Phase 001 - The Light That Shone Like So Many Stars / Transcript

“Everybody! I hope you’re ready to listen to our final song!” A young girl, with wavy, pastel pink hair called out. A large crowd watched her, admiring her every move, excited to see what this next song would be. The girl beamed. She was wearing a pure white dress that glimmered in the moonlight along with matching wings. The girl turned to look at the brunette who stood next to her, and the two both nodded.

“Now, we shall sing-!” The pinkette started, before being interrupted by a familiar voice in the audience.

“Mai, wake up!”

The girl blinked, before shaking her head. She started again.

“Anyway, it’s time for us to sing-!”

“Your alarm went off five minutes ago! Wake up, before you’re late for school!!” The voice repeated, desperate.

The pink haired girl sighed.

“Just twenty more minutes…” she murmured, sounding as if she suddenly had no energy at all.

In reality, the pink haired girl clung to her pillow tightly, refusing to open her eyes. She had no idea what exactly she was even dreaming about, but it seemed so nice, or at least, so much nicer than the real world. A tall, grown man was standing next to her bed.

“Mai, please. Don’t make this any harder than this has to be,” he muttered, fed up.

His daughter covered her eyes with the sleeves of her pyjama top.

“But I’m so tired…” she uttered, refusing to wake up.

The man shook his head once again, before his eyes lit up. He spoke up.

“Well, if you don’t want to help out until after school, and if you want to keep Sachi-chan waiting, I understand,” A couple of seconds later, the pink haired girl sprung up, finally opening her crimson eyes.

“It’s so late! Papa, why, didn’t you wake me up earlier?!” She paused for a second, “Wait… actually, why are you in my room at all?!” She blurted out.

Her father stared at her blankly, before feeling the cold hands of his daughter grab his shoulders, as Mai began to push him outside.

“You should never barge into a young woman’s bedroom! It’s FOR-BID-DEN!” As she ranted on, the older man rolled his eyes. This would often happen in the mornings; Mai could be very stubborn, especially when it was so early. Or whenever Sachiko, her best - or rather only - friend, was mentioned.

“Anyway, I need to get ready before Sachi-chan gets here. Why don’t you keep yourself busy by… erm… setting up the shop!” And with that, the pink haired girl slammed her door close.

Not even minutes later, Mai came running down the stairs. She was wearing a white shirt, with a dark gray blazer, and light gray skirt. Her stockings were the same gray as her blazer, and reached to around her knees, and her shoes were plain, black leather shoes. The only real colour in her outfit was a small, red ribbon tied in her hair.

“Papa! Has Sachi-chan arrived yet??”

The older man looked up, and shook his head.“You have a piece of bed hair sticking up.”

Immediately, the young girl’s face just as red as the ribbon in her hair. She ran to the mirror at the other side of the room. Quickly, she took a small, rose pink hairbrush out of her bag and started to brush it.

“Geez, I never thought I’d get fashion advice from you,” She pouted, as she put her brush away.

“You’re really that annoyed I woke you up?” The older man muttered, an eyebrow raised.

Mai nodded.“It was such a nice dream… I don’t exactly know what it was about but it felt like… destiny. Like it was calling out to me. And you might have ruined everything!” Pouting, the young girl started to fold up some clothes, and put them on display. Something about that dream was calling to her… she just didn’t know what it was exactly. Her father was just about to answer, when the door opened.

“Good morning! Hmmm, today I think I’d like to buy a… hmmm… how about a Mai?” A cheerful voice, brimming with confidence, spoke up. Mai’s eyes began to light up, as she walked over to this ‘customer’.

“Sachi-chan!” She called out.

Sachiko was a tall girl, with an extremely well kept figure. Her hair was long, and a silky black, and her eyes were the colour of a rose. She emitted an aura of confidence and self-love, so much that even the drab uniform looked fairly good on her. She looked completely different to the small, dainty Mai who stood next to her.

“Let’s go then, Miss Amamiya, before we’re late~” The dark haired girl recited, with a singsong tone of voice, causing Mai to blush.

“Miss Amamiya?”

“Well, that’s your name, isn’t it?” She twirled her hair, with a seemingly innocent smile. Even more heat rising to her cheeks, Mai nodded.

“Let’s go then!” the young girl turned back, to face her father, “See you later, Mister Amamiya~”.

After waving to the older, the two girls stepped out of the fashion store, where Mai lived, and began to walk to school. As the two walked, Sachiko began to quietly hum; Mai happily listening along.

“That’s such a nice song~” She whispered.

