"So, how was it?" Yui smirked, bending her knees a bit so she could elbow her much shorter sister in the ribs gently through her pale blue hoodie. "Details, girl!"
Blushing, Mei picked up the three flaming Dragonfire cocktails Yui had crafted, carefully balancing them on her corkboard tray. "It was… fine, I guess. I dunno." Before Yui could reply, she darted off to deliver the burning libations to the waiting collegians at table thirteen.
Izumi shook her head, bopping along with the rock music blasting from the sound system. It was running on random play mode, as the Phoenix' new stage still sat vacant. "Should'a let me dress you, girl," she yelled to Mei as the blue-haired server returned to the bar area. "I could have picked you out something that would've ended up on the floor, guaranteed."
"Izzi! I wasn't trying to get with him on the first date or anything!" Mei pulled her hair forward, hiding her face behind the twin blue pigtails that hung almost all the way down to her breasts. "I'm not even sure I liked him that much. I don't think I'm gonna go out with him again."
Frowning, the brunette threw her arm over Mei's shoulder. "Aww, honey. It didn't work out? He seemed nice enough when he picked you up."
Mei shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean, he was. He wasn't, like, gross or anything. Just, kinda boring. Wanted to talk about his car a lot. Like, a lot. He didn't do anything wrong, he just… didn't really do anything right, either. Just, not much of a spark there."
"Yeah," Yui replied, a sinister sneer on her face as she caught a spinning bottle of vodka out of the air behind her back and upended it over her mixing glass. "I did think he was a little… tall for you, anyway. People probably thought you were his kid!"
Mei slipped out from under Izumi's arm and whirled on her sister, a mostly playful glare on her eyes as she stomped her white cross-trainer on the hardwood floor behind the bar. "Yui Fukawa! I told you to stop bringing that up! It happened one time! ONE! And…"
"Should've brought him here, Mei-Mei," Izumi said through her giggling fit as she wiped a wet spot on the lacquered wood counter of the service bar with a blue bar towel. She was careful to hold her elbows high to keep the loose, flowing sleeves of her navy blue peasant shirt out of the pooled condensation. "At least here, the bartenders know you don't have to ask Daddy for permission to have a grown-up drink."
"Speak for yourself, Iz," Yui said with a mirthfully devious sneer. "I would absolutely have asked - what was his name, Satoru? - if his little girl was allowed to have a mojito." She wiped her damp fingers off on the seat of her black jeans, swaying on her chunky heels as she reached for a bottle of tequila. "And then probably have made it virgin anyway, just to fuck with ya."
Izumi motioned to table four, near the stage, with her neck. There, a man in a black sport coat and matching slacks sat alone, watching the empty stage expectantly through his mirrored sunglasses despite the dim lighting of the darkened bar room. "What about Mr. Snazzy over there? What's his deal? You could try making a move on him."
Again, Mei shrugged, looking over at the odd man as Yui passed a margarita over the counter to a tall, thin woman in an emerald green dress. "I tried talking to him before, and he didn't even let me take a drink order. Just waved me off. Honestly, he was a little bit rude." She glanced back at the slatted blue door leading to the back room. "Somehow, I think I'm not the sister he's here for tonight."
"Yeah, come to think of it…" Yui craned her neck, scanning the bar for a shock of red she did not spy. "Where the hell is Ranko, anyway? She should have been down here at least half an hour ago."
Mei headed for the saloon door. "I'll run upstairs and check on her."
Yui shook her head, grabbing the door before Mei could push through it. "I'll go up. I'm due for a break anyway, and you need to go talk to Mr. High Roller over there. It looks like he might have some money."
* * *
Ranko stood in front of the mirror attached to her closet door in a modest yellow dress on loan from Izumi. She stared into her own eyes, willing herself courage. She'd been worried for Akane all day since dropping her off at the train station, and it showed no sign of abatement. What have I done? What if Akane ends up hurt because of my idiot idea?
She tried again to put it out of her mind, not that she'd had much success with that all afternoon. However, she had more pressing issues at the moment. Gotta give it at least one more try. Inhaling as deep of a breath as she could manage, she belted a few notes into the void of her closet.
"I need a hero! I'm holding out for a…"
The teenager winced, the verse cutting off as she doubled over slightly and braced her right side with her hands. She didn't think Akane had hit her that hard, but her rib cage was still far too sore for her to control her breath, and she just couldn't hold a note. Fuck. Owwww.
