The Witching Hour

"Alright, you ready? Brace."Ranko took a deep breath, gritting her teeth and nodding. She scrunched her face and whimpered quietly as Akane pulled the purple fabric over the few remaining bandages on her right hand. She exhaled in relief as the velvet made its way up her forearm, almost to her elbow."Good job. Ready for the other one?"Ranko handed Akane her left hand. "No, but do it anyway." She managed to restrain herself to just a tiny squeak as Akane pulled the deep violet opera glove onto her girlfriend's almost-healed hand."There. All done." Akane smiled, rubbing Ranko's right shoulder, giving her a different sensation to focus on for a moment before re-tying the black ribbon intended to hold the end of her sleeve in its puffed-up position halfway up her upper arm."Not yet." Ranko reached down on the bed, picking up her silver dragon bracelet. She didn't strictly need it, because the gloves covered her scar, but it was a comfort thing for her, and it had become something of a trademark. She clasped it into place over the wrist of the glove on her left hand."Well? How ridiculous do I look?" Ranko blushed, turning to the mirror that hung on the back of the closet door in her old apartment above the Phoenix. A part of her wanted to die of embarrassment at what she saw, but the ravenous look Akane had been giving her was giving her courage. If it made Akane smile, she could do damn near anything.Akane wrapped her arms around Ranko's waist. "Enchanting."Ranko smirked, rolling her eyes. "Oh, ha-ha, Akane. Very funny."Akane slid out from behind her to get a better look at the front of her lover's outfit, and as she did, her knee gently brushed the edge of the black petticoat peeking out from under Ranko's dress. The disturbance set the lace rippling around Ranko's bare legs, and the redhead forgot to breathe for half a second. "That thing is gonna be a problem. I told Izzi it wouldn't work."With a little tsk, Akane gave her girlfriend a gentle poke on the nose. "Once the crowd is chanting your name, you won't even notice. When the music starts, you're in your own little world up there." Akane could not be prouder of that girl. Just getting to be with someone of her popularity and charm was enough to make her the luckiest girl alive, but beyond that, she knew that eighteen months ago, Ranma Saotome would have done anything to avoid being put in something even half as adorable as what she was helping dress her lover in now. She had come such a long way.Ranko blushed even deeper, reading the look in Akane's eyes. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you? You're getting to be worse than Izzi.""Can you blame me?" Akane slipped her thumb under the neckline of the black-and-purple dress her girlfriend wore, pulling the silver-and-diamond star pendant she wore out from under it and letting it rest atop the tiny black bow that sat just below the neckline above her breasts. "Izumi gets to put you in these outfits, but I'm the one who gets to take you out of them."Ranko started to laugh, but was reminded to think better of it with a little grunt. "Well, you better bring a can opener for this corset, girlfriend.""Oooh, a milestone in our relationship!" Akane tittered. "Write down the date! Ranko Tendo, trusting me with a kitchen appliance.""Well, don't let it go to your head, blockhead." Ranko flushed a little at the realization that she'd picked up yet another expression from one of her sisters.Akane leaned over from a step away so as not to rumple Ranko's look for the stage, kissing her on the lips gently. "Come on, beautiful." She dropped a deep purple conical hat with a wide brim on her girlfriend's head, turning it so that the black bow on the brim was off-center just above her right eye."It's All Hallow's Eve, and the witching hour is upon us." She scooped up the Polaroid laying on the bed, putting her left arm around her lover's back and pointing the lens toward them in her outstretched right hand.Downstairs on the stage, Mei smiled as the side door into the kitchen opened. It was normally blocked off with extra tables when they cleared the floor to make room for their larger concerts, but they'd stored some of them upstairs in the corner of the apartment so Ranko could make it from the back room to the stage without having to push through the crowd. The pink tulle of Mei's tutu and the iridescent white chiffon butterfly wings strapped to her back both bounced with her excitement. "Alright, ghouls and goblins, are you ready to be bewitched?"As the bar patrons howled with excitement, Akane squeezed Ranko's right wrist, avoiding her hands, still out of view of the crowd. "Knock 'em dead, babe."Ranko turned with a smirk. "What's the point? It's Halloween. They'll just come back…" Tittering as she extended her arms like Frankenstein's monster for a second, she bounded toward the stage to the roar of a standing-room-only crowd.Raising her right fist in the trademark pose from the last note of Rise, Ranko strode the seven steps to the center of the stage, and Mei turned, tucking her fairy wand under