[IC]めざして!! Top Idol!!! Chapter 1: Birth of a Unit.

[Code: PIRULUK]

The girls had all gathered outside the Hope Complex. It was a towering megastructure, over eighty floors tall and covered in giant LCD screens showing videos of other idols produced by YUSAPro.

It rose straight out of the ground and grew wider towards the top, casting a shadow on the buildings around it. At 246.88 metres, it was the tallest structure in the whole of Kibou City, and its design made it look almost treelike, covering the city in its canopy.

Himiko met the new idols outside and showed them in. There, she ushered them to the elevator lobby and presented each of them with a plastic card in a lanyard.

"These are your staff IDs. They'll grant you full access to whatever parts of the building you're authorised to be in. As you're new here, that means floors 13 and 31 through 64.

Floors 31 through 38 hold practice studios, while floors 39 through 46 are recording studios. Floors 47 through 50 hold indoor sports facilities, such as squash and tennis courts, a pool and an ice skating rink. Floor 51 which is the height of three floors - holds physical training facilities, such as a gym, a meditation room and an indoor 200 metre track.

Floors 52 through 54 hold recreational facilities, such as a karaoke room, a game room, a flower garden and a reading room. There is also a bar serving non-alcoholic drinks. The reading room is brought the latest editions of magazines and newspapers on a daily basis. Floors 55 through 59 are the library, which has one of the biggest collections and archives in the world. You are free to go there and do research or casual reading, and may check out all books there. Note that no books are allowed to leave the Hope Complex.

Finally, Floors 60 through 64 are the artist dorms. Your dorms are on the 63rd floor. Each room has its own shower and wardrobe, along with the relevant number of beds and a fully working Internet connection. In addition to the showers in each room, there is a communal bathhouse on each dorm floor if you wish to opt for that instead.

You have been assigned 3 adjacent rooms: 2 double rooms, and 1 triple room. You may decide how you want to share the rooms on your own. I'll give you the whole day to settle down, unpack, and look around, then come down to the dining hall on Floor 13 for dinner at 6p.m.

Himiko took a long breath after finishing her long introduction, then looked at the girls and smiled. Welcome to YUUSHA Productions. We look forward to working with you."

[Chevaleresse]

Hiroki was slightly out of breath. She had insisted on carrying all of her things herself, resulting in two bulging bags and a backpack in a similar state weighing the smaller-than-average girl down. In hindsight, I probably should have gone with the rolling suitcase. . . but these looked so nice. Oof. She had to set one of the bags down to receive the lanyard, which she draped around her neck as quickly as possible. This place really is huge. She eyed the elevator panel, scanning it quickly to locate the button that lead up to floor 63, and walked up to it. This prompted the realization that she had no free hands to manipulate any of the controls or swipe her card. Without saying anything, she shuffled away from it rather awkwardly, though the look in her eyes dared anyone to comment - not that she really knew HOW she would defend the action, just that she would.

[Code: PIRULUK]

Kagari had packed light. She knew from her research that idols were provided with almost everything they needed on a day-to-day basis, to facilitate their schedules. As such, she had only packed several personal effects and her favorite outfits, resulting in a small, light suitcase that could be easily carried in one hand. As she took in the beauty and the majesty of the large building in front of her, she noticed one of the other girls - of petite build - looking comically laden with several gigantic, bulging bags of luggage. After looking past the bags, she could not help but notice what beautiful silver hair the girl had, flowing down to her waist. Then her focus shifted to the girl's shockingly violet eyes - a rare colour, indeed. These two elements combined to form a spectacle of beauty - except that the girl was small. As the girl hurriedly set down her bags to receive her ID, the gap between her beautiful appearance and smallish frame, bolstered by her flustered actions, could only be described in one way:

Incredibly Moe.

Kagari resisted the extremely strong urge to squeal, instead gracefully receiving her own ID. Once Himiko had finished briefing the girls, Kagari followed the girl into the same elevator, watching as she stepped up to the elevator buttons, then stepped back again, looking slightly embarrassed. Between the huge bags of luggage, she had no hands to operate the elevator panel.

INCREDIBLY MOE.

