DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN AIKATSU NOR THE SONGS USED

*Pianoforte Monologue by Love Live Riko (Rikako Aida)

Momo's POV

I diligently continued to write down my notes. Even though Starlight was an idol school they did have classes that were the typical classroom setting. Some of them being on idol behaviour, history and for today, music theory. Led by my dad. Dad was a good teacher for the most part. He kept things simple enough and went slow so that everyone could take the time to understand. Though we were constantly singing as idols there was a difference in how to song along and actually understanding what goes into music.

Often at times people can disregard the underlying details of a song. Things like back vocals, harmonizing and mixing go unheard to people with no training. Even then one would have to focus a lot to hear everything. As idols we had to hear it all. Whether it be made in a few hours or a few months, a musician put their time and effort into their work that we can't push aside.

It helped that dad wasn't just a musician but a songwriter and performer as well. He knew practically every side when it came to music. He's been in all positions to give his honest experience of being in the other person's shoes. Dad had a natural affinity and talent for it.

Very much like my seatmate, Shouta. He was still shaky with the formal topics but had a great grasp of what was good. He was more so learning the basics so that it was easier for him to properly work things out on a professional scale. I played a very small part in his composing as I only translated his random melodies onto a music sheet.

Some would argue that I was a natural at music. And while I did pick up on it quite quickly compared to others, I was nowhere near what I would classify as a natural. The reason why music made sense to me was the fact that I had training from as back as I could remember. Music was everywhere in my life. Picking up the details needed to understand it came easy. To me a natural was someone that could continue being good without training. To me training to perfect a certain talent was an extra that naturals took up.

The bell rang, signaling that classes for today were over. Dad stood at the podium. "And that's the bell. Everyone, please, pass forward their homework. That'll be all for today."

"Thank you for today." Everyone chimed in together. After most of the papers were given the class started their usual after school commotion.

"Suzukawa-san!" I turned to a few of my classmates coming to my desk.

"How may I help you?"

"We watched the first episode of your drama! It was amazing! We can't wait until the finale." I smiled at the positive review.

"Thank you for watching. I hope the finale meets your expectations." They waved goodbye, leaving me be. It was strange that they came up to me solely for that purpose. If this was before I joined Starlight my classmates didn't even acknowledge me beyond my parents. It felt nice that I had such a change in my life.

"Ready to go Momo-san?" Shouta asked. I put my notebook in my bag along with my pencil case.

"Yep." Before either of us could move to leave we heard a knock come from outside. Dad called the person in. We watched as one of the security guards walked in. They spoke to dad in a hushed voice. With their, very noticeable, presence everyone kept their eyes on them.

Dad looked directly at me. He made a hand gesture telling me to come over. I left my bag, quickly going to them. The security guard and I exchanged our bows. "Is there something the matter?"

"There are a few people out front wanting to see you. They are causing quite a ruckus. I think it would be best if you remain here with your father until we can get them to settle down." This was surprising. For the most part fans were aware of the strict policies that Starlight had.

"Fans?"

"No. Apparently they claim to know you. Rest assured that we will have them under control in no time."

"They know me? Did you happen to catch their names?" Both the security guard and dad were confused as to why I would ask. "If they were fans they wouldn't say anything that would clearly prove them to be a liar. Would it be possible to confirm their names?"

"I-if that's what you want then I will ask." They radioed in through their walkie-talkie. While waiting for an answer I found that everyone was staring at me. "It appears their names are Koyuki and Kazuya."

I sighed at those names. "Do you know those names?"

"I do. Please tell them to calm down. I will be there in a moment." I went back over to my desk to grab my bag. I shook off Shouta and Fumiko who showed their understandable concern.

With all my possessions I gestured for the guard to accompany me to the front gates. Dad was tagging along to make sure that everything was going to be okay. "Momo who are they? Friends of yours?"

"Indeed they are. I don't know why they are coming to visit but I didn't have much to do this afternoon besides training with Shouta-kun so I can spare the time. There is no reason to fret, dad. They can appear a bit... restless but they are good people."

