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officialinuyasha · 3 years

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Yashahime Original Sountrack Translation

Yashahime Original Sountrack Translation Corrected

Pictures of the Soundtrack Booklet was provided to me by Jessica Rich. I typed this all by hand and made grammatical/name/localization corrections. I went to four different people for answers to ensure proper translation corrections: Ayuuria, Eerie, Juli and Kari.

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Yashahime Original Soundtrack Kaoru Wada: It has been 10 years since "Inuyasha: The Final Act" concluded with a grand finale.

Even before that and still today, there is an ongoing friendship among staffs and cast members, as well as the original author Rumiko Takahashi (we even went to a certain tropical Island together!). From this great teamwork the idea of a sequel to "Inuyasha" arose naturally, but I never thought it would become a reality...! I first hear about the project while attending Anime Boston held in the United States in 2018. Coincidentally, Michihiko Suwa, the producer of Yomiuri TV (at the time), Hideyuki Tomioka, the producer at Sunrise and the screenwriter Katsuyuki Sumisawa were also attending the conference, and we had a lot of fun talking about the project. "Wada-san, we are counting on you on the music!" - when I was offered the opportunity to work on this project, my imagination started to grow even before the story and characters were developed (laughs). Then the time passed, I heard that the production team led by Mr. Sumisawa was struggling to giving birth to the original story, but when Rumiko-sensei drew the characters of Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha, the production made a huge progress all at once. In the spring of 2020, I received the specific script and synopsis, and the door of "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, which inherited the DNA of "Inuyasha", opened in front of me. Main characters are the twin daughters of Sesshoumaru and the daughter of Inuyasha and Kagome. Their births and backgrounds are veiled in mystery and they must follow a rather fateful path in the story. Inevitably, I had a feeling that the music will be quite important. Generally, when the animation is based on an existing story, there is already the original comics available when the animation is being developed. We created the anime around it, so we would have ideas of the world and how the story develops, but the animations with original stories do not, so I often wondered when I was creating the music inside my head. In the end, I asked a few questions to Mr. Sumisawa, and after repeated consultations, I was finally able to find the worldview. Definitely giving birth to the music was difficult as well, but as the new characters succeeding to "Inuyasha" were gradually being drawn up, the motivation to write music also increased. Musically speaking, in keeping the musical DNA of "Inuyasha". Japanese musical instruments such as shinobue, nohkan, shakuhachi, biwa, koto, and also ethnic instruments are incorporated into the orchestra. All of the songs are newly written and recorded, but the story required songs from "Inuyasha", as well, so I made some amendments to the original score and made new recordings of them. In terms of songs, unlike adventurous, action-packed tone of 'Half-Demon Inuyasha', I made the main theme 'Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon fateful and epic. It meant to hint the fate of Yashahime, and to present the meaning of the song which connects generations. Similar to "Inuyasha", there are many different characters in this story. The Yashahime - Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha have theme songs as well as Demon Slayer, Jyuubee, and Takechiyo (please refer to my comments to each song). In particular, the main theme and themes for Towa, Setsuna and Moroha are played by Japanese instruments, while the orchestra adding colors. Antagonists such as Kirinmaru, the Four Perils, Riku, and as the enigmatic Zero are also characterized their personalities through music. Since I recorded the songs during the Covid-19 pandemic, the recording procedure was different from my usual style. The total number of musicians performing in the orchestra, playing Japanese instruments, ethnic percussions, piano and synthesizers accumulated to 50, but if we were to record at the same time, the studio became too crowded, so we had to divide the recording session into four sections. This method is not unique, but personally I like this old-school method of in-one-take recording! As for the music menu, which are discussed in the interview with the director Teruo Sato and sound director Yasushi Nagura, the total number of songs became nearly 60 songs, and if you add different versions, the total number became 76 songs recorded for the first "Inuyasha" was about 40 songs, so it is almost twice as many songs! We wanted to bring you as many songs as possible, so this album consists of a main disc and a bonus disc. The main disc consists of the original pieces for "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon", while the bonus disc contains trailers and new recordings of the original "Inuyasha" pieces. We also designed the booklet rich in content. And as a special treat, the album cover was illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi! In order to make the best out of the illustration, we made the album into an LP jacket packaging, and I think you can even enjoy the art by displaying the album in your room. By the time this soundtrack album is released in March, the story has reached its climax, and we all have sweaty palms over what happens to Towa, Setsuna and Moroha. As the composer, I would be very happy if you can enjoy this album while remembering the story so far. I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to everyone involved in the music production of "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon", the successor to "Inuyasha", and especially Rumiko Takahashi who willingly illustrated the jacket artwork. Kaoru Wada

Teruo Sato (Director) X Yasushi Nagura (Sound Director) X Kaoru Wada (Composer) -First of all, please tell us how you all came to be involved in "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon". SATO: I've joined the team through directing "Inuyasha", and I was asked by the producer to be a part of this anime. I worked on Inuyasha: The Final Act as an assistant director and was told "How about making a new series inheriting the worldview (of Inuyasha: The Final Act)?". I gladly accepted the offer. NAGURA: I was working as a recording engineer on Inuyasha. The cast and crew of "Inuyasha" got along very well and met regularly every year. We always talked about doing a story beyond "Inuyasha". I was a little surprised to be asked to be the sound director. Since the story was not for "Inuyasha" but for the next generation, I decided to accept the job. I probably wouldn't have accepted if it were "Inuyasha". But actually, when I was working for "Inuyasha" I was working not only as a recording engineer but also a curator of the music, around the time of "Band of Seven" series. In that sense, I was involved one step further from the recording in this series, so I was able to take it straightforwardly without much pressure. Although I was told that this anime is about the next generation, since the first episode was almost like "Inuyasha", I thought, "Shouldn't the sound director of the first episode be Youta Tsuruoka (who worked on "Inuyasha" and "Inuyasha: The Final act")? (laughs). SATO: Tsuruoka-san visited the recording session of the first episode (laughs). NAGURA: That's right. That's how we enjoy working on this anime as a team (laughs). WADA: Since "Inuyasha" had such as agreat teamwork, I was also able to continue my participation with my trusted friends. Michihiko Suwa (of ytv Nextry, who is working on "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon" as a planning collaborator) was the initiator of the idea, and I have heard about this anime from him at a very early stage. Initially it was called "Inuyasha 2", but after some twists and turns, the series became a new story that inherits the world of "Inuyasha". Even so, many of the actors and staff continue to work on the series, so we feel the series is connected to "Inuyasha".

- This projected was made possible because the bond between the staff and cast of "Inuyasha" still existed. WADA: Yes, when the "Inuyasha" team gets together, staffs from Sunrise, the actors and staffs worked on the series, staffs from Shogakukan, and of course Rumiko Takahashi, the author of the original story are all present. That's why we are quick in many ways (laughs).

-What do you find attractive about "Inuyasha"? WADA: After all, I think Rumiko-sensei's original work is just wonderful. The character and worldview that Rumiko-sensei created, the beautiful ending of the story of "Inuyasha" have an incredible power. The inspiration from that was a huge part of the music as well. That's why making the music for an original series "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon" was so difficult (laughs). SATO: The fact that you have to start from scratch is both fun and difficult, when it comes to creating an original series. I am completely relying on others (laughs). The worldview of "Inuyasha" is so special that when I was to direct the series, I said "If possible, I would like to ask the staffs who worked on "Inuyasha" on the design, music, and audiography. There are a lot of characters from "Inuyasha", and it takes time to tell new staffs about them from scratch...in order to eliminate the need for explanations, I wanted the same staff to join me as many as possible (laughs). But it seems that everyone had heard about it from some rumor in the wind and had been planning to do it, and they all came together when Suwa-san said, "let's do it." NAGURA: The characters in "Inuyasha" are very attractive, aren't they? Of course, they are very attractive on Rumiko-sensei's manga, and when the manga was made into an anime, the way the characters were directed, the way the actors put their voices on the characters, made them even more attractive. I believe that the charm of these characters is what makes "Inuyasha" work as an anime. And then there is the music by Wada-sensei. In a way, I think this is the strongest line-up. That's why I decided not to aim for "Inuyasha", when I was working for "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon". If I chase after it, I won't be able to catch up, so I decided to just do my best and have fun with the young actors. I mainly think about how to make the characters in "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon" more attractive. WADA: After all, one of the biggest differences between "Inuyasha" and "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon" is whether there is an original story or not. Whenever I work on a new piece, I try things around and always wonder if it's good enough or not. That's exactly what happened with "Inuyasha" when I first recorded it in 2000. As a result, we were able to create something that fit the series, but that was largely due to the fact that we had the original comics. This time, since there is no story to begin with, we don't know what will happen next, so we really feel like we are creating the world. It was quite afflicting and difficult. I actually had a lot of secrets meetings with Mr. Katsuyuki Sumisawa (chief writer), asking him for information about the characters and the story (laughs).

-How far as the scenario finished when you were writing the music for "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon?" WADA: I've heard the rough idea of the overall direction, but it kept changing and changing, and I think I had the final draft up to episode 7 or 8. SATO: It was in the single digits. The cutting (editing) process was completed up to episode 3 or 4, and that is all the information we had to ask him to create the music. WADA: There are a lot of characters, and if you just read the summary, you wonder like "Why are these twin sisters separated from each other? Where are their parents? "Why is Moroha alone?" I'm sure the viewers watching the show feel the same way, but at first, I too had a lot of questions (laughs). I heard that there were weekly scenario meetings, and even some major changes and shifts were made. NAGURA: When we ask Wada-sensei to compose the music, I first make a list of songs and ask the director to review it. After receiving the approval from the director, we handed it over to Wada-sensei and held a meeting. This time, I remember trying so hard to gather information from the plot to create the list. I wasn't attending the scenario meeting so I was searching for any small information from what I had (laughs). WADA: This is big birthing pains, isn't it? In "Inuyasha", there were character themes for the unique characters such as Inuyasha, Kagome, and Kikyo, so I wanted to keep that approach and made character themes for Towa, Setsuna, Moroha, and for other characters this time as well. But then I can't stop contacting Sumisawa-san again (laughs). SATO: That's how the number of meetings increased (laughs).

