“Mei, that looks great!”
Izumi peeked over her sister’s shoulder, where just beyond her electric blue pigtails and the puffy peplum of her cerulean shirt, a long banner made of some twenty sheets of perforated fanfold dot matrix printer paper was spread across the entire length of the main bar counter. A few of the leftmost sheets dangled off the edge, nearly dragging on the floor between the main and service bar counters. The giant banner, produced that morning on a rented computer at the local metropolitan library, read welcome home, Ranko and the Dapper Dragons, and the characters were interspersed with several generic clip art images, including musical notes, a guitar, a microphone, an orchid and a party hat with streamers. As the library’s computer lab only had black-and-white printers, Mei was coloring in the grayscale graphics with a collection of pungent magic markers as she hunched over it from her stool. A rubber bar mat under the paper prevented the colored markers from seeping through the paper and staining the polyurethane countertop.
“Okay,” Izumi said, turning her attention to her eldest sister. “And you're sure you can be here by two on Tuesday? We want everybody here before they get here, for the big surprise!”
Aya nodded with an easy smile. “Yes, Izzi. Worst case, I can bring Jun with me and put him down upstairs again. Take a breath, Iz. Everything's gonna be great!” In fact, as it was just past two o’clock on that quiet late-April Sunday afternoon, Ayako’s infant son was asleep upstairs in his oak bassinet at that very moment. The sound of quiet, rhythmic breathing coming through the plastic speaker clipped to the waistline of Ayako’s pastel green skirt confirmed it.
“I know,” Izumi said, stealing a glance across the bar room at Akane. “I just know how lonely Ranko’s been out there, and I want her to know we love her and missed her, and how excited we are to have her back. All of them, really. Hell, I even miss Crash, that goofy bastard.”
Ukyo giggled from her seat at the bar, where she watched Yui fiddling with some cocktail ingredients. “Right?! I haven't been slammed into even once in, like, almost a month!”
“Like you mind when he slams into you, Uk-chan,” Yui said with a smirk. “In fact, when he gets back, I bet you're gonna slam into him all fuckin’ night long.”
The brunette flushed deeply, fidgeting with her ponytail. “I mean, I was hoping it would be more him slamming into me, but…”
As the girls tittered together, the Phoenix’ designated party planner approached Akane cautiously at the far end of the bar room. “Hey, ‘Kane? Where are we at in terms of getting hold of everyone's families for invitations?”
Akane, who had been lost in thought and gazing at the empty stage from her once-usual seat at the VIP table, looked up to Izumi. “Huh? Oh. Invitations. Nabiki’s going through the emergency contact list for everybody to get phone numbers and spread the word. Ukyo said she was gonna pass it on to Crash’s family. We obviously got you guys and my family on board, and we don't have to worry about Lance or Jake since they won't have anyone in Japan to bring. Nabiki is struggling to get a hold of Norio’s sister. We were gonna ask him for a different number, but Nabiki thinks it’ll ruin the surprise.”
Izumi sat next to Akane at the table, reaching out and patting the younger girl’s hand where it rested next to her soda. “Hey. Are you gonna be okay at this thing? I know you and Ranko haven't spoken since Hawai’i; are you girls gonna make this shit all awkward?”
Akane shrugged, sighing softly as she fidgeted with her hands in the lap of her red skirt. “I mean… I’m not gonna lie, Izumi. What Ranko said hurt me. I'm not mad at her, though. Not anymore. I'm more… sad at her. And sad for her, that she can have thousands of people chant her name every night and still not think she's good enough for me. I'm just, me, ya know? What more could I want than her? And it just breaks my heart, because I know she didn't say those things about me and Sho because she really thinks I'm some two-timing jerk. She said it because she’s terrified I'm going to wake up one day and agree with her that I deserve better than the best there's ever been.”
Izumi nodded, letting Akane's hand go. “But… if you're not mad anymore, why won't you talk to her?”
With another quiet sigh, Akane lowered her head, slipping her hands under her bangs and rubbing her temples with her fingers as she rested her elbows on the table top. “I don't know, Iz. I think part of me was mad, until I started thinking about seeing her on Tuesday, and getting excited rather than upset. But I also wanted to kind of force her to not cling on to my every word, and measure her existence by the time between our calls. I wanted her to go experience this trip and see that she could do it on her own, and have a good time doing it. I want her to bring me home stories we can laugh about together, rather than having heard them all before she gets home, rushed on an international party line at three hundred yen a minute.”
The brunette nodded sadly, adjusting her wedding ring on her left hand. “Makes sense, I guess. I just… you should have heard the desperation in her voice, Akane. It was like she thought she was gonna die if she didn't talk to you.”
“I know. And, I probably screwed up. I probably should have talked to her, even if it was just to tell her myself that I love her and I'll be here when she gets home. It's just, I… I want her to always want me, but never feel like she can't function without me. It was scary how quickly she just shut down as a human being when I told her I was coming home from Hawai’i. I think I did more harm than good going out there with the whole, build up her confidence thing. Like I said, I probably fucked the whole thing up from the get-go.”
Akane stood, running her fingers through her black bangs to ensure she hadn't mussed them too badly when she rubbed her head. “I should get to work cutting pineapples. We are gonna be making loads of those special cocktails the day after tomorrow!”
Izumi stood as well, catching up with Akane in three strides and hugging her sister's wife from behind. “Hey. There's no rulebook for this stuff, okay? Just tell her you love her, give her a great big hug, and everything will be fine. Maybe you ought to call her tomorrow night before she flies home, just to break the ice before you're face to face with seventy other people around?”
