Episode 12 - The Fluttering Girlfriend♪

The Fluttering Girlfriend♪ (はばたくガールフレンド♪) is the twelfth episode of the Aikatsu Stars! Anime Series. It aired on June 23, 2016.

Summary
Yume Nijino and the others have been living in the dormitories for days, when they receive a strict yet friendly call from Tsubasa Kisaragi, member of S4 and the school's student council president. Meanwhile, a first year has found a pet and brought it in. The dormitories ban pets and as this first year broke the rules, Tsubasa is rather angry yet she doesn't seem worried about it at all.

Plot
At a shopping district, Laura and Yume have been capturing the audience's attention for their upcoming performance. Yume is a bit nervous but she calms after some teasing from Laura, and a woman comes by to speak with them. The girls observe their flowery coords they will be wearing and they head out to the stage, where they perform Honeybee's Kiss.

That evening the duo tiredly make their way back to the dorms. Laura points out how much of a stickler Tsubasa can be for curfew, so they're glad they will make it on time. Suddenly they hear sound within the distance, and a pair of glowing eyes startles them. They run the rest of the way, only for Tsubasa to confront them and ask for an explanation. They try to tell her about the sight they saw, but she doesn't buy it, punishing them by making them clean the halls. Yuri approaches and she happens to guess what happened, but she thinks this would be good experience because it's special for Tsubasa to assign punishment like this. She goes on to say that Tsubasa has a lot of respect. Rather then explain how or why, she decides to let them find out on their own.

By the time the duo finish cleaning, Tsubasa return to see how they did. They worry she will assign more work, but she compliments them and gives them some drinks- however, she suggests they make better use of their Phones to avoid having this happen again.

Back in the dormitory, Yume recalls what happened to Koharu. She's come to understand why Tsubasa is so popular. Before now, she hasn't really spoken to her.

The following morning, Tsubasa rings a bell to wake everyone up and announce her plans to conduct surprise uniform inspections. She calls out a girl for not brushing her hair yet, along with a girl whose tie isn't properly worn, a girl with mismatched socks, a girl who slouched, a girl who still has a beauty mask on, and so on. She then asks the girls to empty their pockets, with Yume revealing a somewhat crumpled cloth tissue. Tsubasa tells her to clean it before moving onto Koharu, who reveals a huge pile of candies. She tells her that she is only allowed to carry no more than 300 yen worth of snacks, then assigns everyone with punishment for being careless by having them clean the wash room. In this time, one of the girls brings up that something happened to Tsubasa.

Elsewhere, a girl begs Tsubasa to let the rule she broke slide as she reveals to be holding a small turtle, Hyuuri. It's very precious to her, but Tsubasa reminds her that pets are forbidden. As they speak the girls arrive to observe the discussion, with Tsubasa telling her to take Hyuuri back home. The girl asks her to reconsider because she must have Hyuuri by her side, and for a moment Tsubasa seems to moved, only to refuse to change her mind. She leaves as the girl begins to cry, and the girls are shocked by this display, with Yume's admiration beginning to waver.

Outside, two girls walk through a path when they overhear the same, strange sounds Yume and Laura heard the prior night. They scream after seeing the same, scary glowing eyes.

At their garden, S4 enjoy some tea while discussing Tsubasa's popularity. Yuzu brings up that she made a first-year cry today but Tsubasa claims it wasn't on purpose. The girls believe she may have been a little harsh and remind her of how she should know how this girl feels, but Tsubasa states that idols should learn to depend on themselves. They remind her that she isn't alone though, and they are her friends. They start to tease her and a girl runs up to inform them of the recent rumors spreading around the school about the strange creature. With that, Tsubasa decides to hold a meeting, asking for anyone who isn't busy with work to show up this afternoon at the field.

Later, everyone has gathered and Tsubasa brings up the creature. She has decides they will work as patrol to dispel the rumors, leaving everyone shocked. In groups of five the girls work together, with Yume winding up with Laura, Tsubasa, Yuri, and Koharu. Tsubasa is sure there is nothing wrong, and Yume attempts to speak to her and comments that she is walking too fast. Seeing Koharu lag behind and feeling worn out, she tells Yuri to watch her while the other three continue on, but in the end they don't find anything. Tsubasa feels that this creature must not exist then, but upon hearing the familiar sound, Laura and Yume run up ahead to prove they weren't fibbing. Tsubasa attempts to stop them but she gets distracted when a frightened Yume suddenly trips. She assists her and they are surprised to find an owl waiting them, Hoo-chan.

As she checks on Yume's ankle, Tsubasa explains that she met Hoo-chan when she enrolled in the Academy. As a child she was very shy and didn't have friends, which is why her parents were hoping this would encourage her to become more open. Tsubasa grew to love singing and entered Four Star Academy, and soon she became interested in acting. But in the process she felt herself becoming sad and worried she would be lonely, then one day she met Hoo-chan, and she would confide in her during the evening. She admired how Hoo-chan could be on her own. However, after being caught with Hoo-chan, she was forbidden from feeding or seeing her any further. She feels this made her a weak person, and since she has not seen Hoo-chan in some time, she tries to be strict to help students rise past their loneliness and doubts.

While wondering why Hoo-chan suddenly reappeared, the girls are surprise to see she has had a family since then. Tsubasa is happy to see them all, saying that she assumed Hoo-chan was lonely and sad- but as it turns out she has a family and friends by her side after all. As the girls observe the owls, they begin to worry after spotting something thin and strange looking. Yume is frightened until Tsubasa explains that this was just Hoo-chan's natural behavior when surprised.

Back at the school, the girl from earlier approaches Tsubasa to explain that because of Tsubasa's past efforts inspiring her, she plans on taking Hyuuri home this weekend. Tsubasa compliments the student for her strength before heading out to meet the other S4. They welcome her and explain how they heard of the girls decision, but she claims it wasn't her who convinced the girl, but the others for helping to convey her feelings. As the others begin to walk they notice her lag behind, but they say nothing as Tsubasa happily realizes just how precious her friends truly are to her.

Characters

 * Tsubasa Kisaragi
 * Yume Nijino
 * Laura Sakuraba
 * Koharu Nanakura
 * Hime Shiratori
 * Yuzu Nikaidō
 * Yozora Kasumi
 * Yuri Ashida

Trivia

 * This episode aired on Yuzu's birthday.
 * The White Lily Coord and Blue Rose Coord make their debut in this episode.
 * Honeybee's Kiss makes its debut as an insert song.