A/N: A long time since this was touched but now its finally here set to be updated. This was cut down by nealry 60 percent of its original length so keep that in mind. Enjoy.
Chapter 9: American Riff-Off
Maki played a tune on the piano set up in the ballroom as she did one final run through just to get everything working.
"Maki, we've got to move."
"Rin what time is it…"
As the girls got a look at the clock the realization ran straight through their faces. The two quickly rushed out to the rest of the group and the director awaiting the bus that will take them to Bardren. The boarding was immediate and the bus ride over did not come smoothly as motion sickness took its toll on Umi and Nico.
"Well, I thought I was a nervous nelly." Hanayo's jab was a bit much as the bus pulled onto the Barden Pavilion.
"Ok, lets see what this is like…" Honoka was the first to get up and head off the bus and the group all filled out and got a look at the wide open space of Barden.
"American Colleges…not bad…" Nozomi said it all is the director lead the group into the main auditorium.
3 ½ Hours Later….
"Well that sucked…." Umi hit the nail on the head as the 10 left the auditorium headed back to the bus.
"So I guess that could have been a little better…" Honoka tried to look on the bright side of things but the rest of the group especially Nico was not having it.
"Better, you call that better…the only song we happened to know there was Kokirikobushi, we write and perform great songs, yet we couldn't do original stuff as that stupid Jesse mentioned that they had to be previous songs."
As the group interspersed by themselves as the bus began the drive back to the hotel, Maki lamented while Eli held back to have a word with her.
"Well Maki, what do you think…"
"I think that we need to come up with some good mashups…Otherwise what we're doing here is bringing shame to our country and an entire industry looking to us now for inspiration."
Eli thought and smiled coming up with an idea.
"Maki, I want you to be our leader at least until we get back to Japan…"
"Well why me, Honoka's our leader…
"When I talk with Honoka later tonight after we practice I'll bring it up, but seeing as you seem to be the only one here who knows the ins and out of what those Bellas manage to pull off. You could be the one to pull us together."
Maki never felt as insecure as she did when she first got coerced into joining μ's, this wouldn't be east for her and she knows that it could be the stepping stone for bigger things once the 6 older members of the group were to leave.
"Ok, just I hope you can convince Honoka to take your advice…"
Eli lamented on those words.
"Don't worry about that just think about what songs we've now got to mash up."
As the bus arrived back at the hotel the group filed out and walked into the lobby. Eli headed for where the paino was stationed. Kotori noticed and broke off from the group heading to the elevator.
"Maki is everything all right…"
"Yeah, go on ahead I got an idea and I want to get it down before I lose it."
Maki walked over to the piano and could feel herself prepping to do what she does best. She played out a couple notes and hummed concurrently to herself.
"Hello Darkness My old friend….I thought i'd never see you again…."
The practice took a bit but for the young lyracist it was what was needed as she got the bad performance at the riff-off out of her system. The group knew she was excellent at composing but for Maki when its just her and the piano she does wonders with the keys. When she stepped away from the piano after finishing, inspiration for her had struck.
"Let's make this work…"
Maki exited the ballroom and headed for the elevator determined to not let her session go to waste.
A/N: We Pick things up next time with forced interactions between the groups via practices. Stay Tuned and Subscribe for More.