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Akane nodded, turning as Izumi released her and smiling. “That's probably a good idea. I'll think about it.”
The party planner grinned broadly. “Okay. Let’s dial in. So we’ve got invitations in progress. Orochi’s gonna handle the music. I think we ought to hide all the microphones, or you just know a certain somebody’s gonna try to get up there and sing before she so much as puts her suitcases down. Mei and Aya are in charge of decorations. Yui’s got the cocktail lineup sorted. What are we thinking about for food?”
“If you want, I can bring my portable griddle and do okonomiyaki,” Ukyo offered hopefully from her seat at the bar counter next to Mei.
“Who the heck wants okonomiyaki and cocktails? Besides, it's the one night you're gonna let yourself take off, so take it off, yeah?” Akane laughed. “I swear, between you and Ranko, you girls are competing for who can work yourself into an early grave the fastest.”
Mei sighed. “As usual, you dummies are worried about stuff I already took care of. Me and Mama got a whole menu planned. I'm even making a cake. A great big one, with, like, layers and shit!”
“Nice! I'm sure Kasumi would bring something too, if you ask! Just reach out to her. She's always happy to help with this kind of stuff!” Akane beamed at the thought of her sisters from both sides of her marriage working together so seamlessly.
“Hey, Aya? You, uh… mind tasting this beer? Something seems a little… off with it.” Yui walked around the bar counter, handing a frosted pilsner glass full of yellow liquid, with a white frothy foam topping it and a lemon wedge garnish, to her elder sister at the service bar.
Ayako adjusted her black-rimmed glasses and looked down analytically at the beverage she was handed, turning it in her hand to examine it. “I mean, it's bubbling, so the carbonation is good. It's certainly cold enough.” She lifted it to her lips with some measure of hesitance, her eyes widening before she even finished swallowing.
“What the hell is that?! It tastes like I drank a freakin' apple pie! Fuck, that's good!”
Yui beamed. “I give you the Regular Girl. Our newest Rocktail. It looks just like a regular, boring old beer, but it sneaks up on you with shocking sweetness.”
Mei reached for the glass with grabby fingers, and Ayako passed it across the gap between the main and service bars to her. Mei sipped it, moaning audibly into the rim of the glass as she did. “Oh, Yui, that is stupid good. What's in it?!”
The Phoenix’ lead mixologist motioned to the counter behind the bar, where an unlabeled cherry jar sat filled with twenty-seven blue stirring straws protruding from its mouth. Next to it were a collection of bottles comprising the ingredients Yui had used to build her latest creation.
“Apple brandy, simple syrup, and lemon juice for the flavor, and club soda for the fizz. Plus a little vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg for that apple pie vibe. The head is Irish cream liquor.” Yui took the glass from Mei over her glaring protest, offering it to Izumi to try. “What do you guys think?”
“Dude,” Izumi said, handing the frosted glass to Akane and wiping her lips on the sleeve of her royal blue satin blouse. “That is off the charts, sis. And I love that it looks just like a beer! So… unassuming.”
Yui nodded, beaming at her own ingenuity. “Yeah, well, the song is all about how Ranko doesn't think she's anything special, but all of us know better. So the drink announces itself as not very remarkable with its looks, and then you get a taste and you realize how truly special it really is.”
Akane smiled warmly at her sister-in-not-quite-law’s sentiment, handing the empty glass back to Yui. “It’s a perfect concept. I fucking love it!” And I love that it basically tells Ranko’s inferiority complex what it can go and do with itself.
Yui pulled another frosted pilsner glass out from the chiller under the bar, pouring an eight count of apple brandy into it. “I'm gonna take one back to Mama and see if I can fool her with it.”
Aya gave a low whistle, shaking her head in doubt. “I’ve got a thousand yen that says she spots it right away. That woman knows her beer, now. She’s been drinking and serving beer longer than any of us have been breathing air.”
Yui grinned as she stirred the brandy, syrup, juice and spices together in the glass with a long bar spoon. “You're on!”
“Good luck, Yui! Just be easy when you go in the office, Yui,” Izumi encouraged. “Mama said she had a headache when she went back there earlier, so she might be lying down on her couch.”
“Don't worry. I'll be gentle. And besides, I’m bringing her a nice glass of beer,” Yui said with a mischievous grin. She pushed through the blue saloon doors and hung a right through the slightly ajar office door.
“Hey, Mama? Is something weird about this b…”
Yui blushed, finding her mother slouched over her desk, still in her ever-present black leather jacket, her hair pulled back in a ponytail and her cheek resting on a stack of paperwork. “Oh, mama, ya dummy. If you were that tired, you shoulda just laid down.”
Yui tiptoed closer, tapping Hana on the shoulder. “Hey, ma? C’mon, why don't you move over to the couch and take a proper nap?”
She received no reply.
Damn. She's really zonked. Maybe she took something for her headache.
“Ma, seriously. You're gonna be miserable if you stay like that. You'll have a crick in your neck all damn night.” Yui gave her mother a firmer shake, and Hana’s head lifted slightly from the desk, before lolling over to the side and falling back to the desktop again.
“... Mama?” Yui set the pilsner glass down on the corner of the desk, reaching out to give Hana a firm pat on the cheek to rouse her. Something was off, and it took Yui nearly two full seconds to notice what it was.
She had passed her hand under Hana’s nose, but she had felt no moving air.
“Mama?!” Yui grabbed the Phoenix’ matriarch about the shoulders, giving her a hard shake.
She received no response.
“Mom, PLEASE!” Yui begged through eyes flooding with tears, frantically thrashing her mother’s limp form in her hands.
“...please, mama, wake up?”