Lucky Music: Moé Café

Chapter 3: Band's Completion

The weekend was closing in on the remaining dry days, leaving the girls in flames as they finished work on their first album's songs. The manager hinted that an opportunity for them had opened up, one they should not refuse. Everything was scheduled for tomorrow: turning in their songs, deciding on the cover art and most importantly, picking a key song to advertise them as a band and develop a theme to play by. Surrounded by plugged fans and a table full of iced drinks, the three girls began work on the selection process.

"Okay, this song was sorta half baked for me," Patricia said, sliding the music sheet into the rejection pile. Konata and Akira inserted their failures as well. Hovering above was the blazing light bulb, currently the only and largest source of heat in the house. Beads of sweat rose from their skin, moving along their round, weary faces. "This is it," Konata determinedly grinned. "The pressure is on. Where heroes are born and losers are eaten away by the flames of battle."

"We just really need to pick a key song to represent us," Akira simplified. A single glance at her now empty glass warned her that her endurance would nearly run out. "We've been at this for hours so let's just pick one."

"Okay, let's start. Everyone pick the one they wrote that would work best," Patricia smiled. "And I'll start! Here's mine! Bubblegum Pop!!"

"Bubblegum Pop?" Akira muttered, baffled by the choice. She waved it off. "It's unique but not unique enough I'm afraid."

Konata shuffled through her songs, picking one out of the pile that brought her the greatest satisfaction. "This one works for me. Ecchi-dere! But we can also rename it to Ecchi-Tsun or Sexy-Tsun. Or even Tsun I'll be Dere! Any of the puns are great."

Patricia shook her head, keeping her song tight within her hands. Nothing matched her perceived theme of the band. Every girl assumed they would sing what they wrote; each girl also assumed that what they created was superior. Pulled from her pocket, Akira victoriously slammed her music sheet onto the center of the table to add to the fire. "Now here is a song that guarantees a hit!" she declared. "Façade's Visage!"

Patricia leaned over the table's side and peeked at it. Secretly she had already prioritized her masterpiece above all else, all she did was fly by the lyrics. Reading Akira's work, she could manage a rejecting frown and glare. "But this song is so angsty compared to everything else. Even Konata's song would be a better choice than this for our band's theme."

"Hey, my song works too. Besides, people love a song like this," Akira explained.

"Well I don't and as a band we should vote," the blonde fussed. Konata lazily grinned, raising her hand into the air. "How can we vote when we'll all vote for our own song?"

"…that's true…." Konata reached for Akira's song and began humming it to herself. Memories of the salmon headed girls' previous works as Lucky Channel's mascot instantly appeared. Akira would be perfect for vocals; she could tell Akira wrote this song for no one else but herself. The lyrics, they were more than enough to explain Akira's motivation behind them. "I can tell Akira's song was written with a lot of emotion," Konata noted. "I can wait for my Tsun I'll be Dere song. I withdraw it and vote for Akira's song."

"But…the angst," Patricia whined.

"It's not that angsty. It's very empowering," Konata smiled, handing it back to Akira. "Besides, Akira has been in the business longer than any of us. She knows what grabs the people so I think we should go with her song for our first album."

"But…"

"Patricia, I like your song too but for now we should probably go with a song that has a greater chance of being a hit, no offense. I think my song has even less of a chance then yours."

That answer didn't satisfy her either. No matter what was told to her, it all meant her song would not be the key song. It was already the beginning of the band's formation and her input was ignored. Konata, still looking at the American's frustrated pout, decided to reassess the situation. The content smile on Akira's face signaled an obstacle she didn't want to face. "Patricia…why don't we put all the songs on the album? My Tsun I'll be Dere and your Bubblegum Pop? We'll make sure the writer and singer are properly labeled and the fans-if we're famous-can decide what the true key song is."

Patricia quietly turned her head away, moaning and keeping her pout strong. It all senses it sounded logical but would it work? Would her song get noticed? Turning back to the others, she could see Konata's face replacing the shrugs that should be in her shoulders. "Come on Patricia, please agree okay?" is what those green eyes asked. "Okay," Patricia replied. "I shouldn't be so focused on my one song but I still don't think it's good for the band's theme."

"Thank you," Konata said. A knocking then came at the door. Rising from her chair, Konata trotted towards the entrance and peeked at the girl outside their apartment. "Hey Konata!" Hiyori cheerfully greeted before taking a glance at the dim apartment behind Konata. "What's going on in there? A black out?"

"Nah, we were just deciding on songs for our album. We came to an agreement at last."

"And looks like someone isn't too happy about it," Hiyori teased, poking Patricia in the cheeks.

"I'm content I guess. I will patiently wait for the day when my song will be chosen for an anime!" Patricia confidently said.

