Chapter 1: Giorno Che Apre
"Wai!!" Hibiemi cheered as she stepped into Classico Eterno for the first time, "I'm certain tonight will be an ultimate success!"
"Hm? What are we going to do tonight, anyway?" Hakkai asked Sanzo.
"Perform… I guess… Perhaps just a showcase of talents tonight…" Quietus shrugged his shoulders.
But something brewed in Hibiemi's mind.
"Impromptu comedy." Hibiemi looked at the three immortals as if they were mere mortals.
"Impromptu…" Quietus gulped.
"Comedy?" Sanzo raised an eyebrow.
"Hm?" Hibiemi swiveled her head to Sanzo, "Just make up something onstage tonight… By the way, Hakkai, I've hired your two apartment buddies to take care of the bartending job. Thank me that I'm giving them high wages…"
"Wow… This is the boss…" Quietus grumbled in mock admiration.
And so the day went wonderfully, people coming in for the drinks at first but as they heard of the onstage events at nighttime, the immortals were certain that more customers would be pouring in at night.
Night came. Quietus sat in the orchestra pit tuning his violin. Hibiemi sat in the corner opposite reading her manga upside down. Hakkai and Sanzo were lounging around near the stage talking. They all warmed themselves up for their first act, the Impromptu Comedy.
"Ah! One minute 'till show time, minna!" Hibiemi smiled as she made her way to backstage from the orchestra pit. Sanzo and Hakkai followed and soon after tuning, Quietus finally went backstage to prepare for the show.
The curtain rose.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Hibiemi announced to the audience, "Welcome to Classico Eterno! May I now present to you our impromptu comedy, the Errors Of The Erring!" The audience applauded the proud introduction. The lights faded out and when they came on, Quietus came onstage with his fiddle playing a little drunken song. The audience laughed at how stupid the fiddler acted and as the laughter started to subside, Quietus was hit by a thrown harisen.
"WHAT IN HECK DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" The reaper complained in the direction the harisen came from. Sanzo came onstage and threw a blueberry pie at the reaper's face.
"Oishii desu ka, aniki?" Hakkai came from the other wing and tasted the blueberry sauce oozing from where the pie hit Quietus. Quietus licked at the sauce dripping from the tip of his nose.
"It could have been tastier if it wasn't hitting me."
"I made the pie myself…" Sanzo grumbled.
"You?" Hakkai and Quietus raised their brows.
"Yes me." Sanzo replied, folding his arms across his chest.
"Then who stole the cookies from the cookie jar? Sanzo stole the cookies from the cookie jar!" Hibiemi came onstage chanting the rhyme.
"Who me?" Sanzo asked.
"Yes you!" Quietus laughed.
"Not me!" Sanzo growled.
"Then who?" Hakkai played along as Sanzo chanted the next line.
"Qui stole the cookies from the cookie jar!"
"Who me?" Quietus asked again.
"Yes you!" Hibiemi continued the game.
"Not me!" Quietus laughed.
"Then who?" Sanzo threatened.
"Hakkai stole the cookies from the cookie jar!"
"No. I didn't. I hate chocolate chip." Hakkai blankly said.
Out of the audience, Hibiemi sensed a demonic energy coming from someone in the back. It was a pale lady with light purple hair and lavender eyes.
A vampire… Hibiemi noted to herself before continuing the comedy. She took a deep breath and whacked all three of them with a fish.
"What was that for?" Hakkai wondered.
"Nothing…" Hibiemi said in a singsong voice before retreating to the backstage. Curiosity got hold of her as she made her way to the table where the vampire sat.
The act continued with more senseless humor.
"A funny establishment you've set up here, Hoshizora-san…" The vampire said as Hibiemi slipped into a vacant chair.
"Heh… Just another way to make money besides killing demons and the undead without pause." Hibiemi sighed as a glass of red wine was served before her, "Nice to see you here, Yuri-san."
"Nice to see that you can still remember the name of a vampire ancestor who you've tried to hunt down three years ago." Yuri laughed with a hushed vampire voice, "You were a foolish little immortal… You should have been growing up, not stuck in a child's body."
"I like this body…" Hibiemi laughed, her smile making her look a lot more impish, "I never wanted to grow up…"
"But you are supposed to be in your twenties now, right?" Yuri asked.
Hibiemi recalled her real age, "Twenty… four."
"Hey, Hoshizora-san…" Yuri began.
"Drop the formalities, Yuri-san." Hibiemi smiled childishly, "I am a child, anyway…"
"A child immortal. Just as enigmatic as a child vampire." Yuri smiled, "You've been quite naïve to our cause. We are on your side. We desire to get rid of the evil vampires in this age of darkness. Anyway, would you like to go on a trip to Europe with me?"
"Ah… Travel… But what about the others?" Hibiemi asked with a hint of worry in her voice.
"They'll be fine. I believe those three have the capacity to take care of themselves quite well." Yuri said, analyzing them using her vampiric skills.
"But I guess we may have an extra guest coming in…" Hibiemi laughed, "I just hope they don't play around with my cash."
"Hopefully they won't…" Gojyo had entered the picture with a bottle of wine in his hands, "They'll be spending their own money on good liquor. Hibi, may I borrow some dough?"
"I know you're not going to pay me, Sha Gojyo… But who cares?" Hibiemi handed a thin wad of bills to Gojyo.
"You are the greatest, boss…" Gojyo laughed as he left the bottle of wine on the table and took off with the wad of bills.
"Well then, I guess I will be going with you, Yuri-san." Hibiemi gleefully smiled.
"Then I'll see you in front of Maison De Hoshizora first thing in the morning tomorrow." Yuri smiled.
The act was finished with a drunken limerick Sanzo had made up after being challenged to drink the strongest liquor in the house. Applause came like heavy rain. The Classico was an instant hit.