Opening Theme: Eternal Unity (Masquerade 2.0)
Ending Theme: Pride (Wish)
Ryu's POV
The place? Four Star Academy. The time? Six FREAKN' AM. All of Four Star Academy's idols, male and female, middle school and high school, are gathered at the track wearing our tracksuits. Everyone is looking very tired, even S4 ... or S3.
"The sun is barely up," Kazuno complains as he tries to keep himself from falling asleep as he rides Kokoro's back. She's no more awake than he is. "Kokoro, I'm sleeping - I mean slipping."
"Oh, sorry Kazuno," Kokoro says with a yawn as she tries to hold Kazuno up.
"Let me, let me hold him," Ryo says, as he rubs his eyes.
"No, it's fine, I got it," Kokoro tries to assure him.
"You've been holding him all year," Ryo reminds her.
"Well ... alright. Thank you, Ryo," Kokoro says as she sleepily hands Kazuno over to Ryo. I'm also pretty sure Kazuno fell asleep somewhere along the conversation.
"This is so cute to watch," I whisper to Nico and Mikan.
"Yeah," Mikan nods.
"They're just like a cute family," Nico says as she tilts her head onto my shoulder, sleeping.
"Off," I say as I shake her head off my shoulder.
"No ..." Nico groans.
"EVERYONE!" booms a loud voice. We're all awake and stand up straight. We look up at the bleachers where Kanata Kira is standing. "Ten laps around the track!" Uh ... now?
"Does he mean now?" Kazuno asks as Ryo puts him down onto the grass.
"Don't we usually get a pep talk?" Nico asks.
"NOW!" Kanata Kira's voice booms again.
"Well who are we to disagree with someone from the army?!" Mikan says. "Come on guys!"
"Yeah!" the rest of us agree.
So the entire school gets onto the track and begins running laps. I feel like Simba from the Lion King right before his dad died, when the stampede of ... uh ... African Black Beauties start trampling him. Nico and I actually act that scene out a few times when we start to lose touch.
"Stop doing that!" Mikan says before getting between us and taking both of our hands. "Now don't get lost!"
"Aw, you ... care," I say/run.
"Mikan is so ... sweet," Nico huffs.
Five laps and twenty near deaths after that, we finally completed our laps. "Oh thank GOD!" Mikan cries as she lets go of our hands to collapse onto the grass. We join her.
"Yujin Besuto!" I hear Kanata say. "Another three laps!"
"W-what?"
"That's an order."
"Yes, sir!" Yujin says before I hear him take off.
"Why does Yujin have to do more laps?" Nico asks. "He was in the lead."
"Guess there's always room for improving," Mikan says.
"Alright everyone!" Kanata booms. "Head over to the cafeteria for breakfast then meet in the gymnasium in fifty minutes. Starting ... now."
And ... just like that, the stampede begins again.
"Everything aches," Ryo says as we eat our lunch outside of the cafeteria because the whole school won't fit in there.
"Tell me about it," I say as I slowly eat my apple slices. "How much time do we have left in our lunch break."
"This is breakfast," Mikan corrects. What? No, it's been a few hours since this morning, right.
"We have twenty-three minutes and forty-two seconds," Kokoro says.
"Make it last," Ryo adds.
Nico takes a loud slurp of her apple juice. "I didn't think Aikatsu Boot Camp would be this hard."
"Well it is," Kazuno says. "So let's just ... suck it up and get on with it. Only six and 9/10 days left of this."
"Nobody say anything," I say. "I just want to ... yest."
"Rest?" says Ryo.
"Rest, yes."
"Okay," the other five agree. So we eat and rest for the rest of our twenty-two minutes without saying a word.
~~~~~
"Your next task," Tsubasa-sensei, who has taken control of the second task, "is to climb up this climbing station we have put in." the wall nearly reaches the ceiling (at least, that's how it looks from down here) and is positively covered in plastic rocks of different sizes and colors and forms.
