Summary:

Nico Yazawa sees a young pianist playing in Akihabara - is it her?

Chapter 1: Akihabara Maki

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

It's hard to see clearly when your eyes are filled with tears.

Still, that posture, that loneliness. The purity of the singing. And, of course, the song - Aishiteru Banzai was the song Nico would never, ever be able to forget.

She looked impossibly young, and as beautiful as ever. Nico noticed Maki had grown her hair out, and lost a little weight. Was that a bad sign? Was she skipping eating now that she was finishing medical school? Wasn't she a resident, already? If so, what on Earth was Maki doing playing a solo concert in Akihabara? And without - Nico looked around - any signs or anything saying what was up.

a

Nico wiped her eyes and, drawn by the music more than her urge to turn on her heels and flee could overcome, she got closer. Something was wrong, she felt. It was as if someone had met Cocoa and mistaken her for Nico. As strange as it seemed, it was a Maki look-alike playing Maki's signature song, she realized. But with the same lonely feeling, the same self-containment Maki had - all those years ago in the music room.

"Honestly, I was relieved, if anything, Nico-chan, when you didn't confess before graduating.

Something like a romance between girls, with you, of all people? Not even in the same city,

to boot. And after knowing you less than a year? I saw how you felt and I got your hints ,

Nico. I simply brushed it all under the carpet." . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Nico had been unable to hold back when she visited Otonokizaka after starting college. She'd broken down in tears and confessed. Maki had rejected her and listed several reasons. The bottom line, she said, was that if Nico and her had been the same age, they might have been as close as Rin and Hanayo after a year or two, but not dating. But as it was, the differences:

Nico, despite being poor and with dim prospects, hadn't even bothered planning for after graduation until it was a month away; Maki was already pre-accepted to a few universities when she started high school.

Nico was determined to be an entertainer; Maki was going to be a doctor and run a hospital.

Nico was sure of her attraction to girls, to Maki; Maki'd never given it any thought and was still assuming at some point she'd marry, take a year off to have a child, then hire a nanny and go back to work.

... made it all impossible

And that, of course, made Nico's happiness ... also impossible.

Why am I torturing myself? I need to walk away, she thought.

Riko didn't know why this song, above all others, spoke to her so much. Unlike Dia, it's not like she was a µ's fan-girl. Obviously, she'd had a lot in common with µ's composer, Nishikino Maki, but she didn't recall anyone saying that woman had been in love with their leader Honoka or anything.

And what did "Cheers for loving" mean? Well, the lyrics for idol songs were stupid. And Maki hadn't even been the µ's lyricist. It's more like screw you for loving, you idiot, she thought. It was a great way to have more pain than you'd ever imagined, without anything good happening. So why did she play it? To torture yourself, she decided. Tears filled her eyes, but she didn't exactly need to see to play this song.

Riko ... chan! Um ... it's always been You. I'm sorry, but that's how it's always been. I know what I said, that I love Riko,
but ... ummm ... I didn't mean it that way. It's not that you're not beautiful and it's not like I don't ... notice. And it's not
like I don't think you're wonderful. I guess You-chan and I have a lot of things between us that don't get said, that I was
bad not to bring up. I think I hurt her, too, not doing that. She told me I made her so insecure she was crying a lot. But
pretending I don't love her, that I don't want to be her girlfriend for as long as she'll have me - no, I don't want that. I
wish, I wish I'd said something like that when you transferred in and joined Aqours, Riko-chan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

How did you compete with the childhood friend who had spent her whole life sacrificing everything else because she loved Chika? It turns out, you didn't.

And ... oh great. Riko was no Dia, but when she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, she immediately recognized that among the handful of people watching her was one of the most distinctive former members of µ's itself. Yep, right there, and if Riko wasn't mistaken, also crying, was Yazawa Nico. What a crappy miracle

Okay, so what Dia and Ruby had said about Yazawa was probably true, and if so, hearing the signature song of the girl she'd loved fruitlessly for years was probably almost as painful to the singer and actress as it was for Riko to be playing it. Almost? Probably worse. For all she knew, Nishikino might have played that song here in Akihabara, all those years ago. To hell with this: she stopped abruptly. She gestured "come here" to Yazawa.

The music stopped abruptly. When the player lifted her head, Nico could see that she, too, had tears in her eyes. She looked right at Nico and made a "come here" gesture. Normally, Nico wouldn't have obeyed; if she was found out, she didn't want the crowds to bother her. And given her modest but solid success at both singing and acting, she shouldn't be at the beck and call of what she now saw was a high-school girl. But whatever force had pinned her in place drew her towards the girl, and the piano.

