Showtime

My latest novel Blow: a CTCT Spin-off has just ended. I'm participating with it in MAL's contest. I hope you can support me by reading it and sharing it if you like it.

Remember that IBMFGI is 40 chapters ahead on other platforms that you can find on my website.

Edited by RedPandaChick

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As the girls and Aya chatted with Kiku and ate, Miki, Tomokazu, Satō, and I moved all of the equipment from the vans into the storage room. Even though Butcher stood outside in front of the door, the small room was cramped with boxes and people.

"Should we start assembling everything?" I asked Miki, not giving him even five seconds to breathe.

"We could take it slowly, but we might run short on time if there's a problem."

"Let's start now, then."

"Can I help?" Satō asked. "I won't be doing much until the girls start to warm up anyway."

"That'd be great," I replied.

"I need five minutes," Tomokazu panted. "I'm not used to this much physical activity in such a short amount of time."

"Sure. Join us as soon as you can."

He gave me a trembling thumbs-up before collapsing onto the floor. He's not going to revive soon.

"I guess we need to prepare the platform first," I said.

Miki nodded. "The parts are in these boxes."

I followed him to the other side of the room. Even though the platform was divided into several different segments of plastic-reinforced cardboard, the boxes still needed a huge amount of space. Miki, Satō, and I picked up a box each.

Kiku approached me and asked, "Do you need help, Mr. Manager?"

"Yes, but I don't want to distract you if you have things to do."

"I already took care of everything and my helpers are guarding the entrance for now."

"Helpers?"

"Ever since Blostars gave a performance, people liked the atmosphere and became regulars, maybe hoping for the girls to appear again too. So, I had to hire a helper. And, since I already suspected this to happen when you called me to ask if they could do another performance here, I hired another helper. How right I was."

"That's good to hear," I smirked. "Alright, grab one of those boxes."

"As you order, Boss."

I shook my head as she picked up a box and walked into the café along with Miki and Satō. About to follow them, Aya stopped me.

"Kaito," she called me.

I turned around. "Yes?"

"I'll go out to take some pictures for our social media."

"Are you sure? There is a sea of people out there."

"Is my little brother worried for his big sis?"

I sighed. "Give me my worry back."

She chuckled. "They don't know my face yet, it should be alright."

"They probably do, but not as much as the girls' or mine. Just be careful."

"I will."

She walked out through the emergency exit—through which we had arrived—just to be immediately stopped by Butcher, who was even more worried than me. I didn't need to stay to see how she convinced him to let her go, so I turned around and stepped into the café.

I stood still as soon as I saw the deserted café. Save for a few tables and chairs next to the windows on one side, there wasn't anything else. I rushed to ask Kiku about it, when sudden claps, shouts, and whistles came from outside. They stared at me through the front windows. I didn't know how to react, so I merely stood still.

"They already seem excited to see you," Kiku said, walking back for more boxes. "Imagine when the girls come out."

"Yeah," I stuttered. "Why is the place so empty?"

"You're going to give a show, aren't you?"

"Yes, but where did the computers and the rest of the tables go?"

"I rented a tiny warehouse nearby to store stuff. Didn't you notice that there were fewer boxes than last time when you arrived?"

"Not really."

"Well, you're welcome. Hurry up with that box, there are another hundred left."

She stepped back into the storage room and I approached the stage spot to drop the box next to the other three.

A loop of moving boxes began and lasted for fifteen minutes. It didn't take much longer to build the platform and start assembling the rest of the stage.

As part of our scenery and to allow the girls to walk to the platform without problems, we built a narrow corridor with short, thin walls from the door of the storage room up to the stage.

One hour into the process, Satō headed back into the storage room to help the girls warm up and practice. Tomokazu replaced her to help us.

We finished with only thirty minutes to spare. Fortunately, the tests went well and everything seemed alright. Kiku headed to the counter, while Miki, Tomokazu, and I stepped back into the storage room.

Risa and Umi sat on one of the two sofas. Aki and Sanae stood in front of them as Astra danced around. All of them were already wearing their costumes.

"How are you feeling?" I asked them.

Astra stopped dancing and turned around. "Nervous and excited," she grinned.

"More excited than nervous," Sanae added, resting her hands on her hips.

"People have been waiting outside for a while, so I want to give everyone a good time," Risa giggled.

