(A-chan POV)

 

Today, Sora-sama and I decided to stay in the private studio for the remainder of our working hours. The office was bustling with returning employees since it was the second day they came back. Yesterday’s party had all the employees pumped for working at the new building, only to be overwhelmed by the excellent work conditions. Most Japanese were used to working in cubicles so acquiring an individual personal office made them restless, they even left their doors open as a coping mechanism. Apparently, there weren’t any tasks assigned to anyone so the majority of workers were exploring the expansive workplace or excitingly decorating their new offices.     

This restlessness made it hard to connect with fellow colleagues, but I was able to befriend some during lunch break. Sora-sama didn’t bother socialising, too focused on trying to improve her singing and currently listening to songs to improve her knowledge of this world’s music. It was a strong learning drive from yesterday’s lesson with her new singing instructor, ‘Silent Voice’. 

The instructor was…powerful. Much better than Chief and excellent at improving Sora-sama’s voice through many tips and advice. At first, I thought Sora-sama was going to feel more depressed after seeing a better performance but she was invigorated with more passion for the new job.

 

I glanced at her, from the small kitchen table in the private studio, who was deeply concentrated on her laptop. Sora-sama nodded her head every now and then, probably to sync with the rhythm of the music. Her lips moved slightly, puckering with the lyrics as she was reading the screen.
SHE LOOKS SO MAJESTIC AND ELEGANT! HER SERIOUS FACE WHEN STUDYING! HER CUTE LIPS WHILE MOUTHING THE LYRICS!

 

“Sora.” I said as I went close to her study desk, stabilising my inner emotions.
“...” Her pink cat-ears headphones were tight on her ear, providing the best sounds for her playlist.
WWWWWWWWWWWWAAAHHHHHHHH! KAWWWWWWWWAIIIIIIIIIII!! I HAVE TO THANK CHIEF FOR THE HEADPHONES!!!

I lightly tapped on her shoulder, alerting her of my presence.

“Ah, A-chan. I wasn’t paying attention, sorry. What do you need?” Sora-sama took off her headphones and corrected her posture as she was facing me.
“You need to hop off, Sora,” I scolded as a good caretaker should, “You’ve been on the laptop for three hours. It will hurt your eyes if you stare for too long.”
“Oh,” Sora-sama took note of her last song before getting up from her seat.

 

“Ahhh~” She stretched her arms, rigid from sitting for too long, “What should we do then, A-chan?”
My mind flushed from hearing the cute sounds of her stretching. I should’ve held an audio recorder then.
“Are you hungry yet?” I asked in a lower tone and tried to hide my quivering smile. Hopefully, Sora-sama doesn’t notice it, “The canteen should still be open.”
“Oh, right! We have free meals now! I wonder if those penguins are still there. They are so cute!”
“It’s only 3:30PM so the canteen should still be open, though I heard it is open 24/7. BUT, the crocodiles are cuter.”
“What do you mean, A-chan?! Penguins are the cutest.” Sora-sama pouted.

KKKKKKKYYYYYYYAAAAAAAA! POUTING SORA-SAMA IS THE CUTEST!!!

 

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(Flashback to yesterday’s lesson)

 

Tokino Sora and Yujin A-chan were inside their private recording studio, albeit 20 minutes earlier as they were nervous to meet their new singing instructor. A-chan was fiddling with the equipment while holding the Chief’s instruction manual, testing out various dials. Sora was quietly testing the microphone in the sound booth, making various popping sounds to exercise her vocals. A-chan sneakily took the opportunity to record the cute noises and saved them on a secret file that Chief showed from their last recording session together.

 

KNOCK KNOCK! BEEP!

 

The door gently opened after an access card was swiped and a petite figure walked in. A small and timid-looking woman walked in, fiddling with her fingers. She wore a pastel yellow cardigan with a pale blue shirt underneath. Her dusty rose-coloured hair completed a cute and quiet atmosphere around the lady.

Sora was awed by the cute squirrel-like girl but A-chan was more on the cautious side as the person was wearing a black face mask that covered the top half of the face, even the eyes were hidden. Despite the obvious beeping of an ID card before the door opened, the hidden face made A-chan wary.

