Track 02

Hikari sighed as she plopped down on her bed. This was their second time moving in just a few short months. Finally everything was unpacked in their new room inside of the BRR company building. Somehow, this room felt more like a home to her than the apartment they had when they first moved to Midicity. Since there only happened to be one room left in the building after a member of Plasmagica had to resign and leave for reasons that Hikari knew nothing about, Hikari and Kamiko were still roommates. Neither of the girls minded, of course. They had pretty much lived together their whole lives. The room was decorated in many shades of pink and purple. On the back of the door, Kamiko put up a poster of ShinganCrimsonZ, which seemed a bit much to Hikari at first, since they all lived right down the hall, but it started to grow on her.

While Kamiko blasted music on her side of the room, dancing around on her bed as if she were on a stage, Hikari sat up on her bed and opened her laptop. Since they were only just starting out, she knew that she would need to find a way to make some extra money. In a large area such as Midicity, surely there would be some places looking to hire someone, right? Kamiko's loud music was becoming a distraction, making it hard for her to hear her own thoughts. "Hey... Kami! Mind turning that down?"

Unfortunately, Kamiko couldn't hear her as she danced with her eyes shut, lost in her own little world... as usual. Hikari shook her head and stood up and put her hands on her hips, making one last attempt to shout over the music. "KAMIKO! Are you even listening!?" Still oblivious to her friend's shouting, she began singing and playing air guitar, having way too much fun for Hikari to handle. She threw her arms up in frustration and paused the music, catching Kamiko off guard and she stumbled, falling off the bed with a big crash.

"Owwie~" she whined, rubbing her butt. "What did you do that for, Hiki? That was the best part!"

Hikari crossed her arms, staring down at her with a mild glare. "I couldn't concentrate. You were being too loud! I need to find a job somewhere in the city until we can start having real concerts, Kamiko."

The white lioness sighed. "You know, you really don't have to go through all of that. Mama and Daddy sent lots of Sound Dollars with us when we mov-"

Hikari cut her off before she could finish. "I don't care what they sent! I can be responsible for myself. You just don't get it. I can't rely on your family forever." She grabbed her laptop and slipped some shoes on. Deciding she needed a moment to herself. "I'm going downstairs where it is quiet. I'll be back in a little bit."

As she shut the door behind her, Kamiko stood up and leaned against her bed. She didn't understand why Hikari got so defensive when she or her parents tried to do something nice for her. Having adopted her into their family, Kami's parents treated Hikari like she was their own daughter, but she never seemed to want anything they offered to her. She always told them she would rather work to get the things she wanted, rather than just having them handed to her.

The tiny bell rang as Hikari entered Angelica's. She sat at a table near the back of the cafe and set up her computer. As she was busy typing, Angelica asked if there was anything she wanted to eat. She politely declined, but asked for coffee instead. It felt like it was going to be a long night, so she would probably need it. She hadn't noticed when she walked in, that someone else was also in the cafe.

She stretched her arms over her head and sighed, feeling a bit overwhelmed. Her research was getting her nowhere. If there were any jobs open in the city, they weren't posted anywhere online. Just as she closed her laptop, ready to give up, a voice from the next table over spoke up, startling her.

"What's the problem, newbie? You look stressed," he commented with an annoyed tone in his voice. Hikari looked up to see Rom, the drummer of ShinganCrimsonZ sitting in a table by hers, stacks of paper spread out all around him. Judging by the tone he had in his voice, it was clear he hadn't warmed up to them just yet. If that was the case, then why was he being so nosy?

She huffed an irritated sigh. "Well not that it's any of your business, but I'm trying to find a part time job to make sure I have enough money to get through until Monochrome Blush starts performing regularly! Do you realize how difficult that is?"

Rom raised an eyebrow and just stared at her for a moment, and then snickered. "Part time job? Nah, I couldn't imagine. However, I could tell you how difficult it is to work a full time job while being in a successful band that is performing regularly."

Her face turned red. What exactly were all those papers...? She looked up to see a smug smile on his face. "Wha... Don't look at me like I'm stupid! How was I supposed to know?" She crossed her arms and looked away.

