I DO NOT OWN AIKATSU
Kikyo's POV
I hate Suzukawa Momo. That was a given. I was pretty sure that even the majority of the media surrounding us had pictured some form of rivalry between us already. I didn't view it as a rivalry. In order to do so I would have to admit that she was on the same level as I was. I didn't. Simple as that.
What bothered me though was that she didn't either. Suzukawa acted like nothing ever affected her. Her image was a mature child that had everything under control. Completely false. I've seen it first hand that she could lose her cool very easily. When she lost her cards at Char's concert, it was only because Shouta was coincidentally there that she managed to collect herself. In addition, it was because I was there that she had something that everything worked out for her. People praise her so much for being independent and responsible; she couldn't stand on her own.
That is to say that she wouldn't be a big deal if it wasn't for her parents. I fully believe that if she wasn't the Star couple's daughter, Suzukawa Momo would not receive half the attention she had now. Take her Starlight audition. Among all of the applicants, she easily had the highest number of watchers before any form of exposure. Articles written about her were released the moment her enrollment was confirmed on audition day. There was no way anyone, no matter how talented, would have raised up to the level of attention that she got in that short amount of time.
Her audition was, as nicely put, only a baseline. It was like a paper description of everything a performance needed. The angles were exact, her technique was by textbook definition perfect, the only thing that she was missing was true emotion. She was too boring. I was one of the many that had high expectations of her only to be disappointed in what she showed. Compared to her mom's first ever audition, she was nothing important.
It was sad to think that she could have reached higher levels. If she didn't stop learning music when she was younger, she could have easily been the top idol at this point. We could have been friends the way I saw it. Instead, all she became was a regular girl that got a bit more attention because of her blood. It was insulting to people like me who actually had to work hard for what they wanted.
I found Suzukawa Momo to be insulting of herself. She already gave up music. Why continue it suddenly? Because she met a boy that was good at it? While I was okay with Shouta, I found her motivation lacking.
Above other things, she didn't have any appeal. A person who is blindly following another could never show their true colours to those with watching eyes. Whether it be her parents or Shouta, she will always hide behind the idea of someone else. And it was funny that she knew that about her reliance on Shouta but not her parents. Hardly ever mentioning them in interviews when they were the main reason she was where she is today. At least be consistent. For a girl that loves her logic and reasoning, she sure lacks it a lot of times.
I didn't feel bad that I told my feelings to her face. It's not like she wanted to be best friends with me. From the start, even before we met, I stated what my intentions are. She acknowledges that. It would have been worse if I lied to pretend that I liked her. People don't get along sometimes. It wasn't a crime. I will always maintain professionalism around her and never do anything that I wouldn't want anyone doing to me. I just need to establish that I will most likely, never, want to pursue a causal relationship with her.
Now why did I want to come to Starlight academy if only temporary? Because there is an idol here that I wanted to meet. No, it wasn't Suzukawa or Shouta. Not even the Starlight Queen, her counterpart or child model Snapshot, caught my attention this time. The one I want to know more about is another rising idol, Watanabe Fumiko.
Watanabe Fumiko was a surprise factor that no one expected to rise as fast as she did. At first, when her Starlight audition came out it was nothing more than a good start. She did give a better impression than Suzukawa but there was nothing that actually suggested that she could be the next queen as she is now. A lot of it could be put on her winning the annual queen manager audition that many first years here take.
What really took the cake though was when she went on a trio performance with both Char and Charlotte. Those two events already had many eyes on them that the rookie that was able to match the two and the Genius Wildcard was what everyone wanted to know. Adding on her outgoing self only increased her popularity.
Then came her confession about her struggles. The main difference between her fellow performers and her was that confession. She changed from being the next queen or the Eternal Smile to being the Restarting Gamer. It was an entirely new title that fans used to respect the idea that she can not be happy and it would be okay. At the same time, it was saying that she had a new concept for herself. She wasn't starting from the ground up. Like restarting a game that one already played. All the knowledge is there but try again in a way that speaks to them now. Since then her popularity, at times, even rivaled mine. People saw her as a growing person with a good personality so with her increased exposure, she was still one of the biggest contestants to be top idol.
