Mai walked onto the grounds of Celestial Academy, clutching onto the handle of a pastel pink suitcase. It had been around a month just the auditions had taken, and the school year was finally starting. The school grounds were bustling with students, some looking extremely nervous, but the majority seeming excited. Mai looked around, her eyes sparkling.
"I'm here… I'm finally going to become an idol!" She exclaimed, with a large smile on her face. She had been looking forward to arriving for the entire month, and she was finally here! After taking in the amazingness of it all, the pink haired took a deep breath, before noticing a bulletin board with the words "Dorm Numbers" neatly printed on the top. Mai's eyes gleamed once again as she excitedly started to walk over. She pushed through the large crowd in front of her and started scanning through the list for her name. After a few seconds, she finally noticed her name, and she nodded.
"Room 437… that's here!" Mai clutched onto the sleeve of her green blazer. She had forgotten to check her roommate's name... What if she was supposed to? The pinkette quickly shook her head, took a deep breath, and placed her hand on the door handle.
"Calm down, Mai. You're worrying for nothing- I'm sure she's nice!" She muttered to herself, desperately trying to perk herself up. The young girl opened the door. On the other side, there was a girl with long, purple hair in a side ponytail, desperately unpacking. As the door opened, she turned to face Mai, and both girls blinked.
"It's you!" Mai exclaimed, pointing at the girl, "I'd recognise that side ponytail anywhere!" The purple haired girl stood up.
"Amamiya Mai… I knew I recognised your name from somewhere!" She paused, before smiling. "You made it in, then? Congrats!" Mai blushed slightly before realising something.
"Wait, I'm in the wrong dorm, aren't I?!" She reddened, embarrassed by her realization. "There's no way you're a first year... Right?" She reached for the door once again until the purple haired girl spoke up.
"I… am a first year though?"
"Ehh?? But, you look so mature, and you're so talented!" Mai let go of the handle and turned to take a better look at her new roommate. The girl had bright magenta eyes, and an extremely good figure, especially for a twelve-year-old. She sighed.
"Just because I don't look like a child like you do…", she muttered, laughing slightly, "What about the other one? Did that annoying girl get through?"
Mai pouted."Sachi-chan isn't annoying!!" The purple haired girl laughed in response, causing Mai to giggle as a result.
"You're pretty good at avoiding questions," the purple haired girl responded before holding her hand out, "I never introduced myself, did I? I'm Shimura Tsubaki!" Mai smiled and grabbed Tsubaki's hand.
"I'm Amamiya Mai! Nice to meet you, Shimura-san!" She beamed brightly, and Tsubaki smiled, as the two shook hands. Tsubaki stared at the two suitcases, dumped on the floor before glancing over to the two twin bed.
"We should probably start unpacking already. We have the entrance ceremony soon, after all. Which bed do you want?"
Around an hour later, the two girls made their way to the main hall. It was filled with students, all shining in their own ways. The two girls sat, and before long, the headmistress walked onto the stage.
"Good day, everyone!" Makoto greeted smiling as the hall fell silent, "Congratulations on all making it in this school! From here on, a new path filled with opportunities will open up as you make your way through your idol activities." Throughout the audience, various first years started to smile confidently, Tsubaki included, as the realisation they had made it in started to finally sink in.
"However, just because you've managed to enroll here doesn't mean you're already a top idol. You'll have to work harder than anyone to become the top star in the school, the Celestial Star!" Taking her cue, a third year walked onto the stage. She had long, brown hair, with small buns on either side. Her eyes were pale blue, filled with kindness. She held herself gracefully, smiling gently at the applause from the audience.
"She's beautiful…" Mai whispered as Tsubaki shook her head.
"Aino Rina is far more than just beautiful. She's one of the brightest idols in the world. She managed to completely destroy the previous Celestial Star." Tsubaki whispered as the applause died down. Rina started to speak up.
"Good morning, everyone. My name is Aino Rina. It's so nice to see everyone! Each and every one of you shined so brightly at the auditions. I can't wait to see you as you nurture your shine." She paused as more people applauded. "Tomorrow, lessons will begin, and you'll take your first steps to truly becoming an idol. Until then, please take today to look around the school and get to know your roommate. I hope everyone will be able to make great friends here, for a single star can't light up the night sky by itself." The hall fell silent once again, as everyone in the audience tried to figure out what the idol had meant. Makoto stepped forwards once again.
