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The Portal of Zeta: iDOLM@STER Neo Vision
ZetaFlare:
Sorry for the delay, everyone. San Diego Comic-con, street pass mania, and Super Smash Bros. demos got in the way over the weekend.
Wow, look how many views I'm getting! I'm surprised! Makes me wonder who comes along to read my stories sometimes.
Igarashi Yoshino's Route, cont.
A few days after the White Lotus Festival, Kenji gets a call from Yoshino on a cloudy day. Her mother is delayed because of work so Yoshino wants him to see her home from school. With some extra time on his hands, Kenji decides to swing by and help her out. Once he arrives, he is greeted and thanked sincerely by Yoshino. She even shows Kenji her recent test scores—two perfect scores on a day with two big exams, outscoring all of her classes. Kenji is amazed and congratulates Yoshino for a job well done. According to her parents, Yoshino has an IQ of 198, just short of reaching the “unmeasurable genius” level. She’s often the top performer among her class in exams and is the envy of even academically exceptional upperclassmen. She was given several offers to skip grades, but Yoshino often declined, preferring to remain with her close friends. Many students would kill to have her as a study partner, whether their reasons are honest or not. Even Kenji feels a bit jealous of Yoshino’s accomplishments. With all that childlike energy and playfulness she exerts on a daily basis, Kenji never figured her to be a studious genius. Still, even at her age, Yoshino is still not too confident going home by herself. While she easily knows the way back home, she’s often an easy target by bullies. Some misinterpret her academic success and personality, saying she’s a braggart and acts all high and mighty because of her intelligence. Some mock her nerdy looks and say she “dates her textbooks.” Others just torment her for her bad vision, as she normally cannot see a thing without her glasses. Some classmates even go so low as to trick her into doing their homework, taking advantage of her intellect and excellent academic performances. Kenji promises to do everything in his power to keep her safe not because it’s his job as her producer, but because it’s just the right thing to do. He also gives her an extra glass cleaner to place in her bag at all times. It will serve as a backup lest she forget to bring her own. Yoshino thanks Kenji as they head for home. During their walk, it suddenly starts to rain. The rain quickly intensifies into a downpour. Kenji and Yoshino are not prepared for this sudden change in weather (they did not bring umbrellas), especially since the forecast mentioned there would hardly be any chance of rain despite the heavy cloud cover. Kenji takes Yoshino to find some cover while Yoshino covers her head with her bag. Yoshino trips over a crack in the sidewalk and almost falls, but Kenji is there to immediately catch her. As they finally find shelter underneath the canopy of a nearby library, Yoshino calls her mother on her cell phone, tells her about the sudden rainfall, and informs her of her current location so she can pick her up once she’s done with work. As she is about to hang up, Kenji notices something a little amiss about Yoshino. The rain not only made her shirt all wet…but it also “exposed” the fact that Yoshino is not wearing a bra! Kenji quickly looks away upon seeing through Yoshino’s wet shirt (though the player cannot see the whole thing…remember this isn’t an R18 game). A shocked Yoshino covers her chest in sheer embarrassment. She was certain she put on a bra this morning, but in a slight rush to get dressed and eat breakfast, she must have forgotten. Kenji lets Yoshino use his sweater to “cover up” and keep warm until her mother gets back. Yoshino admits that while she may be a genius, she might sometimes have clumsy moments and forget about the fundamentals. While waiting for her mother to arrive, she decides to use her time to study for her classes. Minutes later, Yoshino’s ride arrives. She thanks Kenji for the time they were able to spend together despite the sudden change in weather. She also thanks him for letting her borrow his sweater after her little mistake was “exposed.” Kenji allows her to keep using the sweater so that she can remain “covered” until she gets back home, but he wants it back next time they meet again. With the rain still falling, he phones Kaito to drive him back home.
