Disclaimer: Quixotic Colors does not own anything.
"La la li li la li la..." were the words that came out of Nanami Haruka's mouth as she tried to think of some new melodies for STARISH'S next album. Unfortunately, those seven two-lettered words were all that she could think of as the reddish-orange haired girl did not have anything around her that could be used as inspiration. The sounds of cars honking, people talking on their phones, and the increasing heat in temperature were not helping her focus. She sat on a park bench, a small notebook on her lap as her pencil laid in her hand writing nothing down. Haruka sighed, deciding that she had enough fresh air and that focusing in the Master Dorms would be a better option. She placed her notebook and pencil in her bag and stood up to leave. As the young composer continued to walk through the park, she stopped a few feet away from a fundraiser for a small orphanage.
Small, young children sang and tried to display their talents to the crowd; although, there were not that many people stopping to donate. The children's expressions were full of melancholy with the adult-in-charge being in sorrows as well. Currently, a small five year old girl was playing nursery rhymes on a piano with the other children singing along.
"A-Ano, minna-san, would you care to donate for these young children for a better future? We are hoping to reach 5,000¥ towards buying school supplies and basic house equipment. We are only 1,000¥ away from reaching that goal. Today is our last day of fundraising, won't you please donate?" The adult asked hesitantly as the people continued to walk by.
Haruka's heart sank as she saw that nobody was donating and was ignoring the fundraiser. The yellow-green eyes girl started to walk towards the small stage, willing to donate, when a voice caused her to stop in her tracks.
"May I play?" asked the soft voice.
Standing next to the small piano girl on stage was a teenaged girl who appeared to be younger than Haruka. Her curly pink hair was up by a brown ribbon, her purple eyes showed patience towards the little girl who nodded. The mysterious teen smiled in gratitude before sitting down.
"Minna-san, I hope you take the time to listen to this song and grant these children their dream," she called out to the crowd before starting.
"Azayaka ni tobikau irotoridori no mahou
Toumeina watashi someageru"
Haruka took a few steps closer to the stage, wanting to listen to the song louder. As the girl sang, her fingers touched the piano keys as if she was springing them back to life. The song, light and happy, caught the attention of the bystanders. They slowly began to donate money by handing it over to the adult whose previous sorrows gradually started to diminish. Haruka saw that the children were spinning around and danced to the soft beat. Haruka could feel the girl's warm passion, and it reminded her of when she was younger and enjoyed playing the piano to please her grandmother.
When the song ended, Haruka rushed over to speak to the girl but missed her opportunity. The children yelled out 'thank you' to the mysterious girl before restarting their talent show with confidence. There was a bigger crowd watching, making it hard for Haruka to reach the stage. She gave the adult a couple of bills before heading back to the Master Course dorms, unconsciously humming the melody of the girl's song. When Haruka opened the door, she saw the members of STARISH relaxing on the couches, and QUARTET NIGHT having a discussion at a table.
"Tadaima," she called out.
It stirred the attention of the STARISH members who looked up towards her as well as a quick glance coming from the QUARTET NIGHT members.
"Okaeri, Little Lamb," Jinguji Ren greeted her.
"Ne ne, Nanami, did you find any inspiration for some new songs?" Ittoki Otoya askef.
He had his acoustic guitar on his lap, strumming on random chords. The red-headed teen seemed to be enjoying himself.
Haruka smiled as she shook her head, "Iie, it was hard trying to think of a melody as there was so much noise blocking my concentration. I couldn't find a quiet spot to focus at."
Otoya looked surprised as well as the other STARISH members.
"Then what about the tune you were just humming to, Haru-chan?" Shinomiya Natsuki questioned.
"Eh?" Haruka seemed shocked, never realising that she was humming to the pink-haired girl's song, "Oh! I heard a girl singing for an orphanage fundraiser. It seemed to cheer everyone up."
"Orphanage? Ah! I remember there were many nursery schools and orphanages raising money. I already gave away a bit of my earnings to my old nursery school's fundraiser," Otoya thought out loud.
"Besides that, it sounds like a good melody, ne, Nanami?" Kurusu Syo asked.
"Hai, she held confidence as she played. Demo, I wasn't able to speak with her," Haruka told them.
"Hmm, it seems that there are new idols rising upon us," Hijirikawa Masato began to say.
"We better continue working hard if we want to stay well-known," Ichinose Tokiya said, finishing Masato's sentence.
At that moment, Kurosaki Ranmaru slammed a pile of papers on the table and ripped out the pair of earbuds out of his ears in anger. It caught the attention of Haruka and the members of STARISH by surprise while the other three QUARTET NIGHT members sighed and took out their pair of earbuds as well.
"I can't handle reading this kind of cr-p, let alone listen to them! The thought of singing them makes me want to scream for death!" Ranmaru cried out.
"Ran-Ran, calm down now. We haven't finished looking through all of them yet," Kotobuki Reiji said warily, "Maybe-"
"Urusai! We've looked over these crappy excuses for songs for days now. How on Earth can the next generation be this horrible in music?" Ranmaru screamed.
"Ne, is everything alright?" Aijima Cecil asked.
He looked at his senpais in confusion as he laid his elbow on Haruka's shoulder. The other members of STARISH glared at him until Masato decided to grab his arm and push it off Haruka's shoulder.
"QUARTET NIGHT is searching for a new songwriter, but it appears that no one can fit our style," Mikaze Ai stated.
"Hmph! Commoners here are starting to create such lousy music. They aren't worthy enough to even be writing songs," said Camus.
