Cover Girls
An alternate universe Rurouni Kenshin Fanfic
Chapter Two
"Seeing Red"
*********************************************
"Oh…"
"My…"
"God…"
The three women pulled up alongside the semicircular building that was St. Marie's auditorium with equal expressions of awe painted across their faces.
"Man oh man," Megumi whistled, "Money really does talk in Tokyo!"
The entire parking lot was covered with groups of every description. Rough-looking youths in Mohawks, girly bands that seemed to be hauling more hairspray than equipment, uninteresting characters dressed all in black, even what looked to be, for all appearances, a barbershop quartet.
"Hah!" Misao cackled from her place in the backseat of Megumi's ancient blue van, "What a bunch of pushovers, this'll be too easy!"
Both her cousin and her sister turned back to regard her in utter disbelief.
"You know Misao," Kaoru drawled, "When you were born I think Kami-sama went overboard on the optimism."
Misao stuck her tongue out at them in response, "Optomism is like money nee-san," she replied, "You can never have enough!" With that, she opened he door and headed to the back to start hauling out their equipment.
Kaoru watched her go with a glint of worry and amusement in her cobalt eyes before turning to Megumi who had much the same look in hers.
"Do you think we're in over our heads Meg?" she asked solemnly.
"Yup."
"Still want to do this?"
"Oh yeah!" Megumi replied with her foxiest grin.
Kaoru gave a short light laugh at her relative's response, "Alright," she said unlocking her door.
"Let's go!"
*************************************************
"Band name?" the bored-looking receptionist at the door asked.
Misao beamed right back, oblivious to the man's obvious nonchalance, "Ko-Neko-Neko, sir."
"Cute," he replied in that same deadpan voice, "You're up at number 25, have a blast."
"Oh we will sir, we will!" she quipped back with a giggle and a wink.
Meanwhile outside, Kaoru was cursing her luck at having to haul the heaviest pieces of equipment herself as Megumi outsmarted her again by grabbing the two guitars and heading inside, leaving her with the better part of Misao's drum-set and the amp.
"Darn kitsune," she swore lightly under her breath as she looked at the seemingly impossible task before her. After a moment she sighed and started to pull out the amp which then seemed then to be the least of her worries.
The amp really shouldn't have been a problem seeing that Kaoru was an exceptionally strong girl and very balanced on her feet. There was one, itty, bitty thing though that made it the least bit difficult…
Her cheap haircut.
"Why oh why did I ever agree to let Misao anywhere near my hair?" she asked herself for what seemed to be the millionth time that month. At least it had grown out a bit and wasn't as spiky and boyish as it was at first, but now the messy bangs constantly got in her way and since both of her arms were occupied she had no other recourse than to try and blow them out of their line of sight.
It was a moment between blows when she was temporarily blinded, that another person who was either having a similar problem or was just plain stupid, bumped into her and her heavy burden.
"Oh shiiiiittt!!!" she swore as fell backwards.
As I said before, Kamiya Kaoru's got some mean reflexes, mean being the operative word. Having landed in a position that was more to the benefit of the amp than her aching behind, she shook the hair out of her face and glared at her would-be opponent.
"Hey, watch where you're goin' lady!" she growled low in her throat.
"Oro…?" the redhead drawled finally lifting their eyes to meet Kaoru's angry ones. Long auburn hair had been knocked out of it's restraint to fall rather prettily over a pair of lean shoulders. Shoulders, which upon a second glance turned out to be very male.
The stranger "oro"-ed again as Kaoru's cheeks began to flush in embarrassment. "She" then got to his feet and reached out hand toward her.
"I'm terribly sorry," he said sheepishly as he helped her up, "I'm afraid that I wasn't watching where I was going." A short, nervous but definitely masculine laugh topped off the apology.
Fighting against the color in her cheeks, Kaoru forced herself to reply, "Yeah well…" she began, painting a frown across her features to hide her blush, "I really couldn't see where I was headed either," she explained lifting her bangs for emphasis.
The stranger laughed again, "Yeah I know what you mean," he agreed copying her, his breath catching the instant she came into focus.
"Warm violet…"
"Sapphire blue…"
Both stared at each-other for what seemed like an eternity before the sound of the next band being called snapped Kaoru out of her reverie. Grabbing her amp from the stranger with the killer eyes, she made a quick apology saying that her band would be up soon and turned away, this time using her hair to hide the school-girlish blush on her cheeks.
