A/N: And to think I thought this fanfic could be done in three chapters. Then I started introducing scene after scene into the basic story I had planned. Sure goes to show what happens when I really let the creative juices flow.
But I suppose adding new things isn't all that bad. So long as each moment has its significance and I can tie it all up together by the end, it only gives me that much more to play around with...

The Fleeting Spring

A second chance. Hoshimachi Suisei was given a second chance by a company that originally rejected her, so she swore she'd make the most of it. Though initially in INoNaKa Music, she knew that her first collaboration with hololive would be one of the most important. Thus, she tried to learn them. As she researched, one particular member stood out to her.

Sakura Miko. Digging into her past, Suisei found that the shrine maiden once had one of the lowest subscriber counts of them all. Even the then-indie had more subs back when they first started! And yet here she was, still moving forward in spite of the prior lack of attention.

Suisei wondered, That's strange. Why was she so low? And she only came out a few months after me? Damn, she's persistent. I could learn a thing or two from her.

When the time came, the fledgling INNK talent discovered much about both hololive and Project Winter. As such, the first impression she left most with… so happened to lead to a reputation that clung to her relentlessly. Admittedly, she cut a little too loose in cutting them to bits, but so long as she could play it up as an act, nobody needed to look into it any further.

Perhaps the most fun she had then wasn't when she took out several survivors one after another. No, her favorite moment was toying with a certain pinkette, leading her straight to her certain doom. Not only was Miko fun to tease, but Suisei felt a certain kinship with the girl due to her history. If anyone from hololive could understand her, it would most likely be the virtuan.

After the livestreams ended, the Vtubers slowly left the call one-by-one until it was Suisei and Miko left. The former wanted to show everyone her hard working attitude by staying, while the latter simply couldn't find the chance to speak up and leave earlier.

Suisei stated, "Thank you again for letting me join! I hope I wasn't a bother!"

Miko replied, "D-don't be so formal. Besides 'senpai', we don't care for formalities."

"I see! Thank you, Miko-senpai!" Miko felt weird hearing that from a fellow Vtubing vet.

The elite insisted, "...Just call me 'Mikochi'. It sounds better."

"Is that so? Well then, you can call me Sui-senpai whenever you want, Mikochi~."

"Hey now! We're not even that far apart in our debuts. Don't get so cocky!" The liver's anger only inspired laughter from the INNK talent.

"Hahaha… Relax, I'm just joking. I still got a long way to go before I'll make it to AZKi's or Sora-senpai's level, after all. I doubt anyone's calling me that anytime soon."

"You'll make it there. I'm sure of it, Sui-chan," the shrine maiden replied confidently.

"You're just saying that…" Even with her family's and fans' compliments and praises, she never felt like she was doing enough, even when she put her everything into every song.

"Not at all! AZKi played one of your songs for us earlier. Everyone here loved it," the once-digital girl confided, remembering how it was meant to get everyone comfortable with the stranger. How ironic, then, that the shooting star used that reassurance against them scarily well.

The virtuan continued, "You must've worked nonstop getting it just right, and it shows. Keep that up, and I'm sure you'll go far! I guarantee it, on my honor as a servant of the gods!"

Admittedly, Miko wanted to impress the newcomer, but she'd be damned if she wasn't speaking from the heart. That spontaneous burst of honesty touched Suisei to her very core in a way the miko never could've predicted.

After endless interviews ending with the indie getting rejected for being too hard-working, for not standing out, or for being dramatically undersold, someone finally recognized the comet not for her talents, but for her efforts. And it came from the girl who faced the same sort of struggles she did starting out. The twinkling idol was rendered speechless.

For a while, neither side uttered a word. Only the occasional flashing green circles surrounding their profile pictures gave away that they were still alive.

Then, Miko nervously asked, "I- I didn't mean to upset you or anything. I prom-"

Through a faint sniffle, Suisei replied, "... Thank you. That means a lot to me. Don't you give up either! When I make it to the top, you better be right behind me."

"Ha! You had me worried there. And just you wait! You'll be the one behind me!"

