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ryqoshay · 6 years

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How to Handle a Nico: First Tree

Primary Pairing: NicoMaki Words: ~3.2k Rating: K 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

List of all HtHaN scenes

Author’s Note: This took a little longer than I intended to finish, as I had hoped to post it around the 1st or 2nd of the month, as that is when I imagine it occurring. Though honestly, perhaps it occurs even earlier. It would all depend on how early Nico is willing to give into Maki’s obsession with Christmas.

NishikinoMaki: I’m home

NishikinoMaki: Nico-chan?

NishikinoMaki: Where are you?

NishikinoMaki: Are you on your way?

NishikinoMaki: Nico-chan?

NicoNii: Sorry, I’m running a little late

NicoNii: It looks like I missed my train

NicoNii: But there’s another one soon

NicoNii: So I’ll be home in a bit

Nico imagined her girlfriend staring anxiously at the boxes they had set out earlier.

NicoNii: Yes, you can start without me if you want

NishikinoMaki: Thak yiu

Nico laughed at the uncharacteristic, yet completely unsurprising, hasty reply.

NicoNii: You’re welcome, my impatient princess

NicoNii: See you in a few

The idol producer slipped her phone back in her pocket, assuming there would not be another response as her girlfriend was undoubtedly emptying the boxes already.

“I’m home!” Nico called over the music coming from within the apartment.

A moment later, a grinning redhead girl practically skipped around the corner to the entryway. “Welcome home, Nico-chan!” Maki greeted before grabbing the other girl and pulling her into a tight hug.

Nico couldn’t help but laugh at her girlfriend’s enthusiastic behavior. Even now in her early twenties, Maki got overly excited about Christmas. But as amusing as Nico found it, and as much as she often liked to tease, she also thought it was quite endearing and was thus willing to play into it for Maki’s sake.

“I was just about to hang some garland.” Maki started explained merrily.

“Alright, let me finish taking off my shoes.” Nico replied. “I’ll be right there.”

“Alright.” The younger girl replied, stealing a quick kiss before pulling away completely. She headed back toward the living room with the same spring in her step as before.

There was no denying that the enthusiasm was contagious, though Nico had no desire to remove the smile from her own face as she quickly stowed her shoes and jacket. Not wanting to keep Maki waiting any longer, she made a beeline for the living room.

“Wow.” The word escaped Nico’s lips as she took in the sight before her. “You’ve already done a lot.”

“It’s my first year out of the dorms.” Maki reminded. “There’s so much more space here. I can really go all out and get everything up that I want. And depending on how far this stuff gets, I might want to get more.”

Nico chuckled. The apartment they had found was not that much bigger than the one she had previously shared with Nozomi, but it was significantly bigger than Maki’s old dorm room. Nico found herself wondering how excited Maki might get if she had an entire house to decorate, which would mean not only would she have that much more space on the interior, but she would be able to do the exterior as well.

Of course, that meant the two of them would be in a house together. A whole house. Just for the two of them. Nico had no doubt that Maki would eventually want to own a house; she was accustomed to larger living spaces. As opposed to Nico who had always known smaller living quarters…

“What’s wrong?” Maki asked suddenly.

Nico blinked. “Nothing.” She quickly derailed the train of thought; she hadn’t liked where it was going. She was happy where she was with Maki now and would undoubtedly be happy with her anywhere. And the house thing was probably a ways off anyway. She could deal with it then; no need to ruin the cheery atmosphere tonight. “Sorry. Long day at work and I think it’s catching up to me.” She knelt to retrieve a string of garland. “Have you decided where you want the tree?”

“Somewhere where it can be seen through the balcony door.” Maki replied. “I want people who pass on the street to be able to see it and maybe get some Christmas cheer from it.”

“You sound like an idol.” The idol producer commented.

“Huh?”

“Has Maki-chan already forgotten that an idol’s No. 1 Duty is to make others smile?” Nico held a hand to her chest, feigning shock.

“Idiot…” the college student rolled her eyes.

“You love it.”

“Maybe…”

“So, you wanna set up the tree next?” Nico climbed onto a chair beside Maki’s to hold up the garland.

“Definitely.” Maki nodded, sticking a hook to the wall to mount the decoration. “That was one part I wanted to make sure we did together.”

“Because it’s your favorite?” Nico probably could have allowed a teasing tone into her voice, but she chose sincerity instead, even it was a bit rhetorical as she already knew the answer.

“Yes.”

