AGAiN²: Band Story

## **Overture**

Matsui Rika stopped at the front of her practice room to find a piece of paper taped over their logo. Whatever this could mean, she didn’t care for it much, she figured it was the janitor’s doing. However, beyond the door, what should have greeted her was a professional idol’s practice room: the walls fully covered in spotless mirrors, along with her four other band members and producer. Contrary to her expectation, the mirrors seemed to be covered in white cloth, and the lights cut off. The only source of light was from a singular laptop, and the blue light washed over the figure’s coral hair. It was Maiko Ami, bassist of her band.

“Maiko san. I demand an explanation. Why didn’t you turn on the lights?”, Rika looked at Ami with a curious expression.

“So you decided to come as usual, Matsui san.”, Ami looked up from the computer screen.

“Matsui san…”, Ami seemed to stall for time, as if she needed to compose what she says carefully as to not hurt anyone’s feelings.

“...We are dismissed.”, Ami said, almost whispering.

The bare lifelessness of the practice room and the sharp silence that followed a single, simple word, “dismissed”, made her blood as cold as the autumnal air outside. Their entire career, shattered so easily by one company decision. Idol Matsui Rika, no more. To some, hope to rise up in the world no more, no more chances. It wasn’t emptiness or mere sadness that accompanied this epiphany. Many praises of “You’re totally guaranteed to succeed, Rika!” that she had received during her trainee year came back, flashing in her mind.

Rika let out a shaky laugh. She was the scouted elite that got out of the trainee phase in less than six months, a rarity that has not happened in this agency for twelve years. She was the one who was under the spotlight, drinking in all the compliments from the trainers while others were instructed to try harder. She was the unreachable top, excelling in everything from mannerisms to charisma. Perhaps too unreachable. She was so unrelatable to the normal person, untouchable. The agency said that they would cover this with a talented producer, to match her quality and skill.

“This… This is Matsui Rika we’re talking about. How… How could they do this to ME, MATSUI RIKA, the person destined to rule this industry!”, her voice sent vibrations through the glass. She lashed out in fury.

“Our producer said to schedule a time for a press meeting to announce our disbandment. I suppose if our practice room has been taken over, this decision had been made quite a while ago.”, Ami’s eyes were back on the bright shine of the laptop. Ami, unlike Rika, was unusually calm about this, making Rika even more enraged.

“Maiko san, don’t you feel anything? Both of our careers. Gone in an instant!”

“I don’t DESERVE THIS!”

“The industry decides if we’re worthy or not.”

“Everything. Everything is false- I am an elite, I-”

“That is the painful truth of this industry. The entertainment industry is harsh, though the sparkling and fluffy idols conceal that fact almost perfectly. If you can’t make them money, you’re as good as trash that is discarded without care.”

Every one of Ami’s monotone words echoed out and fueled the rage that was building inside of Rika. She turned back to look at Ami, who looked back at her. At this moment, Ami realized that Rika had the resolve to do anything to get back at this industry and the world. Rika wasn’t defeated at all. Some kind of twisted hope emerged inside of Ami, and contemplating for a few seconds, she began formulating a plan. If the industry is playing dirty, why couldn’t they do the same? The most impactful and the fiercest of revolutions were coming from the inside of the palaces, anyway.

“Are you saying that I am a mere throwaway?”

“…Matsui san, are you willing to do anything?”, Ami opened up a folder on her laptop. The eye contact between the two fallen idols felt intense.

“Anything.”

Silence fell, the offer was taken, a choice made. It was quite the simple response, but perfect.

“Then please listen.”

“The band who will take over this practice room approximately five months from now is called Pastel\*Palettes. If you had paid attention to the white paper on the door covering our logo, you could have seen it. Pastel\*Palettes consists of Marumaya Aya on vocals, Hikawa Hina on guitar, Shirasagi Chisato on bass, Wakamiya Eve on keyboard, and the drums haven’t been decided yet.”, Ami spoke, putting the cursor over the four members’ faces. Ami’s face was almost unreadable, bur Rika could tell that she was hiding something much grander.

“And what am I supposed to do with that?”, Rika questioned, not taking her eyes off of the screen.

“Doesn’t it make you feel anything? Marumaya Aya. Taking over what was yours, Matsui san? I believe you were trainees with her a while ago.”, Ami paused to watch as Rika’s face contorted into a look of anxiety and surprise.

“I’ll tell you one more key detail. They are planned to lip sync.”

“Maiko san, where are you going with this and where are you getting this information?”

“I have my sources. It means that if one thing goes wrong backstage with the technology, their debut stage is done for. Their debut is a few months from now. I could make some arrangements…”, a crease of amusement formed on Ami’s lips.

Blinded by her career coming to an end and the audacity of the talent agency to call for not anyone’s band’s disbandment, but her own, morals were thrown out from the beginning, long ago before this exchange.

“Consider it done.”

“Great. But the agency won’t shake with just one idol group shattered. It’ll make an impact for one or two weeks, maybe a month. We need to be more frequent and numerous with our moves. This… is a Coup d'État, if you will. I will begin by arranging and gathering more information. We will need to find weak points.”

Shortly after, the practice room’s door opened forcefully, revealing the two other members—Angelika Riva and Natsumi Shina. Angelika made her way near Rika and Ami with speed and purpose. Shina followed, a bit concerned with the tense air.

