The next day the band had a TV in-studio in the morning, then sound checks in the afternoon before the first of their two shows at the Tokyo Dome. Andy and Jenna had never seen these things before so they tagged along, leaving Angela and me to fend for ourselves until it was time for the show.
Angela opted for a visit to the hotel’s spa, but I had some things to set up for the meeting the next night. I called down to the front desk and got a reservation for the restaurant on the fourth floor, explaining that I needed a private dining room for a business meeting.
Once that was arranged, I killed time on work-related emails until the time zone difference allowed for the phone call I needed to make.
“Leah, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?” The smooth, rich baritone on the other end asked.
“Something has come up, and I think it’s important for you to know about,” I said.
“Is the princess O.K?”
“Yes, Emmy’s fine. This isn’t about her- it’s Night Children business.”
“Yes? How can I help?” Mr Lascaux asked.
“I’m going to tell you something completely unbelievable, but true. You know we’re here in Tokyo, finishing up the Asian leg of the tour, right? Well, some local Night Children came looking to talk to Emmy.”
“More of your ‘strays’?”
“Here’s the crazy part. They aren’t strays. They’re, um, well, they have their own culture here. They’ve been here a thousand years or something like that. I don’t think they speak anything but Japanese. They’d never heard the term ‘Night Children’ and didn’t understand about Emmy being moon-kissed. They said they’d never seen any light-haired people like themselves before,” I explained.
“We have no people in Asia,” Emmy’s dad protested.
“So everybody thought, but here they are. And you know what’s funny? I think they were the real ninjas,” I said.
“You say they came to talk to the princess? These Japanese Night Children?”
“I think mostly because they’d seen her on TV or magazines or something and wanted to see if she was like them. They had no idea there were any people with their traits anywhere outside their secret enclaves, so when they saw her image they had no idea what to make of it,” I told him. “And like I said, they didn’t understand her white hair."
“This is remarkable,” Mr Lascaux said, his voice thoughtful. “How did they react when they saw Émeraude?”
“They didn’t. I kept her away from them. I told them I was the one they needed to speak to. I did have Emmy’s bodyguard, Jeremy, put in an appearance so they could see him.”
“The big man,” Mr Lascaux said, knowing who I meant.
“Seeing him knocked their socks off. They couldn’t take their eyes off him. They recognized he was like them, but at the same time, wasn’t from their community. He was proof that there were more out there in the world,” I said.
“Incredible.”
“I explained that I was the queen of the North American Night Children, and that we had much to discuss. The two I met went back and talked with their ruling council, and tomorrow night four of them are going to meet with me over dinner,” I said.
“Be very careful. They are probably very dangerous,” Mr Lascaux cautioned.
“If half the stories about the shinobi- that’s the ninjas- are true, then yes, I’d expect them to be very dangerous. The thing is, I think that they might have far more to gain from dialogue than from violence. Still, I’m making sure that Emmy is safely away from where the meeting will be happening.”
“What do you expect will come of this dialogue?” Mr Lascaux asked.
“I’m going to lay out the case that hiding is no longer a viable path, and that if we all stand together and show the world we have always been here and deserve our place at the table we're in a much stronger position than we have been. I’m going to offer any help I can towards this end. I’m also going to try to find out more about how they wound up so cut off from the rest of us for so long, and how they’d lost the old culture. One possibility that occurred to me is that they might not actually be Night Children like the rest, but maybe evolved separately. Obviously I can’t test for that tomorrow night, but it’s an idea to explore, I guess,” I said.
“I suppose that is possible,” Mr Lascaux admitted.
“So I have a favor to ask,” I told him. “I’d like to video conference you in on the meeting.”
There was a long, thoughtful pause, then Mr Lascaux said, “I will do better than that. I will fly out and attend in person.”
“That would be better,” I agreed. “And I know Emmy would be happy to see you. As would I, of course.”
“It is kind of you to say so,” he replied. Then, returning to the subject of the meeting, he asked, “Who has been doing the translating?”
“The two that came to the hotel were a guy in his twenties, and his grandfather. The young guy, Hayate Oshida, speaks English. He translated for me and his grandfather. At the meeting tomorrow night I’m going to have my friend Andy Temple translate, too. He speaks Japanese. That way I don’t have to rely on what Hayate might say.”
“Temple? From Fallbrook?”
“Yeah, that’s the guy,” I agreed.