I wasn't aiming to be her friend or anything. All I wanted was to view her star power in the first person. It was extremely lucky that I was put in the same class as her and Shouta. Suzukawa Momo was only a tiny bothersome feature that came with that. And I hate to admit that she had a good choice in classes since we ended up having a very similar schedule. Though I was willing to put up with that to be in Suzukawa Naoto's class. To have such a notable figure that I respect teach me a class on Aikatsu was a dream come true. Even if temporary.
It helped a lot that Suzukawa disappeared during our breaks. Shouta guessed that she was probably off in the library or in Takahashi's class. Not really my concern seeing as I didn't want to be around her too. See? We're considerate of each other. We know our boundaries that others can't say that we're completely ruthless to each other.
The main issue with Watanabe was that she was constantly surrounded by people. It was both amazing and terrifying how sociable she can be. Granted, I was too because people wanted to learn more about me while I was here. She was different from that because this is her everyday life. Back at Dream Academy I didn't have time to hang out with people outside of class time. The only one here that I wanted to stay with is Shouta. He was useful in warding some curious people wanting to talk to me since people thought they would be intruding on us.
"You know, watching her from afar, she makes a good idol."
"You can tell that to her yourself if you go up to her." I remained silent. I didn't want to walk into that mess of people.
"Another time maybe. She looks busy." He snorted. "What?"
"Nothing but um have I ever told you that you were similar to Momo-san?"
"To my dismay, I do remember you saying that before. Why are you bringing this up?"
"Because that's one thing that you guys differ in. She would have walked straight up to her to ask if she had a goal in mind. Who would have thought that you would be the shyer one between the two of you?"
"I am not. I just want to see her in person as opposed to a screen."
"If you want, I can ask her to come to us. She's a bit much at times but she means well. I'm sure that she'll love to meet you."
"There's nothing that I want to ask specifically. She is interesting to observe." Surrounded by people was when Watanabe seemed to shine the most. Her aura is always warm and made people understand what she was feeling. I couldn't help but have my eyes drawn to her.
I turned my head to face Shouta with a smile on his face. "You really like idols."
"I do? Why does that matter?"
"It matters like this." He took a deep breath in. "Fumiko-san! Can you come here for a second?!"
I awkwardly tried to cover my face as Watanabe started running over. Everyone was looking at us. I didn't think that Shouta had such courage in him. His voice was somehow quiet for a scream though. Suzukawa is a bad influence on him. Only she would jump into this with that kind of mindset.
"What's up?"
"Sorry to bother you but Kikyo-san wanted to get to know you better. Do you have time right now?" She immediately frowned. Crossing her arms over her chest, she sat down next to him so that he was in between us. This surprised both of us as we've never seen her mean to anyone.
"I'm not sure I want to talk to someone that is mean to my friend." So her attitude towards me is because of mine towards Suzukawa. Fair.
"F-Fumiko-san, Kikyo-san- I'm sure that Kikyo-san has a good reason for not getting along with Momo-san. Momo-san said herself that she doesn't mind their relationship. So give her a chance a little?" He said hopefully. It was probably useless though. Shouta was an exception where he was forced to work with me to see my better side. He was overall a nice person too.
"What reason do you have for being so rude towards Momo? I can get if you don't get along but to diss her work is mean. I will never understand a reason that gives people an excuse to act so rude. Hmph!"
"You can't deny that she's not perfect as she portrays herself. Suzukawa Momo only acts like she's in charge of everything. An idol that fails to respect the basic rules of Aikatsu is not an idol."
"Who sets those rules? We are a new generation of people. If we don't try to set a new standard, then who will? Have you ever talked to Momo? Hear how she talks to people? She is not your normal idol but I think she's really good at it whether you see it or not. All her qualities are worthy of becoming a top idol."
"Name a few." She tilted her head a few times.
"Hmmm? I mean she's good at music and knowing a bunch of stuff but I think what makes her a good idol is... her eyes? Maybe I should say how she looks at people would make more sense."
"Momo-san is like that. All her senses take in everything she can. Her eyes and ears mainly."
