Music for the Silence

Girls Band Conflict

A couple days later, Shizuka and Guren were at the cafe, working. It was the afternoon, and the mute had already given the new hire a proper tour around her new work place just the day before. Thankfully, Guren was a quick learner, and easily grasped everything her senpai was telling her. Well... writing to her, rather. Once the tour was over, Shizuka was curious as to what she can offer to be instantly hired by the owner. The mute had her reasons, but what of Guren? When asked what she could do, Guren responded she can do some cleaning and cooking, and thus, led to this the very next day.

The current chef grabbed a plate on the counter and scooped up some rice and the curry she was making into it.

"Here you go. Call it my family's special curry," she said, handing the plate to Shizuka.

The mute took in the dish's scent. It may be because she hadn't eaten lunch yet, but she felt her appetite grow from the smell alone. She took a spoon in hand and scooped up the rice and curry. One bite, and Shizuka was already in love with it.

Aside the fluffy and solid rice, the vegetables were sweet and soft enough for her to appreciate the spicy taste of the curry. The chicken meat she used was firm and juicy, and soaked in the curry broth free from the fat, and filled with curry goodness.

"How is it, senpai?" Guren asked.

Shizuka had cooked various curries before, but none as good as this. As such, she gave her kouhai a thumbs up.

"Nice!" Guren lightly cheered. "Guess I'm helping out with cafe work then. I can't make any of the more fancy stuff on the menu, but I can help with the rest. Especially curry."

Shizuka nodded at the reassuring words. While she didn't mind doing all the cooking, it was nice to have a helping hand in that department. Especially during lunch and dinner rush.

Guren looked around the area. "The bands are at a family cafe to talk about plans for the event, right?"

Though confused, Shizuka nodded in response.

"Kind of feels quiet after that party the other day, especially for a live house. Not only that, if the mini live was a success, I would've thought we'd have someone coming in to practice their skill, but still nothing. We get customers during lunch and dinner rush, sure, but... outside of that..."

When Guren had put it that way, Shizuka looked around as well. As she looked she found herself agreeing with the new hire about how empty CiRCLE was at the moment, but thought nothing of it. Although lunch rush was nearing, they were still a live house. It would be nice if someone comes over to practice their music.

"Well, they say beggars can't be choosers," Guren then said. "What do you do to pass time when it gets like this?"

At that question, Shizuka took a pause. Truthfully speaking, all she had done when it gets this quiet was... well, nothing. But she knew it wasn't an answer Guren would want to hear. Unlike her, she'll most likely be bound to get bored just standing around and waiting for a customer to arrive.

"You don't have anything to pass time, do you?" Guren guessed, noticing the troubled expression and pause, as well as causing Shizuka to flinch slightly. "Well then, what do you want to do to pass time? Play Shiitori?"

The mute shook her head at that.

"I see... I can try to attract customers, but the manager won't let me, will she?"

"What do you mean?" Shizuka wrote.

"I often help out at my uncle's shop. His place is kind of hard to find, but we still get some customers. We get even more when I play my keyboard there, enough for it to be a full house."