“Interesting,” Mr Lascaux said, mostly to himself. After a moment of thought, he continued. “It’s four thirty in the afternoon there now, correct? Flight time should be in the thirteen to fourteen hour range, so I will arrive mid-morning tomorrow Tokyo time. The meeting is in the evening- you said dinner. This will give us time.”
“The meeting is scheduled for eight o’clock. I wanted to make sure that Emmy was well away at the concert venue before any local Night Children came to the hotel,” I confirmed.
“Excellent,” Mr Lascaux said. We spent a few more minutes on the details, and the call was over.
I had mostly good feelings about Emmy’s dad being there in person at the meeting. On the positive side, two rulers of outside nations at the table would give the locals an impression that the worldwide Night Children community was, to one degree or another, unified. Of course, Emmy’s dad would also be able to ask and field historical questions better than I could, too. As a bonus, he was a very intimidating man on our side of the table if it came down to metaphorical dick measuring, or worse.
As for the negatives, it was putting the king of the European Night Children in some degree of physical risk, which I wasn’t thrilled about, but I was reasonably sure he could hold his own if it came time to throw down. No, the bigger downside was that I might get sidelined by the locals and Emmy’s dad, and dealt out of any negotiations that might happen. I still wasn’t really sure what I wanted to gain from this meeting, but I was convinced there was some opportunity to be had and I wanted to be the one that took home whatever brass ring there might be.
I was busy pondering these questions when Angela returned to the suite, pink and glowing from her spa treatment.
“You look worried,” she said as she gave me a kiss.
“Not worried,” I replied. “Concerned, but not worried.”
“What’s the difference?”
“When you’re worried, you’re afraid that things are going to wrong,” I said. “When you’re concerned, you’re evaluating possibilities that might go wrong, but you’re evaluating them instead of just being afraid of them,” I said.
“I guess,” Angela said, dubious.
“So, I’m thinking about the ways that the meeting with the shinobi could go wrong, and I’m making plans on how to ensure they don’t. I’m concerned, but I’m not worried.”
“That’s because you aren’t afraid of anything,” Angela said, wedging herself between me and the table to sit on my lap. “You’re the ferocious tiger queen, used to intimidating or destroying anything in your path. But Lee, if it’s true that these guys really are ninjas, your tiger approach might not work. They succeed by sneaking, right? Not by direct attack. So you need to be ready to deal with sneaky things.”
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
“Tiger queen,” I chuckled. “But no, I know you’re right, and that’s what I’ve been thinking about. I’ve been trying to imagine how they could use sneakery to gain an advantage, and so far I’ve come up with a few. You know what my biggest concern is? The danger to you and Emmy, and maybe any others nearby. What if the shinobi plan on using the meeting to distract me while they make a run on Emmy? That’s why I want you to go with Em to the arena early tomorrow, where the two of you will be surrounded by security guys that Grant knows personally. Of course, he’ll be there, too. That way I’ll know you’re safe.”
“But what about you?” she asked.
“There will be five of them, four presumably elders who might not be that great in a fight, but I wouldn’t discount 'em. We’ll have five of us, and at least two and a half of us will be ready to dance if negotiations break down. I’ll-”
“Two and a half?” Angela asked.
“Me, Emmy’s dad, and Tiny. I really don’t know how good Tiny would actually be in a fight, but he’s got size and strength, so he’s intimidating.”
“He is intimidating-looking,” Angela agreed.
“So my concern is how to keep the meeting site sterile,” I continued. “I made sure that I specified the place and that it was in a location they’re unlikely to have any agents, and also difficult to flee from if they make a dash. That was step one. Step two is making damned certain that they don’t get anybody in place before dinnertime tomorrow. Actually, step zero is making sure that you and Emmy are well away and secure before they even show up. Step three… that’s the one I’m still working on,” I admitted. “I wish Michael and the guys were here already.”
“Michael is coming?” Angela asked, surprised.
“Yeah, and he’s bringing three of our heaviest hitters, too. They’ll be here first thing in the morning. I’ve got to figure out how to get them knives, though…”
Sighing, Angela leaned against me. “You might not be worried, but I am,” she said. “I’m glad you have help coming. With your paramilitares and Emmy’s father’s, you should be ready for anything, but remember- ninjas are very sneaky.”
“Believe me, that thought is never very far from my mind.”
“We’re going to the show tonight, right?” Angela asked.
