Chie, Alice, and Juniper all stared open-mouthed as the vortex disappeared with Pride and the others.

  "Did...what just happened?" Chie asked incredulously, still in shock from watching Pride vanish with Noel.

  "Yeah, what the heck? Where did he take 'em!?" Juniper added, looking equally as bewildered as Chie.

  Alice just continued to stare at the spot where the vortex had vanished, still trying to process what had just happened.

  "....What do we do now?" she finally asked, voicing the question they were all thinking.

  "Well," Chie began, "I'm gonna do what ninjas do best and keep a close eye on the enemy.”

  "Agreed," Alice chimed in, nodding in agreement.

  Juniper folded her arms and shrugged, looking strangely nonchalant for someone in such a dire situation: "Guess that means we're gonna have to find some way to keep tabs on Pride and co. then, huh?”

  Chie nodded solemnly, her expression growing serious as she began to strategize.

  "Exactly. We'll have to keep our eyes and ears open and gather any information we can about his plans."

  Alice looked determined, her eyes filled with resolve as well.

  Juniper's lips twitched into another crooked grin as she added: "And maybe even get in a little bit of mischief along the way…”

  Chie raised an eyebrow at Juniper's grin, knowing full well what her idea of "mischief" entailed.

  "I swear if you're thinking of doing something stupid..." Chie warned, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

  "Nah. Don't worry. I'm just gonna spend some good alone time with Alice.”

  Alice's face instantly flushed bright red as Juniper casually linked arms with her.

  "Wha, ?! N-no! That’s not what we were just talking about, and you know it!" she sputtered, trying (and failing) to wriggle free of the sudden closeness.

  Chie burst out laughing at Alice's flustered reaction while Juniper merely grinned wider, completely unbothered by the protests: "Ohhh? Then why are ya blushing so hard?"

  Alice's protests dissolved into incoherent spluttering as her face turned even redder, too mortified by Juniper's words to form a proper response.

  Chie couldn't help but laugh even harder at that, finding the entire situation utterly hysterical.

  "Oh my god, you're making her brain short-circuit," Chie wheezed, trying, and failing, to calm down, "You're gonna give the poor girl a heart attack, ”

  "Y-you can't tell I'm blushing if my skin is so dark!" Alice protested weakly, finally managing to tug her arm free from Juniper's grip as she tried to compose herself.

  Juniper, unfazed by the protest, merely smirked and shrugged: "I can tell in other ways, silly. Your pupils dilating, your quickening heartbeat, and your voice changing its pitch~"

  Alice's eyes widened as Juniper listed off the various signs of her growing embarrassment, she hadn't realized how easily her body was giving away her emotions.

  Chie had finally managed to regain her composure and was now struggling to suppress a new round of laughter. "You've got her completely busted, y'know that?" she chuckled, clearly amused by the whole exchange.

  Juniper's grin widened at Chie's comment, knowing she had effectively flustered poor Alice beyond measure.

  "Oh, I'm aware," she replied with a cocky smirk, leaning in even closer to tease. "And I love it."

  Alice's protests turned into a strangled squeak as Juniper invaded her personal space, her face practically aflame at this point.

  Chie, still struggling, and failing, to hold back her laughter, finally managed to speak: "Alright, alright. Let the poor girl breathe, will ya? I'm outta here so I can keep track of the target. I'll letcha know when I find Pride again, but when it's time to battle again, Alice better not be a useless puddle of flustered pudding.”

  Juniper chuckled, finally relenteding and taking a step back, granting Alice a moment to catch her breath.

  Alice shot Chie an indignant look as she tried to compose herself, still flushed and clearly embarrassed. "I-I'm not gonna be a 'useless puddle of flustered pudding'!" she protested weakly, her voice still a little higher than usual.

  Chie raised an eyebrow, not entirely convinced. "I'll believe it when I see it," she teased before turning around to jump into the shadows of the city. "See ya!"

  Chie vanished into the shadows, leaving Juniper and Alice alone with each other.

  Juniper glanced down at Alice, her smirk returning as she took in the other girl's still red cheeks and flustered expression. "You're so adorable when you're flustered," she drawled teasingly, enjoying how easy it was to fluster her.

  Alice, still trying to regain her composure, shot Juniper a dark look. "I-I'm not, " she protested weakly, her voice betraying her with another squeak.