"Sing with me. Something appropriate," It wasn't Maki's voice, but it had a lot of the same feeling to it. The mysterious girl patted the place next to her on the piano stool. "I'm a school idol. Our group is called Aqours. We were inspired by your group. My heart was broken. You can relate to that. Pick something appropriate."

Sometimes Nico caught up with Hanayo and she prided herself on not losing to her in terms of idol trivia. She recognized the strange name Aqours, it drew attention to itself. Kind of fake French or something. She even knew some of the names, she thought ... this one was named Riko, their composer. She used mnemonics reflexively to remember names: this was the image she had in her mind, what was she ... okay cherry blossoms in her mouth ...

"Sakurauchi, you are rather bold for a high school girl, aren't you?"

"You are rather bold for a high school girl, aren't you?" the idol asked.

"When you have nothing, you become bold. That's the way of life."

"Fine, fine," the idol surprisingly said. She scooted next to Riko and asked, "Do you know Loveless World?"

Riko knew it very well, actually. It was her second-most-played song lately.

Ironically, the two harmonized quite well on the song. In fact, a crowd had gathered when they finished. Riko looked up, surprised. She heard the name "Nico" being said.

Yazawa got up and extended her hand to Riko.

"I think our little concert is over, Sakurauchi-chan. Or it is for me. Can we go to the kissaten over there and continue our discussion? For some reason, I want to talk to you. Also, bow!"

She gently turned Riko away from the piano and held her arm as they both bowed. Then Riko joined her walking over to the kissaten without agreeing out loud to go.

You know what? I bet misery really DOES love company, she reflected.

Nico told Sakurauchi that she'd pay for everything, of course: she was an adult, with much more money than a high-school girl had, and she'd invited the girl there.

"Let's talk freely, Sakurauchi-chan. One of the great things Ayase Eli contributed to us was to insist we drop the formalities. So. You are in love with someone in the group?"

The girl nodded. "Our group leader. Chika."

"She's quite similar to our leader, Honoka, at least superficially, I think."

"Very similar. More like her than the younger Kousaka sister is. We met Honoka once, with Kira Tsubasa of ARISE."

"You must have reminded Tsubasa of both Erena and Maki. I wish I could have seen that."

"You're exactly right, actually. She said I looked like Erena and acted like Maki, or something like that."

"Honoka aside, it didn't go well for you?"

'No, she even said she liked me, but I misunderstood."

"Doesn't like girls?"

"No, she does. But her childhood friend, it turns out, has her heart. None of us knew, even the friend. And I made a fool of myself."

"Not knowing any more than that, I can't agree, Sakurauchi-chan. The fool is the one who doesn't say anything and suffers in silence when it's too late."

"Ah."

"Although it might have always been too late. I have never seen Maki with a girl. But it's not like I've seen her all the time over the years."

"Why did you come over?"

"Why did you ask?"

They both went silent. "I don't know!" they said, almost at the same time. Then they laughed. It broke the ice.

"So in your case, it's like Maki was in love with Honoka, but she chose Kotori over Maki. Huh."

"And in your case, it's like Yoshiko was in love with me, but I chose to disregard it, I guess."

"Yoshiko is which one?"

"One of the first years. Long, black hair with some blue highlights. She goes for the 'cute little devil' look."

"I'm surprised she didn't stand out more for me, then. What's she like?"

"Well, as for that, the main thing is she's a big chuunibyou, I guess."

"Excuse you, Sakurauchi. Even when I actually was in middle school I was taking care of three children and getting great grades so I could get into UTX. Or Otonokizaka as it turned out. I wasn't going around telling people I had a deadly eye or was a reincarnated swords-woman."

"Fallen angel."

"Whatever."

"It's a story she tells to feel better. To feel special. That's the connection. Like Yazawa-san, calling herself Nico Nii and telling herself she was the number one idol in the universe. Also, I heard a story going around, it was probably fifth hand by the time we heard it, but it claimed Yazawa-san had pasted her face over the center in photos of µ's concerts and told her little sisters she was the star of µ's, and the other eight were her backup dancers. That's something I could definitely see Yoshiko do."

"Well, who can say about the distant past, but it sounds exaggerated to me."