Koyuki and Kazuya were two of the band members at the Butterfly Effect. They were plenty energetic yet we somehow got along swimmingly. Their energy and lack of idol knowledge had them on the complete opposite side of a spectrum of myself. Perhaps it was because of how well we got along on stage that made everything work out.

We made it to the front gates where they were both angrily glaring at the guards. Once seeing me in the distance they tried to come run up to me only to be stopped by the guards again. I shook my head, speeding up my walk. In front of them I kept a good distance while frowning.

"Koyuki-san. Kazuya-san. I hear that you two have made things difficult for the guards here?" I said in the form of a question.

The two of them backed down seeing that I was not happy with their actions. "Listen little idol. They wouldn't hear us out anything that we had to say."

"Their job is to watch over everyone in this facility. Having two full grown adults coming without warning would of course put on some warning sirens. Now please apologize to them for this kerfuffle."

"No wait but we were just-" I put my hand up to stop their complaining.

"Repeat after me. 'We are sorry for the trouble we caused Momo. We will not do this again.'" I made sure to state it clearly and with authority. They dropped their heads mumbling their answers. They were older than me but with the way they refused to apologize made it look like I was the adult here.

"I could not hear that."

"We are sorry for the trouble we caused Momo. We will not do this again." They repeated clearly this time. I nodded looking to the guards.

"Let me further apologize on their behalf. These two really are my friends but as you can see I did not inform them of the proper measures they had to take to come visit. I will ensure that this does not happen again."

The security guards seemed as if they were amused by our interactions that they didn't have their usual static faces on. "Well as long as they understand now we'll let it go. This time. However, we still cannot let them onto school grounds without a guard. They've caused enough trouble that I don't feel comfortable letting them roam freely. Especially without authorized permission."

"I understand. Is this something that will take a long time Koyuki-san?"

"N-no. We just need your opinion on something." I looked around finding a nearby bench.

"How about we go over there to discuss? This way we'll still be in full view of the guards. Would that be okay?"

They looked to the bench. "That should be fine. As long as they don't wander off. We would still need staff permission though."

I spun around batting my eyes. "Dad, can they have permission to come onto campus please?" He rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"You know when you said they were your friends I assumed that they would be closer to your age. Or at least mentally their own." They held their hands together to plead. "How do you know my daughter again?"

"Oh um we're both in a band at this party ground called the Butterfly Effect. Momo-chan has visited and performed with us a few times."

"Butterfly effect? Why does that sound familiar?"

"It's the place where Kanzaki Mizuki made her re-debut after leaving Starlight, before WM. It's also where I performed Chain a while back. Other than that it is relatively not well known except around the local area."

"You performed Chain during..." He trailed off knowing that it was during my scandal. It was a time that I was at my lowest. Knowing that he turned to the guards. "They have my permission to enter school grounds. But, Momo you are in charge of them. If they cause any more trouble, you will be held personally responsible."

I nodded. "Thanks dad."

"Thank you Mr. Suzukawa!" They both bowed. Not wanting to prolong the interaction here I waved at them to follow me. No doubt there were a few passing students wondering why these two were on campus.

It must have been a sight to see these adults marveling at their surroundings while I led them to the bench indicated earlier. "Your dad is pretty cool, little idol. I've only ever seen clips of him on stage. Seeing you two together I can see where the resemblance is."

"I hope that is meant to be a compliment." Koyuki playfully threw her arm over my shoulder.

"Don't worry you're way cuter." I rolled my eyes at her, taking a seat first. They both sat on either side of me.

"So what is it that you needed me to look over? Song lyrics?" Kazuya reached into his jacket inside pocket. He pulled out a stack of papers that were bonded together with loose metal rings. The thing that I noticed immediately was that the corners of the sheets were curled inwards.

"Not exactly." He handed me the stack of papers. I gave a quick attempt to smoothen out the wrinkles. It annoyed me that this was kept in improper condition.

I opened up to the first page seeing that it wasn't a music sheet but blocks of text. All handwritten. The formatting resembled a book chapter introduction. A poorly spaced one that is. "A manuscript?"

