Hey guys and gals Azure here! As always I have no idea what to do for a damn intro. (And yet it never really sinks in that I don't have to do an intro) So yeah just gonna avoid any unnecessary BS and just begin.
Chapter 5: You want to be an Idol!?
I spent all last night trying to search for ways to help keep the school open. Unfortunately I came up empty. There were so many other schools that had better standings there was no way the old fashionedOtonokizaka High School to keep up.
I groaned loudly. "This is ridiculous! Is there nothing that makes our school standout?" I said out loud. I then glance back at my computer screen. I saw a school that's fairly close and is one of the best schools in the country. "UTX High huh?" I said looking at the screen.
I decided I'll check out the school tomorrow and headed to bed. I woke up the next morning and got ready for school. I walked over to Ren's door and knocked.
"Yo Ren I got something to take care of. So go meet up with the girls and let them know I may be a little late." I told him.
"Ok, but first my tie at least." He said pointing towards his tie. I shrugged my shoulders and tied his tie. "Thanks."
"No problem. Later bro." I said rushing out the door. UTX was quite a bit away, but I should be fine. I arrived in front of the school. It was a large white building with many windows scattered through the building; a large crowd of students were entering when I saw a familiar figure.
"Honoka?" I said in low voice. She was pressing her face against one of the windows. "Hey Honoka!"
She turned around to face me and ran over. "Hey Taku-kun! Why are you here?" She asked.
"I came to do some research. I was looking at other schools and saw that this was the closest one. I was hoping I could find something that may help the school here." I explained.
"Really!?" She asked completely shocked. I nodded. "That's awesome that's why I'm here. Great minds think alike huh?" She said with a smile.
"Haha I guess so." I said.
Just then a monitor came on with 3 girls being shown. The one on the right had ginger hair and purple eyes, the one in the middle had light brown hair and green eyes, and the one on the right had violet hair with bluish-green eyes. That all had on similar outfits with small differences in accessories.
"Hello everyone and welcome to UTX High!" the girls said in unison.
The crowd in front of us scream as if they were at a concert. I turned to Honoka who was looking at a pamphlet of the school. Where she get that?
"There from the brochure." She said looking back at the screen.
Just then a girl with black hair tied in pigtails wearing a large brown coat and scarf, she also had on sunglasses and a doctor's mask. How is she breathing while wearing all of that!?
"Um excuse me?" Honoka asked her.
"Yeah what?" The girl snapped. Well that was rude.
"Well I was just wondering are those girls on the screen like celebrities?" She asked.
"Seriously!?" Again with the snapping. This girl is really getting on my nerves now. "You have the pamphlet in your hand and you still don't know?" She sighed. "They're A-RISE. A school Idol group." She said.
"School idols?" Honoka said looking at me with a confused look. I just shrugged my shoulders.
"Yes singing idol groups formed in schools ring any bells?" The girl said.
Now that she mentions it there were a few schools that mentioned school idols on their websites.
"Kayo-chin wait up we're gonna be late!" I heard a female voice from behind us.
I turn to see 2 girls running this. Both had on Otonokizaka freshman uniforms, one had short orange hair and the other short brown and glasses. Just then the girls on the screen started to sing. The crowd went wild, even Honoka herself was in awe of the girls. I couldn't blame her though from their performance you would think they were professionals. I turned towards Honoka to let her know we should be heading back to school, but she was stammering away.
"Um Honoka you ok?" I asked her slightly worried of yesterday's fainting fiasco.
She stop at a rail and started shaking. I approached her and as I was about to tap her shoulder, when she jumped up.
"That's brilliant!" She exclaimed.
"Huh!?" I said taken aback.
"I'll explain later! Come on let's go tell the others!" She said and darted off.
"Hey! Wait Honoka!" I said chasing after her.
After we arrived at the school and finished classes for the day, Honoka finally told us her plan. She showed us a bunch of magazines with a variety of school idols. Now I know what she was thinking back at UTX. But before she could say her plan Umi snuck away; not fast enough to escape Honoka unfortunately.
"Hey Umi-chan! You didn't even let me say my idea." She pouted.
Umi sighed. "Let me guess you to form a school idol group correct?" Umi asked.
Honoka jumped back. "Holy crap are you psychic Umi-chan?" she asked. I facepalmed and Kotori's head tilted.
"Is she serious?" I asked Kotori.
"I think so." Kotori said with a nervous laugh.
"No I'm not." Umi said annoyed.
"Well at least it makes my job easier. Let's go to teachers and form the school idol club!" Honoka said pumping a fist in the air.
"No way." Umi said sternly.
"Huh? Why not?" Honoka sounded confused at the statement.
"Because becoming school idols isn't that easy. Do you honestly think this would bring more students?" Umi asked fiercely.
"Well it might if we become popular enough." Honoka said in soft tone trying not to anger Umi.
