BACKSTORY: RYUKO
Kanzaki Ryuko was a poor child born in the slums of Lancastar. She was supposed to have golden eyes, but the light and shine was already taken from them. She was also supposed to have glossy black hair, but they became messy throughout the years.
She also lived the first ten years of her life with abusive parents. They ordered her around and made her do jobs for money, which they would be using for their own leisure. She even had to become a slave for money. Those ten years also brought her a younger brother and a younger sister, six and three years old, respectively.
As a growing child under the ruling of DES, she has never heard of idols until her teenage years. All she knew until then was merely surviving the life of a slave to a mining company, abused by her bosses, beaten up for leisure by DES soldiers, and being tortured daily with just a small piece of bread and a cup of tap water to scrape by for the whole day.
Ryuko would come home to her parents badmouthing her, and her siblings crying because they shared the same treatment as her. Yes, it was a messy household for the Kanzaki family. But she didn't care about it at all. Because at night, she would go to the roof and fall asleep looking at the stars, so near yet so far. But they were all shiny, nevertheless, and Ryuko would hold out her hand and reach for them and telling herself: "I'll definitely reach for them."
Ryuko was, for the past few years of her life, skinny and short. But that was only until she discovered of AKB0048, through talks of the DES soldiers. She then caught the same conversations and heard of some audition to join AKB and how they would be able to become idols if they succeeded. The way to the audition venue was by train. Being an adventurous child that she was, Ryuko knew the way to the train without getting caught. She wove through lines and finally got in the train towards the meeting place.
By that time, the light in her eyes, which weren't supposed to be there, gave out a bright gold glow. She was happy. Excited. Anxious. But all was well, because she always searched for a time where the tables would turn and she would finally lead a happy life up ahead.
Before her eyes were other girls who, just like her, want to be idols. Some had colorful hair, bright eyes, gifted features, tall and slender figures, as well as brilliant smiles, which Ryuko did not have. So to that, she isolated herself from them. She hid herself from them the entire time they were heading towards Akibastar. But what brought her out was a video playing out in one of the hologram televisions. It was a live concert of AKB0048. They were dancing and singing. They sang happy tunes and brought about cool moves as they did so.
While she was watching this, Ryuko's eyes sparkled and even shone brighter. She has found passion to be like them.
Look at those bodies! Perhaps they don't have a problem with eating three times a day. And the way they are able to dance might mean to say they don't worry much about work. If I'm able to join them, maybe I'll be able to experience the same life as them!
What made the biggest impact upon her was the one in the middle. She had ginger hair tied to a side ponytail, as well as shiny blue eyes. She was different among the rest. As much as the others were all different in their own ways, they all shone the same light. The girl in the middle was different. It was like she was surrounded by the stars in the sky. It was as if she was a star herself. You could say Ryuko was star struck by this girl. Even though they were of the same age.
When they finally transferred from the passenger ship to the Katyusha, auditions began. There was no turning back. They were all to undergo the same treatment. They were to come out if they wanted to show that they were worthy of being one with AKB. With all those hectic challenges like using weapons and wit, several girls dropped out. Most of them have quit. But Ryuko didn't give up. She fought through all of them. She also happened to make friends, Kanata Shinonome and Mimori Kishida. Together, they went through all of them until the defense of AKB's concert from supposed DES forces.
It was the first time in her entire that Ryuko has encountered three days full of excitement. But as if the goddess of luck was beside her, she passed the auditions, along with twelve others, including Mimori and Kanata. She was accepting, and even embracing the new life in front of her, as she and the others were proclaimed as the 75th Generation of the understudies of AKB.
The next days of her being an understudy was pretty much epic. It was her first time tasting meals that were unheard of in the slums. There was also her first time having three consecutive days with a bath. She has also experienced a day, just dancing and singing, although her time was more focused on weaponry. She has finally loved using them for combat.
More than her first time experiences were her encounters with her upperclassmen. There was Kashiwagi Yuki, Akimoto Sayaka, Tomomi Itano, Maeda Atsuko, Takahashi Minami, and many others. They all had different appearances and auras. Who stood out the most, however, was the center Ryuko looked up to: Ooshima Yuuko the 6th. She was known for the name Kousaka Honoka before she inherited the name. There was this light in her eyes that give out passion and excitement. Ryuko wanted to look into those eyes a little bit longer. Screw that; she wanted to look at them forever. It was as if her eyes were replaced by the stars Ryuko always looked at night when she was younger.
Ryuko wanted to have the same eyes as her.
But as much as she wanted to look up to her, she didn't have the guts to be like her. And it seemed like the others wanted to inherit her name. They looked to be the same as Honoka, like Ryuko wanted.
To this, they bullied Ryuko and even called her names behind the successors' backs. Kanata and Mimori would notice and defend her. A fight secretly grows and flashes to nothing by the end of the day. Ryuko would then take those insults to heart and cry. But as always, she would go out and look at the starry night sky and take them for Honoka's eyes. Her last words for the day would always be:
"I'll definitely reach for them."
