"Omigods, Izumi! It's sooooo pretty!"
The resident fashionista of the Phoenix clan beamed, stepping back to allow room for her client to spin about in the long floral skirt of her most recent creation. It was a white A-line dress printed with large sunflowers growing amid a field of smaller daisies. Each of the smaller flowers was hand-embroidered in various colors, making the twirling skirt a tornado of chromatic blooms stop the wearer's tulle petticoat. "I'm so glad you like it! And the fit's okay? I've never done one… like this before."
"It's perfect," Tsubasa said, fanning his face with his fingers as he stepped down from the round tabletop Izumi had asked him to model her creation on. "I've never had an outfit fit me like this! You're just amazing! I just can't stop touching it!"
Izumi reached up, offering the excited boy a hand to stabilize him as he hiked up the flowing skirt to step down. "I'm so glad you like it, honey. Pair that with a white wide-brimmed hat like this one, and it'll be just so fucking cute," she said, striding to the merchandise display behind the service bar and holding up a CD copy of her youngest sister's Wild Orchid album.
Tsubasa nodded emphatically, his eyes wide. "I'm stopping at the mall on my way home for one! Gods, Izumi, how do I even begin to thank you for this?!"
With a wave of her hand and a shake of her head, Izumi slipped into one of the chairs at the VIP table, brushing aside the vast selection of cosmetics arrayed on it. "Don't sweat it. Any friend of Ranko's is a friend of mine. Enjoy it." As she spoke, she raised her hand, shielding her eyes from the sliver of sunlight that had begun slicing into the bar room through the opening front door.
"Hey, girls!" Ranko waved from the door as it closed behind her, speaking through a wide yawn. Her other hand clutched a narrow silver can containing the half of the life-giving energy drink that the young singer had yet to consume. Ranko wore a pair of faded blue jeans with numerous rips in the legs and a heather gray tee shirt bearing the cartoonish sorcerer logo for the Minato Mystics, the latter garment on loan from her wife.
"There she is," came an exclaimed greeting from behind the bar, and Yui offered a wave. "You ready to get your fuck you on, kid sister?"
Ranko nodded, smirking deviously. "You know it! Who's…" She gestured with her hand to the person in the floral dress, but her question trailed off as Tsubasa turned to face her. "Oh! Shit! Hey, Tsubasa! Didn't recognize ya! Is that the dress Izzi was making for you?"
In less than a second, Tsubasa cleared the back half of the bar room and crashed into Ranko's chest, hugging her tight around the waist. "Ranko, thank you so much for asking Izumi to do this for me! I've always dreamed of being able to make outfits like this, but there was just no way I could…"
Ranko giggled, prying Tsubasa's hands apart behind her back. "You didn't tell him."
"Tell me… huh?" Tsubasa turned to face Izumi, a puzzled expression on his face. "Tell me what?"
Grinning, Izumi shrugged her shoulders. "Ran-chan told me how into fashion you are, and I was thinking… after the new year, I'm gonna have a workshop next door for costuming. Primarily Ranko's stuff, but I take on other clients… including other celebrities, thanks to Ranko's little red carpet commercial at the Japan Record Awards." She beamed at the quaking boy, crinkling her nose in an attempt to disarm his nerves. "Anyway… once the shop is ready and I have a place to work that isn't my living room, I could use a part-time apprentice a couple of days a… umm… Tsubasa?"
Ranko winced. "He… does that. He'll be fine," she promised, bending down and gently slapping the fainted boy on the cheek. "Oi! Ya gotta get up, dude. It's about to get crazy in here and I can't have ya crashed out on the floor." She smirked up at Izumi as she helped Tsubasa to a seated position on the floor. "Pretty sure that was a yes, though."
"Uh-huh…" Tsubasa mewled almost drunkenly from the floor.
Ranko hauled the delirious boy to his feet, dumping him unceremoniously in one of the nearby booths. "Fuck, I'm about ready to gnaw my damned arm off. We should have gotte-" Her eyes widening, she jumped back a half-step as a short figure burst through the saloon door from the back room, wearing a white nylon jumpsuit and a gas mask. "The fuck?!"
The newcomer reached up, pulling off the mask. As she did, her blue hair cascaded out of the back of the black hood in long, braided twin pigtails. "Did I scare ya?" Mei giggled, setting her mask on the service bar counter. "Paint's done, and it should be dry in time. I left it out back." She set two mostly-empty cans of spray paint, one pink and one white, on the counter next to her mask.
"I thought there was freakin' aliens in the kitchen or some shit! Dammit, Mei, ya gotta warn a girl!" Ranko giggled, shaking her head as she approached the counter.