-So you asked Mr. Sumisawa directly "why does this character act this way?" and use that as a hint for writing the songs. WADA: Yes, also there was a part of me that wondered, "Where is this story going?". Although the music is not an answer to the story, but "Half-Demon Inuyasha", the main theme of "Inuyasha", is what we call swashbuckler-like music. But this time it's a little different. "What will happen to the three princesses in the future" was a major key to the motif of the songs, so in that sense I couldn't write without knowing the story.

-Based on Mr. Sumisawa's story, what was the motif in composing the main theme of "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon"? WADA: I can't tell you that at this stage because it would be a spoiler... (laughs). From now on, Towa and Setsuna will have a big mission and destiny waiting for them. That's what this song is about.

-I see NAGURA: By the way, the number of songs has increased quite a it since I initially asked Wada-sensei. That's because after Wada-sensei talked with Sumisawa-san, he came up with saying "Don't you think we need a song for this character?". But I thought "I'm sorry there are so many songs" even when I first handed the list (laughs). SATO: But it came back with even more songs (laughs). In the beginning we asked for 45 songs, which I think is still quite a lot for a 2-cour series. But then, the number of songs increased by 1.5 times. WADA: I don't often write many songs in other projects. I would rather say, "I want to cut down" (laughs). However, when I talked with Sumisawa-san and learned about the future storyline, I thought, "Right....We should make a song for this character...." (laughs). That's how we ended up with more. NAGURA: I will be grateful for the opportunity to use them. SATO: I want to use them to the full. -The film score of "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon has an atmosphere that follows the worldview of "Inuyasha." Do you have a formula for music that is unique to "Inuyasha", such as "using this instrument will give it Inuyasha feel"? WADA: Since the story is set in the Sengoku period, the concept from the begining was to use a lot of Japanese traditional instruments. When you think of Japanese traditional instruments, you might think of traditional music like Noh or Kabuki, but that's not the case, I wanted to introduce them into the orchestra withot feeling uncomfortable. That worked so well in "Inuyasha" that I carried it over to "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon" as well. While "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon" as a work, is not a position to be called a sequel to "Inuyasha", but it is a sequel in terms of music. SATO: That's what I ordered, too. I wanted the atmosphere of "Inuyasha" for sure however, it is a new series so I want the music to evolve as well. WADA: By the way, 'Half-Demon Inuyasha', the main theme song of "Inuyasha", was played in the first episode, but that was the newly recorded 2020 version. NAGURA: 'Half-Demon Inuyasha' was initially written in 2001, so about 20 years have passed since then. That's why I was concerned that if I mixed the music of "Inuyasha" in it's original form, with the newly recorded music of "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon", they wouldn't fit in the same palette. So, I had an intention to ask to have the minimum number of songs necessary from "Inuyasha" re-recorded. SATO: When the first episode was aired, the fans responded, "It's from Inuyasha"! WADA: After all, I think fans were expecting it. The way Nagura-kun used the music was really superb. NAGURA: No, no, I had no choice but to put it on in that scene (laughs). WADA: The first episode was really a "then and there" story, just like a buffer from "Inuyasha" to "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon". I think that 2020 version of 'Half-Demon Inuyasha' worked well to create a beautiful bridge.

-Earlier, Director Sato said that "I wanted the atmosphere of "Inuyasha" however, it is a new series so I want the music to evolve as well", Mr. Wada, how would you describe this "evolution"? WADA: My film score is basically orchestral, and I mix in various Japanese traditional instruments ad use special performing techniques to build up the worldview. It's the same method as last time, but the biggest part is to consider each character and directions they will take in the future. As in the case of "Inuyasha", there are many variations of one theme, and Nagura-kun chooses the music to suit the situation. I think it will change in the future, depending on the development of Towa and Setsuna's story, and the situation of Moroha.

-As the story unfolds, the way songs are heard is likely to change as well. When you write songs for each character, do you have a kind of main instrument for each character? WADA: Yes there is. It's just an image, but the main theme is basically biwa, shakuhachi and flute, just like in "Inuyasha". As for each piece, Towa is flute-based, Setsuna has koto, and Moroha has percussion and flute. Setsuna's song, Demon Slayer Setsuna, is kind of cool, kind of lyrical, like she's carrying something on her back. Moroha's song, Beniyasha Moroha, includes a djembe, an African drum, and various ethnic instruments. This was also the same in "Inuyasha", but I wanted to expand the sonic world a bit more by adding ethnic elements without focusing entirely on Japanese instruments. By the way, in the Inuyasha era. I also used the Chinese instrument erhu for Kikyou's theme. One more thing on the subject of composition, Moroha's theme is actually a variation of Kagome's theme. The image is that she inherited her mother's blood. I didn't include the theme of "Inuyasha" because no matter how I did it, people would know it is from "Inuyasha" (laughs).

-So there's a parent-child connection built into the music as well. By the way, what about Towa and Setsuna? WADA: As for Towa and Setsuna...It's a little difficult to inherit the motif of Sesshoumaru (laughs). SATO: Right, it could be a bit too stoical (laughs). WADA: I did not include it in Towa and Setsuna's themes because it was too much for the story to develop. Actually, Sumisawa-san once asked me if I could include the theme of Sesshoumaru somewher, but I said, "...I can't" (laughs).

-(laughs) Did Director Sato or Mr. Nagura give Mr. Wada any orders? NAGURA: No, what we have told Wada-sensei is basically just the original song list. This time, our request were quite rough. Not like "We are going to use the music in this particular scene, so please make the song in this direction", it was more like, for example if it was about the main theme, we would say, "this is the main theme" (laughs). Wada-sensei absorbed the concept around it, and we are grateful to use what he came up with. WADA: We can do that because of this team, and also because the story is inherited from "Inuyasha". NAGURA: In particular, for Towa's theme song, "Towa, the girl crossed time," I asked him to write about "The daughter who live in the present age, the puzzlement in the Sengoku period". I'm afraid I've left all the work to Wada-sensei...other than Towa's theme, I asked to write songs with concepts like "strong-willed, sense of justice, martial arts, fighting" and "determination, resolve, faith," so I had a certain image in mind to these songs. On the other hand, "the daughter who lived in the present age, the puzzlement in the Sengoku period"... (laughs). But I thought this would be the themes of Towa. It would be different if the song only reflected the puzzlement side. Wada-sensei was really good at handling this. SATO: In fact, this song helped us a lot. NAGURA: Yes it did. Especially in the beginning of the story, this song worked very effectively. WADA: I think that Towa is the closest to the viewer's point of view. In that sense, Towa's motif has the most arranged versions. I wanted to make them so that they could be used on various perspectives.

-Next, I'd like to talk about the recording process. I think the recording of this album took place during the coronavirus situation. Did you have any difficulties? WADA: The recording took place around the end of July. The orchestra consisted of about 50 people, 4 types of Japanese traditional instruments, ethnic instruments, and synths, as usual. I couldn't use the traditional recording method of "one take" because it would have been too dense for the Corona disaster. So we used the "section recording" method, where we recorded each section separately. The time required for the recording simply doubles, so it was a lot of work. There are more people doing it that way these days, though. But around April, when the state of emergency was declared, many studio musicians said they were too scared to go to the studio. If the session was in that time of year, I am sure I couldn't record such as a large group, no matter how much infection control measures I had taken. SATO: I believe it was about two months from commissioning the songs to the actual recording. I was wondering if you had enough time. WADA: I worked pretty hard (laughs). But for the main theme and themes of three girls, I was thinking about the motifs for a long time. What was difficult to see was how much music was needed for characters like Riku and Zero. Actually, at first, we were talking about writing songs for each of the Four Perils. But as more and more songs came out, we had to stop that.

-What did Mr. Sato and Mr. Nagura think when they listened to Mr. Wada's music? SATO: I was like, "This is Wada-san's songs!" (laughs). I felt so sure that the mixing process would be just fine. When the music was added to the first episode, it really created a worldview, and I felt the power of music after all. NAGURA: As soon as I heard the main theme, I thought, "We've won!" (laughs). In "Inuyasha" there is a big main theme called 'Half-Demon Inuyasha' which is still in everyone's ears, and this time we asked for a song corresponding to that song. Of course, works can never be compared in equal terms, but I was very relieved to have the song "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon" which is very ear-catching. It's very helpful for me to be able to create a solid story flow of Yashahime.

-Is there anything you do to make Mr. Wada's music blend in with the dialogue and sound effects? NAGURA: I don't have to think too much. The sound engineer is Kenji Furukawa, who is also a member of the Inuyasha team, and he's done a very good job of making the scenes stand out. When you put the effects and music together as they are, they sound like they're coming out with a bang. There was no need for me to say, "I can't hear this part so let's do something about it." I'm very grateful for that.