Later on the next work day, Yoshino gives Kenji back his sweater. Her mother even got it washed, ironed, and everything. Kenji thanks her for returning the sweater. After the President wonders what's going on, Kenji tells him about the recent downpour when he is suddenly interrupted by Yoshino, not wanting the President to know about her little mistake.
Yoshino is really starting to enjoy performing at festivals. While they do have a lot of fun activities, Kenji still has to remind her that she and her unit are there to perform. She is very excited to be able to attend the Sunny Beach Festival. She has been there a few times in the past, but she has focused so much on the games that she almost forgot about the numerous idol concerts held there annually. Even after getting a glimpse of her opponent (which happens to be NAZO idol Maya), she’s still willing to go all-out and make the whole crowd go wild, especially the people who gotten to know her well over time. While firing her unit up, she still look a bit concerned, almost as if she’s hiding something more. Unfortunately, Yoshino’s unit gets singlehandedly defeated by Maya. On Yoshino’s way downstairs, she trips on the last step and falls down as her glasses fly off her head again. Luckily, she is not hurt, but with her vision fuzzy again, she immediately feels around the ground to find her glasses. Maya happens to come along, find the glasses, and give them back to her, assuming them to be hers considering the situation she was in. Yoshino puts her glasses back on, gets on her feet, and thanks Maya for the help. Maya is just glad that she is all right after taking a fall like that. Still, Maya is a little disappointed from the lack of competition. Yoshino feels a little upset upon hearing that, but Maya tells her not to worry. While Yoshino may be young and inexperienced, as long as remains diligent in her lessons and continues to fight hard for what she believes in, she will really have the potential to become an amazing idol. If they meet again, Maya expects Yoshino to improve quite a bit. With that, she heads off.
Back at the office, Kenji, the President, and the other two idols notice that Yoshino has been looking a little down. She has been thinking about what Maya told her and fears she just is not nearly as talented as her partners. Compared to them, all Yoshino has in terms of talent is very little experience with karaoke nights at restaurants and rhythm/dance games at the arcade. Then there is her bad sight and clumsy tendencies. Still, she really wants to push herself hard to become a better idol even though she might not ultimately succeed. Kenji and the others really admire Yoshino’s drive. Besides, Yoshino constantly studies her songs and dance routines just as efficiently as she does her textbooks. Because of this, she is usually the first to perform her song consistently after learning it. This skill has really become a major asset to the unit’s growing success. Plus, her bad eyesight and clumsy tendencies have never burdened the unit at all. Yoshino feels better and thanks everyone for their support. She can tell everyone at ZetaPro truly cares about her. While the unit is still a little shaken up from their crushing defeat to Maya, Yoshino really helps brighten up the atmosphere around ZetaPro once again.
(to be continued)
liza94:
It was me who voted for Yoshino!
A funny fact: Iori-Master (who is voiced by Yukari Tamura) and Yayoi-Master (who is voiced by Ami Koshimizu) can't stand each other, but Yoshino and Maya are future friends! Oh, these seiyuu connections~! :)
ZetaFlare:
Sorry about the slow pace. I'm getting tied up with another more important project.
Igarashi Yoshino's Route, cont.
Despite a few slip-ups, trips, and “lost glasses” moments, Yoshino really helps her unit back on track. Once she reaches Rank C, if her opponent is Ryuuguu Komachi, she will accidentally bump into Ritsuko while cleaning her glasses. Wondering what she ran into, Yoshino puts her glasses back on and, noticing Ritsuko, immediately apologizes for the accident. Ritsuko does not seem to mind, figuring Yoshino would be the type who cannot see very well without her glasses. Ritsuko is soon very intrigued about Yoshino’s behavior. Originally she considered her a more introverted type of meganekko after her little accident and apology, but she found her added loli-like playfulness, happiness, and innocence pretty unique among other meganekko idols. Ritsuko then tells Yoshino if she utilizes both of her moe aspects effectively, she can really become a special idol unlike any she’s ever seen before.
