Our dreams are rising and our hearts are singing. Aikatsu Dreams is about to begin!

---

Kazuna

"Really? That's so cool!" I exclaimed as Hanaka told me the news. Hanaka and Miru's class, Sapphire Melody, was going on a trip. The class was heading to a camping site. They would be exploring the woods nearby, and according to Hanaka, Akane and Kaguya had arranged a challenge for them, but no one knew what it was just then.

"How long will you be gone?" Emi asked Miru.

"We're leaving at Lunch and will be back tomorrow evening! Everyone's already got they're things packed too" Miru answered. "This stegosaurus is ready to pounce!"

***

Emi and I waved Hanaka and Miru off as they boarded the bus, their luggage already inside. We watched as the bus went out of sight.

"I wish we'll have something exciting happen soon" Emi said sulkily. She really would've liked to go.

"I guess we'll just have to wait. And something exciting is happening!" I said, excitement bubbling up inside of me.

"What's that?" Emi questioned, titling her head.

"Your solo performance!" I responded happily.

Emi had a huge smile on her face, and she gave me a hug. "I honestly can't wait! I'm a little nervous, but I'm so excited to perform! I'm gonna fly to my dreams!" Emi said, doing a fist pump in the air.

"I like the sound of that!" I also did a fist pump in the air, alongside Emi. After giggling and smiling at one another, Emi opened her mouth to speak.

"Ya know, I'm actually feeling pretty curious about Hanaka and Miru. Despite being polar opposites, and despite the fact that they always seem to be arguing with one another, they decided to be partners..." Emi said, staring at the sky. I began to ponder this as well.

***

"MIRU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Hanaka yelled. Miru was currently doing some weird dance.

"It's the stegosaurus dance! For some reason, I had a dream that I was doing this dance yesterday! It was a video game level. The final boss. The final boss was a bunch of mini me's doing this dance while saying ugly" Miru told Hanaka.

Hanaka took one look at Miru, and walked away.

"Hey! Wait up! We have to finish setting up the tent!"

***

"All right troops! Gather around!" Akane said into the megaphone as she stood on top of a log. Kaguya, who was standing next to her, swiped the megaphone from Akane and spoke into it.

"We have an important announcement to make!" Kaguya said cheerfully.

Hanaka, Miru, and the rest of Sapphire Melody gathered around the two top idols.

"The challenge we were mentioning before shall now be revealed!" Kaguya said in a dramatic fashion. Akane took the megaphone from Kaguya's clutches.

"This is the challenge! Firstly, we'll be heading into the woods! After, you'll split up into your unit pairs, and the two of you will have to make it back here! But that's not all. Kaguya and I have assigned every pair an object-"

Kaguya took the megaphone from Akane.

"And the two of you will have to retrieve that item. To make it easier, we've given you a map of the woodland! The red dot is the camp site. On each map, there's a star on a different location. We'll each give you a random map, and you must retrieve the item at the location marked by the star before coming back! But if you don't think you can get the item because the task is to difficult, feel free to head on back. It just means that you won't be able to win. Whoever gets their item and makes it back here first-"

"Wins!" Akane and Kaguya said in unison to the megaphone.

Afterwards, Akane and Kaguya started calling units to come forth and get their map.

Kaguya handed a map to Miru. Hanaka and Miru looked over it to see the star on a mountain.

"Ooh! You've got the hardest challenge! The mountain is super high! Don't worry though! Since you might be inexperienced with climbing mountains, we've got ropes and harnesses, and more safety equipment such as helmets! Also you'll be filmed if you do climb. Good luck!" Kaguya beamed.

Hanaka and Miru walked over to the bus that would take them closer to the woods, shaking.

***

Akane and Kaguya had hopped of the bus, instructed the class to follow, and finally came to a halt. "Okay everyone! Your time starts...now!"

The pairs split up as Akane and Kaguya headed back to the bus. Everyone had a backpack with supplies and first aid kits. Hanaka and Miru walked on.

"Where to first?" Miru asked.

"That should be a no-brainer! Obviously to the mountain!" Hanaka puffed.

