Music for the Silence

The Long Awaited Show

It was finally the day of the mini-live. On the early morning of this excited day, Shizuka was helping Marina with some final preparations for the stage. As she worked, she couldn't help but think back to the other night, when she saw the girl's arrest at the convenience store. No matter how she thought of it, she couldn't believe she almost helped a criminal. Shizuka was thankful that person didn't accept her assistance, but at the same time, she was also confused. Wouldn't it be better if she had kept her as a hostage in the case of police showing up in the first place? She couldn't quite wrap her mind around it.

"Shizuka, you've been wiping those equipments for the past hour. Is something wrong?" Marina asked.

The mute was snapped out of her daze and noticed that she truly had been cleaning some guitar amps for quite a long while. The girl flinched upon this realization and bowed to her manager in apology.

"Oh! It's okay, really!" Marina assured. "But... Are you okay? You look like you were thinking about something."

Shizuka didn't want to worry the woman and only gave her the 'okay' gesture.

"Are you sure? You know you can tell me anything," she said, not at all convinced with the response.

Shizuka knew her guardian meant well, but still decided to not trouble her with such trivial problem. Especially not for today. That said, she gave another nod.

Marina was still unconvinced, but decided to trust her ward. "Okay... In any case, the girls should be arriving soon for rehearsals. Can I leave things here to you?"

Upon seeing Shizuka nod in confirmation, Marina took her leave.

******

Time later, the bands had arrived, and rehearsals were being done for the five groups. As they rehearsed, Shizuka was helping them with the sound and light effects that they would want for their performance, all which was well received. Not only that, the mute slowly found herself getting more and more into their music as they rehearsed. At some point, she even caught herself humming along to their songs.

With rehearsals over, the girls were in the dressing room, changing into their performance outfits for the upcoming live. As they got themselves ready, Shizuka did some final checkup on everything needed.

"Did rehearsals go smoothly?" came Marina's voice, the manager who stood by the doors.

Shizuka turned to her guardian and gave her a thumbs up.

"And you checked and made sure everything is ready?" Another thumbs up was given. "Okay. Then I think nows's a good time to open the doors. The girls are getting ready?" This time, the mute answered with a nod. "Okay then! Let's do it~!"

******

About thirty minutes later, the stage hall was filled with people, all looking forward to the mini live. Shizuka looked at the time on her watch, and saw it was about time for the show to begin, as she turned down the lights. Once the room has darkened, the chatter amongst the audience slowly died down.

Seconds later, music was heard being played, and Shizuka brought the lights back onstage, revealing Afterglow there. The moment their appearance was made known, the crowd cheered for them.

As she worked on support, Shizuka looked to the performing band. She didn't know why, maybe it was the crowd, but watching them play their music now made her heart beat more than it did before. The mute could just feel it pounding in her chest; not painful, nor uncomfortable, but still strong enough for the girl to feel the beat. Her hands may be moving and giving all the needed support, but her eyes were fixated on the show. More so, she felt her lips curling upwards in a smile. Not the fake, business smile she was used to putting on, but a genuine smile.