I do not own Aikatsu Stars!

~0~

Hime smiled at the girls in front of her, "We've decided that if you girls want to create something special for the menu, you may."

Koharu smiled at the news, it sounded like a great opportunity.

"Mister Tamagoro, Mister Dave, Miss Anna, and Miss Momoko are the chefs here, and they'll allow you to make something when you have time," Hime continued. "So I'll be off, Yozora is your supervisor today," Hime waved, and exited the room.

Yozora smiled at them, "Let's work hard together today. Mr. Yamaguchi should be opening the doors about now, so let's head out."

"Yes ma'am!"

~0~

Koharu entered the kitchen, looking for one of the chefs. She spotted Mr. Tamagoro in the corner. "Mister Tamagoro, do you mind if I work on something for the cafe?"

Mr. Tamagoro turned to her and smiled, "Of course not, knock yourself out!" He was about to return to his work, but turned to Koharu again, "Actually, I think we need some more flour first. Could you get me a bag from the back please?"

Koharu nodded, "Of course." She exited the kitchen and went down the hall to the back storage room, finding the shelf with the bags of flour and taking one.

As she opened the door with a free hand, something zoomed past her, startling her.

Koharu shrieked and lost her hold on the bag of flour. Then, the bag fell to the flour and burst open, the powder flying everywhere around her. The white dust caused Koharu to start coughing violently and she could feel it sticking to her body. It also stuck her glasses lens, and it was evident when the fog of the flour died down.

Koharu sighed and took off her glasses. Even though mostly everything had turned into large blobs, it was better than not seeing at all when her glasses her all the way dirty.

Holding her hands out in front of her, she carefully stepped out into the hallway. She would have to clean herself up and then come back to clean the mess. Slowly, she returned to finding her way down the hall.

But then, a figure came running down the hallway towards her, and Koharu wasn't prepared. She was shoved back and stumbled.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Are you- are you okay?"

Koharu blindly looked up, but then realized that her situation was very uncomfortable, with her being covered in flour. She nodded, despite it, "Yes, I'm okay." She could see the other person in front of her, but she couldn't see anything else. Were those pink spots their eyes? At their silence, Koharu tilted her head, "Are you there?"

"Huh- Oh! Y-Yea!" The voice sounded male, a sweet tone that sounded panicked all of a sudden. "S-Sorry, I have to go!"

Koharu blinked, "Eh?" But it didn't matter, because whoever it was ran off without another word. "Oh…" She sighed, then tried to continue down.

"Eh? Koharu?"

Koharu recognized that voice, "Yume?"

"Yea," Her blonde hair appeared in front of her, "What happened to you?"

"I dropped a bag of flour," Koharu admitted, embarrassed.

Yume giggled at her, "You're so clumsy sometimes." She shook her head, "Don't worry, I'll help you get cleaned up!"

Koharu smiled with her dusty face, "Thanks Yume."

~0~

Koharu wiped the table diligently, cleaning the crumbs off of it. From the corner of her eye, she spotted one of the other girls, with long blonde hair with a part tied off to the side, wiping down a table.

She didn't notice much, but after Koharu had wiped down four more tables, the girl was still scrubbing at the same table.

Hesitating a moment, Koharu finally went up towards her, "Excuse me? Is something wrong?"

The girl looked up at Koharu in surprise, "Huh? Oh, no…" She glanced down at the table uncertainly.

"Are you sure?" Koharu asked again, noticing.

The girl nodded, "I am. I'm trying to get it perfectly clean."

Koharu glanced down at the table. Her eyes widened. Half of the table was so shiny, she could kind of see her reflection. She laughed nervously, "I don't think you have to clean it that much…"

The girl raised an eyebrow at Koharu, "What do you mean? I always clean like this."

"M-Maybe you should ask Yozora for a different task…" Koharu suggested kindly.

The girl stiffened, then grabbed her rag to continue wiping again, "No, I'm good."

Koharu blinked in surprise, then silenced. Then, she asked, "What's your name?"

"Me?" The girl stood, glancing her way. "I'm Mahiru. And you are?"

"Koharu," She smiled, "Nice to meet you, Mahiru." She reached into her pocket, pulling out a few colorful wrapped candies, "Do you want a piece of candy?"

Mahiru stared at Koharu, then at the candy, her face gaining a small smile, "Sure, thanks, Koharu."

Koharu smiled with her, "You're welcome." Sticking the rest back into her pocket, Koharu went back to wiping her own tables again.

Just then, the giggles of two girls entered the cafe again. Koharu turned to see Yume and Laura, who Yume went on about to her last night, come back in from throwing out the trash. The two came towards her, so Koharu approached them. "Hello Yume, Laura."

Laura glanced up at her, then raised an eyebrow, "Are you… Koharu?"

