212CHAPTER 29:
Get to the Competition Already!
"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear..." Chie said to herself, panting as she ran as fast as her legs could go. "I'm late...I'm sooo late...Forgive me, Ai-san...!"
Her eyes brightened, as she found herself nearing the school gates. "I'm here!"
However, she suddenly stopped herself as she saw something which shocked her to the extreme. "Oh. My. God."
Above her, hanging by the school entrance, was a huge banner inviting all the students to the violin competition between Ai and Ichiro. Truth be told, the banner was beautifully done. It was decorated with an assortment of musical notes, blue and white ribbons. The words "TOWARDS MUSICAL EXCELLENCE!" were written in bright and bold letters, and the details of the competition were written in smaller font.
Around her, the students of Tougenkyou were looking at her, each with different expressions and statements.
"Hey, it's that Saeki Chie-san..."
"She's the one who's going to accompany the Queen in the competition..."
"Wow, I didn't know she played the cello..."
Chie blushed and bit her lip, looking down at the ground in embarrassment. They're...they're talking about me...and it's not something bad!
"Che, it's that dumb girl again. Who does she think she is?! Like she could even compare to Ito-sama!"
The cinnamon-eyed girl bowed her head and sighed dejectedly. "Well, what else can I expect? I was a nobody for three years after all."
"Chie-chan! What the hell are you doing, standing there like that?!"
Chie looked up, to find a seething Yae burning brightly in front of her. Eeep! She's angry! "Wha..what is it, Yae-chan?"
The redhead grabbed the other girl's wrist and pulled her inside. "Do you know HOW LONG you've kept Ito-san waiting?!"
"Um yeah, about that...I kind of overslept..." Chie said, chuckling slightly in embarrassment. She held on to her cello tightly, though that was a rather difficult thing to do, considering its weight.
"Grrr, this is NOT the time to oversleep, you know!" Yae yelled back at her.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Chie yelped. Eeep! She really IS angry!
They finally stopped by the auditorium doors. Yae closed her eyes and placed her hands upon her hips. "Need I remind you that your informal competition has become an official school activity? That means every student, every faculty, every person who is in this school is going to watch you play."
Chie bit her lip. "I know. And that's just the problem Yae-chan...I'm just not used to doing this..."
Yae opened her eyes and looked at her friend. "Competing in front of so many people, you mean?"
The dark haired girl nodded.
"Well," Yae began as she pushed the doors open. "You'll just have to get used to it. You are one of the Sanhana, after all."
Chie blinked. "San...hana?"
Yae smiled and winked. "You'll know soon enough. More importantly," She placed a hand upon her friend's back, then pushed her in suddenly. "You have a competition to get ready for."
"What do you mean...? Wait, Yae-chan!" Chie turned, to call back out to her friend.
But the auditorium doors were already closed, leaving the dark haired girl in her thoughts. She was consequently brought back to reality though, when the sounds of a violin playing from behind her stopped, and an amplified male voice belonging to Ai's older brother Tetsuya, echoed throughout the room. "PAGING MISS CHIE SAEKI! MISS CHIE SAEKI! YOUR DUET PARTNER IS WAITING FOR YOU ONSTAGE!"
Chie gasped in horror as she turned and rushed towards the stage, saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" over and over. The two persons who were already onstage had to admire the speed and strength of the girl as she climbed on stage carrying the cello. As she arrived at her destination, she began pulling out her instrument from its case quickly. Panting, she glanced up at the silver-haired girl. "I'm really really sorry Ai-san...I overslept..."
Ai tucked her violin under her arm and placed a reassuring hand at her shoulder. "Relax Chie-san. You really didn't miss much."
"But-!"
"I think it's more important that we should preserve our energies for later." The other girl said, smiling. "We'll have one run through for today, then spend the rest of time resting, alright?"
Chie was about to protest, but decided against it as she realized how right Ai was. "O-okay, if you say so Ai-san..."