"Of course, of course. Anyway, I think Yazawa-san's approach is more socially acceptable, but not as far from Yoshiko's as you might think. Also, she's a wonderful girl. She definitely shakes up things and prevents boredom. People didn't listen to her at first, but that changed eventually."

Niko probably looked noticeably unhappy at that part.

"Anyway," Riko continued, unperturbed. "Me and Yoshiko, huh." She went back to drinking her coffee and had some of the cake she'd ordered. After a while, she said, "I think if it happened now, I'd take her up on it."

Nico was a little surprised. "How long since you confessed to Chika .. Takami-san, is it?"

Riko nodded. "Not long, now. maybe a month? But it's not been a good month. I still write songs, but I ask myself, why bother. I go to practices, ditto. Somewhere along the line, probably pretty early, all of this became about Chika. And now my motivation is missing. And I don't really have anyone to talk to about it. I'm visiting my aunt, most of our family still lives in Akihabara. And I came to go shopping in Tokyo, but I actually went over and asked to borrow that piano to seek inspiration. It's going to be used by someone later today, but the person setting it up was friendly." She looked over at Nico. "Are you thinking I'm a fickle girl to be claiming I'm heartbroken?"

"I don't know enough to judge," Nico responded.

"I don't have anyone to prove anything to, you know."

"Like I said ..."

"I don't have to torment myself because I'm already being tormented. I don't have to feel even worse to make my feelings for Chika seem more real."

Riko sighed.

"Nico-sempai, how long was it after Maki rejected you that you started dating?"

"How long ..." Nico said. She looked down. "How long is it, now? Eight years?"

"So you ... NEVER?" Riko said, shocked.

"I guess I never ... got around to it," Nico said, sadly. "Except acting, I've never even been kissed. I might have gotten Maki to kiss me goodbye, but I worried it would hurt worse if I did."

"That's just terrible, Nico!" Riko said. "Well, I am much younger, but actually... Chika and You practiced kissing even before they were dating, when they were younger. And so did Kanan and Mari and Dia. And Ruby and Hanamaru. I suppose only Yoshiko and I are the unkissed Aqours girls. But someone like Nico doesn't deserve eight years of loneliness. What are you punishing yourself for, sempai? For falling in love with the wrong person?"

"Ah, well ... I couldn't let it go, Riko. I tried, but I really couldn't. And as for loneliness, I did have my family."

"I respect that," Riko said. "My family ... well, I'm the only child and we're not a close family. My parents didn't spend any time with me. And I didn't make friends, somehow. So maybe I feel loneliness quicker than sempai does, because it's been such a long time for me."

She looked thoughtful.

"If Yoshiko had a thing for me, and it would make her happy to be my girlfriend, I would give it a try, is all. It can't be worse than how I feel now."

"Have you ever asked her about things like that?"

"Liking girls? No, and I won't. I'm not as close with her as her fellow first-years are. Coming from me it would look like a confession. And that would be fooling Yoshiko."

"That's fair."

They sipped more coffee and ate more cake. It was a pleasant atmosphere.

But Riko's expression changed suddenly. She seemed to be struggling with something.

"The thing is, Yazawa-san ..."

"You can call me Nico, I think we should dispense with the formalities, Riko-chan."

"The thing is, Nico," she said with a smile, "I already know that you like girls."

Nico wondered where she was going with that.

"How long before you all do the µ's reunion? Will Maki be in it?"

"Around two years from now, and yes. She'll probably need to practice with me, because they want us to do two duets. The fans all loved their 'NicoMaki.' That kind of bothered Maki-chan."

"So, hmm. So Nico-san is 'Christmas cake?' But that's not ancient, at least," the girl mused.

It was one thing to dispense with the formalities, another to be brazenly rude. But Nico decided to assume this strange girl had her reasons.

Riko reached over and grabbed Nico's hands. She waited patiently until Nico dropped her fork onto her plate, then pulled them towards herself.

"Nico-san, let's go to a hotel. Now."

Nico was shocked. "But, why would you..."

"Because I want to sleep with Nico-san, obviously. I want to touch you and I want you to touch me. I want you to say "I love you Riko," while we're lying together in a bed. I want to look into your eyes when I stop being a virgin, I think."

"But aren't you ..."

"Never mind what I am. Even with someone your age, you'd have to sneak around, wouldn't you?"

"Ummm ... I wonder," Nico said, still taken aback. "I guess so, for a couple more years, it would still help my career. But after the reunion is over, before I become twenty-eight, I already planned on leaving the idol agency. I will probably just have my personal agent then. So I wouldn't be an idol, and dating or marriage would be expected, really."

