Firebloom: An Ensemble Stars x I-CHU fanfic

The Concert

“Our brothers loved being idols, they were at the top of their game when they fell. Five fallen stars that live on in us as we carry on their legacies with a burning passion. We, the five flowers of Hikaru no Nozomu Idol Academy, will make sure they are not forgotten. Please join us as we perform some of the songs from their respective groups to honor their memories,” that is what our leader, Yukira Himemiya had said as we opened the memorial concert for our brothers. Our brothers were idol students like us. They had bright futures and were bright and shiny stars that sparked hope in others.
Yukira’s brother Tori had died first, it was a tragic case of mistaken identity. They had agreed to switch places during a fan meet and a crazed fan had come with a loaded gun and shot Tori three times in the chest, believing him to be Yukira, due to their extreme similarities. This news had broken Yukira’s heart and it pushed her to work even harder than she already was. As our leader, she is the one who plans events and gets us gigs. That was until the passing of Grey and Kirara’s brothers.
Grey’s brother was Aido Seiya, a member of the group Fire Fenyx, the same group Kirara’s brother Kanata Minato had been part of before their tragic car accident. They were involved in a multi car crash that included the taxi the two were in. The news hit both of them hard, but the person it hit hardest was the third member of Fire Fenyx, Akira Mitsurugi. After their passing, he offered to become the manager for our idol group, Firebloom as a way to pay tribute to his fallen partners.
Coral’s brother was next to fall, he was the heart of fine, the same group Tori was part of. Everyone loved Eichi Tenshouin, everyone including my brother and his group Ryuseitai. When Eichi got sick the last time, Coral was none the less, her usual ditzy self until she learned that he hadn’t gotten better and had passed away. After that day, she became more determined and trained even harder to become an amazing idol. I’m so lucky that when I transferred here to Hikaru no Nozomu, I got invited to join this wonderful group.
My brother was the last to go, having only been gone a week now, his death still stings to talk about. Shinobu Sengoku was a very outgoing and energetic person. He was my best friend and my biggest cheerleader. But his life ended while he was practicing with his shuriken, or ninja stars. One of them rebounded off a pole and came back with twice as much force, headed straight for his neck. He attempted to catch it, but it ended up slicing his carotid artery wide open. I did everything in my power to keep him alive but when the ambulance finally got to Yumenosaki’s campus, Shinobu was already dead. As I held my brother in my arms, I cried for what felt like years as they pried him away from me, leaving my clothes covered in the bright, fresh blood that meant that my brother was gone and never coming back.
He had once told me that he believed I could be a better shinobi idol than he was, even though I knew I could never match up to the skills Ryuseitai’s Meteor Yellow had. But, I was the honorary Meteor Navy of Ryuseitai. The little sister of the group. And now, I was about to sing a Ryuseitai song with my fellow idols and make history alongside them.
You see, we were the first idol group from Hikaru no Nozomu to receive a contract offer while all five of us were still enrolled. And tonight was our first performance under our new contract.
“And now, for a tribute to the fallen Shinobi Idol of Yumenosaki Private Academy, we have Sage Sengoku. She will be performing her brother’s solo song, ‘Shippu Jinrai Shinobi Michi’, a song that meant a lot to both Shinobu and Sage when it was first written,” Akira said as he handed me the mic. I walked onto the stage, dressed in a navy blue and white ninja inspired outfit, something my brother definitely would be proud of. I took a deep breath and began to sing the energetic song that my brother took so much pride in.
When I got to the part where he would usually sing “Kiiroki raikou no hayasa de kakemeguru,” or “I run around at the speed of yellow lightning,” I sang, “Kon’iro raikou no hayasa de kakemeguru,” literally just replacing yellow for navy blue, my associated color. And it seemed to shock the crowd. At least I think it did. But taking my brother’s song and making it my own is the one way I thought I could honor him best. By being the best shinobi idol I can be. Just like he said.
