Ako awoke alone in her bed, barely feeling the consequences of all yesterday's exercise. Sitting up with a stretch, she smiled to herself as she remembered the night before. The chat with Koharu had her feeling a lot better. She got ready quickly, dressing herself in a white blouse with a treble clef printed on its collar, and a teal pair of suspender shorts. Comfy pink sneakers instead of the usual heels of the Yotsuboshi uniform. Dressed like this, she almost felt excited to go bushwalking and swimming and whatever else the more outdoorsy members of their group of friends had planned.
She met Yume at breakfast. "Excited? This is going to be so fun!" the girl spoke with her usual enthusiasm, not even acknowledging the events of yesterday.
Ako smiled, and delivered a trademark "of course I am!" with all her usual confidence. Yume smiled broadly, and then the two girls fell into chatting about Rainbow Berry Parfait while they ate. Finishing their meals, they walked back to the dorms together to go fetch their bags, and then lug them out to the front of the school. Laura, Mahiru and Koharu were already waiting outside, listening to Anna-sensei try to make lecturing them about trip rules and precuations cool. "And keep the staff informed of your movements, babies! We're letting you go by yourselves, so respect that trust. Even out in the mountains, you're still famous idols representing our academy!"
All of the girls nodded their understanding. "Got it!"
"Then get out there, and self-produce yourselves a nice holiday!"
The five of them smiled. "We will!"
After all their luggage had been stored in the luggage compartment, Laura was the first girl to hop up onto the bus. "We're like a band going on tour! This gets me going!" The other girls all just looked at each other and shared a smile, then boarded one by one behind her. The bus was small, but with four rows of seats, two on each side of the aisle, there was plenty of space for the girls, and the two Venus Ark members that should be getting there soon. "Let's just all grab our own seat? Leaves room for our bags," suggested Mahiru, and that was what the girls did. Ako ended up sitting in the front row, the rest of the girls taking both sides of the middle two rows. It left her a little isolated, not able to see the other girls without turning around, but that was fine by her. She'd brought along some magazines with some nice features on M4 that she'd been meaning to re-read anyway. Before she could fish one out of the carry bag sitting on the seat beside her, though, Yume called out excitedly from two rows back. "They're here!"
Ako looked out the window, to see Kirara and Rei were wheeling their bags up the street. Rei looked almost comically ready for adventure, wearing a loose-fitting tanktop and a pair of cargo shorts that were at least fifty percent pockets. Few people could have made them look as good as she was, though. Kirara, meanwhile, was the polar opposite. Dressed even girlier than usual, she looked like she'd chosen her outfit according to what would make little girls at the mall most jealous of her, thought Ako. Big, clompy Mary Janes dressed up with frill-lined bows made from the same material, in pastel purple. More frills topping off her overknee socks, and a short, layered skirt of dotty tulle the same colour as her shoes that poofed out from her hips enough that it might as well have been a tutu. A snug-fitting T-shirt, the requisite girly detail provided by princess sleeves accented with ribbon in a deeper purple... as well as the stylised cartoon image of an idol mid-performance emblazoned on the front. Seriously, that's just too on the nose, thought Ako to herself. And not cute at all. Well, okay, the individual pieces of the outfit are nice, but...
The pair stowed their bags and hopped up onto the bus, Rei in front. She offered a brief bow to all the Yotsuboshi girls and a cool, "thanks for letting us come along," before she headed up towards the two pairs of empty seats in the back row. Behind her, Kirara's greeting was an enthusiastic wave. "Rei-chan!" She called out to the platinum blonde ahead of her. "Can I sit up the front with Ako-chan?" Asking permission... She's not trying to make little girls jealous, she just is a little girl! Ako realised to herself with a self-smug grin. And then it properly occurred to her what Kirara was asking permission for. The grin quickly disappeared, and her eyes widened. "S-sit with me?!"
"Of course! How are we going to be double muses if we don't get closer?" Kirara asked, with her usual cloying sweetness.
"Double muses?! I already said that-" She was cut off midway by Kirara.
"Come on, shift over!" Ako's head turned slowly to look at the spot next to her, currently occupied by her bag. Kirara couldn't mean... yes, she could. Of course she could, it was completely in character for Kirara to try to make her mad by cosying up to her like this! Her mental database had predicted it, she'd told Koharu it would happen. And Koharu had basically told her "deal with it".
Ako's face was red by the time it turned back to look up at the overdressed girl standing there in the aisle. She searched Kirara's big mauve-coloured eyes, looking for any kind of hint that she was joking, doing this just to toy with her, but found nothing but that irritatingly naive enthusiasm. Her indignant pout wavered, and her eyes showed defeat. For Koharu.