-That's also where the teamwork comes into play. Now, please tell us about your favorite song in particular. SATO: For me, I have to say it is the main theme 'Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon'. As Mr. Nagura mentioned earlier, we asked Mr. Wada to "Write something equivalent to Inuyasha", which is quite an unreasonable request. The song 'Half-Demon Inuyasha' is so well known that it is still played on variety shows about the Sengoku period. But Wada-sensei did his best to respond to such a reckless order. As Nagura-san said, the biggest thing for me was that we felt "We could now express the world of "Yashahime: Princess Half Demon". Of course, I like all the other arrangements, but the fact that he was able to create that song made me realize the amazing talent of Wada-sensei once again. WADA: Thank you so much. From my point of view, all of the songs are my cute children, but if I had to pick one... surprisingly, it would be 'Setsuna's Lullaby' with Setsuna's violin. I still wonder, "Why the violin?" (laughs). I am sure there is a development to it, but I was surprised when I first heard it. SATO: It was quite a sudden order, "I want you to play the Demon Slayer song with the violin" (laughs). WADA: In episode 4 there is a scene where Setsuna was playing and there is also a reminiscing scene, so the song wouldn't work if it was edited, so I asked the director "how long are you going to use the song?" (laughs). SATO: We showed him the film in advance, and he made the song to fit to that scene. The writing process was similar to theatrical films. For this song, Nagura-san was concerned about whether it may give a different meaning. If you use it in various scenes and attach too much meaning to it, you won't be able to get rid of that image when you use it in a different development. He said, "I think only Sumisawa-san knows". NAGURA: Right, it's not just the scene where Setsuna plays the violin, but there is a part of the song where I want to put Setsuna's feelings on it. So I asked him, "You're not going to use it differently in the future, are you? Suddenly Moroha can play the violin too..." (laughs). SATO: I don't think so. (laughs). WADA: (Laughs). Setsuna can't sleep, but this song is actually Setsuna's lullaby. I play the piano myself. The scene where mama Moe played in episode 4. Personally, I hadn't played the piano for a long time, so it was quite a challenge. If you listen carefully, you'll hear that piano not so great but even though mama Moe is a world-class violinist, she's probably not that good at playing the piano (laughs). Because of these memories, 'this song is a bit memorable. NAGURA: I like all of them very much, but my personal favorite is 'Deathlight'. It's one of the songs used in the battle scene, and it's in 6 beats instead of 4. I love how the increased 2 beats expresses the sense of fear and oppression. I'm tempted to use it in the beginning, but every time I do, I will try to hold back a bit. WADA: Battle music is the key to any action series, so it's quite a struggle to figure out what to do this time (laughs). But on the other hand, the most interesting songs to make are the battle songs. The pictures also move the most, so there is a synergistic effect that makes me feel good. As in the case of "Inuyasha", I've been trying to change things up a bit, by using not so ordinary beats, or by adding contemporary music-like elements. Even though it was difficult, I had fun creating battle music for "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon"

-So you express a sense of urgency in that aspect. WADA: That's right. For example, the theme of "Mission Impossible" is in 5 beats, and when you listen to that rhythm, you feel that it's a suspense story, right? By using such a sense of rhythm, not as it is, but with a slight twist, you evoke a sense of rhythm that is ingrained in your body. So, the composer has to come up with more ideas in that regard. SATO: Is that related to the fact that Wada-sensei is a disciple of Akira Ifukube (composer)? WADA: Ifukube-sensei also specializes in rhythm in many of his works. There are a lot of odd time signatures in his special effects works. Originally, I didn't have many 4-beat songs in my life's work, only odd time signatures. When you listen to it in loops, it doesn't sound so strange. It's just a lot of work to edit (laughs).

-Thank you very much. Lastly, please give us your comments to those who purchased the soundtrack. SATO: For "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon", we have asked to write a lot of songs. I would like to feature as many songs as possible to the series, and at the same time, I would like people to listen to the soundtrack and immerse themselves in the world of "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon". In addition, I would be happy if you could listen to the soundtrack of "Inuyasha" and feel the "world of Wada-sensei's music". NAGURA: If you want to use music in an animation, you will have to edit the because of the time. Actually, every time I do it, I feel like, "Wada-sensei, I'm sorry, let me cut it off" (laughs). However, when the soundtrack arrives in your hands, you will be able to understand the songs in their original form and enjoy them as songs. I hope you will enjoy the album from a variety of perspectives, either as a companion piece to the series or as a separate piece of music by Wada-sensei. WADA: This time, there are quite a lot of songs, so the album is a gorgeous 2 CD set. In the modern age, digital distribution is the mainstream, but I think it would be nice if people could enjoy the album as a physical object, looking at the pictures, reading the booklet, and imagining various things. As Director Sato and Nagura-kun said earlier, I would be happy if you could listen to the soundtrack and immerse yourself in the anime world again. By the way, you can now listen to the soundtrack of "Inuyasha" on digital platforms as well. I hope you will enjoy both of them.

#yashahime #inuyasha

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curemoonliite · 5 years

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Premiere Nebula Modern AU Headcanons

(AKA how I think these future girls would act in 2019.)

Omega:

—Cartoon fangirl. Since her theme color is rainbow and she’s an artist, her faves would probably be the crazy colorful ones like She-Ra, Steven Universe, and MLP.

—Sells her art on the convention and Maker Faire circuit.

—Likes listening to indie music.

—Isn’t big on superheroes, but Stelle bought her a Thor jacket once for a gift exchange/secret Santa (kind of as a joke about her lightning powers), and she still wears it around a lot.

—Likes investigating urban legends, but isn’t quite as daring as the YouTubers who regularly go into abandoned buildings. (She may not be as easily scared as she was before the altering, but she’s still got anxiety, so like me, she’d be much too freaked out about getting caught.)

Valka:

—Watches true crime documentaries and claims she’s doing it for intel about how villains think. (Which is true, but she also wants to see if her case ever comes up, if people ever suspect one of the country’s major leaders of being the Manufacturer.)

—Likes tabletop games, especially if they’re strategy-based.

—Wears silly workout shirts, mainly because she thinks an athletic sun elemental wearing a “sun’s out guns out” shirt is the funniest thing ever. The other Nebula members understand that anything that gets their leader out of her trauma for a little bit is good, but still find it hard to take her seriously if she’s wearing one during briefing.

—Uses the “sparks joy”/“does not spark joy” meme incessantly, because her last name is Sparks and she secretly has a terrible sense of humor. Will instinctively say “this does not spark joy” in a tired voice whenever she’s disappointed.

—Because her younger sister Io loves anime, and because she has black hair and blue fire, she has been roped into cosplaying Dabi several times, often while Io cosplays as Todoroki. She was annoyed at first about this but realizes that this is probably the one time people get excited about seeing her use her powers. (“She did the thing! She did the thing!”) Plus, she actually doesn’t mind playing a villain once in a while.

—Definitely watches “mind game” anime like The Promised Neverland and Death Note.

Io:

—Was an unbearable hipster in her early teens.

—Probably owns at least three Jurassic Park T-shirts.

—Shitposter of the group.

—Was the one who got Valka hooked on true crime shows.

—Is currently the one trying to peer pressure Omega into exploring abandoned buildings.

—Likes YouTube amusement park documentaries, even though she’s only been to a few in her life because of the Manufacturer’s terrible parenting.

Xue:

—Definitely likes fairy-kei and Lolita fashion, and often looks at street fashion blogs for inspiration.

—Has successful managed to choreograph her ice magic to match Elsa’s in Let It Go. Is currently working on the other Frozen scenes in hopes of someday mastering the entire movie.

—Probably dresses up as Elsa for little kids, because she’s that good of a person. The kids love seeing an Elsa who actually has ice powers!

—Goes on advice blogs a lot and tries to help as many people as she can on them.

—Once got a “my shield doesn’t fit in my workout bag” novelty exercise shirt from Valka, and only wears it to be nice. (Needless to say, the Nebula gift exchange was a bust.)

Xing:

—That one YouTuber who exclusively does metal covers of non-metal songs.

—Secretly has an Instagram poetry account, where she writes under a pen name to preserve her “street cred.” (“It’s one thing to write your own songs—online poetry is not rock ‘n roll.”)

—Absolutely had an emo phase.

—Attempts to make a Nebula meme account along with Io. (Valka nixes the idea.)

—Overly aggressive Guardians of the Galaxy fan. (“If you try to tell me the Avengers are better one more time, Stelle, I will fight you.”)

Koto:

—Gets roped into joining the robotics team, and actually really likes it.

—Once ordered an absolutely massive mint chocolate shake (like the kind you see on food blogs), and regrets it immediately.

—Regularly gets in Internet fights with people who hate mint chocolate.

—Will talk your ear off about the similarities between Stormtroopers and military clones, and how the implications behind the fictional one tie into the treatment of the other, very real party.

—Likes Captain Marvel (because she reminds her of her girlfriend Stelle) and has a couple Captain Marvel T-shirts.

—Since Io likes anime in the modern AU, she would immediately see the resemblance between Koto and a gender-flipped Deku (green hair, freckles) and remark on it in battle. Once she watches the anime, she finds it’s pretty cool that they look alike. (And that the dark skin/green hair combo also makes her resemble Sailor Pluto.)

Stelle:

—Had (and probably still has) a DDR phase

—Really likes Captain America, because Winter Soldier was on TV when she was in the hospital, and she admired how he never gave up on Bucky in spite of his brainwashing. For a while, she wished she had someone like that in her life, until the Nebula members basically say “Koto’s right there, you idiot.”

—Would probably be the one to spam their page with mental health and trauma memes.

—Likes YA fantasy a lot, even the silly ones.

—Projects a lot onto fictional characters. (Particularly Bucky because of the whole “brainwashed assassin” situation, Captain Marvel because of the “fighting for the wrong side” situation, and Rapunzel because of the “kidnapped since infancy” situation.)

Kaine:

—Probably reads trashy romance novels.

—Absolutely mains Widowmaker. (I don’t even play Overwatch, and I know this. Sniper-type IRL, kinda goth, definitely a Widow main.)

—Teaches Stelle to play Widowmaker after she realizes how close their backstories are, and bonds with her over video games.

—Follows Gothic Lolita blogs, just like how Xue follows classic/sweet Lolita blogs.

—Likes horror movies, but doesn’t scare easily.

Phea:

—Has a beauty/social justice blog that isn’t really popular.

—Most of her popularity comes from her makeup videos, where she attempts increasingly weird and complex stage makeup designs. She’s the one who does Valka’s cosplay makeup for the Dabi costume.

—Is a big advocate for body positivity, and calls out every scam-endorsing celebrity she sees on Twitter.

—Is the type to bullet-journal every day out and make it as aesthetic as possible.

—Has mermaid-print everything.

#premiere nebula #writing #my post

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fictionerd · 5 years

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Good to see you, friends!