Although the shrine maiden would quickly forget that offhand compliment she gave that day in favor of reviewing the cometzen's rampage, Suisei would never forget the kind words said to her. Their promise heralded a seed in the depths of her respiratory system. She didn't know it yet, but she was in love. A thrilling sort of love, for it was love at first sight with an elite miko.

Even though they both practically fell in love at first sight, Suisei quickly redoubled her efforts on her idol work whenever she had the chance. As Miko grew her fanbase overseas, the starry idol honed her skills with an ardent fervor, all for the sake of fulfilling that offscreen promise and leaving little time to even consider love. When they practiced for the 2nd edition of VILLS, all Suisei thought about was making sure the world saw them only at their best.

It was only in January 2021, when the two were having endless fun together, that her mind finally slipped from the constant worry of her next big project, letting her thoughts wander towards other deeply-rooted longings.

Once they exited the voice call, the cometzen sat back and reflected on the past two hours she and the virtuan spent terrorizing Los Santos. What felt like a few short minutes of going hog wild also felt like an eternity of laughter. Although GTA V with Miko was to promote their next appearance on VILLS, the stellar idol genuinely enjoyed every moment she spent with her.

She thought, Man, why haven't I collabed with Miko more?! Was our last stream together really Vanguard Zero? She's a blast to be around. I should try to fit her into my schedule more-

*cough*

Out of nowhere, she had a coughing fit. Her throat was burning up and had something soft but solid stuck inside. She felt like she was a cat coughing up a hairball.

She wondered, Shit, did I bust a gut from all that laughing? My throat itches like hell.

The comet hacked and coughed into an arm, though she didn't feel the least bit sick. The blockage eventually cleared up. When she stopped to look, she found a flower petal on the floor.

This is a cherry blossom, she realized. Where did it come from? The windows are all closed, and it's still a long way away from hanami season.

She picked it up and rubbed the plant between her fingers. Feels real alright. But how did it get here? All I've been doing is think about how great it'd be to hang out with Miko mor-

*COUGH* *COUGH* *COUGH*

The girl sputtered a few more times. Instead of vomiting or coughing up a bit of mucus, she watched a few more petals come out of her windpipe. She stumbled back into a wall in horror. When she slammed against it, her legs gave out. The idol that sent so many hearts racing failed to count how many times hers beat as she stared at the horrifying revelation in front of her. For once in her life, Suisei felt absolutely powerless.

That- that definitely came from me. They're coming from me! The… sakura petals. It's happening like that anime, right? This is… Hanahaki, isn't it? The new cherry blossoms she spat out had red spots and carried a faint scent all too familiar to her: blood.

I- I can't believe it. I'm… in love. With Miko of all people, she finally understood.

Regaining the strength to move, she quickly scooped the pink pieces up and hurried over to the bathroom, where she dumped them into the toilet bowl. She reflected on this recent turn of events as she gazed into her reflection in the mirror.

In retrospect, perhaps it wasn't as much of a surprise as she made it out to be. After all, the two had a great synergy right off the bat. It was never terribly one-sided in either's favor either, as for every snide comment she could think of, Miko could easily make her own on.

Though she wouldn't admit it nowadays, she still thought highly of the elite miko. If anything, she should've been relieved to realize she fell for somebody she admired greatly.

But that's the problem, Suisei realized, I'm in love with Miko. She has a type.

Indeed, the pinkette had the hots for a particular type of woman, and unlike Aki Haato or Choco, Suisei lacked those big, beautiful bouncy blonde locks.

Grasping her sidetail, she debated, Maybe I could find an excuse to dye it… No, that's too far offbrand for me. Not like that's gonna be enough to sway her, anyhow.

Her eyes trailed down towards… nowhere in particular, bemoaning her luck in the cosmic lottery. She always believed that consistent hard work and reaching out to every opportunity available would pay off eventually. It sickened her to think that her one chance at love could so easily be shot down without a second thought, all for something she couldn't help.