"What a coincidence, in a couple of years you won't have to worry about the other thing, either."

Riko had brought her back-pack along, and now she brought out another school uniform. "This truly is fate, Nico-san. Do you know whose uniform this is?"

Nico, of course, had no idea.

"This is Chika's. She went on a date, then stayed over at You's house. I'm her neighbor, so she asked me last night to bring her uniform in so she could change into it when she went directly to school on Monday. I went over to her house and put it in my pack early so I wouldn't forget it." She handed it to Nico.

It was pretty clear that Nico didn't want the uniform or have any idea why Riko handed it to her. "Please put it on," Riko said.

Nico looked back and forth between Riko and the uniform, then said, "Hmmm I guess it wouldn't be the first time." She went into the bathroom.

Riko felt like she was a ghost observing herself from outside of her body. She had never even remotely been like this her whole life. Except when she panicked, she could do weird things when she panicked. Maybe this was a 'life panic.'

When Nico came out, she was wearing typical high-school girl glasses. She truly looked like she belonged in Chika's uniform. Her breasts didn't push it out as far as Chika's did, but that didn't show.

Riko almost applauded. But she had plans and that would have ruined them. "What's with the glasses, Nico-san?"

"They're not corrective. They help me not be recognized. Did you know, I don't have red eyes, and Maki doesn't have violet eyes?"

Riko was puzzled.

"Maki's part European on both sides, and she just has a special kind of blue that looks violet. Some people do have blue eyes with red behind them, and they're 'true' violet eyes. And some people, like me, have grey eyes with some red behind it. Take a look."

Riko didn't mind looking in Nico's eyes. And sure enough, they weren't purely red or even pink.

"I have some albino genes, but it's weird. My skin is as pale as it should be, and my eyes are reddish, but my hair is black. If I was your friend, I'd be in heaven, I guess. I'd keep my hair long and stringy, wear flowing white slips, and brush my hair aside to reveal my demonic red eyes ..."

Riko laughed.

"Anyway, it turns out just having glasses on makes it much harder to tell my eye color. The red is on the back part."

Riko suddenly suggested they split another piece of cake and have more coffee.

"What happened to," then Nico stage whispered, "Let's go to a hotel, Nico-san?"

"That's still the plan," Riko said, smiling. She reached over and touched Nico's hand briefly. "But first, I have to reassure sempai."

"Sem-what?" Nico exclaimed. But Riko had already signaled a waiter over.

"My sempai has never been here before, but she was raving about how great it is," Riko said, when he arrived.

The waiter looked at Nico and smiled. "We are very glad you like our coffee shop, we are all diligent, and very happy when our honored customers, especially the girls from Uranohoshi, come here and enjoy the shop. Please tell your friends about us, much obliged."

He took their order and left for the kitchen. Nico admitted the waiter had taken her at face value as an Uranohoshi student, and they relaxed.

"So, sempai," Riko said. "About that hotel."

Nico looked at her, but was too startled to know what to say.

"When I had the impulse, I just wanted to go somewhere and just do it, get it over with. Break the ice."

"Get it - over with?"

"No, not like, 'not be a virgin,' but like, 'Nico and I have done it once already, so let's continue.' More like that."

"But ..." Nico sensed a 'but' coming.

"But that's a sad way to have our first time, and nothing we do should be sad. The whole point is not being sad."

"So what would be 'not sad,' in a world where I would actually go to a hotel with an under..."

"Sempai, don't talk about things that don't matter. Does sempai know a good ryokan nearby?"

Nico did, actually. It was a small train ride, nothing onerous. The ryokan was cheap, a little run-down but very clean. And it had an old-fashioned hot-springs-style bathing area. Walled-in, but without a ceiling so you could see the sky at night. Riko noticed her pondering it, and guessed she did have one in mind.

"Okay, sempai, spill."

"Well, as I was saying, it's out of the question. The place I have in mind is a couple's place, mostly, anyway."

"Well, there we are."

Their cake had arrived, so Riko shifted the conversation to something innocuous. When they'd both finished, and Nico had paid, they left.

"Let's go to the station, sempai."

"You know, Eli said not to call anyone sempai."

"That was because you were all in the same group. But if you µ's girls aren't our sempais, I don't know who would be. Please trust me, I have a reason for how I'm, addressing you, sempai. And I want you to call me nothing but Riko-chan, which, thankfully, you're already doing."

