Chapter 2 -
'As the original members wrapped up practice, the wind began to rise.'
"No, you have to turn faster. River is fast-paced, so you should stay on the balls of your feet to avoided hurting your legs. There - bend your knees a little too." Takamina called out, clapping as Mayuyu stuck the ending pose.
"See, you can do it when you try." Mariko cheered as the petite girl bent over at the waist, beads of sweat dripping of her nose.
"Easy f….for you to say…" She heaved, collapsing. Miichan nudged her with a muddy shoe. "If you suddenly stop moving after you exercise, your heart will stop, and we'll have to explain to your parents why you're suddenly caput." Mayuyu gave her a stink-eye as she rolled over.
"You sound like Sayaka." Miichan shuddered, eyes rolling heavenward.
Takamina pulled Mayuyu to her feet. "Please don't mention it." Miichan moaned.
Mayuyu giggled at Miichan's pained face. "She would be proud."
Miichan waved her hands in front of her face. "She would call me out for stopping in Aitakatta…and I really do not need to be called out."
"Let's not bully each other now, right? Nyan ~" Kojiharu called, walking over with Tomochin. "You girls are much sweeter then this."
"Not Miichan." Mariko put in, mischief making her eyes sparkle. "She was born with a black heart."
"Ooohh~ Sadistic Mariko is here." Someone said. Miichan swung around to look at Mariko and the offending voice.
"I do not have a black heart! Someone tell Mariko I'm as sweet and kind as a puppy - a newborn puppy!" Mariko cackled as she jumped away from Miichan's flailing fist.
"You're as contrary as a cat, and you're a tease too."
Kojiharu pouted at the latter's statement. "The title of 'Tease' belongs to me, thank you - and cats are not contrary, they're cute."
Mariko only grinned, and pulled a small beanie from her workout bag. "Fine, fine, I concede."
"We should get going, girls…the winds picking up." Acchan walked over, snug in a long coat and scarf. "We have homework as well." She looked pointedly at Tomochin, who batted her eyes innocently.
"Homework is after fashion, and you know that as well as I do, Atsuko." Acchan just shook her head and started walking with Takamina and Miichan towards the exit.
Kojiharu sauntered up to Tomochin and pulled on her arm. "Nyan~ She only wants you to come on the trip, but you can't come if you're not passing all of your classes." Tomochin sighed as she watched Mariko and Mayuyu walk ahead.
"Math is just impossible…and it's easy for Atsuko to say since she's third in the grade." The pair had started walking, wind pulling at loose tresses and corners.
"You could ask Yuki for help. She's a genius, is first in the grade, and she has all the teachers wrapped around her oblivious fingers." Tomochin laughed at that, pulling her coat tighter around her.
"But then I'd actually have to work." She spun around to face Kojiharu. "Do you wanna get pickled plums for the walk back? I know a place that serves them with Tabasco sauce."
Her best friend shuddered, looking disgusted. "That was not subtle at all - and how can you even think of eating something like that?"
Nagisa grinned to herself as the debating duo left. Looks like some aspects of the idols never change, no matter what era.
"Chieri, Tomochin seems the most similar to her counterpart that we know - well, she is the original, but they could be…Chieri?"
Nagisa scanned the park, but there was no sign of the aquamarine-haired idol.
"Chieri, where'd you go?" Nagisa raised her voice, if only to shut out the increasingly loud thumps of her heart.
If she had looked back, she would have noted that the wind was of the same caliber as the previous whirlwind. She would have realized that it had peaked moments before, and that it had missed her by a few inches. She would have, like Chieri, become hopeful, if only for a moment, that they would reawaken on the Flying Get, with no time past. Before realizing, given their luck, that it was all going wrong.
A second wind, warm and vicious, slammed into Nagisa's chest, knocking her down and out. The ground swallowed the unconscious girl, and she fell again, through time.
—
"Chieri, you can open your eyes now." An unfamiliar voice said.
