The Mischievous Foxian Spirit

"Come on, you guys! This way through the spooky forest! There should be plenty of mischievous fox spirits over here!" Miiko jumped up and down as she led the way, gesturing for her three unit-mates to follow her deeper into the woods.

"Miiko!" Haruna shrieked, chasing after her, trying to prevent her from getting too far away from the rest of them. Kurumi had already run off earlier and given Haruna a heart attack even though she wasn't hidden for long. "We've been looking for nearly an hour! There's no such thing as fox spirits! We should head back anyway; we're supposed to be helping set up the summer festival!"

"Oh, come on, Haruna. The whole point of a festival is to have FUN! Besides, summer is the best time to find spooky spirits! Especially during festivals! All the people and energy draw them out, dontcha know?"

"And how do you know that?" Haruna snapped, scowling over her shoulder as she scooped Miiko up.

"Miiko told me, duh," Kurumi shrugged, but Miiko only crossed her arms and looked away defiantly.

Miyu finally interceded, her gentle voice trying to soothe the tension. "Let's not argue. Miiko seems really excited about this, and it's a beautiful day. Maybe we can look a little longer, then head back to help with the festival. I can text my father to ask when he need us."

Haruna looked conflicted, torn between the guilt of not immediately returning to her post, and the gratitude of Miyu helping them compromise. Her mind was as wonderful as her heart, capable of balancing everyone's desires as fairly as possible!

Eventually, though, the time ran out on the forest fun, and yet still no fox spirits. Miiko's shoulders drooped. Miyu winced empathetically, and Haruna bit her lip. Proving Miiko wrong was no longer as sweet as she thought it would be...

"Eh, it'll be all right!" Kurumi smiled cheerily. "Maybe they're waiting on the festival too? Shall we head back?"

"That's what I wanted to do from the start!" Haruna sighed in exasperation, but she didn't protest further.

ooo

"See? Haruna? I told you so! No harm, no foul!" The VJ was practically sneering down upon the DJ as she stood on the stage they were set to perform on later that night. In her arms was a box of fireworks. "We're right on schedule!" Even though Lyrilily was a few minutes late returning to their post—Haruna acting as if was the transgression to trigger Armageddon—the staff was so efficient that they were already almost done setting everything up. While the rest of the workers began to coalesce around the central stage, only a few extras were still on the sidelines.

"Woah!" Miyu shrieked as she pitched forward, some of the party favors in her arms flying as well. She landed on her stomach, ego more bruised and battered than her body. She thanked her lucky stars that no one else was around to witness her embarrassing faux pas. She scrambled to scoop up the straying party favors, looking over her shoulder to notice a small ball rolling away that wasn't part of her collection. It must've been a toy someone accidentally left behind, and she slipped on it because she hadn't seen it over all the party favors she was carrying.

Come on, Luck, where were you? Miyu sighed as she straightened back up. Up ahead, she finally saw another worker.

"Here! Take this! It's for after the show tonight! Just press the big red button and you'll see...!" It was a girl in a bright red dress.

"Michiru?" The name was out of Miyu's mouth before she could think, but the other girl was too far away to hear her. No, it wasn't Michiru. Even though they had practically the same hair, and a similarly nasally voice, this girl didn't look or sound quite right.