May to January, 2011-2
Heisei 23-4
A-chan and Mimi followed Nico's example and helped out with the dance club sometimes in return for joining them for some of their practices. Nico joined all of them, so they scheduled their own dance practice in the club-room when the dance club wasn't having one. True to her word to the dance club member who'd let her share her table, Nico not only helped out the drama club she'd joined, but was in all of their dramas and musicals. She humbly simply told whoever was casting it to put her wherever they wanted her. If a part was small, she didn't complain. If it was big, she worked extra hard and did a professional job of it. She often helped make costumes, so she got to know their costumers well.
Occasionally, the drama club's Rin or Yuzu would help the idol club out, as well. So all five of them were sort of in all three clubs, as even Rin and Yuzu joined in when the dance club and the idol club held one joint practice in the gymnasium, preparing for the school festival. Since the idol club was rather small, the dance club was given extra time, and the performances would go: dance club, joint performance, idol club. Still, the idol club would have two songs to dance to. Nico had helped write the shared performance song, and had written the idol club's song by herself, and done all the choreography for it as a rough outline, designed all the idol club's costumes, and jointly with two girls in the drama club, produced them. The choreography had been jointly refined with Ageha and Mimi, and those three would be the center with Rin and Yuzu also dancing.
Nico's biggest acquisition had been five attachable microphones. Even with that, thanks to coordinating with other clubs, she'd gotten a computer and some idol videos for the club and never gone over her budget. Then again, she'd also donated all her old idol fan things to the club. Her room at home looked a little bare now, but she'd decided she would wait until she had time for a part-time job to re-fill it up. She was more conscious of family finances now than when she'd started collecting idol merchandise as a grade-schooler.
Meanwhile, Nico kept her grades up by studying over breaks, over lunch, at home cooking dinner, etc. She kept diligent notes in class, and whenever she had a class with any of her idol club members, she shared her notes with them every day. She and Ageha and Mimi all studied for tests together. They admired her mature attitude to school, and the way she juggled her family, future career and school without dropping anything. Thanks to that, Ageha and Mimi also did very well in school, and their parents didn't have to worry about Nico's club overburdening them and harming their grades. It also helped their social life, as all three of them, and Rin and Yuzu for both dance and drama, began to be well-known around school.
All of that had come at a price. Their very first performance in the school auditorium had been something of a failure. Literally no one at all had shown up on time for it, and only a couple dozen people by the end. The idol club members got to see a crack in Nico's armor, she'd been trying to present herself as a super-girl, but it actually humanized her for them. She had cried when the curtain lifted to an empty auditorium, even though Nico'd handed out fliers to practically every student at Otonokizaka, and she'd cried again when all four other members told her they'd stick with her. Inside, however, she still bore a grudge against Otonokizaka and yearned to be at UTX where idols like ARISE got the proper attention and respect they'd earned.
Towards the end of the first year, she asked Rin at drama club about her cousin, Kaoru, and if she still planned to attend Otonokizaka and join the Idol Club. Yuzu looked at her then dragged Nico out and motioned for Rin to join them. Out in the hall, she told Nico that Kaoru and her family had gone missing in a natural disaster last year and were never found. Nico looked over at Rin, who nodded. Nico slumped down against the wall outside drama club. Kaoru and Nico had always gotten along, and she'd looked up to her older cousin so much she was often called "Mini-Rin." She and Rin hugged each other tearfully. Rin told Nico that's one reason she'd decided to join the drama club instead. It had been Kaoru who was excited about singing and dancing, and Rin had wanted them to have something to do together. Yuzu had just wanted to join whatever club Rin joined. Apparently Rin's parents had told Mama Yazawa, but she wasn't always willing to tell Nico bad news if she could avoid doing so. Nico said if all that was so, she was even more grateful for the help they'd given her. By this point all three were in tears, remembering Kaoru, but they and Nico felt a little closer. Nico said she'd still worry about recruiting for the idol club, but that she wouldn't have the heart to do so this year.
Notes:
Keizoku wa chikara nari: "Continuing is power." It's easy to start something, its hard to keep it going.
