The Thirteenth Member

### Synopsis

Strange things are happening around the I MY ME building. I wonder who it could be...

### The Thirteenth Member

    "What's going on…?"

    "Kanon! Thank goodness you're here! See, Chiyo? It's Kanon! You like Kanon. Kanon, do the thing where you make Chiyo feel better!"

    Whatever magic Kanon has that manages to consistently calm my bun buddy down, it barely worked. That's how upset she is after what happened during Chi-Bi's rehearsal. Even a full-on hug on one of the common room's big comfy couches only succeeded in keeping the girl from crying any more than she had been, though she was still very obviously distraught.

    "What happened…?"

    "It was terrible! We were at rehearsal and a strange girl showed up! She said she was a new member of Interlunium and had been assigned to our subunit, which seemed really odd, but when we introduced ourselves, well…"

    My bun buddy broke down in tears again, clutching her non-human best friend as tightly as her human best friend was holding onto her, before letting out a cry so large I could barely believe it had come from such a tiny idol.

    "She said that Momo looked delicious!!!"

    "It was just a joke. I think. It had to be a joke, right?”

    "Yeah, nobody would ever actually eat a hamster…"

    "R-Really?" Chiyo sniffled.

    "Really. Hey, what did the girl look like…?”

    "She was really scary looking. She had blonde hair with red tips, and I think she even had a tongue piercing! She can't be an idol, right? I know we don't have a girl with that look yet, but there's no way Rinko would have invited someone like that to join Interlunium!" We all looked at each other silently for a few moments, all wondering the same thing. "No, there's no way…"

    "I think we ran into the same girl after our practice too…"

    As we sat in relative silence, clustered together on the couch and keeping an eye out for the intruder, Kanon's unelaborated statement suddenly made sense as the rest of Aurora✧Alice joined us.

    "Hi guys!" Kazue came bounding onto the couch almost like a giant puppy dog, cozying up to Kanon for a post-rehearsal cuddle pile. Their remaining member approached us in an unusually awkward manner, probably on account of the unusually awkward - for her, at least - clothing she had on.

    "I'm so sorry about my appearance, ladies. Regrettably I was part of an accident on the way from rehearsal, and had to borrow some clothing from Kazue until I dry off." Megumin was wearing a casual, loose thigh length purple striped dress. Completely different from her normal look, but she looks great! She looks good dressed, well, like a normal person.

    "Megumin! That's so cute! It's so neat seeing you in something other than a kimono or your workout clothes! Kazue, how come you never wear dresses like that if it's yours?!"

    "Because on me it's a shirt…"

    Kanon and Chiyo giggled at Kazue's statement, leaving her a little confused because I don't think she meant it as a joke. Megumin took a seat at the next couch and curled up awkwardly, looking a bit uncomfortable in her newfound aesthetic. Or maybe she just wanted to hide the fact that her legs are whiter than Kanon's hair!

    "S-So what happened, Megumi? Did the scary idol get you too?"

    "If you mean the rather rough-looking girl we encountered outside the practice rooms, Ms. Watanabe, then yes. I'm afraid I wasn't paying as much attention to my surroundings as I should have been and her energy drink accidentally ended up all over my kimono."

    "Megumi's being too nice. The girl was on the other end of the hallway from us. She threw the can. It almost hit me in the head but I ducked."

    "Well, better that it bruised my clothes than Kazue's lovely face. Either way, I'm sure it was an accident. There's probably nothing to be concerned about."

    We chose to leave it at that, despite none of us being sure how that could in any way have been an accident, chatting about our plans for the evening until we were joined by the next group of our friends, who continued to fill out the couch next to Megumi.

    "Did you guys meet the scary idol too? Is that why your hair is kinda…"

    "That snake! Ugh. I think she's one of Kumasawa's. He's probably trying to stir up trouble because the only idols he produces who get famous are the ones who leave him." Eimi whined, using a towel to wipe something - ketchup? - out of the bottoms on her twintails.

    "It doesn't make any sense! How could that girl be the thirteenth member if we don't have a twelfth member?!" Try as she might, Rinko couldn't grasp the math involved. "She said her name was Riko, and that she was our new thirteenth member, but if we don't have a twelfth member… I don't even remember having more auditions… Akira! You're smart, how does that work?"

    "I, uh, don't think she was telling the truth…" Akira tried to talk down Rinko, but to no avail.

    "But it still doesn't make any sense!"

    "M-Maybe she counts Momo…", chirped Chiyo, before starting to tear up again.

    "We don't have someone like her yet… Rinko, are you sure you didn't invite her…?" Asked Kanon, on behalf of several of us. Rinko's face lit up briefly and I knew I had to shut it down ***immediately***.

    "Rinko, we already have a mean blonde with really big t- I mean, we don't need any more members!' Eimi and I shared a frosty glance until she was distracted by Megumin laughing right in her ear.

    "Yeah, but it ***still*** doesn't make sense!" Rinko went right back to being confused. At least the girl had only gotten Megumi's kimono sticky. There's no telling how long Rinko may be broken for…

    As it turns out, it was longer than it took for our final friends to join us.

    "What happened to you guys?!"

    At this point I assumed *something* must have happened. This girl seems to be making a point to menace Interlunium, after all.

    "What do you mean?" Junko responded, looking perfectly normal. In fact, Junko, Yume, and Anette all looked perfectly normal, as though nothing had happened. "We just had our Aromatique rehearsal like normal."

    "It was incroyable!"

    "Yeah, Junko is like an action movie star!"

    "This mean girl told me that 'Krah-sawnts' were stupid!"

    "And then she said that fried chicken is stupid!"

    "And then she called Mademoiselle Junko 'little miss…' uh… well I forget what name she used, but it wasn't 'Mademoiselle Junko!' And then Junko pushed her out of the practice room and said that tomorrow we can go to the bakery and get croissants!"

    "And have fried chicken for dinner! As long as we forget everything that the mean girl said!”

    "Oui! And that's what we've done!"

    Anette and Yume both looked very proud of themselves. Junko looked like she wanted to hide behind the sofa from all their adulation, but it was deserved. Out of all of us, she was the only one able to stand up to this mysterious "Riko". Suddenly, exactly as though I had finished my thought too soon, something whipped through the air of the common room and hit the back of the sofa between Junko and Rinko, exploding and showering the entire couch in a sticky sweet, yellowish liquid.

    "Maybe Kanon has a point though. We don't have a girl like that yet…"

    We all shared our opinion of Rinko's idea loudly and in unison.

    ***"NO!!!"***

    "You're probably right. I still don't get how it would work to have a thirteenth member unless we got a twelfth first…"

    Eimi wiped the energy drink off of her face while Megumin sat stunned, having been doused in the substance for the second time in a single day. Enraged, Eimi finally had enough.

    "That's it! This is ridiculous! You hear me, Caitlin?! Don't you DARE think of making this canon or I'm gonna-"

THE END