“I heard the news.”, Angelika’s voice was clear, echoing in the room.

Angelika drew in a sharp breath., “Our producer, Kazuha Sana. Where is she now? This better be a joke.”

“Ah…The message. When should we have the press conference about our disbandment?”, Shina asked carefully.

“We won’t end here.”, Rika spoke decisively, glancing back at Ami. Ami looked back at her, making brief eye contact. Open the game.

✣

Time passed, with some good news. Fate seemed to be helping the scheme go along smoothly. According to Ami’s intel, the girl who was supposed to be the main obstacle, Yamato Maya, was promoted to the band’s drummer. Rika put on as much coverage as she could, even with the Goddess of Luck by their side, this could go wrong.

The sound of black heeled shoes resounded through the corridor, where carriers and dreams start and end, and soon a corridor that will bring a forceful and judgmental end. The sound of another person’s footsteps came from the opposite side. Rika stopped and waited for the footsteps to come closer, eventually meeting eyes with the one that was walking towards her. The figure was unmistakable. It was Marumaya Aya, someone who was always below her from the beginning. Now was just another time to step on her again, as she had done numerous times in the past.

“Oh! You must be a fan here to meet us…! But you’re not supposed to be here without special permission..? I wasn’t told we would have visitors, but I’ll be doing my best on today’s stage, so look out for me, okay?”, Aya smiled her best idol smile.

It was the same annoying smile and blush of hers. The expression usually accompanied with words like “I’m sorry, I’ll try again!”. Rika was well familiar with this. Aya was an idol trainee about the same time she was. Rika was just made to debut earlier because of how she was better in every way than Aya was – in terms of vocals, mannerisms, and overall composure. So why—why was Marumaya Aya taking over the world that is rightfully hers? Why was she sinking to the bottom of this industry? Rika lingered for a second, not speaking but still making eye contact, before Aya approached her.

“Do you want an autograph? I’ve been practicing, actually! You can be my first...”, Aya was a little surprised by the coldness of her supposed fan’s expression, this was weird, she should be making this person filled with happiness and hope, like idols do.

“You’re approaching me? You think you have the right to be in my presence, after how you have decided to go on debuting in this world with your fake voice, fake hopes, and a fake smile? I don’t want your autograph, you lip syncing FAKE.”, painting black over Aya’s light and pastel toned mood, Rika swiftly passed the new idol. Seeing Aya in a sugary sweet idol costume similar to what she had always described wearing during when they were both trainees made her even more irritated. How could she have the nerve to suggest something like an autograph when she was just a huge con-idol? Marumaya Aya always has been and always will be beneath Matsui Rika.

Aya stood, dumbfounded. Why was this fan so harsh, and most of all, how did they know? Did the information somehow get leaked? This could be bad...!

✣

Rika had found the equipment room when the Pastel\*Palettes’ debut concert had begun. They were starting with self introductions. Ami had planned this for months, there couldn’t have been a flaw. She was the most through person Rika ever met; information, even petty pieces, like what kind of coffee they preferred, was collected and manipulated to give Rika the opportunity to sneak into the audio booth. The real challenge was directing the other staff members’ attention the other way and blending herself into the surroundings. Ami would support her from the concert hall, monitoring what’s going on and connect with Rika through a minuscule camera and a headset.

“Hey, what are you doing in here?”

“I am taking Aratani San’s place for a short while. She said she’ll be running late due to an unexpected trip to the hospital.”, Rika answered smoothly.

This, of course, was arranged by Ami, and was 100% the truth. The manager seemed a bit suspicious, stepping close to Rika and almost taking off her hood, but a well-timed message saved her act. Ami had taken a hold of the audio man’s SIM card, sending a message with it that read: “I apologize, I will be running late. I had a spontaneous trip to the hospital. Turns out, I’m fine. I’m coming through the back doors right now.”

The PD sighed, supposing that getting the show running was more important than having the exact person do the job. He directed the manager to go check on the other staff, both leaving the audio booth. This was their chance, and they would take it.

“That was a bit closer than I would have liked it to be. Matsui San, could you direct the camera more this way? We need to find the speaker controls.”, Ami directed through the earbud.

Rika followed, finding the piece of equipment in perfect shape.

“Don’t make it obvious, but turn down the volume, now.”

Rika, unsure of which slider it was, pushed and moved everything around, and when shocked murmurs came from down below, she knew she did something right. She looked down at the concert.

“Matsui San, get out of there, now. Aratani is heading up.”, Ami said with urgency.

In the concert hall, chaos and exposure of a pastel colored lie ensued. The crowd started to murmur, confused at first but eventually came to a realization.

“Hey, the music stopped!”

“Was she lip-syncing the whole time?”

“I don't think they were playing their instruments, either!”

Rika glanced over at the stage, to a panicked Marumaya Aya. She was exactly as she was back when they were idol trainees: a never improving, mediocre at best idol. Rika scoffed. The screen panels up above the stage reflected Aya in her pink and fluffy costume contrasted her sulky, tearful face before shutting down. This was when Shirasagi Chisato stepped up to the mic.

“I'm sorry, everyone. It seems like due to some technical difficulties, we won't be able to continue our performance today. We have many more shows planned out for the near future and I hope you'll be back to see them. We have been Pastel\*Palettes!”

The crowd, appalled, started to leave the concert hall one by one. *Success*.