I stared at Aya and she stared back at me with a creepily-wide smile. In the background, the girls and Satō played around the green room, observing the installations and joking with each other. Meanwhile, Aya still stared at me. I had no other choice but to reply.

"Yes?" I stammered.

"Did you lie about the cost of the rent for this venue?"

"No, I didn't. Are you asking because of the premium treatment we're receiving?"

"Yes. It's also a very nice place. All of this feels like it should be more than fifty thousand terras."

"Maybe because we're used to places that don't specialize in hosting events. This venue was made for concerts and the service is professional. Also, could you lower your voice? I don't want to stress the girls about these things."

She glanced at the girls then looked back at me. "What is the deadline now?"

"A little less than a month. We've almost recovered the cost of the rent with the pre-orders and, if the merchandise sales go well, then the deadline could be increased by two or three weeks."

"That's not enough."

"I know. I'll think of something."

"Just… don't be naive about it. We all trust in you."

Her frown turned into a smile when she slapped my shoulder. She walked away to approach the girls and join the fun, while I stood still and watched them. A few moments later, I needed to close my eyes and take deep breaths, which was interrupted by Tomokazu talking through the Talkie app.

"Kaito, the merchandise arrived. Do you want to see it?"

I opened my eyes and answered, "Sure, I'm coming."

I took one last look at the girls and stepped out of the green room with a smile. I walked along the same path we had taken to arrive at the room until I reached the outside.

Tomokazu stood next to dozens of plastic boxes that had been placed on the ground and stacked on top of each other. I approached him as he opened one.

"Take a look," he said.

The box was filled with white t-shirts. They all had the same design of the flower from the Blostars logo and pink petals. Tomokazu then opened several more to check more of the merchandise: t-shirts but with different designs, sweaters, caps, rings, necklaces, wristbands, gloves, mugs, and even lightsticks.

"Yeah, you went all in," I said.

"That's the instruction you gave me, dear friend."

"I'm not complaining. Let's take a walk around the venue to see where we can set up the stall."

We headed back into the building and walked down the hallway again. Instead of stopping in front of the green room, we kept walking until we reached an intersection. The sign in front of us read 'Entrance', while the one to the right read 'Stage'. We took the path to the right and, soon enough, arrived backstage.

The lighting had dimmed a little, but there was still enough visibility. A couple of workers wearing fluorescent-green vests moved around between panels and big sets of equipment that weren't ours.

On the other side of the stage scaffolding and the wall, more people worked on the platform, including Miki, who talked to the man I had talked to when we arrived. The lighting brightened as Tomokazu and I climbed the stairs to approach them, but we were dumbfounded by the venue in front of us. We stood still to look at the empty court.

"Not bad, huh?" Tomokazu said. "Three hundred people will be standing there in a few hours."

"Not three hundred yet."

"Yet. Have faith, dear friend," he replied and slapped my back. "I'm sure the tickets are going to be sold out before the concert begins."

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I smirked at him and then looked back at the venue. I can't wait to see the girls' reactions when they see this.

We resumed our walk towards Miki, weaving between many boxes and tools. The platform was more slippery compared to the hallways.

"How is everything going?" I asked Miki. He looked up from the panel he was working on.

"Boss, everything is alright. There were some incompatibilities I didn't account for but it's nothing that can't be solved before the concert."

"That's good to hear. Keep up the good work."

"I will," he smiled. "Was there something you wanted to tell me?"

"No, we were just taking a walk around the venue and passed by. Call me if there's a major problem."

"Sure."

He continued to talk with the other man and Tomokazu and I climbed off the platform. We walked through the court and got an even deeper sense of the scale. It wasn't the biggest room we had seen, but it definitely was the biggest one we had performed in and we could only expect it to look even crazier with an additional three hundred people present.

We walked through the giant door into a hallway that split in two. There were two bathrooms in the center and various food stalls on both sides, attended by Humas. It would've been a good place to set up our stall, but there was no space available.

We walked down the left hallway and reached the lobby of the venue. Two Humas stood behind the central desk. However, since the front walls were made of glass, the people queueing up outside cheered when Tomokazu and I appeared. I smiled and waved at them.

"I know I'm not the one they are clapping for, but it still feels nice," Tomokazu smirked.

"Who said you aren't?" I replied. "Look, there are two nice spots. Couldn't we have prepared to set up two stalls?"

"We don't have the staff, dear friend. One is already more than I can handle alone."

"You're right. Should I ask Satō to help you?"

"Let's see how I do first. I'll ask for help if I need it."

"Alright. You can call the manager and tell her we will use this spot."

Butcher suddenly joined the conversation. "People love you, young man," he said as he arrived from the same hallway. "I heard the cheers from the bathroom."

I didn't know how to reply, so I asked, "Butcher, what do you think about the venue?"

"It's big. It's going to be impossible for me to guard the entire place, but I've already seen eight other guards. They will help a lot."

"You don't need to guard the entire place, just stay backstage next to the platform in case anything happens on stage."

"Understood."

"Good. I'll go see how the girls are doing. Call me through Talkie if you need anything."

They nodded and I headed back to the green room. However, I noticed something new along the way. Multiple panels now displayed the schedule for the day, including one inside the green room.

"Kaito, look!" Astra burst as I entered. "We can see the schedule on the wall panel now."

"Yeah, I noticed on the way here. It's everywhere."

"That's good, it'll help keep us focused," Aya added.

"That's true," I replied. "Girls, there's still an hour until lunch. You can do anything you want until then. You can even take a walk outside, just ask Butcher to go with you."

"Let's go shopping!" Aki suggested.

"And come back in an hour?" Sanae questioned.

"Why not?" Umi replied. "Better than rotting here."

"Let's go, then," Astra grinned. "Ms. Satō, come with us."

"Eh? Me?" she replied.

"Yes, it will be fun," Risa added.

"I don't know," Satō laughed nervously.

"Go with them," I said. "There's not much you can do as of now anyway."

She stared at me with her eyes wide open and blinked rapidly.

"Okay, I'll go," she smiled at the girls.

The girls cheered around Satō. As they did, I called Butcher to go with them and the seven of them headed out once he arrived.

Aside from walking from one side of the venue to the other to help with problems, I didn't have much to do for the next hour. Meanwhile, Aya kept an eye on our social media accounts and posted a few pictures of the venue and the queue outside. Miki kept working on the stage, but not everything had been solved yet. And, although the merchandise stall had been set up, the merchandise itself hadn't been laid out.

The girls returned carrying a couple of shopping bags, while Butcher carried five more on his own. It was time for lunch, so I called everyone to the green room. Most of us ate salmon and veggies but because the salmon wasn't good for Sanae's and Risa's throats, they ate rice instead.

Finally, it was time for the soundcheck.