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When Nico goes on stage to perform, she has two goals in mind: to shine as bright as she can, and to bring the biggest smiles to people's faces. It's been that way since she was a kid, when her only stage was the living room floor and the audience consisted of no one but her mother, and it hasn't changed one bit.

Until she met Akiha, anyway.

To Nico, the mere fact anyone could look down on idols is unthinkable -- and worse yet, even as she got to know Akiha, that opinion of hers has barely budged. If she could, at least, just write her off as some ignorant moron spewing pointless nonsense, that would've been one thing. But something about that girl caught her interest, and she found herself running into her again and again, until they've come to form an off sort of friendship. Until Nico's come to respect-- even like her.

Akiha's not stupid. She's capable, mature, and effortlessly elegant, a lot of things Nico would like for herself. Not that she'd admit it, because god knows she's bigheaded enough as it is -- but she can't just write Akiha off. She can't ignore it. The thought is a tireless drill at the back of her head, even when they're talking about anything but.

To have her insistently cling on to that baseless disapproval feels, by this point, like a personal insult.

So today, Nico's decided to prove herself. Her school's holding a fair, open to all, and u's will be performing. It took every form of badgering Nico has in her arsenal, from aggressive demands to guilt trips to puppydog eyes, but she successfully convinced Akiha to come. This time, beyond a doubt, she'll make her understand.

The school auditorium might not hold the flare of some of their previous venues in Akiba, but it does offer one significant privilege: peace of mind. They don't have to go up against other groups, they don't have to worry about the weather, and they've been allotted an entire half-hour, making this their longest concert to date. This gives them the chance to perform in their units of three on top of their usual group songs, and Nico's even the center in one.

And she's going to show Akiha exactly what she's worth.

"Nicocchi, you're spacing out." Backstage, Nozomi flicks her forehead, causing her shoulders to twitch. "Don't tell me Super Idol Nico-chan's getting nervous now, of all times?"

"Don't be stupid," she snipes back, flipping a twintail before reaching for her water bottle and gulping down a mouthful. It's cool, and helps sharpen her focus. She grins up at Nozomi. "What's a show like this compared to Love Live?"

"Heh, that's what I like to hear!"

--

Nico doesn't let herself fixate on Akiha. Her eyes skim the crowd for her between songs, and once she's found her, she shoots her the occasional glance from the corner of her eye. But she doesn't let it serve as a distraction, and she definitely doesn't let it hinder her from putting on the best show she can. She sings and dances her heart out -- all nine of them do, just like always -- and the audience cheers and yells and squeals, calling out their names.

It's only after the last song is over and the crowd's begun to disperse that she marches over to Akiha, grabbing hold of her wrist and tugging her towards the backstage with only "come with" to serve as greeting.

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"Yes, otherwise you really will hang it over my head. I could be on death's door and you'd be shaming me with it."

And that thwap to her shoulder actually does make Akiha wince and rub it, though she doesn't protest. If she ever deserved a decent smack, now would be it. For some insane reason, she has started to value Nico's friendship, after all.

"But I will. Thank you, Yazawa-san."

Which is why that sounds so achingly sincere instead of just another part of their banter. Even Akiha realizes she's let her guard down too much - she recrosses her arms.

"Do you and your friends have any plans? I don't want to take up more of your time if you were going to have some sort of celebration," Akiha asks, still playing the part of the upper-class socialite. But there's an implication there, isn't there? That if they don't have any plans, Akiha would like to take up the rest of Nico's day.

The edge of Nico's mouth tugs upwards, pleased and a little bemused -- for Akiha to accept that and thank her without a protest, you'd think she really cared what Nico thought of her.

Which she should, of course. But it's still kind of nice.

"Huh?" The implication doesn't evade her, and Nico blinks once. "Nah-- we're gonna go out on Friday, so don't worry about it."

They usually do this right after each show, actually -- but Nico had said today was no good for her, and had it pushed back. She was planning on asking Akiha to go out with her, but now that it seems she might be on the receiving end of that request... she'd rather hold her tongue and see.

"Perfect," Akiha replies before she has a chance to catch herself. She lets it hang in the air for a second, bites her lip, then huffs and looks away, more annoyed at her own slip-up than anything.

"Would you like to spend the day with me, then? We can browse some store or another, and..." Akiha trails off.

She's never invited any of her friends to her home. It all feels a bit like a dirty little secret - her home life and her social life two distinct halves of her. At home, she has to be an authority, but out and about she can at least attempt to relax.

But she likes Nico. That's what she's beginning to realize. She's petty, stubborn, and full of herself, but Akiha finds herself admiring those qualities more than hating her for them.

