Idol Time Pripara

A Challenge for the Lost

It was morning at Avocado Academy. All students are walking to their class just like every weekday. Except, there was a little rumor about the principal was going to have an important announcement. Yui and Laala walked together as they're having a fun conversation, as usual.

"Okay, putting that aside: the first GrandPrix is in a few days and we haven't got anyone who is going to compete against you."

Yui looked at Laala surprised, "Laala, you're not participating?"

Laala choked her words. She forgot to tell her about it, "I- No, I'm not."

"Yume-shock, why?! I can take you on."

"I know you can," Laala took a deep breath to form her words without giving anything to Yui, "But I was thinking of being the opening act instead. I don't do competitions."

Laala could only hope Yui believed her reason and won't ask anything more. She wasn't lying, she was thinking of doing an opening act for the GranPrix. And she tried to not get to any competition after what it led her.

"Laala, did something happen?" Yui asked the question that stopped Laala's heart.

"Oi, Yui!" A voice called out that made Yui annoyed as she knew who it belong to.

"Onii-chan, what do you want?" She asked aggressively.

"You're not giving Manaka-san a hard time with your yume-nonsense, are you?" he asked as he saw them before.

"Of course not! We're just having a girl talk," Yui said as a matter of fact.

"After that stunt, you pulled on my performance yesterday, I'm not sure I can believe that." mocked Shougo, "What were you doing, anyway? Trying to make fun of me?"

"What if I was? You deserve it!"

"Baka Yui, I'll roll you up into a sheep ball!"

Laala laughed with agitation at the sight of the fighting siblings. The rest of the WITH then walked to them, catching up.

"Oi, oi, calm down you two," Koyoi split the sibling apart.

"She/he started it," said both of them.

"Hmph, we were talking about the GrandPrix, then this baka came in."

"Oh, you two must be participating," said Asahi.

"I'm not, but Yui is," Laala confirmed.

"And I'm upset about that," Yui pouted at her best friend.

"Gomen."

"Is that really surprising? I don't think Manaka-san could even sing," commented Shougo.

The two girls froze at that statement, making WITH a bit confused at their reaction.

"Onii-chan, did you watch Mana's performance?" He nodded, "That's Laala!"

"... yeah right, they look nothing like each other!"

"Wait," Asahi jumped in the conversation, "Mana, as in, Manaka?"

"Uh-huh, well done Sherlock," said Laala with a bit of a mocking tone. She noticed how Asahi kept prying her all this time.

"Heh, omoshiroi," said Asahi, putting his finger on his chin.

"What are you thinking Asahi?" asked Koyoi, noticing his friend's cunning.

Asahi gave his friend a mischievous grin before asking, "What do you think about you two against WITH?" Asahi's idea surprised all of them, "I heard that PriPara could use more girls there. With that competition, it'd sure be sparking more interest"

"I think by the time you figure out how PriPara and DanPri could join together, there will be more than enough girls attending there, therefore not needing that competition," Laala answered, "Also, we have GrandPrix to worry about."

"I don't know, kinda like the idea of beating Onii-chan," Yui gave her answer.

"Assuming that you'd beat me."

"We could let Meganii-san worry about getting PriPara and DanPri together, and I'm sure there's a time between each GrandPrix to hold the event," Asahi kept insisting, "Just the thoughts that counts."

"That sounds interesting," commented Koyoi.

"Sure," said Shougo

"Yume-yes, I'll enjoy beating Onii-chan," answered Yui.

They all then looked at Laala waiting for her answer. She gave a big sigh of defeat, "Okay, I'm in."

"Great, I'll tell Meganii-san about it."

Time skip - recess - WITH

"So, what are you really planning?" said Koyoi, suspicious about his friend.

"You two saw Mana's last performance, right? It was more than incredible!" said Asahi, "I won't believe that a beginner could just put on a performance like that. Though she did, I thought that it would be fun to compete with her. Imagine this: two student rank idols who fight for the success of PriPara, versus the all-time favorite top idol unit in DanPri - wouldn't that be rad?"

"Really? You're not trying to find out everything about her life anymore?"

"Okay, first, that's an exaggeration," he defended himself, "And second, someone talked me out of it."

Shougo looked at the girl across the class. She was talking to Hana and Suzu with a smile on her face. But her eyes hid something that the boy couldn't shake. At first glance, people wouldn't notice, but he looked at her too often to see something behind the mask that the girl put on very well. 'I shouldn't pry. But why does it bother me so much that it even hurts for me not to be able to do anything about it?' he thought to himself, 'This morning when she was talking to Yui, it looked like she was about to fall apart.'