“I can’t believe she’s leaving…”

All of us sat down as the tense atmosphere surrounds us. I pursed my lips as the silence added on to the pressure of what we were feeling.

"Y-Yuko… -san." I finally spoke up. "Did Mariko-san tell you?"

"Yes. I was the first to know. She told me she was going to drop of Mio and Meru at their school and stay in Fukuoka for a bit."

"Did she say anything else?"

"She mentioned she was interested in doing work in America…"

"But, why so suddenly?" Nana pondered, placing her hand on her cheek.

I sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

What do we do now?

Yuko stretched out her arms. “Well, she left me responsible for you guys, so let’s get to work.”

"Eh?!"

"Your big show is tonight! We need to get you girls ready~."

I stood up, smiling. “Yuko’s right. This is going to be the big start in our career.”

"That’s right, Mako-chan! Our big debut on stage!" Miki cheered.

"Uwaa… I’m kinda nervous…" Ryouha said, rubbing her arm.

"Now, y’all don’t be bailin’ out already, Ryouha-tan. We’re all gonna make sure we put on the best show possible!" Nagisa said, comforting her.

"Right! We’re going to do this!"

"OOOHH!!!"

…..

"Alright, girls!" Ayaka gathered us up as we stood in the practice hall. "I know it’s just the five of you, but we’re still going to make this a good show."

"The choreography is going to be different from when we last practiced. Luckily, we have our dancing queen, Umechan, to help you girls out."

"That’s right. I always say, there are things that are ‘ROCK’ and things that are ‘not ROCK’."

Miki tilted her head a bit. “Rock?”

"Take for example, our situation. Bailing out when we haven’t even started, not ROCK. Keeping ourselves confident and putting on the best show we can, ROCK!"

"Oh, I get it. Basically, things that are worth and not worth doing," Nana explained.

"Trying your best is something worth living for.”

Hmm… “ROCK.”

"Well, anyways, we need to get practice started. I’ve got more business to handle, so I’ll leave it to you, Umechan." 

"Un! Yoroshiku~"

After Yuko left, Ayaka started practice. We each went over our positions and dance routines for the song.

As we practiced, I couldn’t help but noticed how good Ayaka was. She was so formed and composed, and also fierce and defined.

Kakkoii…

It was obvious she had a lot of experience in dance, plus working here for as long as she has. She also told me she was part of a dance unit called “DIVA” before becoming a staff member.

They sound amazing. I hope I’ll be able to meet the other members.

I wonder what they’re like.

Whoever they are, I’m sure they’re just as great as Ayaka.

"Already, good work today, girls. Just keep up your energy until tonight."

"Hai!"

Ayaka looked at her clock. It was time for us to do vocal warmups, so we went into a different room and started warming up.

"Nee, Yuko-san…"

"Hm?"

"Who writes the songs, by the way?"

"Oh, that job is handled by Takahashi Minami, but everyone here calls her ‘Takamina’ or ‘Sou-chan’."

"Sou-chan?"

"She’s the general manager of recording and producing our singles and albums." Ayaka pointed out. "She’s the ultimate music producer for our company."

Hm… So, Takamina produces all of the singles…

I wonder who writes them…

"Alright then, let’s get started with practice."

"Hai!"

…..

"Ladybug café…" Kaiba stood at the front entrance to the café and grinned. "Time to bring those girls down…"

He changed his appearance to look like a normal business man(although, still with white hair) and walked in.

He silently grimaced at everyone smiling and happy. Slowly, he approached one of the customers who was drinking and placed a dark crystal inside him.

The crystal entered his chest and a dark aura surrounded him. His eyes glazed over and his smile vanished.

"What’s the point of being here? This is gonna be so boring…"

He placed more of the pitch black Chaos gems into the people’s hearts, and one by one, they became gloomy and hateful.

"Dear God… This is the worst day ever."

"Mama, I don’t wanna be here! This is so lame!"

"I don’t even care about these girls anymore. I bet they aren’t even that good.”

"C’mon! I asked for black coffee! Hurry up!”

Everyone started arguing and fighting, and a dark aura filled the entire room. Kaiba smiled as he shut all the doors and locked them tight.

"Let’s see them try to get out of this one."

…..

It was already noon before we knew it, and now, we’re practicing the lyrics for our debut song.

The first thing we noticed was…

"Chu…"

"Chu…."

"Chu…?"

"Chu! Chu! Chu!" Yuko said happily. "Kimi dake ni Chu! Chu! Chu!"

"This is our debut single?"

Yuko and Ayaka nodded. Takamina smiled and she finished handing out our lyric sheets.

"We have a very good song writer. He’s a true genius behind all of Akihabara48’s music."

"Who is he?"

"His code name is *Quadruple-S. That can be written many ways. SSSS, Q-S, S-4, S-IV."

"He keeps his identity a secret, except for some of us staff members."

"Do you know, Yuko-san?" Nana asked.

"Yes. Me and Mariko."

Huh? So no hope in knowing THAT secret…

Yuko started playing the sound track and we each sang our harmonies.

We had to be corrected a few times, since we were still orienting to being a five-person group instead of seven.

Next, we went one by one with solos. I was still reading over the lyrics as each person came. I thought it suited the image we were aiming for. I could only imagine what it be like performing on stage.

"Urrrgh!"

I was interrupted when I heard a groan in pain coming from Nana. I looked up and saw her kneeling on the ground, holding her head.

Everyone rushed to her side and tried to calm her, but she was in extreme pain, messing up her hair and banging on the floor.

I looked at Miki, who was standing beside me.

"What happened?" I asked.

"While she was singing, she suddenly stopped and was spacing out. The next moment, she became like this."

"Why?"

"No idea."

Yuko helped Nana up to her feet and slowly walked out of the room. Ayaka followed, leaving me and the others alone.

What is going on? Today was supposed to be our big debut concert…

====================================

Footnotes

*1. Quadruple-S (Side note: Alternate names; SSSS, Q-S, S-4, S-IV) - The codename for Sensei-Sensei, the mastermind behind Akihabara48 industries. He creates the Holy Lyric, which is sometimes used in Akihabara48’s music. His true identity is unknown…