"Izzi… are you, ummm…" Ranko stepped forward, skeptically eyeing the outfit spread out on her crisply-made bed. "... out of your fucking mind?!" She ran her fingers through her still shower-damp red hair, shivering hard as a drop of cold water snaked its way down her back under her pastel yellow terry cloth robe.
"Look, Ranko. You're the one who asked me to do this, weren't you?" Izumi scoffed, throwing her hands up with a frustrated groan. "You told me to make you look like a star. Well, if this guy is looking for a pop idol, I figured you ought to give him one. This is what all the popular girl groups are wearing these days. And, besides, we don't really have time now to find you something else. Hell, he's probably downstairs already! He told Mei he'd be here by six." The brunette held up her wrist, letting Ranko read the face of her upside-down watch.
The redhead sat on the edge of the bed, letting her head fall forward until her hands caught it. "Exactly! I asked you to make me a star, not… that!" She gestured wildly at the short black satin dress and the white silk half-apron that lay atop it, but it was the flouncy white tulle petticoat draped over the nightstand that she dreaded the most. That thing's gonna feel like feathered fire ants on my skin with the Cat's Tongue. There's no way in hell I can concentrate on singing in it. "I don't give a rat's ass if the emperor himself is sitting at the VIP table playing mahjong with Batman and fucking Gojira! I'm not dressing up like a freakin' MAID, Izzi!No. Way!" She slashed her arms through the air like a baseball umpire calling a runner safe, emphasizing her refusal.
With a heavy sigh, Izumi flopped down on the bed next to her sister, careful not to wrinkle the silky object of Ranko's dread. "Look. I'm sorry. I tried to call from the mall this morning to ask if it was okay, but I didn't get an answer. It doesn't matter now, though - you don't have a choice at this point."
"I was practicing! Mei's got me singing, like, six songs, I've never done any of them before, and I barely even know what the fuck I'm singing about 'cause they're all in English! I had my headphones on, and I didn't hear the friggin' phone ring!" Ranko groaned, letting herself fall back onto the mattress, and Izumi was only barely able to snatch the dress out from under her before the younger girl's wet hair made contact with it.
"Unfortunately for you, sis, that really doesn't matter now. Just get through it, and try to sm-" Izumi's sentence ended abruptly mid-word at the sound of a soft rap on the closed apartment door. "Hello?"
"Mei, I don't care if he's down there, pump him full'a soj-"
A slightly timid feminine voice replied through the door, interrupting Ranko's tirade. "It's not Mei, silly girl. It's me. You decent?"
The redhead's cheeks flushed hot. She sat up and tightened the cloth belt of her robe around her still-damp frame. More so than I will be in that frilly nightmare, that's for damned sure. "A- Akane! Hi! Yeah! C'mon in!" she called back enthusiastically.
"Sorry I'm late," Akane offered, pushing the door open and kicking off her shoes. She still wore her blue and white Furinkan High School uniform, and the strap of her brown school satchel was slung over her shoulder. "Volleyball practice ran long. Coach was tryin' to kill us, I think. And, sorry I'm not dressed better," she lamented, picking at her powder-blue pinafore with her fingers. "I didn't wanna risk the time to go home and change. It was that or a shower, and after a double-lengthpractice, you did not want me showing up here without one." Her heavy school bag soon joined her black flats on the floor, in the corner closet to the apartment door.
Ranko sprung to her feet, quickly closing the few steps to offer her girlfriend a gentle hug. "Please," she mewled, gesturing frantically behind her to the black dress Izumi still held in her hands. "She's trying to get me to wear that!"
Despite her best efforts to contain it, a stifled snort of laughter sputtered out of Akane's lungs.
Ranko could have sworn that she felt her date's cheek warm against hers, but she passed it off. Just body heat, Ranko thought. It's just 'cause I'm still cold from the shower. No way she'd blush thinkin' about me in… would she?! She swallowed hard. Doesn't matter. Not doing it. Especially not in public. "I told her she's absolutelycuckoo bananas, but she won't listen."
Izumi stood with a sigh, draping the dress carefully over the back of one of the white pine dinette chairs that surrounded the matching table in the far corner of the small studio apartment. "Maybe you can talk some sense into her, Akane. I'm trying to give her that sort of playful girl group vibe, and I don't have anything else handy to put her in that does the job. There's no time for her to keep crying about it. Mr. Tashima's probably already d-"
"Hana hasn't opened the doors yet," Akane interrupted, waving the sentence out of the air with a soft raise of her hand. "But, Izzi's right, Ran-chan. You need to get a move on. I get why you might feel like that's a little over the top, and I'm not getting in the middle of you two about what you wear, but you need to get in something, and quick."