“You know, Nico has assembled her fair share of artificial trees in her time,” the raven-haired girl continued, “because she’s used to living in apartments that don’t allow live trees. But I’ll bet Maki-chan is used to having a real tree.”

“It’s fine.” The redhead assured. “It’s bigger than the one I could fit in my dorm room. I should be able to fit all of my ornaments on this one.”

“Just remember that Nico needs room her hers as well.”

“There’ll be room. I promise.” Maki said earnestly. “This is our tree; our first tree together. And it should represent us both.”

Nico smiled at the sincerity of her girlfriend’s insistence.

As the two knelt by their boxes, Maki found herself curious about what ornaments Nico owned. Well, beyond those she had seen on the small tree she and Nozomi had in their old apartment. There was little doubt there would be more pink involved, and most would likely be cutesy. But that was fine, pink and cute were what suited Nico best, after all. A moment later, Maki’s suspicions were confirmed as Nico opened her ornament box.

“Kotaro made this one for me in kindergarten.” The idol producer remarked fondly as she pulled a crudely crafted but unquestionably cute piece from the box.

“Your siblings know you well.” The college student replied with a smile.

“I know, right?” Nico found a place among the branches. “It’s one of my favorites.”

Maki smiled as a familiar pang of jealousy crossed her consciousness.

“What about you, Maki-chan?”

“Huh, wha?” The redhead came back to reality.

“What’s one of your favorites?” the raven-haired girl clarified.

“Oh, uhm…” Maki shuffled through her collection. “Probably this one.” She held up a small, glass treble clef. “Mama bought this for me after I played at my first Christmas concert.”

“It’s lovely.” Nico replied, gently taking the ornament and placing it next to hers. “Two of our favorites should be next to each other, don’t you think?”

“Definitely.” The redhead smiled.

The two young women continued to pull ornaments from their respective boxes, regularly commenting on them before finding a branch on which to hang them. Maki had been right, the tree was big enough to accommodate their entire combined collection; and likely more if they were to collect additional pieces over the years to come.

“Where…” Maki suddenly started glancing around the room.

“Where what?” Nico inquired.

“My star. It was in its own box.” The student continued to look around. “Did it get mixed in with the other boxes? Or did we not pull it out of the closet?”

“Uhm, I don’t know.” The idol producer shrugged. “But you know what the box looks like, why don’t you check the closet while I get something that might work instead.”

“Mmm…” Maki furrowed her brow. “But Papa gave me my star though. It’s kind of a tradition for me to put it on top of my tree.”

“Well if you haven’t found it by the time I find mine, I’ll help, alright?”

“Alright.” Maki headed towards the closet.

“I found it.” Maki said cheerfully, returning to the living room. “What the heck?” She uttered, coming to a stop as the tree came into view.

“Ta da!” Nico cried, holding her arms out in a grandiose display to indicate the newest decoration at the top of the tree.

“Nico-chan… I…” Words began to fail the redhead. “I don’t get you…” She fell back on a habitual phrase.

“What’s not to get?” Nico protested. “Isn’t it tradition to put either a star or an angel at the top of a Christmas tree? Well this is an angel!”

“Well, it is an angel… but…”

“But?”

Maki sighed as she continued to stare at the… ornament, or more appropriately, ornament-like-object adorning the top of their tree. It was a well cropped, and high-quality picture of Nico holding a trumpet and garbed in an adorable pastel blue and yellow dress. From her back, two white wings sprouted, indeed making her look quite angelic.

Part of Maki wanted to chastise the older girl for having the audacity and narcissism to put a picture of herself at the top of their Christmas tree. The other part of her wanted to chastise herself for not expecting something like this from her girlfriend. This was Nico, after all, the girl with enough pride for the whole of µ’s. Though she did have to admit the chosen picture was pretty cute.

“But…?” Nico repeated, apparently still waiting for a response.

Maki’s mind suddenly raced to find an appropriate response out of the various thoughts that had just crossed it in the past few seconds. “Why just you?” Was apparently what it chose for some reason.

Nico smirked. “Is Maki-chan jealous?”

“W-What?” Maki sputtered, scolding herself for asking such a foolish question that provoked such an obvious response from her girlfriend. “No!” She denied, though she wasn’t honestly sure as to the level of truthfulness the denial held.

Was she actually jealous? Did she actually want a picture of herself on the tree as well? For that matter, she didn’t recall wearing a costume similar to Nico’s. Had she worn an angel costume in their school idol days? She thought she might recall a different costume set the whole group had worn.