“Of course,” I replied. “I want to see a whole arena filled with wannabe Emmys. It’s gonna be crazy.”
“They won’t all be like that,” Angela scoffed.
“No, I’m sure they won’t,” I agreed. “But if there’s even a hundred, that’s still wild.”
“Yeah, it would be,” Angela agreed. “Do you want to go to the arena early to people-watch?”
“Yeah, I guess that would be cool, wouldn’t it?” I agreed.
Angela and I spent well over an hour enjoying the late afternoon in the large plaza out in front of the Tokyo Dome, which was positively swarming with people. A lot of them were there for the area’s other attractions, but the number of people wearing Downfall merch, and of course all the cosplaying wannabe Emmys were a dead giveaway that the concert was a really big deal.
Quite a few of the girls in black makeup asked for pictures with Angela and me- they clearly knew who we were, but most were respectful of our personal space and privacy.
Deciding to grab a bite to eat at the food court before going in the venue, we spotted a familiar pink wig in the crowd.
“Is that Em?” Angela asked as we made our way to the figure, who was talking to some girls dressed as Emmy.
When we got closer, the girl we were staring at turned our way and we could see that it wasn’t Emmy at all, even though she had the same pink wig and pink mirrored sunglasses as Emmy had been wearing.
“That outfit- that was what Emmy had on yesterday,” Angela breathed in amazement.
“It looks as if Emmy’s disguise has been busted,” I agreed.
The girl spotted us at about that same moment and rushed over to where we were staring at her in amazement.
“Leah and Angela, ne?” she asked. Apparently, ‘and’ was about the limit of her English, but that was O.K. We understood what she wanted when she called a friend over to have her picture taken with us, and we were fine with posing for photos. Of course, all her Emmy-cosplaying friends posed for pictures too, but again, they were all very polite about it, making me wonder about the horror stories the people at the hotel had been telling. As crazy as these girls might appear, all of them that we interacted with had been very polite and not pushy at all. Of course, Angela and I weren’t Emmy, so it might be different for her…
After our dinners of Japanese curry and fried chicken, we made our way to the security entrance on the side of the Dome to get our passes and go backstage.
Spotting Jenna and Andy there in the hospitality suite along with all the usual suspects, I sat down on the ugly plaid couch with them after kissing Emmy hello.
“Enjoying your taste of the rock and roll lifestyle?” I asked.
“It’s seriously nothing but hurry up and wait,” Andy moaned. “I mean, seeing how the sausages are made…”
“At least lunch was really good,” Jenna said.
“Did you guys watch the sound check?”
“Yeah, but Jesus, was that boring. Two freaking hours of ‘check, check, check’, and then a guitar riff or chunk of bass line or whatever, before the sound guys even asked for a whole song to be played!” Andy complained.
“It makes it seem like it might be… oh, I don’t know… work, maybe?” I asked.
“A lot of work. And at the TV studio earlier, it was over an hour and a half of setup for four songs! The actual interview part was maybe twenty minutes, tops. The guys were in such a rush to get everything packed and back here… And Stephanie! She’s like some sort of drill sergeant or something!” Andy said, then leaned his head back. “I swear, I’m glad all I have to do is play football.”
“Andy told me that Stephanie went to high school with you guys, but you weren’t that close, right?” Jenna asked. “I mean, I’ve seen her at your house a couple of times, but…”
I was just about to explain our convoluted history when Jen came over to say hi.
“Jen!” Jen said. “You enjoying life in the entourage?”
“Hey, Jenna,” Jenna replied. “Where’ve you been? I haven’t seen you all day!”
“I didn’t feel like doing any of that shit today, so I just chillaxed back at the hotel,” Jen said with a shrug. “I mean, you see it once, you’ve seen it a hundred times.” Turning to me, she asked, “Am I right?”
“No lie,” I agreed, high fiving the hand she held out.
“So… You know there’s no official afterparty tonight, right? So I was thinking… There’s a bar I think we should hit up after the show,” Jen said, looking both hopeful and mischievous at the same time.
“No bar for me, thanks,” Andy said, waving his hand as if to ward her off. “My liver is still recovering from a couple of days ago.”
“Well, big guy, that’s just fine, because you weren’t invited. But your lovely wife here most certainly is,” Jen said, resting her hand on Jenna’s knee. “You see, it’s a ‘no boys’ type of bar.”
