SRO

Ranko ran between the tables, trying her best to keep on top of her orders and drink deliveries. Even with her and Izumi both serving and even Hana pitching in, there was no way to stay on top of everything. The bar was packed so full that she could barely walk between the back bar and the booths. The karaoke machine was in constant use, but the girls were too busy to act as hostess, so the singers were self-selecting songs. It was at least twice as busy as the Saturday prior - a fact for which Ranko was grateful, because if her first day had been this hectic, she might have quit.Ranko snuck into the back room just to sit down for a few minutes, and Mei followed her through the saloon doors. The redhead, wearing a green crushed velvet shirt and a black faux leather miniskirt, slumped onto a stool. She heard Izumi's voice in her head reminding her of a conversation they'd had on the train yesterday, and crossed her ankles. Apparently that was another one of those rules girls had to know. She looked up at Mei, sighing exhaustedly. "Are we having a sale or something? Did every other bar in town close?"Mei giggled. "You really don't know why we're this busy, do you?" Ranko shook her head. "I mean, I think it's Thanks-something in America, but that don't got nothin' to do with us…"The blue-haired girl shook her head. "Nope, guess again." Ranko shrugged. "National Drink 'Til You Pass Out Day? Seriously, I've got no idea."Mei nodded with a sinister grin. "Okay."She turned to walk back to the main bar, and Ranko called after her. "Hey! Get back here! Aren't you gonna tell me?"Mei waved without turning back to face her. "Ask your customers."After a few precious moments to rest her feet, grateful she didn't let Izumi talk her into a pair of heels, she headed back out on the main bar floor. Mei had a tray full of drinks with a ticket for table 9, and Ranko scooped it up. Pressing her way through the crowd, she smiled to the group of college-age guys. "Okay, boys, I've got two beers and an old fashioned." She started distributing the beverages. Time to see what Mei thought was so funny. "So, guys, what brings you in tonight? The place is a little busier than usual."The guy with the old fashioned, a lean and muscular student in a black polo shirt, grinned. "Word around campus is there's some new girl working here who's an amazing singer. Everybody says she's really cute, too. We had to come check it out for ourselves."Never in her life had Ranko wanted to crawl under a table so badly. Her face was nearly the color of her hair. "Oh. And you think most of these folks are here for… that, too?" He nodded. "Oh yeah, for sure."She gulped hard, snatching up her tray and scooting back behind the bar, where Mei was waiting for her with a devilish smirk. "I take it from the look on your face that you get it now?"Ranko looked at her with wide eyes. "What did you guys do? All these people are here for me?! Thinking I'm gonna sing again?"Yui grinned as she flipped her metal cocktail shaker over her shoulder, catching it and beginning to pour its contents into two glasses. "And I bet they're gonna riot if they don't get what they came for soon."Ranko covered her face with her hands. "Seriously? What am I gonna do?"Izumi buzzed up to the counter, placing the drinks Yui had just finished on her tray. "It sounds like you're gonna have me cover your checks for a few minutes, rockstar." She dropped her load off and returned.Mei swung the handheld dynamic microphone around like a magic wand. "Are you ready?"Ranko could not stop blushing. "I can't just go out there… those people are expecting a real singer or something."Izumi nodded. "And they're gonna get one. But first..." She stepped behind Ranko, taking her hair in her gentle and skilled hands. "You're running around like crazy and you're sweating. Let's fix this up a little." She scooped half of the bright red hair in her hand, pulling an elastic from her wrist and twisting it around the bundle. Ranko realized it wasn't how she normally wore her hair right around the time Izumi grabbed the second half of her hair. "Here. That should keep you a little cooler. And ironically, make you a little hotter."Ranko spun her head around, her new twin pigtails whipping around behind her. "You're all enjoying this, aren't you?"Mei snickered. "Who, us?" She flipped the switch on her microphone, her eyes not leaving Ranko's face. "So, everybody, we heard you came to hear our little sister sing. Sound about right?" A raucous crowd roared in approval.Ranko sighed in mock exasperation. "Fine, fine, gimme that." She took the microphone, walking up toward the stage.In the back of the bar, the guy to whom she