"Which brings us to your first challenge: at the end of the week, every first year is to put on a performance with their roommate. An idol should be able to work together with anyone to put on a brilliant performance. Until that time arrives, please work hard on perfecting your shine." As Makoto and Rina walked off the stage, students began to leave. Tsubaki turned to Mai.
"We're performing together, huh? You better be skilled, then." Mai blinked, pouting.
"I can say the same to you," she muttered. Tsubaki laughed and patted Mai on the head.
"You're so adorable, trying to seem angry. Want to look around?" She stood and Mai hastily followed.
"Of course! Where should we go first?" Mai beamed. Tsubaki put a finger to her lip.
"Well, since we have a performance soon, the gym would be great!" She grabbed Mai's hand and started dashing to the gym. After getting changed into their tracksuits, the two entered the large room. Various idols were already practising dancing, singing, and special appeals. Mai looked around eagerly.
"They're all shining so brightly!" She exclaimed, feel her heart pounding. Tsubaki nodded. "What did you expect? They're idols. It's their job to shine, y'know?"
"Well, I know that," Mai pouted before pausing, "It just feels so… unreal. Am I really as talented as everyone else here?" The purple haired girl smiled.
"Well, you made it into this school, didn't you?" She started to walk into the room and climbed onto a free trampoline. "Come on here, let's make the most of our time before lessons start!" Mai hesitated, before climbing on too.
"Right, Shimura-san!" The two started to bounce, as Tsubaki started to do a pose, as Mai watched in awe.
"Woah…"
"Aren't you going to practise Cute Live?" Tsubaki raised an eyebrow, and Mai quickly nodded and started to do the final pose in Cute Live. The taller girl shook her head.
"Too sloppy! You need absolute accuracy, or you'll never be able to pull off a satisfactory special appeal!" Mai stopped bouncing, and looked at Tsubaki with a look of complete confusion. Tsubaki sighed. "Basically, a special appeal is when you manage to turn the radiance of your coord into a stage illusion. Using one or even two greatly increases the appeal of your performance!" The pink haired girl suddenly looked determined, and started to bounce again.
"So, basically, I just have to do a pose at the exact right moment to practise? At the peak of my jump?"
"Yes, exactly! Just like how you should aim to an appeal at the peak of your performance!" The two started to try again, and this time Mai managed to pull off her pose just a second before the perfect time. A look of pride appeared on her face.
"Ahh, I so almost got it! On my second attempt, isn't that great?" Tsubaki shook her head.
"If you want to make it in this world, only the best will do," she paused as Mai tensed up, "but it was a good try! Let's try it again, together this time." Mai nodded and took a deep breath as Tsubaki started to count.
"3, 2, 1…. Aikatsu!" The two jumped up. Tsubaki place her hands to her lips, and blew a kiss, whilst Mai made a hugging motion. The two both landed gracefully, and a few moments passed, before the small girl hugged Tsubaki.
"I done it!" She exclaimed, and Tsubaki smiled slightly.
"We both did it," she whispered, so Mai was unable to hear. Mai pulled away, a huge smile on her face.
"What do we do now? Singing? Dancing?" Mai beamed, hopefully. Tsubaki coughed, returning to her more serious self, and shook her head.
"I think it's time we try jogging. I hear Celestial Academy has a pretty good track." She grabbed Mai's hand and started to head towards the door. A puzzled look appeared on Mai's face.
"Wait, I didn't think we'd have to do running~!"
Tsubaki stopped."You didn't? Well, jogging is one of the most important parts of Aikatsu! And, it's fun!" She pouted as Mai sighed.
"I have no choice but to do it, do I?" Tsubaki laughed. "It's fine! No matter how much you despise sports, nobody can hate jogging after a few months of Aikatsu!" She grabbed Mai's hand again. "Let's go!"
"That was such hard work~" Mai muttered as the two girls sat down. They had just finished practising in every area. Tsubaki shook her head.
"As we progress, it'll only get harder. You know that, right?"
Mai nodded. "You seem to know everything about Aikatsu, Shimura-san. It's amazing~!"
Tsubaki looked to the side. "It's because, there's somebody who I have to beat. And in order to do that, I have to be perfect in every area. If not…" She punched the ground, her voice quiet, yet frustrated, "I'll be beaten. Just like every other time."
Mai looked towards Tsubaki before looking down. "To get beaten so many times… it must hurt."
