"You'll never get anywhere in life!"
"You're useless, always depending on others for everything!"
"You're weak, and a crybaby, Natsukawa Tsubomi!" The young girl opened her tear filled eyes. The bullies… they weren't wrong… but it still hurt. Tsubomi began to shake a little.
"S-stop it already," she spoke up, her voice shaking from all the crying.
"What are you going to do about it?" A girl with blonde hair jeered. Tsubomi wiped her tears away, and faced her bullies.
"I-I'll…!" The brunette raised her hand, but quickly flung it back down. She ran off, crying more than ever. The fact that she had even thought to do that… didn't that make her just as bad as them?
"Of course, Natsukawa runs away once again. It's all she knows how to do." The girl could still hear everyone else's comments, even as she ran out of the school. However, all she could she focus on was getting away from that place… she didn't know how, but she had to escape… somehow. As Tsubomi ran into the park, she soon felt herself fall over a tree root. She didn't bother getting up, she just lay there, helpless, and crying.
"Hey, are you okay?" Tsubomi looked up, and saw a girl with her hair tied in twintails. She had a big, friendly smile on her face, and warm, red eyes. Something about her aura made Tsubomi want to trust her, but at the same time, it was too risky.
"I-I-I'm fine…" The twin-tailed girl shook her head, frowning.
"No you're not. Somebody who's 'fine' wouldn't be lying on the ground, crying." Tsubomi looked down at the, dirty, muddy floor. She hadn't realised she was still crying.
"D-D-don't bother…" The other girl paused, before her eyes lit up, as if she had an idea.
"Do you want to be friends? My name's Nijino Yume, and I want to be an idol like Shiratori Hime, from S4!" Tsubomi slowly looked up.
"An idol…?" The young girl thought. "R-R-really?" Yume nodded.
"Really! Me and my best friend, Koharu-chan, are both going to apply to Four Star Academy next year! A school where you can learn to be an idol!" Tsubomi's emerald coloured eyes shone. A school… where you can become one of those stars, who shine brightly on stage? Tsubomi had no idea would if she could do it, but she had to try, or she'd never be able to prove those bullies wrong.
"This place is so… so… amazing!!" Two years later, Tsubomi looked around the entrance of Four Star Academy. The school of her dreams, she was really there! She was surrounded by so many interesting looking idols, too! One girl looked extremely rich and had green hair; another girl was eating donuts while her friend giggled; and another had a very cutesy, and kind aura… she seemed almost like a princess. Tsubomi's eye sparkled, but soon dimmed.
"If there's so many amazing people here… how am I ever going to stand out?" She muttered, and stared at the ground. Even the pavement stood out more than her. Tsubomi closed her eyes. All of this negativity wouldn't do… she just had to imagine herself shining. A bright star, who brings everyone smiles! Tsubomi opened her eyes and smiled. It had worked.
"My Aikatsu is just about to begin~!" she exclaimed, and walked into the grand school.
"Nagareboshi Miyuki, baby!" Tsubomi sighed. Of course it wasn't her. She had been
Waiting at least fifteen minutes for her name to be called out. Her eyes followed the girl who had just been called out. The girl had a graceful aura, almost like a flower. Yet another idol to outshine Tsubomi. She began to worry. What…. What if she left so little of an impression that they had forgotten her? Or, seen worse, they accepted her application by mistake?! The brunette felt tears form in her eyes. She couldn't believe this…
"Natsukawa Tsubomi, baby!" Tsubomi quickly wiped her tears away, and walked up to Anna. The teacher grinned.
"Here's your Aikatsu Phone and ID. Make sure to look around the school later, okay?" Tsubomi nodded, collected her things, and stood to the side. Anna went on to call the next student, Nishimura Kanon, while Tsubomi stared at her things. She was really going to be an idol, a shining idol. She almost couldn't imagine herself standing on stage; it almost felt like a dream. Was it? What if that meeting with Yume two years ago was just a figment of her imagination, and she'd open her eyes, only to be back with those bullies. That wouldn't be good, not at all!!
"Excuse me? Are you okay? You're supposed to go back to your seat, you know" A soft voice asked, bringing Tsubomi back to reality.
"A-Ah! I-I-Im so sorry!" She spluttered, and rushed back to her seat, red in the face. The class began to giggle slightly, causing Anna to clap her hands, to attract the attention of the class.
"Settle down, everyone. It's your free time now, so go spend your time wisely, and show off your individuality!" She exclaimed, causing the students to become excited. Before long, everyone was walking out of the class, happily chatting amongst their peers, while Tsubomi followed the crowd, trying to fit in. She began to browse on her phone, desperately looking to see where she could go. Outside, the dorms, the cafeteria… the teenage girl eventually stumbled upon a map to the gym.
"If I practice hard enough… then maybe my debut will be good!" Tsubomi walked into the gym, which was full of various students. A lot of them were older, too. For example, there was one girl with bright red hair and an obviously fiery personality, and one of her friends had lilac hair, and appeared to be much calmer. Tsubomi looked down at herself. She still needed to change into her tracksuit… of corse. She sighed. Everything seemed so complicated.
