Music for the Silence

We are OutKast!

It was finally the day of the Girls Band Party. Everything was set, the stage was ready, the band girls had their last practice and rehearsals in, and the audience were excited to see the event go on.

... When a happening occurred.

Pastel*Palettes, the first band to perform, couldn't make it to the event due to traffic. It was one thing to get a call from work, as they were a group of professionals, but getting stuck in traffic on their way to the live house was another matter entirely.

In an attempt to ease everyone's worries about the outcome of the event, Kohaku suggested Outcast to perform first as the opening act, an idea that only spread more worries, as well as doubt towards the band of disables. Until they heard a cry from a voice they did not think to ever hear.

Marina was the first to recover, as a smile formed on her face. "Actually, about that..." She dug into her back pocket and took out the Girls Band Party pamphlet, handing it to Ran. "Can you look at the lineup?"

Though confused, the red-streaked girl took the brochure and opened it to the requested page. "Hmm... the lineup looks the same as what we've discussed," she noted.

"Is it now?"

As simple and innocent as the question was, Ran- as well as several others near her- took a good, careful look at the page. It wasn't long for one of them to realize what the woman was talking about.

"Ah! At the bottom! Over here!" Tae gasped, pointing at a small section at the bottom of the page.

"'Special guest as opening act: new rising girl band'?!" Lisa read in shock, surprising everyone else with this small addition.

"Eh?! Seriously?!" Guren gasped, looking over their shoulders and saw the small notice at the bottom. "Whoa, it really is written there... Marina-san, when did you...?"

"Call if a woman's intuition~ I had a small feeling something may happen and decided to add you in. Just in case," she said. "Besides, do you really think things can just happen in CiRCLE without the manager knowing~?"

The teens all stared at the manager with wide-eyes or uneasy expressions on their faces.

"Marina-san... you are unexpectedly devious," Arisa stated, resulting in an 'innocent' chuckle out of her.

Just then, the sound of ringing was heard. "It's almost time to start the show," Hitomi announced, she who is the owner of the ringing phone.

"Alright, you girls heard her. Get to your places~!" Marina said. "Leave the lights and sound to me~"

"Wait a sec, Marina-san!" Himari called, only to be ignored as the woman left.

"Well, you heard our manager. Time to get to work," Guren said, as she and the rest of the Outcasts made their leave.

******

In the stage hall, many chatters about the show could be heard amongst the audience, as well as words about the bands performing. Several wondered about this 'special guest' band who was to show, wondering who these girls could be.

Meanwhile, backstage, Outcasts stood, half the members nervous about the performing. Yes, they said they will start first to stall for time for Pastel*Palettes to arrive, but being so close to the stage now, noticing all the people in the audience section... Tension was starting to get to them.

"Wow... I've performed in front of bigger crowds, but even this is surprisingly overwhelming..." Miu admitted.

"Yeah..." Guren nodded, knowing how she felt. "Well, we got a lot of practice in for this. Albeit it is sooner than expected, it doesn't change what we have to do. Right, guys?" As she asked that, however, Guren turned to the rest of their band and saw how nervous they were.