"Afterwards, we can have dinner at the mansion. I'll introduce you to my brother, if he's home. Would that be alright?" Akiha, for once in her life, seems nervous. She's still got her arms crossed, and she seems as haughty as ever, but she's got her eyes glued on Nico, searching for her immediate reaction.

Woah. That's, like-- almost kind of eager, by Akiha standards? Nico falters; her heart flutters a bit. Maybe her chances are higher than she expected? Wait, now's not the time to think about that, Akiha's waiting for an answer!

"S-sure, that sounds fine!" she hastily replies, swiping at her bangs and patting down the front of her skirt. Is she stupid for getting kind of excited? People invite each other over all the time, right? Or other people do, anyway-- Nico's haven't had anyone over since elementary school, and she's never been to Akiha's place...

She kicks herself internally. Definitely overthinking it.

"I just gotta change outta this, okay?"

"Funny, I would have thought you'd be eager to walk around town in that," Akiha snipes. Or tries to, anyway. It comes out more as fond teasing, given the smile on Akiha's face. When was the last time Nico'd seen her genuinely smile?

Never. The answer is never.

If Nico's stupid for getting kind of excited, so's Akiha - she leans from one foot to the other, clearly filled with a sudden nervous energy. It's not a whole lot, mind, but for Akiha she suddenly seems like a blushing schoolgirl. Which she is, but still.

"Be sure to call your family and tell them you'll be coming back late. It's only proper," Akiha chides. She doesn't know a lot about Nico's family situation, but when Shiki - Akiha's brother - had been brought up by Akira, Nico had mentioned her three siblings.

Nico could offer any manner of snippy retribution -- like how she doesn't need her fashion sense criticized by a girl with her skirt nearly brushing the floor, or reminders as to how to handle her own family -- but Akiha's unguarded smile is so pretty that those words die less than halfway up her throat.

"Sure," she says instead, grinning lopsidedly in return. "Just wait here, I'll be back in five minutes!"

She hurries down the hall into the dressing room, lace-layered skirt fluttering behind her, and shuts the door. In truth, Nico's never taken as little as five minutes to get ready for anything, but she makes a special effort this time. She'd sealed her makeup properly, so there's no need to reapply it after washing her face, and her hair could use some brushing into place from all the dancing and jumping around, but that doesn't take more than a minute -- plus, her perm is super cute, so that's a bonus. Beyond that, all she has to do is change into the clothes she brought from home (she'd made a very deliberate effort in picking out an outfit that looks effortlessly adorable), stuff her belongings into her bright pink duffel bag, and she's on her way out. That probably didn't take more than eight minutes.

"Alright! All set!"

Akiha doesn't notice the amount of time Nico takes. After all, she's spent hours getting ready for meetings with members of the branch families, hasn't she? Not necessarily for the same reasons, but she's aware that appearances are important.

Besides, she doesn't know if one of Nico's friends caught her and wanted to talk about something. That would complicate things.

When Nico returns, Akiha's still leaning against the wall, arms crossed - though she pushes off of it when she returns, taking a few long steps over to her. She gives her a once-over, looks like she's about to say something, then just turns on her heel. She needs to remember not to get too eager. As much as she wants to compliment Nico, coming off too - clingy - would be embarrassing. What if Nico thought less of her?

"Was there anywhere you had in mind, or will we just be wandering the nearest shopping district?"

What's with that look? If you want to say something, go ahead and say it!

But Nico refrains, perhaps hypocritically, from saying that aloud. Putting Akiha on the spot like that is just setting herself up for another bout of aimless bickering. You have to be patient with her, like a potted plant, but a really overdefensive one who's kind of a jerk sometimes -- a baby cactus, or something.

Nico can deal with that. Maki's given her plenty of practice!

"Let's see," she begins, tapping a finger to her chin with a thoughtful hum. "That's right, Angelic Pretty's new collection should have arrived by now, I totally wanna go check it out! That concert just now was pretty demanding, though, so getting a snack first wouldn't hurt." She stretches her arms out over her head, then drops them with a roll of her shoulders. "What about you, Akiha?"

Angelic Pretty? Akiha takes a moment to remember where she's heard the name before. She's certain that someone somewhere in her family tree runs a fashion business, but she isn't exactly up to date on the brands... Especially since she's pretty sure her relative makes business suits. She repeats the name in her mind a few times... oh.

She visibly grimaces for a moment, but it fades quickly. She supposes it's better than what some of Shiki's female friends wear. It even has skirts that bother trying to reach the knees.

So, what she ultimately winds up saying is "That sounds fine, I suppose."