“Uh-huh…” The twin-tailed girl sang. “Well, no matter, Nico has just the thing!” That said, she climbed back up on the chair, snatched the picture of herself and replaced it with another.

Maki took a step closer to the tree to inspect the new ornament-like-object. This time, pictures of both Nico and Maki were set next to one another on a background of red hearts. The entire thing had even been cut into the shape of a heart and lined neatly with white tinsel.

Ah, she had been right; the group had worn angelic costumes. How could she have forgotten? As embarrassing as that photoshoot had been at the time, it had served as one of many early signs that her feelings concerning Nico were more than just that of simple friendship, even if she denied it back then. Also, she had actually liked wearing that costume. It had looked quite good on her and purple had always been one of her favorite colors to wear. And Nico, well, of course, Nico had been as adorable as ever. But…

“Wasn’t that supposed to be a White Day theme?” Maki couldn’t help asking aloud.

Nico shrugged. “Well, yeah, but it was the only time we all wore angel costumes.”

“Was it?”

“What do you mean?”

Maki’s brow furrowed in thought. She could have sworn there was another time. “I thought there was another set…” She pondered. “Something more… Christmas themed.”

Nico’s eyes widened with realization. “The Choir set!” She exclaimed starting to become a bit more dramatic than necessary. “That’s right! I should have used that one! Good thing I still have more high gloss paper...”

Maki sighed.

“How could I forget that one?” Nico continued her melodrama, placing the back of her hand to her forehead. “The photographer kept telling Maki-chan to smile and she wouldn’t.” Her tone turned to teasing.

Maki grimaced.

“Yeah, like that!” Nico chuckled. “Good thing Maki-chan looks cute even when she frowns.”

Never mind. Perhaps it might have been best had Maki not reminded her girlfriend of the other angel costumes. However… “And you let your hair down for that photo set, if I remember correctly.” The images came back to her.

“I might have.” Nico thought aloud. “I’ll have to check in a little bit.”

“You know, I always liked seeing you with your hair down.”

“Oh?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’ve always felt that your twin-tails suited you.” Maki admitted. “Even now when you wear them lower than you used to. But like I said, I also like it when you take them out.”

Nico grinned. “And now you get to see me like that every night.”

“And I like that.”

“Well then, as a reward for such honesty.” Nico reached up to one of the ties.

“You don’t have to now…” Maki started.

The idol producer paused and raised an eyebrow.

“… But… I wouldn’t mind…” The college student concluded.

Nico giggled before continuing. “So?” She asked upon completing the task.

“Lovely.”

“I know, right?” Nico’s grin grew at the expected, but always welcome compliment. “I’ll be right back.” She said, turning toward the hall. “I’m going to make a new one with the choir pics.”

“Really?”

“Yup. For the other side. Go ahead and put up your star while I’m doing that. I left room.” And with that, she disappeared into the office.

“Oh…” Maki realized her girlfriend had indeed left the tip of the tree bare. This meant there was room for both her beloved star as well as the new angel picture Nico had just made. Though Maki personally felt it was a little embarrassing having a picture of oneself being used as an ornament on a Christmas tree, she knew Nico liked it. And given the choice, she’d rather have them both together than just Nico alone.

Maki smiled to herself as she opened the box she still held in her hands and gently removed the treetop star. Like the glass treble clef and several other ornaments she had already put on the tree, this one brought back a lot of memories. And putting it at the top of this tree marked the beginning of a new chapter of memories to be made. Memories that would be made with the raven-haired girl currently grinning at her from her tinsel frame. Perhaps Nico had the right idea with the picture.

Now that Maki took a closer look at the ornament, she could see that Nico had put a lot of effort into making it look professional. Stick a price tag on it and put it on a store shelf and it could pass as regular retail merchandise. And while the girls of µ’s knew the origin of the costumes, most anyone else who might see the ornament would not, so it could just as well be Christmas themed.

A thought occurred to the redhead as she realized that while the original ornament of just Nico had been fine, the one with both of them was the one with an added background and border. Had it been Nico’s plan all along to swap them? Had she merely used the one with herself to gauge Maki’s reaction before the reveal? Maki found herself wondering how she might have reacted if she had seen this one first. From there, she started wondering what the new one might look like so she finished placing her star, stepped down from the chair and made her way to the office.

“Hey, Maki-chan!” The older girl greeted happily as she looked up from the younger girl’s laptop. “I’m almost done with the digital side. Wanna see?”