As she glanced back to the toilet bowl, she concluded, Nobody must find out about these. Not Onee-chan, not anyone at hololive, and certainly not Sakura. It's too obvious.

The zeroth genner flushed the unwanted flora and cleaned herself up, leaving no evidence of this newfound dark secret of hers.

The lovesick girl lamented, If she finds out, she'll never want to speak to me ever again. And nobody likes an idol with an expiration date…

Speaking of dates, Suisei pulled out her phone to check her calendar. She needed to know how much time she had left before she kicked the bucket.

Doctor Tanaka sighed. She merely glanced back up to her patient before asking, "So how brutally honest do you want me to be?"

"You know me, Doc. Don't hold anything back." Suisei had to wait two weeks so this appointment could happen while her sister was at work, but Tanaka's medical opinion was well worth it. The Sapien rarely held back on her words, and that sort of harsh truth always motivated the cometzen to follow her advice… save for when it came to exercising more.

"On the bright side, reciprocated love will make the plant dissipate back into magic and undo any damage it may have caused. So unless you wanna go through the pain of having your body slowly turned into a flower bed, you better spill the beans soon," the medical professional recommended as she readjusted her brown ponytail.

She continued grimly, "Otherwise, you're not lasting the year. Hell, still having a pulse by December would be a miracle in itself, though you're bound to be a vegetable by then. And if they grow into full blossoms? It'd shave at least a month or two off of that."

"Not much time, huh? I guess I'm screwed if I lose my hearing before they can confess," the lovesick idol joked, hoping to find any sort of humor to make digesting her bitter fate easier.

"Doesn't have to be vocal. Anything that shows their love for you will do. Risking their life to save yours, writing a poem for you. Gifts, too. Like surprising you with chocolates and- actually, maybe not that." Her next choice of words would've certainly angered the comet enough to retaliate. Though she hurled many criticisms in the past, she wanted to live long too, and the doctor very well knew when to avoid unnecessary risks to her health.

Her patient suggested, "Look, I already know they don't feel for me that way, so why don't I get it removed? Boom, problem solved. What's the harm in that?"
"If you're never gonna see them again, then that might work out fine. But I doubt you can avoid your coworker for so long." The bluenette's recoil confirmed her suspicions.

Suisei hissed, "Is it that obvious?" I never even mentioned when this all started.

Dr. Tanaka deadpanned, "Doesn't take a PHD when it's a flower people get named after."

"Just tell me why it won't work out already," the idol demanded, hiding her flushed face with both her hands. Is it too late to put me out of my misery?

"Y'see, this Hanahaki is formed from everything you love about this girl, right? And you're bound to associate a lotta memories with her. Songs, foods, places, et cetera.

"By removing it, you'lllose your love for her, sure. But since you'll lose that, everything linked back to her will get tainted, like how songs you sang with her don't feel right anymore. Past patients described the feeling like going through 'the worst break-up imaginable'."

She raspberried. "*Pfft* They're just exaggerating." It can't be that bad, right?

The doctor shook her head. "Not at all. Basically, none of the things they once liked felt enjoyable anymore, and a lot of them end up blaming the person they onced loved for their lack of happiness. Even hated them for it, too."

"I-I'm sure it can't be that bad, right?" Surely you're exaggerating that last part…

"I can dig up news articles of patients who've attacked or killed their old flame hoping to find closure and be at peace. You can probably guess how that turned out in the end."

Knowing herself, Suisei knew that was the last thing she wanted to happen to Miko. Dumb, ponkotsu, huggable, sweet, lovable Sakura Miko...

She let the resulting stained sakuras fall into the biowaste bin parked beside her.

"J-just get me whatever medicine will keep this down. I can't have this happening in the middle of a livestream, y'know?" Her doctor quickly passed a prescription to her.

"Right. Follow the instructions on the label, unless you'd rather use them as sleeping pills. I don't suppose you have a way of taking them without being seen?"

"Trust me, I'll find a way. I know how not to get caught."

As she coughed up a few more petals, the doctor snarked, "But certainly not how to lie when someone's got hard evidence."