 

“Good Evening,” the woman greeted in a soft voice, “Is this Tokino Sora’s recording studio?”
“Yes. And you are?” (A-chan)
“Oh, I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is Sho- wait, sorry. Slip of the tongue. My name is ‘Silent Voice’, given by Chief since he said I couldn’t use my real name here. Still don’t know why, but I should listen to his advice.”

‘Silent Voice….Doesn’t ring any bells….Especially this kind of hair colour would stand out in the high-status society. Is she even from our side? Why would Chief hide her identity?’ (A-chan)
“What a mysterious name, Miss Silent Voice,” Sora started to tease at the name, “Are you perhaps our singing instructor?”
“Yes!” Silent Voice exclaimed enthusiastically and softly clapped her hands to show her cheerful mood, “I don’t have much experience in teaching but Chief recommended me so let’s do our best!”

 

The recording studio was bustling with activity as Silent Voice was shuffling equipment around with ease and the other two girls were having small talk.
“Oh, I thought you were another idol. So is Sora-chan the only idol right now?” (Silent Voice)
“Yes, that I am aware of and if Chief doesn’t suddenly recruit another idol.” (A-chan)
“Ah, I see why Swanny didn’t want to teach yet.” (Silent Voice)

“Swanny?” Sora inquired.
“Black Swan is her alias, I call her Swanny. She’s your dance instructor but she is quite strict. I heard she got into a lot of arguments with Chief before, something about teaching ceremonies. Anyway, Swanny values her time and thought only teaching one student wasn’t enough. Chief also didn’t want to pay her steep prices and probably hire her when we have more idols.” (Silent Voice)
“And what about you? How did Chief hire you?” (A-chan)
“Oh, I’m free most of the time as a housewife. The pay’s good so I took it, as long as it doesn’t clash with my lovely time when my husband comes home.” (Silent Voice)
“Ahh~ You’re married! Can we see a picture of him?” (Sora)
“Sorry, that will still reveal part of my identity, which Chief made sure I don’t make the mistake again.” (Silent Voice)
“Awwww, it would have been nice to hear about a young couple’s married life,” Sora whined and sat back in her seat.

 

“So, what’s the plan for today’s lesson?” A-chan asked the singing instructor after noticing they were halfway through the session.
“Oh, got carried away with the small talk and introductions.” Silent Voice poked out her tongue and lightly tapped her head, “Chief gave instructions to help me teach.”
She shuffled through her notes in her handbag and read the instructions.
“Hmm, ‘Give a demonstration of a song of your choice and explain the effects of the skill.’ Huh, did you get to see Chief sing?” Silent Voice asked.
“”Yes”” Sora and A-chan replied.
“Then I don’t need to explain it, what songs are you currently practising?” Silent Voice started to adjust her microphone to get ready for the session and helped Sora optimise her microphone better.
“I’m not sure what to start off with yet, just researching at the moment.” (Sora)
“Let’s start with J-pop then, since it is quite popular around here. I wonder if Chief has the instrumentals for that song.” Silent Voice walked to the archives and found the audio files.

“This song is only for practice, please try to not sing it outside of the company,” Silent Voice cautioned the aspiring idol, “Otherwise Chief will hunt me to the ends of hell.”
“Okay, Sensei!” (Sona)
‘KYA, makes me feel proud being Sensei.’ (Silent Voice)


“The song is called Suzume. Pay attention to the surroundings and I’ll explain afterwards. It’ll be hard to interrupt me when I start singing. Ready?”
“Hai!” (Sora)

 

[SILENT VOICE]

===A/N: There is the instructor: Silent Voice and she has a unique skill that is also called Silent Voice. The skill will be in brackets to avoid confusion.===

 

(*Suzume ft. Toaka by RADWIMPS*)

“♫Ru, ru-ru-ru-ru-ru

Ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru, ah

Ru, ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru

Ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru, ah

Ru, ru-ru-ru-ru-ru

Ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru, ah

Ru, ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru

Ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru, ah♫” (Silent Voice)

 

With just the first few notes, the studio transformed into an endless sea of still water. The calm ocean reflected the empty blue sky. The three girls were just standing there without any equipment.