"Yes. We know you probably thought we were here to ask you to perform with us or something but we want your opinion on this. You know, with how smart you are and all." Normally I wouldn't read a lot of fiction books without background knowledge about it. This time was an exception given our relationship.

Reading a little into the work I found struggling to understand it. It didn't seem like it was supposed to be a hard topic but the way it was written was too rough that I couldn't follow along. I took out my pencil case and one of my textbooks to use as a hard surface. "May I write on this?"

"Y-yeah." I grabbed one of my pens. I made it so that they could easily see what I was writing.

"This kanji is wrong. If you wanted to express loneliness, something like this would be better suited." I scribbled it next to the wrong character. "This sentence is not grammatically correct. You would have to move the particle portion before the topic." I draw circles and arrows over it to indicate how to change it. "Just skimming the rest of this I see a lot more mistakes that are of grade school level. I suggest revising this more in depth with a reference book in hand to compare proper structure."

"I feel like I'm back in school even though this isn't my own work." Koyuki sulked at all my criticism.

"Whose work is this?"

"My younger sister. She wants to be a writer. This is a copy of her works." I didn't miss the sad tone in Kazuya's tone.

I made a few ticks here and there of how it could be improved further. "Well I can help your sister with fixing this draft but only on this occasion. There are a lot of other resources that can improve writing style. It'll be helpful for her school reports as well."

"Hey Momo-chan would you be able to do something else?"

"And what's that?"

"Tell her to stop writing." He whispered. I stopped editing. Neither of them made eye contact with me.

"You want me to do what?"

"Okay listen. I know that sounds really bad but hear me out." I put my pen down. "Okay so like you've read this work. She's not a good writer. And you know it's not like we want to discourage her entirely. But as a career it's too risky. Her grades aren't the best either that my family wants her to at least think of a more realistic plan."

"Why are you coming to me? Yes, I recognize how this is written but I'm an idol. Telling someone to stop aiming for their dream is not what I do. Not to mention that this sounds like a family matter. I'm in no position to represent your opinion. I'm sorry Kazuya-san but I have to decline that request."

"No it's my fault, little idol. When I heard about Kazuya's trouble I found out from her Kirapatter that she's kinda a fan of yours. I thought that you would be someone that she listens to."

This presented me with a conflict. On one hand I did understand where they were coming from. As a family it was only natural that he would show concern over her future. It was true that any profession in arts was on the riskier side of things. I was lucky that schools like Starlight existed in order to get my name out there. Jobs like writers forced those to go out there by themselves. On the other hand, it was unreasonable to tell someone to give up their dreams purely because it was difficult. There were more than a hand full of other people in this world that faced hardships in the same way. Who was I to say anything?

"How did you get this manuscript? Is she aware of you coming all this way to convince me to tell her to give up?" Neither of them answered. "I'll take your silence as a no. Please take this back and speak to her yourselves."

"We've tried before. She won't really listen. She zones out a lot in class and doesn't spend much time studying either. We really do want to support her but we can't if she pushes everything aside for writing. I did take this without her permission; I'll admit that. But Momo can't I be concerned for my baby sister?"

I didn't know a lot about either of them. We only bonded over our music. It was from that that I knew they were good people. They had good intentions but had terrible judgement. "Here's what I'll do. I won't tell her to quit writing. Instead I will meet with her as you want and I will try to convince her to focus on her studies."

I let Kazuya hug me from the side. "Thank you Momo! I'll talk to her later today. I'm sure if you tell her she'll listen!"

I waved at the guards who raised their concern over me. Koyuki had to pry him off of me. "Little idol I know that we asked for a lot but are you sure that you can meet with her?"

"As an idol I do believe that education is important so I will try my best. As a friend, however, I'm doing this one-time favour. I will not promise anything." I flipped through the rest of the papers. Pages and pages of messy writing with no doubt a massive amount of errors accompanying it.

I was primarily doing this as a friend. As someone that knows what it's like to have people underestimate the power of arts. When in tough times people looked to the arts as a break from their lives. Writing may be the same for her. Not everyone was the same as me when it came to studying.

I turned back to the very first page. Written by Emi. "May I hold onto this until I meet her?"