Haruka and the STARISH members walked over to the table, viewing the music scores that spread throughout the table. They each grabbed a sheet and froze in terror as they followed the music. It appeared that they were mostly notes chosen randomly; it was offensive to songwriters everywhere. What made it more terrifying were the lyrics that the writers included. They were all upbeat, cheerful, and full of what QUARTET NIGHT does not represent. Natsuki saw the cd player that they were using and turns it on, putting the music up high. It sounded much worse than what was written on the scores. It was enough for Haruka and the members of STARISH to sympathize the older idol unit.
"Oi! What's with those expressions?" Ranmaru barked out, "We don't need your pity!"
They all tried to avoid the silver-haired man's angry gaze. After a moment, Haruka stepped forward.
"A-Ano, if you'd like, I could compose some songs for you," Haruka said.
Before any of the QUARTET NIGHT members could reply and before any of the STARISH members could reject.
"Muri desu yo, Miss Nanami!"
Shining Saotome appeared in front of both idol units, making them take a step back in surprise. Although, he looked different. The academy principal had on a serious expression set on his face instead of his usual mischievous smirk. It made everyone hesitant and bemused on what to do and what was going on with him.
"Gakuen Kocho, why can't Haru-chan write for them?" Natsuki asked.
"A songwriter must be able to understand and have a deep connection with whom they are writing to. Miss Nanami, how much do you know about the members of QUARTET NIGHT? Do you understand them?" He questioned her.
Haruka did not reply as she knew that she can not answer.
"Follow me," The academy teacher called out.
He leaded them towards the common room and turned on the large flat screen t.v. The screen presented the members of HEAVENS on a stage. It seemed that the video was a recording of one of HEAVENS's concerts. The two idol units looked confused on why they were watching it as they heard the music begin. It wasn't until the members of HEAVENS started to sing did they realise the reason.
"Oh...(music)... Splash!
1, 2 step karayakana flow"
As HEAVENS sang, Haruka, STARISH, and QUARTET NIGHT watched in amazement at how much passion they could feel within the music.
"Shoudou de nana ka hajimeyou
Nan juu toori no sentakushi no mukou
The beat was addictive and pleasing. The lyrics matched HEAVENS's personality.
"Just take it, take it off
Itsumo wa dekinai
The song had a sexy and untiring mood with a bit of self-confidence.
"Baby, baby girl
Kimi sura kimi wo shiranai
Dakara coming up
The crowd was cheering energetically with hearts practically in their eyes. They all were enjoying the song.
"So you can step up
Kimi no honnou
Kaki midasu hodo choukousoku
Here we go now, here we go now
And splash"
HEAVENS's dance moves were in an active sync. Haruka couldn't help but see how the idol unit had a certain aura built around them as they sang.
"So you can step up
Tsigi wa motto
Hai ni naruhodo [Oh Oh]
Here we go now, here we go now
And splash**
The members of HEAVENS appeared to be enjoying their performance. There wasn't an overconfident smirk as big as usual on Otori Eichi's face; Mikado Nagi's greyish eyes held a sparkle along with his mischieviousness; and even Sumeragi Kira looked relaxed and had a creak of a smile on himself.
As they continued to sing, the two idol groups and Haruka watched in astonishment as HEAVENS blew them away. They all thought of the same question within their head: What has changed HEAVENS since the last time we met?
Once the song ended, Shining Saotome pulled out the remote and paused the t.v.. The displeasing expression was still set on his face.
"As you can see, HEAVENS is increasing their popularity rapidly," he said.
With another click of the remote, images of commercials, magazine covers, interviews, t.v. appearances, etc. shows up on the screen with all of them staring HEAVENS.
"This is bad. Bad!" The principal yelled out, "I can feel HEAVENS rising up in this business, it must stop!"
"Why is that?" Otoya questioned.
Shining Saotome stopped running his hands through his hair in frustration and quickly walked straight in front of Otoya who jumped in surprise.
"Mr. Ittoki, do you know what is occurring in the music industry in a couple of months?" He asked.
"Eh?" Otoya looked confused as well as some of the others.
It was Tokiya who replied, "The Wakana*** Awards!"
"Correct, Mr. Ichinose. The Wakana Awards is a 'once every ten years' event, a rare opportunity."
"Ano, what's the Wakana Awards?" Haruka wondered.
"According to my data, the Wakana Awards are medals and prizes given as rewards to musicians and idols strictly decided through watching each nominee's work, personality, popularity, and dream. They analyze what fans/haters/and strangers thinks of them as well as the people who work with them. The awards expand over a large variety of categories," Ai stated.
"That is correct, Mr. Mikaze. Additionally, not only are there awards for both of your units, there are awards for the music companies as well!" Shining Saotome included.
The importance of the Wakana Awards surprised some of them while Ren, Masato, Tokiya, and Natsuki pondered on what their cyan blue haired senpai had said.
"Mikaze-senpai, what do you mean by dream?" Tokiya asked.
"It is a difficult area to receive as you only have one shot to gain it. You get an interview with the judges, and it depends on what you reply them with. No one knows what they are looking for and what dream they are discussing about," Ai said.
"You all have months before that occurs," Shining Saotome told them, "We must focus on the music company awards or else Shining Agency with be destroyed."
*Hitori Janai Akashi by Mami. (I don't actually know the english translation to this song and only found the romaji lyrics. It sounded like a sweet song, so I couldn't help but use it.)
**Splash by Da-iCE
***Wakana means harmony; play music