I was Scared of Pretty Girls and Starting Conversations Chapter 5, a love live! school idol project fanfic

Maki threw open the door to the spacious music room, leaving it slightly ajar. The tears started to run down her face as she opened the large black piano, sitting down on the small seat. Maki's tears dripped off of her chin onto the floor as she sobbed. She hadn't cried this hard in a long time, and this was new to her. Mostly she was angry, yet also confused and upset. Why had Nico come back after all this time? What could she possibly have to say to her that had to wait two years?

She shook her head, blinking away more tears. How could she trust someone who just left her like that? How? No one in their right minds would. Maki sighed. "She probably doesn't even like me at all, maybe she hates me, who knows…" She thought about the fear in Nico's voice, when she heard that something happened to Maki. She thought about the intense eye contact, the stare that seemed to hold thousands of unsaid words.

Nico couldn't…love her…or anything. That was impossible. Maki laid her fingers on the keys, brushing them slightly. "Why do I have to care about you so much?" The tears started to begin again but Maki swept them away, opting to grab a musical score. It was a song she had written a few months ago, obviously about Nico, but it would do. She had to play something, anything, to calm herself down. She pushed the first key slowly, and began to sing.

I was scared of dentists and the dark
I was scared of pretty girls and starting conversations
Oh, all my friends are turning green
you're the magician's assistant in their dreams

Oh, and they come unstuck

Lady, running down to the riptide
Taken away to the dark side
I wanna be your left hand man
I love you when you're singing that song and
I got a lump in my throat because
You're gonna sing the words wrong

There's this movie that I think you'll like
this guy decides to quit his job and heads to New York City
this cowboy's running from himself
and she's been living on the highest shelf

Oh, and they come unstuck

I just wanna, I just wanna know
If you're gonna, if you're gonna stay
I just gotta, I just gotta know
I can't have it, I can't have it any other way
I swear she's destined for the screen
Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you've ever seen, oh

Oh lady, running down to the riptide
Taken away to the dark side
I wanna be your left hand man
I love you when you're singing that song and
I got a lump in my throat because
You're gonna sing the words wrong

Maki sighed after the final note, smiling to herself. It was an okay song, but it was still nice to play. She heard a small noise in the back of the room, but didn't move, mistaking it for a trick of the mind. A powerful voice suddenly struck out. "I really liked the song you know." Maki froze, slowly turning around on the bench. Her face flushed when she saw that it was Nico. Her hand was twirling one of her two twin tails as she leaned on the doorframe. Nico was smiling, almost wistfully.

Maki frowned. "W-what are you doing here?" Nico shrugged, walking into the room. "I thought that I should come and talk to you. Well, after Nozomi and Tsubasa gave me an earful." Maki shook her head, looking at the ground. "That isn't what I meant, why did you come back?" Nico flinched a little. "I had my reasons for leaving, and for that I'm sorry okay." She threw a small smile in Maki's direction. "All that doesn't have to matter. What matters is the here and now. Let's just hang out like we used to and nothing will break, everything will be fine."
Maki stood up from the bench, walking over to Nico. She looked up in anger. "You can't just pretend that never happened. You kissed me and then avoided me for two years. And don't even make excuses. You saw everyone else but me and I know you have my number. What's wrong with you? Did I do something wrong?"
Nico flinched again, quickly regaining her composure. "It's not you, it's me. Everything was wrong, and you know it." Maki frowned. "What do you mean?" Nico seemed to be steering this conversation away from the topic. Nico shrugged. "I wasn't pretty, I wasn't very good at the idol stuff, and there wasn't anything special about me. All I had was a fake personality and some basic dancing skills."

She laughed bitterly. "How was I supposed to compare to the princess of the group. You're great at everything, unlike me. I just thought…" Maki prompted her. "You thought what?" Nico sighed. "I thought I wasn't good enough for you okay?! I thought you would reject me, that's why I avoided you. In my mind leaving you was better than being rejected by the person you'd loved for a year!"

Nico's eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with her hands. "Forget I said that." A muffled voice protruded from under the hands. Maki's face flushed and her eyes widened. "W-w-what? I can't just forget that!" Nico and Maki stared at each other in confusion and fear for a moment before Maki sighed. "I really need to grow up. I can't just freeze every time something startles me. Well, I guess it's time for me to tell you my feelings about all of this."

Maki pretended to ponder the thoughts. Nico, on the other hand, was still frozen in shock. Maki shot her a smirk. "Nico Yazawa, well, I never really noticed her until we started the club, no offense to her. Sure I noticed how pretty she was but I didn't realize how much I cared about her until she kissed me. That was great. Then she abandoned me. I couldn't get up the nerve to seek her out myself because I thought, you know, leaving her is better than being rejected by someone you love."

Maki smiled at Nico. "So I see we had the same feelings about that, right?" Nico frowned. "I never knew you were so bold, Maki." Maki frowned. "U-um what do you me-um I mean yes I am okay!" She smiled at Nico. "Both of us have a lot of growing up to do." Nico smiled. "Yeah I guess so. Anyway, I love you Maki, just know that. I never meant to hurt you." Maki sighed. "I suppose I'm to blame too, I could have sought you out but I didn't. We're both at fault. But I l-love you too alright?"

Nico flushed. "S-so bold!" Maki laughed, wiping away the final tears. "You dork, let's go back to the party." Maki held out her hand, letting Nico quickly clasp onto it. She smiled at the warm touch, and walked to the door. Nico swung open the door revealing ten bodies, whom all fell on the floor at once except for one. Nozomi stood against the wall, smiling. "I see my cards were right once again." She shot Maki and Nico a flirtatious stare, which they both flinched at. They stepped over the other girls, who were sprawled on the floor, and walked back into the living room.

Nozomi snickered. "If only it was that easy to get the rest of them together…ara ara." She shot a glance at the other members of Muse before following the couple back.

(There will be an epilogue, obviously Maki has to decide what to do about music school, but this is the final big chapter. Hope you liked)