The run through proceeded more smoothly than she thought-she had completely memorized the piece by now, and rarely did she make a mistake. And yet, as she moved her bow for the last time in the piece, she realized that something was missing. Was it because she had not seen their competitor, Ichiro, at this time and gauge how ready he was? No, it was not that. Was it because of the mistakes she made? It was a cause for concern, but it wasn't that either. It was something else...Something, which as of this moment, she could not point out. Her brows furrowed in worry. Whatever that is, she had to find out before the competition began.
"...Chie-san. Chie-san!"
That brought the girl back to reality, and she blinked and looked up at the one who called her. She was surprised to see a slightly pouting expression upon the other girl's face. "...Ai-san?"
"Why are you all serious nowadays?" Ai asked. "That kind of expression doesn't fit you."
"I'm sor-"
"And why are you apologizing all the time?" The other girl straightened up and placed her hands upon her hips, raising an eyebrow. "Honestly Chie-san, you've gotta learn to relax sometimes."
The dark haired girl was about to let out another apology, but she stopped herself and instead said, "O-okay..."
The handsome, blue-eyed man whose hair was the same color as his sister's, walked up to the girls grinning. "You gotta admit, my little sister's right, Chie-chan. I myself don't really prepare and worry on the day of a concert. Instead, I do something else that almost has nothing to do with the concert-like reading or watching a movie."
Chie stared back at the young man, blinking uncertainly. "Well, I don't exactly have something in mind, so I guess I'll probably just...read a book or something..."
"Perhaps you don't," Ai began. "...but we do."
When Chie looked up at the girl, she was surprised to see her and her older brother grinning mischievously down at her. It seemed as though Ai's calm demeanor vanished and she became excited for some reason. Eeep! Her mind's voice squeaked. I don't like the sound of this... "U-u-ummm...what are we going to do...?" Her voice came out smaller than she thought.
The two siblings glanced at each other, their grins widening before turning back towards the girl. It was Ai who spoke first. "Well, first things first. What do you have to wear for the competition later?"
"U-um...the costume I usually wear when I play for special occasions..."
"May I see that?" Ai asked, holding out her hand expectantly.
Chie stood up and wrapped up her cello first, before laying it on a nearby table. She then lifted up her bag, placed it upon her lap, and pulled out the white blouse and the black slacks she had prepared earlier. "Here..."
The silver-haired girl took the clothing in her hands and inspected it. From time to time, she held out the items before her to take a good look at them.
Tatsuya looked over them as well. "Hrm..." She glanced up at her brother. "What do you think, Niichan?"
The young man only raised an eyebrow and smirked slightly.
Ai giggled and nodded. "I thought so too." She then turned towards her duet partner, while folding the clothes back into the way they were. "They're very nice, Chie-san, but unfortunately these won't do..."
"They...won't?" Chie was aghast. Were these inappropriate? Did this mean that she had to find another set of clothes? That wouldn't have been a problem, but... Chie glanced at the clock in worry. But there's no time! She fidgeted in her seat. "Oh no, I knew I should've shown you these clothes first! I'm really-"
"Oops, you're about to apologize again," Ai said, raising a finger, in which Chie immediately shifted her gaze guiltily. "It's my fault, I didn't specify the details. But don't worry, Oniichan and I can fix that." She then glanced up at her brother.
Tatsuya nodded, and turned his attention to the backstage. "Hagino-chan!"
"Yes, Tatsuya-sama."
Chie turned her attention towards the back stage, and saw a woman with large and twinkling brown eyes coming towards her. Her shoulder-length, straight cinnamon brown hair flowed behind her. There were streaks of yellow in it, and her skin was a bit darker than most people, but those weren't the things that were strange at all. What caught her attention were the erect, brown, cat-like ears donning her head. She shook her head vehemently, but those ears were still there. She glanced at the two siblings, her eyes wide with shock and confusion. "Wha-wha-what-?!" She stammered.
The silver-haired man smiled broadly. "Chie-san, meet my manager Hagino-chan. She's going to be with you while you prepare for this afternoon's competition." He then leaned down towards her and whispered, "Don't worry about the ears, they're not real. She just loves pretending to be a catgirl."
"Oh..I..."
"Yo-neow!" The (cat)woman grinned, waving a hand. "It's a pleasure to meet Chie-neow!"
Tatsuya raised a finger in a salute. "She's all yours, Hagino-chan."