I finished the song and was completely emotional, tears forming in the corners of my eyes. “Thank you everyone! I know Shinobu would be so proud of me for being out here tonight. I hope he’s singing along tonight as I perform two Ryuseitai songs tonight, one with Firebloom and the other alongside the boys my brother called his best friends! Please enjoy the show,” I said as Akira led me off the stage so I could get ready for the first group song. We were singing Jewelry Dust by Fire Fenyx and Grey and Kirara were extremely anxious about it. We had rearranged it to fit five voices but it was still a hard song to sing. Grey was waiting for me backstage with my costume. It was a navy suit with a fluffy collar. It had a morning glory embroidered on the front pocket and my name just under it. The outfits we were wearing are inspired by the outfits Fire Fenyx had worn that night. But for Grey and Kirara, their costumes were backup costumes Aido and Kanata had in case of an emergency. Their costumes now had their colors on them, but they still carried the Fire Fenyx aesthetic. I could see the pinkish red spider Lily glowing on Grey's chest as she turned to walk back to our dressing room. But on the way, I was stopped by the members of Ryuseitai.
"You did amazing out there Sage-chan! You're gonna be an amazing Shinobi idol. I just know it!" the leader of Ryuseitai, Chiaki Morizawa said as he wrapped me in a hug. I could tell that all of them had been crying, and it was probably because I reminded them of Shinobu a little too much.
I managed to squeak away from my honorary big brothers and back to the dressing room where I had very little time to change outfits before Kirara placed the clip in my hair. It was a navy blue shuriken. She herself had a powder blue bunny, Grey had a pink phoenix while Yukira had a pale yellow crown. Coral also had a crown, but it was a pale green. We had our colors, and our way to honor our brothers. We then headed backstage where Akira was waiting. He gasped when he saw us and then smiled, "you five look stunning. May the gods bless you as you perform the last song I performed as a member of Fire Fenyx. Break a leg out there. Don't forget to shine brighter than diamonds," he said as he headed out before us to announce the song.
"Here's Firebloom to perform their first tribute song of the night. For Grey, Kira and I, this song is filled with emotions. It was the last song Aido and Kanata ever performed. Please help Firebloom shine brighter than diamonds, here they are performing the five member arrangement of Jewelry Dust!"
We walked out and the music started.
I watched Grey spring into action and the audience turned into a sea of pinkish red and cornflower blue as Grey and Kirara sang their hearts out and we all followed their lead. I truly felt like we were the sparkliest things in the venue that night. We truly shone bright.
After finishing Jewelry Dust, we were greeted by the members of Trickstar, they had been friends with Shinobu, Eichi and Tori and we had asked them to perform a song to pay tribute as we got Yukira ready to perform her brother's solo song, 'Little Little Prince Star,' now retitled 'Little Little Princess Star.' While Yukira got ready, I sat in the wings, holding one of Shinobu's frog plushies that he always has in his room as I listened to Trickstar sing 'Only Your Stars,' the song they chose to sing for tonight. I nearly cried watching them perform.
But as soon as they were done, I saw Yukira, she was dressed in a soft pink dress with yellow accents and her crown clip had been replaced with an actual tiara. She looked adorable and a lot like her late brother. She took a few deep breaths as Akehoshi gave her an introduction, "And now, we have a tribute to the cutest little prince of Yumenosaki, Tori Himemiya. Here's his little sister Yukira singing her brother's solo song, 'Little Little Prince Star' but it's the princess version. Please show her the love and support you showed Tori."
Yukira then took the stage and sang her heart out. She was so emotional that I could hear the stress and mourning in her voice, but it added to the song. It gave it that sense of realness that Yukira was known for. All through her performance, I had goosebumps because I felt the love pouring from her soul, spreading to the audience like the seeds of a dandelion in the wind. Which it's probably why Yukira's flower is a dandelion.
