Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Concert At The Akabeko ❯ Ladies and Gentlemen, Authors, Authoresses and Characters... ( One-Shot )

Songfic Concert

2pm

"Tae! Tae!" Rachel came racing into the Akebeko, seeking council from its owner, and would not be calmed any other way, "Tae-san!" She rushed so fast past Tsbaume; she nearly knocked the poor girl flat over.

"What is it?" Tae looked quite worried as she came out from round a screen, "Has there been an accident?"

"No, no," the authoress panted, "nothing of the sort, but I've finished my latest fiction!"

"Oh how wonderful! What genre is it?" Tae always found a copy of Rachel's fiction a most interesting read. She then, in turn, made sure that the girl was able to eat and drink well, without relying on the Kenshin-gumi.

"A songfic. I was wondering if you had any karaoke events coming up at anytime soon."

"You haven't seen the fliers then," sighed the proprietor, taking one out of her pinny, "I did ask Sano to distribute them for me."

"You actually thought he would?" Rachel looked sceptical.

"Well, yes. But never mind. I'll save you a slot at 7.45."

"Arigato, Tae-san, but it won't be me on stage. And you may want to clear most of the evening."

"Oh?" She knew that if it weren't Rachel, someone else would be made to suffer. Though she was usually rather considerate, Rachel had been submitting a great deal of cruel-to-the-characters fiction lately.

"It'll be a surprise. Anyway, I must run, still have a lot of preparation to do." Smiled the girl, bouncing out of the doors again.

4pm

"There," grinned Rachel, putting her cards on the table, "Royal flush, read `em and weep, boys and girl. The lyrics are pinned up in the Kitchen, and I demand word perfection!" She watched as looks of disbelief, irritation, resignation and sorrow cast themselves over Rachiru, Sanosuke, Kenshin and Saito. Rarely did she ever lose a game of Rummy, and today was no exception.

"I hate you." Scowled Rachiru at her creator, "Really I do." She turned to Sanosuke, "And you too, for getting me into this mess. I knew gambling was a bad idea."

"Are you saying this is my fault?"

"Yes!" The answer from the other animated players was not one to be misunderstood.

Sanosuke just shrugged. "Oh well, it seemed like a good idea at the time."

They slipped off; Sano last, getting evil glares from everyone else, as they went to get changed. Rachel smirked to herself, rubbing her fingers over the extra cards she kept for when she couldn't afford to lose a card game.

7.00pm

Rachel peeked behind the curtain, spotting some very familiar faces in the audience. She reckoned that after she told Tae, the businesswoman had gone all out for promotion of the event, even in just five hours, it had made a significant difference. Assured all her singers were in their dressing rooms by Tsbaume and Yahiko, Rachel went out to socialise with the crowd.

"Quite a turn out," she grinned, putting both her hands either side of Misao's shoulders, which made the sixteen-year-old jump. She sat down between her and Kaoru, "Nice to see you made it."

"Are you kidding?" chirped Misao, "Aoshi-sama and I wouldn't miss this for the world, would we Aoshi-sama?"

"Aa."

"How many songs did you say, Rachel-san?" Kaoru gave Rachel a look that could be considered quite mischievous, "Kenshin's been avoiding me all day, but I could still hear him singing."

"Quite a few. You see, the reason I've never put you through a songfic before is because I was saving them for an occasion. Now I have a few and Tae-san is hosting, I thought, why not?"

All of a sudden, fear flickered across Aoshi's face, "How long have you been planning this?"

Rachel smirked, "You forgot?"

There was a small `eep' from the Aoshi as he face-faulted for the first time in his life, and Rachel thumbed him towards the dressing room. He got up abruptly and followed it.

"Are you going to add anything to this line up, Rachel-san?"

"What do you think?"

Kaoru shrugged, "Perhaps."

"Then perhaps I will."

And with that, and a nod to the various other anime guests from many different districts, Rachel disappeared off to get changed, and find a song.

7.40

A group huddle. A crowd of men, and Rachel is the centre of it all, in a very precarious position. She made the mistake of providing sake before the performance, and, well, her plan to make things easier has, to say the least, mostly backfired.

