Nothing much to say with this one. This one is a bit more strange than the others, but I really like it. I was glad that I could do a chapter about one of my favorite bands. So I hope when you all read this, that you all feel as good as I do right now.
And I promise that this chapter won't have the crazy errors like the last one did. ^^;
Disclaimer: Lucky Star is properity of Yoshimizu Kagami and is dubbed by Bandai Entertainment. Additional disclaimers are below in order to not spoil the readers.
Kagami was walking sluggishly through the streets as she got out of school. It wasn't too great of a day for her. Being bombarded with tests by Sakuraba-sensei and poked constantly by her best friend during lunch made things very bad for her. So much so that she didn't want to go on the bus ride home. The tsundere's patience was wearing very thin, by today's standards. One could mistake her appearance as a lavender tiger at close range.
"Lousy school. Can't wait till I'm out of there." She muttered to herself. "However, college isn't looking too great."
The elder Hiiragi twin had to worry about this concept soon enough. Even though she would have to eventually move to college, she worried about her living conditions constantly. After today, she didn't really like the idea of living with Tsukasa or Konata. Both of them would just be irritating hassles even if they had great cooking skills. Her hands began to shake just thinking about them.
"Stupid Konata. Had to poke at my stomach while I was eating today. Yes, I worry about my weight. Who cares? She should be worrying about her own weight. She's so tiny and spends all day sitting, that her metabolism could crash at any minute! Can't believe she roped me into buying her something..."
"If get me the newest, limited edition issue of Jump, I promise not to make any weight jokes at you for a month." Konata said, as Kagami remembered earlier that day.
"Better do this as soon as possible."
The tsundere walked her way to the one store she could think of where they would still be selling manga magazine. Of course, she didn't want to go all the way to Akihabara for the Gamerz store. She signed, feeling that buying items from Animate would become an awkward experience, after being very admired by the manager. While she would normally ignore such people, Anizawa's form of obsession almost had sort of a gravitational pull.
Kagami stopped her tracks as she passed by the store. She took a few steps back, looking to see that door was closed and the lights were off. It was very peculiar considering the sales team. If they could keep the store open up all day, they would. Even the displays were taken down. She shrugged it off, deciding tomorrow would be better for it. Even if tomorrow she would be barraged by wave after wave of fat jokes. At least Kagami could counter with short jokes.
At that moment, a pair of hands reached out of the shadows, grabbing her by the shoulders. Kagami was about to react, but couldn't. A strange smell had immediately knocked her unconscious. The poor girl fell limp as her body was carried into a nearby alley. A few people in red aprons moved quickly as the dim sky concealed their identities. Everything would soon come to pass in a few minutes...
Kagami's eyes immediately shot open to see the odd surroundings by her. It was quite illuminated, causing her to shut her eyes back shut. She tried moving, but couldn't. Her arms were chained to a metal hook about a foot above her heads. Fortunately for her, it was long enough and loose enough not to cause any damage. A television screen was placed by a door that was right in front of them.
The twin-tailed girl began to squirming away on the chains. She wasn't sure what was going to happen, but it sounded an awful amount like a blog written by Konata. The lights soon turned down to a less blinding mode and the screen turned on. A voice then filled the room with relief. A few voices actually.
"Finally...I can see now." A boy said.
"Who said that?!" Kagami shouted.
"Kagami?"
"Kaito-san, is that you?" She said with a bit of rage. "Did you put me in this situation!?"
"Turn your head." He said plainly.
The Hiiragi twin did so, seeing Kaito in the same situation. His friend was also in the chains, waving at her with his captured hand.
"Oh great, I can see where this is going." Kagami said, connecting the dots.
"Yep." Kaito said.
"I hope this doesn't happen again." Ryuta sighed.
The television screen finally came up with a picture. It was a shaky webcam, with the manager of Animate grinning right into the lens. All three of them felt a series of sweat drops forming all over their bodies. He backed away, allowing everyone to see his body language.
"HELLO MY FELLOW BANDMATES!" Meito grinned.
"Hi, Meito-san." The boys said flatly.
"Why are we chained up like this?!" Kagami demanded.
"No worries, Kagami-sama. Nothing is going to happen. This is just a formality."
