Aikatsu Crescent! BRIGHTEST☆STARS || アイカツクレセント！Season 3

「Phase 133」In Pursuit of Perfection

"What an amazing performance from Divinity Heaven today!" The emcee shouted to the excited and eager crowd before them. "Managing to fully bloom - who would have imagined?! Make sure to stay tuned to experience even more miracles right after this short intermission!"

─── ｡ﾟ☽: * .♤. * :☾ ° . ───

Click. Click. Click.

The sound of Akemi's high heels felt louder than ever, only amplified by the silence that surrounded them.

The beating of Izumi's heart sounded louder than ever too.

What did she just witness?

Did Akemi seriously-?

Izumi stopped in her tracks and after a couple of seconds, Akemi turned around.

"Is something the matter?" Akemi asked. Usually, Izumi would feel flattered by Akemi's care but this time it was sharp and bitter, lacking its usual warmth. Or rather, Izumi wondered if she had just imagined that warmth out of desperation...

"Did you mean all of that...?" Izumi asked, her voice trembling slightly. "What you said back there - that was just a lie, right?"

"I meant it."

Izumi paused, her hands falling to the side. She furrowed her eyebrows, thinking furiously... "...What have I been helping you do?" She asked. "By change Aikatsu - what do you mean exactly?"

"The CEO of the Katsu Corporation has been obsessed with the idea of making Aikatsu more... shall we say, efficient? As I described before, Aikatsu has been running into many issues lately; ones that will only harm our profits in the long term. Ones that will only harm the popularity of Aikatsu. And I can't say I disagree with his goals," Akemi explained, her voice still cold. "Before I joined the company, they were working on android idols that could perform perfectly, follow every command and never die. But unfortunately, the test sample went rogue - they'll need many more years of development. However, I thought there was little point in waiting that long. Why do that when we can recreate Aikatsu? From now until the android project succeeds, we'll only allow idols who are willing to sacrifice it all to be on the stage." She looked at her nails nonchalantly. "It was those kinds of idols, idols like Amamiya Sakura, who truly defined the golden era of Aikatsu. It's a shame her daughter is so pathetic in comparison." She smirked. "And a few meddlings with the system later, the system should be nearly overloaded. Once Hanabusa Sachiko puts the nail in the coffin, we'll have a blank slate to work with."

"..." Izumi clenched her fists, tears of frustration brimming her eyes. "Why didn't you say any of that earlier?!"

"You didn't ask."

"I... I trusted you!"

"And you should continue to. I never lied - the idols who deserve to shine will only be benefitted from this system. That includes your friend, does it not?"

Gritting her teeth, Izumi shook her head. "You'll only make everything worse!"

"Worse? Idols get to shine brighter. Fans get better entertainment. And failures who aren't truly devoted to Aikatsu can still date or whatever. They just won't have access to the system. Isn't it better for everyone?"

"..." Izumi bit her lip. "It... isn't."

"How so?"

"...It... just... isn't."

"It's human nature to have difficulty adapting to change," Akemi said. "You'll come around eventually." She walked away once again and... Izumi stayed put, silently watching.