"Calm your farm" Miru muttered, rolling her eyes. Hanaka and Miru walked in silence until they came across a river. There was a tree and an axe next to the river.

Hanaka looked around. "Where's the boat?" she huffed.

Miru picked up the axe. "There isn't one. I guess we'll have to build a bridge instead."

Miru swung the axe, and it hit the tree. Miru dropped the axe and yelped.

"That was dangerous! The axe barely missed your foot!...why are you screaming?" Hanaka asked. She picked up the axe, and swung it.

"Eek!" Hanaka yelped. The pair both experienced pain in their arms, and now they were sore. Hanaka and Miru spent a few minutes glaring at the axe that was stuck in the tree.

Finally, Miru piped up. "We've got to finish cutting the tree down. Or we'll have to go into the river. Although..."

Hanaka and Miru looked at the strong current. Hanaka sighed and stood up. She pulled the handle of the axe.

"It's stuck!" Hanaka said unhappily. After some time, the two of them got the axe out of the tree and finally, to their relief, the tree came crashing down.

"Let's go!" Miru called. She and Hanaka crossed the 'bridge.'

"I'm not doing that again..." Hanaka muttered.

***

Thirty minutes past, and the members of Royal Sunshine were panting.

"How much further until we reach the mountain?" Hanaka questioned.

Miru didn't answer.

"What is it? Are we lost?" Hanaka said. She said it in a joking manner, but when Miru said yes, she flew into a panic and rage.

"What do you mean we're lost?! Can't you even follow directions properly?" Hanaka spat. She looked at the map and saw that Miru had been holding the map upside down.

"Are you kidding me Miru?!" Hanaka shouted angrily.

"Well, if you had bothered to help me check the map, instead of worrying about your hair, then this wouldn't have happened!" Miru retorted.

"I did no such thing! And anyways, is it that hard to read a map? You said that you wanted to lead us!" Hanaka scoffed. Miru glared at her.

"Why did I ever agree to be your partner?! All you ever do is worry about my fashion sense, and yell at me! You always put be down!" Miru shouted.

"I do that for your benefit! You may not believe me, but I put you down to bring you up! I thought by hearing all of this, you might try and  rise above and prove me wrong! But I guess...I was wrong...I'm going to win the challenge by myself!" Hanaka said, turning away.

"But you don't have the map!" Miru yelled.

"I've got one in my bag. It doesn't show the location of the item, but I don't need it...or you!" Hanaka said, running off. When she couldn't see Miru anymore, she looked back.

***

"Hey! Wait! HANAKA!" Miru screamed. "...Fine then! I don't need Hanaka anyway!" Miru told herself, and she stalked away too. After a few minutes however, Miru looked back as well.

One question was in their minds. Why did they choose each other to be partners?

And at the same time, they both remembered their first meeting.

***

"Hanaka, could you hand these notes out to the class please" the teacher said. Hanaka nodded quietly, and gave one out to everyone. No one had said thank you, and Hanaka was annoyed by this, but kept quiet.

She finally gave one to Miru.

"Thanks Hankie!" Miru said. The bell rung, and all the students went outside for Lunch. Hanaka chased Miru.

"Did you just call me Hankie?!" Hanaka said angrily.

"It sounds cute!" Miru responded.

Hanaka was about to blow a fuse, but kept her cool.

"Please don't call me that. See you" Hanaka said, walking away.

"I sorry. Hey Hanaka, wanna sit with me and my friends?" Miru asked, bounding up to Hanaka.

"I...no thanks..." the blonde answered.

Miru ran back to her group.

Hanaka went over to a bench, and started eating her lunch. She looked up and saw Miru running up to her.

"If you don't sit with me, then I'll sit with you!" Miru said, taking a seat next to Hanaka.

"But aren't your friends going to be upset?" Hanaka queried.

"I already told them, 'I sorry', and they said that it was fine!" Miru exclaimed happily.

"Why do you say 'I sorry' instead of 'I'm sorry?' No one else does that" Hanaka said, raising an eyebrow.

"Because it's unique, just like you and me!" Miru professed happily.

"Unique?"

"Yup! I'm a stegosaurus, and you're a rose!" Miru said. "There aren't any other stegosauruses or roses in this school."

