(This post stars:
Rice,
Kiriya Aoi, and
Mitsuishi Orihime. Such blue in this post.)
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Rice Moves In[/h]
It was currently 9:00 am. It was a sunny Friday on the 25th of April. Rice hummed with a smile as she walked – with the tiny black wheels of her luggage rolling behind her as she held onto it with her left hand – the apparently-unsoiled streets seemingly made out of large and long square stones – cobblestone street-like road. She just walked past the gate and its pair of scary-looking guards moments ago – after showing them the piece of paper required for identification. She must admit, they were slightly intimidating, but she didn’t allow her emotions to surface over her face, albeit a drop of sweat its place instead. She was, however, an hour late. Wanting to be punctual; Rice woke up early, but she was too preoccupied with gathering what little of her belongings she could bring with her.
“Woah… I’m finally here!” She exclaimed to none in particular with a broad smile, as if congratulating herself. Ah, how amazing, to finally be one of those girls that bathes under the spotlight; shines brightly over the stage! To top it off, she was now in the renowned idol school; the Starlight Academy, and not some shady agency.
There were quite the number of idols here visible from Rice's vicinity. Some of them she hadn’t quite recognized… rather, she could hardly identify the girls she saw trudging the clean paths of the academy. Was it because it is hard to appear on television? Perhaps. Rice didn’t quite know how difficult it actually is to appear on television. All she actually noted in her time at the hospital were the three top stars; Ichigo, Louise and Rise. Some other idols did appear, and those are the only ones she’d usually remember. She hardly bought magazines throughout her life – due to a lack of money – but always wanted to check some out.
Seeing the dormitory standing behind the main building to the right – Rice decided to proceed to the establishment in order to drop her belongings in her room. To be finally living in the legendary dormitory; Rice gave herself an internal pat on her back for having passed the Nationwide Caravan Audition. Who knows, maybe she may befriend some of the idols she got to know from the television!
Walking – she managed to reach the building in around ten minutes. Rice felt sluggish, not being so used to walking. There was the part about reaching the academy in the first place, too. It was hellish, but whenever she thought about her new life via the accomplishment; she'd help herself to forget about the burning aches of pains of pain from her tired pair of legs and exhausted pair of lungs. She wondered how awry would things go if she is ever late for class in the near future; she’d have to run with all her might... something she'd hate to do. Rice thought so as she fetched for the key to her room. The key intricately had the number †˜220’ etched over it – signifying her room number. Which was rather convenient – Rice thought. Moving up the flight of stairs, she found herself before a hallway – with a set of doors – each with its own number-plates atop them – on both sides – lights illuminating the corridor along the way; Rice proceeded onward; looking for her room.
Stopping before a door that had the number †˜220’ over it; Rice checked her key to confirm before slotting it into the keyhole to clink it open to find herself standing before a horror of a room. There were cats. Five of them. Cute. But…
“What?” The word from her mind escaped from her very pursed lips due to her pure state of disbelief. What a travesty of a room! There were books strewn all over the carpeted floor. A bed clearly ruffled badly with the blanket lying in a miserable state. Was this roommate of her’s late before leaving the room? She sure hoped not. Rice very much loved to be clean and organized. That's how her entire life was, anyway. Perhaps a little too clean, and hence, boring. It was as though her heart is pure white, just as her name suggests.
Other than the unpleasant air of disorganization and the occasional murmurs of the many cats – Rice noted a lamplight over a set of clean brown desks, a pair of chair for both aforementioned desks, two beds – one clearly treated badly – and a pair of windows beside both the beds. A nice room. A luxurious one, to boot. Well, it would’ve been nice if it was tidy, anyway. Dropping her luggage at the corner before a wall; Rice sank to the other bed; claiming it as her's, the cats climbing up the bed to surround her as she did so. Taking notice of the gray-furred animal, she sat on the bed, took one of them to her lap, and caressed the creature. It purred gently under her palms.