That said, hang on to the outfit, Akane added mentally, praying Ranko's flustered, forlorn gaze back at the maid outfit had distracted her girlfriend before she could notice that Akane's entire blood supply had somehow flooded into her cheeks. Maybe one day, I'll manage to work up the nerve to…
"C'mon, blockhead!" Izumi cried sharply, over a loud clap of her hands for emphasis. "No more complaining. Get dressed! Fuck, I still gotta get your hair and makeup do-"
"I said no!" Ranko insisted defiantly, crossing her arms over her breasts. "I'm not wearing that perverted thing!" The last thing on the planet I want is for guys to be gawking at me the way… She scoffed silently. The way guy-me would have gawked at a girl that looks like me, if she wore something like that.
Izumi turned back to Ranko, her frustration evident in her eyes. "Well then, missy, what else would you suggest? I mean, if we are trying to pull off the idol thing, the usual suspects are the maid look, Harajuku stuff, swimwear, and…" She bit her lip, her eyes widening slightly as an idea struck her. She turned her glance to Akane, looking her sister's girlfriend up and down. "Hey, would you say you girls wear about the same size?"
The redhead shrugged, her eyes darting from Izumi to Akane and back again. "I mean, I guess. Why do you…" She blinked her eyes in poleaxed despair, shaking her head emphatically. "Izzi, you wouldn't!"
The young fashionista sneered playfully at Ranko, offering only a nod in reply.
"I feel like I'm missing something here," Akane said, a puzzled look on her face. "What is she…"
Her girlfriend answered with a defeated sigh. "She wants you to loan me your freakin' school uniform." Of all the outfits Ranko dreaded, her sister had landed on the exact one that had been the last straw to encourage her to flee the Tendo home in the first place all those months ago.
"I mean…" Akane began, her cheeks flushing red as the image filled her mind's eye. "It's not the worst idea, Ranko. It's cute and playful, which is what Izzi's going for, but it's still a ton more modest than… that." She gestured to the black satin dress splayed across Ranko's dining chair for emphasis. "I think it's a good compromise. I'm fine with it, if you want… and, of course, if you loan me something else to wear, because…" She jabbed at the air with her thumb again in the direction of the maid outfit. "... no."
With a scoff and a disgusted groan, the young songstress slumped back down onto the edge of her mattress. "I swear, both of you. Why the hell can't I just dress normal?!"
Giggling, Izumi plopped her backside down next to her sister and draped her arm supportively over the smaller girl's shoulder. "Because if being a star was normal, everybody would do it. But it's not. It's special, and we need this Tashima guy to see it in you. Tonight, sis, you need to shine. Not for me, or for Akane, or even Tashima, but for yourself. I hope you convince this guy that you belong in the music industry, but honestly, I'd be happy if you just manage to convince yourself." She rested her free hand on Ranko's sternum as if to indicate her heart. "Everyone out there knows you're a superstar, kiddo. The only place there's still any doubt is in here."
Accepting her partner's decision as a foregone conclusion, Akane opened the narrow closet and began rifling through the garments hanging in it. After examining a few, she pulled out the wire hanger bearing Ranko's lavender sundress. "I'll be right back," she promised, leaving the closet open and taking the first of the two steps required to reach the bathroom.
"You don't gotta do that, ya know," Ranko called to her. "Like, really."
"Actually, I do, and so do you," Akane half-shouted from behind the bathroom door, which she had left open a crack to facilitate continued conversation. A moment later, she emerged from the bathroom, laying her doffed white uniform shirt and teal pinafore on the bed next to Ranko.
Before the redhead could speak, Akane slipped two fingers under Ranko's chin and lifted upward until the pair's eyes met. "I'm not letting you sabotage this for yourself. I know you want this, and I know you're just looking for a way out because you're scared and don't wanna admit it. And, hey! It's okay to be scared! It's just not okay to let it stop you. It never has before in all the time I've known you, and I'm not letting it happen tonight. Not on my watch. So you're gonna put a smile on your face, and you're gonna get your narrow little ass in that dress, and then we're gonna go down there together and show this dude how freaking amazing my girlfriend is. Sound good?"
With a deep sigh, Ranko snatched up the garments and stood. She tried to pass Akane to head for the bathroom, but Akane took hold of her wrist to recapture her attention.