"Doesn't answer my question." She grumbled
"Why are we tied up though?" Kaito asked. "If you just wanted to talk, you should come to us. I just wanted to buy the newest Jump."
"Me too." Ryuta added. "But this is a signal; that we are men and we need to be able to kick the habit of Jump."
"It's just too addicting really."
"I picked a bad day to come here..." The tsundere said.
"We received another gig. The only issue was that it was tonight."
"Okay, that's understandable." The Marimo-head teenager said. "Still, you could have just told us."
"The reason we chained you up is so that you couldn't ignore us, run away, or cover your ears. You guys might have had homework, but this gig could be a great win for Animate."
"Now this is making a little bit of sense." Kaito said.
"Still wish we could have avoided the dungeon scenario." Kagami said her voice thick like natto.
"Where is the venue?"
"Just a cosplay cafe." Meito smiled
"Cool." Kaito shrugged.
"If you just told us that, we would have hopped on instantly."
"Don't tell me I have to cosplay..." Kagami grunted.
"Well..." He stated. He walked away from the camera at the moment. The boys were rather interested to know what was going to happen, but the tsundere just wasn't pleased by this at all. Felt like everyone would take advantage of her patience. Meito came back on the screen with a picture of an interesting little outfit. It was very decorative, but a common staple for anime shows. "Since we are mostly male and this is a cosplay cafe, we'll just be wearing these waiter's outfits. Even Kagami-san shall be wearing this."
"That doesn't sound too bad." Kagami shrugged.
"Ah yes...that's pretty nice." Kaito commented. "Even girls can look nice in that outfit. It's very strange how you can find moé moments in any kind of clothing."
"So...ARE YOU ALL UP FOR THIS!?" He said with complete confidence and excitement.
Kaito and Kagami acknowledged their very odd friend's request. Playing the game was still very fun, even if this was probably the most demented way to convince them to play it. Ryuta was interested, but had a grimace on his face. He did want to change things up a little.
"I'll join, but we need to pick a song with good drums." Ryuta said.
"Oh, I can handle that Ryuta-kun." Kaito said.
"EXCELLENT! WE SHALL PERFORM IN ONE HOUR!"
"An hour?!" All three of them shouted.
The metal covering their wrists broke off at that moment, freeing them. They weren't sure what to expect from this night.
In one hectic hour filled with screaming and complaints, things were finally set up. Animate finally took the time to purchase their own copy of the game along with a fully set up Xbox 360 Elite. Everything was downloaded for gaming perfection and longevity. All four players were huddled behind a curtain around the large screen television they were prepared to play off of.
"Everything set up?" Ryuta asked, sitting by his drum kit.
"Yes, Ryuta-san!" Meito confirmed. "The televisions are hooked up to the game and ready to go! There's the one behind us, of course, and the one in front of the stage so we can look at our notes."
"Wonderful." Kaito said.
"Looks like things will go along well." Kagami said, stretching her neck in her outfit. It was kind of loose for her, but it wasn't like the clothes men wore outrageously different.
"I like this venue though." Kaito said, looking through a small opening through the curtains.
"What are they dressed as?" His friend looking over him.
"Oh, just a drama anime." He said in a bland manner, getting Meito's attention.
"Oooh! What a spectacle!"
"Could I have the beef bowl?" One of the customers asked.
"Ahaha~" A waitress said, wearing a long taupe-colored wig. "You'll have to wait twenty minutes."
"Not a bad choice for a theme." Kaito grinned as he looked on.
"Oy, why is she playing the main heroine?" Ryuta complained. "Her boobs are too big."
"No one is going to care." His best friend debated.
"Of course they will care! Marketing relies on authenticity!" Meito defended.
"Better move this along..." Kagami groaned to herself. She had better get them focused on the matter at hand then have this turn into one long otaku conversation. "Anizawa-san, where are we playing anyway?"
The hot-blooded teacher looked away from the waitresses to return to the gig. He smiled proudly as he wiped his thumb across his nose. "Simple, Kagami-san. We shall stick to everything as my superiors have instructed! We are striking where the iron is hot, but playing at LEGENDARY GIRL A'S COSPLAY CAFE!"
"What?!" Kagami shouted. "I have to play in front of Konata?!"