"Are you normally this impulsive?"

"I never am."

"Riko, what's gotten into you, then?"

"Loneliness, self-loathing, mental anguish, it's a long list, sempai. Mainly, I think, it's 'not one day more,' or even 'not one hour more.'"

Nico was still puzzled, of course.

"If I don't try this, now, when will I? Is eight years the right amount of time?"

Nico squeezed Riko's hand. While they were talking, they'd somehow arrived at the station. Riko asked what train they needed to take.

Nico was going to protest again, and Riko held her tightly and whispered in her ear.

"Don't. Don't say no. Don't let us both go home alone. Give us both something to live for, to look forward to. I don't want to spend another night alone with nothing but my unbearable thoughts. You and I both know we aren't doing anything wrong."

Somehow, the girl had stripped Nico of all her defenses. The truth of how unhappy she was, all through eight years of smiling and making light of her pain, was really hitting Nico, and chilling her to the bone. In the end, what decided her was how warm Riko's hand was. She bought tickets for both of them, and led Riko to the train.

On the train, Riko went to the area between cars. She insisted on being the one to phone ahead. It must have been old-fashioned, as you couldn't even make reservations online. She said that she and her sempai had been stranded in Tokyo after a singing competition had been rescheduled. And that they were both fond of ryokans, and that this was the only one her family in Uranohoshi remembered. Did they have a room they could split? They did, it turned out. And even though mostly couples went there, the clerk taking the phone call didn't mention that. Riko made the reservation, then closed the call and went back to their seat, satisfied.

"Sempai, we need a name for you ..." she mused. "I have it - you are now Takami Maki."

Nico laughed. "Of all the names to use ..."

"Made you laugh, sempai. Therefore, it's a good name. It's a little like - getting it out of our system. It's a joke only we two will get."

Nico didn't bother to ask why she'd need a pseudonym. She wondered aloud how she'd get checked in without an ID, though.

"You left your ID at school, sempai. How careless! What an example you are setting for your innocent kouhai who looks up to you."

Riko felt thoughtful. "Or maybe a little more..."

She nodded to herself. "Yes, I think it's more than simple admiration."

Riko looked Nico in the eye then turned her head to one side and kissed her suddenly. Tenderly. After a bit, she moved her head away and looked at Nico again.

"Now, sempai, you can't say you've never been kissed. And I am not acting." She made a mental note that if both girls didn't go for it at the same time, it was much, much easier not to 'miss' and bump noses or foreheads or whatever. Achievement: Flawless First Kiss - Unlocked!

Nico looked stunned. They sat next to each other in silence as the train continued on its way. A couple of times, Nico looked over at Riko, who was still smiling.

"Riko-chan, was that really your first kiss?" Nico inquired, quietly.

"Of any kind, Nico-san. Unlike you, I don't lock lips with handsome actors and maybe actresses for take after take, either."

At first, Nico didn't know how to feel. Her first kiss! And with a junior in high school, barely old enough to drive! And herself, wearing a high-school uniform! She'd had a rare weekend off and been wondering how to spend it. But she couldn't have envisioned this. Not in a million years. Shouldn't she feel bad? She actually didn't know how she really felt. A little numb. A little foolish. What had it taken to end a lifetime of not being kissed? One brave high-school girl, and ten seconds. Well, more like 30 seconds. She realized she was confusing what she thought and what she should feel with what she did feel.

Her eyes flooded with tears. She held on to Riko's arm and looked at her face. "Thank you, Riko," she said.

"Thank me by kissing me, sempai." Riko tilted her head a little, then waited, holding perfectly still.

Nico looked around. This train had no one in this particular car. Nico brought her lips to Riko's. She was still crying and shaking a little.

Her first kiss! And let's be honest: the drama around it only made it much, much sweeter. It felt like being in a movie. What a movie you could make out of this, Riko thought. She let her imagination run wild. If Nico and her married, for instance. After a few years, no one would quibble about Riko being too young when they got together. If worst came to worst, they could lie about the year a little. She pictured meeting with producers for the presentation. It wasn't quite as fun and dramatic, but they'd probably say Riko was in the last part of her senior year, so she'd be safely eighteen.

