Chapter Text
NicoNii: Maki!
NicoNii: Maki!
NicoNii: M~a~k~i~-c~h~a~n~!
NishikinoMaki: I’m in class
NishikinoMaki: Aren’t you as well?
NicoNii: But this is important!
NishikinoMaki: What is it?
NicoNii: Special Training!
NicoNii: This Weekend!
NishikinoMaki: Oh?
NishikinoMaki: I don’t recall Umi-senpai or Honoka-senpai mentioning that.
NicoNii: Super Secret Special Training!
NicoNii: This Weekend!
NicoNii: Don’t tell Honoka!
NishikinoMaki: Why Honoka-senpai?
NicoNii: It’s Super Secret Special Training!
NishikinoMaki: Whatever
NicoNii: Which day works best for you?
NishikinoMaki: Either I guess
NicoNii: Saturday it is!
NishikinoMaki: That’s fine
NicoNii: See you at practice!
NishikinoMaki: Yeah, sure
Maki discreetly checked to ensure the teacher’s attention was still on the board before stowing her phone back in her pocket. It was then that she noticed Rin grinning at her from across the classroom. She returned an annoyed glare and made a motion for the other girl to stop staring, which only earned a wider smile. Maki rolled her eyes and shook her head before scanning the page in her textbook to find the point the teacher had just mentioned.
The arcade?
Maki stared in confusion at the myriad of blinking lights before her. She glanced at her phone. This was the address Nico had given her. But why did Nico want to meet for training at the arcade? For that matter, what was so “super secret” about it that the rest of µ’s was not invited?
“Maki-chan!” a high-pitched voice called.
Maki-chan? The redhead blinked, turned towards the source and saw a raven-haired girl jogging towards her, waving and smiling. Had her senior called her that before? Rin and Hanayo had started calling her that immediately upon her suggestion that they refer to one another more casually and Honoka and Kotori quickly followed suit. All four seemed like the types who liked to use the honorific with pretty much everyone. But was Nico the same? Maki couldn’t recall her senior referring to anyone else with the casual honorific.
“You must have gotten here really early, Maki.” Nico commented upon reaching the younger girl.
“Not really.” Maki replied, frowning slightly as a pang of some strange sensation shot across her consciousness after the older girl dropped the honorific she had just used a moment ago.
“Why the frown?” The third-year pouted. “Is Maki-chan really that disappointed to see Nico?”
“Bueehh?” The first-year balked a bit. “N-No, it’s just… uhm…” How could she explain it? Why did she feel better when it was used again?
The pout turned into a smirk. “Anyway,” the smirk turned to a grin as Nico grabbed Maki’s hand, “let’s go! We’ve got training to do!”
“W-Wait, Nico-senpai!” Maki protested, tensing at the unexpected contact. Still, despite her size, Nico was surprisingly strong and was able to drag a resisting Maki behind her. After a moment, Maki relaxed a little and let herself be lead through the entertainment center. But despite giving in, she could still feel heat in her cheeks and wondered how badly she was blushing. “The dance game?” She asked when her senior finally came to a stop.
“That’s right! I saw that you got the lowest score when we were here last.”
“I did?”
“Yup.”
“I wasn’t paying much attention.” Maki shrugged. “The whole thing was silly anyway.”
“It wasn’t silly!” Nico protested.
“I mean who decides the leader of a group based on scores in a dance game anyway?”
“Dancing is an important part of being a school idol.”
“I can dance just fine, thank you.”
“Not according to your scores.” Nico’s teasing smirk returned.
Maki felt herself bristle. “I’ll have you know I was holding back.”
“Prove it.” the third-year pulled a handful of tokens from her pocket.
“Fine.” The first year pulled off her uniform jacket and tossed it across the rail behind the dance platform before rolling up her sleeves.
Nico grinned victoriously and started buying credits with the tokens.
“You’re going to regret this.” Maki stated, taking her position on the neutral portion of the platform.
“Nico won’t lose to a mere~ kohai~.” Nico sang, posing like some martial artist preparing to spar.
“Hmph!” Maki turned her attention away from her annoying senior just as the game started its countdown to begin the song.