. . . . .

When Suisei got home, she found that the lights were already turned back on. From the dining table, her sister stared her down, a saucer lying in front of her. With her elbows resting on the table and her clasped hands raised in front of her mouth, all Anemachi needed was a pair of shiny shades to make the confident talent feel as spineless as Shinji before his father.

The pinkette commanded, "We need to talk. Now." A phrase nobody ever wanted to hear, especially coming from an angry family member. Obviously, Suisei wanted to get out of this conversation as fast as possible.

The young girl tried to rush towards her room. "Are you sure? I'm quite busy with-"

"NOW," Anemachi demanded, figuratively and literally putting her foot down.

"A-alright. Say, Onee-chan, you're home early," the younger sister replied, making her way to the table. She noted, She's supposed to be at work until 7. It's not even past 3! What made her come back so quickly?!

"Don't try to change the topic," the elder sister countered. As the idol pulled out her chair, she spotted the same red spots on pink that she grew to hate casually laying on the saucer.

Suisei's eyes widened as she realized, Crap, I forgot to burn the garbage before I left!

"I knew something was up when you kept offering to take out the trash," she explained.

Rather than run up the water bill by flushing every outbreak of flowers, the younger sister decided that the least suspicious course of action was to simply sneak them into the garbage and throw them out herself whenever she could.

But between the two of them, Suisei was always the one that dreaded that particular chore, holding it off whenever she could or bribing her sister to do it for her.

Right, of course she'd pick up on that, she deadpanned, she knows me well enough to notice the moment I'm out-of-character. For someone who knew how to fool people, this was an all-time low in that regard.

The lesser-seen sister continued, "I'll admit, I thought you were getting rid of whatever you couldn't bury by hiding it and burning it later. So can you imagine the look on my face when I start digging around and find these at the very bottom of the bag?

The worker added, "This isn't how I wanted to find out about your first crush…"

"Onee-chan, that's not-" The young woman didn't even give her a chance to lie.

"When are you gonna tell her? This secret's gotta be eating you up inside."

Suisei finally conceded, "...I wasn't. I was gonna just take it to my grave."

"What?! That's nonsense! There's gotta be a reason why, Sis! Is it your company?"

The older sister waited, unable to do anything but watch her younger sibling struggle to speak or even make eye contact for the next few minutes.

She gently pleaded, "Suisei, please. I just want you to be happy. And if that means I gotta fight your boss to get permission for you to date Sakura Miko, I'd do it in a heartbeat and win. You have my word as your older sister!"

Anemachi maintained a gentle look at her until the pressure made the comet crack.

Suisei slowly explained, "For starters, you've been watching too many trashy romances. It's more that we don't even see or talk to each other that much. Sure, we're both in the 0th gen, but we've barely done anything together outside of VILLS and that stream. How am I supposed to get closer to her without her thinking I'm stalking her?"

Anemachi quickly fished out a large half-filled card from under her seat.

"Found this in your room while you were gone," she stated, sliding it towards her sibling.

"Wh- Hey now, that's an invasion of privacy!" the bluenette exclaimed, regaining her usual demeanor. The pinkette lightened up and bore a warm smile for her sister.

"I would've looked through your room anyway the moment I found out you had a crush, Polaris," the elder sister answered, pleased that the idol stopped acting so grim.

Suisei winced upon hearing that old nickname. Back to our super cringy astronomy phase, huh? Makes me wanna vomit for real.

"You haven't called me that since we were kids, Alioth. What happened?"

"Well, I've been meaning to suggest that 'Sirius' would be better for you now that you've gotten [serious] with your career!" she joked, inserting an English word for the punchline.

"You've been waiting to use that one, haven't you?" she asked, clearly disgusted by the lame pun. Anemachi only grinned harder from seeing her sister's disapproving leer.

"Maybeee~… But! Back to the matter on hand!" She placed a finger on one of the blank spots on the sheet, pointing to the question, 'Which member of hololive do you want to get along with?'