Koharu nodded, smiling wide, "Yes, that's me."

Laura stuck out her hand, "Nice to meet you. Yume's been going on and on about you!"

"Good things, I hope," Koharu giggled.

Yume puffed out her cheeks, "Aw, come one Koharu! There's nothing even bad about you! You're the bestest person!"

"Bestest isn't a word," Laura rolled her eyes at Yume.

"Well, if you could understand me, then of course it is!" Yume retorted, sticking out her tongue.

Koharu and Laura laughed at Yume.

"Yume's been telling me all about you, too," Koharu said to Laura.

"All good things, I hope?" Laura countered to her, winking.

Koharu giggled, "Of course."

"I don't even know anything bad about you yet!" Yume cried out.

The two girls laughed at Yume again, until they were shook out of their conversation by some shouts.

Koharu turned to see Mahiru surrounded by two other figures; Yozora and another blond male. The two others had smiles on their faces, however, Mahiru was scowling and seemed to be pushing Yozora away.

The three of them, Koharu, Laura, and Yume, slowly approached Mahiru.

"-hang out for a bit?" Yozora was speaking.

Suddenly, Mahiru pulled away from her, pulling out a stack of tiles from somewhere. With a cry, she smashed through them with her hand. She stood and brushed her hands off, "No. I'm working," Mahiru refused blantly.

Yume, Koharu, and Laura all jumped.

"Wh-What was that?" Yume gaped, frightened.

"Ah, Mahiru's a master in karate." The girls turned to see the blond boy, "She breaks tiles when she is upset by something."

"Oh…" They nodded, looking back at the two girls.

Yozora pulled away from Mahiru, her smile still on her face, "Aw, okay then. Maybe next time?"

Mahiru turned away.

"What's going on?" Yume asked, a frown of confusion on her face.

The blond boy smiled at them, "Oh! Sorry, Yozora just loves her little sister."

"Sister?" Yume repeated.

Yozora faced them, "Hello you three. It's true, Mahiru's my dearest little sister!"

"Really?" Laura raised her eyebrows, then shook her head, "You don't really look alike."

"You think so?" The boy replied, staring at the back of Mahiru's form. "I think they're similar."

Yume turned to the blond, "How would you know?"

The blond faced them, "My bad, I didn't introduce myself! I'm Asahi Kasumi, Yozora's and Mahiru's brother."

"What?" Yume gasped.

"Asahi Kasumi from M4?" Koharu asked, and he nodded. "Wow!"

"Ah," Laura nodded, "I thought Yozora and Asahi were related."

Asahi laughed, "Yea, Mahiru's not that known yet." He turned to Yozora, "So, I should be heading off now."

Yozora nodded, then pulled up a small brown bag, "I got you a choco muffin for a snack."

Asahi grinned, "Thanks sis!"

The two hugged, and Asahi called a goodbye back to Mahiru, who waved back silently, and was off.

Yozora smiled at them after, "I have to go do some work in the back. You girls finish cleaning, then you can go."

"Thank you," they called to her.

Yume then looked at Mahiru, "Hi Mahiru, I'm Yume."

Mahiru turned to them silently.

"Laura," Laura waved.

"I'm Mahiru." She said.

Koharu laughed lightly, "We know that now."

"Nice to meet you," Mahiru nodded.

"So how old are you?" Laura asked.

"Fifteen," She replied.

"Cool!" Yume grinned, "So are we! Where are you going for school?"

"I'm homeschooled," Mahiru responded bluntly.

Yume's eyes widened in awe, "Wow!"

Laura nodded, "I was too, last year. I'm going to Starlight High this year though."

Mahiru nodded, "I'm not sure if I want to go or not."

"You should!" Yume cried, jumping forward to grab her hands, "We can hang out together!"

Mahiru looked very uncomfortable with Yume holding her hands tightly.

Koharu gently out her hand on Yume's shoulder and pulled her back, "We just met Mahiru. Don't be so hasty with her."

"Oh!" Yume gasped, "Sorry!"

Mahiru shrugged her off, "It's okay." She grabbed her rag off the table, "I'm going to finish up."

They nodded.

"But, wait," Yume stopped, "What was your brother doing here anyways? I didn't see him in the cafe…"

Mahiru shrugged, "He wanted to talk to my sister. But then he saw this girl and wants to find her now, or something. I wasn't paying attention."

The girls laughed nervously at her attitude.

"Ah, well," Koharu smiled, "See you later, Mahiru."

Mahiru waved, "Yea, later."

~0~

Koharu carried the last of the dishes over to the kitchen. She stumbled upon the red haired girl.

"More dishes?" She asked with a sigh.

Koharu nodded, smiling sheepishly, "Sorry. This is the last of it."

She shook her head, "It's okay."

"Do you need any other help?" Koharu asked.