“Hee hee! Told you Nico wouldn’t lose!” The third year cheered, throwing a fist in the air.
“Only by a few hundred points.” The first year pointed out. “We got the same rank otherwise.”
“A win is a win.”
“Best two out of three.”
“You’re on!”
“Best four out of seven.” Nico declared.
“I thought Nico-senpai said she wouldn’t lose to a mere kohai.” Maki taunted, emphasizing the two social status terms.
“Nico thought she would be nice and let her kohai have a few.”
“Uh-huh…”
“Song is starting.”
“Bweehh?”
“Best…” What are we at now? “Uhm…” Maki tried to recall how many matches she and Nico had played.
Nico held up a hand.
“You can’t quit when you’re only one ahead.” The redhead stated definitively. “You have to win by two.”
“In a minute. Nico needs a break and a drink.”
That was fair, Maki had to admit. They took regular breaks during practice. “Alright.”
“Ughn… Nico is all sweaty…” the raven-haired girl whined, tugging at her collar as the two of them made their way to the refreshment counter.
“Of course you are.” Maki chided. “You’re still wearing your cardigan. Why don’t you just take that off?”
“Tut tut.” Nico clucked. “This cardigan is one of Nico-nii’s trademarks! To take it off and not replace it with something equally cute would be a disservice to the fans!”
Maki rolled her eyes. “Really?”
“Really. All idols need a trademark.”
“Maybe…”
“Don’t worry, Nico will help figure out a trademark for Maki.”
“That’s… not really necessary…” There it was again; that strange sensation. What the heck? It wasn’t like Maki wanted the older girl to call her anything special. Very strange…
“Of course it’s necessary.” Nico insisted. “Like I said, all idols need a trademark. And finding one for you should be easy because Maki-chan is cute.”
Cute? Maki felt warmth spread across her face again.
“Not as cute as Nico, though.”
And just like that, it was gone. Maki shook her head. By the gods, it was amazing that such a sizable ego could fit in such a tiny body.
“Ahhh… that was good…” Nico tossed her empty cut into a nearby trash bin before stretching. “Mmmm… That was just was Nico needed.” Dropping her arms back to her sides, she turned and smiled at the taller girl beside her. “Ready for the next round, Maki-chan?”
“Almost.” Maki replied, glancing at the remaining liquid in her own cup.
“Well hurry up!” Nico bounced a little with new found energy. “We’re improving, but we’re not good enough to beat Honoka yet. We may need a few more of these training sessions.”
Ah. So that was the real reason behind all of this. Nico was sore about losing to Honoka. But did she really need Maki here for that? Could she not practice on her own? And hadn’t Rin been the one with the best score on the dance machine? Maybe Honoka was the prime target because she maintained her position as leader?
“Done yet?” Nico reached out for Maki’s cup.
“Yeah…”
“Good.” She took the container and tossed it in the same bin she had tossed hers earlier. She then grabbed the other girl’s hand again and pulled her back towards the dancing games.
Well, regardless of why Nico chose her, out of everyone, to drag along, Maki found she couldn’t deny that she was having fun. Definitely more fun than some silly contest about being the leader of µ’s. And from the way she was smiling, Maki was fairly certain Nico was having fun as well. And for some reason that made Maki happy. Some reason? No. That wasn’t quite right. Seeing a friend be happy was reason enough to be happy as well, right?
“Nico-ch…” Maki cut off.
“Mmm?” Nico turned.
Maki cleared her cleared her throat. What are you doing? You can’t call your senior that! It’s inappropriate. You’ve barely known her a couple of weeks. “Nico-senpai.” She corrected.
A lopsided smirk crossed Nico’s lips. Had she caught the slip-up? “Yes…?”
“I… uhm…” Get it together, Maki. “I’m not going to lose.” She finally got out.
Nico laughed. “Says the girl who is a match behind.”
“I’ll catch up.”
“Well the loser has to buy the winner a crepe when we’re done.”
“Deal.”
“I’ll take a strawberry banana, please.”
“You say that like you’ve already won.”
“Well I am a match ahead.”
“For now.”
“For always.” Nico took her place on the dance platform. “Now that crepes are on the line, Nico is definitely going to win.”
It was almost another hour before a winner was finally decided.