"You start here. By telling others you think you and Miko make a great team."

"And what good will that do? It's just something Marine's gonna share with everyone once they've filled theirs out. How is this gonna lead to the two of us getting together?"

"You gotta start somewhere! And if Marine asks, just tell her you feel like Miko's the only one who can keep up with you or something. Sure, she might get the wrong idea if you phrase it like that, but once Miko hears about it, she's bound to ease up around you!"

What do I have to lose? And it's not like I'm lying or anything, Suisei reasoned. She gave up resisting and jotted down her love interest's name, finishing it with the all-too-familiar flower.

"Fine, I guess. What's the worst Marine can do? Read them all out onstream?"

. . . . .

I'm gonna strangle that pirate the next time I see her!

Suisei must've jinxed herself, because Marine actually did end up doing a stream for the profile cards. Worse yet, nobody noticed that she put down Miko's name despite their lack of screentime together. Worst of all, she didn't even show up on the girl's profile! Instead, three names appeared in the same section where the bluenette put her secret crush…

Sora's too nice. The most I'd need to do is ask, and she'd back off. Aki Haato and Haachama… I'd rather avoid them, and Miko probably wouldn't chase after them, too. Like how many people actually want creepy yanderes IRL? That leaves… her.

The mere thought of the bunny girl's shrill laugh nearly made Suisei burn up in rage.

Pekora! That greedy little hare! Hogging all of her attention for herself! But I can't exactly get rid of her… can I? She knew one way of quickly ending this love triangle…

However, the shooting star liked to believe that she was a woman of integrity, that she would only get to the top through hard work and diligence, not by eliminating the competition. That said, considering her motivation to go into Vtubing was to spite the idol companies that rejected her… Even she had second thoughts, so she decided to evaluate her options.

Alright, look, Hoshimachi. You may be a bit impulsive, but there are other ways to fix this, right? Maybe if you can just get in a few collabs back-to-back, miComet can steal the spotlight away from PekoMiko… Actually, hold on. When was the last PekoMiko stream?

Opening two more tabs, Suisei quickly typed in both members' names and checked their channels. Going through the recent VODs, she noticed something peculiar.

They haven't streamed together since the new year. It's already the middle of February. We gotta start practicing for VILLS soon. Is this… my chance? Is now the time to make a move?

To Suisei, it seemed that the stars and planets themselves aligned for this very opportunity, and just as she never missed a chance to show herself to the world, this would be something she'd seize with both hands!

If only she knew this window of opportunity was left open by a certain 'war criminal'…

"Nice hustle, Mikochi! You're getting better at maintaining your stamina. After the show, why don't we try teaching you how to do a sit-up? Just one, for starters."

"Buzz off, Hoshimachi." Such words may have come off as a threat had they not come from a shrine maiden that was busy wiping off streams of sweat with a towel.

Sweat that rolled down such glistening skin… Suisei couldn't tear her eyes away from her genmate. The locker room lights, as shabby as they were, enveloped the elite girl in an ethereal light, as if she were a servant of otherworldly gods. To be fair, she was, but up until that moment, Suisei forgot how close to the divine the klutzy baby of Gen 0 truly was.

The pinkette smelled just as sweet as her namesake, and the bluenette felt dizzy as she constantly darted between her partner's squishy pinchable cheeks and her lovely figure. Though the girl was a tad chubby, that fat definitely went to the right places. Furthermore-

Alright, stop it. You sound like a creep, Suisei concluded.

Suddenly, she realized that her partner noticed her lecherous gaze, a pompous smirk plastered on the face Suisei so desperately wanted to kiss. She promptly turned as red as a rose.

"Where do you think you're looking, Hoshimachi? Jealous much?" Miko teased.

She instinctively countered, "No, just marveling at how quickly you're losing baby fat."

"Stop it!" the so-called 'baby' whined, lazily flailing her towel around as if she were the worlds' worst rodeo girl. She glared at the giggling girl and quickly found her evidence.

She pointed out, "Then why are you still blushing?" causing Suisei to falter and stammer.