"News flash those girls in the magazines have been training just as hard as professionals do." Umi said. She's not kidding. A-RISE certainly gave off that vibe. "Someone decided to be one on a whim has no hope of making it. So allow me to be clear no school idols." Umi finished.
She then made her way to archery practice. Honoka had a sadden look on her face and up towards the roof. Kotori and I exchanged looks.
"I go check on Honoka. You mind talking to Umi when you're done with whatever you need to do?" I asked her.
"Sure thing Taku-kun." She said and headed off.
I made my way up towards to see a distraught Honoka looking down at the clubs.
"Awe man, and here I thought I had the perfect idea." She said.
"Well like Umi said it won't work unless you really want to do this." I said.
"I know." She said tilting her head down.
Just then we started to hear someone singing and a piano being played. Honoka went back into the school with me following and we followed the voice to a music room. As we approached the door we saw who was playing, it was Maki. Her voice was beautiful, angelic even. The way she was playing the piano shows she's been seriously practicing for a long time.
"Such a beautiful voice." Honoka said captivated.
"You can say that again." I agreed.
When Maki was done playing Honoka started to clap crazily and I decided to clap as well. When Maki saw us I could see the red appear on her face. Honoka just burst in afterwards. Oh boy here we go. I had a small smile on my face.
"You were incredible." Honoka complimented her.
"No it was nothing." Maki replied shyly.
"Are you kidding? You're a great singer and piano player. And even the cutest idols got nothing on you. Right Taku-kun?" She asked me filled with enthusiasm.
"Huh? Wait you're asking me if I think she's cute?" I said my face turning red. I looked towards Maki and I could see the blush on her face too. I quickly looked away and scratched my cheek. "Yeah I agree with you." Darn it Honoka! Why you have to put me on the pot like that?
Maki got out of her seat and started to walk towards the door with her head down.
"Hey wait!" Honoka shouted stopping Maki. "This may be weird, but would you like to be a school idol?" She asked. Coming on strong much?
Maki was stunned then frowned. "Sorry, but I'm not interested." She said leaving the room.
"Guess not. Well I got to go. Later Taku-kun." She said then darted off.
I sighed. "Well may as well go check on Umi." I said to myself and made my way towards the archery field. When I arrived Umi was in the middle of practicing her shots. However something was off, and by that I mean her aim. She kept missing the bulls-eye each time. From what she's shown me; Umi has practically perfect aim, so it doesn't make sense for to miss so many times and by so much. She tripped over her own foot and on instinct I rushed in to catch her.
"Hey you ok?" I asked.
"Y-yeah I'm fine. Thank you Takuto." She thanked me.
"Hey guys. Can you come with me?" I heard Kotori's voice calling from the door. I helped Umi up and we followed Kotori.
"Umi what caused you to miss so many shots back there?" I asked her a bit concerned knowing her skill.
"It's all Honoka's fault. I've haven't been able to stop thinking about the idol thing." Umi said.
"Maybe it's because you're actually interested." Kotori said half teasingly.
"No way." Umi retorted. "It's just I don't see this working out."
"Who knows? With Honoka crazy ideas are plentiful." Kotori said.
"Yeah remember when she had the four of us climb that tree when we were little?" I asked.
Flashback:
"What!?" A young Umi, Kotori and I said in unison.
"Let's climb this tree! It'll be fun." A young Honoka said excitedly.
She jumped on the tree and started to climb, with Umi and Kotori following behind. I stood behind just in case they fell so I could catch them. The 3 of them sat on a high branch and stared at the horizon. Luckily there was a bucket nearby for me to stand on. As we were looking at the view the branch the girls were sitting on broke. Luckily Honoka hung on to a branch above her, while the others latch on to the tree.
Flashback pause
"Yeah and because of situations like that we also end up in trouble." Umi said.
"Yeah that's true." Kotori agreed.
"She's always so pushy." Umi stated.
"Yeah, maybe. But do either of you have any regrets?" Kotori asked us both.
I smiled tilting my head down. "Not at all." I said.
"Same here." Umi agreed.
Flashback resumes:
Umi and Kotori were crying, saying they want to come down. Just when I was about to tell them to lower themselves so I can help them off they turn towards the sunset and smile in amazement. I did the same and had to admit the view was definitely breathtaking. After a while it was time to head home.
"Ok guys come on down. I'll catch you. Umi you're first." I said.
"Ok." She said and lowered herself enough for me to catch her when she jumped off. Kotori was next and did the same. Last was Honoka, but unfortunately she was still on the high branch.
"I'm not sure I can make it." Honoka said.
"Don't worry I'll catch you." I said.
"But it's really high." Honoka said shaking.
"You don't need to be scared. I promise I won't let you get hurt. Trust me ok?" I said giving her a reassuring smile.
"Ok. Here's go." She said as she let go.