A few days after the events of the Black Pearl/Fujisan Rock Festival, Yoshino is scheduled to perform in another solo concert. Just as soon as she finishes, however, she trips over her and falls flat on her face, dropping her glasses in the process. Luckily, she is able to hear exactly where they dropped, quickly picks them up and puts them back on. The audience just laughs and cheers as she exits the stage. Later, Kenji congratulates her on another successful performance. Yoshino, however, is a bit disappointed from tripping up again. She is starting to worry that she is becoming a nuisance to her partners and Kenji because of her bad vision all her clumsy moments. She is doing her very best to avert her little problem, but no matter how hard she tries, something always seems to happen. Kenji reminds Yoshino not to worry at all. He knows she is trying her level best. She is not a nuisance at all. In fact, she has established herself as the unit’s mood maker due to her bubbly personality. Plus, he can tell she practices just as hard as she studies and her talents are constantly improving every day. Yoshino is glad to hear Kenji’s praise and support. She figures now might be a good time to tell him the truth about her concerns, no longer worried that they will wind up being a burden to the unit. It turns out Yoshino never had the best vision in the world even just after birth. At a very young age, she contracted a form of blindness that starts off light but worsens over time. She must wear prescription glasses to make up for her blurry vision. If her eyesight is not treated by the time she reaches her mid-teens, it will mature into complete blindness. Unfortunately, the cost for an eye operation is expensive and her parents are not making nearly enough money with their current jobs combined to compensate. With time running short, Yoshino decided to pitch in herself and decided to become an idol in order to help her raise enough money for her operation. She really wanted her work to be fun. Plus, she wanted to play around and have as much fun as she can while she still has her vision. Idols get to do all sorts of fun activities and the job pays very nicely. With a bit of karaoke and rhythm game experience under her belt, she auditioned with four record companies (one of them being RyuuseiPro) only to get turned down every time. Yoshino was almost about to give up hope until her parents read through the local newspaper and noticed another company that was holding auditions and looking for new idols—ZetaPro. This time her audition was successful. The President loved her constant happiness and saw potential for even greater talent. Today, Yoshino is doing a pretty good job building her finances as well as her popularity, but she still feels as though she has a ways to go before she can accomplish her goals. Kenji is willing to do anything in his power to help her see to it that Yoshino gets her eye operation. According to him, she has been doing very well since her debut. As long as she continues to persevere, her skills and popularity will continue to rise. Yoshino thanks Kenji for sticking up to her. While her goal for the future is very important, she will not let it make her worried about the present. Being an idol really is fun for her.
(to be continued)
ZetaFlare:
Igarashi Yoshino's Route, cont.
Yoshino’s conversation did not go unnoticed. Yamato’s spies have been eavesdropping and immediately send their hot scoop to gossip columnists. Magazine articles made it look like Yoshino only became an idol for money and personal goals. To them, she cares more about her eyes than her fans. Fortunately, this false, selfish image does not interfere with Yoshino’s progress, happiness, and growing fan base.