"Oh, err… It's because I… I have an idol meeting to attend! Yes, I can't be late for that." And with that non-indicative excuse, she hurried out.

The holy idol rolled her eyes and called out, "We're both idols. If you've gotta use the bathroom that badly, just say it."

The flustered girl rushed to the nearest toilet, locked the door, and leaned over the toilet bowl. She slowly let all of the flowers fall out of her mouth, making sure that all of the blood landed in the water and that she did not gag too loudly. Thankfully, her sister helped her figure out what was audible or not, but she always dreaded having to taste iron once more.

She hadn't taken her medicine yet either, since she needed every bit of energy she could muster for their rehearsals. Unlike some of the more whimsical and random cases, Suisei's Hanahaki thankfully liked to follow a specific pattern: slowly grow until her feelings reached a fever pitch, and then try to send everything up all at once!

The flora always took some time after she felt it start, so Suisei usually had a chance to rush off, clear her lungs, and use her medicine. But it was only a matter of time before Miko caught on. The 'ponkotsu' girl was surprisingly proficient at reading others.

Once the pills coated in her blood hit her stomach, the bluenette momentarily felt weak in the knees. She swayed back and forth, taking deep breaths to try and regain her strength.

Tch, maybe I overdid it for today. I think I can get myself home, at least.

After waiting a few more minutes for the fatigue to lessen, she went back to the lockers.

Once they finished getting changed and left the dance studio, Miko waved goodbye.

"See ya, Sui-chan!" She headed towards the nearest subway.

"Oh? Where are you going?" The virtuan turned back to explain.

"Getting tapioca. Maybe even taiyaki if they have it. Wanna come?"

In her mind, her inner voice practically screeched at her, Sayyessayyessayyes! Fortheloveofthegodssayyes, she'spracticallyaskingyououtonadate!

"Ah, no thanks. I think I'll pass." FAQ! Why does these stupid meds make me tired?!

"Alright then. See you tomorrow, Sui-chan."

"See you later, Mikochi~." She cursed herself once her target left her sight.

Dammit! There goes my chance! C'mon, Hoshimachi. You gotta get her next time!

. . . . .

An unfortunate pattern would keep repeating in the leadup to VILLS: Suisei would focus too hard on making everything perfect, leading to Miko's utter exhaustion. The latter wouldn't have the energy to hang out afterwards, and even when she did, the Hanahaki wanted to make itself known, so Suisei wouldn't even have the willpower left to tag along! Ultimately, the duo didn't even get a bite to eat together outside of a lunch break.

Still, their efforts paid off, and their performance at VILLS was even better than the one before! And yet, even as the crowd's thunderous applause was overshadowed by its explosive chants, the cometzen couldn't help but wonder if she blew her only chance to get closer to her.

"[Happy birthday Sui-chan~, Happy birthday Sui-chan~]," announced the newcomer, her unique voice familiar to anyone deep in the rabbit hole.

The birthday girl gasped in surprise as the last person she expected to show up ended up being the first caller for her birthday stream!

" Sui-chan is cute today as well!" she continued.

"Cute today as well! Thanks, Mikochi!" the birthday celebrant followed shortly.

At the back of her mind, the diamond-in-the-rough realized, She came back for me… Does this mean I have another chance at getting close to her?

As they talked, Suisei confessed that she did want to spend more time with Miko, doing her best to think of the most mundane things and explanations, like how her dislike of sweets prevented her from going out for tapioca. After all, it wouldn't help her case if she blushed or spat out sakura while the camera was recording, now would it?

Once the shrine maiden left the call, Suisei announced an apple juice break, and for the moment she was offscreen to grab her drink, she slipped two pills into her mouth and swallowed them. No one caught on as she gulped the soothing beverage, but then she realized something.

Shit, I can't think of what the other guests should roleplay. Maybe I can ask for their confessions too? So it doesn't feel like I'm singling her out? But if I do that, how can she catch on? Sigh, the things I do to cover my tracks…

Once the stream ended, she found a message from Miko on Discord. It was a link to an event happening the following week.