“Really?” Jenna asked, not even bothering to correct the ‘wife’ thing. “Like, a lesbian bar here in Tokyo?”
“Fuckin’ A,” Jen replied with a nod. “You down?”
“I’ve never actually been to a lesbian bar,” Jenna said. “What are they like?”
“Dude, they’re all different. Most are just normal bars, you know, but with no guys offering to buy you a drink. Instead, it’s other chicks. Some are dance clubs, some are wine bars… But they’re a dying breed. Like, they’ve almost all gone out of business,” Jenna answered.
“If you can talk Emmy and Angela into it, I’d be up for it,” I told Jen.
“Emmy told me to talk to you,” Jen said with a little laugh. “And Angela will go along with whatever the two of you want to do.”
“You don’t mind, do you?” Jenna asked Andy.
“Why would I mind?” he asked. “Just don’t, like, switch teams or anything, alright? I’ve signed you to a franchise contract.”
“I would never,” Jenna said with a smile, leaning over to give him a kiss.
“You know, I’m O.K with straight people,” Jen said, grimacing. “But do you guys really have to shove it in our faces like that?”
Laughing, Jenna turned and threw a leg over Andy’s lap, climbing up to straddle his legs. She leaned in and gave him a big, long kiss.
“Eww!” Jen said with a laugh.
All of us WAGs trooped out to the VIP seating area when the ten minute signal was announced. It was my first glimpse of the crowd there in the stadium, and sure enough, there were an astounding number of fans done up with white hair and charcoal-black skin. Of course, most of the audience wasn’t like that, but of the more than fifty thousand fans in attendance there had to be well over a thousand that were.
When the lights blinked to let everyone know the show would start in a minute, the last stragglers found their seats. Looking around, I was impressed by how orderly and on-time the audience seemed to be, but I guessed that it was just a Japanese thing.
The house lights dimmed and a single spotlight illuminated a guy standing at the microphone, holding his classic sunburst Stratocaster. He was wearing an interesting getup- a mix of Western and Japanese. He had on those pants that are a bit like a big skirt, but split, samurai-style. He had on a white button-up shirt and tie and a slouchy fedora hat, contrasting with the pants.
He spoke to the crowd in Japanese, of course, so I couldn’t understand a word, but the crowd loved it. He strummed a chord on his guitar, then picked out a nice, but simple melody, the rest of the band joining in after a few repetitions. As they did, spotlights lit up the other four members. They were dressed a bit less idiosyncratically- they could have been any twenty-something year old guys off the street.
Their music seemed a bit like a Japanese version of Coldplay, or one of those English bands like that. They were talented, and I enjoyed their set even without understanding the lyrics at all.
When they finished, I leaned over and asked Andy what they were singing about.
“The usual, I guess,” he replied with a shrug. “The first song was a love song to a girl that went away. The last song was about wishing he was a manga comic hero, if I understood it right,” Andy said. “You know, the usual.”
The Downfall set went the way they always do. Sure, it was a great performance, and yeah, the crowd was really into it, but I was kind of over it, even though I’d never say that to Emmy.
Of course, they just had to finish with ‘Born To Die’, but even that had lost most of its power over me. It still left Angela in tears, though, and I hated that. I didn’t resent Emmy for writing and singing that song, but it really did a number on Angela every time she heard it. All I could do is wrap my arm around Angela and hug her until the tears stopped.
“Wow- that was freaking amazing!” Jenna said as we stood to head backstage. “That was the best concert I’ve ever seen!”
“Yeah,” Jen agreed. “Seriously, I’d be a huge fan even if I wasn’t living with Lee.”
“How did you and Lee meet?” Jenna asked.
“Well, it all started with me showing my pussy to Leah there,” Jen said with a smirk.
“What?” Jenna asked, not sure she’d heard right.
“Yeah, it’s true. We hadn’t said any more than ten words to each other when Jen flashed me the gash,” I confirmed.
“Lee has that effect on women,” Angela said with a smile.
"I've heard this story," Jenna admitted.
“You gotta admit,” Andy said to Jenna, his arm around her shoulders. “You’ve dropped your panties for Lee, babe.”
“No, that wasn’t for Lee,” Jenna protested, and I could practically hear her blushing. “That was for Ange.”
Andy broke out laughing, and after a moment, so did I. “Maybe you shouldn’t go to that lesbian bar after all,” Andy joked.