"I refuse to sing." Growled Saito, the edge of his katana against the skin of her throat. "I will not sing."

"But, you have such a fine, strong voice! It would be a crime not to sing with a voice as strong as yours." She partially pleaded for the truth and yet mostly because she wanted to live.

"No Solo." It was a compromise.

"Yes, yes, ok, no solos- got it, just don't kill me. I have no desire to die, Saito-san."

Never before had Rachel used any form of honorary with the former Shinsengumi captain, but the perspiration on her forehead showed her lack of doubt that he would impale her throat on the steel if she didn't do something. It did not go unnoticed, either. He looked at her, but detecting her sincerity, just smirked and replaced his weapon to the safest place.

"So you finally learnt some manners. That's more than can be said for some." His eyes darted to several faces in the group, before he led the way to the stage wings.

Just as he did, Rachel scooted off and went to announce. "Konnichiwa, Minna-san!" Rachel began, letting her eyes flit around the room, resting on the faces of characters, writers, and borrowed appearances with equal appreciation. She was met with a cheer, which helped raise her confidence after her brush with death just moments before. "Boy, have we got one explosive Saturday night for you here tonight at the Akabeko! We have dance, and solo's and some very entertaining combine music, all of which I suggest you enjoy with a bottle of Sake or two. But hey, what am I telling you for? Lets get things moving with an opening!"

It was her turn to smirk as she left the audience's view. Her duty was to provide the music in the form of no other than Less Than Jake. The band. Live. Who better to play their own song as Saito, Kenshin, Sano and Rachiru were booted out onstage. With a knowing look, and a big hint from the poster Rachel had pinned to the back wall, the guys of Less Than Jake began playing "The Science of Selling Yourself Short."

Kenshin: I've come to my senses, that I've become senseless
Rachiru: I could give you lessons, how to ruin your friendships,
Saito: Every last conviction, I smoked them all away,
Sanosuke: I drank my frustrations down the drain, out of the way,
Kenshin: So I sit and wait and wonder, "Does anyone else feel like me?"
Rachiru: Someone so tired of their routines and disappearing self-esteems,

All: I'll sing along,
Kenshin: Yeah with every emergency,
All: Just sing along,
Kenshin: I'm the king of catastrophes,
All: I'm so far gone,
Kenshin: That deep down inside I think it's fine by me,
All: I'm my own worst enemy

Sanosuke: I could be an expert on co-dependency,
Rachiru: I could write the best book on underage tragedy,
Sanosuke: I've been spending my time at the local liquor store,
Rachiru: I've been sleeping nightly on my best friends kitchen floor,
Sanosuke: So I sit and wait and wonder, "Does anyone else feel like me?"
Rachiru: I'm so over-dosed on apathy and burnt out on sympathy.

All: I'll sing along,
Kenshin: Yeah with every emergency,
All: Just sing along,
Kenshin: I'm the king of catastrophes,
All: I'm so far gone,
Kenshin: That deep down inside I think it's fine by me,
All: I'm my own worst enemy

Saito: Let the meaning slip away, Lost my faith in another day,
Kenshin: Self deprivation seems okay, I never thought I'd make it anyway

All: I'll sing along,
Kenshin: Yeah with every emergency,
All: Just sing along,
Kenshin: I'm the king of catastrophes,
All: I'm so far gone,
Kenshin: That deep down inside I think it's fine by me,
All: I'm my own worst enemy

Kenshin: I'm my own worst enemy

Saito: I'm my own worst enemy

Rachiru: I'm my own worst enemy

Sanosuke: I'm my own worst enemy

All: I'm my own worst enemy

The crowd erupted into screaming and shouting; the song was quite obviously a success. Rachel grinned behind the curtain as both band and substitute singers took their bow and whilst the former disappeared as suddenly as they came, the latter trundled off stage to high applause and excitement.

"I'm a damn genius." Grinned the authoress, "Your regular Einstein of the fiction world."

"You didn't do anything!" protested Rachiru, jumping Rachel with several disclaimer notes and an agreeing cast.