“I’m surprised that they even allow pets here,” Rice thought out loud. She remembered how, in many drama shows, there were moments when pets were not allowed in various hotels. Not that this was a hotel, but... Perhaps only in the rooms of the dormitory, she assumed.
“Right, now that I have my luggage dropped here; I can pay the Headmistress a visit.”
Taking leave of her room; Rice set off for the main building.
***
Rice found herself bewildered by the two various lines of marquees projecting advertisements, and news, information, data from over the internet and possibly the media – in the lobby of the in building upon her entry. She peered towards the walls to both sides to find lines of see-through screens, too. How unbelievable! How remarkable! How amazing! How convenient! How fantastic! Rice’s mind went into a one-track frenzy from pure excitement. To a person who always admired the idols from some corner of a hospital room – it was her long-sought utopia that she finally reached through a stroke of fate.
At such a moment, when her gleaming green eyes were starry from the excitement; someone seemed to be calling her.
“Hey, are you there? ...Are you okay?” A voice spoke from behind.
Finally being snapped back to reality, Rice turned around meekly to find an admirable figure standing – with a pose in which she placed her delicate hand over the side of her hip with a cool smile. Her aqua blue eyes, vivid blue hair, and the deep blue uniform blend in together quite nicely, her sky-blue scrunchie complimenting her entire getup, even.
“K-Kiriya… Aoi-chan?!” Rice responded, her hands clenched into a fist over her chest, into what one may call the †˜guts pose’. For her to meet someone to incredible so soon, Rice felt that she was beyond gifted for such an event to occur.
Aoi laughed.
“Yes, that’s me. I know that feeling completely!” She begun after helping Rice confirm.
“That special feeling when you meet someone you know from the media.” Said Aoi, apparently sympathizing with her. Aoi was known to have been one heck of a lucky person – meeting many idols whom she was a fan of throughout her idol life. Oh the wonders of fate, indeed – in more ways than one – to meet Kiriya Aoi of all people in her first day. First Ichigo, then Rise, and now, Aoi – was she using up all the luck of her life? Rice pondered tentatively.
“I-I’m Rice! It is a pleasure to meet you! Is there something I can help you with, Kiriya-senpai?” Rice introduced herself, not forgetting her manners, but she was very nervous to stand so close to one of the bigger stars of the idol world. Moreover, hearing Aoi speak her signature word made her squeal internally.
“I’m Kiriya Aoi, pleased to meet you, Rice-chan. I’ve been assigned to be your senpai for the year, I hope to get along with you!” Said, Aoi, somewhat excited herself. As the idol professor, her blood was boiling. She was excited to see Rice’s growth and potential as an idol, and figure out why she was chosen to begin with.
“You're… assigned to me?!” Rice exclaimed, purely astonished. Her voice was loud, taking attention of her fellow idols in the lobby, too. Making them smile, “woah, how nice,” one commented with a giggle. She was indeed lucky to have
that Kiriya Aoi as her upperclassman. Furthermore, she was the first to pronounce her name properly, without having Rice to correct her. This made her feel especially joyous.
“That’s right, I’ll looking after you for an year at least, till you’re a sophomore,” Aoi replied with a smile.
“Am I dreaming?”
“Not quite!” Aoi said as she closed one of her eyes while pointing an index finger to Rice’s face.
“To not waste any more time, let’s pay a visit to the Headmistress’ office, shall we?”
“Y-Yes!”
***
With a clank, the tall door was opened, Rice and Aoi walked into the Headmistress’ room. It was big and wide, her tiny apartment given to her by her relatives – possibly out of pity could hardly be compared to this. There were long full-length glasses instead of walls straight before Rice. When Rice looked left to right, she found the left-wall to have books inserted into them, while the other held a sofa – with a table and a pair of chairs before it. There was a desk, behind which the Headmistress lied.