A hanami picnic. She wanted to hurl. Not just because she was already sick of seeing enough cherry blossoms for one lifetime, but because Miko wanted to do one of those normie events. Nevertheless, she wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, so she agreed to meet up.

. . . . .

About a week later, Suisei found Miko sitting on a picnic blanket in a nearby park. Since it was more of a local event, there weren't that many people, great for idols like themselves.

The latter seemed as normal as always, if not for the fact she wore a more traditional shrine maiden outfit. It seemed thicker and didn't expose much skin, meaning it was likely a late winter/early spring uniform. What set it apart from standard garbs was the large red 'power on/off' icon on the back, with red lines branching off it towards gold dots. The pattern of lines and dots reminded her of a circuit board. She looked more mature, more womanly wearing that.

Suddenly, she was glad that she took the medication shortly before arriving.

With Miko dressing more or less the same way she alway did, the cometzen felt a bit overdressed, having arrived in… the exact outfit she wore for her New Year's streams, with the accessories, her hair done the same way, and everything else. She regretted, I should've remembered to do the laundry. At least it keeps me warm and nobody recognizes me.

When Miko noticed her, the virtuan shivered. Nevertheless, she waved to the bluenette and patted on a free spot on the soft blanket. Still scared of me, it seems, Suisei noted.

The pinkette stated, "Thanks for coming, Sui-chan. I didn't wanna go alone like a loser."

Suisei sat down and bitterly replied, "Why didn't you ask Pekora? This sounds like something you two would've done together." Though she didn't mean to act coldly, Miko picked up on it easily. Thankfully, it seemed the latter assumed she was annoyed rather than jealous.

"You know how she is. She'd rather stay home whenever she could."

Suisei debated, So that's how I beat Pekora, by going out with Miko? I can do that, but how do I not come off as clingy?

"So what made you want to come here, Mikochi? Never took you for a hanami regular."

"Well, my shrine back home has sakuras that blossom and scatter their petals every day."

"Every day?! Must be a pain to clean up…"

"It is! But it's been a few years since I left. I kinda miss seeing them now."

"I see… And the outfit?" The stellar idol had never seen her wear it before.

"Ah, this was my old uniform from the virtual world! It marks my status as the head servant of the virtual gods. Do you like it?"

"It looks great on you. Professional, even. Y'know, the virtual world sounds like a nice place. Maybe you can show me around one day." The elite's eyes lit up at the suggestion.

"Sounds great! One day, we'll go. And thanks for helping me with my homesickness."

Though the dancing petals looked beautiful, Suisei decided that the most beautiful and precious Sakura was the one sitting next to her, as cheesy and cliche as that sounded. Much to her chagrin, the Hanahaki begged to differ, offering itself as a counterargument. The welling emotions inside her proved to be stronger than the medicine that was made to subdue them.

Suisei reeled. Shit, why now?! The flora came up much faster than it ever did before.

With Miko staring off into the trees, Suisei quickly scanned the area. When she was certain nobody was watching her, she got close to the ground, spat out a number of bloodied sakuras onto the grass. With luck, those flowers would be gone soon, scattered by the wind and hidden like sharp needles in a massive mountain of dulled needles.

Out of habit, she quickly plucked the medicine bottle from her purse and gulped down two capsules. It was only when she stored the medication that she realized her mistake: It hadn't even been half an hour since she last took them. She crashed harder than a fall from orbit.

"Isn't this a great view, Sui-cham?" asked the shrine maiden.

"I, it's great. We should do this… more," Suisei muttered, completely sapped of her strength and struggling to keep her eyes open. She could barely think straight either.

"You okay, Sui-chan? You sound tired?" Miko turned around and gasped. "Oh my gods!" From the way she swayed and sagged from side-to-side, Suisei would collapse at any moment.

"Y'know me. Early morning's... before lunch."

"That's not healthy at all! And weren't you full of energy just a second ago?!"

