Music for the Silence

Stage Preparation

The next day, Shizuka was working at the cafe as usual. As she worked, her mind went back to yesterday with Aya, Maya, Kaoru, and Hagumi, specifically how they claimed to be her friends. She knew how friendly they were, but she couldn't believe that they were serious about being her friends. She wanted to believe them, but she just wasn't sure.

"Shizuka~!" came a shout in front of her, once again causing her to jump in surprise, as she saw HaroHapi in front of her, again without Kaoru.

"Kokoro, you don't just shout in front of people's faces to greet them," Misaki lightly groaned.

"Hm? But she didn't seem happy just earlier. She had this look on face like her stomach was hurting," Kokoro reasoned.

"Um, Shizuka-chan. Are you okay?" Kanon asked.

Shizuka could only put her fake smile back on and nod, before taking out her notepad and wrote in it. "Yes. I just did not get enough sleep last night," she wrote.

"Eh? Really? You have to take better care of yourself. You're doing so much for us," Hagumi said.

"Not only do you work at this cafe, you're also helping out with preparations for our upcoming events. Surely, doing all that is taking a toll on you," Misaki said.

Shizuka shook her head and waved her hand in front of her face, gesturing that it was no trouble at all.

"Are you sure? You know you can ask for a day off. I'm sure Marina-san will understand," Kanon told her.

Shizuka understood her worries, truly she did. But if she could be honest, she was used to the heavy labor. In fact, compared to back with her many foster families, the work she was doing at CiRCLE were fairly easy.

"It's okay. I'm fine," she wrote. "More importantly, where is Seta-san?"

"Kaoru-kun had to run some errands, but she said she'll be here soon," Hagumi answered.

"That's right! So we decided to wait here for her~!" Kokoro exclaimed.

"I hope by 'wait here' you mean in the studio," Misaki said. "If we wait at a table, we'll be causing trouble for Suzuki-san. We even had Hagumi's croquettes on the way, so there's really no need for us to be at the cafe."

"Hm? But there aren't that many customers around right now," Kokoro pointed out.

"Well, yeah... That's true..." Kanon agreed. "Although, it wouldn't hurt to also get some practice in."

"I'm in a mood to play~!" Hagumi exclaimed in an excited tone.

"Good idea, Kanon! Hagumi! Then let's go in and perform while we wait for Kaoru~! Misaki! When is Michelle getting here?" Kokoro asked.

"Uh... She actually has some important matters to get to today, so she can't come..." Misaki lied.

"Oh, really? I guess it can't be helped then. Let's head to the studio~!"

"Yeah!" Hagumi cheered, as she and Kokoro rushed into the building.

"W-Wait, Kokoro-chan, Hagumi-chan!" Kanon called out.

"Don't run in the live house!" Misaki shouted, and the two ran after their energetic band members.

Watching them leave, Shizuka couldn't help but wonder one thing. 'How did Okumura-san and Matsubara-san become a part of that band...?' No matter how she sees the HaroHapi band, it amazed her how this very happy, energetic band have a shy, kind-hearted girl like Kanon and a reserved... normal, for lack of better words, girl like Misaki as their band members. Even more so, Misaki dressed up as that pink bear when they do their concert.