She was a fabulous and charismatic figure as ever. She possessed long brown hair – of which two big curly strands flew out to the front past her shoulders. A navy-blue coat and skirt, with black inner garments peeking out to her chest, and a matching sky-blue scarf – of which its end was fashioned like a pointy neck-tie at the end of it, to top it all off. She wore yellow earrings, and a motherly – yet professional – smile over her apparently youthful and beautiful face. Seemingly old, yet so young and mystifying! A charming figure. To think the academy had such a Headmistress – it was truly a lucky campus to have a former top idol like her lead it.
Her eyes opened to reveal her azure blue eyes.
“So you’ve finally come,” the Headmistress spoke, her voice held a mature feel to it, it didn’t sound too old.
Rice walked up to the desk of the Headmistress. Her face full of glee.
“I am Mitsuishi Orihime – the Headmistress of the academy – it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Orihime Headmistress said, introducing herself before continuing,
“first, allow me to congratulate you, Rice.” Unlike others, the Headmistress, too, made no mistake in pronunciation of her name – this made Rice even happier.
“Thank you very much!” Rice said, her enthusiasm clearly showing in her voice as she smiled brightly.
Orihime Headmistress simply smiled in return.
“You’ve had your aura appear in your live performance on your audition – catching the eyes of both Kujikawa Rise and Hoshimiya Ichigo,” she noted.
“Well done, its not something that occurs everyday,” she praised.
“It just… kind of happened,” Rice replied, weakly scratching her right cheek with a slight smile, tentatively. She later noticed her own aura upon checking the recorded video in Starlight Academy’s webpage. She was quite surprised and confused herself.
Orihime Headmistress’ smile grew wider, if only slightly – as she remembered Ichigo saying the same thing regarding her performance where she pulled off a special appeal, and made her aura appear at the same time; in the entrance audition.
“From now on – you’re a member of Starlight Academy,” the Headmistress begun. Pulling out a black tray from under the desk; she placed it forward before Rice.
“First, I’m returning these to you,” Rice could see a triplet of Aikatsu Cards looking at her from atop the tray. It was the White Stage Coord, along with the accessory she picked – in the Nationwide Audition caravan – before her performance. The memory was still fresh; vivid in her mind and heart. Rice clearly remembered that moment she took her first step; the moment she chose those three card. She was truly glad to know that she'd have them back to her.
“Thank you, I somewhat missed them, to be honest,” Rice expressed her thoughts earnestly, her hands cupped them up to herself – as if taking up a portion of water up from a lake – gaining her beloved cards with a warm smile, this made Aoi smile… and shutter a picture at the same time with her smartphone.
“This is rare! Rice-chan's inspirational shot!” Aoi remarked, showing the image to Rice with a delightful face; satisfied to have taken a rare picture of a newborn idol.
“Eh?!” Feeling puzzled, Rice looked hesitantly towards Aoi's phone. She did looked quite cute in it.
“Ahem,” the Headmistress uttered as if to break the current atmosphere in the room.
The two then snapped out as they faced the Headmistress yet again. Her smile returned, as if she composed herself just now.
“Those are the three cards you chose for the audition. Your Aikatsu cards were the White Stage Coord’s One-piece, and its Black Boots, along with the accessory card – which was available for those that decided to go with such two-card coords – the Black Chiffon Headband. They are your cards of fate – the first cards you picked to have take the step together with you – towards Aikatsu – the world of idols. Nice choice.”
“And these are the things you’ll need,” Orihime Headmistress said, pushing forward yet another black tray. What lied over it was a single card, and a phone. It was Rice’s first time seeing the Aikatsu phone before her – or rather, any phone at all – this made her quite excited as she clutched her chest with her delicate hands.
“Your Student ID Card, and your Aikatsu Smartphone – AiSuma in short,” the Headmistress explained.