"And I want to show them how fabulous my costumes are and how awesome I am," Aki smirked.

"Everything is alright, then," I smiled. "What about you, Umi?"

Her elbow rested on the armrest of the sofa as she leaned her chin on her hand. She glared at me for a second and looked away.

"What they said," she replied.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Yes, but I want to hear you say what they said."

She didn't even look at me again. I knew I was playing with fire, so I was happy with the few words she said. About to continue my speech, she interrupted me.

"I'm nervous but I'm more excited, I want to give everyone a good time, and I want them to hear my music," she said with no emotion.

The room stayed silent. We stared at her, who merely glanced at us for a second.

"This is why I didn't want to say anything."

"Alright, alright. It's good knowing you share the girls' feelings," I said. "I even forgot what I was going to say. Just tell me or one of the others if you need anything. The doors will open in thirty minutes, meaning you still have an hour before going out. Got it?"

"Yes," they replied.

I left them alone to let them relax more and approached Aya, who sat on the other sofa, along with Satō, Miki, and Tomokazu.

"Can I see the pictures?" I asked Aya.

"Sure."

A sharing request emerged on my glasses, which I already wore in case I needed to do something quickly. I accepted the request and three pictures appeared. The three of them showed the queue in front of the café going around the block. Some reporters and paparazzi could be seen in them.

"The line's even longer than I expected," I said.

"More people kept arriving as I took them."

"I can't believe it. Did you only take three?"

"I took twenty, but I discarded the ugly ones or the ones where there were too many reporters."

"Are you going to post them now?" I wondered.

"I'll only post one when the doors open. I'll post the other two after the show, along with the new ones I take."

"Sounds good," I said. I closed the photo viewer on my glasses. "I should make sure that the live stream is going to work. But before that, I'll check on Butcher."

"He's doing fine," Aya replied. "We've been giving him water and snacks."

"Thanks for that. I'll still check on him."

I headed out through the emergency exit. Butcher stood still in front, keeping an eye on the reporters and paparazzi. Just as before, the crowd couldn't be compared to the sea in front of the café.

"How are you?" I asked Butcher.

"I'm good, young man. How is everything inside?"

"There have been no problems so far. I'm even scared."

"That's right, don't let your guard down, just as I'm doing right now."

"Aren't you tired?"

"Not at all. I'm doing nothing."

"You're protecting everyone," I replied. "The doors will open in thirty minutes, so head into the café in twenty-five and stand next to the stage. You can stay here or sit down until then."

"Understood. I'll stay here."

I gently slapped his shoulder, which was above my head, and stepped back into the storage room.

The next thirty minutes flew by as I prepared the live stream. Since I was no streamer nor did I have the knowledge to do something with a lot of production, I merely prepared two images made by Jun and connected my glasses to the live feeds of the cameras we installed on the walls of the café. It was going to be impossible for me to change between cameras all the time, so I was simply going to give the option to the viewers to change to any camera they wanted.

As the doors were opened, I watched the live feeds of the cameras. Dozens of people entered the café after buying their tickets. Fortunately, the majority were normal people and not reporters or paparazzi.

I started the live stream on my glasses a couple of minutes later, only showing one of the images Jun had made to tell the audience that the show would commence shortly.

Behind me, the girls became more energetic. They stretched and shook their nerves off.

With only five minutes remaining, I hid the image of the live stream to allow the viewers to change between the cameras. Miki headed out into the café to the spot he had prepared for himself within the narrow corridor to control the lights and the smoke machines. Aya and Tomokazu also walked out to see the atmosphere and take pictures.

An orchestral track began playing and the crowd cheered. Miki was doing one, final audio check and getting the crowd ready for the real show.

Only one minute remained. Satō and I helped the girls put their microphones on and made sure everything was good to go.

"Alright, girls," Satō said, "impress us and everyone out there."

The girls nodded and took a deep breath. Before I could say anything, Astra jumped at me and squeezed me, followed by Aki, Risa, and Sanae. Umi and I stared at each other.

"No," she scowled.

Everyone giggled.

"Alright, listen," I said. "Give everything you've got. Don't make mistakes. If you make one, own it and carry on. Understood?"

The girls nodded.

"I don't hear you."

"Yes!" they shouted.

"That's better," I smiled. I approached the door and said, "It's showtime."