"Ha!" I say, much louder than I intend to say it. Everyone looks at me.
"Ah, Kizuru, think you can handle it?" Tsubasa-sensei asks.
"Y-yes," I say. Then I start to feel a little more confidant. "Yeah, I can." Of course I can! I did not climb Angely Mountain TWICE to be afraid of some ... baby of a plastic mountain.
"Well then, come up and show us," Tsubasa-sensei says. "Anymore volunteers? Nine or eleven more people would be ideal."
"We volunteer!" Mikan says, grabbing then raising Nico's hand.
"Then may the odds be ever in our favor," Tsubasa-sensei says. "Alright ... Pitsuji, Hitori, Izumi, Kazuna -" Kazuno looks up then shakes his head. I thought the same thing. "You four come up with your underclassmen. Now let's have some boys .... Diamond, Moroboshi, and ... Yuki. You know who are."
The ten of us make our way to the rock climbing wall. Tanoshi doesn't hesitate to start climbing while the rest of us are still waiting for a signal.
"Take action!" Tsubasa-sensei says.
"Okay," I say as I start climbing. It's even more important now that my pride is on the honor. Come on Ryu, it's just like climbing Angely Mountain only a lot easier.
At first I feel weird since everything is made out of plastic, but then I get used to it and realise how easy it is to climb. I feel like I'm practically jumping to the top. When I reach the top, the only other people on top are Beatriz and Tanoshi.
"Sugoi, Ryu-chan," Beatriz says.
"W-what?" I ask.
"Your fast!" Tanoshi exclaims.
"Well I've climbed Angely Mountain before so it's not really that big of a deal," I say as Nico and Mikan start to reach the top.
"We ... all ... did," Nico says as she pushes herself up.
"Angely Mountain," Beatriz says, her eyes growing wide. "Sugoi ... motto sugoi, Ryu-chan!"
I smile, happy that my upperclassmen is bragging on me. But then, seeing Tanoshi beside her, I remember why I'm kind of upset at her. It's not any better when I see S3 climb up on the wall.
Why did Beatriz have to leave S4? Selen did help a little, but I still don't get it.
~~~~~
Day 3 of Aikatsu Boot Camp and I am certain I will die. Everyday my body cries out in pain and I can barely move. I feel more fit though. I don't think it's worth it.
At the moment, I find myself running around campus wearing heavy winter clothes. By heavy, I mean that there are actual weights tied inside the clothes. Two laps have never felt so hard in my life. Not even Beatriz can handle it. As soon as her friends helped get her clothes on (that sounds wrong) she collapsed from the heaviness and had to have Tori and Uli help her by letting her put her arms around them.
"We're ... almost there," I say as Nico and I huff and puff our way to the finish line.
"And ... YES!" Nico cries as we cross then collapse onto the ground.
"Nice work you two," Kanata says as Yujin runs up from behind us.
"I thought you were ahead?" I say to Yujin.
"I ... did ... three," Yujin huffs.
"Why are you always one up us?" Mikan asks.
"Cause ... he ... tells me ... to," Yujin says, pointing to Kanata Kira. Who. Is. Watching. Us FYI. A shiver goes up my spine. Robot arm.
"That's it for today," Kanata Kira's voice booms. "Tomorrow will be basic jogging by day, more intense training by night." NOO!!! Not the night time!
"Take off your coats and head over to dinner," Tsubasa-sensei adds.
We take off our heavy metal clothes (haha) and then ... actually, I feel light. "I feel like I'm walking on air!" Kokoro gasps in amazement.
"Yeah!" Ryo nods.
"I can fly!" I exclaim as I jump into the air then come crashing down onto the grass. "Okay ... maybe I can't fly ... nor should I ever attempt to."
"I feel like a breeze can knock me over," Kazuno comments. With that, Nico blows a breeze his way and sends him crashing onto the grass beside me.
"Hey," I say.