"You didn't look ahead?" Kaito said. "I mean, Konata and Patricia are right there." He said, pointing at the two girls sitting at a table. Konata was all dressed up with a plastic sword and everything. "I heard Hiyori-chan is going to join them."
"I...gah..." The tsundere growled, placing her fingers between her eyes. "Let's just play. I just want to get on with this thing."
Meito gave the signal towards the manager of the cafe as he went towards his position. The manager allowed the lights to dim, causing excitement to steam from the customers. Ryuta returned to his kit, while Kagami and Kaito moved to the left and right sides of the stage, respectively. The curtain slowly rose up, showing silhouettes of all four members. The lights flashed on them instantly.
As they were about to start...
"Oi! Kagamin is playing again!" Konata said from the crowd. "You should be dressed like one of us!"
"No!" She denied.
"Ah...but we're missing someone! And purple haired girls are perfect for that duckbill style of hair!" Konata quipped, causing Kagami to clench her fist.
"What's your band called!?" A customer asked.
"Nanashi?" The guitarist suggested.
"Yeah, that works." Ryuta shrugged.
After all the banter settled, the song finally set up. The setting in the games matched perfectly with the silence of the audience. On one side of the screen, a small amount of notes dropped across each fret. Kaito strummed them delicately, as the sounds of acoustic guitar echoed throughout the cafe for a good twenty seconds. All was calm and serene as everyone tilted to their heads to the sounds of the instruments and bells. Meito stuck out his hand as he began to sing the lyrics:
"And the men who hold high places...must be the ones who start!" He began, with Kaito now playing chords. "To mold a new reality, closer to the heart.
Closer to the heart."
Meito slowly bowed his head as the guitarist finished his picking with a nice three-note chord. He took a short breath, as the bass and drums entered their way into the song with steady beats.
"The blacksmith and the artist! Reflect it in their art! They forge their creativity...closer to the heart.
Yes, closer to the heart."
Ryuta ended that moment with a smooth roll across all of his drums, landing a unison bonus from the team. As gold shined in the eyes of every patron, the song had moved at a slow pace with nothing coming up on any side of the screen. Only the sounds of lovely chimes had filled the room during the brief stop. It was quite appropriate considering that it was the first week of December. As the game play returned to the players, Meito made a kick at the audience.
"Philosophers and ploughmen! Each must know his part! To sow a new mentality...closer to the heart!"
Things start to really shift for the song at that point. The bass started to sound a bit louder while the drums started to play in a more intricate manner.
"YES, CLOSER TO THE HEART!!!! YEAH!"
Meito bent down to his knees and pressed against his diaphragm as he began to speak at his newest vocal high point.
"WHOOOOOAAA!!!"
The band's points went up insanely high at that point, as Kaito took the stage with his solo. It was only a few long sustains, the sound it created caused a new aura of excitement to flourish throughout the crowd. The band truly moved in tandem from that moment. The guitar played a few swift, descending notes while the drummer pounded away at his snares and cymbals. Kagami kept up the pace with a few fast plucks of her own while Meito was tapping the microphone as the game instructed.
As the Kaito's instrument squealed banshee notes, the crowd was really getting into it. Even with the loud guitar, the bass and the drums erratic patterns blended in with the melody incredibly well. Everyone began to slap against their tables like the low notes being played on stage. Unknown to Konata and Patricia however, a ravaged Hiyori was panting as she came into the cafe. She slowly set herself down by her friends while they were raving on.
"Oooh, this sounds amazing!" Konata cheered.
"Musicians are enchanting, aren't they?" Patricia pondered on as she looked at the stage.
"Did, did I miss anything?" Hiyori panted.
"They just finished up their solo."
Just as they spoke, the blue from Kaito's side of the screen had disappeared. The music had returned to the early stage of the song that only focused on acoustic guitar, but this time it was backed up by the bass line. Ryuta intensified the sound smashing the bass pedal, the snare, and the tom-tom all at the same time. After Meito stopped tapping the microphone, the song returned to the main riff as vocals entered the scene:
"WHOA! WHOA! YOU CAN BE THE CAPTAIN, AND I WILL DRAW THE CHART!"
