Prologue

Owari no Hoshii no LOVE SONG

"I got it!"

The cry rang throughout the 765 Pro offices, causing every idol girl to stop whatever they were doing to chase down the idol-turned-producer who'd made the cry and bother her with questions.

"Have you heard it yet?" Minase Iori was the first to ask her producer a question.

The brown-bunned glasses girl Akizuki Ritsuko looked down at her and frowned. "Of course I haven't heard it, but I hear it's good."

"Are we going to go broke by spending money like this?" Takatsuki Yayoi asked, concerned.

"It was just 500 yen," Ritsuko assured her, "since I got it on sale. So there's nothing to worry about."

"Man, I'd give my legs to write songs like Maeda Jun-san," Kikuchi Makoto sighed wistfully. "He's amazing…"

"Miki'd give her life to sing like Yanagi Nagi-san," Hoshii Miki added. She gave a little hop. "Ritsuko…-san, put it in the player! Miki wants to hear it!"

"Alright, alright! But you have to clear the way! I can't get through," Ritsuko complained.

Slowly, the girls parted to allow Ritsuko to pass through to their CD player. She opened the player, opened the case, and inserted their new album, Owari no Hoshii no Love Song, into the CD player. Then she closed everything up again and pressed play.

The girls had been awaiting the album, with songs written by Maeda Jun and sang by Yanagi Nagi. When the album had finally been released, they'd instantly voted Ritsuko to go get it, since they figured she would have no trouble pushing and shoving to be one of the first ones to walk away with the CD. And now the first song, a pop-y, melodic, and yet incredibly sad tune, was playing on their CD player.

Ritsuko looked around at the girls, listening to the lyrics of the song. Yayoi and Haruka were sitting rather close to the player, wiping their eyes slightly as it got closer to the end.

"What a story," Haruka breathed. "It's sad, but it's a beautiful song! I wonder if the others will be just as sad."

Sure enough, almost every song on the rest of the album left some of the girls crying or at least starting to. In the second song, a boy took his girlfriend to search for Noah's Ark, but he died on the trip. The third song featured a blind man and his hired assassin. The fourth was about a lonely, ill prostitute, the fifth about an invincible soldier, and the sixth about a robot clone who fell for a boy, only to have his heart stolen by her real self.

Throughout the album the girls listened quietly, and when it finished there were requests to have certain songs re-played. Even the office clerk, Otonashi Kotori, made a request for a song she had personally loved. Then Ritsuko removed the album and placed it back in the case.

"Well, what did you guys think?" she asked. "My personal favorite was…number eleven, I think. Last Smile."

"I liked that one about the boy and girl searching for Noah's Ark," Haruka added. "Even though it made me cry a little…" She gave a nervous laugh.

"The invincible soldier one was the best!" the Futami twins, Ami and Mami, shouted. "The soldier was all like, 'hey you, girl, come learn from me,' and the girl was all like, 'you're so awesome! Teach me everything you know!'"

"I personally liked the one with the blind guy," Makoto admitted.

"My favorite was Hifukiyama no Mahoutsukai," Kotori chimed. "The magic stone one. Number ten, right?"

Ritsuko nodded. "Well…we should head on home now, OK? No more jobs so you're free to go. Be here early tomorrow for practice!"

Then it started. Just a small, low rumbling at first, and then a violent tremble. The earth shook beneath them. Objects crashed to the ground, shattering into little, tiny pieces. Some of the girls screamed. Some of them just looked frightened.

"What is going on here?" Kisaragi Chihaya demanded, clinging to her chair. "Is this…an earthquake?"

"Miki thinks the earth just got so into the songs, it wanted to dance," Miki announced, huddling in a corner with her Project Fairy group, Shijou Takane and Ganaha Hibiki. "But it's still scary. Earth, your dancing is bad. Miki wants you to stop…"

"Everyone just stay calm," Miura Azusa murmured. "I've been through many earthquakes in my life, so I know it'll be alright! Stay away from windows…Haruka-chan, don't sit in the doorframe…"

"Eh…?! But, isn't the doorframe where you're supposed to be during an earthquake?" Haruka protested.

Azusa blinked. "Maa, perhaps you're right…Ritsuko-san?"

Ritsuko was just about to answer when the building collapsed. Chunks of rocks rained down all over the room, and the sound of a girl's terrified scream echoed around the toppling walls. Then everything went black.