Chapter Text
Chiyu had huffed in utter defeat for the upteenth time: no matter how many takes it took, the utterly perfect ideas rummaging through her brain didn't seem to come together as she had originally planned. The medleys that were supposed to merge in an upbeat and melodic harmony only just clashed in a way that was similar to the off-key clanging of pots and pans that Masuki sometimes used to wake the members up from their sluggish state.
Huffing, she swiftly saved a version of the track and made a new, empty project appear on her screen, watching as the disappearance of the progress she had made get replaced with a blank screen filled with empty rows. She’ll definitely use the tracks at some point— a good producer never wastes their own ideas (and, of course, she is more than just good, she is excellent).
Giving a loud order to Reona for a serving of jerky, she casually spun around in her chair, taking her headphones off her head, clearly hearing the overexcited “Yes, CHU2-sama!” from the keyboardist and the playful pattern of her bandmate’s trainers faded away as she started to perform her duties.
Crossing her arms, she quietly contemplated the past few moments that had happened across the last hour.
If she wanted to crush Roselia, especially after the fact that they won their last face-off, she would have to do it right by making a new single. This meant that producing it along with the band’s input would need to be nothing less than perfect. This also meant that all band mates must be putting in the maximum effort to attain the best standard in their performance.
Which is not what it had turned out to be during their run-throughs.
Apart from Rei, everyone had been completely off.
Rokka’s mishaps happened (as Chiyu would often mention) quite regularly, so it didn't surprise her that it had happened; what surprised her more was the fact that it seemed to happen more than just regularly. Usually, when this occurs, she immediately apologises in a mixture of panic and doubt and then starts to concentrate more on the second take, projecting her confidence into her playing and getting the take just right on the second try, Now, she was way more tense: her nervousness grew and it showed through her playing and now it took more than just a second chance for her to perfect crucial parts of the song.
Meanwhile Masuki, the usually adventurous drummer, was tentatively stroking her drums and cymbals as if they were a small, dependent animal in need of her care. It would go even as far as to the fact that she would miss her own cues and stare into space a few times, making Chiyu suspicious of what was going on inside that mind of hers. When she had stated that the drummer’s performance was “lacking power” and asked what was going on, Masuki would just nod quietly without a single word uttered from her mouth.
Reona was perfectly acceptable when it came to performance, but had been slipping routine, which Chiyu knew she rarely does unless there was something constantly plaguing her mind. This included her stretches, finger exercises, cute pose practices and even her make-up was slightly sloppy (of course, Chiyu always pointed it out in the most deadpan manner possible, which sent Reona into a flurry of panic and flushed cheeks as she hurriedly whips out a pocket mirror to fix it). The producer also made sure to point out her duties this day, in case she forgot that as well as her other priorities, which spread a look of determination across her face, nodding and smiling at Chiyu.
Maybe she didn’t have to worry about her capable keyboard-maid so much after all.
Rei hadn’t been slipping during her practice, her voice and bass playing were just as usual and to a high standard, but she pulled a pained expression every now and then towards Chiyu while in the booth, as if to telepathically communicate to her. Every time she did this, the producer would automatically assume it was the words “can you believe this?”
So naturally, when Chiyu called for a break it was no surprise that everyone dashed off to their own designated areas of her penthouse: Reona rushed out with a handful of sheet music (while dropping some on the way), Rokka and Masuki attached themselves together, quietly rambling about who-knows-what, and Rei went somewhere to get herself a drink. After the shuffling of footsteps on the well-polished floor died down, Chiyu was left alone in the studio with her desktop and a pad of paper, the page that she had open was covered in every corner with scribbled lines.
As the lyricist as well as the producer, the words that Rei had to project to the audience were just as important as the way they sounded: every song must combine and flow perfectly to ensure the best of both worlds. Ripping out her ink-filled sheet and tossing it somewhere in the room, she picked up the pen and added some keywords that matched the concept of the song, internally wincing when they suddenly took a dark turn and decided to remove yet another sheet of random words.
As she was discarding it as far away from herself as possible, she caught sight of a blur of blonde and blue, both of them standing near the newly-made RAS posters taped up on the wall.
Masuki and Rokka were having a civil conversation— if civil were to be described as Masuki half-complimenting, half-teasing the guitarist, while Rokka making high pitched squeaks and soft spoken words towards her bandmate. In between their small remarks, there were a few pauses where they just stood and stared at each other for a while (Rokka having to strain herself to look up because of their height differences) before one of them turned to look away and started to talk nonsense.
Chiyu only managed to grab snippets of what they were saying, the words “ramen” and “schools” being the most prominent topics. Somehow, it also changed to the question of “boyfriends,” and since both of them went to all-girl’s schools, they didn’t really have much to talk about in this field, both of them acting attentive surprisingly shy towards the other.
Unbeknownst to the pair, the producer rolled her eyes: as much as they were adorable together they were so sickening to watch sometimes, especially when they couldn't realise each other’s reciprocation.