"I wrote you, didn't I?" responded Rachel, only to be met with an unappreciative scowl. "Be a good girl, would you, and nip round to see if that cute ninja guy is ready for his solo."

"Cute ninja guy?" Rachiru looked quite panicked. She didn't know any cute ninja guys.

"Solo?" The Wolf of Mibu had heard that, and now was glaring at the writer dangerously, daring her to explain herself.

She didn't need to. Aoshi appeared in the nick of time, and was humouring her by wearing three quarter length slacks and a red baseball cap on the wrong way round.

"That would be me."

Rachiru looked at Rachel, "You're shameless, aren't you. What's with the outfit?"

"I thought it would be nice to have him cosplay… as Fred Durst." She was met with blank stares, the name lost on them. "Oh never mind. Lets get this over with, cute ninja guy." And Rachel dragged a very confused looking Aoshi to the wings as she went out to make her announcement

"Good to see you people liked that one! Whoo!" She breathed into the microphone as the crowd went into a new frenzy of cheers Rachel pushed her hair back out of her eyes with her hand. "But," she continued when the noise died a little, "but ha ha, we're just getting started! I'll leave you in the capable hands of LimpBizkit and Shinamori Aoshi."

Once again, the band appeared, though this time sans their usual troublesome vocalist and instead a very cute ninja guy stepped out to cries and w00ts adoration. Aoshi, for the record, did not appear the least bit phased by this reception, even as he began to sing. "No one knows what it's like, to be the bad man, to be the sad man, behind blue eyes…" From the moment the first world were uttered from his mouth the whole audience, including Rachel and the others backstage were hypnotized under his spell. "And no one knows, what it's like to be hated, to be faded, to telling only lies…"

Between watching transfixed to Aoshi and taking glimpses at his stunned audience, the cast figured one thing. Rachel had really picked a winner this time. The words fitted and Aoshi's voice was clear and heartfelt, even for someone previously presumed to have limited feelings of their own. "But my dreams they aren't as empty, as my conscience seems to be, I have hours, only lonely, my love is vengeance, that's never free."

Even Misao, so bubbly, was now silent, and as Aoshi followed up with "No one knows what its like, to feel these feelings, like I do, and I blame you! No one bites back as hard, on their anger, none of my pain, woe, can show through…" she was later reported by Kaoru to be crying silent tears. "But my dreams they aren't as empty, as my conscience seems to be, I have hours, only lonely, my love is vengeance, that's never free…"

"Touching, Rach, really touching. Seems you've brought out something good in Ice Blue Eyes out there." Commented Sano under his breath, "How'd you get him to do it? Click of the fingers?"

"No, no." responded the girl, transfixed to the singing figure onstage, "I just asked him nicely and passed him a lyric sheet. He seemed happy enough knowing the tone of the song."

"No one knows what its like, to be mistreated, to be defeated, behind blue eyes…"

"Then that's your miracle, Rachel. No one else could have done that easily." It was the closest thing to a compliment Rachel was likely to get from Saito, and she took it with gratitude.

"Ahh," she sighed, taking a sip from the sake cup (containing schnapps) that had magically appeared in her hand, "If only you lot could write reviews, we'd all be happy…"

"No one know how to say, that they're sorry and don't worry, I'm not telling lies…" came the message beyond the curtain, and all things considered, the girl allowed herself a small-concealed smile.

"But my dreams they aren't as empty, as my conscience seems to be, I have hours, only lonely, my love is vengeance, that's never free…" What surprised everyone was the final burst of heartfelt emotion that the karaoke vocalist poured with such empathy into the final verse. "No one knows what its like, to be the bad man, to be the sad man, behind blue eyes, behind blue eyes." To Rachel, this was to be the second victory of the evening.

The appreciation rang out through Tokyo, and was a painful reminder to those who weren't there, what it was they were missing. When Aoshi came back off stage he was swarmed by congratulations, and jumped by a very excitable authoress.

"You were amazing, Aoshi-san! Absolutely fantastic! We would have never have guessed you hid a voice like that! Incredible."

