"Come on, you guys! This way through the spooky forest! There should be plenty of mischievous fox spirits over here!" Miiko jumped up and down as she led the way, gesturing for her three unit-mates to follow her deeper into the woods.

"Miiko!" Haruna shrieked, chasing after her, trying to prevent her from getting too far away from the rest of them. Kurumi had already run off earlier and given Haruna a heart attack even though she wasn't hidden for long. "We've been looking for nearly an hour! There's no such thing as fox spirits! We should head back anyway; we're supposed to be helping set up the summer festival!"

"Oh, come on, Haruna. The whole point of a festival is to have FUN! Besides, summer is the best time to find spooky spirits! Especially during festivals! All the people and energy draw them out, dontcha know?"

"And how do you know that?" Haruna snapped, scowling over her shoulder as she scooped Miiko up.

"Miiko told me, duh," Kurumi shrugged, but Miiko only crossed her arms and looked away defiantly.

Miyu finally interceded, her gentle voice trying to soothe the tension. "Let's not argue. Miiko seems really excited about this, and it's a beautiful day. Maybe we can look a little longer, then head back to help with the festival. I can text my father to ask when he need us."

Haruna looked conflicted, torn between the guilt of not immediately returning to her post, and the gratitude of Miyu helping them compromise. Her mind was as wonderful as her heart, capable of balancing everyone's desires as fairly as possible!

Eventually, though, the time ran out on the forest fun, and yet still no fox spirits. Miiko's shoulders drooped. Miyu winced empathetically, and Haruna bit her lip. Proving Miiko wrong was no longer as sweet as she thought it would be…

"Eh, it'll be all right!" Kurumi smiled cheerily. "Maybe they're waiting on the festival too? Shall we head back?"

"That's what I wanted to do from the start!" Haruna sighed in exasperation, but she didn't protest further.

ooo

"See? Haruna? I told you so! No harm, no foul!" The VJ was practically leering down at the DJ as she stood on the stage they were set to perform on later that night. In her arms was a box of fireworks. "We're right on schedule!" Even though Lyrilily was a few minutes late returning to their post—Haruna acting as if was the transgression to trigger Armageddon—the staff was so efficient that they were already almost done. While the rest of the workers began to coalesce around the central stage, only a few extras were still on the sidelines setting up.

"Woah!" Miyu shrieked as she pitched forward, some of the party favors in her arms flying as well. She landed on her stomach, ego more bruised and battered than her body. She thanked her lucky stars that no one was around to witness the embarrassing faux pas. She scrambled to scoop up the straying party favors, looking over her shoulder to notice a small ball rolling away that wasn't part of her collection. It must've been a toy someone accidentally left behind, and she tripped over it because she hadn't seen it because of all the items she was carrying.

Miyu sighed, bending over to pick up the last of the party favors. Up ahead, she finally overheard another worker.

"Here! Take this! It's for after the show tonight! Just press the big red button and you'll see…!" It was a girl in a bright red dress.

"Michiru?" The name was out of Miyu's mouth before she could think, but the other girl was too far away to hear her. No, it wasn't Michiru. Even though they had practically the same hair, and a similarly nasally voice, this girl didn't look quite right.

"Oh, I'm just a volunteer!" the man chuckled sheepishly, stepping away, but the girl was persistent.

"All the more reason you deserve to join the fun! Thanks to you, this night is possible!" She held out a little black box with a big red button on it.

"Ha! Well, you're very kind…" Flattered, the man took the button. Even Miyu had to smile at the kindness, but something nagged at the back of her mind. What were those buttons for again? She couldn't recall her father informing her. Then again, he had countless other workers on the team. Miyu was his child, but that didn't mean he was going to tell her everything. Shrugging it off, Miyu went on her merry way.

ooo

Long after sundown, Miyu had long since forgotten the strange little brunette in the bright red dress. Why would she have remembered? The entire festival went off without a hitch, and with Miyu playing such a central role in it, her attention was focused solely on that, and she was swept away in the exhilaration. She helped her father open the ceremony, then she and Lyrical Lily were the closing act. She took her final bow, and when she stood up again, the audience was glowing red.

No, it's those buttons I saw that girl handing out earlier! In eerie synchronization, every hand pressed their button at almost exactly the same time. The night was filled with shouts and cries of surprise, and people began clawing at their faces as the buttons inverted and lunged at them, detaching from their black boxes. But as fast as it started, it was over, and desperate hands fell from now-masked faces. Then, the screaming was replaced with laughter. Uproarious laughter and revelry. The festival-goers danced with renewed vigor, singing and hollering into the night.

