Chapter 4:

Secrets Revealed

"Darkest Hour", the song that changed Saiko's life. It originally started out as a diss track calling out Bob on his ego trip, but soon blossomed into the breakthrough hit that defined her career as a rock star. There were plenty of posters around the world advertising the diss track, and Senbo's lower-class family was lucky enough to be able to afford one. As it hung on the boy's bedroom wall, he would often stare at it to think about the joy Saiko's music brought him.

Now, however, the poster was only a reminder of how much Senbo sucked as a musician, since the guitar he was yearning for was featured in the poster. Try as he might, he couldn't get his hands on it. The more he looked at that poster, the more upset it made him. After sulking in his bedroom for a while, he found himself growing angry at the talented anime girl.

Eventually, he took a red marker from his bedroom drawer, and started drawing things on the poster. Some rather unflattering things. An arrow through her head. Dots all over her face to simulate acne. A thought bubble that read "I M STOOPIT". X's on her eyes. And the list goes on.

"Hi," the young wannabe musician said mockingly, "my name is Slut Stain the Bitch Bag, and my head is jammed so far up my smelly ass that I couldn't be bothered to share my awesome guitar with anyone! Not even a poor, dying family! I don't like sharing! I don't like caring! The only thing I like is money, my ugly face, men's dicks, and crushing the dreams of people who JUST WANT TO BE LIKE ME!"

As soon as Senbo was finished with the "improvements" he made to Saiko's image on the poster, he threw his marker at it as hard as he could, not caring that it fell on top of the lamp, causing it to fall over and break. In his rage, Senbo plopped onto his bed to bury his head into his pillow and scream into it.

The angry boy made a lot of noise in his cursing of Saiko. Enough to grab the attention of a certain female in his life. Aibo came into his bedroom to see the results of her boyfriend's tantrum, which he was so into, he didn't hear her come in.

"Senbo?" she said, which finally got his attention.

"Aibo?" he said, surprised.

Quickly, Senbo got out of his bed and ran towards his lady as though his massive childish tantrum never happened.

"Aibo!" he happily greeted. "There she is! There's my sweetie pie! My lovely angel! My everything!"

But his compliments did little to distract her from his messy bedroom as a result of his tantrum, most notably—and noticeably—the…alterations he made to Saiko's "Darkest Hour" poster. Which was a shame, because Senbo was hoping that acknowledging how beautiful Aibo was would have made her forget.

"Am I interrupting?" she asked.

"No, no, of course not," insisted Senbo almost desperately.

"I guess spring cleaning came early this year," deadpanned Aibo.

"Oh, my room?" said Senbo. "I was just uh…you know, I was…heh. You know…"

There was a short pause as he couldn't come up with a good excuse for his pigsty of a room—and Aibo now staring at him in an armfold only made him feel more nervous.

"I know what?" she asked almost sternly. "Wait, don't tell me. I already know the answer. I know you've been trying to manipulate Saiko into giving you her guitar."

"Ah, crap," was all Senbo could say in response to this.

"You just couldn't put that guitar out of your head like I asked you to," said Aibo.

At this moment, all of the boy's anger and frustration towards the anime girl faded away, for the time being. Now all he felt was embarrassment and shame for not listening to his girlfriend. What kind of boyfriend does that? He knew he had let her down.

"What gave me away?" asked Senbo quietly.

"You disappeared for an hour every other day of the week since we were at Saiko's house," explained Aibo. "It takes a half-hour to walk to her house, and another half-hour to walk back. Not to mention how you haven't been blowing 'Darkest Hour' through your speakers like you usually do."

Senbo didn't know what to say to this. All he could do was shrug and give his girlfriend a weak smile.

"Well, you got me," he said meekly. "Nothing gets by you."

Aibo just shook her head and sighed, which didn't make her boyfriend feel any better. She didn't even look mad at him. Just disappointed. And Senbo didn't know which was worse.

"I should have known you wouldn't give up on that guitar so easily," she said, "even though you know full well how dangerous Saiko can be when she gets mad. You need help."

Right out of nowhere, Aibo got out a tiny piece of paper. Senbo wasn't sure what it was, but it didn't give him a good feeling.

"You're putting me in an asylum?!" he asked, shocked.

…but once Aibo unfolded the piece of paper, his worries were quickly nullified. The more she unfolded it, the clearer it became that this wasn't a pamphlet for an asylum. They were blueprints. Blueprints that were already chock-full of details, from objectives to illustrations.

"No," she replied almost menacingly. "I'm helping you get your hands on that bitch's guitar. I devised a perfect plan to lure her out of the house so you can play it while she's gone."

Senbo let out a long gasp in amazement at this revelation. To say he was completely blown away would be an understatement. Aibo originally tried to talk him out of going after Saiko's guitar out of concern for his safety, and he didn't listen to her. Now, not only was she helping him go after Saiko's guitar, but she came to his house with a plan. As grateful as he was for this change of heart, he had just one question for his girlfriend before they could get started.

