The very next day already, and it's already back to CiRCLE.

Today is a bit different though as I get my first repair job, as apparently one of the stage lights on the stage below the live house has had a lamp break, and considering Marina is occuiped with other stuff, I get handed the job.

Should be easy enough, just gotta fetch a ladder, new light bulb etc. As I have all the things, I go downstairs and set it all up at the stage, and soon I am on with it.

I am already a bit tall, so no need to stretch myself too much when fixing this-

"Hey, are you the new part-timer?!" Someone suddenly says as I jump a bit and snap my head in the direction of the voice, and see a blonde girl standing behind me on the stage. While I have met a few blondes already, her blonde hair is definitely more yellow, and also rather straight of it, looks like fries almost.

Mmmm, fries~

Oh wait, she actually asked me if I were the new part-timer, better reply.

"Yes, that's me alright. (Y/N) (L/N) is the name." I tell her as an orange short haired girl comes running inside before stopping with a screech in her shoes.

"Kokoron, is that the new part-timer?"

"Yes it is, Hagumi!"

Soon after, three more girls enters, so the entire of this band is here, whichever it is now.

"Oh, hello there. Hope you didn't get too surprised from Kokoro there." The dark short haired girl wonders as I just shake my head.

"Kokoro is a very straightforward kitten you see, but that is what's so valiant about her~" The tall girl with purple hair says as she does some kind of... dramatic pose? Well, that's new...

"I don't think he knows what you mean with 'kitten', Kaoru-"

"Then, Misaki, we shall introduce ourselves~!"

"Yeah, yeah, don't actually explain yourself..."

Hello, Happy World!
Making the world smile, bit by bit!

"Of course we need to introduce ourselves, a brilliant idea Kaoru! I am Kokoro Tsurumaki, and I am the vocalist of our band, Hello, Happy World!"

"And I am Hagumi Kitazawa, the bassist for this awesome band! I also love playing softball, as I am in the local team of it!"

"Oh my, Hagumi is also mentioning her hobbies I see! Well, I don't need too big of an introduction, but I am Kaoru Seta, the guitarist~" She begins as she snickers. "I might have competition over the attention of my little kittens now, hmhm."

"...What?" I can just ask as Kaoru chuckles again.

"(Y/N), with your knight-like apperance, we might even need to clash swords. May the best man win~"

"Kaoru, what the hell are you talking about??"

"You will see, Knight of CiRCLE!" Kaoru says to me as she poses dramatically again while winking at me.

Meanwhile, I can just stare blankly at her, with no words...

...Because what in the hell is her problem??

"Excuse Kaoru, she is a bit special of her, ahahah... Anyways, I'm Misaki Okusawa, the... manager for Hello, Happy World."

"You sounded like you hesitated for a moment-"

But before I point that out, she covers my mouth. "Ssh, I will tell you when the time comes, but not right now!"

"Okay, alright, if you say so." I reply and shrug my shoulders, not deciding to question it any further. If she says it later, then so be it.

"...Oh wait, it's already me?! Oh how embarrasing, I were just thinking about how I would introduce myself..!" The light blue haired girl says, clearly flustered from having not been prepared to introduce herself. "I am Kanon Matsubara, the drummer for the band. Fuee... I am so sorry for messing that up and cutting it short..."

"Hey, no worries. At least I got to know your name and your role in the band, so that's what matters, right?"

"That's true, hehe." She says, calming down a bit from the reassurance.

"Oh, did we come in at a wrong time?" Another unfamiliar voice says as we turn to the source of the voice, and there stands a black haired girl with a red strand in her bangs, alongside four more girls.

Most likely another band, and if I remember from yesterday's schedule, this must be Afterglow.

"Oh no, not at all."

"I don't think we have seen you around here before. A part timer possibly?"

"Yes, his name is (Y/N) (L/N)!" Kokoro suddenly says as the black haired girl slightly chuckles before looking back at me.

"Well then, guess it's only fair we introduce ourselves as well if we got to know your name."

Afterglow
Rebellious sound among childhood friends!

"Ran Mitake, the vocalist for Afterglow, but I also play guitar alongside Moca. It's certainly timed that more people worked here, or else cobwebs would've started appearing."

"And I am that Moca she talks about~! Moca Aoba, the full time guitarist for the band. By the way, if you ever want to have some bread for you and your colleagues, just say the word and I can provide you some of my point cards over at Yamabuki Bakery."

"No thanks, but Yamabuki? As in Saaya Yamabuki?"

"Aah, you have met Saaya?"

"Yes I have, didn't know until now that she is the daughter to bakery owners."

"Well, I recommend looking by there someday, they have just the best stuff in all of Shinjuku!" Moca says with a cheerful yet tired tone before the girl with almost pink hair steps forward. "Oops, sorry, I shall not disturb more~"

"Oh don't worry! But we don't have all the time in the world, so I'll go ahead!"

"I am Himari Uehara, the bassist and leader for Afterglow! I did hear from Lisa that a new, male part-timer had begun here after all!"

"Strangely enough, I would've assumed Touko would be the one to say the news, but I guess she isn't too interested?"

"Well, she was friendly, but she does not seem to be like the type to have romantic feelings for anyone." I tell her regarding Touko, because that's what I pretty much snatched up from meeting Morfonica yesterday. Ah well, again, none here barely knows me, so overtime-

"Wait, who said anything about romantic feelings..?" Himari asks me as I suddenly turn to her.

"But you said there was no interest from for me-"

"Well, yes, but nowhere close to romantically. She just in general don't think too much about you having begun as a part-timer."

"Ah, so I am kinda just there in her eyes?"

"Yeah, more or less."