This conversation took another turn. I didn't want to talk about her in the first place but they brought her up first so let's just go with it. I can find out more about her that people find so interesting. "You two will have to explain what you mean by that. What's so special about Suzukawa's eyes? And ears?"
"Momo has this ability I can say. She can highlight everything you love about yourself. Make you embrace your weaknesses and change it to something you can accept. I've seen it time and time again. Me, Shouta, Charlotte, Hayate, her fans. To her, it doesn't matter who you are. There will always be a part of you that she can praise. Even if you try to hide it or are just not aware of it yourself, she can bring the best out of you. Momo encourages you when you don't even know you need it. All because she looks at people differently."
That's something that I found strange about Suzukawa's popularity. It was that many high ranking people acknowledged her too. I didn't understand what they were talking about in her eyes. It didn't change how she became popular nor her personality that ticked me off. Trying to force a friendship with Watanabe was going to be fruitless that I can't help it if she doesn't get why I don't like her friend.
"Can you really say that you deserve the right to judge her when you barely want to acknowledge the work she puts in?"
"What?"
"All I'm saying is that Momo is always watching those around her. That way she can get to the bottom of any obstacle in her way. You do the opposite where you are based an entire person before you met. She still doesn't hate you because she has no seen reason to do that. I think an idol, with those rules that you claim it has, should be someone that is more accepting."
She sighed, standing up. "That's all I'm going to say today. Sorry Shouta but I'm not going to hang out with someone that all I know is her hating Momo. At least she is nice to you."
The thing about Watanabe was that she very much in love with idols before she started her career. For her to say that I was failing as an idol for being rude to Suzukawa spoke volume. And to have her being so bold in it was not a side I expected for her to have. Of course it had to be over her friend as well. She wasn't talking out for nothing. That's what made her a good idol and friend.
"Kikyo-san, don't you think you can give Momo-san a chance to prove herself to you?" Shouta asked once she left.
"If she actually does something notable then I'll acknowledge it. But with all the reckless things I've seen before, that's not going to change my mind. Suzukawa Momo is an idol that disrespects the Aikatsu I love."
The Rock fest is an event that I look forward to every year. The postponement made me somewhat glad. It gave me more time to improve on my skills. To stand on a stage I've watched for so long I needed to be better. I took the time between when it was supposed to happen until now to improve all that I could. Now that it was here I was going to win and no one could stop me.
So someone tell me why my final match is against Suzukawa Momo?!
All my hard work is going to be ridiculed because of one competitor. I hate her! Why does she get the chance to stand on such an amazing platform next to me? Her being on the same level as me means that I need to improve. I couldn't be compared to her. I needed to win today.
The director gave us the run down of how the entire finale will go. Them, Todou Yurika, Hikami Sumire and Loli Gothic's brand designer were going to be the main judges. Their votes weighted extra onto the audience's votes. The song was already given to us in advance and outfits were left to us to decide. In the end, all the viewers were watching to see if we fit the concept of the show.
Rock is a powerful genre. It has many forms. Such as alternative, pop, heavy, metal, all of them being rock. I think what defines such a wide field is the performance. People can say what is on their minds with rock because of its flexibility. With any form I always see those performing to be pouring their hearts out. It sticks with people that return for the next song. That's what makes it so popular. That's why Rock Fest is so popular. Having Suzukawa Momo be one of the final performers is not right!
"All that being said, I want to leave this all up to you two. I trust that you will both put on a performance very worthy of calling it our finale. You have some time before our starting time that you can use as you see fit." I didn't like that they said the both of us.
"Yes. Thank you very much." We said at the same time as we bowed. Once the director left we found ourselves in silence.
"Have you enjoyed your time at Starlight?" She was the first one to speak up.
"I did. Though Watanabe can be very blunt with her opinions."
"She is indeed. Shouta-kun was sad to see you return to Dream Academy. He was used to seeing you around. He had high hopes for the two of us getting along." While she was talking, I saw something moving up behind Suzukawa. It took me a second to recognize him with the golden dyed hair and face mask.
Karasuma Yuki? He was making it very clear that he was trying to sneak up on her. Noticing me staring at him, he held up a finger to his lips to tell me to remain quiet. I didn't get a chance to react when he slung an arm around her shoulders, leaning most of his weight onto her so that she almost fell forward.
