Nicole Unicole

Nicole Unicole, also known as "Nico", is a Unicorn who seeks advice from Centorea because of her "runaway spending" due to her fondness for idols, especially ANM48. She also works for the Black Lily Advanced Materials Laboratory and later becomes a member of Mr President's new virtual idol group, the "Black Lilies".

Appearance
Nicole is a bespectacled Centauride of the Unicorn subspecies with large breasts and a horn that is reduced greatly in size. She has horse ears and her blond hair is tied into a ponytail. She wears a blue dress designed for a centaur and a predominantly white jacket which are merchandise belonging to ANM48, one of her idols.

Personality
Nicole is a spendthrift who has no sense in managing her finances and she is willing to do whatever it takes to support her idols even to the extent of going bankrupt. However, Nico's obsession with idols is based on admiration because they work so hard to achieve their goals, viewing them as a "physical embodiment of goodness". While Nico is mostly soft-spoken and a little shy, she can also get more energetic as seen when she gets angry when Kimihito and Centorea reflect on the reason Nico loves idols so much is because "something simple" is that idols are virgins and Unicorns like purity.

Overall, Nico can be considered a fanatic idol fan, to the point where she disregards concern for her own safety. This can be seen from the fact that from her work at the Black Lily Laboratories for money, she had filed her originally very long horn to such an extent that there was a risk of permanent damage if she filed off any more from it.

Still, Nico is willing to try to reduce her spending when she sought advice from Centorea and was also embarrassed when she explained the extent of her spending to her and Kimihito. However, as can be seen at the end of Chapter 72, when Nico bought all the devices for streaming, she has had little to no success with it as she tries to reduce her spending but cannot moderate it.

Physical Traits

 * Unicorn Physiology:
 * Sense of Smell: Unicorns can smell whether an individual is a virgin or not from a great distance. The smell of a non-virgin is apparently unpleasant to them. The smell of a man is also bad, but not as unpleasant as a non-virgin. As Nico explains, purity is also an important part of the Unicorn culture.
 * Breasts: Unicorns as a subspecies of centaur they have large breasts for feeding their young, which are larger than human babies and require more nutrition.
 * Female Centaurs can lactate and produce a larger amount of milk. However this is rarely seen outside of pregnancy.
 * Taste Buds: As herbivores, Centaurs generally have twice as many taste buds as omnivores (e.g humans), while omnivores have over twenty times as many taste buds as carnivores (e.g Lamias).
 * Body Temperature: Centaurs have a standard body temperature of 38 degrees.
 * Centaur Ears: A Centaur's ears are capable of reflecting the centaur's mood as they are able to move much in the same way as a horse's ears.
 * Unicorn Horn: The scraped powder from a Unicorn's horn is a powerful cure for a variety of diseases, to the point where Mr President considers it as a panacea. Since the horn grows continuously throughout their lifespan, the powder can be scraped off without endangering the Unicorn's health. However the horn grows back rather slowly, so too much powder shouldn't be harvested at once, as there is a danger of permanent damage.

History
Nico is a student of the Exchange between species program and one of the many Liminals who are working for the Black Lily Laboratory, which specializes in selling products made by Liminals. However, it is not exactly known whether Nico entered Japan via the laboratory's immigration program or whether she only started working for the company later. While working at the Black Lily Laboratory, Nicole sold the shaved powder from her horn, which Mr President considered as a particularly valuable resource for his research, as the powder from a Unicorn's horn can cure a plethora of diseases, to the point where it can be considered as a panacea.

Because of her admiration for idols, Nico began spending part of her monthly wages on donations to the 48 members of ANM48. However, this got pretty much out of hand due to Nico's obsession as she sold more and more of her powder to the Black Lily laboratory, to the point where her horn was eventully only a small fraction of it's original size. Worried about her wasteful nature, Nico finally decided to enlist the help of Centorea for advice on how to learn to stop spending her money so lavishly.

First encounter with Kimihito and Centorea
Nico makes her debut in Chapter 72 where she meets up with Centorea and Kimihito at the ANM48 Cafe and Store to talk to them about her problem. In her admiration for ANM48, Nico begins ordering all of the member's named dishes and desserts off the menu, an act Centorea is exasperated about when Nico tells her and Kimihito that she's having trouble spending her money.

Before Nico can continue to describe her problem, however, the waitress brings Nico her exclusive collaboration goods with the pictures and names of the members of ANM48 on it. Nico is so enchanted by the pictures that she looks dreamy and completely forgets about Centorea and Kimihito. Centorea uses the opportunity to introduce Nico to Kimihito and explains to him that she is a Unicorn. Kimihito recalls hearing that Unicorn's horns are extremely medicinal, but also that they would like pure maidens. Centorea embarrassedly admits that she suppose that's true.

While the two are talking, Nico doesn't notice anything because she is still looking at the collaboration goods with a dreamy grin. Eventually Centorea has had enough and annoyed and loudly asks Nico what about the advice she wants from her. Nico wakes up with a start from her reverie and explains, embarrassed, what she needs the advice for.

Embarrassed, Nico explains to the two that she just loves idols so much and whenever there are new events or merch, she can't help herself and therefore wants to learn to control her spending. Centorea asks how much money Nico is talking about when she says "spending". Embarrassed, Nico says she recently started supporting all 48 members of ANM48, much to Centorea and Kimihito's disbelief. Deeply embarrassed, Nico says she is so happy with new songs and concerts if she ignores how broke she is, leaving Kimihito and Centorea at a loss as to what think about this.

Unsure and embarrassed, Kimihito whispers to Centorea if the reason Nico likes idols so much is because she's a Unicorn, and therefore likes virgins and purity. Centorea embarrassedly admits that she suspects this too, since Unicorns would be drawn to such purity.