...Well, this became an awfully long conversation for something that is understandable. I mean, I am just a normal part-timer, of course not everyone will look in my direction just because I happen to be the only male in a place where mostly girls are at.

"Well, you two will probably be able to be quick friends! Tomoe Udagawa here, the drummer for the band. Albeit, (Y/N), is the stage light really supposed to hang like that..?"

As I look up in the direction she is looking, I can see that the stage light I was about to fix had started having its cables come loose so it dangled a bit.

"Oh shit, thank you for pointing that out..!" I reply to Tomoe as I rush up the ladder and climb it up again. I end up twirling the cables around the rig, just as a temporary solution. "We'll probably have the boss call and hire someone that knows this stuff inside out. We can't have a god damn Saw trap in here after all."

"That said, Udagawa is familiar. Is Ako your sister possibly?"

"Oh yes she is indeed! She did mention to me about a new part-timer, but sorry to say I didn't give it much thought. Albeit it's still appreciated by all means!"

"Yeah yeah. Anyways, glad to have met Hello, Happy World and Afterglow, though now I am unsure which other bands I need to meet before I know everyone." I tell everyone as they all think.

"Well, you seem to have met Poppin'Party, Roselia, Morfonica and now us two bands. So I guess Pastel Palettes left once it comes to bands that are here." Misaki says as majority of the girls nods.

"There is one more band however, don't forget that." Ran says as she takes out a business card in the shape of a cat. "Raise A Suilen. While all the other band members are nice of them, the producer and leader of the band, CHU², can be a real rough time in the beginning. So beware, (Y/N)."

"Heh, thanks for the warning. But nothing I shouldn't be able to handle." I say with confidence, because just how bad can a person really be?

...Or am I about to regret being confident about this?

For the rest of the day, the two bands present practice while I continue on with othee neccesary things inside the live house.

During it all, I get the task go out to the cafeteria and hand over some newly arrived donuts. But that's when I see another group of five girls come up to CiRCLE, all having almost pastel like hair colors to them.

"Alright, we need to really be able to advertise our new single, so we better to do it right here at good ol' CiRCLE!" The pink haired girl tells everyone else as they all head inside.

Welp, Marina is away, so I need to take care of this. So I lay out the donuts and soon rush inside, finding the girls walking around, most likely searching for personnel to ask.

"Hey, sorry about that. I am the only one available right now."

"Oh? But you seem to be in our age, a part-timer perhaps?" The girl with very bright blonde hair asks me as I nod. "Well now, that's new~"

"For sure! We haven't really gotten any new workers in CiRCLE in the latest time, so this is really boppin'!"

"Yeah, and name's (Y/N) (L/N) by the way. Figure I should introduce myself at once."

"Yeah, we should do the same!" The pink haired girl says as the others in the group steps forward.

Pastel Palettes
An idol band, having going through thick and thin to stand where they are today!

"...E-eh, wait, why is our introduction banner showing us in our stage outfits?"

"Well, we are an idol band after all..."

"Hmm, that's true. Yes, we are the idol band called Pastel Palettes and I am Aya Maruyama, the vocalist of it!"

"Hehe, it's nice seeing you being proud of it. But hello, (Y/N), my name is Chisato Shirasagi, the bassist for the band. A pleasure to meet you."

"Yay, finally introductions! I am Hina Hikawa, the zappin' guitarist!"

"And here I thought you were Sayo. Twin sister to hear I presume?"

"Yes, Sayo is my wonderful sister indeed, hehe!"

"I kinda wish I had a sister, it would be pretty fun to share my hobbies with someone every day, huheheh~. Anyway, I am Maya Yamato, and I play the drums."

"You seem to have dropped saying your name is a palindrome?" Chisato asks her as Maya sighs.

"Because it actually isn't in the end... Aya's is though!"

"Palindrome or not, your name compliments your truly Japanese family name! Oh, and I am Eve Wakamiya, the keytarist and I believe in Bushido!"

"Man, that's something I barely know about. That's some ancient code that samurais used back in the day." I reply to her while she nods.

"I love Japanese history so much! I wish to be able to embrace all Japanese someday!"

"Y-yeah, I am... rotting for you." I reply, kinda unsure what to say next.

"Eve is half Finnish, hence her knowing more about the history of Japan, rather than how it is nowadays." Chisato tells me quietly, almost whispering, just so Eve won't hear. "But just go along with it really, she means no harm in it either."

"Sure thing, but you guys are the one's that can get offended after all, I am a complete stranger to Japanese culture."

"Then, we all shall teach you now when you are a part-timer at CiRCLE." Chisato says before stepping back again. "Anyways, I think Aya has something to ask, isn't that right?"

"Oh yeah! Is it okay to advertise our latest single with a few posters and fliers?"

"But of course. I can help with hanging up the posters no problem, we don't have glass windows for nothing after all." I respond as they all giggle while Aya hands over the posters and puts the fliers on the desk.

As they say their farewell, I wave goodbye to them and Marina soon comes back. I fill her in on what happened, and she was quite happy I managed with that myself.

Soon enough, it's time for the end of the day, but that's when Marina comes up to me. "Hey (Y/N), just a quick reminder about the second part-timer! He should be coming in two days, so let's give him a warm welcome!"

"Oh yeah, forgot that almost. Well, sure." I just reply as I exit the building. Thing is, I am still kinda on edge how this guy will be like.

What if he truly ends up being an absolute asshole, trying to get rid of me or something? It can happen after all, some goes to desperate measures to get what they want. Welp, I'll just see really, maybe I have deadly wrong in the end, but I will nonetheless be on my guard.

TO BE CONTINUED.