Suppressing a giggle, Kagari stepped forward lightly and hit the button for the 63rd floor, then stepped back in silence while internally screaming and gushing.

[Hiss13]

Ruri was glad she decided to use those rolling suitcases that her family ended up keeping in the closet. She ended up packing a lot of stuff to the point where one would wonder where her priorities were set. As she stood staring at the large Hope Complex in awe, she held rested the two suitcases in her hand and clenched at the telescope case and backpack strap she had strapped over her shoulder.

After receiving her ID lanyard, she placed it over the back of the black collar on her neck. Once the debriefing had ended, she had followed a couple of the girls to the elevator, while lagging quite a bit behind due to the amount of weight on her back. After both of the girls had made their way into the elevator, she immediately broke into a run.

"DON'T CLOSE THE DOOR!" she shouted as she practically skidded into the elevator, worried that the doors would close on her.

Seeing as she made it in, however, she sighed as she placed the two rolling bags in the corner against the wall, meticulously placed the telescope case on top of the bags, and rested her heavy backpack against the rolling bags. "Phew. Made it."

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

Packing had been a hassle. Ringo pulled out a large traveling suitcase from her closet. At first she shoved every article of clothing and possible necessity. But after a long time thinking she threw three quarters of it back on the floor. Her morning was a cycle of putting and taking things out, and an occasional intrusion by her parents which was quickly halted with an annoyed yell from Ringo. The large suitcase was only half full when she finally decided on what she was taking. The last thing she put in were a pair of drumsticks. More for good luck than anything. As Ringo left the house, her dad saw her off. "Is this really what you want?" He asked. After a short silence from his daughter, she answered. "Yes daddy."

And without turning around or saying another word Ringo ran towards her destination.

This wasn't her first time seeing the building, but that didn't make it any less impressive. Ringo inspected her ID card as she received it. In a way, it was what marked her future with this company. Suddenly, it all started to feeling even more real to her. She couldn't hide her smile. However one thing irritated beyond belief. The thought of sharing a room... And she made sure she voiced her displeasure.

"I snore incredibly loudly, I always leave my room messy, and I always go to bed late." Ringo declared adjusting her glasses when she arrived at the elevator. Only one of those statements was a lie anyways. "So I'm just saying, maybe if we asked to make two of the rooms triples. We could leave the last room just for me and you girls wouldn't have to put up with all that. It's for your benefit not mine."

[Chevaleresse]

Hiroki hurried inside the elevator, grateful for the other girl's interference. For a couple moments, she sort of just stood there awkwardly trying to shift her burdens to a more comfortable position without making it obvious that she was having trouble. Then, someone she recognized started to speak. As she made her statements, Hiroki gave her a flat and thoroughly annoyed look before replying to her. "Do I- we- look stupid to you? Being obnoxious doesn't mean that you get your own room."

[rustytengo]

After Lyre got back home from the auditions she flew into a flurry of packing and dealing with her mother tying to talk her out of it, but Lyre had already made up her mind she would see this to the end unlike most of the things she has tired throughout her life.

Upon arriving at the Hope Complex in the morning Lyre was half asleep from the night before since she ended up packing and unpack everything multiple times until she decided on just enough items to fill a small suit case. She was trying her best to pay attention to Ms. Himiko’s explanation building but she really only got the gist of it. “Hmm I wonder what’s on the other floors. Probably offices or something like that or stuff like that.” She thought to herself as Ms. Himiko handed out the IDs.

Lyre watched as a few of the girls headed to the elevators as after being given their IDs. One was carrying three stuffed bags and was having trouble pressing the buttons tell on of the other girls helped her out. Deciding that that elevator was probably full with four people and their luggage, she went to another one and pressed the up button and started rocking on her heels humming a song as she waited for the elevator to descend.

Edited May 23, 2015 by rustytengo

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Before she could move into the elevator, a bunch of bags-- uh, girls-- ran into the already cramped up mechanical box. The blue-haired girl frowned.

Yeah, no, this wasn't going to do. Besides, she had to warm up for the sports facilities. And, unlike these dainty, puny-looking girls, Gunther had a strong, firm, and beautiful body. The kind that one worked for-- maybe with the lucky grace of having inherited good genes, but that only got you so far if you didn't actually hone your body. She wasn't about to let so-called luxury weaken her.