"Hey," he replies. Then we get up and make our way to the cafeteria.
I hate how I pay off from Boot Camp, but it still hurts so much. No pain no game I guess. Ouch.
~~~~~
The cool night breeze blows through my hair as I walk around the campus in my pajamas. I know I should sleep, but I need to walk and clear my head. Why? I don't know. I just felt like it.
"Ryu-chan?" I know that voice. I look up and come face to face with Beatriz who is also in her pajamas.
"Beatriz," I say. "H-hi."
"Are you taking a walk too?" Beatriz asks.
"Yeah," I nod.
"Would you like to join me?" YES.
"S-sure," I say, a smile growing onto my face as I speed up a bit to catch up to Beatriz.
"So ... what's on your mind?" Beatriz asks.
"Eh?" That's the second weirdest conversation starter I've ever heard.
"Something's been troubling you for a while. Do you want to talk to me about it?" How does she know?
"Well ... there is one thing," I admit. Might as well ask her now since she's offering. "Why did you have to quit S4?" Beatriz smiles. The kind of 'I've been waiting for you to talk about this' kind of smile. "I mean, I know you're in Wish and I love Wish, it's a really great unit, but did you have to quit?"
Beatriz tilts her head up to look at the moon. "Love."
I chuckle. "Somehow I knew that," I say. Beatriz smiles some more. "But S4 has been part of other units before while still being in S4. You didn't have to quit."
"No, maybe not," Beatriz admits, her smile not fading. "But I wanted to." What?
"But why would you want to quit?" I ask. Can I not get a straight answer?
"Well, it's hard to say. But .... S4 was my dream, but the people who helped me achieve that dream mean more to me than my dream. I may have quit S4 on a bit of a whim, but it's something I know I'll never regret. I love Wish too much to think about being in other units. The sacrifices are worth it, you know?"
I smile. "I guess," I say with a shrug. But I never had to sacrifice anything for anyone. Well, not really. I did give some of my childhood friends some cookies. I wonder where they are now? Maybe I inspired them and they're sharing cookies with people around the world.
"Aikatsu ... Aikatsu ..." the faint sound comes from almost no where.
Both Beatriz and I start looking around. "Do you hear that?" I ask.
"Hai," Beatriz nods. "Someone must be jogging on the track. Look! There's Kira-san." I look. Yeah! There's Kanata Kira's head! He's just a little above or below my vision.
Beatriz and I walk over to the track to see who's jogging.
"Aikatsu ... Aikatsu .."
We look. Two people are on the track. Two boys are on the track. And neither of them are students here.
"Selen?"
"Chase-kyun?"
Kanata Kira looks up. "What are you two still doing up?"
"Just walking," I say, trying not to be intimidated by his robot arm. "What's Selen doing here? And Chase too!"
"Hm," Kanata Kira smiles. "Hey!" Selen and Chase look up and their eyes widen at the sight of us.
"Shoot, busted," Chase says as he and Selen make their way up the bleachers to see us. "Hey, Izzybella."
"H-hey, Speed Chaser," Beatriz says with a chuckle. "What are you doing here?"
"It was Selen's idea," Chase says.
"Selen?" I say, turning to meet the man's eyes.
"Well ... it was kind of meant to be a surprise," Selen says.
"I'm surprised. What are you doing here?" I ask again. Can no one just give me a straight answer?!
"You see, I've been thinking about improving my skills in Aikatsu. I have few skills, and I - we want to learn all we can so we can help you save Aikatsu. Then when you mentioned Aikatsu Boot Camp, I thought it might be a good chance."
"I called Kazuno who talked to his dad, who you know is the headmaster, so he said it was okay for us to train at night," Chase finishes.
"So you've been doing this for three days now without telling us?" Beatriz asks.
"Yeah ... are you mad?" Chase asks.
"No, I'm happy!" Beatriz says. "I'm so glad you want to work harder in your Aikatsu, Speed Chaser, Selen-san."
