Chapter 1: It's not my dream; it's my story
Large amounts of students poured into the front gates leading into a bustle of towering structures. Cherry blossoms danced in the wind as Michiko stood awestruck at the front gate. She looked around her. A lot of girls were wearing different outfits, as if they were their casual street clothes. However, she noticed a certain girls wore the same red blazer uniform, adorned with a green ribbon, and complemented with a blue skirt. The wind changed direction and blew her long sidetail in front of her.
Michiko sighed and picked up her guitar case. "WHAT KIND OF SCHOOL IS THIS!? Ptoo; hair in my mouth."
The first bell rang to signal the beginning of classes. Michiko sat in the middle of the classroom. She scanned the environment around her and observed her various classmates. They were all girls, despite her welcome pamphlet saying the school was co-ed. To her, it made sense considering the school's purpose was to create an environment for students to become idols while maintaining an education.
"Maybe it won't be so bad here," she sighed. She thought back to the welcome assembly.
"µ's Academia was founded upon the idea that anyone's dreams can come true. But that doesn't mean you can wave your hand and make miracles magically happen. I am your principal, Sonoda Umi. Here you will be performing with the best of the best. Competing against some of the greatest and worst talents within the past decade. Here you will be tested, to your absolute limits! And anyone that does not meet our expectations can and will be expelled on the spot. Now go out there and smile!"
"On second thought this place is scary," thought Michiko, "The principal's scarier."
A girl approached Michiko's desk from the side. Michiko looked up and met the girl's green eyes. Her figure was slim, and she had formal, long, dark hair that reached her waist.
"Excuse me, may I sit next to you? It is the only seat that is not next to the window." her voice was soft, and her manner of speaking was very formal.
"Uh, sure. Knock yourself out."
"Thank you," she bowed, "My name is Shimura Jun. It is nice to meet you."
Michiko got up and bowed. "Sorry, I forgot my manners. I am Suzuki Michiko. I look forward to working with you this year, Shimura-san."
The door slid open. A stern-looking woman holding a binder walked in. She approached the table and slammed her documents on top of it.
"Alright, class is in session. My name is Matsuura Hisako, and I am your homeroom teacher. Everyone, attention!"
The entire class got up and bowed. "Good morning, sensei!"
"Stand down. Welcome to your first day of µ's Academia. I'm sure all of you heard our principal's moving speech. All of you want to be idols; and thanks to the efforts of µ's you can easily get that head start by receiving proper training and manage a proper education. I am confident you all read the pamphlet, but let's review why all of you are here in the first place. As you all know µ's was the group that won the second Love Live competition, this was when the contest established its rules and solidified itself as one of the biggest contests in the country. µ's revolutionized the scene with their style, creating a path for all school idols to shine at…"
"THE AKIBA DOME!" cheered the entire class.
The teacher droned on a bit longer about µ's; a confused Michiko tapped the shoulder of the girl from earlier, Jun. "Hey, why is she talking about a soap brand so passionately? Did they do all that?" she whispered.
"EHHHHHH!?" Jun suddenly screamed aloud and interrupted the class, "YOU DON'T KNOW µ'S!? HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE!?"
The entire class dropped quiet and stared at her. Jun looked around and dropped her head in embarrassment. In no time at all, she recovered and took a cold, aloof persona. "How can an unsophisticated urchin like you not know about the legendary group that founded this high school?"
Michiko was both dumbfounded and slightly amazed on how fast her demeanor changed.
"Shut it you two," commanded Matsuura-sensei, "You guys are in for a treat. To inform our uneducated peer here, we shall have a special lesson."
Matsuura pulled out a tablet from somewhere and tapped it a few times. A projector slid out of the screen and displayed what appears to be a video online.
"µ's Academia was designed to be an environment that will naturally train the future generations of school idols, and hopefully give them the chance to express their passion for this form of art…" she droned on and on, eventually it became background noise, "THEREFORE, one day you will come close to shining like our esteemed founders of this school." She started the video.
It was a compilation video of various groups singing and dancing on a grand stage. They each had a similar theme: nine attractive girls dancing on stage singing a happy song in costume. Yes it was pretty, but to Michiko it was not anything special. A group did stand out to her; they were themed in blue and had sparkling feathers fall across the entire hall. Other than that, nothing. Finally, it went to 2013. It was again nine different girls, but this time in different color dresses with their center wearing a pink blazer, and a bow on her sidetail. The video finally ended and the class applauded. Michiko sat there, extremely confused.
While the murmurs went on, Michiko slowly raised her hand. Matsuura called on her.
"What did you think?" the teacher imposed.
"Um," Michiko wasn't sure how to word it, "I don't get it."
The whole class murmured, sounds of gossip directed at her passed through her ears.
"Like, it's cool and all but that's really it. The music just doesn't really do anything for me. They're all feel-good songs, and the dancing was good. Other than that, it's not anything special…"
A collective gasp resounded throughout the entire room. Michiko looked around; every person in the room looked back with some form of contempt or disgust. Even Jun, the girl who was friendly and polite to her earlier, was giving her a stink eye. Silence fell upon the room as all glares were piercing into Michiko. This went on for what felt like minutes, until a slam woke everyone up.
"Alright that's enough!" yelled Matsuura, "It's understandable that someone who is new will not 'get' why this is so important." she pointed a finger at Michiko, "HOWEVER, if you want to succeed in this school you are going to have to abide by these philosophies. This is the key to success, it has been proven time and time again for almost three decades. I suggest you smarten up and get with the program, otherwise you will face a very quick expulsion."
Michiko clenched her fist. It wasn't right to her, to limit herself to a type of music that she does not believe in.