Assuming you’re around to be seen given how late this post is anyway. I’ve come yet again to speak of Boogies which Pop. Let’s get to it, shall we?

Synopsis: We open on Jin reading from one of Seichi Kirima’s books “The Victor’s Principle The Victim’s Future”. The passage he reads is “It appears that all of my hopes won’t come true until further into the future. No matter how much you dream it is not the dreamer who will achieve it, but the next generation. And for them, it’s not a dream. It’s established fact. It’s that kind of sacrifice that propels people forward.” To which he responds “Sacrifices, huh?”

Shifting perspectives: Suema and Touka pass by someone on a cellphone who mentions Kotoe and her strange shift in behavior which we know is from Spooky E nabbing her. Since she was supposed to be helping Kotoe find out what was wrong with Jin, and because she’d seen Jin’s weird Imaginator session with the two girls the night she snuck into his office; Suema decides to look into the matter by going to Jin personally about it.

The two share a rather intense scene. They’re meeting in the breakroom where Jin’s painting of Snow in April is hanging (Which I can only assume is going to be an oft-recurring location at this point). Suema manages to push Jin’s buttons with her knowledge and the conclusions she’s come to as a result. In return he shakes her confidence by going full bond villain and expositing his grand plan. That plan? Using his ability to see people’s hearts he plans to track down a girl he’s seen who possesses a fulfilled heart and from her create a seed that will then be planted in all humanity thus fulfilling everyone. For this he’ll need that girl to become a sacrifice.

Granted he doesn’t spell it out as bluntly as I just did, but he wraps up his menacing expository dialogue by offering to help Suema fill in what she is missing. She refuses saying she’s already been saved by Boogiepop. Jin then laughs the whole affair off and claims that he was actually talking about changing the world through his art. He handwaves the “girl becoming a sacrifice” bit by claiming he was referring to a model. They have to sit in the same pose for as much as eight hours after all, and since he’s been spending long stretches of time either tracking this girl down or working with her that Kotoe must have gotten jealous and he’ll be sure to take care of the situation as quickly as possible. Suema allows herself to be bustled out the door seemingly not having the mental footing to fire back at him.

Of course we know his painting schtick is all bull. Imaginator shows up for the first time in several episodes to comment on how Suema could know so much. Jin isn’t too worried about her, but thinks that Suema was right about one thing. This whole situation needs to be his top priority. As such he’s going to make a point of directly confronting Spooky E!

Speaking of! The next pov shift sees us regrouping with Spooky E 2: Electric Kotoloo as she stalks our boy Masaki aka the Heroic Boogiepop. He notices her and her goons stalking him and so books it into some underground passages. The place is laid out seemingly like a grid and so he’s able to lose them in blind corners and get his Boogiepop getup on while NOToe tries to provoke him. Once he’s ready he goes full-on batman on SpooKotoE’s goon squad and then begins questioning her at freaking gunpoint. HOLY SHIT, dude that was intense.

He’s stopped, however by the arrival of Nagi! Yeah, you know that supreme badass we’ve barely seen since the Manticore arc wrapped up? Also known as his older sister? Yeah she shows up in full Metal Gear sneak suit and gets him to back down, but just from the current situation. In the tussle with SpooKotoE he’d snatched a key and intends to run off to find out where Orihata is and rescue her from whatever situation she’s in. Apparently the Messiah Complex runs in the family. Meanwhile Nagi is left to deal with SpooKotoE and her goon reinforcement squad which she does with shock baton, fisticuffs, and a few still frames because the budget was a bit tight? For dramatic effect? Who knows.

When SpooKotoE wakes up she’s confronted by Jin who speaks directly to Kotoe through Spooky E’s photocopy. He tells her that he’s always known about her feelings for him. That it was a mixture of yearning and pity. She never had anything she felt dedicated to and this fed into her sadness. She incorrectly believed that he felt the same and thus her infatuation, but the fact is he can’t feel sadness. He claims that this is why he can’t return her feelings.

Kotoe seemingly broken free from Spooky E’s control begs Jin for help, but he simply says that he can’t help her even though he’s wanted to for a long time. That he’s not sure how he could help. However, he’s going to do his best to make a world where no one will have to feel her sadness again. He’s going to go and get that seed.

So saying Jin is off to confront Spooky E the original in his not-quite-ivory tower. Somehow all of Spooky E’s terminals have gone offline which is down to, as Jin puts it, Imaginator being on a whole other level. The two of them have a lengthy conversation where Jin reveals that he’s known about the Towa Organization for some time. They released drugs out into the populace to see how they’d effect people. Some of those people died, and we’re shown that one of those people was Jin’s father. He makes it clear that he considers the Towa Organization to be his enemy, but also that historically the best method of dealing with an enemy is to make them your ally. Since his powers through Imaginator are similar to Spooky E’s it’s a simple matter. Jin will remove Spooky E as a threat and take his place. Using that cover he’ll take over the Towa Organization spreading Imaginator throughout it.

When Spooky E moves to attack Jin uses Imaginator to strip the thorns from Spooky E’s heart rose. This removes his capacity for aggressive action. His anger and hatred. That malice being removed, however, gives Spooky E the chance to do something he’s wanted to for some time though couldn’t because the strength of his hatred was holding him back. He lifts his hand to his own head and we know what’s coming next, but before frying his own motherboard Spooky E has a message for Jin. “Boogiepop is looking for you.”

Around the corner Orihata is trussed up. We can assume that she heard the entire exchange between Spooky E and Jin. However, Jin then walks around the corner to face her. She is apparently the seed. How Orihata can be the complete flower that Jin wants doesn’t quite click with me since we’ve SEEN that she lacks something in her life, but Jin tells her that he wants her to become a sacrifice, that there isn’t much time since he hadn’t counted on Spooky E dying. Their conversation is interrupted by a call coming in from Masaki. Jin picks it up and lets Masaki talk to empty air where they both can hear. Orihata is at first relieved to hear Masaki’s voice, but as he keeps calling out for her to answer that relief is replaced with a look of what appears to be determination. It would seem that Orihata knows she’s not going to be rescued from this situation and my guess is that she’s now readying herself to take Suema’s advice and fight.

Thoughts: I really the opening scene. Top to bottom. It’s a nice cold open for the episode and engages rather well since up to this point we’ve been having episodes pick up in continuity with each other this sort of feels like an act break. As though we’re moving into a new phase of the story. On top of this there’s the fact that the ominous droning pipe-organ music in the soundtrack gives us an ominous dramatic vibe juxtaposed against the fairly mundane and cheerful setting of a family diner where Rin is reading this. Oh, and why is it in a diner? Well I don’t know if or why it is in the book, but here the visuals of customers at other tables are used to emphasize the passages.

When Rin reads the passages “No matter how much you dream it is not the dreamer who will achieve it, but the next generation.” the shot is focused on a mother, father, and young daughter at a nearby table. Visually backing the concept of a new generation. When he reads the next section about those dreams being established fact for that generation we’re focused on a different table where a group of teenage girls are hanging out and one of them is showing a couple others something on her cellphone. This underscores the “Established Fact” part. The dreams of the past and technology’s cumulative advance are a mere fact of life for many in the world today.

As Rin moves into the section on sacrifice the camera jumps to a pulled back shot of him sitting at his table reading the book in question. We zoom in as he finishes out the passage, and snaps the book shut one-handed. When the book closes the music that had filled the scene just stops and in that silence Rin poses his question, “Sacrifices, huh?”

As for that term’s recurrence throughout the episode and Jin’s plans I’m not so sure. It comes off to me that Jin just happened to hit upon the perfect clean-up word for his plans regarding Orihata and is repeating it now almost as though to convince himself that’s what it is.

The fundamental problem with that line of logic is that the quote from Seichi’s book seems to be referring to SELF-Sacrifice whereas Jin is going for a more Ancient-world approach. Furthermore I can’t get behind Jin’s whole “Standardize the human soul” thing. Wholeness and contentment aren’t what drive people forward: Their lack and hunger do. Seeking that fulfillment is what motivates people not being given it. Sure if everyone in the world is content with their life wars will end, but so will a lot of good things like infrastructure, and I’m just preaching to the choir aren’t I?

Yeah I don’t suppose we’re actually supposed to be behind the VILLAIN’S PLAN, but I do still understand why he wants to do it. He sees people all around him every day who are missing what he perceives as an essential piece. It only stands to reason that he’d want to fill in that gap, to give them a complete existence. Much as he lectures Spooky E for not factoring in the possible existence of the soul, Jin is failing to account for the possibility that people lack certain things for a reason.

One last note before we go. We got another Touka/Boogiepop hotswap moment at the beginning of the episode when Suema and she were walking together and I’m still giddy about seeing those glimpses of Boogiepop nudging affairs from behind the scenes. Pulling strings as it were. That all being said I look forward to the next episode.

Until next time keep talking fiction, friends! I’ll see you soon.

#Anime #Let's Talk Anime #Boogiepop wa Warawanai #Boogiepop and Others #Boogiepop 2019 #Fictionerd #In-Character #Winter 2019 #Winter Anime 2019 #Winter Season 2019

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24hs · 7 years

Text

Pulling

pairings: nicomaki (hinted: rinpana, kotoeli, nozoumi)

raiting: T (a lil bit of cursing)

words: 8100+

summary: Maki never thought that she would meet her soulmate in a subway. She also never thought that - after they met each other - her soulmate had absolutely no idea that she was Maki’s soulmate.

» For what is known, the first Bonded – commonly called ’soulmates’ - appeared in the year 1XXX. As mysterious letters grew on their hands, palms or wrists at a very young age, they gained a lot of attention after scientists noticed a pattern in the syllables. Finding out that these built so-called Words with one or more person was a huge breakthrough for scientists all over the world and thus, the concept of the Bonded had been officially discovered.

The Words often tell one about the kind of relationship the Bonded have ; to use a popular example, earthquake could possibly mean that the Bonded may have to endure a lot of problems in their relationship.