"Sure? She probably needs all the help she can get." Is it my help that she really needs?

I sat in the cafeteria with my finished plates to the side. I ran a hand through my hair reading through the papers. Mistake after mistake. There were few times that a sentence would make sense. Those were the ones that were so simple that there was hardly a way to make a mistake. Even if they were grammatically correct I could tell that there was an attempt to try aiming to be more complex. My scribbles filled the paper to the maximum.

I stopped writing, tapping the pen's end on the table. I was getting nowhere with this. If anything I should be trying to find study tricks for her so that she would pay attention in class. Emi. How can I possibly help you?

"Whatcha reading?" I raised my head to Fumiko peering over my shoulder. Behind her was Shouta with his own tray of food.

They took their spots in front of me. I flipped it over for the both of them. "Will you two give this a quick read?"

Fumiko was the one to grab at it first. Opening it she immediately grimaced. "What is with this? Why are they so many pen marks? This looks like what my teacher's did to my essays."

"Earlier today two band members of the band at Butterfly Effect came to visit. They want me to meet one of their sisters to convince her to stop being a writer." Fumiko leaned in closer to the sheets.

"What?! That sounds terrible! Tell me you aren't going to do that Momo-san."

"Of course not. But I agreed to meet her. I'm going to try my best to convince her to at least shift a bit of her attention onto school work. Other than that I don't really know how I can help out. This is a complicated problem since I know where both sides are coming from. I really don't want to hurt Emi-chan's feelings but Kazuya-san has a point. Sometimes we have to put our dreams aside."

"That's not true." Shouta spoke up.

"What do you mean?"

"You can never really push your dreams aside. I think if she really wants to write, nothing can really stop her. Becoming a writer may be hard but sometimes just writing in a notebook could be enough. Before you scouted me I had my own little dream to be a musician. It was impossible for me at that time. Playing the guitar and composing was a hobby. Compared to studying though? It will always come out first."

Shouta was a natural idol as well. He was able to empathize a lot of people. To him, and plenty of others, heart was over mind. "So what should I do? I can't continue to let her fail her classes. That would be irresponsible on both her and I."

"One of the first things you taught me as an idol is that our role is to support people. Ask her what you can do to help her."

"What if she doesn't think she needs help? That her grades are fine when clearly they aren't. I can't leave her alone like that."

Shouta thought about it a little. "I'm not too sure. Sorry."

"No it's fine. Fumiko? Do you have anything to say?" We both looked at Fumiko. Her focus was entirely on the manuscript.

"Fumiko-san?"

"Huh? Oh sorry. What were we talking about?" I looked down to see that she had put his finger in between the pages.

"Were you reading it?"

"Yeah! It's actually a pretty interesting story. There's a few parts I couldn't understand but reading your notes made it a bit clearer. Even though they can be distracting a bit."

"What's the story about?" Shouta asked. Wait a minute. I was so busy proofreading that I didn't even know the plot of the story.

"It's about this boy that made a random wish to become a cat. He wakes up to find that his wish comes true. I just got up to the point where he realizes that he can't turn back. It has a lot of rough patches but it's a fun story so far."

"How come you're not bothered by all the mistakes?"

"If anything I'm more bothered by your writing. I told you it looks like a teacher is marking this but isn't this someone's work? It's not some report for you to be criticizing. Plus, I can tell that you aren't really reading this by the notes you made."

"How?" She turned the pages to face me.

"This part. You put a bunch of question marks. Can you read what this says?" I quickly read over the part that she pointed to. I had put question marks and a suggestion to change the sentences. From what I read it looked like Emi was writing a conversation between two characters.

"No? That's why I put in this part. I didn't make any sense. No matter how many times I read it I couldn't find out what Emi-chan was trying to say."

"Because this is written in slang." I had been looking at Emi's story like one of my textbooks. Or something by a professional. It didn't occur to me that she would be writing in a way that was most comfortable to her.

"It is? I've never seen you use that before?"

"I don't use slang when I'm talking with you. Trust me I've tried to. Same as this you've just corrected me on the literal definition. Also, some slang is used only in text so you wouldn't hear me say anything. You don't even use emojis besides the smiley face so how can possibly get slang?"