"High hopes," Hiyori nodded, pulling a seat up to the table. She took the liberty of glancing through their selected songs. She had to admit, they were catchy. Experiencing music only through anime though didn't provide sufficient means of deciphering all the notes. Konata locked the door, realizing this was her chance. "Hiyori, since you're here we might as well ask you a favor."

"Hmm?"

Konata sat herself near the otaku, grinning and humming her own song. "We have our key song now but we still need cover art for the album. The studio wants to offer us one but I think it'd be better to trust you to-"

"Well of course I'll do it!" Hiyori excitedly said, leaning towards Konata. "Just tell me what you want and it'll get done. Though I'll probably have to charge a small fee. I need to eat too."

"We understand completely," Konata said. "And thank you. Please take care of our precious album." Quickly, the blue haired petite had finished over half the band business. Akira watched as Konata not only eased the song selection process but pick up a suitable and possibly cheaper artist for their cover. Patricia knew Hiyori well from high school so there would be little argument towards Hiyori's acknowledged talent and Konata was able to prevent a fuss from breaking out over the key song. "I can see my role has been pushed down to advisor," Akira grinned, looking at the inevitable band leader. Would even Kagami have predicted such a result from her shoulder high lover?

"Another A on my test," Kagami casually said. Tsukasa nearly dropped her books following her sister back to their room. The tsundere was never one to boast loudly about her achievements, a simple quiet mentioning of it was enough. "You've been studying a lot after all," Tsukasa chuckled in shivers, letting her books fall onto the small table on the floor. "But these teachers sure do give a boatload huh?"

"Yeah, it really eats away at my time." Cheerful voices at play rang from outside their windows. Girls spoke with each other and boys ran about, throwing and catching anything they could find. "I don't know how all these people are taking it so lightly."

Sighing at her workload, Tsukasa flipped through the pages of science and mathematics, realizing the notebook she purchased was a thousand pages to small. It became a natural pattern to their life, to hear Tsukasa sigh in woe and for Kagami to turn on her computer in wait for the lazily dazed girl to appear through webcam. "I wonder if…she hasn't been on for hours!" Kagami fussed. "I…I was hoping to see her soon…"

"Don't worry Kagami, I'm sure Konata's thinking about you."

"I'm…I'm not worried about that. I, I know she is. I just wished we had an appointed time or something so I wouldn't be waiting all day." To her, it felt as if nothing could be done until they talked. Though she set the webcam on at all times, she wanted to be there and catch Konata. That feeling and thrill of seeing and speaking to Konata was becoming the highlight of every routine day. Tsukasa on the other hand, made it routine to complain about how math and science had little to do with cooking and asking Kagami why she had to study it.

"I know how to measure and everything. Why do I have to know about the planets and how coral reefs are produced?"

"Tsukasa…it's a little weird for you to be complaining so much," Kagami said, fresh from opening a box of pocky to pass the time. She bit off the tip before, opening the internet browser. "Don't let it all stress you. Take your time; I know you have it in you."

"Thank you onee-chan…I'll try my best." Writing down the first problem, she paused. Kagami busily typed away, emptying the pocky box in minutes. Tsukasa's assignment remained blank, with only her name for a start. "But maybe I still need a little help, right?"

"Sure but don't depend on me forever Tsukasa. We're not in high school anymore."

"Sorry."

"And it's all set!" the manager declared, raising his hand into the air. Konata, Patricia and Akira stepped out of the recording room, shaky about their performance. "What's with those looks?" the manager asked. "Believe me; you girls were great, especially for your first session. Much better than average. Let's just hope your soon-to-be fans will enjoy it as well. They'll be waiting for you this weekend."

"This weekend?" Patricia asked.

"Yes. It's an opportunity that company holds for beginners to show off their music. It's also a good chance to eliminate the weak singers and bands who can't compete," he explained. "A tour across Japan. More specifically, the Lantis New Age Tour, a showcase concert of fresh, new artist who will be judged by the audience that attends."

"That's awesome!" Patricia cheered. "Where are we going? Akihabara?!"

"What? No…we'll be making stops in Hakkaido, Tokyo, of course, and Kyoto."

A spark traveled down through Konata's arms and legs. She had to confirm it after the manager left. Patricia and Akira noticed trembles in her legs. "You okay?" Akira asked.

"Yeah, I'm just….he did say Kyoto right?"

Patricia nodded. Her mind came up blank. "Yeah. Why? Is there something wrong with Kyoto?"

"Kagami goes to school there. I might have a chance to see her face to face and even join bodies for a while."

"K-konata…" Akira muttered.

Author's Note: I'm trying a more casual style to the writing but I don't really know if it's working so make sure to tell me in the reviews. It was kind of hard to get back into writing after the dreadfully bad two weeks that have just passed by. There was always a problem with electricity, the storms, the internet. It took a while to get myself in front of the computer and do it but I got it back. The chapter's a little short because I'm still unsure about the new style. Plus Disgaea 3 has been eating away at my time.