Music for the Silence

Friendly Meetings

"Was there another order made?" came Guren's voice.

Shizuka looked up at her and shook her head. Instead simply pointed at CiRCLE's doors.

"Lunch for Marina-san? Wait, are employees even allowed to eat food from the cafe?"

Shizuka shook her head again and made a gesture for vocals.

"Oh, for Toyama-san and the others," Guren finally understood. "Is it okay to eat in the studio?" The mute looked away from her at the question, quite uncertain of the idea after hearing someone voice out the question. Guren instantly took note of the expression and instantly caught on. "Oh, you don't know... I could go ask Marina-san just to make sure. Besides, it's not like we have any seats out here, nor will we at any point soon. And drinks are allowed in the studio. It should be fine." The audible part-timer took one of the buzzers and made her way to the door. "I'll go check. Call me if a line suddenly forms. Probably don't really need to, though."

Shizuka could only wave as the girl left, and got to work on the vocalists' lunch.

******

A little later, in one studio room, the group in question all gathered around a table and were working on their new song.

"... So, how about this?" Kasumi asked her fellow vocalists, showing them the melody she had written.

"Yeah. Not bad," Ran approved, as Kokoro hummed to the melody written.

"The melody's almost writing itself now, isn't it," Aya said, elated with the progress being done.

Out of the five vocalists, Yukina was the only one who was silent.

"Yukina-senpai? Is there something on your mind?" Kasumi asked.

"Hmm? Oh, no..." Yukina answered, diverting her eyes away.

One person knew something was up. "Minato-san. You're not a very good bluffer," Ran stated.

"I just... I've never sung to a melody like this before. I'm trying to think how exactly I should do it," she admitted then.

"You just need to enjoy singing it, that's all. It's simple!" Kokoro simply advised.

"'Nothing speaks louder than music'. Who was it who said that?" Ran quoted.

Knowing quite well those were her own words, Yukina recollected herself. "You're right. I apologie, I got distracted. Let's get back to the song."

'Yukina-senpai is more serious about music than any of us... She's right to be worried. But if she has the support of her band, and all of us, then surely...' Kasumi thought.

A door opened, and the girls turned to see Guren there.

"Hey. Hope I'm not interrupting anything," she said.

"Guren-san! Hello!" Kasumi greeted.

"I came bearing refreshments," Guren said, entering the room with trays of rice balls and drinks in hand.

"Eh? But we didn't make an order," Ran said in confusion.

"This one is on Shizuka. She figured you might need a break."

"A wonderful idea~!" Kokoro exclaimed. "We can't come up with more ideas on an empty stomach!"

"But, are we allowed to eat in the studio?" Aya asked.

"I asked Marina-san earlier. It's okay. Besides, we don't have space outside for you girls to enjoy your meal anyway, so it's fine," Guren assured, setting the trays down on a table.