DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN AIKATSU NOR THE SONGS USED

*Cloudy Day by ACTORS- SONGS CONNECTION, character: Saku Otonomiya (Gakuto Kajiwara)

Shouta's POV

"And that is all for today. Everyone! Please look forward to this year's Twinkle Star cup!" Momo shut off the holographic projection to the live broadcast.

The Twinkle Star cup was an annual competition for both Starlight and Dream academy students to form units of two for everyone to watch. At the end of the performances online and live audiences had the chance to vote for the best unit. Apparently it was based around the positive reaction around WM versus 2wings. Now every year we continued the idea of partnerships to give our fans a chance to see rare pair stages. Headmistress Kiriya and Yumesaki had just finished announcing that this year's event was going to be taking place in the next few weeks.

"Who would have thought that the event created for Kanzaki Mizuki to overtake Masquerade's record would have resulted in a well respected tradition. I'm excited to see the units to come out this time. We have some work cut out for us Shouta-kun."

Momo had, somehow, managed to study the patterns in the event's timing that she knew that it was coming up before the announcement. I easily agreed to be her partner. Frankly I didn't think of anyone else that was more suited to be by my side.

"Ahhh I can't wait to see that!" Fumiko squealed in glee. "You two will be one of the first co-ed units ever. How about you, Hayate? Want to be my partner?"

"Huh? Oh I think I have someone else in mind for my partner. Sorry."

"Okay no problem-o! Maybe I'll ask Charlotte to join me."

"Hate to burst your bubble, Fumiko, but since Char-senpai already has a schedule that day I doubt it's possible for Charlotte-senpai to join you. You can still try asking her though."

"I don't think I can do that. Char-chan and Charlotte are big names now. If that's the case then I guess there's nothing I can do. Must be hard for those two to be so popular with only one body." She slumped down into her seat.

"You act like you're not higher than I in female rankings. I'm sure that your friendly demeanor will find someone that matches up to you. Keep in mind your high ranking may be intimidating to some. Perhaps aim for someone within your number range."

"Someone in my number range? Alright! I'll go searching right now!" Fumiko stood up from her seat, running to who knows where.

"Wait!" Momo called out to her that went unheard. She sighed. "She didn't even eat half of her food again. I told her so many times to at least finish before going off."

"It's understandable. Fumiko-san likes to act first, think later."

"Reckless is what it is. Abstaining from food when it is readily available is not only disrespectful to those who put their work into it but to your body as well. We require food for both our own satisfaction and in order to sustain it. First it's not finishing a bowl today and the next she settles for junk that should only be consumed in small quantities." I chuckled a bit.

"Come one she can have a break this one time. It's not like you don't eat sweets any chance you get." She pouted at my last statement.

"I eat in moderation I should point out."

"Then Fumiko-san is lucky to have you as friend to help moderate her. She's just a bit distracted in finding a partner. When she gets hungry she knows where to get food."

"I suppose. Maybe I'll bring her some food in our room."

"That sounds like a good idea."

Hayate looked between the two of us. "You know if I didn't know you two it would be surprising that you are friends. Momo-chan is so smart and logical while Dobu-kun is very emotion driven and easy to understand. You're both so different."

"I concur." / "You said it." We said at the same time. No one knew better than us that we were suppose to be a bad match.

"But don't worry Shouta-kun. We know that together we're unstoppable. Despite the differences." From this phrase I was reminded that a lot of time had passed since we met.

Momo grew a lot in that time. At that time she only knew how to study. Smiling so easily now and encouraging me. I watched her from the start. "You can count on me Momo-san!"

"Hear that Snapshot? You and your mystery partner are going to have to watch out."

"You never know. My partner is someone on a completely different level than me. I may just improve because of him." Momo tilted her head.

"Someone that is on a different level than you? The only male idol that fits that description in my head is Shouta-kun. I'm intrigued. Can I ask who?"

"That's going to be a surprise. Can't be giving away hints to my fellow competition. Even if I already know you two are pairing up. Probably a lot of people picked up on that."