"...I guess..."

"Hey Hanaka, why do you act so glum all the time?" Miru asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hanaka hissed.

"I want to see the real Hanaka" Miru said. Hanaka turned to Miru, surprised.

"This Hanaka is soo dullllll! I wanna see the Hanaka that was spunky and full of life!" Miru said, her eyes gleaming.

"But, nobody likes that Hanaka!" Hanaka retorted.

"I do! She was more fun! That Hanaka's a lot like me too!" Miru said.

"But we're totally different!"

"Not to me. The old Hanaka wasn't afraid to show people herself! Like me! People think I'm weird because I love stegosauruses, but I don't care! The people that stick with me love me for being me!" Miru said, grinning.

Hanaka sat in silence.

"Let's go!" Miru pulled Hanaka along with her.

"Where?" Hanaka asked. Miru let go of Hanaka's arm.

"Let's have a race! First one to that tree over there wins! Ready, set, go!" Miru remarked, taking off before she said go.

"Get back here! That's called cheating!" Hanaka said, taking off after Miru.

"You'll have to catch up with me first!" Miru said, sprinting away. Hanaka grinned and ran after her.

***

"Hanaka?" Miru mumbled quietly as she and Hanaka came face to face once more. The mountain was in sight, and the two had unconsciously met up again. Hanaka hugged Miru.

"This is very out of character for you" Miru muttered. Hanaka let go of Miru.

"I'm sorry Miru."

"WOW HANAKA APOLOGISED! THIS IS A HISTORICAL MOMENT!" Miru shouted. Hanaka glared at her.

"I'm trying to have a serious moment here!" Hanaka yelled, annoyed.

"I sorry."

"Thank you. Now I can continue-"

"I'm not just sorry for that. I'm sorry for acting so childish...I'm sorry..."

"I was the childish one...hey! This is a historical moment! Miru saying 'I'm sorry' is very rare!"

"I'm sorry...Hankie..." Miru burst out laughing.

"...HANAKAAAA SLAP!"

"MIRUUUU CHOP!"

The two spent some time having a 'battle', but stopped soon after.

"...Hey Hanaka, why did we become partners?" Miru asked.

"That's simple. Don't you remember? Because we knew that if we went together, we'd be the first stegosaurus and rose to be at the top!" Hanaka said. Miru hugged Hanaka.

"Alright, alright...now, off we go!" Hanaka said happily.

The two of them went forth, and in a matter of minutes they reached the mountain.

"Here they are! The two students are..." the jubilant reporter turned to Hanaka and Miru.

"Hanaka Jukashi, and Miru Akari" Hanaka and Miru said to the camera.

"Well Hanaka, Miru, will you two be climbing this mountain? It is pretty scary, so it's fine if you say no."

Hanaka and Miru looked at one another.

"We're going to climb!"

***

"Ready girls?" the reporter asked. Hanaka and Miru nodded.

"Go!"

"Ai-katsu! Ai-katsu! Ai-katsu!" Hanaka and Miru chanted. Miru was currently in front of Hanaka. When they were fifteen meters above the ground, Hanaka paused.

"I...I don't think I can go any higher!" Hanaka said, shaking.

"Yes you can! We're going to do this together!" Miru said. She climbed back down to where Hanaka was.

"Royal Sunshine never backs down from a challenge!"

Hanaka took a deep breath, and the two of them climbed all the way to the top.

"Wow! Hanaka, look at this view!" Miru said, her eyes shining as she looked at the view. Hanaka took out her Aikatsu mobile and snapped a picture.

"For Emi and Kazuna" Hanaka told Miru. They admired the view for a while, until they realised that there was still a competition going on.

Miru found the object, which was a miniature box. Hanaka and Miru started to descend the mountain afterwards.

"We did it!" Hanaka and Miru said as they high-fived. "Aikatsu!"

***

"Hey Hanaka, do you think we can still win? I mean, it's the afternoon now. Everyone's probably already there!" Miru said, tired.

"Well, if we don't make it back there, we'll never know! We're so close! We just have to keep going!" Hanaka said.

The two started to run downhill. They saw three groups already there. Akane and Kaguya had their backs facing Hanaka and Miru.

