By Fantasya
Summary: Rika and her band get their big break and become one of the most successful punk bands of their time. But when they return to Japan years later for a charity event, the other Tamers realize that a lot of things about the Ice Queen have changed.
Chapter One: I Wear A Disguise
"Rika – Rika – dear, wake up!" Seiko cried exasperatedly as she tried to locate her only sixteen-year-old granddaughter within the ocean of navy and lavender comforters and assorted other bedding accessories that adorned her bed. No such luck.
A fire engine red head of hair emerged a few seconds later, looking around dazedly before disappearing again. Not wanting to be left, most likely out of earshot, Seiko grabbed a hold of the first patch of visible flesh she came across and went in after it.
"Goodness, you're going to miss the entire day if you just stay in bed! It's summer vacation – get up!"
Rika might have replied something, most likely this something would not have been appropriate language one used when speaking to their grandmother, but it was muffled by the pillow over her head. It did take away the effect of whatever it was that she was trying to say, but Seiko had a feeling Rika had left the pillow there purposely and she figured that was what counted.
After another minute of not so gentle prodding, Rika clawed and fought her way to the surface, and sent her grandmother a sheepish look. "What are you doing here?" She mumbled.
Seiko rested one hand on her hip and gave her only granddaughter a sour look as she wordlessly offered her the phone. "I expect you out of bed within the hour missy, for breakfast will be off the table by then."
"Who is it?" Rika asked staring blankly at the object in an awed caveman sort of way.
"Matt."
"Matt who?"
"Matt Whom-I-Felt-Like-I-Would-Be-Screening-Your-Calls-If-I-Asked." Rika continued to stare blankly and Seiko sighed. "Matt Ishida."
"Was that so hard?" Rika asked rhetorically as she took the proffered phone, which was handed to her with more force than necessary. "Now, who the hell is Matt Ishida?"
"Rika, language." The older woman said sharply. "I'm not exactly sure but I think he works with your mother."
"Of course he does." With this said, Rika was alone with the phone…which she had completely forgotten about until just then. Burying herself back beneath the warmth of too many blankets, she pulled herself into a comfortable position and put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"
"Rika?"
"Yeah. Sorry you had to wait."
"It's okay. I'm, uh, Matt Ishida, I work with your mother."
"Of course you do."
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing, continue."
"Is this a bad time? I can call again later, if you would like."
"No, it's cool."
"You sound a little sleepy – uh, I woke you up, didn't I?"
"If you want to be technical, my grandmother did. But that's not really important is it? You called for a reason…?"
"Oh, yes! Tai told me that Kari told him that Davis told her that Ken told him that you have a band, right?"
What the hell? Rika thought, but instead said: "Sure…um, how come my mom just didn't tell you?"
"She did, once, but she tends to talk a lot about everything so I mostly tuned it out."
"I know exactly what you mean."
"Anyway, have you guys been together long?"
"Is there a point to this?"
"You probably know that I own the club down town? D3?"
Again, what the hell? Rika thought, but opted again to say: "Sure."
"Well, a funny thing happened. Your mother booked this new punk band to play there next Friday. But last night they cancelled. They said something about having a record deal and that they're moving to New York on Monday, you follow?"
Did I miss the funny part? "Sure?"
"So, you're mother's freaking out and we're freaking out because we don't have a band for Friday. Somehow, all of this falls on my shoulders. I was wondering if you and your band could play in D3 this Friday."
Rika sat up, suddenly completely awake. "Come again?"
"Uh…I asked if you and your band could play in D3 this…Friday."
"Oh, um, yeah! But, I, uh, have to talk to the others first about this…and uh…"
"Well, of course I'll also need to hear you fist. Are you going to practice today?"
"Eh…" No, we're not. It's a freaking Saturday! "Yes, we are. Uh…my place at four?"
"Yeah, that sounds great. I'll see you…then. Oh, Rika?"
"Yeah?"
"Where do you live?"
Rika quickly gave him her address, careful that she wasn't so dazed that she didn't send him to the wrong place, and said "bye" about ten times before finally hanging up.
She fell backwards on to her bed and tried to steady her breathing.