“Mmm…” Maki replied, rounding the desk to stand behind the chair. As was common practice between the couple, she then draped herself across Nico’s shoulders. She then nuzzled into her girlfriend’s hair, earning a giggle.

For her part, Nico pulled a hand away from the keyboard and placed it on the arms around her; the rest she could finish with just the mouse anyway.

“You added green hearts to this one?” Maki commented as she turned her attention to the screen.

“Just on my side, yeah.” Nico confirmed. “It felt like it fit better for some reason.”

“Because you’re a grinch?”

“Don’t think I won’t pinch you.” The raven-haired girl curled her fingers to emphasize the threat.

The redhead laughed lightly and kissed the top of the other girl’s head.

“Anyway, since you’re here, you can help me assemble it.” Nico continued. “It will be easier than doing it all on my own like the last one.” That said, she selected Print from the pull-down menu. “Not that Nico can’t do it on her own, of course.”

“Of course.”

“Hand me those scissors.”

Maki pouted for a moment when she realized she would have to let go of Nico to retrieve the requested item. But she immediately realized that she would have to move anyway to allow the other girl to do so if she did not. As such, she relinquished her hold on her girlfriend and grabbed the scissors.

“Thanks.” Nico said.

Maki marveled at the speed and precision with which her girlfriend cut the picture from the media. She was well aware that Nico had always been good with her hands, which was why she had often assisted Kotori with costume creation and Eli with accessories. However, to witness the finesse firsthand was something else.

“Hold this like this.” The older girl instructed. “This stuff dries fast, so timing is important.” That said, she set about applying dabs of adhesive to the edges of the cutout and securing the tinsel trim. “And done. It should be dry enough by the time we put it on the tree, so let’s get this up and turn on the lights so we can see the final result.”

Maki nodded in response before following her girlfriend back to the living room.

Nico climbed back up on the chair and set the ornament on the opposite side of its match. “And with the pièce de résistance in place,” she announced, “we have the first ever NicoMaki tree!”

Maki rolled her eyes, but refrained from comment as she knelt by the outlet to plug in the lighting of the pre-lit tree. At least none of their friends were there to hear that declaration as they’d never let her hear the end of it.

“It’s beautiful.” Nico said in awe, stepping back to get a better view.

“It is.” Maki agreed, joining the other girl.

“No more snide objections to my additions to the treetop?” Nico inquired.

Maki shook her head and smiled.

“Good.” Nico grinned as well before taking her girlfriend’s hand. “So,” She said after a moment of silence, “what to do for the rest of the evening? Why don’t I whip up something quick then we can watch a holiday movie?”

“It’s a Wonderful Life?”

“If you want. I’ll let you pick.”

“The Grinch?”

“Only if you want to sleep on the couch.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Nico admitted. “Nico loves sleeping beside her Maki-chan too much to force her to sleep somewhere else.”

Maki chuckled and squeezed her girlfriend’s hand. “I love sleeping beside Nico-chan as well.”

“Anyway, I’m going to go make dinner.” The idol producer said, turning towards her girlfriend.

“I’m going to adjust a few branches.” The college student replied, turning as well.

“See you in bit.” Nico tilted her head up.

“Mm…” Maki hummed, leaning down to meet Nico for a kiss.

This Christmas season was starting out well.

Author’s Note Continued: First and foremost, I need to give credit to my inspiration; a lovely post by my friend and fellow denizen of Sukutomo, rdsanthene. I had to reblog it with my idea as soon as I saw it.

Second, I can’t believe I’ve been writing this long enough to warrant a second, seasonally appropriate, Christmas scene. Deities help keep me motivated to make a third. KLab and Bushiroad, give me more cute NicoMaki cards for inspiration! ... or just to help me with my collection...

Next up, the notes just keep piling up. Now I want to write another photoshoot scene with the White Day angel costumes. Obviously I’d be using the idolized versions, but I may very well include the unidolzied as well, as it might allow be to show how I want to incorporate those SIF stories into HtHaN. Perhaps that will be a project for this coming February?

I also realize this is the first mention of the apartment that serves as the first home Nico and Maki officially share. As opposed to one always staying at the other’s place. I had intended on introducing it in a different scene, but I guess that’s just one more scene for the ever growing To Write list.

Lastly, we come to the cards referenced:

Yes, there was a reason why Nico chose green for her half of the background on the second (technically third) ornament, though she may not have been aware of it in-universe.

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

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