Angelica watched the two of them from behind the bar, drying some glasses she had just finished washing. She couldn't help but smile to herself out of amusement.

Rom shrugged, "I never said you were stupid."

She glared and pointed a finger at him. "Maybe not, but it was the way you were looking at me. So then, Mr. Perfect, how does one find a job in this city?"

"Oh! So I'm perfect now, huh? How flattering. Well, Stupid," he started with a smirk on his face, hoping to get a rise out of her. "You're going to have to go out and ask a few business owners. In fact, I know of a little cafe down the street from my office, that is always looking for help. I leave for work at 7:00am, and I suppose I can take you there, if you want to tag along."

"A cafe...? Not exactly what I had in mind, but... a job is a job, so I'll give it a shot," she thought out loud to herself. "Fine... I'll be ready out front first thing in the morning." She picked up her computer, and handed her empty coffee cup to Angelica, thanking her, and started toward the door. The little bell rang as she opened it, and she paused turning to look at him, with her face super red, just now catching on to what he had just said. "And I'm not stupid! Maybe you're the one who is stupid, you jerk!" she shouted, slamming the door behind her on her way out.

Rom couldn't help but laugh to himself as he got back to work. He wasn't sure how he felt about a lousy cover band that sings their songs being signed in the same record label just yet, but he found her attitude to be pretty entertaining.

Hikari stormed back into her and Kamiko's room and put her computer away before searching through her closet. She needed something nice to wear. Kamiko pulled one headphone out of her ear (actually being quiet now...) and watched her for a moment. "Whatcha looking for, Hiki~?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. "Did you find a place to get a job or something?"

She started holding shirts up to herself in the mirror. "Something like that. I have someone showing me a place tomorrow morning that is looking for help," she replied, not sounding all that excited about the last part. She turned around holding a gray dress up in front of her. "What do you think?"

"Love it~! Wait a second, though. Someone is taking you job hunting? Who is it? Do I know them? OMG it's a boy, isn't it!?" She clapped her hands together and squealed. "Little Hikari-cub has herself a date tomorrow and wants to look all cutesy-wootsy!" she cheered in a teasing voice.

"Kamiko!" she shouted, her face red out of embarrassment. "Why is that always your first thought? Yeah, maybe it is a guy, but it's nothing like that! The guy's a jerk anyway. I'm only going because he said he could show me where to look. That's all. Nothing 'cutesy-wootsy' about it." She hung the dress on the back of the closet door, leaving it out for the next day.

"Okay, okay... But you still have to tell me who it is!" she said, nudging her with her elbow.

Hikari rolled her eyes. "Fiiine... If you must know, its the drummer from Shingan."

"You mean Rom!?" she squealed again. How perfect! It was like a cute little leopard date! She was about to say more, when she saw Hikari climb into bed with her back to her, obviously ignoring her. "Well fine! I'll just get all the details from you tomorrow~!"

Hikari got up bright and early the next morning, taking everything to the bathroom to get ready so she wouldn't wake Kamiko up. This was mainly because she didn't want to listen to more of her teasing like she had all night the night before. She took much longer to get ready than she usually would, wanting to make sure she looked presentable. For the potential job interview of course…

She made sure to make it outside just a few minutes early. The last thing she needed was to listen to him go on and on about how long he had to wait for her to come outside. She didn't recognize him at first in his business attire. His hair wasn't as crazy messy as she was used to seeing it. It almost looked out of place on him. He wore a brown suit with a tie, and even had glasses on. She gulped, feeling her cheeks heat up. This wasn't what she was prepared for. Where exactly did this guy work that made him dress like that?

He looked down at her, seeing that she was dressed up as well. The gray dress she wore emphasized each and every curve on her little body. The bottom came just above her knees, and she wore black heels. He cleared his throat and started walking. "Hope you can keep up in those shoes. This isn't exactly a short walk."

"Hmph... Don't underestimate me!" she responded, walking behind him with her arms crossed.