She knew that the others wouldn't care if she called an impromptu band rehearsal, but there was just one obstacle that stood in her way. Slipping out of bed she wandered into the kitchen where her mother and grandmother were drinking coffee.
"Rika?" Rumiko called disbelievingly. "What are you doing up so early?"
I've got to play this smoothly. "Dunno. What time is it?"
"It's 9:30, sweetheart." She turned to face her mother. "You woke her up, didn't you? I asked you to tell that boy to call again later."
"It sounded important." Seiko countered, shrugging as she soon immersed herself into a television program that was on in the next room, before getting up and leaving to go watch it.
"Mommy?"
"Yes, dear?"
"You know how much the band means to me right?"
"Of course, honey."
"Then you must also understand why we have to play today?"
"Because you're not good enough?" Rumiko guessed obliviously.
"So, the truth has been revealed: we suck." A new voice interrupted dramatically as someone strolled into the kitchen and began preparing breakfast as if they lived there. Which of course, she didn't.
"Okay, you don't live here – why are you here?" Rika asked as she dropped her head on the counter in front of her. She felt her mother run a reassuring hand over her back.
Finn paused with her hand on the refrigerator handle. "I love you too."
"Rika, we were having a discussion." Her mother reminded.
"Oh, yeah, so seriously, Matt Ishida called and he is looking for a band to play at his club on Friday. He asked us, but he needs to hear us first and he wanted to come today. Mom, please? I already promised him."
Rumiko thought. "Is this club a big thing for you?"
"You have no idea how big." Rika replied excitedly. "Guys from record companies go there to find new talent. Mom, the Animals played there, Iron Head played there, Control, Requiem, el Diablo, XO. Mom, Sinner played there. SINNER!"
"Where do they get these names these days? Who on earth is Sinner?"
"You don't know Sinner?" Both Rika and her band mate, Finn, cried.
"Mom, it's only the best Punk Rock band. Ever." Rika informed her.
"Come on, they're better than – than…Figure 9.0!"
"Yeah because Johnny Storm has the most amazing singing voice."
"And he makes Johnny Depp look like Robin Williams."
"What is Figure 9.0?" Rumiko dared to wonder.
"Okay, not the point. The point is that if you let us play today for Matt, we may end up playing in D3 which is almost a guaranteed record deal! Mom, you can't just deny this."
"Rika, dear, you're sixteen! They don't just give record deals to sixteen year old girls."
Finn, in all of her random knowledge, managed to find something useful. "Johnny Storm was thirteen when he played in D3 and you, as I recallwere sixteen when you signed your modeling contract."
"Well, I will have to admit that it was quite the exception looking sixteen-year-old…" Rumiko commented, trying to avoid staring into the wide-open eyes of her daughter, whom had seldom looked so excited about anything. "Honey, does this really mean that much to you?"
"Mom, this means more to me than anything I have ever lied to you and told you means this much."
"Okay…" Rumiko tried to work that out, but soon gave up. "One hour."
Rika and Finn shared a look before jumping into a spur-of-the-moment victory dance, before giggling like crazy and running off to Rika's room to call the others. Until, of course, they seemed to remember something and they came back into the room.
Finn grabbed her cooling breakfast and left again, but Rika stood there as if unsure about what she was about to do.
"Rika?" Rumiko called, concerned. "Are you okay?"
Rika took a step forwards and quickly wrapped her arms around her mothers middle. She then pulled back before her mother could return the hug. Eyes staring determinately at her sneakers and face heated by a furious blush, Rika spoke five words she had never said before and probably would never say again:
"Thanks, mommy. I love you."
And then she was gone.
O
Getting the band together on such short notice was easy enough, especially after the words "possible record deal" seeped into their sleep fogged brains. Besides Rika and Finn, there were three other members of their band: Hasbro, Strata, and Aldo Nova. Currently in anticipation of Mr. Ishida's visit, the five sat around Rika's living room going over song order.
Rika tapped a clipboard in thought before reading its contents. "Okay, we'll run through our regular rehearsal line up. We'll do: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 13. Anyone have a problem with that?"
Strata raised his hands. "Yeah, uh…I'm not really up to singing today. Do I have to do back-up?"
