Aikatsu Crescent!

「Phase 22」Around And Around!

"I had high hopes for you three."

Mai placed her fork down. Even if it was morning and she hadn't eaten yet, she found herself without much of an appetite. Glancing over, Tsubaki and Hinata were feeling the same away. Ever since the audition's announcement, they had become quieter and quieter around each other. The build-up to the audition was stressful, and even once it was over, Rina... Mai didn't want to think about that. If she did, she'd surely end up feeling worse. Not even Kotone was with them today - even if she had no reason too, Mai had a feeling she knew about everything. She just... didn't understand. What had they done wrong?

Being the beginning of October, students had changed back into their Winter uniforms to reflect the colder weather. This also marked the halfway point of the school year. Not too long ago, Mai would have been excited over how much they had grown, but... she still had much to learn, it felt like. It was frustrating.

"Hey, is that...?"

"Ahh, I'm her biggest fan!"

"Let's go over!"

All of a sudden, there was a large crowd formed in the cafeteria. Hinata's eyes widened.

"I heard some rumours..." she said, standing up, "Do you think they might have been true?"

"Rumours?" Tsubaki asked.

"Let's go see!" Hinata exclaimed, walking over. Mai and Tsubaki exchanged confused glances, before following. Hinata pushed her way to the front, paving a path for her two best friends.

"Isn't that-?" Mai asked, and Hinata nodded.

Stood there were two girls. The smaller of the two had long, silky, dark blue hair tied into twintails, with sapphire blue eyes. She was pale and held herself gracefully. In her hair was a blue lily flower, with white feathers poking out. The ribbon around her collar was blue, marking a cool type idol.

Next to her, was a much taller girl. She had brown eyes, with shorter fluffy ginger hair also tied into twintails with ribbons, topped off tiny bear-shaped beads. Her uniform was a little scruffy - her stockings being pulled up to different heights for example - in a seemingly intentional, cute way. The ribbon around her collar was yellow, signifying her being a pop type idol.

However, their appearances weren't what caught the student's attention, though that had certainly been a factor. What had attracted the large crowd was the KiraTube channel: The Seventh Moon. It was run by the cool-type, who alongside virtual performances also did fortune-telling with Aikatsu cards. The other girl was her assistant, occasionally helping out. Up until now, neither (especially not the latter) had expressed an interest in pursuing a more traditional Aikatsu, yet here they were. Students of Celestial Academy.

"I heard something about Seventh Moon-san auditioning," Hinata explained, "I didn't realise it was true, though."

Seventh Moon's assistant raised her hand. "Hello, Celestial Academy!"

Seventh Moon herself continued. "Starting from today, I, Nanatsuki Asuka..."

"...And Fukuyama Yoshi - that's me!..."

"...Will be making this academy our new domain!"

The crowd was full of excited squeals. From their reaction, it was clear that a large portion of the academy were fans of the duo, including Hinata and Mai. The two would have been much more openly excited if not for the current stress they were feeling.

"Now, we're going to be looking for some special little monsters to join us today!" Yoshi announced.

"That is correct," Asuka said, "The lucky idols to spend a day with us shall be..." she looked around. Then, she pointed. "You three!"