"I mean it, baby," Akane said, pulling the smaller girl into a tight hug. "You've got this, and we've got you," she whispered into Ranko's ear, sending the redhead shivering from the sensation of Akane's breath tickling her skin alone. "No matter what."
The nervous young singer lifted her head, planting a soft kiss on Akane's cheek. "Thanks," she whispered, before turning her attention to Izumi. "Thank both of you," she said, still leaning into Akane's torso and enveloped by her arms. She purred quietly in content as Akane squeezed her tighter around the waist. "Now, you'd better let me go, so I can go get dressed before I change my mind!"
Akane complied, and Ranko hurried into the bathroom. She returned a few moments later wearing Akane's Furinkan High School uniform. It actually doesn't look half bad on me, she admitted to herself after a long look in the full-length mirror mounted to the back of her open closet door. In reality, it had never been the uniform itself that had terrified her that last night in Nerima; her fear had centered far more on the concept of attending Furinkan as a girl and all that it would entail, from girls' athletics and home skills classes to handsy boys. Especially handsy boys. A part of Ranko felt a measure of pride at the milestone she had reached: being able to look at herself in the mirror wearing the outfit she had once avoided above all others, and feeling mostly okay about it. Another part of her could focus on little but the battle between a swarm of butterflies and a swarm of hornets that was being waged in the pit of her stomach at the thought of what she was preparing to do once she got downstairs.
Flashing a wide smile to Akane as she passed, she pulled out one of her dinette chairs and sat down under the ceiling light. "Okay, Izzi. Work your magic."
Izumi grinned, hopping off of the bed and flitting over to her sister's side. As she began teasing the younger girl's bright red hair with a brush, she smirked in Akane's direction. "I'm thinking twin pigtails. Cute white bows. Work for you, 'Kane?"
"Oh, absolutely!" Akane replied with a snicker.
"Just so you know, I hate you both," Ranko mewled as Izumi set to work on her hair.
With a giggle, Izumi began dragging her pink chrome brush through Ranko's wavy hair with furious speed, ignoring the wincing that the tugging on her sister's sensitive scalp was causing. "Whatever. So long as you look cute doin' it."
Some fifteen minutes later, after what Izumi had called lightning round cosmetics, Ranko made her way down the narrow stairway with Izumi and Akane trailing behind. As soon as she emerged into the hallway connecting the kitchen to the front of the house, she found Yui and Mei waiting for her.
"You look great, Ranko!" Yui beamed, laughing heartily in Mei's general direction.
Mei groaned and rolled her eyes, reaching into the pocket of her denim skirt. "Yeah, she does." She pulled a thousand-yen note from her pocket, handing it to Yui with a roll of her eyes. She flashed Ranko a reassuring smile before shimmying past her to push through the saloon door and make her way into the main bar area to complete her preparations.
"Pleasure doin' business with ya!" Yui shouted after her before turning her attention back to the trio of women that had descended the stairs. "Okay. Game faces, everybody. Here's the plan. We're reserving table five for Mister Big Shot and anybody else he's bringing, so he'll be front and center. Ran-chan, smile at him as often as you can, but don't forget to put on a show for everybody else, too. He'll be watching to see how well you work a crowd." She turned to Izumi, pointing at her. "His whole table eats and drinks free. They get whatever they want. Mama's orders. Speaking of Mama, she's gonna take care of the rest of the tables, so you're just the full time concierge for our special friends."
"But," Izumi protested, "if I'm doing that, you're bartending, Mama's doing the other tables and Mei's running sound and lights, what about the service bar? And the kitchen?!"
A new voice entered the conversation from behind Izumi, punctuated by the sound of stiletto heels on the tile floor that approached from the bar's back door. "That's where I come in."
"Aya!" Izumi whirled, all but tackling her eldest sister in a hug around the neck. "You came!"
Scoffing, Ayako offered Izumi a quick squeeze before releasing her and turning her attention to the redhead standing behind her. "Of course I did. It's not every day your baby sister takes her first step into stardom. If the price I have to pay to watch it happen live is babysitting the rest of you buttheads behind the bar for a few hours, I think I can manage that." She stepped forward, pulling Ranko into a tight hug. "I'm so proud of you, kiddo."
Ranko blushed, trying to bury her face in Ayako's black blazer to hide it. "Thanks, Aya, but I ain't even done nothin' yet."