"Finn?" Rika called on the only other girl in the room, who had raised her hand after Strata.
"Quit being such a whine baby. Do you want to impress this guy or what?"
Strata was silent. He wasn't much of a talker anyway.
"Anybody else?" No one. "Okay, he should be here soon so let's go get set up."
When a man showed up at four PM on the dot, with dark blue hair and a business suit so sharp it seemed to cut the air around them, they knew it was show time.
Hasbro slid the strap to his bass over his shoulder and sighed. "We've picked out, um, five songs for you to hear because you didn't really give us anything to work with."
"Before we start," Mr. Ishida said, leaning forward on a couch that used to belong to Rika's aunt Pearl, "why don't you tell me a little about yourselves?"
No one seemed to want to speak up, so Finn took the initiative. "Okay, I'm Finn Margo: the Token American," she motioned towards the others, "four eyes is Hasbro: bassist for obvious reasons; our wicked cool lead guitarist is Strata; the guy who's twenty something and still hasn't hit puberty is Aldo Nova; and the red headed siren that stands before you is my girl Rika." Finn paused; taking in his bemused expression and quickly added, "As you can tell: Token American also equals personality."
Mr. Ishida was silent. "Say what?"
"What say what?" Finn asked.
"Are those your real names?"
Aldo sniggered. "Dude, none of us our legal; our parents are all just demented."
"Okay," Rika cut in, "none of us really have history, if you get what I'm saying, so could we just jump ahead to the part where we play and you tell us how much we suck?"
Mr. Ishida smiled. "Pessimism is good." He then made a rolling motion with his hand, "let's begin, shall we?"
O
"Nervous?"
"Of course not; why would I be?"
"Because you're about to bare your heart and sing in front of a fairly large crowd of your peers?" Finn teased as she watched Rika freeze under the reminder. "You are such a bad liar."
"I can't – I can't go through with this! What was I thinking?"
Finn sheltered a single match from the harsh winds in the alley behind D3 as the pair waited for their turn on stage. In truth, Rika would have much rather been in the backstage area where they were supposed to wait, but the area was apparently a "no-smoking" zone. Finn had suffered a massive nicotine craving and had begged the redhead not to leave her to fend for herself. So, reluctantly, a very ticked off Rika joined in the cool night air while her best friend smoked her way to an early grave.
"You know, Rika, you should try that whole "imagining the audience in their underwear" thing." She took a long drag. "I've heard stories."
"Well, I'm sure you'll find that ridiculous exercise easy enough when you've slept with all of them." Rika snapped but almost instantly regretted saying it. Beside her, Finn had frozen solid with her eyes widened disbelievingly. Before Rika could apologize, she crushed the half finished cancer stick into the wall above her head.
"We better get inside."
"Finn wait – " But she was already gone.
Rika sighed as she reentered the backstage area, already ready to swallow her pride and try to apologize to her only girl friend. Strata grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her aside before she could find her.
"We're on in five, are you sure about the line up?"
Rika bit her lip before remembering who she was and scowling. "Strata – love you like a brother – but ask me that again and we'll move Aldo up to lead, got that?"
Hasbro stuck his head around the corner and pointed at an imaginary watch on his wrist. Rika froze for a split second and took a deep breath.
It was time.
O
Finn, on drums, wasted no time coming in with the rhythm, followed closely by Hasbro, Strata, and Aldo. The beginning of the song was relatively slow and sounded the same throughout the other verses, but during the chorus Finn and Strata had to step it up giving the song a harder edge than the rest of the song had. Rika had a strong, confident voice and with Strata occasionally giving backup, the two drew attention to the lyrics as well. Even though they hadn't completely made it through their first song, Mr. Ishida looked impressed.
Their second number had Strata singing more backups for her and their sound gained a bit more of pop-ish sound to it. Again, Rika's voice had a very distinct quality to it, so he couldn't help but notice that the lyrics weren't actually half bad. The sound didn't contain as hard a sound and even though he had liked the way the other one sounded just the way it was, this song had it's own…personality, which seemed to be the only suitable word.