Sachiko nodded, proud. “Of course! It’s the image song of my favourite idol, the Celestial Star, Aino Rina! Or at least, thirty seconds of it. She hasn’t performed it yet, haha.”

Mai’s eyes sparkled. “She must be a great idol! Though,” she paused, “Celestial Star? Favourite Idol? Wasn’t her name Harune Naru or something?”

“Rina was chosen as the new Celestial Star a couple of days ago! Ever since then, she’s been my new favourite!” The taller girl pouted.

“So… is your favourite always just going to be whoever the Celestial Star is?”

Sachiko shrugged. “It’s better than not having a favourite at all.”

“Ehhh, no fair!! You know I’m not interested in idols!” Mai retorted, but soon began to smile. Smirking, Sachiko nodded.

“Oh well, during break, I’ll just show you the performance that crowned Rina-sama the Celestial Star!” Mai’s face went pale, and she began to shake her head.

“You can’t just do that! If the teachers spot you with your phone, we’ll get in trouble. It’ll get confiscated!”

“Ah~, you’re such a worrywart.” Sachiko patted Mai’s head, in a harsh way, “You know I won’t get into trouble. All of the teachers are terrified of my power. We’ll be fine~.”

Mai clutched onto her sleeves, all her confidence from before felt like it was pouring out of her. Sachiko would often have this kind of effect on her. While Mai was perfectly used to it, it wasn’t the most pleasant thing in the world. The pink haired girl really, really, really disliked going against what Sachiko said, but some of her ideas were really stupid.

“Even so…” After what felt like hours, those two words barely escaped.

Not noticing the quietness of her friend’s voice, Sachiko spoke up again. “Fine then. If it worries you that much, we won’t watch it.”

Mai breathed a sigh of relief.

“But, you have to promise to come with me to her debut as the Celestial Star in a few weeks!” Sachiko exclaimed, as the two walked into their school.

“Heh? You know Papa won’t let me go though!” Mai complained.

Sachiko started to walk in a different direction, raising her hand slightly.

“No buts. It’s a promise, and friends don’t break promises. If you do, I’ll just assume you don’t want to be friends anymore~.” She said, in a very sing song tone of voice.

Mai clutched her sleeve once again.

“B-but!” She attempted to protest, but Sachiko had already disappeared.

Mai walked into her homeroom, the sound of multiple students excitedly buzzing about their weekends, As she quietly walked to her seat, mentions of the Celestial Star were flying around the classroom. She sighed. All this talk of idols was starting to become tiring.