He chuckled to himself, listening to the clicking of her heels as she tried to keep up with him, while he purposely walked a bit fast to tease her. She was too proud of herself to tell him to slow down, but she couldn't complain about what she got to see while rushing through the city. Totally talking about the sights around Midicity, not anything or... anybody else. That was for sure.

Finally they made it to a small cafe on the corner of the street. "Well, here we are. Good luck, I guess," Rom said as she walked in. She mumbled a thanks to him, not sure if he deserved it, but she made herself prove she was the better person. She looked around the cafe, wondering who she needed to talk to about a job.

"Is there something I can help you with, miss?" she heard, but couldn't see anyone. When the voice cleared their throat, she looked down, seeing a short egg shaped... man.

'Oh don't tell me...' she thought to herself. 'Is this guy related to President Maple?' She brushed her dress off, hoping she dressed well enough to make a good impression. "Actually, yes sir. I'm looking for a place to work and was wondering if you were hiring." In response, he nodded toward a table, motioning her to sit down for an interview.

After about 20 minutes, Hikari opened the door and stepped back outside onto the sidewalk. Still hanging around outside, she heard Rom's voice behind her. "So...? How'd it go?"

Hikari jumped, a bit startled at the sound of his voice. She expected him to have already left for work at this point. She turned around, a uniform in her arms. "Wha...? Oh, you... Well I got the job. So thank you for your help. I never would have thought to look here if you hadn't... Hey! Are you listening?" She crossed her arms, seeing that he was trying to hold back laughter. "What's so funny?"

He cleared his throat, trying to act like the cool guy he really was. "That little outfit there. It's very... you." She looked down to the little maid-style uniform in her hand and blushed a deep shade of red, glaring angrily at him. "Aren't you going to try it on?" he asked, that same smug smile from the night before on his face. She turned away and started walking back toward BRR, hearing his voice call out to her. "Come on, just the hat?"

She turned back around and stamped her foot into the ground. "Don't you have to be at work or something!?" She growled to herself as she officially stormed off, not looking back this time. Meanwhile, Rom was cracking himself up. He didn't think he would be able to talk her into such a job. It was obvious, however, that she was determined to make money on her own, so he wasn't all that surprised. In fact, he was quite impressed with the younger leopard.

As she opened the door to the dorm room, she saw Kamiko laying on her bed with her chin in her hands, looking as if she had been watching for her to come home for hours. "You're home~! So how did it go, Hiki?"

Hikari acted as if there was nothing to be excited about, and responded, "It was fine. I got the job."

"No, no, no! I don't care about your job interview! I'm talking about your date! With Rommie~" she said in a sing-song voice. "OMG! Did you kiss? You've gotta tell me!"

Hikari grumbled. "Kamiko, no! It was not a date! We definitely didn't kiss! He took me to the restaurant, I went inside, I got the job, and I came home. That's all!"

Kamiko smirked at her. "Yeah, yeah. Okay, whatever. It's going to happen eventually. I can just feel it~!"

Hikari rolled her eyes just as they heard a knock on the door. Ignoring Kamiko's comments about how it was probably her future boyfriend at the door, she opened the door to see Crow, the lead singer and guitarist of ShinganCrimsonZ.

"Yo! The guys and I were in the studio working on some music and got to thinking. You two should come down and practice with us." Hikari looked back at Kamiko, who looked as if she were about to explode with joy. She could tell hard she was trying to not start fangirling over him being in their doorway. "It's a once in a lifetime chance, really. It's not everyday that someone as talented as I am would ask cattle to play music with him."

Hikari put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "You know... we've told you before that we aren't your cattle. But hey, I could go for some time in the studio. What do you think, Kami?"

She turned to see her friend covering her mouth and kicking her legs back and forth really fast while sitting on the edge of her bed, nodding violently. Hikari made sure to hold the door so that it was blocking Crow's view of Kami's freak out moment. That would really inflate his ego even more. "Eh, I guess she's okay with it. We'll meet you down there in a few."

Hikari closed the door, and sat next to Kamiko. Putting both of her hands on her shoulders, she looked her straight in the eyes and said, "We can do this. It's the next step to making it in this industry. It's a great learning experience." Kamiko continued dancing around, even with Hikari's hands on her shoulders, so she shook her once. "But we can't go until you calm down! If we really want to do this, then we can't be weird about it."