*****************************************************
Luckily for Ko-Neko-Neko, there was a fifteen minute intermission between bands twenty-four and twenty-five so they had a little more time than the others to get their equipment ready. Kaoru sat right on the very end of the stage, tuning her guitar while her feet swung childishly over the edge. Megumi was standing on the far side of the stage with one foot perched on the amp as she did the same to her instrument. Misao, being the wonder-child that she was, had already set up her drum-set and was now contentedly pounding out a soft tune to herself as she waited for the festivities to begin.
In fact, she wasn't even looking at her drums and her hands seemed to move out of their own free will as their mistress stared out into the half-full auditorium, her blue-green eyes scanning the crowd for something of interest.
Which she soon found.
Right there, crossing in front of the stage with a pair of drumsticks sticking out of the side pocket of his army-fatigue cargo pants, was the bishiest bishie she ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on. With a smile that would have put the Cheshire cat to shame, she held her sticks at the ready, waiting for the exact moment when he crossed right in front of her and her drums.
Megumi and Kaoru suddenly looked up from what they were doing when they heard Misao let loose with a tune usually reserved for the buxom babes of the Saturday morning cartoons she was still childishly addicted to. In front of the stage, a tall, cool-looking stranger paused slightly and looked toward the source of the disturbance as numerous giggles rippled across the room.
There, behind the drum-set sat a girl of about sixteen or seventeen who looked right back with the most unholy of grins on her face. As if that weren't enough to make the poor man uncomfortable, Misao blew him a kiss with her index and middle fingers, adding a playful wink for good measure.
Kaoru watched in a mixture of amusement and mortification as the poor man flushed and tried his best to walk and not run, to his destination at the far side of the auditorium. "Misao!" she hissed, turning about to face her sister, "You promised to behave!"
"But he's so hot!" Misao whined loudly enough to raise a few more giggles around the room.
Megumi cut them both off with a short rip of her instrument, "Down girl," she said in Misao's direction, "Tanuki, get your ass up here and let's show them we're good for something other than embarrassing unsuspecting babes."
Kaoru frowned a bit at the use of her nickname in public but nevertheless picked herself and her instrument off of the floor and made her way to the middle of the stage with the others.
*************************************************
The spiky-haired bassist of Sakbatou snickered evilly as their cooler-than-ice drummer approached with what might have passed for a scowl painted across his features.
"Seems like you found yourself a groupie, eh Shinomori?"
Aoshi chose to ignore the comment as any reaction would have only egged the rooster on. Even so, Sano continued to chuckle to himself even as he adjusted the strings of his instrument.
"Well you must admit, she's pretty cute." A second voice interjected helpfully.
Aoshi turned his icy gaze on the leader of their band with a look that would have made an unaccustomed person cringe. Kenshin, quite used to the antics of his band-mates simply echoed Sano's chuckle and turned toward the stage where the next band was about to begin.
His laughter was soon cut short as he saw who was approaching the mike at the center of the stage. Her previously messy hair now framed her pretty face, thus accenting the wonderful midnight blue of her eyes and her white T-shirt had been replaced with a form-fitting, long sleeved, black, blouse with cutouts that offered a tantalizing glimpse of the smooth, bare flesh of her shoulders. With her were two other dark-haired females, one he recognized as the girl who had been showering her affections on Aoshi earlier. The other was slim and tall, a classic beauty with a bass guitar strapped to her front.
Shyly, his blue-eyed beauty introduced the band to the judges and crowd and then stepped back to adjust her grip on her guitar. With a curt nod to the other two she began tapping out the count with her foot.
"A one, two, a one, two, three and…"
Kenshin had to resist the urge to rub his eyes as the previously shy woman instantly transformed into what was possibly the best female guitarist that he had ever heard. Slender fingers flying across the strings to make sounds that were akin to have the instrument itself sing. The other two behind her never missed a beat, matching and complimenting her skill, the previously bubbly drummer now the epitome of seriousness as her arms flew at a remarkable pace to match that of her companions with apparent ease. The bassist was no less smooth as she leaned into her instrument making her long black hair fall smoothly across her face in the process, emphasizing the beauty that she so obviously possessed.
As the intro played out, the first woman leaned into the mike and began to croon in a voice that made the awesome strains of her guitar seem under-classed.
Hey, gokigen ikaga? ROMIO-sama.
Anata ha OORUDO TAIPU to iwareteru...
KUROON ningyou-tachi no koi ha SUMAATO ni shori saretemasu.
"Kimi no motteru DNA sagashi motometeta saikou no mono sa"
Ato ha futari ga SHIMYUREESHON sureba
HAI REBURU na nisei no tanjou
Sore ba BAACHARU de yaru yori mo
Uchi nuku no ga hyakuman bai ii desho?