  Juniper let out a soft chuckle as she stepped closer again.

  Alice's breath hitched as Juniper invaded her space again, her protests dying in her throat.

  "Y-you're impossible," she managed to squeak out, though there was no real bite behind it.

  Juniper just grinned wider, leaning in until their noses were almost touching: "And you love it."

  ★

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  Making it back to her luxury hotel room in Euphoria, Juniper flopped onto the plush bed with a satisfied sigh, stretching her arms behind her head as she watched Alice, still visibly flustered, fidget near the doorway.

  "Sooo," Juniper drawled, propping herself up on one elbow to smirk at her. "You gonna stand there all night? Or you comin’ over?"

  Alice's breath hitched again (why was this idol so good at riling her up?). She clenched and unclenched her fists before finally muttering: "...This is a bad idea."

  Juniper's grin turned downright wicked: "Ohhh? Why’s that?"

  Alice opened her mouth to reply, but her words fell short as she took in Juniper's smug expression, the way she was lounging so nonchalantly on the bed made it painfully obvious exactly what she was insinuating...which just added to the butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

  Finally, after a few moments of flustered silence, Alice managed to find her voice: "...Y-you know why."

  Juniper's smirk grew even wider: "C'mon, don't be like that..." she purred, sitting up straight now and patting the spot next her. "Come here and lay your head on my coochie."

  Alice's cheeks instantly inflamed at Juniper's words; the mental image of what Juniper was suggesting only adding to her rising embarrassment.

  Her brain went through a series of protests (most of which were some combination of "This is so inappropriate." and "Why am I even in her room!?") before finally coming to a decision:

  She swallowed hard and took a shaky step forward, slowly and hesitantly approaching the bed.

  Juniper, clearly enjoying the show, patted her lap again while wiggling her eyebrows suggestively: "C'mere, kitten."

  Alice's cheeks burned even hotter at the pet name (and at the fact that she was actually complying) as she slowly sat down on the bed next to Juniper, gingerly placing her head on the other girl's lap.

  She could feel her heartbeat thudding like a jackhammer in her chest when her head was gently guided down to rest against something very soft and very warm.

  Alice's breath hitched as the realization of her current position dawned on her, and the way Juniper's fingers slowly began to thread through her curly hair wasn't helping.

  Juniper let out a soft, amused hum as she watched Alice's entire body stiffen like a deer caught in headlights, her voice dropping to an almost conspiratorial whisper: "Y'know...you're real cute when ya try t’play tough."

  Alice didn't reply, her brain too busy short-circuiting to form any coherent words. She couldn't deny that Juniper had a gorgeous body though, or that the sensation of lying on Juniper's lap wasn't...kinda nice.

  The realization of just how hot (and...well...soft) the thing her head was currently resting against, the way Juniper's fingers were gently playing with her hair, and the way Juniper was staring down at her...it was doing some very strange things to her brain. She knew Juniper's body was a human furnace, but the heat between her plump thighs was unmatched.

  Juniper's voice dropped even lower as she whispered: "You're just melting 'gainst it, huh? Can't blame ya, girl, 'cause this ain't no ordinary pussy you're layin' on. This is idol pussy. The shit that'll make anybody cum in 4 seconds.”

  Alice's eyes widened comically, the bluntness of Juniper's statement sending her brain into overload once again.

  She was mortified at how quickly the mere mention of Juniper's crotch had brought about the most depraved images and sensations in her head.

  "I-I-I, n-no, I-I—" she stammered, her voice coming out in a pitch higher than usual.

  Juniper chuckled lowly as she caught the way Alice's throat had bobbed when she'd swallowed hard and noted the slight pitch change in her protests.

  "Mmmmm, you're so easy to rile up," Juniper hummed, her fingers still slowly threading through Alice's hair. She shifted slightly, causing Alice's head to be pressed more firmly against that very soft and warm place...

  Alice practically yelped as the added pressure sent her imagination into overdrive once again, her heartbeat hammering so hard in her chest she was surprised her body wasn't literally shaking.

  Juniper's smirk widened as she watched Alice's entire body stiffen, her breath hitching at the sudden movement.

  "Ooooh~?" Juniper purred, voice dripping with amusement as she deliberately pressed up against Alice’s face just a little more, enough to make sure the girl felt every inch of it. "Something got your attention? You like where I put ya now?"