In the age of social media, it has gotten a lot easier to meet your Bonding Partner. A great number of Internet users work with facebook, twitter, instagram or similar platforms to spread their Word and to search for their Bonding Partner. This is why the average age of finding one’s Bonding Partner dropped compared to a few decades ago. Now most people between 14 and 18 years find... «

Maki stopped reading. This wasn’t helpful in any way, every children was taught this in elementary school. If she wanted to look up theories about why or how the Words appeared for her biology class, she would have to dig further. She massaged her temples and closed her eyes for a second to relax, just to open them again, peeking at her right wrist. ’mag’, it said in pretty, cursive writing. Maki rubbed her wrist to make the pink color disappear, but like the one hundred times before, it didn’t work.

When she was a child, she always looked in excitement at her Word, wondering where her soulmate could be, imagining the words she could put together with her syllable.

When she became 13 years old, the excitement started to fade slowly, and at the age of 16, nothing was left. At this point, sensing that people her age were constantly staring at her arms, their gaze burning on her skin, it felt burdensome. It irritated her that everyone was trying to find their Bonding Partner just for the sake of it. Maki didn’t consider herself a romantic person, but damn, shouldn’t the journey be the reward? Or something like that.

She glanced at her computer clock. 06:38 PM. If she didn’t want to miss the train for her meeting with Nozomi, she had to go now. She stood up, sighing, and grabbed her bag. Before leaving the house, she made sure that her Word was covered by her jacket.

While putting her earphones in, Maki went through her favorite playlist. Tchaikovsky’s Lake in the Moonlight started playing, and she put her phone away. Looking for a pole to clasp so she wouldn’t fall, Maki tried to make her way through the crowded subway. Finally, she found a spot near to the now closing doors. As she stood still, trying to hold balance, a girl wearing pig tails and a pink cardigan bumped into her after squeezing her petite body through the already closing subway doors.

“Excuse me”, the girl, who didn’t sound sorry at all, muttered. Maki frowned. She watched her clinging to a near pole - she needed to stand on her toes to reach it. Maki’s mild irritation faded. Cute. Her eyes met hers for a second. Pink Cardigan’s eyes glowed in a strong shade of red and suddenly Maki felt pulled in her direction. Puzzled, she lowered her gaze.

What the hell was that?

Glazing at her shoes – the girl wore two different socks -, Maki waited for her station before she dared to lift her head again. Pink Cardigan picked up her phone, her sleeve slipping down to reveal ’netic’ in such a bright shade of red it hurt to look at it.

Maki’s fingers unconsciously found their way to her own wrist, shoving the fabric away. In this very moment, she didn’t care that she was standing in the subway, people all around her – widen eyed, Maki stared at her. Her mind went absolutely blank. The music’s volume, drumming in her ears, reached its peak.

Magnetic.

Maki vaguely noticed that the subway had stopped and people start pushing her away to make their way outside. She didn’t care about what she thought about before, she wanted to meet her now. She needed to. Her movements were hypnotized, her heart was mesmerized.

She desperately tried to reach out for her possible Bonding Partner. Hastily, she pushed the people in front of her away, her heart beating to her fingertips-

Lake in the Moonlight ended on a melancholic note, leaving silence to Maki’s ears.

She was too late. Her soulmate was gone.

She stood at the subway’s entrance hall, and even though there were hundreds of people surrounding her, she never felt more alone than right now.

“Nozomi!” Maki let out a curse under her breath after she bumped into the commode in Nozomi’s hall way. Carelessly, she threw her second keys in a corner and hastily hung up her jacket, ignoring Nozomi’s worried “Maki?”.

“You won’t believe what happened to me earlier in the subway!” She limped to the living room without noticing the person sitting next to Nozomi, who looked at her in confusion. “I was-” Maki swallowed the rest of the sentence when she finally saw her.

This couldn’t be. Her mind must be playing games with her, right? There was no way that this was-

“Hi”, Pink Cardigan smirked. “I’m Nico. Nice to meet you.”

Maki just stood there, unable to say anything along the lines of “There’s a high chance that you’re my Bonding Partner and maybe we should go on a date or just, you know, marry immediately” to a simple “Hey, what’s up?”. Instead, she pulled her jacket over her right wrist. The spark of hope she felt while seeing Nico’s Word was gone, now she only sensed the old, well-known vulnerability.

After a few moments passed - way too much moments for the whole thing to not become awkward -, Nico looked at Nozomi with a half looped smile. “Is she, like, deaf or something? Geez, you could have told me sooner-”

“No, no, she’s not”, Nozomi hurried up to say after realizing that Maki wouldn’t talk for herself.

“Yeah”, Maki spoke up, voice husky, “I’m-”

Nico - her possible soulmate, for fuck’s sake -, interrupted her. “Hey, I remember you!” She eyed Maki, whose ears grew red at the intense glaring. “I saw you in the subway! Caught her staring at me like she never saw a pretty girl before”, she said to Nozomi, who chuckled, her hand covering her mouth.

“I wasn’t- staring-”, Maki spluttered.

“Hah, you totally were-”

Nozomi had stopped giggling and gave Nico a warning look that made her shut. Maki took her loose hand gesture as a sign to sit down next to her. When they both stayed quiet – Nico relaxed, Maki tensed -, Nozomi cleared her throat.

“I’m glad that you’re here now, I want to ask you - and Nico - a favor. A rather big one.” She paused for a moment.

“But wait, you wanted to tell me something, right? Before I interrupted you.” Maki’s face went even redder at Nozomi’s polite description of her interrupting, which was just her silently gazing at Nico like a dead fish.

“I, uh… ”, she croaked, trying to think of something that wouldn’t reveal her silly tries to reach out for Nico, “I saw two guys having a fist fight in the subway, so… that’s what I wanted to tell you”, she finished flatly

Lying to her twisted Maki’s guts, but she really didn’t want to talk about this issue in front of- well, the issue. Then again, she wasn’t even sure if she wanted to talk about this anytime else.

“So, uh, what’s the favor?” Maki was never happier about changing the subject. Nozomi’s face lighted up. “You and Nico are one of my closest friends, and I cherish the bond between us deeply-”

“Get to the point, Tojo, I still have things to do”, Nico yawned, but grinned right after to express that she was only joking. Nozomi smirked. “Right. So what I want you to do is to help me with a project. Maki’s very good at composing”, she told Nico, who had put her chin in her hands and listened closely. Maki lost herself in eying Nico’s profile, followed the line of her jawline up to her lips and nose.

“And Nico here is a very skilled singer”, Nozomi continued, not noticing that Maki was spiritually absent. “Geez, stop, I’m already blushing”, Nico said although Maki couldn’t identify any sign of flattery in her face. Nozomi softly squeezed Nico’s knee to silent her again. Maki couldn’t help to notice that Nico’s legs were long and slender. She turned her head to Nozomi. Her moves felt mechanical.

“Anyway, what I’ve meant to say is”, Nozomi went on, “I want you to write a song together.”

The first thing that came to Maki’s mind was no. There was no chance she was going to do this.

“Not to doubt your opinion or anything, Nozomi, but how do I know she’s, you know, qualified?” Nico tilted her head in Maki’s direction. Maki could feel the same irritation that bubbled up in her chest on their very first meet rising up in her again.

“I’m very qualified, thank you very much”, she snapped at Nico, forgetting that she originally was ignoring her. Nico didn’t look very impressed.

“You’ll have to trust me”, Nozomi softly said

“What do you plan to do with a composed song, anyway?”

For now, Maki decided to keep overlooking Nico and hoping that she wouldn’t see her nervously fiddling with the hem of her skirt.

“Basically, it’s for Otonokizaka. Do you remember the whole school gathering for a meeting last week? In which Principal Minami said a few words about a festival?” - “Vaguely”, Nico hummed

Maki’s heart skipped a beat. Nico attended Otonokizaka? Her school? Nozomi misinterpreted Maki’s horrified expression for a confused one and explained:

“Nico and I are in the same year, but it’s no surprise you didn’t recognize her, she doesn’t participate in clubs and rarely studies, so she doesn’t get any awards she could be known for.”

“I deserve an award for dealing with you”, Nico growled, “why do you like to put me into a bad light in front of every new person I meet?” Nozomi smiled so innocently bright at her Nico flinched. “Alright, alright, let’s just move on. You were saying?”

It took all of Maki’s concentration to listen. Her mind spun and her head hurt from the chaos in it.

“So, Principal Minami planned to do a festival soon, mainly for middles choolers that are looking for a high school, but also to gain a bit money for the school’s budgets and stuff like that.”

“She said all of this?”, Nico frowned, visibly trying to recall. “No, but I’m in the student council, remember?”, Nozomi snickered. Nico scowled.

“So I would perform on a concert? With her song?” Nozomi hummed in agreement. “You don’t have to decide whether you want to do it right now as there’s still a lot of time”, she explained, looking at Maki, “just make sure to inform Eli when you have-”

“There’s no decision to make, were going to do it!”, Nico beamed and reached out to press Maki’s arm. Maki flinched at the sudden touch. She prayed for her head’s color to stay normal and not to turn into deep red. Nico jumped out of her chair.

"I gotta go now, I still need to go shopping for dinner”, she hugged Nozomi and then turned around to Maki. “I’ll text you later so we can set up a date for a first meeting, alright? Nozomi can give you my number.”

She winked at Maki - oh dear god - and then closed the door behind her. Maki felt like a tornado stormed through her life, wrecked everything and left after 15 minutes. Nozomi smiled at her and squeezed Maki’s hand.

“She’s something, huh?” Maki didn’t reply. “I know she seems a bit”, Nozomi searched for a fitting adjective, “fierce, but trust me, she’s a good person.” Maki nodded, not sure if her thoughts about Nico were appropriate for her friend to hear.

“Also, you don’t have to do all of this if you don’t want to. It probably feels like you don’t have any right to decide since Nico is quite the leader, but you do. Think about it carefully and then talk to her about it. Don’t feel pressured to swim with the flow only because she’s a bit dominant.” Dominant was the wrong word, Maki thought, pulling would be better.

