AN: Just for clarification, this story is an AU. School idols exist, but you can think of them as just another fandom. Also, the girls are intended to be 17, 18, 19 as opposed to 15, 16, 17.

Hanamaru sighed as she waded through the crowd, Ruby only a step behind her. "I can't believe she ran away from us, zura," pouted the brunette. "I was so certain we'd catch her!"

"Um, Hanamaru-chan, we're not exactly great at running..."

"Yes, but neither is Yoshiko-chan, especially in that cosplay she's wearing," reasoned Hanamaru. "Besides, I thought her bad luck would strike again and she would trip and fall, zura."

"It scares me that you actually planned on misfortune falling on your friend."

Hanamaru waved off Ruby's words. "It's alright. Yoshiko-chan might be unlucky, but it's never serious bad luck, zura. And trust me, once you get to know her, you too will come to expect bad things to happen to her."

Ruby only gave a concerned frown. "I sincerely hope not," she murmured. "Anyway," she said louder, "Should we look through the convention guide to see what we want to do next?"

The brunette however, already seemed to have her next activity in mind. "Ruby-chan, look!" cried Hanamaru as she began bouncing in excitement. "It's a public restroom, zura!"

Ruby sweatdropped. "Um..."

Hanamaru turned to Ruby with stars in her eyes. "I'm going to say hi to dryer-san!"

And without further ado, Hanamaru ran into the bathroom. Seconds later, Ruby heard the loud droning of an automatic hand dryer, immediately followed by a loud cry of "Mirai zura~!" from her friend. Part of Ruby was happy that Hanamaru found something she wanted to do. A larger part was decidedly unimpressed.

Sighing, Ruby went to pull out the guidebook when something caught her eye. Or rather, someone. If Ruby wasn't mistaken, that gothic lolita cosplayer trying to attract a crowd in the hall ahead for an impromptu photo shoot was none other than Hanamaru's wayward friend.

Sparing a glance towards the bathroom, Ruby concluded the brunette would be a while, and went off to investigate.

"Come one, come all! Behold the majesty of a true fallen angel!" proselytized the blunette loudly. Despite the number of people around the hall, most barely spared her a glance as they walked past. Still, it was easy enough for Ruby to get close without her notice.

"...Excuse me, are you Yoshiko-san?"

"Gah!" recoiled the blunette as if she'd been struck. "Yohane!" she snapped defiantly, "It's Yohane! How did you even hear about that other name anyway?"

Ruby shrunk back, but resolved to keep the conversation going. "My friend, Hanamaru-chan," she explained. "She told me she knew you from elementary school."

The blunette gulped. "I'm afraid your friend is mistaken," she asserted. She suddenly posed. "This fallen angel has never had any childhood playmates, so great is the misfortune that has been cast upon her."

Ruby frowned. "Then why are you so upset whenever you hear the name Yoshiko?"

Yoshiko twitched again as her real name came up. "That's Yohane!" she said forcefully. She grabbed her convention badge off her lanyard and flashed at to the redhead. "Here! See? Even this convention recognizes my illustrious status!"

The redhead blinked. The line 'The Great Fallen Angel Yoha' was indeed printed on the front of her badge, and was doubtlessly cut off by the character limit. But in small text below that...

"Tsushima Yoshiko?" asked Ruby innocently, "Is that your real name?"

"What?!" cried Yoshiko in disbelief. She snapped her badge around to look, and sure enough, her real name was printed in tiny font at the bottom. "MoeCon! How could you betray me like this?!" she wailed dramatically.

"Um... I think it's a very pretty name," offered Ruby.

"Th-That...! Look, it doesn't matter," decided the blunette. "Hanamaru and I... We're too different to still be friends now, okay? Now if you'll excuse me..." She made to walk away, but was interrupted.

"Please don't leave!" pleaded Ruby as she grabbed the blunette's arm.

"Why do you even care?" demanded Yoshiko in exasperation. "You don't even know me!"

"Y-You're important to Hanamaru-chan, a-and Hanamaru-chan is important to me... so..." Ruby looked away shyly, before clenching her eyes shut and crying out, "So I know if you stay it will make Hanamaru-chan happy!"

Yoshiko leaned away, stunned at the redhead's outburst. "Th-There's no way that would be true!" she denied, "Hanamaru and I haven't even spoken in years... She'd just call me a weird chuuni who didn't grow up."

"That's not true," refuted Ruby. "Hanamaru-chan is a nice girl, and I'm sure the two of you would be able to rekindle your friendship!" She paused to let her words sink in. "You just have to be willing to try."

The fallen angel looked down to her feet, face scarlet as she considered the proposal. "I suppose it would be nice to have a friend again," she eventually relented.

Ruby smiled bashfully as she reached for Yoshiko's hand. "Then let's go," she said simply.

The redhead led the fallen angel away from the convention hall, blushes adorning both their faces as they walked. Ruby felt glad she was able to do something for Hanamaru, something that would make her best friend happy, and maybe even result in another friend for Ruby too. Yoshiko felt nervous and shy, terrified at the prospect of meeting someone from her past who might reject her for becoming the person she was today, but the warm hand clasped in hers offered her a comfort she didn't think possible, along with an unspoken promise that everything would be okay.

As the two approached the bathroom that Hanamaru had disappeared into, they heard the automatic hand dryer activating yet again, along with another cry of "Mirai zura~!"

Ruby sighed in good-natured exasperation, and Yoshiko couldn't hide her amusement. "Wow. I almost can't believe she's still doing that after all these years," remarked the blunette.

"Maybe she hasn't changed as much as you think," offered Ruby.

Yoshiko smiled. "Yeah," she agreed, "And maybe... maybe our friendship is still there too."