It was early in the afternoon at Haneoka High School. In one class, some students gathered around one certain desk, getting to know one student.
"Sakura-san, where did you live before?" one student asked.
"I didn't move. I only transferred from my other school," Guren answered.
"Just a normal transfer? That's unusual. Why?" another student asked.
"Let's just say my previous school had a number of problems and leave it at that."
"That kind of makes us even more curious, though..."
"Are you interested in joining any clubs?" a different student asked.
"If I can, I would love to, but I work part-time, so I don't know if I will have time for clubs," Guren replied.
"Part-time? Where?"
That time, rather than answering, Guren saw movement from the corner of her eyes and got up from her seat. "Sorry. I have to get to that part-time related thing," she apologized. The girl then reached for Maya, who was getting up from her seat. "Yamato-san, was it? I would like to talk to you about something."
This confused the drummer of PasuPare. Not about what Guren wanted to speak to her about, but more on why she referred to her as though she didn't know her.
Guren then turned to the seat on the other side of her, where Yukina sat, working on what seemed to be lyrics. "Minato-san, too. Care to walk with us? It may help you think of some ideas for your lyrics."
This baffled the whole class. Maya was one thing, but why would a transfer student want to speak to Yukina?
"No thank you. I am fine," she turned down. While Guren wasn't wrong about a little walk to help clear her head a bit and help in making a new song, to do it with someone of one of the other bands is a bit...
"I insist. A musician needs all the help she can get," Guren spoke, grabbing Yukina by the hand. Without giving the girl any chance to even object, she then dragged the vocalist out of her seat.
"W-Wait a second! Sakura-san!" Yukina called out, only to be ignored, as Guren then dragged Maya out of the classroom as well, their baffled classmates watching them in shock.
"Now that I think about it, aren't the others here as well?" the transfer student then asked, walking down the hall with the other two in tow. "I have to talk to them about something, too."
"E-Eh? Others? Who?" Maya asked.
As if to answer the question, a voice came from one of the classrooms. "Huh? Guren? What are you doing with Yukina and Maya?" Lisa asked.
The trio looked and saw the girl in her classroom with a couple other girls, most likely friends outside the band. Not only that, Hina and Kaoru were there, the latter surrounded by some girls.
"Oh! Good timing! Imai-san, Hikawa-san, Seta-san. I want to speak to you guys, if possible," Guren said.
"Huh? Well... Okay, I guess," Lisa said, despite still being confused, as Hina and Kaoru, after convincing her 'little kittens' to part, followed her out the door.
"Before I speak, is this everyone?" Guren then asked.
"Hm? What do you mean?" Hina asked back.
"I mean 'is this every one from the bands who go to Haneoka'?"
"No, there's Ako. Though she's in the Middle School district. And Afterglow members are a year below us," Lisa answered then.
"Ah, I see. I do remember hearing something along the lines of that yesterday. A shame we can't get Ako in on this, but we can still pick up Afterglow. Now then, where are the first-years again?"
"They be just a floor below us," Kaoru replied in her suave tone. "Come, Hero-san. The stairs be this way."
"If you're going to address me as that, use the right one. And really, when did that name stuck?" Guren said, following Kaoru to the stairs with the others following or getting dragged by her.
"Sakura-san! Can you please release me?" Yukina requested.
"Hey, hey, Guren-chan! Why are you here?" Hina asked.
"As you can see, I'm a transfer student," Guren answered the bluenette.
"You did hear me, yes?" Yukina questioned her.
"Oh! So that's why you have our uniform! That's boppin' awesome~!" Hina cheered.
"It seems fate has brought us together for a reason," Kaoru stated.
"I suppose you can say that, indeed," Guren agreed.
"Um, Sakura-san. You can let go of us now," Maya called. "Um, you can hear us, right?"
Being their saving grace, Lisa spoke up. "Guren. I think you can let go of Yukina and Maya now."
"Hm? But if I do that, Minato-san will go back to working on those lyrics she'll never write, and I may not get another chance to chat with her about something important," she reasoned. "As for Yamato-san... Well, I guess I can let her go." As Guren said that, she released Maya's hand from her grip.
"Don't worry. I'll watch her," Lisa said, referring to her best friend.
"Lisa? What are you saying?" Yukina questioned.
"Hmm... Well, I guess I can trust you," Guren said, releasing her grip on Yukina as well.
As the vocalist massaged her hand, her bassist walked closer to her. "So... What's going on here?" she whispered.
"I don't know. Our classmates asked her some questions about herself, and she suddenly went and asked Yamato-san and me to accompany her," she answered.
"I see... I think I can take a guess as to why," Lisa spoke.
It didn't take long for the group to locate Afterglow, much to the five girls' surprise, mostly at the sight of Guren in their school uniform. Once found, they relocated to the rooftop, as it would be strange for a large group to have a chat out in the hallway.
"Okay. We're all here. What do you want to talk to us about, Sakura-san? Or rather, Sakura-senpai," Ran asked.
"I don't mind if you don't use 'senpai'," Guren assured, walking over to her. "We have a few minutes until class, so I'll make this quick. Turn around real quick."
"Eh? Like this?"
