before Nozomi answers for the both of them, "We don't mind."

Tim leans over and whispers something to John's ear; he nods and looks to the ladies, "Would it be alright to speak English?"

"Sure."

"No problem."

Tim walks closer and brings out a notepad and pen, "Can you two tell me what happened?"

Eli briefly raises her uninjured hand, "I'll start first."

As Eli told her story to the investigator, Nozomi takes a quick glance at John, 'Could it be him?' She then looks back at Eli just as the blonde finished her story.

Tim looks up from his notepad, "Is there anything else to add? Anything that stood out to you?"

Eli pauses for a moment and shakes her head, "The only thing I noted was that they had professional training. They had black clothes and ski masks."

Tim writes it down before looking up again, "Thank you for your input." He turns to Nozomi, "Is there anything you like to add?"

Nozomi shakes her head, "Not much. Like Eli said, I was unconscious for most of the fight and I woke up when one of that attacker was about to shoot Eli." The memory made the guard grip the bed sheets, "I missed my shot but it was enough of a distraction for reinforcements to arrive."

"I see," The investigator nods as he writes down her story. Once done, He stands up and nods to the both of them, "Thank you both for your cooperation. Your information can prove valuable to us."

Eli nods back, "We are happy to help as long as it helps Nico."

Tim and John bid their farewells and leave the room. Nozomi waits a few more moments and then turns to the blonde, "Was it really a good idea?"

Eli slowly breathes out and closes her eyes, "I hope it is."

The conversation was cut short when the door opens to show Maki, Tsubasa, and Honoka. Their boss is the first to speak, "We just saw John and some other guy leave. You two ready?"

Nozomi nods, "Yes but is the hospital okay with this?"

Maki tilts her head to Tsubasa as she disconnects Nozomi's machines, "We were able to convince them to discharge and leave you to our care." With the liaison's help, they helped Nozomi down on a wheelchair.

Eli turns Honoka as Maki walks over to her machine, "How were things on your end?"

Honoka helps Maki carry Eli down to her wheelchair, "We were able clear out most of our things from HQ. Anything we borrowed is left at the place since Ryu said he'll take care of it."

Tsubasa pushes Nozomi to the rest of the party as Nozomi asks, "Where are the others by the way?"

After securing Eli to the wheelchair, Honoka looks at Nozomi, "They'll be meeting us at Sphera Plaza."

Nozomi looks up at Tsubasa, "I do hope you have better food there." That brought a few chuckles out of them.

Maki walks over and holds the door for them, "Let's go."

.

. . . . . . . . . .

.

Sphera HQ

"Nozomi! Eli!"

The purple-haired guard turns her head to see the rest of Muse waiting for them as they were rolled out of the van. Nozomi waves her uninjured hand, "Hey everyone!" Honoka and Tsubasa rolls the incapacitated guards toward them, "Have you been waiting long?"

Umi shakes her head, "No. We arrived here five minutes before you did."

Bzzt

Honoka takes out her phone to see a message. She then looks at the other guards and gestures at the wheelchairs, "Can you two take over?" Umi and Rin nod as they took over the handles.

Now free to walk ahead, Tsubasa gestures to the doors, "Ready to go inside?" They all nod and follow the liaison through the doors. The first thing Nozomi sees is a large plaza with various buildings that are higher than six floors.

"Whoa," Rin murmurs from behind Nozomi.

'I'm sure Nicocchi would be so jealous...' Nozomi shakes her head and sighs, 'Now's not the time.' She then looks in front of them to see a modified jeep and two other jeeps waiting for them. With some help everyone got in and they drove toward one of the buildings. As they drove farther into the plaza, Nozomi notes that large parts of the area are sectioned off for small helicopters.

"Are those tanks?!"

Nozomi and the others turn to the direction of Rin's finger; there are tanks parked in a large clearing.

Tsubasa seems to smile in pride, "Yup. And that's not all." She points at another clearing that has some kind of weaponized-drone walking in uneven terrain. "That bad boy is about to be approved for field use. There's still some kinks left to fix."

"Oh gosh that's unbelievable!" It's impossible to miss the gushing in Hanayo's voice.

'All of this technology.' Nozomi almost shudders as different forms of drones maneuver around them.

"Ah." Tsubasa points the building in front of them as the convoy stops. "We're here." They all got out and she turns to the group, "If you want you can take a tour of the area."

They all look at Honoka who nods back, "Let's go. We need to be familiar with the resources they have for us." She looks at Eli and Nozomi, "Hope you two recover soon."

Eli nods at Honoka, "Don't worry about us."

Tsubasa waves over several soldiers, "Give these five a tour of HQ and they have permission from Miss Murgatroyd to use most of our resources."

They snap a salute, "Yes Ma'am!" They guide Muse to another building close by.

Tsubasa grabs onto the handles behind Nozomi's wheelchair, "Let's get you two situated."