The Tenchou directed his eyes across the room as he smiled at all of them. "SAILING INTO DESTINY...CLOSER TO THE HEART!
CLOSER TO THE HEART!
WELL, CLOSER TO THE HEART! YEAH!!!
CLOSER TO THE HEART!
CLOSER TO THE HEART!"
Focus moved to Ryuta at the moment, which went on a multiple rolls, followed by several various irregular beats between each drum. Bashing two pads at once, he constantly switched from the regular pattern to these sporadic movements. Meito continued echoing the chorus throughout the room.
"I SAID: CLOSER TO THE HEART!
WELL, CLOSER TO THE HEART! YEAH!!!
CLOSER TO YOUR HEART.
CLOSER TO YOUR HEART!"
The song capped off that moment with one last crazy moment from the drums, followed by two long sustains from the two guitars. Meito gave off a loud "WHOOOOA!!!" as the song ended with the serene setting it had painted. As the song concluded, the crowd started to give a standing ovation. The power of progressive rock had invigorated the audience. The waitresses in particular were surprised at their performance. They had to perform too, but it wasn't usually that elaborate.
"Ooo, wow! Amazing! Brilliant!" Several voices came from the audience.
"That was fun..." Ryuta said.
"The solo wasn't that hard, still very impressive though." Kaito nodded.
"YA-HOO!" Meito cheered as he jumped around the stage. One could believe that he had rockets in his shoes. "I HAVE IMPRESSED LEGENDARY GIRL A!"
"Play again! Play again!" Konata began to chant. Others joined into fun by stomping against the table. "Play again! Play again!"
"I'm up for more songs." Kaito stretched his neck.
"That same band has a forty minute album in the game, let's play that!"
"I thought this was only going to be one song kind of thing." Kagami said.
"Kagamin..." Konata moaned. "You can't just entertain the crowd by playing just one song! When you buy a tankōbon, you don't just stop at one chapter. You read all the way through it!"
"I've had a long day!" She defended.
"Did you happen to get the newest Jump?" She suggested. Kagami stiffened, forgetting about the deal they had made. "If you play through the whole set list, I won't make any insults! You might even lose a few pounds!"
The twin-tailed girl looked away from her friend. It was a great deal, but she wished she could have reminded her about the positives without saying anything snappy. She shrugged it off, looking back at the crowd with enthusiasm.
"Let's play the album!" She shouted, causing the audience to go into a frenzy.
As the game loaded up, the cosplay cafe would go through a night they would never forget.
"ALRIGHT!" President Takahashi screamed as he slammed the phone, breaking it. He pointed to several people in his office. "GOOD NEWS, TEAM. ANIMATE IS SECURE FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR!"
Meito, Kaito, Kagami and Ryuta looked at each other, pleased by the results. Playing this faux-band gave them incredible benefits. After playing that eight song set in Akihabara, they had received great recognition through several otaku circles. Animate was able to rake in all the cash and everyone was rather pleased. Anizawa bowed down to his superior.
"I am..." He muttered, tears rolling down from his cheeks. "So proud to work for this company. I'm so happy that we had escaped the jaws of destruction in the nick of time."
"We're all proud, Meito-san." Kaito said, bowing down to his level.
"Yet...while it is good that we avoided any problems, WE HAVE A NEW MISSION!" The president boomed at his team of entertainers. "I have set up a new venue for you all! If we get this, you guys will become really famous!"
"Fame?!" Ryuta said, taken back from the statement.
"Wow...didn't expect that. Though I've wondered what it would be like to have adoration on a large scale like all of Japan." Kagami wondered.
"There is just one catch...it's on CHIRSTMAS EVE!"
"Christmas Eve?!" All four of them questioned.
The bar of difficulty was really raised high from that mere utterance. On a special day such as that, they couldn't screw up. Nanashi circled around their boss to be briefed for their next assignment. Something on this level of magnitude could make or break the success they had briefly owned.
Hope you all enjoyed that. And yes, that means I will be making a chapter around Chirstmas. This will be your Chirstmas special from me, Lucky Star fans! Please review!
Disclaimer Number Two: Rock Band 2 is property of Harmonix Studios. Closer to the Heart was written by Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart and Peter Talbot. Produced by Rush and Terry Brown and Labeled by Mercury Records.