New Diva

[ACSR: Tokiwadai Chuugakkou]

The group of friends waited outside the hospital as Haruue went inside, they were ready to greet Banri when she came out of the hospital.

Misaka hid a bouquet behind her back in preparation to give it as a present. Saten had taken some fallen petals and was trying out her ability on them with some success. Kuroko and Uiharu were talking about the route that should be taken to save time later. Joule was humming the song she had written for later.

After a minute or two the doors slid open and Haruue and a slightly embarrassed Banri emerged into the sun. There was a chorus of greetings from the waiting group which took Banri back for a second before she bowed politely "Well, here I am.".

She was wearing the new school uniform that had been obtained for her, likely this was her first time wearing it, so she asked "How is it?"

Saten gave an emphatic answer "Perfect. It's totally cute." Uiharu followed up "It looks fantastic on you."

Banri thanked them for the compliments and Kuroko whispered something to Misaka who nodded and took out the flowers from behind her back "For you Edasaki, to say congratulations." She passed the flowers to Banri and from behind her the friends all said "congratulations" together.

Banri thanked them and Saten leaned forward "So are we ready to get going?"

"Where to?" Asked Banri, Haruue answered "A little celebration for you."

Uiharu gave a more complete answer "The place we reserved a table at has amazing cakes."

Kuroko's phone began to ring and she took a few steps away to answer it.

"We get cake?" Banri spoke as if she hadn't had cakes in years, which would have been true had Haruue not brought her a small cake last week.

"Also," Saten began slowly but sped up "We get to see an idol today!"

Banri's eyes opened even wider "An Idol? In Academy City? Who?"

Saten had managed to stand beside Joule by this point and patted her back "Our own Idol of course."

Joule gave a soft sigh and took the tickets for Banri out of her pocket. All the other tickets had already been given.

Banri seemed to be star stuck, so Haruue spoke "She is still the same Joule, the event is this evening."

From behind them they could hear Kuroko on the phone, she had raised her voice so the others could hear "Traffic signal trouble?" from the look she gave Misaka, Misaka realised what she was asking about and got annoyed "Don't give me that look, I didn't do it!"

[ACSR: Taisetsu na Tomodachi]

Kuroko and Uiharu left, promising to make it back in time for the Idol event. Kuroko's teleportation had given Banri a quick scare for a moment and then the group of friends left for the cafe. A cake had been arranged specifically for Banri, though everyone else had a slice too. Within only a few minutes of pleasant eating and silent companionship, there was only a third left that they all had agreed to set aside for their friends in Judgement.

They all still felt sad without the other two.

A few hours later while everyone was missing them they teleported right next to the table. Just in time to as they were all about to head off to the Idol event.

Banri was a bit worried though as she had been asked to come back to the hospital quickly.

Kuroko gave the simple answer, she would teleport Banri there, make sure she would be able to come and then to teleport to the venue. Banri was a bit worried about teleporting but agreed it was the most simple way.

As they departed for the hospital the others set off for the venue, Uiharu gave a box of pastries to Haruue to share with Banri as an apology to the two of them. Joule also had to grab her supply bag which contained her outfit and the USB stick containing her song.

The venue was fairly small all things considered, It was in an old office building, there was a presentation area at the back of the third floor that could hold about 50 people sitting, there was enough space for everyone to stand around though.

[ACSR: Ano Toki no Yakusoku]

Joule quickly departed to head "Back stage" into something like a cloak room that led into the presentation area. There were only about nine or ten other girls in there. In addition someone had brought a large porcelain doll and sat it on a regal looking chair near the back of the room.

As Joule looked around a professional-looking woman walked up to her and asked if she had registered, Joule showed her the performer's ticket she had gotten when she registered and the woman asked "Do you have the song you want to perform?" The woman's voice sounded slightly off but Joule dug around the supply bag for a moment and handed over the USB stick.

"Very well, you will be performing 11th." The woman said and passed a badge with an 11 on it to her. "Please get dressed and be ready for when you are called."

As Joule hid in a corner and changed into her Idol outfit, Lumen fluttered into visibility next to her ear. "Hey, can I peform with you?" Lumen asked the question that Joule had been thinking about a few times when she was alone. Joule thought about it but hadn't decided yet. "Come on, please?" Lumen acted like she was begging but Joule knew she was just pretending.

This event was going to be about singing and being a diva, of course Lumen wanted in as well. "I won't cause a problem." Lumen promised "I'll just become a larger version of my butterfly pin form. You could pin your hair into a pony tail."

Joule still didn't know how Lumen planned to hold her hair in a pony tail when she couldn't touch anything so Lumen just sighed "Your hair is long enough now to have a pony tail, just ask someone for a hair-tie and I'll overlay my pin on top of it.

Joule suspected that Lumen just liked the outfit as it had been designed to look like her outfit.

"Who are you talking to?" Joule almost jumped, A girl with pink hair, a nice hat and glasses was standing next to her. Pinned to her dress was a badge with 12 written on it.

"Just talking to myself, don't worry." Joule laughed it off but she had never said anything out loud. This girl must have heard Lumen.

As she realised it, Lumen knew it and so was being quiet in the form of a normal hairpin.

The girl nodded slightly before holding out her hand "Meigo Arisa, a pleasure to meet you."

Joule blinked before nodding "I'm Joule, it is a pleasure to meet you too."

[ASG2: Conversations (Quinn & Joule)]

Outside GV walked into the venue and showed his ticket that Joule had given him. Lumen had vaguely threatened to... something if he didn't come to Joule's performance. Just behind him he heard the sound of a teleporter one of Joule's friends (he was fairly sure) and another girl appeared and showed tickets.

GV headed into the hall as did the two girls. GV headed down to the seats that his ticket indicated only to find familiar faces on the same row.

One of them looked round and smiled, "Look, it's Genki."

At Uiharu's words the others looked around too.

His seat was the on the far right of the group but he was still sitting with them, it had likely been easier to buy the tickets that way.

With some jostling around they all managed to sit down in their respective seats, the girls that GV had seen before were with them too.

"So Genki, Joule invited you?" Saten asked curiously, GV nodded and it looked like Misaka just remembered something "Didn't you say Joule lives with you?"

Saten gave a gasp which GV couldn't tell was serious or mocking "Joule lives with a boy her own age. She was meant to be innocent, the purity to Kuroko's darkness."

"What was that." Kuroko's voice was low but Saten just waved it off "I'm joking. But no, really? You live with Joule, are you actually siblings?"

GV shrugged "Something like that, I see her something like a little sister." the group sighed but if Lumen had been there she likely would have wanted to bop GV on the head, she would have said something like "How are you missing all of the signs?"

Either way they sat back as the first performance began.

End of chapter.

First half of the new Idol event chapters, also for those looking for the ending of episode 18 it will come next chapter.