had served the old fashioned cocktail stood up. "Holy crap, that's our waitress!"Mei and Izumi huddled around the karaoke control computer, conspiring for a song to select. One day, Ranko promised herself, she'd actually get to pick her own songs if they were gonna make her get up here like this. Izumi pointed to the monitor, and Mei nodded emphatically. When the music began, Ranko recognized it as the current chart-topping song from a popular idol group. She mouthed a silent "really?" at Izumi, who just gave her a smile and a thumbs-up.Oh well. The crowd came for a show, and they were spending money. She was going to give them one.Before the lyrics began, Ranko waved to the crowd. "How's everybody doing tonight!?" A loud wooooooo came from the assembled patrons in reply. The lead-in to the first verse ended with four loud thumps of bass, and with each one, Ranko gave a little hop, waving her arms upward to the crowd to encourage them to join in. When the lyrics began, Ranko leaned forward into the microphone in her hand and began to sing. She also began moving, perfectly matching the choreography that the idol group performed in the song's music video.Mei looked at Izumi, baffled. "When did she learn that?"Izzi shrugged, equally surprised. "We saw the video yesterday on the TVs in the mall food court, but only once…" If only they had known how much time Ranko, in her former life, had spent analyzing and memorizing moves and patterns.Yui leaned over her two sisters' shoulders. "Who is this girl, and where did she come from? Wasn't she too scared to get on stage like, four or five days ago?"Hana, who had stopped her paperwork to watch the show, gave a satisfied smile. "It's called confidence, and it comes with pride. You girls did that for her." Izumi squeezed her sisters close, continuing to watch.As the chorus approached, Ranko pointed to a group of well-dressed girls near the front of the stage. "Wanna help me out, ladies?" The crowd cheered, and she tossed the second microphone down to them. The four girls giggled through the first word or two, before huddling around the mic and singing the backup parts along with the monitor's prompting.By the start of the third verse, the entire bar was on its feet. No one was even ordering drinks for fear of missing anything. For the final chorus, she didn't sing at all, opting instead to point the microphone to the revelers, who sang it together as a group. She joined in for the last few notes, bringing the song home with a powerful belt. The crowd went berserk with cheers and applause, and Ranko spun the microphone in her hand like a sai before holstering it in the mic stand and bowing.It took a full minute and a half for the applause to die down, and Mei spoke over the mic. "Who wants to sing next?"No one stood, and Mei heard one woman perched on a barstool ask her date, "Who the hell would want to follow that?"After wiping the sweat from her brow with a bar towel, Ranko picked up her tray and began to make her rounds. As usual after one of her performances - she couldn't believe she found herself using that word - there were many requests for a picture. There was also more than one request for something a little more intimate than a picture, but Ranko always deflected the more overzealous guys with a coy "maybe next time, guys?"The guy with the old fashioned paid for his table's tab, and when Ranko returned with his credit card receipt, he handed her back the pen. "Miss, would you sign this for me?"Ranko blushed. "You mean, like, an autograph?"He nodded sheepishly. "If it's not too much trouble?"She nodded with a stunned smile. "Yeah, sure? You got it, man. What's your name?" He gave it as Daijo, and she wrote, "Daijo, thanks for watching the show! ~ Ranko" on the receipt. She stared at it for an extra moment before handing it back. It was the first time she had actually written her new name, and it made her smile. Seeing it in her own handwriting, which was generally a little neater and more feminine in this form, somehow made her new identity just a little more real to her.When the crowd began to dissipate at night's end, Ranko sat down on a stool, pulling the elastics out of her hair and letting it fall loose around her shoulders. "I gotta tell you, girls, I'm beat."Yui nodded. "I don't blame you. If this keeps up, we're going to have to hire another waitress and have you just focus on singing."Ranko shook her head. "It's okay, I can manage." She really didn't mind pulling double-duty; she owed them for everything they were doing for her.Izumi put her arms around the redhead's shoulders. "Not up for being an idol, huh?"Ranko blushed. "Fake it 'til you make it, I guess."