His reaction was only to shrug, "I felt like an idiot, dressed like this." and then slink off to his dressing room to get changed. Rachel was a little put out, but decided she would have too, in the same situation.

She was about to go and edit up her next song, when she heard, "I can't remember the time or place, or what you were wearing, it's unclear about how we met, all I know it was the best conversation that I've ever had." She spun round to find Sanosuke onstage, not comfortable, but still, singing his heart out to the audience. A solo. "To this day I've never found someone, with eyes as wide as yours, I've been searching up and down this coast, overlooking what I need the most."

New Found Glory was playing backing excellently as had Less Than Jake and LimpBizkit before them. Where they had come from baffled Rachel, "Did you notice I was afraid? I thought I'd run out of things to say, 2 more hours until today, birds have soared, and it starts all over again." Sano's voice was a massive departure from what she was used to hearing, being more masculine and less like teen Punk, but it wasn't unpleasant to listen too.

"The sky will never look the same again, til you show me how it could be, the sky will never look the same again, til you show me how it could be."

"Why is he doing this? You guys hate solo's… and I never allocated Sanosuke that song." From the corner of her eye, Rachel could see Kenshin trying to look inconspicuous as he attempted to slink away, but she only stuck out her arm and caught him by the ponytail. "What do you know, Kenshin?"

"And everything else is irrelevant, to the story so far, a coincidence that you look like her from afar."

Kenshin let out a small `oro' of surprise, and Rachel looked nonplussed. The time when he only had to utter the word and she would give into anything from the cuteness of it had passed. He was very lucky for such an occasion as that now. But the way she was looking at him at that moment made him uncomfortable. She wanted answers.

"Is it true that you like to sleep alone? Or is that just what you tell everyone?"

"Who's the song for? And where did he get it, Kenshin?" Her gaze felt like it was burning him.

"Ano… I can't really say, that I cannot."

Rachel scowled dangerously. "The hell you can't. Who? Where?"

Kenshin smiled, trying to soothe the girl from building temper and thus writing something he would regret. He put his hands up in a polite refusal gesture. "I'm sure you can ask Sano himself when he comes offstage, you can."

"But I don't want to wait that long, Kenshin!"

"Did you notice I was afraid? I thought I'd run out of things to say, 2 more hours until today, birds have soared, and it starts all over again…"

Kenshin sighed, unwilling to push his luck. He wouldn't put it past her to make him go out onstage in tights, heels and a tutu and make him break dance. He shuddered. As though reading his thoughts, Rachel smirked wickedly, and uttered, "Stilettos, fishnets and lycra underwear."

Kenshin drained almost completely of all colour, except, that is of course, for his hair, which shone all the brighter copper red for his embarrassment.

"The sky will never look the same again, til you show me how it could be, the sky will never look the same again, til you show me how it could be."

"Megumi. He's singing for Megumi, and he got another writer to fix him up with it to play."

"Ah, I see."

"I swear that's all I know!" Kenshin dropped to his knees and bowed his head to touch the tatami mats.

"Get up, Kenshin. There's no need for that. I believe you." Sighed the girl, smiling sweetly. Before melting into a slight frown, "You didn't actually think I would do that to you, did you Kenshin?"

"Uh… well…" The blush on his face said it all.

"I thought you knew me better than that." She huffed, before going to sort out her next act.

From out onstage, Sanosuke could still be heard warbling away like a canary with a sore throat. "And when the world turns over, I'll keep my ears to the wall, and when the world turns over, I'll keep my feet straight on the ground."

"Rachel-san!" called Kenshin after her, but his pleads fell on deaf ears. He sighed and went to find a seat, waiting to be called for his next number.

"Did you notice I was afraid? I thought I'd run out of things to say, 2 more hours until today…" continued Sano with increasing gusto as he reached the end of his unscheduled performance, "Birds have soared, and it starts all over again. The sky will never look the same again, Til you show me how it could be, The sky will never look the same again, Til you show me how it could be." He finished and grinned at Megumi, now seated temporarily in the audience. She smiled weakly, then, when he left the stage out of sight, her smile vanished, she leaned over to Kaoru, whispered something into her ear that made her friend laugh.