A few minutes later, Tsubomi walked into the gym once again, resorting to getting changed in the bathroom. She nervously walked into the gym, and began stretching, trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible. Looking around, she recognised a few people from before. Those two older students were still in there, three or four of the girl from her homeroom, and the princess like girl from before. Everyone around Tsubomi had such a brilliant aura. Tsubomi wondered if she could ever match up to them. She closed her eyes, trying to think positively once again, but this time, all she could see was her walking onstage, and all those bullies, and all the other idols looking down on her. She felt like a disappointment. Tsubomi quickly opened her eyes, determined not to embarrass herself once again.
"Hang in there, Tsubomi. You can do this." She muttered to herself, and took a deep breathe. She wasn't sure if she could do it, but there was no harm in trying to shine. She began to practice a short dance. However, she toften tripped up during it. By the time the song was finished, Tsubomi was on the floor, rubbing her knees.
"They hurt…" She quietly complained, before biting her lip. Why was she failing so badly?! Was it really such a bad idea to become an idol? Should she have just listened to those bullies? Honestly, Tsubomi had no clue anymore. She slowly stood up, obviously struggling.
"Maybe… maybe dancing isn't my strong suit?" She muttered, still trying to be as unnoticeable as possible. Luckily for her, everybody else was so absorbed in their own training that they didn't even notice. Tsubomi looked around, and soon noticed a big trampoline. Her eyes lit up. Maybe she could practise special appeals? She climbed onto the trampoline, and began to jump. She looked up, and closed her eyes.
"I want to be able to perform the greatest special ever! To become an idol that inspires everyone else, and soar up high! I want to be like a sta- ouch!" After seemingly hitting something, Tsubomi's opened her eyes. Somehow, while landing a jump, she had completely missed the trampoline. She winced in pain. Her leg was starting to hurt a lot. The young girl teared up, and tried to clutch onto the smooth floor. It was then that she heard a familiar, cheerful voice.
"Ah, it's you! So you decided to become an idol after all!" Tsubomi looked up, and her tear filled eyes widened.
"N-Nijino-san! Y-You become S4!" Tsubomi said quietly, with a tone of surprise. She couldn't believe Yume had even remembered somebody with such little impact such as herself. Yume nodded.
"Yep! It was hard, but I managed to do it!" The idol exclaimed happily, before frowning. "You're crying on the floor again… Is this a hobby of yours?" Tsubomi quickly shook her head.
"O-Of course not! I just kept falling down while practicing for my debut…" Tsubomi looked down, as her voice trailed off.
"Having a hard time with practice, huh?" Yume said, her voice suddenly adopting a serious tone. "I used to struggle with that a lot too…" She muttered before shaking her head and going back to her cheerful self. "I'm sure if you do your best, you'll be a top idol before you can even say 'Aikatsu'! Although, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration," Yume giggled, and Tsubomi smiled.
"Thank you, Nijino-sa- I mean, senpai," Tsubomi said happily, also giggling slightly.
That night, Tsubomi was laying in her bed, looking at the ceiling.
"I wonder if Nijino-senpai was telling the truth…" She whispered, and eventually sighed. She got out of her bed, and walked over to the window, looking at the stars.
"Can I really shine like a star? Were those bullies right…?" She looked towards her Aikatsu phone. She had mostly spent the day looking up idols, and fangirling over them. Though, she hadn't watched any performances yet. Tsubomi took a deep breath, and searched 'Nijino Yume performance' on the device. Once the results loaded, she clicked on the first result. Tsubomi's eyes began to sparkle.
"Nijino-senpai… she's so amazing…" Tsubomi mumbled, as the doing finished. She began to smile.
"I'm going to try my best to shine like her!"
The next day, Tsubomi's entire homeroom was doing some practises together, when Anna barged in.
"Alright, babies! I know it's sudden, but all first years are to make their debut right now!" Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing, and stared at Anna. Tsubomi swallowed, going slightly pale. Suddenly, some of the other student's began to talk amongst each other excitedly, and started to head the hall, where they were to perform. Scared of being left behind, Tsubomi began to follow timidly. Before she knew it, everyone was backstage, excitedly gossiping. It wasn't long before the first person went up, then the second, then the third. Tsubomi watched all of them in awe.
"They all shine so brightly…" More people went off and stage, and after around an hour, it was Tsubomi's turn. Nervous, she walked towards the changing room, and took three cards out from her pocket.
"The Violet Marching Coord… please be kind to me!" The young girl placed the cards into their respective slots, before walking on stage.
"There's so many people…" Tsubomi thought, but shook her head and took a deep breath. "I have to do this!" She began to sing Aikatsu Step, smiling.
"This is so much fun!" She thought, as she began to reach the end of the performance. "I want to continue doing this forever!" She began to sing the final line, and then posed. Then… there was silence. Tsubomi's smile began to fade away. Her timing wasn't the best, but she thought she had at least done decently. Tsubomi began to tear up and walk offstage, when she heard it. A rich looking girl with pastel pink and pastel blue hair began to clap, with a smile on her face. Slowly, more an more people began to follow in the girl's footsteps. Tsubomi began to cry, but this time it was of happiness, and she bowed.
"Thank you so much, everyone!" She exclaimed, before walking off stage. Backstage, she squealed.
"I did it! I actually did it!" Sure, she wasn't the most popular idol, but people applauded her. People actually liked her. She looked up to the ceiling, tears of happiness still in her eyes.
"I might be able to do it… I'm going to become a first star idol!!"
A/N: This chapter was written by yours truly wo