Once she had stabilized herself she let out a gasp and tackled the boy into a hug that he returned. "Yu-kun!"
"Nice to see you too Shiro." Pulling back, they still held each other close.
"What are you doing here? I didn't see your name in the list of applicants."
"Didn't apply. I had a few other things going on so I left this to you. Doesn't change that I wanted to check it out. Yurika-sama saw me in the audience and invited me backstage. You're pretty easy to find after that." I saw this particular relationship twice. First was in their drama. Not a good example as they were, literally, acting for thousands to see.
The second time was after the results for the Twinkle Star cup. I thought it was because they knew each other from the drama that made them want to talk to each other. Now seeing how they actually interacted, they were very close. Both in the physical and mental sense. She doesn't even look at Shouta in that way. Can't say the same about Karasuma as I didn't know a lot about him. No one did.
Out of all of the potential top idols, Karasuma Yuki was the biggest mystery. His skill level was crazy high but with near zero backing. He was someone like Suzukawa in terms of skill and personality. All he needed was to be related to someone famous to get to her level. But Suzukawa was lucky that her parents are so well known. No way could he change that so that he was the son of a famous idol.
"I should go find Auntie Yurika myself. It's been a while since I saw her in person." Suzukawa seemed to know him well though. His usual cold persona wasn't there anymore. Neither was her formal way of speaking.
"You do have some time until the performances. I, actually, wanted to invite you out for a bit. There's a dessert place nearby that I thought you might like." Her eyes lit up with excitement. She was, dare I say, like a normal girl with how much she jumped at the idea.
"Really? Your treat?"
"Why is it always my treat when we go out?" She swung an arm around his shoulders. She was slightly shorter than him that he was brought down to her height.
"Because if you don't then I'm telling Touya-kun who took his cookies last week." I couldn't follow their conversation. It was too strange of a combination to look at. In their drama they were playing opposite roles to their true character that I wouldn't imagine that the two would actually get along outside of work.
"This is why I shouldn't tell the goody two shoes anything." He held onto her arm while straightening himself up. The chokehold turned into a fun piggyback. Him swinging around in a circle. The two of them were in their little world. Now that I think about it, I never heard either of them laugh before. They were loud too.
"Hey. What's your relationship with each other?" They paused.
"Just acquaintances." They said at the same time. Like it was a rehearsed line. There was no way that they were only acquaintances. Even if they got close after filming their drama, this was beyond that. If how they interacted can be called getting along.
Placing her back down on her feet, she straightens up her appearance. The two of them were weird. "So? Your treat?"
"Fine. But you're paying the next time we go out for desserts."
"Deal. For now." They linked arms, settling the deal that they were extremely comfortable with one another. The aloof Karasuma and strict Suzukawa were goofing around as if no one was ever going to see them. This is a sight I never thought I would see.
Michiyo (Guest): Haha don't worry I know it'll be difficult. I didn't even watch Parade so I don't know how those doors and such work. (It is canon in Stars though that Starlight is somewhere in the same universe though because Yume met Akari and such) I just wanted to put in a little Easter egg for them. Probably won't do anything with them.
Trivia: This chapter and the next were originally one chapter but it results in over 9k words and that's a bit longer than I want. So expect the next one to come out within today or tomorrow. But what I wanted to say for this trivia was that Kikyo and Ayano were originally meant to be twins of the same year. I decided against this because (now I didn't watch a lot of Friends so correct me if I'm wrong) I believe there's a pair there that are twin sisters. The ones with the sun and moon theme? That was way too close to my idea that I got rid of it and made the Inoue pair you see today.
In other news, March 2022 marks the 10th anniversary for the entire Aikatsu franchise! It's crazy to see the changes Aikatsu went through. Like the CGI improvement? Fantastic. And what I find even crazier is that it started from 1 group that created this chain of series that LATER inspired a whole new generation of Aikatsu idols. Because if you didn't know, Date Kaya/ Mao/ Hana from Aikatsu Planet was scouted while playing datacardass. I absolutely love that.