"YES-NEOW!" Hagino said enthusiastically. She clapped her arms. "Alright ladies! Now's the time to make our debut into this wonderful manga!"
Just then, the stage lights suddenly went on, focusing their rays on five individuals that walked up onstage. The first was a short person with narrow green eyes and fine, straight gray hair, and is wearing a black sphagetti strapped dress. The second was a lot taller than the first one. This person had hooded eyes the color of ripe plums, and very short, silky, curly hair the color of the midnight sky, and is wearing a green sleeveless shirt complemented with dark jeans. The third was as tall as the second, and is also more heavy-set. This person has deep-set gray eyes and silky, wavy, mauve hair and is wearing a ruffled polo with a dark tank top inside, and skinny jeans. This person also had a necktie around the waist, which was used as a belt. The fourth one was actually smaller than the first one, almost like a playful otter. This person has slanted, orange eyes and fine, straight short hair the color of blood, and is wearing a v-neck printed top, a blue inner blouse, and a pair of jeans. Finally, the last individual was the tallest among the five, having wide rimmed glasses over hooded blue eyes, and curly vermillion hair, and is wearing a polka dot babydoll top over a brown 3/4 top, and jeans. Chie stared, her mouth agape, they all looked to be very beautiful women but...
"I'm Bee Bee!" The first one said, raising an arm.
"I'm Cee Cee!" The second one grinned, raising another arm.
"I'm Dee Dee!" The third winked and gave a thumbs-up sign.
"I'm Fee Fee!" The fourth smiled and gave a flying kiss.
"And I'm Gee Gee!" The fifth said, hands on hips and one leg bent as if in a supermodel pose.
"And we are...the GLAM FIVE!!" All five men/women simultaneously cried out, the stage lights blinking along with their enthusiasm. "The fairy godmothers specializing in turning an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan!"
But...but THEY ALL HAVE MALE VOICES! Chie cried out frantically in her head. Oh I KNEW something bad's going to happen... She glanced left and right. What else is left for her to do...except to RUUUUNNN! She stood up, turned and started running her way out of the auditorium.
"Oh NEOW you won't, Chie-neow!" Once again, Hagino clapped her arms. "Ladies! Don't let our specimen get away-neow!"
"Yes Ma'am!" The Glam Five answered simultaneously, and started to chase after the running girl. It did not take long however, for all five of them had somehow had an amazing inhuman speed, and grabbed Chie at the same time before she reached the auditorium doors.
The poor girl struggled hard to free herself from the men/women's grasp, but to no avail. The best she could do was kick her legs through the air as she was dragged towards the backstage. "NOOOOOOOOO! LET ME GOOO! LET ME GOOOO! AI-SAAAAN! TATSUYA-SAAAAAN!"
But the two silver-haired siblings only chuckled mischievously.
Author's Notes:
Hey everyone! (runs away from the fruits and vegetables being thrown at her) I know! I know I need to get the competition running already but I just can't help placing Hagino-chan and the Glam Five here. They're just so fun to write about! Besides, this is just the way things are running in my head...I don't have much control over it, truthfully. So I hope you'll all forgive me for this YET another filler chapter...but don't worry, the next one will be IT already as well as the final chapter for the first season. Oh I can't wait! I've been waiting one whole year for this!
But of course I can't forget to thank my reviewers, eh?
1. Asianista Is A Fashionista - Oh no...I'm sorry...I guess you'll have to wait again...promise, it would be in the next chapter...
2. Succeeding At Failure - Thank you, reading your reviews is very addictive too.
3. Ryu - Welcome to fictionpress, and thank you for choosing this story for your first review!
4. KylaranAeldin - I will do my best to make the competition as amazing as you say, and I do hope that you will continue to enjoy this until the very end. Thank you for your unending support!
5. Soul's Eclipse - Hey there! It's been awhile! How have you been? Thank you for taking the time to read my story despite the time gap.
6. Kawaii Chibi Kitty Angel - Oh? You've made up your mind? Who did you choose? (is very interested, haha...) I gotta know too! But of course, if you don't want to tell, it's alright too.
Well, that's all for today.
Till the next chapter!