#I took our meds on time and put on some cute earrings and another spray of that perfume from yesterday | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ryqoshay · 5 years

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How to Handle a Nico: Santa Faux Pas

Primary Pairing: NicoMaki Words: ~1.6k Rating: G forward with a T finish Time Frame: Late in Maki’s college career and early in Nico’s idol producer career. The couple has recently moved into an apartment together. Story Arc: Stand Alone

Author’s Note: I wanted to post this scene earlier in the month to match how it takes place before Christmas, but alas, fate had other plans. Que zura zura.

That said, this is the second scene I am posting sans links, in hopes that HtHaN will start showing up in Tumblr’s searches. A followup post will provide links to the rest of the scenes for those who wish to read other chapters.

Oh no…

Nico’s eyes widened as the lyrics sprayed out of the earbud.

How could she have been so careless? She had become so accustomed to sharing music with Maki over all these years that she hadn’t thought twice about handing over the earbud.

Just a moment ago, Nico had settled down next to her studying girlfriend. She had opened her laptop to browse her favorite idol sites but paused to set up her mp3 player. It came as no surprise that Maki asked about her current playlist and Nico had replied that it was one filled with Christmas song parodies.

After so many years of hanging out with Maki in December, Nico was all too familiar with the redhead’s obsession. And while she had eventually come to see it as endearing, there was still only so much holiday music she could stand. Thus, over the last few years, Nico had compiled a fairly sizable list of parodies that helped her keep her sanity.

Maki had rolled her eyes at the explanation but held out her hand anyway. And on reflex, Nico had obliged. She had then waited for her girlfriend to position the earbud properly before hitting play. How could she have not foreseen the tragedy that was to unfold not even half a dozen songs later?

Nico winced as the lines were repeated. What should she do? Hitting the pause button might draw attention, and ripping the earbud from Maki’s ear was even more obvious. But what else could…

Did Maki just laugh?

Hesitantly, the idol producer glanced over at med student. Sure enough, there was an amused smile on the other girl’s lips.

“Maki-chan?” Nico asked before thinking better of it.

“Mmm?” Maki looked up from her textbook.

Stupid! Stupid! You just called attention to yourself! Now you have to say something! Something that doesn’t give away… that…

“Oh, uhm, nothing…” Nico fumbled.

Maki raised an eyebrow.

“I just heard you laugh and…” And now she’s going to think about why… Welp, that’s it. Nozomi and Eli are going to kill me. That is, unless Maki-chan’s parents don’t get to me first…

“Well yeah…” Maki chuckled again. “That was an amusing song that just played.”

Did Maki-chan miss it? No, that’s impossible. The chorus repeats it too many times.

“It was a playful jab at people who still believe in Santa.” Maki shrugged. “Nothing wrong with…” Her eyes widened as she realized something. “Oops…” She managed to get out before laughing.

What.

“But… you… I thought…” The pieces scattered in Nico’s mind.

“Still believe in Santa?” Maki smirked unexpectedly. “No, no.” She shook head. “Not for years, Nico-chan.”

“But… when?”

“Second year in high school.”

“What?!” Nico practically shouted, almost bolting to her feet. Startled by her own outburst, she quickly sat back down and mimed some calming gestures while taking a deep breath. “But all this time I thought…”

“I know.” Maki nodded. “In my defense, it was Nozomi’s idea not to tell you.”

“Figures…”

“And in her defense, I was more than happy to go along with it.”

Nico scowled at her girlfriend.

“Consider it revenge for when you tried to tease me for still believing in high school.”

“That was one time!” The raven-haired girl protested, holding up her index figure to emphasize the number. “And I…” she paused briefly to consider how to put her thoughts into words “didn’t later because I guess I got used to it after that; even started to think it was cute.” If a bit exasperating at times… She left that last part silent.

“You thought a college student believing in Santa was cute?” The redhead snorted a bit.

Well, that didn’t have the effect she had desired. More often than not, Maki would blush and be thrown off her game for a moment when Nico called her cute. The younger girl usually only avoided getting flustered when she was confident that she had the upper hand. Thus, a different approach was warranted.

“How?” Nico finally asked.

“Hm?”

“How did you find out?”

“Well…” Maki’s eyes turned up as she recalled. After a moment she took a breath and began. “It kind of started with you, Nico-chan.”

“Nico?” The older girl pointed to herself. “You’re saying it was my fault?”

“No.” The younger girl shook her head. “Well, actually…” she smirked again “maybe it kind of was?”

“...” Nico wrinkled her nose.

“Kind of.” Maki repeated. “As you’re well aware, your siblings had some difficulties dealing with you going off to college.”