“I should go now, too”, Maki muttered with a dry throat. When she stood up, Nozomi grabbed her hand again. “Maki”, she said earnestly, “is everything okay?” Maki wanted to cry at her honest worries, but instead she just nodded and smiled.

“See you soon, Nozomi.” As she stepped through the door, Nozomi called after her. “I’ll text you later, get home safe!” Maki shut the door and exhaled loudly.

No one was ever going to believe her this.

The time between Maki saving Nico as her contact in her phone and their first official work-meeting was, to put it lightly, absolutely horrible. Every time her phone buzzed Maki had to force herself to not jump up immediately to pick up her phone and look who texted her.

When she did, though - after a respectable waiting time of approximately seven minutes - she felt weirdly disappointed when it wasn’t Nico who sent her a message. She still spent a lot of time reading their conversation - because when she’s on her phone anyway and drowns in boredom, nothing speaks against scrolling through their chat, right? At this point, Maki could recite what Nico’s been texting so far in her sleep.

Maki Nishikino added Nico Yazawa on Line.

Maki: Hello, this is Maki. Please tell me when you have time to meet up.

Nico: are you always this formal? anyway, i only have time after school and singing and dancing class, so im free around 7 in the week, on weekends around 3~

Maki: You take extra classes?

Nico: well, yeah, since im becoming an idol. figures, right?

Maki: I guess.

Nico: so when do you wanna meet?

Maki: You can come to my place the day after tomorrow at 7 if it fits for you.

Nico: yup, sounds great Nico: can you send me the address?

After Maki did, Nico didn’t reply. She didn’t want to bother Nico once more to ask her if she got her message, so she just hoped that Nico would arrive without problems.

At 4:15 PM Maki came home from school. She was more or less relaxed since she still had one hour and 45 minutes until seven o'clock. Definitely enough time to prepare everything.

At 5:00 PM Maki became a bit nervous - but still enough time to think about how they should proceed (and how she could avoid being physically close to her).

At 6:00 PM Maki had done nothing productive. She spent her time sitting in front of a blank paper and thinking about whether Nico was singing or dancing right now.

At 6:50 PM Maki told herself to just “fuck it” and improvise. She couldn’t have felt more hysterical.

When the door bell rang, Maki’s heart dropped. She took her time to breathe in and out slowly before opening the door.

“Are you a princess or something?”,Nico snorted and stomped past Maki into the house. Maki swallowed a sarcastic comment (“Welcome, come in, oh no, it’s totally okay to wear your shoes inside”) and closed the door behind her. “So, do you want to drink something?” She made an awkward hand gesture to make Nico sit down. “Yeah, thanks.”

The uncomfortable silence between them kept making Maki’s heart beat through her whole body. “Where are you parents, by the way?”, Nico spoke up after putting down her now empty glass.

“Shouldn’t they, I don’t know, be all excited about their child bringing someone home?”

“I didn’t- bring- are you always like this?” Maki was completely thrown off the track. Nico raised an eyebrow. “Like what, exactly?”

“Like, you know-” Maki waved her hand around, hoping that Nico would understand what she meant without her speaking it out loud. She didn’t. “Gorgeous? Stunning? Absolutely-”

“Cocky”, Maki ended. Nico grunted.

“That was most definitely not what you were thinking about, but alright, I’ll let it slide this time.”

Maki was already exhausted. Not only that she was insecure about what she should feel towards this girl, her personality seemed to clash with hers all the time. “Do you wanna start with composing now?”

Again, the look in Nico’s eyes made Maki feel like she had no choice at all. “Yeah, let’s get started.” Maki hurried to lead Nico to their music’s room (mainly so she wouldn’t stare at Nico like an idiot).

“I can’t believe you have a room dedicated to instruments”, Nico said, her voice echoing in the hall-like room. Maki watches her brushing over a Cello so lightly it looked almost reverent. “That’s one from Stradivari and its about 300 years old”, Maki commented flatly in an attempt to be funny, but Nico pulled her hand back like it suddenly stung her. “Are you for real?” Maki noticed Nico’s expression changed into something she couldn’t quite identify, and abruptly she was weirdly aware of her parents wealth.

“Um, anyway”, she muttered, “yeah, let’s start.”

She sat down on the stool in front of her grand piano when she realized Nico was still standing. “Oh, sorry, I’ll get you another chair-” Nico pressed Maki, who stood up already, down to her stool again and squeezed her body beside hers. “Don’t worry about it”, she casually said.

“Alright”, Maki said, trying to sound as casual (failing terribly). “What do you want the song to be about?” Nico hummed. “I haven’t really thought about it yet, but I guess something lively and bubbly would be nice, don’t you think?” - “So no deep lyrics”, Maki stated. Nico looked strangely offended.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“It kind of is, though, isn’t it?”, Maki stared at the piano keys in front of her. “Music is supposed be meaningful and to make you feel something.”

“Happiness is a feeling, too.”

“Is that why?”, Maki blurted out. Nico lifted her head to look her in the eyes. “Hah? Why what?” - “Its that why you want to be an idol? To make others happy?” Nico smirked.

“Ten out of ten, Nishikino. Living from people’s smiles sounds just amazing to me.” Maki glared at her. Nico looked so satisfied with her plan, her future idea, it made Maki feel fuzzy inside. Nico smiled brightly at her - Maki flushed at the sight of a smile this honest.

“What about you? What do you want to do in the future?”

The fuzzy feeling inside her chest vanished. “I’m becoming a doctor, I guess”, Maki said. Nico frowned and turned her upper body to her, forgetting the piano in front of them.

“You don’t seem very content about that.” Maki cringed.

“Well… my parents own the hospital and I’m their only child, so…” She bit on her lip, but stopped when she saw Nico’s piercing look. “It’s okay, I’ve been studying a lot and I don’t want to be that wasted, also..”

Maki stopped because even she heard how pathetic this sounded. “You shouldn’t do anything you don’t want to”, Nico spoke up. “In general, but especially on something you will be involved with your whole life.”

“Does that count for soulmates, too?”

Maki froze on what slipped through her lips. Nico did, too, but smirked awkwardly after. “I guess. Haven’t meet her yet.”

“Still, that’s a good philosophy-”

“I don’t want to, you know”, Nico suddenly interrupted her. Maki stared at her. “What?”

“I mean, don’t get me wrong”, Nico was the one biting her lip now, and by the way she fiddled with her fingers Maki suddenly realized she had never told this anyone. “Some day I want to, but not right now”, Nico muttered. “I just don’t want the universe to choose my life partner, you understand?”, she said quietly. “I want to meet them in a random place, hell, I don’t know, maybe a bar.” Or a subway, Maki thought.

“Look, I know I probably sound edgy and like a rebellious teenager right now, but- do you understand?"

A week ago - hell, two days ago - Maki would have. Now, as her soulmate was next to her, her thigh touching hers, she didn’t understand anymore. “I do”, she lied. “I don’t believe you.” Nico raised an eyebrow. “That’s your problem”, Maki said through gritted teeth.

She had never met someone this annoyingly blunt. “If you don’t get it, just say so”, Nico said, ignoring Maki’s comment. “Fine”, she inhaled sharply, “I don’t get it. If you know the universe’s got someone you will love eternally, why wouldn’t you to want to meet them as fast as possible?”

Nico stared at her.

“Do you?” Maki blinked. “Do what?”

“Do you do everything possible to meet the one?”

Maki didn’t answer at first. This conversation led to a direction she didn’t like at all. “No”, she eventually responded. “That’s pretty hypocritical, you know”, Nico smirked. “Giving me advice and not following it.”

Maki turned away from her and laid her hands on the piano. “Let’s just start, we already wasted enough time.”

“No, we’re not done here”, Nico frowned and brushed Maki’s hand. She stiffened.

“Everyone acts like meeting their soulmate is already the ending while it’s only the beginning”, Maki muttered after a small pause, not looking at her. “There’s a reason it’s called a Bonding Partner, you need to fucking bond first.”

Nico looked at her earnestly - and then burst into laughter. “I can’t believe you cursed, that’s so cute”, she giggled. Maki, offended at first, grinned soon after and chuckled too, relieved they curved the risky topic.

Nico laid her head onto Maki’s shoulder. Maki stretched her back. “You know what, Nishikino?”, Nico said, sounding sleepy. “You’re alright. We should do something soon. Like, as friends.” Maki’s heart jumped.

“Sounds great, Yazawa.”

Maki turned around until she heard Nico saying, “Nishikino! Here!” Maki blinked when Nico ran up to her. “Hi”, she grinned, a little bit out of breath, and Maki smiled back. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah, let’s go!” Nico grabbed her hand and pulled her to the first booth - Ballon pop. While Maki aimed terribly – Nico kept distracting her through grimaces and light tackles -, Nico even won a small stuffed animal (a cute panther).

“You can have it”, Nico said patronizingly after showing off for ten minutes. “Thanks.” Maki hid her face behind it so Nico wouldn’t see her red face, but of course she did anyway. She giggled.

“Hey, when we’re getting to the arcade, I’ll win something even bigger for you!” Nico held her word. Watching her dancing to expert mode - jumping, quick hip thrusts and wiggling - made Maki almost sweat, too. When she bounced off stage, already receiving her price, she hugged Maki tightly.

“What was that for?”, Maki mumbled, carefully laying her chin on Nico’s head, while Nico folded her hands behind Maki’s back and pulled her closer. “Just felt like it.” They stood like this for a moment – was it her or Nicos heart that beat that fast? - until Maki whispered, “Nico?”

Nico looked up to her, cheeks red from dancing. “Yeah?”

“You smell.” Nico pushed her away and gasped. “I don’t!” Maki laughed and covered her mouth with her hand. “Why are you surprised? You’re sweating.”

“I gave my best for you on the dance floor and that’s how you thank me?”, she pouted. “That’s really mean, Maki!”

