Roommates, Rivals, Romance (prologue)

EARLY RELEASE FOR MY $10+ PATRONS!

An amazing commission idea from 0mniessence - Idol AU! I only know what I've seen from anime about idol culture though so this will probably be inaccurate in a lot of ways haha. But gosh if I didn't have a blast writing it!

This prologue will just serve as an information-giving chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

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													Roommates, Rivals, Romance

															 Prologue

Japan has always been well-known for its popular female idol groups.

The girls who eventually become parts of these groups are known by the fans and the industry to be some of the hardest-working residents in all the land. Not only must they have a knack for singing, dancing, and public speaking, but they must also be able to work with ever-changing schedules, travel frequently, and maintain an alter ego of sorts, all while simultaneously keeping a balance between their personal lives.

While many look down on the work of idols as being uneducated or unprofessional jobs, the closer-knit members of the community know that mindset to be sorely mistaken.

Along with all of the aforementioned skills required to be a successful idol, one also needed the ability to get along with whomever she ended up with in her group. Teamwork and cooperation are essential to the success of any idol group, especially the up-and-coming ones that are just starting out and are majorly still unknown to the public.

One of the newest troops had decided on the name Starlight Girls. They consist of nine skilled and passionate members who all have backgrounds involving dance, singing, and theatre. When being viewed from the audience, their typical formation consists of the following:

In the left-most corner of the back row is Hikari Kagura. She is a serious performer of few words. Her signature outfit color is blue, and she had been training in song and dance in England for several years before recently returning to Japan.

Next to her is her childhood friend, Karen Aijou's position. Her color is red, and she is the member of the group with the least experience, and so they had placed her in the back row position one in from the end to potentially conceal some of the mistakes her boundless, clumsy energy caused her to make.

Then it's Junna Hoshimi, who had been very involved in theater in her high school days, as well as the Student Council President. Her signature color is teal, and when the official management isn't around, she acts as the cool-headed thinker of the group.

On the back row's righthand side is Nana Daiba, the tallest of the group, hence her position. Her color is yellow, and being she and Junna had met in high school, Nana also had quite a bit of experience in theater, and has acted in many plays.

The front row consists of five girls.

On the lefthand side is Mahiru Tsuyuzaki, who had met Karen in Hikari's absence and befriended her instantly. Her color is green, and she had come to the major cities from the rural areas, where she'd been highly-skilled in baton twirling as well as dance.

Jumping across to the right-most end is Kaoruko Hanayagi, signature color - pink. She has the sharpest tongue and the most laid-back personality of the group, but has been very knowledgeable about more traditional styles of Japanese dance since she was born.

Left of her is her childhood friend Futaba Isurugi, whose color is purple. Being the shortest of the group has landed her a spot in the front row, but her size could hardly reflect the amount of passion, patience, and energy she harbored.

Reflecting her position, second in from the left, is Claudine Saijou - signature color, orange. One of the most seasoned and experienced singers, dancers, and actresses of the group, she has been working in the departments since she was only two years old.

A child actress who had starred in various films and commercials, she had pursued her passion of theatre throughout her school years and perfected her skills enough so that by the time she had graduated, agencies were all but fighting to have her join them. Her feisty personality is matched by her rigorous work ethic and serious disposition, and she can often appear standoffish or rude to those who aren't close to her.

But in spite of all that, she has quickly earned one of the largest fan bases of any of the members of Starlight Girls, not only because of her beauty, but because of her unbridled passion and love for her work. It's said her fiery devotion to the performance stage is unmatched by anyone else.

Except for one person.

And that would be none other than the final member of their group, Claudine's designated and self-appointed rival, trademark color white and center position of the front row - Maya Tendo.

Given the nicknames of "thoroughbred," "purebred" and "Genius Stage Girl," Maya had been born to two famous actors in an environment that had allowed for her own love of song and dance blossom before she could even speak.

From a young age, she had trained herself and honed her skills to the point of perfection, quickly getting a reputation for being a gifted child and future performer. She was always number one in the schooling system, not only in her arts and humanities fields, but in academics as well. She was perfect in every way, but especially onstage.

Like many of the other girls, she and Claudine had attended the same high school before starting their career, and Maya had always been one step ahead of her. What came naturally to Maya required much more effort be put in on the part of other people, particularly Claudine, who had spent most of her high school years trying to dethrone her.

But Maya had maintained her number one position flawlessly, much to the frustration and chagrin of Claudine, who had tirelessly worked herself to the bone day in and day out in an effort to surpass her, even once.

Someone must have paid a lot of money in order to get both of them to join their new idol band, that's for sure.

The girls' trademark outfits consist of black, gold-rimmed boots, skirts of their respective colors, and uniformed tops with sashes across the chest. Additionally, they each wore a red jacket over their left shoulders, except for Maya who wore a blue one at the center position.

Claudine had vowed from the day their positions had been decided that she would one day take that blue jacket and center from Maya and claim them for herself.

Starlight Girls have only been official for a few months now, and have only given a few public performances to-date. But in only those few months, all nine girls had been presented with exclusive, newfound opportunities to chase their dreams and perfect their skills in dance, song, speech, and charisma.

Claudine and Maya in particular were taking full advantage of their mutual career together.

While Claudine strives and pushes herself to one day take the center position from Maya, Maya uses Claudine's passion to motivate herself to maintain her present spot. Claudine kept her on her toes, reminds her on a daily basis why she's doing this and just how much she loved it all. She feels that, without Claudine quite literally beside her at almost all times, Maya's love for being and idol and for the stage in general might not be as red-hot as it is today.

She knows she has a lot to be grateful to Claudine for, and perhaps one day she'll tell her.

But for now, Starlight Girls must begin practicing for their next performance.

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A/N: Best just to imagine them in their canon revue outfits in terms of their idol clothes. I'm horrible at describing clothes and coming up with designs.

Hope this background info was enough to give a feel for the AU! The real story starts next!