"That's fine with me. Statistically speaking Shouta-kun and I are, both fortunately and unfortunately, recognized widely as a duo. Anyone can easily predict that we would team up. It makes the competition more interesting as people will prepare to tackle us head on. I'm anticipating how they choose to do so. I already have things planned for us so don't think you have an upper hand."

Momo spoke so confidently that I forgot that I was her partner. She always did have faith in me to be an amazing idol. "You do?"

"Well I have the topics for discussion for us. As a pair we shall talk them over together to ensure that we play an equal role in what we do."

"I think that's my cue to leave. And I properly finished my food Momo-chan so don't worry about that." Hayate stood up with his tray giving her a wink.

We could have reassured him that he could stay but he was already gone. Might as well get started on the basic stuff. This way we could focus on the performance itself. We knew that it was a temporary unit, but that wouldn't stop us from giving it our all.

"So what's first?"

"Song choice. Since this is mainly for the Twinkle Cup we should get competition stuff out of the way first. I would like to perform something that isn't your writing if that's okay?"

"Not one of my songs? Now that I think about it our joined stages have been what I wrote. That might have stuck with people. Rather than trying to make something specific to us, we show that we can do well with a known song."

"Yep! Finding songs as a duet between our genders that isn't a love song is hard. You can imagine what would happen if we sung one of those in front of an audience." We sighed. "That being said I want to ask if you have any songs you want to do or a theme to help narrow the selection choice."

I thought a bit about it. There weren't a lot of idol type songs that I knew. I mainly listened to the ones that were popular at the time. Funny that as a song writer I found more inspiration from real life than other musicians.

"Maybe for a theme we do more of a growing up theme? Or being ourselves? I like that as the main message we send to our audience." With this unit we would allow people to see a new side of us that only we know about. This type of song would be easiest for us to represent.

"Growing up and being ourselves? Not too bad. First song that comes to mind in that case would Gr. 8 Story by SuG. It's more on the rock side. In terms of vocals they aren't too straining." She attached earbuds to her phone. With one hand she gave me the other bud while searching up the song.

As expected of Momo she instantly found a song for us. It was already a duet that I could hear how we can insert ourselves in. And like she said it didn't sound too difficult for me. That was reassuring since she had more technical training than me. Then there was the rhythm being upbeat just like I wanted. It would be easy to fit in small dances and have fun on stage.

"Let's go with this. We shouldn't think too much about it."

"Fine with me. Now we can talk about our unit name. This is going to be how they announce us at the competition. Past the cup we can use it as the easiest method for addressing us rather than using our names. Unit names should make people think of us two."

"We should think of things we have in common then. How about something related to music? Like beat, notes, oh I think Melody can work. The main tune of the song that captures people. It's pretty, right?"

"Melody hmm? It suits you." She wrote it down using the English letters. She tapped her pen a few times next to it. "It does sound nice but don't you think it's a bit out of character for me? When I think Melody it comes out smooth and flowing. For my image that doesn't really match."

I tilted my head a little as she made a good point. Momo was known for being a wild card. Quite literally. It could appear as rough at times because no one knew what she would do next. A word like melody wasn't exactly the best to fit her.

"A word that would be for Momo-san should be something like uhh Universe? See because your aura has a space theme and you're someone that loves science in general. It's really big too that we haven't explored all of it kinda like you."

"Then it's too much directed to me. A unit name should make people think of both of us. Universe sounds too big of a name for your image. You're right that the universe is wide so in me that represents my knowledge in fields outside Aikatsu. For you that's not the case since you're still new to everything."

"I see. Coming up with a unit name is harder than I thought." Momo and I were extremely different in how we are viewed in the public. Creating a unit with such differences is more than us getting along but how we're perceived as well. If the image isn't pretty, then no one will approve of it.

"I do like the idea of using something we have in common. Though that does limit the possibilities. Besides music and Aikatsu then there's not a lot to work with. Rather than finding words to represent us we can try find things unique to us."

"Unique to us? How about our experiences with each other? We have a pretty interesting story."

"That's true. Meeting in the shopping district out of coincidence, becoming students here, debuting on a second year stage. And that's only what we show to the public. Each day we are working together behind the scenes to improve and encourage each other. There's a reason why I understand you more than anyone."

