We arrived with only half an hour left before the girls would be performing with Aeryx, giving them barely enough time to get changed into their new costumes and get their makeup done. They hadn't taken part in the sound check, and the song wasn't even on the setlist. The only opportunity they had to practice with Aeryx was when she came to re-record the song at HQ, and they did so for less than two hours.

The girls stared down at the ceramic floor of the tunnel in silence. Not even Aeryx's voice rumbling through the walls would wake them up. I placed my hand on Umi's shoulder since she was the closest, but I couldn't tell if she was shaking, if the bass made her shake, or if it was me.

There were many reasons to be nervous. None of us had come to Saitama Super Arena before and we didn't get the chance to see its hall, since we had arrived through a door at the back in the most secretive way possible. Although it was set to its smallest configuration, eight thousand people was more than double the audience the girls had performed in front of. To top it off, the girls were going to perform the last song for the last concert of Aeryx's tour.

"One minute," informed a staff member next to us.

I merely nodded at him.

The nerves were getting the better of me, and I couldn't let that happen at such an important moment. Not only was I there as Blostars' manager, but I was also there as their friend.

"Gather up," I asked the girls.

They formed a circle in front of me and stared at me, making the burden even heavier, yet I still managed to calm down enough to articulate words.

"I know the lack of practice isn't ideal, but you have experience. There may be more people, but you are here to do the same thing as always: make people happy, but more importantly, have fun."

More things to say crossed my mind, like mistakes didn't matter or that this was a turning point, but I had to be careful in choosing my words not to have the opposite effect.

The girls' smiles were a good sign I had done a good job, but the peaceful moment was cut short by the realization of the music being gone, followed by the roaring of the crowd.

"Ten seconds," announced the same staff member from before.

My heart rate raised to one thousand beats per second. My mind had gone blank, yet Astra was calm enough to extend her arm in the middle of the circle and smile. Although we didn't use to do it, no words were needed for all of us to place our hands on top of each other's.

"One, two, three," counted Sanae, then the rest of the girls joined her to shout, "Let's go!"

Umi said, "This is still embarrassing. We should at least think of something original."

The girls laughed for a couple of seconds until the same staff member from before approached us.

"Please follow me," he asked the girls.

I expected Aki to surprise me with a kiss before walking away as she always did, but she didn't. That was how intense the nerves were.

I saw how the girls followed the staff member toward the back of the stage. He told them something I couldn't hear for several seconds, then they crouched down to sneak under the stage platform.

As confused as I was, I had no other choice but to run back into the hallway to watch the concert on one of the TVs projected on the walls.

The stage was barely visible as the entire hall remained in darkness. What made it strange was that there was no one to be seen on the stage, not even Aeryx and her band, yet everyone kept chanting her name.

White spotlights suddenly illuminated the center of the stage, revealing that the girls were already standing there. What the hell? Where did they come from?

However, my thoughts were interrupted by the cheering of the crowd, when they hadn't even started to perform. They remained in their pose for a few seconds until the instruments kicked in, played by Aeryx's band, and the girls began dancing.

I could not believe my eyes each time the camera showed the crowd, so I had to see it myself.

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Thinking I was going to be stopped, everyone ignored me. I merely ran outside the tunnel, and I could already see the arena's hall. It kept getting bigger the nearer I got to the stage, just as the pressure in my chest kept rising.

Finally, I could see the girls giving their everything once I stood at the bottom of the grandstand next to the stage, guarded by multiple security guards.

I watched the girls' performance and couldn't be more proud of them. They didn't seem nervous at all and even looked like they were having fun. However, Aeryx's section of the song was getting close and she was nowhere to be seen.

The spotlights illuminating the girls dimmed, and a couple of seconds later, Aeryx appeared out of nowhere behind the girls on the drummer's platform. This time, I was able to notice the HoloForm panels turning off on Aeryx's body, although they were barely visible. How did they get permission to use it here?

The crowd roared at Aeryx's appearance, who was wearing an entirely white outfit, opposite to the black attire she always used. I was just as shocked as everyone since I had been told hardly anything about the performance.

Aeryx soon began to sing, and the experience of performing in bigger venues than Blostars' became evident. I didn't feel embarrassed about it. I felt the complete opposite, in fact. The desire to improve and grow bigger had never been so intense before, and I was sure the girls felt the same way.

Someone touched my shoulder out of nowhere. I turned around to see Ms. Yoshida standing in front of me.

"Hey! I didn't expect you to be here," I shouted.

She tapped her ear to tell me she couldn't hear me. About to shout louder, my glasses rang with an invitation from her to join a call, so I quickly accepted it.

"Better," she smiled. "What were you saying?"

I nervously laughed. "I said that I didn't expect you to be here."

"How could I miss the last concert of the tour?"

"I know, but I was used to you not coming to the concerts since you only went to one while we were touring with her. Anyway. How did you know I was here?"

"It wasn't hard to guess. I came here to see your reaction and also to apologize for not receiving you personally and telling you very little about the performance. We really wanted it to be a surprise until the last second and I'm pretty sure it worked."

"It definitely did."

The performance quickly reached the section where the six of them sang in unison. Aeryx's voice overpowered the girls' for a second, yet she swiftly lowered the intensity as soon as she realized. Nonetheless, I was surprised by the lack of mistakes considering how little they had practiced together.

Only the outro of the song remained before it ended. The girls had the idea of making the crowd clap along with the song's rhythm during the rehearsals, and they did so without Aeryx's knowledge. It was a bold move, to say the least, so I didn't know if they were going to do it. To my surprise, they did, and the entire hall followed them. It was that moment when something clicked in my brain.

Aeryx kneeled in front of the girls while Sanae sang the last several words of the song, then the walls of the arena trembled with the roaring of the crowd. Ms. Yoshida and I clapped, as well as every staff member.

Meanwhile, Aeryx kept bowing before the girls until they approached her and helped her to stand up, then the six of them hugged.

Aeryx's band approached her, so the girls stepped back to give them space, but they quickly pulled them back to stand in line with them. They all bowed at the crowd, who hadn't stopped clapping.

"Thank you all for coming and for supporting me throughout my career!" said Aeryx through her microphone. "I hope you enjoyed the tour, but the show is far from over. I'm eager to announce our first world tour, starting at the beginning of next year."

The crowd cheered.

"I know it's still far away, but you can always follow Blostars, who actually have a few things to say."

She turned around to look at Sanae then stepped aside to leave the center of the stage to her. Although she tried to look confident, she was obviously nervous.

"Before anything, we'd like to thank Aeryx and TOTOT's staff for giving us this incredible opportunity. And we also want to thank you for your unbelievable support despite how different we are. We—"

Claps interrupted her speech, which promptly became a chant for Blostars. They continued for several seconds until they slowly faded away.

"Thank you, it really means a lot to us," said Sanae as her voice broke. She cleared before continuing, "First of all, we'd like to tell you that our latest album, AURAS, was released recently, and it would be great if you gave it an opportunity."

The crowd cheered, meaning they were either receptive to it, or that they had already listened to it.

Sanae continued, "To commemorate the album, we are going on our first tour, which will take place throughout the country, following a similar route to Aeryx's."

The crowd cheered once again. By this time, all of my nerves were gone, and I hoped it was the same case for the girls.

"Lastly, we are extremely pleased to announce that Aeryx has invited us to open her concerts once again, this time during her world tour."

The roaring of the crowd made it clear we had made the best decisions and that we were on the right track.

"Thank you, everyone! This is just the beginning of Blostars."

Once again, the crowd chanted for Blostars, and the girls waved back at them.