Silent Voice was unaffected and just kept on singing her lullaby, leaving Sora and A-chan still in a trance. They were not in a cautious stance like in Chief’s singing but were mellowed down to be as calm as the unmoving ocean. 

 

“♫Kimi no naka ni aru aka to aoki sen
Sorera ga musubareru no wa shin no zou
Kaze no naka demo makenai you na koe de
Todokeru kotoba wo ima wa sodateteru

Toki wa makuragi
Kaze wa niki hada
Hoshi wa ubusuna
Hito wa kagerou♫”

 

A white door appeared near them, ripples quaked in the water as a soft knock vibrated the degrading wooden object. Silent Voice seemed oblivious to her surroundings while the other two girls got to watch her sing perfectly while seemingly fitting with the door frame from their perspective. 

 

“♫Nande naiteru no to kikare kotaereru
Namida nanka ja
Bokura de aeta koto no imi ni wa marude
Oitsukanai
Kono mi hitotsu ja tarinai sakebi
Kimi no te ni fureta toki ni dake furueta
Kokoro ga atta yo
Imi wo ikutsu koereba bokura wa tadori
Tsukeru no ka na

 

Orokasa de ii, minikusa de ii
Tadashisa no sono saki de
Kimi to te wo toritai♫”

 

The door slammed open with black gusts pouring out, like massive pollution into the pure sky. The strong winds twirled around the girls’ hair but oddly enough, the water was still calm as though it was a mirror. A-chan would have thought they were in the Mirror Dimension if not for the fact her shoes were now wet.

 

“♫Omoidasenai
Taisetsu na kioku
Kotoba ni naranai
Koko ni aru omoi

Moshi ka shitara, moshi ka shitara
Sore dake de kono kokoro wa dekiteru
Moshi ka shitara, moshi ka shitara
Kimi ni "kizuite" to ima mo sono mune wo
Uchinarasu♫”

 

The winds grew stronger, causing A-chan and Sora to cover their faces. Despite the ominous air, Silent Voice paid no attention and kept on singing. The creaking sounds from the void within the door were overwhelmed by the melodies that calmed the surrounding sea.

 

“♫Nandе naiteru no to kikare kotaerеru
Namida nanka ja
Bokura deaeta koto no imi ni wa
Marude oitsukanai
Kono mi hitotsu ja tarinai sakebi
Kimi no te ni fureta toki ni dake furueta
Kokoro ga atta yo
Imi wo ikutsu koereba bokura wa tadori
Tsukeru no ka na

Orokasa de ii, minikusa de ii
Tadashisa no sono saki de
Kimi to ikite kitai♫”

 

As the final chorus came to a close, a yellow damaged kid’s chair materialised and trotted towards the door, trying its hardest to close it shut. Despite the chair’s impressive desperation, it could only nudge the door a little. Then, a young girl appeared and walked over to help the chair. She was featureless, only a colourful silhouette outlined her single ponytail and wavy long skirt. Together, they succeeded in closing the door and locking it with a glowing key.

CLICK!

The door locked and vibrated the ocean as soon as the song reached its last notes before everything vanished like an illusion.

-

-

-

Well…not everything vanished.
A-chan and Sora, finally out of their trance due to the singing, awkwardly walked in their wet footwear as the studio was flooded with water. Despite their movement, the water remained undisturbed.
Silent Voice nervously smiled as she looked behind her and saw the white door appearing inside the studio.

“Uh oh, Chief is not going to like this.” Silent Voice muttered as she stepped back in her wet shoes.

 

“Like what?”

A little voice echoed as the white door slightly opened and a little cat curiously walked, its big eyes widened as it saw the three girls. A-chan immediately panicked as her instincts were going haywire when the cat appeared.

 

“I like you~” the cat smiled, “Let’s Pla-”

A hand clamped on top of the feline’s head and brought its eyes facing towards the darkest red eyes it had ever seen.