When Nico hears this, however, she angrily and loudly proclaims (to the shock of both of them) that this is not the reason for her love to idols, although she admits that purity is important for an idol and purity is also important in the tradition and practice of the Unicorn culture. The real reason for Nico's love for idols is that she sees them as physical embodiment of goodness and that each of them does their very best to reach their dreams. For this reason, as a fan, Nico wants to support Idols with all the means at her disposal so that they can achieve their dreams.

After this lecture, Centorea asks if Nico is just as serious about controlling her spending and when she confirms this, Centorea asks Kimihito if he has a suggestion about Nico's problem. Kimihito then suggests that Nico could make a pie graph that shows her income and expenditures, so that it is easier to see where she can reduce her spending. However, when Nico showed her graph to Kimihito and Centorea, the two were amazed to see that Nico's income is about 1,500.000 Yen. Centorea hesitantly asks if the income is a calculation for one year, but both are stunned when Nico explains to them, embarrassed, that this is her monthly income.

The two begin to imagine Nico's job, with Kimihito considering that she is a Yakuza boss or a pro gambler, while Centorea suspects something even more nefarious. Nico explains, however, that she sells her the powder from sharpening her horn bit by bit for a super generous price to a private research institute. Kimihito and Centorea then look at each other, when they both think at the same moment that they might know exactly which research institute Nico is talking about.

Meeting with Mr President
In the evening, the suspicions of Kimihito and Centorea that it is the Black Lily Advanced Materials Laboratory is confirmed when Mr President receives them in his office. Mr President, quite unmoved, confirms that his company occasionally buys from Nico and adds that the Unicorn horn can cure a variety of diseases to the point where it can be considered as a panacea. He goes on to explain that it would be the find of the century if his laboratories were able to recreate the specific molecular structure of those horns.

Centorea then angrily says that his payment for Nico is exorbitant and that it is his fault that Nico's spending is so out of control. However, Mr President says that his company is not paying Nico enough and adds that she is still selling the shavings from her horn of her own free will. Centorea reluctantly agrees with his reasoning, while Mr President states that he buys products from Liminals as long they are not stolen and that he will not deny anyone who wants to sell.

However, Mr President then reveals to Kimihito and Centorea that they aren't the only ones who believe that something must be done about the continued sale of Nico's horn. He pulls a photo out of his desk and shows it to Kimihito and Centorea, telling them it's a photo from Nico's physical examination when she first came to his company. Kimihito and Centorea look at the photo and are both shocked to see (much to Nico's embarrassment) that Nico's horn was originally more than twice the size and length it is now. Mr President explains to them that he now has concerns about Nico's continuing to sell her powder to his company, because if she files her horn any further she could be in danger of permanent damage.

Mr President says it would be the best to direct Nico's passion of idols away from such wasteful practices and a way that she can make money without selling her horn. Mr President goes on to say that his company happens to be in the middle of a little project that could help, but when Kimihito hears, he says aloud, to Centorea's astonishment, that Mr President does not mean what he suspects. Mr President smiles smugly as he notes that Kimihito has already heard about it.

Mr President explains that it is an extra-species idol project to surpass ANM48 and that this project not only includes the lightweight animal-eared Liminal girls they have now either, but also hardcore extra-species like Lamias, Harpies and Mermaids. Mr President adds that his scouts have already reached out to Mero and Papi (since both have some experience of performing on stage) in this regard, although these were ultimately unsuccessful.

He adds that that's why he tried to call Kimihito earlier, but Kimihito told him it's up to "her" if she wants to do it or not. Mr President then turns to Nico and tells her that he wants her to be part of his new idol group, the "Black Lilies".

Nico is totally shocked by this request and says she absolutely can't do that as she thinks she's a "disgrace" just for the word "idol". She also questions what to even begin with, as being an idol isn't just something you decide to become over-night since, as she says, idols are "hopes and passion crystallized in physical form". In a touch of hysteria, Nico says that what makes idols so good is that they do their best every day and that it's a "mockery of the very idea" that she should become an idol herself to fix something like a little overspending.

While Kimihito and Centorea are perplexed and don't know what to make of Nico's outburst, Mr President remains completely calm himself. He tells Nico in a soft, manipulative tone that when it's worth rooting for an idol's earnest efforts, it would be the same making earnest efforts to overcome her own spending problem and if she were to deny it now she would also be denying that same effort she sees in her favourite idols. Nico wants to disagree with him at first before she thinks about it and then agrees with a determined expression that he is right.

Mr President is satisfied and wants to give Nico her contract: However, Nico warns that she is a super uncoordinated shut-in with no stamia, which could make it difficult for her to be an idol. To make matters worse, it is basically impossible for a Centaur to coordinate or dance and sing on stage due to her special body physique, since she would constantly get in the way of the other idol members. To Nico's amazement, however, Mr President replies that she doesn't have to worry about that, because his idol group isn't "that kind" of idol group.

Zoological Classification
Unicorns are a demihuman subspecies of Centaur that have had myths and legends written about them since before Grecian antiquity.

Known as a symbol of virgin purity, Unicorns are said to be "only tamable by virgin women". It is also said that their horns are able to cure all diseases; resulting in a mass-hunting for the species. Hunters usually used the species' fondness for virgin women to lay traps to capture them and harvest their horn.

Trivia

 * Nicole's first bad memory is when she gave a long and passionate speech about idols in an interview for becoming one and discovering the president didn't even listen to it.
 * Her second bad memory was doing a 10 hour broadcast while on mute without realising it.
 * Her third bad memory was accidentally using V's greeting "Univening!" in real life.
 * Her last name is probably a pun on her subspecies name, unicorn.
 * Although the omake in Volume 17 states that Nicole is 188 cm tall, her profile picture presented by Mr President in Chapter 72 states that she is 180 cm tall.