Missing Beat

Chapter 1: Critical Phase

Missing Beat

Chapter One: Critical Phase

A/N:

Well, here's the first official chapter!

You'll have to tell me how I did with the concert and song scenes, because this is the first time I've done something like that.

That's about all I can think of to say right now, so... see ya at the bottom!
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When I walked into my clubroom after classes ended for the day, I was greeted with the sight of Yuuki arguing with Argo yet again, with Asuna sitting off by the window.

"Hey guys! What's going on?" I queried.

"Yuuki wants to get a new guitar auto tuner, but Argo won't shell out the money," Asuna said, sitting back by the corner window.

"Why do you want a new guitar tuner, Yuuki?" I asked her tentatively.

By that point, I was used to settling quarrels within the band. Though there weren't many, most of them revolved around Argo (the money manager) and another bandmate.

"She says it's broken," said another bandmate of mine, Shino, from the dark corner of the room.

How did I not notice her?!

"And whose fault is that?" Yuuki said with an edge to her voice, while she pointed accusingly at Shino.

"Hey, Shino," I said to her. "So, exactly what part is broken?"

"We don't know, actually. It just stopped working all of a sudden," said my pink-haired bandmate, Lisbeth, most likely annoyed at the commotion. "Yuuki thinks Shino sabotaged her for god-knows-what reason, though."

"Well, I used to have a job fixing things like that," I said tiredly. "Let me have a look at it."

"All right..." Yuuki said, begrudgingly walking over and handing me her guitar.

"No way..." Asuna whispered in awe.

"What?"

"I've never seen her let anyone else touch her guitar!"

"Huh," I said in an I'm-not-paying-attention tone while I took apart her auto tuner with a tool from my pocket.

I always knew that my tools would come in handy eventually.

After a couple of minutes, I finished, saying, "Done! Test it out."

Once she tuned her guitar, she started to play. "Whoa, you fixed it! Thanks, Kazuto!"

"No prob," I replied, rubbing the back of my neck in embarrassment.

I then remembered my idea from that morning. "Guys, remember when I told you that something was missing from Critical Phase? Well, I figured out what it was!

"What was it?" Asuna inquired.

"Well, I was practicing my part in the song, and then I imagined everyone playing alongside me. I figured out a place in the song for everyone."

Asuna was skeptical. "What?" she asked.

"Okay, hear me out."

I quickly found six blank music sheets and a pencil, and began to scribble notes on them. When I finished, I wrote their names on their respective sheets and handed each one out.

Lisbeth was the first to respond, saying, "Whoa..."

"It's... perfect!" Yuuki chimed in.

The master sheet had everyone's parts in it, and I handed it to Argo. "Well? You think this'll sell?"