After Yukira finished we both rushed backstage to get dressed again for our second group tribute song, 'Ghostic Treat House', a tribute for Tori and Eichi. After all, we did choose Halloween for our concert. All our brothers loved Halloween so why not? It also gave us an excuse to dress up in costumes that don't match. I dressed in one of Shinobu's old Ryuseitai costumes from his performance at the amusement park, Coral was a ghost, Kirara was a bunny, Yukira was a fairy and Grey chose to dress as a bat.
We then rushed onstage, not needing an introduction this time as we finally got to do our call and responses.
"Everyone! Thank you for being here tonight! It's time for call and responses. As we're a new idol group, you'll need a little help. I'll go first. My name is Yukira Himemiya and my call is 'A sparkling future filled with memories' and the response is 'let's wish on a dandelion together!' then we pretend to blow on a dandelion to spread the seeds," Yukira said to the audience. "Ready? We're gonna try it! Here we go, A sparkling future filled with memories," Yukira should
"Let's wish on a dandelion together!" The audience shouted back at her then they all blew on their imaginary dandelions.
"Thank you everyone! Now I can shine so bright tonight for my brother and for all of you!" She said as she looked at Kirara to go next.
"Good evening everyone. I'm Kirara Minato! My call is 'A sea of soft blue flowers' the response is 'Spreading hope one bloom at a time' then you all turn your light sticks cornflower blue," Kira said, flashing the audience a brilliant smile, her orange eyes glowing under the lights.
"Alright, I'm hoping since Yukira's went over well, mine will do the same. Here we go! A sea of soft blue flowers"
"Spreading hope, one bloom at a time!" The audience cheered, changing their lightsticks to blue.
"Thank you everyone! I'm going to do my best to be your hope when there seems to be none." Kirara said, smiling at the audience again before targeting Grey for her call and response.
Grey looked nervous, since her call and response was about spider lilies.
"Hello everyone, my name is Grey Seiya. I'm a transfer student from Tokyo. My brother was a student at Étoile Vio School. He was one of mine and Kirara's best friends as well as the best friend of her brother Kanata. So tonight my call and response is dedicated to them. When I say 'A field of spider lilies where we last met' i want you to respond with 'may their light guide your way home'. I know it's a sad call and response. But please give it a try!" she said, shaking out her nerves before jumping into it. "A field of spider lilies where we last met," she called
"May their light guide your way home!" the audience called, filling the venue with the red light of Grey's color.
"Thank you everyone! I hope Kanata, Aido and all of the others that have passed will now be guided safety to their new destinies," Grey said with a sigh of relief.
Coral and I then exchanged glances and I won the staring contest we were apparently having so Coral was next.
"Good evening everyone. I'm Coral Tenshouin. My brother was the heart and soul of fine. A group I enjoyed seeing perform and I loved sitting in on the practices. My call and response is simple, when I say, 'No matter how many petals you pick from a daisy,' you should respond with, 'I'll always love you!' is that alright?" Coral said, fixing her sleeves before jumping in to her call and response, "Everyone! No matter how many petals you pick from a daisy," she called
"I will always love you!" I heard the audience cheer as the crowd flooded a light green. It was so pretty to see all the lights twinkle from red to green.
But then it was my turn, the last one to go. I was scared out of my mind. Because my call and response was my brother's.
"Everyone! I hope you know this call and response. It was my brother's. He told me that if i ever became an idol that I could use it! Let's give it a try, although mine will be a bit different. I'll say, 'Racing around at the speed of navy blue lightning' and you all will say, 'Shy Shinobi Sage! Our blossoming morning glory'. I hope it goes well. I'm a little nervous," I said, fixing my sleeves as Coral had done. I then jumped into it," Who's that running around at the speed of navy blue lightning?" I called to the audience.
"Shy Shinobi Sage! Our blossoming morning glory!" The audience called, the room blazing navy blue. The sight brought tears to my eyes and I almost had to sit down to calm myself.

After the call and response section we moved into setting up the stage for our second group performance.