"Kurumi! You did this?!" Haruna thundered as Miyu whipped around.

"Haha! You have no proof it was me!" Kurumi waved her hands in protest. "Only assumptions and character archetypes!"

"Then why are you so calm about this?!" Haruna snapped. And what is she going on about "character archetypes"?!

"No! Miiko has proof!" Miiko cried at the same time. "At the very beginning! When you told Haruna that I told you about the fox spirits, and summertime, and festivals! That's not true! Well, the fact about the fox spirits is true… But I never told you that! And furthermore!" While Kurumi was starting to look nervous, and Haruna confused, Miyu felt amazed. Something nagged at the back of her mind again… "You never once called Haruna "Chairman" all day!" And then suddenly, it hit Miyu.

"So… you're not even the real Kurumi at all…" Miyu breathed, taking a slow step towards… the white-haired girl. "I saw you earlier…"

She was still smiling serenely, unsettlingly. She crossed her arms. "Your luck is SO fascinating!" But her tone seemed to say "infuriating".

"Ugh! We simply must stop exploring forests outside of our city!" Haruna muttered. "This is the second time one or more of us have been kidnapped and replaced by an imposter!"

"Where is the real Kurumi?!" Miiko shouted over Haruna, hands clenching into fists. "You're the mischievous fox spirit!"

The white-haired girl turned her uncanny smile on Miiko, finally uncrossing her arms, spreading them as if to embrace the entire festival.

"Huh… I've never been a foxian in any of my backstories before… Interesting! Though, correction… I am more than a mere Xianzhou native…

" I AM ELATION! No one will go further than me for a good story!" Her face glowed white, then red, and when the light finally faded, all that remained was a fox mask, black and white, swirling red patterns all over. Then, even though she whispered, they heard the voice of "Elation" loud and clear, a laughing hivemind that echoed and reverberated around the festival grounds.

"Let's play…! Hide and seek… A thousand faces in a thousand places!" …

"Can YOU find the answer…?" She giggled one last time, finger pressed to her "lips", then she vanished into thin air.

"Wait… How will we know which reveler it is?!" Haruna despaired, but Miyu realized that they already had a clue.

A thousand faces in a thousand places… And we know that she was impersonating Kurumi, and right before she vanished, she donned a mask. Could that imply that we are looking for the one reveler WITHOUT a mask…?

ooo

It was still no easy feat, but they managed. Miyu led the way, retracing her steps. Although she knew it was unlikely the girl would be at the place Miyu first saw her, it was a starting point. And perhaps Miyu was hoping against hope that she would find a clue… Well, the little ball wasn't exactly where Miyu remembered it, getting kicked around by the revelers, but her luck came to the rescue again. She just managed to catch a glimpse of the red ball against the darkness of the ground when someone's foot kicked it right at her.

"Woah!" She yelped and held out her hand to shield her face… and caught it perfectly. Haruna and Miiko leaning over her shoulders, she showed them the little rubber toy. Truly, that was all it was, a bouncy ball, but there was something written on it…

"I can't read it, though!" Miyu murmured, frustrated and humiliated.

"Ah, yes," Haruna winced as well when she caught a glimpse. "I know I studied a bit of Chinese after our trip to Chinatown, but I admit that it has since fallen to the wayside…" Her gaze fell to the ground.

"Let Miiko see!" Miiko chirped cheerfully, hopping up and down. "Oh! Property of Hanabi!" she translated.

"Hanabi? Fireworks? Could she be hiding out near the—?" Miyu and Haruna's eyes shot open, and they practically left dust clouds from how fast they took off running, Haruna remembering to grab Miiko's hand and drag her along at the last second.

What a wild goose chase! Miyu thought as they raced back to the stage.

What a waste of time! Haruna thought, panting. They'd literally run in a giant circle—well, oval.

What a wonderful adventure! Miiko grinned as Haruna continued to drag her along by the arm.

Sure enough, there she was. The girl with the Michiru-like hair and the bright red dress, her back turned to them.

"You!" Haruna snarled as they skidded to a halt. She clenched her hands into fists even though she was panting.

Wait! Are we sure? Is it really…?

"Oh! Hey!" A pause and a sly smile as the girl slowly turned around. "… Chairman."