"Me too! Even if we were separated it was your words and training that supported me further. Oh remember our scandal? This unit is really going showing people our relationship beyond that." We smiled at the memories of us going through that time.

It was funny that we can laugh at it considering how much we went through because of that one fake date. Honestly we didn't reflect on our past too often that this was calming. With each challenge that came our way, we only grew stronger.

"Our scandal is definitely going to stay in our name for the rest of our careers. Can't say I'm mad that it wasn't settled the normal way. I'm so glad I took the risk in trusting Mr. S that time. And in you listening to me to cooperating with him during the interview without any knowledge. Aunty Aoi and dad would had scolded me if that plan failed." She cringed at the thought.

"Mr. S said that in his report too. That we had an unwavering trust between us that he could see. It's because of that it all worked out." Her eyes widen. She scribbled down a kanji and the English format on the paper.

"What do you think about our unit name being 信頼 (shin-rai)? Signifying our trust in one another. When you did Blue Moon I believed in your abilities to make an amazing song. The scandal you followed my directions for the interview. Constantly we listen to each other's thoughts and takes it into consideration for what we should do. TRUST."

"TRUST. It's not so much about us as individuals but our relationship. By ourselves we wouldn't be able stand where we are today. It's only through our trust that we got so far. I like it!"

"Then it's decided. Our unit name is, officially, TRUST." We high fived. She picked up her phone. "Alright. Then the next item up on the list is to decide out coords."

"I assumed that we would wear our stage uniforms? What else would we wear?"

"There are three options for that. One would be our stage uniforms. Simple and something we both have. Two would be two individual outfits that we prepare beforehand to somewhat match or show off our own style. Third is unit coords where the outfits are made specifically for the unit. Notable examples of this would be WM's mainly using Summer Day and Night coords or 2wingS' Angely and Spice Gemini coords."

"I would imagine unit coords should be more impactful."

Out of the three options, the last one seemed most favorable. Our stage uniforms were nice but they weren't clothes I would wear for an event like this. The debut of TRUST called for more. We could wear our individual coords that we gathered through our time. However most of the time we got cards through us seeking them out or by designers gifting them. That made it so that I didn't have a lot compared to her.

"Precisely." A lot of units had unit coords. It made them easy to identify and was showing how nice they looked together.

"Would we be asking Asuka-san to do this then? You've worked with her for Once More before. Those outfits were pretty cool."

"Probably not the best idea. Asuka-san is the type that works only with inspiration. If she doesn't get a thought immediately, chances are she's not going to. I could ask but I would like to ask a designer that is bit more reliable. Solely because we're on a limited time."

I thought about proposing Inoue to design them for us. Yet that didn't seem likely since she liked to focus on Kikyo as her muse. Not to mention that we just recently did the runway that it may come off as demanding. Having her make our unit coord wouldn't really work.

"Does it have to be someone that we know personally?"

"Not necessarily. It does make it easier in most cases. However, if we think they are capable of creating what we want then it shouldn't matter."

"Then do you have a designer in mind?" She pressed a few buttons on her phone to show a brand logo.

The words Hidden Story was written in a basic font that I would see in printed works. They were curved so that they appeared to be coming out of the book at the bottom. Below it was a line of people shaped figures. They were holding hands with a few simple drawings to show their emotions. There was a line underneath their feet that looked like a river that reflected the opposite emotion in the water.

"Hidden Story. I have to admit that after finding out about Asuka-san's history I started researching more into brands that aren't as well known. It's been established for roughly 5 years now. From what I've seen, they have a good foundation in skills. Last year they released a line that showed off specifically coords meant to be worn in pairs. I think that it would be nice if our unit had that."

She swiped once to show off a few of the coords already released. From the quick scan I could see that the common theme for this was in story pairings. The main character and supporting if I had to assume. But through these I didn't see that one coord was more outstanding than the other. They weren't overshadowing each other that they might as well both be the main characters.

"Like them?"

"Yeah, so why don't we ask them to do ours?"

