A/N: So just a random idea I got out of my head from listening to BACK-ON songs. Oh, the power of J-ROCK. Anyway, feedback much appreciates. Negative or not. Putting this up cause I wanna.

Seven years ago, Sunrise developed a game called School Idol Festival, a rhythm game where a player manages School Idols. They collect, level up and idolize these girls for the sake of a higher score during games, keeping in mind that the ultimate goal was to make friends, have fun and enjoy Love Live! in the form of a competitive game.

But then, the game changed...

In the world I was born to, e-games dominated the world. Much like normal sports, games now play a cultural role in today's society and have been accepted as the social norm all over the world.

However, in this world, reality and fiction are one.

LOVE LIVE! SCHOOL IDOL FESTIVAL: DUAL EX

(Satoshi Aiza: Story One)

It was a hot and nasty summer day in Tokyo. There were no customers coming by the shop at all and the only sounds I could hear were the vibrating noises of the electric fan that I set up right next to me and Mogyutto, silently playing in the background.

"What a horrible business day..." Standing behind the counter was lonely old me, trying to keep my head up with my arm. The normal lazy store clerk look you see all the time. As I lightly tapped the glass counter, I browse through the shelves standing before me, taking up most of the room. Most of our items were idolized costumes and -Notebook- enhancements. We also had Energy LGs but distribution was cut short for some reason. I never know what goes on in their heads so I decided not to think about it any further. Of course, the shop also had your basic LL! products like fans, keychains, CDs, DVDs and artbooks lying around the shelves.

It was your run-on-the-mill Love Live store basically.

Though I would love to regret ever taking this weekend job, I can't. I need the money and working at my aunt's shop makes the dough. Otherwise, my senpais will kick me out of the dorm again for not paying rent. Some role models they are.

But it was kind of sad that I was getting payed doing nothing at all. I mean, sure, yay for me but if this goes on, how will I ever get payed in the future if we're not selling a thing!?

"Tch..." I tap harder on the glass case, the Muse figurines inside moving slightly.

Suddenly, the entrance jingle sounded. I quickly switched to my friendly clerk mode, a kind of split personality I use for customers. That, or it's just a natural quality of mine. "Ah!" I quickly stand in alarm before taking a quick bow. "Irrashaima- Ugh..." My friendly clerk mood suddenly died as soon as I saw my 'customer''s face; a familiar tall man in a suit, holding a red suitcase. "It's just you..."

The show-off of a LL game collector, Nikolai Akemi, gave me a humorous grin. "Hehe. Nice to see you too, Satoshi" The grown man removed his shades and took a look around the shop before walking to one shelf where dusty keychains hung. "Slow day, huh?" Oh, you have no idea, old man, I mutter. He laughed, continuing to browse. As he walked, he soon spotted the life-size Wonderful Rush Eli statue that stood next to the entrance. "Hmmm... This one's new"

"It's a collector's item someone sold here a week ago. Y'know... When you took my aunt to dinner?" I tease, giving the man a mocking grin.

"Tch... Kid, back off of adult stuff. You aren't old enough for that"

"I'm fifteen, you dolt"

"That's still kiddie age, from a legal standpoint"

He continued to check the Eli statue for any bumps or stains, looking for an excuse to pay less. "That thing's in top condition..."

"I know that! I'm just kinda entranced" He says, dishing out his checkbook. "I'm kinda fortunate not a lot of people know this shop. Man, the stuff you guys sell is amazing!"

"Flattered" I mutter, waiting for him to come to the counter.

He paused for a moment, however, and listened to the song change to Snow Halation. "Ah, how nostalgic. I remember listening to that a few years back. Enchanting music..." He says, closing his eyes for a moment before walking over. "Here you go"

"Thanks. Now leave"

He pretended to look hurt by using a puppy face behind his shades. For a grown man, he acted like such a girl. I just stared back, hoping my dead fish eyes would do the trick like last time.

"G-Ghhh..." He cringed, suddenly turning away. "Guh. How you'll ever get a girlfriend with those eyes, I'll never know"

As I was about to say something else, the entrance jingle rang again. "Irrashaimasu" I bow, seeing a girl I've never seen before. She didn't seem from this neighborhood but I think I've seen her somewhere before. In almost an instant, I realize that she was a senpai from my high school, one of the more popular girls in her year. She wore skimpy gym clothes with a white tank top and very short shorts. For a moment, she reminded me of Jennifer for some reason.