After finally calming Kamiko down, the two got changed and grabbed Kami's guitar, Noblesse, and Hikari's drumsticks. They took the elevator down to the studio. While inside the elevator, they heard the familiar tune to one of their favorite ShinganCrimsonZ songs, Falling Roses. Hikari, of course, noticed that one very important thing was missing: The heartbeat of the song, the drums.

The three boys stopped playing as the door opened, Hikari entering first with her drumsticks. Kamiko wasn't far behind (due to the fact that she was practically hiding behind her). Hikari pumped her fist into the air and shouted, "Alright, boys! Monochrome is here to rock! Just lead me to the drums, and I'll take it from there!" One thing Hikari didn't own was her own drum set. Years ago, when she and Kamiko were in middle school, Kami made the mistake of buying one for her, and Hikari wasn't exactly the most appreciative.

Every day after school, Hikari and Kamiko would stop at a little bakery for a treat on their way home. Next to the bakery was a music store that sold some of the highest quality instruments in the world. Right in the window was the most amazing instrument design Hikari had ever seen in her life. The set was a dark magenta color with shimmering white leopard spots. Kamiko noticed how much Hikari would admire what she could only assume were those drums each and every time they would pass that shop.

Hikari wanted nothing more than to be able to save up everything she earned to pay to buy an instrument from that store, however, it was not the drums she wanted, but the matching keyboard. She started working at an arcade located across the street from where the bakery and music shop were located. It wasn't a difficult job. She was able to show off for some of the customers with how well she could play each and every one of the games. The only bad thing was the job didn't pay much, so she had to work just about every night of the week to be able to save enough.

Kamiko hated how hard and how much Hikari was working herself, feeling lonely spending so much time alone while she worked. It was only a month until Hikari's birthday, and she wanted nothing more than to be able to make her best friend happy on her special day. She went to her parents and explained the situation, asking their permission to use their credit card to purchase the absolute perfect present for her friend.

The big day finally came, and Hikari, of course, didn't come straight home after school. As usual, she was stuck working until the arcade closed. Kamiko ran to the arcade after she knew that everything was ready. She made it just in time, as Hikari was locking up the doors. As the little leopard turned around she jumped, startled as her best friend practically tackled her, hugging her tightly. "Happy Birthday, Hiki~! Mama made your favorite for dinner, so we gotta hurry up and get home right now!" She grabbed her by the hand and started running, Hikari still slightly in shock. Her mother never cooked or even entered the kitchen for that matter, unless it was a special occasion. She wasn't used to her birthday being such a big deal, though it was nice that she didn't have to walk home alone for once.

Kamiko's family butler greeted them as they entered the large house, informing them that dinner had just been served. They sat down to dinner, Hikari being quieter than usual. The food was wonderful, but she just didn't feel right letting them go to all of this trouble for her. After everyone was finished eating, Kamiko stood up to announce that presents were next, and Hikari's eyes grew wide. Presents?

Kamiko grabbed Hikari's hand again, practically dragging her to the studio that was located in their home. She stood in front of the closed door and told Hikari to close her eyes. Hikari, who was starting to feel suspicious, closed her eyes as her friend opened the door and guided her inside, leading her to sit down... but where? Next, she placed her drumsticks in her hands and told her to open her eyes. The moment she did, her face grew red. Right in front of her, were the drums Kamiko thought she had been working for months to purchase on her own. Kamiko clapped her hands excitedly, asking her what she thought of her gift.

Hikari stood up, and angry look in her eyes as she tossed the drumsticks to the ground. "I can't believe you, Kamiko!" she shouted, taking Kamiko aback. Before she could ask her what was wrong, she continued. "You really don't know me, do you?" She stopped before going any further with that statement. As far as Kamiko knew, Hikari only had a passion for the drums, but that wasn't true at all. She only took up the drums for Kamiko's sake.

She changed the direction of the argument to avoid that topic. " I didn't ask for you to do this for me! I'm not you! I can't just have things handed to me! I'd rather have the satisfaction of earning them on my own!"