her armpit. Mei pulled the headset microphone from her own head, struggling briefly to detangle it from one of her electric blue pigtails. She carefully wrapped it around Ranko's head from behind, leaving the headband against the back of her head rather than atop it so that it wouldn't interfere with the witch hat she wore.Ranko leaned forward, giving her sister a gentle hug, as closely as she could manage given her restrictive outfit.Mei flitted to the edge of the stage, descending the stairs. Akane, who had decided not to take a table tonight, but rather to stand to the side of the stage, gave Ranko's sister a high-five as she bounced off the last step. Mei took her position at the audio mixing table and began flipping switches and pushing buttons.Ranko stalked back and forth onstage in her purple chunky heels, clacking on the hollow platform. She gestured in greeting to the crowd, pointing out one or two regulars she recognized with a more personal wave, killing a few moments while Mei got set up.Getting a thumbs up from Mei, Ranko strode to her mark at the center of the stage. Crash and the boys weren't here for the show tonight, so it was all on her. The band hadn't been to the Phoenix in three weeks and Ranko was pretty sure she knew why, even though Crash would never admit it. He was still hiding from Akane after helping Ranko take her heart apart one note at a time from the very stage on which she now stood.The place was rocking for a Wednesday night. Even though Halloween wasn't as popular in Tokyo as it was in America, the concept seemed to pack the crowd in tonight. The costume party idea was genius on Izumi's part. The middle sister of the Phoenix clan sat perched on her stool behind the service bar in an oversized, purplish-black smock with a large red bow cocked on the side of her head, a broomstick leaning against the bar counter next to her. It was supposed to be something from the new Miyakazi anime that had dropped a few months back, but Ranko hadn't seen it yet.Ranko took a deep breath. The moment before she made the first sound on stage was always the most exciting. That was the moment with the most possibility. Potential energy, her science teacher called it. The moment where hundreds of people waited with bated breath to hear whatever she might have to say. In those moments, she felt more power than she ever had in a dojo. And it never got old."It's Halloween night, and ghosts and demons lurk around every corner. But don't worry! I'll protect you!" Ranko grinned, putting up her fist again. "My name's Ranko, and welcome to the Phoenix!"The crowd began to chant – but this time, it wasn't her name. It was the way the world was beginning to know the girl on the stage. The single word that was rapidly curtailing her need to introduce herself on any stage she stepped on."RISE! RISE! RISE!"Not today, friends. Not without the boys. "You know, guys, I had a problem not too long ago. Me and the person I love were having a little bit of a rough time. You might have heard about it."The crowd roared. It had been a relatively quiet night at the Phoenix the day her second original song debuted, and just as she had promised Akane, she hadn't performed it since. In fact, this was her first time back on the stage at all since Sneak. But word had gotten around that there was a second song, and most of the regulars who hadn't been there that night couldn't wait to hear it. The ones who had been there couldn't wait to hear it again.Akane cringed slightly, but Ranko had warned her this was coming. It was all for the setup, she reminded herself.Ranko smiled, getting the reaction she hoped for from the bait and switch. "So, I did what any poor, desperate girl would do. I asked for help." She shivered a bit as the cold mist from the fog machine began to tickle her ankles, obscuring her feet from view and leaving a lingering miasma resting atop the stage.A bass drop pounded from the twelve overhead speakers and a high-energy dance beat began. She'd not been able to find a version she liked of the old song she'd chosen for her leadoff, so Jacob had mixed something up for her and pre-recorded it.Over the sustained whoops of the crowd, Ranko began."I told the witch doctor I was in love with you! I told the witch doctor I was in love with you! And then, the witch doctor, he told me what to do! He told me…"The stage lights shifted to a lime green, giving the smoke at her feet an almost evil, magical ambiance to it. It looked like something out of the villain scene of any number of Disney movies. The prerecorded synthesizer and bass tracks started thumping more rapidly from the speakers, and Ranko began to hop up and down with every syllable, waving upward to the ceiling with both her hands, encouraging the already-standing crowd to participate. With each jump, her petticoat carried a little more of the green-hued mist up around her body. The ceiling-mounted bank of lights facing the crowd sparked to life, panning over the room with little circles of light in various colors and giving the place the look of a night