“Are they really that special?” She muttered to herself, as she got all of her stuff out. All idols did was stand on stage and look pretty, right?

~~~~~~~~

The rest of the school day was fairly forgettable. Nothing particularly special really happened during lessons, overall the day had passed fairly quickly. Mai hurriedly put all of her things in her locker, before running over to Sachiko.

“Sachi-chan!” She exclaimed, causing the dark haired girl to tilt her head slightly.

“What’s got you so excited??” She muttered, causing Mai to step back.

“Sorry!” She whispered, before perking up again, “Today was really boring, and I couldn’t bare not to see you!!”

Sachiko rolled her eyes. “That’s just sad.”

“It was a compliment!!” Mai pouted.

Sachiko shrugged, yet was smiling slightly.

“If you say so.” The two started to walk out of the school, as Mai looked up to the sky, and sighed.

“It’s so gray… It looks like it might rain.”

“Not for another hour or so.”

Mai shook her head.“It looks like it’ll rain a lot sooner than that,” she murmured, before stopping, “Do you hear that?”

Sachiko looked confused but stopped with Mai and listened carefully. Although faint, the two girls could hear the someone singing.

“That sounds like one of Tsubasa-sama’s songs…” Sachiko whispered.

“Tsubasa... sama?”

Sachiko clapped her hands together. “What if it is her?! Come on Mai, we have to go! I think it’s coming from the park!” She exclaimed before grabbing onto Mai’s arm and dragging her to the park.

When they arrived at the park, they found a small crowd watching a girl with a long purple side ponytail singing. Mai found herself absorbed in everything the girl was doing. Her eyes sparkled as she watched the girl. However, Sachiko was less than pleased.

“It’s not Tsubasa-sama after all, it’s just some look-a-like covering one of her songs. Come on Mai, let’s go.” She stated bluntly, turning around. Mai shook her head.

“B-but this person is really good! I want to stay!” She exclaimed with a huge smile.

Sachiko sweatdropped. “I thought you didn’t care about idols?”

Mai’s eyes widened slightly.“This… is what an idol is…?” She whispered. The taller girl didn’t seem to hear, yet proceeded to flip her hair.

“If you have to stay then I suppose I’ll just have to use this as a chance to get scouted!” she exclaimed, confident and determined.

“You’re going to become an idol?” The small girl replied, her eyes still wide.

“Of course! It’s my fate after all!” As the two spoke, the crowd started to walk away from the park, and Sachiko’s eyes lit up.

“Here’s my chance!” The taller girl exclaimed, her eyes full with passion. As she strided over the purple haired girl, the small girl’s head hung low.

“I missed most of it…” she muttered, before following Sachiko. The purple haired girl was putting away all of her things, not noticing the two girls standing behind her. Sachiko grinned.

“Hello! That was a great performance! My name is Hanabusa Sachiko! Yes, I’m the Hanabusa Sachiko, you know the one! And this is my friend, Amamiya Mai! Are you, by any chance, an idol?”

“Sachiko…!” Mai hissed, but Sachiko paid no notice.

“I’m training to be one, and thanks for the compliment,” the purple haired girl said blankly, showing no interest towards Sachiko. Instead, her eyes were drawn to Mai. Sachiko noticed.

“You have to train to be an idol?” Mai asked. Sachiko nudged her before turning back to the idol.

“Don’t mind her! She’s really shy and has no idea what an idol even is.”

The purple haired girl smiled. “Of course you do! If you don’t put 100% into training, then you’ll forget the lyrics in the middle of a performance! Or the dance moves. Or run out of stamina. Or fail a special appeal, trust me, I’ve seen people lose really important competitions because of that. And worst of all, it’d be nearly impossible to smile whilst performing.”

“Smile?” Mai asked, completely captivated by the sound of the girl’s voice. Sachiko stared at the two, confused.

“Well, would you watch a performance where the performer doesn’t look like they’re having fun?”

Mai shook her head, not noticing the envious glare of her friend. The idol in training grinned.

“You have a really nice aura, it’s so cute!! You could really make it as an idol!” she paused, as a few raindrops started to fall from the sky, “Hey, why don’t you try? Celestial Academy, the school Aino Rina goes to, is holding auditions in a week. I’m auditioning, but it’d be nice to know somebody there.” Mai felt her face become hot, and Sachiko’s jaw dropped. A few moments later, Mai nodded slightly.

“O-of course, if you think I could actually do it! Though…. Could Sachi-chan audition too?” She stuttered, her eyes drifting to the floor. The rain had started to become heavier. The purple haired girl sighed.

“If she thinks she can handle it, I guess,” She placed a hand on her hip, “By the way, I haven’t introduced myself yet, have I? My name is Shimura Tsubaki, an aspiring idol!” Despite the rain becoming even heavier, Mai’s eyes lit up. She nodded, before Sachiko began dragging her away.

“Sachi...chan?” She whispered. “Sachi-chan, what’s wrong? You finally have the chance to become an idol!”

“Nothing’s wrong,” She replied. Mai blinked.

“So, you’ll show up at the auditions?”

“There’s no point. Celestial Academy is a boarding school. There’s no way your dad will ever let you go. And just auditioning doesn’t mean you’re going to get in.”

“Is there any harm in trying, though?”

Sachiko nodded. “You know nothing about idols, you aren’t cut out for this.”

“B-but-!”

“No buts! You stole my dream from me!” The taller girl snapped. Mai clutched onto her sleeve. She couldn’t cry, no matter what. She couldn’t let herself.

“What do you mean…?”

The two girls stood, facing each other, eye to eye. This lasted multiple moments, before Sachiko spoke up again. “You got scouted to be an idol, I didn’t.”

“You did!” Mai protested. “You heard her, we could both audition!”

“Did you listen at all?! That entire time she was just like ‘You’ve got such a cute aura! You should become an idol!’ without paying attention to me at all! Even though I'm far more fitted to be an idol than you!” Sachiko huffed. “And anyway, she’s just a fake trying to be Tsubasa-sama. You’ll never get anywhere with her training you.” Before Mai could get another word in, Sachiko walked away.

~~~~~~~~
Mai walked into her home, soaking wet. She grabbed a towel, and placed it on top of her hair, feeling unmotivated. She had never fallen out with Sachiko before, afterall. After changing into dry clothes, the pinkette sat down and buried her head into her arms. She wanted to try auditioning for Celestial Academy, but Sachiko obviously didn’t want her to.

“What’s up with you? You’re usually so energetic when you come home from school, Mai,” Mai’s father, Amamiya Hiro walked in, breaking Mai’s train of thoughts.

