Fifth solo; video/action;

[cutiepanther]

video;

W-W-Wait!! Not so fast! Slow down! I-I'm gonna fall off!

[ It's a little hard to see given the up and down motion, but it's pretty clear Maki is not on her own two feet. Instead, she's riding the green-back of a Skiddo, her first Pokemon that she actually bonded with on her own that wasn't from an egg. She somehow got convinced to let him take her for a ride, but she had no idea just how intense it would be for a girl who was more used to proper tea parties and fancy ballroom dances. ]

L-Look out! I can't stop--!!

[ And so the video cuts off as Maki and her Skiddo suddenly find themselves crashing into a cart full of fruit, breaking apart the wooden cart with a deafening crack! ]

action;

[ Maki and her Skiddo are going to be crashing around the city, a cat atop of a goat. She's trying to get a hang of riding one, but it's not going well. Her Skiddo prefers to charge at things in his path, rather than go around. Because apparently that's no fun.

At the same time she has a reason for being out on her Skiddo, planning on trying to learn how to ride it so she can go see Nozomi to speak about certain...personal problems. ]

Comments

[cutiepanther]

[ Sometimes she has to have her fingers on the piano and then she can't!!! ]

R-Right I'll make sure I do.

[ Once she's calmed down a little from her wild ride, Maki's mind goes to what she had been looking to talk to Nozomi about in the first place. Relationship troubles. But she can't come out and say it, she's not sure how to start that conversation, instead she's just twirling her hair harder. ]

[future_sight]

[And that is exactly one too many hair twirls to let Nozomi think that she's not doing that on purpose.]

Something wrong?

[cutiepanther]

[ Wow, Nozomi is totally not allowed to count her hair twirls! ]

Well, I was actually coming to find you...if you're not busy today.

[future_sight]

Find me? What for?

[cutiepanther]

Something...weird happened the other day. But...

[ Why is this so difficult? ]

C-Can we get coffee or something?

[future_sight]

[Nozomi pauses, then smiles a bit.]

You know, I think Ericchi is out visiting her family today, and the others are busy working the shop. Wanna come by?

[cutiepanther]

[ Nozomi's place. The last time she had been there had been so embarrassing... but then, being in a safe place in private, seemed like a good thing to talk about what Maki wanted to talk about. ]

Yeah, I guess that's fine.

[ Maki's just going to follow the other girl with her Skiddo, not really offering up any more information on what she needs to talk about, still trying to think it over in her head. ]

[future_sight]

[She thought Maki might feel a bit more comfortable speaking in more private quarters. Thankfully they weren't too far away from Ninetales Vale, so getting to Nozomi's place was a quick trip.

As always, the other girl started to boil some water for tea.]

Go ahead and make yourself comfortable. You hungry? I got some red bean sweets from Mayocchi the other day.

[cutiepanther]

[ Somehow Nozomi is always a step ahead of Maki, she imagines that the other girl already knows she wants to talk about Chie and Nico. Physics are pretty scary! ]

No I'm not really hungry, tea is fine.

[ While she waits (and she actually is a little hungry but still says no) she's going to cross her arms over her chest and wait for Nozomi. ]

[future_sight]

[Good thing she's already working on setting out a plate of treats. The other girl retreats back to the kitchen, glancing at Maki from over her shoulder.]

So what did you wanna talk about?

[cutiepanther]

[ When she sees the plate she doesn't even realize it, her stomach just grumbles on it's own. So much for not being hungry. In order to distract Nozomi from that little sound, she's going to push ahead and try to talk about what she's here for. ]

Something...happened the other day. I went out of the city with Chie and Nico, looking to find a Pokemon for Nico.

[ She's already reaching for a snack. ]

I think...I-I did something that made the both of them angry.

[future_sight]

[Ah.]

Tell me what happened exactly.

[cutiepanther]

[ This is not easy for her, so give her a little bit to explain. ]

I uh, was kissing Chie...and Nico saw us.

[ That's really what started it all. ]

I never told Nico about me and Chie, I didn't realize she'd care so much but she's not talked to me in days..

[ Wait, see this is the problem, she talks about Nico first. ]

And Chie was upset that I never told Nico about her. I don't know why it mattered so much!

