A/N: Now that I've finished up a couple stories in other worlds, I have reevaluated my writing time. Because this story and Better Together are my best-read stories, I will focus on them more now. Also, I will go back to updating Reset Diary: Maki and Reset Diary: Nico at the same time, instead of trying to finish Nico's diary and putting Maki's on hold, as Maki's is far more popular and the most popular way to read Nico's was side by side with Maki's.
Nico's phone rang an hour before she and Kotori had planned to get up. Normally Nico would have gotten upset, but she had changed a bit. Weirdly, it was Tsubasa. Nico pulled on the shirt Kotori had picked out for her last night. She got up silently, went out of Kotori's room without waking her, and then said, in a soft voice, "Why is Kira Tsubasa of all people calling Nico, and at this hour?"
"Hey, Nico!" she heard Tsubasa's cheery voice saying. "Clean yourself up, get dressed, make Kotori some breakfast she can heat up, put some coffee on, and meet me outside. Hurry it up, too." And then, after a pause, "Make sure you kiss her goodbye - on the cheek if she's sleeping. Never break character or you break the spell." Nico had her Resolution - the big one - going on, so she didn't even question Tsubasa. She just agreed, and headed to the bathroom to give herself a quick "bath" with a wet rag. Then she pulled on her underwear from the day before and a skirt and top Kotori had laid out to lend to her.
She went in the kitchen and opened the freezer of Kotori's refrigerator. Seeing little American-style potato fritters, and even sausages, she decided to make Kotori a Western breakfast. In the refrigerator was some shiitake and green onion, eggs, and a slice of cheese that should probably be used up.
She set a couple things cooking - the potato fritters and sausage in one pan, the eggs whipped with water and a little milk in the other, all with a small amount of oil. Sure enough, the Minamis had a Western coffee maker. It was interesting, given how traditional the food she'd had here was. She prepared the coffee and timed it to brew when Kotori was scheduled to get up. She quickly rushed into the bathroom again, brushed her teeth hastily, fixed her hair somewhat, then ran back out and finished up the breakfast, folding the shiitake, cheese and green onion into the omelette. She turned off the stove burners, dished the food out in a plastic bento she'd found in the cupboard and left it on the kitchen counter with a note:
"Dear Kotori:
Tsubasa woke me early and wants to meet for some reason. She sends her regards. Please warm up breakfast when you see this. I will call you when I can, after your wake-up time. Coffee is brewing.
Love, Nico Nico-Nii 3"
Kotori had lent Nico a key - to the house of Otonokizaka's principal! Nico made sure she had it in her little purse. She dashed to Kotori's room, then tiptoed in and kissed Kotori on the cheek. Kotori moved only a little, but didn't wake. She looked really beautiful when asleep. Nico was embarrassed when she discovered that, far from adopting a strange little tuft in her hair on purpose, it took Kotori ten to fifteen minutes every morning just to get her hair not to stick out all over. That tuft would pop up no matter what she did, so she just let it alone as long as it was symmetrical. But her wild bed-hair looked very sultry to Nico.
Nico gently partly closed Kotori's door. She made sure the door was locked, then headed to the sidewalk. Sure enough, Tsubasa's cute, sporty little car pulled up. There was the idol, one that others called "palm-sized" though Nico never would.
"Breakfast," Tsubasa said. She sped off as Nico buckled in.
When they got to a cute little kissaten that specialized in breakfast food, Anju and Erena had already ordered for, from the looks of it, all four of them. "It's our treat today, Nico-chan," Tsubasa said. "I'll let Anju explain what's up." Nico was having a French-style breakfast to complement Kotori's American-style breakfast. She had a "cafe-au-lait" that was half Americano and half cream, a little yogurt, a small bread with jam and butter, and a small tumbler of wine. Did French people really drink wine even with breakfast? She had no clue. The whole combination, however, turned out to be surprisingly tasty, even though only the jam catered to Nico's famous sweet tooth. It reminded her of Kotori and her flavorful, barely-sweet desserts. Nico was being trained again, she decided.
"So," Anju began. "The good news is we want you to do something. The better news is, we were bored so we asked Kotori what you could do on the fly - there's a free show we promised to do a while back but we didn't want to do our usual material. So we're learning two of the songs from Chrysanthemum." She looked at Nico, amused at her stunned expression. "We are making them dance songs. The dancing will be exactly like Private Wars. We know for sure you have it memorized." That much was true.
"Wait," said Nico. "You mean you turned Sinner Me and Mary Ann into dance songs?"
Erena spoke up. "If you have confidence, Nico-chan, you can turn anything into a dance song. But no, Sinner Me and Is This Love. Learn your songs, actress-san!"