“What do you want, then? As a ’thank you’?”, Maki pressed her lips together as if that would take her slipped out words back. “What would you be willing to give?” Nico’s voice was husky. Maki bit on her lips. They cleanly passed the line between casual friends-talk and not so casual flirting and she didn’t know how to deal with it. At all.

“Here”, she pulled a five yen coin out of her pocket and showed it to Nico. “Let’s get some cotton candy, shall we?” She didn’t wait for a response, instead she stomped in the direction she assumed a cotton candy booth would stand. She didn’t see Nico’s torn expression.

Eating pink cotton candy, they walked through the amusement park in silence. Maki was thrown back to their first meeting at her home - the tensed silence had turned to a comfortable one in the five weeks they’ve been knowing each other.

“Are you wearing jewelry, Nishikino?”, Nico gasped in faked shock and grabbed her hand. She turned Maki’s hand in hers and looked at the golden ring. “It’s pretty.”

“Thanks.” Maki knew Nico didn’t care about her ring, she just wanted an excuse to hold her hand. She already know because Nico kept doing this since their first cinema visit, and then in the zoo, and also in the endless cafés they’ve been to. She wasn’t complaining, though. Nico’s hand was always warm and dry and she always drew circles with her thumb on Maki’s skin. It was incredibly nice. Maki loved it.

“Where do you wanna go next?” - “Do you have a fear of heights?”

Maki clang to the Ferris wheel’s pole until her knuckles turned white. “Everything alright?” Nico sounded way too smug. “Yeah”, Maki said through gritted teeth. When Nico turned her hand to the other side to admire the sight, Maki closed her eyes and prayed that it would be over soon.

“It’s your turn to decide”, Nico said when Maki carefully stepped out of the cart. Stretching herself so her shaking hands and trembling legs wouldn’t be noticed as much, she acted like she was thinking about it - while she exactly knew what they would do next. She grinned at Nico.

“Do you have a fear of haunted houses?”

“That joke was really lame, you know?”, Nico groaned, her voice echoing. “I’m probably going to break my legs in here, it’s so dark!”

“Then just don’t slip”, Maki said flatly. This was one of her not so well thought-through ideas as she was probably as much afraid as Nico was right now.

“Wow, what kind of advice, what would I do without you, N-” Nico screamed when something touched her face. Maki flinched. “Oh, fuck it”, Nico muttered and hold on to Maki’s arm.

“You made me do this, so you can suffer as well.” Maki scoffed even though Nico couldn’t see her.

“Do you think we could go the way we came from and just leave?”, Maki asked and breathed in sharply when a clown-mask popped up in front of her. “We could always try.” Nico’s voice didn’t sound as confident as usual. “Yes, let’s do that-”

They turned around and looked into what looked like an pitch black abyss. “Or let’s just head to the exit quickly?” They sneaked through the haunted house, constantly afraid of what could be lurk behind veils. When they entered a new room, the light went back on. Suddenly both of them were extremely aware of how close they were - and let go of each other.

“This is gross”, Maki shivered and tried to focus on the floor, the only thing that wasn’t drowned in fake blood. “Yeah, it kinda-” Nico squeaked when suddenly a girl with nasty cuts on her throat and arms shambled towards them.

“If i was you I would try to leave”, she growled, “otherwise you’ll get killed soon.” Nico and Maki exchanged a quick look.

“Run?”

“Run.”

They grabbed each other’s hand and started sprinting past the actor. When other artists came, they squealed and ran faster until they arrived at the exit. Nico panted and Maki leant on her knees to catch some breath. “I’m glad we’re out of this”, Nico breathed out and Maki snorted. “Yeah, me too.”

Nico picked up her phone to check if she had new messages. Maki caught herself staring at her wrist, which was well covered by Nico’s cardigan, just as all the times they met before. In a weird way, it was funny. They both hid their Words and agreed to keep it this way without talking about it. Nico didn’t know Maki’s Word, but Maki knew hers.

“Eli said they’re on their way”, Nico said, not looking up from her phone. “But it’ll take some time until they arrive, wanna do one last attraction?”

Maki wrung out the hem of her shirt and shook her head. Little water drops rained onto the ground. “Have I already told you that I hate water rides?”

“Just about a hundred times.” For some reason Nico - who stayed completely dry during the whole ride - avoided eye contact with Maki. Rather she seemed to stare at-

Maki blushed and turned around to untie her jacket from her hips. “Bad day for a white shirt, huh?”, Nico smirked, but the comment lacked her usual confidence. “Oh, fuck off”, Maki muttered, slipping into her jacket and closing the zip.

“Where are Eli and the others?” Nico seemed like she wanted to overcome this quickly, too. “I think they’re right-” A girl with orange hair stormed to them and hugged Nico, who almost fell. “Around the corner”, Nico closed. “Geez, you gained some weight, didn’t you, Honoka?” Honoka pouted. “We came all the way for you and that’s how you great me? That’s rude!”

Nozomi walked up towards them, Kotori and Umi next to her. Rin, Hanayo and Eli followed. Nozomi smiled at Maki.

“So, what are we going to do?”, Umi asked. Rin squeezed Hanayo’s hand. “Do you have a suggestion?” Hanayp looked flustered. “Let’s go eating something first?”, she asked, her statement sounding like a question. “That’s a great idea!” Rin ruffled Hanayo’s hair. “Eli and I ate in a really good Indian restaurant a week ago”, Kotori spoke up. “Indian sounds nice”, Nico said and so it was decided.

Maki looked out of the window. The streets were dipped in dimmed light as the sun was just going down. “It’s pretty, right?” Maki turned to Nico, who gazed in the same direction. “Yes”, she said quiet, not wanting to draw the others attention to them.

Honoka was discussing something about the food with Rin and Hanayo, Nozomi showed Umi something on her phone and Eli and Kotori were looking for a dessert they could share later. Nico smiled at her. Her eyes were glowing in the warm light.

“Hey, it’s your turn now”, Nico remembered. “It was my idea to go to the amusement park.”

“Your turn with what?”, Honoka, who sat to Nico’s right, interfered. Maki glanced at Nico, unsure how to explain their rather unique agreement to choose different locations for meetings alternately. Nico understood. “That’s none of your business!”, she scolded Honoka. Maki covered her mouth so Honoka wouldn’t see her laughing.

Nico grinned at Maki when Honoka didn’t look her way. Maki smiled back. A moment later, when Honokas attention was already on something else, Maki mouthed to Nico:“ Let’s go stargazing next time.”

Nico beamed.

“Maki, are you ready? The limousine is waiting.” - “Yes, Mama, just a minute”, Maki cursed under her breath and hastily brushed her hair. It only looked worse. “Oh, damn it-” Maki grabbed an old shirt as a provisional rag for the just pushed over nail polish. The deep red looked like blood on her desk.

“Maki, we really need to leave now!”

“Yes!” Helpless, Maki watched the liquor drip to the floor. She would just take care of this later. She hurried down the stairs to her parents. Her father was frowning, probably irritated about her being late. Maki quickly adjusted her dress. “Can we go now?”

“Yes”, Maki muttered and entered the car.

Maki blinked and lowered her head right after they entered the hospital and most pictures had been taken. She checked for the tenth time if her gloves still covered her Word (they did).

She had escorted her parents to events like this since she could walk on her on, but this was something different, something more grand than usual. It was the Nishikino hospital’s 100th anniversary, so Maki assumed the press’s attention was going to focus on her, the “heir”.

Even though Maki knew what she was supposed to say - “I will take over the Nishikino company gladly when the time comes”, “I will become a great doctor”, “I will make my parents proud” -, she was nervous. Her thoughts switched to Nico all the time. Maki would be calmer if she was next to her, making her usual stupid comments.

Her mother grabbed Maki’s shoulder. “The reporters want to talk to you in ten minutes, prepare yourself”, she said. Instead of looking at her, she smiled at the cameras. “Yes.” Maki straightened her back. She fiddled with the clasp of her clutch when it suddenly start vibrating.

Maki turned her back to the cameras - her mother would scold her for this, for sure - and fiddled her phone out of the bag. “Nico? The timing is a bit bad right now, I’m-”

“I need you”, Nico interrupted her, sounding stressed. Maki frowned - another scolding. “What? What’s wrong?” Nico cursed. “I need to pick up my brother from kindergarten, but- hey, don’t do that- my sister’s sick, she has a fever and won’t stop crying- can you come over and look after her while I get my brother?” Nico sounded really desperate. Maki’s throat was dry. “Nico..”

“Maki, please.”

Maki hesitated. “I’m there in ten minutes”, she hung up without waiting for a response.

“Mama? Papa? I’m sorry, but I am leaving. A… friend needs me. Right now.” She ignored her mother’s aghast and her father’s angry expression and hurried towards the exit. She also ignored the reporters taking pictures of her.

“Miss Nishikino! Where are you heading?” “Are you meeting a lover? Or a soulmate?” Maki froze for a moment but kept walking. The only thing that mattered right now was Nico.

When she started knocking on Nico’s door, it already swept open.

“She can take her meds again in half an hour, they’re on the kitchen table. Change the wet rag on her forehead when it gets dry again, and if you need to eat something, there’s still left overs in the fridge.” Nico paused, trying to remember if she forgot something.

“If you need anything, call me. I need to go now.” She took Maki’s face in her hands and gave her a hasty kiss on the cheek. “I owe you one, Maki", Nico said and smiled at her. Then she was gone.

Maki touched her cheek all the time until Nico came back.

“You don’t have to pay, you know”, Maki said while Nico was already whipping out her wallet. “Don’t be ridiculous, you helped me out yesterday, I’m just trying to do you a favor.”

Maki didn’t response to that. “I hope you weren’t doing something important? Didn’t really let you talk”, Nico muttered. Maki thought of the headlines, such as “Nishikino heir ditches anniversary gala” and “Has she had enough? Maki Nishikino storms away from parents’ most important event” and hoped that Nico didn’t read the newspaper.

