Day 160

[from StarLight]

A short time later, Hitomi burst cheerfully into Class 1-3 with Sanae in tow. "Hey guys!" she loudly proclaimed. "I managed to find us a fifth member!"

"What?!" exclaimed Sanae. "I never agreed to join!"

"But you already signed the consent form!" said Hitomi, looking genuinely confused. To Sanae's amazement, she help up a consent form that undeniably had her signature on it.

"What?!" repeated Sanae. "I don't remember signing that!"

"Sure you did!" said Hitomi. "Here you are signing it in a flashback:"

***

"So, have you thought any more about joining?" asked Hitomi, as the pair made their way through the corridors.

Sanae nodded. "I've made up my mind," she said. "I'd like to join the White Star Fan Club."

Hitomi's mismatched eyes lit up with joy. "Really?!" she said. "Really really?! Wow, thanks, Sanae!" From seemingly nowhere, she produced a printed consent form and a pen. "Here! Just sign this consent form and you'll be an official member!"

Sanae took the pen and paper, leaned against the wall, and began to sign her name.

***

"That wasn't a flashback!" Sanae protested. "That was a dream sequence! That didn't actually-" Sensing she was fighting a battle she could not win, Sanae groaned and gave up. On the face of it, a fan club dedicated to her own magical girl persona certainly wasn't the worst club she could have been roped into joining.

With Sanae's protests silenced, Hitomi carried on. "Alright, now that you're signed up, allow us all to introduce ourselves!" Hitomi turned to address the only other people in the room, three freshman girls who were sat on the opposite side of the classroom. "You guys know the drill, right?"

The three girls nodded, one of them rather reluctantly, and together with Hitomi they lined up side-by-side in front of Sanae. Their hair colours formed a rudimentary rainbow: one blue, one green, one yellow, and one red. Hitomi pressed play on her smartphone, and a generic heroic anthem filled the classroom as she stepped forward. "Hitomi Murasakime: Blue Star!" she declared.

Next the green-haired girl stepped forward, her serious expression and imposing physique contrasting with the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. "Nagisa Tezuka: Green Star!" she bellowed.

Next the blonde-haired girl stepped forward, neatly adjusting her glasses as she did so. "Mio Natsume: Gold Star," she said plainly, not bothering with the boisterous introduction the other two had made.

Finally it was the red-haired girl's turn, but she remained rooted to the spot and did not say a word, her expression betraying her complete and utter embarrassment. "Come on, Hinata," complained Hitomi, "you're messing up our intro!"

"B-but… it's embarrassing…" stammered Hinata quietly.

"But nothing!" barked Nagisa, who seemed incapable of talking any quieter. "Be polite and introduce yourself to your senpai!"

Blushing even harder, Hinata reluctantly stepped forward. "H… Hinata Morishita: Red Star," she squeaked.

"And together," the four of them concluded in unison, "we are the White Star Fan Club! Supporting White Star in her every endeavour!"

"-e-every endeavour," Hinata finished feebly, having been a little out of sync.

Sanae stood silently for a moment, trying to take in what she had just witnessed. Finally, her voice filled with disbelief, she said, "Did we just segue into another dream sequence or did that actually happen?"

"You're not dreaming!" said Hitomi cheerfully, seemingly mistaking Sanae's bewilderment for amazement. "That did just actually happen! Now, you'll need some kind of code name of your own, for when you're cheering on White Star in battle along with the rest of us! Hmm…" Hitomi pondered this for a moment, her eyes poring over Sanae's violet fringe. "I know! You can be Violet Star!"

That sounds like a porn star name, thought Sanae. Well, I suppose it could be-

"What's a porn star?" asked Kousen suddenly.

Sanae, who had forgotten that her familiar had followed her to school again that day, shrieked and jumped about three feet into the air, alarming the other fan club members. "What's the matter, Sanae?" asked Hitomi. "Do you not like that name?"

"No, no, I, uh…" Sanae tried to think of an excuse fast. It wasn't a talent she'd needed particularly often, but it was a talent she'd certainly needed to master if she was to preserve her secret identity. "I got stung by a hornet! Yeah, that's it! I think it's flown away now, don't worry."

"Is that so?" asked Mio, as Hinata started frantically looking around the classroom to make sure the imaginary hornet really was gone. "How strange. Are you okay? Hornet stings can be dangerous if not treated."

