Cover Girls

An alternate universe Rurouni Kenshin Fanfic

 

Chapter Four

"I Believe in You"

 

*********************************************

 

The preliminaries were held in the same place that the qualifying round was the previous week. Only this time, the program was scheduled for the evening rather than the afternoon. Ko-Neko-Neko had been practicing feverishly all week long, every spare moment being spent fine tuning their performance to some semblance of perfection.

 

Even so, Kaoru's knees suddenly turned to water as soon as she saw the crowd that had gathered, this time, not to compete with them, but to scrutinize them. It didn't help that the judges appeared to be a harsh lot. The first, which she didn't immediately recognize, was leaning back in his chair, apparently bored with the bands before he even saw a single one. His narrow eyes should have been hazel, she reasoned, but by some effect of the lighting they seemed to glow like an animal's. The lighted cigarette dangling satirically from his lips completed the look of absolute inapproachability.

 

The next judge she easily recognized, Amakusa Sayo, Hiten Mitserugi's shining light and resident prima donna. It was rumored that ever since she became their star, more people were laid off from the company than ever before. She would be a difficult lady to please.

 

The last judge was far more intimidating than the first two, a huge, hulking, giant of a man that seemed to have a flock of women following him wherever he went. Even as he sat in the judges booth, they flocked about him like colorful butterflies, refilling his water glass, playing with his long, silky-looking mane of hair, whispering endearments in his ear.  He seemed to enjoy their attentions, laughing with them, murmuring to them, casting them his devilishly handsome smile. This was the very personification of the male ego.

 

"Seijirou Hiko," Kaoru whispered to herself, "President of Hiten Mitserugi Records."

 

Somewhere along the way, she fell out of step with her two band mates. Turning around again to look for them, she slammed into someone who unfortunately occupied her one blind spot.

 

"Itai…" she moaned while rubbing the sore spot where she'd knocked heads with the other person. Even so, she immediately looked across to them, an apology hovering on her made-up lips.

 

"Oro…."

 

"Oh no. It couldn't be…" she silently prayed, but alas, there he was, sitting on the floor with a dazed look on his face and his red hair once more knocked free of his ponytail.

 

"Damn it," she cursed, pushing herself to her feet. Extending a hand to the man on the floor, she asked if he was alright.

 

"Oro," the stranger repeated, "I…I'm fine, I think."

 

Kaoru immediately colored at the thought that she could have hit him that hard. Gripping him firmly at the elbow, she hauled him up, keeping her hands on his shoulders once she did just to make sure he was steady.

 

"I'm so, so, SO, sorry," she apologized, "I wasn't looking where I was going at all and it's totally my fault and oh my God you have the most amazing eyes I've ever seen…"

 

Kenshin wobbled unsteadily on his feet for a moment before the world swung back into focus to reveal a familiar pair of midnight-blue eyes searching his for any sign of consciousness. Catching himself, he managed to offer some semblance of reassurance to the nearly frantic woman.

 

"Gods I hope he didn't catch that last part." Kaoru thought as Kenshin once again assured her that he was alright, this time sounding a bit more sure of the fact himself. 

 

Kaoru's sigh of relief could be heard over the drone of the crowd as she relaxed into the man she was supposed to be supporting, immediately snatching her hands away when she realized what she was doing. "I'm sorry," she repeated, "I really didn't mean to bump into you this time."

 

The smile that he gave her was absolutely radiant, "No, it's my fault," he insisted, "I saw you from across the room and was coming over to say hello." One hand sheepishly crept behind his head as his face took on a distinctively rosier hue, "I would've called out first, but I didn't catch your name."

 

Kaoru blinked a couple of times in surprise before she caught herself, "K…Kaoru," she answered, "Kamiya Kaoru."

 

"Kaoru," he repeated, his sensuous mouth shaping out every single syllable in a way that sent shivers all the way down her spine. "My name's Himura Kenshin, pleased to finally meet you."

 

"Ken-shin," she repeated. Her singing voice swirling around the word for a single moment, sending electric shocks dancing across the surface of his skin.  "The pleasure's all mine Kenshin," she replied with a smile that personified the word "gorgeous".

 

"Will all participants please report backstage," a nasal voice called over the sound system, "The contest begins in five minutes."

 

"I gotta…" Kaoru said, gesturing toward the stage area.

 

"Yeah, me too." Kenshin replied doing the same.

