Ophelia, Odaiba, Osaka - Love Live Nijigasaki

"Nijigasaki High School: The Most Ominous School in Tokyo."

It was almost daily that a new rumour about Nijigasaki High School would pop up. Not unusual for a place like it; the massive school housed at least 3,000 students. And for most people, the place was nothing more than a place of study, sitting by the sea on the island of Odaiba, Tokyo.

Yet to some, the labyrinth was not a school. Within the 100,000 square meters, legends spread of what was within the corridors. Some say it was a convention center for massive fan gatherings. Others say a media center for a cancelled Olympic Games. Some also say it's a monument to some shady underground cult that could end the world. Some even outright believed crazier rumours like a dungeon, server rooms holding data of corrupt rich CEOs, or some kind of secret underground shopping mall. Whatever crazy rumour took over the minds of the students, it always served as a popular conversation starter.

"Well, I guess you could say they're compensating for something else!" was often the response to some of the rumours, before someone ends up slapping whoever said that in their face. But even to the conspiracy theorists, the inverted pyramid structure remained a school, one that didn't need to be that big. The hardcore believers always came back to the argument that those legends weren't denied yet. They were still fake, but no one could prove otherwise, only putting more fuel into the fire.
The urban legends of Nijigasaki, mildly entertaining fodder for the chaotic dreamers. It was the perfect inspiration for a video game developed by third-year Rina Tennoji.

***

"I'm sorry, but create a game?"

A confused look painted onto the face of Shizuku Osaka; an aspiring actress in the same year as Rina. Her radiant blue eyes and her flowing locks of mocha, tied up with a red ribbon, accentuated her already charming aura.

They met in the school idol club's room, overlooking the ocean. Some couches lay in the corner, a coffee table in between, a giant whiteboard in the corner, and shelves lined the entire room. It was afternoon, sunlight infiltrating past the curtains to warm the decently inviting atmosphere. Rina and Shizuku were at the round table in the middle of the room.

Rina stood across from Shizuku. A short and slim girl, she had messy pink hair that reached her shoulders and a face that exuded nothing.

"I'm planning to make an RPG based on the Nijigasaki urban legends as part of my coding class' big assignment," she announced passionately. "I need all the help I can get to create it, so that's why you're here."

"I do not know about making a game, so I won't be all that helpful," Shizuku fought back, closing her notebook. "And besides, shouldn't you do this alone? Without outside help?"

"I write code, not Shakespeare," Rina bluntly replied. "You're only handling the story and writing anyway."

"I request to deny my involvement."

"Sorry, but no."

Before Shizuku could protest further, she heard a voice from behind her. "Hey, you going to quit now?" said the voice with a soft-spoken tone and slightly foreign accent.

When she turned around to the door, her heart stopped. Short boy-cut silver hair, a silver earring on her left ear, and a sharp violet gaze, all wrapped in a short-statured figure leaning against the door frame.

Somehow, Mia Taylor had returned.

Shizuku jumped from her seat. "M-MIA-SENPAI?!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, Baby-chan!" Mia answered back. Despite her young age of 16, she graduated from Nijigasaki about two years ago. Or was it two and a half? Shizuku never kept track of those things.

Her eyes followed Mia, who casually strutted into the room, her hands in the pockets of her varsity bomber jacket, and skepticism brewed.

"Mia, there you are!" Rina seemingly smiled, though her deadpan look didn't match the tone.

"Sorry about the wait, babe," Mia replied. She unsheathed her hands from her pockets. "It's just that the Yurikamome Line was delayed today!"

"...You shouldn't be here," Shizuku said, giving Mia a weird look.

Mia pulled up a seat beside her and proceeded to flick her forehead. "That's no way to greet your senpai!" she grinned.

"S-Senpai or not, I-I'm still older than you," Shizuku stumbled over her words before narrowing her eyes further to Mia. "Why are you back? And don't you dare pull the girlfriend card—"

"—My girlfriend." Mia leaned back against her chair, putting her hand behind her head and breathing out. Oh, and yes, Mia and Rina are also a couple in this story.

"Yeah, sure," Mia continued, "I graduated a while ago, but I couldn't resist coming back, no less helping Rina out!"

"Sure, I guess you could go with that."

"Heh, it's been a while, hasn't it? Haven't seen you since the bre—"

"—Senpai, it's nice to see you again."

"...Right, of course."

Shizuku looked back at Rina and said, "Even if I could help you Rina, which I won't, this is still schoolwork you're supposed to do by yourself. This isn't some club duty."

Rina tilted her head. "Well, where are we speaking right now?"

"...The school idol club room?" Shizuku answered.

Silence filled the room as they shared weird looks, the intimidating tension between the two girls making Mia smirk.

"...So, anyway, Shizuku, you're in charge of writing the script and story. Mia will compose the music for the game, and I'll code!" Rina finally spoke up, completely circumventing the conversation.

"Huh? Huh? HUH?!" Shizuku suddenly shot up from her seat. "I still never agreed to this!"

"We're gonna make the best game ever guys," Rina exclaimed with the same 'exuberant' tone from earlier, circumventing the conversation again. "Oh, we're gonna have fun doing it. I promise I won't be too hard."

"Aight, cool," Mia said nonchalantly, sheathing her hand into her pockets once more and heading straight for the door.

"You're leaving already? You just got here!" she asked Mia, baffled.

"Yeah, I know," Mia replied with her dryness. "Gonna go grab some grub or something." She then closed the door.

...What had she been roped into? Hoping for an explanation, she turned to Rina, only to see she had her sketchbook held in front of her face. A cartoon interpretation of her face was drawn onto the page. Flames and some action lines replaced the eyes.

"Rina-chan Board: FIRED UP!" Rina exclaimed, her voice muffled from behind the sketchbook.

"...Aren't you going with Mia?" Shizuku asked timidly.''

"Of course, I'll catch up to her," Rina said. She put her sketchbook down, revealing that monotone face once again. "But I need to know, Shizuku: are you in?"

Writing was always Shizuku's forté. She's written theatre plays, screenplays, radio plays, gay fanfiction... But she has never written a story for a video game before. Maybe writing for a video game would be an interesting prospect, and any opportunity to write was always a good thing.

'It's only writing stuff. I guess I'll be okay..." 

Foreshadowing alert: she was not going to be okay.