 

“Nope, get out of here.”
Chief teleported into the studio after discovering a crack in space between different worlds, a mistake which needed to be fixed with Silent Voice.
He quickly tossed the cat back into the door and flicked his hand to command the water to flood into the door.

 

[NEGATE]

 

The white door disappeared as though it never appeared, leaving Chief and the girls with wet footwear.

 

“So, how was your first session with Silent Voice, A-san and Sora-san?” Chief brushed the dust off his hands and glanced at Silent Voice, “And as for you, I need to have a word.”
“Wait! Wait! I got too excited for my first session so I thought a song very impac-” Silent Voice tried to make her excuse before her face was vice-gripped by Chief’s demonic hand, obviously with little pressure to not pop like a balloon.
“Yeah yeah. No excuses, otherwise Ishi- I mean ‘Cross Mouth’ is going to be sent on mandatory business trips during your rest days for the next few weeks.” Chief threatened Silent Voice by using her husband.
“WWaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh! Don’t make me separate from Ishid-” 

 

Her mouth got blocked by a tar-like Aragami from Chief’s palm to block any more information leaks.
“What a bother,” Chief sighed, “Sorry for this, A-san and Sora-san, but I’ll have to ask you two to leave while I clean up and discipline this instructor. Hope you enjoyed your session.”

 

[WARP]

 

The two girls were teleported outside, footwear mysteriously dried to perfection and their bags in hand. Before they could even comprehend what just happened, a multitude of noises rang behind them as Silent Voice and another girlish voice tried to scream for mercy.

DING!

A-chan received a notification on her sky blue tablet, a little note from Chief.

‘Hope you girls had a fun session, even if there were some mishaps. Silent Voice will be unavailable for a bit so for any advice, just message her through the tablet’ -Chief

“Huh, what do you think about our instructor, Sora?” A-chan asked as she looked at their time and schedule.
“I really liked Silent Voice, she made the session very fun. I wish I could concentrate but I’ll do better next time,” Sora replied and followed A-chan, “I wonder why she had to hide her identity and why Chief suddenly appeared?” 

 

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(Back in the private recording studio)

 

“WHY DID YOU SAVE THE FUTURE SONGS IN THESE ARCHIVES?!”
<IT WOULD HAVE BEEN FINE IF YOU DIDN’T GIVE HER FULL ACCESS!>
“OF COURSE SHE GETS FULL ACCESS, HOW ELSE WOULD SHE GET THE SONGS?! SHE’S AN INSTRUCTOR!!!”

Chief was having a wrestle with Alice-chan in the private studio after he promptly teleported her to him. Their hands were stretched on each other’s cheeks as they tussled around, smashing into multiple electrical equipment. 

 

“Um, eto…I can just stick to some of the older songs if-” (Silent Voice)
<SILENCE>
“BE QUIET, I NEED TO TEACH THIS BRAT A LESSON!”
<YOU CAN NOT CALL ME A BRAT IF I AM JUST A FEW CENTIMETRES SHORTER>
“GOOD ENOUGH!”

Chief tightened his grip and german suplexed Alice into the carpet, knocking her out cold by bringing her noggin to the ground.

“I seriously need to take a break after this is over. I can’t imagine the mess when stupid Swan comes over.” Chief sighed.
“Um, can I leave now?” Silent Voice softly asked as she tried to carefully manoeuvre around the broken electronics.
“Right, nearly forgot about you,” Chief immediately vice-gripped her face again and prepared to lecture her, “What were you thinking using [SILENT VOICE] on the first day of your job?! The notes already specified that the idol was new to singing so getting the basics down is crucial! What would happen if she is completely overshadowed by the performance and depressed herself to meet impossible expectations? Ishida is probably going to……”
Poor Silent Voice was in a seiza position at a clear spot on the carpet, dreading at the thought of cramped legs.

 

Her lecture went on for 2 hours…

 

Followed by a private 1-hour session on teaching basics with Alice….

