Arisugawa's Locket
Warriors and Bards
The red-brown haired Asian woman looked around with a scowl, taking in the crowds of dancing woman, crowded tables and a busy bar. "What the fuck?" Revy muttered, dressed in her usual tight muscle shirt, cut off shorts and leather boots,.
With liberal use of her elbows and a deadly look Revy made her way up to the bar, well aware of a few admiring female gazes. "Welcome to Arisugawa's locket," a brown haired woman in a maid's uniform smiled warmly, "I'm May."
"Revy," she shot back, wondering if the woman was another of Roberta's heavily armed friends. "Hey," she growled at the bartender as she leaned against the bar, "gemme the best run you got!"
May decided the tattooed gunslinger was best left in Ryouko's hands and moved off to take care of another newcomer.
Ryouko smiled as the blue haired woman poured her a shit, sliding the glass along the bar, "Here you go."
Revy caught the glass then tossed it back. Her eyes widened and she gasped, "DAMN that's good!" Putting the glass down with a thump she looked at the bartender curiously, "How long have you been open? I don't think I've ever seen your club in Roanapur..."
"We've been around for awhile," Ryouko answered as she poured her another, "it's kind of complicated."
"The booze is a damn sight better than the Yellow Flag," Revy noted, sipping her second drink slowly and respectfully.
"Anyone tell you about the weapons rule?" Ryouko asked warily. She knew she could take the woman in a fight, of course, but she also knew the woman had a dangerous glint in her eye. If a fight did happen, it would be very, very messy.
"I have to surrender my guns?" Revy guessed as she sipped her drink. She smiled slightly, "I noticed no one else was carrying,"
"That or we'd have to ask you to go," Ryouko nodded.
Revy unsnapped and shrugged out of her holsters, leaving the guns snug in their leather sheaths. "Take good care of my cutlasses," she cautioned as she handed them over, "or I'll pound your head in."
"Got it," Ryouko agreed, carefully stowing the weapons behind the bar.
Revy got a refill, sipping the rum and sweeping the room with her eyes once again. She was used to the Yellow Flag, where every deviant went armed and you were always ready for a fight, but this bar was almost as odd.
First of all, there wasn't any guys around. Second, the women were dressed in some of the oddest outfits she had ever seen! Maids, school girl outfits like she had seen in Japan, a woman in old fashioned armor, some kind of space suits and girls slinking around in latex body suits. It was all pretty fucking odd, but kinda interesting too.
Revy nearly choked on her drink as she recognized Balalaika sitting in the corner, drinking. 'What the hell is SHE doing here?' she wondered.
Meanwhile, Shiori smiled as she chatted with Juri. "I'm glad to see the bar doing this well," she noted, "you've been open...?"
"Getting close to five years," Juri admitted, sipping her glass of colored ginger ale.
She and Shiori had gradually made their peace over the years, though it had taken some time. Their school romance had left scars on them both, but time heals wounds, as does learning about one another. It helped that the romantic spark between them was well and truly out, too.
"I'm surprised you've kept so much of your staff," Shiori noted thoughtfully.
"I pay well," Juri flashed a smile, "besides, for some of them this job is just a hobby anyway." She nodded towards the bar where Ryouko and her sister Minagi were at work, "Neither of them really needs to work, for instance..."
"That makes sense," Shiori conceded. "Have you made May your official assistant manager?" she asked curiously.
"Yeah, not that long ago," Juri admitted, "it was a toss up between her and Nabiki Tendo."
"You seriously considered Nabiki?" Shiori looked amused.
"Hey, she's settled down a lot," Juri laughed. "Besides," she added somewhat more seriously, "I wanted to keep her occupied after what happened with Ayaka."
"That was pretty tacky," Shiori conceded, having heard about the breakup through the grapevine. Not that how she had treated Juri had been much better, but still... "But she's seeing someone now?" she asked.
Juri smiled slightly, "Yeah, a woman named Nina. They really hit it off when Nina first visited, and I understand they've been out once or twice."
"Good for her," Shiori nodded firmly.
Gently Juri asked, "And how about you? Seeing anyone?"