Chieri's eyes snapped open. She had returned to the stairwell, but it was completely abandoned. No Center Nova's, no Yuuko, no Nagisa. She felt moisture behind her eyes and her throat burning as she curled up on the ground. Despite her love for solitude, this was too much.
Sniffles became louder as she pitied her loneliness. While knowing full well that she was acting completely pathetic and out of character, she stubbornly argued that if no one was around, there was no reason why she couldn't. In reality though, she just couldn't find the effort to care.
"You're a lot more sensitive than you usually let on, aren't you?" A petite girl with soft, loopy hair and doe eyes regarded her with a small smile. Her eyes…and that expression - self-satisfied, and mischievous.
"…Yuuko?" She croaked, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
"The 7th, in person." The former Center's smile grew wider with the pleasure of being recognized. "Not bad."
"Where's Nagisa?" Chieri, if she was being honest with herself, would have admitted that she only cared about the location of the pinkette.
Yuuko the 9th peered at her through sparkling eyes. "She's viewing more of AKBs unique history."
"Why aren't I with her?" Her voice was growing stronger…and colder.
Yuuko shrugged and jumped down a flight to land on her step, forcing the younger girl to stumble back.
"Don't sass your elders, missy." She flicked her on the nose, which only made Cheiri's gaze more heated.
"I want to know where my friend is." Anger was icy in her tone
A conspiring grin quickly grew on the elder one.
"You love her." Rapid reddening of the cheeks provided her answer.
"Idols can't have relationships." Just like that, the powerful ice was displaced with hot embarrassment and denial. Good thing Yuuko's are known to be both infuriating and stubborn.
"Don't play devil's advocate. It's not nice to keep secrets from your friends." She leaned in closer, puckering her lips.
"Or is it that you love my current self?"
She shook her head spasmodically. At least she knew not to lie, Yuuko noted.
"However, as much as I want to wantonly press you for delicious details about your passionate love, time is much too fleeting. Therefore, we're going to skip that conversation, and move along towards your ambition." She paused, looking directly into fazed eyes.
"Do you want - with all your being and soul…to be the next Center Nova?"
Still slightly disoriented from the rapid pace of conversation, Chieri blinked, flush slowly fading into white.
"Is that why I'm here?"
Yuuko nodded slowly, nitpicking at sentences until able to explain.
"The current AKB…what they wish for - to a point, is the same. They wish for a place to belong, a place to perform and shine…together. Being together is the key, and the strength of AKB. Being able to rely and help each other, during good and bad times. Each individual has their own specific wishes…their own set of dreams. But they don't look…past it. They view their goals as the limit - the end of the line. True, many want to become better, and improve themselves, but it's still the finish. You…and your friend, see past that. That betterment. Rising is your goal…therefore it's not the end. It's a continuous path, and you, Nagisa, and my current successor understand that."
She shot a glance at the understudy, measuring her reaction. After a moment, she continued.
"Going back to what I said before about being together - it's also the main reason for the Center Nova. The Center Nova is the only position that is alone. The best of the best has no equal, and that is the loneliness that comes with being a Center Nova. She may have challenges, but no rivals."
"I understand what your saying, but it sounds very selfish, which is almost the opposite of what 00 stands for."
Yuuko the 7th barked a laugh, causing Chieri to jump.
"The Center Nova is selfish. That's the whole point. While she may care about others, adore and love others…in the end, she'll put herself first."
Chieri frowned, unenlightened. "Is is required?"
Yuuko cocked her head to the side. "Think of my current successor. You've personally remarked about how self-centered she can be - I can be. You've also said, if I remember correctly, that for every girl that succeeds, there's several more that are broken. It's the exact same deal. You have to get rid of rivals…you have to become your own enemy - in order to rise into the stars."
Watching the younger girl stew in silence, she gave a small smile.