“Yeah... but what…”

“So, when I wrote my letter to Santa that year, I asked him for something a little different. I wanted him to give my present to them instead.”

“Wait…” A few pieces fell into place.

“I gave my letter to Papa to mail out, so to speak, and when he read it, he and Mama decided it was finally time to tell me the truth.” Maki chuckled at the memories. “I will admit I was shocked at first, but it didn’t take me long to logic it out. I was a bit embarrassed, but Mama helped me with that.

“And then Papa suggested that we could still fulfill my request, just not in the way I had originally thought. I’m not entirely sure what all was worked out between our parents, but I was granted a budget and was able to pick out gifts for Cocoro, Cocoa and Cotarou.”

“So… that was you…?”

“Yeah…”

“All those years I…” The puzzle now complete, Nico struggled to process the picture it portrayed “I thought Mama had decided to splurge a bit since she wasn’t spending as much on me anymore.”

“Nico-chan…” The redhead donned a concerned expression. “Are you… crying?”

“Huh?” The raven-haired girl raised a hand to her face. Sure enough, her fingers touched gathering liquid that was threatening to spill down her cheeks. “I just…” She swallowed past a growing lump in her throat. “Do you have any idea what that meant to us?”

Maki nodded. “Cocoro was let in on the secret early, as it was her first and last year. She thanked me a lot. As did both Cocoa and Cotarou when they found out later.”

“Maki…” Nico sniffled “-chan…”

The younger offered a sympathetic smile before sliding out from under the table and crawling over to her girlfriend. The older girl immediately latched into the offered hug but continued to resist letting the dam break completely. She knew she would give in eventually, but for now, there was still just enough annoyance left to maintain a level of dissonance in her emotions.

Gently, Maki patted Nico’s back a few times before beginning to run her fingers through dark strands of hair.

“You know I’m not gonna forgive you…” Nico eventually murmured into Maki’s shoulder.

“Huh?”

“As amazing and wonderful and generous all those gifts were, you could have at least told me.”

“Sorry…” Maki started to pull the scrunchies from Nico’s hair to grant her better access.

“But…” Nico sighed. “I suppose you got me pretty good this time.”

Maki laughed lightly.

“I mean I remember still seeing packages labelled to you from Santa.”

“That was just Papa trying to be funny.” Maki explained. “He wasn’t in on keeping it a secret from you; he didn’t even know that you didn’t know.”

“I see… Wait, your father tries to be funny?”

“Yeah.”

“Dr. Stoic-ino?”

“Every once in a while.” Maki shrugged the shoulder opposite Nico. “Doesn’t always work, though. But, you know, I could have sworn he’s tried a few shots at humor when you’ve been with us.”

“Maybe…” Nico sighed again. “In any case Maki-chan owes Nico now.”

“What was that?”

“After making Nico believe she still believed in Santa all these years.” Nico explained. “That’s a lot of teasing to make up for.”

“This from the girl who constantly teases me?”

Nico pursed her lips. She couldn’t deny that point. So, once again, a change in tactics was in order. “Well after all the presents Maki-chan gave Nico’s siblings, she should give something to Nico as well.”

“I don’t get it.”

Nico pushed away from the hug to look her girlfriend in the eye. “Nico will forgive Maki-chan if she gives her a present.” She said coyly, reaching over to play with Maki’s collar.

“I’m not letting you open your present early.”

Geez, do I really need to spell it out? Maki-chan is being more dense than usual right now…

Nico turned her wrist such that her fingers grazed across a particularly sensitive part of Maki’s neck, causing the redhead’s breath to hitch. The change in Maki’s eyes was immediate and Nico knew she finally understood.

“Nico-chan is always fond of offering herself as a gift…” Maki breathed, shifting herself so she could lean towards Nico, pausing when their noses were barely a centimeter apart.

“And Maki-chan always accepts.” Often in lieu of my other presents… Nico added silently.

“Mmm…” Maki replied before pressing their lips together.

Nico quickly slid her arms around her girlfriend’s neck to pull herself deeper into the kiss. The earlier turbulence already a fading memory, Nico began to focus solely on the positives of the situation.

“But,” Nico said, pulling away for air “Maki-chan is a gift to Nico as well.”

Amid the rapidly gathering haze of lust, Nico detected a flash of Maki’s acknowledging smile. She returned a quick smile of her own, accompanied by a flirting wink, before allowing Maki to pull her back into another kiss. As both young women began to unwrap their favorite presents of the holiday season, Nico quietly thanked the deities for allowing her such happiness before losing herself completely in her love for Maki.

Author’s Notes Continued in followup post.

#NicoMaki #Nishikino Maki #Yazawa Nico #How to Handle a Nico #Love Live #fanfic #Merry Christmas

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