I stood right underneath her as she came down and caught her, but the recoil sent me back on my back with Honoka on top of me.
"Oww." I said in pain.
"Sorry Taku-kun. Are you ok?" She asked worryingly.
"A little pain is all. I kept my promise though. I didn't let you get hurt." I said with a small laugh.
"Yep you did." Honoka laughed as well. She got off and lend me a hand. I took and stood up as we headed home.
Flashback end
We turned the corner and saw Honoka practicing some dances moves. She ended falling over a few times. She looked truly determined.
"You know what I think I'll climb the tree again. Would you 2 care to join me?" Kotori asked.
We both nodded. Honoka was about to fall again, but I rushed in a caught her.
"Huh?" Honoka looked up at me.
"Can't have you getting hurt before you can even perform can we?" I asked with a smile.
Umi walked over and held out her hand to Honoka. "What are you doing practicing all by yourself? If we're doing this we're doing it together." Umi said with a smile.
"Really?" Honoka asked a small smile on her face. We all gave her an assuring nod.
"Well let's go send in an application then." I said. With an agreeing gesture we headed towards the student council room. We filled out a form and presented it to Eli-sempai. She looked at the paper and then at us skeptically.
"What is this?" She asked.
"It's our application to form a school idol club." Honoka answered.
"I can see that much." Eli retorted.
"So you'll accept it?" Honoka asked.
"No I won't." Eli replied.
"Why not?" Honoka asked taken aback.
"Because all clubs must at least have 5 members to form." Eli explained.
"But there are plenty of clubs with less than 5 members." Umi argued.
"I'm sure those clubs had 5 members to begin with." Eli argued back.
"Get 1 more person alright." The vice-president said.
"Alright one more person." I said aloud. "Oh that reminds me I don't think we introduced ourselves yet. I'm Takuto Yuuji." I said.
"I'm Nozomi Toujou. Nice to finally meet the boy Eli's new guy friend." Nozomi introduced herself.
"Well then will get going." I said as we left.
"Hold on." Eli spoke up. "Why do you want to form an Idol group now?" She asked.
"We want to help keep the school open. School idols have become really popular so I thought- "Honoka said.
"If that's the case I can't accept this even if you get 5 members." Eli said.
"What? Why not?" Honoka asked.
"Clubs are not to be used to gather new students. I'm afraid we can't end this problem so easily." Eli stated.
"We know that, but we can't just sit here and do nothing!" I yelled.
"I'm sorry Takuto, but this isn't your problem." Eli said her eyes closed.
I glared at her. "Eli, why are you acting like this? You were so kind before and you wanted to keep the school so much." I said.
"I'm sorry Takuto. I'm just doing my job as student council president." Eli said.
I lowered my head. "Whatever. Come on girls." I said as I walked out the room. The girls followed me out. We stood outside the front doors completely depressed at the answer we got.
"Now what do we do?" Kotori asked.
"I don't know. We don't have a clubroom and we can't use the auditorium." Umi said.
"No way." I said. The girls looked at me with confused looks. "We're not quitting now. Let's do this. I'll help you girls be the best school idols you can be. That's a promise and we'll show Eli that we're determined to make this work." I said with determination.
"You're right. We can still do this. We'll just have to find our own way of doing it." Honoka added. Umi and Kotori nodded and agreement.
"You girls ready?" I asked.
"Yeah." They answered in unison.
"Then starting this weekend you girls start practice to be school idols." I said clenching my fist. Just watch Eli. We'll show how serious we are about this.
And done! Hope you all enjoyed. You know how this works. Review, favorite, follow, or neither. Also I have been getting this same question, well 2 of the same of the same really.
Q1: Will Takuto be with one of the girls?
A1: Yes that is planned. However don't expect it anytime soon. Cause I have 3 endings in mind. There was a reason I put those 3 specific girls on the character listing and had them appear before the main story began. However if you so desire I can do one for each girl though that's up to you I'll make a poll I guess.
Q2: What will Takuto's role be in Muse's?
A2: He will be the manager of Muse's. But before you all say wow I was hoping for more, let me explain. Out of several of the fics I've read with the male mc being a manager. They have only be given manager as a title but never done anything manager-like. So that's what Takuto will be. He will do all things a manager normally does. Ex. Schedule practices, performances, keep tabs on progress for each member, and so on and so forth. Also he will serve another role, a support character. Yes the MC will also be a SUPPORT character. As in when the members of Muse goes through each of their own personal issues he will help them through it. Which leads back to the whole "do you want each of the girls to have their own ending?" Which helps to make having multiple endings not look like a bunch of half-ass romances. This will help form bonds with each character to Takuto as well as get him through his past. (Yeah that S**t still matters guys and girls)
So hopefully that clear things up. If you like where I'm going with this please keep reading if not well at least I had your attention for a while. Well I'm heading to bed. Thanks again and Azure is out of here.