Their leader, Tanaka Naoki complained as he tapped furiously on his screen, "Ugh come on! s.h.i.+n, why didn't you warn me that my height would affect the game when I was making her small?"

Aichi s.h.i.+nichi was draped sideways over the chair he sat in, and he held his phone casually as he replied, "I've told you enough about ZipZing's problems with being tiny that you should have guessed."

Ando Hideki focused even more intently on his screen, though his movements were slow and careful as he said, "Stop complaining or I'll stop helping. Why am I even wasting Valentine's Day on you instead of my girlfriend?"

"Don't make it sound like Valentine's would have been wasted on your girlfriend Hideki, or she'll dump you again," Mori Kimitos.h.i.+ warned.

"Get a girlfriend before you give advice old man," Hideki replied serenely.

Sasaki Akito chortled suddenly as he waved his phone over his head and exclaimed, "Yes! I knew the candy should burn! Melt in a chocolate fire you suckers!"

The manager coughed and waited expectantly. None of the band members looked up from their screens. After a moment, he said a bit sharply, "It's almost time."

Mori Kimitos.h.i.+ was the first to lower his phone and look at the manager who had only recently replaced the one who'd been with them for the last two years. "Do you need something?" the band's baritone questioned.

The manager stared at him with a flabbergasted expression. "You go onstage in a few minutes!" he exclaimed.

"We know," s.h.i.+nichi said calmly without ever looking up from his phone.

Naoki dropped his phone suddenly and said with disgust, "Ew, I finally finish the quest and now the bard is flirting with me!"

Kimitos.h.i.+ laughed and said, "You're the one who insisted on making your character a girl."

Naoki looked at the manager and asked, "Why are you still here? What if someone needs to tell us something at the last minute, like the sound tech at that concert last month?"

The manager threw up his hands and warned them, "Don't be late!" He shut the door firmly behind himself.

Hideki commented as he closed down the game and quickly messaged his girlfriend, "Didn't you tell us that we're supposed to be making friends with the new manager? But you're the worst culprit Nao."

"Whatever!" Naoki snapped. s.h.i.+nichi looked up at him, but didn't say anything. Naoki stalked over to the table and picked up a bottle of water and took a long drink. "Yeah yeah, I'll apologize on our way out," Naoki grumbled.

s.h.i.+nichi closed down his own phone and smiled. He swung his legs over the arm of the chair and stood. Naoki looked up at him and griped, "You should have stopped growing while you were still shorter than me."

s.h.i.+nichi asked teasingly, "Wasn't it only your character who was having height troubles? I didn't realize that she was such an accurate representation of you?"

Naoki cuffed him lightly, and said, "Ok, it really is time guys."

"Yeah," Kimitos.h.i.+ agreed as he closed down his own devices.

Akito protested, "The fire isn't out yet though." Kimitos.h.i.+ reached over and gripped Akito's phone by the power b.u.t.ton. "Hey!" Akito protested.

"I already collected the reward for completing our quest," the baritone said with amus.e.m.e.nt. "You can burn more stuff tomorrow."

"Oh, fine then!" Akito exclaimed with a smile. "Let's go set some little fan hearts on fire now!"

"Are you sure we should replace 'Sharp Sorrow' with 'Light Heart' if you want more fire?" Kimitos.h.i.+ questioned.

Naoki rolled his eyes and told them, "Just do it like we practiced."

"Even that part where we stopped in the middle of 'Green Eyed Secrets' three times for you to change who sings which line?" s.h.i.+nichi questioned facetiously.

"Smart a.s.s," Naoki complained.

The five members of underneath walked past their manager, and out onto the stage for their Valentine's day concert, with bright smiles on their faces. The manager heaved a sigh of relief as the music started.

Taking this job with a boy band whose members had reached the usual age limit of such groups had been a risk. Sometimes the members just seemed to be fooling around, but he was confident at times like this that Underneath would be able to make the transition. The crowd's enthusiasm showed that Underneath could still remain a successful band as they matured.