One of the princesses of the µ's empire had married one of the princesses of the nation of Aqours! Of course, there'd be an age difference. That was typical of dynastic marriages, after all. Muse on one bride's side of the lower worship hall, Aqours on the other. After a tragic lost love, Princess Nico had shut herself away in a tower, and only ate bread and water. Her only friends were the birds who landed on the ledge so she could feed them crumbs. Then one day, Nico heard the notes of a lute coming from a carriage heading towards µ's. Princess Riko of Aqours, though heartbroken herself, was entertaining her sisters. The lovely sound drew the princess out of her tower for the first time in eight years. As she leaned out of the window at the foot of the stairs, their eyes met... Wait!

Nico was crying. Uh oh. But then, she turned to Riko and thanked her. On impulse, Riko replied, "Thank me by kissing me, sempai." She closed her eyes and tilted her head. But she was not going to move an inch, so Nico wouldn't have to maneuver. Assuming she would actually kiss Riko.

She did.

Until a couple of passengers entered the car, only a couple of stops before the ryokan's station, they traded kisses, held hands, looked out the window and looked at each other. Riko's heart soared. It felt like they were already girlfriends. And soon, wouldn't they be just plain lovers? It really looked like it. Thank you, piano, she thought, smiling. I guess you really came through on the inspiration front. She felt like she could write a dozen songs without breaking a sweat, now. But she'd prefer it if they were all for Nico.

Nishiyama Yuriko had mixed emotions about working at the ryokan. It wasn't quite what she'd trained to do, which was managing a hot springs resort of her own, preferably in Hokkaido, where she and her wife had gotten their civil partnership certificate. But they had needed more income if that was ever going to happen, and in truth, this ryokan had the same ambiance, even if its outdoor bath was artificially heated and simply piped through sulfur-bearing rocks. And it was very nice. Of course, mostly couples came to it. She hoped the two high school girls who were staying there that night didn't see anything unseemly. But high school girls, nowadays, had probably seen it all, she reflected.

Unless she missed her guess that was them walking down the road towards the entrance gate now. Uh oh. They couldn't know that the light where they were brought them into sharp relief. It was easy to see they were pausing to kiss passionately before going through the gate. "Stranded, are you?" she said out loud, and laughed. "Stranded on the shores of love, more like."

But fortunately for their plans, Yuriko wasn't going to hinder them. In fact - in fact, she thought, chuckling. She would treat them like all the other couples, the men and women, from the start. That would embarrass them, serves them right for fibbing! And, hopefully, this would make their time here even more memorable.

The girls, Sakurauchi Riko and her sempai, who said her name was Takami Maki, were nervous right from the start. Although she did look older, it was hard to believe Takami was the sempai, as her kouhai did all the talking. At a guess, the sempai was paying for their stay, but otherwise the younger girl was the boss of the couple. The way Takami gave her name convinced Yuriko that it was probably a fake. How foolish. As if anyone cared who this high school girl was here. She claimed she'd left her ID at school, but hadn't thought she'd need it. True to her resolution to not interfere with their happiness, Yuriko took everything at face value. She had been planning to use a room with twin beds when the reservation was made, but she'd changed it to a single-bed couples room. She would have her helper put some plum wine, chocolates, and flowers on the coffee table, and two pretty yukata in the closet. The bath was open at all hours, and full of nooks where you couldn't be seen by the other people bathing. It was also pretty large for something located in Tokyo. It helped that the owner had a perpetual land tax amount that couldn't be changed by law, so they hadn't been priced out of the area.

Looking at how the couple interacted, Yuriko decided this was their "first time" trip. How romantic. It was amazing girls were still so romantic and sentimental in this age. She well remembered her first time. She'd been a young hot springs worker, and one visitor had wanted her constantly around her whole visit ... She never asked her wife how many nakai had come before Yuriko. All that mattered was that they were together now. She hoped she could give the two cuties a similarly unforgettable night.

When they got to their room, it was immediately clear to Riko that they'd been given a couple's room. Not only was there plum wine with two cups, two heart-shaped chocolates, flowers, and slightly erotic old-style paintings on the wall, but there was only one bed. Riko hadn't looked forward to trying to have sex on a twin bed, but hadn't been able to come up with an excuse for wanting to share a bed. Probably this place just didn't have many twin-bed rooms. Thank goodness!

"First things first," she said. Nico looked at her.

"Our first cute couple thing, of course."

She knelt in front of the coffee table and Nico did likewise. Riko poured a small cup of plum wine for Nico. She waited until Nico reciprocated.

"Now, sempai, this is going to be tricky. The cups aren't too full, but we still have to go slow. Don't move your head."