Fifty floors would definitely be a cinch. Gunther had come clad in a grey tank top, baggy army jogging pants-- one pant leg folded up to her knee-- and white and blue sneakers with wing designs on either side of each shoe, ready to hit the gym and keep up her training. In one fluid motion and without a word, she bent to pick up her duffel bag, and headed for the stairs, seemingly unhampered by the jerk of the heavy-looking pack. The little penguin doll keychain bobbed along with its owner's every step.

[Hiss13]

Ruri looked towards Ringo. It was so obvious she was trying to manipulate the rest of them into pushing her into her own room. "No. First of all, how are you even sure that there is a room for a single person? Even if there is, what makes you deserving of that room? Having annoying habits is not the way to be deserving of that. Learn to live with others and be more accommodating. If you're messy, then take this opportunity to start being less messy. If you stay up too late, then learn to go to sleep earlier. If you snore loudly, I came across a WebMD page for that once, actually. If you can't do any of that, then you're absolutely unfit to be an idol."

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

Ringo grinned. She met the silver haired girl annoyed look with a glare. It amused her when people got mad. Cooking up trouble was a hobby in itself. "Well yes, you do look pretty." In a way, Ringo envied the girl's hair. Mine would never look good that long. After a short pause she added. "Stupid." The girl stretched her arms upward and yawned. Leaning her back against the elevator wall she closed her eyes. The other girl's words however didn't amuse her, just bored her. Like someone was nagging her to death. "Ok, ok. I'll share a room. But." Ringo took a step forward and placed on hand on her hip. Pointing towards the silver haired girl with her other arm, she leaned slightly to her left. "I refuse to share a room with her." Allowing a small smirk to part her lips shortly, she then turned to the other two girls. "My name is Ringo. Hoshi Ringo, but just Ringo. We will be working together so we should introduce ourselves or... Whatever." Raising her outstretched arm to her glasses to adjust them, she added. "I will be the best at whatever I do. This included."

[Code: PIRULUK]

Kagari could not help but agree with the green-haired girl - She had seen her at the audition... Ruri? - about improving oneself. Idols were an inspiration, a dream. More importantly, they brought dreams to others. A girl who could not overcome her own bad habits had no right to lay claim to the title of idol. That said, she refrained from speaking, in the interest of keeping conflict minimal.

The other girl - Ringo - introduced herself, in a kind of...sharp? confrontational?... way. She immediately declared her refusal to share a room with the beautiful silver-haired moe girl. Her loss. Kagari wiggled her toes in anticipation. She spoke up in a soft voice, with a small smile:

"Hello." She bowed. "I am Koizumi Kagari. Please call me Kagari, if you'd like. I'm still fairly new to dancing and singing, but I really, really love idols. I hope we get along. Please give me the pleasure of your guidance." She bowed again.

Then she stood straight up and broke out into an enormous grin.

"Let's all work hard and aim to be Top Idol!!!"

[Chevaleresse]

For a moment, Hiroki was tempted to throw a bag at the obnoxious girl - Ringo? - or at least send it in her general direction with some sort of organized drop. She wasn't sure if she could muster an actual throw with this amount of weight... whatever. Other girls started speaking, so she contented herself with an angry glare in her direction. She probably looked rather comical underneath the weight of her bags, but that didn't really cross her mind.

Following Kagari's lead, she began to introduce herself. "I-I'm Yukimura Hiroki. I, uh, like to play guitars and stuff. And I'm pretty good at it." With every word she cursed at herself mentally. Ugh, what was that? Stammering and crap, I probably look like an idiot. She blushed slightly at her own awkwardness. "You can just call me Hiroki, though, since we're going to get to know each other pretty well anyway."

[Hiss13]

It was not the best answer she had heard but at least the other girl had decided to acquiesce to not complaining about sharing a room so it was a start. Still, Ruri did not like the tension that she felt in that elevator.

Once the others had finished their introductions, Ruri started her own. "Last, but not least, I'm Izayoi Ruri. Call me Ruri. I love stargazing. If anyone else is interested, let me know and I'd be happy to help you get started. It's nice to meet you."