This behaviour quickly came to an end when Rachel came marching round from backstage, down the steps, and straight down the middle of the specially placed tables. Her face was one of pure rage. She took a sharp left near the back and in front of everyone, threw a punch at a girl of the same age sat at one of the tables. There was blood everywhere before anyone knew what was going on, and Rachel who was yelling at her.

"What the hell do you think you're playing at? This is my fiction! I booked this and took the time to write it as a showcase of my work, so who the hell are you to go and adjust the programme, huh?" The teenager was livid, and yelling at the top of her lungs. "Must someone feel the need to sabotage every piece of work I do? It's a stain on my evening, what you just put Sano through! It doesn't fit at all, and from the state of the performance, I must say it must have been a really poorly thought out, appalling grammar, out of character excuse for a fan fiction, you- hey, let go of me!"

Being restrained by Aoshi and Saito, Rachel pulled against them, trying to wriggle free so she could knock even more sense into the rival, while Megumi and Tae tended to the girl's bloody, disjointed nose. Rachel was hauled backstage, and given a sharp slap by Kaoru, who was waiting. It left a stinging and distinct red mark on Rachel's face, but she was still smouldering and dangerous.

"You want to get yourself thrown out? What's come over you Rachel?" Fizzed Kaoru, wondering unknowingly of what made Rachel behave that way in front of everyone to cause Tae so much trouble. "It's embarrassing, for you and for us."

"She interfered." Sulked Rachel, rubbing her face where Kaoru's hand had made contact now that Aoshi and Saito had let go of her and now stood behind the raven-haired young woman in the orange yellow kimono. "Sanosuke's song was something I was planning much later, maybe in a few months, but she wrote it, and badly so for tonight. It ruined the whole set I had planned."

"Nonsense." Hissed Saito sharply. Rachel looked up, straight into golden eyes that were focused on her. "Those authors, authoress', characters and who knows else out there, are spellbound by your choreography of the set so far. You may have just thrown them with your childish temper tantrum, but if you give up now, then you'll always be a quitter to me, nothing more than your everyday writer with no substance or commitment."

"Hey, whoever said anything about giving up?" she jumped, her fists clenched.

"You were thinking it." Smirked Saito, knowing he was right, "You forget that Battousai, Rooster head and the ice block know you probably better than anyone." This was also true, and Rachel hated it for being so.

"In the area of fiction you're a perfectionist who wants everything her own way. But you can't always have things the way you exactly want it, so you lose interest and give up. But if you're going to just let one mishap get the better of you then maybe its better if you left now, never came back, took our pictures down, sell the DVD's and never speak of any of us again."

To hear these last words from Aoshi slashed Rachel at the very core. Her eyes watered, and then she felt the water boil as she persevered with the situation, snapped her fingers and set the song as Hey Baby - No Doubt. "You wanted my contribution, Kaoru?" she clenched her fists with determination, "You got it." Rachel marched out, during the intro, which Kenshin was giving his best to do.

"Um, Rachel-san?" Tsubaume caught the authoress mid storm, "Tae-san said to tell you you've got one more song, so make it a good one."

"Why?"

Tsubaume hid behind her tray, "Well, the disturbance, she doesn't want-"

"Another one?"

Her reply was barely audible, "…uh-huh, I think so."

Rachel rolled her eyes with an angry sigh and as easily as No Doubt had appeared, they vanished again. There was a distinct, "Awww" of disappointment from the audience. She was about to select the next song when Soujiro whizzed past so fast he could barely tell it was him. "Hey, no fair!" she called after, remembering the distinct forced click of her fingers. With the opening notes on guitar being played, the crowd went into an uproar.

There was no intro, but then none was really needed. Sano was back on notes, having recuperated with the aid of alcohol, and singing in twice the volume than was really necessary, "So no one told you life was gonna be this way,"

The writers in the audience who knew the song did the whole friends clap thing before Saito picked up on cue, "Your jobs a joke, you're broke, your love life's D.O.A."

Kaoru walked past taking Rachel by the hand, "This ones for the writers, you know. They were planning this all night as a special surprise."