Riko made it clear she wanted them to do cross-cup drinking. They succeeded in keeping their arms touching and not spilling. Nico and Riko finished the little bottle of plum wine and Riko cheered.

"Okay," she said, after they'd put the cups back on the tray holding the bottle. "Second cute couple thing."

"You plan things this fast?" Nico asked, looking amazed.

"Sempai, you've been out of the school idol scene too long. I have to compose, practice dancing, keep my grades up — you can't do all that without planning," she said, smirking.

Nico, currently juggling two voice acting jobs, just finishing a play, and about to play a supporting role in a big film, was kind enough not to correct her, but rather, played along.

Riko took one of the heart-shaped chocolates and put it on her tongue. "Zhis wn fr oo shmpai," she tried to say. Her tongue pulled back into her mouth, Riko leaned forward expectantly.

Nico had already decided to make the most of this scandalous tryst. And to play along with Riko, no matter what. She noticed that Riko was often trembling, even as she gave orders and pretended to be confident. Nico could understand that all too well.

So Nico kissed Riko. They wrapped their arms around each other and let their hands drift down each other's backs. Nico's tongue went into Riko's partly opened mouth. She tasted something sweet, and suddenly she felt the chocolate being pushed into her mouth by a sweet, slippery tongue, in turn.

While they continued kissing the chocolate melted in Nico's mouth and she swallowed it.

Riko could feel Nico smiling. "Riko's turn," she heard. Wow, was this heart-pounding. It was so much better than she'd imagined. She felt herself healing already. For the first time in ages, she didn't miss Chika like a missing limb. She stuck her tongue in Nico's mouth. Imagine that. From never even kissing to being so lewd with a grown woman, like it was nothing. She tasted the chocolate, then felt it being pushed into her mouth.

Like Nico before her, she kissed until the chocolate melted in her mouth, then ran her tongue over it before she swallowed it. Combined with their bodies pressed tightly together, their hands grabbing each other's bottoms, the sweetness of the kiss and the chocolate — it was all overwhelming.

She decided it was time for the next step she'd envisioned.

"Sempai, we should change into our yukata now," Riko said, pointing to the open door of the closet they were hanging in.

"But!"

Nico looked at her.

"I don't want to hide from sempai, and I don't want sempai to hide from me. So after we strip, completely, and before we put on our yukata, I want to see my fill. And I want sempai to see me."

The girl looked at Nico defiantly. Nico had promised herself to play along, but it was a truly embarrassing demand. Could she do this? She'd seen, and been seen by, girls in baths of course. But this was different, somehow. Then again, wasn't that the point? Nico knew she was in perfect shape. She had to be, given the roles she played. In fact, she hadn't gained even half a kilo since high school. Even though her breasts had finally grown a bit.

Well. Nico felt a little subdued, but she took off her shirt and skirt and neatly folded them and placed them on a shelf in the closet. Riko did the same. They faced each other.

Niko took a deep breath and undid her bra, dropping it to the floor. Then she took another breath and, blushing, she bent over to lower her panties.

"Wait," she heard Riko say. The girl moved around so she could see Niko from behind. "Okay, go ahead, sempai." Nico hadn't been so embarrassed since µ's had caught her at her house with all her fake posters. But she dutifully dropped her panties and then stood straight again. Riko moved again until they were facing each other, and, looking Niko in the eye, she stripped off her bra and tossed it to Nico. She pointed to Nico's underwear pile, so Nico dropped it there. Then Riko turned away from Nico and bent over and removed her panties, slowly. She turned around and tossed them to Nico, too.

Now they were both naked. Riko's eyes raked hungrily over Nicos's body. She approached Nico, and caressed her breast.

"You grew a little even since high school, sempai," she mused. "You're not as big as Chika, but you're nearly as big as me." Nico had grown about six centimeters in the bust, having been flatter than Ruby when she was in µ's, and was actually as big as Riko now.

To take the sting out of her second remark, she threw her arms around Nico and pressed her close, kissing her passionately. Nico threw her arms around Riko and they kissed like that for a while. Then Riko stepped back again.

As Riko took in Nico's body, she was surprised how young she looked. She had been worried about being found out, but wasn't any more. Nico had the bare beginning of lines, due to worry, if you looked at her face very close up. But otherwise, she still looked younger than Riko.

"You don't have much hair, do you, sempai? Do you shave it?"

Nico kept staring at Riko. The truth is, Riko didn't know where this bold person that she was becoming came from.

"No, Riko-chan. Ummm it's all I have."

"Does sempai do nude scenes sometimes?"