There was a shop knock on the door leading out to the second floor landing, and Yui cracked it open, not quite enough to peek in. "Ranko? You decent, kiddo?"
A pained "yeah" came in reply.
The tall blonde entered to find Ranko sitting on her bed clutching her abdomen. "Feeling rough, huh?"
Ranko bit her lip, nodding and looking down at the floor. "It hurts so bad, I can barely breathe."
Yui nodded sagely, entering the room and sitting on the edge of Ranko's unmade twin bed. "I know the feels, hon. It happens to all of us. Try a hot compress and some ibuprofen? It works for me when I'm having a rough one."
Ranko blushed furiously. Yui must think it's… that. Ugh! Gross! Fortunately, that hadn't happened to her. Not yet, anyway. She didn't know if it ever would; her high school anatomy class at Furinkan hadn't really gotten into the particulars of the Cursed Springs of Jusenkyo. She certainly hoped not. That's one part of being a "normal" girl that I'd be just fine with missing out on, she thought as she flopped down heavily onto the bed next to her sister. "I'm not sure I can sing tonight. I can barely stand up. I'm sorry, Yui."
Yui bobbed her head, putting her arm around her sister's shoulders and giving her a gentle squeeze. "It's okay. I'll let Mama and the girls know. It's not super busy down there for a Saturday, so we can handle it, I think. Just take it easy, and we'll check on you when we can."
Ranko smiled weakly, curling up on her bed and tucking her knees into her chest in the fetal position. A slight chill travelled up her legs, and she hoped her dress hadn't ridden up enough to expose her white panties to her elder sister. "Thanks, Yui. I owe ya one."
Mei strode up the three steps onto the stage platform, turning on one of the three dynamic microphones and tapping it to draw the attention of the listless crowd. "We're sorry, everybody, but Ranko's not feeling well tonight, and she won't be able to perform."
A disappointed groan rose from the assembled revelers. Saturday night isn't really the best time for this to happen, Ranko. I know it's out of your control, though, Mei thought as she swayed nervously on the stage. "Don't forget, everybody, we still have the karaoke station. Why don't some of you get up and sing tonight?" A college-aged boy in a red polo shirt and khaki slacks climbed the stage nervously, and the crowd pacified enough to give him a chance.
Mei handed the young man the microphone and dismounted the stage, beginning to make her rounds to the various tables. She'd been handling table service alone all night, as Ranko wasn't able to work, leaving Izumi and Yui to run the two bars and Hana back in the kitchen. There was a table of five women having an impromptu bachelorette party, a very nervous-looking guy on a first date with a stunning young woman in orange, and a six-top of rugby players still in their purple jerseys from nearby Minato University. Still, the table with the lone, well-dressed man continued to intrigue Mei the most, and she approached it somewhat nervously. She noticed that there was a black case with a handle on the table, which Mei recognized as a portable video camera. "Hey! Are you sure I can't get you anything, sugar?"
"I said I'm not thirsty." The man looked up at her with a bit of dismissive consternation. "You're the stage manager here, right? Are you sure there won't be a performance tonight?"
How rude. Doesn't even take those glasses off to talk to people. Well, one thing's for sure, Izzi. I won't be asking him out, Mei thought as she gave a slow nod. "Unfortunately so. My sister's really feeling under the weather tonight. We're very sorry." She offered a shallow bow by way of apology.
The customer sighed, standing and picking up the plastic case by the handle. "I understand, but I'm really hoping to see her as soon as I can." He reached into his breast pocket, pulling out a glossy black business card and handing it to Mei. "Please see to it that someone lets me know when she'll be singing again?"
Mei nodded in confusion, flipping the card over in her hand as the well-dressed man began to head for the front door. Her eyes widened to nearly thrice their normal size as she read the tightly-packed white kanji.
"Holy…"
Moments later, Ranko's apartment door swung open with a sudden crash. Ranko lifted her head from her pillow to see Mei stumble into the room clumsily, as if she'd tripped on the top stair in her rush.
The redhead cracked a weak smile, sitting up in bed a bit to make room for Mei on the most comfortable seat in the tiny apartment. "Whoa, take it easy, Mei! Mama doesn't need to have two of us laid up."
Mei clamored to her feet, all but pouncing onto the edge of the bed. She looked positively manic, though with excitement or nervousness, Ranko could not tell. She fidgeted with a shiny black card in her hands.
"Ranko, I need to talk to you about something, but… you're not gonna believe it!"