Yeah, it's her.

"Ahahaha! Bravo, bravo!" The girl with the fox mask, Kurumi's white pigtails protruding from the back, appeared again, slow-clapping. "Hanabi?" Miyu demanded softly.

"Or Huahuo," the fox-faced girl shrugged.

The Chinese name on the ball!

"Or…" she turns to all the readers of this fanfic. "As you few readers are most likely to recognize—as if you didn't figure it out forever ago (stupid spoilers in the tags!)—Sparkle."

ooo

"All right! Enough! You had your fun and games and mystery! Now, the jig is up! Undo this!" Haruna gestured between Kurumi and her body-snatcher. Said body-snatcher sighed, arms crossed, but her shoulders sagged slightly.

"Ok, ok, fine. You got a point. The dramatic reveal is over, so the interesting, fun part of the story is over. Which means… it's almost time for MY closing act." But first, she turned to Kurumi. "You sure you don't want to be a Masked Fool? You got what it takes. You understand that there is no better stage than life itself! And you know how to act dumb when you need to, you clever Fool!"

For a moment, Kurumi stepped towards her masked body. Miyu and Haruna inhaled sharply while Miiko reached out, but Kurumi shook her head. "Thanks but no thanks. You're fun, but I already got a prank partner." She turned to Miiko, smiling, and Miiko's worried face relaxed.

Then she giggled and nodded. "That WAS a pretty fun game of hide 'n seek…" She turned to Kurumi's masked body admiringly.

"Are you crazy?!" Haruna protested, but before she could say more, the leader of the Masked Fools tossed Kurumi one last red button.

"Wait!" Miyu reached out reflexively, but the mischievous foxian spirit held up a hand. Kurumi, meanwhile, without fear or hesitation, slammed the button down. The brown pigtails began to glow, and so too did the pale face. At the same time, the fox mask on the other girl peeled away, and for just a second, Miyu saw Kurumi's face, her eyes sparkling red and pink. The mask floated back to its original host, fusing them together once more. The pink and red faded from Kurumi's eyes until they were back to their normal tan.

"Whew! Kurumi Revival!" She touched her face and ran her fingers through her fluffy, white pigtails as she beamed proudly.

"Kurumi!" Miiko tackled her excitedly in a hug while Miyu and Haruna faced Hanabi-Huahuo-Sparkle.

"We must apprehend this villain!" Haruna pointed at her, then lunged, but Hanabi-Huahuo-Sparkle only laughed and stepped back.

"Villain? No, no! I am The Hero with a Thousand Faces!" She flicked her wrists upward, and just like with Kurumi, all at once, 998 masks lifted up off of 998 faces. Then they shot into the sky like red and white bullets, crackling and sparking the entire time.

"Oooh! Aaah!" Having no memory of the revelry, the audience stared up at the midnight sky, mouths agape.

"Well! That's my cue to go!" Hanabi-Huahuo-Sparkle said sweetly, saluting the Lyrilily quartet. Haruna tried again in vain to apprehend her, but she spun and danced away, body dissolving into a ghostly red and white trail after her foxian mask. The other sparkling masks followed her, creating the body of the firework-fox. Even Haruna was breath-taken by the beauty and choreography as Sparkle and her masks fled through and to the stars.

Of the 1000 masks, only one lingered, hidden in the pocket of the girl who so graciously lent her body to the galactic goof-baller as a gift. Only when no one was looking did Kurumi pull that paper mask out of her pocket, black and white and read all over.

"Hey! It's only fair I give them a sparkling sendoff! I had to be a side-character for so long, the least I'm owed is the grand finale! So, how'd I do?"

"Eh. 8/10."

"8/10?!"

"It was good, but like I said before, Miiko's the only partner in crime I need!"

"Sigh. Fair enough. Oh well, there's always two ways to tell a story, right? You like a co-star, but I like to steal the spotlight! We may not be a good match for each other, but I would LOVE to do this again some time!"

"Heh, heh, HEH! Oh, yes, absolutely! Maybe I can even visit one of YOUR planets!"

"Ha! Won't that be the day?"

AN: The person who got me into D4DJ also got me into Star Rail, and part of the way they did this was by telling me Star Rail had a Kurumi character (Sparkle) and I actually rolled her the day her banner got a re-run. I've wanted to write a fic ever since, but an idea never came to me until yesterday, and then this happened, LOL!