“No, I was just studying.”

Nico breathed out, relieved. “Good.” She received the tickets for the planetarium and showed them to Maki. “Wanna go?”

“This is… really magical”, Nico whispered.

“Isn’t it?” Maki turned her head to Nico. The stars reflected on Nico’s eyes. “I think”, Maki paused, “this is my favorite thing to do.”

Nico gazed at Maki. “Maybe you could study astronomy.”

Maki adjusted her arm chair to avoid looking at her. “I’m studying medicine.”

“Maki.. ” Nico’s voice was husky. “We talked about this when we were at your place, remember? And we didn’t know each other well enough to talk seriously but now we do and-” Nico took a big breath.

“I don’t think you should become a doctor.” Maki stared at her. “What?”

Nico looked more stern than usual. Maki realized she wanted to talk about this for a while.

“You’re not happy”, Nico whispered, “at all. And you haven’t even started and- I don’t- I just don’t want to see you breaking, do you understand?”

“Can’t we talked about this another time?” Stargazing always had been a way to escape, and now her problems clinged to her skin like a nasty smell. She felt like she couldn’t breathe.

“Please, Maki.” Maki looked in Nico’s glowing, pulling eyes. “Please be happy.”

Visiting Akihabara in the afternoon on a Saturday wasn’t Maki’s best idea. She made a grimace and pushed her way through the crowd. After all it took some time to get there, she could just get this done and get Nico this idol DVD box she had eyed for a while but never bought.

She smiled at the thought of gifting Nico something. Technically, they had never done this before - sure, Nico sometimes payed for her cake when they ate in a café or in a restaurant and yes, Maki sometimes payed for their cinema tickets - but they never gave each other meaningful, with love stuffed presents. Which was why Maki was keen to be the first to do it.

“Thank you, but this isn’t what I was looking for”, she bowed towards the shop assistent and smiled apologetically. “I hope you find something for your Bonding Partner, come back soon!” Maki flushed. She never told the assistent that she wanted to purchase a present for a soulmate - she didn’t even talk about a gift. Did the soft care in her eyes (that seemed topop up only when she was thinking about Nico) revealed her intentions?

“Goodbye”, she muttered and stepped out of the shop. While she was already eyeing another shop with A-RISE, a popular idol group, on its windows, her phone vibrated. When she wanted to accept the call - Nico? Wasn’t she in class right now? -, she already hung up.

Maki turned her back to the street and dialed Nico’s number, putting a finger in her ear since her surroundings were quite loud. She pressed the phone closer to her head.

“Nico? Can you hear me? Sorry, it’s so noisy here-”

“Yeah”, Nico’s voice was hollow. Maki hoped it’s tinny sound sprang from the phone’s connection and not from Nico. “What’s the matter? You got me all worried-”, Maki’s forced laughter died immediately when Nico cut her off.

“I think I found my soulmate, Maki.”

Maki froze. “What?” Her voice broke.

“I.. there’s a girl and her Word fits with mine.” Nico still sounded pressed.

Maki didn’t know how to react. This felt like a really, really bad dream.

“But.. that doesn’t mean she’s your soulmate”, Maki heard herself saying. She wondered if Nico could hear her voice drowning in desperation. “I mean, it could be coincidence, right?”

“Could be”, Nico paused and took a long breath, “but also couldn’t be. That’s why I’m meeting her later and-”

“I’m your soulmate.“

Time stopped. As much as it felt like detoxification, it also felt like swallowing new poison. Maki’s finger knuckles turned white from tensing. “Nico? Have you heard what I said?”

“I.. have to go”, Nico finally said.

Maki sobbed at her emotionless response, and whimpered: “Please, Nico, say- something-”

Nico hang up.The sudden silence on the phone turned to white noise filling her head. Maki shut her eyes and tried to breathe in and out slowly so she wouldn’t hyperventilate. It didn’t work.

She dialed Nico’s number – she needed three attempts to hit the right numbers because of her blurry vision and shaky hands -, and held it to her ear. It went immediately to her mailbox.

“Hey, Maki!” Maki quickly wiped over her eyes and turned around. “Nozomi, what are you doing here?” When Maki wanted to return Nozomi’s smile, it vanished. “Why have you been crying?” Maki just loosely waved her hand around as a response because even if she wanted to answer, she couldn’t. Nozomi took a step towards her and pulled her into a hug. Maki pressed her head into Nozomi’s neck

“It’s going to be okay”, Nozomi whispered, stroking Maki’s back. “It’s alright.” But Maki knew it wasn’t. She lost the person she loved the most and, what was worse, it was all her fault.

Tired, Maki opened the door. The lights were turned off, so her parents probably still were in the hospital. She slipped out of her shoes, hung her jacket on a chair and sat down, listening to the clock’s ticking. What now? She buried her face in her hands.

Ironically, this felt similar to when she first met Nico. She couldn’t focus on anything, her thoughts were blowing up in her mind. Her body felt like it was run over by a truck.

Maki peeked through her hands and stared at the white wall. A tear ran down her cheek and dropped on her arm.

Even though they didn’t share a typical Bonded relationship, Nico still was the best thing that ever happened to Maki.

She never had this much fun with any other person before, and even when she was afraid - was it of haunted houses or of the future-, Nico never had let go of her hand to make sure she was safe. Maki had never felt this unsafe before, now that she knew Nico was-

Someone knocked multiple times and Maki flinched. She stood up and shuffled to the door. "Hello?”, she muttered, not looking at the visitor, until they growled:“ What the hell do you think you’re doing, Nishikino?”

Maki’s head rose abruptly until she met Nico’s eyes.

“Nico”, Maki whispered.

“No, no Nico, we have to talk right now-” Nico’s fist flew up and grabbed Maki’s collar, crumbling the texture. Maki didn’t dare to breathe in front of Nico’s furious, very close face.

“You never said one word to me”, she hissed, “in all those weeks I was in love with you and you never told me anything-” She started crying now, just like Maki did. Maki sobbed so hard she barely could understand what Nico was saying. Love?

“I told myself that this would never work out and that it’s not meant to be and-” Nico’s sentence ended in a sob, and she looked Maki in the eye. Her glow was stronger than ever. “Maki”, she let go of her collar and sobbed, “I-”

Maki pulled Nico in a hug. Her nose was running, her eyes red and her lip trembling.

An hour ago, when she hugged Nozomi, she was at her worst. Now, hugging Nico, she was at her best.

They let go of each other. Nico rubbed her shaking thumb over Maki’s cheek. Maki reddened, and Nico giggled.

“Nico?” - “Yes?” - “Can I kiss you?” Nico blinked - and flushed, too. “You may.” When Maki finally, finally kissed her, Nico stood on her toes. Maki pulled her closer, her hands on Nico’s back.

“I love you”, she muttered against Nico’s lips.

“I love you too, Maki.”

They stayed up all night, bodies close and hearts closer.

When Maki told Nico about everything that went through her mind these past weeks, she shed a lot of tears, but it was alright, because Nico kissed her softly to make up every single one.

Maki blinked and stretched carefully so Nico wouldn’t wake up. The sun was just rising. Nico’s eyes were closed, but Maki was sure that they were glowing right now, even if she couldn’t see them.

Nico was by her side.

In the end, everything was alright.

“I still can’t believe you named our song after our Word.” Nico scoffed in Maki’s direction. “It’s meaningful! What’s wrong about That’s Unfair Magnetic Today?” Maki gruntled. “It’s like you want the whole world to know about our Word.”

“My, my, we’re thinking big, aren’t we? Right now, the only people that will hear this song are future Otonokizaka students. Besides”, she ran her hand through Maki’s hair and grinned. “I want everyone to know that you’re already taken.”

“Shouldn’t that be me? I’m not the one finding people with fitting Word combinations all the time!” Nico pouted.

“You know, you should probably be glad about Frenetic. If she wasn’t, maybe you still wouldn’t have confessed.”

“What are you saying, you were the one to confess first!” - “I wasn’t, you totally were-”

Nozomi opened the door to the makeup studio. “Are you guys finished? The audience is waiting!”

Maki turned around to Nico. “I also can’t believe you made me go on stage with you.”

“Come on, Nishikino, it’ll be fun! I’m with you, remember?” Maki smiled.

“Yeah.” Nico took Maki’s face in her hands and gave her one last kiss.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

“Then let’s go!”

Maki Nishikino (23), astronomer at NAOJ, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, recently made a great stir when she got married to the nation’s idol Nico Yazawa (25). After they entered into the bond of marriage, a grand party was held, which a total of over 400 guests attended. Due to business reasons both women keep their surname, but in private they’re called Mrs and Mrs Yazawa.

We asked Maki Nishikino if being refered as Nico Yazawa’s wife rather than as a successful astronomer irritates her.

“Not at all!”, she said, laughing, “I’m very proud of what my wife has accomplished so far, and I’m madly in love with her. There’s no place for such things as envy or insecurity.”

And how did she deal with cutting ties with her parents?

“We did in fact not cut ties, even though the wedding was the first time we’ve met in years. But we’re on good terms now.”

Now?

She hesitates. “My parents and I had some issues to solve when I was younger, but thanks to Nico they’re all gone. She helped me overcome them. All in all, I’m a better person because of her.”

Mrs Nishikino laughs again.

We congratulate Nico Yazawa and Maki Nishikino to their wedding and their beautiful Word “Magnetic”!

P.S.: Mrs Nishikino hinted that they have something great planned. So, who knows? Maybe we will hear about the two lovebirds soon. Stay tuned!

#nicomaki #love live #writing #oh my GOD i want to die #watch this get like 3 notes #jokes aside im really proud of finishing this??#i know its rather short compared to other works but im not used to write anything over 1000 words so!!#that was definitely a mile stone for me as a writer #even though there are some scenes id like to rewrite some day #but not today #bc sometimes u should just let things be #mainly because i dont have energy right now to do it #ya. hope u enjoy

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