"Yes actually," She replied, "can you get a bag of flour? We need to restock for tomorrow."

Koharu laughed nervously, remembering her fault from earlier, but nodded, "I'll try my best."

Ignoring the look of confusion from the girl, Koharu returned to the storage room and found the flour again. Carefully securing it in her arms, she was able to successfully get it out in one piece.

Koharu reached the kitchen again and handed it to the girl. She disappeared inside for a second before popping out again.

"They have it from here," She explained.

Koharu nodded, and the two silently fell into step beside each other, making their way back to the locker room to change into their regular clothes.

"It's quite busy here, isn't it?" Koharu commented lightly.

She nodded, "It is pretty interesting."

They reached the door to the locker room, Yume, Mahiru, and Laura stepped out, already dressed.

"Ah Koharu!" Yume smiled, "We'll wait for you outside okay?"

Koharu nodded, "I won't take too long."

"Don't worry," Yume waved it off and the three left.

Koharu glanced at the redhead, who had gone ahead into the locker room. Following, she noticed the angry expression on her face. "Are you okay?" Koharu asked.

"'m fine," She replied tensely, rummaging through her locker.

Koharu didn't believe it. Instead of pressing the matter however, she approached her, "My name is Koharu. Nice to meet you."

The girl looked up and nodded, "I heard. My name is Ako."

Koharu smiled, then noticed something from her locker, "Oh, have you decorated your locker already?" She saw pictures taped to the inner wall, and glancing closer, she was able to make out M4. "Ah, M4? Are you a fan?"

Ako shrieked and jumped to cover the locker, "No way!"

Koharu flinched and stepped back in surprise, "Oh, my bad…"

Ako looked embarrassed suddenly, "N-No, I'm sorry." She pushed away from the locker, "I was… surprised. Sorry."

Koharu smiled, but shook her head, "It's okay. Who's your favorite of M4?"

"Subaru, of course!" Ako shouted firmly, then faltered, "Uh, I mean… right?"

Koharu smiled, "Subaru is nice, but I might like Asahi better."

Ako nodded, "He's not bad." She paused, "Are you a fan too?"

Koharu shook her head, "I'm not a die hard fan, but I know a little about them. Yume, on the other hand… the girl with her hair in pigtails," She explained at Ako's confused expression, "Didn't even know about them!" She giggled at her friend's actions.

Ako immediately scowled.

Koharu noticed, remembering the way she acted towards Yume, "Um, did Yume do something to you? If she did, I can get her to apologize to you… sometimes she does things without realizing."

"She needs to stay away from Subaru," Ako replied darkly.

"Um…" Koharu shifted nervously, not hearing clearly, "I'm sorry?"

Ako stiffened, shaking her head, "Nothing." She straightened, brushing off the subject. "I'm leaving."

Koharu nodded and grabbed her own bag, "Do you want to walk home with us?"

Ako didn't reply, and Koharu shifted uncertainly.

The two made it to the exit, and Koharu spotted Yume and Laura standing together towards the right.

"You go right?" Ako asked, noticing the direction Yume was at, "I go left."

"Oh," Koharu nodded, "Then, I'll see you next time."

Ako agreed, "Bye, Koharu." With a wave, she tossed her hair back and walked off.

Koharu went towards Yume, who looked concerned.

"Was she mean?" Yume asked.

Koharu shook her head, "Not really."

"Who? Ako?" Laura asked.

Yume turned to her, "Ako is her name?"

"Yea," Koharu confirmed, then smiled, "She's actually kinda cute."

"Well she was being mean to me!" Yume shouted, explaining to Laura.

"Really?" Laura raised an eyebrow, "She seemed nice to me."

Yume's face fell and she pouted, "Why was she being so mean to me then?"

Koharu fidgeted, "I think it has something to do with M4."

"M4?" Laura questioned.

Yume's eyes widened, "She did yell at me to 'switch with her' when I came back from their table…"

Laura raised an eyebrow silently.

Koharu smiled sympathetically, "I'm sure it's not personal… it didn't seem like it when I asked about it."

Yume sighed, "I guess I can't figure it out."

Laura snickered, "You could ask her why."

Yume bit her lip and looked away, "...Maybe."

Laura shook her head, then lifted her hand to wave at them, "Well, I have to get going. See you guys later."

"Wait!" Yume cried, pulling out her phone, "Give me your number, we should hangout sometime!"

Laura nodded, "Sure."

They exchanged digits and Laura left them.

Koharu smiled at Yume, "Ready to go home?"

Yume grinned and hooked her arm around Koharu's, "I sure am! I hope things are going to be great in the future!"

Koharu smiled happily at Yume, "That's a positive outlook for you."

"What can I say, I'm a greatly positive person!" Yume joked.

The two laughed among themselves and went home happily.

~0~

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