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{Little Segment}

(In the land of some Wuxia Xiania nonsense world)

 

Ling Liu continued to concentrate in the Heavenly Ice Spirit Formation, trying to the last wisps of Qi to consolidate her Golden Core.

 

BANG!

 

With the help of the Heaven Primordial Goddess of the Cosmos and the Ice Phoenix Immortal Goddess, her cultivation soared so high that it deterred the Heavenly Tribulations. The Golden Core swelled and fully inserted into her dantian. After the three souls inspected their physical body to make sure there were no problems, the young cultivator jumped up and rushed to her teacher for the good news.
Walking out of the exhausted formation, Ling Liu spotted her teacher instructing her Junior Brother and approached them after finishing one set of stances.

“Teacher Tatsu, I hav-” (Ling Liu)
“Just call me Chief,” He dismissed the honorific and looked back to make sure his Martial Artist wasn’t making any mistakes.
‘Tch.’ (Ling Liu)
‘Tch!’ (Ice Phoenix Immortal Goddess)
‘You know, acting all tsundere isn’t going to work. The other lady from the City of-’ (Heaven Primordial Goddess of the Cosmos)
‘Quiet, you are not helping!’ (Ling & Icy) 

“Um, Chief. I have completed forming my Golden Core! My Cosmic Ice bloodline became even purer!” (Ling Liu)
Chief finally listened to his young disciple and prompted the martial artist to take a break, “Is that so? Let me take a look…” he sighed and looked at her.

 

The newly formed disciple’s physical body obviously underwent an upgrade after the cultivation stage, transforming from a normal duckling to a majestic phoenix. Her skin turned to a soft snow white, complementing her face to become jaded. Ling Liu grew into an hourglass shape, slim yet bountiful on all sides that mattered. The three souls were in great expectation, wondering what kind of eyes Chief would be making upon witnessing their new body. Fascination? Lust? Awe?

 

Ling Liu came out of her trance and carefully studied her teacher’s face as she flaunted her body. His eyes looked deep into her and the other two souls before inspecting every internal inch for any flaws or mistakes during cultivation. When he was done ticking the boxes for any complications, Chief finally saw her appearance.

He…..had a confused face. Perplexed? Annoyance? Ling Liu had never seen such emotions on Chief’s face before and it didn’t help as he was scrutinising her face for 5 full minutes.

“Um, Chief?” Ling Liu broke the ice first as she and her other souls were agitated by the silent treatment from Chief.
“Hold there for a second,” he flicked his wrist and retrieved a white clean rag from [INVENTORY]. For most cultivators, it would just look like he acquired the rag from those ‘legendary spatial rings’, which Chief finds distasteful since you just need to cut off the finger to disable their access to their supplies.

 

Chief approached Ling Liu and placed his hand on her cheeks with no hesitation. The three souls blushed immediately as he caressed their soft skin.
‘Does Chief prefer physical contact?!’ (Ling Liu)
‘Is Chief attracted to our cheeks?!’ (Ice Phoenix Immortal Goddess)
‘By the heavens! Chief looks so cool when we are facing each other so close!’ (Heaven Primordial Goddess of the Cosmos)

Chief’s face drew closer, his red eyes matching the same level as her aquamarine eyes. The three souls’ hearts nearly burst out of their chest at witnessing his cool features in proximity. His other arm slowly raised to their face and the girls’ gazes were hazy, wondering what he would do next.

 

And….Chief was viciously rubbing the rag on her face.

“God dammit, did you put make-up on to have this snow-white skin! Your skin is paler than white paper, looks so weird.” Chief mumbled as he diligently tried to get rid of the weird white complexion on his disciple’s face, “Wish those Chinese didn’t make such weird descriptions for woman beauty…or was it Dad since he did create this world? Maybe I should ask him if this is his fetish….”

‘...’ (Ling Liu)
‘KYAAAAAHHHHHHH! HE’S TOUCHING OUR FACE!!! I COULD DIE HAPPY NOW!!!!’ (Ice Phoenix Immortal Goddess)
‘...’ (Heaven Primordial Goddess of the Cosmos)