Aikatsu Dreams!

Chapter 5: A Chance to Fly

"It's fine, I'm only teasing. What are you doing here anyways?" Despite her edgy and mature appearance, Nori spent most of her time in the archives, reading and studying. It was actually where her and Tori met during Tori's orientation week.

"I just thought I'd get in some light reading before class started," she answered back, unsure if it truly was the real reason she was there. Nori stood up from her seat, eying the junior idol quite inquisitively before placing her hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Tori looked up at Nori's eyes, their piercing emerald power staring into the depths of her very being. "I know that look, I had it when I was a first-year."

"I don't know if I'm good enough to be an idol."

"What makes you say that?"

"I'm only slowly moving up in the rankings, even Hana who just started a little while ago, is already doing better than me. I just don't know if I have what it takes." Nori paused before letting out a wild laugh. "Hey, what's so funny?"

"Is that all?" she asked, wiping a tear from her eye. "Man, you're in the Top 100 and this is what you're thinking? It took me four whole months before I even made it into the Top 150 as a first-year, even then I didn't make it into the Top 100 until halfway through my second year. You've got to relax."

"But all my friends are so positive about their Aikatsu, they talk about it with so much passion. There's a part of me that's unsure." Tori looked down at the ground, feeling the weight on her heart. Nori smiled, lifting her chin.

"You need to reignite your spark. Rediscover your passion, why you chose to be an idol." Tori's eyes widened, deep inside her heart she truly wanted to be an idol but along the way she lost her reasoning. "Come here," Nori sat Tori down next to her as she began clicking on the computer she was using. She opened up a program that had a wealth of information available to students at Top Star, allowing them to make connections and plan their future endeavours. "If you want to succeed and continue to thrive as an idol, you need a brand to identify yourself with." Nori began scrolling through a bunch of brand websites.

"A brand?" Tori asked. She knew that brands were an important part of an idol's career and that with a brand's support; an idol could succeed. Despite only being first-years, most of Tori's cohort were actively working to become brand ambassadors with some already holding the title. "I don't know if I'm ready."

"You'll never know if you don't try," Nori reassured her. As Nori flipped through some more brand sites, their styles kept attracting Tori's eyes, but there was something off. "Maybe you'll like my brand?" Nori clicked a few buttons and brought up her brand's website: 'Punk Edge'. The brand's tagline being: 'A brand dedicated to bringing out a girl's inner Rockstar! Fishnets and black are a must!' The photos of some of the coords the models were wearing were quite extravagant with an assortment of electric colours and ripped fabrics. In order to emphasise her excitement, Nori pulled out a set of Aikatsu cards from her academy bag and showed them to Tori.

The 'Flame Grunge Coord' was a Rare coord created by the brand with a heavy red and black colour scheme and flame motifs. The sleeveless vest, tiered skirt and thick spiky boots really enforced the brand's design choices. Tori sighed, gently informing Nori of her disinterest.

"It's nice, but I don't think it's for me." Nori laughed, agreeing with Tori. She kept flipping through catalogues of brands until something stood out. "Wait, go back," Tori kindly ordered. Nori did as she was instructed and backtracked to the previous website. Tori awed as she examined the sight in question.

'Endless Sky' was unlike any of the other brands Nori had searched through. Unlike most cool-type brands, this brand opted for lighter colours and a more sophisticated design rather than edgy. Tori read the brand's description and instantly fell in love: 'Embracing sophistication and feminine style, this brand allows any girl to soar into her adulthood.' The website was of superior quality, all clean with simple shortcuts to information and images of the coords being categorised into style, colour and season.