"The reason why their not a big name designer is because they don't let anyone wear their clothes that they don't approve of. I was going to try asking them after I got your consent but I feel that I will be too busy to go. We may have to get someone else."

"How about I go ask?" Her eyes widened.

"Are you sure? They're pretty stubborn from what I heard. Getting an outfit would be a lot easier than having them design a unit coord."

I was a bit nervous seeing that she was unsure herself. But after seeing these outfits I recognized the potential that this designer had. I, too, wanted to see what outfits they had for us. They had a good understanding of balance and was new enough that gave us an advantage against the other units to stand out.

"Yeah! Leave it up to me!" She smiled a bit.

"Okay. I'll let you handle that. I don't know enough about this designer so if you need any help you should contact me. Don't feel the pressure to convince them."

Momo had already led most of the way. Now it was up to me to get these outfits. She may be concerned but it shouldn't be too hard. I think.

I stood outside a studio with the Hidden Story logo on the outside. Momo had written instructions for me of everything that I would need to know to talk to them. Including the times that were best to talk to her in case of any problems. She was still very reluctant to let me come alone.

I did have to push the, unscheduled, meeting back a bit because of my own jobs and training but compared to her I had some more free time. By procrastinating it by a bit it did give us more time to practice as a unit.

Overall we didn't run into many problems. Music wise we were already so use each other's style that we it was a matter of changing little things to compliment one another. We worked together in making my songs and training that it wasn't too difficult. Though we had different vocal tones, they sounded nice together.

During practice we focused more on how we could make it so that we both got what we wanted. Momo liked focusing on the uniqueness of us while I enjoyed showing that we blended well. By having both solo and joined parts that switched often we got what we wanted.

It was going smoothly that all we needed was our unit coord.

I cautiously rang the door bell. Inside I could hear a bit of rustling. The door slowly opened revealing someone that was roughly a head taller than me. They dressed very causally that made it look like they had only recently woke up. Despite it being in the late afternoon.

"H-hello. Are you the um designer for Hidden Story?" They leaned in to me a bit.

"Oh I know you. You're the uhh Hiiragizawa Shoto boy?"

"N-no I'm H-Higawari Shouta. But you're very close! I can see how you can get confused." 'I'm way too nervous! They don't know my name so this is going to be a lot harder.'

"My bad. I'm the top designer here. You can call me Hotaru. How can I help you?"

"Nice to meet you, H-Hotaru-san. I came here today to ask- if possible- if you would like to design a unit coord for me and Momo-san oh uh Suzukawa Momo-san. We're participating in the Twinkle cup in a few weeks. She saw a past collection of yours and wanted to see if you'd be interested."

"The Twinkle cup? Isn't that a unit competition? Why don't you just wear your own coords? Why go through the trouble of getting a unit coord?"

"We did think about that. In the end even if it's temporary we decided to give it our all. We're still not sure what happens in the future but we hope that we can go together on stage more than once. In those cases, we would most likely wear the outfits you made us."

This was nearly a word by word message from Momo. She wanted the designer to know that we would find value in the clothes given to us. Not just using them solely for the tournament. Having a coord made for us specifically would take time and we had to pay them back with using it on stage. To let them see their work in the field like they intended.

Their eyebrows tighten a bit. 'Did I do something wrong already?'

"If I remember correctly Suzukawa Momo is the Star couple's daughter?"

"Y-yes." It was sad that that's how they chose to address her but it wasn't a lie. She still had a lot of people refer to her that way.

"You two have been pretty flashy since your debuts. Don't you want a more popular brand designer? You should have gone to Angely Sugar. Sure they would love Hoshimiya's daughter to represent them."

"Uh thank you for the advice but um Angely Sugar isn't really fitting for her. Momo-san is more like her dad in terms of style."

"Oh okay then. Sorry I don't think I can make your unit coord. I don't know much about you besides you being her little tag-along person. Wouldn't work out." Two things stood out in this. One they sounded in disbelief that Momo was different than her mom. Two that they called me a tag- along to her. Like I was stuck on her unwillingly.

"I'm sorry what do you mean about me?"