"It's like you're always stuck in second gear," continued Kenshin, and as Rachel came to the stage wings could see Soujiro mock driving a car - IN HER TRADEMARK HAT! She chuckled, thinking how it suited him.

"And it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year but…" Aoshi lead up to the chorus. She could see everyone. Onstage were Sano, Saito, Kenshin, Aoshi and Soujiro. All of the series accumulated bishounen.

They launched into the chorus with a healthy 70% of the audience joining in for the fun of it. Even those that didn't know the song were happily tapping their feet to the music. "I'll be there for you, When the rain starts to pour, I'll be there for you, Like I've been there before, I'll be there for you, 'Cuz you're there for me too..."
It was the guys alone for the next chorus, or rather Kenshin who sang, "You're still in bed at ten, And work began at eight," Soujiro still was taking the mick out of her, and from somewhere had picked up a load of her college books and fic papers, running round like a mad thing, in on a private joke.

Sano chipped in as Soujiro mimed her cooking by waving round a frying-pan and accidentally on purpose hitting Kenshin round the head with it. "You've burned your breakfast, So far... things are goin' great…" Kenshin wobbled, his eyes swirling, and a large bump protruded from the back of his head.

So Kenshin was meant to be singing again, but when that looked like to much to expect, Soujiro, though still covered him, "Your mother warned you there'd be days like these, Oh but she didn't tell you when the world has brought, You down to your knees that..."

No one seemed to notice the well timed improvisation that Soujiro had saved by the skin of his teeth, and this was made clear by the deafening volume of the chorus as one again, the audience put their own vocal chords to use. "I'll be there for you, When the rain starts to pour, I'll be there for you, Like I've been there before, I'll be there for you, 'Cuz you're there for me too..."

"This is sooo cool!" giggled Rachel to Kaoru quietly as she took it all in, I don't know why I don't write song fics more often."

"Please no!" jumped in Megumi from behind her, "With all sincerity, its too much work."

"Aww…" muttered Rachel, as she continued to listen. She hoped Katsumi was in the audience. She hoped Apples Ayame-chan, Computer Angel, Kirkis and Dragon Dog Demon were too. This song was for them, as much as her.

Switching her attention back to the song, Kenshin seemed to have recovered, although the bump was there, he wasn't dizzy any more and Aoshi singing. "No one could ever know me, No one could ever see me, Seems you're the only one who knows, What it's like to be me."

"Someone to face the day with," chirped Kenshin, "Make it through all the rest with,"

"Someone I'll always laugh with," contributed Sano, winking to various writers he was all too familiar with, "Even at my worst I'm best with you, yeah!"

Saito took over singing the next part, instead of Kenshin, "It's like you're always stuck in second gear,"
But Aoshi did continue with the further lines. Surprisingly, now he'd had a taste of what it was all about, Soujiro saw his opening and snatched it, singing along, "And it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year..."

With increasing vigour, the audience rallied for the final chorus, "I'll be there for you, When the rain starts to pour, I'll be there for you, Like I've been there before, I'll be there for you, 'Cuz you're there for me too..."

They split into groups, sharing microphones. "I'll be there for you," Sano and Kenshin confirmed in unison.

They were followed by Aoshi, Saito and Soujiro "I'll be there for you,"

Finally, and predictably, they finished with all five voices adding something to the dynamics of the song, each one focusing their eyes, thoughts and hearts on someone in the audience, "I'll be there for you, 'Cuz you're there for me too..."

Tae had to stop counting the sake sales money, to cover her ears and protect them from the cries of adoration from the crowd that lasted a good solid seven minutes. The clapping, the cheering and spirit of the room completely bought back the reasons to everyone's mind why song fics were such a good idea in the first place. From where she stood, letting her favourite Rurouni Kenshin Bishies enjoy fame once again, Rachel was supporting with the rest. It truly was a great performance.

"We'll have to book another song fic evening." Came the heavily accented voice of Tae from behind her, "I think you won back the house crowd."

"No," corrected Rachel, slipping back into the shadows where the best writers lurk, planning her sequel, "I think they did."