"Thanks," the two say in unison.
"So ... that means you're the tenth member of Masquerade 2.0, Selen-san!" Beatriz exclaims.
"SHH!" Chase hisses as Selen facepalms.
"This is also why we did it at night," Selen says.
"Oops, gomen," Beatriz says.
"It's fine. You won't tell anyone," Chase says, leaving no room for argument. Beatriz smiles and turns to Selen.
"I won't tell anyone. I promise," she assures him.
"Alright," Selen says with a blush. "Thanks."
"I didn't think you would do all of this training," I say.
"Well what did you think we'd do?" Selen asks. "You all work hard doing Aikatsu, so if I'm going to be a part of it then I need to work hard too. Right?"
"Right!" I agree.
I'm so glad to be part of such a great team.
~~~~~
Boot Camp is over! Yay! Celebrate! We all mostly survived.
"Congratulations to all of you on your hard work," Headmaster Moroboshi says in the auditorium. "You have all improved immensely and I'm sure you all will be prepared for the battle to save the Aikatsu System. For Japan, the Music Festival will be held in the Milky Way Big Stage with featured units such as: Masquerade 2.0, Cloud 9, and Wish."
Special thanks to our producer Vega for spreading the word out of our unit so much that we are on the poster for the Music Festival.
"And now, for a calming end to this rough training," the headmaster goes on, "Yujin Besuto will be singing for us all. So give a warm round of applause for Mr. Besuto." We clap and cheer as Yujin walks onto the stage, wearing a sparkly coord no doubt made by Lex for Electric Star.
"Alright everyone, let's smooth out our rough journey with a song," Yujin says, a truly angelic aura surrounding him. It's almost like, I can see it ...
Coord: Sunny Ange Coord
Aura: No Aikatsu System
Appeal: No Aikatsu System.
Tsukiakari ukabu slope ni naranda ashiato ga futatsu
Unazuita koi ni mitsume au watashitachi ga iru ne
Hajimari no yokan wa sukoshi dake okubyō te wo tsunaide hoshī
Anata ga suki dakara sekai wa kon'nani kyō mo yasashī iro wo kureru yo
Kagayaki ni tsutsumare nagara anata no nukumori wo kanjite iru no
Onaji hikari no naka korekara mo mayowanaide watashi aruite ikeru
Kokoro ni atsumeru takusan no eien wo dakishimete
Taisetsu na omoi wa itsudemo anata ga kidzukasete kureta
Bukiyōna kyō no itoshisa ni namae o tsukeru yō ni
Yorokobi no yoin ga sukoshi dake mirai no watashitachi ni kawaru
Tsunagatteiku koto, wakaru dakara ashita mo sunao ni shinjirareru yo
Kagayaki no etude wo ima tashika na ashidori de aruite iru ne
Anata ga suki de ite kureru kara watashi wa itsudatte tsuyoku nareru no
Sono manazashi no kanata made todokitai yume no ketsumatsu made
Kono te wo hanasanaide ite zutto zutto, zutto yakusoku shiyou
Kagayaki ni tsutsumare nagara anata no nukumori wo kanjite iru no
Onaji hikari no naka korekara mo mayowanaide watashi aruite ikeru
Kokoro ni atsumeru takusan no eien wo dakishimete
Ippozutsu korekara mo
We all cheer when Yujin finishes his show with a bow.
"That felt like the calm after the storm," Kokoro says.
"Yeah," I agree.
"But it's also the calm before the storm," Kazuno says.
"Eh?"
"What do you mean?" Ryo asks.
"In just two days we are going to leave Four Star Academy and go over to a different city where will stay for nearly weeks. We're going into battle for the Aikatsu System. To get it back."
"Right," I say. "And we need to stay and fight strong."
"That's just what I was thinking," Mikan says.
"Same here!" Nico chimes.
"And we'll do it together!" Ryo says.
"There is no other way," says Kokoro.