Chapter Text
The stage was lit with countless lights, a crowd was waiting to be serenaded to. With curtains about to be drawn, a young man with spiky brown hair stepped onto the stage, wearing red and plaid with some black and golden accessories.
He turned to see the people who got him here, a slightly taller young man with blonde, windswept hair and bright blue eyes was accompanied by a short mouse-like fellow with large, round ears. Both had smiles on their faces to give the brunette some much needed courage and reassurance that everything would be fine.
The kid had been working at this for a long while, his parents knew that there was a certain light within him that shone brightly when on stage. Both were supportive and fully believed in him, despite how rough the journey was to get here. Lots of tears were shed, mistakes were made.
But it didn't matter now, not when he was on stage about to give it his all.
"You got this, Sora. Use everything you've been taught to make your light shine even brighter!"
Letting out a determined "mhm", the young man known as Sora would walk towards his starting point, getting into his starting position as the music would begin to start and the lights would begin to find their mark on Sora.
"What's going to happen from now on?
A dream is knock-knocking against my chest
If I dash off towards it, I feel like it'll come true
A passionate harmony of premonitions and expectations
One More Story, a brand new story
One More Story, a fresh new story
Aah, I want to feel my heart race
The audience would be cheering with every twirl, every leap. Filled with joy in his heart, he truly shined. Once the song was over, Sora took a bow and shouted:
"Thank you all! I hope you had lots of fun just as I did!" before the curtains closed and the lights dimmed. The cheers from the crowd eventually ceased, with Sora running back to hug both the mouse and his mentor out of joy, with the trio smiling for a long while.
"You really came alive out there. Looks like you used everything we taught you well enough!"
"Haha, only because you were a great teacher, Ven."
"I think we should celebrate a job well done! Should we go somewhere to grab a bite to eat?"
All three eventually made their way out of the concert venue and went to go to grab some street food from local vendors, with some simple foods like hot dogs and burgers being the most prominent. Eventually they decided to go grab some wraps before noticing one of the large LED screens on the front of a few buildings deciding to play some other performer songs. The first one consisted of a duo with them having more rap and street-influenced music and drawing some cheers from the crowd with their rhymes and flow, not to mention captivating dance moves.
Wake up. get up. stand up. BLAZE UP
You ought to stop thinking like that.
It was impossible to obtain anything by cutting corners.
Treasuring that fact is your selling point.
Whether you can erase the regrets that will come someday
Is dependent on the you of right now. (yeah)
The you in the future, not someone else."
"Woah… they're so cool! Who are they?" Sora could only ask with a surprised expression, with Mickey chiming in to answering his question first.
"That's the rap street performance duo MOON/FLARE, Sora. They're known for their dancing mostly. The red haired man is Lea, and the blue haired one is Isa. But there's not a lot known about them…" Mickey began to trail off at the end but neither Sora nor Ventus asked why as another group showed up on the screen after MOON/FLARE's electric performance.
This group consisted of three young women, each wearing traditional "idol" outfits complete with ruffles and sparkles and ribbons in their hair. Ven's eyes were drawn to it since he actually recognized this unit and did enjoy their music quite a bit.
Given the throne, I didn't know how to believe (Hah)
I was the queen that I'm meant to be (Ah)
I lived two lives, tried to play both sides
But I couldn't find my own place (Oh, oh)
Called a problem child 'cause I got too wild
But now that's how I'm getting paid, kkeuteopsi on stage"
"Oooh! I recognize their voices! That's PRINCESS❤HEART. My good friend Aqua helps mentor and manage all three of them! They're very pop focused but all three have strengths in other genres as well." Ven said with a beaming smile, trying his hardest to not sing and bop along. While Isa and Lea certainly had the moves, PRINCESS❤HEART had the charm and emotion, as well as powerful vocals despite their cute and innocent appearance.
Sora's main focus was the girl in the middle, taking the center position within the trio as she had the most "star" power he had seen thus far. The other two certainly weren't slacking, but the red-haired lady definitely striked him as someone to meet and befriend one day.
Maybe, just maybe… he could meet these new and talented faces and form a super group! While Sora was not against being a solo idol, he always felt like he excelled better at working with others instead of just by himself.
It'd definitely would help giving him more people to talk too as well, Ventus and Mickey were swell and all but meeting new people and learning about them always made him happy.
That dream might have to wait until he gets more experience though. Partnering up with a complete nobody sounds like a risky decision. Some other groups were performing as well but… there was one lone act that stole his gaze. A fellow solo idol performing all by himself.
"Fading into the darkness, in an ambiguous territory,
Your secret sign holds my colorless self-awareness.
I want to see even deeper into those eyes (Please capture me),
I long for a stronger, clearer outline.
Lonely love calls out to each other, reflecting (Into your eyes),
Every time we desire, while being forbidden (Into your heart),
Pierce me with your intense gaze, hold me tight,
Leaving scars as they sear into me.
(Into your eyes, Into your heart, loving each other at the boundary)"
Anything that was going on right now was non-existant to Sora. All he could hear and perceive was the cool, mysterious voice on the screen. It was like nothing else truly mattered in that moment.
It was so bad that he zoned out and only moved once he felt his shoulders being shaken thanks to Ven snapping him out of it.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hold us up like that but… he's so… cool!"
"That's one of the top idols in the industry. His name? Riku. Despite being such a well known presence, there's so much to him we DON'T know!" Mickey began to explain before being cut off by Sora.
"Well, maybe we can find out more about him and the others! I'm sure there has to be some information somewhere!"
"Oooor, we could just… y'know, meet them? It shouldn't be that hard to get into contact with each of them. Except for maybe Riku." Ven said with a slight chuckle.
"I would love to meet them! Mickey, Ventus, think you can work on making that happen?"
"Well golly gee, Sora, I think I can get you a ticket to one of their shows.
"Really?! Oooh, thank you Mickey!" Sora quickly gave Mickey a tight hug, with Ven checking the time.
"We really should be going. I guess I might have to push your training sessions back a bit to account for seeing them live as well."
"I promise I'll give it my all once I'm done! It'll be even better than my first ever performance!"