"Uhm..." She approached the counter holding an iPad with both hands. "I would like to -Update- my game?"

"Ah... Okay, one second" Nikolai backed off and winked at me, giving me a Good-Luck look as he continued to browse all the other items.

The girl whose name escapes me murmured a bit as I was setting up the devices I needed. "What was that, miss?" I ask the troubled customer.

"A-Ah! Nothing. It's just..." She paused for a moment before raising her head. "What does -Updating- the game mean... exactly?"

I set down my things and turn to her. It seems I have to explain everything now. "Updating your SIF profile saves all your data into the Duo EX system"

"D-Duo... EX?"

"Right" I set a glass gauntlet on the table and press the '-start-' button on the wrist. Instantly, a menu appears on the glass, similar to the main menu from the game. However, the only tabs present were the Home tab, Members tab and Other tab. On the top right was the current Rank which had a '?' on it because there was no data in it yet. There was also a Love Gem and Energy count which were both empty as well. "This is a -Producer's Notebook-, your new main access to the School Idol Festival world. Before we begin, I would like to review your current knowledge of the -Notebook's- system"

The unnamed senpai thought for a while before snapping her finger. "All of my cards turn into real people if I click some buttons on it, right? Sorry, I've only ever seen it on TV"

"Close. The -Notebook- is able to project a solid physical AI of any selected idol. However, they can only be generated four at a time"

She nods as she listens. "I see... So to level them up... I have to train them...? Like, gym style?"

"Well, sort of. We're going to go through a sort of a tutorial before you get started. May I?" I ask for her iPad which she hands over kindly. After installing the new update into the -Notebook- through USB, all the data is loaded. And then I notice her rank. 'Ghh... Rank 143... How time does she spend playing this game?' I shake the sudden thought from my head and hand her the gauntlet.

"Now, first, put it on, and make sure it's tight" She does as instructed and the menu immediately glows, filling the menu with all sorts of date such as Level, Messages, Goals, the What's New tab and Presents. "Alright. Now... " I walk across the counter, examining her closer. "Try summoning an Idol. I recommend your favorite"

She taps the members tab and goes through her menu which had a number of SR and UR, my mouth feeling salty all of a sudden. "Ah, this one" She taps on the Bird Watcher idolized Kotori SR (which I inevitably failed to obtain when I played the normal version). From the gauntlet, a laser spears into the ground, creating a faceless holographic human figure standing before us. "W-Wah!"

"That's the indicator for how much space your idol needs to materialize. If it's blue, you can press the -Materialize- button on the screen. If red, then that simply means there is insufficient space" Right now, the figure was red. "You can change that by repositioning the laser. Move your arm a bit" She does as I say and moves her arm to an open area in between two shelves where the figure changed to the color blue. "Now that it's blue, you can tap -Materialize- now... And I'd back away if I were you"

"E-Eh to... Okay" She steps away and taps the button. Instantaneously, the figure begins to glow, bits and pieces of -material- swirling around it. It was recommended to have shades on before the materializing begins but I guess shielding your eyes is one good enough alternative. The glow began to radiate all across the shelves and needed about five seconds wait before the process ends. And just as predicted, the light began to die down.

I took a peek through my fingers and almost immediately did my face go red. Standing before the two of us was a Kotori, dressed in a blue dress with white, wing-themed thigh highs and a bird-shaped tie on her head.

"W-Whoah... She's so..."

"Cute..." My customer nodded in agreement as we both stared at the beauty before us. This was my first time ever witnessing a Kotori materialization but I never imagined it would be this intense.

Her eyes fluttered open, turning to the two of us. "Good evening. I am Kotori Minami, School Idol. It is so nice to meet you, Clerk-san, Ashley-san~!"