It took about five minutes before they reach into a room that have two hospital beds and a curved plasma-screen TV planted on one side of the wall. Nozomi grunts as they help her into the bed and then did the same thing for Eli. Just as they settled in a woman in a doctor's coat walks in. "Hello I am Dr. Gwen Lu and I am the director of the medical division." When she sees Maki her eyes shine and she makes her way toward the redhead with her hand out, "It is an honor to meet you Dr. Nishikino."

Maki nods as she accepts the hand, "Likewise Dr. Lu."

Tsubasa coughs into her fist, "Dr. Lu." The doctors turn to her, "Miss Murgatroyd has given permission for Dr. Nishikino to utilize our resources."

Maki nods at Gwen, "I hope that is not too much trouble."

Gwen shakes her head, "Oh not at all." She gestures to the door, "Our facility has the necessary materials for your procedure."

Maki turns to Eli and Nozomi, "It will take some time to verify and make sure everything is in order..." The doctor looks at the clock for a moment, "A day at most."

Eli gives a nod, "It's no problem Maki."

Nozomi smiles, "It's not like we can go anywhere."

The doctors bid their farewells and leave the room.

After they left Tsubasa points at phone near their bed, "Press 3 if you two need anything." She then picks up a remote and places near Nozomi, "In case you get bored. Any questions?"

Nozomi and Eli shake their heads, "No."

Tsubasa peeks at her phone and then look at them, "I'm going to meet up with the others so I can set up rooms for them." She gives them a wave, "I'll see you two later."

The guards bow their heads, "Thank you."

Tsubasa smiles, "Glad to help." She gives one final wave and leaves the room.

The room falls mostly silent save for the consistent beeping of the machine. Nozomi then looks to Eli, "Want to watch something?"

.

A day later...

.

'Yum.'

Nozomi was enjoying a nice stack of waffles when Maki walks in with a stack of folders. She gulps down her food and plaster on a smile at the doctor, "Hi Maki. Is the procedure good to go?"

Maki blinks her eyes at that, "...So far everything seems to be in order." She opens the first folder, "I'm here to discuss the procedure in detail. First..."

20 minutes later...

"...And so the procedure—"

BANG

Nozomi jumps in her bed as she sees Hanayo in the doorway gasping for air with her laptop in her hands.

"Hanayo?" Maki walks over and puts her hand on Hanayo's back, "What's wrong?"

Hanayo looks around and points at the TV.

"What is it?"

Hanayo just moves in that direction and Maki supports her along the way. Once there the techie opens both the TV and her laptop. "We... found... it's on live..." Hanayo gets her breathing back as she presses the laptop. "There's a video of Nico being broadcasted live over the Net."

Before anyone could question her, the TV flashes into life and Nico is shown on screen.

"Nico..." Eli whispers the name.

"Nicocchi..." Nozomi's hands trembles, "She's alive." After several seconds the guard starts to notices everything else in the video. Nico is the only one in the video; the idol's face is pale and she seems to wearing rags as her clothes. Nico seems to be trembling as she holds onto a piece of cardboard. She then opens her mouth:

"Tyrants of the First World,

Y-You have failed in your attempts to stop the Brotherhood. You thought you have won but you're sorely mistaken for we are still here. What we want is simple: We want you to release our brother you have captured and give us the soldiers that attacked us. Failure to do so—" Nico's eyes go wide as she stops the message. She then looks up and shies back at something off-screen. "Failure to do so will result in the termination of Nico Yazawa. Praise...Praise" Nico grits her teeth and throws the cardboard at something. "I'm in some kind of desert and cave!" Somebody ran in and tries to muffle Nico, "Hel—"

The stream cuts off and only static remains.

Nozomi stares at the screen as she is barely aware that the rest of Muse is with them.

Eli voices snaps her out of her stupor, "Hanayo were you able to record it?"

The technician jumps and turns to the blonde, "I-Uh-Yes."

"Go back six seconds before it cuts off." Hanayo did so. "Play." The video plays again as the person has their back toward the camera. "Freeze." Eli narrows her eyes, "It can't be..."

Nozomi looks around the video to look for what shook the blonde. Her eyes stop at the top of the head and she gasps as well; it was the black beret. 'I thought he died.' The guard whips her head to the doctor, "Maki." The redhead turns to Nozomi. "Do the procedure."

"But—"

"Now."

Maki hesitates but she nods at her, "Everyone move out of the way!" Maki points at the nurses and then at the incapacitated duo, "Prep them for surgery!"

People scramble out of the room for the nurses to push Eli and Nozomi to the operating room. As Nozomi passes them, she catches Tsubasa leaning toward Honoka, "The boss lady called for an emergency meeting. We have to go..."

.

. . . . . . . . . .

.

"Mnn." Nozomi opens her eyes and tries to lift her body up, 'It feels like I ran through two marathons.'

"Good to see you two awake."

The guard turns her head to see Maki standing next to her bed with a clipboard while Eli drags her upper body off the bed. "Hey—" Nozomi coughs and Maki offers her a cup; the guard greedily drinks the water, "Thanks."

