Chapter Five
Haruka awoke slowly the next morning. Autumn sunlight was streaming in through the gap in the curtains. Her eyes were sticky and heavy. She wanted to drop off to sleep again, but curiosity got the better of her and she opened her eyes. Her eyes fell on the empty bed next to her. She sat up slowly.
"Mummy?" she called.
Mami dropped the slice of bread she was holding and dashed to her daughter.
"Yes honey," she said.
"Nothing," said Haruka. She smiled. "Good morning mummy."
Mami hugged and kissed her daughter.
"Good morning my angel," she said. "Did you sleep well?"
Haruka nodded.
"Like I hadn't slept for a million years," replied Haruka.
"You can go back to sleep again if you want sweetie," said Mami. "Sleep as long as you like."
Haruka looked at clock. It read, "08:15"
"I can't," she said urgently. "If I sleep all morning, we won't have time to do anything. Daddy is coming today."
"Don't worry about that," said Mami. "Sleep as long as you like. Make yourself at home."
"But this is my home," said Haruka.
Mami smiled.
At that moment and loud wailing filled the apartment. Mami sprang up and ran to the kitchen. Haruka tore after her. The kitchen was full of acrid black smoke. Mami pulled out a small metal tray that was home to two small lumps of burned bread. She tossed them into the bin and placed the metal tray on the work surface.
"What happened mummy?" asked Haruka.
"I was making you some French Toast but mummy was silly and left it to cook for too long," replied Mami. "Never mind, I can make some more."
"We," corrected Haruka.
"Pardon?" asked Mami.
"We," replied Haruka. "We can make some more."
Mami beamed at her daughter as she grabbed a kick stool and perched herself at the work surface to place slices of bread into a large bowl of beaten eggs.
"Come on Daddy," called Yuki grabbing her fathers hand and pulling him onwards. "Keep up."
It was a sunny Sunday morning and she was at the zoo with her parents. Yuki dashed up to an enclosure of Pandas. Yuki pressed her face up against the glass to get a better look at them.
"They're pandas honey," said Rina as her daughter gazed at them.
"They are so cute!" explained Yuki.
A female panda waddled towards the glass where Yuki was standing and turned to face her. It gazed at her.
"Mummy look," cried Yuki.
Without hesitation Rina pulled her iPhone out of her pocket and attempted to take a picture of her daughter with the Panda. Yuki turned to face her mother and posed with the "V" sign.
She snapped the picture and then dragged her mother and father with her.
"Let's have one together," she said.
"Hey," called Rina to a young women. She handed her her iPhone. "Can you take one of all of us?"
"Sure," said the woman.
She took her iPhone as the family gathered themselves together.
"Ready?" asked the woman.
"Ready!" they called.
"1,2,3," counted the woman. She took the picture and gave it back to Rina.
"Thank you," said Rina.
"No problem," said the woman. She was about to leave, but stopped suddenly. She recognised Rina. But...it couldn't be, surely not. Scandal had disbanded for ten years, it couldn't be Rina.
"Excuse me," said the woman before she could stop herself. "You look awfully familiar. You're not Rina Suzuki by any chance are you?"
Rina looked at her surprised.
"Yes," replied Rina. "I'm her."
"Rina Suzuki?" asked the woman incredulously. "The Rina Suzuki? Drummer of Scandal?"
It seemed pointless to argue, but she really hadn't been expecting this.
"Yes," said Rina stoutly.
"Wow!" said the young woman. Her pretty face breaking into a huge coat hanger smile. "It's an honour to meet you. Can you sign this for me?"
"Sure," said Rina. "What is it?"
The young lady pulled out a rather battered copy of "R-Girls Rock." It was Scandal's first album they ever made.
"You've been carrying this around with you all this time?" asked Rina. "Waiting to meet one of us?"
"No," said the young woman. "I just bought it from the music antiques shop."
"Coincidence," said Rina as the young woman gave her a marker pen. Rina signed her name on the CD.