 

"Right," she said with a smile, "It was nice meeting you Kenshin!" she shouted over the din of the crowd before slipping away to round up her band.

 

"You too Kaoru." Kenshin replied before heading off in the opposite direction.

 

***********************************************************

 

So many people, so many possibilities that they wouldn't be accepted.

 

Kaoru forced herself to take a deep breath, to feign calmness when the real thing couldn't be achieved. The wind blowing from the air conditioners overhead, sent icy kisses along the bare skin of her shoulders where her halter-top couldn't reach. Beside her the other two were silent, waiting, but she could feel their anxiousness. Out of the corner of her eye, Megumi's knuckles were growing white under the strain of gripping her guitar too tightly and behind her she could hear the faint catch in Misao's breath that was only there when she was nervous.

 

Kaoru's grip on her own instrument became less than gentle as her eyes narrowed into catlike slits as determination and the need to be strong took over her whole being. Her whisper traveled easily across the darkened stage, the crowd already hushed and awaiting their performance.

 

"Hey guys?"

 

"Yeah?"

 

"What?"

 

Kaoru's smile was so gentle and warm that the others could practically feel it despite the darkness hiding it from view.

 

"I believe in you."

 

There was a pause before Misao's voice came whispering back, "Thanks sis."

 

"Make 'em scream tanuki." Megumi's soon followed.

 

Her hands moved to their proper positions as the lights began to brighten, signaling that their trail by fire was about to begin. By the Gods, she was going to come out of all this a winner, cause there was just too much to lose.

 

"Oh they will kitsune," she whispered back. "They most certainly will."

 

In an instant, the band transformed and their audience was hopelessly swept up in the their spell. Hundreds of people swayed in time to their rhythm, dozens of voices, as Megumi had promised, cried out, begging for more of that intangible yet addictive thing that only they could offer.

 

In a moment Kaoru lost herself in the movements of her own hands and the strains of her own voice. Husky and sweet, it moved across the speakers and over the crowd like a wave of heat and each and every body surged forward toward the stage, just to have a little more of it's sweet surrender.

 

Tasogare  utsuri yuku koro  machijuu ni kirameita

Ikusen no TOPAAZU ga kyou mo  sabishi gari o yonderu

 

Dare ka soba ni inai to  kokoro ga kiete shimau kara

Zawameki ni toke kon de  ai o sagashiteta

 

 

They were expecting the wonderful racket of the previous week, instead they received something better. Unconsciously the crowd swung in time with Kaoru as she shifted her hips and crooned her love song to them, for them. Only for them…

 

Waiting for YOU  anata ni deaete

Suteki na nukumori shitta

Hageshiku toki ni ha yuru yakana  toiki no RIZUMU

 

I'll be waiting for YOU I need your love everyday

Kawaita karada no naka de  atsuku ugoki dashita kodou ni

Yasuragi sae mo kanjiteru yo…

 

Backstage, Sano's lips were moving, but Kenshin neither heard nor cared about what he had to say. One missed conversation couldn't matter, not as long as a voice like that graced the presence of mere mortals like himself.

 

Yoru o yure ai nagara  subete o kasane ai nagara

Genshoku ni kawatte yuku  omoi ha tomaranai

 

Waiting for YOU  kotoba ni naranai

Hajimari no yokan no naka

Yasashiku fure au kuchibiru ni  ai ga afureteku

 

I'll be waiting for YOU I need your love everyday

Hitomi o tojireba wakaru  kono mune ni mo  kono suhada ni mo

Subete o tsutsumu  anata ga iru

 

Misao's drums were like the beat of that heart in the song, pounding out their tune of longing apart from the other two instruments, but at the same time complimenting them as well. The bass like the murmur of many voices mingled with the sound of that heartbeat and above it all, Kaoru's guitar cried out in it's need to be heard, to be loved.

 

Waiting for YOU  kotoba ni naranai

Hajimari no yokan no naka

Yasashiku fure au kuchibiru ni  ai ga afureteku

I'll be waiting for YOU I need your love everyday

Hitomi o tojireba wakaru  kono mune ni mo  kono suhada ni mo

Subete o tsutsumu  anata ga iru.

 

The approval of the audience rolled toward them like a wave in the ocean, beginning as a whisper but building in intensity until it's roar shook every wall in the facility.

 

Not a single soul was surprised when Ko-Neko-Neko qualified for the next round of the competition.

 

******************************************************

 

                                 

  next                               main