Tsubaki nodded. "Tell me about it."
Mai clutched her sleeve. If the atmosphere didn't lighten up soon, things could be bad.
"At least… at least we both have a dream! One that pushes us to work harder with our Aikatsu!"
Tsubaki looked towards Mai. "A dream?"
Mai stood, and nodded. "A dream! You have somebody who you want to beat, and I want to stand on stage with Sachi-chan someday! These dreams, they push us on! Isn't that a wonderful thing?" The purple haired girl smiled to herself.
"I suppose... I've never thought of it that way."
"Dreams are wonderful things! Because of them, we can reach new heights never seen before! We have a reason to keep going! So, let's do our best Aikatsu we can!"
Tsubaki stood up, a confident aura suddenly surrounding her. "You may not be the most skilled idol in the world but, passion like yours is rare! Amamiya Mai, Aikatsu with me, be my rival! That way," she held out her hand, "Our dreams won't be our only motivation, we'll have each other to push ourselves on!"
Mai smiled, and held onto Tsubaki's hand. "Let's do our best Shi-" Tsubaki shook her head.
"Call me Tsubaki, Mai-san!"
For the rest of the week, the two girls continued to practise as hard as they could. They spent many evenings jogging, singing, dancing, practising special appeals, and generally just cheering each other on. Mai happily hummed, as she recalled all the practise they had done. After a few moments, a large man walked in.
"Good morning, lovelies!" He exclaimed, and slammed his desk. "Today, we'll be focusing on coords, their rarities, and types!" He grabbed a remote and pressed a button. The projector quickly switched on, showing a picture of a set of Aikatsu cards.
"Who here can explain what the rarity of a card means?" He asked, and Mai's hand shot up. She had covered coord rarities with Tsubaki the day before. The man, Chisaka Kaoru, nodded in her direction.
"Go on then, Amamiya-san."
She stood up. "The rarity of a coord depends on how appealing it is. Normal coords are basic, and can be found anywhere. They have the lowest appeal points. Rare coords can be described as limited edition, and have an average amount of appeal points. Premium Rare coords are the greatest of all, and are made specifically for the idol who wears it. They're one of a kind, and have high appeal points." Mai sat down as the teacher nodded.
"Very good! Now, can anyone else explain to me about the four idol types?" The room stayed silent, as students all looked around for somebody to answer. Mai clasped her hands together, wishing Tsubaki was in the same homeroom as her, so she could answer.
"Nobody?" The teacher asked, when the girl next to Mai raised her hand.
"I believe I know," she said, standing up. The girl had platinum blonde hair, tied into two low twintails. Her eyes were lime green, and she gave off an air of authority. The man smiled.
"Tell us then, Hinode-san." The girl smirked.
"There are four types of coord in the Aikatsu System. Cute, Cool, Pop and Sexy. Each brand has a main type of coord they create, such as how the brand Exciting Topaz specialises in Pop coords. Each idol uses a brand which correlates to their idol type- the type of coord they chose in their audition," she paused, to point at the ribbon tied around her collar, which was a bright yellow. Mai looked at hers, which was a dark pink, and she remembered Tsubaki's being a lilac colour. The blonde girl continued on.
"Cute types are feminine and pastel, with common themes being fairytales and angels. Cool types are, as the name suggests, cool. They often either take a rock, or goth thematic. Sexy types are more mature, using dark colours, and taking a more glamorous approach. Pop types are bright, full of energy, and tend to use exotic colours." The girl sat down as the class started to applaud.
"So easy~" The girl yawned quietly. Mai watched her, amazed by her explanation.
"That was an amazing explanation, Hinode-san!" Kaoru exclaimed, as the girl smiled smugly. "Anyway, that's enough of that! It's Friday, meaning it's finally the day of your first duo performances! I hope you're all prepared, as it's time for them to start! Everyone, head to the main hall." Every student stood and started to nervously talk to their friends as they walked over.
"Hinode-san's going to outshine us all, isn't she? I hear she got the highest score out of everyone on the entrance exam."
"Really? Whoever's with her is so lucky, then!"
"I doubt it. I hear she can be real lazy at times, and this show relies on teamwork. Maybe we actually have a chance!"
As they arrived backstage, everyone seemed to be talking about the blonde girl, who paid no attention to all the gossip. Mai watched the girl, absorbed by her beauty and confidence.