Tsubasa added: "While we think this will be wonderful and refreshing, it's also a way to make something up to Nico-chan." She continued, "When I talked with Maki-chan a while back, she seemed kind of distant. I bugged her about it and she said when we were trying to pay you all a sincere compliment, we basically insulted Nico-chan, and you were really bothered by it."
"Which Singer X, and an upcoming actress, shouldn't have to experience, we now know," Anju said. "We realize how busy you are, and you're going to get busier. Umi tells Honoka things and Honoka tells Tsubasa things, and so it goes. So we wanted to make it as minimal an effort on your part as possible."
They had all finished their food, and they were in the corner of a spacious part of the cafe. After their plates and cups were cleared away, Anju pulled out an mp3-player and turned it on. Sure enough, a keyboarded, dance-y version of Sinner Me played. Behind their table A-RISE had lined up and were singing with the choreography of Private Wars, as promised. Nico stayed true to the Resolution and started imitating Erena, who was next to her end. As they danced in the cafe, A-RISE began to sing about kissing more than a few and antics on a tiger-skin rug. Nico followed suit. Her experience with Kotori a couple of nights ago stood her in good stead. She no longer felt self-conscious about her voice and lack of training. She just went forward, as she'd have to do with the musical.
The old Nico could never have done anything so embarrassing. She didn't dwell on it, but she knew that was something she and Maki had in common. Was Nico becoming someone so different they'd not be able to get along? She decided that she wouldn't let that happen.
They did enough of "Sinner Me" to make it clear Nico would be able to pick it up. Then their dance-y re-mix of "Is This Love?" which Nico didn't know yet, played. "We're throwing in some moves from "Shocking Party, Nico!" Anju called out. Nico continued to imitate Erena, and listened carefully as they sang the lyrics.
Coo like a dove?
But I'm feeling as gay
As a ... day,
At the fact that I
Try to impress,
Want to caress,
... to unrest you.
Is this love?
Was this play really 100 years old? No, wait, that wasn't quite right. But apparently it was more than 60 years old. About an era 100 years ago, in England. Gay? Caress you? And the story - trafficking, girls getting fed drugs until they were hooked, kidnapped, sold into sex slavery - she'd assumed that was a modern problem. Apparently not. And how on Earth was it meant to be funny? And according to the director, it was made into a wholesome American movie. And people in England and America thought Japan was weird. She shook her head and paid attention again.
They repeated what they'd done, and Nico was able to sing most of it and follow their lead. A-RISE agreed that one real practice and Nico would be able to perform with them. And with that:
"Anju and Erena will pay, so let's jump in the car. If we rush, you won't be late for school, and neither will we, Nico-chan," Tsubasa said with a grin. "You can phone Kotori in the car, she should be up soon." In passing she waved at two of the waiters, drawing Nico's attention to them. They were applauding the strange little mini-practice
Nico did as Tsubasa suggested, and phoned Kotori. The girl had just gotten up, looked around for Nico, and found the note she'd left. She thanked Nico for making breakfast and coffee, but said she'd missed seeing her face waking up. Nico blushed.
"Is Nico-chan blushing now?" she heard. "Maybe Nico will have even more reason tonight, but first, what did Tsubasa want?"
Even more reason? What did that mean? Was Kotori just making sexy talk, or was something up? Flustered, Nico stuttered a bit before getting ahold of herself and telling Kotori about her morning.
"Ah, Nico has her work cut out for her, I see. My guess is they'll do a mini show in the park where all the food carts and benches are, near Otonokizaka. And probably put in a plug for "Chrysanthemum," too. And Nico-chan still has a lot of studying and homework to do, too. Ara, what shall we do?"
Nico wondered aloud why Kotori seemed a bit amused.
"Well, Nico-chan, I am amused and happy both. Nico has come through as well as I expected, and maybe a bit better than that. What we must do, I think, is arrange study sessions with Eli and Nozomi for this coming weekend. I will work things out with them and Umi, so don't mind. Just go to your rehearsals, with us and with the actors, and then … well, I wonder?"
Nico didn't say anything, probably to Kotori's disappointment, but she soldiered on:
"Tonight it's high time we stayed at Nico's house, don't you think?"
. . .
Unfortunately, they'd arrived at Otonokizaka, and Nico barely had time to say goodbye to Kotori and thank Tsubasa before dashing off to class.
Preview of the next installment, "Home Visits and Nico:"
Mama Yazawa sighed. "Nico, when you and Maki sound-proofed your room with egg-shell foam 'to practice music,' you did a good enough job for the little ones, so I didn't protest. But I don't have four children for nothing. I know what I'm hearing, even when you have music playing."