"We figured that you two needed a push…and then we wanted to give you treat that usually only succeeded Center Nova's get to see."
"I don't…" Chieri folded and unfolded her hands several times before done editing her words. "I don't see why you're telling me this."
Looking up, she saw that the legendary Yuuko the 7th had lost her coy smile, and was staring at her with a burning intensity.
"Because we - you have one Center in limbo, one determined but holding back, and one about to fall…just like you almost lost your nerve before."
"I never -"
"Be quiet and listen, Chieri Sono!" Yuuko snapped, eyes fierce. "Yuuko the 9th let her ambition consume her, and it still wasn't enough. She grew and grew, and eventually exploded - not just figuratively, but she failed to complete the conditions. Nagisa Motomiya has the potential and drive, but she's holding back - although she very well won't forever, and when she does get going, she'll shoot past you before you can blink! You even admitted to giving up to her before!"
She stopped to suck in a breath, before finishing the lecture.
"You need to suck it up and decide on your path. Granted, you've had it harder then others, but this is the only way to make it right. The fate of entertainment is balancing on a line, and the responsibility falls to both you and Nagisa!"
Chieri studied her feet as she listened to the older girl's words. She wanted to become Center Nova…but she didn't want to do it alone.
"Than you're no better then the others, and I've wasted my time."
She realized that she had spoken out loud. Instead of feeling cowed, however, she was getting angry again.
"Those 'others' that you keep mentioning are the ones shining right now. You're just another memento in the history of our group. Don't talk high and mighty because you're a Center Nova! AKB stands for bravery, strength, love, and above all, trust. That is why I hold my head up for performances and fights, and it's the reason I want to become Center Nova. I want to show and create the bonds that AKB has - to more and more people, until the entire universe overflows with the music of 00!"
Chieri stomped up to the past Center. Wide doe eyes locked on fiery blue ones.
"Get off your mighty throne, Yuuko Oshima the 7th! I will become Center Nova, and I will continue to share my path with my beloved ones until and after I pass through the gate."
Chieri felt the wind of time caress her cheeks, and felt a wild excitement transcend her being. She would find the meaning of AKB, and would bring back the lessons she learned to put to use. This, she promised herself.
"Nagisa and I shall rise above the universe as one, and when I meet you at the gate, you will admit that you, the selfish Yuuko Oshima the 7th, was unequivocally, indisputably WRONG!"
The wind rose to a roar, as Chieri Sono glowed like a beacon in the empty galaxy, and disappeared.
Yuuko shielded her eyes against the bright tempest, and waited until everything was slow.
"You take the meaning of reverse psychology to another level, Yuuko."
Her cheeky grin returned as a figure approached her from behind.
"You were watching, Takamina?"
The shrimp of a girl shook her head in exasperation.
"She was serious, you know. I won't be surprised if she makes you apologize on knees while retracting your words."
A mischievous laugh sounded as Yuuko doubled over.
"I- hahaha…I can't WAIT! Did you see her brilliance, Takamina?! Have you watched her? Have you watched her with Nagisa?! Those two -" She straightened up, a fire possessed by all Yuuko's smoldering away in her eyes. "- will bring about a new age, an age which old traditions will be rendered null and void, and differences will become the norm! Man, I wish I was there right now!"
Takamina smiled knowingly, understanding exactly what her friend meant.
"They'll get here eventually, whether it's at the same time or not is debatable. In the meantime, however, why don't we go and see if we can get your namesake to move?"
A frustrated pout took the place of the merriment.
"I can't believe she's so stubborn."
"Since she's you, I wouldn't say anything."
"I never sulked!"
"Then why is she a Yuuko?"
"Takamina the 4th, do not accuse me of sulking!"
"It's a fact, clear as crystal. Yuuko's are among the most immature of all the AKB members."
"Takamina!"
The two friends playfully bickered their way up the staircases, up into the stars. After all, it was they're place to teach and prod along, not to act. It was up to their descendants now.