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

"Yuh huh." Ringo answered in response to the other girls introduction. A perfect example of a genki girl, a shy guitarist, and a nag queen. At least the unit would be unique. She reached for, and pressed the close doors button. The elevator started moving up, reminding Ringo of music. She snapped her fingers, to her imaginary beat and hummed a tune. "Workin' like a dog for the boss man, workin' for the company." The black haired girl sang lightly in English. "I'm bettin' on the dice I'm tossin'. I'm gonna have fantasy."For some reason the lyrics seemed oddly fitting. Even if the work hadn't started yet, Ringo had a feeling it wouldn't be easy. She skipped to the chorus about elevators and love, tapping her fingers against the elevator walls.

[rustytengo]

As the elevator arrived at the first floor Lyre brushed a bit of her aqua hair out of her eyes then picked up her luggage and stepped inside. As she turned around to press the button to the 63 floor she saw the blue-haired girl walk in front of the door heading towards the stairs. Lyre leaned her head out to look at the girl, then leaned back into the elevator and looked at the buttons for the floors then back at the girl. She was about as tall as Lyre, but unlike Lyre who had softer features hers where more athletic.

“She may be more athletic then most of us here but that’s 60 plus floors to climb. It wouldn’t be good for her to tire herself out like that this early she could hurt herself well no one was around that wouldn’t be good. Besides it would be a good chance to talk to her anyway.” Lyre nodded in agreement with her thoughts as she stepped out of the elevator making sure to keep one and against the side so it wouldn’t close on her.

“Um…You know its um…about the 65 floors to our rooms. Since its on the 63 third floor and there one floor that’s about the size of three of them. So would you like to ride up in this elevator with me?” asked the girl slowly doing her best to pick the right words.

Edited May 26, 2015 by rustytengo

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Her fingers had twisted the doorknob to the fire exit when somebody spoke. Looking towards where the voice came from, she realized that one of the other applicants was holding the elevator door open... and apparently talking to her. The way the girl talked, though, implied that she thought that Gunther wouldn't be able to take sixty floors straight.

... Well technically she couldn't, but the elevator was a freaking cramped up box. And so was the stairwell, she realized, looking ahead of her. A squarish closed spiral upwards. If the physical exertion and strain didn't kill her breath, the space would.

With a sigh of exasperation, Gunther trudged into the elevator. Damn architects. What the hell was it with people and closed spaces? Dropping the duffel bag at her feet, Gunther's brown eyes darted from one elevator wall to the other as she made sure to stay in the dead center, as far away from the sides as possible.

[Sutoratosu]

Packing had been no trouble at all for Arya. Her bag was light on her shoulder, All she had bothered to carry was the bare essentials and a few sentimentals effects she couldn't bring herself to just leave behind. Even though she had done it, here she was... but despite all it's glamour and it's magnificence, Arya wasn't as impressed by the Hope Complex as she had felt she would've been the night before.

"Forget about her? But...how? After all of this, after...everything. How can I just...?" there was little time for thinking when the lanyards were handed out and the debreifing started, though Arya honestly was only half listening the entire time. And lo and behold, the moment it was over, it seemed like all the other girls had rushed off before she could even blink... at least they were excited about all this. Still... she might as well go get settled before anyone started claiming territory.

"She couldn't have meant it... honestly, she couldn't. It must've been a joke or something..." "Oh, sorry..." She said, noticing there were already two other girls in the elevator as she stepped through the door, one with a head of blue hair and the other looking more like she was ready for a jog than starting a career... not that Arya would know anything about that, though. She couldn't help but notice how the athletic looking one didn't seem like she was too comfortable inside the small cabin for some reason... "Um...mind if I tag a ride up with you?"

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Biting her lip and a potentially harsh response back, Gunther gave a brief and rather stiff nod. Probably wasn't enough of a sign. Stepping forward, she jabbed the button for the sixty-third floor-- and, rather gingerly, for closing the door. The sooner the harrowing journey began, the sooner she'd be rid of the damn closed box. Absentmindedly, her fingers fiddled again with the black fluff that was her penguin hat tied around her neck, and her feet tapped without any actual beat or rhythm.

