After Story: Desire

Chapter Seven: First, First, and First

I checked my watch as I waited with the Angels in the backstage area. Tonight would be their first performance since signing with GGI...and the time when Rie and I would start having to pretend to be in a strictly professional relationship. Ever since speaking with Hashimoto earlier in the week, Rie and I had made sure to spend as much time together as possible...and around her family as much as possible; neither of us wanted a repeat of what had nearly happened at her place, no matter how much we wanted a repeat of what had nearly happened at her place.

"Everyone ready?" I asked, partly to check in with my group and partly to distract myself from where my musings had taken me.

"As r-ready as I'll ever be, Ch-Chief," Reiko replied immediately; it was interesting to hear the typically laid-back baritone actually sounding anxious.

"D-Don't worry, Reiko," Amane said. "I'm feeling nervous as well."

"It's h-hard to believe that Yukio and the g-guys went through this before," Nao said, and I smiled to find her and Kana huddled together, holding hands with their fingers linked.

I looked to the lead singer with an encouraging smile. "You ready to lead your group, Rie?" I asked, keeping my tone as professional and distant as possible without seeming cold.

"I-I'll admit that I'm a little nervous, too," she said with a giggle, "but I believe in myself and the other girls; I think we'll do just fine."

"For what it's worth, I agree," I told her.

Just then, a young man stuck his head around a nearby corner. "Two minutes."

"Understood," I replied with a nod, then shifted my gaze to address the Angels of Japan. "All of you have worked very hard to get here, and it would be an understatement for me to say that I'm very proud of you all. For what it's worth, I have every good reason to believe that you will perform fantastically tonight." I smiled at the various expressions of gratitude from the girls. "Now do whatever hugs and well-wishes you need to, then line up."

Considering the circumstances, it was hardly surprising that they each wanted a hug from me as part of the process, but it wasn't long before they were lined up and making one last check of their outfits in preparation for their introduction to the world of entertainment.

It wasn't long before the young man popped around the corner again. "Angels of Japan? You're up."

I exchanged high-fives with each of the girls as they passed me to head out onto the stage to the sounds of loud cheering, and I smiled to myself as I watched them bow to what sounded like a very appreciative audience before taking the microphones to begin their performance.

As they sang their opening song, I watched Rie and allowed myself to think back to when she and I had told her parents about our plan to help GGI with their issue. I smiled self-consciously as I remembered breaking down into tears mid-sentence, much to everyone's surprise, especially mine. I was further surprised when Dad Nishina was the one who ended up comforting me. "You're not any less of a man for shedding tears over something so important to you." he had told me. "It tells me how much my little girl means to you."

I wiped away a tear at the memory and then enjoyed the happy expression on Rie's face as the quintet sang, and it occurred to me that one good thing about our forced separation was that it would give me time to learn more about the other members of the Chorus Club. I then remembered my own popularity back at the impromptu autograph session, and the thought occurred to me that one possible bad thing about our temporary separation is that the other girls in the Chorus Club – and possibly some outside the club – might want to learn about me.

I filed that somewhat upsetting potentiality to the back of my mind as I realized that, in the end, it didn't matter what any other girls thought of me; my girl and I were bound by a red string of...no... I blinked as I realized that Rie and I weren't bound by unthinking fate; we chose each other, and rather than a red string of fate, we were connected by something more like a glowing, white tether. Because of this, I firmly believed that our love would carry us through this trial.