NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20: Fragile but Fierce
Ranko walked the bar, a few minutes before opening. She knew every millimeter of this place by now, but she needed to flood her mind with memories of good things, not of the attack. Hana had given her permission for Ranko to sing, subject to all of Yui's conditions and a few more. The girls had set up a table for her over by the Pac-Man machine, and blocked it off with a string and a RESERVED sign, so no one got too close. They couldn't take a chance on her being hurt again. She decided it looked a little lonely, so she dragged an extra chair across from hers and placed her teddy bear in it for company.
Mei had unwrapped all of the flowers she had received and lined the front of the stage with a hedge half a meter high of floral arrangements. It looked like it was set up to receive a princess or something, Ranko thought, and her face flushed. She couldn't help but smile at the thought, though.
She looked herself over in the mirror behind the liquor bottles. Izumi had outdone herself for tonight. She was wearing a long, form-fitting Chinese style dress in silk, a slightly-off white, with a vine of purple roses climbing up the entire right side of her body. Her hair hung in a loose ponytail secured with a matching off-white ribbon, and Ranko had consented to let Izumi use some makeup to cover the remaining echoes of the wounds to her face. She wore no necklace - her choker had broken in the fight - but she fingered the silver bracelet clasped around her arm, hiding all evidence of the day all this began.
She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, ducking under the rope and taking a seat next to her bear. She nodded to Mei. "Let them in?"
Mei unlocked the door and a stream of customers began to enter. Ranko noticed that several of them were carrying flowers and other gifts, presumably intending to add them to the shrine that had been cleared from the stage. They walked to the back to place their offerings, and with them gone, they turned to look for them, finding Ranko seated next to the pool table. The first guy in line, a guy in his early twenties wearing a suit coat over jeans and a T-shirt and bearing a dozen roses, waved to the crowd. "Guys! She's here!"
She grinned devilishly. "Waaaaait a minute, you guys aren't here because I bring you your beers and fries at all, are you?" A loud chorus of NO! came her reply.
Mei rolled her eyes at Izumi. "She's eating this up, isn't she?"
Before Izumi could answer, Yui did. "Yes. And she deserves to."
Ranko smiled. "So, you want me to sing, then? Is that it?" The crowd cheered in unison, and Ranko met it with a tittering laugh. "I'll just have to see what I can do. After you order lots of drinks from my sisters, that is." She cringed, watching the stampede turn and move as a single herd from her rope to the bar. Sorry, Yui… She wished she could be back there to help with the rush, but it had been expressly forbidden.
While the crowd was occupied with their libations, Ranko slipped under the rope and made her way carefully along the back wall of the bar and ascended to the stage, where Mei had left a high-backed stool for her. She climbed up into it, picking up the microphone from its stand and laying it on her lap. Once the crowd had mostly settled, she picked it up and flicked the switch to turn it on. "Okay. Whew! It's so good to be back up here again!" The crowd roared their assent. "Yeah, I missed you all, too."
She nodded to Mei, who pressed the start key on the computer. A sultry melody rose from the speakers, a song from some 25 years before Ranko's birth. She and Mei had decided that these lower-energy, older songs would be a safer way to make her return. The room went silent as Ranko's voice met the start of the first verse. Izumi smiled, swaying with the music from behind the bar. She wished she had thought to put little candles on all the tables; it would have really set the mood for the intimate and old-fashioned nature of Ranko's performance tonight.
During the bridge of the song, Ranko thought she might want to stand up, but as she put one foot on the floor, she felt uneasy and had to steady herself slightly just to remain atop her stool. Hana noticed, watching her like a hawk for any sign that she was pushing herself too hard, but the guests didn't seem to. What she could not manage in physicality, she poured into her voice, and she finished the song on a long-sustained belt. The crowd, which now numbered closer to 120, roared in appreciation. She smiled, blinking her eyes. Bright light was still causing disorientation for her; she'd have to ask Yui to turn down the stage spotlights before she got up to sing again.
"Thank you, everyone." She didn't dare try to bow; she knew she would almost certainly topple over.
Hana made her way to the two steps leading up to the diminutive stage, offering her hand to Ranko. She willed herself to make the few steps seem as normal as possible, taking the barkeep's hand. Hana yelled to the crowd, no microphone needed to be heard. "Give her some space, everybody!"
The group took a few steps back, giving Hana a clear pathway to escort Ranko back to her seat. The crowd murmured a little at the sight. It was obvious that the singer was not well enough to perform, but she was doing so anyway. For them. Ranko looked up at them, seeing a bit of dismay on the faces of the few in front, and frowned.
One of the young men in front, the guy in the suit coat and jeans, raised a cheer and started clapping again. Soon, the two friends he'd come with joined in, and then others. The encouragement brought a smile to Ranko's face, and it did not stop until she was seated back at her table.
Izumi walked over to her table, tray in hand. She placed a glass of soda in front of her, and an unopened bottle of beer in front of Ranko's teddy bear. "For your companion. On the house." She giggled a little, pushing her way back toward the bar.
The rest of the evening was much the same - Ranko singing slow standards from a seated position. She did more songs than usual, though - where normally she only sang twice a night, tonight she managed six. The pool table piled high with more flowers and gifts, brought by well-wishers who had not expected to find her up and about.
As the last patrons exited the bar at closing time, Hana took down the rope and approached Ranko's table with a proud smile. "What do we think, is my little starlet ready to call it a night?"
Ranko frowned. "Can't I please help with cleanup at least a little? I could roll silverware or something like that sitting down."
Hana shook her head. "You know the rules. Maybe tomorrow, if you're feeling up to it."
"Alright, alright." She waved good night to her sisters as Hana escorted her toward the stairs.