"You were scouted by her correct? Since then you two were always together. Never hear news about you without being accompanied by her. So use to that way that it's surprising you're here alone to ask me. Almost thought you didn't have a will of your own."

My mouth tempted to drop open at that. "I don't mean to be rude but yeah I do like being with her. That doesn't make me any less of an individual."

"Yeah of course. But you can't deny that you owe part of your popularity to you being the Star Couple's daughter friend. Add on to your crazy, constant news breakout. You stutter and ramble that I can't imagine you having a stage presence. Sorry I'm not going to design for you two."

They didn't give me time to respond, going back inside their studio. I stood completely frozen in spot. It took me a few seconds to fully process what happen. It wasn't that Hotaru shut down our request that threw me off but their impression off us. In their eyes Momo and I only became idols because of her parents. It was bothering me that they said it without even knowing my name. That we worked hard for where we are now.

"Um! Hotaru-san! Can we speak a bit more?!" I yelled out in hopes they would come back out. They didn't.

I sighed, walking around. I paced a bit to think. 'Should I call Momo-san? No, kinda don't want her to hear what they said about her. But what they said about me... No I can't think that way! I'm growing as an idol but my music didn't deserve to be ignored. I poured myself into each stage I did. I wanted nothing more than to have people listen to my music.'

I walked a few steps back so that I could see the full building. 'I need to tell show them who we truly are. I can do that with my music. I can't believe I'm going to do this.'

I took a few deep breaths. I was going to sing with no music just like Momo did the day we met. It was the only way I could think to have Hotaru hear me out. 'It doesn't matter if I don't have music or Momo beside me. I have my own skills to show. Please listen to me.'

Toki wa nagareru No I didn't have the lung capacity to sing as loudly as I wanted

Kyou o ga owatte iku No I didn't know if this would work

Itsu no mani ka But if there is one thing I've learned to believe in

Kokoro ga oite ikare soo It's in my music and the emotions I carry with it. I'm not the same boy before joining Aikatsu

Cloudy Day

Akiramete ita

Tsumuida kotoba mo mmm

Sora ni kiete iku nda

Dou sure ba ii no?

Boku no koe wo

Uta ni nosetai nda

Itsu ka kitto

Kanau hazu darou

I wrote this song thinking about how it would be if I didn't become an idol. If my music stayed within my notebook without anyone hearing it. The way I was, how I still am most of the time, made it hard for me to speak. Slowly I allowed myself to open up to people around me. To allow them to hear me even if I wasn't the best.

Shining through the clouds

Doko made mo tsuzuite iku

Yume no kakera

Hiroiatsumete iku Now here I want to tell Hotaru, show them that I can take a risk. Just like Momo did the day we met. Sing with everything I have.

Kodoku sae mo

Kibou ni kaete ii nda

Sasayaku koe ga

Boku wo michibiita kara

Tsugi e no ippo wo

Tsuyoku fumidashite iku

Monogatari no hajimari I wonder if this was the same feeling Momo had when she sang for me

By the time I was done they had come back out. "Nice song. You make it yourself?"

"Yes! It's not finished but I wrote it myself. I only like to show my songs when they're done so this is new for me. It doesn't change that the best way I express myself is through my music."

"I liked the song but why did you sing it now? Don't you feel scared singing with any accompaniment?"

"I have something to say. Something that overcomes the embarrassment if you didn't listen. I'm not leaving until you hear me out." They leaned against the door frame. Since they didn't leave yet I took that as them hearing me out.

"About Momo-san and I, it's true that we were together from the beginning. That doesn't give you the right to judge her. She was the one that made Takahashi-senpai debut. Managed to convince Mr. S to write about us. Inspired Asuka-san to design again. Constantly she is improving herself."

"And you? What about your achievements? Don't you want to stand up for yourself?"

"I-" I was always Momo's biggest fan. I focused so much on her that sometimes I forgot myself. People like the designer that thought I was useless existed. Because I stuck to her so much I gave myself that image.

On the other hand, it was because of her that I grew. Every time she grew, I wanted to follow after her. In my own way I did. I was starting to understand why Momo hated being called the Star couple's daughter.