"It doesn't look like those groups have their items! We might actually win!" Miru said, bubbling with excitement. But then another pair came running over to Akane and Kaguya, waving their item in the air.

"NOO! We're not going to make it!" Miru said. At that moment she tripped over her own foot, and knocked Hanaka over. The two rolled down the hill towards Akane and Kaguya.

"Hey Akane! Look behind us!" Kaguya said. Akane and Kaguya watched as Hanaka and Miru tumbled down the hill, and landed at their feet.

"MIRU!"

"I sorry."

The other pair had been so surprised that they had stopped running.

"Do you two have your item?" Akane asked. Miru fished in her pocket and found the tiny box. Kaguya took it from her, grabbed a key from her pocket, and unlocked it. She gave the slip of paper inside to Hanaka and Miru.

"Congrats! You're the winners!" the paper said.

"You've just earned some more points for your unit! Now, we'll wait for the other groups, and you two will perform!" Kaguya exclaimed.

"Perform?"

"That was the prize after all" Akane said, smiling.

***

"Ready Hanaka?"

"Ready Miru!"

"Royal Sunshine, showing everyone the radiance of the sun!"

(Title: Today Tomorrow )

(Music: You x I)

(The following song is You x I by BEST FRIENDS! I could not find an off-vocal version for this song, so imagine our lyrics in place of the ones sung. The song does not belong to me)

https://youtu.be/o0VwAQKeeWQ

Coords:

Vivid Dream Coord:

Bubbly Dream Coord:

Our Lyrics:

Miru: Looking back at ourselves from yesterday

Our individual light is strange yet unique

With my quirky uniqueness

I want to jump high and leap to

Together: Tomorrow

Hanaka: The you today shines best under the light

Being yourself is what you do the greatest

When we take off to tomorrow we'll create a bang!

Together: We'll continue to push our limits

To catch a glimpse of tomorrow

The will to sparkle together

Is far larger than our differences

Overflowing with you and I

Is our shining future

Miru: A shimmering sun

Hanaka: A radiant rose

Miru: A beam of happiness

Together: Move on to tomorrow!

Miru: The me today is no longer alone

And another light is dazzling next to me

Hanaka: Today reveals a new chance

That leads towards tomorrow

Together: Overflowing with you and I

Is our shining future

Hanaka: The fresh and unbelievable today

Miru: Changes and becomes the clear tomorrow

Hanaka: And from that point forward

Together: We see a colourful future!

---

Royal Sunshine's Group Aura: Consists of hot pink and lime stars, roses, suns, and white sparkles.

---

Special Appeal: Royal Sunshine Dreamers (If you don't remember how this appeal goes, go to the first chapter. The only difference is that the clouds will be hot pink and lime, Hanaka and Miru's poses will be different, and in the background after the star explodes into glitter and Royal Sunshine poses, there will be hot pink and lime stars, roses, and suns surrounding Hanaka and Miru.)

---

"You guys were amazing!" Emi said as she ran towards Hanaka and Miru.

"Obviously! I am the amazing Hanaka Jukashi after all!"

"And I am the stegosaurus Miru!"

"And together we're Royal Sunshine!" Hanaka and Miru said. They twirled around and posed.

"Right..." I muttered.

"Anyways, I wonder what's in store for us in the future!" Emi said out of the blue, and she began to daydream.

"Something exciting, that's for sure!"

The four of us turned to see Asami.

"A-Asami?" Hanaka, Miru and I stuttered.

"Hello Asami!" Emi said cheerfully. Asami smiled.

"Headmistress Seiko wants to see you four" Asami told us.

"Okie dokie! Let's go!" Emi said to us.

We followed her to the Headmistress's office. She knocked on the door, and when we heard that we could go in, Emi pushed open the door, and there sat Headmistress Seiko, who had some exciting news for us!

---

I hope you enjoyed today's chapter! Kaylee and I are trying to update as much as we can, but we've also got a pile of homework and exams coming up ^^'

If you find any mistakes, please let me know so that I can correct them!

By the way, in the next chapter, rockygirlly and I will be collaborating!

Till the next chapter!~