"So you can read this without a problem?"

"For the most part yeah." I looked back her finger in between the pages. She made it through more than I did in such a short amount of time. Not just that but she understood more than I did about the story.

"What do you like about it?"

"Hmmm. I don't know. It's just a fun story. Like the main character makes sense where he's tired and wants to relax like a cat. Emi I think you said? Yeah, Emi makes it really feel like the world from a cat's view or what a human should feel when experiencing it for the first time. I don't read often but I like this one so far."

From what Fumiko says that was an interesting story. Fantasy mixed in with the modern setting has become a very popular genre recently. What makes this even more fascinating was that it took a very realistic approach. Wishing to change one's life for those who appear to be stress-free. An animal for that matter as well. There is the underlying question of how to turn back or what is the lesson that is taught from this. All of it makes the reader want to continue the story.

I wonder if Emi knows how amazing her story is.

I lean my back against the stage in the empty venue that I requested to borrow for a short period of time. Luckily there weren't any use for this building for today. After the fiasco Koyuki and Kazuya caused at the school we thought it was best that we met here.

"Little idol? Are you sure that you're okay with talking to Emi today?" Koyuki, who accompanied me here, questioned.

"I'm fine. I agreed on my own terms. I've thought this through."

"I'm glad that's the case. I can't help but feel that we're taking advantage of our relationship with you." She hoisted herself onto the stage next to me. "You always have this rough look on your face when visiting. I'm sorry we're dragging you into his matter."

"No I think I learned a bit from this experience. There's going to be a lot more times where I can feel that I can't help but want to. As an idol and as a friend. Nonetheless I have to try to say what I think. What happens next I'm not too sure."

"Koyuki?! You guys in here?" We heard Kazuya yell from a distance.

"Yeah! Come on in!" I pushed myself to stand properly.

In walked Kazuya with a young girl following behind him. It didn't look like we had that much of an age gap between us. Maybe 5 years' maximum. She stopped walking as a smile slowly grew on her face. "Y-y-y-you're M-Momo-chan?! Suzukawa Momo-chan right?!"

"Yes. I'm pleased to meet you Emi-chan." She let out a loud squeal, tugging on her brother's arm. She came up to me with a look that this was the best day of her life.

"And you thought that I was lying."

"Shhh! Don't embarrass me in front of Momo-chan." I chuckled at them.

"I can understand how it would sound random but rest assure this is not a lie. Kazuya-san has assisted me before and is someone that I have even performed with in the past."

"Ehhh?! My brother got to perform with you?!"

"I told you this! Do you even listen to me when I talk?"

"Don't talk to your sister like that Kazuya. Now there's a lot that I want to hear about Kazuya's past but we know why we're here." Koyuki looked at me. I nodded to her letting her know that I would be okay.

"Can you two please leave for a bit? I would like a chance to speak with Emi-chan by myself." She beamed at the idea while the two continued to show their concern. I showed them a smile to show that I would be fine.

After the two of them left I looked at Emi. She wasn't that much shorter than I was. I took a seat on the stage and patted for Emi to join me. "Did you brother tell you why he brought you here?"

"Nope. He just said that we were meeting a special person. I wouldn't have thought that it would be the real Momo-chan!"

"Well I thank you for your support. However, the real reason that he brought you here is because he tells me you want to be a writer." Her face slowly dropped. She adverted her eyes towards her lap. I took out her papers from my bag handing them back to her.

She hesitated but still took it back. "My brother told you to tell me to quit, didn't he?"

"Is this something they tell you often?" She shrugged.

"My grades are pretty bad not gonna lie. When I did show them my stories they didn't really like them either. There were too many mistakes that were made. This and that. Yeah I heard it a lot." Emi explained as non-chantly as possible. She was use to the criticism that was thrown at her that she didn't even take them too seriously in her tone.

"I know I read it but I'm not familiar with your writing style. Can you explain the story to me?"

"Y-you want to hear my story?"

"I do. Hearing you explain it will make it easier for me to understand. My friends very much enjoyed it that I'm interested."

