Aikatsu Crescent!

「Phase 34」Sparkling Unit Cup!

Minako walked into the academy, a warm smile on her face. She had just come back from picking up some coords and was looking fondly at the cards. As she walked, the light reflected off of the surface caused them to glitter, shining brightly. It wouldn't be long now... they were so close.

Hopefully, everything would work out.

─── ｡ﾟ☽: * .♡. * :☾ ° . ───

"Tomorrow's finally the day," Tsubaki said, "So we're going to put our all into it, okay?"

"Okay!" Mai and Hinata cheered back.

The unit cup was only a day away, so each unit in the school was working hard at practising together. The event was going to not only be watched by students and staff, but fans from all over the world... whoever won the cup would certainly get a huge boost in the rankings. Whilst MeguruMeguru was the current fan favourite to win, Midnight (along with many other units) were popular too, having shown their hard work and personalities through various promotional activities. It was difficult to gauge how close the results would be, or even who would take the crown home to a certain extent.

"Aside from Tsubaki briefly having to go for recording," Kotone said, "you have all day to perfect your performance. I intend for us to make full use of that time."

"Thank you, Kotone-chan," Mai said, "We'll work as hard as we can."

After stretching, the three walked over to one of the trampolines.

"To start off with, your appeal could still use some work," Kotone said, "It's satisfactory, but the timing is 1.2 seconds off." She narrowed her eyes. "Such a small difference can ruin an appeal."

"Talk about strict..." Hinata muttered. She patted her cheeks, lightening her mood up a little. "You're right. Let's try this."

She was the first up onto the trampoline and extended her hands to help her two unit members up. Once all three were stood on the trampoline, Kotone counted them in.

"Three... two... jump!"

They did as instructed.

"Pose!"

Midnight posed together, each performing the action they would when performing the appeal. Then, they landed.

"Hinata was 0.6 seconds too fast. Mai was 0.5 seconds too slow, Tsubaki 0.3. Try again."

So, they did. The three continued to repeat the process, gradually improving their time. Kotone was fully intent on continuing until they perfected it, but... after a while, she could tell they were tiring out.

"That's enough on that for now. You've improved significantly," Kotone said. "Take a short break, then we can focus on your dance."

Midnight nodded, taking a seat. "That was hard work," Mai said, "but I'm proud of us."

"We'll have to work hard if we want to win," Tsubaki added. She paused, smiling. "I'm starting to think it'll be okay as long as you're both by my side."

"It will be. I know it."

Hinata smirked. "How could it not be? Midnight is composed of the great Hina-sama and the only two people who could even compare to her," she said, winking, "It'll be more than okay."

The other two giggled.

"We have a great manager in Kotone too," Mai said, directing her gaze to her. "I'm so glad you decided to help us out."

A small smile crept onto Kotone's face. "It's my pleasure. All I ask is that you give your all."

"We will, we will," Hinata reassured. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Aya and Minako approaching them.