Check and Mate

Akane sighed, sipping from her soda and plonking the empty glass onto the bar top as she pored over the figures in her notebook. It was a good thing the Phoenix gave her whatever she wanted for free, because she and Ranko were flat broke. The electricity she could handle, but rent would likely be a couple of days late until Ranko got paid. They might be living on chicken wings and tater tots at Ranko's work for the next week or so, but they'd survive.She knew she could ask for money from her father, or even Nabiki, and that Ranko likely could get some help from Hana if push came to shove, but she really didn't want to take that approach unless they had absolutely no other choice. She was desperate to prove to both of their families that they could make it on their own, even if her own family would never know Ranko had been involved."You okay? You look like hell." Yui snatched up Akane's empty glass, refilling it with the soda gun. Given how dejected Akane looked, the blonde bartender assumed that her youngest sister had finally spilled the beans about how she really felt. She hoped so, because it was really getting hard to watch Ranko slowly lose hope.Akane sighed. "Yeah. I'm just… everything's a lot, ya know?"Yui nodded. "Yep. Adulting sucks. But hey, not everything's awful, huh? Ranko says your volleyball team's still undefeated?"The raven-haired girl managed a smile. "Yep! We're 3-0 now.""Not bad, not bad." The bartender grinned. "Probably helps that you have your own cheerleader." At least, as long as you don't keep fucking it up, Yui thought to herself.Akane smiled a bit more sincerely at that. "Yeah, she's great. I don't know what I'd do without her." She wished Ranko would come to her games, but she understood why she hadn't. Akane hadn't exactly been the most eager to involve her with her volleyball team, and when she'd gone to one of Ranko's cheerleading events, it didn't go particularly well. Not to mention, Ranko barely had time to eat dinner anymore, let alone sit for two hours and watch people bat a ball around.Yui nodded. So, she hasn't spoken up yet, she thought. Poor kid. I'm gonna need to give her a kick in the ass again later. "Your classes going okay?" She slammed a glass upside-down into her metal shaking tin, vigorously mixing a margarita over her shoulder as she waited for Akane's response.Akane nodded. "Well enough, I guess. The amount of homework is ridiculous compared to high school, but it's still nothing compared to what Ranko's doing with her homeschool classes and everything. But seriously, if I ever get my hands on Isaac Newton, he and I are going to have a good long talk about this calculus nonsense."With a smirk, Yui slid a fruity concoction over to the man standing to Akane's right, taking a bill from him and stuffing it into the cash register. "Yeah, we kicked his ass out of here years ago. Freakin' jerk, with all the weird Greek letters and crap."Akane scoffed. "I know, right!? He wasn't even Greek!"Yui shrugged. "It's all Greek to me. When Ranko gets to that, we're gonna have to ask Ayako to tutor her. I'm tapping out as headmaster." She handed a pair of lagers in frosted mugs over Akane's head to the tall blonde man standing behind her stool. "So, if everything else is going okay, what's eating you?"Akane shrugged. "Just the adulting stuff. Maybe I made a mistake doing this with Ran-chan so soon. We're being as careful as we can, and there just never seems to be enough money."With a nod, Yui reached over the bar top and topped off Akane's soda glass with the fountain gun. "Yeah, that's pretty much how adulting works. And you can't find a job a couple hours a week to help out?"Sighing, Akane shook her head. "I looked at a few, but with my class schedule, volleyball, and trying to get up here to see Ranko's shows, there's just not any blocks of time big enough."Yui frowned a little. She'd really hoped Akane would find a way to step up. Maybe Akane really was doing everything she could, but it was hard-wired in Yui to take her sister's side. She knew Ranko hadn't had a full night's sleep in more than a month because of all she was doing, and she'd never complained once. More than once, she and her sisters had found the poor thing passed out somewhere or another between songs. She was really starting to worry about her."Did Ranko's bonus not help you out?" Yui wiped the condensation from the countertop with a light blue bar towel, finally getting a moment where she wasn't pouring someone a frosted libation or another."Bonus?" Akane looked up. "What do you mean?"Yui shrugged. "You know, what she got from the record company when they agreed to do the full album. She didn't say how much it was, but it's something, at least."Frowning, Akane set her glass down a little more forcefully than she meant to. "I wasn't actually aware she'd gotten one."With a cringe, Yui nodded. "Well, that, I guess you're gonna need to take up with her. That part's none of my business. I only know because Shinji used his to get Mei some new audio… thingamajig that she can't stop raving about."As she finished her sentence, Yui cringed again as her youngest sister approached the bar. "Hey, Akane!" She reached out, wrapping her arms around Akane's shoulders from behind with a smile. At least here, she was allowed to do so if she was careful.Akane did not respond."Is everything okay?"Yui looked around nervously. She'd not seen Akane's temper, but Ranko had told a few stories, and if they'd been remotely accurate, she did not need that going off in the middle of her bar on a Saturday night. She tried to flash Ranko a back off glare, but her sister didn't notice it."Akane, what's wrong?" Ranko frowned with concern.Akane looked up from her drink. "Oh. Nothing, Ranko. I just… I have a headache, and a lot of homework to do. I think I'm going to head home early, if that's okay."The redhead nodded. "I'm sorry you feel so rough. Of course it's okay. Go get some rest. I'll be home as soon as I can. I love you."Grunting to herself, Akane managed to squeak out a "Yeah, love you too" as she rose to her feet, heading for the door.Ranko blinked, looking up to Yui. "What was that all about?"Her sister put her hands up, palms out. "I'm staying out of this stuff. The two of you gotta work this out though, because it's starting to stress me out."