"Thank you," she said as Rina handed back the pen. She smiled at Yuki and turned away, looking rather embarrassed but pleased.
"Mummy?" asked Yuki. "Is she a friend of yours?"
Rina shook herself mentally. She turned to her daughter.
"No," said Rina. "Just someone who knows me."
"Isn't that the same thing?" asked Yuki.
Rina chuckled. It was hard to lie to her daughter, she was already too smart to be fooled.
"She asked you to sign something," pressed Yuki. "Why?"
"Because...because..." stammered Yuki. She looked over to her husband for assistance.
"...because your mother used to teach her child and she wanted something to remember her by," said her father lamely.
A cart being pushed by a large, smiling lady passed them.
"Do you want an ice cream?" asked Rina at once.
She looked at her parents in turn.
"Yes," she said. "But I'm not dropping this."
She made her way over to the cart. Rina looked at her husband nervously.
By the evening, Yuki was tired out. She was sat in the back of her fathers Honda Accord. Her eyes were heavy and she was settling herself in for a good, long nap. Ota glanced in the rear view mirror and saw Yuki's head lolling from side to side.
"Have a nap honey," he said. "I'll wake you up when we arrive."
She nodded heavily and had settled herself down in her seat and drifted into a dreamless sleep.
A black Honda Nsx roared past them on the highway. The owner pushed the engine all the way to 7,500RPM before changing into top gear. The engine sang, as though enjoying the punishment. Haruna rammed the stick into top gear and settled into a cruise on the half empty highway. One high-heeled shoe was resting on the accelerator holding it at 80mph. As she cruised, the radio serenaded her in the background.
The song it was playing just finished and the host was talking once more.
"That was Alice nine with RAINBOWS," he was saying. "I'm looking forward to seeing them on New Year's Eve."
The other host, a woman, added her thoughts.
"Yes," she agreed. "They were excellent back in the day. As were another band that's coming up next."
The opening notes of Haruka began.
"It's a shame that Scandal won't be making an appearance," continued the host. "Those girls really were something, I wonder what they're doing now. Anyway, here's Haruka from SCANDAL."
The song played as Haruna drove. As she was driving, images started coming to her mind.
She could see a huge stage. It was enormous. 50,000 people were screaming themselves hoarse. On the stage was an all male band. The lead singer had several feathers in his hair and the name "The Rasmus" was emblazoned on the bass drum. They finished their song to a massive applause.
"Thank you! Thank you!" called Lauri to the audience. "Now, we have some special guests with us tonight. Four ladies from Osaka, Japan. Please put your hands together for Haruna, Rina, Mami and Tomomi. SCANDAL!
The foursome entered the stage. At once huge Japanese flags covered the back of the stage. The name SCANDAL was styled on top of the flags. The Rasmus clapped with the audience as the girls position themselves on the stage. The spot lights focussed on the four girls as The Rasmus filed off quietly. Haruna shouldered her Fender, Mami her Gretsch and Tomomi her MusicMan Stingray. Rina sat behind the drums.
The intro to Shunkan Sentimental (瞬間センチメンタル) began. The crowd cheered louder and louder.
"Good evening London!" cried Haruna. "We are Scandal! And we are from JAPAN!"
The girls began their song, the crowd signing with them. Tomomi pulling her bass strings like a mad woman. Mami launched into a massive guitar solo, Haruna joined her in a mini guitar battle. The crowd were beside themselves.
A phone rang in the distance somewhere. Haruna pulled herself back to reality and swerved to avoid rear-ending a Honda Jade. She glanced at the number and pressed the blue tooth in her ear. It was the bands manger.
"Haruna," he said. "Sony are on my case. They need that album by the end of the week or they'll pull the plug."
Haruna sighed. "It still needs more work."
"Well, make sure it's done," he said. "Sony won't wait any longer. Get it done, or you will loose the contract."
He hung up leaving Haruna fuming.