Aikatsu Stars 25 Years Later ...

On Cloud 9

Opening Theme: Eternal Unity (Masquerade 2.0)
Ending Theme: Pride (Wish)

Ryu's POV

"So after Masquerade 2.0's show tomorrow," Luna says as she writes down the schedule on the whiteboard before today's 'battle', "M4 New Generation will perform. Lavender and Fuyu should get here soon so we can rehearse."

"Who's Lavender and Fuyu?" I ask Nico and/or Kokoro.

"They probably mean Lavender Igarashi and Fuyu Kasumi," Nico says. Something about them feels familiar.

"They're getting the son and daughters of the original M4 to perform together in a band," Kokoro explains.

"Wow, cool," I say. "That must be M4 New Generation."

"Must be," Nico says.

"Cloud 9," Luna says, interrupting our conversation.

"Present," Kibo says as she and the other eight members of Cloud 9 stand up.

"As you should be," Luna nods. "Do you have your units decided?"

"Of course," Kalani says. Is it me or is there a bit of anger in her voice? Nah, it's just me. Why would she be angry? "I'm part of a unit with Mona and Sokudo. With the image of a princess, knight, and prince, we call ourselves Royal Procession."

"Got it," Luna nods, writing down the name onto the board. "And the other six?"

"Here, here!" Hikari exclaims as she stands up with Hana and Kibo. "Hikari wanted to keep working in StEaM because it's so KAWAII! And now Kibo's joined us to create something even better!"

"StEaMPunk!" the three say in unison.

"And the last three, your name?" Luna asks as she writes down 'StEaMPunk' onto the board.

"Lovely Lady," Daiji answers simply. Thank goodness.

"Nice," Luna says with a smile. "Is that the order you want to go in?"

"No, sorry," Sokudo says.

"Oh it's fine. So how is this going down?" I'm bored.

I pick up my notebook and start to work on something else. I want to write a song for Masquerade 2.0, but I'm not exactly an expert on stuff like this. I don't even know how to play an instrument.

"What are you doing?" Kazuno whispers over my shoulder.

"Writing a song," I whisper back.

"Let me see," Kazuno pulls down my notebook to see what I have.

"Hey," I say. I don't want him to look at it - it's embarrassing. "Kazuno, you shouldn't be looking -"

"Not bad," Kazuno says.

"Eh?"

"Don't get me wrong, I've seen better. A lot better," Kazuno tells me.

"Gee, thanks," I reply sarcastically.

"But it's not bad. You just need someone more professional at songwriting to help you."

"Someone like you?" I ask.

"No. But I knew a few guys." Kazuno turns to the group of idols surrounding us. "Kalani Sena, from Cloud 9, has written a lot of songs as an idol. Yujin Besuto got famous because of a music video for one of his own songs."

"Wow," I say. "I'll talk to Yujin first, I know him better."

"Say, Kazuno," Mikan says from the seat besides Nico. "Did you get sleep last night? You have circles under your eyes."