[Code: PIRULUK]

Kagari watched out the corner of her eye as Ringo began snapping her fingers and humming a tune. While Kagari herself was no expert on musical matters - she had never recieved any formal training - she could tell that Ringo had an impeccable sense of rhythm. Impressive. It would be a great opportunity to be able to work with her.

She turned to the (extremely cute) blushing Hiroki and gave her a gentle smile.

"Nice to meet you, Yukimura-san. I hope we get along well."

She bowed.

"If, perhaps, it wouldn't trouble you, perhaps the two of us could share a room, since Ringo-san seems averse to sharing a room with you?"

[Chevaleresse]

"That sounds good, um, Kagari-san," Hiroki replied, deciding to imitate the way the other girl had addressed her. She breathed a faint sigh of relief; she had been concerned for a moment that finding a roommate might be difficult. "You pretty much saved me from having to convince someone I barely know to sleep with me." Additionally, someone else would have to deal with Ringo, rather than herself. Kagari seemed nice enough too; maybe her friendliness would help take some pressure off during interviews and such-

Oh god. I said that out loud. The girl tried her best not to blush, but it seemed like her entire face was changing color.

[rustytengo]

Lyre looked between the two other girls as the elevator began to rise, shifting slightly she began to pull at the end of her sleeve do to the awkward silence between the three of them. “What are you doing Lyre? It’s unlikely that either of these two would know about your mom so introduce yourself already.” She thought as she began to speak quietly. “So umm…my name is Lyre Cross and umm…I’m not that good at this idol stuff or much of anything, but I hope we can be friends or at the very least get along.” She said meekly as she ran her hands repeatedly over the end of her hair.

[Hiss13]

Ruri's ahoge shot up as the girl's expression melted into an amalgamation of surprise, intrigue and amusement. Ruri put her hand to her mouth and started to chuckle a bit at Hiroki's words. After all, it was quite an amusing slip of the tongue.

The moment she realized what she was doing, however, her small laughter came to an abrupt stop and her ahoge deflated accordingly. "Sorry about that. Just sort of happened."

She then looked to the two who had decided to bunk up together and decided to follow up. "If you don't mind adding a third person, can I join up with you two? I really have no preference between the double and triple."

Ruri's ahoge began to wave back and forth much like a dog's tail as she eagerly awaited their answer.

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

At the moment, a rather vague recollection of how her grandfather liked to tell tales about how he was a descendant of the Spartans of Greece. Knowing her Greek history, if he truly were of Dorian descent some way or another, it didn't really show in him; he was a jolly, pot-bellied man who loved wine and beer. It was a fun idea to play with, in her mind, and somehow, the image of her being a Spartan woman fit. She was often more than not laconic and, needless to say, well-built. To cater to the thought, she merely gave her name-- "Gunther. Kerrigan 'Gunther' von Hertz--" and said nothing more. Not like they needed to know anymore about her in this agonizingly long trip up-- they'd all be working together for an indefinite time anyway.

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

Blinking twice and then bursting into laughter, Ringo held her stomach through her laughing fit. She laughed so hard her glasses fell off and she had to bend over to pick them up. "Hey Ruri, I don't think you should be a third wheel. Apparently Hiroki wants Kagari all to herself." She mocked, as she wiped tears of laughter from her eyes.

"Unless..." Ringo took a step closer to Ruri. "You are into that kind of stuff too?" Then she started giggling uncontrollably. To be honest the slip of the tongue wasn't THAT funny, but making fun of others was.

[Code: PIRULUK]

Kagari fought to keep her face from turning red. She fought hard. She barely succeeded. As she had been taught, she feigned ignorance of the implications of Hiroki's slip-of-the-tongue, and did her best to give a confused look.

She endeavored to overlook Ringo, who was currently incapacitated by laughter, and instead tilted her head slightly toward Ruri, smiling slightly.

"Izayoi-san, I have no complaints about sharing a triple room with you. It would certainly be more enjoyable if there were more people to converse with."

She turned to Hiroki, whose face was now the color of sakura petals in full bloom. She held back the urge to jump at and cuddle the petite girl, instead giving a gentle smile and asking:

"What about you, Yukimura-san? Do you have any objections to sharing a room with Izayoi-san?"