Next they knew, as Ran turned with her back facing Guren, the first-year was suddenly grabbed from behind, and the second-year did a suplex on the kouhai. The suplex was so sudden, Ran's head and back hit the floor hard, and the poor girl was dazed.
"Wha-?! Ran!" Tomoe cried out, as the others stared in shock while Guren released her grip on the poor vocalist/guitarist and stood straight back up. "Hey! What was-?!"
"Hai!" As if that wasn't enough, she then karate chopped Tomoe on the head.
The process repeated, in a way, as Guren flipped, tripped, or even tickled the rest of the girls to the point where they were gasping for air. Any who tried to sneak away, she instantly snuck up behind them and performed another suplex.
With all the girls down in pain or gasping for air, Guren dusted her hands off. "Okay, that's one thing out of my system," she said.
"What... was that for...?" Lisa asked, recovering from the tickling.
"Hmm... Call it a warning, maybe? I heard about the little argument you girls had from Kasumi and the others."
"But did you really need to do all that?" Maya, who was tripped, questioned.
"I don't know exactly who started it or who was exactly involved in the argument. So, that being said, tomorrow you girls have that group practice session. I expect you all to actually be there, as well as your band members, of course," Guren said.
"Huh?! Why should we be there?!" Ran questioned, recovering from the suplex as she rubbed the bump on her head.
"Because the event practically revolves around you girls. And if you don't get together to talk things out, how will you get anywhere with it? Of course, you can choose not to participate. However, there will be consequences~"
A few trembled at how she said that last part.
"Um... What do you mean by 'consequences'?" Tsugumi, the flipped victim, asked.
"Oh? I thought I said it earlier. What I did to you girls was a warning. If you don't come to that meeting... Hmm... What to do indeed~" Guren said.
"Hang on! You're not thinking about using violence, are you?!" Himari, a tripped victim, questioned.
"That's rude. I'm not so low as to be violent to someone who doesn't deserve it. Let's see... I can tickle you endlessly, flip you until you vomit, or shake you so hard you will see the world spin and faint from dizziness. And possibly vomit. So, pick your poison from there and let me know tomorrow. Of course, I don't mind making the decision for you. In fact, if you want me to do the Sakura Suplex again, I would love to do that. Just don't say anything and don't come to that meeting tomorrow."
When she said all that, it made them shiver even more. Just then, the bell rang.
"Oh! Time to head back to class. Well, I'll be going first. You all should hurry, too." With that, Guren left the rooftops.
"So she says... But we're recovering because of her..." Yukina muttered, she who was also flipped by the transfer student.
"I now wonder if this is the reason behind her sudden transfer..." Maya said. "Out of everyone in the five bands, about half of us goes to Haneoka, while the other half goes to Hanasakigawa..."
"She did say she heard about the argument we had," Moca, a tripped victim, pointed out, as she got back up. "We should hurry to class as quickly as we can."
No one argued against that, and made their way back. Well, with the exception of Lisa and Hina, who tried to wake Kaoru up from the suplex she fell victim to, only to decide to carry her back instead. Thankfully, the guitarist of HaroHapi was so popular with the girls, the teacher pardoned the three, and bought the lie that the unconscious girl was getting into a character for a play. In other news, throughout the day after that, Ran and Tomoe couldn't concentrate much at all on the lessons, due to the head injuries they suffered.
******
The next day, school was out, and the Haneoka group were making their way to CiRCLE.
"I'm glad you all decided to go," Guren said to them.
"W-Well, it's not like we have anything else planned today, anyway," Lisa spoke for them.
As they walked though, the atmosphere has been quite... awkward, to say the least. For one thing, Ran and Yukina were avoiding eye contact with each other. For another... Well, let's just say Kaoru and HIna were practically in their own little world.
It didn't take much longer for them to arrive at CiRCLE, where Shizuka was sweeping out the front.
"Hey, senpai! We're here!" Guren called, getting the mute's attention. "Well then, I leave the rest to you."
Those words puzzled the girls.
"You're not staying?" Himari asked.
"I don't have work today, and earlier my uncle texted me to buy some groceries for his shop on the way home," she reasoned, showing them the text. "I'll still come over to visit if I can, see the progress in your group session. That being said, senpai, I know there's still a bit of time until their group meeting, but I leave these girls to you. See ya."
As she took her leave, Shizuka held out a hand to her, in a gesture stating that she wanted Guren to stop and come back. Sadly, the new hire did not notice the gesture one bit, and continued her leave.
Once she was gone, the Haneoka group turned to each other then to Shizuka.
"Um... Are the others here?" Maya asked.
******
An hour later, elsewhere, Guren had finished grocery shopping and was making her way to her uncle's shop.
"Okay, got everything needed for the store. I think I can still make it to their group practice," she said, looking at the time on her phone.
Before she could put it away, she heard her phone beep, and looked to see a message was sent to her.
"Huh? Who sent this message?" Guren wondered, opening the thing.
"Guren-san! Help us! >m<" it read, to her confusion.
"Eh?" Next Guren knew, more messages came in from the same sender.
"They're out of control! They just can't stop at all! Please come back!"
Those words only served to worry Guren even more, as she rushed to her uncle's store to drop off the groceries.