When Emi was telling her story I started to understand why she wrote the way she did. She literally took how she spoke verbally and put it onto paper. The way she pauses and throws in random tidbits in the middle of her sentences. All of it showed in her writing. At the same time hearing the story, not focusing on the grammar mistakes she made, I could see why Fumiko liked it so much. She built this new perspective of a well known animal. No one but her could complete her story.

"And that's pretty much what I have so far. How was it? Did you like it? Its fine if you didn't. I'm use to it." She was quick to switch moods. The shine in her eyes almost went out thinking that I could hate her story. How many times did that happen?

I looked at the papers in her hands. She didn't even need to read them. She knew her story by heart. "It was an incredible story. I'm sorry that I marred your pages with my notes."

She opened up her pages. Now knowing all that, I do wish that I could erase what I did. What I had done was equivalent to taking a paint brush to a display at an art museum. Emi smiled seeing it. "Thank you Momo-chan! I've never had my work actually checked by someone before! And to have it by you? I love it!"

"It doesn't bother you?"

"Not at all! You were the first one to really take me seriously. Look Momo-chan if I'm being honest with you, I know that I'm a kid. I know that I can have a different dream in the future. But I really want to write. I can't focus in class when so many stories appear in my head. Studies don't matter when I have this part of me that is roaming around creating endless amounts of worlds in my head. They just don't interest me. It's a childish phase to my brother and parents. To me? I want to continue. I don't think I could really stop. That wouldn't be me."

"Then continue." She opened her mouth to say something but didn't. "You are a kid. So am I. Whose to say where we end up? The only person who can say that is ourselves. I wasn't lying when I said that I liked your story. I think you have a real talent and I'm not going to be the one to tell you to stop. No one should ever have that power over you."

"M-Momo-c-chan w-would it be okay to ask for a h-hug?" Her lip kept quivering as she asked. I nodded opening my arms for her. She held tightly onto the back of my uniform with shaking hands.

I slowly wrapped my arms around her. She wasn't crying nor whimpering in anyway. It just looked like she needed the hug. After how long did she finally found someone that encouraged her to follow her dreams. Self discouraging herself was a way to handle the situation in her own way. They were the words of those that didn't believe repeated through her own mouth. The only ones she's heard before.

Soon she pulled back. "Sorry I don't know what came over me."

I shook my head. "No need for the apology. There is one more thing that I want to say."

"What's that?" I grabbed binder out from my bag. She gasped seeing my small collection of Aikatsu cards.

"Will you let me perform a song for you?" All her sadness disappeared the moment I asked.

"Yes?! Yes! I would love that!" She flew back onto her feet causing me to laugh at her. I stood up with the cards that I wanted in hand.

"Please watch me well."

I went backstage where the Aikatsu system was on standby. Normally someone would have to help set the system up. I knew what I was doing though. I set everything up beforehand, even letting it be available for those to watch over the internet. Koyuki would have told Kazuya to watch in the hall. The main reason that I wanted to meet here was for this stage. I couldn't reach someone with my words alone. I needed to show that I wasn't talking only because I knew her. I truly believed that anyone's dream was worth a chance. I wanted to have everyone understand that.

I stood in front of the changing booth with my cards in hand. 'I wish that all those watching strive for their dreams with all that they can.'

I step out onto the Spring School stage in Loli Gothic's Iris Trench Coord. It was a very formal type of outfit that suited me well. The white contrasted well with the iris colour and colourful background. I bowed once to the invisible audience. "Good afternoon everyone watching. I'm Suzukawa Momo, a first year at Starlight academy. Today I'm here as an idol and a friend."

A quick glance at the viewer meter showed a steady increase in count. This was a sudden live that many are probably joining in out of interest. It wasn't uncommon for idols to suddenly go live. Most of the time this was our attempt to increase our rating by doing more to expose ourselves. Today I wanted to focus more on those watching than my ranking.

"Has anyone ever told you that you were dreaming too big? That you should give up and do something more practical? Music is not something that comes to me naturally. Understanding people is even harder. Yet here I am. On a stage in front of those who may feel that they aren't worthy of dreaming. All I have to say is that all those naysayers are speaking crazy talk." I could see Emi as the only person in the room.