Once the IU preliminaries roll around, Yoshino suddenly starts to worry. She pretty much knows Maya will be competing in a tournament this big. Yoshino believes if she wants to remain popular and earn more money for her operation, she will have to perform at Maya’s level, but she still feels as though Maya is still way out of her league. Her confidence diminishes further upon realizing that ZetaPro has been placed in the same competition block as NAZO. As Maya approaches Yoshino, she appears pleased to see her again. She listened to some of Yoshino’s newest songs and performances and can tell her skills have really improved quite a bit since their last encounter. Maya is really looking forward to face Yoshino’s unit and wishes them not to hold anything back, especially since she and the rest of NAZO will be coming at them at full force without any intent of losing. Kagura and Himeko soon show up, looking a little disappointed with Maya. She is talking to a selfish wannabe who only cares about the money. Yoshino is the enemy. ZetaPro is the enemy. NAZO’s purpose is to mercilessly teach their enemies the error of their ways. Kagura and Himeko soon head out to practice. Maya soon follows them after telling Yoshino to do her best. After the audition, NAZO’s members (aside from Maya) are surprised to discover that ZetaPro passed the audition by placing second in the block. However, the gap between first and second place is still immense. As Maya approaches Yoshino again, she congratulates her on a job well done. Yoshino really is becoming the idol Maya believed she could be. Even though there is still a major difference in their ability levels, Maya continues to urge Yoshino to keep pressing on and becoming stronger until they meet again, which she believes will be pretty soon. Suddenly, Kagura and Himeko show up even angrier at Maya than before. Kagura soon turns hostile towards Yoshino. According to her, she is far from idol material. She’s only a talentless, nerdy bookworm that ZetaPro plucked from the darkest corner of the library and bribed to become an idol. It is a real shame that someone like her could become this popular. Rather than living life in the present, Yoshino follows foolish dreams that will likely never come true. These dreams have only served to burden her unit. NAZO is not held back by such pitiful beliefs and always focus on completing all tasks and destroying all enemies as they come. Kagura claims Yoshino should just quit while she’s ahead because the way things are right now, NAZO will always be one step ahead of ZetaPro and Yoshino will never be able to earn enough to cure her eyesight. If she’s blind to reality, she should just go blind. Not knowing what to say, Yoshino falls to her knees in tears. Kagura laughs as NAZO heads back to Yamato’s limo while Maya worriedly looks back to Yoshino.
Back at the office, Yoshino still feels miserable. She still thinks she has really been holding her unit back. Kenji tells her not to let what Kagura told her get into her head. Sometimes chasing your dreams really can make you that much stronger. Besides, how could she be a burden to the unit if she helped lead them to pass her audition and advance to the next leg of the IU? However, considering Yoshino’s recent problems, Kenji figures out how she might be able to become even better than before. Focusing on how to catch up to NAZO, rise in popularity, and earn more money may have blinded her from her true intentions. Besides hoping to have her eye operation, why did Yoshino become an idol in the first place? She wanted work to be fun. Isn’t being an idol fun for her? Does she really enjoy all the lessons, performances, and promotions she participates in? If Yoshino really does enjoy what she does, so will her fans. Kenji suggests that Yoshino might want to focus less on her worsening eyesight and more about just being an idol. As Kenji eyed Yoshino’s progress, he has noticed kind of a special skill of hers beginning to awaken. She really seems to study new songs as hard as her schoolwork. Because of that, she is able to learn her lyrics, expressions, and dance routines by memory much more quickly than others. Her academic genius has been carrying over to her idol career. Yoshino dries her eyes and cheers up while hearing Kenji’s inspirational words. She admits she really has been too focused on competing with NAZO that she had forgotten all the joy that comes with being an idol. As for her special skill, she never really thought of it that way before. Maybe that could become an asset to the unit in the future. Yoshino thanks Kenji for the inspiration and promises to have fun and do her best in the future for herself, her partners, her fans, and Kenji.
Some of the other idols may ask Yoshino for some help nailing a few parts they miss from time to time. Yoshino is happy to help. This allows the unit to bond a bit more.
Once ZetaPro receives a writ of challenge from NAZO to appear at the Harvest Moon Festival, Yoshino feels ready to take them on this time around. Unfortunately, the performance is cancelled due to a pyrotechnic malfunction. Yoshino trips and falls down as she heads down as she exits the stage. Luckily she was far away from the flames, but her glasses fell off again. Kenji immediately finds them, gives them to Yoshino, and helps her back up, much to her thanks. All of a sudden, Yamato shows up to pick up NAZO and spoil the mood for ZetaPro. According to him, hiring Yoshino was one of ZetaPro’s biggest mistakes and shows how low the depths of common-class companies will sink. Despite Yoshino’s bad eyesight, ZetaPro just plucked a bookworm from the textbooks she essentially “dates.” They wanted to sell via a meganekko’s moe factor rather than talent. In short, she’s just a total nerd and is a disgrace to meganekko idols everywhere. Kenji grows sick of Yamato’s prejudice and immediately defends Yoshino, claiming he is just too ignorant to accept her ever-growing popularity. Sure many fans love her adorableness (some even say her occasional clumsiness has somewhat added to her moe factor), but she really does have talent and it’s really beginning to show. Yamato scoffs at Kenji’s defense, claiming that the filthy tactics of the middle class have made his rival soft. Yamato makes sure he will teach him the error of ZetaPro’s ways once and for all once NAZO completely destroys Yoshino’s unit. As Yamato leaves, Yoshino thanks Kenji for backing him up although she was not fazed in the slightest from Yamato’s insults.