Laughing, Yui dropped the paring knife she'd just finished using to bifurcate the last of the lemons for the evening's service into the dishwasher behind the bar. "No, blockhead. And before you ask, she didn't need the gas mask because we let your wife cook, either. Oh, and speaking of food, Aya called a couple minutes ago. She's on her way with donuts, muffins and coffee for everybody."
"Ya see?" Ranko giggled, shrugging in the direction of her blonde sister. "That's why she's my favorite."
"Shit, be careful!" Yui covered her mouth, watching in horror as her sister's young friend walked across the empty back counter behind the main bar.
"Keep her fuckin' knickers on! Christ!" Zoe turned, still bracing the thin piece of wood paneling against the back wall with their hand. "I ain't gonna fuck up your pretty bar too bad. Two holes on each side, that'll be plenty. Only has to hold for a couple minutes! Just gotta hide this big-ass mirror." The young drummer reached into the pocket of their black denim vest, pulling out another self-tapping screw and beginning to drill it into the corner of the wooden panel with Kaito's yellow electric screwdriver gun.
Hitomi rushed behind the bar, offering up a hand on the other side of the panel. "I'll help hold it!" She wore a white button-down shirt, the top four buttons left open to expose the top half of her breasts. The tails at the bottom of the shirt were tied in a knot at her hip, creating a gap between the shirt and the black slacks she wore.
Chuckling, Zoe started striding across the countertop to the other side of the mirror. "A'ight, but I bes' not catch ya rubberneckin' up me skirt, ya little freak!"
"Wouldn't dream of it," Hitomi said, glancing back at Emi with a smirk as she made an exaggerated swing of her arm not holding the panel against the mirror, snapping her fingers in disappointment.
"There," Zoe shouted over the droning whir of the drill as the last screw sunk in flush with the paneling. "Not too shabby." They hopped down to the floor, using one hand to keep their pink and black plaid skirt from rising as they fell to the rubber anti-fatigue mat behind the bar. The wooden panel covered the mirror and the narrow shelves of liquor mounted to it entirely. In huge lettering across the sheet of siding, the Ranko and the Dapper Dragons logo had been stenciled in spray paint that was still ever-so-slightly tacky to the touch.
"Yeah, I think that'll work. Nice job, Mei!" Nabiki slipped down from her stool, still chewing on the plastic straw from her soda. She walked a few steps from the bar, stepping up onto the seat of a chair. "Crap. I knew I shouldn't have worn heels." She stepped up again onto the tabletop, peering through the viewfinder of her tripod-mounted camera. She made a few minor adjustments to its positioning, letting it go gingerly to keep it precisely in place. "I think that'll be perfect. You four are gonna have to get kinda cozy in the front, though," she mused, gesturing to the four stools in front of the bar as Crash walked past them.
Ranko clapped her hands sharply to get everyone's attention over the bustle of activity. "Okay! Are we almost ready?" Like Hitomi and Emi, she wore a white long-sleeve shirt and black slacks, though hers was buttoned far more modestly. Her crimson hair hung in loose waves over her shoulders.
"Almost," Izumi called back. "Just a few more spots." She began dabbing with the cotton pad in her hand with a bit more urgency. "It's like trying to bring a fuckin' ghost back from the dead over here."
Shinji rolled his eyes, groaning as Izumi continued applying foundation to his cheeks. "Maybe if you'd listened to me when I said I didn't want any of that crap…"
"Shut up and hold still, zombie boy," Jacob shot back around a mouthful of chocolate donut. He brushed a few crumbs from his navy blue dress shirt as he spoke.
With an overhead wave of her hand, Nabiki called for Jacob's attention. "Oh, dude, that's way too formal. Roll the sleeves up and lose the tie?"
"Got 'em!" Ayako shouted as burst through the front door, a white plastic bag from the nearby hardware store swaying from her wrist. "Where do we want 'em?"
Grinning, Ranko flitted over to the bar, motioning for Aya to join her. "They're gonna go right here. Let's get the batteries in 'em." Ayako dumped the bag on the counter, and the young singer set about tearing open the several packages of D batteries that poured out of it.
Ayako took the stool to Ranko's right, beginning to unbox the first of five small adjustable shop lights. "What are these for, anyway?" she asked.
"You'll see in just a second," Ranko replied with a spritely smirk, popping open the first lamp's battery compartment and beginning to install its power cells.
Crash snickered, sipping from his brown beer bottle as he clapped Ranko on the shoulder from behind. "Your sister's a fuckin' smartass, that's what." He chuckled, leaving his empty bottle on the counter in front of her. "And a fuckin' genius, too. Those asshats at Yokai are never gonna see this shit coming."