"No, but you will," Ayako replied. Her eyes found the hallway's other occupant over Ranko's shoulder. "Hey, Akane. Good to see ya. Be careful; you hang around this joint too much more, you're liable to wind up adopted, too."
It was Akane's turn to blush. I could think of worse fates than being part of Ranko's family, she mused."I don't know about that! But, even though I'm not family, with everybody so busy tonight, if there's anything I can do to help…"
Ranko shook her head almost violently, her eyes wide as she pulled back to look up into Ayako's eyes. "Do not let her in the kitchen! I love her to pieces, but… she'll get the health inspector called on us in an hour!" The singer cringed as she turned her focus back to Akane. Shit. That was dumb. I can't impress this agent dude if I go out there rockin' a concussion.
"I'm not that bad!" Akane retorted with a giggle. "But I mostly meant I could carry stuff to tables or whatever, if somebody just tells me what to do."
Whoa, she's not even gonna hit me? What's happened to you, Akane? Ranko wondered to herself. Not that I mind…
"Actually…" Yui began, clapping Akane on the shoulder. "... you have the most important job out of all of us." She gestured with her thumb to the twin-tailed redhead in the teal and white school uniform that still lingered in Ayako's embrace. "We have the VIP table all set up for you. Yourjob is to make sure this blockhead has somebody cheering her on every second she's up there, so she knows we're all right there with her tonight."
"And always!" Izumi added, wrapping her arms around both Ayako and Ranko as she spoke.
Akane responded to Yui's instructions with an emphatic nod. "Yes, ma'am! I can do that for sure!" She reached around Izumi's back, taking Ranko's hand and giving it a tight squeeze.
The blue door leading to the main bar swung inward again, admitting a tall, leather-clad woman with mostly black hair. She smiled at the gaggle of young women in the hallway. "Alright, we're all set up out there." The group hug broke up, and Hana put her arm around Ayako's back, giving her a squeeze and a quick kiss on the cheek. "Hey, baby. Thanks for coming."
She quickly turned her focus to the youngest of her five charges, taking each of Ranko's hands in one of hers. "I'm not going to ask you if you're ready, because I know you are. But, I want you to say it anyway."
Ranko took a deep breath, exhaling it slowly through her painted, parted lips. "I'm ready, Mama. At least, as ready as I'm gonna get."
Hana bent down, kissing her youngest daughter on the cheek. "You bet your ass you are, girl. What say we open the doors and show them?"
Ranko shook her head vigorously side to side. "No way! Only you and Yui decide when it's time to open the doors."
Yui grinned, proud of her new sister for honoring the bar's unwritten rules. "Not tonight, kiddo. This is your house tonight."
Blushing, Ranko glanced back at Akane with a smile before nodding to Yui and her mother. "Let's do it."
"You heard the lady!" Yui barked to the assembled staff of the Phoenix. "Stations, everybody!"
I'm the lady?! Ranko mused with a giggle she tried and failed to stifle as all of the members her family scattered to take their positions, leaving Ranko alone in the hall with Akane.
Akane looked down into the eyes of her once-betrothed, trying to dispel the fear still lingering in them with a smile. She rested her hands on Ranko's shoulders, waiting until she was sure she had the singer's full attention before speaking.
"Hey! Listen to me. You've got this. No matter what happens, I'm damned proud of you. We all are. This guy wouldn't even be here if he didn't already know you're incredible, so you don't even need to prove that. Just go be who you are every night out there, and show him how much you love being on that stage. Show him how much you belong on it." Akane reached out, resting her hand on Ranko's chest, just above her left breast. "Show him that's where your heart is."
As the din of the crowd filtering into the bar and placing their first round of drink orders began to waft over the saloon door, Ranko removed Akane's hand from her chest and clasped it tightly in both of her own. "I will. Well, most of it, anyway." She grinned up at her partner. "My heart isn't gonna be on the stage. It's gonna be sitting at a table about six meters to my left."
Akane opened her mouth to respond, but before the first sound had left her lips, the bar's audio system roared to life with a pounding bass that all but shook the walls of the narrow hallway.
"That's my cue," Ranko half-shouted over the music. She hopped twice on her toes in a bid to turn her adrenaline into energy, pushing through the blue slatted door to the sound of cheers.
Standing alone in the hallway, Akane closed her eyes to listen. She smiled softly as over the booming bass, a new sound could be heard: at least a hundred voices chanting the chosen name of the woman she loved. She allowed herself nearly a full minute to listen before wiping a happy tear from her right eye and following behind.