The third song thundered in, but not in a hard heavy metal way. It contained a similar personality to the previous song, but it was more fun, upbeat feel to it. He knew that this song needed no improvement. Lyric wise it wouldn't be changed because he could almost feel as if the writer had put a bit of him/herself into it, not that he aimed to. The sound was perfect for what teens were listening to and the quintet looked perfectly at harmony with what they were doing. Yes, he could see them being big.
The fourth song was slower than all of the other songs he had heard but proved to be a lot more powerful. The only instrument that played during the verses was Strata, who had switched over to an acoustic, and occasionally Finn would jump in with some kind of obscure background sound that seemed to fit anyway. During the chorus was the only time the others jumped in, and they played very softly as not to take away from the perfect harmony created between Rika and Strata. She proved during this song to have an even more amazing voice than he had thought. During the last minute of the song or so, he could definitely tell that she had stepped it up for this one.
The fifth song, he realized, was another of their slow ones. However, this one was another tribute to the chemistry created within the band. This time, not only was Strata singing background, so was Finn to pick the sound up as more female. They all played amazingly quietly, lending Rika's voice even more strength than he thought possible. If he'd had any doubt that Rika Nonaka would be a star, this was the slap in the face. Overall, it was a simple song. But sometimes less was more. This was one of those instances.
The sixth song provoked the inner business shark he had thought he'd buried deep within him. Like it's two predecessors, it was simple but effective. It seemed that they knew that it would take more than catchy beats to make it far in the music business and that was a lesson that few bands learned until it was too late. As always, the lyrics were explosive. They did raise a slight blush to the older man at its implications, but he pushed it aside.
He had taken a huge risk booking an unknown that he had never heard. But because of his meeting yesterday, he had sent Koji in his stead who had come back with glowing reviews. He could now see why. Mr. Ishida sat back in his seat and listened to the roar of the audience as the group started a loud, thundering song that sent them into a frenzy.
Koji would definitely need a raise.
O
Two hours and ten minutes later, the quartet of backgrounders (as they liked to call themselves) entered the backstage area, fresh from the stage.
"That was so cool – I want to do it again!" Finn exclaimed like a hyperactive child. "Let's do it again!"
"God that felt good." Hasbro agreed, laughing.
"But I feel better, right?" Strata asked, teasingly. "I mean I must feel better. Playing bass in front of a group of perfect strangers can't be better than sex."
"I do not want to hear this!" Aldo announced, pulling his hands over his ears and humming "I don't hear you, I don't see you…"
"Seriously though, I'm better, right? You can't have sex – "
"Not hearing this!"
"You can't have sex with a bass!" Strata yelled, making sure Aldo could hear him, before turning to hug his precious boyfriend. "So, I'm still better?"
Hasbro frowned and kissed the top of Strata's platinum blonde hair. "Of course you are. Now stop saying sex in front of Aldo; you're making him uncomfortable."
"I could stand to hear a bit more!" Finn cut in, half-raising her hand.
"Finn," Aldo asked, giving her a dubious look, "You're not getting turned on by this, are you?"
"You're not?"
"Rika!" Aldo cried, noticing that she had not come backstage with the rest of them and had just arrived. "Look guys, Rika's here!"
"I'm glad you missed me." She replied amusedly. Finn was still jumping around the room as Mr. Ishida entered the room with an older, attractive blonde man and a younger man Rika thought looked familiar.
"Well done!" Mr. Ishida said proudly as he directed the newcomers to a nearby couch. "You were even better than before. There are some people who'd like to meet you. This is Johnny Storm."
"Lead singer for Sinner. You also manage Feeder." Strata said, awed as he shook hands with the brunette. "Nice to meet you. Strata."
In turn, the band shook hands with Johnny and introduced themselves. "It's very nice to meet you all. You played very well tonight."
The older man coughed politely behind Mr. Ishida. "Oh, yes, I'm sorry, Matt. Let me introduce you…" Matt stepped forward next to Johnny and offered his hand to Rika.
"Matt Ishida."
"But – I thought – " Rika looked quizzically at the other Mr. Ishida as she shook Matt's hand.
"Yeah, that's Koji, my assistant." Matt said, looking sheepish. "There are not enough hours in the day, I'm afraid, so I needed him to fill in for me, Miss…"
"Nonaka. Rika."