"No … I didn't want to. And it helps that I don't do grown women roles." The oldest Nico had played, she explained, was a recent role as a high school senior, made eighteen so it wouldn't be as bad that the character was with a middle-aged man.

"But maybe, after Nico isn't an idol anymore, I will play such parts."

"Why on Earth?" Riko demanded.

"Well, it preserves your body at its peak for safekeeping. Just vanity. And it opens up more roles."

"Sempai, if you wish, I will preserve your naked body in pictures and videos starting now, as many as you wish."

Riko felt annoyed. "If sempai is doing nude scenes with men - I don't want that."

Nico laughed, and Riko changed the subject.

"So, is mine similar to Maki-chan's?"

Nico looked down where Riko's hand led her. "I'm trying to remember how Maki looked in the bath when we all went … Pretty much, I think."

"Yoshiko probably has a little more than sempai, but it's pretty close. Breasts, too," Riko said.

Riko didn't know why she was so amused and absorbed in the little parallels of Nico/Maki Yoshiko/Riko Riko/Chika Maki/Honoka, but she was, in fact.

"Sempai, let me play with your hair for a minute."

Riko had helped Yoshiko put her hair up a few times, when Zuramaru wasn't around. It didn't take long to give Nico the style, pinning it in place with a lacquered chopstick.

"Okay, sempai. Say 'Hello, my little demons. The fallen angel, Yohane, greets you.' In your best chuunbiyou take, Miss Actress."

Nico had voiced chuunbiyou-suffering teens, of course. So she did as requested.

Riko broke up laughing. "My goodness, sempai! That's both the funniest and the sexiest thing I've ever seen."

Nico just stood there, looking like a naked Yoshiko. Then she said, fine, fine. It's Riko's turn. Let's show you Honoka, then."

After she used her barrettes to rearrange Riko's hair into Honoka's style, she had Riko say "As long as we've got determination, we can do anything!"

Then she had both of them raise their hands up and say "Muse, Music, START!" It always made Nico nostalgic and a little teary-eyed to hear it. Seeing a naked "Honoka" doing it was .. well, sexy and funny at the same time.

Now Riko's face was more serious. She used a barrette to pin back Nico's hair on one side. She braided the other and fixed it with a band, tucking a flower from the vase on the table into the band.

Niko guessed she was now Takami Chika. Dangerous territory. Because she remembered the Aqours leader was always smiling, she smiled and waited for Riko to tell her what to do.

"Takami-sempai!" Riko confirmed. "Please say 'we have to shine on our own, in our own way!"

Nico did so, smiling.

"Yes! Smile! Smile!" Riko approved. "Now say, 'We can't get to a hundred right away, but we can get to one!'"

But Riko felt tears in her eyes, hearing Nico say Chika's saying.

"Riko-chan, are you alright?"

"Hmmm," Riko said. "I think I am both sad and happy at the same time, in equal amounts, so it's hard to answer."

Nico took a deep breath. She took the barrettes out of Riko's hair and brushed it into curves around her face.

"Okay, Riko-chan, now play with your hair a little."

"Play with it?"

"Like, twist it nervously."

"Like this?"

"Yes, now say 'Imi wakannai!' like you're super annoyed. But with a very sultry voice."

Wow, did she ever look like Maki. And sound like her. Nico wanted to pack everything up right now and go home and cry, but she also wanted to stay and see this through. Riko was so beautiful. This was what it would have been like, she thought.

In a way, this whole night was restoring something to Nico that she'd been cheated out of in high school. It wasn't mentally or emotionally healthy to push this thing, of Riko and her as substitutes, but it would be okay tonight.

Notes:

CHRISTMAS CAKE: The cakes go on discount once Dec. 25 rolls around — a fact that gave birth to an unfortunate bit of old Japanese slang: "Christmas cake" was used to refer to an unmarried woman who was over 25 and thus, considered past her prime. Riko is invoking that trope. As you can see, Nico is right, it's pretty rude calling Nico "Christmas cake,', but Riko's making the joking point that their age difference isn't a problem.

In this scenario Nico is dating eight years from the first rejections by Maki when she was still 17, and basically confessing in a roundabout way, not the formal rejection by Maki after graduation, so she is still 25, almost 26. It will be a year or two until the µ's 10th anniversary concert. A while after that Nico is going to settle in to singing and acting, with dancing being part of the singing, mostly, and stop "beng an idol." She's a bit more than nine years older than Riko.