Nodding, the redhead leaned against the bar. "Would you mind?"

Yui sighed and reached into her ice bin, sliding a silver can across the bar to her. "Given any more thought to what your principal said?"Rolling her eyes, Ranko slipped onto the stool her girlfriend had just vacated, smoothing her forest-green skirt and crossing her ankles. "I don't know. Maybe I should drop something. I know Mama would cut my hours back here if I asked, but with Izzi only working a few days a week now, we can't afford to be short anybody else. You and Mei are killing yourselves, and Mom too. I shouldn't have taken on cheerleading, but I'm really starting to enjoy it." She felt a pang of embarrassment at the admission. She hoped she'd never see her father again, but if she did, a part of her hoped it would be when she was in her cheerleading uniform, because the very thought of it would shatter the man before she ever said a word to him.Yui nodded. "Personally, I think you should drop some, maybe even all, of the homeschool stuff for now. It's eating as much of your time as your regular school, almost. Sure, it means you're in school a little longer, but there's no reason to really rush that. You're not planning on running off and leaving us, are you?"The younger girl shook her head as she swallowed a mouthful of the life-giving liquid in the narrow silver can. "Never! You and me are gonna be running this place together when we're old and gray. Besides, I don't think college is in the cards for me. We can't afford it, even if I were smart enough."Smacking the bartop loudly to get Ranko's attention, Yui growled a bit. "Hey! We've talked about that. I don't want to hear that kind of talk out of you, little sister. Besides, you do know that colleges don't just give the sports teams scholarships, right? They do them for cheerleaders, too, I think."Ranko sighed, holding her head in her hands. "It's true, though. I can't even keep my grades up in school now." The bit about the scholarship opportunities was interesting, but if she couldn't get more than a three in tenth grade math, what chance did she have with the stuff Akane was doing? She'd looked at Akane's homework a few nights ago, and forget knowing how to work the problems, she couldn't even figure out whether half of the symbols were letters, numbers, or something else entirely."Maybe, and I'm just spitballing here, it's because you're unconscious in class half the time?" Yui passed a mug of beer over the counter to a tall gentleman in a red sport coat as she spoke.Hanging her head, Ranko nodded. "You're right. I'll think about it. I gotta talk to Akane about it before I make any decisions, though."Yui bit her lip. "Speaking of talking to Akane…"Bobbing her head again, and finishing off the energy drink in her hand, Ranko looked down at her hands. "I know. I've gotta do something to get her attention. But she's not gonna like it."