"Very well," Ako answered huffily, grabbing her bag and standing it up against the side of the bus. She slid herself across into the window seat, and Kirara plonked down next to her.
"Yayyyyy! Thank you, Ako-chan! We're going to have such a fun trip together!"
Ako folded her arms and turned to look out the window, hiding the continued burning of her cheeks. "Don't get the wrong idea! I'm still going to take back Fuwa Fuwa Dream from you!"
"Oooooh. Is that a challenge?" Kirara slid herself a little closer, and Ako felt their hips suddenly pressing together. Too close, Kirara! she thought, but didn't say. Why does she have to be like this?
From behind she heard Laura's voice, freely discussing with the other girls the topic of the two girls sitting up the front in close proximity. Ako sighed grumpily. No, this didn't "get her going".
Ako wasted no time in pulling out one of her magazines, prompting Kirara to reach over and block her from opening it up with her hand. "Awwww, I wanna talk!" she complained. "Ignoring your seatmate is baaaa!"
Ako didn't answer. She'd used up enough of her mental energy just letting the girl sit with her. Instead, she pulled the magzine away from Kirara's grip and opened it up, flicking quickly through until she found the section dedicated to M4.
She skipped straight to reading Subaru's profile, happily daydreaming about what could be. Or, trying to. She could feel Kirara's head turned beside her, shamelessly reading along herself. Could nothing deter her?!
"Which one's your favourite?" the other girl asked, tone of voice playful.
"Of course it's Subaru-kyun!" Hearts practically came into Ako's eyes as she stared at him on the page. She decided this was one topic she could talk about with anyone, even Kirara Hanazono.
"Oh? I always figured you for more the Kanata Kira type," Kirara offered.
Ako stiffened. Okay, she was wrong - not even this topic was safe. "W-what?! How would you know who's my type?!"
Kirara just shrugged, only heightening Ako's irritation. "It was just a feeling."
"Well keep your feelings to yourself!"
Kirara's turn to form her lips into a sour pout. "Ako-chan, you're acting cold! I was just trying to be friendly."
Her voice sounded hurt, prompting Ako to actually turn and look at the girl beside her. Perhaps it was just down to her childish fashion and character, but she really looked like she might cry. The redhead sighed.
"Fine... uhh... do you have a favourite?" She tried to keep the conversation going, while avoiding the topic of her feelings for that green-haired, glasses-wearing jerk.
"Do you really wanna know?" Did Kirara just have extremely sparkly eyes, or was she really on the brink of tears? Just from this? Ako did her best to smile.
"Yes. Whoever it is, my mental database will have plenty of information about them."
Kirara brightened immediately.
"Okay! My favourite is..."
"...yes?"
"Ako-chan!" Kirara's arms were suddenly around her, one managing to force its way between her back and the seat while the other curled around her front. She could feel the other idol's soft skin against hers, smell the cavity-inducing sweetness of Kirara's perfume, or shampoo, or something. Her face burned redder and redder, quickly exceeding even Ako Saotome operational limits. Her mental database froze, and so did she, sat there dumbstruck as her main rival squeezed her from side-on, head practically close enough to kiss her cheek.
"K-Kirara!" Ako finally managed to exclaim, voice indignant as she squirmed against the girl's surprisingly solid grip.
"Mmm?" Kirara asked wordlessly, as if she was doing nothing out of the ordinary.
"What are you... keep your hands to yourself!"
"Sooooorry~ It's just, I just can't help it when it's you Ako-chan!" Her arms let Ako free, but she didn't stop facing her.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Ako whined, cheeks still aflame. What was with this girl? Why did it get to her this much? And most importantly, why hadn't any of the girls sitting behind them come to rescue her?
Don't let her win. She's just pushing your buttons. Don't give her the satisfaction!
"Actually, never mind! But if you ever do that again, Kirara Hanazono, I won't forgive you as long as I live!"
"I said sorry..."
The two girls sat in silence after that, Kirara having wordlessly stuck out her hand to receive a magazine of her own, and quickly found one shoved angrily into it. Ako wasn't getting much reading done, though. She was chewing her lip, and wondering what might happen if she told Kirara to go find her own seat. Would that be losing to her? Would it upset her?! Maybe it would disappoint Koharu, who had seemed weirdly invested in this... Ako frowned, while her mind continued to tick away. Kirara was keeping to herself now, at least. And she had apologised, if that really counted for anything. Plus, she did smell really, really good. The saccharine scent of sweets should have been tacky, unrefined, overbearing. Yet Ako couldn't stop discreetly sniffing. She sighed heavily, and turned to look out the window. Pink lingered on her cheeks, and a jumble of thoughts on her mind. But for now, at least, Kirara could stay.