"I don't have the confidence to say that I match up to her. But I changed the tradition for Pon Pon Crepe's representatives. I wrote a song in one night that beat out second year contestants. I sung an unreleased song by More than True. I brought Inoue-senpai back into the spotlight... I scouted Momo-san myself. And now I will prove you wrong about us."

I bowed to them. "I won't ask you to design for us if you really don't want to it. But I ask that you take back what you said about us. We are not only the Star Couple's daughter and her friend. We are Suzukawa Momo and Higawari Shouta."

The main problem I had wasn't that we weren't going to get cards out of them. It was that they disregarded all of our work. I wasn't an accessory to Momo or anyone else. The same goes for her.

I raised my head hearing Hotaru awkwardly clear their throat. "Sorry sorry I didn't mean to offend you or her. You should know that I don't like to give my outfits easily. That's because it doesn't feel right to give something I worked hard on to anyone. Hearing about you two I didn't think much about your personalities compared to the many many news articles on you. I apologize for my ignorance."

"I can understand where you're coming from. The best part is, we are the same on tv and off. There's parts of us that we don't naturally show in front of the camera. All of that is us too."

"I can see that." They nodded a few times. "Alright. I'll make a unit coord for you two. If you still want me to that is."

I almost jumped up in excitement. "Yes! We'll be honoured if you do. I'm sure Momo-san would say the same if she were here."

"I'll get right to work on it. Can I ask what your unit name is?"

"It's TRUST."

"TRUST is a promising name. Your relationship is a strong one that I'm the one honoured to be your unit designer. It's getting late so you should make it back to school. I'll make sure to get your cards ready for the day."

"Thank you again. I'll take my leave now then." I turned to go when they spoke up again.

"Oh and before I forget," I looked back at them. "Your song was really nice. I genuinely mean that. I hope that in future I can design for you more. To hear another original by you in one of my outfits would be nice." I smiled knowing that I had just made Hotaru approve of us.

"I'd like that too."

The Twinkle cup performances were underway! We already got our order that it was almost our time to go. I was nervous since Hotaru hadn't finished yet. It was cutting it close that I almost passed out when I finally got the message that they arrived.

I ran to the main lobby to meet them. "Sorry sorry for almost being late!"

"No I'm just glad you made it on time. How was creating it? I hope not too hard."

"I actually took a lot of inspiration from you and the short story named the most scared human. Introducing the TRUST's unit coord! Suzukawa Momo's Fearless Flower coord and Higawari Shouta's Fearful Flower coord." They held out the cards out in front of me.

At first I was surprised how different they were. Momo's Fearless Flower coord was a mix of dark violet and blue with bright pink while my Fearful Flower was rose quartz, serenity and gold. It was clear to see how Hotaru made it use the spectrum difference in the colours to make me appear softer and Momo more dangerous.

Looking closer I saw that the outfits themselves were practically the same thing. A t-shirt having a bundle of flowers cover the one long sleeve. Fearless' sleeve on the right side and Fearful on the left. The flowers looked a bit different too. Her arm had one solid hot pink colour and mine had the rose quartz colour more on the bottom of each petal, fading outwards.

The center of the shirt itself had a something like sash crossing over in the chest. I state somewhat because it was a part of the shirt. As if it ripped through to show the inside. Fearless have multiple peaches exploring space; Fearful having a music staff covered in fur balls. Our idol auras.

Both coords had shorts that ended around our knees. On the bottom of one of the legs was an outline drawing of a crescent moon over looking a lake filled with the same flowers on the shirt's arm. The other leg having the word TRUST on it.

I held onto the cards tightly. "Thank you very much! Please watch out stage. We're sure to meet your expectations!"

Hotaru smiled. "I'm looking forward to it."

I bowed to them before running to go to Momo. She was talking to one of the workers. Before I would have felt left out that I couldn't help with everything. Now I had the confidence in myself to not compare myself.

The worker soon finished and Momo came up to me. She gestured for us to start walking to the backstage area to get ready for our turn. "Got it? Kind of sorry that I couldn't meet Hotaru-san myself."