“The Aikatsu Cards are required to activate the Aikatsu System, while the AiSuma is used to keep an idol organized. It’s what you’ll need as an idol – it allows you to store your cards digitally, as well as let’s set your schedule, and has many more applications and functions – use it well,” she said.
“Thank you very much!” Rice then scooped up the smartphone and the ID Card. The first thing she did was inserting her Aikatsu Cards into the AiSuma’s slim dark slot excitedly – into which the cards indeed entered; displaying her cards with a holographic display – making her smile at the wonders of technology.
“So, Ichigo-chan, and everyone uses these things… right?” With a bright smile she inquired, her heart aflutter with happiness.
“Of course. To performers, the cards are their life,” Orihime Headmistress said. It is a common quote among the Aikatsu performers.
“From now on, you’ll use various cards to compete with Hoshimiya, and the other students to customize your outfit, and possibly your stage, too.”
“I’m so glad to have the same things as Ichigo-chan!” Rice exclaimed with pure delight.
“Indeed, the items are the same. But,” the Headmistress’ voice trailed off, shaking off Rice's bright grin.
“Your Aikatsu activites has barely begun,” she stated coldly, and sternly.
Rice frowned with determination.
“You’ll have to enter all kinds of auditions – then win them – to get our own jobs. It’ll all depend on your studies. Give it your all!” Orihime Headmistress said, in order to set ablaze Rice’s resolution.
Which she indeed managed to do, evidenced by Rice’s fiery look of ascertainment in her expression.
“Yes!” Rice said, firmly.
“I’ll try my hardest!”
Orihime Headmistress simply gave a nod, before having her smile resurfaced.
“Now, I’ll have you meet your teacher,” the Headmistress then pressed on a button that lied over a device to her side – most likely a telephone.
“Bepp sensei,” she called.
“Wait… -that- Bepp? Johnny Bepp?!” Rice exclaimed, she was beyond surprised. To have such a famous – such an amazing – person be her teacher. Was it really alright? This person, if she remembered correctly... sometimes made the choreographs for Ichigo, too! However, before she could think any further…
The doors were flung open grandly with a loud thud as a silhouette of a man was visible past it. His hands were stretched to their limits before he walked in. Seemingly flamboyant; he seemed to be shining – in his own way.
“
Take flight!” He spoke vehemently. Pulling his arm up before shaking his hip to take a showy pose. “
I’m galaxy’s one number teacher,” He claimed, then spun his body rapidly as he inched towards Rice with every passing moments.
“E-Eh?” Clearly having not expected her teacher to be
this bold and eccentric; Rice was taken aback with a confounded look.
“Have no worries – I’m sure that you’re confused about a lot of things – as a new student here.
BUT! I’ll be with you to help! So be at ease!” Johnny said with brimming confidence. “As you –
honey – is one of my students from now on!”
“Um… h-honey?!” Rice exclaimed while leaning towards Aoi to ask, who seemed to be grinning as though this was normal.
“Bare with him – that’s just how he is,” Aoi whispered back to Rice. The Headmistress smiled with her eyes closed; having her head rest over the back of her hands that were joined via all her ten fingers; letting the event play out before her. Acting as the silent observer.
“Right…” at such a moment, Johnny stopped just before Rice; making her bangs sway away due to the wind generated from his vibrant rounds of spinning. This made Rice cover her skirt with her hands instinctively.
“Welcome, I hope we get along,” Johnny said, his tone of volume of his voice apparently lower than before; returned to normal, after which he brought his hand forward.
“Y-Yeah,” Rice hesitantly took up his to give him a handshake.
“Please take care of me,” she pulled such words out of her mouth, barely. A bead of sweat dripped from her chin as she did so.
“Then, I’ll show you to class. Your class will not start till 12:30 pm, which I think you know already. I’ll have to go after I show you around a bit, as I have work to attend to,” said Aoi.
“Oh, alright. I really appreciate you showing around,” Rice said, excited to see the many places of Starlight Academy.