Some time before, Reona would gush over the two from where Chiyu was sitting, already planning all the cute dates that they would pull off: couple clothes, cooking for each other, cuddling— all the things you would expect taken straight from a cheesy romantic comedy. Reona would just giggle at the two, stars lighting up in her eyes and she spun around in glee, the outfit and hairstyle she had chosen following her suit.
Watching her keyboardist fantasise about her bandmates, she wondered with great awe what it would be like to participate in these kinds of practices if she wasn't so preoccupied with the band, before swivelling in her chair to quietly scribble some lyrics for the latest single she had produced.
And here she was again, the same incident happening, while the strong feeling of déjà vu settled slowly into her mind.
Reona would've given anything to witness them again, she thought, drumming her fingers on the armrest of the chair. It's a shame she's not here though.
Chiyu sighs, turning her focus on the unfinished project at hand, listening to the small giggles shared between the blond and bluenette with pursed lips.
Could they really not see their feelings for each other? She made a mental note to send them both to an opticians later this week to see if they were both short of sight as well as stupid. A very nice date for the two of them, she might add. Rokka even wears glasses regularly and she still can't see the person in front of herself head over heels in love with her.
Although, while watching the two have their conversation, the producer swore she saw a gentle flush appear on the drummer’s cheeks, a stark contrast to her usually stoic and reckless self. Chiyu rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, blinking a few times to adjust to the scene she was witnessing a few metres ahead of her, quite sceptical of the whole situation.
Maybe she needed to go to the opticians as well.
(Her final mental note was to take the entirety of RAS to the opticians, in the hopes of finding no pattern between the five of them. Well, hopefully.)
Clicking away at the different tracks and listening to each one, she tried not to get distracted by her already distracted bandmates and let herself create demos for the new single. Next to her computer, she silently made a note to contact the music video studio that they would be occupying for another shooting sometime next week, giving the pen a small flick before dropping it back onto the desk.
This lyrics brainstorming session wasn’t particularly working out for her.
Her mind wandered elsewhere: she fantasised the look on Roselia’s face when they performed the new song (and win, of course), especially Yukina Minato’s, the one who tossed her to the side when she willingly threw her dignity to ask the vocalist if they wanted her excellent production. However, that wasn’t going to happen if her bandmates kept at this, Reona being distracted by something (or even someone), the two lovebirds being, well, unknowingly in love with each other and Rei being distraught about everyone’s well being.
It wasn’t looking good for her and the group.
Tackling Masuki and Rokka’s love problem should be first. She spun around in her chair, watching the surroundings go blurry and her mind swirl. If they weren’t going to admit their feelings for each other, a push may help.
If that was the case, then who? It’s obvious that they were disgustingly in love, and for it to be as subtle as possible it likely needed to be someone from the band, where they could be seen together most. But everyone else seemed to have their own problems that it would be impossible to juggle both things at once—
Maybe she could set the two of them up. The producer pondered, the thought slipped as she rested her head on the back of her hand, If she were able to get the two together then they might be able to get a grip and perform properly again. Then they would be able to crush R–
Chiyu jumped at her own conclusion, cautiously replaying the idea throughout her mind.
What if that was the key to their success? As she recalled, Yukina Minato and her bassist bandmate were together, and it didn’t have any impact on the band whatsoever, still producing music that she would say is just acceptable (it was more than that, but she mustn’t agree with her long-time enemy). Poppin’Party’s Kasumi Toyama and her keyboardist classmate were also together, as much as Arisa Ichigaya denies this fact, and they still kept their music to the bare minimum (again, she wouldn’t be seen as someone who appreciates the enemy’s music).
If so, setting up the two would be able to help the band improve and be able to finally beat Roselia! Take that, Yukina Minato!
Plus, what couldn't she do? Even despite her young age, she was moved up to high school because of her excellent achievements and grades.
Now she is the leader, DJ and producer of the greatest girl band in existence.
Setting up these two would be the easiest feat; then they would be out of her problems and go on the lovely little dates Reona described and hopefully won't impact the band as much as they did currently.
Turning back to her desk, she quietly tapped away, just as Reona had brought back her personal wine glass full of jerky, practically thrusting the unusual container over and giving the producer a wide smile, her multicoloured pigtails bouncing back and forth with joy. Slowly clasping her fingers around the neck of the glass, she brought the glassful of dehydrated meat towards herself and ordered Reona to ensure the others get ready in five minutes.
Popping a strip into her mouth, she chewed narrowly, staring down at her screen. She swore she saw Rei pass her with her peculiar look spread across her face as she scanned Chiyu’s frustrated but calculating one.
She would get her fellow two members together before their next performance in a month’s time. Then she could help Reona out with whatever was wrong.
Everything would then be back to normal. Except with more PDA and gushing in the studio, but that was a worthy sacrifice she was willing to take.
She grinned to herself, pressing a few keys, vividly drowning out the rather awkward silence that hung around the studio.
This was going to be so easy.