(to be continued)
ZetaFlare:
Igarashi Yoshino's Route, conclusion
Later on the day of the IU final opening ceremonies, Yoshino overhears a conversation between Maya and Yamato. Maya claims she has seen a significant improvement in Yoshino’s abilities since the IU preliminaries and looks forward to facing her in the final stretch of the tournament. It would be wise for NAZO not to underestimate her. Yamato is angered by her statement. Being around Yoshino has made her soft. ZetaPro is the enemy. They hire hacks like Yoshino into the idol industry. If Maya really wants to master her dancing styles, she has to have the drive to be the very best…to win by any means necessary…to destroy all enemies. He really doesn’t want to have to fire her after she was able to use her earnings to settle in a nice quiet home away from her old crime-infested slum of a neighborhood full of sorrowful memories. Maya, starting to cry, apologizes and promises him she will win the IU. Yoshino can hardly believe what she heard. Maya turned away from the competitive dance circuit and became an idol in order to raise money to achieve her goals. It sounds somewhat familiar to her. Yoshino approaches Maya with a bright smile, asking her to cheer up. Yoshino finds it so odd they have similar goals. Contrary to what the gossipers say, she tells Maya she became an idol in order to raise money for an eye operation. This is why she currently wears glasses—her vision is terrible and gradually getting worse. If not treated soon, it would eventually mature into full-on blindness. Maya is surprised. She figured all that talk about Yoshino being greedy and selfish was a lie, but she never thought the truth would be this heartbreaking. Still, Maya claims she cannot afford to hold anything back at the finals especially if they happen to square off. All she can do is wish Yoshino the best of luck and tell her to go all-out against every opponent she faces. Maya really believes Yoshino’s unit has come so far over time and it is really starting to show. As Kagura and Himeko call Maya back to Yamato’s limo, she tells Yoshino, “May the best idol win.” Yoshino is worried that a victory might crush Maya’s dreams, but Kenji tells her that should not hold her back in the slightest. ZetaPro still has to put an end to Yamato’s madness.
The quarterfinal and semifinal matches go on regularly from there. (the following event only occurs if you faced Ryuuguu Komachi after reaching Rank C) That night as Ritsuko arrives during Iori’s chat with Kenji, she walks up to Yoshino. Ritsuko has also been watching Yoshino’s recent accomplishments and has been very impressed by her progress. Ever since she saw her at the Fujisan Rock Festival, she could tell she had a unique aura that could make for a very special idol in the future. It seems as though Ritsuko’s prediction was correct. Ryuuguu Komachi may be out of the running for the IU this year, but Ritsuko and the others will be cheering for Yoshino’s unit. Sure the showdown between tiger and dragon (Kenji and Yamato) could have been destined, but if there is anyone who can match wits with NAZO now, it would be Yoshino and her unique aura that makes her so special among fellow meganekko idols.
