AMBiTiON/Story/Prologue

## A New Chihiro Satou

 *Under a cloud-strewn sky, a small, rainy tale begins with a certain high school girl's ambition...*

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As the bell chimed and everyone began to take their leave, a girl stayed put in her seat.

A few students nearby chattered about band activities, but the girl stared, uninterested, at the wall with a blank expression.

She sat by the wall, in the third row of six. A seat like that was nothing to pay attention to, yet to the so-called 'main character', something about her was oddly enigmatic. Finally, as if something alerted her, the girl's gaze sharpened and she got up from her chair. Grabbing her bag, she lumbered toward the door and left without a word.

Her walk through the hallway continued wordlessly. The girl's eyes were downcast as she walked with a brisk pace. Head down, a hard stare at the floor - her cold demeanor was unfitting of the energetic hairstyle she wore, a cute side ponytail with a braid. Right now, no one would be able to tell what was going through her head.

Two girls with guitar cases on their backs hurried past the expressionless girl. She responded with a tighter grip on her bag, nothing more.

It didn't seem long before the girl got back to the apartment, still wearing her bored, unfocused eyes. The door clicked. "I'm home," she announced blandly to her mother, who was nowhere in sight. Not waiting for a reply, the girl headed down the hallway and into her room.

She closed the door and chucked the bag onto the ground, then herself onto the bed. Then, she let out a sigh.

Rolling over, the girl looked around at her cutely decorated room of pink dreams and cotton candy, and for the first time in hours, her ice-cold face melted into a warm smile. Ever since she was young, she had always wanted to have friends over at her house, look around her room and go, "Hiro-tan! Your room's so cute~!"

She lingered on that thought. Friends.

Even after going into Hanasakigawa Girls' High School as a first year, she still hadn't made any proper friends. She didn't know what she was doing wrong. Was it the way she acted? Her looks? It surely couldn't be the latter - she'd seen worse looking people with friends. In honesty, the girl didn't care much for troublesome personal connections like friendship, but, oh, to be adored... All she wanted was to be someone popular, someone well-loved, and someone that everyone admired, approved of, gave attention to... She stroked her ponytail. Was it so wrong to wish for that?

Maybe she just had to have similar interests with others... and the only thing that came to mind was music.

For whatever reason - she still hadn't figured it out - everyone around her seemed obsessed with music, bands, and the like. Everyone in Hanasakigawa, at least. She herself wasn't interested. In fact, she had only been intrigued because everybody else was. Perhaps she just had to get into music, or maybe even form a band to get people to like her - hopping onto the 'band'-wagon, as one could say.

She'd been warming up to the idea of forming a band, but to be fair, it was her only plan. She didn't truly care about music - well, except for the idols on TV, but who didn't like them? And her voice didn't sound particularly bad in the shower... - but in any case, if it was to get people to notice her, then she didn't have a choice. Friendship was an inconvenience, but to be admired universally was its own brand of majesty! How long would it be until she became the popular girl of her school?

Maybe she could even be famous... No, hold on - she shook her head, as if to reset her brain - she was getting ahead of herself. Oh, but imagine...!

The girl sat up, finally making up her mind - This was it. Her eyes grew brighter with hope as she slid open the door to her balcony. Maybe she could make a wish to the skies and 'lock in' her future about this whole road to stardom... no, that's silly. But maybe...?

She stepped out onto the balcony and looked up at the wide blue skies. 5PM in the middle of May was much too early for stars, but she was too impatient to wait and make a proper wish. She glanced up at the fluffy white clouds and wondered if it would do. Murmuring under her breath, she vowed to herself:

"I will do this. I will find friends. I will form a band, I will succeed."

"I am a new Chihiro Satou!"

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## Trivia

* Upon reading this story, the song Windchime & Heart is unlocked.
* Chihiro's initial 3\* card is displayed in this story.