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The Colonel: And more to come. Stay tuned!

Ulquiorra9000: This story is based off that one drawing so yes, everybody will appear just like in the drawing.


Chapter 7: Vanguard

Yoyogi Park,
Shibuya, Tokyo,
July 31

Concert day. The event was still 5 hours away but rock fans had flocked the park, waiting for their favorite rock stars to take the stage. Even though Plasmagica was known for colorful outfit and happy melody, its fans flooded Yoyogi Park with traditional rock attributes: black t-shirt, long hair, goaties, metallic accessories, smokes, liquors, and loud, profane language.

The scenery freaked Aqours out.

"Shinjirarenai! I did not expect to see this kind of crowd," Kanan blurted. She turned to Mari, "You said not all rock fans were vulgar ruffians like these!"

"Well they're not!" Mari defended her stand about hard rock lifestyle. "The fans are reflections of the band, most of the time! I'm friend with Yui Hirasawa from HTT. She said HTT's fans were great people!"

"Then how do you explain this?" Kanan pointed at a few fans smoking and chugging something from a bottle, presumably liquor. "These guys look like Guns 'N Roses groupies!"

"Perhaps Plasmagica is cursed," Yohane mumbled.

"I'm not comfortable singing for them, zura," Hanamaru said.

"Me neither," Ruby was quick to back up her friend.

"Well we can't back out now. It's 5 hours to show time. Our reputation will be destroyed if we do not show up," Dia tuned in. "Nobody will take Aqours seriously anymore."

"I'm sure we can find a solution," Chika tried to be positive. "Maybe increased security around the stage?"

"That'll be great, although it won't make it safe," Riko mused. "We should've taken the leaking stage as a bad omen."

"Yeah, this place is cursed," Yohane added involuntarily.

"That is the most plausible course we can take to get out of this situation," Chika replied. "I'll talk to the security manager. Maybe he can increase the number of guards on the stage."

"Do you want me to come with you?" You asked.

"No, no, I'll handle this. Just go back to the hotel, have some rest, and get prepared. I'll fill you in when I come back."

The Aqours walked back toward the hotel while Chika tried to find the security manager. But the stage was extremely hectic and she barely saw guys with buttoned down shirt and black pants anymore. There were a lot of people talking onto their walkie-talkies but nobody was willing to help.

Her next best course was to find Yosetsu.

"You see these people? We are not prepared to perform for them," Chika said as she observed the stampede of rock fans in black attire and long facial hair going past her. "We are not used to crowd like these. I'm afraid they're going to pelt us with profanities on stage, and it may ruin our sync."

"They're paying fans. We can't do anything," Yosetsu shared her concern, but he didn't know exactly what to do. "Isn't it your purpose to perform in public? To get tough on stage?"

"Yeah, but, not to people like these," Chika bit her lips. She didn't want to open for a rock band, but she didn't want to blame everything on her friends who did. "At least let me talk to your supervisor to increase the security personnel around the stage, so the other girls will feel safe."

"Alright," Yosetsu took Chika to walk around the park looking for the security manager, but he was nowhere to be seen. Desperate, they went back stage to a large building that looked like the staging area for the show. Chika saw somebody that she recognized.

"That's the field coordinator for the show," she ran toward the man. "Sir, Sir, excuse me, we're looking for the security manager."

"Security manager? He hasn't shown up for 2 days," the man spat.

"Nan desuka?!" Yosetsu and Chika couldn't believe their ears. "Then who's gonna be responsible for the security around the stage during the show?"

"You know what? I don't know, and I don't care anymore!" the man threw his hands up in the air. "This event has been a nut job from day one! We'll run the show with or without security manager!"

"That's insane!" Yosetsu yelled. "We can't run a show without security! Those guys are going to wreak havoc around the stage, and somebody will get hurt!"

"Who the hell are you?" the field coordinator shot a dirty look at Yosetsu.

"My name is Awase, Yosetsu, I was hired as security guard for the show. We feel the need to increase the security personnel around the stage."

"Well it's too late for now," the field coordinator said. He turned to Chika, "Look, just get in there, do your thing, and get out. Nothing's gonna happen. Just don't be late. If you are, the crowd is going to chew your ass."

Chika was so mortified she could only throw a sad look at Yosetsu.

"Sir, what are you going to do with the security?" Yosetsu pleaded.

"At this point: nothing. But like I said, everything will be fine. Just go as scheduled." With that, the field coordinator left and immediately disappeared in the crowd.

"Hifunkougaisuru," Chika buried her face in her palms. "Performing without security? Ruby and Hana would die of heart attack."

Yosetsu pulled out his phone. "Tsuburaba, where are you? Tsuburaba, we have a situation here… Kusottare, Tsuburaba! Where the hell are you?" He tried to call his friend with no avail. She looked at Chika, felt her pain, then called his last option.

"Yaoyorozu? Awase. I'm in a desperate situation and I need some help."

"What's going on?" Momo replied.

"The show starts in 5 hours but the security manager went AWOL. Aqours have to perform without security guards. I'm the only one left. I can't handle this crowd alone, and I can't find Tsuburaba."

"Hontoni?! I hope they compensate you well."

"Now that the manager is missing, I might not get paid at all," Yosetsu sighed exasperatedly. "But I'm not worried about it. I'm worried about Aqours. You're my last resource, Yaoyorozu-san. Please, I really need your help."

"But I wanna watch Plasmagica…" Momo moaned. "Damn you Awase. Alright, I'll figure something out. Stay there, I'm coming."

Yosetsu turned off his phone. "I asked Yaoyorozu's help. She's really smart; she may have some input. She said she was coming, so let's wait and pray she came up with a way out."

Chika held Yosetsu's hand. "Thank you, really. This means a lot to me. To us."

It took Momo and Pyrrha 5 minutes to arrive at Yoyogi Park. "I sent distress call to everybody at class 1-A. Izuku Midoriya is the only one not leaving for summer job. He is still at Musutafu but he can be here in 3 hours. He'll try to bring Urakara, the girl he's trying to impress, to help us out."

"There is no way Jaune and the rest of JNPR can reach Tokyo in 5 hours," Pyrrha added, "so I'm the only one available from Beacon Academy. I wish we had more time. I could get JNPR and maybe RWBY to help. That's 7 additional heads."

"This is it, Awase. This is all I can get," Momo sighed. "You, me, Pyrrha-chan, Midoriya, and possibly Urakara."

"Five is better than one," Yosetsu let out a long breath. He felt he needed at least 10 personnel to cover the stage and the park. But he couldn't get what he wanted, so he had to make do with what was available. "Takami-san, I'm sorry I don't have better news. But we will do our best to keep you safe. Yayourozu, Midoriya and Urakara are my friends from UA High School. I can vouch for their professionalism. Miss Nikos is a Huntress from Beacon Academy, and while I don't know much about the school, I think she is the kind of person you want by your side."

Chika couldn't hide her disappointment, but she considered herself lucky she had guards at all. "Thank you guys," she said, forcing a smile. "You have no idea how much this means for us. I'll break it down to the others, and hope for the best."