Ranko handed the first completed light back to Crash. "Here. Stick this right in front of the camera, pointed at me." While Crash complied with her instructions, Ranko began popping batteries into the second of the lights. "So, Aya… you get why we're calling the album Behind Bars, right?"
Rolling her eyes, Ayako set the third lamp on the counter and began gathering the empty packages back into the shopping bag. "I would think it's obvious. You got your start working in a bar, and three of the songs take place in the bar. You've got Welcome to the Phoenix, Noise, and Hole in the Wall. So, it's on theme for the album."
"And that's exactlywhat we want Yokai to think," Crash said with a guffaw as he positioned the lamp in front of the camera. "But that's where the aforementioned your sister's a smartass part kicks in."
Nodding, Ranko slipped off her stool and behind the counter. She pulled three beer bottles from the well below, wiping the ice water from them with a blue bar towel and positioning them, evenly spaced, on the counter in front of her. "So, here I am, behind the bar."She snapped her fingers, pointing at Crash. When she did, he flicked the switch to turn on the light he had just placed.
Ranko fought to keep from wincing as the bright light accosted her eyes. Spreading her arms at her sides, she positioned herself directly behind the three bottles. While the shop light bathed her shirt in bright white light, the shadows cast by the three bottles formed a trio of vertical bars running up her shirt.
"Oh, honey, you gotta move these. They're in the way." Ayako reached for one of the bottles. "It's funny. The shadows almost look like…" She gasped, the realization of the photo shoot's hidden meaning striking her consciousness like a thunderbolt.
"Prison bars," Ranko confirmed in a sad tone despite her satisfied smirk. "Behind Bars. As in, the fucking cage Yokai is making me live in."
Ayako laughed, shaking her head. "Well, aren't you a little shit?It's definitely devious, and I fucking love it. Those sexist pricks will never see it coming, either." She motioned to the pile of four lamps on the bar. "What are all these for, then?"
Ranko reached out, positioning two of the lights at forty-five degree angles to the left and right of the bottles. "These will cast the shadows from the sides, so they get on Ems and 'Tomi, too. The other two gay girls in the band. The lights are gonna kinda criss-cross." The redhead shrugged as she motioned to the remaining pair of lamps. "Honestly, I don't know what those are for. Nabiki just said we needed two extras."
Nabiki slipped behind the bar, resting her hand gently on Ranko's shoulder to inform her of her passing and prevent a collision. "Here, I'll show you." She took the final two lights, positioning them on the shelf under the bar counter. Both were angled up toward the wooden panel Zoe had mounted to cover up the mirror behind the bar. "The first three lights are our key lights. They light up the things we want to take pictures of - in this case, the bottles, and you girls. Our last two are what we call fill lights. Their job is to kill the shadows everywhere we don't want them." She flicked the two fill lights on, and the shadows of the bottles - and Ranko herself - disappeared from the wooden false back wall, remaining only on Ranko's shirt.
Nabiki slid out from behind the bar, and Yui took her place. The bartender quickly built a pair of margaritas in two tin shakers, but did not yet add ice to either. "I figure we'll have Hitomi and Emi look like they're actually serving the band drinks?"
"I approve whole-heartedly," Jacob said with a chuckle as he approached the bar. "I do enjoy drinks. Where do you have us all sitting?"
Nabiki walked from the left side of the bar to the right, tapping the backs of the four stools in sequence. "We're gonna have you here, then Zo, then Crash, and Shin on the end. We'll put Hitomi in front of you and Zo, since Zoe's shorter and we'll be able to see Little Miss Short Stack better over them. Emi will be in front of Crash and Shin, with Ranko in the middle between them. Crash, make sure you leave some space for the light between you and Zo, 'kay?"
As the band began to their seats, Nabiki again clamored up onto the tabletop and peered through her camera. "Okay, Zo? Crash? I need you guys to pull the lamps closer to you and kinda sit on an angle so we can see your faces, but block the lights in front of ya from being seen by the camera with your bodies." She nodded with approval as her instructions were followed.
"That's as good as it's gonna get," Izumi said, shooing Shinji from her makeshift makeup station at the VIP table. "You're ready for your closeup, Norma."
"Oh, piss off," Shinji said with a chuckle as he made his way to the far right barstool and sat across from Emi. The blonde was lifting one of the drink shakers overhead.
"Alright. Everybody in the front, stay perfectly still," Nabiki barked from behind her tripod. "Hitomi, shake your drink. Emi, pour! And… three! Two! One!"