"You see?" I wave my hand around her. "Now, allow me to explain a few more-"

"Actually, Clerk-san. Allow me~" The Kotori steps in, taking over the information dump. "As you can see, Ashley-san, I am an Idol straight from the SIF game. When you won Tier 1 in my event, you took very good care of me and raised me very well to which I thank you very much!" She curtsies, her silver hair flowing down to her shoulders as she lowered her head. "Moving on, I believe Clerk-san has explained the basics. The idols in your -Notebook- and I are now physically trainable. The better the training you give us, the higher the EXP we'll gain which is an advantage against other players. We are also influenced by behavior, and even if I say this now, there's still maybe a chance I might get into Death Metal rock, tee hee~"

Ashley the senpai began taking down notes on a notebook that was seemingly concealed in her back pocket as the Kotori continued. "Though, right now, I am a Cool but as my personality changes, so can my attribute. There is no specific way to turn me into a different attribute but it all depends on the idol's current mood. This works the same way for the rest of your idols. Would you like to know anything else?"

"Y-Yeah..." Ashley-senpai seemed to be in deep thought, putting a finger on her chin. "What does Dual EX mean...?"

"E-Eh!? I-I um..." The Kotori looked all flustered, shifting in position. I clenched my fist a bit, hoping that she wouldn't blurt it out. I really wanted to go through today without having to explain what Dual EX is but now that it's come to this.

"Dual EX is the fourth and new difficulty of SIF. However, it isn't as simple as the rest. If you want to learn about it, I advise you listen carefully" The upperclassman dishes her notebook again, ready to write down whatever I say. She also had this cherry looking face and big green eyes just full of curiosity. I can see now why she's so popular in school. "The Dual EX difficulty is a match between two players where they must use two screens instead of one, a total of 18 idols present in the field. Imagine EX difficulty, only two times harder, two times the speed and a chance of 3.6% for a Full Combo. This score match or rather, -Score Battle- comes with three main features, the Quirk, Idol Skill and Aberrations. Quirks are there to enhance a player's performance by gaining a certain number of points during a game. An example would be 'Restore', a quirk where the player can restore a previous combo, which appears every 7 million to 8 million points but has a 11.8% chance of activating perfectly.
"Next is the Idol Skill. Much like the mobile edition, an Idol Skill activates after a few conditions are met. However, because of the -Notebook- system, skills are timed and activated depending on how the idol feels. It's an idol thing most people don't get. After all, all their memories and personalities are rigged straight from the anime" I continue, turning to the Kotori who looked innocent as ever. "And lastly, the Aberrations. Unlike quirks, Aberrations are much more common an come by whenever the combo hits 1200. However... They're not so pleasant..."

"That sounds... intense. Oh my, I'm actually kinda interested! Hey! You and me!" She grabs my arm suddenly, tugging on it. "Dual EX! Let's go!"

"W-Wha!? N-No, I... I don't play..."

"E-Eh!? But you just taught me how!" The confused girl continued to tug on my arm, her face full of determination. Does she seriously want to play one now!?

"Hey, Kotori! Help me out here!"

"U-Um... Okay!" Oh god, if she uses her begging face, I'm doomed. No human on earth has the power to deny it. Though I haven't tried it myself, I wouldn't want to.

"Actually, miss. How about me?"

From the corner of my eye, Nikolai comes from behind the shelf. "W-Who...?" The upperclassman, confused, stepped back a bit. I mean, anyone would if confronted with a man wearing such a devilish smile. "Pardon me. My name is Nikolai Akemi. Akemi-san for starters"

"A-Ashley Sakagami..."

The suited man grinned as he begun to tuck in his right arm's sleeve. To think, he would keep his -Notebook- even under his sleeve. "Like I said, why not challenge me to a Dual EX? Right here, right now?"

"H-Here!? I-I thought it was done in an arena..."

"Satoshi-kun here has an arena in the back room for practice matches. But I'm just asking... If you'd like?"

"..." She turned to Kotori who looked just as determined, nodding in heavy approval. "Let's do it, Ashley-san!"

"Fine, I accept your challenge, Akemi-san! A Dual EX match!"

From a slow business day, I end up hosting a Dual EX match in my aunt's Love Live shop all within a single hour.

And from the fiery spirit I saw in Ashley Sakagami, she was ready to lay the foundations of her path as a Dual EX player...

Next time:

Episode Two, Her Will