“Papa…” Mai muttered, before realising.
*I’m doing it again.*

She shook her head. “I’m 100% fine! Couldn’t be better!”

Her father sighed. “Mai, I’m not dumb. I saw you upset just a minute ago, something’s obviously wrong.”

Mai sighed.

“It’s just… I have something I want to do, something I want to be. Yet…. If I do it… I don’t think Sachiko will be my friend anymore.”.

“And, what exactly is that thing?”

Mai hesitated for a second. Her dad would never let her go to a boarding school, and leaving him alone would be cruel. Yet, she desperately wanted to know where the glimmering feeling she had whilst watching Tsubaki earlier was from. After a few seconds thinking, she eventually gave in.

“I want to audition for Celestial Academy.”

“You want to be an idol?” Hiro asked, a little surprised, before smiling warmly and placing his hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “It’s been a long time since anybody in this family has stood on stage.”

“You used to be an idol?” She looked up, giggling slightly. The thought of her clumsy, awkward father on stage was strange. Hiro shook his head.

“Of course not! You and me both know that’d be a disaster! But…” His voice trailed off, and the two looked at eachother, sadness in their eyes. Mai then smiled.

“I’ll do it, then! At least, I think that’s what Mama would want me to do, right?” Hiro nodded.

“You’re just like your mother. You know that, right?” Hiro turned away. “Anyway, I have to get back to working. I can’t leave poor Akagi-san to handle all of the customers by herself after all,” he chuckled slightly, and Mai stood up.

“I’ll help out!” She exclaimed, with a determined look on her face. However, Hiro just pushed her down by the shoulders.

“No, you’re going to do your homework. And after that, I think you have something more important to train for.” Mai took a second before realising what he meant, but then smiled.

“Thank you, Papa!”

```
  Before anyone had noticed, a week had passed, and around a hundred preteens were all gathered in the main hall of Celestial Academy. The hall was grand, with various places to sit, and a large stage at the front. A woman with platinum blonde hair tied into a ponytail walked in with a smile on her face. She was wearing a smart outfit.

```

“Good day, everyone! My name is Kagamine Makoto, the headmistress at Celestial Academy! Today, each and every one of you will stand on stage and answer a few questions before showing us just what sort of performance you can do!” the applicants all clapped, excitement and nerves running through their blood.

“However, only those who me, my teachers, and the Celestial Star see fit will make it through. We have very high standards, so I wish you all the best of luck.” She walked off stage and the hall fell silent. Mai swallowed. She had only had a week’s worth of practise, and she didn’t even know if it was effective. Another girl, with bright pink hair tied in twintails rushed on stage.

“Can entrant number 01 please come come onstage?” She exclaimed, as a small girl walked over. Over the next few hours, everybody watched their fellow applicants walk onto stage, talk about themselves, before performing. Each girl was brimming with confidence, and managed to put on great performances. However, the majority felt the exact same as each other. They’d talk about how much they love Rina, before putting on a performance that, despite being technically good, ended up feeling strangely lackluster. Of course, there were exceptions, but very few proved to be anything special.

Despite this, fear was bubbling up inside of Mai. All of these girls were so much more professional than her, after all. They each had an unbelievable amount of confidence, confidence that Mai honestly just didn’t have in her.

“Can entrant 68 please come onstage?” The twintail girl yelled, and Mai stood up. 68… that was her number, wasn’t it? She awkwardly pushed her way to the front of the hall and walked onstage. The twintail girl grinned.

“Good day, 68! What’s your name??” She asked. Mai froze on the spot. It was such a simple question yet so impossible at the same time. The audience began to chuckle, including the aforementioned Rina. The sound of their laughter caused Mai to loosen up a little.

“M-My name is Amamiya Mai! I’m twelve years old, and I’m aspiring to become an idol!” The audience giggled again, and Mai sweatdropped. Everyone in this school was aspiring to become an idol; it was foolish of her to point it out.

“So, Mai-chan! Why are you aiming to be an idol?” Twintail asked again, and Mai took a deep breath, before smiling.

“I saw this performance the other day on the streets, and it was enchanting! And then I decided to look up more performances when I got home, and they were even better!” She exclaimed , before pausing, “And, I feel out with somebody recently. An important friend, who loves idols. So, one day, I want to stand on stage alongside her!” Mai didn’t realise how loud her voice had become or how the hall had fallen silent until she heard a large applause. She blinked. She hadn’t done anything that special, right?

Twintail leaned in.

“Well, you’ve certainly made a good impression on the audience! Now go backstage, and start preparing for your performance! Mai nodded timidly, taken aback by the audience’s reaction.

```
 She walked backstage, and was greeted by a girl with pastel green hair piled on top of her head, in a bun.