"What're you doing, Mai?" Tsubaki asked, creeping up behind Mai. The pink haired girl froze.
"Hey, you okay?" Mai nodded, and started to relax.
"Sorry, I think nerves are starting to get to me…" Mai quietly said as Tsubaki tilted her head.
"Really? I thought we had everything down!" Mai nodded but redirected her attention to Hinode Hinata.
"Yes, but… Hinode-san is truly sparkling. What if she's so good, nobody remembers our performance?" Mai continued to watch her as the idol went to talk to her roommate.
"Really? Her roommate, Hanazono-san, is in my homeroom. And according to her, Hinode-san is stubborn and lazy. If the two can't get along, they don't stand a chance at shining brightly." Mai looked away, seeming uncertain for a split second, before smiling once again.
"You're right! Let's make this stage ours, then!" Tsubaki smiled back.
"Of course. We're rivals, after all. It'd be a waste if we didn't go all out." Before long, all the performances began to start. Each pair shone off their own dynamic, and it was obvious each idol had worked hard towards making this first live the best they could. It wasn't long until Hinata and her roommate, Hanazono Miku were on stage, singing "Aikatsu, Here We Go!" They both managed to bring out their auras, and Hinata even managed to do the Pop Live special appeal.
"She's so incredible…" Mai muttered and Tsubaki nodded.
"I feel sorry for whoever has to go after them, that for sure." Just as the two girls walked off stage, the girl with twintails from the audition ran backstage.
"Dorm 437, please go on standby!"
Tsubaki froze. "I shouldn't have said that, should I?"
Mai took a deep breath. "It's fine! If we're negative, it'll only worry others, so we should smile instead!" She paused, "At least, that's what Mama used to always say." The purple girl laughed.
"You say such interesting things, Mai-san," She pumped herself up, and smiled, "Let's go then!" The two girls ran to the changing area, and placed the Pink Cosmos Coord and the Purple Cosmos Coord cards in their respective slots. Out of Mai's tablet, a pink beam shot out, and a purple beam shot out of Tsubaki's. The two beams each made a doorway, and the two idols ran through. After going down the slide, the two jumped onto the platform and posed, as a large pink heart, and a large purple spade appeared behind them.
The two girls both jumped onto the stage, and stood side by side. Then, the music started up.
Let's go, Aikatsu!
The show's starting, don't you know?
Let's go, Aikatsu!
Our voices will reach the rainbow~
The two girls began to sing, both in sync. They both seemed more confident than their first auditions, perhaps due to the fact that they were used to performing now, or perhaps since they weren't alone anymore.
We may not be the most confident
But we have passion, isn't that all we need?
So let's just embrace this rare moment
It's a miracle, indeed
There may be days where we feel down
But even then, you shouldn't give up!
There's always miracles, you just have to look around
That's the one promise, I'll make to you!
Tsubaki's aura, consisting of blue roses and white jewels appeared. As Mai quickly glanced at it, she began to smile brighter, causing her own aura to appear.
Let's chase this Aikatsu!
Aikatsu, Here We Go!
A cute smile, a cool dream
A popping day, and sexy colour scheme!
Nobody can stop us now!
Let's go, Aikatsu!
The show's starting, don't you know?
Don't give up, and a opportunity will present
Just find the dream you represent!
Mai then reached out her hands, and proceeded to perform the appeal Cute Live. Tsubaki followed, the stage filling with purple sparkles. She blew a kiss to the audience, causing butterflies to surround her in the shape of a spade, and the stage returned to normal.
(Ah~) To a distant rainbow~
(Ah~) Aikatsu, Here We Go!
The two girls posed before running backstage again.
"Performing with you felt so good!" Mai exclaimed, hugging Tsubaki.
"I actually managed to do a special appeal…" Tsubaki murmured. Mai looked confused.
"Didn't you do one in your audition?"
Tsubaki shook her head. "I think practising with you the other day helped a lot. So thank you, Mai." Mai looked taken aback for a second before shaking her head vigorously.
"No no no no no! I learnt a lot this past week thanks to you!" As the two girls continued to praise and compliment each other, Hinata watched them from afar.
"To pull off appeals at such a low level… maybe this school won't be a walk in the park after all!" She smiled to herself, as the next group headed onstage.
A/N: Quite a short chapter, honestly. I wasn't super inspired for this particular chapter, but now that the two introduction chapters are over, things will get more interesting