The very next morning, Yamato, getting desperate, decides to hatch a final plan that would crush ZetaPro once and for all. As Yoshino is dressing up for the performance, one of Yamato’s hoods (disguised as a staff member) takes Yoshino’s glasses from under her nose, throws them to the ground, and stomps on them, shattering them to pieces. Helpless without her glasses, Yoshino has no idea what is going on until her partners arrive and tell her about her broken glasses. Yoshino is devastated. The unit then heads backstage to tell Kenji the news. At first, Kenji thinks she just fell down and dropped her glasses again, but she tells him she had them off while she was getting dressed when she suddenly heard them break. Kenji really does not want to scratch Yoshino from the performance so he asks her if she could call her parents and send her a backup pair. Unfortunately, it turns out her parents do not currently have spare glasses on them. Even worse, their home is quite far from Tokyo Dome anyway and they do not have the time or gas to make the trip there and back, especially considering the traffic. Just as the situation looks bleak, Yoshino takes a stand and decides to perform in the finals without her glasses, much to her partners’ surprise. Everyone but Kenji seems to disagree with that idea, claiming it’s just too dangerous with her poor eyesight. Yoshino understands the risks, but over her career, Kenji told her she seemed to have begun to display a very special talent that carried over from her textbooks to the stage. Her ability to study and memorize her stage positions, movements, poses, and lyrics very quickly has really allowed her to become a strong leader and study partner among the trio. Considering the current situation, perhaps this skill will really start to shine even without using her glasses. Kenji claims she is correct. Besides, Yoshino is so vital to the unit. Without her, it might as well not exist. Yoshino agrees and asks her partners to consider her offer. They object a little at first and Kaito believes Kenji and Yoshino have gone crazy, but soon think it would not be such a bad idea after all. Over time, they have learned to trust Yoshino’s instincts.
With her vision very fuzzy, Yoshino holds hands with her partners as they guide her to the stage. As ZetaPro is approached by NAZO, Yamato proceeds to make fun of Yoshino’s predicament, claiming she should just drop out while she has the chance. Yoshino ignores his taunting and boldly declares she will perform. Yamato can’t believe his ears. Has Yoshino really gone crazy? Is his father really this desperate to win that he would put his idols in danger? What if she trips over something? What if she gets hospitalized? What if her idol image is nothing without her glasses? Concerned, Kenji wonders how Yamato knows about her broken glasses. Yamato claims he just heard it through the grapevine that one of the staff members deliberately crushed Yoshino’s glasses. Suddenly, Maya takes a stand. Earlier in the morning, she overheard Yamato talking to a woman on the phone about glasses and how “the job was done.” He then praised the woman for her good work and promised to pay her after NAZO wins the IU. Kenji is furious with Yamato. To think the rival he once respected would take advantage of Yoshino’s bad eyesight in order to give NAZO an unfair edge. Maya then demands Yamato to quit his dirty antics and fight fair. An underhanded victory like that would be empty to her. She wishes to face Yoshino’s unit at their full strength. Yoshino thanks Maya for standing up to her. The chat goes on from there. At the final performance, Yoshino’s partners guide her to her proper position on stage. Rather than seeing with her eyes, she sees with her mind. She makes everything look like clockwork!
ENDING
One week after claiming victory at the IU, Yoshino returns to Kenji with a different pair of glasses. From a combination of her paychecks and sales, she is able to finally earn enough to receive her eye operation, which will take place a week from today! Sadly, the process will take a long time…it will take about one month after the operation until the bandages come off. Kenji congratulates her for accomplishing her dreams. Yoshino, however, thanks Kenji for all his guidance, especially helping her awaken a talent she never knew she had. Kenji asks what she will do once her eyes are cured. Yoshino claims that even though she is able to realize her ambitions, her time with Kenji and the others and seeing the happiness of her fans helped her realize just how much fun being an idol really is. Because of all that, she decides to continue her career. However, she recently came up with a pretty creative idea. Since her fans know her for being a meganekko idol, she will wear frames on stage, during photoshoots, during commercials, etc. Kenji really likes that idea, though he will miss the times when she wore real glasses. Yoshino laughs, hugs Kenji, then heads home, looking forward to the day where she will soon see the world in a new light.
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