```

“Good day! Please choose three cards, and place them in the Aikatsu System!” Mai nodded, and walked over to a table placed behind the girl. There were three rows of different cards. The top contained various coloured tops, the bottoms, and the shoes. Mai looked at all of them. They were all so cute! Eventually, she settled on three matching rose pink cards, the Rose Cosmos Coord. Then, she turned to face what appeared to be some hologram tablet type device with five spaces for cards. The young girl took a deep breath and placed her three cards in their respective slots. A pink beam shot out of each card and combined to make some kind of doorway. Despite the feeling of nervousness filling her, Mai walked through.

```
 On the other side of the doorway, the space seemed to be some kind of galaxy, with pink hearts floating everywhere. Mai looked down at herself and noticed that her skin seemed to be made of pink sparkles.

```

“E-eh? What’s happening??” She muttered, before looking down. In front of her, there was some kind of pink platform that seemed to want Mai to step on it. She initially hesitated but stepped on it anyway. The platform started to extend turning into some sort of slide. Then, Mai felt herself drop.

In front of her, there were large versions of the cards which she placed into the machine moments ago. Mai extended her arms, in hopes to block it, and closed her eyes. This was it. Her cause of death was going to be crashing into giant aikatsu cards because a platform slide thing wanted to murder her, apparently. However, when the pinkette opened her eyes again, there was only one card left, and the other two had somehow materialised on her body. Mai breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe the platform slide wasn’t going to murder her. After going through the final card, she jumped up, and landed on a different, larger platform. She posed, and a large pink heart appeared behind her.

```
 Not even seconds later, Mai walked onto the stage. It seemed so much different than it had before, so much more magical. People all around her were cheering. It made her smiled. A warm feeling was rising up; she almost felt like she could do this! The pinkette took a deep breath, before starting to sing.

```

*Let's go, Aikatsu!*
*The show's starting, don't you know?*
*Let's go, Aikatsu!*
*Our voices will reach the rainbow~*

Mai’s began to dance, her nerves starting to slowly melt away. Aikatsu was so fun, it was hard to be so afraid whilst doing it.

*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*

Mai’s aura slowly began to appear, albeit very small. It consisted of pastel pink and purple hearts, and pearls. She continued to dance and sing, not even really noticing.

*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!*

Her voice slowly to become louder, and her moves began to have more presence. She started to smile wider, and it became obvious to the audience just how much she was enjoying herself.

*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!*

Mai’s aura slowly began to grow, as the audience began to become more immersed in the idol’s performance. They began to cheer her some more.

*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!*

As the song reached its climax, the stage suddenly turned into a space of some sort, filled with pink sparkles. Mai lifted her right arm up, as a pink heart appeared. She reached out for it, and grabbed it. Holding the heart to her chest, Mai squeezed it, causing it to burst into multiple smaller hearts. Mai then posed, as the stage turned back to rainbow.

“The special appeal, Cute Live…” Makoto whispered, surprised that such an unpolished idol managed to perform a special appeal. Not even noticing what she had just pulled off, Mai continued to sing the final few lines.

*To a distant rainbow~*
*Aikatsu, Here We Go!*

As the song finished, Mai posed, and the audience cheered.

“I wonder if she’s ever performed before?” A girl with long, brown hair, with two small buns tied by either side of her otherwise open hair asked, before giggling, “Either way, she’ll certainly be an interesting addition to the world of idols.” Makoto, who was standing next to the teenager, tilted her head.

“What do you mean, Aino-san?”

“Her performance was really rough around the edges, yet it had a lot of heart. Enough so that she managed to complete a special appeal. Don’t you find it interesting too?” The brunette commented, smiling.

“Are you sure?” The blonde asked, “Even if she managed to pull of an appeal, I’m not sure if…” The teenager nodded.

“I’m certain”.

```
Soon after, every single applicant had all performed, and they sat in the hall, waiting patiently. Makoto stepped onto the stage once again.

```

“Thank you everybody for your time! It’s finally time for us to announce the ten incredibly talented girls who managed to pass!” The hall started to mutter between each other, feeling tense. Only ten girls had managed to get through?! Makoto coughed.

“Girls, please calm down. The ten girls who have passed are entrants 5, 13, 16, 32, 48, 54, 68, 70, 83, and 99!” Mai held her hand to her heart. Number 68- that was her number, wasn’t it? In doubt, Mai shook her head. Her performance wasn’t great afterall. Yet, her heart was pounding. She had passed.

She had passed!