"I will now announce the first assignment, and the first step to staying at this school. All of you must find a group to join before the end of the month. If you do not, you will face immediate expulsion from the academy. Your group may be any size and have any class within it. Next, at the end of the month, if you do find a group, placement exams will be held in the auditorium. Every season, our school sends one group to participate in the Love Live competition! This is determined by your group's performance as the season goes on, and a winner will be chosen to represent Otonokizaka High and µ's Academia. Failure of your exam will take you out of the running for this contest, and thus will put you in a position where you are closer to expulsion. We accept nothing less than perfection here!"
Michiko stood up, "What!? What kind of bologna system is this? I thought this was a school, not some kind of weird reality tv thing. If I don't follow the system, I am expelled!?"
"That's right little missy," came a voice from the door. It appeared to be an older student. Her blonde hair was in a braid, draped over her shoulder. Her face was soft, but her darker tint eyes sent a piercing gaze into Michiko. She had a strong, imposing aura to her that looked down on the entire class. "Failure to abide by the material, and you will be expelled."
Whispers echoed throughout the room.
"Who is that?"
"You don't know who that is?"
"That's Sakaki Yukiko from the group Red Velvet!"
"-The- Red Velvet that got into the finals last year!?"
Yukiko put a hand on her hip and smirked. "So what's it gonna be?"
Michiko stood up, "I refuse!"
The teacher and the high-and-mighty princess scrunched their brow at her. "Well," started Yukiko, "I suppose there's nothing we can do about losing her. It's sad, she would've made a fine addition to my…"
"You're misinterpreting what I said," interrupted a convicted Michiko, "What I meant was I refuse to accept your beliefs. I'll pass any challenge this school throws at me my own way!" She picked up her guitar case and threw it over her shoulder.
The teacher started laughing, "Ha ha ha! I like your moxy kid. You're actively rebelling against the curriculum on your first day!"
"I'm not just rebelling. I'm gonna go for it, and win that spot in the Love Live and represent the school!"
Yukiko glared at her, "So from what I'm hearing is you're essentially declaring war on all the groups in this school along with the school itself." She turned towards the door and flipped her hair, "Interesting, I look forward to crushing you." The clacks of her shoes resonated through the room as she walked out. Silence fell on the room once again.
"Suzuki Michiko!" yelled Matsuura-sensei, "As your instructor I still cannot let this outburst go unseen. However, I do find your proposal interesting. As your punishment, I will give you this: Failure to remain in the running for representation at the Love Live will result in immediate expulsion on the spot! Class dismissed." She left the room.
The sense of malice was strong in the classroom, and it was all towards Michiko. She sat at her desk with her earphones in, listening to music. Her phone was scrolling through pictures of her with two other boys with instruments. She gave a sullen sigh. In her field of view stepped in a body. Michiko looked up, it was Jun.
"H-hi."
"I can't believe you, Suzuki. You stepped way out of line back there."
Michiko just looked down and went through her library.
"You know the whole school will know about this, and no one will dare join a group that will get expelled on the spot if they even mess up a little bit."
She kept staring at her phone.
"Hey! Listen to me!"
Michiko looked up, "Shimura-chan, will you join my group?"
"I refuse." The response was immediate, "I will not join with someone that dares slanders the integrity and radiance of school idols. Especially one that makes fun of µ's."
"I getcha."
Shimura-chan turned around. "I suppose I'll leave you alone. But know this, next time we talk we are rivals and enemies."
Michiko smiled a little, "I can tell you adore school idols."
Jun blushed and stormed off.
It was dark outside, but Michiko had some time before curfew was called at the dorms. She walked around the town; even on a weekday it was lively as all heck. The noise of the town helped clear her head as she walked the streets. Lost in thought, something brought her back into reality. Extremely aggressive electronic music boomed from a flight of stairs she was walking by. It drew her in to see what the commotion was all about.
Michiko entered the building to see lively club full of people dancing around. To be honest, she felt like letting loose to, the music was making her want to jump about as well. The club seemed to be full of high-school students rather than adults, a special dance club? On stage was a girl in the same uniform as her. The girl's short green hair could be seen under the black and white hoodie of the jacket she was wearing. Her hands were working the turntables and audio equipment like an artist in a fiery passion. Michiko was entranced by the sounds coming from the speakers; it was so angry yet had a sense of kindness and sympathy to it.
The music stopped, snapping her back into reality. A woman walked up to the mic as the girl started exiting the stage. "And that was DJ-Kalli, the fury of Akiba!"
Backstage, or at least behind the building, that was where Michiko wanted to be. She wanted to catch her, and talk to her. Was it the music, or the uniform? After today's fiasco, she did not expect to meet anyone to compose music like that in the uniform. She squeezed past crowds of people, and reached the path to backstage. The guards stopped her, but she could see the girl leaving the building through the back. Michiko made a dash for outside, and through the alleyway. The girl was leaving through it!
She stopped and shouted, "HEEEYYYY!"
The girl stopped in her tracks and turned around. She pulled down her hoodie and gave Michiko a blank stare.
"I *huff* need *huff* to talk to you *huff*." panted Michiko. She looked up and observed her a bit more. She looked older and slightly more filled out than her. Possibly a second year? The girl pulled down her hoodie revealing a face of melancholy. Her yellowish eyes shone in the twilight of street lights and night sky. Her short hair was ruffled and had a nice flow to it.
"Who are you?"
"I-I'm *huff* Suzuki Michiko, nice to meet you!"
The green haired girl paused. Her voice was quiet.
"Oh...I heard about you."
Next Time: Repressed feelings