"I'm *yawn* tired. Please look after me…" Before the pinkette could object, Suisei shifted closer to her and placed her head on her crush's lap before passing out.

"Hey, don't just fall asleep like that!" But she couldn't stay mad for long. With how cute and harmless the girl sleeping in her lap looked, she couldn't help but pet her and caress her blue hair. In the depths of her heart, the once-digital idol wished the moment could last forever.

To nobody but herself, Miko teased, "Heh, who's the baby now?"

As she watched over her sleeping partner, a certain figure waddled around the park, stopping by the lovesick duo. The tiny gremlin-like being came across Suisei's tainted petals and quietly snatched them up and into an empty sandwich bag she carried. She somehow remained unnoticed, despite looking cutely deformed for a Sapien dressed in a… bee costume?! The next moment, she disappeared, with only a faint echoing screech heralding her exit.

*Snap* *Snap* Snap* *Snap*

In the middle of April, Suisei quickly popped takoyaki into her mouth one sphere after another, content to enjoy her meal until her friend forced her concentration away from her food.

"Oi, Hoshimachi! Stop staring into space. We need something to call ourselves," Miko ordered as she stabbed into a steaming ball of takoyaki and blew on it.

"Eh? Don't we already have 'miComet'? Or should we try making our own name again?" Suisei wondered as she grabbed another paper tray of the piping hot snack to munch on.

"Nonono, not like that! Something to call this, 'thing?' we have going on."

"What, like some way to address how close we've gotten lately?"

"Yes. It needs to be something unique: something that not only stands out, but something we can milk for all it's worth! It's not like we can just say we're a couple now, right?"

"Yeah, totally…" Gods, I wish we could, she thought longingly as she chewed.

"All I got so far is 'the President and V.P. of HoguchiLive'. That sound alright?"

"Sounds like a boss intro to Yakuza. Pass. We should go for something simpler."

"Got any ideas then?" the sakura-themed girl inquired.

"I dunno. Would 'business partners' describe us well?"

A shot in the dark became a shot through the heart, and she's to blame. She gave love a bad name. The moment those words left her mouth, her hopes crashed as Miko took to her suggestion as a fish to water. She nearly choked on her last bite.

"It's perfect! After all, it's Staff's fault for putting us together, right?"

"Yeah, yeah… We never asked to be together, right?" Though I wouldn't mind if we did.

"Exactly! miComet was created for business first, and everyone should know that!

"Right, business comes first…" She felt her skin get slightly paler by the second.

"Huh? Why do you seem so down, Sui-chan?"

The stellar idol froze, as if she were caught literally red-handed. Her eyes bolted left and right before she quickly glanced between her empty paper food trays and Miko's still-full tray.

She refuted, "I- Because my takoyaki's gone and yours is sitting there getting cold!"

"Ah! You're right!" With that, the pinkette finally shoved the lukewarm piece of food into her jaw, expressing great joy as the flavor sank into her tongue.

"Mmh! Tastes great! Coming here was the right play!"

As the pinkette enjoyed her fried octopus balls, Suisei felt that irritating pain in her throat resurface. The latter got up, attracting her friend's attention.

The cometzen quickly explained, "I think they're good too, but it feels like they went right through me." She was getting better at hiding herself, if only around the virtuan.

Miko joked, "That's what you get for eating so fast!"

. . . . .

"See ya later, Sui-chan!"

"Until next time, Miko." She watched the girl run down the street.

As the apple of her eye gradually left her sight, Hoshimachi Suisei sulked. She grimly accepted, I'll never get her to love me back. Guess my days are numbered, then. Shit, and just when I was starting to make it big around the universe… It's not too late for that, is it?

Instead of wallowing in despair, a spiteful fire ignited in her astral core. That night, she made phone call after phone call, sending dozens of emails to her manager, various music producers, illustrators, and even Bushiroad. Over the next few days, her resourcefulness, charisma, and sheer stubbornness let her cram some of the last few months she'd have as an idol.

If the last chapter of her shiny smiley story was already decided by destiny, the shooting star decided she would go out just like one.