"It's fine. They're going to be watching us so you can show your appreciation this way. This is my Fearful Flower coord and your Fearless Flower coord." I handed her her cards.

"Mine is the Fearless Flower coord? How peculiar."

"Why? You're a very confident person." She stood a bit closer so that I could see her cards.

"Not that. The term fearless is a synonym for bravery. This palette is very dark for that. In most cases this would call for bold colours of victory and courage. Not to mention this flower. It's similar to a rose but I don't believe it is. In contrast there's your coord. Yes, they match us but the names are opposite to what they represent."

"Now that you say that the main designer said that the short story the most scared human was their inspiration. I didn't get a chance to ask what that story was about. I haven't heard of it, have you?" She nodded as she slowly realized what the designer was trying to show.

"Ahh I was wondering if that was a peony on yours. I suppose that would make my flower begonia. We have some time before our turn; Shall I tell the story?" We reached the changing booths area.

I nodded. "The story tells of this child who was scared of anything and everything. Those who knew them always made fun of them. They never fought back, knowing that they were right. The entire introduction makes the reader pity the child. One day they come across these bullies picking on another child. They say stuff like oh they won't do anything, nothing to worry about, run away like you always do. Can you predict what happens next?"

"They run away?"

"Nope. The child helps the other out. They told them that they are the ones truly afraid for picking on others for fun. This was the first time anyone has seen this child talk back that the bullies run away."

"But the story is titled the most scared human. Doesn't standing up for the other make them brave?"

"Yes and no. In the story the main character was shaking while confronting the bullies. They wanted to ignore the situation and do as they always did. They were scared just like the title. But the thing is Shouta-kun, you can't have bravery without fear. Those traits in people are not stationary. Come time even the most confident people will have cases where they want to hide. The child was indeed a cowardly person but they were incredibly brave as well. Just like any other person."

She pointed down to the peony flowers on my card's arm. "The cover differs between publishers but one thing remains consistent. Two humans with no distinguishing features standing in a field of peonies. The flower of bravery."

Flowers themselves were incredibly strong now that I think about it. They displayed beautiful images with colourful petals in the hardest of condition. People loved them so much that they plucked them from the ground. I saw somewhere that some could grow back with the right conditions. They could start over again.

Between the two of us no one was more brave or scared. We changed ourselves as we seemed fit to situation. There were times Momo was worried. There were times I was brave. They weren't traits to be ashamed of. Instead we displayed them beautifully on us like a painting on our arms.

We heard the buzzer go off, signaling us that it was our turn. We nodded to each other. She held out her hand to me. Just like the day we met. The one by my side since the beginning. Suzukawa Momo. She wasn't only my competition but my friend that support me through everything.

"Nee arigatou..."

"Gomen..."

"Oyasumi..."

Momo gave out a satisfied breath out as we went into one of the waiting rooms. "For us that have very different appeals, I think we did well. And I know that we have a lot of eyes on us because of our history. That plays in our favour."

"I'm just glad I got the chance to perform with you. We've always worked on my songs at school that we never showed it on a real stage. It was a lot of fun."

"I agree, regardless of the results, I'm proud of what we did today. And how you managed to secure us these coords." I became prideful at that last sentence. It was a bit of a struggle at first. In the end it paid off. Hotaru was an amazing designer that I want to wear their clothes again.

"Everyone give a warm welcome to our next unit, DEBUT!" I looked at the tv on the wall as she went to get our water bottles. My eyes widened at the new unit popping onto the stage. "What is this? Shall I introduce these members?"

"Uhhh Momo-san you might want to see this."

"The members of this group are Ceasire Hayate and-" She turned around, chocking on her water. After pounding on her chest a few times she managed to clear her throat.

"Yu-kun?!"

Trivia: Finally we reveal Shouta's brand! And the start to the Twinkle Star Cup! Originally the name was going to be a Hotaru no Hanashi (ホタルの話, Firefly's story) based off of an episode in the anime Kobato. Basically it told the story of a storybook writer that lost his lover. In the end I thought to be a bit more straightforward in the name and thus Hidden Story was made.