  Alice let out a tiny, strangled noise, half protest, half something else entirely, as her fingers dug into Juniper’s plush thighs on reflex. Her face burned so hot that if anyone poked it right now…she might actually combust on contact.

  Alice frantically attempted to change the subject: "S-so...where did you learn how to talk like that from...?"

  Juniper grins, amused by the question.

  "Lived in a lot of different places, y'know? Picking up slang and stuff is like a hobby of mine. Plus, I may not look like it, but I was raised in the hood, so it just kinda stuck, nah mean? Why, you like my style or somethin'?"

  She wiggles her eyebrows playfully.

  Alice nodded slightly as she listened. A tiny part of her was trying to push away the thoughts she'd had earlier, the ones that kept pointing out how hot Juniper's voice was, but it was getting a little harder when Juniper did that damn eyebrow waggle.

  She cleared her throat and attempted to push back the flusteredness for only a second, still hiding against Juniper's lap as she said: "It's...not bad," she managed, though her voice was still higher pitched than usual. "You just look like...the exact opposite of someone who did. You look like a...stereotypical anime waifu."

  Juniper bursts into a fit of laughter at her observation.

  "I look like a stereotypical waifu, huh? Damn, that's a new one. I guess my looks can be a bit misleading. But trust me, there's a lot more to me than just being some cute, pale superstar with a bubbly personality, ya feel me? I've got layers."

  Juniper grins as she adds:

  "And yeah, maybe I ain't the 'typical anime waifu' with that 'uwu' way of speaking, but who the hell wants to be typical anyway?"

  Alice flushed again, feeling her embarrassment slowly mixing with a subtle sense of intrigue.

  She found herself almost wanting to know more about Juniper's story, to learn about the side of her that wasn't the idol persona everyone was familiar with.

  She glanced up at Juniper: "...I'll bite," she said with an almost cheeky edge to her voice. "How many layers are we talkin' about here?"

  Juniper chuckled, amused by Alice's sudden interest in learning more about her.

  "Oh, you wanna know all my dirty little secrets now, huh?~”

  Alice managed a small, flustered huff of laughter, trying to maintain some facade of composure and failing miserably.

  The thought of getting to learn more about Juniper, getting to see that other side of her that wasn't the bubbly idol she was on-stage…it was both incredibly enticing and absolutely terrifying.

  "Don't flatter yourself," she muttered, as if trying (and failing) to sound casual. "It's just…I find the idea of you being anything other than a walking stereotype hard to believe, is all. You don't exactly give off the 'hidden layers' vibe.”

  Juniper's smirk turned into something sharper, more dangerous, as she caught Alice’s stammering. Her fingers trailed up to tilt the other girl’s chin, forcing eye contact.

  "Oooooh?~" She purred, voice dropping low. "That's a challenge, babygirl?"

  Alice's breath hitched as Juniper leaned in closer, her pupils blown wide with something between panic and…interest?

  ”You wanna see what I really am when the cameras ain’t rollin’? ‘Cause trust me…you might not be ready for that.”

  Alice tried, very hard, not to let the way Juniper's voice had just dipped affect her.

  She tried to convince herself that her heart was only racing because of fear, and not because of how close Juniper had suddenly become, or how the other girl's fingers had trailed up to her chin, tilting it up.

  "Pffft," she scoffed, trying to sound at least somewhat nonchalant. "I—I'm not afraid of you, you know…you don't scare me.”

  Juniper's smirk widened into a feral grin at the little stammer in Alice's voice, a clear tell of her true thoughts.

  She leaned in even closer, her voice dropping to a rich purr as she watched Alice's pupils widen. Her fingers tightened on the girl's chin, almost possessively.

  "Yeah? You sure about that?"

  There was a dangerous edge to Juniper's tone now. It made something in Alice's stomach twist tightly, half in protest and half in something that felt alarmingly like excitement.

  Juniper's smirk softened into something almost tender as she watched Alice’s breath hitch, the way her fingers tightened in Juniper's hoodie like a lifeline.

  "Mmmh... Look at you," she murmured, voice still low, still teasing. "All flustered and shaky just 'cause I got close?~" Her thumb brushed over Alice's lower lip, just barely there before pulling back with a laugh.

  "Guess that means I win this round."