She has endured almost a year of being bullied and working hard to someday sing and dance on the same stage as Honoka. What ended is that the understudies quit the team. They gave up, as it took almost a year with no one ever inheriting a name in AKB. They left Akibastar and towards their home planets.
It was the three of them left in the 75th Generation, Kanata, Mimori, and Ryuko. They struggled everyday with just the three of them. It was different without the twelve who left, but it never changed the way they lived.
What made a huge impact in their daily lives was a loss of a successor.
It was a fine day in Akibastar, and it was yet another live concert for the successors. As if it wasn't weird enough, it started raining outside. It was omen. An omen that brought about yet another great event: the coming of an enemy. DES.
"How many time have they attempted this, I wonder?" Ryuko muttered as she looked up to the battleships which were right then firing energy beams at the Akiba Tower. The successors, however, were quick on the draw, and have managed to evacuate the people outside before the attack. They then went in their combat mode, stepped on the floating stage, and began combat.
Of course, it was a life or death situation. They had to defend Akibastar against DES. So they sang. They sang with passion as they hacked through enemy lines. They sang with determination as they hoped the planet would be alright. Right then came the climax.
Among the defenders with Ooshima Yuuko the 6th. The wielded two micsabers, and it was surprising she could fight so well yet sing with unwavering passion at the same time. It seems she could not be stopped at all. They could still make this. But then, the brightness around her became too bright, as if they were about to consume her. As if she were becoming a star herself. Ryuko and the others had to close their eyes as Honoka shone her brightest. As she closed her eyes, she heard a whisper, seemingly from Honoka's mouth herself.
"You can definitely reach me."
When the light cleared, the battleships before were gone, and Akibastar seemed to have been quiet. Ryuko and the others have managed to keep Akibastar safe from the enemy. But one thing was missing.
"Where's Yuuko-senpai?"
They found out that Honoka's loss was an event that decided the "Center Nova". Whoever achieved that level of brightness would get consumed by the light, and be transported to another dimension where they could perform forever, unharmed by DES.
Since then, Ryuko became determined to become Honoka's substitute, and become the next Ooshima Yuuko. She worked harder than the others, even Kanata and Mimori. There was no one who could stop her from being the successor of the person she looked up to.
But the entire universe did not accept it. Honoka's loss seemed like a huge stone thrown at them. To counter this, they never let anyone in to succeed her position. Ryuko then received hate comments, mostly stating that it was impossible for Ryuko to succeed Yuuko's name. They even went so far as to send death threats. Ryuko was too pressured by the amount of hate they gave her. She was fine with bullying and all, but having even the whole universe hate on her was too heavy a burden.
So she, along with the twelve who gave up early on their mission, left the group.
All she wanted was a home who could accept her, feed her properly, and take care of her like any parent. It seemed like being an idol was not a solution. So she searched the entire universe yet again. She tried to search for her "home", but did not manage to find any.
Right then came DES.
They may be a group of scrawny looking guys whose scent were as foul as hers in the past, whose eyes were as dead as hers, and she even thought that they didn't have the policy to accept an ex-idol such as herself, but Nakajima, current captain of the ship she fell unto, accepted her after he heard her story. He fed her, gave her proper clothing, and even a place in the ship.
Yes, she felt accepted there. She embraced the enemy. She despised the world she was in before. She didn't like the community she thought would accept her.
But every night, before she went to sleep, she would still look up at the stars, reach her hand out to them, and whisper the words her own upperclassman told her.
"You'll definitely reach them…. Huh," Ryuko muttered as she shut her diary close. It was the final entry she wrote. In fact, all her entries ended with the same quote. "… Looks like I've failed you, senpai. I even fell into a way worse situation. I'm… about to become a monster." Tears streamed from her face as she clenched her fist and continued training.
AKB0048 BATTLESHIP KATYUSHA, HALLWAYS
I… dunno what to do with life anymore. It's just too sad without Tsubasa-san.
Honoka was walking down the halls when she passed by the entire group of successors.
"Honoka," Yuuko, who was leading all of them, called out. "I'm pretty much sorry if this hurts you, but this is for you. Really." With a straight face, she slapped Honoka across hers. Hard. So hard her cheek immediately became red.
"Eh…?" Honoka was clueless. Why would they gather up just to have Yuuko slap her across the face? She tried soothing her cheek out, but was slapped by the next person in line. Then the next one. Then the next. All of them had their turns, slapping Honoka across the face. So much that it was all swollen. Not too long did it take before the line ended.
"I'm really sorry, but please get your act together," Yuuko spoke once again. "I won't have you slacking off when we battle for Center Nova again! And for that, I need to see Honoka Kousaka-senpai at her two hundred percent potential!"
"… Really, you didn't need to slap me one by one across the face just to wake me up," Honoka smiled as she rubbed her cheeks. "But… yeah! Let's all have a good time and compete with passion in our hearts!"
"That's the spirit, Honoka-senpai!" Yuuko shouted as she gave a hearty laugh. Honoka laughed too, and soon were the others. Finally, the wake-up call Honoka needed all this time was called, except with a whole lot of pain.