The rest of the school year seemed to fly by. Before she knew it, it was summer and she was packing for Japan. Toma had arranged for her to come to Japan at the start of summer break, so that she could adjust to the time change. This also gave her time to get acquainted with the area and time to visit some of the places she had always wanted to see.

It also gave Toma the time to explain the expectations he had for this program and what would be expected of her. He told her that she would have to maintain a certain grade point average and that she would need to report to him every day after school. This way he could monitor her progress and if there were any problems, he would be able to address them before they  got out of hand. He also wanted her to do some odd jobs at the agency as part of the sponsorship requirements.

Summer vacation only lasts three months, so Dawn spent the first month adjusting to the time change and visiting the places she wanted to see the most. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to see them all. With only two months left she started going to the agency on a daily basis. She wanted to get used to the jobs she would be performing there before she started school. At first he assigned her simple tasks like filing and coping, but noticed that she seemed to able to do these things as though they were nothing. So, one day he asked her to deliver a package to one of the recording studios. She was unsure about this, but, without questioning, did what was asked of her.

As she was leaving, he said "While you are down there, feel free to take a look around and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask the technician."

Dawn went down to the recording studio that she was told to. "Excuse me" she said politely.

"Yes, may I help you?" the recording technician asked as he approached her.

"I'm here to deliver a package for Tachibana-sama. Do you know where I might find him?"

"I am Tachibana." The technician was surprised. Toma had just called to tell him that she would be coming. He also told him to let her look around the studio if she wanted to. Although he was against the idea, he told him that he would allow it.

"Oh, I am so sorry. I didn't realize that it was you. Please forgive me" she said as she bowed and handed him the package.

As he took the package from her hands, he realized that this was the document he was expecting, but why did he entrust such an important document to her? "Thank you for delivering this to me. If you like, you can take a look around the studio. I don't mind" he said.

"Thank you. I think I will" She bowed "I promise I will not touch anything."

Tachibana sat at his desk and began to review the documents that she brought while she explored the studio. She noticed that there were many different kinds of microphones and other electronic equipment in the studio. she was curious as to how it all worked, but didn't want to disturb Tachibana while he was working.

"Excuse me, Tachibana-sama?"

He was surprised by her sudden appearance, because he had forgotten that she was even there. "Yes, was there something you wanted?"

"Well, I know you are busy right now, but if it is not too much trouble, do you think I could come back later and observe you?" she asked. "There is a lot of equipment in the studio and I was wondering how it all worked. I promise that I won't get in your way."

"Yes, you are welcome here any time."

Later that day, Tachibana called Toma and asked him to send the foreign exchange student over.

"Why? Did she do something wrong when she was there earlier?"

"No!" Tachibana replied. "She was curious about some of the equipment used in the studio, but I didn't have time earlier to properly explain what they were used for. She asked if she could come back later and observe. I thought now might be a good time, so I called to see if you knew where she might be."

"I see" Toma smiled. "I'll send her down right away." After talking with Tachibana, he went to the copy room and told Dawn to stop what she was doing and go down to the recording studio.

When she arrived in the recording studio, Tachibana was in the studio talking with some musicians. She didn't want to disturb him, so she waited patiently until he came back into the booth.

As he approached the booth, he noticed that she was there. Once he closed the door to the studio, he waved her over to the soundboard. She was a little wary about this, but she always did as she was told.

"The best way to understand how things work, is to see them in action" Tachibana told her. "Here, put these on." He handed her a pair of earphones. "Now listen carefully."

When she placed the headphones on she heard the musicians as they were tuning their instruments and warming up, but for some reason she thought that something wasn't right. The drums are too loud and I can't hear the singer.

Tachibana tapped her on the shoulder and then pointed to the soundboard. She noticed that when he made adjustments on the board, the sound started to balance out. After the group finished their recording session, Dawn asked him "How did you know which knobs to adjust?"

"If you know where each microphone is plugged in, you know which knobs to adjust."

When the next artist came in, Tachibana showed Dawn where each of the microphones went and which outlet they were plugged into. Then, when they went into the booth, he told Dawn he wanted her to try and balance the sound out this time.

"What!"