"But it really will be just a snack. I wouldn't want Kohaku's hard work to go to waste," and she's only allowing it to begin with because of Nico using the concert as an excuse. She supposes she'd want something to eat after all that exercise, too.

Edited 2016-03-20 18:16 (UTC)

"Kohaku? That your personal chef?" From experience with her other high-class cactus friend, it probably is. Nico can't quite keep the gruff note from her voice. Ugh, rich people...

"Well, don't worry about it. If it's just a crepe or something it should be fine, right?" Hooking her hand in the crook of Akiha's elbow, she starts walking, tugging her along. "Let's go, then!"

"She has a variety of duties, but yes, cooking is one of th- erm?," Akiha starts to go on, but being pulled along for the second time today makes her stumble - both physically and verbally. Nico's shorter than her, after all, so the angle's awkward, and more than that she's - warm.

She shakes that thought off very quickly. Much like the rich cactus that she is, Akiha bristles a little. "Yes, a crepe isn't too much, but couldn't you at least ask before grabbing at me? It's very rude." And embarrassing. At least nobody's around to see them, they're getting out of the auditorium through the back.

Please let them be getting out of the auditorium through the back.

Yes, they're getting out of the auditorium through the back. Nico isn't some shameless girl, you know! She wouldn't want any onlookers to get ideas.

Well, realistically, the only one with any ideas out of everyone in the auditorium is her, but at the very least it's a little more exciting to pretend.

"That's because if I kept waiting for Akiha to finish complaining, we would've stood there forever!" she chipperly responds, with no real bite to it. She keeps her hand right where it is, too, though now that Akiha's gotten moving it's not tugging much at all.

"I should keep this in mind next time you get started ranting about idols," Akiha snaps back, though she has even less bite than Nico, if that's possible. Somehow she just isn't in the mood for it today.

Of course, in the back of her mind, she knows why - she's legitimately attached to Nico, not just as a friend but as something more - but her father had. Opinions. About quite a few things, and he was quite eager to share them with his daughter. And though he's been dead for months now, and Akiha knows on some level that he was a very closeminded and foolish man, she still loves and respects his memory. How couldn't she? She'd never describe him as a loving father, but she'd never describe him as cruel towards her, either. And though she'd been his second choice at best, he'd still made her his heir. Didn't that mean something?

-- Yes, Akiha is having a long internal debate with herself over Nico being about halfway to holding her hand. She's that kind of girl.

She relaxes at least a little once they're out of the auditorium, reaching up and brushing some of her hair back behind her shoulder. Nico's pulling had made it fall out of place.

"I'm starting to wonder why you even spend time with me, Yazawa. I'd imagine your friends are easier for you to get along with."

"Heh!" Nico's chin tilts back with her laugh. "Clearly, you've never met them. They're just one troublesome person after the other." Punctuated with the sigh of a long-suffering martyr, but then she turns to Akiha with a grin-- "Maybe I have a type?"

"I've met Nishikino's parents," Akiha replies - yes, very briefly, at some party her father brought her to. Nico doesn't need to know just how pathetic a defense that is, though.

"More like birds of a feather flocking together," Akiha manages a much snappier response, smirking even as she tries to look disapproving. "... Besides, if you like them enough to work that hard with them, they can't be that troublesome."

Nico's grin stretches wider-- why, was that an unprompted compliment? See, that cactus analogy was spot-on!

"This and that are two different things," she blithely responds, looping her arm through Akiha's proper. Her school's right by central Akiba, so it shouldn't be more than a few minutes' walk; Nico's happy to fill it with chatter, though.

"What about you, then? What do you work hard on?"

"School work. The family business. Trying to pry my brother out of the clutches of the terrible crowd he's fallen in with," Akiha lists off, huffing slightly as she does. That last one isn't exactly something she wants to work hard on, but it's how things have panned out.

She doesn't even notice how Nico's looped their arms together. it feels natural. Comforting, even.

"But I get the feeling they aren't the same as your idol fixation," Akiha murmurs. Nico chose to be a part of that group. All of what Akiha works hard at - even her brother's proper life - is something she has to do. She reads often, but she'd hardly call that a hobby, more an attempt to keep herself sharp. Even if she enjoys it, it's more an affectation than an interest.

She muddles on it for a second.

"... I play the violin, when I find the time." There. A hobby.

Nico's brow furrows deeper the longer the list goes on, and she's glad, at least, that Akiha can tell on her own that's not remotely what she wanted. That's all stuff she's heard her mention a hundred times before -- she didn't ask just to hear it again.

The last addition, at least, holds some promise.

"Is that something you chose to do?"

"Please don't give me that look," Akiha murmurs. As a - she'd never use the word commoner - normal person, Nico just can't understand the responsibilities placed on her. Of course they're going to consume most of her life, they have to.