"How do you two feel?"

Nozomi places the cup back on the table, "Like I ran twenty miles nonstop."

Maki looks at Eli who nods while nursing her cup, "Same."

"Well..." Maki writes something on her clipboard, "The operation was a success. The soreness is just your body adapting to the rapid recovery we implemented. It should take you about a week for full recovery."

Nozomi sighs, "That is great." She smiles at the doctor, "Thank you Maki."

Maki smiles back and nods, "It's no problem."

Knock Knock

They all turn to see Alice and her guards at the door. "I hope we are not intruding."

Maki shakes her head, "No. They just woke up."

"Then this is the perfect moment." Alice walks in and takes a seat, "We should talk about this new development."

Nozomi grips the sheets as Eli speaks first, "What happened?"

Alice crosses her legs as she looks at both of them. "Hours after that stream ended, TV news stations from both countries have shown the video to the public. Since then both governments are initially in disarray from external and internal pressure. My sources have given me information that the Japanese is pressuring the Americans to take action."

"And what about you?" Eli asks, "Is our deal still valid?"

Alice's eyes seem to twinkle at the dismissal of the two nations. "The deal is still valid."

Nozomi and Eli sigh in—

"With a few conditions." Seeing their wary stares Alice continues, "I made sure it will not obstruct you or endanger Nico in any way. But there will be no compromise. I also have one question for you." Alice clasps her hands and places them on her lap. "Are you two ready to do what is necessary to help Nico?"

"...What?"

"With this new development, I can speculate that Nico is not here in the US anymore and in another country. Since we cannot trust the authorities at the moment, we will operate by ourselves with no regulation and deal with people from... the underground. There will come a time where any of you will perform actions that others deem illegal."

Nozomi and Eli turn to each other; they nod at each other and Nozomi speaks. "We still want to save Nico... no matter the cost."

Alice stares at them for a while before she nods to herself, "I will have my sources to look for any information on Nico."

Nozomi sighs in relief, 'The benefits of being a private company.' She dips her head, "Thank you for doing this."

Alice nods at them and stands up from her chair.

"Ah." Nozomi perks up, "What about the others?"

Alice smiles and tilts her head to the door, "You should ask them."

Nozomi looks at the door to see Honoka at the door waving at them, "Hey."

"I'll take my leave." Alice walks out of the room so Honoka and the rest of Muse walks in.

Honoka starts off, "Good to see you two up again."

"Are all of you staying?" Eli asks the crew. She bites her lip, "I... I would understand if any of you would want to back out with this new kind of threat."

They all look at each other before Honoka steps up, "We're staying." The other answers in kind.

"Of course."

"For sure."

"Hell yeah nya!"

"Certainly."

Nozomi looks at everyone as her hands trembles. 'Nicocchi you have wonderful friends.' She looks down at her sheets, "Thank you...so much."

Everyone smiles and stays quiet to enjoy this moment. It took a few more moments before Nozomi looks back up and wipes her face. She then hears Eli's voice, "What is Ryu doing by the way?"

Honoka answers, "While you two were in the operation he called me to tell me that he's going back to Japan. He figured he could be a bigger help to Nico back at home rather than staying here and doing nothing."

Nozomi tilts her head, "How?"

"He said that he'll keep Nico's career afloat and make sure Nico's family isn't harassed too much."

'I can't believe I forgot about them.'

It seems Eli had a similar thought, "How are they?"

"Initially they were hounded by people asking questions but..." Honoka grins at Maki, "Our doctor here sent guards to scare the harassers off."

Maki averts her eyes and plays with her hair, "People should more respectful about this."

Her behavior elicits a chuckle out of everyone.

"So Maki," Eli touches the new scar on her arm. "When can get out of bed?"

The doctor looks at the clock, "Tomorrow."

"Great." Nozomi grins, 'I can't wait to what they have to offer us.'

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And fin.

So yeah I really hope this will be the last time people stood around and talked. Sorry. Anyway school just started and I'm trying to adjust to the new schedule. Hopefully I can finish this by the end of the semester but I will put this on hiatus and focus on my workload. There might even be a chance I finish this next year...I really hope not...

But that's enough about me so see ya next time.

Thanks for reading

Constructive criticisms are appreciated

Bravo Tango out.

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GASP

Nico coughs out any water that went down her trachea; She takes deep breaths as water drips from her hair.

"That was a very stupid thing to do Nico. If you had followed the script you wouldn't be punished."

Nico tries to look up as two men hold her over a barrel of water, "Why... Why me?"

"Why?" He shrugs, "After watching your little speech in front of that news station, I knew you are the perfect target." He spread his arms, "An international superstar captured in US soil. Those Tyrants have taken a hit and lost the trust of the people."

Nico wearily shakes her head, "They'll find me."

He chuckles, "Doubtful." He looks to the people holding Nico, "That'll be it for today. I'm sure our idol enjoyed her bath."

Nico stays slack as the soldiers drag her back to her cell.