ONCE but never TWICE [One Shots]

Art is just like that [Uta no Prince-sama]

Music is like magic, may you allow me such comparison. Indeed, music has the power of bringing together people everywhere on the blue planet, regardless of their ethnicity, social status or beliefs. 

Almost like plaster, it appeases people and put them in a state of relaxation, in times it's the most needed, after all, everyone need a break.

More eloquent than mere words, said without meaning and thrown willy-nilly around, music encourage and motivate more proficiently; the words used are powerful, the rhythms never stop following you in your adventure and the most important of all, it never makes you feel lonely or abandoned; even the saddest song, make you feel understood.

Music is just like that, you can never truly grasp its evert aspects, but despite that, no artificial knowledges nor an extreme passion is necessary: when no one was paying attention, it became part of our very routine.

Soon after the night, on which the competition between STARISH, HEAVENS and QUARTET KNIGHT took its end (a night that ended spectacularly with [Legend Star], sang by the members of the three groups altogether), they found themselves in a particular situation, prompted by Saotome Shining (president of the Shining Agency), Otori Raging (president of Raging Entertainment) and the famous brand [Kyoka].

Kyoka, a brand known for its cosmetic, clothing and accessory lines, launched all over Japan and even oversea. With their products' quality accompanied by suitable price, and the name, the brand made for itself over the years, Kyoka is seen as the top company in the entertainment industry.

And although, Kyoka is the top brand, it never signed contract with just any celebrities or influencers, just a somewhat fame is not enough to draw their attention; only a few managed to sign a contract with them, much less step on its photo shoot place and catch the sight of their models, as the company never did reveal its model's identity nor any or their information. 

The fact they receive a request of collaboration from the brand, made them nervous but also jittery as they would be one of the few that managed that fit; that would be STARISH's and HEAVENS' first time, because QUARTET KNIGHT had already done a collaboration (named [Rotten Apple], which is a play word obviously) with the brand in the past. 

The launch day of [Rotten Apple] inspired by the tale of Snow-white and QUARTET KNIGHT's image, got a 100 percent rate.

The three groups' members were waiting for the bus that, would bring them to the premises when collaboration will take places, after all, Kyoka did said that they would take care of their accommodation for a few weeks: one or two if nothing go awry. As they didn't the location, they (the two agency) agreed and entrusted their artists to Kyoka, who assured them that they would take care of them and their (artists) security and commodities.

However, knowing nothing as the company is strangely secretive for its popularity, they didn't know what to expect, making them understandably curious, fidgety or even worried. Thus, in order to keep their calm, small groups formed and small conversations thrown here and there, mostly about what they would do and the still unknown schedule, but also about Kyoka's models' identity.

QUARTET KNIGHT has collaborated with Kyoka's models, but despite that, they didn't know who it will be this time; indeed, it is the main branch which take cares of communication, logistics, marketing and whatnots. And, aside the main branch, it (Kyoka) has three others sub-branches that fulfil the commission given by the main; with one of them being more popular than the other two.

All the three branches have names, all taken from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (the reason being that... Kyoka's Head is an excentric individual, so why not?), to not make mistake when a commission is sent: the most popular one is named [Mad Hatter] composed by three men, the least popular one's named [Queen of Hearts] and... Well, the one seen as okay (is that really a compliment, though?) is called the [Cheshire Cat].

Mad Hatter is well liked for its versatility and capacity to adapt to the commissions' content and requests done in last minutes, or those that lacks precise indications, and despite, lacking information at time, it still manages to respond accordingly and beyond what expected to give to the audience what they want to see.

It's precisely because of the lack of versatility and adaptivity that the Queen of Hearts and the Cheshire Cat are less sought-after.

It's with the Mad Hatter that QUARTET KNIGHT has collaborated with, and they (Quartet Knight's members) hoped that it would be with them (Mad Hatter's models) once more.

A few minutes before the expected time, two quite large buses, coloured in white with the very recognisable logo on the side, stopped a few feet from them. And from them, emerged two still unknown figures who walked toward them at the same pace, despite the difference in height: the taller man dressed, in what they could tell, a formal suit was walking in long strides toward them but still maintaining an air of amicability. While the smaller(?) one (more or less a head shorter than the other) dressed in very soft-looking and casual clothes and simply sunglasses on, was walking with smaller strides because of his stature but kept up effortlessly.

And when they finally arrived within a meter radius from them, the smaller one's voice sounded out, and according to his their first impression, he is indeed soft-spoken but also very confident. 

"Hello~! I'm pleased to meet you all, I'm Jun and this is Yuzuki, and we will be your drivers today~!" Jun presented himself jokingly, which honestly made them relax and also amused. Next thing they knew, a smile etched on their face, he indeed managed to make them relax.

The man called Yuzuki snorted, trying as hard as he could to keep a straight face, however he failed when Jun turned to him with a mischievous look in his eyes, but nonetheless a mock-pout.

"Since when, did you become a bus guide?" Amusement clear in his voice.

"Well, since they will have to bear it with us for 1–2 hours, might as well entertain them and make them relax, because they looked so tense even from afar." Jun shrugged it off, taking off the sunglasses and putting it on the collar of his jumper. "That said, is everyone here? Or shall we wait a few more minutes?" He said, scanning the crowd with his golden eyes; golden eyes that seemed to be so similar to someone's they all knew well, but they weren't so sure because it could be only a coincidence.

"Nanami said that she would be late because the president wanted to discuss something with her." A red-haired man said, scratching his cheek because of... Embarrassment? 

"Hm? Is that so? Anyway, it's nice to finally meet you, Ittoki Otoya-san!" The concerned party blinked out of surprise.

"You know who I am?" Otoya pointed to himself, surprise still present.

This time, Jun also blinked, visibly confused. "Of course~! After all, [we] had an eye on you for a long time already!" Jun smiled and said, "[Kyoka] and the Shining Agency have an exclusive contract; this means that [Kyoka] will contact artists and groups first, while the Shining Agency will receive special items or sponsors for different projects: like a win-win situation, if you would. However, we can't accept just any artist, you see! Several factors need to be taken into consideration, and then a selection process is initiated."

Dumbfounded by such complicated matter, explained in such a simple way, the artists could only accept the words. And, they had no way to check the truth behind the words.