"But…why?" he asked.

"Because," explained Aibo, "you're clearly so passionate about your dream to be a musician that you were willing to play Saiko's guitar without her permission despite knowing she could kill you, and I obviously can't stop you. So, if you truly think that guitar is the key to her success, then you should go about obtaining it the right way. My way. Will you let me help you, Senbo? I'm willing to sell my soul to the devil to make your dreams come true."

With every word that left Aibo's mouth, Senbo grew more and more excited. He felt himself becoming closer to playing Saiko's guitar by the second, thanks to his girlfriend. And all he had to do was change tactics. His way clearly wasn't working, so he figured he should give her way a try. How hard could it be to lure Saiko out of the house anyway? Not wanting to keep Aibo waiting for his answer any longer, Senbo gave his response.

"Yes," he replied eagerly. "Yes, I will."

With their agreement met, Aibo quickly grabbed Senbo's hand, motioning him to follow her.

"Come with me," she beckoned. "We have much to talk about."

Aibo ran rather fast out of the bedroom, barely giving Senbo much time to catch up. But he didn't care. It would all be worth it in the end. Saiko's guitar would be within his grasp.

"Two loving souls, one special bond.

Right for each other all along.

Proof that love conquers all.

Let your doubts and worries fall."

Another day, another successful gig. Saiko, Meggy, Shroomy, and Whimpu have just finished performing for the happy couple. The love songs they played for the occasion set the mood perfectly. Who knew Fuego and Toast Guy would be so good together? Actually, not very many people. A talking Russian water bottle and a toast-obsessed Shy Guy seemed like the most insane pairing ever, but nobody really complained about it. Love is love, and all that.

The minister conducting the ceremony was none other than Kermit the Frog. The other attendees couldn't think of a more appropriate candidate for the job. After all, he was already an Olympian, a carny, a DJ, a judge, a news anchor, a mini-game host, the top student at Final Fantasy academy, a pizza delivery guy, a sheriff, and the would-be conqueror of Egypt. Why not a minister?

The turnout and audience this time wasn't as big as the one from the concert over a week ago, mostly due to how much smaller the wedding chapel is. Not as many of the bands' friends were there either, presumably because they didn't connect as much with Fuego and Toast Guy. The band was amazed they were able to get Mario alone (who, by this point, was completely healed) as an attendee, given that he and Kermit hated each other. Axol and Melony were also there, but once again, the latter slept through the entire thing.

And also again, Tari was absent, likely enjoying some time at Peach's castle or at home. This was understandable, the band thought, as she could use some relaxation after her adventure at Sprawling Savannah and all that charity work, though Saiko was at least hoping she was beating someone's ass in a game or two.

Since this was a wedding and not a concert, there wasn't any time for autographs. This was not an easy thing to cope with in Saiko's case due to her vanity, but the audience still applauded for the band, so there was that. Some people even threw bouquets for the band, including a corn bouquet—as in a corn on the cob wrapped in a neat little bow. No guesses as to who that came from.

"Jolly good show, chaps! Jolly good show!"

The band knew that voice.

"Howdy-do, Jeeves!" greeted Shroomy as they turned to find the sentient fork standing right by them.

"There's our manager!" greeted Meggy.

Indeed, Jeeves was the one responsible for booking and promoting Saiko's music gigs. Just like Kermit, he had quite the resume when it came to past jobs. The band couldn't think of a more appropriate candidate for their manager. After all, he was already a waiter, a math teacher, an umpire, the announcer for the Mushroom Kingdom awards…well, you get the idea.

"Unfortunately," said Jeeves, "there doesn't appear to be any gigs prepared for you anytime soon."

"That's okay," said Shroomy. "We could use a little break anyway."

"I hear some hooligan has been giving you some trouble," said a concerned Jeeves, keeping an eye particularly on Mario, "and I should know about hooligans giving you trouble."

"That is correct," confirmed Whimpu. "This guy named Senbo's been trying to get his greedy little hands on my queen's guitar."

"But no worries," reassured Shroomy. "Once we get that security system all paid for, it will all be—"

Before the mushroom boy scout could finish his sentence, they heard Saiko gasping in horror, and turned to see her looking at her phone in shock.

"What's wrong?" asked Whimpu with concern.

"Guys," said the panicking anime girl, "I just got a text from SMG4. Tari fell down the stairs!"

All the other band members gasped in response to this shocking news.

First of all, I just want to say thank you to those who've been keeping up with my story so far. I know it's not getting a lot of views, but I'm not asking for a lot, and every little bit helps.

Going by my analytics, I couldn't help but notice that the story is getting more hits on DeviantArt than on here. Clearly you guys like it better if it has illustrations. And I can understand that, being a visual learner myself. This does not mean I will stop releasing chapters on here period, but it's good to know what makes the story work.

As always, Chapter 5 will be released next week. Stay tuned.