"Yes, I'm fine," said Sanae. "Don't worry."

"Well, now that we've all introduced ourselves, the only thing left to do is to get ourselves a supervisory teacher!" said Hitomi. "And I know just how to do it! Sanae, since you're the main character, you should come with me!"

"Wait, you mean right now?" said Sanae. "But I haven't eaten lunch yet!"

Hitomi, not caring, was already out of the door. "You can eat it afterwards!" she said. "This will only take a few minutes!"

With a resigned sigh, Sanae followed Hitomi on her way to the teacher's lounge, her stomach letting out a low grumble. I'm so hungry…

***

As the pair entered the teacher's office, Sanae glanced around at the half-dozen teachers sat around eating, or marking, or marking while eating. Some of them looked like they'd much rather eat their marking than actually mark it. All the eating didn't really help Sanae's mood. "So, did you have a specific teacher in mind?" she asked, keeping her voice down.

Hitomi did not bother keeping her voice down. "I was thinking maybe her," she said, pointing at Inaba-sensei, who was also currently eating.

"You mean Inaba-sensei?" said Sanae. "That would be convenient, since she's my homeroom teacher. Law of conservation of detail, and all that."

Hitomi nodded. "Inaba-sensei it is, then!" she said.

The two girls made their way over to Inaba-sensei, who looked up from her sandwich. "Ah, Hikari, Murasakime," she said. "Is there something I can help you both with?"

"Yes!" said Hitomi, pulling out another consent form. "Could you please agree to be the supervisor for the White Star Fan Club? You won't actually have to do anything, but we need one in order to be official!"

Inaba-sensei smiled apologetically. "Well, you see… the thing is, I'm already supervising the Literature Club," she said. "I'm sorry, I'd like to help, but I can't."

"But like she said, you don't actually-"

"It's okay, Sanae, I've got this," said Hitomi, cutting off her upperclassman. Leaning forwards, her demeanour suddenly changed, becoming rather sinister and upsetting. "You're forgetting, Inaba-sensei… I know your secret."

Inaba-sensei's attitude also changed dramatically. Her eyes shot open in genuine panic, beads of sweat forming on her brow as her face turned pale. "I… I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, Murasakime-" she said.

Hitomi was persistent. "You wouldn't want the whole school to find out about it, would you, Inaba-sensei?" she said, smiling cheerfully all the while.

The mere thought of this seemed to be enough to get Inaba-sensei to fold. "Wh-what was it you wanted me to sign again?" she asked.

Hitomi held out the form. "Here!" she said. "Just sign this and I'll keep quiet!"

Inaba-sensei snatched the form out of Hitomi's hands and signed it without a second thought, swiftly returning it to her. "Here," she said. "Now, please don't tell anyone what you know. After all…" Now it was time for Inaba-sensei's expression to turn sinister. "I can make school life very unpleasant for the both of you."

"Of course!" said Sanae worriedly. "Our lips are sealed, don't worry."

"Pleasure doing business with you, Inaba-sensei!" said Hitomi, tucking the completed form away. "See you later!"

"See you later, girls," said Inaba-sensei, before returning to her sandwich, a little rattled.

Sanae was also rather shaken, as she and Hitomi emerged back into the corridor. "Was blackmailing her really necessary?" she asked.

"I guess so," said Hitomi, shrugging. "I mean, it worked, after all."

"But still, how did you manage to get the dirt on her?" she asked. "I didn't think Inaba-sensei had any dark secrets like that."

Hitomi grinned. "Here's the thing: I didn't actually have any dirt on her!" she said cheerfully. "I just thought I'd say that and see if it worked!"

"So you're blackmailing her with a secret that you don't even know?" said Sanae. "Wow. Well, at least there's no chance of it getting out... although I worry what might happen if she ever finds out you've got nothing on her…"

"She won't," said Hitomi. "As far as I'm concerned, this lingering plot thread is never going to be brought up again."

"Let's hope not," said Sanae.

"But anyway, we're an official club now!" said Hitomi. "Let's hurry back and tell the others!"

"And then I can eat?" asked Sanae.

"And then you can eat," said Hitomi.

Sanae let out a sigh of relief. "Finally," she said. "I'm starving." With that, the two girls continued back towards Class 1-3.