As for the violin, well...

"My father insisted I take up some sort of art. Painting, the piano, the violin. Anything would have been fine. I chose the violin because I thought I would enjoy it the most." So she at least chose it in a sense.

"... When Shiki's anemia worsened, my father realized I would have to be his heir. So he ended the lessons to focus on more important things. But I still practiced in my own time. I was right about enjoying it. Does that meet your exacting standards?"

Nico offers some vague grumble in response, eyes downcast. This is heavy-- not just the words themselves, but the way Akiha speaks them. Even when she says she enjoys it, it sounds flat, like the enjoyment is an obligation in and of itself.

"You never let loose, do you?" Nico asks, teeth digging at her lower lip through her persisting frown. But the next moment, she forces herself to perk back up, yanking on Akiha's arm as she takes a running step forward: "Don't worry! That's just what Nico's here for!"

Nico seems annoyed about something, but Akiha can't imagine what. For her, this is letting loose. She's like this with her friends and she's never heard any complaints. Even Souka, who spends all her time at rock concerts and has that awful haircut, doesn't think Akiha's too stiff.

... Then again, Souka's stiff in her own way. Everyone at her school is. Akiha grapples with that thought for a second, then lets it drop. Her circle of friends are just too different from Nico.

She stumbles as she's ran along, still trying to keep up with Nico. "How many more times are you going to do that?" Akiha huffs as she falls into step alongside Nico, glancing down at her out of the corner of her eye. Despite everything, she looks a little fond.

"'til a certain someone stops complaining!" Nico laughs, absolutely pleased with herself. The look on Akiha's face doesn't evade her.

And she's decided, just now, that she wants to see her unfiltered smile again. She has no idea how she'll bring it about, but considering she got it the first time by doing nothing out of the ordinary, it only stands to reason she could earn it again. And beyond that, she wants to hear Akiha talk about something -- anything, really, she's not picky -- with honest excitement in her voice.

That one might be a little tougher, but Nico's never been known for giving up easily.

"Hey, what do you put in your crepe?"

"Our arms will be linked until the day we die, then," Akiha smirks, just self-aware enough to make that joke. Though she doesn't see complaining as a bad thing - it's an invitation to do better. Isn't that a good thing?

She blinks for a second when Nico asks that question, then realizes they actually are already on the street. Right. She's never actually had a street crepe - though she's had the actual proper thing prepared for her by a French chef. She imagines there isn't much similarity.

"... Apple cinnamon?" Akiha more guesses than says.

"You're asking me?" Nico retorts, though not surprised in the least. "Don't tell me you and your friends just sit around sipping fancy tea all day."

Well, whatever. Akiha's a big girl, and she can order whatever she'd like. Nico won't make any comments about her tastes, but she could definitely stand to watch and learn.

"Good afternoon, Mister!" Unhooking their arms, she skips over to the stall, and leans forward with her hands clasped behind her back. With the most saccharine-sweet voice, she goes on to list a convoluted chain of syrups and toppings, including but not limited to: strawberries, marshmallows, white chocolate, peanut butter, and cookie bits. She uses her 'please's and 'thank you's like real Nico never actually does, and then hangs herself onto Akiha's arm again. "And for Akiha-neechan," she cues her in to make her order, and when the vendor hands them their crepes she beams at him so cherubically that he says he'll make it three-hundred yen less, just for them.

The natural expectation being, of course, for big sister Akiha to pay. Nico bats her eyelashes at her as sweetly as she knows how, which, somewhat similarly to her choice of crepe, would make the average person mildly nauseous.

It's odd to see Nico so polite. She wonders, is it because it's a stranger, or was she aiming for that discount to begin with?

She really does just for go her apple and cinnamon filling, not interested in anything more complicated than that, and when her apparent little sister bats her eyes up at her Akiha - well, she doesn't give in. She was planning to pay anyway, to be honest. She isn't sure how well off Nico's family are, but she's certain she has far more money than Nico will see in her entire life. If anything, she resents that Nico's trying to manipulate her.

... Much like the pile of syrup Nico's piled onto her crepe, though, it's easy to see the appeal in that charming little smile, even if she doesn't like it. Akiha rolls her eyes pulls out her wallet, flipping through it for the money. She doesn't carry too much money on her, by her standards, but it's enough to pay for a crepe and some clothes.

Akiha can already predict Nico's going to try and get her to pay for their shopping too, after all. She's the one that leads Nico along this time, taking an experimental bite of her crepe and shrugging her shoulders. It isn't bad.

"If you wanted me to pay, you could have just asked," Akiha says once they're away from the vendor.