"But... Hikari..." Kamiko objected, trying to explain to her that she was just trying to do something that would make her happy, since she always seems so sad and distant, but Hikari just pushed past her and went out the door.

This was the first real argument the girls had ever had. Hikari's temper did get to her every once in a while, but it was never anything too serious. She ended up spending the evening outside by herself, deciding exactly what she had to do. The very next day, she went to the music store and told them she wished to return the drum set and asked if there was any way they could come to the house to pick them up. They made an agreement, handing Hikari the exact amount that Kamiko and her family paid for the drums, and put it in an envelope. She gave the money to Kamiko, telling her she was just fine saving up for an instrument on her own. She reluctantly took the money and told her she understood, but rather than giving the money back to her parents, she stashed it away, hoping to be able to put it to good use some day.

Unfortunately for Hikari, the arcade went out of business before she was able to save up enough money, and she wasn't able to get the keyboard, since there weren't many businesses in that town that were willing to hire a girl her age. She felt guilty for not keeping the drumset after this happened, as she didn't have one of her own to play when she and Kamiko would perform, and she would just use whatever drums the venues they played at had.

With her request to have a set of drums to play on, Aion, who had a hand on his face, spoke up, his deep voice sending shivers through Kamiko's body. "With Rom working right now, it would appear that his drum set is free to use." Kamiko nudged Hikari with her elbow, which earned her a glare from her friend.

"Fine, I guess that will work," she responded, taking a seat at the drums.

Crow grinned, seeing Kamiko hook Noblesse up to one of the amps. "Alright, girls, try to keep up! We aren't going to take it easy on you!"

Hikari cracked her knuckles and picked up her drumsticks. "Hmph... Didn't expect you to." She prepared herself for whatever song they decided to play, while Kamiko stood behind Aion, enjoying the thought of playing in the shadow of a god. All together, they restarted Falling Roses, each and every one of them playing their part of the song perfectly. As the song ended, the boys looked to both of the girls, almost a bit shocked by how well they played.

Aion turned to Kamiko, who instantly blushed, shifting her eyes away. "Not only was it interesting to hear the sound of a third guitar in our song, but to have one of such talent to rival that of a god... I must say you did very well." This compliment brought tears of joy to Kamiko's eyes as she had to restrain herself from freaking out.

As she stuttered out a thank you, Crow turned to her as well. "I do have to say I agree that she was good, but she is still nowhere near as good as I am!" he said, pointing his thumb to himself. This comment made Hikari laugh to herself. Kamiko must have been dying inside, hearing these boys speak this way about her.

Just as they were about to start their next song, the door flew open and everyone turned to see who was coming in. Rom, who had seemed to get off work a little earlier than usual that day, stood in the doorway with his arms crossed. "What the hell is going on in here?" His eyes wandered over to his drums, where he saw Hikari sitting. "And who gave you permission to use my drums?" he asked as he started walking towards her angrily.

A look of concern grew on Crow's face when he saw how Rom was reacting to the other drummer using his instrument. "Hey, Rom, dude... It's no big deal. We asked them to come down and show us what they've got... No need to get so angry." He stepped in Rom's path, hoping to talk some sense into him, only to be shoved out of the way, getting pushed into Yaiba, both of them falling to the ground.

Hikari stood up from the drums, glaring up at him as he stopped in front of the set. With an intense stare, he balled his hands into fists at his sides out of anger. Unphased by the intimidating leopard in front of her, she turned with a flip of her hair, picking up her drumsticks and walked away. She made her way to Kamiko, who was still dazed from before, and grabbed her hand. She stopped when she made it to the door and finally spoke. "I'd like to thank you boys for giving us the opportunity to play alongside you. I'd say this was one of our better rehearsals, that is... until it was rudely interrupted." She flashed a teasing glare to Rom, who was obviously still furious about what he had walked in on. Just as she turned around to leave, she looked over her shoulder. "And by the way, your drums actually sounded pretty good tonight... for once." And with that, she waved, leaving with a very shocked Kamiko, who was frantically waving goodbye to all of the boys, not exactly ready to leave yet.