club."Oooh! Eeeh! Ooh, ah-ah! Ting, tang, walla-walla bing-bang! Oooh, eeeh! Oooh, ah-ahh, ting tang walla-walla bang bang!"Ranko swayed in the knee-high mist, moving her arms fluidly, scooping some of the smoke up in her cupped hands and letting it waft around her, gesturing as if she was casting a spell. To just about everyone in the crowd, she was doing some cute choreography to go along with her character. Her girlfriend, watching from stage left, shook her head with a laugh as she recognized most of the positions. That little minx had remixed the kata Akane did every morning to practice!"I told the witch doctor you didn't love me true! I told the witch doctor you didn't love me nice! And then the witch doctor, he gave me this advice…"Again, the little witch on the stage began to bounce on her ankles, the black lace petticoat flaring out her dress as she danced.Just as Akane had promised, she didn't feel a thing."Oooh! Eeeh! Ooh, ah-ah! Ting, tang, walla-walla bing-bang! Oooh, eeeh! Oooh, ah-ahh, ting tang walla-walla bang bang!"As the little bridge she'd had Jacob add began pounding from the speakers, Ranko walked the edge of the stage, putting her hand down at knee level so the fans closest to the stage could reach up and just barely touch her fingertips. "Come on, Phoenix! Let's make some magic!"The stage lights changed from green to purple, instantly changing the color of the smoke at Ranko's feet. A spotlight flashed on, illuminating the right half of the bar's floor plan as Ranko pointed to the crowd on that side of the room. Understanding the cue, the revelers on that side of the bar joined her aloud as she sang the first half of the absurd chorus again."Ooh! Eeeeh! Ooh, ah-ah! Ting, tang, walla-walla bing-bang!"The spotlight swung left, illuminating the other half of the bar. Yui winced, the sudden bright light in her eyes almost making her mispour her vermouth. Almost. Ranko pointed to the spotlighted half of her crowd, playing them like another instrument in her band, and the crowd responded."Ooh, eeeeh! Ooh, ah-ahh, ting tang walla-walla bang bang!"The spotlight died, and Ranko pranced a lap around the stage, a playful skip in her step."My friend, the witch doctor, he taught me what to say. My friend, the witch doctor, he taught me what to do. I know that you'll be mine when I say this to you!"Almost no one in the crowd caught the subtle smile she flashed to the dark corner at the base of the stairs at stage left."Oh, baby…"The house lights came up about thirty percent, engaging the entire barroom at once. Ranko pointed out with both hands, as she hopped on her feet indicating both sides of the crowd should now sing as one. They responded in kind with her."Ooh! Eeeh! Ooh, ah-ah! Ting, tang, walla-walla bing-bang! Ooh, eeeh! Oooh, ah-ahh, ting tang walla-walla bang bang!""Ooh! Eeeh! Ooh, ah-ah! Ting, tang, walla-walla bing-bang! Ooh, eeeh! Oooh, ah-ahh, ting tang walla-walla bang bang!"The house lights dropped to total darkness, and Ranko reached down to her knees with her right hand, coaxing a wisp of smoke into her palm. All of the stage floor lighting dropped as well, until only a single orange-red lamp flickered from behind her. Its focused beam lent its color to only the little tuft of fog she had manipulated, making it look as if she were holding a little ball of flame in her velvet-gloved hand that just barely illuminated her face. She bent forward off the edge of the stage at the waist as far as she could manage in the corset she wore, holding the "flame" toward the crowd in the upturned palm of her hand. She gave a coy smile and winked, and forcefully blew apart the ball of smoke in the direction of the crowd. As she did, the orange light went out immediately as if she had just blown out the last candle in the room.The crowd went berserk in the darkness. When the applause began to die down, Mei raised the stage lighting again."Well, you've got me feeling magical tonight, for sure! And when I'm done with you, you're all going to be under my spell!" The crowd howled its approval."Let's see…" She rested her right elbow on her left palm, tapping her temple furtively with her gloved left index finger. "Silly girl. What was that magic word again? I can never remember…" The heavy rock guitar of another song began as she spoke. Akane smiled warmly with every little nod to her that Ranko had worked into her performance."I heat up. I can't cool down. My situation goes round and round. Round and round, and round it goes… where it stops, nobody knows." She shrugged cutely, kicking up one of her heels."Every time you call my name, I heat up like a burning flame." The stage lights flickered orange and red against the back wall and into the smoke at her feet, reminiscent of the programming for Rise."Burning flame, full of desire… Kiss me, baby, let the fire get higher…"Ranko smiled excitedly, gesturing with an upstretched finger as if she'd just remembered something important that she'd forgotten."Abra, abracadabra! I wanna reach out and grab ya!"Back at the bar, Yui made a little urk sound, jerking backward as she whirled