[future_sight]

[Nozomi sighs hard. Maki, you idiot, you really didn't tell Nico about this? She really didn't know what she had done wrong, did she?]

Of course she does, you're her friend. Nicocchi's probably hurt because you didn't tell her, and Chie's probably hurt because she thinks you're too ashamed of her to tell anybody.

[cutiepanther]

[ Her sighing just makes Maki narrow her eyes somewhat at Nozomi. She has a hard time being appreciative sometimes. ]

I don't know why it's so important! It's not like it's any of Nico's business who I am dating!

[ Defensive much? ]

[future_sight]

[She didn't necessarily mean to, but this was getting to be too much. Maki was starting to hurt people with this.]

She considers you a friend, so to her it is her business.

[cutiepanther]

[ Maki grumbles a little, biting into the sweets Nozomi put out. ]

It's not like I don't think of her like that too... She's just impossible to get along with for more than ten minutes!

[ That's definitely ignoring all the times they have been able to get along now, seeing how Nico's been coming over her house every other day or so for hours. And still, her thoughts are on Nico, not Chie. ]

[future_sight]

Obviously it must be longer than that, if Nicocchi's that busted up about the whole thing.

[Got something you want to share with the class, Makki?]

[cutiepanther]

E-Even if it is...

[ She backtracks a little, admitting that sometimes they do get along. ]

...How was I supposed to know it would be such a big deal?

[ She does eventually remember Chie. ] Chie looked really upset then too, but she hasn't been avoiding me or anything.

[future_sight]

[Which means that she's going to need to talk to Nico. It was really frustrating, these two couldn't be honest with each other. Maki at least had an excuse right now, given the situation with Chie... And to that affect, Nico did too.

Even still. YOU KIDS.]

I'd be pretty mad if I found out you had a girlfriend that way. I bet any of your friends would be. It's something you need to think about. Keeping something like that a secret hurts other people's feelings, because they don't think you can trust them with it.

From what you've told me about her, Chie's probably able to get over it pretty quick, but someone like Nicocchi's gonna be upset for a really long time. You probably hurt her ego a bit.

[cutiepanther]

[ Talking to Nico about feelings isn't really the easiest thing. That's what leads to yelling and back turning. ]

It's not that I don't trust her or anything! I guess... [ This is hard for Maki to admit. ]

I guess I didn't want to tell her.

[future_sight]

No, but not telling her gives that impression. Why didn't you want her to know anyway?

[Tea finally ready, Nozomi brings two mugs and a teapot over.]

[cutiepanther]

[ this is the hardest question to answer, seeing how Maki doesn't respond right away, instead looking down at the table for a long while. Why didn't she want Nico to know? Not because she didn't want Nico to think that she had no chance with Nico, or that if she knew she were dating Chie that Nico wouldn't want to be as close to Maki. Certainly none of those things....

When she finally speaks up, she just answers quietly: ]

I don't know..

[future_sight]

[Nozomi sits down, unsure of how to approach this one. Usually she has all the answers, but someone was going to end up getting hurt in the end, and there was a part of her that didn't want to get involved.

She felt for Chie, she really did. And Nico too, although Nozomi had an idea of how things were going to go. Sometimes she really did hate her power for that reason.]

You should talk to the both of them, and apologize. That's a good place to start. Even if you and Nicocchi don't always see eye to eye, she deserves that. And Chie's your girlfriend. Even if she seems fine, I bet it still bothers her a little.

[cutiepanther]

I guess they both do... Things with me and Chie haven't been perfect either...

[ Maki may seem mature sometimes, like she knows how to handle herself like a proper lady, but this...this is her weakness. She likes Chie a lot, but somewhere deep down she knows that she's been drifting away from her little by little, the more she spent time with Nico, the more the two of them sang and bonded over their similar hobbies. ]

I just know that Nico is going to take this as some sort of excuse that I don't want to be her friend or something!

[ Maki sounds annoyed, as she so often does, building up this image of Nico in her mind. She annoyed at Nico, because she feels like Nico is making a bigger deal out of this than she should, focusing on her instead of Chie. Her nose wrinkles a little, her ears lowering, as she says quietly: ] ...I-I wouldn't be happy if she wasn't my friend though..