“I said no.”
Ranko sighed, rolling her eyes. “Mama, I’ve been home more than a week. I feel fine. It’s Saturday night. The girls are exhausted because I haven’t worked in almost two weeks. Please let me help?”
Mei shrugged. “It is pretty packed out there.”
Hana sighed in exasperation. I swear, these girls are gonna be the death of me one day. “If I let you do this - and I stress if - will you take it easy?”
“Oh, of course! I just want to help out.” Ranko popped up from her stool, hoping to appear ready to go.
Yui rested her arm over Hana’s shoulders. “I’ll watch her.”
The matriarch smirked at her. “We both will.”
Ranko clapped her hands once. “Yes! Where do you need me?”
“Cover the tables? Mei can take the service bar. Mama can take it over and Mei can come out to help with the tables if we get too busy or Ranko needs to tap out. Does that work for everybody?”
The barkeep nodded to Yui with a smile of pride. Ayako had moved on to the business world, and Izumi, Mei and Ranko all had other dreams, but Yui would be the one to carry on the Phoenix after she no longer could.
Yui looked over to Ranko, who was adjusting her orange top in the mirror behind the bar. “You. At the first sign of dizziness, you stop. You feel off at all, you stop. Immediately. Am I clear?” She had a serious expression on her face.
“I promise.” Ranko had apparently made herself something of a reputation for pushing herself harder than she should. There were worse things to be known for, she thought.
Mei walked over to the front door. “Alright, girls, let’s do this.” She turned the deadbolt, pushing open the glass door to the crowd. “Come on in, everybody! Who’s ready to party?” Ranko stepped into the back room for a few minutes, wanting to avoid being swarmed after making her first appearance in the bar in weeks.
As people started getting seated, Ranko emerged, leaning into the first table. “Hey, ladies, what are we drinking tonight?”
The three collegiate girls at the table gasped. “Ohmigods, it’s her! You’re back!”
Ranko blushed, tucking a wisp of hair behind her ear. “I guess so, yeah.”
“I heard you got hurt saving some kid from a broken thrill ride or something. Is it true,” the youngest-looking of the three chirped.
Their server blushed further still. “Something like that, yeah.”
The customers shared impressed glances at each other at the confirmation of their server’s selfless feat. “Are you okay now?”
The waitress shrugged. “Getting there. But enough about me, what can I get for you?”
Another of the girls piped up. “Are you gonna sing?”
With a frown, Ranko tapped her pencil on her notepad. “I don’t know. I want to, but I’m not sure I’m ready.”
The blonde lowered her head. “Aw, come on! You can do it!”
Ranko sighed. I want to. You have no idea how much. It’s killing me not being up there. It’s not me you have to convince. “Your order?”
Begrudgingly, the girls stopped their questioning and asked for a round of cocktails.
The interaction was much the same at almost every table Ranko visited. She looked up at the stage wistfully. She wasn’t sure she could handle singing, but she had already decided that she couldn’t handle not singing. She dropped off a large stack of drink tickets at the service bar and Mei flipped a bottle of vodka into her hand, beginning to fill the orders.
Everyone was so busy serving food and drink that they lost track of the youngest Phoenix sister for a few minutes. The song blasting through the speakers stopped, and no new one started.
Stolen story; please report.
It took a moment for Yui to realize what was happening. “Well, shit.”
Patrons began to look around the room, wondering what had happened to the audio. Some were also hoping to spy someone bringing their drink orders. From the speakers came no music, just a simple question asked through an unseen microphone.
“Where have all the good men gone, and where are all the gods?”
Now the crowd began to turn, and a buzz began to build. The stage remained empty.
“Where’s the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds?”
Mei sighed. “What the hell does she think she’s doing?”
Yui rolled her eyes at her blue-haired sibling with a defeated, but amused, smile. “What she was born to do.”
“Isn’t there a white knight upon his fiery steed?”
Every eye was now on the empty stage, and as the final question was asked, Ranko began to slowly and carefully ascend the three steps.
“Late at night, I toss and I turn, and I dream of what I need…”
The assembled roisterers screamed as the Phoenix’ resident entertainer reclaimed her rightful place. The background music began to swell from the speakers to either side of her, and Ranko smiled and waved down at the crowd. It was a little hard to see her without the colored spotlights hanging from the ceiling, but she’d been afraid to turn them on. She wasn’t sure if she could handle the glare just yet.
She thought about everything Izumi had said the night before, and what Hana had said after the fight with Mikado. She might not be the strongest martial artist in the world anymore, but she still had a place. She still could help the people she cared about when she had to.
“I need a hero! I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night! He’s gotta be strong, and he’s gotta be fast, and he’s gotta be fresh from the fight!”
She dared not attempt to dance, but she strode slowly from one side of the stage to the other as she sang, waving to the cheering crowd as they welcomed her home. A few of the regular patrons she recognized got brighter smiles and more individually-directed waves.
“Up where the mountains meet the heavens above, out where the lightning splits the sea, I could swear there’s someone somewhere watching me! Through the wind and the chill and the rain, and the storm and the flood, I can feel his approach like a fire in my blood…”
Yui and Mei would never admit it to her, but both were grateful she’d taken the stage; the distraction had created a pause in orders and given them a few minutes to catch up. Hana looked over the stage from behind the bar, leaning into Yui. “I thought you were watching her!”
Yui grinned widely. “I am watching her, mama. And she’s doing great.”
“I need a hero! I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the morning light! And he’s gotta be sure, and it’s gotta be soon, and he’s gotta be larger than life!”
Ranko finished the song with its final chorus, risking a slow, shallow bow as the crowd thundered its approval. She wished she could have given the song the energy it deserved, but she was grateful just to be back on stage, and from the sound of it, the patrons were glad to have her, too.
She descended the steps and made her way to the bar, beaming with joy. The customers that were standing between the tables parted for her to let her make her way over to her sisters.
“You are a crazy person, little sister. You know that, right?”
Ranko laughed, beaming happily as the mob behind her chanted her name. “Whatever, Yui. Now, where’s my daiquiris for table nine?”
The bartender shook her head with a little chuckle. “Mei’s got ‘em. Get outta here.”
The redheaded waitress whirled, hitting something solid and stumbling a step backward against the bar counter.
“We’ve gotta stop meeting like this.”
Ranko shook her head dizzily, looking up at her friend with a smile. “Maybe you should just stop sneaking up on unsuspecting girls, Crash.”
“Maybe you should be suspecting it. After all, it’s right there in my name.” He laughed heartily. “How you doing, Ranko? I came by last week, and Yui said you were in the hospital.”
“Yeah. You gotta watch out for those carnival rides. They say they aren’t very safe.” She smiled a bit with a tentative blush. Ranko didn’t necessarily want him knowing about the whole incident. The last thing she needed was an overprotective guy with a crush following her around and upsetting Akane.
“I’m glad you came! I was worried you wouldn’t, after… last time.” She blushed deeply, playing with her hair. The idea of looking into the face of a man who had kissed her was definitely taking some getting used to.
“You said you wanted to stay friends, and I do, too. In fact, I’ve got a surprise for you.” He grinned mischievously, handing her a scrap of paper. “Come by this address tomorrow at noon. I promise, no funny business. I wouldn’t want to get between you and your boyfriend.”
Ranko turned redder still. “Girlfriend, actually.”
Crash blinked, but took her admission in stride with a smile. “I stand corrected. Your girlfriend, then. Either way though, I promise, it’s a safe, respectful and kiss-free environment for young ladies.”
She looked to her right, noticing several of her tables looking around for her. “I need to get back to work. I’ll try to make it.”