Succession Concert
Although she was supposed to be at the theater waiting for her debut as Karen the 4th, Tochi had begged a staff member to take her back to the dorms ‘really quick, promise!’ to retrieve something from her room- a hairclip- that she insisted she couldn’t perform without. After a bit of arguing and insisting that she could not allow someone else to get it for her, Ritsuko-sensei had offered to drive her back, something Tochi now regretted, as Ritsuko-sensei… didn’t know how to drive.
Once back at the dorms, Tochi had been warned that she would have to make it quick- the successors and understudies were already headed for the bus to take them to the theater- and she couldn’t hang around and chat with the others until later, either. Therefore, Tochi was surprised to see Miyuki burst into the room, and nearly dropped the little box of star-shaped jewelry she was going to bring with her to wear for her concert.
“Ack! Miyuki!? I thought everyone was supposed to be headed for the theater!” she exclaimed, hoping that neither of them would get in trouble for this. Still, she didn’t make any effort to shoo Miyuki away before they were spotted, and as her soon-to-be former roommate rambled away, Tochi couldn’t help but look a little upset when the taller girl talked about how they all knew she’d be the first to succeed due to being the only 78th gen girl with a kirara.
“But… it’s not like Pico Mari does anything special,” Tochi finally said, glancing at the star-shaped creature, “It just followed me home one day last summer when I went exploring some of the other islands with a friend during summer vacation- I mean, I didn’t even think it was mine at first! And it always gets me into trouble, and I tried really hard to keep it a secret…”
“I always thought you or Seika would be the first to succeed.”
Miyuki laughed, waving it off. “Me, first to succeed? No way, no way…My rise to the top will be steady and unrushed! I mean, if I’m gonna get there eventually anyway, there’s no rush.” Once again, that baseless confidence that had become a bit of a trademark for her during her first few weeks in the dorms…As well as the random subconscious dancing and humming, which she had put quite the effort in to stopping. “And I didn’t mean that in a bad way or anything! What I’m saying is more like…” The redhead struggled to put her thoughts into words. “Well, you know how kirara tend to follow those who are the most radiant, right? Like the previous Acchan was literally covered head to toe with them. It makes sense if you succeed first since you have a kirara following you, while the rest of us don’t. It kinda means that you have more radiance than the rest of us girls, y'know?” She shrugged and grinned. “Well, don’t worry about that! Just focus on continuing to shine brighter, or I’m gonna pass you in no time!”
Miyuki blinked. “Wait a second, I’m supposed to be at the theatre?” Airheaded as ever, she took a while to comprehend what Tochi was saying, then gasped. “Oh my god, the concert is today! I knew something was off when I couldn’t find anyone in the dorms!” She rushed over to the closet, fumbled through it as though looking for something to wear, then frowned and slammed it shut. “Did someone take my costu-” She blinked again, remembering. “Oh yeah, the costumes are usually given to us for concerts!” She ran to the door in a hurry, panic mode fully on, then stopped again just as suddenly as she realised something, once again very late.
“Wait a second,” she said as she paused, thinking about something. For a moment, it seemed as though she had figured out that Tochi had had a ride to the dorms, but then…“I can’t get to the concert before you! It’d be bad if you were the latest one!” She sat down on the bed and folded her arms, a stupidly smug expression on her face. “So, I’ll be the latest, so you won’t look as bad as the successor!”