Rikutsu ja wakaranai y'know
Kokoro ga hoshi garu mono ha
Dare nimo wakaranai y'know
DEMONSUTOREESHON ha iranai
Anata to JURIETTO no youna
Ichizuna kimochi ga taisetsu desu ne!!!
Sanosuke looked toward the stage with a definite look of interest on his face, particularly toward the gorgeous bassist of the band. "They're not half-bad," he mused as the object of his attention tossed her hair over her shoulder during the instrumental break and began attacking her part with even more fervor than before. As for Aoshi, he was still trying to find the connection between the playful teenager who had embarrassed him earlier and the woman who pounded feverishly on her set now.
And Kenshin? His gaze was fixed on the lead of the band as she began to sway her hips seductively even as she played and leaned into the mike once more to croon the next part of her song.
Tsuishin... sou ieba kyonen,
Kamisama ga kiete shimaimashita.
Ningyou to no KOMYUNIKEESHON itsumo retsu ga akanai...
Chinami ni koko no ID KAADO
BAAKOODO no gobanme no suuji de
Tamashii no shurui ga wakaru no desu.
Sou nan desu. HAITEKU mansai
Sore ha hada o fureai nagara
Jirasu you ni kanjiru no ga ii
Rikutsu ja wakaranai y'know
Kokoro ga takanaru mono ha
Dare nimo wakaranai y'know
Kimerareta yume ha iranai
KIRE mono kagakusha to kodomo ga
Onaji me o shiteru... okashii desu ne!!!
There was a light, seductive laugh from the lead as she finished her second chorus, and her hands momentarily stopped flying across the strings of her guitar, giving her drummer and bassist a chance to shine, And shine they did, keeping up the beat of the song all on their own until the blue-eyed lead began a rip that flowed in and around the main melody of the song, further exciting the already raving crowd.
"Man, that girl can really make that guitar sing!" someone shouted enthusiastically from the thick of the crowd.
As if in response to the compliment, Kaoru went at her part with even more fervor, her fingers practically gliding across the guitar strings as a thin trail of sweat ran alongside her jaw. With the ease of a pro she brought the riff to it's climax and then for a single, heart-stopping moment all three of them ceased playing altogether only to dive back into the tune with equal vigor as the blue-eyed siren's call flowed over the crowd once more.
Rikutsu ja wakaranai y'know
Kokoro ga hoshi garu mono ha
Dare nimo wakaranai y'know
DEMONSUTOREESHON ha iranai
Anata to JURIETTO no youna
Ichizuna kimochi ga taisetsu desu ne!!!.
The three of them sang out the main melody briefly before the lead let out one last echoing war cry as the song came to a close. Leaning suggestively into the mike in the next moment to call out in an unbelievably sultry voice.
"Oh, you know…."
That day, the expression, "And the crowd went wild" reached a whole new level as their audience screamed, whistled and chanted their appreciation at the three women who were grinning at one another on stage.
************************************************************
"Huzzah!!!" Misao screeched as they made their way back from the van after they stashed their equipment with the welcome help of quite a few groupies who were more than happy to bear the burdens of the three angels of song.
"Ditto." Megumi agreed with a grin.
"I just hope that we qualified for the next round." Kaoru said breathing a sigh of relief.
There was the sound of the next band being announced and all three of them turned toward the stage to see a three-person band similar to their own except this one was all male. Misao brightened as the recognized the drummer to be her bishounnen from earlier in the day and threw him a wolf's whistle and a carefree wave.
The bassist tried his best not to double over in laughter at the non-so-deadpan expression on his friend's face at the young woman's antics.
"Hey you two," a gentle yet stern voice called out, "If you haven't noticed we're up."
"Yosh!" Sanosuke said in agreement, instantly forgetting to tease Aoshi and taking his place on the left side of the stage.
Aoshi briefly spun his drumsticks in his fingers and then held them at the ready.
Lastly, Kenshin nodded to both his companions as his face took on a more serious cast.
"Let's do this!"
***********************************************************
Author's Ramble:
Wa-ha-ha!!! Cliffhanger! Don't worry though, this fic is supposed to be finished by Christmas Day so you won't have to wait long for another chapter.
The song Ko-Neko-Neko performed in this chapter was the opening theme for Bubblegum Crisis 2040 "Y'know" originally sung by Sudou Akira as the femme fatale Priss Asagiri. Great song, if you don't know it, get it, you won't be sorry ^^.
Lyrics taken from www.animelyrics.com, they've got the English translation as well if you're curious.
Ja!
******************************************************