"Ah, yes. Rumiko's kid." Matt grinned. "Be a doll and tell your mother to stop calling me."
Rika rolled her eyes. "Like my mom would waste her time with a pretty boy like you."
"Mr. Ishida?" Finn said, cutting in. "One word: Statutory. Stop flirting."
"As your friend here said, Johnny sings in a very promising group, Sinner. Their second record was only released three weeks ago and already it has hit platinum."
"You played well tonight." Johnny complimented, ignoring the other two men. "You have good future ahead; I can tell."
"You-you think?" Aldo asked.
"Yes." Johnny admitted, grinning deviously. "And we – the band and I – would like to help you with that."
"What did you have in mind?" Finn asked, twirling her drumsticks as she gave the older man an appreciative once over.
"We're having a concert in three months and we need a warm up." Johnny informed them firmly, before he melted into another wicked smile. "Are you interested?"
The band stared a Rika who stared back blankly. "I don't know; are we?"
"And if the show goes well," Mr. Ishida jumped in, "and the audience like you, we could maybe begin working on some sort of contract…"
"Excuse us…" Finn smiled warmly and gathered the band near the couch, their heads almost touching. "Well?"
"What do you mean well? Of course we're going; they're offering us a freaking record-deal!" Aldo cried in his loudest whisper.
"Yeah but only if the crowd likes us." Hasbro reminded them.
"And it's not easy to please a crowd."
"We're warming up for SINNER! Do you really think the audience cares about us?"
"I dunno. Maybe we should ask out parents first?" Rika suggested. "We are underage."
"I'm going to be eighteen in two weeks." Aldo quickly informed them.
"Hasbro will be eighteen in a month and I'll be in seven weeks." Strata pointed out. "You two ladies are the only ones under eighteen when it's show time."
"We should still check with them."
"Oh, come on!" Hasbro almost shrieked, but managed to keep his frustrated voice below a whisper. "It's a record deal! We have the opportunity to play with Sinner and you want to ask your mother? Please, when have any of us asked any of our parents anything doing with this band?"
"He's got a point." Strata admitted.
"So, we're doing it then?" Finn asked, and once again, all eyes turned to Rika.
She took a deep breath as she examined the faces of her fellow band mates. "Let's do it."
"Thank you!" Aldo exclaimed as they all turned to Mr. Ishida, Koji, and Johnny.
"Well?" Matt asked. "Do we have an opening act?"
Rika sent a pointed look towards Aldo who had begun to do some sort of one-person tango, before grabbing Finn and pulling her into a wild spin.
"Do you really have to ask?"
Johnny smiled at the pair. Aldo let Finn go mid-turn, sending her careening into Johnny's arms. They stared at each other a minute before they nearly sprang apart, awkwardly glancing around the room at anything other than each other.
"Very well." Johnny paused to clear his throat. "If you'd give me your number, I'll get in touch with you and we can get over all the details…"
Finn smiled as she reached into one of her many cargo pockets and removed a gel pen. "If you wanted my number, Pretty Boy, all you had to do was ask."
"Yeah, last I knew," Matt cut in, grinning as the tall girl scribbled her information on the back of Johnny's hand, "they would be giving their number to me."
"Well, y'know, I like to be involved in new projects."
"Oh, yeah." Finn smiled. "I know exactly what you mean."
Rika slung an arm over her friends shoulder and pulled her away. "To quote my soon-to-be-famous best friend, "one word: statutory. Stop flirting"."
"But that's different: you're a hard-ass; I'm a dance floor."
"Thank you all but now, we must be leaving." Matt told the group. "Johnny has to be in San Francisco tomorrow."
"Hey Johnny?" Finn called, as the two men were about to leave. He turned around and gave her a suspicious look. "We'll try not to show you guys up, yeah?"
He smiled and looked like he was about to reply when Matt pushed him out through the door. "Let's go, Romeo."
If one word could describe their situation, no one of them knew it. In that one moment, when all of their dreams were about to come true, there was very little they could say at all. But after an hour of silence (and being forcibly removed so the next band could get in there) Strata was able to come up with something pretty close to what they were all thinking.
"Wow."
And their journey began.