from the back bar with a fresh bottle of rum. Looking behind her, she saw that the little black velvet tail that dangled from the black bodysuit Izumi had stuffed her into had gotten caught on one of the cabinet doors. What a pain in the ass. I can't believe Izzi did this to me, and on my birthday, too. She wrinkled her nose. The whiskers her sister had attached to it with spirit gum itched like crazy. She had to admit, the little black cat ears on the headband she wore were kind of cute, though. The little bell on the red collar around her neck, not so much."You make me hot! You make me sigh. You make me laugh. You make me cry. Keep me burning for your love, with a touch of a velvet glove…" The witch onstage made a show of adjusting her elbow-length purple gloves, a last-minute addition to her costume to hide the nearly-healed burns on her hands."Here, kitty, kitty!"Yui whirled, her frustration at the ridiculous outfit impeding her work written all over her face. It faded almost immediately as she recognized the person calling for her attention. Hoping the dark setting and the cat makeup would hide her blush, she pulled off a smile. "Sakura! Hi! Um, Manhattan, right?"The simpering brunette nodded. "You remembered!" She contemplated sitting on one of the stools, but in the long mauve Renaissance-style gown she wore, there was no chance for sufficient dexterity to make the climb up to the seat.Yui flushed further still, looking down at her work to avert her eyes. "Well, some people are more memorable than others.""I feel the magic in your caress. I feel magic when I touch your dress." Ranko moved her hand up the puffed-out skirt of her costume, resting atop the petticoat she still couldn't believe Izumi had talked her into. "Silk and satin, leather and lace. Black panties with an angel's face…"Yui set the drink on the counter in front of the maiden in the princess dress. "There you go, hon. That's 350 yen?"Sakura handed her a folded 1000-yen bill that she'd already had ready in her hand. "Here you go, Yui."Yui stammered. "Uh, let me get you some change." She turned to the cash register, opening it with a little ding. As she unfolded the bill to put it in the drawer, she noticed someone had defaced it with a marker. She pulled out 650 yen in coins, but when she turned to hand them back to Sakura, she was gone.What the hell, Yui thought. That'll screw my whole drawer up. She popped the drawer open manually, returning the coins to the register. As she did, she got a closer look at the bill Sakura had handed her, and what had been written on it.It was a telephone number.I heat up, I can't cool down. My situation goes round and round…"As the crowd roared and the house lights came back up enough to facilitate movement in the room, Ranko waved a couple of college guys away from the one table left in the room, to the immediate front right of the stage. There were no chairs around it and a reserved table tent sat in the middle of it. It was kind of a weird arrangement, and even Akane wasn't sure what they'd planned for it."Okay! If you dressed up tonight, let me hear you make some noise!" A series of whoops came from the crowd."Well, that's no fair. You guys are down there in the dark, and I can't see you! First things first… where's my boys at?" A more masculine collection of cheers came from the crowd."Well, let's see you! Get your asses up here!"Mei locked in the light configuration for the next song, as it wouldn't be changing throughout the performance. She stood, walking to the edge of the stage and waving to show the line of costumed men where to go. She had to wave as high as she possibly could above her head to allow herself to be seen over the taller patrons. Akane stepped back into the shadows.A line of twenty or so costumed gentlemen formed at the base of the stairs, and a loud peal of thunder crackled from the speakers and rolled in an ominous echo. Mei threw a long, puffy object up toward her sister, who caught it in stride and rested it over her shoulder. "Uh, oh, girls! Looks like a storm's coming in!"Ranko took two running steps and jumped, landing in a crouch on the top of the reserved table. She flicked her eyes level as she stood, pushing a button on the handle of the meter-long prop Mei had tossed her and popping the spring-loaded purple umbrella open over her shoulder. Mei began making a windmill with her arm at the base of the stairs to tell the men to begin ascending to the stage. The women still in the audience howled as the first notes came from the recorded music and, shortly thereafter, the headset microphone worn by the little witch standing on the tabletop at stage right."Humidity is rising. Barometer's getting low. According to all sources, the street's the place to go…"Ranko threw the umbrella up and forward with a twist of her wrist, letting it spin in the air as it slowly floated downward into the now female-majority crowd."'Cause tonight, for the first time, just about half-past ten…" Ranko looked down at her silver dragon bracelet as if it were a wristwatch, tapping it with her index finger