Shiori shrugged awkwardly, "I seem doomed to be single."
As they talked a group of women came into the bar, looking around them in a certain degree of awe. All of them were in their mid to late twenties or so, and were dressed in stylish outfits. "How did you find out about this place, Ritsu?" the taller black haired woman asked.
Ritsu Tainaka smiled as the scruffy brown haired woman answered, "I heard about it from a fan at the concert, actually."
"This is so cool!" Yui Hirasawa breathed out excitedly, her shoulder length brown hair shimmering in the light.
"Wow," Mugi Kotobuki murmured, the pretty blonde watching in fascination as two women kissed at one of the nearby tables.
"Don't space out on us," Azusa Nakano murmured to the older woman, the smaller black haired girl walking beside her.
"Sorry," Mugi laughed.
Nodoka Manabe stood beside her lover Mio, her stylish glasses catching the light as the brown haired woman looked around. "Think Ritsu picked this place out because she knows about us?" she asked softly.
Mio Akiyama smiled slightly, "Could be, but I don't really mind."
"Yeah, me too," Nodoka agreed as the group of six made their was through the crowd up to the bar. She still found it strange, being back with the group, strange but nice.
Over six years ago, Azusa, Mugi, Mio, Ritsu and Yui had all been part of a band named After School Tea Time. They played together for fun as well as part of their school club, and had begun to develop some popularity outside of their school. Sadly, just after graduation things went... very wrong at a concert. Mio had been so humiliated that she quit the group and told off the others, staying out of touch for nearly six years.
"Have I said thank you lately for agreeing to come back and play?" Azusa murmured, the younger woman carefully shielding her cast enclosed hand.
"Yes, but you can repeat it as many times as you wish," Mio smiled wryly.
After Azusa's arm was hurt, the band was in a serious bind. They had a critical show to play, and swallowed their pride and appealed to Mio for help. She was understandably reluctant to return, but she felt she owed her friends in the band that much. The show that night went great, and she agreed to continue to fill in until Azusa recovered.
They passed a positively scary looking woman with tattoos on the way to the bar, then the six women reached the massive bar with two bartenders serving booze. "Can I see your ID?" the one bartender asked Azusa, her cheeks marked with twin scars.
"Everyone asks for my ID, Azusa sighed as she passed it over.
"That's because you're so cute!" Yui said, hugging her from behind.
"Yui!" Azusa squeaked, blushing.
"Here you go," the woman handed back the ID, "I'm Minagi, what can I get you?"
The girls ordered even as someone started up the karaoke machine. All of them blinked as a girl got up to sing, 'Girls who like girls.' Thankfully she could carry a tune, and the song was kinda catchy.
"I can't believe someone wrote a song like that," Mio noted wryly.
"This from the woman who wrote Light and fluffy time?" Ritsu teased.
Mio blushed, "I was young."
"Don't tease," Mugi recovered enough from being overwhelmed by the yuri to point out, "it's still one of our most popular songs."
"You're a band?" Minagi asked, looking thoughtful.
"Yeah?" Ritsu responded a touch warily.
"Wanna play a song or two?" Minagi asked, "I'll put your drinks on the house."
Ritsu looked thoughtful, then she turned to the rest of the group. "What do you think?" she asked them curiously.
"I wouldn't mind," Mugi shrugged, the others all answering in the affirmative.
"I wish I could play," Azusa sighed, holding up her busted hand.
"Keep Nodoka company," Yui suggested, "and makje sure no one picks you up."
"Yui!" Azusa blushed.
To be continued...
Our Cast: Nabiki Tendo is from Ranma ½, Arisugawa Juri is from Revolutionary Girl Utena, May is from Hand Maid May and Ryouko and Minagi are from Tenchi Muyo.
Characters: Revy and Balalaika are from Black Lagoon, Shiori if from Revolutionary Girl Utena and Azusa, Mio, Mugi, Nodoka, Ritsu and Yui are all from K-On.
Notes: This is sorta a sequel to my K-on fic, the Return, and refers to that story. You don't have to have read it, but it would probably help.