"Shouta-kun told me that you can't push your dreams aside. He was right. So I want to challenge you use that to your advantage. Because if you can't push it aside then neither should anything else. School, work, doubters, they can do whatever they want. Your love for your work shouldn't and won't lose to those things. Not by a long shot. Don't let them win." I looked away from Emi to the camera.

"I wanted to be an idol when I was younger. Being compared to my parents I stopped. But I'll never stop loving music. I returned because I couldn't stop. And though it may hurt to think about those that doubt me, it hurts more to be something I'm not. To stop doing what I love. Every single one of you has something that cannot be replicated. Tell your own story." I waved to have the music start.

I held my hands out in front of me. I moved my fingers as if a real piano was really there. In my outfit I felt as if I was a classical player. I slowly smiled hearing the other instruments come in.

Watashi no naka nagaredashita oto ga takusan aru no I moved my arms out slowly
Kireina dake janakute demo ne dokoka yasashii oto ga I took long strides around the stage as if searching for something
Atarashii yume to namida tokeatta koncheruto I pretend to wipe my tear, transitioning into reaching upwards

Zutto zutto nemutteta no?
Kokoro no atsui negai I gently pounded on my heart
Mezamete tte ano hi kitto yobareteta to ki ga tsuita I looked directly at Emi before the climax of the song

Hitori de mukau kenban dakedo I held my myself
Kanjiru...hitori janai I nodded my head, keeping one hand over my heart
Kimochi wa itsumo tsunagatteru ne
Shinjiru koto ga dekiru kara
Nandemo osorezu yatte miyou to kimerareru I broke free of the hold I hand of myself
Tsuyoku nareru no I ran up to the front, center stage grasping up into the air at the goal I obtained. The music coming to the end I wasn't exhausted like with other stages. All I did was smile into the camera to those watching.

With the song finished I addressed the audience once more. "I hope that my message got across to everyone. This has been Suzukawa Momo. Have a nice day."

The live stream ended, dispelling all the Aikatsu stage effects. Kazuya and Koyuki ran back in with a few tears in their eyes. I ignored them for the most part, walking over to Emi holding herself back from crying. I patted her on the head. "Did you enjoy that stage?"

She nodded while biting her lip. I turned around to the two adults. "I'm sorry Kazuya-san. I really couldn't tell her to give up. Your sister is an outstanding writer."

"No no Momo-chan. I'm the one at fault here." Kazuya went past me to talk to his sister. "Emi, I'm sorry. Asking Momo-chan to come here and tell you to give up was a low move. I shouldn't have put that kind of pressure on you. Either of you. If you want to be a writer, then I should have been supporting you like Momo-chan did."

Emi crossed her arms over her chest. "Well I guess I can accept your apology. I can try to focus in school for your sake. Momo-chan's notes show that I still have a lot to learn so I'll try a bit harder."

The two of them shared a hug. Right now it was up to the two of them to make their own amends. With the support of her brother and possibly her family, she now had the better chance to be the amazing writer that she inspired to be. School was still her obstacle but I had hope that she would be able to overcome anything it throws. As long as she had her writing everything will be fine.

noname: About Momo's possibly being aromantic, my answer is that I do not know. The part of Momo that does not understand romantic relationships is a personal part of me that I put into her. What Char and Snapshot said to Momo about being unable to study it and that 'you just know' those are things that people have said to me that I have not understood. I really don't know how I would identify yet so for now Momo is unknown as well. I hope that makes sense.

Patrichamo5: Thank you! I felt like I was treading a very fine line with their relationship so I'm glad you liked it.

Trivia: This chapter is actually based off of my own experiences in a high school writer's craft course that I took (and hated). One of my friends had these really amazing ideas but when it comes down to it his overall presentation wasn't the best. He wasn't passionate about writing overall but I found it a shame when the teacher would give him low marks when he obviously had really great, creative ideas. If any of you are content creators or just passionate about anything in general, then please continue and improve regardless of what others say.