as if encouraging it to go faster. "For the first time in history, it's gonna start raining men!"At Mei's direction, the queued men ascended the steps three or four at a time, doing a little lap on the stage Ranko had vacated for them. Each got a few seconds to pose, dance, or whatever they wished to show off their costumes at center stage while Ranko narrated musically from the top of table four."It's raining men! Hallelujah, it's raining men! Amen! I'm gonna go out. I'm gonna let myself get absolutely soaking wet…"Akane laughed and shook her head as her girlfriend punctuated the last three words by snapping her head to the left and winking in the direction of the corner where she stood in the shadows. Oh, you dirty tease. I'll get you for that.Based on the varying levels of cheering as different men took center stage and did their little performances, Mei slowly began to filter them off of the stage until eventually only the three most popular ones remained.Mei now re-ascended the stairs onto the stage, bopping casually with her shoulders and hips as she approached the man on the far right, closest to where Ranko stood on the table. Mei gestured to him, and the man began to dance, playing with the prop magnifying glass he pulled from the pocket of the trench coat of his detective costume. He received a weak modicum of cheers from the women in the crowd, and Mei shook her head at him sadly."God bless Mother Nature! She's a single woman, too! She took off to heaven, and she did what she had to do! She brought every angel and rearranged the sky so that each and every woman could find the perfect guy…"Mei gestured to the man in the middle of the stage, the one in the all-black ninja costume. He pulled out his little plastic ninjato, swinging them around in a sad attempt at a kata. Ranko smirked as she sang. Oh, please pick that one. I can have some fun with that, she thought. But he received even less applause than the detective, and Mei moved on to the third man on the stage."Hear the thunder, don't you lose your head… rip off the roof and stay in bed…"The man tipped the red hard hat back on his head, unbuckling the beige rubber knee-length coat he wore. As he opened it, he exposed to the crowd that he wasn't wearing a shirt under it, just a pair of red suspenders over his muscular chest that held up the beige pants of his firefighter outfit.Well that settles that, Ranko thought as the women at floor level howled their approval. Shit.Mei hustled the other two men off the stage, leaving the "firefighter" on it alone. Ranko shook her head. Well, you win, you get the prize, I guess.From a standstill, she performed an aerial cartwheel straight out of her cheerleading choreography, rotating head over heels sideways and landing back on the stage. She approached the remaining man, shimmying her hips as she approached. She never touched him, but she locked eyes with him, singing as she stalked forward, backing him toward the steps as if she were reclaiming her domain.She swayed no more than a half-meter in front of him, making eye contact with him as she sang. His eyes went wide and he stopped almost all of the freelance dancing he had been doing. Firefighter, my ass. I'm melting this poor bastard myself.As the music built to one final chorus, Ranko kicked her right leg forward for momentum as she pushed off with her left, rotating two full times in the air and landing facing the man again, just as her first note was to begin."It's raining men! Hallelujah, it's raining men! Tall, blonde, dark and mean, rough and tough and strong and lean…"She took the man's hand, leading him the last two paces and giving him a gentle nudge toward the stairs, giving him the direction physically that her singing prevented verbally.As he descended to cheers from the crowd, the music ended, and Ranko waved to the now-reassembled revelers.From the back corner of the bar, leaning against the wall in the archway separating the kitchen from the back bar area, Hana smiled broadly. As she was working back-of-house, she wore no costume. That, and she seemed to be the only one who could consistently resist Izumi's pressure for such things. She was so glad Ranko made the right choice. It would have shattered Hana to take the stage away from her. Sure, it was great for business, but even if it never made her another yen, she'd still be amazed at how much joy that little microphone and a few planks of wood had brought to that girl, who Hana had very much doubted was capable of such elation when they first met. In truth, she probably wasn't at the time, but Ranko had done a lot of healing under the wings of the Phoenix. Hana couldn't be prouder of her transformation, and she didn't know the half of its true extent."Now…" Ranko cocked her head, smirking. "You didn't think I'd forget our girls, did you? Let's do this, ladies!"As Mei directed the costumed women onto the stage, Ranko stepped easily back onto the makeshift sub-stage atop table four, kicking the plastic reserved table tent to the floor."C'mon, vogue! Let your body move to the music! Hey, hey, hey!"