The Brand Thief

*Who* is coming?!

Yume was smiling her familiar giddy smile, her butt practically bouncing in her seat with excitement.
"Big news about tomorrow! You'll never guess!" she told their gathered group of five.
"What is it?" Mahiru's "get to the point" tone brought a pout to Yume's pink lips, but her voice remained just as enthusiastic as she continued.
"Well I messaged the Venus Ark girls, and it turns out they're able to get the time off too! They're coming on our trip!"
"That gets me going!" Laura replied quickly.
"Mm, that's great," Koharu agreed with a gentle smile.
"Yeah, why not?" Mahiru chimed in, starting to sound a little excited herself.
Only one of them hadn't weighed in on the news, and little by little every other head turned in the direction of the pretty theatre club member with long red hair, expertly formed as always into the shape of a bow atop her head.
"...Ako-chan?" Koharu eventually asked.
"Hm?" She played dumb even as her face went and betrayed her, a frown playing on her lips, and her cheeks quickly starting to blush.
"How do you feel if some Venus Ark girls come on our trip?"
"Fine! W-why should I mind if some Venus Ark girls come?" she answered, the strain in her voice obvious.
"Reeeally. Even Kirara-chan?" Laura prodded with a smirk.
At that point Ako's face finished turning the colour of her hair. Her fingers dug into her skirt under the table, so that they wouldn't form into a claw shape and get pointed Laura's way.
"Nnnya?! I certainly couldn't care less about whether *she* is coming!"
Yume didn't even blink. "I'm sorry, Ako-chan. I thought it'd be fun!"
"F-fun?!" she questioned incredulously, before she could stop herself. Great, now even her mouth was betraying her.
"Ako-chan, kawaii!" Koharu chimed. Ako's fingers gripped the fabric of her skirt harder, and her frown deepened. It quickly became too much for her.
"She's a brand thief! An idol pirate from that accursed ship! The enemy!"
Yume's big brown eyes shifted to concern.
"Uuu... I knew I shouldn't have invited her..."
"No, it is fine," declared Ako, quickly and shakily standing up. "I shall simply withdraw my own attendance." She kept her face as stoic as she could (not particularly), her heart thumping violently in her chest.
"Ako-chan!"
"Ako!"
The girls called out to her, but she turned with a dramatic flourish, and started clomping away stiffly in the heels of her S4 uniform. A set of looks of exasperation and disbelief were shared around the table, before their faces turned to the fleeing redhead. Watching as Ako glanced back over her shoulder, saw them all looking at her, and snapped her head back straight with a "Hmph!" they could hear in their heads.

Mahiru shook her head, fingers pressed to her forehead in stress. Laura's frustration manifest in a hand pushed through her long pink hair. Yume slumped forwards in her seat, resting her head on the table. Only Koharu's face remained calm, showing a placid sort of smile.
"What do we do?" Yume whined.
"Do we really have to pick one to go?" Laura asked.
"We shouldn't *have to*," Mahiru complained. "Isn't she being a bit too childish?"
"Ako-chan says things like that. I don't think she means it," Koharu suggested.
"Maybe..." Laura cautiously agreed. "But is she going to stop meaning it by tomorrow?"
A proper smile broke out onto Koharu's face. "Oh, I think so!"
"How can you be sure?" Laura asked. Yume lifted her head, hope breaking through onto her face.
"Juuust a feeling." There was a mysterious edge to Koharu's voice, a conspiratorial sparkle in her violet eyes.
Laura looked blankly back at her, paused for a few seconds. Then she suddenly broke into a grin. "That gets me going!"

---

Ako flopped herself into bed, exhausted. It had been such a long day filming Ako Nyan Nyan, practising the choreography for a new song, and training in the gymnasium that she'd barely had time to think about the situation from that morning. Now that she had a moment to herself though, even the M4 posters on her wall weren't enough to keep the cloud over her head away. She stared at Subaru's perfect face, but felt nothing. Couldn't even bring herself to grumble internally about Kanata's smug, disarming smile. All she could think about was Kirara.