<Maki's pov>

I stared down blankly at my pile of clothes. Apparently, Nico had invited me to move in to her place until Papa has cooled down and possibly leave me alone... As if that's going to happen.
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Flashback

"Tell me, Maki-chan." She turned and faced me, staring me right in the eyes. "What do you want to do"
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What do I want to do? What do I want to be? What do I want to achieve without Papa babying me? I had never thought of that since Papa would be choosing the path that was supposedly 'good for me'. I just wish Papa is would stop taking over my life.

I was in verge of tears when Nico appeared next to me and placed a hand onto my shoulder.

"Maki-chan, it's okay. Your father won't find you here." She whispered as she wrapped her arms around me.

This feels quite comforting. Her warm body could be felt pressing against my back. Her rhythmic heartbeat was pounding against me. Her soft sighs whispered through my ears. It feels like I'm a child again, being cuddled up with Mama on a cold night.

Bzz.

My phone vibrated on the floor next to us. Nico released me from the comforting hug and passed me the phone. I checked the caller ID before picking it up.

"Yes?" I sandwiched my phone between my ears and shoulders as I continued unpacking my stuff.

"H-Hello? Maki-chan? C-can you explain to me why there are some men in suits inside our apartment?" Eriko's voice quivered in fear.

Great. He had already started his search for me.

"Uhh.. Well... I may have upset my father."

"What did you do?"

"It's a complicated... family problem. Don't worry about me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm currently staying over at a friend's place. Papa won't find me here."

"Oh. Okay then." Eriko sounded slightly relaxed after hearing that. "Then... What can I do to help?"

"U-Umm... Tell them that I'm not coming back." I instructed.

"Okay... Wait. You're not coming back?"

"Didn't I tell you this yesterday? I'll be living somewhere further away from our apartment."

"Fine... So... is it okay to let Soramaru (A/N: Hey look Nico's VA! XD) use your side of the room?"

"Whatever. But tell the men this: 'You won't find Nishikino Maki here as she won't be coming back.'." With that, I hung up my phone and continued unpacking my stuff.

"Hey, Maki-chan? Where should I put this?" Nico called out from behind.

I spun around and saw her holding up one of my panties and waving it around as though it was a flag. She stuck her tongue out playfully before she took off down the hall.

"Wh-What are you doing!? Give it back!!" I quickly got up from the floor and chased her down.
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~A few minutes later

"N-Nico-Chan!! Geez. Give it back!" I puffed from across the room.

She seemed completely normal even though she had been running around in circles in the cramped apartment. Unlike her, I was huffing, trying to catch my breath.

"Wow. Maki-chan, you're all out of breath." Nico stated as she twirled that piece of fabric on her index finger.

"Sh-Shut up. Anyway, why did you suddenly take my stuff and make me chase you?"

"You're too stressed out. You need to relax for a bit."

"Geez.... Nico-chan..."

Once again, my phone buzzed in my hands. I picked up the phone without checking the caller's profile.

"Hello?"

"Ah. Maki-chan. Hey." Nozomi's voice could be heard from the other end of the line.

"N-Nozomi? Why did you call me at this time? I'm kinda busy."

"Oh. Sorry. I just want to tell you that you had left your work card at our place."

Did I really left my card there? I quickly rushed towards my purse and turned it upside down. It was nowhere to be found.

"Do you want to come over and retrieve it?" Nozomi asked.

"Isn't it easier for us to send it to her?" Eli's voice could be heard in the background.

"Oh yeah..."

"Maki-chan, tell us where to meet and we'll come over."

I turned around and faced Nico. "Hey, Nico-chan, is it okay for Nozomi and Eli to come over?"

"Yeah sure. Whatever."

I told them the directions to Nico's apartment.

"Great. See you in about fifteen minutes. Bye." Beep~

Slam!

I quickly turned around to see Nico packing up my belongings and stuffing them into a cupboard. She picked up my crumpled up shirts, fold them within a few seconds and quickly arranged them into the dresser.

"N-Nico-chan? What are you doing?" I approached her.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm cleaning your stuff up."

"What? Why?"

"I don't want them to think that I live in a pig sty. After all, this is still my apartment." Nico exclaimed, not looking up from the pile of clothes. "Now hurry up! These are all yours."

"Fine..."
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After ten full minutes of cleaning up my belongings (and basically get yelled at by Nico for being 'too slow' or 'suck at cleaning'), we finally got the house to be spotless.

"Well. That's the last of it." I huffed after putting the last piece of clothing away.

"Good job, Maki-chan. Do you want a drink?" Nico squatted down next to me, patting me on the back.

"Sure."

"Do you want an amazingly sweet 'Love Nico Cocktail' or plain and boring water?" She suggested, making the latter drink sound unpleasant.

"I'll have the plain water then."

"Boo~" Nico pouted as she got up from the floor and headed towards the kitchen.

Ding dong~

Looks like they have arrived. I quickly got up on my feet and rushed towards the door. I grabbed the cold doorknob and turned it. I opened the door, revealing Nozomi in a white fluffy dress being hugged by Eli from behind.

"Oh. Hi, Maki-chan. Here's your card." Nozomi took out the card from one of Eli's pockets, making the latter moan softly in pleasure.

"Learn some decency will ya?" I mumbled as I took the card from her. "Do you want to enter?" I motioned them into the house.

"Hehe. Pardon the intrusion." Nozomi entered into the apartment, dragging Eli(who was still hugging her) along behind her.

"Nice place you got here, Maki." Eli complimented, looking around the house.

"Yeah. But I just moved here so there's still some stuff to unpack." I told them, forgetting the important fact that 1) I just moved in here today and 2) this is not my house. It's technically someone else's property.

"Oh. I see..."

Both of them headed towards the smaller couch despite having a larger couch that could perfectly fit about three people. Eli sat down on the couch with Nozomi sitting on her lap. They then started flirting among themselves, completely ignoring the fact that I'm still in the room.

"Maki-chan? Are they here?" Nico walked out from the kitchen with a tray of beverages in hand.

"Uhh... Maybe?" To be exact, they are physically here but mentally, they are somewhere in a faraway Lily garden.

"Ah. Nico-chi? What are you doing here?" Nozomi looked up from her passionate gaze.

"This is my house!" Nico retorted.

Both Nozomi and Eli rushed towards their long lost friend, hugging her petite body.

"Thank god you're alive!" Eli shook Nico's slender shoulders.

"Just because I went missing doesn't mean that I die-"

"Don't you know how worried I was?" Nozomi stated.

"Wait... Why are you wor-"

"You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady." Eli scolded.

"You're not my parents!" Nico snapped.

"Oh. How cute. Our daughter is mad." Nozomi purred as she gave Nico a bear hug.

"Geez. Let go." Nico struggled in Nozomi's arm.

"Nozomi, I think Daughter Nico had enough." Eli spoke up.

"Stop!!"
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~A couple minutes later

"I hope you're satisfied." I stated as I took a drink from a small cup.

"Ehehe... Sorry." Eli chuckled.

"But it has been a while since we saw you, Nico-chi. I heard that you had became an idol."

"Yeah.. But it was not as easy as I thought. There were stalkers everywhere and-"

"Why did you move here, Maki?" Eli disrupted Nico's tale.

"Hey! How dare you interrupt me!"

"Well... My father was pretty upset that-"

"-I started dating Nico-chan." Nozomi barged into my sentence, causing Nico to choke on her tea.

"L-Let me finish!" I looked away, trying to hide my burning face.

"Hehe sorry. Go on."

I told them on what had happened for the past twenty-four hours. Once I had finished, Eli shot me a serious look.

"Maki, stand up to him."
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